South Africa: Dysfunctional municipalities turn the corner

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize says several municipalities that were identified as dysfunctional or distressed have turned the corner and interventions are bearing fruit.

The Minister said this when he fielded oral questions together with several Ministers in the governance cluster in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

This comes after the department deployed interventions to assist 87 municipalities that were distressed or dysfunctional last year.

In August 2018, the department, through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA), deployed district support teams comprising more than 80 engineers and town planners in 55 out of the 87 identified dysfunctional municipalities.

The 55 municipalities were targeted for technical support due to severe challenges in relation to the delivery of municipal infrastructure for basic services and failure to spend their Municipal Infrastructure Support Grant.

Mkhize said when responding to a question on Wednesday that interventions are beginning to bear some fruits.

Of the 87 municipalities, 55 were supported through MISA to address service and infrastructure delivery challenges which manifested themselves in perennial underspending of MIG allocations.

Through MISA support, 44 of these municipalities have made significant improvement in performance. This positive change is mainly reflected in improved MIG spending, improvement in revenue collection, filling of vacancies in technical departments, among others, he said.

Mkhize also said that only 11 of the 55 municipalities were recommended for stopping of MIG allocations for 2018/19 financial year for failing to achieve the 40% spending threshold by end of December 2018.

He also said that there are some distressed municipalities that have improved and which in our view deserve to be removed from the list of 55 dysfunctional municipalities.

A total of 24 municipalities have significantly improved in terms of performance since deployment of district support teams, he said.

Department addressing debt owed to Eskom

Mkhize said, meanwhile, that government has also addressed issues relating to the debt thats owed to Eskom and water boards, as well as the problem of municipalities that invested funds in VBS Bank and the impact on service delivery and challenges with revenue collection.

Beyond promoting good governance, we also focus on improving service delivery so that our people can have water, sanitation, electricity and other important basic services, he said.

Some of the issues that have been attended to include:

- The spending of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant allocations.

- Filling of critical technical positions and those of senior management.

- Improvements in revenue collection through the introduction of revenue enhancement strategies.

- The development and implementation of water conservation and demand management plans in some municipalities such as Matatiele, Kou Kama, Moses Kotane, Mafube, Letsemeng, uMzinyathi, Ugu and Abaqulusi.

- The right-sizing of municipal establishments.

- Removal of unaffordable supernumerary employees.

- Removal of inappropriately qualified officials.

- Firm stand on fraud and corruption, including consequent management and stronger role for Municipal Public Accounts Committees.

Mkhize said the Auditor Generals 2016/17 report highlighted a few contributors to the distressed state of municipalities, and said that the department has sought to address them.

This includes vacancies and instability in key positions and inadequate skills levels.

Lack of consequence management, poor internal controls, poor or lack of support by provincial and national government are among the reasons.

Another key factor is political infighting at council level and interference in the administration which weakened oversight and service delivery. As Minister I have engaged political leaders at various levels to confront these issues.

Our Municipal Recovery Programme is moving very well and while challenges still remain in various municipalities, we are happy with the progress we have made thus far.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
RTHK: Archbishop of Lyon resigns over child sex scandal

The Archbishop of Lyon, one of the most senior figures in the Catholic church in France, says he will resign, after being convicted for failing to report child sexual abuse. He was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence in the latest of a series of sex-abuse scandals to rock the church.

Philippe Barbarin, 68, is the most senior French cleric caught up in the global paedophilia scandal which Pope Francis, just two weeks ago, vowed to fight in an "all-out battle".

A court in Lyon, in southeastern France, ruled that Barbarin, a cardinal since 2003, was guilty of failing to report allegations of abuse of boy scouts committed by a priest, Bernard Preynat, in the 1980s and 1990s. The priest, who was charged in 2016, is expected for his part to be tried this year.

Barbarin, who was not present for the verdict, said he "duly acknowledged the court's decision", but his lawyer said it would be appealed.

He is the third senior French cleric to be found guilty of failing to report sex abuse.

His trial came at a time when the Catholic Church has been hit by abuse scandals in countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Chile and the United States.

Pope Francis held a special summit on the issue at the Vatican last month during which he compared paedophilia to the "human sacrifice" of children. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Remarkably, that time coincided with the European Commission (EC) anti-dumping investigation into electric bicycles imported from China. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), this may lead to the risk of EC investigation into tax evasion of some Vietnamese exporters, affecting genuine exporters. Therefore, the MoIT will strengthen the inspection and supervision of the issuance of certificates of origin from Vietnam for electric bicycles. In particular, special attention should be paid to the possibility of counterfeiting of Vietnamese origin goods.

In fact, many products and goods produced in Vietnam with high quality and stability are being trusted, selected and received by a large number of consumers in various countries around the world. Thus, the trade fraud through labeling of origin as made in Vietnam is increasing.

There are many cases of goods being imported or processed abroad, but they are labeled as goods produced in Vietnam for commercial fraud and deceiving consumers. Vietnam has increasingly participated in a number of free trade agreements (FTAs), thus, there is a tendency of foreign goods borrowing Vietnam origin to benefit from FTAs or avoid trade defence measures from the importing country.

The fraudulent label of origin not only affects specific products and consumers, but also creates significant impact on the domestic industry while reducing the reputation and competitiveness of goods made in Vietnam. Developed countries all have specific provisions on labeling of origin to protect the domestic manufacturing industry and the brand of specific products.

Sanctions against individuals and organisations deliberately misleading the origin of goods labels are also very strict. For example, under Canadian regulations, if an organisation or individual gives misleading information about products can be fined up to C$ 15 million and imprisoned from one to 14 years.

In Vietnam, the current regulations mainly regulate trademarks, geographical indications and brands. The concept of "Vietnamese goods" can be understood in many different ways, such as goods originating from Vietnam to enjoy tariff preferences under international economic integration commitments, or goods with the manufacturing stage in Vietnam, or goods branded in Vietnam. These concepts are different but often make people confused. Therefore, it is imperative to complete the legal regime for the "Made in Vietnam" label.

Through initial exchanges between ministries, sectors, experts and some associations, the labeling of made in Vietnam should be applied on the principle of voluntariness and self-declaration in the short term. When individuals or organisations label their products made in Vietnam, it is mandatory that goods must meet the set criteria as required. In case individuals or organisations label their products with manufacturing stages in Vietnam, they must prove that the goods undergo production and processing stages in Vietnam.

After a period of allowing regulations on goods labeling to gradually form in public awareness, the State management agency will review, evaluate and report to the Government to put forth mandatory labeling of specific goods produced in Vietnam in order to protect Vietnamese consumers and the domestic manufacturing industry as well as build strong domestic brands.
The Investigatory Chamber of the independent UEFA Club Financial Control Body has today opened a formal investigation into Manchester City FC for potential breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

The investigation will focus on several alleged violations of FFP that were recently made public in various media outlets.

UEFA will make no further comments on the matter while the investigation is ongoing.
Russian occupation forces launched nine attacks on positions of Ukrainian troops in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in eastern Ukraine over the past day.

Invaders used the weapons banned under the Minsk agreements, firing a total of 121 mortars and shells. For the first time since the beginning of the year, Russian occupation forces used 152mm artillery, the JFO Headquarters press centre reports on Facebook.

In the zone of action of tactical force East, Ukrainian positions came under 122mm artillery and 120mm mortar fire near Lebedynske (16km east of Mariupol) and Vodiane (94km south of Donetsk); 122mm artillery  outside Hnutove (20km north-east of Mariupol); small arms  in the area of Bohdanivka (41km south-west of Donetsk).

In the zone of action of tactical force North, the enemy fired 120mm mortars on Ukrainian strongholds outside Novoluhanske (53km north-east of Donetsk); 120mm mortars and heavy machine guns  near Katerynivka (64km west of Luhansk); 152mm and 122mm artillery, heavy machine guns and small arms  in the area of Novotoshkivske (53km west of Luhansk); 120mm mortars  near Krymske (42km north-west of Luhansk).

No casualties among Ukrainian troops were reported.

In addition, Russian occupation troops used 122mm artillery to fire on the village of Novoluhanske. Ten shells damaged the amenity buildings and power lines. No civilian casualties were reported.

The military personnel of the attacked units used the duty fire weapons in return.

According to the intelligence, two militants were killed and three more were wounded on March 6. One unit of enemy equipment was destroyed.

Today, the invaders have already opened fire near Krymske, using 82mm mortars. No casualties among Ukrainian troops have been reported.

The Joint Forces reliably control the enemy on the contact line, adhering to the ceasefire agreements.

ol
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine considered at its meeting the issue of reforming the military-industrial complex.

March 6, 2019, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine considered at its meeting the issue of reforming the military-industrial complex and increasing the transparency of implementing the state defense order, the Councils press service reports.

According to NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov, all the basic needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations amid Russia's armed aggression are met by the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.

"The domestic military-industrial complex implements the systemic programs for the production of a wide range of weapons and military equipment, in particular, powerful missile systems," Turchynov said.

He added that the priority of the missile program "is particularly important given Russia's withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which, above all, poses an additional threat to the security of our country".

The NSDC Secretary underscored that the reform of the security and defense sector, in particular, of such an important component as the military-industrial complex, was one of the priorities.

According to him, the directions of reforming the military-industrial complex were elaborated with the involvement of leading experts from the countries which are strategic partners of Ukraine - members of the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as independent military experts from Ukraine.

"Taking into account these developments, the NSDC of Ukraine adopted a decision envisaging a set of measures for reforming the military-industrial complex and increasing the transparency of implementing the state defense order as well as priority steps regarding the systematic struggle against any corruption manifestations and the responsibility of top managers irrespective of their rank and position," Turchynov noted.

In addition, a number of other issues were considered at the meeting, in particular, increasing the openness and transparency of the military-industrial complex, attracting investment, ensuring the modern level of innovation and the quality of research and developing the domestic defense industry.

ol
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko held a meeting with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale.

The president noted a significant strengthening of the Ukrainian-American strategic partnership over the past four years, including cooperation in the field of security and defense, as well as intensive growth of trade and economic cooperation, the press service of the head of state reported.

Poroshenko emphasized the important role of the U.S. assistance for successful implementation of reforms and strengthening of the defense capability of Ukraine, which continues to move towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

The parties discussed further joint steps to counter Russia's aggressive actions in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as well as measures in response to the Russian armed attack on Ukrainian ships.

The parties noted the necessity of further strengthening of pressure on Russia, including through sanctions, in response to the Kremlin's aggressive policy, which deliberately undermines international stability and security.

In addition, Poroshenko and Hale discussed the issue of elections in Ukraine. They emphasized the need to prevent external interference in the democratic electoral process and preserve internal stability in the country.

The Under Secretary of State conveyed congratulations from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, noting a significant progress Ukraine has made in recent years in the face of Russian aggression and assuring the president of Ukraine of the continued support by the United States of America.
| By Laura Lee

The BioPark is a bridge, said Jay A. Perman, MD, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).

Its a bridge to take discoveries to market, through UMBs vast discovery pipeline, Perman explained.

Its a bridge to private enterprise and its a bridge to a distressed community by providing opportunities for education and growth, he continued.

Maryland Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz toured the UM BioPark in February 2019. Pictured (l-r) UMB President Jay A. Perman, Ashok Tehim, senior vice president, Pharmaron; Maryland Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz; Bridget McMahon, director of clinical operations, Pharmaron; James L. Hughes, UMB chief enteprise and development officer and senior vice president.

UMB has long been one of the states most powerful economic drivers, stimulating $3 billion in economic activity in 2018, up from $2.8 billion in 2016. A significant factor in that growth is the UM BioPark, which occupies 14 acres in West Baltimore providing laboratory and office space to 41 biotechnology companies and over 1,000 employees.

In February, Maryland Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz experienced firsthand how the BioPark not only encourages collaboration among bioscience companies and the University but also collaboration with the surrounding West Baltimore community, providing pathways to employment and education.

Schulz and a team from the Maryland Department of Commerce spent an afternoon meeting with BioPark tenants, including David Block, MD, CEO of Gliknik; Dan Cramer, president and COO of Wexford Science and Technology; Gerard Fleury, CFO of Paragon Bioservices; and Ashok Tehim, PhD, senior vice president of Pharmaron, to find out how the BioPark tenant companies in partnership with UMB are contributing to the economic success of Maryland.

Key words that came up frequently were growth and momentum.

James L. Hughes, MBA, chief enterprise and economic development officer and senior vice president for UMB, reflected on how 15 years ago the original concept evolved from the idea of an incubator to a BioPark with the vision of a space that could accommodate larger companies and encourage them to stay in the region.

The first building opened in 2005 and now, along with a second multi-tenant building, both developed by Wexford Science and Technology, the BioPark is home to 1,000 Baltimore-based jobs.

More jobs are on the horizon with new lab and office space that Wexford plans to develop at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Baltimore Street. We call it the Gateway because its not only the first building youll see coming into the BioPark, but one of the first buildings you see coming into Baltimore from the south, Cramer said.

Pharmaron, a premier contract research organization, is one of the BioParks oldest tenants with a 40,000-square-foot Clinical Pharmacology Center in its offices on Baltimore Street. Tehim told Schulz his five-year plan includes occupying several floors of the new space in the Gateway building to house the growing company.

When we started, we had 55 employees, then we grew to 80 last year, he said. Next year he plans to increase his staff to 115 employees in its current space. Tehim said for Pharmaron, which also operates facilities in China and the United Kingdom, coming to the UM BioPark was a strategic choice.

We came because we have an ecosystem here, he said. We wanted to be close to the esteemed medical center Baltimore has. We wanted to be close to the NIH, NCI. You can hire medical staff, you can hire nursing staff, you can hire different people. This is an exciting place for us.

The BioPark is an exciting place for tenant Paragon Bioservices as well. Paragon, which specializes in gene therapy, vaccines, and advanced biologics, has experienced tremendous momentum in part thanks to its location in the BioPark. The BioPark, because of the resources we have here, weve really become a center of excellence right here in this facility, Fleury said.

Gene therapy is the next wave in biotech Fleury explained, noting that the FDA projects there will be 44 gene therapies on the market in the next several years. Theres only one right now, he said, pausing for effect.

To keep up with the explosive growth in the market, Paragon has been hiring  a lot. In 2016, Paragon had 100 employees. By the end of 2018, that number had leaped to 330. By 2019, Fleury projects he will have over 500 employees.

In addition to the space at the BioPark, Paragon has expanded to a 150,000-square-foot commercial space near BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport in Anne Arundel County.

The new hires are coming from Maryland, the Baltimore-Washington corridor, southern Pennsylvania, and even California.

What a wonderful thing for Baltimore and Maryland for that kind of talent to be built around your company, to bring this talent in, noted UM BioPark executive director Jane Shaab, MBA.

Schulz agreed, saying that the workforce and economic growth are an amazing story.

Its clear over the last decade the BioPark has been an economic driver to the city of Baltimore, she said. Biotechnology and life science are extremely important to the governor when he thinks about economic development and moving the state forward, and we will do whatever we can to be supportive.
Ensuring human rights-based and gender-responsive implementation, follow-up and review of the Global Compact for Migration: The role of National Human Rights Institutions

Prof Dr. Rudolf, Madam Chair of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions; His Excellency, Ambassador Aspelund, Vice-President of the Human Rights Council; Ms. Gagnon from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights;

Excellencys, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of the Administrator of UNDP, Mr. Achim Steiner, it is my honour to address this opening session of the GANHRI Annual Conference.

With over 258 million migrants internationally, the world is on the move. Migration is a manifestation of globalization as well as human impulse. In some countries, migration is unfortunately the result of poverty, inequality, climate change or conflict. However, in many countries, migrants are a source of prosperity, innovation and sustainable development.

UNDP has long been engaged in addressing the root causes of migration in countries of origin, transit and destination. We work on governance, poverty, climate change and conflict prevention to contribute to addressing forced displacement and these efforts have always been at the heart of UNDPs mission  under the overall framework of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Last year in December, the Global Compact of Migration has brought international efforts into focus and has also highlighted clearly the centrality of human rights to these efforts. We must applaud member states for the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and work together to support the implementation.

The Global Compact is a milestone that has established a practical, framework for cooperation. Like the Sustainable Development Goals, the Compact is grounded in human rights and emphasizes that migrants should be entitled to the same universal human rights and fundamental freedoms as general populations, which must be respected, protected and fulfilled at all times.

The Global Compact also emphasizes the essential role that National Human Rights Institutions can play in making this a reality: in early warning efforts, service provision, to combat intolerance and discrimination and in supporting rights-based migration procedures. Therefore, the theme of your discussion at this conference is very timely.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Migration and displacement will continue to be a major international phenomenon in 2019. Many issues which prompt and relate to migration do not respect geographic borders. They cannot be tackled effectively by one nation or one action.

NHRIs in countries and the regional and global network of NHRIs are well placed to advance efforts of national implementation of the Global Compact. And also to advance the vital regional and cross-regional aspects of cooperation that will be required to support implementation.

We must not tolerate abuse and prejudice that can make life unbearable for a minority of migrants. We must work together to create conditions for migrants to fully contribute to sustainable development in all countries in a way that ensures their rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.

Moving ahead partnerships will be of the essence: UNDP is privileged to enjoy a Tri-Partite Partnership to support National Human Rights Institutions jointly with the UN Human Rights Office and GANHRI. This support to strengthen national human rights systems forms the cornerstone NHRIs form the cornerstone of national human rights systems which UNDP supports and this partnership has gone from strength to strength in recent years at the global level and now regionally and in countries. We are also conscious of the fact that NHRIs are included as a target to achieve SDG 16, which will be reviewed at the High Level Political Forum this year in July and we hope to step up our support.

One example is in Central Asia. In 2019, we are planning to work with OHCHR and the Asia-Pacific network to increase technical cooperation between NHRIs in that sub-region, specifically on how to protect and promote the rights of migrants in countries or origin and destination and whilst in transit. We look forward to working with you and benefiting from the discussions at this Conference to jointly plan how we can be of service to the implementation of the Global Compact.

Ladies and Gentlemen, lastly today I would like to take a moment to pay tribute to and recognize the excellent achievements of the outgoing Chairwoman of the Global Alliance  Prof. Dr. Beate Rudolf. Dr. Rudolf started her tenure as Chair with a clear vision to advance the contribution of the role of GANHRI representing NHRIs from around the world who, in turn, represent the voiceless in our societies. Throughout your tenure, you have steadfastly led the international community in working together towards these goals through our Tri-Partite Partnership and we extend sincere gratitude to you.

It has been a pleasure for UNDP to work with you. We also take this opportunity to congratulate the incoming Chair Mr. Carlos Negret Mosquera who will no doubt continue this excellent work and further our cooperation.

Thank you.
Opening

Students, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,

It is my great pleasure to join you today at the 43rd Annual UNIS-UN Conference.

This conference was started in 1976 by Ms. Sylvia Gordon, a humanities teacher at UNIS with about 30 students. The event has been a great success, growing over the years to include about 600 students from UNIS and other schools around the world. The conference is now hosted in this historic location, the hall of the UN General Assembly.

The conference, which has addressed a variety of important themes, has become part of the UNIS curriculum. It builds on the values and skills the students develop over their years at school and represents an important part of the strong relationship between UNIS and the UN.

Background on UN, UNDP

I know that all of you have a keen interest in the United Nations which was founded in 1945 after the devastating Second World War which cost millions of lives and devastated large parts of Europe and Asia. There were 51 original Member States which came together and committed to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations. They also dedicated efforts to further social progress, better living standards and human rights.

Today, the UN has grown to 193 members which is one indicator of its success. It has four main purposes: to keep peace throughout the world; to develop friendly relations among nations; to help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each others rights and freedoms. The UN also serves as a centre to harmonize the actions of nations to achieve these goals.

Although best known for peacekeeping, peacebuilding, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, there are many other ways the UN and its System (specialized agencies, funds and programmes) affect our lives and make the world a better place.

I head the United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP, which was established as we now know it, in 1965, by the General Assembly. UNDP, which has its headquarters here in New York, is the UN's global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.

UNDP is on the ground in some 170 countries and territories, supporting their own solutions to development challenges and developing national and local capacities that will help them achieve human development and the Sustainable Development Goals. Our work is concentrated on three main focus areas: sustainable development, democratic governance and peacebuilding, climate and disaster resilience. UNDP also helps countries attract and use aid effectively. In all our activities, UNDP promotes gender equality and the protection of human rights.

The Water Crisis

This years theme, Ripple Effect: The Water Crisis, is timely in many respects we see so many people struggle to get access to something that many of us take for granted  a simple glass of water. The UN keenly recognizes this major challenge.

Here in this very hall in 2015, where you are sitting today, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which set the global development agenda up to 2030. The adoption of the goals was rightly met by the audience with a standing ovation given their ambition.

Recognizing that water is fundamental to the survival of all life on earth and is a key driver for human development, the SDGs included a standalone goal for water - SDG number 6 which the whole UN System must strive for:

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

SDG 6 is ambitious to say the least  it calls for everyone to be able to access to safe water and sanitation, to significantly reduce pollution, to dramatically increase water use efficiency, to protect water ecosystems and to improve transboundary cooperation, among others.

SDG 6 is so important that many experts believe that if we cannot make progress on safe water and sanitation, the other SDGs cannot be achieved given its cross-cutting nature e.g. health, gender equality, education. SDG 6 is also very much interrelated with the other SDGs.

What I hope to underscore to you today is that the global water crisis, while indeed a crisis that includes issues of water scarcity, is more fundamentally a crisis of governance. For this reason, governance is the primary focus of UNDPs work on water. By governance, I mean the range of political, social, economic and administrative systems for developing and managing water resources and the delivery of related services.

Closely linked to SDG 6  and all the SDGs  is SDG number 16 which calls for the promotion of just, peaceful and inclusive societies - which captures the core element of a social compact between state and society. Such an agreement needs to speak to peoples needs, rights and expectations of what the state and other actors will deliver  including services like water, sanitation and waste management.

The building of responsive, accountable and transparent institutions is critical and is something that the United Nations and UNDP in particular helps to support on a daily basis across the globe through is assistance.

Water Scarcity

Most of you have heard some of the daunting figures and news stories regarding water scarcity. Some four billion people  more than half the Earths population  face some form of water scarcity for at least one month every single year. Half a billion people face water scarcity all the year round. People running out of water is not a scene from a disaster movie  this is happening every day around the world.

The world watched last year as Cape Town in South Africa faced the unprecedented situation as it was literally running out of water. The government announced Day Zero  a moment when dam levels would be so low that they would turn off the taps in the city and send people to communal water collection points. This shock announcement made people think twice about their water use. Residents of the city started showering standing over buckets to catch and re-use water. People also limited flushing toilets to once a day while other recycled water from their washing machines. Thanks to actions such as these, the dreaded Day Zero was narrowly averted.

The situation in Cape Town highlights how we all need to think about how we use and indeed, waste water.

Increasing water efficiency Integrated Water Resources Management

SDG target 6.4 addresses water scarcity, aiming to ensure that there is sufficient water for the population, the economy and the environment by increasing water-use efficiency across all sectors of society.

Fundamental to achieving this target is the concept and practice known as Integrated Water Resources Management (or IWRM).

IWRM is often characterized by the three Es: Economic Efficiency, Equity, and Environmental Sustainability. Achieving these targets is done by working towards finding a balance in the use of water for both human sustenance and productive uses such as agriculture.

UN-Water, in its 2012 global review of progress on IWRM, showed progress by many countries. However, it also found that much remained to be done including integrating IWRM into broader development planning and financing.

UNDP supports many developing countries to advance their progress on IWRM through a range of capacity-building activities such as UNDPs Cap-Net programme which trained 2,000 water professionals in 2018 alone in sustainable water management.

Need for increased transboundary cooperation

A key element of IWRM is transboundary cooperation.

Some 40 percent of the earths land surface area consists of shared river basins in which about half of the world resides. Of the worlds 286 transboundary river systems, only around 60 per cent have any kind of cooperative management arrangements. The story is even worse for transboundary groundwater or aquifer systems: only seven of the known 400 or so systems have any kind of agreement in place.

A recent analysis by the think tank, the Strategic Foresight Group, noted that no two countries with water agreements in place have ever gone to war, for any reason.

There is an obvious need for the international community to do more to facilitate cooperation on water management. There can be enormous benefits including enhanced regional economic and transport integration.

UNDP, through its GEF-financed International Waters portfolio, is supporting joint integrated management of 19 shared river, lake and aquifer systems representing over 70 countries, with a particular focus on Africas river systems.

Water pollution

Our planets surface and sub-surface waters  and the coastal areas that receive effluent from rivers and groundwater  are also facing severe challenges from pollution.

Nearly half a million people die every year due to waterborne diseases, which is the dominant cause of water-related fatalities and not, as many may believe, the absolute lack of any water to drink.

While the Millennium Development Goal (or MDG) for water was achieved, with 91% having an improved water source as of 2015, SDG 6.1 set a much more ambitious agenda calling for safe and affordable drinking water. However, at present, some 2.1 billion people still do not have access to safe drinking water.

The Human Right to Water and Sanitation was recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010. It placed major responsibilities upon governments to ensure that people can enjoy sufficient, safe, accessible and affordable water, without discrimination.

Since the industrial revolution, nitrogen pollution inputs from rivers to the ocean, largely from agricultural and municipal wastewater sources, have roughly tripled, driving the creation of now some 500 hypoxic or low-oxygen zones in the worlds coastal areas.

SDG 6.3 calls for halving the proportion of untreated wastewater by 2030 yet some 80 per cent of the worlds wastewater is still released into waterways untreated. We have seen stark examples of how damaging this can be.

The Black Sea experienced unprecedented degradation when runoff from the agricultural sector such as fertilizers and livestock waste as well as domestic and industrial waste polluted the sea, causing a large dead zone. Over a 15-year period, UNDP worked closely with the 17 countries of the Danube/Black Sea basin, the Danube and Black Sea Commissions, the World Bank, the European Union and other partners to clean-up the sea. This partnership helped reduce nutrient loads from the Danube to the Black Sea to levels that helped to eliminate the dead zone.

Sanitation

One area that needs urgent attention is the continued slow progress in global access to safe sanitation.

The Millennium Development Goals unfortunately missed the sanitation target by nearly 700 million people, leaving 2.3 billion people without basic sanitation, and, under SDG 6.2, an estimated 4.5 billion lack access to safely managed sanitation.

These sizeable gaps in access to water and sanitation have a myriad of consequences that you may not have thought about. It can keep girls out of school as they need to fetch water. This can lead to diminished opportunities to realize peoples capabilities and human potential, which in turn represents a drag on economic growth.

The 2006 UNDP Human Development Report Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis, still resonates with its basic premise - the water crisis is rooted in power structures, inequality, and lack of political will, not strict water availability.

UNDPs work on water and sanitation, such as through its GoAL-WaSH programme, has helped post-conflict countries such as Tajikistan where we assisted with the mainstreaming of the human right to water into the Governments water-related policy implementation.

Climate Change

It is impossible to talk about the water crisis without talking about climate change which is also one of UNDPs key priorities for 2019.

The global greenhouse effect, by increasing the amount of energy in the land-ocean-atmosphere system, is accelerating the global hydrological (water) cycle, leading to increased frequency and intensity of climate extremes, from droughts to rainfall events to hurricanes.

These changes are already severely impacting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around the world; the only way we can start to slow and mitigate the water-related impacts of climate change is to take urgent steps to meet our commitments under the UNFCCCs Paris Agreement.

It is important to remember that UNDP has the largest climate portfolio, both mitigation and adaptation, in the entire UN system. UNDP assists over 120 countries in a wide range of areas, from preparation of their Paris Agreement Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, to accessing funding sources for on-the-ground climate mitigation and adaptation actions.

Youth and water- what can you do? / Call to Action

It is not only the United Nations who addresses the water crisis. Youth can and must play active role in protecting the environment including water.

You can make small lifestyle changes to play your part that will make a difference. We need to look at how we waste water and how we treat our bodies of water. Look at the fact that one million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute, while up to 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every year. Much of this plastic ends up in our oceans or waterways. You can use a refillable water bottle instead of a single-use water or drinks bottle and refuse to use single-use plastics such as cutlery.

Perhaps more importantly  you have the ability to inspire young people. adults and especially the policymakers around you. You can encourage your schools, homes and youth organizations to be even more environmentally sound. You can push for initiatives that conserve the precious resource that is water.

Dont be afraid to be active and get involved. I am so glad to see the enthusiasm for this important subject from all those here today.

Closing

In closing, let me once again thank UNIS for inviting me to address you today. There is indeed a global water crisis and it is at its root a crisis of governance. The entire UN System is putting the water crisis high on the agenda.

Youth will play a crucial role in changing the way we think about water.

UNDP, through its water, climate, biodiversity and other programmes, works with stakeholders at all levels, from government to the private sector to local communities, to address the water crisis. It is key to address these governance issues so that water is managed better.

What is fair to say is that without progress on SD6, it will be much harder to achieve the other SDGs given that water and sanitation impacts upon so much of daily life including health, education and gender equality to name but a few.

We must work together with the ultimate goal in mind - to ensure that everyone on this planet has access to safe water and sanitation.
My story starts with 20 dinars (US$28) and a can of olive oil, says 42-year-old Najwa, describing how one simple act of kindness helped her overcome personal tragedy and regain control of her life as a Syrian refugee in Jordan.

From this small initial donation, today Najwa has built up a soap making business that provides her and four other women with a vital income, and which recently began exporting its first orders to China.

Things were very different for Najwa when she and her family fled their hometown of Daraa in southern Syria in 2013 and first arrived in Zarqa, a sprawling city some 25 kilometres northeast of Jordans capital, Amman.

In December 2011, during the early months of a conflict that will mark its eighth anniversary on 15 March, her 16-year-old son Mahmoud was shot and killed in the streets of their hometown. When their home was subsequently destroyed by shelling, Najwa says there was nothing left for them in Syria and they crossed the nearby border into Jordan.

"If the women break down, then the whole family breaks down."

Living in an unfamiliar city and wracked by grief, Najwa was struggling simply to take care of herself and her family, until one day she heard about the Zarqa Life Center, which offers psychosocial support to vulnerable Jordanian and Syria women living in the city.

The centres director Gertrud Khouri, known as Trudy, is a German-born former nurse who arrived in Jordan decades earlier after applying for a job at a local hospital, before meeting her husband and settling in the country.

Jordanian employee Susan (left) helps Najwa to inspect the products before packaging.  UNHCR/Mohammad Hawari

Susan stocks the shelves with soap at their premises in Zarqa, Jordan.  UNHCR/Mohammad Hawari

Najwa (rear) and her employees prepare orders at their shop in Zarqa, Jordan.  UNHCR/Mohammad Hawari

After the outbreak of the conflict, Syrian refugees began settling in Zarqa, many of them lone or vulnerable women, and 75-year-old Trudy was determined to help. I saw that these women needed support. If the women break down then the whole family breaks down, she explained.

Jordan is currently host to more than 670,000 registered Syrian refugees, more than half of whom are women. In recent years, the Jordanian Government has taken important steps to improve access to the job market for Syrian refugees.

The Ministry of Labour has issued over 120,000 work permits for Syrian refugees between 2016 and 2018, in the construction, agricultural, manufacturing and food and food processing sectors. Additionally, in November 2018, the ministry allowed Syrian refugees in Jordan to establish their own home-based businesses, in food processing, tailoring, and handicrafts.

While UNHCR welcomed these decisions to further empower Syrian refugees to earn a living, livelihood opportunities remain limited for many, especially for women.

Najwa had recently started making glycerin soap when she met Trudy, who saw her potential and encouraged her to try making soap using organic oil from Jordans ancient olive groves, gifting her the resources she needed to get started.

Najwa began selling her soap at the centre and at local bazars, eventually expanding to dedicated premises and employing two Syrian and two Jordanian women. She also received funding from a Dutch NGO called ZOA to teach other refugee and local women how to make soap.

I feel that this is a real achievement and a miracle, said Najwa, brimming with new-found confidence. Now we have women who are improving their futures and helping their families, while also developing their personalities.

"I see myself as a strong woman."

For Najwa, being able to start her own business has increased her economic independence, as well as that of the two Syrian refugees she employs, making them less reliant on aid in the process.

It has also benefited the Jordanian host community by providing employment opportunities for local women, and ensuring that the presence of Najwa and other Syrian refugees like her boosts rather than hinders economic development.

Since they first met, Najwa has developed a close relationship with Trudy, who marvels at the transformation she has seen in her Syrian friend. When I first met Najwa I saw a desperate woman, she said. Now I see a very confident person who actually helps other women, not only by teaching them something but also by supporting them emotionally and psychologically.

For her part, Najwa remains ever grateful to Trudy for showing her kindness and helping her through a tough period in her life. We met at a difficult time, but she offered me security and love, and a fresh new life, she said. I see myself as a strong woman. I passed through hard times, but I was stronger than these difficulties.

Additional reporting by Mohammad Hawari
Mama Elizabeth hums a song as she busies herself, arranging a set of dishes in a corner of her grass-thatched hut. The seemingly ordinary hut is far from that  it is a temporary safe haven that shelters refugee women.

Mama Elizabeth, 65, is a Sudanese refugee and one of 48 refugee volunteers, also known as 'guardian angels,' who have opened up their homes in four refugee camps in South Sudans Maban County to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

When I was asked to take on this role, I accepted because I am always happy to help women, she says with a smile. I am committed to assist people who are in dire need.

Two weeks earlier, Mama Elizabeth hosted Sarah*, a mother of nine from Sudan who was fleeing domestic abuse.

Since 2016, these safe havens have hosted women, children and men in need, under an initiative led by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Danish Refugee Council. Over 145,000 refugees like Sarah have benefitted under this initiative.

Women are left behind. Once a girl is married early, she loses the opportunity to pursue education.

I chose to go to Mama Elizabeth because I needed peace of mind and shelter, says Sarah who endured years of ruthless beatings from her husband. When he deserted her and her children, she moved in with her brother who also started beating her. It was too much for her to bear and she decided to run away.

My brother turned on me when I had just given birth. My child was only three days old, she recalls.

Mama Elizabeth has been taking in people in need like Sarah for years  a decision that has always come easily to her. These safe havens are also known as community-based shelters, because it is members of the community themselves who are helping newly arrived refugees, not just humanitarian agencies.

UNHCR recognizes the role that the guardian angels play as a critical one.

The guardian angels are local leaders who are highly respected by the refugees and host community, explains Grace Atim, a UNHCR protection officer based in Maban. They volunteer to take on this role and they have the ability to stand up to perpetrators of SGBV.

South Sudans conflict has forced almost 2.3 million people to flee across six countries in the region, while an additional 2 million South Sudanese have been displaced within the country. About 80 per cent of the displaced are women and children who are prone to various risks, including SGBV.

In 2018, over 1,500 cases of SGBV were reported to UNHCR and partner agencies  cases involving physical, emotional, psychological and sexual violence that have inflicted harm on women, men and children. All reported cases received medical, psychosocial and legal aid, as well as material assistance based on their needs.

To mitigate the risks of SGBV, UHNCR works closely with partner agencies, refugee and host communities to build safe shelters, conduct awareness campaigns, strengthen referral mechanisms and sensitize communities on the importance of combatting the problem.

We also strive to build the capacity of guardian angels like Mama Elizabeth so that they can understand the need to fight SGBV and protect those at risk, adds UNHCRs Atim.

I chose to go to Mama Elizabeth because I needed peace of mind and shelter.

Mama Elizabeth admits that before attending these trainings, she had a different view on some cultural practices like early marriage, which she respected as part of her communitys tradition.

After the trainings, I now understand how early marriage is wrong, she says. Women are left behind. Once a girl is married early, she loses the opportunity to pursue education.

Mama Elizabeth adds that education is very important because someone who is educated can be able to understand a lot of things from around the world and is in a position to deliver.

As a refugee who has been displaced by conflict multiple times, Mama Elizabeth has lived in Doro camp since 2011. As a womens representative for five years, she was able to advocate for womens rights and mobilize community members to create awareness on various issues, including SGBV.

I was the one that humanitarian organizations spoke to if they wished to share any messages with the women in my community, she says.

Now she is focused on running the shelter and hopes to continue helping those in need.

* Name changed for security reasons.
Life as a refugee was never easy for Zahida, 35, who has been raising five children on her own ever since her husband went missing a few years into the war in Syria. In Lebanon, she said, jobs were scarce and rents were high. But coming home has brought new struggles.

The destruction was indescribable, and at first I didnt recognize my town, she said. Her two-storey home was reduced to rubble, and though relatives took them in, the windows and doors in their borrowed rooms were missing. There was no water, no electricity, she added. We felt that we were in the stone age. But little by little, we made things better.

There was no water, no electricity. We felt that we were in the stone age."

Zahida shared her familys story on Wednesday with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, who visited Syria this week to assess the massive humanitarian needs people are facing here.

This decision to come back is a difficult one, and we must respect that not all refugees and not all [internally] displaced people will make that decision quickly, Grandi said. But for those who make that decision and voluntarily come back here, we must provide them with help  at least for their basic needs and their initial reintegration in their community.

Here in Souran, a dozen miles north of Hama in western Syria, the High Commissioner spent time with several families who have voluntarily returned after being displaced, often multiple times, for months or years. He also met with a newly formed womens group, visited a primary school that reopened in October and toured a bakery that opened in January  all with support from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi meets Syrian returnee Zahida, 35, and her family at their home in Souran, Syria.  UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

Filippo Grandi chats with pupils at the Al-Shuhada School in Souran, Syria.  UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

Filippo Grandi tries freshly baked bread at a bakery in Souran, Syria.  UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

Filippo Grandi meets Abdelkarim and his family at their home in Souran, Syria.  UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

Before the conflict, Souran was home to some 47,000 people, many of them farmers, merchants and labourers. When armed groups overran the town in August 2016, it emptied overnight. Some residents sought refuge in Turkey or Lebanon; the rest fled to nearby Hama city or other parts of Syria.

Abdelkarim is among those who went to Hama, where, he told Grandi, frequent rent hikes forced his family to move from place to place for more than a year. Upon returning to Souran, he found his house filled with wreckage and stripped of anything of value. There were no doors, no faucets, he said. Even the nails were taken out.

With rats and insects keeping the family up at night, Abdelkarim set to work rehabilitating the house. He erected new interior walls and, with support from UNHCR, installed doors and windows that provide greater security.

Altogether, some 33,000 people have returned to Souran, mainly those who had fled to nearby areas in Syria. At least a third of the towns former residents are still living elsewhere.

"For those who voluntarily come back here, we must provide help."

In 2018, an estimated 1.4 million Syrians who were displaced inside their own country have returned home, often trading one set of staggering hardships for another. Even so, they are a minority. After eight years of violence and destruction, millions remain internally displaced, with another 5.6 million refugees still living in neighbouring countries and over 1 million Syrians dispersed to other parts of the world.

Zahida told Grandi she came home to Souran because life in exile was taking a heavy toll on her children. At age 14, her son dropped out of school to help support the family by working in a barbershop. But the money he earned was not enough to cover the school fees for his sisters, who were falling behind in their education.

Their house here stood on a prime corner lot, but today lies in ruin. A concrete staircase dangles from the wreckage like a pendulum, tethered by a few strands of rebar. When I saw it, it was one of the saddest moments in my life, she said.

Now Zahidas oldest daughter attends catch-up classes at the new community centre, and the three younger ones are enrolled at Al-Shuhada primary school, which reopened in November with UNHCR support. It is one of five schools serving the community; 15 others remain closed, mainly due to structural damage. Because so many children have missed months or years of schooling, the crowded classrooms serve students whose ages differ by two or three years.

Grandi also paid a visit to Sourans only bakery, which opened in January with support from UNHCR. Previously the town had to get its bread from a supplier nearly a dozen miles away, but the new one here created 45 jobs and lowered the price of bread by 75 per cent. The bakery has since hired a second shift and goes through 10 tonnes of flour per day, helping to feed more than 12,000 people.

"We wanted to recover our dignity. Outside of our country, its not the same.

The High Commissioner met with a local womens group that has helped some of those returning to Souran regain a sense of community and belonging. We wanted to come back to our homes, to our land, one woman told the High Commissioner. And we wanted to recover our dignity. Outside of our country, its not the same.

We are starting from scratch, she added. We hope we have enough strength to rebuild our lives, but we will need help from others.

UNHCRs policy is to help those who are displaced, both inside Syria and abroad, and to help ensure that Syrians who are voluntarily returning home and settling back into their communities receive the humanitarian support they urgently need.
UN Refugee Chief Filippo Grandi visits the ruins of Souran and speaks with a young returnee, in Souran, Syria.  UNHCR/Andrew McConnell

On his fourth visit to Syria as High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi assessed the massive humanitarian needs facing the population here. After eight years of war, he observed that the magnitude of the humanitarian problem is staggering, exacerbated by the millions of people uprooted from their homes.

The years of violence and destruction forced virtually every second Syrian to flee their homes  more than 5.6 million Syrians live as refugees across the region and millions more Syrians are internally displaced. Estimates are that over 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) returned to their homes in Syria in 2018. Some Syrians are also slowly returning from neighbouring countries to areas where they feel safe.

Mr. Grandi reiterated UNHCRs policy to help those displaced  in Syria and abroad. He also said that Syrians returning voluntarily home and settling back into their community need humanitarian support.

The High Commissioner met with returnees yesterday in the town of Souran, in Hama Governorate, where many internally displaced people and some refugees made the voluntary decision to return to their shattered homes. The returnees spoke to him about the challenges to resume life in their communities: damaged or destroyed buildings and infrastructure, lack of economic opportunities and inadequate services.

The High Commissioner also visited internally displaced families in Damascus living in harsh conditions in damaged and abandoned buildings. The homes they fled from were just several kilometers away, but they expressed reluctance to return citing worries about safety, even poorer infrastructure and the lack of means to repair the damage.

In his meetings with senior government officials, the High Commissioner emphasized that UNHCRs access to people returning is critical in order to assess their needs and assist with their initial reintegration where support is needed. He noted that where we had this access, UNHCR with its UN and NGO partners was making efforts to rehabilitate homes, repair schools and reestablish health points and bakeries, as well as access to documentation. UNHCRs work with returnees includes help to reclaim documents, responding to the needs of unaccompanied and separated children, as well as counselling and specific support to particularly vulnerable individuals.

The High Commissioner reiterated to the government the importance of continuing to also remove obstacles of legal and administrative nature.

Mr. Grandi also expressed his grave concern for the civilians trapped in ISIL-held areas in Northeast Syria and also about the conditions for the over 50,000 people who have sought shelter in the Al Hol Camp since December. He expressed concern for the desperate conditions for people in Rukban and called for a solution to their plight.

Mr. Grandi, who will be traveling to Lebanon to visit refugees and meet the government, emphasized that refugee returns to date represent only a fraction of a vast Syrian refugee population. He continues to call on international community to stay the course in supporting the millions of Syrian refugees who live in neighbouring countries and still require protection and assistance as well as the local host communities and governments who have been sheltering millions of Syrian refugees for the past eight years.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
He was detained by NABU on March 4.

Director of state-run SpetsTechnoExport Enterprise Vladyslav Belbas has been arrested in keeping with a court ruling in a case related to large-scale embezzlement in the defense industry, and bail was set at UAH 7 million, or nearly $260,000.

Belbas was detained along with ex-deputy director of SpetsTechnoExport, which is part of state-run Ukroboronprom Concern, Denys Panasenko, theBabel portal said.

They were detained by agents of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on March 4.

Belbas and Panasenko are defendants in criminal proceedings for embezzling funds in the defense industry. According to the investigation, five officials created a criminal scheme. Their enterprise concluded a contract with the Ministry of Defense of India, but they hired an intermediary firm based in the United Arab Emirates, which was supposed to execute the contract for SpetsTechnoExport's funds. In 2015, some $2.2 million, which belonged to Kyiv-based state-run enterprise Plant 410 Civil Aviation, was transferred to the UAE-based firm, yet, the intermediary failed to provide services.

On Wednesday, March 6, Kyiv's Solomyansky district court ruled to arrest Panasenko, bail was set at UAH 5 million, or $185 million.

On March 5, Chief of the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) Nazar Kholodnytsky said that SAPO was going to demand bail be set at over UAH 28 million, or $1.04 million, for each of the detained officials of SpetsTechnoExport.

Plant 410 Civil Aviation was founded in 1948. It provides aircraft and engine repair services.

SpetsTechnoExport, which is engaged in exports and imports on foreign armaments market, was founded in 1998 and became part of Ukroboronprom in 2010.
Earlier, the spokesman for the National Squads NGO said the organization's observers could use force at polling stations during presidential elections in case they catch violators red-handed.

The Central Election Commission of Ukraine has appealed to the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police over the recent statement voiced by the National Squads NGO claiming their readiness to use force during presidential elections.

The spokesman for the National Squads NGO said the organization's observers could use force at polling stations during presidential elections in case they catch violators red-handed.

According to the CEC press service, the Commission is asking security officials and law enforcers to ensure law and order during the election process following the statement by representatives of one of the public organizations claiming that their officially accredited observers might use force at polling station in case they spot what they think are violations.

Read alsoNational Squads militia says ready to "use force" to fight fraud at polling stations

The CEC also added they had received from an NGO called "Civil Movement for Support of Reforms" a report stating that some of the organizations that the CEC allowed to deploy their official observers at the presidential elections had been involved in cooperation with illegal armed groups controlled by the Russian Federation operating in the occupied Donbas.

Thus, the CEC appealed to the Security Service of Ukraine calling for an investigation into the circumstances set forth in the resolution and the media," the appeal reads. The CEC also called for the SBU to "take response measures" if relevant grounds are in place, and for the National Police  to "ensure law and order during elections."
At first, a preliminary voter list will be compiled at the polling station, which will be further verified.

Oleksandr Stelmakh, an official with the State Register of Voters Managing Service, has said that as of mid-February, 35.541 million voters are included in the Register, of which 34.544 million have a polling address.

There are 3.109 million death records in the Register, which are preserved for five years in accordance with the law, as well as 27,616 records on stateless persons, and 35,917 records on incapable persons.

Yaryna Busol, head of the communication direction of the Reanimation Package of Reforms, wrote on ZN.UA these data are important since voter lists are drawn up in accordance with the data from the unified register. Ukraine's legislation allows voting all capable citizens of Ukraine from 18 years of age. Stateless and disabled persons are not entitled to vote. Accordingly, these 34.544 million people with a registered polling address are considered voters as of the day Stelmakh's statement was released.

Read alsoU.S. Under Secretary of State Hale highlights importance of citizen participation in democratic Ukraine

"At first, a preliminary voter list will be compiled at the polling station, which will be further verified. According to Svitlana Kononchuk, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Scientific Center of Legal Information, it is possible that people who have no voting rights, deceased persons, or those who had crossed from Ukraine could still be on the voter list. After all, not everyone gets registered with the consulates," the expert said.
Google Inc. earlier assured the Russian authorities that Crimea annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 was shown as Ukrainian territory "for technical reasons" and "there is no politicization."

Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly says that showing Crimea, the peninsular annexed by the Russian Federation from Ukraine in 2014, as Russian territory on Google Maps goes against the clear-cut stance of the U.S. Administration, U.S. Congress and the United Nations on this issue.

In particular, the ambassador recalled that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed in the July 25, 2018 Crimea Declaration that "the United States rejects Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea," the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States said on Facebook on March 6.

The ambassador also mentioned the Continuation by U.S. President Donald Trump of the National Emergency with respect to Ukraine, according to which sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with the occupation of Crimea remain in force.

"Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly has asked the top managers of Google Inc. to correct the incorrect designation of Ukraine's Crimea as part of the Russian Federation on some Google Maps," the Embassy said.

In his official letter, the Ambassador of Ukraine "noted a clear position on the inadmissibility of involving the international corporation and Google's search service in the information warfare that Russia has been waging internationally by spreading disinformation, fakes and propaganda, as is the case with Crimea on the maps."

"Google representatives have repeatedly stated in public speeches and interviews that Google's policy is focused on the development of information technology outside of the information warfare," the Embassy said.

Read alsoGoogle agrees on cooperation with Russian censors  media

The Embassy also says it hopes that the corporation will continue to adhere to such high standards and fix the wrong designation of the territory of Crimea on all Google Maps in accordance with international legislation and standards, as well as the official position of the United States.

As was reported, Google on March 5 announced it had corrected "an error that caused a small number of Russian iOS users to see incorrect information" following complaints from Russian State Duma officials that Google Maps was showing the Crimean peninsula as Ukrainian territory for some users in Russia. Duma's lawmakers threatened to lodge a complaint with the Russian Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, or Roskomnadzor, thus seeking sanctions against Google Inc.

In a press statement, Google explained that it complies with local laws regarding the depiction of international borders, while making "every effort to show disputed regions objectively."

As reported by UNIAN, after the February meeting of Chairman of the State Duma Security Committee Vasily Piskarev with Google representative Marina Zhunich, the corporation assured the Russian side that Crimea was designated as Ukrainian territory on maps for technical reasons, and "there is no politicization."
After the maneuvers, the Vyshgorod artillery boat returned to its permanent base, and the Turkish ships moored to the berth of the seaport.

The crew of a small Vyshgorod armored artillery boat of the Naval Forces of Ukraine has conducted PASSEX-type joint exercises with two Turkish ships, the TCG Barbaros frigate and the TCG Marti missile boat, which arrived in Odesa yesterday.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the ships performed tasks for tactical maneuvering in warrants, air defense and communications in accordance with NATO standards, the Dumskaya newspaper reports.

Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Rear Admiral Oleksiy Neyizhpapa, said these were the first PASSEX-type exercises in the Black Sea since the beginning of the year with the participation of the Ukrainian ship.

After the maneuvers, the Vyshgorod artillery boat returned to its permanent base, and the Turkish ships moored to the berth of the seaport.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the visit of Turkish ships to Odesa will last until March 8. It became part of the annual marine exercises of the Turkish fleet, in which 67 ships of the Turkish Navy almost simultaneously will visit 40 foreign ports in the Marmara, Aegean and Black Seas.
The parties discussed further joint steps to counter Russia's aggressive actions in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as well as measures in response to the Russian armed attack on Ukrainian ships.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Undersecretary of State David Hale during their meeting in Kyiv March 7 noted the need to further increase pressure on Russia over its aggressive policies undermining world stability and security.

"The interlocutors noted the necessity of further strengthening of pressure on Russia, including through sanctions, in response to the Kremlin's aggressive policy, which deliberately undermines international stability and security," the presidential press service said.

The Head of State noted a significant strengthening of the Ukrainian-American strategic partnership over the past four years, including cooperation in the field of security and defense, as well as intensive growth of trade and economic cooperation.

Poroshenko emphasized the important role of the U.S. assistance for successful implementation of reforms and strengthening of the defense capability of Ukraine, which continues to move towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Read alsoU.S. says tolerance, restraint key principles for people with different religious affiliations

The parties discussed further joint steps to counter Russia's aggressive actions in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as well as measures in response to the Russian armed attack on Ukrainian ships.

In addition, the President of Ukraine and the Under Secretary of State discussed the issue of elections in Ukraine. They emphasized the need to prevent external interference in the democratic electoral process and preserve internal stability in the country.

The Under Secretary of State conveyed congratulations from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, noted a "significant progress Ukraine has made in recent years in the face of Russian aggression" and assured the President of Ukraine of the continued support by the United States of America.
The meeting will be held from 10:00 to 12:00 local time in New York City (from 17:00 to 19:00 Kyiv time) on Friday, March 15.

The United Nations Security Council on March 15 will hold a meeting on the five-year occupation of Ukraine's Crimea by Russia, all interested representatives of the UN member states are invited, according to the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations.

"The UN Security Council will hold an Arria-formula meeting on the fifth anniversary since the occupation of Crimea by Russia," the mission said on Twitter on March 7.

Read alsoUkraine's Ambassador: Crimea shown as Russia territory on Google Maps goes against U.S. policy

The meeting will be held from 10:00 to 12:00 local time in New York City (from 17:00 to 19:00 Kyiv time) on Friday, March 15.

All interested representatives of the UN member states can take part in the meeting.

UNIAN memo. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 after its troops had occupied the peninsula. An illegal referendum was held for Crimeans to decide on accession to Russia. De-facto Crimean authorities reported that allegedly 96.77% of the Crimean population had voted for joining Russia. On March 18, 2014, the so-called agreement on the accession of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to Russia was signed in the Kremlin. The West did not recognize the annexation in response to which sanctions against Russia were introduced. Ukraine's parliament voted to designate February 20, 2014, as the official date when the temporary occupation of Crimea began.
Ukraine has been fully implementing the INF Treaty on a voluntary basis.

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) says Ukraine reserves the right to develop own missile weapons after Russia has withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty).

"Ukraine retains the right to develop military weapons as necessary for defense capabilities of our country, including the relevant missile weapons," the ministry said in a statement on March 7.

"As far as the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has never ratified the mentioned Treaty, Ukraine has been fully implementing the INF, in fact on the voluntary basis. In this regard, a breach of the Treaty by the Russian Federation, as its full-fledged party, is especially outrageous," it said.

Read alsoPutin: Russia ready to destroy U.S. missiles if Washington deploys them in Europe

"The potential military pressure of the Russian Federation on European members of NATO due to the withdrawal from the Treaty, aimed at establishing total control by Moscow over the broader region from Baltic to the Mediterranean Sea, poses a serious threat to the whole European continent," it said.

Ukraine together with the American partners condemned the development and testing by the Russian Federation of ballistic missile RS-26 Rubezh with range of nearly 2,200 km, as well as extension of combat capabilities of Tactical Operational Missile Complex Iskander-M, in particular through modernization of cruise missiles, which are its integral part. skander- was identified during military exercises in the occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signed an order to withdraw from the INF Treaty, which once was a symbol of the end of the arms race and the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Handziuk died on November 4, 2018, three months after an acid attack.

U.S. authorities have honored the memory of Ukrainian activist from Kherson Kateryna Handziuk at the International Women of Courage Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C.

"Today our colleagues in Washington honored the memory of Kateryna Handziuk at an International Women of Courage ceremony," the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said on Twitter on March 7. "Katya set a powerful example by standing up against corruption and working to improve the lives of children displaced by war."

(2/2) Hear Ambassador Yovanovitchs thoughts about Kateryna Handziuks valuable contributions to her city and country. pic.twitter.com/VFnZLnEDST  U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) March 7, 2019

"It's also important that we pause to recognize and honor those women who paid the ultimate price for their courageous efforts, women like Kateryna Handziuk of Ukraine, who dedicated her journalism career to uncovering and calling out corruption," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the ceremony. "Even after a brutal acid attack, which ultimately claimed her life three months later, Kateryna refused to be silenced. From her hospital bed, she demanded justice, setting a powerful example for her fellow citizens."

UNIAN memo. Kherson activist, adviser to the Mayor of Kherson and acting manager of affairs at Kherson City Council's executive committee Kateryna Handziuk, 33, on July 31, 2018, survived an act of acid throwing. She suffered burns to more than 35% of her body and underwent 11 operations in Kyiv to treat her horrific injuries. Handziuk died on November 4, 2018. The immediate cause of her death was given as a severed blood clot resulting from the acid attack.

Police originally qualified the attack as an attempted murder committed with extreme cruelty, then its status was changed to completed murder. Six suspects were detained, one of whom, Mykola Novikov, was later released from custody as charges against him were dropped. The alleged participant in the assassination, Serhiy Torbin, and Mykyta Hrabchuk, another suspect in the case, are in custody. Three other suspects  Vyacheslav Vishnevsky, Volodymyr Vasyanovych, and Viktor Horbunov  were placed under house arrest.

On November 5, the media reported that Torbin had allegedly received money for the attack on Handziuk from Ihor Pavlovsky, an assistant to Member of Parliament from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction Mykola Palamarchuk. Palamarchuk in turn dismissed any accusations of his possible involvement in the assassination attempt on the activist. He also said he had dismissed Pavlovsky. On November 12, a court ruled to detain Pavlovsky. According to the SBU Security Service, he is suspected of complicity in the Handziuk murder.

Chief Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko announced on December 3 that the investigators had identified all the individuals who had ordered the assassination. He also named Oleksiy Levin (his real second name is Moskalenko) who later was placed on the international wanted list on December 10, 2018, on suspicion of involvement in the Handziuk assassination.

On January 31, 2019, Chairman of Kherson Regional Council Vladyslav Manger announced the suspension of his membership in Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna Party for the period of the investigation of the Handziuk murder case. On February 11, Manger was served with charge papers as an organizer of the assassination of Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk. On March 6, he was suspended from his office for a month under a court ruling.
A convoy of four trucks with 83 tonnes of humanitarian aid was set to cross into the occupied territory through the Novotroyitske checkpoint.

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU) says Russian proxy forces in Donbas have denied access of three trucks with humanitarian aid deployed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the occupied areas of Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

A convoy of four trucks with 83 tonnes of humanitarian aid was set to cross into the occupied territory through the Novotroyitske checkpoint, the SBGSU's press center reported on March 7.

Read alsoThree international organizations send over 140 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Donbas

However, the militants denied entry of three of the said vehicles, which were forced to head back to the Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Russian proxies provided no explanations of their move.
The Russian Federation suspended the deployment of "humanitarian convoys" to the occupied Donbas. The last convoy sent arrived in the occupied areas on December 20, 2018. As explained by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, this is due to the "demand assessment".

However, in reality, the termination of "humanitarian aid" by Russia to the occupied Donbas is due to another reason  the change of leadership in the areas and a certain rotation that is taking place there. And as long as these processes continue, all programs, including the "humanitarian aid", are put on hold.

There are several indications of such rotations.

Firstly, rumors are spinning about Igor Plotnitsky's return to Luhansk. I believe that this rumor was launched by the Russian side but I do not think that this will actually happen.

Secondly, as is known, "convoys" from Russia were used not only to deliver humanitarian but also weapons. At the same time, those insignificant volumes of actual humanitarian aid was looted by local warlords, representatives of the occupation administration. This was one of the reasons why Plotnitsky was removed from office. After all, when the operation was carried out to replace him, he was accused of reselling humanitarian aid to the local population and getting enriched on this.

I doubt that this problem with the looting has been solved. This is a systemic issue with the local leadership. After all, from the very beginning, the occupying authorities brought to power the gangs, and now they are trying to replace them with what could be perceived as civil servants.

However, in fact, the suspension of Russia's deliveries of humanitarian convoys to the occupied Donbas is due to a change in local leadership and a certain rotation that is taking place there

Thirdly, recently one of the "ministers" was detained. It also shows that there is a change in the "leadership" in the occupied part of Donbas, and some sort of cleansing is taking place. Therefore, I think we will witness further arrests of pseudo-minisers and pseudo-leaders.

So, until the cleansing and replacement of executives is completed, all projects will be "frozen". After all, there are simply no people there who would administer the Russian "aid". That is, they need the other side to accept it.

However, the cessation of deliveries of "humanitarian convoys" does not affect the capacities of militants, because the "economy" in the occupied territories has long been formed. I do not mean the economy of a genuine healthy country, but smuggling streams, drug trafficking, seizure of factories, selling coal, etc. There is money there.

In addition, one should not hope that Russia will not resume sending "aid". In order to stop it from being sent from Russia, this should be preceded by the withdrawal of Russian troops from Donbas. And we're not seeing it. And hence, Russia needs to provide its army with all that is necessary.

I'd also like to emphasize that there are no "militants" in Donbas  there are regular and irregular units of the Russian Federation. Recently, one of the combat commanders turned in to Ukraine and told about the staff structure of these units.

Moreover, one should not hope that Russia will not resume sending "aid"

Russia prepared the units that are being curated by officers of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. Moreover, the staff structure is constructed so that these forces at any moment could expand three times their size, replenished with troops from the Russian Federation. That is, they created a springboard for a possible war. Russia has accumulated a large amount of equipment, established logistics, prepared personnel and hardware, built roads from Rostov along the border in the direction of Sochi.

All this is done to improve the supplies for these divisions. So the formation of Russian troops for a possible strike on Ukraine is being completed.

Will it happen? When a huge amount of money is spent on preparations, the probability of this strike is very high. However, if Ukraine is well prepared, Russia will see that its losses will not be worth the success they could achieve, and therefore it will simply be disadvantageous for them. This way, we could probably be able to postpone or cancel these plans of the Russian Federation.

Myroslav Hai is a Reserve Officer, Deputy Head of the Board of Military Reserve under the General Staff of the Army, volunteer, head of the charity fund "Myr and Ko"
For the past two years, feminist events organized by Koval on International Women's Day have been met with violence from far-right groups.

Amnesty International is urging the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that participants in events marking International Women's Day on March 8 are "protected from violence."

One of these events, dubbed The First Wreath: The Reunion Of Women's Solidarity, is organized by activist Vitalina Koval and Amnesty International Ukraine in the western city of Uzhgorod, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty said.

For the past two years, feminist events organized by Koval on International Women's Day have been met with violence from far-right groups, the London-based human rights watchdog said in a statement on March 7.

Last year, Koval was "attacked with red paint by members of a violent group at the solidarity event and sustained burns to her eyes," it added.

The Ukrainian authorities' "failure to ensure adequate protection" has led to "injuries to peaceful attendees at solidarity events," said Oksana Pokalchuk, director of Amnesty International Ukraine.

Read alsoAmnesty: Ukrainian authorities 'slow to react' to attacks against journalists, rights advocates  media

"They have no excuse to fail again," Pokalchuk added, urging the authorities to "take every reasonable measure to guarantee the right to peaceful assembly and the safety of participants in events marking International Women's Day across the country."

In February, Ukraine Amnesty International blasted the Ukrainian authorities' failure to prevent or investigate "numerous" human rights violations committed last year against rights activists  in particular those defending the rights of women and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community  political opponents, and ethnic minorities.

"Hate-motivated groups in Ukraine who attack human rights activists, political opponents, and ethnic minorities believe they can do so with impunity, and the authorities' past inaction and ineffective investigations have bolstered this belief," according to Pokalchuk.
According to intelligence data, on March 6, two invaders were killed and three were injured.

Over the past day, Russian proxy forces nine times fired at Ukrainian positions in the Joint Forces Operation zone, including 11 times from weapons proscribed by Minsk agreements.

For the first time since year-start, militants employed 152mm artillery, the JFO HQ press center reports.

Read alsoUkrainian volunteer shows Ukrainian army's crushing blow on enemy position in Donbas (Video)

The enemy fired from 122mm artillery systems and 120 mm mortars at Ukrainian positions near Lebedynske and Vodiane. In the area of Hnutove, terrorists used 122 mm artillery. Near Bohdanivka, militants fired from small arms.

Russian proxies fired from 120mm mortars at Ukrainian positions in the area of Novoluhanske and from 120 mm mortars and large-caliber machine guns  near Katerynivka. In the area of Novotoshkivske, terrorists fired on Ukrainian positions from 152mm and 122mm artillery systems, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms. Near Krymske, the militants employed 120mm mortars.

Read alsoStar of first "DPR" would-be blockbuster, notorious commander defects to Ukraine, ready to testify in Hague (Video)

Over the past day, Ukraine forces suffered no losses.

Also, militants fired from 122mm artillery at a village of Novoluhanske. Commercial buildings and power lines were damaged. Luckily, no civilians were injured in the attack.

According to intelligence data, on March 6, two invaders were killed and three were injured.

A unit of enemy military hardware was also destroyed.
The final decision is with Russia, the Ukrainian envoy said.

Yevhen Marchuk, Ukraine's envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, has announced a new truce has been agreed after midnight on March 8.

"An agreement has been reached today and all the sides have agreed that a truce will start from 00:00 [on March 8]," he said on Pryamiy TV after a new round of peace talks in Minsk on Thursday, March 7.

Read alsoJoint Forces destroy enemy position in Yasynuvata (Video)

Yet, he said, there are no much hope and optimism for this. "The ball is in Russia's court," he added.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russian proxy forces nine times fired on Ukrainian positions in the Joint Forces Operation zone on March 6. Six enemy attacks were reported from 00:00 to 18:00 on March 7.
Russian authorities made the decision to move the Venezuelan accounts after consultations with their counterparts and business in Venezuela, two sources familiar with the negotiations said.

The Russian accounts of Venezuelan companies, including state oil firm PDVSA, will be moved to the Russian Financial Corporation Bank (Rusfincorp), which is sanctioned by the United States, a source told Reuters on Wednesday.

The decision had been agreed with the Russian government, the source, who is familiar with the negotiations, said, confirming an earlier report by the RIA news agency, Reuters reports.

This is not the Kremlins direct responsibility to open accounts and coordinate with business, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, while Rusfincorp said that it has no information that Venezuelan companies, including PDVSA, intended to transfer their accounts to the bank. Reuters reported last month that Russian lender Gazprombank had decided to freeze the accounts of PDVSA and halted transactions with the firm to reduce the risk of the bank falling under U.S. sanctions.

Read alsoRussia-made combat helicopter crashes in Venezuela

Russian authorities made the decision to move the Venezuelan accounts after consultations with their counterparts and business in Venezuela, two sources familiar with the negotiations were cited as saying by RIA.

The United States imposed sanctions against Rusfincorp, which is owned by Russian arms exporter Rosoboroneksport, and some businessmen in April 2018 in one of Washingtons most aggressive moves to punish Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and other malign activity.
If the routes are rejected, Gazprom would have to make alternate plans that would be more costly and delay the project.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said Wednesday his country hasn't yet decided whether to allow a joint German-Russian gas pipeline to pass through its territorial waters, but suggested Moscow's continued aggression in Ukraine was making it less likely to be approved.

Samuelsen said after meeting with German counterpart Heiko Maas in Berlin that once it's time for a final decision, the government in Copenhagen will evaluate "what is going on in Russia and the way that they treat Ukraine," according to The Associated Press.

With ongoing aggression, however, he said Russia is "definitely not working in the interest of Denmark in general."

The Baltic Sea pipeline would bring Russian gas directly to Germany, skirting Poland and Ukraine, and has prompted criticism from them, the U.S. and others.

Read alsoNord Stream 2 marks dead-end of Germanys Ostpolitik  media

Danish authorities are currently evaluating one application from Russia's state-owned Gazprom for the pipeline to go through Danish territorial waters, which includes an "assessment of environmental and safety implications as well as an assessment of the project's compatibility with Danish foreign, security and defense policy interests," according to Samuelsen's office.

A second application, proposing an alternative route that would still pass through what is called Denmark's exclusive economic zone, is being evaluated by the Danish Energy Agency.

Read alsoRadio Poland: Russia-Germany gas link possible only thanks to Schroder: Report

If the routes are rejected, Gazprom would have to make alternate plans that would be more costly and delay the project.

Maas said he understood the situation was complicated, and praised Denmark for putting "precision before speed."
There have been several high profile arrests of U.S. citizens in Russia in recent months.

Russia said on Thursday two U.S. citizens had been deported for violations of immigration laws, following local media reports that identified them as members of the Mormon church, and that two other Americans were in custody.

Russian media named the two as Kole Brodowski and David Udo Hague and said they had been ordered to leave Russia by a court in the southern port of Novorossiysk on Thursday, Reuters said.

It described them as volunteers with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons.

"I can confirm reports of the detention of U.S. citizens for breach of migration laws," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. "Four were detained, two were deported by the decision of the court."

Read alsoRussia to continue campaign promoting religious tensions in Ukraine media

The Mormon church was not immediately available for comment, Reuters said.

There have been several high profile arrests of U.S. citizens in Russia in recent months.

Paul Whelan, a former U.S. marine accused of spying, saw his detention extended last month for a further three months as authorities continue to investigate the case.

A prominent U.S. investor, Michael Calvey, was detained last month on allegations of stealing 2.5 billion roubles ($37.79 million). He denies the allegation.

More than 100 criminal cases have also been opened in Russia against Jehovah's Witnesses, another Christian denomination, with a Danish adherent of the faith recently jailed for six years.

KSL TV in the American state of Utah, where the Mormon church is based, quoted the father of one of the two detained men as saying they had been held on Friday on suspicion of teaching without a license.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
March 7 2019

The City of Edinburgh Council are to proceed with a special primary school to provide additional support needs for 72 children.

Burdiehouse Primary has been designed in house by the authority to replace the current St Crispins School and will include its own swimming pool and dedicated behavioural support team.

Operating as a community hub out of hours the school will sit under a wild flower roof with a raised ground floor designed to mitigate the likelihood of flooding on the at-risk site.

In their design statement the councils property and facilities management team wrote: The building will be split into 4 distinct zones organized along the central circulatory axis - community hub to the centre of the plan, behavioral support, junior and senior teaching wings.



The massing of the building gradually reduces in scale from the 2 storey community hub block down to the single storey teaching wings. The gym hall and swimming pool blocks are 1.5 storeys and will function as transitionary massing elements.



Proposed materials include a mix of facing brick, unfinished larch, zinc and glazed green brick slips.
At least five civilians were wounded due to terrorist shelling in the northwest of the Syrian province of Hama, local media reported Wednesday

DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th March, 2019) At least five civilians were wounded due to terrorist shelling in the northwest of the Syrian province of Hama, local media reported Wednesday.

In turn, the Syrian army attacked the positions of terrorists in the province, from which they fired at civilians of the Jurayn village, according to Al Ekhbariya broadcaster.

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.
Bolivian President Evo Morales on Wednesday criticized European countries for recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself interim Venezuelan president in late January, as the Latin American country's acting president in spite of the fact that the Venezuelan people never even voted for him

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th March, 2019) Bolivian President Evo Morales on Wednesday criticized European countries for recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself interim Venezuelan president in late January , as the Latin American country's acting president in spite of the fact that the Venezuelan people never even voted for him.

"We appreciate that Europe defends the principles of multilateralism, and therefore we do not understand why some countries do not recognize the sovereignty of Venezuela, but recognize the person, for whom no one has voted and who looks more like a viceroy of the colonial era, as [Venezuela's] president," Morales said on Twitter.

On January 5, Guaido was elected the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which all other government branches have been refusing to recognize since 2016.

On January 23, two days after the Venezuelan Supreme Court annulled his election, Guaido declared himself the country's "interim president." Incumbent President Nicolas Maduro qualified Guaido's move as an attempt to stage a coup orchestrated by Washington.

While the United States immediately recognized Guaido, the European Union failed to agree on a joint statement on the issue because the motion was vetoed by Italy, according to a diplomatic source. Despite this, however, many European countries have individually voiced their support for the opposition leader.

Bolivia along with China, Cuba, Russia and a number of other states have, in the meantime, voiced their support for Maduro. Mexico and Uruguay have refused to recognize Guaido, declaring themselves neutral and promoting a dialogue to resolve the crisis.
Hungarian Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on Wednesday that the country would not retreat from its anti-migration policy despite the requirements of Brussels

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th March, 2019) Hungarian Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on Wednesday that the country would not retreat from its anti-migration policy despite the requirements of Brussels

Earlier this week, Manfred Weber, the European People's Party (EPP) top candidate to head the European Commission, said that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban should stop his anti-EU rhetoric.

"We listen to other opinions, including Weber's. But more important than party discipline are the defense of European Christian values and stopping migration. On this, we cannot yield," Kovacs wrote on Twitter.

In February, the Hungarian government launched a new campaign poster with the faces of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros. The campaign suggests that Brussels is promoting unchecked migration.

The European Commission swiftly dismissed the campaign as fake news and slammed the ideas in it as "a ludicrous conspiracy theory."

In September, the European Parliament voted to proceed with disciplinary action against Hungary under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union. The report prepared by the parliament last year said Budapest was at "clear risk of a serious breach of EU values." Depending on the results of future proceedings under Article 7, the country may have some of its membership rights suspended.

In accordance with the quotas on migrant redistribution across EU countries, each EU state is expected to take in a certain number of refugees. Hungary as well as other countries of the Visegrad Four, namely the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, have been reluctant to accept migrants despite their membership in the European Union.
(@FahadShabbir)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has discussed with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials the situations in Syria, Libya and Yemen, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, during his UAE visit, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has discussed with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials the situations in Syria, Libya and Yemen, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, during his UAE visit, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Lavrov paid a visit to the UAE on Wednesday and Thursday. He held talks with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss both bilateral relations and regional agenda.

"As part of the trust-based exchange of opinions on the current situation in the middle East and the North Africa, a focus was made on immediate political settlement to conflicts and crises that remain in this strategically important region, including the situations in Syria, Yemen, Libya and the Palestinian territories," the statement read.

The ministry added that Lavrov and the UAE officials had reiterated their commitment to international law and respect for other states' sovereignty and territorial integrity. They have also pledged to continue fighting terrorism and radical ideologies.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) Illegal armed groups have shelled four settlement in Syrian provinces of Latakia and Hama over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria said on Wednesday.

"Despite the ceasefire regime being established throughout the country, there are still cases of ceasefire regime violation by illegal armed formations in the Idlib de-escalation zone ... Over the past day, terrorists attacked Beyt-Lukman and Hamrat (two times) in Latakia province, Tall-al-Maqtaa and Abu-Omar in Hama province," the center said in a daily bulletin.

The number of Syrians who were granted amnesty by the Syrian authorities over evading the duties of military service has increased to 56,324 as of March 5, according to the center.

The return of refugees to Syria continues with support from the Russian center, including through the Baniyas maritime checkpoint and the one at the Damascus Airport. A total of 225,556 Syrians have returned to Syria as of March 5, the Russian military added.

Apart from being one of the guarantors of the ceasefire in Syria, Russia also assists Damascus in the postwar reconstruction of the country and the repatriation of refugees, and makes efforts to help ensure the final settlement of the conflict in Syria at various international platforms. The Russian military also carries out regular humanitarian actions across Syria, delivering food and supplies to local residents.
Two Moldovan pilots who spent three and a half years in captivity in Afghanistan and almost a month on rehabilitation in Moscow, returned home, Moldovan President Igor Dodon said on Thursday

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) Two Moldovan pilots who spent three and a half years in captivity in Afghanistan and almost a month on rehabilitation in Moscow , returned home, Moldovan President Igor Dodon said on Thursday.

"Our fellows, Moldovan pilots, returned home today, to their native land, alive and well. I once again thank all those who contributed to the liberation of our compatriots," Dodon wrote on Facebook.

The Moldovan Foreign Ministry confirmed that the pilots came back to the country, noting that they were in good health, but would be monitored by doctors and protected by the authorities.

The pilots were captured in November 2015 when a helicopter they were flying on a mission for the Afghan security forces was downed over Taliban-controlled territory. The third Moldovan crew member was killed in a gunfight. His body was brought back to Moldova the following month. The release of the remaining two was announced in February by Dodon, who said that Russia played a major role in ending their three-year ordeal at the hands of the Taliban.
Russia welcomes the resumption of national dialogue in Nicaragua, insists that internal contradictions should be resolved without outside interference, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) Russia welcomes the resumption of national dialogue in Nicaragua, insists that internal contradictions should be resolved without outside interference, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"Another country in the region is Nicaragua.

We are closely following the development of the situation in that state and welcome the resumption of national dialogue on February 27, which, within the framework of the road map of talks developed by the parties, is called upon to determine a sustainable algorithm for solving existing problems," Zakharova said at a briefing.

"We firmly believe that internal contradictions should be resolved by Nicaraguans themselves without external intervention," she said.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) The United States has supplied Uzbekistan with four Raven unmanned aircraft systems to to give the Central Asian nation extra eyes to monitor border crossings, the Department of Defense announced in a press release on Wednesday.

"In an effort to secure and control key points of entry, the Uzbekistan Ministry of Defense thought that extra set of eyes could be the RQ-11B digital data link Raven - an unmanned aircraft system battled-tested by US forces for the last decade," the release said.

Following approval by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the US Army's Security Assistance Command (USASAC) delivered four Raven unmanned aircraft systems to Uzbekistan as a foreign military sale valued at $2.

3 million the release added.

The RQ-11B DDL Raven, manufactured by AeroVironment in the state of California, is a small hand-launched remote-controlled system that can be used for surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence, according to the release. Each Raven has a wingspan of 4.5 feet, is 3 feet long and weighs a little over 4 Pounds.

Earlier this month, the US Army qualified eight members of the Uzbek military to operate the system during four days of classroom instruction and hands-on training, the release said.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Sitting at the pinnacle one of the most successful skincare companies in Mongolia in her late 20s, Khulan Davaadorj's professional accomplishment has brought challenges when it comes to finding a suitable partner in life in a country where many men may find her success intimidating under traditional cultural values

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) Sitting at the pinnacle one of the most successful skincare companies in Mongolia in her late 20s, Khulan Davaadorj's professional accomplishment has brought challenges when it comes to finding a suitable partner in life in a country where many men may find her success intimidating under traditional cultural values.

This is why the young and aspiring entrepreneur felt lucky when she first met her husband, who has been extremely supportive of her professional ambitions.

"It's quite funny. He [my husband] always says: 'your life mission is to save the world and my life mission is to save you.' He helps me a lot and is very supportive of me. He's also quite an entrepreneur-minded person. That's why we can also 'click,'" Davaadorj, the founder and chief technologist of Lhamour - Mongolia's first organic skincare brand, told Sputnik.

According to the World Bank's latest report on changes in global gender equality in the past ten years, reforms in 187 economies have led to the average global score to improve from 70.06 to 74.71, out of a top score of 100, as nations abolished discriminatory regulations such as restrictions preventing women from registering a business or applying for a bank loan.

Despite improvements in women's rights globally, female entrepreneurs like Davaadorj continue to face an uphill battle when trying to find a balance between their professional pursuits and a happy family life.

Davaadorj and her husband are expecting their first baby in August this year. But Davaadorj does not plan to take much time off after giving birth, because of her responsibilities as the founder and the director of her company.

"I don't think I'll take that much time off, because the brand Lhamour, my company, is like my first baby. A startup is like a baby. On working leave, I have the opportunity to take time off. But I do have responsibilities toward my customers and my team. I want to show a lot of people that it's possible to do things really well at the same time, if you balance it," she said.

The young entrepreneur explained that the older generation, including her parents, could offer help with taking care of her child in the future.

"We're not sure if we're going to get external help [for childcare]. My mother works for my company. She's our general manager and my father is on pension. And my husband's mother is also on pension. In Mongolia, we have this culture of family is there for you. We have this very strong family bond. I think that's very helpful in terms of having a baby," she said.

Davaadorj added that her husband, who used to travel to different countries in Asia for work, also plans to settle in Mongolia because of their baby.

Following her graduation from the prestigious Columbia University in New York City majoring in renewable energy in 2012, Davaadorj initially started to work for the first wind farm in Mongolia upon returning from her studies. When she began to develop skin rashes and allergies because of the harsher weather conditions and industrial pollution, Davaadorj decided to start her own company and create skincare products that can take advantage of Mongolia's rich natural resources.

After establishing her business out of her own apartment in 2014, Davaadorj struggled to be taken seriously by her potential business partners and clients as a 26-year-old female entrepreneur.

"When I started, obviously I'm a woman. On top of that, I was quite young.

I was only 26. There's no such kind of thing as a startup or this vibe of entrepreneurship. For example, I had a lot of people come to me and say: 'I want to talk to your boss or director.' Every time, I say: 'it's me!' They say: 'no, it cannot be you. I want to talk to the real boss.' They don't really take you seriously in terms of you're able to create something big. That's one of the main challenges," she said.

Struggling to find collaterals to apply for corporate loans for her business, Davaadorj had to take personal loans to finance her company's growth. Thanks to her determination and efforts, her company has 43 employees today with 3 flagship stores and 10 sales points in Mongolia, while exporting its products to five countries.

Building on her company's success, Davaadorj was ready to inspire other young women who share similar aspirations to become an entrepreneur.

After being named the ambassador for Mongolia of Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WEDO), a US-based NGO focusing on empowering and supporting women in business, Davaadorj has shared her experiences with over 750 prospective female entrepreneurs in Mongolia.

"Just because of the whole experience I had in the last five years, I basically built my business from scratch. I know how difficult it can get. That's why I try to help as many women as possible. I always say to the girls: be the best you can be, not just to copy somebody else. You really just have to find yourself first and try to become successful in whatever you do," she said.

Wendy Diamond, who founded the WEDO in 2013 after volunteering in Houduras, shared with Sputnik the reasons behind her decision to start this organization to help women entrepreneurs worldwide.

"In 2013, I was in Houduras for vacation and I ended up volunteering for an organization called Adelante, which provides microcredits for women in that community. I met one of the women there. She was 72 years old. Her daughter died, left her with three kids and the husband ran off. The 72-year-old woman, living in one of the impoverished communities, maybe making 50 [US] cents a day, received this $100 micro loan and opened up a store in her house. She was selling cokes and toothpaste. She was able to pay for the kids to go to school. When you look at first hand and you see the impact. When those women earn that money, they pay it [the loan] back at the 98 percent rate. How can we not support these programs around the world?" Diamond told Sputnik.

WEDO has been working with business leaders, government officials and civil society to find solutions to empower women in business in 144 countries globally.

Diamond stressed that changes in the world happen from the ground up, when everybody can engage and be a part of the process. She believes by empowering women in business globally, WEDO's efforts can help alleviate poverty globally.

According to the latest World Bank report on gender equality, the economies where women's rights improved the most are those in the sub-Shaharan region in Africa. The biggest improvement came in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the gender equality score jumped 27.5 points to 70 during the past ten years, after legal reforms allowed married women to register businesses, open bank accounts, sign contracts, get jobs and choose where to live in the same way as men. During the same period, the country's gross domestic product expanded by 122 percent.
Bosch JL, Groen J. Sacral nerve neuromodulation in the treatment of patients with refractory motor urge incontinence: long-term results of a prospective longitudinal study. The Journal of urology. 2000;163(4):1219-1222. Scheepens WA, Weil EH, van Koeveringe GA, et al. Buttock placement of the implantable pulse generator: a new implantation technique for sacral neuromodulation--a multicenter study. European urology. 2001;40(4):434-438. Brazzelli M, Murray A, Fraser C. Efficacy and safety of sacral nerve stimulation for urinary urge incontinence: a systematic review. The Journal of urology. 2006;175(3 Pt 1):835-841.

Sacral nerve stimulation is an effective treatment modality for refractory frequency, urgency, urge incontinence, and non-obstructive urinary retention. While the implantable pulse generator (IPG) was initially placed in the anterior abdominal wall in the 1990s, a 2001 study demonstrated improved outcomes with buttock implantation. This location has worked successfully in subsequent years but revision rates still approach 30% due to lead migration, loss of efficacy, and pain. This study looked to determine patient factors prompting abdominal placement, describe this technique, and examine outcomes of both standard placement and abdominal placement in a select patient population.Sixty patients underwent standard placement of the IPG while fifteen had abdominal placement. Nearly all of these abdominal placements were due to being wheelchair-dependent or lacking gluteal fat. No patients in the abdominal group underwent revision surgeries due to pain. While the standard and abdominal groups did vary at baseline, there was no significant difference in operative duration, infection rate, or time from implantation to revision between groups.In terms of technique, the Interstim I device with an option for the 25cm extender has been phased out. When the battery expires, it may be necessary to revise abdominally placed IPGs to the standard location if the 45cm lead with the Interstim II device does not have adequate length to reach the abdomen, tension-free, in all patients. In the future, issues with sitting or lying on the device may be less of a problem with the use of smaller devices. However, data from studies like this may be needed to demonstrate to device companies that providing extenders in the future can be beneficial in select patients.Written by:Adarsh Manjunath, MD, Resident Physician, Department of Urology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, Keeter MK, and Stephanie J. Kielb, MD, Department of Urology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois and Kimberly Koloms, Biostatistics Collaboration Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IllinoisReferences
Proper brain function depends on neurons forming accurate circuits in the brain, guided by special protein receptors that sense the environment around them. Scientists using ID29 have discovered the molecular mechanism that allows a key guidance receptor, Robo, to react to signals around it. Developing drugs to target the receptor could lead to promising treatments for cancer.

During brain development, billions of neuron nerve cells must find accurate pathways in the brain in order to form trillions of neuronal circuits enabling us to enjoy cognitive, sensory and emotional wellbeing. To achieve this remarkable precision, migrating neurons use special protein receptors that sense the environment around them and guide the way so these neurons stay on the right path. In a new study published in Cell, researchers from Bar-Ilan University and Tel Aviv University in Israel, EMBL Grenoble in France and University of Exeter in the UK report on their discovery of the intricate molecular mechanism that allows a key guidance receptor, Robo, to react to signals in its environment.

One of the most important protein signaling systems that guide neurons consists of the cell surface receptor "Robo" and its external guidance cue, "Slit". Slit and Robo can be identified in virtually all animals with a nervous system, from a 1 mm-long nematode all the way to humans, explains researcher Yarden Opatowsky, associate professor and head of the Laboratory of Structural Biology at Bar-Ilan University and who led the research.

There has been a lot of progress towards understanding Slit-Robo function and the developmental responses that they trigger in the brain and the central nervous system. However, scientists still had an incomplete understanding of how Slit activates Robo and what keeps Robo inactive in the absence of Slit to prevent harmful activation, which has been implicated in kidney diseases and age-related macular degeneration. Furthermore, a deficit of either of these proteins results in defects in brain structure and function, so understanding how Robo and Slit function is of significant interest.

Opatowsky and colleagues had been collecting diffraction data from Robo crystals since 2009 but it was not until the team used the newly installed Pilatus 6M detector on ESRF beamline ID29 and at BESSY II in Germany that they were able to obtain diffraction data to under 4 A resolution. Using molecular replacement, the team was able to solve the crystal structures of the intact Robo ectodomain (the extracellular portion). The structures indicated how two Robo receptors form active dimers and how their dimerisation interfaces are kept blocked in the absence of Slit.

A surface representation of the crystal structure of the extracellular portion of human Robo2. The yellow region represents the domain where dimerisation takes place. Here, we see it blocked by the other domains, meaning dimerisation cannot take place and that Robo2 is inactivated. Credit: Y. Opatowsky.

I cannot imagine a successful conclusion for this project without having an almost-immediate access to state-of-the-art facilities and, most importantly, to the brilliant and devoted beamline scientists at the ESRF and BESSY II, Opatowksy says. However, his team's work did not end there. It took us six years to get the desired structure, but it was just the first phase of our research, he explains.

The key is in the worm

Following their crystallographic observations, Opatowskys team wanted to investigate their structural model in a living biological system. To test Robos function in vivo, the team used the C. elegans nematode  a tiny, multi-celled worm that is the only organism to have its complete neuronal wiring diagram known. C. elegans has only one Robo and one Slit (compared to four Robo genes and three Slits in humans and mice), making it ideal to study.

To test their structure-driven hypotheses, the researchers used the C. elegans nematode and followed the trajectories of neuronal extensions (in green) that indicate the activity or loss-of-function of Slit and Robo. Credit: Y. Opatowsky.

The evidence supported their structural model that Slit activates Robo through the release of an auto-inhibitory mechanism that keeps Robo inactive in the absence of Slit, and also showed that the same mechanism actually exists in other closely related receptors. The evolutionary distance between humans and C. elegans is about 500 million years, and yet, all the experiments that we conducted point toward a similar Robo molecular mechanism, says Opatowksy.

A drug target for cancer

The involvement of Slit and Robo receptors in cancer is of particular interest to researchers. In cancer, some receptors are high-jacked to drive tumour formation. In personalised cancer therapy, drugs block these rogue receptors, depriving the cancer cells of vital signaling instructions and directing them toward destruction. Targeting Slit and Robo has long been considered a promising therapeutic approach for types of pancreatic, skin and breast cancer. However, and almost certainly due to an insufficient structural and mechanistic understanding of Robo activation and signaling, there are currently no Robo-directed drugs.

Our discoveries provide, for the first time, the information necessary to design effective drugs targeting Robo receptors, says Opatowsky. Particularly, the crystal structures revealed molecular sites on the surface of Robo that, when targeted by designed drugs, will allow us to manipulate Robo activation and inhibition in patients, thus providing new possibilities for treatment in the war on cancer.

Reference:

R. Barak et al., Structural Principles in Robo Activation and Auto-Inhibition, Cell, 7 March 2019.

Text: Anya Joly
This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon!

Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page?
A French court on Thursday convicted a French cardinal for failing to report to authorities allegations of sexual abuse of minors by a priest.

By Vatican News

The Lyon court handed Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, a six-month suspended prison sentence for not reporting the cases in the period between July 2014 and June 2015.

The 68-year old cardinal was not present in the Lyon court on Thursday to hear his conviction. His lawyer, Jean-Felix Luciani, said he will appeal: The courts reasons do not convince me. We will therefore contest this decision, the lawyer said, adding that the court had been under pressure as a result of documentaries and a film about the case.

At the end of the trial in January the prosecutor had not sought punishment for the cardinal or the five other church officials accused alongside him.

Barbarin to hand resignation to Pope Francis

In a short speech to the press at the Bishops House in Lyon, Card. Barbarin announced he would be going to Rome in the coming days to hand in his resignation to Pope Francis.



Shortly afterwards, the Bishops Conference of France (CEF) released a statement saying it would not comment on the conviction until the cardinal has exhausted his right to appeal. The CEF said it would neither comment on the cardinals decision to resign, saying it is a matter of personal conscience and that it will be up to the Pope to do what he thinks appropriate.

The voices of the victims



Nine people who said the priest abused them brought the case against Card. Barbarin to court.

The group of alleged victims of Father Bernard Preynat, a priest from the diocese, claim the Archbishop of Lyon, and other church officials covered up for him for years. The statute of limitations had expired on some charges. Five other defendants were acquitted.



Francois Devaux, co-founder of the victims association La Parole liberee, hailed the verdict as a great victory for child protection.

Father Bernard Preynats victims accused the cardinal and his entourage of not having brought the religious to justice and of having delayed the decision to suspend him from his pastoral duties. A scout chaplain in the 1970s and 1980s in the suburbs of Lyon, Fr. Preynat allegedly abused more than 70 young scouts belonging to a group that was not affiliated with the official scout movements. The scale of the scandal has shaken the diocese of Lyon and the Church in France.

The victims say top Church officials had been aware of Preynat's actions since 1991, but allowed him to be in contact with children until his 2015 retirement.



Fr. Preynat has acknowledged abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and '80s and will be tried separately.



Preynat's trial is scheduled to be held next year but the date has not been set yet. Only 13 cases out of an estimated total of 85 alleged victims will go to court, as the statute of limitations has expired for the others.



Card. Barbarin removed priest in 2015

I never sought to hide, even less to cover up these horrible acts, Cardinal Barbarin said in a statement read during his trial in January last. On 31 August 2015, the cardinal had removed Father Preynat from his duties, in agreement with the Holy See. I did exactly what Rome asked me to do, he said, while admitting that he was "imprudent" when in 2011 he appointed Father Preynat as head of a prefecture near Roanne. "I should have told him - he continued - to remain in the shadows".

The third bishop to be sentenced in France

Cardinal Barbarin is the third French bishop to be condemned in a trial concerning sexual abuse. In 2001, Bishop Pierre Pican of Bayeux-Lisieux was handed a three months suspended sentence. More recently, on 22 November 2018, Bishop Andre Fort, former bishop of Orleans, was sentenced to eight months on parole.
A Lenten message released by the Secretary General of Venezuelas Bishops Conference describes the deep crisis afflicting the nation as a biblical desert.

By Linda Bordoni

The Bishops of Venezuela have released a Lenten message in which they describe the difficult time the nation is living as a desert from which they will emerge transformed.

Lent represents for us, the Venezuelan people, who are living a difficult time, a moment in which we must cross the desert of our lives the message reads.

Released by Bishop Jose Trinidad Fernandez, Secretary General of the Venezuelan Bishops Conference, the 2019 Lenten message says the people of Venezuela are like the Israelites who journeyed through the desert when they fled Egypt, to be liberated by God.

Leaving slavery and misery behind

Lent bishop Fernandez concludes, is a time to come out of slavery and misery, to meet with Him as the people of God, a faithful people capable of transformation that shares in the gifts that Christ grants, because by living in justice and peace, we build a better world.
Pope Francis expresses his condolences to victims of a tornado, which struck Alabama in the United States.

By Francesca Merlo

Pope Francis has expressed his condolences to victims of a catastrophe that struck the state of Alabama in the United States.

In his telegram, addressed to Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Alabama, the Pope expresses his heartfelt solidarity to all those affected by the natural disaster. The Pope prays that Almighty God may grant eternal rest to the dead, especially the children, and healing and consolation to the injured and those who grieve.

The tornado, which struck the small community of Beauregard, Alabama, on Sunday, claimed the lives of at least 23 people between the ages of 6 and 89, and left several others injured.

Below please find the full text of the telegram sent by the Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Francis:

The Most Reverend Thomas J. Rodi

Archbishop of Mobile

Deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of life and the injuries caused by the tornado which struck Alabama in recent days, His Holiness Pope Francis expresses heartfelt solidarity with all affected by this natural disaster. He prays that Almighty God may grant eternal rest to the dead, especially the children, and healing and consolation to the injured and those who grieve. Upon all who are suffering the effects of this calamity, the Holy Father invokes the Lords blessings of peace and strength.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin

Secretary of State
Asian markets mostly higher as Shanghai extends rally, (Photo: AFP/STR)

With expectations that Washington and Beijing will eventually strike a tariffs deal already baked into equity prices, analysts say officials will need to provide some clarity on progress to give markets another step up.

There are also warnings that with optimism so high, there could be a lot of disappointment if the final deal does not live up to the hype, or the two sides fail to even reach an agreement.

The talk is that high-level negotiations are ongoing in order to pave the way for a signing ceremony between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping later this month.

"A mid-March meeting ... remains the expected next step, but if trade representatives are unable to agree on the final terms of implementation and enforcement measures, we could see the trade truce rally fade," said OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya.

Still, after a slow start Shanghai closed 1.6 per cent higher to build on Tuesday's rally that came on the back of China's decision to slash taxes and ramp up spending, as leaders look to pep up the stuttering economy.

Mainland Chinese markets are up more than 20 per cent this year thanks to trade hopes and following a series of monetary easing measures to kickstart economic growth, which hit its slowest pace in three decades in 2018.

SLOW GROWTH HITS AUSSIE

Hong Kong rose 0.3 per cent, while Sydney finished 0.8 per cent higher after data showed Australia's economy virtually ground to a halt in October-December owing to tepid household spending and a weakening housing market.

The news has fuelled speculation the central bank will have to cut already record-low borrowing costs, cheering equity markets but sending the Australian dollar tumbling about 0.6 per cent against the greenback.

Elsewhere, Manila jumped 1.4 per cent, Mumbai added 0.4 per cent and Taipei gained 0.5 per cent, while Wellington edged up 0.2 per cent.

However, Tokyo ended down 0.6 per cent, Singapore was off 0.4 per cent and Seoul fell 0.2 per cent.

On currency markets the pound struggled to recover from losses against the greenback after talks between British and EU negotiators failed to hammer out a revised Brexit deal that Prime Minister Theresa May can pass through parliament.

However, observers are optimistic an agreement can be reached and Britain will not leave the bloc without a deal.

"Any deal that is agreed has a higher chance of getting voted through than was the case in January when the deal was shot down by parliament," said James Hughes, chief market analyst at AxiTrader.

"Brexiteers fearful of Brexit being reversed could be more prone to back May, provided she can get a legal concession" on customs on the Northern Irish border.

In early trade London was flat, while Paris and Frankfurt each dipped 0.2 per cent.

- Key figures around 0820 GMT -

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 per cent at 21,596.81 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.3 per cent at 29,037.60 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.6 per cent at 3,102.10 (close)

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,182.77

Pound/dollar: DOWN at US$1.3142 from US$1.3176 at 2140 GMT

Euro/dollar: DOWN at US$1.1297 from US$1.1308

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 111.78 from 111.88

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 39 cents at US$56.17 per barrel

Oil - Brent Crude: DOWN 36 cents at US$65.50 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 per cent at 25,806.63 (close)
Tyna Giang, co-founder and general director of Biophap

Countering the stream

After finishing Danang University of Economics in 2005, Tyna Giang left for Paris (France) for further study on economics and then a Masters degree on hotel and tourism management at Vatel Hotel and Tourism Management School in Argentine.

She then found a decent job and had a small happy family in Paris. In 2015, when Tyna Giang decided to return home and founded Biophap with the ambition to build a pioneering organic food value chain, she was met with strong criticism from friends and relatives.

She even chose a 14ha land plot deep in the forest belonging to Dak Phe commune in Kon Tum provinces Kon Ray district to develop her first farm. At the time, the living conditions there were very primitive: no concrete roads, no power lines, and no mobile and television frequencies.

Giang, therefore, faced a multitude of difficulties at the initial stages.

After nearly a decade of living abroad, my Vietnamese was not very good, plus I only had limited knowledge about agriculture as I was trained on hotel and tourism management. I was young, did not understood the local culture, and did not speak the language (Bahnar people have their own language)  and these were only a few of the many difficulties, she recalled.

Giang shared that she chose to embark on a business carreer promoting organic food use in Vietnam because although she had limited knowledge about organic agriculture, she has been a consumer of organic food for years, and had the necessary expertise in management.

With the ambition of changing the perception of Vietnamese agricultural products in the world market, Giang has spared no efforts in making her dream come true.

With the ambition of changing the perception of Vietnamese agricultural products in the world market, Giang has spared no efforts in making her dream come true.

She believes she could reach the target by leveraging the countrys long-standing agricultural tradition, favourable demographics (young and fast-growing population with a strong thirst for learning), and very promising labour and consumer markets.

I wanted to change the deep-rooted tradition of local people to burn forests to gain arable land and turn them towards sustainable organic agriculture instead. The Central Highlands people live on the forest resources and to integrate them into modern life would require a fresh model and support from the whole value chain, Giang said.

The Biophap philosophy

Biophaps project first involved 10 Bahnar households in Dak Phe commune.

My passion and trust alone are not enough for the projects success, as it is essential to share the trust and the ambition with colleagues, particularly people participating in the project, Giang said.

Giang recalled that in the first days, Bahnar people were unwilling to communicate with her. However, her perseverance gradually eroded opposition and those joining her were happy to resume production on the land plots they were given by the state years before and were then left deserted ever since.

Biophaps business philosophy focuses on three core values: organic production, social ethics, and breakthrough innovation. Initially, the company invested in every stage, from crop breeds to fertilisers and associated expenses.

From last year, the fourth year of co-operation, local farmers could cover their own breed and fertiliser expenses. The soil has been improved and long-term crops have been grown mingled with short-term crops.

The project has changed local inhabitants agricultural methods as they now have self-formed co-operatives to promote organic agriculture on old plantations.

Following the commitment Fair for Life under Biophaps project, Bahnar people have reported significantly improved living conditions. Negative phenomena like premature marriages, alcoholism and environmental pollution have reduced remarkably.

Initially, Biophap focused on building a value chain for pepper, while simultaneously growing several other kinds of crops. The companys experts tested growing special crops from Europe, such as rosemary and herbal plants, kiwi or blueberry that offer higher economic values.

As of now, Biophaps farming areas grow more than 20 kinds of crops, several dozen types of herbs, as well as fruits and

spices. The farm has shipped more than one tonnes of organic curcumin powder and hundreds of kilogrammes of herbal materials to domestic and foreign organic food outlet chains at a price far higher than non-organic products.

From the initial project, last year Biophap extended the production area to 100ha to include pepper growing farms in Gia Lai and neighbouring locations.

Biophap has been investing in processing and a high-tech IT system. Each crop in the farm, input materials or climate conditions are being traced and digitalised. Global customers only have to use their smartphones or tablets to trace all the information they need from input materials to diverse production phases through simple QR codes.

Biophaps products have been registered to reach international organic food quality standards with certificates provided by prestigious organisations such as USDA, JAS, AB, and Fair for Life.

According to Biophaps CEO Tyna Giang, her companys greatest success is the trust from local farmers, business partners, and the local government. Their ultimate target is to encourage local farmers to engage deeper into value chains. Therefore, besides innovative development and the application of modern technology into farm management, Biophap has collected products from farmers at higher prices and deducted 10 per cent of its profit to develop new models of organic agriculture.

Riding to the high seas

Biophaps initial target is to bring Made in Vietnam organic products to Europe, a market which Giang knows well.

After reaping initial success with her farm, Giang believes their products could conquer big Asian markets, such as South Korea and Japan.

It is also important to boost sales in the domestic market which holds great potential as local people are becoming more aware of organic food.

The organic food market has been and will always be a high growing market, but the number of professional suppliers is still limited in Vietnam. I do believe that with suitable policies to support farmers and the application of innovative technologies as well as diverse stakeholder engagement in the supply chain, Vietnam would be among the leaders in organic food development, said Giang.

Early last year, Biophap became one of seven organic agriculture businesses of Vietnam invited to join the worlds leading event on organic food, Biofach in Germany, which attracted thousands of similar players from around the world.

Despite being a first-time participant, Biophaps products received praise from the international community and a string of orders were placed right at the occasion.

The company, however, needs larger investments to feed its business expansion plans.

Convincing foreign investors is not easy at first, but I could prove investors that Biophaps model not only matches contemporary development needs, but also creates social and environmental values, Giang said, unveiling that several investment funds and foreign investors express interest in co-operation and they will soon announce deals to the public.
Hanoi donned a plume of flags and banners for the summit

The first impression of Hanoi for both Vietnamese and foreigners these days is usually that the city is so beautiful and colourful. The streets are clean and decorated with different kinds of flowers and banners.

We would like to introduce to the world Hanoi as a dynamic and safe place, and truly for peace, Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee, told international media.

He also said that along with the efforts of the government, the city, ministries and departments, each house and every citizen has contributed in some way to promoting Hanois image for peace.

Although the summit took place on February 27 and 28, students gathered around Hoan Kiem Lake a day earlier to support tourists. Besides regaling tourists with the cultural and historical values of Hanoi, they also spread environmental awareness by collecting garbage so that Hanoi could maintain its beautiful charm.

As one of the 125 students, Le Minh Nhi from Open University felt happy to contribute to this task. I want to tell tourists interesting things about Hanoi that dont appear in any guide book, she said.

Meanwhile, at the media centre, in addition to activities for journalists, 500 domestic and 3,000 international reporters had the chance to enjoy different kinds of traditional Vietnamese food cooked by various artisans.

In Vietnam for the first time, John Power from the South China Morning Post felt impressed with classic Hanoi pho. The smell and taste of pho is so unique, he said.

Lee HeeHoon, reporter from Ohmy News, was also in Vietnam for the first time. Despite having the chance to sample Vietnamese food in the past, he was still eager to try all the foods served at the media centre. Vietnamese cuisine is quite popular in South Korea, but I am happy to try the original taste here in Hanoi. Before I leave, I want to visit the bun cha restaurant where Barack Obama once sat for lunch, he said.

Besides food, international journalists were also given traditional Vietnamese presents. As one of the two typical travel agencies serving media at the event, Saigontourist presented 3,000 reporters both hats and Dong Ho pictures. The company also provided free tours for them to discover Hanoi and Quang Ninh.

We have four free tours introducing featured images of our country, people, and culture, including the city tour, and travel to Duong Lam ancient village, the ceramic village of Bat Trang, and even Halong Bay, said Nguyen Huu Y Yen, general director of Saigontourist.

According to Vu The Binh, permanent vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, agencies often have to invite foreign journalists to report about Vietnamese tourism at high expense, but the summit meant that they were already here and paid for, meaning Vietnamese tourism firms can actively make plans to invite them to travel destinations.

I hope that the summit can help Vietnam attract a large number of tourists from America, a market with more than 90 million travellers abroad each year, he said.

Hanoi was chosen as the host city of the DPRK-US Summit, to give the event its official title, on the 20th anniversary of receiving The city for peace by UNESCO. As a result, Hanoi tried its best to prove to be a safe and peaceful destination with rich culture and history.

Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed that the cost of organising the first DPRK-US Summit was SGD20 million (nearly $15 million) and the Singaporean government was ready to pay. Half of the cost was for security and about SGD5 million (about $3.7 million) was for communication and service costs for 2,500 international reporters. According to data from Meltwater Media Research, Singapore pocketed at least SGD767 million (nearly $570 million), 38 times more than the original investment, thanks to tourism, retail, and media.

James Scott - Australia

We met Kim Jong Uns doppelganger on the street which was funny. We heard about the summit on every corner, and have seen a lot of decorations on the streets to welcome everyone. I think it was lucky for us to be here to experience the unique atmosphere of the city during this special occasion.

We saw so many T-shirts commemorating the event and we bought some because they will always remind us of this historic event and the beautiful time we had in Hanoi.

I think that this is a good chance for Vietnam to advertise the country worldwide.

Daniel Wagner - Germany

I didnt know what to expect, but the two leaders being here in Vietnam is a happy signal for the two countries and of course Vietnam. It proves that Vietnam plays an important role and is safe and peaceful.

I hope that the United States and the DPRK will build a true friendship in the near future. I think choosing Vietnam as the host of the summit was a great idea. I can feel the friendliness in the way people treat outsiders.

The streets are beautiful and I like the decorations.

Before coming here, I thought that I might find it difficult because of the summits security. However, I feel satisfied with my experience in Hanoi and there has been a happy atmosphere here.

Nick Davidson - United States

This summit was an important event for my country as well as for the whole world because it is related to peace for everyone. With what I have experienced in Hanoi, I understand why the summit took place here.

Hanoi is very peaceful and beautiful. We can see colourful flowers along the streets, and there are so many kinds of flowers that I have never seen before.

Hanoi is very attractive and the people here are so friendly. It is truly a city for peace. So far I have tried pho, bun cha, bun nem, bun thang, and banh mi. They are great, and I have planned to try as many kinds of food here as I can. I love Hanoi and I will come back here one day.

Rich parkman  Thailand (Kim Jong Un lookalike)

Many local people and foreign tourists were excited and asked for pictures when they saw me. I usually receive a positive response as people think that my strolling the streets of Hanoi is funny and interesting.

I had my hair cut and I practiced a lot so that I could pretend to be Kim Jong Un, and bring joy to people. Vietnamese people in particular looked forward to this event.

Regardless of the outcome of the summit, it has been quite a favourable opportunity for Vietnam to promote itself.

Marcos Wolf - Germany

This is my first time in Hanoi and I can see that the city is very bustling. There are flowers, banners, and flags welcoming the summit everywhere. I am not that interested in the summit, but it has been a joyful experience seeing Hanoi prepare to host such a globally-influential event.

Everything is so busy, bright, and colourful, and I have also seen a lot of souvenirs based on Trump and Kim. I think Vietnam is doing a great job to promote friendships with other countries, and the country will definitely become a more desirable destination in the eyes of foreign tourists as a result.

Eason Chan - Hong Kong

Everybody has been talking about the summit. I see banners everywhere and there are also a lot of decorations and flowers set up in preparation, which I think make for a warm welcome from the host city. I heard that some establishments even created new cocktails inspired by Trump and Kim, which I would love to try sometime.

Overall, I am having a good time in Hanoi and Vietnam as a whole, and it is even more memorable because my trip was scheduled at the time of the summit. Vietnam, for me, is a very beautiful country, safe and friendly for anyone.

William Tremblay - Canada

This is my second time in Hanoi. Everyone is busy and excited to welcome the two leaders with banners and flags. There are also a lot of screens showing images of Vietnam and of the summit.

I love the atmosphere, very bustling and vibrant, and people are always nice. Vietnam definitely deserved to host this important event, as it is a beautiful and peaceful country, and people are always welcoming towards outsiders.
Two demonstrators outside a courthouse in Vancouver on Dec 10, 2018 call for the release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou after she was detained for possible extradition to the US for alleged sanctions busting. (AFP/Jason Redmond)

VANCOUVER: Meng Wanzhou, the Chinese telecom executive at the centre of an escalating row between Ottawa and Beijing, appeared briefly before a Canadian judge on Wednesday (Mar 6) who set May 8 for the start of a hearing into a US extradition request.

Meng's arrest in Vancouver in December on a US warrant infuriated China, which arrested several Canadians days later in what was widely seen as retaliation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said he was "very concerned" over reports in Xinhua that two of the Canadians, including a former diplomat, were suspected of espionage.

Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei, a telecoms giant founded by her father, was changing planes in Vancouver when she was detained at Washington's request for allegedly violating US sanctions on Iran.

Canada's justice department last week gave its nod for the case to proceed, saying evidence against Meng submitted by the United States was sufficient to put before a judge under its treaty obligations.

Meng, 47, has been granted bail until the outcome of the case, which could take months or years.

If the judge rules in favour of extradition, Canada's attorney general will have the final say over whether to hand Meng to US authorities who accuse her and Huawei of circumventing sanctions against Iran.

Huawei is also accused, via two affiliates, of stealing trade secrets from US telecommunications group T-Mobile.

Sporting a hoodie, Meng was ushered into the downtown Vancouver courtroom past a gaggle of journalists for the a hearing that lasted just 15 minutes.

Her lawyers said they needed more time to prepare a defense, which would include alleged abuse of process.

Outside, a small group of protesters burned a China flag, and waved placards calling for Meng to be extradited and demanding Beijing release the two Canadians.

'FALSE IMPRISONMENT' CLAIM

Beijing denounced the accusations as the product of "strong political motivations" and an attempt to undermine its flagship telecoms company. Meng and Huawei have also denied wrongdoing.

Meng is suing Canadian authorities, alleging her rights were violated when she was arrested.

She is seeking damages for "misfeasance in public office and false imprisonment," her attorneys Howard Mickelson and Allan Doolittle said in a statement.

They charge that Meng was improperly interrogated for three hours by customs officers, officially as part of a routine inspection, before being served with her official arrest.

Customs officers searched her phones and computers as well as her luggage, in violation of her rights, the lawyers said.

Nine days after Meng's arrest, Chinese authorities detained two Canadians - former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor.

A third Canadian, meanwhile, had his sentence for drug trafficking upped from 15 years in prison to death row.

Trudeau has decried the arrests as arbitrary while insisting on a strict hands-off approach to the Meng case.

His former ambassador to China was sacked after he undermined that position by saying Meng had a "strong" case against extradition, citing comments by US President Donald Trump, and later adding that it would be "great for Canada" if the US dropped the case.
The announcement came amid heightened tensions between the two countries following a suicide attack last month on security personnel in the Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The Kartarpur corridor, which was opened by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in November last year, will enable Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit their religious site in the Kartarpur area in Pakistan's Punjab province without a visa.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that the acting Indian high commissioner in Islamabad was informed on Tuesday that the Pakistani delegation will visit New Delhi on March 14 to discuss the draft of an agreement for the cross-border movement of the Sikh pilgrims.

The planned visit by the Pakistani side will be followed by a return visit of the Indian delegation to Islamabad on March 28 to hold further discussions on the agreement, the ministry said in a statement.

In January, the ministry said that the Pakistani government has shared the draft agreement with the Indian side through the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
A detained former opposition activist has died after being released from jail sparking criticism over the governments treatment of dissidents.

Yea Thong, a motorbike dealer and active supporter of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was detained in 2015 and sentenced to seven years in prison along with eight other CNRP activists for taking part in a protest in July 2014.

He was released in August and died on February 14 of osteoporosis, leaving behind his wife and three children. He was 45.

Om Sam An, a former CNRP lawmaker who shared a cell with Thong, said the activist had experienced severe back pain during his incarceration and had been denied medical care.

He said jailed supporters of the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party and wealthy inmates had received preferential treatment and had been allowed to visit the hospital if they were suffering ill health.

In the prison, those with money can stay one or two nights at the hospital and receive quick treatment, he said. For us, we could not and Ya Thong was not allowed. This is injustice in prison.

Dozens of CNRP lawmakers and supporters were jailed in the aftermath of the 2013 election when the party won a large minority of the vote despite widespread allegations of electoral fraud.

In 2017, after the CNRP ran a successful local elections campaign, the party was banned and its leader, Kem Sokha, jailed on treason charges.

Meng Sopheary, Thongs lawyer, confirmed that the courts had denied her clients request to seek treatment.

In order to avoid a critical situation, we asked that he get medical attention to find the cause [of his pain]. After that, we also proposed doctors from [local rights group] Licadho to check up on him in the prison, but our proposal was denied by the court, she said.

Pol Romdoul, Thongs wife, said her husband was not noticeably sick when he was detained. If they allowed him to have treatment, he wouldnt have died because the prognosis would have been known and treated on time, she said.

Chao Veasna, a former CNRP district official charged with incitement in 2017, also remains in jail suffering reported ill-health.

Prison officials this week rejected claims of mistreatment.

Nuth Veasna, deputy director of the Prisons Department, claimed no request had ever been made for Thong to visit the hospital.

We never received any proposal for him to receive medical attention, he said.

Am Sam Ath, an investigator with Licadho, said if a request made for medical attention to the authorities is denied or ignored it is a serious violation of their rights.

Even if they are convicted or detained, their rights to receive medical treatment must not be denied.
Unidentified attackers fired mortars at a gathering in the Afghan capital, Kabul, attended by several presidential candidates, former president Hamid Karzai, and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

Abdullah was on stage addressing the crowd Thursday when the attack started. He called it a crime. Hundreds of members of the Hizb e Wahdat e Islami party had gathered for the 24th anniversary of the death of their leader, Abdul Ali Mazari.

At least one person was killed and 16 wounded according to the Afghan ministry of public health. Presidential candidate Hanif Atmar said on his Facebook page that eight of his guards were wounded. Another candidate, Abdul Latif Pedram, was also wounded, according to local Afghan channel Tolo news.

Police have arrested a man who was giving the coordinates of the venue from a nearby house to those who fired the mortars, according to Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the Afghan ministry of interior.

The organizers initially tried to keep the crowd calm, but later told them to leave.

Our gathering is under attack and mortar shells are landing all over, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, Abdullahs deputy and a member of Hizb e Wahdat, said to the people.

Violence in Afghanistan continues unabated even as Taliban representatives are engaged in talks with a team from the United States in Qatars capital, Doha.

Thursdays attack comes a day after another attack in Jalalabad killed 16 workers of a construction company along with the five bombers and a week after an attack on an important military base in Helmand in which Taliban fighters killed 25 Afghan soldiers and took several others hostage.
A clothing and cosmetics model and a former monk are campaigning together for Thailands election at a market outside Bangkok. The message: Buddhism is under threat.

Their politics marks a new trend in traditionally tolerant Thailand, where Buddhist nationalist movements have never taken root in the same way as in countries such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Buddhism is one of the traditional pillars of Thai society and underpins many aspects of Thai life, but monks have little influence over the state compared to the monarchy and military.

The emergence of the Pandin Dharma Party to contest the March 24 election points to the rise of a fringe of Thai society that is at odds with the royalist-military establishment over religion and expresses growing antipathy to Islam.

I joined this party because of its policy to protect the religion, said Sirima Grace Sarakul, 36, the model, who is contesting a seat in parliament as a Pandin Dharma Party candidate.

Secular threat

The threat to Buddhism, Pandin Dharmas supporters believe, is from secular authorities they accuse of harassing monks and of caring more about Thailands tiny Muslim minority than the religion followed by more than 90 percent of Thais.

Monks have been dealt with heavy-handedly by the state, complains former monk Korn Medee, 47, leader of the party whose name means Land of Buddhist Teaching. The government has overtly favored the other religion over Buddhism, he told Reuters.

The governments National Office of Buddhism declined to comment on the allegations or the rise of Buddhist nationalism, saying it was a matter of national security.

Two other avowedly Buddhist parties in the election are aligned with the junta, which has imposed measures to bring Thailands 40,000 temples under control in the name of tackling scandals ranging from corruption to sex to murder.

Paiboon Nititawan, 65, of the pro-military Peoples Reform Party, dismissed Pandin Dharma as not real Buddhists.

Our party is not even talking about religion per se, but rather about applying the teaching of the Buddha, he said.

Two Buddhism fraternities

Thailands longstanding political fracture between the establishment and the populism of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is mirrored in religion.

Thai Buddhism itself is divided into two fraternities: the Mahanikaya of the masses and the more conservative Thammayut, bound to the establishment and more influential since its founding by a 19th century king.

There has been a conflict of interests between factions within the monkhood and the military government, said Buddhist scholar Somrit Luechai. As long as the monkhood remains under the centralized control of the state, this conflict will not end and could even intensify.

Religion has not been among the top issues ahead of a ballot, which is largely shaping up as a contest between parties that support establishment-backed junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha and allies of Thaksin.

But an electoral system designed to help smaller parties, 81 are standing for election, has given greater room for interest groups.

Dressed in white to mark themselves as devout lay followers of Buddhism, Sirima and another former monk, Boonyatilert Sara, 45, found a ready reception in Pathum Thani province, where northern Bangkoks sprawl gives way to rice fields.

Buddhism has been decaying in this country, said Yuttana Suksa-ard, 66. A party like this can help purify the religion.

Pandin Dharma accuses the military government of unfairly targeting senior monks, raiding prominent temples such as the giant Dhammakaya complex in Pathum Thani, over alleged scandals.

The party wants to formally make Buddhism the state religion and give more support for temples.

I want to protect the religion and to do that we need legislative power, said Boonyatilert. In neighboring Myanmar, the Buddhists there know truly what their religion is and they can defend it. Not here.

Muslims under fire

Although Pandin Dharma strongly rejects accusations of being anti-Muslim, it complains that Muslims get too much state help.

It wants state-sponsored Buddhist settlements in Muslim-majority southern provinces to aid the return of Buddhists who left because of a decades-old insurgency.

One of the partys candidates for prime minister, Banjob Bannaruji, has praised hardline Myanmar monk Wirathu and in a 2015 post asked: will we all succumb and allow Islam to take over the country or do we need Myanmar monks to help us?

Thai authorities have been tough on monks who express anti-Muslim views, defrocking one in 2016.

But some fear that Buddhist nationalism could also become a threat to centuries-old Muslim communities.

Before, it was just a bunch of personal animosities against Islam expressed online, but now these scattered movements are becoming more defined, said Zakee Pitakumpol, an academic at Prince of Songkla University and deputy secretary to the Sheikhul Islam, Thailands Islamic spiritual leader.

The Pandin Dharma Party is contesting only 145 out of 350 seats this time, and Korn played down expectations of great success, saying the party did not have enough money for posters and was relying on social media and door-to-door campaigning.

Even if we dont get any seats, then at least now we have a platform, he said.
In Cameroon, 82 couples have taken part in a mass wedding ceremony as part of efforts to better protect the legal rights of women. Only 10 percent of marriages in Cameroon are legalized, leaving wives with few rights. The mass wedding ceremony is part of activities to mark Fridays International Womens Day.

For the event, traditional Cameroonian dancers performed in the courtyard of the Maroua Town Council. There, they celebrated the official marriage of 82 couples, most of them Muslims.

Among the couples were 16-year-old Asta Ismaila and her 47-year-old husband.

Ismaila said she was forced to be the mans third wife when she was barely 14 years old. After giving birth, she said, her husband did not take care of her or her baby.

Although the couple split last year, they agreed to legalize their marriage so Ismaila and their child would not be shunned by the community.

It also provides mother and child with important and rare legal protection.

Cameroons Institute of Statistics says only 10 percent of couples have legalized their marriages  relying instead on simple, traditional ceremonies.

If the husband dies, his family members often take the couple's property and send the woman away with nothing.

The Cameroon Association of Lawyers Hamadou Hamajarou says with a legal marriage, the state protects the wifes property rights.

He said Cameroon's penal code punishes anyone who forces a widow out of her marital home with a prison term of three months to one year and a fine of $100 to $1,000. If the woman is pregnant or violence is used, the sentence can be from two to five years in prison.

In northern Cameroons polygamous Muslim communities, men often bring home an additional wife without consulting their current ones. Without a registered marriage, the wives have few legal options to challenge the mans decisions.

Aissa Dumara, coordinator of the Association for the Fight Against Violence on Women and Girls, said women who defy their husband  legally or not -- are often abused or kicked out of the house.

She said only 35 of the 351 abused women who sought the groups help in 2018 were legally married. Dumara said they were forced at very young ages into the homes of men who promised to marry them but instead they were battered, forced to do difficult domestic work, or simply dismissed.

The group arranged the mass wedding to educate women of the importance of legalizing their marriages.

Its no small challenge in Cameroons remote villages.

Ismaila tried to convince her husbands two other wives to legalize their marriages as well. But they said their families were against it because the husband and his family had yet to pay them money or property for the marriage  known as a bride price.

The cost for the wives having no legal protection could prove to be much higher.
Chinese tech giant Huawei has sued the U.S. government, arguing that legislation Congress passed last year restricting its business in the United States is "unconstitutional."

The case, which analysts see more as a public relations move, is the latest in an intensifying effort by the telecommunications company to fight U.S. security concerns that Huawei argues are unfair and unfounded.

In its lawsuit, Huawei argues that Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act violates the constitutional principles of separation of powers and due process. By singling out the company and punishing it without a trial, the company also argues that the law violates the Constitution's the bill of attainder clause.

Section 889 bans federal agencies and their contractors from purchasing equipment and services from Huawei as well as another Chinese telecom company ZTE. President Donald Trump signed it into law last year.

"This ban is not only unlawful but also harms both Huawei and U.S. consumers," Huawei's rotating chairman, Guo Ping, told reporters Thursday in Shenzhen. "This section strips Huawei of its due process, violating the separation of powers principles, breaks U.S. legal traditions, and goes against the very nature of the constitution."

Guo said that Huawei was left with no choice but to take legal action, noting that neither lawmakers nor the government had shown any proof to date to back up concerns the company is a security concern.

On Thursday, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino declined to comment on the pending lawsuit, but said the government needs to be vigilant when making procurement decisions.

"The United States advocates for secure telecom networks and supply chains that are free from suppliers subject to foreign government control or undue influence, which would pose risks of unauthorized access and malicious cyber activity," said Palladino in response to questions posed by VOA during a briefing.

"We believe that these risks posed by vendors subject to extrajudicial or unchecked compulsion by foreign states that do not share our values need to be weighed rigorously before making procurement decisions on these technologies," he added.

Huawei's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said the company has no choice but to defend itself and try to clear its name.

"Section 889 is based on numerous false, unproven, and untested propositions. Contrary to the statutes' premise, Huawei is not owned, controlled, or influenced by the Chinese government," Song said.

That, however, is a central point of the debate over Huawei: how much a security threat the company is? And is it really independent from China's authoritarian government?

That debate is heating up at a crucial time as countries across the globe are preparing to roll out next generation mobile communications networks or 5G, an area where Huawei is a global leader.

At the press conference, Huawei officials argued repeatedly that the ban would cut off Americans from its advanced technology. They also gave assurances again that the company would never install backdoors into their equipment and that it puts the security concerns of its customers first.

Some countries, including the United States, Australia, and New Zealand believe Huawei is a security threat and have already banned the company from their roll outs of next generation mobile communications networks.

Others, including Britain, Canada, and Germany, are still weighing a decision. At the same time, Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou is in Canadian custody and is facing extradition to the United States to face charges of alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

With Huawei fighting a battle on multiple fronts, the lawsuit is as much about public relations as it is an effort to clear itself of accusations that it is a security threat.

Legal analysts said it is unlikely the case will even go to trial.

"As a PR matter, this is brilliant, the fact that we are just talking about this now, tells you this is a great PR move, as a legal matter, this is a reach, to put it charitably," said law professor David Law of Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Hong Kong. "I just can't see how a federal district judge in Texas is going to let this go to trial much less hand Huawei a win."

The case could put more pressure on the U.S. government to disclose more evidence to support its claims about the alleged security threat the company poses, according to some legal analysts. That could help Huawei in the process, said the Taiwan Bar Association's Calvin Yang.

"I think this is a move that carries more political weight than any litigation significance," Yang said, adding that the company's case was more about challenging the legitimacy of U.S. accusations. "It's using judicial procedure to force the federal government to provide more evidence to support its allegations of so-called backdoors in Huawei's equipment."

Some legal analysts have noted that Huawei's case is similar to the legal battle Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky lost late last year. Kaspersky challenged a ban on the use of its software on U.S. government networks. A U.S. federal appeals court ruled in the government's favor in November.

Whether that will figure into the Huawei case if it goes to trial is too early to tell, legal analysts note.

When it comes to national security concerns, they add that courts are unlikely to probe too deeply into those questions.

VOA State Department Correspondent Nike Ching and Kenneth Schwartz contributed to this report.
Chinese tech giant Huawei said Thursday it has filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of a U.S. law that bars government agencies and contractors from doing business with the company.

The lawsuit filed in a federal district court in Texas argues that a section of the 2019 defense appropriations bill is an unconstitutional infringement on Huaweis ability to conduct business in the United States. Congress included the restriction in the bill after determining that Huawei and another Chinese tech company, ZTE Corp., posed a risk to national security, claiming it could be manipulated by Chinese intelligence services into cyberspying.

We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort, the companys chairman, Guo Ping, said in a statement. This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers. Huawei is seeking to play a leading role in developing 5G, the fifth-generation of wireless technology.

The lawsuit is half of a dual legal battle Huawei is fighting with U.S. authorities. In the other half, the daughter of Huaweis founder is fighting extradition to the United States to face several criminal charges.

Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer and the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested last December in Vancouver, Canada, at the request of U.S. prosecutors, who have accused her of overseeing transactions that violate U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Her lawyers argued Tuesday that it will take time to develop her defense in part because of political issues and comments by U.S. President Donald Trump. Meng, who is under house arrest, is scheduled to be back in court May 8 for a new hearing.

Separate issues, US says

U.S. officials reject that her extradition case is related to the broader U.S.-China trade talks. The State Department Wednesday told VOA that her case is a law enforcement matter, and Canada is honoring its treaty obligations by considering the U.S. extradition request.

The Canadian court timetable suggests that the Huawei extradition battle could linger beyond the ongoing U.S.-China trade talks aimed at resolving a wide range of American concerns over Chinas trade, investment and intellectual property rights policies. Negotiators have indicated talks could wrap up in the coming weeks.

Although U.S. officials say the Huawei CFO court case and the trade talks are entirely separate issues, they point to the deep divisions between the two governments on trade and technology issues.

Expand equipment ban

As the trade talks drag on, with few outward signs of significant progress, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, are calling for expanding the ban on Huawei equipment so it cannot be used in U.S. energy infrastructure.

Huawei has recently become the worlds largest maker of inverters, the sophisticated control systems that have allowed the rapid expansion of residential and utility-scale energy production, wrote 11 senators in a letter to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

Our federal government should consider a ban on the use of Huawei inverters in the United States and work with state and local regulators to raise awareness and mitigate potential threats, the senators wrote.

Several U.S. lawmakers, blasting Huaweis close ties to the Beijing government, told VOAs Mandarin service that Huawei should never be in America doing business and they will do whatever we can to block that.

[You need to] realize that companies like Huawei and ZTE are wholly subsidiaries of the Chinese Communist party and therefore we have significant concerns about the extent to which they are able to infiltrate our domestic industry here, said Republican Congressman from Wisconsin Mike Gallagher.

We shouldnt allow Huawei to operate in the U.S., said Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio, They are a state-supported national champion, not only dominate the global telecommunications market in 5G but if compelled by the Chinese government, they will have to turn over data.

Last month Huaweis founder Ren Zhengfei insisted his company has never spied for the government, and he would rather shut down the company than agree to any such request for information. Skeptics point out that no Chinese company can refuse to obey such a government request, because there is no independent judicial system in China for which a company can appeal.

Yihua lee and Xu Ning from VOA Mandarin Service contributed to this report.
Michael Cohen, who for a decade was U.S. President Donald Trump's personal attorney and fixer, sued the Trump Organization on Thursday, claiming he is owed $3.8 million in legal fees and money he spent on behalf of Trump's business empire but now is being forced to forfeit because of the ongoing criminal case against him.



Cohen once declared that he would "take a bullet" for the real estate mogul who became president. But Cohen broke off his relationship with Trump after federal agents raided Cohen's New York properties in April 2018. Last week, in public testimony before a congressional committee, Cohen described Trump as a racist, a con man and a cheat.



In the suit Cohen filed in New York state Supreme Court, Cohen claimed that the Trump Organization had a "contractual agreement" with him to pay him for his legal work and costs he incurred for his work "with and on behalf of" company officials. He said he is owed $1.9 million in legal fees and another $1.9 million for money he has had to forfeit to the government for work he did for the Trump Organization.



The work for the Trump Organization, the lawsuit said, involved dealing with the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, who for 22 months has been probing Trump campaign links to Russia and whether Trump, as president, obstructed justice by trying to thwart the probe. Mueller is nearing the end of his investigation and could soon turn over his concluding report to the U.S. Justice Department.



Cohen has pleaded guilty to financial crimes and lying to Congress on Trump's behalf. He has been ordered to report to prison in May to start a three-year term.



In the last week, Cohen has testified for four days before congressional panels, in public for a day and behind closed doors for three days, about his actions on behalf of Trump before and after he became president. He has testified that at Trump's direction he made or helped facilitate $280,000 in hush money payments to an adult film actress and a Playboy model shortly before the 2016 election to keep them quiet about sexual encounters they claim to have had with Trump more than a decade ago, affairs Trump has denied.



Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress by claiming in early 2017 that Trump had ended his efforts a year earlier to secure rights to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, when actually the overtures extended until mid-2016. Cohen said Trump signaled to him how he was to testify but did not direct him to lie.



In his public testimony, Cohen said he had not sought a pardon from Trump. "I have never asked for it, nor would I accept a pardon from President Trump," Cohen said.



But that claim has now come under scrutiny.



Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis on Thursday acknowledged that Cohen, before he broke off relations with Trump last year, had his then-attorney "explore the possibilities of a pardon" with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other lawyers advising Trump.
Convicted Australian Cardinal George Pell faced a fresh legal challenge Thursday, after a civil suit was filed against him for further alleged abuse in the 1970s.

Pell, the most senior Vatican official to be found guilty of child sex crimes, is in detention awaiting sentencing for assaulting two choirboys in Melbourne in the 1990s.

He maintains his innocence and an appeal is scheduled for June.

Pell had also faced trial on charges of abusing boys in a swimming pool in his hometown of Ballarat in Victoria state, decades before, but the case was dropped by Australian prosecutors after his conviction.

Local media had reported one alleged victim in the Ballarat case was upset the criminal case was dropped and planned to take civil action.

Victoria Supreme Court officials said Thursday that the plaintiff, who cannot be named for legal reasons, filed the suit Wednesday against Pell, authorities in Victoria, child services and the Sisters of Nazareth, which ran the boys home where he lived at the time.

The court did not release further details of the suit.

Pell has been accused of fondling the boys genitals while playing a game in the swimming pool.

Pells lawyers had argued that the alleged victim, now about age 50, lied and that if there was touching, it was purely accidental.

The plaintiff is seeking damages for psychiatric injury, loss of wages and medical expenses, The Australian newspaper reported.
The Democratic Party is excluding Fox News from hosting any primary candidate debates this year after a magazine article revealed details of the network's cozy ties with The White House.

"Recent reporting in The New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration, and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates," Democratic National Committee head Tom Perez said Wednesday.

'Best debate team in the business'

While Fox did not directly respond to The New Yorker story Wednesday, it said it hopes the DNC will change its mind, calling its moderators "the best debate team in the business."

"They offer candidates an important opportunity to make their case to the largest TV audience in America, which includes many persuadable voters," Fox's Washington bureau managing editor Bill Samon said.

Fox bills itself as "America's Newsroom," and for years used the words "Fair and Balanced" as its on-air slogan.

But the network and many of its anchors and commentators have a distinct conservative view. President Trump has called himself a big fan of Fox and White House staffers say he is a frequent daily viewer.

The New Yorker article noted that President Trump has given Fox News more interviews than the three major commercial TV networks combined.

When Trump visited the U.S.-Mexican border in January, the magazine says Fox News commentator Sean Hannity arrived there long before other media members and that the Secret Service gave him access to Trump while keeping other reporters at bay.

Daily press briefings stop

The New Yorker says White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders has halted daily press briefings, but has appeared on Fox about 30 times.

The article points out that in July, Trump hired former Fox News co-president Bill Shine as White house communications director and deputy chief of staff.

Another former Fox News president, Joe Peyronnin, told the magazine "It's as if the president had his own press organization. It's not healthy."

The DNC says the first Democratic candidates' debate will be held in June.
European Union ambassadors have decided to leave sanctions imposed on dozens of Iranians accused of severe human rights abuses in place for another year.

EU-nation envoys in Brussels made the decision on March 6, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal details of the discussions publicly

The asset freezes and visa bans apply to 82 Iranian citizens -- including several judges and prosecutors, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, senior police officers, and prison wardens -- and one entity, the Iranian Cyberpolice.

They were first adopted in 2011 and have been rolled over every year since then.

The measures also include a ban on exports of equipment to Iran that could be used for internal repression and equipment for monitoring telecommunications.

The prolongation of the measures will be formally approved by EU ministers in the coming weeks.

In early 2016, the EU lifted all of its nuclear-related economic and financial EU sanctions against Iran after Tehran and global powers reached a deal imposing curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

The waiver that lifted those sanctions remains in place despite the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 agreement known by the acronym JCPOA.
At staging areas on the outskirts of the northeast Syrian village of Baghuz, the exodus before the end looked more like an exodus without end.

Women and girls clad in burkas, along with small children, marching, shuffling, slowly but surely, joining thousands of others in abandoning the last shred of the Islamic State terror groups self-declared caliphate.

The scene played out on the ground and again on social media Wednesday, as officials with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces explained that another 2,000 people had chosen to leave Baghuz.

About 400 IS fighters also surrendered, the SDF said, after a failed attempt to use smugglers to get them to safety.

We left the siege and the people that you call Daesh (Islamic State), one woman told a cameraman for the Reuters news agency.

But what you dont know is whats inside the hearts of Daesh. The kindest people are there, she added.

Not all who left Baghuz are so sentimental. SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said among those escaping Wednesday were 12 boys, some of them Yazidis, who had been kidnapped by IS.

Four of them said they had been taken from Tal Afar, in Iraq. On Twitter, Bali made a plea for anyone who could to help them return to their homes.

Staggering number of civilians

Overall, the numbers of civilians and fighters fleeing from the small patch of land have been staggering.

Just two weeks ago, SDF officials estimated there were 1,000 people still holed up in IS-controlled Baghuz. Since then, based on estimates from the United Nations and SDF, as many as 24,000 have fled.

In the past three days alone, coinciding with the SDFs decision to pause offensive operations, about 8,000 civilians have come out, along with at least 900 IS fighters.

However, it is not just SDF officials, who launched the final assault only after declaring that all civilians had been evacuated, who have been caught off guard.

We have been surprised by just how many people have come out, a U.S. defense official told VOA on condition of anonymity, noting the evacuations may go on for some time.

Regarding efforts to put an end to the IS caliphate, the official said: It is what it was a week ago. It really hasnt progressed.

IS operates underground

Efforts to get a better sense of just how many people remain in Baghuz have been difficult. Officials say there has been little movement above ground, where Islamic State is holding onto an area covered by wrecked buildings and scattered tents.

But officials advise that Baghuzs multiple valleys make it a deceptively large area. And underground, hidden from the view of reconnaissance drones and other aircraft, IS has used whats been described as a complex network of tunnels and caves, extending possibly for more than 2 kilometers.

Coalition and SDF officials believe it is there, surrounded by explosives and booby traps, where hundreds of the most devoted and hardened IS fighters still lurk.

Officials believe that like many of the more recent evacuees, many of the fighters are from Central Asian countries and, seeing little hope of escaping prosecution or of returning home, are ready to make one last stand.

Terror groups resolve unbroken

For now, according to officials, efforts to bring out more IS fighters and civilians, and to negotiate the release of any remaining prisoners and hostages, will continue until only those committed to fighting and dying remain.

Still, they do not expect the liberation of Baghuz and the end of IS self-declared caliphate will break the terror groups resolve.

IS key leaders and officials, if they were ever in Baghuz, are thought to have fled long ago, officials said, joining thousands of IS fighters and followers already engaged in a relentless insurgency across Syria and Iraq.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Brazil's agency for indigenous peoples has sent off a rare and high-risk expedition hoping to contact a small, isolated group in the Amazon and reunite its members with some of their relatives, saying the move is necessary to avoid bloodshed in an area near the border with Peru.

A team of nearly two dozen sponsored by the FUNAI agency headed up the Coari River over the weekend looking for the group of at least 22 people who are members of the widespread Korubo indigenous community and live in the Javari valley, in the northern state of Amazonas. Brazil's army, federal police and health ministry are backing the initiative, which could take weeks.

The last time FUNAI organized such a big expedition was in 1996, also in that region. The Javari valley, an area of more than 8 million hectares (nearly 31,000 square miles), or bigger than Hungary, is home to the biggest concentration of isolated indigenous peoples in Brazil, amounting to at least 11 groups.

The initiative is the agency's first major operation during the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who pledged to stop demarcation of indigenous lands and allow miners to operate in their lands.

Brazilian law says that contact with isolated tribes can be used only as a last resort to preserve their lives. Bruno Pereira, FUNAI's coordinator for isolated indigenous peoples who is leading the expedition, said the objective is to ease tensions between the isolated group of Korubos and a group of indigenous Matis who live about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away.

The Matis contacted the Korubos in 2013, initially in a friendly manner, but in the following year there was a deadly clash between the two groups, FUNAI said. After that incident, some of the Korubos migrated from the area, and reported that those who stayed mistakenly believed their relatives had been killed by the Matis. Some of the Korubos who left are in FUNAI's expedition.

Pereira said the Matis have repeatedly requested an intervention of Brazil's government because they believe the isolated Korubos will want revenge soon.

There has already been conflict and death, Pereira told The Associated Press and three other media organizations at the FUNAI office in Brazil's capital. This proximity of 20 kilometers between them is a catastrophic scenario. If there is a new confrontation with the Matis, the Korubos will respond in their traditional way: violence.

Plans call for the FUNAI team to go up the Coari and find a place to set up a camp. Members will then wait while the Korubos on the expedition try to persuade the isolated group to stay out of Matis territory. FUNAI analysts say there are no assurances the isolated group will believe that the Korubos in the expedition are in fact their relatives, which heightens the danger.

Pereira said the worst case scenario is that the Korubos fight, while the top hope is that the group accepts the visit of their relatives and decides to stop approaching the Matis area. The FUNAI team also includes doctors in case the uncontacted Korubos need support.

Matis have had contact with FUNAI since the 1970s. The Korubo community is in voluntary isolation, although some of its small tribal groups have been in contact with Brazilian authorities since the 1990s.
The arrest of Robertus Robet, a rights activist, a board member of Amnesty International Indonesia, and a university lecturer at the State University of Jakarta, has sparked outrage among rights groups  some of whom called the arrest a reminder of Indonesias undemocratic past.

On Wednesday evening, Robet was taken from his house after allegations that he sang a protest song with slightly altered lyrics, that was popular at mass demonstrations during Indonesias transition from the authoritarian New Order regime to the current Reform era.



Indonesias National Police confirmed his status as a suspect to VOA.



After investigating him as a suspect, well send him home, because he faces up to only two years in prison, said Dedi Prasetyo, spokesperson of the National Police. "He will be charged under Indonesia's criminal code presiding over the contempt of the government or other institutions."



Dedi added that Robets motive has yet to be known.



Major General Sisriadi, the military's head of communications, told VOA that the legal proceedings pertaining to the content of Robert's oration are now in the hands of the police. "The content itself of course can function as some input to help build the people's trust in the military," he added.

Robet has since apologized, telling reporters, he was sorry if my oration offended or degraded some institutions.



Puri Kencana Putri of Amnesty International told VOA in a text message that Robert has since left the police complex.



On February 28, Robet sang the song at the Kamisan rally, a weekly peaceful human rights demonstration held in front of the Presidential State Palace in Jakarta every Thursday.

The song was emblematic of civic activism during protests that eventually helped topple the 32-year dictatorship of President Suharto. The song criticizes the presence of the military in civil or non-defense government functions.



Aside from his work as a lecturer, Robet also frequently writes analyses and opinion pieces pertaining to human rights in Indonesia.



Criticism of arrest



Several organizations, activists, and one political party have condemned the arrest. Amnesty International, in a statement, said that the arrest is detrimental to the law-abiding state and democracy.



The Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) released a statement decrying the arrest. What he expressed is just a form of his freedom of expression, wrote Surya Tjandra, PSIs spokesperson.



Lola Kaban, an activist with the watchdog group Indonesia Corruption Watch said at a press conference Thursday that she attended the Kamisan rally on February 28.



From what I gathered, Robet just wanted the TNI to be professional, she said at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute building.



Saidiman Ahmad, a researcher at the Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting, said that Robets song was a symbol of the publics hatred against the military at that time. I was one of those activists who sang the song, he said, before noting that Robet didnt mean to slander the Indonesian military of today.



The military dual function



Robet intended the song to criticize the recent governments plan to give military generals slots in civil institutions.



Since the end of Suhartos regime in 1998, Indonesia entered its current period, the Reform era. The Reform era decidedly embraces democracy. It has also reformed the military in substantial ways.

In 2000, the law to separate the military and the police was enacted. More significantly, in 2004, a law was passed that specifically restricts active members of the military to defense functions only.



The Indonesian military has a long history of deep involvement in civil institutions.



Later, after the introduction of martial law in 1957, the army and the other branches of the armed forces became deeply involved in politics, civil administration, and economic management..., wrote the scholar Harold Crouch in his book "The Army and Politics in Indonesia."



Hopefully we dont move backwards. Dont repeat the instance in which that song was contextual to that particular era, Lola said. Today it can be Robet [who was captured], but maybe next, it could be us.
Civic and governmental organizations around the world are preparing to recognize and celebrate International Women's Day on Friday.



International Women's Day is a more than 100-year-old celebration of women's social, economic, cultural and political successes worldwide while also calling for gender equality.



It falls on the same day every year, March 8, and brings together governments, women's organizations, businesses and charities. Cities and towns around the world mark the day with rallies, conferences, art and cultural projects, and lectures.



It began in 1908 when 15,000 women garment workers went on strike and marched through the streets of New York, demanding shorter work hours, better pay and voting rights. In 1910, a German woman named Clara Zetkin suggested the declaration of a Women's Day at an international conference attended by 100 women. The idea was accepted unanimously.



In 1911, it was celebrated for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. More than 1 million women and men attended demonstrations in support of a woman's right to work, vote, study and hold public office.

The United Nations officially recognized International Women's Day for the first time in 1975. In 2011, then-U.S. President Barack Obama took Women's Day a step further, declaring March Women's History Month.



Since the day is not country-, group- or organization-specific, the focus for each year's celebration varies widely, but all are centered around the myriad issues faced by women around the world.

Violence, other dangers



Ahead of the International Women's Day, the International Rescue Committee has released a report on the five most dangerous places in the world to be an adolescent girl. Taking into consideration data on child marriage, adolescent birth rates, literacy, rates of violence and child labor, the IRC named Niger, Yemen, Bangladesh, South Sudan and the Central African Republic as the most dangerous for young girls.



Bangladesh, South Sudan and the Central African Republic led the group in gender-based violence. The IRC noted that 65 percent of women and girls in South Sudan have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, making it one of the highest rates in the world.

In Nigeria, the threat to girls comes in the form of child marriages. The IRC estimates 75 percent of Nigerian girls under the age of 18 are married.

Wars and ethnic conflicts around the world are being recognized this year as the main cause of sexual and gender-based violence. The United Nations and the Red Cross and Red Crescent last month joined forces to end the use of rape as a weapon of war.



"Let me be clear. Sexual and gender-based violence in conflict is not only a horrendous and life-changing crime, most often perpetrated against women and girls. It is also used as a tactic of war, to terrorize families, dehumanize communities and destabilize societies, so that they struggle to recover for years or even decades after the guns fall silent," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.



Other world leaders have also decided to take on gender-based violence.

Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio recently declared rape a national emergency and warned that anyone caught having sexual relations with a minor could face up to life in prison.

"Each month, hundreds of cases of rape and sexual assaults are being reported in this country. These despicable crimes of sexual violence are being committed against our women, children and even babies," he said.

Activism in politics, society

Last year's midterm elections in the United States saw a record 117 women elected to Congress. Unfortunately, such strides are a lot harder in other countries.



In Haiti, where the constitution stipulates that 30 percent of lawmakers be women, that is far from a reality.

"The fight we are waging in the parliament aims to raise the awareness of my fellow colleagues so that they also fight for this equality. We are only four women [lawmakers], but we represent a country full of women," Haiti's only woman senator, Dieudonne Luma Etienne, told VOA.



In Saudi Arabia, where women only last year won the right to drive, the government has been accused of using its counterterrorism laws to silence activists, including women.

A panel of U.N. rights experts on Monday called on the kingdom to release defenders who they said were unjustly held, including rights lawyer Walid Abu al-Kahir, poet Ashraf Fayadh and women activists Loujain al-Hathloul and Israa al-Ghomgham.

Zaynab al-Khawaja of the Gulf Center for Human Rights told the panel: "We highlight some of the torture methods that are being used in Saudi Arabia  electrocution, flogging, sometimes whipping  on the thighs, for example  sexual assault, where some women human rights defenders have been stripped, have been groped, have been photographed naked, some while handcuffed, and others while blindfolded."

International recognition

On International Women's Day in 2007, then-U.S. Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice established the International Women of Courage Award to be presented to women who have shown leadership, courage and resourcefulness. U.S. embassies around the world can recommend a woman as a candidate.

First lady Melania Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo honored 10 women Thursday. The honorees were Razia Sultana from Bangladesh; Moumina Houssein Darar of Djibouti; Mama Maggie of Egypt; Sister Orla Treacy of Ireland; Col. Khalida Khalaf Hanna al-Twal of Jordan; Olivera Lakico of Montenegro; Naw K'nyaw Paw of Myanmar; Flor de Maria Vega Zapata of Peru; Marini de Livera of Sri Lanka; and Anna Aloys Henga of Tanzania.

The winners included human rights activists, police officers, lawyers, a nun and an investigative journalist.

The U.S. State Department has so far recognized more than 120 women from more than 65 countries for advocating for human rights, women's rights, peace and government transparency.

Women's rights through arts



International Women's Day celebrations also include a lighter, brighter side of women's lives. Several international groups have chosen to shine a light on women they consider heroes.

The U.N.'s theme this year is, "Think equal, build smart, innovate for change," highlighting ways to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.



On its website, the U.N. has collected stories of women who have made a difference in their communities. Stories such as that of Nur Nahar, a refugee from Myanmar who has taken it upon herself to mentor other women fleeing to refugee camps in Bangladesh, and Colombian Mila Rodriguez, who founded an all-women group to promote peace and Afro-Colombian music.

The humanitarian nonprofit Care turned to celebrities for a campaign that poses the question, "Who puts the #HerInHERO for you?" Ahead of International Women's Day, Care released a video with prominent women answering that question with empowering words such as "Strong," "Bold," "Passionate" and "Courageous" emblazoned on the screen.

A female hero is also arriving at American theaters on International Women's Day as Disney subsidiary Marvel Studio releases Captain Marvel, its first female-led superhero film.



VOA's Lisa Schlein, Mariama Diallo and Jacquelin Belizaire contributed to this report.
Local officials and human services workers in the southern Italian region of Calabria say the Italian government's recently adopted security decree, which abolishes two years of humanitarian protection for asylum seekers, will do nothing but create greater insecurity. They say migrants not only helped re-populate empty classrooms but brought new work to locals.

Caulonia, Stignano and Riace are just some of the towns in Italys southern and depressed region of Calabria that had benefited from the arrival of migrants on Italian shores. But for the many who arrived here after difficult sea crossings, there are new uncertainties. A security decree recently approved by the Italian parliament has eliminated the possibility of obtaining humanitarian protection for two years and allowing migrants to stay legally on Italian soil. Some mayors have gone so far as to openly announce they were refusing to implement the decree.



Kety Belcastro, the mayor of Caulonia, an ancient town on the Ioanian coastline, says her town and others in Calabria welcomed the migrants in a spirit of solidarity and humanity. Ten years ago, she added, we saw this also as an opportunity to help these people while, at the same time, revitalizing our centers, she said.

Belcastro said the town physically opened its doors, its houses, to the many migrants who flee their countries because of fratricidal or religious wars, hunger and poverty. They flee in search of a better world.



The people of Calabria opened their arms to people in need, she said, insisting that integration had worked very well with many migrants marrying locals.



Rosi Caristo, a 27-year-old social worker from Stignano, said young people living here in recent years have chosen to stay because they were able to find work helping migrants and jobs that did not exist in the past. She said migrant children helped communities stay alive.



In Stignano, Caristo said, schools were going to close down. Thanks to the migrant children we were able to keep classes going. The numbers in the classrooms grew, she added, thanks to the children of migrants.



Caristo said the aim of their social programs was to help migrants become autonomous, initially assisting them with schooling or learning Italian, with housing and finding a job.

Mayor Belcastro said there has never been an issue with violence from migrants. But she is convinced that the new decree will generate greater insecurity on the territory.



She said the dismantlement of the system of humanitarian protection will no doubt increase insecurity because the people who will no longer enjoy these rights will be out on the street and this will lead to an increase in fear and insecurity of citizens.



Caristo, the social worker, said that thanks to the migrants so many windows of homes that were always closed in town were opened again. She said the migrants are a great resource for those towns. She voiced her unhappiness with the new decree and was even more pessimistic than the mayor.



Caristo said that in her opinion the situation is dramatic as she cannot see any positive side to the new laws. She added that she believed the country is destined to go backwards 20 years.
A U.S. federal judge on Thursday sentenced Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, to 47 months in prison for tax and bank fraud.



The sentence was substantially less than the 19 to 21 years prosecutors wanted, which most likely would have put Manafort, 69, behind bars for the rest of his life.

Judge T.S. Ellis said the federal sentencing guidelines  and harsh punishment that special counsel Robert Mueller recommended  were excessive.



Ellis also pointed out that Manafort was not on trial in connection with the main objective of the Mueller probe: to determine whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.



Manafort was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair and supported himself with a cane. He looked much more worn and haggard than he did just a few years ago, when he was one of the most influential Republicans in Washington.

'Humiliated and ashamed'



While not apologizing for his crimes, Manafort told the judge that his life "professionally and financially is in shambles."



"To say I have been humiliated and ashamed would be a gross understatement," he said.

Along with sentencing Manafort to nearly four years in prison, Ellis fined him $50,000.



Manafort was charged with hiding from the government millions of dollars he earned as a lobbyist for Ukraine's former pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych  millions of dollars on which he paid no taxes.



Manafort also lied to banks in Virginia to secure loans for his luxurious lifestyle, which included large homes and designer clothes.



In addition, Manafort has been convicted of separate federal charges of conspiracy and witness tampering. He is to be sentenced for those crimes next week.



The relatively light fraud sentence for Manafort was a bit surprising. Manafort agreed to cooperate with Mueller in the Russia probe, hoping for a lighter punishment. But another judge had ruled that Manafort lied to prosecutors in the Russia probe and violated a plea deal, leaving him no longer entitled to leniency.
About 300 people, most of them albinos, have braved steady rains this week - sometimes bringing traffic to a standstill - to protest near the residence of Malawi's president, Peter Mutharika. The demonstrators want a face-to-face meeting with the president to discuss the continued killings of albinos in the southern African country.

Most of them wore black attire and sang songs usually heard during funeral services. They also carried banners and placards with messages like "No More Sleeping on Albino Attacks," and "Same Blood, Different Colors."

Ian Simbota, an official with the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi, which organized the protest, laid out the protesters goals.

We have several demands. One of them is that we want the president to institute a commission of inquiry which must make sure that it exposes the people behind the albino bone sales, because this problem is still continuing, because we havent managed to kill the market, but if we kill the market today, that would be the beginning of the end of our problem, Simbota said.

The protesters tried to march on Mutharika's residence but were turned back when police mounted a human wall about 200 meters from the front gate. Authorities said they could not allow a protest at State House because it is a protected area.

Simbota, speaking for the protesters, said the blockade was unfair.

"If the president fails to safeguard our right to right and security, he must just come out and declare Malawi not safe home for persons with albinism. Then we should seek asylum somewhere because he has failed us, Simbota said.

Superstition

Albinos in Malawi are targeted over false beliefs that their body parts, when used in so-called magic potions, bring wealth and good luck.

Police statistics show that 26 albinos have been killed since 2013, including three in the past two months.

More than 100 albinos, some of them children, have faced abductions, with some deceased having their bodies exhumed.

Hetherwick Ntabal, the chairperson for the Presidential Committee to Protect Albinos, told VOA that the attacks are a complex issue, which should not be left to government alone.

He noted that some of those arrested in connection with the attacks are trusted members of society such as priests, police officers and traditional leaders.

Now, if a clergyman, a policeman and a village headman are involved in such atrocities, who can we trust? Not even the fathers or mothers. It is a tragedy for all of us to address, Ntabal said.

As of Thursday, the protesters were camping out at the Malawi Institute of Management, about six kilometers from the State House, waiting for the president to return from a visit to the north.

They have given Mutharika 48 hours to return and meet with them. If he doesn't, they say, they will march on State House again.
At least five people were killed and nine others injured Thursday in a car bomb blast outside a restaurant in Mogadishu, near Somalia's presidential palace.

Casualty totals come from security officials and the owner of the Dalsan restaurant, where the explosion occurred. The owner told VOA's Somali service the blast came from an "explosives-laden car" parked on the street.

The restaurant is frequented by government soldiers who control one of the security checkpoints for the presidential palace, located about half a kilometer away from the blast scene.

"We have taken nine injured people [to hospitals], some of them in critical condition, Amin Ambulance, the citys only emergency medical responders, told VOA.

Al-Shabab militants have claimed the responsibility for the explosion, saying they killed at least six government soldiers.

The blast comes a week after two suicide car bombs exploded in the city, killing at least 30 people and injuring another 140.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in says hes ready to step in and be the mediator between the United States and North Korea after the two nations failed to reach an agreement in Hanoi last week. However, it remains to be seen what the South Korean leader can do to move U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un closer to a deal both sides can be happy with.

Handong Global University professor of international studies, Kim Joon-hyung tells VOA that there was a general hope that a big deal could be achieved between Trump and Kim without going through some middles stages, referring to what has been commonly called a top-down approach to negotiations.

However, without an agreement reached in Hanoi, Kim said, The role of President Moon so far has not been active, hes only been liaising with two sides to facilitate meetings when theres been a deadlock, but now it is necessary to take an active role.

But, Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said Moons action could come at a cost.

If Moon keeps suggesting the sanction lifting prior to the denuclearization, then it will worsen the alliance, Shin said, referring to calls by Moon to eliminate or provide exemptions to sanctions on North Korea to allow proposed inter-Korean projects to move forward.

Moons mission

Tuesday President Moon ordered his Cabinet to pursue all avenues to facilitate a resumption of discussions between Washington and Pyongyang.

We look forward to continuing the dialogue between the two countries, and I expect that the two leaders will meet again in the near future and achieve the settlement this time, Moon said earlier this week while presiding over a National Security Council meeting.

Moon called the failure to reach an agreement between the United States and North Korea in Hanoi regrettable, but spoke optimistically that meaningful progress had been made.

In a statement to reporters, Moon said, The Korean Government will do all it can to ensure that the United States and North Korea can maintain momentum for dialogue while continuing their close communication and cooperation.

After the Hanoi summit resulted in no agreement being signed between President Trump and Kim, Moon said South Koreas role has become important and directed ministers to take action.

At a National Security Council meeting Tuesday, Moon asked officials to confirm the differences in the positions of the two sides and look for ways to narrow the gap.

I believe that the North American dialogue will eventually be settled, and its very undesirable to have a vacuum and deadlocked stage for a long time, so please work hard together for the resumption of the North American dialogue, Moon said.

Back to the diplomats

Part of that endeavor includes Lee Do-hoon, South Koreas top nuclear negotiator, visiting Washington this week to meet with Stephen Biegun, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, as well as a trilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Kenji Kanasugi.

Before the [Hanoi] summit, the pros of the top-down approach worked out; however, now it shows its cons, Kim said.

Shin, of the Asian Institute for Policy Studies, was more critical, saying the top-down approach was no longer valid, saying it worsened the situation.

Kim also stressed the importance of establishing working-level groups in order for denuclearization talks to move forward.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hopes to be able to send a delegation to North Korea soon to conduct follow-up talks with officials in Pyongyang, but told those at an event in Iowa Monday there had been no commitment yet.

Shin calls the current stalemate with North Korea a difficult dilemma.

North Korea controls the outcome, since they are the ones who must decide to change, Shin said.

He said Washington will continue to press Pyongyang for complete denuclearization before the lifting of sanctions.

Shin said that makes it important for South Korea to liaise with the North and get positive results, which would enable Seoul to persuade Washington to take action.

As a result, Shin said, President Moon is risking all political capital on this issue.

Speaking Tuesday at the commissioning ceremony at the Korean Naval Academy, Moon said, Should we consistently pursue peace with firm determination, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and permanent peace will definitely come.

Kim offered some advice to Washington, The United States should not treat North Korea as a defeated nation or devilize them, because North Korea cannot accept total surrender.

Lee Ju-hyun contributed to this report.
Before 22-year-old Phoo Myat Thwe stepped on stage last night to read a monologue in downtown Yangon, her hands went cold.



I suddenly didnt know if I could do it - utter moans of sexual pleasure on stage, said Phoo, who read the story The woman who loved to make vaginas happy, exploring womens pleasure.



But then I reminded myself, yes this is provocative, but this is about sexual liberation and understanding womens right to know about their bodies, said Phoo.



This week was the first time the feminist play The Vagina Monologues was performed in Burmese in public.



Hoots of laughter erupted, jaws dropped and all eyes were glued to a small black stage on a rooftop in Yangon, as Myanmar women of all ages took to the stage to read stories that explored the taboo issues of menstruation, consent, sex work and reproduction.

The play was written in 1994 by American playwright and activist Eve Ensler, after she interviewed women of different ages, races and sexualities. It became an instant hit.



For me I grew up never saying the word vagina in my home, and I was told you cant show your boobs, society makes you feel shame that our bodies are dirty - a lot of women feel like they are second class citizens, said Phoo, who is an art writer when shes not on stage. "It's vaginal liberation, it discusses vaginas in a way that we normally wouldn't speak about them."

Just a play?



The monologues aim to give a voice to women beyond the barriers of race or religion.



Growing up in conflict-ridden Meiktila, Pyay Oo May told the audience at Tuesday nights opening performance that she was inspired to perform on stage as she has experienced discrimination from a young age.



When authorites came to impose a fine because her all female family couldnt volunteer anyone to join the rotational security watch duty in their village, they made loud jokes, so that others in the neighborhood could hear. It was a kind of trauma, she said.



Although many of the monologues are comical, some explore difficult and harrowing experiences, such as rape during the Bosnian war in the monologue, My Vagina was My village.



Pyay Oo May said this was the hardest story to listen to. It was very painful, I feel the girl [in the monologue] is hopeless and [has] lost everything  she is physically alive, but psychologically dead, she said.

A global V-Day movement

In Myanmar, rape has been used as a weapon of war recorded by many womens rights groups across the country. Womens rights groups such as the Karen Womens Organization have documented these abuses and called for an end to military impunity for abuses committed against all women - Karen, Kachin, Shan and Rohingya.



The Vagina Monologues has become a global V-Day movement that encourages women around the world to perform the monologues as a benefit performance to raise funds and consciousness about ending violence against women.



This year, the funds in Myanmar will go to two groups raising womens rights in ethnic areas; The Karen Womens Organization and Ninu Women, a group that supports Chin women fighting for equal inheritance rights for women and an end to bride prices.



When asked for her thoughts on the show, founder of Ninu Women, Mae Len Nei Cer, said: Only one word - revolution!



Giving a voice to all women



Last year, over $3,500 were raised for Strongflowers Sexuality Education from the performances when it was performed in English for the first time.



Strongflowers founderDR Thet Su Htwe said she was at first scared to speak on stage about her work. For me the word vagina is too sensitive in our society, even if it is in English, she said.



But after reflecting on the education gap about sexual and reproductive health across the country, she decided she would do it. When I do trainings there is so much people dont know, they think menstrual blood is dirty and that women cant get pregnant if they dont have an orgasm.



Translation challenges



But choosing a word in Burmese as the translation for vagina wasnt that straight-forward.



Each performer translated the monologue themselves or worked in a team. Phoo said it was challenging to choose a word that captured the tone in Burmese in conservative Buddhist Myanmar.



She chose a-sae for the clitoris, a-phote for vagina because men usually use them in a sexual way, but she wanted to take back ownership of the word and bring a positive energy to it. Usually women use a polite phrase of Main-ma-koe which translates as womens body, but Phoo wanted to choose some more striking words.



Another performer, Aye Nilar Kyaw, said her friends are too shy to talk about vaginas, so she hopes if people from Myanmar come here, and even if they learn the word vagina tonight, I am happy with that.



Feminist Activist Nandar, producer of The Vagina Monologues in Yangon, said she hopes the stories will reconnect women with their bodies to feel proud.



For me, its an important reminder for Myanmar society to respect womens bodies and listen to their stories, we need to start a conversation, she said.
The U.S. space agency NASA has confirmed that it has scheduled a spacewalk by two female astronauts for the first time.

A NASA spokeswoman told CNN Wednesday, As currently scheduled, the March 29 spacewalk will be the first with only women.

The spacewalk, staffed by astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch will be the second spacewalk of three during Expedition 59, which launches March 14.

Koch is a member of Expedition 59, while McClain is currently part of the three-person crew of the International Space Station.

In addition to the two women in space, another woman, Canadian Space Agency flight controller Kristen Facciol, is expected to be on the console at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, providing support on the seven-hour spacewalk.

Male astronauts Nick Hague and David Saint-Jacques will participate in the first and third spacewalks.

It is unclear yet what is to be accomplished on the spacewalk. NASA says spacewalks are conducted for repairs, testing equipment and conducting experiments.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said Thursday he will not run for president in 2020, becoming the latest Democrat to bow out of the White House race.

His decision comes after recent visits to several early-voting states to highlight his worker-friendly policy agenda. Brown said he believed his dignity of work tour succeeded in putting the struggles of average Americans on Democrats' 2020 radar. He also said he can be most effective by remaining in the Senate.

I fight best when I bring joy to the battle, he told home-state reporters. And I find that joy fighting for Ohio in the Senate.

Several other Democrats, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and former Attorney General Eric Holder, announced this week that they would not join a presidential primary already packed with a dozen candidates. Democrats are awaiting word from former vice president Joe Biden and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke about whether they will undertake highly anticipated campaigns that could reshape the race.

Brown said he will continue to call out President Donald Trump's phony populism from his perch in the Senate and will do everything I can to elect a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate in 2020.

The 66-year-old had emerged as a potentially strong challenger to Trump after winning re-election in November in a state that Trump carried by nearly 11 percentage points in 2016. Brown's victory was powered by strong support in many blue-collar areas of the state where Trump had prevailed.

Well-known for his progressive populism, Brown had pledged to be the most pro-union, pro-worker candidate in the Democratic field if he ran. But he would have faced a steep climb to the upper tier of the 2020 field.

Brown's comfort in relating to Midwestern, working-class voters is a key element in the political appeal of Biden, who is seen as leaning heavily toward running. Also, Brown's political brand has some similarities to the anti-corporate liberalism of two high-profile senators already in the race, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Even so, Brown proved himself less willing than those possible rivals to embrace the litmus-test politics of the left: He declined to sign onto Sanders' Medicare for all single-payer health care plan or the Green New Deal, an ambitious framework to fight climate change.

Brown said he was not deterred from running by the large number of Democratic candidates, money concerns or his status as a white male in a party that prizes diversity. He said has never aspired to be president and, in the end, decided he could do the most good in the Senate.

Citing his record on worker issues, Brown said, I think my message has been strong enough that other candidates are picking it up.
In January, a vicious hammer attack at a Brooklyn, New York, restaurant left three Asian immigrant workers dead. While still shaken and trying to heal, the attack brought the community together in New York. But with all the markings of a hate crime, immigrants of color in New York and elsewhere are now reckoning with a grim new reality: targeted attacks are on the rise in the U.S. VOA's Ramon Taylor reports.
Authorities in Pakistan said Thursday that a nationwide counter-extremism effort has brought under government control 216 religious seminaries and educational institutions run by outlawed Islamist groups.

The federal interior ministry said in a statement provincial governments have also seized control of 176 mostly health-related welfare facilities, and scores of ambulances run by banned entities.

It said the operation is an ongoing effort to eradicate religious extremism, saying Pakistani "law enforcement agencies have placed 121 people under preventive detention as of today."

The intensified crackdown, critics say, is stemming from increased global pressure on Islamabad in the aftermath of a February 14 suicide bombing in the disputed Kashmir region that India blamed on Pakistan and was reportedly claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant group.

Pakistani officials deny external pressure is behind the renewed push against militancy, but they have acknowledged a large number of suspects rounded up in recent days are linked to JeM. They have also confirmed that two brothers of Maulana Masood Azhar, who founded and runs JeM, are among the detainees.

Azhar and his brothers are on a list of suspects India has shared with Pakistan as part of its dossier into the February attack that targeted a security convoy in the Pulwama district.

The incident left more than 40 Indian security personnel dead. Pakistani authorities, however, have not issued an explanation for not detaining the JeM chief.

Pakistan is also under pressure from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), to curb activities, financing and money laundering by terrorist groups. The country risks being blacklisted and coming under international sanctions if it fails to fully implement an action plan the global terrorism financing monitoring organization has outlined for Pakistan.

Officials say religious seminaries, health facilities and other entities that law enforcement agencies have brought under government control in recent days also include those linked to Jamatt-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its sister charity Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF).

Both organizations, outlawed last week, are known fronts for militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that India says orchestrated the deadly 2008 attacks on its financial capital, Mumbai. The United States and the United Nations have listed JeM, LeT, JuD and FIF as global terrorist groups.

JuD sources estimate it has nearly 300,000 members, including 30,000"hardcore" activists trained for combat. The organization has over the years established 700 Islamic schools and runs a countrywide ambulance service among other entities.

Pakistan denied any role in the February bombing in Kashmir and offered India cooperation in investigating the carnage and punishing any Pakistani if found guilty. The ensuing escalation in military tensions led to an Indian cross-border strike against alleged JeM training camps.

Pakistani jets undertook a similar action in retaliation the next day and shot down what officials said were two Indian fighter planes. An Indian pilot was captured but returned two days later, marking a reduction in military tensions.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has credited the United States among other global powers with helping to ease tensions with India through what he said was "private U.S. diplomacy."He did not elaborate further. U.S. officials have acknowledged using regional allies, particularly those in the Gulf, to help defuse the tensions.

Tens of thousands of religious seminaries in Pakistan, known as madrassas, remain a challenge for authorities in the wake of allegations that some are responsible for radicalizing youngsters, spreading religious hatred and encouraging them to fight alongside militants in foreign conflicts.

Analysts say the curriculum in most of the Islamic schools is confined to reading the Muslim holy book, the Quran, and other religion-based books, and very few of the schools teach modern science subjects.

Critics caution that attempts to marginalize madrassas without offering effective rehabilitation plans would deprive millions of children of poverty-stricken families from receiving any sort of education.
Officials in South Sudan say obstacles in setting up and training a unified army will likely delay formation of a planned transitional unity government.

The news came Thursday from the National Pre-Transitional Committee (NPTC), one of the bodies established to help implement a revitalized peace deal aimed at ending South Sudan's civil war.

An official from the rebel SPLM-IO says parties to the deal should consider extending the deadline so security arrangements are in place before the next government is formed.

In about two months, an eight-month "pre-transitional" period ends. The government and rebel groups are supposed to form a transitional government by May 12 under terms of the peace deal, signed last year.

Martin Elia Lomuro, secretary of the pre-transitional committee, says a lack of money is slowing efforts to bring together rebel and government forces, train them and create one, unified army.

Before a new government is formed, Lomuro said, a unified force must be in place.

"That is a condition for the establishment of the transitional government. Without that force, the Transitional Government of National Unity will not be formed. And this is important to all the parties to the agreement ... to move all our forces expeditiously to assemble them and move in cantonment so that within the next three months, we can form that unified force," Lomuro told VOA's South Sudan in Focus.

Henry Odwar, the NPTC co-chairman and deputy head of the SPLM-IO, agrees.

"When are those unified forces going to be trained? Will it take a week? Will it take three months? Thereafter, we think that some of the forces either from the government side or from the opposition side will be left out after the unification and that poses a lot of problems," Odwar told VOA.

Odwar said the lack of funds to complete security arrangements on time may lead to forming a government that collapses.

He is urging NPTC members to handle the security arrangements carefully to protect the next government from a repeat of what happened in July 2016, when fighting broke out in the capital, Juba, between government and rebel forces, prompting President Salva Kiir's deputy and SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar to flee the country.

"The way is that the principals have to sit down, find out the time required for completing the security arrangements and then extend a dateline to the end of that time," Odwar told VOA.

States and boundaries

The number of states and their boundaries must also be resolved before the new government is formed. Kiir unilaterally redrew the country's internal map in 2014.

Lomuro said delays in resolving those issues are also likely to delay the formation of the new government.

"We are waiting for results of the Technical Border Committee to determine some of the tribal boundaries, and then the IBC, the Independent Boundaries Commission, would determine the number of states. ... The time that we have expected for the two committees to work has expired," Lomuro told VOA.

Odwar said the opposition thinks all parties should meet around a table now to find a compromise on the number of states.

"Do we go back to the 10 states and allow South Sudanese to decide how many states we want during the transitional period? Or should we go along with the former colonial districts because then, we did not have problems?" asked Lomuro.

The revitalized peace deal states that if the Independent Boundaries Commission fails to resolve the dispute over the number of states, the matter would be decided by referendum.

Odwar said the SPLM-IO does not trust the government to organize a credible referendum, noting, "The referendum will be conducted under the current incumbent government, and it will still have the president as the head of state; the whole security arrangement will still be under him."

Under that scenario, Odwar added, the chances of rigging the outcome are "very, very high."
A top court in Thailand has ordered the termination of a major opposition party because of its nomination of the king's sister as a candidate for prime minister just over two weeks before the March 24 election.

The decision by the Constitutional Court reduced the Thai Raksa Chart Party's chances of defeating parties that are allied with the military junta that has been in power since it ousted a democratically elected government in a 2014 coup.

The ruling by the court, which also banned Thai Raksa Chart executive board members from political activity for 10 years, also raises concerns about the fairness of the upcoming elections.

The party nominated Princess Ubolratana as its candidate on February 8, prompting her brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, to declare it "inappropriate" and unconstitutional. The party argued it could legally nominate her because her formal royal titles were rescinded in 1972 when she married a foreigner.

The Constitutional Court ranks among the most conservative institutions in the South Asian country, regularly ruling against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is aligned with the Thai Raksa Chart Party, and his allies.

The allied parties have been victors in every national election since 2001 but have twice been overthrown in coups.

Thai Raksa Chart is one of several parties loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin in an election that generally pits his supporters against establishment parties.

Party leader Preechapol Pongpanich told reporters outside the Bangkok courthouse after the ruling, "we all had good intentions."

Thai Raksa Chart supporters were seen crying outside the courthouse, some of whom said they would vote for other opposition parties.
This dusty South African mining town is perhaps best known for its darkest day: the 2012 police shooting of 34 striking mineworkers.

But anger over their deaths, and the systemic inequalities that remain 25 years after the end of apartheid, planted the seeds of a political movement that this year could upend the political status quo in a nation that has been ruled by the same party since the beginning of democracy in 1994.

From this soil, drenched with the blood of mineworkers, the Economic Freedom Fighters launched their far-left, radical political party in 2013. This year, as they approach their second national election, they stand a chance of making real gains in strongholds once controlled by the powerful African National Congress. The nation votes May 8.

Key wins for EFF

Already the party, which appeals to South Africas black youth, has come to dominate university politics, winning student elections late last year at several prominent institutions, including the University of Johannesburg, the University of Cape Town and the University of Zululand.

In adult politics, the party also won key municipalities in the 2016 vote.

EFF ward councilor Wendy Pretorius represents the small, undeveloped area of Wonderkop, which contains the sacred hill where the miners gathered in 2012 to strike against conditions at the Lonmin platinum mine. The roads around it remain unpaved, and residents live in sheet-metal shacks without water or electricity.

Pretorius said she supported the long-dominant ANC until the deadly strike.

The time the killings happened, I was there with the other women, she told VOA. So, we were singing, waiting for the president of the country, Jacob Zuma. And Jacob Zuma, he never, never pitched. We were singing and waiting. And then, instead of coming to the mountain to see the people and to hear their side of the story, whats happening, he just went to the hospital, to the management of Lonmin. After that, he (went) back. So, after that, its where we started to say, You know what? It seems like we are not belonging here in South Africa.

WATCH: South Africa's Third Party Could Challenge Political Establishment

Criticisms of party

Critics of the party have pointed to its leaders fiery, sometimes race-baiting, rhetoric; at its far-left policies; at parliamentarians insistence on wearing bright red workmans uniforms for official appearances; and its habit, in its early days, of getting into violent scuffles in parliament.

But in the past year, the party has grown in ambition and maturity. It has encroached on the ANCs traditional base  South Africas poor black majority. Because of that fierce loyalty, the ruling ANC has been forced to pay attention to the far-left partys calls for land redistribution without compensation.

At the local level, Marikana resident Nomxolisi Mafolwana said EFF representatives have brought positive change. Pretorius, she said, helped set up a small community project in which mineworkers widows sell chickens. That, she says, has improved their meager income.

EFF has made a good change, she told VOA as she plucked feathers from a freshly killed bird that she sold minutes later for less than $3 (R40). She is trying, because this is not a place that it is people (who) live here. Its a place (where) pigs live, not people.

Urban supporters

The movement is also gaining supporters in urban areas, where adherents have protested for free university education and assistance for upwardly mobile young South Africans. Here at the University of Johannesburg, which has nearly 50,000 students, the EFF took over the Student Representative Council for the first time this year.

Chairperson and accounting student David Raphunga said the EFF strives to redress South Africas historic inequalities, beginning by taking back land that was seized centuries ago by European settlers.

Our people are still suffering, he said. We are not in charge of the economic sector of South Africa. In the banking sector, were not in charge. The manufacturing sector, were not in charge. So, the land brings all that. When you have land, you are able to nationalize  nationalize your banks, you can nationalize your mines. All the resources and the profits, they are going to come back to the people. They benefit the people of South Africa, Africa and other parts of the world at large.

Raphunga said at the end of the day, EFF supporters want what was promised to all South Africans when the apartheid regime fell in 1994: a stake in their nations potential.

The people of London are owning a mine in Africa, he said. But right next to the mine, theres an informal settlement. People are dying of hunger. Theres no free education. People dont have water. They dont have no electricity. There in Marikana, we should have a city like Johannesburg. Where is the profit going? Its going to London. How? So, that must come to an end.

Back in Marikana, Mafolwana translated those ideals into tangible suggestions.

We want jobs, she said. We dont have jobs. We want roads here. We dont have roads here. And water.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization fears that an outbreak of fall armyworm in Zimbabwe will affect food security in a country where more than 5 million are already in need of food assistance.

At Malvern Farm, about an hour drive northeast of Harare, Ntombizodwa Ncube is concerned by fall armyworms devouring the corn crop, despite efforts to contain the problem with chemicals for the third year running.

The armyworm this year is bad. Its really bad, Ncube said. As you can see, our plants have been ravaged by these worms. And we are using so many treatments, but it seems its not working. Its really bad. Most of the crops, as you can see, have been damaged. It is really causing havoc.

Her co-manager, Peter Joseph Dzingami, is equally concerned.

In the previous years, we would control it. But this year, no, he said. It is because there is not much rainfall, and the worms are hatching more than previous years. We were expecting 10 to 12 ton of harvest, but we now expect five to six ton (of corn). We have no idea where this worm is taking us to.

Unesu Ushewokunze-Obatolu, the principal director in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the fall armyworm is one of many transboundary outbreaks Zimbabwe has been fighting over the past three years.

The governments approach to managing fall armyworm outbreaks has been to train extension officers and to raise awareness among farming stakeholders, to contain and manage HPAI and FAW (fall armyworm) outbreaks. Further, it sought to increase resilience and enhance productive capacity of smallholder farmers affected by the two scourges, Ushewokunze-Obatolu said.

Judging from the two farmers testimonies, that program seems to have failed.

David Mufote, the FAOs deputy representative in Zimbabwe, says fall armyworms are hard to eliminate.

We cannot actually eradicate (it), because what it does is, when we are in winter, it hibernates in the soil or probably mostly in the soil. And when you put up your green crops, that is where it feeds on it, then reoccurs so it will never eradicate, he said. But our role is that we mitigate the damage in the most effective and cost effective way.

The fall armyworm, which attacks mainly corn, was first discovered in Brazil. Experts suspect that it moved to Africa when the continent imported corn from the United States in response to increased drought.

FAO is urging farmers to use green methods to control it. But farmers like Ncube and Dzingami say they hope for a permanent solution as soon as possible to ensure their future harvests are not affected.
For the second time in as many months, the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday condemned hateful speech of all forms, in an attempt by Democrats to end a controversy over one of their own member's remarks deemed anti-Semitic by many.

The House overwhelmingly approved the resolution by a 407-23 vote. Although it did not mention freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, by name, the vote was intended as a rebuke for comments she made at a Washington, D.C., event last week, in which she said, "I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country."

Omar's suggestion that Jewish or staunchly pro-Israel members of Congress have a dual loyalty to the United States and to Israel comes on the heels of remarks she made earlier this year in which she tweeted a trope about Jews and money, while discussing the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a highly influential lobby, on lawmakers' policy decisions on Israel.

During her campaign last year to become one of only two Muslim-American women elected to Congress, Omar also apologized for the anti-Semitic implications of some of her tweets and remarks.

A resolution specifically condemning anti-Semitic speech in response to Omar's tweet regarding AIPAC and the influence of money in advancing pro-Israel policies in Congress passed the House last month.

Omar's comments exposed deep divisions within the Democratic caucus in terms of religion, race and age that have frustrated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's efforts to move ahead with the Democrats' political agenda.

Omar's remarks have also highlighted a generational clash between more establishment Democratic leaders and new members such as Omar and congresswomen Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Those newcomers have not hesitated to start spirited debates over everything from climate change to impeaching President Donald Trump. Traditionally, freshman members of Congress are expected to keep a low profile their first months in office.

But in the age of instant news cycles generated by social media, Omar  a Somali refugee  and others have gained an outsized importance in the political debate by speaking out.

"I do not believe that she [Omar] understood the full weight of the words," Pelosi told reporters Thursday. "I feel confident that her words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude."

Instead, Pelosi characterized Omar's remarks as part of the process for a new member.

"I understand how advocates come in with their enthusiasms," she said. "But when you cross that threshold into Congress, your words weigh much more than when you're shouting at somebody outside."

Critics have called for Omar's removal from a high-profile assignment to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs. But why would you have her on a committee that is sensitive to our foreign policy if she has those kinds of anti-Semitic beliefs unless you are willing to tolerate it?" House Minority Whip Steve Scalise told Fox News in an interview. "It shouldn't be tolerated. She ought to be removed immediately from the Foreign Affairs Committee."

Even the language in this latest resolution sparked fierce debate within the Democratic caucus, after Pelosi and other party leaders broadened the text to condemn all forms of hate speech, including Islamophobia and white supremacist remarks, in addition to anti-Semitism.

In a passionate speech on the House floor Thursday morning, Congressman Ted Deutch, a Jewish Democrat from Florida, said, "Anti-Semitism is worthy of being taken seriously on its own. It's worthy of being singularly called out."

Deutch also noted anti-Semitic tropes have been repeated by Republicans, as well. Democrats have criticized Trump for running a campaign ad showing images of billionaire Democratic contributor George Soros while invoking tropes of a globalist Jewish conspiracy, and tweeting an image of 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton alongside what appeared to be a Jewish star and piles of money.

Trump also drew widespread criticism in August 2017 when he said there was "blame on both sides" when a female protester was killed during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump criticized Democrats' broad stance against hate speech, calling it "shameful" Wednesday on Twitter.

Omar set off the discussion last weekend by referring to pro-Israel advocates in the U.S. as supporting "allegiance to a foreign country." Omar previously had drawn the ire of top Democratic lawmakers and Republicans for questioning the financial clout of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a highly influential lobby in the U.S. supporting Israel.

"It's all about the Benjamins baby," Omar tweeted, referring to pictures of Benjamin Franklin, a U.S. Founding Father whose picture is on $100 bills. She apologized and joined in voting for an earlier resolution condemning anti-Semitism.

The controversy over Omar's remarks has also gained traction due to her position as one of only a few Muslim members of Congress. Omar has said she and Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, are fearful colleagues will believe "everything we say about Israel to be anti-Semitic because we are Muslim." She has also clarified her stances on Israel in subsequent tweet threads.

The party infighting over the language in the resolution overshadowed Democratic leadership's attempt to showcase HR 1, the new majority's signature legislation addressing voting rights, campaign finance reform and ethics.

With the vote on the resolution Thursday, Democratic leadership looks to clear members from having to answer about the controversy and end the week on a high note with passage of that legislation.
U.S. senators on Thursday delivered a message of hope and solidarity to the Venezuelan people and a sharp warning to those backing embattled leader Nicholas Maduro both inside the collapsing South American country and in the broader international community.

"To those in Venezuela: Your fight for freedom and restoration of democracy is our fight, and the free world has not and will not forget you," said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. "We [the United States] will be [focused] on this as long as it takes."

The full committee's top Democrat, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, had blunt words for loyalists of Maduro's socialist regime in Caracas.

"If you want a future in Venezuela, and if you want a future free of U.S. sanctions that will follow you anywhere in the world, then you must recognize the legitimate interim president, Juan Guaido, and you must not have blood on your hands," he said, then paused and repeated: "You must not have blood on your hands."

As for Cuba, Russia and other nations backing Maduro, Menendez added, "Whatever investments you made in Maduro, you're not going to get them back under a failed state. Your own interest is in allowing a democratic process to take place that can restore Venezuela to its full vitality."

The Trump administration's special representative for Venezuela, Elliot Abrams, also had a message aimed far beyond Washington.

"For those members of the [Venezuelan] armed forces who are still on the fence, fearing retaliation by Maduro's Cuban accomplices, we are asking them to show their pride and patriotism, and we believe they have a key role to play in rebuilding their homeland [in a post-Maduro Venezuela]," Abrams told the panel.

Rubio noted the oil-rich country's economic disintegration, accompanied by extreme hunger and privation as well as the exodus of millions of Venezuelans to neighboring countries, calling the situation "a regional catastrophe of epic proportions" and "a cataclysmic crisis."

With international aid shipments blocked at ports of entry by Maduro's army, Rubio predicted, "Venezuela is going to enter a period of suffering no nation in our hemisphere has confronted in modern history."

For his part, Maduro has blamed the United States for Venezuela's woes and has rejected U.S. efforts to send aid to his struggling country as a tactic to further weaken his hold on Venezuela. More than 50 nations have joined the United States in recognizing Guaido as interim leader.

Given the severity of the situation, several lawmakers pressed the Trump administration to accept Venezuelans who flee to the United States, urging they be granted Temporary Protected Status that would shield them from deportation.

"We are judged not only by our words but also by our actions, and we know there are Venezuelans coming to our border," said Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat.

Abrams responded, "We have this policy [for Venezuelan arrivals] under review right now."

Cardin was quick to signal he was not satisfied.

"What's there to review?" the senator asked. "This is not a matter that can wait.  When you say this is under consideration, that tells me we are not acting in a timely way. And that presents, to me, a challenge for us in our leadership in that region."

Abrams promised to relay Cardin's message within the administration.

In his opening remarks, Rubio said the Venezuelan crisis presents a challenge to the United States on many fronts, including national security.

Democrats did not dispute the assertion, but stressed they do not back U.S. military intervention in Venezuela.

"The support that we have lent unequivocally on Venezuela does not include the use of force," Menendez said. "Confronting tyranny requires sustained commitment. But Maduro is not invincible. He's far from it."
A Canadian judge has set the date for a new hearing in the case of a Chinese executive with the global tech giant Huawei, who U.S. prosecutors are hoping to extradite to face charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy.

Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei and daughter of its founder, is due back in court May 8. She stands accused of overseeing transactions that violate U.S. sanctions on Iran. She denies the charges, and her lawyers argued Tuesday that it will take time to develop her defense in part because of political issues and comments by U.S. President Donald Trump.

U.S. officials reject that her extradition case is related to the broader U.S.-China trade talks. The State Department Wednesday told VOA that her case is a law enforcement matter, and Canada is honoring its treaty obligations by considering the U.S. extradition request.

The Canadian court timetable suggests that the Huawei extradition battle could linger beyond the ongoing U.S.-China trade talks aimed at resolving a wide range of American concerns over Chinas trade, investment and intellectual property rights policies. Negotiators have indicated talks could wrap up in the coming weeks.

Although U.S. officials say the Huawei CFO court case and the trade talks are entirely separate issues, they point to the deep divisions between the two governments on trade and technology issues.

A U.S. law already prohibits the use of Huawei products in federal agencies for national security purposes.

Theres a real risk, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week, that the Chinese will use this [Huawei equipment] for purposes that arent commercial, that arent for private gain, but rather for the states benefit.

On Thursday, local time, Huawei announced it has filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the law that bars government agencies and contractors from doing business with the tech giant.

We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort, the companys chairman, Guo Ping, said in a statement. This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers.

As the trade talks drag on, with few outward signs of significant progress, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, are calling for expanding the ban on Huawei equipment so it cannot be used in U.S. energy infrastructure.

Huawei has recently become the worlds largest maker of inverters, the sophisticated control systems that have allowed the rapid expansion of residential and utility-scale energy production, wrote 11 senators in a letter to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

Our federal government should consider a ban on the use of Huawei inverters in the United States and work with state and local regulators to raise awareness and mitigate potential threats, the senators wrote.

Several U.S. lawmakers, blasting Huaweis close ties to the Beijing government, told VOAs Mandarin service that Huawei should never be in America doing business and they will do whatever we can to block that.

[You need to] realize that companies like Huawei and ZTE are wholly subsidiaries of the Chinese Communist Party and therefore we have significant concerns about the extent to which they are able to infiltrate our domestic industry here, said Republican Congressman from Wisconsin Mike Gallagher.

We shouldnt allow Huawei to operate in the U.S., said Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio, They are a state-supported national champion, not only dominate the global telecommunications market in 5G but if compelled by the Chinese government, they will have to turn over data.

Last month Huaweis founder Ren Zhengfei insisted his company has never spied for the government, and he would rather shut down the company than agree to any such request for information. Skeptics point out that no Chinese company can refuse to obey such a government request, because there is no independent judicial system in China for which a company can appeal.

Yihua Lee and Xu Ning from VOA's Mandarin Service contributed to this report.
Manuel thought he, too, would become a victim.

The undocumented Puebla, Mexico, native had only been working in the United States for eight months when he witnessed a gruesome hammer attack at his Sheepshead Bay, New York, workplace that left three workers dead.

On Jan. 15, 2019, the early dinner crowd had begun to fill Seaport Buffet, a casual seafood dining spot in the immigrant-rich Brooklyn community, when 34-year-old suspect, Arthur Martunovich, strolled in.

Without warning, Martunovich allegedly pulled a hammer from a backpack and bludgeoned the restaurants manager, Thang Kheong Ng, a Malaysian immigrant.

According to police reports and surveillance footage, Martunovich walked to the kitchen, swinging at co-owner Tsz Pun and his nephew Fufai Pun, a chef. All three men were Asian. All three died from their injuries.

Manuel, a kitchen worker who asked that his last name not be used because of his undocumented status, recalled how blood splattered the kitchen floor.

This is how it ends, he thought to himself. In broken English, he pleaded with Martunovich.

He looks at me and responds, No problem, China. China, Manuel told VOA in Spanish.

Trapped in the kitchen with no Asian cooks in sight, Manuel said Martunovich swept past him and struck Pun again as he lay on the floor. The assailant then left as if nothing happened.

Violence against immigrants

Viewed by some of the restaurants workers as an isolated incident, statistically, Manuel could have easily been a victim.

In the U.S., Hispanics are nearly twice as likely to be victims of violent hate crimes as non-Hispanic whites, according to U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics.

Nationwide, immigrants are increasingly targets of hate groups, according to Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Centers (SPLC) Intelligence Project.

President Trump has often pushed a narrative that immigrants, particularly undocumented ones, are disproportionately criminals.

According to a 2018 report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), 21 percent of individuals in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) were known or suspected aliens, legal and undocumented, in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. Among them, 46 percent had committed drug-related offenses; 29 percent had committed immigration offenses.

Missing from the data are allegations of racial profiling and illegal searches that occur during immigration arrests, actions that CBP prohibits as a matter of policy, which place people of color at increased vulnerability.

Martunovich, an Estonian construction worker whose legal status is unknown to VOA, allegedly told law enforcement officers that a movie about Chinese mens abuse of women motivated his attack, according to a New York Post report.

In interviews with The New York Times and the New York Daily News, his co-workers, friends, and family cited a history of mental illness, claiming he was institutionalized several years ago.

Martunovich was arraigned on a 21-count indictment, including three counts of first-degree murder and six counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime. He faces life in prison without parole.

A New York Police Department spokesperson declined an interview with VOA because of the ongoing criminal proceedings. The Brooklyn District Attorneys Office told VOA that hate crime charges had been considered from the beginning of the investigation.

Unsettling trend

Months since the triple homicide, interim manager Edwin Cheng said workers are still shaken. Some had seen leaked video of the attack on the popular Chinese social media app, wechat. None of the female workers wanted to be interviewed, he said.

Scott Deng, a Chinese immigrant and recent hire at Seaport Buffet, filled the shoes of workers who were not ready to return. He refused to watch the video, calling it too cruel. But he was not worried that a similar attack could happen again.

The restaurants clientele, after all, reflected the diversity of the neighborhood  a microcosm of New York, with a substantial community from the former Soviet Union and more recent growth among Chinese and Hispanic residents.

Since the attack, Cheng said loyal Russian customers approach and hug him, holding me like a little kid, sending condolences and promising to continue to support the business.

A Haitian customer returns every Sunday after church, Cheng said, making sure were all right, pointing up to the sky.

But in Sheepshead Bay, which is 75 percent white, the killings of three Asian men underscores an omnipresent trend of hate crimes committed against minority groups, driven in part from demographic change in predominantly white communities.

Our country is heading towards a future in which there is no majority population, Beirich told VOA. What do you do when you feel like you cant keep the majority anymore? Thats when people turn to violence.

Nationwide, FBI-reported hate crime incidents were up for the third consecutive year in 2017. According to the data, roughly 60 percent of 8,493 victims were targeted because of race, ethnicity or ancestry bias.

As Beirich warns, hate crimes are vastly underreported nationwide.

The FBI doesnt even capture 5 percent of the data, she said, citing a 2017 Department of Justice report that estimates an average of 250,000 hate crime victimizations every year.

Absent an established level of trust with law enforcement, as is often the case among undocumented immigrants, victims and witnesses may be less inclined to report the crime or seek help.

A mutual promise

Besides being the restaurants manager, Cheng, who is trilingual and of mixed Chinese and Guatemalan descent, has played counselor and big brother to the men and women who witnessed the attack.

Generally speaking, he said, the restaurants Latino employees lack the same support system afforded the Chinese community, partly because of legal status and smaller family units residing in the U.S.

Overhead, a soft piano score runs through Seaport Buffets dining space. There is an occasional clatter of plates, but booths are more than half-empty at 5:30 p.m. Conversations are easily overheard.

On the production line, Manuel is busy loading egg rolls with cabbage and pork. Wearing black earbuds, he drowns out the clanging pots around him.

For his part, Cheng channels Tsz Pun, a longtime family friend.

Nobody would guess he was the owner, Cheng said. He would help out the cashier. He would help out the host, help out the kitchen, clean up tables. He did everything.
The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

In Zimbabwe, the high cost of bread is forcing citizens to look for alternatives to this basic commodity as food shortages and soaring prices continue to worsen. Columbus Mavhunga reports for VOA from Harare.
Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM

News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.



Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria.

Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens.
She is  the mother I never had. She is  the sister everybody would want. She is the friend that everybody deserves. Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for FIJI Water

More than once, the internet has pointed out that Annette Bening has a twin in the presidential candidate and Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren. They have the same round face, the same bright eyes, the same side part, and even sometimes the same glasses. When Vulture caught Bening at a special New York screening of Captain Marvel, hosted by the Cinema Society with Synchrony Bank and Fiji Water, we asked: Has anyone ever confused her with the politician? Has she noticed the resemblance herself?

Yes! Bening said. Especially when my hair was very short and blonde, kind of like hers, I really thought that. I did get into a cab once and the cab driver asked me if I was her. I said no, but we ended up having a chat. I mistakenly left a script in the cab, [and the driver] ended up seeing an address on the script and returning it to me. We had a nice chat about it. But people have asked me that, and I think so! Coming soon: an iconic biopic that can give Annette Bening the Oscar shes deserved for over a decade.
Chance the Rapper. Photo: Joshua Lott/Getty Images

In a brief filled Wednesday, the New York Times reports, Killer Mike, Chance the Rapper, 21 Savage, Meek Mill, Yo Gotti, and Fat Joe offered a primer on rap to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The amicus curiae document was submitted as part of Jamal Knox v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a First Amendment case brought by a Pittsburgh rapper convicted over song lyrics that a court found constituted terroristic threats and witness intimidation.

The performers brief, the Times explains, is an attempt to contextualize violent rap lyrics within the genre at large. Lyrics read on paper, the document argues, can easily be read as sincere when they are in reality being delivered by a character, as social commentary, or simply as creative expression. In short, this is a work of poetry, the group wrote. It is not intended to be taken literally, something that a reasonable listener with even a casual knowledge of rap would understand.

Jamal Knox, who rapped under the name Mayhem Mal, was sentenced in 2014 over a 2012 song that named police officers who had arrested him on drug and gun charges, and were set to testify against him. Suggested one of Knoxs lyrics, [L]ets kill these cops cause they dont do us no good. The rapper eventually served two years following his conviction.

The poetic nature of rap lyrics requires analysis of the multilayered meanings attributable to such lyrics, viewed through the lens of the intended audience, the rappers brief reads. Amici thus urge the Court to view rap music, through which the alleged threats in this case were purportedly communicated, as not only a form of artistic expression but as political expression that falls well within the scope of activity protected by the First Amendment. You can read the document in full here.
Luke Perry Photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

After suffering a stroke last week, Luke Perry has died. The 90210 and Riverdale actor was taken from his home in Sherman Oaks to a Burbank hospital where he had been monitored since last Thursday. Perry was 52 years old. He was surrounded by his children Jack and Sophie, fiance Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp, mother Ann Bennett, step-father Steve Bennett, brother Tom Perry, sister Amy Coder, and other close family and friends, Perrys representative said in a statement. The family appreciates the outpouring of support and prayers that have been extended to Luke from around the world, and respectfully request privacy in this time of great mourning. No further details will be released at this time.

The actor had picked up just a few TV roles in the 1980s before he was cast in 1990 as the generational heartthrob Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210. The show was a massive success, and Perry appeared in nearly 200 episodes over the course of its ten-year run. During his tenure as McKay, Perry did additional work in television, and starred in films like the rodeo drama 8 Seconds and even the original film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though he worked consistently, Perrys profile remained lower following the conclusion of 90210, but his popularity came surging back for a whole new audience with the launch of Riverdale on the CW. As Fred Andrews, Archies dad, Perry was the roguishly handsome working man who brought a TV veterans gravitas to the teen drama.

Most recently, Perry had been working on Quentin Tarantinos next film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It was also announced recently that a revival of 90210 would be getting off the ground with the original cast, but Perry was not confirmed to be a part of it.

We are deeply saddened to learn today about the passing of Luke Perry, executive producers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Jon Goldwater, the CW, and Warner Bros. TV said in a statement. A beloved member of the Riverdale, Warner Bros. and CW family, Luke was everything you would hope he would be: an incredibly caring, consummate professional with a giant heart, and a true friend to all. A father figure and mentor to the shows young cast, Luke was incredibly generous, and he infused the set with love and kindness. Our thoughts are with Lukes family during this most difficult time.

Luke Perry... you were a joyful and vibrant soul. You will be missed but most certainly your legacy will be remembered forever. Rest in love and peace, friend. #Riverdale  Riverdale Writers Room (@RiverdaleWriter) March 4, 2019

Luke will be missed, a friend gone way too soon, Chris Nassif, Perrys former agent, said in a statement. It seems like yesterday that I was Lukes agent negotiating his role on Beverly Hills, 90210. I would like to express my condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time.
Located 45 miles south of Guadalajara, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, the town of Tequila is known as the birthplace of the drink that bears its name.

The picturesque township, with its colorful buildings and cobblestone streets, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The federal government of Mexico calls it Pueblo Magico or Magical Town.

It's here that casual sippers drink this aromatic spirit, but there's one secret they may not know: Without the women of Tequila, there'd be no tequila.

The cultivation and annual replanting of the agave blooms in the states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Aguascalientes in Mexico, has historically been left to the women of Tequila.

No one knows exactly when women became an integral part of growing agave, but it's believed that when the male farmers ate their lunch and rested under parota trees, their wives stepped in to lend a hand. The women, who it turned out were exceptionally skilled at sorting and taking care of the young plants, began working in the fields sometime in the 16th century.

Reviving economy

Twenty-five years ago, there was only one hotel and a handful of restaurants in Tequila. Today it's bustling with Mexican and international tourists who've come to learn about the history of the spirit and its important role in Mexican culture.

Visitors can take a walk through agave fields, visit The National Museum of Tequila, watch production and enjoy a tasting at one of the 22 tequila houses in town, partake in a professional tasting guided by a Maestro Tequilero, a certified master of tequila, and take in a range of Mexican art exhibits at the newly opened Centro Cultural Juan Beckman Gallardo.

The Tequila train

On weekends, about 300 passengers take a day trip on The Jose Cuervo Express, also known fondly as the tequila train. The two-hour journey from Guadalajara to Tequila travels through the Rio Grande Canyon, which provides sweeping views of bluish agave fields and midget oaks spanning against the backdrop of Tequila volcano.

Traingoers can watch an Aztec dance performance before getting on board; upon their return, the performances are live mariachi and folk dancers.

During the ride, guests can enjoy tamales, chips and guacamole and unlimited tequila-based cocktails.

Growing agave

To be officially designated as tequila, the beverage must be distilled from agave grown in certain regions of Mexico, mainly Tequila and surrounding municipalities. The rich volcanic soil and dry climate make it ideal to grow Agave Azul Tequilana Weber (blue agave), a plant native to the area.

If you walk or horseback ride through Jose Cuervo fields surrounding the town, you can see the growing, harvesting and pruning of agave plants.

Farmers wearing cowboy hats to shield their face from the hot sun, cultivate and harvest the prickly cactus-like agave plants, while the women of Tequila select, care for and plant the small delicate seedling, called hijuelos (little children).

Dressed in long-sleeve shirts and long pants, the women can be seen working in the fields from February to July, when the agave plants sprout shoots. They inspect, clean and sort the young plants and send them to the nursery for further care, until they are ready to be planted.

Indeed, there's something about knowing the care and dedication involved in the process that'll make you appreciate your salted margarita even more.

Making tequila

Visitors walking through Tequila's main square hear church bells chiming on the hour; they smell the sweet aroma rising from the chimneys of the distilleries in the area.

Once the pina (pineapple) of the agave plant is harvested, it is brought to a distillery, where it is roasted for 36 hours, releasing its sugars and juices.

A 90-minute guided tour through La Fabrica La Riojena, Latin America's oldest active distillery established in 1795, takes groups through the entire production process, from the brick oven to the cellars. It concludes with Jose Cuervo's premium tequila tasting experience where a master (equivalent of sommelier) demonstrates the proper way to sip tequila from an elegant slender glass.

"There are a lot of men but no more than 10 women certified as 'master of tequila' in Jalisco," says Sonia Espinola, one of the first women in Tequila to earn this designation. She passed the entrance exams based entirely on her own experience working in the tequila industry, and she went on to take the full course at a recognized university. She now conducts guided tastings and seminars.

Agave by-products

Since only the pina of the agave plant is used to make tequila, Mundo Cuervo's nonprofit arm, Fundacion Beckmann, found a way to utilize more of the plant and offer local women more of an opportunity to create and produce  and get paid for their work.

Workshops for aspiring women entrepreneurs teach how to use agave bagasse and recycled tequila bottles for artisanal crafts.

Espinola, who is also the director of Fundacion Beckmann, says, "The women don't only learn how to make the products, but how to sell, incorporate their businesses, create business plans, logos and much more."

Demonstrating their support for Tequila's ambitious women, many hotels including Hotel Solar de las Animas and Hotel Villa Tequila proudly display agave paper notepads and journals in the bedrooms for guests' use, a commitment to the local products of the region.

"When my 10-year-old daughter needed prescription glasses, I asked her to help me make agave paper so she can earn extra money," says Sandra Elizabeth Serna Caballero, one of the women currently enrolled in this particular program. "I feel useful, plus the creative process is quite relaxing," she adds.

One example of how the foundation, largely funded by tequila tourism, has directly impacted women in the area is through Ernestina Carrero Cortez's story.

Cortez, a Jalisco native who was experiencing financial difficulties, approached the foundation about work opportunities. Cortez's husband was a construction worker in the US, her son had fallen ill, and she'd resigned herself to cooking food in her home and selling it in the town to help pay for medical expenses. But it wasn't enough.

And so Cortez, through the foundation, learned to knit handbags and wallets using agave fiber. Her original designs became so popular that she started her own brand label, Puntadas. After seven years with the foundation, Cortez now employs 22 women in her business, some as old as 83, and she sells her products through boutiques, museums and hotels around Tequila.

The women's handicraft enterprises also make use of tequila bottles that are discarded by bars and restaurants. Used tequila bottles donated by Mundo Cuervo brands are recycled, selected, cleaned and given to the women at the foundation.

Mother of six, Carolina Garcia Torres faced psychological trauma when she was pregnant with triplets and was concerned with the future of her family's financial health.

"I was worried how my husband, who works in a tequila distillery, would support our family," says Torres. She was instantly drawn to glass-making workshops offered by the foundation, where she learned to cut recycled tequila and wine glass bottles to create decorative pieces like vases and spoons."

Every day, there's an open market in the town plaza where local women sell handmade bags, lotions, paper, jewelry and decorations. Visitors will want to save room in their luggage for gifts and self-care purchases.

Preserving Culture

Mundo Cuervo's Beckmann Foundation started 15 years ago with a mission to preserve the cultural heritage of the women of Jalisco. About 10 families participate in the foundation's culinary program through ongoing festivals, the opportunity to sell homemade products like jams and juices, home-hosted meals and cooking classes.

One such festival is Fogones y Metates (Ovens and Fans). In its second year, it will be held in early December in the town of Tequila.

The event brings together women from different regions of Jalisco to share and preserve old culinary traditions, using native ingredients such as blue corn and criollo beans.

Three generations of women, Amparo Rivera, Evalia Castaneda Rivera and Emma Ramos Castaneda, participated in the festival last year.

Travelers who want to have a gastronomic experience can pay to dine at The Rivera's home, where dishes incorporate local ingredients from the family's own ranch, called El Chiquihuitillo.

This home-hosted meal for visitors to Tequila is a popular foundation initiative. At the Rivera home, guests sit in the open-air patio and sip ciruela juice while they watch Evalia and her husband make fresh corn tortillas and warm gorditas de horno (corn and cheese cakes) in a wood-fired oven.

Curated dining experiences like this one are privately arranged through hotel concierge and tour operators familiar with Beckmann Foundation. The price of such an experience depends on the group size, dishes and more. Evalia said some people just call her to pick up one dish, or a few dishes; others are joined by friends around a table at the Rivera's house.

The food is very different from what you would find at restaurants. "This is how my family eats every day. It is simple for us, yet visitors find it exotic!" Evalia says.

A visit to Tequila not only involves insight into the history of the popular beverage and a greater appreciation for it, but also an opportunity to learn about the Jalisco region  its culture, traditions and people.

Almost all of of the world's tequila comes from Jalisco, and in Tequila, the women ensure that the tequila way of life continues.
According to the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, from February 21st through February 28th, agents recovered and seized 390 grams of meth, 178 grams of Kratom and various amounts of other illegal drugs, through investigating tips and complaints from citizens.

On Thursday, February 21st, agents seized 178 grams of Kratom and 3 grams of meth. On the same date, agents arrested a suspect who was wanted by the Alabama Department of Corrections for an outstanding warrant. Two grams of marijuana were also confiscated during the arrest, the sheriff's office says.

On February 21st, agents also seized 125 grams of meth and 3 grams of cocaine in a seperate operation. On the same date, Collinsville police called the DeKalb County Drug Task Force to assist with an arrest, and two grams of synthetic marijuana were seized.

The sheriff's office says on the morning of Saturday, February 23rd, officials stopped a vehicle and arrested one suspect. The office says it seized 14 grams of meth after a suspect brought it into the DeKalb County Detention Center. Agents continued the investigation from earlier in the week and arrested two suspects. In these arrests, agents seized 34 grams of meth.

On Monday, February 25th, the sheriff's office says agents conducted a search based off of information from the community in the Whiton area. Officials say, while there, suspects fled the scene on foot. Two suspects were arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia. The other suspects have been identified and warrants are pending, the sheriff's office says.

Also, on February 25, the sheriff's office says its Drug Task Force assisted in recovering a stolen motorcycle that had been taken from County Road 97, near Fort Payne, on that same day.

DeKalb County investigators, Drug Task Force agents and an agent with Alabama State Parks went to a home on County Road 70, near Geraldine, that same day. The sheriff's office, says upon arrival, a male suspect fled the residence on foot and was arrested shortly after. Officials say a meth lab was found in a van in the yard of the residence. Two female suspects and one male suspect were arrested.

On Wednesday, February 27th, two suspects were arrested after being caught with nearly 3 grams of meth at the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles in Fort Payne. The sheriff's office says, later that day, Drug Task Force agents were working in the Cartersville area and witnessed a vehicle run a stop sign at the intersection of County Roads 155 and 169. Officials say when a traffic stop was attempted, the vehicle led deputies and agents on a chase that lasted around 20 minutes. The chase ended when the vehicle wrecked in Bryant, near the Tennessee line.

The sheriff's office says two of the occupants in the vehicle were arrested, and another one fled the scene on foot. The suspect that officials say fled on foot, 24-year-old Ryan Hardeman of Higdon, is facing several charges.

Anyone with information of Hardeman's whereabouts is asked to contact the DeKalb County Sheriffs Office at 256-845-3801 or send a tip to info@dekalbcountysheriff.org. Your identity will be kept confidential, the sheriff's office says.

On Thursday, February 28th, the sheriff's office says an agent stopped a vehicle with an expired tag near the Fort Payne Police Department, and upon searching the vehicle, the agent found 19 Xanax pills that the driver did not have a prescription for.

----------

Below are the names of the suspects and what they've been charged with:

Mary Galloway, 48, of Fort Payne

* Distribution of Controlled Substance

* Drug Paraphernalia

* Promoting Prison Contraband, Second-Degree

Marcie Auman, 47, of Fort Payne

* Possession of Paraphernalia

* Possession of Marijuana

Tyrone Boldware, 45, of Gadsden

* Possession of Controlled Substance

* Drug Trafficking

* Controlled Substance

* Contempt of Court

Daniel Lee, 20, of Dawson

* Drug Paraphernalia

Tracey Mars, 48, of Rainsville

* Receiving Stolen Property, Third-Degree

Joey Davis, 43, of Fort Payne

* Trafficking in Any Illegal Drug

* Possession of Marijuana, Second-Degree

* Drug Paraphernalia

Wendy James, 19, of Ider

* Possession of a Controlled Substance

* Drug Paraphernalia

Patrick Ridge, 20, of Henagar

* Possession of a Controlled Substance

* Drug Paraphernalia

Joey Williams, 52, of Higdon

* Reckless Endangerment

* Drug Paraphernalia

* Resisting Arrest

* Attempt to Elude

Megan Davidson, 20, of Higdon

* Attempting to Elude

* Resisting Arrest

* Drug Paraphernalia

Cynthia Mooneyham, 55, of Geraldine

* Manufacturing of a Controlled Substance

* Trafficking of a Controlled Substance

* Drug Paraphernalia

Stacie Mooneyham, 45, of Fyffe

* Manufacturing of a Controlled Substance

* Trafficking of a Controlled Substance

* Drug Paraphernalia

James Nelson, 47, of Grant, Alabama

* Manufacturing of a Controlled Substance

* Trafficking of a Controlled Substance

* Drug Paraphernalia

Scottie Ray Guffey, 53, of Fyffe

* Possession of Controlled Substance

* Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

These photos were provided by the DeKalb County Sheriffs Office.
On Wednesday, Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall toured the devastation the tornadoes on Sunday caused to Lee County.

Ivey first took a helicopter tour of the area to see the scope of the destruction. An unimaginable amount of people's personal belongings were thrown throughout the area, and homes were ripped right from their foundations.

Credit: @GovernorKayIvey on Twitter Credit: @GovernorKayIvey on Twitter

Beauregard, Alabama, in Lee County, is where the epicenter of the EF-4 tornado touched down on Sunday. Winds in the area reached 170 miles per hour.

Steve Marshall said he's never seen storm damage like what's left behind in Lee County.

"I've just been on the ground in this area, but you can see completely where trailers have almost exploded, frames mangled, and you just see the sadness of the destruction, which has taken place here," Marshall said.

Marshall said this was his first visit to the area since the tornadoes came through on Sunday. He said his office is making sure that survivors and people who want to help are not scammed. So far, his office has no reports of anyone with bad intentions.
Wednesday afternoon, donations poured into the Hazel Green Volunteer Fire Department, which is collecting items to take to the survivors.

All week, we've been seeing the generosity of people across North Alabama, just wanting to help. Cases of water, clothes, toiletries and more are being donated.

Volunteer firefighters said they didn't expect such an overwhelming response.

"Excited. To see how everyone is helping pulling together and that all of these people, whether their name is out there or not, they're going to make a difference in this community's life," said Danielle Watson, who works at the fire department.

The Hazel Green Volunteer Fire Department has pounds of items to take down to Beauregard on Monday. In just one day, they're reaching the max of what they can collect, but firefighters said they'll deliver everything.

"They will go. If we can't do it one trip, we'll have to plan a second one, but the plan is to take it all," said Watson.

The Flint River Baptist Church is collecting non-perishable items and things like diapers and toothbrushes to send with firefighters.

"Whether it's at the fire department or here, we can keep them until it's needed. They won't be back where they need to be in a couple of weeks," said Marcus Elliott, the NexGen pastor at Flint River Church.

Cassie Smith stopped by Wednesday to deliver baby supplies she ordered online.

"You never know, we might be in that situation and need help, so it makes you feel good and if we ever need help, maybe somebody will help us," said Smith.

Firefighters said they're also teaming up with another church to load up buses of volunteers for Monday's trip. They said you can donate to them and Flint River Church through Sunday.

The Flint River Church also said they want to help in the rebuilding process. The church's pastor said they plan to make trips in the spring, summer and fall.
Mikki Miller has epilepsy and says recurring seizures made it difficult for her to keep a job. This led to depression and anxiety, and she began to self-medicate with illegal drugs.

"I had gotten arrested for stealing some food, and I got off with probation and a fine, but the deadline is approaching, and I don't have the money to pay the fine," said Miller

Miller's life was spiraling out of control. However, instead of sending her to jail for not paying her fine, the judge referred Miller to Judge Sybil Cleveland's Mental Health Court.

"I came on the bench in 1999. It was apparent then that there were a growing number of people who were coming into the criminal justice system with mental health conditions. Serious mental health conditions," said Cleveland.

Cleveland's court works in collaboration with mental health and substance treatment providers to help people who get caught up in the criminal system, when the root of the problem can be traced to their lack of access to mental health treatment.

"These people really didn't have an option of state and in-patient facilities. So, typically what we see are people who traditionally may have been committed into mental institutions. Some have mental health conditions, but the resources just aren't there," said Judge Cleveland.

Judge Cleveland told WAAY 31 that state mental health budget cuts lead to an overflow of people who are in jail and need mental health treatment.

An organization called The Sentencing Project ranked states based on the number of people in prison per 100,000 residents, comparing state-by-state rates of incarceration with the access to mental health care. The ranking shows a strong correlation between rates of adults who are in the criminal justice system and lack of access to mental health care.

The states with less access to mental health care have more adults who are in prison. Six out of 10 of the states with the least access to mental health care also have the highest rates of incarceration.

These states include:

* Alabama

* Arkansas

* Mississippi

* Texas

* Georgia

* Florida

Miller completed Cleveland's program through the Mental Health Court. After therapy appointments as part of the program, getting on the proper medication to treat her epilepsy and passing drug testing, Miller graduated from the Mental Health Court program. She says her life is now on a good track.

"I'm staying busy, which is a good thing. I'm pretty much either at work or at church. That's okay with me. It's good for me. I'm doing really well. I'm happy. I'm healthy. I'm just grateful to Judge Cleveland for where I am today," said Miller.

Upon Miller's successful completion of the mental court program, her case was dismissed.

Cleveland said the Mental Health Court Program is also designed to save taxpayer money by diverting inmates with serious mental health conditions from jail into community-based mental health treatment programs and reducing the overall inmate population.

Currently, housing inmates in the Madison County Jail costs taxpayers $45 to $50 per day.
Artemisia Gentileschi was a pioneering and fearless Roman artist whose trailblazing artistic legacy is only being fully appreciated in modern times.

The stellar career ofhas long been overshadowed by her tumultuous life story, whose tragedies and triumphs continue to captivate the public imagination more than three and a half centuries after her death., Gentileschi was the eldest of five children, and only daughter of Orazio to whom she was apprenticed in her early teens following the death of her mother.

In 1610, aged 17, she made her stunning debut with Susanna and the Elders. Her use of a full-frontal nude to interpret a biblical tale was particularly daring during the Counter-Reformation era. The fact that this masterpiece was painted by a female, a teenager at that, during a time when women artists were confined to portraits and still lifes, was even more mould-breaking.

Detail of Susanna and the Elders by Artemisia Gentileschi

The Rome of Gentileschi's childhood was plagued by violence and crime, meaning she had little access to the city's cultural heritage and its hive of artistic production.The year after she painted Susanna and the Elders, Gentileschi began taking private lessons from her father's artist colleagueNine months later Orazio took Tassi to court for reneging on his alleged promise to marry his daughter to restore her dignity.

The 18-year-old Gentileschi's trauma was compounded by a gruelling seven-month public trial in which she testified courageously against her perpetrator, a despicable character whose murky past included accusations of raping his sister-in-law and having his wife murdered by bandits.

As part of then courtroom practice Gentileschi was subjected to sibille, a primitive mediaeval torture device involving the, to ensure she was telling the truth, leading her to shout across the courtroom to Tassi: This is the ring and these the promises you gave me.

The trial in 1612 and its salacious details shocked Rome and received considerable publicity. A transcipt from the court still survives, providing a graphic account of the case which propelled the young Gentileschi into the spotlight for the worst reasons. Paradoxically it was the victim who suffered the worst punishment in the end: although Tassi was found guilty of rape and was imprisoned for two years, his verdict was later annulled and he was at liberty a year later.

Following the trial, Gentileschi was forced into a rushed arranged marriage with the cash-strapped Florentine artist Pierantonio di Vicenzo Stiattesi. Exiled to Florence in 1613,However she countered this litany of misfortune with tenacity and talent, becoming the first woman accepted to the Accademia del Disegno.

Florence also allowed Gentileschi to meet other artists of the day, such as Cristofano Allori who introduced her to influential figures including Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, while her patron Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger helped her win prestigious commissions and acquainted her with the scientist Galileo.

with her husband, her daughter Palmira and her lover Francesco Maria Maringhi, who helped her keep two homes on Via del Corso and Via della Croce. Despite the seemingly violent relationship with her father,as well as interact with her artist peers, notably French painter Simon Vouet, who was so impressed with her work that he painted her portrait, palette in hand.

During her time in Rome Gentileschi's prowess as a portrait painter continued to develop, as she absorbed the influences of artists working round her. In 1630 Gentileschi moved to Naples, making her Neapolitan debut with the celebrated Annunciation, influenced stylistically by Massimo Stanzione, who was working in the city at the time.

Detail of Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

In 1638 Gentileschi travelled to London , apparently atwhere she joined her ailing father at the Stuart court. She worked closely with him on paintings for the ceiling at the Queens House, as well as undertaking numerous other works before his death in 1639, while remaining in England for a further year or two to fulfil her commissions.

Most of her London works were dispersed in the sale of crown assets after Charles was beheaded in 1649 and her only identifiable work still in the Royal Collection today is Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting.

Little is known of her movements after her eventual return to Italy. Records indicate that Gentileschi worked in Naples until her death, the exact date of which is unknown but is believed to have been in or around 1656.

Much like Caravaggio, Gentileschi was largely forgotten until the 20th century. Renewed interest in her work was sparked in 1916 when a research paper by Italian art critic Roberto Longhi described Gentileschi as "the only woman in Italy who ever knew about painting, colouring, doughing, and other fundamentals". Interest grew further in 1947 following the publication of Artemisia, a fictional account of Gentileschi's life by Longhi's wife, Anna Banti.

Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy by Artemisia Gentileschi

Gentileschi expert Judith Mann describes it as a phenomenon in the history of art that we understood the artist's life far earlier than her painting.Despite a growing appreciation for the artist's work, the gender gap on the art market between father and daughter Gentileschi remains substantial. In January 2016 the painting Danae by Orazio was bought at auction in New York by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles for more than $30 million. Two years earlier, Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy by Artemisia was sold at auction in Paris for 865,000.

Notwithstanding the widely-held narrative that the rape of a teenage Gentileschi had an everlasting effect on her artistic output - leading to her reputation as a painter of powerful women as well as her modern-day interpretation as a feminist heroine - the artist will be forever remembered for her masterful artistic legacy and for 'shattering the glass ceiling' in a male-dominated age.

By Andy Devane
MOSCOW, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called on the country's security services to boost cooperation with its foreign counterparts in fighting terrorism.

"No matter how our current relations with certain countries evolve, Russia will always be open to (combat) international terrorism, a common challenge to all humanity," Putin said at a meeting of senior officials of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

Russian security services should primarily coordinate efforts with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Putin said.

The president praised the success of the FSB in preventing crimes by terrorist networks and groups.

The number of terrorist incidents declined to nine in 2018 from 997 ten years earlier while the number of prevented terrorist attacks remained high at around 20 per year in the last three years, Putin said.

Russian security forces must therefore use new methods of uncovering terrorist threats, identify the recruiters and accomplices of terrorists, block their supply of weapons and money, and halt the propaganda activities of radicals and extremists on the Internet.

At the meeting, Putin stressed the importance of increasing the security of national information resources and promptly eliminating cyber attacks on government institutions, state corporations, telecom operators and large companies.

He also praised the work of the Russian counterintelligence agencies, which ended the activities of 129 staff of foreign intelligence services and 465 recruited agents.
But Wonder Woman had her ups and downs, too. She was one of the first members of the Justice League, but she was also its secretary. She was a hero, but she once gave up her powers just to remain near Steve Trevor, her love interest. Wonder Womans legacy, like those of many superheroines, is a complicated combination of both empowerment and limitation.
At some point, the act inevitably becomes about how many clubs a juggler can keep aloft and how daring it looks when Oscar Karlsson and Nilas Kronlid fling each other into the air from a teeterboard. The small scale mitigates the daredevil quality, but on the other hand, Bjorfors sometimes makes a virtue of the unvarnished basics. Saara Ahola offers a tutorial in balance and trust as one of the men holds her overhead and catches her as she flips. Watching her shimmy up a slender rod to the truss and hang there without a safety line or spotter is pretty dramatic.
Cleopatra is no stranger to modern eyes, having been depicted innumerable times in high and low culture, but few likenesses of her survive from her own time. One likely exception closes the show: a striking portrait bust from the Museo Egizio that has never been seen before in the United States. Three cobras sit on her head, symbolizing the three lands she meant to rule: Egypt, Syria  and Rome. (No wonder the Romans, after deposing her, destroyed every image of her they could find.)
Scientists set off early Wednesday on a mission to explore the depths of the Indian Ocean, one of the planets last great uncharted areas. They intend to fully explore the deep seas around the Seychelles, a group of 115 islands off East Africa, to help conserve the ocean. Heres a look at what the Nekton Mission hopes to achieve and why the people of the Seychelles are excited about its launch.
Long despised by farmers and ranchers, wolves were shot, trapped and poisoned out of existence in most of the United States by the mid-20th century. They received endangered species protections in 1975, when there were about 1,000 left, only in northern Minnesota. Now more than 5,000 live mostly in the western Great Lakes region and northern Rocky Mountains.
But it is good. Very is a dreadful word, for two reasons. Reason One is that it is lazy. If you habitually employ very to modify adjectives like, say, smart, you never have to learn or try out more complex and nuanced expressions like perspicacious or astute or cerebrocortextacular, which I just made up and which is way cooler than very smart. But Reason Two is more important: Very is almost always a lie. Its this wan, piece-of-crap word you use when you have a concept you want to impart but are worried that your idiot reader wont believe you, possibly because your concept is not true and maybe the reader is not as stupid as you think he is. So you add very, which doubles down on your initial questionable assertion, giving it gravitas, and then you move on happily to the next exaggerated sentence. (Believe me, I know. I have done it.)
Wax paper, naturally, is coated with wax on either side. It is cheaper than parchment paper and can be used to line your work surface with when mixing and measuring ingredients like flour and sugar (use the wax paper as a funnel and pour any excess back into its container), or putting together a meatloaf, etc.
The papers motion cited the profound public interest in these proceedings  as well as in the overall investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russias efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, which has swept up Manafort and scores of others. The investigation, which concerns the integrity of this countrys elections, goes to the core of the interests protected by the First Amendment, the motion, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, said.
So far, Ive traveled with the orchestra to Switzerland, Hong Kong, Shanghai and New York. Ive witnessed jet lag nearly steal a soloist, luring him to bed when he should have been onstage; Ive watched tour buddies turn into marital partners, and Ive been lucky enough to hear flute practice through thin hotel walls. Because I was an oboist through school, college and beyond, always wavering about whether to be a musician or a writer, I appreciate how these tours allow me to pretend to be one of the gang without spending hours in a practice room.
I know that for a lot of people that live on the other side of the river, this may happen on a regular basis, Andy Shallal, owner of the chain, told the crowd packed into the new space Wednesday night. A new restaurant that opens, a new place and it gets kind of, you know, like, its what you would expect.
A wave of momentum is sweeping across the country for D.C. statehood, said Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the Districts nonvoting delegate in the House. The strong Schumer and Pelosi endorsements, and the 200 co-sponsors in the House for D.C. statehood, are among the indicators that the American people want to right the historic wrong for over 200 years of disenfranchisement.
Racine says he got to know Harris well in 2014, when he was running for attorney general and she was seeking reelection as Californias attorney general. Racine is friends with Douglas Emhoff, who is married to Harris and who worked alongside Racine at the law firm Venable LLP. The couple organized a fundraiser for Racine in California and Racine relied on Harris for advice on managing his office when he became the citys first-ever elected attorney general.
The battle at Chavez Prep Middle could test whether unionized charter school employees are given the same protections as teachers in the traditional public school system, who are unionized. In the Districts traditional public school system, closing schools is a last resort and city regulations call on leaders to engage the public before any decisions are made  a process that has come under fire in the past.
Its hard to comprehend how much money that is, Roslund said, speaking of the millions Bang took from the county. And it just went to his pocket. It just went to his games and entertainment.
Longtime House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) voted for the bill, while Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne Jones and Dels. Dereck Davis and Anne Healey, each of whom chairs a committee, voted against it. Busch, who is Catholic, said in 2016 that he had come to support aid in dying, in part after watching two friends experience painful deaths. At the same time, he described the issue as controversial and deeply personal, and said he would not impose his views on other lawmakers.
A former Navy pilot and Texas state senator, Mr. Hall was elected to the House in 1980 as a Democrat and for the next 34 years  the final decade as a Republican  represented a swath of the Red River Valley in eastern Texas. He announced that his 2014 campaign would be his last and was defeated in the Republican primary by John Ratcliffe, a former U.S. attorney who pledged to serve no more than eight years.
Yesterday, I appeared before a secret grand jury after being given immunity for my testimony, Manning said in a statement Thursday. All of the substantive questions pertained to my disclosures of information to the public in 2010  answers I provided in extensive testimony, during my court-martial in 2013. I responded to each question with the following statement: I object to the question and refuse to answer on the grounds that the question is in violation of my First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment, and other statutory rights. 
Rescuers had to cut down fences and move two dumpsters to make space for two ladder trucks and a crane to help with several plans that rescuers had been developing to ensure they could bring the worker to safety, McCoy said. The worker didnt immediately have any medical issues or complaints, which allowed rescuers to take a more cautious approach, McCoy said.
The lawsuit also claims that video at the site shows that other visitors appear to have been jolted by the electrified handrail in the days before Zynaes injury. Morelli said Thursday that he had recently watched the video himself and that it showed two or three other people being shocked by the handrail.
The flagger told him hed have to wait until the intersection was clear. Just as the driver was leaving, police said, he purposely accelerated his vehicle, struck the flagger and caused him to fall over the hood of the car.
The FBI added Stephenson to its most wanted list in 2018 and noted he was last seen by a relative in or around Myrtle Beach, S.C., in July 2017. Authorities said he had family ties to New Jersey, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. There was a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Given the age and the health of this defendant, this is the kind of sentence that you can generally expect in a white-collar prosecution, Mintz said. The sentencing guidelines and the request by the government for 19 to 24 years was something the judge was never going to seriously entertain, and I think what we saw here was a recognition that even this sentence could well be a life sentence for Mr. Manafort.
Russias biggest mobile phone company will pay $850 million in penalties to the DOJ and SEC to resolve FCPA violations, the SEC and the company said Wednesday.

MTS agreed to the SECs order finding that it violated the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal accounting controls provisions of the FCPA and will pay a $100 million penalty to the SEC.

MTS and a subsidiary also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ. The subsidiary pleaded guilty in federal court.

The DOJ hadnt released the criminal charging or settlement documents as of publication time.

According to the SEC release, MTS agreed to pay a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $850 million. The DOJ will credit the $100 million SEC penalty.

The SEC settled the case through an internal administrative order (pdf) and didnt go to court.

According to the SEC, MTS paid $420 million in bribes to an Uzbek official related to the former President of Uzbekistan to secure business.

The bribes allowed MTS to enter the telecommunications market in Uzbekistan and operate there for eight years, during which it generated more than $2.4 billion in revenues, the SEC said.

MTS said in a statement Wednesday that the SEC and DOJ agreements mark the closure of the investigations into the Companys acquisition and operation of its former subsidiary in Uzbekistan during the period from 2004 to mid-2012.

The DOJ also recognized MTS ongoing enhancements to its compliance program and internal accounting controls, the company said.

MTS settlement with the SEC includes the requirement to retain a monitor for at least 36 months.

The company  formally known as Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company  first disclosed the investigation in an SEC filing in March 2014, according to data provided by FCPA Tracker.

MTS shut down its operations in Uzbekistan in 2016.

MTS has systematically and pro-actively developed its current anti-corruption compliance framework in line with international best practices within a dedicated compliance division since 2012, the company said Wednesday.

This is the third case brought by the SEC and the DOJ involving public companies operating in the Uzbek telecommunications market. Altogether the three actions have led to $2.6 billion recovered by U.S. and foreign authorities.

In 2016, MTS said the DOJ and SEC had asked for information about corrupt payments to the unnamed Uzbek official referred to in the civil forfeiture actions.

Last year, Swedens Telia paid $965 million in total penalties to resolve FCPA offenses in Uzbekistan. The penalties were paid to enforcement agencies in the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

In 2016, Amsterdam-based VimpelCom reached a $795 million FCPA resolution with the DOJ and SEC. Some of the penalties went to Dutch enforcement authorities.

Telia and VimpelCom admitted bribing Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the late Uzbek president Islam Karimov. Shes been under house arrest in Uzbekistan since 2014.

Starting in 2015, the DOJ filed civil forfeiture complaints against assets linked to Karimova worth more than $850 million, including bank accounts in Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Ireland.

_____

Harry Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
Prince William County police said Gregory D. Sawyer, 62, of Dumfries, was struck around 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 21 as he crossed the street near Graham Park and Old Triangle roads in Dumfries.
For me, in particular, its not the first historic job site, Angel said. He said he had worked on the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court and the Washington Monument.
The mobile homes common in the hardest-hit area of the town dont hold up well under high winds, said John van de Lindt, a professor of engineering at Colorado State University who was living in Alabama in 2011 when the tornadoes killed 250 people in the state in a single day. Even mobile homes that are well-anchored with ties that go into the foundation would probably not be strong enough to withstand a storm of the kind that hit Lee County, which could destroy even the sturdiest buildings.
After a major spike in border crossings last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is on track to detain far more than the 521,000 taken into custody in fiscal 2018, she said. That would require sustained border crossings at rates unseen in more than a decade.
The DOJ unsealed charges Thursday against an Uzbek telecom exec and the daughter of the former Uzbek president for their roles in an $866 million bribery and money laundering scheme.

Gulnara Karimova, 46, was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, the DOJ said.

Bekhzod Akhmedov, the former head of MTS Uzbek subsidiary Uzdunrobita, was charged with two counts of violating the FCPA, one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to the DOJ, Karimova demanded hundreds of millions in bribes from Telia, Vimpelcom, and MTS to acquire telecom licenses in Uzbekistan. At the time, her father, the late Islam Karimov, was the president of Uzbekistan.

Akhmedov arranged the payment of around $866 million in bribes to Karimova on behalf of the companies, the DOJ said.

According to the DOJ, Karimova conspired to launder the bribes through U.S. bank accounts.

Karimova is considered a foreign official under the FCPA, the unsealed charging documents said.

The Uzbek telecom licenses werent allowed to be purchased or transferred by private entities.

MTS, Russias largest telecom company, settled FCPA charges with the DOJ and SEC earlier this week and agreed to pay $850 million in penalties.

The bribes allowed MTS to enter the telecommunications market in Uzbekistan and operate there for eight years, during which it generated more than $2.4 billion in revenues, the SEC said.

Last year, Swedens Telia paid $965 million in total penalties to resolve FCPA offenses in Uzbekistan. The penalties were paid to enforcement agencies in the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

In 2016, Amsterdam-based VimpelCom reached a $795 million FCPA resolution with the DOJ and SEC. Some of the penalties went to Dutch enforcement authorities.

MTS, Telia, and VimpelCom admitted to bribing Karimova. Shes been under house arrest in Uzbekistan since 2014.

In 2015, the DOJ asked authorities in several European countries to freeze about $1 billion in assets linked to her.

Karimova once served as Uzbekistans ambassador to the United Nations. She also designed clothes and sometimes appeared on the catwalk.

The unsealed indictment against Karimova and Akhmedov can be viewed here.

_____

Harry Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
British police probe more suspicious packages: British police said a suspicious package destroyed by bomb disposal experts at the University of Glasgow contained an explosive device and was linked to three letter bombs sent to two London airports and a railway station the previous day. The university said several buildings on campus were evacuated after the package was found. Another package sparked an evacuation at the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters in Edinburgh. It was found to contain "promotional goods."
Mr. Trump had spoken out against the merger in the final days of his presidential campaign, saying Oct. 22, 2016, that the combined companies would represent too much concentration of power in the hands of too few. The New Yorkers Jane Mayer reports that in the late summer of 2017, the president ordered Gary Cohn, then the director of the National Economic Council, to get the Justice Department to file suit. Ms. Mayer reports that Mr. Trump called Mr. Cohn into the Oval Office along with John F. Kelly, who had just become the chief of staff, and said to Mr. Kelly, Ive been telling Cohn to get this lawsuit filed and nothings happened! Ive mentioned it fifty times. And nothings happened. I want to make sure its filed. I want that deal blocked! Ms. Mayer reports that Mr. Cohn evidently understood it would be highly improper, and as he walked out of the meeting told Mr. Kelly not to do as the president asked, saying, We are not going to do business that way. It is not known whether Mr. Trump found another channel for his demand, but the department did file the suit.
Cuba is not a democracy, but within its system there are opportunities for many Cubans to effect change. We in the United States would be able to work more effectively with Cubans if we understood the dynamics of the countrys evolving political system rather than assuming Cold War analogies that no longer apply.
Blockchain is described as an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. It is a core technology for Web 3.0, the infrastructure of the next generation of online connectedness. For Western societies, blockchain is transformative in that it can be used to distribute power, which in turn can promote rule of law, fight corruption and crime, and protect digital identity and privacy.
Several pieces of legislation addressing the Yemen war or the Khashoggi case are pending in the Senate and House. But the broadest and most useful vehicle may be a bill sponsored by Mr. Menendez and six other senators, including Mr. Graham and two other Republicans. It would mandate sanctions on any Saudi official or member of the royal family who was responsible for, or complicit in . . . acts contributing to or causing the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a catchall from which the crown prince could not be easily excluded. It would also address the Yemen war by restricting sales of U.S. weapons, banning refueling of Saudi planes and imposing sanctions on those who interfere with the delivery of humanitarian aid.
But lets not hear the excuse that theres no point spending much time on legislation that, while likely to pass a Democratic House, has no chance in the Senate. That less representative body  always remember that Wyoming has as many senators as California  is controlled by Republicans and led by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who hated campaign finance reforms when they were proposed in the early 2000s by his late GOP colleague John McCain and despises them still.
The authors of (most of) the Federalist Papers, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, believed that when the various clever mechanisms they had designed to generate a separation of powers and checks and balances began to fail, there would always be one final line of defense: the people as represented in the House in particular. Writing in Federalist No. 63, one of them  and we dont know which one  contemplated possible abuses of power by the Senate and wrote that if such a revolution should ever happen from causes which the foresight of man cannot guard against, the House of Representatives, with the people on their side, will at all times be able to bring back the Constitution to its primitive form and principles.
He has found himself, for example, filling and refilling the roles of White House communications director six times, deputy national security adviser five times, national security adviser and health and human services secretary four times each, attorney general and White House chief of staff three times each and secretary of state, defense secretary and press secretary twice  among many other such moves, including the staffing of a rotating cast of defense lawyers.
Paul is making a category error in the other direction. Epidemiology is a scientific discipline. And public health is the application of this discipline to a community of human beings. It really doesnt matter what John Stuart Mill or Ayn Rand had to say about herd immunity. Given the nature of the measles virus, 93 to 95 percent of a human population needs to be covered for a community to be protected. If purely voluntary methods produce that level of coverage, that is fine. If the needed level can only be achieved by requiring vaccinations for all public school children, that is also fine. If the zombie apocalypse comes, even more stringent health measures might be justified.
Congress can debate whether the act should be amended in light of that abuse. But that does not absolve individual members of their responsibility to address this specific abuse of power. Some object that a vote on the resolution of disapproval is little more than a show vote because the president will veto it and it lets Democrats pretend that they care about separation of powers without doing anything real to address the problem. But it is within the GOPs power to make sure the resolution passes with a veto-proof majority, which would make it the opposite of a show vote.
Playfair Capital, a London, UK-based seed venture capital firm, launched its second fund.

With $32m to invest over the next three to five years, the fund is seeking early-stage companies across all sectors, with a focus on deep tech (artificial intelligence, machine learning and computer vision), B2B SaaS and marketplaces. Its initial cheque size is $500k but the team engages with founders at the earliest stages of their journey, sometimes investing smaller amounts at the pre-seed stage.

Founded in 2013 by Federico Pirzio-Biroli, joined by partner Chris Smith, who takes over management of the fund from Georgia Taylor Foster, Playfair Capital is an early-stage firm that combines angel investing with with the formal structure of a fund that is able to write larger cheques, make follow-on investments and has a bigger team and wider network of contacts.

During 2019, Playfair will develop this approach with several initiatives including inviting angels who want to work more closely with the fund to take space in its Farringdon headquarters.

To date, the firm has invested in more than 50 companies including Stripe, Ravelin, Thought Machine, CryptoFacilities and Mapillary, as well as marketplace for independent boutiques Trouva and real estate marketplace Appear Here.

Smith was latterly at fast growing B2B telecommunications company plan.com, where he held senior roles including Sales Director, Head of Tech/BI and Head of Product Development.

As an angel investor, he has made 14 investments across the UK and US with three exits to date  Nearbuy Systems (acquired by RetailNext), MoPowered (LON:MPM) and Bidstack (LON:BIDS).

Smith will work with Joe Thornton, who has been with Playfair Capital for almost four years, and Henrik Wetter-Sanchez, who joins as an associate from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

FinSMEs

07/03/2019
Result: Not a single mile of Trumps wall has been built. When Mexican officials made clear they would never pay a cent toward construction, Trump asked Congress for the money. Even with Republicans in control of both the House and the Senate for two full years, Congress declined to waste taxpayer dollars on the project. When Democrats took the House, Trump declared a national emergency in an attempt to steal funds from other projects. Still, despite what he claims, Trump has built no new wall.
A lot of people in this caucus will talk about slavery. I never experienced slavery. A lot of people in our caucus will talk about the Holocaust who didnt experience the Holocaust. You may have inherited its legacy, and Ive inherited the legacy of slavery, but Ilhan Omar lived in a refugee camp, Clyburn said in the interview, a partial transcript of which was provided by the lawmakers office.
Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio announced Thursday that he will not seek the presidency, a decision he said came after a tour of early-primary states left him more confident that his party was focusing more on labor and workers than it had in 2016.

I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate in 2020, Brown said in a statement. The best place for me to make that fight is in the United States Senate.

Brown, 66, is the second Democratic senator this week to pass on a White House bid; Oregons Jeff Merkley released a similar statement Monday. Both senators had hired staff in some early states and had begun to sketch out the argument that a populist Democrat with a record of winning the support of white, working-class voters could break the coalition that narrowly elected Donald Trump.

Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg also announced this week that he would not seek the Democratic nomination.

Brown said later that he always leaned toward staying the Senate, where he is the ranking Democrat on the Banking Committee, a powerful perch to pursue his passion for tighter regulation of Wall Street and greater worker rights. Six of his Senate colleagues have entered the race.

The pull on me was always do my work here and fight for these issues, Brown told reporters after a vote on an Ohio judicial nominee whom he vigorously opposed. As the announcement of his decision about 2020 went out, Brown was on the Senate floor delivering an impassioned speech, walking up and down the center aisle listing the judicial nominees alleged transgressions.

This was a decision that I am very comfortable with, he said.

Brown had clearly pondered a run, however, taking aim at the incumbent president in January as he began a Dignity of Work tour that took him to early-voting states.

Donald Trump has used his phony populism to divide Americans and demonize immigrants, Brown said then. He uses phony populism to distract from the fact that he has used the White House to enrich people like himself. Real populism is not racist.

But Brown, who had never seriously considered a presidential bid until urged to do so after the 2016 election, found that he did not have the same investment in a run as other Democrats. He was also encouraged on hearing several rival candidates adopt his dignity of work motto on the trail, seeing that as evidence that the party was not making the same blunders that it had ahead of Trumps win.

Browns decision may open some breathing room for other Democrats who were making similar populist arguments and had overlapping allies in the labor movement and on the left. Allies of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) saw Brown as a potential threat to Sanderss candidacy, offering Democrats a younger, fresher voice with a record of victories in the Midwest.

Id be the only Democrat on that stage who voted against the Iraq War, Brown told reporters in Selma, Ala., last weekend. I think Id be the only Democrat on that stage that came out for marriage equality 20 years ago.

Brown, like Trump and Sanders, had opposed trade agreements on the grounds that they slighted blue-collar workers in this country and contributed to broad job losses in a swath of states. He praised the president for imposing tariffs on imported steel, which he argued would make U.S. steel companies more competitive and rejuvenate employment in the industry.

Brown said that he had not discussed his plans with former vice president Joe Biden, another Democrat seen as attractive to many of the blue-collar workers who turned to Trump in 2016. Biden has not announced whether he will run.

Bidens getting in or out had zero impact, Brown said.

On most other issues, Brown fell in line with the rest of his party and the rest of the presidential field. He stopped short of endorsing Medicare-for-all but supported greater access to national health insurance, a ban on assault weapons and a version of a Green New Deal. His competitive advantage, to some early-state Democrats, was that he had advanced these positions in an increasingly red Ohio.

Ive seen so many national Democrats look at this as either you speak to the progressive base or you speak to workers, Brown said on MSNBCs Morning Joe. If we have to choose between the two, we lose.

Brown defined dignity of work as ensuring that jobs paid enough for workers to live on; that every American could afford health care, education and housing; and that workers had enough control of their schedules to raise families  a nod toward improving paid-family-leave policies. He had also gotten some momentum in the Senate for a child-care subsidy, and he emphasized the need to pursue that Senate work in his decision not to run for president.

Democrats with an eye on control of the Senate may be relieved by Browns decision; had he run and won the presidency, Ohios Republican governor would have appointed his replacement. And while it did not become an issue during his exploratory tour, Brown faced Republican attacks in 2018 over his first marriage and subsequent messy divorce, an issue that could have emerged anew had he run for president.

Brown is now married to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Connie Schultz, who resigned from the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 2011 because she felt her neutrality would be questioned because of their relationship. She now teaches journalism at Kent State University and campaigned with Brown in his visits to early states, citing her own blue-collar roots. Both of them, Brown said, would be active in the Democratic debate.

Weve seen candidates begin taking up the dignity of work fight, and we have seen voters across the country demanding it  because dignity of work is a value that unites all of us, Brown said in his statement Thursday. It is how we beat Trump, and it is how we should govern. Thats why Im confident it will continue to be a focus for Democrats in 2020, and I plan on making sure that happens.
Our diversity is our strength, our unity is our power. And whenever we have been unified, weve been successful, Jeffries, chairman of the caucus, told reporters. He cited the 2017 effort to defeat the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the shutdown fight over Trumps border demands. Were all clear that as long as we continue to remain unified around the core issues that we promised the American people we would address, then were going to be successful.
That was almost the case for 93-year-old Margaret Newsum, who was standing outside her home with her walker looking for help as the fire approached, CNN reported. She was whisked off to safety by Dane Ray Cummings, a garbage collector who had been told to cut short his route. Instead of doing that, he looked for people in trouble. He took her home to care for her rather than take her to a shelter. Since the fire, shes been staying with one of Cummingss close friends.
No one in my district or my province has ever spoken against honor killing, he said, leaning forward intently and speaking in a low, rapid voice. They tell me I have defamed my culture, my religion, my tribe. Everybody knows what happened, but no one is ready to come forward. This is an illegal, unconstitutional and un-Islamic tradition, but people dont even consider it a crime.
Residents said two of the three people killed were inside a house near the event that was hit by mortar fire. Officials at the Interior Ministry said most of the rounds landed about 200 feet from the memorial site. The attackers had used another house in the area to launch the mortars at the crowd, the officials said.
Meanwhile, satellite images released Thursday showed North Korea appeared to have completed rebuilding work at a satellite rocket launchpad and engine test site. The images, dated March 6, showed that the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, also known as Tongchang-ri, appears to have returned to normal operational status, according to 38 North, a website devoted to analysis of North Korea. Rebuilding work at the site was first revealed earlier this week, but it appears to have been completed quickly.
.     ,    10         , ,       .      ()  4:2,      ,              .         . "...
Washington and Seoul should together be opening conversations on a much wider range of issues. With a broader agenda, we may not have come out of Hanoi with the whole North Korean arsenal, but might have had something else of considerable value, he added.
The party argued to the court that it was Ubolratanas decision to run for prime minister. On her Instagram page, she has said that she merely wanted to work for the good of the people and that her candidacy should not have caused problems. Ubolratana gave up her royal titles in 1972 when she married an American, but upon their divorce she returned to Thailand in 2001, resumed royal duties and ran a youth-focused charity.


Preynats alleged victims say the church hierarchy protected him for decades after the first complaint in 1991. Church officials removed him from his role with the Boy Scouts and transferred him to a different parish, but they allowed him to remain in contact with children until his retirement in 2015.
In the past year, the United States has sought to persuade governments worldwide to shun Huawei equipment, indicted employees of the company on charges of stealing American technology and is seeking the extradition of Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou  held in Canada on a U.S. warrant  on fraud charges, deeply angering Chinas ruling Communist Party. U.S. officials and members of Congress have argued that Huawei is obligated to turn over data to the Chinese government under Chinese law and could be compelled to install hidden malicious code in equipment that it sells to U.S. buyers  an argument that formed the basis of the procurement ban written into the recent defense spending law.
Hassan Jabareen, the groups general director, said that there have long been attempts to disqualify Arab candidates but that this was the first time a Jewish candidate was banned for holding left-wing views. He said this was due to a deal struck recently between Netanyahu and the far-right Otzma Yehudit party and because of a nationalistic nation-state law  which declared Israel a national homeland for Jews and prioritized Jewish-only communities  passed last year.
At the heart of the controversy are claims that Trudeau and his team pressured then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to cut a deal with SNC-Lavalin, an engineering firm from his home province of Quebec, and the implication that he demoted her when she refused.
Namazi said that he never understood why his brother, who had been arrested four months earlier, was not aboard that flight and that he learned about it from the news media. But he said he learned that the Iranians promised to release Siamak within weeks after it was decided that an American would be left behind in the name of the greater good of the nuclear deal.
Gen. David L. Goldfein, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, recounted spending 50 of the last 60 years living in military housing, first as the child of an officer and later as an officer himself, and said he never worried about the safety of his children, infrastructure or the possibility of reprisal if he complained. He said airmen now have those concerns, a situation he described as unacceptable.
U.S. use of so-called secondary sanctions, imposed on foreign companies and financial institutions that deal with sanctioned entities, have frequently come under international criticism. Over the past several months, the United States has succeeded in appealing to a number of countries and banks dealing with Venezuela to take steps to put assets out of reach of Maduro and members of his government.
BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies operating in Africa have created huge opportunities for the continent's development, a senior political advisor said Wednesday at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual sessions of the top legislative and political advisory bodies.

There are more than 10,000 Chinese companies in Africa and over 90 percent of them are private businesses, said Nan Cunhui, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, citing a recent survey.

These companies have built roads, railways, airports, ports and other infrastructure projects in Africa, addressing the bottleneck in development, said Nan, also a vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. They have also invested in green energy development, including photovoltaic power stations, to boost local power supply.

The Chinese companies have also brought advanced technologies, development concepts and management to the continent, Nan said.

Citing the operation of an industrial park in Egypt as an example, Nan said over 95 percent of the employees are locals who develop professional skills and gain managerial know-how through their work.

"Chinese companies in Africa have contributed a lot to the local economic development through infrastructure construction, job creation and tax payment," Nan said. "I believe China-Africa cooperation will go from strength to strength."
Sacked ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has defended her $730,000 settlement from the public broadcaster, saying she was "delighted" that the legal action was resolved but that it was never about the money.

Ms Guthrie, speaking at a lunch event on Thursday afternoon for International Women's Day, described her treatment as the first woman to be managing director of the broadcaster, including frequent unfair characterisations of her experience and warnings about hostility from female journalists.

Michelle Guthrie on her way to the International Women's Day lunch. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Ms Guthrie was sacked from the public broadcaster in September, shortly before former chairman Justin Milne resigned amid allegations he encouraged her to fire journalists the government didn't like and a breakdown in their professional relationship.

Her talk, sources at the event said, was about "balance for the better" and centred on her experiences as a woman at the top of businesses such as Google, the ABC and companies in Asia, and began by citing research and statistics on how few female executives there were in prominent business positions globally.
After five decades in the spotlight Joanna Lumley has a new role: preacher and protector.

"A bit more respect for the environment is just what we need nowadays," Lumley enthuses from her hotel room high above Sydney.

"But we are trashing it right now. We are trashing it because there are a few too many of us, all of us are being a bit too greedy, we are not taking care of how we dispose of things and not recognising that we are part of nature.

"Nature isn't something that belongs to us. We are actually part of it and it might turn around and bite us.
If you are looking forward to donning your The Future is Feminist T-shirt tomorrow to attend an International Womens Day event featuring an exceptional woman who has succeeded despite the odds, I apologise in advance. I am about to spoil the party.

If, instead, you're wondering why this event was scheduled at some ungodly hour, mortified at the prospect of lugging home a bright pink goodie bag emblazoned with some corny slogan about your womanly super powers, and thinking you would rather hear a spirited (dare I say angry) appraisal of the inequalities that still (still!) face women in every corner of the world served up alongside a correspondingly spirited call to arms, read on. Youre amongst friends.

A Frida Kahlo Barbie from the range released to celebrate International Women's Day last year. Pretty, but not as powerful as continuing to take the fight to inequality in the real world.

One of my chief criticisms of IWD has always been that, in my humble opinion, every day should be IWD.

Though I appreciate the good intentions and potential benefit (given the context) those who founded the day in 1975 envisioned, lately it has seemed to me that IWD has become a bit of a consolation prize, particularly in light of the increasingly common tendency to mark or celebrate the day with a rather corporate morning tea featuring an inspirational speaker. We wont give you true equality, but here, have a scone.
Introducing Kingsley Liu , a highly experienced lawyer and investment banker who, concluding stints in Hong Kong, Singapore and London, settled in Sydney.

Now we can add a fourth surprise name to this heady mix of environmental activism and smash-the-system anti-capitalism: a mining company executive.

Kingsley Liu.

Liu will be the Greens' candidate in the state seat of Blue Mountains come March.

(It's currently held by Labor's Trish Doyle, who won it off Liberal Roza Sage in 2015, although the Greens polled a primary vote of 16.2 per cent.)

Liu also happens to be on the board of Elsmore Resources, a tin operation whose greatest claim to fame was being kicked off the stock exchange three years ago.

That came after the company confessed that most of $2.2 million raised in 2014 (before Liu was on the board) had "gone missing", with the corporate regulator fingering former director Ashley Howard for allegedly using the money to buy cosmetic surgery for his partner.
The sister of Sydney dentist Preethi Reddy has spoken for the first time about the violent death of her "beautiful big sister", describing her as "a bright light" and "protective" of those close to her.

In a statement issued late on Wednesday night, Dr Reddy's sister Nithya said "words cannot capture the pain we are feeling with the passing of my beautiful big sister".

Family and friends of Dr Preethi Reddy gathered outside her home in South Penrith on Wednesday morning after news of her death broke.

"Preethi was a bright light; loveable, kind, and protective of all whom were lucky enough to have been loved and cared for by her," Nithya Reddy said. "Prior to this unthinkable event, she had been the happiest I'd ever seen her  she was living her best life."

Dr Reddy, 32, was found dead in a suitcase in her car on Tuesday night after being reported missing by her family on Sunday. She had been stabbed multiple times.
The recent launch of the Curtin University-led research project Deathscapes: Mapping Race and Violence in Settler States began with a segment titled Say Their Names.

Seven readers took turns to read out the names or initials of the Indigenous people, refugees and asylum seekers who had died in custody during the three-year life of the project. There were 47 names on the list, a shocking toll of lost lives over the three years of the project.

Yet the list was limited to racialised deaths in the official custody of the state. Other casualties of the states violence, whether the violence of those who may have drowned as a consequence of secret on-water matters, or who lost their lives in the unrelenting sequence of untimely deaths in remote communities, remained unnamed.

Weighing heavily on our minds as we read out the names of those who died in custody were the thirteen unnamed young lives who were the subject of an inquest finding released only a few days before. Although the Deathscapes project focuses on deaths in state custody, the loss of thirteen young Aboriginal lives in WAs Kimberley, found by the coroner to be "all preventable", begs the question of state responsibility  beyond the confines of prisons and police lock-ups, and beyond the limbo of administrative detention.
She heard many stories from victims of clergy sexual abuse in different parishes, especially that Pell knew what was happening and was protecting priests who were abusing children. It was alleged to me early that Pell was among a group of offenders from Ballarat to Melbourne. They were part of the Ballarat organised clerical offending, which extended down to Laverton and around Melbourne. While the credibility of the claims made by Joe were never substantiated, a detailed memo of the ex-seminarians allegations, seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, demonstrates that the church was aware of complaints about Pells character dating back more than 20 years. Helen Last says she had suspicions about George Pell for years. Credit:Paul Jeffers In light of Pells conviction for sexual abuse of two choirboys in 1996, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald believe there is public interest in revealing the trail of complaints that have dogged the cardinals career.

If the ex-seminarians claims are included, there are nine known allegations about sexual misconduct against Pell, ranging from exposure to assault, although only two  his sexual abuse of the choirboys  have been upheld by a court. Rumours have surrounded the cardinal, especially among survivors of abuse and their advocates, for many years. Some of the allegations might seem preposterous at first, but the same argument was made by some about the choirboy's claim that he and another boy were assaulted more than 20 years ago. This makes the other allegations more relevant. Ms Lasts contract was terminated in May 1997 as a result, she claims, of her defying explicit instructions from archbishop Pell and then vicar-general Denis Hart to stay away from the Doveton parish, which suffered six paedophiles in succession as parish priest or assistant priest. One Doveton priest was the deranged Peter Searson, who wandered the Catholic school in military clothing, sometimes carried a gun, stabbed a bird with a screwdriver and tortured a cat. He was also molesting many children.

A teacher at the time, Carmel Rafferty  whose attempts at whistleblowing ended her career in Catholic education  said a delegation went to Pell, Searsons bishop, to share their concerns, but these were dismissed. Pell told the royal commission that this was because he was deceived by archbishop Frank Little and the education office. After she was sacked and the pastoral response office closed, Ms Last set up In Good Faith and Associates to support survivors. She also set up the Melbourne Victims Collective, which has 120 members who complain they were traumatised by the Melbourne Response. I believe Pell set up the Melbourne Response partly to protect himself. I believed that from the beginning ... He had no understanding of victim care, she says. Melbourne Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli. Credit:AAP Ms Last believes the Melbourne Response files should be subpoenaed and the decision in each case examined.

In 2015 she submitted her correspondence with the church over the Joe memo to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It is believed that Joe has not pursued the matter. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have been unable to contact him. The new Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter A. Comensoli, says he does not know of any other historical accusations from Pells time in Melbourne, apart from those that had already been before the court. No. Only the Ballarat one and the trials not going ahead. Theres nothing in his files, and our files stop with when he finished up here.

However, correspondence seen by this masthead shows the independent commissioner, Peter OCallaghan, QC, investigated the seminary allegations, asking Ms Last to send him the remainder of your files  as quickly as possible. Approached last week, Mr OCallaghan said that because the matter of Pell remains before the courts, I must not and will not make any comments on the matters you raised. Pell, who is to be sentenced next week, maintains his innocence of all claims and will appeal his conviction of sexually assaulting the two choirboys at a hearing set down for June 5 and 6. One of the three men who have claimed Pell touched them improperly in Ballarat swimming pools in the 1970s intends to sue the cardinal for damages, and the other two are expected to give evidence in that case.

The swimming pool trial did not go ahead after the judge ruled certain evidence was inadmissible. Then there is the allegation that Pell fondled a boy at a camp at Phillip Island in 1961. In his 2002 investigation on behalf of the Sydney archdiocese, retired Supreme Court judge Alec Southwell found both the boy, Phil Scott, and Pell to be credible witnesses. He also found the complaint could not be established. In 2016 Torquay resident Les Tyack went public with allegations he submitted to the royal commission and to the police that he saw Pell expose himself for many minutes to three boys at the local surf lifesaving club in the 1980s. George Pell outside St Patrick's Cathedral in 1998. Credit:Joe Castro In the pre-trial hearing for the second Pell trial, which was eventually abandoned, the prosecutors outlined claims from a Victorian man who told police that in 1975 or 1976, when he was 10, he slipped off Pells shoulders while playing in a lake near Swan Hill and made accidental contact with the priests erect penis. Pell was alleged to have told the boy: Dont worry, its only natural.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have been told other allegations have been made to the royal commission, but the commission will not release its own findings about Pell until the appeal against his conviction has been heard. Pell is due to be sentenced on Wednesday, March 13, and is now on remand. The current Melbourne Response independent commissioner, Jeff Gleeson QC, was not available for comment. The Catholic Church declined to comment.
Police have charged a man with the manslaughter of 14-year-old Radina Djukich, who went missing in Perth in 1992.

Acting Deputy WA Police Commissioner Gary Budge announced the breakthrough in the case on 6PR Radio on Thursday morning.

Radina Djukich was last seen in 1992.

Police will allege the 69-year-old man injected the teenager with a substance which caused her death.

The man has been charged with manslaughter and will face court on Friday.
Suburbs in the City of Fremantle continue to bear the brunt of a legacy public housing built en masse in the post-war era, while newer suburbs on Perth's outskirts are dodging their fair share.

According to a Housing Authority Market Presence 2018 report, obtained by WAtoday under freedom of information laws, the City of Fremantle has more than three times the Perth metropolitan average for social housing.

The City of Fremantle is the only council in Perth exceeding the no more than 'one in every nine' public housing policy. (file photo)

Nearly 12 per cent of the area's housing stock, or 1758 properties, are social housing, compared to the Perth average of 3.63 per cent.

The council includes the suburbs of Beaconsfield, Fremantle, Hilton, North Fremantle, OConnor, Samson, South Fremantle and White Gum Valley.
Former NSW deputy police commissioner Nick Kaldas is being courted to run for the Liberal Party in the federal seat of Reid.

Current member Craig Laundy is expected to retire from politics before the likely May election, with the Liberals attempting to draft in Mr Kaldas as his replacement.

Former deputy police commissioner Nick Kaldas. Credit:Nic Walker

A push poll was conducted in the seat last night, with voters asked if they knew Mr Laundy or Mr Kaldas.

Local branch member Tanya Baini, a close friend of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, was also mentioned.
The speed limit on some residential streets in the City of Vincent will drop 10km/h from April 29 in a move Road Safety Minister Michelle Roberts said could be the difference between life and death for a cyclist or pedestrian.

Motorists in an area bordered by Newcastle, Vincent and Charles streets, and the Swan River will cop fines for exceeding 40km/h.

Road Safety Minister Michelle Roberts, Perth MP John Carey and City of Vincent Mayor Emma Cole welcome 40km/h speed limits on inner city residential streets.

But main arterial roads will stay at their current speed limits, with the exception of part of Vincent Street near the Hyde Park water playground.

"This is all about making neighbourhood streets safer for all road users including cyclists, pedestrians, the elderly and children," Mrs Roberts said.
Beijing: Australia will spend $5 million advertising to young Chinese urbanites to persuade them regional Australia isnt dangerous and they should come despite the lack of free WiFi.

China is Australias biggest source of tourists and international students but there were fears last year these two important export industries could be damaged amid tension in diplomatic relations.

Chinese tourists are worth $11.5 billion a year to the economy.

In these billboards from the ad campaign, quote marks are placed around the scenery, and a Chinese word is added, such as "super" in this one. The main slogan in Chinese is "Not enough words for Australia".

A major tourism advertising campaign on billboards and metro stations in Chinese cities begins this week with colourful imagery of Australias natural scenery  plus a crocodile  and the slogan Too Australian for words.
"I am looking for some help in making something on my brother's bucket list a reality," she wrote. "If you want to help me send me a message or post below and I'll message you. This is a secret/surprise so I will not be posting what it is." Donald Trump working the phone. Credit:AP To her surprise, she received numerous messages from people eager to help. "Everyone honestly has been amazing. Democrat, Republicans, you know, they have all reached out and were just, like, 'What can we do?'" Hoskie said. "People who know that I'm Democrat said, 'Oh, you know, we're not a [Trump] supporter, but we're going to support you and your brother.' It's just really humbling to think that complete strangers would do that."

The New Haven Register ran a story Monday about Hoskie's efforts. On Tuesday, Hoskie received a call from a 202 area code. It was the White House. Hoskie rushed home from work and called the number back. Then she handed the phone to Barrett. "Jay, it's the White House. The president's going to talk to you," she said, as if the White House calling was no big deal. And she began filming. "Holy Christ," Hoskie said, according to a video Hoskie took of the call. "Hi, Jay, you look handsome to me. I just saw a picture of you," Trump can be heard saying. "Aw, you're giving me kind honours," Barrett replied. "I look like s---."

Trump laughed. "How are you doing? How is it going, Jay?" "It's going, you know what I mean?" Barrett said, still star-struck. "You're a champ," Trump said. "You're fighting it, right?" "That's what the Irish do, right?" Barrett answered. "Yeah, that's what the Irish do," Trump said. "You better believe it. You look good. I wish you could come to a rally."

The two chatted for about three more minutes. Trump praised Barrett's sister. Barrett vowed to support the president "through thick and thin" and asked him to "pencil me in" for a rally. "I plan on coming down to DC between now and my expiration date," Barrett promised. By the time they hung up, Barrett was visibly emotional. "That was pretty crazy," he said to the camera, scratching his head. "Did I just talk to the president of the United States on the phone?" On Wednesday, Barrett said the reality of the phone call had only begun sinking in. "It was just, like, holy Christ, you know? I'm getting a call from this guy. Like he's taking time out of his busy, busy schedule," Barrett told The Post.

"He could be doing a million other things. He could have taken an extra five-minute nap. We know he doesn't sleep much. . . . Instead, he chose to call me." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Barrett said he used to consider himself an independent, voting "back and forth" for Democratic and Republican candidates over the years. He supported Barack Obama in 2008 but didn't vote to reelect him in 2012. Gradually, Barrett said, he realised his values aligned more with the Republican Party. In the 2016 presidential race, Trump stood out to him right away, even amid a field of more than a dozen GOP presidential candidates. "He was my choice from the moment he rode down the escalator," Barrett said, referring to Trump's 2015 campaign kickoff at Trump Tower.

Barrett said it was widely known among his family and friends that he was the rare Trump supporter in a state that ultimately went for Hillary Clinton by 13 percentage points. "We didn't talk about it," he said. "But they knew where I stood. I don't care what somebody's opinion about me is." Barrett has spent a lifetime disregarding what people think. Before he was born, Barrett's older brother died of cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder with no known cure that attacks the lungs and leads to infections and difficulty breathing. When Barrett was born with the same disease, doctors warned his mother that he, too, would likely not make it past childhood. He is now 44 and has "always been a fighter," his sister said.

"We don't know if it's six months [left]," Hoskie said. "We just know that it's not about the quantity of time, it's about the quality, so right now we're just trying to live our best life." Ever since they were little, Barrett and his sister have had their differences, though both said they are still able to have a relationship. "I tell people: He likes steak, and I'll eat a hamburger. He likes baked potato, and I like mashed potato," Hoskie said, laughing. "He watches Fox News 24/7 and . . . I'll just watch regular TV if I do watch TV. We've always been like this. If there was something to disagree about, we were going to disagree." But for helping him fulfil a bucket list item, Barrett has nothing but gratitude for his sister. "My sister Bridgette took a little idea . . . and turned it into reality," he said. "If it wasn't for her making the first cryptic message to other friends, then doing the local paper interview, this would have never been possible."
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he would be "very disappointed" in North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if reports are correct that he is rebuilding at a rocket launch site that he had previously begun to dismantle.

Two US think tanks and South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday that work was underway to restore part of North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station even as Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a second summit in Hanoi last week.

Donald Trump: 'Disappointed'. Credit:Bloomberg

"I would be very disappointed if that were happening," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, when asked if North Korea was breaking a promise.

Well were going to see. Its too early to see ... It's a very early report. We're the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I don't think I will be, but we'll see what happens. We'll take a look. It'll ultimately get solved."
Netiquette

Die Kommentare auf weltwoche-daily.ch dienen als Diskussionsplattform und sollen den offenen Meinungsaustausch unter den Lesern ermoglichen. Es ist uns ein wichtiges Anliegen, dass in allen Kommentarspalten fair und sachlich debattiert wird. Scharfe, sachbezogene Kritik am Inhalt des Artikels oder wo angebracht an Beitragen anderer Forumsteilnehmer ist erwunscht, solange sie hoflich vorgetragen wird. Personlichkeitsverletzende und diskriminierende Ausserungen hingegen verstossen gegen unsere Richtlinien. Sie werden ebenso geloscht wie Kommentare, die eine sexistische, beleidigende oder anstossige Ausdrucksweise verwenden. Beitrage kommerzieller Natur werden nicht freigegeben. Zu verzichten ist grundsatzlich auch auf Kommentarserien (zwei oder mehrere Kommentare hintereinander um die Zeichenbeschrankung zu umgehen), wobei die Online-Redaktion mit Augenmass Ausnahmen zulassen kann.

Die Kommentarspalten sind artikelbezogen, die thematische Ausrichtung ist damit vorgegeben. Wir bitten Sie deshalb auf Beitrage zu verzichten, die nichts mit dem Inhalt des Artikels zu tun haben.

Das Nutzen der Kommentarfunktion bedeutet ein Einverstandnis mit unseren Richtlinien.

Unzulassig sind Wortmeldungen, die

Nichts mit dem Thema des Artikels zu tun haben

Kommerzieller Natur sind

andere Forumsteilnehmer personlich beleidigen

einzelne Personen oder Gruppen aufgrund von Rasse, Ethnie oder Religion herabsetzen

in Rechtschreibung und Interpunktion mangelhaft sind

verachtliche Abanderungen von Namen oder Umschreibungen von Personen enthalten

mehr als einen externen Link enthalten

einen Link zu dubiosen Seiten enthalten

Nur einen Link enthalten ohne beschreibenden Kontext dazu

Als Medium, das der freien Meinungsausserung verpflichtet ist, handhabt die Weltwoche Verlags AG die Veroffentlichung von Kommentaren liberal. Die Online-Redaktion behalt sich jedoch vor, Kommentare nach eigenem Gutdunken und ohne Angabe von Grunden nicht freizugeben. Es besteht grundsatzlich kein Recht darauf, dass ein Kommentar veroffentlich wird. Weiter behalt sich die Redaktion das Recht vor, Kurzungen vorzunehmen.




STAMFORD  After racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant Facebook posts came to light, the chair of the city Democratic party and a national advocacy group are calling for the resignation of a member of the Stamford Board of Representatives. Her fellow board members have also scheduled a censure vote next week.

City Rep. Marion McGarry, D-12, has shared posts on her Facebook account that show the 9/11 attacks and the swearing in of Muslim U.S. Representatives with How quick we forget, along with a screed that ends with Moderate Muslims only exist in the mind of the west, not in Islam, and a meme of a TV judge screaming, I dont give a rats ass if you crossed the border on a starship from Mars, you idiot. Youre an illegal alien and broke the law .. Now LEAVE! And take your lawnmower with you.

The Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington D.C.-based civil rights group, said in a statement late Thursday that McGarry should resign, echoing Josh Fedeli, chairman of the Democratic City Committee.

I believe censure is OK, but she should resign, Fedeli said. There is no question. She should not be a member of the Board of Reps.

City Rep. Jonathan Jacobson, also a Democrat from District 12, is leading the censure effort. He learned of the posts after becoming Facebook friends with McGarry. Jacobson said he, other representatives and members of the public have been collecting evidence of her status updates and shared posts since then.

He provided screenshots of McGarrys Facebook page with The Stamford Advocate, which is unable to independently verify them as her account is private.

In some of McGarrys posts, the Democrat  who goes by Mamou McGarry online  also espoused pro-President Donald Trump imagery and wrote Democrats = t.r.a.i.t.o.r.s to the USA. She also called Democrats Dem-o-rats and shared a doctored image of the new progressive wing in the U.S. House of Representatives with a painting of Osama Bin Laden and an ISIS Flag, which fact-checker website Snopes has debunked.

Guess whos sitting with a picture of Osama Bin Laden and an ISIS flag!? McGarry wrote. Yep, the new Congress woman and leftist media darling Rashida Tlaib.

Mayor David Martin did not directly call for McGarrys resignation, but castigated her actions in a statement promoting the citys diversity.

I do not believe her prejudice has a place in our city and we cannot allow these beliefs to become representative of our community, he said. I hope the Board of Representatives are unified in their action against this hateful rhetoric.

McGarry, who has lived in Stamford for the last 40 years, is an ordained minister who worked as a justice of the peace after retiring from teaching and office managing, according to her city biography and earlier candidate submissions. She has been on the board since 2007.

McGarry previously was a member of the Democratic City Committee, said Fedeli.

The Democratic City Committee chairman said McGarry left the committee in recent years and was not nominated to return as a justice of the peace in 2016.

She is a Democrat in name only, her political views and clearly her personal views are in no way consistent with the Democratic party, he said.

She also may not be a Democrat much longer, Fedeli added. The committee will meet by the end of the month to discuss removing her from the party entirely. State law allows for such a maneuver, he said.

In the official notice to hold a special meeting calling for her censure, Jacobson wrote that Roberts Rules of Order calls for members to be of honorable character and Reputation.

Our board cannot violate the values that our organization holds dear. A member of our board who violates those values deserves to be censured  that is, for a majority of our board to publicly denounce such behavior through a resolution, Jacobson wrote. Stamford is a diverse community where neighbors, no matter their political beliefs treat each other with decency and respect.

That notice was signed by 15 members of the 40-member board and includes both Democrats and Republican members, including city Rep. Mary Fedeli, R-17.

The GOP minority leader said meeting to discuss a possible censure isnt political.

For me its not about it being Republican or Democrat, she said. There just is no room for any type of racial commentary, and for me, people who serve and who are elected no matter the local or state level, youre held to a higher standard.

The censure effort is supported by the board of the Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut.

We strongly support the action of members of the Stamford Board of Representatives in calling for a special meeting to censure Representative Marion McGarry for conduct detrimental to the publics trust and confidence, according to a letter signed by eight local religious leaders. We join hands and hope with those who also stand by the values of tolerance, acceptance, dialogue, and respect for the dignity of every human being, regardless of faith, race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and social status.

McGarry could not be reached for comment via phone and did not respond to an email seeking comment. The city Thursday removed her home phone number from the Board of Representatives website.

The special meeting on censuring McGarry is slated for Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the Government Centers fourth-floor legislative chambers.

barry.lytton@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2263; @bglytton
WESTPORT  Police say a teenage boy was sexually assaulted by a Westport psychotherapist.

Two weeks ago, Woods Grove Road resident Kenneth Cardillo, 67, was charged with two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault. Now, a newly unsealed affidavit explains the circumstances surrounding Cardillos arrest.

On Jan. 14, Westport police arrived at a town residence on report a teenage boy was sexually assaulted that morning by his family therapist, Cardillo, at the boys home, Westport Police Detective Erin Shaw wrote in the affidavit.

A family friend reported the incident after receiving a text message from the boy saying Cardillo had sexually assaulted him.

The boy had underwent a medical procedure on his genitals, and that morning Cardillo, who served as the boys therapist for the past four years, unexpectedly arrived at his home, the boy told police.

The boy, referred to in the affidavit as male victim or MV, told Cardillo his genitals hurt. Cardillo offered to look at them and and the boy said that was OK, the affidavit reads.

Cardillo allegedly offered to help, and then rubbed the boys genitals with cooking oil and then with lotion. Cardillo also applied pressure to the genitals, the affidavit says.

MV stated while it was happening he just froze, didnt know what to do and couldnt believe it was happening, the affidavit says.

Throughout the day, the boy corresponded with several friends and his father about what happened, including the family friend who reported the incident to police.

In an interview with the boys father, police said Cardillo had recently helped his family with home counseling visits and assistance with household chores. The father said he asked Cardillo to go to the home at 9:30 a.m. that morning to speak with a contractor because he would be at work.

The father said he received a text from Cardillo around 11 a.m. saying he discussed the boys genitals with him, but did not disclose that he physically touched the boy.

MVs father admitted he was very confused at MVs initial allegation because he was in disbelief that Cardillo would do something like this after being so helpful with his family, the affidavit reads.

In his account, Cardillo, who has worked as a family counselor for over 35 years and is a licensed psychoanalyst, said he asked the boy if it was OK for him to touch his genitals, and that the boy said yes.

I asked Cardillo at the scene why MV couldnt have applied the treatment himself, and Cardillo stated he felt he was helping MV in a paternal manner as he would have his own children, Shaw wrote in the affidavit. Cardillo stated he believes he held the family together as primary caregiver. He labeled himself multiple times in various ways as the king grandfather, not the creepy grandfather, then as the family counselor but then not as a counselor.

Cardillo said there was no sexual gratification on his part, neither of them had an erection and that there was no other contact ... other than him touching and treating the penis, the affidavit says.

Following the police interview, Shaw said Cardillo admitted to police his actions were a misjudgment.

In the arrest report, Cardillos address is listed as 18 Wood Grove Road, which is the same address as the Westport School of Music. A representative of the school said she could not comment on whether Cardillo lived at the site and said pending litigation prohibits her from speaking on the manner. Attorney Andrew Bowman is said to represent Cardillo.

Ken Cardillo is presumed innocent and we will deal with his case in court, Bowman said.

svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2638; @SophieCVaughan1
WESTPORT  Though it remains a big if contingent on potential state budget mandates  in particular a possible requirement for municipalities to take on additional teacher pension costs next year  Board of Finance Chairman Brian Stern said he thought Westport could maintain the current mill rate.

First Selectman Jim Marpe officially presented his $211,862,325 budget for fiscal year 2019-20 to the finance board Wednesday night, which represents a 1.66 percent increase over the current projected budget of $208.4 million.

We actually are not at a flat mill rate yet and I say yet because I think we can get there, Stern said, citing ongoing meetings with Marpe and Gary Conrad, finance director.

But he noted big budgetary surprises have come from the state in the past after municipalities have approved their budgets, so a question mark will remain as to what the final numbers will be.

The last time it actually came after we set the tax rate, he said.

Still, Stern said the towns triple AAA bond rating was secure, with 10.58 percent of the current budget still held in the reserve fund, which is a pivotal part of keeping that rating high.

I do not think we should go less than 10 percent on the unassigned fund, he said, noting the policy is to keep it in the 9 to 11 percent range.

The finance board also heard a very short presentation from Board of Education Chairman Mark Mathias, who spoke about the $118,500,464 budget request for the schools, which represents an even 2 percent increase over the current year.

There are a number of ways we are achieving a lower operating budget, Mathias said, citing savings in insurance costs and headcount.

On the town side, Marpe noted, Im pleased to say weve held headcount flat and we look for opportunities to lower that headcount.

This is really about managing Westports brand, he said, with part of the goal to maintain quality of life in order to augment economic vitality. If we dont have people wanting to live here, work here and spend money here, he said, fiscal stability will be jeopardized in the long run.

Historically, he said, 90 percent of our revenues are still dependent on property taxes, noting more revenue has been found in other places more recently.

Marpe outlined a range of initiatives that are part of the current and upcoming costs the town will need to bear, including Coleytown Middle School repairs, renovations and additions at the Westport Library and the Center for Senior Activities, respectively, as well as various parks and beaches.

Bringing CMS back on line, he said, is the number one goal in his mind, and were taking action to make that happen, he said.

He said the town and school buildings were an important part of the assets Westport holds. We need to be paying the right kind of attention to their maintenance, he said.

It may be something we outsource  but that is a goal certainly of mine in the coming year, he said.

An informal visit from state Sen. Will Haskell preceded budget talks, with finance board members taking an opportunity to state their concerns and convictions to him in regard to his freshman session in Hartford.

Were fundamentally wounded from an economic standpoint, Stern said, chastising the state for having amazing nerve in expecting municipalities to correct its mistakes after it mismanaged pension contracts.

They find out 20 years later they cant live up to their obligation. ... So what do they do? Theyre giving it to someone else, he said, wondering aloud if it was even legal to do so.

Others expressed fear over new bills suggesting regionalization of some school systems, as well as other services.

Were willing to sacrifice and were willing to contribute, said BOF member Michael Rea, but such a move would change the character of the community, he said, and ultimately impact it financially.

Haskell said he had heard from more than 2,000 people in his district opposed to the possibility.

I dont think its a dirty word, he said of regionalization, but said he did not favor it by force.

He explained there are already examples of municipalities combining various services, as Westport is beginning to do with Fairfield for 911 dispatches.

Haskell called it crucial for him to receive input from the BOF members, who are dealing with the economic issues at the municipal level.

Stern said, as was customary, his board would take a few days to digest the proposed budget, which includes a 2.9 percent increase in general government to $6.4 million, a 2.8 percent increase in public safety to $22 million, a 5 percent increase in public works to $10.7 million, a 5.7-percent increase in human services to $1.3 million, and a 3.3 percent increase for Parks & Recreation to $6.4 million.

The BOF will meet again on Tuesday, Wednesday and  if necessary  Thursday to review details of the proposed budget.

On April 3, the public will have an opportunity to make a case for restoration of any items the BOF removed up until that point.
BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 130 journalists on Wednesday attended an open-door discussion of the Tibetan delegation to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing.

Among a total of 61 participating media outlets, 48 were from overseas. Issues concerning "closure of the Qomolangma base camp," travel to Tibet and Tibetan language education were raised during the Q&A session.

Tourist activities have always been banned in the core zone of Qomolangma according to the law, so the claim that the Qomolangma base camp is "permanently closed" is a misunderstanding, said Wu Yingjie, Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Tibet Autonomous Region, adding that those who have permit for climbing or scientific activities will not be affected.

Wu also said China has carried out and will continue its clean-up efforts to keep the world's highest mountain clean.

In response to questions concerning traveling to Tibet, Wu said: "As far as I know, several American officials and a group of foreign journalists are currently in Tibet for sightseeing or reporting."

"Any foreigners who wish to visit Tibet can apply through normal channels, and a large number of foreigners, many from the United States, visit Tibet each year," said Wu.

When asked about Tibetan language learning, he said the regional government has introduced regulations to promote Tibetan language and culture.

"We even send Tibetan language teachers out to make sure Tibetan students studying in other provinces take Tibetan language lessons," Wu said.
Canadas largest banks held fewer mortgages than a year before for the first time, according to the Canadian Bankers Association.

As of October, large banks held 4,755,951 mortgages, virtually a flat 0.01% decline from the previous month. That decline works out to a 0.03% decline compared to the same month the previous year.

Mortgages hit their peak in December 2017 and fell by 0.41% from there  a drop of 19,886 mortgages. The annual pace of growth hit negative for the first time in August, and the following months showed increasingly large declines.

Ontario represents a third of those lost mortgages. Banks held 2,006,116 mortgages in October, down 0.01% from the previous month. This represents a 0.12% drop compared to the same month the previous year. In December 2017, it was reported 0.31% lower.

British Columbia mortgages returned to declines after taking a break. There were 643,437 mortgages at large banks in October, flat from the previous month. Mortgages fell 0.05% compared to the same month a year prior, representing less than a couple thousand mortgages. The BC market was down by 0.26% from December 2017.

The industry narrative is obviously that B-20 rules are reducing mortgages with OSFI-regulated lenders. However, the two provinces mostly impacted by the measure represent less than a third of the drop, according to a Better Dwelling report.
Wilkes is the highest ranked institution in Luzerne County and within the top 25 percent of independent institutions in the nation. Wilkes University is once again being recognized for its commitment to social mobility. In
SEARCH

A minimum of 3 characters are required to be typed in the search bar in order to perform a search.
SHENZHEN, China - Chinese tech giant Huawei is challenging a U.S. law that limits its sales of telecom equipment in the U.S. on security grounds as the company steps up efforts to preserve its access to global markets for next-generation communications.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A woman stands at the reception counter of the Huawei's Cyber Security Lab Huawei factory in Dongguan, China's Guangdong province, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Huawei Technologies Co. is one of the world's biggest supplier of telecommunications equipment. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

SHENZHEN, China - Chinese tech giant Huawei is challenging a U.S. law that limits its sales of telecom equipment in the U.S. on security grounds as the company steps up efforts to preserve its access to global markets for next-generation communications.

Huawei Technologies Ltd.'s lawsuit, announced Thursday, asks a U.S. court to reject as unconstitutional a military-spending provision that bars the U.S. government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment.

It comes as the biggest global maker of network equipment fights a U.S. campaign to persuade allies to shun Huawei. That threatens to block access to major markets as phone carriers prepare to invest billions of dollars in next-generation cellular networks, known as 5G.

The complaint filed in Plano, Texas, the headquarters of Huawei's U.S. operations, says the law is an unconstitutional "bill of attainder," or a measure that singles out a specific entity for punishment. It says that denies the company due process and amounts to a "death penalty."

The American Embassy in Beijing said it had no comment on pending litigation.

Steven Schwinn, a professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, said the lawsuit is likely to be dismissed by a judge. He said the "bill of attainder" claim, or punishment without due process, would be hard to prove.

Huawei's Global Cyber Security & Privacy Officer John Suffolk, center, speaks in front of Rotating Chairman Guo Ping, right, and Chief Legal Officer Song Liuping in front of other executives during a press conference in Shenzhen city, China's Guangdong province, Thursday, March 7, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei is launching a U.S. court challenge to a law that labels the company a security risk and would limit its access to the American market for telecom equipment. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

But Schwinn said the lawsuit is one of Huawei's only remaining options, short of trying to get Congress to reverse the ban.

"This strikes me as a last-ditch effort to do something," he said.

Franklin Turner, a partner at law firm McCarter & English, said there are parallels to a lawsuit filed by Kaspersky Labs in 2017 that was eventually thrown out as well. The U.S. government had barred federal agencies from using Kaspersky's anti-virus products because of concerns about its ties to the Kremlin and Russian spy operations.

Turner said Huawei will likely keep fighting, but "to keep it going, is the legal equivalent of scaling Mount Everest without a rope."

Huawei, China's first global tech brand, is at the centre of U.S.-Chinese tensions over technology competition and cyberspying. The company has spent years trying to put to rest accusations it facilitates Chinese spying or is controlled by the ruling Communist Party.

"We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," the company's rotating chairman, Guo Ping, said at a news conference. Guo said the ban would limit competition, slowing the rollout of fifth-generation communications and raising consumer prices.

Huawei has pleaded not guilty to U.S. trade-theft charges unsealed by a federal court in Seattle in January.

People use a mobile phone in a Huawei retail shop in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province, Thursday, March 7, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei is challenging a U.S. law that labels the company a security risk and would limit its access to the American market for telecom equipment. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

The company's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested Dec. 1 in Canada on U.S. charges of lying to banks about dealings with Iran. She is fighting extradition to the United States.

Huawei denies wrongdoing.

A foreign ministry spokesman said the Chinese government also objects to the law but he had no information on whether it would join Huawei's lawsuit.

"We believe that it is perfectly proper and fully understandable for companies to defend their legitimate rights and interests through legal means," Lu Kang said.

Huawei has about 40 per cent of the global market for network gear. Its U.S. sales evaporated after a congressional panel in 2012 cited the company and a Chinese competitor, ZTE Corp., as security risks and told phone carriers to avoid dealing with them.

Huawei says the new law would shrink its potential U.S. market further by prohibiting the government from buying the Chinese vendor's technology and from buying goods or services from or giving grants or loans to companies or other third parties that do. The United States accounts for 20 to 25 per cent of the global market for computer and telecom technology.

The ban is "based on numerous false, unproven and untested propositions," the company's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said at the news conference. "Huawei has an excellent security record and program. No contrary evidence has been offered."

A man walks past a Huawei retail shop in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province, Thursday, March 7, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei is challenging a U.S. law that labels the company a security risk and would limit its access to the American market for telecom equipment. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Australia, Japan, Taiwan and some other governments also have imposed curbs on use of Huawei technology.

Guo complained Washington was "sparing no effort to smear" the company but has released no evidence.

Huawei wants to negotiate with Washington to resolve its security concerns but the law blocks President Donald Trump from restoring market access, Guo said. He noted Trump has said he opposes using "artificial security reasons" to exclude Huawei.

Lifting the ban "will give the U.S. government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues," Guo said.

Huawei, based in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, is a leading developer of 5G, along with rivals Nokia Corp. of Finland and Sweden's LM Ericsson. Industry analysts say excluding the Chinese vendor from markets for 5G equipment would reduce competition and might lead to higher prices.

Founded in 1987 by a former military engineer, Huawei overtook Ericsson in 2017 as the biggest global supplier of network gear. It says it supplies 45 of the world's top 50 phone companies and has contracts with 30 carriers to test 5G wireless technology.

Chinese authorities and some industry analysts say Washington might be exaggerating security concerns to limit competition with Western vendors.

European governments are balking at U.S. pressure to ban Huawei. The company has announced contracts with customers including the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East for network technology.

China's government arrested two Canadians, a former diplomat and a businessman, on Dec. 10 in what was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng, the company's CFO.

On Monday, Beijing accused the two men of acting together to steal state secrets. That followed the Canadian government's announcement Friday that the extradition proceeding for Meng would be allowed to proceed.

Huawei executives say American security warnings have yet to affect sales outside the United States. The company's 2018 revenue forecast is $100 billion and its founder, Ren Zhengfei, said last month this year's target is $125 billion.

Some European officials and others cite a Chinese security law requiring companies to co-operate with intelligence agencies. They say that might oblige Huawei and other tech companies to install "backdoors" in equipment to allow eavesdropping.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Huawei denies altering its equipment to facilitate spying. It has set up testing centres in Britain, Canada and continental Europe to allow governments to examine its technology.

"Huawei has not and will never implant 'backdoors,'" said Guo, the chairman.

___

AP Technology Writer Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this report.

___

For all of AP's tech coverage, visit: https://apnews.com/apf-technology
DETROIT - New vehicles in the U.S. from the 2017 model year averaged slightly better gas mileage than the previous year, rising to a record 24.9 mpg, according to an annual report from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DETROIT - New vehicles in the U.S. from the 2017 model year averaged slightly better gas mileage than the previous year, rising to a record 24.9 mpg, according to an annual report from the Environmental Protection Agency.

But the mileage rose only 0.2 mpg, and environmental groups say it fell short of a 1 mpg increase required under standards enacted during the Obama administration.

To make up the difference, automakers used credits for zero emissions vehicles and other fuel-saving measures that aren't included in EPA test cycles. The agency and the Department of Transportation say that's evidence the industry will have trouble meeting standards as they rise through 2025.

The Trump administration has proposed freezing the standards at 2021 levels.

But environmental groups and the state of California say the standards should remain in place and that automakers have the technology to meet them. The administration's move to freeze them , while not finalized, already has brought a court challenge from California and other states that follow its standards.

The administration last month broke off negotiations with California on fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions, and the matter probably will be tied up in the courts for years.

After ending the talks with California, administration officials held a conference call with automakers and began pressuring them to take its side in the dispute, according to four people who were either on the call or briefed on it. They spoke on condition about the Feb. 21 private call because of fear of retaliation from the administration.

On that call, a White House official told industry representatives that they had to decide whether they were in favour of "regulatory relief" or whether they wanted to side with California, according to two of the four people. One described the call as "testy" and the other said the industry was told it needed to take a side.

No one said any threats were made, but the industry fears tariffs on imported vehicles and parts, and one person pointed out that the Obama administration also pressured the industry to agree to fuel economy requirements.

The White House declined to comment on the specifics of conversations the administration is having with groups with stakes in the matter.

In the meantime, the standoff over fuel economy leaves the auto industry uncertain over what vehicles it must build. For now, the Obama-era regulations remain in effect, and auto companies are not sure what standards they have to meet for 2022 and beyond. A decision by the current administration is expected this spring.

Automakers have said they want the federal government to reach agreement on one national standard with California, which has authority to set its own mileage and emissions standards under the Clean Air Act. The administration is likely to challenge that.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement Wednesday that the agency's proposed changes "will allow the industry to meet aggressive yet attainable standards, reduce the price of new vehicles and help more Americans purchase cleaner, safer and more efficient vehicles."

But environment groups said that even with use of the credits, the industry is meeting the standards and can continue to do so.

"While the Trump administration is moving to gut the clean car standards, its own data shows the current standards are working. Automakers are innovating and improving the performance of their fleets, and tailpipe emissions continue to plummet," said Luke Tonachel, director for clean vehicles and fuels at the Natural Resources Defence Council.

The EPA and the auto industry both say that as Americans shift from more efficient cars to trucks and SUVs, the industry is having trouble meeting the standards. The EPA report said that SUV sales reached a record 43 per cent in 2017, with cars and wagons falling to 41 per cent, about half their market share in 1975. The rest were trucks.

Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

But Tonachel said the Obama-era standards are flexible, reducing requirements for automakers if they sell more trucks and SUVs.

"They are selling more trucks yet still meeting the standards because the standards automatically adjust to the mix of vehicles they sell," he said.

The EPA report said that car mileage increased by 1 mpg in 2017, while SUV mileage increased only 0.1 mpg.

Only Honda, Subaru and BMW met the mileage and pollution standards without using credits, according to the report.

____

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
CALGARY - A $3.5-billion project to turn Alberta propane into plastic pellets for the manufacture of consumer products is to receive $49 million from the federal government.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

CALGARY - A $3.5-billion project to turn Alberta propane into plastic pellets for the manufacture of consumer products is to receive $49 million from the federal government.

Ottawa says the money provided to Calgary-based Inter Pipeline Ltd. through the $1.6-billion Strategic Innovation Fund will help secure jobs and support the environmentally cleaner production of plastic products.

The facility is already under construction in Strathcona County, just northeast of Edmonton, with completion scheduled for late 2021.

The company is to increase jobs for post-secondary students and women in trades, while continuing to fund research and spending $10 million to find ways to reduce plastic waste.

The Inter Pipeline project was given $200 million in provincial royalty credits in 2016, while Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Ltd. was handed $300 million in credits for a similar proposal.

Last month, Pembina announced it had decided with its partner, Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Co., to go ahead with a $4.5-billion polypropylene project also to be located northeast of Edmonton.
OTTAWA  The federal government is calling Chinas bluff in a dispute over a Winnipeg companys canola exports, International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr said.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  The federal government is calling Chinas bluff in a dispute over a Winnipeg companys canola exports, International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr said.

"If Chinese officials can demonstrate that there's something wrong with this canola, they should prove it," Carr said in a Wednesday interview. "The onus is on them."

Chinas foreign ministry said Wednesday that it is blocking the canola-import permit for Winnipeg grain giant Richardson International due to fears of insect infestation, though some suggest this is just the latest swipe against the Canadian government for arresting a top Chinese tech executive.

At a daily briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China acted "in accordance with laws and regulations and international practice" due to unspecified "harmful organisms."

The Chinese spokesman said his governments decision "is definitely well-founded" and that customs agents "recently detected dangerous pests in canola imported from Canada many times."

Carr disclosed Wednesday that officials have asked Chinas embassy in Ottawa to produce the samples that purportedly contain those contaminants, and that Canadas embassy in Beijing is also pushing for that evidence.

Richardson said Tuesday that China had revoked its March 1 permit to export canola there amid allegations of an infestation.

Other Canadian canola exporters like Viterra and Cargill have not had similar actions taken against them. Grain analysts say Canadian exporters have complained about Chinese officials ordering multiple inspections as of last Christmas.

"I cant speak on behalf of China; I can say that were concerned for our farmers," Carr said. "This is a leading company that produces high-quality canola. No one has presented any evidence to the contrary."

Many see the measure as retaliation for Canadas arrest of Chinese tech giant Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huaweis founder.

Canada is proceeding with an extradition hearing for Meng following her December arrest at the request of the U.S., where she is wanted on fraud charges for allegedly misleading banks about the companys dealings with Iran. Meng was set to return to British Columbia Supreme Court for a hearing Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the country moved recently to prosecute two Canadians on espionage charges. In January, it re-tried a third Canadian who had been sentenced to prison time on drug charges, upgrading that to a death sentence over the course of a few hours.

Carr declined to speculate on whether the Huawei case was playing into Chinas canola restrictions.

"Well look at this at the science-based level," he said.

"We want to get to the bottom of this story as fast as we can. and the way to get to the bottom of the story is to deal with the evidence that can be presented to us."

Carr noted that last summer, Chinese officials imposed new rules on imported canola, citing the blackleg disease. The country had raised restrictions due to that disease in 2009, which sent Canadian prices tumbling.

Canola is Western Canada's most important crop, and China buys about 40 per cent of Canada's canola exports, worth about $2.5 billion.

This wouldnt be the first time Beijing has retaliated against nations that offend it. China suspended its bilateral trade deal with Norway and restricted imports of Norwegian salmon after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Chinese political prisoner Liu Xiaobo in 2010.

Britain and other countries were retaliated against over meetings with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, considered a dangerous separatist by Beijing.

Canadian Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a statement that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency conducted investigations after China issued notices of non-compliance on canola seed imports, including nine since January. She said the agency had not identified any pests or bacteria of concern.

China receives about 40 per cent of Canadas canola exports, and the revocation of Richardsons permit hurts the entire value chain of industries involved in the market, the Canola Council of Canada has said.

Neil Townsend, senior market analyst at FarmLink, however, said he thinks there is a definite link to the Huawei case.

"Theres no doubt Chinas mad at us," he said.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Canola prices already have been hit by Chinas retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports. Further cutbacks on Chinese buying would deal a major blow to what is a lifeline for agriculture in western Canada.

"I am very concerned by what weve heard has happened to Richardson. We do not believe theres any scientific basis for this," Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday in Montreal. "We are working very, very hard with the Chinese government on this issue."

China has warned of serious consequences if the Huawei executive is not released. China arrested two Canadians on Dec. 10 in what was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Canada.

After Mengs arrest, a Chinese court also sentenced a Canadian to death in a sudden retrial, overturning a 15-year prison term handed down earlier.

 with files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Al Dueck has been in the window manufacturing business for 20 years and far as he's concerned, it has been a great business for him and his family (his daughter Aynsley Dueck, is a seven year veteran in the business).

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Al Dueck has been in the window manufacturing business for 20 years and far as he's concerned, it has been a great business for him and his family (his daughter Aynsley Dueck, is a seven year veteran in the business).

But it doesn't take a social scientist to understand that the window business isn't sexy or likely to have the kind of exponential growth sought by startups in the digital era.

But it has been a mainstay in Manitoba, with companies like Loewen Windows and Jeld-Wen among the largest in the country. There are about 25 Manitoba window companies responsible for up to 4,000 direct and indirect jobs with about $300 million in annual revenue not including commercial glazing.

That's why Dueck helped form the industry association, Fenestration Manitoba, and an annual conference called FenCon  to shine a light on a business that is doing great and does a good job trying to do even better.

The third annual event  FenCon19  is taking place this week at the RBC Convention Centre. There's plenty of industry conferences out there, but this one is probably is more of a passion project than most.

Unlike other similar events that may be all about industry promotion or increasing sales or networking or purely staged as a commercial enterprise, FenCon is really about helping the entire industry improve.

"We are trying to bring window and door manufacturing technology and excellence to our city," said Dueck. "We're bringing people here and helping the local guys in the process."

With about 200 people registered -- from as far away as Europe, and throughout the U.S. -- it may not be the largest industry conference, but it's 50 per cent larger than it was last year and there is a surprising community feel to the event.

"The way Al has done this conference is... it's like giving back to the industry," said Paul Breault, the president of a Montreal company, Precision Motion Controle, that exclusively advises window and door companies on the implementation of robotics and automation to their production.

"What Al is doing is taken to heart," he said. "There is an attitude of 'Let's try to help each other out'... manufacturer and supplier," he said. "My own presentation is not so much a sales pitch as a way of figuring out how the manufacturers can can us help them better."

When FenCon was launched, the idea was to find presenters who can address the issues most impactful on the excellence of window and door manufacturing. There will be presentations from Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) officials who have been leaders in Lean manufacturing training as well as presentations on new technology like ultra thin, very high performance architectural glass and windows.

Breault said the implementation of robotics in the window production process typically does not mean job losses. He said it's the best way to deal with the labour crunch felt across the country.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"Right now calculating return on investment (on adding robotics) is not so much on what the payback will because of reduced manpower but more on how much is it costing because they cant produce the windows they want to produce because they don't have the people to produce them," he said.

Window and door manufacturers aren't any more or less compelled to be more innovative or productive than any other vertical segment of the manufacturing industry, but the way Dueck and others see it, the industry holds down a fundamental slot in the bigger picture.

"For one thing we're on the edge of Fenestration Valley," said Dueck referring to the fact that some of the world's largest window and door manufacturers are dotted throughout nearby North Dakota and Minnesota.

"Winnipeg has a history of being a fabrication place and shipping from Winnipeg is excellent in any direction." he said. "This is a business where you have to have a large capital investment for building and factory equipment, a big payroll to deal with and it's not a fleeting moment like software.

"And an even bigger point, that is sometimes overlooked is that these are typically family-rooted businesses that are not going to pickup and move to the U.S. or elsewhere." he said.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
France moved Wednesday to impose a three per cent tax on Google, Apple, Facebook and other tech giants in a bid to advance an international agreement to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

France moved Wednesday to impose a three per cent tax on Google, Apple, Facebook and other tech giants in a bid to advance an international agreement to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance.

The proposed levy would affect web companies that bring in more than 750 million euros in global revenue and 25 million euros in French receipts, and it would be applied only on domestic sales.

More than two dozen companies meet that threshold, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said during a news conference in Paris, according to The Associated Press. Most are U.S.-based, though some large European and Chinese firms also would be compelled to pay.

The tax would raise an estimated 500 million euros a year, Le Maire said.

The French proposal, like others from European nations, comes amid broader efforts to modernize the international tax system. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is crafting a plan to close global tax loopholes that allow billions of dollars to escape government coffers. Critics say tech giants generate enormous wealth, but are not appropriately taxed where they do business.

"These giants have created much value and they have created many jobs, and I will never denounce their success," Le Maire said, according to Bloomberg. "But we must fight against the distortions that these giants have created, especially on tax optimizations and on the dominant positions many have created. We must create taxation for the 21st century."

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Le Maire cited EU figures showing major tech companies pay, on average, 14 per cent less tax than other European companies, according to the AP report. He said the tax would exclude transactions involving the direct sale of products online but would mostly target firms using data to sell digital advertising.

The French parliament is expected to pass the tax proposal later this year.

Facebook said in a statement the company pays all taxes required by law in every country in which it operates. The social network added it recently began recording revenue in France from advertisers supported by French teams. "We hope that the OECD will finish its work and create a clear, sustainable global agreement on tax," the company said.

Google said it pays the vast majority of its corporate income tax in the U.S., noting in a statement Wednesday it has paid a global effective tax rate of 23 per cent for the past 10 years. "We always pay all of the taxes due and comply with the tax laws in every country we operate in around the world," Google said.

Apple and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 Washington Post
SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook, which grew into a colossus by vacuuming up your information in every possible way and using it to target ads back at you, now says its future lies in privacy-oriented messaging that Facebook itself can't read.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE- In this May 1, 2018, file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes the keynote speech at F8, Facebook's developer conference in San Jose, Calif. Zuckerberg laid out a new "privacy-focused" vision for social networking on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook, which grew into a colossus by vacuuming up your information in every possible way and using it to target ads back at you, now says its future lies in privacy-oriented messaging that Facebook itself can't read.

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO, announced the shift in a Wednesday blog post apparently intended to blunt both criticism of the company's data handling and potential antitrust action. Going forward, he said, Facebook will emphasize giving people ways to communicate in truly private fashion, with their intimate thoughts and pictures shielded by encryption in ways that Facebook itself can't read.

But Zuckerberg didn't suggest any changes to Facebook's core newsfeed-and-groups-based service, or to Instagram's social network, currently the fastest growing part of the company. Facebook pulls in gargantuan profits by selling ads targeted using the information it amasses on its users and others they know.

"All indications are that Facebook and Instagram will continue growing and be increasingly important," Zuckerberg said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press.

Critics aren't convinced Zuckerberg is committed to meaningful change.

"This does nothing to address the ad targeting and information collection about individuals," said Jen King, director of consumer privacy at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society. "It's great for your relationship with other people. It doesn't do anything for your relationship with Facebook itself."

Facebook's new orientation follows a rocky two-year battering over revelations about its leaky privacy controls. That included the sharing of personal information from as many as 87 million users with a political data-mining firm that worked for the 2016 Trump campaign.

Since the 2016 election, Facebook has also taken flak for the way Russian agents used its service to target U.S. voters with divisive messages and being a conduit for political misinformation. Zuckerberg faced two days of congressional interrogation over these and other subjects last April; he acknowledged and apologized for Facebook's privacy breakdowns in the past.

Since then, Facebook has suffered other privacy lapses that have amplified the calls for regulations that would hold companies more accountable when they improperly expose their users' information.

As part of his effort to make amends, Zuckerberg plans to stitch together its Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram messaging services so users will be able to contact each other across all of the apps.

The multiyear plan calls for all of these apps to be encrypted so no one but senders and recipients can see the contents of messages. WhatsApp already has that security feature, but Facebook's other messaging apps don't.

Zuckerberg likened it to being able to be in a living room behind a closed front door, and not having to worry about anyone eavesdropping. Meanwhile, Facebook and the Instagram photo app would still operate more like a town square where people can openly share whatever they want.

While Zuckerberg positions the messaging integration as a privacy move, Facebook also sees commercial opportunity in the shift. "If you think about your life, you probably spend more time communicating privately than publicly," he told the AP. "The overall opportunity here is a lot larger than what we have built in terms of Facebook and Instagram."

Critics have raised another possible motive  the threat of antitrust crackdowns. Integration could make it much more difficult, if not impossible, to later separate out and spin off Instagram and WhatsApp as separate companies.

"I see that as the goal of this entire thing," said Blake Reid, a University of Colorado law professor who specializes in technology and policy. He said Facebook could tell antitrust authorities that WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger are tied so tightly together that it couldn't unwind them.

Combining the three services also lets Facebook build more complete data profiles on all of its users. Already, businesses can already target Facebook and Instagram users with the same ad campaign, and ads are likely coming to WhatsApp eventually.

And users are more likely to stay within Facebook's properties if they can easily message their friends across different services, rather than having to switch between Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. That could help Facebook compete with messaging services from Apple, Google and others.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

As part of the process, Zuckerberg said Facebook will meet with privacy experts, law enforcement officials concerned about the new encryption making it impossible to uncover illegal activity being discussed on the messaging service and government officials.

Creating more ways for Facebook's more than 2 billion users to keep things private could undermine the company's business model, which depends on the ability to learn about the things people like and then sell ads tied to those interests.

In his interview with the AP, Zuckerberg said he isn't currently worried about denting Facebook's profits with the increased emphasis on privacy.

"How this affects the business down the line, we'll see," Zuckerberg said. "But if we do a good job in serving the need that people have, then there will certainly be an opportunity" to make even more money.

___

AP technology writers Anick Jesdanun, Tali Arbel and Mae Anderson contributed to this article from New York.
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to put the SNC-Lavalin affair behind him Thursday, attributing the controversy to a breakdown between his staff and former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, accepting a share of the blame and promising to do better.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to put the SNC-Lavalin affair behind him Thursday, attributing the controversy to a breakdown between his staff and former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould, accepting a share of the blame and promising to do better.

But he continued to insist nothing unethical or illegal occurred and did not offer an apology for his handling of the matter, which has cost him two cabinet ministers and his most trusted adviser.

"Over the past months, there was an erosion of trust between my office and specifically my former principal secretary and the former minister of justice and attorney general," Trudeau told an early-morning news conference. "I was not aware of that erosion of trust. As prime minister and leader of the federal ministry, I should have been."

Last week, Wilson-Raybould told the House of Commons justice committee that she was relentlessly and inappropriately pressured last fall by Trudeau, his senior staff, the top public servant and others to intervene to stop a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Wilson-Raybould said she believes she was moved to the veterans-affairs portfolio in January as punishment for refusing to give in.

ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS Former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould testifies about the SNC-Lavalin controversy last week. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files)

She resigned from cabinet altogether a month after accepting the new post. This week, her close friend and cabinet ally, Treasury Board president Jane Philpott, resigned over what she called her own loss of confidence in how the prime minister had handled the SNC affair.

On Wednesday, Trudeau's former principal secretary, Gerald Butts  who also resigned in the midst of the controversy  offered an account different from Wilson-Raybould's. He told the justice committee that everyone in the Prime Minister's Office recognized that the decision on whether to intervene was Wilson-Raybould's alone, that there was no improper pressure and that she never raised a complaint about it until after Trudeau told her she was being moved out of her "dream job." Butts said all they wanted was for Wilson-Raybould to seek an outside legal opinion on the matter from an eminent retired judge.

After all that, Trudeau said the testimony has revealed a "difference in perspective" on conversations that took place "among colleagues about how to tackle a difficult issue." It's not a question of telling the truth versus lying, he suggested.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer called Trudeau's performance "a completely phoney act of fake sincerity" and repeated his call for the prime minister to resign.

"The truth cannot be experienced differently. There is such a thing as right and wrong and a real leader knows the difference," Scheer said in Toronto. "The Justin Trudeau we saw today is the real Justin Trudeau  a prime minister who can't manage his own office, let alone the affairs of a great nation."

Gerald Butts, former principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said he wanted Wilson-Raybould to seek a second opinion from a retired judge so the government could show it had considered all legal options. (Justin Tang / The Canadian Press)

Similarly, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said "there's not two versions of this story" and reiterated his call for a public inquiry.

Singh also said Trudeau was not taking responsibility or offering an apology.

Trudeau addressed Wilson-Raybould's accusation that he injected partisan considerations into a Sept. 17 discussion about the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin on charges of bribery and corruption related to contracts in Libya. The engineering giant is headquartered in Montreal and she maintains Trudeau pointed out that's where his own Papineau riding is.

Trudeau didn't deny that but said it was not intended as a partisan comment. Rather, he was doing his job as an MP for an area that could be affected by a criminal conviction for SNC-Lavalin, which might threaten SNC-Lavalin's financial viability and throw thousands of employees out of work.

"I was preoccupied by the number of jobs on this in Quebec and across the country. This was something I was clear on."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in an armchair discussion at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Convention in Toronto on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Wilson-Raybould has said she made a final decision on the matter on Sept. 16 and informed Trudeau of that during their meeting the following day, after which she maintains no one should have continued to pressure her on the issue. Trudeau said he asked his staff to follow up after his meeting with her because he believed she was still open to considering new arguments.

"I now understand that she saw it differently," he said.

Trudeau accepted responsibility for not following up with Wilson-Raybould after their one conversation about SNC-Lavalin, but he also put some responsibility on her for the breakdown in communication.

"One of the things central to my leadership is fostering an environment where my ministers, caucus and staff feel comfortable coming to me when they have concerns. Indeed, I expect them to do so," he said. "In Ms. Wilson-Raybould's case, she did not come to me and I wish she had because if it's a real relationship and we are truly a team, we can always acknowledge when we need to make adjustments."

Trudeau vowed to do better. He is seeking external expert opinions on the operating policies and practices of cabinet, the public service and political staff when it comes to judicial matters. He'll also seek external advice on whether to separate the dual roles of justice minister and attorney general  one political, the other legal, both held by the same person.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walks to the National Press Theatre in Ottawa to deliver remarks on Thursday, March 7, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

"Ultimately I believe our government will be stronger for having wrestled with these issues," he said.

By his taking at least part of the blame for the crisis that's rocked his government, Liberals are hoping Trudeau's statement will be sufficient for Wilson-Raybould and Philpott to let the matter drop and move on. Trudeau said nothing Thursday about whether he believes the two can continue as Liberal MPs.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Both have said they intend to stay in the Liberal caucus and have been nominated to seek re-election, despite their public criticisms of their leader. Asked how he can present a cohesive team under those circumstances, Trudeau said that question should be put to Wilson-Raybould and Philpott.

Neither responded to a request for comment Thursday.

Nor did Whitby Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes, who used Twitter to suggest Trudeau hadn't been open to two approaches she's made to him but didn't offer any details.

New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, who broke Liberal ranks last month to vote for an NDP motion calling for a public inquiry, tweeted that he was glad to have heard from Trudeau but he wants Wilson-Raybould called back to the justice committee so she can respond to Butts's testimony.

On Wednesday, the Liberal MPs on the committee, who have a 5-4 majority, blocked an opposition call for her return. Thursday, though, the Conservative and New Democrat members wrote to the committee clerk to force a meeting within the next week to debate recalling her for another appearance.

Wilson-Raybould has said she'll be happy to testify again if the committee asks her to.
OTTAWA  Two weeks after a train derailment leaked a million litres of crude oil in western Manitoba, the Pallister government says it wont try compelling railways to disclose how much oil theyre transporting.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Two weeks after a train derailment leaked a million litres of crude oil in western Manitoba, the Pallister government says it wont try compelling railways to disclose how much oil theyre transporting.

The British Caolumbia government is heading to that provinces highest court later this month to defend legislation that would cap the amount of crude moving through the province through both pipelines and railways.

The case touches on B.C.'s earlier attempt to learn where trains are carrying oil on how many cars each week.

A September 2018 provincial directive would have B.C. follow Washington state in publishing reports online showing just how much crude oil is moving along specific rail lines.

But CN, CP and BNSF railways  all of whom also operate in Manitoba  argued that providing the information would help saboteurs commit "dire" terrorist acts.

The B.C. government argued it needs this information to inspect railways emergency-prevention plans; the railways responded that the federal government already inspects safety plans.

The provinces Environmental Appeal Board sided with the railways last December, deciding that "there is no emergency preparedness voice that must be filled."

Railways confidentially share live-updating information on what each train is transporting, but only with first responders. The companies publish annual aggregates of the percentage  but not amount  of dangerous goods that have flowed through each province.

B.C. argued in favour of getting more data by noting that railways already publish route maps online, and that placards show when tank cars are carrying crude. The EAB used those same points to argue that B.C. can gather the information it seeks without the need for railways to share more precise information.

Rail-safety advocates have pushed Ottawa for years to compel that railways provide more information about crude shipments. In January, the Free Press revealed that a historic amount of crude is travelling across the Prairies as a result of delayed pipeline projects.

On Feb. 16, a CN Rail train heading toward Winnipeg derailed near St. Lazare, close to the Saskatchewan border. According to the Transportation Safety Board, 35 tank cars derailed, half of which leaked at "at least" one million litres of crude.

Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler was not made available for an interview Tuesday, but noted in an email that Ottawa already regulates rail shipments and doesnt require that companies report weekly train contents to provinces.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"Manitoba has not requested this information from rail companies, but would be open to receiving it should the companies choose to share it with us," he wrote.

Meanwhile, the B.C. Court of Appeal will hear arguments starting March 18 over the provinces attempt to cap the amount of oil moving through the provinces. The proposed law would have the province issue its own permits based on its own set quotas and assessment of spill-recovery measures.

The Railway Association of Canada, arguing on behalf of the three railways, said those rules would undermine federal laws, which include an obligation for railways to take any goods requested by shippers and hold adequate insurance. It called the move "a colourable attempt to legislate beyond the provinces constitutional limits."

Schuler wrote that Manitoba will not intervene in the Trans Mountain case: "We are not considering legal action at this time, but we will monitor the case in British Columbia."

The EAB is scheduled to hold another review of the provinces directive on information sharing on Sept. 16, with new evidence.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
The 41st session of the Manitoba legislature resumed Wednesday with the introduction of a new bill, a war of words on procurement practices and some unusual behavioural ticks.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 41st session of the Manitoba legislature resumed Wednesday with the introduction of a new bill, a war of words on procurement practices and some unusual behavioural ticks.

Government MLAs could be heard growling across the room as opposition critics raised their voices to ask questions.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister during question period in the Manitoba Legislature Wednesday afternoon.

At one point, Premier Brian Pallister pushed a document tabled by Liberal leader Dougald Lamont  a printout of a CTV news story  off the front of his desk.

Needless to say, any back-to-school type of nostalgia wore off quickly.

Pallister delivered an opening ministerial statement attacking both the former NDP government for alleged ethical lapses and the current federal government for its handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair.

"The federal government seems to have replaced their moral compass with a political compass, Madame Speaker, and that is eerily reminiscent of the behaviour of the previous government of this province," the premier said.

"In 2014, the previous NDP administration chose to eliminate safeguards that would have protected Manitobans from their government doing business with companies that would have been suspended or blocked from bids due to ethical, criminal or performance issues. The previous government did this for no apparent reason and they never told the public they were doing it," he alleged.

Pallister noted the lack of safeguards left Manitobans "unprotected from fraud and abuse in the procurement process."

The premier wouldnt stick around afterward to answer media questions about his statement, except to say the government was continuing to investigate what happened and would provide more information in the coming days.

NDP infrastructure critic Jim Maloway fired back after Pallister's statement, citing two examples of procurement issues involving Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler.

Last month, Schulers department awarded a government air services contract to a company with strong Tory ties, Exchange Income Corp., which has former premier Gary Filmon as chair of its board of directors. Schuler has said the contract was awarded by the Treasury Board secretariat with "no political interference."

The minister also apologized in February for a lack of oversight on two untendered, multi-million-dollar roadwork contracts issued last year.

"The Pallister governments approach to procurement is unacceptable and as much as the premier is trying to place the blame on his minister of transportation, they happened within his cabinet and therefore are his responsibility," Maloway said.

Meantime, Lamont reiterated concerns about conflict of interest legislation in Manitoba needing a serious overhaul.

"Weve been talking about the fact that we need  Manitobas ethics laws are completely inadequate, theyre outdated, theyre from 1985. And this government has done absolutely everything they can to do nothing about improving them," he told reporters.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

As for what's to come this sitting, the government has signalled intentions to table at least nine bills. They include amendments to the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Amendment Act affecting cider and cooler sales at beer vendors, and new rules on cannabis possession.

Justice Minister Cliff Cullen also plans to introduce amendments to the Police Services Act involving institutional safety officers.

To cap off the first days sitting, the NDP introduced a motion to condemn the federal government and the prime minister "for politically interfering in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin" and to condemn the "poor and inappropriate treatment" of the former attorney general of Canada, Jody Wilson-Raybould. They also called for a public inquiry "to provide Canadians the answers they deserve."

The motion received overwhelming Tory and NDP support with 46 votes in favour. Only one person voted against the move  Liberal MLA Jon Gerrard  while the three other Liberal MLAs  Cindy Lamoureux, Judy Klassen and Lamont  didnt show up to vote.

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu
The Pallister government has introduced broad legislation to support several of its key planned health-care reforms.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Pallister government has introduced broad legislation to support several of its key planned health-care reforms.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen said Wednesday that Bill 10 (The Regional Health Authorities Amendment Act) will provide the framework to simplify the administration of the health-care system and improve accountability.

All health services in Manitoba will be delivered through the five current regional health authorities, CancerCare Manitoba and a new provincial authority called Shared Health. The administrative changes are set to begin next month and will continue to be rolled out over the next two to three years.

The Health Department will cease to administer health services directly and focus its activities on planning, policy development, funding and oversight. It will set system-wide performance goals and track results.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Cameron Friesen, Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living, unveils The Regional Health Authorities Amendment Act, Wednesday afternoon in the Manitoba Legislative building.

The bill provides the legal authority for previously announced plans to transfer the operations of Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg's largest hospital, to Shared Health. The Selkirk Mental Health Centre will also fall under the provincial health authority's auspices, as will the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba.

Friesen said the purpose of the administrative changes is not to cut jobs. "The focus is on (realigning) our system. We have had a badly balkanized health-care system for many years in Manitoba," he told a media briefing before the bill was introduced.

"This is not a money-saving exercise," he said.

Friesen said the main effect of the changes on patients will be a more co-ordinated approach across Manitoba.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Wab Kinew, leader of the Manitoba NDP, thinks the proposed changes would make the system less accountable and more prone to political interference from the premier.

"These changes will simplify the system, allowing for increased focus on the delivery of service across the province and consistent standards of care for all Manitobans," he said.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said he was concerned that consolidating more services under a provincial health authority would make the system less accountable and more prone to political interference from the premier.

"One of the concerns  among many  is that it's going to be more difficult to tell if they eliminate jobs or if they eliminate services," he said.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont was also skeptical of the changes, saying it appeared the government was adding "another layer of bureaucracy" to the system. Like Kinew, Lamont also said he feared that more centralized control of health care would "pave the way for more political interference coming from the premier's office" on health decisions.

Friesen said the legislation will make it possible to hold health authorities to account for the services they provide. He was not specific as to what repercussions authorities may face if they fail to perform up to a particular standard, saying that is yet to be determined.

TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN FILES Dougald Lamont, leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party says it appears the government is adding "another layer of bureaucracy" to the health care system.

The 85-page bill, if passed, will amend 55 separate pieces of legislation. The Regional Health Authorities Act would be renamed The Health System Governance and Accountability Act.

The bill would also amend The Health Services Insurance Act to clarify that the government has the authority to audit fee-for-service billing by physicians and other health practitioners. Officials say the Health Department has encountered resistance from some physicians when it has attempted to audit billings and recover overpayments.

Shared Health's responsibilities and duties would include the development and regular updating of a provincial clinical health services plan for the province. It would also be responsible for negotiating with unions and developing a provincial health human resources plan.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.
OTTAWA  The Red Chambers energy committee is dithering on whether to include poor Winnipeg in cross-country hearings, as senators clash over whether taxpayers would prefer that they only visit Saskatoon.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  The Red Chambers energy committee is dithering on whether to include "poor Winnipeg" in cross-country hearings, as senators clash over whether taxpayers would prefer that they only visit Saskatoon.

"I like Winnipeg. Its not in any way disrespectful to the people of Manitoba  but is there something were going to learn in Winnipeg that were not going to learn in Saskatoon?" Alberta Sen. Paula Simons asked her colleagues at a committee meeting on assessment overhaul Bill C-69.

"Its a big country. In the interests of being prudent stewards of public dollars, we might want to think about pruning one city off of each (regional) list."

Her idea was picked up by British Columbia Sen. Yuen Pau Woo, head of the Independent Senators Group, which is largely comprises Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointees.

Conservative Sen. Dennis Patterson shot back: "Do you want to tell the people of Winnipeg their voice is not important, or shall I?"

Woo responded Winnipeggers could "testify by coming here and by video conference."

"Each province is different," Patterson responded. "Im just appalled that we are maybe on the verge of deciding that people from Manitoba are less important than people from Saskatchewan."

Trudeau has tasked the Senates energy committee with fixing his sweeping reform of the way major projects are assessed.

Bill C-69 has prompted rallies across Alberta and Saskatchewan over concerns new requirements will kibosh pipeline projects, though the federal Liberals say it will avoid last-minute surprises by clarifying which environmental and Indigenous considerations companies must address.

Meanwhile, the Manitoba government fears the bill will impede on hydroelectric expansion, and even flood-mitigation channels in the Interlake.

Given such sweeping concerns, some senators on the energy committee have pushed to visit impacted communities across Canada, saying its not enough to hear from groups who can afford to visit Ottawa.

But some Trudeau-appointed senators have accused the Conservatives of booking multiple stops so a tour will delay the bill and other government legislation.

In the committee meeting late last month, Tory Sen. Linda Frum said her colleagues "should definitely go to Winnipeg," as well as all the places listed in the original proposal.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"I actually dont hear a lot of dissent, except for poor Winnipeg," she quipped.

Manitoba Sen. Mary Jane McCallum suggested the committee avoid larger cities entirely. She previously noted people in remote areas "devastated" by energy projects such as Fox Lake Cree Nation are the least likely to testify in Ottawa.

The Senate is under pressure to get its amendments to Bill C-69 wrapped up soon. There are only 11 sitting weeks in the Red Chamber before the fall election.

After discussing travel plans for 28 minutes, the senators ended up tasking a steering committee with coming up with a revised travel schedule.

They likely wont take to the skies until after their three-week spring break, resuming March 18.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
The past 100 years have been wrought with geopolitical conflict that has changed the definitions of war and our understanding of what war crimes are.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

The past 100 years have been wrought with geopolitical conflict that has changed the definitions of war and our understanding of what war crimes are.

The Holocaust that saw the slaughter of Jews and other marginalized groups at the hands of Nazi Germany resulted in vows of "never again," and yet it is a lesson humanity has not learned.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Former Winnipegger Kimberly Prost was elected to the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2017.

Wars in the Balkan states, in the former Yugoslavia and more genocide in Rwanda followed. The deaths of more than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys and the indiscriminate slaughter of Tutsi in Rwandas civil war are more recent examples of humanitys cruelty.

Rape has long been a war tactic, and in the past 30 years, sexual violence  including rape, forced marriages and sexual slavery  has been reported in more than 50 countries in conflict. A local woman will be part of the process of finding justice for these victims of war crimes.

Former Winnipegger Kimberly Prost is a trailblazer in Manitoba, as one of 18 judges who now sits on the International Criminal Court (ICC), located in the Hague.

She was trained at the University of Manitobas faculty of law and she returns to her hometown this Friday to participate in International Womens Day, speaking at an event at St. Marys Academy, sponsored by the Nellie McClung Foundation.

The ICC has been in operation since 2002 and is remarkable in many ways. It is viewed as the first truly feminist court because of the way it is set up  as an independent, permanent court with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes of international concern, including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression.

It was created in the aftermath of the wars in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Canada played a major role in its creation; in fact, in July 2000, former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy participated in the ratification of the Rome Statute, which underpins the ICC.

The Rome Statute was drafted with input from many human rights and non-governmental womens organizations; as a result, it focuses on a wide range of gender- and sex-based crimes. It is in this way that it sets itself apart from other international courts because it defines sex-based crimes as war crimes.

The ICC process also provides voices for victims. In fact, its the first time in the court that victims are able to share their views and concerns about the proceedings with the legal counsel who will represent them in the courtroom. There is also, since 2004, a trust fund for victims, which in part provides for counselling and other necessary support for victims of crime. This will go a long way in helping them heal.

As well, unlike most other international courts, the ICC requires gender representation on the bench. Currently, six of the 18 judges on the bench are women; at one point, 11 were women.

For Prost, ensuring gender representation was an "important provision because it allows for progress to be made in representation. Especially when it comes to sexual violence, you need a gender perspective."

Prost also calls changing the paradigm to include gender violence as a war crime in the Rome Statute as a positive initiative, because these crimes have consequences for all civilians, not just women.

But the ICC is not without its controversies. It has come under fire because, for the most part, it has been focused mainly on African countries and African crimes. Critics have suggested it has not done enough to address crimes in other countries. Prost says this is "such a misrepresentation."

"First of all, several of the situations in Africa were referred to the court by the territorial state where crimes were alleged to have taken place; it was not that the prosecutor was targeting Africa," she said. "Africa has been a big supporter of the ICC. The problem is the court does not have jurisdiction over all situations, and has nothing to do with bias."

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Prost says that in time, the focus will shift, and adds the prosecution has opened an investigation in Georgia and has requested authority to do so in Afghanistan. As those crimes come through the legal system, the focus will move away from Africa and expand into other countries, as well.

Prost is optimistic that women are making inroads in terms of rights advancements. I tend to be a bit more impatient, particularly when debating the issue of representation in Canada while watching the federal Liberals implode as party stalwarts blame smart and talented women for their failures.

But I share her outlook that the ICC may be a good first step toward helping women (and men) who suffer the indignity of sexual assault as an outcome of war. And as I look forward to International Womens Day, I feel appreciation for trailblazers such as her.

Shannon Sampert is a political science professor at the University of Winnipeg.

s.sampert@uwinnipeg.ca

Twitter: @paulysigh
Once bitten, twice shy: this age-old proverb describes people who have been hurt and are reluctant to trust again.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Once bitten, twice shy: this age-old proverb describes people who have been hurt and are reluctant to trust again.

Thats how many Winnipeggers regard city halls record of buying and selling property. Land transactions have been bungled so often in the past, according to audits and investigations, taxpayers justifiably feel bitten and are disinclined to blindly trust city halls negotiations of property deals.

Hoping things have improved, the public might be interested in a newly released report from consulting firm Deloitte LLP. The firms overview was sought because city hall has previously been accused of mishandling deals such as the Winnipeg Square Parkade, the former Canad Inns Stadium site, the former Canada Post building, the Parker lands transfer and the Forks-area parking lot known as Parcel 4.

City of Winnipeg CAO Doug McNeil is retiring in April. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press files)

The report examines the citys latest property transactions, 25 deals in 2018. The bottom line? Management falls woefully short of civic criteria for buying and selling.

The report shows that on audited deals, city staff complied with only 18 per cent of criteria. The report found 70 per cent of applicable criteria "were either not met, or could not be subjected to audit due to insufficient proceeding criteria being met."

City management accepted the report, but noted the criteria are meant as guidelines, not rigid regulations. It said much of the documentation that was noted as missing had been done verbally or via email.

"There are instances of non-compliance which improve the transaction outcome and the branchs performance," city management explained. "The department continues to strive to find the right balance between productivity, procedures and processes."

Cost overruns on the new police headquarters (above) and the construction of a fire-paramedic station where contracts were unfairly awarded are a couple recent controversies involving land transactions undertaken by the city. (Trevor Hagan / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Its possible to empathize with managements concern that productivity will suffer if employees are bogged down by endless paperwork, trying to follow procedures that are impractical and onerous. When we deal as individuals with governments, who among us does not rejoice if we find a bureaucrat willing to cut through red tape and complete our transaction quickly and efficiently?

Want more great journalism? Get our best news and features delivered in your inbox every weekday evening. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

But in the case of Winnipeg property deals, the citys recent history of murky circumstances makes it necessary to ensure policies are properly followed.

People who feel city staff should not be handcuffed with procedure and paperwork should be reminded of two arguments: Phil Sheegl and Sam Katz. Mr. Katz was mayor when his close friend, Mr. Sheegl, was hired to be the citys chief administrative officer. During their shared tenure, deals on behalf of the city were often seen as less than publicly transparent.

Among the controversies were major cost overruns on the new police headquarters and a fire-paramedic station construction program in which an auditor said contracts were unfairly awarded. The RCMP alleged in court documents that a construction firms owner gave Mr. Sheegl a $200,000 commission, half of which went to Mr. Katz while he was still mayor.

Mayor Brian Bowmans successful 2014 campaign was built in large part around a pledge to return accountability and transparency to city processes. The deficiencies identified in the Deloitte LLP report occurred on his watch.

Current city CAO Doug McNeil, who has announced he will retire in April, has praised his staff and said, "I might be leaving, but all those great people are still staying behind."

The public is eager to believe Mr. McNeil that the city has great people who will represent the taxpayers well in land deals. But after being burned in past transactions, proof of performance is required. The citys property department should strive to meet the high standards of transparency suggested by the Deloitte consultants.
NEW YORK - President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming the Trump Organization broke a promise to pay his legal bills and owes at least $1.9 million to cover the cost of his defence.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this March 6, 2019 file photo, Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, speaks as he departs after testifying before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington. Cohen sues the Trump Organization, on Thursday, March 7, saying he is owed $1.9 million.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

NEW YORK - President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming the Trump Organization broke a promise to pay his legal bills and owes at least $1.9 million to cover the cost of his defence.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in New York state court, claims the Trump Organization stopped paying Cohen's mounting legal fees after he began co-operating with federal prosecutors in their investigations related to Trump's business dealings in Russia and attempts to silence women with embarrassing stories about his personal life. It alleges breach of contract and seeks damages on Cohen's behalf.

Messages seeking comment have been left with the Trump Organization.

The lawsuit says the company stopped paying for his legal defence about two months after the FBI raided Cohen's home and office last year. It says that was around the time Cohen began discussing privately with friends and family that he was considering co-operating with special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York.

"When it was publicly reported that I might be co-operating with prosecutors, the Trump Organization breached its agreement and stopped paying fees and costs," Cohen said in a statement released by his attorneys.

Cohen pleaded guilty in August to tax crimes, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations. He is expected to begin serving a three-year prison term in May.

The lawsuit said that as part of his work for Trump, the company agreed to indemnify him for his company-related work. It said the Trump Organization initially lived up to that promise, footing the bill for more than $1.7 million in Cohen's legal fees.

Cohen hired the law firm McDermott Will & Emery in spring 2017 after it became clear he was a "person of interest" in Mueller's investigation.

That firm withdrew from his case late last spring after the Trump Organization stopped paying Cohen's bills, a withdrawal the lawsuit says "prejudiced" Cohen's ability to respond to the federal investigations.

In addition to the $1.9 million in legal fees Cohen is seeking, the lawsuit claims the Trump Organization should also pay the $1.9 million Cohen was ordered to forfeit "as part of his criminal sentence arising from conduct undertaken by Mr. Cohen in furtherance of and at the behest of the Trump Organization and its principals, directors, and officers."

Cohen was one of Trump's lawyers and closest advisers for a decade until their public split last summer.

After once bragging that he would "take a bullet" for the president, Cohen met with federal prosecutors in New York and with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, telling them he had lied to Congress to protect Trump and paid off two women to keep them from speaking out about alleged affairs with Trump.

Earlier this year, Cohen hired two new Chicago lawyers and parted ways with the attorneys who represented him for months as he co-operated with Mueller and prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. The Associated Press previously reported that the shake-up followed what a person familiar with the matter described as a dispute over unpaid legal fees.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Last week, Cohen told lawmakers he also has not been paying Lanny Davis, an attorney who has served as an adviser and spokesman for Cohen over the past several months.

"So he's doing all this work for nothing?" U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., asked Cohen during his daylong testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"Yes, sir," Cohen said.

Cohen told Congress that Trump was a racist, a liar and a con man.

Trump, in turn, has assailed Cohen as a "rat" and a "serial liar."

Cohen has also tried crowdsourcing his legal fees. A GoFundMe page that Davis set up for Cohen after he first pleaded guilty in August has collected about $215,000, including $50,000 from an anonymous donor.

___

Associated Press writers Bernard Condon and Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's advisers dangled the possibility of a pardon for his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen last year, Cohen's attorney said Thursday, as congressional investigators zero in on the president's pardon power.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, pauses while speaking as he departs after testifying before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's advisers dangled the possibility of a pardon for his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen last year, Cohen's attorney said Thursday, as congressional investigators zero in on the president's pardon power.

The issue of pardons has emerged as a key line of inquiry as Democrats launch a series of sweeping investigations into Trump's political and personal dealings.

Lanny Davis, Cohen's lawyer, said in a written statement Thursday that his client was "open to the ongoing 'dangling' of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media" in the months after the FBI raided Cohen's home, office and hotel room in April 2018.

Davis, who was not Cohen's lawyer at the time, said Cohen "directed his attorney" to explore a possible pardon with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others on Trump's legal team. The statement appears to contradict Cohen's sworn testimony last week at a House Oversight Committee hearing that he had never asked for, and would not accept, a pardon from Trump.

Davis' comment raises questions about whether Cohen  who is slated to begin a three-year prison sentence in May for crimes including lying to Congress  lied to Congress again last week.

Cohen's legal team argued that his statement was correct because Cohen never asked the president himself for a pardon.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, departs following a full day of testimony with the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors as he prepares for a three-year prison sentence for lying to Congress and other charges, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Cohen told reporters he will "continue to cooperate" with investigators. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

"This is more proof that Cohen is a liar," Giuliani said in an interview Thursday. "The guy says he never asked Trump for a pardon. He's hiding behind having his lawyers do it."

There is nothing inherently improper about a subject in a criminal investigation seeking a pardon from a president given the president's wide latitude in granting them. But investigators want to know if the prospects of presidential pardons were somehow offered or used inappropriately.

It is hard to untangle the conflicting narratives given the unreliability of some of the central characters. Cohen, for instance, has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and saw his credibility attacked last week by Republican lawmakers. Davis has had to walk back at least one bombshell assertion over the last year  that his client could tell investigators that Trump had advance knowledge of a Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign  and Giuliani has fumbled facts and repeatedly moved the goalposts about what sort of behaviour by the president would constitute collusion or a crime.

Congressional investigators, meanwhile, appear to be focusing on presidential powers as a significant line of questioning in their probes.

The House Judiciary Committee, which is conducting a probe into possible obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power, sent letters to the FBI, the Justice Department and others for documents related to possible pardons for Cohen, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. All three have been charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible co-ordination between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign.

Congressional investigators are also looking into whether anyone on Trump's legal team tried quietly to reach out to Cohen last year before he turned on the president and as his legal problems mounted.

According to a person familiar with the matter, two New York attorneys who claimed to be in contact with Giuliani reached out to Cohen after the raids on his office and hotel room. The attorneys said they could join his legal team in order to be a conduit to Trump's lawyers, the person said.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, tells reporters he will "continue to cooperate" with investigators following a full day of testimony with the House Intelligence Committee as he prepares for a three-year prison sentence for lying to Congress and other charges, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The attorneys did not explicitly discuss a potential pardon, but investigators are looking into whether it was an implicit communication that Cohen's chances of a pardon could be increased if he hired the attorneys, the person said. The lawyers later sent Cohen a bill for their legal service, which he didn't pay, according to the person.

Giuliani said Thursday he was contacted in May or June about a possible pardon for Cohen.

"My answer was the president is not going to consider or give any pardons now," Giuliani said. "As I have said in the past, the president has the right to, and that doesn't mean he won't consider it when the investigation is over. But there are no plans to do so; that's the answer that Jay and I and the president settled on. 'The best thing for you to do,' I would tell everyone, 'is assume you don't have the pardon.'" Jay Sekulow is another Trump lawyer.

Cohen's legal team stressed that he was one of Trump's closest confidants and if he wanted a pardon, he would have just asked Trump himself.

Cohen has become a key figure in congressional investigations since turning on his former boss and co-operating with the special counsel. During last week's public testimony, he called Trump a con man, a cheat and a racist.

Trump, in turn, has said Cohen "did bad things unrelated to Trump" and "is lying in order to reduce his prison time."

Davis tried to downplay the contradiction between his statement and Cohen's testimony. He said when he was brought on to Cohen's legal team in June, his client "authorized me as a new lawyer to say publicly Mr. Cohen would never accept a pardon from President Trump even if offered."

"That continues to be the case," Davis said. "And his statement at the Oversight Hearing was true  and consistent with his post joint defence agreement commitment to tell the truth."

Separately on Thursday, Cohen filed a lawsuit in New York City claiming the Trump Organization broke a promise to pay his legal bills and owes at least $1.9 million to cover the cost of his defence. Cohen alleges the company breached a contract when it stopped paying his mounting legal fees after he began co-operating with federal prosecutors in their investigations.

The Trump Organization didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Davis said Cohen has documents to prove the allegations in the lawsuit.

Cohen is headed to prison in May after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and other crimes.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Federal prosecutors have said Trump directed Cohen to arrange payments to buy the silence of two women  porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal  who had alleged they had sex with Trump. Trump has denied having an affair.

Cohen also admitted that he lied to Congress about the duration of negotiations in 2016 over a Trump real estate project in Moscow.

The Senate intelligence committee is interested in re-interviewing Donald Trump Jr. and other witnesses after Cohen spoke to the committee last week, a person familiar with the probe said. The person wasn't authorized to discuss the confidential investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

The committee first interviewed Trump Jr. in 2017, when he told the panel he was only "peripherally aware" of the proposal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen told a House committee last week that he had briefed Trump Jr. approximately 10 times about the plan.

___

Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
he popular Christmas tradition features 16 nativity scenes telling the birth of the King of Kings across five different Long Beach churches.
Brookfield Asset Management, Inc. engages in the management of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. It operates through the following segments: Asset Management, Real Estate, Renewable Power, Infrastructure, Private Equity, Residential Development, and Corporate Activities. The Asset Management segment includes the management of its listed partnerships, private funds and public securities. The Real Estate segment is comprised of the ownership, operation and development of core office, core retail, LP investments and other properties. The Renewable Power segment encompasses the ownership, operation and development of hydroelectric, wind, solar, storage and other power generating facilities. The Infrastructure segment consists of the ownership, operation and development of utilities, transport, energy, data infrastructure and sustainable resource assets. The Private Equity segment refers to the broad range of industries, and is mostly focused on business services, infrastructure services and industrials. The Residential Development segment represents homebuilding, condominium development and land development. The Corporate Activiti

Read More
The following companies are subsidiares of TE Connectivity: 999 Arques Corp., ABB ENTRELEC terminal block business, ACC Telecommunications, ADC Chile Limitada, ADC Communications (SEA) Pte. Ltd., ADC Communications (UK) Holding Ltd., ADC Communications (UK) Ltd., ADC Communications Hong Kong Limited, ADC Telecommunications Equipment (Shanghai) Co., AMP Amermex, AMP Products Pacific Limited, AMP Taiwan B.V., AMP Trading B.V., AMP de Venezuela, Acalon Holdings Limited, Advanced Fiber Products LLC, Advanced Fiber Products Limited, Advanced Tube Technologies, AdvancedCath, AdvancedCath Technologies, Alpha Technics, American Sensor Technologies, Betatherm (R&D) Limited, Brantner Holding Company, Brantner and Associates, Butterfly Management SAS, C.S. Tyco Decisive Inc., C.S. Tyco Dependable Inc., C.S. Tyco Durable Inc., C.S. Tyco Reliance Inc., C.S. Tyco Resolute Inc., C.S. Tyco Responder Inc., CII Guardian International Limited, Cablotec GmbH, Carrier Kheops Bac SAS, Catheter and Disposable Technology, Celis Eletrocomponentes Ltda., Cima de Acuna S.A. de C.V., Clarebury Pty. Ltd., Codenoll Technology Corporation, Communication Expert International Investments Limited, Compagnie Deutsch Distribution SAS, Compagnie Deutsch SAS, Comtec Systeme GmbH, Connecteurs Electriques Deutsch SAS, Corcom, Corcom West Indies Limited, Cotsworks LLC, Creganna, Creganna Captial Holding Ireland Unlimited Company, Creganna Finance (US) LLC, Creganna Finance Ireland Limited, Creganna Luxembourg SARL, Creganna Medical Devices, Creganna Medical Pte. Limited, Creganna Medical Technology Unlimited, Creganna Medical s.r.l., Creganna Regulatory, Creganna Solutions Limited, Creganna Solutions Unlimited Company, Creganna Tactx Singapore Limited, Creganna Unlimited Company, Cregstar Bidco Limited, Critchley Group Limited, Crompton Instruments (South-East Asia) Pte. Ltd., Deutsch, Deutsch Connectors Hong Kong Limited, Deutsch Connectors Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co., Deutsch Connectors Trading (Shanghai) Co., Deutsch Finance SAS, Deutsch GB Limited, Deutsch Group SAS, Deutsch India Power Connectors (Pvt) Ltd, Deutsch Israel Ltd., Deutsch SAS, Deutsch Servicios S. de R.L. De C.V., Deutsch Subco Limited, Deutsch UK, F.A.I. Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, First Sensor, Grangehurst Enterprises Pty. Ltd., Hirschmann Car Communication, Hong Kong Sensors Technologies Limited, Howard A. Schaevitz Technologies, Intercontec Connector System (Shanghai) Co., Intercontec Produkt GmbH, Intercontect Pfeiffer Industrie-Steckverbindungen GmbH, Jaquet North America, Jaquet Technology Group AG, Kemex Holding Company, Kenabell Holding Limited, LADD Distribution LLC, LADD Distribution Limited, LSA, MEAS Asia Limited, MEAS Europe SAS, MEAS France SAS, MEAS Ireland (Betatherm) Limited, MEAS Norway AS, MEAS Shenzhen Limited, MEAS Switzerland S.a r.l., MEAS US Holding, MP&E, Measurement Specialties, Measurement Specialties (Chengdu) Ltd., Measurement Specialties (China) Ltd., Measurement Specialties (China) Ltd. Production Branch, Measurement Specialties Foreign Holdings LLC, Measurement Technology (Chengdu) Ltd., Medical Engineering & Design, MicroGroup, Morlynn Ceramics Pty. Ltd., Nikkiso-Therm Co., PT KRONE Indonesia, PT. Tyco Electronics Indonesia, Pfeiffer GmbH & Co KG, Pfeiffer Verwaltungs GmbH, Polamco, Polamco Limited, Potter & Brumfield de Mexico, Precision Interconnect LLC, Precision Subsea AS, Precision Wire Components, Precision Wire Holding Company, Produxx, RAYCHEM-RPG Private Limited, Raychem (HK) Limited, Raychem (Shanghai) Trading Ltd, Raychem China Limited, Raychem Dominicana S.A., Raychem Industries BVBA, Raychem International LLC, Raychem International Manufacturing LLC, Raychem Juarez, Raychem Limited, Raychem Ltd., Raychem Pacific Corporation, Raychem Saudi Arabia Limited, Raychem Shanghai Cable Accessories Ltd, Raychem Technologies Limited, Rochester Wire and Cable LLC, SEACON Advanced Products LLC, Seacon (Europe) Limited, Seacon Global Production, Seacon Produtos e Servicos Opticos e Eletricos Ltda., Sensitive Object, Servo Interconnect Limited, Shanghai CII Electronics Co., Shenzhen Century Man Communication Equipment Co., Sibas Electronics (Xiamen) Co., TCN Holding (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., TE Connectivity (Barbados) SRL, TE Connectivity (Denmark) ApS, TE Connectivity (HKZ) Holding Limited, TE Connectivity (Kunshan) Company Limited, TE Connectivity (Netherlands) Holding S.a r.l. - Irish Branch, TE Connectivity (Schweiz) Management AG, TE Connectivity (Suzhou) Co., TE Connectivity Argentina S.R.L., TE Connectivity Australia Pty Ltd, TE Connectivity Colombia S.A.S., TE Connectivity Connectors (Suzhou) Co., TE Connectivity Distribution (Thailand) Limited, TE Connectivity EMEA Holding GmbH, TE Connectivity Germany GmbH, TE Connectivity HK Limited, TE Connectivity Holding International II S.a r.l., TE Connectivity Holding International II S.a r.l. Luxembourg (LU) Schaffhausen E-Finance branch, TE Connectivity Holding International II S.a r.l. Luxembourg (LU) Schaffhausen branch, TE Connectivity Holding International II S.a r.l. (Ireland Branch), TE Connectivity Holding International S.A., TE Connectivity Inc., TE Connectivity India Private Limited, TE Connectivity Investments Holding S.A., TE Connectivity Investments Holding S.A. Luxembourg (LU) Schaffhausen branch, TE Connectivity Ireland Limited, TE Connectivity LATAM Holding S.a r.l., TE Connectivity LATAM I S.a r.l., TE Connectivity LATAM II S.a r.l., TE Connectivity Limited, TE Connectivity MOG Europe S.a r.l., TE Connectivity MOG Holding S.a r.l., TE Connectivity MOG Inc., TE Connectivity MOG Sales GmbH, TE Connectivity Manufacturing (Thailand) Company Limited, TE Connectivity Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd., TE Connectivity Morocco SARL, TE Connectivity Nederland B.V., TE Connectivity Netherlands (Poland II) Cooperatief U.A., TE Connectivity Netherlands (Turkey) B.V., TE Connectivity Netherlands Cooperatief U.A., TE Connectivity Phoenix Optix Inc., TE Connectivity Seacon Phoenix Inc., TE Connectivity Sensors Germany GmbH, TE Connectivity Services India Private Limited, TE Connectivity Solutions GmbH, TE Connectivity South Africa Proprietary Limited, TE Connectivity Spain, TE Connectivity SubCom S.L.U., TE Connectivity SubCom Spain Holding S.L.U., TE Connectivity Technology Solutions Limited, TE Connectivity Tunisia Sarl, TE Connectivity ULC, TE Connectivity US Group Holding Inc., TE Connectivity Vietnam Holding Company Limited, TYCO Electronics Polska Sp.z.o.o., TYCO SUBMARINE SYSTEMS INC., TacPro, Tactx Medical, Taicang Speed & Spin Sensors Co., Taliq Taiwan Limited, Tappat Engineering Pty Ltd, TechDevice Costa Rica Limitada, TechDevice Holdings, TechDevice LLC, The Whitaker LLC, Transoceanic Cable Ship Company LLC, TyCom Holdings II SA, TyCom Networks (Peru) S.A., Tyco Electronics (AMP Korea) Malta Limited, Tyco Electronics (Dongguan) Ltd, Tyco Electronics (Gibraltar) Holding Limited, Tyco Electronics (Gibraltar) Limited, Tyco Electronics (Korea) Malta Limited, Tyco Electronics (Kunshan) Ltd, Tyco Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Tyco Electronics (Qingdao) Ltd., Tyco Electronics (Schweiz) Holding II GmbH, Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Tyco Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Tyco Electronics (Suzhou) Ltd., Tyco Electronics (Zhuhai) Ltd, Tyco Electronics AMP Guangdong Ltd, Tyco Electronics AMP Italia Products S.R.L., Tyco Electronics AMP Italia S.R.L., Tyco Electronics AMP Korea Co., Tyco Electronics AMP Manufacturing (S) Pte Ltd, Tyco Electronics AMP Qingdao Ltd., Tyco Electronics AMP Shanghai Ltd., Tyco Electronics Austria GmbH, Tyco Electronics Belgium EC BVBA, Tyco Electronics Brasil Ltda., Tyco Electronics Canada ULC, Tyco Electronics China (Gibraltar) Limited, Tyco Electronics Componentes Electromecanicos Lda., Tyco Electronics Corby Limited, Tyco Electronics Corporation, Tyco Electronics Czech s.r.o., Tyco Electronics Del Peru S.A.C., Tyco Electronics EC Trutnov s.r.o., Tyco Electronics EC Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Tyco Electronics Eta Limited, Tyco Electronics Finance Alpha GmbH, Tyco Electronics Finance S.a r.l., Tyco Electronics Finland Oy, Tyco Electronics France SAS, Tyco Electronics Germany Holdings GmbH, Tyco Electronics Group S.A., Tyco Electronics Group S.A. (French Branch), Tyco Electronics Group S.A. (Ireland Branch), Tyco Electronics H.K. Limited, Tyco Electronics Hellas MEPE, Tyco Electronics Holding Corp., Tyco Electronics Holding France, Tyco Electronics Holding S.a r.l., Tyco Electronics Holdings (Bermuda) No. 7 Limited, Tyco Electronics Holdings (Bermuda) No. 7 Limited Taiwan Branch, Tyco Electronics Hong Kong Holdings No. 1 Limited, Tyco Electronics Hong Kong Holdings No. 2 Limited, Tyco Electronics Hong Kong Holdings No. 3 Limited, Tyco Electronics Hungary Termelo Kft, Tyco Electronics Idento, Tyco Electronics India (Gibraltar) Limited, Tyco Electronics Industrial Y Comercial Chile Limitada, Tyco Electronics Integrated Cable Systems LLC, Tyco Electronics Ireland Limited, Tyco Electronics Israel Ltd., Tyco Electronics Italia Holding S.r.l., Tyco Electronics Japan G.K., Tyco Electronics Lambda, Tyco Electronics Latin America Holding LLC, Tyco Electronics Manufacturing Singapore Pte Ltd, Tyco Electronics Mexico, Tyco Electronics Middle East FZE, Tyco Electronics Motors Ltd, Tyco Electronics NZ Limited, Tyco Electronics Netherlands (Germany Holding) S.a r.l., Tyco Electronics Netherlands (Gibraltar China) Cooperatief U.A., Tyco Electronics Netherlands (Gibraltar India) Cooperatief U.A., Tyco Electronics Netherlands (India) Cooperatief U.A., Tyco Electronics Netherlands Holding B.V., Tyco Electronics Norge AS, Tyco Electronics Philippines, Tyco Electronics Precision Engineering Ltd., Tyco Electronics Printed Circuit Group LP, Tyco Electronics RIMC Holding LLC, Tyco Electronics RUS OOO, Tyco Electronics Raychem GmbH, Tyco Electronics Raychem Korea Limited, Tyco Electronics SIMEL SAS, Tyco Electronics Saudi Arabia Limited, Tyco Electronics Services GmbH, Tyco Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd, Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications LLC, Tyco Electronics Svenska AB, Tyco Electronics Svenska Holdings AB, Tyco Electronics Technology (SIP) Co., Tyco Electronics Technology (SIP) Ltd., Tyco Electronics Tecnologias S. de R.L. de C.V., Tyco Electronics UK Holdings Ltd, Tyco Electronics UK Ltd., Tyco Electronics UK Ltd. (Kenya Branch), Tyco Electronics Ukraine Limited, Tyco Electronics Uruguay S.A., Tyco Electronics Verwaltungs GmbH, Tyco Electronics Wireless Systems B.V., Tyco Electronics de Venezuela, Tyco Elektronik AMP Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Tyco Global Networks Ltd., Tyco Iberia, Tyco International Services GmbH, Tyco Networks (Argentina) S.R.L., Tyco Networks (Italy) Srl, Tyco Networks (Netherlands) B.V., Tyco Networks Iberica, Tyco Submarine Systems, Tyco Submarine Systems C.A., Tyco Submarine Systems de Argentina S.A., Tyco Telecommunications Ltd., Wema Americas LLC, Wema Automotive System Private Limited, Wema Environmental Technologies (Shanghai) Co., Wema Environmental Technologies (Shenzhen) Co., Wema Environmental Technologies Ltd., Wema System AG, Wema System AS, Wema System Hong Kong Limited, Wema System Production and Distribution HK Limited, Xiamen Delixing Electric Equipment Businesss, and motec Montage GmbH.
 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.
Legal & General Group Plc provides various insurance products and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Legal & General Retirement (LGR), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Legal & General Capital (LGC), and Legal & General Insurance (LGI). The LGR segment offers annuity contracts with guaranteed income for a specified time; longevity insurance products for company pension schemes; lifetime mortgages; lifetime care plans; and retirement interest only mortgages. The LGIM segment provides index fund management; active fixed income funds and liquidity funds; active equity management; solution and liability driven investment; multi-asset funds; corporate pension scheme solutions; and real estate funds. The LGC segment offers investment strategy and implementation, and direct investment and structuring services. The LGI segment provides protection products, such as health, disability, critical illness, and accident; individual term assurance; reinsurance; savings and death benefits; and annuities. The company is also involved in the unit trust and institutional fund management, mortgage finance, treasury, building project and modular housing development, general insurance, and open-ended investment businesses, as well as manufacture of sheds. It also engages in the real estate investment, operation, management, and trading, fund general partner, fund trustee, commercial lending, venture capital investing, contractual scheme, management, pension tracing and transfer, investor alternative investment fund, collective asset-management, and investment management activities; and provision of investment advisory, business information consultancy, and technology services. The company was founded in 1836 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read More
The following companies are subsidiares of Prudential Financial: 210-220 E. 22nd Street SSGA Owner LLC, AIG Edison, AIG Star, AREF Cayman Co Ltd., AREF GP II Pte. Ltd., AREF GP Ltd., ASPF II - Feeder Fund GmbH, ASPF II - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, ASPF II Management GmbH, ASPF III (Scots) L.P., ASSURANCE, AST Investment Services Inc., Adlerwerke CB Investment LLC, Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Habitat S.A., Administradora de Inversiones Previsionales SpA, Aoba Life Insurance Company, Asia Property Fund III GP S.a.r.l., Assurance IQ LLC, Assurance Intelligence LLC, BSC CP LP, Braeloch Holdings Inc., Braeloch Successor Corporation, Brazilian Capital Fund GP Limited, Broad Street Global Advisors LLC, Broome Street Holdings LLC, CB German Retail LLC, CLIS Co. Ltd., COLICO INC., Campus Drive LLC, Capital Agricultural Property Services Inc., Chadwick Boulevard Investment Holdings Co. LLC, Cibecue LLC, Coconino LLC, Colico II Inc., Columbus Drive Partners L.P., Commerce Street Holdings LLC, Commerce Street Investments LLC, Coolidge LLC, Coral Reef GP, Coral Reef L.P., Coral Reef Unit Trust, Cottage Street Investments LLC, Cottage Street Orbit Acquisition LLC, DHFL PRAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, DICKENS AVENUE HOLDINGS VI LLC, DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI (Ireland) L.P., DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI (US) L.P., Don Cesar Investor LLC, Dryden Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Dryden Finance II LLC, EVP II GP S.a r.l., EVP II Sweden Resi I GP S.a r.l., Edison Place Senior Note LLC, Essex LLC, EuroCore GP S.a r.l., European Value Partners GP S.a.r.l., Everbright PGIM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Flagstaff LLC, GA 1600 Commons LLC, GA 333 Hennepin Investor LLC, GA BV LLC, GA Bay Area GP LLC, GA Bay Area Investor LLC, GA Belden LLC, GA CLARENDON LLC, GA Cal Crossings LLC, GA Collins LLC, GA E. 22nd Street Apartments Holdings LLC, GA East 86 Street LLC, GA JHCII LLC, GA MENLO PARK INVESTOR LLC, GA Manor at Harbour Island LLC, GA Metro LLC, GA Mission LLC, GA TRITON INVESTOR LLC, GA W Paces LLC, GA/MDI 333 Hennepin Associates LLC, GIBRALTAR BSN HOLDINGS SDN BHD, GIBRALTAR INDIA SOLUTIONS LLP, Gateway Holdings II LLC, Gateway Holdings LLC, German Retail Income CP LP, Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, Gibraltar International Insurance Services Company Inc., Gibraltar International Service LLC, Gibraltar Reinsurance Company Ltd., Gibraltar Universal Life Reinsurance Company, Glenealy International Limited, Global Portfolio Strategies Inc., Gold GP Limited, Gold II L.P., Gold L.P., Graham Resources Inc., Graham Royalty Ltd., Green Tree GP, Green Tree L.P., Greenlee LLC, Halsey Street Investments LLC, Hirakata LLC, IVP Fund GP LLC, Impact Investments Bridges UK S.a.r.l, Inter-Atlantic G Fund L.P., Inversiones Previsionales Chile SpA, Inversiones Previsionales Dos SpA, Ironbound Fund LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, Kyarra S.a r.l., Kyoei Annuity Home Co. Ltd., LINEUP LLC, Lake Street Partners IV L.P., MC GA COLLINS HOLDINGS LLC, MC GA COLLINS REALTY LLC, MC Insurance Agency Services LLC, Manor at Harbour Island LLC, Marble Canyon LLC, Maricopa LLC, Market Street Holdings IV LLC, Morenci LLC, Mulberry Street Holdings LLC, Mulberry Street Investment L.P., Mulberry Street Partners LLC, Mullin TBG Insurance Agency Services LLC, MullinTBG Insurance Agency Services, National Family Assurance Group LLC, New Savanna, Orchard Street Acres Inc., PAI Bay Farm LLC, PAI Bayrock Groves LLC, PAI Belvidere Farms LLC, PAI Big Cypress Farm LLC, PAI Corcoran 640 Ranch LLC, PAI DeKalb Farm LLC, PAI Delano 1500 Ranches LLC, PAI Flicker Orchard LLC, PAI Good Hope Farm LLC, PAI Hawk Creek Ranch LLC, PAI Hills Valley Ranches LLC, PAI Holly Hill Groves LLC, PAI Hunt Farm LLC, PAI Jackson Bayou Farm LLC, PAI Lake Placid Groves LLC, PAI Wallula Gap Vineyard LLC, PCP V Cayman AIV GP L.P., PEREF II Co-Invest 1 GP S.a r.l., PEREF II GP S.a r.l., PEREF II PV S.r.l, PFI EM-Tech Fund I LLC, PG Business Service Co. Ltd, PG Collection Service Co. Ltd., PGA Asian Retail Limited, PGA European Limited, PGI Co. Ltd, PGIM (Australia) Pty Ltd, PGIM (Hong Kong) Ltd., PGIM (Scots) Limited, PGIM (Shanghai) Company Ltd., PGIM (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PGIM AVP IV GP S.a r.l., PGIM Advisory (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PGIM Agricultural Investments GP LLC, PGIM Agricultural Investors LP, PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Fund L.P., PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Partners LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management (Feeder) VI LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Fund VI L.P., PGIM European Financing Limited, PGIM European Services Limited, PGIM Financial Limited, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund II L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives GP LLC, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives II GP LLC, PGIM Foreign Investments Inc., PGIM Holding Company LLC, PGIM INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM INDIA TRUSTEES PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM Inc., PGIM International Financing Inc., PGIM Investments LLC, PGIM Japan Co. Ltd., PGIM Korea Inc., PGIM LTIF Berlin GP S.a r.l., PGIM LTIF Berlin MLP S.ar.l., PGIM LTIF GP S.a.r.l., PGIM Limited, PGIM Loan Originator Manager Limited, PGIM M Campus GP S.a r.l., PGIM Management Partner Limited, PGIM MetaProp Investor LP LLC, PGIM Netherlands B.V., PGIM Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Company Ltd, PGIM Private Capital (Ireland) Limited, PGIM Private Capital Limited, PGIM Private Placement Investors Inc., PGIM Private Placement Investors L.P., PGIM REF EUROPE SCSp, PGIM REF Europe GP S.a r.l., PGIM REF Europe Member LLC, PGIM REF Intermediary Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate (Japan) Ltd., PGIM Real Estate (UK) Limited, PGIM Real Estate CD S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Capital VII GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest L.P., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest SCSp, PGIM Real Estate Co-Invest Holdings LLC, PGIM Real Estate Debt GmbH, PGIM Real Estate Finance Holding Company, PGIM Real Estate Finance LLC, PGIM Real Estate France SAS, PGIM Real Estate Germany AG, PGIM Real Estate Global Debt GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles S. de R.L. de C.V, PGIM Real Estate Italy S.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Loan Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate Luxembourg S.A., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Management Luxembourg S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Mexico S.C., PGIM Real Estate S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate U.S. Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management (Feeder) I LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management Fund I L.P., PGIM Strategic Financing LLC, PGIM Strategic Investments Inc., PGIM USPF VI Manager LLC, PGIM Warehouse Inc., PGLH of Delaware Inc., PIFM Holdco LLC, PIIC Limited, PIISC Holdings (UK) Limited, PIM KF Blocker Holdings LLC, PIM KF Blocker V Holdings LLC, PIM USPF V Manager LLC, PLA Administradora Industrial SRL, PLA Administradora LLC, PLA Administradora S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional II S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional S.de R.L. de C.V., PLA Co-Investor LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager I LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager II LLC, PLA Mexico Residential Manager I LLC, PLA Residential Fund III Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund III Limited Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund III Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund IV Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund IV Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Blue LP, PLA Retail Fund I LP, PLA Retail Fund I Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Red LP, PLA Retail Fund II Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LP, PLA Retail Fund II Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II U.S. Carry/Co-Invest LP, PLA Services Manager Mexico LLC, PLAI Limited, PMCF Holdings LLC, PMCF Properties LLC, PPPF General Partner LLP, PR GA SCP Apartments LLC, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP (SCOTS FEEDER) LLP, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP LLP, PRECO ACCOUNT III LLC, PRECO ACCOUNT PARTNERSHIP III LP, PRECO Account IV LLC, PRECO Account Partnership IV LP, PRECO III GP LLP, PREFG Hanwha Manager LLC, PREI Acquisition I Inc., PREI Acquisition II Inc., PREI Acquisition LLC, PREI HYDG LLC, PREI International Inc., PRIAC Property Acquisitions LLC, PRICOA Management Partner Limited, PRISA Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Pooled Manager LLC, PRISA III Fund GP LLC, PRISA III Fund PIM LLC, PRREF II Fund Manager LLC, PRU 3XSquare LLC, PRUCO LLC, PRUDENTIAL CAPITAL ENERGY PARTNERS MANAGEMENT (FEEDER) LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP MEMBER LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP REIT LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE 2 LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE LLC, PT PFI Mega Life Insurance, Passaic Fund LLC, Pine Tree GP, Pine Tree L.P., Platinum GP Limited, Platinum II L.P., Platinum L.P., Pramerica (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited, Pramerica (Luxembourg) CP GP S.a.r.l., Pramerica (Scots) CP GP LLP, Pramerica Business Consulting (Shanghai) Company Limited, Pramerica EVP CP LP, Pramerica Financial Asia Headquarters Pte. Ltd., Pramerica Financial Asia Limited, Pramerica Fixed Income Funds Management Limited, Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Pramerica General Partner LLP, Pramerica Holdings Ltd, Pramerica Insurance Agency (China) Company Ltd., Pramerica PRECAP I GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP II GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP III GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP IV GP LLP, Pramerica Pan European Real Estate (Scots) LP, Pramerica Property Partners Fund (Scotland) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I (Scotland) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I GP (Scots Feeder) LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital II (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital III (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP (Scots Feeder) LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Limited, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V (Netherlands) GP LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital VI (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica SGR S.p.A, Pramerica Systems Ireland Limited, Preco III (Scotland) Limited Partnership, Pru 101 Wood LLC, Pru Alpha Partners I LLC, Pru Fixed Income Emerging Markets Partners I LLC, PruVen Capital Partners Fund I L.P., Pruco Assignment Corporation, Pruco Life Insurance Company, Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, Pruco Securities LLC, Prudential 900 Aviation Boulevard LLC, Prudential Affordable Mortgage Company LLC, Prudential Agricultural Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Annuities Distributors Inc., Prudential Annuities Holding Company Inc., Prudential Annuities Inc., Prudential Annuities Information Services & Technology Corporation, Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Universal Company, Prudential Bank & Trust FSB, Prudential Capital Energy Opportunity Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners Management Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Partners Management Fund IV L.P., Prudential Capital and Investment Services LLC, Prudential Chile II SpA, Prudential Chile SpA, Prudential Commercial Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Customer Solutions LLC, Prudential Equity Group LLC, Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust Enterprise, Prudential Fixed Income Global Liquidity Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Fixed Income U.S. Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Funding LLC, Prudential General Services of Japan Y.K., Prudential Gibraltar Agency Co. Ltd., Prudential Global Funding LLC, Prudential Holdings of Japan Inc., Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates LLC, Prudential IBH Holdco Inc., Prudential Impact Investments Mortgage Loans LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Debt LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Equity LLC, Prudential Industrial Properties LLC, Prudential Insurance Agency LLC, Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd., Prudential International Insurance Service Company L.L.C., Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC, Prudential International Investments Company LLC, Prudential International Investments LLC, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, Prudential Japan Holdings LLC, Prudential Legacy Insurance Company of New Jersey, Prudential Life Insurance Company of Taiwan Inc., Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 1 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 2 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Capital Asset Holding Company LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Funding LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC, Prudential Multifamily Mortgage LLC, Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC, Prudential Newark Realty LLC, Prudential QOZ Investment Fund 1 LLC, Prudential Realty Securities Inc., Prudential Retirement Financial Services Holding LLC, Prudential Retirement Holdings LLC, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, Prudential Securities Secured Financing Corporation, Prudential Securities Structured Assets Inc., Prudential Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., Prudential Seguros S.A., Prudential Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Prudential Structured Settlement Company, Prudential Systems Japan Limited, Prudential Term Reinsurance Company, Prudential Trust Co. Ltd., Prudential Trust Company, Prudential Universal Reinsurance Company, Prudential Workplace Solutions Group Services LLC, Prudential do Brasil Seguros de Vida S.A., Prudential do Brasil Vida em Grupo S.A., Prudential/TMW Real Estate Group LLC, Pruservicos Participacoes Ltda., QMA JP EM All Cap Equity Partners LLC, QMA LLC, QMA Wadhwani LLP, Quartzsite LLC, Residential Services Corporation of America LLC, Rio CP LP, Rock European Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock Global Real Estate LLC, Rock Kensington Limited, Rock Marty GP S.a r.l., Rock Oxford S.a r.l., Rock UK Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock UK Real Estate II S.a.r.l., Rockstone Co. Ltd., Rosado Grande LLC, Ross Avenue Energy Fund Holdings LLC, Ross Avenue Minerals 2012 LLC, SCP Apartments LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERS VI GP LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND VI GP LLC, SHP IV Carried Interest LP, SHP V Carried Interest L.P., SMP Holdings Inc., SVIIT Holdings Inc., Sanei Collection Service Co. Ltd. (Kabushiki Kaisha Sanei Shuuno Service), Senior Housing Partners IV L.L.C., Senior Housing Partners V LLC, Senior Housing Partnership Fund IV L.L.C., Senior Housing Partnership Fund V LLC, Sterling Private Placement Management LLP, Stetson Street Partners L.P., Strand Investments Limited, TBG Insurance Services Corporation, TENSATOR HOLDINGS LTD, TF Proveedora S.C., TMW ASPF I Verwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, TMW ASPF Management GmbH, TMW Management LLC, TMW Real Estate Group LLC, TMW Realty Advisors LLC, TMW USPF Verwaltungs GmbH, TRGOAG Company Inc., The Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy (US) Fund GP LLC, The Prudential Assigned Settlement Services Corp., The Prudential Brazilian Capital Fund LP, The Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Prudential Home Mortgage Company Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, The Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd., The Prudential Real Estate Financial Services of America Inc., The WMF Group, Thurloe Commercial Guernsey Limited, Times Square Center Associates, USPF V - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, USPF V Carry LLC, USPF V Co-Invest LLC, USPF V Investment LP, United States Property Fund VI GP S.a r.l., Vailsburg Fund LLC, Vantage Casualty Insurance Company, Wabash Avenue Holdings V LLC, Wabash Avenue Partners V L.P., Wadhwani Capital Limited, Waveland Avenue Holdings I LLC, Waveland Avenue Partners I (Ireland) L.P., Waveland Avenue Partners I (US) L.P., Wellness Services Ecossistema De Bem Estar Ltda., Wellness Services SRL, Yamato Life, and Yavapai LLC.
Medtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiac and Vascular Group; Minimally Invasive Technologies Group; Restorative Therapies Group; and Diabetes Group. The Cardiac and Vascular Group segment consists of products for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. The Minimally Invasive Technologies Group segment focuses on respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, renal system, lungs, pelvic region, kidneys, and obesity diseases. The Restorative Therapies Group segment comprises of neurostimulation therapies and drug delivery systems for the treatment of chronic pain, as well as areas of the spine and brain, along with pelvic health and conditions of the ear, nose, and throat. The Diabetes Group segment offers insulin pumps, coninuous glucose monitoring systems, and insulin pump consumables. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Read More
7 hours ago

The Short-Squeeze In Dave & Busters Is On

Dave & Busters Returns To Growth Weve had our eye on Dave & Busters (NASDAQ: PLAY) as a recovery play for some time and that thesis is playing out nicely. While the price action has been volatile short-selling and tax-loss selling are mostly to blame because the results have been fantastic.

Read Article
The following companies are subsidiares of Danaher: AB SCIEX, AB Sciex Germany GmbH, AB Sciex LLC, AB Sciex LP, AB Sciex Pte Ltd., Accu-Sort Systems, Acme Cleveland Corporation, Advanced Vision Technology, American Precision Industries, Applied Biosystems, Applitek NV, Aquatic Infomatics ULC, Aquatic Informatics, Armstrong Tools, BC Distribution BV, Beckman Coulter, Beckman Coulter Australia Pty Ltd, Beckman Coulter Biotechnology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter Biyomedikal Urunler Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited [irketi], Beckman Coulter Canada LP, Beckman Coulter Commercial Enterprise (China) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter France S.A.S., Beckman Coulter G.m.b.H., Beckman Coulter Genomics Inc., Beckman Coulter Hong Kong Limited, Beckman Coulter Inc., Beckman Coulter India Private Limited, Beckman Coulter International SA, Beckman Coulter International Shanghai Trading Co., Beckman Coulter Ireland Inc., Beckman Coulter K.K., Beckman Coulter Korea Ltd., Beckman Coulter Laboratory Systems (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter Limited Liability Company, Beckman Coulter Mishima KK, Beckman Coulter Nederland B.V., Beckman Coulter Nippon GK, Beckman Coulter S.L.U., Beckman Coulter Saudi Arabia Co.Ltd., Beckman Coulter Srl, Beckman Coulter Taiwan Inc., Beckman Coulter United Kingdom Limited, Beckman Coulter de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Beckman Coulter do Brasil Ltda., Beckman Finance ApS, Beckman Holdings Ltd., BioTector Analytical Systems Ltd, Biosafe S.A., Blue Software LLC, Cepheid, Cepheid AB, Cepheid Europe SAS, Cepheid GmbH, Cepheid HBDC SAS, Cepheid UK Ltd., ChemTreat, ChemTreat Inc., ChemTreat International Inc., Cispus Hong Kong Holding Limited, Cytiva, Cytiva BioProcess R&D AB, Cytiva Biotechnology (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Cytiva Biotechnology (Hang Zhou) Co. Ltd., Cytiva Europe GmbH, Cytiva Sweden AB, Cytiva Sweden Holding AB, DH Europe Finance II Sarl, DH Europe Finance Sarl, DH Holding Italia SRL, DH Japan Finance Sarl, DH Life Sciences LLC, DH Netherlands BV, DH Technologies Development Pte Ltd., DHKAB Company AB, DTIL Ireland Holdings Ltd., Danaher (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Danaher Hong Kong Limited, Danaher Medical ApS, Delta Consolidated Industries, Devicore Medical Products Inc., Easco Hand Tools, Esko, Esko BV, Esko Finance BV, Esko Graphics BV, Esko Software BV, FHAB Company AB, Fluke, G. Lufft Mess- und Regeltechnik GmbH, GE Biopharma, Gelman Sciences Inc., Gendex, Genetix Group, Gilbarco Veeder Root, Gilzoni Ltd., Global Life Sciences Solutions Austria GmbH & Co. KG, Global Life Sciences Solutions Germany GmbH, Global Life Sciences Solutions Korea Ltd., Global Life Sciences Solutions Manufacturing UK Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions New Zealand, Global Life Sciences Solutions Operations UK Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions Singapore Pte Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions USA LLC, Global Life Sciences Technologies (Shanghai) Co Ltd., Global Life Sciences Technologies Japan KK, Hach Company, Hach Lange Finance GmbH, Hach Lange GmbH, Hach Lange Sarl, Hach Sales & Services Canada LP, Hach Ultra Japan KK, Hach Water Quality Analytical Instru. (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., HemoCue AB, HyClone Laboratories LLC, Hybritech Incorporated, Hyclone Life Sciences Solutions India Private Limited, IDBS Group, IRIS International, Imaging Sciences International, Immunotech SAS, Immunotech Sro, Intabio LLC, Integrated DNA Technologies, Integrated DNA Technologies BVBA, Integrated DNA Technologies Inc., Integrated DNA Technologies Pte. Ltd., Iris International Inc., Joslyn Holding Company LLC, KVHG GmbH, KaVo, KaVo Kerr, Kaltenbach & Voigt, Keithley Instruments, Kipp & Zonen BV, Kollmorgen, Labcyte Inc., Laetus, Leica Biosystems Imaging Inc., Leica Biosystems Melbourne Pty Ltd, Leica Biosystems Newcastle Limited, Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH, Leica Biosystems Richmond Inc., Leica Instruments (Singapore) Pte Limited, Leica Microsystems, Leica Microsystems (UK) Limited, Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH, Leica Microsystems Cambridge Limited, Leica Microsystems IR GmbH, Leica Microsystems Inc., Leica Microsystems Limited, Leica Microsystems Ltd. Shanghai, Leica Mikrosysteme Vertrieb GmbH, Life Sciences Holdings France SAS*, Lifschultz Industries, Linx Printing Technologies, Linx Printing Technologies Limited, MDS Analytical Technologies, Marconi Data Systems, McCrometer Inc., Microtest, Molecular Devices, Molecular Devices (Austria) GmbH, Molecular Devices LLC, Navman Wireless, Navman Wireless OEM Solutions, Nihon Pall Ltd., Nihon Pall Manufacturing Limited, Nobel Biocare, OTT Hydromet Corp, Pall, Pall (Canada) ULC, Pall (China) Co. Ltd., Pall (Schweiz) GmbH, Pall Aeropower Corporation, Pall Artelis BVBA, Pall Asia Holdings Inc., Pall Australia Pty. Ltd., Pall Austria Filter Ges.m.b.h, Pall Corporation, Pall Europe Limited, Pall Filtersystems GmbH, Pall Filtration Pte. Ltd., Pall Filtration and Separations Group Inc., Pall France SAS, Pall GmbH, Pall India Pvt. Ltd., Pall International Sarl, Pall Italia Srl, Pall Korea Ltd., Pall Life Sciences Belgium BV, Pall Life Sciences Puerto Rico LLC, Pall Manufacturing UK Limited, Pall Medistad BV, Pall Netherlands BV Irish Branch, Pall Technology UK Limited, PaloDEX, Pantone LLC, Pelton & Crane, Phenomenex, Phenomenex Inc., Precision NanoSystems, QHC Ireland Finance Limited, Radiometer, Radiometer Basel AG, Radiometer K.K., Radiometer Medical ApS, Radiometer Medical Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Radiometer Turku Oy, Raytek, Reytek Corporation, SH Switzerland Finance Sarl, Sea-Bird Electronics Inc., SenDx Medical Inc., Shanghai AB Sciex Analytical Instrument Trading Co. Ltd., Sutron, Sybron Dental Specialties, TCIL Ireland Finance Ltd., Tektronix, Thomson Industries, Tianjin Bonna-Agela Technologies Co. Ltd., Trojan Technologies, Trojan Technologies Group ULC, VSS Monitoring, Videojet Do Brasil Comercio de Equipamentos Para Codificacao Industrial Ltda., Videojet Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Videojet Technologies Europe B.V., Videojet Technologies Inc., Viridor Waste Management Limited, Vision Systems Limited, Willett International, X-Ray Optical Systems Inc., X-Rite, X-Rite Europe GmbH, X-Rite Incorporated, X-Rite Switzerland GmbH, XOS, Yukon Hong Kong Holding Limited, and Zhuhai S.E.Z. Videojet Electronics Ltd..
Evonik Industries AG engages in the specialty chemicals business. It operates through Specialty Additives, Nutrition & Care, Smart Materials, Performance Materials, and Services segments. The Specialty Additives segment provides polyurethane additives, organically modified silicones, isophorones, epoxy curing agents, oil additives, fumed silicas, matting agents, TAA and TAA derivatives, and acetylenic diol-based surfactants for consumer goods and specialized industrial applications. The Nutrition & Care segment offers amphoteric surfactants, ceramides, phytosphingosines, oleochemicals, quaternary derivatives, amino acids and amino acid derivatives, synthesis products, pharmaceutical polymers, and DL-methionine for use in consumer goods, animal nutrition, and healthcare products. The Smart Materials segment provides hydrogen peroxide, activated nickel catalysts, precious metal powder catalysts, peracetic acid, oil and fat hydrogenation catalysts, amorphous polyalphaolefins, polybutadienes, polyester resins, thermoplastic and reactive methacrylate resins, PEEK, polyamide 12, organosilanes, chlorosilanes, fumed silicas, fumed metal oxides, and precipitated silicas for the automotive, paints, coatings, adhesives, construction, and various other sectors. The Performance Materials segment produces polymer materials and intermediates, including butene-1, DINP, isononanol, cyanuric chloride, alkoxides, and superabsorbent for rubber, plastics, and automotive industries. The Services segment provides site management, utilities and waste management, technical, process technology, engineering, and logistics services. It operates in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, and North America. The company is headquartered in Essen, Germany. Evonik Industries AG is a subsidiary of RAG-Stiftung.

Read More
ISTANBUL, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is planning to attend the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation slated for April in Beijing, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

"Turkey supports the idea of reviving the ancient Silk Road," spokesman Hami Aksoy told Xinhua, referring to the mega infrastructure projects being carried out in Turkey in order to enhance the connectivity between the East and the West.

"We support the Belt and Road Initiative of China since the beginning as a 'win-win' concept," he added.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa through the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the first Belt and Road forum held in Beijing in May 2017.

"This year, we are planning to attend the second forum as well," Aksoy said. "We value our cooperation with China. We expect that the forum will give us the opportunity to discuss the issues of mutual interest and yield concrete results in this respect."
The following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO ENERGY, XTO Energy Canada, and XTO Holdings LLC.
Bunzl plc operates as a distribution and services company in the North America, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company offers food packaging, films, labels, counter-service packaging, foodservice disposables, take-out food packaging, first aid products, point of purchase displays, stationery, bags, and cleaning and hygiene supplies to grocery stores, supermarkets, retail chains, convenience stores, food wholesalers, ethnic grocers, and organic food outlets. It also provides food packaging, napkins, disposable tableware, food service disposables, guest amenities, light and heavy catering equipment, cleaning and hygiene products, and safety items to hotels, restaurants, caterers, the leisure sector, and food processors and packers; and footwear, gloves, safety helmets, workwear, harness equipment, tools, safety signs, traffic management, and ancillary site equipment, as well as ear, eye, respiratory, and face protection products to customers in the industrial and construction markets. In addition, the company offers cleaning systems, floorcare items, hand cleansing products, hygiene paper, janitorial products, cleaning machines, mops, polishes, and protective clothing and washroom chemicals to facilities management companies, contract cleaners, and other industrial and healthcare customers; and counter service packaging, point of purchase display items, stationery, and cleaning and hygiene products to department stores, boutiques, office supply companies, retail chains, and home improvement chains. Further, it provides gloves, aprons, bandages, facemasks, gowns, headwear, mattress covers, overshoes, procedure packs, tapes, wipes, incontinence products, and swabs to the healthcare sector, including hospitals, retirement and nursing homes, and doctors' surgeries and clinics; and various products to government and education establishments. Bunzl plc was founded in 1854 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read More
Brookfield Business Partners LP engages in owning and operating business services and industrial operations. It operates though the following segments: Business Services, Infrastructure Services, Industrial Operations, and Corporate and Other. The Business Services segment includes services such as residential mortgage insurance, healthcare, road fuel distribution and marketing, real estate and construction, entertainment, financing, and other businesses. The Infrastructure Services segment consists of services to the nuclear power generation industry and offshore oil production industry: and access, forming, and shoring solutions and specialized services. The Industrial Operations segment deals with automotive batteries, graphite electrode, and other manufacturing; water and wastewater services: natural gas production and well servicing; and a variety of other industrial operations. The Corporate and Other segment comprises cash and liquidity management, and activities related to the management of the partnership's relationship with Brookfield. The company was founded on October 1, 2015 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Read More
Vesuvius plc provides engineering services and solutions principally to steel and foundry industries worldwide. It operates in two segments, Steel and Foundry. The company offers foundry consumables and equipment, including binders, coatings, feeding systems, filtration and gating systems, melt shop refractories, metallurgical and pouring control systems, die dressings and coatings, melt treatment products, crucibles, and ceramics for the iron, steel, and nonferrous foundries. It also provides nonferrous metals, such as primary and secondary aluminum, copper, and other metals and alloys; cement and lime solutions, iron ore pelletizing and calcination products, and grains and powders; and process heaters, FCC units, hydrogen reformers, boilers, coke calciners, and thermal oxidizers, as well as sulphur, ethylene, and ammonia plants. In addition, the company offers solutions for power generation and incineration; glass products comprising artistic, display, float, hollow, and optical glass; glass tempering, and reheat and forming products; and solutions for solar multi-crystal silicon ingots, thin film and cell processing, and feedstock. Further, it provides solutions for blast furnace stack repair; taphole clay, iron and slang runner, sampler and temperature, tilting runner, and torpedo ladle solutions; iron ladle solutions; lining, taphole system, bath agitation and tuyere system, electric arc furnace and BOF maintenance, and metallurgical sensor solutions; and ladle, ladle to tundish, and tundish solutions, as well as tundish to mold solutions for conventional slab, thin and slim slab, beam blank, flow control valve bloom or billet, and calibrated nozzle billet casters. Additionally, the company offers ingot casting solutions; and reheat furnace, steel hot forming, galvanized steel, and electrical and stainless steel solutions. Vesuvius plc was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read More
The following companies are subsidiares of HCA Healthcare: 2490 Church LLC, 360 Community Alliance LLC, 4600 Waters Avenue Professional Building Condominium Association Inc., 52 Alderley Road LLP, AC Med LLC, ACH Inc., ADC Surgicenter LLC, AOGN LLC, AOSC Sports Medicine Inc., AR Holding 1 LLC, AR Holding 10 LLC, AR Holding 11 LLC, AR Holding 12 LLC, AR Holding 13 LLC, AR Holding 14 LLC, AR Holding 15 LLC, AR Holding 16 LLC, AR Holding 17 LLC, AR Holding 18 LLC, AR Holding 19 LLC, AR Holding 2 LLC, AR Holding 20 LLC, AR Holding 21 LLC, AR Holding 22 LLC, AR Holding 23 LLC, AR Holding 24 LLC, AR Holding 25 LLC, AR Holding 26 LLC, AR Holding 27 LLC, AR Holding 28 LLC, AR Holding 29 LLC, AR Holding 30 LLC, AR Holding 31 LLC, AR Holding 4 LLC, AR Holding 5 LLC, AR Holding 6 LLC, AR Holding 7 LLC, AR Holding 8 LLC, AR Holding 9 LLC, ASD Shared Services LLC, Acadiana Care Center Inc., Acadiana Practice Management Inc., Acadiana Regional Pharmacy Inc., Access 2 Health Care Physicians LLC, Access Health Care Physicians LLC, Access Management Co. LLC, Ace Leasing II LLC, Acute Kids Urgent Care of Medical City Childrens Hospital PLLC, Acworth Immediate Care LLC, Administrative Physicians of North Texas PLLC, Advanced Bundle Convener LLC, Advanced Plastic Surgery Center of Terre Haute LLC, Advanced Practice Providers of Gulf Coast PLLC, Alaska Regional Medical Group LLC, Albany Family Practice LLC, Aligned Business Consortium Group L.P., All About Staffing (India) Ltd., All About Staffing Inc., All About Staffing Philippines Inc., Alleghany General and Bariatric Services LLC, Alleghany Hospitalists LLC, Alleghany Primary Care Inc., Alleghany Specialists LLC, Alliance Surgicare LLC, Alpine Surgicenter LLC, Alta Internal Medicine LLC, Alternaco LLC, Altitude Mid Level Providers LLC, Ambulatory Endoscopy Clinic of Dallas Ltd., Ambulatory Endoscopy Holdco LLC, Ambulatory Laser Associates GP, Ambulatory Services Management Corporation of Chesterfield County Inc., Ambulatory Surgery Center Group Ltd., American Medicorp Development Co., Anchorage Surgicenter LLC, AppleCare/Memorial Immediate Care Joint Venture LLC, Appledore Medical Group II Inc., Appledore Medical Group Inc., Appomattox Imaging LLC, Arapahoe Surgicenter LLC, Arlington Diagnostic South Inc., Arlington Neurosurgeons PLLC, Arlington Primary Care PLLC, Arlington Primary Medicine PLLC, Arlington Surgery Center L.P., Arlington Surgicare LLC, Arthritis Specialists of Nashville Inc., Ashburn ASC LLC, Ashburn Imaging LLC, Athens Community Hospital Inc., Atlanta Healthcare Management L.P., Atlanta Home Care L.P., Atlanta Market GP Inc., Atlanta Outpatient Surgery Center Inc., Atlanta Surgery Center Ltd., Atlantis Surgicare LLC, Atrium Surgery Center L.P., Atrium Surgicare LLC, Augusta CyberKnife LLC, Augusta Inpatient Services LLC, Augusta Management Services LLC, Augusta Multispecialty Services LLC, Augusta Primary Care Services LLC, Augusta Specialty Hospitalists LLC, Augusta Urgent Care Services LLC, Aurora Endoscopy Surgicenter LLC, Austin GI Surgicenter LLC, Austin Heart Cardiology MSO LLC, Austin Medical Center Inc., Austin Physicians Management LLC, Austin Urogynecology PLLC, Aventura Cancer Center Manager LLC, Aventura Comprehensive Cancer Research Group of Florida Inc., Aventura Healthcare Specialists LLC, Aventura Neurosurgery LLC, BAMI Property LLC, Backlogs Limited, Bailey Square Ambulatory Surgical Center Ltd., Bailey Square Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Bannerman Family Care LLC, Barrow Medical Center CT Services Ltd., Basic American Medical Inc., Basil Street Practice Limited, Bay Area Healthcare Group Ltd., Bay Area Surgical Center Investors Ltd., Bay Area Surgicare Center Inc., Bay Area Surgicenter LLC, Bay Hospital Inc., Bayonet Point Surgery Center Ltd., Bayshore Family Practitioners PLLC, Bayshore Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Bayshore Occupational and Family Medicine PLLC, Bayshore Partner LLC, Bayshore Radiation Oncology Services PLLC, Bayshore Surgery Center Ltd., Bayside Ambulatory Center LLC, Bedford-Northeast Community Hospital Inc., Behavioral Health Sciences of West Florida LLC, Behavioral Health Wellness Center LLC, Bellaire Imaging Inc., Belleair Surgery Center Ltd., Belton Family Practice Clinic LLC, Big Cypress Medical Center Inc., Blacksburg Family Care LLC, Blossoms Healthcare LLP, Blue Ridge-TKC LLC, Bone & Joint Specialists Physician Group LLC, Bonita Bay Surgery Center Inc., Bonita Bay Surgery Center Ltd., Bountiful Surgery Center LLC, Boynton Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Bradenton Cardiology Physician Network LLC, Bradenton Outpatient Services LLC, Brandon Imaging Manager LLC, Brandon Regional Cancer Center LLC, Brentwood ASC LLC, Brigham City Community Hospital Inc., Brigham City Community Hospital Physician Services LLC, Brigham City Health Plan Inc., Brighton Surgicenter LLC, Brookwood Medical Center of Gulfport Inc., Broward Cardiovascular Surgeons LLC, Broward Healthcare System Inc., Broward Neurosurgeons LLC, Brownsville Specialists of Texas PLLC, Brownsville Surgery PLLC, Brownsville Surgical Specialists PLLC, Brownsville Surgicenter LLC, Brownsville-Valley Regional Medical Center Inc., Buford Road Imaging L.L.C., Byron Family Practice LLC, C. Medrano M.D. PLLC, C/HCA Capital Inc., C/HCA Development Inc., C/HCA Inc., CAREOS Surgicenter LLC, CC Clinic PLLC, CCBH Psychiatric Hospitalists LLC, CCH-GP Inc., CFC Investments Inc., CH Systems, CHC Finance Co., CHC Holdings Inc., CHC Management Ltd., CHC Payroll Agent Inc., CHC Payroll Company, CHC Realty Company, CHC Venture Co., CHC-El Paso Corp., CHC-Miami Corp., CHCA Bayshore L.P., CHCA Clear Lake L.P., CHCA Conroe L.P., CHCA Mainland L.P., CHCA Pearland L.P., CHCA West Houston L.P., CHCA Womans Hospital L.P., CHCK Inc., CJW Infectious Disease LLC, CJW Wound Healing Center LLC, CLASC Manager LLC, COL-NAMC Holdings Inc., COSCORP LLC, CP Surgery Center LLC, CPS TN Processor 1 Inc., CRMC-M LLC, CUC PLLC, CVMC Property LLC, Calder Immediate Care PLLC, California Imaging Center Manager LLC, California Urgent Care LLC, Calloway Creek Surgery Center L.P., Calloway Creek Surgicare LLC, Cancer Centers of North Florida LLC, Cancer Services of Aventura LLC, Capital Anesthesia Services LLC, Capital Area Cardiology, Capital Area CareNow Physician Associates, Capital Area Multispecialty Providers, Capital Area Neurosurgeons, Capital Area Occupational Medicine PLLC, Capital Area Primary Care PLLC, Capital Area Primary Care Providers, Capital Area Providers, Capital Area Specialists PLLC, Capital Area Specialty Providers, Capital Area Surgeons PLLC, Capital Division - CCA Inc., Capital Division Inc., Capital Network Services Inc., Capital Professional Billing LLC, Capital Regional Healthcare LLC, Capital Regional Heart Associates LLC, Capital Regional Psychiatry Associates LLC, Cardiac Surgical Associates LLC, Cardio Vascular Surgeons of North Texas PLLC, Cardiology Associates Medical Group LLC, Cardiology Clinic of San Antonio PLLC, Cardiology Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Texas PLLC, Care for Women LLC, CareNow, CareOne Home Health Services Inc., CarePartners HHA Holdings LLLP, CarePartners HHA LLLP, CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital LLLP, CareSpot Professional Services of Middle Tennessee LLC, CareSpot of Brentwood (210 Franklin Road) LLC, CareSpot of Cool Springs (100 International Drive) LLC, CareSpot of Donelson (2372 Lebanon Road) LLC, CareSpot of Hendersonville (280 Indian Lake Boulevard) LLC, CareSpot of Hermitage (5225 Old Hickory Boulevard) LLC, CareSpot of Lebanon (1705 West Main Street) LLC, CareSpot of Mt. Juliet (S. Mt. Juliet Road) LLC, CareSpot of Murfreesboro (1340 Broad Street) LLC, CareSpot of Nashville (2001 Glen Echo Road) LLC, CareSpot of Nashville (West End Avenue) LLC, Career Staffing USA Inc., Carlin Springs Urgent Care LLC, Carolina Forest Imaging Manager LLC, Carolina Regional Surgery Center Inc., Carolina Regional Surgery Center Ltd., Cartersville Medical Center LLC, Cartersville Occupational Medicine Center LLC, Cartersville Physician Practice I LLC, Catalog360 Limited, Cedar Creek Medical Group LLC, Cedars International Cardiology Consultants LLC, Cedars Medical Center Hospitalists LLC, Centennial Cardiovascular Consultants LLC, Centennial CyberKnife Center LLC, Centennial CyberKnife Manager LLC, Centennial Heart LLC, Centennial Hospitalists LLC, Centennial Neuroscience LLC, Centennial Psychiatric Associates LLC, Centennial Surgery Center L.P., Centennial Surgical Associates LLC, Centennial Surgical Clinic LLC, Centennial Womens Group LLC, Center for Advanced Diagnostics LLC, Center for Advanced Imaging LLC, Center for Digestive Diseases LLC, Center for Occupational Medicine LLC, Centerpoint Cardiology Services LLC, Centerpoint Clinic of Blue Springs LLC, Centerpoint Hospital Based Physicians LLC, Centerpoint Medical Center of Independence LLC, Centerpoint Medical Specialists LLC, Centerpoint Orthopedics LLC, Centerpoint Physicians Group LLC, Centerpoint Womens Services LLC, Central Florida Cardiology Interpretations LLC, Central Florida Division Practice Inc., Central Florida Health Services LLC, Central Florida Imaging Services LLC, Central Florida Management Services LLC, Central Florida Obstetrics & Gynecology Associates LLC, Central Florida Physician Network LLC, Central Florida Regional Hospital Inc., Central Health Holding Company Inc., Central Pasco LLC, Central San Antonio Surgical Center Investors Ltd., Central Shared Services LLC, Central Tennessee Hospital Corporation, Central Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Physicians PLLC, Centrum Surgery Center Ltd., Charleston CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Chatsworth Hospital Corp., Chattanooga ASC Acquisition Inc., Chattanooga Diagnostic Associates LLC, Chattanooga Healthcare Network L.P., Chattanooga Healthcare Network Partner Inc., Chelsea Outpatient Centre LLP, Chesterfield Imaging LLC, Chicago Grant Hospital Inc., Childrens Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Chino Community Hospital Corporation Inc., Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Hospitals Inc., Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Sports Medicine LLC, Chippenham Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Chippenham Pediatric Specialists LLC, Chiswick Outpatient Centre LLP, Christiansburg Family Medicine LLC, Christiansburg Internal Medicine LLC, Christina Cano-Gonzalez M.D. PLLC, Chugach PT Inc., Church Street Partners, Citrus Memorial Hospital Inc., Citrus Memorial Property Management Inc., Citrus Primary Care Inc., Citrus Specialty Group Inc., Citrus Surgicenter LLC, City of San Antonio H2U Employee Health and Wellness Center PLLC, Clarksville Surgicenter LLC, Clear Creek Surgery Center LLC, Clear Lake Cardiac Catheterization Center L.P., Clear Lake Cardiac GP LLC, Clear Lake Family Physicians PLLC, Clear Lake Medical Tower Owners Association Inc., Clear Lake Merger LLC, Clear Lake Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Clear Lake Regional Medical Center Inc., Clear Lake Regional Partner LLC, Clear Lake Surgicare Ltd., ClinicServ LLC, Clinical Education Shared Services LLC, Clinishare Inc., Coastal Bend Hospital CT Services Ltd., Coastal Bend Hospital Inc., Coastal Carolina Home Care Inc., Coastal Carolina Multispecialty Associates LLC, Coastal Carolina Primary Care LLC, Coastal Healthcare Services Inc., Coastal Imaging Center L.P., Coastal Imaging Center of Gulfport Inc., Coastal Inpatient Physicians LLC, Coliseum Health Group Inc., Coliseum Health Group LLC, Coliseum Medical Center LLC, Coliseum Park Hospital Inc., Coliseum Primary Care Services LLC, Coliseum Primary Healthcare - Macon LLC, Coliseum Primary Healthcare - Riverside LLC, Coliseum Professional Associates LLC, Coliseum Same Day Surgery Center L.P., Coliseum Surgery Center L.L.C., College Park Ancillary LLC, College Park Endoscopy Center LLC, College Park Radiology LLC, Colleton Ambulatory Care LLC, Colleton Diagnostic Center LLC, Colleton Medical Anesthesia LLC, Colleton Medical Hospitalists LLC, Colleton Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery LLC, Collier County Home Health Agency Inc., Collin County Diagnostic Associates PLLC, Colorado Health Systems Inc., Columbia ASC Management L.P., Columbia Ambulatory Surgery Division Inc., Columbia Arlington Healthcare System L.L.C., Columbia Bay Area Realty Ltd., Columbia Behavioral Health Ltd., Columbia Behavioral Healthcare Inc., Columbia Behavioral Healthcare of South Florida Inc., Columbia Call Center Inc., Columbia Central Florida Division Inc., Columbia Central Group Inc., Columbia Champions Treatment Center Inc., Columbia Chicago Division Inc., Columbia Coliseum Same Day Surgery Center Inc., Columbia Development of Florida Inc., Columbia Doctors Hospital of Tulsa Inc., Columbia Eye and Specialty Surgery Center Ltd., Columbia Florida Group Inc., Columbia GP of Mesquite Inc., Columbia Good Samaritan Health System Limited Partnership, Columbia Greater Houston Division Healthcare Network Inc., Columbia Health System of Arkansas Inc., Columbia Healthcare System of Louisiana Inc., Columbia Healthcare of Central Virginia Inc., Columbia Hospital Corporation at the Medical Center, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Arlington, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Bay Area, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Central Miami, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Corpus Christi, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Fort Worth, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Houston, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Kendall, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Massachusetts Inc., Columbia Hospital Corporation of Miami, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Miami Beach, Columbia Hospital Corporation of North Miami Beach, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Broward, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Dade, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Florida, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Miami, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Tamarac, Columbia Hospital Corporation of West Houston, Columbia Hospital Corporation-Delaware, Columbia Hospital Corporation-SMM, Columbia Hospital at Medical City Dallas Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Hospital-El Paso Ltd., Columbia Integrated Health Systems Inc., Columbia Jacksonville Healthcare System Inc., Columbia LaGrange Hospital LLC, Columbia Lake Worth Surgical Center Limited Partnership, Columbia Medical Arts Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center Dallas Southwest Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center at Lancaster Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Arlington Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Denton Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Las Colinas Inc., Columbia Medical Center of Lewisville Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of McKinney Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Plano Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Group - Centennial Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Daystar Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Parkridge Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Southern Hills Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Southwest Virginia Inc., Columbia Medical Group - The Frist Clinic Inc., Columbia Midtown Joint Venture, Columbia North Alaska Healthcare Inc., Columbia North Central Florida Health System Limited Partnership, Columbia North Florida Regional Medical Center Limited Partnership, Columbia North Hills Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Columbia North Texas Healthcare System L.P., Columbia North Texas Subsidiary GP LLC, Columbia North Texas Surgery Center Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Northwest Medical Center Inc., Columbia Northwest Medical Center Partners Ltd., Columbia Ocala Regional Medical Center Physician Group Inc., Columbia Ogden Medical Center Inc., Columbia Oklahoma Division Inc., Columbia Palm Beach GP LLC, Columbia Palm Beach Healthcare System Limited Partnership, Columbia Park Healthcare System Inc., Columbia Park Medical Center Inc., Columbia Parkersburg Healthcare System LLC, Columbia Pentagon City Hospital L.L.C., Columbia Physician Services - Florida Group Inc., Columbia Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Primary Care LLC, Columbia Psychiatric Management Co., Columbia Resource Network Inc., Columbia Rio Grande Healthcare L.P., Columbia Riverside Inc., Columbia South Texas Division Inc., Columbia Specialty Hospital of Dallas Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Specialty Hospitals Inc., Columbia Surgery Group Inc., Columbia Surgicare of Augusta Ltd., Columbia Tampa Bay Division Inc., Columbia Valley Healthcare System L.P., Columbia West Bank Hospital Inc., Columbia Westbank Healthcare L.P., Columbia-CSA/HS Greater Canton Area Healthcare System L.P., Columbia-CSA/HS Greater Cleveland Area Healthcare System L.P., Columbia-Georgia PT Inc., Columbia-Osceola Imaging Center Inc., Columbia-Quantum Inc., Columbia-SDH Holdings Inc., Columbia/Alleghany Regional Hospital Incorporated, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation of Central Texas, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation of Northern Ohio, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation of South Carolina, Columbia/HCA Heartcare of Corpus Christi Inc., Columbia/HCA International Group Inc., Columbia/HCA John Randolph Inc., Columbia/HCA Middle East Management Company, Columbia/HCA Physician Hospital Organization Medical Center Hospital, Columbia/HCA San Clemente Inc., Columbia/HCA of Baton Rouge Inc., Columbia/HCA of Houston Inc., Columbia/HCA of New Orleans Inc., Columbia/HCA of North Texas Inc., Columbine Psychiatric Center Inc., Columbus Cardiology Inc., Columbus Cath Lab Inc., Columbus Cath Lab LLC, Columbus Doctors Hospital Inc., Commonwealth Perinatal Services LLC, Commonwealth Specialists of Kentucky LLC, Community Hospital Family Practice LLC, Comprehensive Radiation Oncology LLC, Comprehensive Radiology Management Services Ltd., Concept EFL Imaging Center LLC, Concept West EFL Imaging Center LLC, Congenital Heart Surgery Center PLLC, Conroe Hospital Corporation, Conroe Montgomery Physicians Group PLLC, Conroe Orthopedic Specialists PLLC, Conroe Partner LLC, Conroe Specialists of Texas PLLC, Continental Division I Inc., Coral Springs Surgi-Center Ltd., CoralStone Management Inc., Corpus Christi Healthcare Group Ltd., Corpus Christi Heart Clinic PLLC, Corpus Christi Primary Care Associates PLLC, Corpus Christi Psychiatric Specialists PLLC, Corpus Christi Radiation Oncology PLLC, Corpus Christi Surgery Center L.P., Corpus Christi Surgery Ltd., Corpus Christi Surgicenter LLC, Corpus Surgicare Inc., Countryside Surgery Center Ltd., Crewe Outpatient Imaging LLC, Cumberland Medical Center Inc., Cy-Fair Medical Center Hospital LLC, DFW Physicians Group PLLC, DOMC Property LLC, DS Real Estate Holdings LLC, Daleville Imaging L.P., Daleville Imaging Manager LLC, Dallas CardioThoracic Surgery Consultants PLLC, Dallas Cardiology Specialists PLLC, Dallas Hand Surgery Center PLLC, Dallas Medical Specialists PLLC, Dallas Neuro-Stroke Affiliates PLLC, Dallas Pediatric Neurosurgery Specialists PLLC, Dallas/Ft. Worth Physician LLC, Davie Medical Center LLC, Daytona Medical Center Inc., Dean 4641 LLC, Deep Purple Investments LLC, Del Sol Bariatric Clinic PLLC, Delray EFL Imaging Center LLC, Denton Cancer Center PLLC, Denton County Hospitalist Program PLLC, Denton Pediatric Physicians PLLC, Denton Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Denver Clinic Surgicenter LLC, Denver Mid-Town Surgery Center Ltd., Denver Surgicenter LLC, Derry ASC Inc., Diagnostic Breast Center Inc., Diagnostic Mammography Services G.P., Diagnostic Services G.P., Dickson Surgery Center L.P., Doctors Bay Area Physician Hospital Organization, Doctors Hospital (Conroe) Inc., Doctors Hospital Columbus GA-Joint Venture, Doctors Hospital Surgery Center L.P., Doctors Hospital of Augusta LLC, Doctors Hospital of Augusta Neurology LLC, Doctors Osteopathic Medical Center Inc., Doctors Same Day Surgery Center Inc., Doctors Same Day Surgery Center Ltd., Doctors-I Inc., Doctors-II Inc., Doctors-III Inc., Doctors-IV Inc., Doctors-IX Inc., Doctors-V Inc., Doctors-VI Inc., Doctors-VII Inc., Doctors-VIII Inc., Doctors-X Inc., Doctors Memorial Hospital of Spartanburg Limited Partnership, Dominion Hospital Physicians Group LLC, Dublin Community Hospital LLC, Dublin Heart Specialists LLC, Dublin Multispecialty LLC, Dura Medical Inc., E.P. Physical Therapy Centers Inc., EASTSIDE URGENT CARE LLC, EHCA Diagnostics LLC, EHCA Eastside Occupational Medicine Center LLC, EHCA LLC, EHCA Metropolitan LLC, EHCA Parkway LLC, EHCA Peachtree LLC, EHCA West Paces LLC, EIRMC Hospitalist Services LLC, EMMC LLC, EP Health LLC, EP Holdco LLC, EPIC Development Inc., EPIC Diagnostic Centers Inc., EPIC Healthcare Management Company, EPIC Properties Inc., EPIC Surgery Centers Inc., EPSC L.P., East Falls Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery LLC, East Falls Family Medicine LLC, East Falls Plastic Surgery LLC, East Florida - DMC Inc., East Florida Behavioral Health Network LLC, East Florida Cardiology Network LLC, East Florida CareNow Urgent Care LLC, East Florida Division Inc., East Florida Emergency Physician Group LLC, East Florida Healthcare LLC, East Florida Hospitalists LLC, East Florida Imaging Holdings LLC, East Florida Primary Care LLC, East Houston Primary Care PLLC, East Houston Specialists PLLC, East Layton Internal Medicine LLC, East Orthopedics PLLC, East Pointe Hospital Inc., Eastern Idaho Brachytherapy Equipment LLC, Eastern Idaho Brachytherapy Equipment Manager LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners ACO LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners Holdings LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners LLC, Eastern Idaho Health Services Inc., Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center Inpatient Services LLC, Eastside Behavioral Health Associates LLC, Eastside General Surgery LLC, Eastside Heart and Vascular LLC, Eastside Medical Center LLC, Eastside Surgery Center LLC, Edmond General Surgery LLC, Edmond Hospitalists LLC, Edmond Physician Hospital Organization Inc., Edward White Hospital Inc., El Paso CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, El Paso Healthcare Provider Network, El Paso Healthcare System Ltd., El Paso Healthcare System Physician Services LLC, El Paso Nurses Unlimited Inc., El Paso Primary Care PLLC, El Paso Surgery Centers L.P., El Paso Surgicenter Inc., Eldridge Family Practitioners PLLC, Elite Family Health of Plano PLLC, Elite OB-GYN Services of El Paso PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of El Paso PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of Irving PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of Plano PLLC, Elstree Outpatient Centre LLP, Emergency Physicians at Wesley Medical Center LLC, Emergency Providers Group LLC, Emergency Psychiatric Medicine PLLC, Encino Hospital Corporation Inc., Endocrinology Associates of Lees Summit LLC, Endoscopy Surgicare of Plano LLC, Endoscopy of Plano L.P., Englewood Community Hospital Auxiliary Inc., Englewood Community Hospital Inc., Envision Stakes LLC, Eye Care Surgicare Ltd. a Missouri limited partnership, FHAL LLC, FMH Health Services LLC, Fairfax Surgical Center L.P., Fairview Medical Services LLC, Fairview Park GP LLC, Fairview Park Limited Partnership, Fairview Partner LLC, Family Care Partners LLC, Family Care of E. Jackson County LLC, Family First Medicine in Brownsville PLLC, Family Health Medical Group of Overland Park LLC, Family Health Specialists of Lees Summit LLC, Family Medicine of Blacksburg LLC, Family Practice at Forest Hill LLC, Family Practice at Retreat LLC, Family Practitioners of Montgomery PLLC, Family Practitioners of Pearland PLLC, Fannin MOB LLC, Fannin MOB Property Management LLC, Far West Division Inc., Fawcett Memorial Hospital Inc., Florida Care Partners LLC, Florida Care Partners Orlando LLC, Florida Home Health Services-Private Care Inc., Florida Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Flower Mound Surgery Center Ltd., Focus Hand Surgicenter LLC, Foot & Ankle Specialty Services LLC, Forest Park Surgery Pavilion Inc., Forest Park Surgery Pavilion L.P., Fort Bend Hospital Inc., Fort Chiswell Family Practice LLC, Fort Myers Market Inc., Fort Pierce Immediate Care Center Inc., Fort Pierce Orthopaedics LLC, Fort Pierce Surgery Center Ltd., Fort Walton Beach Medical Center Inc., Fort Worth Investments Inc., Forward Pathology Solutions LLC, Four Rivers Medical Center PHO Inc., Frankfort Hospital Inc., Frankfort Wound Care LLC, Freeport Family Medicine LLC, Fremont Womens Health LLC, Frisco Surgicare LLC, Frisco Warren Parkway 91 Inc., Frist Clinic Express LLC, Ft. Pierce Surgicare LLC, Ft. Walton Beach Anesthesia Services LLC, G. Rowe M.D. PLLC, G. Schnider M.D. PLLC, G. Voorhees M.D. PLLC, G.P. Martin Fletcher & Associates LLC, GA PHYSICIAN SERVICES LLC, GA Urgentcare Holding LLC, GHC-Galen Health Care LLC, GI Associates of Denton PLLC, GI Associates of Lewisville PLLC, GME Services of Osceola LLC, GPCH-GP Inc., GYN-Oncology of Southwest Virginia LLC, Gainesville GYN Oncology of North Florida Regional Medical Center LLC, Gainesville Physicians LLC, GalTex LLC, Galen (Kansas) Merger LLC, Galen BH Inc., Galen Center for Professional Development Inc., Galen College of Nursing, Galen Diagnostic Multicenter Ltd., Galen GOK LLC, Galen Global Finance Inc., Galen Health Institutes Inc., Galen Health Partners Limited, Galen Holdco LLC, Galen Hospital Alaska Inc., Galen Hospital of Baytown Inc., Galen Hospital-Pembroke Pines Inc., Galen International Holdings Inc., Galen KY LLC, Galen MCS LLC, Galen MRMC LLC, Galen Medical Corporation, Galen NMC LLC, Galen NSH LLC, Galen Property LLC, Galen SOM LLC, Galen SSH LLC, Galen Virginia Hospital Corporation, Galen of Aurora Inc., Galen of Florida Inc., Galen of Illinois Inc., Galen of Kentucky Inc., Galen of Mississippi Inc., Galen of Virginia Inc., Galen of West Virginia Inc., Galen-Soch Inc., Galencare Inc., Galendeco Inc., Galichia Anesthesia Services LLC, Galichia Emergency Physicians LLC, Garden Park Community Hospital Limited Partnership, Garden Park Hospitalist Program LLC, Garden Park Investments L.P., Garden Park Physician Group - Specialty Care LLC, Garden Park Physician Group Inc., Gardens EFL Imaging Center LLC, Gastroenterology Specialists of Middle Tennessee LLC, General Hospitals of Galen Inc., General Medical Clinics Limited, General Surgeons of Houston PLLC, General Surgeons of North Richland Hills PLLC, General Surgeons of Pasadena PLLC, General and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Conroe PLLC, Generations Family Practice Inc., GenoSpace LLC, Georgia Health Holdings Inc., Georgia L.P., Georgia Psychiatric Company Inc., Glemm SA, Good Samaritan Hospital L.P., Good Samaritan Hospital LLC, Good Samaritan Surgery Center L.P., Goppert-Trinity Family Care LLC, Grace Family Practice LLC, Gramercy Eye Surgicenter LLC, Gramercy Surgery Center Ltd., Grand Strand Regional Medical Center LLC, Grand Strand Senior Health Center LLC, Grand Strand Specialty Associates LLC, Grand Strand Surgical Specialists LLC, Grandview Health Care Clinic LLC, Grant Center Hospital of Ocala Inc., Grayson Primary Care LLC, Greater Gwinnett Internal Medicine Associates LLC, Greater Gwinnett Physician Corporation, Greater Houston Preferred Provider Option Inc., Greater Tampa Bay Physician Network LLC, Greater Tampa Bay Physician Specialists LLC, Greater Tampa Bay Physicians - Pinellas LLC, Green Oaks Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Greenview Hospital Inc., Greenview PrimeCare LLC, Greenview Specialty Associates LLC, Gulf Coast Division Inc., Gulf Coast Electrophysiology Associates PLLC, Gulf Coast Inpatient Specialists LLC, Gulf Coast Medical Center Primary Care LLC, Gulf Coast Medical Ventures Inc., Gulf Coast Multispecialty Services LLC, Gulf Coast Physician Administrators Inc., Gulf Coast Provider Network Inc., Gwinnett Community Hospital Inc., Gynecology Specialists of Utah LLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Del Sol Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Las Palmas Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Medical City Dallas PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - St. Davids Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers LLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Clear Lake Regional Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Conroe ISD PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Conroe Regional Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Corpus Christi PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  El Paso PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  PISD PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  San Benito CISD PLLC, HBP Lone Star Inc., HCA - IT&S Field Operations Inc., HCA - IT&S Inventory Management Inc., HCA - IT&S PBS Field Operations Inc., HCA - IT&S TN Field Operations Inc., HCA - Information Technology & Services Inc., HCA - Raleigh Community Hospital Inc., HCA - Viera ALF LLC, HCA - WHS Progressive LLC, HCA - WHS Services LLC, HCA ASD Financial Operations LLC, HCA ASD Sales Services LLC, HCA American Finance LLC, HCA Carenow Limited, HCA Central Group Inc., HCA Central/West Texas Physicians Management LLC, HCA Chattanooga Market Inc., HCA Development Company Inc., HCA Eastern Group Inc., HCA Global Capital LLP, HCA Gulf Coast GME PLLC, HCA Health Services of California Inc., HCA Health Services of Florida Inc., HCA Health Services of Georgia Inc., HCA Health Services of Louisiana Inc., HCA Health Services of Miami Inc., HCA Health Services of Midwest Inc., HCA Health Services of New Hampshire Inc., HCA Health Services of Tennessee Inc., HCA Health Services of Texas Inc., HCA Health Services of Virginia Inc., HCA Health Services of West Virginia Inc., HCA Healthcare Mission Fund LLC, HCA Healthcare UK Limited, HCA Holdco LLC, HCA Human Resources LLC, HCA Imaging Services of North Florida Inc., HCA Inc., HCA International Holdings Limited, HCA International Limited, HCA LewisGale Regional Cancer Centers Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA Long Term Health Services of Miami Inc., HCA Luxembourg 1 Sarl, HCA Luxembourg 2 Sarl, HCA Luxembourg Equities Sarl, HCA Luxembourg Finance Limited, HCA Luxembourg Investments Sarl, HCA Management Services L.P., HCA Medical City Limited, HCA Medical Services Inc., HCA Midwest Comprehensive Care Inc., HCA Outpatient Clinic Services of Miami Inc., HCA Outpatient Imaging Services Group Inc., HCA Patient Safety Organization LLC, HCA Pearland GP Inc., HCA Physician Services Inc., HCA Plano Imaging Inc., HCA Property GP LLC, HCA Psychiatric Company, HCA Purchasing Limited, HCA Realty Inc., HCA Richmond Cardiac Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA SF LLC, HCA SFB 1 LLC, HCA Sarasota Orthopedic and Spine Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA Squared LLC, HCA Staffing Limited, HCA Swiss Capital 1 LLP, HCA Swiss Capital 2 LLP, HCA Switzerland Finance GmbH, HCA Switzerland Holding GmbH, HCA Switzerland Limited, HCA UK Capital Limited, HCA UK Holdings Limited, HCA UK Investments Limited, HCA UK Limited, HCA UK Services Limited, HCA Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital Inc., HCA Western Group Inc., HCA-Access Healthcare Holdings LLC, HCA-Access Healthcare Partner Inc., HCA-California Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCA-EMS Holdings LLC, HCA-EmCare Holdings LLC, HCA-Georgia Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCA-HBPS Holdings LLC, HCA-HealthONE LLC, HCA-Solis Holdings Inc., HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of Continental LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of Gulf Coast LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of North Texas LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of TriStar LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Services LLC, HCA-Solis Master LLC, HCA-Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCAPS Anesthesia Manager LLC, HCAPS Conroe Affiliation Inc., HCOL Inc., HD&S Corp. Successor Inc., HDH Thoracic Surgeons LLC, HHBY Holdings LLC, HHNC LLC, HICCH-SCL LLC, HM Acquisition LLC, HM OMCOS LLC, HMMG 1226 LLC, HPG Energy L.P., HPG Enterprises LLC, HPG GP LLC, HPG Solutions LLC, HSS Holdco LLC, HSS Systems LLC, HSS Virginia L.P., HTI Gulf Coast Inc., HTI Health Services of North Carolina Inc., HTI Hospital Holdings Inc., HTI MOB LLC, HTI MSO LLC, HTI Memorial Hospital Corporation, HTI Physician Services of Utah Inc., HWCA PLLC, Hamilton Memorial Hospital Inc., Hamsard 3160 Limited, Harley Street Clinic @ The Groves LLP, Hathor Chelsea Ltd., Healdsburg General Hospital Inc., Health Care Indemnity Inc., Health Insight Capital LLC, Health International Billing Partners Limited, Health Midwest Medical Group Inc., Health Midwest Office Facilities Corporation, Health Midwest Ventures Group Inc., Health Partners of Kansas Inc., Health Service Partners Inc., Health Services (Delaware) Inc., Health Services Merger Inc., Health to You LLC, HealthCoast Physician Group LLC, HealthONE Aurora Investment LLC, HealthONE Care Partners LLC, HealthONE CareNow Urgent Care LLC, HealthONE Clear Creek LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Bariatric Medicine LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Behavioral Health LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cancer Care LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cancer Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cardiovascular LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Medical Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Neurosciences LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Occupational Medicine LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Oncology Hematology LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Orthopedic Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Otolaryngology Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Pediatric Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Primary Care LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Spine Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Spine Surgeons LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Surgery Neurological LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Surgical Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Transplant Services LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Womens Services LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Youth Rehabilitation LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services LLC, HealthONE High Street Primary Care Center LLC, HealthONE IRL Pathology Services LLC, HealthONE Institutes for Clinical Research LLC, HealthONE Lowry LLC, HealthONE Radiation Therapy at Red Rocks LLC, HealthONE Radiation Therapy at Thornton LLC, HealthONE Ridge View Endoscopy Center LLC, HealthONE Surgicare of Ridge View LLC, HealthONE Urologic LLC, HealthONE at Breckenridge LLC, HealthONE of Denver Inc., HealthOne Heart Care LLC, HealthOne Lincoln Investment LLC, HealthOne Westside Investment LLC, HealthTrust Europe Company Limited, HealthTrust Europe LLP, HealthTrust Locums Inc., HealthTrust Workforce Solutions LLC, Healthcare Oklahoma Inc., Healthcare Purchasing Alliance LLC, Healthcare Sales National Management Services Group LLC, Healthcare Technology Assessment Corporation, Healthco LLC, Healthnet of Kentucky LLC, Healthserv Acquisition LLC, Healthtrust Inc. - The Hospital Company, Healthtrust MOB Tennessee LLC, Healthtrust Purchasing Group L.P., Healthtrust Utah Management Services Inc., Healthy State Inc., Heart Specialist of North Texas PLLC, Heart of America ASC LLC, Heart of America Surgicenter LLC, Heartcare of Texas Ltd., Hearthstone Home Health Inc., Heartland Womens Group at Wesley LLC, Heathrow Imaging LLC, Heathrow Internal Medicine LLC, Hendersonville Hospital Corporation, Hendersonville Hospitalist Services Inc., Hendersonville OB/GYN LLC, Hendersonville ODC LLC, Hendersonville Primary Care LLC, Henrico Doctors Hospital - Forest Campus Property LLC, Henrico Doctors Neurology Associates LLC, Henrico Doctors OB GYN Specialists LLC, Henrico Surgical Specialists LLC, Heritage Family Care LLC, Heritage Hospital Inc., Heritage Medical Care LLC, Hermitage Primary Care LLC, Hidalgo County Family Practitioners PLLC, Hidden Lakes Health Center PLLC, Highlands Regional Medical Center, Hip & Joint Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Homecare North Inc., Hometrust Management Services Inc., Horizon Orthopedics LLC, Horizon Surgical LLC, Hospital Corp. LLC, Hospital Corporation of America, Hospital Corporation of Lake Worth, Hospital Corporation of Tennessee, Hospital Corporation of Utah, Hospital Development Properties Inc., Hospital Partners Merger LLC, Hospital Realty Corporation, Hospital-Based CRNA Services Inc., Hospitalists at Centennial Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists at Fairview Park LLC, Hospitalists at Greenview Regional Hospital LLC, Hospitalists at Horizon Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists at Parkridge LLC, Hospitalists at StoneCrest LLC, Hospitalists at Wesley Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists of the Wabash Valley LLC, Houston - PPH LLC, Houston CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Houston Healthcare Holdings Inc., Houston NW Manager LLC, Houston Northwest Concessions L.L.C., Houston Northwest Operating Company L.L.C., Houston Northwest Surgical Partners Inc., Houston Obstetrics and Gynecology for Women PLLC, Houston Pediatric Specialty Group PLLC, Houston Urologic Surgicenter LLC, Houston Womans Hospital Partner LLC, ICU Associates of West Houston PLLC, IMX Holdings LLC, IRL Pathology Services MidAmerica LLC, Idaho Behavioral Health Services LLC, Idaho Physician Services Inc., Illinois Psychiatric Hospital Company Inc., Imaging Realty LLC, Imaging Services of Appomattox LLC, Imaging Services of Jacksonville LLC, Imaging Services of Louisiana LLC, Imaging Services of Louisiana Manager LLC, Imaging Services of Orlando LLC, Imaging Services of Richmond LLC, Imaging Services of Roanoke LLC, Imaging Services of West Boynton LLC, InVivoLink Inc., Independence Neurosurgery Services LLC, Independence Regional Medical Group LLC, Independence Surgicare Inc., Indian Path Hospital Inc., Indianapolis Hospital Partner LLC, Institute for Womens Health and Body LLC, Institute of Advanced ENT Surgery LLC, Integrated Regional Lab LLC, Integrated Regional Laboratories LLP, Integrated Regional Laboratories Pathology Services LLC, Intensive Care Consortium Inc., Internal Medicine Associates of Huntsville PLLC, Internal Medicine Associates of Southern Hills LLC, Internal Medicine of Blacksburg LLC, Internal Medicine of Pasadena PLLC, Internist Associates of Houston PLLC, Isleworth Partners Inc., J. M. Garcia M.D. PLLC, JCSH LLC, JDGC Management LLC, JFK Internal Medicine Faculty Practice LLC, JFK Medical Center Limited Partnership, JPM AA Housing LLC, Jackson County Medical Group LLC, Jackson County Pulmonary Medical Group LLC, Jacksonville CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Jacksonville Multispecialty Services LLC, Jacksonville Surgery Center Ltd., James River Internists LLC, John Randolph Family Practice LLC, John Randolph OB/GYN LLC, John Randolph Surgeons LLC, Johnson County Neurology LLC, Johnson County Surgery Center L.P., Johnson County Surgicenter L.L.C., Jordan Family Health L.L.C., Jupiter EFL Imaging Center LLC, KC Pain ASC LLC, KC Surgicare LLC, KPH-Consolidation Inc., Kansas CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Kansas City Cardiac Arrhythmia Research LLC, Kansas City Gastroenterology & Hepatology Physicians Group LLC, Kansas City Neurology Associates LLC, Kansas City Pulmonology Practice LLC, Kansas City Surgery Center Properties LLC, Kansas City Vascular & General Surgery Group LLC, Kansas City Womens Clinic Group LLC, Kansas Healthserv LLC, Kansas Pulmonary and Sleep Specialists LLC, Kansas Trauma and Critical Care Specialists LLC, Kathy L. Summers M.D. PLLC, Kendall Healthcare Group Ltd., Kendall Regional Medical Center LLC, Kendall Regional Urgent Care LLC, Kennedale Primary Care PLLC, Kingwood Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Kingwood Surgery Center LLC, Kingwood Surgicenter LLC, Kissimmee Surgicare Ltd., Kyle Primary Care PLLC, L E Corporation, LAD Imaging LLC, LGMC Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, LOC @ The Christie LLP, LOC @ The London Bridge Hospital LLP, LOC Partnership LLP, LPN TeleBehavioral Health PLLC, Lafayette OB Hospitalists LLC, Lafayette Urogynecology & Urology Center LLC, Lake City Imaging LLC, Lake City Regional Medical Group LLC, Lake Forest Family Health PLLC, Lakeside Radiology LLC, Lakeside Womens Services LLC, Lakeview Cardiology Specialists LLC, Lakeview Hospital Physician Services LLC, Lakeview Internal Medicine LLC, Lakeview Medical Center LLC, Lakeview Regional Medical Center Inpatient Services LLC, Lakeview Regional Physician Group LLC, Lakeview Urology & General Surgery LLC, Lakewood Surgicare Inc., Laredo Medco LLC, Largo Medical Center Inc., Largo Physician Group LLC, Las Colinas Primary Care PLLC, Las Colinas Surgery Center Ltd., Las Encinas Hospital, Las Palmas Del Sol Cardiology PLLC, Las Palmas Del Sol Internal Medicine PLLC, Las Palmas Del Sol Urgent Care PLLC, Las Vegas ASC LLC, Las Vegas Surgicare Inc., Las Vegas Surgicare Ltd. a Nevada Limited Partnership, Lawnwood Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, Lawnwood Healthcare Specialists LLC, Lawnwood Medical Center Inc., Layton Family Practice LLC, Leaders in Oncology Care Limited, Leadership Healthcare Holdings II L.P. L.L.P., Leadership Healthcare Holdings L.P. L.L.P., Lees Summit Family Care LLC, Leslie Cohan M.D. PLLC, Lewis-Gale Hospital Incorporated, Lewis-Gale Medical Center LLC, Lewis-Gale Physicians LLC, Lewisville Primary Care PLLC, Lewisville Surgicare LLC, Lincoln Surgery Center LLC, Live Oak Immediate Care Center LLC, London Oncology Clinic LLP, London Pathology Limited, London Radiography & Radiotherapy Services Limited, Lone Peak Hospital Inc., Lone Star Intensivists at Gulf Coast PLLC, Lonestar Provider Network, Longview Regional Physician Hospital Organization Inc., Lorain County Surgery Center Ltd., Los Gatos Surgical Center a California Limited Partnership, Los Robles Regional Medical Center, Los Robles Regional Medical Center MOB LLC, Los Robles SurgiCenter LLC, Loudoun Surgery Center LLC, Louisiana Psychiatric Company Inc., Loveland Surgicenter LLC, Low Country Health Services Inc. of the Southeast, Lowry Surgicenter LLC, M. Jamshidi D.O. PLLC, MCA Investment Company, MCA-CTMC Holdings LLC, MEC Endoscopy LLC, MFA G.P. LLC, MFM Fact PLLC, MGH Medical Inc., MH Anesthesiology Physicians LLC, MH Angel Medical Center LLLP, MH Asheville Specialty Hospital LLC, MH Blue Ridge Medical Center LLLP, MH Eckerd Living Center LLLP, MH Highlands-Cashiers Medical Center LLLP, MH Hospital Holdings Inc., MH Hospital Manager LLC, MH Master Holdings LLLP, MH Master LLC, MH McDowell Imaging LLLP, MH Mission Hospital LLLP, MH Mission Hospital McDowell LLLP, MH Mission Imaging LLLP, MH Physician Services LLC, MH Transylvania Imaging LLLP, MH Transylvania Regional Hospital LLLP, MHS Partnership Holdings JSC Inc., MHS Partnership Holdings SDS Inc., MHS SC Partner L.L.C., MHS Surgery Centers L.P., MMC Sleep Lab Management LLC, MOSC Sports Medicine Inc., MOVCO Inc., MP Management LLC, MRT&C Inc., MSL Acquisition LLC, MVH Professional Services LLC, Macon Healthcare LLC, Macon Northside Health Group LLC, Macon Northside Hospital LLC, Macon Psychiatric Hospitalists LLC, Madison Behavioral Health LLC, Mainland Family Medicine PLLC, Mainland Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Mainland Primary Care Physicians PLLC, Management Services Holdings Inc., Manatee Surgicare Ltd., Marietta Outpatient Medical Building Inc., Marietta Outpatient Surgery Ltd., Marietta Surgical Center Inc., Marion Community Hospital Inc., Mark Gottesman M.D. PLLC, Martin Fletcher & Associates L.P., Martin Fletcher Associates Holdings Inc., Mary Alice Cowan M.D. PLLC, Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialists of Corpus Christi PLLC, Maternal Fetal Services of Utah LLC, Maury County Behavioral Health LLC, Mayhill Cancer Center LLC, McAllen Comprehensive Upper Extremity Center PLLC, McKinney Surgeons PLLC, Mechanicsville Imaging LLC, Mecklenburg Surgical Land Development Ltd., Med City Dallas Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Med Corp. Inc., Med Group - Southern Hills Hospitalists LLC, Med-Center Hosp./Houston Inc., Med-Point of New Hampshire Inc., Medi Flight of Oklahoma LLC, MediCredit Inc., MediPurchase Inc., MediStone Healthcare Ventures Inc., MediVision Inc., MediVision of Mecklenburg County Inc., MediVision of Tampa Inc., Medical Arts Hospital of Texarkana Inc., Medical Associates of Ocala LLC, Medical Care America Colorado LLC, Medical Care America LLC, Medical Care Financial Services Corp., Medical Care Real Estate Finance Inc., Medical Care Surgery Center Inc., Medical Center - West Inc., Medical Center Imaging Inc., Medical Center Surgery Associates L.P., Medical Center of Baton Rouge Inc., Medical Center of Plano Partner LLC, Medical Center of Port St. Lucie Inc., Medical Center of Santa Rosa Inc., Medical Center of Southwest Florida LLC, Medical Centers of Oklahoma LLC, Medical City Dallas Hospital Inc., Medical City Dallas Partner LLC, Medical City Dallas Primary Care PLLC, Medical City Frisco, Medical City OB-GYN PLLC, Medical City Pediatrics PLLC, Medical City Specialty Surgicenter of Dallas LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Alliance LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Frisco LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Lewisville LLC, Medical City Transplant PLLC, Medical Corporation of America, Medical Group - Dickson Inc., Medical Group - Southern Hills of Brentwood LLC, Medical Group - Southern Hills of Nolensville LLC, Medical Group - StoneCrest FP Inc., Medical Group - StoneCrest Inc., Medical Group - Stonecrest Pulmonology LLC, Medical Group - Summit Inc., Medical Imaging Inc., Medical Imaging of Colorado LLC, Medical Office Buildings of Kansas LLC, Medical Oncology Associates LLC, Medical Partners of North Florida LLC, Medical Plaza Ambulatory Surgery Center Associates L.P., Medical Specialties Inc., Memorial Family Practice Associates LLC, Memorial Health Primary Care at St. Johns Bluff LLC, Memorial Healthcare Group Inc., Memorial Neurosurgery Group LLC, Memorial Satilla Specialists LLC, Memorial University Medical Center, Menorah Medical Group LLC, Menorah Urgent Care LLC, Mercy ASC LLC, Metairie Primary Care Associates LLC, Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Center of Boerne LLC, Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Center of Landmark LLC, Methodist Cardiology Physicians, Methodist CareNow Physician Associates, Methodist CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio Ltd. L.L.P., Methodist Inpatient Management Group, Methodist Medical Center ASC L.P., Methodist Physician Alliance, Methodist Physician Practice Services LLC, Methodist Physician Practices PLLC, Metroplex Surgicenters Inc., Metropolitan Multispecialty Physicians Group Inc., Miami Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Miami Beach Healthcare Group Ltd., Miami Dade Surgical Specialists LLC, Miami Lakes Surgery Center Ltd., Miami-Dade Cardiology Consultants LLC, Michael Mann M.D. PLLC, Mid-America Surgery Center LLC, Mid-America Surgery Institute LLC, Mid-Cities Surgi-Center Inc., Mid-Continent Health Services Inc., MidAmerica Division Inc., MidAmerica Oncology LLC, Middle Georgia Hospital LLC, Middle Georgia Urgent Care Services LLC, Middle Tennessee Neurology LLC, Midtown Diagnostics LLC, Midwest Cardiology Specialists LLC, Midwest Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery LLC, Midwest Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Kansas LLC, Midwest Division - ACH LLC, Midwest Division - CMC LLC, Midwest Division - LRHC LLC, Midwest Division - LSH LLC, Midwest Division - MCI LLC, Midwest Division - MMC LLC, Midwest Division - OPRMC LLC, Midwest Division - RBH LLC, Midwest Division - RMC LLC, Midwest Division Spine Care LLC, Midwest Doctors Group LLC, Midwest Heart & Vascular Specialists LLC, Midwest Holdings Inc., Midwest Infectious Disease Specialists LLC, Midwest Medicine Associates LLC, Midwest Metropolitan Physicians Group LLC, Midwest Oncology Associates LLC, Midwest Trauma Services LLC, Midwest Womens Healthcare Specialists LLC, Mikrod Services Inc., Mill Creek Outpatient Services LLC, Millenium Health Care of Oklahoma Inc., Mission Bay Memorial Hospital Inc., Mission Community Anesthesiology Specialists LLC, Mission Employer Solutions LLC, Mission Health, Mission Health Partners Inc., Missouri Healthcare System L.P., Mobile Corps. Inc., Mobile Heartbeat, Mobile Heartbeat LLC, Montgomery Cancer Center LLC, Montgomery Hospitalists LLC, Montgomery Regional Hospital Inc., Montgomery Surgery Associates LLC, Mountain Division - CVH LLC, Mountain Division Inc., Mountain View Hospital Inc., Mountain View MRI Associates Ltd., Mountain West Surgery Center LLC, MountainStar Behavioral Health LLC, MountainStar Brigham General Surgery LLC, MountainStar Canyon Surgical Clinic LLC, MountainStar Cardiology Ogden Regional LLC, MountainStar Cardiology St. Marks LLC, MountainStar Intensivist Services LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - Cache Valley LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - Ogden Regional Medical Center LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - St. Marks Hospital LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Neurosurgery-St. Marks LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Timpanogos Primary Care LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Timpanogos Specialty Care LLC, MountainStar Specialty Services LLC, MountainStar Urgent Care LLC, MountainView GME Primary Care LLC, Mountainstar Brigham OBGYN LLC, Mountainstar Cardiovascular Services LLC, Mountainstar Ogden Pediatrics LLC, Movement Disorders of North Texas PLLC, Mt. Ogden Utah Surgical Center LLC, NPAS Inc., NPAS Solutions LLC, NT Urgent Care PLLC, NTGP LLC, NTMC Management Company, NTMC Venture Inc., NTX Pathology Program PLLC, Nashville Psychiatric Company Inc., Nashville Shared Services General Partnership, Nashville Surgicenter LLC, Natchez Medical Associates LLC, Natchez Surgery Center LLC, National Association of Senior Friends, National Contact Center Management Group LLC, National Patient Account Services Inc., National Transfer Center Management Services LLC, Navarro Memorial Hospital Inc., NeighborMD Management LLC, Network MS of Florida Inc., Network Management Services Inc., Neuro Affiliates Company, Neuro-Hospitalist of Clear Lake PLLC, NeuroHospitalist of McAllen PLLC, Neurological Eye Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Neurological Specialists PLLC, Neurological Specialists of McKinney PLLC, Neurology Associates of Hendersonville LLC, Neurology Associates of Kansas LLC, Neurosurgery Atlanta LLC, Neurosurgery of Kingwood PLLC, Neurosurgical Associates of North Texas PLLC, Neurosurgical Specialists of El Paso PLLC, Neurosurgical Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Nevada Surgery Center of Southern Hills L.P., Nevada Surgicare of Southern Hills LLC, Nevada Urgent Care Holdings Inc., New Iberia Healthcare LLC, New Iberia Holdings Inc., New Port Richey Hospital Inc., New Port Richey Surgery Center Ltd., New Rose Holding Company Inc., Niceville Family Practice LLC, North Augusta Imaging Management LLC, North Augusta Imaging Services LLC, North Augusta Rehab Health Center LLC, North Austin Plastic Surgery Associates PLLC, North Austin Surgery Center L.P., North Brandon Imaging LLC, North Central Florida Health System Inc., North Central Methodist ASC L.P., North Charleston Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Lake City LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Live Oak LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Tallahassee LLC, North Florida Division I Inc., North Florida Division Practice Inc., North Florida GI Center GP Inc., North Florida GI Center Ltd., North Florida Immediate Care Center Inc., North Florida Neurosurgery LLC, North Florida Outpatient Imaging Center Ltd., North Florida Physician Services Inc., North Florida Physicians LLC, North Florida Radiation Oncology LLC, North Florida Regional Company Care LLC, North Florida Regional Freestanding Surgery Center L.P., North Florida Regional Investments Inc., North Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., North Florida Regional Psychiatry LLC, North Florida Regional Trauma LLC, North Florida Rehab Investments LLC, North Florida Surgical Associates LLC, North Georgia Primary Care Group LLC, North Hills Cardiac Catheterization Center L.P., North Hills Catheterization Lab LLC, North Hills Orthopaedic Surgeons PLLC, North Hills Surgicare L.P., North Houston - TRMC LLC, North Miami Beach Surgery Center Limited Partnership, North Miami Beach Surgical Center LLC, North Palm Beach County Surgery Center LLC, North River Physician Network LLC, North Shore Specialists of Texas PLLC, North Suburban Spine Center L.P., North Tampa Imaging LLC, North Texas - MCA LLC, North Texas Cardiology PLLC, North Texas Craniofacial Fellowship Program PLLC, North Texas Division Inc., North Texas General L.P., North Texas Geriatrics PLLC, North Texas Heart Surgery Center PLLC, North Texas Internal Medicine Specialists PLLC, North Texas Medical Center Inc., North Texas Neuro Stroke OP PLLC, North Texas Pulmonary Critical Care PLLC, North Texas Sports and Orthopedics Center PLLC, North Texas Stroke Center PLLC, North Texas of Hope PLLC, North Transfer Center LLC, Northeast Florida Cancer Services LLC, Northeast Methodist Surgicare Ltd., Northeast PHO Inc., Northern Utah Healthcare Corporation, Northern Utah Healthcare Imaging Holdco LLC, Northern Utah Imaging LLC, Northern Virginia CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Northern Virginia Community Hospital LLC, Northern Virginia Hospital Corporation, Northern Virginia Surgicenter LLC, Northlake Medical Center LLC, Northlake Physician Practice Network Inc., Northlake Surgical Center L.P., Northlake Surgicare Inc., Northside MRI Inc., Northwest Fla. Home Health Agency Inc., Northwest Florida Healthcare Systems Inc., Northwest Florida Multispecialty Physicians LLC, Northwest Florida Primary Care LLC, Northwest Medical Center Inc., Notami (Opelousas) Inc., Notami Hospitals LLC, Notami Hospitals of Florida Inc., Notami Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Notami Hospitals of Missouri Inc., Notami LLC, Notco LLC, Nuclear Diagnosis Inc., OB Hospitalists of Womans Hospital PLLC, OB/GYN of Brownsville PLLC, OB/Gyn Associates of Denton PLLC, OBS Diagnostic and Treatment Centre LLP, ODP Holdings LLC, ODP Manager LLC, ODP Properties LLC, OHH Imaging Services LLC, OPRMC-HBP LLC, Oak Hill Acquisition Inc., Oak Hill Family Care LLC, Oak Hill Hospitalists LLC, Oakwood Surgery Center Ltd. LLP, Ocala Health Company Care LLC, Ocala Health Imaging Services LLC, Ocala Health Primary Care LLC, Ocala Health Surgical Group LLC, Ocala Health Trauma LLC, Ocala Regional Outpatient Services Inc., Ocala Stereotactic Radiosurgery LLC, Ocala Stereotactic Radiosurgery Partner LLC, Occupational Health Services of PRH LLC, Occupational and Family Medicine of South Texas, Ogden Imaging LLC, Ogden Internal Medicine & Urology LLC, Ogden Regional Health Plan Inc., Ogden Regional Medical Center Professional Billing LLC, Ogden Senior Center LLC, Ogden Tomotherapy LLC, Ogden Tomotherapy Manager LLC, Okaloosa Hospital Inc., Okeechobee Hospital Inc., Oklahoma Holding Company LLC, Oklahoma Outpatient Surgery Limited Partnership, Oklahoma Physicians - Medical Specialties LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Primary Care LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Surgical Specialties LLC, Oklahoma Surgicare Inc., Old Fort Village LLC, On-Site Primary Care PLLC, Oncology Services of Corpus Christi LLC, Oncology Services of Corpus Christi Manager LLC, OneSourceMed Inc., Online Pathology Services Limited, Orange County Healthcare LLC, Orange Park Hospitalists LLC, Orange Park Medical Center Inc., Orlando CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Orlando Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Orlando Outpatient Surgical Center Ltd., Orlando Surgicare Ltd., Orthopaedic Specialty Associates L.P., Orthopaedic Sports Specialty Associates Inc., Orthopedic Hospital Ltd., Orthopedics Specialists LLC, Osceola Neurological Associates LLC, Osceola Physician Network LLC, Osceola Regional Hospital Inc., Osceola Regional Hospitalists LLC, Osceola Surgical Associates LLC, Outpatient Cardiovascular Center of Central Florida LLC, Outpatient GP LLC, Outpatient Services - LAD LLC, Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., Outpatient Surgical Services Ltd., Outpatient Womens and Childrens Surgery Center Ltd., Overland Park Cardiovascular Inc., Overland Park Medical Specialists LLC, Overland Park Orthopedics LLC, Overland Park Surgical Specialties LLC, Oviedo Medical Center LLC, Ozarks Medical Services Inc., P&L Associates, P/SL Hyperbaric Partnership, PET CT LLP, PMM Inc., POH Holdings LLC, PSG Delegated Services LLC, PTS Solutions LLC, Pacific Partners Management Services Inc., Palm Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Palm Beach General Surgery LLC, Palm Beach Healthcare System Inc., Palm Beach Hospitalists Program LLC, Palmer Medical Center LLC, Palms West Gastroenterology LLC, Palms West Hospital Limited Partnership, Palms West Surgery Center Ltd., Paragon Physicians Hospital Organization of South Texas Inc., Paragon SDS Inc., Paragon Surgery Centers of Texas Inc., Paragon WSC Inc., Paragon of Texas Health Properties Inc., Parallon Business Solutions LLC, Parallon Enterprises LLC, Parallon Health Information Solutions LLC, Parallon Holdings LLC, Parallon Payroll Solutions LLC, Parallon Physician Services LLC, Parallon Revenue Cycle Services Inc., Park Central Surgical Center Ltd., Park Ridge Surgery Center LLC, Park South Imaging Center Ltd., Park View Insurance Company, Parkersburg SJ Holdings Inc., Parkland Hospitalists Program LLC, Parkland Oncology LLC, Parkland Physician Services Inc., Parkridge East Specialty Associates LLC, Parkridge Hospitalists Inc., Parkridge Medical Associates LLC, Parkridge Medical Center Inc., Parkridge Professionals Inc., Parkside Surgery Center Inc., Parkway Cardiac Center Ltd., Parkway Hospital Inc., Parkway Surgery Services Ltd., Parthenon Insurance Company Limited, Pasadena Bayshore Hospital Inc., PatientKeeper, PatientKeeper Inc., Patients First Neurology LLC, Pavilion 2 Condominium Property LLC, Pavilion 2 Medical Office Building Condominium Association Inc., Pavilion Surgicenter LLC, Peach State Anesthesia Partners LLC, Pearland Institute for Womens Health PLLC, Pearland Partner LLC, Pediatric Anesthesia Consultants of San Antonio PLLC, Pediatric Cardiac Intensivists of North Texas PLLC, Pediatric Critical Care of Clear Lake PLLC, Pediatric Hospitalists of Conroe PLLC, Pediatric Intensivist Group LLC, Pediatric Intensivists of El Paso PLLC, Pediatric Intensivists of North Texas PLLC, Pediatric Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Pediatric Specialty Clinic LLC, Pediatric Surgicare Inc., Pediatrics of Greater Houston PLLC, Pensacola Primary Care Inc., Physician Associates of Corporate Woods LLC, Physicians Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Physicians West Surgicenter LLC, Pinellas Medical LLC, Pinnacle Physician Network LLC, Pioneer Medical LLC, Plains Healthcare System Inc., Plano Ambulatory Surgery Associates L.P., Plano Heart Institute L.P., Plano Heart Management LLC, Plano Surgery Center - GP LLC, Plano Surgery Center Real Estate LLC, Plano Surgicenter Real Estate Manager LLC, Plano Urology PLLC, Plantation General Hospital L.P., Plaza Medical Specialists PLLC, Plaza Primary Care PLLC, Plaza Transplant Center PLLC, Podiatry of Clear Lake PLLC, Poinciana Medical Center Inc., Port St. Lucie Surgery Center Ltd., Portland Primary Care LLC, Portsmouth Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Portsmouth Surgicenter LLC, Preferred Hospitals Inc., Preferred Works WC LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Medical Management Ltd., Primary Care Medical Associates Inc., Primary Care Plano PLLC, Primary Care Services of Orlando LLC, Primary Care South PLLC, Primary Care West PLLC, Primary Care of West End LLC, Primary Health Asset Holdings Ltd., Primary Health Group Inc., Primary Health Inc., Primary Health Network of South Texas, Primary Health Physicians PLLC, Primary Medical Management Inc., Proaxis Therapy HealthOne LLC, Provident Professional Building Condominium Association Inc., Psychiatry Services of Osceola LLC, Pulaski Community Hospital Inc., Pulaski Urology LLC, Pulmonary Renal Intensivist Group LLC, Putnam Community Medical Center of North Florida LLC, Putnam Hospital Inc., Putnam Radiation Oncology LLC, Putnam Radiation Oncology Manager LLC, Putnam Surgical Group LLC, Quantum/Bellaire Imaging Ltd., Quick Care Centers LLC, Quivira Internal Medicine Inc., RCH LLC, RMC - Pulmonary LLC, RMC Transplant Physicians LLC, RMCA Professionals Mgmt LLC, ROi CPS LLC, Radford Family Medicine LLC, Radiation Oncology Center of Thornton LLC, Radiation Oncology Manager LLC, Raleigh Community Medical Office Building Ltd., Rapides After Hours Clinic L.L.C., Rapides Healthcare System L.L.C., Rapides Regional Physician Group LLC, Rapides Regional Physician Group Primary Care LLC, Rapides Regional Physician Group Specialty Care LLC, Rapides Surgery Center LLC, Raulerson GYN LLC, Raulerson Gastroenterology LLC, Raulerson Primary Care LLC, Raymore Medical Group LLC, Red Rock Holdco LLC, Red Rock at Smoke Ranch LLC, Red Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Anesthesia Services LLC, Redmond Hospital Services LLC, Redmond Neurosurgery LLC, Redmond Park Health Services Inc., Redmond Park Hospital LLC, Redmond Physician Practice Company, Redmond Specialty Services LLC, Regional Hospital Healthcare Partners LLC, Research Cardiology Associates LLC, Research Family Physicians LLC, Research Internal Medicine LLC, Research Neurology Associates LLC, Research Neuroscience Institute LLC, Resource Optimization & Innovation L.L.C., Reston Hospital Center LLC, Reston Hospitalists LLC, Reston Surgery Center L.P., Retreat Cardiology LLC, Retreat Hospital LLC, Retreat Internal Medicine LLC, Retreat Surgical Associates LLC, Rhodes Limited-Liability Company, Richmond Imaging Employer Corp., Richmond Multi-Specialty LLC, Richmond Pediatric Surgeons LLC, Ridgeline Surgicenter LLC, Rim Building Partners L.P., Rio Grande Healthcare MSO Inc., Rio Grande NP Inc., Rio Grande Regional Hospital Inc., Rio Grande Valley Cardiology PLLC, Rio Grande Valley CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Rio Grande Valley Urology PLLC, Riverside CyberKnife Manager LLC, Riverside Healthcare System L.P., Riverside Holdings Inc., Riverside Hospital Inc., Riverside Imaging LLC, Riverwalk ASC LLC, Roanoke Imaging LLC, Roanoke Neurosurgery LLC, Roanoke Surgery Center L.P., Roanoke Valley Gynecology LLC, Robotic Radiosurgery LLP, Rocky Mountain Pediatric Hematology Oncology LLC, Rocky Mountain Surgery Center LLC, Rome Imaging Center Limited Partnership, Roodlane Medical Limited, Rose Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Rose Health Partners LLC, Rose Medical Plaza Ltd., Rose POB Inc., Rosewood Medical Center Inc., Rosewood Professional Building Ltd., Round Rock Hospital Inc., Round Rock Trauma Surgeons PLLC, Royal Oaks Surgery Center L.P., S.A. Medical Center Inc., SAPN LLC, SCRI Global Services Limited, SCRI Holdings LLC, SCRI Scientifics LLC, SJMC LLC, SSHR Holdco LLC, SSJ St. Petersburg Holdings Inc., STPN Manager LLC, SWMC Inc., Sahara Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Salem Hospitalists LLC, Salem Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Salt Lake City Surgicare Inc., Samaritan LLC, San Antonio Division Inc., San Antonio Regional Hospital Inc., San Antonio Surgicenter LLC, San Bernardino Imaging LLC, San Joaquin Surgical Center Inc., San Jose Healthcare System LP, San Jose Hospital L.P., San Jose LLC, San Jose Medical Center LLC, San Jose Pathology Outreach LLC, San Marcos ASC LLC, San Marcos Surgicenter LLC, Sante Fe Family Practitioners PLLC, Sarah Cannon Development Innovations LLC, Sarah Cannon Research Institute LLC, Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK Limited, Sarasota Doctors Hospital Inc., Savannah Behavioral Health Associates LLC, Savannah Health Network LLC, Savannah Health Services LLC, Savannah Inpatient Services LLC, Savannah Multispecialty Associates LLC, Savannah Pediatric Care LLC, Savannah Primary Care Associates LLC, Sebring Health Services LLC, Selma Medical Center Hospital Inc., Senior Health Associates LLC, Short Pump Imaging LLC, Silicon Valley Health Holdings LLC, Silicon Valley Surgery Center L.P., Silicon Valley Surgicenter LLC, Sky Ridge Spine Manager LLC, Sky Ridge Surgery Center L.P., Skyline Medical Group LLC, Skyline Neuroscience Associates LLC, Skyline Rehab Associates LLC, Skyline Specialty Associates LLC, Smith Laboratories Inc., Solis Mammography at Bayshore Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Conroe Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Denton Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at HCA Houston Tomball LLC, Solis Mammography at Kingwood Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Las Colinas Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center Alliance LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center Arlington LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of Lewisville LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of McKinney LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of Plano LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical City Dallas LLC, Solis Mammography at Pearland Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Rose Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Skyline Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at StoneCrest Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at West Houston Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Womans Hospital of Texas LLC, Solis Mammography of Cedar Hill LLC, Solis Mammography of CyFair LLC, Solis Mammography of Dallas LLC, Solis Mammography of Flower Mound LLC, Solis Mammography of Frisco LLC, Solis Mammography of Garland LLC, Solis Mammography of Grand Prairie LLC, Solis Mammography of Houston NW LLC, Solis Mammography of Katy LLC, Solis Mammography of Louetta/249 LLC, Solis Mammography of Mainland LLC, Solis Mammography of Mansfield LLC, Solis Mammography of Mesquite LLC, Solis Mammography of Montgomery LLC, Solis Mammography of North Cypress LLC, Solis Mammography of North Loop LLC, Solis Mammography of Sugar Land LLC, Solis Mammography of West Plano LLC, Solis Mammography of Womans Place LLC, South Atlantic Division Inc., South Austin Surgery Center Ltd., South Austin Surgical Management LLC, South Austin Surgicenter LLC, South Brandon Imaging LLC, South Florida Division Practice Inc., South Texas Surgicare Inc., South Transfer Center LLC, South Valley Hospital L.P., Southeast Georgia Health Services LLC, Southern Hills Medical Center LLC, Southern Hills Neurology Consultants LLC, Southern Kentucky Medicine Associates LLC, Southern Kentucky Surgicenter LLC, Southern Texas Physicians Network, Southpoint LLC, Southtown Womens Clinic LLC, Southwest Florida Health System Inc., Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., Southwest Medical Center Family Practice LLC, Southwest Medical Center Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Southwest Medical Center Surgical Group LLC, Southwest Medpro Ltd., Southwest Surgical Clinic Inc., Southwest Virginia Orthopedics and Spine LLC, Spalding Rehabilitation L.L.C., Specialists in Obstetrics and Gynecology PLLC, Specialty Associates of West Houston PLLC, Specialty Physicians of Northern Virginia LLC, Specialty Surgicare of Las Vegas LP, Spotsylvania Condominium Property LLC, Spotsylvania Medical Center Inc., Spotsylvania Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Spotsylvania Regional Surgery Center LLC, Spring Branch Family Practitioners PLLC, Spring Branch Medical Center Inc., Spring Hill Hospital Inc., Spring Hill Imaging LLC, Spring Hill Physicians LLC, Springview KY LLC, Spruce Pine Healthcare LLC, St. Davids Austin Area ASC LLC, St. Davids Cardiology PLLC, St. Davids CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, St. Davids Healthcare Partnership L.P. LLP, St. Davids Heart & Vascular PLLC, St. Davids Neurology PLLC, St. Davids OB Hospitalist PLLC, St. Davids Ortho Neuro and Rehab PLLC, St. Davids Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation PLLC, St. Davids Quality Alliance LLC, St. Davids Specialized Womens Services PLLC, St. Davids Trauma Surgeons PLLC, St. Lucie Hospitalists LLC, St. Lucie Medical Center Hyperbarics LLC, St. Lucie Medical Center Walk-In Clinic LLC, St. Lucie Medical Specialists LLC, St. Lucie West Primary Care LLC, St. Marks Ambulatory Surgery Associates L.P., St. Marks Gynecology Oncology Care LLC, St. Marks Investments Inc., St. Marks Physician Billing LLC, St. Marks Professional Services LLC, St. Marks South Jordan Family Practice LLC, St. Martins Healthcare Limited, St. Martins Ltd., St. Martins Medical Services Limited, St. Petersburg General Surgery LLC, Stafford Imaging LLC, Statland Medical Group LLC, Steamboat Springs Surgicenter LLC, Sterling Primary Care Associates LLC, Stiles Road Imaging LLC, StoneCrest Surgery Center LLC, StoneSprings Medical Office Building Property LLC, StoneSprings Surgicenter LLC, Stonecrest Medical Group - Family Practice of Murfreesboro LLC, Stonecrest Medical Group - SC Murfreesboro Family Practice LLC, Stones River Hospital LLC, Suburban Medical Center at Hoffman Estates Inc., Sugar Land Surgery Center Anesthesia LLC, Sugar Land Surgery Center Ltd., Sullins Surgical Center Inc., Summit Convenient Care at Lebanon LLC, Summit General Partner Inc., Summit Heart LLC, Summit Outpatient Diagnostic Center LLC, Summit Research Solutions LLC, Summit Surgery Center L.P., Summit Surgical Associates LLC, Summit Walk-in Clinic LLC, Sun Bay Medical Office Building Inc., Sun City Hospital Inc., Sun City Imaging LLC, Sun Towers/Vista Hills Holding Co., Sun-Med LLC, Sunrise Flamingo Holdings LLC, Sunrise Flamingo Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center LLC, Sunrise Mountainview Hospital Inc., Sunrise Mountainview Multi-Specialty Clinics LLC, Sunrise Outpatient Services Inc., Sunrise Physician Services LLC, Sunrise Trauma Services LLC, Surgery Associates of NTX PLLC, Surgery Center of Atlantis LLC, Surgery Center of Aventura Ltd., Surgery Center of Bay Area Houston LLC, Surgery Center of Greenview L.P., Surgery Center of Independence L.P., Surgery Center of Overland Park L.P., Surgery Center of Port Charlotte Ltd., Surgery Center of Rome L.P., Surgery Center of the Rockies LLC, Surgical Associates of Southwest Virginia LLC, Surgical Care Medical Group LLC, Surgical Center of Irving Inc., Surgical Facility of West Houston L.P., Surgical Park Center Ltd., Surgical Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Surgical Specialists of Conroe PLLC, Surgical Specialists of Corpus Christi PLLC, Surgicare America - Winter Park Inc., Surgicare Merger Company of Louisiana, Surgicare Outpatient Center of Baton Rouge Inc., Surgicare Outpatient Center of Jackson Inc., Surgicare of ADC LLC, Surgicare of AGI LLC, Surgicare of Alpine LLC, Surgicare of Altamonte Springs Inc., Surgicare of Anchorage LLC, Surgicare of Arapahoe LLC, Surgicare of Arlington LLC, Surgicare of Ashburn LLC, Surgicare of Augusta Inc., Surgicare of Aurora Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Aventura LLC, Surgicare of Bay Area Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Bay Area LLC, Surgicare of Bayonet Point Inc., Surgicare of Bayside LLC, Surgicare of Bountiful LLC, Surgicare of Brandon Inc., Surgicare of Brentwood LLC, Surgicare of Brighton LLC, Surgicare of Brooksville LLC, Surgicare of Brownsville LLC, Surgicare of Buckhead LLC, Surgicare of CAREOS LLC, Surgicare of Central Florida Inc., Surgicare of Central Park Surgery Center LLC, Surgicare of Central San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Chattanooga LLC, Surgicare of Chippenham LLC, Surgicare of Citrus LLC, Surgicare of Clarksville LLC, Surgicare of Corpus Christi LLC, Surgicare of Countryside Inc., Surgicare of Dallas Specialty LLC, Surgicare of Denton Inc., Surgicare of Denver Clinic LLC, Surgicare of Denver LLC, Surgicare of Denver Mid-Town Inc., Surgicare of Dickson LLC, Surgicare of Eastside LLC, Surgicare of Evans Inc., Surgicare of Fairfax Inc., Surgicare of Florida Inc., Surgicare of Flower Mound Inc., Surgicare of Focus Hand LLC, Surgicare of Fort Worth Co-GP LLC, Surgicare of Fort Worth Inc., Surgicare of Ft. Pierce Inc., Surgicare of Good Samaritan LLC, Surgicare of Gramercy Inc., Surgicare of Greenview Inc., Surgicare of Hanover Inc., Surgicare of Houston Kingwood LLC, Surgicare of Houston LLC, Surgicare of Houston Womens Inc., Surgicare of Indianapolis Inc., Surgicare of Kansas City LLC, Surgicare of Kingwood LLC, Surgicare of Kissimmee Inc., Surgicare of Lakeview Inc., Surgicare of Las Vegas Inc., Surgicare of Laurel Grove LLC, Surgicare of Lorain County Inc., Surgicare of Los Gatos Inc., Surgicare of Los Robles LLC, Surgicare of Loveland LLC, Surgicare of Madison Inc., Surgicare of Manatee Inc., Surgicare of McKinney Inc., Surgicare of Medical City Dallas LLC, Surgicare of Memorial Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Merritt Island Inc., Surgicare of Miami Lakes LLC, Surgicare of Mountain West LLC, Surgicare of Mt. Ogden LLC, Surgicare of Nashville LLC, Surgicare of Natchez LLC, Surgicare of Newport Richey Inc., Surgicare of North Austin LLC, Surgicare of North San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Northeast San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Orange Park II LLC, Surgicare of Orange Park Inc., Surgicare of Orange Park Ltd., Surgicare of Orlando Inc., Surgicare of Overland Park LLC, Surgicare of Palms West LLC, Surgicare of Park Ridge LLC, Surgicare of Pasadena Inc., Surgicare of Pavilion LLC, Surgicare of Physicians West El Paso LLC, Surgicare of Pinellas Inc., Surgicare of Plano Inc., Surgicare of Plantation Inc., Surgicare of Port Charlotte LLC, Surgicare of Port St. Lucie Inc., Surgicare of Portsmouth LLC, Surgicare of Premier Orthopaedic LLC, Surgicare of Reston Inc., Surgicare of Ridgeline LLC, Surgicare of Riverside LLC, Surgicare of Riverwalk LLC, Surgicare of Roanoke LLC, Surgicare of Rome Inc., Surgicare of Rose LLC, Surgicare of Round Rock Inc., Surgicare of Royal Oaks LLC, Surgicare of Silicon Valley LLC, Surgicare of Sky Ridge LLC, Surgicare of Sky Ridge Womens Center LLC, Surgicare of South Austin Inc., Surgicare of Southeast Denver Inc., Surgicare of Southern Hills Inc., Surgicare of Southern Kentucky LLC, Surgicare of Southwest Houston LLC, Surgicare of Spotsylvania LLC, Surgicare of St. Andrews Inc., Surgicare of St. Andrews Ltd., Surgicare of St. Davids Austin LLC, Surgicare of Steamboat Springs LLC, Surgicare of StoneCrest LLC, Surgicare of StoneSprings LLC, Surgicare of Stuart Inc., Surgicare of Sugar Land Inc., Surgicare of Swedish LLC, Surgicare of Tallahassee Inc., Surgicare of Terre Haute LLC, Surgicare of Thornton LLC, Surgicare of Travis Center Inc., Surgicare of Tulsa Inc., Surgicare of Utah LLC, Surgicare of Wasatch Front LLC, Surgicare of West Hills Inc., Surgicare of Westlake Inc., Surgicare of Wichita Inc., Surgicare of Wichita LLC, Surgicare of Willis LLC, Surgicare of Wilson County LLC, Surgicare of Winchester LLC, Surgicenter of East Jefferson Inc., Surgicenter of Johnson County Ltd. a Kansas limited partnership, Surgicenter of Kansas City L.L.C., Surgico LLC, Swedish MOB Acquisition Inc., Swedish MOB I Ltd., Swedish MOB II Inc., Swedish MOB III Inc., Swedish MOB IV Inc., Swedish MOB LLC, Swedish Medpro Inc., TBHI Outpatient Services LLC, TCMC Madison-Portland Inc., THN Physicians Association Inc., TUHC Anesthesiology Group LLC, TUHC Hospitalist Group LLC, TUHC Physician Group LLC, TUHC Primary Care and Pediatrics Group LLC, TUHC Radiology Group LLC, Tallahassee Community Network Inc., Tallahassee Medical Center Inc., Tallahassee Orthopaedic Surgery Partners Ltd., Tampa Bay Health System Inc., Tampa Surgi-Centre Inc., Tarrant County Surgery Center L.P., Tchefuncte Cardiology Associates - Lakeview LLC, Teays Valley Health Services LLC, Telehealth Physician Services LLC, Tennessee Healthcare Management Inc., Tennessee Valley Outpatient Diagnostic Center LLC, Terre Haute Hospital GP Inc., Terre Haute Hospital Holdings Inc., Terre Haute MOB L.P., Terre Haute Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Terre Haute Regional Hospital L.P., Texas CareNow Physician Associates, Texas HSS LLC, Texas Institute of Medicine and Surgery, Texas Psychiatric Company Inc., The Austin Diagnostic Clinic PLLC, The Cancer Care Center of North Florida LLC, The Cardiovascular Partnership for Quality LLC, The Charter Cypress Behavioral Health System L.L.C., The Christie Clinic LLP, The Glynne Medical Practice Limited, The Harley Street Cancer Clinic Limited, The London Breast Institute UK Ltd, The Medical Group of Kansas City LLC, The Neurohealth Sciences Center LLC, The Physicians Clinic Limited, The Prostate Centre Limited, The Rankin Foundation, The Regional Health System of Acadiana LLC, The Wasatch Endoscopy Center Ltd., The West Texas Division of Columbia Inc., Timpanogos Pain Specialists LLC, Timpanogos Regional Medical Services Inc., Total Imaging - Hudson LLC, Total Imaging - North St. Petersburg LLC, Total Imaging - Parsons LLC, Town Plaza Family Practice LLC, Travel Medicine and Infections LLC, Travis Surgery Center L.P., Tri Cities Health Services Corp., Tri-City Multi-Specialty LLC, Tri-County Community Hospital Inc., Tri-County Surgical Specialists LLC, TriStar Bone Marrow Transplant LLC, TriStar Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, TriStar Family Care LLC, TriStar Gynecology Oncology LLC, TriStar Health System Inc., TriStar Joint Replacement Institute LLC, TriStar Maury Behavioral Healthcare LLC, TriStar Medical Group - Centennial Primary Care LLC, TriStar Medical Group - Legacy Health LLC, TriStar Medical Network LLC, TriStar OB/GYN LLC, TriStar Orthopedics LLC, TriStar Physicians LLC, TriStar Radiation Oncology LLC, Trident Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Trident Behavioral Health Services LLC, Trident Eye Surgery Center L.P., Trident Medical Center LLC, Trident Medical Services Inc., Trident Neonatology Services LLC, Tulane Clinic LLC, Tulane Professionals Management L.L.C., Tuscan Imaging Center at Las Colinas LLC, U.S. Collections Inc., Ultra Imaging Management Services LLC, Ultra Imaging of Tampa LLC, University Healthcare Specialists LLC, University Healthcare System L.C., University Hospital Ltd., Uptown Primary Care Associates LLC, Urgent Care Enterprise LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Ann & Simmons LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Cactus & Southern Highlands LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Charleston & Decatur LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Charleston/Sloan LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Craig & Clayton LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Craig & Decatur LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Durango & Cheyenne LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Durango & Flamingo LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Eastern & Horizon Ridge LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Rainbow/Mardon LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Warm Springs & Green Valley LLC, Urgent Care Extra Silverado & Maryland LLC, Urgent Care Extra-Tropicana & Jones LLC, Urgent Care Nevada LLC, Urological Specialists of Arlington PLLC, Urology Associates (London) Limited, Urology Center of North Georgia LLC, Urology Services of El Paso PLLC, Urology Specialists Devonshire LLP, Urology Specialists London LLP, Urology Specialists of Kingwood PLLC, Urology Specialists of Richmond LLC, Urology Surgery Center of Colorado LLC, Utah CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Utah Imaging GP LLC, Utah Medco LLC, Utah Surgery Center L.P., VH Holdco Inc., VH Holdings Inc., VHSC Plantation LLC, VIP Inc., Valify, Valify Inc., Value Health Holdings Inc., Value Health Management Inc., Vascular and Endovascular Specialists LLC, Venture Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Venture Medical Management LLC, Village Oaks Medical Center Inc., Virginia Care Partners ACO LLC, Virginia Gynecologic Oncology LLC, Virginia Hematology & Oncology Associates Inc., Virginia Hospitalists Inc., Virginia Psychiatric Company Inc., Virginia Quality Care Partners LLC, Vision Consulting Group LLC, Vision Holdings LLC, W & C Hospital Inc., WCP Properties LLC, WHG Medical LLC, WHMC Inc., WJHC LLC, Walterboro Community Hospital Inc., Warren County Ambulance Service LLC, Wasatch Front Surgery Center LLC, Washington Holdco LLC, Waterway Primary Care LLC, Weatherford Health Services LLC, Weatherford Mammography JV LLC, Weatherford Regional Medical Center, Welbeck Street Diagnostic Centre LLP, Wellington Diagnostic Services LLP, Wesley Cath Lab LLC, Wesley Manager LLC, Wesley Medical Center LLC, Wesley Physician Services LLC, Wesley Physicians - Anesthesiologist LLC, Wesley Physicians - Cardiovascular LLC, Wesley Physicians - Medical Specialties LLC, Wesley Physicians - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Wesley Physicians - Primary Care LLC, Wesley Select Network LLC, Wesley Urgent Care LLC, West Boynton Beach Open Imaging Center LLC, West Creek Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, West Creek Medical Center Inc., West Florida - MHT LLC, West Florida - PPH LLC, West Florida Behavioral Health Inc., West Florida Cardiology Network LLC, West Florida Cardiology Physicians LLC, West Florida CareNow Urgent Care LLC, West Florida Division Inc., West Florida Gulf Coast Primary Care LLC, West Florida HealthWorks LLC, West Florida Imaging Services LLC, West Florida Internal Medicine LLC, West Florida PET Services LLC, West Florida Physician Network LLC, West Florida Professional Billing LLC, West Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., West Florida Specialty Physicians LLC, West Florida Trauma Network LLC, West Florida Urgent Care Network LLC, West Hills Hospital, West Hills Surgical Center Ltd., West Houston ASC Inc., West Houston Healthcare Group Ltd., West Houston Internal Specialists PLLC, West Houston LLC, West Houston Medical PLLC, West Houston Outpatient Medical Facility Inc., West Houston Surgicare Inc., West Jacksonville Medical Center Inc., West Jordan Hospital Corporation, West LPN Fort Worth Oncology PLLC, West LPN Inc., West Los Angeles Physicians Hospital Inc., West McKinney Imaging Services LLC, West Paces Services Inc., West Park Surgery Center L.P., West Valley Imaging LLC, West Valley Medical Center Inc., West Valley Medical Group LLC, West Valley Medical Group Specialty Services LLC, West Valley Therapy Services LLC, Westbury Hospital Inc., Western Plains Capital Inc., Westlake Surgicare L.P., Westminster Community Hospital, Westside Surgery Center Ltd., Wichita CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Wildwood Medical Center Inc., Willis Surgicenter LLC, Wilson County Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Womans Health Group PLLC, Womans Hospital Merger LLC, Womans Hospital of Texas Incorporated, Women Practitioners of Houston PLLC, Women Specialists of Bayshore PLLC, Women Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Women Specialists of Mainland PLLC, Womens & Childrens Center LLC, Womens & Childrens Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Center LLC, Womens & Childrens Pulmonology Clinic LLC, Womens Center at Brookside LLC, Womens Health Center of Central Florida LLC, Womens Health Center of SWVA LLC, Womens Hospital Indianapolis GP Inc., Womens Hospital Indianapolis L.P., Womens Link Specialty Obstetrical Referral Clinic PLLC, Womens Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Womens Surgical Specialists of Texas PLLC, Womens and Childrens Professional Management L.L.C., Womens and Childrens Specialists LLC, hInsight-Airstrip Holdings LLC, hInsight-BMA Holdings LLC, hInsight-Customer Care Holdings LLC, hInsight-Digital Reasoning Holdings LLC, hInsight-Healthbox Holdings LLC, hInsight-I2 Holdings LLC, hInsight-InVivoLink Holdings LLC, hInsight-LS Holdings LLC, hInsight-Loyale Healthcare Holdings LLC, hInsight-Mobile Heartbeat Holdings LLC, hInsight-NX LLC, hInsight-PWS I Holdings LLC, hInsight-Procured Holdings LLC, and hInsight-VAI Holdings LLC.
Toyota Motor Corp. engages in the manufacture and sale of motor vehicles and parts. It operates through the following segments: Automotive, Financial Services, and All Other. The Automotive segment designs, manufactures, assembles and sells passenger cars, minivans, trucks, and related vehicle parts and accessories. It is also involved in the development of intelligent transport systems. The Financial Services segment offers purchase or lease financing to Toyota vehicle dealers and customers. It also provides retail leasing through lease contracts purchase by dealers. The All Others segment deals with the design and manufacture and sale of housing, telecommunications and other businesses. The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda on August 28, 1937 and is headquartered in Toyota, Japan.

Read More
Lloyds Banking Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of banking and financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail; Commercial Banking; and Insurance and Wealth. The Retail segment offers a range of financial service products, including current accounts, savings accounts, mortgages, motor finance, unsecured loans, leasing solutions, credit cards, and other financial services to personal and small business customers. The Commercial Banking segment provides lending, transactional banking, working capital management, risk management, and debt capital market services to small and medium-sized entities, corporates, and financial institutions. The Insurance and Wealth segment offers life, home, and car insurance products; and pension, investment, and wealth management products and services. It also provides digital and mobile banking, and telephone services, as well as advisory services for savings, investments, and planning for retirement. The company offers its products and services under the Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows, MBNA, Schroders Personal Wealth, Black Horse, Lex Autolease, Birmingham Midshires, LDC, IWeb, and Agricultural Mortgage Corporation brands. Lloyds Banking Group plc was founded in 1695 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read More
The following companies are subsidiares of Amphenol: ARCAS Automotive Group (Luxco 1) S.a.r.l., AUXEL FTG, AUXEL FTG India Pvt Ltd., AUXEL FTG Shanghai Co., AUXEL S.A.S., Air LB International Development S.A., All Systems Broadband, Amphenol (Changzhou) Advanced Connector Co., Amphenol (Changzhou) Connector Systems Co., Amphenol (Changzhou) Electronics Co., Amphenol (Maryland), Amphenol (Ningde) Electronics Co., Amphenol (Qujing) Technology Co., Amphenol (Tianjin) Electronics Co., Amphenol (Xiamen) High Speed Cable Co., Amphenol Adronics, Amphenol Advanced Sensors Germany GmbH, Amphenol Advanced Sensors Puerto Rico, Amphenol Air LB GmbH, Amphenol Air LB North America Inc., Amphenol Air LB SAS, Amphenol Alden Products Company, Amphenol Alden Products Mexico, Amphenol Antenna Solutions, Amphenol Assemble Tech (Xiamen) Co., Amphenol Australia Pty Ltd, Amphenol Automotive Connection Systems (Changzhou) Co., Amphenol Bar-Tec, Amphenol Benelux B.V., Amphenol Borisch Technologies, Amphenol CNT (Xian) Technology Co. Ltd., Amphenol Cables On Demand Corp., Amphenol Canada Acquisition Corporation, Amphenol Canada Corp., Amphenol Comercial, Amphenol Commercial Interconnect Korea Co., Amphenol Commercial Products (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., Amphenol Commercial and Industrial UK, Amphenol ConneXus AB, Amphenol ConneXus Ou, Amphenol Custom Cable, Amphenol DC Electronics, Amphenol Daeshin Electronics and Precision Co., Amphenol EEC, Amphenol East Asia Electronic Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Amphenol East Asia Limited, Amphenol FCI, Amphenol FCI Asia Pte. Ltd., Amphenol FCI Connectors Singapore Pte. Ltd., Amphenol Fiber Optic Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Amphenol Finland Oy, Amphenol France Acquisition SAS, Amphenol France SAS, Amphenol Germany GmbH, Amphenol Gesellschaft m.b.H., Amphenol Goldstar Electronic Systems (Baicheng) Co. Ltd., Amphenol Goldstar Electronic Systems (Yulin) Co. Ltd., Amphenol Holding UK, Amphenol Intercon Systems, Amphenol Interconnect India Private Limited, Amphenol Interconnect Products Corporation, Amphenol Interconnect South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Amphenol International Ltd., Amphenol Invotec Limited, Amphenol Italia S.r.l., Amphenol JET (Haiyan) Interconnect Technology Co., Amphenol Japan Ltd., Amphenol Kai-Jack (Shenzhen) Inc., Amphenol LTW Technology Co., Amphenol Limited, Amphenol MCP Korea Limited, Amphenol Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Amphenol Middle East Enterprises FZE, Amphenol Nelson Dunn Technologies, Amphenol Netherlands Holdings 1 B.V., Amphenol Netherlands Holdings 2 B.V., Amphenol Omniconnect India Private Limited, Amphenol Optimize Manufacturing Co., Amphenol Optimize Mexico S.A. de C.V., Amphenol PCD, Amphenol PCD (Shenzhen) Co., Amphenol Phitek Limited, Amphenol Printed Circuits, Amphenol Provens SAS, Amphenol RF Asia Limited, Amphenol Sensing Korea Company Limited, Amphenol Shouh Min Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Amphenol Singapore Pte. Ltd., Amphenol Socapex SAS, Amphenol Sunpool (Liaoning) Automotive Electronics Co., Amphenol T&M Antennas, Amphenol TCS (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Amphenol TCS Ireland Limited, Amphenol TCS de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Amphenol TFC Fios E Cabos do Brasil Ltda., Amphenol TFC MDE Participacoes Ltda., Amphenol TFC do Brasil Ltda., Amphenol Taiwan Corporation, Amphenol Technical Products International Co., Amphenol Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Amphenol Technology (Zhuhai) Co., Amphenol Technology Macedonia Dooel Kocani, Amphenol Tecvox LLC, Amphenol Tel-Ad Ltd., Amphenol Thermometrics, Amphenol Thermometrics (UK) Limited, Amphenol Times Microwave Electronics (Shanghai) Limited, Amphenol Tuchel Electronics GmbH, Amphenol Tuchel Industrial GmbH, Amphenol Tunisia LLC, Amphenol USHoldco Inc., Amphenol-Borg Limited, Amphenol-Borg Pension Trustees Limited, Amphenol-TFC (Changzhou) Communication Equipment Co., Anytek Electronic Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd, Anytek International (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Anytek International Co. Ltd., Anytek Technology Corporation Ltd, Asia Connector Services, Berg UK Ltd., Blueline Product Limited, C&S Antennas, C&S Antennas Limited, CSA Limited, Casco Automotive (Suzhou) Co., Casco Automotive Group, Casco Automotive Singapore Pte., Casco Automotive Tunisia S.a.r.l., Casco Holdings Co. Limited, Casco Holdings GmbH, Casco Imos Italia S.r.l., Casco Logistics GmbH, Casco Products Corporation, Casco Schoeller GmbH, Casco do Brasil Ltda., Cemm Thome Corporation, Cemm Thome SK, Cemm-Mex, Changzhou Amphenol Fuyang Communication Equipment Co., ContactServe (Proprietary) Limited, East Asia Connector Services, Edwin Deutgen Kunstofftechnik GmbH, Ehrlich Werkzeug & Geratebau GmbH, FCI Besancon SA, FCI Connectors (Shanghai) Ltd., FCI Connectors Canada, FCI Connectors Dongguan Ltd, FCI Connectors Hong Kong Limited, FCI Connectors Italia S.r.l., FCI Connectors Korea Ltd., FCI Connectors Malaysia Sdn Bhd, FCI Connectors Sweden A.B., FCI Connectors UK Ltd., FCI Deutschland GmbH, FCI Electronics Hungary Kft, FCI GBS India Private Limited, FCI Japan K.K., FCI Nantong Ltd, FCI OEN Connectors Limited, FCI PRC Limited, FCI Taiwan Limited, FCI USA LLC, FCIs-Hertogenbosch B.V., FEP Fahrzeugelektrik Pirna, FEP Fahrzeugelektrik Pirna GmbH & Co. KG, FEP Fahrzeugelektrik Pirna Verwaltungs GmbH, Fiber Systems International, Filec Production SAS, Filec SAS, Friedrich Gohringer Elektrotechnik GmbH, GE - Advanced Sensors Business, Guangzhou Amphenol Electronics Co., Guangzhou Amphenol Sincere Flex Circuits Co., Guangzhou FEP Automotive Electric Co., Hangzhou Amphenol JET Interconnect Technology Co., Hangzhou Amphenol Phoenix Telecom Parts Co., Holland Electronics, Intelligente Sensorsysteme Dresden GmbH, Invotec Circuits Holdings Limited, Invotec Circuits Limited, Invotec Group Limited, Invotec Holdings Limited, Ionix Aerospace Limited, Ionix Holdings Limited, Ionix Systems Limited, Ionix Systems Ou, Jaybeam Limited, Jaybeam Wireless SAS, KE Elektronik GmbH, KE Ostrov  Elektrik, KE Presov Elektrik, Konnektech, Kunshan Amphenol Zhengri Electronics Co., LPL Technologies Holding GmbH, LTW Technology (Samoa) Co., LTW Top Tech (Samoa) Co., Lectric SARL, Martec Limited, Mocorp Holding A/S, Nantong Docharm Amphenol Electronics Co., PROCOM, PT Casco SEA, PerLoga Personal und Logistik GmbH, Piezotech, Piher Sensors & Controls S.A., Piher Sensors And Controls, Precision Cable Manufacturing Corp. de Mexico, Procom A/S, Procom Antennas AB, Procom France SARL, Pyle-National Ltd., RSI International Limited, S.C.I. Palin, SEFEE SA, SGX Europe SP. z.o.o., SGX Sensortech (IS) Limited, SGX Sensortech China Holdco Limited, SGX Sensortech China Limited, SGX Sensortech GmbH, SGX Sensortech SA, SSI Control Technologies, STEMFI SA, SV Microwave, Shanghai Amphenol Airwave Communication Electronics Co., Shanghai Amphenol Electronics Technology Co., Shanghai Tecvox Trading Co., Shenyang Amphenol Sunpool Automotive Electronics Co., Sine Systems Corporation, Skymasts Antennas Ltd., Societe dEtudes et de Fabrications Electroniques et Electriques, Spectra Strip Limited, TCS Japan K.K., TFC South America S.A., Tecvox Europe S.r.l., Telect, Telect Mfg., Telect de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Teradyne Connection Systems, Thermometrics Mexico, Tianjin Amphenol KAE Co., Times Fiber Canada Limited, Times Fiber Communications, Times Microwave Systems, Times Wire and Cable Company, U-Jin Cable Industrial Co., Zhongshan Feisaide Electromechanical Co., and i2s-sensors.
The North West Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the retail of food and everyday products and services to rural communities and urban neighborhood markets in Canada, Alaska, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. The company's Canadian operations comprise 118 Northern stores, which offers food, financial services, and general merchandise; 5 NorthMart stores that provides fresh foods, apparel, and health products and services; 25 Quickstop convenience stores that provides ready-to-eat foods, and fuel and related services; 5 Giant Tiger junior discount stores, which offers family fashion, household products, and food; 2 Valu Lots discount center and direct-to-customer food distribution outlet; 2 Pharmacy and Convenience stores; 1 Solo Market store for rural market; and 1 North West Company motorsports dealership offering sales, service, parts and accessories for Ski-doo, Honda, Can-am and other premier brands. The Canadian operations also provides contract tele-pharmacist services to rural hospitals and health centers; water and air-based transportation services; and produce and fresh meats to independent grocery stores. Its International operations include 27 Alaska Commercial Company stores that provides food and general merchandise to remote and rural regions; 12 Cost-U-Less mid-size warehouse stores, which offers discount food and general merchandise; 5 Quickstop convenience stores; 8 Riteway food markets; and 1 Cash and Carry store. The North West Company Inc. was founded in 1668 and is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada.

Read More
Pengrowth Energy Corporation, a resource company, explores for, develops, and produces oil and natural gas assets in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia provinces in Canada. The company explores for crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, shale gas, and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing properties are the Lindbergh thermal property covering an area of 20,800 net acres located in Alberta; and Groundbirch property totaling an area of 12,536 net acres located to the south west of Fort St. John, British Columbia. As of December 31, 2018, the company had 269 net producing oil and natural gas wells; and 586 net non-producing wells, as well as total proved plus probable reserves of 446.6 millions of barrels of oil equivalent. Pengrowth Energy Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read More
There is not enough analysis data for Samsung Electronics.

4.1 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Samsung Electronics has received 130 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Samsung Electronics has received 77 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Samsung Electronics has received 62.80% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Samsung Electronics and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe SSNLF will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe SSNLF will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

Next
iShares MSCI South Africa ETF's stock was trading at $36.43 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EZA stock has increased by 29.6% and is now trading at $47.20.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
As of September 25, 2020, Stuart Olson Inc. was acquired by Bird Construction Inc. Stuart Olson Inc. provides general contracting and electrical building systems contracting services to the institutional and commercial construction markets in Canada. The company's Buildings Group segment provides general contracting services, including integrated project delivery, construction management, and design-build services for schools, hospitals, and high-rise buildings; and management, estimating, accounting, site management, field workers, and equipment in order to complete projects. Its Commercial Systems Group segment designs, builds, maintains, and services critical building systems, including electrical and life safety systems, voice, data and communications networks, security infrastructure, and other related building technology systems for commercial, institutional, light industrial, and multi-use low and high rise buildings. The company's Industrial Group segment provides contracting, maintenance, and turnaround services, such as electrical and instrumentation; mechanical; mechanical process insulation; industrial metal siding and cladding; scaffolding; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; fire-stopping; heat trace tubing; and asbestos abatement services. This segment also offers a range of technical services on high voltage equipment, including project planning, acceptance testing, start-up and commissioning, maintenance, maintenance testing, infrared scanning, transformer assembly and repair, cable terminations, and reliability studies; temporary power services for initial project phases; ongoing electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation installation during construction phases; and value added services of continued operations and maintenance support for operating facilities, as well as full project commissioning services. The company was formerly known as The Churchill Corporation and changed its name to Stuart Olson Inc. in May 2014. Stuart Olson Inc. was founded in 1911 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read More
TC Energy Corporation operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. It operates through Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines, U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines, Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines, and Power and Storage segments. The company builds and operates 93,400 km network of natural gas pipelines, which transports natural gas from supply basins to local distribution companies, power generation plants, industrial facilities, interconnecting pipelines, LNG export terminals, and other businesses. It also has regulated natural gas storage facilities with a total working gas capacity of 535 billion cubic feet. In addition, it has approximately 4,900 km liquids pipeline system that connects Alberta crude oil supplies to refining markets in Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Further, the company owns or has interests in seven power generation facilities with a combined capacity of approximately 4,200 megawatts that are powered by natural gas and nuclear fuel sources located in Alberta, Ontario, QuAbec, and New Brunswick; and owns and operates approximately 118 billion cubic feet of non-regulated natural gas storage capacity in Alberta. The company was formerly known as TransCanada Corporation and changed its name to TC Energy Corporation in May 2019. TC Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1951 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read More
1 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Premier Oil in the last year. There are currently 1 hold rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should "hold" Premier Oil stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in PMO, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for Premier Oil or view top-rated stocks.
Oasis Petroleum Inc., an independent exploration and production company, focuses on the acquisition and development of onshore unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through Exploration and Production(E&P), and Midstream segments. The E&P segment engages in the acquisition and development of oil and gas properties. The Midstream segment offers midstream services, such as natural gas gathering, compression, processing and, gas lift supply; crude oil gathering, terminaling, and transportation; produced and flowback water gathering, and disposal; and water distribution. As of December 31, 2020, the company had 401,766 net leasehold acres in the Williston Basin; and 24,396 net leasehold acres in the Permian Basin, as well as approximately 152.2 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated net proved reserves. The company sells its crude oil and natural gas to refiners, marketers, and other purchasers that have access to pipeline and rail facilities. Oasis Petroleum Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Read More
Wynn Macau, Limited, together with its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates the Wynn Palace and Wynn Macau casino resorts in Macau. The company's Wynn Palace resort features approximately 424,000 square feet of casino space providing 24-hour gaming and various games comprising private gaming salons and sky casinos; a luxury hotel with a total of 1,706 guest rooms, suites, and villas; and 14 food and beverage outlets. Its Wynn Palace resort also consists of approximately 107,000 square feet of retail shopping; 37,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; recreation and leisure facilities consisting of a cable car ride, health club, spa, salon, and pool; and public entertainment attractions, including a lake, animated floral art displays, and fine art displays. In addition, the company's Wynn Macau resort features approximately 252,000 square feet of casino space offering 24-hour gaming and various games, including private gaming salons, sky casinos, and a poker pit; two hotel towers with 1,010 rooms and suites; 12 food and beverage outlets; and recreation and leisure facilities, such as two health clubs and spas, a salon, and a pool. Further, its Wynn Macau resort includes approximately 59,000 square feet of retail shopping and 31,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Macau. Wynn Macau, Limited is a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts, Limited.

Read More
UTICA, N.Y. -- Volunteers from the Mohawk Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross are providing immediate emergency aid to a family of four after a fire at a historic building in Oneida Square.

The three-story building in the 1300 block of Genesee Street is mixed-use  both commercial and residential.

There are businesses at the street level, a restaurant and a salon, and apartments upstairs.

The fire started around 5 p.m. Wednesday night.

The Red Cross is stepping in to help out with financial assistance for shelter, food and clothing to two adults and two children, aged 8 and 16.

Volunteers are offering emotional support, comfort kits containing personal care items and stuffed animals for the children.

In the coming days, Red Cross staff and volunteers will be on hand to help those affected by the fire as they get back on their feet.

The extent of the damage is not clear.

There are no reports of anyone getting hurt, and at this point  there's no word on a cause of the fire.
Three of four men accused of plotting to bomb a nearby Muslim community, pleaded not guilty to several charges including crimes of terrorism.

The three are from the Rochester area.

The Muslim community, Islamberg, is in Delaware County.

Court documents say the suspects had multiple explosive devices and mason jars wrapped in duct tape, in addition to 23 guns.

An unnamed 16-year-old is also charged in this case.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Lafayette police are renewing a call for information in three unsolved crimes that happened just 11 days apart. Detectives are continuing to investigate two shootings and a homicide in the city this year.

With no one behind bars, Lafayette Police Chief Pat Flannelly is hoping the public can provide more information.

"The better the information we get and the sooner that we get it, the more actionable it becomes," Flannelly said.

Here's what we know:

Shooting outside Biltmore Tap Room:

Police said a man was shot twice in the early morning hours on Jan. 28 outside the Biltmore Tap Room after a fight spilled into the streets. Officers do not believe the man was involved in the fight inside or outside the bar.

When officers arrived at the bar on South 4th Street, they couldn't find a suspect or victims.

Police later learned of a gunshot victim at an area hospital. Lt. Brian Phillips said at the time, the victim was inside the bar and then left. While he was outside, he was shot in the abdomen and the right forearm. He was taken to the hospital by a friend, according to police. Police said they believed his injuries were non-life-threatening.

Police said witnesses reported seeing several vehicles and people leaving the scene.

7th Street Shooting:

Lafayette police said a man was shot on Feb. 4 near the Tippecanoe County Public Library. Officers said around 11:30 p.m., police were called to the 100 block of South 7th Street. An 18-year-old man told police he was walking on the sidewalk behind the library when he was approached by another an wearing all black clothing. Police said the victim then told police he was shot in the right shoulder.

Officers said the victim then ran to a friend's house, where police responded. The man was taken to the hospital and treated for his injury. He is expected to survive, according to officers.

The suspect was described as slender and about six feet tall.

Hart Street Homicide:

Police were called to the 1300 block of Hart Street around 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 7 after a relative of Lisa Heinsen, 52, asked for LPD to do a well-being check. Officers arrived and found Heinsen dead.

Lafayette police said they want to speak to a man in connection to the homicide. Officers said 62-year-old Juan Manuel Roano was known to frequently visit the home and is a person of interest.

Police said Roano's white 2002 Nissan Xterra was found in San Antonio, Texas on Feb. 11.

Roano is believed to be armed and dangerous. Police said do not approach him.

This was the city's first homicide of 2019, officers said.

Flannelly wasn't able to say if LPD was working with investigators in Texas or Mexico, but said detectives will go wherever to solve this case.

"I am always hopeful that we will solve them soon," said Flannelly. "We are pretty good at solving our homicides so we wont stop until it is solved."

While there may have been an increase during this week and a half, Flannely said there is nothing the community needs to worry about. He says overall case numbers were down in 2018.

"For the average person that that's going about their daily lives, the chances of this happening to you are almost non-existent," said Flannelly.

If you have any information in these cases or others call Lafayette Police at (765) 807-1200 or the anonymous WeTip line at 1 (800) 78-CRIME.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Oman, officially named the Sultanate of Oman, is a country in Western Asia's Middle East region. Located at the confluence of the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, the country borders the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the northwest, the Arabian Sea to the south and east, Yemen to the southwest, and Saudi Arabia to the west. The Arab country is governed as a unitary parliamentary and absolute monarchy. Oman has a gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately $69.83 billion, and oil and gas are among the key sectors of the nation's economy. However, the tourism industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Oman's manufacturing and agriculture sectors remain relatively underdeveloped and account for only about 1% of the nations exports. Agriculture, which is often subsistence, is focused on the production of limes, dates, vegetables, and grains. The country will likely continue importing the bulk of its food in the near future. In recent years, the government has increased efforts to diversify into other sectors such as trade and tourism.

Natural Resources of Oman

Oil and Petroleum

In 2013, oil revenues accounted for 66% of Oman's exports, and approximately 39% of GDP. The country's oil reserves, which are estimated at 5.5 billion barrels, are considered deep, and therefore are costly to extract. Reduced production from old oil fields, coupled with the challenges in decreasing reserves levels, resulted in a production decline to 710,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2007. However, new investments in 2008 and the implementation of EOR, led to a production increase, which reached 919,000 bbl/d by 2012. The Mukhaizna Oil Field, which has an estimated 2.1 billion barrels and is operated by the Oxy Group, was vital in achieving this output increase. Other projects that contributed to renewed growth include Block 8, run by the Rak Petroleum Company and South Korea's LG International, which is set to achieve a production of 10,000 bbl/d. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), 60% of which is controlled by the government, is responsible for more than 85% of the nations production acreage. PDO obtained a concession agreement for 40 years beginning in 2004. In 2008, PDO invested about $70 million in appraisals and exploration. The Karim Project, which is under development by Medco Energi of Indonesia, is set to boost oil production in Oman as well. Once complete, the project is expected to increase production from about 12,000 bbl/d to an estimated 30,000 bbl/d. Rima Cluster, which is being developed by Petrogas, is also attempting to increase output from 2,000bbl/d to an estimated 7,000 bbl/d upon completion.

Natural Gas

Petroleum Development Oman is responsible for the majority of the nation's output of natural gas. The countrys gas pipeline network is controlled by the Oman Gas Company (OGC), although management of the gas network has been contracted to private companies. The gas network in Oman is about 1,100 miles in length and connects various stakeholders. Oman has invested substantially in developing its gas reserves, which are estimated to be 30 trillion cubic feet. However, these reserves are not sufficient to meet current and future local demands. As a result, Oman will need to import gas to meet future demand. PDO has made additional investments to increase natural gas production. Other projects to boost production include the exploration of Block 63 by Petronas, as well as the exploration of Block 60 and Block 64 by other investors.

Tourism

Oman features beautiful coastlines, mountain views, and numerous historic sites, and therefore receives about 1.96 million tourists each year. The tourism sector contributes about 3.3% of the nations GDP and employs approximately 37,000 people. However, the industry has suffered from poor infrastructure and inadequate investment. The government has recently increased investment through projects such as the expansion of Muscat International Airport, which will accommodate 12,000,000 passengers annually once complete. Salalah International Airport is also set for expansion, alongside Ras al-Hadd, Sohar, Adam and, Duqm. Other tourism projects include resort-like developments in various parts of the country, as well as a 6000-seat convention centre near Muscat International Airport. The Port of Sultan Qaboos is also being transformed in order to accommodate cruise ships and increased tourists.

Agriculture

Subsistence agriculture and animal herding are still common in Oman, and the country has 2.2 million hectares of irrigated, cultivable land. Currently, approximately 5.7% of Oman's total land area is used for permanent crops, which yields about 1.57 million tons of various agricultural produce. This produce is both consumed locally and exported. Advancement of Oman's agricultural industry is hindered by several factors, including inadequate water resources. The fishing industry employs at least 15,000 people directly, and up to 100,000 people indirectly. Commercial fisheries have been established in areas near Muscat, and the total amount of fish caught in 2011, through both traditional and commercial fishing, totaled 158,723 tons.

Future of Oman's Economy

Oman's government has created a plan for sustainable development that is less dependent on an oil-based economy. In particular, the sectors that are being targeted for growth include manufacturing and tourism. Additionally, the agriculture and fishing industries will also be targeted through investments and incentives. This plan aims to ensure that the manufacturing and industrial sectors contribute at least 15% of the nation's GDP by the year 2020. Gas-based industries, like aluminum smelters, polyethylene, and aromatics projects, are also expected to receive investments worth billions of dollars. Additionally, the government plans for greater involvement of the private sector, which will have an integral role in the attainment of these economic goals. According to the Vision 2020 plan, the private sector is expected to increase the economy's self-reliance and competitiveness. The private sector is also expected to be a leader in income generation, job creation, and social responsibility. Electricity, water, and other commodities will also be privatized in the future.
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  A proposed ballot measure seeks to move Alaska legislative sessions from the state capital of Juneau to the states biggest city, Anchorage.

Supporters say theyre not trying to move the capital and see the proposal as a way to make the Legislature more accessible. Juneau isnt on Alaskas road system, requiring lawmakers and constituents to fly or take ferries to reach the city. Juneau also is about 600 miles (966 kilometers) from the population centers of Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

But critics of the idea see the capital and Legislature as...
The appearance by Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen before the House Homeland Security Committee was intended to serve the political purposes of both the Trump administration and the Democrats, who now command a majority in the House.

Nielsen took the occasion, her first appearance of the year before Congress, to publicly defend Trumps declaration of a national emergency. Trump issued the order February 15 to divert funding from the Pentagon budget to pay for his border wall, in defiance of Congress and the US Constitution.

Last week, the House of Representatives voted to disallow the declaration and a similar measure is expected to pass the Republican-controlled Senate next week, with anywhere from four to 14 Republicans expected to join all 47 Democrats in the vote.

Nielsen met behind closed doors with Senate Republicans Tuesday and White House aides have sought to apply pressure to prevent a Senate action that would be politically embarrassing, although it is not expected to have any practical effect, since Trump will simply veto the resolution to disallow his emergency declaration.

For their part, Democrats pretended to be outraged about the systematic brutality of the US border regime, although they supported similar methods without protest when Barack Obama was in the White House. Not one of the immigration enforcement actions taken by Trumpwith the exception of the emergency declaration itselfgoes further than measures taken under the Obama administration, which deported more immigrants in its eight years than all previous US governments.

Despite the posturing on both sides, Wednesdays hearing for Nielsen, and three other congressional hearings the same day on immigration-related issues, gave a glimpse of the horrific conditions facing immigrants, for which both corporate-controlled parties are responsible.

Far from being a country with liberty and justice for all, as every school child is told in the daily brainwashing known as the Pledge of Allegiance, America is the land that puts innocent children into cages fit for dogs, breaks up families, separating parents and children, and is preparingat least according to Nielsento detain and imprison nearly one million immigrants this coming year.

Nielsens hearing was mainly notable for her efforts to defend the caging of children and their separation from their parents. In response to a question from one committee Democrat, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, Nielsen defined a chain-link enclosure for immigrant childreni.e., a cageas a detention space.

Asked, Does it differ from the cages you put your dogs in when you let them stay outside?, Nielsen replied that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detention space is larger, it has facilities, it provides room to sit, to stand, to lay [sic] down. Coleman replied that her dogs cage had similar room.

Nielsen persisted with her defense, telling committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, Sir, they are not cages, they are areas of the border facility that are carved out for the safety and protection of those who remain there while theyre being processed. Thompson replied in the mildest language, telling her, Dont mislead the committee.

The DHS secretary adamantly defended the Trump policy of forcible separation of children from their parents after family groups, mainly from Central America, presented themselves at border posts and asked for asylum. She claimed that the zero tolerance policyarresting and imprisoning every asylum claimanthad been implemented humanely.

This and similar declarations allowed Democratic members of the committee to deliver loud speeches denouncing the brutality of the policy of forced separation. None of them objected to similar measures when they were employed by the DHS and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during the Obama administration, albeit on a smaller scale and with less publicity.

Nielsen employed a political sleight of hand, portraying the dire condition of many asylum seekers when they reach the US-Mexico border, frequently after lengthy treks through the Sonoran Desert without sufficient food, water or shelter, as though that was the emergency that concerned Trump when he made his declaration. She called the mass migration of desperate Central American families a humanitarian catastrophe, which it certainly is.

However, as far as Trump and congressional Republicans are concerned, the emergency is not the physical condition of hungry, sick and cold immigrants, but the possibility that they could gain entry to the United States. The purpose of both the declaration of national emergency and the wall itself is to prevent immigrants from ever setting foot on US soil, condemning them to death in Mexico or in their home countries further south.

One House Republican defended this line of thinking in a particularly stupid comment. Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana noted that, according to CBP, some 76,000 immigrants were taken into custody in February 2019, the most for that month in more than a decade. This number was larger than the 73,000 US troops who landed on Normandy on D-Day in 1944, which he called the greatest invasion in history. Therefore, Higgins argued, the immigrant influx was an even greater threat to US national security.

The deepening crisis in the Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras is driving tens of thousands of desperate workers and peasants to flee their countries to escape police repression, gang violence and acute poverty, all of it the product of the domination of the region for more than a century by American imperialism. It is a measure of that crisis that Nielsen suggested that the total number of immigrant detainees in 2019 might be as high as 900,000, and more than a million for the fiscal yeara sizable proportion of the population of those three small countries.

Two other House committee hearings dealt with aspects of the immigration crisis and the policies of the Trump administration. The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from recipients of limited protection against deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs. Both have been terminated by Trump, but his orders have been held up by court orders maintaining the status quo while further litigation takes place. On Monday, a federal district court in California temporarily blocked enforcement of Trumps order to terminate TPS protection for 250,000 long-term immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan.

The House Appropriations Committee took testimony from the acting inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, who is conducting three investigations into aspects of DHS operations: the inability of the agency to track parents and children in the same family after they were separated; the failure, in many cases, to offer parents the chance to take their children with them when they were deported; and the policy of turning away asylum seekers at US ports of entry when they attempted to file asylum claims under a longstanding legal procedure.

Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kevin McAleenan, head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit of DHS, discussed figures released the previous day showing 76,000 immigrants detained in February 2019. While arrests for illegal border crossing reached nearly 400,000 in fiscal 2018, this was only one quarter of the record total of 1.64 million in 2000, the final year of the Clinton administration.

McAleenan said that more than 50,000 adults are currently in ICE custody, the highest number ever. That is because while previous administrations generally released detained immigrants pending adjudication of their cases, Trump has ordered an end to the policy he has called catch and release, insisting that every immigrant arrested by ICE should be held in custody.
The Trump administration and the administration of Democratic mayor Bill de Blasio jointly announced last month an agreement for the appointment of a federal monitor to oversee the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), in a move that is a step toward the privatization of the largest public housing system in the United States.

Some weeks later, US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson announced that he had appointed Bart Schwartz to the post. Schwartz is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York who worked under the direction of Rudy Giuliani, a current member of Donald Trumps legal team and former New York City mayor.

Schwartz was accused of a conflict of interest in 2017 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), when he was a receiver in an SEC case against the hedge fund Platinum Management. Schwartz used about 40 percent of Platinums funds in the receivership process before being forced to withdraw, after it became known that he had been hired four years prior to defend the ethical propriety of a Platinum loan.

The former prosecutor assumes the post as NYCHAs federal monitor in the midst of a crisis that is deeper than ever, with the Authority needing tens of billions of dollars to update its facilities, and amidst frequent loss of heating for thousands of tenants during the winter months. NYCHA admits that approximately 2,800 of its apartments where young children live have been found to have lead paint contamination, although it has systematically attempted to cover up the scale of the problem.

NYCHA residents, more than 400,000 in all, are subjected to vermin, lead paint, leaks, lack of heat, broken infrastructure and a backlog of 250,000 requests for repairs, many stretching over several years. The public housing system has been starved of resources for decades, and its present crisis is being used as the pretext for moves toward privatization. The mechanism and rationale is very similar to the way in which underperforming public schools are neglected, and then closed or converted into charters.

Despite the dire state of NYCHA, the monitors role will not be to provide much-needed federal funding to improve the state of housing for the families who live in the projects, which comprise nine percent of New York Citys rental housing stock. Instead, to the extent that conditions are improved at all in NYCHA facilities, it will be to prepare for their partial or complete privatization. Two NYCHA complexes in the Bronx have already had a 50 percent ownership stake handed over to a private development group.

The deal for a monitor is a devastating exposurenot so much of the Trump administration, whose policies are well known, but of de Blasio, the progressive mayor of New York.

De Blasio agreed to the deal after HUD Secretary Carson threatened to declare NYCHA to be in substantial default, which would have allowed HUD to exert significant control on the authority through official receivership. The deal between Carson, an extreme right-wing Republican and vicious opponent of public housing, and Democrat de Blasio, is so open a surrender to the Trump administration that it provoked the opposition of NYCHA chairman Stanley Brezenoff, an 81-year-old veteran of the citys political establishment.

Brezenoff, a longtime municipal bureaucrat, had been appointed by de Blasio to head NYCHA on an interim basis only 10 months ago. Now, in an interview with the New York Times, he sharply criticized the deal. This is a receiver in everything but name, he said, noting, The city and NYCHA have all the responsibility, limited authority and all of the financial burden.

Under the monitoring deal, the city will have to supply $2.2 billion over the next decade to repair NYCHA buildingsa totally inadequate sum, given that at least $32 billion is neededwhile Schwartz will oversee the citys compliance and will have the right to abrogate city contracts and go around Civil Service requirements, according to the Times .

Brezenoff refused to sign the agreement, forcing his deputy, NYCHA General Manager Vito Mustaciuolo, to do so instead. At the same time Brezenoff announced that he would be retiring. Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia has since been appointed interim NYCHA chair.

Brezenoffs name is very well known in New York City government circles. He has decades of experience in brokering deals to make city workers pay for the deepening crisis of the system, manifested especially in the ruthless reductions of state and federal aid for social programs and public services. He was a prominent figure in the 1980s, when he served as president of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation from 1981 to 1984 and brought the systems $1.8 billion annual budget into line, according to a city biography. He later served as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Even for Brezenoff, however, this major step toward federal receivership and privatization of public housing was too blatant. While placing the full financial burden on the city and supplying no additional federal funding, the monitoring deal paves the way for further attacks if HUD determines that the present arrangement is inadequate.

De Blasios press secretary, Eric Phillips, attempted to justify the agreement by pointing to this danger. While the mayor respects Stans opinion and thanks him for his unrivaled legacy of public service, said Phillips, you dont gamble or play a game of chicken when its your job to prevent Donald Trump from becoming the landlord of 400,000 public housing residents.

Of course, the deal will do nothing of the kind. It may well prove to be a major step toward a complete federal takeover of NYCHA by a government that is open in its hatred of public housing.

The spectacle of a veteran official whose career can be traced back to the Koch administration, which led the attack on the 1980 transit workers strike and numerous other attacks on the working class, now criticizing de Blasio from the left, is a politically revealing moment. The current mayor ran for office on a platform of reversing decades of growing inequality, and now presides over deeper attacks. Behind this is the crisis of the system faithfully represented by de Blasio. Like every other Democratic politician, progressives as well as so-called moderates, the mayor must do the bidding of Wall Street because he represents the ruling class.

The roots of the crisis of NYCHA go back to the 1970s and even earlier. The decline and collapse of the postwar economic boom led to a bipartisan program of budget-cutting austerity. This proceeded under the presidencies of Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and the rest, up to the present day.

Since 2001 alone, federal funding for NYCHA has been cut by more than $2.7 billion. On a state level austerity has been implemented in different forms by current Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo, his father Mario back in the 1980s, and also by Republican George Pataki and several other Democrats in between.

The 1975 fiscal crisis and near-bankruptcy in New York was a turning point, when the full burden was placed on the working class, with the collaboration of the union leadership, particularly District Council 37 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Whatever present tension between municipal Democrats and federal Republicans exists, it is purely tactical in nature, over how to prosecute a social counterrevolution that has been presided over by both big business parties for more than four decades. Their common mantra is that there is no money. The desperately needed repairs are unobtainable through either of the parties of Wall Street. The resources for decent and affordable housing, including but by no means confined to the massive repair and renovation of New York Citys public housing, can only be fought for and obtained through the independent political struggle of the working class, on the basis of a socialist program of expropriating the giant banks and billionaires.
March 5 was the last day of production at the General Motors Lordstown Assembly Plant, a giant 6.2 million square foot industrial complex located halfway between Cleveland, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, after more than a half-century of operation and the production of more than 16 million vehicles, the last 1,400 workers walked out of the factory, which once employed 13,000 workers on three shifts.

GM, which made $11.8 billion in 2018 profits, is shutting five plants in the US and Canada this year, including in Detroit, Baltimore and Oshawa, and eliminating 14,000 jobs as part of a global restructuring to boost returns to its wealthiest shareholders. The companies, driven by the demands of Wall Street, are carrying out a ruthless attack on workers.

The closure and the ripple effects on suppliers and local businesses will produce a social catastrophe in a region already devastated by decades of deindustrialization and facing collapsing school systems and an escalating opioid crisis.

The closing of the Lordstown plant is a historical verdict on the United Auto Workers (UAW) and all the unions and their policies of nationalism and the defense of capitalism. It is the product of decades of betrayal by the UAW and its transformation into a junior partner of the auto companies in the exploitation of workers and the suppression of the class struggle.

The closure has met with no resistance from the UAW, which has spent the last four months since the GM announcement holding prayer vigils, filing worthless lawsuits and joining Trump and Ohio Democrats in blaming Mexican and Chinese workers for the shutdowns. As it has done for the last four decades, the UAW has signaled its willingness to impose any concessions demanded by GM in upcoming contract negotiations to convince the automaker to save the plant.

The Lordstown factory, built in 1966 just outside of the steel-making town of Youngstown, Ohio, occupies an esteemed place in the history of the American working class. In the early 1970s, it was the site of a series of militant labor struggles that were part of the 3,619 major work stoppages, involving 16.6 million US workers, that swept across every industry between 1968 and 1977. The strike wave in the US was a component of an international upsurge of resistance to efforts to force workers to pay for the world capitalist crisis, including the mass strikes by British coal miners that brought down the Tory government in 1974.

In an effort to combat its Japanese competitors, GM sought to use new technology, including robotic welding machines, to drastically increase output at Lordstown for its new Chevrolet Vega car. After laying off 300 workers in the early 1970s, GM increased the line speed from 60 to 101 cars per hourthe fastest rate of any factory in the worldgiving workers only 36 seconds to complete their tasks instead of the standard 60.

The workforce, whose average age was 24 and included many ex-soldiers who had been radicalized by the horrors of the Vietnam War, revolted. In March 1972, the UAW was forced to call a strike. After isolating the 22-day strike, the UAW signed a deal that did not address the central issue of speed-up.

Opposition, including wildcat strikes, open defiance of managers and the deliberate sabotage of vehicles, continued. So rebellious were the workers that BusinessWeek magazine coined the term Lordstown syndrome to define the militancy of an entire generation of industrial workers determined to fight exploitation.

The Workers League, the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party, was intensely involved in the Lordstown struggle and many other struggles of autoworkers in this period. In a 1973 pamphlet, From Sit-Down to Lordstown, the Workers League pointed to the virtual state of civil war between autoworkers and GM and noted that the most volatile and militant section of the UAW represented by the youngest workers had forced the reluctant UAW leadership to call a strike.

In November 1973, the partys newspaper, the Bulletin, mounted a defense of the Lordstown Four, who were framed up by GM and local authorities and jailed on bogus charges.

During this period, although workers consistently clashed with the union leadership and their corruption and collaboration with the auto bosses, workers still looked at unions as their organizations. Despite the bureaucratized character of the unions, workers could still make gains during this period of relative economic boom and US industrial dominance.

The basic political mechanism through which the UAW and AFL-CIO subordinated the working class to capitalism and American imperialism was the unions alliance with the Democratic Party and their opposition to a politically independent movement of the working class. That is why the Workers League, in its fight to build a new revolutionary leadership in the unions, placed at the center of the fight against the labor bureaucracy the demand that the unions break with the Democratic Party and establish a Labor Party based on socialist policies. This tactic lost its viability as the unions evolved into direct arms of the corporations and the state in suppressing the class struggle.

By the end of 1970s, the American ruling class responded to the increasing loss of its global economic dominance by ending its policy of relative class compromise and unleashing an all-out war to claw back all the gains workers had achieved through decades of struggle. Exploiting advances in telecommunications and transportation, US-based corporations shifted production to low-wage countries, while plant closings and mass layoffs were used to extract huge wage and benefits concessions from workers in the US. The 1979-80 Chrysler bailout was followed by Reagans smashing of the PATCO air traffic controllers strike in 1981 and a decade of violent strike-breaking and union-busting.

The globalization of capitalist production and the growth of transnational production completely undermined the unions, which were based on the protection of the national labor market. However, the catastrophe that befell American workers, like their counterparts around the world, was not the inevitable outcome of economic processes.

At every turn, the efforts of autoworkers and other sections of workers to resist the attack on jobs and living standards were sabotaged by the UAW and other unions, which isolated and defeated strikes and colluded with the employers in the closing of plants, the imposition of mass layoffs and the framing-up and victimization of militant workers.

In the early 1980s, the UAW officially adopted the corporatist policy of labor-management partnership as its guiding principle. Rejecting the class struggle as outmoded, the UAW set out to crush any resistance to the US-based automakers in the name of making them more competitive against their Asian and European rivals. This went hand-in-hand with the promotion of racism and national chauvinism, which led to the 1982 murder of Chinese American Vincent Chin by a Chrysler foreman and his laid-off stepson.

UAW Local 1112 at Lordstown became the model for labor-management collusion. As a January 2010 New York Times article, titled A once-defiant UAW now focuses on GMs success, approvingly noted, United Automobile Workers leaders in Lordstown, Detroit and other cities where clashes with management were once common said they have since decided that their only chance to survive in a global economy is to work with, not against, their employers.

Everyone has come to the realization that management is not the enemy, and the union is not the enemy, Jim Graham, president of Local 1112, told the Times, adding, The enemy is foreign competition.

The endless concessions imposed on workers never saved a single job. Since 1979, the number of UAW members employed by GM, Ford and Chrysler has fallen from 750,000 to 150,000. In exchange for its betrayal of the workers, however, the UAW has received billions of dollars from the auto bosses, funneled through joint training centers, and the UAW-controlled retiree health care trust owns 100 million GM shares, valued at around $4 billion.

Fiat Chrysler executives paid millions in illegal bribes to UAW negotiators who agreed to contracts over the past decade that halved the wages of new hires, abolished the eight-hour work day and drastically expanded the number of temporary part-time workers who pay UAW dues but have no rights.

The closing of the Lordstown plant is the tragic outcome of nearly a half-century of endless betrayals. The unions long ago ceased to be working class organizations and have been transformed into avid participants in the exploitation and impoverishment of the working class.

As autoworkers prepare for the battles ahead, including to resist the plant closings and the contract fight this summer, they must review this history and draw the appropriate conclusions. They must take the conduct of the struggle out of the hands of the corrupt right-wing unions. New organizations of struggle, rank-and-file factory committees, must be built, independent of the UAW and based on an entirely different perspective and strategy.

The only answer to the global assault on jobs and living standards by the transnational auto giants and their Wall Street investors is the forging of the unity of autoworkers all over the world and the rejection of the race to the bottom promoted by the corporations and the unions. The upheaval by the maquiladora workers in Matamoros, Mexico, who rebelled against slave-labor wages and sweatshop conditions enforced by the unions, shows that workers in Mexico, China and other countries are not the enemies of US workers, but their allies and brothers in struggle.

The broadest industrial mobilization of autoworkers, including the organization of strikes, plant occupations and mass protests, and the fight to unite with all workers across the US and internationally, must be fused with a new socialist political strategy. The working class must reject the right of the capitalist exploiters to shut plants and destroy the lives and communities of workers. Instead, giant corporations like GM must be transformed into public enterprises collectively owned and democratically controlled, as part of the reorganization of the world economy to meet human needs, not corporate profit.

The author also recommends:



The fight to defend jobs and the lessons of the 1972 Lordstown strike

[8 August 2018]

From Lordstown to Vietnam and Back

[7 March 2019]
S. Balasubramaniyam, a worker from Annfield estate at Dickoya in Nuwara-Eliya district, was sacked by management on February 27 over his active involvement in the recent plantation workers wage struggle.

Workers and youth must oppose the victimisation of Balasubramaniyam and demand his immediate and unconditional reinstatement. His sacking is an attack on the democratic rights of all working people and plantation workers in particular, who are demanding a 1,000-rupee ($US5.50), or 100 percent increase in their daily basic wage.

Balasubramaniyam, who is also branch leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) at the St. Leys division of the Annfield estate, was suspended from work on December 13, pending an inquiry.

On February 27, Balasubramaniyam was given a termination letter by the Annfield estate group manager A.M.C.B. Attanayake. It claimed that Balasubramaniyam was sacked after being found guilty of various frame-up charges following a so-called domestic inquiry by management. The letter declared that the termination was immediate and that he could collect his gratuity, a meagre fund given to workers when they retire.

Balasubramaniyam was accused of seven charges, including that he locked the main gate of the Annfield estate tea factory and, accompanied a group of men, prevented vehicles leaving and entering the factory premises on December 5.

Managements biased and undemocratic domestic inquiry was a sham. Balasubramaniyam was not given any chance to get legal support or provide evidence for his defence. Three other Annfield estate workersPathmanathan, Subramaniyam and Krishnanhave been accused of supporting Balasubramaniyam during the alleged incident and three CWC officialsArulnayahi, Clera and Sivasamiwere accused of aiding and abetting the estate workers. Police took statements from the accused after management lodged complaints. Balasubramaniyam and the six men reject all the allegations and charges.

The incident claimed by the management occurred on the same day as over 100,000 estate workers began an indefinite national strike to demand the 100 percent increase in their daily basic wage. Annfield managements decision to send vehicles to its tea factory during the national strike was a clear provocation.

The strike continued for nine days until the CWC leadership shut down the stoppage, citing a phony promise by President Maithripala Sirisena that he would solve the wage issue. Thousands of workers defied the unions return to work directive and remained on strike for another two days.

Balasubramaniyam told WSWS reporters that managements actions were totally unjustified. During the domestic inquiry, management tried to extract from Balasubramaniyam the names of other workers who were with him when the incident occurred.

Another worker told the WSWS that Balasubramaniyam had been targeted because he spoke about workers rights and had opposed the closing down of the child care centre in the estate last year. He also criticised the imposition of the revenue share model at the estate, which is aimed at driving up productivity.

The CWC has refused to organise any fight to overturn the suspension of Balasubramaniyam, or defend the other Annfield estate workers and the CWC officials. This act of betrayal encouraged estate management to terminate Balasubramaniyam.

Following their axing of the national wage strike, the CWC and the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union signed a sell-out collective agreement with the plantation companies.

Ignoring workers demands for a 100 percent increase, the union agreed to a 40 percent rise and the scrapping of previous hard-won allowances. In reality, plantation workers daily wage was increased by 20 rupees or just 11 US cents.

Plantation workers walked out on strike and held demonstrations protesting this betrayal. In an attempt to divert their anger, other plantation unions made bogus claims they would hold further discussions with the government and the companies.

A major clause in the new collective agreement commits the unions to imposing the out-grower model. This is a contract system which allocates a plot of tea estate land to workers, who are then responsible for maintaining and harvesting the tea bushes. The highly exploitative scheme transforms plantation workers into little more than modern day, bonded share-croppers, totally dependent for their income on supplying the tea leaves to the estate company after deductions for companys expenses and profit.

The plantation companies are insisting that the unions implement this system as soon as possible in order to end the daily wage modeli.e., to drastically lower wage costs and eliminate limited but hard-won working conditions and benefits.

The witch-hunt and termination of Balasubramaniyam is a clear sign that the plantation companies, in alliance with the unions, are determined to crush all working-class resistance to the ruthless drive for profit. The unions betrayal of the plantation workers wage struggle has strengthened the hands of companies and the government.

Balasubramaniyams sacking and the victimisation of other plantation workers is not an isolated event.

On January 11, six ATG Ceylon workers in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (FTZ) were terminated following frame-up allegations. ATG workers have taken indefinite strike action and ongoing protests to demand the reinstatement of their sacked colleagues.

We urge plantation workers and youth and workers everywhere to issue statements and hold meetings and demonstrations opposing Annfield estate managements sacking of Balasubramaniyam.

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) intervened in the plantation workers wage struggle, calling on workers to organise independently of the unions and fight on the basis of a socialist program. The SEP explained that the only way plantation workers could take forward this fight was through the building of workers action committees in every estate, independent of trade unions, and to mobilise their industrial and political strength. Abbotsleigh Estate workers heeded that call and formed their own action committee.

The Abbotsleigh Workers Action Committee, with the support of the SEP, is holding a plantation workers conference to discuss the political lessons of their struggle and the way forward. The conference, which will also discuss Balasubramaniyams termination and how to fight it, will be held on March 17 at Hatton Town Hall. We invite workers and youth to participate in this vital conference.
Tens of thousands of Labour members and supporters are opposing the suspension of Derby North Labour MP Chris Williamson and the ongoing witch-hunt by the Blairite right-wing centred on bogus allegations of anti-Semitism.

Williamson was suspended February 27 for politically accurate comments made at a meeting in Sheffield of the pro-Corbyn Momentum group. He told his audience, to applause, that Labour was being demonised as a racist, bigoted party.  I have got to say I think our partys response has been partly responsible for that because in my opinionwe have backed off too much, we have given too much ground, we have been too apologetic.

Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Sheffield Hallam, Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Hastings and Rye, Bristol East, and Park & Arbourthorne ward, Sheffield Heeley Constituency Labour Parties (CLP) have all passed motions demanding Williamson be reinstated. Members in one of the largest branches of the Hornsey Wood Green CLP, Alexandra Park, were due to debate a motion demanding Williamsons reinstatement Wednesday evening.

Three petitions to this effect have received 4,400, 2,200 and over 2,000 signatures covering virtually every CLP across the UK.

One petition, Labour Party members in solidarity with Chris Williamson, notes that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn recently said: Chris Williamson is a very good, very effective Labour MP. Hes a very strong anti-racist campaigner. He is not anti-Semitic. We agree with this description of Chris and believe that the allegations in question are unfounded and out of context.

Despite Corbyns previous comments, he has not opposed Williamsons suspension even though he was accused of interfering by a pack of Blairites, baying for his allys blood. This follows Corbyns refusal to defend other leading supporters targeted for smears, including Ken Livingstone, Marc Wadsworth and Jackie Walker.

Among those signing the petition are 12 members from the Wavertree constituency party in Liverpool, whose MP, Luciana Berger, has played a central role in seeking to remove Corbyn as leader since his 2015 election and who left the party last month with another eight Blairites after accusing it of being institutionally anti-Semitic. Berger faced motions of no confidence in Wavertree until Labours national leadership succeeded in getting them withdrawn.

Others who have made statements opposing the witch-hunt are renowned film director Ken Loach and comedian Alexei Sayle. Groups within the Labour Party, including Jewish Voice for Labour, are opposed, as are several pseudo-left organisations.

Thousands of Corbyn supporters are demanding a full-scale confrontation with the Blairites and for them to be deselected and booted out, not Williamson.

The Hackney motion states, It is a scandal that we are allowing ourselves to be branded as a racist party. Meanwhile, figures like Tony Blairwho bear responsibility for the death and destruction of the Iraq war and who repeatedly, openly attack the democratically elected leadership of the partyare allowed to remain as Labour members.

Among the main targets for removal is Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson, who has played a key role in destabilising Corbyns leadership by endorsing the slanders of Berger, et al.

Over 18,000 have signed a petition calling for a A Vote of No Confidence in Tom Watson MP as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. It calls for him to be removed from his post for repeated attacks on the Labour Party, its membership and its voters.

Another petition, Reinstate Chris Williamson MPIt is Tom Watson MP who should be suspended, has received more than 1,300 signatures.

The Hornsey Wood Green motion urged Williamsons reinstatement and called on Watson to resign, so that the Labour Party membership can elect a Deputy Leader who actually represents them.

Immediately after his suspension, the hashtag #standupfor Williamson was trending with more than 16,400 sharing it.

While many rank-and-file members hold the position that Corbyn had his hands tied, did not actually authorise Williamsons removal and is a lone figure being dragged down by the Labour right, others have concluded that this is one capitulation too far and that they are leaving the party or considering doing so.

Journalist and broadcaster Neil Clark received widespread support in response to his tweet, I can support Jeremy Corbyn no more. You cant keep fighting for a man who keeps throwing his most loyal allies under the bus to try and placate his implacable enemies.

One tweeted, Neither can I anymore. JC has become a Mr capitulate. Chris was his most loyal, most vocal and most effective defender. Chris said nothing wrong. His suspension is the final straw.

Another commented, [I]f they can do this to the party now when we are out of power, how likely do you think a Socialist programme is to happen even if we win power? Its time to ask Jeremy Corbyn to stand with us as we stand with him!

Another tweeted, There has to be a point where you say enough is enough. That point has long gone. Were here because the leaderships dithered and retreated rather than stand up to it. Stand up for the poor? Cant stand up for themselves!

Many denounced pro-Corbyn media groups for throwing Williamson under a bus, like the Skwawkbox blog, which opposed expressions of solidarity with Williamson (without mentioning him by name) and urged its readers to think strategically and play the long game. One warned in response, If we want a Corbyn-led government that will implement socialist and anti-war policies then its going to take a huge fightyes, a fightagainst the right. Or sooner than later well run out of comrades to throw under the bus and no Corbyn project left.

Another tweeted that he still backed Corbyn but [I] also wont be actively promoting or supporting, walking the streets.  So till Tom Watson & Co are gone I wont be wasting my time on Labour. . They CAN let these MPs go and still be the major force in UK politics but at the moment they are losing people by the hour.

These political contradictions cannot be sustained indefinitely, with the Corbyn movement polarising between those who want to fight and those, including its leadership, caving in to the right-wing.

Among the Labour groups defending Williamson are three local organisations of MomentumMomentum Camden, Swansea Momentum and Welsh Labour Grassroots. But Momentums leader Jon Lansman is one of the main witch-hunters in the anti-Semitism campaignbacking Williamsons removal and reportedly urging Momentum members to cease posting supportive statements about Jackie Walkerthe black Jewish former vice chair of Momentum!

Dozens of his members denounced his filthy role, with many saying they had left or were leaving Momentum. One tweeted, Your actions these last few days have caused me and many more to ditch Momentum. You have given it a very bad image along with Watson. Neither of you will EVER be trusted again. Another wrote, Ive resigned from Momentum because of your lack of support for comrades that you KNOW are not anti-Semitic...shame on you.

The Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site warned all those seeking to fight Labours right-wing that they would inevitably end up in a direct confrontation with Corbyn himself, who would rather see the purge of thousands of his own supporters than wage a fight against the Blairites.

Corbyns closest ally, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, made this plain Sunday, when he was asked by Sophy Ridge on Sky News if Labour had a problem with anti-Semitism. McDonnell replied: We clearly do. We clearly do and must be more ruthless, more severe in dealing with it. He repeated this slander even as he noted that party statistics show that just 0.1 percent of members, out of a party with nearly 600,000 members, had faced complaints over the issue.
Chinese legislators have urged the country to formulate its own space law to boost the development of commercial space sector and pay more attention to the outflow of talents.

China's private space sector will embrace more opportunities in 2019. The country should complete its laws and regulations on the private space sector to support its commercial development, Hu Shengyun, a senior rocket engineer at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) from Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, told the Global Times.

The value of commercial space travel in China is projected to reach 30 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) annually by 2020, Hu said.

The Kuaizhou-1 solid-fuel carrier rocket prepared for the launch on Jan. 9, 2017. (Photo: Qi chuang, Cao Feng, Peoples Daily online)

Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun, who is also an NPC deputy, told media that China is the only space power without its own space law, suggesting that promoting legislation on space will guarantee the rights of private companies on utilizing space resources.

Lei also suggested the government relax its market access for private companies and promote the sharing of space infrastructure. Around 29 countries have space laws or regulations.

Space agencies used to be sponsored by governments. Commercial upstarts have joined the competition since the beginning of the century. In 2017, among the 443 satellites launched globally, 267 were commercial satellites, and 26 out of the 91 rockets used to launch these satellites were from private companies, Bingdian Weekly reported in September 2018.

Hu also said the Kuaizhou-11, China's largest solid-fuel carrier rocket is scheduled to make its maiden launch this year.

Visitor attracted by the Beidou satellite navigation system at the Beidou Satellite Navigation Application Expo opened in Nanjing on Nov. 30, 2018. (Photo: Wang Luxian, Peoples Daily Online)

The new type solid-fuel carrier rocket series Kuaizhou is the country's first carrier rocket for commercial purposes, and the Kuaizhou-11 is much larger than its earlier generation Kuaizhou-1.

Kuaizhou is a low-cost solid-fuel carrier rocket with high reliability and a short preparation period. With a lift-off mass of 78 tons, the rocket was designed to launch low-Earth and Sun-synchronous orbit satellites.

Hu also suggested the country pay more attention to the exodus of space talents. State-owned space enterprises are losing a large number of scientific and technological talents, which should be given more attention to, Hu said.

Children were experiencing aircraft simulation driving in Xiangyang, central Chinas Hubei Province on Feb. 17, 2019. (Photo: Yang Dong, Peoples Daily Online)

The China Association for Science and Technology recently released a report on people working in the science and technology fields in China. The report found that the average annual salary was 91,000 yuan in 2016. Some 33.5 percent of them are living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Although their average salary has increased by 22.7 percent compared with 2012, their satisfaction with salary has dropped. Thats because their salary has not kept pace with those in other fields, the report said.
The European Peoples Party (EPP), the group of conservative and Christian Democrat parties in the European Parliament which includes Hungarys governing Fidesz, will start talks on the latters possible suspension or expulsion, after 12 member parties from nine countries requested action, according to multiple reports.

Current affairs website hvg.hu reported that the main reason behind the outrage among Fideszs fellow EPP members was the nature of its newest taxpayer-funded political ad campaign, displaying Hungarian-born investor George Soros - long the principal target of Hungarian government propaganda - side by side with European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker (whose party is also an EPP member), implying the two are in cahoots.

Under the banner headline You too have the right to know what Brussels is planning!, the ads - as well as a letter posted to all citizens by Prime Minister Viktor Orban - allege that Brussels is trying to force Hungary to accept migrants, among other claims which the European Commission refuted in detail last week.

The European Commission agrees, citizens do deserve to know the truth about what the EU is doing, wrote the EC. But we believe they deserve fact not fiction.

The Hungarian government campaign distorts the truth and seeks to paint a dark picture of a secret plot to drive more migration to Europe. The truth is that there is no conspiracy.

Hvg.hu notes that while the 12 EPP parties, derided by Orban as useful idiots for the left, have managed to pressure the grouping into starting the process, whether Fidesz will actually face any consequences will depend largely on the stance of Germanys CDU.

Fundamental Shift

EPP President Joseph Daul had no other choice than to start the procedure, as EPP rules require such measures if the number of parties calling for suspension or expulsion reaches seven, from five different countries.

Orban crossed a red line when his government targeted Juncker in the impermissible campaign, Daul was cited as saying by politico.eu, the European edition of U.S. news organization Politico reporting on the EU.

There has been a fundamental shift in dealing with Orban. Enough is enough. That is our message, politico.eu reported EPP parliamentary group leader Manfred Weber as saying.

The website observed that the loss of Orbans Fidesz would likely cost the EPP more than a dozen seats in the next Parliament, complicating the partys effort to install Weber as the next Commission president.

Evicting Fidesz could also prompt Orban to seek an alliance with other populists in Europe, possibly even giving them enough votes for a blocking minority in Parliament, it added.

According to Euractiv.com, a media platform focusing on European policymaking, the government of Hungary will end the controversial billboard campaign on March 15, but only in order to replace Juncker with EC First Vice-President Frans Timmermans.

The latter is the lead candidate of the rival Party of European Socialists for president of the Commission at this years European elections, and a strong critic of Fidesz in the past.



MTI Photo
After the earlier transformation of its Dreher Classic into Dreher Gold, the Hungarian brewery has announced the introduction of a brand new Dreher Red Ale and a new appearance for the companys products.

With the creation of the new recipe, our aim was creating an easily drinkable, yet characteristic beer, says Peter Sera, brew master of Dreher Breweries.

Dreher Red Ale is a beer with a roasted aroma of caramel and malt, achieved with the use of Kazbek, Citra, and Chinook hops. When poured, it is easily recognizable from its reddish-brown color, and cream-colored crown of foam.

In the brewing process of Red Ale, the yeast rises to the top of the beer at the end of the fermentation process at 15-21C, contrastingly to lagers. This is where the term top fermented comes from, explains Dreher. The brewery introduced its first such beer, the Dreher Pale Ale, in 2018; it became an instant hit.

Furthermore, the brand also announced the complete removal of corn from the ingredients of all its beers, including the Hidegkomlos (cold hops) variety. The triangle in Drehers symbol also gains significance as all variants will be made exclusively with three ingredients: hops, malted barley, and water, the firm told the BBJ.

We are experiencing that with a varied product family, we are reaching an especially wide group of consumers, and even getting through to a new audience, says Fruzsina Negyesi, head of Hungarian brands at Dreher Breweries.

This is why we paid special attention to turning the brand portfolio into premium from all aspects, with the arrival of Dreher Red Ale. The individual variants receive a unified, clear-cut appearance, and we have ditched corn grits as an ingredient from the recipe of Hidegkomlos.



Picture: Dreher
Commentators from right across the political spectrum wonder whether the European Peoples Party will finally expel Fidesz. Most deem it a very unlikely possibility.



On Tuesday, Joseph Daul, leader of the European Peoples Party said that PM Orban had crossed a red line with his billboard campaign suggesting that Jean-Claude Juncker as an associate of George Soros.

On 20 March, the EPP plenary is to discuss a proposal by 12 member parties to expel Fidesz. EPP floor leader Manfred Weber said that Fidesz can only remain within the EPP if PM Orban stops its anti-Brussels campaign, apologizes to the EPP and, makes it possible for CEU to remain in Budapest.

Magyar Nemzets Zsolt Bayer accuses Joseph Daul of lying, and if selling out the core values of Christian Democrats.

The pro-government columnist thinks that the EPP has already lost its conservative and Christian outlook and became the home for a motley crew of left-wing, anarchist and liberal parties.

Bayer thinks that the EPP would shoot itself in the foot by ousting Fidesz, one of its strongest members. If Fidesz is kicked out, other parties will quit the EPP, and then Daul, Weber, Juncker and Merkel could finally ally with Soros and Sargentini,, Bayer concludes.

In a short comment, Index also deems it unlikely that the EPP will sack Fidesz, as the expulsion motion is only supported by a minority.

Alt-left Merce suspects that the EPP wants to send a message to its critics by putting the suspension of Fidesz on the table. Merce, however, thinks that the EPP in the end will not expel one of its strongest members.

In Heti Vilaggazdasag, Gaspar Miklos Tamas contends that the EPP looks down on Eastern Europeans, but will keep Fidesz within its ranks, fearing that it would otherwise play into the hands of even more radical and nationalist parties in Eastern Europe.

The Marxist philosopher adds that while Hungary weakens the European Union, suspending the countrys membership would speed up the disintegration of the EU.

This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher. Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online.

Click here to Share Your Story
Baggage belonging to passengers on the airlines January 26 flight from Dubai to Budapest was delivered three days later. The government office in Budapest has accordingly fined the low-cost airline HUF 15 million.

Wizz Air said at the time that the plane had to leave with more fuel than usual because snow was forecast in Budapest, so baggage belonging to some passengers was unloaded before take-off.

Passengers were informed upon arrival that the airline had simply not brought their baggage on board.

Public service state secretary Bence Tuzson initiated an inquiry on January 28.

The government office found that passengers were not informed properly nor in time, adding that Wizz Air followed improper commercial conduct.
Mexicos famed Tres Amigos have made a name for themselves in Hollywood and beyond, directing their way to a bevy of Oscars. Less well known: the emerging wave of female auteurs from Mexico.

The directors range from Patricia Riggen and Issa Lopez, both busy with Hollywood projects and gaining their own international recognition, to women from indigenous communities, such as Maria Sojob, a Tzotzil native, and Elizabeth Pina, of Otomi Hnatho descent. The latter two are making their first documentaries. Also part of this wave: Tatiana Huezo and Variety director to watch Alejandra Marquez Abella.

Related stories

10 Directors to Watch: Alejandra Marquez Abella Offers Window Into Class and Gender With 'The Good Girls'

Mexican Revolution: Alejandra Marquez Abella

'Twilight' Director Catherine Hardwicke on Hollywood Gender Parity: 'There's Still A Lot of Work to Do'

Its just marvelous whats happening now; there are more female directors in features, and even more making short films, says Maria Novaro, freshly installed head of Mexican Film Institute (Imcine) and who fought against chauvinism early in her directing career. She is best-known for 1991s uplifting dance drama Danzon.

According to the latest findings from Imcine, women from Mexico directed 42 films in 2017, the highest tally since they were first tracked in 2007. Of these, 42% were documentaries and 58% fiction, an increase of 34% and 30%, respectively, compared to the previous year. Women participated as directors, scriptwriters or producers in 52% of the years productions.

Novaro, now 67, is also heartened by the growing number of female cinematographers in Mexico today. When she tried directing her first features in the late 80s, she went up against powerful male-dominated unions that imposed a draconian set of rules for women that obliged her to work with all-male crews and banned female lensers. To skirt these rules, she formed a cooperative and hired a mostly female crew.

Story continues

But that didnt protect her from blowback. Novaro alleges that people affiliated with the union damaged Danzon during production. They punished me by deliberately destroying a weeks footage of Danzon at the lab with sand, she recalls nearly three decades later, pointing out that there werent many other female directors working in Mexico back then.

Riggen and Lopez are leading the pack of todays female auteurs from Mexico, busting cultural biases to direct traditionally male dominant genres of action, fantasy or horror. Riggen began directing in earnest after moving to the U.S. and is now one of the handful of women of color to break into the so-called boys club of network pilots. She recently directed three episodes of Amazon Primes high-octane thriller series Tom Clancys Jack Ryan and three pilots: supernatural thriller Run for Your Life for Blumhouse TV, CBS Matt Reeves-executive produced suspense thriller Surveillance and Foxs legal drama Proven Innocent.

In the latter two pilots, her DP husband, Checco Varese (It: Chapter Two), served as the cinematographer, as he has in many of her films, led by The 33, the fact-based Chilean miner drama starring Antonio Banderas; faith-based Miracles From Heaven; coming-of-age drama Girl in Progress; and her Sundance breakout, Under the Same Moon.

As a female director its sometimes very hard to find people who believe in you and so its been great that I have at least one crew position I dont have to worry about that much, Riggen says.

She is next going to direct vfx-heavy fantasy movie The School for Good and Evil, based on the eponymous book series about school children training to be fairy tale characters, with Joe Roth producing. Varese is also attached as a DP to the project.

Mexico City-based Lopez started out as a writer of hit comedies skewed toward teens and women.

It was easier to evolve as a writer or even a producer in chauvinist Mexico, she notes. It was only after she wrote and shot her own eight-minute short to prove she could direct, that she helmed her first feature, Side Effects (Efectos Secundarios). Her next challenge was to break out of rom-coms, which she did with genre film, Tigers Are Not Afraid.

Stephen King and Guillermo del Toro took notice, with the latter expressing his desire to produce her next film. She is now working on the first draft of the supernatural period film he will produce.

Hes a man of his word; hes such a wonderful mentor on both the creative and business side of filmmaking, she says.

Meanwhile, Lopez has been attached to write and direct two English-language movies of which shes on either her second or third draft: Three Sundays, a drama set in the Banda music scene of New York Citys borough of Queens, with Paramount Players, and a still-untitled supernatural revenge thriller for Legendary with J.H. Wyman (Fringe) and Sherry Marsh (Vikings) attached to produce.

Lopez just directed the last two episodes of Amazon Primes second season of ancient history drama Britannia.

I wanted to get my hands on a sizable project with big special effects to prepare for the Legendary project, she says.

Huezo, whose evocative documentary Tempest (Tempestad) represented Mexico in the foreign-language film category of the Academy Awards last year, says: I dont approach a story thinking that I am a woman and I certainly dont make films so that they are only seen by women; I have never thought about cinema in this way.

She found that getting into cinematography, which she studied at film school in the early 2000s, was even more riddled with obstacles.

I never imagined that because I was a woman, I was getting into a territory where you had to fight tooth and nail to make room for yourself, she says. They told me that the cameras were too heavy for a woman to carry, that it was a mans profession and that I would never find work in that area.

She adds that there was only one female cinematographer recognized in Mexico then, Celiana Cardenas.

In order to continue in film, Huezo began to direct documentaries and found an early champion in Roma producer Nicolas Celis, whose Pimienta Films produced Tempest, her first feature-length docu, The Tiniest Place (El Lugar Mas Pequeno) and her first fiction feature, Night of Fire (Noche de Fuego), now in production.

Similar to Riggen, Huezos life partner, Ernesto Pardo, has been her DP for most of her career. Pardo won the Cameraimage Golden Frog for his work in Tempest. However, for the first time, shell be working with a female DP, Dariela Ludlow, for Night of Fire so that Pardo can mind their daughter during the long shoot.

Its hard to find good camera operators who are also excellent DPs; Ludlows one of them, says Huezo, who notes that the environment for female cinematographers in Mexico has not greatly improved to this day.

I have not made a conscious decision to work with women, but I find them hard working, focused and committed, says Celis, who has produced works by Elisa Miller, Marta Ferrer and Betzabe Garcia, among others. But I dont choose by gender but by the quality of their work. Even his staff at Pimienta Films are mostly women.

Nurtured at the Sundance Lab in Morelia and awarded a Sundance Open Border Fellowship grant last year, Night of Fire is set in an isolated mountain village where three young girls wear their hair short in order to pass as boys and have an underground hiding place in the face of growing violence.

Its been a happy coincidence that weve worked with many female directors, but its all about finding the right person for the project although some projects do call for the sensibility of a female director, says Rodrigo Gonzalez of Mr. Woo Films, which has backed Ninas Bien, the second film from Marquez Abella. It has also produced two films by Natalia Beristain and is developing Millers upcoming Hurricane Season (Temporada de Huracanes).

Earlier in her career, Marquez Abella struggled to be taken seriously as a director. [Crews] wouldnt believe I was the director and would point me towards costume design, but now the crew appreciate my quiet style, she says. My personal mission is to bring the feminine experience to the fore; we are half of the planets population after all!

Shes now writing La Triste, based on her paternal grandmothers experience immigrating to Chicago. Talks with investors are under way.

Riggen credits the Tres Amigos  Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu  for opening up the market for Mexican filmmakers.

By making films about themes ranging from fantasy, survival, and science fiction to multi-narrative dramas, they changed Hollywoods perception about Mexican filmmakers.

Being a Mexican in Hollywood is no longer a stigma, the problem is being a woman, says Riggen.

Statistics on the paucity of female directors bear out this truth, although not so much in television, she points out. Hopefully, by keeping the conversation going, well see a change.

Marquez Abella agrees: The Tres Amigos are very inspiring; now we need an amiga to win.

6 More Mexican Femme Directors You Should Know

Lila Aviles: With her award-winning directorial feature debut, The Chambermaid, the actress-producer-theater director has captivated critics and audiences alike from Toronto to San Sebastian fests, marking her as a director to watch.

Natalia Beristain: A cum laude graduate of Mexicos prestigious CCC film school, Beristain has been amassing awards and acclaim from her first shorts to her latest feature, The Eternal Feminine (Los Adioses).

Marta Ferrer: Informed by her degrees in cinematography and docu-filmmaking from Spain and Mexico, Ferrer explores rural Mexico in her lauded docus El Varal and To Die in the Desert.

Betzabe Garcia: After her breakout docu Kings of Nowhere, Garcia is now turning her lens on her gay roommate, the famous YouTuber #Micky, in an uber-stylized documentary.

Elisa Miller: From the time her short Watching It Rain won a Cannes Palme DOr in 2007, Miller has become a notable writer-director-producer to watch. Mr. Woo Films produces her next film, Hurricane Season.

Jimena Montemayor Loyo:The cinematographer-writer-directors fantasy-laced family drama Wind Traces won trophies at Guadalajara, Guanajuato and Atlanta film festivals.

Launch Gallery: International Women's Impact Report 2019

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed says he wants to film more alleged victims testimonies (Getty Images)

Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed has revealed his hopes of creating a sequel to the documentary.

The Channel 4 programme features Wade Robson and James Safechuck speaking in detail about the alleged sexual abuse they suffered by the late Michael Jackson.

The four hour programme has sparked controversy and debate about the accusations since it aired at the Sundance film festival in January.

James Safechuck and Wade Robson have spoken out about the sexual abuse they allegedly suffered (Channel 4)

Since then, it has aired on HBO in America and on Channel 4 in the UK with viewers making their feelings about the programme pretty clear on social media.

Read more: Leaving Neverland viewers shocked by giggling reaction of victims mother

Now Reed wants to speak to Jacksons other accusers Jordan Chandler and Gavin Arvizo in the bid of creating another documentary.

Speaking of his plans, the Mirror reported Reed saying: Whats interesting is to look at the Jordan Chandler civil case and criminal trial.

Those are two films Id like to make. But Gavin and Jordan would have to come forward, he added.

Whilst Chandler received a reported $23 million (17.5 million) in a settlement, Arvizos allegations led to Jackson being put on trial in 2005. He was found not guilty of all charges.

James Safechuck met Michael Jackson when he was 10 years old (Getty Images)

Reed recently explained what he hopes the documentary achieves.

Read more: Michael Jackson: Viewers shocked and disgusted by Leaving Neverland

Writing for the Radio Times, he said: It isnt often that you get the chance to make a positive change with a documentary film.

Wades and James astonishing courage in confronting a powerful abuser who darkened their childhoods will, I am certain, inspire many thousands of other child sexual abuse survivors to begin their own difficult journey back into the light.
Iranian photojournalist slams Trump for tweeting her photo originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moayeri denounced President Donald Trump's use of her photograph in a tweet criticizing Iran's leaders on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

"40 years of corruption," Trump tweeted in English and Farsi. "40 years of repression. 40 years of terror. The regime in Iran has produced only #40YearsofFailure. The long-suffering Iranian people deserve a much brighter future.

40 years of corruption. 40 years of repression. 40 years of terror. The regime in Iran has produced only #40YearsofFailure. The long-suffering Iranian people deserve a much brighter future. pic.twitter.com/bA8YGsw9LA  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2019

Moayeri took the iconic image on the last day of 2017 in front of Tehran University. It shows an anonymous student of the university who raises her left fist and masks her face with her other hand using her scarf in smoky surrounding, which according to the photographer was fire extinguisher spray, not tear gas.

The photo was taken during a series of protests around the country at the time which was triggered by stagnant economic situation, and led to thousands of arrests and at least 21 being killed.

(MORE: Cafe in Iran takes aim at employment glass ceiling for people with mental disabilities)

However, seeing her image in Trumps tweet made Moayeri feel deep sorrow and shame, as she wrote in an Instagram post, where she objected President Trumps use of her photo on Tuesday.

In other occasions, this photo had been used by opposition groups of the Iranian system, but seeing Trump tweeting it just made me determined to come out, Moayeri said in an interview with ABC News.

Story continues

Because of his policies, I, my family and my friends are forced to live under sanctions that are devastating our lives, she wrote on Instagram.

PHOTO: A university student attends a protest inside Tehran University as a smoke grenade is thrown by anti-riot Iranian police, in Tehran, Iran, Dec. 30, 2017, in a photo obtained by the AP. (Yalda Moayeri/AP)

The photographer told ABC News that she did not object from a legal or copyright perspective, though.

I have sold my photo to the wires, and here I am talking from a very moral perspective which all comes from my personal experiences and the social responsibility I believe in, she said.

Bringing up examples of Trumps policies against Iran including the travel ban and reinstating economic sanctions, Moayeri said such moves would mainly damage ordinary people who are not specifically concerned about politics.

Because of his (Trumps) policies, I am surrounded by weddings and funerals hold on FaceTime. People are unable to join their beloveds when they need to be with each other, Moayeri said.

Besides, sanctions have complicated the situation and public discontent has frustrated people so much that they blame anyone who they think slightly supports the Iranian system, she said.

PHOTO: Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moayeri denounced President Trump's use of her photograph in a tweet criticizing Iran's leaders. (Sara Karbalaei)

Due to the risks and possible troubles that the photo of the student protester could bring her, Moayeri decided to remain anonymous at the time. It was not until six months later in June 2018 that she revealed her identity as the photographer of the iconic image by submitting it at the annual Iranian Photojournalists Association, IPJA. It brought her a first prize.

(MORE: Dog walking banned in Iran's capital)

With the risks and dangers Moayeri went through for this picture, what bewildered her after posting the objection post on Instagram was the huge gap between the reactions she received. Besides those who appreciate her move, she said she is receiving many abusive comments for her objection to Trumps tweet.

Some opposition fans get my objection against Trumps tweet as an explicit support of the current system in Iran, Moayeri told ABC News.

But there is a fine line here, criticizing one side of a quarrel does not necessarily mean you are supporting the other, she added.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria said on Wednesday it would not help repatriate any citizens who fought for Islamic State and other militant groups, as countries across the West wrestle with how to deal with returning militants. Hundreds of people are believed to have left Europe to fight for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. With the Islamist militant group down to its last shred of territory, several have asked to come home. The cabinet has sent a bill to parliament on consular assistance that makes clear that it can be denied to citizens if there is a threat to public order, the government said in a statement. "There will in future be no assistance for people who join a terrorist organization," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a conservative governing in coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, told journalists. "Anyone who leaves Austria to murder, torture or act against religious minorities and those who think differently elsewhere in the world has no right to Austria's help," he added. He stopped short of saying they would be barred from returning. U.S. President Donald Trump last month urged Britain, France and Germany to take back more than 800 captured Islamic State fighters and put them on trial. But European countries have resisted pressure to take in citizens who had sworn allegiance to groups determined to destroy the West. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and their Social Democrat coalition partners this week agreed a plan to strip some Germans who fight for Islamic State of their citizenship. Britain last month revoked the citizenship of a teenager who had left London when she was aged 15 to join Islamic State in Syria. Shamima Begum was found in a detention camp in Syria, and her fate has fueled a dispute over the ramifications of leaving a 19-year-old mother with a jihadist fighter's child to fend for herself in a war zone. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Additional reporting by Tassilo Hummel in Berlin; Editintg by Andrew Heavens)
By Jan Lopatka and Michael Kahn PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech cyber-security watchdog was not pressured by the United States or anyone else into issuing its warning about the possible security risks posed by Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei, Prague's cyber attache to Washington told Reuters. Rather, its December warning took both the United States and Huawei by surprise, Daniel Bagge, the Washington-based representative for the NUKIB watchdog said in an interview. The United States has urged allies not to use products made by Huawei, the world's biggest maker of telecoms equipment, saying they could enable Chinese state espionage. No evidence has been produced publicly and Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations. But several Western countries have restricted, or are considering restricting, the company's access to their markets, fuelling speculation of U.S. pressure. Bagge, however, said NUKIB reached its own conclusions on Huawei and Chinese peer ZTE based on "information from the public domain as well as classified information and information from partners in the intelligence community." "We did not consult (about) the warning in any way with the United States nor anyone else. The December warning surprised the U.S. authorities as much as it surprised Huawei." His comments, on a trip to Prague, shed light on a decision that thrust the Czech Republic, a small central European country that has attracted much Chinese investment, into the center of a debate about whether Huawei technology poses security risks. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday for talks that will touch in part on security. Bagge said the Czech stance on Huawei might have expedited Washington's invitation to Babis, echoing information from diplomatic sources. Babis, who has criticized NUKIB for lack of clarity in its warning but said the government has to follow its advice, is also due to meet CIA director Gina Haspel on Wednesday. NUKIB's warning did not amount to a Czech ban on Huawei and ZTE technology, but required 160 public and private operators of critical infrastructure to analyze any risks and act accordingly. No Czech telecoms operator has so far barred Huawei from supplying 5G technology. But NUKIB's action led the Czech tax authority to exclude Huawei from a tender, later canceled. The Czech move was prompted in part by Chinese legislation rather than purely technological issues, Bagge said. A 2017 Chinese law requires any domestic organization to "...support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national intelligence work". Huawei has denied its products are equipped with back doors to allow access by the Chinese government. It has said it wants to solve the Czech situation in a "friendly and open way", but has not ruled out defending itself in court. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Michael Kahn; Editing by Mark Potter)
Copenhagen (AFP) - Danish police on Thursday said they had launched prosecutions against 14 people suspected of sharing on social media the murder video of one of the two young Scandinavian hikers killed in Morocco.

Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland were found dead at an isolated hiking spot south of Marrakesh on December 17.

The pair were stabbed, had their throats slit and were then beheaded, according to Morocco's counter-terror chief.

A video circulating on social networks at the time, believed authentic by authorities, showed one of the murders in the High Atlas mountains.

"The 14 people are accused of violating the penal code by sharing the video -- usually via Facebook Messenger or other social networks," said East Jutland police chief Michael Kjeldgaard in a statement.

Two of them are also accused of apologising for terrorism, the prosecution told AFP.

Six of those indicted, whose identities have not been revealed, are between 13 and 18 years old.

The grisly killings of the hikers shocked Morocco, where tourism is a cornerstone of the economy.

Moroccan authorities have called the killings a "terrorist" act and charged more than 20 people for their alleged involvement.

The authorities allege that the four main suspects in the murder were inspired by the Islamic State group, but say they were not in direct contact with IS members in Iraq or Syria.
By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union told Britain to rework its Irish backstop proposal by Friday but feared it would struggle to secure a deal that satisfied pro-Brexit lawmakers before a key vote in the UK parliament on Wednesday. Just 22 days before Britain is due to leave the EU the two sides are locked in a game of brinkmanship and attempts to reach a mutually acceptable deal could go down to the wire. EU diplomats briefed on the negotiations said the UK's top lawyer Geoffrey Cox had proposed a disputes arbitration panel that would not be obliged to refer cases to the EU's top court, the ECJ, whose jurisdiction Britain wants to leave. "We are now in a state when we are discussing proposals we have rejected months ago," an EU diplomat said. "They've sent in a criminal lawyer who doesn't know EU law or customs rules. We are explaining from scratch why his ideas won't fly." May tasked attorney general Cox with securing concessions from the EU on a key demand of pro-Brexit lawmakers, namely that divorce provisions to ensure no hard border on the island of Ireland would not trap the UK in the bloc's trade rules. EU negotiators object that the Cox proposal would unpick the Withdrawal Agreement reached by the EU and UK last year after months of tortuous negotiations. Britain's parliament rejected that pact, largely over concerns over the backstop. The bloc has offered addendums and extra assurances on the text to make it more palatable but refuses to change its substance. While the EU still hopes for a breakthrough at the weekend, Brussels fears British Prime Minister Theresa May could try to negotiate directly with the other 27 EU leaders at a Brussels summit on March 21-22, just a week before Brexit day. WEEKEND BREAKTHROUGH? According to EU diplomats, Cox's backstop solution involved an arbitration panel that would decide if enough "good faith" and "best endeavors" were being shown negotiating a post-Brexit trade deal. The panel could rule positive even in the absence of a final trade agreement or alternative solutions to maintain the open border between EU member Ireland and the British-ruled province of Northern Ireland. It will be the only land border between the UK and the bloc after Brexit. In such a scenario, the EU and the UK would fall back to a "mini-backstop" which would include fewer checks than envisaged in the Withdrawal Agreement, the sources said. A second EU diplomat said that would only cover checks for animal health, food safety and prohibited items. It would not cover production standards or where the goods originate which are essential to protecting the EU single market. Other diplomats said Cox's proposal lacked detail and that the EU would not agree to replace the backstop with arrangements that failed to specify exactly how the Irish border would be kept open. In the event of a breakthrough, May would be expected in Brussels on Monday to seal the deal with Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the bloc's executive. However, many EU diplomats are skeptical an agreement can be reached in time for a March 12 vote in the House of Commons on May's plan to leave the bloc. "Now I'm sure it'll go down to the wire at the summit," a third EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity. The bloc expects May to ask her peer leaders for an extension to the current departure date of March 29 should both sides fail to bridge their differences, in order to prevent a no-deal Brexit that many say could cause economic turmoil. A short extension until mid-May or the end of June is acceptable to the other 27 EU states, even if many doubt a delay will help break the impasse. "It's just postponing the cliff-edge. At least it gives us more time to prepare for no-deal disruptions," said a fourth diplomat dealing with Brexit in the EU's political hub Brussels. (Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald and Jan Strupczewski, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Jon Boyle)
By Radu-Sorin Marinas

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's biggest opposition party will trigger a public inquiry into Huawei's contribution to critical infrastructure and seek to bar it from 5G network development due to mounting security concerns, its IT expert said on Tuesday.

Some Western countries, including the United States and Australia, have restricted Huawei from building next-generation mobile networks, citing concerns that its equipment may contain 'back doors' opening it to cyber-espionage.

Washington is concerned about the expansion of the world's biggest maker of telecoms equipment in its NATO allies in central Europe, including Hungary and Poland. Romania has become particularly important since 2016, when the United States activated an $800 million missile shield site, angering Russia.

"We need to protect our strategic interests and there's a lot of suspicion lingering around," said Pavel Popescu, the National Liberal Party's (PNL) representative on parliament's IT committee. "It's crucially urgent to block any public deals, contracts, tenders with the Chinese company."

Huawei has repeatedly denied spying or intending to spy for the Chinese state. It has been present in the Romanian market since 2003.

The PNL expert pointed to a 2013 memorandum of understanding signed by the then-telecoms minister with Huawei, offering them an opportunity to participate in the construction of the national information and communications system, traffic monitoring, tracking and e-government projects.

No details on the progress of works have been published.

RISK REVIEW

Popescu showed Reuters an official letter sent by his parliament grouping to the telecoms ministry on Feb. 11, calling for a risk review of Huawei equipment in state networks: "We've yet to receive any answer, still waiting now, and shortly we will launch our action plan."

The government plans to launch first 5G licensing tenders later this year, probably in the last quarter, on overall investment of about 3 billion euros, officials have said.

Story continues

Popescu, whose PNL is running neck-and-neck at 25 percent with the ruling Social Democrats in opinion surveys, said: "A Chinese equipment-free network will be costlier."

Globally, Huawei is playing a leading role as the telecoms world gears up for the next generation wireless technology.

"The supreme reasoning behind our stance is the partnership with America and our key role in NATO's architecture," Popescu said, adding: "All tools are on the table, including involving the president and his security council's assessment on Huawei."

In Romania the Supreme Defence Council, chaired by President Klaus Iohannis since 2015, adopts all strategic decisions, including endorsing budgets of national security sectors.

The Special Telecommunications Service, which oversees Romania's critical communication networks, has yet to respond to a Feb. 26 request by Reuters regarding the current stage of implementation of the memorandum.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)
(Reuters) - Fire crews were going to the Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP 24,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Great Falls, Montana, on Thursday after reports of an explosion and fire at the plant, KFBB-TV reported on its website.

"We're hearing reports from viewers of large plumes of black smoke coming from the refinery in Great Falls as well as sirens and a loud boom," KFBB said on its website.

A Calumet spokesman was not immediately available to discuss operations at the Great Falls refinery.

People within a half-mile radius of the refinery were being evacuated, KFBB reported.

The Great Falls refinery processes heavy Canadian crude oil to make gasoline and distillates for markets in the U.S. states of Washington, Montana and Idaho as well as the Canadian province of Alberta.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
BERLIN (AP)  The German government plans to introduce legislation that will enable authorities to strip Germans with dual nationality of their German citizenship if they fight for a terror group abroad, officials said Monday.

The new rule will apply to people over 18 and, for reasons of constitutional law, only to future cases, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Eleonore Petermann said.

The move comes as Germany and other European countries consider what to do about citizens who fought for the Islamic State group and were captured in Syria. But the fact that the legislation can't be applied retroactively means the proposal is unlikely to ease the German government's dilemma on how to handle former jihadi fighters, amid worries about whether they pose a security risk and whether prosecutors can build cases against them.

The government hopes the legislation will have a "preventive effect" and discourage citizens from joining terror groups. Officials said the legislation will be drawn up soon but didn't offer a precise timetable.

German law already allows for people with dual citizenship to be stripped of their German nationality if they volunteer for their other country's armed forces without the consent of German authorities.

Other countries have made similar moves. Neighboring France has had a process since the 1990s for stripping French citizenship from dual nationals who carry out acts of terrorism, though it has rarely been used.

Germany's governing coalition pledged when it took office a year ago to come up with tougher citizenship rules for extremist group fighters, but took until now to agree on details.

Bernd Baumann, a top lawmaker with the opposition far-right Alternative for Germany party, said the proposed legislation came "much too late" and wouldn't help with IS fighters returning from Syria and Iraq.

Stephan Thomae, a lawmaker with the opposition Free Democrats, described the plan as "pure display window politics" and said the government should concentrate on taking a clear position on how to deal with captured IS fighters.
As the Islamic States physical caliphate shrinks to nothing after an almost five-year campaign led by U.S. special operations forces, military insiders say one small unit has killed more of the extremists than any other: the company of Gray Eagle drones in the Armys 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

Although the military has thrown a cloak of secrecy over its operations, the unit  officially called E (or Echo) Company of the regiments Second Battalion and established less than a decade ago  is increasingly being lauded in special operations and Army aviation circles.

They are doing the most killing of anyone in the national mission force, said a former 160th officer, referring to Joint Special Operations Command, which runs counterterrorism task forces in Afghanistan, and does battle against the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria and the Horn of Africa. Theyre out there doing the nations bidding in a ferocious way.

Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: AP, Getty Images

Echo Company is credited with well over 340 enemy killed in action in Afghanistan and the Iraq-Syria theater between August 2014 and July 2015, according to a November 2015 Army write-up of an award for the unit. The company has also played a key role in a special operations task force established in Iraq in 2014 to roll back the Islamic States physical caliphate and hunt its leaders. Flying from a base in Iraq to attack targets in Syria, the drone company has launched more than a thousand Hellfire missiles in the last two to three years, the former 160th officer told Yahoo News. That means to me theyve been very busy in Syria.

Echo Companys achievements are remarkable, in part, because unlike the Air Force, whose drones are operated from air-conditioned trailers in Nevada and flown by officers, the pilots in this Army aviation company are mainly enlisted soldiers who are deployed in combat theaters.

The destroyed vehicle in which Taliban leader Mohammad Akhtar Mansour was traveling in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, May 22, 2016. (Photo: Abdul Salam Khan/AP)

The U.S. drone campaign against Islamist militants has been enmeshed in controversy since it began in 2001, with accusations that some attacks caused needless civilian casualties or hit the wrong target altogether. On Wednesday, President Trump rescinded an executive order that required the intelligence community to disclose information about U.S. drone strikes outside of declared war zones, including civilian casualties. The White House last year had already ignored the requirement, put in place by President Barack Obama. Trumps order does not affect a law that requires the Defense Department to send Congress an annual report detailing civilian casualties.

Story continues

U.S. armed drones have played a key role in the fight against ISIS, with its Reapers and Predators contributing up to 7 percent of all strikes, according to official data released back in 2017, Chris Woods, the director of Airwars, a United Kingdom-based nonprofit that tracks airstrikes in Iraq, Syria and Libya, wrote in an email. Thousands of civilians have locally been alleged killed in Coalition actions  with our own minimum estimate at more than 7,500 deaths. However, what proportion of these deaths resulted solely from drones we cant say.

It is even less clear if any of Echo Companys strikes resulted in civilian casualties; no allegations have been directed at its operations, which have been kept under tight wrap by the Defense Department.

Former head of U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command Brig. Gen. John Evans. (Photo via YouTube)

Citing the classified nature of Echo Companys missions, U.S. Special Operations Command declined to provide any information about the unit, which, like its parent battalion and regiment, is based at Fort Campbell, Ky. But insights into the units history can be found on the website of the Army Aviation Association of America, a nonprofit organization that supports the Armys aviation branch. The association has awarded Echo Company its Unmanned Aerial Systems Unit of the Year award four times since 2011.

Echo Company [is] the most lethal company in the Army, and it may very well be the most lethal company-size element in all of [the Defense Department], Brig. Gen. John Evans, at the time the head of U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command, told attendees at the aviation associations conference in April 2017.

The record still holds today, according to a retired senior Army aviation officer. This is the most lethal Army unit this year, he said. The whole Army, including artillery, including everything.

One of the few Army units that fly fixed-wing aircraft, the company apparently has been more lethal than its Army helicopter counterparts and all Air Force fixed-wing outfits, manned and unmanned. Even in Joint Special Operations Command, the secretive organization that includes special mission units like Delta Force and SEAL Team 6, Echo Companys performance stands out, according to those familiar with its operations.

A U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter patrols Mogadishu, Somalia, in the wake of gun battles between militants and U.N. peacekeepers, June 8, 1993. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP)

When it was created in 2009, Echo Company represented something new for the 160th, an elite special operations helicopter unit established in the wake of the failed effort in 1980 to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran. The regiments distinctive black helicopters have featured in virtually every high-profile special operations mission since then, including the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia.

Since 2001, the 160th has been heavily engaged as part of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC, pronounced jay-sock) task forces in Afghanistan and, since 2003, in Iraq. The units most prominent members have always been the warrant officers and commissioned officers who fly the regiments helicopters, from the small, nimble AH-6 Little Bird gunships to the twin-rotor MH-47 Chinook assault aircraft.

But unlike those Army pilots, or the pilots of the Air Forces better-known Predator and Reaper drones, the soldiers who fly the Gray Eagles are mainly enlisted service members, according to the retired senior Army aviation officer. They are lethal as all get-out, he said.

Made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., the same firm that produces the MQ-1 Predator, which the Air Force retired in 2018, and its successor, the MQ-9 Reaper, the MQ-1C Gray Eagle is a derivative of the Predator and falls somewhere between the two in terms of capability. Armed with up to four Hellfire missiles or a mix of other munitions, the Gray Eagle also carries a suite of surveillance gear that includes signals intelligence equipment and high-resolution cameras that can read a license plate from 15,000 feet. The basic Gray Eagle can fly for up to 25 hours, while an extended range version has a maximum endurance of 42 hours.

For its first deployments to Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, the unit consisted of little more than a platoon of four Gray Eagles manned by 17 soldiers and 35 contractors (As of late 2013, Echo Company had 12 Gray Eagles and about 165 soldiers, according to an article written by an Army public affairs officer).

Nonetheless, it immediately made an impact. In late 2010, an Echo Company Gray Eagle became the first Army unmanned aerial system to conduct an airstrike, when it provided close air support to coalition forces in Afghanistan, according to former Capt. Tae Kim, who commanded the company. He recalled the mission in matter-of-fact terms. There were two or three different groups of enemy fighters in a firefight with our guys and we followed one particular group  I think it was only two or three guys  and then at some point they called in a fire mission and we got them, he said. We were more relieved at being able to support [the troops], more so than being aware of the significance of it.

Within 18 months of that first airstrike, the unit was running 24-hour operations in Afghanistan and starting to make its mark as not just a surveillance and reconnaissance tool, but as a lethal attack aircraft. During the units summer 2011 to summer 2012 deployment, it conducted 20 airstrikes with Hellfire missiles, resulting in 32 enemy combatants killed in action, according to a document that supported Echo Companys nomination for its 2012 AAAA award. Representatives from the special operations units the company supported were frequently surprised to find that the drone pilots they heard on the radio were not senior Air Force officers but Army enlisted soldiers that were actually in theater  not in Vegas, the document states.

Echo Company has also seen extensive service in Africa, where JSOC has used its Gray Eagles to go after high-value targets in counterterrorism missions in East, North and West Africa, according to a former official at U.S. Africa Command. A small number of Gray Eagles also deployed to Garoua, Cameroon, to help other U.S. special operations forces and their partners in the region in their campaigns against Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa, according to the former Africa Command official.

Echo Company has also seen extensive service in Africa, where JSOC has used its Gray Eagles to go after high-value targets in counterterrorism missions in East, North and West Africa. (Photo: Courtesy of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems)

Still others, flying from the East African nation of Djibouti, were used periodically to search for the Lords Resistance Army. But only the Gray Eagles hunting high-value targets for JSOC were armed. In the other missions, U.S. special operations forces just used the Gray Eagles for surveillance and signals intelligence. They never pulled the trigger, said a special operations officer with recent experience in the Middle East.

Sources were more reluctant to discuss specific missions for which the Gray Eagle has been used in Afghanistan, the Middle East or Africa, on the grounds that they were all classified. Its been involved in some pretty major things, said the retired senior Army aviation officer.

The Gray Eagles arent the only armed drones used in the U.S. military campaigns against Islamist militants. The Predator and the Reaper enjoy a much higher media profile, but Echo Companys Gray Eagles have surprised military leaders by how much more effective they have been on the battlefield, according to the retired senior Army aviation officer. We were kind of used to watching how the Air Force operated first the Predator and then the Reaper, he said. They can be very effective, but this is a different mindset.

There are several factors behind Echo Companys success, according to sources familiar with its operations.

First, while the Air Forces Predators and Reapers  and even the conventional Army divisions Gray Eagle companies  are used mostly for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and more occasionally for striking targets, Echo Companys Gray Eagles are primarily used in either close air support or hunter-killer missions, according to sources familiar with Echo Companys role. Theyre worried about killing targets and getting the next bad guy and basically going down the merit list of who needs to die, said the special operations officer with recent experience in the Middle East.

The Echo Company pilots have a very streamlined permission to execute, based upon [the fact] that theyve already done target folders for these people and things like that, said the retired senior Army aviation officer.

The Gray Eagle Extended Range is a next-generation advanced derivative of the battle-proven Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System. (Photo: Courtesy of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems)

A second factor, according to sources familiar with Echo Companys operations, is that, unlike the Air Forces armed drones, which are remotely piloted at Creech and Nellis Air Force Bases in Nevada, the Gray Eagle pilots are deployed in the combat theaters as part of the JSOC task forces that run counterterrorism campaigns and hunt high-value targets. Using Air Force drones is like youre leasing an aircraft for 12 hours from Creech Air Force Base, said the retired senior Army aviation officer. Theyre operated by somebody who lives in Nevada and goes home to their wife at night, or their husband.

With the Echo Company pilots, he said, theyre deployed with you, youre talking to them at the mess hall and having face-to-face meetings to plan missions. Its a very different way of going about business. An Air Force spokesman declined to comment.

But Tae Kim, who commanded Echo Company from 2009 to 2011, said the importance of having the pilots co-located with the task force was exaggerated. If you have a Reaper or a Predator above you and you need fire support, it doesnt really matter that theyre located on the other side of the globe, said Kim, who is now the chief operating officer for Martin UAV. For the guys on the ground, they dont really care how they get it so long as they get that support.

More important to Echo Companys extraordinary record of lethality, according to Kim, is that it falls directly under the command of the task force. What really matters, he said, when explaining Echo Companys success, is do you have this asset under the task force control so that you have more access to it.

In addition to close air support for troops in contact, the Gray Eagles range, ability to fly for many hours, and the fact that it can attack from an altitude that makes it virtually invisible to those on the ground, mean it can be used for missions that would not make sense for helicopters. The drones get the call when a helicopter cannot get there or a helicopter would give up the gig with rotor noise, said a former senior 160th official.

The Gray Eagles are ideal for missions in which the goal is not to capture someone or to seize materials of intelligence value, but to simply kill one or more individuals, according to a former 160th officer. If youre looking to whack somebody who needs whacking, then send the Gray Eagle, he said.

The battlefield demand for Echo Company is so high that the 160th is getting a second Gray Eagle company, and despite all the secrecy, the word about the Gray Eagles battlefield effectiveness is starting to spread.

Its a phenomenal capability that will continue to be in high demand, said retired Special Forces Col. Stu Bradin, president of the Global Special Operations Forces Foundation. The requirements for it only grow. Its a lifesaver.

The Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System is a technologically advanced derivative of the combat-proven Predator. (Photo: Courtesy of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems)

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
By Gergely Szakacs BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's ruling Fidesz party will replace its anti-Brussels billboards after the European Parliament's main center-right group threatened to expel it from its ranks, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday. On Tuesday European People's Party (EPP) group leader Manfred Weber demanded that Orban's Fidesz party take down billboards attacking European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker which were part of its campaign ahead of the European Parliament elections in May. Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said the posters would be replaced next week by others touting Orban's plans to increase the birth rate and that Fidesz wanted to stay in the EPP. "The government has approved the plan about the protection of families, so from next week, these billboards will be on display," Gulyas said. He declined to respond to repeated questions about later stages of the campaign, saying "I can only inform you about next week". Weber told Bild newspaper he expected an apology to EPP member parties, an immediate and permanent end to Orban's anti-EU campaigns and renewed government support for Central European University (CEU) to stay in Budapest. "It is a good signal, taking down the posters there, that was one of the requests I made this week," Weber said, adding however that "criteria are criteria" when asked whether all three of his requests would have to be met. Gulyas did not say whether Orban planned to apologize but did add that Budapest considered the matter of the CEU closed. The university has accused Orban of trying to kick it out of Hungary. He said Fidesz wanted to stay in the EPP. Fidesz has made its anti-immigration stance the main plank of its campaign for the European elections in May, putting up billboards accusing Juncker and U.S. billionaire George Soros of plotting to destroy European civilization through immigration. Hungary's main pro-government Magyar Nemzet daily has urged Orban's Fidesz to quit the EPP, saying it had abandoned its formative values and "could not be differentiated from the socialists or liberals". "The time has come for Fidesz to stop the humiliating haggling with the European People's Party," the paper said in an editorial titled 'A new alliance!' on Thursday, suggesting Fidesz should join forces with European nationalists instead. Orban himself was quoted by the government's kormany.hu website as saying that the debate about immigration might even lead to a breakup of the EU if one part of it forces other parts to accept pro-immigration policies. The website quoted a December interview given by Orban published in a new book by French politician Philippe de Villiers. "If we are let alone and they do not force islamisation on us, Europe can continue to live as the club of free nations," Orban said. "But if they force us to accept the UN migration pact or the European Commission's decisions so as to make us fit their own Western policies, a breakup (of the EU) cannot be ruled out," he added. (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Sandor Peto; Additional reporting by Alan Charlish in Warsaw; Editing by Catherine Evans and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Brussels (AFP) - The main defendant in the trial of Catalan independence leaders was chosen Thursday as the lead candidate for a European regionalist party in EU elections, a statement said.

Oriol Junqueras, the former Catalan vice-president, has been in pre-trial detention for the past 16 months on charges of rebellion and embezzlement for a failed bid for Catalan independence in late 2017.

His Esquerra Republicana de Cataluna is one of 45 member parties of the European Free Alliance, a pro-regionalist group that defends the right to self-determination.

"If the Spanish state wants to silence him, we will give him a voice," said Jordi Sole, a member of the European Parliament, in a statement.

The group said it currently has a dozen MEPs sitting in different political groups that promote stronger rights and nationhood for regions such as Flanders in Belgium or Corsica in France.

Since 2014, the EU's different political families have chosen their candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, known by the German term 'Spitzenkandidat'.

Junqueras was already an MEP between 2009 and 2012.

Despite being in prison, at the end of 2017 he was elected to the Catalan regional parliament, although he did not obtain permission from the Spanish justice system to serve office.

He faces up to 25 years in prison in the ongoing trial.
Watch the full episode 17 of Yahoo UKs show The Royal Box, here.

The Duchess of Sussex has shown no sign of slowing down during the latter stages of her pregnancy.

Meghan, 37, who is due to give birth in April, has still been carrying out engagements since the start of the new year for her four new patronages as well an undertaking an overseas visit to Morocco.

She also flew to New York on a private trip to celebrate her baby shower with close friends last month.

While most women begin to wind down and start their maternity leave in their last few weeks of pregnancy, its been reported that the duchess aims to work right up to the birth.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at a reception to mark Prince Charles 50th anniversary as Prince of Wales [Photo: Getty]

READ MORE: How much maternity leave royal women take

But veteran broadcaster and commentator Vanessa Feltz thinks Meghan is setting the bar too high for normal pregnant women.

She spoke about her own expectant daughter, who is due at around the same time as the duchess, on Yahoo UKs The Royal Box.

If she had to appear and roll herself out for public display, and also for public deconstruction. How does she look? What shoes is she wearing? What girdle is she wearing? And all that kind of thing.

It would be absolutely impossible torture for my daughter and most normal pregnant women.

I mean I think she is putting in a supersonic performance here, which makes life absolutely unattainable for all other pregnant women. Shes setting the bar so high, much too high.

The Duchess of Sussex, who is due to give birth in April, arriving in Morocco last week [Photo: PA]

As an avowedly feminist public figure, Meghan is often touted as the most relatable and modern member of the Royal Family.

But having kept up a polished public appearance at every engagement, has the duchess given in to the expectations placed on royal women?

Last year, actress Keira Knightley wrote an essay for Feminists Dont Wear Pink (And Other Lies) in which she spoke about her own experiences of childbirth and the pressure on women to look good after labour.

She referred to the Duchess of Cambridges pristine post-labour appearances outside the Lindo Wing each time after giving birth to her three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Story continues

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with newborn Prince Louis on April 23, 2018 [Photo: Getty]

Princess Charlotte was born on May 2, 2015, around the same time as Knightleys daughter and she recalled the moment she watched Kate depart from the hospital.

She wrote in the essay: She [Middleton] was out of hospital seven hours later with her face made up and high heels on. The face the world wants to see.

Hide. Hide our pain, our bodies splitting, our breasts leaking, our hormones raging. Look beautiful. Look stylish, dont show your battleground, Kate.

It has not been confirmed by Kensington Palace where Meghan will give birth to her first child or if there will even be a photo opportunity for the worlds press.

If the duchess decides to do things differently, itll be a refreshing change.

To find out more about Internationals Womens Day 2019, join the conversation here where Yahoo Style and its sister sites take about the issues and stories that matter most to women.
Seoul (AFP) - North Korea on Thursday attacked ongoing joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington as an "open challenge" to moves towards peace on the Korean peninsula.

The US and South Korea agreed on Sunday to replace two major war games that take place every spring -- the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drills -- with a shorter "Dong Maeng" or "Alliance" exercise which kicked off this week.

The move was designed to further ease tensions with the North following the dramatic detente since early 2018.

There are close to 30,000 US troops stationed in South Korea, and their annual drills with tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers have always infuriated the North -- with Pyongyang condemning the manoeuvres as provocative rehearsals for invasion.

However, following the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last year, Trump raised eyebrows at a press conference when he said Washington would suspend the "very provocative" US joint military exercises with South Korea.

The two leaders also signed a vaguely-worded pledge on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

But the North's official KCNA news agency has now warned that the ongoing nine-day drills were an "open challenge" against efforts for peace and stability.

"The ill-boding moves of the South Korean military authorities and the US are a wanton violation of the DPRK-US joint statement and the north-south declarations in which the removal of hostility and tensions were committed to," it said, using the acronym for the North's official name.

The flare-up comes just days after Trump and Kim Jong Un held a second summit, this time in Vietnam, but the talks broke up early with no progress toward Washington's goal of getting the isolated country to give up its nuclear weapons.

Following the stalemate, researchers said this week that Pyongyang was rebuilding the Sohae long-range rocket site after Kim had agreed last year to shut it as part of confidence-building measures.

Trump said he would be "very, very disappointed" if the reports proved true.
The need for speed the new Koenigsegg Jesko (Picture: Koenigsegg)

A new hypercar has been unveiled that could be the first car to reach a speed of 300mph.

The Koenigsegg Jesko was revealed at the Geneva motor show in Switzerland on Tuesday amid claims it will be the fastest production car ever.

The car was unveiled to the world on the Koenigsegg stand by the Swedish companys founder, Christian von Koenigsegg, who named it after his father, Jesko, who was also on stage.

Jesko backed his son in the car manufacturing business when he was 22 and had hardly any money.

The Jesko will cost about 2.3 million (Picture: Koenigsegg)

Koenigsegg say they plan to sell the car in two different configurations, one for use on the track and one to maximise top speed. The latter is hoping to be the first production car to break the 300mph barrier.

Read more

Shocking list of suspected killings in London so far this year after girl is stabbed to death

Husband of Isis bride denied UK citizenship wants them to live together as a family

Meghan Markle gender fluid Royal baby claims are totally false, says Kensington Palace

That would make it the fastest road-legal car in the world, breaking the record of 277mph set by the companys own Agera model.

The company plans to build 125 Jeskos in the next few years and the car will cost about 2.3 million.

Mr von Koenigsegg said his company has already taken 83 deposits on the car.

The interior or the new hypercar (Picture: Koenigsegg)

The Jesko is aiming to be the first production car to break 300mph (Picture: Koenigsegg)

He told the crowds in Geneva: Be fast if you want one.

We will have to see how many are left at the end of the show.

He said the Jesko is capable of speeds of more than 300mph in simulations, and the race is now on to see if the real thing can reach the milestone.

The cars front bonnet, doors and rear clamshell can be opened at the touch of a button, while its infotainment features Apple CarPlay and wireless phone charging.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton warned North Korea it must be willing to completely give up its nuclear weapons program or perhaps face even tougher sanctions.

If theyre not willing to do it, President Trump has been very clear theyre not getting relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them, Bolton told the Fox Business Network on Tuesday evening. And well look at ramping those sanctions up, in fact.

The threat of greater sanctions risks increasing tensions after Trumps summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam last week ended without an agreement. Kim wanted Trump to ease most sanctions in return for dismantling a key nuclear production complex, while the U.S. wanted more action on hidden nuclear facilities, as well as warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles that could deliver them to the American homeland.

When asked last week whether the U.S. would strengthen sanctions on North Korea, Trump said the sanctions were already strong. I dont want to talk about increasing sanctions. Theyre strong, he told a news conference in Hanoi hours after walking away from the summit. They have a lot of great people in North Korea that have to live also. And thats important to me.

Bolton said the U.S. wouldnt buy the same pony that theyve sold to previous administrations and called on North Korea to go back and reassess their strategy. Accepting Kims offer, he said, wouldve given North Korea a lifeline, giving them a chance to get their breath back economically while potentially still concealing a lot of nuclear weapons capabilities, missiles and the rest of it.

Rail-mounted transfer building is being rebuilt. Date: March 2, 2019.

Kim had vowed to meet Trump again to continue talks on his countrys nuclear weapons program, and the U.S. president also maintained an optimistic tone after the summit collapsed. Yet signs of friction are starting to emerge.

North Korea disputed Trumps assertion that Kim wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho saying his country had only asked for relief from sanctions enacted in 2016 and 2017. He said that would mean removing sanctions imposed by five of 11 United Nations resolutions against the country.

Story continues

Two days after the summit ended, new images from Beyond Parallel, part of Washington-based research group Center for Strategic and International Studies, showed that North Korea was rebuilding a long-range rocket site at the Sohae Launch Facility.

Bolton said on Lou Dobbs Tonight that he thought Kim would want to talk to Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, before engaging in talks with the U.S. again. He said he did not believe the two leaders spoke as Kim returned to North Korea.

Were going to see a lot of potential decisions coming out of North Korea, whether theyre serious about the talks, whether they want to get back into them and fundamentally whether theyre committed to giving up their nuclear weapons program and everything associated with it, Bolton said.

The presidents ready to make a deal, hes ready to meet again, he said. Hes pointed to that bright economic future and if Kim Jong Un decides he wants to take advantage of it, the presidents ready to talk to him. ?

In South Korea, a former minister who oversaw inter-Korean affairs during previous administrations blamed Bolton for the breakdown of the summit.

When it comes to the Korean Peninsula issue, he is really obnoxious, Jeong Se Hyun, a former South Korean unification minister, told ruling party lawmakers at a forum Tuesday. Jeong likened Bolton to a white cavalry leader in an old Western movie who doesnt feel guilty about killing Native Americans, according to Korea Times.

Jeong, who is part of an inter-Korean summit advisory group for the South Korean government, said Bolton must have demanded North Korea to dismantle its highly enriched uranium program. Boltons specialty is to abruptly move the goal post, he said.
NEAR BAGHOUZ, Syria (Reuters) - Emerging from Islamic State's last enclave in eastern Syria, a widow of one of the group's fighters made no effort to hide her enmity toward the United States as she handed herself over to U.S.-backed Syrian forces besieging the area. "This is not war. I did not see fighters, people taking up arms and waging jihad against America. No I only saw America killing - a lot," French national Um Walaa's told Reuters TV after being evacuated from Baghouz near the Iraqi border. "...They used to say we (Islamic State) made the world scared, honestly I did not see this. I did not see that we terrorized the world." Her words offer a snapshot of the feelings harbored by the followers and fighters of the hardline group who have poured out of the enclave by the thousand over the past month. After subjecting much of Syria and Iraq to a regime whose distinguishing features included mass killing, sexual enslavement and crucifixion, Islamic State is on the brink of losing its last sliver of populated territory. Founded in 2014, the group's self-styled caliphate drew followers from across the world and many, like Um Walaa, remain radicalized, their pride in having become adherents undimmed. Dressed in black from head to toe and her face covered with a full veil, she said she was a French national of Moroccan origin who was born and raised in Belgium. She said her husband had died fighting for the group. Um Walaa, who gave birth to her daughter in Syria, said she traveled to Islamic State because she wanted to help. "I wanted to see what there was in Syria. And what I saw was terrorism. America kills a lot of people." 'RIGOROUS STANDARDS' Islamic State fell back to Baghouz as it gradually lost territory in Syria and Iraq to an array of enemies including Iraqi forces, the Russia- and Iran-backed Syrian army, Turkey-backed rebels and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Its biggest defeats came in 2017, when it was driven from the Iraqi city of Mosul and Syria's Raqqa. SDF gains in Syria have been backed by ferocious U.S. airpower. Amnesty International has said there is evidence that attacks by the U.S.-led coalition in Raqqa broke international law by endangering civilians. The coalition says it has applied "rigorous standards" when identifying Islamic State targets and has taken extraordinary efforts to protect non-combatants. The defeat of Islamic State at Baghouz will mark a milestone in the campaign against the group, but it is still widely believed to represent a security threat, holding pockets of territory elsewhere and able to launch guerrilla attacks. (Reporting by Reuters TV in Syria; Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Tom Perry and John Stonestreet)
House Democrats clashed during a closed-door meeting Wednesday over how best to respond to Representative Ilhan Omars (D., Minn.) repeated use of anti-Semitic tropes to impugn the motivations and patriotism of her pro-Israel colleagues.

A number of Omars fellow progressives lashed out at Democratic leadership for agreeing to vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism in response to Omars recent claim that her pro-Israel colleagues are motivated by a nefarious dual loyalty to the U.S. and Israel.

Representative Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D., N.J.) was the first to question the leaderships decision to vote on the resolution and suggested it played into the hands of Republicans and the media, according to the Washington Post.

Weve individually and collectively already responded to the fact that we oppose all -isms that do not treat people in this country fairly and justly, she said. To continue to engage in this discussion is simply an opportunity to give both the media and Republicans distractions from our agenda. Weve got important work to do.

Representative Cedric Richmond (D., La.) suggested that President Trump, not Democratic leaders, should be responsible for policing bigotry within the caucus.

I think theres a big rise in anti-Semitism and racism, and thats a bigger conversation we need to be having. Richmond reportedly said during the meeting. But it starts at 1600 Pennsylvania. It doesnt start with one member out of 435 members of Congress.

Representative Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) echoed Richmonds remarks during the meeting, suggesting it would be hypocritical to condemn religious bigotry without addressing Trumps rhetoric. We need to have equity in our outrage, she said.

The occupant of this White House who is seeding every form of hate, emboldening it with racist rhetoric and policies, that is who we all need to be focused on, and this is a distraction, Pressley told the Post after the meeting.

Story continues

Speaking at a progressive town-hall event in Washington, D.C, last week, Omar argued that the anti-Semitism accusations shes faced since being elected represent a concerted effort to shutdown debate over how the U.S. should engage with Israel.

What Im fearful of  because [Representative] Rashida [Tlaib] and I are Muslim  that a lot of our Jewish colleagues, a lot of our constituents, a lot of our allies, go to thinking that everything we say about Israel to be anti-Semitic because we are Muslim, said Omar.

So for me, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country, she later added.

The remarks drew immediate public criticism from senior House Democrats Nita Lowey and Elliot Engel of New York.

Lawmakers must be able to debate w/o prejudice or bigotry. I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel. I urge her to retract this statement and engage in further dialogue with the Jewish community on why these comments are so hurtful.  Nita Lowey (@NitaLowey) March 2, 2019

Her comments were outrageous and deeply hurtful, and I ask that she retract them, apologize, and commit to making her case on policy issues without resorting to attacks that have no place in the Foreign Affairs Committee or the House of Representatives, Engel said in a statement on Friday.

It remains unclear whether the resolution, which was amended earlier this week to condemn anti-Muslim bigotry as well as anti-Semitism, will receive a vote.

More from National Review
Paris (AFP) - Astronomers said Thursday they had accurately calculated the mass of the Milky Way for the first time, using new data sets that include the weight of dark matter.

In a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency's Gaia observation craft, a team of experts calculated our galaxy to be around 1.5 trillion solar masses.

Pervious estimates put the mass of the Milky Way ranging between 500 billion and 3 trillion times the mass of the Sun.

The uncertainty stemmed mainly from differing methods used to measure dark matter -- which doesn't absorb or reflect any light and is thought to make up nearly 90 percent of matter in the Universe.

"We just can't detect dark matter directly," said Laura Watkins, from the Germany-based European Southern Observatory. "That's what leads to the present uncertainty in the Milky Way's mass -- you can't measure accurately what you can't see."

To get around this, the team measured the velocity of globular clusters -- dense groupings of stars that orbit the galaxy at enormous distances.

"The more massive a galaxy, the faster its clusters move under the pull of its gravity," said N. Wyn Evans, from the University of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy.

"Most previous measurements have found the speed at which a cluster is approaching or receding from Earth, that is the velocity along our line of sight."

Instead, the researchers were able to use data collected by the Gaia probe and NASA's Hubble telescope to measure the sideways motion of clusters.

From this they could calculate their total velocity and from that their mass.

The Milky Way, the galaxy which contains Earth's solar system, is home to up to 400 billion stars and an estimated 100 billion planets.
By Alex Dobuzinskis

(Reuters) - A former sheriff in Florida who was suspended over the heavily criticized police handling of a 2018 mass shooting that left 17 people dead at a high school sued the state's governor on Thursday in an effort to reclaim his job.

Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, in January suspended Democrat Scott Israel just days after taking office, saying the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School might "never have happened" if the Broward Sheriff's Office had been better led.

Israel has said DeSantis suspended him because his outspoken gun control stance angered the National Rifle Association, which endorsed DeSantis in his campaign for governor last year.

A state-appointed commission, in a report on the mass shooting issued shortly before DeSantis suspended Israel, found some Broward County sheriff's deputies held back too long, instead of rushing toward the gunfire.

Israel's lawsuit, which was filed in Broward County where he was first elected sheriff in 2012, acknowledged DeSantis has the authority under the Florida Constitution to suspend a public official, but said that in the sheriff's case the action was unwarranted.

"Governor DeSantis exceeded his constitutional authority in suspending Sheriff Israel for political reasons not within the scope of the constitutional suspension prerogative," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit added that Israel, who has faced criticism from parents of students killed at the high school, is "entitled to reinstatement as Broward County sheriff."

Reuters could not immediately reach Israel's attorney, Ben Kuehne, by phone on Thursday.

DeSantis, aside from rebuking Israel after the shooting at the high school in Parkland, about 40 miles (60 km) north of Miami, has also criticized his handling of a 2017 mass shooting at a Fort Lauderdale airport by a gunman who killed five people.

"It is lamentable that Scott Israel refuses to be held accountable for his actions and continues to hold disregard for the law, DeSantis spokeswoman Helen Aguirre Ferre said in a statement.

Story continues

The filing of the lawsuit could set the stage for the political battle over Israel's suspension to play out in court instead of the state legislature, which has authority to review the governor's action.

A hearing had been expected in the state Senate on DeSantis' suspension of Israel. But Florida Senate President Bill Galvano, a Republican, told reporters on Thursday that process is likely to be put on hold because of the lawsuit.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Washington (AFP) - Ethan Lindenberger spent his first 18 years unvaccinated -- defenseless against tetanus, polio, measles. But in December, defying his mother, he got inoculated, a rebellion that earned him an invitation to Congress.

"I grew up understanding my mother believed vaccines are dangerous, as she would speak openly about her views both online and in person," the high schooler said Tuesday in testimony before a Senate hearing on contagious disease outbreaks.

But Lindenberger, still 18, said he did his own research and became convinced that information in defense of vaccines outweighed the concerns of the so-called anti-vax movement.

In recent weeks he has become a hero of believers in modern medicine in the United States, where health officials struggle to convince some that their refusal to get themselves or their children vaccinated is fueling a resurgence of measles.

Pressure to boost vaccinations has surged amid the worst measles outbreaks in years in several US states including Washington, where the governor has declared a state of emergency.

Similar dangerous outbreaks have occurred in Brazil, France and Ukraine.

Lindenberger, testifying alongside distinguished health experts and officials, said "it was a slow progression to start to see evidence" of the effectiveness and safety of vaccines.

But he grew intrigued by so many people who "disagreed with my mom" and sought to dismiss her claims online.

He began studying reports by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, visiting public health organization websites, and poring over scientific journals.

When he showed his mother the articles explaining, for example, that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine did not cause autism, he said she replied: "That's what they want you to think."

Many vaccines are theoretically mandatory for children to attend school in the United States.

But almost all states -- 47 out of 50 -- allow exemptions on religious, moral, or personal grounds, including Lindenberger's state of Ohio.

Story continues

What got Ethan's vaccination quest noticed was his November post on the discussion website Reddit: "My parents are kind of stupid and don't believe in vaccines. Now that I'm 18, where do I go to get vaccinated?"

He received thousands of responses, and the US media came calling.

He soon got vaccinated against hepatitis A and B, influenza, tetanus and papillomavirus. He says he has also received MMR and polio vaccines.

- Disinformation on Facebook -

Seated before some of America's most senior lawmakers, he was praised for his persistence in seeking out the truth.

"I applaud your critical thinking skills," said Democratic Senator Tim Kaine.

"I'd love to be a guest at your Thanksgiving dinner at your house," quipped Senator Lamar Alexander, a Republican.

Ethan's mother did not testify.

"I just continue to try and be respectful and as kind as I can and share the truth with her," Lindenberger told AFP.

"I think she understands that it's important to me."

Ethan, who lives with his father and wants to become a pastor, firmly believes his mother had good intentions in refusing to vaccinate her children.

He said a main challenge now is to counter the online anti-vaccination sites that peddle conspiracy theories by using "anecdotal" information that can ring true for concerned parents.

"People don't resonate well with information and data," Lindenberger said. "My mom reaffirmed that her position was correct because she knows people and she sees stories -- but correlation doesn't equal causation."

Lindenberger says such personalized accounts should be answered by equally personal stories about the deaths and other harm caused by infectious diseases that vaccines were created to eradicate.

"When you convince parents that... their children are at risk, that's a much more substantial way to cause people to change their minds."

Ethan has four younger brothers and sisters. Do they agree with him? "So far there's been a substantial leaning towards my side," he said.

Some people attending the hearing, including anti-vaccine activists, were not convinced by Ethan's arguments.

One of them, Jena Dalpez from Washington state, which has recorded more than 70 measles cases since January, argued that parents of unvaccinated and infected children "knew the risks."
Michael B. Gerrard and Edward McTiernan



Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has rocketed to such fame that she is now widely known simply as AOC, and Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), co-father of Waxman-Markey, the cap-and-trade bill that narrowly passed the House in 2009 but died in the Senate, have introduced identical resolutions to create a Green New Deal. H. Res. 109, S. Res. 59.



A December 2018 survey found 81 percent of registered voters liked the basic concepts. No one expects todays Republican President and Republican Senate to adopt this resolution (which well call AOC-Markey); its more of an effort to shine light on the climate crisis and to look toward the possibility of a Democratic sweep in the November 2020 elections. In Albany, however, Democrats now firmly control the Assembly, the Senate and the Governors office, and thus climate legislation might well pass this year. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has introduced his own version of what he labels the Green New Deal (which well call the Cuomo plan), portions of which are incorporated in the Governors budget bill, A2008/S1508.



In addition, 45 members of the Assembly and 28 members of the Senate are co-sponsoring a proposed New York State Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA), which has much the same spirit and overlapping content. A3876/S2992. Prior versions passed the Assembly in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and the Senate (whose new leadership is supportive) is now holding hearings on it.



This column compares and contrasts these three proposals.





AOC-Markey





This resolution begins by reciting the terrible consequences of unchecked climate change, and of the phenomena of wage stagnation, deindustrialization, and antilabor policies, income inequality, and systemic racial, regional, social, environmental, and economic injustices. It recalls how the Federal Government-led mobilizations during World War II and the New Deal created the greatest middle class that the United States has ever seen, and finds that a new national, social, industrial and economic mobilization in a similar scale could create millions of good, high-wage jobs  provide unprecedented levels of prosperity and economic security  and  counteract systemic injustices.



AOC-Markey calls for a 10-year national mobilization to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This would be accomplished through goals and projects that include meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources, upgrading of all buildings for energy efficiency, and the widespread electrification of vehicles and heating systems. It also calls for removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and reducing pollution by restoring natural ecosystems through proven low-tech solutions that increase soil carbon storage, such as land preservation and afforestation. Additional goals include providing all people of the United States with high-quality health care, affordable, safe, and adequate housing, and economic security.



The resolution is non-binding. It says nothing about how achieving its goals would be funded, enforced, or implemented, except that a Green New Deal must be developed through transparent and inclusive consultation, collaboration, and partnership with frontline and vulnerable communities, labor unions, worker cooperatives, civil society groups, academia and businesses.





Story continues

CCPA





The CCPA also begins by describing the adverse impacts of climate change. It calls for statewide anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to ramp down every five years until they reach zero in 2050.



The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is given the job of devising a scoping plan to outline the methods to achieve the CCPAs objectives. (This resembles a task given the California Air Resources Board by that states landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.) DEC would receive advice from the existing Environmental Justice Advisory Group, a new 29-member State Climate Action Council, and a new Climate Justice Working Group. DEC is directed to promulgate rules and regulations to ensure compliance with the statewide emissions reduction limits, including legally enforceable emissions limits, performance standards, or other requirements.



DEC may consider the use of market-based compliance mechanisms such as a price on greenhouse gas emissions, or the sale of emission allowances with a declining cap. At least 40 percent of any funds collected must be invested in a manner which will benefit disadvantaged communities.



The Public Service Commission is directed to require that at least 50 percent of statewide electricity demand be met by renewable sources by 2030. (It is now about 30 percentmostly hydroelectric.) The bill has extensive provisions regarding wages, labor and job standards and worker protection.



The CCPA expands the ability of citizens to sue by providing: Review under this act may be had in a proceeding under article 78 of the civil practice law and rules at the instance of any person aggrieved.





Cuomo Plan





Governor Cuomo announced his plan on Jan. 17, 2019 as part of his proposed 2019 Executive Budget. It includes a new Climate Leadership Act. It would statutorily mandate that 70 percent of statewide electricity demand be met by renewable sources by 2030, and 100 percent of New Yorks electricity be carbon free by 2040 (thats now 65 percent, including nuclear), and that as soon as practicable, the state must sequester or offset a greater quantity of atmospheric greenhouse gases than are emitted within the state.



A new Climate Action Council would develop a roadmap of ways to achieve the objectives, such as a fee per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted, and beneficial electrification of personal and freight transport, and of water and space heating in buildings. Verifiable, enforceable, and voluntary emissions reduction measures are to be set forth. The existing Environmental Justice and Just Transition Working Group would be codified.



DEC would promulgate a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit for 2030 of a 40 percent reduction from 1990 levels. DEC would issue regulations to support compliance with this limit. They may include legally enforceable emissions reduction measures or greenhouse gas emission levels.



Though not in the bill, Governor Cuomos announcement said that the states implementation of his plan will include a quadrupling of New Yorks offshore wind target to 9,000 megawatts by 2035; doubling distributed solar deployment to 6,000 megawatts by 2025, deploying 3,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030, and other measures.





Assessment





A goal of 100 percent of U.S. electricity from clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources within 10 years, as suggested by AOC-Markey, is more ambitious than the most aggressive scenario that has been widely discussed, a proposal by Stanfords Mark Jacobson for 80 percent renewables by 2030 and 100 percent renewables by 2050 (a proposal that several prominent experts have questioned). Achieving a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in 10 years is probably impossible, given the multiplicity of non-electricity sources of greenhouse gases. However, the wording in AOC-Markey is somewhat ambiguous about whether these goals must be finished or merely advanced by the 10-year national mobilization.



The Cuomo plan would have 70 percent of New York electricity coming from renewables in 2030, and 100 percent from carbon-free sources (presumably including nuclear) by 2040. The CCPA plan is the least ambitious on this count50 percent of New York electricity from renewables in 2030, with provisions to suspend the requirement if necessary.



With respect to the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions in New York, the Cuomo plan would have levels down to 60 percent of their 1990 levels in 2030, with carbon neutrality as soon as practicable. Some emissions could continue but they would be sequestered or offset. The CCPA would ramp them down from 50 percent of 1990 levels in 2030, progressively to zero in 2050. The only explicit exclusion is emissions from livestock. Achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions in New York by 2050 seems to be physically impossible. For example, even if New York could require all New York-based vehicles to be electric (which current federal law does not allow), the state cannot exclude out-of-state vehicles. There is little prospect of zero-emission commercial aircraft by 2050. Though significant strides could be made in the electrification of space heating and industry by 2050, the complete conversion of all systems by 2050 also seems beyond reach. Moreover, there is no allowance for sequestration or offsets, making the goal even harder to achieve. However, some flexibility may be found in the language in the CCPA allowing DEC to exclude sources that it deems cannot be monitored for compliance or whose participation in the program will not enable DEC to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.



Both the CCPA and Cuomo plan would give DEC rulemaking and enforcement powers, and allow for imposition of a carbon tax or similar charges. Only CCPA specifies where some of the proceeds would go.



Clearly bold action is needed to meet the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century. Of the three plans, Cuomos is the most specific in how its objectives would be met; AOC-Markey the least, as it does not purport to be binding legislation, only a statement of aspirations covering a broad array of social issues. AOC-Markey and CCPA call for the swiftest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but few specifics on how to do that. If AOC-Markey passes the House, it will be the most significant federal legislative action on climate change since the Waxman-Markey bill of a decade ago.



Regardless of the high cost of meeting the Paris goal, recent scientific studies establish that the cost of failure to meet it would be immensely higher.



Michael B. Gerrard is a professor and Faculty Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, and Senior Counsel to Arnold & Porter. Edward McTiernan is a partner with Arnold & Porter, and former General Counsel of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
President Trump made headlines last week by walking out of his Hanoi summit meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. The move came as a surprise, and many news outlets around the world have decried the summit. But Trumps move recalled Ronald Reagans decision to walk out of an even higher-stakes summit, his 1986 Reykjavik meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev.

The two summits bear some similarities. Both were second rounds of negotiations with a foreign power to mitigate that powers nuclear threat. Both presidents faced a Communist leader abroad and pressure for a deal back home. And both presidents made the right call in walking out to preserve their position of strength.

During the Reykjavik summit, Gorbachev pressed Reagan to scrap research on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). The initiative was a crucial point for Reagan. It served as the genesis of the effort that to this day provides some limited capability for the United States to protect itself from foreign ballistic-missile attack. The program had been allowed under previous treaties, and so Reagan refused Gorbachevs demand, ending the summit. Afterward, Reagan explained his thinking to the American people: I went to Reykjavik determined that everything was negotiable except two things: our freedom and our future. SDI was an integral part of that future, so Reagan stood firm.

Similarly, Kim Jong-un pressed Trump to lessen sanctions on North Korea as a precondition for any denuclearization. The United Nationsimplemented sanctions had been key to pushing North Korea to the negotiating table in the first place, and Trump rightly recognized that they were his key source of leverage. Without a firm, enforceable process in place for denuclearization, history proves there can be no assurance that North Korea will stay true to its word. Weakening or scrapping the sanctions before that process has begun would be an enormous misstep. So Trump walked.

Leaders around the world are now asking one question: What happens next?

Story continues

The pre-Trump policy of continuous sanctions with no communication or negotiation is no longer an option, because Trump has given Kim legitimacy by opening negotiations in a way Reagan likely never would have. But times and circumstances have changed. Despite leaving the negotiating table, Trump has maintained a cordial tone toward Chairman Kim in the days since the summit. He is clearly interested in cultivating a relationship for the future. And in the coming months, Trump would do well to continue drawing from the Reagan playbook.

To that end, his most pressing order of business is making goals and possible outcomes clear to Kim. Reagan laid out his goals in lengthy correspondence with Gorbachev. His zero option meant the elimination of intermediate-range missiles in Europe. He also refused to concede our freedom and our future, which to him included SDI. Trump needs to make his goals just as clear to Kim: Our future safety is not on the table, and denuclearization is a nonnegotiable first step to easing relations between North Korea and the rest of the world. While Trump touts his negotiating skills, he must have clear aims and be extensively prepared before any further summits occur.

Second, Trump must play hardball. Reagan imposed tough sanctions on the U.S.S.R. and commenced a massive military buildup, both for national-defense purposes and to further pressure the Russian economy and government. The mounting financial and political strain contributed both to Gorbachevs willingness to negotiate and to the Soviet Unions eventual collapse. Trump should increase sanctions and work hard to bring China and Russia on board with them for the same reasons. If it causes Kim to negotiate toward denuclearization, great. If it causes the regime to collapse, even better.

Finally, Reagan was willing to return to the negotiating table, even if hed previously walked away without a deal. After Reykjavik, he said we prefer no agreement than to bring home a bad agreement to the United States. Thats why he was able to negotiate directly with Gorbachev three times after the summit collapsed and still win significant concessions. Trump, his top negotiators, and our legislators should likewise remain open to future talks. As long as America maintains its position of strength and is willing to walk away from a bad deal, we are unlikely to lose.

Trumps talks with Pyongyang present a historic opportunity, but they are not without risk. If the president can maintain a Reaganesque resolve and continue to apply maximum pressure on the Kim regime, he may still be able to ensure a more prosperous future for North Korea and improved security for the people of the United States.

More from National Review
Hundreds of passengers were left stranded in Britain on Tuesday after European aviation authorities suspended Turkmenistan Airlines over safety concerns.

The isolated central Asian republic's flag carrier provides services from London and Birmingham to the Indian city of Amritsar which is popular with Britain's Punjabi community.

Britain's Civil Aviation Authority cited a notice from its European counterpart announcing the suspension of flights on Monday.

"The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended Turkmenistan Airlines flights to and from the EU pending confirmation that it meets international air safety standards," the UK Foreign Office said in a separate travel advisory.

The airline itself provided no information on its website. The phone number it listed was not in service and no one replied to emails.

The website still listed all of its European destinations but was not taking further bookings from Paris or Frankfurt.

Briton Jane McCarron said she had planned to fly to Amritsar from Birmingham next Tuesday and now did not know whether to make new arrangements.

"I just want to know if I can go next Tuesday," she told AFP by email.

"My ticket is non-refundable and the airline is not answering their calls."

The airline also links Paris and Frankfurt with popular Asian destinations such as New Delhi and Bangkok via the Turkmen capital Ashgabat.

It was still taking bookings from Moscow and Saint Petersburg to Ashgabat and Bangkok.

The carrier says on its website that it flies around 3,000 passengers a day.

"The Turkmenistan Airlines fleet consists of only modern Western aircrafts (such as Boeing 717,737,757,777, Challenger and Hawker)," says the website.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the suspension or when flights might resume.

Turkmenistan is an energy-rich but authoritarian former Soviet state with a poor human rights record and a fully state-controlled media.

The government-run airline was created in Turkmenistan's first full year of independence in 1992.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth entered the world of hi-tech communications on Thursday with a visit to the new "Top Secret" exhibition at London's Science Museum.

The 92-year-old monarch saw a World War Two enigma code machine and the original NeXT computer used by Tim Berners-Lee to design the World Wide Web in 1989.

She also marked the opening of the museum's Smith Centre by sharing an archive image on the royal family's Instagram account, which has 4.5 million followers.

Elizabeth first toured the Science Museum in 1938 and, during her last visit in 2014, opened the Information Age gallery by sending her first Tweet.

(Reporting by Joe Green; editing by Stephen Addison)
Washington's North Korea envoy Stephen Biegun was to meet Wednesday with officials from Japan and South Korea to discuss the outcome of the Hanoi summit last week, amid new evidence that Pyongyang is rebuilding a rocket launch site.

Biegun was to meet separately in Washington with Lee Do-hoon, Seoul's chief nuclear envoy, and Japan's Kenji Kanasugi, with a three-way meeting also expected, according to the US State Department.

Their talks take place after US President Donald Trump abruptly cut short the February 27-28 summit in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid fundamental differences between the two sides over dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

The summit, their second in under a year, broke up without even a joint statement, and each sought to blame the other's intransigence for the deadlock.

Both sides pledged to continue talking, but no new meetings have been scheduled.

State Department Spokesman Robert Palladino declined Tuesday to say whether contacts between Washington and Pyongyang have resumed since the summit.

On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hopes to be able to send a team to Pyongyang in "the next couple weeks," while acknowledging there had been no commitment from Pyongyang on resuming talks.

The US, Japan and South Korea were confronted with a fresh challenge when new photographs released Tuesday appeared to show that Pyongyang may be pursuing the "rapid rebuilding" of a long-range rocket site at Sohae, after having pulled back nuclear-related activity.

The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said the renewed activity, recorded two days after the summit, may "demonstrate resolve in the face of US rejection" of the North's request for an easing of sanctions.

The site, dormant since August 2018, "has been used in the past for satellite launches, which use ICBM technology banned under UN Security Council resolutions," CSIS said.

The State Department declined to address the reports Wednesday.
By Mayela Armas

CARACAS (Reuters) - Opposition leader Juan Guaido has asked Citibank to delay by 120 days Venezuela's scheduled repurchase of gold that President Nicolas Maduro's government put up as collateral for a loan in 2015, three members of the team advising Guaido said.

Advisers to Guaido, who has been recognised by most Western nations as Venezuela's legitimate head of state, have met with Citibank officials to ask them to hold off claiming the gold that Maduro's cash-strapped government committed to give up if it failed to pay off the loan by its March due date.

One of the sources told Reuters that Citibank has not yet informed them whether or not it will agree to the request. A Citibank spokesperson declined to comment. Venezuela's Information Ministry and the central bank did not respond to requests for comment on the status of the loan and its own discussions with Citibank, if any.

The request is part of the opposition's strategy to safeguard Venezuela's foreign assets and prevent the socialist Maduro government from selling off gold reserves to raise hard currency amid tightening sanctions.

Guaido, who invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency in January, accuses Maduro of being illegitimate; Maduro says he is victim of a U.S.-led economic war to force him from power.

The U.S. government has recognised Guaido as Venezuela's leader and anchored that decision by ordering all U.S. companies buying crude from state oil company PDVSA to make payments into bank accounts controlled by Guaido's government.

Maduro's government began to use gold swap deals some four years ago in order to obtain financing as oil income plummeted in the face of sanctions. Under such agreements, if the borrower does not pay back the loan on time, the financial institution keeps the gold.

Venezuela allowed a similar gold swap arrangement to expire in 2017, a legislator said at the time.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-economy/venezuela-allows-1-7-billion-gold-swap-with-deutsche-to-lapse-legislator-idUSKBN1CS2CD

Story continues

In a public report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February, Citibank said the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV) had agreed to repurchase an undisclosed amount of gold in March as part of an agreement signed by both institutions in 2015. The report did not give an exact date for the agreement.

In the deal, the BCV had sold $1.6 billion of gold to a British unit of Citibank, to be held at the Bank of England, according to the report filed to the U.S. market regulator.

The sources did not specify whether repurchasing the gold would cost more or less than the original $1.6 billion (1.2 billion pounds).

"The next such date will be in March 2019 at which time the BCV will be required to purchase a significant amount of gold from Citi under terms of the Agreements," it said in the report.

Guaido has asked British authorities to prevent Maduro from gaining access to any gold reserves held in the Bank of England, which holds around $1.2 billion in bullion for Maduro's government.

The Bank of England has said it does not comment on client operations.

(Additional reporting by Corina Pons; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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.
A new community-oriented policing program has been put in place and is ready to be expanded 

Resources

To get involved with the Yakima Union Gospel Missions Serve Day Saturdays, contact Manager of Volunteer Engagement Jakob Shewey at(509- 853-4318 or by email at jakob.shewey@yugm.org.

To give the City of Yakima feedback about the proposed North First Street Revitalization Plan, contact Senior Engineer Bob Desgrosellier at 509-575-6228 or by email at bob.desgrosellier@yakima.gov.

To submit comments to the Yakima City Council, visit https://www.yakimawa.gov/council/contact/.
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.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Algerian president seeking a fifth term despite outrage that has led thousands to take to the streets in anger over his age and poor health, says it will be the last time he runs.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Bouteflika, who turned 82 on March 2 and suffered a serious stroke in 2013, also promised in a letter read Sunday by his campaign manager, Abdul Ghani Zaalan, that if re-elected on April 18 he would hold the next presidential election within a year and introduce political reforms.

Protest in Algeria against president

In the letter, he stated that a national conference will determine the date of the vote and that it would be held in calm, free and transparent conditions.

Nizar al-Mkani, a Tunisian political analyst, told The Media Line that Bouteflikas decision to run was due to internal conflicts.

We have the army and general staff command on one side, which supports him, Mkani said, and the intelligence agency on the other, which is against him.

Bouteflika

He explained that throughout his presidency, Bouteflika, in office since 1999 and largely out of sight in recent years due to his health, at one point forced the head of the intelligence agency to resign.

The conflict between these powers has resulted in Bouteflika running again until they agree on a successor, Makan said, explaining further that the Algerian political system has relied completely on the military establishment for stability since the countrys independence in 1962.

On the subject of the current protests, Makan pointed out that if the president is reelected, many might believe that the results were manipulated.

Students protest

Bouteflika is trying to gain the peoples support through Sundays letter, he said.

Ali al-Hamad, an Egyptian political analyst, told The Media Line that Arab leaders often come to believe that their judgment is supreme.

There is a disease in the Middle East that is called authority, where leaders dont let go of their ruling positions at any price, Hamad noted, adding that in all Arab nations, once they have a ruler, that person is unchangeable.

He said that once (these people) become presidents, they edit and change the constitution to ensure that they remain in power.

Hamad stressed that Algeria has potentially great candidates, but they simply dont get a chance to run.

Bouteflika is sick in bed for years, he continued. His determination triggers questions: Who is he protecting by remaining president?

Sunday was the last day people could register to run in the April 18 presidential vote. A number of declared candidates have withdrawn from the race in protest of Bouteflikas decision to run, including Ali Benflis, a respected human rights advocate and former prime minister.
WARSAW, Poland -- The Polish government is reconsidering whether to exhume human remains at a World War II-era site where Jews were burned alive by Polish neighbors, though the country's chief rabbi says the work would violate Judaism's prohibition on disinterment under most circumstances.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Authorities will weigh "various circumstances" in deciding if exhumations should go forward in the town of Jedwabne, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told private broadcaster Polsat News.

During the German Nazi occupation of Poland, Poles killed at least 340 Jews on July 10, 1941. Most of the victims were locked inside a barn that was set on fire.

A visitor lays a stone at a memorial of the victims of the Jedwabne massacre (Photo: AP)

Some Poles want the massacre site excavated to uncover possible evidence that Germans ordered Polish villagers to do the killings. The work was started in 2001 and stopped by the justice minister after several days due to Jewish objections.

Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich said exhuming the place where the barn stood "would desecrate the memory of those who were buried there."

"It makes moral sense that we should follow the religious traditions of those who were buried there," Schudrich told The Associated Press. "Jewish law hasn't changed in 2,000 years, and what we said in 2001 remains the same now."

The Jedwabne pogrom was one of several massacres carried out by Poles during the German occupation. Many historians see it as evidence that anti-Semitism existed in a significant part of the Polish population.

Many Polish nationalists think it is unfair to blame Poles and that Germany bears the ultimate responsibility given the methods of terror and violence Nazis used in occupied Poland.

Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany for more than five years during World War II. Nearly 6 million Polish citizens died, some 3 million Jews and almost as many non-Jews.







A Holocaust survivor displays the tattoo goiven him to him by the Nazis, at the entrance to Auschwitz death camp in Poland (Photo: AFP) (Photo: AFP)

That the question of exhuming remains has resurfaced reflects the pressure on Poland's ruling party from far-right groups that call historical evidence of Poles doing the killings to be a "Jewish lie."

A right-wing TV broadcaster sparked the discussion anew by asking an official about it recently.

The ruling Law and Justice party is led by the twin brother of the justice minister who stopped the earlier exhumation, Lech Kaczynski. He was killed along with 95 others in 2010 when the Polish air force plane they were on crashed in Russia.

The surviving brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has taken the party on a more nationalistic course in recent years.

Once the government decides whether to proceed with an excavation, prosecutors will have the final, Morawiecki told Polsat News in an interview on Tuesday.

"For us, the most important thing is for historical truth to be emphasized, and the historical truth about the fate of Poles during the time of World War II is extremely sad for us," the prime minister said. "But it also testifies to what a splendid, great nation we are and who bears the sole guilt for the Holocaust."

Protests at the entrance to Auschwitz against Polish efforts to reject any culpability for the Holocaust (Photo: AFP) (Photo: AFP)

Poland has been quick to denounce anyone accused of linking the country to the well-documented history of anti-Semitism and violence against Jews that took place there during and after the wartime Nazi occupation. Israeli officials see Poland's controversial legislation as an attempt to suppress such discussion, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced criticism from historians in Israel for not opposing the law, which critics say distorts history.

Many Poles refuse to accept research showing thousands of their countrymen participated in the Holocaust in addition to thousands of others who risked their lives to help the Jews, insisting that all atrocities on its soil were committed by the German occupiers.

Tensions between Israel and Poland rose last year after Poland's nationalist government introduced new legislation that would have made the use of phrases such as "Polish death camps" punishable by up to three years in prison. After pressure from the United States and an outcry in Israel, Poland watered down the legislation, scrapping the prison sentences.

A fresh diplomatic row over the issue broke out between Israel and Poland last month, when some Israeli media reported remarks by Netanyahu in which he appeared to accuse the Polish nation of involvement in the Holocaust.

Netanyahu's office said he had been misquoted in his response to a reporter's question during a visit to Warsaw about Polish legislation related to Holocaust remembrance, and that he had not cast any blanket blame. But the spat reignited days later whe the interim foreign minister Yisrael Katz said that "many Poles" had collaborated with the Nazis in World War II and shared responsibility for the Holocaust. He also referenced a quote from the late former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, who said that Poles "suckled anti-Semitism with their mothers' milk."

As a result, Poland withdrew from a formal gathering of the central European Visegrad Group of countries, with Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denouncing Katz's comments as "racist" and "absolutely unacceptable." The summit was then cancelled.
Israel Police on Thursday recommended bribery charges against Likud MK and former party chairman David Bitan, for alleged corruption during his time as deputy mayor of the central town of Rishon Lezion.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Bitan, 58, is placed 24th on the Likud party list of candidates for the April 9 elections, and had been expected to keep his Knesset seat. He stepped down as Likud chairman in 2017, due to the police investigation against him.

David Bitan (Photo: Yaron Brener)

The investigation, dubbed Case 1803, deals with the suspicion that between 2011 and 2017, Bitan, deputy Tel Aviv mayor Arnon Giladi and then-Rishon Lezion mayor Dov Zur received favors from private entities, in return acting to advance the interests of those entities, which allegedly include construction company Danya Cebus and its CEO Ronen Ginsburg, supermarkets, real estate developers, contractors and more.

As well as holding the post of deputy mayor, Bitan also headed the municipality's Planning and Building Committee.

The police investigation was a complex one, during which some 80 witnesses were questioned over the course of hundreds of interrogations, testimonies were taken from more than 300 witnesses, dozens of locations were searched, around 700 documents were seized, and tens of millions of shekels were confiscated.

David Bitan outside the Lahav 443 headquarters (Photo: Tzvika Tishler)

According to suspicions, the Danya Cebus CEO gave Bitan and another individual a sum of NIS 430,000 (approx. $100,000) between 2013-15, in order to promote the company's interests at Rishon Lezion municipality and the Ministry of Transport.

This sum allegedly pertained to a plan to build a gas station at the Ein HaKoreh interchange on the southern outskirts of the town, as well as to a tender relating to another construction project on Route 38, which runs near Jerusalem.

The police also said there was evidence that Bitan and Giladi received a bribe of NIS 385,000 in return for advancing permits at various municipal authorities for three real estate projects in Tel Aviv. Furthermore, the police said, some of the bribes were laundered through the use of fake invoices.

The case, which was handled by the Israel Police anti-corruption unit Lahav 443, has now been handed over to the State Prosecutor's Office for further steps in the legal process.





Ronen Ginsburg (Photo: Orel Cohen)

Danya Cebus said in response to the recommendations that it was confident both the company and Ginsburg would be exonerated.

"We are confident that once the State Prosecutor's Office has received all the relevant information, it will reach the correct conclusion that there is no basis to bring charges against Danya Cebus and/or Ronen Ginsburg," it said in a statement.

Zur's lawyers said following the police recommendations that there was no basis to charge their client, and that the central investigation into his activities had already been closed.
The Israeli military on Thursday demolished the family home of a Palestinian terrorist behind the killing of two soldiers and an Israeli newborn.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Israeli forces bulldozed the home of Asem Barghouti in the West Bank village of Kobar near Ramallah in the early morning.

IDF troops demolishing the home of Asem Barghouti (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Barghouti was arrested earlier this year for his role in the deadly shooting attacks last December. He was arrested as part of a month-long joint manhunt involving police, the Shin Bet security service and IDF.

The arrest of Aasem Barghouti

X

At least seven people were wounded by gunfire shot from a passing Palestinian vehicle near Ofra Junction in the December 9, 2018 attack. One of the victims was Shira Ish-Ran, a 21-year-old woman in her seveth month of pregnancy who was seriously wounded in the attack. The baby, Amiad Israel, was delivered prematurely as a result of his mother's injuries, and only survived for several days.

President Reuven Rivlin called the couple true heroes, and posted the poem The Parable of the Fledgling by Eli Eliyahu about a baby bird that falls from his nest and cannot be rescued.

We are with you, embracing you, and will not rest until this despicable terrorism is uprooted, he said.

Shira and Amichai Ish-Ran (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

Footage from the scene of the attack shows a white sedan approaching the location before slowing down and someone inside firing a stream of bullets at the people standing at the bus stop at the entrance to Ofra, before the car fled the scene.

The scene of the Ofra attack (Photo: Magen David Adom)

Four days later, Barghouti was involved in a shooting attack north of Jerusalem that killed two soldiers from the Haredi Netzah Yehuda Battalion and wounded two other people.

The attacka drive-by shooting on Route 60, a central artery that runs through the West Bankoccurred some 5km south of the West Bank settlement of Ofra, at a bus stop next to the Giv'at Asaf outpost. All four victims were in their 20s.

Corporal Yosef Cohen, 19 from Beit Shemesh, and Sergeant Yovel Moryosef, 20 from Ashkelon,both died in the shooting. They were posthumously promoted to corporal and sergeant respectively.

Sgt. Yosef Cohen (left) and Staff Sgt. Yovel Moryosef

Israel arrested more than 100 Palestinians in the manhunt after the attacks and killed Barghouti's brother - the gunman in the Ofra attack - in one of its arrest raids.

Israel frequently demolishes Palestinian attackers' homes as a policy aimed at deterring future attacks.
The military court in Jaffa on Thursday convicted three soldiers from the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion of aggravated assault for the brutal attack on two Palestinian detainees, a 50-year-old man and his 15-year-old son, in January.

The soldiers were convicted of assaulting of the two during their arrest for suspected collaboration with the Palestinian militants behind a deadly shooting attack that killed two of their battalion comrades in the West Bank in December.

The three have reached a plea bargain with prosecutors, although it has yet to be approved.
The military court in Jaffa on Thursday convicted three soldiers from the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion of aggravated assault adn aggravated battery for a brutal attack on two Palestinian detainees, a 50-year-old man and his 15-year-old son, in January.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



The soldiers were convicted of assaulting of the two during their arrest for suspected collaboration with the Palestinian militants behind a deadly shooting attack that killed two of their battalion comrades in the West Bank in December.

The accused soldiers in court during their trial (Photo: Shaul Golan)

The three have reached a plea bargain with prosecutors, although it has yet to be approved. The deal will see the three sentenced to 190 days in jail, demoted to the rank of private and given probation. The final verdict will be handed down on Sunday.

Two more soldiers have also been charged in the affair, while the platoon commander is accused of standing by and not preventing the violence. He did not sign a plea bargain and will now face a full trial. The other two soldiers are reportedly negotiating their own plea deals at the moment.

The five soldiers were indicted in January for severely beating the two Palestinian detainees, leaving them seriously hurt with fractures to their ribs and noses, during the manhunt for As'am Barghouti, who shot dead two soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion at the Giv'at Asaf outpost in the West Bank in December.

The scene of the attack at Giv'at Asaf (Photo: AFP)

The two Palestinians were arrested on suspicion of helpling Barghouti and his brotherwho were also involved in a terror attack near Ofra Junction that left a newborn baby dead and seven people woundedevade capture.

The IDF Spokespersons Unit said the five soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse and aggravated battery. The soldiers allegedly cursed, slapped, punched and hit the suspects with fists and blunt objects, targeting their heads as well as other body parts, while the two Palestinians were tied up and blindfolded. The soldiers also allegedly kicked the suspects in the groin and pulled on their hair.

As the suspects were being transported by the Netzah Yehuda troops, the vehicle passed the Giv'at Asaf Junction, where the two of the soldiers comradesSergeant Yosef Cohen and Staff Sergeant Yovel Moryosefhad been gunned down. This prompted the soldiers who were sitting in the back of the car with the detainees to start abusing them, while the platoon commander observed but did not interfere.

The indictment stated that footage of the incident, filmed by one of the soldiers, showed the troops cheering as the suspects were being beaten.

"At one point, the defendants removed the blindfold from one of the detainees, so he would see his friend being beaten, while the other soldiers were cheering, the indictment said. As a result, the two suspects needed urgent medical treatment and were later hospitalized at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem."

Once at the hospital, doctors found the two Palestinians had suffered severe rib and nose fractures.
Lebanon on Thursday warned its Mediterranean neighbors that a planned EastMed gas pipeline from Israel to the European Union must not be allowed to violate its maritime borders.

Beirut has an unresolved maritime border dispute with Israel - which it regards as an enemy country - over a sea area of about 860 sq km (330 square miles) extending along the edge of three of Lebanon's southern energy blocks.

Israel is hoping to enlist several European countries in the construction of a 2,000 km (1,243 mile) pipeline linking vast eastern Mediterranean gas resources to Europe through Cyprus, Greece and Italy at a cost of $7 billion.

Lebanon's foreign minister, Gebran Bassil, said he had written to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Italy to request that the pipeline does not infringe on Lebanon's rights within what it claims as its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Lebanon on Thursday warned its Mediterranean neighbours that a planned EastMed gas pipeline from Israel to the European Union must not be allowed to violate its maritime borders.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Beirut has an unresolved maritime border dispute with Israel - which it regards as an enemy country - over a sea area of about 860 sq km (330 square miles) extending along the edge of three of Lebanon's southern energy blocks.

Israel is hoping to enlist several European countries in the construction of a 2,000 km (1,243 mile) pipeline linking vast eastern Mediterranean gas resources to Europe through Cyprus, Greece and Italy at a cost of $7 billion.

Israel's Leviathan gas field

Lebanon's foreign minister, Gebran Bassil, said he had written to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Italy to request that the pipeline does not infringe on Lebanon's rights within what it claims as its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

In a copy of the letter sent to Greece's foreign ministry seen by Reuters, Bassil said Lebanon would not allow its sovereignty to be breached, "especially when it comes to any eventual attempt from Israel to encroach on Lebanon's sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its EEZ."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Israel within the next few days to help with its plan to export natural gas to Europe.

"In a few days, the leaders of Cyprus and Greece will come here, together with ... Pompeo, to advance a gas pipeline from Israel to Europe via these countries," Netanyahu said.

Mike Pompeo and Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: AFP)

Pompeo on Monday said his visit to the region will also include a stop in Beirut and Kuwait.

Lebanon last year licensed a consortium of Italy's Eni, France's Total and Russia's Novatek to carry out the country's first offshore energy exploration in two blocks. One of the blocks, Block 9, contains waters disputed with Israel.

Lebanese leaders have repeatedly warned Israel not to encroach on its offshore oil and gas reserves.

A number of big gas fields have been discovered in the eastern Mediterranean Levant Basin since 2009. However, the region lacks significant oil and gas infrastructure and political relations between the countries - including Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and Syria - are strained on a number of fronts.

In January, Eastern Mediterranean countries agreed in Cairo to set up a forum to create a regional gas market, cut infrastructure costs and offer competitive prices. Lebanon and Turkey did not participate in the meeting, nor did war-torn Syria.
A bureaucratic snafu in the Israel Prison Service this week led to the accidental release of a Palestinian prisoner at Ofer Prison in the West Bank.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



The initial results of the investigation into the incident indicate that faulty paperwork was responsible for the release of the Palestinian, who was arrested by the IDF and the Shin Bet for illegal assembly, and later ordered to be detained until the end of the proceedings against him.

Ofer Prison (Photo: Shutterstock)

He was freed when the form confirming his detention for a further four months failed to reach the correct destination

Defense officials expressed outrage at the IPS, claiming that the mistake was caused by negligence and a lack of responsibility, and could have occurred with a terrorist with blood on his hands. As such, they said, the incident could not be ignored.

As a result of the failure, the acting director of the Israel Prison Service ordered the establishment of an internal commission of inquiry, whose results would likely lead to punitive steps and even dismissals.

This is not the first time that Ofer Prison has accidentally released an inmate. In 2014, a group of eight security detainees were placed in a room in the prison, ahead of their imminent release.

They were then joined by another detainee, who had been arrested for throwing stones at Israeli vehicles. When the eight were released, the latter detainee took advantage of the opportunity and left prison with them and without any of the prison officers noticing.
The Israel Police arrested 30 ultra-Orthodox protesters on Thursday evening in Jerusalem, after the extreme Jerusalem Faction staged a rally on protest over the arrest of a draft dodger.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Some 500 protesters physically blocked the light rail tracks and several roads in the capital, while shouting insults at police officers and calling them Nazis. The draft is religious persecution, well die and wont join the army, to prison but never to the army, called the protesters.

Haredi protester being evacuated from the road in Jerusalem (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Police forces were using crowd dispersal methods in an attempt to reopen main roads in the capital.

The protesters belong to the extreme Jerusalem Faction that refuses to acknowledge the states authority, and refuse to show up at the IDF draft facility even for the purpose of getting their exemption.

(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

The factions leaders called on their followers to take to the streets after a draft dodger was arrested. However, in light of the upcoming elections, another motive could be distinguishing the Jerusalem Faction from the mainstream Haredi public, represented in the Knesset by the Shas and the United Torah Judaism parties, who the extremists believe to be collaborators with draft laws.

In reality, Yeshiva students do not get arrested for their refusal to join the IDF since the draft law allows them to continue their studies and avoid the draft. However, since the factions followers refuse to show up for exemption hearings, the IDF considers them to be draft dodgers and eventually some get arrested.
A Belgian court on Thursday convicted French citizen Mehdi Nemmouche of "terrorist murder" for the shooting deaths of four people at a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014, Belgian news agency Belga reported.

Sentencing in the weeks-long jury trial will be announced at a later date.

The shooting attack in the museum in May 2014 was the first to underscore the threat posed by Islamist militants returning to their home countries in Europe after fighting in Syria's war.
French citizen Mehdi Nemmouche was convicted of "terrorist murder" by a Belgian court on Thursday for shooting dead four people in a Jewish museum in Brussels after returning from Syria in 2014, federal prosecutors said.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Sentencing after the two-month-long jury trial over what is seen as the first attack by an Islamist militant with European citizenship after returning from Syria will be announced at a later date.





The Jewish museum in Brussels (Photo: AP)

Outside the Brussels court, as it convicts Frenchman of murder in Jewish museum attack (Photo: Reusters)

Nemmouche told the court he was "tricked" while his lawyer said video footage of the shooting was faked and his client was framed by hit men sent to kill two agents of Israel's Mossad - assertions that outraged the victims' families and survivors.

European Jewish Congress chief Moshe Kantor on Thursday condemned as a disgrace "the use of reprehensible tactics and conspiracy theories (of) the defence lawyers."

The shooting attack in May 2014 was the first to underscore the threat posed by radicalised Muslims returning to their home countries in Europe after fighting with Islamist factions in Syria's civil war
The NDRC holds a news conference in Beijing on March 6, 2019. [Photo by Kuang Linhua/chinadaily.com.cn]

He Lifeng, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), together with Ning Jizhe and Lian Weiliang, both vice-chairmen of NDRC, answered questions on promotion of high-quality development at a press conference during the second session of the 13th National People's Congress on March 6, 2019.

Here are the highlights:

China will continue opening-up, shorten negative list: Ning Jizhe

Ning Jizhe, vice-chairmen of NDRC, answers questions at a news conference in Beijing on March 6, 2019. [Photo by Kuang Linhua/chinadaily.com.cn]

China will continue to open up its economy and shorten the negative list, enabling a better business environment for foreign investment, according to the country's top economic planner.

"We will persist in developing a high-level open economy, fully implementing the management system on pre-establishment national treatment and negative lists and taking measures to encourage foreign investment," said Ning Jizhe, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Ning said China will further shorten the negative list on market entry, introducing more open measures in the fields of agriculture, mining, manufacturing and services and allowing foreign investment to run more wholly foreign-owned enterprises in more areas.

China's trade with BRI countries, regions crosses $6t: Ning Jizhe

The China-Europe freight train for cross-border e-commerce waits to depart from Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, March 2, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

China has made significant achievements with the countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative in the past five years after the initiative was proposed. The total trade volumes between China and the countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative has exceeded $6 trillion, Ning Jizhe said.

China has signed 171 cooperation documents with 29 international organizations and 123 countries, including developed and developing countries, the vice-chairman of NDRC said.

By the end of February, China-Europe freight trains, considered a significant part of the Belt and Road Initiative, have made 14,000 trips.

Govt plans more steps to boost consumption: Ning Jizhe

A woman picks up imported snacks at a duty-free mall in Southwest China's Chongqing, Jan 18, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

More measures to support a steady growth in consumption are in pipeline this year, with a focus on key sectors including used cars, new energy cars, 5G, energy-efficient electric home appliances, senior and baby care, and consumption in rural areas, said Ning Jizhe.

The statement followed policies released this January that promoted the consumption in sectors including cars, electric home appliances, sustainable industries, information and technology, senior care and sports.

Government to focus on target investment in 2019: He Lifeng

He Lifeng, chairman of the NDRC, answers questions at a news conference in Beijing on March 6, 2019. [Photo by Kuang Linhua/chinadaily.com.cn]

Government at all levels will focus on targeted investment, and efforts will be made this year to prevent new debt, said He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission.

He said government investment will focus on improving livelihoods and urban services in 2019, and that no deluge of mass investment is needed.

Increased efforts will be made to expand access to private investment, He added.

China's economy remains steady while making progress: He Lifeng

The overall situation of China's economy is stable with some changes and worries, but the overall trend is generally smooth and making progress, said He Lifeng.

"The main economic indicators of the whole year ran in a reasonable range, with the total GDP reaching 90.03 trillion yuan. According to the annual average exchange rate, it is roughly equivalent to $13.6 trillion, with a growth rate of 6.6 percent and an increase of about $1.4 trillion, ranking first among the top five economies in the world," He said.

"The three numbers, including the GDP growth of $1.4 trillion, the employment increase of 13.61 million people and the poverty alleviation of 13.86 million people, can only be achieved in China," He said.

Economic performance to be good in 2019: He Lifeng

Chinese economy will maintain steady progress with good momentum for growth and meeting the government's stated target, said He Lifeng.

"With the implementation of various supportive policies, I believe this year the economy will register a good performance," he added.

China has also made big strides in fostering a better business environment, as the country ranked 46th place out of 190 countries in the World Bank's newly released ranking list in 2018. While China ranked 78th place for ease of doing business in 2017.

China to speed up infrastructure building in Guangdong, HK, Macao: He Lifeng

China will carry out more efforts to accelerate the construction of an international science and technology center in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, said He Lifeng.

He said more measures will be taken to expedite the building of infrastructure in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to lay a sound foundation to boost exchange and communication among the regions.

The government will also roll out more policies to make it convenient for people from Hong Kong and Macao to work and start their businesses in Guangdong province, in the hope of boosting innovation, He said.

Govt to add more nursing beds, enhance elderly care services: Lian Weiliang

Lian Weiliang, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, answers questions at a press conference for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 6, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

The country will provide more than 1 million inclusive (affordable) nursing beds for seniors over the next three to five years, said Lian Weiliang, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission.

The country will take significant steps to develop community elderly care services, such as day care, rehabilitation care, and assisted meals and assisted mobility, ensuring people enjoy more convenient, high quality services in the community, Lian said.

Meanwhile, children attending public kindergartens or low-priced private ones will account for 80 percent of all preschoolers over the next three to five years.

Govt to increase punishment for rule-breakers, strengthen incentives: Lian Weiliang

China will intensify punishment for those who break the rules, offer more incentives to those who obey the rules, and build new regulation mechanism core with credit, said Lian Weiliang.

Meanwhile, the country will strengthen protection of personal information during the process of punishment and incentive.

Last year, China launched special campaigns in 19 areas by enhancing exposure and joint enforcements, Lian said.

The campaigns achieved positive results. According to monitoring by third-party organizations, since the launch of special campaigns, the incidence of people breaking rules in these 19 areas dropped by more than 60 percent.

Govt to roll out more measures to strengthen reform: Lian Weiliang

China will strengthen State-owned enterprises' mixed ownership reform, private companies' reform and property protection, said Lian Weiliang, adding that it will also motivate entrepreneurship spirit and provide a better business environment in order to further promote reform.

Private enterprises can better engage in mixed ownership reform of State-owned enterprises by having increased access and more connectivity through higher quality reform, Lian said.

In competing areas joint-stock ownership is allowed to stimulate market vitality. Shareholders legitimate interests and rights will also be better protected so that they can better exercise their duties according to the holding equities, Lian said.

Reporters raise their hands to ask questions at a NDRC news conference in Beijing on March 6, 2019. [Photo by Kuang Linhua/chinadaily.com.cn]
HURLEY STUDENTS Jayme Harma, Jackie Bradley, Dayne Stuhr, Tabbi Morello and Ezra Manzer, with 4-H youth development educator Neil Klemme, take a break from this year's Superior Days trip for a photo.

By BRYAN HELLIOS

[email protected]

MADISON - Students from Iron, Bayfield, Ashland and Douglas counties joined together with others bringing approximately 150 collaborative voices to legislators Feb. 11-13 in Madison during the 34th annual Superior Days.

Neil Klemme, Iron County's 4-H youth development educator, said Superior Days is one of "the oldest grassroots lobbying practices" in the state.

He said the yearly event started with all of the counties touching Lake Superior joined together and presented their concerns to officials in Madison.

"A lot of the times they are not aware how different it is living in northern Wisconsin as it is in southern Wisconsin," he said.

Non-partisan issues are identified by a consensus of committee members who must agree the issues are relevant enough to justify bringing them forth to lawmakers, Klemme said.

This year's issues included:

-Increase Medicaid reimbursements in Wisconsin.

-Sales tax options on the local level to fund roads.

-Support the request for increased funding for the University of Wisconsin-Superior to provide additional online programs and services.

The grass-roots organizing event allows students the chance to learn how to communicate with their representatives and witness the power of their collective voices, according to a Mercer School release.

Mercer students Molly Hohner, Hayle Allen and Bille Botes; along with Hurley students Dayne Stuhr, Tabbi Morello, Ezra Manzer, Jackie Bradley and Jayme Harma were selected to represent their schools in Madison.

Stuhr, a senior, said he has attended Superior Days through all four years of high school.

He said his involvement in politics has grown despite the lack of political interest amongst many of his peers at school.

"Most kids don't have any interest in politics," he said.

For those who have an interest in the political process, Stuhr said Superior Days allows them the chance to participate right alongside other delegates to raise issues and lobby politicians.

Most lobbying groups don't include youth in the process, he said.

He feels having younger people involve in the process might "open the legislator's eyes" to issues affecting young people.

During his freshman year trip, Stuhr said he advocated funding for road repair through a program that would accept Payment in Lieu of Taxes. This would increase PILT revenue per acre so a municipality would receive more money to fix current roads. Although no progress has been made during the last 4 years, he remains hopeful that Madison will act to improve the road conditions in Iron County.

"(The legislative process) takes a while," he said.

Stuhr said his interest in politics might be something he pursues later. But for now, he plans to base his future career plans around the science field.

"I do think that politics and government will be part of my life from here on," he said.

He said it's important for people to seek-out their political news from a variety of sources, or at least "fact-check" stories broadcasted on partisan media.

"We so often think of (politicians) doing all these negative bad things," Stuhr said, "but really they are working for us no matter what side of the aisle that they're on."

Along with lobbying legislators, the 34th Superior Days agenda listed a variety of events and speakers - including a special guest appearance by Gov. Tony Evers.
Anyone who lives in or has visited Kampot, Cambodia has been captivated by this peaceful slice of paradise. With a strategic and stunning location, surrounded by the Gulf of Thailand on its coast and engulfed by the Elephant Mountains, the area strikes the perfect balance of attainable seclusion.

However, Kampot has yet remained a precious secret, with few having the pleasure of stumbling upon its beauty and power.

Amber International Holdings is preparing to provide authentic and uncensored access to this hidden destination with their new, highly-anticipated luxury resort, Amber Kampot. The resort broke ground last week, and it is expected that construction will be completed by Q3 2020.

Envisioned to be the meeting space of relaxation and adventure, Amber Kampot is set to be a space where visitors can unleash their dreams and daring spirit within an environment of five-star amenities, modern design and attentive service. The team behind the development has combined their passion for exploration with decades of cross-disciplinary expertise to provide an unparalleled travel experience and strong returns for their investors.

Our multinational team of researchers and interdisciplinary experts have travelled the globe in search of undiscovered locations offering unique travel experiences, along with great potential for fast growth in the immediate future, said Taihei Yamada, CIO of Amber International Holdings.

We look forward to introducing a resort that combines the calms of luxury with the excitement of the unknown, helping people reawaken their adventuring spirit while providing attractive return for our investors.

Amber Kampot will be one of the first resorts of its kind in Kampot, helping meet the currently underserved demand for 200+ luxury rooms in an area that will see a boom in growth over the next few years. Kampot is expected to bring in 1.9 million tourists and $13 million in international tourism receipts in 2019 alone (according to Tourism Cambodia), while the Kampot Ferry Terminal is expected to bring in an additional 442,000 visitors by 2022.

The resort is currently offering units to investors, including exclusive pool suites, villas and private estates with eight days of free stay per year. Investors in Amber Kampot can anticipate an expected total annual return of 20-25% in the event of a buyback in the 7th year.

Individuals interested in learning more about investment opportunities are encouraged to visit invest.amber-kampot.com, where they can download a copy of the Amber Kampot investment brochure.

Amber Kampot

sales@amber-holdings.com

http://invest.amber-kampot.com

https://www.instagram.com/amberkampot/

Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property.


Supply is a main driver for Australias falling house prices, according to Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe.

The country is facing a property downturn. Lowe said that over the five years to 2017, Australian house prices rose nearly 50%. Since then, values have dropped 9% and returned to mid-2016 levels.

The reason? The population grew significantly in the early 2000s, and it took almost a decade for the pace of home building to respond.

"It took time to plan, to obtain council approvals, to arrange finance and to build the new homes. Not surprisingly, house prices went up," Lowe said at The Australian Financial Review's Business Summit.

Lowe said that when the supply finally came, values had to respond to the supply again.

Strong conditions for foreign and domestic investors also contributed to dropping prices. Finance conditions have become more challenging recently.

"Only 10% of people borrow the maximum they are offered. Sensibly, most people borrow less than what they are offered, so the effect of this reduction in borrowing capacity has not been particularly large," Lowe said.

In a much larger context, though, the rise and fall of house values are having a wealth effect on the economy.

For a 10% rise in net housing wealth, the level of consumption climbs by 0.75% in the short term, and 1.5% in the long term, according to figures from RBA.

Australian Financial Review reported that the biggest impact from rising household wealth is on the purchase of motor vehicles and household furnishings.

However, Lowe claims that house prices are not as important for consumption as household income.

My conclusion here is that wealth effects are influencing consumption decisions, but they are working mainly through expectations of future growth income. Swings in housing prices and turnover in the housing market are also having an effect, but they are not the main issue," Lowe said.
News

Washington, DC - The Department of Justice has reached a settlement of its civil forfeiture case against assets owned by Hikmatullah Shadman that he wrongfully acquired as a government contractor in Afghanistan. Under the terms of the settlement, approximately $25 million will be forfeited to the United States.

The civil settlement is part of a global settlement that involved the resolution of a criminal case and False Claims Act allegations.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Departments Civil Division, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr. for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Inspector General John F. Sopko of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), Director Frank Robey of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID)s Major Procurement Fraud Unit, Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig Jr. of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office and Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong of the FBI North Carolina Field Office made the announcement after the settlement was signed and filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The United States relies on government contractors to supply and resupply our military with vital resources they require to carry out critical missions, said Assistant Attorney General Hunt. We will continue to ensure that companies and individuals who contract directly or indirectly with the federal government do not engage in fraudulent business practices at the expense of our nations military and the American taxpayer.

The success of our overseas war and reconstruction efforts is tied directly to the trust and respect established with the local populace, said U.S. Attorney Higdon. Corruption in our military operations undermines those efforts and cannot be tolerated.

This case involved fraud and corruption that exploited subcontracts designed to support American troops in a conflict zone, said Special Inspector General John F. Sopko. Im proud of the tenacity displayed by SIGAR special agents, whose dogged pursuit of justice led to the return of $25 million to the United States Treasury.

According to court documents, Hikmatullah Shadman, a young Afghan national, operated several companies including Hikmat Shadman Logistics Services Company (HSLSC), which served as subcontractors delivering supplies to U.S. service members at various locations in Afghanistan. From November 2010 to March 2012, Shadman charged the United States more than $77 million for delivering supplies to U.S. service members. The civil forfeiture case, initially filed on Nov. 20, 2012, targeted, among other things, Shadmans fraudulent receipt of a disproportionate number of subcontracts for the transport of military supplies in Afghanistan, as well as the inflated prices that he charged the United States for such transport.

From at least 2007 to 2012, the U.S. Government paid contractors and subcontractors to resupply U.S. military forces operating in Afghanistan, and utilized local Afghan-owned businesses to transport fuel and other supplies by truck to various locations throughout the country. The investigation revealed thousands of apparent falsified documents submitted by Shadmans companies to the United States for payment. As a result of this falsification, the Government often paid Shadman for work that was never performed and for work other than that described in the documentation submitted. Through his companies, Shadman also charged the United States rates which were well above the average rate of his competitors. The forensic analysis conducted in this case revealed that Shadman overcharged the United States millions of dollars for transporting supplies to U.S. service members in Afghanistan.

As part of the global settlement, several companies owned and controlled by Shadman, including HSLSC, entered into a separate agreement with the United States to resolve False Claims Act allegations arising from kickbacks paid from November 2010 to May 2012 to obtain subcontracts to transport military supplies needed by the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Under the agreement, $1.5 million of the forfeited funds will be paid to resolve these claims.

In addition to the civil forfeiture and False Claims Act resolutions, Shadmans primary company, HSLSC, was criminally prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Eastern District of North Carolina. On Jan. 3, HSLSC pleaded guilty to a criminal information, No. 5:18-cr-492-1, charging the corporation with two counts of paying gratuities to two U.S. service members in Afghanistan, and one count of conspiracy to do the same, in order to influence the award of subcontracts to HSLSC and to ensure favorable treatment in the contracting process. In this criminal case, HSLSC was sentenced to pay an $810,000 fine and forfeit $190,000. Under the terms of the civil settlement agreement agreed to by the parties, those funds will be paid to the United States before the civil settlement is concluded. As part of the criminal case, HSLSC also agreed to be placed on probation for five years, not to contest debarment, not to seek to engage in business within the United States, and its corporate officers agreed not to apply for a visa to travel to the United States.

The corporate plea and the civil settlement filed today once again demonstrates that defrauding the government is a losing proposition, said Director Robey of the U.S. Army CIDs Major Procurement Fraud Unit. Stealing U.S. tax dollars meant to support our soldiers readiness is an egregious abuse of trust. We, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to protect the U.S. military from unscrupulous businesses.

DCIS will aggressively investigate complex fraud and corruption that undermines the integrity of the Department of Defense (DoD) no matter where it happens or how long it takes, said DCIS Special Agent in Charge Craig. We hope that this case demonstrates the commitment of DCIS and our law enforcement partners to use every available option to protect valuable DoD resources around the world and better enable our Warfighters to accomplish our critical global missions.

This civil forfeiture case was brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative by a team of dedicated prosecutors in the Criminal Divisions Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), working in partnership with federal law enforcement agencies to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, to use those recovered assets to benefit the people harmed by these acts of corruption and abuse of office. Individuals with information about possible proceeds of foreign corruption located in or laundered through the United States should contact federal law enforcement or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The investigation was conducted by SIGAR along with the FBI, DCIS, the U.S. Army Major Procurement Fraud Unit, and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Patricia Kessler and Steven Parker of MLARS International Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi of the District of Columbia (formerly of MLARS). The HSLSC criminal case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Banu Rangarajan of the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The civil False Claims Act imposes treble damages and penalties on those who knowingly submit false or fraudulent claims for government funds or property. The False Claims Act investigation was handled by Trial Attorney Glenn Harris of the Departments Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Truong and Heather Graham Oliver of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - Deputy Police Chief Susan Smith will be the next chief of the Yuma Police Department, City Administrator Greg Wilkinson announced Wednesday at the regular meeting of the Yuma City Council.

Smith has been Deputy Police Chief with the City since 2012. She has been employed as a sworn officer in different ranks with YPD since 1995. Smith holds a bachelors degree in business administration/management and an associates degree in criminal justice.

With her background, experience and leadership while bringing in a number of new technologies and the changing environment, I know she is the best choice to continue to keep the department and the City running at the high level that it does, and will build and grow upon that, Wilkinson said.

Having previously been the first female to earn the ranks of lieutenant, captain, and deputy chief, Smith also becomes Yumas first female chief.

The City had received approximately 50 applications from around the country once the position was advertised. After applications were pre-screened, a selection committee that included Wilkinson and two other police chiefs from the Southwest who were not candidates came up with nine semifinalists, seven of whom were unanimous choices. An initial round of interviews led to three finalists who were brought in for in-person interviews and a meet-and-greet session with the public last week.

All three candidates were very good, and any one of them was more than capable of being the next chief, Wilkinson said. I received a lot of input both internal and external to the City, some positive and some negative, which I appreciate and listened to everyone who provided it.

Smith will replace John Lekan, who had previously announced his retirement after having served with YPD for 33 years. He has been YPD chief since 2012. Lekans last day is March 28.
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.
President Akufo-Addo has congratulated Chief Superintendent Phyllis Osei, who was adjudged the 2018 UN Female Police Officer of the year.

By this, Chief Superintendent Osei becomes the first Ghanaian female to ever win the award.

President Akufo-Addo dedicated some pages of his Independence Day speech to commend the works of the Ghana Police Service.

Nana Addo Akufo-Addo congratulates first Ghanaian to win UN Female Police Officer Award. Source: Facebook/Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Apostolic Church pastor sued by members for allegedly altering his age

He said the police service has so far represented the nation very well in various capacities in the stabilisation of peace in the world.

According to him, many Ghanaian police officers continue to serve diligently in troubled countries across the world.

In a region and continent claimed by several incidents of strife, our police have seen the ravages of war and helped to stabilise the peace, President Akufo-Addo said.

They have served in international peacekeeping operations in just about every troubled spot in the world, in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote dIvoire, Namibia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Georgia and Iraq.

Currently our officers from the Ghana Police Service are providing peacekeeping duties in both Sudan and South Sudan as well as in Somalia and the Central African Republic."

He then went on to give Chief Superintendent Osei a mention, for becoming the first Ghanaian female to ever win the UN Female Police Officer of the year award.

Chief Superintendent Phyllis Osei and family. Source: Graphiconline.com.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: 8 key achievements of Ghana since independence

 in this respect, I congratulate Chief Superintendent Phyllis Osei for winning the distinguished award in 2018 of the UN Female Police Officer of the year.

The President also announced an increase in the allowance of Ghana Police Service personnel on peacekeeping duties abroad from US$30 to US$35 per day.

Ghana News Today: Earth Tremors Rock Ghana / Mahama Justifies Leaked Ofosu Ampofo Tape | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Hearts melt as Nigerian soldier publicly proposes to beautiful police woman (video)

Have national and human-interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition?

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: Yen
New York: In a significant development, the Pakistan's consulate in New York on Thursday rejected the visa requests of a United Nations team to interview 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, currently residing in Pakistan.

As is the norm, before removing an individual's name from this list, the United Nations conducts in-person interviews of the individuals being considered for delisting. However, they were unable to do this in this case after Pakistan's visa refusal.

According to sources, Pakistan was fearful that Saeed would voluntarily reveal more incriminating evidence against it and their support to various terror organisations operating from its soil and therefore, blocked a face-to-face interview of Hafiz Saeed by the UN officials.

An ANI report stated that subsequent to their visa requests getting rejected, the UN ombudsman Daniel Kipfer Fasciati had to settle for a video interview of Saeed. A report critical of Pakistan's behaviour was also generated in which the UN officially recommended against the de-listing of Hafiz Saeed in the UNSC 1267 sanctions list, thereby dealing a blow to diplomatic efforts waged by Pakistan to protect the co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Saeed, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jammat--ud-Dawa (JuD), was banned on December 10, 2008 by the United Nations Security Council after the horrific Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.

Last month, the US, the UK and France made a fresh bid at the UN to ban JeM head Masood Azhar, who is also residing in Pakistan as per Pakistani foreign minister's admission. JeM is already a UN-designated terrorist organisation.

Asked about the delay in deciding on Saeed's appeal, which normally takes six months from the time it is registered with the UN, sources said the delay happened because the Ombudsperson got changed before completion of the time period and then some time was taken to appoint a new one.

Under the 1267 committee rules, the UN member states are required to freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of designated individuals and entities as also required to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories by designated individuals.

All states are also required to prevent any direct or indirect supply, sale and transfer from their territories or by their nationals outside their territories, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types, spare parts, and technical advice, assistance, or training related to military activities, to designated individuals and entities.
New Delhi: In light of reports of United States State Department seeking information from Pakistan on the potential misuse of America-made F-16 jets fighter jets by it against India in violation of the end-user agreement, the Pakistani diplomatic sources on Thursday reiterated that America is yet to establish any contact with the Islamabad.

"The United States is yet to seek details of alleged use of F-16s in combat with India from Pakistan. The US has not sought any details from Pakistan as yet, nor has established any contact," the diplomatic sources said today.

They further added that since Pakistan procured F-16 jets for its own defence, it can use the jets for its defence (against India) under the agreement. "Under the agreement for F16, the jets can be used for its self-defence," the sources said.

Pakistan on Wednesday had categorically said that no F-16 fighter jets were used and denied that one of its planes had been downed by the Indian Air Force.

On March 6, a PTI report claimed that the US State Department said that America is seeking more information from Pakistan on the potential misuse of America-made F-16 jets fighter jets by it against India in violation of the end-user agreement.

"We've seen those reports and we're following that issue very closely," US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino told reporters at his biweekly news conference on Tuesday.

He was responding to questions that Pakistan has violated the end-user agreement on F-16 that it procured from the United States.

"I can't confirm anything, but as a matter of policy, we don't publicly comment on the contents of bilateral agreements that we have in this regard involving US defence technologies nor the communications that we have with other countries about that. So, we're taking a look and we're going to continue to take a look. I'm going to leave it at that," Palladino said.

AMRAAM missiles allow a fighter pilot to target an enemy aircraft that is beyond visual range, in day or night, and in all weather conditions. They have an autonomous guidance capability, which allows the pilot to manoeuvre immediately after the missile's launch.

Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26.

The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on Friday.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said it will "soon" respond to a dossier handed over to it by India on "specific details" of involvement of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in the deadly Pulwama terror attack as also the presence of camps of the UN-proscribed terror outfit in the country.

"It's being evaluated and a response would be given soon," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal told reporters here.

The JeM had taken the responsibility of the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after the attack.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured its pilot Wing

Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1.

Responding to questions during his weekly media briefing, Faisal claimed Pakistan "defeated India militarily, diplomatically and politically in the ongoing border row, which has de-escalated over the past few days."

"Our desire is peace but when we talk it is considered weakness," he added.

On the Kartarpur corridor, Faisal said it was a project initiated by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, for which a Pakistani delegation will be visiting India on March 14.

He said India first suggested that meeting be held in New Delhi, which Pakistan accepted, however, the venue was later changed to Attari.

"Pakistan again agreed with Indian suggestion and if circumstances are not changed until March 14, then the Pakistani delegation will visit India," he said.

India and Pakistan agreed to open up a special border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera

Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free visit of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Kartarpur.
India is merely nine years away from the 500th anniversary of the year in which the now-demolished Babri Masjid was built by Mughal invader Babur's forces at the spot believed to be the birthplace of Lord Rama by Hindus. The ghost of 1528 haunts us still, giving beliefs and faith widespread credence over the difficult ways of laws and jurisprudence in the 21st century.

Through the centuries, much water has flown down the Sarayu river in Ayodhya, close to the site disputed by Muslims. The place has become symbolic of the conflicting narratives that also resulted in the partition of British-ruled India in 1947. The chequered chronology of the Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute is full of intrigues and mysterious facts and factors.

As India's Supreme Court reserves judgement following a 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict that awarded three land parcels to three different parties at the site, the core question in the backdrop is whether a religious deity can be said to own a piece of land, not through legal mutations of the modern variety but through sociological criteria.

My own guess is that we are heading for a difficult moment - and the Supreme Court's honourable judges know that. That very fact may influence their verdict. As custodians of the Constitution of India, they are men of letters, but as experienced men who know what it means to juggle substantial public sentiment with the letter of law, they may well use gentle wisdom. This is because the top court has a history of being wise - which is to say that it recognises grey areas where any verdict may end up being more controversial on the dispute especially in terms of how to settle questions related to communities as distinct from legal entities like individuals or institutions.

It is an election year in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, which rode to popularity in the 1990-1992 period on the back of a promise to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya, is under pressure to uphold its Hindutva agenda. But the prime minister is understandably more concerned about national security and socio-economic development in the backdrop of an agricultural crisis, a shortage of jobs and the terror attacks in Kashmir.

Modi's wisdom lies in outsourcing any concern on Ayodhya to the honourable judges, while the judges' wisdom, in turn, would likely lie in understanding the shades of grey that lie between shades of saffron and green in the dispute that has drained more national time and resources than a modern democracy should ordinarily entertain.

Much of the focus this week has been on whether it is possible to have a court-monitored mediation to resolve the dispute. Hard line Hindu groups do not favour it while Muslim groups do. If at all there is mediation, it is difficult where one party is not in favour.

But if the court indeed agrees to the idea - or indeed forces it citing the technicalities of Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure - there is nothing anyone can do but talk. And then that will take time. What we will see then are meetings to decide whether and how further meetings will take place.

To get a clue on how the court's mind works, we have to go back to 1994. What is often forgotten amid shrill political noises is that it was the Congress under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao that lobbed the Ayodhya ball to the Supreme Court by passing a law called the Ayodhya Act that took over 60 acres of land adjacent to the disputed 2.77 acres and adding to it a question under Article 143 of the Constitution that is essentially advisory in nature - and not a verdict.

The country's highest court then simply refused to take a call based on that tricky question: whether a Hindu structure existed in the disputed spot where the Babri Masjid was built.

If we take the Allahabad court's verdict that gave a parcel of land to the deity called Ram Lalla (Little Ram) and the Article 143 position of the Supreme Court in 1994, we can see the shades of grey facing the court again.

The wise men of the court know that it is not easy to assess the social power of a deity from a legal standpoint. As we await their words, this much can be said: judges are not historians, historians are not archaeologists and archaeologists are not eyewitnesses. The wise judges know that. But they also know the alleyways of the law and Constitution.

In the light of all this, and given the fact that general elections are only weeks away, their words will be carefully weighed. It should make for delightful but careful reading. We still don't know what exactly they will say. As the Hindi proverb goes: "Ram Jaane" (Only Ram knows)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)
New Delhi: Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Sonakshi Sinha have unravelled the first look of the period drama Kalank. On Wednesday, producer Karan Johar had disclosed that they would unveil the first look of the film.

Sharing the poster, Varun wrote, "Its been a hell of a journey playing this gem of a character. So guys, meet Zafar." Sharing the same poster, Alia wrote, Fearless in love. Fearless for love. Super happy to present Zafar! Meanwhile, Sonakshis captioned it, The flamboyant hero of our larger-than-life world. Presenting Zafar!

uss mulk ki sarhad ko koi chhoo nahin sakta, jiss mulk ke sarhad ki nigehbaan hein aankhain. #ZAFAR #KALANK pic.twitter.com/UopwwHIDUH  Varun ZAFAR Dhawan (@Varun_dvn) March 7, 2019

Earlier, Karan had posted an emotional note about the film, he wrote, "A film that was born in my heart and mind 15 years ago....a film I passionately believe in...the last film my father worked on before he left us....it was his dream to see this film come through....I couldnt fulfil his dream then....my spirit was broken....but today his wish has found a relationship with celluloid....the story of turbulent relationships and eternal love has found a voice....the film has been woven,nurtured and visualised by ABHISHEK VARMAN....and the film Is KALANK! Set in the 40s but its heart lives on.....TOMORROW the journey begins.....am excited ...anxious and emotional about this one...I do hope you join us on our path to undying love.

'Kalank is one of the most anticipated films of 2019. It is set in the backdrop of 1940s and stars the big names from the industry. The movie is produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. The film also features Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Sonakshi Sinha and Aditya Roy Kapur and is slated to hit the screens on April 19, 2019. Actresses Kriti Sanon and Kiara Advani will also be seen in the film in special appearances.

As per reports, Sonakshi, who plays a poet in the film, will be paired opposite Aditya Roy Kapur while Sanjay Dutt will be seen as Alia's father.

It is to be noted that the 'Kalank' was conceptualized by KJo and his father Yash Johar around 15 years ago. Late veteran actress Sridevi was initially signed for the character, which has been essayed by Madhuri.
New Delhi: Gold prices Thursday declined Rs 360 to Rs 33,070 per 10 grams at the bullion market in the national capital on account of tepid demand from local jewellers amid weak global market.

Following gold, silver saw a fall of Rs 520 to Rs 38,980 per kg due to reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders attributed the fall in the gold prices to subdued demand from local jewellers and weak trend overseas.

Besides, strengthening of the rupee put pressure on the yellow metal, they added.

Globally, spot gold traded lower at USD 1,284.77 an ounce and, similarly, silver was down at USD 15.06 an ounce in New York.

In the national capital, gold of 99.9 percent and 99.5 percent purities dropped Rs 360 each to Rs 33,070 and Rs 32,900 per 10 grams, respectively.

However, sovereign gold held steady at Rs 26,400 per 8 gram.

Silver ready fell Rs 520 to Rs 38,980 per kg, while weekly-based delivery declined Rs 507 to Rs 38,202 per kg.

Silver coins held flat at Rs 80,000 for buying and Rs 81,000 for selling of 100 pieces.
New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday slapped a fine of Rs 500 crore on German auto major Volkswagen for using "cheat device" in its diesel cars in India, thus leading to damaging the environment.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the carmaker to deposit the amount within two months.

In November, a four-member committee formed by the NGT had recommended Rs 171.34 crore fine on Volkswagen as "health damages" for causing air pollution in Delhi due to excess nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.

The tribunal was hearing pleas filed by Ailawadi, a school teacher, and a few others seeking ban on the sale of Volkswagen vehicles for alleged violation of emission norms.

Volkswagen India had in December 2015 announced the recall of 3,23,700 lakh vehicles in India to fix the emission software after ARAI conducted tests on some models and found that their on-road emissions were 1.1 times to 2.6 times higher than the applicable BS-IV norms. The company, however, had said that the recall in India was purely voluntary in nature as it did not face any charges regarding violating emission norms in India unlike in the US.

The automobile giant had admitted to the use of 'defeat device' in 11 million diesel engine cars sold in the US, Europe and other global markets to manipulate emission test results.

With PTI Inputs
New Delhi: International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 across the globe. Also known as the International Working Women's Daythis is the day when you take some time out and make your female friends feel special. The essence and spirit of being a woman should be celebrated on this day, and what better way to start your day by reading some of the most inspiring quotes.

Here's the compilation of top quotes and messages by powerful women in the world which will encourage you to make bold choices and stand by them.
New Delhi: In two separate incidents, the aircraft of two different airlines made emergency landings at the Lucknow airport on Thursday evening.

Averting a possible mishap, an Air India flight made a full emergency at the airport due to a major glitch in one of its engines. The flight, AI 755, was flying from New Delhi to Durgapur in West Bengal.

In another incident, a GoAir flight made an emergency landing due to a technical snag in the engine. The flight, G8-150, was on its way from Patna in Bihar to New Delhi. The airline was operating an A320 neo plane. At least 128 passengers were travelling in the GoAir flight.

In a statement, the airline said the flight which departed from Patna at 5.10 pm had to be diverted to Lucknow due to the snag. "While the technical snag is being investigated, alternate arrangements have been made for all the 128 passengers for their onward journey," it added.

On Tuesday, a GoAir flight suffered a bird hit at Patna airport. Subsequently, the flight was cancelled. "GoAir aircraft VT-WGJ had to be declared Aircraft on Ground (AOG) after it had a bird hit during the landing of flight G8-217 at Patna airport. Due to this technical (bird hit) reason, GoAir flight G8-218 from Patna to Delhi had to be cancelled which was scheduled to depart at 20:10 hours on March 5, 2019. "The passengers were provided light refreshment at the airport and given hotel accommodation," the airline said in a statement on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, an Air India flight on its way from New Delhi to Frankfurt, Germany, suffered cabin decompression and returned to the national capital.

The Boeing 787 had reached was at a height of 20,000 feet was the incident happened. The aircraft took off at 1.35 pm and returned to Delhi from Rajasthan airspace.

A total of 191 passengers were on board the flight and all of them landed safely. The pilot of the AI-121 turned back at around 4 pm.

The aircraft was grounded and another plane is being scheduled for Thursday to fly the passengers to Frankfurt.

Replying on the incident, Air India asserted on Twitter that no passenger has suffered any injury. Speaking on the departure of the flight, AI said that the flight will operate with a change of aircraft at 6 am on Thursday from Delhi.

"No passenger has suffered any injury. The flight will now operate with a change of aircraft at 0600 hrs on 7th March from Delhi. All passengers are being extended all assistance in Delhi. Air India is committed to maintaining the highest standards of passenger comfort and safety," tweeted AI.
NEW DELHI: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday visited the forward locations along the LoC and international border in Jammu and Kashmir and some border posts in Rajasthan and directed army personnel to remain prepared for any situation.

Army Chief told the troops that they should remain on high alert in close coordination with the Indian Air Force. During his visit, General Rawat was briefed about the prevailing security situation and preparedness of the troops to deal with any eventualities, PTI reported.

"The Army Chief expressed his complete confidence in the capabilities of the Indian Army to thwart any nefarious design of Pakistan," the Army said.

"He praised high state of morale of troops and instructed them to remain prepared for all eventualities in close coordination with the Air Force," it said in a statement.

The Army Chief visited forward locations like Barmer and Suratgarh in Rajasthan and reviewed the operational deployment.

Tensions between India and Pakistan touched a new high after 12 Mirage-2000 fighter jets of Indian Air Force dropped bombs at terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp at Balakot in Pakistan on February 26.

Pakistan tried to retaliate and attempted to target Indian military installations on February 27 by sending its F-16 fighter jets but the attack was thwarted by IAF.

The IAF struck the JeM camp just 12 days after the Pakistan-based terror group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, killing 40 CRPF men.

Meanwhile, the IAF on Thursday said it was in a high state of preparedness to tackle any threat from Pakistan. The IAF's statement sends a clear message that the tension between the two countries is still running high.

"The Indian Air Force is in a high state of preparedness, to pro-actively engage any perceived threat in the present security scenario," the IAF said in a statement, adding that the IAF is maintaining a strict vigil in the skies to detect any act of aggression from Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Sources added that all the frontline IAF bases along India's western border are on maximum alert to thwart any plans by PAF to violate the Indian airspace.

(with PTI inputs)
Bangalore: French Space Agency CNES on Wednesday signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to set up a maritime surveillance centre in the country.

A press statement issued by the CNES said that the agreement was signed by CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall and India`s space agency Chairman K. Sivan in Bengaluru.

This signature follows on from the broader agreement signed last March during President Emmanuel Macrons state visit to India.

The CNES-ISRO agreement, intended to supply an operational system for detecting, identifying and tracking ships in the Indian Ocean, provides for a maritime surveillance centre to be set up in India in May this year, sharing of capacity to process existing satellite data and joint development of associated algorithms, the statement read.

For the next phase of the programme, studies for an orbital infrastructure to be operated jointly by the two countries are ongoing. CNES is working with its industry partners and with ISRO to devise the most appropriate technical solution, CNES added.

The meeting between CNESs President and ISROs Chairman also offered the opportunity to confirm the progress of the agencies work in the field of human spaceflight to lay the groundwork for missions of future Indian astronauts.

A team of experts from ISRO will start receiving training this month at the Toulouse Space Centre, the CADMOS centre for the development of microgravity applications and space operations and the MEDES space clinic, the statement said.

At the end of his visit, Gall commented: Our relationship with India is flourishing and maritime surveillance from space is a domain of strategic interest to our two nations.

It is through the remarkable integration of CNES and ISRO teams that we have been able to deploy this programme in such a short time after it was launched during President Macrons state visit to India just a year ago.
New Delhi: India Security forces have issued a warning against false and malicious information being spread on social media and called the public to guard against such people and not to trust their stories.

"False & malicious creatives & tweets from terror- sponsors are emerging. Guard against false propaganda against #IndianArmy units. Guard against Lie, Deceit & Deception of terror- sponsors," a tweet from the official handle of Indian Army read.

False & malicious creatives & tweets from terror- sponsors are emerging. Guard against false propaganda against #IndianArmy units. Guard against Lie, Deceit & Deception of terror- sponsors. pic.twitter.com/aFZlP79PH5  ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) March 6, 2019

The Indian Army tweeted an image that featured fake news about it.

"#MisinformationCampaign being run against #IndianArmy. False & malicious creatives & tweets from terror- sponsors are emerging. Guard against Lie, Deceit & Deception of terror- sponso," read another tweet.

#MisinformationCampaign being run against #IndianArmy. False & malicious creatives & tweets from terror- sponsors are emerging. Guard against Lie, Deceit & Deception of terror- sponsors. pic.twitter.com/1dsSueSzhr  ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) March 7, 2019

On Wednesday, Indian Air Force too had issued a statement warning against misinformation available on social media on the shooting of Pakistan Air Force F-16 by India's MiG 21 Bishon fighter jet. the IAF twitter handle reiterated that Indian shot down Pakistani F-16 jet in the recent aerial combat.

"Misinformation on the shooting of Pakistan Air Force F-16 by MiG-21 Bison is being spread on various social media sites. IAF during the press statement on 28 Feb 19 had clarified that one F-16 of Pakistan Air Force was shot by MiG-21 Bison and it fell across the LoC," read the tweet.

Yesterday, the IAF had also cautioned the people against several social media profiles of IAF wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman, whose heroic return from Pakistan had captured the entire nation's attention.

"Additionally fake accounts of Wing Commander V Abhinandan have been created in the last one week. IAF has informed on March 6 that Wing Commander V Abhinandan does not have any official social media account on Twitter and Instagram and have advised all not to follow these accounts as they may contain malware, the statement read.

#FAKE ACCOUNTS : Wg Cdr Abhinandan Varthaman does not have a social media account on any portal (Facebook /Instagram /Twitter). Please avoid following any fake accounts being used in the name of any IAF Airwarrior for spreading misinformation.

Jai Hind!!! pic.twitter.com/nG8C7ZUkQ6  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) March 6, 2019

A MiG-21 Bison aircraft of IAF shot down one F-16 of Pakistan Air Force which fell in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir in a dogfight, a day after the IAF's air strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Pakistan's Balakot, in wake of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack which left 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers dead.
Indian defence forces will soon get the state-of-art Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS)/Helmet Pointing System (HPS) Version 02 for their pilots flying rotary wing platforms (helicopters). Navratna Defence Public Sector Unit (PSU) Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Israel's Elbit Systems Limited entered into a Technical Collaboration Agreement (TCA) during the February 20-24 Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru to manufacture the helmets for the helicopter pilots of the Indian Navy and other armed forces

BEL will no manufacture and integrate the Helmet Mounted Display system (HPS Ver-02) for Indian Naval and other rotary wing platforms of the armed forces under licence from Elbit Systems Limited. The HMDS will have the latest features of Night Flying with Night Vision Goggles, Colour Day & Night Display, 3D symbology, Head Tracking, Sensors & Weapon Cuing.

The HMDS/HPS provides the capability to display helicopters flight and platform information, mission data, target information as well as additional enhanced application capabilities such as Low Visibility Landing and Take-Off, flight within Degraded Visibility Environment, optional Weapons Management and Synthetic Vision during day and night flying.

The Heads Up - Eyes Out concept minimises the need for Heads Down in-cockpit instrumentation observation for critical information as altitude, velocity, engine performance, warning indications and allows the crew to concentrate on mission performance, thus increasing situational awareness and survivability in all naval missions.

On March 5, 2019, Elbit Systems Limited's subsidiary Elbit Systems of America was awarded a five-year contract by the United States Army to provide a wide field of view Common Helmet Mounted Display (CHMD) system.

The full-colour CHMD will be part of the US Army's Air Soldier System, used by helicopter pilots to provide day and night enhanced situational awareness and survivability in all flight conditions. It will be fully integrated into the Elbit Systems' Helmet Display and Tracker System used onboard the US Army's CH-47F Chinook and the UH-60L/M/V Black Hawk fleets.

"Our CHMD provides advanced capabilities for Army pilots," stated Raanan Horowitz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Elbit Systems of America. "Our solution supports pilots experiencing crisp, clear and accurate symbology, which provides critical information during flight and a decisive edge in mission effectiveness."
New Delhi: Global airline association IATA has said that it expects the number of passengers flying to, from or within India to double in the next 20 years.

The International Air Transport Association said on Wednesday that India is even looking at trebling the passenger numbers by 2037 when some 500 million people are expected to fly.

In response to this projected growth, IATA released a paper "Aviation Facilitation and Security Priorities for Enhancing the Passenger Journey at Airports in India", which suggested ways to improve processes as infrastructure capacity expansion cannot keep up with the speed of traffic growth.

According to the paper, in most of the Indian airports, a number of processes remain manual and are not so efficient.

"When it comes to security, while today`s aviation security measures work, it is an

archaic one-size-fits-all platform that comes at great cost to airlines, airports, authorities and passengers.

"Imposing new and or additional measures, or simply replacing screening equipment, are not robust enough to ensure security and facilitation effectiveness and will not be adequate to cater to the increased number of travellers in the coming years," it said.

One of the key suggestion is to allow a Mobile Boarding Pass (MBP).

"IATA understands stamping on boarding pass is required at security and immigration for different purposes. This stamping procedure prevents passengers from using MBP, eliminating the mobile check-in option," the paper said.

IATA is the trade association for the world`s airlines, representing 290 airlines and 82 per cent of total global air traffic.

Its members include Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara as well as many other scheduled airlines that operate services in India.
New Delhi: In a significant development, the United Nations has rejected an appeal of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, to remove his name from its list of banned terrorists, government sources said on Thursday.

Notably, the decision comes at a time when UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee has received a new request to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 Central Reserve Police Police (CRPF) personnel were killed. Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the strike.

The UN decision to reject the appeal by Saeed, also a co-founder of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), came after India provided detailed evidence including "highly confidential information" about his activities, sources told PTI, adding that the verdict of the global body was conveyed to his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza earlier this week.

Saeed, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation JuD, was banned on December 10, 2008, by the United Nations Security Council after the horrific Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed. Saeed had filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, for removal of the ban.

Independent Ombudsperson Daniel Kipfer Fasciati, appointed by the UN to examine all such requests, has informed Saeed's lawyer that it has been decided following examination of his request that he will "continue as a listed individual", sources said.

The Ombudsperson recommended that after gathering all information, it has been decided to continue with the ban as "there was sufficient information to provide a reasonable and credible basis for continuing the listing," sources said, adding the recommendation was endorsed by the UN's Sanctions Committee.

Saeed's request was opposed by India as well as other countries that had originally listed him - US, UK and France, sources said.

Significantly, Pakistan did not oppose the appeal despite claims by the new Imran Khan-led government there that it was taking action against the banned terrorists and their organisations in what they call a 'Naya Pakistan' (new Pakistan).

The US, the UK and France had in February 2019 made a fresh bid at the UN to ban JeM head Masood Azhar, who is also residing in Pakistan as per Pakistani foreign minister's admission. JeM is already a UN-designated terrorist organisation.

Asked about the delay in deciding on Saeed's appeal, which normally takes six months from the time it is registered with the UN, sources said the delay happened because the Ombudsperson got changed before completion of the time period and then some time was taken to appoint a new one.
Hours after a powerful grenade attack at Jammu bus stand in Jammu and Kashmir took place, state governor Satya Pal Malik on Thursday condemned the attack and directed the administration to provide best medical assistance to the injured. He asked all agencies to ensure that those responsible for the attack are brought to justice.

The governor announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs 20,000 each to those injured, his spokesperson said.

The governor said, "We condemn the heinous and cowardly attack on innocent people. It was a reaction by anti-nationals and terrorists as they are losing their grip. The government has come down very heavily on such elements after the Pulwama terrorist attack."

"The government has decided that it will uproot terrorism from here. We have arrested 170 people who support terrorist activities. We also banned Jamat-e-Islami as they radicalise and mislead the youth. Mainstream political parties should exercise caution in their discourse, as a fine line differentiating their discourse from the discourse of the separatists is fading. From the discourse of the last two weeks, it appears as though mainstream parties are standing in support of violence."

He added, "It cannot be that you take the benefits of democracy and also be involved in activities that cause harm to the nation. Then, they should not complain that why they are treated like the Hurriyat and other separatists."

In the attack, a 17-year-old boy, a native of Uttarakhand succumbed to his injuries while over 30 people were injured.

The injured have been admitted to Government Medical College Hospital and the police cordoned off the area, which comes exactly three weeks after the terror attack in Pulwama.

He conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and also wished for the speedy recovery to those injured. The Governor also directed that law and order is maintained in the state.

It is the third grenade attack by terrorists in the bus stand area of the city since May 2018.

Taking cognizance of the grenade blast, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said that forces have been given a free hand to take necessary steps.

It comes a week after the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out air strikes on the terror camp of Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM) in Pakistan`s Balakot. The JeM took the responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack, which killed 40 CRPF personnel.
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday demanded that the BJP-led government at the Centre should clear the air over the air strikes carried out by Indian Air Force's fighter jets on Jaish-e-Mohammad's training camp in Pakistan. He added that the government must do this in order to end all "doubts and suspicions" over the operation.

Kamal Nath said that the government must make public all details related to the February 26 aerial strikes. "When the air strike has become a subject of doubts and suspicions (shak-shanka), I think the central government, that has talked so much about it, should make public its details," Nath told reporters.

"There is nothing secret in it. Pakistan knows it as it has been attacked. Is it a secret to anyone? So, its details should be made public like this was what we did, this was the building, camp (that was targeted). Such number of people were killed. What is the problem in making these things public, I can't understand?" the MP Chief Minister said.

He noted that doubts have started cropping up over the IAF air strikes due to reports of certain international agencies and news on social media, PTI reported. "Today everything is there in GPS and satellite photography," he said.

Kamal Nath also took at the BJP and said, "They are claiming the country was safe under their leadership. This means the country was safe only in the last five years under the leadership of Modiji and unsafe for 70 years before that."

The MP Chief Minister stressed that the Congress has taken several steps in the past to build defence institutions. "I think misleading the nation was not right. Who raised the defence forces? Who set up the Indian Military Academy (IMA), the National Defence Academy (NDA)...Sainik Schools. Were they built by the BJP or Modiji?" he asked.

Kamal Nath mocked the BJP and said that those who are giving lessons on "nationalism" did not do anything in India's independence.
New Delhi: Indian Railways has asserted that misinformation is being spread about Level-1 results of Railway Recruitment Board. According to a government notification, RRBs had invited online applications against Centralized Employment Notification (CEN) No. 02/2018, published by RRBs on 10.02.2018, for a total 62,907 vacancies.

A record number of 1,89,78,913 online applications were received. Worlds largest Computer Based Test was successfully conducted on 51days from 17.09.2018 to 17.12.2018 in 152 shifts.

The result of the above Computer Based Test was announced on 04.03.2019.

Para-7 under the Head Important Instructions of the Centralized Employment Notification (CEN) 02/2018, it has been stated that marks secured by the candidates would be subjected to normalization.

Now a large number of candidates have represented on the result declared by RRBs and the method adopted for the same. For the above Computer Based Test no new method of preparation of result has been introduced. The shortlisting of candidates has been done purely on candidates merit and by the following time tested method of normalization:-

Normalized Score for a candidate (Xn)

Xn=(S2/S1)*(X-Xav)+Yav, where

S2: Standard Deviation (SD) of the shift with the Highest Average Score taken as a base for normalization

S1: Standard Deviation for the shift whose marks are to be normalized (to be scaled to S2)

X

Raw score of the candidate: Xav

Simple average of the Shift: Yav

Average corresponding to shift with highest Average (taken as base for normalization)

All RRB examinations/Computer Based Test held since 2000 have followed this normalization method.

It is not uncommon that on normalization, marks secured by a candidate would go more than the total marks of the exam paper.

In the previous examinations of RRBs, there have been instances where normalized marks of candidates were more than the total marks.

In CEN-02/2018 results there is nothing unusual because raw marks secured by the candidates are crucial in determining their normalized marks.

The maximum normalized marks of any candidate in Level-1 (CEN-02/2018) Computer Based Test(CBT) is 126.13. Any other marks higher than this is a pure concoction.

Before the publication of results, all candidates were made privy to the Question Papers, Master Answer Key and their own evaluated answer sheet.

The Objection tracker was accessible to candidates from 14th January 2019 to 20th January 2019. During this 1.58 lakh candidates submitted their objections which were considered and reviewed.

It may be noted that in addition to 1.5 lakh jobs, Railways will also be recruiting 2.3 lakh more people over the next two years. Taken together with the ongoing process, the total number will be 4 lakh jobs by Indian Railways.
RAIPUR: BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday slammed the Congress stressing that Naxalism flourishes whenever Congress comes to power, but the Naxals face the heat whenever the Congress goes out of power.

Shah made the remarks while addressing a convention of the BJP's booth-level workers in Raipur, Chattisgarh. "When Naxalism took birth in West Bengal, Congress was in power there. Similarly, when Naxalism flourished in Andhra Pradesh, Congress was in power and the same party was ruling, when the menace entered Chhattisgarh," Shah was quoted as saying by PTI.

"In Chhattisgarh, after the Raman Singh government came to power, Naxalism vanished...Whenever the Congress comes to power, Naxalism flourishes and whenever it goes out of power, the menace weakens...What is the relation the Congress has with Naxals? When anti-national slogans were raised at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the Congress president had stood in their support which shows his commitment," he added.

In a direct attack on Congress President Rahul Gandhi, the senior BJP leader said that the Gandhi scion used to ask what Narendra Modi government has done in the last 5 years? Then he must know that what the Congress failed to do in 55 years of its rule was done by the BJP in 55 months. The biggest work Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has done is to safeguard our borders, noted Shah.

"In the 10 years of Sonia-Manmohan rule, anybody infiltrated Indian borders from Pakistan and chopped off heads of our soldiers and insulted them, but there was nobody to give a reply," he said.

"We conducted a surgical strike after Uri (attack). After Pulwama, India conducted the air strike and demolished terror camps in Pakistan. It is the Narendra Modi government which has done this. After the air strike, a message was sent to the world that no one can violate India's borders. The BJP has shown to the world how a strong nation can be built," added the BJP president.

Commenting on the contentious issue of construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Amit Shah stressed that BJP will never leave its core ideology and the party is committed to the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. "BJP is committed to the construction of a grand Ram temple at the same place (Ram Janmabhoomi) in Ayodhya at the earliest. But Congress lawyers in Supreme Court seek to postpone this case," he said.

(with PTI inputs)
NEW DELHI: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi and accused him of spreading blatant lies on the country's Rafale fighter jet deal with France.

The senior BJP leader also accused the Gandhi scion of deliberately playing into the hands of Rafale competitors and making irresponsible statements which were lowering the morale of the armed forces.

''I totally condemn the blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi. He doesn't believe the Indian Air Force, he doesn't believe the SC, the CAG. Does he want to believe Pakistan? He is inadvertently or deliberately playing into hands of Rafale competitors,'' Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

RS Prasad,Union Minister: Totally condemn the blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi. He doesn't believe the Indian Air Force, he doesn't believe the SC, doesn't believe the CAG. Does he want to believe Pakistan? He is inadvertently or deliberately playing into hands of #Rafale competitors pic.twitter.com/YRgTITWxHB  ANI (@ANI) 7 March 2019

Remarks from Prasad came shortly after Rahul Gandhi accused the government of manipulating institutions to "save" Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale deal.

Rahul also called for investigating the media over the theft of Rafale documents.

''Investigate everyone but probe Modi as well,'' Gandhi told a press conference, accusing the Prime Minister of performing a "bypass surgery" in the purchase of the fighter aircraft for corruption, including benefiting businessman Anil Ambani.

''In the Defence Ministry files, it is written that the Prime Minister's Office carried out parallel negotiations in the fighter jet deal, then why can't the PM be investigated,'' he asked.

The Modi government has constantly rejected the allegations levelled by the Congress with the BJP accusing Gandhi of spreading lies to torpedo the Rafale deal due to his vested interests.

On his part, Anil Ambani has also rejected corruption allegations.

A day after the government told the Supreme Court that the Rafale files were stolen from the Defence Ministry, the Congress chief took a dig, saying the documents have disappeared like two crore jobs for youths, right price for farmers' produces and the promised 15 lakh for everybody.

Targeting PM Modi, Gandhi said the files have disappeared in the same way as jobs did following demonetisation and implementation of the GST.

Hitting back at PM Modi for calling the Congress a "poster boy" following the Balakot air strike, Gandhi said "it is he who is Pakistan's poster boy, not us" as he noted that the Modi government has got Pakistan spy agency ISI in India to probe the Pathankot terror attack.

PM Modi had also invited then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend his swearing-in and then went to the country to meet him as well, he said.

(With PTI inputs)
At least 84 educational institutions within five kilometre of the LoC in Rajouri in the Jammu region, which were closed in the wake of shelling by Pakistan, were re-opened on Thursday.

84 educational institutions within 5 km of LoC have reopened today. Classes and exams are ongoing as usual now. We`re providing bunkers in school to keep children safe in case of ceasefire violation by Pakistan, District Collectorate of Rajouri MA Asad told news agency ANI.

On February 27, it was announced that schools in Rajouri in the Jammu region will remain closed indefinitely in the wake of shelling by Pakistan.

Officials had told ANI that 91 per cent of the villages in Rajouri were within 5 km from the Line of Control.

In view of the current situation on the LoC, schools have been closed as a precautionary measure for the safety and security of the students, they added.

Meanwhile, students did not go to their school because of the continuous firing and also expressed disappointment over exams being cancelled.

We were ready for the examination but unfortunately it got cancelled, a student said.

Tensions heightened between India and Pakistan after the ghastly Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy, following which, the former carried out multiple air strikes on a terror camp run by Jaish-E-Mohammad in Balakot, a hill town in Pakistans Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday granted 10 days to the Centre to inform on the date of meeting of the Selection Committee for the appointment of Lokpal members.

Names for three panels have been finalised by the committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, Attorney General KK Venugopal told the top court bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

The three panels  one for the Lokpal and two for judicial and non-judicial members of the Lokpal  has been forwarded to the Selection Committee headed by Prime Minister, added Attorney General Venugopal.

Will tell the Department of Personnel and Training Secretary to ensure convening of meetings of selection committee for appointment of Lokpal as soon as possible, the Attorney General informed the top court.

The Supreme Court also rejected Prashant Bhushan's plea seeking direction to make the proposed names of Chairperson and members of the Lokpal public.

Nearly five years after the Lokpal Act came into force, the government had sought applications for chairman and members of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal.

An advertisement seeking applications from eligible candidates was issued by the Personnel Ministry on February 6, following a meeting of the eight-member search panel headed by Desai.

The Supreme Court had recently set up a February-end deadline for the Lokpal search committee to send a panel of names who could be considered for the appointment as its chairman and members by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee.

The Lokpal Act, which envisages the establishment of the anti-graft body Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants, was passed in 2013.

The Lokpal selection committee is headed by the Prime Minister and has as its members the Lok Sabha Speaker, leader of the opposition in the lower house, the Chief Justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him, and an eminent jurist who could be nominated by the President or any other member.
The Supreme Court will on Friday pronounce verdict on whether to send the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for court appointed and monitored mediation for a permanent solution or not.

Supreme Court to pronounce tomorrow whether to send the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for court appointed and monitored mediation for a permanent solution. pic.twitter.com/UsBC2u8KE1  ANI (@ANI) 7 March 2019

On Wednesday, the five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the parties concerned to suggest the name of a mediator or panel of mediators. Responding to the SC's call, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha suggested three names  ex-Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Jagdish Singh Khehar and former Supreme Court judge AK Patnaik as the mediators in the contentious case.

Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer are the other four judges in the bench. During the hearing on Wednesday, the SC bench had told the parties, "We're seriously giving a chance for mediation".

"It's about sentiments, about religion and about faith. We are conscious of the gravity of the dispute. There need not be one mediator but a panel of mediators. When the mediation is on, it should not be reported on. It may not be a gag, but no motive should be attributed to anyone when the mediation process is on," Justice Bobde had said.

On February 26, the bench had said, We have suggested to the parties that during the interregnum a court-appointed and court-monitored mediation with utmost confidentiality could be initiated to bring a permanent solution to the issues raised in the cases.

It is to be noted that Muslim side and Nirmohi Akhada from the Hindu side have agreed for mediation but the counsel appearing for deity Ram Lalla Virajman, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha and Mahant Suresh Das had said that court-appointed mediation was not going to resolve the matter as it had failed on earlier occasions.

The bench had recorded that apart from Nirmohi Akhada, Hindu sides in the case were not in favour of resolving the issue through mediation and that it could invoke its power under Section 89 of Civil Procedure Code for alternate dispute mechanism. "We are considering a possibility of healing relationship," the bench had observed.

A total of 14 appeals have been filed in the SC challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be divided equally among the three parties - the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
NEW DELHI: France will push to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist with its newly-acquired presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) amidst mounting pressure on the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan government to act against terror outfits breeding in his country.

Ambassador of France to India Alexandre Ziegler told ANI that France, like India, has been affected badly by terrorism in the recent past, adding that not designating Masood "just doesn`t make sense."

Yes, we will push for the designation of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist at the United Nations. We have been actually pushing for that for the past two years because there is no meaning in a situation where the leader of a group that has been designated as a terrorist group should not be designated by United Nations.

It (not designating Masood as a global terrorist) just doesnt make sense, he said.

In 2017, France, supported by the United States and the United Kingdom, had moved a proposal at the UN Sanctions Committee 1267 to get Azhar declared as a "global terrorist", but it was reportedly blocked by China.

Earlier this week, sources had said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi`s recent comments on Azhar confirmed that the Pakistan government is in touch with the Jaish chief, thereby strengthening India`s case to put him in the UN Sanctions list.

Meanwhile, Ziegler, while reacting on the pre-emptive airstrikes conducted by the Indian Air Force in Pakistan`s Balakot on February 26, said France recognises the legitimacy of India to assure its security against cross-border terror.

He also welcomed the release of IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistani troops when his MiG 21 was downed after he shot down an F-16 that transgressed into the Indian airspace on February 27.

"Of course we recognize the legitimacy of India to assure its security against cross border terror. We also welcome the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan. Easing tension was also a relief. It was a gesture of restrain and responsibility by both the governments," he said.

Ziegler also acknowledged that the UNSC should recognise the "new balance of power", in response to a question on France backing India`s prospects of becoming a permanent member of the UNSC.

We are not living in 1945 anymore; we are living in a world where some countries have taken leadership and a new balance of power should be recognised by the security council, he said.
The simmering tension between India and Pakistan following the Indian Air Force's air strikes at Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp in Pakistan and the failed attempt by Pakistan to attack Indian targets using F-16 fighter jets led the two nations on the verge of a war. The global community immediately plunged into action asking both sides to de-escalate and avoid any full-scale war. While it may seem that countries like the US, UK, Germany, China and others are asking India and Pakistan to de-escalate because they are concerned about the lives of citizens of both the countries but the reality is far more hard-hitting and grim.

Great Communist leader and the founder of modern China, Mao Zedong had said that politics is a bloodless war, while war is a politics which involves a lot of bloodshed.

In any modern-day war, the biggest beneficiaries are the companies involved in manufacturing weapons.

India has given all the evidence and facts to the US proving that Pakistan Air Force had used F-16 fighter jets to attack Indian targets on February 27.

Whenever war breaks out anywhere in the world, the US considers it as a blessing for itself. It is notable that 2001-2011 is regarded as the 'golden decade' for the American defence industry. It is the same period when the US fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and its arms industry made profits of billions of dollars.

During these 10 years, the annual profit of the American defence industry increased four times to $25 billion. Similarly, the terror unleashed by ISIS in 2015 also became an 'only profit & no loss' war for the US.

It is interesting to note that till 2017, 42 out world's top 100 weapons manufacturing companies were from the US. These companies sold weapons worth over Rs 16 lakh crores globally in 2017.

Lockheed Martin and Boeing are two of the world's biggest arms manufacturing companies and both these companies are from the US.

According to an international agency, India was the world's biggest buyer of arms between 2013 and 2017. India has till date procured most of its weapons from Russia. Between 2013 and 2017, India bought 62% of its weapons from Russia, 15% from the US and 11% from Israel.

Russia has always been India's first choice when it comes to buying weapons and the American companies are trying their best to race ahead of Russia. This is the main reason why after 2013 there has been a 557% increased in India's weapons' purchase from the US. It is expected that India would spend around $230 billion to buy weapons in the coming years.

It means that profit is the only reason why companies like Lockheed Martin are unwilling to hear any narrative which is against the F-16. A former chief of Lockheed Martin had once accepted that the company had spent a huge sum of money to seek favour for F-16 from officials. These companies also spent crores of rupees to advertise their weapons and for media management.

During the Gulf War in the 1990s, the Scud missile made by the Soviet Union became quite popular and this missile is still used by 14 nations across the world. Similarly, the US has used Patriot Surface-To-Air Missile Defence System in different wars and it is now used by 13 nations.

Now, you must have got a fair idea that a war-like situation is the biggest opportunity for companies involved in arms manufacturing. The US and other global superpowers make their policies according to wars and global conflicts.

It would not be wrong to say that most of the news agencies and newspapers in the world are now 'compromised' as they run an agenda to benefit a particular company.

The biggest irony is that when we read an article published in a foreign newspaper or magazines, we believe their points without even giving a second thought. US President Donald Trump keeps New York Times in Fake News category but 'designer journalists' in our country do not hesitate to write even anti-India article for NYT.

Many people claim that there is a tacit understanding between defence experts and defence affairs columnist to hide the truth the serve the interest of arms manufacturing companies.


JAMMU: A BJP leader from Jammu and Kashmir has called for arresting the state's former chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti over her constant support to Jamaat-e-Islami, which was recently banned for alleged anti-India activities.

Kavinder Gupta, the former deputy chief minister of J&K has even called for banning madrasas because of the illegal activities performed there and spreading terrorism in the state.

Bangladesh, Afghanistan and other nations banned madrasas because of (their) illegal activities. Similarly, if efforts to spread terrorism are made in Kashmir, they should be banned here too, Gupta told ANI on Wednesday.

For good measure, he added, If Mehbooba Ji supports Jamaat-e-Islami, then she too should be arrested.

Kavinder Gupta, BJP: Bangladesh,Afghanistan & other nations banned madrasas because of illegal activities.Similarly if efforts to spread terrorism are made in Kashmir,they should be banned here too. If Mehbooba Ji supports Jamaat-e-Islami,then she too should be arrested. (6.3.19) pic.twitter.com/8NpCDpCi1D  ANI (@ANI) 7 March 2019

Gupta made these remarks in the light of reports that the PDP chief participated in a rally against the Centre's ban on Jamaat-e-Islami in J&K.

Protesting the ban, Mufti had on Wednesday said, We want that the ban must be lifted. Well go to the district level now, then we will go to every segment. Elderly people who have been arrested must be released.

The government last week declared JeI as an unlawful association whose activities have the potential of disrupting the unity and integrity of India, and banned it for five years under anti-terror laws.

In addition, three leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami were arrested and nearly a dozen assets sealed during raids across six districts of Jammu region on Sunday.

The day-long raids on the offices and houses of Jammat leaders and activists were conducted in Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu districts, during which a large number of incriminating documents were seized for scrutiny, a police officer said.

Criticising Gupta, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that the RSS shakhas produce ill-informed bigots.

Abdullah made the remark attacking Gupta for his reported remarks that madrasas breed terrorists.

"And RSS shakhas produce ill-informed bigots like Gupta here," said Abdullah in a tweet.
New Delhi: The Indian Intelligence agencies on Thursday alerted the security forces about fresh intercepts on Pakistan-backed terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) planning attacks on India in the near future.

As per the agencies, JeM is planning more Pulwama-like terror attacks in the days to come.

According to specific inputs gathered by the agencies, the terror outfit is planning to carry out an IED attack in south Kashmir's Kajigund and Anantnag in the next 3-4 days and may use a stolen SUV in the operation.

The alert from the intelligence agencies comes hours after a grenade blast took place in the crowded general bus stand area in Jammu today. As per reports, one teenager and 32 others were injured in the blast, carried out by a Hizbul Mujahideen operative who was arrested hours after the incident.

The grenade attack took place exactly three weeks after the terror strike on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, in which 40 security personnel were killed. This is the third grenade attack by terrorists in the bus stand area of Jammu city in the last nine months.
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik has been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and lodged in Jammu's Kot Balwal jail. Yasin Malik, one of the most prominent Kashmiri separatist leader, was detained on February 22 and kept at Srinagar's Kothibagh police station.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also filed a transfer application in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to reopen 30-year-old cases against Yasin Malik. J&K High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal has asked Malik to respond to the CBI application.

The case relates to the killing of four unarmed Indian Air Force officers in January 1990 in Srinagar and also the kidnapping of Rubiya Saeed, daughter of the then Union home minister Mufti Mohammad Saeed. The IAF officers were shot dead in Srinagar's Sannat Nagar on January 25, 1990.

Malik can be kept in detention for up to two years under the PSA without any judicial intervention.

Malik and other separatist leaders numbering nearly 150 people were detained on February 22 ahead of a hearing in the Supreme Court on Article 35 A of the Constitution. Article 35 A provides special rights and privileges to natives of Jammu and Kashmir and the Supreme Court is hearing a petition to scrap the provision.

Jammu and Kashmir has been tense ever since the February 14, 2019, suicide attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in which 40 soldiers were killed and several others injured. The Centre rushed 100 additional companies of the paramilitary (nearly 10,000 personnel) force to Kashmir Valley to maintain law and order and also to prepare the ground of election.

India also launched an air raid early on February 26 to target JeM terror camps in Balakot inside Pakistan. IAF Mirage-2000 jets pounded the camps with bombs fitted with SPICE-2000 kits for pinpoint accuracy. India made it clear that the strikes were not against the Pakistani military but were intended to send a strong message to terror groups.

A day later on February 27 Pakistani Air Force jets tried to attack Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir but the attack was repulsed by IAF fighters. An IAF MiG-21 Bison also shot down a PAF F-16 but the fighter later went down in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by Pakistan and released after over 60 hours on March 1.
JAMMU: At least 18 people have been injured in a powerful grenade explosion at the main bus stand in Jammu on Thursday afternoon. The blast at the bus stand, which is in the heart of Jammu city, left several bus drivers and conductors and civilians injured.

According to police, the grenade was rolled under a bus, which reportedly went off injuring many persons.

''It was a grenade explosion, it has caused injuries to approximately 18 people. All have been shifted to hospital,'' said MK Sinha, IGP Jammu, on blast at the bus stand.

Though it is still unclear as to who is behind the grenade attack at Jammu bus stand, the J&K Police suspects it to be the handiwork of Jaish-e-Mohammed over-ground workers.

Today's grenade attack comes days after a bus carrying CRPF personnel was attacked by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber, which resulted in the killing of at least 40 troopers.

In a retaliatory action, the Indian Air Force (IAF) had carried out airstrikes targeting a major JeM training camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 in which a large number of terrorists were eliminated.

The J&K Police sources told Zee Media that today's attack on the Jammu Inter-state bus terminal could be an act of revenge taken by the Pakistan-backed JeM against the IAF airstrikes in Pakistan.

Rattled with the ongoing encounters in J&K and the tough stand taken by the Government of India against Pakistan and terror operators, the Pakistan-backed terrorists want to disturb peace and harmony in the state and have been making several failed attempts to target the security forces and military installations.

Since the Pulwama attack, the state has been on a maximum alert and the security forces have increased patrolling and surveillance in sensitive areas. A day after the terror attack, Jammu witnessed bloody protests with agitators burning vehicles and vandalising shops.

The attack is also being seen in the light of ongoing protests by several parties against the Center's decision to ban Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir over alleged anti-India activities.

The Centre government had last week declared JeI as an unlawful association whose activities have the potential of disrupting the unity and integrity of India, and banned it for five years under anti-terror laws.

In addition, three leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami were arrested and nearly a dozen assets sealed during raids across six districts of Jammu region on Sunday. The raids on the offices and houses of Jammat leaders and activists were conducted in Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu districts, during which a large number of incriminating documents were seized for scrutiny.

What has further aggravated the situation in J&K, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik has been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and lodged in Jammu's Kot Balwal jail.

Yasin Malik, one of the most prominent Kashmiri separatist leader, was detained on February 22 and kept at Srinagar's Kothibagh police station.

Two months ago, a similar blast had occurred at the main bus stand here. The grenade fell short of the target and exploded in the air, without causing any damage or casualty, an official had said.
JAMMU: One person has died in the Jammu grenade attack carried out in the crowded general bus stand area in Jammu city on Thursday. A suspected terrorist has been arrested by police, sources told Zee Media.

At least 28 persons were injured in a powerful grenade attack on Thursday morning, with three persons reportedly in a critical condition. The injured were rushed to Jammu's Government Medical College and Hospital.

The suspect is said to be a resident of south Kashmir and a member of a terrorist group, sources added.

"It seems that the grenade was brought from outside and rolled under the bus," said MK Sinha, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu. The grenade reportedly went off under the bus, resulting in the shrapnel being contained to a smaller area, said the police.

So far 28 persons were brought with splinter injuries. Three are critical, of whom two are being operated," Principal, Government Medical College (GMC) hospital, Sunanda Raina told PTI.

The scene of the blast along BC Road has been sealed off by police. Police have launched a massive hunting operation, with sniffer dogs and forensic experts rushing to the spot.

This is the third grenade attack by terrorists in Jammu bus stand since May last year, viewed by security agencies as an attempt to disturb communal harmony and peace in the city.

Earlier on December 28-29 last year, suspected terrorists carried out a grenade attack on the bus stand with the intention to target the local police station building, an attack which took place seven months after another grenade attack along the B C Road left two policemen and a civilian injured on May 24, 2018.
Bapatla (SC) is one of 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. Since the Lok Sabha election of 1977, Congress has won here on six occasions while TDP has secured wins five times.

Bapatla became an SC reserved seat just before the 2009 Lok Sabha election.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, TDP's Maluadri Sriram secured 578,145 (48.80 per cent) votes to defeat YSRCP's Varikuti Amruthapani. At 85.16 per cent, the voter turnout here was one of the highest in the state which had an overall voter turnout of 74.47 per cent.

The constituency has a population of over 13 lakh with a gender ratio in favour of females - 50.71 per cent.

There are some media reports which claim that there is unrest among people belonging to the SC category here who feel that the leaders of political parties have largely ignored their interests and welfare. They also reportedly feel their MPs over the years have not been able to completely address their needs.

Political parties would be keen to assure that all concerns are not just heard but are addressed timely and effectively.
Chennai: DMK President MK Stalin would hold discussions with his party's MPs and MLAs on March 11, on the coming Lok Sabha elections, the party said Thursday.

The Opposition party would also discuss the bypoll to 21 Assembly seats in the state, DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan said in a statement.

He said the meeting of MPs, MLAs and District Secretaries would deliberate on the general elections as well as the bypolls.

The meeting is scheduled days after the DMK finalised its seat-sharing agreements with eight of its allies, including the Congress, for the Lok Sabha polls, leaving itself 20 segments to contest from.

Tamil Nadu has a total of 39 Parliamentary seats, while the neighbouring Puducherry has one.

The Congress has been allotted the lion's share of seats among the DMK's allies, with the grand old party receiving nine seats in the state, besides Puducherry.

CPI, CPI (M) and VCK have been given two seats each.

The DMK has allotted one seat each to the MDMK, IJK, IUML and the KMDK.

It has also allotted the MDMK one Rajya Sabha seat, the election for which is scheduled for June.

Eighteen seats fell vacant following the Madras High Court upholding the disqualification of equal number of AIADMK MLAs for revolting against Chief Minister K Palaniswami in 2017.

Tiruvarur and Tirupparankundram segments await by-elections due to the death of sitting legislators, former DMK chief M Karunanidhi and A K Bose of AIADMK, respectively, last year.

Hosur, represented by former AIADMK minister P Balakrishna Reddy, was declared vacant after he resigned following a special court sentencing him to three years' rigorous imprisonment in a

two-decade-old riot case.
NEW DELHI: Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel is set to join the Congress before the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

Top Congress sources told PTI that Hardik Patel is likely to join the party on March 12. "He is likely to contest the election from Jamnagar constituency," they said.

Sources added that Hardik Patel, who gained prominence after leading the agitation demanding reservation for the Patidar community in Gujarat, is expected to join the Congress in the presence of party chief Rahul Gandhi.

Poonamben Maadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party is currently the Member of Parliament from Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat.

Hardik Patel's entry into Congress is set to coincide with the Congress Working Committee or CWC meeting in Ahmedabad. Talking to PTI, some Gujarat Congress leaders said that the party is focusing on Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and is expected to perform much better than the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. It may be recalled that the Congress had given a tough fight to the ruling BJP in the 2018 assembly elections in the state.

It is learnt that along with Patel, five other members of the PAAS core group of the nine, would also join the Congress.

On February 6, Hardik Patel had announced at a rally in Lucknow that he will contest the upcoming General Election. It may be recalled that 25-year-old Hardik could not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha poll because he was not eligible to contest for the Lower House. In December 2017, Hardik had said that he would definitely enter the political arena once he will be eligible for the same.

In 2017, Gujarat Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki had said that his party would offer a ticket to Hardik if he decides to take the political plunge.

Sources told Zee Media that Hardik Patel held a meeting with PAAS conveners in Rajkot on Thursday evening and a final decision in this regard has been taken during the meeting.

Earlier, senior Congress leader from Gujarat, Ahmed Patel had hinted that Hardik will soon join the party. Sources said that Hardik recently met Congress President Rahul Gandhi to hold discussions on this matter.

The Jamnagar constituency is dominated by Aahir community and the leader from this community has won the last three Lok Sabha elections from this seat. Out of seven assembly seats in Jamnagar, Congress had won four in 2018 Assembly poll, while the BJP emerged victorious on three seats. By fielding Hardik from this seat, Congress wants to make it an Aahir versus Patidar battle.

Chandresh Patel of Patidar community was the MP from Jamnagar in five Lok Sabha poll from 1989 to 1999 but the last three Lok Sabha poll was won by leaders from Aahir community, out of which Vikram Maadam from the Congress won twice, while the seat went to Poonam Maadam of BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha poll.

(with PTI inputs)
The Lok Sabha election of 1967 was a turning point in the Indian democracy for a plethora of reasons. The 60s so far had been rather tumultuous  the country had fought a war each with China and Pakistan, Jawaharlal Nehru had died paving the way for the rise of Indira Gandhi, the Green Revolution has begun to show its benefits but was still at a nascent stage, the anti-Hindi agitation in Madras began to look ominous, and there were early signs of a threatening Naxal movement.

Between the election in 1962 and 1967, India faced grave dangers and some of its most significant policies  domestic and international  looked like it would come apart at the seams.

The most significant of these was the war with China that greatly undermined Nehrus diplomatic policy and raised significant questions on his ability to lead the country on a global scale. The Panchsheel Agreement between India and China  signed in 1954  promised everlasting peace between the two countries but Chinese offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line in October of 1962 not only shattered any notion of peaceful co-existence but also exposed Indias lack of military preparedness. Despite exemplary valour showed by Indian soldiers, thousands were killed. It was largely agreed that while Chinas international image suffered a hit, the country had achieved its military objectives and had forced Nehru to abandon Indias Forward Policy which were a set of tactical strategies to eventually push back Chinese from territories claimed by the Indian government.

Two years later, Nehru suffered a heart attack and died.

The Indian National Congress was still the most dominant political party in the 1960s. And by far. Nehrus death may have dealt a big blow to the political party and to the country considering how there was still no one in the fray who could match his nation-wide appeal and aura. Nonetheless, party president K Kamaraj played a key role in ensuring that Nehru was replaced by Lal Bahadur Shastri as the countrys PM.

There were also many who wanted Morarji Desai  and not Shastri  to replace Nehru. And then there were those who felt that daughter Indira was best placed to replace her father.

Shastri, however, was soon seen as an all-weather choice to ensure the party remains cohesive.

A little over a year after Nehrus death and Shastri being made the countrys PM, India had to fend off an aggressive West Pakistan in the War of 1965. West Pakistan had launched Operation Gibraltar which looked to put its troops in Jammu and Kashmir. India responded by declaring war. Still hurting from defeat at the hands of the Chinese, India poured in troops in Jammu and Kashmir. While India did deliver a sloid blow to Pakistani forces with aggressive designs, the war itself made Jammu and Kashmir a permanent bone of contention between the two countries.

Critics of the time  and many even now  say that India should not have taken the matter to the United Nations because it allowed Pakistan to gain territory in Jammu and Kashmir. This territory, till date, is called Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir by India.

The Tashkent Declaration eventually brought an end to the war but shortly after its signing, Shastri died of a heart attack. Gulzarilal Nanda took over as a interim PM before Indira was eventually elected to lead the Indian National Congress.

With these two wars, upheavals in the Indian National Congress, the domestic challenges posed by an emerging Naxal movement and food shortage despite the Green Revolution, and the anti-Hindi movement in Madras, the political scene just before the 1967 Lok Sabha election was riveting, complex and challenging.

Status of states:

There were 27 states and union territories in India at the time of the 1967 Lok Sabha election. These were:

Andhra Pradesh

Assam

Bihar

Gujarat

Haryana

Jammu and Kashmir

Madhya Pradesh

Madras

Maharashtra

Mysore

Nagaland

Orissa

Punjab

Rajasthan

Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

Kerala

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Chandigarh

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

Delhi

Goa, Daman and Diu

Himachal Pradesh

Laccadive, Mimicoy and Amindivi Islands (present day Lakshadweep)

Manipur

Pondicherry

Tripura

The number of states in India went up significantly between the years of 1962 and 1967.

* Haryana was formed in 1966

* Jammu and Kashmir participated in Lok Sabha elections for the first time in 1967

* Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweeps MPs were not appointed by President of India but elected for the first time in Lok Sabha election 1967

* Chandigarh was established as a UT in 1966

* Goa participated in General Elections for the first time

* Nagaland was formed in 1963

* The De jure transfer of Pondicherry as a UT was completed in 1962

The political parties contesting the 1967 election were:

Bharatiya Jana Sang

Communist Party of India

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Indian National Congress

Praja Socialist Party

Samyukta Socialist Party

Swatantra Party

The state parties:

Akali Dal  Master Tara Singh

Akali Dal  Sant Fateh Singh Group

All Party Hill Leaders Conference

Bangla Congress

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

Democratic National Conference

Forward Bloc

Kerala Congress

Muslim League

Nagaland Nationalist Organisation

Peasants and Workers Party

Republican Party of India

United Goans  Furtadd Group

United Goans  Seqveria Group

The registered but unrecognised parties were:

Jana Congress

Jana Kranti Dal

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference

Peoples Front

Laying the electoral roadmap:

The Lok Sabha election of 1967 was to take place after India had had four Prime Ministers. There were 520 single-member constituencies  up by 26 from the election five years back. Of these, 77 were SC constituencies while another 37 were reserved as ST constituencies.

Two decades since independence, India had taken several steps forward as a responsible democracy but grave challenges remained aplenty. Besides, the absolute dominance and influence of the Indian National Congress was not what it once was. Voices of dissent within the party had only gained several decibel levels while emergence of several political alternatives  regional as well as national  looked to give a platform to the masses. The 1967 elections, half a century ago, witnessed the unfolding of the fractures in the nations social and political edifice after the electoral system was set up in 1951-52, wrote V Krishan Ananth, a political commentator, in DNA. By 1967, the Indian nation had matured and taken the shape of concrete blocks and was being put to test by various political formations to build their own edifices. It is true that some blocks have dissolved to merge into others while some have broken up into separate formations and yet others have emerged and stayed on to ally either with the BJP or the Congress, in any way that suited them at different points of time.

Another major hurdle of the time before the election was in the slowing down of the Indian economy. The actual growth was at a measly 2.4% as against the objective of 5.6% per annum.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India continued with its endeavour of reaching out to as many people of voting age as possible. At this point in time  and till 1988  the minimum age to vote was 21.

Election 1967:

The Lok Sabha election in 1967 was held between February 17 and February 21.

The election was meant to be a litmus test for Indira Gandhi. And she is believed to have taken it up as a challenge to show she was always meant to be at the helm of Indian politics. Already the PM after the death of Shastri, Indiras critics  both within the INC and outside  felt she was not suited to the sweat and toil of Indian politics. Yet, it was Indira remained stoic in her resolve to show that this is where she belongs. Reports of the time suggest that even when she was hit by a stone during campaigning in Bhubaneshwar, a bleeding Indira refused to be taken away and took to the mic to condemn hooliganism.

On the other end of the field was a party that was determined to bring down Congress hegemony in Indian politics. Although Swatantra Party had only contested in one Lok Sabha election, it was determined to build on its admirable debut.

Under such circumstances, political parties and leaders began their campaigning with earnest. Promises were galore, visions aplenty and people at large were told issues of national defence, food shortage and economic slowdown would be addressed on priority.

In the end, the voters showed that while the Indian National Congress was still some distance away from being completely sidelined, Indira did enjoy most of the confidence that Nehru had before her.

It was, however, not an ideal outcome for the Indian National Congress. The party won less than 300 seats for the first time and got 283  a fall by 78 from the election five years ago. The vote share went down to a little over 40%.

Significantly, the Indian National Congress suffered grievous wounds with seven members of the Indira cabinet suffering losses. Moreover, only about half of all the states at the time voted Congress to absolute majorities in the state legislatures.

Hrinmay Karlekar, a noted journalist, wrote shortly after the elections that popular disenchantment and regional grievances had hit the Indian National Congress. In an article published by The Harvard Crimson and dated March 11 of 1967, he pointed out that food shortage, devaluation of the Rupee and a notion that the government was succumbing to Western pressures were primary reasons for Congress spiral. He also noted that the culture within the party had come to haunt it. "Congress would not have fared as badly as it did had its own house been in order. Unfortunately, it was not. Twenty years of uninterrupted enjoyment of power had made it smug and arrogant, engendered in its top leaders a false confidence in their own invulnerability," wrote Karlekar. "One reflection of this could be seen in their uncompromising attitude towards the dissidents inside their party, the continued and relentless exclusion of the latter from all position of authority. The bitter infighting that followed this led to large-scale expulsions and resignations and in West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar ex-Congressmen formed parties which contested the official Congress in the elections. In other states, where no such extreme development took place, Congressmen often allied secretly with opposition candidates to defeat candidates belonging to rival factions of their own party."

In Congress comparative setback were gains for rival parties. The most prominent gains were for Swatantra Party which claimed the second spot with 44 seats. It was the single-largest party in the opposition. Five other parties won seats in double digits  a first in Indian elections at the time.

So, while the Lok Sabha election 1967 did ensure that the Indian National Congress came back to power for the fourth successive term, it also necessitated an even stronger approach for Indira to prove that the country needs her to be in the PMs chair. Whether she needed herself to be in the PMs chair was open to debate.
The late 1960s and the start of the 1970s were years which saw a number of changes in the social, political and economic characteristics of India. The country had begun seriously addressing grave problems its population faced  including food shortage and economic slowdown, even if concrete results were not yet quite visible.

The biggest change in these years, however, was in the political climate of the country, and in the Indian National Congress in particular. Murmurs of dissent against Indira Gandhi had already plagued the party before the Lok Sabha election in 1967. The result, although in favour of the party, was also its worst so far in independent India. Indira Gandhis credentials were still in question and whats worse is that many of who raised the questions were from her own party. There were accusations against her that she had increasingly begun adopting a leftist policy  the nationalisation of 14 banks in the country in 1969 hardly helped her case. Then there was the decision to abolish the Privy Purse of former rulers of princely states in the country.

Fictional feuds and major differences in opinions eventually led to Indian National Congress president S Nijalingappa expelling Indira from the party in 1969 on charges of violating party discipline. She was accused of fostering a cult of personality which  her critics say  was regarded as an essential need by Indira to not just stay relevant but stay in complete control. That the party lost several states in the so-called Hindi belt also acted as a catalyst.

The party fractured into Congress (O) under leaders like K Kamaraj and later Morarji Desai, while Indira formed Congress (R). While O stood for Organisation, the R in Indiras party name stood for Requisition. The split in the Indian National Congress was essentially a split between the veterans and old guards of the party on the one hand, and Indira and her supporters/loyalists on the other. It was also regarded as a split between right-inclined leaders and left-wingers.

Immediately after the split, as many as 446 of 705 members of the erstwhile united party crossed over to Indiras Congress (R). This in itself was regarded as Indiras massive show of strength even if the split itself came as a massive blow to the countrys grand old party.

The situation looked ripe for other political parties  mainly Swatantra Party  to further strengthen itself after a commendable showing in the Lok Sabha election of 1967. It would join the Grand Alliance in 1971 with the aim of defeating Indira  a dream that would not come true for another few years and not for this party in at all because it declined after the death of C Rajagopalachari in 1972.

In this time frame, no single political party was still big enough to challenge the might of even a fractured Congress but coming together of rivals with the common objective of downing Indira emerged as a cornerstone in Indian politics.

On the economic front, there was some muted cheer as the growth rate was mostly above the 3 per cent mark  higher than what was witnessed before the 1967 Lok Sabha election but still considerably lower than the target set in the Fourth Five-Year Plan.

The start of the Green Revolution was a big step in the direction towards addressing the massive problem of food shortage in the country. Under this, there were widespread changes in the agricultural sector. Modern technology and extensive research ensured that there was a noticeable increase in crop output. While critics claim that the Green Revolution resulted in long-term sociological and economic challenges for many, and that most data pointing to higher yields between 1966 and 1971 do not attribute it to favourable weather conditions, other feel Green Revolution did bolster Indias self-sufficiency in terms of food grains.

In the diplomatic sphere, India maintained its non-aligned stature even as the Cold War between the United States and USSR continued unabated. While her critics did feel that Indira was slightly more inclined towards USSR, there was no rampant deviation from the non-aligned stance. This even though Pakistan had actively pursued closer ties to the United States. Declassified US documents since reveal that during the 1960s, Washington also looked at Pakistan as an example of a moderate Muslim state. Little wonder then that Pakistani military was being actively supported by the United States in terms of technology and equipment. A study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London goes on to say that Pakistan had a better armour strength than India in 1965. Pakistan also had nine regiments of Patton tanks while India mostly had Sherman tanks. Nonetheless, India maintained that it remained determined to not side with one power or another and risk its sovereignty.

Status of states:

There were 27 states and union territories at the time of the 1971 Lok Sabha election. These were:

Andhra Pradesh

Assam

Bihar

Gujarat

Haryana

Jammu and Kashmir

Kerala

Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra

Mysore

Nagaland

Orissa

Punjab

Rajasthan

Tamil Nadu

Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

Himachal Pradesh

Andaman

Chandigarh

Dadar and Nagar Haveli

Delhi

Goa, Daman and Diu

Laccadive, Mimicoy and Amindivi Islands (present day Lakshadweep)

Manipur

Pondicherry

Tripura

Madras was renamed as Tamil Nadu on January 14 of 1969 and barring this, there were no changes in the status of states and union territories between Lok Sabha elections of 1967 and 1971.

Political parties in the fray:

There were eight national parties and another 17 regional parties which contested the 1971 Lok Sabha election. The number of registered but unrecognised parties saw a spurt and 28 of these were present at the time.

The national parties:

Bharatiya Jan Sangh

Communist Party of India

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Indian National Congress (R)

Indian National Congress (O)

Praja Socialist Party

Samyukta Socialist Party

Swatantra Party

The regional parties:

All Party Hill Leaders Conference

Bangla Congress

Bharatiya Kranti Dal

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

Forward Block

Jana Congress

Janta Party

Kerala Congress

Maharahtrawadi Gomantak

Muslim League

Nagaland Nationalist Organisation

Peasants and Workers Party

Revolutionary Socialist Party

Shiromani Akali Dal

United Front of Nagaland

United Goans (Sequira Group)

Vishal Haryana

The registered (unrecognised) parties were:

Backward Classes Mahasabha

Chota Nagpur Bhumi Rakshak Party

Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha

Hindustani Shoshit Dal

Indian Gorkha League

Indian Socialist Party

All India Jharkhand Party

Uttar Pradesh Kisan Mazdoor Party

Lok Raj Party Himachal Pradesh

Lok Sevak Sangh

Minorities Labour Party

Manipur Peoples Party

Muslim Majlis Uttar Pradesh

Proutist Block of India

Bihar Prant Hul Jharkhand

Revolutionary Communist Party of India

Republican Party of India (Ambedkarite)

Republican Party of India

Republican Party of India (Khobragade)

Akhil Bhartiya Ranrajya Parishad

Revolutionary Socialist Party of India (Marxist and Leninist)

Shoshit Dal Bihar

Shiv Sena

Socialist Party

Socialist Unity Centre of India

Telangana Congress

Telangana Praja Samithi

Utkal Congress

Election 1971:

The political battle lines were quite clearly defined in the run up to the Lok Sabha 1971 election. While Congress (R) fancied its prospects under the leadership of Indira  who was determined to consolidate her power, Congress (O) teamed up with the likes of Swatantra Party, Jana Sangh Party and Samyukta Socialist Party to form the Grand Alliance.

Both Congress (R) and the Grand Alliance looked to field candidates in all 442 constituencies.

In addition, the Bharatiya Kranti Dal and the Praja Socialist Party fielded 95 and 63 candidates, respectively.

While CPI put forward 87 candidates, CPI (M) had 85 candidates.

Interestingly, over 1000 independent candidates contested the Lok Sabha election of 1971.

Each of these parties, or political camps, put forward a number of promises, plans and programs to address key issues and take the country forward.

The election itself took place between March 1 and March 10. A total of 151,296,749 people came out to vote (55.2 per cent). This figure was three million less than the one in 1967 Lok Sabha election.

Congress (R), nonetheless, snubbed the challenge posed by all other rivals to cruise to an emphatic win.

Congress (R) under Indira won 352 seats by getting 63,905,356 (43.68 per cent) votes. No other party or alliance could even come close to the sheer dominance with Congress (O) especially hurt and winning a measly 16 seats. Swatantra Party had fancied its prospects after the previous Lok Sabha election but could secure just eight seats. Bharatiya Jan Sangh managed to win 22 seats while Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 23 and 25 seats, respectively. DMK emerged as a strong regional player by securing wins in 23 seats.

What the eventual result showed was that Indira was the undisputed leader and had been given the mandate to govern by the people of the country. She would go on to form the government with 36 members.

In Indiras win in 1971 though were the seeds of absolute political discord and bitter acrimony that would define most of the 1970s. The subsequent years would rock the nation with accusations that Indira had used government machinery to script her own victory in the Rae Bareilly constituency and that this amounted to election fraud. In 1975, the Allahabad High Court convicted her on this count and it was in response to this that she declared the Emergency, that remains a matter of raging political debate in contemporary Indian politics.
Palghar: A 36-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping and marrying a minor relative in Palghar district of Maharashtra, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Ajay Singh, held his 17-year-old niece captive at his home in Virar area, Palghar police spokesperson Hemant Kumar Katkar said.

He allegedly married her forcibly and raped her repeatedly between November 2017 and December last year, the official said.

The accused also beat up the girl when she resisted his moves and prevented her from meeting her parents, he said.

Unable to bear the torture, the girl managed to escape from his house sometime back and approached the police.

Based on her complaint, Singh was arrested on Wednesday and booked him under Indian Penal Code sections for rape, abduction to compel for marriage, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation, and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), he said.
New Delhi: Ministry of Finance has enhanced the income tax exemption for gratuity under section 10 (10) (iii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to Rs 20 lakhs.

Minister of State for Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar has expressed hope that this would benefit those employees of PSUs and other employees not covered by Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 and has thanked the Finance Minister for enhancing the exemption limit.

The ceiling of Gratuity amount under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 has been raised from time to time keeping in view over-all economic condition and employers capacity to pay and the salaries of the employees, which have been increased in private sector and in PSUs. The latest such enhancement of ceiling of gratuity was made vide Government of India Notification dated 29.03.2018 under which the gratuity amount ceiling has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh w.e.f. 29.3.2018, an official release said.

The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 applies to establishments employing 10 or more persons.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday released the new series of visually impaired friendly circulation coins in New Delhi.

The coins were released at a function at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, where visually impaired children were specially invited. The PM expressed happiness in hosting them and thanked them for giving him an opportunity to interact with them. Union Minister for Finance, Shri Arun Jaitley and Minister of State for Finance, Shri Pon Radhakrishnan were also present at the event.

Modi released Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 in various denominations of coins released as part of the new series. The coins are characterized by the increasing size and weight from lower to higher denominations. The newly included coin of Rs.20, will be a 12 sided coin with no serrations. The rest of the denominations would be of round shape.

Check out the salient features of new Rs 20 coins

Releasing the new series, Modi said that the Union Government is guided by the vision of reaching the last mile and the last person. He said the new series of coins have been designed and released keeping that vision in mind.

The Prime Minister said that the new circulation coins with various differentiating features, will greatly aid the visually impaired. The new series of coins will facilitate the visually impaired, and will instil them with confidence, PM said.

He also thanked the National Institute of Design for the design, Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited and the Ministry of Finance for the introduction of new coins.

During the interaction with the Prime Minister, the children thanked the Prime Minister for introducing the new series of coins. They added that these coins will greatly ease their daily routine.

Various new features have been incorporated in the new series of circulation coins to make it more easy for the visually impaired to use them.
New Delhi: Disgruntled BJP lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha, who has been at loggerheads with the current BJP leadership since the 2015 Bihar election, over several issues, on Thursday, once again dropped a hint of quitting the party.

Shatrughan, who met former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD leader Rabri Devi today, said, "At present, I am in BJP. However, the time has come to make some decisions and I will make the right decision. I will soon decide which political party to join in." He added that he had come to meet the Lalu Prasad Yadav's family as he considers them as his own family.

As per reports, Shatrughan and Rabri held the meeting for close to 30 minutes.

Shatrughan has been the Patna Sahib MP since 2009. However, the BJP is unlikely to give him a ticket this time given his public and prolonged fallout with the party and open criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several occasions, including at the time of demonetisation and Goods and Service Tax.

Lately, Sinha has been found applauding RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

Shatrughan also said that 'whatever the situation may be, he will not change his constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections', making clear that he is adamant to contest again fro Patna Sahib seat, irrespective of party's decision.

The BJP lawmaker also alleged that he wasn't invited to recently held rallies in the state by the party. "Things would have been different had I attended the rallies. These rallies were not like the previously held rallies of BJP," he said.

The actor-turned-politician also asked the Narendra Modi-led government to clear its stand on the IAF airstrike on Jaish-e-Mohammed training centre in Balakot and said, "Different BJP leaders gave different figures. While Amit Shah claimed 250 Jaish terrorists were killed, Yogi Adityanath and Radhamohan said 350 and 400 respectively. The martyrs' families have also sought information on the airstrikes carried out by IAF on Balakot. The government must clarify the situation," he said.

Only recently, Shatrughan held a meeting with Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav at Lucknow, giving rise to speculations that he may contest the general elections on a Samajwadi Party. Reports also did the round that his wife and actress Poonam Sinha may enter politics from Lucknow, a seat which is currently held by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
San Francisco: Social networking giant Facebook today hosts around 15 million fewer people in the US than it did in 2017, with the biggest drop being among teen and millennial demographic.

A new US-specific survey data compiled by market research firm Edison Research highlighted that Facebook`s user-base was shrinking, particularly in the coveted 12- to 34-year-old in America, which was once recognised as the most lucrative market for the platform.

"Edison`s survey signal that the social network`s privacy woes and continued breaches of user trust may be having some noticeable effect on its most coveted slice of users. Also, there`s conjecture about as Facebook has become more popular among older people, whether that`s affected younger people," The Verge reported on Thursday.

Although, one interesting element that was observed was that whole Facebook users are awarming away from the app, they are flocking to Instagram.

"The photo-sharing platform, which by its nature collects less personal information from its users, can be a simpler, less toxic alternative to using the main Facebook service, now overrun by ads and plagued by all manner of misinformation and fake news," the report said.

Instagram now counts more than 1 billion global users and over 400 million monthly users of its Snapchat-like feature, Stories.

Facebook`s biggest competitor is another one of its own products, and it seems unlikely the company will stop the shed of users anytime soon, the report added.

Decline in the user-base does not really come as a shock given that the platform has been pointed at several times for its practices of collecting user information without their consent for ad targeting and finding friends purposes which have outraged users and privacy advocates.

The company was pulled up on Tuesday over its secure login process two-factor authentication (2FA) where it asked users to add phone numbers, which could be searched by advertisers. The practice drew criticism even from Facebook`s former chief information security officer Alex Stamos.

Last month, Facebook reportedly decided to put an end to its unpaid market research programmes after it was found to have been bribing teenagers in India and the US to give their personal information.
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday took a dig at Narendra Modi-led government and asked if BJP was pursuing a 'jhoot and boot' campaign in the country. Akhilesh's comment a day after BJP's two legislators were caught on camera exchanging blows with each other during an event.

By the term 'jhoot' (lies), Akhilesh appeared to be referring to the multi-crore Rafale aircraft deal, which the Opposition has alleged involved corruption. With 'boot', he mocked the government over the 'shoe brawl' between the BJP representatives at a district committee meeting at Sant Kabir Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh.

"First there were parallel negotiations. Then the (Rafale) files were stolen. Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh, MP-MLA used shoes for dispute resolution at a meeting to discuss development. Now BJP workers are asking their leaders as to what campaign is on? The 'jhoot' and the 'boot' or the youth and the booth?" Akhilesh said in Lucknow today.

"When the country's PM says Ighar main ghus ke maroonga', and the CM goes one step ahead and says 'thoko'. When the PM and the CM use such language that shouldn't be used in a democracy; that's what will happen," he said.

On Wednesday, the BJP-led government at the Centre told the Supreme Court that documents related to the agreement had been stolen from the Defence Ministry.

One of the legislators, involved in the fight, was caught on tape, using his shoe to hit the other.

On Thursday, Akhilesh's ally in Uttar Pradesh for the general election, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, too had a dig at the Centre's disclosure about stolen Rafale jet deal documents. "The Modi govt made a sensational disclosure in the Hon'ble Supreme Court that secret documents pertaining to Rafale fighter deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry. Very strange & irresponsible chowkidari. Is national security & interest in the safe hands? Think long & loud," she tweeted.
The Google Doodle on March 7, a day before International Women's day 2019, celebrates the birth anniversary of a special lady  Russian mathematician Olga Ladyzhenskay.

Ladyzhenskay pioneering work in the field of maths not only made her one of the most influential thinkers of her generation, but it also continues to help mankind till date. She's known for her work on partial differential equations and fluid dynamics. She's also the first person to provide proofs of the convergence of a finite difference method for the NavierStokes equations. Her equations help oceanography, cardiovascular science, aerodynamics, and weather forecasting.

Todays Doodle celebrates Olga Ladyzhenskaya, a Russian mathematician who triumphed over personal tragedy and obstacles to become one of the most influential thinkers of her generation, writes Google in a statement.

Born in the rural town of Kologriv on March 7, 1922, Ladyzhenskaya was inspired to love algebra by her father, a mathematician descended from Russian nobility.

She was just 15 years old when her father was jailed and executed by Soviet authorities who accused him of being an 'enemy of the state.' Subsequently, her mother and sisters sold dresses, shoes, and soap to make ends meet. Despite graduating from secondary school with excellent grades, she was later denied admission to Leningrad State University because of her family name, adds the search engine giant.

After years of teaching math to secondary school students, Ladyzhenskaya finally got the chance to attend Moscow State University, studying under the renowned mathematician Ivan Petrovsky. There, she earned her PhD and went on to head the Laboratory of Mathematical Physics at the Steklov Mathematical Institute. Later, she elected to stay in Russia despite the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic pressures that followed.

The author of more than 250 papers, Ladyzhenskayas methods for solving partial differential equations remain profoundly influential. A member of the St. Petersburg Mathematical Society since 1959, she became its president in 1990. Beyond mathematics, she was also a lover of nature and the arts.

Recognized by numerous international institutions, she was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2002 for her impressive contributions to the world of mathematics, writes Google.
KOLKATA: The last rites of Matua community matriarch Binapani Devi, popularly known as 'Boro Ma', will be held on Thursday at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district.

"The last rites, with state honours and a 21-gun salute, will be performed on Thursday in deference to the wishes of millions of her followers who want to attend and other family members," Devi's elder daughter-in-law and Trinamool Congress MP Mamata Bala Thakur told reporters in Thakurnagar on Wednesday evening.

The mortal remains of Boro Ma, who passed away at a state-run hospital here on Tuesday evening after a prolonged illness at the age of 100, arrived at Thakurnagar on Wednesday morning.

The last rites were earlier scheduled to be held on Wednesday evening.

Devi's body was taken in a flower-bedecked hearse from state-run SSKM Hospital in presence of West Bengal minister Jyotipriyo Mallick and Mamata Bala Thakur earlier in the day.

The mortal remains of Boro Ma, who passed away at a state-run hospital here on Tuesday evening after prolonged illness at the age of 100, arrived at Thakurnagar on Wednesday morning.

The last rites were earlier scheduled to be held on Wednesday evening.

Devi's body was taken in a flower-bedecked hearse from state-run SSKM Hospital in presence of West Bengal minister Jyotipriyo Mallick and Mamata Bala Thakur earlier in the day.

The West Bengal government had earlier announced a state funeral and 21-gun salute for Matua community matriarch Binapani Devi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had condoled her death.

"Last month, I had the honour of seeking the blessings of Boro Ma Binapani Thakur at Thakurnagar. I will always cherish the interaction I had with her. We stand in solidarity with the Matua community in this hour of sadness," PM Modi had tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Boro Ma this February during his visit to Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district where he addressed a rally.

Thakurnagar is the headquarters of the Matua Mahasangh, the organisation of the community. Mamata Bala Thakur, a member of Boro Ma's family, is a Trinamool Congress parliamentarian.

Matua votes were considered a major factor in the Trinamool Congress's win in the 2011 and 2016 Assembly polls.

With an estimated population of 30 lakh in the state, Matuas can influence results in at least five Lok Sabha seats in North and South 24 Parganas districts.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: National Security Adviser of the United Kingdom Mark Sedwill Thursday spoke to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and offered all assistance, including intelligence-sharing, in dealing with any form of terrorism, official sources said.

Sedwill also expressed solidarity with India in the aftermath of the Pulwama terrorist attack, they said, adding the call was initiated by the British NSA. The British NSA said all assistance in dealing with any form of terrorism will be extended to India bilaterally through counter-terrorism cooperation, intelligence-sharing and by bringing the perpetrators of terrorist attacks to justice, the sources added.

The telephonic conversation between the two NSAs came amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan triggered by the Pulwama attack. The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility of the strike in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

On February 26, Indian Air Force combat jets struck JeM's biggest terrorist training camp in Balakot deep inside Pakistan. A day later, Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations.
WASHINGTON/SEOUL: New activity has been detected at a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles plant, South Korean media said on Thursday, as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be very disappointed if Pyongyang rebuilt a rocket site.

Movement of cargo vehicles was spotted recently around a factory at Sanumdong in Pyongyang, which produced North Korea`s first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the United States, South Korea`s JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing lawmakers briefed by the National Intelligence Service.

Spy chief Suh Hoon told the lawmakers he viewed the activity as missile-related, the JoongAng Ilbo said. It quoted Suh as saying North Korea continued to run its uranium enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex after the first summit between Trump and its leader, Kim Jong Un, in June in Singapore.

The reports came after the leaders` second summit, in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, broke down last week over differences on the limits North Korea was ready to put on its nuclear program and how willing the U.S. was to ease sanctions.

The Sanumdong factory produced the Hwasong-15 ICBM, which can fly more than 13,000 km (8,080 miles). After its test flight in late 2017, North Korea declared the completion of its "state nuclear force," before pursuing talks with South Korea and the United States last year.

South Korea`s presidential office and defense ministry declined to confirm the reports on Sanumdong, saying they were closely monitoring North Korea`s activities together with the United States.

The U.S. State Department said it could not comment on intelligence matters.

On Tuesday, two U.S. think tanks and Seoul`s spy agency said work was underway to restore part of the North`s Sohae rocket launch site that Kim, at the Singapore summit, vowed to dismantle.

"I would be very disappointed if that were happening," Trump told reporters on Wednesday in the Oval Office, when asked if North Korea was breaking a promise.

"It`s a very early report. We`re the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I don`t think I will be, but we`ll see what happens. We`ll take a look. It`ll ultimately get solved."

Another U.S. research body, Washington-based Stimson Center`s 38 North, weighed in on Thursday, saying the Sohae site appeared to have returned to normal operational status after recent rebuilding work.

Commercial satellite imagery, 38 North said, "indicates construction to rebuild the launch pad and engine test stand that began before the Hanoi summit has continued at a rapid pace."

White House national security adviser John Bolton said on Thursday that Trump was open to additional talks with North Korea over denuclearization.

"The president`s obviously open to talking again. We`ll see when that might be scheduled or how it might work out," Bolton said in an interview with Fox News.

Bolton also said it was too soon to make a determination on the reports of North Korea`s missile activities. "We have a lot of ways of getting information," he said. "We`re going to study the situation carefully. As the president said, it would be very, very disappointing if they were taking this direction."

SANCTIONS WARNING

Imagery from Planet Labs Inc analyzed by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California showed activity at Sohae from Feb. 23 until Wednesday.

38 North said photos from Wednesday showed the rail-mounted transfer building used to move rockets at the site was complete, cranes had been removed from the launch pad and the transfer building moved to the end of the pad.

"But we don`t draw any conclusions from that besides they are restoring the facility," Joel Wit of 38 North told Reuters. "There is no evidence to suggest anything more than that."

A U.S. government source said the work at Sohae probably began before the summit, which was preceded by lower-level talks in February. Some analysts see the work at Sohae as aimed at pressing Washington to agree to a deal, rather than as a definite move to resume tests.

The U.S. government source, who did not want to be identified, said North Korea`s plan to rebuild at the site could have been designed to offer a demonstration of good faith by conspicuously stopping again if a summit pact was struck, while furnishing a sign of defiance or resolve if the meeting failed.

Bolton had earlier warned of new sanctions if North Korea does not scrap its weapons program. There have been signs across Asia that Trump`s "maximum pressure" campaign against North Korea has sprung leaks.

In a new sanctions breach, three South Korean companies were found to have brought in more than 13,000 tons of North Korean coal, worth 2.1 billion won ($2 million) since 2017, by making it out to have been produced in China and Vietnam, South Korea said. The Hanoi summit`s breakdown, and Bolton`s sanctions threat, raise questions about the future of the dialogue Trump has pursued.

North Korea`s state television aired a 78-minute documentary late on Wednesday showing a stone-faced Bolton during a meeting in Hanoi, while Trump and other U.S. participants were all smiles.

But it focused on showing a cordial mood between Trump and Kim as the summit ended, indicating Pyongyang was not about to walk away from negotiations, experts say.

However, in a return to a more usual, strident tone in North Korea`s state media, the KCNA news agency criticized new small-scale military exercises that the United States and South Korea plan to hold instead of a large-scale spring exercise they have called off.

The news agency said the drills would be a "violent violation" of agreements signed between the United States and North Korea as well as between the two Koreas.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries said last week that they would not carry out a large-scale spring joint military exercises, replacing it with smaller-scale ones.
Islamabad: Pakistan's latest crackdown on banned terror groups is merely an "eyewash" to placate the West in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from the country's soil, a US-based news website which reports on the war on terror has commented.

Pakistan said Tuesday that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar's son and brother were among 44 members of the banned militant outfits taken into "preventive detention", amid mounting pressure from the global community on it to rein in the terror groups operating on its soil.

Islamabad also said it is shuttering institutions that belong to Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a designated terrorist group that is an alias for Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The crackdown came amid tensions with India following a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14 by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

India recently handed over the dossier to Pakistan to take action against the JeM for the Pulwama terror attack.

"If the past is any guide, the efforts are merely eyewash to placate Western governments in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from Pakistani soil," the Long War Journal has commented.

"That's because Pakistan has claimed it has shut down JuD offices and detained its top leaders in the past, only to allow the offices to reopen and the leaders free months later," it said on Wednesday.

Ironically, Pakistani generals and government officials routinely state that terrorist groups are not permitted to operate on Pakistani soil. Yet the JuD operates freely in Rawalpindi, the city that headquarters Pakistan's military, the website noted.

Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its successor, JuD, has been placed under "protective custody" at least four times in the past two decades, only to be released, it noted.

"Even when he was in purported custody, Saeed was free to travel and give sermons at LeT/JuD-run mosques in Lahore," it recalled.

Saeed's ties to both the Pakistani state and global terrorist groups such as al Qaeda are indisputable, it said, adding that the Pakistani state supports Saeed and his organisation, which has offices across the country.

Pakistan also routinely rounds up known terrorist leaders and places them under protective custody, only to release them when foreign pressure wanes, the article said.

Dangerous jihadist commanders such as Masood Azhar (Jaish-e-Mohammed), Qari Saifullah Akhtar (Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami), and Malik Ishaq (Lashkar-e-Jhangvi) have been detained numerous times, only to be freed, it noted. "There is little reason to believe this latest 'effort' will be any different," the Long War Journal concluded.
Russia's Sukhoi Su-27 fighter intercepted a US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft above the Baltic Sea recently, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. A 17-second video tweeted by the Russian Defence Ministry shows the Su-27 fighter coming from behind to intercept the US spy plane while it was cruising over international waters of the Baltic Sea near the Russian border.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the Su-27 was on-duty when it was scrambled to track and intercept the US Air Force's RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft. The Su-27 returned safely to its home base after the foreign aircraft flew away from the Russian border, the statement added.

The single-crew, twin-engine Su-27 (NATO codename Flanker) is an air-superiority fighter. The jet can fly at Mach 2.35 (2,500 kilometres per hour). The RC-135 has a crew of 27-32 members depending on the mission. The plane is used to gather electronic and signal intelligence. It is capable of almost real-time intelligence collection, analysis and can also send it the command centre and other aircraft of the US military.

On February 19, 2019, a Russian Su-27 fighter had intercepted a spy plane of Sweden over the Baltic Sea. According to the Swedish Defence Ministry, the Russian jet came dangerously close to their Gulfstream electronic reconnaissance aircraft.

The Su-27 was reportedly only about 20 metres from the Swedish Air Force plane. The Russians claimed their fighter was at a safe distance and returned after visually identifying the plane.

Just four days earlier on February 15, eight Russian Air Force aircraft were flying near Japan were intercepted by Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF). The Russian planes included four nuclear-capable Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers and four Sukhoi Su-35S fighters.

The two formations were flying separately over the east and west coasts of Japan. While two Tu-95MS bombers and four Su-35S fighters were flying over the Sea of Japan, the second formation consisted of two Tu-95MS and was on over the Sea of Okhotsk.

According to the Russians, their planes did not violate the Japanese airspace. Russia resumed long-range patrols by its fighters and bombers in 2014 after its relationship with Japan soured following the former's military action in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea peninsula.

The Japanese media claimed that the Russian patrol intercepted on February 15 was one of the largest ever seen near the Japanese border in the last several years.
Washington: US Senator Marco Rubio has accused Saudi Arabia`s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of going "full gangster" and urged President Donald Trump`s nominee for Ambassador to Riyadh to hold the country accountable for human rights abuses.

"He`s gone full gangster," Politico news quoted Rubio as saying on Wednesday. The Florida Senator added that the Saudi royal was "reckless, ruthless" and "increasingly willing to test the limits of what he can get away with".

Rubio`s remark came during retired General John Abizaid`s nomination hearing on Wednesday to be the Trump administration`s first ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi list of offences, Rubio and other lawmakers noted during the hearing, include the killing of civilians in the US-supported conflict in Yemen, the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, the alleged torture of an American citizen and the detention of women`s rights activists.

The ambassadorial nominee however, stressed that the US relationship with the Saudis was bigger than the Crown Prince, and that the best way to change conditions in the Arab kingdom was through engagement.

"It is in our interest to make sure that the relationship is sound," Abizaid said. Since taking office, Trump hasn`t had an ambassador in Riyadh. He announced he would nominate Abizaid in November, after the Khashoggi killing drew outrage in Washington.
ALEXANDRIA: President Donald Trump`s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will be sentenced by a US judge in Virginia on Thursday for bank and tax fraud uncovered during Special Counsel Robert Mueller`s investigation into Russia`s role in the 2016 election.

US District Judge T.S. Ellis could deliver effectively a life sentence to Manafort, 69, if he follows federal sentencing guidelines cited by prosecutors that call for 19-1/2 to 24 years in prison for the eight charges the veteran Republican political consultant was convicted of by a jury in Alexandria last August.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 3.30 pm Manafort was convicted after prosecutors accused him of hiding from the US government millions of dollars he earned as a consultant for Ukraine`s former pro-Russia government. After pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych`s ouster, prosecutors said, Manafort lied to banks to secure loans and maintain an opulent lifestyle with luxurious homes, designer suits and even a $15,000 ostrich-skin jacket.

Manafort faces sentencing in a separate case in Washington on March 13 on two conspiracy charges to which he pleaded guilty last September. While he faces a statutory maximum of 10 years in the Washington case, United States District Judge Amy Berman Jackson potentially could stack that on top of whatever prison time Ellis imposes in Virginia, rather than allowing the sentences to run concurrently.

Jackson on Feb. 13 ruled that Manafort had breached his agreement to cooperate with Mueller`s office by lying to prosecutors about three matters pertinent to the Russia probe including his interactions with a business partner they have said has ties to Russian intelligence. Jackson`s ruling could impact the severity of his sentence in both cases.

Mueller is preparing to submit to US Attorney General William Barr a report on his investigation into whether Trump`s campaign conspired with Russia and whether Trump has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe. Trump has denied collusion and obstruction. Russia has denied election interference.

Manafort is the only one of the 34 people and three companies charged by Mueller to have gone to trial. Several others including former campaign aides Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen have pleaded guilty, while longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone has pleaded not guilty.

Gates, a key witness against Manafort, has yet to be sentenced due to his ongoing cooperation with prosecutors.

STUNNING DOWNFALL

Mueller`s charges led to the stunning downfall of Manafort, a prominent figure in Republican Party circles for decades who also worked as a consultant to such international figures as former Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and Yanukovych.

Defense lawyers have asked Ellis to sentence Manafort to between 4-1/4 and 5-1/4 years in prison. They are expected to tell the judge Manafort is remorseful and that the sentencing guidelines cited by prosecutors call for a prison term disproportionate to the offenses he committed.

"The Special Counsel`s attempt to vilify Mr. Manafort as a lifelong and irredeemable felon is beyond the pale and grossly overstates the facts before this court," his lawyers wrote in their sentencing memo.

Prosecutors have not suggested a specific sentence. Mueller`s office, in court filings, said that only Manafort is to blame for his crimes, that he has shown no remorse and that his lies to prosecutors after his guilty plea should be taken into account.

"The defendant blames everyone from the Special Counsel`s Office to his Ukrainian clients for his own criminal choices," prosecutors wrote. Manafort will be sentenced by a judge who faced criticism by some in the legal community for making comments during the trial that were widely interpreted as biased against the prosecution.

Ellis repeatedly interrupted prosecutors, told them to stop using the word "oligarch" to describe people associated with Manafort because it made him seem "despicable," and objected to pictures of Manafort`s luxury items they planned to show jurors.

"It isn`t a crime to have a lot of money and be profligate in your spending," Ellis told prosecutors.
DEIR AL-ZOR PROVINCE, Syria: Thousands of people could still be left inside Islamic State`s last enclave in eastern Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said, as the waves of evacuations from the tiny area continued on Thursday.

The SDF has said it wants to ensure all civilians have been evacuated before launching a final assault on the besieged enclave of Baghouz. It is the last shred of populated territory held by Islamic State, which once controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria.

"We are still hearing about the presence of thousands inside Baghouz," SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali told al-Hadath television.

"We expect a fierce battle later on after the end of the civilian evacuation, given that those that will remain in Baghouz are the ones brimming with salafi jihadi ideology and the ones for whom surrender is not an option," he said.

Even with its defeat at Baghouz looming large, Islamic State is still widely assessed to represent a security threat, with a foothold in patches of remote territory and the ability to mount guerrilla attacks.

Many thousands of people, many of them the families of Islamic State fighters, have poured out of Baghouz over the last several weeks. Hundreds of Islamic State militants have also surrendered, the SDF says.

The SDF announced it was launching a final battle for the enclave last month but has slowed its attack to allow civilians to leave. SDF commander Adnan Afrin said on Thursday he hoped the evacuations would "be completed today".

On Wednesday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that monitors the war said preparations were underway in eastern Syria to announce the end of Islamic State there. But Colonel Sean Ryan, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition backing the SDF, said the international force had "learned not to put any timetables on the last battle".

Islamic State suffered its major military defeats in 2017 when it was driven from the Iraqi city of Mosul and its Syrian headquarters at Raqqa by local forces supported by a U.S.-led international coalition.
"Whats this years big issue? The economy. The key topic Bloomberg has captured from the annual sessions of Chinas National Peoples Congress (NPC) and the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, referred to as the two sessions, is the observation of many foreign media and represents foreign medias expectation for the two sessions.

What economic goals China will set for the year, will the country adjust its fiscal and monetary policies, what does the new foreign investment law mean, and how will China develop artificial intelligence technology are drawing great attention of media from across the globe.

While the global economy is faced with downward pressure, the Chinese economy is growing rapidly and steadily. Such momentum is precious and has become the light of confidence and vitality for the development of world economy.

China represents enormous long-term opportunity, said an article published on Forbes in January. Indeed, the continuous progress of Chinas overall economic strength has always been the result of the general trend.

In 2018, Chinese economy expanded to over 90 trillion yuan (about $13.43 trillion), making the country second largest economy in the world. Meanwhile, its total volume of foreign trade exceeded 30 trillion yuan(about $4.48 trillion) for the first time, ranking first in the world.

Last year, Chinas economy grew by $1.4 trillion, up 6.6 percent from the previous year. The country contributed nearly 30 percent of the global economic growth, becoming the biggest contributor to global growth for years.

With clear direction and firm steps, China has set out on its journey to a stage of high-quality development, which, to the world, is a journey based on confidence, and a journey about continuous inspiration and the building of confidence.

This confidence comes from Chinas accurate forecasts of the current situation and its correct policies and measures taken to cope with the situation.

China has sufficient policy tools to guarantee the smooth running of its economy, said an economic affairs officer with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The annual Central Economic Work Conference held last December released a series of important signals. It was praised by foreign media for showing Chinas capability to respond to challenges while boosting economy.

While applauding achievements, China also noticed changes and concerns that came along with the steady economic development, and decided to continue the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy while adhering unswervingly to the core task of supply-side structural reform.

The international community is to a large extent observing the secret behind Chinas economic governance via paying great attention to the two sessions.

This confidence originates from Chinas courage in deepening reform and its capability to carry out transformation and upgrading.

Chinas great capacity for transformation is one of the most important advantages of its economy, said a foreign economist. This comment can be regarded as a footnote to Chinas economy.

From concentrating efforts on improving business environment, to cultivating and developing new growth drivers and facilitating the formation of a strong domestic market, and to promoting poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, China is endeavoring to develop a multi-dimensional space for economic growth.

It was pointed out in the UN report titled World Economic Situation and Prospects 2019 that Chinas holistic structural reforms generate positive impact on economic growth, exports and imports, and welfare gains in the Asia-Pacific economies.

Sue Duke, Vice President, Head of Global Public Policy and Economic Graph Team at LinkedIn is full of expectations on the Chinese market and regards China as one of the best places to start a company in the world after seeing Chinas economic digital transformation driven by such factors as big data, Internet plus, and artificial intelligence.

The confidence also stems from Chinas determination and actions to open itself to the world.

China is making increasingly greater efforts to open its market to the world. The draft foreign investment law, which is scheduled to be deliberated at the two sessions, has caught the attention of the whole world prior to the convening of the two sessions.

Once adopted, the law will bring about a fundamental reform of Chinas foreign investment management system and is expected to help improve the openness, transparency, and predictability of investment environment and provide better legal protection for boosting the formation of a new pattern of all-round opening up.

Alex Dimitrief, former Senior Vice President of General Electric expressed that the policy of Chinese government on continuing reform and opening up has given them reassurance that they can keep digging deep into the Chinese market.

Michele Geraci, the Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, said in the coming years, China will be one of the most important variables for the Italian economy. Such remark reflects the fact that the international community is optimistic about Chinas prospects and believes in Chinese opportunities.

The world has reasons to expect that with Chinas constant efforts to deepen reform, promote opening up, and continuously release development potentials, Chinese economy can inject greater confidence and stronger impetus into the development of global economy.
MANCHESTER, N.H., March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Liberty Institute today sent a letter to Manchester (NH) VA Medical Center (MVAMC) officials affirming their decision to display a Bible donated by a WWII veteran. The letter was sent by First Liberty on behalf of its client, the Northeast POW/MIA Network, the veterans service organization that originally included the Bible in its donated POW/MIA Remembrance Table at the MVAMC. Activist groups recently demanded the Bible be removed.



The VA is absolutely within the law in its decision to allow the display of a donated Bible, said Michael Berry, Director of Military Affairs for First Liberty Institute. Government officials are right to ignore outside activists and their dubious legal claims. The fact that an outside activist group more than 2000 miles away claims to be offended is not a legitimate reason to dishonor our veterans. If those activists want to desecrate this POW/MIA display, theyre going to have to come through us.

The Bible, currently displayed at MVAMC, was donated by former U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Sergeant (TSgt) Herman Herk Streitburger, of Bedford, NH, who was held captive in a German Prisoner of War camp during World War II. The POW/MIA Remembrance Table at the MVAMC was donated by the Northeast POW/MIA Network and Rolling Thunder Chapter 1.

Since the Vietnam War, our nation has maintained the sacred tradition of setting a separate table in countless Department of Defense and VA facilities to honor POW/MIAs. The table is decorated with several items, each carrying symbolic meaning used to help remember those who were captured or declared missing. A 2016 Veterans Administration memo states that when a VA facility permits a POW/MIA Remembrance Table, it must remain neutral regarding the views expressed by the group, to include the use of any religious or secular items in the display.



About First Liberty Institute

First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.

To arrange an interview, contact Chris Freund at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 469-440-7566.

Contact: Chris Freund, media@firstliberty.org

Direct: 469.440.7566
Patterson, CA (95363)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. High around 60F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 48F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
Tashi Gyaltsen, deputy of the National People's Congress (NPC) from Lhoba, an ethnic group in southeast Tibet Autonomous Region attends the opening ceremony. Photo: Cao Siqi/GT

A legislator from Lhoba, the second smallest of 56 ethnic groups in China living in the Tibet Autonomous Region, said the regional government is considering creating written scripts for the Lhoba language, a move the legislator hailed as another government effort to preserve ethnic culture.

Being the only deputy of the National People's Congress (NPC) from Lhoba, an ethnic group of around 3,600 people, Tashi Gyaltsen works hard to make sure his people's voice is heard by others.

Young people are living a more dynamic lifestyle and some traditional customs face the risk of extinction, Tashi said.

Tashi said that his work has gained the support of the regional government, which is considering creating a written script for his language.

Although the population of the Lhoba ethnic group is very small, the language divergence between different areas is large. Tashi said it is better to adopt the international phonetic system. However, he admitted that it is difficult to promote among the group.

Lhoba means "southerners" in Tibetan language and Lhoba people speak different languages but are considered the same Lhoba minority.

In 2008, Lhoba's ethnic clothing was listed in the second batch of the national intangible cultural heritage list.

Living in Shannan Prefecture, Tashi said preserving Lhoba culture is only a small part of the local and central governments' efforts in protecting Tibetan culture.

He said primary schools in Tibet still use Tibetan language textbooks, including mathematics. Tibetan course is taught from primary to high schools in this region, and universities in Tibet also offer a major in Tibetan language.

Meanwhile, the regional government also produced new radio gymnastics exercises featuring Tibetan folk dances so that the Tibetan people will not forget their traditional dances. In China, students across the country would line up every morning on the playground stretching, kicking and jumping to the music on the radio.

In recent years, some Western media have criticized China for increasingly restricting Tibetan culture. "The accusations are ridiculous," Tashi said.

The local and central governments have spared no effort to protect Tibetan culture. In the latest move, the central government plans to invest 300 million yuan ($44.9 million) in the next 10 years to protect and utilize ancient documents in the Potala Palace, a World Heritage site in Lhasa, Tibet.

A white paper released by the State Council Information Office in December 2018 says religious freedom for ethnic minority groups is also fully guaranteed.

Tibet has 1,778 venues for practicing Tibetan Buddhism, and normal religious activities and beliefs are protected based on the law, the white paper said.
When President Trump signed the Investing in Opportunity Act into law in 2017, it caught the attention of mayors and entrepreneurs as well as developers and investors. They all saw the promise to increase economic opportunities for the many communities that have increasingly watched those opportunities slip away.By waiving capital-gains taxes for long-term investments in more than 8,000 designated low-income census tracts across the country -- referred to as "opportunity zones" -- the incentive is intended to stimulate commerce and create jobs in economically distressed communities.But how will we know if it's really working? The legislation currently has no built-in reporting requirements to make clear which projects received investment. Nor does it require managers to track or measure the impact on their communities. An opportunity zones framework released in February by the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance and the Beeck Center at Georgetown University aims to elevate these essential considerations, ensuring that opportunity zone returns accrue equally to communities and to investors. The framework, funded in part by the Kresge Foundation, is an important first set of principles to guide this rapidly emerging market. But those principles are only as useful as their adoption. Unless the federal legislation is amended to include requirements for transparency, measurement and impact reporting, we'll simply never know the full impact of opportunity zones in our communities. We won't know if incentivizing investors with tax relief results in them making investments they otherwise wouldn't have made.Early media reports on projects receiving investment under the program have added to my worries. In Texas, for example, a commercial real estate company made a $16 million purchase of 10 acres of land outside San Antonio to build a storage warehouse. A waterfront hotel is being developed as part of a mixed-use project in Seattle. And luxury apartments are going up in Baton Rouge, La.Perhaps there are unseen community benefits built in to these projects. But in principle, disinvested communities need more than storage, fancy hotels or unaffordable condos. They need deep investment in affordable housing, living-wage jobs and infrastructure. It's hard to see how a facility for affluent homeowners to deposit their excess belongings will provide significant benefits to struggling neighborhood families.Opportunity zone investments should breathe life into forgotten communities by funding public spaces and revitalizing shopping centers, schools or small-business corridors. They should give small entrepreneurs the boost they need to create jobs and economic opportunity for residents. Otherwise, capital will always flow to the lowest-risk, highest-return investments. It's simple economics. The natural winners will not be residents of the economically distressed areas this legislation is supposed to help.What if, as intended, opportunity zone investors were truly incentivized to focus on small storefronts and new ventures in rural Michigan or central-city Phoenix and not only on shovel-ready projects? In an age of growing income inequality, this program could facilitate an investment pipeline that lifts working families and that does not just reward the rich.At the U.S. Conference of Mayors' winter meeting in January, I joined a room full of policymakers from across the country to lay out the true promise of the opportunity zones program and how its risks can be mitigated. Simply adopting current reporting standards in place for another federal program, the New Markets Tax Credit Program, would largely remediate many concerns. It's an easy fix.At the Kresge Foundation, we've launched incubators for opportunity zone funds with measurable community impact objectives, and we're implementing loan guarantees for organizations that will commit to reporting their true community impact. We're also calling on philanthropic and financial institutions and policymakers across the country to speak out against investment strategies that do not create jobs and expand opportunities for the people who need them most.This is a crucial moment. As we await the next round of regulatory guidance on opportunity zones, it's an important inflection point for a piece of legislation that could do a lot of good in a lot of places. To fully realize that potential, policymakers need to incorporate guidelines that ensure that transparency, meaningful community benefit and broad geographic impact are achieved. If that happens, opportunity zones could chip away at inequality and increase opportunities for working families across the country.
Republican members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives are drawing scrutiny for wearing pearl necklaces while gun control activists shared their own experiences with gun violence at a recent hearing.In images that made the rounds online this week, several Republican legislators could be seen donning the necklaces as lawmakers weighed arguments on a bill designed to establish a procedure for issuing extreme risk protection orders to protect against persons who pose an immediate risk of harm to themselves or others.Critics say that the lawmakers were using clutching their pearls imagery to mock the testimony of the gun control activists.The measure, known as House Bill 687-FN, would allow authorities and family members to obtain court orders that would restrict access to guns for potentially dangerous people.Many took to social media to post pictures of the necklace-donning Republicans and condemn their choice to wear the necklaces as sexist and insensitive.Many advocates who were also volunteers with the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America that were present at the hearing said they felt like the Republican legislators participating in the demonstration were mocking gun violence victims and disinterested in the effect gun violence has on victims.
GIS - 07 March, 2019: Mauritius and Vietnam are collaborating on some 49 projects to the total value of USD 400 million mostly in the trading and investment fields.

This statement was made by Mr Le Huy Hoang, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Mauritius, this afternoon, following a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, at the New Treasury Building in Port Louis.

Mr Le Huy Hoang pointed out that the two countries can further collaborate in other fields such as health while lauding the innovative and modern health technologies in Mauritius including stem cell. He recalled that Vietnam, with a population of 96 million, and with an average growth rate of 7,6% since the past ten years, is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and hence has a high potential for business and trade.

Furthermore, the Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam said that Mauritius and Vietnam share longstanding ties of friendship and bilateral relations. He indicated that the meeting with Prime Minister Jugnauth mainly focused on the strengthening and consolidation of friendship ties between the two countries.

The Ambassador also acknowledged the economic development of Mauritius and its image of good governance which have propelled the country as a leading country on the African continent in terms of economic growth, finance and tourism, amongst others.
Description

GIS - 07 March, 2019: Youth must be encouraged to adopt new technology and new agricultural methods which will ultimately help increase crop productivity. This, will in turn ensure food and agriculture security for the population in the face of climate change. Youth must be encouraged to adopt new technology and new agricultural methods which will ultimately help increase crop productivity. This, will in turn ensure food and agriculture security for the population in the face of climate change.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Stephan Toussaint, made this statement yesterday at the Dubreuil Tea Factory in the context of the Farmers Day 2019. He further spoke of the various progress achieved in the agricultural sector and reiterated Governments commitment to promote the agricultural sector for the well-being of planters and the population at large through the introduction of several measures towards providing assistance to farmers to increase the production of local crop for consumption.

Minister Toussaint also urged the youth to seize the opportunities in the agricultural sector especially regarding the sheltered farming project, which he emphasised, will help promote food safety and security.

Farmers Day is celebrated each year by the Small Farmers Welfare Fund (SFWF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agro- Industry and Food Security in line with its mandate to promote the welfare of the farming community. The aims are to valorise the contribution of the farming sector to the country, create networking amongst farmers for the exchange of ideas, knowledge and experience and instill the feel good factor amongst the farming community, amongst others.

Various activities were being organised to mark the Day, namely Family Fun Games; Live Music/Karaoke, Free Medical Check-up, Surprise Gifts, Food/Refreshments, guided tour of the Dubreuil Tea Factory and sales of agricultural products.
There is a lot of talk these days around the future of smart cities. But have you ever wondered why a smart city is needed, and what the benefits of a smart city are?
Adcor Magnet Systems, which makes sensors and reality-augmentation software

Aerial Applications, which makes drone data and mapping software

Blueforce Development, which makes software for networks of interconnected devices to improve situational awareness for first responders

Kiana Analytics, a cloud software company that collects information from wireless devices to inform decisions about the physical security of an environment

Qwake Technologies, which uses sensors and augmented reality to help firefighters see in environments with zero visibility.

Four months after announcing the creation of a 5G First Responder Lab in Washington, D.C., for public safety innovation, Verizon and Responder Corp., a group of first responders and investors, have named the labs first five tenants.Comprising the first of three cohorts, the five companies will each get three months of access to the lab and its 5G network in order to develop new 5G solutions for first responders, as well as the chance to work with Verizon and Responder Corp. on use-case testing and market strategies. Two more cohorts of five companies apiece will follow later this year.The D.C. lab is located in a space owned by Alley , a membership community for entrepreneurs with locations in multiple states, all of which use Verizons 5G network.According to a news release Tuesday, the following Cohort 1 participants came from an applicant pool of more than 50 companies:The news release said these were chosen based on their likelihood of helping first responders with at least one of the following: preparation for and prevention of an emergency; reacting to, managing and executing a response during an emergency; returning a community to normal after a disaster; and rebuilding and applying lessons from a disaster to prevent future loss.Theres a clear excitement in the program to experience how 5G will bring these already powerful solutions to new heights, said Bryce Stirton, co-founder and president of Responder Corp., in a statement. Theres even more excitement to see how these 5G enabled technologies will help first responders.Applications for the second cohort of the 5G First Responder Lab are open through April 5. Interested technology developers can learn more and apply at 5GFirstResponderLab.com Verizons labs and partnerships are part of a concerted effort among telecommunications companies to bring 5G to the table in various industries, and the field of public safety specifically has been a common testing ground. After AT&T won a contract in 2017 to update infrastructure for FirstNet, the national interoperable emergency responder communications network, Verizon responded with a plan to build out its own network
Code for America Details Its Human-Centered Benefits Administration Work in Colorado

Miami Releases 30 New Data Sets for Open Data Day

New Data Visualization Knows Where Your Cat Lives

Kansas City, Mo., CDO Visualizes Pothole Progress with GIF

I made a thing! #Potholes in Kansas City, MO over the years. Would love some feedback on how to improve our future #KCStat GIFs! pic.twitter.com/mMA2HgO8rg  Eric Roche (@KansasCityEric) March 5, 2019

The Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for open government, praised U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., this week for the way the freshman congresswoman has used the Internet to communicate with constituents.The group did so in a blog Tuesday titled Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the New Age of Transparency , noting perhaps most relevantly that effective social media and new political uses for online platforms include movement-building and bringing previously unplugged groups into a lively discussion about what should happen in the capital. The group specifically cited Ocasio-Cortez using Instagram following her election to clue her growing social media following into life in the capital, detailing everything from her thoughts to her preparations for dinner, all of which was covered by the nations paper of record, The New York Times The Sunlight blog goes on to note that some have simply dismissed Ocasio-Cortezs effective use of social media as typical of a millennial, missing how powerful it has been in regard to transparency and involving citizens who are often or traditionally left out of the political process.While she is not the only Congressperson adapting to our new online reality, Sunlight wrote, she has been one of the most vocal representatives for the open government movement among the current freshmen class of Congress.As most civic technologists will surely attest, using online platforms like social media to facilitate better communication between government and constituents has in recent years become an ongoing and increasingly vital concern. There has long been an almost intangible quality to effective social media campaigns, one that requires the right mix of personality and professionalism. What sets Ocasio-Cortez apart, Sunlight notes, is a clear commitment to creating a two-way information exchange, portraying herself as one of the people she represents, rather than as someone above them.In recent months, Code for America (CfA) has been working with Colorado to show how user-centered work can help boost a jurisdictions safety net programs.This week, CfAs Sarah White, who is helping to lead the project, wrote about the work on Medium in a post titled Proof Points for Human-Centered Benefits Administration . As White notes at the start of her piece, part of the idea behind the initiative is that the process and tools that residents use to access human services programs ranging from food assistance to Medicaid should be easy to use. The work in Colorado is currently centered around incorporating actual users into the development process in order to ensure that technologists build better processes for them.At Code for America, our product work centers on simple tools to improve access to government services, White wrote. Our pilot in Colorado focuses on the client and worker experience of maintaining access to benefits  and specifically the process of change reporting. Thats it. We selected an intentionally narrow challenge so we can iteratively make progress toward our goals without losing sight of key user needs.The piece then goes into the specifics of the process, sharing how the CfA and Colorado process has moved forward and worked to start small, foster buy-in across government agencies and other practicalities.This sort of user-centered project has spread rapidly throughout government in recent years, with varying levels of deployment. Many new tech and innovation projects  from 311 reporting systems to redesigned forms  use components of human-centered design practices. Its a shift that has come as the public sector has sought to mirror thorough customer service provided by private companies like Amazon and Apple.Overall, the idea is a simple one: Find out how to make processes work for people and design them in a way that is thoroughly informed by that knowledge.For Open Data Day 2019, cities across the country hosted events aimed at spreading awareness in their communities about work being done with government data.In Miami, the Department of Innovation and Technology team released more than 30 new geospatial data sets for the occasion. The city did so via the new open data portal on its redesigned website, which recently transitioned from beta testing to full use. New geographic data sets ranged from trolley routes to plans for future land use. Interested parties can find the sets, as well as the rest of Miamis new open data portal, on the citys new website , which is a product of the human-centered design process detailed by Code for America in the item above.In addition to the data sets, other civic tech-related functionalities on the new Miami site include a tool for visualizations that can be used to highlight spatial patterns, a tool for developing apps using APIs, and a common GIS layers platform. Existing apps include one that connects citizens with elected officials, a localized historic properties map and more.Civic technologists have created a map that visualizes the location of cats.Dubbed I Know Where Your Cat Lives , the developers describe the visualization on the site, noting it locates a sample of one million public images of cats on a world map by the latitude and longitude coordinates embedded in their metadata. The cats and the metadata were accessed through publicly available APIs from popular photo sharing websites.Why, you may natural ask, did someone do this? In the "About" section, developers say the point was to illustrate more than just the location of cats. Doing this was intended to explore the intersection of two inherent facets of the Internet: sharing funny pictures of cats and having your personal data used and stored by corporations operating in an era of flimsy privacy practices.I Know Where Your Cat Lives does not visualize all of the cats on the net, only those public cats that have allowed me to track where their owners have been, the developers wrote.The next natural question is: Who did this? You can find the full credits here , but the short answer is the project was led by Owen Mundy , a technologist interested in public space and data concerns. Other members of the team are listed on the site, as are a small set of sponsors, including Ghostery, Domi, and two Florida State University centers.For folks who dont want pictures of their cats on the site, the developers advise adjusting the settings of their photo sharing social media accounts. For folks who just want to look at some pictures of cats all over the world, this reporter advises using the random cat button, which is exactly what it sounds like.Finally, would you like to know about all the requests to fill potholes made in recent years in Kansas City, Mo.? Well then, the citys chief data officer, Eric Roche, has a GIF for you.Roche has created a GIF that visualizes pothole requests in the city dating back to 2015. Its super short, but does a great job of data storytelling, illustrating how many more potholes have been reported in recent times than when the program was young and just getting started.Here's the tweet:
(TNS)  PG&E's "unsafe conduct" caused a gas explosion in San Bruno and several fatal Northern California wildfires, but a federal judge will allow PG&E to primarily focus on tree-trimming rather than be forced to launch a complete inspection of its power grid."The judge's actions don't really ensure the safety of the system," said Mike Danko, a Redwood City-based attorney who represents some Northern California wildfire victims. "I guess this is a first step towards safety."Nevertheless, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup, who is supervising PG&E's probation in the wake of its criminal conviction for felonies it committed before and after a deadly gas explosion in San Bruno, blamed PG&E's deficient safety efforts for causing both the San Bruno disasters and a string of lethal wildfires in Northern California in 2017 and 2018."The essence of the problem is that the offender's unsafe conduct led to a deadly pipeline explosion and to six felony convictions," U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup wrote in his order, referring to the San Bruno explosion that PG&E caused in 2010 that eventually resulted in being found guilty by a federal jury in 2016.Referencing the role that PG&E's equipment played in the fatal wildfires of 2017 and 2018, Judge Alsup added, "Now, the offender's unsafe conduct has led to recurring deadly wildfires caused by its electrical system."A series of infernos scorched the North Bay Wine Country and nearby regions in October 2017, and 13 months later in November 2018, a wildfire roared through Butte County and essentially destroyed the town of Paradise.It is "probable" that state investigators will determine that PG&E's equipment ignited the deadly 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, PG&E disclosed on Feb. 28 in its annual earnings report. Previously, PG&E's equipment was determined to be the cause of 17 of the blazes of 2017."PG&E's performance with respect to vegetation management has been dismal," the judge stated in his proposed order.Judge Alsup, who is supervising the aftermath of PG&E's conviction and how the company is complying with the requirement of its probation, issued a proposed order with an array of requirements that would impose new conditions for the company's probation.For the moment, PG&E won't be obliged to bury or insulate its power lines that are most at risk. And the judge delayed any decisions about ordering the utility to de-energize lines when hazardous conditions emerge such as when high winds are expected to race through tinder-dry regions."It seemed that the judge had the picture the system isn't safe and PG&E can't be allowed to burn people alive any longer and he was going to take drastic actions," Danko, the attorney, said. "But the judge wasn't as aggressive as I thought he would be."The judge ordered PG&E to reply by noon on March 22 to convince Alsup not to impose the new probation requirements. Alsup also set a hearing for April 5 in San Francisco's federal court regarding the situation."PG&E must fully comply with all state and federal regulations and laws concerning management of trees and shrubs near its electricity equipment, as well as all rules for how far away the vegetation must be from the company's power infrastructure, the judge ordered.The utility also was obliged by Judge Alsup to "fully comply" with the specific targets the company set out in its latest wildfire mitigation plan for 2019."Regular, unannounced inspections of PG&E's vegetation management efforts and equipment inspection, enhancement, and repair efforts" will be conducted by a federal monitor who was tasked to supervise PG&E's compliance with the requirements of its probation in the wake of its conviction, the judge ruled.The company was also ordered to maintain "traceable, verifiable, accurate, and complete records" of its vegetation management. The records would have to be provided to the federal monitor on the first of each month."PG&E shall ensure that sufficient resources, financial and personnel, including contractors and employees, are allocated to achieve the foregoing" vegetation management and wildfire prevention efforts, Judge Alsup stated in his order, issued during the evening of March 5.The company would be required to hire and train its own employees to clear and trim trees and shrubs if it can't find enough outside personnel."To ensure that sufficient financial resources are available for this purpose, PG&E may not issue any dividends until it is in compliance with all applicable vegetation management requirements as set forth," Judge Alsup ordered in the preliminary ruling.PG&E's dividend payments to shareholders totaled $1.92 billion over the course of 2016 and 2017  money that could have been spent on wildfire prevention and other safety measures  the judge pointed out in the order.It takes years, the judge asserted, for trees to grow tall enough to pose a threat to the company's power lines. As a result, regular inspections should be able to spot hazards before they might touch the equipment."PG&E is committed to completing the work outlined in its recently submitted Wildfire Safety Plan," said James Noonan, a company spokesman. "With respect to the court's latest order, we will respond within the time frame requested."In a late January court filing, PG&E warned it would have to spend $75 billion to $150 billion, hire 650,000 workers  and increase monthly utility bills by the stunning amount of five times their current average levels  were it forced to comply with the judge's prior proposals for a massive maintenance and inspection effort for the electricity grid.Overshadowed by a forbidding mountain of liabilities, along with the prospect of $30 billion in wildfire-related claims, PG&E filed on Jan. 29 for bankruptcy, listing $51.69 billion in debts, to ward off its creditors while it attempts to reorganize its shattered finances.The judge noted that PG&E has in the past resorted to arm-twisting of regulators and politicians when rules weren't to the utility's liking."If state or federal law is too strict, PG&E's remedy would be to seek the relaxation of such laws through its well-oiled lobbying efforts," Judge Alsup stated.___(c)2019 the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)Visit the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Health questions

Studies inconclusive

(TNS)  Consider them sentinels of the future, or at least bringers of smoother video streams.Nine 5G transmission towers are being installed in the city, bringing some lucky cell phone customers the latest and fastest speeds as they cruise the web.The poles resemble wooden telephone or power-type poles, but atop each of these is a silver node which will deliver faster mobile phone speeds.City officials say the company which has applied for the permits, California-based Mobilitie LLC, is constructing the 5G towers but it is unclear which mobile phone provider will operate them.Senate Bill 1004 that became effective on Sept. 1, 2017, allows companies to seek a permit and to install the 5G poles on city rights-of-way. They are considered a utility just like AEP and Spectrum, reads a statement issued by the city.They must get a permit from the city and we cant charge them any more than $250, the statement read. As of right now, only one company, Mobilitie LLC, has applied for permits for nine locations.Calls and emails to Mobilitie were not returned.But where some see progress, others see a threat.An anonymous letter to the offices of theclaims to be from city employees concerned about health risks from 5G transmissions.The city of Harlingen has permitted a private company to install a microwave radiation emitting units (5G poles) at three densely populated locations within the city, the letter reads. One location is just a few yards from an elementary school (Treasure Hills Elementary School) and the other is about 100 yards from the same elementary school.Sorry that we cannot disclose who we are. We still have jobs to protect. We will say this: We city workers are not inept. This idea was rejected but someone pushed it through and overrode our protests. We do not know why. We will call ourselves Team: for the children.City officials declined to address any potential health concerns linked to 5G transmissions, saying only that the permits were granted as they would be to any other utility operating in the city.The rise of 5G transmission towers across the country has raised concerns, but there is little data at present to support the idea of adverse health effects on people.Few studies have examined cancer risk in children living close to cell phone base stations or radio or television transmitters, the National Institutes of Health reports. None of the studies that estimated exposures on an individual level found an increased risk of pediatric tumors.The National Toxicology Program, in another study, concluded there is clear evidence that male rats exposed to high levels of radio frequency radiation (RFR) like that used in 2G and 3G cell phones developed cancerous heart tumors, the NTP reported. There was also some evidence of tumors in the brain and adrenal gland of exposed male rats.But these studies were done with radiation of very high dosages which were very close to the animals in the study. Such proximity and radiation levels would not be found with cell phone transmissions atop poles in city rights-of-way.The exposures used in the studies cannot be compared directly to the exposure that humans experience when using a cell phone, said John Bucher, a NTP senior scientist, in a statement released with the study. In our studies, rats and mice received radio frequency radiation across their whole bodies. By contrast, people are mostly exposed in specific local tissues close to where they hold the phone. In addition, the exposure levels and durations in our studies were greater than what people experience.Yet Bucher does think there is a connection between high radio frequencies and cancer in rats.We believe that the link between radio frequency radiation and tumors in male rats is real, and the external experts agreed, he said.
(TNS)  As Frontier Communications told regulators Tuesday that it is improving service and mediating customer concerns, the state attorney generals office disclosed an investigation into whether the company had violated state consumer protection laws related to its Internet service.The parallel filings to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission [PUC] came in response to a scathing report in January from the state Commerce Department that alleged Frontier may have violated 35 Minnesota laws and regulations related to service quality.Frontier said Tuesday that Commerce had overgeneralized from a limited number of consumer complaints and argued that short of a settlement, a contested case hearing was needed to resolve questions of fact raised by the state agency.The attorney generals office, meanwhile, said it was investigating claims that customers were sold Internet service that Frontier knew it could not provide.The attorney general has the authority to investigate potential violations of the states consumer protection statutes, including those related to unlawful trade practices and consumer fraud, the filing stated. Indeed, shortly after the [PUC] initiated this investigation into the service quality of Frontier, the [attorney general] opened its own investigation into the violation of these laws by Frontier.In a statement Tuesday evening, Stamford, Conn.-based Frontier Communications said it anticipated the attorney general would file comments supporting the Commerce Departments report. The company said its response refuted many of Commerces claims and conclusions.Frontier has elected (it is not required) to provide and make broadband service available in its service territory, the company said in response to the AGs comments on Internet service. Frontier today, and for years, has provided a service that allows customers to access the Internet in numerous rural and hard-to-service areas across the state in which the cable TV and other providers have elected not to offer wireline Internet service.The company received more than $100 million in federal grants over four years to extend broadband to some of the communities.With about 90,000 customers in Minnesota, Frontier operates under the Frontier brand as well as Citizens Telecommunications. Many of Frontiers customers live in rural northeastern and southern Minnesota, although the companys coverage extends to some suburban areas in the south metro.The PUC regulates the companys phone service. After hearing consumer complaints, the commission last year initiated an inquiry to see if Frontier was in violation of any applicable customer service, service quality or billing practice requirements or standards.Commerce investigated as a result and issued a report in January alleging problems at Frontier with poor service, bad record-keeping and a lack of investment in infrastructure. The state agency called the situation extraordinary, saying some customers suffered outages of months or more. Commerce also cited what it called a stunning lack of investment by Frontier in its plant and equipment, and said the company was refusing to provide refunds for outages.In its Tuesday response to the Commerce report, Frontier said more than 90 percent of the companys Minnesota customers had not experienced any service outage in the past year, and about 95 percent of customers reporting service outages had telephone service restored within 24 hours. That means only 443 of Frontiers approximately 79,000 telephone customers, the company said, experienced a telephone service outage of greater than 24 hours in 2018.The company cited data about trouble reports, timely installations and held orders to argue Commerce had greatly overstated the breadth and severity of problems with telephone service. Frontier said it has improved training and technology for call center workers, while noting that mediation sessions will begin March 15 to address customer concerns.Frontier recognizes the concerns and complaints of the customers who have participated in the public hearings and have filed complaints with the [PUC], and Frontier is committed to improving its customers service experience, the company said in a filing with the commission. Contrary to the department report, however, Frontiers Minnesota customers are not facing a widespread crisis or breakdown related to their telephone service. Rather, Frontiers telephone network is still highly reliable.Frontier said a contested case hearing  which would have more entities scrutinize the positions of both Frontier and Commerce  would let the company sort out the extent to which complaints stem from regulated telephone service vs. Internet service. It also would give the company a chance to challenge the credibility of the departments analysis, conclusions and recommendations, Frontier said.These very frequent broad gaps between limited customer complaints and the sweeping conclusions in the department report cannot be resolved without a contested case, the company said.In the end, the PUC will determine whether to take regulatory actions against Frontier. The Commerce report recommended that the commission require Frontier to refund or credit customers for service outages and unauthorized charges; add staff for better customer service; and increase investments in equipment and infrastructure.As part of its inquiry, the PUC last year also referred the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), which held a series of public hearings. Between the hearings and messages sent directly to PUC, there were more than 1,000 complaints about Frontier as of January.
Disney Parks(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) -- The opening dates for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge have been announced.



Bog Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, shared the dates from the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in St Louis, Missouri.



In Disneyland, the opening date is May 31, 2019. At Walt Disney World, Aug. 29, 2019.



The highly anticipated lands are opening earlier than originally expected. The two lands had previously been slated to open in summer and fall, respectively.



Guests readying to fly the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy will walk its iconic circular hallways leading to the cockpit in the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run attraction opening at Star Wars Galaxy's Edge this summer at Disneyland and in the fall at Walt Disney World.



Smuggler's Run attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, including the famous Dejarik holographic chess table made famous in 1977's Star Wars. Guests will be able to explore this space, and take pictures, before heading to the cockpit.



Two attractions and a restaurant are the focal points of the new land. On Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, guests will join a battle between the First Order and the Resistance. On Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, guests take control. At Ogas Cantina, alcohol will be served  a first for Disneyland.



At 14 acres each, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will be Disney's largest single-themed land expansions ever, transporting guests to Black Spire Outpost, a village on the never-before-seen planet of Batuu. The lands will have two signature attractions: Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run will let guests take the controls of one of the most recognizable ships in the galaxy, while Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance puts guests in the middle of an epic battle between the First Order and the Resistance.

Paint detailing appears mostly complete in this section of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, where a transport shuttle is docked on top of a large hangar.



At 14 acres each, Star Wars: Galaxys Edge will be Disney's largest single-themed land expansions ever, transporting guests to live their own Star Wars adventures in Black Spire Outpost, a village on the remote planet of Batuu, full of unique sights, sounds, smells and tastes.



Good Morning America got a top-secret look at the land last month. From the new food to the new toys, there's plenty to be excited about.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
A child plants a sapling under the help of his parents at a park in Lianyungang, eastern Chinas Jiangsu province, Mar. 3, 2019. (Photo by Si Wei, Peoples Daily Online)

More and more Chinese citizens are contributing to Chinas forestation efforts with the help of online platforms, as the country hastens its steps to green its land and seek environment-friendly development.

Wuhan, capital city of central Chinas Hubei province, has been encouraging voluntary forestation for years. It makes creative attempts by organizing tree-planting campaigns under the themes of charity, environmental protection, birthday parties, family reunions and public services.

Different from previous years, when the tree planters had to register and pay for saplings in person at designated spots after got information from radio, television and newspapers, the voluntary planters now can register and get saplings free-of-charge via online channels like website and social media platforms.

The certificate of honor for voluntary tree planting has also transferred to electronic version from hard copy.

The convenient and professional online platforms have given a boost to the citizens aspiration to plant a tree. In 2018, over 50,000 residents in the city registered to be a planter via online platforms, the highest in history.

After the municipal government published this years planting plan on Feb. 22, the saplings soon ran out of quota due to the passion of the citizens. According to the arrangement, 21 spots in 15 districts were designated as planting areas.

Citizens in Chongqing municipality plant trees, Mar. 4, 2019. (Photo by Chen Xingyu, Peoples Daily Online)

Over 100 saplings were claimed in just seconds, said citizen Wei Wenfang, adding that it was lucky for her son to have successfully claimed one.

Wei said that she was motivated by a piece of TV advertisement on voluntary tree planting in 1999, and her familys tree planting tradition has lasted for 20 years.

She still kept several old photos of her family in front of a platanus orientalis sapling they planted 20 years ago, when her son Wu Jiahao was only 5 years old. The little boy has grown up, and the sapling is now a tall tree towering by the street.

Wuhan is not the first Chinese city to green land with help of online platforms. After China launched an internet platform of voluntary tree planting, 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities including Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Anhui, Shaanxi and Hubei have started pilot programs under the Internet Plus drive by opening their respective online platforms.

Online registration for tree planting also offers a solution to address the challenges faced by large-scale campaigns, which usually cost a lot but ended with low survival rate since most of them took place in areas far from the cities due to the reduction of urban land.

Ecological progress has been made one of the integral components of the development strategy for socialism with Chinese characteristics together with economic, political, cultural, and social progress since the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in 2012.

Photo taken on Aug. 28, 2018 shows blossoming crape myrtles and maples dressing up a hill at Yueliangpo village, Huaying, southwest China's Sichuan province. The city has made huge efforts to green its landscape and finally recovered its hills with forests, bringing a turnaround to its desertification. (Photo by You Qing, Peoples Daily Online )

The CPC is the first political party, especially ruling party in the world to include ecological progress in its guideline. China has become an important participant, contributor, and torchbearer in the global endeavor for ecological civilization.

According to data collected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the US, since the turn of the new millennium to 2017, the earths green leaf area increased by 5 percent, which was equivalent to the area of the Amazon rainforests.

China was the source of over a quarter of the increase in green leaf area, ranking the first in the world, the statistics indicated.
Jean Todt has hit out at the constant negativity in formula one.

The FIA president calls the sport "a world of controversy", and refers as an example to the new aerodynamic rules designed to make overtaking easier.

"I've heard everything, from it's a waste of money to it's a fantastic improvement in overtaking opportunities," he said at the Geneva motor show.

"That's why I'm really excited about what the new rules will actually bring."

Criticising those who constantly create negativity about F1, the Frenchman said: "Instead of being positive and working together to build the best motor sport product in the world, some just want to see the mistakes.

"That's a bit unfortunate," Todt added.

It seems that Carlos Sainz, the McLaren driver, agrees with the FIA boss.

When asked about the 2019 front wings, the Spaniard said: "I decided not to attack a decision or a regulation without first testing it.

"It seemed extremely negative and even disloyal to attack without giving it a chance. Why complain about your meal before you have tasted it?" said Sainz.

"Even in the tests it is difficult to comment, but I was able to overtake a couple of cars, follow them, and I did not get a bad impression.

"How much better or worse is impossible to say now, because it would be measured in tenths. But I got a fairly positive impression on a very bad circuit for overtaking.

"That could be the same in Melbourne, so we will have to wait three or four races to find out," he added.

(GMM)
News

Maryam Nawaz sings 'Chura Liya Hai' at her son Junaid Safdar's wedding function in Lahore

"It was nice. This is how it normally happens in Pakistan. What is there to object to it? I think it's perfectly okay, Maryam Nawaz remarked. Maryam and Hamza sang at one of the events held in Lahore a day ago and their videos have been circulating on social media.
On March 1, internationally reknown worship leader and songwriter Darlene Zschech appeared on the nationally-televised variety show, Huckabee (TBN). Zschech joined former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in-studio to sing her song "Daylight."

"Daylight" is a track taken from Zschech's 2017 Integrity Music release Here I Am Send Me. Recorded live with her team at Hope Unlimited Church on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, the album isZschech's first project following a life changing cancer diagnosis in 2014 and features 11 new songs penned by her along with guest writers like Martin Smith, Paul Baloche, Jenn Johnson and Leeland Mooring.

Here I Am Send Me is also Zschech's first new album since 2013's critically acclaimed Revealing Jesus.





Tags : Darlene Zschech darlene zschech daylight huckabee darlene zschech news darlene zschech here i am send me album review
The 13th National People's Congress, China's national legislature, opened its second session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 5. During the session, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered the government's work report on behalf of the State Council. The report summarized Chinas achievements in 2018 and outlined the country's development direction for 2019.

Here are some of the key points:

China's GDP grew by 6.6 percent, exceeding 90 trillion yuan in 2018. The country set its GDP growth target for this year at between 6 and 6.5 percent, as China pursues higher-quality development amid growing uncertainties in the international economic landscape.

The country also aims to create over 11 million new urban jobs with a surveyed urban unemployment rate of around 5.5 percent. Meanwhile, China plans to reduce its rural poverty population by over 10 million.

There's good news for businesses, as large-scale tax cuts will be implemented. China will reduce the tax burdens and social insurance contributions of enterprises by nearly 2 trillion yuan in 2019. And the current VAT rate of 16 percent in manufacturing and other industries will be reduced down to 13 percent.

To the delight of internet users, China will further cut the rates of broadband and mobile internet services, as the nation pushes to nurture innovation and speed up the growth of emerging industries.

China will expand effective investment as appropriate. For instance, 800 billion yuan will be invested in railway construction. And 1.8 trillion yuan will be invested in road construction and waterway projects.

In pursuit of both high-quality development and environmental protection, China plans to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by 3 percent in 2019, while making continuous efforts to decrease the density of PM 2.5, a major particle pollutant, in key locations.

In an effort to promote all-round opening up, more steps will be taken by China, such as shortening the negative list for foreign investment and expanding the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Follow us and share our video on Facebook and other social media platforms. We'll keep you updated on China's Two Sessions over the coming days.
(HedgeCo.Net) Russian telecommunications provider Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (MTS) will pay $100 million to resolve SEC charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to win business in Uzbekistan.

According to the SECs order, MTS bribed an Uzbek official who was related to the former President of Uzbekistan and had influence over the Uzbek telecommunications regulatory authority. During the course of the scheme, MTS made at least $420 million in illicit payments for the purpose of obtaining and retaining business. The payments enabled MTS to enter the telecommunications market in Uzbekistan and operate there for eight years, during which it generated more than $2.4 billion in revenues. In 2012, the Uzbek government expropriated MTSs Uzbek operations. As further described in the SECs order, the bribes were funneled to front companies controlled by the Uzbek official and were disguised in MTSs books as acquisition costs, option payments, purchases of regulatory assets, and charitable donations.

The company engaged in egregious misconduct for nearly a decade, secretly funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to a corrupt official. Building business on a foundation of bribery leaves the business and American investor interests at the mercy of corrupt officials, said Charles E. Cain, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Divisions FCPA Unit.

MTS consented to the SECs order finding that it violated the anti-bribery, books and records and internal accounting control provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and requiring it to pay a $100 million penalty. In a related matter, MTS has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and its subsidiary has pleaded guilty in federal court, and has agreed to pay a criminal fine and forfeiture in the amount of $850 million. The Department is crediting the $100 million penalty that MTS is paying to the SEC. The company must also retain an independent compliance monitor for at least three years.

This is the third case brought by the SEC and the Department of Justice involving public companies operating in the Uzbek telecommunications market. Taken as a whole, these actions have led to the recovery by U.S. and foreign authorities of $2.6 billion.
Amnesty on Monday reminded that an estimated 50,000 women a year are subjected to sexual violence in Finland, according to the National Crime Victim Survey. Most of such women, however, never report the sexual violence to law enforcement authorities.

ONLY 17 PER CENT of the over a thousand rapes reported to police in 2017 resulted in a conviction, finds a study conducted by Amnesty International in Finland.

Those who do file a report are too often faced with a system that disregards, denies and silently approves of sexual violence against women, the human rights watchdog slammed a press release.

Related posts: Human rights organisations slam debate on sex crimes (22 January, 2019)

A total of 1,245 rapes were reported to police in Finland in 2017. Although 71 per cent of the cases were investigated and 70 per cent submitted to a prosecutor for consideration of charges, only a third of the reports resulted in trial proceedings. A conviction, meanwhile, was delivered in no more than 209 cases.

Only 17 per cent of the cases led to a conviction. Impunity for sexual violence thus remains very common in Finland, summarised the author of the study, Otava Piha.

Piha analysed a total of 300 decisions by police and district courts for the study, finding that the victim had not given consent to sexual intercourse in several of the cases where the elements of rape were deemed to not have been met. The realisation of justice, she concluded, depends on who is interpreting the law.

Only yes means yes. Sex without consent is rape, emphasised Piha.

The Finnish legislation is not in compliance with international standards and with the Istanbul Convention [a Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence].

Antti Hakkanen (NCP), the Minister of Justice, reminded that preparatory work to reform the legislation on sex crimes is already underway at the Ministry of Justice. The objective, he added, is not only to re-examine the legal provisions on rape and sexual abuse to ensure perpetrators can be held accountable effectively but also to adopt lack of consent as one of the essential elements of rape.

We have to be more effective in protecting the bodily integrity of Finns. A variety of measures are required. Adopting tougher punishments for sex and violent crimes sends a strong message about the importance of bodily integrity. For example, a person found guilty of rape gets away with a suspended prison term too often, he admitted.

Ozan Yanar (Greens) estimated that the study delivers a chilling message to Finland.

Our legal system has time after time disappointed women who deserve justice. Sexual violence often leads to no punishments at all, he commented on Facebook on Wednesday.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Source: Uusi Suomi
What are happening in China in 24 hours?

At 5 am in Beijing, sanitation workers clean the streets under the cover of darkness.

At 6 am Tianjin, Food booth owners prepare hot meals for early customers.

At 7 am Hebei, Forest keepers of Saihanba National Forest Park spray pesticide.

At 11 am in Zhejian, stevedores get to work.

At 12 pm in Fujian, workers handle parcels in Xiamen Cross-Border E-commerce Park.

At 1 pm in Guangdong, workers inspect smartphones on the assembly line.

At 5 pm in Henan, a traffic policeman directs traffic.

At 6 pm in Hubei, workers do safety checks on Three Gorges Dam.

At 7 pm in Hunan, poverty-relief cadres visit and interview residents.

At 11 pm in Sichuan, a computer programmer works in a high-tech industrial zone.

At 12 pm in Yunnan, obstetricians welcome a newborn baby.

At 1 am in Qinghai, workers do night equipment checks in Qinghai Oilfield.

Chinese people are convinced that the highest mountain can be scaled as long as one keeps climbing, and that the longest journey can be finished as long as one keeps going.
From left: Political advisers Zhou Qunfei, Ye Qing, Liu Shijin, Nan Cunhui and Zhou Hongyi wave to journalists at a news conference held during the ongoing session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing on Wednesday. ZHU XINGXIN/CHINA DAILY

'Manufacturing key economic growth driver', says tycoon of touch screens

More efforts are needed to create a better environment for Chinese private businesses to help inject vitality and spur innovation in the country's economy, members of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference said on Wednesday in Beijing.

Liu Shijin, deputy director of the Economic Affairs Committee of the CPPCC, called for deepening reforms to offer private firms an equal playing field and a stable legal environment.

"Putting policies into practice is a top priority as China has launched an array of related policies to support private businesses, including expanding market access," said Liu at a news briefing during the ongoing two sessions.

Liu's comments came after Chinese authorities late last year pledged to unswervingly encourage, support and guide the development of the private sector, and encourage private enterprises to develop in a more comprehensive and competitive way.

Over the past 40 years, the private sector has become an indispensable force behind the country's economic development.

In addition to accounting for over half of the country's fiscal revenue, China's private enterprises are currently responsible for over 60 percent of fixed-asset investment, more than 70 percent of innovation and over 80 percent of urban employment.

Ye Qing, chairman of Beijing Yeshi Enterprise Group Co - a private company spanning real estate and financial services - said that most private firms currently do not find it difficult to raise funds. But for even smoother development, he suggested banks to give better financing guidance to small and micro enterprises.

"Financial institutions should also add more financial products, such as medium and long-term loans, to private businesses for their long-term solid development," said Ye, who is also vice-president of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.

"Moreover, major State-owned banks are expected to offer loans tailored to different regions as business environments vary across different areas of China," he added.

Zhou Qunfei, founder of touchscreen maker Lens Technology, also hailed the role of an easy financing process to keep advanced manufacturing on a growth path.

"Currently in China, 90 percent of private companies are engaged in manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing is a key economic growth driver," she noted.

To support advanced manufacturing, Zhou proposed that the government should introduce more high-end talent.

"Private firms should also raise awareness of protecting intellectual property," she said.

For private businesses, mixed ownership reform could be another opportunity, said Nan Cunhui, chairman and founder of Chint Group, a leading electrical equipment maker.

"During this process, unnecessary and elaborate formalities should be removed so that private companies will be involved in giving a bigger push to China's high-quality development," he added.
Attorney Andrew Hochberg urged the board to impose restrictions to limit negative impacts events there would have on the Pines.

Rusty Anchor Plans Shuttle Service For New Event Space



Attorney Michael Valenti presented the parking management plan to the Community Development Board on Tuesday night. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Rusty Anchor is looking to take a page out of Proprietor's Lodge book by shuttling people to events.

Scott Graves, the owner of the members-only club on Pontoosuc Lake, in the former boathouse formerly owned by the YMCA, renovated its second-floor last year and is now looking to host events there.

He's asking the city to increase the occupancy in the structure from 100 people to 180. However, the establishment has little off-street parking.

Graves has now put together a plan to shuttle eventgoers from property owned by the Pen-Ro Group at the intersection of Peck's Road and Valentine to the location.

"Anytime there is a guest that comes to the event, they have to be notified where to park," said attorney Michael Valenti, who is representing Graves.

Graves had purchased the building in 2012 and rehabbed it as a private marina club. He reached an agreement with the city that there would be 50 members and that club would use some of the public parking spots at the lake.

Last year, Graves invested more into the property to welcome events such as baby and bridal showers, office gatherings, birthday or retirement parties. The second floor was redone -- and included a significant number of fire suppression upgrades because it is classified as a nightclub by the city, a classification Graves attempted to appeal because of the additional costs.

Now with the space ready to go for the April 1 reopening of the marina, Graves needs a waiver from the parking requirement. The plan is to keep the existing membership parking agreements in place and require all event goers to use the shuttle. The use of a shuttle service replicates the concept Proprietor's Lodge is using to alleviate parking issues at another section of the lake, which was recently approved.

For the Rusty Anchor, Valenti said there will be a parking attendant in each lot, one to ensure eventgoers aren't taking up the spots for members or spots for the general public at the Rusty Anchor and another at the Pen-Ro site to do the shuttling. Valenti said the attendants will be there to help arrange vehicles in the small lot next to the building because often people park poorly.

Valenti said the accountability factor is that the issue is readdressed each time a certificate of occupancy is granted for operations.

Graves added that he also consulted with the Friends of Pontoosuc and he'll accommodate those requests, too, which include installing a bike rack and limiting the size of boats and docks, and that the shuttle does not traverse through Highland and Hancock roads but instead down Wahconah and North Street.

The Rusty Anchor had about a dozen members attend Tuesday's Community Development Board hearing in support of the plan. The attorney for the Pines at Pontoosuc Lake, Andrew Hochberg, however, raised some questions.

Hochberg said the Pines didn't want the permit to be rejected completely but wanted efforts made to reduce trash left behind in the parking area, that the public park is monitored, that noise is kept under control, and that additional parking attendants are brought on.

"If they have one attendant, I'm not sure if that is going to be enough depending on the size of the event," he said.

Hochberg mentioned noise saying, "with more people, there is going to be more noise" and that the condominium association needs to protect the value the property owners there currently have. He had concerns that additional noise would hinder resale values.

Graves responded to the questions about noise saying the renovations limit the noise that will emanate from the building during an event. He said any noise would be related to an acoustic guitar player on the deck, which was already approved in 2017.

"I did make sure I am insulated for noise on the second floor," he said.

Also relating the noise, Graves said there is no dance floor or anything like that. He said, "I don't want anything to do with a nightclub" and said the establishment is shut down by 11 p.m. nearly every night.

With garbage in the lot and the park, Graves pointed the finger to another group of people. He said every year there is a large group of some 200 people who use the nearby camp and hold a large event at the lake. Graves said city officials have told him to call the police but he'd "hate to rain on some else's parade." He said beyond that one weekend, Graves said the public areas are typically kept clean.

"I'm there seven days a week, I spent over $40,000 beautifying the city property," Graves said.

He said he put in lighting and landscaping on the city's land that abuts his property. The members who attended all spoke about how the Rusty Anchor is a low key type of establishment that doesn't have the boisterous crowd like other bars in the area.

"It was such a low key place. There is no hard alcohol. It is just beer and wine, no one gets drunk, Scott doesn't allow it. The moment anybody causes any type of trouble, you are out the door," said Margaret Ciepiela, who started going there as a guest of a member and later got hired as a bartender.

The Community Development Board was impressed with the plan.
North Adams Awarded Grant to Expand Pre-Kindergarten

The grant will provide for a full-day of pre-kindergarten at Brayton School.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  Families with 3- and 4-year-old children will soon have additional options for high-quality pre-kindergarten programs thanks to a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.

In collaboration with Child Care of the Berkshires, the North Adams Public Schools has been awarded $285,549 to create a new full-day pre-kindergarten program located at Brayton Elementary School, and to expand an existing program currently operated by Child Care of the Berkshires at Monument Square.

Several communities from across the commonwealth submitted applications for funding through what is known as the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative. Along with North Adams, school-community partnerships in Boston, Springfield, Lowell, New Bedford and Sommerville were each awarded funding to open expanded programs.

The funds will support preschool programs from Feb. 1 through June 30, 2019. EEC expects to renew these grants in fiscal 2020. A total of 12 communities applied for the CPPI grant, and at least three additional communities wanted to apply but didn't because of their limited time and capacity to meet the Jan. 4 deadline. NAPS worked with Child Care of the Berkshires to get the application in over the holidays.

This is an opportunity for the whole North Adams community, according to Superintendent Barbara Malkas.

"Education is a major factor of individual as well as community economic development," she said. "Studies have shown that educational attainment impacts the personal economic outcomes more than any other investment an individual could make based on their earning potential over the course of a lifetime."

The expanded program is open to families residing in North Adams, and is designed primarily for children who are not currently enrolled in a program, particularly 4-year-olds who will be turning 5 and entering kindergarten in the fall of 2019.

"What better time in life to make this investment than at early childhood?" asked Malkas. "By closing the opportunity gap before starting the rigorous academic standards in kindergarten, we are able to ensure that more students are school ready."

In addition to high-quality pre-kindergarten programming, both programs plan to offer before- and after-school child care for the children enrolled in the expanded classrooms.
Car-Ramming Attack Injures 2 IDF Soldiers

The Fellowship | March 7, 2019

Two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were injured in a car-ramming attack earlier this week in the northern West Bank. The attack happened just after 3 a.m. when three Palestinian men drove their vehicle into a group of soldiers who were stopped alongside the road.

The two largest terror groups in Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said this week that they are getting support for their efforts from Iran and other countries around the world, confirming Israels long-held suspicions of Irans influence in the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as Defense Minister, signed an order this week declaring that the Hamas-run Palestinian TV network, Al-Aqsa, is a terrorist organization.

In Syria, the fight against ISIS is nearing its end, with the last ISIS-held area in eastern Syria on the brink of collapse.

Israel is at the forefront of modern medicine with the opening of the I-PEARLS Center of Excellence at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, which specializes in lasers designed to alleviate scarring in child burn victims.

This weeks Israel in the News Perspective talks about carrying on Rabbi Yechiel Ecksteins work.
(Photo/Chinanews.com)

In a recent survey, 89.4 percent of respondents said they were optimistic about the application of AI technology in the next five years.

The survey was jointly launched by China Youth Daily and a leading Beijing-based AI firm. It covered 2,006 people, 3.5 percent of whom work in the AI industry.

The worlds first synthetic AI anchorwoman took to the screen during the ongoing annual sessions of Chinas top political advisory body and top legislature, adding a new scenario for the application of AI technology.

Among all surveyed respondents, people are most familiar with automated driving, intelligent robots and smart home devices when it comes to AI, accounting for 53.7, 53.4, 44.8 percent respectively.

On top of these areas, smart medical treatment, intelligent devices and AI education are also familiar application scenarios.

Like water, electricity and other basic facilities, artificial intelligence is predicted to become commonplace in the future, said Megvii, Chinas facial recognition technology company and also one of the survey's sponsors.

In the survey, 49.3 percent of respondents said the job role of waiter or waitress was most likely to be replaced by AI, followed by secretary (42.3 percent) and security (40.2 percent).

On the contrary, the occupation of journalist came in as the least replaceable in the survey.

Li Linzi, founder of Whalehouse Technology, a Shenzhen-based automated warehouse solution provider, said that AI technology had improved its warehouse space utilization by six times while reducing manual labor by 70 percent.

Guo Weimin, a spokesperson at the second session of the 13th Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said at a recent press conference that the CPPCC would further boost the integration of AI with the real economy, as well as lift the overall development of AI to a new level.
An elderly woman with a dancing troupe of the Hubei Province University for the Elderly practices a dance step. (Photo/People's Daily)

Aerial photography, selfie skills, fashion design, traditional Chinese medicine, piano, singing and dancing... These various courses at Chinese universities for the elderly help senior citizens keep with the times and enjoy life after retirement.

Thanks to the university for the elderly, with fittings like the fisheye lens, macro lens, and wide-angle lens, I can make photos taken with a mobile phone look as if they were taken with an SLR camera, said a 70-year-old woman surnamed Yu, from Jianghan District of Wuhan City, capital of central Chinas Hubei Province.

Before going to the university for the elderly, Yu could hardly use a smartphone.

In the university for the elderly located in Jianghan District, the smartphone photography course is popular among senior citizens. It not only teaches students photography skills, but also how to use professional photography and retouching software, said Ye Sheng, teacher of the course.

We had planned to open a single class for 40 people, but ended up with four classes and 170 students, explained Feng Zhongmin, principal of the university, disclosing that senior citizens are enthusiastic about learning.

According to Feng, the university first opened a smartphone course in early 2015, and with the rapid development and popularity of mobile internet, the course became more and more popular, expanding from the initial two classes to 11 classes today.

Since the autumn semester of last year, another university for the elderly in Wuhan launched a course on aerial photography using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and have hired two UAV research and development, production, and driving professionals to teach the class.

After one semester, 90 percent of the over 50 students in the two university campuses have mastered the skills necessary to take aerial photos with UAVs. The university is going to offer students an advanced course on UAV photography, teaching them practical skills for the processing of aerial photos and videos.

Wan Nianchun, principal of the Hubei Province University for the Elderly, disclosed that there are currently six schools, 23 majors, and 280 classes in the university, offering various courses such as smartphone use, English, cooking, and tea art to nearly 8,000 students.

Li Guoli, 61, has been a student of the university since 2012. She had dreamed of playing the piano since she was a child, but due to a busy life, she wasn't able to realize her dream. After retirement, Li joined the elementary piano course, and started on her journey towards her goal.

I play piano for at least two hours every day. I dont feel good if even one day passes without playing piano, said Li, who won first prize in a piano contest for students of universities for the elderly in the south-central region of China in November 2014.

With the growing popularity of universities for the elderly across the country, it has become more difficult for senior citizens to enroll. To solve this problem, many universities for the elderly have sought to provide more opportunities by integrating online and offline educational resources.

Besides expanding the educational areas of universities, a number of remote educational websites, radio programs, and online webcasts have been launched by various universities to benefit more senior citizens all over the country.

According to Feng, the university for the elderly in Jianghan District of Wuhan rolled out online classes through webcasts last May, bringing courses such as traditional Chinese medicine and vocal music into the online classrooms.

Senior citizens from 100 district communities can watch the classes online at the same time, explained Feng, adding that they can also benefit from online learning via online recorded programs and uploaded course materials.

In Hubei Province University for the Elderly, after the completion of one educational program, students are allowed to graduate from the university or transfer to other schools or majors.
In September 2018, a recruiter contacted John E. Hall about applying to be executive director of Indianapolis Housing Agency. Curious, Hall researched the position and discovered news stories about mismanaged funds, audits and poor housing conditions. The list of problems intrigued Hall, so he applied. Hall began as executive director March 4.

After an extensive national search and careful deliberation by community stakeholders and city officials, it is clear that Johns nearly two decades of experience leading housing organizations and building community can help to shape the future of IHA, Mayor Joe Hogsett said in a press release announcing Hall as executive director in February.

Hall came into the position knowing there will be challenges ahead. Former executive director of Indianapolis Housing Agency, Rufus Bud Myers, resigned amid allegations of mismanagement after auditors found millions of mishandled dollars. Tenants also complained about poor maintenance of the buildings.

Those items as a public administrator put me through a range of emotions, Hall said. Foremost, I get upset and angry that tenants are having to live in a condition like that. Then the range of emotion turns to problem solving, and I try to figure out how I can fix it. And then I become very excited about the opportunity and the possibility of being the next leader.

Hall is implementing two plans in his first 30 days to begin tackling the problems he inherited. In the Love Where You Live Campaign, Hall will visit each of the 16 properties under Indianapolis Housing Agencys purview once every six weeks to have meetings with residents to hear complaints, discover and then strategically phase in solutions. The goal is to remain connected to the communitys needs.

Hall also plans to conduct management moments where he will meet with all 138 Indianapolis Housing Agency employees one on one. The meetings will serve as a chance to assess the employees, determine their proper role in the organization and see if employees require additional services such as training.

This will not be the first time Hall inherited difficulties with a job. In his previous position as director of Wichitas Housing and Community Services Department, in Wichita, Kansas, Hall discovered, within his first week, low occupancy, yearly losses over $110,000 and substandard housing. During his time there, Hall reversed its financial situation and improved housing. Unlike his previous position, Hall came to the Indianapolis Housing Agency fully aware of the problems. Having that knowledge helped formulate his approach to improving the agencys plight.

With the HUD reports and the media coverage, I know exactly pretty much the scope of the work that needs to be done, so I can go into problem-solving mode versus problem identification, Hall said.

Contact staff writer Ben Lashar at 317-762-7848. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminLashar.

John Hall, new director of Indianapolis Housing Agency, previously was director of Wichitas Housing and Community Services Department, Wichita, Kansas; field office director of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington D.C.; and the deputy director at Southfair CDC, a Texas community housing development organization.(Photo provided)
The Childrens Policy and Law Initiative of Indiana held a rally on March 1 featuring local religious and political leaders who voiced opposition to Senate Bill 279, which would decrease the age courts can prosecute children charged with attempted murder as adults from 14 to 12. The Senate passed SB 279 in January, with 45 senators voting for the bill and only three against. Local leaders cited safety for children and the potential impact on the Black community as major reasons they opposed the bill.

Dr. Gwen Kelly, vice chair of the Childrens Policy and Law Initiative, said children lack the maturity to safely navigate adult correctional facilities, potentially having to deal with sexual assault or even suicide. Antonio Lipscomb, preacher and City-County Council candidate, mentioned his traumatic past as a child in an adult correctional facility.

I personally spent 30 days in a real jail at the age of 13, and I tell you if it wasnt for the mercy of those inmates, I probably wouldnt have been able to make it out, Lipscomb said.

Lipscomb also cited statistics that suggest the law could be harmful for the Black community. According to the Pew Research Center, Black people comprise 12 percent the countrys adults yet make up 33 percent of prisoners. Such statistics cause some local leaders to be suspicious of how the justice system would implement SB 279 if it becomes law.

Our constitution in this great state says we will not use criminal justice for vindictive punishment, and thats exactly that we do, State Rep. John Bartlett said.

Much of the support behind SB 279 stems from the tragic school shooting at Noblesville West Middle School in 2018 when a 13-year-old boy wounded a fellow student and a teacher. The boy received a five-year sentence, the maximum punishment for a minor charged with attempted murder. Many, including the injured teacher and family of the student, believed the punishment was too light.

Indiana law already allows juveniles who are at least 14 to be tried in an adult court for any heinous or aggravated felony, Sen. Erin Houchin, author of the bill, said via email. Giving prosecutors the ability to seek a waiver allowing younger juveniles to be tried in adult court for attempted murder still leaves the ultimate sentencing decision to the judge. In all likelihood, a juvenile tried and convicted in adult court for this crime would carry out their sentence in a juvenile facility, not an adult prison, until they reach adulthood, when they could be transferred.

The House plans to hold committee hearings on SB 279 in March. Kelly said the margin at which it passed in the Senate proves the bills momentum, so a vote would likely follow shortly. State Sen. Greg Taylor is one of the three senators who voted against SB 279.

This is going to be a tough task, Taylor said. A bill that passes 45-3 is very hard to beat.  My suggestion would be to lobby hard against this bill. Very hard.

The Childrens Policy and Law Initiative of Indiana held a rally on March 1 featuring local religious and political leaders who voiced opposition to Senate Bill 279, which would decrease the age courts can prosecute children charged with attempted murder as adults from 14 to 12. The Senate passed SB 279 in January, with 45 senators voting for the bill and only three against. Local leaders cited safety for children and the potential impact on the Black community as major reasons they opposed the bill.

Dr. Gwen Kelly, vice chair of the Childrens Policy and Law Initiative, said children lack the maturity to safely navigate adult correctional facilities, potentially having to deal with sexual assault or even suicide. Antonio Lipscomb, preacher and City-County Council candidate, mentioned his traumatic past as a child in an adult correctional facility.

I personally spent 30 days in a real jail at the age of 13, and I tell you if it wasnt for the mercy of those inmates, I probably wouldnt have been able to make it out, Lipscomb said.

Lipscomb also cited statistics that suggest the law could be harmful for the Black community. According to the Pew Research Center, Black people comprise 12 percent the countrys adults yet make up 33 percent of prisoners. Such statistics cause some local leaders to be suspicious of how the justice system would implement SB 279 if it becomes law.

Our constitution in this great state says we will not use criminal justice for vindictive punishment, and thats exactly that we do, State Rep. John Bartlett said.

Much of the support behind SB 279 stems from the tragic school shooting at Noblesville West Middle School in 2018 when a 13-year-old boy wounded a fellow student and a teacher. The boy received a five-year sentence, the maximum punishment for a minor charged with attempted murder. Many, including the injured teacher and family of the student, believed the punishment was too light.

Indiana law already allows juveniles who are at least 14 to be tried in an adult court for any heinous or aggravated felony, Sen. Erin Houchin, author of the bill, said via email. Giving prosecutors the ability to seek a waiver allowing younger juveniles to be tried in adult court for attempted murder still leaves the ultimate sentencing decision to the judge. In all likelihood, a juvenile tried and convicted in adult court for this crime would carry out their sentence in a juvenile facility, not an adult prison, until they reach adulthood, when they could be transferred.

The House plans to hold committee hearings on SB 279 in March. Kelly said the margin at which it passed in the Senate proves the bills momentum, so a vote would likely follow shortly. State Sen. Greg Taylor is one of the three senators who voted against SB 279.

This is going to be a tough task, Taylor said. A bill that passes 45-3 is very hard to beat.  My suggestion would be to lobby hard against this bill. Very hard.

Contact staff writer Ben Lashar at 317-762-7848. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminLashar.

Contact staff writer Ben Lashar at 317-762-7848. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminLashar.

Concerned community leaders and members gathered at the Edna Martin Christian Center to express opposition to Senate Bill 279. The majority of the criticism surround the impact the law would have on Black children. (Photo/Ben Lashar)
Donna Moore began coding classes knowing next to nothing about computers, joking that computer code might as well been in French. Moore, a prisoner at Indiana Womens Prison (IWP) began learning computer coding through The Last Mile, a nonprofit that teaches the skill to reduce recidivism.

The more she learned, the more Moore realized that coding is not only scientific but also creative. Every time Moore creates a new project, with her favorite being a target blaster game, she celebrates. Moore found herself thinking about coding in her spare time.

Just creativity in itself, letting it be able to come to life is more than I would have thought that I could do, Moore said.

Founded in Californias San Quentin State Prison, Indiana is the second state to implement The Last Miles coding program. Volunteers from both in and outside the state teach prisoners coding. Classes cover everything from game creation to website design.

Currently, two Indiana prisons offer the program: IWP and Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility. Jack Cochran, one of the founding members of The Last Mile, plans to expand it to three additional Indiana correctional facilities, including mens prisons, in the next few months. He also wants to offer other programs focused on different skills such as entrepreneurship.

It literally puts people back to work, Cochran said. All these folks in prison, theyre not dumb. Theyre very, very smart, and theyve just never had a chance.

The program occurs in special coding rooms filled with computers. Institutions such as IWP forbid prisoners from using the internet, so students work on a closed network and rely on coding books. Other than that, the program looks similar to regular coding classes.

Students are effectively the same as students on the outside, Quincy Williams, a coding instructor at IWP, said. They have the same questions, the same concerns, the same fears and the same aspirations.

IWPs Warden Laurie Johnson said the prisons coding students are dedicated to the classes. Inmates with discipline problems improve their behavior while in The Last Miles coding program, she noted. Johnson theorized inmates realize codings potential job opportunities and dont wish to waste them. According to the National Institute of Justice, 76.6 percent of prisoners are arrested again within five years of release, so a path to a viable career and avoiding a return to prison are appealing to many prisoners.

For Lisa Van, coding offers both a better future and a new passion. She discovered a love for creating websites though The Last Mile. Van has created a few so far, including a profile of herself for job searching. She hopes to eventually work as a website designer because it will give her independence, allowing her to avoid the people and settings that got her into trouble.

My main motivation is my kids, Van said. I have a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old, and [I love] just to talk about computers with them. They love technology, too.  This is an opportunity to have tech talk with my kids and an opportunity to rehabilitate educationally.

Contact staff writer Ben Lashar at 317-762-7848. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminLashar.

An inmate in Indiana Womens Prison takes a computer coding classes. (Photo/Ben Lashar)
Usually, when there are allegations of disenfranchising voters or restricting Hoosiers right to vote, its Democrats making those allegations against Republicans.

Not this time.

The Marion County Democratic Party, under the leadership of Kate Sweeny Bell, used procedural moves to keep at least two young African-Americans off the ballot and reportedly scared off two more from participating in the upcoming May primary.

You may have seen the media reports about Belinda Drake and Derris Ross. The two wanted to run in City-County Council Districts 13 and 14, respectively. Drake was going to run in the seat being vacated by the disgraced former Council President, and accused child molester, Stephen Clay. While Ross was going to challenge incumbent LaKeisha Jackson, who voted for Clay as part of a coup attempt last year against Maggie Lewis.

However, because neither Drake nor Ross voted in a Democratic primary, they were not allowed to run because Bell would not sign off on paperwork that they were good Democrats.

Under the current system, if someone wants to run for office in a primary as a Democrat or Republican, they need to fill out a form stating they belong to either party. This is determined by 1) the political party ballot requested by the candidate at the last primary election in Indiana the candidate voted, or 2) the candidate files a certification from their county chair affirming their membership in that political party. According to state law, the declaration of candidacy for municipal primary nomination (CAN-42) requires the candidate to affirm their party affiliation and attach the certification, if required.

Now please note, Drake is a Democratic precinct committee person who was actually appointed by Bell in 2018. She volunteered for the party and Congressman Andre Carson. Meanwhile, Ross is as about as progressive as you can get. These are young people that a political party should be happy to have as they have the energy and enthusiasm thats needed to keep it vibrant.

However, Bell did not see it that way. People close to her say its not personal, just merely the county party has not done this in the past.

No offense, but this is one of the most politically idiotic moves a party chairman can make. Even if there were a concern about these two, it would have been easier to let them run, probably lose, and then they would have gone back to whence they came.

Instead, all Bell has done is kick over a hornets nest and get a lot of people worked up, and who knows what they will do? Will they stay home, which could hurt Mayor Joe Hogsetts re-election chances? Ross and Drake are running as independents, and they only need the signatures of a couple of hundred registered voters in their respective districts to get on the ballot. And as you are reading this, they are both working to make that happen. And I am also told that the two other candidates who were scared off the ballot are planning to do the same.

And here is the irony, these guys are reportedly not good Democrats, however, the Democratic Council Members who conspired with Republicans to remove Lewis and install Clay, who by the way, installed members of the GOP as chairman of several committees, all got a pass.

Please tell in what alternate political universe does any of this make sense? I can tell you, none.

On an even bigger scale, I believe this entire matter illustrates how unconstitutional Indianas primary system is.

Under Section 9 of the Indiana Constitution (Freedom of Thought and Speech), it says,  No law shall be passed, restraining the free interchange of thought and opinion, or restricting the right to speak, write, or print, freely, on any subject whatever: but for the abuse of that right, every person shall be responsible. I read that to say the government cant force you to think or speak a certain way without a pretty darn good reason, which I havent discovered yet.

And by compelling someone, who may have never voted in a primary or if they voted in the other political partys primary to get permission from a Democrat or Republican County party chairman before they can run for an elected office seems pretty unconstitutional to me based on first glance

Instead of letting these two get ballot access and political nature running its course, instead, things are about to get a lot uglier real fast, real quick.

Usually, its Republicans who get the blame for voter suppression and disenfranchisement. Not this time. This time the blame falls squarely on Marion County Democrats and they have no one to blame but their leadership.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I briefly assisted Ross and Drake with their legal fight for ballot access before they decided to withdraw their names from nomination as Democrats.)

Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is an attorney, political commentator and publisher of IndyPolitics.org. You can email comments to him at abdul@indypolitics.org.
By Moon Of Alabama

March 06, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - New reports about the U.S. coup attempt in Venezuela describe the current mood in Washington as 'frustration'. They also shine new light on why of the opposition's plans failed.

When the U.S. set out for the failed 'humanitarian aid' stunt at the border between Colombia and Venezuela an important role was given to its puppet, the self-declared 'president' Juan Guaido. It was his task to bring the aid across the border.

The New York Times reported at that time:

[One] option, pushed by those looking for a more direct confrontation with Mr. Maduro, would have activists encircle an aid truck in Colombia as it slowly makes its approach to Venezuela. Under this plan, protesters from Venezuela would overrun soldiers stationed on the Venezuelan side and allow the aid to move in, possibly using a forklift to push aside the containers blocking the bridge. In Curacao, opposition officials were buoyed by the willingness of the countrys foreign minister to stage aid along a sea corridor long used by Venezuelan migrants to flee the country. But in recent days, plans appeared to be falling apart as politicians in Curacao objected to the use of the aid as a political weapon.

Additionally the opposition planned to receive the 'aid' on the Venezuelan side:

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido plans to head to the Colombian border in a convoy of vehicles on Thursday to receive humanitarian aid for his crisis-stricken nation, despite the objection of increasingly isolated President Nicolas Maduro.

...

He will undertake the 800-kilometer (497-mile) road trip from Caracas in the company of some 80 lawmakers from the opposition-controlled congress, which he leads, opposition legislators said.

...

Through this call for humanitarian aid, the population will benefit from the arrival of these goods to the Venezuelan border, said opposition legislator Edgar Zambrano, as he waited in a plaza of eastern Caracas with other lawmakers to board buses.

While Guaido traveled to Colombia, the convoy from Caracas to the border never materialized. The attempt by a few stone throwing thugs to move two trucks with 'aid' across a bridge failed when the Venezuelan National Guard simply blocked them. Riots ensued and the thugs used Molotov cocktails to set the trucks on fire.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The whole stunt comically failed. But until today it was unclear why the issue was managed so badly.

Now Bloomberg reports that the real plan was quite different:

Late last month, as U.S. officials joined Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido near a bridge in Colombia to send desperately needed aid to the masses and challenge the rule of Nicolas Maduro, some 200 exiled soldiers were checking their weapons and planning to clear the way for the convoy. Led by retired General Cliver Alcala, who has been living in Colombia, they were going to drive back the Venezuelan national guardsmen blocking the aid on the other side. The plan was stopped by the Colombian government, which learned of it late and feared violent clashes at a highly public event it promised would be peaceful.

...

Alcala, the retired general, did acknowledge the plan to escort the aid across the border and said he understands why the Colombians wanted to avoid trouble.

It seems that the politicians in Bogota did not objected "to the use of the aid as a political weapon" as the NYT reported, but got cold feet over the plan, initially kept secret to them, to cross the border by military force. It would have been an overtly hostile aggression against its neighbor country, something that Colombia is very keen to avoid.

In late January CNN talked with uniformed young men who claimed to be defectors of the Venezuelan army. They begged the U.S. to supply them with arms and communication equipment. (How many did they receive?) But the uniforms they wore had the wrong markings. They showed a patch saying "FAN" which stand for Fuerzas Armada Nacional. Several years ago Venezuela changed the name of its armed forces into Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana and all current uniforms show "FANB". It is possibly though that the interviewed people were part of the 200 "exiled" defectors or mercenaries who were supposed to storm the broder.

Bloomberg further reports that some important people are not happy with Guaido's performance:

The U.S. officials who have driven the Venezuela policy -- Rubio, National Security Adviser John Bolton and special envoy Elliott Abrams -- continue to put on a brave face, increasing economic and diplomatic pressure and tweeting daily about Maduros certain departure. Behind the scenes, however, there is concern and dismay.

...

[W]hen Guaido was in Colombia, its president, Ivan Duque, expressed frustration to him. Witnesses said Duque complained about the failure of Guaidos promise to bring tens of thousands of Venezuelans to the border to receive the humanitarian aid. There have been other concerns. Guaido was planning to make a tour of European capitals this week to build international support, but the Americans told him he needed to return to Venezuela or hed lose whatever momentum remained.

During his travel to several Latin American capitals Guaido was accompanied by the State Departments assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Kimberly Breier. The Department describes her as "a policy expert and intelligence professional with more than 20 years of experience". She now seems to be Guaido's personal minder.

The State Department's frustration that its plans failed are also visible in this clip from its press conference where the spokesperson scolded the media for calling Guaido "opposition leader" or "self-proclaimed president" instead of "interim president". AP's Mark Lee then reminds the spokesperson that some 140 countries simply do not recognize him as such.

Interestingly the State Departments own media outlet Voice of America used "self-proclaimed president" in at least two of its recent pieces.

VOA then silently changed those articles to confirm with the new "interim president" wording. It still uses "opposition leader".

The State Department's frustration will increase over this prank (audio) by two Russian comedians who phoned up Elliot Abrams and induced him to demand the closing of non-existing "Venezuelan accounts" in Switzerland:

The pranksters also held one more conversation with Abrams in March, according to Russia 24, where the Special Representative told them that the US is not planning military intervention in Venezuela, but would like to make the Venezuelan military nervous, regarding possible guarantees ruling out military threats from the US to be a tactical mistake. However, according to the phone call, Abrams said that the main sources of leverage against the Venezuelan government are still financial, economic and diplomatic pressure.

Guaido's new order is to incited a general strike in Venezuela. The start though does not look encouraging:

Opposition leader Juan Guaido stepped up efforts Tuesday to remove President Nicolas Maduro, meeting with public-sector unions and calling for rolling strikes in a bid to weaken the authoritarian government. Guaido managed to draw about 100 leaders of state-employee unions to the session. But only a few hundred workers came, ...

...

One union leader at the meeting, Besse Mouzo, said the plan involved organizing work stoppages that would eventually lead to a general strike. We have to begin by convincing people to join the smaller strikes, she said.

That effort is not likely to go anywhere. Who would pay those workers if they were to do so?

Bloomberg also says that the are no plans for any open military aggression. The plan for now is to starve the people of Venezuela into submission:

European and Latin American diplomats say they are preparing for a long and messy process in which Maduro stays in power despite an economy in tailspin. One Latin American diplomat said Maduro has learned from his patrons, the Cubans, about how to be resilient. Sanctions and international pressure may wind up strengthening his regime, at least in the short term.

Under economic sanctions the people dependent on the government for their needs. That is why sanctions never bring a government down and only hurt those who are already poor.

The situation is at a stalemate. The U.S. will increase sanctions. Venezuela will, like Iran and Syria, find ways around them. Years later nothing essential will have changed.

Guaido may be an attractive looking man capable of charming officials in Washington. But he so far was not able to get anything done. He has only few followers and President Maduro simply ignores him.

This was not the plan when this 'regime change' operation started. Trump was promised a fast coup during which the military would jump to the site of the random guy the neoconservatives sold to him as "interim president". That did not happen. Plan B was the 'humanitarian aid' gimmick which went likewise nowhere. The idea to incited public sector workers to strike is also not realistic. There is no real military option.

How much patience will Trump have as the current situation festers? What will he do when it runs out?

This article was originally published by " Moon Of Alabama " -
The Recolonization of Latin America and the War on Venezuela





By James Petras

The Western Hemisphere is our Region - Michael Pompei, US Secretary of State

Introduction

March 06, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Not since the US pronounced the Monroe Doctrine proclaiming its imperial supremacy over Latin America, nearly 200 years ago, has a White House regime so openly affirmed its mission to recolonize Latin America.

The second decade of the 21st century has witnessed, in word and deed, the most thorough and successful US recolonization of Latin America, and its active and overt role as colonial sepoys of an imperial power.

In this paper we will examine the process of recolonization and the strategy tactics and goals which are the driving forces of colony- building. We will conclude by discussing the durability, stability and Washingtons capacity to retain ownership of the Hemisphere.

A Brief History of 20th Century Colonization and Decolonization

US colonization of Latin America was based on direct US military, economic, cultural and political interventions with special emphasis on Central America, North America (Mexico) and the Caribbean. Washington resorted to military invasions, to impose favorite trade and investment advantages and appointed and trained local military forces to uphold colonial rule and to ensure submission to US regional and global supremacy.

The US challenged rival European colonial powers  in particular England and Germany, and eventually reduced them to marginal status, through military and economic pressure and threats.

The recolonization process suffered severe setbacks in some regions and nations with the onset of the Great Depression which undermined the US military and economic presence and facilitated the rise of powerful nationalist regimes and movements in particular in Argentina, Brazil, Chile Nicaragua and Cuba.

The process of decolonization led to, and included, the nationalization of US oil fields, sugar and mining sectors; a shift in foreign policy toward relatively greater independence; and labor laws which increased workers rights and leftwing unionization.

The US victory in World War II and its economic supremacy led Washington to re-assert its colonial rule in the Western Hemisphere. The Latin American regimes lined up with Washington in the Cold and Hot wars, backing the US wars against China, Korea, Vietnam and the confrontation against the USSR and Eastern Europe.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

For Washington, working through its colonized dictatorial regimes, invaded every sector of the economy, especially agro-minerals; it proceeded to dominate markets and sought to impose colonized trade unions run by the imperial-centered AFL-CIO.

By the early 1960s a wave of popular nationalist and socialist social movements challenged the colonial order, led by the Cuban revolution and accompanied by nationalist governments throughout the continent including Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. US multi-national manufacturing firms were forced to engage in joint ventures or were nationalized, as were oil, mineral and energy sectors.

Nationalists proceeded to substitute local products for imports, as a development strategy. A process of decolonization was underway!

The US reacted by launching a war to recolonize Latin America by through military coups, invasions and rigged elections. Latin America once more lined up with the US in support of its economic boycott of Cuba,and the repression of nationalist governments. The US reversed nationalist policies and denationalized their economies under the direction of US controlled so-called international financial organizations  like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) Inter-American Development Bank.

The recolonization process advanced, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, under the auspices of newly imposed military regimes and the new neo-liberal free-market doctrine.

Once again recolonization led to highly polarized societies in which the domestic colonized elites were a distinct minority. Moreover, the colonial economic doctrine allowed the US banks and investors to plunder the Latin countries, impose out- of -control debt burdens, de-industrialization of the economies, severe increases in unemployment and a precipitous decline in living standards.

By the early years of the 21st century, deepening colonization led to an economic crisis and the resurgence of mass movements and new waves of nationalist-popular movements which sought to reverse  at least in part  the colonial relationship and structures.

Colonial debts were renegotiated or written off; a few foreign firms were nationalized; taxes were increased on agro-exporters; increases in public welfare spending reduced poverty ; public investment increased salaries and wages. A process of de-colonization advanced, aided by a boom in commodity pieces.

Twenty-first century decolonization was partial and affected only a limited sector of the economy; it mainly increased popular consumption rather than structural changes in property and financial power.

De-colonization co-existed with colonial power elites. The major significant changes took place with regard to regional policies. Decolonizing elites established regional alliance which excluded or minimized the US presence.

Regional power shifted to Argentina and Brazil in Mercosur; Venezuela in Central America and the Caribbean; Ecuador and Bolivia in the Andean region.

But as history has demonstrated, imperial power can suffer reverses and lose collaborators but while the US retains its military and economic levers of power it can and will use all the instruments of power to recolonize the region, in a step by step approach, incorporating regions in its quest for hemisphere supremacy.

The Recolonization of Latin America: Brazil, Argentina, and the Lima Pact Against Venezuela

As the first decade of the 21st century unfolded numerous Latin American governments and movements began the process of decolonization, displacing US client regimes, taking the lead in regional organizations, diversifying their markets and trading partners.

Nevertheless, the leaders and parties were incapable and unwilling to break with local elites tied to the US colonization project.

Vulnerable to downward movements in commodity prices, composed of heterogeneous political alliances and unable to create or deepen anti-colonial culture, the US moved to reconstruct its colonial project.

The US struck first at the weakest link of the decolonization process. The US backed coups in Honduras and Paraguay. Then Washington turned to converting the judiciary and congress as stepping stones for launching a political attack on the strategic regimes in Argentina and Brazil and turning secondary regimes in Ecuador, Chile, Peru and El Salvador into the US orbit.

As the recolonization process advanced, the US regained its dominance in regional and international organizations. The colonized regimes privatized their economies and Washington secured regimes willing to assume onerous debts, previously repudiated.

The US advances in recolonization looked toward targeting the oil rich, dynamic and formidable anti-colonial government in Venezuela.

Venezuela was targeted for several strategic reasons.

First, Venezuela under President Chavez opposed US regional and global colonial ambitions.

Secondly, Caracas provided financial resources to bolster and promote anti-colonial regimes throughout Latin America especially in the Caribbean and Central America.

Thirdly, Venezuela invested in, and implemented, a profound and comprehensive state social agenda, building schools and hospitals with free education and health care, subsidized food and housing. Socialist democratic Venezuela contrasted with the US abysmal dismantling of the welfare state among the reconstructed colonial states.

Fourthly, Venezuelas national control over natural resources, especially oil, was a strategic target in Washington imperial agenda.

While the US successfully reduced or eliminated Venezuelas allies in the rest of Latin America, its repeated efforts to subdue Venezuela failed.

An abortive coup was defeated; as was a referendum to impeach President Chavez.

US boycotts and the bankrolling of elections failed to oust the Venezuelan government

Washington was unable to pressure and secure the backing of the mass of the population or the military.

Coup techniques, successful in imposing colonial regimes elsewhere, failed.

The US turned to a multi-prong, continent-wide, covert and overt military, political, economic and cultural war.

The White House appointed Juan Guaido, a virtual unknown, as interim President. Guaido was elected to Congress with 25% of the vote in his home district. Washington spent millions of dollars in promoting Guaido and funding NGOs and self-styled human rights organization to slander the Venezuelan government and launch violent attacks on the security forces.

The White House rounded up its recolonized regimes in the region to recognize Guaido as the legitimate President.

Washington recruited several leading European Union countries, especially the UK, France and Germany to isolate Venezuela.

The US sought to penetrate and subvert the Venezuelan populace via so-called humanitarian aid, refusing to work through the Red Cross and other independent organizations.

The White House fixed the weekend of Feb. 23  24 as the moment to oust President Maduro. It was a total, unmitigated failure, putting the lie to all of Washingtons fabrications.

The US claimed the Armed Forces would defect and join with the US funded opposition  only a hundred or so , out of 260,000 did so. The military remained loyal to the Venezuelan people, the government and the constitution despite bribes and promises.

Washington claimed the people in Venezuela would launch an insurrection and hundreds of thousands would cross the border. Apart from a few dozen street thugs, tossing Molotov cocktails there was no uprising and less than a few hundred tried to cross the border.

Tons of US aid remained in the Colombian warehouses. The Brazilian border patrol sent the US funded protestors packing for blocking free passage across the frontier

Even US provocateurs who incinerated two trucks carrying aid were exposed, the vehicles in flames remained on the Colombian side of the border. US sponsored boycotts of Venezuelan oil exports partially succeed because Washington illegaly seized Venezuela export revenues.

The recolonized Lima Group passed hostile resolutions and re-anointed Trumps President Guaido, but few voters in the region took their pronouncements serious.

Conclusion

What are the colonized states expected to serve? Why has the White House failed to recolonize Venezuela as it did in the rest of Latin America?

The recolonized states in Latin America serve to open their markets to US investors on easy terms, with low taxes and social and labor costs, and political and economic stability based on repression of popular class and national struggles.

Colonized regimes are expected to support US boycotts, coups and invasions and to supply military troops as ordered.

Colonized regimes take the US side in international conflicts and negotiations; in regional organizations they vote with the US and meet debt payments on time and in full.

The recolonized nations ensure favorable results for Washington by manipulating elections and judicial decisions and by excluding anti-colonial candidates and officials and arresting political activists.

The colonized regimes anticipate the needs and demands of Washington and introduce resolutions on their behalf in regional organizations.

In the case of Venezuela, they promote and organize regional bloc like the Lima Group to promote US led intervention.

As Washington proceeds to destabilize Venezuela the colonized allies recycle US mass media propaganda and offer sanctuaries for opposition defectors and refugees.

In sum the recolonized elites facilitate domestic plunder and overseas conquests.

Venezuela success in resisting and defeating the US drive for reconquest is the result of nationalist and socialist leaders who re-allocate private wealth and re-distribute public expenditures to the workers, peasants and the unemployed.

Under President Chavez, Venezuela recruited and promoted military and security forces loyal to the constitutional order and in line with a popular socio-economic and anti-colonial agenda. Venezuela ensured that elections and judicial appointments were free and in-line with the politics of the majority.

The Venezuelans ensured that military advisers were independent of US military missions and aid agencies which plot coups and are disloyal to the nationalist state.

Venezuelan social democracy, its social advances and the massive reduction of poverty and inequality, contributed to reinforcing commitments to endogenous cultural values and national sovereignty.

Despite the US accumulation of colonial vassals throughout Latin America and Europe, Venezuela has consolidated mass support. Despite Washingtons capture of the global mass media it has not influenced popular opinion on a world scale. Despite US threats of a military optionit lacks global support. In the face of prolonged and large scale resistance ,Washington hesitates. In addition the Latin Americans colonized states face domestic social and economic crises and political resistance. Europe confronts a regional break-up. Washington is riven by partisan divisions and a constitutional crisis.

The failure of the imperialist ultras in Washington to defeat Venezuela can set in motion a new wave of decolonization struggles which can force the US to look inward and downward  in order to decolonize its own electorate.

James Petras is a Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York. He is the author of more than 62 books published in 29 languages, and over 600 articles in professional journals, including the American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, Social Research, and Journal of Peasant Studies. https://petras.lahaine.org/
March 06, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The first Twitter war involving sitting lawmakers in the early days of the 116th Congress wasnt over immigration, the Wall, or even Russiagate. It may come as a surprise that the opening rhetorical shot was over an international protest movement targeting Israels treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, otherwise known as BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions).

On January 3, amid the seemingly intractable government shutdown, Senator Marco Rubio made it his first order of business to sponsor a bill that supports the punishment of any U.S. company or contractor who engages in BDS by refusing to work with Israel. When Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib chided Rubio in a tweet, saying, they forgot what country they represent, and that maybe a refresher on our U.S. Constitution is in order, Rubio promptly shot back.

This dual loyalty canard is a typical anti-Semitic line, the Florida senator tweeted. #BDS isnt about freedom & equality, its about destroying #Israel.

Tlaib, newly inaugurated as the countrys first Muslim female congresswoman (along with Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar) returned fire, underscoring that its clear my earlier tweet was critical of U.S. Senators like yourself, who are seeking to strip Americans of their Constitutional right to free speech.

[Editors Note: Since this article went to print, Omar has been asked by Democratic leaders to apologize twice for anti-Semitic comments she made regarding AIPACs influence on Congressional legislation and members support for Israel]

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

It was game on from there. The spat was a skirmish in a much larger war that is being waged by Israel and its supporters across the country against BDS, and may expose one of the biggest fault lines in the Democratic Party todaythat of the traditionally pro-Israel Left squaring off against a growing number of progressives who not only sympathize with the Palestinian cause, but dont truck with the idea of having their ability to engage in political boycotts denied by the government.

That latter group, which includes liberal heavyweights Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), is finding common cause with other civil libertarians across the political spectrum, including Republican Senator Rand Paul, who penned an op-ed for The American Conservative in January. In it, he said he did not personally support BDS, but recognized that the freedom to boycott is the bedrock of American civic life, from the Boston Tea Party to the Rosa Parks-inspired bus protests in Montgomery, Alabama, which took place over 381 days in 1955 and 1956. By all means, opponents of boycotting Israel should be heardbut so should their opponents, Paul wrote. Legislation to end boycotts goes against the very principles America was founded upon.

Sanders was much more blunt in his response to Rubio. Its absurd that the first bill during the shutdown is legislation which punishes Americans who exercise their constitutional right to engage in political activity, he tweeted on January 7.

Rubio, not exactly known for his elegant ripostes, suggested the government itself has free speech, tweeting, So boycotting #Israel is a constitutional right, but boycotting those participating in #BDS isnt? He also needled Senate Democrats by suggesting that a significant number of them support the boycotts. Its a testament to how radioactive this issue is that his charge drew such swift rebuke from Democrat Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who demanded a retraction.

Rubios bill, after all the attending drama, passed the Senate by a vote of 77 to 23 on February 5. Of course his anti-BDS Strengthening Americas Security in the Middle East package also included $38 billion in aid to Israel over 10 years, additional sanctions against the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria, aid to Jordan, and a controversial last-minute amendment by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, admonishing President Donald Trump for pursuing a precipitous military withdrawal from Syria and Afghanistan. The only Republican nay vote was Paul. Several Democratic presidential hopefuls voted against it as well, including Senators Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

A House version of the bill faces a more uncertain future, with majority Democrats, so far, appearing less inclined to bring it to a vote. An anti-BDS bill would certainly divide the ranks publiclya scene Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would be loathe to encourage in her first few months back on the job.

Rubios is the weakest of all the proposed anti-boycott bills to come down the congressional pike, however, in that it merely gives cover to state and local governments that want to punish entities that engage in the anti-Israel protest. As of January, 26 states now have measures that require them to deny contracts to and divest from any companies that are involved in BDS.

One of the highest-profile cases to date is Bahia Amawi, a child language specialist who was contracted to work in the Texas public school system for nine years until December, when she was fired for refusing to sign a pledge not to boycott Israel. (When Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed his states anti-BDS bill in May 2017, he said he was proud to have commemorated Israels Independence Day.) As journalist Glenn Greenwald pointed out, if she had signed, Amawi would not only be prevented from boycotting goods sold by companies in Israel and the occupied West Bank, but she would be barred even from advocating such a boycott given that such speech could be seen as intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with Israel.

There were no other requirements in her contract pertaining to political speech. Therefore, she would in theory be free to engage in all sorts of protests against her own country, or any other government in the world, except Israel. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of Amawi, alleging the contract violated her right to free speech. They also filed suit on behalf of four more Texans before Christmas, including a public radio station reporter who signed the pledge against his personal beliefs just to keep his job.

Rubios bill proposes that the sense of Congress is to support the states that pass these kinds of measures, and that no existing federal law would preempt them. He is four square with the pro-Israel lobby, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), as it ramps up a multi-front campaign to destroy BDS everywhere in the U.S., including college campuses and in state and federal government. And he isnt the only one. When Representatives Tlaib and Omar became the first members of Congress to openly support BDS, Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.)who is widely believed to be one of the most vulnerable senators in 2020spearheaded a letter to the Senate leadership condemning BDS and supporting federal legislation against it. The letter was signed by an additional 14 Republican senators, including Chuck Grassley, Lindsey Graham, and another vulnerable Republican, Susan Collins.

According to a 2018 Pew Research Center report, the number of Republicans that sympathize with Israel over Palestine has increased to 79 percent, while sympathy for Israel dropped among Democrats to 27 percent, a disturbing trend especially for the anti-BDS movement. Besides growing sympathy for the Palestinians, progressives are echoing the ACLU and other groups who say any law prohibiting boycotts wont ultimately survive a Supreme Court test.

They are probably right. In NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co. (1982), which involved a boycott on white merchants by black community members and organizations in Claiborne County, Mississippi, in 1966, the Supreme Court explicitly held that the First Amendment protects the right to boycott. Two federal courts relied on this precedent in overturning anti-BDS laws in two states last year.

In Kansas, a federal judge ruled in January 2018 that a state law requiring any contractor seeking business with the state must certify that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israel, was a direct infringement of the First Amendment. That suit was brought by the ACLU on behalf of Esther Koontz, a Mennonite who personally (and as part of her churchs boycott) refuses to buy goods made in Israel. She lost out on a teaching job with the state because she would not certify otherwise. Kansas has since amended the law to apply only to businesses with contracts of more than $100,000but the ACLU says it is still unconstitutional. Remember Citizens United and Hobby Lobby? In both cases, the Supreme Court afforded corporations constitutional protections.

In Arizona, a federal judge specifically recognized the First Amendment rights of companies doing business with the state when in September she ruled in favor of Mikkel Jordahl, who runs a one-man law firm in Sedona. A restriction of ones ability to participate in collective calls to oppose Israel unquestionably burdens the protected expression of companies wishing to engage in such a boycott, Judge Diane Humetewa wrote in her opinion for Jordahl et al v. Brnovich et al.

This of course has not stopped other states from pursuing their own versions of the law. Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly has a blacklist of companies that the state will not work with because they violate the anti-BDS executive order he issued in 2016. Marylands Republican Governor Larry Hogan signed his own executive order banning boycotters from state contracts in October 2017. When asked about the constitutional concerns, Hogan dismissed them outright.

Theyre asking [companies and individuals] to discriminate against Israel, Hogan said of BDS. Theres no argument to the contrary that makes any sense. Alan Ronkin, a regional director for the American Jewish Committee (AJC), on hand for the signing, insisted that people are free to say whatever they want about Israel, but the state is free to do business with companies that reflect its values. (AJC is a fierce BDS critic that for years has argued that anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Semitism.)

Syed Saqib Ali, a former Maryland state delegate, doubts that is how the Constitution works. He is suing the state because he says Hogans edict chills constitutionally protected political advocacy, and is preventing him from getting a job with the state.

To even apply for that job, I have to give up my free speech rights, Ali told a reporter in January. I will not tolerate that.

Marylands senior Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat, along with Senator Rob Portman, (R-Ohio), has been trying to pass his own federal anti-BDS legislation for some time now. Their proposal targets individuals, not just companies, so it could be much more dangerous. They even tried, unsuccessfully, to sneak it into the package of spending bills aiming to avoid the shutdown in December. The Israel Anti-Boycott Act focuses on expanding the 1979 Export Administration Act to prohibit any U.S. person involved in interstate or foreign commerce from engaging in any boycott fostered or imposed by any international governmental organization against Israel.

The bill suggests that a non-binding 2016 United Nations Human Rights Council resolution supporting BDS stands in for the offending international governmental organization. From there it wouldnt be difficult to see how this law could affect anyone remotely involved in the boycott. An earlier iteration involved prison time for violators. The sponsors have since softened it with an amendment, taking away jail time but imposing financial fines. But adding that nothing in their bill shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First Amendment, doesnt necessarily make it so.

So why all the energy to have it fail in court? Critics believe that most of these efforts are largely designed to intimidate. On the college level, a recent investigative series by The Forward magazine shed light on a massive online blacklist called canarymission.org. Its motto is, if youre racist, the world should know. Many of the outed racists and anti-Semites on the site are students and professors who have merely questioned Israeli policies and supported BDS, and are now forced to scrub their reputations. According to reporter Josh Nathan-Kazis, this is one flank in a much greater, well-coordinated rapid response force involving groups ranging from AIPAC to the David Horowitz Freedom Center that fly into action at the whiff of a protest or student government resolution on campus.

The total amount of American Jewish and Israeli government funds flooding the anti-BDS effort is easily in the tens of millions of dollars each year, Nathan-Kazis wrote in August.

If thats ground zero, then whats happening on Capitol Hill is the final destination, the promise of a blanket federal edict that would stop all boycottsno matter where they arein their tracks. The success of this unprecedented effort to control speech partly depends on Democrats continuing to divide on this issue, and whether Tlaib and Omar are early harbingers, signaling a brave new civil libertarian stand on the issueor not.

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos is Executive Editor of The American Conservative. Follow her on Twitter @Vlahos_at_TAC

This article was originally published by " The American Conservative " -
The United States Has Entered a New World, And It Is Not A Brave One

By John Chuckman

March 06, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - There is an immense amount of criticism of Putin, especially coming from America, most of it empty criticism which ignores realities and genuine analysis. For the more thoughtful, it represents only the stink and noise of propaganda, and not honest criticism in its true sense at all.

In politics, and especially in the direction of a countrys foreign affairs, there are certain behaviors, ideas, and attitudes which mark out a person as exceptional. I think there can be no doubt, Putin is just such a person, and I am very much inclined to say, the preeminent one of our time. Frankly, compared with Putins skills, Donald Trump comes off as a noisy circus act, a sideshow carnival barker, and not an appealing one. He has an outsized impact in the world only because he represents the most powerful country on earth and has embraced all the prejudices and desires of its power establishment, not because of the skillfulness of his actions or the insight of his mind. Obama made a better public impression, but if you analyze his actions, you see a man of immense and unwarranted ego, a very secretive and unethical man, and a man who held no worthy ideals he promoted. He was superficial in many things. And he was completely compliant to the power establishment, leaving no mark of his own to speak of.

Putin is a man who advocates cooperation among states, who argues against exceptionalism, who wants his country to have peace so that it can grow and advance, a man lacking any frightening or tyrannical ideologies, a man who invariably refers to other countries abroad, even when they are being uncooperative, in respectful terms as our partners, a man who knows how to prioritize, as in defense spending, a man with a keen eye for talent who has some other exceptional people assisting him  men of the caliber of Lavrov or Shoygu, a man who supports worthy international organizations like the UN, a man who only reluctantly uses force but uses it effectively when required, a highly restrained man in almost everything he does, a man who loves his country and culture but does not try foisting them off on everyone else as we see almost continuously from American presidents, a man with a keen eye for developing trends and patterns in the world, a man with an eye, too, for the main chance, a man whose decisions are made calmly and in light of lot of understanding. Thats quite a list.

The differences between recent American leaders, all truly mediocre, and Putin probably has something to do with the two counties relative situations over the last few decades. After all, if the support isnt there for someone like Putin, you wont get him. Russias huge Soviet empire collapsed in humiliation in 1991. The country was put through desperate straits, literally its own great depression with people begging or selling pathetic trinkets on the streets. And America made no real effort to assist. Indeed, quite the opposite, it kicked someone who was down and tried to shake all the loose change from his pockets. Out of Russias desperation came a man of remarkable skills, a rather obscure figure, but one who proved extremely popular and was obviously supported by enough powerful and important people to employ his skills for the countys recovery and advance.

Putin showed no weakness or flinching when dealing with some of the extremely wealthy men who in fact became wealthy by stripping assets from the dying Soviet Union, men who then also used their wealth to challenge the countrys much-needed new leadership. He was, of course, excoriated by the United States, but to the best of my understanding, he did what was necessary for progress. The results are to be seen in a remarkably revitalized Russia. Everywhere, important projects are underway. New highways, new airports, major new bridges, new rail lines and subways, a new spaceport, new projects and cooperative efforts with a whole list of countries, new efforts in technology and science, and Russia has become the worlds largest exporter of wheat. Putin also has committed Russia to offering the world grain crops free of all GMOs and other contaminants, a very insightful effort to lock-in what have been growing premium markets for such products, even among Americans.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The military, which badly declined after the fall of the USSR, has been receiving new and remarkable weapons, the products of focused research efforts. New high-tech tanks, artillery, ships, and planes. In strategic weapons, Russia now produces several unprecedented ones, a great achievement which was done without spending unholy amounts of money, Russias military budget being less than a tenth that of the United States. Putins caution and pragmatism dictate that Russias first priority is to become as healthy as possibly, so it needs peace, for decades. Few Westerners appreciate the devastating impact of the USSRs collapse, but even before that, the Soviet empire had its own slow debilitating impact. Russias economic system was not efficient and competitive. The effects of that accumulated over many years. The USSR always did maintain the ability to produce big engineering projects such as dams and space flight, but it was always sorely lacking in the small and refined things of life that an efficient economy automatically sees are provided.

The new strategic weapons are an unfortunate necessity, but the United States threatens Russia as perhaps never before with the expansion of NATO membership right to the Russian border, something breaking specific American promises of years back. And it has been running tanks all over Europe and then digging them in them right at the frontier just to make a point. It has deployed multiple-use covered missile launchers not far from the border which may as easily contain offensive intermediate-range ground-to-ground nuclear missiles as the defensive anti-missile missiles claimed to be their purpose. And it has torn up one of the most important nuclear-weapons treaties we had, the INF Treaty, pertaining to intermediate-range missiles. Intermediate-range nuclear missiles based in Europe give the United States the ability to strike Russia with little warning, their ten-minute flight path compares to a roughly thirty-minute flight path for an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) coming from America. These are extremely de-stabilizing, as are the counter-measures Russia felt it must take, Russian intermediate-range nuclear missile aimed at European centers. Everyone eventually recognized that, and thats why the treaty was successfully completed. Europeans appreciated no longer becoming the immediate battlefield in a nuclear war.

But relations with the United States have now entered a new world, and it is not a brave one. Americas power establishment has assumed new goals and priorities, and in those, Russia is not viewed well, despite its new identity as a nation ready to participate and peacefully compete with everyone, a nation without the kind of extreme ideology communism was, a kind of secular religious faith. Despite its readiness to participate in all Western organizations, forums, and discussions, it is viewed with a new hostility by America. It is arbitrarily regarded as an opponent, as an ongoing threat. As I discuss below, America, too, has been kind of in a decline, and the response of its leadership to that fact involves flexing its muscles and extracting concessions and privileges and exerting a new dominance in the world, a response not based in economic competition and diplomatic leadership, a response carrying a great deal of danger.

And, very importantly, its response is one that involves not only bypassing international organizations, but, in many cases, working hard to bend them to its purposes. There are many examples, but Americas treatment of the UN has been foremost. It has in the recent past refused for considerable periods to pay its treaty-obliged dues until it saw changes it unilaterally demanded. It has dropped out of some important agencies completely, most notably UNESCO. In general, it has intimidated an international organization into better accommodating American priorities, including very much imperial ones opposed to what the UN is supposed to be about. And it has used this intimidation and non-cooperativeness to influence the nature of leadership at the UN, the last few Secretaries-General being timid on very important matters and ineffective in general. Thats just the way America likes them to be now. A harsh Neocon like Madeleine Albright won her government-service spurs at the UN by engineering the departure of an unwanted Secretary-General.

Promoting coups is not a new activity for the United States. There is a long postwar record, including Irans democratic government in the 1950s, Guatemalas democratic government in the 1950s, and Chiles democratic government in 1973. But the recent coup in Ukraine represented something rather new, a very provocative activity right on a major Russian border. It was also against an elected government and in a country which shares with Russia a history and culture going back more than a thousand years to the predecessor state of Kievan Rus. Yes, there are resentments in Ukraine from the Soviet era, and those are what the United States exploited, but the country was democratically governed. In any event, staging a coup in a large bordering country is a very serious provocation. You can just imagine the violent American reaction to one in Mexico or Canada.

The new, post-coup government in Ukraine also made many provocative and plainly untrue statements. The ineffective, and frequently ridiculous, President Poroshenko kept telling Europeans that Russian troops and armor were invading his country. Only his brave army was holding the hordes back. He was literally that silly at times. Of course, none of it was ever true. American spy satellites would quickly detect any Russian movement, and they never did. In an effort to put the wild claims into perspective, treating them with the contempt they deserved, Putin once said that if he wanted to, he could be in Kiev in two weeks. Undoubtedly true, too. Well, the statement was taken completely out of context, treated as a threat by Americas always-faithful-to-the-narrative press. Journalism in the service of government policy  all of it, from the most elevated newspapers and broadcasters to the humblest. And I think that nicely illustrates the absurdity of events in Ukraine and the way they have been used.

The United States paid for the coup in Ukraine. We even know how much money it spent, five billion dollars, thanks to the overheard words of one of Americas most unpleasant former diplomats, Victoria Nuland. The idea was to threaten Russia with the long Ukrainian border being put into genuinely hostile hands. Never mind that the government driven from office with gunfire in the streets from paid thugs was democratically elected. Never mind that many of the groups with which the United States cooperated in this effort were right-wing extremists, a few of them resembling outright Nazis, complete with armbands, symbols, and torchlight parades. And never mind that the government America installed was incompetent, not only sending Ukraines economy into a tailspin but promptly igniting a completely unnecessary civil war.

The large native, Russian-speaking population (roughly 30% of the country) is completely dominant in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Those two regions partly turned the tables by seceding from Ukraine with its government which early-on worked to suppress historic Russian-language rights and carried on a lot of activities to make those with any Russian associations feel very unwelcome. Its a deliberately provocative environment, and, as we all know from our press, not a day goes by in Washington without anti-Russian rhetoric and unsupported charges. While Washington greatly failed in this effort, it nevertheless succeeded in generating instability and hostility along a major Russian border. It also gained talking points with which to pressure NATO into some new arrangements.

In the case of Crimea, it is important to remember that it has been Russian since the time of Catherine the Great. It only was in recent history that Crimea became part of Ukraine, and that happened with the stroke of a pen, an administrative adjustment during the days of the USSR, the very USSR the people now running Ukraine so despise, rejecting almost everything ever done, except for the administrative transfer of Crimea apparently. Just one of those little ironies of history. The people who live in Crimea speak Russian, and they did not welcome the new Ukrainian governments heavy-handed, nationalist, anti-Russian drive around Ukrainian language and culture, necessarily a narrow, claustrophobic effort since the late USSR was a multi-national and multi-lingual state, and given Crimeas much longer-term history as part of Russia. Even during Crimeas recent past as part of Ukraine, Russia continued to maintain, under lease, its major naval base at Sevastopol on the Black Sea, so the connections with Russia have been continuous.

In virtually every newspaper story you read and in places like Wikipedia on the Internet, you will see the word annexation used to describe Crimeas relationship with Russia. It simply is not an accurate description, but its constant use is a very good measure of Americas ability to saturate media with its desired version of events. The people of Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from an unfriendly new Ukraine, and they voted to petition Russias admitting them as part of the country. How can you call the results of free and open votes annexation? Well, only the same way you can tell the twice-elected President of Venezuela that he is not President and that another man, who did not even run in the election and administered the oath of office to himself, is the President. This is the kind of Alice-in-Wonderland stuff that comes as part of Americas new drive for dominance. It simply paints the roses red. What is claimed to have happened in Crimea provides the only support for charges of Russian aggression, the laying on of all kinds of sanctions, and running around all over Europe tearing up road surfaces with tanks. This is the atmosphere within which Putin must work, trying to maintain as many sound relationships with Europe as he can, and he actually has been quite successful. A number of prominent European politicians, especially retired ones who arent under the immediate pressures of politics and relations with America, have voiced support for Russia. Some have even visited Crimea by invitation and toured. And Russias major new gas pipeline into Europe, Nord Stream 2, proceeds despite constant American pressure against it. It is at this writing 70% complete. The Europeans cannot just abandon their long-term ally, the United States, even though Im sure they understand the illusions and false claims of the current situation. The United States also retains considerable capacity to hurt Europe financially, so they rush into nothing, but I believe there can be no doubt that American words and actions have significantly weakened old and important relationships. No one likes being lied to, and they like even less having to pretend lies are truth.

Putin has been more cautious in the case of the secession of another Russian-speaking portion of Ukraine, an even larger one in population and in economic importance, the Eastern portion called Donbass. The people there declared two republics, Donetsk and Luhansk, and they petitioned to be admitted as part of Russia. But Russia does not officially recognize them although it has sent large volumes of aid as they were besieged by the new Ukrainian government. The government of Ukraine started a small civil war in the region. Russia supports the Minsk Accords, which it helped to write, accords to reunite the region with Ukraine but which require Ukraine to grant a degree of constitutional autonomy to the region. This is a reasonable approach to ending the conflict, but it is not easy to implement. It is not something looked favorably upon by Ukraines right-wing extremists who push the government hard, having even threatened it at times. The entire business has been mired in difficulties from the start. Ukraine displayed remarkable military incompetence in this civil war against a much smaller opponent. It tried to increase the size of its forces with conscription in the West of Ukraine, but the number of no-shows and run-aways grew embarrassingly large. And, of course, none of this even needed to happen had the new governments policies been sensible and fair in the first place. But you got no pressure from the United States over fairness. It is merely content to have caused a lot of difficulties on Russias border. And there is the matter of the shoot-down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17, which my study of the circumstances suggests unequivocally was an act by Ukraine, whether accidental or deliberate. The United States has pushed hard to have this blamed on Russia, so as to not discredit its installed Ukrainian government, but the facts, as we know them, simply do not support that conclusion. The United States has shamefully pressured a NATO member, Holland, not even a central party to the event, to conduct a long and tortoise-paced investigation of the crash. It has ignored key evidence, and all of its interim conclusions can readily be seen as couched in the kind of suggestive but inexact language criminal lawyers advise their clients to use in court. What we see in Ukraine, is government incompetence, almost uniformly in all its activities, and again there is no concern expressed by the United States about all the difficulties  economic, military, and social  its efforts have caused for the Ukrainian people.

Putins adroit handling of the coup in Ukraine, frustrating many of Americas aims without getting Russia involved in conflict, determined Washington to further stoke-up anti-Russian feeling in Europe. You must always remember that NATO does represent a vehicle for the peaceful American occupation of Europe, Europe being an important economic competitor and potentially a major world power. The obsolescence of the original arguments for NATO  the threat of the USSR and the massive Red Army, now both long passed into history  had the potential to see America eventually lose its occupying perch in Europe.

Russian-threat hype added force to recent efforts over the last decade and a half to have inconsequential new states admitted to NATO, some of them having the attraction of borders with Russia and lots of simmering old anti-Soviet hostilities. Certainly, countries like Estonia or Latvia bring neither military nor economic strength to the organization. Other small states, such as Slovenia or Slovakia or Montenegro just fill holes in the map of Europe, so NATO is a contiguous mass. The small states are in fact potentially a serious drag. But for America, they were attractive new members because they are so grateful about being asked to play with the big boys. Their votes as part of the organization effectively dilute the influence of the larger, older states, such as France or Germany, who sometimes disagree with the United States, and some of whom have been developing new relationships with modern Russia. The entire series of American activities in Europe after the disappearance of the USSR represents absolutely nothing constructive, indeed, quite the opposite.

As I mentioned, America, too, has been in a kind of decline, but absolutely nothing resembling what Russia experienced. Americas establishment has come to realize that over the last couple of decades it is in a relative decline. It went from producing, after WWII, about forty percent of what the world used to twenty-something percent, and all signs point to the trend continuing. America was waking-up from an extended fantasy  a period when fluffy notions like the American Dream were embraced as real, a period explained by the simple fact that, after the war, all of Americas serious competitors had been flattened. America was waking to a time when those competitors were coming back and a time when fierce new competitors were rising. The Dream part of the advertising slogan, the American Dream, became all too apparent.

During that period of unique prosperity and power following WWII, a good deal of Americas leadership became what people who have been given too much often tend to become, spoiled and corrupt, unable to make good decisions in many cases, indulging in god-like notions of the planet being run for their benefit, and always, steadily leaving behind their own peoples welfare for imperial concerns abroad. The entire ethic of the New Deal period evaporated, and by the 1990s, a Democratic President like Clinton could actually make a speech bragging about ending welfare as we know it.

The people who really run the country, its power establishment, fixed on a new strategy to address uncomfortable realities. That strategy involves using Americas still great military and financial power to dominate international affairs in a more obvious and palpable way than ever. Dominance became an openly-discussed theme, as it rarely was before, in the hope, over time, of squeezing concessions and advantages from others to regain or at least hold on to its global position. This is an openly aggressive posture that has been assumed. No more pretense of being a nice guy. And it was actively promoted by a new political faction in Washington, the Neocons, a group who share certain interests and see Americas use of power as serving those interests. They have been open advocates of using military force to get things you want, and they hold many important and influential posts. Perhaps their greatest common interest is the welfare of Israel, and they see an America perceived as aggressive best serving Israels security.

It is important to note that while Russia maintains excellent relations with Israel  Putin has been visited often by Israels Prime Minister  nevertheless, by virtue of its sheer size and geographical location and military power, Russia is seen as a barrier to Americas more unrestrained use of power. Russia is almost a dirty word for many of Americas Neocon faction and for many Israelis. Russias recent decisive assistance to Syria in fighting gangs of terrorists introduced and supported from outside was viewed about as negatively as is possible. That is a war Israel wanted President Assad to lose, and it secretly gave a great deal of assistance to the terrorists. It was hoping to secure a permanent hold on the Golan, grab even another slice of Syria as a buffer for its illegal residents in Golan, all while seeing one of the regions leaders it most dislikes eliminated. It worked closely in the effort with Saudi Arabias murderous Crown Prince, and America oversaw and encouraged all aspects of a dirty war to topple a legitimate government which has remained fairly popular with its people despite years of agonizing conflict and endless dishonest American claims about such matters as chemical weapons. Assad is seen as a defender of the rights of Syrias diverse religious groups, including its many Christians.

So, there is a built-in powerful negative towards Russia in Washington power circles for which there is no clear possible remedy or correction, and, indeed, no matter how reasonably Putin behaves, his country faces this opposition. For some American politicians, and very notably Hillary Clinton, this has proved a handy tool, Clinton long having been a close-to fanatical supporter of Israeli interests. The fact has earned her a great deal of campaign funding and other support over the years. Clintons ego also just could not take the fact that she lost the election to the leader of the deplorables, as she once called Trumps supporters, so in dark claims of Russian interference, supported by absolutely no proof whatsoever, she protects her ego. And long before election day, Clinton had a hand in exploiting attitudes about Russia in another way. She is known to have paid, at least in part, for the fraudulent Steele Dossier commissioned from an ex-British spy. It was used to try to discredit Trump over Russian connections.

This dislike for Russia by the Neocons and other boosters of resurgent American power really is what is at the heart of Americas current Russophobia obsession, not any threatening actions by Russia. It becomes a kind of vicious circle with new accusations piled on all the time by various actors each with their own motives, and it is clearly quite dangerous.

So, these are the positions of the two countries today, Russia having risen quite impressively from the depths under a remarkably able leader, extremely popular and well-supported by powerful elements of its society, versus America, now in a much different kind of decline than what Russia experienced, led by an establishment group with rather less-than-honorable intentions and with a political system virtually designed to produce no real leaders who might interfere with establishment plans.

Putin is further supported from the outside by the rising colossus of China, one of the great miracle stories of our time. In the past, the two countries have not always been friends, and America, in the time of Nixon, actually worked at playing one off against the other. But that is no more. The American establishments intentions for China are too clear. It is virtually reneging on many old promises such as those around Taiwan being an integral part of China, it is treating China as an unwanted competitor, accusing it of every nefarious activity you can think of to impede its economic progress and demanding trade concessions as though China had been an unfair competitor rather than just a new, more successful one. America is now attacking in every way possible  from questioning motives and methods to trying to generate opposition by participants  Chinas unprecedented and magnificent global enterprise, the Silk Road Project, a project dwarfing the great canals of the past and destined to bring new prosperity to all participants through trade. It hardly represents a positive attitude to oppose and impede it.

Putin is exactly the kind of man to quickly recognize and embrace a project like that. Russia is also rushing to help China greatly increase its supply of natural gas from Siberias immense reserves in order to decrease its dependence on coal. The first great new pipeline is almost finished.

So, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, both highly intelligent leaders, have a great many weighty common interests in working together as never before. Americas new policies have been a driving force in bringing them together, and there is no reason to expect any diminution in that force. Recent American international behavior requires others to accept what Putin likes to call Americas exceptionalism, its position first and above all other nations, its self-granted privilege of not having to play by the same rules as everyone else  its status of the indispensable nation as one of Americas more arrogant diplomats put it not very long ago  and it requires that from two major, proud, and ancient societies which cannot possibly grant it.

Americas dependence on its gigantic military and security establishment represents a serious long-term weakness in many ways, even though it provides the very foundation of the American establishments new strategy for dominance. Empires, after all, while benefiting the privileged segments of a society, are a drag on most of their citizens, depriving them of many benefits, including the simple, important benefit of good and caring national government. America spends more than ten times as much as Russia on its military. China, compared to not many years ago, has increased its military spending greatly, but for a country with such a huge economy, second only to the United States and likely to overtake it before long, it still spends less than a quarter of what the United States does. And America does not even have the money to pay for its atrociously large military. It borrows the money, and who do you think pays the stream of interest payments for those massive borrowings? Youd be right if you said all of its ordinary, tax-paying citizens without privileges. They also are on the hook for the ultimate negative economic consequences of all this debt and borrowing.

Of course, from a world perspective, Americas military represents an ongoing threat to peace and security, much the opposite of what is claimed for it inside the United States. Great standing armies have always represented threats, and here is the greatest standing army in history. Many historical analyses hold them largely responsible for such terrible conflicts as WWI (a war whose outcome made WWII inevitable also). When such power is at hand, the temptation to use it is constant, and its very presence distorts all attitudes and decisions. Many of Americas own Founders understood that, but it has been forgotten by the contemporary American establishment in its relentless pursuit of empire and influence.

Security expenses are hard to compare, so much is secretive, but the United States with its 17 separate national security agencies and such a vast enterprise as the NSAs new archipelago of facilities stuffed with hi-tech gear and supercomputers which spy on and record every American plus others would put any other country out of the competition. Again, the demands of the American establishment utterly compromise the interests of the countrys own citizens at large. Indeed, now in security matters, ordinary Americans have been pretty much reduced to a herd, each with an identifying tag stapled to his ear.

Russias democracy may be quite imperfect, but Americas  what it had of one, it never from the beginning identified itself actually as a democracy  has been transformed into plutocracy with an elaborate window-dressing simulation of democracy, an arrangement in which the states resources are committed to its privileged class and the advance of empire. And, as Ive written many times, you can have a decent country or you can have an empire, but you cannot have both.

John Chuckman is former chief economist for a large Canadian oil company. He has many interests and is a lifelong student of history. He writes with a passionate desire for honesty, the rule of reason, and concern for human decency. https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com
March 06, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - On Tuesday, the Tory party suspended 14 party members for allegedly making anti-Muslim comments on social media. This should come as no surprise.

Its further shocking evidence that the Tory party has a very deep problem with Islamophobia. The party has been in denial about the problem for years.

But let's try a mental experiment.

A mental experiment

Lets imagine that a Conservative leader had abused parliamentary privilege and falsely accused an innocent rabbi of supporting terrorism from the floor of the Commons.

Let's imagine that Tory MPs were in the habit of tweeting out virulent anti-Semitic propaganda - and with impunity. Lets imagine that the leading Conservative strategist had reportedly advised not to focus attention on the votes of "fucking Jews".

Lets imagine that the Tory party fought the London mayor campaign on the basis of stirring up hostility to Jews. Lets imagine that many Tory voters were virulently anti-semitic, and that one of the most famous Tory politicians - Boris Johnson - had publicly mocked certain Jews on the way that they dressed.

And then been cleared of wrongdoing after an internal party investigation. And that all but a small minority of Jewish voters had turned their back on the Tories.

And finally, lets imagine that the Conservative party was in flat denial that anything was wrong.

And that senior party figures insisted that anti-semitism was not an issue inside the Conservative Party, with some going to the lengths of insisting that it could not exist because Jews did indeed present a threat to mainstream British society.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Decent people would say that the Conservative Party was barbaric, sick and that there was a deep, dark problem not just in the Conservative Party but also in British politics as a whole.

Mercifully that is not the case as far as anti-semitism is concerned.

Hostility to Islam

But substitute the word Muslim for the word Jew, and it has become clear that something has indeed gone hideously wrong with the modern Conservative party.

Last week, a poll conducted by the anti-fascist organisation Hope Not Hate found 49 percent of Tory voters felt that Islam was incompatible with the British way of life.

So Peter Lamb finally quits @Conservatives and yet the Party continued to support him and felt him an appropriate candidate to represent us in #Harlow

And that is why the problem is not just individuals its institutional #Islamophobia https://t.co/EqBNx7fCsB  Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) March 5, 2019

Zac Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park, has never apologised for his mayoral campaign, which I am proud to have exposed in Middle East Eye almost three years ago.

Bob Blackman, Tory MP for Harrow East, received no punishment after sharing anti-Muslim social media posts by the former leader of the English Defence League Tommy Robinson. Nadine Dorries is another Tory MP who has endorsed Robinson with no comebacks from the Tory Party.

And only today we learn that Peter Lamb, a Tory councillor who was suspended from the Tory Party after issuing a series of foul Islamophobic tweets, is standing as a council candidate for the Conservatives in the local elections in May.

To his credit Lamb now says he deeply regrets his words and has resigned from the party. But the fact that the Tory Party allowed him back speaks eloquently of the depth of institutional Islamophobia.

Meanwhile just 11 percent of Muslims voted for the Tories at the last election.

The media's role

No wonder that Sayeeda Warsi, the partys most high-ranking Muslim politician, demanded a full independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.

On Tuesday, in an interview with the BBC, Warsi said Islamophobia has become "institutional" in the Conservative Party.

And how deeply depressing that shes been ignored and shunned. Under pressure from critics, Tory MPs point to the presence of Sajid Javid, a Muslim, as home secretary.

This excuse is lame. Anti-semites down the ages have notoriously protested that "some of my best friends are Jewish". The fact that Ed Milliband was leader of the Labour Party from 2010 to 2015 is certainly not evidence that there is not an anti-Semitism problem in Labour.

How does the Conservative Party continue to behave like this? I have to point a finger at my own trade and state that the British media has a role here.

Our newspapers have been running a campaign against anti-semitism, and rightly so. Anti-semitism is noxious and should be confronted wherever it occurs. But with the exception of the Guardian, there has been very little in the mainstream media about Tory Islamophobia.

Chillingly, some argue that it does not exist at all. Others even want more. Heres Rod Liddle in the Conservative-supporting Spectator magazine: "My own view is that there is not nearly enough Islamophobia within the Tory party." He continued: "Phobia implies these misgivings are irrational, when they are anything but."

A full inquiry

Imagine the reaction if Liddle had written that "there is not nearly enough anti-semitism within the Tory Party". There would have been national outrage - after peddling that kind of filth, Liddle would never have worked again in mainstream media. And rightly so.

Theres a very ugly double standard at work here. It's a double standard that the Conservative Party refuses to address.

Tory leader Theresa May is clearly incapable of dealing with this problem. That is why Britain now needs a full independent inquiry into the poison of Islamophobia inside the Conservative Party.

Peter Oborne won best commentary/blogging in 2017 and was named freelancer of the year in 2016 at the Online Media Awards for articles he wrote for Middle East Eye. He also was British Press Awards Columnist of the Year 2013. He resigned as chief political columnist of the Daily Telegraph in 2015. His books include The Triumph of the Political Class, The Rise of Political Lying, and Why the West is Wrong about Nuclear Iran.

This article was originally published by " MEE " -
After Locking Migrant Children in Cages, DHS Chief Tells Congress, 'They're Not Cages'





Asked how a cage in a federal detention center differs from a dog kennel, Kirstjen Nielsen said, "It's larger."



By Jessica Corbett

March 06, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - After months of outrage over the Trump administration detaining migrant children in "cages," Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen insisted to members of Congress on Wednesday, "We don't use cages for children."

At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday, Nielsen took questions from Democratic lawmakers enraged over the administration's policies of forcibly separating families to deter future asylum-seekers and locking up migrant children in facilities described as cages by reporters, lawmakers, and immigrant rights advocates.

Since last summer, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has maintained that the U.S. government does not detain migrants in "inhumane fenced cages," despite an abundance of evidence to the contrary. Faced with intense lines of questioning from Democrats on Wednesday, Nielsen stuck to DHS's party line.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the committee's chairman, repeatedly asked Nielsen whether U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an arm of DHS, was "still putting children in cages."

"Sir, we don't use cages for children," Nielsen said. "To my knowledge, CBP never purposely put a child in a cage."

"I've seen the cages. I just want you to admit that the cages exist," declared a visibly frustrated Thompson. The secretary continued to claim, "Sir, they're not cages."

"We're not going to go through the semantics," Thompson told her. "I saw the cyclone fences that were made as cagesand you did too. All you have to do is admit it. If it's a bad policy, then change it. But don't mislead the committee."

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Rep. Bennie Thompson: "We're not going to go through the semantics... I saw the cyclone fences that were made as cages  and you did too. All you have to do is admit it. If it's a bad policy, then change it. But don't mislead the Committee." https://t.co/xLSgpvpV4L pic.twitter.com/gWQtQEHRta  ABC News (@ABC) March 6, 2019

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) also grilled Nielsen about federal immigration officials detaining migrant children, asking her how the cages used in detention centers by the Trump administration differed from dog kennels:

WATSON COLEMAN: What does a chain-link fence enclosed into a chamber on a concrete floor represent to you? Is that a cage? NIELSEN: It's a detention space, ma'am, that you know has existed for decades. WATSON COLEMAN: Does it differ from the cages you put your dogs in when you let them stay outside? Is it different? NIELSEN: Yes. WATSON COLEMAN: In what sense? NIELSEN: It's larger. It has facilities. It provides room to sit, to stand, to lay down. WATSON COLEMAN: So did my dog's cage.

Watch:

WATSON COLEMAN: [Do the cages immigrants kids are kept in upon first being detained] differ from the cages you put your dogs in when you let them stay outside?



NIELSEN: Yes.



WC: In what sense?



NIELSEN: Its larger. pic.twitter.com/iugTszoWK7  Melanie Schmitz (@MelsLien) March 6, 2019
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks at a press conference in Kuwait City, capital of Kuwait, on March 6, 2019. Russia supports all efforts of Kuwait and welcomes means to preserve the unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Joseph Shagra)

KUWAIT CITY, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia supports all efforts of Kuwait and welcomes means to preserve the unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said on Wednesday.

He made the remarks at a press conference held at Kuwait's Foreign Ministry. Lavrov said that his talks in Kuwait dealt with the developments in the Gulf region and the Russian proposal to guarantee the security and stability of the region and between the GCC countries and Iran.

The visit to the region comes within the framework of regular visits to exchange consultation on the most important developments, he noted.

For the Palestinian issue, Lavrov expressed his concern about the U.S.-proposed "Deal of the Century," saying that it will fail to find a solution to the Palestinian issue.

As of the cooperation between Russia and Kuwait, Lavrov revealed that there will be a Russia-Kuwait parliamentary cooperation on various issues of common concern.

He added that the Russian Investment Fund and Kuwait Investment Authority are discussing investment projects estimated at 200 million U.S. dollars, pointing out that Moscow also supports military cooperation with Kuwait.

Lavrov stressed the importance of exerting more efforts to cement cooperation, expand bilateral trade, enhance investment, and implement promising joint projects.

For his part, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said that they held in-depth bilateral discussions, which dealt with the growing economic relations, regional and international issues, security and political situations, and joint efforts aimed at restoring security and stability in the region.

He said that the political process in Syria is of Kuwait's concern, pointing out that the Syrian efforts should be combined to get the country out of crisis.
Russiagate Grand Wizard Deceives Audience About Assange





By Caitlin Johnstone

March 07, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - When it was first revealed in November that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is under secret charges by the Trump administration, I spent the next few days being told by Russiagaters that this was proof that I have been wrong about their demented cold war cult all along, because #MuellerTime is fast approaching. At long last, they vehemently assured me, Assange was going to prison for working with Russia to deprive Queen Hillary of her rightful throne.

None of those people have come back to apologize or admit that they were wrong when subsequent evidence disproved their claims. None of them ever do.

As it turns out, whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in a secret case investigating Assange for his 2010 role in the WikiLeaks publication of military war logs and diplomatic cables. Manning served seven years in prison for leaking those documents to the transparency advocacy outlet before her sentence was commuted by President Obama, meaning, obviously, that this sealed case has nothing to do with the 2016 leaks Russiagaters have been fiendishly obsessing over. Indeed, the Washington Post reported yesterday that U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of grand jury secrecy, say the case is based on [Assanges] pre-2016 conduct, not the election hacks that drew the attention of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

So there you have it. Democrats like Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden who have been cheering for Assanges arrest have actually been cheering on the Trump administrations prosecution of a journalist for publishing facts about Bush administration war crimes. They thought they were supporting the agenda to punish Assange for publishing leaks that hurt the Hillary campaign, but in reality they were defending two Republican administrations while helping to manufacture support for a prosecution that would set a devastating precedent for press freedoms throughout the entire world.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

If you are unfamiliar with the work of Russiagate Grand Wizard Rachel Maddow, you might think she would report the revelation that an unfounded belief held by many of her acolytes has been completely and thoroughly disproven once and for all. If you are a bit more familiar with her, you might assume that she would completely ignore this revelation like she normally does when her conspiratorial ramblings are disproven by facts and evidence. But if you know Rachel really, really well, you might guess what she actually did on her show last night.

Thats right, she flat out lied about it.

On last nights episode of MSNBCs most popular show, Maddow blatantly deceived her audience by weaving this story about the Chelsea Manning subpoena into her conspiratorial Russiagate ramblings about Roger Stone, despite those stories having absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with one another.

Maddow began by gushing about investigations into Roger Stones alleged connections to WikiLeaks, of course not mentioning the fact that the only known interactions between Stone and WikiLeaks consist of WikiLeaks telling Stone to stop lying about having connections to them. Maddow smoothly weaved this into the news that the House Judiciary Committee has formally requested documents pertaining to WikiLeaks (among many other things) from dozens of Trump associates, with a gigantic grin on her face and a tone of immense significance in her voice. Then, without pausing, Maddow began talking about the sealed case against Assange and the Manning subpoena, falsely suggesting that these had something to do with the things shed just been speaking about.

And because of the criminal case against Roger Stone, you should also know that today, in federal court in Virginia, little bit of drama, Maddow said. Today in federal court in Virginia, the US attorney himself, the top of that prosecutors office, the EDVA US attorney himself, personally turned up in court for a sealed hearing today that appears to be about some sort of legal case potentially involving WikiLeaks and/or Julian Assange.

Maddow then went on to describe Novembers revelation via court filing error about Assanges sealed criminal complaint with her trademarked conspiratorial you cant tell me this is a coincidence histrionics. She then cited a Daily Beast report that former WikiLeaks volunteer David House had accepted an immunity deal in exchange for his testimony before this grand jury, completely omitting the fact that the report explicitly states that this testimony pertained to the 2010 leak drop and not anything to do with 2016.

Late Thursday, Manning revealed that shes fighting a subpoena to testify before a grand jury thats been investigating Julian Assange for nearly nine years, the Daily Beast article reads in its second paragraph. But Manning isnt the only one being dragged into the aging probe of WikiLeaks first big haul. A former WikiLeaks volunteer who was also personal friends with Manning was subpoenaed last May.

Maddow knew this, and willfully distorted it to fit her narrative.

And that something "is based on [Assange's] pre-2016 conduct, not the election hacks" investigated by Mueller (https://t.co/QUIiKPjcih). But @Maddow omits that inconvenient part of the WP article, going instead w/ Stone-Cohen innuendo to falsely suggest this pertains to Mueller: https://t.co/0KGO9jkMAY  Aaron Mate (@aaronjmate) March 6, 2019

So, all of this to say between that court filing error in November, the reporting around that error that suggested that it was weird that he was in that case and it was a mistake but the information was true, and then what we saw today in Virginia, something appears to be happening in federal court that pertains to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. And this is happening as the presidents longtime advisor Roger Stone goes to trial for lying to Congress and witness tampering, allegedly, about his supposed communications with WikiLeaks during the campaign. It happens potentially as hes going to jail for violating the gag order in that case. It happens as tons of people associated with the president and his campaign are being asked detailed questions by the Judiciary Committee about their interactions with WikiLeaks, including during the campaign, and it happens within a week of Trumps longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen testifying before Congress that the president, himself, was personally notified by phone in advance about WikiLeaks plans to dump stolen material that Russia hacked from the Democrats during the campaign.

So she just plain lied. By suggesting that the Virginia grand jury has anything at all to do with Roger Stones walking clickbait shenanigans, the House Judiciary Committees investigations into possible Trump malfeasance, and Cohens testimony that Trump had advance knowledge of the (already publicly announced) upcoming WikiLeaks drops, Maddow knowingly deceived her tinfoil pussyhat-wearing audience into holding out hope that legal proceedings will soon be vindicating their cult.

Maddow then kicked it up into ultra-mega-Super-Saiyan-galaxy-brain Russiavaping by telling her audience not to Google any of the things she was telling them, because theyll get computer viruses if they try.

Now I will warn you, Maddow said with a laugh, if you are an interested news consumer who is interested in following this part of the story, I will warn you: just about everything that pertains to WikiLeaks, Julian Assange and Roger Stone is basically un-Googleable. All the online trash that relates to these characters, put your virus protection on. But something does appear to be happening there in federal court.

While both MSNBC & FOX compete to build fearful alternate realities, this evening's @maddow uses a Scientology technique. Warn viewers, at the end of the show, to not search the net (to check her alternate reality claims) or they'll be attacked by viruses https://t.co/mponlQiLN2  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 6, 2019

Needless to say, this also is completely false. Google algorithms are slanted in favor of mainstream news media, not toward websites that will give you a virus, so the top results you get when you type in WikiLeaks or Assanges name will always be news stories from conventional sites, many of which today refute Maddows claim that the Manning subpoena and grand jury have anything to do with the 2016 Trump campaign.

And of course, thats the point. Narrative management is Rachel Maddows job, for which she is extremely well-compensated, and the more isolated she can keep her audience within a tight, narrow echo chamber, the better she can do that job. Rachel Maddow is nothing other than a cold war propagandist, rewarded like all her colleagues for promoting falsehoods to keep mainstream liberals supporting longstanding US government agendas against noncompliant nations while still letting them feel like rebels.

In todays media landscape, powerful and opaque government agencies are scrutinized and criticized far, far less than a lone political prisoner in an embassy who revealed inconvenient facts about those agencies. The campaign to smear, silence and imprison Assange tells you all you need to know about the governments that WikiLeaks has exposed, and the mass medias complicity in that campaign tells you all you need to know about them as well.

Caitlin's articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking her on Facebook , following her antics on Twitter , checking out her podcast , throwing some money into her hat on Patreon or Paypal , or buying her book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers
President Muhammad Buhari while receiving the Nigeria Labour Congress on a congratulatory visit seized the opportunity to demand an explanation from the PDP for the mismanagement of the nations wealth between 1999 to 2015.

In a statement issued by the Senior Special Adviser to the President, Mr Garba Shehu, the President said;

PDP has not successfully explained to the country what they did with the money, President Buhari said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that in his second term, he will focus on doing his best for the country.

Buhari, who won his reelection bid with over 15 million votes said this on Wednesday via his official Twitter handle. According to the president, he would do his best in the areas of security, infrastructure, job creation and fighting corruption.

The president further assured Nigerians that he will not let them down in the second and last leg of his tenure before he retires to Daura, his hometown in Katsina state.

His words: At the end of this second and final term, I will, God willing, return to Daura and settle down. Until then, I will continue to do my best for Nigeria, in security, infrastructure, jobs, fighting corruption. I will work even harder than I have done; I will not let Nigerians down.
Senator Ben Murray Bruce before ever thinking of joining politics, has been a game changer in the beauty pageant industry of Nigeria. The Silverbird owner has successfully run beautiful pageants in the country for many years, with his Queens going ahead to represent Nigeria on world stages.

The lawmaker, who will not be returning to the 9th Senate, after he voluntarily stepped down to honour a zoning rotation in his constituency, shared a rare photo of himself, Bianca Ojukwu then Onoh and some beauty Queens in 1988.

He wrote: Bianca Onoh and I at the Miss Intercontinental pageant (I was kissing her hands for making me proud) which she won in 1988. Behind us are Miss Trinidad and Tobago and Miss Dominican Republic.
Justice Adeniyi Of the FCT High Court 15 dismissed the case against Dapo Abiodun, says NYSC certificate is not a constitutional requirement for electoral office. The Court said that Dapo Abiodun is qualified to contest in view of Section 177 of the Constitution.

Abiodun who is the flag-bearer of the APC for the March 9 gubernatorial election, was accused of lying on oath about his educational qualifications, in the Form CF001 he used to secure clearance from INEC.

In the suit that was filed by a constitutional lawyer, Mr Abdulrafiu Baruwa, it was further alleged that the APC candidate who earlier claimed to possess two University degrees, did not undertake the one year compulsory National Youth Service Scheme.
President Muhammadu Buhari says the opposition Peoples Democratic Party,PDP is yet to explain to Nigerians what it did with the resources made from oil sales between 1999 and 2014.

The President said this on Thursday, while receiving leaders of the organized labour, who visited him to celebrate his reelection victory.

Buhari while addressing his guests said his administration met a country with dilapidated infrastructure all round in 2015, a good reason to ask what the PDP did with their 16 years in power.

See full statement

The PDP still owes Nigerians explanation on how it expended the humongous resources that accrued to the country from oil sales between 1999 and 2014, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.

Receiving the leadership of organized labour which came to felicitate with him on his electoral victory at State House, Abuja, Thursday, the President said the current administration met a country with dilapidated infrastructure all round in 2015, and it calls to serious question what the party that was in power for 16 years did with the countrys earnings from oil, which reached a peak during the period.

PDP has not successfully explained to the country what they did with the money.
Veteran Nigerian musician, Majek Fashek has made it known that he will take over the country should politicians violate the law.

Fashek, via his social media page, shared his thoughts about looming political unrest in the country saying he got a revelation to return to the country to prevent any form of war.

In his words;

I got a revelation to return to Nigeria from America to prevent a war and thank God the election is over and theres no war.

Read his post below;
Vanguard

The police in Lagos have arrested a self-confessed Yahoo boy (fraudster) for cutting his supposed lovers tongue in an attempt to kill her after hipnotizing and defrauding her of over N2 million.

Thisday

A former governor of Lagos state and National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, Wednesday intensified moves to win more politicians in Oyo State to actualise the gubernatorial ambition of the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Adebayo Adelabu,

The Sun

The Federal High Court Jalingo, yesterday, disqualified the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Sani Abubakar Danladi, from contesting in Saturdays governorship election in Taraba State.

Daily Times

Drivers in the Federal Capital Territory have raised concerns over the alarming rate of robberies being perpetrated by evil-minded people who disguise as commercial drivers.

Leadership

The High Court sitting in Calabar on has affirmed delisting of candidates of the All progressives Congress, APC, including governorship, Federal House of Representatives, as well as State House of Assembly by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on 22nd of February, 2019.

Daily Trust

The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and a faction of the APC in Rivers State loyal to Senator Magnus Abe have disagreed over the adoption of the governorship candidate of Africa Action Congress (AAC), Engr. Awara Biokpomabo.

The Nation

Trafficking of girl-child is the illegal coercion, transport and sales of girls for the purpose of all kind of exploitation and to make money.

Tribune

Following the declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner of the just concluded Presidential election, stakeholders across the countrys aviation sector have continued to set agenda for the incoming government.
Veteran Nollywood actor, Chief Pete Edochie, born 7 March 1947 clocks 72-year-old today and Nigerians have been on social media celebrating the talented actor. Undoubtedly one of Africas most talented actors, he is more known for his witty saying while on set.

Nigerians have to this end taken to their Twitter handle to celebrate him by dropping some of his famous proverbs.

He is honoured with an Industry Merit Award by Africa Magic and Lifetime Achievement by Africa Film Academy.

Reactions:

" having a female as a best friend is like having a chicken as a pet, u will eat someday".  pete edochie  Mazi Ossy (@Obodobuigwe) March 7, 2019

He who swallows a coconut surely has faith in his anus. (Guys test your proverbial skills) Pete Edochie, 2006 Happy 72nd birthday to Odogwu 1 of Nollywood, Okonkwo in Things fall apart. pic.twitter.com/1OZzxl2odg  UnkulObi (@Unkul_Obi) March 7, 2019

Happy Birthday Pete Edochie!!! Beans that have refused to be ready on time should be prepared to be eaten like that Pete Edochie#WorldBookDay  Kanyewestafrica (@VillagePeople__) March 7, 2019

https://twitter.com/NewtVictor/status/1103630306505093120
The chief of army staff, Tukur Buratai has issued a stern warning to election rigger ahead of the governorship and House of Assembly elections coming up on Saturday.

This follows an intelligence report that politicians have perfect plans to cause havoc in the coming election.

However, Presidency Muhammadu Buhari in the buildup of the presidential election had given an order to security agencies to deal ruthlessly with people who think they have a lot of influence in their area, and try to interfere with electoral process.

Speaking on Wednesday during a meeting with principal staff officers and commanders of the Nigerian army, Burutai said his men will go hard on anyone who tries to interfere with election.

In his words:

Recent security threat assessment and analysis of the coming elections showed that politicians have made plans to use all means available to truncate the peaceful conduct of the elections.

There are indications of their intent to take advantage of and to use the farmers/herders crisis, armed political thugs and ethnic militias to perpetrate acts of violence including bombings. Some of them also intend to infiltrate domestic staff of political opponents, employ mercenaries to carry out acts of assassinations, use the social media for smear campaigns, hate speeches and spread fake news in a bid to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the elections. We must not allow them to succeed.

Let me reiterate that the NA will enforce all guidelines in support of the Nigeria Police Force to ensure the peaceful conduct of the elections in line with its constitutional roles. I therefore want to remind us all not to rest on our oars. We shall not allow those who are determined to undermine our electoral process to succeed. These forthcoming gubernatorial and state assembly elections are very crucial. These are elections that touch on the interest of the people at the grassroots and could likely be volatile in nature.

During the course of the recently concluded elections, troops of the Nigerian Army were able to make arrests of persons who perpetrated acts of electoral offences. These suspects have been handed over to the police for prosecution. I want to state, and categorically warn that the Nigerian Army will not tolerate any acts that will undermine national security. This time around we shall be tough on those who plan to rig or disrupt the electoral process.
On 3 November last year, after 40 years exile in Bienne, Eberhard & Co. moved back to its historic headquarters in La Chaux-de-Fonds. For the time being, only a few employees are based there  half a dozen at most. But eventually there will be three times that number.

Its a one-way journey. Not only have the offices in Bienne closed permanently, but in a highly symbolic gesture, the official headquarters have now been officially relocated to La Chaux-de-Fonds. Weve gone back to our roots, states managing director Mario Peserico, clearly happy with the move.

In her fathers footsteps

The building was commissioned by the founding family of the brand in 1906, when the company was just 20 years old. The six stories of the imperially inspired building  a conspicuous status symbol  originally accommodated both the company workshops and the residence of the Eberhard family, as was customary at the time.

 Eberhard & Co.

Barbara Monti, the current CEO, remembers spending time there when she was around ten years old. She is the daughter of Palmiro Monti, the manager at the time, who had offices in the Maison de lAigle up to the mid-1970s. In fact, it was she who was the driving force behind this return home, after she was contacted initially about co-funding the buildings restoration.

Not just a symbol

But the move is not merely symbolic. By returning to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Eberhard & Co. is moving closer to its historic partners which are based in the area, and in nearby Saint-Imier. The name Eberhard & Co.  La Chaux-de-Fonds is also an important designation of origin that the marketing department will be sure to utilise. The very latest calibre released by the company has the name of the town proudly engraved on its ratchet wheel.

Mario Peserico, managing director of the brand  Eberhard & Co.

The idea that Eberhard could eventually occupy the entire building, turning it into a workshop or even a manufacture, does not require any great leap of faith, although its not currently on the cards. For the time being, the company just has a few offices. This is where assembly and testing, the technical office and some support functions are housed. The other offices in the building are rented by other businesses. Eberhard & Co. has made a symbolic conquest, but there are still other floors to colonise!

Restoring the eagle

Today, the rehabilitation and restoration work continues. One project in particular has special symbolic significance: the restoration of the sculpture that watches over the building, and which gives it its nickname. Everyone knows it as the Maison de lAigle or the Eagle building. Mario Peserico notes with a smile: Sometimes we still receive letters addressed to Eberhard & Co., Maison de lAigle, La Chaux-de-Fonds  and they reach us! The majestic raptor is currently undergoing restoration.

Museum opening soon

When will it be back? Ideally, by the middle of 2019. Thats when we will have finished moving in, and completed three new premises nearby, explains Mario Peserico. But why three new premises, rather than offices? Because eventually, in a few months, they will be the site of the first Eberhard & Co. museum. Currently, many of the companys historic timepieces are in Lugano, Eberhard & Cos second address, located to serve its main market, Italy. With the repatriation to La Chaux-de-Fonds, the company is preparing to write a new chapter in its history.
CAISTOR CENTRE, Ont. (March 7, 2019)  On the heels of a successful trip to Florida and an A-Main appearance in the Ronald Laney Memorial King of the 360s at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla., Cory Turner is kicking off the Canadian portion of his schedule this weekend with an appearance at the Motorama Custom Car and Motorsports Expo in Toronto, Ont.

Turners new Burger Barn/Ace 1 Construction/Mobil 1 No.13 Sprint Car will be on display in the Mobil 1 booth at Torontos International Centre this weekend from March 8-10.

Im really happy that Mobil 1 returned to our team this year, Turner said. We have an exciting new Burger Barn Racing team and Im thrilled that we will have Mobil 1 on board again for our 2019 season.

Turner is certainly upbeat to have his car on display this weekend after a successful trip to the Sunshine State that culminated in an 18th-place finish in the Ronald Laney Memorial. The trip saw Turners No.13 in action for five nights, including two nights of action at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. and three nights at East Bay. The weeklong trip proved beneficial to Cory and the entire Burger Barn Racing team.

It was definitely helpful, Turner said. We got a lot of laps over five days and really got to shake things down. Its always good to get seat time. I have to thank Jay and Celeste for taking us down there.

The track and racing were challenging on the sandy Florida surfaces which kept Turner and his team on their toes. However, the team was relentless and finally found the success they had earned on the fifth night of action.

On the final night, we started fifth in the heat and ran third, Turner recounted. That put us on the front row of the B-Main and, the way it worked, there were three Bs, 10 cars apiece and they took two from each and I ran second to Phil Gressman. There were a lot of good guys that didnt make the show. It was a tough deal.

With five nights of racing already in the bank, Turner plans to start the Canadian portion of his on track schedule with a trip to Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, NY on April 19 to race with the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints before returning home to Ontario to battle with the Southern Ontario Sprints at Merrittville Speedway in Thorold, Ont. on April 20.

Were hoping we can be good out of the gate because were a little ahead of past years, Turner said. Our car is ready and were chomping at the bit for April now.

For ticket information on the Motorama Custom Car and Motorsports Expo and to view the full list of hours and events, visit www.motoramashow.com.

CORY TURNER 2019 SEASON STATS

13 Cory Turner  5 Starts: 0 Wins, 0 Top-5s, 0 Top-10s

CORY TURNER MEDIA

Website: coryturnermotorsports.com

Facebook: facebook.com/CoryTurnerMotorsports

Twitter: @CTMotorsports_

YouTube: YouTube.com/RacingTeamTurner

MAILING LIST

Join the Cory Turner Motorsports mailing list by emailing claytonjohnsmedia@gmail.com with the subject Cory Turner Motorsports to be added to the list.
The logo of the shirts that human books will be wearing during the human library event where students will be telling their stories to attendees who "check out" the human books.
Opinion Policies

Editorials are longer opinion pieces that are written by a group of community members recruited across campus who address relevant issues on a local, national and international level. Editorials are research-based. The purpose of the Editorial Board is to promote discussion concerning relevant issues in the community while advising on possible solutions. Topics are chosen via relevancy and interests of the members, which are then discussed by the Editorial Board in order to reach a general consensus concerning the topic or issue.

Feedback policy

If you have a grievance concerning the content or argument of the Editorial Board, please contact either Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or the Editorial Board as a whole (editorialboard@iowastatedaily.com). Those wanting to respond to editorials can also submit a letter to the editor through the Iowa State Daily website or by emailing the letter to Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or Editor-in-Chief Sage Smith (sage.smith@iowastatedaily.com).

Column Policy

Columns are hyper-specific to opinion and are written by only columnists employed by the Iowa State Daily. Columnists are unique because they have a specific writing day and only publish on those writing days. Each column undergoes a thorough editing process ensuring the integrity of the writer, and their claim is maintained while remaining research-based and respectful. Columns may be submitted from community members. These are labelled as Guest Columns. These contain similar research-based content and need to be at least 400 words in length. The following requirements should be met: first and last name, email and relation or position to Iowa State. Emails must be tied to the submitted guest column or it will not be accepted or published. Pseudonyms are prohibited and the writer will be banned from submissions.

Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020
Google Duplex is designed to help people book a table at a restaurant without actually talking to anyone.

Google first showed off Duplex at the companys developers conference, Google I/O, in 2018. There was some initial hesitation at first, even with the on-stage demo that seemed to work pretty well. However, Google assured folks that disclosure was built into the product. Whether or not that has been the case with every single call made by Duplex is unknown, but Google seems confident.

The company has just announced today that it will be bringing the Duplex feature, which works along with the Google Assistant, to even more Android and iOS devices over the next few weeks. No specific timeframe just yet, but for anyone who has been eager to give Duplex a shot, the wait might finally be dwindling.

In addition to that, Google also confirmed that the Duplex feature is now available to use in 43 different states in the U.S. on its Pixel smartphones. Heres the company describing how it works in its announcement:

All it takes is a few seconds to tell your Assistant where youd like to go. Just ask the Assistant on your phone, Book a table for four people at [restaurant name] tomorrow night. The Assistant will then call the restaurant to see if it can accommodate your request. Once your reservation is successfully made, youll receive a notification on your phone, an email update and a calendar invite so you dont forget.

Google says it will continue to incorporate feedback as Duplex rolls out. The fact that iOS users are about to jump into the fray is pretty exciting, whenever the launch finally happens. Check out how it works in the video below.

Are you planning on trying out Duplex when it arrives for iOS devices later this year?

[via Google
Donald Trump has referred to some individuals in direct reference to the company they represent or lead.

This week, for instance, the president of the United States called Tim Cook, Apples CEO, Tim Apple. As one might imagine that quickly spread over the internet. If you didnt catch it the first time, or one of the thousands of times in syndication, here it is again:

 here's the president of the united states calling tim cook, ceo of apple, "tim apple." pic.twitter.com/RTc45RFm5e  fake nick ramsey (@nick_ramsey) March 6, 2019

This is not the first time that something like this has happened. Back in March of last year, Trump was speaking about Merillyn Hewson, the chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin. While directly referencing Hewson, Trump called her Merillyn Lockheed. Heres that one:

Of course, as many have pointed out, Trump does whatever he wants when it comes to names  sometimes not using them at all just to try and get a dig in there:

So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post. Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2019

So, how does Apples CEO feel about it? Well, hes taking it all in jest it looks like. Cook has changed his Twitter handle to Tim , using the logo of the company as his last name. This is obviously a direct response to Trumps whatever-it-was, and its also pretty funny. You can see the change in the image at the top of this article.

Nothing much else to report on here. Cook simply took a funny moment and ran with it. Its good to see he has a sense of humor!

[via @tim_cook
Since the retirement of Jean Depery, founder of the Emile Chouriet brand, Melinda Alessi has been in charge of the Geneva watch manufacture. This dynamic watch company boss, whos also a mother of three, agreed to talk to us about her role as a female manager.

How did you come to your position as head of Emile Chouriet?

When I arrived at Emile Chouriet I was in sole charge of the administration, finance and human resources. As the company gradually became more successful, I put in place a new ERP system and coordinated the growth of the entire organisation. Subsequently, in 2017, I took over the sales department. After gradually gaining Jean Deperys trust, I was appointed site director.

Has the fact that youre a woman helped you in your professional career, or do you feel its held you back?

Neither. Within the company there has never been any positive or negative gender discrimination, whether in terms of salary, or the positions were given, and Ive never felt any difference in the way men and women are treated. The fact that Mr Depery has two daughters might have something to do with this equality. In my case, things happened naturally.

What is the gender breakdown within Emile Chouriet in Geneva?

Emile Chouriet employs 12 women and 6 men in Geneva. On the womens side we have the head of communication, artistic director, logistics manager, sales manager, the administrative manager, whos my right arm, three watchmakers and three people in quality control. For the men, theres the COO, whom I rely on for all things operational, a technical manager, a watchmaker and three watch operators.

Melinda Alessi (center) and the women's team at Emile Chouriet  Emile Chouriet

In comparison with other companies I know, Id say there are proportionally more women in positions of responsibility at Emile Chouriet. You generally see more men. But maybe women are more discreet, and tend to stay more in the background? [laughter] But I must admit, for managerial positions we tend to receive more applications from men than from women. I think its also a matter of education. Women have to learn to feel comfortable in positions generally considered to be more masculine; they need to put themselves forward more.

Weve recently seen women appointed as CEOs at Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget and de Grisogono.

Indeed. I think the macho barriers are coming down. And things are changing in the other direction, too: were seeing more men staying at home to look after the children. The distinction between masculine and feminine roles is becoming more blurred. Today, if someone has the necessary skills, they can rise as far as those skills will take them, and I think thats how job appointments are made. But there are still some stubborn areas where women carry the majority of the mental load. Despite the presence of men in the home, it tends to be women who assume this emotional burden.

Do female managers have specific strengths and weaknesses?

I think women have a different sensitivity  and Im not saying that men cant be sensitive  and in some cases that can be a weakness. In terms of strengths, I think that women can be far more versatile within an organisation. Were capable of managing our private life, our family and children  thats what I mean by mental load  as well as our professional lives. I think thats something still strongly associated with women.

As a woman, how do you manage your relationship with your Chinese shareholders?

Very well. The chairman of the board is a man, but there are lots of women in high-level positions. Its not a shock for them to see a woman director. I havent noticed any difference between Chinas business culture in terms of women, and ours.

Its often said that watchmaking is a mans world.

Its true that there are far more male watchmakers than female watchmakers in the industry. You see that very clearly in the watchmaking schools, for example. Some watchmakers stand out from the crowd, and they have earned a name for themselves by creating exceptional pieces. When a female watchmaker succeeds in showing their talents, things will start to change. And theres another male preserve: more and more women appreciate fine watches, but not to the point of developing an interest in the mechanical side of watchmaking. But there are a few, nevertheless. There are also some excellent women watchmakers who have the skills to design their own watches, but they have remained in the background, and perhaps dont dare to come forward. In the watch industry you find more women in design. Thats the case for Emile Chouriet, in fact. Sophie Depery is our artistic director. So theres a woman behind all our designs, and I think that has inspired the somewhat feminine side to our watches.

What is your favourite watch in Emile Chouriets collections?

The Mr Right, no question. The reason is the story it tells  that of an independent woman in charge of both her private and her professional life. Because of its character, its the watch that appeals the most to me. But I also like the Lac Leman watches, particularly the mens calibres. Compared with our competitors, were fortunate that we have a highly developed womens collection. Our first in-house movement was a womens calibre. And even our mens watches have an androgynous quality, which makes them easy for women to wear.
Hassan Nasco Trading Company Job 2019 in Qatar

Latest Adnan Malik Enterprises Construction Posts Qatar 2021 A well known, established and reputable Hassan Nasco Trading Company requires the services of strong and energetic person for the post of Mason in Qatar.

How to Apply on Adnan Malik Enterprises Job Advertisement

Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online.

Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If an employer asks to pay money for any purpose, do not pay at all and report us at contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs may not be applied online here. Human typing error is possible. Error & omissions excepted.
A few years ago it was extremely rare to see a woman CEO heading up a watch company, and still fewer women founders. But over the last three or four years, in addition to those who have inherited family companies, weve seen women take the reins of several watch manufactures. Heres an overview of women in the watch industry.

Heiresses

She bears one of the most illustrious names in Swiss watchmaking. Jasmine Audemars is the great-granddaughter of Jules-Louis Audemars, who in 1875, with his friend Edward Auguste Piguet, co-founded Audemars Piguet. She is a prime example of a watch heiress, representing the fourth generation of the Le Brassus companys founding family. Her role is particularly significant, given that Audemars Piguet is the last watch manufacture still in the hands of its founders. Although she was born into watchmaking, in 1968 Jasmine Audemars chose a different professional path. Her brilliant career in journalism took her to the position of editor-in-chief of the Journal de Geneve. However, in the early 1990s her father, Jacques-Louis Audemars, asked her to come and manage the manufacture. And thus began Jasmine Audemars second professional incarnation. As chair of the Audemars Piguet board of directors since 1992 (and also chair of the Audemars Piguet Foundation Board, which helps to preserve woodlands all over the world), her role is mainly to define the groups strategy, with the support of employees who understand, protect and develop the Audemars Piguet DNA.

Jasmine Audemars  Audemars Piguet

Nayla Hayek is also a member of an illustrious Swiss watchmaking family, although one thats very different from Audemars Piguet. She is the daughter of Nicolas Hayek, hailed as the saviour of the Swiss watch industry, and founder of the Swatch Group, and the elder sister of Nick Hayek. She and her brother run the Swatch Group  Nayla as chair of the executive board, and Nick as chair of the groups board of directors, and executive board member. A keen horsewoman and owner of a stable of thoroughbreds, Nayla Hayek is also President and CEO of Harry Winston, which joined the Swatch Group in 2013.

Nayla Hayek  Harry Winston

The Swiss watch industry also has another pair of siblings at the reins of a prestigious brand. When the German goldsmith and watchmaker Karl Scheufele bought Chopard ( which had been founded in the 1880s) in 1963, he saved it from oblivion and developed it into an international jewellery and watch powerhouse. His children Karl Friedrich and Caroline are its co-presidents today; the former is head of mens watchmaking, and the latter head of womens collections, the jewellery division and High Jewellery. Caroline Scheufele is a trained jeweller with a passion for precious gems, and she is drawn to creation. At the age of sixteen she designed the Happy Diamond Clown, and twenty years ago created the womens Happy Sport collection  a bold combination of steel and diamonds. Caroline is also the driving force between the partnership between Chopard and the Cannes Film Festival, which resulted in a Palme dOr redesigned by Chopard, and the Green Carpet ethical jewellery collection made with sustainably sourced gold and gemstones.

Caroline Scheufele  Chopard

On 7 November 1962, Danielle Montandon (nee Eberhard) and her husband Andre died in a traffic accident. The Eberhard & Co. family firm, founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1887, struggled to recover. A few years later, the company was bought by Palmiro Monti, an investor and one of the watchmaker's distributors in Italy. Today it's his daughter, Barbara Monti, who steers the fortunes of Eberhard & Co., and her family is the majority shareholder. Recently, she was able to fulfil one of her oldest wishes, to restore Eberhard & Co.'s historic headquarters in La Chaux-de-Fonds, which she remembers from her childhood, and relocate the company there.

Barbara Monti  Eberhard & Co.

Co-founder

There are very few haute horlogerie brands that bear a womans name, and even fewer (perhaps only one) that can boast a woman as co-founder. Frederique Constant combines the first names of the great-grandparents of its founders, married couple Aletta and Peter Stas. Their story embodies the slogan of their company  Live your passion. She worked in real estate and he worked for an electrical goods company in the Netherlands when their shared passion for watches led them to give up everything to create luxury timepieces at reasonable prices. After designing the first watches on a computer, and seeking out suppliers in Switzerland to set up Frederique Constant in 1988, Aletta Stas is now head of logistics and production. She shares design and strategy roles with her husband, and both are executive board members.

Aletta Stas  Frederique Constant

CEOs

In November 2013, Aurelie Picaud was working as product manager for Audemars Piguet when Faberge asked her to come and develop their watch division from scratch. On the basis of Faberges distinctive identity  proportion, combinations of materials, colours, jewellery, the element of surprise, technique, collaboration with master craftsmen  she laid down the foundations of the new collection, convinced Jean-Marc Wiederrecht to work with Faberge, and put together a team. Since then, Faberge has produced the Lady Compliquee Peacock, the Visionnaire DTZ and Chronograph, the Flirt and others, and the company was awarded two prizes by the GPGH with its first two entries.

Aurelie Picaud  Faberge

In March 2017 Chabi Nouri replaced Philippe Leopold-Metzger as Piagets CEO, after being head of marketing and communication for three years. As one of the first women to manage a jewellery company, the young forty-something economics graduate brought her experience from working at Cartier to redevelop Piagets jewellery division, placing the emphasis on the Altiplano, Possession and Gala ranges, and putting in place a worldwide development strategy.

Chabi Nouri  Piaget

On 1 May 2018 another Richemont brand, Jaeger-LeCoultre, appointed a woman CEO. Catherine Renier knows the territory, having previously worked for Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Catherine Renier  Jaeger-LeCoultre

Away from the big groups, Emile Chouriet has also placed its Geneva site in the hands of a woman, Melinda Alessi (see our interview), following the retirement of founder Jean Depery.

Melinda Alessi  Emile Chouriet

And at the end of last year, Celine Assimon replaced John Leitao as CEO of de Grisogono.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
Courtesy of VetsAidJoe Walsh has announced that $795,000 in grants has been disbursed to veterans services organizations, thanks to the money raised by his second annual VetsAid benefit concert, held November 11 at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington.

Joining Walsh at the show were Ringo Starr, Joe's Eagles band mate Don Henley, James Taylor, country star Chris Stapleton and sibling pop-rock group Haim. You can check out a video recap of the concert at VetsAid.org.

Out of the $795,000 raised, nine larger national charities received $75,000 each, while 12 smaller local or regional organizations were presented $10,000 grants.

In addition, Walsh donated $10,000 to the Veterans Fund of the Ventura County Community Fund in Ventura, California, to support that community in the aftermath of the devastating wildfires that struck that area.

Meanwhile, Joe announced that the third annual VetsAid concert has been scheduled for Sunday, November 10, in Houston.

"VetsAid -- the shows, the old friends coming together to make music, the new friends I've made along the way and the veterans community that has so warmly welcomed me -- is quickly becoming one of the great joys and privileges of my life," said the 71-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer in a statement.

"I'm so grateful for the support we've received and I'm proud to be able to do what I can, and for a population that does so much and asks for so little."

The inaugural VetsAid show took place in September 2017 at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, and raised $360,000.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
In the first line of his 1998 book on the leader of the 1919 Revolution Saad Zaghloul, Tarek Al-Bishri writes: Those who ask me who I am, I tell them I am a son of Egypts nationalist movement. I hail from the generation which was raised in the embrace of the 1919 Revolution.

It remains, in the historical political consciousness of those who were raised in its shadow, the nucleus or the first political cell.

Born 14 years after the revolution, by the time Al-Bishri was old enough to go to law school in 1949 the post-1919 political dispensation was already crumbling.

The Free Officers Movement, which toppled the monarchy and placed the military in power just three years later, in 1952, would change Egypt forever. You might think its impact, for someone who witnessed it in its entirety, would outweigh a revolution that happened a century ago.

But at 85 distinguished historian, author and former judge Al-Bishri has not wavered, because the 1919 Revolution combined two causes, national independence and popular democratic governance against authoritarianism.

For the generation whose political consciousness was formed after the end of WWII and until 1952 this is the richest political era in [contemporary] Egyptian history, he explains.

A few days after the armistice agreement which ended WWI Egypt, which had struggled beneath the yoke of British occupation since 1882, was ready for self-determination.

Three reputable nationalist figures, Saad Zaghloul, Abdel-Aziz Fahmi and Ahmed Shaarawi, met with the British high commissioner Reginald Wingate to inform him of their intent to represent Egypt at post-war peace talks in Paris and demand independence. Their legitimacy was questioned: who were they, Wingate asked, to represent Egyptians?

On the same day the delegation, Al-Wafd in Arabic, began an ambitious process of collecting signed legal endorsements from the public granting them power of attorney to represent them in Paris.

The movement spread rapidly across the country. The Wafd expanded in size and capacity, the harbinger of a revolution waiting to happen.

Alarmed by Zaghlouls popularity and influence the British arrested him and his associates on 8 March 1919 and exiled them to Malta, triggering nation-wide protests.

It was the quintessential peoples revolution: everyone was engaged, strikes were held, Egypts administrative system ground to a halt and the new high commissioner, Edmund Allenby, found that Egypt was impossible to govern.

The occupation finally yielded and allowed Zaghouls delegation to join the Paris conference where they were snubbed by international powers, which instead recognised British protection of Egypt.

By then Zaghloul, 60, and his Wafd Party had emerged as the leaders of Egypts quest for independence. For the next 30 years the reverberations of the 1919 Revolution would shake the foundations of Egypts political system, a waning Turkish ruling dynasty sharing power with the British whose empire was on the decline.

National independence wasnt realised, but imperial Britain was forced to make concessions, unilaterally declaring Egypt independent on 28 February 1922.

The British-backed monarchy maintained its authority but Egypts first constitution in 1923 presented an unprecedented opportunity for representative democracy, achieved in the handful of free elections that would follow.

Al-Bishri sums up the revolutionary aftermath: Popular mobilisation against the British occupation and the monarchys tyranny was very powerful. Ideas on social justice, socialism, labour rights and the working class evolved.

That Egypts golden age of arts, literature and unique influence in the Arab world occurred post 1919 is no coincidence.

For us, the notion of a fully independent democratic state was the definition of Utopia, so powerful it moved all emotions towards betterment and self-improvement. Thats why you will find adroit writers, men of law and artists associated with that period. It was a complete renaissance.

Al-Bishri names icons like diva Um Kolthoum and actor-composer Mohamed Abdel-Wahab whose legacies are still associated with Egypts standing in the region.

The 1919 Revolution was preceded by two decades of debates between the most influential nationalist streams at the time  the Umma (nation) and the Al-Hizb Al-Watani national parties  on priorities: independence or defeating monarchic tyranny? This evolved into one cause when Britain entered WWI and declared Egypt, which was politically part of the Ottoman Empire, a protectorate.

Now that Britain was directly occupying Egypt the distinction between the khedives oppression and foreign veiled protection since 1882 was no longer there. They became one thing.

Al-Bishris emphasis on the dual causes of independence and democracy is necessary to understand that, contrary to contemporary often indoctrinated perceptions of 1919, it wasnt just a revolution against British occupation.

An often overlooked achievement of the revolution is the evolution of the notion of the nation/umma, something that would be been taken for granted since the second half of the 20th century, but it was a long process spanning a century.

1919

Under Mohamed Ali Pasha (1805-1848) Egypts modernisation began to set it apart from the Ottoman Empire. The state apparatus was rapidly Egyptianised and though the ruling elite remained largely of Ottoman origin, the modernisation process contributed to the evolution of Egyptian political groups.

By the turn of the 20th century the most pressing questions revolved around the nature of the nation: what is it exactly: the elite or the general population? This continued for two decades: even as the 1923 constitution was being drafted proponents of the nations empowerment  the pashas and feudalists  assumed that they, Egypts aristocracy, constituted the nation.

What Zaghloul and 1919 did was demonstrate who and what the nation is, says Al-Bishri. The nation, the people, became an influential and active power, alongside what was then called the legitimate authority  the monarchy  and the actual authority  the British occupation.

It became the third power, competing with the kings authority and openly seeking to end the actual power of the British occupation.

In the first election under the 1923 constitution the Wafd which represented the nation scored a landslide victory, winning 90 per cent of the seats. Its rivals from Al-Ahrar Al-Dostouryeen (Free Constitutionalists)  who vied for the clause the source of all powers shall be the nation in the constitution that was drafted under their watch, with the assumption that their parliamentary majority was inevitable  secured only six seats.

And over the next three decades Egyptians voted for the Wafd in the few fair elections that followed.

1919

Al-Bishri pauses at the simple yet powerful idea of the tawkeelat: the legal endorsements delegating the Wafd to make the case for Egypts independence at the 1919 Paris conference. It marks the moment when Zaghloul and the Wafd, together with the Egyptian people, the nation, began a revolution.

The template granted the Wafd power of attorney to strive by all legitimate and available peaceful means to seek the complete independence of Egypt.

Initially Al-Bishri thought the legal endorsements were little more than a lawyers ploy. Later he came to realise it was far more ambitious.

They basically conducted a public referendum when referendums are the monopoly of states. And the Egyptian people fully took part in this referendum which was conducted against the existing state.

The outcome should be seen in its historic context, he says. No other people under European occupation had achieved independence when Britain nominally ended its protection of Egypt in 1923. Neither China nor India had started their revolutions. They would come later, in the 1940s.

Equally important is the creation of the far-reaching political organisation, the Wafd Party. It reached the village before any other popular political organisation did, with the exception of religious Sufi groups.

Citing Vladimir Lenins The State and Revolution, Al-Bishri says popular organisations created during revolutions are the most effective organisations.

In the case of Egypt it was the Wafd, which had among its ranks figures like Abdel-Rahman Fahmi who understood, and had experience of, political organisations, including the secret group inside the Wafd.

The context inevitably begs comparison with the January 2011 Revolution which unseated Hosni Mubarak. No organisation emerged from the revolution unlike the Wafd which spanned 30 years.

For Al-Bishri the 1919 Revolution ended in 1952 with the Free Officers coup-turned-movement-turned-revolution.

The 1923 constitution was abrogated in 1953 and promises of a new constitution that reflected the new reality and the peoples aspirations were never realised.

Though 1952 completed the goals of 1919, achieving national independence, social justice and economic development, it was an authoritarian revolution that dealt a blow to popular movements and monopolised nationalism and social justice. It was the deathbed of 1919.

By the same token, the authoritarian tools of the 1952 state undermined its achievements once Gamal Abdel-Nasser died. There were no popular organisations or civil society independent of the state to sustain these achievements or to balance the states authority. Thats the difference between 1919 and 1952.

And 2011?

That wasnt a national revolution. We had established independence from imperialism a long time ago.

January 2011 was a revolution for democracy and against authoritarian rule. It was undermined when it became bogged down in questions of identity and not the nation.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 7 March, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: The nation in 100 years

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 46F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Overcast. Low near 35F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.




Sohn Sung-won
Gamal Essam El-Din investigates the story of the 1919 Revolution constitution, which many Egyptians consider the most liberal

When Egypts nationalist revolution erupted in March 1919, it raised two major slogans: independence and the constitution. To revolutionaries, led by nationalist leader Saad Zaghloul, independence meant liberation from the British occupation forces and protectorate which had been in Egypt since 1882.

As for the constitution, it meant liberation from the autocratic rule of the kings affiliated with the Mohamed Ali dynasty which had been in rule in Egypt since 1805.

The British government reacted in the fall of 1919 by sending what came to be called the Lord Milner Commission to Cairo to issue recommendations for the future relationship between Egypt and England.

After three years of negotiations, the British government, upon the recommendation of the Milner report, issued a unilateral declaration of Egyptian independence in February 1922.

It also recommended the establishment of a constitutional government in Egypt. The Milner report said Egypt needs a Western-style liberal constitution, a bicameral legislature and a monarch who reigns but does not rule.

As a result and in March 1922, Sultan Fouad, who took the title of Fouad I, His Majesty the King of Egypt, declared the independence of Egypt. A caretaker government led by Abdel-Khalek Pasha Tharwat was formed to run the countrys affairs for a transitional period.

According to Egypts landmark historian Abdel-Rahman Al-Rafie in his book The Post-1919 Revolution Events, Fouad told Tharwat in an official statement on 1 March 1922 that the major task of his government was to prepare the country for a constitutional system which could secure the best possible cooperation between the nation and the government.

Tharwat formed a 30-member committee led by Hussein Pasha Roshdi, a former prime minister, and composed  according to Al-Rafie  of some of the countrys best legal brains.

In the words of Al-Rafie, no sooner had the 30-member committee been formed than it began facing sharp attacks from Saad Zaghloul, the leader of the 1919 Revolution and head of the Wafd Party.

Zaghloul launched a scathing attack against the committee, describing it as the Committee of the Naughty, insisting that the constitution be drafted by an elected constituent assembly, and not by a government committee or a monarchical gift, Al-Rafie said.

After seven-month deliberations, however, the committee was able in October 1922 to finish drafting a constitution, mainly based on that of Belgium. Under a new government led by Yehia Pasha Ibrahim, the constitution was at last issued on 19 April 1923.

According to Al-Rafie, who was also a lawyer and a parliamentarian, the final draft of the 1923 constitution was one of the best in Egypts history in terms of regulating the performance of public authorities, and outlining the rights and political and personal freedoms.

It was a liberal constitution which came after long years of national struggle for democracy and independence, Al-Rafie said.

Many historians and political analysts, however, beg to differ with Al-Rafie. In her book A Short History of Modern Egypt, political analyst Afaf Lotfi Al-Sayed, indicates that the 30-member committee was to meet with problems early on, as King Fouad, who was an autocrat, did not anticipate a constitution that would limit his authority or would even have strong power of enforcement.

The members of the committee held the opposite view, said Al-Sayed, adding that the document that finally emerged was a compromise between the ideal and the real; it was a defective constitution, but the king refused to sign any other and was backed by the British government.

The constitution vested legislative power in the king and a bicameral parliament. The king chose and appointed the prime minister and could dismiss the cabinet and postpone, prorogue and even dissolve parliament at any time.

Demonstrations 1919

Agreeing, Mohamed Nour Farahat, a constitutional law professor and an independent political activist, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the 1923 constitution, though a liberal and Western-style document, included some explosive articles which finally led to undermining the political life of Egypt under the autocratic rule of King Fouad and his son King Farouk.

The constitution gave the king too much power, a power which he and his son used to undermine the workings of parliaments between 1923 and 1952 so that not a single house ever fell through a vote of no confidence, but equally no house sat through its allotted period of time. Parliament was inevitably dismissed by kings Fouad and Farouk who preferred to rule through individuals who had no popular standing and represented no political party, rather than through the popularly elected parties, particularly the Wafd. Rule as a result, was more often by decree rather than by parliamentary laws, Farahat said.

In her landmark study on Egypts political systems in the 20th century, Souad Al-Sharkawi, a Cairo University public law professor, explains that when the final draft of the constitution was first published in April 1923, it was hailed by most legal experts and historians as a document including some of the most modern constitutional principles in history.

But soon after just one year  in 1924  when king Fouad led the first coup against the democratically elected government of the Wafd Party, the elites and the intelligentsia regreted that the country would be back to autocratic rule, Al-Sharkawi said.

Demonstrations 1919

Farahat notes that the performance of the British and the minority parties also showed that they were highly antithetical to any kind of constitutional rule and that they were keen to put their personal and political interests first and above any constitutional rules.

According to Al-Sharkawi, the 1923 constitution was composed of seven chapters, including 170 articles. In this constitutions preamble, king Fouad states that since he came to office, he had been keen to follow all the policies which can make the nation free and happy.

This can never be true unless there is a modern constitutional system that can reinforce the nations national spirit, and help it run its own affairs in the best way, Al-Sharkawi said.

Article I states that Egypt is a sovereign, free and independent country, and that its government is based on a royal hereditary system in rule and parliamentary in form. The second chapter, including articles from 2 to 22, covers the rights and duties of Egyptians.

This chapter, according to Al-Sharkawi, was one of the best about the 1923 constitution as it guaranteed for the first time freedoms of the press, opinion, assembly, belief, and that primary education is obligatory and free for all Egyptian boys and girls.

Despite its grave faults, there is no question that the 1923 constitutions chapter on freedoms, particularly freedom of speech, led to the flourishing of the press during this period, said Al-Sharkawi, adding that between 1923 and 1952, Cairo had been the undisputed capital of the Arab press and during this liberal age we saw some of the best newspapers, magazines and journalists in the country and the Arab worlds history.

Demonstrations 1919

Besides, Al-Sharkawi argues that the reason many believe the 1923 constitution is the most liberal national charter in Egypts history was because it included no articles about the countrys religion or Islamic Sharia.

This reflected the spirit of the 1919 Revolution which raised the motto Religion is for God and Homeland is for All, and we all know how leading Muslim and Christian clerics joined this revolution from its earliest days, said Al-Sharkawi, indicating that when the late president Anwar Al-Sadat insisted that the constitution in 1971 stated that Islam was the official religion of the state, and that Islamic Sharia was the main source of legislation in Egypt, this opened the door for sectarian strife incidents and the rise of political Islam.

On the other hand, Al-Sharkawi argues that the parliamentary system adopted by the 1923 constitution also caused a kind of a competitive political life as each party tried its best to attract supporters and sponsor different cultural activities.

Alieddin Hilal, a political science professor and former youth minister, agrees that under the 1923 constitution and what could be called the liberal experiment [1923-52], Egypt saw some of the best brains in all fields of life.

In literature, there were great novelists and dramatists like Taha Hussein, Tawfik Al-Hakim and Naguib Mahfouz, and in music there were Um Kolthoum and Abdel-Wahab, and this was largely thanks to the liberal atmosphere which the 1923 constitution helped create, but that the liberties enshrined by this relatively liberal constitution also caused reactionary forces who were antagonistic to the spread of free Western style life, culture and practices in Egypt at that time to mobilise and launch counter attacks.

This came when the Muslim Brotherhood group was formed in 1928, with its founder Hassan Al-Banna publicly declaring that his group rejects Westernisation, liberal constitutions and competitive politics as all of these, according to him, violate the rules and spirit of Islam, said Hilal.

Chapter 3, including articles from 23 to 134, covers the powers of the king, the government, and the two houses of parliament. Article 24 states that the king, jointly with the House of Representatives and the Senate, exercises legislative powers.

Article 25 states that laws go into effect only when they are passed by parliament and ratified by the king. Article 32 states that the Egyptian kingdom is based on the hereditary rule of the dynasty of Mohamed Ali.

In this part, indicates Al-Sharkawi, we have the most explosive articles. Article 38 gives the king the right to dissolve parliament, and Article 39 also allows him to suspend the meetings of parliament, not to mention that this part also gives him the power of issuing all kinds of executive regulations and law-effect decrees, said Al-Sharkawi, adding that the king was also granted the power of proposing laws, ratifying laws, appointing public civil servants, particularly the police and the army leaders, declaring the state of emergency, awarding medals and sashes, declaring war, signing foreign agreements and issuing amnesty orders.

The constitution gave the two houses of parliament complete powers in supervisory and legislative terms. But it gave the House of Representatives an exclusive right to put the government to a vote of confidence, said Al-Sharkawi, adding that while the House was composed of 264 MPs [Article 86], that of the Senate comprised 147 deputies, with a fifth to be appointed by the king.

Articles from 134 to 170 covered budgetary issues, and the regulation of the performance of the army and police forces.

Although nationalist leader Saad Zaghloul was a major critic of the 30-member committee that drafted the constitution, he changed his mind later and decided that his party, the Wafd, contest the first parliamentary elections under the new constitution in 1924.

Elections were held in January 1924 and their outcome was a foregone conclusion, a landslide for the Wafd which won the majority of seats, leaving only seven to the Liberal Constitutionalists Party.

Zaghloul became prime minister, and his major job was to stand up to a king who had sought to sidestep the constitution and rule as an autocrat whenever he could. King Fouad, therefore, believed that he need not consult his premier nor even parliament, which he termed a flock of sheep fit only to be led, said Al-Sayed, adding that at the same time, Zaghloul was fighting real constitutional battles and had to resort to threats of resignation, or worse, to get the king to rule according to the terms of the constitution.

Professor Al-Sharkawi said the 1923 constitution faced three coups, all under the rule of king Fouad. The first came on 24 November 1924 when Fouad exploited articles 38 and 39 of the constitution to force Zaghloul to resign.

Fouad led the first coup when he exercised his powers in articles 38 and 39 to ask Ahmed Ziwar Pasha, a feudalist, to form a new government, said Al-Sharkawi, indicating that the first thing Ziwar Pasha had done was to dissolve parliament when it elected Saad Zaghloul as speaker.

The second constitutional coup came in June 1928 when Fouad decided to dismiss the then newly elected prime minister Mustafa Al-Nahhas, Zaghlouls successor.

Although Al-Nahhas was the leader of the majority party, the Wafd, Fouad chose again to exercise his constitutional prerogatives [Article 49] which gave him the authority to expel the prime minister and cabinet ministers, said Al-Sharkawi, adding that as a result, Al-Nahhas was forced to resign, and Mohamed Mahmoud, a feudalist autocrat, was appointed prime minister even though his party, the Liberal Constitutionalists, was a minority.

And like Ziwar, the first thing the Mohamed Mahmoud cabinet did was to dissolve parliament, Al-Sharkawi said.

The third coup against the constitution was the most dangerous. In 1930, King Fouad chose not only that Ismail Pasha Sedki, an autocratic and unpopular politician, be appointed the new prime minister, but also that the 1923 constitution be completely revoked and that the two chambers  the House of Representatives and the Senate  be dissolved.

Under a royal decree, Sedki proceeded to draft a new constitution which gave the king tremendous powers, diminished suffrage and aimed to weaken support for the Wafd.

Al-Sharkawi argues that while the 1923 constitution struck some kind of balance between the powers of the king and parliament, the 1930 constitution, issued by Sedki, was intentionally aimed at granting the king absolute powers to rule with an iron fist.

Under this misguided charter, the constitution was considered a gift from the king, and not a contract between the king and the nation as the 1923 constitution states, said Al-Sharkawi, adding that it also gave greater powers to the king in the form of suspending newspapers, naming sheikh of Al-Azhar and other religious clerics, and changing the budget and laws.

The 1930 constitution had been in effect until 1935, even though the king was under public pressure and repeated street protests to dismiss Sedki in 1933.

In December 1935, said Al-Rafie, a national front including the Wafd, the National Party, and the Liberal Constitutionalists asked in an official request that the 1930 charter be abolished and the 1923 constitution be reinstated.

As a result and in 12 December 1935, King Fouad issued a royal decree [No 118], stating that the 1923 constitution be re-implemented, Al-Sharkawi said.

When Farouk, succeeding his father Fouad I, took office in 1936, he pursued the same malicious policy of disbanding parliaments and dismissing majority parliaments.

According to Al-Sharkawis statistics, Egypt had seen the formation of 10 parliaments between 1923 and 1952, with none completing their five-year term.

The same is true about governments as 30 cabinets had been formed and dismissed by the individual will of Fouad and Farouk, and not by any constitutional rules, said Al-Sharkawi, noting that king Farouk, exercising the powers granted to him by the 1923 constitutions 38 and 39 articles, had to change cabinets four times between January and June 1952.

This was the tragic end of the liberal experiment, which the 1923 constitution helped build, and by that time there had been wide-scale public sense that the Egyptian constitutionalism proved illusory as Egyptian independence, Al-Sharkawi said.

When the armys Free Officers movement led a revolution against king Farouk on 23 July 1952, one of the first things was to declare the elimination of the 1923 constitution on 10 December 1952.

It was highly noticeable that the declaration had triggered no public reaction at all as most people by that time had lost trust in the constitution and the multi-party system, and that the entire royal regime had gone bankrupt, Al-Sharkawi said.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 7 March, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: The height of liberalism

Search Keywords:

Short link:


HSBC Korea CEO Jung Eun-young, fourth from left, donates 200 million won to Kim Yong-dok, fifth from right, chief executive of Social Solidarity Bank, at the bank's headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. The donation will be used to help teenage orphans learn basic finance and entrepreneurship. Courtesy of HSBC Korea
Shiretoko National Park in eastern Hokkaido, Japan / gettyimagesbank



JNTO Seoul chief suggests fresh destinations for Koreans tourists



By Kang Seung-woo



When it comes to household names of Japanese tourist destinations, Sapporo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Tokyo may come to mind for the average Korean.





Takanari Yamada, executive director of Japan National Tourism Organization's Seoul office
Rosedale Cemetery in L.A. is where 21 Korean immigrants honored for independence activists are buried. / Korea Times photo by Park Jin-hai



By Park Jin-hai



The independence movement in the United States went hand in hand with the history of Korean immigrants to America.



In December 1902, when Korea's sovereignty was threatened by Imperial Japan, many Koreans looking for safety and to fulfill their dreams departed Incheon Port to set foot on Hawaii. Most of them worked at sugar cane plantations and there were some ginseng salesmen who followed their Chinese partners.



But, among the earliest groups of those early immigrants to the United States were also reform-minded young people eager to make their home country a stronger, modern and democratic nation. Phillip Jaisohn and Ahn Chang-ho were two of those ambitious people.



Philip Jaisohn, also known by his Korean name Seo Jae-pil, was the first Korean to become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1890, five years after he arrived in San Francisco.



After becoming a medical doctor in 1893, following graduation from a medical school in the United States, Jaisohn got a call from his motherland to serve in the new cabinet, a call he accepted. He briefly served as an adviser to the king's council.



He published the newspaper "The Independent," with its first issue in April 1896. He created the "Independence Club," the first socio-political group in Korea. Several reform-minded figures, including Ahn and Syngman Rhee, joined the group.



Jaisohn educated Korean scholars and thinkers with Western democracy and called for the establishment of parliamentary and democratic rule by the people, which drew the ire of the king. The Independence Club was dissolved and Seo was deported to the United States. Other members were imprisoned as they were accused of plotting to overthrow the king.



Ahn, who managed to avoid imprisonment, left Korea for the United States in 1902 with his wife Helen. Working many menial jobs and studying, he saw his compatriots being treated like slaves, working over 10 hours a day and suffering discrimination.



When he saw Korean ginseng salesmen fighting over sales turf in the middle of the street in San Francisco, Ahn created the first Korean-American community, Chinmokhoe or Friendship Association, in 1903.



The early Korean immigrants' independence movement took place in San Francisco. Ahn launched the Gongnip Hyuphoe, the first Korean political organization in the United States, in 1905. It later grew into the National Association in 1909 and the Korea National Association (KNA) in 1910.



After Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910, the KNA's North American branch executed the self-government policy divided into legislation, judicial and executive.



It was also the place that Gongnip Hyuphoe member Chun(Jeon) Myung-woon and Daedong Bogukhoe member Chang In-hwan assassinated Durham Stevens in 1908, after the former American diplomat and lobbyist for Japan was quoted in a newspaper as saying that the common people of Korea were benefiting from the increasing Japanese presence and that Korea was not ready for liberation.



"What has been very unfortunate was the fact that those Korean immigrants left the country as Joseon citizens in 1903 and 1904, but as Korea lost its sovereignty in 1910, they had lost their motherland and had no land to go back to," said Min Pyong-yong, executive director of the Korean American History Museum in Los Angeles and author of the book "Korean American Patriot's Dream."



"They knew the only way they could return to their homeland was by recovering its sovereignty."



Korean immigrants in Hawaii started moving to the mainland in the 1910s. Some of them went to farming cities in the interior and others came to Los Angeles. Ahn's family also moved to Riverside in 1904 and established the first Korea Town on the mainland, called "Pachappa Camp," which had been a compound for Chinese railroad workers. It provided an ideal place for Gongnip Hyuphoe, which Ahn created to foster a sense of community among orange-picking Korean immigrants.



A few years later in 1913, a cold winter damaged the regional agriculture industry, thus there was no work for Koreans in the orchards. Ahn and many others moved to Los Angeles.



After the March 1 Independence Movement, Ahn became a key member in the founding of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea established in Shanghai in 1919.



"From the late 1920s, Los Angeles served as the epicenter of the independence movement in the United States. The KNA headquarters moved to Los Angeles in 1938 and until the 1945 liberation of Korea, the KNA here was the bastion of the independence movement," Min said.



Ahn and his KNA were widely known for their education and enlightenment campaigns, believing they could foster independence and national strength. But the KNA also had an influence on the armed attacks of Korean independence fighters in China.



While Gongnip Hyuphoe member Chun was staying in China, seeking shelter from Japanese retaliation for his assassination of Stevens, he was known to have met young independence activists and influenced them. This included An Jung-geun, who later set off bombs to kill Japanese statesman Ito Hirobumi, and Yi Jae-myeong, who stabbed the notorious pro-Japanese collaborator Ye Wan-yong.



Ahn was arrested for the first time in 1909 in connection with An Jung-geun's assassination of Ito Hirobumi. Since then, he was arrested four more times and tortured by the Japanese authorities. Due to complications from imprisonment and torture, Ahn died on March 10, 1938.



Although Ahn and Korean immigrants in southern California played important roles in their crusade for independence, only a few historical sites have been preserved. The KNA Memorial Foundation and Rosedale cemetery are two places one can follow the journeys of many unsung Korean-American patriots.



The KNA building on Jefferson Blvd in Los Angeles was built in 1938, with the donations of Korean immigrants. The current KNA Memorial Foundation is the one that was recovered to its original state in 2003.



The original KNA building in San Francisco was leveled off in 1935 for the construction of Bay Bridge. The Young Korean Academy building Ahn established in Los Angeles in 1915 had been where the LA Department of Water and Power is located. Ahn's family house in Los Angeles, originally located southwest of the University of Southern California campus, was purchased and incorporated by the university during its campus expansion in the 1980s. It was moved to its current location in 2004 to house the Korean Studies Institute.



Ralph Ahn, the youngest son and only surviving descendant of Ahn Chang-ho, said people should remember those Koreans who fought for the country in the U.S. "A hundred years ago, Korean people declared independence. A hundred years ago, there was a provisional government. These ancestors did that at the risk of being imprisoned, wounded or killed. They were motivated by the vision of future generations such as they are today," he said. "So that future generations of today as they are living their lives in liberty and pursuit of happiness their ancestors sacrificed in vision Be grateful that it will make you stronger."


Korean Americans, including children and families of Korean independence martyrs, celebrate the March 1 Independence Movement at Berendo Street Baptist Church in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 1. / Korea Times photo by Park Jin-hai



By Park Jin-hai



Los Angeles, Calif.  Some 200 Korean Americans, including children and families of Korean independence martyrs, gathered at Berendo Street Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California, on March 1.



They shouted "manse" and avidly waved national flags of both Korea and America to pay tribute to their ancestors.



Among those independence fighters were orange farm workers from Riverside, California. They stood up against the Japanese occupation of Korea and fought for the freedom of their mother country from thousands of miles away.



"Recalling the works of our ancestors, I cannot even guess how it could be possible at that time. The Korean immigrants, who had been barely living, working over 10 hours a day in plantations and farms, voluntarily donated their hard-earned money for the independence movement," said Kwon Young-shin, chairman of the Korean National Association Memorial Foundation, located in Los Angeles.



Ahn Chang-ho, the iconic independence fighter who migrated to San Francisco for study in 1902, played a role behind Korean-Americans' rare rally in the United States.





Ahn Chang-ho in Alta Cuesta orchard in Riverside, California in 1911

Ahn, also an educator and politician better known by his penname Dosan, changed his plans to pursue a degree in the United States after witnessing Korean-Americans struggling to make ends meet due to the language barrier.



After moving to Riverside in 1904, he established the first Korea town on the U.S. mainland called Dosan Republic, better known as Pachappa Camp. Some 100 Korean-Americans lived there. Ahn helped them find a local employment agency and worked with orange farmers to find jobs for Koreans. In 1905, he created Gongnip Hyuphoe (Cooperative Association) to foster a sense of community, which later developed into KNA.



"The KNA run by their money maintained some 116 overseas branches throughout North America, Manchuria, Siberia and Mexico in the 1910s and carried the news of independence through Sinhan Minbo (The New Korea). Nowadays we have internet, but when I think of the time then, I can only be in awe of how they mobilized people and disseminated the news to support the independence all over the world," Kwon said.



At home, over 2 million Koreans took to the streets on March 1 to rally for their independence from Japanese colonial rule all across Korea.



When the news of the pan-national movement reached the U.S. in mid-March, Korean-Americans held the First Korean Congress and a mass rally in San Francisco the following month.



Philip Jaisohn, the first Korean to be naturalized as a U.S. citizen, spearheaded the movement where the participants declared Korea's independence from Japanese colonial rule.



In celebration of the centennial anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement and following the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai, where several prominent Korean-American leaders took key roles, Koreans living in LA have been holding a series of events this year.



Starting with a visit to the Rosedale Cemetery where 21 Korean immigrants honored as independence activists are buried, the local Korean community also plans a large-scale street manse parade near Korea Town on Saturday.



Independence movement in US



The independence movement on American soil revolves around four prominent figures  Philip Jaisohn, Ahn Chang-ho, Syngman Rhee and Park Yong-man.



Jaisohn, who was in exile after his failed 1884 Gapsin Revolution to reform Joseon and make their country truly independent from Chinese interference, was one of the first Korean immigrants to the U.S.



After the March 1 Independence Movement, he actively participated in independence movements. Mainly working around Philadelphia, he organized the First Korean Congress and published the political journal "Korea Review" to inform the American public of the situation in Korea, and to persuade the U.S. government to support Korean independence.



The other three leaders who also came to the U.S. for education were also on the forefront of the independence movement following different ideologies. Rhee who worked mainly in the east coast and partly in Hawaii claimed independence can be earned through diplomacy; Ahn who was active in southern California said national reform is what the country needs the most; and Park in the Midwest and Hawaii promoted military force as a tool for independence.



The clarion call signaling the need for making a unified organization on U.S. soil was the 1908 assassination of Japan lobbyist and former American diplomat Durham Stevens by Gongnip Hyuphoe member Chun Myung-woon (a.k.a Jeon Myeong-woon) and Daedong Bogukhoe member Chang In-hwan. It was the first armed independence uprising by Koreans living outside the country.





Donation receipt issued by Gongnip Hyuphoe's Hawaii branch in July, 1912
U.S. President Donald Trump participates in an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting in the White House State Dining Room in Washington, U.S., March 6, 2019. Reuters-Yonhap



U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would be "disappointed" if reports that North Korea is rebuilding a missile engine test site are true.



Trump made the remark at the White House when asked about two U.S. reports that North Korea is rebuilding the Sohae satellite launching facility, which it began to dismantle last year.



"I would be very disappointed if that were happening," he told reporters. "It's a very early report. We're the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I don't think I will be."



"We'll take a look," he said. "It'll ultimately get solved."



Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, last week to negotiate a deal on dismantling the regime's nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief.




(From Top) South Korean's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs Lee Do-hoon, the Japanese foreign ministry's director general of Asia and Oceania affairs Kenji Kanasugi, and the United States top nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun. Yonhap, AFP-Yonhap



The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States met in Washington Wednesday and agreed to continue close coordination on North Korea, Seoul's foreign ministry said.



Lee Do-hoon, South Korean's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, held talks with his American counterpart, Stephen Biegun, in the wake of last week's second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



The leaders met in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 27 and 28 but failed to reach an agreement on dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program.



South Korea is keen to ensure momentum in U.S.-North Korea talks to achieve its ultimate goal of lasting peace on the peninsula.



"The U.S. side provided a more detailed explanation of the outcome of the second North Korea-U.S. summit, South Korea and the U.S. compared notes on the summit and held talks on the next steps," the ministry said in a press release.






Suh Hoon, chief of the National Intelligence Service, at the floor meeting of the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. Yonhap



North Korea seems to be operating uranium enrichment facilities normally at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, South Korea's spy agency was quoted as saying by lawmakers.



"(North Korea's) uranium enrichment facilities were known to be in normal operation even before the recent summit between the leaders of between the United States and North Korea," Suh Hoon, chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was quoted as telling lawmakers at the closed-door briefing Tuesday.



The spy agency said that North Korea stopped the operation of its 5-megawatt reactor at its sprawling nuclear complex in Yongbyon late last year with no signs of reprocessing activities.



At a press briefing Tuesday, lawmakers said the North has been keeping the nuclear reactor dormant, but they did not make public the North's uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon.










By Park Si-soo







A moderate 2.1-magnitude earth tremor was detected in North Korea's mining town of Pyonggang around noon Thursday.







The Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA) said it was "artificial" seismic activity, presumed to be the result of an explosion inside a mine.







"The epicenter is measured to be near the land surface," a KMA official said.







It took place two days after South Korea's spy agency revealed North Korea was rebuilding part of a dismantled long-range missile test launch site in Sohae.







U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would be "disappointed" if the report is true.






From left: Elena Dela Cruz, Filipino team manager of the Seoul Global Center; Nash Ang, founding director of Pinoy Artists in Korea; Angel Ngok, president of the ASEAN Youth Network in Korea; Ambassador Raul Hernandez from the Embassy of the Philippines in Korea; Ambassador Adalgisa Ximenes from the Embassy of East Timor in Korea; Nicky Juanite, secretary general of Pinoy Artists in Korea, and Rosie Peralta, executive director of Pinoy Artists in Korea. They were attending the "Art for Heart: Card Design Making Contest" at the Seoul Global Center in Jongno-gu on Mar. 3. Courtesy of Pinoy Artists in Korea





By Ko Dong-hwan







Team Penguins from Turkey won the grand prize in the "Art for Heart: Card Design Making Contest" held at the Seoul Global Center in Jongno-gu on Mar. 3. Courtesy of Pinoy Artists in Korea

A visual arts event commemorating the 70th year of the Philippines-Korea bilateral relationship was held on Mar. 3 at the Seoul Global Center.







The event, "Art for Heart: Card Design Making Contest," was held to honor veterans of the Korean War through the power of arts as the medium of communication. It also provided a creative experience for children of multicultural families.







Ambassador Raul Hernandez from the Embassy of the Philippines, Ambassador Adalgisa Ximenes from East Timor and Filipino organization leaders joined the event as judges.







Team Penguins from Turkey won the grand prize. Its card had the theme "To that road: we create friendship."







The competition was also open to foreigners and Koreans, giving them a chance to interact with families of different ethnic backgrounds in a competitive but friendly environment.







The event was participated by local groups with an affinity with Filipino communities, including Filipino EPS Workers Association, Filipino Photographers in South Korea, Association of Filipino Referees in Korea, Pro-Biskano, Pinoy Iskolars sa Korea, Filipino Korea Americas, Ilocanos in South Korea, International Youth Federation and Rotary Club Pocheon.







The event's prizes were donated by SRE Global Marketing, while all the organizations' leaders acted as judges in assessing the contestants.







The fair was supported by the ASEAN Youth Network in Korea, the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in Seoul, the East Timor Embassy, the Seoul Global Center and Seoul's Filipino community Pinoy Seoul.






By Park Si-soo







Korea's homegrown English proficiency test TEPS reported a net loss last year  its first in 20 years  in the wake of a declining number of test takers, reduced usefulness and TOEIC-friendly practices.







The Language Education Institute at Seoul National University, which launched

in 1999 to challenge TOEIC's dominance, announced this on Thursday, but didn't provide detailed information, calling it a "business secret."







At the peak of its popularity in 2010, nearly half a million people took TEPS and its profit reached 7 billion won ($6.2 million). But the number was cut in half by 2014 and fell to 120,000-130,000 last year, according to the institute.







TOEIC, developed in 1979 by American company ETS and introduced here in 1982, attracts 2 million test takers a year.







The TEPS organizer pointed to multiple issues for the downturn.







"While the number of test takers has declined continuously since 2010, we also made a big investment last year to launch a souped-up version of TEPS and for its marketing and promotion," an official said.







From a broader perspective, the dwindling popularity could be blamed on population decline, but a bigger issue with immediate effect could be TEPS's reduced usefulness for job hunting and university admission, experts said.







As part of efforts to level the playing field, the government has banned the use of scores from private English proficiency tests in the university admissions process. Furthermore, amid an increasing influx of people fluent in foreign languages into the job market, companies put more weight on applicants' experience, attitude, creativity and other non-linguistic abilities, rather than English proficiency, when hiring new faces.







Another reason is the widespread perception that it is easier to score higher in TOEIC than TEPS. In addition, score-comparison charts used in public and private sectors put TEPS takers at a relative disadvantage.







"We are exploring various ways to boost demand for TEPS and at the same time trying to fix issues friendly to TOEIC," an official said.




Some years ago, Banque Misr, one of Egypts three public-sector banks, ran a campaign announcing that Talaat Harb is coming back.

The campaign aimed at evoking the spirit of the founding father of the bank, Talaat Harb, in order to encourage the setting up of new small and medium-sized enterprises.

Egyptian financier Harb was a pioneer not only in spearheading the establishment of the first fully Egyptian-owned bank, but also in starting Egyptian companies in multiple sectors.

From spinning and weaving, to cinema production, travel, cigarette production and mining, he used the bank as a platform to invest in various fields, spanning the full spectrum of the economy.

Harbs idea of creating a national bank dates back before the Egyptian 1919 Revolution, but conditions were not favourable at that time, especially with the onslaught of World War I.

Only after the revolution did the bank come to life. As US historian Robert Tignor writes in his The Egyptian Revolution of 1919: New Directions in the Egyptian Economy, the new economic organisations and ideas accompanying and growing out of the revolution meant that the idea of establishing the new bank was now more appreciated.

According to Tignor, the large landowners of the time achieved what many Egyptians had wanted for four decades: the creation of a national bank.

The aim was to enable Egyptians to have more influence in their own economy and to diversify economic activities, he says, since before the establishment of Banque Misr the banks in Egypt were run by foreigners.

Banque Misr was founded in 1920 as an agricultural bank by a group of Egyptian landowners and had a start-up capital of LE80,000. In its first decade, the bank went through a series of expansions as the General Agricultural Syndicate of the time pushed the founders to form joint-stock companies in order to minimise or prevent speculation, decrease the middle men between cultivators and consumers, supervise the trading of crops, and establish agricultural cooperatives, according to US historian Mona Russell in her book Middle East in Focus: Egypt.

However, Russell says that the sole dependence on shareholders from one economic sector, namely agriculture, also constituted a weakness and a threat to Banque Misr operations.

It had to lower its dependence on landowners and work towards strengthening its ties with local merchants if it was to stave off the economic depression of the time, she says.

As a result, by 1925 Banque Misr had started to become an industrial bank and was responsible for funding many of the industries that still exist in Egypt to this day.

The establishment and success of Banque Misr can be considered as Egypts second industrial revolution. Banque Misr succeeded in building and promoting companies in almost every sector, Russell writes, adding that the older Banque Misr companies had a distinct feature  they had been directly concerned with building companies that would promote Egyptian society.

By doing so, Banque Misr was realising one of the demands of the 1919 Revolution: to industrialise the economy. The danger of depending on one crop, cotton, for income had long been realised, since fluctuations in demand and prices for Egyptian cotton before, during and after the war had been a major factor in the economic troubles of the time.

In 1929, as a continuation of its policy of economic independence following the instability after World War I, the Egyptian government agreed with Banque Misr on creating protective tariffs, giving preference to local products, even when they exceeded the cost of foreign duplicates by as much as 10 per cent, and giving preferential railway freight rates to local industries.

Ad of Banque Misr companies

Post-War

One of the positive effects of the war on Egypt was that it created an environment conducive to local production.

According to Samir Radwan, a former minister of finance, difficulties in exporting cotton because of fighting in the Mediterranean meant that cotton accumulated domestically and provided the opportunity to set up the countrys textiles and weaving industry.

In the years before the war, the then British proconsul in Egypt, Evelyn Baring, better known as Lord Cromer, would not allow any processing of the cotton crop except ginning, or separating the cotton fibres from the seeds.

When the textiles and weaving industry started after the war, other industries were also created that helped create jobs and stimulated the formation of a middle class that became more and more vocal in its calls for independence from British rule, Radwan told Al-Ahram Weekly.

During the 1930s, according to Russell, Banque Misr started to establish much-needed industries by inviting local and foreign investors to set up 28 new industrial and business projects employing some 250,000 workers with a combined start-up capital of approximately LE120 million.

There was a great diversity in the projects funded by the bank. This was necessary to reduce the market risk of loss and to optimise revenues and profits, she says.

Egyptian ownership of these companies ranged from 43 to 100 per cent, Russell shows, as foreign involvement was often encouraged to promote investment and was sometimes necessary for either funding or for expertise that could not be found in Egypt.

The period following the revolution also saw the establishment of three major lobby groups which grew in strength as time went on. The first Chamber of Commerce in Egypt was established in Cairo in 1919.

Over the three years following the revolution, the Cairo branch helped to establish a five further Chambers in Daqahliya, Gharbiya, Alexandria, Mit Ghamr and Zifta.

Al-Azima Film

Harb played a vital role in forming and restructuring the new and existing chambers of commerce in the mid-1920s and helped them to focus on strengthening ties between merchants and industrialists while improving and encouraging national industries, Russell writes.

In 1926, a crisis in the cotton crop caused prices to drop significantly, causing critical losses for cultivators as well as merchants. The chambers of commerce were instrumental in pushing for the growth of cotton ginning, weaving and textile industries to consume the national cotton crop while promoting diversification.

They also favoured increasing railway freight rates and customs duties on similar imported products to help protect domestic industries, Russell says.

The post-revolution period also witnessed the creation of the Egyptian Federation of Industries, which worked to promote economic, social and political conditions conducive to Egyptian industrial development.

In 1929, it started inviting Egyptian industrialists to join in order to expand its activities and capital.

The federation had once been almost entirely dominated by non-Egyptians, but Egyptian industrialists then began joining in large numbers. In fewer than 15 years between 1925 and 1939, the number of Egyptians in the federation increased from roughly 12 per cent to more than 50 per cent.

Part of this movement was based on the Egyptian desire to be involved in rebuilding the country, Russell comments, adding that by joining the Federation of Industries the petty bourgeoisie gained access to capital to start new ventures through Banque Misr or via the joint-stock companies it started.

Investors also realised the benefits of the new industrial projects as a means to lower unemployment rates and to offer better social, health, education and infrastructure services to society at large.

In 1921-22, the Egyptian General Agricultural Syndicate was established as a lobby group of large landowners. The purpose was to wrest from foreign merchants some measure of control over the financing and marketing of Egypts most important export crop, cotton, Russell comments.

The establishment of these organisations reveals a great deal about an emerging Egyptian middle class, its economic attitudes and goals, and its relationship with Egypts traditional source of wealth, the land, she adds in her book on the economics of the period.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 7 March, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: A blueprint for the nation

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The sky cleared over downtown Seoul on Thursday after dense smog that choked the country for a week was blown away. The density of airborne ultrafine dust fell to normal levels in most parts of the country. Clear skies are expected to continue through Friday, the state weather agency said. Yonhap
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha speaks during a ruling Democratic Party of Korea seminar on the prospects of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the role of the National Assembly, Thursday, after the breakdown of a second summit between North Korea and the U.S. Yonhap



By Park Ji-won



Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha called for continued dialogue with North Korea for a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue, Thursday.



Speaking to lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Kang said the country should pursue the end goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula persistently, despite the disappointing outcome from a second summit between U.S. and North Korean leaders in Hanoi.



"It is an important task for the country to peacefully resolve the North Korea nuclear issue through dialogue. The government will do its best to achieve complete denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and establish peace," Kang said in a keynote speech at a seminar.






Vehicles move near the Han River in Seoul, Tuesday, Mar. 5, 2019. AP-Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



China downplayed Seoul's claim that Beijing is a major source of its recent fine dust pollution, despite the Korean foreign minister stressing there was a link with regard to the deteriorating air quality.



"I wonder if the South Korean side has any clear basis that its smog is from China," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a media briefing, Wednesday, adding that fine dust readings had been higher in Seoul than in Beijing, recently. "All countries realize that the cause is highly complicated."




A handout photo made available by DigitalGlobe on Wednesday of a commercial satellite image acquired on March 2 showing the Sohae (Tongchang-ri) Satellite Launching Station in North Pyongan Province, North Korea. EPA-Yonhap



N. Korea shows signs of rebuilding nuclear, missile facilities



By Lee Min-hyung



Voices of skepticism and disappointment toward North Korea are growing stronger inside the United States following reports that it has started to rebuild its nuclear and missile facilities.



The North's abrupt shift in relations with the U.S. came only a few days after the breakdown of the second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



In recent days, a series of signs have been detected of the possible resumption of operations at North Korea's major missile and nuclear sites.



On Thursday, the National Assembly Intelligence Committee quoted National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Suh Hoon as saying in a meeting Tuesday that the NIS had detected movement of transport vehicles at the Sanum-dong missile research facility in Pyongyang. The center is known as a manufacturing facility for intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland.



The NIS is also known to have told the committee that uranium enrichment facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear facility are operating "normally."



According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), North Korea is also rebuilding its Sohae Satellite Launching Station at Tongchang-ri. The U.S. think tank cited satellite images of the facility as evidence for the claim.








By Kim Yoo-chul







President Moon Jae-in ordered a thorough probe of a Korean sewing firm based in Indonesia, Thursday, following Hankook Ilbo reports that it failed to pay wages to more than 3,000 employees.







"Moon told senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk to fully cooperate with Indonesian police for a quick settlement of this case," Cheong Wa Dae vice spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said in a press briefing.







Moon also asked his aides to check if there were similar cases involving Korean firms in Southeast Asian countries.







The sister paper of The Korea Times reported that the owner of SKB, a sewing firm based in Indonesia, disappeared in Korea without paying staff wages for months resulting in the workers suffering economic hardship.


Korean Air President Cho Won-tae, fifth from left, cuts the airline's 50th anniversary cake alongside company executives and staff at the anniversary event held at its headquarters in western Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Korean Air



By Kim Hyun-bin



It's not easy for a company to maintain existence for 50 years. And it is far more difficult for one to grow and become one of the world's top players in its field. But Korean Air has done this.



Five decades ago, the nation's flagship carrier started off as a small local airliner. But surprisingly with continuous investments and effort, the carrier gained global recognition and is now competing with the best airlines from around the world.



March 1 marked Korean Air's 50th anniversary and a ceremony was held at the airline's headquarters in western Seoul, Monday, highlighting its past-to-present accomplishments and goals, with some 1,500 employees in attendance.



"In the last 50 years, love from customers and public trust have become two wings for Korean Air," Cho Won-tae, president of the airline, said. "Korean Air will strive to become the wings of all members of our society so they can dream of a better life. That is how we want to greet another 100 years."



When launching operations in 1969, Korean Air operated just eight airplanes that traveled to three cities in Japan. Now, it has 166 jets that connect to 124 cities in 44 countries.



Korean Air has made a name for itself and is deemed worthy of its slogan "Excellence in Flight" with matching in-flight services and transportation.



Over the last half a century, the carrier's accumulated flight miles reached 10.18 billion kilometers, which is equivalent to going around the globe 254,679 times or 13,400 roundtrips to the moon.



In 1969, sales recorded 3.6 billion won but they grew 3,514 times to 12.65 trillion won in 2019.



It took the airline 22 years to exceed its first 100 million mark in the accumulated number of passengers. But starting early 2000, Korean Air is adding 100 million passengers within every four to five years.



Since its launch, nearly 715 million passengers have flown with Korean Air. It is equivalent to the country's total population each taking the airline over 13 times.



More growth to come



At the anniversary ceremony, Korean Air reaffirmed its commitment to "Vision 2023" which aims to enhance growth, profit and stability.



Under the vision, the company plans to increase annual sales by 5.1 percent each year to record 16 trillion won in 2023. It will also acquire 24 more airplanes to operate a total of 190 jets by that year.



Korean Air plans to expand and better utilize its joint venture partnership with Delta Air Lines which was inked in May 2018, to better connect Asia and the Americas.



Starting April 12, Korean Air is scheduled to launch a new route between Incheon and Boston, and Delta Air Lines will begin services between Incheon and Minneapolis on April 2.



With the addition of the new routes, the two airlines will connect 290 cities in the U.S. and 80 cities in Asia.


Members of a civic group stage a rally in front of the office of the Economic, Social and Labor Council in Seoul, Thursday, denouncing the council's decision to expand the application period for flexible work hours, which they claim will be deleterious to irregular employees' working conditions. / Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo



The government's labor policy to restore dialogue between labor and management and lay the groundwork for economic resurgence seems to be hitting a snag, dented by non-cooperation from workers.



The Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC), launched last November, was scheduled to have a general meeting, Thursday, to officially resolve its earlier deal on expanding the application period of the flexible work hour system.



However, the meeting was canceled due to a lack of a quorum, after three out of four representatives from the labor sector at the 17-member ESLC boycotted, saying they were excluded from the agreement reaching process.



Resolving the disagreement requires holding a meeting with more than half of all members from each sector  labor, management and government  in attendance and consent from at least two-thirds of those members who are present.



For this reason, President Moon Jae-in, who initially planned to join the meeting, also canceled his attendance.



Other than the flexible work hour system issue, the council was supposed to resolve other agreements, including giving a state allowance to jobseekers in low-income households.



The failure may deal a major blow to the Moon administration which is seeking to double down on its economic agenda by restoring dialogue on labor issues.



In addition, the setback carries extra weight as the consensus was the council's first agreement since its launch in November, putting the body off to a sluggish start.



"If things like this reoccur, the ESLC may be dysfunctional," Park Tae-ju, its standing member, said in a press conference.



"In the future, the council could have trouble handling other social agreements."



ESLC Chairperson Moon Sung-hyun also said, "We plan to explore alternatives, including changing decision-making procedures, to operate the council more effectively."



He added the council will hold another meeting on Monday.



On Feb. 19, representatives from labor and management agreed to expand the application period for the flexible work hour system, which allows companies to adjust working hours of employees in a lump-sum manner, to six months from the current three months.



However, three labor sector delegates representing women, young people aged between 19 and 29 and irregular workers refused to attend the Thursday meeting, claiming their opinions were not reflected in the agreement-making process and only the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), one of the two umbrella unions, took part in the process as a representative of the labor sector.



In addition, the absence of another umbrella union, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), is also disrupting the President's labor policy.



The KCTU is vehemently opposing agreements regarding the flexible work hour system and the revised decision-making process for raising the minimum wage.



"The government is pushing ahead with conglomerate-friendly and anti-labor policies," KCTU Chairman Kim Myung-hwan said in front of the National Assembly in Seoul during a one-day strike, Wednesday.




Many people are complaining about the cost of purchasing the masks and running air cleaners, saying the gap between the rich and poor is also seen in environmental issues. / Yonhap



By Kim Jae-heun



It is almost a must these days for people to wear masks and turn on air purifiers at home to protect themselves from the record-breaking levels of fine dust air pollution.



But many are complaining about the cost of purchasing the masks and running air cleaners, saying the gap between the rich and poor is also seen in environmental issues.



They say the wealth disparity could lead to a health disparity in the future if such air pollution continues in the years to come.



Rich people are apparently coping fine with the serious air pollution by purchasing up-to-date equipment and gadgets; while the middle class may feel the burden but the cost may be still manageable. It is people in the low-income group that are suffering the most from the expense for protection from fine dust.



The price for an anti-fine dust mask varies as well as its number of recommended uses. Cheap ones cost less than 1,000 won when purchased in bundles, but they are for one-time use only. Individually bought masks cost around 2,500 to 3,000 won. "Quality masks" are as much as 30,000 won to 40,000 won and are usable for a month. But be it a fancy mask or a cheap one, people have to spend at least 30,000 won a month.



"I've been purchasing dust masks almost every day this month and I spent nearly 50,000 won just for myself," said office worker Kim Do-jin, 36. "If I count the total cost of masks purchased for my wife and son, it goes up to nearly 150,000 won. And I am only talking about the masks here."



The price becomes more absurd with home air purifiers.



An average machine that can cover a big space such as a living room costs a minimum 700,000 won, with "high-quality" ones costing over 1 million won.



Thirty-two-year-old salesman Cho Hyun-soo bought a small air cleaner for his car recently, since he spends most of his time driving to customers. A quality purifier costs as much as 200,000 won but he could not afford it and chose a 50,000-won one.



"This was an expense that was out of my expectations and for sure 200,000 won is quite a high price. I heard a decent home air purifier costs an average 700,000 won to 1 million won these days. We are now living in a world where you can't breathe clean air if you don't have any money," Cho said.



This has led people to call on the government to lower the prices of masks or even distribute them for free, with about 250 petitions being posted on Cheong Wa Dae's website.



"My family spent more on masks than food," a petitioner wrote. "Do poor people have to die because of expensive masks? The government should come up with countermeasures for masks, which are now a daily necessity, by setting up state-run mask factories."



Another wrote, "As the government provides subsidies to those buying electric vehicles, it should provide subsidies for anti-fine dust products. They are directly related to health."



People also called for stronger countermeasures to fight the environmental issue.



"I don't know why I have to spend this amount of money on breathing clean air. These days, I feel unfortunate to live here in Korea. The government has been putting regulations on people like restricting old diesel cars in Seoul and adopting an alternative day driving ban policy but no significant results have been seen. I heard 80 percent of the fine dust comes from China. The government should solve this environmental problem with China instead of making life harder for its people," Cho said.



As part of the latest anti-dust measures, Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae promised to cooperate with China to solve the air pollution issue, after holding another emergency meeting with relevant state organization officials Thursday.



According to Cho, Korea and China will issue fine dust reduction measures together when high levels are expected. The two countries will conduct joint experiments on artificial rain in the Yellow Sea, as well as sharing information.



The operation of coal power plants will be restricted when a high concentration of fine dust is expected, while two old coal power plants are under review for closure. Air purification systems will be provided for schools and public facilities.




By Park Moo-jong





English is a global lingua franca. Few will dispute this.



Some years ago, a joke about languages went viral with a question: "Which is the most widely spoken language in the world?"



Many, really many people questioned, chose English without hesitation.



Yet, some others argued logically and named Chinese, noting that more than 1.4 billion people out of the world population of 7.7 billion speak it.



What a twist! They were all wrong. It's Broken English, spoken everywhere in the world. This "global" language works very well across the globe, especially among tourists speaking different tongues.



This joke ironically testifies to the importance of English as the real global language.



Precisely, English is the third most-spoken "native" language in the world after Chinese and Spanish, the most widely learned second language.



Around 60 countries use English as their official language or one of the official languages and the number of people who have learned it as a second language exceeds that of native speakers.



South Korea is no exception at all. English proficiency is a crucial factor in finding jobs or pursuing other personal life goals, especially in this society where competition is ever getting fiercer.



As a result, parents, especially mothers whose zeal for education of their children is unrivalled in the world, are very aggressive about their kids' learning English. They think the "earlier, the better" when it comes to learning a second language.



Thus, the age of kids who start to learn English is ever getting lower, even two or three. It is no wonder that kindergartens offer English classes to their "young" students.



Alas, however, our lawmakers passed a Ministry of Education-proposed bill to ban English language classes for first- and second-grade pupils at elementary schools after regular school hours to help minimize the "negative effects of early English education practices." The legislation went into effect just a year ago.



The ban is part of a government policy, based on a 2016 Constitutional Court's ruling that teaching English "early" may hinder kids' proficiency in the Korean language.



The ministry officials came up with the strange logic that "social skills and cognitive development" should take place before starting to learn a second language, namely English.



They deserve the nickname of "signature officials of the Republic of Regulation."



In a contradictory policy, however, the government allows kindergartens to conduct English classes not as officially registered pre-schools but as private institutions.



What nonsense!



The Prohibition of Teaching in Advance of the Government Curriculum Law, namely the prior learning act, stipulates that English education shall start from the third grade, so English classes after-school hours for first and second graders would not be allowed.



What a good law for private teaching institutes, dubbed "hagwon." The law does not apply to them. The growing demand for early English education, although expensive, has made these outlets very popular, particularly among parents who can afford them.



More than 900,000 first and second graders of elementary schools are stripped of an opportunity to learn English after regular school hours at the cost of 100,000 won a month on average and have to go to hagwon, if they want to learn the language after school. The cost is almost triple. The "English divide" is ever widening.



Even if the government reduces the importance of English education at public so schools, the demand never decreases, rather further widening the divide.



Foreign language education, especially English, is not luxury, but an investment in human resources. It affects not only the personal income, but on the nation's international competiveness.



For instance, the United States allows foreign language classes after regular curriculum at public schools and has been encouraging foreign language learning by adopting the bilingual license formula.



Various research has found that early foreign language education before the age of seven is good for brain development, cognitive ability and sociality, even contributing to delaying dementia in later years.



According to a research team of University of Geneva, about nine percent of Switzerland's gross national product (GNP) comes from the people's multilingual ability.



Amid mounting calls for after-school English classes, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hye revealed during a parliamentary confirmation hearing in October that the ban runs against the demands of the education sector. But a revised bill to lift the ban is still pending at the National Assembly.



Now the government should solve the problem by overhauling the curriculum and persuading the legislature to act on the bill as soon as possible, timed with the beginning of new academic semester.



What is crystal clear is the fact that English proficiency is one of the most essential elements to help our growing generation survive the ever intensifying competition on international stages.





Park Moo-jong (emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974.


Bureaucrats' timidity, intervention drive away foreign investors



Greenland International Medical Center, established on Jeju Island as a successful example of attracting foreign investment, is in danger of collapse apart even before it starts operation.



The Jeju provincial government has set about to nullify its conditional approval of the Chinese-owned medical center for failing to open its doors by the March 4 legal deadline. The nation's first for-profit hospital is about to run aground after getting a green light just three month ago.



The cancellation has been somewhat foreseen since the province made a half-baked decision conscious of negative public opinion last December. The island administration had dragged its feet for nearly two years even after the Ministry of Health and Welfare gave it the go-ahead, caving in to the opposition of civic groups that claimed the for-profit hospital would shake the foundation of the country's public health service.



It then issued a conditional approval late last year while prohibiting it from treating Koreans. The hospital countered by filing an administrative suit in mid-February to have the controversial condition of admitting only foreign patients revoked.



The idea of a for-profit hospital traces back to 2002 when then President Kim Dae-jung vowed to turn Korea into a "medical hub of Northeast Asia," and the medical center is its first fruition. If canceled, the nation will have failed to take one step forward from nearly two decades ago. Also worrisome is the damage suit of 80 billion won ($70 million) to be filed by the hospital. All this could pull down Korea's sovereign rating and adversely affect its efforts to attract foreign investment.



Most of all, it is regrettable the government's plan to find a new revenue source by grafting the medical industry to tourism is going up in smoke in the face of the regulatory wall. The medical center has only 47 beds, and its service is limited mainly to cosmetic surgery and other beauty-related treatment.



Civic groups' assertion is exaggerated, and some politicians' catering to the shortsighted opposition is unrealistic opportunism. The Jeju case only proves how difficult it is to introduce a for-profit hospital and attract foreign capital to the local medical industry. This is just too bad for the nation.




For historian Mohamed Afifi the time has come to challenge common assumptions about Coptic choices during the 1919 Revolution

I am Eryan Youssef Saad. I want to wash away your Coptic shame with my Coptic blood. This was how early 20th-century medical student and political activist Eryan Youssef Saad addressed then prime minister Youssef Wahba, who was interrogating him about his motives in attempting to kill him by throwing a bomb at his motorcade as it passed through Downtown Cairo in 1919.

The statement is in the memoirs of Saad, a leading player in the 1919 Revolution. They recall the sense of fury that took over the nation when Wahba accepted the royal request for him to lead the government and meet with British representative Lord Alfred Milner.

This, Saad explained in his memoirs, was against the national consensus and had been decried by revolution leader Saad Zaghloul who was in France at the time.

It was clear to Saad that Wahba would have to be eliminated. He did not want to see a Muslim undertake this task for fear that it would prompt divisions among Egypts Muslims and Copts that had been recently healed with the outbreak of the 1919 Revolution after close to a decade of sensitivities in the wake of the assassination of prime minister Boutros Ghali in February 1910.

The latter had been at the hands of activist Ibrahim Al-Wardani, who claimed to be avenging Ghalis collaboration in the execution of Egyptians who had confronted British soldiers in the famous Denshway incident in 1906.

According to historian Mohamed Afifi, this militant side of Coptic political choices in the early decades of the 20th century is too often forgotten, with some assuming that the Coptic political engagement at the time would not have taken a violent path.

This is untrue, however, and it is simply an assumption that people have. The fact of the matter is that in the early decades of the 20th century there were some seven militant political organisations that had joint Muslim and Coptic participation, Afifi said.

He added that the Black Hand group of which Saad was a member was just one of these.

From a strictly demographic point of view, there were more Muslims in these organisations than Copts. But this does not change the fact that Copts were always present, he said.

1919 Revolution

Afifi is head of the Cairo University Department of History, and in his 1988 PhD he examined the social choices of Copts in the 17th to the 19th centuries before later writing extensively on issues related to Coptic social and political choices including in the 1919 Revolution.

He dedicated a book issued in 2001 to the role played by a Coptic priest who made speeches at Al-Azhar in the early days of the revolution.

Afifi argues that his research has shown that what could have prompted Saads decision to take the life of Wahba might not have been only the episode of Al-Wardani.

There is also the unfair idea that whenever there is a foreign attempt to dominate Egypt, the Copts side with the intruders, he said. This is an often-unspoken assumption that has not gone away. However, it is really unfair to question the Copts affiliation to the nation.

Afifi acknowledges that there are some historic incidents that could have prompted this sentiment. One incident often used is the support that Yaacoub Hanna, a Copt, offered to the French during their occupation of Egypt in the early 19th century.

But this support has been taken out of context, and it must be placed against the background of the history of Coptic grievances during the rule of the Mamelukes in Egypt, he said.

It is also often not juxtaposed with the role played by other Coptic figures, including Girgis Al-Gohari, in opposing the French occupation. The Coptic Church also disowned Hannas choices, just as a little over a century later it declined to support Wahba as leader of the government and his meeting with Milner.

1919 Revolution

Religious Unity

Afifi argues that while the Coptic Conference and the Islamic Conference of 1910, held against the backdrop of tensions in the wake of the assassination of Ghali, were originally designed to champion religious agendas, they eventually turned towards a more consensual nationalist agenda.

This is again evidence that goes against the assumption of the inevitability of Coptic-Muslim strife at moments of political tension, Afifi said.

He added that what had helped to sideline the call of the sectarianism that was trying to find roots in the second decade of the 20th century had been the upsurge of the nationalist movement in the wake of World War I.

In his memoirs, Fakhri Abdel-Nour, one of the recognised Coptic faces of the 1919 Revolution, recalls the positive impact of the statement made by Saad Zaghloul at the onset of the equal responsibilities and equal rights of Egyptian Copts and Muslims in and after the revolution.

From the beginning, Abdel-Nour recalls, Zaghloul was joined by the Copts Wassef Ghali and Morkos Hanna, later chosen as members of the government he formed in a challenge to the then established standard of having one Copt in a 10-member cabinet.

Saad Zaghloul was firm about his choices, and he defended them firmly to king Fouad later, Abdel-Nour wrote. His memoirs are also full of incidents of support by Saad Zaghloul for Copts and by Copts for Saad Zaghloul.

There was the choice of the Copts in 1921 to go along with Zaghlouls appeal, with other figures including Wassef Ghali and Sinout Hanna, to abstain from celebrating Easter in sympathy with demonstrators killed by police bullets in the governorate of Gharbiya just days before.

There was also Zaghlouls decision to visit Coptic figures in the Wafd Party on Easter Sunday and to make a statement to mark the day.

According to Afifi, some think that unlike some other political leaders of modern Egypt, Zaghloul was particularly successful in his approaches to the Copts.

But this is also not necessarily the case, he argues. Many of the choices made by the Copts during the 1919 Revolution were inspired by the fact that like other Egyptians they wished to see an end to the British occupation.

Ultimately, it is the foreign threat that brings all Egyptians together. This was also the case in a different way during the 1973 War, Afifi said.

For this reason, it would be a mistake to compare the position of the Copts during the 1919 Revolution to that during the 25 January Revolution in 2011, he adds.

Of course in 2011 there were Copts right from the beginning in Cairos Tahrir Square, and of course we all remember the pictures of Copts and Muslims praying together, Afifi said.

In fact, the 25 January Revolution was perhaps the closest moment to recalling the spirit of Coptic participation in a spontaneous way, different from the scenes in January this year on the opening of the new mosque and new cathedral in the New Administrative Capital when we heard statements from the leading Coptic figure at the mosque and the leading Muslim figure in the cathedral.

Afifi acknowledges that the political participation of the Copts in 2011 was not as marked as that of 1919 because the overall participation in 2011 was not similar to that in 1919.

There was no foreign threat: in 1919, people wanted to end the foreign occupation of their country, and this united Copts and Muslims. In 2011, it was about better governance, not something that everybody necessarily subscribed to.

However, there are still people who argue that the Copts hesitated too much in the 25 January Revolution, when in fact much of the population, both Muslims and Copts, hesitated about the revolution, Afifi said.

One wrong assumption is that the Copts retreated from the political scene in 2011 because the church had taken a negative stance on the revolution, he added.

In fact, apprehension about the demonstrations echoed by a frail and ailing Pope Shenouda was balanced by a statement by Bishop Moussa acknowledging the wish of the younger generations for change.

Afifi argues that the political retreat that has dominated Coptic life in recent decades has been a function of a wider political retreat imposed by the state after the 1952 Revolution, with its decision to dissolve the political parties and putting both Muslims and Copts out of the picture.

It was just that the Coptic retreat was more obvious, since 1952 created a situation in which the head of state and the head of the church handled the relationship between the Copts and the nation.

There is a need, Afifi said, for more study of Coptic history, not just the political but also the social and economic. Often enough, he finds preconceived ideas about Coptic participation in the 1919 Revolution obscure what was in fact their extensive participation before and after the revolution.

The Coptic presence in 1919 was a glorious one, but it has not been fully studied, Afifi concluded.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 7 March, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: The Coptic contingent

Search Keywords:

Short link:




Report shows Pyongyang may be rebuilding missile site



Prospects for post-Hanoi denuclearization talks are not looking up. The latest U.S. media reports are suggesting North Korea may have begun to rebuild parts of a missile test site it had started to dismantle last year.



U.S. think tanks reported earlier this week that they had detected steps to restore the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in satellite images taken of Tongchang-ri, North Korea. The images released Tuesday show the test stand superstructure being rebuilt after remaining partially dismantled since early August 2018.



South Korean intelligence sources also mentioned similar information during a recent National Assembly hearing, triggering concerns Pyongyang may be going back to its old brinksmanship after the collapse of the second U.S.-North Korea summit last week in Hanoi, Vietnam.



U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shocked the world by walking away without signing any declaration to build on their first summit in June 2018 in Singapore where they produced a vague agreement to work toward North Korea's denuclearization.



The two leaders reportedly parted ways amicably, but the stunning collapse of the summit underlined the impossible gap between the two countries' positions on how to proceed with denuclearization. Kim focused on getting rid of the international sanctions that were straining his country's economy, while Trump demanded more concrete steps from Pyongyang to ultimately end its nuclear weapons program.



It is uncertain when North Korea started rebuilding the site. If this has been started after the Hanoi summit, it could be seen as Kim's attempt to pressure the U.S. to meet its demands. But it is too early to tell exactly what Pyongyang's intention is.



When faced with questions from the media about this, Trump also seemed cautious, although he said that he would be disappointed in Kim if the rebuilding of the missile site was actually taking place. "It's a very early report," he said during a meeting at the White House, Wednesday. "We'll take a look. It'll ultimately get solved."



The report has added to widespread concerns that Pyongyang is not serious about denuclearization. Other recent reports have shown that Pyongyang has still been running uranium enrichment facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear complex even before the Hanoi summit.



Amid reports that North Korea may appear to be rebuilding the missile test site, the U.S. has warned of tougher sanctions. In an interview with the Fox Business Network, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton signaled tougher sanctions if North Korea was not willing to fully denuclearize.



The last thing anyone wants to see at this point is for Kim to return to his brinkmanship. He must remember that going back on his promise to denuclearize will only bring disastrous results for his country and its people.




Flags of Korea and China are seen at a plant of Hyundai Motor on the outskirts of Beijing, on Jan. 25. REUTERS-Yonhap



Carmaker plans to stop its oldest plant in Beijing on sluggish sales



By Nam Hyun-woo



Hyundai Motor has begun downsizing its presence in China as it decided to close one of its plants in Beijing to cope with falling sales there.



Industry analysts said the company's recent plan to stop operating a Beijing-based plant is the "trigger" to a wide range of restructuring across Hyundai Motor's China businesses, given that the company has been backpedaling for years in the world's largest market amid Chinese brand growth and the aftermath of diplomatic friction between Korea and China in 2017.



Hyundai Motor said Thursday it plans to stop the assembly lines in its Beijing Hyundai Motor Company (BHMC) Plant 1 to improve BHMC's efficiency. BHMC is a joint venture between China's BAIC Motor and Hyundai Motor.



"To enhance competitiveness of plants in China and secure profitability, the company is doing a comprehensive review on its mid and long-term plant operation plan," a Hyundai Motor official said.



"As part of that, we are planning to stop the operation of plant 1 in Beijing and are working on plans that will enable more efficient operation in China."



Though the company did not confirm exact details, parts suppliers said the plant, currently manufacturing the Avante and the ix25, will stop operating next month.



Along with the halt, BHMC is making payroll cuts. The company cut approximately 1,900 jobs at its plants 1, 2 and 3 and relocated around 100 employees to plants 4 and 5. Following the reorganization, the number of BHMC's total employee declined to 13,000.




French commerce caption French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) Chairman David-Pierre Jalicon speaks during the chamber's annual economic seminar, Economic Forecasts 2019, at the Grand Ambassador Seoul Pullman Hotel in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of FKCCI



By Nam Hyun-woo



The Moon Jae-in administration needs to communicate more with French and other foreign companies about its controversial income-led and other economic policies, the head of the French business chamber said Thursday.



"We lack dialogue with the government," French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) Chairman David-Pierre Jalicon told The Korea Times on the sidelines of the FKCCI's annual economic seminar, Economic Forecasts 2019, in Seoul.



"We understand and respect a lot of structural reform in Korea, but there are uncertainties and we need to organize ourselves in the progress of implementation," Jalicon said.



"We need dialogue with the current government to find the best way to implement those reforms without damaging the business sentiment too much and to make sure it's not something which can be seen as a little bit of worry."



His remarks were aimed at the Moon government's income-led policy, highlighted by the statutory minimum wage hike and a 52-hour-per-week limit on working hours. Jalicon said that those regulations were still ambiguous, thus foreign firms needed clarification through dialogue.



His remarks were supported by FKCCI Economic Department Head Michel Drobniak, who delivered a negative view on Korea's economy for this year, especially on Moon's income-led policy.



"The (Korean) government remains committed to its income-led growth agenda and there is no major change in that direction," Drobinak said. "To question that was it helpful for the economy, I think the answer was rather no, given the slow domestic consumption, and weak employment figures."



Jalicon said the FKCCI and its members know that Korea is the "champion of foreign direct investment (FDI) and should remain so" and rebound from the current economic slowdown, but it is doubtful whether French or other foreign firms looking for opportunities in Korea will feel the same.



"Thanks to experiences here, we all know that Korea has strong fundamentals to recover from the slowdown, But how about newcomers?" Jalicon said.



"The relevant information from the Korean government is not enough to feel confident to start the first investment. We need more help from the government to communicate and say 'we're in a bit of trouble now, but on the long term, we have the fundamentals to overcome that.'"



More than 70 officials from French companies in Korea attended the seminar at the Grand Ambassador Seoul Pullman Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Along with Drobniak, Societe Generale Chief Economist Oh Suk-tae and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Europe Trade Division Director Song Ju-ho provided presentations.


Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attends a panel discussion with his fellow deputies from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2019. Xinhua-Yonhap



By Echo Xie





While a slowing economy and pressure on jobs dominated the "two sessions" this year, President Xi Jinping refocused his attention to the environment at China's key annual political gathering.



Speaking to fellow deputies from Inner Mongolia at the National People's Congress on Tuesday, soon after Premier Li Keqiang presented the government's work report, Xi said boosting the economy must not come at the price of a degraded environment.



"Do not ever think about launching environmentally damaging projects for growth, or any attempt to breach the red line of ecological protection, even when we meet some difficulties in economic development," state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.



"As the Chinese economy goes from high-speed growth to high-quality development, pollution prevention and environmental governance are important barriers to cross  We must grit our teeth, climb over this slope and pass this ridge," the president said.



The joint sessions of China's top legislature and its political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, begin with annual work reports delivered by the premier and the CPPCC head. More detailed  and revealing  messages from Xi are usually released during his meetings with panels of lawmakers and advisers.





Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attends a panel discussion with his fellow deputies from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2019. Xinhua-Yonhap



Against the backdrop of an economic slowdown and a damaging trade dispute with the United States, Li's address to the NPC referred to "risks", "pressure" and "challenges" more than three dozen times while setting China's economic growth target for 2019 at the range of 6 per cent to 6.5 per cent.





Beijing denies responsibility for fine dust China linked with fine dust in South Korea: minister Moon vows joint action with China to tackle dust Citizens irked by poor anti-dust measures The premier said companies, as the main polluters, had a responsibility to protect the environment. But he also instructed the environment watchdogs to consider legitimate requests from businesses and give them a reasonable time to take corrective measures, and to avoid shutting down polluting factories outright.



Xi and other top officials have seats at the national legislature, and the president is a member of the Inner Mongolia delegation. He has said he wanted to join the region's panel discussion because it would demonstrate the Communist Party's support for poverty alleviation, minority rights and environmental protection.



He told the panel it was the responsibility of the party and the government to tighten spending and he tasked officials with ensuring China's economic stability.



Xi also reminded them that they should unswervingly continue to protect the environment.



Students hold Chinese flags and cutouts of red stars as they perform a song titled "Me and my country", at a ceremony marking the primary school's new semester in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China February 28, 2019. Reuters-Yonhap

Inner Mongolia, which lies in northern China, was a vast grassland, but in recent decades dust storms and desertification have become major environmental threats. Mining, overgrazing and tourism have all caused environmental problems in the resource-rich region.



After he visited the area in 2014 and spoke of building it up as an "ecological shield" for China's northern border, banners and slogans echoing his thoughts went up in the streets.



On Tuesday, Xi told deputies that protecting grasslands and forests was the top priority for Inner Mongolia.



He also revisited his "three critical battles" call of 2017, with the priorities being environmental issues, alleviating poverty and reducing economic risks.



Zhang Lifan, a political commentator and Chinese historian, said Xi regarded environmental protection as one of his legacies. He said Xi's place on the Inner Mongolia panel suggested he wanted to strengthen his green credentials, given the serious environmental situation in the region.




Kuang Yang burns a Chinese flag to protest human rights abuses, outside British Columbia Supreme Court, in Vancouver on March 6, 2019, as Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou appears in court appearance. AFP-Yonhap



By Ian Young





He'd been wanting to do it for a long time.



So, outside the British Columbia Supreme Court complex in Vancouver, where Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou was facing a judge as part of her extradition process, Yang Kuang pulled out a Chinese flag on the broken tip of a fishing rod and set it on fire.



A phalanx of photographers and film crews captured the moment on a chilly Wednesday morning.



A string of Meng's court appearances since her December 1 arrest at Vancouver's international airport (at the US' request) have attracted crowds of protesters and rubberneckers.



At her December bail hearings, the demonstrators were almost all pro-Meng and pro-Huawei, decrying her detention as a political pursuit by the US, aided and abetted by Canadian lackeys. "Free Meng", and "We love you Huawei", had read the placards waved by a mostly Mandarin-speaking crowd, some waving Chinese flags.





Max Wang protests Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's court appearance at British Columbia Supreme Court, in Vancouver on March 6, 2019. AFP-Yonhap



The protests mirrored Beijing's unabated fury at Meng's arrest to face US criminal charges of bank fraud, conspiracy and obstruction related to alleged breaches of US sanctions on Iran.



But on Wednesday a different scene was unfolding.



There were knots of pro-Meng protesters, but others were waving posters of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, the two Canadians who have been detained by China and accused of working together to steal state secrets.









"Boycott Huawei" read one banner. "Extradite Meng", and "Release Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig", read others.



The spoken language of choice was Cantonese (although a handful of white protesters were on hand too). The flags of choice were Canadian.





Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court appearance in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. AP-Yonhap



Except Yang's, of course.



A well-known activist in Hong Kong, Yang was jailed for eight months in Shenzhen in 2014 for illegally crossing into mainland China, a sentence his family said was politically motivated.



Yang had previously made headlines in 2012 by captaining a boat that landed a party of activists on the disputed Diaoyu Islands, which Japan calls the Senkaku Islands. Then in 2013, Yang was arrested in Beijing for "provoking quarrels" while trying to visit the wife of jailed Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo; Yang was sent back to Hong Kong.



He was accepted as a political refugee in Canada in 2015, and now lives in Surrey, outside Vancouver.



Yang said he was angered by the "unreasonable tactics" used by Beijing to deal with Meng's arrest, namely, detaining Spavor and Kovrig.



"The Canadian government actually used a legal procedure to extradite her to the US," Yang said, in Cantonese.





Protesters hold photos of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who are being detained by China, outside British Columbia Supreme Court, in Vancouver, on March 6, 2019, as Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou appears in court. AFP-Yonhap
The global market size of Curcumin Market is $XX million in 2020 with XX CAGR from 2015 to 2020, and it is expected to reach
Egyptian police killed on Thursday seven terrorists from the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated terrorist group Hasm in Cairo's 6 October City.

"The State Security Department acted upon reliable intelligence that a group belonging to Hasm had been planning to plant an IED on Thursday morning," the statement said.

"Police forces set up a checkpoint to stop a white-semi truck suspected to be carrying the terrorists, who opened fire after approaching the checkpoint, injuring one police officer," it added.

Police fired back on the attackers  who were disguising as electricity maintenance workers  killing three of them.

The police seized arms and ammunition from the truck, as well as the IED the terrorists were planning to plant.

Security forces also raided the terrorists' hideout at an apartment in a building in 6 October City, killing four other terrorists in a shootout.

Police forces seized arms, ammunition and explosives from the hideout.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The groundbreaking date for the La Jolla Cove Pavilion restroom facility project has been pushed back to some time in the next few months, it was announced at the Feb. 25 La Jolla Parks & Beaches meeting. The groundbreaking and subsequent 440 days of construction was originally expected in the first part of 2019, but an unexpected redesign of certain features forced the delay.

Im excited to announce we will be starting construction very soon, project manager Elizabeth Schroth-Nichols told those in attendance. We opened the bid for this project in late January, and we have a contractor were in the process of awarding the contract to, and we anticipate issuing a Notice to Proceed in the next couple of months to get started.

The delay came from what Schroth-Nicols called an unexpected redesign of drainage features (nothing is changing from the exterior design that LJP&B approved in January 2018) to accommodate the historicity of the nearby La Jolla Cove Bridge Club.

Some of the features of the pump station were above ground and in conflict with the Bridge Clubs historic designation, she said. We wanted to reduce that impact, so we redesigned a few things. During the redesign, we decided to look at some of concerns and comments weve received from this group and others, specifically how to address the toilets and people misusing them and flushing items that should not be flushed.

Senior project manager George Freiha said it would take a few months (1-3) to process the paperwork. Once the paperwork is completed, a construction schedule could be announced.

It seems kind of odd  that we dont know what month this is going to start, quipped LJP&B trustee John Shannon. We have a lot that goes on in that park and in the community. Not having a start date or timeline (is problematic).

Freiha explained: This is a complex project in a very tight area. We know the demands and the services that will be needed. There will be a dedicated public information officer hired by the contractor who will relay information to and from this group. We want to get the project done as fast as possible, but its going to be tough and there are going to be impacts.

LJP&B chair Ann Dynes asked again when the groundbreaking would be, and when Freiha could not provide a date, she interjected 2019? to which he replied, Yes, yes, yes.

Another point of contention were the temporary facilities to be put in place during construction.

There are no plans for temporary showers, Schroth-Nichols said. Thats something we brought forward, but there were a lot of regulations that would have to be applied. The decision made moving forward is to just approve temporary handwashing stations and portable toilets.

The pavilion plan was introduced in January 2014, and in November 2014, the San Diego Regional Park Improvement Fund committee voted to fund the entire construction process.

The current, 50-year-old facility has 10 toilets in single-sex restrooms and one unisex facility, and the new restroom pavilion is proposed to have more single-stall unisex toilets, and a men and womens toilet room. The facility will also feature benches, outdoor showers, ADA-compliant toilets and indoor showers, and storage for beach equipment.

The facility as a whole is two buildings with a breezeway in between. One building houses the unisex stalls and the other houses indoor showers and single-sex restrooms and changing rooms, surrounded by exterior features.

Schroth-Nicols concluded: I feel confident in the redesign weve done that weve got the best design. Im excited to move forward.

In other LJP&B news

Marine Memorial on hold: After an outpouring of opposition, a proposal for a Marine Memorial Mall at the foot of Marine Street (with seating, water features, restrooms and a lifeguard station) has been suspended. At the LJP&B meeting, Dynes read a statement from project organizer, Erik Holtsmark, announcing there would not be any further developments at this time.

La Jolla Parks & Beaches chair Ann Dynes provides updates on dockless scooter corrals and the Marine Memorial Mall at the Feb. 25 meeting. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

My project to develop the dead end of Marine Street has run its gamut, she read. I am curtailing my efforts on this project in view of the excessive protests both orally and via acerbic e-mails. Although the details of the objections are mostly unfounded, it is obvious there is emotional opposition to improvements of any kind.  My vision was certainly extreme in exploring paramount possibilities for the location. Even deleting all the artistic and cultural elements, the fact remains that at some point in time convenient access, sanitation, safety and lifeguard needs must be provided.

Nevertheless, residents against the project spoke out in two presentations.

Because Holtsmark did not technically withdraw his project, the board unanimously voted to disapprove it.

Children Pools working group: Ahead of a California Coastal Commission hearing in June to decide whether to extend a permit to close Childrens Pool during harbor seal pupping season and install a rope to keep humans away from harbor seals the remaining months, a motion to form a LJP&B working group to prepare for the upcoming hearing passed. The group would come up with a recommendation to present to the Coastal Commission at the hearing.

Dockless corrals: As part of a broader effort to encourage responsible biking and scooter riding, Dynes said and LJP&B trustee Janet Stratford Collins are looking into places for La Jolla branded bike racks and corrals for dockless vehicles.

If you dont have a sanctioned place to park these things, you can hardly get mad at the riders for throwing them any old place, Dynes said. So the methodology is that these would create places where these could be left.

One idea is to place the corrals on streets with diagonal parking places. At the end of any given row of diagonal parking  where there are small triangular areas of leftover space and no room for a car  there could be a designated dockless bike corral. Efforts are ongoing.

 La Jolla Parks & Beaches next meets 4 p.m. Monday, March 25 at the Rec Center, 615 Prospect St. lajollaparksbeaches.org
Changes big and small are coming to La Jollas public schools. Some are already underway, some wont break ground until next year. Some campuses are simply getting heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, others will be completely renovated. Here is a breakdown of whats happening.

La Jolla High School

Construction started in late 2018 on the Whole Site Modernization project for the 750 Nautilus St. campus and includes a new campus entrance next to Building 200 with new gates and ornamental fencing, exterior painting of all buildings, repairs and improvements to building interiors and systems, renovated walkways, drinking fountains, and new security fencing. Opened in 1922, La Jolla High is San Diego Unified School Districts second oldest campus.

According to the District, interior improvements include converting Building 800A into lab classrooms, remodeling the science building and lab classrooms in Building 700. Renovations include those in the food services area, the girls locker rooms, and Building 500 restrooms and exterior finishes. Other repairs and upgrades that will be conducted as needed include HVAC; plumbing; sewer lines; electrical systems.

Work is set to be complete in February 2021.

Muirlands Middle School

As soon as this summer, Muirlands Middle School, 1056 Nautilus St. (built in 1963) will get new fencing to increase safety, and a new HVAC system.

Principal Goef Martin told La Jolla Light the plans to extend the fencing have been underway since his predecessor, Harlan Klein, was at the school. It was supposed to be completed in February 2019, he said. Harlan had sent an e-mail in spring 2018, and I sent a follow up e-mail in October. All the work they wanted to have done by February should have been done.

However, District spokesperson Samer Naji confirmed the work would take place over the summer to minimize construction impacts on school activities.

Additionally, the school will have its HVAC system installed over the summer, as part of a District-wide effort to have all the public school campuses fitted with HVAC equipment.

Down the line, the District is also proposing additional improvements, including ADA and security upgrades to the parking lots, facilities and school perimeter, and the replacement of all building windows, and other repairs as needed. Construction is not expected to begin until 2022.

Bird Rock Elementary and Torrey Pines Elementary

HVAC systems will also be installed at Bird Rock Elementary, 5371 La Jolla Hermosa (opened in 1951), and Torrey Pines Elementary School (opened in 1980) at 8350 Cliffridge Ave. The design and construction contracts for these projects were approved by the Board of Education at its Feb. 26 meeting.

The work is part of the Boards 2015 decision to implement district-wide air conditioning in classrooms and other primary-use spaces. Work is expected to be complete on these campus improvements in September. The goal is to accomplish the work during evenings, weekends and school breaks.

Naji said in terms of scheduling: The project team will make every effort to complete the work as soon as possible.

La Jolla Elementary

Perhaps the most extensive renovations will be done at La Jolla Elementary School, 1111 Marine St. (built in 1962). A Whole Site Modernization project  funded by Prop S, Z and YY bonds, which voters approved in 2008 and 2018  is being planned.

A meeting was held Feb. 28 at the school, during which time architects explained that the scope of work includes construction of new classroom and administration buildings, renovation of some current buildings, and removal of portable classrooms.

The schedule is in the assessment and planning stage, and construction would begin in 2020 to be completed in 2022.

A new two-story building will be constructed on Girard Avenue in place of the four portable classroom bungalows that are adjacent the auditorium building.

This new building will house permanent classrooms and administrative offices, and a gateway between this new building and the auditorium will serve as the single point of entry to the campus. There will also be new landscaping; a new food service area; specialized classroom spaces such as maker-spaces, and rooms for art and music; a new amphitheater; and expanded parking.

The Domusstudio firm will carry out the project, and architect Lisa DAmbrosia said one of the biggest challenges is to remove the existing portable classrooms and construct new permanent classrooms in a way that minimizes impact to students.

Were going to work with staff to lay out these rooms and spaces so they function in the best way for the users, she said. The bigger part of this project is to remove the existing portables onsite  there are currently two over by the kindergarten area. Integrated throughout the campus, there would be site improvements, such as connecting all the outdoor accesses with covered walkways.

Domusstudio principal Wayne Holtan said designs are still considered tentative.

They are to show imagery and suggest materials ... we still have many more meetings with the school, the district and the users. Were trying to study the massing and bring in materials from the existing campus, but bring in some new elements to freshen it up, he explained.

To improve accessibility throughout the campus, a bridge would be built to connect the upper field area to the second story of a building. There would also be new restrooms that could be accessed more easily from the upper field for the La Jolla Open Aire Farmers Market held on the grounds on Sundays.

Before construction begins, explained Lee Dulgeroff, district chief facilities planning & construction officer: We will send out mailers and notify the neighbors when work is going to start. Well also have meetings with teachers.

When we have a real plan, well be able to walk you through, move by move by move.  Were going to carefully plan and strategize how that plan will work, so we keep the work away from the kids, but step by step modernize the entire campus.
At the upcoming La Jolla Shores Association (LJSA) election, four current trustees are up for re-election, two new hopefuls are on the ballot, and there is room for four write-in candidates.

Of the 10 available seats, eight are two-year seats and two are one-year seats. Voters must be registered members of the La Jolla Shores Association. To be counted, the ballot (which can be downloaded at lajollashoresassociation.org) must be received by March 13 by mail to the La Jolla Shores Association, P.O. Box 64, La Jolla, CA, 92038; or delivered to the March 13 meeting before 7 p.m.

Here is an abridged version of the ballot, the full text is available at lajollashoresassociation.org

Dr. M. O. Andi Andreae: I first lived in La Jolla Shores in the 1970s while working on my Ph.D. studies at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. After living and working in Florida and Germany for some 35 years, my wife and I moved back to the Shores in 2015, where we now live permanently.

I presently work as a researcher at Scripps, mostly on topics dealing with the atmospheric and marine environment. I am committed to maintaining and improving the quality of life of the residents of our community and the visitors to our wonderful place. Beautiful beaches and parks and clean air, as well as safe roads, are essential to our well-being and we need to ensure that they are preserved and improved, where needed.

Pam Boynton (incumbent): A retired teacher and 44-year Shores resident, Boynton served on the LJSA board in the mid 1970s and again 2012-2016. She realizes the importance of a governing body to help oversee and fight for the preservation of this special area of San Diego.

Janie Emerson (incumbent): My family and I have lived in the area since 1961. The Shores is our special place. I am a former member of LJSA and currently serving as a trustee for La Jolla Community Planning Association and the La Jolla Shores Permit Review Committee. These experiences give me a unique view of the many exciting possibilities for our Shores community. I believe the Shores can embrace the new and retain its special spirit. Id like to help guide these changes to enhance our La Jolla Shores.

Sharon Luscomb (incumbent): I served on the LJSA from 2006 to 2011 and again in 2012 to 2014. I am not only a native La Jollan, but I grew up in La Jolla, attended local schools and college in La Jolla and my husband and I have owned and operated La Jolla Kayak in La Jolla Shores for 23 years now. I am a member of the La Jolla Shores Business Association, Las Patronas and a parent volunteer at the Gillispie School. I love our community, not only as a resident in La Jolla, but also as a business owner in La Jolla Shores. Im committed to helping our residents and businesses work well together in a busy area, and to continuing to preserve the beauty of the beaches, residential and business areas and the neighboring parks.

Ross Rudolph, M.D.: Having lived in La Jolla for 43 years, 30 of them in La Jolla Shores, I want to be able to contribute to the process of maintaining the community spirit and facilities of the Shores. I surf at the Shores beach several times a week, so Im very aware of what happens there. My wife Nancy and I are longtime members of the La Jolla Shores Surfing Association, and I was asked by that group to be active in the LJSA.

I am on the Clinical Faculty of the UC San Diego School of Medicine, having started in 1975 at UCSD and the La Jolla Veterans Administration Hospital. Recently retired, I now have time to serve the community. Recently I was appointed to the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation board as a representative of the LJSA.

Coco Tihanyi (incumbent): Tihanyi is a business owner and La Jolla local. She grew up attending Torrey Pines Elementary School, Muirlands School, La Jolla High School and UC San Diego, with a degree in Communication. Tihanyi has previously served on the LJSA board and has owned a business on Avenida de la Playa for the last 20 years. She is concerned about safety in La Jolla Shores, construction issues and conservation.

 The La Jolla Shores Association meeting and election is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13 at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Martin Johnson House, 8840 Biologicial Grade. lajollashoresassociation.org
Whether or not youre aware of the idea of the mind-body split, the fact is that many of our attitudes in contemporary Western society have arisen from it. From doctors who may tell patients their pain is all in their heads to motivational speakers who attribute everything to willpower and state of mind, the split is clear everywhere. As a PhD student, Ive seen how academia ignores the body in favor of enriching the mind, and in recent years, theres been increased attention paid to the ways the modern workplace affects our health. Such concerns about the mind-body split make up the backbone of Rheea Mukherjees debut novel, The Body Myth, from Unnamed Press.

The Body Myth opens with a disclaimer of sorts. It tells us directly that it will be uncomfortable: Take my story like you would a large pill. The narrator, Mira, is a recently widowed woman living in the fictional city of Suryam in India, a bustling cosmopolitan locale full of high-rises, office buildings and manicured parks. One day, Mira witnesses a woman having a seizure, or rather, faking a seizure; she runs over to help just as the womans husband hurries over too, and so she meets Sara and Rahil, the two people who will change her life completely.

Do we trust what our body is telling us? And how separate is the body from the mind, if at all?

The story is not told completely chronologically. We jump around, discovering parts of Miras past as she moves forward into the future, which makes the novel feel like an oral account, the way a friend might share a long tale with you, remembering details along the way, doubling back when necessary to fill you in. Theres nothing confusing about it, though, since Mira as storyteller explains when and how she goes into a tangent. For instance, when she begins to tell readers about her teaching job  she teaches English at the Seven Seeds International school  she also explains her grief:

Advertisement

You might think it was teaching that saved me from the blunt darkness that comes with the loss of a spouse. It was not. I almost committed suicide, true, but it was Camus, Sartre, Foucault and de Beauvoir who led me back to life. These philosophers who embraced the absurd made my pain feel silly. It made the world seem indulgent and, most of all, purposeless.

Its an irony, perhaps, that existentialist thinkers brought Mira back from the brink of despair, but it makes a certain kind of sense too: If you believe that everything is ridiculous, you can tamp down the importance of your own hurt. Its a kind of mind-body split trick.

Sara, on the other hand, teaches Mira about pain in an extremely different way. Rather than shunting her pain aside, Sara  who has been suffering for years with unexplained seizures, headaches, physical aches, mouth sores, fatigue and anemia, among other symptoms  advocates for herself. Shes been going to doctors for years, trying to figure out whats wrong with her. Mira believes its all in Saras head, that she isnt really sick at all, and yet shes incredibly drawn to Saras powerful weakness. Rahil, Saras husband, seems to feel the same way; he needs to be needed, and as Mira joins the duos life, it becomes clear that Mira enjoys being needed as well.

If you believe that everything is ridiculous, you can tamp down the importance of your own hurt

The question at the center of the novel, as the title implies, appears to be this: Do we trust what our body is telling us? And how separate is the body from the mind, if at all? For Sara, the answer is murky and depends on who is being asked. She is a mystic of sorts, goes into trances when she listens to music, and believes her soul has been trying to flee her body ever since she was born and that this is why shes so ill. Mira, on the other hand, believes Sara is faking her illnesses, whether consciously or not, and that she could be well if only she decided to be. Rahil seems unable to ask the question; he deals with what he sees in the moment, and when that is Saras suffering, it doesnt matter whats causing it as long as he can be there to support her.

But Mira learns more about the body than its pain and suffering. There is a delightfully queer element to this novel as Mira is drawn to Sara both spiritually and physically and the two begin sleeping together. Through the joys of Saras body, ill as it might be, Mira begins to emerge from her intellectual cocoon of cynicism and begins to find that she can enjoy simple pleasures once again. Healing, for Mira, occurs within the complex friendship with Sara and Rahil, no matter how untraditional it becomes.

Rheea Mukherjees The Body Myth. (Rachel Levit Ruiz / Unnamed Press)

The Body Myth is full of questions, about our bodies and minds, about mental illness, about the history of trauma, and about the depths of friendship and love. It doesnt answer any of these questions definitively, thank goodness, but allows its characters, and its readers, to keep pondering.

::

The Body Myth

Rheea Mukherjee

Unnamed Press, 234 pp., $16.99

Masad is a writer, book critic and PhD candidate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Its easy to look down on self-help books, but believe it or not the genre is as old as Athens.

The word therapy comes from therapeia, the ancient Greek word for healing. It treated both the body and the soul, meaning therapy was a job not only for physicians, but also for philosophers. Plato, Aristotle and many others promised to teach their students how to lead lives that were happy, in accordance with human nature, and, above all, lives that were good.

Philosophy and therapy have now largely come apart, though the classicist Edith Hall, in Aristotles Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life, is on a mission to put them back together again. Its instructive to compare her book with another recent self-help title by the Angry Therapist John Kim, I Used to Be a Miserable F*ck: An Everymans Guide to a Meaningful Life. They reveal subtle but profound differences between modern therapy and ancient wisdom.

Aristotle defines real happiness as using your intellect to achieve virtue.

Advertisement

Kim directs his advice to men who are having trouble maturing into self-sufficient, responsible adults. He knows their problems firsthand. Once a club owner and aspiring screenwriter, he chased money, fame and pleasure. Kim fills his book with funny and cringe-worthy anecdotes from these years, especially from his marriage.

John Kim, also known as The Angry Therapist, puts a decidely 21st century spin on self-help. (Ja Tecson)

Unsurprisingly, he got divorced and his screenwriting career went nowhere. Nearly broke, Kim took a counseling job at a residential treatment center for teens. The irony was that I was teaching teenagers how to take responsibility for their lives, but I was also learning the same lessons myself, he admits. Things like accountability. Taking ownership. Putting in work. Accepting who you are and building from that.

Those who follow Kims advice may become less of a jerk. But should we follow his advice? Theres a tension in Kims book, as in much of the self-help genre, between the no-nonsense directions and the constant encouragement to become the best version of yourself and start by listening to your truth. What if your truth is to remain immature and needy? The young Kim, or anyone else, might decide that the best version of himself lived for nothing but his own pleasure. Unfortunately, people can and do succeed in American society by acting selfishly, irresponsibly and by chasing fame and glory without giving a second thought to who gets hurt along the way. How could Kim, or any therapist, say that those qualities are bad when they might get you in the White House?

Book jacket for ?I Used to Be a Miserable F*ck: An Everyman?s Guide to a Meaningful Life? by John Kim. (HarperOne)

Modern self-help can bring you closer to your truth and potential, however you define that, but it has trouble establishing the difference between your best life and a good one. This is because, as the critic Philip Rieff observed in the late 1960s, in Americas therapeutic culture there is no higher court of appeal than the individual, no end beyond an intensely private sense of well-being.

Kims problems were nothing new, of course. In fact they would have been familiar to Aristotle. Halls book presents his solutions, Aristotles time-honored ethics in contemporary language.

Happiness then, extends as far as contemplation, and the more contemplation there is in ones life, the happier one is. Aristotle

In the 4th century BC, Aristotle was running a school for rich, young Athenian men, who could have spent their days vying for public honors or indulging their every desire. Against conventional opinions about happiness, Aristotle wanted to know how to Live Well, or [be] alive in the best way possible, writes Hall. Not your best life, but the best life.

The best life for human beings, Aristotle thought, had to be uniquely human, based on something that sets us apart from other species. That something is our intellect. No other living being, writes Hall, reasons as we do. Humans do things, and are able to think before, during, and after these activities. That is the human raison detre. Aristotle also thought that a truly happy life should be self-sufficient and immune, as much as possible, to reversals of fortune and unhappy accidents.

If Aristotle is right, then pleasure and fame cannot lead to true happiness.

Edith Hall revives Aristotles principles for contemporary life. (Mike Beard)

Even though he approved of pleasure in moderation, Aristotle also thought that if you, as a human being, dont fulfill your ability to act while exercising your rational faculties, then you are not fulfilling your potential, Hall writes. Those who make physical satisfaction their highest aim are living like house pets, or maybe even houseplants. And fame depends too much on the opinions of others, undermining ones self-sufficiency.

Instead, Aristotle defines real happiness as using your intellect to achieve virtue. For Aristotle, virtue can mean moral action, and he certainly wanted his students to think every day about how to act courageously, or just. But it could also mean excellence in a given field. So a carpenters virtue consists in the skillful construction of beautiful yet durable cabinets. A screenwriters virtue consists in weaving clever plots and painting unforgettable characters. These skills must be acquired through conscious dedication to a craft, and so happiness for Aristotle turns out to be a lifelong project, requiring daily effort. Here the ancient sage and the modern therapist agree. Happiness and maturity require work: reflection, pain, courage, Kim writes. It is a process that never ends. There is no completion.

Because almost everyone has the capacity for moral virtue, and all jobs require a degree of skill, Hall declares that Aristotles notion of happiness is wonderfully simple and democratic: everyone can decide to be happy. Just apply your intellect to everyday moral and professional problems, and happiness will follow. At times she sounds like the quintessential motivational speaker: Have you identified and actualized your unique potential?

Hall downplays the elitist implications of Aristotles theories. True, manual laborers can exercise their intellects, become more skillful workers, and therefore lead happy lives. But if intellect defines humanity, then the more intellectual a life is, the worthier it will be. To quote Aristotle directly, Happiness then, extends as far as contemplation, and the more contemplation there is in ones life, the happier one is. The best life of all is (surprise!) the philosophers.

Perhaps modern self-help and ancient wisdom both have something to offer. Rieff found Americas therapeutic culture vapid, but its also open-minded and even egalitarian. There are innumerable roads to happiness, no one better than another, so choose your own adventure. And ancient philosophy offers an important caveat: There might be a difference between your best life and a truly good and happy one.

::

Aristotles Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life

Edith Hall

Penguin Press: 272 pp., $27

---

I Used to Be a Miserable F*ck: An Everymans Guide to a Meaningful Life

John Kim

HarperOne: 240 pp., $24.99

Paul W. Gleason is an instructor in the University of Southern Californias religion department and a recipient of the National Book Critics Circles emerging critic award.
Chelsea Clinton, Dave Barry, Roxane Gay, Erica Jong and Susan Orlean are among the writers set to appear at the Los Angeles Times 24th annual Festival of Books, it was announced Thursday.

The two-day event, the countrys largest literary festival, will be held April 13 and 14 at USC. Organizers expect 150,000 visitors to attend the festival.

More than 500 authors, chefs, musicians and artists will participate in the festival, The Times announced. The lineup features several writers whove made their names in television and film, including Justine Bateman (Fame: The Hijacking of Reality), Sean Hayes (Plum) and Amber Tamblyn (Era of Ignition: Coming of Age in a Time of Rage and Revolution).

Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to President Obama, is scheduled to discuss her new memoir, Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. Other authors of memoirs appearing at the festival include Kiese Laymon (Heavy) and Queer Eye star Karamo Brown (Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope).

Advertisement

Local writers scheduled to read at the festival include Pulitzer Prize finalist Laila Lalami (The Other Americans), Orlean (The Library Book), Don Winslow (The Border) and biographer Miriam Pawel (The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty That Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation).

Other notable authors scheduled to appear include novelists Rebecca Makkai (The Great Believers), Bret Easton Ellis (Imperial Bedrooms) and Tayari Jones (An American Marriage). Chef and author Ruth Reichl is also slated to participate, as is poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib.

The festival also features programming for children and teenage readers, including appearances by young adult authors Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows), Meg Medina (Merci Suarez Changes Gears) and Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X). Story time will feature childrens authors David Shannon (No, David!) and Danica McKellar (Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape). Clinton will also appear at the festival in support of her new childrens book, Dont Let Them Disappear, illustrated by Gianna Marino.

Festival-goers will be able to buy books and merchandise from more than 200 exhibitors, and can eat at a variety of food trucks stationed at the USC campus.

The festival will be preceded by the 39th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes ceremony, which takes place April 12 at USCs Bovard Auditorium.

Admission to the festival is free. The lineup, schedule and transportation information can be found at the Festival of Books website.
Star Wars: Galaxys Edge, the ambitious 14-acre expansion coming to Disneyland this year, is opening earlier than expected  with a catch.

The massive, interactive attraction will debut at the Anaheim resort on May 31, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger told shareholders Thursday at the companys annual meeting in St. Louis. An identical planned attraction at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., will open Aug. 29.

However, the highly anticipated attractions will not be, to use Star Wars-speak, fully armed and operational when they debut. Iger said that one of the main draws, an immersive experience called Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, will not be ready for the public until later this year.

Rise of the Resistance, a showcase attraction of the land, features multiple full-scale ships and vehicles and extensive animatronics. The experience, representing a Resistance mission gone bad, will move guests among multiple locations, where they will ride vehicles and encounter characters from the blockbuster franchise. Iger did not reveal when Rise of the Resistance would open, but noted that the project is somewhat daunting even for the dominant player in theme parks.

Advertisement

Were pushing the limits of imagination and innovation, Iger said. No one has ever attempted anything of this magnitude, and so its somewhat daunting even by our standards.

Burbank-based Disney had not previously revealed when exactly the public would be able to experience the new Star Wars lands, which are set on a distant planet called Batuu and feature game-like attractions such as Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and a Cantina-themed bar. The Anaheim version had been targeted to launch in June, with the Florida project set for a few months later in the fall.

Guests looking to visit Star Wars: Galaxys Edge at Disneyland between May 31 and June 23 will need to make a no-cost reservation, Disney said.

Igers remarks, at the Stifel Theatre in St. Louis, came as shareholders narrowly approved a new, reduced pay package for the CEO. Shareholders voted 57% in favor of Igers revised pay package, a year after shareholders voted 52% against his compensation plan in a non-binding resolution that was seen as a stern rebuke to the entertainment giant.

Disney has recently made tweaks to its pay plan for Iger, following sharp shareholder criticism. The company this week cut $13.5 million from the executives annual target pay package, which includes bonuses and stock awards, to $35 million. Igers base salary will be $3 million a year, $500,000 less than an earlier plan proposed.

The company recently also increased the performance bar Disney must hit for Iger to collect more than $100 million in incentives he could earn as a result of Disneys pending $71.3-billion acquisition of assets from 21st Century Fox. Iger said Disney is in the final stages of completing the landmark deal and that regulators should give final approval soon.

Iger remains one of the highest paid executives in media and entertainment. He received $65.6 million in fiscal 2018, an 80% jump from the prior year largely because of stock awards tied to his 2017 contract extension.

During the 90-minute event, Iger previewed a scene from Jon Favreaus upcoming Lion King remake showing young Simba and Mufasa, and also offered a sneak peek at James Camerons long in-the-works Avatar sequel, featuring concept art from the production.

As usual, shareholder questions covered an eclectic range of topics.

Justin Danhof, of the conservative think tank National Center for Public Policy Research, called out ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmels use of blackface in a past comedy show, alleging a political double standard. Iger said the company had dealt with the matter privately and that there was no need to comment. Another attendee asked if Disney had made any progress on a possible third National Treasure movie. Igers answer: no news, though producer Jerry Bruckheimer is interested. One young shareholder asked if she could take Iger to lunch. Iger, not sounding committal, said: We can negotiate that.

In response to another shareholders question, Iger said the company would continue to make movies under the Fox label after the acquisition, but did not say how many.

Iger offered little information on Disneys upcoming streaming service, Disney+, which is expected to compete with Netflix. The company will preview the new entertainment app, which will include a variety of original Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel Studios content, at an investor day on April 11 in Burbank.

ryan.faughnder@latimes.com

Twitter: @rfaughnder
CBS is trying to lock up CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King to a new contract as the network is looking to her to be a pivotal player in a turnaround of the news division.

According to two people at the network with knowledge of the situation, King is in talks for a new deal that would more than double her current annual salary to around $12 million  putting her closer to the range of the morning anchors at ABCs Good Morning America and NBCs Today.

A contract at that price would make King, 64, the highest paid personality at CBS News by a wide margin. The division has shied away from big-money talent deals as it has been under budgetary constraints in recent years.

But CBS News President Susan Zirinsky was named in January to succeed David Rhodes with a mandate to restore some of the luster to the storied division that has seen its daily morning and evening programs slump in the ratings. Keeping King  who has made noise with news-making exclusive interviews of late  is Zirinskys first challenge and a major priority.

Advertisement

Kings current contract is up at the end of the year, but the network would like a deal done sooner than later. CBS is said to have competition from ABC, according to several industry executives who say the Walt Disney Co.-owned network wants to add King to its anchor team on Good Morning America.

A representative for CBS News declined to comment on Kings contract situation. ABC News had no official comment, but an executive speaking on the condition of anonymity said, If someone as talented as Gayle became available, who wouldnt have that conversation?

In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, King did not go into detail on her contract status but said it was very flattering to hear about ABCs interest. I think its kind of foolish to predict the future, she added.

The timing of the talks could hardly be better for King. She has scored a series of exclusive interviews in recent weeks, including this weeks explosive sit-down with embattled music superstar R. Kelly, who vehemently denied the sexual abuse charges he is facing.

A video clip of King keeping a cool demeanor while Kelly went into an unhinged rage went viral after it aired Wednesday on CBS This Morning. Interest in the interview has led the network to air an extended version of it in a prime-time special on Friday. King spent a total of 80 minutes interviewing Kelly and spoke with his two live-in female companions as well.

The Kelly interview added to a string of exclusives King has scored for CBS This Morning. She had the first TV conversation with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam following the scandal over a photo on his medical school yearbook page showing students in blackface and a Ku Klux Klan robe.

She also interviewed Michael Jacksons family members who sued to stop the airing of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, which detailed the pop legends alleged sexual relationships with children.

Kings interviews  which have been featured across several CBS News programs and its digital channel  are an example of Zirinskys strategy to aggressively pursue exclusives and feature them prominently so that the networks journalism can be part of the national conversation.

While there is time on Kings deal, CBS wants a new commitment in place sooner than later. People familiar with Zirinskys thinking said she wants to secure Kings position at CBS This Morning  which brings in around $90 million in profit for the news division  and allow the flexibility to make other moves.

Gayle King on the set of CBS This Morning in 2016. (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)

There have been discussions about moving CBS This Morning co-host Norah ODonnell to the anchor chair at CBS Evening News, replacing Jeff Glor. But there is a reluctance to make that transition without securing King, as too much change could be disruptive to the morning audiences viewing habit.

Pieces are going to get moved around the chessboard but nailing Gail down is where everything starts, said one person familiar with the discussions.

CBS This Morning was a network news success story after it launched in 2012. With the team of Charlie Rose, ODonnell and King, the program saw audience levels rise over five straight years while its competitors hit record lows.

The successful trio was split up after Rose was fired in November 2017 following a report that a number of women who worked on his PBS talk show accused him of sexual harassment. Rose is also being sued by three former CBS News employees who say they were harassed by him while working on the morning program.

CBS This Morning went into a ratings tailspin after Roses departure as many viewers were tuning into the program for his gravitas and on-air connection he had with co-hosts King and ODonnell. Rose was replaced by John Dickerson, who had been successful as moderator of the Washington-based public affairs program Face the Nation. The network also added a fourth co-host, Bianna Golodryga, to the program.

stephen.battaglio@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveBattaglio
A criminal court in Egypt's Red Sea governorate sentenced to death on Thursday a man convicted of killing a Ukrainian woman in the Red Sea resort of town Hurghada in March 2018.

The court has referred the sentence to the countrys grand mufti for his non-binding opinion, as required by Egyptian law, pending a final verdict.

The case dates back to March 2018, when a 29-year-old Ukrainian Marina Ivanenko, who worked in customer service at a hotel in Safaga, 60 kilometers from Hurghada, was killed.

Ivanenko was stabbed to death in her home, where she was later found by her husband.

Police arrested a 33-year-old Egyptian government employee for the murder, saying the motive was theft.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musks Pentagon security clearance is under review after he infamously smoked marijuana live on YouTube in September, according to a U.S. official.

Musk has refiled his SF-86 security form, which requires a federal employee or contractor seeking a clearance to acknowledge any illegal drug use over the previous seven years, according to the official, who asked not to be identified. SpaceX has contracts to launch satellites for the U.S. military.

Musks adjudication review by the Defense Security Service continues with no decision yet, the U.S. official said. Typically during an adjudication, a person keeps his or her security clearance but loses access to information classified as secret, according to the official. If the drug use involves minor issues or doesnt appear to contain any serious security concerns, the unit reviewing the case could just close it and update Musks record.

The Defense Department said it does not publicly discuss individual clearance status but said in a statement that it is following its normal process when information which may affect an individuals clearance eligibility is brought to our attention. SpaceX declined to comment.

Advertisement

There can be serious consequences for breaching security protocols.

Smoking marijuana is absolutely grounds for termination or loss of a clearance if a federal employee or contractor currently uses it, said Mark Zaid, an attorney who specializes in federal whistleblower cases and representing clients facing clearance challenges. Zaid doesnt represent Musk and was not aware of the details of his case.

It totally would make sense for the Defense Security Service to ask Musk to update his application and to investigate the situation further, he said.

About two months after Musk smoked pot on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on YouTube, NASA said it would conduct a safety review of Hawthorne-based SpaceX and another of its contractors, aerospace giant Boeing Co., to ensure the companies are meeting NASAs requirements for workplace safety, including the adherence to a drug-free environment. The Washington Post reported that NASAs safety review was spurred by Musks pot-smoking on the podcast.

SpaceX and Boeing have been awarded separate NASA contracts to build capsules to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceXs first test flight of its Crew Dragon capsule, without humans aboard, launched last week. The capsule is set to return to Earth and splash down in the Atlantic Ocean on Friday morning.

Crewed test missions in the SpaceX and Boeing capsules are expected this summer or later.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said last month that the safety review is just making sure that all of our contractors have the culture that is appropriate to a human spaceflight program.

I have no reason to doubt that that culture exists both at SpaceX and at Boeing, he said. But I want to make sure that before we put humans on rockets, we have a really good assessment as to [the companies] culture. NASA has had to learn some very tough lessons on culture in the past. We want to make sure that those lessons have been learned not just by NASA, but also by our contractors.

In December, weeks after NASA announced its safety review, a U.S. Air Force official said his service did not have similar qualms about SpaceX.

The Air Force relies on SpaceX and on United Launch Alliance  a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp.  to launch sensitive national security satellites. SpaceX has been certified to compete for U.S. national security launches since 2015. It has been awarded nine total national security space launch missions.

We actually do not have a concern about their processes, Col. Robert Bongiovi, director of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Centers launch enterprise systems directorate, told reporters in December.

A SpaceX official, who asked not to be identified, said Thursdays news hasnt had an effect on the company.

News of the security refiling comes during a tumultuous time for Musk, who is also CEO of electric-car maker Tesla Inc. In the last two weeks, Musk has gotten into another spat with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over his tweets about Tesla, unveiled a cheaper version of Teslas Model 3 sedan and caught investors  and members of his own staff  by surprise with plans to close most of Teslas showrooms.

Capaccio writes for Bloomberg. Masunaga is a Times staff writer.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

Twitter: @smasunaga
He directed Annette Bening in her first role and wrote Robin Williams reference letter for Juilliard, but Dakin Matthews says his own acting career didnt really take off until he was in his 70s.

Now, at age 78, hes in one of the hottest shows on Broadway, with a plum role to boot: Judge Taylor of Maycomb County in Aaron Sorkins hit adaptation of Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird.

Hey, just about every show needs a judge or a grandfather, says Matthews, who has scored big with his salty interpretation. Times theater critic Charles McNulty noted the tart irony in his performance, while the New York Times Jesse Green declared him hilarious.

Says the plays director, Bartlett Sher: I find it extraordinary that audiences leave Mockingbird and always find the judge one of their favorite characters.

Advertisement

For Matthews, Mockingbird is simply the continuation of a remarkable streak.

Ive done eight Broadway shows in the past decade, he said over a glass of Malbec at the National Arts Club in Manhattan.

He never imagined he would do song and dance in his later years, and yet he was called upon to do both in Rocky the Musical (2014) and Waitress (2016). He played Winston Churchill opposite Helen Mirrens Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience (2015). Somewhere in there, he managed to get back home to Los Angeles, where he performed in The Nether (2014) at Center Theatre Groups Kirk Douglas Theatre and Yes, Prime Minister (2013) alongside Jefferson Mays at the Geffen Playhouse.

The company of Aaron Sorkins To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway, with Jeff Daniels at Atticus Finch and veteran L.A. actor and Antaeus Theatre co-founder Dakin Matthews as the judge. (Julieta Cervantes)

The run of late-career roles comes after Matthews, who was born in Oakland, spent more than three decades teaching English while acting, directing and writing on Northern California stages. He eventually settled in Los Angeles, adding TV work (including playing Santa on The Big Bang Theory) and film (Bridge of Spies) to his resume. But he has been a true force in theater, co-founding in 1991 the classical ensemble Antaeus Theatre Company, now based in Glendale.

It was a marvel that he could gather such quality actors for the original company and originate the idea of double casting, longtime Antaeus member Armin Shimerman says, referring to the dual sets of actors who alternate performances.

Matthews is a fan of the regions theater companies and cites the Road Theatre Company in North Hollywood and Skylight Theatre in Los Feliz in particular, but he says Angelenos are always coping with a weak theatergoing tradition  not to mention traffic. In 2013, the actor announced he was packing up and heading east to make his Broadway debut at age 73.

Now, as Judge Taylor, Matthews serves as a pivotal bookend of sorts: He talks lawyer Atticus Finch (played by Jeff Daniels) into taking the case that frames the play, and he delivers a key passage at the end. Plus, I am the one who gets to say the title, Matthews says proudly.

Matthews said the development process was particularly long and arduous. Aaron was working on the script every day until we locked it in, something that didnt happen until two weeks before opening night, Matthews says. There were real issues to grapple with. Someone gets killed in the show, and neither Bart nor Aaron initially knew how much to show and how much to narrate. Aaron was dealing with an iconic book and movie, and a message that doesnt really work 50 years later.

Sorkin did not want this to be about another white hero, Matthews says. He wanted him to be flawed and the black characters to be fleshed out.

Matthews has only praise for Daniels, whom he described as a working actor who also happens to be a star. Hes not some Hollywood name dipping into theater for some quick cred. He said the same of Denzel Washington, with whom Matthews worked as a dramaturg on Broadways Julius Caesar in 2005, and Ethan Hawke, with whom he traveled the world for a year as part of Sam Mendes Bridge Project (performing Shakespeare and Chekhov). He also dramaturged Hawke in Lincoln Centers 2013 production of Macbeth, although Matthews acknowledges that that one flopped. (I dont think that was Ethans part, he says. But theres no shame in failing as Macbeth.)

Dakin Matthews as Sir John Falstaff and Arthur Hanket as Ford (in disguise) in the Old Globe Theatres Festival 1999 production of Shakespeares The Merry Wives of Windsor. (Craig Schwartz)

Shimerman, who teaches Shakespeare at USC, extols Matthews dramaturgy with the Bard, and sure enough, during a talk on The Merchant of Venice at the National Arts Club, Matthews skillfully unpacks the iambic pentameter into conversational English.

As an actor, Matthews process is to memorize a script quickly, then break down every line to its subtext.

You dont know what you dont know till you dont know it, he says, recalling that just the day before, he had forgotten some words in Mockingbird. The actual line is, He had it coming, but I could not think of it, so I said, He deserved it. So even if I forget a word, I remember the meaning.

Physically too the risks inevitably arise. Broadway dressing rooms are the most dangerous places in the world, he says. The other night, right before my entrance, I took four steps in a complete tumble and could feel my shoulders getting crushed, he says.

But on he went. And sore shoulder or not, he can hardly believe his good fortune. On Monday he performed alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda at a Lincoln Center Theater benefit concert of Camelot. TV and film offers come, but his real love remains the stage. Says Matthews: Its where you actually earn the money they give you.

See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts.
Charles White was a spectacular draftsman. His facility with graphite, charcoal, crayon and ink was evident from at least around the age of 17, when he drew an achingly refined self-portrait on a cardboard sheet.

That prodigious gift was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because, when he died in 1979  tragically young at barely 61, congestive heart failure perhaps a legacy of tuberculosis contracted during World War II  he left us a substantial body of powerful work that records and renovates a critical segment of 20th century American history.

And a curse because that profound aptitude ensured he would be out of step with powerful postwar artistic currents, which favored abstraction. He always had a core group of admirers  how could he not?  especially in the African American community, where segregation both de jure and de facto kept his work apart. But his exact talent was also devalued until he was gone.

Evidence is all over Charles White: A Retrospective, the formidable survey of about 100 works recently opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A number of paintings are included, but the graphic work is what is almost uniformly commanding. Organized in association with LACMA by New Yorks Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, institutions in the other two principal cities where the artist lived, the show is as timely as it is moving.

Advertisement

White was 47 in 1965 when, nearly a decade after arriving in Los Angeles and teaching at the old Otis Art Institute at MacArthur Park (now Otis College of Art and Design in Westchester), he drew JAccuse #1. The work, more than 4 feet high and 3 feet wide, is richly rendered in mostly short, deliberate strokes of black charcoal and carbon-based crayon on off-white illustration board.

The drawing shows a veritable mountain of a woman. Seated, she is wrapped in a voluminous blanket, her large hands folded in her lap and her clear eyes staring straight ahead. As monumental in her bearing as the drawing is in size, anonymous and of African descent, she faces a viewer as an immovable force.

Charles White made a dozen drawings in 1965-66 in a series titled JAccuse, #1 at left and #6 at right, after a famous open letter by French writer Emile Zola. (Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times)

DESERT X: I drove 198 miles to see 19 artists work. Heres the best 

The accusatory title is borrowed from the famous 1898 open letter by writer Emile Zola that publicly denounced the French establishment for covering up rank anti-Semitism permeating both the government and society at large. Whites drawing, absent Zolas exclamation point and less threatening than simply a stated fact, does much the same: An American establishment that whitewashes the snarled structures of white privilege stands accused.

In the year the drawing was made, Malcolm X, subject of FBI wiretaps and surveillance, was assassinated. On a Bloody Sunday that March, Alabama state and local law enforcement armed with tear gas and clubs pulverized peaceful marchers at Selmas Edmund Pettus Bridge. Tensions escalated over the Voting Rights Act, which ended legally sanctioned state barriers to the franchise in all elections, building on the previous years Civil Rights Act outlawing discrimination in public accommodations.

Those tensions boiled over. Five days after the voting laws passage, the Watts Rebellion reduced a swath of South Los Angeles to ashes, echoing conflagrations the year before in Philadelphia, Rochester, N.Y., and Harlem.

Whites drawing engulfs the figure in an atmospheric cloud of vertical striations, like falling rain. (He was a fan of prominent 19th century American painter George Inness, whose soft, moody landscapes he studied in abundant examples at his hometown Art Institute of Chicago.) She is at once humble yet grand. As much like one of the huddled masses that White portrayed during a stint making Social Realist murals for the New Deals Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, shes cloaked as a biblical saint, emperor or judge.

In this drawing, it is especially worth noting that she is a she.

The 1965 Moynihan Report  compiled privately for the U.S. Dept. of Labor and formally titled The Negro Family: The Case for National Action  had been leaking into the press. The controversial study claimed that the roots of black poverty lay in single-mother households.

Analysis by the powers that be indirectly (but inescapably) disdained Whites own full and impressive life  born to an unmarried domestic worker and a Pullman car porter of Native American (Cree) heritage and raised alone by her. As influential conservatives Rowland Evans and Robert Novak put it in a syndicated column published in this newspaper, even as the embers in Watts were still warm, broken homes, illegitimacy and female-oriented home life were central to big-city Negro problems.

JAccuse, answers the bold and defiant drawing  No. 1 of 12 in a series on various themes that White would produce during the next year.

Indeed, women are perhaps his most frequent subject. Also that year, White made one of the retrospectives showstoppers  General Moses (Harriet Tubman). In the 5-foot-8-inch-wide drawing, the intrepid leader of the Underground Railroad that surreptitiously shuttled escaped slaves to free states is shown seated on a primordial stack of massive boulders.

Feet planted, hands clasped, gaze steady, shes as elemental and solid as a rock.

Thin horizontal spaces between the stacked stones behind her convert the formidable pile into something almost surreal  the suggestion of an all-seeing mask or a pair of whispering lips. The stones are as mysterious as any in a Caspar David Friedrich painting, at Neolithic Stonehenge or that form a carved Olmec head. Tubman becomes a universalized ancestral muse, communicating a determination for liberty across time and civilizations.

Charles White, Frederick Douglass, 1950, lithograph (LACMA)

AT LACMA: Her name was Flora  lover of Alberto Giacometti and artist in her own right 

The exhibition is installed in a loose chronology according to Whites three home-base cities. Well-organized, it is nonetheless hampered in one unfortunate way: A blaring audio recording of portions of two White lectures plays on a loop, broadcast in the middle of one gallery but loud enough to interrupt viewing throughout the entire show.

The talks, given at LACMA in 1969 and 1971, include useful insights. But theyre a pedagogical intrusion; the tape should be transferred to headphones for private listening or simply shut off.

In Chicago, White learned the ropes, including painting in tempera on board. The fast-drying medium is as old as ancient Egypt, favored by many artists of the celebrated Harlem Renaissance, including Aaron Douglas and Jacob Lawrence. He applied it to a Midwestern Regionalist style in which black lives mattered to a full representation of the American scene.

In New York, steeped in progressive leftist politics, he taught high school art classes in Harlem with his first wife, noted sculptor Elizabeth Catlett. (Divorced in 1947, he later married Frances Barrett.) White and Catlett shared two transformational journeys.

One was to the American South, where three uncles and two cousins had been lynched, and where he was brutally beaten for entering a segregated Louisiana restaurant. The other was to Mexico City, where he worked alongside Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros at the Taller de Grafica Popular (Peoples Graphic Workshop). Riveras teeming masses especially informed Whites work.

Mexico was a milestone, he later said. I saw artists working to create art for and about the people.

Charles White, Sound of Silence, lithograph, 1978 (LACMA)

Los Angeles is where his work matured, however, steadily shedding stylistic inspirations for straightforward realism, sometimes injecting a symbolic twist and developing its own distinctive resonance. The JAccuse drawings demonstrate the transition  figures more direct and naturalistic, less stylized than in his earlier Social Realist imagery, and more authoritative because of it.

On occasion he could succumb to sentimentality. In one panel painting, a proud farmer with a pitchfork nods to rural fabulist Grant Wood.

More often, though, he transforms art historical subjects.

Card players occupy a conflicted social space, as they had from Old Master paintings to Cezanne. Conch shells, symbol of regeneration and awakening, turn up. A young boy plays cats cradle with a length of string subtly configured to evoke the innate perfection of Leonardo da Vincis Vitruvian Man.

Even the commanding JAccuse and General Moses will put you in mind of Michelangelos powerful sybils lining the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Whites art might have run headlong into the juggernaut of abstraction, which regarded figure drawing as retrograde. But these are works that cannot be held down.

         

Charles White: A Retrospective

Where: LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.

When: Through June 9; closed Wednesdays

Info: (323) 857-6000, lacma.org
Print pages are the star of the Oren Rudavskys documentary Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People: aesthetically striking illustrated color spreads and word-clogged pages from the legendary newsmans groundbreaking paper the World, which transformed journalism at the turn of the 20th century.

The Jewish-Hungarian immigrants rise from dogged reporter in St. Louis to progressive New York publisher and champion of the working class coincided with technological, economic and social revolutions that turned Pulitzers belief in what newspapers could be into a daily reality for a population hungry for information and inspiration. His papers regularly checked power (Nellie Blys famous asylum expose was for him) while establishing standards for reporting accuracy  he used the term fake news, appropriately, a hundred years before you-know-who tarnished it.

But Pulitzer wasnt averse to creating news, either, whether campaigning for civic causes in the paper, joining in Hearsts sensationalizing of the Spanish-American War, or openly calling the Panama Canal a corrupt, colonialist power-grab on Teddy Roosevelts part. A genius and a crank, by the end of a life marked by deaths and illness, he was largely a blind recluse micromanaging his empire from a boat.

Mostly, though, this conventionally made, PBS-friendly biodoc marked by those pages you could fall into, Adam Driver narrating, Liev Schreiber accenting his way through voice-overs as Pulitzer, and historian interviews, is a brisk, engaging-enough reminder of why the mans name is synonymous with press freedom and prizes for the best in reporting.

Advertisement

------------

Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Playing: Starts March 8, Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills; Laemmle Town Center, Encino; and Laemmle Playhouse 7, Pasadena

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

Movie Trailers

calendar@latimes.com

@LATimesMovies
It took Daron Malakian only a single gig to understand that rock star was the job for him.

Best known today as the guitarist in System of a Down  the arty and outspoken Los Angeles band that played to a capacity crowd of 45,000 a few months ago at San Bernardinos Glen Helen Amphitheater  Malakian was an eighth-grader at Theodore Roosevelt Middle School in Glendale when he went in front of others for the first time to perform Wild Thing with some pals during an assembly.

We did the Sam Kinison version, he recalled with a laugh. Somebody has video of it  Im headbanging, just totally losing my stuff, he added, using a stronger word.

Advertisement

Offstage, Malakian is thoughtful and reserved  very much a keep-to-myself kind of guy, as he put it from a lumpy sofa in a North Hollywood rehearsal studio. But when I go onstage, I like the attention.

I demand it.

The problem? System of a Down, which put out its most recent album in 2005, doesnt play that often these days  one result of Malakians inability to agree with the bands frontman, Serj Tankian, on a creative direction.

And that leaves Malakian, 43, with energy and inspiration to burn  which is why he was preparing on a recent evening for a brief West Coast tour with his other group, Scars on Broadway.

Ive done very well for myself in System of a Down, he said of the band whose pummeling 2001 single Chop Suey! has more than 800 million views on YouTube. But OK, I made some money. What am I gonna do? Just sit at home and not do anything?

Last year, Scars on Broadway, which will play the Wiltern on Friday night, released its second album, Dictator. Like the bands 2008 debut, the record sets Malakians catchy vocal melodies  with traces of the Armenian music he grew up hearing as a kid  over precisely calibrated hard-rock grooves; the lyrics address grim subjects like drugs and violence, but with an eye toward the bleak absurdity of our techno-pharmacological era.

Im an isolated and a motivated man, Malakian sneers in the perversely cheerful Sickening Wars, Ive been nominated for the best Armenian tan.

If the approach reminds you of System of a Down, Malakian has no problem with that. In fact, the songs on Dictator may well have become System songs if he and Tankian saw eye to eye. (In a lengthy Facebook post last summer, Tankian wrote about how, working with Malakian, hed bring in a song that would be morphed into an undesirable version that I myself would withdraw from consideration).

To me, Scars is just a continuation of where I left off in System of a Down, Malakian said.

He actually wrote Dictator a few years ago, then sat on the material in case System managed to come together to make a record; when that didnt happen, he decided to release the project as an album by Scars on Broadway, with a cover depicting a brutish figure with a conspicuously fluffy haircut.

Painted by Malakians father, Vartan, the image cant help but call to mind Donald Trump  especially given the title tracks lyrics, which have Malakian insisting, Your politics will never correct me.

Its not about Trump, he said, pointing out that the albums songs predate the presidents election.

How old is the cover art?

The art is newer.

So maybe your dad was thinking about Trump.

Maybe. But he said he wasnt either.

Obviously, other people have asked you this.

Yeah, because people always expect some kind of political message from me.

Which this album definitely has, whether or not its about Trump.

But I try not to do it in a preachy way. Im not a far left or a far right person. I consider myself down the middle. I root for Trump to do a good job; Id like to see our country be in a good place. Im not one of those people that totally despises the guy.

How much ideological variety do you see in your audience?

I think its more people from the left.

And how does that strike you?

I think theyd be surprised if they found out that Im a gun owner.

Malakian says hes got plenty more songs where those on Dictator came from  probably enough for two more albums, he figures.

And hed like to get the next one out quicker, which should be feasible now that Scars on Broadway records for Malakians own label, Scarred for Life. (Interscope released the bands first album.)

This is a very do-it-yourself operation, he said, adding that he relishes the freedom of not owing anything to anyone.

Asked what he learned during System of a Downs days signed to a major label, Malakian replied, How the machine works. I learned that to get your song on the radio, you need to hire someone, which is sad.

Not that Im against anyone who wants to throw money into it. Its just not for Scars. His ambition for this band is rooted in the pleasure he finds in recording and performing, he said; hes not concerned with scaling Scars on Broadway up to System of a Downs level, even if the former has supplanted the latter as his priority.

With System, we get together and rehearse when theres a big show coming up, he said. But outside of that, were not really the band I would like to be in.

For me, Scars is my project  my only project.

Malakian must know thats sure to bum out some of his fans.

Look, if Ozzy [Osbourne] and [Black] Sabbath didnt have their time when they separated, you wouldnt have Crazy Train, he said, referring to Osbournes classic 1980 solo single.

Good things can happen when the members of a band do their own thing.

mikael.wood@latimes.com

Twitter: @mikaelwood
My first dinner at Tesse, an 8-month-old restaurant on the Sunset Strip near La Cienega Boulevard, began and ended with some French triumphs.

A spread of excellent sausages and pates kicked things off. Tesse is short for delicatesse, which can translate as either delicacy or charcuterie. Raphael Francois, the restaurants chef, grew up in Belgium and France and shows an elemental mastery of this kind of meat preparation. A pudgy, gently warmed saucisse de Lyon flavored with Madeira and pistachios balanced porkiness and nuttiness in equal ratios. His terrines  duck with more pistachios and smoked bourbon; a variation with figs and Armagnac that included foie gras before the ban kicked back in  had the correct, silky-coarse texture. This was the stuff of Seurat picnics and vanished bistros.

Pastry chef Sally Camacho Muellers vanilla souffle completed the meal: a cumulus spectacle billowing out of its ramekin, custardy at the center but not too eggy. In place of creme anglaise, she paired the dessert with vanilla ice cream dots frozen with liquid nitrogen. Their crunch and chill made for shrewd counterpoints against hot spoonsfuls of souffle.

Advertisement

Pastry chef Sally Camacho Mueller makes a fantastic vanilla souffle with ice cream dots. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

The food that came in between those highlights, in a glam setting buoyed by smooth service, was admirable enough that by the evenings end I asked myself: Why hasnt there been more sustained buzz around Tesse?

The restaurant opened last June, the first Los Angeles project in over two years by Bill Chait, a prolific titan among the citys restaurateurs. In the last decade he backed blockbusters including Bestia, Republique, Broken Spanish and Otium. Francois resume list impressive executive chef gigs such as the two-starred Helene Darroze at Londons Connaught hotel and Manhattans Le Cirque.

By the time I arrived as a new critic in town six months later, I could barely pick up any chatter about Tesse. Dinner crowds, as Ive observed, have been uneven: always quiet in the early evenings, sometimes suddenly crowded around 8:30 p.m.; a classic West Hollywood mix of us regular schmoes alongside men and women so enhanced they might actually classify as bionic.

Tesses dining room shows of Midcentury Modern design elements. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Did the location, along a stretch known more for boozing than serious dining, squelch word of mouth? Had the restaurant been overshadowed by Chaits next venture, the Manufactory/Tartine Bianco gargantuan that came to life last month in Row DTLA? Was it the food at Tesse? I wasnt around to report on the quality of the cooking at its opening, but I can tell you now that Francois and his crew have settled into an upbeat, feel-good groove in their open kitchen.

Given the look of the dining room  pure midcentury glitz, with sculptural patterned walls, uncluttered lines, calming woods and geometric bar stools  one might expect a more solidly Continental-French bent to the hodgepodge modern American menu. That would square with the renaissance of French cuisine cresting across America; Ludo Lefebvre helped jump-start the countrys renewed hunger for precisely blond rolled omelets, escargot and croques messieurs et mesdames with his original Highland Avenue location of Petit Trois. Im surprised more of it hasnt quite caught the zeitgeist in Los Angeles.

But thats the key to the winning strategy at Tesse: Among its pastas and crudo and beer-battered onion rings, the dishes that most clearly call forth Francois Gallic soul give the restaurant its defining character. Take simplissime, a white bowl filled with pureed potatoes that channels nouvelle cuisine in its starkness. Dig deep with a spoon and it all comes together: The spuds conceal blue crab nipped with tarragon; a Cognac sauce drizzled over the top brings all the rich, swanky flavors into close harmony. For balance: pleasantly astringent endive salad glossed in a beet reduction that makes the whole leafy mass glow a radioactive fuchsia.

The lobster sausage comes with steakhouse-style fries cooked in duck fat. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Francois riffs wonderfully on boudin blanc, subbing lobster for the traditional pork and chicken. The seafood sausage comes with a side of thick steakhouse fries cooked in duck fat. Id rather scarf down the boudin with the potato matchsticks crowning an elegant, non-cloying version of duck a lorange that rolled off the menu recently. (Bring it back, please.) It delighted when some other entrees proved downers: the slowly rendered and irresistibly named epigramme of lamb that was muddled in its flavors and a little greasy; a massive pork chop and Dover sole both arrived overcooked.

Camacho Muellers desserts left me trailing only happy memories: a tropical trio of coconut mousse with diced mango and passion fruit coulis; a precisely concentric apple pie flaky of crust and fragrant with ginger; a crisp, creamy collage of hazelnuts with dark chocolate mousse and praline. Shes the kind of talent who makes me want to show up at Tesses bar now and then just to gorge on sweets.

Behind the bar at Tesse. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Speaking of bar: Nick Meyer slaps his cocktails with some eye-rolling names (Melon DeGeneres, Weird Bonal Yankovitch), but his bartenders nail the symmetries in their earthy, herb-forward concoctions. Co-owner Jordan Ogron put together a two-page, deftly edited wine list that runs the gamut of styles, prices and geography. Even better, though: Tesses next-door wine shop, Boutellier, stocks an even broader range of varietals (including some wild and funky natural wines in the section titled The Forgotten) and prices; these bottles can be purchased at the store and opened in the dining room for a reasonable $15-per-pop corkage fee.

I didnt learn about this handy perk until I happened to be browsing the store before my last review meal. More diners should know about it. But then, thats true of Tesse itself.

Tesse

A cook prepares short rib with roasted garlic. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Prolific restaurateur Bill Chait gives Los Angeles a midcentury modern-inspired stunner whose classic French dishes best show the kitchens strengths.

LOCATION

8500 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 360-3866, tesserestaurant.com

PRICES

Charcuterie $6-$16 per selection; smaller plates $11-$38; pastas $18-$42; entrees $28-$52; desserts $8-$16

DETAILS

Credit cards accepted. Full bar. Valet parking. Wheelchair-accessible.

RECOMMENDED DISHES

Saucisse de Lyon, duck terrine, endive salad, blue crab simplissime, sardines, vanilla souffle.

bill.addison@latimes.com

Instagram: @bill_addison

Twitter: @billaddison
Congressional Democrats are launching an investigation into the fate of NASAs offer to fly a pollution-analyzing jet over the Houston region in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

The investigation was spurred by a Los Angeles Times report Tuesday revealing that officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality declined the NASA offer, arguing data collected by the space agency could cause confusion and might overlap with their own analysis  which was showing only a few, isolated spots of concern.

On Wednesday, members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology sent letters to the EPA, NASA and Texas environmental officials asking for all documents relating to the agencies decision not to fly.

Instead of gathering the most accurate air quality data possible, State and Federal officials apparently decided they would rather not know about potential toxic chemical releases, wrote Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas) and Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) in a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, and Michael Honeycutt, the Texas environmental agencys director of toxicology.

Advertisement

If this is true, it is not only an embarrassment, it is unacceptable, they wrote.

Reached Wednesday, EPA spokesman John Konkus said that his agency did not decline the offer. He said the the EPA was there to assist state environmental officials, who thought the NASA monitoring would be redundant to its own efforts.

However, emails obtained via a Times public records request to NASA show that David Gray, deputy administrator for the EPAs Texas region and chairman of the agencys Emergency Response Center after the storm, declined the offer.

In a Sept. 11, 2017, email to Honeycutt, NASA and EPA officials, Gray wrote, EPA concurs with your assessment and we will not plan to ask NASA to conduct this mission.

It is also clear from emails that NASA officials understood Grays response to mean they could not fly.

In an email from later that day, Barry Lefer, the NASA program manager for the jet, wrote to NASA officials that Gray had contacted the space agency to indicate EPAs desire that the NASA DC-8 not conduct air quality measurement flights in Houston.

Officials from NASA and the state environmental agency could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening. At least one environmental group criticized Texas and the EPA for not welcoming the assistance.

EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality knew air pollution was one of the unseen dangers of Hurricane Harvey but chose not to use every available tool to discover it, said Elena Craft, senior director of health and climate at Environmental Defense Fund, a group that coordinated air pollution sampling in the Houston region after Harvey.

Jennifer Horney, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Delaware who conducted research about the environmental impacts of Hurricane Harvey on local neighborhoods, also welcomed the congressional investigation.

It is critical that we have a better understanding of the environmental contamination and long-term health effects associated with natural disasters, she said.

susanne.rust@latimes.com

Twitter: @susrust
For Anthony Phillip White II, being in community college while homeless was exhausting, embarrassing  and eventually unrealistic.

Just out of a four-year stint in the Marines, White moved to Oceanside in 2014 to attend MiraCosta College. A single father, he planned to share a home with friends and his then-5-year-old son Trey as he sought to become the first in his family to earn a college degree.

But the house didnt work out, and his part-time job in a camera store didnt pay enough for a place of his own. Trey had to stay with his mother in Nebraska, and White moved into his Chevy Silverado, working during the day, taking classes in the evening and searching out safe places to park at night. After eight months in the truck, with help from a veterans group, he got an apartment and got his son back. But trying to parent and pay bills while still making it to class was too hard.

It just became a lot, trying to go to school, so I stopped going, he said. I dont think paying for classes is the issue. I think its the housing, its the infrastructure, support.  If we want to lift ourselves up, if we want to produce a better set of leaders for tomorrow, we have to start addressing this.

Advertisement

Whether living in cars, on couches or outside, homelessness is a persistent problem across Californias 114 community college campuses  a symptom of a larger crisis of affordability for the states most vulnerable higher education students.

A study released Thursday by the Hope Center, a research and policy institute, found that 19% of Californias 2.1 million community college students have been homeless during the past year. The survey is the most comprehensive yet done on food and housing insecurity in California community colleges, and included more than 40,000 students across 57 campuses. It echoes earlier findings that 1 in 5 community college students in Los Angeles are without stable shelter.

Accounting 101 classroom at Orange Coast Community College in Costa Mesa. (Los Angeles Times)

The study also found that 60% of students in the survey were housing insecure in the past year, with 17% of those eventually falling into the homeless group. Housing insecurity was defined as being in a situation that made losing permanent housing more likely, such as missing a rent payment or having to live in overcrowded situations, said Sara Goldrick-Rab, an author of the study. Homelessness was defined using federal standards specific to students, which includes living situations such as couch surfing, cars or motels, or living outside.

The numbers of homeless students increased for some vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. Thirty-one percent of black students reported being without permanent shelter, while 34% of transgender students and 27% of gay and lesbian students lacked stable homes.

Its not about eating Top Ramen and working three jobs, said Larry Galizio, president of the Community College League of California. These people are in desperate circumstances.

In many places in California, the out-of-pocket cost of attending a community college, including housing and other necessities, is out of reach for low-income students  making the effective cost of an education higher than for those who attend state colleges and universities.

Low-income UC San Diego students pay about $9,900 annually out of pocket, according to an earlier report by the Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS). Attending a community college in San Diego, meanwhile, costs about $14,500 a year, similar to Los Angeles but less than in some places. In Sacramento, where year-over-year rent increases have been some of the highest in the country recently, UC Davis costs about $8,000 annually, out of pocket, while community college costs about $19,600. The Sacramento area also had the highest rate of student homelessness, with nearly a quarter reporting they lacked permanent shelter in the past year, the Hope survey found.

Students are falling short of funds and its pretty common for that to happen, said Goldrick-Rab.

A disparity in financial aid is largely to blame. Grant aid is tied to tuition, with higher tuition leading to more aid that does not have to be repaid. But the greatest expense for students across the states higher education system isnt tuition  it is housing and other living costs. While the total cost of attendance for UC students is 56% higher than for community college students, UC students receive 300% more grant aid, according to TICAS. The average low-income, full-time community college student received $5,800 in state and federal grant aid in the 2017-18 school year. A similar student at a UC school received $27,500, according to TICAS.

Community college students are also less likely to seek and qualify for federal loans, and many community colleges dont offer them  leaving students to make up the remainder through work, family or other resources.

Spending on free community college for Californians would pay off big for the state 

Terance Williams, 26, spent the fall of 2018 living in his 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix at Laney College in Oakland because he couldnt get financial aid. Like 43% of homeless students at community colleges, Williams grew up in foster care. On his own at 18, he eventually got a job as a security guard, but was fired after two years when they discovered he didnt have a high school diploma.

Williams got his GED and enrolled at Laney the next day, he said, but couldnt qualify for financial aid because he had made too much  just over $15 an hour  as a guard. He bounced around living situations before landing in his car, but by November, had decided to drop out.

I got discouraged, he said. It was over.

A few days later, he was given one of two student housing units on campus  a tiny house built by the campus carpentry department.

It just changed everything, Williams said. It changed the way I thought. It changed the way I felt.  It shouldnt be this hard to get financial aid.

Editorial: Why not let homeless college students park in campus lots? 

Goldrick Rab said California has a fundamental problem in how it gives grant aid.

The bottom line here is California has made a mistake in how it has treated its financial aid resources, said Goldrick Rab.

Lawmakers have been grappling with the issue for the past few years. Schools in all three of the states higher education systems  UC, Cal State and California Community Colleges  are now required to help guide homeless students to food and shelter and to give such students access to campus showers, among other measures.

This year, legislators have introduced multiple proposals to stabilize the experience for community college students and help them pay their bills. Ideas include restructuring how student aid is doled out and a $40-million proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom to pay for the second year of tuition for full-time community college students at school for the first time.

The most far-reaching proposal would seek to fix the problem Goldrick-Rab sees with financial aid by creating a new grant for community college students  a massive revamping of current practices meant to equalize funding between the three state systems. The proposal, Senate Bill 291 by Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino), would give aid to both full- and part-time students based on the cost of living at each campus. It would require $250 million from the states general fund in its first year, rising to $1.5 billion by 2024.

Yes, there is a big price tag attached to this, said Leyva. This is our future and our students at community colleges are our future . Community college, which is supposed to be the most accessible for everyone, is becoming the least accessible.

The bill is just beginning to wind through the legislative process, but others are pushing measures to address student homelessness in the short term. Assemblyman Marc Berman (D- Palo Alto) introduced a bill that would mandate community colleges consider allowing overnight parking for homeless students.

With lawsuits and overspending, another L.A. Community College bond measure sparks controversy 

White is backing the measure and will tell his story at the state Capitol in coming weeks to support it. He went back to community college in 2017 and soon will transfer to Cal State San Marcos to finish his final year toward a business degree. Last year, he ran for student government and won, introducing a plan for overnight parking on his campus before he learned of the state proposal. He remembers what it was like to hear noises at night in his truck, and being too scared to sleep more than a few hours. He also remembers when, as an adult, he watched his father earn his GED.

I never thought I was going to go to college, said White. But I really want to do something more for my son, and his son . I am all about legacy.

More coverage of California politics 
More than 120 faculty members at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College on Wednesday demanded the ouster of President Laurence Frank, saying his failure to address scandals involving school officials grade fraud and questionable use of federal funds had caused bitter division and utter chaos on campus.

Frank, a former L.A. deputy mayor, declined to comment. L.A. Community College District Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez told The Times he retained confidence in Frank and did not plan to remove him.

Deirdre Wood McDermott, chairwoman of Trade-Techs language arts and humanities department, presented a petition of no confidence she said was endorsed by 127 faculty members at Wednesdays district board meeting. Thats about 20% of faculty members but includes more than half the faculty in most academic departments, including English, math, behavioral and social sciences, business and civic engagement, and language arts, she said.

The sharply worded petition accuses Frank of intentionally and repeatedly misleading faculty about campus scandals and ignoring wrongdoing. Internal district investigations in 2017 found that college officials had falsified grades in a pilot program to help underprepared students improve their math skills and failed to justify $157,000 they received from 2014 to 2017 through a U.S. Department of Labor grant.

Advertisement

Regarding the $19.2-million grant, the districts internal auditor, Arnold Blanshard, found that two vice presidents did not do extra work beyond their regular administrative duties to justify the payments. His findings have sparked a criminal investigation by the Department of Labor.

Leticia Barajas, a vice president involved in both scandals, was placed on administrative leave in January pending the federal criminal investigation into her handling of the Labor Department grant. Kaneesha Tarrant, a second administrator involved in management of the federal grant, left the district last year for a job at Norco College.

Barajas, in a written statement last year, said only that the program has improved our ability to prepare hundreds of students for in-demand jobs. Tarrant did not respond to an interview request.

Frank previously told The Times that he had approved the assignments and defended the payments as proper.

Criticism of Frank at the packed board meeting was fierce.

Of Frank and Barajas, Wood McDermott told trustees, Were disgusted by the mismanagement, misuse of position and disregard for rules.

Lisa Moreno, who has taught English at Trade-Tech for nearly two decades, told Rodriguez and trustees that they had ignored student complaints about Barajas, Tarrant and Frank for more than two years.

Your inaction regarding our corrupt administrators and their enablers has cost not only our campus but our entire district dearly, she said.

During more than two hours of public comment, some speakers defended Frank. Student Blaine Fierro told trustees that Franks leadership had helped boost school spirit and improve student services. A faculty member from the colleges design and media arts department said good things were happening on campus, such as students landing internships in Hollywood and an arts collaboration with Mexico.

But the controversies have sown deep campus divisions and mistrust. At an Academic Senate meeting last month, faculty members sharply disagreed on whether to go forward with a vote of no confidence against Frank and Barajas. Faculty members from the applied sciences department and many of the vocational programs, such as transportation and manufacturing, said they should wait until federal investigators complete their work.

Wood McDermott said many more faculty members wanted to sign the petition of no confidence against Frank and Barajas but were fearful of retaliation.

Board trustees Wednesday approved a notice to Barajas that she would be removed from her Trade-Tech job as vice president of workforce development. Such a notice can serve as the first step toward termination, but Barajas could also resign or be reassigned.

Although the boards agenda item does not name Barajas, using only an employee number, a district document obtained by The Times confirmed she was the administrator in question.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe
Last year, the power of the local teachers union seemed to be on the wane while charter schools prospects were rising. Los Angeles Board of Education members backed by charter supporters were in control, and theyd pushed through a new superintendent whose background had nothing to do with education.

On Tuesday, voters showed how quickly things can change.

Jackie Goldberg, the union-backed candidate, easily outpaced nine others on the ballot in a special election that could shift the balance on the school board  thanks in large part to public support cultivated during a six-day teachers strike in January.

The 74-year-old veteran public official didnt quite get the majority needed to win the District 5 seat outright, but she claimed 48% of the vote, making her the strong favorite in a May 14 runoff against a second-place finisher who trailed her by 35 percentage points.

Advertisement

Goldberg, who served on the board for two terms until 1991, proclaimed herself part of a larger movement to bring more resources to education  and also to rein in charter schools.

This is the beginning and not the end of putting together all those people who came together around the teachers strike  not just here but in Oakland and the folks in Madera and the folks in Fresno that are all trying to make these things happen, Goldberg said. People moved to California when I was young for our schools. And since then we have starved them, and we cannot continue starving them. This movement is about that.

Its not yet clear who Goldberg will face in the runoff, but it will either be Graciela Ortiz or Heather Repenning, who at last count were separated by 53 votes. Neither would be a clear-cut option for charter supporters. The candidate with the strongest pro-charter position, Allison Bajracharya, finished fifth.

Ortiz is a school counselor and a member of the Huntington Park City Council. Repenning is a former public works commissioner and longtime senior aide to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. Their order of finish will be settled by mail-in and provisional ballots. The vote count can continue as late as March 19.

A timely candidate

Goldbergs success was partly due to her own brand: She served on the school board, on the L.A. City Council and in the state Legislature; shes well-known and well-regarded by many.

But her success also was built on teacher activism, including last years strikes in other states and this years walkouts in Los Angeles and Oakland. Union leaders in L.A. followed up their January strike by immediately launching a campaign that spent about $660,000 on Goldbergs behalf. She also raised about $200,000 for her own campaign  and she noted Tuesday night that shed benefited from 1,300 small contributions and 800 volunteers.

Her activism goes way back to the UC Berkeley free speech movement of the mid-1960s  an era, she noted, in which students paid no tuition for their higher education. The state, she said, needs to find its way back to a deeper investment in its children.

Charter schools, too, would benefit from increased education funding, but charter advocates strongly  although quietly  opposed Goldberg. They worry about her calls for limiting the number of new charters and imposing more stringent regulations on them. (Both would require changes to state law.)

Goldberg aligns with those who say that privately operated charters  which compete with district-run schools for students and the funding that goes with them  are undermining public education. Charter backers counter that their schools have provided healthy competition and high-quality choices for families. About 1 in 5 local public school students now attend a charter  and wealthy pro-charter donors want further charter expansion.

Anti-charter themes were a regular refrain of striking teachers, and they seemed to strike a chord with people who may not previously have been familiar with the arguments.

A survey of L.A. Unified School District residents during and just after the strike found that about 3 in 4 said the focus should be on improving existing public schools rather than on alternatives such as charter schools, said Brianne Gilbert, associate director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

Although the charter lobby remains powerful, it also suffered a setback at the state level last year, when it ran campaigns on behalf of candidates who lost the races for governor and the state superintendent of public instruction. On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom  who has signaled his openness to more regulation of charter school  signed legislation that would compel charters to follow laws on public records and public meetings.

Money matters

Tuesdays outcome also marked a new direction in another way. In several previous elections, pro-charter funders outspent everyone  to good effect. In 2017, candidates they backed claimed their first-ever L.A. school board majority. And a charter school founder, Ref Rodriguez, became president of the board.

Rodriguez represented District 5  the region on Tuesdays ballot, which takes in neighborhoods north of downtown and then cuts a narrow path east of downtown to the cities of southeast L.A. County. He was supposed to serve through 2020.

Two months after Rodriguez became board president, however, prosecutors charged him with political money laundering. He stepped down as president but remained on the board for nearly a year, just long enough to cast a crucial vote for hiring businessman Austin Beutner as superintendent.

Goldberg said she would have voted to hire an educator rather than Beutner, but she also said she would try to work with the superintendent.

Rodriguez resigned in July after pleading guilty to one felony and three misdemeanors. His crimes, his delay in leaving office and his willingness to cast important swing votes during that time did not sit well with some parents and voters.

For this weeks primary, charter backers were never able to coalesce around an opponent to Goldberg. Bajracharya, an executive at a charter organization, had substantial support from charter allies but not the overwhelming sums provided by mega-donors in recent elections.

Four candidates raised enough money to get their message out: Goldberg, Bajracharya, Ortiz and Repenning. And each also had donors who funded independent campaigns on their behalf. The teachers unions spending on Goldberg was a relative bargain compared to what it spent in recent races  often in a losing cause.

But the biggest spender in the primary was Local 99 of Services Employees International Union, which represents most nonteaching district employees. It put nearly $1 million into a campaign to elect Repenning, who also had the endorsement of L.A Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Part of Local 99s money paid for a misleading campaign against Goldberg, describing her as a career politician who is always looking out for #1 and who favored prisons over schools, slashed education spending and presided over a failing school system.

Even if their campaign helped force a runoff, Repenning finished so far back that Local 99 now must ponder how much it wants to continue fighting Goldberg, with whom the union previously has gotten along.

Many observers assumed that the pro-charter funders  organized under the group California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates  were simply holding their fire till the runoff. Goldbergs strong showing could affect that calculus.

A spokesman for CCSA Advocates declined to comment Wednesday.

howard.blume@latimes.com

@howardblume
Egypt's Defence Minister Mohamed Zaki discussed with his Greek counterpart Evangelos Apostolakis ways of boosting military cooperation between Egypt and Greece on Thursday, Egyptian Armed Forces said.

The talks between Zaki and Apostolakis, who is currently visiting Cairo, tackled the latest regional and international developments and their impact on security and stability in the Middle East.

Zaki expressed hopes that the coming period will witness more cooperation with Greece in the security and military domains.

The Greek minister said his country shared similar viewpoints with Egypt regarding the challenges threatening international security and peace.

Egyptian Armed Forces' Chief-of-Staff Mohamed Farid attended the talks.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A federal appeals court decided Thursday that immigrants who cross the border without authorization may go to court to appeal a decision by U.S. immigration authorities to deny them asylum.

The decision, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, could keep immigrants in the country for years while they challenge the governments denial of asylum.

The appeals court reached the decision after concluding that a 1996 federal law restricting appeals violated the Constitution.

The case is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Advertisement

The 9th Circuit noted that the high court has yet to consider the question of whether asylum seekers arrested shortly after crossing the border have a constitutional right to challenge the governments denial.

The only other federal appeals court to rule on the question, the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit, reached a different conclusion.

The 3rd Circuit decided in 2016 that immigrants arrested after just crossing the border were not entitled to challenge their removal through habeas corpus.

Thursdays ruling stemmed from a case brought by Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam, a native of Sri Lanka and a Tamil, an ethnic minority there.

The ACLU, which represented him, said the decision had sweeping implications.

It will mean that thousands of current and future noncitizens will not be sent back to potential death without a federal court looking at their case, said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLUs Immigrants Rights Project.

He said the decision reaffirms the right to habeas corpus applies to citizens and noncitizens, regardless of how long they have been in the U.S.

Thuraissigiam fled Sri Lanka in June 2016 and went to Mexico. On Feb. 17, 2017, Thuraissigiam crossed into the U.S. and was arrested by a border patrol officer 25 yards north of the border.

An officer who interviewed Thuraissigiam found he lacked a credible fear of persecution, a supervisor approved the asylum denial and an immigration judge upheld the decision. The 9th Circuit called the process a cursory review.

A district court dismissed Thuraissigiams case and he appealed to the 9th Circuit.

In challenging his asylum denial, Thuraissigiam said his interview with an immigration officer was marred by language difficulties.

He also said that Sri Lanka officers detained and beat him for supporting a Tamil political candidate, and the countrys intelligence officers later kidnapped and tortured him.

In ruling for Thuraissigiam, the 9th Circuit said the federal law restricting court review of asylum denials violated the Suspension Clause, which says the writ of habeas corpus may not be suspended unless required by rebellion or public safety.

There is no question that Thuraissigiam was apprehended and detained within the sovereign territory of the United States, the 9th Circuit said. This factor weighs strongly in favor of finding Thuraissigiam has rights under the Suspension Clause.

Review by the federal courts provides important oversight of whether the Department of Homeland Security complied with procedures, the court said.

We think it obvious that the constitutional minimum  whether Thuraissigiam was detained pursuant to the `erroneous interpretation or application of relevant law  is not satisfied, wrote Judge A. Wallace Tashima, joined by Judges M. Margaret McKeown, and Richard A. Paez. All three judges were appointed by President Clinton.

Thuraissigiam has been detained in an immigration facility for two years.

Thursdays ruling allows asylum seekers to remain in the country not just for a district court hearing but for appeals. Gelernt, though, said he believed the legal process could be handled efficiently.

We dont think it needs to bog down the system, he said.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Dept. of Justice declined comment.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

Twitter: @mauradolan
An assistant director of admissions at Stanford University was charged this week with attempted homicide after allegedly attacking his girlfriend with a knife while on LSD.

James Shirvell, 26, was arrested Sunday after police responded to a call in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, Officer Robert Rueca said.

Two witnesses heard a woman yelling for help across the street and found her on the stairs to a home, bleeding profusely, prosecutors said in court records. Officers entered the home and found Shirvell lying on the kitchen floor, covered in blood.

The woman was taken to a hospital, where she told an officer what happened after she and Shirvell, whom shes been dating for 18 months, decided to take the hallucinogen, the filing said.

Advertisement

After he ingested the drug, Shirvell began urinating on the carpet, the filing said. The woman had him lie down in a bedroom while she went to get water. But he went to the kitchen, grabbed an 8-inch butcher knife and began stabbing her repeatedly. She broke free and called for help.

Shirvell is being held without bail, according to jail records. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

Shirvell pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted murder, one count of domestic violence and two counts of assault, said Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the San Francisco district attorneys office.

The victim is expected to survive, he added. She had a collapsed lung and had to undergo emergency surgery, according to court documents. She also had multiple wounds, including on her face, scalp, back and shoulder.

Shirvell, who has worked at the university since October 2016, was placed on leave and will not be coming to campus or performing any admissions work, said E.J. Miranda, a Stanford spokesman. We are continuing to gather information on this matter to inform next steps.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandra
A Los Angeles police sergeant was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after his vehicle apparently struck two parked cars on a waterfront street in Long Beach on Tuesday night, authorities said.

Oscar Ontiveros, 46, of San Pedro was driving in the 1500 block of East Ocean Blvd. when his black sedan struck the vehicles around 7:20 p.m., said Shaunna Dandoy, a public information officer for the Long Beach Police Department.

Officers responded to the scene and received a description of the vehicle, which was spotted less than a mile away in the 200 block of Alamitos Avenue about 10 minutes later, police said. Ontiveros, who appeared to be under the influence, was taken into custody, Dandoy said.

He was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence and causing a hit-and-run crash, Dandoy said. Ontiveros was released on his own recognizance Tuesday night. No one was reported injured, Dandoy said.

Advertisement

Ontiveros is a sergeant assigned to the LAPDs Southeast Division, according to Josh Rubenstein, the departments chief spokesman. An administrative investigation has been launched, Rubenstein said.

Ontiveros could not be reached for comment Wednesday. According to the LAPDs website, Ontiveros is a former senior lead officer.

Ontiveros arrest was the latest in a series of alcohol-related incidents involving LAPD officers.

Last month, an off-duty detective shot a homeless man after a middle-of-the-night brawl on skid row that left both men hospitalized for several days. No one has been arrested and investigators are unsure how the fight started, but the officers gun was stolen during the fracas. It has since been recovered.

Weeks earlier, Cmdr. Jeff Nolte became the subject of an internal investigation after his city vehicle was found wrecked and abandoned in Carson. Nolte, who had been in charge of the unit that investigates shootings by officers, has since been demoted.

The circumstances of Noltes car crash remain murky. According to 911 recordings from the incident, several motorists reported seeing a severely damaged car traveling at high speed on the 405 Freeway.

One motorist told the operator that the driver appeared to be really drunk and was driving on the front axle.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.
Los Angeles police said Wednesday that the remains of a Los Angeles woman who was reported missing last November were found on a Native American reservation in New Mexico last week.

Denise Coultas was reported missing to the LAPD on Nov. 8 and her vehicle was found abandoned on land of the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico off Interstate 40, about 60 miles west of Albuquerque, according to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety.

Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Deparments Robbery-Homicide Division were notified on Feb. 27 by the New Mexico Board of Indian Affairs that the remains were found on the reservation near where Coultas car had been found, according to a LAPD news release.

The remains were identified as the body of Coultas the next day by New Mexico officials and her family was notified, authorities said.

Advertisement

No foul play is suspected. Police said Coultas suffered from a diminished mental capacity and had a history of wandering away from her family.

The LAPD said searches for Coultas had been conducted since she went missing, but that weather and rugged terrain had hindered some of the operations.

javier.panzar@latimes.com

@jpanzar
A week after San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascon moved to wipe out thousands of marijuana convictions dating back decades, he announced Thursday his support for a bill that would clear old arrest and conviction records for defendants statewide.

The measure is intended to open up a pathway to housing, education and new employment opportunities for millions of Californians who have been excluded because of old arrests or convictions for certain offenses still listed on their rap sheets.

Its a way to get people out of the paper prison they get sucked into once they have an arrest record or conviction, Gascon said. When you remove the ability for people to participate fully in their community  employment, housing, education, other activities  you marginalize them until theyre left with no hope.

Without hope, theyre more likely to create crimes in that very same community, and what were trying to do is reduce the chance of recidivizing.

Advertisement

The bill, AB 1076, introduced by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) in February, would mandate that the state Department of Justice automatically clear records of arrests that did not result in a conviction after the statute of limitations has passed, as well as convictions involving probation and jail once an offenders sentence was completed. Anyone who has to register as a sex offender or has violated their probation would not be eligible.

Most of the records eligible involve drugs or property crimes, officials said. People who committed crimes that ended with a state prison sentence  not in a local jail  would have to go through the process that currently exists to receive a certificate of rehabilitation.

The bill would affect some 380,000 people currently incarcerated for crimes or awaiting trial and the millions more eligible going back in time, officials said. About 8 million Californians have criminal convictions on their records.

The whole point is they paid their debt, they served their time. Once they get out they should be able to start over, Ting said. Once theyre out, why should they continue to suffer?

An individuals arrest record and criminal past would still be accessible to law enforcement and certain other agencies but would not be available to landlords or employers, among others, conducting background checks. That means, outside specific exclusions listed in state code, individuals would not have to answer yes to having previous arrests or convictions when filling out a job or housing application if they were never convicted or already completed their sentence.

About 90% of employers, 80% of landlords and 60% of colleges screen criminal records, Tings office said. Three-quarters of individuals with criminal convictions report job or housing instability, and the process to clear ones record is notoriously costly and complicated.

Jay Jordan was one of those who struggled to get back on his feet despite having a plan for his life on the outside. Jordan, 33, served time in jail and prison on auto theft and robbery convictions before he was released in 2012.

We all do this. Everyone around me with a date [of release] was doing the same thing. We create plans, very detailed plans, Jordan said with a laugh. I wanted to sell used cars for residual income, sell vending machines. I had it down even to the taxes I was going to have to pay.

But Jordan said he didnt qualify for any of those professions because of his record. He ended up working at a temporary employment agency alongside other former inmates, he said, where he injured himself and was then fired after missing work.

Here I was, trying to do the right thing, trying to do a job that gives me a livable wage, and I get fired for getting hurt, Jordan said. I didnt have any workers rights, and I realized very rapidly that something was inherently wrong with this system.

He ended up joining a nonprofit organization and now pushes for criminal justice reform as the director of the Second Chance project with Californians for Safety and Justice.

Wheres the opportunity for the people out there trying hard to get a job? Jordan said. Working hard to take care of their families and at every single corner theyre [told], You cant do this for the rest of your life. You cant do that for the rest of your life.

Jordans prison sentence for robbery was not eligible to be cleared, but time he spent in jail for auto theft was, authorities said.

If passed, the bill would take effect Jan. 1, 2021. The extended lead time between its introduction and its implementation would allow the Department of Justice to set up the automated process that the bill would require, Ting said. A previous attempt to get the state to proactively clear peoples records through the courts was too labor-intensive and costly, Ting said. The costs to automate the record-clearing process have not yet been determined.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
A year and a half ago, a small, private all-boys school in Oakland thought it had landed a huge windfall.

A New York man who had sung in a boys choir as a child had inherited some Chinese art from his parents and was interested in donating four to support the music-education-focused school, Pacific Boychoir Academy.

Two independent appraisers estimated that one painting by Li Keran, of a waterfall, was worth about $2 million. With the three other paintings donated over the course of 2017 and 2018 by such noted 20th-century Chinese artists as Fu Baoshi and Shi Tao, school officials were looking at $2.8 million.

For a school with an annual budget of a little more than $1 million, receiving a donation nearly three times that amount was incredible, said Ron Cohen, a member of Pacific Boychoir Academys board.

Advertisement

The school made some immediate investments, borrowing $400,000 against the art to hire a communications director and make part-time Admissions Director Janelle Geistlinger full-time.

The investments paid off. The school, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, serves 24 students now but expects to enroll nearly twice as many next year.

But it all came crashing down in late January, when the school took the paintings to Bonhams, a fine art auction company. The appraisers cast doubt on the paintings authenticity.

Theyre very beautiful but we found they were not authentic, Cohen said. Instead of being worth hundreds of thousands, they were probably worth $500  something in the really beautiful poster category and not in the really high-end collector category.

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2001 that 20th century Chinese painters such as Fu Baoshi and Li Keran earned growing recognition in the 1990s, and as their fame grew, so did a forgery problem.

Political and social upheavals in China meant scholarship and record-keeping for art were patchy. Art dealers often turned to family members of the artist to settle disputes over paintings, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Officials from Pacific Boychoir Academy declined to name the donor, saying he had made the donation in good faith.

The school went into survival mode, short $270,000 it needs to make it to the end of the school year. The board laid off three administrators, including the head of school, administrative director and the recently hired communications director. All staff received a 20% pay cut.

Some teachers took on additional responsibilities that had belonged to the laid off administrators. Everyone is working longer hours with significantly less pay, Geistlinger said.

Summer Dittmer, a math teacher who took on the head of schools responsibilities told the San Francisco Chronicle that she wasnt sure the school would be able to stay open.

But an outpouring of support from the community in recent days has made Geistlinger more hopeful.

The community response has been one of sadness. And kind of a collective gasp, Geistlinger said. Theres also been  right behind that  the rolling up of sleeves. Im getting calls of What can I do? How can I help? 

A Go Fund Me has raised nearly $50,000, the school has received checks totaling $16,000 so far, and an anonymous donor has pledged to contribute $100,000 if the school manages to raise $170,000 on its own, according to Development Director Johanna Ortis.

With enrollment projected to rise and additional tuition money coming in, Geistlinger said she expects the school will be able to stabilize its finances in the next academic year, even if it lost the millions it thought it had.
A UC Santa Cruz alumnae has sued a university professor, saying he sexually assaulted her in 2013 and engaged in a pattern of predatory behavior that included plying students with alcohol and cocaine at parties.

Gopal Balakrishnan, a humanities professor at UC Santa Cruz, was first accused of sexual misconduct in 2017. Graffiti in campus bathrooms called him a sexual predator. A letter circulated among students and alumni offered seven nameless accounts accusing Balakrishnan of sexual harassment, unwanted advances and disparaging behavior toward women.

Some of Balakrishnans colleagues defended him and condemned the accusations as vigilante tactics, BuzzFeed News reported.

Anneliese Harlander, who graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2013, told the university and Title IX investigators that Balakrishnan sexually assaulted her after a graduation party in 2013. A Title IX investigation supported her account, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.

Advertisement

In a lawsuit filed this week in Santa Cruz Superior Court, Harlander, now 28, said Balakrishnan brought alcohol to a graduation party hosted in June 2013 by Harlanders neighbor. Harlander had been drinking at the party, and at one point lapsed into unconsciousness, according to the complaint.

After the party, the professor walked with her to her apartment and let himself in without her permission, Harlander alleged. She said he took off her clothes without her consent, along with his own, before sexually assaulting her. Harlander did not consent to sex and, because of her extreme intoxication, would have been unable to consent regardless, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit says that Harlander has since suffered extreme physical and emotional distress. She is seeking damages to recoup what she said were expenses for medical and psychological care, along with wages she said she lost after struggling to maintain regular employment.

Balakrishnans attorney did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. The professor has been on paid leave since fall 2017, earning $110,300 a year, a university spokesman said.

The university has not decided what discipline Balakrishnan will face, said spokesman Marc DesJardins.

Because Balakrishnan is a tenured professor, his case is wending through different internal committees. University Chancellor George Blumenthal will probably make a final determination on discipline. Harlander said in an interview that she will speak at a closed-door university hearing in May.

DesJardins said protecting students from sexual violence and harassment is of utmost importance to the university.

We are working diligently to create a campus thats free from sexual misconduct, he said. We appreciate all the brave people who come forward to report their experiences.

Harlander said it was not until early 2018, when she read the nameless accounts being circulated by alumni, that she realized she wasnt the only one with a story about Balakrishnan and sexual misconduct.

Harlander, who now works as a youth coordinator for a Vallejo nonprofit, said filing a lawsuit elevates the reckoning over Balakrishnans conduct to the next level.

The university system and Title IX are pursuing disciplinary action  and Im glad theyre doing that  but this issue goes beyond the university, she said.

Harlander said she is frustrated that Balakrishnan still collects a six-figure salary while his case works its way toward a resolution.

Hes basically been on a paid vacation, she said. Its way past time for him to be taken off paid leave.
Late one night last September, a party for Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies was winding down.

New deputies working in East L.A. were celebrating having successfully completed a probation period and their status as full-fledged members of the Sheriffs Department.

But the gathering took an ominous turn for some when several older deputies showed up.

According to legal claims filed against the county Thursday by seven deputies, the men belonged to the Banditos, a clique of predominantly Latino deputies who wear tattoos of a skeleton with a sombrero, bandolier and pistol and are alleged to routinely harass young Latino officers at the station.

Advertisement

The claims, which serve as precursors to lawsuits, demand tens of millions of dollars from the county for failing to address the hostile work environment the Banditos are alleged to have created.

The party ended in violence when the Banditos attacked several of the new deputies, according to the claims. One rookie said he was thrown to the ground and punched in the face before being knocked unconscious. Another recalled being choked to the point of passing out.

This is not just a case about beating up a handful of cops  its about fear through intimidation to maintain the corrupt status quo and make certain the new idealistic cops dont talk, said Vincent Miller, an attorney representing the seven deputies who filed the claims. This has been going on for years, and the county needs to fix it.

The Sheriffs Department issued a statement Thursday that said it would not tolerate any form of hazing or harassment within the organization.

The allegations outlined in this recent claim arose prior to Sheriff [Alex] Villanueva assuming office. The allegations are being fully investigated and appropriate actions were properly commenced by the prior administration, the statement said. Sheriff Villanueva had the Unit Commander replaced, in addition to key supervisory personnel. The new Unit Commander has met with staff members, and has made it abundantly clear that activities which violate workplace policies or the law will be immediately addressed with swift and appropriate action.

Ron Hernandez, president of the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, the union that represents rank-and-file deputies, said the group would withhold specific comment out of respect for the ongoing investigation.

ALADS fully supports a detailed, fair, timely investigation, with an interest in due process for all parties said to be involved, Hernandez said.

The allegations are the latest for a department that has struggled for years to address numerous examples of secretive, gang-like deputy societies accused of committing abuses against inmates, fellow deputies and while on patrol.

In July last year, then-Sheriff Jim McDonnell launched what he said would be a comprehensive study of deputy cliques after The Times revealed that a Compton station deputy involved in the fatal shooting of a black man had testified that he and as many as 20 of his colleagues had matching skull tattoos.

That inquiry went unfinished when Villanueva, a former lieutenant in the department, unseated McDonnell and took office in early December. Villanueva, who has drawn fire from critics who worry he is rolling back reforms meant to curb abuse by deputies, has at times defended deputies with station tattoos, saying theyre honorable people. But he has criticized previous administrations for allowing a broader culture of hazing to fester in the department.

In comments shortly after taking office, he blamed station captains and other top officials for failing to stop a work culture of unchecked hazing that allowed cliques to form and grow.

Some deputies have defended the tattoos they share with others in their station as a source of benign camaraderie and a way to boost morale. Some have also said they have a free-speech right to wear them.

Although accounts of similar officer groups have surfaced in some other departments around the country, nowhere has the issue been as intractable and garnered as much scrutiny as in the Los Angeles sheriffs ranks.

A watchdog panel in 1992 pressed the Sheriffs Department to root out cliques. Two decades later, a blue-ribbon commission sharply criticized the department for turning a blind eye to the problem and allowing the fraternities to use excessive force against people in the county jails and on the streets.

The panel had focused in part on the 3000 clique, a band of deputies who worked as jailers on the third, or 3000, floor of Mens Central Jail. Several members of the group were fired after a confrontation with two fellow deputies at an employee Christmas party and after they allegedly punched a female deputy in the face. Sheriffs officials accused the group of using gang-like three-finger hand signs and said jailers would earn their ink by breaking inmates bones.

The recent allegations are not the first against the Banditos. In 2014, the county paid a female deputy assigned to the East L.A. station $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit, in which she claimed she had been physically and mentally harassed by some of the cliques 80 members after refusing to go along with its traditions and initiation rituals.

At the time, then-interim Sheriff John Scott announced he would share the results of an investigation into claims of bullying by the Banditos, yet the probe has remained confidential.

In a statement Thursday, Hilda Solis, a member of the Board of Supervisors, said she was disappointed and dismayed at the latest allegations.

I have spoken repeatedly with the L.A. County Sheriffs Department, the Civilian Oversight Commission, the Office of Inspector General, and county counsel about my deep concern about the potential existence of secret cliques or gangs of sheriff deputies. The Sheriffs Department must hold itself out to the highest levels of professionalism and respect for others. The role of sheriffs deputies is to protect and serve the public, and secret cliques and violent gangs of law enforcement personnel must be eliminated. East L.A. and the greater L.A. County community deserve nothing less.

The claims filed Thursday were brought by five young Latino deputies involved in the melee at the party and two veteran deputies who say they suffered retaliation after warning station officials about the Banditos.

In one claim, Miller, the deputies attorney, portrayed the East L.A station at the time of the fight as a place run by the Banditos in a similar manner to prisoners running a prison yard. Leaders enjoyed close ties with an influential sergeant, Patty Estrada, who Miller said was known by the nickname Pink Hand  a reference to the Black Hand tattoo worn by members of the notorious Mexican Mafia prison gang. Estrada allegedly persuaded the stations captain to take a stance of willful blindness to the group, according to the claims.

Estrada could not be reached for comment.

Particular targets were young Latino deputies who resisted demands that they make questionable arrests to meet unofficial productivity quotas and work overtime without pay, the claims allege.

Friction in the station increased in spring and summer last year when training officers Benjamin Zaredini and Louis Granados went to a sympathetic lieutenant with their concerns about the sway the Banditos held over the station, Miller said in the claims.

The lieutenant investigated the allegations but was stonewalled by the captain, and the deputies began experiencing retaliation when word of their whistleblowing efforts got back to Bandito members, Miller alleged. Granados was denied a promotion and Zaredini was demoted, while Banditos refused to provide backup to the deputies on potentially dangerous calls, Miller alleged.

The problems came to a head at the party in the early-morning hours of Sept. 29, when three deputies, David Silverio, Gregory Rodriguez and Rafael Munoz, and Sgt. Mike Hernandez allegedly began harassing a rookie, Deputy Alfred Gonzalez, according to the claims.

The confrontation turned violent when two of the young deputies filing claims, Art Hernandez and Oscar Escobedo, along with others, tried to intervene. Hernandez claimed Munoz punched him repeatedly in the face. In the papers filed with the county, Miller said Escobedo was punched and kicked repeatedly by a group of Banditos before being choked. Other deputies filing claims were also allegedly struck by the Banditos, Miller said.

Hernandez and Escobedo sought medical attention for minor injuries, Miller said.

Following the fight, the three deputies and sergeant were placed on paid administrative leave as part of an internal investigation into the incident, a sheriffs spokeswoman said at the time. The men could not be reached for comment, and a spokeswoman for the department did not respond to questions about their current work status.

Miller said his clients had been interviewed as well by investigators from a sheriffs unit that investigates possible criminal activity by deputies.

The captain was ultimately transferred from the station, and his replacement removed supervisors thought to be close with the clique, Miller said.

Despite the change in leadership, problems have persisted, Miller claimed.

The culture is still there, he said. When people get used to a culture, they begin to think its normal  they grow accustomed to it. There isnt a legitimate law enforcement presence in East Los Angeles. Its a gang.

Times staff writer Maya Lau contributed to this report.

joel.rubin@latimes.com

Follow @joelrubin on Twitter
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has long said that his decision to reinstate a deputy who had been fired in connection with domestic abuse and stalking allegations was part of a broader vision to rebuild the department.

He believed Caren Carl Mandoyan, who volunteered on his campaign and acted as his personal driver, was a victim of a punitive culture in the prior regime that eroded deputy morale. Villanueva created a new truth and reconciliation panel to rectify what he claims were past mistakes made by the department that harmed deputies and the public.

But documents reviewed by The Times show that Villanueva was working to rehire Mandoyan before he took office on Dec. 3 and at least a month before the reconciliation panel issued findings that Mandoyans misconduct did not merit discharge. The panel determined that Mandoyan acted irrationally by repeatedly tapping on a womans door and opening her window and that he brought discredit to himself and the department, but could not confirm allegations that he abused her, according to its Dec. 27 report.

Villanueva has said that the panels conclusions are what led to Mandoyans reinstatement. The sheriff said at a news conference in January that he initiated the review into Mandoyan in the first week after taking office.

Advertisement

However, a Nov. 30 email from former Chief Alicia Ault, who headed the departments professional standards division, says Villanueva made a priority request to reinstate Mandoyan and that it was in the hands of county counsel.

I have been told this request has been given to contract counsel and the County Counsel Litigation Attorneys to work together with Mr. Mandoyans attorney to achieve the goal of returning him to work, said the email, sent to Villanuevas incoming chief of staff, Lawrence Del Mese.

DOCUMENT: Read the Nov. 30 email about Villanuevas request about Mandoyan 

County spokeswoman Lennie LaGuire said the countys lawyers could not comment on the email, but the county counsel said in a court filing Tuesday that no one in that office approved of Mandoyans reinstatement.

Ault could not be reached for comment. She stopped working for the department on Nov. 30, according to her email. Her email was provided by the Sheriffs Department in response to a public records request from The Times.

The email has heightened criticism from some county supervisors, who have questioned the legitimacy of the truth and reconciliation committee and the wisdom of hiring back deputies fired by previous administrations.

Doesnt it make it obvious that the sheriff is willing to exceed his authority even before he legitimately has authority? said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. To orchestrate all of this prior to even having taken an oath and legitimately being the sheriff speaks volumes as to his mentality.

Ridley-Thomas said he didnt understand why Villanueva took such extraordinary steps for a deputy whose behavior was completely embarrassing at best and unlawful at worst.

Villanueva did not respond to requests for comment. But he has defended Mandoyan in the past, saying the case against the deputy failed on so many different levels and was the result of a broken disciplinary process that brings false charges against deputies.

Mandoyans attorney has denied he harassed or abused the woman.

Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida did not directly respond to questions about Aults email and instead issued a previously published statement from Villanueva.

I can assure that an objective, honest, and fair assessment was conducted before reinstatement, the statement said.

Ridley-Thomas and Supervisor Sheila Kuehl introduced a motion Tuesday that would initiate a review of whether the sheriffs truth and reconciliation panel is legal and would instruct the sheriff to stop reevaluating past disciplinary actions for deputies. The board is expected to vote on the motion next week.

Xavier Thompson, a member of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, said the email from Ault indicates Villanueva has failed in his campaign promises to bring a new level of transparency and accountability to the department.

The fact that this process was well underway before the truth and reconciliation committee was put into place is a direct slap in the peoples face. He did not seek our input. He did not seek our counsel. And he said he is committed to working with us, said Thompson, who is the senior pastor at the Southern Saint Paul Church.

Patti Giggans, chair of the oversight commission, said last month that Sheriffs Department officials gave her and her colleagues few details about the truth and reconciliation panel and implied that it hadnt been fully formed yet. Another oversight commissioner, Lael Rubin, called Villanuevas effort to reinstate fired deputies a rogue operation.

A broader move by the supervisors to force Villanueva to undo Mandoyans reinstatement was stymied Wednesday when a judge declined to grant the countys request for an injunction against the Sheriffs Department.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff said at a hearing that the countys objections to Villanuevas decision didnt warrant an emergency order to intervene by removing Mandoyan from the job he resumed in December and requiring him to forfeit his badge, uniform and gun.

Instead, the judge set a court hearing on the facts of the countys objections for June, allowing Mandoyan to remain on duty.

County officials and their attorney, Louis Skip Miller, say they wont resume Mandoyans pay and benefits.

Mandoyans attorney, Greg Smith, has said his client will continue working without pay and will not turn in his badge or weapon.

Steven Madison, an attorney representing Villanueva and the Sheriffs Department in the court case, said there is no conflict presented by the timeline of the sheriffs request to reinstate Mandoyan.

Clearly part of the sheriffs whole campaign, which allowed him to win overwhelmingly, was one of reform and the fact that there had been terminations that were improper. The fact that he was looking into those matters after he had been elected and was preparing to take office is something I think the taxpayers would be grateful for, Madison said.

The truth and reconciliation panel, consisting of Assistant Sheriff Timothy Murakami, Chief Eliezer Vera and Chief Steven Gross, met on Dec. 21 to evaluate Mandoyans case, according to the panels report reviewed by The Times.

The panel found Mandoyan violated department policies for general behavior and conduct toward others for going to a fellow deputys house, repeatedly knocking on her patio door and opening her unlocked bathroom window after she told him several times to leave. But the panel said there was not enough evidence to support allegations made by the woman, who had dated Mandoyan, that he grabbed her neck, pushed her or stalked her, according to the report.

Videos reviewed by The Times show Mandoyan on the balcony of the womans apartment appearing to use a metal tool to try to pry open her sliding patio door.

Smith says Mandoyan got into a verbal argument with the woman but was not physically aggressive with her. The Times generally does not identify people who claim to be victims of domestic violence.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
Egyptian anti-terrorism forces, in cooperation with army engineers, have uncovered and destroyed nine tunnels along the border in North Sinai governorate, the Egyptian armed forces said in a statement on Thursday.

The 30-metre-deep tunnels were used by terrorists to smuggle weapons, ammunition and explosive materials.

Power cables and fuel were found inside the tunnels, the statement added.

Two vehicles used by terrorist, 40 bombs and materials used in manufacturing explosives were destroyed.

The operation, launched based on intelligence information, comes as part of the Armed Forces' efforts to purge North Sinai from terrorism.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The numbers are sobering. The federal government reported Tuesday that immigration agents apprehended 76,000 people  most of them families or unaccompanied minors  at the U.S.-Mexico border in February, twice the level of the previous year and the highest for February in 11 years. The increase continues a trend that began in the fall, and offers direct evidence that President Trumps strategy of maximal enforcement at the border is not reducing the flow of migrants.

And no, the answer is not a big, beautiful wall. Most of those apprehended werent trying to sneak past border agents; instead, they sought out agents once they reached the border and turned themselves in, hoping to receive asylum or other permission to stay.

Furthermore, the situation isnt a military confrontation, though Trump has sent troops to the border. Nor is it a national security emergency, as he has declared in an effort to spend more on his border wall than Congress provided. Its a complex humanitarian crisis that appears to be worsening, and its going to take creative analytical minds to address.

The current system hasnt worked for years, and under Trumps enforcement strategy it has gotten worse.

Advertisement

For instance, the vast majority of the families flowing north in recent months come from poor regions of Guatemala, including the Western Highlands region, where food insecurity and local conflicts over land rights and environmental protections are pushing more people off their farms and into even deeper poverty, according to human rights observers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Just months earlier, gang violence in urbanized areas were pushing people north to the United States; increasingly now, its economics.

But experts argue that Trumps rhetoric may be playing a role too. The more he threatens draconian enforcement measures and cutbacks in legal immigration, the more people contemplating moving north are pushed to go sooner, before it gets even harder to reach the U.S. Similarly, more migrants are arriving at more treacherous and remote stretches of the border to avoid getting stuck in Tijuana or other border cities where the U.S. government has reduced the number of asylum seekers it will allow in, claiming an inability to process the requests.

The system is overwhelmed. But the solution is neither to build a wall, nor to incarcerate more people, nor to separate children from their parents, nor to deny people the right to exercise their legal right to seek asylum. The solution is to improve the efficiency and capacity of the system to deal with the changed migrant demographics.

About half of the new immigration court cases last year involved asylum requests. A decade ago, about 1 in 100 border crossers was an unaccompanied minor or asylum seeker; now about a third are.

More judges and support staffs are necessary for the immigration court system, something the Trump administration has, to its rare credit, sought from Congress. Yet the unconscionable case backlog there has continued to grow  in part because the increase in enforcement actions has created more immigration court cases, in part because the Justice Department ordered the courts to reopen cases that had been closed administratively without deportations, often because the migrant was in the process of obtaining a visa.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

The bigger the court backlog and the longer the delays, the more likely it is that the prospect of staying in the U.S. during a protracted court process will draw more migrants with iffy asylum claims. A faster and fair process would give those deserving asylum the answer they need sooner, cutting back on the years they spend in limbo, while no longer incentivizing those unqualified for asylum to try anyway.

The Migration Policy Institute, a think tank, has suggested one partial fix. Currently, migrants claiming asylum have a near-immediate initial credible fear hearing with an asylum officer from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who determines whether the migrant has a significant potential to make a successful asylum claim. Most migrants pass that low threshold and are then directed to the immigration courts to make the formal case, a more involved process that can take years. Keeping those cases within the citizenship and immigration branch for an administrative hearing instead of sending them to immigration court could lead to faster decisions for the deserving at a lower cost  a single asylum agent is cheaper than a court staff  while preserving legal rights by giving those denied asylum a chance to appeal to the immigration courts. Thats a process worth contemplating.

More fundamentally, the current system hasnt worked for years, and under Trumps enforcement strategy it has gotten worse. Its a big ask, but Congress and the president need to work together to develop a more capable system that manages the many different aspects of immigration in the best interests of the nation while accommodating the rights of the persecuted to seek asylum.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be indicted, pending a hearing, for three alleged acts of corruption, according to Israels attorney general. But are the crimes at issue really crimes? Has the Israeli legislature  the Knesset  actually criminalized the conduct the prime minister is charged with committing? If not, would the Knesset ever pass statutes to criminalize such conduct? Is it proper for prosecutors to stretch existing laws to fit his conduct?

The first charge relates to the receipt of gifts  cigars, Champagne, jewelry and other items often gifted by friends to friends. If Netanyahu received a dozen cigars and bottles of Champagne and a few pair of cuff links from a friend who asked him to do the kind of favor politicians are often asked to do for constituents, no one would accuse him of a crime. But because the prosecutor believes he took too many of such items  the value, its said, comes to hundreds of thousands of dollars  he is being prosecuted.

But how much is too much for purposes of criminalizing gifts and favors? Where is the precise line one must willfully cross to make such gifts a crime? There is no written law or regulation that expressly states how much is too much.

Netanyahus fate belongs in the hands of voters, not investigators or the courts.

Advertisement

If legislators contemplated such a law, theyd start by considering their own experience: How many gifts have I received from friends and supporters? and How many laws have I voted for that may have helped those friends and constituents? There would be little agreement over where wrongdoing began.

Im reminded of the U.S. Supreme Court justice who admitted he couldnt define hard core pornography but added, I know it when I see it. To which another justice replied, Pornography is in the eye of the beholder. Such vague and ever-shifting non-definitions should never form the basis for a criminal charge. No one in a democracy should have to guess where the line is that separates questionable actions from crimes. Netanyahu is being charged with guessing wrong.

The second and third charges share a fundamental flaw in that they seek to criminalize normal political behavior: Efforts by politicians to secure fair or positive media coverage, or minimize negative coverage, in exchange for particular votes or actions.

Netanyahu is being charged with accepting (or discussing accepting) the bribe of better coverage. But if seeking, accepting or expecting better media coverage were an element of crime, there would not be enough prisons in Israel or any other democracy to house the number of politicians who voted a certain way or who did certain favors with the expectation that it would improve their coverage by the media. Politicians are always asking their press aides: How will my vote or other politicking sit with the media? There are countless explicit and implicit deals made between politicians and reporters.

One of the two media cases is based on a conversation Netanyahu had with a newspaper publisher that he knew was recorded by an aide. In it, the publisher allegedly agreed to reduce his papers attacks on the prime minister and his family if Netanyahu supported legislation that would benefit the newspaper. In the end, more than 40 Knesset members voted for the bill, but it was eventually killed by Netanyahus disapproval. The Knesset members who voted aye and subsequently received better coverage, as could be anticipated, arent being prosecuted. Netanyahu, who killed the bill and continued to get nasty coverage, is being prosecuted.

In the other media case, Netanyahu supported regulatory decisions made by civil servants that benefited a media mogul whose outlets were attacking him. But is it a crime for a politician to vote for a media-supported law in the expectation that he would get better coverage? No legislator ever has or ever would vote for such a law, because they know that they have cast such votes.

The larger point is that Israel has vague, elastic and open-ended criminal laws that can be stretched to target political opponents. So does the United States. In our country, such laws include obstruction of justice, conspiracy and witness tampering, as we have seen in the ongoing investigations of President Trump. In Israel, these include breach of trust and bribery  the crimes with which Netanyahu is being charged.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

The prime minister has denied the charges and accused the attorney general of political motives, calling the the announcement of the intended indictments  shortly before elections in April  an attempt to oust the right from power.

It may well be that partisan considerations arent motivating the investigations or the potential prosecutions. But the precedents the attorney general is establishing will lie around like a loaded gun, ready to be picked up and misused for partisan advantage in future cases. Weaponizing accordion-like criminal statutes in the context of partisan politics threatens democracy, the rule of law, and in the case of the Netanyahu charges, the freedom of the press.

A fundamental question in any democracy is whether a single individual  in this case an appointed attorney general  should be empowered to make decisions that may thwart the will of the voters. Netanyahu is a controversial prime minister, but no one can dispute his strength in defending Israels security, or his many achievements over a long tenure. The allegations against him have been spelled out. His fate belongs in the hands of voters, not investigators or the courts.

Alan M. Dershowitz is the emeritus Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard University and author of Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law. Twitter: @AlanDersh.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
America would be more secure and stronger economically if we recognized that we have largely achieved our objectives in Afghanistan and moved aggressively to bring our troops and tax dollars home, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) write in an op-ed article. Today, despite vast investment in training and equipping Afghan forces, the countrys deep-seated instability, rampant corruption and, in some cases, compromised loyalties endure. Extending our commitment of combat troops will not remedy that situation.

The senators are right, just as they were right eight years ago when they penned those words for the New York Times with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in 2011. In the near-decade since, the White House has gained a new occupant from a different party, congressional control has shifted and the United States 17-year Afghan war has been governed by ostensibly new strategies implemented by six different commanders. But the U.S. stalemate in Afghanistan remains fundamentally the same: The war is still a costly and futile project that does nothing to serve U.S. interests or move Afghanistan meaningfully toward political reconciliation or peace.

So little has changed in eight years that Paul and Udall this week introduced legislation that nearly duplicates their 2011 push for withdrawal. The 2019 American Forces Going Home After Noble (AFGHAN) Service Act has updated numbers  higher counts of U.S. troops killed or wounded, and a larger tally of borrowed tax dollars spent and often wasted  but its core demand for a quick and responsible exit from the longest war in U.S. history is unaltered.

A war undertaken right after 9/11 has devolved into a generational conflict.

Advertisement

All the senators arguments against the war in Afghanistan  that it is a reckless strategic failure that benefits no one  are no less applicable now than they were in 2011. Just as then, those against withdrawal show no sign of ever wanting this war to end. And once again, Paul and Udall are faced with a president who has promised to bring American forces home but refused to commit to any reasonably expeditious timeline.

That stagnation is a telling indictment of what passes for foreign policy in Washington. Too many policymakers seem incapable, if not unwilling, of considering the big picture, of asking whether continuing this war is in any sense good, useful, or even in conformity with the will of the people they ostensibly represent. There is plenty of energy for fiddling with the details  a few thousand more troops here, a new infrastructure project there, drone and other aerial strikes scaled up or down or back up again, with civilian casualty rates following suit.

But in the task of adjusting anything more substantive than tactics in Afghanistan, Washington is generally content with stalemate or slow loss. A war undertaken right after 9/11 has devolved into a generational conflict; it is now being fought by soldiers born after the terrorist attack that precipitated it. And though, according to an October study from the Charles Koch Institute, 57% of Americans  and seven in 10 veterans  support a full U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, our government has no such clarity.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

President Trump, like President Obama before him, campaigned on shuttering reckless wars of choice, lambasting mission creep and the ineffectual nation building it so often entails. Yet neither president has succeeded in pushing past the inertia of whats been called the foreign policy blob  the Washington establishment who, as one pundit put it, whine ceaselessly about the collapse of the American security order. While the rest of the country is past ready to move on, the locus of Washingtons foreign policy conversation about Afghanistan (and our half a dozen other conflicts in the Mideast and North Africa) is about the scale at which military intervention should continue forever, not whether it should continue at all.

A less narrow and more realistic assessment makes evident what Paul, Udall and other voices crying in Washingtons wilderness contend: There is no U.S.-imposed, militarily enforced solution to Afghanistans woes, and indefinitely prolonging our occupation cannot and will not change that. Our government is trying to bomb and spend Afghanistan into a political order that can only be achieved by those who must live with the outcomes, both through promising (if still uncertain) diplomatic efforts led by U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and through conversations among various factions of the Afghan people themselves.

Whatever course and time frame those negotiations may take, the business at hand for Washington remains the same: U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan must come to an end. It would be an appalling  if not exactly shocking  state of affairs if this point must still be made another eight years hence.

Bonnie Kristian is a fellow at Defense Priorities and contributing editor at the Week. Her writing has also appeared in many publications, including CNN, Politico, and the American Conservative.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
To the editor: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants to explore congestion pricing. This is a bad idea.

We cannot tax our way out of traffic any more than we can reduce the number of residents in and around Los Angeles, nor can most people change where they live or where they must travel to work.

Encouraging housing development along the various Metro routes is an option, but ultimately, we will never be able to overcome the challenges presented by the spread-out geography of greater Los Angeles.

If Los Angeles and other nearby cities really want to see traffic move more quickly, they should put significantly more effort and money into repairing our streets, which are in a shameful and dare I say dangerous state of disrepair.

Advertisement

Joe Grauman, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: A single word appearing in the article explains everything. The word is choice, and it implies that working people will make an informed decision about whether or not to pay an additional tax to get to work.

The only real choice would be to pay the tax or pay ones rent. The effect of congestion pricing will be to remove working poor people from the highway so the wealthy can relax.

If the Red Line subway went from the San Fernando Valley to the Westside and all other rail lines were complete, there might be a bit of fairness to this proposal. But in this form, it is merely insulting.

Jon Hartmann, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Metro wants to study a proposal to tax motorists and ride-share operators to the tune of $580 million over a decade. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is quoted as saying, This has to be about congestion relief and not to generate more revenue.

If that is true, then the Metro board members should read the L.A. Times March 4 op-ed article, We cant let China become the global leader in artificial intelligence. They would learn the city of Hangzhou used artificial intelligence to decrease road congestion.

Its a shame there isnt this kind of intelligence, artificial or otherwise, at Metro.

Tom Keiser, Pasadena

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
The House voted Thursday to condemn anti-Semitism and other forms of hate after a protracted dispute fractured the Democratic Party over its handling of racially charged comments about Israel by freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

Omar, a Somali American and one of the only Muslim members of Congress, said last week that pro-Israel advocates push for allegiance to a foreign country. Earlier this year, she apologized for suggesting that Israels influence in Washington was based on money.

The two statements rekindled racist tropes that have been used against Jewish people for centuries and triggered what quickly turned into one of the most public internal fights to face Democrats since they took control of the House.

By Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and other Democratic leaders moved to hold a quick vote on a resolution  the second in two months  to condemn anti-Semitism.

Advertisement

But other Democrats, including some presidential candidates and several of Omars fellow outspoken freshmen lawmakers, rushed to her side, suggesting that a double standard was at play.

Though few defended Omars words, they asked why the House would so quickly condemn remarks from one of the first female Muslim lawmakers while allowing similarly racially charged comments by President Trump and congressional Republicans to go unchecked by a formal response.

The resolution was delayed and then rewritten to address all forms of hate  including Islamophobia and white nationalism  in part to ensure Democrats supported it. An hour before the vote was held, another last-minute rewrite recognized discrimination against Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and LGBTQ people.

The seven-page resolution passed by a vote of 407-23. All Democrats supported the measure and most of the no votes were cast by conservative Republicans, some of whom complained that the resolution should have focused solely on anti-Semitism. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who has been admonished for racially charged remarks and apparent defense of white nationalism, voted present.

Before the vote, Pelosi defended Omar, as well as the need to pass a resolution.

I dont think that the congresswoman perhaps appreciates the full weight of how that is heard by other people, although I dont believe that it was intended in an anti-Semitic way, Pelosi said. But the fact is that thats how it was interpreted. We have to remove all doubt.

The resolution was written by Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is Jewish and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.), a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

There is no obvious answer on when to [have a resolution] and when not, Raskin said, referring to the debate over whether there should also be a resolution to condemn Trumps comments about fine white nationalists during the 2017 Charlottesville, Va., protests, or a 2016 Trump campaign ad featuring three Jewish Americans that Raskin called a blatant appeal to anti-Semitism.

Similarly, last year Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) deleted a tweet in which he suggested Jewish donors were trying to buy the 2018 midterm election. He later told Fox News that the deleted tweet, which included pictures of three Jewish businessmen, had nothing to do about faith.

Some Democrats on Thursday questioned why the House couldnt single out anti-Semitism.

We are having this debate because of the language of one of our colleagues  language that suggests that Jews like me who serve in the United States Congress and whose father earned a Purple Heart fighting the Nazis in the Battle of the Bulge, that we are not loyal Americans. Why are we unable to singularly condemn anti-Semitism? Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) said on the House floor before the text was released.

For that reason, it is unclear whether the resolution will quell the controversy. The dispute threatened to overshadow a high-profile vote Friday on Democrats bill to rewrite election laws and campaign finance policy.

Republican congressional leaders, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, were quick to take advantage of the fissure to claim the GOP as the party to defend Israel.

Apparently, within the speakers new far-left Democrat majority, even a symbolic resolution condemning anti-Semitism seems to be a bridge too far, McConnell said.

This isnt the first time Omars comments prompted a backlash. Last month in a tweet, Omar suggested Israels influence in the U.S. was based on money. Its all about the Benjamins baby, she wrote, referring to hundred-dollar bills.

She unequivocally apologized when critics called her remarks anti-Semitic, promising to combat hate of all kinds, but pledging to continue to question foreign policy.

The resolution was the subject of a raucous meeting among House Democrats earlier this week  and some of the conflict spilled over to Twitter.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), perhaps the highest-profile House freshman and an ally of Omars, called out Rep. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego), who tweeted that questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is unacceptable. Im curious if Rep. Vargas will further explain his stance here that its unacceptable to even *question* US foreign policy, she wrote.

In the closed-door meeting this week, veteran lawmakers suggested that Democrats try to keep their conflicts private. Whether they can do so could have a significant effect on how smoothly the rest of the 116th Congress goes for Democrats.

Newly empowered with the authority to set the agenda, the moderate and progressive ends of the party still have to decide how to deal with a number of policies on which they dont entirely align, including climate change, healthcare reform and impeachment.

Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.

The latest from Washington 
Paul Manafort, who managed Donald Trumps presidential campaign for several months in 2016, was sentenced Thursday to 47 months in prison for financial crimes that were prosecuted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III could have sent the 69-year-old veteran Republican operative to federal prison for the rest of his life. But Ellis rejected the recommended sentence of 19 to 24 years, under federal guidelines, calling it excessive.

A high-flying lobbyist and consultant before he joined Trumps campaign, Manafort was brought into court in a wheelchair, wearing a jail-issued green jumpsuit with the words Alexandria Inmate stenciled in white letters on the back.

He appeared grayer and more frail than in August, when a federal jury here in northern Virginia convicted him of eight charges of tax evasion and bank fraud after a three-week trial.

Advertisement

Near the end of the roughly three-hour hearing, Manafort appealed to Ellis for compassion and said he felt humiliated and ashamed by his conduct. He thanked the judge for a fair trial.

The last two years have been the most difficult that my family and I have experienced, he said from his wheelchair.

Ellis called Manaforts crimes very serious and said his tax evasion represented a theft of money from everyone that pays their taxes.

The judge also said he was surprised that Manafort did not express more regret when he addressed the court. I hope you reflect on that, he said.

But Ellis said Manafort has lived an otherwise blameless life and had no criminal record before his convictions.

He ordered Manafort to pay a $50,000 fine and restitution that could range from $6 million to $25 million.

Manafort has been in jail for the last nine months, so his sentence means he will serve an additional 38 months behind bars under Ellis sentence. Manafort has been held in solitary confinement for his safety, his lawyer, Kevin Downing, told the court.

He was sent to jail last summer when U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing a related case in Washington, D.C., revoked his bail after Manafort contacted potential witnesses.

Jackson is scheduled to sentence Manafort at another hearing next Wednesday. He has pleaded guilty to two related charges of conspiracy in that case.

Paul Manaforts VIP jail treatment: A private phone line, a laptop and his own shower 

All the criminal charges against Manafort stemmed from his work on behalf of Ukraines former pro-Russian government, although some of the crimes continued while he also managed Trumps campaign for several months in 2016.

During his trial, prosecutors detailed how Manafort used a network of offshore bank accounts and other schemes to avoid paying millions of dollars in federal income taxes.

When his client, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, was overthrown in a popular uprising in 2014, Manafort turned to bank fraud to maintain an opulent lifestyle that included custom tailored clothes, seven homes and luxury cars.

Muellers team initially focused on Manafort as part of its investigation into whether Trumps campaign conspired with a Russian intelligence operation that sought to sway the 2016 election to Trump, using stolen emails and disinformation on social media.

In June 2016, Manafort joined Donald Trump Jr., the presidents eldest son, and Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law, in a meeting in Trump Tower in Manhattan with a woman identified to them as a Russian government attorney.

Before the meeting, when an intermediarys email said the lawyer would present political dirt on rival candidate Hillary Clinton as part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump, Trump Jr. replied, If its what you say I love it.

No charges have been filed in connection with the meeting, and Trumps allies have said no incriminating information was provided. Trumps critics have said the campaign should have called the FBI to report the Russian offer.

Two months later, Manafort and Trumps deputy campaign chairman, Richard Gates, met with Konstantin Kilimnik at a posh New York cigar bar.

Muellers prosecutors later disclosed in court papers that Kilimnik has ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016.

Manafort shared polling data with Kilimnik, then lied about it even after he agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

Those lies and others led to the implosion of Manaforts plea deal, which he reached after he was convicted in northern Virginia. The deal had required him to cooperate truthfully with the special counsels office.

Prosecutors had urged the judge to impose a tough sentence.

Greg Andres, a prosecutor from the special counsels office, said Manafort broke the basic civic covenant of citizens in this democracy by failing to pay his taxes.

Nobody made up these crimes, he added. He made criminal choices.

Manaforts lawyers argued in a sentencing memo before Thursdays hearing that the special counsels attempt to vilify Mr. Manafort as a lifelong and irredeemable felon is beyond the pale and grossly overstates the facts.

They also suggested that prosecutors pressured Manafort to provide evidence against the president in the Russia investigation, and urged the judge to spare him jail time.

Muellers strategy in bringing charges against Mr. Manafort had nothing to do with the special counsels core mandate  Russian collusion  but was instead designed to tighten the screws to compel Mr. Manafort to cooperate and provide incriminating information about others, the lawyers wrote.

Trump has repeatedly said that his former campaign chairman was treated unfairly by prosecutors, and hes left open the possibility of pardoning him before he leaves office.

As the jury in Virginia was considering a verdict last summer, Trump told reporters at the White House that its very sad what theyve done to Paul Manafort.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio progressive who offered Democrats high hopes of recapturing voters in the Midwest, announced Thursday he would not be running for president.

I will keep calling out Donald Trump and his phony populism, Brown said in a statement. I will keep fighting for all workers across the country. And I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate in 2020. The best place for me to make that fight is in the United States Senate.

Browns announcement followed a tour of several early-voting states in which he advocated a dignity of work agenda that focused on creating economic opportunity over expanding government. He has been wary of some of the ambitious social programs around which other progressives are building their presidential bids, such as Medicare for all.

Weve seen candidates begin taking up the dignity of work fight, and we have seen voters across the country demanding it  because dignity of work is a value that unites all of us, Brown said. It is how we beat Trump, and it is how we should govern. Thats why Im confident it will continue to be a focus for Democrats in 2020, and I plan on making sure that happens.

Advertisement

Browns supporters believed he was uniquely equipped to lead the Democratic Party to victory in the upper Midwest, where key states were lost to Trump in 2016. When Brown won election to his third Senate term in 2018, he was the only Democrat to win statewide, in part by holding the support of tens of thousands of Trump voters.

Whos running for president, and whos not 

But several other candidates occupy space in Browns political lane. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is already running on her Midwestern appeal. Former Vice President Joe Biden threatens to eclipse both of them if he runs, with his Pennsylvania roots and blue-collar backing. Economic populism is central to the campaigns of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Brown has been blunt in his criticism of Trump, accusing him of phony populism and calling him a racist. After Trump in November claimed Brown was partly to blame for General Motors decision to close a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, Brown responded on Twitter, @realDonaldTrump, Ill compare my record standing up for Ohio & American workers to yours any day.

Browns political appeal would have been greatest among Democrats who believe the partys surest path to the White House is through the industrial Midwest  nominating a candidate who can win enough Trump voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to reclaim those states. He might have had less appeal among Democrats who favor an alternative strategy of focusing more on driving up turnout among people of color and suburban voters in the Sun Belt states of Georgia, Arizona and Texas.

Brown argued that he could appeal both to working-class voters and the partys progressive base. But his skepticism of Medicare for all, an idea that has moved from the partys liberal fringes to increasing acceptance, especially among potential 2020 candidates, threatened to alienate progressive voters. Brown considers it impractical.

Brown supports the idea of universal health coverage and proposes first to allow people in their 50s to voluntarily opt into Medicare. In addition, he would make a public health insurance option available through the Affordable Care Act.

He would not to sign on to the Green New Deal, an ambitious plan to restructure the entire U.S. economy around a fight against climate change.

I dont need to co-sponsor every bill that others think they need to co-sponsor to show my progressive politics, he said at a February breakfast for reporters in Washington sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. I want to get something done for people now.

The latest from Washington 
After 36 years as a California government transportation engineer, Bijan Sartipi retired with much more than a goodbye party: He was paid $405,000 for time off he never used  one of more than 450 state workers who took home six-figure checks when they left their jobs last year.

And Sartipi didnt top the list  a prison surgeon in Riverside pocketed $456,002.

In a trend that stems from lax enforcement of the states cap on vacation accrual, more and more state workers are able to retire with massive payouts for unused vacation and other leave. That could become a budget breaker for California as an aging workforce heads into retirement. During the next recession, California will be obligated to continue the payouts, forcing lawmakers to cut programs to balance the state budget.

(Los Angeles Times)

Advertisement

Last year, the state paid its employees nearly $300 million for banked time off, according to a Times analysis of payroll data from the state controllers office. The data include most agencies and departments, but not legislative employees or other taxpayer-funded institutions such as the public university systems. That means the actual cost to taxpayers for unused vacation is much higher.

The total unfunded liability also does not account for employees who used stockpiled days off at the end of their careers to remain employed while not actually working, boosting the value of their pensions.

All told, state workers had $3.5 billion in unused leave as of 2017, the most recent estimate available. The blame, said Stanford public policy professor Joe Nation, rests entirely on government mismanagement.

Its like having a speed limit but not enforcing it, he said. This is not a good way to run any organization.

California mandates that vacation balances for most employees be capped at 640 hours. Sporadic enforcement of the rule, coupled with an increasing number of state workers retiring, has led to a 60% rise in the number of six-figure payouts since 2012, when 280 employees each cashed in unused paid leave totaling $100,000 or more, The Times analysis found.

Even so, said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state has made significant strides in recent years in reducing unused leave balances.

Some departments have offered workers a chance to cash out up to 80 hours accrued time off each year in hopes of reducing the liability of larger payout when workers retire at a higher salary. According to the Department of Finance, the state wrote checks totaling $111 million over a three-year period ending in 2017 to help reduce vacation balances  an effort started under former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Most private-sector employers cap vacation between 40 hours and 400 hours and do not allow time to be earned beyond those limits.

In California, public-sector union contracts are negotiated at the direction of the governor and must be approved by the Legislature. Any changes to how much vacation employees could store would have to be negotiated and such concessions would not come easily. The states powerful and deep-pocketed public-sector unions showered Newsom with contributions, and labor is also among the biggest donors to Democratic lawmakers, who have supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature.

State Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) said revising the vacation policy would help California contain its liabilities, but did not believe that was politically feasible.

I doubt Gavin Newsom will go to the bargaining table to see if he can fix it, Moorlach said. Our governors are very reliant on public employee union contributions, so this is just not going to happen.

State workers also enjoy another vacation perk most public sector workers have not heard of. When employees cash out their banked leave, the state government pays them not just for the hours they have on the books, but also projects how much additional time they would have earned if they had taken the days off. That means a person with 640 hours of vacation would also be paid for all of the vacation and holidays they would have earned had they taken those 80 days off.

For some, vacation payouts can surpass annual salaries. And since state labor code requires employers to compensate workers for unused days off based on final pay rate  not what they were earning when the time was accrued  the actual cost of each vacation hour increases over time.

(Los Angeles Times)

The top 20 employees with the largest payouts in 2018 took home a combined $5.9 million, with all but three receiving raises in the year before they left state service. The raises increased the employees leave payouts by an average of $7,500 apiece, The Times analysis found.

Thats in line with pension spiking, said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.  likening it to boosting retirement pay with last-minute salary increases, a practice banned in many cases under a 2012 reform law. Its an abuse and it should be corrected with legislation, Coupal said.

Sartipi took home an additional $15,000 for unused time off thanks to a 4% raise in his final year of work.

The onetime district director for the California Department of Transportation in Alameda County received $405,119 for banked time off  the equivalent of more than 4,400 hours of vacation, or two years of stored leave, according to The Times analysis. His annual salary when he retired was $191,208.

When asked for comment, Sartipi declined.

The state controllers office would not provide the number of vacation days for individual employees, saying the information was confidential, but did provide how many hours agencies had on the books as of 2017. But of the 20,400 workers who cashed out their time off last year, nearly 6,200 received at least $10,000. The majority of vacation payouts were less than $5,000, the analysis showed.

Many who received large payouts worked in prisons or public safety positions, where staffing shortages and emergencies can make it difficult to schedule vacations.

I would have rather had been taking time off than taking a payout, said Kim Zagaris, the former fire and rescue chief for the Governors Office of Emergency Services.

Zagaris, whose state career spanned three decades, received $218,000 from unused vacation when he retired last year. He said the tax bite out of that lump-sum payment was around 40%.

The number of vacation hours banked by state workers jumped in the years after 2009, when California furloughed workers during the recession. The forced unpaid time off meant many did not need to use vacation or could not afford to.

In 2016, the Department of Human Resources began tracking the amount of unused leave accumulated and working with managers to have those over the cap create plans to use the time up. A spokesman said the department plans to post the states total number of unused vacation hours and the cash value of that liability online later this year.

As of 2017, state workers had accrued 75 million hours of paid leave, according to the controllers office.

The Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections accounted for a third of those hours, which carried a $1-billion price tag. The California Highway Patrol had $396 million in unused leave on the books, the data show; Caltrans was on the hook for $366 million.

When J.J. Jelincic was ready to retire from the California Public Employees Retirement System in January 2018, he opted to take his vacation time instead of a lump-sum payment. Jelincic, who has been on vacation for more than a year, said that was the smarter investment.

Because while on vacation, he has received a 4% raise that went to everyone in his job classification. And since he is still an employee, he is increasing his total state service. The net impact will mean an increase of his pension. Jelincic is also accruing more vacation time while on vacation  and receiving holiday pay.

The state requires employees to get a managers approval to burn down their vacation before retiring instead of receiving a lump-sum payment.

Mike Genest, who served as budget director for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said there are times when large payouts to hardworking state employees are warranted.

But, I would say most of the time it is abused, Genest said.

He received $37,000 in unused time off when he left the Department of Finance in 2009.

I have no guilt for the taxpayer that I was milking the system, Genest said. People knew I worked ungodly hours most of the time. It could be looked at as abuse, but I tell you I deserved it and I have no qualms saying that as a fiscal conservative.

melody.gutierrez@latimes.com

Follow @MelodyGutierrez on Twitter and sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter.
In October 2016, shortly before the presidential election, Eric Swalwell was meeting with staffers to discuss his upcoming term in Congress when he suggested, half-joking, that if Donald Trump won he would run against him in 2020.

Now that Swalwell is an-all-but-declared candidate for president, the challenge is getting others to take him seriously.

The 38-year-old Democratic lawmaker from a nondescript slice of the East Bay hardly stands out in the abundant 2020 field. He is neither the first nor only millennial running, not the only Californian eyeing the White House and most certainly not the only member of Congress in search of a promotion.

He does, however, have more than 450,000 Twitter followers, an omnipresence on the political cable TV circuit  where he strafes President Trump on a regular basis  a paycheck-to-paycheck upbringing and nearly $100,000 in college debt. The latter two, Swalwell suggests, make him a lot like many Americans living with uncertainty and financial stress.

Advertisement

I think I can look voters in most places in the eye and say, I see you, I hear you, I am you,  he offered.

Say what you will about Trump, hes yielded a bounty of political ambition and a bushel of Democrats thinking, if that guy sits in the Oval Office.

Swalwell may very well top the list of audacious candidates, and not just because it requires a trip all the way back to 1880 to find the one and only sitting House member ever elected president. (The fact James Garfield was assassinated less than four months into his term should be treated as strictly coincidence.)

The motivation for a Swalwell run is entirely self-generated. There is no Beto ORourkian groundswell urging him into the contest, no residual Bernie- mania pushing him to try, no glass-ceiling-shattering impetus to summon him forth. Rather, there is Swalwells professed impatience: With the status quo, with Democratic Party elders, with the political sump hole that is Washington today.

I see a generation that wants to do big things, that sees incrementalism, nibbling around the edges, governing crisis to crisis, budgets that are six to eight weeks at a time, and just thinking that were shrinking in bold leadership, he said at a Starbucks just outside his district, a brief stop on the way home from Iowa before heading back to New Hampshire.

As president, Swalwell suggested, he could serve as a generational bridge between his restless peers and their more seasoned political elders. I look at this as a big, blank whiteboard, he said, not wed to the solutions of the past, not counting on the same old people to solve the same old problems.

I look at this as a big, blank whiteboard, not wed to the solutions of the past, not counting on the same old people to solve the same old problems. Democratic presidential prospect Eric Swalwell

Like many Californians, Swalwell came from someplace else.

He was born in Iowa, where he has practically taken up residence ahead of the February 2020 caucuses, the first test of the Democratic nominating fight. (The New Hampshire primary comes second.)

He grew politically engaged as a student at the University of Maryland, where he helped lead protests against the Republican governor and his cuts to education funding. That is also when, Swalwell said, he broke with the rest of his family  mom, dad, three younger brothers  and became a Democrat.

More on that in a moment.

In May 2003, Eric Swalwell sunbathed as fellow University of Maryland students held signs protesting state budget cuts to higher education. The beach attire was in reference to Gov. Robert Ehrlichs island vacation. (Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun)

His political ascent marries young-man-in-a-hurry ambition with good fortune and Californias mix-and-match primary system.

Swalwell, then working as an Alameda County prosecutor, was appointed in 2006 to the Heritage & Cultural Arts Commission in Dublin, the blue-collar suburb where he attended high school. Two years later he was elevated to the city Planning Commission and two years after that won election to the City Council.

Just a few months into his term, Swalwell  then 31  launched an upstart bid to unseat 20-term Democratic Rep. Pete Stark, who was 80 at the time, increasingly crotchety and ripe for a political takedown. Swalwell finished second in the primary, but under the top-two system advanced to a November runoff, in which he beat Stark with 53% support.

Hes been handily reelected since but will not run again, he said, if he seeks the White House.

Although Swalwells congressional record is thin, he spreads it broadly  like a little peanut butter made to cover every inch of toast.

He boasts of serving on the Judiciary Committee, which oversees immigration policy; and the Intelligence Committee, which examined Russian interference in the 2016 campaign; and of visiting foreign hot spots as part of the congressional oversight process. I know who our enemies are on the outside, he said. I know what the threats to our country are on the inside.

His positions fit squarely within the mainstream of the Democratic Party: support for universal healthcare, higher taxes on the rich, stricter gun control and more aggressive federal efforts to fight climate change.

Perhaps his greatest distinction in the sprawling 2020 field is his Iowa pedigree. Swalwell lived until age 5 in Algona, a speck in the north-central part of the state, where his father served as police chief and the family muddled through.

Hes been back campaigning in Iowa nearly 20 times thus far, giving rise to jokes about a possible arrest for loitering.

Caucusgoers take their job pretty seriously, Swalwell said, without apology. They want to meet you, vet you, know youre for real. Its a big state to cover.

Although settled in the lefty Bay Area, his parents remain true to their rural conservatism. They keep a Trump-Pence magnet on their refrigerator and view the world through the portal of Fox News. Recently, Swalwells mother fretted to him about the influence of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the freshman New York congresswoman whom conservatives view as a kind of she-devil.

Shes really a nice person, he assured her. You dont have to worry.

Which raises a question: If Swalwell should overcome enormous odds to become the Democratic nominee, can he count on his parents to support him over Trump? He thinks so. He expects so.

But I wont take their word for it, he said. I want a picture of their marked ballots.

He was only half-joking.
Dr. Alan Greens patients travel from around the country to his tiny practice in Queens, N.Y., lured by the prospect of longer lives.

Over the last two years, more than 200 patients have flocked to see Green after learning that two drugs he prescribes might stave off aging. One 95-year-old was so intent on keeping her appointment that she asked her son to drive her from Maryland.

Green is among a small but growing number of doctors who prescribe drugs off-label for their possible anti-aging effects. Metformin is typically used to treat diabetes, and rapamycin prevents organ rejection after a transplant. But doctors have the authority to prescribe drugs for any reason they see fit  in this case, for aging.

Rapamycins anti-aging effects on animals and metformins on people with diabetes have encouraged Green and his patients to experiment with them, even though theres little evidence that healthy people could benefit.

Advertisement

Many of [my patients] have PhDs, said Green, who is 76 and has taken the drugs for three years. They have read the research and think its worth a try.

In fact, its easier for patients to experiment with these drugs  either legally off-label or illegally from a foreign supplier  than it is for researchers to launch a clinical trial that would demonstrate their effectiveness in humans.

No rigorous large-scale clinical trials have been conducted for drugs aimed at fighting aging. The Food and Drug Administration hasnt even agreed that a treatment could be approved for delaying the onset of aging or age-related diseases, citing questions about whether research can demonstrate an effect on aging overall rather than on a specific disease.

Given such reservations, pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to fund costly trials. Also, both metformin and rapamycin are generic and relatively cheap.

Theres no profit, said Matt Kaeberlein, who studies the biology of aging at the University of Washington. Without profit, theres no incentive.

Supplements with purported anti-aging effects routinely enter the market with little scrutiny and less evidence.

Yet, late last year, the National Institutes of Health rejected a $77-million grant proposal for a study to determine whether metformin could target multiple age-related diseases at once. It was the second rejection of the ambitious but unorthodox bid.

Were going to keep trying, said Stephen Kritchevsky of the Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimers Prevention at Wake Forest School of Medicine, who worked on the metformin proposal. These things take time.

Metformin is typically prescribed for diabetes, but doctors can prescribe drugs off-label for other purposes. (Francis Dean / Corbis via Getty Images)

Less is known about rapamycins anti-aging effects and its possible side effects in the general population, including the possibility it could lead to insulin resistance.

Yet a litany of studies show that rapamycin extends the life spans of animals, and staves off cancer, cardiovascular diseases, cognitive problems and other age-related diseases.

There should have been a clinical trial for rapamycin and Alzheimers disease years ago, said Kaeberlein, who has urged the NIH to fund studies on the drugs effects. But the fact is, the clinical trials are really hard and expensive.

Alexander Fleming, a former FDA official and advocate for the metformin proposal, said he believed it was difficult for regulators and funders to grasp that aging can be tackled as a whole, not just one disease at a time.

The NIH reviewers who rejected the metformin proposal cited problems with the projects aim of testing multiple age-related diseases at once. The researchers considered appealing the decision, asserting that those reviewers were biased against studying aging as a whole. NIH, which declined to comment, discouraged the attempt.

Dr. Evan Hadley, director of the National Institute on Agings division of geriatrics and clinical gerontology, said projects that target aging are still of interest.

The FDA also is open to considering such efforts based on the scientific evidence presented to us, said spokeswoman Amanda Turney.

Other investigators have moved ahead with clinical trials focused on specific age-related conditions. For instance, researchers have shown that a cousin of rapamycin boosts the effectiveness of flu shots and lowers the incidence of upper respiratory infections in seniors by up to 30%. That group has licensed it from Novartis and is now working on getting approval to target Parkinsons disease.

At a recent scientific forum on aging, the 300 or so people in attendance were asked to indicate whether they were already taking metformin for aging.

Half the audience raised their hands, recalled Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Barzilai sees metformin as a promising anti-aging treatment, but hes also concerned about the trend toward off-label prescribing.

Much of the aging field is charlatans, Barzilai said. They tell you take this or that and youll live forever. But you have to do a clinical trial that is placebo-controlled, and only then can you say what it really is and whether its safe.

Green said he plans to continue prescribing off-label drugs. He estimates about 5% of his patients are doctors themselves; others have backgrounds in science.

Some doctors who are open to prescribing metformin are holding off on rapamycin, which has caused side effects when given in higher doses to sick patients.

I need to see more evidence, said Dr. Garth Denyer, a doctor in the wealthy Houston suburb known as the Woodlands. Im hoping to see more data on safety.

Michael Slattery, who has been HIV-positive since 1983, said he is taking both metformin and rapamycin because the virus is likely to shorten his life. I feel I have nothing left to lose, said the retired biotech consultant.

So far, he has not noticed any side effects or benefits. But his partner, who is also HIV-positive, stopped taking rapamycin after getting kidney infections.

Other patients remain hopeful, even though the evidence is unlikely to be definitive anytime soon.

Linda Mac Dougall of Port Hueneme said she participated in a small study that lacked a placebo. Shes uncertain whether it had any effect.

I really havent noticed anything, but that doesnt mean it didnt work, said the 70-year-old massage therapist for seniors. If I live until Im 110, well know.

Taylor is a senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent publication of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The deal of the century to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, remains elusive as ever

US President Donald Trumps senior advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushners recent tour of Middle Eastern countries has rekindled speculation over the Trump administrations so-called deal of the century to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

An interview he gave to the Sky News Arabic service while in the UAE, which he visited as well as Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Turkey, stirred controversy in Israel, which is readying for early elections in April, and in the Arab world where public opinion is particularly concerned with the status of Jerusalem and the Palestinians right of return.

According to official sources in Cairo there is as yet no fully-fledged plan to discuss, though there are clear principles that any plan must include, something Egypt reiterated during the Arab-European summit held in Sharm El-Sheikh last week.

When Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the summit, he reaffirmed Egypts determination to support the Palestinian cause and, in close coordination with the Palestinians, forge a strategic vision for creating avenues for constructive action that will serve to create a climate conducive to the stability of the situation on the ground.

Al-Sisi also stressed Egypts unswerving commitment to a two-state solution, a Palestinian state within the pre-June 1967 borders and with its capital in East Jerusalem.

Riyadh also reiterated its stand on Jerusalem, stressing that there should be no tampering with the citys historical and legal status.

It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabias reaffirmation was voiced from Jordan, signalling Riyadhs solidarity with Amman which would of course bear the brunt of any measures to organically link it to the West Bank or naturalise Palestinian refugees residing in Arab countries.

In his address to the Arab Parliamentary Union conference in Amman this week Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sheikh, Chairman of Saudi Arabias Shura Council, said his country categorically rejects any violation of the historic and legal status of Jerusalem and rejects and condemns any resolution that calls for the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Israeli occupation forces.

Israeli affairs expert Said Okasha says the question of Jerusalem remains a major sticking point in efforts to reach a settlement because of overwhelming Arab opposition to any infringement on the holy city. No Arab leader would venture to defy the overwhelming consensus.

It appears that the US administration understands this. True, it moved its embassy but, at the same time, it made no mention about the borders of Jerusalem which means the proposed capital [of the Palestinian state] could comprise a part of Jerusalem along with Abu Dis. But this still leaves the problem of the Holy Sanctuary which must fall within the Palestinian part of the capital.

Otherwise the deal will fail, regardless of engineering solutions such as ring roads to link Jerusalem with other Arab areas, says Okasha.

Much play has been given to the notion of economic peace, particularly in the Western media. Press reports mention plans to invest tens of billions of dollars in Gaza, the West Bank and neighbouring countries as an incentive to accept the deal.

This was confirmed by a source from the Gulf involved in meetings connected to Kushners Middle East tour. But the plan is still hazy.

The New York Times quoted a source in the Gulf saying, The Americans are still in the process of presenting various ideas and scenarios but dont appear to have arrived at the final parameters of a plan.

Another source in the Gulf told the New York Times that Kushner wanted to make a deal first and then agree on details.

General Mohamed Ibrahim, a Cairo-based expert on Palestinian affairs, believes the plan is incomplete.

There are points that still need to be fleshed out and trial balloons have been sent up in order to test the water on certain points. The plan will only be unveiled after the Israeli elections, as Kushner himself has said.

When that happens, the Arab strategy will be neither to reject nor to accept the plan, say the majority of sources contacted by Al-Ahram Weekly. Instead, specialised legal and diplomatic committees will be formed to study the plan and formulate possible responses which will be presented to Arab leaders.

Ibrahim, a former intelligence official, stresses that any plan must meet Arab demands pertaining to Palestinian rights and the relevant international resolutions on Palestine.

I imagine that there will be provisions that are acceptable and others that are not. What matters is that we do not act hastily or issue opinions prematurely, he says.

It is an approach with which the Palestinian president agrees. Abbas has made clear that the Palestinians will not accept an agreement that fails to meet Palestinian demands.

Former US president Barack Obamas peace process envoy Martin Indyk also observed that the Arabs could not accept a plan that does not clearly provide for a sovereign Palestinian state.

In his Sky News interview Kushner linked the political plan to economic returns: The political plan, which is very detailed, is really about establishing borders and resolving final status issues. The goal of resolving these borders is really to eliminate them. If you can eliminate borders and have peace and less fear of terror, you could have freer flow of goods, freer flow of people and that would create a lot more opportunities.

He added that the plan sought to help the Palestinians achieve whats been elusive to them for a long time.

Okasha told the Weekly, In principle, we understand from the signals that a proposal is out there that some will accept and others wont.

The Trump administration says that the plan is almost ready and it has not set a deadline for its acceptance or rejection. With regard to the proposed territory [for a Palestinian state], it will probably include a large portion of the West Bank and Gaza.

As for refugees, it might address the 5,000 Palestinians described as the first generation that was expelled from the territories before the 1947 partition resolution.

Later generations would be subsumed under provisions pertaining to the countries they are currently residing in or to the NEOM project which could absorb them as Palestinian nationals studying or working abroad.

A major dilemma concerns Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, where they make up the majority of the population. King Abdullah II is aware of this problem and its potentially dangerous repercussions for Jordan, Okasha says. And Lebanon, where Hizbullah plays a major political role, will work to obstruct the plan.

Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis have signalled their readiness to accept a deal.

The Knesset has been dissolved and so has the Palestinian Legislative Assembly. The current governments are caretaker governments. So who is there to approve the plan? asks Okasha.

Ibrahim ventures an answer.

Yes, its a problem. But elections in Israel could give rise to different scenarios. Will Netanyahu remain in power, as many opinion polls and other signs suggest? If so, he will be in coalition with extremists, lending greater momentum to opposition to the plan in Israel. Another scenario is that the plan could cause his coalition to collapse and lead to the formation of another government more open to the plan. This could explain why Netanyahu urged the plan to be revealed before election day, although, as we know, the US insisted on deferring it until after the poll.

Okasha agrees.

It appears from the recent Warsaw conference that Netanyahu harbours doubts about the current administration in Washington in spite of the close relationship between the two. If the plan is unveiled after the elections it will galvanise the political party and public opinion as negotiations to form a government are taking place. The pressure could alter the political equation in a way that compels Netanyahu to break with the Likuds heritage, just as Sharon did in the past.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 7 March, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: The waiting game

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Since the Blue Wave crashed into Orange County last November, theres been a vacant seat on the Board of Supervisors.

On Tuesday, residents living in the 3rd District, which includes Anaheim, Tustin, Irvine and Orange, as well as unincorporated communities like North Tustin and the canyons, head to the polls to fill the seat in a special election.

Former Supervisor Todd Spitzer vacated the remainder of his 2016, four-year term when he won election as district attorney.

To date, the Board of Supervisors has largely been an all-Republican affair.

Lou Correa, now a congressman representing the 46th Congressional District, had a short stint on the board from 2004-06 as the lone Democrat in a long while. Doug Chaffee, who just won election in the 4th District this past November, is the first Democrat to get elected to the board since Correa.

Democrat Loretta Sanchez, who now lives in Orange and represented the neighboring 46th Congressional District in Santa Ana for two decades, stands out as likely the most recognized name in the pack. She is also the only Democrat running.

Irvines Republican mayor, Don Wagner, who won the OCGOP endorsement last month, also comes into the race with solid name I.D., having run in the district nearly a half-dozen times.

Yet Wagners chances also are impacted by the entry of two capable and well-known Republican names in Villa Park Councilwoman Deb Pauly and former Anaheim Councilwoman Kris Murray.

In all, seven candidates are running.

At last glance, there were about 235,714 vote-by-mail ballots, according to the OC Registrar of Voters Election Data Central. There is a slight Republican ballot registration advantage with 81,069 vote-by-mail ballots issued to voters identifying as Republican. Democrats receiving vote-by-mail ballots number 74,614, with 71,003 independent voters getting their ballots in the mail.

There are already 33,929 ballots returned in the election with Republican turnout, 15,173 ballots, slightly ahead of Democratic turnout at 11,088 ballots and 6,584 independent ballots.

As one of five chief elected officials overseeing the county, the supervisor job is considered the jewel of local government in that its local, offers leadership in regional organizations and features a six-figure salary, plus generous health and pension benefits and even a healthy, Mercedes-range car allowance.

As a supervisor, you are one of five as opposed to one of 438 in the U.S. Congress. While a state legislator can rarely delve into the workings of state government, a county supervisor can walk right into the engine room of government and directly impact policy.

Its a uniquely powerful position in that it oversees procurement for a $6 billion annual public budget spent across the county, covering everything from John Wayne Airport to the landfills to the jails to regional recreational areas like Dana Point Harbor.

Supervisors also have extensive land use authority in the canyons and unincorporated areas  with the ability to introduce changes to specific plans, even influence enforcement of regulations.

That kind of land-use power has triggered lawsuits from 3rd District residents in the past over violations of the local development standards like the Foothill Trabuco Specific Plan and others.

Throughout the entire supervisors special election run of events, it is clear that the publics No. 1 issue is the homelessness crisis and what they are prepared to do as county elected officials to help solve it.

There is a consensus among nearly all challengers that the current Board of Supervisors has been slow to react to the crisis and has done a sub-par job of managing taxpayer resources to address it.

The Board of Supervisors failed us, and the city officials failed us, Sanchez said at a recent candidates forum.

Sanchez criticized supervisors and top city elected officials for failing to secure and harness state and federal funds aimed at stemming homelessness.

Wagner, who has been critical of supervisors for failing to lead on shelters regionally, also has taken heat as Irvines mayor for failing to have his South County colleagues come up with their own solutions in terms of shelters.

Indeed, so far, Wagner has largely run on keeping shelters out.

Instead, he sees cities like Irvine paying to put shelters in nearby places  like Tustin.

Wagner said at a recent forum, and in the On OC podcast, that homelessness requires lots of different solutions, not one size fits all.

Murray, who worked as a councilwoman in recent years to clear homeless encampments along the Santa Ana River in Anaheim near Angel Stadium, has also been critical of the lack of progress from county officials.

She touts herself as the only person with boots on the ground experience on engaging homelessness response.

Pauly, a former Villa Park city councilwoman, also criticizes the current supervisors and the state for failing to use existing resources to combat the crisis.

Probably the biggest issue that impacts public policy in Orange County  but rarely gets discussed, much less addressed  is property tax equity.

For every property tax dollar that Orange County residents send to Sacramento, only about 6 cents comes back  among the lowest take in the state.

Sanchez argues her experience over two decades in Congress make her uniquely suited to go after tax equity in Sacramento.

Nobody up here knows how to get money like I do, she said at a recent forum.

Wagner  who served several terms as a state assemblyman  called out Sanchez, saying it was absurd that we can just go to Sacramento and get other counties who benefit from the imbalance to help Orange County.

They dont like us very much, Wagner said.

Sanchez hit right back, noting, They dont like you.

Norberto Santana Jr. is publisher of Voice of OC, a nonprofit news outlet.
A Huntington Beach man was sentenced to federal prison after being pulled over in Nebraska with more than 500 pounds of marijuana in a rental truck, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

The U.S. attorneys office said Felice Michael Giorgetti, 39, was sentenced last week to 37 months after pleading guilty in November to charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

In January 2018, Giorgetti was driving a rental truck in Seward County, Neb., when he was pulled over by a state patrol officer over alleged traffic and equipment violations. When questioned, he and his passenger gave conflicting stories about the reason for their travel, and Giorgetti denied consent to a search of the vehicle, the U.S. attorneys office said.

The truck was searched after a patrol dog alerted the officer to the presence of drugs, the U.S. attorneys office said. The officer found 17 boxes containing a total of 526 pounds of marijuana, the office said.

The haul had an estimated street value of $1.5 million, the Associated Press reported.

Giorgettis passenger and co-defendant, Robert Patrick Rahon of Fountain Valley, also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute and is scheduled for sentencing April 4, according to court documents.
Against community pushback and staff recommendations to deny both applications, the Orange County Board of Education voted Wednesday to approve proposals for two charter schools to operate within local school districts.

The International School for Science and Culture wanted to open in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, and the Sycamore Creek Community Charter School sought to operate in the Ocean View School District. Their requests were rejected by the district boards.

The schools then appealed to the county Board of Education.

Both are expected to open for the next school year. They will be able to enroll students from areas in the respective districts in addition to neighboring districts.

The county boards chamber was filled with parents and district staff members, the majority of whom opposed the charters. But some spoke in favor of them, saying they would provide parents and children with more choice in schools.

I think our children need choices, Orange County trustee Mari Barke said before the vote on Sycamore Creek. I think choices include quality, and good schools will improve the quality of the education, the excellence of the education.

Trustees Barke, Ken Williams and Lisa Sparks voted to approve both charters, in addition to a five-year term and a founding families stipulation that allows the schools to give limited but preferential enrollment to students of parents who founded the campus.

Trustees John Bedell and Rebecca Beckie Gomez dissented.

I agree with parent choice, but choices have to be of quality. You cannot have something that is put in front of parents and have it be over-promised and under-delivered, Gomez said.

She added that she had significant concerns with the proposals, partly because the schools agreed to comply with staff-recommended changes at the last board meeting but the staff report for this meeting still cited several issues with both.

Its not a choice if theres no quality, Gomez said. If you have people saying that just because its a charter that its quality, no. I am anti any school that doesnt provide quality, whether its a charter or public.

Patricia Gould, lead petitioner for ISSAC, said she was very pleased with the boards decision.

Amy Green-Bosinoff, lead petitioner for Sycamore Creek, said she was over the moon to be making the Waldorf curriculum, an education model that focuses on students creativity, more accessible.

Ocean View School District board President John Briscoe addresses Orange County trustees Wednesday, asking them to reject the proposed Sycamore Creek Community Charter School. (Photo by Lilly Nguyen)

Wednesdays decision came after the board in February postponed a vote at the recommendation of staff to provide all parties more time to work out disagreements and return with a resolution the board would be able to vote on.

The Newport-Mesa and Ocean View districts filed separate resolutions, in accord with the states education code, that pointed out concerns about the charter schools curriculum and staff qualifications.

Similar concerns were brought up again Wednesday.

Sycamores proposal describes its curriculum as arts-integrated and adheres to the Waldorf teachings. The school will serve transitional kindergarten through eighth grade.

ISSACs proposal describes it as a STREAM  Science, Technology, Reading and Writing, Engineering, Arts and Math  school that will have a foreign-language program that teaches students Spanish and Mandarin Chinese in addition to English. It will serve transitional kindergarten through fifth grade.

Newport-Mesa and Ocean View determined in their resolutions that the schools had unsound education programs and that petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the program set forth in the charter.

Newport-Mesa Supt. Fred Navarro said in a statement last week that the charters appeal to the county was a deliberate choice to end-run local control and seek a more favorable pro-charter audience.

He called ISSACs financial plan unsustainable and its educational plan unsound.

Sure, it had a fancy name, but it couldnt be backed up with anything but vague promises, he said. The petition sought to use taxpayer funds taken from our community as venture capital in a highly speculative, flawed proposition.
As one who has visited the concentration camps at Dachau, Germany, and near Mauthausen, Austria, and also as someone who could have found himself interned there for being gay, I share the outrage many feel at the recent incident involving high school students and their white-supremacist, anti-Semitic actions.

Although I have lived in this area for almost 35 years, this raises great concern about the place I call home. It is clear that including a unit on the Holocaust in school curriculum alone does not communicate what transpired in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s that made the murder of 6 million Jews possible.

German citizens elected representatives to the Reichstag, Germanys legislative body, which passed legislation that targeted people for discrimination based on their status, race, ancestry and sexual orientation, among other factors. The German judiciary upheld these laws. The Nuremberg Race Laws, passed in 1935, formed the core of this institutionalized discrimination, but it was an insidious process taking place over a period of decades that normalized the practice of hatred as it was taking place in plain sight with the open complicity of German citizens.

The Nazi party, although a non-majority political party, garnered sufficient power to promote the removal and extermination of German people based on laws passed by their own government. Through the cunning use of media and propaganda, a leader who lost the popular vote in the presidential election in 1932 consolidated power and delivered a period of hatred, murder and destruction to the world on a scale that continues to have resonance to this day.

We need to educate young people and everyone about their government, civic engagement and the process of democracy  in addition to revealing the horrors of the Holocaust. Edmund Burke is attributed with saying, The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. What are we good people doing?

Thomas J. Peterson lives in Newport Beach.
A local woman who helped transform skin care from made-at-home into todays multibillion-dollar business, had a personal life as unusual as her business life.

Fanny Briggs Carr, known for her cucumber-based products, was the focus of an exhibit at the Doctors House Museum last spring. It was curated by Joemy Wilson, who generously shared her research.

The Cucumber Queen, as she became known, married William Carr in 1892, started her cosmetic line four years later, and by 1900, had purchased property she called Viznaga.

A few years after Carr died, she married Maurice King. From reports compiled by Wilson, it appears their relationship was troubled from the beginning.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

Heres what she told the court during divorce proceedings.

I was running the Hotel Kenwood, and he was one of the guests. He came there with the introduction of old friends from the South, and I did everything in my power to make him at home. He told me of his troubles and I helped him out, " she recalled.

Maurice Adrian King didnt have enough friends to act as pallbearers at his funeral until I paid his initiation fee into the Elks. I gave him the money which established his standing when he was applying for the Home Telephone franchise before the City Council. I boosted him into society.

After their 1903 marriage, he inveigled me into forming the FBC (Fanny Briggs Carr) Co. in which all of our property, 16 acres in Glendale and lots in Venice and Huntington Park, are held. In this, I find that I have not a single share. All of it belonging to M. Adrian King, who took it away from me, she said

It was my treatment of five to 15 patients a day that built up the business, not his name or work, she said. Without me, he would be where he was in 1900, when he arrived here from St. Louis.

In her divorce suit, filed in September 1910, she cited extreme cruelty and that he had taken up with a young woman, Gertrude Young, in the company.

A few days later, King went to court to petition that Carr was incompetent. She refuted his petition.

Gertrude Young testified that Carr was of ''weak mind,' but changed her testimony the next day. Carrs longtime retainer, V. Castillo, testified that King never helped Carr when she was sick.

King charged that he had to take a room in a remote part of their home in order to be able to sleep at all, and that she was jealous of an employee. No need, although he had taken her out for breakfast.

By May 1911, a divorce decree was pending, but the battle continued over the company and property. Carr and her retainer, Castillo, went to the ranch and a fight ensued that seems to have involved a gun, a fistfight, a rock and a piece of a picket fence.

The judge threw out that case, saying it appeared to be a family row in which all members were trying to kill each other and that much of the testimony he could not understand or believe.

After receiving an interlocutory decree in October 1912, Carr celebrated at her ranch with some 100 friends. After causing Kings arrest 11 times in three years, she had emerged victorious.

The Los Angeles Times headlined Carrs Three years of scrimmages! and One long, ecstatic jubilant shout of freedom!

Although the property was still in dispute, she held the ranch with the consent of court. King moved to a little cottage two blocks east on Verdugo Street. The divorce was finalized March 1914.

Readers Write:

According to Joemy Wilson, the use of cucumbers in cosmetics, lotions and powders has a long history, especially products advertising that they bleached the skin or lightened the complexion. Cleopatra was said to have used cuke juice on her skin, she wrote.

Victorian women valued their pale skin, she added. When women became more active and outdoorsy, their skin darkened and the natural products needed boosting, so mercury was added to some cosmetics in the 1920s.

Carr was sued by the family of a client for mercury poisoning in 1927, charging she died of a fatal infection from bichloride of mercury in lotion she ordered from Carr. The defense said an agent sold samples only meant for pharmacists and that the client didnt follow directions for use properly. But in 1928, the clients estate won and received $1,000 from Carrs company.

--

KATHERINE YAMADA can be reached at katherineyamada@gmail.com. or by mail at Verdugo Views, c/o News-Press, 202 W. First St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Please include your name, address and phone number.
A decision on the potential territory transfer of the 380-acre Sagebrush area of La Canada Flintridge from the Glendale public school system to La Canada Unified will be postponed another two months.

Officials with both school districts requested the delay during Wednesday mornings meeting of the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization and was approved on a 5-1 vote.

Glendale asked for a one-month postponement so its interim superintendent, Kelly King, can become more familiar with the matter.

King took over her current post after Glendale Unifieds board voted Jan. 29 to dismiss Winfred B. Roberson Jr. from the superintendents position.

La Canada petitioners asked the committee to hold off from making any decision during its April 3 meeting because the district would be on spring break.

After hearing the requests, the committee voted to postpone any decision until a May 1 meeting.

The 56-day delay comes after committee member AJ Willmer said he suspected a decision 60 days from now when the group reviewed a transfer California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, study in October.

The formal petition process began in June 2016 when the Los Angeles County Office of Education received a transfer petition from Sagebrush area property owner Tom Smith, who has since been replaced on the group of petitioners by Nick Karapetian and Nalini Lasiewicz.

The county committee gave preliminary approval to the petition in May of 2017, but only, according to committee secretary Keith Crafton, as a means to conduct a CEQA study.

As for the 66-page CEQA report, it noted a few issues should the territory transfer be approved.

One item was the matter of the many students who would be transferred from Glendale Unifieds Mountain Avenue Elementary School, Rosemont Middle School and Crescenta Valley High School to La Canada Unifieds Palm Crest Elementary and La Canada High.

Glendales interim superintendent King pointed to a potentially negative impact for some of those students.

She noted Rosemont and Crescenta Valley were honored under the 2019 California Distinguished Program on Feb. 25. La Canada Unified had no schools lauded this year.

Achieving this recognition with the new state accountability system is truly exceptional and was unique to Glendale Unified School District in comparison to our surrounding school districts, King said.

The CEQA study utilized a figure of 356 students, as provided by Glendale Unified, which equals a loss of roughly $2.7 million in state funding.

La Canada has argued the total is closer to 151 students.

It must be said that Glendales assertion of $2.7 million revenue loss is grossly exaggerated since it ignores the fact that 215 territory students are already enrolled in La Canada schools, former La Canada school board president Scott Tracy said on Wednesday.

A couple of committee members spoke of delays to the process, including Frank Ogaz, who indicated he may not consider boilerplate letters or form letters submitted that did not include names, signatures or addresses.

You can sit down in front of a liquor store and say, hey, sign this thing and send  a bunch of letters, Ogaz said. You dont even know where they live.

Allison Deegan, LACOEs regionalized business services coordinator, said her staff has received maybe hundreds of these types of letters and has forwarded them to the committee.

Committee member Frank Bostrom said the constant influx of new material from both sides has been overwhelming.

Weve never received this much volume of information on any board item, he said. Were all drowning.

Bostrom added the committee couldnt make a decision until the information spigot was turned off.

Everybody wants to hear the matter, hear the matter, but we cant hear the matter because they keep submitting information, he said. So if you stop submitting information, we can make a decision.

andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter: @campadresports
As part of the California State Legislatures annual celebration of Womens History Month, two area women traveled Monday to Sacramento to accept accolades for their leadership and deep community involvements.

La Canada Flintridge Mayor Terry Walker and Rose Queen Louise Deser Siskel of San Marino were feted in the capital as women of the year, along with other individuals from around the state.

Walker was named the 43rd Assembly District Woman of the Year by Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) while Siskel was bestowed the same honor for the 25th State Senate District by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge).

I was very floored, quite honestly, at the honor and am very humbled by it, Walker said during Tuesday nights meeting of the LCF City Council. It was a lovely experience up there.

For me, listening to the bios of the other women from the other districts that were nominated, I was very humbled because there was some very impressive women in the group.

Rose Queen Louise Deser Siskel with state Sen. Anthony Portantino. (Courtesy of the office of state Sen. Anthony Portantinos office)

Before the official ceremony recognizing honorees, the Legislative Womens Caucus held a luncheon in the Capitol building to celebrate the occasion.

Portantino stated in a news release he was very honored and excited to invite Siskel to Sacramento for the days events.

In the same press statement, the Sequoyah High School senior spoke of being grateful for the experience.

I feel lucky to be honored among a group of truly dedicated women who make the world a more kind and welcoming place. This year, as the 101st Rose Queen, I had the opportunity to promote scientific research, education and inclusion. This recognition encourages me, and I hope will encourage others, to advocate for these values, she said.

Sara Cardine contributed to this report.
We are way above average. You are nodding and smiling and saying, Who didnt know that?

In this instance, the average is rain. L.A.s total before this most recent storm: about 17 inches since Oct. 1. Last year at this same time: less than 2 inches. As I write this, it looks like the apocalypse outside.

My name is Catharine Hamm, and Im the travel editor for the Los Angeles Times. Maybe these gloomy skies have led to a deficiency of vitamin D, known as the Sunshine Vitamin.

In the winter, its virtually impossible to produce Vitamin D from the sun if you live 37 degrees above the Equator (or north of Atlanta), because the sun never gets high enough in the sky for its ultraviolet B rays to penetrate the atmosphere, Lisa Esposito and Deborah Kotz write in U.S. News & World Report, quoting Harvard Womens Health Watch. A deficiency may lead to depression and insomnia, they write.

Advertisement

Vitamin D also is important in the fight against heart disease, cancer and asthma, among other ills, WebMD says.

Consider taking a supplement, drinking milk, eating fish and beef liver and going to Belize.

That last isnt a medical opinion, but how can you look at the photos and not want to be there? (Being in the sun helps, although you will, of course, practice safe sun.) Especially when were writing about a kind of summer camp for kids and adults.

Other things to lift your spirits: the wildflower bloom in California; an Arizona cave tour thats both giggly fun and geologically interesting; a weekend-away suggestion for a Northern California town where the stunning setting is just the beginning; news about an update to an iconic California hotel; and more.

Come on in. The waters fine.

Being a kid (or a kid again) in Belize

Katie Quirk has traveled all her life. When I was a kid, my parents took three months off from work, pulled me and my brother from school, and traveled with us around Spain, France, England and Ireland, she said in an email. I was 12 and had some basic French, so my parents assigned me to find housing each evening. That experience made language and exploring other cultures real to me.

She wanted the same for her children, who often list travel among their favorite hobbies. My children occasionally comment that they wish our family were a little more normal,  Quirk said. In particular, they wish they could go to Disneyland or Disney World at least once in their childhood. There are times when our style of travel certainly challenges them, which she has documented in articles for the L.A. Times on family trips to Nicaragua and Guatemala

Her most recent article focuses on an idyll Belize that should be just what the weatherman ordered for soggy Southern Californians.

Reid Quirk, son of writer Katie Quirk, sips on a freshly harvested coconut at sunset on Long Caye in Belize. (Katie Quirk)

Were just wild about wildflowers

Superbloom may not be a scientific term, Mary Forgione writes, but its definitely a phenomenon that creates super excitement. Wildflower watchers have their fingers crossed that carpets of poppies, yellow hillside daises, forget-me-nots and more will color the California landscape. Lake Elsinore has taken off, causing traffic jams. Its on, a chamber official said.

California poppy blooms are drawing about 1,000 people per day to Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore. (Lake Elsinore Chamber of Commerce)

Delayed Half Dome permit lottery is on too

A change in vendors handling the permit lottery for Yosemites Half Dome led to a delay, but park officials announced it would now open on March 13, Mary Forgione writes. Heres what you need to know about getting the much sought-after permits.

The day hike up Half Dome in Yosemite National Park covers 14 to 16 miles round-trip, with the last steep pitch lined with cables. (Marc Martin / Los Angeles Times)

The delight beneath your feet in Arizona

Meanwhile, no permit is needed to visit Colossal Cave in Arizona, just a tolerance for enclosed spaces and, yes, some corny jokes, Bill Fink writes. And if you have a taste for a prickly pear margarita cocktail, so much the better.

Exploring Colossal Cave Mountain Park in Vail, Ariz., can be a family outing. (Colossal Cave Mountain Park)

From the world down under to the otherworldly

You dont have to have any video game experience to enjoy shooting zombies, said 24-year-old Austin Wiley. Wiley works for Level Up gaming lounge at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Its one of two virtual reality experiences that will get your heart racing, Michael Hiller writes.

Take over the world VR style at MGM Grands Level Up, a 30-minute adrenalin duel with zombies played with VR goggles, a headset and a computer backpack. (Virtual Reality Powered by Zero Latency)

Whats up with the Hotel Del?

Can you improve on a good thing? Hotel del Coronado thinks you can. Thats why the iconic hotel is adding 142 rooms plus new features outdoors. Its part of a $200-million redo for the 130-year-old hotel, Mary Forgione writes.

Artists rendering of new rooms coming to Hotel del Coronado in 2021. (Hotel del Coronado)

This will fuel some discussion about rental car returns

Lets say you rent a car with a full tank and youre told to bring it back with a full tank. Not unusual. But what if your car has, say, five-eighths of a tank of gas and youre told to bring it back with five-eighths of a tank? This means three things: You better be good at fractions, you probably rented off-airport and your struggles with hitting the mark may be over one day soon, thanks to telematics, youll read in my most recent On the Spot column.

(Jason Ford / For The Times)

Sometimes, its the simple pleasures

Hike, bike, shop, sightsee  these are among the pleasures of a visit to Tiburon in the Bay Area, Dorothy ODonnell writes. Take the ferry and learn about Tiburons railroad history (who knew?) at the Railroad & Ferry Depot Museum.

Railroad & Ferry Depot Museum, Tiburon, Calif. (Richard Cummins / Getty Images)

Protecting yourself while traveling abroad

In an article about why we often come home from vacation with some kind of head or stomach problem, I quoted Dr. Robert Winters, an infectious disease specialist and founder of Westside Travel Medicine and Immunizations in Santa Monica. He mentioned a patient had returned recently from Southeast Asia and was hospitalized with typhoid fever, and I told him I had forgotten to get that shot last time I was in Asia a couple of years ago. Here was his response, which he gave me permission to share:

I always recommend the oral typhoid fever vaccine for those travelers with extended plans for international travel to the more exotic parts of the world, including Africa, Southeast Asia, South and Central America, he said in an email. The oral vaccine is good for five years and only requires you to take one capsule every other day times four doses.

This is a live vaccine, which means anyone with known immune system weakness should avoid this product; otherwise, it is well-tolerated and quite effective. The alternative injectable vaccine has to be repeated every two years.

What were reading

Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is supposed to be a celebration thats a sort of last hurrah before Lent. Rios is said to be the largest in the world, attended by about 2 million people. That in itself is pretty scary, but heres something even scarier, Lucy Bryson reports in Atlas Obscura: Bate-bola, which is described as Rios Seductive, Scary Alternative Carnival. In the regular universe of Carnival, there are floats and scantily clad women. In this alternate universe, there are clowns that will give you coulrophobia, a fear of clowns, because these arent designed to make you laugh. For good measure, there are devils and witches, like a Halloween gone bad. But it is a thing, and a growing one at that.

In its tastemakers issue, Conde Nast Travelers The Neighborhood Redux focuses on Chinatowns in Bangkok, Thailand; Honolulu; and Vancouver, Canada. It looks at pudding parlors, souvenir shops, chicken joints and more and offers its perspective on old school and new guard. The fried chicken wings at Cambodian-Vietnamese Phnom Penh are worthy of the hour plus wait, Chris Schalkx writes of the old guard chicken joint, bumping it up against Juke Fried chicken, a cool Southern-inspired spot on Keefer Street in Vancouver.

A New York Times article by Tariro Mzezewa on Capt. Kate McCue, who soon will be captain of the new Celebrity Edge, led me to a more detailed article in Britains Telegraph by Emma Featherstone. Both talk about her career path to being at the helm of a billion-dollar ship, but the Telegraph contains details about how she makes her life work. Fascinating stuff, especially the part about how she travels with her elf sphynx cat.

Aerial at night of the Celebrity, a billion-dollar cruise ship soon to be under the command of Capt. Kate McCue. (Michel Verdure / Celebrity Cruises)

How to reach us, how to read us

If you have comments or suggestions on this newsletter, send them to travel@latimes.com. Tell us what you like and what you dont  broccoli, the What Were Reading Section, the fact that New Orleans Mardi Gras contained a reference to the bad call in the Saints/Rams playoff game, according to Pete Grathoff writing for the Kansas City Star. Or anything else.

If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter or many others from the Los Angeles Times for your specific interest, go to membership.latimes.com/newsletters. As far as I know, there are none yet about hairless cats, but who knows?

End paper

Katie Quirk and I share something: parents who believe that travel is the best learning lab for their children. I smiled when I read her line about her kids longing to be normal, wanting to go to one of the Disney theme parks, maybe just to see, maybe so theyll have shared experiences to talk about when theyre around friends.

When we are young, fitting in with friends is important, but as you age, fitting in with the world is even more so. Quirks parents had her use her rudimentary French to secure lodging while they were traveling. Since then, Ive lived in parts of Europe, Asia, Central America and Africa and have learned to speak a number of language (to varying degrees): Spanish, French, Swahili and Tamil.

Language is one way to open the door to the kingdom of travel, but it is the confidence to find shared principles and values with strangers you encounter that swings the door wide. Those commonalities are your ticket to a travel life that is anything but common.

Wherever you are, travel safely and well and know that we will be here to welcome you home.
If youve ever wanted to visit Fiji, prices couldnt be lower right now. Fiji Airways on Wednesday launched a super-low airfare  $400 round-trip L.A.-Fiji  thats on sale now through Tuesday, or until seats sell out.

Travelers can fly economy from Los Angeles or San Francisco to Nadi on selected dates between Sept. 1 and Nov. 14. If you want this deal, act quickly. The airline added fall dates after an earlier Wednesday sale for spring travel sold out in less than 24 hours. (There are still a few dates available for those who prefer to go in March through June.

I checked this deal online on Wednesday afternoon and found $395 airfares from LAX, including taxes and fees, on Sept. 7-14 and Oct. 11-18.

Things to know about Fiji:

Advertisement

The flight takes about 10 hours each way.

Youll arrive at Nadi International Airport on Viti Levu, the main island of the 330 islands that make up the South Pacific nation.

The currency is the Fiji dollar ($1 Fiji equals $2.09 U.S.).

Info: Fiji Airways

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravel
Thailands Constitutional Court on Thursday banned the political party that nominated a former princess to run for prime minister, dealing a blow to opposition forces vying to defeat allies of the military-led government in the first election since a 2014 coup.

The court ruled that the Thai Raksa Chart partys nomination of Ubolratana Mahidol, the eldest child of Thailands revered late king and sister to its current monarch, undermined the monarchy and was hostile to the democratic system.

The party will be dissolved and its executives barred from politics for 10 years, judges said.

It is necessary for the Thai monarchy to stay above politics and stay neutral in politics, Taweekiat Meenakanit, one of the judges, said in a verdict broadcast live on television. Do not allow any opportunities for the Thai monarchy to be used for political purposes.

Advertisement

Thai Princess Ubolratana Mahidol, shown in a 2013 appearance in Santa Monica to promote Thailand as a filming destination, was not in the Constitutional Court for Thursdays hearing on the dissolution of the party that nominated her for prime minister. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

The ruling was not a surprise. The partys decision last month to nominate the 67-year-old Ubolratana  a UCLA masters graduate who relinquished her royal title when she married an American in 1972 but is still treated as royalty by Thais  stunned the nation and broke with a more than century-old tradition of the royal family avoiding elected office.

It also raised the prospect of the return of Thaksin Shinawatra, the telecommunications tycoon and former prime minister who is linked to Thai Raksa Chart and lives in exile to avoid corruption charges that he says are politically motivated.

Thaksin is regarded as a dangerous upstart by the military  which ousted him from office in 2006  and by supporters of the royal family, who regard him as insufficiently deferential to the monarchy.

The nomination of a royal to lead a Thaksin-linked party suggested a rapprochement that could have ended more than a decade of political clashes between rival Thai political factions that have occasionally turned deadly.

But the nomination was short-lived. The party withdrew her candidacy after her brother and Thailands current monarch, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, called it extremely inappropriate.

Election officials formally canceled her nomination days later and asked the Constitutional Court to punish the party, which led to Thursdays ruling.

The ex-princess did not appear for the verdict but responded on Instagram, where photos on her private account indicated she was in Berlin. Followers commented that the party had been dissolved, to which Ubolratana responded: It is sad and depressing.

Human rights groups denounced the verdict, saying it would diminish the fairness of the March 24 election that the Thai military has held up as a sign of the countrys return to democratic rule.

This decision highlights the Thai authorities abuse of judicial powers to restrict the peaceful association and expression of the political opposition, Amnesty Internationals Thailand campaigner, Katherine Gerson, said in a statement.

This far-reaching measure raises strong concerns about the human rights to freedom of association and expression in the period leading to the elections.

Two parties associated with Thaksin have previously been banned, and his sister Yingluck was removed as prime minister in 2014, the most recent of more than a dozen coups in Thailands modern history.

Constitutional changes enacted by the junta since 2014 have given the military power to appoint members of the upper house of parliament, while making it more difficult for major parties such as Pheu Thai  the largest Thaksin-backed party  to win large numbers of seats in the lower house.

Both houses vote to select the prime minister, giving the military outsize influence over the winner.

Thai Raksa Chart was formed just four months ago as one of several Pheu Thai offshoots in a bid to secure more parliamentary seats for pro-Thaksin candidates.

Thai Raksa Charts nomination gamble, and the courts ruling, have left that strategy in tatters and boosted the chances of the military-backed leader, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is running at the head of a pro-military party to remain in power via the ballot box.

We had pure intentions through the course of our actions, Thai Raksa Charts leader, Preechapol Pongpanich, told reporters after the ruling. I would like to thank all the candidates and the people who walked side by side with us.

Special correspondent Amatatham reported from Bangkok and Times staff writer Bengali from Singapore.
A seminar in Geneva organised by the Development and Human Rights Information and Training Centre has criticised what it described as widespread violations against human rights by Houthi militias against Yemeni citizens.

Speaking at the seminar, journalist Magdy Helmy, a member of the centre's advisory board, said that what is happening in Yemen is punishable under international law, and asserting that the coup by the Houthi group has led to a vast deterioration in economic and social rights in the country.

Helmy said that epidemics that had been eradicated worldwide have reappeared in Yemen, including typhoid, cholera and dengue.

"These diseases led to the deaths of more than 6,000 Yemenis during the past year," Helmy said, adding that the Houthis have transformed schools into weapons warehouses and militia outposts.

"We are here at the UNHCR headquarters to affirm that the Houthi coup... has led to the mobilization of neighbouring countries, particularly since the group is funded by Iran, which has obvious ambitions in the region," Helmy added.

The participants in the seminar also criticised what they saw as bias from the international community regarding Yemen.

Said Abdulhafiz, the head of human rights committee in the Free Egyptians Party, criticised the international community's silence on violations by the armed wings of the Houthi group in Yemen and the Muslim Brotherhood group in Egypt, despite their clear threat to international peace and security.

Abdel-hafiz called on the United Nations to address the "politicised" reports by some consultative organisations that provide cover for terrorist groups through unprofessional reports.

Atef El-Saadawy, editor-in-chief of Democracy magazine, criticised the current Western discourse regarding human rights around the world, saying that it has been highly politicised.

"This is reflected in the reports of human rights organisations that rarely mention the rights of victims of terrorist crimes, while overwhelmingly focusing on the rights of the perpetrators of terrorism to a fair trial," El-Saadawy added.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have inducted 18,000 child soldiers in the ranks of their militia since the beginning of the war in Yemen in 2014, a senior Houthi military official told AP last December on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

This new figure is higher than any number previously reported. A report released in August by a UN panel said that about 1,814 child soldiers identified in 2017 were deployed by Houthi rebels and their allies, but experts said the estimate was likely low, because many families would not address the issue out of fear of reprisals from the militiamen.

More than 6,000 children have died or been maimed in Yemen since the beginning of the war, UNICEF reported in October. However, the UN agency has not been able to determine how many of these minors were combatants and the Houthi-run defence ministry has not released records of casualties.

In early November, Geert Cappelaere, the regional director for UNICEF, said that Yemen was a living hell for children. In addition to creating shortages of food and clean water, fighting has caused the breakdown of Yemens medical system, including immunisations, leading to fatal outbreaks of measles and diphtheria.

According to the UN, half of Yemeni children under five are chronically malnourished. It says 400,000 children are so malnourished that they will likely die without intervention.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Huawei is suing the U.S. government over a law banning federal agencies from using its equipment, the latest maneuver in the Chinese tech giants global offensive against American pressure and criticism that it poses a national security risk.

Huaweis inexpensive, effective technology is attractive to many countries planning 5G wireless networks, but U.S. officials have been touring the world arguing it poses an unacceptable security risk, particularly for allies with which the U.S. shares intelligence.

The White House says Beijing could exploit the technology to carry out cyberspace intrusions and espionage, and Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo recently warned European partners not to use Huawei to equip 5G networks.

But Huawei, desperate to protect its share of a crucial market, has been fighting back.

Advertisement

Congress acted unconstitutionally as judge, jury and executioner, Huawei executive Guo Ping said Thursday after announcing the court action.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Plano, Texas  home to Huaweis U.S. headquarters  targets a U.S. ban on government agencies using its equipment or dealing with third parties that use its equipment.

The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products, Guo said at a news conference in Shenzhen, China.

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, last week, Huawei boasted it had already signed up 64 countries for 5G equipment. Governments in important markets such as Britain, Germany, Canada and India are still deciding, and some telecommunications firms in France, Japan, Germany and Britain have expressed concerns about using Huawei technology in their 5G networks.

Huawei has been trying to shrug off its reputation for having a closed, opaque corporate culture. In Brussels this week, the company launched a cybersecurity transparency center. It has taken to social media and recently launched the English-language website Huawei Facts with an Open Letter to the U.S. Media, saying, Dont believe everything you hear. Come and see us.

Huawei has also been wooing journalists, according to Reuters, which reported that 10 of its senior staffers were offered salaries of up to $200,000 to jump ship and work for Huaweis public relations department.

It took out a full-page ad in New Zealand newspapers after that country barred its equipment from 5G networks. And it paid for a sponsored column by cybersecurity analyst Henry B. Wolfe published by the New York Times T Brand Studio calling on Australia to reverse a similar ban.

The company has urged its foreign employees to post glowing comments about Huawei, to send the company headquarters any positive commentary they can find online and to share the Huawei Facts website and Twitter handle with clients, customers and partners.

Last week, a slick video featuring schoolchildren singing Huawei Is Beautiful circulated on Chinese social media; the company said the video was made by supporters on the internet without its participation. Huawei appreciates customers attentions and concerns, a company statement said.

Huawei executive Guo Ping speaks at a news conference in Shenzhen, China, on Thursday. (Wang Zhao / AFP/Getty Images)

In his news conference at Huaweis Chinese headquarters, Guo, who serves in the companys rotating chairmanship, accused U.S. agencies of hacking Huawei servers and stealing emails and source code.

The allegation that the National Security Agency hacked Huaweis servers in 2007 surfaced in 2014, based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Huawei is not the first company the U.S. government has barred over national security concerns. In September 2017, government agencies were barred from using software from the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab. The company sued, but its case was dismissed.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Thursday that he was unaware of Huaweis legal action against the U.S. government but that it was totally reasonable and totally understandable.

Concern about Huawei is based partly on a 2017 Chinese law requiring Chinese companies to cooperate with that countrys national security agency.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has said he would rather close the company than compromise clients security or give national security officials access to data.

But European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip has said that Huawei being subject to Chinas national security authorities was troubling. He said at a news conference last month that the task was not to look for evidence of past breaches by Huawei but to assess the risk of a future threat, Reuters reported.

Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull  who led the government when it barred Huawei and another Chinese company, ZTE, from participating in its 5G rollout  gave much the same assessment Tuesday during a speech in London.

It is important to remember that a threat is the combination of capability and intent, he said. Capability can take years, decades, to develop and in many cases wont be attainable at all. But intent can change in a heartbeat.

Australia is part of the Five Eyes network with which the U.S. shares intelligence, including Britain, Canada and New Zealand. Turnbull said pressure from Washington played no part in Australias decision on Huawei.

Huawei has been at the center of accusations of intellectual property theft from U.S. companies, a core grievance in the U.S.-China trade war. In January, U.S. prosecutors indicted the company in two cases  over allegations of intellectual property theft and fraud over hidden dealings with Iran. They accused Ren of repeatedly lying to U.S. officials over business dealings in Iran in breach of U.S. sanctions.

Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, Rens daughter, was arrested in Canada in December and has been indicted by the U.S. on charges of fraud over business dealings in Iran. She faces a May 8 extradition hearing in Vancouver in a case that has outraged Chinese officials. Meng is suing Canadian authorities over what she alleges were breaches of her rights during her arrest.

The vehemence of Chinese officials reaction to Mengs arrest has raised questions about the closeness of company executives to state officials.

Chinas pressure on Canada to release Meng was swift and intense. Chinese authorities arrested two Canadians, whom it has accused of stealing state secrets, and boosted the 15-year drug sentence of another Canadian to the death penalty. Authorities this week banned imports of Canadian canola seeds by a major supplier.

Mengs lawyer Richard Peck raised concerns in a Vancouver court Wednesday that the U.S. case against her is politically motivated. He also suggested her arrest involved abuse of process.

He raised comments by President Trump, who said in December that he would be willing to intervene in the Meng case if it helped secure a trade deal.

New Zealand, which banned Huawei from its rollout of a 5G network, and Australia have seen recent actions from China that some suspect may have been in retaliation.

A New Zealand commercial airliner was turned back on its way to China for technical reasons because it lacked registration, Australian coal shipments to a Chinese port were delayed for quality checks and an Australian writer was arrested in China.

Meanwhile, news came that Australias Parliament had been hacked by a sophisticated state actor, although the countrys identity has not emerged.

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

Twitter: @RobynDixon_LAT
Credit: Jon ChuBear Hands has announced the details of the band's next album.

The fourth studio effort from the "2AM" rockers is called Fake Tunes, and will arrive on May 10.

Fake Tunes is the follow-up to 2016's You'll Pay for This. It includes the previously released singles "Blue Lips" and "Back Seat Driver (Spirit Guide)."

In other Bear Hands news, the band will be opening for Twenty One Pilots' upcoming spring North American tour, kicking off May 12 in Vancouver.

That trip will follow Bear Hands' previously announced opening gig for Foals -- that tour launches March 18, also in Vancouver.

Here's the Fake Tunes track list:

"Blue Lips" feat. Ursula Rose

"Mr. Radioactive"

"Friends in High Places"

"Back Seat Driver (Spirit Guide)"

"Reptilians"

"Ignoring the Truth"

"Clean Up California"

"Exes"

"Pill Hill"

"Blame"

"Confessions" feat. Ursula Rose

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika warned Thursday of the risk of "chaos", on the eve of major planned protests against his bid for a fifth term in office.

The 82-year-old leader, who has been in Switzerland since late February for medical reasons, said in a message released by the official APS news agency that trouble-makers may try to infiltrate the rallies to provoke turmoil.

"Many of our fellow citizens" have demonstrated across the North African country "to peacefully express their views," he was quoted as saying.

"However, we must call for vigilance and caution in case this peaceful expression is infiltrated by some insidious party... which could cause chaos."

He made no mention of demonstrators' demands that he back down from his bid to seek re-election in April 18 polls, which has sparked waves of protest.

But echoing other senior Algerian officials, he warned of a return to the "national tragedy" of Algeria's decade-long civil war and of the "crises and tragedies caused by terrorism" in neighbouring countries.

Algeria has largely avoided the conflicts unleashed by the Arab Spring uprisings that brought down rulers in neighbouring Tunisia and Libya.

But discontent, particularly among the country's youth, turned to anger in February as the veteran leader announced another bid for power.

In office for two decades, Bouteflika uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.

Despite a ban dating back to 2001, demonstrations have been staged almost daily in the capital Algiers since a massive rally on February 22.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


For the first time, statements by Jared Kushner, the US presidents envoy to the Middle East, revealed some aspects of the US Middle East peace plan, sometimes known as the deal of the century. Kushners statements triggered a barrage of reactions, especially after he announced that all the details of the new plan for peace to end the 70-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be released after the Israeli elections.

Kushner only gave a broad outline of the US peace plan; the core of the solution remains a mystery. He spoke about freedom, respect, security, marking borders and balancing the political and economic tracks as some of the features of the plan. However, for Palestinians these components are not a formula for a solution since they did not mention ending the occupation, halting and removing settlements, creating a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the US reversing its decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Ahmed Majdelani, a member of the Executive Committee of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation), pointed out that Kushner did not mention a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, the right of return, or Jerusalem, or settlements.

What little is known of the US peace plan so far is unacceptable to Palestinians because it does not mention international resolutions and law, or the right to self-determination, ending the occupation and creating a Palestinian state. Palestinians believe that after relocating the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing the city as the capital of Israel, Washington is no longer an impartial sponsor of peace and Palestinians will not participate in a plan that is so far from the essence of the Arab Peace Initiative which is based on ending the occupation as the key to peace.

Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the PLOs Executive Committee and senior Palestinian negotiator, said it is vital to understand who else is travelling with Kushner and US envoy to the Middle East peace process Jason Greenblatt. The delegation also includes Brian Hook, the US official in charge of the Iran file, who along with National Security Adviser John Bolton, promotes that Iran poses an existential threat to Arabs.

There is an overlap, said Erekat, noting that Kushners wording that the plan promises a better life for everyone implies that the plan is not so much political as simply improving of living conditions.

Erekat asserted that for Palestinians it is not a matter of improving living conditions or freedom of movement, or supporting the Palestinian economy, but rather ending Israeli occupation, creating a Palestinian state within 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre within its walls, resolving final status issues, most notably the plight of Palestinian refugees, UN General Assembly Resolution 194 and releasing detainees.

Erekat said these are the same conditions that the US dictated to Palestinians in order to join the peace process in 1988.

He continued that another statement by Kushner that all issues will be addressed based on realities on the ground in 2019 means forgetting about a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, dropping the issue of Jerusalem (which Washington has done already), refugees, settlements, and creating an independent Palestinian state.

On top of all this, Arabs are also expected to fund the plan wherein Al-Aqsa Mosque is under Israeli sovereignty, he said. Erekat cautioned that anyone who accepts this is denying the existence of the Prophet Mohamed and denying Al-Israa wal Miiraj (the Prophets miraculous journey from Mecca to Al-Aqsa Mosque and then to heaven).

Erekat added that the EU-Arab summit in Sharm El-Sheikh that was attended by 50 countries stressed that if a solution does not include a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on international law and the Arab Peace Initiative, there will be no solution.

He continued that when late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin began to take serious steps towards ending Israeli occupation, he was assassinated by an Israeli extremist. Also, a few days after maps were exchanged between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, the latter was politically assassinated and toppled.

Since Binyamin Netanyahu came to power in 2009, he has evaded all obligations in signed agreements, increased settlements by 40 percent, ended all obligations regarding the transfer of power and territories, and concluding final status talks.

Netanyahus strategy is based on three pillars, explained Erekat. First, a Palestinian Authority without any authority; occupation without a price; and separating the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. If we dont accept this, they will use all means and ways to say that President Abbas must leave and that the PLO is illegal, he argued.

Israeli media reported that Tel Aviv is worried about the explosive situation in the West Bank that could amount to another Intifada (uprising) once the Deal of the Century is revealed.

Alex Fishman, a military analyst writing for Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper who has close ties with Israeli security, quoted an Israeli politician as saying that a key official in the US administration who is informed and involved in the deal President Trump and a few of his advisers are working on, told him that after publishing the plan, any Palestinian family would be able to sit around the dinner table and read the plan and see whether it can be applied. They will put pressure on President Abbas.

The senior Israeli official said he could not believe what the US official, who has been touring the Middle East since Trumps election, was saying. The US official said the plan was written in simple terms without legal jargon, but also includes descriptions to convince the Palestinian audience of its merits, such as employment, funds, freedom of movement and a form of sovereignty.

According to Fishman, the Israeli official warned against the dangers of releasing the plan, stating that combining naivete and amateurism is a formula for disaster. He said Trumps plan will hasten an explosion between Israel and the Palestinians, and warned that no professionals in the US administration who are experienced in the complications of the situation in the Middle East contributed to the Deal of the Century.

The US State Department was excluded, and the small team from the National Security Council that is assisting Kushner and Greenblatt are confined to gathering data but were not involved in the final plan. The deal was written by Kushner, Greenblatt and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; the Palestinians were never consulted, he said.

A research paper published by the Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv argued that Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank would be an existential threat to Israel. The paper, written by Reserve General Gershon Hacohen, stated that as the peace plan is delayed by Trumps administration, any future withdrawal from the West Bank poses an existential threat to Israel.

The military correspondent for Israel Hayom newspaper said that Hacohens research undermines the ideas of most current and former senior security officers, because his paper asserts that changing the formula of war over the past few decades from traditional confrontation between two armies, to confrontation involving civilians, requires Israeli presence in areas that have not been handed over to Palestinians.

Hacohen explored several scenarios that could occur if Israel leaves Areas A and B in the West Bank. He warned that similar to what happened in South Lebanon and the Gaza Strip once Israeli troops withdrew, terrorist groups will convert the homes of Arab civilians in the West Banks into battle zones by planting mines on the streets and storing missiles in homes.

Hacohen also warned against fighting on too many battlefronts at once, as expected today on the fronts with Lebanon and Syria, adding that simultaneous combat on the Gaza and Lebanon fronts is already a possibility, so what would happen once Gaza becomes part of a Palestinian state? He continued that the threat from a Palestinian state in the West Bank would put the Israeli army in a very difficult position.

While many politicians and security officials in Israel support a separation from Palestinians, Hacohen believes that the current situation, whereby Israeli settlements deeply infiltrate the West Bank, is of great political and security benefit for Israel.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 7 March, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Words without substance
For International Working Womens Day on 8 March, the unions have once again obtained legal notice for the general strike called by the feminist movement. For several months, preparations have been underway in all parts of the Spanish State for what is to be an even more successful protest than that in 2018.

The economically active female population stands at almost eleven-and-a-half points below the male, and 90 percent of women who are inactive are in that position because they are doing housework. Women represent 73 percent of part-time employment and 90 percent of people who take leave of absence for childcare. In addition, the unemployment rate for men is 12.87 percent, while for women it is 16.26 percent.

[This article was written by Lucha de Clases (Spanish section of the IMT) ahead of International Working Womens Day, when there will be a general strike throughout the Spanish State for womens rights. Read the original in Spanish.]

These are just some of the data that show how women remain in a very unfavourable situation with respect to men, and bear the burden of double oppression: as workers and as women. That is why we women have said enough!, and 8 March has become one of the years most important days of struggle.

Working women face all kinds of prejudices when it comes to finding a job, and indeed in the workplace, especially if we are of childbearing age, since employers regard our labour as carrying an additional cost. That is why large multinational corporations have started offering us the opportunity to freeze our eggs so that we do not stop working in the most productive years of our lives, and instead become mothers after the age of 40, when our professional careers are more consolidated. They try to convince us that it means liberation, but in fact it only represents the preservation of business interests.

The companies offering this option to their female employees are now a minority, but are they not forcing women to renounce motherhood? Obviously we respect and support all the decisions of women in this regard but we denounce this trap disguised as modernity, in which women workers are forced to choose between dedicating ourselves to domestic chores and our families; to generate profit for others by renouncing our family life; or to be slaves of both the family and work. In short, we are forced to live under the yoke of two inseparable systems: patriarchy and capitalism.

Capitalism squeezes out all our productive potential through lengthy working days, temporary contracts that make it impossible to plan for ones future, and a rhythm of work deepens the inertia of life. Once a woman becomes a mother, the obstacles in her working life multiply. Reduced working hours or maternity leave mean a reduction in social security contributions, which will have significant consequences for pensions in the future. Can we speak of rights if we have to decide between being mothers or maintaining our present income (in the form of wages) and future security (our pensions)?

Defenceless against aggression

But we must not only endure this double oppression in the workplace. According to government data, in 2018, 125,223 incidents of gender-related violence were reported to the police and 47 women were murdered. In addition, in 2017 there were 2,219 reports of rape, of which only 68 percent were investigated.

Only with an effective strike, with participation by both female workers and male workers, can we fight for an end our oppression as women and as workers / Image: Flickr, Fotomovimiento

We are facing a situation of helplessness when we are physically, psychologically and sexually assaulted. This was demonstrated with the case of "the wolf-pack", when a young woman was the victim of a gang rape and came up against the wall of a judicial power inherited from Francoism, which limited itself to condemning those accused for sexual abuse instead of rape. Recall that, among the perpetrators was a soldier and a civil guard. They were all released on bail in June 2018, as there is no final decision and the Navarre Court understands that there is no risk of destruction of evidence, escape or repeat offence. This is scandalous, since four of the five members of the pack are facing another trial, in which they are charged with the sexual abuse of another young woman from Pozoblanco (Cordoba).

We also know the case of Juana Rivas, who was accused of "child abduction" when she came to Spain with her two children against the will of the father, who had been convicted in 2009 of abusing her. She again denounced her former partner for abuse in 2016, but that complaint was sent to Italy for lack of a translation and was not taken into account. Currently, the children of Juana Rivas have lived with their father for more than a year and their custody hearing has not yet taken place.

Working-class women, immigrants or those on low income have to suffer the male chauvinist prejudices of the police and judges, who in many cases ignore our complaints. It is in these concrete cases that the true role of the so-called justice system is revealed: safeguarding the established order of the ruling class.

Commodification of poor women

But if we talk about violence against women, we cannot ignore one of the worst forms of slavery that women experience: prostitution. It is estimated that there are some 100,000 women who are forced into prostitution either because they are victims of trafficking or because they live in a situation of extreme need. As Marxists we can only oppose the legalisation of prostitution, since it would be legalising the slavery of thousands of women who have no other way to survive.

In addition to prostitution, in the last year, the debate on surrogate pregnancy has been fueled. In this practice, a woman rents her uterus in exchange for money to gestate an embryo from a different father and mother. Some liberals label surrogacy as an "altruistic and supportive" act towards two people who want to, but cannot be parents. In the words of Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera, "Is there something more feminist than a woman helping another woman to be a mother, altruistically?" However, acts of solidarity and altruism are never accompanied by money.

Once again we see how male and, of course, female defenders of capitalism disguise the slavery of women under the mask of modernity and reform. You just have to listen to Ciudadanos leaders Ines Arrimadas or Begona Villacis to hear evidence of this.

Class struggle lies behind surrogacy: wealthy men and women pay a poor woman to gestate an embryo for them. It is an act that, just like prostitution, is done out of pure necessity. An act that would not be carried out if the women who rent their uterus had their material needs catered for. How many rich women lend their uterus to this "altruistic" cause?

That is why we must strive to create the necessary material conditions that allow a dignified life, without having to resort to turning our bodies into commodities. That means guaranteeing employment for the entire working class and unemployment benefits equal to the minimum wage for those without a job. Only in this way will the foundations be laid for a new society that will eradicate all the forms of slavery women workers endure under patriarchy and capitalism.

A struggle of women alone?

The struggle for equality is not only a matter of gender, it is also a matter of class. Our natural allies are our partners in the working class, and not bourgeois women. They themselves reject the call for strike action. The women representatives of right-wing political parties are only forced to go to the demonstrations, very reluctantly, by the movement of millions of women and men against patriarchy. They are defenders of and privileged by the capitalist system, and they themselves (as businesswomen or in the political sphere) carry out actions that oppress women workers.

Therefore, we do not share the idea that male workers and activists should be excluded from the tasks of organisation and participation in the strike and demonstrations on 8 March. The best way to combat the prejudices that many of our male colleagues still have towards the struggle of women is to incorporate them into our struggle and make them aware of our problems.

The experience of the strike and demonstrations last year showed that the idea of a day of mobilisation exclusively for women did not connect with the needs and instincts of the young women and women workers. Everywhere, masses of young people of both sexes overflowed the demonstrations, ending attempts to establish non-mixed blocks. Young students of both sexes participated in strike pickets at universities. And, of course, in the factories and workplaces, the strikes had a greater impact the more male workers were involved in them, rather than being relegated to covering for their female counterparts.

What kind of strike do we need?

We should remember that last years strike was called for in different ways. On the one hand, minority unions called a 24-hour strike, while the main unions CCOO and UGT called for a two-hour stoppage. This year, UGT and CCOO have legally registered a 24-hour strike and, although they call for a two-hour stoppage, they are open to "deciding on the convenience of extending the strike throughout the day" for which "they will provide the necessary legal cover. "

This is a small step forward. This year, there will be fewer doubts about the legality of the 24-hour strike but a clear call for such a strike, with the objective of bringing the whole country to a standstill, is still lacking. This will only be accomplished if all the unions and feminist movement agree on the same strike terms, including a clear call for the participation of both female workers and male workers for the same demands. The programme we defend as Marxists includes:

Equal work for equal pay.

16 weeks of non-transferable maternity and paternity leave.

A 30-hour working week for men and women, allowing for a balance of work and family life so that women are not forced to reduce their working hours and salaries to carry out domestic chores and rear children.

State nurseries and dining halls in every neighbourhood and workplace with 50 or more workers.

A housing plan for women victims of domestic abuse, who are economically dependent on their aggressors, without the need to file a police report.

The general incorporation of "housewives" into productive work outside the home, rather than wages for housework.

An unemployment subsidy equal to the minimum wage for all unemployed women.

Only with an effective strike for these demands will we be in a position to put the system on the ropes, and therefore be in a better situation to fight for an end, not only to our oppression as women, but also to the oppression that we suffer as workers.

Susana Lopez and Aura Orbe (Lucha de Clases, Spain)
The Finnish Revolution is a proud chapter in the history of the international working class. Tragically, despite the tremendous energy expended by the masses, their leaders vacillated and betrayed the revolution. The forces of counterrevolution unleashed a bloodbath, which physically annihilated the flower of the working class, contributing to the encirclement and isolation of the Russian Revolution.

Among the proletarian revolutions in the Nordic countries, the Finnish Revolution of 19171918 went the furthest and came closest to establishing a workers state. During the course of the revolution, the masses moved again and again to change society, but at every step, the leadership of the workers organisations betrayed the movement. There is a myth that Finland, along with the other Nordic countries, is nice, peaceful and civilised. But the history of the Finnish Revolution shows that the real face of capitalist terror can be revealed with all its bloodthirsty ferocity when the interests of private property are threatened. Although these events transpired a century ago, this is a history rich in lessons for the new generation of revolutionaries.

The spectre of the Finnish Civil War looms large in the minds and consciousness of modern-day Finland. For a long time, this history was completely hidden away and the official history simply celebrated it as a war of independence against Russia. Yet to this day, people often know whose great grandparents fought on which side in the civil war. Those who are still alive to relate their experiences provide valuable insights into what was ultimately a class war.

The rise of the Finnish working class

For centuries, Finland was a predominantly agricultural country, but without fully developed feudal property relations. It was made up largely of smallholding independent farmers, artisans, and wage labourers. As late as 1910, 70 percent of the workforce was engaged in agriculture.

As a large country with a small population, Finland had been dominated by foreign powers for centuries. Bordered by Russia, Norway, and Sweden, Finland was wedged between East and West. By the time it was ceded to the Russian Empire in 1809, it had been a province of Sweden for almost 700 years. Full national independence was won only after the Bolsheviks took power in Russia during the October Revolution in 1917.

Centuries of oppression meant that many Finns saw the Swedes as the historic enemy, and not so much the Russians. For its part, tsarism had little problem with pro-Finnish and anti-Swedish sentiment, which served to draw Finland away from Swedens historic influence.

Lenin described the Russian Empire as a prison house of nations. But in comparison with the other oppressed nations, Finland was not subjected to the harshest treatment. For most of its time under Russian domination, as the Grand Duchy of Finland, it enjoyed wide-ranging autonomy, eventually having its own legislative assembly, currency, postal system, local government, and even militias  as long as it paid what was due to St. Petersburg.

Starting in the 1870s, Finland saw a quick process of industrialisation, which accelerated in the 1890s. The development of the timber and paper industries put Finlands advancing economy ahead of many other parts of the Russian Empire. With industry came also the growth of an industrial working class, toiling for long hours with low pay and very few rights. For example, a law from 1865, which was still in effect in 1917, allowed employers to search the belongings of the workers if they lived at the workplace.

Generally speaking, the southern areas of Finland were more industrialised, proletarianised, and left wing, while the north was more petty bourgeois, atomised, agricultural, and conservative. It is estimated that by 1917, some 500,000 out of a population of three million were industrial proletarians and their families, plus a large layer of agricultural day-labourers.

The fresh Finnish working class moved quickly to organise itself to fight for better living conditions. There had been early forerunners of a labour movement in the form of workers societies led by liberals, but proper trade unions were now formed and led several important struggles. The Finnish Labour Party was formed in 1899, and at its congress in Forssa in 1903, it was renamed the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) and adopted a programme based on the Erfurt Program of the German Social Democratic Party. It was organically linked to the Finnish Trade Union Federation (formed in 1907) and formally affiliated itself to the Second International. There had been individual party branches since 1898, and the would-be newspaper of the party Tyomies (The Worker) had been established in 1895. The SDP and the trade unions were an important counterweight to the bourgeoisie and the rich landlords, who lived on the backs of the toiling masses.

The 1905 revolution and its results

Revolutionary events in Russia were to have a big and immediate echo within Finland. Inspired by the 1905 revolution in Russia, the Finnish working class rose up. In November 1905, there was a general strike that started as a national strike with participation also from bourgeois and petty-bourgeois elements who saw an opportunity to break free from tsarism. This also led to the formation of militias, so-called national guards, which initially also included the right wing.

But the national strike movement quickly divided along class lines, and the right wing was ejected, leading to the formation of the first revolutionary militias  the Red Guards. These armed detachments were an organic expression of the will of the working class to change society, and temporarily took on a mass character. The bourgeoisie established its own protection guards as an alternative to the revolutionary Red Guards  the embryo of the first White Guards in history.

The movement continued into 1906 with further mutinies and strikes. The most well-known mutiny took place among Russian sailors stationed at the Viapori fort (now known as Suomenlinna) just a kilometer off the coast of Helsinki. This was brutally suppressed by the White protection guards, and several Red Guards were killed. The SDP press condemned the Whites as butchers  which would be their rightful name from this point onwards in the eyes of the workers.

General strike in Helsinki in 1905 / Image: National Board of Antiquities Archives for Prints and Photographs

Under this pressure from below, the tsar sought to dampen the revolutionary mood and to cut across the movement by granting concessions. The power of that mass pressure and the importance of keeping Finland in the tsarist orbit is indicated by the extent of the concessions granted to the Finns. While in most of Russia the lid was put on even more tightly after the revolution failed to topple the tsar, in Finland, Nicholas was forced to grant broad autonomy and a constitution that even included universal suffrage, though there were still some property qualifications. The 1906 constitution also included the freedoms of speech, press, and organisation, as well as the formation of a Finnish parliament (known as the Diet). In the aftermath of these events, with the movement in Finland far from crushed, the SDP won 80 out of 200 seats in the first elections, held in 1907.

The SDP had grown quickly from 17,000 members in 1904 to a peak of 85,000 in 1906. But the party  which, on paper, considered itself to be orthodox Marxist and a revolutionary party  was naive and beset by contradictions and illusions in class collaboration. As just one example, at their August 1906 congress, they denounced armed struggle and ordered the Red Guards to disband on the pretext that they would be a threat to the legality of the party.

The majority of the leadership firmly believed that they could bring about socialism peacefully through parliament while preserving the trappings of bourgeois democracy. At the top of the party, a bureaucracy had taken root, whose members lived lives far removed from those of ordinary workers. They had comfortable positions and were under pressure to accommodate themselves to capitalism. The parliamentary group in particular received very high wages.

Although the SDP adopted the rhetoric of militant class struggle and socialist revolution, the party developed in conditions of relative peace and quiet until the outbreak of the revolution in 1917. The party tops came closer to the bourgeois liberals and adapted themselves to a relatively comfortable, middle-class existence. They started looking more like a workers aristocracy than proletarian class fighters. In such conditions, the struggle to overthrow capitalism became a distant goal. By contrast, the Russian Bolsheviks did not share a similar experience, and as a result, the revolutionary party was tempered in the fire of class struggle and tsarist suppression.

But the promised social reforms never materialised as the tsar stepped in to curtail any real change. This, along with the growing bureaucratisation of the party, increasingly demoralised and frustrated the rank and file who saw few, if any, results for their efforts. The party started to develop into something more like an electoral apparatus, with the active membership decreasing by 40 percent during the years 19071910. But with the outbreak of World War I, the tide began to turn.

The war to end all wars and the national question

When World War I broke out in 1914, the Russian tsar sent 100,000 soldiers to Finland, who acted like an occupying force. Parliament was suspended and both censorship and restrictions on the right to assemble were introduced. However, no Finnish soldier participated in the war on behalf of the Russian Empire.

Under Nicholas II, there had been a campaign of Russification, which revived and fanned the flames of Finnish nationalism. This pushed sections of the Finnish bourgeois and petty-bourgeois into the willing arms of German imperialism, who cynically posed as friends of the Finnish people, as enlightened liberators against the tyranny of tsarist autocracy  a position the German social democrats also scandalously fell for.

The German imperialists exploited the national independence aspirations of the Finnish people as a way to strike a blow against the tsar  and to gain access to the rich mineral and natural resources of the country. Among layers of the bourgeois and petty-bourgeois, a movement called the Activists was launched. These activists mobilised some 1,500 volunteers, consisting mainly of nationalist university students and sons of the upper middle class, who travelled secretly to Germany for military training.

There they were incorporated into the German military as the 27th Jager Battalion, which was set up in 1915. The idea was to eventually provoke an anti-Russian uprising. On a capitalist basis, the fates of small nations are ultimately dictated by the aims of the big imperialist powers. The Germans not only wanted Finlands resources, they also hoped to gain a key strategic position against Russia, as the Gulf of Finland is the gateway to Petrograd.

However, wartime demand for Finnish exports to tsarist Russia meant not only that there was practically no unemployment but also that the Finnish big industrial capitalists were making huge profits. This landed them objectively in the camp of Russian imperialism, in order to defend their own position. Despite tsarist oppression, the Finnish industrial capitalists were loyal above all to their own narrow class interests.

The only force that was able to carry out Finnish independence in practice was the working class. This would be shown by subsequent events, when in it was the revolutionary struggle of the Russian workers that gave Finland an opportunity for independence.

The national question would play an important role in the Finnish Revolution. The SDP had been in favour of national independence, but the majority saw it as secondary to the class struggle. No doubt, a section of the leadership fell for the trap of nationalism, and the party as a whole failed to take up a consistent revolutionary internationalist line.

The SDP

Despite its backsliding, the SDP was still a considerable force. It had 51,000 members, 890 Workers Houses, 46 choirs, and 71 orchestras. It published the daily paper Tyomies as well as several other periodicals as well as substantial press for the trade unions.

Then, in the summer of 1914, the Second International shocked the international labour movement and its main parties by voting in favour of the imperialist war. The massive labour parties, built up painstakingly over decades, had capitulated to national chauvinism. While the SDP took a clear anti-imperialist stance and sent a representative to the Zimmerwald conference, it never adopted a clear revolutionary stance. The Zimmerwald left, around key figures such as Lenin and Trotsky, argued in favour of using the inevitable crisis around the imperialist war to transform it into a civil war and socialist revolution. But the leadership of the Finnish party, which had more of a pacifist outlook, was far removed from these revolutionary conclusions.

With the rapid industrialisation because of the war economy, new layers were drawn into capitalist production and became part of the Finnish working class. There was an influx of fresh members into the trade unions and SDP, starting in December 1915, who were more willing to fight against the bosses. These raw members of the proletariat entered political life unburdened by the traditions of the past, less willing to accept the compromises of the leadership.

Finnish workers faced tough conditions during the war. The rise of inflation meant that food prices rose sharply. Food shortages produced longer food lines. The capitalists, on the other hand, were making a killing during the war through massive exports. While the rich were getting richer, the Finnish working class saw their real wages drop by a third. The trade union bureaucracy forbade strikes during the war, condemning workers to unbearable conditions.

The February Revolution

In February 1917 (old style), the decrepit, 400-year-old Russian tsarist regime crumbled. The revolution started with women textile factory workers in Saint Petersburg on 8 March (new style), International Working Women's Day. The war was felt most acutely by women, who saw their husbands, brothers and sons slaughtered on the front lines, while the cities starved. Working women took to the streets, heading what quickly became a revolutionary movement, drawing in the whole working class. Around 90,000 participated on the first day, and the movement grew quickly, spreading to both Moscow and the provinces. Over the next five days, the movement took on a general, insurrectionary character, while mutinying soldiers also joined the strike. The workers and soldiers created their own forms of governance. The Russian workers councils  the soviets  represented a form of dual power which challenged the rule of the landlords and capitalists. In an attempt to reassert control, the bourgeois set up a provisional government which was supported by the socialist leaders of the soviet  one of these leaders, Alexander Kerensky of the Socialist Revolutionary party, even joined this government in the form of Minister of Justice.

In Finland, the first sign that things had been upended was that trains stopped arriving from Russia. But the news soon spread: theres a revolution in Russia! Revolutions know no borders, as working men and women across all nations struggle for a common aim to be free from wage exploitation. The February Revolution got a big echo among Finlands exploited masses. The old tsarist regime was falling apart and new possibilities were opening up.

A Finnish Red Guard unit in 1917 / Image: public domain

The Finnish workers went on strike and swarmed onto the streets. They went from one mass meeting to another, while the demonstrations continued nonstop. They called for a general strike and began implementing the eight-hour working day. There were mass meetings up and down the country, demanding the removal of unpopular state bureaucrats and that food should be requisitioned and redistributed to the people, overseen by new local committees.

With the disintegration of the old tsarist state, there was no one left to defend the old order: the Finnish military had been abolished by the tsar in 1901, and now the tsarist police was disintegrating and disbanded. The sailors of the Russian Empires Baltic fleet were among the first to move, mutinying against their hated overseers. 50 or so of the most hated officers were executed and thrown overboard, while the sailors raised red flags on the ships and arrested a number of key representatives of the tsarist state. The Russian soldiers were also playing a revolutionary role, arresting officials and actively dismantling the old tsarist state. In May, the Tsentrobalt Soviet was set up, which took complete control over the Baltic fleet.

All of this inspired the workers to set up their own red guards, just like they had done in 1905. While the unions and the SDP were more firmly under the control of the labour bureaucracy, these bodies would be the main organised expression for the Finnish working class during the events that followed. Militias were formed organically and began maintaining order on the streets, and much to the dismay of the ruling class, they refused to break up strikes.

The SDP leaders didnt organise this movement. Instead, they outright condemned these workers actions and mass meetings. The Finnish workers meanwhile had spontaneously set up soviets in Helsinki, Vyborg, and Oulu. By 17 March, the Helsinki Soviet was effectively in power.

The SDP leaders found themselves in a situation like Newton under the apple tree  hit on the head by a deeper necessity. Not by an apple conforming to the laws of physics but by the proletarian revolution, which erupted due to the laws of historical development. But unlike Newton, these organic reformists couldnt draw the necessary conclusion from their experience  that the workers had effectively already seized power. The SDP in practice had a crushing superiority that they could have used to establish a genuine workers state based on the experience of the Paris Commune.

A declaration on 6 April proclaimed that the Helsinki Soviet was now the highest authority in Finland. But only two days later they formally proclaimed the opposite, and handed this authority over to the provisional government. How could this be?

As we have seen, the SDP leadership was extremely confused and naive, and completely absorbed by its own parliamentary illusions. They had never understood the role of the workers councils, and their schematic, utopian vision for Finland did not include a workers government based on such councils. They had not bothered to absorb the lessons of Russias 1905 revolution, nor the advanced debates that took place in the Russian Bolshevik party.

Instead of working to generalise and spread the councils across Finland, they did the opposite and attempted to put a brake on the movement. They came under intense pressure from hostile classes with irreconcilable differences: the proletariat and the peasants on the one hand, and the ruling bourgeoisie and big landlords on the other. Within the party this took the form of a struggle between the right-wing socialists and the increasingly revolutionary left wing that emerged as a spontaneous current from below. All this was mediated by the party centre. Leaders like Otto Kuusinen, who were eager to paper over the cracks in the party, ended up merely giving revolutionary cover to the partys right wing.

The party leaders threw all their weight into derailing the mass workers struggle into constitutional channels. In an attempt to get the movement under control, the SDP explained that workers should not form red guards, but struggle instead through the already existing party and trade union organisations.

Instead of forming a workers government, the SDP entered into a coalition with the bourgeois parties. Only two in the leadership voted against, including the centrist Otto Kuusinen. The new senate was led by Antti Tokoi from the SDP and consisted of six socialists and six bourgeois politicians. It soon issued appeals against anarchy and in favour of order.

The SDP leaders, no matter what lofty ideals they may have thought they were adhering to, threw themselves objectively into the task of maintaining the old order. The SDP, ostensibly a party of revolution, ended up during these crucial revolutionary weeks as a pillar of Finnish capitalism and landlordism.

The Finnish March revolution could have resulted in a peaceful seizure of power. Instead, it sowed confusion among the workers and gave the enemy class time to regroup. Far from stabilising the situation, as the SDP leaders had hoped, it only contributed to destabilising things even further. Nothing had been neither solved nor settled.

The power law and the provisional government

The bourgeois had been given respite by the reformist leaders of the SDP. But they had little trust in this party or its confused leaders. The big capitalists, with their main representatives split and weak, now looked to the Russian provisional government for help. Unlike the Finnish Social Democrats, the Finnish bourgeois had no illusions in parliamentary democracy or national independence in the abstract. Like all bourgeois, they were concerned above all with their property rights  which the Red Diet threatened. They forged an alliance with the provisional government in Russia, which now formally governed Finland, replacing the tsar. Unsurprisingly, this bourgeois organ refused to recognise the right of self-determination, and would not grant Finland its independence. Such a move would have sent a dangerous message to others in the former tsarist prison house of nations  and above all because of the message this would send to the colonies of his good friends, the Allies, i.e., French and British imperialism.

During the summer there was a party congress of the SDP, which again saw a struggle between the left and right wings of the party. The left-wing proposals to push for a general strike were defeated, and instead the party adopted Finnish independence with a bourgeois parliament as its main programmatic goal.

In the middle of the summer, the Finnish parliament adopted the Power Law, which amounted to a unilateral declaration of independence. The response from the so-called democratic Provisional Government  which had since co-opted more socialist ministers and which was now headed by Kerensky  was to shut down the Finnish parliament on July 31. When the SDP parliamentarians tried to enter the parliament building at the end of August, they were prevented from doing so by Russian troops on the order of the Kerensky government. The provisional government, having democratically disbanded a parliament too red for their liking, now announced that new elections would take place in October.

New elections and the question of bread

The Finnish March Revolution had solved nothing for the workers. All the big orders from the Russian war industry had been cancelled by the new provisional government, and tens of thousands ended up unemployed. Grain imports plummeted. In one case, only a fifth of the grain that had been ordered arrived in the transport train from Russia. This was a big problem in a country whose food sector was quite specialised for dairy products and which imported 60 percent of its grain. With essential supplies disrupted by the growing chaos in Russia, famine began to stalk the poor.

Tyomies reported:

A large part of the working population is already suffering from hunger. In Tampere, for the last couple of days, there has been no bread available. In Viapori for the last week or so a large part of the population has not received any bread on their ration cards. In Turku the situation is quickly becoming the same. The same is true for Pori. In Helsinki it is better; there is still bread for another month, but how things will develop after that is hard to say.

Finnish Women of the Red Guard in 1917 / Image: public domain

From the beginning of August, workers started taking matters into their own hands. They organised mass meetings and strikes, and in several cases even expropriated stores of bread and butter that were then handed out or sold at a reduced price. At the same time, the membership of the trade unions quadrupled to 160,000, and nearly every organised worker in the country participated in a strike during the course of the year; in total there were 500 strikes with 140,000 participants.

The SDP had declared the re-elections set for October illegal, but participated in them nonetheless. The election was rife with irregularities, and clearly rigged by the right wing. During the subsequent civil war, many boxes were discovered filled with votes for the SDP that had been hidden away and never counted. In the end, although the SDP was able to increase its total number of votes, the main right-wing parties had merged and were able to win a majority of seats.

The bourgeoisie, increasingly alarmed by the growing revolutionary mood, began organising their counteroffensive. After the fall of the tsar and the disorganisation of the tsarist army, the first White Guard in history was openly formed in Finland, the Protection Guards, to ensure that so-called law and order were maintained. Right-wing militias had secretly begun training around the country. During a meeting in the Stock House in Helsinki, representatives of the ruling class decided that two million markka would be given to the military committee. In addition, on 31 October, the Whites received a big shipment of guns from Germany.

Only now did the leaders of the labour movement begin realising where things were heading. Tyomies issued a warning not to join the White Guards. In many areas, the Red Guards had not seen any activity since May or so, but following a secret meeting in Tampere in October, the trade union confederation LO issued an appeal for workers to join. In November the SDP belatedly did the same.

Everything was now pointing towards an open confrontation between the classes.

The November Revolution

On 7 November, according to the new calendar, the workers of Russia took power. Led by the Bolshevik Party, the October Revolution scored a resounding victory with almost no resistance from the forces of the collapsing old order.

This left Finland in an uncertain position. With no provisional government left in Russia, the Finnish bourgeoisie had to look for support elsewhere. They used their newly won and illegitimate parliamentary majority to move towards a dictatorship, with the reactionary Pehr Evind Svinhufvud at its head.

The workers responded with a general strike and established a Revolutionary Central Council to serve as its leadership. They immediately sent representatives to meet with the Bolshevik leaders in Russia, and Lenin urged them to take power. The day they returned to Finland with this revolutionary message, the strike began. The night before, workers had received guns from Russian troops, and in mass demonstrations on the first day, 3,000 armed workers marched through the streets.

Tampereen Red Guards in 1918 / Image: public domain

Local strike committees and Red Guards quickly took control of the country. They disarmed and jailed local authorities and state representatives, and took over the food supply and communications. Many important buildings were seized and barricades erected in the streets. The Red Guards moved to disarm and defeat White Guards trained at the Police Academy in Saxby.

Just as in March, there was very little resistance from the forces of reaction. The Whites represented just a handful of the population and did not have sufficient time to prepare for the mass upsurge. In contrast, the entire Finnish workers movement was mobilised in the streets, ready to respond enthusiastically to a call to establish a workers state.

Power was within reach. All it would have taken from the leaders of the workers movement was to say the words. But on the fourth day of the strike, a motion to take power was just barely defeated in the Revolutionary Central Council by a vote of eight against eight  with the Chairman casting the decisive vote.

As Trotsky explained in Lessons of October:

The most favorable conditions for an insurrection exist, obviously, when the maximum shift in our favor has occurred in the relationship of forces. We are, of course, referring to the relationship of forces in the domain of consciousness, i.e., in the domain of the political superstructure, and not in the domain of the economic foundation, which may be assumed to remain more or less unchanged throughout the entire revolutionary epoch. On one and the same economic foundation, with one and the same class division of society, the relationship of forces changes depending upon the mood of the proletarian masses, the extent to which their illusions are shattered and their political experience has grown, the extent to which the confidence of intermediate classes and groups in the state power is shattered, and finally the extent to which the latter loses confidence in itself. During a revolution all these processes take place with lightning speed. The whole tactical art consists in this: that we seize the moment when the combination of circumstances is most favorable to us.

Such a situation had arisen in Finland. But the SDP leaders were not ready to follow in the footsteps of their Russian counterparts. They were not ready to shed their bourgeois illusions.

As Kuusinen aptly put it: Wishing not to risk our democratic conquests, and hoping to maneuver round this turning-point of history by our parliamentary skill, we decided to evade the revolution . . . We did not believe in the revolution; we reposed no hope in it; we had no wish for it.

The general strike is ended

On 19 November, the fateful decision was taken to call off the strike, with the incomprehensible formula: The strike is cancelled, but the revolution will continue. This egregious move meant relinquishing yet another perfect opportunity to seize power peacefully.

When this decision was presented in Tampere, the speakers were booed off stage and nearly ejected from the meeting. The assurance that the revolution will continue was met by angry questions from the audience: By whom?! In the towns of Kotka, Lahtis, and Lovisa, the speakers were thrown out of the meeting. In Kotka, the workers passed a resolution that urged power to the workers  the dictatorship of the proletariat has to be established!

An extraordinary party congress of the SDP called on 2527 November again saw sharp struggles between the right and left wings of the party. The left argued for the completion of the revolution and the seizure power, while the right argued in favour of a coalition government.

This deadlock was resolved by a clever formula presented by the party leader Otto Kuusinen: There was to be both an armed revolution and a coalition government  at the same time!

But the arming of the workers and the general strike are the methods of the proletarian revolution. To begin on this road, only to recoil in fear of the consequences is the surest way to demoralise the masses. It amounts to playing with revolution, without taking the necessary steps to complete it. Lenin always warned against this. As we have seen time and again over the course of the last century, it is not possible to make half a revolution!

The only thing the SPD had succeeded in doing was to give the ruling class more time to organise a bloody counterrevolution  and what a bloody counterrevolution it would be.

The class war bursts into the open

On 6 December, the bourgeois-led Finnish parliament declared that Finland was independent, which was soon recognised by the Bolshevik government. The Bolsheviks understood that this would help forge a closer bond between the Finnish and Russian workers, and show the Finns that despite the history of tsarist oppression, they had nothing to fear and everything to gain by linking up with the new workers state.

The revolutionary mood continued to spread, even into the more backwards areas of Finland. There were large meetings of landless peasants, who began to draw the conclusion that their liberation could come only through self-action, not by waiting for decrees from parliament. At the same time, the Red Guards held a big meeting in Tammerfors, where the Helsinki guards demanded more independence from the party. This motion was voted down.

The clock was ticking. This unstable situation of dual power could not last forever  either one side or the other would have to get the upper hand.

Jagers being inspected by a White Army commander in 1918 / Image: public domain

For their part, the Whites lost no time in preparing to restore law and order. On 9 January, Svinhufvud moved to establish a police force based on the White Guards. General Gustaf Mannerheim, who had participated for tsarist Russia during World War I, was called in to organise the counterrevolution. All of this was seen as a clear provocation by the Reds, who were not willing to accept that these butchers would be in charge of maintaining order.

Finally, the SDP saw no other choice but to move towards revolution. They accepted leaders from the Red Guards on to the Central Committee of the party, which gave the revolutionary wing the majority. At a meeting of the central leadership of the party held 1922 January, the party finally came out in favor of revolution  but precious time had been lost through vacillation.

On 27 January, the red flag was hoisted over the Helsinki Workers House, signalling the start of the revolution. A new revolutionary government was formed, called the Council of Peoples Commissars, like its Russian counterpart.

Within days, with very little resistance, all the major cities and towns in the South had been taken. This was not only the most densely populated but also the most industrialised part of Finland. Workers control of industry and the eight-hour day were implemented, sabotage by the banks was brought under control, and a Council of Peoples Delegates was formed, a kind of workers government in bourgeois parliamentary form. The old system of land distribution, which included elements of tribute and corvee labour was abolished, and domestic servants and farm hands were emancipated from their indentured conditions. Freedom of the press was instituted. It seemed all too easy and daily life went back to normal almost immediately.

The limitations of Social Democracy

But the social-democratic leadership didnt recognise the need to fully consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat. They did not expropriate the bourgeois. They did not move to implement a programme that could win or neutralise the masses of small and middle-sized, petty-bourgeois farmers in the North. They did not collectivise the land or even break up the estates of the larger peasants. According to Kuusinen, Until they were defeated, most of the leaders of the revolution had no clear idea of the aims of the revolution.

The SDP leaders were imbued with the Menshevik idea that, based on its current stage of development, bourgeois democracy was the most Finland could aspire to. Their aim was to establish  without the expropriation of the rich or the dictatorship of the proletariat  a bourgeois parliamentary democracy in which the workers would be the leading class.

It was a workers revolution in the name of an idealised bourgeois democracy, complete with a beautifully utopian constitution. The new constitution was presented in February 1918, to be ratified by referendum later that Spring. It included universal suffrage and proportional representation, including the right for women to vote, the right to strike, the recall of deputies to the parliament, election of the judiciary and its autonomy from the government, and even the constitutional right to rise in insurrection against a tyrannical government that did not respect the constitution. Unfortunately, you cannot square the circle, and the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The reformist illusions that blinded the leadership at the time were summed up by Kuusinen:

The weakness of the bourgeoisie led us into being captivated by the spell of democracy, and we decided to advance towards socialism through parliamentary action and the democratisation of the representative system.

Of course, the problem was not a representative system as such, but a system trying to serve two irreconcilably opposed classes. As we have seen, the bourgeoisie did not have any illusions in a system where they would share power with the working class. They were not about to give up without a fight and had no illusions in a peaceful parliamentary road to restoring their class rule.

The civil war

As part of their preparations, the 27th Jager Battalion was recalled from Germany. With their military training and experience, they formed the backbone of the armed bodies of reaction. A small White army was formed under Mannerheim, the former tsarist general, comprised of the Protection Guards, the 27th Jagers, and a brigade of 1,300 Swedish volunteers made up largely of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois youth. These volunteers included military officers that the Swedish government allowed to go on temporary leave to join the Finnish Whites.

The Whites attacked several poorly defended Russian garrisons in the North to acquire weapons, and it is likely that the commanders of those garrisons were complicit in letting the arms fall into the White Guards hands. All told at that time, they had around 5,000 troops against the 1,500 poorly armed Red Guards. But the Red Guards were heroic, and with the help of some revolutionary Russian commanders, including part of the Baltic Fleet, which was docked at Helsinki, they repelled Mannerheims first attacks, and began arming and training more Finnish Red Guards.

But although the Reds held all the main cities, the Whites were stronger in the less-developed North, where the more backwards layers of the population were tricked or compelled by force to participate in the war on the side of the Whites. Their main lie was that the Reds were just a bunch of Russians looking to once again subjugate Finland.

On 3 March, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was forced on the Bolsheviks after German militarism went on a brutal offensive against the tired and weak Russian troops. The Bolsheviks, who were literally fighting for survival, had no option but to sign the harsh conditions of the treaty. These included a provision for the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Finland. Combined with the political mistakes of the SDP leadership, this dealt a terrible blow to the Finnish Revolution.

The aftermath of the Battle of Tampere / Image: public domain

But the Reds werent going to give up without a fight either. Around 1,000 Russians remained behind, organised in Finnish units, and at the beginning of March, the Reds launched a general offensive. This failed, unfortunately, but the workers will to fight was still not broken. By April they had gathered a force as large as 60,000. At the height of the civil war, some 8090,000 fought on each side. However, aside from some sympathetic Russian soldiers, sailors, and officers, they had little or no military training and no capable military leaders. This meant that they made some critical mistakes.

Major battles included Tampere, Lahti, Helsinki, Vyborg, and others. The battle of Tammerfors was particularly brutal as 10,000 Reds led by a few Russian officers were unable to hold off Mannerheims troops, which now included poor peasants forcefully conscripted from the North. 2,000 Reds were killed in the fighting or massacred, and 5,000 were taken prisoner.

Within a few weeks, the tide decisively turned against the Reds. As the Russians left in the aftermath of Brest-Litovsk, the Germans entered. Svinhufvud opened the door to Wilhelm IIs troops, and on 3 April, some 20,000 well-trained and equipped soldiers landed in Hango, Helsinki, and Lovisa in Southern Finland, effectively attacking the Reds from the rear. After bitter street-by-street fighting, they captured Helsinki. One tactic used by the Kaisers troops was to round up the workers wives and children, and to march them in front of them through the streets. At least 100 women and children were killed during the fighting, and hundreds more women summarily shot without trial after Helsinki fell. They were marched out into the streets and onto the frozen ice and shot. Tampere had been valiantly defended for a week and a half, but now fell within just a couple of days.

The decisive battle came at Tavastehus. 20,000 to 25,000 Reds  who had been accompanied by their families  fought heroically before again being defeated. A few thousand escaped, but most did not. The reprisals were again brutal: the wounded were murdered in cold blood, thousands were massacred, and 10,000 taken prisoner.

The White Terror

Wars between bourgeois nation states almost seem like civilised affairs when compared to open war between the classes. The capitalists are very fond of the fair rules of engagement set in the Geneva Convention, but when it comes to dealing with the revolutionary masses, their true colours are revealed. The massacre of Reds during and after the Finnish Revolution ranks right up with the Paris Commune, when 40,000 Communards were hunted down in the streets and killed in the weeks after the Communes fall in May of 1871.

For example, in the town of Kummen, 43 Red Guards died in the actual battle, but nearly 500 were slaughtered in the aftermath. Men, women, and children were hunted, gunned down, and rounded up to be shot later, often simply because of the neighbourhoods they lived in, the workplaces they were employed at, their last names, or their clothing. The execution squads fired their overheated machine guns literally for hours and days at a time.

From the beginning, the Whites ordered that all Reds should be considered traitors  an offence punishable by death. A decree was passed which, among other things, stated that anyone found with concealed guns or guns without a permit should be executed on the spot. This shoot them where they stand directive was explained by one member of the drafting commission, R. Akerberg, as follows: The directive for how to treat the arrested is already clear. It has been prepared by our delegation and approved by high judge Ossian Procope and the high commander. The principle: Shoot as many as possible before capturing anyone.

Unburied bodies of Reds after the Battle of Tampere / Image: public domain

An estimated 70,000 Reds were interned in concentration camps, some of the first examples of this in the world. Over 10,000 died due to abuse or neglect in these camps. The German high command, in a preview of their policy during World War II, had plans to send many of the prisoners to forced labour camps in Germany. Only the outbreak of the German Revolution, in November 1918, cut across this.

To cover up the crimes of the Whites, bourgeois and liberal historians have tried to exaggerate the extent of the Red Terror. While there certainly was a Red Terror, it had a completely different character than the White. For example, while the Council of Peoples Delegates supported the armed struggle, they opposed executing prisoners. Unlike the Whites, there were no decrees or official orders to this effect. The historian Anthony F. Upton, in his thorough research, found only one article in the entire Red press which advocated the execution of counterrevolutionaries captured in arms.

Among the poor layers of the population there was, however, a widespread and deep-seated class hatred against their exploiters and oppressors. After decades of humiliation and oppression, and in the context of brutal and bloody suppression of the movement of the masses, it is understandable that many ordinary people on the side of the revolution took matters in their own hands against people who they correctly saw as responsible for carrying out these atrocities. Thus there was a proliferation of small incidents and killings, especially in what were then very backward, rural areas. This was thoroughly researched after the civil war, and all included, 1,649 people were executed by the Reds. However, these killings were disorganised and ultimately did little or nothing to stop the White Terror, the Whites military advance, or to discourage the supporters of the counterrevolution  though it gave plenty of ammunition to the White propaganda machine.

In fact, up to the last moment, the workers leaders were unwilling to take the harsh measures that were needed to defend the revolution. During the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks created the Cheka as a revolutionary intelligence service to root out the counterrevolutionaries in their midst. But the soft, naive workers leaders in Finland refused to take even such basic measures of self-defence. Although they had outlawed the White press, no one thought to expropriate the stores of paper, meaning that while the Red press suffered from a severe shortage of paper for printing, the White underground newspapers could come out regularly. As another telling example, on the day before the uprising on 27 January, members of the White senate were still in Helsinki, but no one bothered to arrest them!

When the workers leaders finally did begin to move against the reaction, the counterrevolutionaries were often sentenced leniently, which only encouraged them further. These mistakes meant that the Red Guards and the workers would now face the full wrath of the White Terror. As Lenin and Trotsky pointed out repeatedly: in the class war, one must be decisive: weakness invites aggression!

Reaction in the saddle

After the civil war ended, Finnish society was literally purged for months and years afterwards. Dozens of revolutionaries committed suicide, rather than be captured. Tens of thousands went into exile, many to the US state of Minnesota. Tens of thousands more were sentenced to prison if they were not shot. The irony is that many of the social-democrats being murdered were not socialist revolutionaries at all and presented no threat to private property. Rather, these were faithful servants of capitalist rule. As we have seen time and again throughout the 20th century, the Finnish ruling class needed the reformists as the last line of defense against the revolutionary workers. But once they regained the upper hand through brute force, they no longer needed these people. Firing squads and prison were the reward for their loyal service to capitalism.

Victims of the Vyborg county jail massacre, in which 30 Red prisoners were slaughtered / Image: public domain

Victor Serge perfectly summarised the nature of the White Terror, applicable also to the subsequent events in the Russian Civil War, the rise of fascism, and any civil war between the classes. This has been true since Antiquity  see for example what the Romans did to the defeated slave army of Spartacus:

The White terror is not to be explained by the frenzy of battle, the violence of class hatred or any other psychological factor. The psychosis of civil war plays a purely secondary role. The terror is in reality the result of a calculation and a historical necessity. The victorious propertied classes are perfectly aware that they can only ensure their own domination in the aftermath of a social battle by inflicting on the working class a bloodbath savage enough to enfeeble it for tens of years afterwards. And since the class in question is far more numerous than the wealthy classes, the number of victims must be very great . . . The total extermination of all the advanced and conscious elements of the proletariat is, in short, the rational objective of the White terror. In this sense, a vanquished revolution  regardless of its tendency  will always cost the proletariat far more than a victorious revolution, no matter what sacrifices and rigors the latter may demand.

By some estimates, as many as 100,000 Finnish workers were killed, imprisoned, or exiled  that is, 25 percent of the working class! Anyone who is scandalised by the alleged brutality of the Reds during the Russian Civil War should look to the behaviour of the Whites in Finland, or the Russian White generals, such as Kolchak. It is no exaggeration to say that for every 1 person killed by the Russian Red Terror, 100 were killed by the Whites.

Even Lenin did not initially realise the extent to which the imperialists would go to crush the Bolshevik Revolution. He hoped they might be given a bit of space and peace to strengthen the economy and destabilise the country after the chaos of World War I and the revolution. Once recovered, the Russians could then move on the offensive against world imperialism in support of the workers of the world politically, economically, and militarily. But neither the Allies nor the Austro-Germans were going to give them that break, as 21 foreign armies invaded and did their utmost to throttle the revolution in its infancy. The suffering of the Russian masses during the civil war was extreme. But it would have been even worse if the Whites had won. In the aftermath of Finland, just imagine the massacres that would have taken place on the streets of Petrograd and Moscow.

As the Ancient Romans understood all too well, vae victis  woe to the vanquished.

Lessons of the Finnish Revolution

Marxists understand that mistakes in theory can lead to catastrophes in practice. The Finnish Revolution is a perfect and tragic example. The events in Finland in the early 20th century are an object lesson in how betrayal is inherent in reformism  no matter how well-intentioned. The leaders were caught up in their own reformist illusions and led the workers to a bloody defeat.

Lenins State and Revolution was written in August and September of 1917 in Finland  it is a shame the Finnish leadership either didnt read it or didnt understand it. They had a kind of fatalistic two stage-ism: the belief that capitalism would naturally grow over into socialism, so there was no need to build a revolutionary party to overthrow and replace it.

The SDP considered itself to be more or less orthodox Marxist, but in practice, they were essentially adherents of the ideas of Karl Kautsky, the prominent theoretician of the German Social-Democracy. He had adopted a revisionist conception, completely removing the active intervention of the conscious and organised working class from the equation of socialist transformation. According to Kautsky, the task of the party was not to lead the working class to power, but rather, to observe passively from the sidelines while broader, mechanical historical laws unfolded  unaffected by the will of individuals, classes, and parties. This denial of the active and essential role of the revolutionary party was something the Finnish SDP had adopted through-and-through, leading them to an impasse  and a death trap.

The tragedy of the Finnish Revolution is that there was no organised revolutionary left-wing that could challenge this reformist, or at best, centrist leadership. If there had been even a small revolutionary tendency, it could have fought for a revolutionary program within the Soviets, the Red Guards, the trade unions and the party itself. On the basis of events, this would have had a powerful impact, and it could have grown quickly in these circumstances.

If the Finnish working class in 1918 had been armed with a correct perspective and programme, and led by a revolutionary Marxist party, it could easily have swept away capitalism. But the failure of the Finnish Revolution marked the beginning of the isolation of the Russian Revolution and the imperialist encirclement to strangle it. Had the workers of Finland won and held power, it is likely that the German Revolution would have been in a better position to succeed as well. The Russians would have had a somewhat more industrialised country as part of the USSR, not to mention an important strategic position from which to defend Petrograd. All of these events are connected, all the way through the rise of Stalinism, the Spanish Revolution, Hitler, World War II, and everything else humanity has had to endure because nowhere other than Russia has the working class built the leadership it requires and deserves.

On the basis the rapid industrialisation of the economy that followed World War II, the modern Finnish working class is more powerful than ever. This means that a repetition of the bloody events of 19171918 is highly unlikely. Today, as in March and November 1918, the Finnish working class has the potential to take power peacefully. But its leaders, at best, still remain tied to illusions in reformism and class collaboration with the capitalists  despite the bloody lessons of the past.

The bourgeoisie will go to any extreme to defend its power and its privileged position. While Marxists are in favour of a peaceful revolution, this can only happen on one condition: that we build a revolutionary tendency capable of transforming itself into a mass revolutionary party in the heat of the struggle. This requires not only a skilful orientation to the mass organisations of the workers, but also an understanding that we cannot trust socialist reformists to change society. Their tinkering with this or that aspect of the system is ultimately doomed to failure. In the long run, if capitalism is not overthrown, it will continue its descent into crisis, and even more terrible tragedies will be suffered by the working class. The more prepared the workers are for any eventuality, and the stronger the revolutionary leadership, the less likely that things will end up in a catastrophe and the less likely the ruling class is to be able to stage a counteroffensive. While we have full confidence in our class, we must never be naive about the real face of our class enemies  even in places like nice, peaceful Finland.

After a prolonged period of relative class peace and rising living standards, the Finnish workers are experiencing first-hand the effects of the world crisis of capitalism and their consciousness is already being transformed. The one-day political general strike of 2015 against austerity was only the beginning of the beginning of this process. As the experiences of the past and the present are digested, hundreds of thousands will be open to revolutionary Marxist ideas.

This puts the building of a revolutionary Marxist tendency in Finland on the order of the day. To be successful, such a tendency must thoroughly understand the true lessons of the Finnish Revolution. Above all, a revolutionary tendency in Finland must help the Finnish workers break decisively with reformism and adopt a revolutionary perspective. At a certain stage, the heroic traditions of the Finnish working class will be revived  including the mass general strike, the creation of workers councils, and the fight for workers political and economic power. Contact the IMT and get involved in the fight for a better world!
les membres du cabinet ont pris note que des regulations seront faites sous la loi du Declaration of Assets Act 2018, de la signature prochaine dune convention avec Madagascar dans le domaine du crime

1. Cabinet has agreed to Regulations being made under the Declaration of Assets Act 2018, to prescribe the statutory bodies that would to be excluded from the ambit of the Declaration of Assets Act and the appropriate forms to be used for the filing of declaration of assets.

2. Cabinet has agreed to the Government of Mauritius signing an Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters with the Government of the Republic of Madagascar during the forthcoming State Visit of the President of the Republic of Madagascar. The Agreement would be an important tool in the fight against drug trafficking and financial crime, including money laundering.

3. Cabinet has agreed to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Tertiary Education and Scientific Research between the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Scientific Research of the Republic of Madagascar during the forthcoming State Visit of the President of the Republic of Madagascar. The Memorandum of Understanding aims at fostering cooperation among the higher education institutions of both countries. The areas of collaboration would include biodiversity, agriculture, food security, health, environment, climate change and renewable energies.

Both parties would endeavour to support regional exchange of knowledge, through the organisation of, inter alia, seminars, symposia and exhibitions relating to scientific research and tertiary education.

4. Cabinet has agreed to the Mauritius Standards Bureau, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bureau des Normes de Madagascar during the forthcoming State Visit of the President of the Republic of Madagascar. The main objective of the Memorandum of Understanding is to provide a framework for scientific and technical cooperation between the Mauritius Standards Bureau and the Bureau des Normes de Madagascar, in the field of standardisation and related activities. The areas of cooperation include:

(a) capacity building through exchange programmes and training;

(b) organisation of workshops and seminars;

(c) exchange of standards and information; and

(d) mutual recognition of test reports, certificate of conformity and certification mark.

5. Cabinet has taken note of the activities that would be organised to mark the World Consumer Rights Day observed on 15 March, namely:

(a) officers of the Consumer Affairs Unit would be present at main hypermarkets/ supermarkets across the country on 15, 16, and 17 March 2019 to sensitise the public on the theme Trusted Smart Products and the basic rights of consumers, distribute booklets and flyers and also to answer to any queries from consumers;

(b) broadcast of talks, presentations and group discussions on TV and radio; and

(c) local authorities would display for the benefit of consumers, message on the eight basic consumer rights. The message would also be sent to public officers via email.

6. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Board of the Public Officers Welfare Council with Mr Premhans Jhugroo, Secretary for Public Service as Chairperson.

Partager et informez vous aussi......

1 shares Share

Tweet

LinkedIn
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Syria's foreign ministry on Thursday said it "categorically rejects" the finding of the global chemical weapons agency published last week that a "toxic chemical" containing chlorine was used in an attack last April on a Syrian rebel-held town.

"The Syrian Arab Republic categorically rejects the conclusions of the mission team," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA. "(The report) was no different to previous reports from the mission, which were full of blatant distortion of facts."

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Iraq's President Barham Salih said foreign Islamic State fighters tried in Iraq could be handed death sentences, according to an interview published by Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National on Friday.

The IS fighters "will be tried in accordance to Iraqi law and may be sentenced to death if found guilty" of killing Iraqis, the paper quoted Salih as saying on its website.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


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.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is expected to appoint long-time ally Mohammad Shtayyeh as prime minister in the next few days after backing by his Fatah party, senior officials said Thursday.

Analysts view bringing in Shtayyeh to replace outgoing prime minister Rami Hamdallah as part of Abbas's efforts to further isolate his political rivals Hamas, who run the Gaza Strip.

The central committee of Fatah backed Shtayyeh to take over the post during a meeting earlier this week, the senior officials said on condition of anonymity.

The recommendation is not binding on Abbas, but he is expected to back the decision, the officials said.

Shtayyeh, born in 1958, is a long-term Abbas ally and member of the Fatah central committee.

He would replace Hamdallah, who was politically independent.

Shtayyeh has been part of a number of Palestinian negotiating teams in US-brokered talks with Israel, and is a former government minister.

He is also an academic and economics professor.

Hamdallah's government submitted its resignation in late January, though it has continued on an interim basis.

Secularist Abbas remains the primary decision-maker and interlocutor with the international community.

Palestinian politics has essentially been paralysed since 2007, when Islamist group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas's forces in a near civil war, a year after winning parliamentary elections.

Since then Abbas's governments have maintained limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, while Hamas has led a rival administration in Gaza.

The previous government was formed during a period of improved relations and had the backing of Hamas.

This government will instead be dominated by Fatah, though other smaller parties will be represented. Hamas will not be included.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Reflections FROM MOTUS: THE MIRROR OF THE UNITED STATES
At least two blasts struck a large ceremony Thursday attended by Afghanistan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and other leading government officials, killing three people and injuring 22 others.

The Kabul attack represents a major security breach and marks a resumption of violence in the capital after weeks of calm amid ongoing peace talks between the US and Taliban in Doha.

"Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us," said former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni from the stage during a live broadcast of the outdoor event.

But moments after the announcement, another explosion and gunfire could be heard that sent people running.

A second unidentified voice then addressed the screaming crowd, saying: "I request my countrymen to stay calm. The mortar attack is far from the gathering."

The blasts happened during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shiite Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country's political elite, including Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai.

"Today around 12 noon ... mortars were fired on the gathering of Abdul Ali Mazari," Nasrat Rahimi, acting interior ministry spokesman, said in a statement sent to journalists.

"The main suspect behind the attack has been arrested by the police and some others who were behind the attack were identified ... and will be detained," he added, saying the mortars landed outside the actual event.

"Twenty-two wounded -- three children and one woman -- and three dead have been taken to hospitals," tweeted Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the health ministry.

Presidential candidate Abdul Latif Pedram was among the injured, according to his official Facebook page, but details on the extent of his injuries were not given.

"Abdul Latif Pedram has been injured in Kabul attack, but is in stable condition," said the statement.

Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani -- who was also at the scene -- later added that "terrorists launched rocket attacks on commemoration ceremony", and said he had escaped safely.

Mortar fire is commonly referred to as "rockets" by Afghan officials.

'Unforgivable Attack'

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

"This was the most horrid and unforgivable attack on civilians by a merciless enemy," tweeted presidential candidate and former national security adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar.

He added that eight of his security guards were injured in the attack.

"How these attackers managed to get into this Shiite neighbourhood, pass through all the security cordons, and then attack such an important gathering is indicative of a major security and intelligence failure on the part of the Afghan government," security analyst Atiqullah Amarkhail told AFP.

The incident comes as US and Taliban negotiations continue to hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict.

The last major attack in Kabul occurred in January when the Taliban-claimed responsibility for a car bomb that struck the heavily fortified Green Village foreign compound.

Heavy snowfall across large swathes of Afghanistan has led to a reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country's south will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of the spring fighting season.

Analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in the coming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield and leverage at the negotiating table.

On Wednesday at least 16 people were killed in a suicide attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan's Jalalabad city.

The hours-long attack began early Wednesday when two suicide bombers detonated explosives at the gate of the compound, allowing three others to enter the area where they went on a killing spree.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Islamic State group and the Taliban are active near the city, in Nangarhar province.

Afghanistan has been enmeshed in nearly constant conflict since the Soviet invasion of 1979, which was followed by civil war, the Taliban regime, and the US invasion in late 2001.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


: Cilpku (Cil), : Computation

 : DMBD'2019 - *March 15, 2019* (No further extension!)

: BBS  (Thu Mar 7 01:21:48 2019, )



Name: Fourth International Conference of Data Mining and Big Data (DMBD'2019)

Theme: SERVING LIFE WITH Data Science

URL: http://dmbd2019.ic-si.org/

Dates: July 26-30, 2019

Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand



Important Date:



Final Submission Deadline: *March 15, 2019* (No further extension!)



(https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=dmbd2019..)



Due to the large number of requests, the conference committee has just

approved to keep DMBD'2019 paper submission system open until March 15, 2019

. You are welcomed to update or submit new papers by this date.





----------------------

Brief Desciption:

The Fourth International Conference on Data Mining and Big Data (DMBD'2019)

serves as an international forum for researchers and practitioners to

exchange latest advantages in theories, algorithms, models, and applications

of data mining and big data as well as artificial intelligence techniques.

The theme of DMBD'2019 is SERVING LIFE WITH DATA SCIENCE.

Data mining refers to the activity of going through big data sets to look

for relevant or pertinent information. Big data contains huge amount of data

and information and is worth researching in depth.

The DMBD'2019 is the fourth event after Shanghai event (DMBD'2018), Fukuoka

event (DMBD'2017) and Bali event (DMBD'2016) where more than hundreds of

delegates from all over the world to attend and share their latest

achievements, innovative ideas, marvelous designs and excel implementations.



We look forward to welcoming you in the summer of Chiang Mai in 2019 at DMBD

'2019!





DMBD'2019 Secretariat

Email: [email protected]

WWW: http://dmbd2019.ic-si.org



--

 :WWW  mitbbs.com [FROM: 23.]


Get festive at Happy Holidays from Roxborough!
Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk!

You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details.
Egypt's Finance Minister Mohamed Maait stressed on Thursday that his ministry seeks to lower public debt to 80 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2022.

It also seeks to reduce the total budget deficit to 7 percent of the GDP during the 2019/20 fiscal year.

The minister's remarks came after Egypt achieved last year the first budget surplus in 15 years, amounting to 0.2 percent.

Maait said the ministry seeks to increase the surplus to 2 percent of the GDP this fiscal year.

The remarks came following Maait's meeting with vice president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Jurgen Rigterink in the attendance of a number of finance ministry officials.

Maait said the government was able to increase the growth rate to 5.5 percent during the last quarter of the 2017/18 fiscal year, and now seeks to raise it to 5.8 percent.

Rigterink said the number of private sector projects financed by the bank in Egypt ranged between 40 and 50 in 2018 at a total value of 1.2 billion euros.

He expressed the bank's desire to increase investments in Egypt within the coming period.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) excluded imports of rice, beans and lentils from the 100 percent cash cover granted on import orders for one year.

In a statement, the bank said the exemption from full import payments in advance will continue until 15 March 2020.

The bank said the decision comes as part of efforts to secure the needs of the local Egyptian markets and facilitate import order procedures.

The decision is applicable to all import orders submitted by companies after taking into consideration the credit study conducted by each bank.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


On the worst days, no one expected to get through it alive. A despair set in among members of the battalion that the older ones, the veterans of two other wars, had never seen before. The bestselling book, "Dispatches," a 260-page memoir by war correspondent Michael Herr, includes this up-close perspective of the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War.

Continue >
Incentives for Apprenticeships

Several states across the nation offer a variety of tax incentives and grant funding for the employment of apprentices or the implementation of apprenticeship programs.

States offer different types of resources to employers, including income tax credits for hiring new apprentices, tax credits for any property or equipment used in apprenticeship programs, and grant funding to help expand the number of industries and participants in state apprenticeship programs.

To be eligible for these incentives, states often require apprentices to officially register through the US. Department of Labors Employment and Training Administration (DOLETA). Additionally, DOLETA has a variety of useful statistics on registered apprenticeship programs nationwide. Data for fiscal year 2019 is the most recent available.

The table below provides a sample of different state tax incentives for apprentices.

Additional Resources

Iris Hentze in a Policy Specialist in the Employment, Labor and Retirement Program.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday received commitment from its single-largest shareholder Singtel, promoters and GIC Singapore to participate in its Rs 32,000 crore capital raising programme.

Singapore telecom major SingTel said it will infuse Rs 3,750 crore in Bharti Airtel by subscribing to the proposed Rs 25,000 crore rights issue of the company.

GIC Private Limited, on behalf of Government of Singapore and Monetary Authority of Singapore, has made a commitment of Rs 5,000 crore in the proposed programme. "The entire rights entitlement of Promoter and Promoter Group of approximately Rs 167,857 million (Rs 16,785.7 crore) will be subscribed by them and GIC, with Promoter and Promoter Group subscribing to Rs 117,857 million (Rs 11,785.7 crore) and GIC subscribing Rs 50,000 million (or Rs 5,000 crore) by way of renouncement in their favour," Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

The board of Bharti Airtel last week approved rights issue to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through issuance of fully paid up shares at a price of Rs 220 per share, and an additional Rs 7,000 crore via the foreign currency perpetual bond issue.

ALSO READ: Infusion of Rs 25000 crore not enough to stabilise Bharti Airtel rating

Bharti Airtel said the capital infusion will help it continue investments in future rollouts to build large network capacity and create content and technology partnerships to ensure the best customer experience.

SingTel announced that "it will subscribe to 170 million new shares in the Rs 250 billion rights issue by regional associate Bharti Airtel (Airtel) at an issue price of Rs 220 per share, for a total consideration of Rs 37.5 billion (approximately USD 525 million), representing the rights entitlement for its direct stake of 15 per cent." Together with Airtel's major shareholders and GIC, a total of 67 per cent of the rights issue has been committed, SingTel said.

With this rights issue subscription, Singtel's effective interest in Airtel will be 35.2 per cent and the company will continue to be the single largest shareholder in Airtel.

At present SingTel holds around 39.5 per cent stake in the India telecom firm. "The Promoter and Promoter Group also reserves the right to subscribe either itself or through investors for additional shares in the Issue, including in the event of under subscription by the public, in accordance with the applicable laws," the statement said.

ALSO READ: Bharti Airtel to conduct trial of Nokia's 5G-ready telecom gear

Airtel is in the process of appointing banks to take this forward. "The Rights Issue reiterates the confidence of our shareholders in the competitive strength and sound business strategy of Airtel. It shall further strengthen our balance sheet with desired financial flexibility so as to meet future opportunities, particularly in the rapidly transforming Indian mobile market," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India & South Asia) - Bharti Airtel said.

He said the fresh capital infusion will help the company to continue investments in future rollouts to build large network capacity and create content and technology partnerships to ensure the best customer experience.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has signed a cooperation agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to train professionals, the government said on Thursday.

The pact calls for organising workshops and training for insolvency professionals and IBBI officers, training the trainers, development of a national insolvency programme besides insolvency and valuation examinations. The agreement runs through till June 30, 2021.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 provides for re-organisation and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time-bound manner. The aim is to maximise assets value of such persons, to promote entrepreneurship, availability of credit and balance the interests of all the stakeholders.

For this purpose, the government has established an institutional infrastructure comprising of adjudicating authorities, the IBBI, insolvency professionals, insolvency professional agencies and information utilities.

The IBBI writes and enforces rules for processes -- corporate insolvency resolution, corporate liquidation, individual insolvency resolution and individual bankruptcy.
By IANS

AMARAVATI: Korea Exim Bank has come forward to extend a Rs 4,100 crore loan for Visakhapatnam Metro Rail project.

A team of officials from Korea Exim Bank on Wednesday called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary A.C. Punetha here and discussed the loan proposal and related issues.

The state government had earlier sent a proposal in this regard to the Central government, which in turn forwarded it to Korea Exim Bank. Following this, the Bank deputed a team to Amaravati to hold talks with the state government.

The Chief Secretary urged the delegation to ensure that the loan is made available in time to take up the project.

Punetha said Visakhapatnam Metro was a prestigious project and the government was keen to execute it expeditiously.
Akhila Damodaran By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: RBANMs Educational Charities is located in a quiet place in Gangadhar Chetty Road and has been running successful educational institutions since it was founded in 1873. The 146-year-old institution, which was founded by Dharmarathnakara Rai Bahadur Arcot Narrainsawmy Mudaliar, runs and manages five schools, two PU colleges and two degree colleges today.

AA Sanjeev Narrain, secretary, RBANMs Educational Charities, tells CE that the institution provides education from pre-primary to masters level. It was founded by Mudaliar, an entrepreneur who made fortunes by running various businesses. The founder used to supply furniture to the Maharaja of Mysore and set aside one-third of his wealth for the charitable trust when he got a contract for the High Court. The primary school was set up to cater an English education to the local population. Indians did not have access to an English education. The schools in the Cantonment area catered only to British and Anglo-Indian kids, Narrain says.

Laying the foundation

According to a collection of records from Dharmarathnakara Rai Bahadur Arcot Narrainsawmy Mudaliar Family History (1827-1998), Origin and Development of Chattram and Other Charities (1872 - 1998) and Educational Charities (1873 - 1998) by Chitra and T V Annaswamy, Mudaliar founded a free English primary school in the cantonment area with an initial endowment of `15,000. Later, it was raised to `40,000 in a rented building on Commercial Street in his deed of settlement dated April 24, 1873, which was approved by JD Gordon, the then Chief Commissioner of Mysore. Since the initial building was not suitable, Mudaliar constructed a stone building in the spacious high grounds of Dickenson Road at a cost of `50,000. During the period, this school was the only one in the Bangalore Cantonment area that was founded by a Hindu citizen that taught students English up to matriculation.

Narrain adds that Bipin Chandra Pal had served as a headmaster at the school for two years. Pal, who was one of the builders of modern India, had come to Bengaluru in August 1881 to take up the post. He had received the offer through Shivanath Shastri, a Sanskrit scholar. However, two years later, a strained relationship with the proprietor led to

Pal leaving the institution to return to Kolkata.

Mudaliar was deeply anguished by the wretched conditions of Panchamas, Pariahs, Valangapurathars and Thirukulathars. They lived in separate localities in the cantonment areas and their children were denied admissions in educational institutions that were meant only for people belonging to a higher caste. Mudaliar tried to persuade the government to provide free education to the downtrodden children but all was in vain. He then took matters in his own hands and established Thrukulathar School in 1883 in Bazaar Street, exclusively for students from lower caste communities.At a time when most women were denied a public life, Mudaliar went on to establish the Govindammal Girls School, which is named after his departed wife, in 1886 at Apparao Lane, Ulsoor.

Second technical institute in city

Earlier, technical education was hereditary, where children of craftsmen learned from their fathers and so on. Providing technical education commenced in the state in the late 19th century, thanks to the first technical educational institute, School of Engineering, in Bengaluru in 1860. The second technical institution, Rao Bahadur Arcot Narrainsawmy Mudaliars Technical School, was established in 1887 by Mudaliar. Civil engineering was a part of the syllabus and the annual results of the school formed a part of the Annual Administration Report of the Civil and Military Station of Bangalore. The government back then aided the school by absorbing successful students in the State Public Works Department. The institute also attracted students from other places such as Kodagu and Kerala.

In 1888, he then laid the foundation stone for Narrainsawmy Mudaliars High School. The establishment was built in an area of 1.5 acres of land at a cost of `60,000. The school has produced several students now in prominent roles. Owing to the want of sufficient space within the compound for physical exercise, a large open ground has been secured on lease from the military and municipal authorities for the use of the school in 1912. MLA Roshan Baig and former CEO and current vice-chairman of Cognizant Technology Solutions Lakshmi Narayanan are also a part of Narrainsawmy Mudaliars High Schools alumni.

1) RBANMs Educational Charities located on Gangadhar Chetty Road

2) The trust has nine educational establishments under its umbrella

3) The stone building is of the gneiss type

4) The high school has about 600 students

5) The Wellington Chair presented by the British to the ancestors of Narrainsawmy Mudaliars family in recognition of services rendered

6) The carriage portico in the South

7) The paved flooring of the schools corridor

8) Bipin Chandra Pal had served as a headmaster at the school for two years

9) The old structure has been maintained well by the institute

When Bengaluru was hit by the Great Famine in 1876, Mudaliar invested in the Mysore Railway Debentures to gain security for the amount he had already set aside for schools established by him. On October 13, 1981, the debentures were nearing their maturity and Mudaliar requested the government to permit him to deposit an amount of `75,000 with the government at the same interest paid by the debentures. This was done to ensure safety for the endowment and assured annual income for the schools.

Architecture

The stone building is of the gneiss type, which is generally found in and near Bengaluru. While the floor is all paved, the roof has flat terracing throughout and is supported on steel girders and wooden joists in the hall and on wooden beams and joists in other parts. The building has a main entrance with a carriage portico in the South.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: A day after rejecting an alliance with AAP for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Congress Wednesday claimed that nine MLAs of the ruling party in Delhi were in touch with it.

Delhi Congress spokesperson Jitendra Kochar claimed that the nine AAP MLAs wanted to join the Congress.

The remarks came after suspended AAP MLA and former minister in the Kejriwal government, Sandip Kumar visited the Delhi Congress office on Tuesday and met party unit president Sheila Dikshit.

Kumar had, however, said that he had no plans to join the Congress.

Meanwhile, Kochar alleged there was "stampede" in AAP since the Congress refused to tie up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.

"There is stampede in AAP since its efforts of alliance have been rejected by the Congress. Around 9 sitting AAP MLAs are in touch with us and want to join the Congress. They have talked to Sheila Dikshit and let us see when do they join the party," he told reporters. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) refused to comment on the claims.

Kumar said he visited the Delhi Congress office along with a delegation of Valmiki community members and met Dikshit over their demand for political representation.

ALSO READ: Congress takes dig at BJP's hacked website and offers help, AAP alleges nexus between two

"I did not go there to join the Congress. The Valmiki community wanted me to accompany them to meet Dikshit," he said.

The Sultanpuri MLA also said he was actively working for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in his constituency, even though he has not officially joined the party.

Dikshit had on Tuesday announced that the Congress would not form an alliance with AAP in the national capital for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The AAP leaders had hit back, claiming Congress has a "secret understanding" with the BJP and asserted that their party was ready to fight against the "unholy alliance".
V Nilesh By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Two infants died and 32 others were admitted to Niloufer Hospital here after the staff of Nampally urban primary health centre here allegedly gave the wrong medicine - tramadol instead of paracetamol - after vaccination. The alleged mistake took place because of the similar packaging on the two drugs available at the health centre.

The staff at the UPHC mistook one for the other and gave it to the parents of the children for use at home after vaccination. On Wednesday, as many as 92 infants were immunized with the pentavalent vaccine at the Nampally UPHC.

Dr Murali Krishna, superintendent of Niloufer Hospital, said that as per norm, children are to be given one-fourth of a paracetamol tablet to prevent fever after they are administered the pentavalent vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B. However, the staff at the Nampally health centre gave the babies parents tramadol instead. Tramadol is an opioid pain killer that can cause sedation even in adults and is given only in cases of extreme pain for adults.

Victims dad lodges police complaint

After the parents administered them tramadol, the children began to develop complications. Around 26 infants were brought to Niloufer Hospital during the wee hours on Thursday. The two deceased infants have been identified as Md Faizan who was declared brought dead to the hospital and the other Md Omar, who was taken to a private hospital.

Omars father Md Asif lodged a complaint at Habeebnagar police station following which a case has been registered under section 304A. The irate parents demanded stern action against those responsible for the tragedy. Parents who cannot afford to go to private hospitals go to government hospitals. If they do such injustice where are we supposed to go, laments D Harikrishna, father of a 4-month-old, who was admitted to Niloufer hospital.

Anyone found guilty will be suspended: Health Minister

Health Minister Etela Rajender said on Thursday that an inquiry has been ordered into the death of two infants following wrong medication by the staff at Nampally primary health centre. He said, anyone found guilty, would be suspended. The minister said that the condition of all others infants is improving and would be discharged soon. If the probe report mentions negligence by any official, the guilty would be suspended, he said adding that in future nobody will be given tablets without prescription.
Jose Joy By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The future is contamination. London-based band Dronningen (meaning Queen in Norwegian) explains their blending of electronic and rock music with this formula. Their uptempo tunes are quite danceable causing crowds to kick up dust as they take to the stage. Calling themselves an electro-rock assault squad, theyve launched two EPs namely Royal Riot (2016) and Sugarbox (2017) despite multiple lineup changes, and have been featured on outlets such as BBC and Kerrang!. After touring extensively and performing at festivals including Live at Heart in Sweden, and London Comic-Con 2016, theyre hitting India for the first time. Vocalist and guitarist Beatrice Bonnano speaks to us about their music before they go live at Indiegaga International Music & Arts Festival this weekend.

Could you tell us about the inspiration you drew from to create your brand of music?

Our music style is a reflection of our passion for both rock and electronic music. Unlike some people, we think these distant worlds can coexist and complement one another. We grew up listening to classic stuff like Jimi Hendrix and Dead Kennedys, but also electronic artistes such as Nine Inch Nails and The Prodigy. Actually, let me just add a few more: Foo Fighters, Madonna and Primal Scream.

The band has had multiple lineup changes since its inception. Has this affected the sound of the project?

Over the years, there have been different line ups with members from different countries and this made the whole journey very interesting. The current line-up is Vito Cerasia (guitar and backing vocals) and me. Also, we are lucky to have a great session drummer for this event: Alberto Voglino from the band Los Padres. And yes, all these changes have affected our sound. For example, we dont have a bass guitar. So, we use a sub-bass and this allows us to reach very low frequencies; a club-like sound. That is something we could not do before.

Youre all for positivity in music. How do you execute this in the making of your songs?

The birth of a song is never peaceful and quiet. It comes from struggle, chaos and personal experiences. What we are looking for is a catharsis and that is a positive thing.

Can you please explain theconcept of dance as a purifying ritual?

We believe that there is an ancient instinct common to all human beingsdance. By purifying ritual we mean this collective experience: us and the crowd. It is about releasing our energy and celebrating life.

What songs will be on your setlist in Kochi?

No spoilers, but expect something not available online yet.

On March 9, from 3 pm.

At Bolgatty Palace, Kochi.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: There is always the next Avengers movie to satiate the never-dying hunger for costumed saviours but 'Captain Marvel', the first female superhero stand-alone from Marvel Studios, is set to make a timely landing in the post #MeToo era in Hollywood.

DC may have had the first-mover advantage with 'Wonder Woman', but 'Captain Marvel' will benefit from the changing gender politics and probably carry the momentum forward for 'Wonder Woman: 1984'.

ALSO READ | Never thought I'd get to talk about feminism all day: Brie Larson on being 'Captain Marvel'

They may be arch rivals but what unites Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman is intent.

The two studios are catering to female audience, especially in the superhero genre, where women characters were subjected to "fridging", a term used to describe the female characters of superhero films where they are generally relegated in parts of supporting lover.

But Brie Larson's heroine is no damsel-in-distress.

And what makes 'Captain Marvel' special that it has many firsts to its credit.

It is the first Marvel female superhero movie, steered by an Oscar-winning actor, equally known for being a vocal women's rights activist.

It is also the first time a female director, Anna Boden, is driving a superhero film in Marvel's stable with her "equal" collaborator of 20 years, Ryan Fleck.

ALSO READ | Brie Larson as Captain Marvel will resonate with women: Samuel L Jackson

Larson, in an interview in Singapore, had told PTI that the film gave her a bigger platform to talk about feminism, a cause close to her heart.

"I feel so lucky that I made my first blockbuster movie and I just get to talk about feminism all day. I never would have thought that was like a possibility for me. That's like my dream," the actor said last month.

Boden said as challenging as directing the film was, it was also empowering to be at the helm of a big studio production.

She, however, hoped that there comes a time when a female director for a superhero film becomes a norm rather than an exception.

"It's 2019. And everybody here looks for the day when it is not newsworthy that a woman is directing this kind of movie," she said at press conference in Singapore.

The theatrical release in India and the US on International Women's Day is an obvious move but the film is clear in its projection and reflection of a world that is going through campaigns like Time's Up.

But the risks, no matter how calculated, cannot be ignored.

It is the first attempt at a studio film as big as Marvel for the directors, who have indie, character-driven films like 'Half Nelson' and 'Mississippi Grind' to their credit.

Shouldering a stand-alone introductory film of a female hero in the aftermath of Harvey Weinstein scandal is a big responsibility.

ALSO READ | Brie Larson vomited a lot while making 'Captain Marvel'

The director duo said they did an "all expenses paid" course at 'Marvel University', where they were supported by the team well-versed with the MCU history, which was unfamiliar terrain for them.

Despite the training, directing 'Captain Marvel' was a "scary and humbling" experience for Boden though the directors don't feel any obligation towards 'Endgame' where Captain Marvel is already set to play a integral role as the post-credit scenes in 'Infinity War' revealed.

"Honestly, since they won't tell us anything about 'Avengers'. They have a lock and key on that, we feel no commitment and responsibility to that movie at all. We're just focused on our movie," she told PTI.

The film spells out its goal, clearly aided by dialogues that check all the trending words - feminism, female representation, diversity, racism, and xenophobia moulded in signature Marvel-esque humour.

The world of 'Captain Marvel' is populated by Samuel L Jackson's younger, simpler Nick Fury; multi-layered women in Gemma Chan's no-nonsense Min-Nerva, Lashana Lynch's instinctive Maria, Annette Bening's double stunner, Jude Law's focused Yon-Rogg and Ben Mendelsohn's Talos who one ends up rooting for.

But what helps the film most is Larson's earnestness as the new hero on the horizon, who is capable of taking on Thanos in 'Endgame'.

The film has its flaws like the character herself, but she is a suitable role model for female fans of the superhero genre.

All in all, a Marvel fan will walk out from the theatres with lots of trivia and '90s nostalgia.
By Express News Service

Director Anubhav Sinhas follow-up to the critically acclaimed Mulk is titled 'Article 15' and will feature Ayushmann Khurrana as a cop.

Article 15 of the Indian Constitution is about the Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and Anubhav, in a statement said, The film is an investigative drama where the audience too is an accused party.

Touted as one of Anubhavs most ambitious projects, Article 15 is the directors first collaboration with the actor. Im always intrigued by the sociopolitical situation of our country. We hardly see films which present the situation in an unbiased way. Anubhav is one such director who understands the complexities of our country., Ayushmann said in a statement.

Anubhav said, It is a challenging film that needed an actor like Ayushmann. Delighted to have him on board with a bundle of talented actors.

Article 15 has a stellar support cast, which includes Isha Talwar, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Kumud Mishra, M Naser, Ashish Verma, Sushil Pandey, Subrajyoti Bharat and Zeeshan Ayub. Produced by Benaras Media Works, the film went on floors from March 1 in Lucknow.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRI NAGAR: The Election Commission on Tuesday conceded that holding polls in Jammu and Kashmir was a challenging job and revealed that political parties in the state favoured simultaneous Assembly and parliamentary polls.

Addressing a Press conference in Jammu, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said the EC team had a meeting with representatives of political parties, administration, police and central security agencies during its two-day visit to the state.

He disclosed all political parties voiced the demand for holding state polls along with the Lok Sabha elections.

The parties said the turnout in panchayat and urban local bodies elections and the very peaceful conduct of the polls demonstrate that all the problems notwithstanding, the state wishes to have a democratically elected government as early as possible, Arora said.

The parties, however, demanded adequate security for voters and candidates.

Some parties wanted adequate security for ex-ministers even after conduct of polls, he said. He said the EC would announce its decision on holding simultaneous polls after taking into consideration all suggestions.

Asked if the situation was conducive for polls in the wake of the Pulwama attack, the CEC said, During our meeting with police and civil officers, we have seen best presentations by young officers. None of them seem to be intimated. They know what the situation is. They are not overawed by it nor intimated by it.

Arora admitted that holding polls in J&K was more challenging not because of weather and topography, but because of the prevailing situation.

He, however, said the EC would ensure free and fair elections.

Asked why the EC did not hold bypoll for Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, Arora said the decision was based on conscious report of administration giving detailed reasons.
By Express News Service

RAIPUR: In a shocking incident, a tribal girl who was appearing for the Class 10 board examination at Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh committed suicide after she was allegedly strip-searched by a flying squad in the government higher secondary school.

The squad reportedly got suspicious about the girl Manita carrying chits in the examination hall though during the inspection nothing was traced from her, according to the information reaching the state capital said.

Her relatives alleged that after the incident she remained depressed, which they earlier thought might be due to her bad performance in the exams. On February 4, she committed suicide by hanging herself in her room. The incident has created panic in the Jashpur school, about 350 km north-east of Raipur.

The district administration however denied she was asked to remove her uniforms by the inspecting officials during the search. "It's a fictitious social media report which apparently is baseless. Yes, there was flying squad visit to her school and they carried out their duties but this girl was never strip searched", the Jashpur district collector Nileshkumar Mahadev Kshirsagar told the New Indian Express. The administration though has ordered an inquiry by the sub-divisional magistrate Ravi Mittal into the incident though a report by district education officer too denied that the girl was strip-searched.

"She was scolded by her parents for visiting the orchestra show instead of preparing for the board examination. She was much disturbed and apparently took the extreme step. Her suicide is not connected to any search or action by the flying squad that carry out surprise checks in various schools during the examinations", the Jashpur district police chief Shankar Lal Baghel said.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Although tensions between India and Pakistan show no signs of cooling, love has no boundaries. A Veer Zaara like saga will soon see a happy ending, with a man from Haryana all set to marry a woman from Pakistan's Sialkot over the weekend. The bride's family reached India on Thursday.

Hailing from Peepla village near Ambala, Parvinder Singh, 33, an employee of a private firm, has decided to tie the knot with 27-year-old schoolteacher Sarjeer Kiran of Wan village in Sialkot.

Speaking exclusively to Express, Singh, who is the youngest of three siblings, said, "Our families have known each other for a very long time. Even after Kirans family migrated to Pakistan during partition, her parents continued to visit us. We have met them many times in the last few years. Kiran also came twice between 2014 and 2016. This is when we decided to marry each other. They are our relatives so the families also had no objection to our marriage and approved of our decision." Kiran, whose father is a farmer in Pakistan, is the eldest of five siblings, he said.

"Kiran and her family have got a 45-day visa to come to India for the wedding. They arrived in Attari on Thursday by the Samjhauta Express and will reach Delhi. From there, the family will travel to Patiala by road on Friday where the wedding will take place on Saturday. It will be a simple family affair and the ceremonies will be performed as per Hindu rituals," said Chaudhary Maqbool Ahmed of Qadian in Punjab. Ahmed married a Pakistani woman and his wedding was one of the first such instances after the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament.

ALSO READ: Indian man calls off wedding with Pakistani girl after cross-border train not allowed to leave

"After my marriage, around a dozen marriages took place between men from India and women from Pakistan but they were all of Muslim faith. This is going to be the first-ever Hindu marriage. Also, now the governments have relaxed the visa extension and nationality documentation process which were very tough to process earlier. I will be attending their wedding in Patiala, said Ahmed.

Singh said he would try to get Kiran's visa extended after the marriage so that she can stay for some time with him. Kiran's visa does not permit her to stay in Haryana, so they will stay in Patiala for the time being and try to acquire a visa for Haryana also so that she can visit their native village. He said he would also initiate the process to get Indian nationality for Kiran.
By Express News Service

RANCHI: A team of 190 Battalion of CRPF gunned down three Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) Naxals in an encounter, which took place in Hazaribagh on Wednesday. The CRPF also recovered one AK-47 Rifle and two INSAS Rifles from the encounter site during a combing operation conducted immediately after the incident.

"Following a tip-off about some Naxal movement in the area, a team of 190 Battalion of CRPF was rushed into the jungles for conducting search operation. As soon as the team entered into the jungles, heavy firing started from the other side, for which the CRPF jawans also retaliated which hit three TPC Naxals, killing all of them on the spot," said CRPF Spokesperson in Jharkhand Prakash Badal.

Immediately after the incident, intensive search operation was conducted and the three dead bodies were recovered, he added.

"The CRPF team, during a search operation, has also recovered one AK-47, two INSAS Rifles along with several other articles of daily use," said Badal. The operation was conducted purely by the CRPF on an exclusive tip-off, as involving the State Police would have given some time to the TPC squad to make an escape into the dense forests, he added. Badal said that the three TPC Naxals, who got killed in the encounter, were yet to be identified.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday accused Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde of swindling at least Rs 65 crore by escalating prices of mobile phones to be purchased for her department.

The party also pointed out that the bills submitted by her for the government delegation that visited Davos this year too are heavily inflated and accused the government of bribing an officer to clear the new industries policy of the state to benefit specific developers.

Mundes rural development department had proposed to buy smartphones for 85,452 child care centers spread across 30 districts for real-time monitoring.

The phones were purchased from a Bengaluru-based supplier. The Leader of opposition and NCP leader Dhanajay Munde pointed out that the phones were purchased at Rs 8,777 per unit even while their market cost is around Rs 6,900 per unit.

A similar attempt was made to purchase over 1.20 lakh mobiles about an year ago. When we raised our voice suspecting the procedure, the issue was kept pending. But, now just before the elections Rs 106 crore is spent for the purchase of mobiles which would be available for Rs 30 to 40 crore, Munde said while also expressing reservations about the quality of the devices.

Munde also reiterated his allegations against Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis saying that he has given clean cheats to all his ministers without conducting any inquiry into the allegations.

In another sensational allegation, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik accused the state government of bribing a top bureaucrat to get an industrial policy that promises windfall gains for the real estate lobby, cleared quickly.

He linked the issue with inflated bills of the Davos delegation.

A team of five officials from industries department under the leadership of Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) Satish Gavai had gone to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum. Bills worth Rs 7.63 crore were submitted for the tour.

This is not the first time that a delegation has gone there. In 2015, the delegation under CM Fandnavis spent R89.53 lakhs, while in 2018, a much larger delegation, comprising the CMs family and CMO officials, spent Rs 1.93 crore. Against these figures, Rs 7.63 crore for a five-member delegation is huge and it was paid to the officer for keeping the wishes of the boss, Malik said.

The recently released industries policy of the state has provisions to divert factory land for real estate purpose for sick industries. This was done at the behest of the developers lobby and under instructions from BJP president Amit Shah, Malik said and added that it was done to mobilise funds for the elections and the officer who facilitated this, was given the Rs 7 crore.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Amid heightened Indo-Pak tension, sources in the security establishment on Wednesday said that Pakistan has mobilised additional troops and military equipment from its frontier with Afghanistan to forward positions in several sensitive sectors along the LoC in Kashmir.

The Indian Army on Wednesday also issued a stern warning to Pakistan against targeting civilians along the LoC, saying any further provocation or misadventure by it will have "dire consequences".

Official sources said the warning came after Pakistan targeted forward posts in Nowshera sector with 155 mm artillery guns which was retaliated by the Indian Army with Bofors guns.

Sources said the military officials of the two armies spoke over the hotline on Tuesday during which India had asked Pakistani side not to target civilian population along the LoC.

"Post our warning to the Pakistan Army not to target civilian areas, the overall situation along the Line of Control remains relatively calm," the Army said in a statement while reiterating the warning on Wednesday about attacks on civilians.

According to the statement, the Pakistan Army resorted to intense and unprovoked firing with heavy caliber weapons in selected areas of Krishna Ghati and Sunderbani, targeting Indian posts and civilian areas with mortar bombs and heavy guns.

"The same was effectively retaliated by the Indian Army. There have been no casualties on the Indian side," it said.

A strict vigil is being maintained along the LoC and the international border and any further "provocation or misadventure by Pakistan will be responded in a befitting manner with dire consequences," the statement added.

Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan on February 26.

Sources also post-Balakot strike, Pakistani side has mobilised additional troops and military equipment from its borders with Afghanistan to forward positions in several sensitive sectors along the LoC.

Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations on February 27.

However, the IAF thwarted their plans.

The Indian strike on the JeM camp came 12 days after the terror outfit claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers.
Burke/Triolo Productions/ThinkstockDolly Parton has signed a new deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing to represent her considerable catalog, as well as her future work.

John Anderson's new two-disc greatest hits collection, 40 Years and Still Swingin', will be available this Friday.

You can check out Thompson Square's new video for "Masterpiece" on YouTube now. It's the title track of the duo's third album.

If you missed Michael Ray doing the Amos track, "I'm Gonna Miss You," on ABC's Strahan & Sara, you can watch his performance online.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Images of Truth will be performed in Cairo during the 7th edition of the India by the Nile festival (5-17 March)

The captivating show, Images of Truth (Satya ke Pratiroop) returns to Cairo within the space of the ongoing India by the Nile festival (5-17 March).

Directed by Dadi D Pudumjee, founder of the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust (1986), the musical, non-verbal show offers an audiovisual view into Gandhi's achievements and the compound effects they had on contemporary India, resulting in an inclusive experience for all generations.

Deemed groundbreaking and subversive at the time of its debut, the puppet play was commissioned in 1993 by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, a leading government-funded arts organisation in New Delhi, and produced by the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust in India.

Images of Truth was staged in Egypt during the 5th India by the Nile (2017), in Cairo and Alexandria. Those who missed the show will have an opportunity to watch the story of Gandhi wrapped in highly artistic expression.

One of the two Cairo shows will take place in the Pyramids International School, coming closer to students and introducing to them the many ideological, creative and social values that the performance encompasses.

Gandhi is a recurrent subject of many artistic activities held by the Indian Embassy in Cairo and it's cultural wing, represented by the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC). Not only Gandhi is among the featured topics of the India by the Nile festival, but also over recent years Indian entities have organised a variety of painting, drawing and poster competitions, as well as lectures and seminars, focused on Gandhi and his message.

Programme:

Saturday, 9 March, 8pm

El Sawy Culturewheel, Zamalek



Sunday, 10 March, 12pm

Pyramids International School, Cairo

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By Online Desk

Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to Babubhai Patel alias Babu Bajrangi, a Bajrang Dal leader, who is serving prison term after being convicted in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case on medical grounds.

Bajrangi is lodged at Sabarmati Central Jail since 2012 after being sentenced to 21 years in jail in the Naroda Patiya massacre case in which 97 people were killed by a mob during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Bajrangi is in "bad shape" due to various ailments, the state government had informed the Supreme Court earlier in reply to his bail plea.

Senior advocate R Basant, appearing for Bajrangi, had on January 31 said that he is seeking bail in the case on health grounds as he is now 100 per cent deaf and blind and suffers from various heart ailments.

The state government said that medical reports suggest that Bajrangi has suffered a hundred per cent vision loss besides various other ailments.
By ANI

AGARTALA: Tripura police arrested a suspected member of the terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Nazir Sheikh alias Nazir SK, is an expert in making improvised explosive devices.

We had information that a person involved with terrorist activities and his partners are present here. A person named Nazir Shaikh was detained. This person is a resident of Murshidabad of West Bengal and has connections with Bangladesh terror group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)," said Director General of Tripura Police Akhil Kumar Shukla.

The Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh is responsible for the simultaneous blasts at 63 districts in Bangladesh in 2005.

The organisation has links with a few people in India and has plans for conducting terrorist activities on the Indian soil, added Shukla.
By PTI

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government decided Thursday to reduce the in-house quota for FYJC admissions after SSC exams, a move that will help open category students.

Education Minister Vinod Tawde said SSC pass students will now get 7 per cent seats in the open category, after reducing the in-house quota from 20 per cent to 10 per cent in FYJC (first year junior college) admissions.

Tawde Thursday held a meeting with various education institutions having in-house quota to sort out the issue.

It was decided to slash in-house admission quota from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, resulting in 7 per cent seats for students from the open category after implementation of the new 16 per cent Maratha reservation and 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker sections in admissions.

The state also issued a government resolution (GR) in this regard, providing relief to students from the open category, as they can now apply for 7 per cent seats in junior colleges attached to schools.

After the meeting, Tawde appealed to parents and students not to panic as far as FYJC admission was concerned.

"It was an unnecessary assumption that the new 16 per cent reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) and 10 per cent for economically weaker section (EWC) quota would result in no seats for open category as the share of quota would go up to 103 per cent," said Tawde.

There are about 1,887 colleges in Mumbai of various streams and 639 of them have an in-house quota.

Of these, 306 are of minority status and have 50 per cent reservation while 333 junior colleges are attached to higher secondary schools.

"For all colleges that have 20 per cent in-house quota other than those colleges having minority status and following the 16 per cent Maratha and 10 per cent EWS quota, we have decided to reduce the 20 per cent in-house quota to 10 per cent to clear the way for 7 per cent seats for the open category," said Tawde.
By Express News Service

KALABURAGI: Chincholi MLA Umesh Jadhav joined the BJP in a public function, just before the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Wednesday. Though Jadhav has tendered his resignation from Congress, the Speaker is yet to accept it.

Inducting him into the party, BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa presented Jadhav a party flag and an announcement was made that he was now a member of the saffron party. Eight Banjara women clad in Lambani attire arrived on the dais carrying holy water in a pot (Purna Kumbha), a religious gesture to mark Jadhavs enrolment into the BJP. Jadhavs elder brother led the Banjara women.

Jadhav said that BJP leaders had welcomed him to their party wholeheartedly. Kalaburagi voters should write a new history in the constituency. I am a simple man contesting against a giant. You will be my strength to defeat the giant, Jadhav told the gathering.

Senior BJP leader R Ashoka said, The first wicket of the coalition government has fallen. Many more will fall. We are yet to unleash our spin and googly balls. Former minister Babu Rao Chinchansur described Jadhav as a horse, and said that it is now up to the people to make him a winning horse.

While welcoming Modi, Yeddyurappa appreciated his able leadership and hailed the Indian Air Force for its successful air strikes in Pakistan. He assured the PM that the people of Karnataka will elect at least 22 BJP candidates in the upcoming elections. Modi has established a corruption-free government, which has enhanced Indias image in the eyes of the world, he added.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday met three rebel Congres MLAs --Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumtalli and B Nagendra -- in an apparent bid to mollify them and ward off any possible threat to the coalition government.

The meeting came on a day when Umesh Jadhav, another rebel Congress MLA, joined the BJP at Kalaburagi, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis rally.

Kumaraswamys breakfast meeting with the three rebels lasted for over two hours. Over a spread of idlis, vadas, upma and dosas, they discussed issues that would ensure longevity and good health of the ten-month-old Kumaraswamy government.

All the three rebels had been upset with the lack of flow of essential developmental funds for their respective constituencies. Kumaraswamy assured them that these funds would be released immediately. He even ordered his bureaucrats at the spot to ensure that the developmental projects in their constituencies should not suffer for lack of funds.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Kumaraswamy said he had gone to the house of an MLA (Jarkhiholi) for breakfast during which various issues were discussed.

Asked if the Congress felt uneasy or threatened that the CM was reaching out to Congress MLAs, KPCC president, Dinesh Gundu Rao said, He has discussed issues concerning their constituencies developmental works. There is nothing wrong with him going. He is the CM of the coalition government. It is a good gesture.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The state government plans to manufacture a new vaccine which will have the potential to fight monkey fever or Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) for five years. This comes in the wake of apprehensions over the efficacy of the earlier vaccine produced at the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals in Bengaluru.

Speaking at a press conference, Health Minister Shivanand Patil said that he is aware that the present vaccination needs to be taken every year and this could be the reason why people are not keen on taking it. Also, there have been reports about deaths even after receiving primary and booster dose of the vaccination, he said.

READ | Blood sample tests of victim give contrasting results on monkey fever

The disease has been detected in Aralgodu, Sirivatte and Avivihalli areas and 14 deaths have been reported so far. All efforts are being made to contain the spread of the disease. We have also planned to establish a permanent vaccination manufacturing as well as Research and Development centre in Shivamogga to combat the disease. We will take all measures to eradicate the disease from the region, he said.

The vaccine was earlier made in Shivamogga but later shifted to Bengaluru. Now, we are working on a proposal to establish a manufacturing unit in Shivamogga itself, M Madangopal, former additional chief secretary, said. He is part of a committee to study on the prevention of monkey fever in Karnataka.

Madangopal and Dr Shivakumar, former dean of Mandya Institute of Medicines, are working on a detailed report on steps to take to prevent the disease and also on the research related to the disease. The report, expected to be submitted within a fortnight, will have all details including the reason for the spread of the disease and why there were so many deaths this year.

Explaining about the new campus being planned, Dr Shivakumar said this will consist of two blocks. While one block is for administrative purpose, vaccination quality testing and diagnostic facility, the other one will have manufacturing of the vaccine and a research committee headed by a virologist, epidemiologist, microbiologist, physician, pathologist etc. The research objective will be to find out why the fever occurs and how to eradicate it.

7 deaths reported at Manipal hospital

The death toll in KFD at Kasturba Hospital at Manipal has touched seven after a patient from Thirthahalli taluk in Shivamogga admitted in the hospital died on Wednesday morning. He was was diagnosed with KFD positive. The patient Raju was aged about 50 years. Earlier, Chandrappa aged 43 years from Sagar taluk of Shivamogga district admitted in Kasturba Hospital Manipal died on March 4. Another patient from Sagar taluk- Sita who was admitted at Kasturba Hospital Manipal on March 3. Altogether seven deaths have been reported in Kasturba Hospital for KFD till now.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After three years of teaching a goof-up to Class X state syllabus students, the State Council Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Kerala has finally decided to rectify the grave error in the textbook. A mention in the textbook that premarital/extramarital sexual contact as one of the reasons for getting HIV had triggered a row in the state.

READ | Do pre-marital, extra-marital sex spread HIV? Yes, says Kerala textbook

The error figured in the biology textbook published in 2016. In chapter 4 (Keeping Diseases Away, page 60), a science table cites premarital/extramarital sexual contact as one of the reasons for the spread of HIV. With the study material finding itself in the eye of a storm, SCERT has come out with the clarification the said mistake has been rectified in the newly revised edition for the 2019-20 academic year.

The mistake, which is being ridiculed on social media, is there from 2016. As soon as it came to our notice, we asked the teachers to rectify it in the classes itself. Now the textbook to be distributed in 2019-20 by Kerala Books and Publication Society comes with the correction, said J Prasad, director, SCERT. At the same time, the doctor community which largely circulated the said excerpt on social media said instead of mentioning premarital/extramarital sexual contact, the content should have been limited to the practice of unsafe sex. Director of Public Instruction Jeevan Babu told Express, Though I came to know about the said mistake through social media, I am yet to get into its details. He further said he would inquire into the matter.

Teachers from Kozhikode, Kollam, Wayanad, Kottayam, Thiruvananthapuram and Idukki prepared the textbook and they were assisted by experts from Mar Ivanios College, University College, MG College and others.

Controversial lesson

It was while mentioning the ways in which HIV spreads that the controversial content was mentioned. Under the head of Write your inferences in the science diary by analysing the illustration, it has been mentioned, by sharing the needle and syringe used by AIDS patients through body fluids, from HIV-infected mother to foetus and through premarital/extramarital sexual contact
B Anbuselvan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The 100-feet-tall cut-outs of all allies in the National Democratic Alliance has caught the attention of AIADMK party cadre. AIADMK, which is the larger partner in the coalition at the State-level, has chosen to downplay itself in the alliance as just another member of the grand alliance.

In Ammas time, no other alliance partner would have imagined to have their tall cut-outs at rallies she attends, says an AIADMK panchayat district secretary from Vikkiravandi. During 2016 polls, supporters of Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi and Mukkulathor Pulipadai were warned not to raise their flags at campaigns attended by Amma, says a member.

Over 95 per cent participants are from AIADMK. Still, we have to support alliance partners, says an AIADMK worker. On Wednesday, large cut-outs were put up for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PMK leaders S Ramadoss and Anbumani Ramadoss, BJP leaders Tamilisai Soundararajan and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, and Puthiya Thamizhagams Dr K Krishnasamy.

There were even portraits of Pudhiya Needhi Katchis A C Shanmugam and All India Moovendar Munnani Kazhagams N Sethuraman near the dais. AIADMK will not be the same as it was during MGR or Jayalalithaas period, but the partys organisation strength remains intact, especially in the norther districts, say supporters.

Many of us used to attend party function mainly to listen to Ammas speech. In her absence, we dont want to spend too much of our time. But it does not mean we will go against EPS and OPS, said S Kannaiyan, an AIADMK supporter. Hundreds of people left the venue even before the Chief Minister and Prime Minister addressed the gathering.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement the Godavari-Cauvery river linking project to help the delta farmers since they were at the mercy of the neighbouring State which opens only surplus water to Tamil Nadu only after their dams were filled.

Speaking at the first election meeting of the NDA and AIADMK led alliance in Tamil Nadu at Kilambakkam in Kancheepuram district, the chief minister said, The prime minister can achieve anything. If you implement the Godavari-Cauvery linking project, you will remain the hearts of the people of Tamil Nadu forever. I request you to accomplish this historic achievement.

ALSO READ | Not bothered by abuses, threats: PM Modi at Kancheepuram

Referring to the criticism of DMK president MK Stalin about NDA as an anti-people alliance, Palaniswami said, All of us in the dais including the prime minister, are farmers. Despite being in power at the Centre for 13 years, they achieved nothing for Tamil Nadu. Only their families amassed wealth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hit out at the Congress and DMK in his speech.India is a diverse nation. India will never progress till regional aspirations are met. India is a strong and united alliance that respects regional aspirations. Our decisions are not taken by the high command in Delhi. The people of India are our high command. Our track record shows that the NDA is the best place to fulfil regional aspirations.

Modi went on to say: Sadly, Congress and their allies can never fulfil regional aspirations because their decisions are guided by the culture of command and family first. Supporting the Congress and their allies means decisions will be taken sitting in air-conditioned rooms in Delhi not in the village of Tamil Nadu.

ALSO READ | Only Narendra Modi is eligible to lead the country: TN CM

The prime minister also charged that the Congress had insulted strong regional leaders. The people of Tamil Nadu would never forget how Kamaraj was insulted. What was Kamarajs crime? His crime was that he spoke for the people and for the democracy. He challenged the corrupt and dictator-like practice of one family. Because of that he was insulted again and again. The democratically elected government of MGR was dismissed by imposers of the Emergency, just because of political differences.

Puthiya Thamizhagam president K Krishnasamy, BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan, AIADMK presidium chairman, E Madhusudanan, BJP national secretary H Raja, PMK president GK Mani, PMK youth wing president, Anbumani Ramadoss and Puratchi Bharatham Poovai Jagan Moorthy, John Pandian, were among those who were on the dais.
Nirupama Viswanathan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: With major Dalit parties in the State caught in a hyper-masculine image trap, the doubly disadvantaged section of Dalit women are struggling to find a place. Leaders of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the largest Dalit party in the State, estimate the participation of women in their party to be less than 20 per cent  of the 95 district secretaries in the party, only five are women. Karthikeyan Damodaran, a research scholar from the University of Edinburgh explains: If you look at billboards and posters of VCK, you will find only Thirumavalavan and his twirled up moustache... You can experience the partys masculine ethos.

Though these images are important to symbolically defy caste norms, the hyper-masculine content automatically leads to controlling their own women. It is even worse in the case of Puthiya Tamilagam. Its hard to find traces of female leadership. Despite its rhetoric about womens rights, VCK cannot claim its women cadre are not subjected to patriarchal norms, he says. Womens liberation is one of the five core ideals of VCK, but it remains an unfinished project... They have failed to prioritise it fully.

The role of Dalit women in consolidating the three subsects  Pallars, Paraiyars and Arunthathiyars -- has also been undermined by mainstream parties. Also, a large section of Dalit women have been reluctant to come forward and assume charge. They seem to be content cheering from the sidelines.

What stops them?

Dalit women lack the economic and public-social networks required to take part in politics. Dalit men, on the other hand, have some public-social network, though not as wide or well-entrenched as men from dominant castes. This works in their favour, though they lack the economic network, says Anandhi S, associate professor at the Madras Institute of Developmental Studies (MIDS). Even today, the electoral politics of the State is reliant on historically cultivated economic and social networks, which follow a logic of exclusion when it comes to women and other minorities.

In 2012, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan admitted at a public meeting in Chennai that applications from women, to be in various party posts, had declined since the last time. In 2011, the party wanted to change the members holding posts. Many men found the posts challenging, says VCK general secretary D Ravikumar. Despite being a mainstream Dalit party, they had to face State and caste repressions. A district secretary is looked upon as a powerful post in other parties. For us, its a question of survival. These challenges may serve as a hindrance for women. So our leader makes an effort to encourage them, says Ravikumar.

Aim higher

In 2016, VCK decided to field prominent educationist Vasanthi Devi V from RK Nagar, against former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Though the area is home to a substantial number of Dalits, Vasanthi Devi came third, securing 4,195 votes (2.41% of votes polled). The move attracted criticism from one section of people, who felt a woman connected with Dalit issues at the ground level must have been chosen. Within the party, everyone felt honoured that Vasanthi Devi chose to contest from our party. We wanted other women in our party to feel inspired by her and aim higher, says Ravikumar.

This pushed P Sivakami of Samuga Samathuva Padai (SSP) to float her own political party. Looking at the VCKs vote share, I realised that women were yet to be politicised along with a few other sections of Dalits. I felt there was a vacuum that I could fill, she says. Karthik Damodaran, however, says it would be unfair to blame the lack of womens representation fully on VCK.

There are a lot of examples where they have tried to promote women. The name that immediately comes to my mind is that of Pandiyammal, the former district secretary of Madurai, who rose to that level from being a grassroots worker, says Karthik. Seeing her sitting in a SUV with the VCK flag fluttering in front, exemplifies the successful defiance of patriarchy.
Jared Kushner, senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, has recently concluded a visit to five countries in the Arab Gulf plus Turkey to discuss and present part of his long-awaited Israel-Palestine peace process plan. While the details of the plan remain a tightly held secret, Kushners decision to visit Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey might give an indication as to whats included in the so-called deal of the century.

Considering Trumps many internal troubles, the deeply divided US political scene and the latest failed summit with North Korea, the White House is looking for a major international breakthrough. Nothing could distract attention from increasing Democratic calls to impeach Trump than an announcement that the Palestinians and the Israelis are close to achieving a deal, a feat that no previous US administration managed to achieve. However, facts on the ground indicate this is nearly mission impossible.

According to the little information available, Kushner, during his tour of oil-rich Gulf nations, sought to limit his discussions to the economic dimensions of the proposed deal. However, the response he received from most of his hosts was that they would have little interest in contributing to the initiative until Kushner revealed his political cards on thorny issues such as occupied East Jerusalem, illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, final borders, the fate of refugees and water resources.

Indeed, relations between several Gulf states and Israel have improved to levels never before seen due to shared worries over Irans role in the region. But this improvement does not negate just Palestinian demands to end Israels illegal occupation of their land, or the detail of peace deals sponsored by previous US administrations since the Madrid Peace Conference held in 1991.

Meanwhile, prospects for an ultimate deal appears to shrink ever more on a distant horizon. Not only will close US allies in the Arab region be withholding judgement on Kushners ideas, but the central protagonists  Israelis and Palestinians  couldnt appear less focused on reconciliation than they are today.

Israelis are invested fully in the campaign leading up to their national elections on 9 April. Peace with Israels Palestinian neighbours has not been a top priority for Israeli voters, with candidates engaged in a debate over corruption charges filed against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Thus, its hard to imagine a serious deal amid lengthy disputes over the shape of the next Israeli government. If Netanyahu doesnt get re-elected, or if he is convicted of corruption, it will be wishful thinking to imagine any proposed deal seeing the light, however skilled Kushner and his team are.

Moreover, and after the Trump administration spared no effort to punish the Palestinian Authority (PA) for sharply criticising the decision by the US president to recognise occupied East Jerusalem as Israels capital, in clear violation of all international principles and agreements, it is very hard to imagine that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will react positively to any new US proposals. Only this week, the US State Department announced that it was annexing the US Consulate in East Jerusalem, unofficially handing relations with the Palestinians to its newly built embassy in the occupied city. That came after going as far as suspending US aid not just to the PA and UNRWA, but even to Palestinian hospitals and schools, and closing down the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) office in Washington DC.

However, the key problem with the expected deal that Kushner and his aides have been working on for nearly two years is that it hasnt learnt lessons from the past. After the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and Palestinians, late Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres painted a rosy picture of a new Middle East, and how joint, ambitious economic projects across the region would end decades of wars and animosity. This approach proved a major failure and a charade as Israel continued building illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and refused to recognise the right of the Palestinians to have their own independent state.

The genesis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not economic. It is about the internationally recognised right of the Palestinians to have a sovereign state, and solving the dispute according to relevant UN resolutions. The economic crisis of the Palestinians did not cause the conflict, but is one of its by-products. By merely dangling economic incentives before the Palestinians, Kushner is placing the cart before the horse.

Any credible peace effort must put the Palestinians and the Israelis at the negotiating table and apply equal pressure on both sides, not work with some outside parties who are mainly included for their potential to pay the financial bill of an uncertain deal that most clearly will fail to recognise legitimate Palestinian rights.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By AFP

KABUL: A mortar attack on a large ceremony attended by Afghanistan's chief executive and other leading government figures in Kabul on Thursday killed three people and injured 22 others, officials said.

The attack claimed by the Islamic State group represents a major security breach and marks a resumption of violence in the capital after weeks of calm amid ongoing peace talks between the US and Taliban in Doha. "Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us," said former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni from the stage during a live broadcast of the outdoor event.

But moments after the announcement, another explosion and gunfire could be heard that sent people running.

A second unidentified voice then addressed the screaming crowd, saying, "I request my countrymen to stay calm. The mortar attack is far from the gathering."

The blasts took place during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shiite Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country's political elite, including Afghanistan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai.

WATCH:

IS later claimed the barrage saying its fighters targeted the ceremony with mortar fire, according to a statement published by the group's propaganda agency Amaq. "Today around 12 noon mortars were fired on the gathering of Abdul Ali Mazari," Nasrat Rahimi, acting interior ministry spokesman, said in a statement sent to journalists. "The main suspect behind the attack has been arrested by the police and some others who were behind the attack were identified and will be detained," he added, saying the mortars landed outside the actual event.

In today's explosions in Kabul city, 22 wounded and 3 martyrs (bodies) were evacuated by Kabul Ambulance to our hospitals.  Dr. Wahidullah Mayar (@WahidullahMayar) March 7, 2019

Presidential candidate Abdul Latif Pedram was among the injured, according to his official Facebook page, which said he was in "stable condition". Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani -- who was also at the scene -- later added that "terrorists launched rocket attacks on commemoration ceremony", and said he had escaped safely. Mortar fire is commonly referred to as "rockets" by Afghan officials.

Ive arrived home safe and unharmed from todays terrorist attack in Dasht e Barchi but 8 of my security guards have been injured. This was the most horrid and unforgivable attack on civilians by a merciless enemy. Im pained by the loss of life and injury suffered by some many  Haneef Atmar (@MHaneefAtmar) March 7, 2019

IS have claimed responsibility for a string of bloody attacks on Shiite gatherings and mosques across the country over the years. The group however has been relatively quiet in recent months as the Taliban, Afghan security forces, and the US all target IS's shrinking stronghold in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.

He added that eight of his security guards were injured in the attack. "How these attackers managed to get into this Shiite neighbourhood, pass through all the security cordons, and then attack such an important gathering is indicative of a major security and intelligence failure on the part of the Afghan government," security analyst Atiqullah Amarkhail told AFP.

The incident comes as US and Taliban negotiations hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict. The last major attack in Kabul occurred in January when the Taliban claimed responsibility for a car bomb that struck the heavily fortified Green Village foreign compound.

Heavy snowfall across large swathes of Afghanistan has led to a reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country's south will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of the spring fighting season.

Analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in the coming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield and leverage at the negotiating table. On Wednesday at least 16 people were killed in a suicide attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan's Jalalabad city.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Islamic State group and the Taliban are active near the city, in Nangarhar province. Afghanistan has been stuck in nearly constant conflict since the Soviet invasion of 1979, which was followed by civil war, the Taliban regime, and the US invasion in late 2001.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has revoked an Obama-era policy that required the US government publish an annual report on the number of civilians killed in drone strikes on high-value terrorists in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia.

The 2016 executive order was brought in by then-President Barack Obama, who was under pressure to be more transparent on drone strikes carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Since the 9/11 Al-Qaeda terror attack, drone strikes have been increasingly used against terror and military targets.

The Trump administration said the 2016 rule was "superfluous" and distracting.

The order applied to the CIA, which has been carrying out drone strikes in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia.

ALSO READ | North Korea airs documentary glorifying Kim's summit with Donald Trump

The CIA-operated drone strikes in Pakistan have killed top terrorists like Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in 2016, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud in 2009 and Hakimullah Mehsud, TTP chief, in 2013.

Khalid Mehsud, the TTP deputy chief was killed in a US drone strike in 2018 Pakistan's North Waziristan.

President Trump's action "eliminates superfluous reporting requirements, requirements that do not improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission," a National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

The Obama-era rule required the head of the CIA to release annual summaries of US drone strikes and assess how many died as a result.

Trump's executive order on Wednesday does not overturn reporting requirements on civilian deaths set for the military by Congress.

There have been 2,243 drone strikes in the first two years of the Trump presidency, compared with 1,878 in Obama's eight years in office, the BBC quoted figures of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a UK-based think tank.

Officials pointed to a major defence law passed by Congress last year that requires the administration to submit a civilian casualty report to lawmakers.

That measure, however, allows the Defense Secretary to classify the report if he decides that its publication would pose a national security threat, The Hill reported.

The provision applies to military operations and does not cover drone strikes carried out by the CIA, which oftentimes carries out strikes in areas where US forces are not present.

Meanwhile, former Obama administration officials criticised Trump's decision, which they said will deprive the public of the ability to hold the government accountable for civilian deaths.

Daphne Eviatar, an official with Amnesty International USA, blasted Trump's decision as "unconscionable" and a "complete disregard of fundamental human rights."

"This is a shameful decision that will shroud this administration's actions in even more secrecy with little accountability for its victims," she said.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday sought a reply from the Pakistan government on the steps taken to ensure the return of former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf to face the high treason case trial.

Hearing a plea by the Lahore High Court Bar Association over delay in trial of Musharraf by the special court in the treason case, a three-bench bench headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said "Should the government become hostage to a suspect? If a suspect does not appear, then does the court become helpless?"

General Musharraf, 75, who lives in Dubai, is facing several cases including a treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007, which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges.

The treason case was started by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in 2013 and he was indicted in 2014.

ALSO READ | Pakistan SC expresses displeasure over delay in Pervez Musharraf's treason case

A conviction for high-profile treason carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.

The former military ruler left for the UAE in 2016 for medical treatment and has not returned since, citing security and health reasons.

Few months later, the special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his no-show.

The Chief Justice asked what measures the government had taken to call back Musharraf to the country.

"It was said that the court allowed him to go abroad, but the government and not the court permitted him to. The court had left it to the government, the court order did not state that Musharraf be sent abroad," the top judge added.

"If Musharraf does not come back then his statement can be recorded via video link.

If he still does not record his statement via video link, then it will be understood that he has denied the charges and the special court can write 'denied' in front of all his statements," he said.

The bench said that a treason case has been registered against Musharraf and a special court was formed for his trial and was directed to take immediate steps.

"The trial has been halted because Musharraf is not in the country."

The top judge then sought a report from the registrar of the special court over the reasons of delay in hearing of the case.

The apex court also issued notices to the federal government and directed the attorny general to submit a reply on behalf of the federal government and appear in person for the next hearing on March 25.

"Everyone is equal before the law. The attorney general should apprise us of the measures taken by the government for Musharraf's return," the chief justice said.
By PTI

ASUNCION: India and Paraguay have underlined the need to take firm measures against terrorism and pledged to strengthen multilateral cooperation to combat the scourge.

Paraguay strongly condemned the brutal terrorist attack in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 as Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited the Latin American country and held talks with its leadership. The attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed left 40 CRPF personnel dead.

Both sides agreed that terrorism and transnational organised crime constitute a serious threat to world peace and stability. Paraguay said that India could count on its support in the fight against terrorism and in raising concerns about threats of terrorism in the international fora.

They also stressed the importance of taking firm measures against terrorism and pledged to strengthen multilateral cooperation to combat this scourge including through cooperation against terrorist threats from groups listed in relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions and working towards early adoption of a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

I invite Indian & Paraguayan businesses to partner with each other for trade, technology & investment promotion.



I also urge Paraguayan businessmen and women to visit #India to experience first-hand the major transformation underway in the country. #Paraguay @MEAIndia @UIP_py  VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) March 7, 2019

Naidu is the highest-level representative of India to visit Paraguay since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1961.

During the visit, Naidu met Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benitez, Vice President Hugo Velazquez and President of the National Congress (Senate) Silvio Ovelar. Talks were held in a warm and cordial atmosphere when the two sides discussed bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest, an official statement said.

The representatives highlighted the progressive increase of bilateral trade, whose average, in the last five years, amounts to approximately USD 376 million, and agreed to articulate mechanisms that allow a better use of its potential, it said.

Both sides agreed to identify sectors of mutual interest to promote bilateral investment considering the highly favourable business environment existing in their countries. They also expressed their intention to encourage the private sector to promote alliances that allow them to take advantage of the stability of their economies.

The two sides agreed to explore new areas of collaboration including in hydel and solar, health including traditional medicine, Information and Communication Technology, farming and agriculture machinery, space and biotechnology, railways and tourism related infrastructure.

They tasked also their teams to facilitate promotion of exchanges between academics and universities and also between travel professionals and stakeholders in tourism. Paraguay welcomed the offer of India of capacity building through enhanced scholarships for higher education and its ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) programme, the statement said.

The two sides welcomed signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic and Consular Academy Paraguay and the Foreign Service Institute India, it said. They also expressed their interest in finalising the negotiations of the pending instruments.

Both sides agreed to jointly celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. India welcomed the issuance of a commemorative postal stamp. Both side concurred in the importance of strengthening parliamentary linkages. The two sides exchanged views on the Preferential Trade Agreement between MERCOSUR and India, in force as of 1 June 2009.

MERCOSUR is an economic and political bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

In order to discuss many of the collaborative proposals and strengthen ties between both countries, the vice presidents of the two nations agreed that a third meeting of consultations between the Foreign Ministries of both countries be held at an early date.

The consultations could explore among other things further institutional linkages to facilitate wide ranging cooperation between the two countries. The president of Paraguay accepted the invitation extended by Naidu to visit India at a convenient opportunity for both parties.

Paraguay assured that it would support India's candidature to elections to various UN and multilateral bodies. Paraguay appreciated the International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative launched by India and France in 2015, adding that it would be joining it shortly. They agreed that the ISA would facilitate use of clean energy, tap into abundant source of solar energy and transition from conventional to renewable sources.
By Associated Press

SEOUL: North Korea's state TV has aired a documentary glorifying leader Kim Jong Un's recent visit to Vietnam that omitted the failed nuclear negotiations with President Donald Trump.

The footage's release Wednesday night came amid reports that North Korea is restoring some facilities at its long-range rocket launch site that it dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps.

North Korean documentaries are typically propaganda venerating Kim, the subject of a strong personality cult among the North's 25 million people. Some observers say omitting the status of the nuclear talks also shows the North hopes to continue negotiations, while also not letting North Korean people know of any diplomatic failures that could damage Kim's leadership.

The documentary shows a smiling Kim talking with Trump while walking together inside a Hanoi hotel last week.

It shows Kim waving from a black limousine when it passed through a Hanoi street lined with residents waving North Korean and Vietnamese flags. The footage also shows Kim visiting the North Korean Embassy where some embassy officials and their family members skipped and wept with emotions before they took a group photo with the backdrop of a huge picture of Kim's late father and grandfather.

The documentary called the Kim-Trump summit "yet another meaningful incident on the issue of world peace." It cited Kim as saying North Korea and the U.S. must put an end to their decades-long animosity and confrontation. But the documentary didn't mention about the lack of an agreement following the Kim-Trump summit.

The Hanoi summit broke down due to disputes over U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea. Washington and Pyongyang blame each other for the talks' breakdown, but both sides still leave the door open for future negotiations.

Earlier Tuesday, two U.S.-based websites specializing in North Korea studies cited commercial satellite imagery as indicating that North Korea is rebuilding some structures at its northwestern rocket launch facility. South Korea's spy service gave a similar assessment to lawmakers in Seoul in a closed-door briefing on Tuesday.

"I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim," Trump said when reporters asked him about reports of new work at the North's launch site. "I don't think I will be" disappointed, Trump said, "but we'll see what happens."

The Kim-Trump meeting in Hanoi is their second summit, since they met for the first time in Singapore last June. After the first summit, Kim pledged to work toward "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" without providing a roadmap or a timetable for his disarmament steps.
By ANI

NEW YORK: In a significant move by Pakistan, visa requests of a United Nations team to interview 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed residing in Pakistan were rejected by the country's consulate in New York. A fresh proposal had been moved by Hafiz Saeed to remove his name from the UNSC 1267 sanctions list which is a list of UN recognized terrorists.

As is the norm, before removing an individuals name from this list, the United Nations conducts in-person interviews of the individuals being considered for delisting.

However, they were unable to do this in the case of Hafiz Saeed due to Pakistans visa refusal.

According to sources that confirmed Pakistan's latest duplicity in the Hafiz Saeed case, Pakistan was fearful that Saeed would voluntarily reveal more incriminating evidence against it and their support to various terror organisations operating from its soil, therefore, Pakistan blocked a face-to-face interview of Hafiz Saeed by the UN officials.

ALSO READ | UN rejects Hafiz Saeed's plea for removal from list of banned terrorists: Government sources

Subsequent to their visa requests getting rejected the UN ombudsman Daniel Kipfer Fasciati had to settle for a video interview of Saeed after which a report critical of Pakistan's behaviour was generated in which the UN officially recommended against the de-listing of Hafiz Saeed in the UNSC 1267 sanctions list, thereby dealing a blow to diplomatic efforts waged by Pakistan to protect the co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Hectic diplomatic parleys by India post Pulwama terror attack have resulted in support from all but one permanent United Nations Security Council member over sanctioning Pakistan based terror heads Maulna Massod Azhar and Syed Salahudeen.

The United States, Russia, United Kingdom and France have been vocal in their support to India's fight against terrorism and proposal to include these men in the UN sanctions list. However, China remains non committal.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in Beijing on Thursday: Security Council has explicit standards and rules on listing. China is participating in consultations in strict compliance with these rules. China's attitude shows its strong sense of responsibility and is conducive to real and lasting resolution of relevant issues.
By Online Desk

Pakistan on Thursday claimed that it has taken control of 182 seminaries and detained more than 100 people in a crackdown on banned terrorist organisations.

"Law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today," the ministry said in a statement," the interior ministry said in a statement.

The religious schools, hospitals and ambulances of the terror outfits were also placed under the control of the Pakistan government.

Islamabad's move comes amid growing international pressure in the wake of a bombing in Pulwama by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terrorist group based in Pakistan.

New Delhi on Tuesday expressed skepticism over reports that Pakistan was cracking down on terrorist outfits and that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhars brother Mufti Abdul Rauf was among 44 members of banned outfits who were taken into preventive detention.

ALSO READ: Jaish was used by Pakistan intelligence to target India during my tenure, says Musharraf

A day after promulgating a law which apparently allowed the government to take over all assets of banned outfits operating in the country, the Pakistan government said, It was decided to speed up action against all proscribed organisations, and in compliance, 44 under-observation members of proscribed organisations, including Mufti Abdul Rauf and Hammad Azhar, have been taken in preventive detention for investigation.

Minister of State for the Interior Sheryar Khan Afridi was quoted as saying that the names of Mufti Abdul Rauf and Hammad Azhar were mentioned in a dossier shared by India last week.

However, describing Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshis repeated claims that Pakistan would not allow terrorists to operate from its soil as old wine in a new bottle, Indian sources said, "These are words we have heard several times. We have exactly the same statement by President Pervez Musharraf in January 2004. Our effort now will be to see demonstrable action. Pakistan is trying to divert attention from our concern over terrorism to their concern over a so-called threat from India.

A source further warned that all options were on the table in case of another terrorist attack.

ALSO READ: Was Jaish madrasa in Balakot hit by India? Not if these satellite images are to be believed

If there is a naya Pakistan with a naya soch, we expect to see action on the ground. There is still a discrepancy between what they are saying and doing. Mere statements from various sources saying that the Pakistan army has done its bit and that the civilian government has not is not enough, the source added.

For instance, there was the strange phenomenon yesterday of the Pakistan ambassador to the US, while talking at the Institute for Peace, claiming that there is no organized terror group in Pakistan. This is at variance with their own listings, starting with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and going down, of terror groups in Pakistan.

While we are being told that hard action is being taken against the JuD and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, all that has been done is that they are only on the watchlist. The objective of the Pakistan government is to pretend to the international community that it is taking steps, the source said.

The source contended that Pakistan is trying to deflect attention by issuing various statements suggesting that India still continues to threaten Pakistan militarily.

(With inputs from ENS)
By AFP

GENEVA:Thirty-six nations condemned Saudi Arabia on Thursday over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a rare censure of the oil-rich kingdom at the UN Human Rights Council.

A statement read by Iceland on behalf of a group of states expressed "significant concerns" about reported abuses in Saudi Arabia and demanded justice following Khashoggi's killing. "Investigations into the killing must be prompt, effective and thorough, independent and impartial, and transparent. Those responsible must be held to account," added the statement read by Iceland's UN ambassador Harald Aspelund.

It called on Saudi authorities "to disclose all information available" about its own investigation while cooperating with separate UN inquiries into Khashoggi's death. The statement was backed by EU states along with Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Human Rights Watch said the statement was "the first-ever collective action" at the council on rights in Saudi Arabia, which had successfully evaded criticism at the UN body. HRW's Geneva director John Fisher called it "a landmark step toward justice" and urged "more scrutiny" of the country.

Responding to the statement, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UN in Geneva condemned the use of "joint statements for political causes." "Interference in domestic affairs under the guise of defending human rights is in fact an attack on our sovereignty," ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil said.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Saudi Arabia initially said it had no knowledge of his fate. It has since blamed rogue agents for Khashoggi's death and the kingdom's public prosecutor has charged 11 people over his murder.

The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, is conducting an inquiry into the killing. But Callamard is an independent human rights expert who does not speak for the UN and calls have mounted for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to push for a full UN-backed probe.
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Reporter

Noelle McGee is a Danville-based reporter at The News-Gazette. Her email is nmcgee@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@n_mcgee).
Reporter/Columnist

Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth).
Reporter

Lyndsay Jones is a reporter covering education at The News-Gazette. Her email is ljones@news-gazette, and you can follow her on Twitter (@__lyndsayjones).
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
I would love to come back home and work for my country but the merethought of it sends a chill down my spine because of what Iexperienced. I had hoped that now (former president Robert) Mugabe isgone, it should be safe but what I am seeing in the media regardingthe human rights situation there is not good, said the JonkopingUniversity student.
(Newser)  Mennonite women in upstate New York are making a rare public stand to defend a midwife who has delivered hundreds of their babies. Elizabeth Catlin was arrested in November for, authorities say, practicing midwifery without a license. She's a certified professional midwife, but New York requires midwives to possess a different type of license; because of that, she says she works only as a birth attendant. Mennonites shun technology (most don't drive or have health insurance), and so largely deliver their babies at home, reports the New York Times in an extensive look at Catlin's case. What's more, most of the Mennonites in New York live in counties with few licensed midwives or obstetricians, leading to what Yahoo News refers to as "rural America's home-birth 'crisis.'" "Normally the Mennonites do not speak outand especially the women don't," one Mennonite woman tells the Times, but that's changing in the wake of Catlin's arrest.

story continues below

Concerned that if Catlin isn't allowed to continue attending births they'll be forced to give birth in a hospital, travel to a birth attendant far from home, or even deliver at home with no attendant, many Mennonites have written to local media outlets, raised money, sent care packages, and attended a January court hearing to support her. "They wouldn't do this if they didn't feel strongly," Catlin tells the Times. "They're taught to be quiet." Midwives across the nation are also speaking up, arguing that New York's rules for practicing are exclusionary (the CPM qualification is recognized by more than 30 states, but New York is not one of them). The state's rules make home births difficult to perform legally; there are just three non-hospital birthing centers in the state, and outside of the Hudson Valley and NYC, just four state-licensed midwives, the Democrat & Chronicle reports, leading to what the paper refers to as a "service desert"and what a Mennonite elder calls a "humanitarian crisis." (All of the US is experiencing an OB-GYN shortage.)
(Newser)  Tension may be increasing between Saudi Arabia's king and its crown prince, to such an extent that King Salman replaced his security team with loyalists while on a trip to Egypt last month, sources say. The king dismissed his Egyptian security personnel as well, the Guardian reports, after his advisers warned him there could be a move against him. The father and son have disagreed about policy issues including the war in Yemen in the past. But matters have worsened since the slaying of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the CIA reportedly found was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The split between father and son could threaten the stability of the government, the Guardian reports. See its full story here. (Saudi Arabia recently appointed a female ambassador to the US.)
(Newser)  House Democrats are deeply divided over their response to comments from a freshman lawmaker seen as anti-Semiticand Republicans are loving it. At an acrimonious closed-door meeting Wednesday, Democrats argued about rebuking Rep. Ilhan Omar for her remark that Israel's supporters in the US are pushing for "allegiance to a foreign country," sources tell the Washington Post. The caucus ended up indefinitely delaying a vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other kinds of bigotry. Sources tell the AP that some lawmakers sought to have it broadened to include anti-Muslim bias, while others wondered whether the resolution was necessary at all, since the House has already passed similar measures.

story continues below

Rep. Ted Deutsch, who is Jewish, argued strongly in favor of the resolution, explaining that charges of "dual loyalty" are especially offensive to Jewish Americans, sources tell NBC. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, however, said there should be "equity in our outrage" and noted that Omar, one of two Muslim women in Congress, is facing attacks over her faith, the New York Times reports. President Trump later weighed in, tweeting: "It is shameful that House Democrats wont take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and its inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!" GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger also commented on the discord, saying: "It looks like the Democrats are doing a nice job of chewing themselves up." (A poster seen in the West Virginia Capitol last week tried to link Omar to 9/11.)
(Newser)  Chinese tech giant Huawei is fighting back against the American government's ban on federal agencies using its products and services. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Texas, the company calls for the ban the Trump administration put in place in August to be overturned, the Guardian reports. "This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers," chairman Guo Ping said Thursday. He accused the US of misleading the public about the ban, which also bars the government from working with Huawei-using contractors, and said Congress had failed to produce any evidence that Huawei's products are a security risk. Guo accused Congress of acting as "judge, jury, and executioner" by introducing the ban, CNN reports.

story continues below

The lawsuit argues that the National Defense Authorization Act's Section 889, which puts in place the Huawei ban, is unconstitutional because it punishes the company without a trial. Writing for Forbes, Zak Doffman argues the move might not be exactly what it seemsthat is, focused on the US. Huawei argues that the ban will cut down on US 5G competition and therefore increase the costs America will ultimately pay, "but this is misleading." Even if Huawei's suit ends in its favor, "it's hard to conceive the Chinese equipment manufacturer playing a significant role in US infrastructure," he writes. What is really at stake: global perception. "This is about what happens everywhere else, a battle for hearts and minds around the world as large-scale deployments of 5G get underway." (Read more Huawei stories.)
(Newser)  A homeless man and a New Jersey woman who scammed more than 14,000 kind-hearted people with a fake story on GoFundMe are facing time in federal prison. Johnny Bobbitt, Jr., 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit money laundering and 28-year-old Kate McClure pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, NBC reports. Bobbitt, McClure, and Mark D'Amico, the ex-boyfriend who helped concoct the story, still face state charges of theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft. Prosecutors say McClure and D'Amico invented a story about Bobbitt, a homeless veteran with a drug problem, giving McClure his last $20 when she ran out of gas on a Philadelphia freeway.

story continues below

"I wish that I could do more for this selfless man," wrote McClure, who received more than $400,000 in donations. The scheme fell apart after Bobbitt sued the couple, saying he hadn't received his fair share of the funds, and prosecutors began to suspect deception, the BBC reports. Prosecutors say D'Amico and McClure spent the money on a BMW, a trip to Las Vegas, and trips to casinos and Disney parks. Bobbitt, who argued that he only played a minor role in the scheme, could face up to 30 months in prison under a plea deal, though he will be sentenced in a drug court that allows people to be sentenced to rehab instead of prison, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. McClure faces a sentence of up to 33 months, which could have been 20 years without the plea deal. (GoFundMe has refunded all of the donations.)
(Newser)  An estimated 11 million people in North Koreaover 43% of the populationare undernourished and "chronic food insecurity and malnutrition is widespread," according to a United Nations report issued Wednesday. The report by Tapan Mishra, the head of the UN office in North Korea, said that "widespread undernutrition threatens an entire generation of children, with one in five children stunted due to chronic undernutrition." With only limited health care and a lack of access to clean water and sanitation, "children are also at risk of dying from curable diseases," the report added. Mishra said that last year's UN appeal for $111 million to help 6 million of North Korea's most vulnerable people was only 24% funded, one of the lowest levels in the world.

story continues below

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric says the UN humanitarian team in the country is calling for $120 million "to urgently provide life-saving aid to 3.8 million people," the AP reports. Mishra's report said North Korea faces annual shortfalls in agricultural production because of a shortage of arable land, lack of access to modern agricultural equipment and fertilizers, and recurrent natural disasters. While UN Security Council sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs are supposed to exempt humanitarian activities, "humanitarian agencies continue to face serious unintended consequences on their programs," Mishra said.

(Read more North Korea stories.)
(Newser)  Told jurors had found a woman guilty of continuous sex trafficking and the sale or purchase of a child, a Texas judge demanded they keep deliberating because God had assured him the defendant was innocent. Comal County District Court Judge Jack Robison received a public warning after claiming on Jan. 12, 2018, that Gloria Romero Perez's conviction was a miscarriage of justice, reports the San Antonio Express-News. "The judge later apologized to the jury, and said something to the effect of, 'When God tells me I gotta do something, I gotta do it,'" officials with the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct write in a disciplinary report. It follows 18 complaints. Two jurors, the district attorney's office, and members of the public were among those to protest, per Newsweek.

story continues below

Jurors refused to change their minds, and Romero Perez was sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, a judge declared a mistrial in October, finding Robison didn't act in accordance with the law. The commission issued a public warning rather than a private one, but it decided not to suspend Robison. The judge had produced letters from two medical professionals claiming the outburst was the result of a since-resolved "episodic medical condition referred to as a 'delirium.'" He also referenced memory lapses and extreme stress linked to a medical condition and the death of a close friend. Still, he denied exhibiting prejudice and said he'd only asked jurors to deliberate for 10 to 15 minutes more "to make certain they were not making a mistake." Romero Perez still awaits retrial. (Read more judge stories.)
(Newser)  The times they are a-changing in Utah, where the state legislature has decided to legalize sex between unmarried people. In a 41-32 vote Wednesday, the state House approved Senate Bill 43, which repeals the offense of fornication, Fox 13 reports. Under the state's criminal code, fornication is currently a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,000, though police and prosecutors haven't enforced it for years, reports KUTV. The bill will now go to Gov. Gary Herbert, who will either sign it or veto it. Opponents included GOP Rep. Keven Stratton. What is legal "is often far below what is morally right, he said. "And I recognize our laws are not strong enough to rule an immoral people." (Click for more strange US sex laws.)
(Newser)  This "extraordinary" story could have been published 50 years ago. That's when locals at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza told an archaeologist about a cave there, but he had its entrance sealed, possibly to safeguard what was inside. The AP reports his brief report on it languished in a government archive. It wasn't until residents approached another archaeologistthis time Guillermo de Andaabout the cave in 2018 that its exploration began. In it: at least 200 well-preserved ceramic artifacts that likely date to 700 to 1000 AD and include incense holders and containers for grinding food. "The place is extraordinary," says de Anda. It's believed the Maya would descend 80 feet into the cave called Balamku to leave offerings for Tlaloc, the central Mexican god of rain, whose likeness appears on some incense holders.

story continues below

Da Anda imagines the Maya saw the cave as the "bowels of the gods," per AFP. Similar artifacts were found in the nearby cave Balamkanche, discovered in the 1950s, but the push to make it a tourist site hindered the study of those items, per the Times. Project archaeologist James Brady tells the New York Times the wealth of items in the two caves indicate the subterranean world was more core to Mayan life than perhaps thought. Exploration of the Balamku cave is only just beginning, with the team having explored 1,500 feet, belly-crawling at times through portions just 16 inches in height. They're unsure of how far it goesand whether it might ultimately connect to the cenote cave thought to lie under Kukulkan, the famed pyramid at the center of Chichen Itza. It's about 1.7 miles from Balamku. (Kukulkan is the pyramid equivalent of a Russian nesting doll.)
(Newser)  The CIA has since 2016 been obligated to put out yearly summaries of how many drone strikes the US has carried out, as well as how many civilian deaths outside of war zones that those strikes caused. But NBC News reports no such report came last year, as was required by an executive order issued by then-President Obama in the summer of 2016 following an outcry over transparency. And no more will be coming. President Trump on Wednesday issued his own executive order that effectively revokes Obama's. "This action eliminates superfluous reporting requirements, requirements that do not improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission," a National Security Council spokesperson says.

story continues below

Critics of the new order say the revocation gets rid of an accountability check, with some noting that the stats were also useful at pushing back against terrorist propaganda. Via the BBC, a Human Rights First rep tells AFP that the new move is a "dangerous" one, while Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic head of the House Intelligence Committee, notes there's "simply no justification" for it. One thing the new executive order doesn't impact, per the New York Times: a separate law from Congress that calls for Pentagon numbers on all civilian deaths from all military operations. (Read more drone strike stories.)
(Newser)  A new Hollywood scandal is in the news, thanks to text messages revealed by the Hollywood Reporter. The upshot: Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara, 54, is accused of trying to improperly arrange roles for British actress Charlotte Kirk, with whom he was reportedly having a sexual relationship. A sample of exchanges:

Kirk: Youre very busy I know but when we were in that motel having sex u said u would help me and when u just ignore me like youre doing now it makes me feel used," she wrote in 2015. "Are u going to help me like u said u would?

Youre very busy I know but when we were in that motel having sex u said u would help me and when u just ignore me like youre doing now it makes me feel used," she wrote in 2015. "Are u going to help me like u said u would? Tsujihara: Sorry you feel that way. Richard will be reaching out to u tonight," he responded, referring to another studio exec.

story continues below

Tsujihara: I dont usually call about casting about these types of roles," he wrote to her in 2015 during another discussion of a TV role she had read for. "Its fine, I just need to be careful.

I dont usually call about casting about these types of roles," he wrote to her in 2015 during another discussion of a TV role she had read for. "Its fine, I just need to be careful. Kirk: "Of course I understand. I know how we can be carful (sic) and make this work." When Tsujihara suggested finding a movie role instead, she said that would be "perfect."

Parent company WarnerMedia is looking into the allegations, reports CNN , while both Tsujihara and Kirk deny any impropriety. Kirk has appeared in two Warner Bros. movies, How to Be Single (2016) and Ocean's 8 (2018). THR says Australian billionaire James Packer first brought the two together, calling it the "opportunity of a lifetime for u" in a text to the then-21-year-old actress in 2013. She then met Tsujihara in a hotel and told Packer afterward that Tsujihara was "not very nice!" and interested only in having sex with her. Read the full story , which also involves director Brett Ratner, who accused Kirk of extortion. (Read more WarnerMedia stories.)
(Newser)  A February article in the MIT Technology Review spotlighted recent research by Brandeis University mathematician Jonathan Touboul on "the hipster effect," specifically how "the population of hipsters initially act randomly but then undergo a phase transition into a synchronized state." That's a fancy way of saying that hipsters, despite their efforts at nonconformity, eventually end up looking alike. The Washington Post reports what happened next: An irate reader emailed the magazine on Feb. 28 to complain not only about the "poorly written and insulting" article but also to file a grievance about the Getty Images stock photo of a hipster-resembling man that accompanied the story. The email writer's main beef: The bearded man in the photo was him, and the magazine was guilty of slander.

story continues below

Gideon Lichfield, the publication's editor in chief, lays out the timeline on Twitter, explaining that once they received the complaint, his creative director checked with Getty to make sure the magazine wasn't using the photo in violation of its license. And that's when they discovered "the model's name wasn't the name of our angry hipster-hater." He laughs about it in his final tweet: "All of which just proves the story we ran: Hipsters look so much alike that they cant even tell themselves apart from each other." The annoyed reader's sheepish response to this revelation, sent to the MIT magazine: "Wow, I stand corrected." (Read more hipsters stories.)
(Newser)  Two formerly conjoined twin girls arrived home in Bhutan Thursday after being separated in an operation in Australia, sparking joy when their family saw them walking independently. Twenty-month-old Nima and Dawa returned to Bhutan after a 22-hour flight from Melbourne with their mother, four months after their operation, per the AP. The girls had been joined at the torso and shared a liver. They were separated by a team of 25 surgeons, nurses, and anesthetists in an operation in early November at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital that lasted almost six hours.

story continues below

Barely controlling his emotions, their father, Sonam Tshering, said it was like a miracle. He took them from the airport to a monastery to light a lamp in prayer. The girls recovered after the operation at a retreat run by the Children First Foundation, the charity that brought them to Australia. "They're much the same as when they were together," said Debbie Pickering of the foundation. "We've got one that's very much more outgoing and one that's very placid." They are "beautiful little girls," she added, "delightful in every way."

(Read more conjoined twins stories.)
(Newser)  It seems pretty straightforward. When Michael Cohen testified before a House panel last week, he said this: "I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from Mr. Trump." But now Cohen attorney Lanny Davis is out with a statement that seems to contradict that assertioneven though Davis simultaneously insists that Cohen was telling the truth. The Wall Street Journal helps unpack it: After a big FBI raid on his offices last year, Cohen "directed his attorney (Stephen Ryan) to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump," says Davis. At the time, Cohen and Trump had what's known as a joint defense agreement, and Davis says once Cohen opted out of that agreement, a pardon was off the table.

story continues below

"After July 2, 2018, Mr. Cohen authorized me as a new lawyer to say publicly Mr. Cohen would never accept a pardon from President Trump even if offered," says Davis. "That continues to be the case." What's more, Davis tells ABC News that what Cohen told the House panel was "literally true." By this logic, Cohen "never asked President Trump for a pardon," says Davis. "His lawyer explored the disingenuous 'dangle' repeatedly floated by Rudy (Giuliani) and Trump in one meeting and never followed up." (On Wednesday, Cohen turned over documents to Congress that he says show how Trump attorneys misrepresented the tower project in Russia.)
(Newser)  If the idea of a job that has almost zero requirements appeals to you, here you go: Starting in 2025, you can apply for a permanent position at Sweden's Korsvagen train station, which is currently under construction in Gothenburg with plans to open in 2026. The only requirement is that you clock in to work at the station each day. From that point on, you can do whatever you want at the station, Atlas Obscura reports, citing this job ad mock-up. In return, you get a starting salary of about $2,320 per month, the same annual wage increases that Swedish government workers get, vacation time, a pension, and the guarantee of lifetime employment. The job is open to anyone from around the globe. It's being offered by the appropriately named Eternal Employment Foundation, an experimental art project from Swedish artists Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby.

story continues below

They are using a $650,000 prize from Public Art Agency Sweden in conjunction with the Swedish Transport Administration and investing it so it grows. As the Washington Post explains, the contest was for artists who wanted to contribute to the station's design, and Goldin and Senneby think this is a better way to do so than via a sculpture or mural. Three new underground stations are being built to alleviate traffic and create jobs in Sweden's second-largest city, which has transitioned from an industrial and shipping center to a city rich with arts and culture, leaving its working class "marginalized," Atlas Obscura says. "In the face of mass automation and artificial intelligence, the impending threat/promise is that we will all become productively superfluous," Goldin and Senneby's proposal said. "We will all be employed at Korsvagen, as it were." (Another dream job was offered only to "mediocre" skiers.)
(Newser)  President Trump has lost the support of one prominent figure on the right in Ann Coulter. Now Axios notes that he's getting some pushback from two other usually supportive voices: Lou Dobbs and Matt Drudge. On his Fox show Wednesday, Dobbs said he feared that the White House has "lost its way," reports the Hill. Dobbs specifically criticized Trump's comments during a meeting with his American Workforce Policy Advisory Board about hoping for an increase in the number of legal immigrants coming into the US. That Mr. Trump would advance the interest of the globalist elites ahead of our citizens would be a tragic reversal on any day, Dobbs said. (See the video.) But today, on the same day the Commerce Department reported the United States had the largest trade deficit in our history ... it all means the White House has simply lost its way.

story continues below

At the same time, Drudge has been prominently linking to a critical story in the Washington Post about the Trump administration. The Drudge Report headline on the story is "Swamped," and the story itself asserts that "Trump is losing ground on top priorities to curb illegal immigration, cut the trade deficit and blunt North Koreas nuclear threatsetbacks that complicate his planned reelection message as a can-do president who is making historic progress." The Trump meeting on Wednesday, meanwhile, has been generating attention for a less serious reason: The president misspoke when referring to Apple CEO Tim Cook, saying, "We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple," per the Verge. Watch it here. (Read more President Trump stories.)
(Newser)  Indiana State Police trooper Matt Makowski and his wife had recently clashed with their 11-year-old son, taking away his video games. On Feb. 22, the boy allegedly took his father's own .45-caliber service weapon out of his locked police vehicle and used it to shoot him in the buttocks as he slept, the South Bend Tribune reports. Police say the boy later told them he wanted a PlayStation, an Xbox, and a computer, and that he would either "get these simple things, or there would be a Part 2," according to court documents. He allegedly told police he had been planning the shooting since that day at school, WSBT-TV reports. Makowski is recovering; his son is facing the juvenile equivalent of a criminal charge for attempted murder.

story continues below

The boy's mother told police that after her husband was shot, waking her up, she went looking for her son. She found the duty weapon on the floor outside the room and her son walking up the stairs with a BB gun and her husband's duty taser; she locked the bedroom door until police arrived and the boy surrendered. The boy allegedly told police he had tested the taser out on the family's dog first, and that he planned to shoot his father in the head but, due to the way his dad was lying in the bed, couldn't manage it. He said he waited near the door for "about 10 minutes" until his father rolled to face away from the door, so that he wouldn't be spotted. Per court documents, the boy has a history of behavior problems at school and was also allegedly involved in a "possible battery" against an 8-year-old neighbor who was taken to the emergency room last year. (Two sisters are charged with murdering their father.)
(Newser)  A group of California high school students drew widespread scorn this week when a party photo emerged showing them giving the Nazi salute over cups arranged in a swastika pattern. Some of the students already have apologized, notes the Los Angeles Times, and on Thursday they'll get another chance to do so to a notable figure. Eva Schloss, a Holocaust survivor and the 89-year-old stepsister of Anne Frank, will meet privately with the students at Newport Harbor High School, reports BuzzFeed.

story continues below

"Our hope is that meeting someone who witnessed firsthand the atrocities committed under that same swastika and salute will help guide these students toward a life of tolerance and acceptance, spreading a message of inclusion and love, rather than one of hatred," says the director of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life, which is organizing the meeting. As a teenager, Schloss was sent with her mother to Auschwitz, reports the Tribune of San Luis Obispo. Both survived, and Schloss' mother later went on to marry Otto Frank, Anne's father. (Read more Anne Frank stories.)
(Newser)  Michael Cohen has gone from being a Trump loyalist to a Trump enemy, and he wants the Trump Organization to cover the legal fees he incurred during that transition. Cohen filed suit Thursday against the president's business, accusing it of violating an agreement to cover legal expenses related to his Trump work, reports Bloomberg. The lawsuit says the Trump Organization and Cohen struck that deal in July 2017, back when Cohen was working as Trump's "fixer," and it was reaffirmed in May 2018, reports Axios. However, Cohen began talking about cooperating with Robert Mueller in June, and that's when the Trump Organization stopped paying his legal bills, according to the suit. Cohen has since racked up in excess of $1.9 million in legal fees, and he wants reimbursement.

story continues below

In addition to that $1.9 million, Cohen also wants another $1.9 million to cover the fines and restitution he has had to pay as part of his legal troubles, reports the New York Times. In the legalese of the suit, Cohen accuses the organization of "failure to meet its indemnification obligations." Cohen reports to prison in May to begin serving a three-year sentence for charges that include lying to Congress. He also has been testifying against Trump before various congressional panels, and those expenses are part of the lawsuit. (Cohen says he never sought a pardon from Trump, but his attorney has a more nuanced view on that.)
(Newser)  US Sen. Sherrod Brown said Thursday he will not run for president in 2020, becoming the latest Democrat to bow out of the White House race, the AP reports. His decision comes after recent visits to several early-voting states to highlight his worker-friendly policy agenda. Brown said he believed his "dignity of work" tour succeeded in putting the struggles of average Americans on Democrats' 2020 radar and that he "can be most effective" by remaining in the Senate. "I fight best when I bring joy to the battle," he told home-state reporters. "And I find that joy fighting for Ohio in the Senate." Brown said he will continue to call out President Donald Trump's "phony populism" from his perch in the Senate and will "do everything I can to elect a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate in 2020."

story continues below

The 66-year-old, well known for his progressive populism, had emerged as a potentially strong challenger to Trump after winning re-election in November in a state that Trump carried by nearly 11 percentage points in 2016. Brown's victory was powered by strong support in many blue-collar areas of the state where Trump had prevailed. Several other Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, and former Attorney General Eric Holder, announced this week that they would not join a presidential primary already packed with a dozen candidates. Democrats are awaiting word from former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke about whether they will undertake highly anticipated campaigns that could reshape the race. (Beto says he's "excited" to announce his decision about his political future "soon." Meanwhile, Trump is most concerned about Biden.)
The base concept behind the pick-up training industry is kind of strange On the one hand, customers are supposedly paying money to get lessons from experienced instructors in how to meet and seduce a romantic and/or sexual partner. But on the other hand, such extensive experience in picking up new people sort of implies that said instructorsa romantic connections arenat of the quality that warrants repeat performances, and the techniques theyare teaching may not be so much putting your best foot forward, but relying on outright deception or other underhanded tricks.

For example, back in the fall of 2017, Osaka resident Yosuke Shoji, a now-37-year-old pick-up instructor employed by Tokyo-based Real Nampa Academy, went out for some in-the-field practice with one of his students, Koichi Yokoya (also now aged 37), an Osaka taxi driver. The two headed to an Osaka nightclub called Minami where they struck up a conversation with a pair of women, plying them with tequila and other high-alcohol content drinks.

While one of the women left on her own, Shoji and Yokoya took the other back to the teacheras condominium, where, according to the Osaka Prefectural Police, the two men then sexually assaulted the woman while she was incapacitated from all the liquor shead consumed at the menas recommendation.

On March 4, the police formally arrested the men, who are charged with sexual assault on an incapacitated person. Shoji is believed to have been Real Nampa Academyas top executive in Osaka, in light of the fact that he gave his pick-up lessons in his condo, which was referred to as Real Nampa Academyas aOsaka House.a

While neither Shoji nor Yokoya have yet publicly entered a plea, Shojias arrest has sparked a larger-scale investigation of Real Nampa Academyas operations in Osaka, and considering that its president and a number of employees were arrested on similar sexual assault charges in Tokyo last September, itas likely this marks the end of the organization.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denied a media report Thursday that the government is considering introducing a minimum wage for specific industrial sectors that would apply to workers nationwide, regardless of where they live.

Earlier in the day, labor ministry officials had explained the idea to ruling lawmakers, but Suga said the ministry isnat considering the move at this time.

The government is set to loosen restrictions on the entry of foreign workers from April to tackle serious labor shortages resulting from an aging population and falling birthrate, and the idea for the minimum wage regulation is seen as an effort to address the urban-rural wage gap that could result in the concentration of laborers in large cities.

Currently, hourly minimum wages are decided by each prefectural government based on the regionas economic situation. The figures are revised every fiscal year after a ministry advisory panel comes up with a rough target for wage hikes sometime in the summer.

In the current fiscal year ending March 31, the national average of the hourly minimum wage stood at A874, with Tokyo logging the highest at A985 and Kagoshima Prefecture marking the lowest at A761.

Some critics say that rural areas could continue to struggle with labor shortages unless the urban-rural minimum wage gap is properly managed.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has commenced distribution of sensitive materials to the 17 local government are...

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has commenced distribution of sensitive materials to the 17 local government areas of Yobe State, ahead of Saturdays governorship/ House of Assembly elections.









The distribution, which started on Thursday around 12:00 at Central Bank premises in Damaturu, was under the watch of armed security operatives.









The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Yobe, Alhaji Ahmad Makama, said the sensitive materials that comprise ballot papers and result sheets were expected to reach the 17 local government headquarters today for onward distribution.









Makama explained that the movement of the sensitive materials would be escorted by well-armed security operatives to the various registration centres.









So far so good, we are in a very good position of strength, we have a full complement of everything, materials, ad-hoc staff and enough vehicles for the movement of men and materials to the registration area centres.









Also, all the non-sensitive materials required, Ballot boxes, stamps and everything are intact. So we are comfortably prepared for the election, he said.








The Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has allegedly carried out kerosene distribution in the state in an effort to win the hearts ...

The Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has allegedly carried out kerosene distribution in the state in an effort to win the hearts of the voters.









This is happening few days to the March 9 governorship election.









The governor rolled out an Okezie Ikpeazu/Ude Oko Chukwu branded tanker of kerosene, which was dispensed to Abians at no cost at different points in the state.








The police said it has arrested 10 persons over various electoral offences in Katsina during the last Presidential and National Assem...

The police said it has arrested 10 persons over various electoral offences in Katsina during the last Presidential and National Assembly elections.









The state commissioner of Police, Sanusi Buba, in a chat with newsmen in his office said the command is ready for improved services at the governorship and state assembly elections holding this weekend.









According to him, the offences of those arrested have to do with attempts to disrupt the electioneering exercises as well as a violation of the non-movement orders during the polls.









Others include criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, public nuisance and being in possession of dangerous weapons like axes, machete and knives noting that they have since been charged to court.









He said security is to re-enforce at the 9 local governments perceived to be insecure due to the closeness to Rugu forest, a hideout for bandits.









He added that We are resolute to ensure hitch-free elections not only in those places but the whole state at large








Rivers State Government has set up a committee to identify those killed during the Presidential and National Assembly elections in Abonn...

Rivers State Government has set up a committee to identify those killed during the Presidential and National Assembly elections in Abonnema, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area.









The Committee also has the responsibility of identifying the soldiers who died during the Presidential and National Assembly elections and March 2, 2019. The high-powered committee is headed by the State Deputy Governor, Dr Ipalibo Harry Banigo.









Speaking during a memorial service in honour of Abonnema people and soldiers who died on 23rd February and March 2, 2019, at St Pauls Nyemoni Church on Wednesday, Governor Wike said that the committee will have the responsibility of also identifying the bereaved families.









He said: A committee headed by the Deputy Governor will identify those who died and their families. The government will give them the necessary assistance.









The committee will also identify damaged property affected by the election crisis so that the Rivers State Government will offer the required assistance for their repair.









The governor said that the Rivers State Deputy Governor will lead a high-profile delegation to the Nigerian Army to commiserate with them on the death of their personnel during the Presidential and National Assembly elections and on March 2, 2019, at Abonnema.









He commiserated with the bereaved families in Abonnema and the families of the soldiers who died during the elections. The Governor prayed to God to comfort them.









The Governor condemned politicians who promote political violence, saying that they should be compelled to present their children to execute political violence.









I appeal to politicians to understand that power comes from God. Those who foment trouble should be asked to bring their grown-up children to execute political violence.









God has done it for Abonnema and Rivers State. We will have peace. I urge all leaders to work with the Traditional Council to bring peace. Take all necessary measures for peace to reign. The Rivers State Government will support you , he said.









Governor Wike urged Rivers people not to be provoked despite the antics of those determined to cause crisis during the Governorship and State Assembly elections.









The Governor appealed to security agencies not to allow politicians to use them to cause violence or disrupt voting on Saturday









He berated the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for describing the peaceful town of Abonnema as the hideout of militants.









The Amayanabo of Abonnema, King Disrael Bob-Manuel said that the Akuku-Toru Local Government Traditional Council got intelligence that there might be violence during Presidential and National Assembly elections and took measures to forestall it. He said one of the major political parties refused to sign the peace accord.









He said that ahead of the Governorship and State Assembly elections, the Traditional Council would hold another peace meeting on Thursday where a peace accord will be signed. He said any political party that fails to sign would be held responsible should violence break out.









The Amayanabo of Abonnema said the Abonnema people have learnt the bitter lesson and they will ensure that the ugly incident does not happen again









In his sermon, Pastor Christopher Briggs urged the people of Abonnema to come to God in repentance so that he will cleanse their land for the good of the area.









He said that Abonnema couldnt have suffered the type of crisis if the people had learnt from history.









Prayers were said to seek Gods protection for Akuku-Toru Local Government Area and Rivers State during the Governorship and State Assembly elections. Prayers were also said for the repose of the souls of all those who died on 23rd February and 2nd March of March 2019.








Joseph Sanusi. Charles Soludo. Muhammad Sanusi II. Since the return of democracy in 1999, no governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (...





Joseph Sanusi. Charles Soludo. Muhammad Sanusi II. Since the return of democracy in 1999, no governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has served two terms. Is Godwin Emefiele about to be the breaker of the CBN tenure jinx?





Appointed by former president Goodluck Jonathan on June 3, 2014, Emefiele will end his tenure as CBN governor in less than three months from Wednesday.





The president has been duly informed, but as a former general who has learnt one or two things from Sun Tzu, Buhari is best at keeping his cards to his chest and watching speculations run riot in Africas biggest economy. After all, Tzu said: Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.





Rumour mills have been very busy second-guessing the next line of action of President Muhammadu Buhari. They have even come up with a list of possible replacements for Emefiele, suggesting that he has received a letter asking him to go in two weeks.





While Buhari may want to fall like a thunderbolt and shock Nigerians with his move on the leadership of the CBN, This is what the past four to five years mean for Emefieles chances as second term CBN governor.





APPOINTED BY JONATHAN, RETAINED BY BUHARI





Only a few top shots survived the administrative purge that came with change in government from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDPs) Goodluck Jonathan government to the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership of Muhammadu Buhari.





Of those few, Solomon Arase, former inspector general of police; Yemi Kale, statistician general of the federation; Joe Abah, director general, Bureau for Public Sector Reform; and Emefiele, easily come to mind.





These few have shown that Buhari is not entirely against the appointees of a previous government as seen in Nigerian politics before 2015. As long as value is presented, Buhari does not mind keeping a Jonathan appointee in office.





QUICK FACT: Buhari is the first Nigerian president since 1999 who did not reshuffle or fire any member of cabinet for four years. Buhari is the first Nigerian president since 1999 who did not reshuffle or fire any member of cabinet for four years.









BUHARI AND SECOND TERMS

If we have learnt anything from Buharis many interviews and acts of office, it is clear that the president prefers steady trusted hands than new untested ones  no matter the level of experience they bring to the table.





Speaking in an interview with THISDAY, Buhari gave us an insight into how his experience has shaped his decision-making process. He explained why he has not changed any of the service chiefs despite their disappointing performance.





I have been a governor, I have been a minister, I have been a head of state, I came back, I tried to come back to this office three times but lucky on the fourth time, Buhari had said.





I am measuring the options critically, when you have a case of emergency, if you dont wait for an appropriate time to do it, then you create competition within the service, there are so many ambitious people waiting, only one man can be chief of army staff in the army, only one man can be the inspector-general of police.





While one may say this is a security matter, and service chiefs appointments are not measured in terms, we have found that Buhari prefers continuity to change, when it comes to matters of appointment.





Elias Mbam: As the chairman of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mbam served out his term in November 2015, less than a month after Buhari unveiled his ministers. Rather than change Mbam, Buhari preferred him as a steady hand at the helm of the revenue mobilisation team. As the chairman of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mbam served out his term in November 2015, less than a month after Buhari unveiled his ministers. Rather than change Mbam, Buhari preferred him as a steady hand at the helm of the revenue mobilisation team.





Yemi Kale: In 2011, Goodluck Jonathan appointed Kale as statistician-general of the federation, taking over from Rasaq Sanusi. Kale served out his five-year term in 2016, and was expected to be replaced by Buhari. But the president renewed his appointment after a period of silence and speculation. In 2011, Goodluck Jonathan appointed Kale as statistician-general of the federation, taking over from Rasaq Sanusi. Kale served out his five-year term in 2016, and was expected to be replaced by Buhari. But the president renewed his appointment after a period of silence and speculation.





Uchechi Orji: Orji was appointed by Jonathan in 2012 as the Managing Director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). Also after a five-year tenure, Buhari was expected to replace him in 2017, but the president renew his appointment for another five-year term. Orji was appointed by Jonathan in 2012 as the Managing Director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). Also after a five-year tenure, Buhari was expected to replace him in 2017, but the president renew his appointment for another five-year term.





Segun Awolowo: This was a special case. Segun Awolowos tenure as executive director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) came to an end in 2017. He continued in office, following Buharis silence. This was a special case. Segun Awolowos tenure as executive director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) came to an end in 2017. He continued in office, following Buharis silence.





Boss Mustapha, the secretary of the government of the federation (SGF), then issued a memo dated December 4, 2017, stating that all head of MDAs, whose tenure had expired should hand over to the most senior director. Awolowo eventually handed over before he was re-appointed by President Buhari.





Buhari has replaced some other heads of MDAs at the expiration of their tenure, but he has also given renewed terms to many.









DOES EMEFIELE DESERVE A SECOND TERM?

Exchange rate regime: Following a fall in crude oil prices from 2015 through to 2017, Nigeria experienced a currency crisis which forced the CBN to an attempt devaluation of the naira. But the president opposed the idea, saying he will not kill the naira. CBN under Emefiele managed to hold the currency for 16 months while depleting reserves as oil prices hit a record low of $27 per barrel.





Eventually, the CBN devalued the local currency to mirror the realities in the local economy. The naira fell from 197 per dollar to 283 per dollar on the first day of what was called a managed float of the naira. The local currency went as high as N520 per dollar. It was a tough time for Emefieles CBN.





The former Zenith Bank CEO introduced policy suites to mitigate the problem in the FX market, restoring the naira from 520 per dollar to 360 on the regular. And for the first time in Nigerias recent electoral history, the naira has been stable before, during and after a presidential election.





While we have the official CBN N305/$1 rate and N360/$1 rate  the CBN claims Nigeria does not operate multiple exchange rate regime. In all these, the president and the CBN governor align on the management of the exchange rate system. A plus for Emefiele.





Buoyant Reserves: When Buhari took office, Nigerias foreign currency reserve was at $29 billion. Following the crude oil crash, the reserves went as low as $23 billion territory in October 2016. When Buhari took office, Nigerias foreign currency reserve was at $29 billion. Following the crude oil crash, the reserves went as low as $23 billion territory in October 2016.





Less than two years after, with the aid of crude oil and shrewd management, the Emefiele-led CBN had doubled the foreign reserves, bringing it to $47.6 billion in May 2018  the highest since the oil crash.





Rice farming policy: Did you get the news? Nigeria is now the highest producer of rice in Africa. This definitely did not happen overnight. Following the shortage of forex to import rice, and other farm produce, the CBN and the federal government flagged off the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) to make finance available for smallholder farmers, especially rice farmers. Did you get the news? Nigeria is now the highest producer of rice in Africa. This definitely did not happen overnight. Following the shortage of forex to import rice, and other farm produce, the CBN and the federal government flagged off the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) to make finance available for smallholder farmers, especially rice farmers.





The poster boys for that policy are the Kebbi rice farmer, who have gone a long way in delivering on LAKE Rice, Olams, and many other rice brands popular in Nigeria today. The CBN says it has disbursed at least N120 billion for these farmers, who make a large chunk of the number of people Buhari flaunts as employed by his government.





Many ministers, including the minister of agriculture and the minister of power, works and housing have claimed that Buhari has employed millions of farmers through the ABP. Emefiele would be smiling.





Politics of Everything: Emefiele, while speaking at the annual bankers dinner of 2018, said he is not a politician and would not be light on those who play politics with CBN policies.





I am not a politician, but people should be very mindful when they open their mouths to say what is untrue because we would come out as central bank to attack it particularly if you use data incorrectly, Emefiele had said.





Fortunately for him, one of Buharis opponents was one of those who spoke ill about CBN policies  and Emefiele did not spare Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president.





In an interview with Bloomberg, Atiku had said Emefiele has not pursued the right policies as CBN governor, stating that he would change the governor  if he is elected president.





Emefiele was quick to desecrate Atikus economic plan, describing it as a road to perdition.





It will certainly lead to capital flight, lead to massive depreciation or devaluation of the currency and ultimately to currency crisis in Nigeria and I think we should all know that it is a road to perdition to ever go in that direction, he had said.





In government, politics trumps everything, and in this regard, Emefiele seems to have done just fine, in fighting Buharis enemy. After all, the enemy of my boss is my enemy.







culled: TheCable



culled: TheCable




Aliyu Mohammed Sani, the man who swam and drank drainage water to celebrate President Muhammadu Buharis victory has dismissed rumour of...

Aliyu Mohammed Sani, the man who swam and drank drainage water to celebrate President Muhammadu Buharis victory has dismissed rumour of his death.





Report went viral on Tuesday that Sani died after swimming in and drinking water from a drainage (gutter) to mark Buharis victory over Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.





Sani, a painter, also waved aside claims that he was taken to hospital over any form of complication.





Sani had vowed to jump into a gutter and drink the drainage water if President Buhari wins re-election.

He told Daily Trust on Wednesday that report about his death was a fabrication and fake news relayed on the social media. told Daily Trust on Wednesday that report about his death was a fabrication and fake news relayed on the social media.





Sani kept his promise after INEC announced that President has won the election.





The picture of Sani who did the 4+4 sign after emerging from the gutter went viral.





However, on Tuesday, March 5, he was said to have died after battling with gastrointestinal bleeding in the hospital for days after his public stunt.





He said, As I am talking to you now, I am on my way back to Bauchi after we finished a painting work somewhere outside Bauchi.




The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, has said they have uncovered plots by some politicians seeking to di...





The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, has said they have uncovered plots by some politicians seeking to disrupt the March 9 elections with violence, including bombing some areas.





Buratai made the revelation on Wednesday, during a meeting with Principal Staff Officers (PSOs), General Officers Commanding (GOC), Operational Commanders and Directors of the military at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.





Recent security threat assessment and analysis of the coming elections showed that politicians have made plans to use all means available to truncate the peaceful conduct of the elections.





There are indications of their intent to take advantage of and to use the farmers/herders crisis, armed political thugs and ethnic militias to perpetrate acts of violence, including bombings.

Some of them also intend to infiltrate domestic staff of political opponents, employ mercenaries to carry out acts of assassinations, use the social media for smear campaigns, hate speeches and spread fake news in a bid to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the elections, Buratai said.





He, however, noted that the army is well prepared and has set operations in place to ensure that the plans of the deviant politicians, will not come to fruition.





Below is Buratais full statement:





OPENING REMARKS BY THE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF LT GEN TY BURATAI NAM OMM (BR) GSS psc(+) ndc (BD) FCMH FNHAM BA (Hons) MA MPhil AT THE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF MEETING WITH PRINCIPAL STAFF OFFICERS GENERAL OFFICERS COMMANDING OPERATIONAL COMMANDERS AND DIRECTORS HELD AT ARMY HEADQUARTERS CONFERENCE ROOM ON 6 MAR 19





Once again let me welcome you all to another expanded weekly meeting as done 2 weeks ago. I want to use this opportunity to congratulate you all for the professional manner in which you executed my directives for Operation SAFE CONDUCT. The proactive intervention of NA in the recently concluded Presidential and National Assembly Elections contributed greatly to its successful conduct and credibility. I am glad to note that both international and local observers and indeed the Nigeria print and electronic media applauded the professional role played by the Nigerian Army in ensuring that a secure and conducive environment was created for eligible voters to exercise their civic rights. Unfortunately, some level of violence was still recorded leading to disruption of polls, burning of ballot boxes in some areas as well as loss of lives, including the death of an officer and 3 soldiers. The Nigerian Army to a larger extent ensured that the large scale electoral malpractices and acts of thuggery aimed at disenfranchising voters as witnessed in previous elections were curbed despite the campaign of calumny orchestrated by some politicians against us.





Overall, I am delighted to note that the first phase of Operation SAFE CONDUCT was a huge success. Despite the bomb explosion in some parts of Maiduguri and attack in Geidam, troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE were able to decisively defeat the attacks and secured the area for a successful conduct of elections. We must therefore consolidate on this success and prepare adequately for the second phase of the election by reviewing our plans with a view to correcting observed lapses a peaceful poll that will reflect the wishes of Nigerians that have the right to determine those that govern them.





Recent security threat assessment and analysis of the coming elections showed that politicians have made plans to use all means available to truncate the peaceful conduct of the elections. There are indications of their intent to take advantage of and to use the farmers/herders crisis, armed political thugs and ethnic militias to perpetrate acts of violence including bombings. Some of them also intend to infiltrate domestic staff of political opponents, employ mercenaries to carry out acts of assassinations, use the social media for smear campaigns, hate speeches and spread fake news in a bid to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the elections. We must not allow them succeed.





Let me reiterate that the NA will enforce all guidelines in support of the Nigeria Police Force to ensure the peaceful conduct of the elections in line with its constitutional roles. I therefore want to remind us all not to rest on our oars. We shall not allow those who are determined to undermine our electoral process to succeed. These forthcoming gubernatorial and state assembly elections are very crucial. This is an election that touches on the interest of the people at the grassroots and could likely be volatile in nature. It is important to reiterate that politicians will employ and deploy all means to outwit each other to gain control of power at this level. We may recall that in the recently concluded polls, some politicians in their quest for power, armed thugs and miscreants with automatic weapons; induced and coerced youth corpers and INEC ad-hoc staff to perpetrate acts of electoral malpractices. We must therefore continue to support the NPF and other security agencies to prevent these malpractices from occurring again. I therefore urge all commanders to work assiduously and closely with the civil authorities and all law abiding individuals as well as groups to ensure the success of the forthcoming elections.





During the course of the recently concluded elections, troops of the Nigerian Army were able to make arrests of persons who perpetrated acts of electoral offences. These suspects are to be immediately handover to the police for prosecution. I want to state and categorically warn that the Nigerian Army will not tolerate any acts that will undermine national security. This time around we shall be tough on those who plan to rig or disrupt the electoral process. I therefore want to appeal to Nigerian youths to shun any attempt by any politician to use them to perpetrate any form of violence. As we mourn the death of the young officer and soldiers killed on the course of their lawful duty during the recently held election, I want to assure their families that their death will not be in vain. In line with the tradition of the Nigerian Army they will be given heroic burial as they are indeed the heroes of our democracy. I have directed that their full entitlements be paid. Let no one be in doubt that those desperate politicians and criminals that attacked our troops in the course of carrying out their legitimate duties will be tracked down and brought to justice.





We have all seen the advantages of the NA Situation Room for Elections Security Monitoring. This laudable innovation to security monitoring has received accolades from different quarters and already promoting inter-agency cooperation. There is no doubt it assisted us in timely decision making and more timely response to situations. I want to urge all commanders to further key into the platform. As we take decisions and respond, we must have at the back of our mind that the army must remain professional and apolitical all through the electoral process.





There have been reports of alleged compromises by some personnel during the elections. We have received complaints from some stakeholders, major political parties, Governors of Bayelsa, Oyo and Ogun States of allegation of misconduct as well as unprofessional conduct by some of our personnel. Unfortunately some other states have gone to the press with unsubstantiated allegation without resort to the NA leadership. Nonetheless, all these complaints are noted and will be addressed appropriately. A high powered committee had been convened and instituted to investigate all cases of alleged misconduct by troops arising from the 2019 General Elections. This is aimed at ensuring that all cases are thoroughly looked into for the purpose of dispensation of justice and to uphold Nigerian Armys credibility, professionalism, and apolitical stand.





Once again let me reiterate my charge to you concerning this election:





Commanders must be vigilant to ensure that cases of infiltrations to scare off voters are not allowed.





Hobnobbing and fraternization with politicians during this election period is totally prohibited.





Commanders must ensure robust and extensive patrols are carried out to cover all flash points; enforce the no movement restrictions and carry out thorough searches of vehicles and persons.





Commanders must deal decisively with any electoral crime or action such as electoral thuggery, snatching of ballot boxes, illegal possession of electoral materials and firearms as well as other crimes that would mar the smooth conduct of the election.





There must be no military escort for any politician or retired military personnel until after the elections.





Commanders must ensure that no retired military officer is allowed to use Service weapons hitherto authorised for their personal safety during the period of the election.





Commanders must ensure that troops remain on the ground to counter and deal ruthlessly with any post-election violence.





Commanders must work in conjunction with the police and other security agencies to dominate the environment to forestall any form of violence.





Commanders must maintain force protect and respond decisively to prevent any surprise attack on troops of Operation SAFE CONDUCT and eligible voters by armed militia groups or political thugs.





Commanders must act according to the Rules of Engagement and within the code of conduct as well as have respect for fundamental human rights in the performance of their assigned roles.





Commanders must not take any unlawful orders from any politician no matter how highly placed that will jeopardize the apolitical stand of the Nigerian Army.





Commanders must ensure troops under their command remain apolitical, neutral and should deal ruthlessly with electoral lawbreakers as well as avoid compromise with any politician and political party.





Finally, I want to seize this opportunity to thank all well-meaning Nigerians for their support to the Nigerian Army. Our Situation Room and hotline contact numbers are open for timely passage of information. We urge them to take advantage of the facilities. I want to assure Nigerians that we are more than committed to ensuring the successful conduct of the election. In the words of Sun Tzu I quote The general is the safeguard of the state. If the safeguard is flawed, the State is surely weak. The Nigerian Army must, therefore, work to keep the promise to our nation and make it strong by ensuring that the election is free of all forms of violence. We must, therefore, strive to make a difference. On this note, I want to also most sincerely thank His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, for giving the Nigerian Army the opportunity to exercise its constitutional role without any bias or interference. We must, therefore, remain totally committed to the defence of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I wish you all a successful conduct of Operation SAFE CONDUCT and a violence-free election.




The Senate of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has elected Prof. Justus Sokefun as the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Admini...

The Senate of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has elected Prof. Justus Sokefun as the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), a statement from the university said on Thursday in Abuja.









The statement signed by Mr Ibrahim Sheme, NOUNs Director, Media and Publicity, said that Sokefun polled 48 votes to defeat Prof. Gbenga Ojo, who got 18 votes in the election for the office during a Senate meeting in Lagos.









Reviewing Sokefuns CV, Sheme disclosed that the new DVC was the Director, Lagos Study Centre of the university.









The statement revealed that the new DVC studied Law at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), and obtained a Bachelor degree in Law in 1984.









It indicated that he started his career as a Graduate Assistant at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he taught between 1985-1986.









According to the statement, Sokefun served as Special Assistant to the Minister for Justice and Attorney General of the Federation between 1993-1994, and later became the Sub-Dean, Faculty of Law, Ogun State University, Ago-Iwoye, from 1994 to 1997.









Sokefun became Dean, Faculty of Law, at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, between 2001 and 2007, joined NOUN as a Professor in 2007, and was appointed as Dean, Faculty of Law.












China encouraged India and Pakistan on Wednesday to continue talks and meet each other halfway, urging the two sides to resolve conflicts through dialogue.

Pakistan's foreign ministry on Tuesday announced it would send back an envoy to India and a reciprocal Indian visit would be made soon.

China noticed the Pakistani foreign ministry's announcement and believed this progress is conducive to easing the situation and further improving bilateral ties, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang at a routine press briefing.

Lu reiterated as Pakistan and India are neighbors,the two sides' friendship will not only serve the interest of both countries but also would lead to regional peace and stability.

He added China will continue to play a constructive role in this regard.

The spokesman also confirmed Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou is currently visiting Pakistan at the invitation of the Pakistani government to facilitate communication with Pakistan on the current situation between India and Pakistan.

The latest tension between New Delhi and Islamabad escalated after India carried out an air strike inside Pakistan, triggering a retaliation.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) still owes Nigerians explanation on how it expend...





President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) still owes Nigerians explanation on how it expended the humongous resources that accrued to the country from oil sales between 1999 and 2014.





He made the remark while receiving the leadership of organized labour which came to felicitate with him on his electoral victory at State House, Abuja.





The President recounted how the current administration met a country with dilapidated infrastructure all round in 2015, and called to serious question what the party that was in power for 16 years did with the countrys earnings from oil, which reached a peak during the period.





In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said PDP has not successfully explained to the country what they did with the money.





There were no roads, no rail, no power. They said they spent $16 billion on power, but where is the power?





The irresponsible expenditure of that period has not been explained, and Nigerians deserve an answer on that terrible mismanagement of the country. he said





He thanked organized labour for the support and patriotism you have shown during the presidential election, especially after the unexpected postponement.





You and your members stepped in to support willing Nigerians to exercise their civic and patriotic rights to vote. You intervened as patriots, and not for political, religious or tribal purposes. You simply did the right thing during a difficult period for many of us. You and your members stepped in to support willing Nigerians to exercise their civic and patriotic rights to vote. You intervened as patriots, and not for political, religious or tribal purposes. You simply did the right thing during a difficult period for many of us.





On what Nigerians can look forward to in the next lap of the journey, President Buhari said he would continue pushing the Change Agenda, and remain focused on our core pillars of security, economy, and fight against corruption.





He urged organized labour to partner with the government to make the country peaceful, prosperous, and corruption free.





In his remarks, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, lauded the President for being worker-friendly, as exemplified in the granting of bailout funds to state governments to pay backlog of salaries and pensions.





He said We all remember the special bailout and budget support you introduced to support state governments during the recession. Your directive during this intervention was that state governments must offset accumulated arrears of salaries and pension liabilities.





I remember you publicly asked state governors, how do you manage to sleep at night when the salaries of workers in your state are not paid?





For us, that was one of the finest moments we have had with any President in this countryI can stand here today and say your intervention was the difference between life and death for many workers, he added.





The labour leader appealed to the National Assembly to earnestly pass the National Minimum Wage Act, while also asking the President to thereafter sign it into law within the shortest possible time.




Usman Ibrahim-Alhaji, presidential candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), has approached a court seeking the disqualificatio...





Usman Ibrahim-Alhaji, presidential candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), has approached a court seeking the disqualification of President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).





Ibrahim-Alhaji accused Buhari and Atiku of excess spending on campaigns during the presidential election.





The plaintiff also wants the court to invoke section 91(2) of the Electoral Act, 2010 to nullify the participation of the duo in the February 23 election for allegedly violating the Electoral Act 2010.





Speaking through Ezekiel Ofou, his counsel, Ibrahim-Alhaji is demanding the court to set aside the participation of Buhari and Atiku on the grounds that they spent over N1 billion each om campaign expenses.





During court session on Tuesday, Ofou lamented before Ahmed Mohammed, trial judge, that he found it extremely difficult to serve the court papers on Buhari and Atiku, who were the main defendants in the suit because of the retinue of security around them.





He then moved an ex parte motion in which he prayed the court for an order of substituted service on the two major defendants.





He based the ex parte motion on Order 6 Rule 5 of the federal high court Practice Direction for permission to allow him serve Buhari and Atiku through the legal departments of their respective parties and the trial judge granted the application for substituted service.





Buhari and Atiku are to be served through the legal departments of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the PDP respectively.





Also mentioned as defendants in the suit are the APC, PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).




Paul Ogwuma, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and his wife have acquired property worth 33 million (N15.6 billion...





Paul Ogwuma, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and his wife have acquired property worth 33 million (N15.6 billion), a UK investigative journalism magazine has revealed.





According to the magazine, Private Eye, Ogwuma, who served as CBN governor for six years has amassed a 33m British property empire.





In its report titled Abuja on Thames the paper said it has identified a network of 15 British companies owned or controlled by Anna Ogwuma, wife of the governor, adding that her husband looted his country under 1990s military dictatorship.





Paul Ogwuma, 86, was governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria during the brutal and kleptocratic rule of General Sani Abacha, when the bank was the latters personal piggy-bank. Some estimates suggest looting under Abacha ran to billions of dollars, the report read.





Under his successor for one year, retired general Abdulsalami Abubakar, Ogwuma oversaw a depletion in Nigerias foreign currency reserves of around $3bn, or 40%.





Between 2002 and 2017, her companies were used for 20 separate property purchases. They ranged from commercial sites in the north of England to luxury apartments in west London.





Among them are townhouses in Kensington and Paddington, a couple of apartments in Mayfair, and premises in Bishops Stortford town centre that currently house a branch of Greggs.





The report added that although the Abacha era and its excesses are receding into history, banks that were often complicit at the time might be expected to know some of this history.





Yet Mrs Ogwumas most valuable properties were either bought or remortgaged with loans from Barclays Bank (which handled $170m of Abachas ill-gotten wealth) and Lloyds Bank in the years after 2015.





While times have moved on, so has the law on money laundering, and Mrs Ogwumas lavish property buying should have prompted questions about the origin of her money. The looting of Africa has a long legacy on the streets of Britain.





Ogwuma served as the managing director/CEO of Union Bank of Nigeria prior to his appointment as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria in September, 1993.




ABC/Randy HolmesMetallica will bring their WorldWired tour Down Under this fall, kicking off a tour of Australia and New Zealand October 17 in Perth.

"It's been over six years since we last visited Australia and nine years since we were lucky enough to set foot in New Zealand," the metal legends say in a statement. "We're long overdue!"

The trek will mark the first time Metallica has headlined stadiums in Australia and New Zealand.

As with Metallica's North American dates, attendees of the Australia and New Zealand tour will have the opportunity to buy the Wherever I May Roam Black Ticket, which gets you one floor ticket to any and all of the shows on the run. That'll cost you $598 Australian dollars, which is just over $420 in the States.

If you attend the Australia and New Zealand tour, you'll also get to see Slipknot, who'll be the special guest for the shows. The masked metallers are releasing their new album August 9.

Members of Metallica's Fifth Member fan club will have access to pre-sale tickets starting Tuesday, March 12 at 1 p.m. local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Monday, March 18 at 2 p.m. local time. Visit Metallica.com for more info.

Metallica's current North American tour continues Saturday, March 9 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.


A U.S. Army Terminal High Altitude Aerial Defense (THAAD) weapon system is seen on Andersen Air Force Base, in Guam, on Oct. 26, 2017. (Reuters File photo)

JERUSALEM, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military announced on Monday that it had begun a "rare" military exercise with U.S. forces focusing on air defense.

As part of the exercise, the U.S. military deployed its Terminal High Altitude Aerial Defense (THAAD), an anti-ballistic missile defense system, in Israel.

This is the first time the THAAD system has been stationed in Israel.

According to Jonathan Conricus, head of the International Media Branch at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson Unit, the U.S. system will be deployed in southern Israel.

"The purpose is to enhance our cooperation with the United States and to strengthen the ability to defend Israeli airspace," Conricus told reporters during a briefing.

According to Conricus, 200 U.S. troops have been deployed in Israel as part of the exercise. They belong to the U.S. European Command.

"The exercise is not related to any specific event," he added.

Israel relies mostly on its own systems to intercept missiles.


Teodoro Locsin Jr. Photo: Yu Jincui/GT

Editor's Note:

The Philippines and China have embraced a strong rapprochement since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office and re-engaged in dialogue over the South China Sea issue. But with the US as its military ally and China as its biggest trading partner, how the Philippines balances ties with the two major powers has been closely watched by international relations observers. Will the momentum in bilateral relations last? How does the Philippines define its relations with China and the US? A delegation of Global Times (GT) reporters recently talked to Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. (Locsin) on these issues.

GT: Since President Duterte assumed office, China-Philippine relations have been developing on a sound track. However, some Filipinos accuse Duterte of being too soft on China, saying he should take a tougher stand. Will those comments affect the president?

Locsin: Some Filipinos are genuinely angry about some of China's actions in the South China Sea, others just wish to weaken the president. The president must not be misunderstood. He is a very strong president of the Philippines.

As far as the reefs are concerned, that's a problem we will face. We will try to see what we can do. Definitely, we do not recognize any claims within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. It's simply ours by law. However, when State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi asked whether there will be a problem moving forward with the Belt and Road Initiative and whether there will be a problem with mutual exploration of oil and gas reserves because we have this disagreement over the reefs, I said no.

The reefs problem may stay. It may never be resolved or become the source of conflicts, but in the meantime, we will find a way to go around the reefs issue and cooperate for our mutual benefit.

GT: Seeing China as a strategic rival, the US tries to mobilize more countries in the South China Sea region to create problems for China. Can the Philippines develop its relations with China without being affected by the US?

Locsin: The US is the only military ally of the Philippines. That will never change. It makes sense because a country's military ally must be a country that is powerful, able to project its power instantly across long distances and yet it is far enough so it cannot interfere with us. That's the US.

Disagreements between China and the US will be avoided if the US makes known its interests in the South China Sea. They have legitimate interests in the South China Sea like freedom of navigation, but at the time when China was making its moves in the South China Sea, the US didn't say anything, so China thought it was alright. Later, the US changed its policy. If they had moved earlier, it would have been less of an issue.

I believe China is a rising economy and China is the best trading partner for the US. Historically, the US has more affection for China than it ever has for any other country in the world. Families of many American politicians, diplomats - the elitist society - had been missionaries to China. There is some misunderstanding now, but in the end, China and the US will get together on trade because it is in their mutual interest.

In light of that, we, insisting on our rights in the South China Sea, which we will never give up, must nonetheless cooperate more closely with China in areas where we can mutually benefit, such as joining the Belt and Road Initiative that will connect our economy to the rest of the world.

GT: With the US as its military ally and China as its biggest trading partner, how will the Philippines balance its relations with the two big powers? Now China and the US are in a strategic competition, is it becoming more difficult for Manila to strike a balance between Beijing and Washington?

Locsin: When it comes to our national defense, defense of our sovereignty and sovereign rights, we will depend on American military support. But when it comes to trade, nothing gets in the way of trade with China. The two are separate - sovereign rights and our economic mutual benefit. There is no conflict of interest.

China has built a reputation of helping all Southeast Asian countries.

The road forward for China and the Philippines, and all of Southeast Asia, is wide. The only thing that makes us stumble is little rocks in the middle of the road.

I will go to China soon. When I go, the only thing I will have in mind is that the China I saw since I was young struggling to become a great country and all its efforts to lift most of its people out of poverty, that's the China I will establish very good relations with. I sincerely hope the reefs issue can be resolved in a manner consistent with the honor of my country, and the honor of China as well, because there's so much ahead of us.

GT: How do you see the Philippines' relations with the US? Will the two come closer in future?

Loscin: Philippines' military relations with the US can never change. It is our natural military ally. For example, in the old days, Russia could never be a good ally of China because it was too close to China. The natural ally of China in fact was the US, which sent technical assistance to China to strengthen it against the Soviet Union. It's the same with us. You never have a nearby neighbor as a military ally, it must be someone far enough not to interfere with you and that has enough power to protect you. It's better to keep your best friend a little away, but meanwhile we can work with China.

GT: If the US wants the Philippines to take side between it and China, what will Manila do?

Loscin: Our real worry is that China and the US will get together. They are natural partners. If they want to get together, they will, but what happens to us? There must be a place for small countries like us, between China and the US.

GT: Which one are you more concerned about, China and the US getting together or clashes between the two powers?

Loscin: Absolutely the former.

GT: China wants to develop good relations with the Philippines, prioritizing bilateral cooperation while putting territorial disputes second. The Philippine government now shares the same goals, but can this continue in future?

Loscin: The reefs question may be resolved or not, there is no reason why we cannot go around the issue and cooperate for mutual benefit. Can we get together? I am sure there is something bigger for China and the Philippines.

When we were discussing global warming and rising oceans at the United Nations, everyone said it's a tragedy.

I was the only one who said the rising ocean is what I look forward to. I look forward to it swallowing the reefs that stand between us.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured the Philippines on Friday that Washington would protect Manila if its forces are attacked in the South China Sea. But according to the Philippine Star, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte queried Pompeo's assurance.

To invoke the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty requires the approval of the US Congress. However, US President Donald Trump is facing a budget stalemate in a disagreement with lawmakers. "They still do not have a budget. I almost experienced that," Duterte said.

Duterte was questioning the US system and Manila doubted whether Washington would fulfill its hollow promise of protecting the Philippines. This shows that Manila is obviously losing trust in Washington. Such distrust has fundamentally shaken the US' Indo-Pacific strategy. In fact, the strategy is not in line with Asia-Pacific development at all. Aiming at re-dividing the whole region, the strategy reflects Washington's cold war mentality.

Apart from questioning the US system, the Philippines was also worried that the US would drag it into a war with China in the South China Sea. Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday that the Philippine government should review the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. "The Philippines is not in a conflict with anyone and will not be at war with anyone in the future," he said. Thus the situation seems to be awkward and ironic for the US: Its close ally does not seem to appreciate the so-called US protection at all.

This is not surprising. Just like other countries in the South China Sea, the Philippines also has territorial concerns and development needs. Although there are territorial disputes among countries in the region, the stability of the South China Sea can be guaranteed - as long as there is a reasonable and reciprocal settlement mechanism, such as negotiations over the South China Sea Code of Conduct.

China is working on maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, which will benefit all the countries in the region.

But the US is not. It has been muddying the waters. Instead of bringing peace and prosperity to the Philippines, Washington's promises only trigger Manila's worries.

The US is even losing its ability to muddy the waters as the Philippines is questioning the so-called US protection and has lost faith in the US system. This only proves that Washington's Indo-Pacific strategy is doomed to failure.

Starting a war with China does not tally with the Philippines' strategic vision. Duterte cares about the budget and his target of governance, which is developing the Philippines economy.

What the country needs is peaceful negotiations and steady development. The country doesn't need anything that, as Lorenzana said when referring to the Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty, "will cause confusion and chaos during a crisis." The US should stay out of China-Philippine relations instead of being a geopolitical troublemaker or else it will eventually lose the trust of all its allies.
A total of 16 bipartisan US senators sent a letter to US President Donald Trump, asking him to send a cabinet-level official to Taiwan to attend an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act. The letter was initiated by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez.

Certain senators in Washington are attempting to use the Taiwan question to demonstrate their influence again. Aggressive clauses have not yet been applied by the Trump administration to enhance relations with Taiwan since the passage of the Taiwan Travel Act and Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018. It seems that the group of senators is seeking a breakthrough with this chance.

The American Institute in Taiwan launched its new office in June. High-ranking US officials were expected to commemorate its opening. Nonetheless, the North Korea-US summit in Singapore captured overwhelming attention and this event was set aside with little media coverage or high-level official presence. Washington is developing its ties with the island overtly and covertly. With Congress taking the lead in passing bills, the US government is pressuring China with these acts as bargaining chips.

A US cabinet-level official, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy visited Taipei to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act in 2014. Fortunately, with eased cross-Straits relations, McCarthy's trip did not result in a crisis. Mutual visits between US and Taiwan officials may touch the bottom line of the mainland, when the officials are at the cabinet level or US diplomatic and defense officials visit Taiwan or invite Taiwan "diplomatic" and "defense" officials to visit the US. These are prohibited by the principles agreed upon by China and the US when they established diplomatic ties.

The Taiwan Travel Act is in open provocation with these principles. If the Trump administration implements this, Washington knows full well that it will deal a heavy blow to China-US relations. In February, a group of US senators called on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to invite Tsai Ing-wen to address a joint meeting of Congress. The aggressive call, however, was largely considered flawed and did not catch attention.

The US seems to be more willing to play the Taiwan card in a rather radical way. But such action is risky and will meet with retaliation from Beijing if it goes too far, which will in turn harm US interests. Such awareness has been playing a role in the US elite and policymaking circles.

In 1995, the Senate voted 97 to 1 and the House 396 to 0 to urge then US president Bill Clinton to allow Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui to visit the US. But today the scale of those stirring up trouble around the Taiwan question in the Congress is not comparable to that of the past.

It is the US political system that created decentralized power. If China concerns itself with every voice in the US, it will tire itself out by too much running around. Our resources should be focused on addressing Washington if it crosses the red line.

The island is so close to the mainland that we can easily take punitive actions against collusion with the US. The Chinese mainland has struck out at Taiwan independence arrogance by sending People's Liberation Army Air Force's fighter jets to patrol around the island and implementing 31 preferential policies for Taiwan in 2018.

The Democratic Progressive Party is still trying to boost its own influence by utilizing its relations with foreign forces. But relying on the US to confront the Chinese mainland will eventually not work as an election strategy. Eventually, the Taiwan question, once a major challenge to China's rise, will become history.
According to news reports, China will lower its defense budget growth rate to 7.5 percent in 2019, from last years' 8.1 percent. This is the fourth consecutive year that Chinas defense budget has fallen below double digits. The total budget of China's defense this year is 1.19 trillion yuan, or about $177.61 billion.

China still has a long way to go to improve its actual combat ability. In terms of maritime strength, there is a huge gap between China and the U.S. The U.S. has 11 large aircraft carrier battle groups. Even if the U.S. Navy does not develop from now on, it still takes China a few decades to catch up with it.

In terms of nuclear power, the current size of the U.S. and Russias nuclear arsenal is also impossible for China to catch up with. It is generally believed that the possession of Chinese nuclear warheads has been lower than that of the UK and France.

In this way, this generation of Chinese is unlikely to establish a military force equivalent to that of the U.S. as their goal. The U.S. military not only has the power, but also defines itself as an army that performs its mission globally and its global system of alliances also supports this position. China does not want to go that far because of its military strength, its goals and supporting capability of its overseas bases.

Chinas increase in military spending is intended to meet real-world defense needs. On the one hand, Chinas national defense strategy is defensive in nature, and on the other hand, Chinas security threats and challenges are increasing.

The U.S. has declared China a major strategic competitor and various pressures on China have been increasing, which has also seriously increased Chinas security risks. In the long run, China must constantly increase the cost of U.S. military provocation against China, making it an unbearable burden for Washington in order to further strengthen Chinas national security.

In addition, some trends are worthy of attention.

First, Chinas military spending has a strong capability to continue to increase, and Chinas total military spending will be further expanded. But with no ambition for world hegemony, China will not seek to maintain the size of a global military in the future.

Second, globalization has determined that it is impossible for China and the U.S. to conduct arms race and military competition for a comprehensive military showdown. That will be too crazy, and the times is very different compared with the situation during the Cold War. The security issue between China and the U.S. may end up being controlled in ways that are still unpredictable today.

Third, China and the U.S. have different basic security thinking and strategic ideas. The two countries are unlikely to launch an arms race in the traditional sense. China will build a national security barrier with its own ideas while the U.S. will continue to follow its hegemonic approach for a while.

However, Washingtons insatiable pursuit of absolute military superiority may not last long. There is a high probability that such pursuit will prove to be poorly targeted and wasteful.

Disclaimer: The article is extracted from an article on mil.huanqiu.com and translated from Chinese into English by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Chinamil.com.cn does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
By Li Zhiqiang



On February 25, Chinese peacekeeping engineers inspect the disposed ammunitions. (Photo by Li Zhiqiang)

CONGO, March 7 (ChinaMil) -- On February 26, local time, the 22nd Chinese peacekeeping engineer detachment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) successfully completed its mission of ammunition disposal.

After receiving the task, An Xiaoping, deputy commander of the detachment, led his team toward a village in the DRCs district 130 kilometers away from the Chinese Barracks located in a small peninsula of the DRC, to conduct ammunition disposal for the Pakistan Quick-Reaction Battalion.

According to An Xiaoping who was in charge of this mission, the focus of the task was to dispose the expired white phosphorus incendiary bombs for mortars and anti-tank rockets. That has been the largest and hardest task for the Chinese detachment, ever since their deployment to the DRC mission area from 16 years ago.

It is understood that the white phosphorus has been used as an incendiary agent for the munitions igniter. Once it is exposed to oxygen, it ignites spontaneously and burns fiercely, with the combustion temperature reaching over 1000, being able to destroy all organisms within the effective range. Furthermore, it is difficult to be removed from skin. Once in contact, it can burn up a persons soft tissue right down to the bone. Meanwhile, inhalation of white phosphorus smoke will result in irritation to the eyes and noses.

In order to carry out the intended mission, seven soldiers and officers from the 22nd Chinese peacekeeping engineer detachment to DRC had to overcome the high temperature and great security risks in riot areas where anti-government armed forces gathered. They wore explosion-proof suits and body armors at the high temperature of 40, worked continuously for two days, and finally accomplished the task with high standards.

At the completion of the mission, an official from the ammunition department of the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO, raised his thumb to praise: The Chinese engineers are superb! He highly affirmed the disposal task and greatly admired the exquisite skills of the Chinese engineers.

During this mission, the engineer detachment destroyed 134 white phosphorus incendiary bombs for mortars, 2 anti-tank rockets, 89 mortar projectiles and waste ammunitions of various kinds in two days, consuming 80 kilograms of plastic explosives.

Zeng Siyuan, commander of Chinas 22nd peacekeeping engineer detachment to DRC, said: We are here to protect peace. We are always in pursuit of high standards and high quality in accomplishing any tasks. We will better accomplish the tasks including ammunition disposal, engineering construction and humanitarian assistance, in order to make greater contribution to maintaining peace in mission areas.


DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (Land U.S. President Donald Trump sit for a dinner at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi on February 27, 2019./VCG Photo

"The Korean Peninsula issue cannot be solved in one day. The crux is for both sides to address each others reasonable concerns, accumulate mutual trust and achievements, and pave the way for solving the problem." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a regular press conference on Thursday.

China always believes that political dialogue and negotiations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the U.S. are essential in solving the Korean Peninsula issue.

"We all noticed that leaders from both sides had expressed the willingness to maintain dialogue," Lu added. "We hope the two countries can put the will into practice."

Lu said, "China proposed a step-by-step suggestion," and called on Pyongyang and Washington to seriously consider it.

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said late Tuesday that the United States would step up sanctions against the DPRK if Pyongyang was unwilling to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

On the same day, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan, Choson Sinbo, said the U.S. president should take the first step to build trust between the two countries. "Unless Trump wants to lose a chance for denuclearization for long, he should speed up implementing measures to establish trust with the DPRK," it said.
A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft approaching the Russian airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The Russian fighter jet approached the target at a safe distance and identified it as an RC-135 reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force, according to the statement.

"The Russian fighter jet returned safely to its home base after the foreign aircraft flew away from the Russian border," the ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said the Russian special services had ended the work of hundreds of spies and informers in the country last year.

In a speech to the officers of the FSB security service, which he led before becoming president, Putin said foreign intelligence agencies were stepping up activity in Russia.

"Thanks to successfully executed special operations, the activity of 129 spies and 465 informers was stopped" in 2018, he said.

At the beginning of this year, the Russian military said that a Russian Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to identify and intercept Swedish spy plane near the border.

Back to November 5, 2018, the Russian ministry said that a Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepted a U.S. Navy EP-3E Aries plane over the Black Sea near Russian airspace and escorted it away in a safe manner.
The Venezuelan government has ordered the expulsion of Germany's ambassador, citing his alleged support of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is engaged in a political battle with President Nicolas Maduro.

The government said in a statement that Ambassador Daniel Kriener had 48 hours to leave for what it said was Kriener's meddling in Venezuela's internal affairs. The order came after Kriener met with Guaido at Caracas airport Monday upon Guaido's return to the country.

Guaido, recognized by the U.S. and about 50 other nations as Venezuela's interim leader, returned home on a commercial flight following a tour of Latin American countries in defiance of a court-imposed travel ban.

Guaido called for Maduro's ouster at a rally shortly after his return. Guaido supporters contend that last year's re-election of Maduro, who is supported by Russia, was invalid.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the expulsion order "is an incomprehensible decision, which escalates the situation instead of easing tensions." Maas said German and European allied support of Guaido is "unwavering."
Speaking at the energy conference in the Belgian capital, Nicole Gibson, deputy director of the U.S. State Department's office for Europe, warned that if European companies resume laying pipe later this year they "risk significant sanctions."

They object to Nord Stream 2 -- which will run 1,200 km from Vyborg, Russia, to Lubmin, Germany, and snake under the Baltic Sea -- not only because they'll lose lucrative transit fees from the older pipeline, but because they fear the Kremlin wants to develop NS2 largely for political reasons, not commercial ones.

Nord Stream 2 (NS2) will largely replace an older pipeline running through Ukraine and Poland that has the backing of the German government. But it is prompting the alarm of Central European governments, increasingly infuriated with Berlin's dismissal of their concerns.

U.S. officials have warned at an energy conference in Brussels that the Trump administration will take punitive action against European companies that are building the Kremlin-favored Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which will deliver energy from Russia to Germany while bypassing Ukraine.

Declining to go into any details about the threatened sanctions, Gibson said Washington doesn't accept that Nord Stream 2 is a done deal. "Some people say it is a fait accompli that Nord Stream 2 will be done. We don't see it that way. We call on European leaders to make sure Nord Stream 2 is not implemented," she said.

Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko has warned that NS2 would allow the Kremlin to switch off gas to Ukraine and central Europe when it wants to blackmail its nearer neighbors without disrupting supplies to western Europe, lessening likely push back from the more powerful European countries while it toys with weaker ones.

Her high-profile warning, upping the political stakes, comes two months after Richard Grenell, the U.S. envoy to Germany, sent letters to dozens of European construction and energy companies saying they face sanctions if they resume in the spring the laying of NS2's concrete-coated steel pipes. Construction work was suspended in December because of winter weather.

Washington's opposition to Nord Stream 2 has been consistent -- the Obama administration also was critical. U.S. President Donald Trump's opposition has a harder edge, however, with officials seeing a dark political menace behind the new pipeline. They argue NS2 will undermine European security, deepen western Europe's dependence on Russian energy and give the Kremlin a greater opportunity to use natural-gas supplies to exert political influence and blackmail western European governments.

Nord Stream 2, which will be owned by the Kremlin-directed energy giant Gazprom, would double the capacity of Russian gas delivered to Germany, the European Union's most powerful economy. NS2 will cost billions of dollars to build. Russia currently supplies more than one-third of the natural gas Europe uses, though with demand increasing, that could reach closer to 50 percent next decade, forecast energy industry experts.

Last July, during his visit to the annual summit of NATO allies in Brussels, President Trump expressed his frustration with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the Russia-to-Germany undersea pipeline, saying, "We're supposed to protect you from Russia, but Germany is making pipeline deals with Russia. You tell me if that's appropriate. Explain that."

But Merkel has dug in amid pressure from Germany businesses, which say NS2 will slash their energy costs. The German Chancellor also appears to be distancing herself from a promise she made last year to central European leaders when she acknowledged for the first time allies' geopolitical concerns, saying NS2 could proceed only if Ukraine's role as a transit country for Russian gas also was protected.

Germany, along with NS2 transit countries Finland, Sweden and Denmark, counter-argue the pipeline will increase Europe's energy security by avoiding potential cutoffs from the more politically volatile Ukrainian route. Washington believes the pipeline also is a Russian bid to hurt Ukraine economically by stripping it of gas transit fees.

Ukrainian officials estimate their losses from Nord Stream 2 will be high, running at about $2.5 billion a year. "When Nord Stream 2 is finished this year, there will be no need to use the Ukrainian gas transit system," Yuriy Vitrenko, managing director of Ukraine's Naftogaz, a state-owned oil and gas company, told the Brussels conference. "Ukraine will lose approximately 4 percent of GDP," he added.

Kremlin officials say Washington wants to stop NS2 because U.S. energy giants are hoping to export surplus shale gas to Europe as liquified natural gas (LNG). U.S. officials have made no secret of their hopes that American energy firms will be able to profit from a halt to NS2, but say that isn't the major reason for their objections to the pipeline.

U.S. officials' alarm about NS2 is echoed by European security officials. NATO's former head, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has described Nord Stream 2 as a "geopolitical mistake" for the EU, saying it would make a mockery of EU sanctions on Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea.
ABC NewsWarning: the following article contains graphic material.



(WAUPUN, Wis.) -- The Colorado man convicted of killing his pregnant wife and two young daughters confessed chilling new details to investigators about how he carried about the crimes, according to a report released by authorities Thursday.



The alleged details surfaced when investigators met with convicted killer Chris Watts on Feb. 18 at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin.



Watts, who started having an affair with another woman the summer of the killings, told investigators the crimes began when his wife, Shanann Watts, said she knew he had someone else. Watts told his wife he didn't love her, and according to Watts, Shanann threatened to keep their daughters from him.



"Youre never gonna see the kids again," she told him, according to the report.



Watts told investigators he then put both of his hands around Shanann Watts' neck and strangled her at their home in August, according to the report.



"Every time I think about it, Im just like, did I know I was going to do that before I got on top of her? he told investigators, according to the report. "It just felt like there was already something in my mind that was implanted that I was gonna do it and when I woke up that morning it was gonna happen and I had no control over it.



He said his wife never fought back or screamed, according to the report.



Watts told investigators his 4-year-old daughter, Bella, walked into his bedroom holding her blanket and asked what was wrong with her mom; he told her that Shanann didn't feel well, the report said.



Watts wrapped his wife face-down in a bed sheet and tried to carry her downstairs, but lost his grip and ended up pulling her down the stairs, the report said.



Bella watched her father drag her mother down the stairs and began to cry, and asked, Whats wrong with mommy? Watts told investigators.



Watts then backed his truck into the driveway and put his wife's body into the backseat on the floorboard, and when he came back inside, his 3-year-old daughter, Celeste, was awake, he told investigators.



Watts told investigators he put both daughters in the back of his truck on the bench seat, and he said Bella asked, Is mommy okay?



Bella and Celeste each had a blanket with them and Celeste had a stuffed animal, Watts told police, the report said.



Watts then started to drive to the oil site where he had worked, and during the ride, his daughters dozed off and on and laid in each others laps, he told investigators.



At the oil site, Watts told police he took Shanann Watts' body out of the truck and laid her on the ground near where he ultimately buried her, the report said.



Bella and Celeste, who were in the truck, asked him, What are you doing to mommy? the report said. But he doesnt remember what he told them, according to the report.



Watts told police he put Celeste's blue Yankees blanket over her head and strangled her in the backseat, the report said.



Bella was sitting next to Celeste at the time but Bella did not say anything, Watts told police, according to the report.



Watts told police he took the 3-year-old's body to the oil tank and dropped her inside.



When Watts returned to the truck, Bella asked him in her soft voice, Is the same thing gonna happen to me as Cece?" he told police.



Watts told investigators he then strangled the 4-year-old with the same blanket, the report said. Bella fought back the best she could, according to investigators.



Bella's last words were Daddy, no! Watts told police, according to the report. Watts told investigators he hears those two words every time he closes his eyes.



Watts told police he dropped Bella's body into a separate oil tank before burying his wife's body, the report said.



Watts told investigators he took off Shananns wedding ring and left it on the counter, so it would look like she didnt want to fix their marriage and wanted a divorce, the report said.



In August, right after Shanann Watts and the children went missing, Chris Watts lied to reporters, saying his family disappeared.



"When I came home and then walked in the house, nothing. Vanished. Nothing was here," he told ABC Denver affiliate KMGH-TV. "My kids are my life."



Within days, Chris Watts was arrested and the bodies of his wife and children were found.



When Watts was interrogated, he said he couldnt admit to himself what he had done, so he couldnt admit it to the police, the report said.



Watts said he didn't think about telling police the lie that Shanann killed the children -- until it was mentioned to him during his interrogation, the report said. After that became a part of the conversation, he said he "just went with it" and expanded on the lie, the report said.



Chris Watts pleaded guilty to all charges against him, and in exchange, prosecutors did not pursue the death penalty. Chris Watts was sentenced in November to life without parole for the three murders.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Korea will have its first military satellite in November as part of a deal involving the KF-X next-generation fighter project, a government official here said on Wednesday. The military has so far shared the use of a civilian satellite.

Lockheed Martin promised to provide a military satellite as well when signing the contract to supply F-35A stealth fighter jets worth W7.4 trillion in 2014 (US$1=W1,129). It will be launched from an air base in Florida.

"A state-of-the-art security system for military communications will be installed on the satellite, but the U.S. military is refusing to divulge specific features for security reasons," a military spokesman here said.

The military currently communicates using the Mugunghwa-5 satellite, which was launched in 2007, but badly needs its own satellite because it was not made for military purposes and is already superannuated.

Originally, Lockheed Martin promised to send the military satellite into orbit by early 2018, but the project dragged on for internal reasons, sparking fears that it might be ditched altogether.

"The military has had great difficulties transmitting data and maintaining video communications because it doesn't have its own satellite," said Shin Jong-woo of the Korea Defense and Security Forum. "This will solve the problem."


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.
Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - The European Union has extended until the end of 2020 the BEKOU Fund, a trust fund set up by the EU to support peace and democracy in Central African Republic, it was officially announced on Thursday
Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - Former Congolese minister Andre Okombi Salissa was on Wednesday jailed for 20 years in hard labour after being found guilty by the Criminal Court in Brazzaville for violating internal security and illegal possession of weapons
In a rare admission of hardship, state media said huge numbers of soldiers who have been mobilized for the projects are suffering in freezing weather.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is driving development of the region, where Mt. Baekdu stands, as a tourist attraction but international sanctions have resulted in a severe shortage of equipment, materials and fuel.

North Korean workers are building roads and other facilities with their bare hands in Samjiyon, Ryanggang Province where massive projects are underway.

"Soldiers who have been mobilized for the Samjiyon construction project are digging through the frozen earth using hammers and picks and transporting soil by hand inside sacks," the official Rodong Sinmun daily said Tuesday. "Their clothes are stiff as armor and they are having a hard time controlling their frozen hands and feet after working in bone-chilling water, but they overcame [these difficulties] through their [ideological] convictions."

One source in Ryanggang Province said, "Construction workers are forced to live in freezing shacks and go hungry because of the poor quality of the food."

The North even promised prized membership in the Workers Party to people who volunteer to take part, but there have been no takers, so instead they are being press-ganged.

"Kim Jong-un is pushing ahead simultaneously with the construction of tourism zones in Samjiyon and Wonsan-Kalma coastal area, resulting in shortages of workers, money and materials," another source said.

Meanwhile, the Rodong Sinmun devoted four of its six pages to Kim's return from Vietnam in an effort to make his failed summit with U.S. President Donald Trump look like a success.
When Ariana Grande first hinted that she was partnering with Starbucks to create her own exclusive drink, I wanted to be angry. I think we all did. Unfortunately, even though hating capitalism is trendy right now, loving Ariana Grande is trendier  so it was hard to stay mad for long. Grande is a tiny, talented angel, and essentially beyond reproach. Is there a jury in the country who would dare indict her? There is not.

Yesterday, Starbucks and Grande officially launched the Cloud Macchiato with a series of candid-seeming photos: Grande wearing a Starbucks apron, Grande sipping from an eco-friendly green metal straw, Grande pausing to smooch a passing dog while holding the drink in her free hand. She looked great.

Today, I obtained my very own Grande-endorsed drink (iced, cinnamon flavor, grande size, strawless option). Before you rush out to purchase one for yourself (NOTE! They are NOT available from Starbucks express locations, as PAPER found out the hard way), here's what to expect.

First Impressions I like how the Cloud Macchiato looks  its aesthetic layers of coffee and foam and cinnamon are indulgent and ridiculous, a throwback to the Starbucks frappuccino heyday, that reckless era before we all switched to cold brew. Given Ariana Grande was involved, it must have been tempting to go down the unicorn latte route and add, like, rose gold sprinkles or something. Instead they stuck to a more restrained and traditional color palette, which was smart.

Although you can technically be a psychopath and order it hot, the Cloud Macchiato is definitely a warm weather beverage that should be served over ice cubes that clack together pleasingly as you sip.

The price is completely unreasonable, however mine was expensed.

What Is Cloud? Glad you asked! The "cloud" aspect of the Cloud Macchiato refers to Ariana Grande's favorite emoji, and also a new technique where baristas create a thick foam topping using egg whites and milk. Starbucks did not invent this, obviously  as a press release admits, the "cloud" draws inspiration from Spanish dessert staple leche merengada, or "meringue milk." You may also be familiar with the concept from cocktails, but unfortunately the Cloud Macchiato is non-alcoholic.

I enjoyed the cloud consistency, but will say that it comes at the expense of actual drinkable liquid. If you slurp too fast, all that's left in the cup is ice and foam, AKA egg-flavored air. Also the lingering sense that you should have ordered a drink designed for adults, not 13-year-olds hanging at the mall.

Related | Ariana Grande and Troye Sivan In Conversation

The Palate There are actually two Cloud Macchiato flavorways: caramel and cinnamon. I went with cinnamon, because Internet research confirmed that the caramel version is pretttty much the same as a normal Starbucks caramel macchiato, just with the extra fluffy foam on top. To me the cinnamon-flavored drink tasted more like horchata than coffee, but it also tasted more like sugar than horchata. Guess they added some SWEETENER? Ha, ha.

But also, for what it's worth, the sugary taste wasn't as overwhelming as expected  especially once the ice had melted a little. (Ongoing office heating issues here at PAPER convincingly simulate a steamy New York City summer, so I was testing the drink under ideal conditions).

What My Co-Workers Eliza and Justin Said "It was kind of embarrassing to order? Is that worth noting?"

"I felt bad for the man making it because he had to blend something and it disrupted his flow."

"I did like it! In the end, it was a delicious drink. A bit sweet? Yes, as many Starbucks drinks are. But I don't think Ari is to blame for that."

"A fluffy egg white cloud in your morning coffee? Imagine a world like that."

Conclusions I can't blame Grande for capitalizing on the fact her name literally corresponds to a Starbucks cup size. I really can't. Having studied many of her paparazzi photos over the years, I'm certain she generally avoids milk-based Starbucks drinks anyway (she's a cold brew gal), which makes this whole collaboration even more of a chilling and cynical charade. One has to respect it!

Ultimately I thought that the Cloud Macchiato tasted like any other novelty Starbucks drink: overpriced, sickly sweet, and inherently basic  but was perversely enjoyable for those same reasons.

I also think it would be funny for Peet's to do a Pete Davidson collaboration as a viral stunt, but would like a cut of the profits if they steal this idea.
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
Iranian Belgian Academic Arrested in Iran on Unspecified "Security Charges"

03/07/19

Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran

A dual national academic who has taught at the University of Tehran and the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium was arrested on "security charges," a senior Iranian official revealed on March 4, 2019. In speaking about the case, Deputy Science Minister Salar Amoli omitted details about the detainees' identity, including his name and date of arrest.

"The University of Tehran has submitted a request to colleagues at the judiciary who are looking into whether he deserves to be given a break to avoid harming scientific ties between the University of Tehran and that university [in Belgium]," he told the state-funded Mehr News Agency.

"This is not a very worrying issue," he added.

However, that day Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, the chancellor of the University of Tehran, said that the Catholic University of Leuven had broken ties with the University of Tehran.

"Unfortunately, political issues have always had an impact on scientific collaborations," Ahmadabadi told the state-funded Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

"In his recent trip to Europe, the Minister of Science [Mansour Gholami] had meetings with Belgian academic officials to follow up on this matter and the [Iranian] embassy and the Foreign Ministry are doing the same," he added.

Continued Ahmadabadi: "During the trip, the universities in that country protested about the detained individual who taught at the university in Leuven. This matter is very important for their academic community."

According to research by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), at least 11 dual and foreign nationalswere known to be imprisoned in the Islamic Republic as of January 2019, including two academics held under trumped-up national security charges.

Iranian Canadian sociologist Kavous Seyed-Emami died in Tehran's Evin Prison under suspicious circumstances in February 2018 two weeks after being detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC's) Intelligence Organization.

Iranian Swedish scientist Ahmedreza Djalali has been imprisoned since April 2016 and is awaiting a review of his death sentence. In February 2018, the UN repeated its urgent call to Iran to annul the death sentence.

American scholar Xiyue Wang has been imprisoned since August 2016 under a 10-year prison sentence. In October 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found "no legal basis" for Wang's detention and called for his immediate release.
In 2018, an amount of US$3.8 billion, translating into GH27 billion, was sent home by Ghanaians living abroad to their relatives. Out of the figure, $1,02,000,000 billion, representing 29% was sent by Ghanaian women living abroad. This is a 9% increase over a four-year period, which is between 2014 and 2018.



In recent data released by WorldRemit, a leading online money transfer service, the proportion of females sending digital money transfers to Ghana via WorldRemit has risen by nine percentage points within the last five years.



It indicted that despite the global gender gap, Ghanaian women send home an average of 6% more per transactions than their male compatriots, and 29% of WorldRemit customers sending to Ghana are female, compared to 20% in 2014.



Mobile-to-mobile remittances (transfers sent to mobile accounts via web or app) account for almost 70% of remittances sent by the women. WorldRemit disclosed this in a release to mark International Womens Day on March 8, and to celebrate the contribution Ghanaian women living and working abroad make to their home country.



The release issued by WorldRemit Public Relations Officer Akinyi Ochieng, said: The new data reveals that the gender gap for sending digital remittances to Ghana is rapidly closing, driven by an increase in international mobile money transfers.



Pardon Mujakachi, Country Manager for Ghana at WorldRemit, says: Ensuring digital inclusion for financial services for women on both the send and receive side is critically important, as we know that when women thrive, families, businesses and local economies thrive too.



Our data shows that women play an increasingly vital role in Ghanas development by sending money home to support education, cover healthcare costs, make investments, and more. At WorldRemit, were committed to simplifying that process, and making it faster, cheaper and easier to send and receive remittances.



WorldRemit customers complete over 1.3 million transfers every month from over 50 countries to over 145 destinations.



The UN estimates that over 47% of Ghanaian migrants are female, with the majority living in countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, and Germany. Money sent from mothers, sisters and aunts living abroad helps millions of families in Ghana pay for essential needs such as healthcare and education.



Globally, women represent approximately half of all remittance senders, and tend to send a higher proportion of their incomes, despite earning less than men. Evidence suggests that although female migrants tend to earn less than their male counterparts, they send a higher proportion of their incomes home more frequently.



Digital money transfer companies are improving womens access to remittances and helping their money go further. WorldRemit enables the Ghanaian diaspora to send money home in a few taps from their phones without having to travel to an agent, lowering costs and increasing speed and convenience.

Source: The Chronicle









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A SELF-STYLED staff of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, identified as Simon Yaw Dabankah, is in deep waters.



He posed as a BNI staff ostensibly to dent the image of New Mission Academy, a reputable private school in Kumasi, but he was eventually exposed.



Earlier, he had posed also as a staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES), saying that he had been assigned to investigate a case at the New Mission Academy.



He said he had wanted to establish if New Mission Academy was clandestinely working against the progress of Nagies Educational Centre and Lutheran School, which are private schools in Kumasi.



Yaw Dabankah lied that Dr. Tandoh, the Coordinator of free Senior High School (SHS) in Accra, had tasked him to do the job.



He was to find out if New Mission Academy had paid the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to mark down the examination papers of Nagies Educational Complex and Lutheran School in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), which affected the two schools in the 2017 and 2018 results, respectively.



Yaw Dabankah even provided Dr Tandohs phone number, and when a call was placed on it, the receiver indeed admitted being Dr. Tandoh.



The accused person, as part of his investigations, succeeded in taking the Master Copy of New Mission Academys school result and an amount of GH 1,200.



Later on, Macos Oduro Sarpong, the complainant in the case, who was sensing something fishy, realised that Yaw Dabankah was an imposter.



He therefore alerted the police who apprehended him for interrogation in Kumasi.



The accused told the police that he is a staff of the BNI and he intentionally posed as GES staff to enable him carry out his investigations at the New Missions Academy.



Yaw Dabankah aka Richmond was put before Circuit Court Three in Kumasi on Tuesday, March 5, 2019.



He was charged with defrauding by false pretenses by means of impersonation. His plea was not taken. Only the facts were read in court.



The court has granted him bail in the sum of GH 20,000 with three sureties  two to be justified. He will be back in court on March 20.

Source: Daily Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A billionaire diamond trader has died during penis enlargement surgery at a clinic on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.



Wealthy Ehud Arye Laniado was 65 when he died during the operation at a posh Parisian clinic. According to Le Soir, complications during surgery proved fatal for the Belgian-Israeli dual national and he suffered a heart attack when a substance was injected into his penis.



Laniado's company Omega Diamonds, which is based in the Belgian city of Antwerp, confirmed he had passed away.



A statement read: "Farewell to a visionary businessman. It is with great sadness that we confirm that our founder Ehud Arye Laniado has passed away."



An old friend of Laniado, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The Argentinian, that is what we used to call him at Omega Diamonds because he looked like a tango dancer."



The old friend said that Laniado, who was short in stature, was "always focused on his appearance and how others perceived him".



According to Laniado's friends, the only time he forgot about his short height was when he asked his accountant to read out his bank statement, something which he did multiple times a day.



Laniado reportedly owned the most expensive penthouse in Monaco worth over 30 million, as well as a house in the plush LA suburb of Bel Air where he loved to drink bottles of Chateau Margaux with models and celebrities.



According to local media, Laniado did not go to university and he started off his career as a masseuse at the Hilton hotel in Tel Aviv.



A friend said: "In Antwerp, it turned out that he did have some talents. Internationally, he was one of the biggest experts in valuing raw diamonds."



In 2015, Laniado sold the world's most expensive diamond called the Blue Moon of Josephine to Hong Kong businessman and convicted felon Joseph Lau Luen Hung for $48.4 million [36.8 million].



The Belgian-Israeli billionaire, whose exact fortune is not publicly known, got in trouble with the authorities in 2013.



According to local media, Laniado and his business partner Sylvain Goldberg prevented a tax evasion trial by agreeing to payout 137.7 million [160 million].



However, as the Belgian customs office suspected them of lying or giving incomplete information about some of the diamonds imported from Angola and Congo, they still claimed 4 billion [4.6 billion] in unpaid taxes as well as a 1.7 billion [2 billion] fine.



Even though two courts dismissed the Belgian customs office's claim, an appeals court ordered a new trial with Laniado due to appear in court on 14th March, although his seat in the dock will now be empty.

Source: mirror.co.uk









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress [NDC], Samuel Gyamfi has described President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos response to the NDC on disbanding of party militia in Ghanas politics as sad and unfortunate.



We have officially received the letter from the president and let me say here that, its very sad and unfortunate for the president to send us [NDC] such letter in responses to our earlier letter to him on the way forward to disband vigilante groups, he bemoaned.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo today, Tuesday, March 05, 2019 expressed dismay at the leadership of the main opposition National Democratic Congress [NDC] for suggesting that the National Peace Council and other relevant bodies should mediate talks between the NDC and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) on disbanding party militia in Ghanas politics.



The NDC, through its National Chairman, agreed to Nana Akufo-Addos call for the two parties to meet over how to disband party militia groups in the country, but outlined some conditions for their participation in the dialogue.



Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo addressed to the president said the call for disbandment should be extended to all political parties, civil society organisations, representatives of the media, representatives of the military, police and other security agencies as well as any other relevant stakeholders.



They also proposed that the National Peace Council and other relevant bodies such as the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Center, the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], the National Commission for Civic Education [NCCE], and Institute for Democratic Governance [IDEG] join the National Peace Council to facilitate the process.



But President Nana Addo in his response said I am not aware of any vigilante groups that are associated with any of these bodies as your letter suggests. Political party vigilante activity in the country has unfortunately been associated with the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party. I, thus, see little basis for your request.



Speaking on the issue on ASEMPA FMs Ekosii Sen political program, Tuesday, March 05, 2019, Sammy Gyamfi noted that the NDC is not happy with the presidents reply  hence, dialogue to disband the most talked about groups [Vigilante groups] in the country is likely to hit the rocks.



According to him, the NDC will still insist that all parties and other institutions including journalists must be involved in the dialogue process to break up vigilante groups.



We will continue to impress on the President so we all have the holistic approach in solving this situation. If we will go by what the president is proposing, then it will be a waste of time and a waste of resources, he said.

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
Three political parties and one independent presidential candidate have called on the government to cut down on resources spent to celebrate the countrys Independence Day and rather channel the money into addressing economic issues that affect the livelihood of the citizens.



The parties  the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and an Independent presidential candidate in the 2016 election, Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah  also stressed the need for the leadership of the country to use technology as the tool to reach the height of the developed nations.



In an interview with the Daily Graphic ahead of the countrys 62nd Independence Day celebration, the three political parties and the independent presidential candidate said although Ghana had come a long way since independence, little had been achieved in the area of economic gain.



Ghana will be 62 years today after the country gained independence from British colonial rule on March 6, 1957.



There will be a national ceremony in Tamale in the Northern Region to celebrate the day. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is expected to address the nation at the event ground.



PPP



Reacting on Ghanas achievements since independence, the National Secretary of the PPP, Mr Murtala Mohammed, said much had not been done, especially, in the area of the fight against corruption and education.



He said instead of the government channelling more resources into the celebration of the independence, it should rather commemorate the Independence Day and put those resources into addressing the development challenges derailing the countrys quest to attain its development goals.



The government should make sure that every child benefit from free education not only at the senior high school level but from the Kindergarten. This should be one of the major priorities as we commemorate our Independence Day, Mr Mohammed said.



GCPP



On the countrys economy, the Chairman and leader of GCPP, Dr Henry Herbert Lartey, stressed the need for the government to turn its attention to the economic issues affecting the livelihood of the citizens.



He mentioned unemployment and high importation of goods as major issues that ought to be dealt with immediately by the government since it continued to slow down Ghanas growth.



As country, our focus right now must be exporting more products to generate more revenue in addressing the pressure on our currency. That is why I am happy the government is taking the Planting for Food and Jobs more seriously, Dr Lartey said.



NDP



Touching on technology, the General Secretary of the NDP, Mr Mohammed Frimpong, said one of the reasons why the country was lagging behind had to do with the inability to use technology to address our development challenges.



He said although Ghana used to encounter the same development challenges, the Asian countries faced some years back, the country was not able to apply technology to climb the development ladder compared to their counterparts.



We need to learn from these countries and also find better ways of improving the countrys use of technology to enjoy the benefits most developed nations are currently enjoying, Mr Frimpong said.



JOY



Mr Osei Yeboah, said Ghana, after independence, had not yet experienced the liberty that civilised nations boast about, saying that the country had only gained its political independence but not economic independence.



He said Ghana needed more economic freedom to support the people since most of the challenges confronting the nation centered on growth and job creation.



Mr Yeboah said it was unfair that after all these years, the country continued to encounter simple economic issues that hampered growth and development, adding that Ghanas economic fundamentals must be strong to support businesses to expand.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Former National Security Advisor, Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah says hosting Ghanas 62nd Independence Day celebration in the Northern region is laudable  but, not really important.



He explained that funds used to move the celebration to the Northern part of the country could have been channeled into education and health sector.



"I dont hate the people in the north but I dont think this was necessary. How much did government spent on all dignitaries to Tamale? Most of them went by air and government will bear all these costs. We have so many things to do as a nation; we need money to develop this country, he said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie.



The Former Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier General Joseph [rtd] Nunoo-Mensah's comment comes after suggestion by some historians that the Independence Day celebration must be rotated each year in all 16 regions in the country.



But the former military capo said the idea will rather cost the nation than its benefit - This thing is not done anywhere in the world. We will spend millions of cedis just to celebrate independence. Lets use that money to develop the country.



The Northern Regional capital, Tamale, on 6th March 2019 hosted the countrys 62nd Independence Day anniversary parade.



It was the first time the event is being held outside the national capital, Accra.

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
President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday called for talks with China about emergency measures to reduce air pollution drifting over from the mainland.

The president's comments came as Korea was blanketed by the worst-ever levels of ultrafine dust for almost a week. But China again bristled and questioned whether Seoul has any proof that China is responsible for the toxic haze.

Opposition lawmakers here also made hay by criticizing Moon for being too blunt and souring ties with China.

Moon told officials that Korea's and China's environment ministers agreed only last week to share artificial rainmaking technology. "China is far ahead in terms of rainmaking technology and claims that dust from our country is flowing into the Shanghai region," he said. "If we create artificial rain on the West Sea, that would not only help Korea, but China as well."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, "I wonder if the South Korean side has any basis that its smog is from China" and added he was not aware if the issue is being discussed between the two sides, though cooperation would be good.

A Cheong Wa Dae official said, "We will make a formal proposal to the Chinese government and progress with negotiations."


Former National Security Advisor, Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah says the only way to disband party militia in Ghanas politics is for the President to stand on his authority to pass a law that will legally forbid the operations of the groups.



According to him, any other suggestions will be a waste of time  since vigilante groups have become part of Ghanas political system.



He accused both the ruling New Patriotic Party [NPP] and the opposition National Democratic Congress [NDC] of pampering vigilante groups since they are not ready to denounce them.



Speaking on NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie, the former military capo condemned President Akufo-Addos call for both NPP and NDC to dialogue in disbanding the party militia during his State of the Nation Address.



He was emphatic that, the move will be wasteful after urging the President to use his office to champion for a law that will totally break up the activities of vigilante groups.



Vigilantism in Ghana is not a man and a wife issue for them to dialogue. This is a serious security issues, we should not joke with this - and we are playing with fire. If this problem is not solved before 2020, then sorry to say we will be in trouble, he said.



Adding that, We all demand that the President should pass a law. He should give the law to parliament and pass it.









Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Ambrose_wash









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
Member of Parliament for Bantama constituency, Daniel Okyem Aboagye has commended President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for holding the 62nd Independence Day of Ghana at Tamale in the Northern Region.



Ghana was 62 years on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 after attaining independence in 1957.



As part of measures to foster unity among the people in Northern Region following the installment of a new Overlord for them, the country's Independence celebrations were held in Tamale.



This is the first time the nation has held its Independence Day in another Region aside the capital city, Accra.



Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', Hon. Okyem Aboagye told Kwami Sefa Kayi that the move by the President should be an opportunity for the nation leaders to focus on nation building and therefore address the plight of Ghanaians.



According to him, the 62nd Independence of Ghana shouldn't be seen as just a celebration of the country's freedom but rather ensure that the "toil and blood of our forefathers" don't go in vain.



We have a lot of challenges as a nation . . . Lets remember that we have obligation and a duty to make sure that the progress of Ghana wont happen to us by chance. We have to be very intentional about where we want to go and how to reach there. But if we leave it to chance, it will happen to us by chance . . . Going forward, we have to be very [very] intentional and very responsible in moving this country forward because we shouldnt let the toil and blood of our forefathers be in vain, he said.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Talented actress Nana Ama Mcbrown and her husband, Maxwell Mensah have welcomed their first child in far away Canada.



In a brief exclusively chat with Peacefminline.com, the beautiful screen goddess who is over excited and full of praise to almighty God, revealed that she gave birth to bouncy baby girl in the early hours of Thursday March 7, 2019.



Nana Ama has assured her friends, family and her fans that both her and the baby are in good health Glory be to God, it is a baby girl and we are both strong and happy. We thank God. He makes things beautiful in his own time, McBrown stated.



The Madam mock actress gave birth today in a plush hospital in Canada where she has been living for some months now in preparation for the coming of the baby. Her husband Maxwell Mensah who was in Ghana, flew out of Ghana to Canada on Sunday March 3, 2018 and he was right beside his wife when their cute baby girl arrived.



Nana shared the good news with her followers on social media this morning by sharing a beautiful picture of her baby bump with these emotional words:



Ive had many tears and sorrows

Ive had questions for tomorrow

Thereve been times I felt so all alone

But in my lonely hours

Yes, those precious lonely hours

God let me know that I was His own

I thank God for the Mountains, the Storms, the Valleys, the Ridicules, through it all I learned to trust in Him and God has given me Blessed Consolation. This is what faith In God could do. Believe In HIM For Your TESTIMONY #MYTESTIMONY IS HERE

#ThankYouGod

#InHisTime

#InHisTime

#InHisTime

#InHisHands

#MrsMensah

#ThursdayBornRock



See more photos:

Source: Eugene Osafo-Nkansah/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
What kind of innovations should Uganda adopt to empower women in order to achieve inclusiveness and sustainable development? In your view, what is the most significant achievement of the women empowerment initiatives and gender equality campaigns?

Daisy Owomugasho  Executive Director The Hunger project Uganda

As a country, we must adopt a rights-based approach to development and economic transformation that places people and more especially women at the center. We must narrow the divide between men and women if we are to achieve the World we want by 2030. We must invest in protecting our children, especially our girls and all societies must respect women and their ability to contribute to the well-being of families, communities and the country at large.

In my view the biggest achievement has been the clear demonstration by women that we can actually be great leaders, we can become successful entrepreneurs and we can ably contribute to national development just like our male counterparts

Nataliey Bitature  Chief of Staff, Simba Group

From a policy standpoint I think companies should have the mandate to hire more women in managerial and executive positions; like we have Women MPs to encourage more women to run for political office. We need women in formalised entrepreneurship and working in the private sector. Big barrier women face is an opportunity. By simply having to interview more women companies will hire more women.

I think it is impressive how many women training programmes are being executed across the country. Women, especially in rural areas need focused skills training

Susan Opok Tumusiime  Executive Director FAWEU

With regard to the innovations, I think the initiation of policies that relay to gender equality and womens empowerment are good starting points for society to include and support women. This in itself is however inadequate and requires implementation in order for activities and opportunities available to be undertaken. There should be deliberate effort to garner support for negative norms and practices that harm women, support the different efforts to prevent abuse and violence and give the women rights as individuals and as humans.

Women should not only be counted as numbers, rather, they need support to be part of gainful processes, their voices being heard. Women should also challenge themselves to support each other in the spirit of sisterhood. They should know why they are and what they stand for and support the cause for which they stand.

The saying, together we stand, divided we fall should be a catchphrase for us as women!!

The greatest achievement for us as women is the opening up of space and this is literal. Many women, girls voices can be identified due to affirmative action, however, despite the voices, the impact and presence of women still leaves a lot to be desired. This implies that numbers on their own cannot fully empower women. We need them to be able to act, own property, stand and sustain themselve

Hon Pamela  UWOPA Chairperson

Women need to access finances. My experience across the rural Budaka is that women have been excluded from financial resources, one of the empowerment tools for women empowerment is to access finance.

We can train women, we can sensitise the community about women empowerment but both men and women need resources.

Evidence from rural areas, for example, suggests that women SACCOS are playing a big job in women financial inclusion and not only helps women but empowering women thru financial inclusion and again you realise that this financial inclusion not only helps women but empowering women through financial resources has a big multiplier effect in the entire family.

In my view, UWEP funds and the recent Presidential initiative of Skilling the Youth have contributed a lot to women empowerment. Many families have improved because of the income they realise on getting these loans and the skills acquired during the training improve their livelihoods and their saving culture.

Dr. Betty Nnanyonga  Senior Lecturer, Dept of Mathematics, Makerere University

In order to achieve inclusiveness and sustainable development, women should be linked to the development agenda. Efforts to advance women and initiatives to promote sustainable economic growth should be mutually reinforced. Women should be the primary contributors to the countrys economic growth. Feminisation of poverty should be reversed and strategies to improve womens education, health and empowerment embarked on. Overall, collective efforts should be aimed to both protect the rights of, and promote opportunities for, women throughout the economic and social development process. Women should be encouraged to take on leadership roles, as evidence suggests that a more gender-inclusive system may lead to better policies for women and girls. This also enforces the crucial role of women in development and highlights the need for their participation in decision-making processes to ensure sustainable development. Gender equity is not only a fundamental human right, but a pre-condition for sustainable development. Women and girls should be provided with quality education, health care, decent work, access and ownership rights over property and technology, and equal participation in political and economic decision-making processes. This will lead to social, economic and environmental sustainability across the country.

The most significant achievement of women empowerment initiatives and gender equality campaigns has led to the advancement of international cooperation, and more women have shown interest to participate in both the public and the private sector. Although more women have been educated, the overall education rates are no longer the source of the concern, but specific concentrations in crucial careers and workforce are still the problem. Increasing womens participation in research will have significant positive effects. It is not just research and innovation by women, but for women, that is lacking.

Prof Grace Kibanja

As a country, we must adopt a rights-based approach to development and economic transformation that places people and more especially women at the centre. We must narrow the divide between men and women if we are to achieve the world we want by 2030. We must invest in protecting our children, especially our girls and all societies must respect women and their ability to contribute to the well-being of families, communities and the country at large.

In my view the biggest achievement has been the clear demonstration by women that we can actually be great leaders, we can become successful entrepreneurs and we can ably contribute to national development just like our male counterparts.

Rev Canon Diana Mirembe Nkesiga  St. Francis Chapel, Makerere University

Ugandan society must simply stop inhibiting women reaching their God-given potential by removing the roadblocks that hinder women from making a progressive contribution at all levels. Cultural stereotypes that demean the womans place and contribution like the culture of non-inheritance for women and wife inheritance. We need to care-front these issues like the five daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 26 & 27 who confronted Moses and Eleazar and the policy of non-inheritance was changed to include daughters.

A culture that makes the female economically reliant on the mercy of the males is disempowering and creates poverty, oppression and denies the nation progress, creativity and development.

Women need equal access to education and to financial resources but also equal rights to respect, dignity and value in the field of leadership.

For me change of mindset is key. The government cannot simply lay down policy and a quarter system they need to invest in the training for wealth creation and should partner with all religious institutions to address the present day gender theology that continues to displace women in Gods plan using the cultural context of the day in preference to Gods restorative plan.

The introduction of gender studies has transformed the mindsets of both men and women but if this is done in isolation of our faith it will continue to be rejected and labelled liberal and feminist which are negative words to many faith institutions.

Provia Nangobi: Senior Public Relations Officer at Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB)

Women are already empowered given the opportunities that present themselves to females. We have had women appointed at the highest level of leadership, Winnie Byanyima, Betty Bigombe, Victoria Ssekitoleko, Allen Kagina, Jennifer Musisi, Obitre Gama of NIRA, Doris Akol etc women excelling in the private sector and sports. The most important thing is finding your niche and doing something you are passionate about. For women, the sky is the destination and they can excel in all spheres of life from ICT, Banking, Transport and Industry, Manufacturing, Education etc

Women empowerment and gender equality initiatives gave women a platform to believe in themselves and enter markets that were initially male dominant.

Agwang T. Aidah  Communications professional.

On a national level Government should create more opportunities for women to head ministries and not just as Ministers of state but as full ministers of key Ministries. Government has come a long way in trying to bridge the gender divide and should be commended for this. However, more needs to be done. At the organizational level, women should be mentored to not only head national, regional and international organizations but to also sit on the boards of these organizations. The time has come for Ugandan women to show up, sit at the table and represent. If this representation means bringing the feminine style of doing things i.e influencing, so be it. The time is now. Early in my career, I was lucky enough to be mentored by the CEO of an organization and some of the things she taught me have paved the way for so many of the opportunities I have seized and as a result contributed tremendously to both my professional and personal growth. We are now playing on a level field and it is time Ugandan women leveraged their skills, talent and expertise to seize opportunities on a global level. otherwise, run the risk of being left behind. Mentoring programs by fellow women at all career levels I strongly believe will make the much-needed difference. On a personal level Ugandan woman should deliberately and continuously pursue professional development in this dynamic era and focus on upgrading themselves. In this internet era where there are numerous opportunities online, we have no excuse. Over the years I have learned to seize these opportunities to study online which has advanced my career and most of these opportunities have been free. With the rapid advancements in technology, the world bank predicts that in 5 years time some jobs will be non-existent thanks to technological advancements, jobs mostly done by women. Think on that.

An emerging group of empowered women who are leading organizations, causes and pushing for real change in different areas and sectors. A new breed of women and role models for the younger generations to look up to. Women like Doris Akol-URA, Allen Kagina, Jennifer Musisi who successfully moved on to bigger things. They are great role models to the young Ugandan women. They change the narrative from slay queens to real high value, high achieving women.

Related
AFRICA  The month of February was dominated by election news from Nigeria and Senegal, where the incumbent presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Macky Sall respectively, won second terms with comfortable first-round victories.

Elections in Africas most populous country and the continents most stable democracy were however nor the only news that made the biggest headlines.

In this article, we recap the stories and people that drove the news agenda on the continent last month.

Egypts Sisi takes over from Rwandas Kagame

The 32nd ordinary summit of the African Union (AU), held at the beginning of February saw Egypts president Abdel Fatah el-Sisi take over the chairmanship of the organisation from Rwandas Paul Kagame.

Egypt presented itself as a model for hosting refugees, in line with the AUs focus on combating illegal immigration this year.

Sisis one year reign at the helm of the continental body is likely to focus on security and financial reform, even though it might not push for a stronger AU Commission that Mr. Kagame sought during his reign.

Tracking Tshisekedis first month as DRC president

Mr. Felix Tshisekedi, the new president of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sought to consolidate support from key allies of the Great Lakes nation, visiting Kenya, Angola, Republic of Congo and Namibia in February.

Mr. Tshisekedi, who replaced Joseph Kabila in the DRCs first peaceful transition of power since independence, also met with representatives of the European Union, United Nations, and the African Union.

Mr. Kabila proved that he still has political moves to play, meeting Tshisekedi to discuss the formation of a coalition government and having members of his FCC colation swear allegiance to him.

Algerians resist Bouteflikas 5th term bid

News of a fifth term bid by Algerias president Abdelaziz Bouteflika was swiftly welcomed by protests that have persisted into March, despite concessions by the ailing leader who has reigned over the North African country since 1999.

The presidency announced in January that elections would be held on April 18, kicking off the customary 45 days for aspirants to express interest.

82-year old Bouteflika then confirmed his candidacy on Sunday 10 February, seeking another mandate despite the fact that he had not physically addressed the nation since 2013 when he suffered a near-fatal stroke.

Protests against Bouteflikas candidacy have since rocked Algeria, forcing the ailing leader to offer that step down after a year if re-elected.

Nigerias tense election

Election No Be War was a rallying cry throughout Nigerias national elections as tensions threatened between supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) threatened to spill over into deadly violence.

When the presidential election was postponed from 16 February to 23 February, an already tense election became even more likely to become bloody;

President Buhari ordered the army to shoot-to-kill any ballot snatchers

PDP accused Mr. Buhari and the electoral body of trying to rig the vote

Fears of low voter turnout inspired incentives like fuel cuts across the election weekend

Mr. Buhari was announced the winner of the election having secured 15,191,847 votes against PDPs Atiku Abubakars 11,262,978 votes.

Mr. Atiku has since rejected the results, and announced plans to legally challenge the electoral outcome. He argues that there were several premeditated malpractices in many states which negate the results announced.

The voter turnout was a paltry 35% of the over 84 million registered voters.

Senegals boring election

Billed as Africas most stable democracy, Senegals 11th straight presidential elections since it gained independence in 1960, delivered as advertised.

Provisional results from the National Vote Counting Commission indicated that president Macky Sall had garnered 58% of the votes cast against opposition candidates Mr. Idrissa Seck (21%) and Mr. Ousmane Sonko (16%).

While the two leading candidates, who had formed a loose coalition after the voting, jointly rejected the results, they also said they would not be contesting the electoral outcome at the Constitutional Council.

More than 66 percent of 6.7 million registered voters took part in the election.

Uganda-Rwanda row

Rwanda on 28 February directed all heavy trucks carrying goods from Uganda into Rwanda to use the Kagitumba/Mirama Hills border posts rather than the main Gatuna Border Post, triggering a diplomatic conflict that brought to surface simmering issues of mutual mistrust.

Ugandas foreign ministry on Tuesday 5 March issued the first statement about the countrys relations with Rwanda, since the ongoing standoff that escalated last week on Wednesday when the main Katuna (Gatuna) border was partially closed.

The statement released addressed three main themes, including Rwandas accusations that Uganda was harbouring dissidents against the Kigali regime, in addition to harassing its citizens.

It is false that Uganda hosts any elements fighting Rwanda. Uganda does not and cannot allow anyone to operate from its territory that threatens a neighbor as alleged.

It is not true that Uganda arrests, tortures and harasses Rwandans. Rwandans are welcome to visit Uganda. However, Uganda expects that all visitors to the country including Rwandans remain law-abiding because those who act contrary to the law, are dealt with in accordance with the law.

It is unfortunate that the movement of goods and people across our common border with Rwanda has been restricted. Uganda is committed to addressing any trade-related issues because we are convinced that doing so strengthens our regional integration.

Other top news headlines

A video of a pastor in South Africa resurrecting a man who had been dead for three days, quickly went viral on social media, giving rise to the #ResurrectionChallenge which mostly mocked the actions of the resurrected dead man. South Africa authorities are investigating the incident.

Anti-government protests continued against Sudans president Omar la-Bashir, who has since implemented several interventions to quell the demonstrations that have lasted over three months, including;

Declaring a state of emergency

Dissolving government

Replacing all state governors with military officers

Stepping aside as head of the ruling party

Implementing foreign currency reforms

Giving prosecutors powers to strip lawmakers and military officials of immunity.

Related
Home  Just In  Govt unveils new official map of federal Nepal

Kathmandu, March 7

The government on Thursday unveiled the new official map of Nepal, for the first time after the country turned federal.

Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Padma Kumari Aryal made the map public amidst a function in Kathmandu today.

The map mentions names of three provincesGandaki, Karnali and Sudurpashchim whereas other four provinces are numbered as 1, 2, 3 and 5.

Minister Aryal said the government could not name all the provinces as the concerned provincial assemblies did not finalise the names.

She informed that the Ministry would make new maps of individual provinces, districts and local units on the basis of the country map.

This is Nepals third officially launched administrative map. Before Nepal adopted federalism, the map launched in 1992/3 was in use as the official one.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Winona Bynum says policy is where longterm change happens.

Michigan now has about 25 food policy councils that influence change from hard policy to programming for farmers markets and food banks.

The Detroit Food Policy Council emerged as a grassroots effort in the mid-2000sled by the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network and other stakeholdersto address issues of food access in Detroit as well as equity in how the food economy benefited citizens.One of Michigans very first Food Policy Councils (FPCs), the Detroit-based organization has worked to improve every aspect from "farm to fork, according to Liz Gensler, academic specialist at Michigan State University's Department of Community Sustainability.The lessons that Detroit learned rippled out into other communities and helped similar groups and food-concerned individuals understand how to advance equitable access by engaging with their communities around food laws or working with cities on issues regarding land use and urban agriculture. In this way, FPCs straddle the ground between influencing policy and supporting individuals in their respective communities to create food security for those who need it most.In many ways, Detroits FPC has helped stakeholders form a more holistic view of the local food economy. Many times when people think about food, says Winona Bynum, executive director of the Detroit council, they just think about access and not [about] participating in the economics of the food systemand being really rooted in sustainability and equity.By sharing insights through informal networks and the Michigan Local Food Policy Council Network , an organization created to foster these networks, FPCs have managed to build a framework for bodies that create civic action around food issues. For example, councils do outreach through new and existing networks, create rural and urban coalitions, and promote general literacy for policy among community stakeholders.Across the state, Michigan now has around 25 food policy councils or similar organizations that influence change in everything from hard policysuch as local, state and national legislation, and operating procedures for large institutionsto programming for farmers markets and food banks. Although these organizations often have different missions in response to their specific community needs, they also have found strength in learning from one another and unifying around certain priorities at the statewide level.We can band together and talk about whats good for communities across the board, Bynum says of the partnerships between different councils, and make sure those things are lifted up and show that we have a united front.She emphasizes that this work means really trying to connect with the community and keeping that community focusbecause administrations or different mayors can come and go. Their job is to make sure that community concerns dont get lost in the shuffle.It helps that members of these councils are usually volunteers who spend the rest of their time working on farms, at food banks, and for local governments. Theyre able to bring the concerns of their various constituencies to bear on the councils work.A lot of things have come from the synergy around the table, Bynum says.Although policy can be a dry subject, FPCs believe that the more people engage with food policy, the more likely they will be to see its importance in their lives. After all, food policies govern everything from federal, state, and municipal laws, to the food-based practices of hospitals and universities. Food policy engagement tends to help create more civic involvement in general.People are really inspired and motivated by food issues, says Markell Lewis Miller, chairperson of the Washtenaw County Food Policy Council and director of community food programs at Food Gatherers . From kind of a civic education perspective, its a great way to get people engaged and participating in big issues and policy.Several years ago, the Michigan Local Food Policy Council Network was created to help FPCs better share ideas and collaborate on issues. The councils themselves have been great about making themselves accessible to one another, says Gensler, who co-coordinates this body. But having a statewide organization with quarterly meetings and monthly calls has helped the volunteers just getting started with younger FPCs. Nationally, the Johns Hopkins Food Policy Networks project is another resource.One of the statewide issues FPCs have come together on is the Michigan Farm Bill . This is a classic coalition-building piece of legislation that covers a diverse set of programs from crop insurance to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known colloquially as food stamps. And yet, people in urban areas might not realize how much a bill with the word farm in the name affects them; roughly 80 percent of the money in it goes to nutrition programs.Because they recognized this issue as critically important to food access and security, the Detroit and Washtenaw councils recently co-hosted an event intended to raise awareness about the issues at stake.Top on the list of concerns listed in a recent Johns Hopkins report were food access and equitable development. Bynum echoes these sentiments in Detroit, asking questions about real estate development and land use including, who does this benefit and who pays and how can we make sure that people are not negatively impacted by what may possibly be perceived as progress?Often, the first job for FPCs is to make information more accessible to the people who need it most. Among other things, the Detroit Food Policy Council has worked with the Detroit Land Bank to try and make sure their policies were readily available and easy to understand so that community members  not just big businesses  are able to acquire land.The act of making food issues more legible is important across the state, but takes different forms, depending upon the needs of the community. While Detroit may be concerned with urban agriculture, Gensler says that rural councils are often engaged with issues of farmland preservation, which has an impact both on food access and on the local economy.When it comes to making FPCs work, Bynum and Miller emphasize a broad-base of support from different parts of the community food system and multiple people willing to carry the load. Bottom line, Gensler says, I think its about the people that show up and having a strong cadre of leaderswho are just willing to get in there and do the work.And although not all the food councils in Michigan are super comfortable working in the policy realm-preferring to do programming that falls outside of government channels--Bynum and Miller emphasize the importance of policy to create systemic change.Those changes take longer to implement, Miller says, but theyre more sustainable and scalable.By facilitating connections among legislators, administrators, and ordinary citizens, FPCs are able to make sure community concerns get heard, building community capacity in the process.Policy is where long-term change comes in Bynum says. Giving ordinary community members a chance to learn how to advocate on their own behalfand learn which policies are shaping what they see on the ground has been an important part of our work.Read more in this series
The recently introduced Daniel Defense Delta 5 bolt action rifle has been named the official rifle of Precision Rifle Series. The Delta 5 brings a level of modularity that is normally restricted to PRS Gas Gun shooters with a user interchangeable barrel and a user-configurable stock.

While the Delta 5 brings some interesting features to the table, the move to make it the official rifle of PRS is interesting since the MSRP is just a touch over the $2,000 price limit for the production class. All is not lost but you would have to shoot in either Tactical division in .308 Winchester or choose to brave in Open division with the 6.5 Creedmoor against custom built guns.

Daniel Defense incorporated several features that PRS shooters have been paying through the nose for like a 60-degree bolt throw thanks to a three lug bolt, easy caliber changes, a single stage Timney trigger, and the ability to run AICS mags with Daniel Defense's bottom metal.

The current MSRP for the Daniel Defense Delta 5 is $2,199 with caliber choices in 7mm-08 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor, and .308 Winchester. Learn more on the Daniel Defense website.

More from Daniel Defense:
California City, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/07/2019 --Recently, Wuhan TCM Clinic announces that they use more than 50 kinds of natural plants to make Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill (patent No. ZL200910189 4.4), it can successfully remove testicle pain, cure complications such as hemospermia (blood in semen) and restore male fertility. It is praised by the media as "Harmless At-Home Therapy".



Since the 21st century, the World Health Organization has identified "pain" as the "fifth vital sign" after blood pressure, respiration, pulse, and body temperature, and has paid more attention to the treatment of it. It should be emphasized that chronic pain, such as testicle pain, is a disease, and chronic pain stimulation can even aggravate the pathological remodeling of the central nervous system, making progression of pain disease out of control.



For patients, chronic testicle pain is not only a miserable sensory experience, but also can seriously affect physical and social function of men. This chronic suffering brings about many symptoms, as well as complications such as nephritis and other kidney diseases, necrospermia (dead sperm), azoospermia (Nil Sperm count) and other male infertility illness. The most common treatment of chronic epididymitis is the use of antibiotics, analgesics and surgical drainage. Antibiotics and analgesics can relieve pain temporarily, but the symptoms keep recurrent, and long-term use will lead to drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria, great side effects such as allergic renal interstitial damage, dehydration, insufficient blood volume, and sulfonamides may even cause acute renal failure.



In order to permanently cure epididymitis and other male reproductive and urinary tract diseases, after more than 30 years of research and clinical practice, Li Xiaoping, chief doctor of Wuhan Dr.Lee TCM Clinic, developed a patented natural herbal formula (patent No. ZL200910157894.4) - Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill. By oral intake with water, patients witness their epididymal inflammation is being cleared up and complications such as hemospermia cured along, normal shape and function of epididymis restored, and the physical status regulated comprehensively, with self-healing and immunity enhancement. It has passed the test by the CN Food and Drug Administration, was awarded a patent number, because it does not contain chemical composition, is natural and has no side effects. And it has won the "Outstanding TCM Award" authorized by the TCM Association for its increasing international reputation and acknowledgement by world communities.



Honeysuckle, forsythia suspensa, sophora flavescens, houttuynia cordata and other antipyretic and detoxicating herbs in the formula have antiviral effects. They can effectively kill viruses, pyogenic bacteria, gonorrhoea, mycoplasma, chlamydia, fungi, trichomonas, etc. The blood-activating and stasis-removing herbs such as peach kernel, safflower and wood incense can availably eliminate the swelling and pain as well as the endomembrane tissue, edema, hypertrophy, proliferation, mass, etc., meanwhile anti-fibrosis, anti-calcification, dredging glandular ducts, so that the epididymis and seminal vesicles retracted to normal size, and morphology of the epididymis and testis recovered. The prescription includes diuretics and diarrhea cure such as psyllium seed, dianthus superbus and herba polygoni avicularis. Symptomatic treatment eliminates urethral irritation caused by epididymitis, gets rid of symptoms such as frequent and urgent urination, allowing a smooth urination by clearing away damp heat of the lower energizer.



Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill has been known by increasing number of overseas patients (around 15,000 according to Dr.Lee TCM Clinic's statistics), and because of the remarkable therapeutic effect, it is highly recognized by healed patients in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia even some African countries such as Nigeria. Plenty of people expressed their gratitude and admiration for Dr.Lee's outstanding research and its results. (https://www.diureticspill.com/Testimonials/)



James from the United States developed urinary pain, testicle and abdominal discomfort, testicular hard lump of 0.6cm, scrotal swelling, ejaculation pain and hemospermia two years ago. He was diagnosed as epididymitis. Before the doctors had always advocated antibiotic treatment, but after a temporary relief, the symptoms recurred, making him gradually lose confidence in chemical tablets. Then one day he got to know Dr.Lee TCM Clinic and their natural therapy Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill from some friends. When he was sure that his symptoms could be healed with their remedy, he felt that his future began bright again.



After one course of treatment, he sent Dr. Lee a feedback that the pain was relieved, the lump became soft and smaller, and the blood volume was reduced. When the second course was running out, James ordered another course. After three courses of treatment, James happily sent a Thank-You Letter to Dr. Lee, saying that his symptoms had completely disappeared, the lump could not be felt by hand, ejaculation was painless, with semen of normal color. He then thanked Dr. Lee for saving his life.



Since the signing of the exclusive agreement between Natural Factors - North America's largest high-end brand of health products, and Tongrentang, China's natural drug supplier, the number of natural drug users has continued to grow. According to German official statistics, German herbal medicine accounts for about 70% of that of the European market. The application of natural medicines in Germany has a legal status, has been incorporated into the German medical insurance system, and a Academy of Chinese Traditional Medicine has established. In recent years, the American Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ATCMA) and the Chinese Alumni Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCMAAA) held four grand meetings in Tyson, Virginia, with participants of many world-class scholars, highlighting the professional achievements of high-quality herbs in the United States. (https://www.atcma-us.org/en/events/2018atcma)



As a simple and painless therapy, Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill is becoming a representative approcach to erase pain syndrome. It opens up a new era for the human pain cure in a harmless (zero side effects) and home-operated way.



For more information about Dr.Lee TCM Clinic and their natural therapy, please visit: https://www.drleetcmclinic.com https://www.drleetcmclinic.com



About Dr. Li Xiaoping

Dr. Li Xiaoping graduated from Hubei College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China. She qualified as a herbalist for 30 years ago and is a highly experienced medical professional. She specializes in the field of male and female reproductive and urinary system diseases. She has devoted 30 years to her clinic and worked on the formula of Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill for years. The medicine has proven to be effective and cured thousands of people in her country and many other countries.
Hong Kong, China -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/06/2019 --The flipping book publisher for Mac from PubHTML5 allows users to publish SEO optimized flipping books that are accessible on various platforms. Every enterprise wants to create SEO friendly flipping books in order to gain a more extensive outreach. Digital flipping books can enhance site visibility and direct more traffic to websites. It is essential that enterprises ensure their brands are well marketed to raise conversion rates. The flipping book publisher for Mac enables marketers to accomplish their marketing goals by designing flipping books that sell. The pre-made themes and templates help to produce interactive flipping books that offer comfortable reading experience to viewers.



"Our software offers users tools to produce their projects in multiple publishing formats including ZIP, HTML, EXE and more," said Anna Lee, Chief Designer of PubHTML5. "These formats will help them share their works with vast audiences online and offline. They can also opt to upload their finished projects online. Our flipping book publisher for Mac empowers users to design works that are shareable on many devices."



Users can create digital flipping books in WordPress using the flipping book publisher for Mac. WordPress helps to effectively display and market products online. It has plenty of innovative features that enable users to customize their sites according to their preferences. Through WordPress, publishers can select particular features such as themes without altering the site structure and the information content. The plugin architecture feature from WordPress will allows them to enrich their websites with many plugins such as widgets, SEO enhancers and more. This will promote the digital marketing of the flipping books embedded in WordPress.



"Our clients can customize the interface language of their flipping books using our technology," continued Anna Lee. "This helps to engage readers and prospects while giving them a comfortable experience reading the content. To win more customers, marketers need to speak to them in languages they understand. Creating digital content and navigational features in custom languages will allow customers to navigate through the digital flipping books without encountering language barriers."



PubHTML5 helps to promote business brands by attracting more traffic to the users' sites. The multiple setting tools can be used to edit the pages to perfect the flipping books. The flipping book publisher for Mac has an online publishing service that allocates a URL to digital flipping books created. This helps users directly publish their projects online and share them with readers on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and much more. They can also insert flipping books as plugins.



About PubHTML5

PubHTML5 offers marketers the tools to create excellent digital flipping books through their flipping book publisher for Mac. The software provides various features and functionalities that help to publish projects and promote them on multiple platforms online and offline. For more information, please visit http://pubhtml5.com/.
Adelaide, South Australia -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/07/2019 --Two Lives Left has released Shade, the first professional visual effects tool for iPhone and iPad. Shade is designed for visual effects artists and game developers to use to create intricate surfaces for their 3D models through an intuitive node-based editor.



"There is really nothing like this for iPad, you can create effects like interior mapping, things you see in triple-A games," said Simeon Saens co-founder of Two Lives Left. "It's amazing how powerful the computer in your pocket has become. That it can run a pro tool like Shade and let you develop on the go."



Projects created in Shade can be exported for use in Unity, the world's most popular real-time 3D development platform. Projects can also be used directly with Codea, a popular visual development tool for iPad created by Two Lives Left.



Shade features a real-time physically based renderer, allowing effects artists to see their changes live. It ships with over one hundred nodes  blocks which can be dropped onto the canvas and connected together to construct shaders.



Shade is available for customers to pre-order today on the iOS App Store, and will be released on March 15, 2019. It will be available as a 14-day free trial with an option to purchase for $49.99 USD.



It is available on the App Store



Media and press materials can be found here
Buzz!

Ukrainian film maker Dar Gai direct her next with Ape Echoes new single

Ukrainian film maker Daria Gaikalova aka Dar Gai who recently directed the music video for Prateek Kuhads Cold/Mess that hit over 2.5 million views in under a month, has directed her next for Bombay based musicians/producers and multi-instrumentalists Ape Echoes. Hold Tight, their new single, feels like a mid-tempo electro-synth ride with vocoder driven drum n bass aesthetic.

The music video produced by Jugaad Motion Pictures and Nh7, follows a procrastinator portrayed by actor Jim Sarbh, who stumbles upon a cloning machine. He purchases it, hoping that his life will become easier- clean up his house, complete a presentation, handle mom...become a politician. Only to find out, that each of his clones are at its core- procrastinators. The narrative tackles themes of technology and social media taking over daily lives, but is shown in a funky, absurd, light-hearted manner.

This is Sarbhs second music video with Gai since Cold/Mess and portrays the role of the procrastinator who realizes that no matter how many clones you have, you cant run away from yourself as after all, your clone is an exact replica of yourself, and will eventually succumb and give in to your inherent personality.

Gais most recent feature film titled "Namdev Bhau: In Search of Silence" (written & directed by her), was shot entirely in Ladakh with natural light. It premiered at Busan Film Festival and is currently doing the festival rounds, having already screened at BFI Film Festival, Palm Springs, MAMI, and Dharamshala Film Festival.

Watch Ape Echoes music video of "Hold Tight" below:
Saudi-led aggression artillery attack hits Saada

[07/March/2019]

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left;direction:ltr;unicode-bidi:embed">SAADA, March. 7 (Saba)  Saudi-led aggression forces waged on Thursday an artillery and missile attack towards Yemen's northern province of Saada, a security official told Saba.

The shelling hit farms and houses of the citizens in two districts of Baqim and Monabah, heavy damaging.

Meanwhile, the US-backed Saudi-led aggression fighter jets launched two airstrikes on Wadah area of al-Safra district in the same province, leaving heavy damage to houses of the citizens, the official added.

saba
By SA Commercial Prop News

Group 5 Sod turning ceremony at Waterfall Business Estate - L to R: Morne Wilken (Atterbury Property); Coenie Bezuidenhout (Waterfall Business Estate); Mike Upton (Group 5) and Paul Le Seuer (Group 5). Image gallery



Progressing as one of South Africas most innovative and ambitious property developments, Atterbury announced it is starting the next 70,000m of development at Waterfall Business Estate before year end.

Waterfall Business Estate is a staggering 1,6 million square metre mixed-use commercial development with a superb central location, between Sandton and Midrand.

Atterburys latest development at Waterfall Business Estate includes a landmark 23,000sqm head office for Group Five and a 26,500sqm warehouse for Tarsus.



It is also developing 6,000sqm of offices for Golder Associates and another 5,000sqm speculative building at Maxwell Office Park.



Developing prime offices and distribution centres at Waterfall Business Estate is progressing at a pleasing rate. As more commercial development is complete, and more residential units come to market at Waterfall, we are also creating community resources, says Atterbury Property Developments Director Coenie Bezuidenhout. To this end, Atterbury recently broke ground for a 9,000sqm convenience centre at Maxwell Corner.



High-profile businesses which have chosen to operate from the extraordinary new Waterfall Business Estate include Cell C, Altech Group and a Netcare Hospital. Also under development by Atterbury at Waterfall Business Estate is a 30,000sqm distribution centre for Walmart's Massbuild and an 8,000sqm distribution warehouse for Digistics, that services fast food industry companies like KFC and McDonalds.





Bezuidenhout says: Group Five, Tarsus and Golder Associates continue the stellar line-up of leading business names that have chosen Waterfall Business Estate as their business address. We are pleased to welcome them to the estate.



Leading SA property fund Atterbury Investment Holdings (AIH) is the major investor in Waterfall Business Estate, with an 80% stake, 20% is owned by Atterbury Property Development.
With the Centre threatening a probe over stealing of "privileged documents" related to Rafale deal from the Defence Ministry, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded an investigation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for conducting parallel negotiations and delaying the delivery of the French jets to India.

Addressing the media here, Gandhi said that the stolen documents clearly state the Prime Minister was responsible for the delayed delivery and inflated price of the jets.



"The government now says it will investigate the media for the Rafale files being stolen. But the one (Modi) who conducted parallel investigation why will he not be investigated?

"If the documents have been stolen, that means they are authentic and they clearly state that parallel negotiations were carried out by the Prime Minister, the price of the jets were inflated and the delivery of the jets was delayed.



"Let there be investigation about the documents but at the same time also investigate the Prime Minister's role in the Rafale (deal)," said Gandhi.



Referring to the Centre's arguments in the Supreme Court during hearing of petitions seeking recall of its December 14 verdict giving a "clean chit" on the purchase of the Rafale jets, Gandhi said the sole objective of the government and its machinery was to defend the "chowkidar" (watchman).



With the government rejecting the Congress party's persistent demand for a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Gandhi asked why Modi was afraid of investigation into the deal.



"Why isn't the Prime Minister allowing an investigation against himself if he is not guilty? Why did he refuse a JPC? If there is nothing wrong in the deal, then let there be an investigation. Modi should say he is not afraid of any probe and allow investigation into the deal," asserted Gandhi.



Citing the documents, Gandhi said that the Indian negotiating team clearly stated that the Prime Minister carried out parallel negotiations to enrich his industrialist crony by Rs 30,000 crore in the deal.



"It's a blatant case of corruption, it is clearly stated that the Prime Minister of India carried out a parallel negotiation. Why should there not be a criminal investigation?



"The problem in India is, there is a criminal investigation only on people who oppose Modi," said Gandhi, who a day earlier had called for an FIR against him saying there was enough evidence to prosecute him for corruption in the deal.
Two person was killed and 30 others were injured on Thursday when a grenade rolled under a packed parked bus in Jammu's main bus stand by a militant exploded with a thunderous explosion, police said.

The incident occurred around 11.30 a.m. when the General Bus Stand, as it is known, was teeming with people.



Inspector General of Police Manish Kumar Sinha said the grenade rolled under the parked bus that was headed to Uttarakhand.



The explosion also injured passengers in a nearby parked bus which was set to leave for Amritsar in Punjab.





One of the badly wounded civilians succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, Sinha said. He has been identified as a 20-year-old man from Uttarakhand.



"Four others have suffered critical injuries," a police officer said.



The area was cordoned off after the explosion but the militant merged into the crowd and escaped.



Some witnesses said they initially thought the sound had been caused by a tyre burst.



"At first, we thought it was a tyre burst. But when we approached the site, we saw people lying injured and in critical condition," said Sunil Kumar, 26.



Thursday's is the third such attack at the Jammu General Bus Stand by militants in the last nine months.
US President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order according to which American intelligence officials will no longer be required to publicly disclose the number of civilians killed in airstrikes against terrorist targets.

Trump's order on Wednesday lifts an Obama-era mandate for intelligence professionals to provide an "unclassified summary of the number of strikes" as well as "assessments of combatant and non combatant deaths resulting from those strikes" each year, reports CNN.



The White House said the order was not an effort to decrease transparency about casualties resulting from US strikes.





"The US government is fully committed to complying with its obligations under the law of armed conflict, minimising, to the greatest extent possible, civilian causalities, and acknowledging responsibility when they unfortunately occur during military operations," a National Security Council spokesperson told CNN in a statement.



Instead, the administration argued that the measure was intended to streamline the process by eliminating "superfluous reporting requirements".



The Pentagon released its fiscal year 2017 report on June 1, 2018, and plans to release the 2018 report on May 1.



The manuary 2017 report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had said the "US government" conducted 54 strikes outside of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan during 2016, resulting in one civilian death.



The Secretary of Defence is legally required to provide a similar report and will continue to do so despite Wednesday's executive order.



However, the report pertains solely to US military operations in places like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya.
SNc Channels:



Search

About Salem-News.com



Mar-06-2019 21:40 TweetFollow @OregonNews FDA Should Examine the Watchdog, Janet Woodcock, MD Janet Woodcock, MD's superiors may find her behavior a threat to the lives of Americans



(MYRTLE BEACH, SC) - Janet Woodcock, MD is the Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). CDER determines what drugs are safe and effective to improve the quality of life for people in the United States and is promoted as overseeing testing in clinical trials. However, clinical trials are more often than not conducted in the labs of the maker of the drug -- not in the labs of the FDA. The FDA relies on the pharmaceutical testing lab to advise of the outcome of their clinical trials. Dr. Woodcock previously served as FDA's deputy commissioner and chief medical officer. She also led CDER as director from 19942005. Woodcock's tenure with the FDA coincides with that of David Kessler, MD, Commissioner who was featured on a recent CBS 60 Minutes expose wherein he admitted that Purdue Pharma's highly addictive opioid, OxyContin was not approved for long-term chronic pain use. Here is the link to the CBS 60 Minutes broadcast: www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-epidemic Woodcock has been quoted as saying "I am continually challenged to make sure that FDAs regulatory process remains the world's gold standard for drug approval and safety." I encourage people who have lost family members to addiction and death under Dr. Woodcock's reign of power to read a book entitled "Big Pharma, Big Greed - the inside story of one lawyer's battle to stem the flood of dangerous medicines and protect public health" written by Stephen A. Sheller, Esq. One of the statements in Mr. Sheller's book that should challenge Woodcock's "gold standard for drug approval and safety" under her leadership is the following: On the FDA's role in the drug development process, Woodcock has likened the agency's oversight to that of a building inspector saying "Someone else builds the building according to code. The FDA writes the code, and then comes in at the end and inspects the results to make sure they're up to code." Mr. Sheller counters Dr. Woodcock's analogy on the drug approval process by saying "In my view, the problem is the code is flawed from the start and the inspectors are in cahoots with the builder. One reason is the revolving door between the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry." On January 24, 2004 then Attorney General (AG) Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut (now US Senator of Connecticut) submitted a Citizen Petition (CP) to the FDA entitled Petition to Require Purdue Pharma L.P. to Revise the Labeling of OxyContin Tablets to Strengthen Warnings of the Greater Potential for Developing Side Effects and Adverse Drug Reactions Due to Prescribing Dosing Frequencies in Excess of the Recommended Guidelines. Although the FDA had two conflicting dates on their website as to the time frame to respond to a Citizen Petition of 5 months or 6 months, Janet Woodcock, MD did not respond to Blumenthals 2004 Citizen Petition until 2008. Way beyond the 5 to 6 months the FDA is required to respond. Provided below is a link to Woodcocks response to Blumenthal  all 18 pages of it. See: www.scribd.com/document/328752805/Blumenthal-Cp-Woodcock One of the comments Dr. Woodcock stated in her reply was that ...although higher total daily dosages were associated with fatal outcomes, it cannot be concluded that the higher total daily dosages are causally associated with fatalities given the other variables have not been measured. Further she writes ...there is no maximum dose for opioids. So answer me this Dr. Woodcock  how many lives could have been saved when AG Blumenthal sent the FDA his Citizen Petition in 2004 if you had acted on it in a timely and scientific manner? What do you think? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of Thousands? If the FDA under Woodcock's CDER direction is to be the "watchdog" of the American people in keeping them safe from dangerous drugs, maybe it's time for the pit bull to be terminated in the interest of saving innumerable lives. _________________________________________

Pharma | Business | United-states | Fatal | Most Commented on





Articles for March 6, 2019 | Articles for March 7, 2019
Just one out of seven of seniors take part in assessments for cognitive problems, according to a new report from the Alzheimers Association. But much higher numbers get regular screenings for ailments like heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The disconnect means that millions of seniors with early cognitive problems arent getting medical attention early, when it can be most helpful, said the report, issued on Tuesday.

Problems with cognition can have many causes, said Katie Croskrey, executive director of the associations chapter for San Diego and Imperial counties. These include dehydration, stress, side effects of medication and poor blood circulation to the brain, Alzheimers, or a mixture of causes. These issues can be detected early on with a variety of cognitive tests.

One of the most popular cognitive screens is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Its usually given in person and takes about 15 minutes, said Ana Seda, the chapters director of programs. These include such tasks as drawing the hands of an analog clock, counting backward in a sequence, and repeating sentences exactly as given.

Advertisement

If the assessment reveals a possible problem, a doctor will first check for issues not related to dementia, Croskrey said. If those causes are ruled out, at that point the patient would be sent to a neurologist for more sophisticated tests, such as a CT scan.

While there are several causes of dementia, Alzheimers accounts for most cases. Both the number of Alzheimers patients and number of deaths from the disease are increasing.

In 2017, 16,238 Californians died of Alzheimers, a 268 percent increase over the number in 2000, the report stated. Nationwide, more than 5 million Americans now have Alzheimers, and by 2050 that number is projected to reach 14 million.

By contrast, deaths from heart disease and cancer from 2000 to 2017 have actually gone down, Croskrey said.

When it comes to physical maladies, 91 percent of seniors get their blood pressure measured; 66 get tested for diabetes; and 61 get cancer screenings. In addition, 83 percent get their cholesterol measured; 80 percent get vaccinations; and 73 percent get hearing or vision check

Just 16 percent of seniors get thinking and memory assessments, and even fewer get them regularly, according to the report.

Croskrey said one explanation is that people simply arent discussing their worries about thinking or memory loss with their physicians.

The doctor probably wont do a memory test unless you share some concerns about your memory, she said. That means people need to bring up the subject.

Its normal to become more forgetful with aging, Croskrey said. Simply misplacing keys or other objects isnt by itself a sign of dementia.

If you find your keys in the refrigerator or you find them in other odd places where you cannot retrace your steps, then thats something you want to raise with your doctor, Croskrey said.

Fear is a major reason people dont ask for cognitive screening, said Dr. Howard Feldman, director of the Alzheimers Disease Cooperative Study at UC San Diego.

It is really a dreaded event in a persons life, Feldman said. Physical ailments, bad as they are, leave you with mental intactness.

In the worst case, dementia will take away a persons functional autonomy, he said.

Overriding all is a stigma about having dementia.

Several factors make taking a cognitive test a wise idea for seniors, he said. One is that the patient may not have dementia at all, freeing that person from needless worry.

For those in the early stages of dementia, they have time to make important decisions, such as who will have power of attorney and look after their assets. Waiting puts people at risk of being defrauded.

Another is that certain health and lifestyle changes may reduce dementias toll, Feldman said. While the evidence for benefit isnt proven, at the very least these changes wont cause harm.

Early stage patients whose cognitive impairment is mild may also be good candidates for taking experimental drugs that just might slow or stop the course of the disease.

And in the later stages, voluntarily giving up autonomy, such as ceasing to drive, could save someone elses life, he said.

Those with questions about Alzheimers or other forms of cognitive impairment can get answers around the clock by calling the Alzheimers Association helpline at 1-800-272-3900. The association is online at www.alz.org.

Science Playlist  On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
Lethal flu infections can be blocked with an orally taken drug, in mice and perhaps eventually in people, according to a new study. The work in influenza A strains was led by scientists at Scripps Research and a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary.

The compound protected mice from exposure to 25 times the median lethal dose of H1N1 flu. Its the product of a longstanding collaboration between Scripps Research and Janssen Pharmaceutical for a universal flu vaccine.

The study was published Thursday in the journal Science. It can be found at j.mp/oralfludrug.

In a previous study, the scientists reported that certain protein fragments mimic antibodies that neutralize a broad range of influenza A group 1 viruses. The new study found that the fragments, called peptides, could in turn be replaced by small molecules.

Advertisement

Showing that this approach works in a living organism is a proof of concept, said co-author Ian Wilson of Scripps Research.

This is a culmination of over 10 years of work with them, said Wilson, an expert on broadly neutralizing antibodies. The collaboration with Janssen originated with Crucell, a Netherlands company purchased by Janssen in 2011.

Janssen cautioned in a statement that more research would be needed to to pursue this approach.

Worldwide, there are more than one billion cases of influenza each year, resulting in up to 650,000 deaths. It remains one of the most serious public health challenges we face today, Janssen said.

The potential drug, called JNJ4796, is the product of screening more than 500,000 small molecules. This work was led by Janssens Maria van Dongen.

Wilson and Scripps Research colleagues contributed their structural biology expertise, which determined how the broadly neutralizing antibodies function at the molecular level.

The drug interposes between the flus docking site and cells, Wilson said. That prevents the virus from entering cells, averting infection. By contrast, the popular drug Tamiflu prevents viruses from escaping infected cells.

The most optimistic scenario is that antibody mimicry could lead to a new class of drugs. They would combine the power of broadly neutralizing antibodies with the ease of taking a pill, Wilson said.

Antibodies are large protein molecules that bind to cellular targets with great specificity. Theyre used to treat various cancers, autoimmune diseases and other ailments. They are the biggest-selling biotech products.

However, antibodies must be made by cultivating living cells under sterile conditions, which is expensive. They also generally cannot enter the body via the gastrointestinal tract, so they must be given by injection or IV infusion.

Small molecules are less expensive to make and usually can be taken by mouth. They can usually be made well in advance of use, and stored at hospitals and pharmacies.

Wilson said the study showcases the latest evolution of the teams drug technology. Starting with broadly neutralizing antibodies, the team discovered antibody fragments that also blocked flu, then went to smaller protein fragments called peptides, then to non-protein small molecules that can be taken orally.

Related reading

Scripps Research-led study points to new flu drugs

Flu virus weak spot found by Scripps Research scientists

Antibody Discovery Advances Universal Flu Vaccine Goal

More local scientists identify flu antibody

Science Playlist  On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
Two paramedics, a fire engineer, two police officers and a Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol team will be honored later this month for making La Mesa a safer place to live.

The La Mesa Chamber of Commerce will recognize seven people at the groups 11th annual Salute to Local Heroes dinner.

The yearly celebration honors the brave men and women that are chosen by their organizations for their accomplishments, said La Mesa Chamber CEO Mary England.

The event will be held from 5 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, March 14 at the Town and Country San Diegos Golden West/California Ballrooms. This years theme is Puttin on the Ritz.

Advertisement

This years honorees are:

American Medical Response paramedics Christian Grote and Aaron Thomas;

Heartland Fire & Rescue Engineer Dean Sergent;

La Mesa Police Department Retired Senior Volunteer Patrolmen Johnny Florez and Mike Sparks;

La Mesa Police Department Crime Analyst Erin Jones and Detective Ryan Gremillion.

It is Sparks second La Mesa Chamber heroes nomination. He has been a volunteer since 2015. During his four years of service, Sparks has logged nearly 2,400 volunteer hours with the La Mesa Police Department.

Gremillion, who has been with the police department for 13 years, was recently featured in a San Diego Union-Tribune article  sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/sd-me-la-mesa-sword-cold-case-20190124-story.html  for his role as lead investigator in solving a murder case that dated back to 2006.

The event at 500 Hotel Circle North in Mission Valley is open to the public. Individual tickets are $95; two tickets, $170; and a table of 8, $700. Complimentary parking is included.

Tickets are available at lamesachamber.com or by calling the Chamber Office (619) 465-7700.

karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com
CARLSBAD

Free class on Marketing Automation

The North San Diego Small Business Development Center offers Getting Started With Marketing Automation at 10 a.m. March 26 at 2075 Las Palmas Drive. Staying on top of emails to prospects and customers can be a full-time job. Even if you have templates for outreach and replies, it still takes time to tweak your message and send out emails. Marketing automation can take over some of that job for you, sending and replying to standard emails automatically so you dont have to. Free; this is a hands-on training. Laptops are strongly recommended. Sign up at sdsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/signup/11989.

Thomas Ladt (Courtesy photo)

Advertisement

New senior VP at Colliers International

Thomas Ladt has joined the Colliers International San Diego Region office as a senior vice president. Ladt will be based in Colliers Internationals North San Diego office, specializing in the acquisition and disposition of net-leased retail properties and shopping centers throughout the United States. Ladt is an experienced real estate professional. Since 2008, he has participated in transactions valued at more than $1 billion in 40 states. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and holds a bachelor of arts degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate and management from the University of San Diego.

FALLBROOK

Ribbon-cutting at brewerys second site

Prohibition Brewing Co. hosts a grand opening with the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday at its second location, Prohibition Station, at 136 N. Main Ave. in Fallbrook. Ribbon-cutting at 4:30 p.m. Prohibitions other location is at 2004 E. Vista Way, Vista.

NORTH COUNTY

Jersey Mikes opens month of giving

Jersey Mikes Subs shops throughout the San Diego area will be taking part in the ninth annual Month of Giving campaign to fund local charities. During March, customers can make a donation to Rady Childrens Hospital San Diego at 42 participating Jersey Mikes shops. The campaign culminates in a Day of Giving on March 27, when the restaurants will give 100 percent of the days sales  not just profit  to the hospital. Nationally, Jersey Mikes owners and operators will also donate their resources and every single dollar that comes in to more than 180 different charities. In 2018, San Diego-area Jersey Mikes locations raised more than $248,000 during the campaign. Visit jerseymikes.com/mog.

VISTA

Dr. Bronners renews Moonlight sponsorship

Dr. Bronners has renewed its $100,000 title sponsorship partnership of the Moonlight Presents series at Vistas Moonlight Amphitheatre for 2019. Dr. Bronners will also sponsor Moonlights summer season of musicals, which designates the Vista-based company as a Visionary Sponsor for the Moonlight Cultural Foundation. Moonlight Stage Productions offers programming throughout the year. This is the third year for the partnership, which helps sponsor the underwriting of tickets distributed to children and families, done mainly through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Vista and Oceanside. Dr. Bronners produces organic liquid and bar soaps and other body care products. Visit drbronner.com.

Please send items to laura.groch@sduniontribune.com at least 10 days before events take place.

laura.groch@sduniontribune.com
County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Dianne Jacob has sent a letter to the state asking if a recently opened cannabis dispensary inside the former Santa Ysabel Casino is legal.

About a month ago, the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, which has been growing and testing marijuana for three years, opened the first dispensary on tribal land in the county.

In 2017, the supervisors voted not to allow dispensaries to operate in the unincorporated county, which is where the Santa Ysabel tribes reservation is located south of Lake Henshaw.

The letter asks California Attorney General Xavier Bercerra for clarification on whether or not the California Bureau of Cannabis Control has any regulatory authority over cannabis dispensaries on tribal reservations.

Advertisement

She asks in the letter, sent Monday, what oversight role the bureau has over dispensaries on tribal lands; whether the Santa Ysabel tribe needs a license; and, if the tribe does need a license and does not have one, will the state take action to shut it down?

A spokesman for the cannabis bureau has said that the state does not have control over sovereign reservations and tribes can do what they want on their land. However, only marijuana grown on the reservation can be sold on the reservation and nowhere else other than to other Indian dispensaries.

I am concerned that the cannabis dispensary on the Santa Ysabel reservation is operating in the dark with little to no oversight, Jacob wrote. This constitutes both a public safety and a public health hazard for those who visit the dispensary, and for the surrounding community due to impaired drivers navigating the rural areas challenging roads.

The tribe says its own cannabis oversight agency makes sure that strict regulations and controls are enforced. They say they continue to work with the state to gain access to the broader legal cannabis market, but talks have broken down because the tribes are unwilling to give up their sovereignty and let state regulators control their actions.

Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana and gave local jurisdictions the choice whether to allow dispensaries, did not address tribal issues.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
The San Marcos Community Foundation is offering grants to help local organizations produce artistic and cultural events or activities, and will accept applications through April 4.

The foundation was established in 1988, and has distributed more than $1 million to groups serving arts and culture, health and well-being, children and youth, seniors, civic life, wildlife and education.

The current grant cycle will provide funds for nonprofits that enrich the artistic and cultural vibe of San Marcos, according to the city website, and have a track record of providing cultural services in San Marcos.

Within the past year, the foundation has provided grants to the Conversations that Matter Series with Cal State San Marcos, which has addressed issues such as free speech, mental health, and gender and sexual identify. It also funded the San Marcos Heritage Society & Heritage Park Performances

Advertisement

Over the past three decades, the foundation has provided grants to organizations including San Marcos High School Music Boosters, the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos, Interfaith Community Services, North County Community Services, Elizabeth Hospice, Meals-on-Wheels Greater San Diego, Inc., the Alzheimers Association San Diego/Imperial Chapter and Words Alive, which runs a book club for at risk youth in the community.

Organizations seeking grant funding must be community-based, with at least 51 percent of the Board of Directors made up of San Marcos residents, San Marcos business owners, or employees of San Marcos businesses.

Applicants must be at least one year old, and show that they have the capacity to produce the program or event. They must also have other funding sources available, demonstrate a history of staging cultural and promotional activities, target under-served communities, and be able to show that their events or programs yield measurable benefit to the community at large. Applicants are also required to provide open public access to performances, events, or exhibits.

The application period is open and applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. April 4. Grant guidelines, instructions and applications are available on the San Marcos city website.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
The future of the South Bays only independent bookstore became a little more secure this week when Coronado gave Bay Books the chance to relocate and keep selling coffee and pastries.

Bay Books, which has been on the brink of shutting down for more than a year, signed a letter of intent to occupy another building on the 1000 block of Orange Avenue. The last step is to have the bookstores plans approved by the city.

The bookstores chances of survival increased substantially when Coronado changed its parking requirement policy. That change waives parking requirements for businesses that dedicate less than 250 square feet to food service, storage, seating and bathroom use.

This helps Bay Books because it makes money from selling coffee and pastries outside. Without that extra income, the store would not survive, according to owner Angelica Muller.

Advertisement

The bookstores troubles began last year when a new landlord bought almost an entire block of Orange Avenue. The new owner raised rents and pushed some long-term businesses out. Bay Books couldnt afford the rent increase and was ready to shut its doors in February when a novelty shirt store called Bull Shirt closed.

With Bull Shirt gone, Bay Books had the option of moving to its now-vacant location.

But, at the time, Coronados Orange Avenue meant that any business that serves food needs to create more parking spaces. That left Bay Books in a difficult spot because the block doesnt have space for another parking spot and the bookstore cant survive without revenue from selling coffee and pastries.

Muller initially asked the city to green-light the move by waiving the parking requirements. She said Coronado would lose its small-town feel without a local bookstore; that the store was more than just a business, it was a community resource.

Having a bookstore is like being in charge of an endangered species, she said. You feel a tremendous obligation for the store to survive.

The low margins and increasing competition from online sales make it harder for her business to survive, she added.

Having the coffee and food service for us is a most, Muller told the City Council.

Ultimately, the bookstore didnt need special treatment.

The new parking rules the City Council adopted allow Bay Books, and any other business, to open on Orange Avenue without having to add another parking space as long as they dedicate less than 250 square feet to food service, seating, storage and bathrooms.

That means that as long as Bay Books food and drink operations are small enough, the bookstore can move to its new location while continuing to make money from coffee and pastries.

This does not mean that Bay Books survival is set in stone. Muller still needs to file plans with the city. Muller also needs to decide whether the bookstore will manage the coffee cart or if it will continue to work with its current operator. The coffee cart, Cafe Luis, is a separate business and pays part of the rent to Bay Books, she said.

But for the first time in a long time, the future of the store is in their hands.

It was incredible, Muller said of the City Councils decision to change the parking requirements.

The council had been working on this policy change before the bookstore asked for special treatment. The aim was to help retail establishments along their main commercial corridor be more viable.

The viability of traditional brick and mortar retail uses has significantly declined with the popularity of online shopping leading more commercial spaces to be filled with counter-oriented eating and drinking establishments, reads a staff report on the policy change. Additionally, surviving retail and personal service uses have more recently incorporated ancillary food and beverage services into their business model to remain competitive creating hybrid uses which can be challenging to classify for parking purposes.

City Manager Blair King stressed that the goal of the policy change is not to bring more restaurants to Coronado but rather to help retail shops survive in an increasingly more difficult business climate.

We are attempting to facilitate the survival of retail businesses and not necessarily incentivizing food and eating establishments as much as ensuring retail establishments can survive in 2019 in the era of Google and online sales, he told the City Council.

Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter
Tiramisu means pull me up in English, so named for its espresso-soaked savoiardi (ladyfingers) that give you a little after-dinner boost.

But Id argue that the version of this Italian dessert at Point Lomas month-old eatery Cesarina should be called tiranoisu  pull us up.

Not just because Cesarinas dreamy, made-to-order tiramisu is among the best Ive ever had. But because Cesarina just might help elevate the entire San Diego Italian restaurant landscape.

Thats a tall order for Cesarinas three young Italian-born owners whose aim in opening the breakfast, lunch and dinner trattoria was unabashedly unambitious.

Advertisement

Our goal was to have a restaurant where wed want to eat, said Niccolo Angius, 28, who hails from Rome.

Maybe so, but in the process, Angius and his partners  cousins Giuseppe Scognamiglio, 33, and Giuseppe Capasso, 38, both from Naples  have created a beacon for those of us yearning for more flavorful, properly cooked Italian food in San Diego.

Of the dozen or so dishes Ive had from the assured kitchen of executive chef Patrick Money, 33, who is from Mantua in Northern Italy, nearly all of them shared the same quality  they tasted like Italy. And as I lamented in my Oct. 18 story, For my list of Top 10 San Diego Italian restaurants, I could only find 7, thats an inexplicable rarity here.

Cesarina owners (from left) Giuseppe Capasso, Niccolo Angius and Giuseppe Scognamiglio in their restaurants pastificio. The trio plans to sell the pasta for retail in the future. (Courtesy photo)

Angius, Scognamiglio and Capasso are a playful threesome, who when together are constantly engaged in good-natured ribbing over whos taller, whos older, whos the real boss, whos tight with the purse strings. (For the record, the latter one would be Capasso, whos in charge of the restaurants finances, while Scognamiglio runs the dining room and Angius oversees the kitchen.)

What they get serious about is the authenticity emanating from the kitchen.

The food is coming out exactly how we wanted it to, Capasso said.

On a recent Monday night, all the booths were filled with happy locals, while several tables were taken by several Italian-born local chefs and their families.

The previous night, Angius said, they had sold out of the lasagna, all 27 orders of it. Can you believe that?

I can. Much of the credit behind Cesarinas pasta purity goes to the restaurants glass-enclosed demonstration pastaficio, or pasta factory, thats the focal point of the airy, stylish dining room. The homemade noodles, ribbons, gnocchi and cut tubes go straight to the kitchen, where Money makes his magic.

Cesarinas stylish dining room includes an ostrich feather chandelier over a front table. (Courtesy photo)

Whether it was the spaghetti with pomodoro fresco, ravioli with mushrooms and a crispy parmigiano crumble, spinach pappardelle with shortribs or bucatini amatriciana, the pasta dishes Ive sampled were prepared to al dente perfection and capped by an ultra-authentic sauce.

Some of those combinations were mine. Cesarinas owners, mindful of younger diners taste for experiences while eating, have established a build-your-own pasta format. You choose the shape, the sauce and any optional toppings.

Ceding control of a dishs makeup is the least Italian aspect here. In Italy, there are hard-fast rules on a pastas shape and corresponding sauce. Try to deviate or  heresy!  put cheese on pasta with seafood and youll likely be met with a disapproving non si fa cosi (its not done that way).

Angius said the trio considers the flexibility an evolution of Italian dining but concedes that not all customer-created pairings will be a tasty match.

Our staff is very well trained to guide diners to what may work and what doesnt, so hopefully theres no  shrimp and prosciutto or short rib and shrimp, he said, shaking his head before stopping himself. But if thats what the customer wants, thats what they can have.

What this customer wants is a lifetime supply of Cesarinas tomato sauce. Not too thick or thin, not too sweet or acidic, nor overly seasoned, this marinara exemplifies how a simple preparation  done right  is an essential ingredient of a great Italian restaurant.

Whether with spaghetti, eggplant parmigiana or beef meatballs, that sauce raises straight-forward dishes to the next level. A slightly spicier one comes with the light-as-air, ricotta-stuffed fried squash blossoms.

Cesarinas pulpo and caponata successfully tweaks the traditional. (Courtesy photo)

While fundamentally steeped in heritage and tradition, Cesarinas menu also reflects a next-gen pivot to modernity with such dishes as pulpo and caponata, in which the tender, grilled ocotopus is brightened by both a soulful romesco sauce and a tomato-less eggplant caponata in a lemon, olive oil, garlic and herb salmoriglio vinaigrette.

Successfully tweaking a standard shows a gutsy confidence that also extends to the sweet side. At only 23, Cesarina Mezzoni, the pastry chef and Angius wife, already has a self-assured ability to adapt classic confections to current tastes. Shes adding rosemary to her millefoglie, putting PB&J in a tart and anchoring profiteroles in a pile of cocoa crumble.

During a pre-opening tasting at Cesarina, pastry chef Cesarina Mezzoni had the critical components of her heavenly tiramisu in her hands: espresso and mascarpone. (Michele Parente photo)

And she just might be changing the world with her tiramisu. Well, maybe just San Diego, but thats enough. That ubiquitous layered dessert might have become a tired meal-ender elsewhere, but Mezzonis interpretation of it is giving it new life.

Prepared tableside, homemade ladyfingers are moistened by freshly brewed espresso poured from a Moka stove-top pot  the kind found in every Italians home kitchen. Sublimely creamy and light mascarpone is spooned over the top and then dusted with cocoa powder.

You can customize your order with more or less of any of the ingredients. But Id suggest sticking with how Mezzoni intends it to be because her tiramisu tastes like the future.

Cesarina

Where: 4161 Voltaire St., Point Loma

Phone: (619) 226-6222

Online: cesarinarestaurant.com

Right before opening, two of the owners mammas visiting from Italy painstaking filled each of the jars filling a wall at Cesarina. The rustic chic dining room feels traditional and modern, like the food. (Courtesy photo)

michele.parente@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @sdeditgirl
The University of California has announced that it will not raise tuition for California students this fall  but expects increases for students from other states and countries.

UC President Janet Napolitano, speaking at a Sacramento hearing on Wednesday, said she was optimistic that a strong partnership with Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature would help the university find additional resources, in lieu of tuition revenues, to ensure that UC students can succeed.

Some UC student leaders criticized Napolitanos announcement, saying it was aimed at deflecting attention from a move to increase tuition this fall for nonresident students.

Napolitano is recommending that regents vote next week to raise nonresident tuition by 2.6%, from $28,992 this year to $29,754 this fall. The supplemental tuition would be paid on top of the base UC tuition of $12,570.

Advertisement

Members of the UC Student Assn. have become increasingly concerned that out-of-state and international students are being scapegoated in the fierce debate over who gains admission to the prestigious public research university system  and who pays the price.

This isnt a win for students, student association President Caroline Siegel Singh said Wednesday in a text. Nonresident students are being used as a political pawn. ... They are being blamed for displacing California residents when in reality it is because the state has not provided necessary funding for those additional students.

In recent years, some UC campuses have rapidly increased their enrollment of nonresident students, whose higher tuition has helped offset significant state funding cuts after the 2008 recession. But the rising number of such students led to a political backlash  and a scathing state audit  blaming UC for giving them spots at Californians expense.

Under pressure, regents in 2017 approved a first-ever limit on nonresidents of 18% at UC campuses at Davis, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced. Four campuses that exceed that level  UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and UC Irvine  were allowed to keep but not increase their higher percentages of nonresidents. Now some legislative voices are calling for new caps as low as 10%.

UC regents signaled their intentions on tuition in November, when they approved a $9.3-billion budget with no tuition increases for California students and higher fees for nonresidents. Under that budget, UC plans to add 2,500 more California undergraduates this fall and increase support for students in need of food, shelter, mental health services and tutoring.

But Newsoms budget blueprint, unveiled in January, did not provide funding to enroll those additional students. Overall, he proposed an increase of $240 million in permanent, ongoing funding for 2019-20  far short of the $477.6 million that the regents had requested.

UC officials say they still intend to increase California student enrollment, but are scrambling for funds to do so.

The nonresident tuition increase would raise $28.9 million in 2019-20. UC Berkeley says it uses nonresident tuition money to help pay for academic advising and support for 12,000 undergraduates, while UC Davis uses it for debt service on upgrades to classrooms and infrastructure.

Siegel Singh said she and other UC students had hoped to lobby Newsom and the Legislature for more funding to avoid tuition increases for any students this fall.

As a local San Diegan attending UC San Diego, my education has been enriched by having nonresident students in my classroom, she said.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe
Jeremy Taylor survived five freezing days in the snow along with his dog, Ally, with nothing to eat but Taco Bell sauce packets. Now the Mexican-style fast food chain is giving him free food for a year.

9 Things You Didnt Know About Taco Bell

Advertisement

According to Fox News, the Oregon mans SUV got stuck in the snow and he was unable to walk to safety, so he stayed where he was and waited to be rescued. All he had in his car were three Taco Bell sauce packets, and he lived on them for five days.

Oregon Live reports that his harrowing story went viral after Taylor wrote on Facebook, Taco Bell fire sauce saves lives! Taco Bell responded by sending him a bunch of goodies, including a years supply of Taco Bell.

Were very glad Jeremy and Ally are OK, Taco Bell told The Daily Meal in a statement. We know our sauce packets are amazing, but this takes it to a whole new level. Were in touch with Jeremy and have sent him a well-deserved care package, a years supply of Taco Bell, and of course, all the sauce packets that come with it.

www.facebook.com/DeschutesCountySheriff/posts/2111486205809101

The Deschutes County Sheriff offices posted on Facebook that when Taylor and his dog were found, they were in good condition, but hungry after being stuck in the snow for five days. Even though they were surrounded by all that fresh powder, we bet they were probably pretty thirsty too. At least he seems like he knew the signs of dehydration and how to hydrate fast.

View slideshow
The 3rd Marine Air Wing at Miramar is investigating a recent incident in which two Marines appeared to be in blackface, an act that has been condemned by the local NAACP and some congressional leaders.

The Marines assigned to the air wing recently were seen in a now-viral social media video wearing charcoal pore-cleansing masks while in uniform. One of them can be heard saying Hello, monkey, a racial slur.

One of the Marines in the video was identified as Zach Highfield via his Snapchat account. Highfield told KPBS in a phone interview that he didnt mean to post the images.

It was a bad mistake, he said. We had no intention to offend.

Advertisement

This is Zach Highfield, hes a Marine who is proudly displaying his bigotry by wearing blackface in his military gear. The man behind him who says hello monkey hasnt been identified yet. Care to comment on this racist behavior @USMC? pic.twitter.com/mKPLetFrYs  Simar (@sahluwal) February 23, 2019

The Marines have not said if the second Marine, who used the slur, has been identified.

The blackface video is the latest in a string of high-profile incidents involving Marines and what appear to be extremist or racist activities.

On Wednesday, the San Diego NAACP issued a statement calling for the military to engage in better screening and training for military personnel.

Whether someone holds racist attitudes or not, blackface is hurtful and fuels racial division, said Clovis Honore, president of the organizations San Diego branch.

When you add in the explicit racial slurs, when you add in the fact that these are government employees, paid by our tax dollars, when you add in the fact that these men operate deadly weapons and are charged with protecting the very citizens they refer to as monkeys, this is intolerable, Honore said. We want meaningful training, meaningful action and meaningful change.

Blackface has its origins in the minstrel shows of the 19th century, but it maintains an often-hidden but still controversial presence in American culture.

There is no such thing as innocent blackface, Honore said. Whether or not someone consciously harbors racist attitudes, this is the tradition that is evoked when someone appears in blackface.

The 3rd Marine Air Wing is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar but also has personnel at Camp Pendleton and MCAS Yuma, Ariz. The Marine air wing said in a statement it was investigating the incident.

Membership in hate groups and posting racial or abusive content online are prohibited activities in the Marines. But commanders have broad powers when it comes to enforcement.

The Marines have not said what punishment  if any  either of the air wing Marines might face. Only actions that rise to the level of a court martial are typically disclosed to the public.

About the same time the blackface video was going viral, another social media stir was brewing involving posts on a Twitter account that allegedly belonged to a Marine assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Posts on the account  @Jacobite_Edward, which Twitter users identified as being run by Lance Cpl. Mason Mead  featured images of various Nazi leaders and quotes attributed to them. One image showed what appears to be a Marine arranging explosives into the shape of a swastika.

Both incidents occurred just days after the arrest of a Maryland Coast Guard lieutenant on a slew of weapons charges. Investigators say that officer, Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson, was stockpiling weapons and had a kill list of prominent Democrats and journalists. In federal court filings, the government also said Hasson is a white nationalist who intends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.

Last year, another Marine, Vasillios Pistolis, was court martialed and booted from the Corps after a report from ProPublica and Frontline identified him as a member of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division. Pistolis had also participated in the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

In February, a group of House Democrats sent a letter to the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security seeking information about how they screen recruits.

The group applauded the actions taken by federal agencies in the arrest Hasson, but cited that case and others in asking acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, whose agency oversees the Coast Guard, how Hasson and others who demonstrated extremist views were able to circumvent the militarys checks.

Local congressional delegates said theyre keeping an eye on the investigations of the recent cases.

This is totally unacceptable and offensive, said Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, who sits on the House Armed Services committee. Im pleased to see that the Marine Corps has opened an investigation.

Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, whose district includes the 3rd Marine Air Wing headquarters, said he was glad Marine leadership acted quickly to investigate.

This incident is awful and not at all representative of the high standards and code of honor to which our Marines commit, Peters said in a statement.

But these kinds of incidents have prompted greater scrutiny of the armed forces and racial or extremist activity.

Data about extremism in the military is lacking, said The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremism nationwide.

We do know that hate groups like to tell their members to join the military where they can be trained to kill, said Heidi Beirich, the director of SPLCs intelligence project. A lot of ex-military have been involved in domestic terrorist incidents.

Beirich said that known incidents of military members participating in extremist organizations have dropped in recent years, ever since the Defense Department expanded its anti-hate policies to include posts on social media.

I think the extremists caught on, she said. You dont see it as much anymore because you can work anonymously online, under pseudonyms.

The Marine in the Hawaii incident, was posting under a pseudonym, but Twitter users identified him by unit emblems and his uniform name tag, which were visible on some of his posts.

A recent Military Times poll found that 22 percent of its active-duty readers had seen white nationalism or racist ideology in the service. Among Military Times readers who identified as non-white, that number jumped to 50 percent.

Maj. Craig Thomas, a Marine spokesman, said that the Corps expects every member to treat fellow Marines with dignity and respect.

Those who cant value the contributions of others, regardless of background, are destructive to our culture, our war fighting ability and have no place in our ranks, he said in an email. Commanders must cultivate a climate and culture of dignity, respect and trust.

Honore said the NAACP was available to assist local organizations in educating their employees.

We stand ready to assist the Marine Corps, the Navy or any other government or civilian organization in educating their employees or members on issues of race, ethnicity and both implicit and explicit bias, he said.

Contact Andrew Dyer via email or Twitter.
A San Jose man who authorities say impersonated a federal agent and repeatedly pulled over Bay Area drivers was foiled after he picked a really bad target: an actual federal agent.

Alex Taylor, 49, was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of impersonating a Drug Enforcement Administration agent and conducting unauthorized vehicle stops over the last four months using a Volkswagen Jetta outfitted with police-style lighting, authorities said.

Taylor has been charged with pretending to be a federal officer; unlawful possession of official badges, identification cards or other insignia; and use and possession of a counterfeit seal of an agency of the United States, the DEA said Tuesday.

Federal agents seized the Jetta, two firearms, an imitation gold DEA badge, a concealed weapons badge, a pair of handcuffs and a small amount of methamphetamine, authorities said.

Advertisement

Taylors career as a fake federal agent began to unravel after he pulled over an actual federal agent on Christmas Eve while the woman was on her way to Mass, according to a federal affidavit detailing the investigation.

Court documents show that a U.S. Department of Transportation assistant special agent in charge was driving her personal vehicle in San Jose when Taylor pulled up behind her with flashing lights on. Taylor walked up to her window wearing a gold DEA badge around his neck, said he was a DEA agent and asked her where she was going in such a hurry.

DEA huh? the woman asked Taylor, according to court documents. Since when does DEA make vehicle stops?

All the time, Taylor responded.

The woman asked which office he worked out of because she knew several DEA agents, according to the affidavit. Taylor said he worked all over. The woman then identified herself as a federal agent and told him he could not write her a ticket.

At that point, Taylor told her to a have a nice day, returned to his car and drove away before the agent could write down his license plate number, according to court documents.

Federal investigators learned in February that an off-duty Santa Clara County sheriffs deputy had written down the Jettas license plate number after seeing Taylor pull over a tow truck on a highway in Los Gatos the previous November.

The tow truck driver later told federal investigators that Taylor asked him, Do you want to die today? after he was pulled over.

Taylor eventually left after a passing car almost struck him and the truck driver repeatedly asked to see his identification, according to court records.

The California Highway Patrol got reports on Feb. 27 and Thursday about a Volkswagen Jetta with flashing red and blue lights being used to attempt traffic stops around Interstate 280 and Highway 85 near Cupertino.

A CHP officer pulled Taylor over on Thursday and saw several accessories, switches, buttons and cords feeding into different apparatuses throughout the car, including some plugged into a power source, reports show.

But the officer simply gave Taylor a verbal warning for driving on a suspended license, according to court documents.

Federal agents conducted surveillance of Taylors residence on Friday and saw him leave wearing a gold badge around his neck and what appeared to be a firearm on his right hip concealed under his T-shirt, according to a DEA news release.

The next day, agents from the DEA, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched Taylors home and arrested him.

Authorities ask anyone with information regarding the investigation to call (408) 282-3442.

javier.panzar@latimes.com

@jpanzar
Luka Banda/iStock(WASHINGTON)-- As House Democrats scheduled a vote Thursday on a "resolution opposing hate," a handful of top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 are going against party leaders and coming to the defense of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose recent comments on Israel have ignited a debate over anti-Semitism and earned her rebukes from party colleagues.



In a meeting this morning on Capitol Hill, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that the House will vote on "a resolution opposing hate." The exact timing of that vote was unclear Thursday morning, and the text of the resolution has not yet been made public.



In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish and lived in Israel for a time in the 1960s, said that while anti-Semitism "must be vigorously opposed in the United States and around the world," the country "must not, however, equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel."



"What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate. That's wrong," Sanders added.



California Sen. Kamala Harris said Thursday that she shares the concerns of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) that the "spotlight being put on Congresswoman Omar may put her at risk."



"You can both support Israel and be loyal to our country. I also believe there is a difference between criticism of policy or political leaders, and anti-Semitism," Harris said in a statement provided to ABC News.



Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a statement Wednesday evening also raising concerns about what she said was the "chilling effect" that equating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism has on public debate over American foreign policy.



"Branding criticism of Israel as automatically anti-Semitic has a chilling effect on our public discourse and makes it harder to achieve a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians," Warren said.



New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand issued a statement Thursday saying that Omar should be able to critique Israel "without employing anti-Semitic tropes about money or influence," just as "those critical of Congresswoman Omar should not be using Islamophobic language and imagery that incites violence, such as what we saw in West Virginia," referencing a poster put up outside the state House of Delegates falsely connecting Omar to the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks.



The West Virginia Republican Party later condemned the poster, telling the Associated Press, "Our party supports freedom of speech, but we do not endorse speech that advances intolerant and hateful views."



Asked Thursday if Omar should apologize, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she doesn't think the congresswoman's comment had "any anti-Semitic attitude," but added, "I understand how advocates come in with their enthusiasms, but when you cross that threshold into Congress, your words weigh much more."



The caution urged by the trio of Democratic presidential hopefuls could mark a shift in the way the debate over America's policy towards Israel, especially as the early stages of the 2020 race give way to the drumbeat of constant campaigning.



"I think now that you have presidential candidates, even if you have one presidential candidate taking this issue up, I think it will put pressure on the others to follow suit because that's where the base is," Shibley Telhami, a professor at the University of Maryland and a fellow at the Brookings Institution, told ABC News in a phone interview Thursday.



"That's why I think the traditional leadership in the House is really struggling where it never used to," Shibley, who has polled on American attitudes toward the conflict for over a quarter century, added. "It used to be, when this issue came up, it wasn't a priority for anyone, they weren't punished by their electorate. Fundraising-wise more people were in the mainstream than on the left of this issue and so that's where the pressure came from."



Public opinion polling shows that sentiments have indeed shifted, especially among Democrats. According to a Pew Research poll conducted last year, Democratic voters sympathize about equally with the Israelis as the Palestinians, with sympathy for Israel dropping 16 percentage points in the last two years.



The statements from Sanders, Harris and Warren come as the party continues to grapple with the best way to deal with the controversy surrounding Omar, a freshman Minnesota lawmaker who last year became one of the first Muslim women ever elected to Congress.



The latest saga began earlier this week when Omar made comments at a progressive event in Washington, D.C. where she again expressed frustration about the debate over America's support for the Israeli government.



"For me, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is ok for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country," Omar said. "I want to ask, why is it ok for me to talk about the influence of the NRA, of fossil fuel industries, or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobby that is influencing policy?"



The comments sparked concern among Jewish groups and various Jewish members of Congress that Omar was perpetuating an anti-Semetic stereotype that accuses Jews of putting their allegiance to Israel above their loyalty to the United States.



That concern led House Democrats to begin drafting a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, a move supported by members like Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz, the first Jewish member of Congress from Florida.



"Because you have some members who either repeatedly or individually continued to use anti-Semitic tropes  and Ill give them the benefit of the doubt and say its unknowing  then apparently we do need to put a resolution on the floor that educates people about how harmful and hurtful anti-Semitism is," Wasserman Shultz told ABC News on Wendesday.



The Minnesota congresswoman also found herself in hot water last month when she implied that congressional inaction on Israel was due in part to the monetary influence that outside lobbying groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) have over American politicians.



Omar later apologized "unequivocally," for her comments, but has consistently defended herself against claims that she is trafficking in anti-Semetic rhetoric.



"I am told everyday that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks," Omar tweeted last week.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
A federal judge in San Francisco has blocked a Trump administration move to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census, calling the proposal arbitrary and capricious and saying it would harm the state of California and be contrary to the Constitution.

In a ruling released Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had failed to justify his decision to include a citizenship question in the upcoming census.

The judge said such a question would ultimately hamper the departments constitutional mandate to conduct an accurate count of the nations population by causing noncitizens to avoid enumeration, adding that the question threatens the very foundation of our democratic system. The count occurs every 10 years.

A significant differential undercount, particularly impacting noncitizen and Latino communities, will result from the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, Seeborg wrote.

Advertisement

An inaccurate count would be particularly hard on California, the judge said, as state population is used to calculate federal funding and congressional district boundaries.

The State of California demonstrated that it will suffer a loss of federal funding and face a substantial risk of losing political representation directly traceable to the inclusion of the citizenship question on the census, the judge wrote.

The Commerce secretary announced last year that he would add the citizenship question in order to provide complete and accurate data for the census. Ross said he chose to add the question because the Justice Department said it needed the citizenship data to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

However, in his ruling, Seeborg wrote that Ross reliance on Voting Rights Act enforcement to justify inclusion of the citizenship question was mere pretext and the definition of an arbitrary and capricious governmental act. Even though a citizenship question had been included in the decennial census in 1950 and before, Seeborg wrote that its inclusion now  amid the national debate over immigration  would interfere with the actual count.

The commerce secretary announced last year that he would add the citizenship question in order to provide complete and accurate data for the census. (U.S. Census Bureau)

Political scientists predicted in court testimony that California would lose billions in federal funds plus at least one and possibly as many as three seats in the House  and the same number of electoral votes  if the citizenship question were to be used next year.

State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, who spearheaded the lawsuit, called the ruling a great victory, not only for California but for all people who are in the United States of America who deserve to be counted when the next census occurs.

No state is more affected by the census than California, he told The Times. Because we have the largest population, because we send more tax money to the federal treasury than any state in the nation, because we have the most delegates.

Plaintiffs in the matter included the state of California, Los Angeles County, the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and the cities of Long Beach; Oakland; Fremont, Calif.; Stockton; and San Jose.

A 2018 analysis by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California measured the potential for miscount in individual census tracts, small geographic areas used to more accurately calculate a states population. In some of those tracts, researchers estimated as many as 45% of residents might not respond.

Monterey, Los Angeles and Imperial counties, home to the highest, second-highest and fourth-highest percentages of noncitizens in the state, would be most likely to undercount residents, according to the study.

Seeborg is the second judge to bar the addition of a citizenship question.

A federal judge in New York had previously blocked the administration from adding the question, and the U.S. Supreme Court last month agreed to review that decision.

Becerra said California is prepared to write a friend of the court brief for the Supreme Court case that would not only support the New York ruling, but also buttress claims that the question shouldnt be allowed on constitutional grounds.

Times staff writers Monte Morin and David G. Savage contributed to this report.
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday agreed to settle a pivotal and contentious case on the property rights of homeless people  a decision that is likely to limit the seizure and destruction of encampments on skid row.

The 10-2 vote authorizes City Attorney Mike Feuer to settle a 2016 lawsuit, Carl Mitchell v. Los Angeles, brought by civil rights lawyers on behalf of homeless people and two skid row anti-poverty groups. Downtown business groups had opposed such a deal, arguing that settling the case would deter redevelopment, and leave skid row and the people who live on its sidewalks mired in squalor.

The city has wrestled with the property rights issue for years, losing or settling a string of civil rights lawsuits related to cleaning up tent encampments downtown

In 2016, L.A. adopted an ordinance limiting homeless peoples belongings to what would fit in a 60-gallon bag, and requiring the city to give 24-hour notice of cleanups and store confiscated items where they can be readily reclaimed.

Advertisement

But after civil rights lawyers filed the lawsuit that same year, alleging that the city used street cleanups and arrests for minor quality of life offenses as pretexts to dismantle their camps and destroy their property, U.S. District Judge S. James Otero in Los Angeles issued an injunction. It barred the city from seizing and destroying homeless peoples property on skid row unless officials could show it had been abandoned, threatened public health or safety, or consisted of contraband or evidence of a crime.

Developers and business representatives had lobbied the City Council to take the judges injunction to trial instead of preserving many of its requirements in a settlement. They argue the injunction has hampered police enforcement on skid row and fostered disorder and disease, including a typhus outbreak.

A homeless man pushes a shopping cart filled with his belongings down Seventh Street in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The council left the details of the settlement, including exactly what streets would be covered, to City Attorney Feuer. At least one downtown business group assailed council members for agreeing to terms without making them public.

But Councilman Jose Huizar, who voted against the deal on Wednesday, said the settlement would only cover skid row, home to more than 2,000 people who live outdoors, and adjoining streets, including part of Little Tokyo and Main Street. Other parts of Los Angeles would not be affected.

The city, Huizar said, was continuing to treat skid row as a dumping ground for homeless people.

Councilman Joe Buscaino, who also opposed the settlement, predicted conditions on skid row would deteriorate even further because of the settlement.

We deserve a city safe and free of public health hazards, Buscaino said after the vote. Every time we propose a solution (to homelessness) we get slammed for it.

But Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson said a lack of money is stopping the city from cleaning up skid row, not the judges injunction. The citys annual cleanup costs soared to $31 million last year.

Most districts in the rest of the city dont have the resources to implement (ordinance) 56.11, the citys law governing the storage of homeless peoples property on sidewalks and in other public places, Harris-Dawson said. We just dont have the capacity.

The councils decision Wednesday followed more than three hours of closed-door deliberations. Four public hearings have been held on the issue in recent months, including three before the citys Homelessness and Poverty Committee.

Details of the settlement remain unclear, though.

The testimony at the past three homelessness and poverty committee meetings and [the] council meeting today showcase the broad concerns of continuing the status quo, and how we need a new approach to the cycle of lawsuits the city faces and solving our regions homelessness crisis with the decision, said Jessica Lall, president and chief executive officer of the Central City Association.

During the public comment period Wednesday, downtown business leader Carol Schatz told the council that the city had mortgaged its future in a misguided attempt to buy temporary peace with activists.

But skid row residents and anti-poverty activists said the judges injunction  parts of which are likely to be preserved in the settlement  help homeless people hang on to medication, identity documents, and other belongings critical to their survival. Otero had cited the citys confiscation of a homeless mans medication in his 2016 order.

Childrens toys, recyclables and old furniture line the sidewalk at a homeless encampment beside the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Homeless advocates also argued that said business groups want to criminalize homeless people, making it harder for them to get off the streets.

The business community has done a great job at confusing the issue, Steve Diaz with the Los Angeles Community Action Network, an anti-poverty group involved in the 2016 lawsuit, told the council Wednesday. Encampments do not come from homeless peoples constitutional rights. They come because of a lack of housing and lack of affordability.

In his council office after the meeting, Harris-Dawson said he did not expect the settlement to hurt or help skid row. Rather, he said, it would make it clear what the city can do as it works to improve the homeless enclave.

I dont expect it to create worse conditions, Harris-Dawson said. Skid row is a problem that accumulated over 50 years. This will make the rules clear...so we can focus on getting people housed.

gholland@latimes.com

Twitter: @geholland
A former sheriffs deputy who is charged with sexual misconduct involving 16 accusers parted ways with his criminal defense attorney and brought in new lawyers, and his trial has been pushed back to the fall.

Trial had been slated to begin in April, with jury selection later this month for former deputy Richard Fischer, who is charged with 20 counts related to on-the-job sexual misconduct.

At a court hearing Tuesday, a judge rescheduled trial for September. Fischer has pleaded not guilty and has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Also at the hearing, criminal defense attorneys Gretchen Von Helms and Jan Ronis stepped in to represent Fischer, replacing Pasadena-based attorney Manny Medrano.

Advertisement

Von Helms on Wednesday confirmed the change but declined further comment, citing an order Vista Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein issued barring attorneys from talking about the facts of the case to the media.

The gag order came less than two weeks ago, after the judge took issue with a statement Medrano made to The San Diego Union-Tribune in January. The attorney had said prosecutors cut deals with some of the accusers to testify at a preliminary hearing last year. Some of the women have criminal histories.

Goldstein, who presided over the preliminary hearing, bristled at the statement that deals had been cut, saying it was not true.

This is the second time Fischer has changed attorneys in the criminal case since he was charged more than a year ago.

Fischer faces charges related to on-the-job sexual misconduct involving 16 women. He faces more than 25 years in state prison if convicted on all counts.

Some of the women said the misconduct occurred while they were detained or in custody. Others said Fischer had been among deputies who responded to calls for assistance, and that the encounters happened when he returned hours or days later.

All of the accusers in the criminal case have sued Fischer and the county. Four other women have settled lawsuits against the county.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

(760) 529-4945

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
Dueling lawsuits between the Border Patrol and a Navy SEAL veteran who clashed in Imperial Beach have settled their court cases, each side agreeing to walk away from the litigation without paying the other.

The settlement comes after U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan issued a mixed ruling in the case in November, dismissing some claims in favor of the government but allowing other parts of the case to move forward.

The encounter occurred in 2014 when Alton Jones, who was visiting the beach with his family, went for a jog on what turned out to be a restricted path. There are signs warning against trespassing facing the north, but not the west, the direction Jones was coming from.

Border Patrol agents testified that Jones ignored them when they tried to tell him to turn around and ran around their vehicles when they tried to block his path. The agents gave chase, which culminated in Jones and an agent going to the ground.

Advertisement

Jones suffered mild injuries, and the agent broke his ankle.

The judge sided with Border Patrol on one front, ruling that it is beyond genuine dispute that the agents had probable cause to arrest Jones. The judge cited the crime of refusing to leave federal land and willfully obstructing law enforcement.

The agent with the broken ankle filed a countersuit against Jones for the injury, and the judge ruled in favor of the agent. The judge also dismissed the individually named agents from Jones lawsuit, leaving only the Border Patrol as an agency as a defendant.

The judge did leave some claims intact, however. He found that a jury should be the ones to determine allegations that Jones was hit during the arrest, that he was left in a hot patrol car for 20 minutes in the middle of summer and that agents ignored his complaints of pain while in custody.

A reasonable jury could find negligence on these facts, and injury in the form of exacerbation of Jones preexisting post-traumatic stress disorder, Whelan wrote.

The Border Patrol has denied the allegations.

In the end, the parties decided to end the case last week, with no money exchanging hands and both sides agreeing to pay their own costs and fees.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
Once a rising Republican star, former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schocks public fall from grace began with stories of his lavish tastes, including the extravagant remodeling of his Washington office inspired by the British television series Downton Abbey.

After he resigned in 2015 amid a federal investigation, Schock, of Peoria, was hit with a sweeping criminal indictment alleging he used his government and campaign funds as a personal piggy bank  with expenditures ranging from private jets and skybox tickets at Soldier Field to handing out exorbitant bonuses and paying for travel to get a haircut.

On Wednesday, however, Schocks story took a stunning turn  one virtually unheard of in a high-profile corruption case. In a surprise move, federal prosecutors in Chicago announced they had agreed to drop all charges against Schock in whats known as a deferred prosecution.

Under the terms of the deal, Schock, 37, must pay back taxes to the IRS and $68,000 to his congressional campaign funds. If he does so  and stays out of any new trouble for six months  prosecutors would drop all felony counts against Schock in September, leaving him with a clean record.

Advertisement

As part of the deal, Schocks campaign committee, Schock for Congress, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor count of failing to properly report expenses.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly approved the deal after prosecutors said they had taken a fresh look at the charges and decided this would be a fair and just outcome, especially given that Schock has no criminal record and resigned from public office.

Dressed in a dark suit and sporting a trimmed beard, Schock showed little expression in court as he reviewed the terms of the agreement with the judge. After court, he told reporters in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse he was happy to have the weight of the prosecution lifted from his shoulders.

But he also accused the lead prosecutor who originally brought the charges in Springfield  Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Bass  of pursuing the case to advance his own career.

I do feel like Ive been wronged in this process by a prosecutor who saw me as his ticket to stardom and who was allowed to go unchecked for many years at great expense to me personally, my family and friends, and, yes, the taxpayers, Schock said. I think its unfortunate that he has not been held to account, and I think the question it begs is how did this go on for so long?

Calls to Bass on Wednesday were directed to a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorneys office in Springfield, who declined to comment.

The abrupt resolution came six months after Schock  in a stroke of luck  had his case transferred out of Springfield because the judge overseeing the matter was accused of having improper contact with the prosecutors office in an unrelated case. Schock had been scheduled to go to trial June 10 in Chicago.

The office of Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., in the Rayburn Office Building, is shown in 2015. It was was designed to resemble the dining room of the British television show Downton Abbey. (Ben Terris/Washington Post)

Schocks attorney, George Terwilliger, said Wednesday he offered to speak to prosecutors under U.S. Attorney John Lausch almost as soon as they took over the case last summer.

We felt all along that if some reasonable prosecutor would sit down and objectively look at the facts here, they would come to the same conclusions that we did  that is, that mistakes are not crimes, Terwilliger said.

The case began with a bang, and that bang turned out to be a blank, he said. And now its ending with a whimper.

The news of the agreement drew reaction from at least one of Schocks former colleagues in Congress  one who also faced federal charges alleging he used campaign funds to furnish a lavish lifestyle.

Before I went to prison, I paid back every cent from my campaign as well, a second mortgage, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to 2 years in prison, posted on Facebook. I paid back every dollar, but I still had to go to prison. Its all good though, I am happy for Aaron. He was great to serve with.

The deferred prosecution could mean that Schocks once-promising political career isnt necessarily over since he avoided a felony conviction.

Schock first entered public life at 19 when he won a write-in campaign to be elected to the Peoria school board. Elected to Congress in 2009 at age 27, he was seen as a darling of the Republican Party and had taken on crucial political fundraising roles when federal investigators began to look into his use of his campaign funds and House allowance to pay personal expenses.

He was charged in a 24-count indictment in November 2016 with wire fraud, mail fraud, theft of government funds, making false statements, filing false reports with federal election officials and filing false tax returns. A judge later dismissed two of those counts.

The 52-page indictment portrayed Schock as treating government and campaign funds as a personal piggy bank  opulently decorating his office, buying a staffer a new car, handing out excessive bonuses and flying on a private airplane to attend a Bears game.

Shock also had an appetite for buying and reselling tickets to sporting events, according to the indictment. From 2009 through 2013, the government noted that Schock bought and sold 46 World Series tickets and eight Super Bowl tickets, earning a total profit of $22,425.

Before Wednesdays bombshell development, Schocks lawyers had tried unsuccessfully to get the indictment thrown out, saying the charges were based on ambiguous House rules in violation of separation-of-power clauses in the Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to take up his appeal.

In his six-page agreement with prosecutors, Schock acknowledged he had a regular practice as a public officeholder of obtaining event tickets at face value and later selling them for a big profit. He admitted that through this side practice, he failed to report $42,375 in income to the IRS over his six years in office.

Schock also admitted overbilling the House of Representatives for mileage as he drove around his district for both official and campaign purposes.

Terwilliger, Schocks lawyer, said after court that the mileage issue amounted to an administrative mistake.

But those kinds of mistakes arent crimes, Terwilliger said. I mean, God help us in this country if every time any of us made a mistake in some administrative matter it was the basis for a felony prosecution.

Terwilliger also said he hoped officials within the U.S. Department of Justice will take a hard look at what happened with Schocks case.

The original prosecutor in the case was openly seeking appointment to higher office, he said. You do the math in terms of what that might mean as to why this case was pursued.  If you investigate anybody long enough and hard enough, youll probably find something that you could cobble together to charge them with. I think thats what happened here.

Schock, meanwhile, would not say whether he intends to ever seek public office again.

I dont know what the future holds, but Im looking forward to being able to resume some semblance of a private life and looking for ways to contribute to society, he said before leaving the courthouse.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @jmetr22b
Documents published Wednesday indicate that the federal government has monitored a group of journalists, attorneys, advocates and activists who interacted with a migrant caravan that arrived in Tijuana late last year.

As recently as a week ago, an attorney with Al Otro Lado, a legal services organization that has been supporting migrants in Tijuana, was stopped when trying to enter Mexico in what some believe is targeting of people who either worked with the caravan or covered the story of its journey to the border.

NBC7 in San Diego published leaked documents Wednesday indicating that the U.S. government has kept dossiers on a group of 59 advocates, activists, attorneys and journalists it is investigating in relation to the migrant caravan that arrived in Tijuana in November. Many of those in the dossier appeared in previous articles by The San Diego Union-Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and The Intercept talking of frequent interrogations at the border or being denied entry to Mexico.

A number of people in the group began to come forward earlier this year after being repeatedly interrogated in secondary inspection when crossing north through the San Ysidro Port of Entry. They said they were asked questions about the caravan and about the people helping it.

Advertisement

Others, like freelance photographer Kitra Cahana, found themselves blocked from entering Mexico. Cahana was twice denied entry to the country when she tried to return to continue her work covering migrants.

Most, but not all, of the people interviewed by the Union-Tribune who believed they had been targeted by Customs and Border Protection for investigation had been present when some members of the caravan were trying to cross the border illegally, such as the incident on New Years when more than 100 migrants gathered on the south side of the border that resulted in U.S. officials firing tear gas. (Officials maintain that they were responding to rocks being thrown at them, but some witnesses have disputed the order of events.)

The published documents indicate that officials placed alerts on some of the people in the group and canceled visas or SENTRI passes for others. At least nine people in the documents appear to have red Xs over their photos, indicating that they were arrested. Many of those nine were later deported from Mexico.

When asked about the dossiers, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman said that the arriving caravans had added increased and new challenges to an already complicated and dangerous mission.

Criminal events, such as the breach of the border wall in San Diego, involving assaults on law enforcement and a risk to public safety, are routinely monitored and investigated by authorities, the CBP official said.

These activities could result in a more thorough review of those seeking entrance into our country. It is protocol following these incidents to collect evidence that might be needed for future legal actions and to determine if the event was orchestrated. CBP and our law enforcement partners evaluate these incidents, follow all leads garnered from information collected, conduct interviews and investigations, in preparation for, and often to prevent future incidents that could cause further harm to the public, our agents, and our economy.

Exactly how much authority border officials have to search and interrogate versus how much civil rights protect individuals passing through is still being litigated in court.

Attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union called for more oversight and accountability of the agency after learning of the dossiers.

This is an outrageous violation of the First Amendment, said Esha Bhandari, staff attorney with the ACLUs Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. The government cannot use the pretext of the border to target activists critical of its policies, lawyers providing legal representation, or journalists simply doing their jobs. We are exploring all options in response.

Al Otro Lado attorney Erika Pinheiros name doesnt appear on the documents that NBC7 published, but her colleague Nicole Ramos does. (The news outlet blurred many of the faces and names in the dossier, but Ramos appears to be the only person identified as an attorney in the pages that were published. Some of those in the documents do not have a role identified.)

Pinheiro was denied entry when she tried to enter Tijuana on foot from San Diego in late January because of an international alert placed on her passport, she said. She spent about a month in the U.S. working to get a residence card to be able to return.

All my family lives in Mexico, Pinheiro said. The whole time I was out, my family was separated. They removed me from Mexico without my kid.

The alert triggered again when she drove across at the San Ysidro Port of Entry a little over a week ago and took her residence card paperwork to Mexican immigration officials, she said. One of the supervisors told her that the alert is for people who have national security or criminal issues, she said.

She had to fill out a questionnaire that asked whether she had warrants in other countries and if shed ever been convicted of a crime. Officials at the port of entry sent her information to Mexico City, and she was allowed into the country after waiting for about an hour.

The last time they were much more aggressive, Pinheiro said of her experience. This time they seemed generally confused.

A Mexican immigration official confirmed that Pinheiro had to go through an administrative process at the port of entry because of an alert on her passport. The official was not able to share the reason for the flag.

Pinheiro believes that the United States government placed the alert on her passport.

It seems like the United States government is targeting anyone who provides assistance to migrants, Pinheiro said. Theres a very clear pattern of that.

Nora Phillips, legal director of Al Otro Lado, was also denied entry to Mexico in January because of a flag on her passport.

Al Otro Lado is part of several lawsuits against the Trump administrations immigration policies.

The State Department and the Department of Justice referred the San Diego Union-Tribune to Mexican immigration officials for comment on Pinheiros case.

The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the record.

Days before Pinheiros second incident at the border, attorneys included a request for information about the flag on Pinheiros passport as part of the discovery process in a case alleging that the federal government illegally turns away asylum seekers. Court documents related to the attorneys request in the case are sealed.

A statement from organizations involved in the case said that attorneys had filed for expedited discovery to determine whether the alerts on the two Al Otro Lado attorneys passports were in retaliation to the lawsuit and Al Otro Lados advocacy for asylum seekers. It points out that the work that Pinheiro and other Al Otro Lado attorneys do, including representing clients in the lawsuits against the U.S. government, requires them to be able to travel to Mexico.

Though Pinheiro has been able to return to Mexico, she worries that she will still be denied entry from any other country because of the alert on her passport.

Her work requires her to travel to Central America frequently as shes among those who have been on the ground supporting deported parents of separated families. Just this week Al Otro Lado supported 29 deported parents on a journey back to the U.S. border in Calexico to ask to be reunited with their children.

Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence

Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter
President Donald Trumps advisers dangled the possibility of a pardon for his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen last year, Cohens attorney said Thursday, as congressional investigators zero in on the presidents pardon power.

The issue of pardons has emerged as a key line of inquiry as Democrats launch a series of sweeping investigations into Trumps political and personal dealings.

Lanny Davis, Cohens lawyer, said in a written statement Thursday that his client was open to the ongoing dangling of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media in the months after the FBI raided Cohens home, office and hotel room in April 2018.

Davis, who was not Cohens lawyer at the time, said Cohen directed his attorney to explore a possible pardon with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others on Trumps legal team. The statement appears to contradict Cohens sworn testimony last week at a House Oversight Committee hearing that he had never asked for, and would not accept, a pardon from Trump.

Advertisement

Davis comment raises questions about whether Cohen  who is slated to begin a three-year prison sentence in May for crimes including lying to Congress  lied to Congress again last week.

Cohens legal team argued that his statement was correct because Cohen never asked the president himself for a pardon.

In a statement, Giuliani called Cohen a serial liar.

Lets hope Congress and DOJ are outraged at Cohens disrespecting them by perjuring himself repeatedly, Giuliani said.

There is nothing inherently improper about a subject in a criminal investigation seeking a pardon from a president given the presidents wide latitude in granting them. But investigators want to know if the prospects of presidential pardons were somehow offered or used inappropriately.

It is hard to untangle the conflicting narratives given the unreliability of some of the central characters. Cohen, for instance, has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and saw his credibility attacked last week by Republican lawmakers. Davis has had to walk back at least one bombshell assertion over the last year  that his client could tell investigators that Trump had advance knowledge of a Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign  and Giuliani has fumbled facts and repeatedly moved the goalposts about what sort of behavior by the president would constitute collusion or a crime.

Congressional investigators, meanwhile, appear to be focusing on presidential powers as a significant line of questioning in their probes.

The House Judiciary Committee, which is conducting a probe into possible obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power, sent letters to the FBI, the Justice Department and others for documents related to possible pardons for Cohen, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. All three have been charged in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into possible coordination between Russia and Trumps presidential campaign.

Congressional investigators are also looking into whether anyone on Trumps legal team tried quietly to reach out to Cohen last year before he turned on the president and as his legal problems mounted.

According to a person familiar with the matter, two New York attorneys who claimed to be in contact with Giuliani reached out to Cohen after the raids on his office and hotel room. The attorneys said they could join his legal team in order to be a conduit to Trumps lawyers, the person said.

The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The attorneys did not explicitly discuss a potential pardon, but investigators are looking into whether it was an implicit communication that Cohens chances of a pardon could be increased if he hired the attorneys, the person said. The lawyers later sent Cohen a bill for their legal service, which he didnt pay, according to the person.

Giuliani, who did not immediately return a call for comment, has raised the prospect of pardons in the past.

In June, he said the president might pardon Manafort and others who were ensnared in the Russia investigation if he believed they were treated unfairly. But, he said, that would happen only after Muellers work wraps up.

The president is not going to issue pardons in this investigation, Giuliani said. Because you just cloud what is becoming now a very clear picture of an extremely unfair investigation with no criminality involved in it of any kind.

But, he added, When its over, hey, hes the president of the United States. He retains his pardon power. Nobody is taking that away from him. He can pardon, in his judgment.

Cohen has become a key figure in congressional investigations since turning on his former boss and cooperating with the special counsel. During last weeks public testimony, he called Trump a con man, a cheat and a racist.

Trump, in turn, has said Cohen did bad things unrelated to Trump and is lying in order to reduce his prison time.

In his statement on Thursday, Davis tried to downplay the contradiction between his statement and Cohens testimony. He said when he was brought on to Cohens legal team in June, his client authorized me as a new lawyer to say publicly Mr. Cohen would never accept a pardon from President Trump even if offered.

That continues to be the case, Davis said. And his statement at the Oversight Hearing was true  and consistent with his post joint defense agreement commitment to tell the truth.

Davis did not immediately respond Thursday to text messages and emails seeking additional information.

Separately on Thursday, Cohen filed a lawsuit in New York City claiming the Trump Organization broke a promise to pay his legal bills and owes at least $1.9 million to cover the cost of his defense. Cohen alleges the company breached a contract when it stopped paying his mounting legal fees after he began cooperating with federal prosecutors in their investigations.

The Trump Organization didnt immediately respond to messages seeking comment, and Cohens attorneys declined to comment on the suit.

Cohen is headed to prison in May after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and other crimes.

Federal prosecutors have said Trump directed Cohen to arrange payments to buy the silence of two women  porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal  who had alleged they had sex with Trump. Trump has denied having an affair.

Cohen also admitted that he lied to Congress about the duration of negotiations in 2016 over a Trump real estate project in Moscow.

The Senate intelligence committee is interested in re-interviewing Donald Trump Jr. and other witnesses after Cohen spoke to the committee last week, a person familiar with the probe said. The person wasnt authorized to discuss the confidential investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

The committee first interviewed Trump Jr. in 2017, when he told the panel he was only peripherally aware of the proposal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen told a House committee last week that he had briefed Trump Jr. approximately 10 times about the plan.

Sisak reported from New York. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
The hip-hop hit A Lot, by the rapper 21 Savage, boomed through the speakers at Phnom Penhs Cool Lounge, the rapid-fire verses spilling from the bar onto the Cambodian capitals hectic streets.

Been through some things, but I couldnt imagine my kids stuck at the border, rapped the British-born artist who was recently detained in the U.S. on suspicion of overstaying his 2006 visa.

The lyrics and the Atlanta-based rappers story, perhaps foreign to most Cambodians, resonated with the bars clientele, which included some of the more than 700 Cambodians deported from the United States over criminal convictions since a 2002 repatriation agreement.

During his second term, President Obama prioritized removing migrants with criminal convictions. The Trump administration has since ramped up deportations, including of Cambodians and Southeast Asians, expanding the list of targets and the acts for which they can be removed, some for cases more than a decade old.

Advertisement

But sitting inside the Cool Lounge on a recent afternoon, a tattooed, soft-spoken California man who was deported in 2014 to Cambodia  a country hed never set foot in  was preparing to embark on a journey that had given other deportees hope.

Veasna Meth, 30, spent the last five years apart from family members in Sacramento, including wife Sandy Ho and their children  son Jorden, 12, and 1-year-old Lily.

Now Meth is one of the first Cambodians to be allowed to return after the 2018 Supreme Court decision in Sessions vs. Dimaya, which struck down part of a broad federal immigration law that mandated the removal of noncitizens, including longtime green-card holders, who were convicted of a crime of violence.

The court determined that the statutes language was vague, voiding the deportation order of a Philippine man who had twice pleaded guilty to breaking into an unoccupied California house.

As a 19-year-old, Meth and his friends broke into an empty house. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to residential burglary, then served one year in prison. A court initially ruled that it was not a crime of violence and therefore not an aggravated felony under the federal law, which would have required the cancellation of his green card.

But in 2013, the Department of Homeland Security appealed the decision and won, raising Meths conviction to an aggravated felony that invalidated his green card.

Meth said that, months later, immigration authorities came to his mothers house, asking where he was. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent eventually called him, posing as a parole officer.

They said they wanted me to sign some paper. And I was like, OK, Im at work, you wanna meet me here?  he recalled. Twenty minutes later, three cars showed up.

Authorities picked him up from his job as a fabricator, where he made signs and boxes out of acrylic, and in January 2014 deported him.

His story is typical of Cambodian deportees, the overwhelming majority of whom arrived in the U.S. as children, their parents having fled the country in the 1970s when the Khmer Rouge began its genocidal campaign that killed nearly 2 million people.

Some deportees were born in refugee camps in Thailand or, like Meth, the Philippines; most had lived in the U.S. for decades and obtained green cards. Many, like Meth, had never been to Cambodia before they were deported and had few if any relatives still living there.

Meth emigrated to the U.S. as a 5-month-old and grew up in California, in low-income communities in Long Beach, Modesto and Stockton, often surrounded by gang violence.

He said he and his parents didnt understand the importance of pursuing U.S. citizenship, believing his permanent residency to be genuinely permanent.

After arriving in Cambodia, Meth for the first time met his aunt, the only member of his family remaining in the country. And although he speaks Khmer, he cant read or write in Cambodias language.

Native Cambodians, he said, view deportees as suspicious foreigners. They dont like us with tattoos, he said in a California accent as West Coast rap played over the speakers at the Cool Lounge. They say that were the bad guys.

Learning to live in Cambodia was a culture shock, he said. And then depression, because my son was still young and my wife was there by herself.

Ho, an accountant who visited him in Cambodia nearly every year, had to support their family on her own.

Im just in disbelief how the system worked and my husband was wrongfully deported, Ho said. Like literally, at that point, what do I do?

Meth was living alone, without a Cambodian identification card required for him to work legally. His situation became even more complicated when he suffered a serious motorcycle crash that left him paralyzed for months  a common occurrence in Cambodia, where road accidents are the leading cause of death.

Friends and family raised money for his surgery, but the dearth of quality medical providers in Cambodia stunted his recovery, leaving him with a pronounced limp and unable to lift heavy objects.

Other deportees have been less fortunate: Sophorn San of Providence, R.I., who arrived in Cambodia in December, died in a gruesome motorcycle crash last month.

While recovering from his crash, Meth contacted the legal aid organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice  Asian Law Caucus. In May, one month after the Supreme Court decision, lawyers filed a motion to reconsider Meths deportation.

We all dream of bringing deportees home. Veasna is hopefully just the beginning. Kevin Lo, one of Veasna Meths lawyers

The high courts 5-4 ruling was the result of an unlikely alliance between its liberal justices and Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trumps first appointee to the court. In a partially concurring opinion, Gorsuch wrote that the statutes vagueness left judges to their intuitions and the people to their fate.

Immigration advocates hailed the ruling, saying it would spare thousands of legal residents from deportation. But the Trump administration has pushed back against individual cases.

Department of Homeland Security lawyers opposed Meths repatriation, according to court documents reviewed by The Times. Contacted for this article, a representative referred to an earlier statement by the department that the Supreme Court ruling allows our nation to be a safe haven for criminals and makes us more vulnerable as a result.

But in November, an immigration judge sided with Meth, declaring his removal order erroneous and restoring his green card.

Advocates hope the Dimaya ruling will open doors for the return of other noncitizens.

We all dream of bringing deportees home, said Kevin Lo, one of Meths lawyers. Veasna is hopefully just the beginning.

But others warn that immigration judges retain vast discretion and can refuse for any reason to reopen cases, even those involving the crime of violence convictions addressed by the court. Individual cases such as Meths do not set a precedent, they say.

Bill Herod, the American founder of the Khmer Vulnerability Aid Organization, a Phnom Penh-based assistance group for deportees, urged Cambodians removed from the U.S. not to get their hopes up.

Those considering legal action permitting their return to the U.S. will have our cooperation, he said in a statement. But as the process may be lengthy and uncertain, we hope this will not interfere with the hard work they are now doing in building new lives of freedom and responsibility in Cambodia.

Veasna Meth holds the hand of his wife, Sandy Ho, upon his arrival at San Francisco Airport late last month. They are flanked by his lawyers Melanie Kim and Kevin Lo. (Kevin Lo)

Meth never thought he would get back to the U.S. and seemed in disbelief even days before his flight.

Coming here, its always in the back of my mind that I want to go home, he said. While you keep going with your life, you try something. If it work out, it work out. It doesnt matter how long it take.

Meth sat at the Cool Lounge with a group of friends munching on takeout Mexican food, a cuisine that reminded them of California. The bar draws a large clientele of deportees  its owner was also sent back from the U.S.  and Meth was struggling to shake a kind of survivors guilt.

Youre here for a certain time and then you bond, you become brothers because thats all you got, he said. Im blessed, man. Its hard to explain the feeling because, at the end of the day, I got friends here with kids and no chance of going home.

On Feb. 27, Meth departed Phnom Penh for San Francisco, carrying physical and emotional scars from Cambodia: He wore a shirt depicting San, the deportee killed in the recent crash, flanked by graffitied angel wings.

Im excited to see my kids and to be back on American soil, Meth said in a text message after landing. I dont quite know how to express it, but I just want to go outside and kiss the ground or something.

Dunst is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Shashank Bengali in Singapore contributed to this report.
A San Diego physician whose firm was hired as a medical examiner in Texas has been accused in a lawsuit of harvesting body parts from deceased children not for medical reasons, but to boost his research prospects.

The lawsuit accuses Dr. Evan Matshes of practicing medicine in the state of Texas without a license. It also says he and his company, NAAG Pathology Labs PC of San Diego, terminated employees who complained about the practices.

Matshes declined to discuss the allegations in the litigation. His company issued statements that rejected all assertions that Matshes, the firm or its chief medical examiner, Dr. Sam Andrews, did anything improper.

The company said the lawsuit is being driven by former employees and others who lack medical expertise.

Advertisement

We strongly deny that either NAAG Pathology Labs or Dr. Andrews have acted in any manner that is contrary to the best interest of the public, the statement said. We are confident that we will be exonerated of all claims of wrongdoing.

The Texas Rangers state police are investigating the allegations leveled in the lawsuit filed by Tita Senee Graves, a Lubbock County prosecutor said.

Graves is a career medical technician who landed a job with the Lubbock County medical examiners office in 2015, after working for decades as an X-ray technician at a private laboratory.

She was fired Jan. 17 after she and others in the medical examiners office questioned what Matshes was doing with the bodies of deceased children, according to the lawsuit. She filed suit Feb. 20 in the 72nd District Court in Lubbock County.

Ms. Graves and the other staff were disturbed by the autopsies of the infants, the suit states. The unnecessary harvesting of body parts for a pathologists personal research interests seemed wrong.

NAAG Pathology Labs is a private company based in Sorrento Valley, and most of its Texas work is performed by about 10 employees in Lubbock County. It performs autopsies and other medical examiner services across the United States and other countries.

The company said it does not perform any medical research. Matshes has a second firm called the National Autopsy Assay Group that provides independent tissue and organ analyses.

In Lubbock County, medical examiner services have been farmed out to private contractors for years.

NAAG Pathology Labs took over the department on an interim basis in August after a former medical examiner vacated the post, the lawsuit states. The agreement was rewritten in October, and Andrews was named chief medical examiner.

Within weeks, the complaint says, NAAG began harvesting more human tissue during autopsies than was needed to determine causes of death.

Dr. Matshes stated that he wanted to collect more tissues from those autopsies than had been done in the past because he needed the tissue for his research, the suit states. ... The new protocol required the removal of the childrens brain, eyes, spinal cord, posterior neck, including vertebra, and the heart and lungs.

Matshes, who lives in San Diego and travels to Lubbock County for work, performed two procedures in front of his employees, even though he was not qualified to do so in the state of Texas, the suit said.

Dr. Matshes stated that he was acting as a tech, not a doctor, since he was not licensed to practice medicine in Texas, the complaint states. Dr. Matshes made the incisions and removed the organs himself, while Dr. Andrews observed along with the staff.

The company said there is nothing improper about removing organs from the bodies of decedents whose deaths are under criminal investigation. It also said that the procedure does not require a medical license.

Dr. Matshes did not practice medicine during the procedure mentioned in the lawsuit, the statement said.

NAAG Pathology Labs said the lawsuit and related complaints to the Texas Rangers and state medical board are the result of peoples lack of expertise.

It is clear that some of the employees, who were not physicians or pathologists, didnt understand the thorough process necessary for an autopsy that may be later challenged in court, the company said. Dr. Andrews ships some items to the San Diego lab because some specific expertise is not available in Lubbock.

According to letters Matshes and Andrews each sent to Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish before the lawsuit was filed, the allegations are politically motivated by a newly elected county commissioner who is opposed to the changes that NAAG Pathology Labs implemented to professionalize the department.

It is a fundamental expectation that I, as a forensic pathologist in the role of your appointed Chief Medical Examiner, be free of political influence, which includes being free from fear for my personal safety, the safety of my staff and free from the fear of all forms of retaliation, Andrews wrote.

Barron Slack, of the Lubbock County district attorneys office, declined to comment on the lawsuit. He said his office will wait for results from the Texas Rangers criminal investigation into the allegations before deciding on the next actions.

Matshes received his medical degree from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, in 2004. He was licensed by the California Medical Board in May 2017 and licensed in Texas prior to 2013. His application for a new license there is pending.

Andrews holds a valid Texas Medical Board license.

Matshes had performance issues in Canada, where he also worked as a medical examiner prior to establishing NAAG Pathology Labs. According to a 2012 news release from the Alberta Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General, work performed by Matshes at the Alberta medical examiners office did not meet professional standards.

The panel found the conclusions reached by Dr. Matshes to be unreasonable regarding either the cause of death, manner of death and/or other opinions, the release said.

Matshes disputed those findings and sued for up to $30 million in damages to his reputation. The case is ongoing in an Alberta court.

In the Lubbock County lawsuit, Austin, Texas, attorney Kevin Glasheen said his client, Graves, was extremely disturbed by the new protocols imposed by NAAG Pathology Labs, once it took over the medical examiners office.

Lubbock County, which also provides pathology services to about 20 other rural counties across West Texas, has a troubled history associated with its medical examiners office.

In the early 1990s, then-Dr. Ralph Erdmann was accused of falsifying records, botching blood samplings, losing some body parts and performing made-to-order autopsies that would favor versions of events put forward by police.

He pleaded no contest to seven felonies and received a 10-year probation sentence and agreed to surrender his medical license.

Jeff McDonald writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, said Wednesday that she was raped by a superior officer while serving in the Air Force.

The 26-year veteran made the disclosure at a Senate hearing on the armed services efforts to prevent sexual assaults and improve the response when they occur.

McSally said she did not report being sexually assaulted because she did not trust the system, and she said she was ashamed and confused. McSally did not name the officer who she says raped her.

I stayed silent for many years, but later in my career, as the military grappled with the scandals, and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know I too was a survivor, she said, choking up as she detailed what had happened to her. I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled. I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again.

Advertisement

McSallys revelation comes not long after Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) detailed her own abuse and assault, and at a time of increased awareness over the problem of harassment and assault in the armed forces. Reports of sexual assaults across the military jumped nearly 10% in 2017  a year that also saw an online nude-photo sharing scandal rock the Defense Department.

McSally said she shares in the disgust of the failures of the military system and many commanders who have failed to address the problems of sexual misconduct. She said the public must demand that higher-ranking officials be part of the solution.
It was just a couple of days after hed left the nuclear summit between President Trump and North Koreas Kim Jong Un after it collapsed in Hanoi, and where was Americas top diplomat?

On morning drive-time radio in Iowa.

Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo had barely touched down at Joint Base Andrews from Vietnam after a diplomatic stop in Manila, when he boarded another flight  for Des Moines. Even the several radio and television interviewers he met with there earlier this week were a little surprised he had made the trip.

Pompeo alluded to the unlikely appearance when he opened his remarks to the Iowa branch of the Future Farmers of America.

Advertisement

Some of you may not have heard of me before, he said to laughter, then added: I know Iowa is not a foreign country, in case some of you thought maybe I was a little confused.

Pompeo described his visit as partly a mission to inspire people in fly-over country to become future diplomats. What was clearly more important, however, was the more immediate and politically charged part of his mission: talking about trade and reassuring an agricultural sector battered by President Trumps trade war with China that everything will, eventually, be OK.

We flew in last night, and believe me, it was a breath of fresh air to be out of Washington, D.C., Pompeo told the Iowa Farm Bureau in another appearance Monday. And I know firsthand too how farmers are the backbone of America, how food security matters so much, and what you all do, the people of Iowa do, to help deliver that every place in the world.

It is unusual  though not unheard of  for a secretary of State to spend as much time on domestic speaking engagements as Pompeo does, and even more unusual for the subjects to be domestic ones, in his case trade and farming. Those are matters normally handled by the Cabinet secretaries for Commerce and Agriculture, or the presidents trade representative.

Madeleine Albright, who was secretary of State in President Clintons second term, also did speaking tours in the U.S. She was primarily promoting internationalism, however, drumming up support at home for foreign policy and for cooperation among nations globally.

Pompeo, in contrast, has demonstrated he is looking inward while his portfolio is one that looks outward. Formerly a Republican congressman from Kansas, he is likely eyeing a return to politics, maybe even a presidential bid in 2024. He recently was urged by senior Republicans to run for the Senate from his home state, and considered it, but declined.

For now, then, Pompeo is among the most loyal members of Trumps Cabinet, eager to do the presidents bidding whether in Kansas or Kuwait.

Later this month, he will deliver the keynote address for the State Departments Road to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit Heartland Event in Overland Park, Kan. He has given several dozen interviews to local-level radio and television stations all over the country, sometimes by teleconference, and especially in the Midwest  while shutting out most Washington-based diplomatic correspondents.

President Trump has been determined to get Iowa farmers a fair shake, Pompeo told broadcast host Doug Wagner on Cedar Rapids WMT Radio, in a show that airs between 5 and 9 a.m.  the popular drive time.

Describing China as a duplicitous trading partner, Pompeo said, This effort to get a full, comprehensive trade deal, is to fix that, to make it fair, to fix this historic wrong, and I am very hopeful in the coming weeks well get that positive outcome.

Over at WHO Radio in Des Moines, the hosts of the Van and Bonnie in the Morning show also welcomed Pompeo.

Well, Bonnie, I always said itd be a cold day when the United States secretary of State would call us and want to be on Van and Bonnie in the Morning, co-host Van Harden said.

And its cold, Bonnie Lucas responded.

You got it, Harden said. Its minus 1.

Pompeo gave them a similar pitch about Trumps trade policies ultimately helping out Iowan and Kansan farmers, if theyll just be patient.

I do want to talk about agriculture, making sure that Iowa farmers and, frankly, Kansas farmers, too, have a chance to compete on a fair, level playing field, he said.

Farmers in states that supported Trump in 2016, including Iowa, have been hit hard by the retaliatory tariffs that U.S. trading partners have imposed in reaction to the presidents tariffs on their exports. Trumps trade war with China  previously soybean farmers main customer  has especially hurt U.S. agriculture, driving down sales and market prices. For the industry in the Midwest and Great Plains states, its the worst crisis since the 1980s  a worrisome fact for the administration.

Trump last year imposed levies on the importation of scores of Chinese products, such as TVs, chemicals, steel and solar panels. China retaliated by imposing tariffs on imports of U.S. agricultural commodities including soybeans, grain sorghum and pork. Soybean exports to China have plummeted by more than 90%.

Trump appointed Pompeo, formerly his CIA director, as secretary of State almost a year ago to replace Rex Tillerson, former chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp., who frequently clashed with the president. Originally from California, Pompeo spent many years in Kansas and, while his business involved aircraft manufacturing, he makes frequent reference to time on a family farm.

Trump clearly relies on Pompeo, one of the few experienced politicians in his orbit, to perform many tasks. As the president has begun his campaigning for reelection, the secretary of States jobs apparently include allaying the concerns of Trumps core supporters in rural America.

We deliver consistent, stable, affordable, high-yield, high-quality food products all around the world, Pompeo told the Iowa Farm Bureau, adding that foreign competitors spread myths and lies about U.S. products to protect their own farmers.

The State Department has an obligation to fix that, too, and that goes for every place in the world.

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter
San Diego public works crews will begin $430,000 in emergency repairs Thursday on the Ocean Beach Pier, which has been closed since Jan. 19 because of damage suffered during a winter storm that featured large waves and high tides.

The repairs to railings and sewer and electrical lines, which are scheduled for completion by Memorial Day, are only a short-term fix for the 53-year-old pier, city officials said.

The city also is planning more aggressive, long-term upgrades to the pier that will be based on a comprehensive assessment recently launched by structural engineers Moffatt & Nichol, who specialize in piers.

They will provide us some recommendations, which will include a financial assessment of the costs, said Johnnie Perkins, the citys deputy chief operating officer. We expect to have something from them in a couple months, and then we will need a couple months ourselves internally to kind of assess and evaluate what their recommendations are.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, city officials are focused on making sure the pier is open by Memorial Day weekend, so its available to residents and tourists throughout the busy summer season.

We know how much San Diegans love the OB Pier so were moving quickly to make the repairs necessary to get it open again, Mayor Kevin Faulconer said. The pier has been standing strong for a half-century, but it took a tremendous beating during the recent storms.

The waves from the January storm, which reached as high as 12 feet, damaged 2,200 feet of railings and rendered dysfunctional the piers electrical, sewer and water lines.

Those utilities are necessary for the restaurant and the bait shop that operates at the far end of the 1,971-foot pier, the second longest ocean pier in California and the longest concrete pier in the world.

The electrical lines also are needed for the piers lights and foghorn, which have been powered by generators since the piers closure six weeks ago.

We cant have a generator running permanently, so we need to lay an electrical conduit, Perkins said Wednesday morning.

We need to remove the damaged lines and repair them so we can make sure the restaurant and bait shop are re-opened, Perkins said.

The repairs also will include replacing 2,200 feet of railings, about 1,100 feet on the north and south sides of the pier, which were blown away by the storm.

The final element of the repairs will be fixing the piers fish-cleaning sinks, which are closer to shore.

Councilwoman Dr. Jennifer Campbell, whose district includes the pier, said she was pleased the citys repairs will begin immediately.

The OB Pier isnt just a community asset, its part of what makes Ocean Beach so special for residents and visitors alike, she said. Im so happy that the city is making real progress to reopen the pier so the public can enjoy it again.

The pier, which opened in 1966, gets an estimated 500,000 visitors per year. Fishing is legal the entire length of the pier but is most popular on two extensions off the main pier that jut north and south.

Storms and damage have forced many previous closures of the pier, but most of them havent been nearly as long as this years closure.

In 1991, stormy weather required $2 million in repairs. And during winter storms in 2002, gigantic waves shoving the restaurants kitchen wall three feet into the galley.

Moffat & Nichol, the firm hired for comprehensive assessment, recently completed similar work on the Oceanside Pier that determined a retrofit is needed that would cost an estimated $26.5 million.

That assessment provided the city of Oceanside with several options for upgrading its pier, each with different price tags.

Perkins said he is unsure whether the city would receive a similar set of choices.

The only ocean pier in the state longer than the Ocean Beach Pier is in Santa Cruz. In San Diego County, the second longest pier is the Oceanside Pier, followed by Imperial Beach, Scripps Pier in La Jolla and Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
A shooting at Chicano Park in Barrio Logan sent a 19-year-old man to the hospital Wednesday night, police said.

It happened a few minutes before 7 p.m. at the National Historic Landmark park, which is just east of Cesar Chavez Parkway between National and Logan avenues, San Diego police Sgt. Michael Tansey said.

The victim was hanging out with a group near the parks central stage when an argument broke out and one of the people in the group pulled out a handgun, Tansey said.

Several shots were fired and the 19-year-old male victim was struck twice, Tansey said in a statement. The victim sustained a gunshot wound to his left bicep and his right buttock.

Advertisement

The victim ran from the scene, and an acquaintance drove him to a hospital, Tansey said. He was transferred from there to a trauma center at a different hospital with injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening.

Neither the victim nor his acquaintance provided police with details of the incident, Tansey said.

Gang detectives responded to the scene to investigate the shooting.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com

UPDATES:

9:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

This article was originally published at 7:45 p.m.
A warrant has been issued for the husband of a 36-year-old City Heights woman who was found slain in her apartment Monday.

Police are looking for 45-year-old Abdiaziz Kerow, who is suspected of killing his wife and fleeing the area, said police Lt. Anthony Dupree.

Family members told police they had last heard from Muna Salad Kuri, 36, on Saturday.

The victim was found in her bed in her apartment on Van Dyke Avenue near Polk Avenue on Monday morning after one of her sisters became concerned when she didnt show up at the home daycare business she runs in the College Area.

Advertisement

An arrest warrant has been issued for Abdiaziz Kerow who is being sought in connection with the slaying of his wife. Police believe he is driving a white Ford Explorer. (Courtesy of San Diego Police Department)

Police said the victim had suffered traumatic injuries to her upper body.

Family members said she had emigrated from Kenya in 2000 and had been married since around 2014.

Kerow is described as black, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 145 pounds. They said he may be driving a white four-door Ford Explorer with the California license plate 8CVK537.

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide at (619) 532-2293 or San Diego Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

.

Twitter: @karenkucher

(619) 293-1350

karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com
A car crashed off a rural North County roadway and plunged about 100 feet down an embankment Wednesday afternoon, leaving the driver trapped in the car with life-threatening injuries, a fire captain said.

The crash was reported a few minutes after 3 p.m. on Sandia Creek Drive about two miles north of Rock Mountain Road, in the far reaches of rural North County, north of Fallbrook near the Riverside County line, according to North County Fire Protection District spokesman Capt. John Choi.

Firefighters used ropes to safely descend to where the four-door sedan ended up, extricated the driver and then carefully moved that person up the hill back to the roadway, Choi said.

North County Fire and Camp Pendleton Fire resources are on scene of a vehicle over the side on Sandia Creek Rd. in the vicinity of the County line. Sandia Creek Rd. will be closed for approximately the next 1-2 hours.  North County Fire (@NorthCountyFire) March 6, 2019

Advertisement

Medics took the driver by ambulance to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido with injuries described as life-threatening, Choi said. No identifying information about the driver was immediately available.

A fire crew from Camp Pendleton joined firefighters Chois department to help in the rescue, the captain said.

Sandia Creek Drive was shut down during the rescue and was expected to remain closed until around 4:45 or 5 p.m., Choi said.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com
When Todd walked up to Front and Ash streets in downtown San Diego Thursday morning, he was surprised to see a bomb squad looking at the luggage he had left there.

Police had the federal Social Security building cordoned off for a block in every direction.

I tried to tell them it was my bag, said Todd, who declined to give his last name. People are stupid about luggage.

He said he had in the bags a jar of Ralphs Honey Peanut Butter, tortillas, clothes, a dead cellphone and a charger.

Advertisement

He declined to say whether he lives on the streets or had someplace he was going with his set of four matching suitcases and bags.

Authorities said the business tower that houses the Social Security Administration offices on the ground floor had evacuated for a planned fire drill.

As people streamed out of the building, someone spotted two bags under a tree near Front and Ash.

Federal law enforcement officials called San Diego police for assistance with a suspicious object shortly after 10:30 a.m., police Officer Billy Hernandez said.

San Diego Fire-Rescues bomb squad was called to investigate.

Ash from Second Street to Front was closed, as was First Street from A Street to Beech Street. People in nearby buildings were asked to shelter in place.

Fire Battalion Chief Mike Liversedge said the bomb squad used diagnostic tools to determine that the bags held personal items.

Meanwhile, Todd said he was trying to retrieve his belongings. He was held back behind police tape with other onlookers, and, he said, an officer told him to walk in the opposite direction from the federal building.

I tried to tell him they were my bags. I said, Can you just hand me my bags?

Somebody pissed off at Social Security  thats how the police were playing it.

He said he had just gone to Ralphs several blocks away and needed two trips to get his four bags across downtown, to what he called a safe spot.

I wasnt planning to carry it all around with me all day, he said.

Shortly after noon, police tweeted: All clear at the suspicious package. The streets were soon reopened.

It was unknown if Todd retrieved his bags. He said he was headed to the fire station to try to get them back.

Police are investigating a suspicious package on Front Street. Road Closures: First Street from A St to Beech St and Ash from 2nd St to Front St closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Use alternate route. pic.twitter.com/dOdmdgjVqM  San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) March 7, 2019

All clear at the suspicious package. Streets opening. Traffic can resume as normal. We appreciate your patience while dealing with the incident. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/AJTwk1ACN8  San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) March 7, 2019

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

(760) 529-4945

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT

UPDATES:

1 p.m.: This story was updated with information from San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

12:15 p.m.: This story was updated. It was initially posted at 11:10 a.m.
A San Diego scientist who led an expedition into dangerous waters off Chile collected tissue samples that could prove the existence of a graceful new species of killer whale, ending decades of mystery.

Robert Pitman of NOAAs Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SFSC) in La Jolla gathered the samples in January from three of the animals, which some researchers believe are the largest scientifically unidentified animals on Earth.

The samples will be brought to SFSC so scientists can genetically determine if the rarely seen whales, known as Type D, are different from other orcas.

I could be wrong, but these Type D animals are radically different from other killer whales, said Pitman, the expeditions principal investigator.

Advertisement

Their bodies are more cylindrical than the kind of killer whales you see at Sea World. Their head is bulbous. And their dorsal fin is pointy and narrow at the base.

The Type D are also believed to be smaller than other types of killer whales, although that fact has yet to be confirmed.

Fishermen, ecotourists and naturalists traveling in the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean) have seeing and photographing Type D orcas for years. But the expedition represents the first time scientists collected DNA samples from the creatures.

The achievement, announced Thursday, was made by researchers from the U.S., Canada, Argentina and Australia.The scientists included one of Pitmans colleagues at SFSC, conservation biologist Lisa Ballance, who said, This was a high-risk project in some of the roughest seas on Earth.

We didnt know whether wed find the whales at all. We laid at anchor in 40 to 60 knot winds for eight days before there was a brief break in the weather and we encountered 25 to 30 of them for several hours.

It was intense and extraordinary.

Pitman organized the expedition after hearing continued reports that the Type D whales were spotted in the Southern Ocean, especially by long-line fishermen. The animals trailed their boats and sometimes stole fish off their lines.

The researchers went out to sea in early January aboard the 72-foot research vessel Australis, departing Cape Horn, Chile. The port is almost 7,000 miles southeast of San Diego.

They found a pod of the whales 150 miles southwest of Cape Horn early on the morning of Jan. 19th, in a moment of extraordinary exuberance.

We got to see this virtually unknown type of whale for about 3.5 hours, during which we took thousands of photographs and did underwater videography, said Ballance, who also is an adjunct professor at UC San Diegos Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

We also used a hydrophone to record their sounds.

The researchers used a crossbow to fire tiny non-lethal probes into the blubber of the whales. The probes are designed to immediately pop out with a sample of the animals tissue. The samples were retrieved from the sea.

Type D killer whales appear to have been unknown to humans until 1955, when 17 of them became stranded on a beach in New Zealand, NOAA says.

Compared to other killer whales, they had more rounded heads; a narrower and more pointed dorsal fin, and a tiny white eye patch, NOAA said in a statement. No whales like this had ever been described before.

For decades, researchers thought the whales might be a genetic aberration that was seen in stranded whales. But in 2005, a French scientist showed Pitman photos of what were believed to be Type D whales that had raided commercial fishing lines in the southern Indian Ocean, NOAA says.

That suggested that the whales were more abundant and widespread than previously believed.

Pitman began a 14-year effort to find, study and sample the whales, a quest that came to fruition in mid-January.

It felt like we were out there chasing our tails, said Pitman, who is married to Ballance. Then the boats captain spotted them and we got in close. I remember thinking how small they were.

Its amazing that we found them. They live in the worst weather on Earth, in the open ocean. If you were going to hide a large animal, that is where youd put it.
The Democratic National Committee has decided to exclude Fox News Channel from televising any of its candidate debates during the 2019-2020 cycle as a result of published revelations detailing the cable networks close ties to the Trump administration.

In a statement Wednesday, DNC Chairman Tom Perez cited a story in the New Yorker magazine this week that detailed how Fox has promoted President Trumps agenda. The article, entitled The Making of the Fox News White House, suggested that the news network had become a propaganda vehicle for Trump.

I believe that a key pathway to victory is to continue to expand our electorate and reach all voters, said Perez in his statement to The Washington Post. That is why I have made it a priority to talk to a broad array of potential media partners, including Fox News. Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates. Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates.

Hours later, Trump responded to the decision by suggesting he might seek to retaliate.

Advertisement

Democrats just blocked (at)FoxNews from holding a debate, he said in a tweet Wednesday night. Good, then I think Ill do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!

Winning the exclusive rights to televise the 12 candidate debates is considered a prestigious prize in the television business. The debates typically draw large audiences - the first Republican debate in August 2015 attracted a record 24 million viewers - and are a vehicle for promoting the networks news programs.

Numerous networks, including Fox, have submitted proposals to the DNC to televise one of the 12 scheduled debates, which will start in June. So far, the organization has only awarded rights to the first two - to NBC (along with sister networks MSNBC and Telemundo) and to CNN.

In a statement, Fox News Senior Vice President Bill Sammon said: We hope the DNC will reconsider its decision to bar Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, all of whom embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism, from moderating a Democratic presidential debate. Theyre the best debate team in the business and they offer candidates an important opportunity to make their case to the largest TV news audience in America, which includes many persuadable voters.

The network hosted back-to-back town hall meetings with Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in 2016 but did not televise a Democratic debate that year.

Foxs connections to Trump have been documented for years. He had a regular spot on its morning program Fox and Friends starting in 2011, and has hired several of its former contributors and executives to work in his administration, including its former co-president, Bill Shine, who is now the presidents deputy chief of staff for communications. Trump has been interviewed many times on the network, and has promoted various Fox talking points and personalities on Twitter.

Some observers have suggested that the network has become a kind of de facto state TV, shaping and promoting Trumps policy agency.

New Yorker writer Jane Mayer added new details about the relationship in her 11,000-word article published earlier this week.

Among other things, she reported that Roger Ailes, the networks late chief executive, may have informed the Trump campaign about a question involving Trumps treatment of women that former Fox News host Megyn Kelly intended to ask at the first Republican debate in 2015. Mayer also reported that Trump was tipped by Fox sources to a second debate question about whether the candidates would support the Republican nominee for president, regardless of who won.

In addition, Mayer wrote that a Fox reporter, Diana Falzone, had detailed information about Trumps relationship with porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election, but network officials declined to publish the story, apparently on orders from Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Fox has denied this account; it said it was unable to confirm Daniels story and didnt publish anything as a result.

The most startling revelation may have been that Trump ordered his former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn to pressure the Justice Department to pursue an antitrust case against AT&Ts merger with Time Warner, the parent of Fox rival CNN, allegedly as payback for CNNs unfavorable news coverage of Trump. Cohn purportedly declined to pursue the presidents directive, although the Justice Department did file an antitrust case, which a judge rejected.

The article also said Trump receives advice not just from Fox personality Sean Hannity, but also from lesser figures at the network, such as Pete Hegseth and Lou Dobbs, both of whom have been patched into Oval Office meetings to offer policy advice.

Published by the Washington Post.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen sparred with newly empowered House Democrats over President Trumps immigration policies Wednesday, defending his recent misstatement that border apprehensions were at an all-time high.

Nielsen called on Congress to address what she described as a growing emergency along the southern border even as Democrats pressed her to explain administration policies they condemned as inhumane and ineffective.

Nielsen defended Trumps recent misstatement that there were never so many apprehensions ever in history at the U.S.-Mexico. border. Apprehensions in the mid-2000s routinely reached more than 1 million migrants a year. In the fiscal year that ended in September, 521,090 people were apprehended or stopped at the border. She said the nation is on track this year for a total of 900,000 apprehensions at the border.

Nevertheless Nielsen refused to contradict the president, saying that in some categories, we have had record-breaking apprehensions, such as in the category of families.

Advertisement

Nielsens testimony came during a hearing in the House Homeland Security Committee, the highest-profile clash between the Trump administration and the House panel since Democrats took control of the chamber. It was one of three hearings related to border security Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

The hearings came as the Trump administration has expanded a new policy requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are considered.

In a separate Senate hearing Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told lawmakers that the remain in Mexico policy  previously just at the San Ysidro port of entry as part of a pilot program  is now in force at all three ports of entry in the San Diego sector. Administration officials had said they planned to expand the program.

There was a concern that people would be crossing between ports, [but] now it is effective in San Diego sector as well, he said. Its directly designed not to incentivize illegal behavior. If you cross illegally, youre still going to have to wait in Mexico for your court proceeding.

In the House, several heated exchanges between Nielsen and Democrats boiled down to a debate over semantics.

Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) said the practice of separating children from their parents was an administration policy, while Nielsen called it law.

Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said detained children were put in cages, while Nielsen said they were put in areas carved out for their safety and protection.

Nielsen implored Congress to take seriously the administrations controversial emergency declaration to build a wall, warning that the border is at a breaking point. She cited the more than 76,000 people who crossed the border in February  a 12-year high.

Illegal immigration is simply spiraling out of control, threatening public safety and national security, she said. We have tens of thousands of illegal aliens arriving at our doorstep every month. We have drugs, criminals and violence spilling into our country every week.

Before the hearing, Democrats suggested that a goal of the hearing was to get the administration on the record on its controversial policy of prosecuting adults who arrive at the border, resulting in the separation of children and their parents.

In response to questions from Democrats, Nielsen told lawmakers that no parents were deported from the United States without opportunities to take their children with them.

There was no parent deported, to my knowledge, without multiple opportunities to take their children with them, she said.

But Democrats expressed deep frustration with the administration on the issue and warned that the hearing was unlikely to end their investigations.

When it comes to border security, what the American people have heard from the Trump administration is misleading at best, Thompson said.

He demanded documents related to the border wall and asylum seekers that he said DHS has been lax in providing.

Let me be clear, Im prepared to use the tools at the committees disposal to obtain the information if the secretary fails to comply, he said.

Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) questioned Nielsens statement that asylum seekers are not being turned away at the border, saying she personally witnessed that happen on two occasions.

Either youre lying to this committee or you dont know whats happening at the border, Barragan said.

San Diego Union-Tribune writer Kate Morrissey contributed to this report.
President Trump, now in the third year of his term, is struggling to maintain the illusion of accomplishment as some of his biggest promises remain unfulfilled.

Though his showy summit diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed in Vietnam last week, dashing Trumps prediction of fantastic success, the president continues to insist that hes made unprecedented progress toward getting that nation to relinquish its nuclear arms program  even as his intelligence advisors say otherwise.

Over the weekend, Trump yet again boasted to supporters that his border wall is under construction, as if it were nearly finished. In fact, no new miles of any barrier have been built during his presidency and a Republican-controlled Senate is poised to join the Democratic-controlled House in rejecting his declaration of a national emergency to pay for an installment.

Also, Trump is lately hailing progress in trade talks with China as if a landmark deal were imminent. Yet hes said so for months, and this week his secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo, traveled to politically influential Iowa to persuade farmers hurt by Chinas retaliatory tariffs that the presidents trade war ultimately will push Beijing into an agreement benefiting them. Even if a deal takes shape this month in time for Trumps planned meeting with Chinas Xi Jinping, its not expected to include the long-sought concessions hes talked of.

Advertisement

In another blow to Trumps trade promises, on Wednesday the Commerce Department reported that in 2018 the U.S. trade deficit grew to $621 billion, a 10-year high, and the gap with China set a record  defying the presidents vows to reverse the trend.

His misses, exaggerations and outright untruths carry a political risk. Its just not clear Trump will pay any price.

The more tenuous his rhetorics connection to reality becomes, its harder to sustain the illusion, said Michael Steel, a Republican consultant in Washington who served as press secretary to former House Speaker John A. Boehner.

He has big accomplishments: tax cuts, conservative judges, regulatory reforms, a strong economy. But on the big things hes most focused on  the wall, talks with North Korea  he has not been able to get the results that hes promised over and over again.

Yet for the presidents most ardent supporters, the lack of results on his most prominent promises, and his hyperbole, may not matter given the cult of personality Trump has created around himself.

That was evident in the warm embrace he received Saturday from attendees at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Trump spoke for more than two hours in the longest address of his presidency, veering wildly off script, basking in the crowds applause and cheers, vastly overstating his achievements and explaining away his failures.

Less than 24 hours after his walkout at the Vietnam summit, he complained that hes been given no credit for initiating talks  talks, begun at the leaders first meeting last year in Singapore, which have prompted North Korea to pause its nuclear tests but also have elevated Kim on the world stage without any concrete steps toward dismantling his nations nuclear program.

In the last days of the Obama administration, rockets were flying all over the place. Nuclear testing was going on, Trump said, an exaggeration that ignored North Koreas repeated successful test-fires during his own first year as president.

The president also boasted to the CPAC crowd that his escalation of a trade war brought China to the negotiating table, and to the brink of concessions. Anticipating a trade agreement that could be sealed during a meeting with Xi at Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida later this month, he promised that tariffs between the two countries would fall to zero and zero.

Yet even if the men reach a deal that allows Trump to lift the tariffs so unpopular with his rural supporters, it is widely considered unlikely to include any enforceable end to Chinas practice of requiring American companies to transfer technology and intellectual property to Chinese partners as a condition of doing business in the country.

Trump wrote in his book The Art of the Deal that he plays to peoples fantasies. He still does.

You know Im building the wall, he said to supporters at CPAC, who immediately broke into familiar chants of Build the wall! He went on: Were finishing the wall. We got a lot of money. Its in the thing.

By thing the president apparently was alluding to a spending bill that hed reluctantly signed, to end a 35-day partial government shutdown hed provoked by his standoff with Democrats over wall money. Yet the bill included just $1.375 billion to construct new bollard fencing on 55 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border  far short of the $5.7 billion he demanded. So far, the only construction underway has been repairs to existing stretches of wall, built under his predecessors.

Trump could successfully veto the emerging congressional resolution to reject his national emergency declaration, which is his attempt to divert as much as $8 billion for wall construction. Yet he would face strong legal challenges.

He kind of talked himself into a corner in promoting the wall all the time and gave Democrats an opportunity to stymie him just by refusing to pay for a wall, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Krikorian, whose group supports more restrictive immigration policies and thus is allied with Trump on some issues, disagrees with the presidents portrayal of a wall as critical to border security.

The president believed he had to declare a national emergency because he has made the wall such a high-profile objective, Krikorian said. Its important, but its not job one and its certainly not the reason we have a crisis at the border.

Such rebuttals would have been lost on the crowd at CPAC, or among Trumps supporters generally.

That crowd was rooting for him, said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and organizer of CPAC, who likened the presidents long speech to a conversation among friends.

If you love Trump, as 95% of the people in that audience do, it was a very emotion-laden experience, he said.

Among Republicans, Trumps support stands at an astonishing 90%, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday. His overall job approval rating had ticked up slightly to 46% following a dip after the shutdown and emergency declaration last month. A separate Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday put his job approval rating at 38%, the same level of its poll in January.

While the president already is making Promises kept a slogan of his reelection campaign, Schlapp said Trumps supporters are likely to give him the benefit of the doubt if some big promises remain unfulfilled.

Maybe 50% of Americans look at Donald Trump as struggling to accomplish things, but the other 50% looks at him as willing to take on challenges other presidents werent, he said.

Throughout his presidency, Trump has toggled between taking credit and passing blame  often declaring, especially on Twitter, that progress is being made on issues while complaining about obstructionist Democrats fighting his agenda and the fake news media not giving him credit.

Trump is a grievance candidate, and I think thats the base of the support he has, said Stuart Stevens, a longtime Republican strategist who helped guide Mitt Romneys 2012 presidential campaign and has been consistently critical of Trump.

We have a Republican president whos spent a lot of his presidency attacking the Constitution, attacking law and order, attacking the whole concept of personal responsibility, Stevens said. Hes soft on dictators and a professional victim. But it just makes people feel that whatever score they need settled, hes going to settle it.

Yascha Mounk, a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington and an expert on the worldwide rise of populism, believes its foolish to expect the presidents backers to punish him for overpromising and underdelivering.

I dont see why it would happen if it hasnt yet, Mounk said, though he noted that a severe economic downturn or other unexpected calamitous event could change that calculus.

People are perfectly aware he lies all the time and that he boasts and probably delivers only on a fraction of those things. But because so many Americans have become deeply cynical and think that no politician ever delivers on their promises, they may discount what he promises but still think that that is a better bet than politicians who dont promise anything.

Mounk added, Its essentially, Well, he didnt really bring back manufacturing jobs, but he tried.

The latest from Washington 

More stories from Eli Stokols 
On his first day in office, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled an ambitious healthcare plan, including a dramatic Medi-Cal expansion that would cover young adults in the U.S. illegally and provide new subsidies to help middle-class families afford insurance.

Now Democrats in the Legislature say they want the governor to go further.

Lawmakers and a coalition of 70 consumer, labor and healthcare groups plan to rally outside the state Capitol on Thursday and urge Newsom to support 20 bills that could cost taxpayers upwards of $5 billion a year, including legislation to offer Medi-Cal coverage to all low-income adults, regardless of immigration status. The package of bills would move California within reach of universal healthcare, supporters said.

This is a real tangible plan to come together and cut the uninsured rate in half, said Anthony Wright, executive director of the advocacy group Health Access.

Advertisement

Wright said California could use part of its multi-billion dollar surplus as a significant down payment toward reaching the long sought Democratic goal of universal healthcare coverage.

Micah Weinberg, president of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, said he hopes the governor sticks with a more measured plan.

Its critically important at this moment to put on the table real achievable proposals that will make a difference in peoples lives, Weinberg said. Unfortunately, the conversation on the Democratic side has leaned toward completely unrealistic and, in some cases, non-proposals. They dont even include financing plans.

Fending off the push may not be easy. Newsom, who campaigned on a universal healthcare platform, has been outspoken in his attempts to guard the federal Affordable Care Act from Republican attacks in Washington.

While visiting Fresno in December, Newsom told reporters that while he served as mayor of San Francisco, the city provided healthcare coverage to all immigrants who entered the country illegally. But he also cautioned about the steep price of implementing such a system statewide.

Ive got a record of support for the idea, Newsom said. But theres a practical side of this, and that is weve got a budget to balance and you have competing interests and so weve got to address all those issues together and thats my challenge.

Setting the governors healthcare agenda will be a key task in the months ahead for Mark Ghaly, who Newsom appointed on Wednesday as his secretary of health and human services. Ghaly, a pediatrician, previously served as director of health and social impact for Los Angeles County.

Among Newsoms proposals is creating a state-level individual mandate requiring consumers to have health insurance coverage in lieu of the federal requirement that was all but eliminated last year by Congress. The Newsom administration estimates that the mandate would generate $500 million for subsidies to middle-class families in order to make insurance more affordable.

But the healthcare coalition wants larger subsidies to more people, totaling $2 billion.

If we want to require people to buy insurance, we need to make sure its affordable, said state Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a doctor by profession who is carrying a bill to create the individual mandate.

The group is also proposing dramatically expanding who is covered under Medi-Cal. Newsoms proposal would cover immigrants younger than 26 without legal status at an annual cost of $260 million. The coalition wants the state to offer Medi-Cal to all adults, regardless of immigration status, which comes with a $2 billion price tag.

California already covers undocumented children until they turn 19, with Newsoms plan mirroring the age cut-off for young adults to stay on their parents health insurance.

Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), who is behind one of two bills to extend Medi-Cal to all lower-income immigrants in the state illegally, said lawmakers have been talking for too long about reducing the number of uninsured people in the state without taking action. Now is not the time for an incremental step, such as one proposed by Newsom, she said.

Extending coverage to all lower-income adults, regardless of immigration status, would provide coverage to an additional 1.3 million people living in the country illegally.

Of course there is a cost to it, but there is a higher cost to not providing that care and forcing them to go to the emergency room, Durazo said. Thats a much higher cost. This is a far more significant step than adding five or six years at a time. Weve had this debate. Now is the time to do something in a significant way.

Times staff writer Phil Willon contributed to this report.

Coverage of California politics 

melody.gutierrez@latimes.com

Follow @MelodyGutierrez on Twitter and sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter.
In 1968, Gov. Ronald Reagan signed the California Public Records Act into law, following a 15-year reform effort in the California Legislature. Lawmakers declared that access to information concerning the conduct of the peoples business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state. This is especially true here, because California is a direct democracy state. Voters have the right of recall, referendum and initiative.

In 2004, voters decided to strengthen their right to access to public records by making it constitutionally guaranteed. Voters were concerned about legislative, judicial and administrative efforts to weaken the law. Voters wrote into the Constitution the following language:

The people have the right to instruct their representatives, petition government for redress of grievances and assemble freely to consult for the common good. The people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the peoples business, and, therefore, the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies shall be open to public scrutiny.

A statute, court rule or other authority, including those in effect on the effective date of this subdivision, shall be broadly construed if it furthers the peoples right of access, and narrowly construed if it limits the right of access.

Related: Why proposed law needed to fix California Public Records Act

In order for voters to exercise the rights they enjoy under Californias direct democracy, voters need public record information real-time. Under current law, an agency has 10 days to produce a public record. In unusual circumstances, the agency can delay turning over the public record by another 14 days.

Advertisement

If the agency does not produce the document, a requester has to turn to the court. If a judge finds a public record was improperly withheld from a member of the public, the court shall order the records to be disclosed and require the agency to pay the legal fees expended to obtain the records.

Senate Bill 615 would, as a practical matter, limit the right of access to public records because it would require a member of the public requesting public records to go through a meet and confer process with the public agency withholding its public records. This would give an agency the ability to further delay access to public records.

In 2004, voters wrote into the Constitution a provision that prohibited courts, lawmakers or administrative agencies from weakening the public record law:

A statute, court rule or other authority, including those in effect on the effective date of this subdivision, shall be broadly construed if it furthers the peoples right of access, and narrowly construed if it limits the right of access. A statute, court rule, or other authority adopted after the effective date of this subdivision that limits the right of access shall be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

When public officials like state Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, and San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott seek to limit the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the peoples business with Senate Bill 615, they violate the letter and spirit of the California State Constitution (Article I, Section 3).

Delays in producing public records can last months, if not years. For example, in one recent case, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) delayed production of public records for over two years before it was ordered by the court to release them.

Those of us who use the public records law to gain access to public records believe the law needs to be strengthened, not weakened. For example, there is no current penalty for a public official who knowingly and intentionally withholds a public record.

In 2013, our office requested records related to any conversations between CPUC commissioners and utilities regarding San Onofre. This was weeks after CPUC President Michael Peevey met with a utility executive at a swank hotel in Warsaw, Poland, where he wrote down on hotel stationery a term sheet that would make utility customers pay for most of the defunct nuclear power plant. Even though the term sheet writing was clearly within our request for public records, it was not produced.

We believe the public records law should be amended to provide for civil and criminal penalties for knowingly concealing public records.

The public records law is nonpartisan. The law irritates public officials who tend to favor making decisions in secret. Senate Bill 615 violates both the letter and spirit of our state Constitution, and it should not go forward.

Aguirre was San Diego city attorney from 2004 to 2008; Severson was the lead civil trial lawyer for that office. They are now partners in the Aguirre & Severson law firm. Website: amslawyers.com
I strongly believe in the California Public Records Act, an important law that ensures government transparency and the publics right to know.

But the law has a significant flaw: When a dispute arises, and a private citizen doesnt get the records shes entitled to, her only recourse is to lawyer up and sue the public agency.

These lawsuits are costly and can take years to resolve, compounding the citizens frustration. Taxpayers often pay the legal bills for both sides.

Related: How proposed law weakens California Public Records Act

Advertisement

Its a system thats broken and needs to be fixed.

Thats why Im working with state Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, on Senate Bill 615. Its common-sense legislation that will speed access to public information while preventing expensive and unnecessary lawsuits.

Simply put, citizens shouldnt have to sue to get public records theyre entitled to by law. And taxpayers shouldnt have to pay for expensive lawsuits that can easily be avoided through simple communication.

The untold story of the California Public Records Act is this: The number of annual requests is exploding, and public agencies statewide are struggling to keep up. From public universities to tiny school districts, the cost of Public Records Act requests, and the risk of getting the response wrong, continues to climb.

For example, since 2012, the number of records requests received by the city of San Diego has skyrocketed by 644 percent  from 749 to nearly 5,000 annually.

The records produced by the city could fill a library  tens of thousands of pages every year.

Yet the citys response to each and every record request must be absolutely perfect.

If a court finds that just one sheet of paper was inadvertently overlooked by any one of the dozens of city employees who are asked to search for records, it can lead to an expensive judgment against taxpayers. No excuses or explanations are allowed.

Id rather see that money used to address the homelessness crisis, or for services that help senior citizens. And I think most of us agree that our streets and sidewalks would benefit from a little financial TLC.

The solution Sen. Hueso and I propose would require that public agencies and record-seekers engage in a meet and confer session before anyone goes to court  basically, a simple conversation to resolve disputes in good faith before misunderstandings escalate.

Meet and confer has many of the virtues of mediation, and its quick and simple. Its an opportunity for the parties to help one another understand what records were requested, what records have been produced, and why the two may not exactly match up.

Meet and confer sessions can occur in a matter of minutes over the telephone. Theyre already required when lawyers have disputes over pre-trial discovery of documents, and theyve prevented thousands of unnecessary lawsuits.

Consider SB 615 through the eyes of an average citizen.

Shes seeking records about her childs school, but the school district has been unresponsive. She doesnt want to argue for hours with district bureaucrats, and she cant afford to file a lawsuit. Our bill requires the school district to hear her out and respond to her concerns.

Or view it through the lens of city taxpayers.

Under current law, even technical mistakes and innocent oversights by city personnel can lead to expensive judgments against taxpayers. Thats what happened in a recent case that cost San Diego taxpayers $158,000. A city employee made an inadvertent error and, without a process to resolve the problem pre-lawsuit, the lawyer who sued walked away with $158,000 of the publics money.

One thing meet and confer will not change is the medias ability to keep people informed and hold public officials accountable. I believe the media plays a critical role in our democracy, and in no manner wish to impede this important work.

If a reporter remains unsatisfied after meet and confer, the reporter can still sue  as soon as the very next day. And if a court finds the public agency improperly withheld records, the reporter still wins.

These cases, however, should become increasingly rare through improved communication, as will the gotcha verdicts resulting from avoidable miscommunications.

Everyone benefits from transparency and openness in government. SB 615 furthers that goal by expediting a citizens access to records without the need for lawyers. If communication fails, a frustrated citizen still has the right to sue.

Elliott is San Diego city attorney. She was elected in 2016 after working as the chief deputy city attorney for the offices Public Services Section.
Re On community choice energy, San Diego governments must sweat the details (Feb. 28): Please have someone pen an article describing this process that I can understand (I am a registered engineer).

It seems bizarre that a government could run a power company better than a power company. Surely there is a way to work out an arrangement with SDG&E to achieve the intended results.

Michael Gruby

South Park

Advertisement

San Diego inches closer to community choice

Re Go cautiously on community choice energy (Feb. 28): Your editorial rightly recommends a careful study, which is why the final report comes in October.

Supervisor Jim Desmond is concerned about government agencies in the energy procurement business. However, with SDG&E, we are stuck with a monopoly that steadily raises rates and delivers bills almost incomprehensible to decipher. As for private investor-owned utilities, PG&E is admitting it likely caused the Camp fire, is filing for bankruptcy and needed our government-funded firefighters to manage the catastrophe.

In 1933, the federal government authorized creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provided electricity to thousands and helped raise the region out of poverty.

It still covers about 10 million people; about the same number covered in California by CCE. Lets hope our Board of Supervisors focuses on ways to make it work here and not how to bury it.

Edward McFadd

Encinitas

While going cautiously on community choice energy and considering its pros and cons, dont forget the untapped potential of every existing and future solar system in San Diego.

At present, solar systems are designed to cover the energy use of the house on which that system is built. With extra panels, these systems could provide significantly more energy to the grid.

That would require incentivizing the incremental cost for a larger system rather than allowing SDG&E to take any extra energy produced per year at little or no cost.

When each homeowner can get paid fairly for all extra energy produced each year, solar systems in San Diego will expand greatly in number and amount of energy produced per house. Most houses could produce 50 percent to 100 percent extra energy per year if there were some economic value in doing so.

Phil Calabrese

Bay Ho

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.
Tyler Perrys A Madea Family Funeral

Good Grief.

Comedy

Directed by Tyler Perry

Starring Tyler Perry, Rome Flynn and Patrice Lovely

In theaters: 3.1

Just in case 10 Madea movies werent enough for you, Tyler Perry is back in drag as the matriarch of an out-of-control family whose hysterical reunion quickly evolves into the wildest wake ever to occur in rural Georgia.

Tyler Perrys A Madea Family Funeral (Chip Bergman / )

Ruben Brandt, Collector

Mystery | Thriller

Directed by Milorad Krstic

Starring Ivan Kamaras, Gabriella Hamori and Csaba Marton

In theaters: 3.1

When a troubled psychotherapist begins to believe the subjects of famous paintings are out to kill him, he recruits four of his patients  all expert thieves  to steal the masterpieces so he can finally get a good nights sleep.

Greta

Everyone needs a friend.

Drama | Horror

Directed by Neil Jordan

Starring Isabelle Hippert, Chloe Grace Moretz and Maika Monroe

In theaters: 3.1

After a young woman finds an abandoned purse on the subway, she returns the bag to its rightful owner, only to find out that no good deed goes unpunished.

Greta (Courtesy Photo )

Captain Marvel

Everything begins with her

Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

Starring Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn

In theaters: 3.8

Set in the 1990s, a young woman is transformed into one of the galaxys fiercest warriors just as two alien races threaten to destroy the planet.

Captain Marvel (Courtesy Photo )

Wonder Park

Take a ride on the wild side

Adventure | Comedy

Directed by Robert Iscove, Clare Kilner and David Feiss

Starring Jennifer Garner, Mila Kunis and Kevin Chamberlin

In theaters: 3.15

Underscoring the importance of imagination, this film tells the tale of an adolescent girl who discovers that the wacky world she dreamt up as a child somehow spawned into reality, and only she can save it from certain destruction.

The Mustang

Untamed Souls. Kindred Spirits.

Drama

Directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

Starring Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Mitchell and Bruce Dern

In theaters: 3.15

Based on actual events, an incarcerated man with violent tendencies sees the error of his ways after participating in a rehabilitation program that requires him to work with wild equines.

Five Feet Apart

When life keeps you apart, fight for every inch.

Drama | Romance

Directed by Justin Baldoni

Starring Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse and Claire Forlani

In theaters: 3.15

When a hospital-bound teenager with cystic fibrosis meets another patient her age with the same condition, the two struggle to resist romantic temptation as theyre required to stay at least 60 inches away from each other at all times.

Five Feet Apart (Alfonso Bresciani / )

The Hummingbird Project

Everything is on the line.

Thriller

Directed by Kim Nguyen

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgard and Salma Hayek

In theaters; 3.15

Capitalistic cousins who work in high-frequency trading attempt to route their own fiber-optic cable from Kansas to New Jersey in order to make millions of dollars in mere milliseconds.

Captive State

This is no longer our planet.

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Directed by Rupert Wyatt

Starring John Goodman, Ashton Sanders and Vera Farmiga

In theaters: 3.15

A small team of rebels fights to restore human control of society a decade after an alien species began occupying Earth.

The Aftermath

Drama | Romance

Directed by James Kent

Starring Kiera Knightly, Alexander Skarsgard and Jason Clarke

In theaters: 3.15

When a British colonel is tasked with rebuilding the city of Hamburg after the end of World War II, he and his wife move in with a German widower, creating a volatile, sexually charged atmosphere that threatens to unravel the couples marriage.

The Aftermath (David Appleby / )

Us

We are our own worst enemy.

Horror | Thriller

Directed by Jordan Peele

Starring Anna Diop, Elisabeth Moss and Lupita Nyongo

In theaters: 3.22

After a pair of parents and their two kids venture to the beach on vacation, a masked family of four begins to terrorize their every move.

Dumbo

A beloved tale will take you to new heights.

Fantasy

Directed by Tim Burton

Starring Colin Farrel, Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito

In theaters: 3.29

A newborn elephants oversized ears endow him with the ability to fly in Disneys latest live-action remake of an animated classic.
A Poway woman has recently published her first book about how her volunteer work led to the adoption of her son.

Kristi Wilkinson is a physical therapist with a passion for volunteering. While she mostly works with the elderly in her job, she said she has always been drawn to working with and helping children.

I felt a call to work with others, Wilkinson said.

Her book, The Child Who Listens, was released in December and focuses on her volunteer work and her adoption of her son, Lukas in the 1990s.

Wilkinson began volunteering overseas, doing physical therapy with children in need in Brazil, China and Kazakhstan, but her real goal was Romania, she said, after reading about it in an article.

Kristi Wilkinson Courtesy photo

She eventually was able to get a position volunteering in Romania after meeting someone on a ski lift who could coordinate her trip there.

While Wilkinson went to Romania as a physical therapist for children living in an orphanage. She said she ended up working as more of a general caretaker, often providing care for between four and eight 2-year-olds at a time, some of whom had physical and developmental delays.

I had to squeeze in therapy sessions all day long, she said.

There were few resources and Wilkinson said she had to be creative in her therapy techniques. She also taught other volunteers things they could do to help.

Many of the children had been left lying down until they were 1-year-old, she said, and she and her fellow volunteers had to help them get used to sitting up and being in an upright position.

Wilkinson lived in Denver at the time and made one-month trips to Romania. She said she would go, return home to work and raise money, and go back for another month.

While volunteering in Romania, one of the children Wilkinson met was Lukas, who changed her life forever. Wilkinson said she met Lukas in December 1997, when he had just turned 2.

I wasnt planning to adopt, she said. I was single.

Wilkinson said he stole her heart throughout the multiple trips she made to volunteer. She adopted him when he was 4 1/2 old and brought him back to the United States.

They moved to Poway in 2000 and though Wilkinson stopped volunteering overseas to raise her son, she still volunteers domestically, she said. She has worked with the homeless, been a foster parent and is now a foster mentor.

Wilkinson said she never knew she would become a writer, but knew she had a beautiful story to tell.

It was Lukas, now 23, who gave her the title to her book, she said, when he was about 10 or 11 years old. He said God gave him the title, Wilkinson said.

About 30 pages of Lukass insights are also weaved into the book, she said.

Lukas was also the one who suggested any proceeds from the book should be donated to suffering children. Some funds have already been donated through the nonprofit Fathers Care Ministry, Inc., Wilkinson said.

Its been an exciting venture, she said.

Wilkinson said that, if she can get the funds, she would like to build a permanent home for the children in the orphanage she volunteered in and adopted Lukas from, many of whom are still being cared for today as adults by the same volunteers. We want to support them in a safe, caring environment, she said.

The Child Who Listens is available for physical and e-book purchase on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

Email: news@pomeradonews.com
In late summer of 2016, it was the Del Mar racetrack under the magnified, unwanted spotlight now focused on Santa Anita Park.

Del Mar suffered 17 horse deaths in its popular meet that year, with another five breaking down in fall racing. Animal rights activists responded in force, and a state lawmaker called for a full investigation by the California Horse Racing Board.

Through a full renovation of its track, significant changes in procedures and likely some plain good fortune, Del Mar markedly turned around its safety record.

There were a total of seven fatal breakdowns for both meets in 2017, with four horse deaths in all of 2018.

Advertisement

That is a startling contrast to the 21 horses who have died at Santa Anita since Dec. 26, prompting the tracks officials to indefinitely suspend racing while the condition of the main dirt track is assessed.

With national mainstream media reporting about Santa Anita, Del Mar officials know and feel their pain.

We are very unsettled by this, Del Mar spokesman Mac McBride said Wednesday. No. 1, were unsettled for the horses and the horsemen who are losing them. There is a ripple effect, especially here in Southern California. Everybody knows that but for fortune go I. It can happen.

As nervous owners and trainers await word on when Santa Anita might resume racing, McBride said there have been inquires about possibly housing and training horses at Del Mar.

The problem for Del Mar, however, is that it is currently undergoing a major water reclamation project in its infield that has heavy trucks and equipment crossing the track throughout the day. McBride said it is unlikely that Del Mar would be able to get into a position to host training.

In the meantime, Del Mars executives keep a close eye on Santa Anita and hope for the best.

Del Mar track superintendent Dennis Moore has been contracted by Santa Anita to return to examine and work on the Arcadia track beginning Thursday. Moore was at Santa Anita starting in 2014; he also agreed to renovate Del Mars track before the 2017 summer meeting that saw the positive upturn in safety.

Late last year, Moore, who lives in Fallbrook, decided to take Santa Anita off his busy schedule, while still working for Del Mar and Los Alamitos.

If there is something wrong with the racetrack at Santa Anita, Dennis will find it and he will fix it, McBride said.

The heavy string of deaths have left Santa Anita management baffled. Rain could be considered a factor, since the track received 11 inches of it in February.

A week ago, Santa Anita commissioned Mick Peterson, the director of Ag Equine Programs at the University of Kentucky, to examine the track, and he concluded there were no issues with the surface on the days of his study.

Santa Anita announced Wednesday afternoon that Peterson and Moore will do additional testing of the track to ensure track consistency and uniformity for both training and racing.

A normal dry track has a deep cushion of dirt to keep horses hooves from bottoming out or finding irregularities on the hard pan underneath. With rain, that surface softens and can separate, possibly leaving the bottom layer exposed. Superintendents combat that by sealing the track with equipment that pushes the water away. It makes it smoother, but also slick and faster.

On Wednesday, Dr. Rick Arthur, chief equine veterinarian for the California Horse Racing Board and UC Davis, told the Los Angeles Times that after looking for common traits among the 21 fatalities, he couldnt find anything that stood out.

They are all over the place, from Battle of Midway, a well-seasoned horse, to a first-time starter, Arthur said, noting that the deceased horses are from 17 different trainers.

The backgrounds of the horses will be studied and necropsies are ongoing, but Arthur warned there may never been a definitive answer about these 21 deaths.

We can hope that it identifies strategies that make racing safer, Arthur said. Its not just the track. Its not just the horse. Its the whole schedule  the training program, the racing program, everything.

Though Del Mar officials acknowledge they havent found the antidote for horse racing deaths, they believe the steps they took after the tragic summer of 2016 have made a significant difference.

Among those McBride listed: the full renovation of the track surface; fewer racing days; fewer horses housed and training at the track; three breaks (instead of two) in morning training for the track to be refreshed; and after those breaks, giving priority to horses running a full workout to run along the rail.

Additionally, McBride said Del Mar has been ferocious with its own veterinarians to identify horses that are unfit to race. That includes examining a horses past race and training performance.

If a maiden horse hasnt run in nine months and has only two workouts in that time, Uh oh, thats a huge red flag, McBride said.

Weve told our vets that were getting really serious about the horses, McBride said. We cannot allow a horse on the track that shouldnt be racing. Its on you guys to find them in advance.

McBride notes all of this and then finds a nearby piece of wood to tap.

The last two years weve had awfully safe meetings, he said.

Sports Videos

tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutleonard
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- The latest market research report titled Aerospace Adhesives market offers a detailed evaluation of the market situation within a specific geographic region. This Aerospace Adhesives Market study contains vital data on market shifts owing to social, economic, cultural and technological changes worldwide. Explaining market opportunities remains the key focus of the study. Industry experts analysing the business environment also take a closer look at the organizational alignment as well as the capital structure.



Request for Sample Copy of Aerospace Adhesives Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/28371



Scope of the Report:

The research methodologies used for evaluating the Aerospace Adhesives market are inventive and also provides enough evidence on the demand and supply status, production capability, import and export, supply chain management and investment feasibility.



The investigative approach applied for the extensive analysis of the sale, gross margin and profit generated by the industry are presented through resources including tables, charts, and graphic images. Importantly, these resources can be easily integrated or used for preparing business or corporate presentations.



Major Players in Aerospace Adhesives market are:

PPG Industries, 3M, Flamemaster, Chemetall, Henkel AG & Co., KGaA, Permatex, Dow Corning, H.B. Fuller, Arkema Group, Cytec Industries, AVIC, Solvay Group, Huntsman Corporation, Beacon Adhesives, Hexcel Corporation, Master Bond, Royal Adhesives & Sealants, United Resin Corporation



Market split by Type, can be divided into:

- Polysulfide Sealants

- Polythioether Sealants

- Silicone Sealants

- Others



Market split by Application, can be divided into:

- OEM

- MRO



Market segment by Region/Country including:

- North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

- Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.)

- Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.)

- South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.)

- Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.)



Buy Aerospace Adhesives Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/28371



The market intelligence study for the Aerospace Adhesives market further provides an inside-out overview of necessary aspects associated with the product classification, important definitions, major orders and other industry-centric parameters. An underlying part of the study also maps the important factors associated with the recent events such as mergers and acquisition, collaboration and new product launches.



Understanding the market size:

The size of the Aerospace Adhesives market is viewed in terms of the Share of Market, Total Available Market as well as Served Available Market. Not only does the study present the combined revenue for a particular market but also the market size for a specific geographic region. Analysis of percentage or the size of the Total Available Market based on the type of product, technology, regional constraints and others form an important part of the Aerospace Adhesives report.



Market share:

The report discovers market's total sale that is generated by a particular firms over a time period. Industry experts calculate share by taking into account the product sales over a period and then dividing it by the overall sales of the Aerospace Adhesives industry over a defined period. Subject matter experts further use this metric to offer a general idea of the share and size of a firm and its immediate rivals. By providing an in-depth knowledge of the position a company as well as an entrepreneur holds in the Aerospace Adhesives market



Attracting the target audience:

First, the comprehensive report finds out why customers need a certain product or service. The study focuses on what problems a certain product and service can solve. Apart from target demographics industry experts weigh up on the factors including audience type, as well as others vital attributes about the target customer segment.



The research provides answers to the following key questions:

- What is the estimated size of the Aerospace Adhesives market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026? What will be the growth rate of the industry during the estimated period?

- What are the prominent driving forces likely to impact the progress of the industry across different regions?

- Who are the major market players occupying a strong foothold in the Aerospace Adhesives market? What are the winning strategies adopted by them to stay ahead in the competition?

- What are the potential opportunities for the Aerospace Adhesives market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026?



Read More @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/aerospace-adhesives-market



About MarketExpertz

Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web? Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges.



Contact Us:

John Watson

Head of Business Development

Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com

Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052

E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com

News: https://www.marketexpertz.com/market-news
Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- International Automotive Electronics Market is projected to hit over USD 400 billion by 2024.



In the automotive electronics market, powertrain applications are gaining high popularity across all regions due to the development of efficient fuel and energy consumption systems. Automotive electronic system manufacturers are concentrating on providing systems that will improve engine control and transmission drivetrains to address the OEM requirements.



Furthermore, the powertrain applications are highly in demand due to high production and consumption of battery & electric vehicles. The powertrain system manufacturers are developing application-specific products and focusing on the incorporation of innovative techniques, further enhancing the vehicle performance. The need for low & zero emissions causing vehicles to control increased environmental pollution will result in the reconstruction of powertrain systems with natural gas, liquid air, and low fuel capabilities, adding to the automotive electronics market growth.



Get Sample Copy of This Report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/183



The Europe automotive electronics market is predicted to witness a high growth over the forecast timespan due to the increasing manufacturing of luxury & passenger cars by the leading OEMs. Due to the implementation of high-end systems in these vehicles, the countries including Germany, Italy, UK, etc., are witnessing a high demand for automotive electronics. The regional automakers are focusing on providing efficient mobility such as connected vehicles, driving assistance, and infotainment systems. Additionally, increasing regulatory policies from the European Commission are supporting the expansion of the regional automobile industry, contributing to automotive electronics market growth.



In the automotive electronics market, commercial vehicles are gaining a high traction owing to technical advancements in vehicle lighting & engine management systems. Commercial vehicles developed for the transportation and logistics industry require high-capacity engine systems. Leading automotive electronics market players such as Bosch Group, Continental AG, etc., have developed specific high-capacity compatible systems for commercial vehicles. For instance, in September 2017, Bosch Group announced the development of powertrain eAxle solution for commercial vehicles in partnership with Nikola Motor Company. Additionally, commercial vehicles are implementing efficient night vision and monitoring systems that aid drivers in night driving and unfavorable driving conditions.



By Application



ADAS

Adaptive cruise control

Blind spot detection

Parking assistance

Automated emergency braking

Night vision

Lane department warning

Body Electronics

Infotainment & communication

Audio

Display

Navigation

Head-up display

Communication

Powertrain

Engine Controllers

Transmission Drivetrain

Exhaust

xEV

Safety systems



The innovations in vehicle architectures and systems that enable a high-end driving experience in OEMs will drive the automotive electronics market growth. These strategies include the implementation of luxury & comfort features, ADAS solutions, and support to the sustainable development initiatives across all industry verticals. To address such requirements, OEMs require efficient electronic systems, further creating a demand for products such as powertrain, infotainment, etc., in the automotive electronics market. Additionally, the electrification of vehicle architecture and engines in the electric and hybrid mobility further provides an impetus to the industry development. The growth is attributed to high manufacturing and consumption of EVs in China, North America, and Europe.



Make an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/183



Prominent players present in the automotive electronics market comprise Bosch Group, Magna International, Continental AG, Hyundai Mobis, Hitachi Automotive Systems, Delphi Automotive, Lear Corporation, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Texas Instruments, Faurecia, etc.



About Global Market Insights:

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.
Pune, Maharashtra -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- Fact.MR's report on the automotive pumps market has introduced interesting insights about the steadily progressing market. The market analysis has revealed that stricter emission standards and preference for green technology have led significant investments in the R&D to enhance engine performance. With their indispensable role in the maintenance of engine efficiency, the automotive pumps market is expected to report a steady CAGR in the range of 4 - 5 % during the forecast period of 2017 - 2026.



Request Sample Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=25



The report delivers a thorough analysis of the key factors responsible to transform the growth trajectory of the automotive pumps market. Increasing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles and expansion of automotive aftermarket are few of the prime fillips identified which are likely to drive the automotive pumps market in the coming years.



Study envisages that increasing demand for light-weight fuel-efficient vehicles has led to the adoption transition from mechanical pumps to electrical pumps. This analysis has revealed the dominance of electrical pumps in the automotive pumps market with over two-third revenue share of the market and over 4% of CAGR during the forecast.



Browse Full Report @ https://www.factmr.com/report/25/automotive-pump-market



Manufacturers in the automotive pumps market are observed to engage in developing efficient fuel supply pumps that facilitate lower fuel consumption, are affordable and meet the quality standards. Further, as per the study, demand for high-performance vehicles with optimum fuel economy has increased adoption of fuel supply pumps. Based on this, the study reveals that the fuel supply pumps segment is estimated to report the highest revenue among all pump types and surpass US$ 30,700 Million by the end of 2026. The fuel injection pumps are estimated to report rapid expansion owing to steadily rising sales of diesel-powered automobiles.



During the forecast period, with one of the largest automotive manufacturing markets in the world, the Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region is expected to helm the automotive pumps market, representing a CAGR surpassing 5%. Ameliorating economic scenario and low labor costs in the region, particularly in China and South Korea, have bolstered the growth of the automotive manufacturing industry, in turn, explaining lucrativeness of the market.



Speak To Research Analyst for Detailed Insights @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=AE&rep_id=25



Based on vehicle type, the passenger car (PC) segment reported the highest market valuation owing to the impressive sales of passenger vehicle across world regions. However, light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment was analyzed to be the rapidly expanding segment with the CAGR over 5% during the period of 2017  2026 against the backdrop of improving sales of LCVs, particularly in APEJ and North America.



Another important insight derived in the study is regarding the changing dynamics of the sales channel in the automotive pumps market. Expansion of aftermarket in the automotive industry is evident, however, owing to the rising importance of green technology, OEMs in the automotive pumps market are shifting their production procedures towards manufacturing a single, all-purpose automotive pumps with multiple functions. According to the Fact.MR valuations, the OEM sales channel clearly dominates the sales channel segment with the sales touching US$ 55,000 Mn by 2026 end and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period.



Major emphasis is given on the changing regulatory standards with respect to carbon emission and energy consumption and their impact on the automotive industry growth. As automakers shift their production strategies towards developing advanced automotive technologies, automotive pumps market is expected to move in the direction of novel product developments in a bid to meet the stringent emission and energy standards. Further, evolution in the vehicle design, especially electric and autonomous vehicles as the next-gen vehicles with the advanced automotive technologies are expected to challenge the growth of the automotive pumps market during the forecast period. The study elaborates business strategies of manufacturers that are developing novel designs of automotive pumps suitable to the modern design of next-gen vehicles.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- Global Discrete Automation Market Size, Status and Forecast 2018-2025 is latest research study released by HTF MI evaluating the market, highlighting opportunities, risk side analysis, and leveraged with strategic and tactical decision-making support. The study provides information on market trends and development, drivers, capacities, technologies, and on the changing capital structure of the Global Discrete Automation Market. Some of the key players profiled in the study are Siemens, Rockwell Automation Inc., ABB Ltd, Invensys & Schneider Electric Co..



Discrete automation is the production with characteristics of quantifiable parts production has the quantifiable nature of the parts.

Discrete automation provides a control platform, increase productivity, enhance ease of use and reduce the cost, the discrete automation market is expected to achieve significant growth in the prediction period.

In 2017, the global Discrete Automation market size was 5030 million US$ and it is expected to reach 8070 million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of 6.1% during 2018-2025.



Discrete Automation Market Overview:



If you are involved in the Discrete Automation industry or intend to be, then this study will provide you comprehensive outlook. It's vital you keep your market knowledge up to date segmented by Automotive, Packaging, Food processing & Textile industry, , Distributed Control System (DCS), Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) & Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) and major players. If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports we can provide customization according to your requirement.



Enquire for customization in Report @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/enquiry-before-buy/1322073-global-discrete-automation-market-2



Discrete Automation Market: Demand Analysis & Opportunity Outlook 2023



Research study is to define market sizes of various segments & countries in previous years and to forecast the values to the next 5-8 years. The report is designed to comprise each qualitative and quantitative elements of the industry facts including: market share, market size (value and volume 2012-17, and forecast to 2023) with admire to each of the areas and countries concerned inside the examination. Furthermore, the report additionally caters the detailed statistics about the vital elements which includes drivers & restraining factors which will define the future growth of the market.



Furthermore, the years considered for the study are as follows:

Historical year  2013-2017

Base year  2018

Forecast period**  2018 to 2025 [** unless otherwise stated]



Moreover, it will also include the opportunities available in micro markets for stakeholders to invest, detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product services of key players.



The designated segments and sub-section of the market are explained below:



The Study is segmented by following Product Type: , Distributed Control System (DCS), Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) & Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC)



Major applications/end-users industry are as follows: Automotive, Packaging, Food processing & Textile industry



Some of the key Manufacturers Involved in the Market are  Siemens, Rockwell Automation Inc., ABB Ltd, Invensys & Schneider Electric Co.



You can get free access to samples from the report here: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/1322073-global-discrete-automation-market-2



For each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies. If opting for the Global version of Discrete Automation Market analysis is provided for major regions as follows:

- North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)

- Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)

- Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)

- South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)

- Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)



Buy this research report @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=1322073



Key Answers Captured in Study are

Which geography would have better demand for product/services?

What are the strategies adopted by big players in the regional market?

Which country would see the steep rise in CAGR & year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth?

What is the current & expected market size in next five years?

What is the market feasibility for long term investment?

What opportunity the country would offer for existing and new players in the Discrete Automation market?

What is risk involved for suppliers in the geography?

What factors would drive the demand for the product/service in near future?

What is the impact analysis of various factors in the Global Discrete Automation market growth?

What are the recent trends in the regional market and how successful they are?



Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/1322073-global-discrete-automation-market-2



There are 15 Chapters to display the Global Discrete Automation market.

Chapter 1, About Executive Summary to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Global Discrete Automation market, Applications [Automotive, Packaging, Food processing & Textile industry], Market Segment by Regions United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India & Central & South America;

Chapter 2, objective of the study.

Chapter 3, to display Research methodology and techniques.

Chapter 4 and 5, to show the Overall Market Analysis, segmentation analysis, characteristics;

Chapter 6 and 7, to show the Market size, share and forecast; Five forces analysis (bargaining Power of buyers/suppliers), Threats to new entrants and market condition;

Chapter 8 and 9, to show analysis by regional segmentation[United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India & Central & South America ], comparison, leading countries and opportunities; Regional Marketing Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis

Chapter 10, focus on identifying the key industry influencer's, overview of decision framework accumulated through Industry experts and strategic decision makers;

Chapter 11 and 12, Market Trend Analysis, Drivers, Challenges by consumer behaviour, Marketing Channels and demand & supply.

Chapter 13 and 14, describe about the vendor landscape (classification and Market Positioning)

Chapter 15, deals with Global Discrete Automation Market sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.



Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia or Oceania [Australia and New Zealand].



About HTF Market Report

HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the "Accurate Forecast" in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their "Goals & Objectives".
Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- Elemental analyzers are used to measure the elemental and isotopic composition of materials such as minerals, chemicals, soil samples, and waste & drinking water. Elemental analyzers are also used in qualitative analysis (to determine the elements that are present in a sample) and quantitative analysis (to determine the quantities of each element present in a sample).



Elemental analyzers have a wide range of measuring capabilities, such as the tracing of organic & inorganic elements and the estimation of heavy metals, which is boosting the demand for elemental analyzers across the globe. Elemental analyzers are also used in the research and development field to measure the carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen content in samples. Moreover, the increasing number of research and development initiatives is contributing to the growth of the elemental analyzers market.



The increasing requirement of elemental analyzers in various fields, such as, electronics, biology, geology, petrochemicals, mining, and energy, is also fuelling the demand for elemental analyzers across the globe. The availability of technologically advanced elemental analyzers with various features, such as compact sizing, portability, and USB connection with a computer system to analyze and collect data, makes elemental analyzers handy and user-friendly. The availability of a variety of elemental analyzers, such as carbon-Hydrogen-Sulfur (C-H-S) analyzers, oxygen-Nitrogen-Hydrogen (O-N-H) analyzers, and thermal analyzers, is also significantly boosting the market.



Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-9016



Elemental Analyzers Market: Drivers and Restraints

The adoption of elemental analyzers for the analysis of ores, rocks, and coal is boosting the demand

Growth in the construction industry is one of the important factors driving the global elemental analyzers market, as elemental analyzers are required at multiple stages during the manufacturing of cements.



The testing of the rigidity of materials and comprehensive quality control is among the prime agendas of the aerospace industry, and elemental analyzers help carry out the same. Thus, increasing innovations in the aerospace industry is contributing to the growing demand for elemental analyzers in the market.



The mining and power industry in one of the leading industries in terms of expansion. The analysis of ores, rocks, and coal with the help of elemental analyzers is significantly boosting the demand for these instruments in the market. In addition, elemental analyzers are significantly used in other fields such as medical engineering, refractory metals, steel, metalworking industry, and research industry, which is another factor driving the global elemental analyzers market. The availability of technologically advanced elemental analyzers is also significantly boosting the adoption of the same.



For example, ELTRA ELEMENTAL ANALYZERS, one of the leading manufacturers of elemental analyzers, launched the new ELTRA CS-2000 analyzer in 2018. The ELTRA CS-2000 analyzer is the only elemental analyzer in the market that determines sulfur and carbon in organic as well as inorganic samples. This elemental analyzer has various features such as single & multipoint calibration, robust design, wide temperature range, and low maintenance.



On the other hand, the low adaptation rate of new elemental analyzers and the requirement of skilled operators is hampering the growth of the elemental analyzers market.



Elemental Analyzers Market: Segmentation

On the basis of application, the elemental analyzers market is segmented into:

Food Quality Testing

Material Characterization

Others



On the basis of end use, the elemental analyzers market is segmented into:

Mining

Petrochemical

Construction



Elemental Analyzers Market: Competition Landscape

Some of the leading manufacturers of elemental analyzers are ELTRA ELEMETAL ANALYZERS, HORIBA, Thermo Fisher Scientific, C.I.Analytics, Eurovector, PerkinElmer Inc., Labcompare, and Exeter Analytical Limited.



Request to Browse Full Table of Content, figure and Tables @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-9016



Elemental Analyzers Market: Regional Overview

On the basis of region, the elemental analyzers market is segmented into North America, MEA, APEJ, and Europe. In terms of the market share, North America holds the maximum share of the elemental analyzers market. Increasing investments in various fields by different countries, such as the UK, Germany, and Russia, in Europe is expected to boost the elemental analyzers market. In APEJ, the countries such as India and China, are adopting new technologies in various fields, such as construction and research, which is also significantly boosting the elemental analyzers market. In addition, the growth of several industries in the MEA region, which include oil, chemicals, pharmaceutical, and construction, is boosting the demand for elemental analyzers in the region.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- In Europe, motorized quadricycles continue to be an attractive vehicle segment, especially among urbanites. Many consumers in European countries such as Germany, France and the UK, among others, are opting for electric quadricycle over compact cars. In addition to this, car rental companies in Europe are providing motorized quadricycles on rent and promoting their use in the region's automobile market. Persistence Market Research's latest report on Europe's motorized quadricycle market reveals that such factors will bolster the market's growth, which is expected to reach US$ 456.9 Mn by registering global sales of over 37,000 units towards the end of 2027.



The report, titled "Motorized Quadricycles Market: Europe Industry Analysis 20122016 and Forecast 20172027," also projects that the European market for motorized quadricycles, which is likely to be valued at US$ 268.3 Mn by 2017-end, will soar at a steady CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period. However, the market's growth in terms of volume is expected to subpar, representing a 3.9% CAGR over the forecast period.



Request for Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/16711



Key factors restraining the growth of Europe's motorized quadricycle market include:



Technical and economic limitations: Despite the various advantages that the motorized quadricycles offer, many customers feel reluctant to buy a motorized quadricycle due to their high costs.

High emission levels: With regards to transition to higher emission levels, the existing regulatory scenario in European countries creates a point of concern for quadricycle manufacturers, who are already combating at the pricing front.

Sub-A segment cars: Demand for low cost, Sub-A segment cars  micro cars that are filling the space between a quadricycle and a compact passenger car  is gaining traction in countries such as France.



The report expects that Europe's motorized quadricycles market will witness sizeable growth in France, Germany and Russia. Among European countries, France is estimated to remain dominant over the forecast period owing to increasing demand for eco-friendly small size vehicles and stringent government regulations. U.K.'s motorized quadricycle market, meanwhile, is estimated witness high growth opportunities, owing to rising efforts taken by domestic manufacturers and low penetration of motorized quadricycles in its auto-markets.



Request for Report Table of Content (TOC) @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/16711



By product-type, the light quadricycles segment is estimated to represent dominant market share through 2027. Around 88% of Europe's motorized quadricycle revenues in 2017 are expected to be accounted by light-weight quadricycles. Demand for electric motorized quadricycles, however, is expected to be lesser than that of motorized quadricycles equipped with conventional fuel motors. By the end of 2027, over 68% of Europe's motorized quadricycles revenues will be accounted by quadricycles operating on conventional fuels. The report also profiles leading players in Europe's motorized quadricycle market, which include Renault SA, Bajaj Auto Ltd., Automobile CHATNET, Ligier Group, Aixam-Mega, Tecno Meccanica Imola SpA, Grecav Auto Srl.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/06/2019 -- The Top key vendors in Heart Lung Machine Market include are Medtronic, Sorin, MAQUET, Terumo, Braile Biomedica, Tianjin Medical, Blausen Medical, Soma Technology.



Get Free PDF Sample Copy of Heart Lung Machine Market at https://www.marketgrowthinsight.com/sample/25878



Apart from this, the valuable document weighs upon the performance of the industry on the basis of a product service, end-use, geography and end customer.



The industry experts have left no stone unturned to identify the major factors influencing the development rate of the Heart Lung Machine industry including various opportunities and gaps. A thorough analysis of the micro markets with regards to the growth trends in each category makes the overall study interesting. When studying the micro markets the researchers also dig deep into their future prospect and contribution to the Heart Lung Machine industry.



A high focus is maintained on factors such as demand and supply, production capacity, supply chain management, distribution channel, product application and performance across different countries. The report not only offers hard to find facts about the trends and innovation driving the current and future of Heart Lung Machine business, but also provides insights into competitive development such as acquisition and mergers, joint ventures, product launches and technology advancements.



A quick look at the industry trends and opportunities



The researchers find out why sales of Heart Lung Machine are projected to surge in the coming years. The study covers the trends that will strongly favor the industry during the forecast period, 2019 to 2025. Besides this, the study uncovers important facts associated with lucrative growth and opportunities that lie ahead for the Heart Lung Machine industry.



#If You Want to Parchase This Report Now Click here @ https://www.marketgrowthinsight.com/checkout/25878



On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, and market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into

1)Single Roller Pump Heart Lung Machine

2)Double Roller Pump Heart Lung Machine



On the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, including

1) Cardiac Surgery

2)Lung Transplant Operation

3)Acute Respiratory Failure Treatmen



Region wise performance of the Heart Lung Machine industry



This report studies the global Heart Lung Machine Market status and forecast, categorizes the global Heart Lung Machine Market size (value & volume) by key players, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top players in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia India and Other regions (Middle East & Africa, Central & South America).



Key points from TOC



7 Global Wires and Cable Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis



7.1 Medtronic

7.1.1 Medtronic Heart Lung Machine Production Sites and Area Served

7.1.2 Heart Lung Machine Product Introduction, Application and Specification

7.1.3 Medtronic Heart Lung Machine Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2014-2019)

7.1.4 Main Business and Markets Served



7.2 Sorin

7.2.1 Sorin Heart Lung Machine Production Sites and Area Served

7.2.2 Heart Lung Machine Product Introduction, Application and Specification

7.2.3 Sorin Heart Lung Machine Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2014-2019)

7.2.4 Main Business and Markets Served



7.3 MAQUET

7.3.1 MAQUET Heart Lung Machine Production Sites and Area Served

7.3.2 Heart Lung Machine Product Introduction, Application and Specification

7.3.3 MAQUET Heart Lung Machine Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2014-2019)

7.3.4 Main Business and Markets Served



Continue..



Browse Full RD with TOC of This Report @ https://www.marketgrowthinsight.com/25878/heart-lung-machine-market



This Heart Lung Machine Market report holds answers to some important questions like:



1)What is the size of occupied by the prominent leaders for the forecast period, 2019 to 2025? What will be the share and the growth rate of the Heart Lung Machine Marketduring the forecast period?

2)What are the future prospects for the Heart Lung Machine industry in the coming years?

3)Which trends are likely to contribute to the development rate of the industry during the forecast period, 2019 to 2025?

4)What are the future prospects of the Heart Lung Machine industry for the forecast period, 2019 to 2025?

5)Which countries are expected to grow at the fastest rate?

6)Which factors have attributed to an increased sale worldwide?

7)What is the present status of competitive development?



People Also Viewed:-



Artificial Heart Market analysis, size, applications, regional outlook, competitive strategies and forecasts 2018 to 2025 @ https://www.marketgrowthinsight.com/35511/artificial-heart-market



Lung Function Tester Market Technology, Specifications, Production, Growth Rate And Forecast To 2025 @ https://www.marketgrowthinsight.com/34063/lung-function-tester-market



About Market Growth Insight

Market Growth Insight is a one stop solution for market research reports in various business categories. We are serving 100+ clients with 10000+ diverse industry reports and our reports are developed to simplify strategic decision making, on the basis of comprehensive and in-depth significant information, established through wide ranging analysis and latest industry trends.



We are striving to provide the best customer friendly services and appropriate business information to accomplish your ideas.



Contact Us

502, Sai Radhe, Kennedy Road,

Behind Hotel Sheraton Grand,

Near Pune Station,

Pune 411 001,

Maharashtra, India

Contact No- + 91 8956 049 020



Sales@marketgrowthinsight.com



Website- https://www.marketgrowthinsight.com



Follow Us:- LinkedIn | Twitter | Google+ | Facebook
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/06/2019 -- A rare lung disease often terminal, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an interstitial lung disease affecting the lung interstitium. Patients diagnosed with IPF suffer an extreme lung deterioration resulting a decline in the lung functioning. IPF causes 'pulmonary fibrosis', which basically means damaging of the lung tissues. Breathing distress is the most common intricacy involved with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.



Report Overview @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/idiopathic-pulmonary-fibrosis-therapeutic-market.html



The cause of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis still remains unknown, however, it is mostly linked with excessive inhalation of smoke or dust, exposure to unhealthy gases and chemicals and smoking of cigarettes. IPF may also be caused due to genetic predisposition or develop from other lung condition.



Some of the medical conditions, which may develop in a patient with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) include obstructive sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease and gastro oesophagal reflux disease. A set of guidelines has been released for managing such conditions accordingly.



Request Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=14717



Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Therapeutic Market Trends



In the recent years, higher incidence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis has been noticed, which has fueled the demand for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis therapeutics. The introduction of novel medicines and advancement in treatment methods of the disease has further supplemented the overall growth of the market. Nintedanib and Pirfenidone are the two most common anti-fibrotic drugs used for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.



There is no absolute cure for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis available as yet. A large portion of the treatment is directed to provide temporary relieve to the patients. Failure to provide a complete cure and limited treatment options are considered as major setbacks of the market. Limited drug options with low efficiency are further hindering the growth of the global idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis market.



Greater focus on effective drug treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis has led to the development of few quality drugs such as Vargatef and Ofev. These drugs effectively reduce the patient's discomfort and ease the functioning of the lung. In addition, increasing R&D programs for development of new therapies to successfully treat IPF in expected to favor the market in the near future. For instance, recently two major pharmaceuticals companies Inventiva SAS and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH have decided to jointly work on developing potential new treatments for IPF.



Request for TOC @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=14717



Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Therapeutic Market: Region-wise Analysis



On the basis of region, the global idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis therapeutics market has been segmented into six key regions namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and the Middle East & Africa. Europe and North America are considered as the two largest market of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis therapeutics. In addition, the presence of major pharmaceutical companies in these two regions has positively impacted the growth of the market. Countries such as the US, Canada, Germany, France and Britain have accounted for a healthy demand of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis therapeutics attributed to the increasing number of IPF incidence occurring in these countries. The global IPF therapeutics market is expected to register a healthy growth in the upcoming years.



Few of Key players in the global idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis therapeutic market include AdAlta Pty Ltd., Biogen, Inc., Angion Biomedica Corp., Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp., FibroGen, Inc. Progenra, Inc, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH and Vectura Group plc. Most companies the focusing on further product development and offer a wider range of IPF therapeutic treatments.



The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.



About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.



Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.



Contact



90 State Street, Suite 700

Albany, NY 12207

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com

Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com
Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- Pressure control equipment is a set of tools and device that are generally used to maintain the optimal pressure levels inside a wellbore during well intervention or workover operations. The pressure control equipment can withstand arduous conditions which ensure safety and quality, and minimize risks during drilling. It is used in number of applications where the pressure needs to be measured, monitored, and controlled. Rapid implementation of advanced technology in oilfield equipment on the account of growing global investment in exploration and production (E&P) is considered to be key factors influencing the development of pressure control equipment market.



Pressure Control Equipment Market  Notable Developments



Some of the leading players operating in the pressure control equipment market are Schlumberger, GKD Industries, Integrated Equipment, Brace Tool, Hunting, TIS Manufacturing, Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), National Oilwell Varco, Weatherford International, The IKM Group, FHE USA, Control Flow, Lee Specialties, The Weir Group, IoT Group, and others.



In February 2019, Schlumberger and Rockwell Automation, one of the largest companies dedicated to industrial automation and information, entered into an agreement to form a joint venture called Sensia, the first fully-integrated provider of digital oilfield automation solutions. Additionally, it created a JV  OneStim with Weatherford International, PLC in March 2017 to offer unconventional resource plays' products and services to their customers in the U.S. and Canada.

In September 2018, Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), a key player of pressure control equipment market, was awarded an integrated services contract by Saudi Aramco for its Marjan Oilfield. Under the contract's terms the company provided drilling services, drilling fluids engineering services, and coiled tubing services in Marjan. BHGE also received a similar contract from Equinor in June 2018 to support the petroleum company's large proportion of drilling and well construction activities in the North Sea's Norwegian sector.

Request Free Sample Report@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=3079



Pressure Control Equipment Market Dynamics



Increasing demand for hydrocarbons, which serve as a key source of global energy supply, has brought a significant transformation in oil and industry in various regions across the globe. Such transformation has led to advances in well drilling technologies and adoption of a variety of equipment including pressure control equipment which measures, monitor, and control the fluid pressure. Surging demand for oil and gas equipment along with the rising need for higher safety norms by well drilling contractors is expected to accelerate the growth of pressure control equipment market. In addition, increasing requirements of special instruments and materials in high pressure and high temperature wells will possibly push the demand for pressure control equipment.



North America to Contribute Substantial Growth to Pressure Control Equipment Market



Leading players foresee North America as a lucrative region for pressure control equipment market, due to increase in deepwater drilling activities in the region. Continued focus on unconventional sources and shale plays on the coattails of various technological innovations and developments is anticipated to drive the pressure control equipment market in the developed countries of North America such as the U.S. and Canada. Further, surge in unconventional hydrocarbon production in the region has been envisaged to complement the future expansion of pressure control equipment market.



While increasing capital spending by leading companies in North America will continue to propel the market growth, factors such as lack of expertise, failure in drilling rig activities, and limited exposure to technologies may influence passive growth of pressure control equipment market.



Pressure Control Equipment Market Segmentation



On the basis of type, the pressure control equipment market can be segmented into:



Low Pressure (Below 10,000 PSI)

High Pressure (Above 10,000 PSI)

On the basis of application, the pressure control equipment market can be segmented into:



Onshore

Offshore

On the basis of component, the pressure control equipment market can be segmented into:



Valves

Wellhead Flange

Adapter Flange

Control Head

Christmas Tree (Flow Tree)

Quick Unions

Others

The study presents reliable qualitative and quantitative insights into:



Pressure control equipment market segments and sub-segments

Pressure control equipment market trends and dynamics

Supply and demand chain of the pressure control equipment market

Pressure control equipment market valuation (revenue and/or volume)

Key trends/opportunities/challenges in pressure control equipment market

Forces defining present and estimated future state of the competitive landscape

Technological developments in the market of pressure control equipment

Value chain and stakeholder analysis

Request/View TOC@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=T&rep_id=3079



The regional analysis covers:



North America (U.S., Canada)

Latin America (Mexico, Brazil)

Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K., Spain)

Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)

Asia Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand)

Japan

Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, S. Africa, Northern Africa)

The vast market research data included in the study is the result of extensive primary and secondary research activities. Surveys, personal interviews, and inputs from industry experts form the crux of primary research activities and data collected from trade journals, industry databases, and reputable paid sources form the basis of secondary research. The pressure control equipment market report also includes a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market, with the help of information collected from market participants operating across key sectors of the market value chain. A separate analysis of macro- and micro-economic aspects, regulations, and trends influencing the overall development of the market is also included in the report.



Highlights of the report:



A detailed analysis of key segments of the pressure control equipment market

Recent developments in the pressure control equipment market's competitive landscape

Detailed analysis of pressure control equipment market segments up to second or third level of segmentation

Historical, current, and projected future valuation of the pressure control equipment market in terms of revenue and/or volume

Key business strategies adopted by influential pressure control equipment market vendors

Outline of the regulatory framework surrounding and governing numerous aspects of the pressure control equipment market

Growth opportunities in emerging and established pressure control equipment markets

Recommendations to pressure control equipment market players to stay ahead of the competition.



Report Analysis@ https://www.factmr.com/report/3079/pressure-control-equipment-market



About Fact.MR

Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.



Contact Us

Rohit Bhisey

Fact.MR

11140 Rockville Pike

Suite 400

Rockville, MD 20852

United States

Email: sales@factmr.com

Web: https://www.factmr.com/

Blog: https://factmrblog.com/

Read Industry News at - http://theguardiantribune.com
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- According to a new market research study titled Medical Robots Market to 2025  Global Analysis and Forecasts by Product, Application and End User. The global medical robots market is estimated to account for US$ 28,776.6Mn by 2025 as compared to US$ 5,740.8 Mn in 2017, growing at a CAGR of 22.3% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2025. The report highlights the trends prevalent in the global medical robots market and the factors driving the market along with those fact as restraint to its growth.



The application segment of the medical robots market includes laparoscopy, neurology, orthopedics, gynecology, urology, cardiology and others. In 2017, laparoscopy segment held the largest share of 56.2% of the market, based on the technology. In addition, the segment is expected to dominate during the coming years owing to its advantages such as, adoption in emergence of data supporting efficacy and safety. The laparoscopy market was valued at US$ 2,220.5 Mn in 2017 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22.4% during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, to reach US$ 11,179.7 Mn by 2025.



Some of the major primary and secondary sources included in the report are Society of European Robotic Gynecological Surgery (SERGS), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and National Research Council Canada, and more. Rise in The Number of Surgical Procedures Is Expected To Drive The Medical Robots Market From 2018 to 2025. Dominancy of The Laparoscopy Segment by Application Is Likely To Dominate The Market Of The Global Medical Robots Market.



Key industry players operating in the field of medical robots across the globe include Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Stryker, Hocoma AG, Mazor Robotics Ltd., Hansen Medical, Inc. (Auris Surgical robotics), Accuray Incorporated, Omnicell Inc., Arxium, EKSO Bionics Holdings, Inc., and Kirby Lester, LLC among others.



Get Sample PDF Brochure of this research at https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPHE100000816/



The rise in the number of the surgical procedures in expected to drive the market of medical robots in the forecasted period. As per the statistic given by the Intuitive Surgical, Inc. in 2017, approximately 877,000 surgical procedures were conducted using the da Vinci Surgical Systems, this was the highest number of the surgeries performed as compared to the surgeries in 2015 and 2016 which were 753,000 and 652,000 respectively. The total growth in the procedures in 2107 was driven by the growing numbers of the general surgical procedures in US and the urologic procedures worldwide.



Additionally, the total number of procedures were marked in US were near about 644,000 in 2017 where as it were 563,000 and 499,000 in 2015 & 2016 respectively. Similarly, outside the US the number was marked at near about 233,000 in 2017, when it was compared to the 190,000 in 2016 and 153,000 in 2015. As per the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) estimates the number of the inpatient invasive therapeutic surgeries performed in US in 2014, were approximately about 21.8 million. The number was distributed as 3.3 million for the cardiothoracic, 3.8 million for general surgeries and 2.5 million for urology and gynecology. Moreover, according to Intuitive Surgical, Inc. it is estimated that every in 36 second a surgeon starts a procedure with da Vinci, approximately 5 million procedures have been performed across the world.



The advantages of the medical robots are leading to the more developments which are carried out by various such companies who are offering products for the treatment of various diseases and conditions. Therefore, the rise in the number of the surgical procedures is expressively driving the market for the medical robots and is anticipated to continue to boost the demand in the forecasted period. For instance, Stryker, offers wide range of the products for the orthopedic, neurovascular and general surgeries. The company also have product portfolio that include medical robots that assist in the orthopedic surgeries. Additionally in December 2013, Stryker acquired Mako to achieve the aim of transforming the orthopedics. The company has third generation robotic arm platform with multiple generations of knee & hip applications. The Mako systems offers the visualization, audio, and tactile feedback during preparation of bone implant to ensure proper fitting of implant. Moreover, the company contributes 2.5% of the total market share for the surgical robots and 5.7% for the accessories market share.



The growth of the market is expected rise due to the trend of development of therapeutic robots. As the large number of the people are therapeutic robots for companionship and therapy. The therapy robots are developed for assisting patients in recovering. For instance, student researchers at the University of Amsterdam developed Phobot, which is an interactive robot to help children who suffer from anxiety and phobias. When Phobot is confronted by larger objects, it's programmed to react with fear, it raises its eyebrows, turns around, and zips away in a panic. When it's confronted with smaller objects, it is trained to be normal. In addition, Omron (Japan) in 2001 developed and designed NeCoRo, the first robotic lap cats made for senior citizens in the country. The robot gives positive feedback depending on the user's actions. If a user neglected NeCoRo, the robot would be less affectionate the next time the user interacted with it. These types of therapeutic robots are growing trends in the past few years and are expected to grow the market in the future time.



The application segment of the medical robots market is divided into laparoscopy, neurology, orthopedics, gynecology, urology, cardiology, and others. In 2017, laparoscopy segment held the largest share of 56.2% of the market, based on the technology. In addition, the segment is expected to dominate during the coming years owing to its advantages such as, adoption in emergence of data supporting efficacy and safety. Similarly, the orthopedic segment is expected to be the fastest growing application segment for the medical segment. The orthopedics market was valued at US$ 879.2 Mn in 2017.



Directly Purchase/Place an Order for a copy of this research report at https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPHE100000816/



Evolution of Nanorobots In Cancer Treatment Is Likely To Create Growth Opportunities And Expected To Accelerate The Growth Of Medical Robots Market from 2018 to 2025. The report highlights the trends prevalent in the global medical robots market and the factors driving the market along with those that act as restraints to its growth. The global medical robots market is witnessing a sheer rise in the current scenario and is expected to expand in the coming years. Rise in the developments for medical robots in Asia is one of the factor to propel the demand of medical robots in the developing nations. However, high cost of surgical procedures and installation is expected to hinder the market growth.



The evolution of nanorobots for the treatment of cancer is likely to create opportunities for the growth of the medical robots in the coming future. The names nanorobots, nanoids, nanites or nanomites are used to describe the devices. Nano robotics is the technology for the development of the machines or robots which are close to the microscopic scale of a nanometer (10?9 meters). At present, nanorobots play an important role in the field of bio-medicine, importantly for the treatment of cancer, cerebral aneurysm, removal of kidney stones, elimination of defected parts in the DNA structure, and others. Nanorobots are integrated implanted chemical biosensors that are used for detecting the tumor cells in initial stages of cancer development inside a patient's body. Nanosensors are also used to find the intensity of E-cadherin signals. In most of the cancer cases, drugs have side effects because they can't differentiate between cancer cells and healthy ones. The nanorobots only target the tumors and didn't cause clotting elsewhere in the body. Therefore, this offers the cancer treatments free of side effects. Manufacturers and scientists have been investing in the innovative technological developments.



For instance, Arizona State University scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have programmed nanorobots to shrink tumors by cutting off their blood supply. Therefore, the current stages of medical technologies and therapy tools are used for the successful treatment of cancer. The important aspect to achieve a successful treatment is based on the improvement of efficient drug delivery to decrease the side-effects from the chemotherapy.



Key Benefits of Buying this Research Study:

1. Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global Medical Robots market

2. Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies

3. The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Medical Robots market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long term strategies

4. Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets

5. Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it

6. Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution

7. Examine the political, economic, social and technology impact of the five regions namely: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America.



About The Insight Partners

The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- The latest market research report titled Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market offers a detailed evaluation of the market situation within a specific geographic region. This Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market study contains vital data on market shifts owing to social, economic, cultural and technological changes worldwide. Explaining market opportunities remains the key focus of the study. Industry experts analysing the business environment also take a closer look at the organizational alignment as well as the capital structure.



Request for Sample Copy of Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/31633



Scope of the Report:

The research methodologies used for evaluating the Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market are inventive and also provides enough evidence on the demand and supply status, production capability, import and export, supply chain management and investment feasibility.



The investigative approach applied for the extensive analysis of the sale, gross margin and profit generated by the industry are presented through resources including tables, charts, and graphic images. Importantly, these resources can be easily integrated or used for preparing business or corporate presentations.



Major Players in Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market are:

- Lonza

- Evonik

- Changshu Alliance

- Shandong HeLiShi

- Liyang Qingfeng

- leHeng Chemical

- Fanxian Senyuan

- Boshan Hengtai Chemical



Market split by Type, can be divided into:

- White Type

- Light Yellow Type



Market split by Application, can be divided into:

- Intermediate for Polyimide Films

- Polyimide Based Composite Materials

- Curing Agent for Epoxy Resins



Major Regions play vital role in Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market are:

- North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

- Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.)

- Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.)

- South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.)

- Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.)



Buy Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/31633



The market intelligence study for the Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market further provides an inside-out overview of necessary aspects associated with the product classification, important definitions, major orders and other industry-centric parameters. An underlying part of the study also maps the important factors associated with the recent events such as mergers and acquisition, collaboration and new product launches.



Understanding the market size:

The size of the Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market is viewed in terms of the Share of Market, Total Available Market as well as Served Available Market. Not only does the study present the combined revenue for a particular market but also the market size for a specific geographic region. Analysis of percentage or the size of the Total Available Market based on the type of product, technology, regional constraints and others form an important part of the Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) report.



Market share:

The report discovers market's total sale that is generated by a particular firms over a time period. Industry experts calculate share by taking into account the product sales over a period and then dividing it by the overall sales of the Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) industry over a defined period. Subject matter experts further use this metric to offer a general idea of the share and size of a firm and its immediate rivals. By providing an in-depth knowledge of the position a company as well as an entrepreneur holds in the Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market



Attracting the target audience:

First, the comprehensive report finds out why customers need a certain product or service. The study focuses on what problems a certain product and service can solve. Apart from target demographics industry experts weigh up on the factors including audience type, as well as others vital attributes about the target customer segment.



The research provides answers to the following key questions:

- What is the estimated growth rate of the Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market for the forecast period 2019 - 2026? What will be the market share and size of the industry during the estimated period?

- What are prime factors expected to drive the Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) industry for the estimated period?

- What are the major market leaders and what has been their winning strategy for success so far?

- What are the significant trends shaping the growth prospects of the Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market?

- What are the key challenges expected to restrict the progress of the industry for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026?

- What the opportunities product owners can bank on to generate high profits?



Read More @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/pyromellitic-dianhydride-pmda-market



There are 10 Chapters to deeply display the global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) market.

- 1 Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Overview

- 2 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Competition by Manufacturers

- 3 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2019)

- 4 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2019)

- 5 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

- 6 Global Pyromellitic Dianhydride (PMDA) Market Analysis by Application

- Continue



About MarketExpertz

Planning to invest in market intelligence products or offerings on the web? Then marketexpertz has just the thing for you - reports from over 500 prominent publishers and updates on our collection daily to empower companies and individuals catch-up with the vital insights on industries operating across different geography, trends, share, size and growth rate. There's more to what we offer to our customers. With marketexpertz you have the choice to tap into the specialized services without any additional charges.



Contact Us:

John Watson

Head of Business Development

Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.com

Direct Line: +1-800-819-3052

E-mail: sales@marketexpertz.com

News: https://www.marketexpertz.com/market-news
Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) market is accelerating rapidly owing to the burgeoning need for highly economical and scalable open education to enable learners' access education platforms across the globe. MOOCs have been witnessing immense adoption owing to the tighter embrace of virtual living by millennial coupled with cheaper Internet, which is likely to fuel growth in MOOC market in forthcoming years. However, the low completion rate of MOOC is expected to hinder the growth of MOOC market.



The proliferating demand for highly flexible learning courses is necessitating the uptake of MOOC specifically among the corporates, who are increasing adopting MOOC as employee engagement and development programs. Further, several MOOC providers are embracing XMOOC platform over the counterparts owing to the diverse learning alternatives being offered by this platform.



MOOC market has been providing immense scope of learning to individuals, who fail to get enrolled themselves in regular courses due to personal reasons, such as financial crunches. The leading players in MOOC market are vying to offer highly customized, flexible and informative MOOC to expand their foothold in MOOC market.



Request Free Sample Report@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=3077



MOOC Market- Notable Developments



Some of the leading players operating in MOOC market are Coursera, LinkedIn, Khan Academy, edX, Inc., Kadenze, Edmodo, Instructure, Inc., FutureLearn, Jigsaw Academy, Udacity, Inc., Intellipaat, Simpliearn, iversity Learning Solutions GmbH, Miriadax, Pluralsight, WizIQ, Alison, and Udemy.



In November 2017, Amercian multinational company General Electric joined hands with Microsoft Corp to provide free online technology courses to residents of Massachusetts.

In 2017, the Indian government launched a MOOCs platform named SWAYAM to offer virtual classrooms in remote parts of the country using internet and satellite connectivity. SWAYAM hosts courses up to postgraduate levels in wide range of fields, such as engineering and law.

MOOC Market- Market Dynamics



High Demand from Corporates Reinforcing Market Growth



MOOCs are increasingly and positively impacting corporates, with MOOC designers focusing on establishing highly sustainable business models. Several leading players in MOOC market have been developing offerings targeting the corporate sector. Amid the rapidly shifting corporate landscape in line with the continuing need to upskill and reskill, executives and companies are increasingly realizing that learning curve is linked to earning curve. Thus, they are opting for MOOCs, as they make a viable and cost-efficient option. To capitalize on this growing trend of organizations beginning to embrace MOOCs for an array of purposes, such as corporate training, event marketing, and recruiting, market players are designing corporate-growth focuses highly flexible MOOCs.



Instant Availability, Easy Accessibility & Affordability Underpinning Gains in MOOC Market



As MOOCS are readily available courses conducted by highly-qualified lecturers and professors from world class universities, they are increasing gaining traction of learners eying at flexible courses. The gains in MOOC market can be further attributed to easy accessibility of MOOC from anywhere and anytime for learners from any group with access to Internet connection. Furthermore, the considerably reduced costs or even free of costs MOOC in some cases as compared to traditional courses have been growing the demand for MOOC across the globe.



Unique Offerings Remain Growth Expansion Strategy



Amid the rigorous competition in MOOC market coupled with concerns pertaining to strong bandwidth Internet, market players are focusing on designing resources which can be assessed in settings that are less well-equipped. To address this significant challenge, market players are offering options for low definition MOOC videos, video transcripts, audio-only versions supported by slides, and other ways of decreasing access requirements.



Request/View TOC@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=T&rep_id=3077



Concerns Related to Learning Outcomes & Effectiveness Restraining Market Growth



Despite widespread adoption of MOOCs by several leading universities and business organizations, MOOC is still not considered as 'main stream' option for academic and corporate learning. The growing concerns pertaining to the learning outcomes and effectiveness continue to make it difficult for market players to expand their foothold in MOOC market. Moreover some individuals and corporates believe that reliance on virtual interactions will result into isolation and disengagement, further resulting into widespread poor performance or even opting out of the course altogether.



MOOC Market- Segmentation



The MOOC market can be bifurcated on the basis of:



Courses



Health and Medicine

Education and Training

Computer Science and Programming

Engineering

Science

Humanities

Business Management

Others

Type



Implementation

Training and Support

Consulting

Platform



CMOOC

XMOOC

By Region



North America (U.S., Canada)

Latin America (Mexico, Brazil)

Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K., Spain)

Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)

Asia Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand)

Japan

Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, S. Africa, Northern Africa)

The MOOC study presents reliable qualitative and quantitative insights into:



Market segments and sub-segments

Market trends and dynamics

Supply and demand chain in MOOC market

Market valuation (revenue and/or volume)

Market key trends/opportunities/challenges

Forces defining present and estimated future state of the competitive landscape in MOOC market

Technological developments in MOOC market

Market value chain and stakeholder analysis

The vast MOOC market research data included in MOOC market study is the result of extensive primary and secondary research activities. Surveys, personal interviews, and inputs from MOOC industry experts form the crux of primary research activities and data collected from trade journals, industry databases, and reputable paid sources form the basis of secondary research. The MOOC market report also includes a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market, with the help of information collected from market participants operating across key sectors of MOOC market value chain. A separate analysis of macro- and micro-economic aspects of MOOC, regulations, and trends influencing the overall development of MOOC market is also included in the report.



Highlights of MOOC Market Report:



A detailed analysis of key segments of MOOC market

Recent developments in MOOC market's competitive landscape

Detailed analysis of MOOC market segments up to second or third level of segmentation

Historical, current, and projected future valuation of MOOC market in terms of revenue and/or volume

Key business strategies adopted by influential MOOC market vendors

Outline of the regulatory framework surrounding and governing numerous aspects of MOOC market

Growth opportunities in emerging and established MOOC markets

Recommendations to MOOC market players to stay ahead of the competition



Report Analysis@ https://www.factmr.com/report/3077/mooc-market



About Fact.MR

Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.



Contact Us

Rohit Bhisey

Fact.MR

11140 Rockville Pike

Suite 400

Rockville, MD 20852

United States

Email: sales@factmr.com

Web: https://www.factmr.com/

Blog: https://factmrblog.com/

Read Industry News at - http://theguardiantribune.com
Bangkok, Thailand -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/06/2019 -- Conventure Company Limited are leaders in home designing and construction. These home builders do an amazing job of making dreams come true for many home owners. Every individual dreams of owning a home and if that home is built by a professional construction company, then there is no looking back. With over two decades in the industry, the company has designed more than 70 styles of individual villas and homes. "The house is finished fast. Without problems in construction. Both fast and economical. The story of building a house can be trusted. Very impressive", says Gen. Torrithiporn, a happy customer. The company is known for building strong houses at a budget. A team of experienced engineers, architects, house builders and contractors come together to offer that dream house.



To know more about the services offered by Conventure visit https://www.conventure.co.th/



About Conventure.co.th

Conventure Company Limited, https://www.conventure.co.th/ based at Bangkok, Thailand was established in 1995for the purpose of business consulting and building construction. The company offers over 70 styles to choose for home construction.



Media Contact

Mr. Apichat Amatyakul  Conventure Company Limited

Address: 78/40-41 SoiSerithai 31, Khlong Kum, Buengkum, Bangko 10240

Phone: +66(0)2-046-0300-3

Email: Sales@conventure.co.th

Website: https://www.conventure.co.th/
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/06/2019 -- Industry Overview of the Report 2024:



Travel insurance is only a very small part of the overall general insurance market, it covers is available for single trip, annual multi-trip and long stay trips. and the detail are mainly medical expenses, trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight accident and other losses incurred while traveling, either internationally or within one's own country.



The research report on Global Travel Insurance Market presents the readers with market overview and definitions, segmentation, applications, raw materials used, product specifications, cost structures, manufacturing processes, and so on. The report analyzes the global market scenario, including the product pricing, production and consumption volume, cost, price, value, volume, capacity, supply, demand, market growth rate, and forecasts till 2024.



Request Sample Copy of Global Travel Insurance Market Report: http://bit.ly/2VItHHh



The Global Travel Insurance Market Can Be Segmented As:





- By Leading Players: Allianz, AIG, Munich RE, Generali, Tokio Marine, Sompo Japan, CSA Travel Protection, AXA, Pingan Baoxian, Mapfre Asistencia, USI Affinity, Seven Corners, Hanse Merkur, MH Ross.



- By Type Analysis: Single Trip, Annual Multi-trip, Long-Stay.



- By Application Analysis: Family Traveler, Senior Citizens, Business Traveler, Others.





The research report on Global Travel Insurance Market is a comprehensive study of the current scenario of the market, covering the key market dynamics. The report also provides a logical evaluation of the key challenges faced by the leading pioneers operating in the market, which helps the participants in understanding the difficulties they may face in future while functioning in the global market over the forecast period.



Browse Table of Contents with Facts and Figures of Travel Insurance Market Report at: http://bit.ly/2Vyw9Qm



The Market Report Contains The Following Chapter:

Chapter 1: The research report on Global Travel Insurance Market helps in picking up the crucial information about the said market.

Chapter 2: The report covers a detailed analysis of each majorly impacting player in the Travel Insurance Market such as the company profile, the latest technological developments by the player in the market, and the product portfolio of the player currently available in the market, as well as the regions they function in majorly.

Chapter 3: It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future of Global Travel Insurance Market. It provides strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations.

Chapter 4: The report also provides an eight-year forecast survey on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow.



Get Discount while Purchase Order For Global Travel Insurance Market Report At: http://bit.ly/2VFarug



The Travel Insurance industry research report studies the production, supply, sales, and the current status of the market in a profound manner. Furthermore, the report studies the production shares and market product sales, as well as the capacity, production capacity, sales, and revenue generation. Several other factors such as import/export status, demand, supply, gross margin, and industry chain structure have also been studied in the Global Travel Insurance Market report.



About Garner Insights

We at Garner Insights.com provide a comprehensive analysis by providing in-depth reports of the various market verticals. Our Mission is to provide a detailed analysis of the vast markets worldwide backed by rich data. Decision makers can now rely on our well-defined data gathering methods to get the correct and accurate market forecasting along with detailed analysis.



Contact Us:

Mr. Kevin Thomas

+1 513 549 5911 (US)

+44 203 318 2846 (UK)

Email: sales@garnerinsights.com
Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2019 -- Tin chemicals are either inorganic compounds or organotin compunds which contain at least one bond between carbon and tin, and are primarily used in electroplating industry to produce tin surfaces with particular decorative or functional properties. Usage of a range of tin chemical variants is significant in traditional markets of electroplating such as giftware, wires, and tinplate. Tin chemicals are also largely used in PVC stabilizers where they have specific technical advantages. In the recent years, tin chemicals have gained a number of industrial applications including surfaces treatment, plating, catalysts, reducing agents, glazes, and energy and electronic devices.



Tin Chemicals Market  Notable Developments



Yunnan Tin Company Group Limited (YTC), Songxiang Chemical, DuPont and Dow, Mason Corporation, Westman Chemicals Pvt., TIB Chemicals, Showa America, Hubei Xinghuo, Lorad Chemical Corporation, PT. Timah Industri, William Blythe, BNT Chemicals GmbH (IBU-tech owned), and Keeling & Walker are among key players operating in tin chemicals market.



In July 2018, BNT Chemicals GmbH that manufacturers its own, mainly tin chemicals such as tin chlorides and tin-based catalysts was fully acquired by IBU-tec Group. TIB Chemicals, however, continues to be a strong partner of BNT Chemicals GmbH.

In December 2017, PT. Timah Tbk, global tin mining company and a leading player of tin chemicals market, signed a joint venture with Topwide Ventures Ltd, Nigeria for the management of exploration, mining processing, purification, and transportation, sales & marketing of tin and derived minerals in Nigeria.

According to the International Tin Association (ITA), lithium-ions batteries may represent a significant new tin use in the years to come, as it identified a strongly increasing interest in tin in energy materials and technologies. Further, ITA found nearly nine technological opportunities for tin in lithium-ion batteries.

ITA also reported that tin chemicals have become the second largest use of tin after growing by 7% in 2014 from a year earlier. High price of tin has brought a gradual decline to tin chemicals market, but several specialist innovative applications may grow in the near future.

Request Free Sample Report@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=3080



Tin Chemicals Market Dynamics



Advancements in Chemical Industry to Complement Market Growth



Global demand for tin has been on the rise due to significant advances in chemical industry in recent years. In addition, there has been an increasing use of tin plating among various industries to ensure protection and safety of many products and systems. These are the important factors boosting growth of the tin chemicals market at global level. Further, growing use of tin chlorides such as stannous chloride dehydrate and stannous chloride anhydrous for applications in metalized glazing, electric components, and even in food industries for tin packed food, is expected to create potential growth prospects for market of tin chemicals.



Tin Chemicals Market to Witness Steady Growth in Asia Pacific



In 2017, China was the largest producer and consumer of tin, with rapid growth in automotive sector and other industries. Rising demand for tin chloride in food, electronic, and glazing industries in the Asia Pacific region on the account of growing disposable along with rapid industrialization is likely to fuel the future expansion of tin chemicals market. A focus on installation of robust manufacturing facilities in developing countries such as China and India to meet the consistently rising local demand remains one of the key growth strategies for manufacturers of tin chemicals.



Although tin chemicals market is expected to maintain a positive outlook, concerns about tin supply such as ethical sourcing regulation and similar regulatory pressures on catalysts market, especially in Europe, may impede the demand for tin chemicals.



Request/View TOC@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=T&rep_id=3080



Tin Chemicals Market Segmentation



On the basis of product type, tin chemicals market can be segmented into:



Sodium stannate

Stannous chloride anhydrous

Stannous chloride dihydrate

Stannous oxalate

Stannic oxide

On the basis of application, tin chemicals market can be segmented into:



Plating Materials

Chemical Catalysts

Life Science Reagents

Process Chemicals

Pigment Precursors

The study presents reliable qualitative and quantitative insights into:



Tin chemicals market segments and sub-segments

Tin chemicals market trends and dynamics

Supply and demand chain of the tin chemicals market

Tin chemicals market valuation (revenue and/or volume)

Key trends/opportunities/challenges in tin chemicals market

Forces defining present and estimated future state of the competitive landscape

Technological developments in the market of tin chemicals

Value chain and stakeholder analysis

The regional analysis covers:



North America (U.S., Canada)

Latin America (Mexico, Brazil)

Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K., Spain)

Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)

Asia Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand)

Japan

Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, S. Africa, Northern Africa)

The vast market research data included in the study is the result of extensive primary and secondary research activities. Surveys, personal interviews, and inputs from industry experts form the crux of primary research activities and data collected from trade journals, industry databases, and reputable paid sources form the basis of secondary research. The tin chemicals market report also includes a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market, with the help of information collected from market participants operating across key sectors of the market value chain. A separate analysis of macro- and micro-economic aspects, regulations, and trends influencing the overall development of the market is also included in the report.



Highlights of the report:



A detailed analysis of key segments of the tin chemicals market

Recent developments in the tin chemicals market's competitive landscape

Detailed analysis of tin chemicals market segments up to second or third level of segmentation

Historical, current, and projected future valuation of the tin chemicals market in terms of revenue and/or volume

Key business strategies adopted by influential tin chemicals market vendors

Outline of the regulatory framework surrounding and governing numerous aspects of the tin chemicals market

Growth opportunities in emerging and established tin chemicals markets

Recommendations to tin chemicals market players to stay ahead of the competition



Report Analysis@ https://www.factmr.com/report/3080/tin-chemicals-market



About Fact.MR

Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.



Contact Us

Rohit Bhisey

Fact.MR

11140 Rockville Pike

Suite 400

Rockville, MD 20852

United States

Email: sales@factmr.com

Web: https://www.factmr.com/

Blog: https://factmrblog.com/

Read Industry News at - http://theguardiantribune.com
The mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccination does not increase the risk for autism, does not trigger autism in susceptible children, and is not associated with clustering of autism cases after vaccination, according to a nationwide cohort study from Denmark.

In 1998, The Lancet published a controversial paper in which a group of researchers from the Royal Free Hospital and School of Medicine London reported on 12 children with developmental delay, eight of whom were diagnosed with autism within four weeks of receiving the MMR vaccine.

Despite the small sample size, the uncontrolled design, and the speculative nature of the conclusions, the later retracted paper received wide publicity, and the hypothesized link between the vaccine and autism continues to cause concern and challenge vaccine uptake.

In 2002, a research team led by scientists from Denmarks Statens Serum Institut addressed this issue in a nationwide cohort study of 537,303 Danish children with 738 cases of autism. MMR vaccination was not associated with autistic disorder or other autism spectrum disorders.

In the new study, the team aimed to evaluate the association again in a more recent and non-overlapping cohort of Danish children that has greater statistical power owing to more children, more cases, and longer follow-up.

Of the 657,461 children included in the analysis over a decade of follow-up, 6,517 were diagnosed with autism.

Comparing MMR-vaccinated with MMR-unvaccinated children yielded a fully adjusted autism hazard ratio of 0.93.

Similarly, no increased risk for autism after MMR vaccination was consistently observed in subgroups of children defined according to sibling history of autism, autism risk factors (based on a disease risk score) or other childhood vaccinations, or during specified time periods after vaccination.

Our study does not support that MMR vaccination increases the risk for autism, triggers autism in susceptible children, or is associated with clustering of autism cases after vaccination, the study authors said.

It adds to previous studies through significant additional statistical power and addresses questions about susceptible subgroups and autism clustering.

The findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

_____

Anders Hviid et al. Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccination and Autism: A Nationwide Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med, published online March 5, 2019; doi: 10.7326/M18-2101
Initially debuting on Genting Dream, the campaign will further roll out across the Dream Cruises and Star Cruises fleet region-wide to provide guests the opportunity to further enrich their vacation with meaningful and memorable complimentary shore experiences during their cruise.

We hope our guests will not miss this valuable chance to be part of something truly meaningful, which is also a wonderful way to intimately know and understand each destination and its community, said Kent Zhu, president of Genting Cruise Lines. We also encourage our crew and staff members to be part of this Cruise Voluntourism campaign by donating their time to engage in various voluntary work at the different destinations.

To commemorate the launch, Genting Cruise Lines held its inaugural Cruise Voluntourism starting with Dream Cruises on board Genting Dream during a 3Night round-trip cruise last week departing from Singapore to Penang (Malaysia) and Phuket (Thailand).

Thatcher Brown, president of Dream Cruises. The Southeast Asian region is where it all began 25 years ago for our company as a group and it is only fitting that we launch our Cruise Voluntourism campaign here in the region as part of our ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitment to the communities we serve, he added.

During a call in Penang guests and crew were invited to The Eden Handicap Service Center  a charitable non-profit organization providing practical training and support for the disabled to support themselves. They engaged in numerous projects together including light maintenance around the facility and other fun activities. Additionally, various rations and provisions were also donated to The Eden Handicap Service Center on behalf of Genting Cruise Lines.

On the following day as Genting Dream arrived at its next destination in Phuket, participants had an early start in the morning to travel to the Baan Kalim School - a school that was rebuilt when it was largely destroyed by the December 2004 Tsunami. Participants had the chance to meet the students of the school and helped to repaint the library and the meeting room of the school. As part of the inaugural Voluntourism cruise, Genting Cruise Lines also donated childrens books for the schools library.

The Cruise Voluntourism itineraries will offer a wide variety of activities for guests to volunteer and donate their time including environmental conservation, cultural preservation, and supporting various institutions such as local schools, orphanages, seniors homes, handicapped centers, as well poverty relief efforts and more.
The agreement scope includes planned maintenance and dry-docking activities focused on maximising equipment reliability and availability, and additionally enable more effective inventory forecasting across the shipmanagers fleet.

John Carnall, senior vice president, global lifecycle support, MacGregor, commented: We are looking forward to increasing our collaboration with Ocean Sourcing and the Anglo Eastern Univan Group.

Jesper Alex Larsen, managing director of Ocean Sourcing, expects that this new agreement will be of great benefit to the parties involved.
Roger Moore has seen some changes during his time at the Sterling Heights Stamping Plant. In fact, he describes the difference from what he first experiencedwhen he started working at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) plant in 1996to today as night and day."When I first came here it just looked like a plant," Moore says. "Now its a facilityit's cleaner, it's brighter, it's a nice place to come, it's a nice place to work."FCA's announcement last week to invest $4.5 billion in its existing Michigan plants means that the Sterling Heights facility will receive even more of a boost, with a $163 million share of the funds and more than 80 new jobs at the plant.Moore runs multi-million dollar equipment as a press operator and toolmaker, and says the investment will mean 30 new sets of dies (which stamp out automotive parts), as well as new robots for assembly lines. But the real value is in job security.Like many Michigan workplaces, the plant was hit hard by the financial crisis. In 2009 the situation became so dire that employees were walked off the premises, lights were turned out and workers were unsure if they would have a job the next day. Plant manager Lance Schwartz says the workplace, thankfully, has doubled in employees since then.Its been a tremendous rebound since the darkness of 2009, he says.Schwartz grew up in Sterling Heights and comes from three generations of Chrysler employees.I watched the bankruptcy of the early 80s and I know what it meant as a kid, so for me its personal.Moore too is proud of how far the plant has come since then. Theyre bring work back in-house," he says. "Thats a major plus.Schwartz says that expanding the press lines meant that all of FCA's Jeep Wrangler product stamping can be done within the plant, while previously it was outsourced. For the staff, it is a big deal.Every chance that we get, as a part of the FCA family, to receive more work for our customers means more security for our team, he says, more security for their families.The recent FCA announcements outline three vehicles that the Sterling Heights stamping plant will be a part of, which comes a relief to Schwartz and his team.As a plant community, we are always on edge to hear what is that work that we are going to be be phasing out and what are we going to get to replace it with, he says. To hear that we are going to be a part of the new Grand Cherokee and Wagoneerthats all very exciting.The automotive company's investment isn't lost on city officials, either. Sterling Heights mayor Michael Taylor says he was thrilled to learn of the plans, and says the city will continue to support FCA as it grows.Sterling Stamping is currently home to more than 2,300 jobs and its wonderful to hear well be adding more to that workforce," says Taylor.As part of the larger plans, FCA announced that it intends to spend $1.6 billion converting two plants that comprise the Mack Avenue Engine Complex, invest $245 million in their Warren Stamping plant and spend $900 million retooling and modernizing their Jefferson North assembly plant. The moves are estimated to create nearly 6,500 new jobs.Three years ago, FCA set a course to grow our profitability based on the strength of the Jeep and Ram brands by realigning our U.S. manufacturing operations, says FCA CEO Mike Manley.[This] announcement represents the next step in that strategy. It allows Jeep to enter two white space segments that offer significant margin opportunities and will enable new electrified Jeep products, including at least four plug-in hybrid vehicles and the flexibility to produce fully battery-electric vehicles.
For over 19 years, Buddy Hannah was a voice of Kalamazoo as a host of radio show Talk It Up Live on The Touch.

Buddy Hannah and Sid Ellis, longtime friends and both former directors of Black Arts & Cultural Center, will co-direct Eastside Voices.

Buddy Hannah is a recognized Eastside Voice and has been for a long time.As a radio personality, poet, DJ, playwright, actor, director and teacher, Hannah uses his voice to express himself and to help lift up other voices.He believes that everyone has something important to say, whether they realize it or not.So when Hannah was approached by Kelly Clarke, Executive Director of the Kalamazoo County Land Bank, and Pat Taylor, Executive Director of the Kalamazoo Eastside Neighborhood Association, to help coordinate Eastside Voices, an urban arts and cultural engagement project, he readily agreed.Over the years, I was able to meet so many people because I had so many guests, says Hannah of his 20 years facilitating public discussion on The Touch WNWN-AM 1560 and through the hosting ofa current affairs program on 96.5 FM. Educated, uneducated, you name it, I had them on the air. That experience gave people the opportunity to share with the community because everyone has something they can share.Eastside Voices, a project sponsored by the Kalamazoo County Land Bank, the Eastside Neighborhood Association, and Public Media Network in cooperation with the Greater Kalamazoo Arts Council and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, will give both young and old Eastside residents the opportunity to share their stories.The project is aimed at enlivening urban spaces through art and engagement by bringing young and old neighbors together in a program that will teach youth to interview, write, and film while documenting oral histories of current and former residents.Co-directed by Hannah and his longtime friend Sid Ellis, Director of the Douglass Community Association and former Eastside resident, the multi-media project is launching March 11 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Eastside Neighborhood Association.In September, Eastside Voices will culminate in a video, written pieces, and a mural inspired by the oral histories and designed by Eastside artist Gerald King (see LINK). In addition, artistic representations of the histories, including perhaps memorable sayings gathered in the interviews, will be permanently incorporated into the Eastside Gateway Pocket Park on East Main.PMN staff will help train the youth in journalism and video production skills with the support of a PMN Community Partnership Grant.Its important for Kalamazoo and surrounding areas to know every neighborhood has a story, says Ellis. And its important to share our stories with the youth to understand our commonalities.Ellis says he always tells youth: When youre looking for heroes and histories, look in your own backyard because youll find a lot of heroes and a lot of rich history there.Hannah and Ellis agree about the importance of bringing young and old together, especially in todays culture where the emphasis on technology can limit the level of meaningful engagement youth and elders have with each other.Its important for our youth to get history from the elders and have an understanding of what happened in the past, says Ellis. That doesnt happen enough. Youth assume that everything that theyre doing is new, but unless its technology, its not. They need to recognize and have an understanding that the things they went through is the same things their elders went through.Hannah adds, Often our youth dont realize there were people before them who made things possible to enjoy that they are now enjoying, They hear about the civil rights movement and all that. But there were people right here in their neighborhoods that were addressing issues.We have to let the young people know, things were not always as you see them now. There were problems in Kalamazoo. There were issues in Kalamazoo and still are. And there were people who met these challenges to make things better.We talk about young people are our future, but we are their present, says Hannah. We have to do the things that need to be done to prepare them for the future. They cant do it on their own.When considering the many opportunities hes been given to use his voice over the years, Hannah lists off a long list of mentors who helped him on his way.His first love, he says, was poetry. With six published books of poetry, Hannah has performed poetry readings and conducted creative writing workshops at colleges, schools and universities across Southwest Michigan. His 1989 book of poetry,was used in a Black Studies class at Western Michigan University.But without the encouragement of local poet Elizabeth Kerlikowske and Gail Sydnor, founder of the Black Arts & Cultural Center, he may not have had the push he needed to take his interest seriously, he says.Both women provided him opportunities to express himself, he says, such as inviting him to run workshops at Kerlikowskes college poetry class, and encouraging him to pursue writing, acting and directing. They opened up a whole new world for me, he says.Actress Linda Louise Tanksley was one of the first people to encourage Hannah to try out for a play. His first time on stage was in The Meeting, a play about an imagined meeting between Martin Luther King Jr. (played by Hannah) and Malcolm X (played by Ellis). There he was introduced to his stage mentor, Von Washington, Sr.I never took a class from (Von) says Hannah. All of my classes with him were on stage working with him, being mentored by him, directed by him. He provided opportunities, guidance and friendship.And his lifelong friendship with Ellis has provided creative opportunity, says Hannah, who looks forward to working with Ellis on Eastside Voices. We inspire each other.As a production coordinator at Upjohn and then Pfizer before retirement 12 years ago, most of Hannahs artistic pursuits took place in his free time. In the mid-'90s, Hannah was approached by Gene Bowen, radio station manager, who asked him to provide a little social commentary during three minutes of unscheduled air time, something Hannah was at first reluctant to try because he didnt want to come off sounding like Paul Harvey. But he relented, and the show lasted 19 years. He also credits Troy Robertson, Jr., and Peter Tanz at the station for offering him a live show on Saturdays that had few restrictions.The show was social commentary and its purpose was to be informative, educational, and entertaining, Hannah says, to be a voice for the voiceless.Later, Hannah was approached by Earlene McMichael, currently a WMUK host of the local Morning Edition who then worked at the, and asked Hannah to write a social commentary column for the paper.I dont know, he recalls telling her. I hit pretty hard.But McMichaels assured him that was just what the community needed.Hannahs accolades and awards are too numerous to mention, but include the Irving S. Gilmore Community Medal of Arts Award, the Civic Leader Award from the City of Kalamazoo, and the NAACP Humanitarian Award.A lot of us have multiple talents that we can use to do good things. We have those talents for a reason, says Hannah, who runs the Drama Ministry at his church, the Allen Chapel AME. You never know who is helped by what youre doing. Sometimes you dont see the result until years later, he says. People will come up and say, Hey, I heard your program and it inspired me. I would have never known that.Ive been so fortunate to do so many things, says Hannah. Man, it was just wonderful. All of these things had an impact on the community in a positive way.His best advice to youth: Try to get an idea of what you want to do as early as possible. That way you can work toward it. Also be prepared for opportunities when they come your way. I wasnt expecting them, but I was prepared.Then, he advises to stay committed to whatever your interest. Make that commitment to be the best you can be. Stay focused. Know what you stand for and what your values are. Feel good about yourself, and then you can deal with all the rest.In a life as rich and varied as Hannahs, he says he feels grateful for the opportunities hes been given, and now, in his twilight years, the opportunity not to only give back, but to see the ways in which his activities have had positive influences on others.Sonya Bernard-Hollins, Community Engagement Specialist at Public Media Network and director of Merze Tate Explorers, for instance, has been working with Hannah since she was an eager young journalist in high school who edited both her Kalamazoo Central High School student newspaper and yearbook. She and other of her writing friends gravitated to Hannahs house because he published, a newspaper about black arts, and had a computer in his basement, a rarity at the time.I had a typewriter, Bernard-Hollins recalls. He was the only person I knew who had a computer. And we could write stories on it. Pretty cool! He really opened his door to youth and allowed us to take it to another level.Buddys always been able to show me the various ways you can use media to tell storieswriting, poetry, plays, television, radio. Im always excited to work with him on any project to see how he inspires others to tell their stories.Bernard-Hollins says she identifies with the youth who will get to work with Hannah in the Eastside Voices project. As I was a young writer myself at the age these kids are going to work with him, I know they just dont understand the impact that having someone like that will have on them. It will speak to them for a while. It will come full circle.Hannah says involved youth will interview as many Eastside residents as are interested, then narrow the videos focus down to around nine. All information gathered, he says, will be used in some form in the final product.Hannah, who with his wife, Freda, raised a son and daughter at their Eastside home where they have lived for the past 35 years, has seen considerable changes in his neighborhood over the years. Most notable are the now blighted and abandoned businesses along East Main, once a thriving business corridor that some have even said rivaled Washington Square in its heyday."If the young people get to know that if you walked down East Main thirty years ago they would have seen pharmacies, grocery shops, community centers, maybe it will inspire them to say, if it happened before, it can happen again, says Hannah.But it takes people to make these things happen. My thing has always been change in the community happens with change in the people. Each generation can bring some type of change. Hopefully (Eastside Voices) will inspire these youth to work for change.On Monday, March 11, all interested youth ages 12 to 17 are encouraged to attend the kick-off meeting at the Eastside Neighborhood Association, 1301 East Main St. Pizza will be provided. Meetings will continue through the summer, with the mural scheduled to be completed in August, and a public celebration of the project in early September.For more information about the Eastside Voices project regarding youth involvement or suggestions for possible oral history candidates, please contact Pat Taylor at 269-381-6700. Photos by Eric Hennig, VAGUE photography (unless otherwise indicated)
Press Release

March 7, 2019 De Lima deplores Duterte's threats to unleash more killings Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has slammed Mr. Duterte for threatening to kill more people in an apparent rebuke of a short documentary film about his presidential abuses and excesses under his administration's murderous war on drugs. De Lima, the staunchest critic of the administration's war on drugs, said she is worried that more people will die, considering that Duterte's assassins have always been quick to kill people upon his threats, if not direct order. "Reminded of the killings committed during his watch, rather than act as a human being and show remorse for the atrocities, he doubled down and threatened more killings," she said in her recent Dispatch from Crame No. 477. "If only these threats were just harmless blabberings from an old man. They're not. [W]hat is clear though is that when the old man say 'kill', more people die. No amount of spinning or sugarcoating will cover up that reality. He does not even need to put the order in writing," she added. After a five-minute video critical of the Duterte administration went viral, Duterte boasted he has killed many and is willing to unleash more killings in the country. "Patay? Ah marami akong pinatay. Marami pa. Ngayon mag-umpisa ako," he said. Directed by Mike De Leon, "Kangkungan" features the reality about Duterte's bloody war on drugs and how it targets the poor, his subservience to China, and his attacks against critics and members of the opposition, among others. "As soon as the media reports his threat to kill more people, more people end up dead. No person in his or her right mind would consider it a coincidence that the trail of deaths that would follow his words are from the hands of the police, who reports directly to him," De Lima noted. The former justice secretary said it also remains alarming that some policemen do not fear accountability anymore because Mr. Duterte earlier promised to protect them from facing charges for carrying out his murderous campaign. Amid these mass atrocities, De Lima urged her fellow public servants to use their positions to help restore checks and balances under the tyrannical rule of Duterte while demanding accountability for all the killings he promoted. "I call on my fellow public servants, from the judiciary, to the Cabinet secretaries, to my colleagues in Congress, to the men and women in uniformed services, to those serving in the barangays. Let us restore the rule of law. For the sake of our future generation, let us stop this insanity," she said. "We are a great nation in spite of him, not because of him. Let us restore the checks and balances, protect our democracy, and prevent our country from yet again falling into the dark shadows of tyranny. Never again," she added. In 2016, De Lima filed Senate Resolution No. 9 which initiated a Senate investigation into the rampant extrajudicial killings and summary executions of suspected drug offenders in the country under the government's all-out war on drugs. She has also filed SRNs. 357, 358, 421, 451 seeking for a Senate investigation into the supposed involvement of some unscrupulous police officers in cases of extrajudicial killings and summary executions.
Press Release

March 7, 2019 POE SEEKS FREE TRAININGS FOR TOUR GUIDES Sen. Grace Poe is proposing a new way for tour guides to become accredited to help boost tourism and further lift the economy. In a visit to La Union and Baguio City on Thursday, March 7, Poe pitched that the state-run Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) could offer "free training courses" for tour guides amid a vibrant tourism industry. "Ang TESDA puwedeng magbigay ng free trainings para sa mga interesadong maging tour guides imbes na sila pa ang magbabayad," said Poe in a radio interview. Poe brought her campaign to the surfing capital of the north and the summer capital. The Department of Tourism reported that there were 3.7 million foreign visitors who entered the Philippines during the first half of 2018, an increase of 10 percent compared with the same period in 2017. Furthermore, 60 million Filipinos visited domestic destinations as of 2017. Increased tourism activity also results in direct and indirect returns in terms of job creation, higher revenues for businesses and larger state revenues, Poe said, that is why tour guides play an important role in presenting the country to visitors. "Importante na mayroon tayong magagaling na tour guides para ipakilala ang mga magagandang lugar ng Pilipinas sa buong mundo... Ito'y isang sektor na dapat huwag makalimutan ng gobyerno dahil makakatulong sila sa turismo at kikita pa tayong lahat," Poe added. Poe, who filed Senate Resolution No. 1025 urging various Senate committees to review the implementation of Republic Act 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009, said that while some local governments shoulder expenses for the tour guides' trainings, others have to shell out money just to get accredited. "RA 9593 is a relatively young law and it must be reviewed and re-assessed, including its implementation, not just to ensure a vibrant and thriving tourism in the Philippines but to likewise ensure that our local tour guides and various staff and personnel of tourism enterprises are not being prejudiced by numerous fees and other reported wrongful practices in the workplace," Poe said in filing the resolution. Meanwhile, Poe attended a student forum at the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University-San Fernando campus where she promised on getting funding for the upgrade of the university library. "Importante rin ang teknolohiya kaya dapat mayroong computer na naka-connect sa iba't ibang libraries so you can access the different collections of different libraries as well," Poe said. "Dapat mayroon ding modernization program para mabigyan ng pondo ang state universities and colleges para sa libraries...where you can study freely, safely and comfortably," Poe added. She then proceeded to Baguio in Benguet province where she visited the Baguio City Public Market and talked to the vendors. Asked what inspires her to continue with her market visits, Poe said: "Kung gusto natin maabot ang mga tao galing sa iba't ibang lugar, ito ang pinakamadali dahil diretso mong makakadaupang palad ang ating mga kababayan." Poe said Baguio's market was also reminiscent of her childhood. "Nung bata ako, naalala ko, dito ako dinadala ng nanay ko para bumili ng pasalubong," Poe shared, "Pagkakataon na rin na bumili ng mga produktong galing dito. 'Yung mga anak ko at 'yung nanay ko hinihintay na kung anong pasalubong ang dadalhin ko para sa kanila." She capped her Baguio sortie with a dialogue with local officials and meeting with transport leaders.
It's been 14 months since Al Franken resigned from the Senate. Are you surprised that people continue asking you about it, talking about it, now that you're running for president?

Well, I understand many Democrats miss him and may be sad. But the truth about Senator Franken is he had eight credible allegations against him. Many were corroborated in real time. At the time they happened  two them were since he was a senator, and the last allegation that came to light was about a congressional staffer. And for me, I have been leading on issues of ending sexual violence and sexual harassment in the workplace for a long time. Leading on sexual violence in the military, leading on sexual assault on college campuses, leading on ending harassment in Congress. And so, for me, I didn't believe I could stay silent, I didn't believe I could defend him with my silence. I'm also a mom of boys, and the conversations I was having at home  Theo is 15, when he said, "Mom why are you so tough on Al Franken?", I had to be very clear with him. I said, "Theo, you can't grope a woman anywhere on her body without her consent. You can't forcibly kiss a woman, ever, without her consent. It's not okay for Senator Franken, and it's not okay for you." So clarity was necessary for me. And, you know, Senator Franken was entitled to whatever process he wanted. If he wanted to stick it out and do a six-month Ethics Committee investigation that was his right. If he wanted to sue every woman who came out against him, that's his right. Those were his decisions, not mine. The decision I made was whether to stay silent and defend him, and I didn't think it was defensible.



You were clear about all of that at the time, but

Yeah.



But it's been over a year, and, again, people still talk about it in the context of your candidacy, whether in national commentary or on the trail. Does that part surprise you?

You know, if a few very wealthy donors across the country are angry that I stood up for women who were demeaned and devalued by a sitting U.S. senator, that's on them. I mean, I don't know what to say. It shows I will do what's right, especially when it's hard. And it's part of who I am.

Welcome to another edition of Primarily Speaking, because presidential primaries now begin fully one million years before the election!Speaking of which: The first two Democratic debates will be held this June , more than a year before the Democratic National Convention at which the nominee is chosen, and an entire year and a half before the 2020 election. Cool cool cool that doesn't make me want to jump into a Christmas tree at all.At least we won't have to tune into Fox News for any of the debates, because the Democratic National Committee "has decided to exclude Fox News Channel from televising any of its candidate debates during the 2019-2020 cycle as a result of published revelations detailing the cable network's close ties to the Trump administration."That would be the Jane Mayer piece at theI shared here , about how Fox News has become Donald Trump's propaganda arm. Haha well thank goodness for Jane Mayer, because before she wrote about it, no one knew that Fox News was garbage! J/k! I'm legit glad she provided the DNC with the excuse they needed to give Fox News the stanky boot.Speaking of the Democratic debates, we're likely to see entrepreneuron the debate stage, because he's working to " game the system " to meet the requirements to get there. Okay!If you're interested in readingabout howstill hasn't made up his mind (sure) about whether he's going to run for president, the has got you covered , because of course they do.is facing a significant primary scheduling problem : "Castro holds the distinction of being the only Latino in the race at a time when many Democrats are appalled by [Donald] Trump's fight to block immigrants from entering the U.S. from Mexico. So Castro, whose grandmother emigrated from Mexico, has set his sights on scoring delegates in states with big Latino populations, among them California, Nevada, and Texas. But the first states to hold 2020 presidential contests  Iowa and New Hampshire  are overwhelmingly white. Candidates who fare poorly there are often eclipsed by front-runners and forced out of the race before voting starts in more diverse states." We really need a rotating schedule so the primaries don't always start in two of the whitest states.In good news for Senator, she has picked up some more notable endorsements from mayors of major California towns. In not-so-good news, there is a piece at thedetailing a crime lab scandal when she was San Francisco's District Attorney that reportedly "undercut Harris's image as a polished leader and raised questions about her management style." Sure didn't seem to stall her career, though. I'd love to hear from San Franciscans who lived through her time as D.A. and what they made of this issue.[Content Note: Sexual assault] Senatorgave a long interview toduring which she was asked (again, sigh) about Al Franken. Her responses are pretty great Right on.Senatorgave an interview to thewhere she talks about how the United States has a " major monopoly problem " that's harming average Americans: "We have a major monopoly problem. We've seen a 50 percent increase in mergers in the last five years, and we've seen now a number of trillion-dollar companies. It doesn't mean every big company is bad; it just means we're seeing more and more consolidation of power. The problem is, our antitrust laws haven't attacked changes in the kinds of businesses we have." This is really wonky shit, but it's justimportant.[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Senatoris taking on criminal justice reform with new legislation : "The Next Step Act, co-authored by New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, would implement a series of sweeping reforms to 'sentencing guidelines, prison conditions, law enforcement training, and re-entry efforts.' ...Booker's bill would go even further [than other candidates' proposals], pushing for long sought-after reforms like eliminating the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences, reducing mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses, and reinstating the right to vote in federal elections for the formerly incarcerated."Senatoris signing pledges left and right: He signed a pledge that he's totes a Democrat , and he signed another pledge that he won't go negative in campaign ads . We'll see! One pledge he hasn't signed is to be less grumpy, despite the fact that his staffers are urging him to tone down the grump It's a genuine problem to which Sanders should start paying attention. I can't stand listening to Sanders speak, because I don't like feeling like I'm getting angrily lectured by a resentful curmudgeon.Above is a screenshot I grabbed from a video of his first 2020 presidential campaign rally, which was held recently in Brooklyn. I waited until he wasas you can see from the closed captioning: He was talking about how his campaign was the answer what is ailing the country. And still he looks angry.That article about his grumpiness is also pretty interesting, juxtaposed against recent reporting about Klobuchar's alleged anger problems. Again we see the double-standard in how we receive female anger and male anger.Senatoris off to campaign in New York , while Washington Governorwill make his first visit to New Hampshire is also still running for president.Talk about these things! Or don't. Whatever makes you happy. Life is short.
The New Zealand dollar was mixed after poor retail sales data in Australia were offset by surprisingly strong trade data. The Bank of Canada also joined the ranks of central banks noting signs of a weaker-than-expected economy.

The kiwi was trading at 67.84 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 67.71 at 8am and at 96.31 Australian cents from 96.38.

The Australia data showed retail sales rose 0.1 percent in January, below the 0.3 percent lift the market had expected, but that countrys trade balance in January was A$4.55 billion, well above the A$2.75 billion expected and the thirteenth successive month of surpluses.

That suggests the trade war between the United States and China, and the slowing Chinese economy, have yet to impact Australias exports.

Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz says the slowdown in global economic growth has been more pronounced and widespread than it forecast in January.Although he had expected Canadas economy would stumble, he said the fall in the December quarter was sharper and more broadly based than he had expected.

Tim Kelleher, head of institutional foreign exchange sales at ASB Bank, says the markets looking a little short at current levels and that theres reasonable demand for New Zealand dollars from exporters.

Were just in a holding pattern at the lower end of the range, he says.

While the Australian market has become gloomier and more economists are forecasting rate cuts, indications from the Reserve Bank of Australia are more upbeat.

Until you see employment falling off a cliff, youre not going to see much action from the RBA, Kelleher says. Australias unemployment rate stands at 5 percent, a little higher than New Zealands at 4.3 percent.

While the market is getting more certain that rate cuts in Australia are coming, traders are less certain about rate cuts in New Zealand. Kelleher says the market currently is pricing in 16 basis points of a cut, which normally would be 25 basis points.

The European Central Bank will meet overnight New Zealand time and is expected to lower its growth forecasts.

The New Zealand dollar was trading at 51.45 British pence from 51.41, at 60 euro cents from 59.87, at 75.77 yen from 75.65 and at 4.5511 Chinese yuan from 4.5426. The trade-weighted index was at 73.67 points from 73.58.

The two-year swap rate ended the day at 1.8294 percent from 1.8230 on Wednesday; the 10-year rate was at 2.4150 percent from 2.4450.

(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:

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Special Dividend

8th December 2021 Morning Report

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Limited (NZX: NZK) Market Update

Scales Corporation Limited (NZX: SCL) Market update

Delegat Group Limited (NZX: DGL) $333 million syndicated bank facilities

7th December 2021 Morning Report

Sky Network Television Limited (NZX: SKY) Transformation accelerates - Sky raises FY22 guidance

PGG Wrightson Limited (NZX: PGW) FY22 Operating EBITDA forecast to better last year

Vulcan Steel Limited (NZX: VSL) Trading Update & Earnings Upgrade

6th December 2021 Morning Report


Agribusiness group Scales Corp said Alliance Group will pay $15 million for a 50 percent stake in its Meateor business and operations, creating a petfood joint venture.

"This venture is about developing New Zealand as the premier supplier of petfood proteins. We think the venture provides a number of benefits to the entire New Zealand petfood-supply industry, including as an avenue for the industry to improve scale," said managing director Andy Borland.

The joint venture "extends Alliance's downstream reach, allows Alliance to become vertically integrated and ensures we have an end-to-end connection with the market," Alliance chief executive David Surveyor said.

The implied valuation for Meateors New Zealand business is $30 million and settlement is scheduled for this month.

Meateor Foods processes and markets meat and other ingredients from New Zealand and Australia to the pet food industry worldwide with more than 19,000 metric tonnes exported each year, according to Scales.

(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:

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Special Dividend

8th December 2021 Morning Report

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Limited (NZX: NZK) Market Update

Scales Corporation Limited (NZX: SCL) Market update

Delegat Group Limited (NZX: DGL) $333 million syndicated bank facilities

7th December 2021 Morning Report

Sky Network Television Limited (NZX: SKY) Transformation accelerates - Sky raises FY22 guidance

PGG Wrightson Limited (NZX: PGW) FY22 Operating EBITDA forecast to better last year

Vulcan Steel Limited (NZX: VSL) Trading Update & Earnings Upgrade

6th December 2021 Morning Report


Fonterra Cooperative Group has confirmed Judith Swales' appointment in leading the dairy processor's high-margin global consumer and food service business.

Swales has been running the unit since January, replacing Lukas Paravicini who left the world's biggest dairy exporter last month. Today, Fonterra said Swales will be permanently appointed to continue the momentum she's already started to build.

"Judiths strengths as a leader lie in her ability to quickly understand what needs to be done and her action-orientation," chief executive Miles Hurrell said in a statement. Shes very purposeful in the way she goes about things and I have every confidence in her delivering the kind of performance that people expect from us."

Fonterra's consumer and foodservice division generates the company's biggest margin and is its key engine for earnings growth.

The unit reported shrinking margins and smaller sales volumes in the first quarter of the current financial year, as its Chinese business faced a delayed consumer product launch, increased border controls in Hong Kong, and lower foodservice sales of butter, cream cheese and UHT cream.

Fonterra downgraded its earnings guidance and suspended its interim dividend last week due as higher global dairy prices prompted a hike in the forecast farmgate payout to its supplier-shareholders, lifting the cost of raw materials for its high-value business.

That downgrade prompted Fitch Ratings to put Fonterra's credit rating on notice, saying the company's asset sale programme will be critical for it to get its earnings-to-debt ratios back to more manageable levels.

Hurrell has said the Fonterra's underlying performance isn't where it needs to be, with challenges in the Australian ingredients, and Asian foodservice units. A fundamental change in direction is needed to realise Fonterra's potential, he said.

Swales has been with Fonterra since 2013 and is already a member of the senior leadership team. Over that time, she's been in charge of the Oceania business, and more recently oversaw the group's transformation and innovation function.

(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:

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Special Dividend

8th December 2021 Morning Report

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Limited (NZX: NZK) Market Update

Scales Corporation Limited (NZX: SCL) Market update

Delegat Group Limited (NZX: DGL) $333 million syndicated bank facilities

7th December 2021 Morning Report

Sky Network Television Limited (NZX: SKY) Transformation accelerates - Sky raises FY22 guidance

PGG Wrightson Limited (NZX: PGW) FY22 Operating EBITDA forecast to better last year

Vulcan Steel Limited (NZX: VSL) Trading Update & Earnings Upgrade

6th December 2021 Morning Report


Trade Me shareholders are being told Apax Partners' $2.56 billion takeover bid eclipses the independent adviser's valuation, but won't see the report for another week or two.

The company's 9,458 shareholders will vote on whether to approve the $6.45 a share takeover offer on April 3 at a special meeting in Wellington, and will get the notice of meeting around March 19.

The takeover is via a scheme implementation agreement, which has a lower bar to get shareholders over the line, requiring 75 percent support and at least half the company's votes cast, as opposed to the 90 percent threshold needed in a formal takeover to trigger compulsory mop-up provisions.

The meeting documents will contain Grant Samuels' independent adviser's report weighing up the pros and cons of the deal. While the company said the valuation range should be read in the context of the full report, it released the valuation range of $5.93-6.39, indicating a premium for Apax to take control of Trade Me.

"It is very important to have a strong voting turnout for a scheme of arrangement," the company said in a statement. "Trade Mes directors unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the scheme at the scheme meeting on 3 April 2019, or online, in the absence of a superior proposal."

The shares are trading at $6.39 and have jumped from $5.37 before the offer was made public.

The transaction has an initial High Court order for the meeting to be held. If it wins over shareholders, it then needs a final High Court order. It's also waiting on Overseas Investment Office approval.

(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:

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Special Dividend

8th December 2021 Morning Report

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Limited (NZX: NZK) Market Update

Scales Corporation Limited (NZX: SCL) Market update

Delegat Group Limited (NZX: DGL) $333 million syndicated bank facilities

7th December 2021 Morning Report

Sky Network Television Limited (NZX: SKY) Transformation accelerates - Sky raises FY22 guidance

PGG Wrightson Limited (NZX: PGW) FY22 Operating EBITDA forecast to better last year

Vulcan Steel Limited (NZX: VSL) Trading Update & Earnings Upgrade

6th December 2021 Morning Report


McCashin's Brewery won't take a cornerstone stake in food and beverage investor Veritas Investments, backing out of an option to buy a near-20 percent stake at a hefty premium.

In January, 660 Main Road Stoke - which trades as McCashin's - obtained a call option to buy 8.6 million Veritas shares from Mad Butcher owner Michael Morton at 20 cents apiece. The options expired at the close of business on March 29, but notes to the stock exchange today show the option was terminated.

The $1.7 million purchase price would have been a premium to the current trading price of 13 cents, or $1.1 million. However Veritas shares aren't widely traded, with a 90-day daily average volume of 51,278 out of the 43.3 million shares on issue.

The transaction included a non-refundable deposit of $50,000.

Auckland-based Veritas is focusing on its bars and hospitality offerings, having been hard hit over the past two years by disastrous forays into the Mad Butcher and Nosh grocery businesses. Veritas paid Morton $40 million for the meat retailer in 2013 and sold the franchise back to him for just $8 million last year.

It had faced pressure from its former banker, ANZ, for repayment of $27 million in loans before resetting as a smaller, hospitality-focused company.

In 2014 it acquired the Better Bar Company, which describes itself as the countrys leading Irish and gastro pub operator, with eight sites in Auckland. Last month, Better Bar Co completed the $2.7 million purchase of the Citizen Park pub in Kingsland.

Last week, Veritas appointed Duncan Makeig as a new director, who will chair the board, and said it plans to rebrand later this year as Good Spirits Hospitality.

Veritas also entered into sales agreements of its Doolan Brothers Newmarket and Doolan Brothers Lynfield sites to separate operators, and expects to generate $710,000 of cash before transaction costs, which it will plough back into growing the gastro pub portfolio.

Nelson-based McCashin's was at the forefront of New Zealands fledgling craft beer industry in the 1980s. Its Macs beer business was sold to Lion in 1999, but the family started afresh and now make Stoke beer and Rochdale cider. Director Paul Le Gros wasn't immediately available for comment.

(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:

Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited (NZX: LIC) Special Dividend

8th December 2021 Morning Report

New Zealand King Salmon Investments Limited (NZX: NZK) Market Update

Scales Corporation Limited (NZX: SCL) Market update

Delegat Group Limited (NZX: DGL) $333 million syndicated bank facilities

7th December 2021 Morning Report

Sky Network Television Limited (NZX: SKY) Transformation accelerates - Sky raises FY22 guidance

PGG Wrightson Limited (NZX: PGW) FY22 Operating EBITDA forecast to better last year

Vulcan Steel Limited (NZX: VSL) Trading Update & Earnings Upgrade

6th December 2021 Morning Report


ABC News(NEW YORK) -- American journalist Cody Weddle, who was arrested in Venezuela's capital Wednesday morning along with a Venezuelan colleague, has now been released and is being deported, he told ABC News.



Two Venezuelan government officials also told ABC News that Weddle was released and was being deported to the United States.



Military counterintelligence officials raided Weddle's apartment in Caracas Wednesday morning, taking him into custody along with his assistant, Carlos Camacho, officials with Venezuela's National Union of Press Workers said in a Twitter post.



The syndicate said late Wednesday afternoon that Weddle and Camacho were being interrogated in the headquarters of Venezuela's Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence.



Camacho was released after about 12 hours, union officials said late on Wednesday.



Weddle, a freelance reporter based in Caracas, has contributed reporting to a number of news organizations, including ABC News.



Were deeply concerned by reports Cody Weddle and his colleague have been detained in Venezuela, and we urge the Venezuelan government to ensure their safety and to release them immediately," an ABC News spokesperson said in a statement.



Kimberly Breier, the United States' Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, tweeted that the State Department was "aware of and deeply concerned with reports that another U.S. journalist has been detained" in Venezuela.



"We demand the journalists immediate release, unharmed," Breier added.



"Being a journalist is not a crime; the world is watching," a State Department spokesperson told ABC News.



Both U.S. senators from Florida, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, tweeted about Weddle's case, calling for his release.



With Wednesday's arrests, the number of journalists and press workers imprisoned this year rose to 36, officials with the Venezuelan press union said.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
He said both governments were targeting the opponents, including those from the corporate sector, by threatening them or by fabricating false cases against them.

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday accused the Centre and the Telangana governments of behaving like 'economic terrorists'.

Addressing a news conference here, he said both the Narendra Modi-led government and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government were creating an atmosphere of fear by targeting the opponents through raids or by causing mental agony to them.

Naidu also came down heavily on the Centre for threatening to file cases against 'The Hindu' and N. Ram, Chairman of the publishing group, under the Official Secrets Act. He termed this as a serious threat to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief referred to the raid conducted by the Telangana Police on an information technology firm providing services to the party. He alleged that the TRS government took away the data of his party and gave it to the YSR Congress to help it in the coming elections.

Naidu said 160 people who were working with the company ran away from Hyderabad as the TRS government created fear through the raid.

'They also filed a false case against us that government data was stolen. In what way are you concerned with this? Do you have so much love for Andhra Pradesh,' he asked.

The Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh would take all steps, including legal recourse, to protect its sovereign rights.

He alleged that the TRS, BJP and YSR Congress had colluded to create chaos in Andhra Pradesh which was on the path of development and prosperity thanks to the efforts of his government during the last five years. He also claimed that they were trying to get the names of eligible voters deleted from the electoral rolls.

Stating that the Central and the Telangana governments forced many opponents, including some industrialists, to surrender before them, he said there was no question of compromising with them.

'They are threatening me of using the CBI, the ED and other agencies, but they can't do anything. I have done nothing wrong in my 40-year-long political career and I will continue to fight,' Naidu said.
Balakrishnan, the party's Kerala state Secretary, told the media here that it was quite strange that the group was able to win the rights to all the five airports.

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Wednesday demanded a probe into how Adani Enterprises won the bid to operate five international airports, including Thiruvananthapuram.

"It is true that this was given through a tender and that's why we are doubtful if the tendering process was fool-proof... how come Adani won in all the five. We demand that a complete probe should be announced as this is nothing but a rip-off," he said.

"We have decided to launch a strong protest and in it we request the (Congress-led) UDF and also the BJP to join, as all of us can unitedly fight against this high-handed corrupt deal. This has taken place just before the upcoming polls and hence it is not a proper tendering process, it's a corrupt deal," he added.

Balakrishnan also accused Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor of playing a role in ensuring that Adani wins the bid of the airport her.

Last week after Adani had won the rights, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the airport here not be handed over to Adani and alleging that it was a scam.

In the letter, Vijayan demanded Modi's immediate intervention to see that the state-owned Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd-led company, formed especially for operating the airport, be given the running of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport.

In the financial bid opened on Monday, Adani had quoted the highest rate for a passenger for the Thiruvananthapuram airport at Rs 168, against the KSIDC's Rs 135 and the GMR's Rs 63.

The other airports that Adani have won in the tender are Mangaluru, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Jaipur.
He has travelled 400 kilometres in a desperate attempt to meet her despite knowing that she was dating another man, police officials said they struggling to determine what happened in a window of several hours on the day of her death.

In a huge twist to the murder of a 32-year-old Indian-origin woman dentist in Australia case, the lone suspect and ex-lover has died in BMW crash.

The man suspected of murdering the Sydney dentist Preethi Reddy, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase, with numerous stabs, in her car parked in an eastern Sydney street, New South Wales, is her alleged ex-boyfriend Harsh Narde.

Narde died due to BMW crash a day after his ex-girlfriend was reported missing. The head-on collision, around 340 kilometres from where Reddy's body was found, is believed to have been deliberate, they said.

Police reportedly believe Narde travelled with the sole purpose of seeing his ex-girlfriend despite her telling him: "I've moved on, you need to do the same", The Daily Telegraph reported.

"Preethi told him she had met someone else and that it was serious and she was moving to Melbourne," according to sources.

A colleague of Reddy and Narde said he last saw the pair chatting animatedly in the hotel lobby following the event on Saturday night. Narde had no history of violence.

"They looked happy and stayed back to chat after the conference ended at 7pm," he said.

"I knew they (had previously been) in a long-term relationship, many of us did. The bizarre thing I noticed that night was that he took down his Facebook shortly after the conference. It made me wonder why."

A few hours later, Reddy was captured on CCTV inside McDonald's in Sydney about 2.15am on Sunday. CTV footage shows Reddy standing at the counter before she appeared to leave alone and walk south on Market St. Further surveillance footage shows her entering the Swissotel foyer about five minutes later.

A NSW Police spokesperson said Reddy stayed in the hotel with "a man known to her" overnight.

She spoke to her family last at 11am on Sunday over the phone and told them she would have a late breakfast then head home to Penrith. But when she failed to return that night, her family reported her missing and created a Facebook page to help find her.

Narde was captured on the hotel's CCTV camera getting help from a hotel porter to lift a large and heavy suitcase into the boot of a car on Sunday afternoon, according to The Daily Telegraph.

It was later discovered that the bag contained Reddy's body in the boot of her car on a laneway in Sydney's eastern suburbs around 9.30pm on Tuesday. She had been stabbed numerous times.

While Reddy was still the subject of a missing person's inquiry on Sunday night, Narde sent a series of text messages, to one of her concerned friends. Friends of Reddy asked Narde about his ex-girlfriend's whereabouts via text message at 9.24pm Sunday.

In text messages obtained by the Daily Mail, one friend asked if he'd seen or heard from her.

Hey, I spoke to her in person on Saturday evening She said (she was going) home," he replied in the text messages.

When the friend suggested Reddy was maybe sleeping somewhere, he replied: Maybe.

And when the friend admitted they were scared Reddy had been missing for so long, Narde said he was too.

"I feel disturbed as well am sitting at one place for the last 30 minutes," he wrote.

Detective Superintendent Gavin Dengate revealed officers grilled Narde while Reddy was still the subject of a missing person's inquiry.

In a shocking turn of events, Narde died about 10pm on Monday night a day after Reddy was reported missing in a head-on collision with a truck near Tamworth in what police believe was a deliberate act.

Police have since appealed to the public to help them trace Reddy's final movements. But Dengate cautioned against speculation as to what happened. We're looking at the timeline of when they met up, he said. We're still making inquiries. It is very difficult now, with what's happened, to get that.

"At this stage we know they met up in Sydney, now we're looking at all the movements between those two to establish exactly what happened," the officials told.
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe6d6ae60)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe6d6a938)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe6d6ae60)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe6d6a938)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe6d505a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe6d6a938)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe6d6a938)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe5a05b08)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe6dc22f8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe6dc22f8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Telus Health and Babylon launched a new smartphone app that gives Canadians access to doctors and healthcare information. The app improves communication with doctors.

British Columbians can get video consultation with their doctors directly in a private session. BC provincial MSP will cover the cost of the video consultations. Patients can also access doctor consultation notes, video consults and also share them; manage prescription pickups; and get referrals for diagnostic tests or specialists when needed.

Canadians can download the Babylon by Telus Health App on iTunes or Google Play. The app uses the Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Symptom Checker.

TELUS Health is leveraging the power of technology to improve health outcomes for all Canadians because we believe that by giving people the right tools, information and support we can empower them to manage their own health leading to healthier, happier lives, said Juggy Sihota, vice president, TELUS Health.

Plans are also underway to integrate Babylons virtual care platform into TELUS Health electronic medical records systems (EMRs) to enable physicians across the country to also easily conduct virtual sessions with their own patients.
Facebook launches offensive to combat misinformation on vaccines



Washington, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2019



Facebook launched an offensive Thursday to suppress the spread of misinformation about vaccines on the 2.3-billion-member social network.

The company has faced pressure in recent weeks to tackle the problem, amid outbreaks of measles around the United States attributed to growing numbers of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

US lawmakers have decried the higher incidences of preventable diseases in the wake of a movement against child vaccination, in large part due to rumors they can cause health or developmental issues.

Monika Bickert, Facebook's vice president for global policy management, said the social media network would reduce the distribution of false data and provide users with authoritative information about vaccinations.

"We will reduce the ranking of groups and pages that spread misinformation about vaccinations in news feed and search," Bickert said in a statement.

Facebook also will remove the misleading content from search recommendations and predictions, reject advertisements found to contain misinformation about vaccines, and disable accounts that continue to violate company policies on vaccine information, she said.

The company no longer allows targeting based on users' interest in "vaccine controversies" and will share educational materials with users that come across such misinformation.

The World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified "verifiable vaccine hoaxes," Bickert said, and, "If these vaccine hoaxes appear on Facebook, we will take action against them."

WHO in February listed "vaccine hesitancy" among its top 10 most pressing global health threats for 2019 and the UN last week warned against "complacency" as measles cases soared worldwide.

The resurgence in some countries has been linked to debunked claims that vaccines cause autism. Prior to taking office, US President Donald Trump promoted this claim.

New research published this week, which followed 650,000 Danish children for more than a decade, again concluded that vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella did not increase the risk of autism.
Trump 'very, very disappointed' if N. Korea rebuilding missile site



Washington, March 6 (AFP) Mar 06, 2019



President Donald Trump said Wednesday he'd be "very, very disappointed" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports that work is underway to rebuild a missile site there are confirmed.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said "it's too early to see" if the information about work at the North Korean site is true.

Trump and Kim met last week in Vietnam to negotiate on getting rid of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, but the summit broke up early with no progress.
Trump warns Kim over 'rebuilding' of NKorea rocket site



Washington, March 6 (AFP) Mar 06, 2019



President Donald Trump said Wednesday he'd be "very, very disappointed" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports that work is underway to rebuild a long-range rocket site are confirmed.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said "it's too early to see" if the information about work at the North Korean site is true. Warning he'd be disappointed, he added: "I don't think I will be, but we'll see what happens."

Trump and Kim met last week in Vietnam to negotiate on getting rid of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, but the summit broke up early with no progress.

Researchers say that rebuilding of the facility in question has been underway since the summit and may have started before the Vietnam meeting.

"This facility had been dormant since August 2018, indicating the current activity is deliberate and purposeful," said researchers at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Researchers said that the activity may be intended to "demonstrate resolve in the face of US rejection" of the North's request for an easing of sanctions in return for some dismantlement of nuclear weapons infrastructure.

Kim had agreed to shutter the Sohae missile-testing site at a summit with the South's President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, as part of confidence-building measures, and satellite pictures in August had suggested workers were already dismantling an engine test stand at the facility.

But CSIS said building activity is now "evident" at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, from where Pyongyang launched satellites in 2012 and 2016.

North Korea was later banned by the UN security council from carrying out the space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.



- Preparing for launch vehicles? -



The respected Washington-based 38 North project, another independent research website specializing in North Korea, also reported building work at the Sohae facility, based on commercial satellite imagery.

According to 38 North, the efforts to rebuild structures at the Sohae facility started sometime between February 16 and March 2 this year.

The pictures show a moving structure that had been used to carry launch vehicles to a launch pad on rails has been restored, it said.

"Two support cranes are observed at the building, the walls have been erected and a new roof added. At the engine test stand, it appears that the engine support structure is being reassembled," the 38 North reported.

In a briefing to parliamentarians this week, Seoul's spy agency said it had detected signs of work at the site.



- 'Timing matters' -



Joel Wit, the director of the 38 North project, cautioned that the evidence was not necessarily "consistent with preparations for an ICBM test."

"Aside from the fact that (North Korea) has never tested an ICBM from Sohae -- it's a space vehicle launch site -- preparation for any launch would require a wide range of activities not observed in the imagery," Wit said.

However, a rocket engine test could be performed there and that would send "a really strong signal" to Washington, Wit said.

"A lot depends on how the US reacts to what's going on," Wit said. "The danger here is that we could start spiraling downward as each side takes steps and undermine the process that's been in place since last spring."



- No deal in Hanoi -



Impoverished and isolated North Korea conducted its first successful nuclear test in 2006 followed by a string of increasingly successful ICBM launches.

In 2017, it claimed it had become capable of fitting a viable nuclear weapon on an ICBM that could reach as far as the United States' eastern seaboard.

In response, the UN Security Council later banned the North's main exports -- coal and other mineral resources, fisheries and textile products -- to cut off its access to hard currency.

At their groundbreaking first summit in Singapore last year, Kim and Trump produced a vague statement on the "denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."

There were high expectations for Kim and Trump's second meeting in Hanoi, but no agreement was reached. Despite the stalemate, both sides said they were open to further talks.

John Bolton, the US national security adviser, however said on Tuesday that the US would look at "ramping those sanctions up" if Pyongyang did not give up its nuclear weapons program.
Erdogan determined to go ahead with Russian missile deal



Istanbul, March 6 (AFP) Mar 06, 2019



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday it was "out of the question" to reconsider a controversial deal to buy a top-line Russian anti-missile system and he might even look at other purchases.

The United States, a long-standing NATO ally and supplier of much of Turkey's military equipment, has pressed Ankara to drop the S-400 deal, saying it is incompatible with its established weapon systems and is part of Russian efforts to muddy the waters in a key, volatile region.

"As for the S-400, the deal is done and it is out of the question to go backwards... and perhaps after the S-400, we will move onto the S-500," Erdogan told Kanal 24 television.

The S-400 is a sophisticated anti-missile and anti-aircraft weapon system, similar to the US Patriot.

Erdogan also noted Washington's decision to withdraw trade privileges from Turkey, warning that "no one should try to make us toe the line with such measures."
Arizona senator says she was raped while in Air Force



Washington, March 6 (AFP) Mar 06, 2019



Arizona Senator Martha McSally, the first woman to fly in combat for the US Air Force, said Wednesday that she had been raped by a superior officer while in the service.

McSally, 52, who spent 26 years in the Air Force and commanded a fighter squadron, revealed the attack in emotional remarks during a Senate subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military.

"I am also a military sexual assault survivor but unlike so many brave survivors I didn't report being sexually assaulted," McSally said.

"Like so many women and men I didn't trust the system at the time," she said. "I blame myself. I was ashamed and confused. And I thought I was strong but felt powerless.

"The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways," the first-term Republican senator said. "And in one case I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer."

McSally, who served in the Air Force until 2010 and retired with the rank of colonel, said she kept quiet about the assault for many years.

"But later in my career, as the military grappled with scandals and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know -- I too was a survivor," she said.

McSally said she considered leaving the military at one point.

"I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years over my despair," she said. "Like many victims I felt the system was raping me all over again.

"But I didn't quit," she said. "I decided to stay and continue to serve and fight and lead, to be a voice from within the ranks for women and then in the House and now in the Senate."



- Educate commanders -



McSally said military commanders needed to be better educated in handling sexual assault cases.

"We've come a long way to stop military sexual assault but we still have a long way to go," she said.

"I share the disgust at the failures of the military system and the many commanders who failed in their responsibilities," the senator said.

"We must educate, select and then further educate commanders who want to do the right thing but who are naive to the realities of sexual assault," she said.

"We must ensure that all commanders are trained and empowered to take legal action, prosecute fairly and rid perpetrators from our ranks."

McSally lost a close race in November to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema but was later appointed by the Arizona governor to fill the seat once held by John McCain, who died in August.

She is expected to contend for the Senate again in 2020 and may face a potentially tough race against former astronaut and US Navy veteran Mark Kelly, who is seeking the Democratic nomination.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, who is also a military veteran, revealed earlier this year that she had been raped while in college.

In a report released in May 2018, the Pentagon said the number of sexual assault cases reported by service members rose by about 10 percent in fiscal 2017.

It said the Pentagon received 6,769 reports of sexual assault involving service members as either victims or subjects of criminal investigation.
Taiwan asks US for new fighter jets to defend against China



Taipei, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2019



Taiwan has made a formal request to the United States for new fighter jets to defend itself against increasing Chinese threats, Deputy Defence Minister Shen Yi-ming told reporters Thursday.

"We made the request to purchase (fighter jets) because China has been increasing its military strength and we are starting to have an imbalance of power in our air defence capabilities," Shen added.

The request, if granted, could ramp up tensions between China and the United States.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting unification, even though the two sides have been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.

China has significantly stepped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan since the Beijing-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, including staging a series of military exercises near the island.

Chinese bombers and surveillance aircraft have also begun flying much more regular sorties around the island.

Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but has remained Taiwan's most powerful unofficial ally and biggest arms supplier.

Last year, the US irked China over its plans to sell a batch of military parts to Taiwan in a $330 million contract including standard spare parts for aircraft.

Beijing has been incensed by warming ties between Washington and Taipei, including the approval by the US State Department of a preliminary licence to sell submarine technology to the island.

But fearing a possible backlash from Beijing, the US has repeatedly denied Taiwan's requests since 2002 for new fighter jets including newer F-16s and F-35s.

In that time China has massively ramped up spending on its armed forces, including highly advanced fifth-generation jet fighters.

That has left Taiwan with an ageing airforce that analysts say is in desperate need of an upgrade.

The island currently has 326 fighter jets, all in service since the 1990s, including US-made F-16s, French Mirage 2000s and Taiwan's own indigenous fighters (IDF).

Defence officials would not confirm how many fighter jets they have asked for in the purchase request, or what model.

Local media Apple Daily reported Taiwan was seeking 66 F-16V at a cost of $13 billion including missiles, logistics and training.

"It does not matter if it is F-15, F-18, F-16 or F-35, as long as it fits our combat needs," Tang Hung-an, a major-general with Taiwan's Air Force Command Headquarters said.

Tang added that the letter of request to the US did not specify which type of aircraft Taiwan wants.
Syria govt rejects watchdog report on deadly chlorine attack



Damascus, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2019



The Syrian regime on Thursday rejected a report by the world's chemical weapons watchdog confirming chlorine was used in an attack against the Syrian town of Douma in April 2018.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said last Friday that there were "reasonable grounds" to believe toxic chemicals containing "reactive chlorine" had been used in the attack, which witnesses said killed 43 people.

It said two cylinders likely containing the chemical had smashed into a housing block in Douma, which was held by rebels at the time.

The team had no mandate to assign responsibility for the attack, but Western powers led by the United States blamed the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, unleashing air strikes on regime military installations in response.

A spokesman for Syria's foreign ministry said Thursday the government rejected the OPCW's findings in their entirety.

The official "called on member states of the OPCW to denounce such false reports, which lack credibility", accusing the OPCW of being "biased and unobjective", state news agency SANA said, in the first official response to the OPCW report.

The report was based on a visit to Douma by OPCW inspectors.

The team took more than 100 samples from seven sites in the town, to which the regime had denied them access for several weeks.

The OPCW said it reached its conclusions based on "witnesses' testimonies, environmental and biomedical samples analysis results, toxicological and ballistic analyses from experts".

Friday's report also denied the Syrian government's claims that the gas came from a rebel chemical weapons facility and storehouse in the area.

"From the analysis of the information gathered during the on-site visits to the warehouse and facility suspected of producing chemical weapons, there was no indication of either facility being involved in their manufacture," it said.

The foreign ministry spokesman quoted by SANA said investigators were falsifying information.

"This is evidenced by their denial that armed terrorist groups posses toxic chemicals even though they found such chemicals" in warehouses owned by rebels, SANA quoted him as saying.

The OPCW has investigated multiple chemical attacks during the eight-year Syrian civil war, and has previously confirmed the use of "chlorine, sulphur mustard, and sarin as chemical weapons" in other incidents.

The organisation previously had no mandate to assign responsibility for attacks, but has since been given powers to investigate responsibility for all chemical attacks in Syria back to 2014.

Syria's multi-fronted war has killed more than 360,000 people since it began in 2011 with President Bashar al-Assad's regime bloodily suppressing protests.
N. Korea rocket site appears 'operational' again: US experts



Washington, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2019



A North Korean long-range rocket launch site appears to have resumed "normal operation status," US experts said Thursday, calling it an "affront" to President Donald Trump's strategy of diplomatic engagement with Pyongyang.

The specialized website 38 North and the Center for Strategic and International Studies used commercial satellite imagery to track construction at the site -- which they said began before last week's aborted summit in Hanoi between Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Images taken on March 6 showed that a rail-mounted structure to transfer rockets to the launching pad appeared to have been completed and "may now be operational."

Cranes have been removed from the pad, while progress also appeared to have been made on rebuilding the support structure for a rocket engine testing stand.

"Given that construction, plus activity at other areas of the site, Sohae (Satellite Launching Station) appears to have returned to normal operational status," 38 North's report said.

The news will compound the White House's frustration over the lack of progress on talks with the North, following the collapse of a second Trump-Kim summit without so much as a joint statement, let alone an agreement on nuclear disarmament.

Kim had agreed to shutter Sohae at a summit with the South's President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang as part of confidence-building measures, and satellite pictures in August suggested workers were dismantling the engine test stand.

Trump equivocated when asked Thursday if he was disappointed about the news. "We'll see," he said. "We'll let you know in about a year."

The president had declared that it was "too early" to tell if a previous report about activity at the site was true, but said he would be "very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim" if the intelligence checked out.

US media had speculated over whether Trump might tighten the thumbscrews on Pyongyang following the Vietnam summit, by ratcheting up an already crippling sanctions regime.



- 'Snapback' -



State Department spokesman Robert Palladino affirmed Washington's commitment to stay engaged with Kim, however, telling journalists on Thursday the administration was ready for "constructive negotiation."

Palladino would not say if Washington had been in contact with Pyongyang over Sohae, situated on North Korea's northwest coast, or the aborted summit.

Pyongyang used the site in 2012 and 2016 to launch satellites, a maneuver Western experts believe informs its development of inter-continental missiles capable of striking the United States.

CIA director Gina Haspel said in late January that North Korea remains committed to developing long-range missiles despite its denuclearization talks with the US.

An analysis by two experts at CSIS said the rebuilding of the launch facility amounted to a "snapback" from the moderate dismantlement North Korea performed after Trump's first summit with Kim in Singapore last year.

Joseph Bermudez and Victor Cha said it showed "how quickly North Korea can easily render reversible any steps taken towards scrapping its WMD program with little hesitation."

They called the North Korean actions "an affront to the president's diplomatic strategy" that also showed Pyongyang's "pique" over Trump's refusal to lift sanctions.

They noted that the activity has continued despite Trump's conciliatory words about Kim since the Hanoi summit, and a US decision to cancel annual large-scale exercises with South Korea that the North has objected to.

The exercises -- Key Resolve and Foal Eagle -- were replaced with a shorter exercise that kicked off this week in South Korea to criticism from the North.
Optimization

Are you frustrated with a slow pc or a hard disk not performing as it should?

Try SLOW-PCfighter to speed up boot time on a slow PC, or try a free scan of FULL-DISKfighter to recover space on a full disk. The latest offering is DRIVERfighter to update your driver updater. Get complete PC optimization and extend the life of your PC with these must-have software tools.
Sheikh Mujibs life really then began to ripple out around the globe. He set off an atomic political bomb on 7th March in 1971 and that will be felt in the years to come.

by Anwar A. Khan





Joy Bangla (Victory of Bangladesh). Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahmans speech of 7th March 1971 focuses on the aspects that transcend Bangladeshs history. It is considered to be one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and thereafter. It is a landmark oration that captures the essence of the triumphant culmination of the largely Bengalis independence struggle against the Pakistani regime in Bangladesh. Forty eight years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge in full measure, but also very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, Bangladesh will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of Bangladesh and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.













In March 1971, the visual modality of independent national sovereignty for people of this land became politically dominant allele. So, 7th March in 1971 was a defining moment for Bangladeshs people and for Bangabandu as well. By this time people knew there were overwhelmingand special situation happeningit was definitely a defining moment in Bangladeshs history. The all Pakistan based National Election in 1970 caused to bechance a landslide victory for Bangabandhus political party, Awami League, under his able and potent leadership and he turned out being the majority party leader in Pakistan. He could best help harness grass-roots outpouring of protest of anti-Pakistani establishment and anger into Bengali nationalisms resurgence at the ballot box in that national polls. As a matter of fact, the Bengali nation needed a chair who could not only take the fight to the Pakistani monsters. We also needed a chair that could lead a turnaround and change the culture of this land. And Mujib successfully steered that chair.





Bengali nations Founding Father BangabandhuMujibs remarkable speech on 7th March, 1971 at Dhakas Race Course Ground (now SuhrawardyUddan) spoke of a delimitating moment of our history in mien of more than a million people with their earsplitting applause. The world of Bangladesh had changed after his speechification. It was the unmasking of an underlying evil that took an ugly shape in the 1971 War by the Pakistani oppressiveness. Only as the truth of the massacres, plots, and campaigns has revealed themselves as the Bangladeshs provisional government truly begun to heal by defeating the savage Pakistani forces. Mujibs address on that day was the defining moment in the history of Bangladesh. Let me repeat that it was the demarcating moment in the history of the Bangladeshs world. A great man once said, He was a man of his times. He was a man of courage, decency, moderation and vision  characteristics which should and usually do mark the nation he helped to find. Yes, he was a man of his times, he was a man who embodied the best of his times and may this country embody the very best and he is our BangabandhuMujib.





In any sense of datum, 7th March address to the Bengali nation is worthy of lengthy study as we can all learn speech delivering skills from Mujibs historic masterpiece; and it is recognised as one of the best speeches ever given by any great world leader. If we look at what makes it so memorable: It is dramatically delivered ad-lib under the open sky amid more than a million of people. His words proved to be a touchstone for understanding the social and political upheaval of the time and gave the nation a vocabulary to express what was happening. He argued passionately and powerfully. Stylistically the speech has been described as a political treatise, a work of poetry, and a masterfully delivered and improvised sermon, bursting with revolutionary language and imagery. As well as rhythm and alliteration is a hallmark device, he used to bang home key points. The format is simple  always an aid to memorability! This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilising drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of independence and democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlight path of justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of Bangladeshs people. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.





Sheikh Mujibs life really then began to ripple out around the globe. He set off an atomic political bomb on 7th March in 1971 and that will be felt in the years to come. It was like tearing down a wall that might seem very heavy, but when you realise what all else came down with that wall, you begin to see it in a whole new light. When the wall came down on that day, it signified the final beginning to end the Pakistani oppressiveness and birth of the voice of the people en bloc to liberate the country. While the address has a very impregnable message for our people and hints at revolution, his words are mostly about peace, offering a vision everyone could buy into. At the end of the speech, he brings in a unifying passage themed around freedom with singing with a new meaning of a land of the peoples pride, from every everywhere, let freedom ring. When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every corner of the country, we will be able to speed up that day when all of our people, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of Bangabandhu. The speech was the remarkable emotion of Mujibs delivery in terms of both voice and body; it was a fervent emotional sermon, forged out of the language and spirit of independence and democracy. Bangabandhus mastery of the spoken words, his magnetism, and his sincerity raised familiar platitudes from cliche to commandment.





His thunderous voice spread like an electrifying speed among the people. We can tell today, all people could see was a speck and they listened to it. A smattering of applause filled a pause more pregnant than most. The speech's appeal lies in the fact that, whatever the interpretation, it remains the most eloquent, poetic, unapologetic and public articulation of that victory. The tone is both informative and argumentative. Moreover, it is descriptive. The ideas are very sincere. His style is unique but very easy to discuss. His use of ornamentation or embellishment is made possible through heavy uses of the anaphora. His words are very hopeful and deliberate. He is very conscious of his audience, and he is very commanding of his wording to avoid hurting his credibility with this audience. However, he takes the right kinds of chances rhetorically. I believe that this speech is one of the best works that I have had the chance to personally hear and read in the pages of history. More importantly, he finishes the speech with a powerful metaphor of a bell ringing, pronouncing "every house to turn into a fortress. Face the enemy with whatever you have In the song, and in his speech, the ringing of the bells is meant to signify the echoing of the sounds all across the country.









The Bangabandhus address is one of the greatest. He took his audience on a journey that began with the preparation for founding of Bangladesh. We were at the crossroads at which the country found itself at that moment. He wanted to make sure that Bengalis chose the right path. And people took the right course of their conduct. It would seem that the historical essence of his speech was much more of great significance or value. The address is rich with allusions to the Declaration of Independence and filled with poetic and rhetorical constructs so that it is more of a political speech. While the address contains a political aim mainly that of achieving Bangladesh, it served as a stirring and moving speech that could metaphorically speak for all the people to be in the war. The speech on the 7thof March convinced the freedom-loving people of Bangladesh by raising their emotion through the historical facts of political deprivation and persecution, as well as building the credibility of Bangabandhu in order to prepare the Bangladeshs people for the Liberation War. Bangabandhu used evidence from history to make his argument convenient. James Fenimore Cooper said, History, like love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of brightness and Mujib is our great hero of luminosity. His pronouncement is still ringing to our ears, And be ready with whatever you haveWe will surely liberate the people of this country.





Sheikh Mujibs 7th March speech was a landmark event for people of Bangladesh as the Bengalis destiny was setaceous with it, but the Pakistani military junta refused to hand over power to Sheikh Mujib. Thus Bangladeshs people were being deceived whenever they wanted power. The famous words of Confucius remind us, Study the past if you would define the future. Yes, we should. The Revolution of our people in 1971 was one of the greatest events in the world history. The history of the birth of Bangladesh as an independent country is the best example of the success of Bangabandhus speech. The narration of political facts, the process of relating them with emotion and the credibility of Bangabandhu also ask people to be prepared for the War of Liberation, every part of the speech tied together by strong rhetorical appeals, which allowed the message of the speech to persuade people of all ages and all classes. And people got the right message from him. In 1971, fervent choruses of "Joy Bangla" and "Amar Sonar Bangla" (My Golden Bengal) rang out together to evoke the beauty and strength of another Bengal, a new Bengal, whose people fought for freedom from Pakistan and established Bangladesh valiantly with all patriotism. In this month of March, we also need to understand the freedom struggle and to appreciate the contributions of all its architects, visionaries, beneficiaries and victims.





Freedom and power bring responsibility. The past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now. That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of Bangladesh means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty, ignorance, disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for our country, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now and so also is disaster in this One World that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.





To the people of Bangladesh, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure of establishing the true spirits of our glorious Liberation War of 1971. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free Bangladesh minus the anti-liberation forces and their mango-twigs where all her children may dwell in peace.Bangabandhus 7th March address in 1971 made a country - Bangladesh. The torrid month of March and his delimitating speech remind me the words of William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet): thus with a kiss I die , Joy Bangla, once again.





-The End -





The writer is a senior citizen of Bangladesh, writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs
English06/03/2019

FOUR MIGRANTS FROM PAKISTAN FOUND

MRKONJIC GRAD, March 6 /SRNA/ - The Mrkonjic Grad Police Administration says four migrants from Pakistan were found in the AOR covered by this police administration.



Migrants, who illegally entered Republika Srpska, were found Tuesday around 19.00 hrs.



The Police Administration stated they had informed the Service for Foreigners Affairs Field Office Banjaluka on the migrants found.



The individuals with the receipt on intent to submit asylum application under police supervision left the area of Mrkonjic Grad municipality, the statement reads. /end/vos
Faith Organization Says House Resolution Condemning Hatred Must Include Anti-Christian Bigotry and Persecution of Christians

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Christian Defense Coalition

March 7, 2019



WASHINGTON, March 7, 2019 /Standard Newswire/ -- The Washington, D.C. based, Christian Defense Coalition, calls for Speaker Pelosi to include Christianity in a potential House Resolution condemning all forms of hatred including anti-Semitism, racism and Islamophobia.



According to the Pew Research Center, Christianity is the most dangerous and persecuted religion in the world with nearly a quarter of a billion Christians facing bigotry, harassment and violence.



Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, states:

"If Speaker Pelosi and the House of Representatives move forward with a resolution condemning hatred; anti-Christian bigotry and persecution must be included in that list. Christians are the most persecuted religion in the world as they face mounting pressure over their beliefs, with government restrictions, nationalist parties, and harassment continuing on a global upswing.



"It would be selective moral outrage to condemn Islamaphobia, anti-Semitism and racism while ignoring the continued attacks of Christians around the world and here in America. This resolution must be inclusive and diverse and not a partisan political statement.



"We have recently seen an uptick of anti-Christianity bigotry in the United States Senate when judges were attacked because of their Catholic faith and relationship with the Knights of Columbus. Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii referred to this fraternal and incredibly charitable organization as 'alt-right' with 'extreme moral positions.' Could one ever imagine referring to a judge who was Muslim or Jewish in that manner?



"Speaker Pelosi, hatred and bigotry have no place in American life and must be unequivocally condemned. That includes anti-Semitic and racially insensitive comments made by members of Congress as well as bigoted comments made against Catholics in the Senate. Without including Christianity in this resolution, it is nothing more than a cheap and shallow political stunt."

For more information or interviews call:

Rev. Patrick Mahoney at: 540.538.4741



SOURCE Christian Defense Coalition



CONTACT: Rev. Patrick Mahoney, 540-538-4741


Missouri state lawmakers have again introduced legislation to bar certain companies from receiving state contracts if they engage in a boycott of Israel.

But in a change from similar 2018 legislation, two of the new bills stipulate that companies are not only precluded from boycotting Israel but also territories under its control, referring to West Bank settlements. A third bill does not make that addition.

The inclusion of boycotts targeting that territory has caused the Jewish state senator who cosponsored the legislation last year and the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis to distance themselves from the two bills. JCRC is supporting the legislation that does not include language about the territories.

The reason I havent signed on as a cosponsor is because it added the territories, and I think that just brings it to a new level of divisiveness that Im not comfortable with, said State Sen. Jill Schupp, a Democrat from St. Louis County. (She said she would also likely support the legislation that does not include the territories if it advances from the House to the Senate.)

ADVERTISEMENT

A bipartisan group of lawmakers and supporters such as Jewish Federation of St. Louis tried to pass similar legislation last year in response to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, but the bill failed due to a filibuster from a Republican state senator.

Other changes between this year and last years legislation are related to the size of companies that would be subject to the law.

Opponents of such legislation, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have said it violates individuals free speech rights. Supporters of the bill counter that the legislation targets companies, not individuals.

In response to the free speech concern and potential legal challenges, the sponsors said the law would apply only to companies with a value of more than $100,000 and at least 10 employees. Last year, the figure in an amended bill was $10,000.

We dont want to infringe on individual rights, said State Rep. Holly Rehder, a Republican from Sikeston, who sponsored the bill that does not include the territories.

Rehder and other proponents of anti-BDS legislation said they were not aware of a company that had supported a boycott of Israel and tried to do business with the state.

Sen. Bob Onder and Rep. Ron Hicks, both Republicans from St. Charles, sponsored the other two bills. They did not respond to requests for comment.

The way I see it, BDS efforts are an attempt to harm Americas staunchest ally, and at worst, attempt to destroy the state of Israel, Onder told the Forward.

Rehder thinks the legislation has a better chance of passing this year than last year. Rob Schaaf, the Republican state senator who filibustered the bill last year, reached his term limit in 2018.

Get the St. Louis Jewish Light's top stories delivered to your inbox six days a week.

With anything that goes through these bodies, it takes a little bit of time  especially with new concepts  for people to understand, said Rehder, who has traveled to Israel twice on trips sponsored by Jewish Federation and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). She said she proposed the legislation because of her experience in Israel and understanding of the level of discrimination that they go through on a daily basis and the level of threats that they are under  I think its time for someone here in Missouri to tell their story.

Twenty-seven states have passed anti-BDS laws, according to the Jewish Virtual Library.

Traci Goldstein, co-president of St. Louis Friends of Israel, said she supported the move to change the bill to include the territories, which she referred to with the biblical names Judea and Samaria.

The land indigenously belongs to the Jewish people, and to leave that out creates confusion and puts their back against the wall, so theres definitely a preference for the language to be all inclusive, said Goldstein.

The American Jewish Committee- St. Louis supports the new legislation, including the language on territories, Regional Director Nancy Lisker said.

The inclusion of language in some of the proposed legislation referring to territories currently under Israels control, does not address the question of what Israels borders will be when a peace agreement is reached. This is not what this legislation is intended for, Lisker said. The purpose of the anti-boycott legislation is to allow Missouri full access to a range of goods and services in the market place, and nothing more.

But the JCRC sees including the territories in the bill as the state potentially stepping into international relations, according to its Executive Director Rori Picker Neiss.

When the legislations focus is on state contracts, I think thats a place where the legislature has a very important role to play, she said. But when it starts making decisions on the status of territory that is contested and that hopefully will be resolved as part of an ultimate peace agreement, I think that becomes a lot more complicated.

JCRC still opposes the BDS movement, but has become far more interested in finding ways that we can support investment in the region rather than opposing divestment, Picker Neiss said. The organization is focusing on federal legislation to provide government support for a $200 million International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, which would go towards joint economic development and civil society projects, according to the fund.

The ACLU still sees the anti-BDS legislation as a violation of peoples First Amendment rights despite the change regarding the size of companies. Federal courts have blocked anti-BDS laws in Arizona and Kansas. The ACLU has also filed lawsuits in Arkansas and Texas.

Its sort of like the old joke, You cant be a little bit pregnant; you either are or you arent. You cant be a little bit violative of the First Amendment; you either do or you dont, said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of ACLU of Missouri. We can all agree or disagree on the actions of the Israeli government in the settlements, and whether or not we agree or disagree on the wisdom of the BDS movement, and whether or not we agree or disagree on whats motivating the BDS movement. We can all agree that as Americans, the right to protest, the right to free speech, the right to engage in peaceful petitions of our governments, the right to engage in economic and political boycotts, are central to the right of being Americans.

JCRC and the Center for Jewish Learning are hosting an event focused on anti-BDS legislation with Mittman, along with Stephanie Hausner, deputy director of the Israel Action Network, a Federation-funded initiative that aims to combat the BDS movement; and Elai Rettig, an Israel Institute teaching fellow in Washington Universitys Department of Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. Deborah Price, a JCRC Board member, will moderate. The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. on April 1 at the Kaplan Feldman Complex, 12 Millstone Campus Drive.
Judaism 101

Maybe youve been asked to a Purim party but are reluctant to go because you dont know the story behind the holiday. In fact, the only thing you associate with Purim is hamentaschen, though you have no clue why.

Or perhaps youre going to a friends house for Shabbat dinner and that friend keeps kosher. You want to bring something to add to the meal but are unsure if your signature salad with goat cheese is acceptable.

For those dilemmas and many others, enter Jewbelong.com, a website aimed at making Judaism and its holidays, rituals, customs and practices more comfortable and easier to understand. It strives to end what it calls JewBarrassment, which translates into a lack of Jewish knowledge that can often serve as a barrier to Jewish engagement.

Started by Margery Sue Archie Gottesman and Stacy Stuart, both of New Jersey, Jewbelong.com is probably best described as a primer on Judaism, with easy-to-digest information on Jewish holidays and lifecycle events as well as prayers and blessings for forgiveness, heartbreak, work, travel, and even pets. But perhaps the best thing about Jewbelong is that it doesnt take itself too seriously. Humor abounds throughout its descriptions and explanations, but not at the expense of dispensing very useful information.

ADVERTISEMENT

Take Passover for example. Along with a short summary of the Passover story and an explanation of what a seder is, Jewbelong provides step-by-step directions for hosting a kick-a- - seder, along with Passover songs, blessings, readings, food and even a skit. I, for one, am seriously considering constructing the websites suggested Red Sea centerpiece for my seder table this year:

Fill a shallow serving dish with red Jell-O and let set.

Create two areas of land on each side, using whatever items you have handy  nuts, matzah, macaroons  literally anything works.

Finish by adding figurines to represent Moses and the Israelites.

Our Judaism should continuously fill us with joy, warmth and meaning and be something we look forward to, from Shabbat to the major holidays to lifecycle events, Gottesman explains on the website. Everyone wants meaning in their lives. If Jews dont find it in their Judaism, they will find it at yoga. Why not help Jews find the meaning in Judaism? How amazing would it be if disengaged Jews saw their Judaism as a gift, and as something that will add beautiful connections in their lives?

Get the St. Louis Jewish Light's top stories delivered to your inbox six days a week.

Check it out at Jewbelong.com.

A taste of Broadway

A couple of upcoming shows in town feature some incredibly talented Jewish performers by way of New Yorks Broadway.

First on deck is Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown, who will be at the Grandel Theatre at 8 p.m. Friday, March 15. An accomplished songwriter and lyricist, Brown is best-known for the film version of his off-Broadway play The Last Five Years, his musical revue Songs For A New World, and a musical version of Robert James Wallers Bridges Of Madison County, which opened on Broadway and garnered him two of his three Tonys.

He will be performing selections from his entire catalogue, including his most recent album, How We React And How We Recover. Tickets range in price from $35-$50 and are available at www.metrotix.com.

The following week, at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 23, Ari Axelrod will perform A Celebration of Jewish Broadway, at the Kranzberg Arts Center in Grand Center. His cabaret show will focus on the songs and stories of Jewish composers, including Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Schwartz and Carole King.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students are also available through www.metrotix.com.

Brooks new book

The St. Louis County Library Foundation will host New York Times columnist David Brooks, who is promoting his new book, The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 18.

Most of us, over the course of our lives, will make four big commitments: to a spouse and family, a vocation, a philosophy or faith, and a community. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we fuse these commitments into one coherent whole. In his book, Brooks looks at people  from Dostoyevsky to Holocaust survivor Etty Hillesum to African educational entrepreneur Fred Swaniker  who have lived joyous, committed lives to understand how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose. Tickets at $32 include a copy of the book. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis. Call 314-994-3300 for more information. Additional copies of Brooks books will be available for purchase and signing from Left Bank Books.
Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.
CARMEN JASPERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands visited Bremen on Wednesday, and Maxima chose jewels very fitting for a royal lady from the House of Orange.

MOHSSEN ASSANIMOGHADDAM/AFP/Getty Images

Maxima accessorized her navy and burnt orange ensemble in Germany with fabulous earrings from her extensive collection of orange jewels.

CARMEN JASPERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

The earrings feature large orange gemstone drops, perhaps topazes or citrines. (See our previous post on her collection of topaz/citrine jewels over here!)

MOHSSEN ASSANIMOGHADDAM/AFP/Getty Images

Heres a slightly better view of the earrings, which emphasizes both their vivid color and the size of the drop.

MOHSSEN ASSANIMOGHADDAM/AFP/Getty Images

We also caught a glimpse of Maximas bracelets, including the bracelet featuring the diamond-set initials of her husband and daughters.

CARMEN JASPERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Overall, the orange jewels helped to tie together the colors of Maximas outfit. You know that I love any excuse to wear a bright, beautiful gemstone  somehow I think Max agrees with me!
South Africa: President leaves his mark on young global CEOs

President Cyril Ramaphosa has told an organisation of young global CEOs to use their influence to play a greater role to make a positive impact on society.

Addressing a gala dinner of the Young Presidents Organisation (YPO) Global Leadership Conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Wednesday night, the President also encouraged them to explore business opportunities not only in South Africa, but also in Africa, which he said has vast untapped potential and a huge appetite for investment.

He said this on the back of a YPO Global Leadership Survey, released in January, which revealed that an overwhelming 93% of YPO affiliate CEOs believe that business must play a far greater role in making a positive impact on society for the benefit of all people.

This perspective has led me to think of five tasks that I believe the YPO family needs to be preoccupied with, seeing that the majority of your members believe that business should make an impact on society for the benefit of all people, President Ramaphosa said.

The YPO is a premier global leadership organisation for more than 27 000 chief executives in over 130 countries and the global platform for them to engage, learn and grow.

Its members harness the knowledge, influence and trust of the worlds most influential and innovative business leaders to inspire business, personal, family and community impact.

Today, companies run by its members are diversified among industries and types of businesses and they collectively employ more than 22 million people globally and generate $9 trillion in annual revenue.

President challenges global CEOs to five tasks

The President said the business of business should not just be business and that focusing on profits alone should not be the yardstick.

He said instead, business leaders should make stakeholder value the benchmark of a companys performance.

This talks to focusing on recognising the challenges that the people of the world face and crafting a shared future in which their challenges are addressed.

He said the business of business should be to create value for society, which is a task that business leaders cannot ignore.

The second task, the President said, is for business leaders to be enablers of opportunities by leading a revolution of training and education amid the challenges that the fourth industrial revolution brings.

Here, both government and business must join forces to provide workers with the skills and qualifications they need to participate in the digital economy, for instance, by being able to tap the opportunities created by artificial intelligence, he said.

Thirdly, the President said global leaders should encourage innovation to fuel economic growth on a continuous basis with new products and services.

Business needs to lead in this regard, he said.

He said the fourth issue that leaders should be seized with is to have the courage to address tough issues and tough questions.

How can we secure the future of those whose jobs will be eliminated by machines? How do we create new sectors of the economy? How do we address the challenge of widespread unemployment?

President Ramaphosa said the fifth task is for business to remain engaged with all the key stakeholders and especially government.

Relationships between business and government are often fraught with conflict.

A business must always have the courage to engage government and collaborate with government, even as it might seem difficult.

Business should, however, not seek to capture government because that always leads to disastrous ends. Part of this task means that business must never be found wanting when it comes to adherence to integrity and ethical behaviour.

In other words, business must rid itself of corrupt practices and be seen to be dealing with corruption effectively.

What is significant is that this perspective that encapsulates these five tasks is embraced by important players in global business, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- The commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East warned against the "calculated" retreat of ISIS fighters from the last territory held by the group in eastern Syria.



Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Command, told Congress on Thursday that the exodus of thousands of ISIS fighters and their families is not a surrender, but a decision to retreat to camps and remote areas in the region until they can reconstitute as a violent extremist organization once again.



"While ISIS has been battered by the Syrian Democratic Forces and coalition forces, we should be clear in our understanding that what we are seeing now is not the surrender of ISIS as an organization but a calculated decision to preserve the safety of their families and preservation of their capabilities by taking their chances in camps for internally displaced persons, and going to ground in remote areas and waiting for the right time for a resurgence," Votel told the House Armed Services Committee.



ISIS now holds "less than a single square mile" of territory in the city of Baghouz out of "an area of 34,000 square miles which they once controlled," Votel said.



Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the U.S.-led coalition, resumed the offensive on Baghouz last Friday after they had paused for more than a week to allow an estimated 10,000 civilians and ISIS families to leave the town. A victory by the SDF could be declared as early as next week.



Video taken on Thursday showed hundreds of ISIS fighters voluntarily handing themselves over to the SDF. Votel called the men and women leaving the last ISIS pocket "unrepentant, unbroken and radicalized."



The SDF holds over 1,000 ISIS foreign fighters, along with thousands from Iraq and Syria. The U.S. is pushing for them to be returned to their home countries, but that effort has, so far, been met with mixed success.



"The broader international community will need to determine how we deal with the thousands of fighters and family members now being held and safeguarded by the Syrian Democratic Forces," Votel said. "In my view, this is a serious generational problem that if not handled properly will sow the seeds of future violent extremism."



Administration officials have said options for foreign fighters who cannot be repatriated include the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.



In the meantime, the U.S. will proceed with the planned withdrawal of about 2,000 troops from Syria, first ordered by President Donald Trump in December. That decision was met with surprise and outrage by U.S. partner forces and members of Congress who expressed concerns about what a U.S. withdrawal would mean for the long term security and stability of the region.



Since then, the White House has revised a complete withdrawal and will now leave a residual force of hundreds of U.S. troops in two areas of Syria which Votel said will allow the military "to continue our mission and safeguard our interests."



Last month, the general revealed he was not consulted by Trump before the president announced the Syria withdrawal.



On Thursday, Votel conceded that Russia viewed the U.S. decision to withdraw "positively" because it "solidified" their role in the Middle East and "gave them the opportunity to fill the void."

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Grizzly Bear Cubs and Me, which aired in December last year on BBC 2, followed wildlife expert and presenter Gordon Buchanan on his visit to the Pazhetnov family in Bubonitsy Village of Tver Region, 450km northwest of Moscow.

Pazhetnov family Therescue and rehabilitate orphaned bear cubs from around Russia, with the goal of mimicking the bears' natural upbringing in the wild as closely as possible.

Image Credit: Wikipedia from the National Park Service

Gordon told me how his team began researching the rehabilitation centre in early 2018. He said it just looked amazing and they started filming in February of 2018. The team then made four trips to Russia, with the last one in October, for the release of the bear cubs into the wild in time for their hibernation over winter.

Gordon says that there is an attachment to the bears that comes from a closeness not normally achieved in wildlife photography and filming. He says: You definitely get attached to them - when filming animals in the wild there is more Of) a fascination with them, but when youre actually providing care to a vulnerable animal you do have a bond with them.

"But there is always the desire to get them back into the wild," even though this is where they will be at risk, - "even with all the care it doesnt mean theyll survive.

Image credit: Gordon Buchanan

He noted that it was important to have a bit of an emotional distance between himself and the bear cubs as the aim ultimately was for them to be rehabilitated smoothly into the wild. The methods imposed in order to maintain these distances was seen in the very first episode, when Gordon had to whisper around the bears, so that they did not become familiar with the sound of human voices.

Orphan Bear Rescue Centre

Theitself aims to rehabilitate these animals to survive alone in the wild: "The main characteristic of our work is that we work with animals that must learn to survive in the wild. The base condition of this skill is a sense of fear for a humans. If the animal is not afraid of people, it will not survive in the wild and is doomed to death or life imprisonment in a cage. We do not raise bears in any way  we provide them conditions close to their natural habitat, and semi-free keeping, thanks to which they form all the behaviors necessary for life in the wild: food, defensive, nesting, fear response to humans."

Gordon and I then went on to discuss his future dreams and plans. In terms of wildlife filming, he says, One place I would love to visit is Antarctica; the only continent I havent been to. I would love to film everything, not just the penguins, but the leopard seals, the whales and killer whales you can find at the bottom of the earth.

This stems from his time in the Canadian and Norwegian Arctics, which he, fell in love with it as soon as [he] was there. He explains how he was,blown away by how wild it is and how specialised the animals that lived there are. Gordon says that after 20-odd years working and filming in the Tropics, it was a great experience to film in a completely different environment. It was, one of the only places left in the world where you can get a true sense of wilderness, with so few people there.

Image Credit: Graham McFarlane

Discussing filming in different environments, Gordon talks about the different challenges faced when filming and working in these opposing atmospheres.

In the Arctic, weve been camping in remote locations away from human inhabitation. In Russia we were isolated in a way... the accommodation was basic but really nice and cosy and when the bears were in the winter time inside, we werent having to spend a huge amount of time outside.

Gordon says the tropics are harder to get comfortable in, because there are more things that can bite and scratch you, or trip up on, not just the high temperatures.



I was interested to find out where Gordons interest for wildlife stemmed from. He says his upbringing on the west coast of Scotland meant that he had an active lifestyle, and that he has always loved the outdoors.

This love continued to grow over my career and I have become even more passionate and fascinated by the natural world".

Image credit: Gordon Buchanan

After watching Grizzly Bear Cubs and Me, as a viewer I felt myself becoming attached to the bear cubs, as I assume many other viewers did too. Gordon says those who liked seeing the bears growing up and being rehabilitated can help by donating to the Pazhetnov family. They have recently had their funding cut and therefore rely on the generosity of animal lovers around the world and theyre a very specialised organisation, theyre the only people in the world that are releasing or rehabilitating orphaned bears into the wild.

The bears were released in pairs of brothers because they are territorial animals, so as to mimic the experiences they would have had in the wild. Gordon says that, they would stay together in their pairs for this coming year and then next summer part company. This is because they will be bigger and their desire to be with each other ebbs. However, if they were happy together and there was plenty of food resources, there would be a chance they could stay together.

Image Credit: Graham McFarlane

Gordon has an upcoming project called Equator from the Air, focusing on the equatorial regions and how aerial technology is helping habitats, in the form of drones, light aircrafts all from an aerial perspective. If you enjoyed Grizzly Bear Cubs and Me, it will definitely be worth a watch - keep your eyes peeled!
A letter outlining climate concerns is circulating among students in a bid to 'push parliament into action.'

letter template The, written by Manchester University students Ella Sinclair and Annie Etherington, was shared online last week. The pair condemned the government's poor approach on the issue of climate change.

The post, accompanied by a link to the MP directory , urges readers to send the letter to their local MP's.

Issues raised include record-high temperatures in the UK this February, unusual levels of snowfall in Hawaii and wildfires across the globe.

The pair wrote the letter in hopes of reaching out to young people, arguing that the effects will be most detrimental for those living to see the consequences of global warming.

Speaking to TNS, Anthropology student Ella Sinclair told us that her generation is going to live through the effects of climate change.

While climate change is an increasing conversational topic online, the duo feel more action needs to be taken to promote real change.

They urge their peers to contact local MPs directly instead of just liking social media posts.

'Members of Parliament do have a strong voice to encourage their constituents,' Annie told us.

'I live in Lewes [which has] a Conservative MP who doesn't stand for anything I believe in. So I kind of just wanted to make her aware that I disagree with her.'

consistently voted against Her MP Maria Caulfield hasmeasures to prevent climate change with zero votes for and nine against raised proposals.

The students are among many to condemn a low MP turnout at the recent climate debate held by Caroline Lucas in parliament, of which only a handful of the 650 MPs attended.

Unforgivable that 610 MPs skipped yesterday's debate on climate change.



Young people on #schoolstrike4climate are showing leadership, while truant politicians shirk responsibility.



If your MP missed it, tell them why we urgently need a #GreenNewDeal to secure our futures: pic.twitter.com/MpNI4WfEFA  Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) 1 March 2019

'What could possibly be more important? No one will care about Brexit when there's no planet to live on,' Ella told TNS.

'I know that's obviously a very extreme and narrow way of looking at it but at the end of the day, that's how it is.'
Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here

You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: 

Home Page
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Cloudy with some light snow. High near -7C. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 80%..

Tonight

Intermittent snow or snow showers becoming steadier late. Low -8C. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 80%. About one inch of snow expected.


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.
HAVE A NOTE? Or a Sez You? E-mail them to notester@thesunchronicle.com or drop them in snail mail addressed to Restaurant Notes, The Sun Chronicle, Box 600, Attleboro, MA 02703.
MANZINI - A 70-year-old mkhulu, who is a herdman in businessman Tommy Kirks farm, is surely thanking the timely intervention of community members for saving his life in the hands of ruthless dagga dealers.



This was after the old man was allegedly taken to a mountain by a mob of dagger farmers, who stripped him naked and assaulted him for allegedly spying on them to the police.



The incident took place at Nyakeni on Monday morning, and it was after police officers raided the area and destroyed dagga fields. Some of the dagga fields were destroyed in a farm owned by well-known businessman Kirk, where Mbholofidi Ginindza (70) is working as a security and herdman.



Linked



However, the businessman is not linked to the growing of dagga in the farm, as it was gathered that the alleged farmers were doing it without his knowledge.

According to Ginindza, the police came to destroy dagga in the area in the wee hours of Monday. He said when they left around 9:30am, two men came to him while he was inside the farm and asked that he goes with them to a nearby homestead.



Upon arriving at the homestead, Ginindza alleged that he found a group of about 10 men, who asked him to narrate why he and the police destroyed their dagga in the farm.

I told them that I knew nothing about dagga and I referred them to the owner of the farm and the police, he said.



He said while they were interrogating him, elders of the community kicked them out of the homestead and said it was not a place for hearing cases. They dragged me to a nearby forest where they assaulted me with fists and kicks all over the body, he alleged.



However, he claimed that some of them argued that the forest was close to homesteads and suggested that they should take him to a nearby mountain.

He said when they arrived at the mountain, they ordered him to take off his clothes including shoes, something he did not do. He said the mob forcefully undressed him and threw him on the gravel road at the top of the mountain and demanded answers as to when he was going to give them back their dagga which was destroyed by the police, after he tipped them off about the illegal herb which they were growing in the farm.



I maintained that I did not know how the police learnt about it because I had no clue that there were dagga fields in the farm, he alleged.
MBABANE  Unionised employees of SMVAF want the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the parastatal, Helmon Vilakati to be jailed for 30 days for contempt of court.



This comes after the Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (SMVAF) failed to pay them their salaries in terms of a memorandum of agreement that was signed by the parties.



The salary review dates back from April 1, 2012.

SMVAF is reported to have failed to pay the employees salaries in terms of the memorandum of agreement despite that there was a court order to that effect.

Last year, the Industrial Court ordered the fund to review the salaries of its employees using the method contained in the Memorandum of Agreement signed by the parties.



The parastatal was further ordered to comply with the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement within 30 days of the issuance of the judgment, which was November 2018.



Instituted



Through their union, SUFIAW, the employees have since instituted contempt proceedings against Vilakati.

They are further seeking an order directing the deputy sheriff of the Hhohho Region to arrest the CEO whenever he could be located, and submit him to goal at Sidvwashini Correctional facility.



The aggrieved workers also want the court to direct members of the Royal Eswatini Police to assist in the execution of the order in the event it was granted by the court.



In his founding affidavit, SUFIAW Secretary General Jabu Shiba, stated that the Industrial Court pursuant to the court order which was proceeded to be served at the premises of SMAVFs lawyers and they allegedly received it on November 15, 2018.

According to Shiba, on or about December 2018, she wrote to SMVAFs and its CEO advising them to comply with the provisions of the court order but they did not respond.



Further, sometime on or about January 9, 2019, I wrote and sent an email to the respondents (SMVAF and its CEO), making a follow up on them to comply with the provisions of the court order. They also failed to comply, submitted Shiba.



The secretary general asserted that she then advised their (workers) lawyer, Happy Mkhabela that SMAVF had failed and/or neglected to comply with the provisions of the court order. She said their lawyer wrote a correspondence to SMAVF demanding compliance with the court order.



Shiba said SMAVF replied in this instance through its lawyers, where they requested to be given 10 days to enable them to advise the parastatal accordingly.

However, the period of time which the respondents requested to be furnished with elapsed and that was brought to the respondents lawyers attention and there was no response, submitted Shiba.



Shiba averred that the inescapable conclusion to be drawn from the CEOs conduct was that he had an intention of bringing the administration of justice into disrepute by defying the court order. She argued that the respondents conduct under the circumstances was contemptuous to the court. Shiba submitted that the court was entitled to call upon the CEO and SMAVF to show cause why they should not be held to be in contempt and punished accordingly.



Shiba informed the court that what was worrying was that the conduct of the respondents had the effect of infringement of the integrity of the Industrial Court.

She further argued that the union was entitled and duty-bound to insist on strict compliance with the terms of the court judgment as the rights of the employees were unlawfully prejudiced by the CEO and the parastatal.
LOBAMBA - There are about 550 vacant posts within the Royal Eswatini Police Services and these should be filled.



This was the view of Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo who said the police service was an integral part for the smooth running of the country.

MP Khumalo told the Prime Minister (PM) Ambrose Dlamini, that according to his research, the vacant posts were caused by those who had retired, taken retirement on medical grounds and those who were deceased.



MP Khumalo said he was not suggesting that the REPS undergoes a recruitment exercise, but to fill in a gaps in the police service by putting people who were already part of the service through promotions or other placements.



Debate



This was during the debate of the PMs Office end-of-year report by the House of Assembly Portfolio Committee which was chaired by Mpolonjeni MP Jacob Siwela.



The MP said this would not strain the wage bill because the ones who had vacated the positions had already been on the government payroll.

The MP who delved a lot on the police portfolio, also asked the PM what had gone wrong with the police officers because they had turned into murderers and thieves.



He said if a woman dumped a police officer, then she was sure to get murdered.

MP Khumalo said there were many allegations made against the police and asked the PM if they were true.



Do you think we now need a police vice to watch over the same police officers who are supposed to protect us?  wondered Khumalo.

The MP said the police were further implicated in dagga raids as it was believed that some of them would also smoke it afterwards.

Khumalo further stated that police would raid bars and instead of keeping the alcohol to be disposed of later, they would instead hold their own parties and celebrate.



He wondered what had gone wrong as veteran police were currently on good behaviour.

On another note, the MP suggested that the government vehicle Anti Abuse Unit should be handed over to the police as they were located all over the country.
MBABANE - Its a free for all when it comes to trading in liquor! A new era has been ushered in the business sector as those who apply for trading and liquor licences will no longer be required to first submit bank statements.



This is as a result of reforms that have been introduced by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade in order to develop and empower businesspeople.

The good news was relayed by Chief Commercial Officer, Magenius Hlophe, who stated that the ministry would no longer demand bank statements whenever people applied for trading licences.



Previously, it was a must that one submitted a bank statement together with other documents whenever they applied for a trading licence.

Besides the bank statement, other documents required for one to obtain a trading licence in urban areas included a lease agreement or proof of ownership, temporary residence permit if the applicant is not a liSwati, citizenship certificate (identity number and grated tax copies) and a certificate of incorporation among others.



For a private property or farm, the requirements include a health report, lease agreement or title deed, certificate of incorporation, ministers authority, ID and graded tax copies plus memorandum of articles of association, among others.



Trading licences



Hlophe explained that people would now be awarded the trading licences by producing the other documents and not the bank statement.

The only time when the bank statement would be required, according to Hlophe, would be after 12 months when the businessperson applies for a renewal.

We are doing this to remove the burden of having to go to the bank to open accounts first when people apply for licences.

What we will require is that after 12 months when the person comes to apply for a renewal, we will then demand the bank statement. This will be a perfect time to allow us to see if the person was really operating in the business that he had applied to trade in, Hlophe explained.

He said for the trading licence, the reforms were already being used which means the new application forms no longer had the requirement of a bank statement.



For the liquor licence, Hlophe revealed that they had not only scrapped off the requirement for a bank statement but also the plan of the structure where one intended to operate their business.

This touches on the structure that you have earmarked to use as a bar or supermarket. The idea here is that when you designed the structure, the municipality then approved it. So us demanding it is more like a repetition so we are removing the burden of doing it all over again, he said.



Asked to explain the main reason why they decided to introduce such reforms, Hlophe said governments aim was to develop and promote businesses in the country so that they could contribute to economic development.

However, it seems the reforms are not good news to everyone as a bottle store owner who asked not to be named minced no words in saying she did not support the idea.



In her view, the strict requirements used before were good in that they made the liquor business unique as it was not easy for just anyone to venture in it.

This now means that anyone will wake up and decide to open a bar at any corner. In the end, there will be too many businesses and people like us who have been paying taxes for years will suffer a lot. We will also have trouble with the prices as we will have to keep them as low as possible, she said.
Comment



What will it take to emancipate the economy of Eswatini from its below one per cent growth shackles?



Taxing its people to the bone to reduce their spending power or unlocking the full potential of the private sector to raise more business profit tax revenue?

The answer is no brainer and this is why Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg can blame nobody for the labelling of his budget as highly punitive with most economists predicting a retraction of the economy, much against the mandate to achieve the opposite.



The minister sees otherwise and argues that the incentives he has lined up for the business sector will far outweigh the taxes on the consumer.

All parties do agree, however, that this country deserves to thrive in a free-market economy that is not stifled of growth by stringent licence requirements that have only helped push the investor preference away from our shores, condemning us to ranking 117 of 190 countries in the ease of doing business. Yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade announced changes to the trading licensing order that seek to remove some of the bottlenecks that have long held our economy to ransom.



We trust that this is the first step towards the long awaited deregulation of the business industry. And, hopefully, the dagga industry for medicinal purposes.

Liquor licensing may be part of the beneficiaries of these changes and this can be viewed in a negative light in some quarters. The truth is, operating such businesses comes with great responsibilities and the consumers cannot be exempted from same.



The competition that this move will create can only benefit the consumer in lower prices while pleasing the businesses with higher spending. While at it, the ministry ought to take a deeper look into all the other areas of the industry that are frustrated by unnecessary bureaucracy.

The small business community has welcomed the changes that will unlock some of the potential of the Eswatini economy that is desperate for more profit tax revenue and, most importantly, job opportunities. We now look forward to step, two, three and more of the Finance ministers promises to set the economy free.
MBABANE  Who has authority over the school? A power struggle over Impumelelo High School has ensued between the previous and current management.

Impumelelo is a private school situated at Sidwashini in Mbabane.



The current management of the school has since allegedly obtained an order interdicting the previous director from withdrawing money from the schools bank account held with Swaziland Building Society.



The order by the court comes after the new management filed an urgent application at the High Court through their lawyer Musa Shongwe of Simelane Shongwe Attorneys.



Interdicted



The court also interdicted the previous director of the school, Ntombi Danda Nxumalo and Mpumelelo Motsamia, from interfering and disturbing the operations of the school. Nxumalo was also interdicted from coming to the schools premises to harass and threaten employees verbally or by any means of communication.



Nxumalo was further ordered to effect the change of the main signatories for the schools account (collection and savings account) held with Building Society.

In his application, Guardian Mutwetwa of Zimbabwe, who claims to be the rightful authority over the school, submitted that around February 2019, Nxumalo and Motsamia started disturbing the smooth operation of the school.



Mutetwa went on to state that, around February 2019, Nxumalo and Motsamia stormed the schools premises and unlawfully dismissed its secretary without just cause. Nxumalo is alleged to have replaced the secretary with her preferred choice.



He asserted that on February 15, 2019, Nxumalo and Motsamia called teachers and non-academic staff to a meeting. Nxumalo is alleged to have advised the teachers and the academic staff that she was in charge of the school.



Contracts



Mutwetwa alleged that Nxumalo further issued out contracts to the employees of the school and also went to address the pupils without seeking permission.

Nxumalo is also making disingenuous, insulting and defamatory allegations that I defrauded the school of a large sum of money. What is baffling is that she is the only one who has access to the school funds, he argued.



Mutwetwa informed the court that the school was previously under the directorate of Nxumalo.

He asserted that the premises where the school was located were owned by Nxumalo.

Pursuant to the decline in the performance of the school in 2017 and 2018, Nxumalo, in an attempt to revive the school, invited me and one Godwin Mutwetwa (my brother) to take over the administration of the school for the approaching year 2019, submitted Mutwetwa.



He alleged that after numerous meetings with Nxumalo, they acceded to her proposal and crafted an action plan on how they intended to resuscitate the school.

According to Mutetwa, this included but not limited to advertising the school, engaging the community in promoting the school, visiting other private schools in search for new ideas and recruiting qualified personnel. He claimed that the costs for the implementation of the action plan were incurred by him.
Venezuela expelled Germany\s ambassador Wednesday, hitting out at international support for opposition leader Juan Guaido as the US stepped up sanctions in a bid to force out his rival President Nicolas Maduro.

Separately, an American journalist was detained by Venezuelan security services for some 12 hours and due to be deported, in an incident condemned by advocacy groups as an attack on free speech.

The foreign ministry gave German envoy Daniel Kriener 48 hours to leave for "interference" in Venezuela\s internal affairs. He had greeted Guaido at Caracas airport on his return to the country on Monday.

Guaido said Kriener\s expulsion will be seen "as a threat to the free world."

Kriener was among more than a dozen foreign representatives to welcome the National Assembly leader  recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries  but so far the only one deemed "persona non grata."

Kriener had helped to try to bring humanitarian aid to the country, Guaido said in a speech to opposition lawmakers, adding: "It seems that the Maduro regime does not forgive anyone who wants to help Venezuela."

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that kicking Kriener out only "aggravates the situation."

Caracas "is sending a message to the international community that such frontal support would have consequences, but it also carries a risk," said Venezuelan analyst Mariano de Alba.

Meanwhile, journalist Cody Weddle, who worked in Venezuela for several years as a correspondent for a variety of US media, "has been released after being detained by Venezuelan authorities," Miami\s WPLG Local 10 News, which he reported for, said on Twitter.

According to Venezuela\s National Union of Press Workers he was picked up at 8:00 am, his work equipment was confiscated, and he was held for over 12 hours before finally being released and sent to Simon Bolivar International Airport to be deported.

The union said it had been in contact with Weddle and he is fine. He has lived in Venezuela since 2014 and worked as a stringer for ABC News, the CBC of Canada, the Miami Herald and The Telegraph in Britain. Weddle is to be deported on Thursday, the union said.

"A journalist who has been in Venezuela for five years, deported for reporting the news," the guild said.

 Sanctions pressure 

Washington continued to tighten the screws on its campaign of sanctions to force Maduro from power, revoking the visas of 77 people linked to the regime, including officials and their families.

"We will continue to hold all of the Maduro regime accountable until democracy and libertad (liberty) are fully restored," US Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech.

The move brings to more than 250 the number of Venezuelans targeted by US visa bans, a State Department official told AFP.

National Security Advisor John Bolton said the US also is putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions if they facilitate "illegitimate transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network."

The US is already trying to cripple Maduro\s access to finances via sanctions on state oil company PDVSA and handing control to Guaido of Venezuelan bank accounts in the United States.

However, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said sanctions have worsened Venezuela\s crippling economic and political crisis, which has forced 2.7 million people to flee since 2015.

"Venezuela clearly illustrates the way violations of civil and political rights - including failure to uphold fundamental freedoms, and the independence of key institutions - can accentuate a decline of economic and social rights," said Bachelet, a former president of Chile.

"This situation has been exacerbated by sanctions," Bachelet said in her annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

 Hero\s welcome 

Guaido, 35, returned home to a hero\s welcome on Monday, having defied a ban on leaving the country to embark on a 10-day tour of South American allies. He remains free despite the threat of arrest by the government.

On Tuesday, a national holiday, he met public sector union leaders.

Maduro, meanwhile, pressed his supporters to hold "anti-imperialist" marches Saturday to counter fresh protests planned by Guaido.

When he returned to Caracas  his latest challenge to Maduro\s authority  Guaido announced to tens of thousands of supporters his plans for new protests on Saturday.

He has vowed to set up a transitional government and hold new elections.

As part of his challenge to Maduro, Guaido is attempting to take control of the state bureaucracy, which he considers to have been "kidnapped" through blackmail and persecution.

Unions from the oil industry, basic services, state banks and local government took part in Tuesday\s meeting, union leader Ana Yanez told AFP.

"The public administration is practically paralyzed. In the town halls, people only go to work three days a week and even then barely half the day," said Yanez.

During his travels, Guaido met Pence and the leaders of Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and Ecuador.

SOURCE: AFP
By Azernews





By Leman Mammadova

BP plans to drill six wells in Azerbaijan within the next two years, BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gary Jones told at a meeting on the results of 2018 and plans 2019, Trend reports.

Gary Jones noted that BP has signed four exploration contracts, and the drilling will be carried out on the basis of these contracts.

He noted that expectations from the block D-230 are high. If the work at this exploration block is successful, BP will discover a field similar to the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field in volume, he said.

Jones stressed that BP exceeded its forecasts in 2018. He noted that the work carried out in Azerbaijan has a special place in the BP portfolio and in terms of volume is similar to the work carried out in Brazil.

Later, Jones added that an investment decision is planned to be made on the Azeri Central East project in the second quarter of 2019.

As noted by Jones, there are initial proposals for the cost, which are presented to shareholders and discussed with the Azerbaijani government and SOCAR.

He noted that discussions on the cost of the project are currently underway, and there is enough time for a decision to be made.

First oil production from the Azeri Central East Project, which is a part of the project for development of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields, will be implemented in 2023.

Azeri Central East Project represents the next stage of development in the ACG Contract Area.

It is expected that the Azeri Central East project will include a residential unit and a platform for extraction and drilling, as well as placing 3 new underwater gas, oil and water lines (along with related underwater infrastructure) between the Central Azeri and East Azeri platforms at a depth of approximately 137 meters, and integrated underwater energy (spare) and telecommunication cables connecting the East Azeri and Azeri Central East platforms.

The contract for developing the ACG field was signed in 1994. On September 14, 2017, a modified and re-developed agreement was signed on joint development and shared distribution of production from the Azeri, Chirag fields and the deepwater part of the Gunashli field (ACG). The new agreement provides for the development of the field until 2050.

The new ACG participating interests are as follows: BP - 30.37 percent; AzACG (SOCAR) - 25 percent; Chevron - 9.57 percent; INPEX - 9.31 percent; Statoil - 7.27 percent; ExxonMobil - 6.79 percent; TP - 5.73 percent; ITOCHU - 3.65 percent; ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) - 2.31 percent.

The AzeriChiragDeepwater Gunashli is a complex of oil fields in the Caspian Sea, about 120 kilometers (75 mi) off the coast of Azerbaijan. It consists of Azeri and Chirag oil fields, and the deepwater portion of the Gunashli oil field. An overall estimated area of the development is 432.4 square kilometers (167.0 sq mi).

It is developed by the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, a consortium of international oil companies, and operated by BP on behalf of the consortium. The ACG fields have estimated recoverable reserves of about 5 to 6 billion barrels (790 to 950 million cubic meters) of petroleum.

BP is one of the world's most renowned oil and gas suppliers and has been managing large projects for exploration, development and transportation of oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan since 1992.

BP and SOCAR have long-term cooperation in the oil and gas industry of Azerbaijan.

BP Azerbaijan is operator of ACG, Shah Deniz, Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula, Shafag-Asiman and Gobustan fields.
By Trend

Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, has sent a congratulatory letter to First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in connection with March 8, the International Womens Day.

Dear Mehriban Arifovna, please accept my sincere congratulations on the occasion of March 8, reads the letter. Women make our world brighter, more beautiful and kinder. They carefully preserve the family hearth, create harmony and comfort at home. Most importantly they always give their emotional warmth to their loved and close ones, surrounding them with care and attention.

May the wonderful mood of this holiday be with you for a long time. I wish you health, happiness, well-being and all the best, Dmitry Medvedev said in his letter.
By Trend





The staff negotiations between the defense ministries of Azerbaijan and the UK have been recently held at the Office of International Military Cooperation, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on March 7.

The current state and promising areas of cooperation in the field of defense between the two countries were considered during the negotiations. The issues of cooperation in the field of training, education and peacekeeping operations were discussed and views on regional security were exchanged.

The negotiations resulted in the signing of the "Plan of military cooperation between the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom for the 2019/2020 fiscal year".
By Trend





The co-chairs of the Russian-Serbian intergovernmental committee on trade, economic and scientific cooperation met in Belgrade on Wednesday to discuss the potential of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, industry and transport, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said, Trend reports referring to TASS.

The meeting between Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, was "held in a narrow format in the run-up to the 17th plenary session of the intergovernmental committee," the ministry said in a statement.

The participants discussed "the opportunities for cooperation in energy, industry, transport and infrastructure" and "the present state of affairs in bilateral relations."

"Both sides expressed their particular satisfaction with the growing economic cooperation and the fact that the trade between Moscow and Belgrade topped $3 billion in 2018," the statement reads.

Prior to the meeting, Borisov said Russian-Serbian relations were "truly strategic by nature."

"Serbia was and will be Russias key trade and economic partner in the Balkan region and Europe. We highly appreciate the dynamics of bilateral dialogue at all levels," the Russian deputy premier said.

He also described Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Serbia on January 17 as a milestone in the development of bilateral relations, and confirmed Russias readiness to implement the agreements reached during the visit.
The Annual General Meeting of Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), set to become the largest smelter in the world, has approved the transfer of BD59.992 million ($159.14 million) to retained earnings.

The AGM and an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) was held today (March 7) at Al Dana Hall, Alba.

The AGM also approved the recommendation on the board of directors total remuneration of BD210,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018, subject to the approval of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.

A proposal to grant the board of directors a bonus of BD210,000 in recognition of their efforts towards the successful and safe commissioning of the Line 6 Expansion Project was postponed until further approvals are received from the concerned authorities.

The minutes of the previous Ordinary General Meeting, which was held on March 7, 2018, was discussed and approved by the meeting.

Alba's board of directors chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa said: 2018 was historic for Alba -- we made history by exceeding the 1-million metric tonnes production mark; we successfully achieved First Hot Metal from Line 6 Expansion Project ahead of schedule on December 13, 2018; and most importantly, we have had the best safety performance in Albas history.

We are also pleased that we have achieved savings of $200 million in Line 6 Expansion Project and we look forward to save some more as we accelerate the successful commissioning of Line 6, he added.

At the extraordinary general meeting, the amendment and restatement of the memorandum and articles of association were approved - in accordance with the amendments to some of the items in the Companies Commercial Law No. 21 for the year 2001, as per the law No. (50) for the year 2014 and law No. (1) for the year 2018.

Furthermore, Albas shareholders approved the addition of new service activities in connection to water transportation, management and operation of ports and private jetties, activities relating to non-specialised medical clinics as well as services relating to manufacturing of other chemical products - factory and manufacturing of non-metallic mineral products  factory, subject to the approval of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.  TradeArabia News Service
Bahrain's value of imports decreased by 10 per cent as it reached BD372 million ($986.8 million) during January of 2019 versus BD412 million ($1.092 billion) for the same month of the previous year.



The top 10 countries accounted for 69 per cent of the imports value and 31 per cent for other countries, said the Foreign Trade Report of January 2019 by the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA), which encompasses balance of trade, imports, exports (national origin) and re-exports.



According to the report, China is ranked top among countries that export to Bahrain with BD54 million ($143.25 million); UAE came second with BD37 million ($98.15 million), whereas Saudi Arabia ranked third with BD34 million ($90.19 million).



Non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top product imported to Bahrain with BD33 million ($87.54 million), while the aluminium oxide came second with BD15 million ($39.79 million). Four-wheel drive cars were the third products with BD13 million ($34.49 million) during January 2019.



The value of exported national origin products from Bahrain decreased by 5 per cent to BD168 million ($445.65 million) during January of 2019, compared to BD176 million ($466.8 million) for the same month of the previous year.



The top 10 countries accounted for 82 per cent of the exported national origin value and 18 per cent for other countries.



Saudi Arabia was ranked as top importer from Bahrain with BD34 million ($90.19 million), UAE came second with BD33 million ($87.54 million), and US ranked third place with BD20 million ($53.05 million).



As for national export products, agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top products exported in January of 2019 with BD22 million ($58.36 million); aluminium wires came second with a value of BD17 million ($45.10 million); and unwrought aluminium alloys ranked third place for exported products with BD12 million ($31.83 million).



In regards to the re-exported field, the value of re-exports increased by 49 per cent as it reached BD58 million ($153.86 million) during January of 2019 versus BD39 million ($103.46 million) for the same month of the previous year.



The top 10 countries account for 88 per cent of the re-exported value and 12 per cent for other countries.



UAE is ranked top among the countries re-exporting from Bahrain with BD17 million ($45.10 million), Saudi Arabia ranked second with BD17 million ($45.10 million), and China came third with BD5 million ($13.26 million).



Agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top products re-exported from Bahrain with BD9 million ($23.87 million), four-wheel drive cars came as second products with BD6 million ($15.92 million) and gold ingots came as the third with BD4 million ($10.61 million).



The trade balance, difference between exports and imports, the value of the deficit of the trade balance reached BD147 million ($389.95 million) during January this year versus BD196 million ($519.93 million) for the same month of the previous year with a decrease of 25 per cent.  TradeArabia News Service
Leading hotel company Deutsche Hospitality is giving its luxury brand Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts a complete relaunch.

"At Steigenberger, we can look back on a unique success story of almost 90 years," said Thomas Willms, CEO Steigenberger Hotels AG and Deutsche Hospitality, at the press conference on the occasion of the ITB Berlin 2019. "Now is the time to further develop Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts with innovation, new content and a trend-setting design, while reloading our famous values  Passion, Perfection, Tradition, Visionary and Caring  and making them even more popular on an international level."



"Evolution Steigenberger" is the name of the future trend, which comprises core elements such as welcome managers in the hotels, pop-up museums and in-house fashion events, involving the local culture and music scene, new logo, visual language and innovative design as well as quite extensive renovations. In addition, Steigenberger is opening up to strategic partners for the first time in order to offer guests added value: for instance, the Steigenberger Limousine Service "powered by Sixt" will also be available with a personal chauffeur exclusively for Steigenberger guests. The installation of coffee manufactories in the lobby, the advancement of the famous Steigenberger breakfast and a multitude of new digital touchpoints such as the Steigenberger tablet are the prelude to the Evolution Steigenberger, which was developed together with the guests and employees of Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts.



Expansion by 15 per cent per year

"With the Evolution Steigenberger, we are laying the founding stone for the further growth of the brand," said CEO Thomas Willms. "We want to evolve with the existing hotels and this year, together with our partners, invest over 120 million ($135.6 million) in the hotels in Frankfurt, Hamburg, at Petersberg, Baden-Baden, Brussels, Vienna, Dresden and many other cities. At the same time, we will continue to grow internationally and will be represented at locations like Bangkok and Snderborg, Denmark as well as with another hotel in Cairo."



Deutsche Hospitality is aiming for an annual growth of 15 per cent. Currently, more than 30 hotel openings are in preparation until 2021, including Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts in Denmark, India and Thailand. The strategic focus of Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts' expansion is on the Middle East and Europe, for example in the Mediterranean region, and on Eastern Europe.



With a global brand strategy "Made in Germany" and worldwide growth, Deutsche Hospitality is investing millions in the makeover of the Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts brand. This is the largest investment in the history of the Steigenberger brand.

The first hotel with the new "look & feel" will be the Steigenberger Hotel Hamburg, which is currently undergoing a complete renovation: a new rooftop bar is added, and all rooms and the lobby are completely redesigned. The next upgrades are scheduled for Vienna, Amsterdam, Bonn-Petersberg, Brussels, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Kiel, Berlin, Cologne and Dresden.



A brand-new advertising campaign with accompanying innovations will roll out the relaunch as "Evolution Steigenberger" over the year.



Deutsche Hospitality brings together five separate hotel brands under a single umbrella. Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts has 60 hotels housed in historic traditional buildings and lively city residences and also offers health and beauty oases set at the very heart of nature. MAXX by Steigenberger is a new and charismatic concept which places the focus on the essential in accordance with its motto "MAXXimize your stay". Jaz in the City branded hotels reflect metropolitan lifestyle and draw upon the local music and cultural scene. IntercityHotel offers more 40 upper mid-range urban hotels, all of which are located within easy walking distance of railway stations or airports. And Zleep Hotels  a well-known and successful hotel brand in Scandinavia which offers service and design at a great rate for the many. The portfolio of Deutsche Hospitality currently includes almost 150 hotels on three continents, 30 of which are in the pipeline. - TradeArabia News Service
In 2018, Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority's representative offices attracted close to 140,000 visitors to the kingdom, who contributed BD35 million ($92.2 million) to the national economy through tourism spending, it was revealed.

Shaikh Khaled bin Humood Al Khalifa, chief executive officer of BTEA, said that the offices aim to further develop the tourism sector and contribute to diversifying non-oil sectors of the national economy, also achieving the 2030 Economic Vision.



The most notable results of BTEAs representative offices over the last year are summarised as follows:



 The total number of inbound tourists from Russias office was 7,719 visitors who spent BD4,055,253 ($10.6 million), and the Russian office coordinated with a leading travel agency in Europe, Coral Travel, to operate charter flights carrying over 5,000 visitors to Bahrain. Additionally, the number of Russian travel agencies that organise regular trips to Bahrain has risen to reach 65 agencies compared to only 15 prior to the opening of the representative office.



 Tourists coming to Bahrain through the UK representative office were 9,831 and spent BD5,164,814 ($13.6 million). The representative office succeeded in establishing partnerships with 10 of the most prominent agencies in the UK market including Expedia, Sothall Travel, Travelbag, Lastminute.com among others. All of these offices have managed to increase the number of travellers to Bahrain in 2018.



 Also, the total number of tourists from India reached 3,697 and their spending amounted to BD1,255,833 ($3.3 million). BTEA continues to steer its efforts towards making Bahrain a prime destination for weddings, as the kingdom witnessed a notable increase in Indian Weddings held in Bahrain following the inauguration of the representative office. BTEA strives to attract more tourists who want to host their wedding ceremonies in Bahrain.



 The Saudi Representative Office attracted 115,875 tourists whose combined spending total reached BD23,360,400 (61.6 million). Saudi Arabia is considered one of the largest tourism markets. BTEA managed to collaborate with 150 Saudi travel agencies, as visitors from Saudi Arabia comprise a huge portion of tourists in Bahrain and they include business and project owners whose businesses support the local GDP.



BTEA recently opened its representative office in Kuwait with an aim to establish partnerships and business relationships to develop the tourism sector in both counties and increase the number of visitors from Kuwait to explore what the kingdom has to offer.



BTEA will continue to work under its Bahrain. Ours. Yours. strategy to expand its reach and open more representative offices around the world to achieve its plans to promote Bahrains tourism sector and make a achieve a qualitative shift and make a sustainable growth in the national economy. - TradeArabia News Service
ETFs Thrive in Europe Amid Volatility

Allocations to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by institutions currently investing in them increased by 50% in 2018, totaling 15% of total assets among the 127 institutional ETF investors participating in the Greenwich Associates 2018 European Exchange-Traded Funds Study.

Growth was driven in large part by three key trends:

ETFs Thrive in Volatility: European institutions in 2018 were repositioning their portfolios for a turbulent investment environment centered on possible ECB rate hikes and a host of geopolitical risks. The implementation of these changes increased demand for ETFs. Institutions say ETFs speed of execution, single-trade diversification and liquidity make them versatile tools for portfolio construction.

Index Revolution: European institutions in search of low-cost beta continued shifting assets from active management to index strategies last year. This shift increased asset flows into ETFs, the preferred vehicle for index exposures for 84% of study participants. This trend will likely continue in 2019, since institutions allocations to index strategies still fall well short of what they consider optimal levels.

ESG is Key: European institutions are integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards into their investment process, and many of these investors are using ETFs as their vehicle of choice for ESG exposures. Forty-four percent of study participants overall and half the investment managers are using ETFs as a main vehicle to address ESG. Almost half the investors in the study expect to have more than 50% of their total assets managed with ESG criteria within the next five years.

Our data suggests that last years robust growth in ETF investments by European institutions occurred not in spite of the turbulent conditions, but because of them, says Greenwich Associates Managing Director Andrew McCollum author of In Turbulent Times, European

Institutions Turn to ETFs.

Institutions are utilizing ETFs as both tactical tools and as a strategic, longer-term staple in the portfolio. In fixed income, ETF allocations doubled to 20% of total assets among institutional ETF investors, as did allocations to equity ETFs, which increased to approximately 28% of assets from 14% in 2017.

Meanwhile, smart beta strategies remain a steady driver of ETF growth and demand. Two-thirds of study participants overall and nearly three-quarters of discretionary wealth managers invest in factor-based or smart beta ETFs. More than a third expect to increase allocations in the next 12 months and almost half of respondents planning to increase smart beta ETF allocations expect to boost these levels by 10% or more.

Greenwich Associates is projecting continued growth in institutional ETF investment in 2019, with nearly 40% of existing ETF investors participating in the study planning to increase their ETF allocations in the coming 12 months.

In a year that saw the return of broad market volatility, investors turned to ETFs to capture alpha, manage risk, invest sustainably, and tap liquidity in tighter financial conditions, says Brett Pybus, Head of iShares EMEA Investment and Product Strategy team at BlackRock, the sponsor of the research. Looking forward, a revolution in the way portfolios are built in Europe will feed the momentum in ETF adoption weve seen in recent years. Investor sensitivity to cost, transformative regulation, the modernization of the fixed-income ecosystem and greater access to data and analysis tools are all setting the stage for future growth.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:
Low Volatility Drives Feb U.S. Gov Bonds Growth to $83.9B ADV or +3.7% YOY

Tradeweb has published its February 2019 Monthly Activity Report, which captures trading activity in fixed income, derivatives and ETF markets.

This months report calls out new records in average daily trading volume (ADV) in U.S. Treasuries, U.S. Investment-Grade Credit, and European ETFs, despite a notable decline in market volatility.

Key trends for the month include:

Volumes Surge 6.5% Year-Over-Year: Average daily volume (ADV) for Tradeweb Markets was $601.6 billion across rates, credit, money markets and equities during the month of February, an increase of 6.5% year-over-year.

Record Volume in U.S. Treasuries Despite Low Volatility: U.S. Government Bonds saw an ADV of $83.9 billion in February, an increase 3.7% year-over-year, which set a new monthly record for total Treasury trading volume. Over the course of February, the monthly range of closes for the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond was around 9.2 basis points, the tightest range on record since 2006. ADV in European Government Bonds was up 13.7% year-over-year. Similar to the U.S., German 10-year Bunds were range-bound in February, moving within a range of just 9 basis points over the course of the month.

Record Volume in U.S. Investment-Grade Credit and European ETFs: Record volumes were also logged in U.S. High-Grade Credit, which saw ADV of $2.9 billion, and European ETFs, which saw ADV of $1.7 billion. ADV for U.S. High-Grade Credit was up 75.4% year-over-year, and represented 11.5% of total, industry-wide TRACE volume. ADV for European ETFs was up 15.4% year-over-year.

Chinese Bond Volume Inches Closer to Billion Dollar Mark: ADV of $957 million in Chinese bonds represented an increase of 183.5% year-over-year.

Repo Volume Surges on Bilateral Trading Growth: ADV of $167.8 billion in repurchase agreements (Repo) trading volume was driven by growth in bilateral electronic trading on the Tradeweb platform.

The full Tradeweb Monthly Activity Report for February 2019 is available here: https://www.tradeweb.com/market_activity_reports/

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:
New York, 7 March 2019  The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today appointed Emmy-nominated television personality, award-winning author and internationally acclaimed food expert Padma Lakshmi as its newest Goodwill Ambassador. In this new role, Lakshmi will mobilize support for the Sustainable Development Goals with a focus on fighting inequality, discrimination and empowering the disenfranchised.

As we celebrate International Womens Day tomorrow, lets remember that women and girls face some of the worst discrimination and hardships in the world, Lakshmi said at a press conference held at UNDP headquarters in New York. My main mission as UNDP Goodwill Ambassador will be to shine a spotlight on the fact that inequality can affect people in rich and poor countries alike.

Many nations have greatly reduced poverty, but inequality has proved more stubborn, she said. Inequality is further compounded by gender, age, ethnicity and race. It especially affects women, minorities and others who face unimaginable discrimination in the societies in which they live.

Lakshmi added: Fighting inequality is at the heart of UNDPs mission. I look forward to joining forces with UNDP to help bring about a future in which every person, regardless of their income, their gender or place of birth, is empowered to live the life they want.

Lakshmi was named UNDPs latest Goodwill Ambassador in a ceremony today at UNDP headquarters in New York. She was appointed by UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

We are very grateful to welcome Padma Lakshmi to our global UNDP family and for her to join our fight against inequality around the world, said Achim Steiner.

Padma has a strong record of speaking out for those who have been left behind and of fighting discrimination. We need more voices like hers to ensure we can meet the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals  our shared roadmap for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, he added.



Lakshmi is best known for starring as a judge and host, as well as executive producer, of Bravo Televisions Emmy award-winning series Top Chef. She is also a New York Times bestselling author, the co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America, a Visiting Scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an ambassador for the American Civil Liberties Union advocating for immigrants rights.

She is joining a roster of UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, which includes globally celebrated actors, athletes, musicians and other high-profile influencers. For the full list of UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, click here.



Contact Information: Adam Cathro, Communications Specialist, UNDP, +1 212 906 5326, adam.cathro@undp.org.
Welcome to followthemedia.com The article or material you have chosen... ...is available for restricted access. You may access this specific article or material for 4 If you are an ftm Member, please go to the home page HERE and log in ftm Members can access all site material at no additional charge. You can JOIN ftm here The ftm newsletter available at no charge to all with registration To register click here.
UTSA students and community members come together to perform in Los Paisanos Mariachi Ensemble.

(March 7, 2019) -- The tradition of mariachi is thriving at UTSA, a Hispanic Serving Institution in the nations seventh largest city.

Los Paisanos Mariachi Ensemble rehearses and performs the festive musical repertoire of the Mexican folk mariachi tradition and have added new renditions this semester. The ensemble has invited community members to join as well.

Michael Acevedo, the ensembles director, said there are 22 UTSA students and five community members participating this semester. Acevedo, a McAllen native, has been arranging and composing music for more than 15 years and has performed with various mariachi groups across Texas. In addition to working with students at UTSA, he directs a mariachi program at a middle school in the Northside Independent School District.

Violin, guitar, vihuela, guitarron, harp, trumpet, guitarra de golpe and vocalists all make up the energetic sounds of this mariachi ensemble.

Leon Camacho, a UTSA music marketing major, plays guitar and sings. The senior said he was born in Mexico and moved to the United States when he was young and performing in this ensemble helps him connect with his culture.

Many of the students in the mariachi ensemble come from a similar background as me and sharing the same experience with them makes it extra special, explained Camacho. I love wearing our 'trajes' when we perform. Not only do we get to play a piece of our culture, we get to wear it as well.

Camacho and Stan Renard, UTSA Music Marketing Coordinator, came up with the idea to have community members get involved in the ensemble. The two worked with the ensembles director to get the word out on social media and through their connections in the community.

My hope is the community members bring with them experience and knowledge about mariachi and pass it along to the students, said Acevedo. My hope for the community members is that they have an outlet to perform without all the commitment of being a professional mariachi, like gigs on the weekends.

There is a fee for community members, 18 years of age or older, to join the ensemble and those funds are used to keep the group running strong. The ensemble rehearses on Thursday evenings and will take the stage during a recital on Tuesday, April 30 at 6 p.m. in the Buena Vista Theater at the Downtown Campus. The community is invited to attend this free performance.

Im proud to represent my school and my heritage when we perform, said Camacho.
The Peoples Supper at UW March 13

The University of Wyomings Service, Leadership and Community Engagement (SLCE) program and the Good Mule Project will host The Peoples Supper Wednesday, March 13.

The dinner, free and open to the UW community, will take place at 6 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Family Room.

The dinner brings individuals together who have differing political and ideological viewpoints for friendly conversation over a shared meal, according to the events organizers. At the dinner, attendees are encouraged to share stories and personal experiences in an effort to better understand different perspectives across campus.

It is meant to provide an opportunity to move past arguments and focus on listening to each other, says Caroline Lukens, SLCE marketing coordinator.

For more information about SLCE, visit www.uwyo.edu/union/slce, like SLCE on Facebook, or follow SLCE on Twitter and Instagram.
UW Spring Faculty and Staff Town Hall Thursday

Members of the University of Wyoming community will receive updates on the 2019 Wyoming legislative session and a number of other topics during the Spring Faculty and Staff Town Hall Thursday, March 7, from 1:20-2:35 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Ballroom.

The town hall will be broadcast via WyoCast at https://wyocast.uwyo.edu/WyoCast/Play/f50c10a9c9b046fea1ce0c2a532054541d and Zoom at https://uwyo.zoom.us/j/666793742.

President Laurie Nichols will lead the legislative report. Other presentations will include updates on UW residence hall planning, the process and timeline; the campus master planning process; the Strategic Improvement Working Group, which is an outgrowth of the Great Colleges to Work For survey in 2018; and the universitys data governance committee.

At the end of the presentations, there will be a time for questions from the campus community.

Faculty, staff, students and others are invited and encouraged to attend the town hall. The president has authorized 90 minutes of release time for employees to attend. The scheduling of release time should be a collaborative discussion between employee and supervisor to ensure the effective and efficient operation of the unit.
Memphis Police Chief Dan Kolke recently resigned after just 17 months on the job, and he admits the decision was not easy.

The citizens of Memphis have been very supportive  from the schools to the businesses, theyve all been great, Kolke said. And working with the city council has been great, too. Theres nothing bad at all here related to my leaving. I will miss it.

Kolke, 53, a former lieutenant with the Fraser Department of Public Safety, spent 26 years there before retiring in January 2016. He was hired in Memphis in October 2017.

He recently accepted a position as the director of public safety operations in River Rouge.

I was not applying at all, not anywhere; they contacted me, Kolke said. And money was part of the reason I took it. Isnt that the reason all of us work? But I also want the new challenge of helping a city move forward with their department.

Memphis Mayor Eric Schneider was surprised by Kolkes decision, noting things were going great at the department under his direction.

He absolutely did a great job for us, but Im sure its a good move for him, Schneider said. Whoever steps into the job now wont have to worry about the budget because hes got next years already done for the police department.

Memphis City Council member Larry Wilson said he is disappointed to see Kolke go, adding that he has done a fantastic job dealing with the police department budget and keeping things on track. The department operates on a $180,000 budget, which makes up a quarter of the citys total fiscal budget each year.

Council member Roberta Zukas said she is also sorry to see the chief go.

Hes done a great job, Zukas said. Hes leaving the department in good shape for the next chief,

Wilson said the Memphis City Charter states the city must have a police chief despite its small stature. Taking the time and expense to redo the charter and then hire law enforcement services from an outside agency would simply be too costly.

Community will miss Kolke

The news that Kolke is leaving the city was met with disappointment from members of the community who interact with him regularly.

Memphis Community Schools Superintendent Brad Gudme said Kolke was a huge supporter of the schools and stopped in often to offer assistance.

When the district saw a longtime school liaison officer retire last spring, Kolke stepped up and was not only diligent in his determination to fill the spot but also spent more time at the school until the replacement was found.

Hes just been outstanding; always here to help us out, Gudme said, agreeing Kolkes departure is a loss to the community.

Boomers Tavern owner Mike Manchik was surprised to hear the city would be changing chiefs again, noting many people had just gotten comfortable with things running so smoothly.

Hes just a very nice guy, Manchik said. He understood that small town mentality and just did his job. Hes one of the best chiefs weve had here since I opened my business 12 years ago.

The officers working for Kolke were heavily influenced by his great attitude and it showed in their interactions with the community, Manchik said.

Hes always waved anytime he was driving by my place, he said. Were going to miss him big time.

Tammy Wehrum, the owner of Doghouse Tavern on Main Street, said she had a really good relationship with the chief and that he stopped in her place regularly.

He always talked with me, and if there were any issues, he followed up with them, Wehrum said. And like (former Police Chief Kevin Cal Lauria) kind of started, he said his officers were not there to stalk my business. We were all there to work as a team.

Police a full-fledged department

There have been lots of improvements at the police department during Kolkes short tenure. He wrote a new standard operating procedure manual, which the city did not have, placed body cameras on every officer and had all officers certified with handguns and patrol rifles.

Kolke also purchased eight new vests for each officer in the department. A portion of the funding for the vest was made possible by a grant that he secured from the Department of Justice.

I think its better than what it was when I came in, Kolke said. Cal had started the process, and all the department really needed was someone to come in and do some things. They had the money for it, but things were just not getting done.

After agreeing to assist the city in securing his replacement, Kolke said the city should hire someone with boss experience, be it a sergeant or lieutenant or chief of a small department.

Its a tiny department; theres not a lot of crime here, so they just need someone with common sense and some experience, Kolke said. They need management experience and to be able to deal with people.

He also noted that the officers on staff currently are all there because they care, not because of the money.

Leadership of the Memphis Police Department has changed hands many times in recent years.

Former Chief Jessica Beels Kovecks employment was terminated in July 2014. Officer Scott Sheets was sworn in as chief in October 2014, but was demoted back to part-time status in June 2015. That summer, the Macomb County Sheriffs Office took over running the department, and retired police Lt. Kevin Sommers was sworn in as chief.

The sudden death of Sommers on Jan. 1, 2016, prompted the St. Clair and Macomb county sheriffs offices to step in before the city council voted to close the department.

The station was reopened when Lauria was hired in June 2016 and he resigned after 14 months.

The city has placed advertisements seeking a new chief on the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police websites.

Schneider said the city has received a handful of qualified applicants, and he is confident the city will have a new chief within weeks.

Barb Pert Templeton is a freelance reporter. She can be contacted at barbperttempleton.reporter@yahoo.com.
At the invitation of the Chairman of the State Customs Committee, Mr. Murotjon Azimov, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya visited Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 6 and 7 March 2019 to deliberate on further cooperation with Uzbek Customs.

Dr. Mikuriya went to Customs Headquarters for a meeting with Chairman Azimov and his management team to discuss the recent progress made with Customs reform, including the introduction of an automated risk management system. Customs officers recognized for their professionalism in Customs and their contribution to society were then awarded WCO certificates. Visits to both the Customs Museum and Laboratory were also organized on this occasion.

Secretary General Mikuriya met with Uzbekistans Prime Minister, Mr. Abdulla Aripov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Jamshid Kuchkarov, and Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Mr. Badriddin Abidov, to consider the way forward in terms of cooperation between the WCO and Uzbekistan.

Prime Minister Aripov described his concept of economic reform as being based on an open-door policy, expressed his appreciation for the WCOs assistance with Customs reform and shared his vision of establishing modern Customs checkpoints, given his countrys strategic location and the importance of transit for landlocked countries. Dr. Mikuriya welcomed the Uzbek Governments political support for the use of WCO instruments and tools as well as its focus on human resource development and utilization of technology. Both parties agreed on the importance of enhancing cooperation to ensure trade connectivity among the different countries of Central Asia.

Dr. Mikuriya subsequently visited the Highway Logistics Center located on the outskirts of Tashkent, where Customs has introduced a paperless system to clear goods originating from various countries, including China, Turkey, Gulf countries and Europe. Other official state services are also available at the Center.

Finally, Dr. Mikuriya delivered a keynote speech at the Customs Institute in Tashkent, during which he stressed the importance of human resource development as a key component in preparing the future of Customs. He engaged with the Institutes students through a question and answer session and shared his comments on a research paper presented by the students.
1 March 2019 witnessed the start of the execution of a Pilot Project to test the development under Phase 2 of the Unified File Format Development Programme.

Since 2016 the World Customs Organization (WCO) is leading an initiative to develop a standard Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) data format, codenamed the Unified File Format (UFF). Once universally deployed, the UFF will significantly facilitate the interoperability of NII equipment provided by different manufacturers, as well as the exchange of images in a unified file format within and between Customs administrations for Customs purposes. The UFF will be instrumental for the development of databases or libraries of images and will assist in training of image analysts.

The UFF initiative is steered by the WCO Technical Experts Group on NII (TEG-NII). The development work is carried out primarily by a UFF Development Team comprising experts from four NII vendors (L3, Nuctech, Rapiscan Systems AS&E and Smiths Detection), supported by the Customs Co-Chairperson of the TEG-NII and the WCO Secretariat.

The UFF Development Programme is being implemented in three phases. Following the successful proof of concept during Phase 1, Phase 2 started in October 2016. The main objectives of Phase 2 are to launch and execute the architecture of the UFF and test and evaluate the Phase 2 architecture.

The development of the UFF 2.0 architecture, as well as the respective UFF converters and viewers, was completed in September 2018. An initial test of the UFF Phase 2 development was done through a pre-pilot with Dutch Customs that was successfully implemented in the period 11 September  19 October 2018.

Following the Dutch Customs pre-pilot, the UFF development team selected six WCO Member Customs administrations to test the UFF 2.0 architecture and the respective UFF converters and viewers developed by the participating vendors. The six administrations representing four of the WCO regions were selected from a pool of volunteering Members that had earlier expressed their willingness to be part of the UFF 2.0 Pilot.

As of 1 March 2019 Smiths Detection is executing UFF 2.0 testing activities with the Customs administrations of Belgium and Bulgaria and Nuctech will also engage with these two Members. Rapiscan Systems AS&E and L3 are working with the Customs and Border Protection of the United States and the Customs Administration of Colombia. Final arrangements still need to be made with Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia to have the testing done with native images generated by high-energy X-ray systems produced by Rapiscan and Nuctech (for Hong Kong) and by Rapiscan and L3 (for Saudi Arabia).
Check concentrate feeder accuracy

WITH the cost of dairy cow concentrates rising farmers have been urged to check the accuracy of their feeders to ensure they are not overfeeding, or indeed underfeeding, their livestock.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 06, 2019 | 09:06 PM | PADUCAH

Bevin explained that the School Safety Bill was well done, and will be funded next year, as this year is not a budget year.



He talked about the Concealed Carry Bill, in that basically it means that anyone wanting to exercise their Second Amendment right, will no longer have to pay the state in order to do so. He still encourages proper training, and says most people will get the needed training.





The Private School Tax Break Bill was discussed, and Bevin said he does not understand why the KEA, and other teacher's unions, are threatened by it. He said that competition is good for all, and if they truly believe they are the best, and in many cases they are, this should not be a problem for them.





The Governor also talked about the Organ Donor Bill, which makes it easier for people to be organ donors in Kentucky, and he said, "will save thousands and thousands of lives".





He has already signed the Organ Donor Bill, and indicated that he will be signing the other three.





In discussing his recent visit to Smithland, Bevin said he went to encourage National Guard troops that were working to keep floodwaters from overtaking the town. During his visit, he observed a group of non-violent offenders, being supervised, that were also helping with the effort, as well as others that were volunteering. He mentioned the local Souls Harbor Church that was serving meals and open for the volunteers to obtain needed rest and refreshment. Bevin said he was amazed at the dedication, especially that of the offenders, that worked so hard, day and night, to save Smithland.





He said this is an example of what good, caring people live in Kentucky, and he feels blessed to be the Governor at such a time as this.



Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, speaking on the Greg Dunker show earlier this week, spoke about new bills in the current Legislative session, and also his recent visit to Smithland.
Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required.

Your Full Name: (optional)

Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required.
Hugs Project needs help to send Christmas packages to troops
A mother breastfeeds at a lactation room of a mall in Beijing, capital of China, July 24, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

A research center dedicated to epidemiology with a focus on the physiology of breastfeeding and the long-term health of mothers and children was established in Shanghai on Wednesday.

The Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Shanghai Breastfeeding Research Center, the first of its kind in China, was co-founded by the Fudan and Tongji universities in Shanghai and the Family Larsson Rosenquist Foundation in Switzerland.

"This center will serve as a communications platform for scientists committed to breastfeeding as well as maternal and children health research, promoting multidisciplinary, comprehensive and international cooperation and exchanges," said Zheng Jialin, dean of the school of medicine at Tongji University.

Associated with the Children's Hospital of Fudan University and the Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, the research center will host four endowed professorships with a focus on research related to epidemiology and lactation. Researchers will conduct studies that have the potential to generate significant global impact and work with other members of the FLRF breast milk research network from around the world.

The foundation will endow a total of CHF 11 million ($11 million) to the new center and its professorships.

"We have found a fertile environment focused on excellence in basic research where, together with these leaders in science, we can advance the global epidemiological understanding of human lactation," said Goran Larsson, chairman of the board of Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation.

Mother and childcare services have been greatly improved in China since the reform and opening up 41 years ago, said Wu Jinglei, director of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

In Shanghai, for example, the maternal mortality rate for Shanghai residents dropped from 3.01 per 100,000 people in 2017 to 1.15 per 100,000 people last year. Meanwhile, the infant mortality rate decreased to 3.52 per thousand people.

"Breastfeeding is a key factor to improving the health of children and mothers," Wu added.

Huang Guoying, president of Children's Hospital of Fudan University, agreed.

"Breast milk is the best foods for infants. For premature infants and newborns with low birth weight, infection and intestinal diseases, breast milk is also a medicine," he said.

According to Huang, many studies have shown that breast milk contains a large amount of antibodies, bioactive ingredients and living cells to help babies fight infection. Breast milk can also help improve the functionality of brains, organs and vision, and improve digestion and immunity. It can also effectively reduce the incidence of some diseases, such as necrotizing enterocolitis and infection.

In line with the goals of China's Child Development Program (2011-2020), the country has been developing maternal and child health services, raising the awareness of breastfeeding throughout the nation, and constructing breast milk banks, said Wang Kerang, director of the children's health division at the National Health Commission.

However, Wang pointed out there are still challenges concerning aspects such as breastfeeding facilities in the workplace and public areas, maternity leave policies and breastfeeding knowledge.

"We will work with relevant departments to develop breastfeeding-related policies, and promote the construction of breast milk banks and breastfeeding consulting platforms in the future," he added.
Zheng Fengxian is a worker and her husband Xu Mingtong is an electrician. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Eighteen female migrant workers donned period costumes and visited the photo studio with their husbands as part of a company event to celebrate the upcoming International Women's Day on March 8.

Organized by the East China branch of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co, the event gathered couples working across the company's different departments, including electricians, cooks, crane drivers and construction laborers. Most of them have never been to a photo studio to have their portraits taken before.

"We didn't take wedding photos when we tied the knot because of financial problems," said Zheng Fengxian, a worker from the company. "After having a child, I had to take care of the family and work. We had no time or energy for such activities," she added.

Dong Zhanli, another female worker, said that being able to have her portrait taken was a beautiful moment in her life.
Guidance set to be adopted for town centre conservation area  council and private sector need to play their part

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 7th, 2019

A plan that aims to help preserve the towns history and safeguard the special character and appearance of the conservation area is set to be adopted next week.

In early February we detailed the draft Conservation Area Character Assessment and Management Plan, which outlines guidance on how future development and works in the towns conservation area can take place.

The document also provides a framework for decision-makers to ensure that through these works, the special character and appearance of the Conservation Area is preserved and enhanced.

Wrexham Town Centre Conservation Area was first designated in March 1974 and subsequently extended in August 1975, June 1985 and most recently in April 2007.

It covers a large chunk of the town centre including the Butchers and General Markets, St Giles Church and large parts of the High Street, Hope Street and Regent Street.

After a public consultation and request for comment from the planning committee amongst other stakeholders, next week the document will go before executive board members for a rubber stamp and formal adoption.

This stage also gives an insight to the consultation feedback, including 52 comments from private individuals, voluntary groups and Welsh Government departments.

Feedback from the Heritage Lottery suggested that the plan includes a section on enforcement powers under conservation area controls.

The proposal was one of the few actual changes to the draft document made the final edit, with the following now included:

Enforcement Powers: Wrexham County Borough Council has an adopted enforcement policy in order to deal with breaches of planning regulations quickly and effectively.

Where a breach of Planning Control has been identified, the Local Planning Authority will, in the first instance, seek to remedy the breach through negotiation with the parties involved.

Where negotiations prove unsuccessful, various powers are available to the Local Planning Authority in dealing with unauthorised works within the Conservation Area, including:

 Temporary Stop Notices

 Enforcement Warning Notice

 Planning Enforcement Notices

 Listed Building Enforcement Notices

 Section 215 Notices

In Februarys draft we quoted the report as saying: The former Burtons at the junction of Hope Street and High Street is particularly detrimental in key views to and from the Church.

The document added that: The current condition with boarded up windows is visually poor and interim measures could be taken to improve this situation.

Although we had not seen the changes and final document we were aware the report was coming up before the executive board and had read the draft, and was struck by the overall theme of improving the appearance of the town centre.

At this weeks council media brief we noted the campaign by then Member of Parliament candidate now Executive Board member Andrew Atkinsons campaign in 2015 to encourage Wrexham Council to use their powers under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act to hold landlords to account and get improvements done.

The photo-op at the time included two other now-executive board members, councillors Phil Wynn and Bill Baldwin.

With Section 215 notices now included after the Heritage Lottery feedback, looking at the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Section 215 Best Practice Guidance UK Government document it reads: One benefit of the successful use of s215 notices is the ripple effect it generates, especially in residential areas.

LPAs (local planning authorities) have reported that often once a notice has been issued and work begun, work on neighbouring properties has also commenced, resulting in improved standards and conditions over a wide area even adding the mere threat of a s215 notice elicits a similar response.

In a detailed explainer it states: If an LPA combats them with comprehensive remedial action, people will feel better about the area, whether they are residents, businesses or tourists.

There is an important economic issue in favour of comprehensive s215 action: if a town is presentable, people will want to visit or live there, and businesses will want to locate there.

Such action appears legally straightforward (Very few s215 notices are actually appealed and of those that are only a small proportion are upheld) and costs could be recovered either directly, or via registering a charge on the property with the Land Registry, thus assuring full cost recovery plus base-rate interest.

We took our opportunity at the monthly Media Brief to ask Wrexham Council Chief Executive Ian Bancroft and Council Leader Mark Pritchard about the progress of using such notice.

Chief Executive Ian Bancroft told us: It is something we are still considering, it needs careful handling if we are to look at a scheme like that. It is something we are considering and we will be coming back on it at some stage.

We also highlighted the regular congregation of bins near to a vista of Grade 1 listed wonder of Wales St Giles Parish Church as pictured at the top of this article, which is also across the road from a recent sizeable investment into Wrexham town centre by the team behind the Fat Boar, and asked if Wrexham Council could do more to improve the situation in the conservation area.

Mr Bancroft added: One of the points about bringing the Town Centre Conservation Plan is to say what are the things we can do to make sure the town centre is kept in line with the conservation plan as it needs to be? That is one of the points of bringing the plan forward.

What within our current remit and powers can we work with other stakeholders to make sure the town centre is as attractive as possible, in line with the principles we should have in a conservation area.

It also brings us on to the recent debate on the town centre and its masterplanning, and there is a feeling that over the next twelve months we should be revisiting the masterplan.

Cllr Pritchard added: We have to play our own part, but also the private sector does too.

We enquired if there were any significant changes planned for the revisited masterplan, which itself is a relatively recent large piece of work. Cllr Pritchard replied that he did not expect any major changes but would see what would come forward in the future, with Mr Bancroft adding that the basis would not be changing but the document needed to be kept up to date and needed a refresh.

In the Conservation Area Character Assessment and Management Plan report before councillors on Tuesday some other feedback summaries are noted, with Mr Geoff Foy stating poor quality and inappropriate signage remains an issue. There are particularly bad examples on Charles Street.

Cadw welcomed the report but said: One of the issues flagged up is that the story of the town needs to be better told and interpreted, and that more research is needed. We would be very supportive of that, particularly if it could involve local participation.

Mr Paul Whitham from St Giles Parish Church commented on the current state of the lighting in Church Street together with the lighting for the footpaths around the outside of the churchyard  along College Street, Temple Row and along the path overlooking Yorke Street adding: There is no doubt that the current lighting in the areas mentioned above is inadequate for current standards, and expectations as well.

Indeed, along College Street and Temple Row etc, described in the report as secluded and intimate, they can be positively threatening and intimidating.

If there is planned to be an increase in footfall in these areas, then there is no doubt that the lighting must be improved with more lamps on buildings and/or additional lamp columns, as deemed appropriate.

Various other general unattributed public comments are noted which are out of scope of the document, however show people took part with a general view of the town itself:

 Eagles Meadow shopping centre is the worst example of development within Wrexham followed by the exterior of Ty Pawb.

 Although outside the Conservation Area, feel strongly about the preservation of the Grove Park Girls Grammar School

 Reduce the amount of charity shops, betting shops, tattoo parlours

 The town planners have ruined the face of old Wrexham with their lack of foresight and imagination.

 Wrexham is now in 2 parts, the old and the new Eagles Meadow. This has caused its demise and taken away the essence of Wrexham.

 The plan is divorced from everything that is being said about a lack of money for basic services

 WCBC should consider reducing business tax to assist with the regeneration of the town centre.

 Many wonderful old buildings have been destroyed leaving Wrexham non-entity of the town.

One ruby in the off topic comment dust noted that the report is a major project to restore Wrexham to its former glory.



(Click for large)
Hospice hunts for people with Inca Trail trek on their bucket list for landmark fundraiser

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 7th, 2019

Nightingale House Hospice is preparing for its third overseas fundraising challenge which will take place in November 2020, trekking the Inca trail in Peru to the lost city of Machu Picchu.

It will follow on from the hospices Great Wall of China Trek in 2018 and the Vietnam to Cambodia cycle ride coming up in November 2019.

The Great Wall of China Trek raised a staggering 93,000 towards patient care at the hospice.

The ten day Inca Trail adventure will involve a 52k trek starting at the Inca Capital of Cusco  a fascinating city full of colonial charm, hidden deep in the Andes Mountain, kick starting a journey to one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, regarded as the worlds most important archaeological find.

Debbie Barton from Nightingale House said: We had a great response to both our China and Vietnam to Cambodia challenges so we are all very excited to announce this one for 2020, the 25th anniversary year for Nightingale House Hospice. The Inca Trail is on many peoples bucket list and it is all set to be an incredible experience.

There are many trails throughout Peru, but only the original and glorious Inca Trail leads trekkers along gushing rivers, through ancient tunnels and over high mountain passes to the Sun Gate. The sight of Machu Picchu appearing through the morning mist is one our trekkers will never forget.

Early interest is high so we urge anyone interested to get in touch as soon as they can.

A no obligation Information Evening will be held next week on Tuesday 12th March starting at 6pm at Caffi Cwtch in the hospice on Chester Road in Wrexham or contact the Hospice Fundraising Office for more information on 01978 314292.



(Click for large)
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-06 21:14:17|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

Visitors watch the exhibition at German Bavaria's booth during the ITB Berlin travel trade show in Berlin, capital of Germany, on March 6, 2019. The ITB Berlin travel trade show kicked off here on Wednesday, drawing around 10,000 exhibitors worldwide. Starting Wednesday, the first three days of the fair are reserved for trade visitors while private individuals can visit the ITB on Saturday and Sunday. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

BERLIN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Around 10,000 exhibitors worldwide are represented here at the ITB Berlin travel trade show.

Starting Wednesday, the first three days of the fair are reserved for trade visitors while private individuals can visit the ITB on Saturday and Sunday.

For the first time, a separate area of the trade show is dedicated to virtual reality in tourism, ITB Berlin organizer announced on Tuesday.

According to ITB, virtual reality and augmented reality allow consumers to get an "almost lifelike picture" of travelling destinations and locations before starting the holiday and enable virtual inspections of hotel rooms or cruise ships.

"The client needs visual confirmation. A simple vocal communication is not enough to decide on booking a trip," said Nico Wohlgemuth of the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW) in a speech on Wednesday.

German economy Minister Peter Altmaier officially opened the ITB and praised the travel industries role in offering "great opportunities" for growth and prosperity but also pointed out that sustainability must be considered.

In the run up to fair, Michael Frenzel, president of the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry (BTW) told the newspaper Welt that the German government should focus more on tourism. "Other countries have a tourism minister. We would need that too," Frenzel said.

Organizer also announced that ITB will expand to India.

"From a global and regional perspective, India is a vast source market for the travel industry with a huge growth potential. We are delighted that ITB India will in future complement the trio of ITB Berlin, ITB Asia and ITB China," said Christian Goeke, CEO of Messe Berlin.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-06 21:59:36|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

HARARE, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The Commonwealth will send another delegation to Zimbabwe in the second half of this year as the country continues with its re-engagement efforts to re-join the grouping of former British colonies.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs James Manzou told a parliamentary committee Wednesday that the team will come to assess the country's political and economic situation.

"Our re-engagement efforts with the Commonwealth are on course but like any other organization, there are processes or stages that have to be completed before there could be any conclusion.

"The Commonwealth secretariat has indicated to us that they would like to undertake another visit to Zimbabwe and that will be the second stage. So they will be coming to Zimbabwe during the second half of the year and thereafter there are two other stages that have to be completed before the issue (of readmission) reaches the summit level," Manzou said.

He said the mood was positive among most Commonwealth members for Zimbabwe to re-join the grouping that it left in 2003 at the height of a diplomatic tiff between Harare and London.

"Of course it differs from one country to another in terms of enthusiasm but there there is general readiness for us to continue engaging with them," he said.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa in September last year met the organization's secretary-general Patricia Scotland to work on modalities for readmission.

At the time, the then British ambassador to Zimbabwe Catriona Laing said the United Kingdom was supportive of Harare rejoining the international organization.

She said there is a process that has to be followed for Zimbabwe to rejoin the grouping of former British colonies.

"That process, as I understand it, has started but it would not formally conclude until the next Commonwealth summit, which will be in Malaysia in 2020," Laing said.

"It's not automatic. It involves ensuring that the Harare Declaration, which was signed here in early 1990s, is enacted," she added.

The Commonwealth is part of several international organizations that observed Zimbabwe's national elections in 2018, its first election observation mission in the country in more than a decade.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-06 22:09:40|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

Commuters pass by the headquarters of the London Stock Exchange Group in London on March 6, 2019. As Britain is set to leave the European Union (EU) on March 29, UK Finance firms have been preparing for a "no-deal" scenario that they believe would be "catastrophic" for the nation's economy. (Xinhua/Stephen Chung)

LONDON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- As Britain is set to leave the European Union (EU) on March 29, UK Finance firms have been preparing for a "no-deal" scenario that they believe would be "catastrophic" for the nation's economy.

In a recent statement, a spokesperson for UK Finance, which represents more than 250 firms in the UK's finance and banking industry, said that members were looking to put in place a plan to reduce the effects of a no-deal scenario.

"Time is running out to avoid a chaotic 'no-deal' Brexit that would be catastrophic for the UK economy. Firms in the finance industry have put contingency plans in place to minimize disruption for their customers in a 'no-deal' scenario, but critical cliff-edge risks remain including on the transfer of personal data and the operation of cross-border contracts," said the spokesperson.

BREXIT HITS UK FINANCE SECTOR

A number of financial firms in the UK have already made preparations to remain within the European Single Market, by moving their trading offices either from the UK, or selecting cities other than UK-based ones to be their main trading hub on the continent.

MarketAxess, one of the world's largest corporate bond trading venues, said that it had chosen Amsterdam over London as its main base for the EU due to the uncertainty of Brexit -- denying the UK financial sector hundreds of job opportunities.

Alongside this, the Bank of America said it had picked Dublin as the main base for its EU investment banking and markets operations, while Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank chose Frankfurt, Germany.

In the light of Brexit preparations, British ship insurer UK P&I Club opted to set up a subsidiary in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam to remain within the European Single Market.

According to a report from consultancy EY released in January, financial services companies have moved almost 800 billion pounds (about 1,054 billion U.S. dollars) in staff, operations and customer funds to Europe since the Brexit referendum.

CALL TO AVERT NO-DEAL BEXIT

The majority of firms say that they are backing proposals to avert Britain leaving the EU without a withdrawal deal -- saying that a no-deal would alter the way the financial and banking sectors both operate.

Mark Carney, Bank of England governor said that a no-deal, no-transition Brexit would, "by clear orders of magnitude", be "materially" worse for Britain's economic outlook than current forecasts.

Alongside this, IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply produced a report in early 2019 that showed UK business optimism about the year ahead had fallen to one of its lowest ever recorded by the survey.

The report said that political uncertainty had encouraged delays to the majority of corporate spending in the UK service sector, which includes financial firms, hotels, retail and restaurants.

There is still much uncertainty surrounding the UK leaving the EU. Much depends on whether UK Prime Minister Theresa May can push a deal through the House of Commons before time runs out to negotiate trade agreements with the EU.

As the political stalemate continues in Westminster, the majority of financial businesses have been advised to prepare for the worst.

EFFORTS TO MITIGATE DISRUPTION

UK Finance created a detailed online document to advise businesses on how to prepare for the UK leaving the EU.

The document itself, written by Stephen Pegge, who is the Managing Director of Commercial Finance within UK Finance, points to mitigating business "disruption" over the UK's departure.

Included within is a step-by-step guide which encourages businesses to use the "TALK" process. The guide highlights the four main components that businesses should consider when preparing for any Brexit scenario: Take time to think about how customers and suppliers may be affected by upcoming changes; Ask bank and finance providers, customers and suppliers early if you may need additional finance; Look into alternative finance options; Know where to go for more information to help your business.

UK Finance also called for politicians to unite ahead of Brexit.

"It is now essential that politicians on all sides of the House work together to agree a way forward and provide much-needed certainty to the electorate and businesses," said the UK Finance spokesperson.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 01:10:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BEIRUT, March 6 (Xinhua) -- A senior German official said Wednesday that his country will work with Lebanon on guaranteeing that the Syrian government secures the return of refugees to their homeland, local media reported.

"But I do not think that the situation is favorable for this now," German Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Niels Annen was quoted as saying by the National News Agency.

Annen's remarks came during his meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.

Annen also praised Lebanon's great efforts in hosting Syrian refugees.

"Germany is also hosting a big number of refugees and we are conducting negotiations on this topic. We want the situation in Syria to improve for Syrians to make a decision to return to their homeland," he said.

Annen also met with President Michel Aoun who told the German official that Lebanon can take no more burden of hosting over a million Syrian refugees.

"We do not want to wait for a political solution. We urge Germany to help us ask the international community to facilitate the return of refugees to safe areas," Aoun said.

More than 1 million Syrian refugees have registered with the UN in Lebanon, while the government estimates the true number of Syrians in Lebanon at 1.5 million.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 01:55:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

LONDON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The UK won't be ready to go cashless within the next 15 years as a sizable cash-dependent population risks being left behind, a report said on Wednesday.

Currently, cash is used to make three in ten transactions, down from six in ten a decade ago. But it could fall as low as one in ten in the coming 15 years, the latest report by the Access to Cash Review predicted.

However, over eight million adults, or 17 percent of the UK population, would struggle to cope in a cashless society, which means a cash infrastructure is still needed to make sure millions of people won't be left behind, it warned.

Though digital payments has become the first choice of payment for many, still there are people in the UK who use cash out of necessity, not choice, said the report, funded by by LINK, the UK's largest cash network, but independent from it.

It found poverty, rather than age, is the biggest indicator of cash dependency, refuting a widespread perception that the elderly are the most reliant on cash. Infrastructure poses another significant barrier as a lack of broadband or reliable 4G mobile data coverage makes digital access difficult for those living in remote or rural areas.

The report believed cash payment can be under threat for two reasons. First, cash access is reduced in some areas due to closure of ATMs and bank branches. Second, rising costs of handling and accepting cash will lead to an increasing number of retailers to go cashless.

The refusal to accept cash by merchants and retailers is more likely to drive the death of cash than issues around cash access, it concluded.

It warned against leaving cash payment at the mercy of market forces, and urges the government and financial services regulators to take action to ensure cash remains viable for as long as people need it.

Natalie Ceeney, independent chair of the Access to Cash Review, said: "There are worrying signs that our cash system is falling apart. ATM and bank branch closures are just the tip of the iceberg, underneath there is a huge infrastructure which is becoming increasingly unviable as cash use declines."

Nicky Morgan, chair of the Parliament's Treasury Select Committee, said, the complexity of this issue cannot be overstated, but the simple truth is that leaving the future of cash to be determined by market forces will not work.

The report recommended a "guarantee" of cash access beyond cash machines, like convenience store cashback, Post Offices and other innovative ways. It also suggested the cash infrastructure should be made lower cost and more sustainable and digital payments technology should be developed in a more inclusive way.

Ron Delnevo of the ATM Industry Association was quoted by the BBC as saying that there should be a requirement, backed by law, on businesses to accept cash, mirroring moves by some local authorities in the United States.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 02:15:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

WARSAW, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Poland's President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that he hoped NATO presence and military drills with allies could increase over the years.

"I hope that, over the years, the presence of NATO in Poland will increase and also that military exercises of allied troops will often take place on the territory of our country," Duda said during a visit to NATO troops stationed in Orzysz, northeast Poland.

Together with Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak and Head of the National Security Bureau Pawel Soloch, the Polish president watched a presentation of military equipment and manoeuvres by multinational troops stationed in Orzysz as part of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence.

Duda then thanked the multinational group of soldiers from Poland, the U.S., the UK, Romania and Croatia for defending both Poland and the eastern flank of NATO.

The visit to Orzysz is part of a series of events marking the 20th anniversary of Poland's joining NATO, which Duda and Blaszczask kick-started on Monday.

Poland officially joined NATO in 1999.

In 2016, during a NATO summit in Warsaw, it was decided that NATO troops as well as command structures of both NATO and the U.S. army would be located in Poland.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 02:55:52|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

President of Sharm el-Sheikh Asian Film Festival (SAFF), Magdi Ahmed Ali, speaks during an interview in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on March 6, 2019. Magdi Ahmed Ali praised on Wednesday the participation of China as a guest of honor in the festival with a special variety of movies. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

by Marwa Yahya

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, March 6 (Xinhua) -- President of Sharm el-Sheikh Asian Film Festival (SAFF), Magdi Ahmed Ali, praised on Wednesday the participation of China as a guest of honor in the festival with a special variety of movies.

"I feel proud to head a festival that chooses China as an honor guest. The Chinese filmmaking is unique and is characterized by cultural and visual richness," Ali told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

The SAFF in its third edition has kicked off last Saturday and will end on March 8 at the Conferences Center of the coastal Red Sea city with the participation of 58 movies from 26 Asian countries.

The movies will be competing for nine awards in five competitions, with three Egyptian films to have their world premiere.

"This is the third edition of the festival, but the first as an Asian version," Ali said, noting the relation with Asian cinema is limited and the organizer decided this year to designate the festival for Asian movies.

"When we thought about the guest of honor, China as the largest Asian country came as the first choice. China has a great deep-rooted civilization, and owns an international accelerating cinema power," the SAFF president said.

Moreover, Ali said the Chinese movies win international prizes and have been shown in different world cinema.

"I feel very proud to have Chinese renowned filmmaker Xie Fei, a Silver Bear winner in the Berlin International Film Festival in 1990 and a Golden Bear winner in the same movie festival in 1993, as a head of the festival's jury," Ali added.

Ali, a 66-year-old prominent Egyptian movie director, said "the Chinese filmmaking is relatively satisfactory but the number of movies should be increased."

He described the Chinese cinema as spectacular because it is utterly purified of any western influence. Its movies are obviously expressing the Chinese people with commercial potentials in the same time, which is rare in other countries.

Ali deemed the Chinese civilization as "the purist one in the world" because it was not penetrated during thousands of years by other cultures.

He pointed out that Chinese movie has reached the level of super international movies and gained prizes in important festivals of Berlin, Cannes and Venice.

"The Chinese cinematography has strong producers, huge budget and thousands of screens. It is a promising film industry that will bring its fruits in near future," Ali said.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian director listed shortage of funds and insufficient number of displaying houses as main challenges that face the Egyptian cinema.

He called for learning from the Chinese experience that established lately thousands of new cinemas, to attract more viewers, achieve more domestic interests and avoid the foreign revenues that are subject to the external taste.

"The Egyptian cinema will be stronger, like the Chinese and Indian ones, when it achieves gains from its citizens first and then the Arab ones," Ali illustrated.

He added that the topic of terrorism should be tackled more in the Egyptian movies, considering the extremism is more dangerous than poverty as it threatens development.

"Egyptian cinema industry in that regard is still insufficient because of poor support for that kind of movies and fears of the producers to lose money," he said, mentioning culture, music, reading, theater and media are significant tools for fighting terrorism.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 04:11:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BUCHAREST, March 6 (Xinhua) -- China became the second largest market for Moldova's wine export in 2018, accounting for some 17 percent of the latter's total export, according to data released Wednesday at the National Viniculture Conference in Chisinau, capital of Moldova.

The value of Moldovan wine exports reached 168 million U.S. dollars, up 11 percent from the average of the last three years, the official data showed.

Most of Moldovan wine, worth 11.99 million dollars, was exported to Romania, followed by China and Poland, with exports amounting to 9.76 million and 9.71 million dollars, respectively.

The Czech Republic, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Canada and Belarus are among other major countries importing Moldovan wine.

The wine export accounts for 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 6 percent of the total exports and 14 percent of the volume of agri-food products produced in the country, Gheorghe Arpentin, director of the National Office of Vine and Wine in Moldova, told the National Viniculture Conference.

According to specialists, the harvest of last year was so good that it placed Moldova on the 19th place among the wine producers worldwide.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 05:21:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

KIEV, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and visiting U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale met on Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation and the situation in and around Ukraine.

During the negotiations, the parties discussed Ukraine's reforms, energy issues and the ways to tighten bilateral trade partnership, Groysman tweeted.

Increasing sanctions against Russia over its alleged role in Ukraine's crisis was another topic on the agenda, Groysman said.

Hale arrived in Kiev on Tuesday for a three-day visit to meet with senior Ukrainian officials and political leaders and discuss upcoming elections, anti-corruption, and human rights issues with government representatives and civil society leaders.

Earlier in the day, Hale met Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak, pledging that the United States will continue political support and logistical assistance for Ukraine.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 05:36:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

RABAT, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission has granted Morocco 232 million euros (262 million U.S. dollars) to support the North African kingdom to better manage migration flows since 2014, a statement said Wednesday.

The amount of EU support to Morocco was revealed in a statement by the commission on the progress made under the European Agenda on Migration over the past four years.

In late 2018, EU approved 140 million euros in support of Morocco in border management and budget support, the statement noted.

The commission underlined that Morocco has already been working to strengthen control of its border and has prevented a large number of departures.

According to the Moroccan Ministry of Interior, a total of 88,761 migrants have been prevented from leaving Morocco in 2018.

The commission underlined that the EU has been laying the foundations for a close partnership with Morocco, stressing that measures to address migration along the Western Mediterranean route must be a top priority for the EU as Spain is the primary point of entry for irregular crossings.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 06:51:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

RIGA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) High Commissioner on National Minorities Lamberto Zannier arrived in Latvia for a three-day visit on Wednesday, with education, social cohesion and citizenship featuring high on agenda, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, who met with Zannier in Riga, briefed the OSCE high commissioner on Latvia's society integration and minority policies, as well as ongoing reforms in the education sector.

"The Latvian government is committed to continuing the education reform providing for gradually increasing the use of the state language in the education process. The aim of the reform is to provide equal education opportunities to all school graduates without any kind of discrimination," the foreign minister told Zannier.

In the conversation with Rinkevics, the OSCE high commissioner praised Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis' legislative initiative that would grant Latvian citizenship to all children of Latvia's non-citizens at birth. Vejonis announced on Wednesday he would put the draft legislation before the parliament by the end of this month.

During his visit to Riga, Zannier is also scheduled to meet with Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, other high ranked government and municipal officials, as well as nongovernmental groups.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 07:26:49|Editor: Yang Yi

Video Player Close

HELSINKI, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The vistas that aircraft would be going electric soon in the wake of the auto industry transition are not becoming true soon. This was the message sent by representatives of the two leading aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing in Helsinki on Wednesday.

Glenn Llewelly, general manager for the Electrification at Airbus, said that "something has to happen in the energy storage side" for electric aircraft really to take off. "We assume that to happen rather than wait it to happen," he said.

Sean Newsum, director of Environmental Strategy at Boeing, said it would be "a long time away" until electric aircraft would find their way to commercial air transport.

While Llewelly assured Airbus is working aggressively towards the goal and spends a lot of funds on it, Boeing stressed the need to develop current technology more environmentally conscious. A key solution already available is the use of biofuels, Newsum said.

The Finnish state-majority owned airline Finnair had invited the two companies for a press event in Helsinki. Finnish media was left with the notion that there is no easy answers to reducing emissions of aircraft.

In the initial phase electric aircraft would be feasible on short hauls, mainly as a replacement for an automobile or a helicopter.

Llewellyn noted that, for the Airbus test aircraft E-Fan 1 that crossed the English channel in 2015, the battery life was one hour. The unmanned Airbus Zephyr solar powered batteries could last 25 days last summer, he said.

The intention is not that aircraft passenger capacity would be reduced to make space for large batteries, but they have to develop in size and power supply, Llewellyn said.

The Finnish state-owned airport operating company Finavia is currently involved in a project that tests the loading of an electric aircraft in cold Arctic conditions.

Newsum noted that biofuel for aircraft is already technically reliable and the global supply of biomass is sufficient as a base for production. "But an expansion of output in an economically viable way is a challenge."

The Finnish energy company Neste is producing biofuel also for aircraft. It is using for that waste cooking oil and other carbage. However, Finnair is currently able to use biofuel only in flights that originate in Los Angeles.

Arja Suominen, senior vice president for communications at Finnair, said that the oil industry is producing biofuel for the aircraft in sequences and availability in restricted biofuel is also much more expensive than standard fuel.

In addition, in the Nordic area, Sweden last year introduced an environmental tax levied on airline passengers beginning their flights in Sweden. In Finland such a tax has been suggested by the Finnish Green Party, but no steps have been taken.

Finnair CEO Topi Manner recently said Finnair does not consider such a passenger tax sensible. Manner said that it would make no difference between a flight on an environmentally bad, older aircraft as opposed to the latest models. Environmentally conscious passengers should rather have the opportunity to choose a carrier with least polluting aircraft.

Airlines have launched programs where the customers can directly pay for the environmental damage the flight has caused.

Finnair recently introduced a system called "Push for change". A domestic flight passenger can pay one euro, a European short haul customer two euros and a long haul customer six euros. The money will be used for a project in Africa to reduce emissions.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 07:31:50|Editor: Yang Yi

Video Player Close

A visitor operates a camera to take photos at the booth of China during the ITB Berlin travel trade show in Berlin, capital of Germany, on March 6, 2019. The ITB Berlin travel trade show kicked off here on Wednesday, drawing around 10,000 exhibitors worldwide. A delegation from China representing several localities, tourism businesses and aviation companies will promote Chinese tourism brands at the ITB Berlin. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

BERLIN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism led a delegation of more than 80 members representing different localities, tourism businesses and aviation companies to the ITB Berlin 2019, presenting the tourism brand "Beautiful China".

The international travel trade show, ITB Berlin, kicked off here on Wednesday, drawing around 10,000 tourism companies from 181 countries and regions worldwide.

At an opening ceremony of China's booth at the trade show on Wednesday, Chen Ping, Minister Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Germany, welcomed global visitors to visit China for great diversity of landscapes and culture, local cuisines, and to experience common people's daily lives.

Chen said Chinese visitors made nearly 1.6 million visits to Germany in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 2.3 percent, with each visitor staying in Germany for 1.9 days in average, citing statistics from German statistical authorities.

Francoise Hauser, a German author and journalist, shared her experiences in her China trips at the opening ceremony, saying the progresses China made in past decades were unbelievable, which made traveling in the country much easier.

Besides, China is an extremely safe country and the younger generation speak good English, Hauser said.

The travel trade show is scheduled from March 6 to March 10.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 07:31:51|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

BUCHAREST, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Romania will promote the quick signing of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam, Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Wednesday told a visiting high-ranking official delegation from Vietnam.

Melescanu expressed his appreciation for the dynamism of the political dialogue in recent years and highlighted the Romanian side's interest in strengthening economic relations, increasing and diversifying trade between the two countries, in his meeting with visiting Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, also special envoy of the prime minister of Vietnam.

The Romanian minister stressed the commitment of Romania which is holding the presidency of the EU Council, to sign the EU-Vietnam FTA and IPA as soon as possible.

According to a communique of the ministry, it was also an main subject to assess the state of the EU-Vietnam dialogue and the steps to be taken to sign the two bilateral agreements during the talks between Bui Thanh Son and Romanian State Secretary for Bilateral and Global Affairs, Monica Gheorghita.

In July 2018, the EU and Vietnam agreed on final texts for the bilateral FTA and IPA, once translated, the Commission will send all EU language versions to the Council and the European Parliament, according to the official website of European Commission.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 07:41:53|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Wednesday that the United States would impose sanctions on foreign financial institutions that benefit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his administration.

"The United States is putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions for being involved in facilitating illegitimate transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network," Bolton said in a statement.

In an interview with FOX Business Network on Tuesday, Bolton disclosed that Washington would be "looking at new sanctions, new measures to tighten our grip on Maduro's financial wherewithal, to deny his regime the money that they need to stay in power."

Also on Tuesday, U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams said during a press briefing that there was "clearly a possibility" for the United States to impose secondary sanctions against non-U.S. citizens or entities tied to the Maduro government.

The United States has been pursuing a policy of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation against the Venezuelan government in support of the opposition leader Juan Guaido.

The Trump administration recognized Guaido as Venezuela's "interim president" on Jan. 23, days after Maduro was inaugurated for a second term as Venezuelan president.

Maduro, in response, cut diplomatic and political ties with the United States.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 08:37:03|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Several senior U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday called for immediate action to upgrade the country's crumbling infrastructure.

"We need real, sustainable federal investment to shore up our nation's infrastructure and we need it now. There is no sugar-coating the situation," said Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, at a congressional hearing.

At the hearing held by the House Ways and Means Committee, DeFazio and several other speakers voiced support for a gas tax hike in order to fix the Highway Trust Fund, a major source of capital investments in highway and bridge improvements.

Noting that the gasoline and diesel taxes have been unadjusted for more than 25 years, DeFazio, a Democrat, said the taxes have lost over 40 percent of their purchasing power. Raising the existing user fees is the "most efficient way" to put the Highway Trust Fund on a long-term path to solvency, he said.

Sam Graves, ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also highlighted the desperate need to find a long-term solution for the shortfalls of the Highway Trust Fund, estimated at 16 billion U.S. dollars annually in the coming years.

Graves, however, argued that the gas tax is not a long-term solution, "as the car, bus and truck fleet become more fuel efficient, and hybrids and electric vehicles become more popular."

Also testifying at the hearing, Graves, a Republican, suggested a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) fee, and said a per-mile fee has the potential to be "a true user funded program that captures everyone."

A few other lawmakers also shared their thoughts on how to pay for the country's infrastructure upgrade, and discussions include whether they should look for new revenue sources, instead of sticking to the "user pays" principle.

The U.S. Transportation Department had said in 2017 that more investment is needed not only to maintain the nation's highway and transit systems but to overcome a "nearly trillion-dollar investment backlog."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 08:47:06|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

TOKYO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks opened lower Thursday as investor sentiment was dented by U.S. shares declining overnight amid concerns over the outlook of the global economy.

As of 9:15 a.m., the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 154.55 points, or 0.72 percent, from Wednesday to 21,442.26.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, lost 11.65 points, or 0.72 percent, to 1,603.60.

Bank, marine transportation and electric appliance-linked issues comprised those that declined the most in the opening minutes after the morning bell.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 09:17:10|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

SYDNEY, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The far north Australian community of Cardwell is in shock after the sudden loss of local icon, Bismarck the 4.5 metre saltwater crocodile.

Local media reported on Thursday that the croc, estimated as being up to 100 years old, was found dead by local fishermen with apparent bullet wounds -- although the official cause of death is currently being investigated by police.

Long-time Cardwell resident, Thea Ormonde, described Bismarck as a "gentle giant" and said it was a "very, very sad day" for the community.

"We saw Bismarck as part of our community, he was such a gentle soul as far as crocodiles go," Ormonde told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Bismarck was a regular feature of the area and could often be seen casually sunning himself nearby to residents who were all too happy to fish or collect crab pots alongside the apex predator.

"This croc was never a threat to humans, he just loved a feed of turtles," the fisherman who found Bismarck, Ryan Moody said.

"I used to walk right next to him at the mount of Meunga Creek while gathering bait and flicking lures."

Moody posted a video to social media condemning the killing, suggesting that the death has now opened up the territory for potentially more dangerous and aggressive crocs to move in.

"It's amazing how humans can make situations become more dangerous through acts of pure stupidity," Moody said.

The town is now planning a memorial service to say goodbye to their unlikely friend.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 09:17:10|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

NANCHANG, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A huge number of migratory birds are flying north to breed after wintering at Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, in east China's Jiangxi Province.

According to the Administration of Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve, about 500,000 birds, including white cranes, white-naped cranes, grey cranes and white ospreys, spent their winter and early springtime at the lake.

Poyang Lake is an important wintering area for waterbirds in Asia. From October to March, more than 95 percent of white cranes, 80 percent of oriental white ospreys and 70 percent of white-naped cranes winter at the lake.

Authorities with all the reserves along Poyang Lake are closely monitoring the migratory birds to guarantee their safety.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 10:37:24|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

MANAGUA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Nicaraguan police seized 150 kg of cocaine during an operation in the southern part of the country, the National Police's press office said on Wednesday.

The operation was carried out on Tuesday along the highway to the seaside resort of La Boquita in the municipality of Diriamba, the police said in a statement.

The drugs were found inside a hidden compartment in a small bus, which contained 131 packages with 150 kg of cocaine.

The bus driver fled the scene after the vehicle was intercepted, the authorities said.

In another operation carried out on Monday, the National Police captured Luis Alberto Mejia Gonzalez, a Guatemalan national, aboard a vehicle loaded with cocaine particles.

The arrest was made at the Nicaraguan southern border post of Penas Blancas, the police said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 11:17:28|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

CHANGCHUN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- China's Jilin Province will use facial recognition technology to curb drunk driving in 2019, local traffic police said.

Technologists with the local traffic police department are exploring physiological patterns for DUI (driving under the influence). High-definition facial recognition surveillance cameras will be abled to figure out whether the driver has consumed alcohol from their facial features, including flushed faces, shaky breathing, and sometimes even nodding and yawning.

With the help of a second-time identification, traffic police officers patrolling roads will receive feedback data of the suspected vehicles, including their plate number and features, to intercept them and conduct further breath tests.

According to the provincial department of public security, more than 6,300 cases of drunk driving and about 29,000 DUI cases were handled last year.

Drunk driving has long been one of the major causes of traffic accidents in China. A total of 17,264 Chinese drivers were banned from driving for life in 2018. Among them, 5,149 were caught drunk driving in serious traffic accidents.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 11:27:33|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

China's Minister of Finance Liu Kun (C), and vice ministers Cheng Lihua (2nd R) and Liu Wei (2nd L) attend a press conference on the country's fiscal and tax reforms and fiscal work for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Finance said Thursday that risks of China's local government debts are controllable and measures are being taken to prevent any increase in hidden debts.

The debt balances of both China's central and local governments are within the legal limit, Minister of Finance Liu Kun told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.

The debt balance of local governments stood at 18.39 trillion yuan (about 2.74 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of last year, well below the official ceiling of 21 trillion yuan, official data showed.

China is "very serious" about hidden debts, and prohibits the debt-raising practices of local governments that disregard solvency, Liu said.

The ministry will take a sound approach in handling existing debts, strictly prevent illegal borrowing, and ensure that no systemic risks will emerge, Liu said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 11:43:04|Editor: Lu Hui

Video Player Close

Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, attends a press conference on the country's battle against poverty for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 11:42:36|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council met behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss the latest findings by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of the chemical weapon use in Syria.

The report from the UN-backed watchdog concluded, based on its Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) assessment, that there were "reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place, on 7 April," during the battle for control of Eastern Ghouta.

It added that reactive chlorine had been detected in samples taken around two weeks after the incident.

The latest FFM's report on Douma was due to be shared with States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention and passed on to the Security Council.

The report does not assign blame for the likely use of chlorine gas.

The United States and its Western allies accused the Syrian government of adopting chlorine gas in the latter's military operation in Douma on April 7.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying the rebels were fabricating it to draw foreign military action to Eastern Ghouta, the last rebel bastion east of the capital.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 12:17:45|Editor: Lu Hui

Video Player Close

China's Minister of Finance Liu Kun (C), and vice ministers Cheng Lihua (2nd R) and Liu Wei (2nd L) attend a press conference on the country's fiscal and tax reforms and fiscal work for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's overall income of the pension funds is greater than the expenditure, and the operation of the fund is in good condition, the finance minister said Thursday.

"Nationwide, China can ensure that the pension is paid on time and in full," Minister of Finance Liu Kun told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.

Last year, the income of the corporate pension funds was 3.6 trillion yuan (536 billion U.S. dollars), while total expenditure stood at 3.2 trillion yuan, leaving a balance of 400 billion yuan, Liu said.

The cumulative balance of pension funds stood at 4.6 trillion yuan at the end of last year, he added.

In 2018, China established a system allowing the central authorities to adjust corporate pension funds at the national level, Liu said, adding that 22 provinces had benefited from the arrangement last year.

"Judging from current financial arrangements, each provincial region can achieve the balance of pension funds this year," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 12:22:46|Editor: Lu Hui

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Democratic Party said Wednesday that it would not allow conservative Fox News to host a presidential primary debate.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement that the news channel had an "inappropriate relationship" with the Trump administration which led him to make the decision.

"Recent reporting in The New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and FOX News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates. Therefore, FOX News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates," Perez said, citing a New Yorker magazine story.

Fox News senior Vice President Bill Sammon defended his channel in a response, saying that Fox channel hosts such as Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum "embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism." Sammon said he hopes the DNC would reconsider.

Presidential primary debate is where candidates from the same political party present their ideas and counter others'. The DNC have awarded 12 such debates to other news outlets for this year and 2020. The first debates are scheduled for June.

The DNC's decision came after some of the Democratic presidential hopefuls made individual appearances on Fox News, including Kamala Harris, Tulsi Gabbard and John Delaney.

Media reporter Joe Concha said that it was a mistake for DNC to block Fox News from hosting a debate, because it would limit the candidates' exposure to voters, especially those in swing states that can ultimately sway the race.

"Appearing on Fox News and doing interviews with other outlets outside what is perceived largely as comfort zones will be a necessity," Concha said.

The Democratic Party is fielding a crowded group of candidate who are hoping to unseat the incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump. Better known names among the candidates include Senators Bernie Sanders, Kristen Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar. Former Vice President Joe Biden is also said to be close to announcing his bid.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 12:27:47|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

BAGHDAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Six off-duty paramilitary Hashd Shaabi members were killed and 31 others wounded in an Islamic State (IS) attack on Wednesday on their convoy of buses in northern Iraq.

IS militants ambushed the convoy carrying dozens of the government-backed Hashd Shaabi members and opened fire on them on a main road near Makhmour area, a media office affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

All the members under attack are Shiite Turkomans, who served in the northern province of Nineveh and, when the attack occurred, were on vacation heading to their hometown in Tuz Khormato area in the central province of Salahudin, said the statement.

A joint Iraqi police and army force rushed to the scene to secure the area and searched for the attackers, it added.

In December 2017, Iraq declared full liberation of its territories from the IS after security forces and Hashd Shaabi, backed by an anti-IS international coalition, recaptured all areas once seized by the extremist group.

IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out guerilla attacks from time to time against security forces and civilians.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 13:07:53|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

Mourners carry the body of the 15-year-old Palestinian boy Seif Abu Zeid, who was shot by Israeli soldiers' gunfire, during his funeral in Gaza, March 7, 2019. A 15-year-old Palestinian boy died of wounds after he was shot in the head Wednesday night during clashes with Israeli soldiers, medics said Thursday. The Health Ministry in Gaza said in a press statement that Seif Abu Zeid died in hospital just a few hours after he was shot in eastern Gaza city. Abu Zeid was one of the five Palestinians who were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers' gunfire during clashes with Israeli soldiers stationed on the border between eastern Gaza city and Israel. (Xinhua/Yasser Qudih)

GAZA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A 15-year-old Palestinian boy died of wounds after he was shot in the head Wednesday night during clashes with Israeli soldiers, medics said Thursday.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said in a press statement that Seif Abu Zeid died in hospital just a few hours after he was shot in eastern Gaza city.

Abu Zeid was one of the five Palestinians who were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers' gunfire during clashes with Israeli soldiers stationed on the border between eastern Gaza city and Israel.

Since February, dozens of Palestinian young men have gathered near the border between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel and carried out protests every night.

Islamic Hamas movement's spokesman in Gaza said in a press statement that as long as Israel is evading a calm understanding brokered by Egypt, the settlements in the suburbs of Gaza will pay the price.

On Tuesday, a senior Egyptian security intelligence delegation held talks with leaders of Hamas and other factions to boost the calm understanding and also end the internal Palestinian division and achieve reconciliation.

Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar have been mediating talks over the past few months between the Palestinian factions and Israel to reinforce the calm understanding between the two sides.

The calm understanding was reached to calm down tension between the two sides, which was a result of the "Marches of Return" protests which started almost one year ago against Israel, where 260 Palestinians killed and more than 26,000 injured.

The "Marches of Return" protests are demanding Israel to end around 12 years of blockade that had been imposed on the Gaza Strip right after Hamas had violently seized control of the coastal enclave and routed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas security forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 13:07:53|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

SYDNEY, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Two men have appeared in court on Thursday, accused of being part of an international crime syndicate that attempted to smuggle 38 kg of methamphetamine through Australia's Sydney Airport.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said one of the men, aged 32, pretended to be an employee of an airport service provider "to offload two rucksacks from the luggage hold of an incoming flight from Canada on Wednesday."

A 26-year-old man then collected the bags and was arrested as he attempted to leave the domestic terminal.

When tests were carried out on the substance, it returned a positive reading for the dangerous drug methamphetamine, known locally as "ice."

"Yesterday's arrests include a man who has abused the trusted access he has to ensure the smooth operation of Sydney's international airport, and instead sought to exploit it for the greed of all those involved," AFP Acting Commander Nathan Barron said.

"This investigation is a fantastic example of how intelligence-led, proactive policing can damage the activities of organized crime groups."

If found guilty, both men face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 13:17:54|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

A Palestinian man checks the site of an Israeli airstrike at a seaport under construction in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, March 7, 2019. Israeli fighter jets struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early on Thursday, hours after a projectile was launched from the Palestinian enclave at southern Israel, the army said. (Xinhua/Khaled Omar)

GAZA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Israeli warplanes early on Thursday carried out intensive air strikes on southern Gaza Strip, with no injuries reported, said a Gaza-based radio.

Israeli warplanes fired six missiles at training military facilities that belong to Islamic Hamas movement and Islamic Jihad in southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, said Al-Quds Radio, which quoted security officials and eyewitnesses.

Severe destruction was caused to the facilities, and damage was spread to nearby houses, said the radio.

Israel's move followed its army's announcement that a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip and landed on an empty area in southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries.

No one claimed responsibility for firing the rocket from Gaza.

It is the fourth day in a row that Israeli warplanes and drones have been targeting Gaza military posts, facilities and training camps.

On Tuesday, a senior Egyptian security intelligence delegation held talks with leaders of Hamas and other factions to boost understanding and achieve reconciliation.

Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar have been mediating talks over the past a few months between the Palestinian factions and Israel to reinforce the calm understanding reached by the two sides to calm down their tension caused by the Marches of Return that started almost one year ago against Israel and has killed 260 Palestinians and injured more than 26,000 others.

The Marches of Return are demanding Israel end around 12 years of blockade that had been imposed on the Gaza Strip right after Hamas violently seized control of the coastal enclave and routed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 13:37:59|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, March 7 (Xinhua) -- At least seven security forces and eight militants were killed following fresh clashes in Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz overnight as fighting rages in the country, a local official said Thursday.

The clashes erupted after Taliban militants armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) attacked security checkpoints outside administrative buildings of Qalay-i-Zal district, district chief Ahmad Fahim Qarloq told Xinhua.

About eight security force personnel and 10 militants were wounded during fierce gunfight which lasted about five hours, the official added.

Most of the killed militants were members of Taliban's Sara Ketta or Red Unit, according to Qarlog and local residents.

The so-called Sara Ketta is the special forces of Taliban.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mujahid told local media that Taliban fighters have overran a security forces' camp in Qalay-i-Zal, killing and injuring two dozens of soldiers and seizing weapons and ammunition.

He said two Taliban fighters were also killed.

The violence has been on the rise as Afghan security forces struggle against a surge in attacks by anti-government fighters since the drawdown of foreign forces within the past four years.

On Wednesday, at least 16 personnel of a local company were killed and nine others wounded after five gunmen and suicide bombers attacked the compound near a local airport in Jalalabad city, capital of eastern Nangarhar province.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 13:43:02|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would be "very disappointed" if reports on Pyongyang's alledged efforts of rebuilding its rocket sites prove to be true.

U.S. media reported on Tuesday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) appeared to have started "rapid rebuilding" of the long-range rocket site at Tongchang-ri Launch Facility, citing an imagery analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

"I would be very disappointed if that were happening. It's a very early report ... We'll take a look," Trump told reporters.

The reported activity in the DPRK, however, did not seem particularly alarming, and certainly not on a scale of resuming missile tests that have been suspended since 2017, Reuters said Tuesday citing a U.S. government source.

Earlier on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders declined to comment on the reports of the activities in the DPRK rocket launch site, only saying that the United States would continue to have conversations with the DPRK.

Trump and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un held their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam on Feb. 27-28, without reaching an agreement.

Nevertheless, the White House said the two leaders had "very good and constructive meetings" and discussed various ways to "advance denuclearization and economic driven concepts."

Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also expressed the willingness that Washington would continue the conversation with Pyongyang.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 14:18:08|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

Photo taken on March 2, 2019 shows harbors and facilities in the Port of South Louisiana in the southeastern U.S. state of Louisiana. Stable U.S.-China trade ties are vital to the U.S. port industry as China is a key trading partner of the United States, said a senior port official. "A lot of trading we do is with China. We export more to China than any other country," Paul Aucoin, executive director of the Port of South Louisiana, the largest tonnage port in the United States, told Xinhua in a recent interview. (Xinhua/Xinhua)

by Xinhua writers Pan Lijun, Gao Lu, Wang Ying

BATON ROUGE, the United States, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Stable U.S.-China trade ties are vital to the U.S. port industry as China is a key trading partner of the United States, said a senior port official.

"A lot of trading we do is with China. We export more to China than any other country," Paul Aucoin, executive director of the Port of South Louisiana, the largest tonnage port in the United States, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

China is the port's top trading partner in terms of exports and ranks fifth in imports, statistics from the Port of South Louisiana revealed.

"So obviously, from the port's perspective, good relations with China is very important so far as trade goes," he said, adding that closer U.S.-China collaboration is mutually beneficial at the national level.

In 2018, the port handled 12 million short tons(about 10.88 million metric ton) of exports to China dominated by grain, chemicals and fertilizers. Meanwhile, it transported 1.4 million short tons(1.2 million metric ton) of Chinese imports.

Aucoin said the port highly values cooperation with its Chinese counterparts since prosperous trading with China benefits grain farmers, shippers and port operations.

Situated on the Mississippi River in the southeastern U.S. state of Louisiana, the Port of South Louisiana is a premier sea gateway for both export and import.

Last year, the port handled more than 303 million short tons(275 metric ton) of commodities involving businesses in over 90 countries. Some 46 percent of the commodities were related directly to foreign trade.

Equipped with seven grain elevators, the Port of South Louisiana is the largest grain exporter in the United States, accounting for more than 50 percent of the nation's total grain exports, showed statistics from the port.

Farmers from Louisiana and other Midwestern states transport grain to the grain elevators by truck, train or barges before reloading it onto ships which head to the country of destination, Aucoin said.

With its jurisdiction snaking 54 miles (about 87 km) from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, the Port of South Louisiana has long benefited from trade.

"It's important that whatever we produce and manufacture here at the port, it can be sold to foreign countries, so trade is very important for us," said the port official, adding that among the 30,000 employees working in the port area, the majority of whom are reliant on international commerce.

Aucoin said he was "very proud" to have some major Chinese investment anchoring at the port area in recent years.

Shandong Yuhuang Chemical, one of the Chinese companies investing in Louisiana, is constructing a 1.85-billion-U.S. dollar methanol production facility in St. James Parish in the Port of South Louisiana.

Also in the same parish, Shandong Wanhua Chemical Group plans to invest 1.25 billion dollars to develop a methylene diphenyl diisocyanate complex.

"They're going to employ our river parish workers with a very nice salary," Aucoin grinned while talking about the lucrative business.

Aucoin said he was "very pleased with" the latest progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations, as the two economies are highly complementary and are able to achieve a win-win outcome.

"My hope is that the two countries could de-escalate any tensions and work together for the benefit of everybody," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 14:18:10|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

MUMBAI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- India's southwestern state of Maharashtra has seen a 91-percent rise in farmer suicide over the past four years, according to report under the Right to Information on Thursday.

The number of farmer's suicide rose sharply to 11,995 from January 2015 till the end of 2018 while the same was 6,268 during 2011-2014, the report said, quoting a letter to the National Human Rights Commission by the Maharashtra government.

The rural distress among farmers related to credit, cost and crop pattern along with issues of health, unemployment and climate has led to the rising number of suicides, said Kishore Tiwari, head of the farmers association from the state.

In June 2017, the state government announced a farm loan waiver and was working toward making the state drought free by 2019 through its water conservation program.

Maharashtra is the second most populous state and third largest by area in the country. According to the last available agriculture census of 2010-2011, there were 13.6 million farming families in the state.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 14:48:16|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

CHENGDU, March 7 (Xinhua) -- PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield Company, a CNPC affiliate, said a single test on a well to assess the ability to produce shale gas yielded over 1.37 million cubic meters of gas in a single day.

The well, located in Leida Village of Luzhou city, Sichuan Province, was used to assess the potential of shale gas production in the area 4,000 meters underground, the company said.

It is the first shale gas well to exceed the million cubic meter mark, the company said.

CNPC is a leading explorer of shale gas in China. Its main production base for shale gas is located in Yibin, Luzhou, Neijiang of Sichuan, and Zhaotong of Yunnan Province. The area produced three billion cubic meters of shale gas in 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 14:58:18|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

MOSCOW, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A Russian Su-27 fighter jet has intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft approaching the Russian airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The Russian fighter jet approached the target at a safe distance and identified it as an RC-135 reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force, according to the statement.

"The Russian fighter jet returned safely to its home base after the foreign aircraft flew away from the Russian border," the ministry said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 14:58:19|Editor: Yamei

Video Player Close

ISLAMABAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China was willing to play a constructive role to help ease the tensions between Pakistan and India, and called on the two sides to refrain from taking any actions that could further escalate the situation, a senior Chinese diplomat said.

China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners which have always shared firm mutual support in issues concerning each other's core interests, visiting Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said during his meetings with the Pakistani leadership on Wednesday.

China paid close attention to the current situation between Pakistan and India, he said, adding that China appreciates the calmness and restraint on the Pakistani side and its efforts to defuse the tensions through dialogues with the Indian side.

China maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, and China does not wish to see any actions that violate rules of international relations, said Kong.

China urged both sides to avoid any actions that could further escalate the situation, show good will and flexibility and engage each other in dialogues as soon as possible, so as to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, he added.

During his visit, Kong met with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. He also held talks with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua.

The Pakistani officials said China is Pakistan's most reliable friend and views Pakistan's relationship with China as the cornerstone of the country's diplomacy.

Pakistan appreciated China remaining objective and fair over the current Pakistan-India situation, and thanked China for its efforts to reduce the tensions, according to the officials.

The Pakistani side reiterated that Pakistan does not want to see escalating tensions, and is willing to solve the conflicts and differences peacefully with India through dialogues, said the officials, adding that Pakistan expects China and the international community to play constructive roles in this regard.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 15:03:19|Editor: Yamei

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- An initiative has been launched to pool together ideas from education experts to help parents play roles in their children's education in an efficient and scientific manner, according to the Ministry of Education.

The ministry and the China Education Association co-organized a meeting of education experts on Feb. 28 to start compiling a guide for parents to help their children's education.

Work on this book is among the ministry's key steps in 2019 to improve parent roles in child development and equip parents with appropriate educational concepts and methods, the ministry said.

The meeting adopted goals, work assignments and a schedule for the compiling job, stressing efforts to make a quality book.

The book will promote core socialist values and China's fine traditional culture, and provide specific guidance that takes into account of the features of children of different age groups and draws on expertise on parent education both at home and abroad, according to the ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 15:18:21|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Several people were wounded Thursday in a blast inside a bus station in the restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 15:23:26|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

CANBERRA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government on Thursday announced its support for criminal charges for employers who engage in "egregious exploitation" of their workers.

Kelly O'Dwyer, Australia's Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations, on Thursday said that the government had offered "in principle" support for recommendations in a report released by the Migrant Workers' Taskforce on Thursday.

The taskforce called for criminal sanctions to be imposed on employers engaging in "systematic" wage theft in what would be a first for Australia.

"The introduction of criminal sanctions would provide a clear signal to unscrupulous employers that exploitation of migrant workers is unacceptable, and the consequences of doing so can be severe," the report said.

The taskforce was established in 2016 to investigate widespread reports of the mistreatment of migrant workers, particularly those working in horticulture, cleaning, security and meat processing industries.

O'Dwyer told News Corp Australia that the government has no tolerance for those who repeatedly and deliberately underpay workers, whether they are an Australian or worker on a visa.

"For the very first time, we will introduce criminal sanctions for the most serious and egregious forms of deliberate exploitation of workers," O'Dwyer said.

However, she added that the penalties would not apply to employers who accidentally or inadvertently do the wrong thing.

A separate report from researchers at the University of New South Wales and University of Technology Sydney released in October 2018 found that one third of migrant workers in Australia were earning less than half the minimum wage.

It revealed that wage theft was most common in fruit and vegetable picking where 31 percent of respondents were paid 10 Australian dollars (7.03 U.S. dollars) per hour or less and 15 percent earned five Australian dollars (3.5 U.S. dollars) an hour or less. The minimum casual wage for horticultural work is 27.55 Australian dollars (19.37 U.S. dollars) per hour.
Visiting Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou met with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 6, 2019. (Xinhua/Chinese Embassy in Islamabad)

ISLAMABAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China was willing to play a constructive role to help ease the tensions between Pakistan and India, and called on the two sides to refrain from taking any actions that could further escalate the situation, a senior Chinese diplomat said.

China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners which have always shared firm mutual support in issues concerning each other's core interests, visiting Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said during his meetings with the Pakistani leadership on Wednesday.

China paid close attention to the current situation between Pakistan and India, he said, adding that China appreciates the calmness and restraint on the Pakistani side and its efforts to defuse the tensions through dialogues with the Indian side.

China maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, and China does not wish to see any actions that violate rules of international relations, said Kong.

China urged both sides to avoid any actions that could further escalate the situation, show good will and flexibility and engage each other in dialogues as soon as possible, so as to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, he added.

During his visit, Kong met with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. He also held talks with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua.

The Pakistani officials said China is Pakistan's most reliable friend and views Pakistan's relationship with China as the cornerstone of the country's diplomacy.

Pakistan appreciated China remaining objective and fair over the current Pakistan-India situation, and thanked China for its efforts to reduce the tensions, according to the officials.

The Pakistani side reiterated that Pakistan does not want to see escalating tensions, and is willing to solve the conflicts and differences peacefully with India through dialogues, said the officials, adding that Pakistan expects China and the international community to play constructive roles in this regard.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 15:28:27|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

HANOI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam earned nearly 1.1 billion U.S. dollars from exporting seafood, mainly prawns and catfish in the first two months of this year, posting a year-on-year increase of 2.3 percent, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Thursday.

In February alone, the country's seafood exports raked in 350 million U.S. dollars, down 12.6 percent against the same period last year. Its main markets included the United States, Japan, South Korea and China.

Vietnam will strive to make seafood export turnovers of 10 billion U.S. dollars this year, the ministry said. Meanwhile, it will raise aquaculture output by 3.6 percent to over 4.3 million tons, and improve seafood quality by further applying modern technologies.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 15:33:28|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Senior separatist leader and chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Mohammed Yasin Malik was arrested under a controversial preventive law, the Public Safety Act (PSA), in Indian-controlled Kashmir, his party spokesman said Thursday.

Malik was arrested in his residence in February and lodged at Kothi Bagh police station in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Today morning Malik was informed that he has been booked under PSA and will be shifted to Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu," the spokesman said. "He was arrested on Feb. 22 from his Maisuma residence."

Under PSA, authorities can imprison a person without trial for up to six months on suspicion of the possible threat to public order and security. The detention period can be extended indefinitely.

The JKLF "strongly condemned" the "arbitrary arrest" and use of PSA against a political leader, he said.

The spokesman termed slapping PSA on Malik as a "glaring display of frustration by New Delhi."

Recently Indian government banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) in the region, a socio-religious organization, after police arrested dozens of its activists and leaders besides its chief Hameed Fayaz.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 15:53:36|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- More Chinese players have joined in a global coalition to end the online illegal wildlife trade, pledging to contribute new technologies and greater social influences to efforts against poaching and trafficking of endangered species worldwide.

Eight IT companies from China, Tanzania and Vietnam became the latest members of the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, a global network of e-commerce, technology and social media companies, as the coalition celebrated its first anniversary in Beijing on Wednesday.

The eight newly-joined members are Sina Weibo, artron.net, Sogou Search, Han Tang Collection, gucn.com, Gui You Tian Xia from China, Kupatana from Tanzania, and Sapo from Vietnam.

"Wildlife crime ranks among the most serious, dangerous and damaging international organized crimes along with human trafficking, drug running and illegal arms sales," said Jason Bell, IFAW's Vice President for Conservation and Animal Welfare, one of the organizers of the coalition.

In recent years, the purchase and sales of illegal wildlife products have shifted gradually from the traditional offline arena to online platforms and social media, which can facilitate secret transactions with the Internet providing global connectivity, user anonymity and rapid transport, he said.

Illegally trading endangered wildlife online is a new global challenge which require collaborations from governments, related business and all aspects of society to reduce and eliminate online illegal information in order to combat wildlife cybercrime, said Wu Zhimin, director of the wildlife protection department of National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

New technologies including image recognition, big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence give Chinese IT companies the edge to play a crucial role in the cause.

The Chinese coalition members deleted roughly 1 million pieces of information and automatically blocked over 10 million advertisements regarding illegal wildlife products, while 350,000 accounts involved in wildlife traffic were eliminated, according to WWF China.

"With the growing of e-commerce and social media platforms, the Chinese Internet industry has become an important force in combating cybercrime and conserving endangered wildlife in China and even at global scale," Wu said.

On March 7, 2018, 21 internet companies from North America, Asia, and Africa, alongside non-profit organizations WWF, IFAW, and TRAFFIC initiated the coalition in San Francisco.

Since the establishment of the coalition, leading IT companies including Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent from China as their international partners Microsoft, Google, eBay, Instagram, among others, have been actively implementing wildlife friendly policies and exploring new applications to detect and eliminate illegal online information, said Zhou Fei, chief programe officer of WWF China.

Members of the coalition supported law enforcement efforts, participated in multi-agency coordination, and enhanced users' awareness of protecting wildlife and refusing to consume illegal wildlife products, he said.

In November last year, a transnational wildlife traffic ring was cracked by the Chinese Forest Police in the central province of Hunan with 129 suspects arrested. A total of 216 endangered pangolins among other wildlife products and 18 million yuan (2.68 million U.S. dollars) of illicit funds were confiscated at the site.

A coalition member company assisted the law enforcement to root out the criminal organization by monitoring the illegal sales channels, according to WWF China.

Meanwhile, social media platforms have been increasing efforts and innovating campaigning methods to promote the building of an ecological civilization and advise netizens against wildlife consumption to reduce the demand, said Xiao Wenhao with Baidu.

For example, if the reporter searched for "ivory" on Taobao, a retail platform under Alibaba Group, an image of an African elephant was shown with a footnote saying, "Illegal ivory trade has pushed elephants towards extinction" and tips for how to report an illegal product to Taobao administrators.

In January, a creative art exhibition showing exquisite miniature carvings on walnut shells was organized in Chengdu by an e-commerce website specialized in antiques and relics under the theme of "Cultural values without the toll of life."

The wwtx website, also a coalition member, sent out the message to its over 1.5 million users by highlighting the potential market value of walnut carvings as a more eco-friendly and sustainable future for the traditional techniques that had been done on ivory or rhino horn.

The coalition facilitate Chinese Internet companies to link with other countries' counterparts and demonstrate how they are delivering their corporate social responsibility. Organizers will support members to continually create and disseminate messages regarding wildlife protection to target audiences in a variety of ways, Zhou Fei said.

"The coalition has set an ambitious, yet bold goal of working to reduce wildlife trafficking online by 80 percent by 2020. Every effort should be made to support this goal and it is only through partnership and, collective and coordinated action on the part of the coalition, that we will be successful," Bell said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 16:13:40|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Those anticipating confrontation and competition between political parties -- as often seen in Western parliaments -- will be disappointed at China's ongoing "two sessions."

The annual sessions of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee are touching upon every aspect of China's major policies, and more importantly, finding solutions to problems and challenges ahead.

Lawmakers and political advisors are reviewing and discussing a government work report, which announces measures to bolster economic growth including tax cuts, reforms, and more support for the private sector.

The sessions receive wide attention from the public who are looking for details on how the government will deliver promises on blue skies, better education, elderly and child care, or in one word, meeting the people's demands for a better life.

Work reports of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate will soon be submitted onto the table of deputies to the NPC, China's highest organ of state power, and members of the CPPCC National Committee, China's top political advisory body.

Legislators will also vote on a draft law that aims to promote and protect foreign investment amid China's efforts to further reform and open up.

The "two sessions" have shown the government's engagement in a broad-based consultation with different social sectors, its communication abilities and implementation efficiency.

For China, a quality democracy stands on solid ground with regard to key aspects of good governance, with government promises kept and long-term, forward-thinking solutions implemented. It depends on people getting involved, making themselves heard and, more importantly, having their demands met.

A system worth people's trust must be one where the people manage state affairs in conformity with legal provisions, the public express their requirements without hinderance, national decisions are made in a rational, democratic way and the exercise of power is kept under effective restraint and supervision.

The best form of democracy is the one that works. It is not about campaigning and debating. It is the impact of the policy outcomes that counts.

While governments in a number of Western countries are facing social tensions and finding reforms difficult, China is, through its own democracy, seeking consensus and mobilizing the strength of the entire country toward the goal of national rejuvenation.

The Chinese economy is being transformed from fast growth to high-quality development. The gap between urban and rural development has been narrowed. Millions of new jobs are being created. The country is winning the battle against extreme poverty.

China has set the target of completing building a moderately prosperous society by 2020. It will be the first time in human history that a country of more than 1 billion march into modernization as a whole.

It is the Chinese people that have the final say on the impact of the policies and the effectiveness of democracy.

China's national conditions indicate that it will not engage in multi-party rotations of political power, or adopt other concepts such as separation of powers or bicameral legislatures.

The Western experience can only be used as a reference, but should never be copied.

Being confident, however, does not mean China regards its system as flawless. Continous efforts must be made to further improve socialist democracy so that the people can give full play to their creativity.

Challenges lie ahead. China's per capita GDP is close to 10,000 U.S. dollars, still far from that of developed countries. Development requires careful thinking, planning, cooperation and consultation between the government and the public.

This is what is happening at the ongoing "two sessions," which will make decisions conforming to the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority and demonstrating a quality democracy that withstands the test of history.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 16:18:41|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

SEOUL, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States held talks in Washington about the affairs related to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Seoul's foreign ministry said here on Thursday.

Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, met Wednesday in Washington with Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for the DPRK.

During the meeting, the two diplomats exchanged opinion and discussed follow-up measures on the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam last week.

Lee and Biegun shared a view that the current situation after the second DPRK-U.S. summit would be very sensitive in advancing future talks between the DPRK and the United States, yet they agreed to keep close consultation and discussed ways to resume the DPRK-U.S. talks at an early date, the foreign ministry said.

After the bilateral meeting, Lee and Biegun had a working lunch joined by Japan's chief nuclear envoy, Kenji Kanasugi, according to the ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 16:43:49|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

NEW YORK, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Major socio-economic policies set out during China's ongoing Two Sessions are "very timely and highly welcome" as the world economy "once again enters a period of uncertainty," a U.S. expert on China said Wednesday.

The Two Sessions refer to the annual gathering of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, and that of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body.

"I see a three-fold -- and integrated -- focus at this year's Two Sessions gathering," Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies in Washington, D.C., told Xinhua in a written interview. "The overall focus is primarily socio-economic."

In Gupta's eyes, the three pillars are winning the critical battle against poverty, stabilizing the macro-economy without recourse to old-school stimulus-heavy policies, and devising and implementing new internal drivers that can structurally transform China's economy to a high-quality growth model.

In the government work report delivered at the opening of the annual NPC session on Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged that Beijing will not resort to massive economic stimulus.

In the work report, China sets its GDP growth target at 6-6.5 percent for 2019, and vows to reduce its rural poor population by over 10 million in the same year.

The country, according to the work report, will also further relax controls over market access, shorten the negative list for foreign investment, and permit wholly foreign funded enterprises to operate in more sectors.

Gupta noted that the past instances of heavy investment-led stimulus in China, notably after the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, did lead to robust growth, but the focus has now changed.

"As the world economy once again enters a period of uncertainty, the need of the hour therefore is to simultaneously manage the economic headwinds with prudent aggregate demand-stabilizing policies while pushing ahead systematically with the new round of structural opening-up and reform," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 16:53:54|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

SEOUL, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's reform and opening-up policy has benefited foreign companies, improved living standards and boosted the country's economy, an executive of South Korea's biggest automaker said.

"China's reform and opening-up is a great achievement in the development of China ... In the process of reform and opening-up for the past 40 years, China's national power has grown stronger, and people's living quality improved greatly," Lee Hyuk Joon, president of Hyundai Motor Group (China) Ltd., said in a written interview with Xinhua Wednesday.

The reform and opening-up, Lee noted, commanded the world's attention as reforms sped up in recent years while opening-up developed China's economy into a fairer, more effective one today.

In addition to benefiting the Chinese people, the policy has been advantageous to foreign companies, including Hyundai Motor that entered the Chinese market by setting up a representative office in 1992 when China and South Korea established diplomatic relations, and created a joint venture in 2002 when China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO), the executive said.

"It is no exaggeration to say China cannot exist as a prosperous one today without reform and opening-up ... China is the world's biggest consumer market, and a country having the highest number of wise, diligent managers, engineers and workers in the world," said Lee.

Touching on what he described as "countless attractions" China has as a destination for investment by foreign firms, Lee said the Chinese government combined efficiency, competitiveness and a business mentality to adjust its policies flexibly and continued to enhance the business environment according to developments in its economy.

"It is no doubt that Hyundai Motor successfully developed in China," Lee said, noting the success of a countless number of foreign companies due to the reform and opening-up policy.

Helped by "decisive" contributions from the Chinese government and its Chinese partners, Hyundai has worked to meet the needs of Chinese consumers over the decades and topped 10 million in cumulative automobile sales in the Chinese market earlier this year, said the executive.

Hyundai plans to provide eco-friendly models, including hybrid, electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in the Chinese market, hoping to roll out its NEXO, a new generation of its hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle as early as possible.

In 2013, Hyundai launched the ix35 Fuel Cell in 2013, becoming the first automaker commercializing hydrogen in a production model. It unveiled the NEXO SUV, a second generation of its hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle that realized hydrogen energy technology through its flagship SUV body type, in 2018.

The executive said Hyundai is confident in China's future growth and ongoing reform and opening-up.

As its economic power grew, China developed a capability to protect itself from risks, caused by an expanded opening-up, Lee said. He recommended that China continue to alter the policy as it sees fit to meet new challenges.

Even though China's growth has slowed in recent years after decades of rapid expansion, the country remains an economic force, Lee noted.

"Despite a moderate slowdown of its growth rate, China's economic fundamentals have not changed. And, China's status as a driving force of the world economy is growing higher," said Lee.

"The Chinese market is the global market."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 16:58:57|Editor: Yurou

Video Player Close

by Xinhua writers Qiang Lijing, Dronla

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Political advisor Thubten Khedrup is confident about his proposals to be submitted on the ongoing annual "two sessions" in Beijing.

"Almost all of my proposals have been adopted and taken effect, or are being considered by authorities," the 55-year-old Tibetan man said.

As a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, Thubten Khedrup has presented nearly 200 proposals both at the regional level and national level since he was first elected as a regional political advisor of Tibet in 1998.

Down to Earth Proposals

Talking about his former proposals, Thubten Khedrup was proud to mention selecting Tibetan antelope as one of the five mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

"I first presented the proposal in 2003 and continued to submit it in 2004. Finally, I made it," Thubten Khedrup said. "To come up with the 1,000-word proposal, I consulted a dozen conservators and experts on the Tibetan antelope -- a barometer of the environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The adoption of the proposal not only made the rare species widely known to the world but also drew global attention to Tibet and its climate change.

Ten years after he submitted the proposal of launching doctoral degree program in Tibet, three doctoral degree programs on the regional economy, ecology of Tibet and Tibetan language were opened in Tibet University in 2013.

His proposals had not come out of wild thinking in the office, but were based on the stories he learned from ordinary Tibetan people and massive field research data collected by his research team.

To learn the latest data on Tibetan living conditions, Thubten Khedrup has visited countless households, temples, monasteries in almost every county in Tibet.

Because of a serious car accident which nearly took his life in 2002, Thubten Khedrup has raised the proposal of promoting Tibetan medicine.

Sustaining blood stasis in the head, Thubten Khedrup was in a state of coma but miraculously woke up after his mother gave him Tibetan medicine.

After five years' treatment with Tibetan medicine, he has recovered and returned to work.

As a political advisor at the national level, he observed the nation's development with a Tibetan perspective and came up with proposals that allow Tibet learning from other provinces' experience.

To write a proposal on how Tibet can woo tourists in the winter low-season, Thubten Khedrup visited China's southernmost island province of Hainan and northeast China's "ice city" of Harbin to gain experience.

Son of Tibet

Thubten Khedrup was among over 2,000 political advisors attending the second session of the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC.

The CPPCC National Committee members are people from various backgrounds including scientists, officials, entrepreneurs, artists and religious figures. They gather at the annual session to discuss major political, economic and social issues.

"Political advisor is not only an honor, but also a responsibility," he said.

He seems proud of another identity -- a son of Tibet. "I even use it as my screen name," he said.

Born in a herdsman's family in Jomda County in the city of Qamdo, Thubten Khedrup has always remained grateful that he has lived up to his dream to become a teacher, now a professor at Tibet University in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

"I am the son of one of the 1 million serfs who were emancipated with the help of the Communist Party of China 60 years ago," Tubten Khedrup said. "Thanks to the CPC, I can be what I am today."

After graduating from the Southwest Normal University in Chongqing Municipality in 1988, Thubten Khedrup had many chances to work in coastal provinces. However, he was desperate to go back to Tibet to work as a teacher, even if it were a primary school teacher in a remote town.

"We Tibetan people highly appreciate teaching because teacher means wisdom," he said.

Luckily, he found a job at Tibet University. From then on, he researched the practical problems of Tibet while sharing his findings with the government and his students for over 30 years.

Brought up in the plateau region, Thubten Khedrup developed great interest in any topic related to Tibet when he was a college student.

"I am eager to know more about Tibet, and hope it could become better," Thubten Khedrup said. "So finding problems in the development of Tibet and coming up with solutions is how I fulfill my obligation as a political advisor."

As an expert of regional economy and tourism of Tibet, Thubten Khedrup have visited many places, both domestic and overseas, since 2008.

Thubten Khedrup can never forget a trip to France in 2010 when he was challenged by a group of foreigners on the human rights situation in Tibet.

"I'm a teacher and like to answer questions," Thubten Khedrup told the skeptics. "I would like to teach you that human rights include the right to live and to develop. Instead of preaching, I will give you an example: I myself am the son of a serf in old Tibet. If today's Tibet were as bad as what you described, how could I sit here to have a meeting with you in France?"

"Tibetan people should have the confidence to pursue their happiness, never mind what others say," he said.

At the beginning, he found overseas Tibetan people had doubts about the situation in Tibet. Gradually, they have learned the rapid development of Tibet from TV and friends. Some even envy the people living in Tibet and regret living in exile.

Tibet Story Teller

To tell Tibet's story to more people is his incentive to be a political advisor.

Anyone who intends to apply for either a Ph.D. or postgraduate position supervised by Thubten Khedrup should meet his three requirements: know Tibet, thank Tibet and serve Tibet.

"Serving Tibet does not mean they have to stay in Tibet forever. They can go anywhere after graduation. Wherever they go, they will tell stories of Tibet to help more people know Tibet," he said.

Tibetan people are living a harmonious life now. Lhasa's public security conditions are among the best in the world, he said.

"In Lhasa, you don't have to carry your packsack in front of your chest, as people do in some other places," he noted. "People in Tibet respect doctors and teachers. You rarely see medical dispute here. Women taxi drivers dare to drive at midnight."

"As a Tibetan man born in early 1960s, my own story reflects Tibet's change and development over the past 60 years since the democratic reform in 1959."

Now, Thubten Khedrup has nine Ph.D. students from different ethnic minority groups of China. Some of his previous students graduated from postgraduate school of China's top university --Tsinghua University or prominent universities in the world, including LSE in the UK.

"To know Tibet well and tell Tibet's story well, I still have a long way to go," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 16:58:58|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may soon begin the process of lifting gray wolves from the endangered species protection list, a move that will likely draw controversy.

Speaking at a conference in Denver, acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said recovery of the gray wolf population has been a "great conservation success."

In a statement to the press, the Fish and Wildlife Service said it will "soon propose a rule to delist the gray wolf in the lower 48 states and return management of the species to the states and tribes."

The statement did not detail a time frame for the process.

Gray wolves are currently protected in all U.S. states except Alaska and Hawaii, meaning that they cannot be hunted or killed, except under special circumstances.

The population of gray wolves in the lower 48 states dropped to around 1,000 in the 1970s, when the species was put on the protection list. Now the population has recovered to more than 5,000.

State lawmakers have long wanted the federal government to hand back the right to regulate gray wolves. Wisconsin state Senator Tom Tiffany hailed Bernhardt's announcement, saying his state should be in charge of wildlife management, especially after the wolf population increase has led to frustrations among farmers and hunters.

But environmental conservationists are skeptical of the move, saying the wolf population still cannot sustain hunting and killing.

"This disgusting proposal would be a death sentence for gray wolves across the country," Collette Adkins, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

Gray wolves primarily roam the northern part the contiguous United States, and is a keystone predator and an integral component of the ecosystems to which it typically belongs.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 16:58:59|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's securities regulator has allowed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to access the country's capital market via the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) program.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said it made the decision after receiving an application from the IMF.

In an online announcement, the CSRC said it required the IMF to follow the rules and fulfill its duties.

The RQFII mechanism was launched in 2011 to widen investment channels for overseas yuan funds on the Chinese mainland, allowing those that qualify to invest in China's securities market within a permitted quota. It aims partly to increase the international use of the RMB.

As of Feb. 27, the RQFII quota came in at 660.47 billion yuan (about 98.4 billion U.S. dollars), according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:04:03|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Over 75 percent of Chinese think community-level clinics play an important role in treating common aliments, according to a survey published in China Youth Daily Thursday.

Also, a total of 73.9 percent of the 2,001 people polled said they tend to go to community hospitals first when they need medical treatment.

"Upon most occasions, I first choose the nearby community health center. The doctors are familiar with our conditions, and give us effective treatments," Dong Jing, a resident with two daughters in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, told the paper.

She said that in addition to routine prescriptions, the doctors also gave tips on infectious disease prevention.

A total of 67.4 percent of respondents expect improved facilities at relevant institutions, and 63.3 percent hope for better training systems for community medical workers.

Zhou Zijun, a professor with the public health school of the Peking University, suggested more incentives for and stricter oversight of community medical workers in a bid to improve services.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:04:03|Editor: Yamei

Video Player Close

OTTAWA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Canada unveiled a national space strategy on Wednesday, a week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the country would participate in a U.S.-led space station.

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to build a new Lunar Gateway, a small space station in the moon's orbit, around 2026.

Canada on Feb. 28 announced an investment of 1.9 billion Canadian dollars (about 1.4 billion U.S. dollars) over 24 years for the next generation of smart, artificial intelligence-powered space robotics for the Lunar Gateway.

Canada's involvement will enable its researchers to perform observations in the fields of astrophysics, heliophysics (the study of effects of the Sun on the solar system), solar-terrestrial interactions, and Earth observation, which are not possible from the ground or from the Earth's orbit, according to the strategy.

The gateway will "improve our understanding of solar storms and their effects on astronauts, spacecraft systems, and terrestrial infrastructure such as power lines and telecommunications systems."

Canada's space strategy too has a domestic focus to "make life better for Canadians," including promoting connectivity and enhancing security.

Furthermore, it's aimed to improve remote medicine and healthcare on Earth by monitoring vital signs and performing diagnostics on astronauts in space, and to also transfer an initiative to improve access to healthy food across Canada beyond the Earth.

"Growing nutritious food effectively in remote regions with harsh environments could allow us to mature the technology to do the same on the moon and in deep space," says the strategy.

It also supports Canada's astronaut program, and "guarantees flight opportunities in low-Earth orbit for ... (Canadian) astronauts and sets the stage for a Canadian to visit the moon for the first time."

David Saint-Jacques is currently on the International Space Station. Jeremy Hansen is scheduled to become the next Canadian astronaut in space.

Canada is playing catch-up with other countries pursuing space exploration. It became the third nation, after the United States and the former Soviet Union, to launch a satellite in 1962. So far it has recruited 14 astronauts, eight of whom have participated in 16 space missions.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:09:04|Editor: Yamei

Video Player Close

CANBERRA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Australia has launched a new campaign to attract more young Chinese travellers.

According to local media the Sydney Morning Herald, the new 5-million-Australian-dollar (3.5 million U.S. dollars) advertising campaign, featuring the slogan "too Australian for words" on billboards showing imagery of natural scenery was launched in metro stations and major cities in China this month.

China is Australia's biggest source of tourists with more than 1.4 million people visiting the country in the 12 months to September 2018, contributing 11.5 billion Australian dollars (8.08 billion U.S. dollars) to the economy - a 12 percent increase on the previous year.

Simon Birmingham, Australian minister for trade, tourism and investment, said in a statement on an official website on Thursday that the government aims to attract an emerging and lucrative type of Chinese visitors to Australia, commonly known as "free and independent traveller (FIT)."

"FITs tend to be younger, more adventurous and are willing to get out of their comfort zone," said the minister, adding that Chinese FITs tend to stay in Australia three times longer on average than those on a group tour, which presents a great opportunity for Australia's regional tourism offerings given the strong correlation between length of stay and likelihood to travel beyond Australia's gateways and iconic attractions.

"Australia already has a strong affinity amongst Chinese travellers; however, we must continue to find new ways to appeal to the Chinese market," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:19:07|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Following is the schedule for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) on Friday.

-- At 10 a.m., Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet the press at the media center of the NPC annual session, where he will answer questions on China's foreign policy and relations.

-- In the morning, the NPC deputies will hold panel meetings to examine the report on the execution of the central and local budgets for 2018 and the draft plan of central and local budgets for 2019.

The NPC Financial and Economic Committee will examine the budget report and the report on the implementation of the 2018 plan for national economic and social development and the 2019 draft plan for national economic and social development, before reporting on the review results of the two reports.

-- At 3 p.m., the NPC deputies will hold a plenary meeting at the Great Hall of the People to hear a report on the NPC Standing Committee's work to be delivered by Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, and an explanation on the draft foreign investment law to be made by Wang Chen, vice chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:24:11|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

CAIRO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian state media reported that one officer was wounded and some terrorists were killed in an exchanged fire between security forces and terrorists at the ring road of Giza province on Thursday.

State-run Ahram newspaper confirmed the news on its website without mentioning the exact number of casualties.

Egypt has been battling wave of anti-security terrorist attacks since the army ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 in response to mass protest against his one-year rule.

Most of the attacks were centered in North Sinai where a branch of Islamic State was located.

However, some of the attacks crept into the capital and other cities.

Hundreds of security men and civilians were killed in the attacks, most of which were claimed by Islamic State.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:29:12|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

JERUSALEM, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Israeli fighter jets struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip early on Thursday, hours after a projectile was launched from the Palestinian enclave at southern Israel, the army said.

"Fighter jets and aircraft struck several military targets in a Hamas compound in the southern Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement.

According to local media reports, a Hamas naval commando base was bombed in the attack. The strikes caused damage but no injuries were reported.

The army said the strikes were a response to balloons carrying explosive devices and a projectile launched from Gaza at Israeli territory on Wednesday evening.

The projectile, apparently a mortar shell, was intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, causing no damage or injuries.

"The Israel Defense Forces views any attempt to harm Israeli civilians with great severity, and will continue to operate with determination against these terror acts," the army warned.

The strikes were carried out as the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza announced that a 15-year-old boy had been killed by Israeli troops during clashes at the fence separating between the besieged enclave and Israel on Wednesday night.

It was the fifth time Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza since Saturday. The army says all the attacks were a response to explosive balloons or projectile sent from Gaza towards southern Israel.

The escalating violence has triggered fears that an informal truce, agreed last November between Israel and Hamas, will collapse.

Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement, runs Gaza since 2007. In response, Israel, which accuses Hamas of being a terror organization, imposed a blockade on Gaza with devastating consequences to Gaza's nearly 2 million residents.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:29:13|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

by Xinhua writers Xu Jing, Miao Zhuang

CHICAGO, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The 21 newly hired workers appeared excited as they stood in a spacious 20,000-square-meter building belonging to China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) Sifang America in the southern suburbs of Chicago.

They will leave Chicago on Friday for China to receive a month of training.

Most knew little about China until CRRC Sifang America won a 1.3-billion-U.S.-dollar contract in 2016 to supply railcars to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), and began to construct a factory in their neighborhood. Now they are members of the Chinese facility.

Before working for CRRC, 52-year-old Nestor Torres had worked as an electrician with a local company for 25 years. At CRRC, he will be an electrical foreman and will receive training for railcar installation in the city of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province, where CRRC is headquartered.

"I've never been to China, [it's] going to be exciting," Torres said. "We're very good learners and fast learners."

Ceasar Rodriguez lives just 10-minute drive from the CRRC Chicago facility. "To master how to build the rail cars for CRRC, that would be my goal," the 38-year-old told Xinhua.

Rodriguez expects to grow within the CRRC, and said the hiring process wasn't easy. "There are a lot of requirements."

A lifelong local resident, Rodriguez knows his community well.

"This part of Chicago is an old area. It's been pretty desolate for quite a while, for a few decades," Rodrigue said. "With CRRC being here, it's kind of uplifted the community by bringing in so many jobs here."

The southern suburbs of Chicago used to be a hub for manufacturing. But with manufacturing jobs moving overseas, it has been more than 30 years since the last railcar was produced here and over 50 years since CTA's railcars were produced in Chicago.

Roman Delion, who also joins the facility, believes CRRC will ramp up production after testing a few cars. "We're going to do a massive higher, so they're going to be doing a lot of hiring within the year and after. So the residents in this neighborhood should have priority for hiring."

He added: "Since they're here, other companies are coming as well, other bigger companies. The economy's going to start growing and people are going to get jobs."

The 42-year-old is also vice president of the Chamber of Commerce in the community working to bring business in. "I'm really involved in my community and trying to get it to grow and trying to help all the young people to get good jobs like this."

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who clinched the CRRC deal, said he had no idea what this facility would look like when sat down negotiating. "It far surpasses anything I could've ever imagined."

"CTA cars built by Chicagoans for Chicagoans in Chicago will be the new rule of the day from now on," he said proudly. "We're bringing manufacturing jobs (back to Chicago) and I want to thank the partnership."

"Having CRRC come here is exciting," said Andrea Zopp, president and CEO of World Business Chicago, "not only because we're bringing railcar manufacturing back to the south side of Chicago, but because we're creating real jobs and economic opportunity for really not only great jobs, but training."

"That economic opportunity here is critically important to all of our residents," Zopp added.

Statistics provided by Consulate General of China in Chicago show that more than 60 Chinese enterprises have either invested or launched enterprises in Chicago since 2011, with an accumulated investment exceeding three billion U.S. dollars, creating tens of thousands of jobs for local residents.

Both Torres and Rodriguez expressed interest in learning mandarin when in China. "I would like to pick it up, so I could communicate with those who work here" and come from China, Rodriguez said.

Delion has never been outside of the United States and takes this opportunity for training in China as "one in a million." He wants to see the Great Wall and Beijing. "I just want to experience everything. I don't want to do nothing western out there," Delion said. "I want to do China, you know, the full experience."
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:39:16|Editor: Yamei

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Education has decided to check the recruitment qualifications of secondary vocational schools and publish the results on a regular basis.

Provincial-level education administrative departments were asked to coordinate and organize inspections of vocational schools to find out if there have been serious malpractices involving student recruitment and management, according to a ministry circular.

Authorities should also check school funding, infrastructure, teaching staff, training and internships.

The ministry also asked provincial authorities to publish the list of qualified schools in their respective provinces by the end of May each year.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:44:17|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KABUL, March 7 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people were injured after a mortar attack on a gathering attended by high-ranking officials and politicians in western Kabul on Thursday, authorities said.

Several rounds of mortars struck near or inside Shahid Mazari Musalla, a big open mosque building at around midday in Dashti Barchi locality, a security official told Xinhua anonymously.

"Some 15 wounded were shifted by Kabul Ambulance Service in hospitals after Thursday's attack. But the exact number of casualties will be shared later in the day," Dr. Muhibullah, a public health official, told local media Tolo News TV.

The Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs media office said on twitter that the mortars were fired from a house in Police District 18 of the city, and one person has been arrested following the attack.

Most government officials left the area safely after the incident.

"I've arrived home safe and unharmed from today's terrorist attack in Dashti Barchi but eight of my security guards have been injured," former National Security Advisor Mohammad Hanif Atmar said on twitter.

"This was the most horrid and unforgivable attack on civilians by a merciless enemy. I'm pained by the loss of life and injury suffered by so many," Atmar, a presidential election candidate, said.

Those attending the event included government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Foreign Minister Salauddin Rabbani and former President Hamid Karzai, among others.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 17:54:18|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

NAIROBI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The UN Environment has called for swift action on major threats to the planetary health including climate change, plastic waste and marine litter ahead of the fourth session of the UN Environment Assembly slated for next week.

Joyce Msuya, acting UN Environment executive director in a letter to UN member states appealed for bold action to halt further depletion of vital ecosystems due to global warming and human actions.

"Time is running short. We are past pledging and politicking. We are past commitments with little accountability. What is at stake is life, and society, as the majority of us know it and enjoy it today," Msuya said in a letter to delegates released on Wednesday evening.

She made reference to recent United Nations reports that call for urgent action on climate change which remains a grave threat to ecosystems and livelihoods.

More than 2,000 delegates including the world's environment ministers, scientists, industry executives and green campaigners will participate in the event to discuss a raft of initiatives that could hasten progress towards a green future.

Delegates will explore innovative measures to decarbonize the global economy and eradicate food waste and plastic pollution in the oceans.

"It is time for us to truly give shape to the fundamental transformations that will be required to sustain human life-transformations in our food systems, energy systems ,waste systems, economic systems- and indeed our value systems," said Msuya.

She emphasized the need for special attention to circular economy, a new deal for nature, cities, clean cooling and renewable energy in order to realize green transformation in the near future.

"If we are able to drive systemic change across these areas, then we will contribute to lifting people out of poverty and building a safer, healthier and more equitable world. Because by protecting the planet-as we have seen on so many occasions-we are also protecting its people," said Msuya.

She called for adoption of innovations to help accelerate progress towards a sustainable and green future.

"Some of the most important solutions to the climate crisis and to biodiversity loss, and to so many challenges will come from innovation," said Msuya adding that partnerships are key to boost health of the planet.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:04:21|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

MUMBAI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has signed a cooperation agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to build capacity of the insolvency professionals, a release by the government Press Information Bureau said on Thursday.

The agreement envisages technical assistance up to June 30, 2021 by the IFC to IBBI that would cover training of insolvency professionals, trainers, development of national insolvency programs and insolvency and valuation examinations.

Since the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 became effective, bankers have recovered almost 50 percent of the defaulted amount advanced to borrowers worth 20.4 billion U.S. dollars stuck in 82 cases over the past two years.

The code provides for re-organization and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time bound manner for maximization of the value of assets.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:04:21|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

JERUSALEM, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces demolished early on Thursday the home of a Palestinian who was behind the killing of an Israeli newborn and two soldiers in the West Bank last December.

Bulldozers accompanied by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops, Border Police officers, and the Civil Administration personnel, carried out the demolition of the home of Asem Barghouti in the village of Kauber, north of Ramallah, according to a statement released by the army.

Barghouti was arrested in January after a month-long manhunt. He is accused of carrying out a shooting attack at the Ofra Junction, outside the Israeli settlement of Ofra, along with his brother on Dec. 9, 2018. In the attack, a three-day-old baby boy was killed and seven civilians were injured.

Barghouti carried out another shooting attack at the Asaf Junction in the central West Bank on Dec. 13, 2018, in which Staff-Sergeant Yovel Moryosef and Sergeant Yosef Cohen were killed.

"The terrorist was located following persistent intelligence and operational efforts of the Israel Security Agency, Israel's Counter Terrorism Unit and the IDF on Jan. 8, 2019," said the spokesperson.

The army warned that it will continue to operate to "thwart terror and maintain the security in the area."

Israel says house demolitions are an effective deterrent against attacks. Critics counter that the tactic amounts to collective punishment.

Since Israel seized the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, it has demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes as a punitive measure aimed at deterring Palestinians from carrying out attacks against Israelis in the future.

In early 2005, a Defense Ministry committee concluded that the measure is ineffective, and Israel ceased to use it.

However, the government renewed the controversial practice in 2015, in the wake of the wave of street attacks.

The U.S. administration has denounced the demolitions as "counterproductive" and Palestinians and human rights organizations say it constitutes an unlawful collective punishment that leaves the relatives homeless.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:09:23|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

Thai Raksa Chart Party leader Preechapol Pongpanich (R, front) and members of Thai Raksa Chart Party are seen at the Constitutional Court in Bangkok, Thailand, March 7, 2019. Thailand's Constitutional Court unanimously ruled on Thursday to dissolve the Thai Raksa Chart Party, following its naming of Princess Ubolratana Mahidol last month as its candidate for post-election prime minister. Thai Raksa Chart Party nominated Princess Ubolratana as the candidate for prime minister on Feb. 8, followed by a royal announcement later that day saying involving the princess in politics was "inappropriate" and against the constitution and constitutional monarchy. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)

BANGKOK, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Constitutional Court unanimously ruled on Thursday to dissolve the Thai Raksa Chart Party, following its naming of Princess Ubolratana Mahidol last month as its candidate for post-election prime minister.

All the nine Constitutional Court judges unanimously voted to dissolve the party, which named Princess Ubolratana, the elder sister of King Maha Vajiralongkorn as candidate for prime minister in the March 24 election.

The Constitutional Court read out the judgment on the case in the presence of several prominent members of the party, thus disqualifying all the party's electoral candidates running in both individual constituency and party-list modes in the upcoming election of MPs.

The court's ruling was delivered in support of the Election Commission which launched a bid to have the party dissolved for having named the princess as candidate for prime minister.

Due to the dissolution of the party, all 13 members of its executive board were prohibited from contesting elections for 10 years, according to the ruling.

Thai Raksa Chart Party nominated Princess Ubolratana as the candidate for prime minister on Feb. 8, followed by a royal announcement later that day saying involving the princess in politics was "inappropriate" and against the constitution and constitutional monarchy.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:14:24|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

COLOMBO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan police on Thursday arrested two suspects with drugs valued at an estimated 11,000 U.S. dollars from a house in Thihariya in the Western province, local media reported.

The suspects were nabbed when they arrived in a tuk tuk with a stock of Kerala cannabis, an illegal narcotic, which police suspected had been smuggled into the country from India.

The suspects, both residents from the Southern district of Galle, will be presented before a local court later Thursday.

Sri Lankan investigators, on instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena, have since January launched a severe crackdown on drug dealers and smugglers, with several arrests being made within the past two months.

In a meeting with local editors on Wednesday, Sirisena commended the police narcotics bureau, tri forces, the Excise Department and Coast Guard for their commitment and support in combating the drug menace in the country.

"Raids and search operations are being carried out despite the absence of high tech equipment," Sirisena said.

He added that he will invest in the latest technology to prevent narcotic rackets in the country and vowed to make Sri Lanka free from illegal drugs by 2020.

Sirisena said the large stocks of drugs which had been seized within the past few months through raids will be dissolved and chemically destroyed with scientific methods in the presence of magistrates and judiciary at Katunayake, in the outskirts of capital Colombo on April 1.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:19:25|Editor: Yamei

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. tariff measures are actually causing net losses of billions of dollars to domestic consumers and importers, according to two latest studies by U.S. economists.

One of papers, published Saturday and titled "The Impact of the 2018 Trade War on U.S. Prices and Welfare," said that the U.S. government levied import duties on approximately 283 billion dollars' worth of U.S. imports over the course of 2018.

"Overall, using standard economic methods, we find that the full incidence of the tariff falls on domestic consumers," argued Mary Amiti of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Stephen Redding of Princeton University and David Weinstein of Columbia University, co-authors of the paper.

The researchers said they estimated that by the end of 2018, import tariffs raised costs for U.S. consumers and the firms that import foreign goods by 4.4 billion dollars a month. They found that domestic consumers and importers spent three billion dollars per month in added tax and bore the burden of another 1.4 billion dollars per month in deadweight welfare losses.

For the first 11 months of 2018, the cumulative deadweight welfare cost, or reduction in real income, from the U.S. tariffs was around 6.9 billion dollars, with an additional cost of 12.3 billion dollars to domestic consumers and importers in the form of tariff revenue transferred to the government, according to the scholars.

"We estimate that if the tariffs that were in place by the end of 2018 were to continue, approximately 165 billion dollars of trade per year will continue to be redirected in order to avoid the tariffs," said the paper, which was published by the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research.

"We find that the U.S. tariffs were almost completely passed through into U.S. domestic prices, so that the entire incidence of the tariffs fell on domestic consumers and importers up to now, with no impact so far on the prices received by foreign exporters," the economists wrote, adding that they also found that U.S. producers responded to reduced import competition by raising their prices.

A separate study, titled "The Return of Protectionism" and done by economists including Pinelopi Goldberg, the World Bank's chief economist and a former editor-in-chief of the American Economic Review, reached a similar conclusion that U.S. firms and the American people are paying the price for U.S. tariff battle worldwide.

The paper, whose other authors are Pablo Fajgelbaum of the University of California, Los Angeles, Patrick Kennedy of the University of California, Berkeley, and Amit Khandelwal of Columbia University, put annual consumer and producer losses from the higher cost of imports at 68.8 billion dollars, or 0.37 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).

After accounting for higher tariff revenue and gains to domestic producers from higher prices, the aggregate welfare effect is a 7.8-billion-dollar loss, or 0.04 percent of GDP, according to the research, which was last updated on Tuesday.

"U.S. tariffs favored sectors located in politically competitive counties," the paper read. "We compute that tradeable-sector workers in heavily Republican counties are the most negatively affected by the trade war," it added, suggesting that the White House actually inflicted pains mostly on farmers and blue-collar workers.

"It's pretty unclear that this trade war is a net win for the economy at this point," Weinstein of Columbia said in an interview with Bloomberg news, which in a report called the two papers "the most authoritative yet to document the negative effect" of the tariffs on the U.S. economy.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:39:31|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

COLOMBO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Meteorology Department on Thursday issued a severe heat advisory for several districts across the country as temperatures could reach above 35 degrees centigrade with severe humidity.

The heat advisory was issued for the northern, north central and eastern provinces and the Puttalam district, in north western Sri Lanka.

The Meteorology Department issued an extreme caution for people residing in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya in the north and Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara in the east and Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa in the north central province and Puttalam in the north western province.

The Meteorology Department warned residents living in these areas to avoid going out in the heat within the coming week due to the possibility of heat strokes, cramps and heat exhaustion.

Several areas in capital Colombo and in the south have also been warned to take extra precautions when being out in the heat.

The department advises the public to remain hydrated and take frequent breaks while also avoid going outside. Children and the elderly should also not be left unattended, the Meteorology Department said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:39:32|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

CAIRO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- At least seven terrorists were killed and an officer was wounded on Thursday in an exchange of fire in Egypt's Giza province, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

"The national security authority has received information that elements from terrorist Hasem movement were planning for carrying out attacks to provoke chaos in the country," the statement said.

Three terrorist members, who were in electricity worker uniform in a four-wheel vehicle, were intended to plant some explosive devices in Giza, it added.

"The terrorists fired at the security men at one of the security check points at the ring road of Giza, and the police fired back," it said. The exchange of fire wounded an officer, and killed three militants.

The statement added that an automatic gun and explosive devices were seized in the terrorist van.

Other four terrorists were killed in a nearby apartment where they hide their weapons and explosives in October 6 region on the outskirt of Cairo, it added.

Egypt has been battling wave of anti-security terrorist attacks since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 in response to mass protest against his one-year rule.

Most of the attacks were centered in North Sinai where a branch of Islamic State was located.

However, some of the attacks crept into the capital and other cities.

Hundreds of security men and civilians were killed in the attacks, most of which were claimed by Islamic State.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:44:33|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

A person injured in a grenade blast is carried for medical treatment in Jammu city, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, March 7, 2019. One person was killed and 33 others were wounded Thursday in a grenade blast inside the main bus station in Jammu city, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said. (Xinhua /Stringer)

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, March 7 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and 33 others were wounded Thursday in a grenade blast inside a busy bus station in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

The blast took place at the main bus station in Jammu city, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"A blast took place at a bus station here today in which 34 people were wounded," medical superintendent at Government Medical College hospital Jammu said. "Of the wounded, one succumbed, while the remaining ones are undergoing treatment here."

Following the blast, police contingents rushed to the spot to ascertain the cause of the blast and carry out searches in its vicinity to arrest persons behind the attack.

"Preliminary investigations reveal it was a grenade blast," a senior police official said. "After it was thrown, it rolled beneath the empty bus parked there which minimised its impact, otherwise it could have caused severe damage because of the rush witnessed here."

The blast triggered panic at the bus station that often remains crowded.

"I heard the blast and then heard people shouting," Amit Sharma, a local shopkeeper said. "When I rushed outside I saw injured being helped."

Forensic teams have collected samples from the spot to ascertain the nature of the blast.

"Samples have been taken from the spot by forensic experts and complete details about the nature of the blast will be given out after their report," the official said.

Police have registered the case and ordered investigations into the blast. So far no arrest has been made regarding the blast, officials said.

"We have ordered investigations and are looking for leads to follow in this case," the police official said. "Since there were no police or paramilitary presence, so it is not clear what the target was."

A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troopers stationed in the region since 1989.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:49:34|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

LILONGWE, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The newly upgraded Karonga-Songwe road, one of Malawi's priority routes for regional trade, will reopen on Thursday, according to a statement by the Malawi government.

Malawi's President Peter Mutharika will attend the launch ceremony in Karonga District, a northern region district which lies about 533 kilometers north of the country's capital Lilongwe, the Office of the President and Cabinet said in a statement.

Funded by the World Bank under the Southern Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project to the tune of 24 million U.S. dollars, the 46-kilometer road has been under renovation since December 2017 by a Chinese company named Zhejiang Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd.

The road will further open areas along the way to more business especially the rice trade, Malawi Paramount Chief Kyungu of Karonga and Chitipa said.

"The impact will be greater and the lives of people surely will change for the better," Kyungu said.

The government-sponsored Greenbelt Authority "are starting a rice irrigation project here (in Karonga) which will boost rice production adding to the already flourishing rice output. With the road, farmers will be able to export to neighboring Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique," Kyungu said.

The road is part of the North-South Corridor that connects Malawi to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

"Karonga, particularly the northern part, is key to the country's rice production and the road will ease mobility from farmers to various markets," said District Commissioner for Karonga Richard Hara.

"This means the district will now be making more revenue from such trade. The beauty of the district will also be enhanced," Hara said.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:54:35|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani commended the return of security and stability to neighboring Iraq after it defeated the Islamic State militants, official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.

Security and stability of the two neighbors are combined, Rouhani said on Wednesday in a meeting with the visiting Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi.

Rouhani voiced his country's readiness to further bolster ties with Iraq in various fields and called for deepening close and brotherly relations with Iraq.

For his part, al-Halbousi appreciated Iran's assistance to Iraq in fighting terrorism.

Development of relations between the two countries helps stability in the region, he stressed.

He reiterated his country's opposition to the U.S. sanctions on Iran.

In another meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani on Wednesday, al-Halbousi said that his country will stand by Iran in facing the U.S. sanctions.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 18:59:37|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese official tasked with poverty alleviation spoke highly of various financial services dedicated to the campaign and called for increased support.

The financial sector plays a key role in poverty alleviation, said Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, at a press conference held on the sidelines of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress.

He said many anti-poverty financial services, including micro-credit, re-lending, and special bonds, have been launched and achieved great results.

"Every year, more than one trillion yuan (149 billion U.S. dollars) was spent in poverty-stricken areas and on projects directly related to poverty alleviation," he said.

Liu urged financial institutes to continue increasing financial support for poverty alleviation, citing infrastructure, industrial development, re-settlement programs, and areas of extreme poverty as priorities for assistance.
Source: Xinhuanet| 2019-03-07 19:24:58|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

New Zealands Ambassador to China Clare Fearnley accepts an interview with Xinhuanet in Beijing, capital of China, March 1, 2019. (Xinhuanet/Zhou Xin)

by Zhou Xin

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhuanet)  The changes that have taken place in China in the past 70 years are very significant, New Zealands Ambassador to China Clare Fearnley said.

The ambassador highly commended Chinas achievements in poverty alleviation and other areas in a recent interview with Xinhuanet.

People have many more economic options, she noted, and different sorts of aspirations that would not have been imaginable in the mid 1980s when she had her first engagement with China are now possible for an increasing percentage of Chinas population.

She held that the lifting of over 700 million people out of poverty over the last 40 years has had a huge impact on the region, the world as well as China itself.

The ambassador expressed her interest in the ongoing Two Sessions, as she said Chinas prosperity, stability and well-being are of importance to all countries of the region, including New Zealand.

She pointed out that China and New Zealand have each identified poverty alleviation as one of the nations top domestic priorities to work toward.

We look at Chinas objectives around poverty alleviation and can see areas where we can share experience and work together, Fearnley said.

The ambassador told Xinhuanet that the two countries have an extensive framework for cooperation in agriculture, which can address rural poverty, particularly in remote areas.

Trade between China and New Zealand has also grown, she added.

To further increase trade relations, New Zealands trade minister will be attending this years Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, according to the ambassador.

During Premier Li Keqiangs visit to New Zealand in 2017, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative.

The opportunity of the forum to gain a better understanding of the breadth and underpinning ideas behind the Belt and Road Initiative is valuable, Fearnley said.

The issues New Zealand and China have been focusing on in the conversation have been around trade facilitation as well as environmental and social aspects of the initiative, she noted.

The trade minister may come with a business delegation; there will also be representatives from New Zealands academic community at events associated with the forum, signifying the breadth of the relationship between New Zealand and China, on the economic side and more, she said.

She said last years China International Import Expo (CIIE), in which New Zealand was an active participant, demonstrated Chinas welcome for foreign imports.

New Zealand is keen to work with China and share its experience to improve the business environment, she said.

The people-to-people links between New Zealand and China underscore how rich the bilateral relationship is, she stressed, citing the increasing number of students studying in each others schools and the widely celebrated Chinese Language Week in New Zealand as examples.

The ambassador also mentioned that many major towns and cities in New Zealand have sister city relationships with Chinese counterparts.

The bilateral tie of the two nations is multifaceted and continues to grow in its complexity, she said.

The ambassador shared her knowledge on a number of cooperation projects in the fields of scientific research and development as well as film industry between China and New Zealand.

There are lots of areas where we can work together, some traditional, some new, modern and less traditional, she concluded.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 19:34:46|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

by Dana Halawi

BEIRUT, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Minister of State for Information Technology Adel Afiouni said that Lebanon is looking forward to benefitting from the Chinese expertise in the IT sector.

Afiouni said that one of the main projects that his ministry will be working on is the digital transformation of the government in addition to building a successful technological ecosystem.

"Chinese companies can play a very big role in our ambitious projects ... we are keen on partnering with Chinese companies to bring their expertise to Lebanon and leverage the talents and skills that we would like to have on the ground," Afiouni told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Afiouni said that his ministry will have a dialogue with China to identify areas where the country can benefit from the Chinese expertise.

The young minister added that he has a lot of ideas on how his ministry can develop relations with other countries in the knowledge economy sector.

"We want to create a set of measures and incentives to help our companies export services as well as to help and support companies from abroad that want to set offices or develop some sort of expertise or capabilities in Lebanon," he explained.

Afiouni said that he has started working this initiative because it is very important to export Lebanon's products and services and also to import talent and expertise for Lebanon's workforce.

"We have to sit down with China in particular to discuss directly where the areas of cooperation are and what are the measures or incentives that we need to put in place to increase the flow of business between the two countries," he said.

Afiouni noted that Lebanon also intends to cooperate with China in developing the technology hub for Tripoli's Special Economic Zone (TSEZ) which is the first project of its kind in Lebanon to develop a multi-use economic zone complete with all required infrastructure and utilities.

Lebanon will witness in the coming years the implementation of projects in different sectors with the participation of foreign countries.

These projects will take place within the framework of CEDRE which pledged billions of dollars for Lebanon in a bid to revamp its ailing infrastructure and bolster its economy.

Many of these projects will be related to the IT sector, prompting the new Lebanese government to form, for the first time in Lebanon's history, the Ministry of State for Information Technology.

"No economic strategy can be built without strong focus on the knowledge economy. That's why I believe it was a very progressive step to establish this new ministry," Afiouni said, adding that this shows a priority in IT sector in order to create economic growth and jobs for the youths.

He said his ministry will partner with other stakeholders in the public sector for the digital transformation of the government which will help in the fight against corruption while making sure that the government is run in an efficient manner.

Afiouni also plans to turn Lebanon into a regional hub for knowledge economy in a bid to create economic growth and jobs.

"The role of the ministry will be to improve the business environment and create a friendly atmosphere for entrepreneurs which will attract capital and talent which can grow beyond our borders," he said.

Afiouni thought Lebanon needs to improve its infrastructure by having strong internet connectivity.

Another mission, according to Afiouni, is to work on updating and upgrading legislations.

"There is a large effort that we will be leading from the ministry in partnership with other ministries to update our laws and make them more business friendly, especially more adapted to the tech ecosystem," he said.

Afiouni cited the Private Equity Law as an example saying that this law is already in the pipeline and will facilitate companies to raise money and invest in the tech ecosystem.

"We cannot develop businesses or companies without an easy and efficient access to capital," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 19:34:46|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KIEV, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and visiting U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale met here on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties, Ukraine's presidential press service said.

At the talks, Poroshenko praised the strengthening of the Ukrainian-American strategic partnership over the past four years, especially in such areas as security and defense, and trade and economic ties.

The Ukrainian leader stressed the importance of the U.S. role in Ukraine's reform process and in boosting the defense capabilities of the East European country.

For his part, Hale noted that Ukraine has achieved a "significant progress" in recent years and pledged that the United States would continue its support for Kiev.

The parties also discussed joint steps to de-escalate tensions in the Kerch Strait and the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine.

Hale arrived in Kiev on Tuesday for a three-day visit to meet with senior Ukrainian officials and political leaders to discuss this year's elections, combatting corruption, and human rights issues.
File photo shows a laborer works at Huajian factory, south of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, July 19, 2017. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- As a growing number of Chinese companies express keen interest in Ethiopia's technology and innovation-oriented sectors, the Ethiopian government has vowed to provide "all the necessary support "to potential Chinese investors.

Jemal Beker, Ethiopia's Deputy Minister of Innovation and Technology, affirmed the government's strong commitment to support potential Chinese investors to engage in the country's investment landscape during a recent discussion with representatives of a high-level delegation from Chinese shoe manufacturer Huajian Group.

Huajian, which had been operating in the East African country for close to eight years, is one of the leading foreign companies that have been investing in Ethiopia's export-oriented manufacturing sector.

Beker added that the Ethiopian government will provide all necessary support to Chinese companies particularly in technology and innovation sectors.

He further called on Chinese companies to strengthen their engagements in building the technical and practical capacity of young Ethiopians across the country.
File photo taken on June 22, 2017 shows Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) along Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, June 21,2017. (Xinhua/John Okoyo)

NAIROBI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), a regional financial institution, plans to open a representative office in China in order to lower cost of Sino-Africa trade, officials said Wednesday.

Lawrence Kimathi, KCB Group chief finance officer told Xinhua in Nairobi they are currently in discussions with Chinese government officials and the office should be in place by June.

"We hope to use the office to lower cost of transaction between the Chinese and East African business community by enabling payment for imports and exports in local currencies," Kimathi said when KCB Group released financial results for the full year 2018.

KCB Group has presence in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

The regional bank also plans to introduce Chinese yuan in all its countries of operations by the end of the year. Kimathi noted that increasing Sino-Africa trade has created demand for Chinese currency.

He added that the availability of the Chinese yuan, or renminbi, will remove the need for Chinese and East Africa businesses to trade in goods and services using foreign currency such as the U.S. dollar.

"The overall objective of having Chinese yuan locally is to reduce the cost of transaction between East Africans and the Chinese business community," he said.

According to the KCB Group financial results for 2018, the institution recorded a net profit of 24 billion shillings (240 million U.S. dollars), which is a 22 percent increase from the results posted in 2017.

On the balance sheet position, the regional bank maintained its market leadership status as the biggest financial institution in East Africa as its assets surged 10 percent to 7.14 billion dollars.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 19:54:53|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

by Julia Pierrepont III, Gao Shan

LOS ANGELES, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese-born Canadian director Domee Shi says the Chinese elements of her Oscar-winning short film "Bao" have universal appeal.

Shi's film "Bao," produced by Pixar Animation Studios, won Best Animated Short at the 91st Academy Awards ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in February. Shi became the first Chinese writer and director of a Pixar short.

A tasty morsel, "Bao" explores the life of a Chinese immigrant mom living in Toronto with her inattentive husband, struggling to cope with loneliness after her beloved son flies the nest.

The mom's empty-nester angst turns to joy when a leftover dumpling (a bao) comes alive in true Pinocchio fashion.

"The mom character is definitely based on my own mom, who is very over-protective toward me, her only child," said Shi, Pixar's animation wunderkind, who is racking up trophies and accolades for her animated short directorial debut.

Born in China's southwestern municipality of Chongqing, Shi spent most of her life in Toronto, Canada. Her mother is a cook, while her father is an artist and arts professor at Sichuan Fine Arts. It was her father who first encouraged her to draw.

"Chinese parents don't say 'I love you' to their kids. They say it with food or by fussing over them. I didn't use dialogue in the movie because I wanted it to be a universal story... with the theme of parents learning to let go of their children," she said.

Shi graduated from the animation program at Sheridan College. She began as a story intern at Pixar Animation Studios in June 2011. "People at Pixar began to notice my work and that boosted my confidence and helped me find my own voice."

In "Bao," Shi set out to make a short film that would profile real Chinese culture yet appeal to all audiences. "There are cultural differences, just like with 'Coco'. We had to explain to our American crew why we had to do things a certain way and what a traditional Chinese home would look like."

In true family fashion, she started by bringing her mom in on the project to show the team how to make Chinese dumplings.

"I used my mom's hands in the movie," she laughed.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 20:04:55|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

TOKYO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Ex-Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was released from a detention facility in Tokyo a day earlier, has not regained full health, meaning a news conference has not being scheduled, his lawyer indicated Thursday.

"His health condition has not fully recovered. I will talk with other lawyers and carefully consider the schedule of his press conference," lawyer Junichiro Hironaka told a press briefing on the matter.

Ghosn, 64, was detained at the Tokyo Detention House for 108 days since his arrest on Nov. 19.

The only time he was allowed out of the facility was when he was granted the chance to maintain his innocence at a public hearing on Jan. 8.

Hironaka has likened his lengthy incarceration as akin to being held hostage.

"I'm glad that the bail was granted. I hope this case will become the start of ending the 'hostage justice' system (in Japan)," Hironaka said.

Ghosn's bail was set at one billion yen (nine million U.S. dollars) after a request was filed with the court on Thursday last week by Ghosn's new legal team appointed in February.

It was the third attempt his team had requested bail for their client, after the first two being rejected by the court.

In Japan, a court granting bail for a defendant who denies charges happens very infrequently prior to the beginning of pre-trial proceedings to lessen points of contention.

Ghosn, previously considered a flight risk by the court, is currently under a travel ban as part of his bail agreement, to ensure he does not leave Japan.

He is also under limited video surveillance and has restricted access to the use of mobile phones and computers.

Other provisos of his bail are based around making sure Ghosn cannot tamper with evidence or contact Nissan executives or others involved in the case.

Ghosn, who holds Brazilian, French and Lebanese citizenship, left the detention facility Wednesday disguised as a worker, with his face covered by a mask.

Hironaka said the decision to try and conceal their client's identity as he left the detention facility was likely made by the lawyers with him at the time.

He added that rather than being an undignified exit for someone who has rigorously maintained his innocence, it may have been viewed by some as Ghosn showing he still has a sense of humor.

Ghosn is facing two charges of under-reporting his remuneration in Nissan's securities reports and another allegation of aggravated breach of trust. Other investigations into separate alleged financial improprieties are still ongoing.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 20:25:00|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KUWAIT CITY, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Britain is committed to continuing and deepening defense cooperation with Kuwait, British Ambassador to Kuwait Michael Davenport said late Wednesday.

He made the remarks at a joint press conference with visiting British battleship Dragon's Commanding Officer Michael Carterquinn.

Britain has always stood side by side with Kuwait, facing common threats over the decades, he said, noting that the visit of battleship to Kuwait will help bolster and deepen the long-standing defensive relations.

"The visit of Dragon to Kuwait is a very strong symbol of that cooperation," he stressed.

With regard to Brexit, Davenport said that the move will not have an impact on British relations with countries outside the EU.

He showed that Britain is optimistic about relations with countries in this region, especially with Kuwait, and seeks every opportunity to take the ties forward.

He also showed that Britain is looking to develop cooperation with Kuwait in areas such as education, health, cyber and aviation security, as well as trade.

Dragon is a British battleship that was built in 2008 for defensive practices.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 20:35:04|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

LONDON, March 7 (Xinhua) -- British government has confirmed details of measures that would ensure flights continuity in the event of no-deal Brexit, Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority said in an announcement on Thursday.

The announcement came as the EU is also about to finalize its no-deal aviation regulation that would protect British airlines flying into Europe.

"Measures put forward by the UK and the EU will ensure that flights can continue in any scenario; deal or no deal," said British Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg.

"This is good news, not only for the industry but most importantly it reaffirms the fact that passengers can book flights with confidence, as normal," Sugg said.

The British minister said, however, that he hoped the contingency measures would never be needed as the efforts remain focused on securing a deal from the EU.

According to the announcement, around 164 million passengers travel between Britain and the EU each year.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 20:45:07|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

CHENGDU, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The 8th Music Cities Convention, an international music industry conference, will be held from April 11 to 12 in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

It will be the first time for China to hold the event, according to the organizers.

Government officials and domestic and overseas delegates from cultural industries will attend the conference to discuss the development of the music industry and promote the value of music in urban planning.

Inaugurated in 2015, the Music Cities Convention has been held in Britain, the United States, Germany and Australia and has attracted more than 1,600 representatives from over 40 countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 20:50:09|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

URUMQI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region launched a three-year project on populus euphratica forest restoration along the Tarim River, local authorities said Thursday.

The regional forestry department plans to carry out field surveys on the coverage, distribution and degradation of populus euphratica forests in the Tarim River Basin, and conduct research on current water conditions, distribution of water-gates and the canal system along the river.

Spillways and flood barriers will be built for future irrigation, the department said.

Running through the drouthy southern part of Xinjiang, the 1,321-km-long Tarim River is China's longest inland river that nurtures 14 million local residents. Overexploitation of water resources since the 1950s caused river dry-ups and declining water levels. Swathes of the populus euphratica forest died.

Over the past two decades, China has invested more than 10 billion yuan (about 1.5 billion U. S. dollars) to protect the ecosystem in the lower Tarim region. A National Nature Reserve of 390,000 hectares of populus euphratica forests in Tarim River Basin was established in 2006.

The three-year restoration plan will cover a larger area including 11 cities and counties along the trunk and four branches of the Tarim River.

"Irrigation water supply is critical to protect the forests," said He Yu, an official with the Xinjiang Tarim River Basin Management Bureau, noting that the bureau has made detailed annual water transportation plans since 2016.

Oil producers in the area also contribute their bit to protect the eco-system. PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Company dismantled 30 oil-and-gas production facilities last year and will shut 34 wells by 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 21:20:16|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

JINAN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Jin Cong busies himself inspecting the spring plantation of edamame. He needs to make sure that the vegetables meet the export quality when they are ready to be shipped in a few months.

Jin is the general manager of Jining Sunshine Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd, a leading producer of frozen vegetables in Jining, east China's Shandong Province.

"Green soybeans (edamame) mostly go with Japanese sakes, which are quite popular in izakayas (a type of Japanese pub)," Jin said. He expects the company's edamame exports to Japan to grow by one-third this year.

Founded in 2011, the company is among the top 10 frozen veggie exporters in the country. It exports about 4,500 kg of frozen green soybeans to both Kansai and Kanto regions of Japan annually. It also exports broccoli and shepherd's purses.

To better meet demands of Japanese customers, Jin said that the company had sent staff to attend the 44th International Food and Beverage Exhibition, held in Tokyo from Tuesday to Friday.

The firm owns more than 333 hectares of edamame fields in Jiaxiang County. They are grown in April and harvested in July.

Jin said his products need to pass 201 pesticide residue tests and five microbiological detections before they reach customers.

Exporters like Jin's firm have stuck to stringent quality standards in the last few years.

Zhang Deyan, vice general manager of the Qingdao-based Fusheng Foods Co., Ltd, said the company had strengthened quality control in its 20 spinach planting bases by monitoring air, soil and water conditions.

Farm chemicals have been carefully used and strictly controlled to meet the standard of minimal pesticide residues.

"We have set up three detection procedures to perform more than 260 tests, covering the whole process from growing, harvest to production," Zhang said. The company has invested 20 million yuan (about 3 million U. S. dollars) to build new testing labs.

The company expects an estimated 10 percent growth in frozen vegetable exports to Japan this year.

Figures released by the Qingdao Customs show that 227,000 tonnes of frozen vegetables were exported to Japan from Shandong in 2018, up 7.9 percent year on year, accounting for more than one-fifth of Japan's annual import of 1.06 million tonnes.

Qingdao Customs has launched special campaigns to improve the quality and safety of exported vegetables by promoting enterprise upgrading, deep processing of primary agricultural products, and establishing model areas for quality control.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 21:20:16|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China customs has suspended the clearance of canola imports from Canadian company Richardson International Limited and relevant firms after harmful pests were discovered in their imports.

The suspension of clearance involves their canola imports shipped from March 1, according to a warning notice issued Thursday by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The warning will be valid until further notice, GAC officials said.

The move is taken to protect China's agriculture production and ecological safety, the GAC said.

Local custom offices of Huangpu, Dalian, Nanning and Shenzhen had recently detected harmful pests including Pseudomonas syringae, the GAC said and suggested that they strengthen quarantine on Canadian canola imports and report the results to the GAC.

The GAC will evaluate the results, timely adjust warning measures and inform local canola import firms.

The GAC said it had canceled Richardson's and other relevant firms' registration to ship canola to China and briefed the Canadian Food Inspection Agency about the situation.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 21:25:17|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

GAZA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement Thursday said it declined a request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to hold parliamentary elections.

Election should either be the way toward the national unity, or a result of a national reconciliation and implementation of signed agreements that call for the formation of a new government, said Khalil al-Hayyah, a senior Hamas leader, at a press conference.

The press conference was held after the meeting between Hanna Nasser, head of Central Elections Committee, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas chief in Gaza Strip.

Al-Hayyah said that Nasser presented the message from Abbas to go for parliamentary election, saying that his movement supports elections and peaceful power transfer, which they regard as the only natural door to the democratic experience.

Nasser arrived in Gaza after holding a meeting with Abbas in West Bank Ramallah city last week.

Abbas announced on Dec. 22 last year that the Palestinian constitutional court has ordered "the dissolving of the Palestinian legislative council and called for holding parliamentary elections within six months."

The Palestinian Legislative Council remained inoperative since the start of the internal Palestinian division when Hamas movement had violently seized control of the Gaza Strip and routed the security forces of President Abbas in 2007.

The last presidential election was held in 2005, where Abbas was elected and succeeded late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The last parliamentary elections were held in January 2006, where Hamas movement won an overwhelming majority in the Palestinian Authority parliament.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 21:55:26|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

JERUSALEM, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Three Israeli soldiers were convicted on Thursday of abusing two handcuffed Palestinian detainees, a father and his teen son, in the West Bank in January.

The soldiers were convicted amid a plea deal, which was approved Thursday by a military court in Jaffa in central Israel. Under the deal, the three pleaded guilty of "aggravated abuse" of a 50-year-old Palestinian and his 15-year-old son.

The sentence of the soldiers, all from the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda ("Judah's Eternity" in Hebrew) Battalion, is expected to be given next Tuesday.

The recent conviction is the first to be made in the case, in which two other soldiers and their commander were also charged.

According to their indictment, they stroke the detainees with slaps, punches, and bludgeons while they were handcuffed and blindfolded, and caused them severe injuries.

The victims were arrested in a raid in the town of al-Zaitounah in the Ramallah district on Jan. 8. During their transfer to detention, the soldiers took the blindfold off the son's eyes and forced him watching his father beaten up until his ribs and nose were broken.

The father and his son sustained serious injuries and needed hospital care.

The soldiers recorded themselves abusing the detainees with their smartphones and according to the indictment, they were cheering and boasting during the violence.

The commanding officer was indicted for "failing to prevent a crime, negligently causing injury and conducting unbecomingly as an officer."

Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups often report abuses of Palestinians' rights during arrests but these allegations are usually not followed with indictments.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 21:55:26|Editor: zh

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police detained 83,668 suspects and cracked 57,519 cases during a 10-month campaign to crackdown on cybercrime since February 2018, the Ministry of Public Security said Thursday.

More than 13,000 people were seized for stealing and trading personal information, said the ministry at a press conference.

Police nationwide also intensified the crackdown on illegal activities by paid online ghostwriters, who flood online platforms and post biased comments, rumors or disinformation. Some criminal rings were found to have blackmailed others with malicious online posts.

During the campaign, more than 34,000 Internet companies received administrative punishment for online irregularities. Over 35,000 mobile apps with rogue programs were banned and around 4.29 million pieces of illegal information on the Internet were deleted, said the ministry.

Moreover, about 20,000 websites were shut down for spreading illegal information.

Remarkable outcomes have been achieved through the campaign, which has dramatically reduced online information about trading guns, explosives, restricted knives, drugs and individual privacy, said the ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:10:30|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KABUL, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has strongly condemned the mortar attack on a huge gathering in western Kabul vicinity that killed at least four civilians and injured 31 others, the Presidential Palace said Thursday.

Several rounds of mortars struck near or inside Shahid Mazari Musalla, a big open mosque building at around midday in Dashti Barchi locality.

The president denounced the attack as a terrorist and criminal act, and enmity to the civil and human values, the palace said in a statement.

Those among the injured were at least two politicians, several women and children while two civilians were killed and three others injured inside their house near the targeted compound.

The mortar shells were fired from a house in Kabul Police District 18 and security forces detained three of the assailants after cordoning off the house.

No group has claimed responsibility for the inside so far.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:20:33|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

Visitors are seen at a tulip fair at Baiwankui garden in Nansha free trade zone in south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 9, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China expects to see wider opening-up as it pledges to do more to attract foreign investment and promote global cooperation at the ongoing annual "two sessions."

"We will promote all-round opening-up and foster new strengths in international economic cooperation and competition," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said when delivering the government work report to the annual legislative session Tuesday.

At the session, further relax of controls over market access has been announced, a draft foreign investment law will be deliberated, and the Belt and Road cooperation has been promoted.

UNVEILING OPPORTUNITIES

The government will further shorten the negative list which outlines fields off-limits to foreign investors, Ning Jizhe, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session Wednesday.

China will roll out more opening measures to the agriculture, mining, manufacturing and service sectors, and allow wholly foreign-funded enterprises to operate in more sectors, Ning said.

John Huang with the British information service provider Experian believes that international investors will welcome China's further opening-up.

"Some core industries, once considered to be 'the most difficult areas to open up,' such as automobile manufacturing and financial services, are now welcoming foreign investment," said Huang, General Manager of Decisioning & Analytics of Experian Greater China.

"The Chinese government's consistent commitment to opening-up has given foreign enterprises confidence about the business environment here," said SangBoem Han, CEO of LG Display from the Republic of Korea.

In July 2018, LG Display opened an OLED panel factory in south China's Guangdong Province with a total investment of 46 billion yuan (6.9 billion U.S. dollars).

China saw a record foreign direct investment of 135 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 despite a global economic downturn and rising protectionism.

"In the early days, foreign firms received preferential policies regarding land, electricity and taxes in China," Han said, "but more recently, the government has increased its protection of intellectual property and improved efficiency."

FOREIGN INVESTMENT LAW

On Tuesday, Premier Li emphasized opening up based on rules and related institutions.

This will help China better conform with the international rules, said Zhang Jin, a national political advisor and businessman from Guangdong.

"This is also in line with China's further integration with globalization and engagement in international competition," Zhang said.

A highlight at this year's "two sessions" is the draft foreign investment law, which is to be submitted to this year's session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) for review.

Once adopted, the unified law will replace three existing laws on Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures, non-equity joint ventures (or contractual joint ventures) and wholly foreign-owned enterprises.

The foreign investment law would be highly significant to protect legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors and ensure fair competition, said Loh Jen Yuh, president of China & Investment Management of CapitaLand Group, one of Asia's largest real estate companies.

"The law shows China's openness and the rule of law," said Han, who hoped that the enact of the law would further improve China's business environment.

PROMOTING GLOBAL COOPERATION

Along with the efforts to attract foreign businesses, China is also stepping up the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to benefit more participants.

To date, a total of 152 countries and international organizations have signed cooperation documents with China on the BRI.

"Many countries along the Belt and Road have shown their intention to cooperate with Chinese manufacturers," said Wu Gang, a national political advisor and chairman of wind power firm Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology.

"We are more confident in going global under the government's favorable policies related to the BRI," said Wu, whose business has gained great market shares in Pakistan and Australia.

According to the government work report, China will continue to "promote the joint pursuit" of the BRI, aiming at "shared growth through discussion and collaboration."

China has signed free trade agreements with over 20 countries and regions. According to Zhao Ji, a national political advisor and president of China's Northeastern University, the country's efforts to strengthen the opening-up are especially important against the weak global economic growth.

"The development of China, which has been closely connected with the world, will continue to play a key role in promoting globalization," Zhao said.

(Video editor: Luo Hui)
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:30:34|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, joins deliberation with deputies from Gansu Province at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for perseverance in the fight against poverty as there are only two years left for the country to meet its goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2020.

"There should be no retreat until a complete victory is won," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

He made the remarks when deliberating with deputies from Gansu Province at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress, China's national legislature.

Decisive progress has been achieved in the country's tough fight against poverty over the past years, marking a new chapter in the poverty reduction history of mankind, said Xi, stressing that the goal to eradicate extreme poverty must be achieved on time.

He warned that the tasks ahead remain arduous and hard as those still in poverty are the worst stricken.

Explaining the criteria of lifting people out of poverty, Xi said they should no longer need to worry about food and clothing while enjoying access to compulsory education, basic medical care and safe housing.

The practices of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism hampers the effective advancement of poverty reduction, he said, stressing a firm hand in rectifying malpractices in poverty relief.

Xi asked Party committees and governments at all levels to shoulder their responsibilities in the critical battle against poverty.

He ordered efforts to redress undesirable conduct of officials in a timely manner, as well as special campaigns to target corruption and bad conduct in poverty reduction.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:30:34|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TRIPOLI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday revealed that it provided medical supplies to the southern Libya city of Sabha, as the eastern-based army continues its anti-terrorism military action in the region.

"In response to recent increasing violence in Sabha City, southern Libya, WHO has delivered trauma medicines to health facilities in Sabha, also provided mechanical ventilator to the neonatal ICU of Sabha medical center," WHO said.

WHO also said that the fighting in southern Libya had killed 44 people and injured 209 others. The organization said it provided assistance to 400 patients requiring trauma care in the region.

The army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, has been leading a military campaign against crime and terrorism in southern Libya since mid-January.

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| 2019-03-07 22:30:34|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

DAR ES SALAAM, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian authorities said on Thursday the recent outbreak of anthrax in some northern parts of the country which killed seven people was now under control.

The deadly disease was reported in Moshi and Rombo districts in Kilimanjaro region, and in Longido in Arusha region where scores of other people were infected.

According to medical experts, anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium known as Bacillus anthracis. Symptoms begin between one day and two months after contraction. The outbreak is believed to have spread to humans from a dead cow.

Hezron Nonga, the Director of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, said the ministry has distributed vaccines for cattle in the areas.

He said the Directorate of Veterinary Services in collaboration with development partners has distributed 100,000 anthrax vaccines in which Longido was given 35,000 vaccines, Moshi got 40,000 and Rombo was supplied with 25,000 vaccines.

"We have not recorded a new case of anthrax since we distributed the vaccines, and we are thinking of lifting a quarantine that stopped the transportation of cattle," said Nonga.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:35:37|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

JINAN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Four people have been detained for allegedly smuggling more than 2,000 tonnes of refined oil into China, customs authorities said.

Customs officers in Qingdao, a port in east China's Shandong Province, had information about a group suspected of illegally shipping refined oil from overseas. They found an oil transportation ship in a pier in the city of Rongcheng, also in Shandong, and confiscated 220 tonnes of oil on-site.

Preliminary investigation showed that the suspects used a boat converted from a fishing vessel to take over the oil products from another ship on international waters, bypassed customs inspection and illegally imported the oil into China.

The case is under further investigation.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:45:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BAGHDAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Thursday lauded Iraqi artists and filmmakers for the production of 24 short films covering human rights issues in Iraq.

The remarks came as part of a film festival held in Baghdad from March 3 to 5.

The three-minute films, which were produced entirely in Iraq, reflected the impact of discrimination against minorities, violence against women, conflict atrocities, access to education or other human rights concerns, the UNAMI said in a statement.

"The UNAMI Human Rights Office in Iraq worked closely with the Baghdad Foundation of Cinema and Arts to make human rights and minorities a central theme of this year's festival," the statement said.

Female involvement was a requirement in the process of the production of the films.

An animation film titled "My Music," directed by Mortada al-Ameri, won the Gold Prize in the human rights and minorities category of the festival.

It speaks about the right of culture by telling the story of a musician who tried to evade the sound of war through music, and playing piano amid heavy gunfire, it said.

The second prize goes to "the Black Lens," a chilling account of the impact of corruption and impunity on Iraqi society.

"The films highlight contemporary challenges faced by minorities in Iraq and wider human rights issues, including disappearances, discrimination, violence against women, child abuse and poverty, and show the impact of the horrors inflicted by IS (Islamic State group)," the statement quoted Danielle Bell, head of the UN human rights office in Iraq, as saying.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:50:40|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TOKYO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- To address the issue of urban-rural wage gap, Japan is planning to introduce a unified minimum hourly wage to avoid concentration of laborers in urban areas, the labor ministry said Thursday.

The ministry's latest move served as adjustment before the government introduces more foreign workers to Japan starting in April under the new visa system to deal with serious labor shortages amid the aging population and falling birthrate.

As wages remain generally higher in major cities compared to rural areas, many worry that foreign workers will largely choose to stay in metropolises.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare conveyed its new wage plan to a group of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers on Thursday, saying that a special panel will be established around April to research on the issue.

The ministry said it aims to introduce the new minimum wage system as early as in the summer this year.

The new system will involve 14 sectors including construction and nursing care that are expected to receive a large number of foreign workers.

To address labor shortage, the Japanese government had announced that the country is expected to accept up to 345,150 foreign workers under a new scheme over a five-year period starting April, including 60,000 in nursing care.

In the current fiscal year, the average minimum hourly wage in Japan is 874 yen (7.82 U.S. dollars). Tokyo marks the highest at 985 yen (8.82 dollars) while workers receive the lowest minimum wage of 761 yen (6.81 dollars) at the Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:55:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

PYONGYANG, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday blasted South Korea and the United States for holding a joint military exercise, saying it was a violation of summit agreements they reached with the DPRK last year.

It is a violent violation of the joint declarations and statements that the DPRK reached with the United States and South Korea last year, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a report.

"This also represents a frontal challenge to the aim and desires of all (Korean) people and the international community for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the report added.

South Korea and the United States on Monday kicked off a new week-long joint exercise named Dong Maeng that replaced their major springtime Key Resolve drills.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:55:44|Editor: mingmei

Video Player Close

People watch the Aston Martin AM-RB 003 hypercar at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, March 7, 2019. The 89th Geneva International Motor Show officially opened to the public on Thursday, where electric cars have continued to take the lead as almost a consensus by many auto makers for the future development of the industry. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)

GENEVA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The 89th Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) was officially open to the public on Thursday, where electric cars have continued to take the lead as almost a consensus by many auto makers for the future development of the industry.

As the first annual European car show, GIMS is known as a vane of the automotive industry. At this year's show, this vane clearly points to electrification. Nearly half of the 150 world and European premieres launched at the show were pure electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles. The world's major automakers, such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, all unveiled their electric or hybrid models at the center of their stage.

For the past few years Audi has shown its ambitions in the field of electric vehicles. Following the launch of the all-electric model e-tron quattro at GIMS last year, it brought this time the world premiere of the brand new pure electric concept model Q4 e-tron. A compact SUV, the Q4 has an amazing cruising range of 450 km and is expected to be put into mass production by the end of 2020.

Besides the Q4, Audi also unveiled four pure electric models and four plug-in hybrids, saying that the company will fully expand its electrification strategy by launching 12 electric models for major global markets by 2025, when its electric vehicles are expected to account for one third of its global sales.

Volkswagen also introduced its all-terrain electric concept model ID.BUGGY, which eliminates the design of canopy and doors and is made of waterproof material. The new model chooses to integrate a high-voltage battery pack into the bottom of the car, resulting in a cruising range of up to 250 km even when challenging various terrain conditions. Volkswagen said it plans to launch 10 electric models in total by 2025.

Mercedes-Benz has taken a different approach by selecting various subdivided markets. Its new EQV concept car, one of the world's premieres at this year's auto show, is defined as the first pure electric MPV in luxury cars. It has a cruising range of up to 400 km and can travel 100 km with just 15 minutes of charging.

Meanwhile, Benz also launched the first pure electric racing model, the EQ Silver Arrow 01's. The auto giant said it's investing 10 billion euros (about 11.26 billion U.S. dollars) in developing electric vehicles and building a new global battery production network.

This year's GMIS saw the BMW launching six world's premiere plug-in hybrids, including the hybrid xDrive45e of the X5 series. BMW CEO Harald Kruger said by the end of next year, BMW will have launched more than 10 new and upgraded electric models, while as the same time providing convenient charging services for consumers around the world.

Although Volvo did not set up a stage at the auto show, the group's sub-brand Polestar launched its first pure electric car Polestar 2. As a high-performance electric brand owned by Volvo, Polestar was founded in 2017 and released the hybrid Polestar 1 at GIMS last year. Polestar 2 will begin mass production during the second half of 2019 and is expected to cooperate with Chinese companies such as AutoNavi and iFlytek in the future when entering the Chinese market.

Analysts believe that major automakers have all launched their strategies for electric vehicles, which is somehow related to the new auto emission reduction regulations among EU countries. The European Parliament and EU countries reached an agreement in December last year that aims to reduce by 2030 the CO2 emissions of new cars in the EU by 37.5 percent compared with 2021.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 22:55:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government and its humanitarian partners on Thursday appealed for 1.3 billion U.S. dollars to address food and non-food emergency needs of 8.3 million people.

The appeal was made as the Ethiopian government and its humanitarian partners launched the 2019 joint Ethiopia Humanitarian Response Plan in Addis Ababa.

According to the joint response plan, some 4.4 million people are targeted for nutrition support, including 609,961 under-five children who are targeted for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

"Some 2.7 million displaced people and returnees will benefit from emergency shelter and NFI (non-food items) assistance, while millions will receive emergency health, water, education, protection and agriculture support until the end of the year."

Ethiopia's Commissioner of the National Disaster Risk Management Commission Mitiku Kassa said "Ethiopia is at a transition."

"Some of the humanitarian challenges from conflict hazard we have been seeing in recent months, affecting many people, are an unfortunate effect of transitional periods," he said.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia Aeneas Chuma also stressed humanitarian partners' support to Ethiopia's emergency response efforts.

"We acknowledge and appreciate the government's leadership in addressing the needs of people affected by crisis across the country. We also recognize the daunting challenges ahead and the urgent need to scale up assistance," said Chuma.

"Thanks to the leadership of the government and the generous support from donors and friends of Ethiopia, the multi-sector lifesaving assistance has helped mitigate the worst effects of the humanitarian crisis in 2018," he said.

The Ethiopian government had allocated 342 million dollars, while donors contributed 595 million dollars during the 2018 humanitarian response period, it was noted.

"I call upon the international community to continue their generosity and to provide the required resources in time to help alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable people," Chuma said.

The new joint response plan mainly lays out prioritized multi-sector humanitarian needs in 2019.

The needs are identified through a thorough analysis of the overall humanitarian needs of the country, through the Humanitarian Needs Overview.

Of the reported total vulnerable people requiring emergency food or cash assistance, 46 percent are in Ethiopia's largest Oromia regional state, 22 percent in Ethiopia's Somali region, and some 12 percent in Amhara.

Ethiopia was spared significant climate-related calamities last year, but spikes in conflict-induced displacements, which led to a near doubling of internally displaced population, contributed to high humanitarian response needs in 2019.

"Without urgent additional funding, most lifesaving operations, including nutrition interventions, will cease beyond March 2019," the joint response plan warned.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:00:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

MOSCOW, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Russian authorities have detained four U.S. citizens for violating immigration laws and deported two of them, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

The U.S. citizens were detained in the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, Zakharova said, without providing their names or other details.

The Primorsky District Court in the city said on its website that it had issued an order of administrative punishment for U.S. citizens David Gaaga and Cole Brodovsky, without providing further details.

Russian and foreign media outlets reported that the detainees were volunteers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often known as the Mormon Church. Russia's Dozhd TV channel reported that the detainees served at the mission of the church in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

They were detained in the assembly house of the Mormon church in Novorossiysk on suspicion that they taught English without the necessary permission, the channel reported, quoting the father of one of the detainees.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:05:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TRIPOLI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- First Deputy Speaker of the eastern-based House of Representatives (parliament) Fawzi al-Nweri on Thursday stressed the need for a constitution-based solution to the political crisis in the country.

Al-Nweri made his remarks during a meeting with Italian Ambassador to Libya Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi in the capital Tripoli.

According to a statement issued by the parliament, the two officials discussed the latest political developments in Libya and means to solve the political crisis in the country.

The meeting also covered the recent UN-sponsored meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, between Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, and the Commander of the eastern-based army General Khalifa Haftar, during which they agreed on the need to end the transitional stages in Libya by holding general elections.

The meeting also discussed mutual economic relations and bilateral agreements between Libya and Italy, as well as the Italian role to support security and stability in Libya, the statement added.

Libya has been suffering political division and insecurity ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.

The north African nation is struggling to make a democratic transition amid political division between eastern and western governments.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:05:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

LUSAKA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday appointed eight new high court judges and urged them to ensure speedy and fair delivery of justice.

Lungu swore in the new judges at the State House.

"As you join the bench, your first task is to address one of the biggest concerns by members of the public relating to the delay in the disposal of court cases," he said.

The Zambian leader said he expects to see improvement in the time taken to dispose of court cases following the appointment of the new judges.

He urged the judges to guard the integrity and independence of the judiciary by carrying out their functions without outside influence, adding that the executive will continue to uphold the doctrine of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
People watch the performance of the boat of the New York City Fire Department before the firework event to celebrate the Independence Day of the United States in New York July 4, 2018. (Xinhua/Han Fang)

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. tariff measures are actually causing net losses of billions of dollars to domestic consumers and importers, according to two latest studies by U.S. economists.

One of papers, published Saturday and titled "The Impact of the 2018 Trade War on U.S. Prices and Welfare," said that the U.S. government levied import duties on approximately 283 billion dollars' worth of U.S. imports over the course of 2018.

"Overall, using standard economic methods, we find that the full incidence of the tariff falls on domestic consumers," argued Mary Amiti of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Stephen Redding of Princeton University and David Weinstein of Columbia University, co-authors of the paper.

The researchers said they estimated that by the end of 2018, import tariffs raised costs for U.S. consumers and the firms that import foreign goods by 4.4 billion dollars a month. They found that domestic consumers and importers spent three billion dollars per month in added tax and bore the burden of another 1.4 billion dollars per month in deadweight welfare losses.

For the first 11 months of 2018, the cumulative deadweight welfare cost, or reduction in real income, from the U.S. tariffs was around 6.9 billion dollars, with an additional cost of 12.3 billion dollars to domestic consumers and importers in the form of tariff revenue transferred to the government, according to the scholars.

"We estimate that if the tariffs that were in place by the end of 2018 were to continue, approximately 165 billion dollars of trade per year will continue to be redirected in order to avoid the tariffs," said the paper, which was published by the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research.

"We find that the U.S. tariffs were almost completely passed through into U.S. domestic prices, so that the entire incidence of the tariffs fell on domestic consumers and importers up to now, with no impact so far on the prices received by foreign exporters," the economists wrote, adding that they also found that U.S. producers responded to reduced import competition by raising their prices.

A separate study, titled "The Return of Protectionism" and done by economists including Pinelopi Goldberg, the World Bank's chief economist and a former editor-in-chief of the American Economic Review, reached a similar conclusion that U.S. firms and the American people are paying the price for U.S. tariff battle worldwide.

The paper, whose other authors are Pablo Fajgelbaum of the University of California, Los Angeles, Patrick Kennedy of the University of California, Berkeley, and Amit Khandelwal of Columbia University, put annual consumer and producer losses from the higher cost of imports at 68.8 billion dollars, or 0.37 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).

After accounting for higher tariff revenue and gains to domestic producers from higher prices, the aggregate welfare effect is a 7.8-billion-dollar loss, or 0.04 percent of GDP, according to the research, which was last updated on Tuesday.

"U.S. tariffs favored sectors located in politically competitive counties," the paper read. "We compute that tradeable-sector workers in heavily Republican counties are the most negatively affected by the trade war," it added, suggesting that the White House actually inflicted pains mostly on farmers and blue-collar workers.

"It's pretty unclear that this trade war is a net win for the economy at this point," Weinstein of Columbia said in an interview with Bloomberg news, which in a report called the two papers "the most authoritative yet to document the negative effect" of the tariffs on the U.S. economy.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:25:55|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

MAPUTO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Union and Mozambique signed four agreements here on Thursday totalling 217 million euros (more than 240 million U.S. dollars) to support the southeast African country's trade, biodiversity, agribusiness and transport.

The funding is part of the National Indicative Program from the European Development Fund for the period 2014-2020 to support Mozambique's priority areas in its 2015-2019 governance plan, Mozambican foreign minister Jose Pacheco said at the signing ceremony.

"This funding aims at promoting and facilitating trade, sustainable natural resources management, sustainable agriculture and agribusiness, and rehabilitating roads in rural areas," he said.

Stefano Manservisi, the European Commission's director-general for international cooperation and development, said the European Union "has always worked in close partnership with Mozambique."

"We reiterate our commitment to boosting this cooperation for more inclusive and sustainable growth," Manservisi said after the signing ceremony.
German Federal Family Minister Franziska Giffey poses with female staff members of the BSR municipal service in the run-up to the International Women's Day and active participation after a waste disposal tour in Berlin, Germany, March 7, 2019. (REUTERS Photo)

UNITED NATIONS, March 6 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for double efforts to protect and promote women's rights, dignity and leadership.

Gender equality and women's rights are fundamental to global progress on peace and security, human rights and sustainable development, said Guterres in a message to mark the International Women's Day, which will be observed on March 8.

"We live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture. Only when we see women's rights as our common objective, a route to change that benefits everyone, will we begin to shift the balance," said the UN chief.

Increasing the number of women decision makers is fundamental, said Guterres, adding that the United Nations now has the highest ever numbers of women in senior management, and this progress will continue to be built on.

However, women still face major obstacles in accessing and exercising power. According to the World Bank, just six economies give women and men equal legal rights in areas that affect their work, he said.

"If current trends continue, it will take 170 years to close the economic gender gap," he said.

"We need to redouble our efforts to protect and promote women's rights, dignity and leadership. We must not give ground that has been won over decades and we must push for wholesale, rapid and radical change," said the UN chief.

"Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change" is the theme for International Women's Day this year.

Guterres said that women decision makers in areas like urban design, transport and public services can increase women's access, prevent harassment and violence, and improve everyone's quality of life.

Innovation and technology reflect the people who make them. The underrepresentation and lack of retention of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and design should be a cause of concern to all, he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:35:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- With only two years left for China to meet the deadline in its war against extreme poverty, the country stands ready to face the toughest challenges to meet the goal and ensure the victory stand the test of time.

The Chinese government has decided to eradicate poverty by 2020, the target year for China to become a moderately prosperous society. There will be no retreat until the promise, made to the nearly 1.4 billion Chinese people and the entire world, is kept.

China has lifted more people out of poverty than any other country. There were 13.86 million success stories last year. Another 10 million are expected this year. By any standard, it is a daunting task for a developing country whose per capita GDP stands only at the middle of the world rankings.

The drive will not stop until the day dawns when the last person living in poverty finds his or her rightful place as a citizen of a well-off society.

PRECISION IS KEY

As goes the Chinese expression, "You should not bomb fleas with grenades," meaning appropriate resources should be used in the right place at the right time.

This precision poverty relief adopts varied policies for different regions according to their needs. More support has been given to impoverished areas in developing businesses that leverage local strengths. Projects have been arranged according to the specifics of every region or even every family.

For those living in remote areas with few natural resources or fragile ecology, the government has offered assistance to relocate or provide compensation. While creating jobs will not work so well for many -- particularly the old, the sick, and the disabled, China ensures social safeguards for these most vulnerable groups.

China gives priority to the work of seeing that the basic living needs of rural poor populations are met and that such people have access to compulsory education, basic medical services, and housing.

The further China gets in the crucial stage of the fight, the greater the need to tackle real problems with attention to details, to ensure substantive, sustainable outcomes.

ACTIONS, NOT WORDS

Policy is just the first step. Implementation of those policies is the responsibility of cadres at all levels.

They must seek out the very poorest and work with them. Local officials must interact with people and businesses to find solutions and mobilize all available resources including money, markets and talents.

China has a unique and efficient governance system that can concentrate resources and accomplish big things, poverty reduction being one of them.

The central government departments and affluent eastern regions of the country are allocating more resources to poverty-stricken areas. This year, the central government will specially allocate 126.095 billion yuan (18.82 billion U.S. dollars) to fund poverty alleviation, an increase of 18.9 percent, according to a draft budget report submitted to the ongoing legislative session.

Actions speak louder than words. The government eschews doing things for show. Evaluation and oversight on the poverty alleviation efforts are being strengthened.

Corruption, fraud or embezzlement of poverty-relief funds are dealt with in the most severe ways.

UPROOTING POVERTY

Declaring a "war on poverty" is easy. The hard part is uprooting the causes of poverty.

Hundreds of reform measures have covered education, health care, finance and innovation.

China is aware of the danger for those who have recently escaped poverty to be pushed back into it as a result of natural disasters or illness.

Support policies that apply to populations that have recently been lifted out of poverty will be maintained until the progress in poverty alleviation is consolidated.

China is also making full use of the fundamental role of education in stopping poverty from being passed on to future generations. Professional training in poverty-stricken areas is producing an army of workers with the skills that modern industries need.

China's model may not work in other countries due to different systems and development stages, but it may help the world realize that, as long as a government makes real promises and takes real action, poverty is a foe that can be defeated.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:40:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

KUWAIT CITY, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait will send a number of aviation students to Britain for training, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Higher Education said on Thursday.

At a ceremony held at the British embassy in Kuwait, Wafaa Hussain, scholarship director at the ministry of higher education of Kuwait, said that the ministry signed a protocol with Kuwait Airways to send 180 aviation students to Britain, where expenses are fully covered.

"The new scholarship plan will provide a number of aviation students and assistants that Kuwait Airways needs over the next three years," she said.

Michael Davenport, British ambassador to Kuwait, said that the students will be trained in cooperation with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Higher Education and the Britain L3 Aviation Academy.

He expressed his pleasure to send the aviation students to Britain to be trained in the best aviation academies, noting that sending those students to Britain emphasizes the strong ties between the two countries.

Abdul Halim Zaidan, assistant chief operating officer of Kuwait Airways, said that the 180 students will be flown to Britain to study aviation during the next three years where L3 Aviation Academy will teach the next generation of Kuwait Airways pilots the latest aviation technology and information.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:46:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing on Thursday published a report on the state of women rideshare drivers in China and Latin America.

The report, based on survey data collected from China, Brazil and Mexico, showed that mobile technology is driving down the cost of accessing information, helping women break through constraints in traditional industries and providing employment opportunities in new economy sectors, which helps eliminate gender discrimination and have a positive impact on gender equality.

Women rideshare drivers in Brazil, China and Mexico account for 16.7 percent, 7.4 percent and 5.6 percent of total rideshare drivers on DiDi platforms, respectively.

Ridesharing offers a buffer and a key source of income for women and their families to cope with the ever-changing macroeconomic conditions, the report said.

According to the report, there are a lot of differences among women rideshare drivers in terms of lifestyle and work conditions. However, their rideshare career plays an important role in their life, both in terms of contributing to their families and to social and economic development. It is also an important channel for achieving gender equality and autonomy.

The gig economy gives women another alternative to keep income and caretaking in balance. It also offers them a buffer to search for other long-term employment opportunities with increased autonomy, according to the report.

DiDi Chuxing operates under its own brand in China, Mexico, Australia and Japan. It also acquired 99, Brazil's leading rideshare company, in January 2018. A global ride-hailing investment and partnership network connecting DiDi with seven major international players now serves over 1,000 cities and reaches over 80 percent of the world's population, according to the company.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:51:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BUDAPEST, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian ruling party Fidesz wants to remain in the European People's Party (EPP) within the European Parliament, Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Minister's Office, said here on Thursday.

"Fidesz is a member of the EPP and wants to remain a member of this party family," Gulyas declared in front of journalists following a Hungarian government session.

Gulyas explained that since Manfred Weber - chair of the EPP group - was the top candidate to become the new president of the European Commission following the European Parliament elections in May this year, he was "under pressure from the press every day, and sometimes he wanted to comply with all of the expectations."

Gulyas was hinting at an interview published by a German daily on March 5, in which Weber outlined three conditions which Fidesz must meet in order to remain in the EPP.

First, according to Weber, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban must "immediately and definitively end his government's campaign against Brussels." Second, he must apologize to all EPP member parties. And finally Orban must ensure the continued presence of the Central European University in Budapest.

Gulyas said the Hungarian government continued to support Weber in his quest to become the next leader of the European Commission, and the government's campaign against Brussels will come to an end on March 15.

Hungary launched a new anti-EU, anti-immigration media campaign on Feb. 20 with billboards on the streets, in metro stations and in the print and electronic media in which it accused Hungarian-born American billionaire George Soros and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker of supporting illegal migration. The campaign was immediately and strongly rejected by Brussels.

Gulyas believed that the positions of the EPP leaders and Fidesz had come closer in the past week, adding that Fidesz would most probably be participating in the European Parliament elections as a member of the EPP.

In response to a question, Gulyas stressed that it was in the EPP's interest to keep Fidesz within its ranks where Fidesz is currently the 4th largest group. It would amount to a "political suicide" for them to exclude Fidesz. "On the other hand, our popularity would not be hurt," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:51:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, joins deliberation with deputies from Gansu Province at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for perseverance in the fight against poverty as there are only two years left for the country to meet its goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2020.

"There should be no retreat until a complete victory is won," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.

He made the remarks when deliberating with deputies from Gansu Province at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature.

Decisive progress has been achieved in the country's tough fight against poverty over the past years, marking a new chapter in the poverty reduction history of mankind, said Xi, stressing that the goal to eradicate extreme poverty must be achieved on time.

He warned that the tasks ahead remain arduous and hard as those still in poverty are the worst stricken.

Explaining the criteria of lifting people out of poverty, Xi said they should no longer need to worry about food and clothing while enjoying access to compulsory education, basic medical care and safe housing.

The practices of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism hamper the effective advancement of poverty reduction, he said, stressing a firm hand in rectifying malpractices in poverty relief.

Xi asked Party committees and governments at all levels to shoulder their responsibilities in the critical battle against poverty.

He ordered efforts to redress undesirable conduct of officials in a timely manner, as well as special campaigns to target corruption and bad conduct in poverty reduction.

Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng -- members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee -- on Thursday also separately joined deliberation with NPC deputies.

Premier Li Keqiang spoke of the need to replace old growth drivers with new ones and improve people's wellbeing to advance high-quality development.

NPC Standing Committee Chairman Li Zhanshu called for efforts to adhere to green, high-quality development and link poverty alleviation with rural vitalization strategy.

Wang Yang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, urged high-quality poverty alleviation work to make sure that nobody is left behind in the course of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Wang Huning, a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, said he expects Shanghai to continue to lead the reform and opening-up and to elevate the coordinated development of the Yangtze River Delta to a higher level.

Zhao Leji, secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, spoke of the need for Tianjin to take advantage of the period of strategic opportunity, enhance the capacity of innovation, and focus on developing real economy.

Vice Premier Han Zheng stressed the full implementation of the national strategy of the coordinated development of the Yangtze River Delta.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-07 23:56:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan joins deliberation with deputies from Hunan Province at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Thursday called on people to have confidence in managing China's own affairs well when he joined deliberation with fellow deputies to the National People's Congress from Hunan Province at the annual legislative session.

Wang noted the remarkable progress the country has made over the past year and gave his complete support for the government work report under deliberation.

It is necessary to remain focused amid the most profound changes in the world's political and economic situations since the end of the Cold War, Wang said, adding that China remains the world's largest developing country and the problem of unbalanced development can only be solved by further development.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 00:06:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

CAIRO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian army discovered and ruined nine underground smuggling tunnels in North Sinai province northeastern Egypt, the country's military spokesman said in a statement on Thursday.

"The tunnels are used by terrorists in the processes of infiltration and smuggling of weapons and explosives," Egypt's army spokesman Tamer al-Refai said in the statement.

He noted that the forces also discovered and destroyed two vehicles and seized 40 bombs and an amount of materials used for making explosives.

Earlier on Thursday, the Egyptian police announced killing seven terrorists in Giza province near the capital Cairo, while an officer was wounded in the shootout.

Egypt has been fighting terrorist activities that killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers and civilians following the military ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year controversial rule and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Most of the attacks were centered in North Sinai and claimed by a Sinai-based branch of the Islamic State (IS) group.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian military and police killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's anti-terror war declared by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 00:11:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BUCHAREST, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Two Moldovan pilots held hostage by Taliban in Afghanistan for three and a half years, returned to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration announced in a press release.

The health condition of the two pilots is good, but they will remain under physicians' supervision, said the ministry.

The state's authorities are taking care of the pilots, Lionel Buruiana and Mihai Crihan, at the moment and legal and administrative steps are to be made to ensure conditions of their reintegration, said the release.

Actually, the two pilots were freed from captivity on Feb. 9 and flown to a Moscow hospital for treatment.

Their release was possible "only with the help of the Russian leadership, Moldovan President Igor Dodon said on Feb. 11 when announcing the news to the public.

"For three and a half years they were kept in a pit in the ground, they did not see the sun," Dodon was quoted as saying then.

The pilots fell into the hands of the Taliban on Nov. 24, 2015, when their Russian-made helicopter, owned by a Moldovan company, was captured in Afghanistan after a forced landing.

The crew of the helicopter was made up of three Moldovan pilots and 18 military passengers from Afghanistan.

A third Moldovan, crew captain Oleg Groza, was killed in a firefight when the helicopter made a forced landing in Taliban-controlled territory.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said at the time two Afghans were also killed, while the rest of the crew and passengers were taken hostage.

The company said at that time that the aircraft was carrying out a United Nations assistance mission.
TORONTO, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Currency Exchange International, Corp. (the Company) (TSX:CXI; OTCBB:CURN), is pleased to announce its financial results and present management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the three month period ended January 31, 2019 (all figures are in U.S. dollars except where otherwise indicated). The complete financial statements and MD&A can be found on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com .



Financial Highlights for the Three-month Period Ended January 31, 2019 compared to the Three-month Period Ended January 31, 2018:

During the three-month period ended January 31, 2019, transactional activity between the Company and its customers increased 8% to 227,000 transactions from 210,000 for the three-month period ended January 31, 2018. Since January 31, 2018, the Company has added 356 new customer relationships comprising 2,748 locations, of which 319 relationships representing 2,322 transacting locations were added in the United States and 37 relationships representing 102 locations were added in Canada;



Revenues increased 0.6% or $.049 million to $8.5 million for the three-month period ended January 31, 2019;



Net operating income decreased from $1.8 million to $271,000 for the three-month period ended January 31, 2019;



Net income decreased from $316,000 to a loss of $173,000 for the three-month period ended January 31, 2019; and



The decrease in profitability for the three-month period is attributable primarily to lower revenue from exotic currencies and increased expenses related to the buildout of our infrastructure to support continued growth.

Seasonality is reflected in the timing of when foreign currencies are in greater or lower demand. In a normal operating year there is seasonality to the Company's operations with higher revenues generated from March until September and lower revenues from October to February. This coincides with peak tourism seasons in North America when there are generally more travelers entering and leaving the United States and Canada.

Selected Financial Data

Three-months ending Revenue Net operating income Net income (loss) Total assets Total equity Earnings (loss) per share (diluted) $ $ $ $ $ $ 1/31/2019 8,451,671 271,410 (172,811 ) 82,045,951 62,678,990 (0.03 ) 10/31/2018 10,270,234 1,724,576 995,967 73,267,274 62,721,937 0.17 7/31/2018 11,537,280 3,533,642 2,407,522 86,860,274 61,629,104 0.37 4/30/2018 8,887,772 1,115,289 507,606 84,714,970 57,789,679 0.08 1/31/2018 8,402,855 1,764,296 316,148 79,794,495 57,809,076 0.05 10/31/2017 9,355,315 2,609,517 1,337,947 63,968,227 56,492,618 0.21 7/31/2017 9,862,335 3,597,678 1,944,247 71,348,901 55,545,083 0.31 4/30/2017 7,172,429 1,424,291 625,052 66,875,712 52,111,070 0.09

Conference Call

The Company plans to host a conference call on March 7, 2019 at 8:30 AM (EST). To participate in or listen to the call, please dial the appropriate number:

Toll Free: 1 (855) 336-7594

Conference ID number: 1541408

AGM Conference Call

Currency Exchange International Corp. (TSX:CXI)(OTCBB:CURN) will hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on March 7, 2019 at 12:30 PM (EST).

To participate in or listen to the AGM Conference Call, please dial the appropriate number:

Toll Free: 1 (855) 336-7594

Conference ID number: 2192568

About Currency Exchange International, Corp.

The Company is in the business of providing a range of foreign exchange technology and processing services in North America. Primary products and services include the exchange of foreign currencies, wire transfer payments, Global EFTs, purchase and sale of foreign bank drafts and international travelers cheques, and foreign cheque clearing. Related services include the licensing of proprietary FX software applications delivered on its web-based interface, www.ceifx.com (CEIFX), and licensing retail foreign currency operations to select companies in agreed locations.

The Companys wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, Exchange Bank of Canada, based in Toronto, Canada, provides foreign exchange and international payment services to financial institutions and select corporate clients in Canada through the use of its proprietary software  www.ebcfx.com.

Contact Information

For further information please contact:

Bill Mitoulas

Investor Relations

(416) 479-9547

Email: bill.mitoulas@ceifx.com

Website: www.ceifx.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release includes forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, estimates, forecasts and statements as to managements expectations with respect to, among other things, demand and market outlook for wholesale and retail foreign currency exchange products and services, proposed entry into the Canadian financial services industry, future growth, the timing and scale of future business plans, results of operations, performance, and business prospects and opportunities. Forward-looking statements are identified by the use of terms and phrases such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, predict, preliminary, project, will, would, and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date such information is provided, and on information available to management at such time. Forward-looking information involves significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in such forward-looking information. Actual results may differ materially from results indicated in forward-looking information due to a number of factors including, without limitation, the competitive nature of the foreign exchange industry, currency exchange risks, the need for the Company to manage its planned growth, the effects of product development and the need for continued technological change, protection of the Companys proprietary rights, the effect of government regulation and compliance on the Company and the industry in which it operates, network security risks, the ability of the Company to maintain properly working systems, theft and risk of physical harm to personnel, reliance on key management personnel, global economic deterioration negatively impacting tourism, volatile securities markets impacting security pricing in a manner unrelated to operating performance and impeding access to capital or increasing the cost of capital as well as the factors identified throughout this press release and in the section entitled Risks and Uncertainties of the Companys Managements Discussion and Analysis for Year Ended October 31, 2018. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents managements expectations as of the date hereof (or as of the date such information is otherwise stated to be presented), and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws.

The Toronto Stock Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this press release.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 00:41:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TALLINN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas met here on Thursday with his Finnish counterpart Juha Sipila to discuss the future of the European Union (EU), Finland's upcoming presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as bilateral ties.

"Estonia and Finland are good partners and our cooperation is strong in every field. One excellent example is Finland's recent confirmation that they are planning to join the Rail Baltica ... joint project that is helping to promote regional economic cooperation as well as the development of our region in general," Ratas was quoted as saying in a statement.

Rail Baltica is a greenfield rail transport infrastructure project that aims to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network. The project includes five EU countries, namely Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland indirectly.

The two prime ministers discussed the challenges facing the EU, including Britain's pending departure from the bloc and key issues to be tackled by the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU after July. The EU budget for the 2021-2027 period was also covered.

The statement recalled that a new team will take over at the helm of the European Commission and other institutions after the European Parliament elections this coming May.

The two leaders also discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of digital connections.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 00:51:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

JINAN/YINCHUAN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Jin Cong busies himself inspecting the spring plantation of edamame. He needs to make sure that the vegetables meet the export quality when they are ready to be shipped in a few months.

Jin is the general manager of Jining Sunshine Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd, a leading producer of frozen vegetables in Jining, east China's Shandong Province.

"Green soybeans (edamame) mostly go with Japanese sakes, which are quite popular in izakayas (a type of Japanese pub)," Jin said. He expects the company's edamame exports to Japan to grow by one-third this year.

Founded in 2011, the company is among the top 10 frozen veggie exporters in the country. It exports about 4,500 kg of frozen green soybeans to both Kansai and Kanto regions of Japan annually. It also exports broccoli and shepherd's purses.

To better meet demands of Japanese customers, Jin said his company had sent staff to attend the 44th International Food and Beverage Exhibition, held in Tokyo from Tuesday to Friday.

The firm owns more than 333 hectares of edamame fields in Jiaxiang County. They are grown in April and harvested in July.

Jin said his products need to pass 201 pesticide residue tests and five microbiological detections before they reach customers.

Exporters like Jin's firm have stuck to stringent quality standards in the last few years.

Zhang Deyan, vice general manager of the Qingdao-based Fusheng Foods Co., Ltd, said the company had strengthened quality control in its 20 spinach planting bases by monitoring air, soil and water conditions.

Farm chemicals have been carefully used and strictly controlled to meet the standard of minimal pesticide residues.

"We have set up three detection procedures to perform more than 260 tests, covering the whole process from growing, harvest to production," Zhang said. The company has invested 20 million yuan (about 3 million U. S. dollars) to build new testing labs.

The company expects an estimated 10 percent growth in frozen vegetable exports to Japan this year.

Figures released by the Qingdao Customs show that 227,000 tonnes of frozen vegetables were exported to Japan from Shandong in 2018, up 7.9 percent year on year, accounting for more than one-fifth of Japan's annual import of 1.06 million tonnes.

Qingdao Customs has launched special campaigns to improve the quality and safety of exported vegetables by promoting enterprise upgrading, deep processing of primary agricultural products, and establishing model areas for quality control.

Apart from coastal areas, China's inland areas have also seen an export growth in frozen vegetables since an increasing number of vegetable producers paid more attention to the quality over the past few years.

Workers of Ningxia Hongqiao Organic Food Co., Ltd. in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region need to load at least two trucks of frozen vegetables every day.

Edamame, green sword bean, broccoli and spinach produced by the company will appear in supermarkets or stores in Japan three to four days after departing Qingdao Port in Shandong, one of the largest ports in China.

"The period between November and April is usually the export season for frozen vegetables. Our warehouse staff are very busy and work overtime every day," said Liang Sheng, vice-general manager of the company.

Liang's company is the first frozen vegetable export enterprise in Ningxia. After meeting a series of international food safety standards, products have been exported to developed countries including Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States and France since 2017.

Liang said around 8,000 tonnes of frozen vegetables were exported last year, half of which went to Japan, the largest exporting destination of his company.

Starting from a traditional enterprise focusing on plantation, Liang attributed the company's success to innovation, product improvements and freezing technique upgrades. Once a small private firm, it has now become a large modern enterprise with a whole industry chain covering plantation, processing and sale.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 01:41:35|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

JERUSALEM, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Gaza's Hamas of an "aggressive" military response if the unrest along the border fence continues.

The remark was made during a security assessment that Netanyahu, who also serves as Israel's defense minister, held in southern Israel with commanders of the Gaza Division and the Southern Command.

He warned Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement that runs Gaza, of harsh retaliation. "Hamas should understand now that any display of aggression will be met with an even more aggressive response by Israel," Netanyahu said.

"They would do well to understand this now rather than later," he added.

His remark was made as an Israeli army tank fired artillery at a Hamas post in the northern Gaza Strip. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

A military spokesperson said the artillery was a response to shots that were fired at an Israeli military position near the northern Gaza Strip earlier on Thursday evening. No injuries were reported.

It was the fifth consecutive day that Israeli warplanes, drones, or tanks have been targeting Gaza military posts, facilities, and training camps. The army says the attacks were a retaliation to explosives attached to balloons and rockets sent from Gaza towards southern Israel.

Gaza militants have been for the past months occasionally sending balloons with incendiary materials or explosives amidst protests and clashes along the fence separating between the besieged enclave and Israel.

At least 251 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the protest started last March.

The escalating violence has triggered fears that an informal truce, agreed last November between Israel and Hamas, could collapse.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 02:16:49|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

Yemeni children wait to fill their plastic containers with drinking water from a charity water tank in the ongoing water crisis in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 7, 2019. Yemen has suffered from grinding crisis of water after four years of deadly civil war. According to the UN, over 18 million Yemenis currently lack access to clean drinking water. (Xinhua/Mohamed al-Azaki)

by Mohamed al-Azaki

SANAA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Yemen has suffered from grinding crisis of water after four years of deadly civil war. According to the UN, over 18 million Yemenis currently lack access to clean drinking water.

Charity water tanks are helpful for the residents on Wadi Ahmed outskirts in the north of the capital Sanaa, which contain clean water donated by rich Yemeni family.

"Generous and rich families now donate clean water. Some international aid agencies have provided some charity empty tanks but they did not continue to provide water," said Yahya al-Kudaymi, resident of Wadi Ahmed outskirts.

The war has destroyed all basic services, damaged water networks, electricity and sanitation system, and forced millions of children out of school. Tens of thousands of state employees have been unpaid for more than three years. Most of the capital residents relay mainly on charity's help.

When the tank trucks came, the residents rushed to racing for water. It usually takes some 15 minutes to empty the tanks. Residents should store some of their filled buckets for two to three days until other water trucks arrived.

Mohammed Salah, one of the water trucks' drivers on Wadi Ahmed outskirts, said that he had signed a contract with a local charity group for a one-month work to carry clean water to these tanks.

"Today is the last day of this contact deal, and as of tomorrow, I will not be able to provide water to these tanks. I urged charity organizations and groups to continue to help these poor neighborhoods," Salah said.

Charity works depend mainly on the availability of fuel. Sanaa, like other besieged cities in the country's north, faces fuel shortages every month because of the war and blockades.

"The cause of water crisis is the blockade which leads to fuel shortages and halt of electricity," said Abduljalil al-Kumaim, spokesperson of rebel-controlled water ministry.

The humanitarian situations have dramatically deteriorated since the war erupted in late 2014.

Prolonged fuel shortages in the local markets caused water pumps to stop and damaged large part of the agriculture sector.

The country also faces severe shortages in providing hard currency to import needy fuel as its banking system has collapsed because of the war.

The UN has asked for 4.2 billion U.S. dollars in aid to help to ease the humanitarian catastrophe in the country. Nearly the same number of more than 18 million Yemenis are on the brink of starvation.

UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths has been shuttling between the rebel Houthi movement in Sanaa and exiled government in Riyadh amid efforts to salvage the deal, which intended to clear the way for wider negotiations to end the devastating war.

However, there was no solution in sight to break the deadlock in Yemen's peace process. Millions of Yemenis are struggling as the conflict continues.
This 16 July, 1945 image shows the first atomic bomb 12 seconds after explosion, July 16, 1945 during the "Trinity" test in New Mexico. (AFP PHOTO)

MOSCOW, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Russia is worried by publications in U.S. media that Washington needs to resume nuclear tests, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing Thursday.

"The emergence of such publications obviously should be viewed as preparing the U.S. public for the idea that nuclear tests are an inevitable necessity. Without them, the U.S. national security could be in danger," Zakharova said.

"This logic corresponds to the course taken by Washington to gradually recreate conditions for a possible resumption of nuclear tests," she said.

Such actions reduce confidence that the United States will continue to comply with a moratorium on nuclear testing since 1992, she added.

This line opens a direct path to unleashing a new round of nuclear arms race, Zakharova warned.

In 1991, after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced a unilateral nuclear test moratorium, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress for a reciprocal move.

The legislation, which became law in 1992, mandated a 9-month suspension on nuclear weapon test explosions. In 1993, President Bill Clinton decided to extend the moratorium.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 03:22:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TRIPOLI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Libyan authorities recorded the first malaria infection in more than 30 years, a local official said Thursday.

"A baby girl has been infected with the highly pathogenic type of malaria parasite," Ahmad al-Garari, director of Joint Diseases Department of the National Center for Disease Control, told Xinhua.

He highlighted the need to prepare for the disease, which has not been recorded in Libya for more than three decades.

"Technically, we have a highly experienced team ready to conduct a survey in the site where the infection was recorded," al-Garari explained.

"We have presented a list of needs to the relevant authorities ... If the needs are provided, next week we will go to the site to take samples sufficient to monitor the level of outbreaks of the malaria," the official added.

He pointed out that the disease is currently under control, but stressed the need for a high-level campaign to fight the disease.

"The type of malaria recorded is highly dangerous and all relevant authorities must combat it," al-Garari warned.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 03:32:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TIRANA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The resignation of Albania's opposition lawmakers hurts the country's European Union (EU) integration process, Director-General for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission, Christian Danielsson, told a press conference on Thursday.

Danielsson is in an official visit to Albania and had meetings with Albanian political leaders to discuss the current situation in the country.

Last month, lawmakers of the joined opposition parties have resigned from their posts and refused the calls of the European Union and international organizations to have talks with the government and end the political crisis.

Commenting on the resignation, Danielsson said that the only democratic way to solve issues remains to engage in parliament.

"The parliamentary institution is indispensable and should be the same for both the majority and the opposition," emphasized the director-general.

In regard to the opposition protests, Danielsson said that "the incitement to violent actions in protests is absolutely unacceptable."

Regarding Albania's opening of the negotiations with the EU, Danielsson said that he is working on drafting the report to be submitted to the European Council and the latter will make the final decision.

"It is important to present an objective report on the fight against corruption, crime, the vetting progress and justice in general," said Danielsson.

Meanwhile, following the meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Danielsson stated that he held a very open conversation with Rama on the country's current political situation.

"Very open conversation with PM Edi Rama on the current political situation and reforms. Albania has to continue to deliver on all reform areas, and in particular on fighting crime and corruption, to make a convincing case in June, when the EU Member States will review progress," Danielsson said.

Earlier Rama said he is ready to reach a dialogue with the opposition, but does not intend to resign.

Albania hopes to launch membership negotiations with the European Union in June 2019.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 03:32:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

ADEN, Yemen, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen opened fire on a police patrol in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Thursday, leaving a policeman killed and five others injured, a government official told Xinhua.

"A group of unknown gunmen blocked the main road in KhorMaksar district of Aden and then opened fire against a police patrol, killing a policeman at the scene," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Two of the injured were in serious condition, he added.

Another source of Aden's security command told Xinhua that efforts were underway to capture the gunmen and those who blocked KhorMaksar's main road.

"Aden's security forces started tracking some sabotage elements who intended to create chaos in Aden and began to attack police forces," said the source who also asked to remain anonymous.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the security source blamed it on extremist groups.

Yemeni government officials, including high-ranking security commanders and intelligence officers, have been the prime targets in attacks by unknown gunmen during the past months.

Considered Yemen's temporary capital, Aden is where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has based itself since 2015.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since late 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 04:12:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

VILNIUS, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis has called on neighboring Belarus to reconsider its nuclear power plant (NPP) construction, said the Lithuanian government on Thursday in a statement

Skvernelis sent a letter to his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Rumas, calling on the neighboring country to transform its Astravets NPP to a gas power plant.

"I would like to bring forward the proposal for the Belarusian side to consider the possibility of developing a modern gas power plant instead of the Astravets nuclear power plant," said the Lithuanian prime minister in his letter.

The letter has been sent amid ongoing disagreements between the two countries over safety of Astravets NPP, which is being built by the border, 50 kilometers from Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

Skvernelis argued his proposal is based on the final decision by Espoo Convention in Geneva that the site for the Astravets NPP was chosen inappropriately and the stress tests by the EU have shown the power plant was not safe.

Belarus denies the Astravets NPP has any safety issues and continues with the construction project of power plant with two VVER 1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2,400 megawatts. The country plans to have the first reactor ready this year and the second in 2020, according to the Belarus media.

In his letter, Skvernelis promised Lithuania would ensure alternative gas supplies from the Lithuanian liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in western Lithuania via the country's territory.

"The LNG terminal will have the capacity to satisfy the needs of Lithuania and regional consumers until at least 2044," said the Lithuanian leader in his letter.
The portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears on the window of a Syrian army truck upon its arrival at the Syrian border town of Jdaidet Yabous from Lebanon's Bekaa valley, on April 24, 2005. (Xinhua File photo)

DAMASCUS, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Thursday rejected as "full of falsifications" a report that chemical weapons were likely used in the attack on Douma district near the capital Damascus last year, state news agency SANA reported.

The report by the fact-finding mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) ignored the testimonies of eyewitnesses that rebels who then controlled Douma staged the attack, the ministry said.

The lack of professionalism made it easy for the Syrian experts to discover the misleading information in the report, it added.

Meanwhile, the ministry promised continued cooperation with the intergovernmental organization as part of the commitment of the Syrian government.

In its recent report, the OPCW said there are reasonable grounds that chlorine was used during the Douma attack.

Western powers, especially the United States, accuse the Syrian government forces of launching a chlorine gas attack on Douma when the area was controlled by the rebels.
CLEARWATER, Fla., March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering approving Johnson & Johnsons (J&Js) new nasal spray antidepressant, esketamine (brand name Spravato), after an FDA advisory committee voted on February 12, 2019 in its favor. The drug is a chemical mirror of ketamine, a potent dissociative anesthetic that is abused as the illegal club drug, Special K, and generates an intense high and euphoric effects, and hallucinations. If approved, it would add to the mind-numbing of America that an FDA-psychiatric collusion is causing, says the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a watchdog organization founded by the Church of Scientology and psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969. CCHR said the FDAs continuing clearance of potentially addictive and dangerous psychotropic drugs and, more recently, electroshock treatment devices, fuels a lucrative $35 billion a year industry at the cost of consumers mental health and lives. [1] [2]



CCHR points out that more than 43.6 million Americans each year are now taking antidepressants  once called miracle pills; but psychiatrists now claim that the drugs dont work in one out of every three people taking them. Side effects of antidepressants include suicidal thoughts and violence-related effectshardly a recipe for improving depression, says CCHR.

Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International, said, ECT is recommended for treatment-resistant depression, a term invented to mislead consumers into thinking the problem is theirs and not the failure of psychiatric treatments. Despite the failure, the serious and deadly risks of treatment and a history of manufacturers covering up adverse effects, the FDA keeps giving them license to profit.

Between 1988 and 2005, the FDA approved nine new antidepressants and five new antipsychotics. At least four more antidepressants have been approved since 2010. Drug companies provide 60% of the FDAs drug review costsa colossal conflict of interestrepresenting more than $712 million a year in revenue. Theres another estimated $24 million for medical device clearance. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Spending on non-institutionalized mental disorder treatment accounted for $89 billion in 2013. The up to 90% prevalence of polypharmacy in psychiatryprescribing a patient multiple drugswould contribute to those costs [7] [8]. CCHR says, esketamine, which will mask not cure depression, would be given with an antidepressant. [9]. Several side effects of esketamine are dissociation and sedation, prompting the FDA advisory panel to recommend not allowing people to use the nasal spray at home but remain monitored in a healthcare facility for two hours until these side effects subside. [10]

Theres been a boom in the off-label (non-FDA approved) use of ketamine as a treatment for depression and other psychiatric conditions. Dozens of for-profit ketamine clinics have opened up around the country, including in Florida. The clinics regularly charge $650  $1,200 per treatment, with most people needing six  eight treatments (up to $9,600) to get started. [11] [12] [13]

J&J anticipates $1 billion-plus in sales from a crop of new drugs that includes esketamine. This wont recoup the costs it has paid in settlements of lawsuits over its antipsychotic, Risperdal (risperidone) and a $2.2 billion Department of Justice fine over marketing and selling Risperdal and other drugs off-label. J&J has paid out millions of dollars to settle lawsuits about its failure to warn that Risperdal can cause gynecomastia (male breast growth). One youth was awarded $70 million in damages after alleging Risperdal caused him to grow size 42D breasts. None of this appears to be of concern to FDA officials or psychiatrists advocating for yet another brain-altering drug. [14] [15]

The FDA has also approved antipsychotics as adjuncts to antidepressants when theyve failed. Studies show aripiprazole (Abilify), olanzapine/fluoxetine (Symbyax), quetiapine (Seroquel) and risperidone (Risperdal) have been used with antidepressants. Yet a study by Glen Spielmans, Ph.D., a researcher and associate professor of psychology at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, found that in terms of quality of life and how well people were functioning, there was really not much evidence that these drugs did anything. There was abundant evidence of potential treatment-related harm, including weight gain, akathisia (uncontrollable restlessness), and abnormal results from cholesterol and other metabolic-related laboratory tests. [16]

Now add electroshock to these chemical bombs. ECT has an up to 70% failure (relapse) rate within six months of receiving it. [17]

Diane Stein, president of CCHR Florida, who is investigating psychotropic drug use and electroshock in Florida, said the level of misrepresentation about these treatments risks starts with psychiatry and runs through the FDA and at state level. University of Florida Health recommends maintenance ECT up to every two to three months, while asserting that it works by making the brain rewire itselfwithout any scientific evidence to support this. Concurrent psychiatric drugs are usual practice, which is simply evidence that ECT doesnt work.

Eastgate and Stein say the FDAs approval process needs investigating, including its collusion with psychiatric organizations pushing drugs and electroshocka combination that puts industry interests above patient protection. They urge people to support a ban on ECT in Florida (petition) and nationally.

About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHRs mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, first brought psychiatric imprisonment to wide public notice: Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the free world tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of mental health, he wrote in March 1969.

Sources:

[1] https://psychcentral.com/blog/spravato-new-ketamine-treatment-to-be-approved-by-fda/

[2] https://www.mdmag.com/medical-news/esketamine-nasal-spray-support-fda-advisory-committee

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690138/

[4] https://www.medhealthdaily.com/new-antidepressants/

[5] http://www.anh-usa.org/microsite-subpage/the-fda-is-in-the-pocket-of-the-drug-industry/

[6] https://medcitynews.com/2010/11/medical-device-makers-spend-millions-to-meet-fda-rules-study-finds/

[7] https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/current-costs-outcomes-related-mental-health-substance-abuse-disorders/#item-cost-treating-mental-illness-grown-relatively-slowly-compared-disease-categories-price-index-mental-illness-treatment-grew-average-annual-growth-rate-3-1-fro

[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3653237/

[9] https://psychcentral.com/blog/spravato-new-ketamine-treatment-to-be-approved-by-fda/

[10] https://psychcentral.com/blog/spravato-new-ketamine-treatment-to-be-approved-by-fda/

[11] https://www.statnews.com/2019/02/20/psychiatry-awaits-esketamine-with-excitement-hesitation/

[12] https://www.bing.com/search?q=Ketamine%20clinic%20Florida&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&ghc=1&pq=ketamine%20clinic%20florida&sc=4-23&sk=&cvid=5DB62CDC17D5444CB036E7C5AEB5161F

[13] https://psychcentral.com/blog/spravato-new-ketamine-treatment-to-be-approved-by-fda/

[14] https://www.consumersafety.org/legal/risperdal-lawsuit/

[15] https://clearviewpost.com/nationwide-risperdal-lawsuits-shed-light-on-the-patchwork-of-state-laws-that-can-determine-the-value-of-your-life/

[16] https://psychcentral.com/news/2013/03/14/adding-antipsychotic-meds-to-antidepressants-shows-risk-little-benefit/52597.html

[17] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3799066/

Media Contact:

Diane Stein

President, CCHR Florida

727-442-8820

diane@cchrflorida.org

www.cchrflorida.org
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 05:07:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese UN envoy said Thursday that China supports results-oriented cooperation between the Security Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in peace and security.

The council on Thursday heard a briefing by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Miroslav Lajcak, also the Slovak foreign minister, on the regional body's priorities during his chairmanship.

Following the briefing, Yao Shaojun, minister counsellor and political coordinator of the permanent mission of China to the United Nations, said OSCE is an important partner of the United Nations and has in recent years been actively conducting preventive diplomacy, promoting regional security and mutual trust, and mediating regional disputes.

He also pointed out that since Slovakia assumed chairmanship, OSCE has been given priority to preventing and mitigating conflicts, providing for a safer future and enhancing multilateralism, which China commends.

"The world needs multilateralism more than ever," said Yao.

He stressed China supports results-oriented cooperation between the council and OSCE in the field of peace and security, and hopes OSCE will continue to play an active and constructive role in safeguarding regional peace, security and stability.

On the issue of Ukraine in particular, Yao noted, the parties concerned, including OSCE, have made positive efforts towards a peaceful solution, adding China hopes the parties concerned will effectively implement relevant council resolutions and Minsk agreement, and seek a comprehensive solution through dialogue and consultations.
A staff member stands in front of a Huawei shop in Beijing, China, on March 7, 2019. (Reuters photo)

BAGHDAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tech giant Huawei launched the first phase of the Safe City Solution project in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood to promote security measures in the Iraqi capital, an official newspaper reported Thursday.

The launch of the project was announced in a ceremony held at the headquarters of Baghdad Operations Command (BOC), state-owned al-Sabah newspaper said.

The ceremony was attended by the Chinese charge d'affaires, representatives of Huawei, Iraqi military commanders and high-level government officials.

"The new surveillance camera solution will make easier the job of the security forces by monitoring the streets and detecting the suspected people in order to arrest them," said Jalil al-Rubaie, commander of BOC, during the ceremony.

"The project consists of smart surveillance cameras capable of detecting people's faces and tracking various individuals at the same time, which would help reduce the classical security check points in the city," al-Rubaie added.

According to Riyadh al-Adhadh, head of Baghdad Provincial Council, Baghdad needs more than 20,000 security surveillance cameras to cover all streets and neighborhoods.

The new project, which was also funded by Huawei, aims to improve the security situation in Iraq, particularly after the Iraqi authorities declared full liberation of all areas once seized by the Islamic State militants late in 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 06:22:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

GENEVA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- In the face of rising unilateralism, protectionism and populism worldwide, multilateralism is more imperative than ever and the shared challenges of mankind can only be tackled through concerted efforts, a senior Chinese diplomat highlighted here Thursday.

In a statement on behalf of some 50 like-minded countries during the Dialogue with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Yu Jianhua, head of the China's Mission to UN at Geneva, said that China and other like-minded developing countries will continue to give strong support to the UN and High Commissioner for advances in the global cause for human rights.

"We the Like Minded Group stand ready to work with other parties to uphold multilateralism, cooperation, and dialogue, particularly as the international community is marking the centenary of multilateralism," Yu said.

He said China and other like-minded countries hope the High Commissioner and her office could uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respect sovereignty and territorial integrity, and work consistently in an impartial, objective, constructive and non-selective manner.

"The politicization of human rights agenda and double standards should be avoided," Yu noted.

The UN human rights work should also promote dialogue and exchange among all parties on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, he said, adding that the UN Human Rights Council should be a platform for communication, not confrontation.

The Chinese diplomat told the audience that China and other like-minded countries oppose naming and shaming and public exertion of pressure.

"We should advance human rights in a balanced manner, increase input into economic, social, cultural rights and the right to development, and provide technical assistance for human rights in line with the will and requirements of the countries concerned," he said.

"We should respect the development path independently chosen by a country, recognize the progress and efforts of states in the field of human rights, and promote their good practices," Yu added.

The UN Human Rights Council o Thursday continued its interactive dialogue with High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on her annual report and oral update, which addressed numerous human rights challenges across the world.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 06:42:54|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

OSLO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- New figures from Norway's statistics bureau showed that the total fertility rate in 2018 was 1.56 children per woman, which is lowest ever measured in Norway, public broadcaster NRK reported Thursday.

The fertility rate has decreased every year since 2009, and the level was record low also in 2017.

In 2018, 55,100 children were born in Norway which is 1,500 fewer than in 2017, the report said.

"The decline is a trend that has now been going on for almost ten years. The fertility has thus fallen by 0.42 children, that is, almost half a child per woman in the last decade," Espen Andersen, advisor of Statistics Norway (SSB) told NRK.

Increasing age of giving birth is an important cause of the decline, according to SSB.

The average age for mothers giving first-time births was 29.5 years last year, while first-time fathers on average were 31.8 years.

There are also fewer Norwegians who get more than two children, while multiple births with twins and triplets are also at their lowest level since 1994.

In her New Year speech this year, Prime Minister Erna Solberg encouraged Norwegians to have more children.

Last December, a working group was set up with representatives from three different Norwegian ministries to consider changes in the support schemes for families to facilitate the Norwegians to have more children.
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-08 07:03:01|Editor: Xiang Bo

Video Player Close

NEW YORK, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump's former lawyer and "fixer," filed a lawsuit against the Trump Organization on Thursday in New York, saying the company breached an agreement and owes him at least 1.9 million U.S. dollars in unpaid legal fees and other costs related to his work.

The lawsuit, filed in the Supreme Court of the state of New York in Manhattan, claimed that the Trump Organization had agreed to indemnify legal fees and costs incurred by Cohen in connection with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russian probe and multiple congressional hearings, among other matters.

But the company stopped paying the mounting attorneys' fees and other costs since May, 2018 when he reportedly indicated to family and close friends that he would cooperate with federal investigators. The unpaid fees and costs amounted to approximately 1.9 million dollars.

In addition, the lawsuit claimed the Trump Organization should also pay another 1.9 million dollars Cohen was ordered to forfeit "as part of his criminal sentence arising from conduct undertaken by Mr. Cohen in furtherance of and at the behest of the Trump Organization and its principals, directors, and officers."

The New York City-based Trump Organization, a real estate group owned by President Trump, has not commented on the lawsuit yet.

Cohen pleaded guilty last year to charges that included campaign-finance violations for paying hush money to women who claimed to have had sex with Trump and for lying to Congress about the extent of negotiations for a Trump Tower in Russia. He was sentenced in December to three years in prison.

Trump has denied the claims and slammed Cohen as "a weak person" and the Russia probe as a "witch hunt."
Chiriasul de la Cotroceni, Constitutia Romaniei si actul cu valente simbolice din 1991

Ziua Constitutiei si implinirea a 30 de ani de la aprobarea ei prin referendum national au fost sarbatorite in avans, cu doua zile mai devreme. Pe 8 decembrie 1991, 77,3% din cei 10.948.468 de participanti la vot erau [citeste mai departe]
TORONTO, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



What: Union leaders are asking how the government can claim it is creating health care teams when the organizations representing hundreds of thousands of members of that team have never been consulted. More importantly, they note, the public has never been consulted, yet the government is moving Bill 74 through the legislature at top speed.



Bill 74 is the Ford governments omnibus health care legislation in which it has given itself and its appointees in its new super agency wide-reaching new powers to force unprecedented health care restructuring without any public consultation, including mergers, closures and privatization of hospitals, long-term care, home care, diagnostic services, clinics, community care, mental health and addictions services, community health centres, and others.

The legislation was only brought to public awareness due to a leak to the media by the NDP several weeks ago after they received the legislation and internal documents from whistleblower(s) in the civil service.

The legislation was introduced to the legislature formally last Tuesday and is already in second reading. The government has not made clear whether or not they will hold any public hearings. Unions have joined community groups and patient advocates in calling for province-wide public hearings and real public consultations.

When: Thursday, March 7 at 1:00 PM

Where: Media Studio, Queens Park, Main Legislative Building, Toronto

Who: Michael Hurley, President, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions and First Vice-President, CUPE Ontario;

Ed Arvelin, Chair, Mental Health and Addictions Division and Executive Board Member;

Sara Labelle, Chair, Hospital Professionals Division and 2nd Vice-President, OPSEU; and

Chris Buckley, President, Ontario Federation of Labour

For further information, please contact:

Michael Hurley, President OCHU/CUPE (416) 884-0770

Sara Labelle, 2nd Vice President, OPSEU (905) 914-4037

Meagan Perry, Communications Director, Ontario Federation of Labour (416) 894-3456 l mperry@ofl.ca

cope343
Today, around 56000 women serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine

7000 female military personnel became the participants of the combat actions in Donbas, as Ukraines Minister of Defence Stepan Poltorak said on air of 112 Ukraine.

Over the period of war with Russia 166 military women received combat state awards, 1500 got rewards, over 1000  rewards from the Head of the General Staff. I would like to stress that over this period, 7000 female military personnel became participants of combat actions. You protect our country and its territorial integrity courageous and heroic, the Minister noted.

Natalya Khorunzhaya, Alla Vovk, Kateryna Noskova, Sabina Galytska died in combat actions over past five years.

Today, around 56000 women serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Poltorak noted.

As it was reported, 2945 Ukrainian soldiers died over the past five years of Russias aggression in Donbas.
Ukraine's Envoy in the Group Yevhen Marchuk could not specify the desired period of ceasefire

The sides of Minsk Trilateral Contact Group agreed on the ceasefire regime to take place on midnight of March 8. Yevhen Marchuk, Ukraine's Envoy in the Group said this as quoted by Interfax news agency.

In spite of the consent of all parties, the Ukrainian side has doubts whether the Russian occupants would actually stop shooting.

'The key thing is, we agreed (...) that the ceasefire would be launched since midnight. However, quite regrettably, one cannot be too optimistic or have any sort of great illusions, unless there are guarantees from the Russian Federation and, first of all, Mr. Putin or his representatives', he said.

Marchuk could not specify the desired period of ceasefire, merely saying that the Ukrainian side would like a 'long-lasting' truce.

There was no Russian representative on this particular session of the Minsk Group.
It is specified that the movement of cargo vehicles was spotted near the factory, which produced first intercontinental ballistic missiles

Donald Trump, the president of USA, and Kim Jong-un, the Supreme leader of the North Korea Associated Press

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be disappointed if the information about the restoration of the work intercontinental ballistic missiles plant is confirmed. However, South Korean media stated about some activity on the plant as Reuters reported.

It is specified that the movement of cargo vehicles was spotted near the factory, which produced first intercontinental ballistic missiles. Besides, it was mentioned that North Korea continued to run its uranium enrichment facility after the first summit between Trump and its leader, Kim Jong Un.

This information was provided after the summit of leaders in Vietnamese Hanoi, which did not succeeded.

Later it was additionally reported that work was underway to restore part of the Norths Sohae rocket launch site that Kim, at the Singapore summit, vowed to dismantle.

I would be very disappointed if that were happening, Trump told.

Its a very early report. Were the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I dont think I will be, but well see what happens. Well take a look. Itll ultimately get solved.

As we reported North Korea warned that it could renew state policy aimed at strengthening its nuclear arsenal if the United States does not change the position on sanctions against the country.

Earlier, U.S. leader Donald Trump stated America intended to build up its arsenal of nuclear weapons to pressure Russia and China.
Both called off their candidacies in favor of other candidates, who seem to be somewhat better chances for victory

Ukraine elections on March 31 Open source

Dmytro Dobrodomov, the candidate for the presidency in Ukraine decided to bail out. He lifted his candidacy and made it public during the briefing on Thursday afternoon.

According to Dobrodomov, he leaves in support of Anatoliy Hrytsenko, another candidate whom he claimed to be the pro-Ukrainian figure that is 'capable of winning the elections'.

'I'm sure Anatoliy Hrytsenko could make it to the second round. We will support him so that he could assume this office, and we'll be able to build up the country (...)', he said. Dobrodomov added that 'the opposition democratic forces should make it to the Parliament and assist the new president in the implementation of all these principles they live up to, as they completely match ours'.

Earlier, Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi and reporter Dmytro Hnap also said they would bail out in support of Hrytsenko.

On the same say, Yevhen Murayev lifted his candidacy, too. The leader of Nashi party decided to leave the race, endorsing the candidacy of Oleksandr Vilkul, the deputy head of 'Opposition Bloc' party.

Murayev said that at a press conference, pointing out that these political forces will join efforts during the forthcoming parliamentary elections in autumn this year. He added that he would be No.1 figure in the parliamentary election list in that force.

Vilkul, in turn, said that he'd make Murayev a Premier 'when he becomes the President'.

March 7 is the last day when the candidates may call off their appeals for the presidential office. The ultimate list of candidates for the presidency will become known on March 8.

The first round of the presidential election in Ukraine is slated for March 31.
Currently, the government and the National Security Council should start the procedure of selection of the auditing authority

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko Open source

The international audit of Ukroboronprom, Ukraine's leading defense industry enterprise should take place by the end of the year. Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine said that during his interview to TV channels, as Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted him.

'The tender procedures will last for two months; speaking of how much time would the audit take place, I'd say for sure it will be over this year', the President said.

He also added that he would pay maximum efforts to speed up this process. Currently, the government and the National Security Council should start the procedure of selection of the auditing authority, Poroshenko concluded. 'It should be a respected international company with certain credibility level', he concluded.

The National Security and Defense Council instructed to perform the full and comprehensive audit of Ukroboronprom, the leading defense enterprise in this country. The press service of the National Security and Defense Council reports this.

According to the results of the session, it is instructed to immediately fund the full audit of Ukroboronprom, the enterprises and the participants with involvement in the audit foreign experts. The General Prosecutors Office together with State Investigation Bureau, Security Service of Ukraine and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau should examine the enterprise and check the published by the press facts about violation of the purchases of defense articles, and they should announce the results to the people, - the report said.

As it was reported earlier, the investigators of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office detained the acting and former directors of the State Foreign Trade Enterprise SpetsTechnoExport on suspicion of embezzling $2,225 million, according to NABU.
TORONTO, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rogers Communications Inc. today announced the filing with securities regulators in Canada and the U.S. of its 2018 annual report to shareholders. The annual report to shareholders includes, amongst other things, Rogers 2018 audited annual consolidated financial statements, notes thereto, and managements discussion and analysis in respect of the annual financial statements.



As well as being available on the websites of the Canadian Securities Administrators at sedar.com and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at sec.gov, these documents have also been posted on the Investor Relations section of Rogers website at investors.rogers.com/corporate-governance.

Paper copies of these documents may be requested at no charge, by contacting us at investor.relations@rci.rogers.com, at 647-435-6470, or toll free at 1-844-801-4792.

Rogers Communications Inc. will hold its Annual General Shareholder Meeting on April 18, 2019 in Toronto at 11:00 am.

About the Company: Rogers is a leading diversified Canadian communications and media company. We are Canadas largest provider of wireless communications services and one of Canadas leading providers of cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephony services to consumers and businesses. Through Rogers Media, we are engaged in radio and television broadcasting, sports, televised and online shopping, magazines, and digital media. Our shares are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RCI).

For further information:

Investor Relations, 416.935.7777, investor.relations@rci.rogers.com
Ukraine's permanent representative in the UN Security Council Oleg Nikolenko claims that political persecutions on the occupied peninsula carry on

UN Security Council Reuters

The UN Security Council will convene for a session on March 15 to discuss the latest developments in the occupied Crimea. Ukraine's permanent representative in the UN Security Council Oleg Nikolenko said this in a commentary on Thursday.

According to him, the pro-Kremlin government of the peninsula still prosecutes activists, journalists, Crimean Tatars and everyone who condemns the occupation of Crimea.

Recently, Ukraine's ambassador in the U.S. Valeriy Chaly asked Google management to correct the depiction of Crimea, which is shown as Russian territory on Google Maps - for Russia-based users.

Crimea was annexed by Russia after the illegal referendum held on the peninsula in March 2014. Earlier, the Russian military captured all strategic military objects and buildings of the key authoritative bodies. Neither Ukraine nor the rest of the civilized countries recognized the results of the referendum. A number of the European and the world countries, including Ukraine, imposed the economic sanctions against Russia.
41% of women do not feel safe, working in the media sphere

Open source

The threat and internet trolling are the main danger, which the female journalists face during the work in Ukraine as the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) reported after holding of the anonymous questionnaire.

According to the results of the questionnaire, 47% female journalists, who work in Ukraine, have faced the physical abuse (threats, attacks) due to their professional activity. Only 17% of them appealed to the law enforcement bodies for defense, the message said.

Particularly, the respondents mentioned that mostly they faced threats (73%) and surveillance (10%); they faced attacks (4%) and other kinds of pressure lesser.

The female journalists also mentioned the circumstances of the facing the attacks, threats and other obstacles. It turned out that the majority of the respondents suffered the threats covering the conflict issues (42%), protests (32%), during the interviews with people in power.

The IMI experts also draw attention to the fact that 10% of the respondents pointed out that they suffered in the editorial office of their agency.

The questionnaire showed that 41% of women do not feel safe, working in the media sphere.

The research took place by questionnaire. 232 female journalists were involved in it, including 84% representatives from the regions of Ukraine and 16% from Kyiv.

As we reported 86 cases of the use of the force against the journalists were spotted in Ukraine in 2018.

Earlier we reported that 94 journalists and media workers were killed while on duty in the world in 2018 and it is 12 persons more than that in 2017.
Donbas

As military actions on eastern Ukraine continue, both sides naturally take casualties; earlier this week, 19-year-old Ukrainian soldier Bohdan Gavrylov deceased in combat.

The enemy obviously continues to disrespect the international humanitarian norms. The representatives of the illegal armed formations did not let three trucks carrying humanitarian aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross occupied Donbas, as the press office of Ukraines Border Guard Service reported. Four trucks from the International Committee of the Red Cross moved through Novotroitske checkpoint entering temporary occupied territories of Ukraine. At the same time, the fighters of Russias armed formations did not let three trucks to enter the territory. They did not explain why. The trucks returned to Ukraine-controlled territory, the message says.

***

Azov Crisis

Special cellmates, very likely the mercenaries, are being settled next to the Ukrainian POWs, captured by Russian special service fighters in Kerch Strait, to put psychological pressure on them. Lawyer Nikolai Polozov reported this on Facebook. From the very first day, the POWs were subject to severe psychological pressure. Each of them was involved in a conversation to get a guilty plea or testimony about them or their comrades. Special cell mates were settled next to some of them, the lawyer wrote.

Military boats BK-16 of the Russian National Guard begun patrolling the Black Sea coast near Kerch Bridge as the press service of the department reported.

The boats have successfully passed the navigation tests in Sevastopol and begun to watch the Black Sea coast. The sailors of the Russian National Guard at BK-16 boats will continue the fulfillment of the work tasks on the guard of the waters, the message said.

Envoys for human rights Lyudmyla Denisova (Ukraine) and Tatyana Moskalkova (Russia) negotiated over the most burning issues of political prisoners in these respective countries. That, in particular, included the Ukrainian sailors arrested after the attack on Ukrainian Navy vessels in the Kerch Strait.

***

Anti-Russian sanctions

The U.S. President Donald Trump ordered to prolong anti-Russian sanctions for aggression in Ukraine for another year, as the press office of the White House reported. The actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to Ukraine undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets, the message reads.

The EU Ambassadors agreed on the sanctions against eight Russian citizens responsible for detention of 24 Ukrainian sailors as a result of a conflict in Azov Sea, as Radio Liberty correspondent Rikard Jozwiak reported on Twitter.

***

Embezzlement in Ukroboronprom

On March 4, Ukroboronprom directors were detained. Nashi Hroshi program alleged that Igor Gladkovsky, the son of close Poroshenko ally Oleh Gladkovsky, deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, organized a corruption scheme to smuggle spare military-equipment parts from Russia in 2015.

Ukroboronprom called the investigation of the journalists of Nashi Groshi (Our Money) show on the embezzlements by concerns officials manipulations.

Bail for each detained official of Ukroboronprom surpasses million dollars.

Anti-Corruption Bureau searches officials involved in embezzlement of army. Anti-Corruption Bureau Headsaid the loss from embezzlement in army makes $37,9 million. Eight people prosecuted for embezzlement in Wall project implementation.

***

Handziuk case

On March 4, court overruled the prosecutors application to extend a preventive measure for the Chairman of Kherson Region Council Vladyslav Manger who is suspected of organizing the murder of Kherson Mayors Advisor Kateryna Handziuk.

Besides, Kyiv Shevchenkivsky District Court received an application for removal of the Head of Kherson Region Council Vladyslav Manger.

On March 6, Vladyslav Manger has been suspended from duty for a month.

***

Ukrainian presidential elections

Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev complained that they still do not know who to talk with in Ukraine.

The Chief of General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Muzhenko warned that Russian special services might use election to destabilize the situation in Ukraine. Central Election Commission of Ukraine said that some observers from social organizations of the elections can cooperate with fighters in Donbas.

On March 6 it was reported that one of the presidential candidates of Ukraine Yuriy Tymoshenko was proposed almost $200,000 for his withdrawal from the elections.

***

Deputy State Secretary of the U.S. David Hale visits Ukraine

American Embassy to Ukraine announced the visit of U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale to Ukraine. He discussed the release of the Ukrainian sailors, who are being kept in Russia with President Petro Poroshenko.

Moreover, he noted the significance of energy issue in Ukraine and stated that this question was discussed at every meeting held during his visit.
Ukraines Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin reminded that infrastructure for nuclear weapons was prepared on the peninsula

Ukraines Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin MFA of Ukraine

The militarization of the annexed Crimean peninsula by Russia continues and in the following years the number of Russian personnel there can reach 50, 000 people. This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin during the press conference, as Ukrinform agency reports.

"The militarization of the Crimea has reached a certain point, but it will continue to occur - we know that in the coming years there will be almost 50 thousand of Russian personnel," he said.

In addition, the minister reminded that infrastructure for nuclear weapons was prepared on the peninsula.

He stressed that, to a large extent, Russian expansion to Syria and the Middle East is coming from the occupied Crimea.

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014. Crimea was declared a temporarily occupied territory. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine officially announced February 20, 2014 the beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia. On October 7 2015 Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko signed the relevant law. International organizations recognized the occupation and annexation of Crimea illegal and condemned Russia's actions. The West introduced a series of economic sanctions. Russia denies the occupation of the peninsula and calls it a "restoration of historical justice."
On March 6, the draft law on the admission of foreign military in Ukraine for drills was returned to the Parliament with the Presidents signature

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a draft law on the admission of foreign military in Ukraine for drills, as the Verkhovna Rada reports.

It was noted that on March 6, the law was returned to the Parliament with the Presidents signature. Earlier, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the draft law.

It says that it referred to the multinational drills on the preparation of the Armed Forces units, Ukrainian American drills Rapid Trident  2019, Sea Breeze 2019, the Ukrainian Romanian drills Riverain-2019, multinational drills Maple Ark-2019 and Ukrainian British drills Warrior Watcher-2019.

The law comes into force since the day of its official publication in the Uriadovy Kurier, the official outlet of the Ukrainian Cabinet.

Earlier, Poroshenko signed the law on amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution on EU, NATO integration yesterday, on February 20.

Ukraine news on 112.international
The employees of UkrGasVydobuvannya signed a contract with a private company on deliveries for a bribe

Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office served charged on two former workers of state gas producer company UkrGasVydobuvannya. They are suspected of getting $1 million bribe, as SAP reported on Facebook.

March 6, SAP prosecutors along with SBU detained the culprits and served charges on them.

It was reported that employees of UkrGasVydobuvannya signed a contract with a private company on deliveries for a bribe.

They are accused of committing a crime provided by the Criminal Code of Ukraine on getting an improper advantage.

The court will decide on the restrictive measures for the perpetrators.

Earlier it was reported that Deputy Chairman of Ukraines.
the situation with the wrong depiction of Crimea on Google Maps contradicts clear and firm position of the U.S. Administration, the U.S. Congress and the UN

Open source

Ukraines Ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly appealed to the leadership of Google concerning correction of wrong depiction of the Ukrainian Crimea as a part of Russia on some Google Maps, as it was reported on Ukraines Embassy to the U.S. Facebook page.

In the official letter, the Ambassador expressed a clear position concerning impermissibility of involvement of world-famous organization Google into the information war, which Russia conducts in the world spreading disinformation, fake and propaganda like with depiction of Crimea on the maps.

Chaly noted that the situation with the wrong depiction of Crimea on Google Maps contradicts clear and firm position of the U.S. Administration, the U.S. Congress and the UN.

Google representatives have stressed that the policy of the company is focused on the development of information technologies beyond information wars.

The officials of Ukraines Embassy to the U.S. hope that world-famous corporation will be following these high standards and will correct wrong depiction of Crimea on all Google Maps in compliance with the international norms.

As we reported, The New York Times newspaper published a map that depicts Crimea as disputed territory. It was published in the article that Putins bridge to Crimea may carry more symbolism then traffic. The New York Times also cited Ekaterina Shulman, political expert of the Academy of the Russian president, who claims that constructing a bridge that unites Russian and the annexed peninsula is symbolical.

Crimea was annexed by Russia after the illegal referendum held on the peninsula in March 2014. Earlier, the Russian military captured all strategic military objects and buildings of the key authoritative bodies. Neither Ukraine nor the rest of the civilized countries recognized the results of the referendum. A number of the European and the world countries, including Ukraine, imposed the economic sanctions against Russia.

Ukraine has banned the entry to its territory for the male citizens of Russia in the age from 16 up to 60. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko proposed to tighten the rules of the registration in Ukraine for the Russians.
Open source

Ukraines Security Service detained Deputy Head of Kharkiv City Council Department under suspicion of cooperation with Russian special services, as the representative of Ukraines Security Service Counter Intelligence Department stated at the briefing, broadcasted by 112 Ukraine.

Colonel of Russian Security Service (FSB) Aleksandr Ushakov recruited the Ukrainian official in 2017.

Ushakov met with the Ukrainian official in 2016 in Nachalyk city, Russia. The official arrived in the aggressor state for touristic reasons.

Then, they met in Prague (Czech Republic), Thessaloniki (Greece), Belgrade (Belarus) and Belgorod (Russia).

The Ukrainian explained his trips by touristic purposes and participation in different NGOs. We have defined that the Ukrainian citizen taking advantage of his position and access to certain information was gathering information about youth organizations, movement, their leaders, activity and funding different religious and nationalistic organizations, their projects, leaders, level of influence on the situation, etc. SBU informed.

It should be noted that the key role of the 2nd service of Russian Security Service, where Ushakov served, is to control the activity of the so-called ministries of state security in LDNR (Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples Republics, - ed.) which perform and plan subversive and special operations.

Officers of SBU counter-intelligence department detained him on March 5 in Kharkiv. He was served with charges concerning commission of a crime provided by the article of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on state treason. The court ruled to keep him in detention 60 days.

A pre-trial investigation is underway.
Deputy Chairman of Ukraines Agency of water resources demanded a bribe for signing of the contract for implementation of a biological amelioration of Bucha water reserve located in Gorenichi, Kyiv region

Pavlo Gvozdenko, the Deputy Chairman of Ukraines Agency of water resources, arrested for bribery Facebook Larysa Sarhan

Deputy Chairman of Ukraines Agency of water resources was detained red-handed while receiving bribe amounting $8000, as the Spokesperson of Ukraines Prosecutor General Larysa Sarhan reported on Facebook.

The prosecutors of the Prosecutor General Office, Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office and operational staff of the Security Service detained the Chairman of Ukraines Agency of water resources red-handed while he was getting a bribe, Sarhan wrote.

The corrupt official demanded improper advantage amounting $8000 from the representative of a legal entity for signing of the contract for implementation of a biological amelioration of Bucha water reserve located in Gorenichi, Kyiv region.

The investigation along with searches and preparation of an appeal concerning the restrictive measure for the culprit is underway.

Sarhan has not specified who was arrested, yet one could see Pavlo Gvozdenko, the Deputy Chairman of Ukraines Agency of water resources, on the photo.
Deputy State Secretary of the U.S. David Hale emphasized the importance of energy question in Ukraine

Deputy State Secretary of the U.S. David Hale Presidential Administration press office

Deputy State Secretary of the U.S. David Hale noted the significance of energy issue in Ukraine and stated that this question was discussed at every meeting held today, as he said at the briefing broadcasted by 112 Ukraine.

We discussed the energy sector at almost every meeting I had here, including the one with the Prime Minister. Every country in the world has to remember that energy security is almost as national security. Energy issues in that part of the world are very important for our interests, for our stability and security in Europe. Things which happen in Ukraines energy sector are connected with such energy issues as Nord Stream 2, which the U.S. blocks, he stated.

As it was reported, the EU approved the text to the Gas Directive, which will be applied to Nord Stream 2.

It was reported that Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would keep gas transit to Europe through Ukraine after 2019 under certain conditions.

Earlier, Polish President Andrzej Duda urged the German government to give up on Nord Stream 2 construction. He insisted that the new pipeline would breach the current energy balance, posing danger to the energy safety of some countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Ukraine is adamantly opposed to the construction by calling it politically motivated and suggesting the EU to create a consortium with the involvement of European companies to manage the existing more efficient transportation route through Ukraine. A number of EU countries have expressed their disagreement with the Nord Stream 2 project in particular Poland and Lithuania.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novoheart Holdings Inc. (Novoheart or the Company) (TSXV: NVH; FWB: 3NH) announces that it has granted incentive stock options to purchase an aggregate of 1,233,251 common shares of the Company (the Options) to directors and employees of the Company.



Option Grants

The Options have an exercise price of $0.34 per common share. The Options expire on March 6, 2024 and vest 40% on the first anniversary of the grant date and 30% on each of the second and third anniversaries of the grant date. 1,016,188 of the Options were granted to Directors. The Option grants are subject to the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.



About Novoheart:

Novoheart is a global stem cell biotechnology company pioneering an array of next-generation human heart tissue prototypes. It is the first company in the world to have engineered miniature living human heart pumps that can revolutionize drug discovery, helping to save time and money for developing new therapeutics. Also known as 'human heart-in-a-jar', Novohearts bio-artificial human heart constructs are created using state-of-the-art and proprietary stem cell and bioengineering approaches and are utilized by drug developers for accurate preclinical testing as to the effectiveness and safety of new drugs, maximizing the successes in drug discovery whilst minimizing costs and harm caused to patients.

For further information, please contact:

Ronald Li, CEO

info@novoheart.com



Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation; statements about the Companys future plans, its goals and expectations, and the potential applications of its MyHeart platform are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risks identified in the management discussion and analysis section of Novoheart Holdings Inc.s interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulators. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the respective companies undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
Senate Bill 459 would prohibit the issuance of new hydraulic fracturing permits within the state of New Mexico . The bill would create a new section in the New Mexico Oil and Gas act aimed at ending the fossil-fuel mining practice until 2023, when it has been fully studied and plans made for its regulation, even its end.

In the interim, several state agenciesincluding the Department of Health, the Indian Affairs Department and the Department of Environmentwould be tasked with completing yearly reports on hydraulic fracturing (fracking, for pop culture and common usage purposes) and the many issues associated with its use in producing non-sustainable energy products.

Clearly it is hoped that such yearly reporting will result in a smoking gun presented to our governor and the Legislature with an unwritten goal of ultimately ending the practice for all time.

It is hoped that the state, through its own laws and subsequent oversight actions, will ultimately discover that the dangers of fracking outweigh the benefit that such mining procedures provide to citizens of the Land of Enchantment and thereafter, do the right thing.

How could it be otherwise when fracking is the ultimate process for extracting a diminishing source of energy from an at-risk Earth. The produce of these efforts, more natural gas and petroleum, are still being marketed by corporate utility and fuel companies that indeed see the writing on the wall. Oh, theyll get on board with renewables, but first they want a last go at the fabled teat that gave so much gold and gravy to their fathers and grandfathers.

How could it be otherwise when fracking is the ultimate process for extracting a diminishing source of energy from an at-risk Earth. The produce of these efforts, more natural gas and petroleum, are still being marketed by corporate utility and fuel companies that indeed see the writing on the wall. Oh, theyll get on board with renewables, but first they want a last go at the fabled teat that gave so much gold and gravy to their fathers and grandfathers.

Before SB 459 was to be discussed at this years Legislature, the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department reported to the Senate Conservation Committee, presenting their annual report and telling members that little research on the effects of fracking in New Mexico has been done. Further, it became clear to the committee that there is nothing in current law that allows the state to regulate multi-stage horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking differently from the methods used to regulate conventional vertical drilling.

In case you are interested, the legislation in question defines fracking as the process of injecting fluid into an oil- or natural gas-bearing rock formation adjacent to the borehole of an existing oil or natural gas well for the purpose of either creating new fractures or expanding existing fractures [in the Earth] to stimulate the flow of oil into the well of oil or natural gas that would otherwise remain [trapped] in the rock formation.

The results of such endeavors are verifiably disastrous. They involve lots of water too, an aspect of the issue which brings it nearly to critical mass in this desert state where global warming has resulted in local phenomena like the main river in the state drying up during the summer.

Fracking uses a lot of water that is not returned to the water table and dissipates underground, unusable for drinking purposes. Additionally, fracking returns polluted water from the mining process to the surface. Further, much of the land available to be fracked is either public land held in trust or Tribal land; both are integral to a healthy human relationship with the Earth.

Finally the gear and materials left behind by mining crews scar and degrade the natural landscape. And the problematic process may even cause earthquakes. Hows that for an issue guaranteed to get the public involved in the lawmaking process?

Into this arena, as citizens in the state and the world become more aware of what this planet-wrecking procedure entails, activiststeachers, fathers, mothers, tribe members, regular folkshave been reaching out to their leadership and to the press about making it clear that not only is fracking a technological dead end, the whole process from start to finish damages the Earth in ways that are immediate, long-lasting and perhaps even civilization shattering.

The way I know about this, besides my own interest and reading, is because several local anti-fracking activists called and emailed our editorial department last week.

Anita Starzycka

One of them, Karen Waters, told me over the phone that on the day the bill was to be heard by the Senate Conservation Committee, it was shuffled to the bottom of the meetings agenda, and only given 30 minutes of discussion at the end of the day. Waters complained that her attempt to tell Committee Chair Cervantes about her displeasure regarding the limited discussion timeshe and fellow activists brought many visual resources and experts to testify in favor of the fracking moratorium after allwas met by nonchalance as a panel of lawmakers essentially said theyd take the matter up later, at their discretion.

So I asked Ms. Waters to draw up the citizen activists who had been at that meeting, to bring them to Alibi HQ and to spend a morning telling me and our readers why fracking is so dang bad for New Mexico.

She brought herself and five others: Jenni Siri and Margarita Mercure Hibbs from Frack Free Four Corners; Ann Chavez Barudin, a member of Kewa Pueblo; local father and farmer Mark LeClaire and Eileen Shendo, the daughter of longtime District 22 State Senator Benny Shendo.

This is what the people had to say about fracking.

Weekly Alibi: Karen you had some problems the other day at the Legislature. Can you please tell our readers about those problems?

Karen Waters: Well what happened was we were supposed to be heard first. We got pushed to last. And not only were we pushed to last, we were only allowed 30 minutes. And we had specific speakers, scientists. We had a geologist. We had a hydrologist. They were each allowed five minutes. Ms. Sedillo Lopez, one of the sponsors of the bill, spoke for about 10 minutes. Then Senator Benny Shendo, who has Chaco Canyon as part of his district, spoke. They were both very effective, but after they spoke there was only 10 minutes left. On top of it Senator Cervantes was rude. He wasnt rude anywhere else during the proceedings. He asked for a show of hands to see who was supporting and who wasnt supporting the bill. He saw there were a substantial amount of supporters, but was still rude to us. And then they tabled it. We havent heard anything since.

Have you talked to Senators Shendo and Sedillo Lopez about rescheduling?

Mark LeClaire: It will probably be heard Tuesday, March 5.

OK. So thats where we are now.

Karen: In a nutshell.

Well hopefully all those things that were frustrating for you last week will be rectified. Well keep our readers posted on that. Ms. Hibbs, tell me a little bit about the bill. What does it mean for New Mexico citizens?

Marguerita Mercure Hibbs: I think that Senate Bill 459 means that New Mexico and all of its citizens will finally have the rules and concepts of accountability, environmental impact studieshow fracking affects our air and waterfinally available. That means our senators and state legislators will have a full body of information available with regards to the impact of fracking and fracking industry, which by the way, represents about 90 percent of the drilling taking place in New Mexico today.

Doesnt fracking seem like a last resort to you? The attempt to find what very little fossil fuel is left instead of making the outright switch, the common sense evolution to renewables?

With a state like New Mexico, where on average we have 320 sunny days per year, it seems to make sense, yes. I think you captured that accurately. When an industry composed of corporations is allowed to make top-level profits for itself while paying only two percent in gross receipts taxes, while citizens pay between five and eight percent, were essentially subsidizing that industry. And they take credit for that largesse. And the reality is that they are essentially polluters.

The state takes the revenue from the oil and gas industry really seriously.

Well, yes.

Mark LeClaire: I want to point something out about that.

Right on, thats good.

Most of the fracking in New Mexico is done on state or federal land. Thats our land. Those are our resources!

And corporations are profiting from their use?

Its like theyve sunk their teeth into New Mexico. The state gives them that land for as little as $2 per acre.

As leases?

Yes.

And afterwards they leave a mess behind. Ive seen photos of the operations. I recall that even our former state land commissioner, a Republican turned Libertarian publicly lamented those outcomes.

Eileen Shendo: Theyre not only eyesores. There are actually contaminates in the machinery, in the equipment, in the soil and water, all left behind. Thats something we really have to educate ourselves about. As you can see, and as was brought up in the first meeting of the Conservation Committee, the state is unaware of many of these environmental issues happening at and around fracking facilities.

Well not even the La Tejanas state land commissioner was aware of the degradation going on until he took a deeper look.

Ann Chavez Barudin: Exactly. And that calls into question whether any of this qualifies as environmental racism because a lot of this degradation is happening on tribal land and on public trust lands. Its almost like gas and oil corporations are taking advantage of the lack of regulation to further destabilize the most vulnerable of populations.

Eileen Shendo: Economics says it all. This is happening in the counties where they cant even afford to come in and clean up afterwards, much less do they have the legal counsel to represent such communities and keep companies that frack away. Poor people suffer because of fracking.

Do these communities get anything back from fracking?

[sound of general disdainful laughter]

The royalties on the leases range from $200 per month to $1,500 per month. When corporations say that people are being paid royalties, that they are in on conversations regarding fracking, its only to a minimal extent. And they [the oil and gas companies] dont acknowledge the language barrier. Over 70 percent of these wells are in the San Juan Basin, in a Navajo-speaking community. Its like this is the national sacrifice zone. Like you said, this is the last resort.

Whats the main problem with fracking, then?

All: Water loss and contamination!

Mark, could you address that further?

Fracking is like extreme energy extraction. Some of the issues that we have with it include the air pollution that comes with it. When they first drill the well, a lot of natural gas vents into the atmosphere. So now we have a huge methane cloud hovering over the four corners. Not only is that methane a very potent greenhouse gasits almost a hundred times as powerful as carbon dioxidebut other gasses come up too and they threaten the health of the community. Gasses and chemicals like toluene, benzene, hydrogen sulfide are very poisonous and damaging to the environment.

And does this legislation call for studying such overt pollution?

Absolutely. This legislation requires state agencies like the Department of Health to look at the health effects of fracking and report on those effects to the state Legislature. As it is now, the industry has circumvented the study of these collateral impacts on consumers. No one has been critically looking at any of this. They only have to look at a very narrow scope of requirements to begin drilling. We are asking for all these ill effectshealth effects, environmental effectsto be looked at, under the lens, by our state Legislature.

Eileen Shendo: We want them to acknowledge that there are problems and act accordingly.

Mark LeClaire: Everyone wants to talk about green energy. No one wants to deal with the root of our problems. Here is one of the biggest roots; lets start digging that up one instead.

Editors Note: As of press time, the hearing for SB 459 in the Senate Conservation Committee has yet to be rescheduled. Weekly Alibi urges Senator Cervantes to reschedule this committee hearing and give New Mexico citizens an opportunity to be heard.
Thursday 7

The Order (Netflix streaming anytime) In order to avenge his mothers death, a college student pledges a secret society filled with witches and werewolves. Sexy witches and werewolves. Sexy, Canadian witches and werewolves.

Friday 8

After Life (Netflix streaming anytime) Ricky Gervais is the creator, producer, director and star of this extremely Ricky Gervais-like black comedy. The Brit comedian plays a newspaper reporter living a seemingly perfect life, at least until his beloved wife dies unexpectedly. After that he adopts a bitter new persona, opting to punish the cold, cruel world by saying and doing whatever he feels likewhich only prompts everyone around him to try and make him a better person again.

Costume Quest (Amazon streaming anytime) Based on the smash video game series from the makers of Psychonauts comes this animated series in which four young kids face the dark forces lurking in their sleepy hometown by donning various costumes imbued with magical powers.

Saturday 9

Love Under the Rainbow (Hallmark 6pm) Jodie Sweeten (Full House) stars as a love-weary gal who meets a hunky single dad (David Haydn-Jones from Supernatural) and his cute little daughter, who teach her its never too late to start chasing rainbows!

Drag Me Down the Aisle (TLC 7:03pm) As you probably guessed by the titles, this romantic reality show features people getting marriedwith the help of some drag queens. What if we added a drag queen? is the 2010s equivalent of Put a bird on it!

Suburban Swingers Club (Lifetime 8:03pm) A young, married couple agree to participate in a swingers partyonly to end up stalked by their homicidal neighbor.  You know, sometimes I think Lifetime is just Hallmarks evil twin.

KRFT Punks Political Party (Cartoon Network 1am) In this spinoff of The Eric Andre Show, the cheese-loving EDM star Kraft Punk hosts a political debate show. Dont expect any of this to make any sense.

Sunday 10

Now Apocalypse (Starz 7pm) From executive producer Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brokovich, Traffic, Oceans Eleven) and writer-directror Gregg Araki (Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation, Nowhere) comes this candy-colored comedy about a millennial stoner named Ulysses (Avan Jogia, Twisted) and his LA friends as they explore identity, sexuality and artistry in the dating app age. Also, he has prophetic dreams about a dark and monstrous conspiracy.

Monday 11

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky (A&E 7pm) Billed as the untold story of John Lennons smash single Imagine, this feature documentary explores how Lennon and Onos art, politics and music were linked.

Punk (Epix 8pm) Menswear designer John Varvatos (whose Manhattan store took over the space once occupied by CBGB) presents this four-part musical documentary produced by punk rock pioneer Iggy Pop.

Tuesday 12

Videos After Dark (KOAT-7 9pm) Remember, back in the day, when Bob Saget hosted Americas Funniest Home Videos? Well, hes back, hosting this video clip show catering to a more mature audience.

Wednesday 13

Killer Shrimp (Nat Geo Wild 8pm) Well, I mean, its not like they can kill people. They can kill snails, crabs, molluscs and small fish. But, no, not people. Come to think of it, that title is kind of alarmist.
A half-clothed woman wanders, wounded, through a blinding landscape of snow. The camera follows her, tracking her stumbling progress from directly overhead. Wailing and clearly at the end of her endurance, she collapses. An intertitle card informs us that the film we have just watched was based on a true story. The end credits roll. Believe it or not, that is actually the opening shot of filmmaker provocateur Gaspar Noes latest fit of cinematic madness. Clearly, Noe is warning fans and detractors alike that hell be in full satyrical (not satirical), lecherous prankster god mode for this one.

Following the end credits, we jump to a series of interviews jittering on an old video monitor. An off-screen voice quizzes a parade of characters were about to meet, questioning their sexual history, their experience with drugs and their commitment to the art of dance. Stacked on one side of the video monitor is a jumble of art and philosophy booksfrom Kafka to Bunuel to Emil Cioran. On the other side of the monitor is a pile of VHS cassettesa library of the worlds most transgressive cult films: Pier Paolo Pasolinis Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dalis Un Chien Andalou, Kenneth Angers The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Jan Kounens Vibroboy, Lucio Fulcis Zombie, Dario Argentos Suspria. Once again, by wearing his influences so boldly on his sleeve (the collections are undoubtedly culled from Noes own shelves), our writer-director is giving us fair warning. Strap in folks, its gonna be a long, dark trip.

The films of Gaspar Noe are both seductive to and assaultive to the senses. Climax is no exception to that rule. If youve witnessed the horrifying exploitative pull of 2002s Irreversible or the queasy psychedelic death trip fantasia of 2009s Enter the Void, you kinda know what youre in for. Its a glitter-bomb, but a deadly one. Climax is both lurid and alluring, expertly lensed and wrapped in a cocoon of neon colors and jewel tones.

The dancers we meet in the pre-show interviews, as it were, are a wildly diverse lotgay, straight, bi, trans, black, white, French, German, African, male, female, what-have-you. Their only common link is that they are all young, healthy and quite attractive. They have gathered in the basement of a rundown dance school somewhere in the hinterlands of France to rehearse an upcoming performance. The troupes avant-garde stylea mash-up of hip-hop street moves and club scene acrobaticsis showcased in a joyous, post-(closing? opening?)-credits performance. Noe shoots it like a virtuoso, all-in-one-shot before a sequined French flag.

After three days of rehearsals, though, our dancers need a break. Sangria is mixed into large bowls, snacks are spread out, and a DJ offers up some thumping techno music. As the party rages into the night, Noes camera breaks the characters off into pairs to bitch, flirt, gossip, commiserate and fight. The information we gleaned from the interviews is expanded uponalthough the most common topic of conversation is who and what they each want to bone. (Mostly one another.) As Noes camera prowls through the hallways getting voyeuristic with his actors in long, uninterrupted cuts, things take an ugly turn. It becomes apparent that someone has laced the sangria with liquid LSD. As they say: Its all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. And its not long before a lot of people are hurt.

The night quickly descends into an animalistic orgy of lust and violence, a sort of beautifully curated trip into Dantes Inferno, courtesy of sex, drugs and EDM. The dancers turn on one another, blaming various suspects for having spiked the punch. Some people are attacked. Some freak out. Some have sex. Some keep on dancing through it all, twisting their bodies into increasingly unnatural positions. Thats it in a nutshell. Is this all some microcosmic metaphor for modern-day French society, poisoning itself from within? Dont ask me. I just work here. But thats as good an explanation as anything in this mad tarantella.

Given the amount of dancing on display here, Climax could easily fit on the (admittedly small) art-horror shelf alongside Luca Guadagninos dance-fueled 2018 remake of Suspiria. (Compliment or criticism? You decide. Either way, its an appropriate double-feature.) With the exception of ensemble star Sofia Boutella (The Mummy, Kingsmen: The Secret Service) as the dance troupes self-confident choreographer, the actors on display here are all real, professional dancers improvising their way through their first on-screen experiment. Kudos for verisimilitude, even if Noes opening intertitle is a lie.

Surprisingly, Climax never gets as graphic (violently or sexually) as you suspect it might. But the dread and unease laced throughout dont make it a pleasant trip overseas. Step Up, this aint. Its also clear that Noe has some real sympathy and kinship with this group of young artists. Yeah, he still thinks that humanity is a bunch of monsters, just one bad night away from murderous anarchy. But in his own twisted way hes celebrating the art form of dance and its ability to reflect life in all its facetsthe good, the bad and the disturbingly carnal.

Climax is adventurous, boundary-pushing cinema from an enfant terrible at the apex of his button-pushing abilities. Half Bob Fosse and half Marquis de Sade, Climax will be a torture test for the average moviegoer. But for those in the market for something unshakably original, this is one very bad trip you might want to check out for yourself.
PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Food for Thought Food on the Airwaves Reading is for chumps. Tune into these four food podcasts instead. Are you a podcast person? is a question I find myself asking people a lot, typically right before I recommend a podcast to them, regardless of their answer. Its usually one of the podcasts below. Theres a wealth of excellent storytelling about food happening these days, and podcasts seem to be the medium of choice. And for good reason: Theres a lot to be said for the accessibility of audio, the ability to hear interviewees clearly in their own words and the appeal of listening to something about food while youre cooking. These are just a few of the reasons Ive become an evangelist about these shows. Whether or not youre a bonafide podcast person yet, consider this brief list my evergreen recommendations for an entree into food radio.

Bon Appetit Foodcast If youve spent any significant amount of time with me Ive brought up the Bon Appetit Foodcast. My love for this publication and their many media iterations knows no bounds. Its full of big personalities and great writers. Bon Appetits Foodcast doesnt have a super specific format, but its usually a couple of the editorial and/or test kitchen staff talking about one or two stories from the latest issue. Editor in Chief Adam Rapoport (called Rapo by the staff) hosts the show with plenty of ribbing of his colleagues and a kind of New York City brashness that, somehow, isnt annoying. Senior Food Editor Andy Baraghani dives deep on some of the techniques in his recipes and Amiel Stanek, the editor of the Basically section, tells you how to brew the perfect cup of coffee in an approachable, unpretentious way. Chefs and restaurateurs and food people of all sorts get interviewed on the show, and there are often eating sounds, and everyone is laughing by the end. I recommend listening to this one in the kitchen while youre cooking something labor-intensive and delicious.

Toasted Sister If youve been around for a minute, you might remember that I interviewed Albuquerque-based Andi Murphy, the host of Toasted Sister Podcast, last year. Murphy wanted to cover more Native American food stories in her day job as a producer at Native America Callingbut her boss wanted her to branch out into other kinds of stories. So, about two years ago, Murphy started Toasted Sister Podcast as a passion project to focus on the food stories she was craving. In each episode, Murphy highlights one story in the world of Native American food, a world that is as fascinating as it is endlessly evolving. Often theyre interviews with Indigenous chefs, sometimes they give a history of a certain food or technique, and sometimes they get deeply politicalas when Murphy interviewed Dr. Kalama Niheu about the vast cultural appropriation and profiting off of poke, a traditional Hawaiian food. Murphys radio producer chops are also apparent in the quality of the interviewing and recording here. I always find these stories interesting, and know for a fact that the work that she puts into this labor of love is staggering.

Gravy Southern Foodways Alliance is one of the cooler food organizations out there. They strive to collect, document and amplify the stories of Southern food producers past and present, especially the Black communities whose efforts and ingenuity have largely gone unsung. Gravy is the name of both their podcast and their quarterly print publication, both of which tell stories of the Southern food world that is deeply rooted in tradition and rapidly evolvingagain, largely thanks to the efforts and ingenuity of communities of color. Tune in to hear expertly reported stories about Charlotte, N.C.s (sometimes problematic) attempts to rebrand itself as a food destination, the pay-what-you-can restaurant phenomenon and what Louisvilles answer to chilaquiles looks like.
Show Up!

Going Down, Concert Time

Your friends are gonna be there too
Dateline: Arizona

Leaders in a small Arizona town have apologized for arrest threats leveled against a nationally-famous 12-year-old investigative crime journalist. The Washington Post reports Hilde Kate Lysiak was confronted by Patagonia, Ariz., Police Chief Marshal Joseph Patterson while she was investigating a case earlier this month. The chief was reportedly upset about being followed by Lysiak and allegedly threatened to place her into juvenile detention. A video later captured by the 12-year-old reporter appears to show the officer confirming the threat as well as telling her, If you put my face on the internet, its against the law. In the video Lysiak asks Patterson what crime she is committing by following him, and he tells her that she refused to comply with a lawful order from a police officer. The incident garnered international media attention and Chief Patterson told reporters he'd received death threats. Soon after, the town posted a statement saying it had taken action we believe to be appropriate for the situation, and including a reference to Arizona law ARS 13-2401, which makes it a Class 5 felony to post personal information of a police officer on the internet if it poses a threat. Lysiak's mother reportedly reached out to the town's mayor, Andrea Wood, who read the following apology at a town council meeting last week: The governing body for the town of Patagonia would like to apologize for the First Amendment rights violation inflicted upon Hilde Lysiak, a young reporter in our community. We are sorry Hilde. We encourage and respect your continued aspiration as a successful reporter. We believe and fully support the constitutional right to freedom of speech in the public sector. Lysiak continues to report for her self-published Orange Street News as she has for the last four years. She has co-authored six Scholastic books with her father based on her experiences, and a television show based on her life is reportedly in the works from Apple TV.

Dateline: Wyoming

A new school in Wyoming is being opened for a single student. According to CNN a Wyoming school district will be reopening Cozy Hollow Elementarywhich has been closed for more than a decadeso one kindergartner living in a remote area of the state can attend classes. The student reportedly lives in a mountainous rural area of southeast Wyoming, about an hour away from the nearest active school, and commuting during the winter months would be impossible. Over a decade ago, Cozy Hollow served five students, but was closed due to a lack of need. It is expected to be open for the next six to eight years, as the kindergartner has a younger sibling who will be attending when they are old enough. State law requires an on-site school for isolated students. Albany County School District 1 will be submitting an application to the Wyoming Department of Education School Facilities Division for funding to reopen the school. It estimates the cost of one teacher, supplies, utilities and site repairs for the school over a single year to be around $100,000. This will be the second one-student school in Wyoming.

Dateline: India

Poppy farmers in India are reportedly in a pitched battle with a group of opium-addicted parrots who are continuously raiding their fields. NDTV reports the large group of birds feeds on farmers' crops in Madhya Pradesh around 30 to 40 times a day, and although farmers continue to complain, they have received no help from authorities. The farmers have reportedly begun guarding their fields against the nuisance and have taken to making loud sounds and using firecrackers to frighten the parrots. So far none of their tactics have had an effect. The farmers were already reportedly suffering from scattered rainfall, and the parrot issue has many of them concerned about the future of their crops. The birds have also raided poppy farms in other parts of the country. Cultivators in parts of Rajasthan and the districts of Chittorgarh and Pratapgarh. Each poppy flower contains around 20 to 25 grams of opium. Affected parrots have been seen crashing into trees or lying dazed on the ground, according to witnesses. Once the effects wear off, the birds allegedly return to the fields for more. The opium trade is a large part of the economy in Madhya Pradesh. The majority of Indias licensed poppy cultivation takes place in the state and its neighbor Rajasthan.

Dateline: United Kingdom

Authorities are asking drivers in London to stop using cash at parking meters because gangs are reportedly using vacuum cleaners to suck change out of them. According to BBC News, 120,000 has been stolen in the past year from parking meters in Kensington and Chelsea. Will Pascall, of Kensington and Chelsea Council spoke to reporters, saying, We have gangs stalking the streets and smashing their way into machines to suck the cash out. We also now know from local police that this is funding further criminality in London, from drugs and trafficking to possibly violent crime. It is a trend we need to stop and motorists going cashless is one way we can help tackle this. The thieves allegedly drill holes in the sides of the machines and snake a vacuum hose down into the machine to suck the change up. Gangs are also reportedly driving into meters or using sledgehammers to break them open. Authorities are urging motorists to pay for parking through an app. There are over 70 parking meters in use in the area.
Eric Williams Photography

Bernalillo County Commissioners heard good news about a 24-year-old lawsuit, expressed support for saving bees and toads, funded new behavioral health housing and affirmed the county is immigrant friendly, all as part of a busy February.

Jail House Blues News

McClendon v. City of Albuquerque is a 1995 class action federal lawsuit filed by Metropolitan Detention Center inmates over a number of shameful jail conditions existing at the time. The lawsuit is finally seeing some sustainable progress, according to Taylor Rahn, the countys contract attorney. Rahn presented the latest reports. As of December 2019 the county is in 69 percent compliance with 81 out of the 253 standards mandated.

Rahn said it was phenomenal that MDC nearly doubled its progress in the last couple years after being stalled for so long. Rahn had good news, saying she believes progress will continue and the lawsuit will get dismissed after achieving full compliance within two years.

Back in the day, the jail was Downtown, and was run by the city. It was intended to house less than 600 inmates. But it was consistently packing in more than 900 inmates. It is now being operated by the county. To alleviate the overcrowding problem the joint entities built the Metropolitan Detention Center on the far Westside with a capacity for 1,950 inmates. It has an average daily inmate count of about 1,300 to 1,400. The City of Albuquerque was dismissed from the lawsuit in 2015 since it no longer operates the jail.

Over the last two decades a number of settlement agreements have fallen through. In 2015, an agreement was reached for the 253 requirements set by the Feds. It is an extremely complicated case. The progress is overseen by court appointed monitors who report back to the federal court. County Manager Julie Morgas Baca said it was difficult to say exactly how much the county spends to try to comply with the consent decree because there are so many hidden costs and the lawsuit has dragged on for so long.

La Migra No More

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will soon need a warrant specific to a person to access non-public areas of county property for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws. Currently ICE agents can walk into the jails records department without a warrant to gain access to a database with inmate information such as social security number, place of birth and addresses.

A resolution, led by Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada, strengthens the Countys non-discrimination policies. That includes not allowing federal immigration agents access to non-public areas of county property. The crowd went crazy with approval when the measure was unanimously approved.

Quezada said he was not about stopping ICE from doing legitimate work. He just wants ICE to have a warrant for a specific person which is the proper process. The 2017 immigrant friendly county resolution said no county resources could be used to check immigration status. The updated one also precludes any county employee, or anyone acting on behalf of the county, from asking about immigration status. In addition, it bans county agencies, employees and contractors from doing the same while conducting county business. Exceptions include assisting the judicial branches of our state.

A staff attorney with ACLU of New Mexico said the resolution is one step in making sure the county is not complicit in assisting the Trump administration in targeting our current immigrant community, in a state where at some point in time, the bulk of the population has been part of an immigrant community.

Bee Friendly Soon, Toads!

Glyphosate (an herbicide marketed as Roundup) is a very bad thing for local toads, bees, humans and other creatures. It should not be used near water sources. Glyphosate has been linked to cancer in humans. Folks use it to kill weeds, because it is easier to spray a toxic chemical then to bend over and pull the pesky green thing out of the ground.

Commissioners begrudgingly agreed to defer full implementation of a moratorium on the use of glyphosatethat was agreed upon by the Commission back in October of 2018on county property until more options can be found.

A county parks and recreation representative said they are in support of a complete glyphosate ban but are having a hard time finding any alternative products approved by the Department of Agriculture. She said the county has to use state and federally approved products. She said the costs of implementing the moratorium could reach more than $2.1 million over three years with an annual budget of over $1.1 million. This includes additional labor to manually pull weeds and other unsightly vegetation, other pre-emergence tactics and other hidden costs.

Commissioner Debbie OMalley said those cost estimates were too high. At one point we did not have this product, she said. What did we use then? Maybe there are some job opportunities here.

Commissioner Charlene Pyskoty was not in agreement to defer the matter. She said the health of county residents, fauna and flora is more important than money.

One speaker said she lives near Candelaria Fields and keeps track of toad tadpoles. She said after one farmer used Roundup there werent any toad tadpoles for a couple years after. She said the baby amphibians are a litmus test for the environment; it is not good they are disappearing due to convenience herbicides and pesticides.

The county uses barrels of the herbicide, racking up $13,000 per year in glyphosate purchases. This includes along the Rio Grande South Bosques bike trail, according to another parks and recreation employee. Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins did not like this practice, though the parks and rec employee tried to resolve her fears about using glyphosate so close to the ditches and river. He said they are careful when and where they spray. But Hart Stebbins, who rides bikes on that trial, wasnt convinced. Neither were we. Hopefully a moratorium on glyphosate use is on the way.

Happy Housing News

The hunt is on for a site for an $8 million supportive housing project for citizens with behavioral health issues. The millions come from the behavioral health tax coffers. The county would like either an existing 40 to 60 unit apartment complex or vacant property to accommodate that range of units. Additionally, the county earmarked $1 million annually to operate the complex. It would provide on-site services and case management for the homeless or close to homeless with mental, behavioral or emotional challenges. There are plenty of citizens out there that need help and this tax works toward providing just that.
Eric Williams Photography

Before we bring you part two of a very engaging interview with Albuquerque political observer Jeff Apodaca its important to note some of the circumstances surrounding the resulting documents.

Yeah, dude lost last springs primary election to Michelle Lujan Grisham. Both parties had harsh things to say about that heavyweight bout, but in the aftermath, Apodaca didnt just fade away.

Its hard to know whats in a mans heart, but after spending just a few minutes with Jeff, its clear that all of what he has to sayand thats expansive, primoscomes straight from his heart. And his heart is in New Mexico.

I recall telling my editor that I wanted to interview Apodaca, after hearing Jeff and TJ Trout discourse on what had been, until recently, a radio hotbed of conservative, even Trumpian talk, 770 KKOB Radio. Of course the chief was on board with my idea, he also felt that by providing a variety of compelling ideas to our readers, we may empower them to make their own decisions on just about everything, from what show to check out to what bubble next to what name to fill in at the next ballot box they encounter.

Other colleagues werent so sure. They felt that Apodaca represented a bifurcation in the Democratic party that we shouldnt play up. After all, unity must be maintained if the White House is to turn blue in 2020, they reckoned.

Meanwhile members of and advocates for the state Democratic partywho were never keen on our interactions with Mr. Apodacaseemed to frown on the idea and spoke of things like qualification and contrariness. Im quite sure that even some of them were surprised by the well-reasoned arguments presented by Apodaca in our interview.

Thats just fine; we told the Democrats we love them but its still our responsibility to hold their feet to the fire. Thats the essence of independent journalism: reasoned critique matched with a duty to uncover the truth without having to lean on any political establishment for credibility.

This year, the donkeys came to the helm with big promises and a lot of work to do. We support that work, but reserve the right to be critical. We also support open discussion and the tossing around of Democratic ideas, as it were. Its not like youre gonna be reading an interview with La Tejana or Hanna Skandera in the next issue, for Chrissakes!

With those premises in mind, we present part two of our long conversation with Jeff Apodaca, New Mexico citizen and acute political observer.

Weekly Alibi: Why did you come back to New Mexico?

Jeff Apodaca: I moved here to die, to retire. Whether I lived in New York or LA, I would always say New Mexico is my home. We came back here, but it seems like everyone else, everything else is leaving the state.

What do you mean?

The resources, the technology, the tech transfer we do in our state, we allow everything to leave our state. The thing that saddens me about whats going on right now in the Legislature is that they want to increase our taxes an average of 155 percent, across the board. Now, I dont think a lot of those tax increases are going to get through. But there are proposed budgets and bills and plans to do just that. Im against that. We can increase the gas tax, sure, if 100 percent of that money goes into roads. But can we afford to increase taxes on people that make $23,000 per year. Think about it. I dont think we should.

Thats a lot of New Mexicans when you look at it that way.

Thats 95 percent of New Mexicans. Why are we raising income taxes? We gave a 32 percent tax break, I believe, to the wealthiest people in New Mexico under Governor Bill Richardson. Now, Im okay increasing that tax on the wealthiest people in the state.

Thats fair, me too.

Im okay raising the minimum wage too, to a certain degree. But Ive said that we should have a plan to stagger increases$11 to $15 per hour may work in Santa Fe or Albuquerque. But August, that is not going to work in Espanola or Chama, or Belen and Los Lunas, Grants, Gallup, our small communities. It will put small businesses there out of business.

What do you mean?

The average small businesssmall businesses are about 95 percent of our economy in New Mexicopays well above minimum wage. Its the big businesses that arent contributing. When I say big businesses I mean major retailers, fast food outlets. Sixteen percent of our workforce works in the service industry. With the legislation being proposed many in the service industryrestaurant workerswill make less then they are making now.

Whats your proposal then?

My proposaland the progressive Democrats attacked me for thisI want to get rid of the corporate tax in the state of New Mexico.

What does that have to do with the minimum wage?

Well listen to this: The corporate tax in New Mexico is 5.8, lets say 6 percent per year. But there are 308 exemptions in the New Mexico tax code regarding the collection of that tax. When you look at the revenue thats coming from that corporate tax, its only about three percent of our states overall tax revenue. But who pays that? Well, 92 percent comes from small businesses. The big guys have exemptions, they dont pay corporate tax. Im not saying all of those exemptions are bad things and some do encourage growth.

But my point is, hey lets raise the minimum wage, but as we do so, lets eliminate the corporate tax. Two things: We then tell the world that theres no corporate tax in the state of New Mexico. Number two: You are now giving a six percent increase in the margin, a six percent tax break, to small businesses. In addition if we increase commercial property tax by just two percent, then we have a situation thats affordable for small businesses and can be passed on to workers via their wage.

But what about big businesses that never paid corporate tax? How would they contribute to the states revenue?

Those billion-dollar corporations pay property tax; they would get a two percent increase.

So it seems like a win-win situation for the state, for taxpayers and for workers, ultimately.

Exactly. And if you talk to small businesses with profit margins between 6 and 12 percent, you have now helped them cover the costs for providing minimum wage. I got booed and my opponents attacked me on that plan when I presented it in Las Cruces, in Santa Fe and in Taos. They said, heres a Democrat that wants to kill corporate taxes. What I really said is that I want to help small businesses be able to afford the wages workers need to live.

Of course a lot of what you maintain comes back to the economics of the state. Whats your prediction about marijuana legalization this year?

Its not going to happen. A thought on that: Im very disappointed in Governor Lujan Grisham. Shes been very quiet about this issue since shes taken office.

She certainly hasnt been very passionate about legal cannabis.

Right. At the beginning of the primary season she was against it. She said we need to do more research. Meanwhile, I had an economic plan [that included cannabis legalization as a plank] that included hemp and cannabis. That was 10 percent of my economic plan. I think hemps going to be bigger than cannabis. When you look at the numbers, with legalization, you are looking at 6,000 to 10,000 new jobs. With hemp expansion, youre talking 16,000 to 20,000 new jobs!

How about the Senate legalization bill that calls for state-run retail outlets?

Thats the Republican side of things and Im glad to see Senator Mark Morris, who happens to be my state Senator, working on the bill. They told me that its eventually going to happen, and they might as well do it their way, the right way. So Im happy to see them propose a bill, but I am totally against it being run and operated by the state, that sets us up for more corruption.

My main concern, though, is the governor and several key legislators. Theyve been awfully quiet. I think its going to die in the Senate. My sources tell me that the governor wants it to die in the Senate, so that the bill doesnt end up on her desk.
Dear Editor,

Fueled by frustration over the last presidential election, New Mexico legislators are considering a plan to change the process. The proposal is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, or NPV. It promises to make every voter equal, but NPV would destabilize our political order and put minority rights at risk. Frustration with an election outcome is a bad reason to reject the current Electoral College process.

NPVs founder, John Koza, is a California computer scientist who also invented the scratch-off lottery ticket. In fact, Koza spent the 80s lobbying states to adopt lotteries. He wins on every ticket, and he has invested his winnings in lobbying for NPV.

Most people think it would take a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Electoral College, but Kozas plan is clever. NPV would leave the current structure, but have state governments ignore how their own people vote in presidential elections. Instead, the state would try to collect the vote totals from every other state, add them up and appoint presidential electors based on the total.

There are a lot of practical and legal problems with this. NPV could require a national recount, but is silent on how it would work. In fact, it says almost nothing about the new disputes that might arise between states or voters. A state could try to join or leave the compact in order to game the results (NPV only takes effect if passed by enough states that they together possess 270 or more electoral votesthe majority needed to control the outcome). NPV claims to limit such manipulation, but the provision is probably unenforceable.

The US Constitution requires that interstate compacts have the consent of Congress. Koza claims this is unnecessary, pointing to old court cases. But those compacts were about water rights and milk prices, not the presidency. For this one reason alone, NPV is likely to be thrown out by the courts.

The Electoral College, on the other hand, has been around since the first election of George Washington. It lets the people of each state register their will in each presidential election. Winning requires more than just a national plurality. It requires a majority of electoral votes, which comes from achieving enough support in enough states across the country. This helps to provide political stability and safeguard minority rights.

Consider American politics after the Civil War. Democrats were powerful in the South, with massive support among whites and tragically effective vote suppression directed at newly freed slaves. Republicans were strong in the North, but not with the same overwhelming majorities. This meant that Democrats had a chance at winning the national popular vote, but not the Electoral Collegein fact, this was the result in 1876 and 1888.

Democrats had to moderate, to reject the most extreme elements of their Southern coalition in favor of winning new votersespecially Catholic immigrantsin northern cities. The Electoral College prodded the Democratic Party away from regionalism and back toward being a national coalition.

The current Electoral College system has served our diverse nation well. Just like buying a lottery ticket is a poor strategy for building personal wealth, buying into the claims of National Popular Vote would put much at risk for very uncertain results.
Newscity

Veterinary Groups Oppose Bill

Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would allow first responders to treat animals with first aid.

It is currently illegal for emergency workers to provide veterinary treatment to injured animals at crime scenes or vehicle crashes without a license. Under state law anyone caught treating an animal could be charged with a misdemeanor.

Lawmakers are attempting to change that by introducing HB 598, 1st Responder Veterinary Services. The new law would amend the the Veterinary Practice Act, allowing police, firefighters and EMS to give oxygen, administer basic first aid and perform CPR on dogs, cats and livestock at an emergency scene.

The executive director for the New Mexico Board of Veterinary Medicine is opposed to the bill, according to KOB4. The New Mexico Veterinary Medical Association are also reportedly refusing to support the bill on the grounds that it was never consulted before the legislation was written.

The House Judiciary Committee passed the bill last week. It has been referred to the Elections and Indian Affairs Committee for amendments before it moves forward. If the bill makes it into law, the Rio Grande Kennel Club will reportedly be providing animal care training to first responders across New Mexico.
CLEARWATER, Fla., March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV) Center supported by the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization and located in downtown Clearwater, Florida, is holding monthly complimentary fundraisers, to support local humanitarian nonprofits that help children and families in the Tampa Bay area. The Center covers the cost of food, venue, and event planning for qualifying nonprofits.



The Clearwater Community Volunteers was founded on the idea of helping others, children in particular, said Clemence Chevrot, Director of the Clearwater Community Volunteers Center. With these fundraisers in the CCV Center we further extended that help directly to leaders in our community who are making a difference every day.

Each fundraiser is planned with the centers staff members to the preference of the nonprofit leader, creating an event thats unique to the group.

One example fundraiser was an afternoon tea in which guests were treated to freshly baked scones with clotted cream, jam and a variety of teas and raising over $1,000 for the nonprofit.

To find out more information about the Clearwater Community Volunteers Center or to reserve the center please call Michael Soltero at (727) 316-5309 or email ccvcenter@ccvfl.org .

About the Clearwater Community Volunteers:

Since their founding in 1992, the Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV) have helped over 150,000 children and families. Sponsored by the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, CCV stays true to the founder of Scientologys inspiring words, Love and help children.

Michael Soltero

(727) 467-6860
Most real estate agents have an obligation to market their business to potential clients. You have to make sure that...

Were sure you already know, but lets repeat: Burlington is a city located in the Halton, Ontario area. It is...

A personal injury occurs when a person's body, mind, or emotions are injured due to the negligence, carelessness, or wrongful...

After being seriously injured in an accident, you may be experiencing a wide range of emotions. You are probably feeling...

I Agree

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy
LOS ANGELES, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP (GPM) announces an investigation on behalf of CenturyLink, Inc. (CenturyLink or the Company) (NYSE: CTL ) investors concerning the Company and its officers possible violations of federal securities laws.



If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com , or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com .

On March 4, 2019, CenturyLink disclosed that it had identified material weaknesses in internal controls over the Companys revenue recording processes and the procedures for measuring fair value of assets and liabilities assumed in connection with the Level 3 Communications, Inc. As a result, the Company would not be able to timely file its annual report for the period ended December 31, 2018. On this news, the Companys share price fell sharply during intraday trading, thereby injuring investors.

If you purchased CenturyLink securities, have information, or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, CA 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9244, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com . If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Contacts

Glancy Prongay and Murray LLP, Los Angeles

Lesley Portnoy, 310-201-9150 or 888-773-9224

www.glancylaw.com

shareholders@glancylaw.com




LOS ANGELES, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP (GPM) announces an investigation on behalf of Domino's Pizza, Inc. investors (Domino's or the Company) (NYSE: DPZ) concerning the Company and its officers possible violations of federal securities laws.



If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com , or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com .

On February 19, 2019, the franchisee community website Blue MauMau reported that "[a] corporate insider has filed a well-documented whistleblower report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Domino's Pizza, its top-level officers, and various staff members." Specifically, Blue MauMau reported that "[t]he crux of the whistleblower report details how Domino's allegedly forced and orchestrated an unapproved advertising and promotion increase to franchisees in order to pay a $1.85 billion Securitization Transaction (March 25, 2007) with a new partially funded $1.67 billion Securitization (March 15, 2012) debt owed to Securitization entities" and "contends that in return, Domino's Pizza's CEO, board members, officers, and employees 'could enjoy higher stock prices and dividends through share repurchases and dividend payouts.'" On this news, shares of Domino fell sharply over the next two trading sessions, thereby injuring investors.

If you purchased Domino's securities, have information, or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, CA 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9244, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com . If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
LOS ANGELES, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP (GPM) announces an investigation on behalf of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (Mueller Water Products or the Company) (NYSE: MWA ) investors concerning the Company and its officers possible violations of federal securities laws.



If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

On April 27, 2017, Mueller Water Products issued a press release entitled Mueller Water Products Reports 2017 Second Quarter Results. Therein, the Company disclosed that certain of Mueller Technologies products had been failing prematurely, resulting in a $9.8 million warranty charge. On this news, the Companys share price fell $1.43 per share, more than 11%, to close at $11.25 per share on April 28, 2017, on unusually heavy trading volume.

Follow us for updates on Twitter: twitter.com/GPM_LLP .

If you purchased Mueller Water Products securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com , or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com . If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
LOS ANGELES, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP (GPM) announces an investigation on behalf of Belden Inc. (Belden or the Company) (NYSE: BDC ) investors concerning the Company and its officers possible violations of federal securities laws.



If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

On December 3, 2018, the Company revealed that the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is conducting an investigation concerning the material weakness reported in its Form 10-K filing for the year ended December 31, 2017. On this news, shares of Belden fell $5.43 or nearly 10% to close at $50.45 on December 4, 2018, thereby injuring investors.



Follow us for updates on Twitter: twitter.com/GPM_LLP .

If you purchased Belden securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com , or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com . If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Contacts

Glancy Prongay and Murray LLP, Los Angeles

Lesley Portnoy, 310-201-9150 or 888-773-9224

www.glancylaw.com

shareholders@glancylaw.com




LOS ANGELES, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP (GPM) announces an investigation on behalf of Nordstrom Inc. (Nordstrom or the Company) (NYSE: JWN ) investors concerning the Company and its officers possible violations of federal securities laws.



If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

The investigation concerns whether the Company issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. On November 15, 2018, the Company announced poor same store sales results, weakening sales growth, and that credit card holders charged incorrect interest amounts. On this news, shares of Nordstrom fell sharply in value on November 16, 2018, thereby injuring investors.

If you purchased Nordstrom stock, have information, or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, CA 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9244, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com . If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
BRISBANE, Australia, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE, TSX: ORL) (Orocobre or the Company) is pleased to announce that the updated resource estimate for the Cauchari JV property located in Jujuy Province, Argentina, has more than doubled from the previous resource announced in May 2018.



The exploration program is being managed by JV partner Advantage Lithium Corp. ("Advantage Lithium") (TSX Venture: AAL) (OTCQX: AVLIF) who hold 75% of Cauchari. Orocobre owns 33.5% of Advantage Lithiums issued capital and 25% directly in the joint venture.

Highlights

Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) JORC Resources more than doubled, with 4.8 million tonnes (Mt) of Measured and Indicated and 1.5 Mt Inferred





The Archibarca Area (NW Sector) is contiguous with the southern boundary of the Olaroz tenements and contains just above 1 Mt Measured Resources at an average lithium concentration of 564 mg/l; the Clay and Halite units (in the SE Sector) contain 2.3 Mt of Measured and Indicated Resources with an average Li concentration of 481 mg/l and the Deep Sand (SE Sector) with 0.4 Mt of Indicated resources at 500 mg/l lithium





The result of the extended pumping tests on CAU07 in the Archibarca area and CAU11 in the SE Sector demonstrate favourable brine extractability characteristics





The Phase III program has confirmed that Salar de Cauchari is a major brine basin with the resource open at depth below 600 m and to the south





The brine exhibits excellent chemistry for conventional processing with the Mg/Li ratio averaging ~2.5, very similar to Orocobres Olaroz project.

The new resource is based on the results of the Phase II and Phase III drilling programs. The update, prepared by FloSolutions SpA, has increased the resource to a volume of approximately 1,800 million cubic metres of brine at an average concentration of 476 mg/l lithium, for 4.8 Mt of LCE in the Measured and Indicated categories and approximately 600 million cubic metres of brine at an average grade of 473 mg/l lithium for 1.5 Mt of LCE in the Inferred category.

Orocobre Managing Director and CEO Mr. Martin Perez de Solay commented, Our Joint Venture partners, Advantage Lithium have delivered a well designed and executed resource definition program that has more than doubled the total Cauchari resource. This result provides an opportunity to reassess future development options to maximise value for shareholders.

The Joint Venture intends to submit a full technical report within 45 days of this announcement, in accordance with Canadian reporting requirements and the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) to support the conclusions presented here.

Updated Cauchari Resource

The drilling program has expanded the resource at the Cauchari Project to 4.8 Mt of LCE of Measured and Indicated Resources contained in 1.8 km3 of brine and 1.5 Mt of Inferred Resources contained in 0.6 km3 of brine. The resources have been broken into six different geological units which are classified between Measured, Indicated and Inferred resources, with the classification reflecting differences in the level of available sample information. The resource estimate is presented in Table 1 below.

The key areas of the resource for future brine production are the Archibarca Fan and the SE Sector of the Project. The Archibarca Fan resource consists of 1.0 Mt of LCE as Measured Resources at 564 mg/l lithium. The Measured and Indicated Resources in the SE Sector, mostly contained in the Clay and Halite units, amount to approximately 2.3 Mt of LCE at 481 mg/l lithium. The extraction characteristics of the Archibarca Fan and SE Sector have been confirmed by the 30 day pumping tests in each area during the Phase III Program in 2018.

The brine resource is calculated over the western and eastern properties of the Cauchari project and covers an area of 117.7 km2. The brine resource in the west extends from the brine level below the surficial gravels to a depth of over 400 m and is classified as Measured in the north in the Archibarca area and Indicated further south in the West Fan, with small volumes of Inferred resources in these areas. The Measured and Indicated Resources in the east extend from the phreatic brine level to a constant depth of 400 m in the Halite and Clay units. Indicated Resources in the Deep Sand unit extend to 500 m depth. Below these depths the resource is classified as Inferred, reaching a depth of up to 619 m. The Deep Sand unit remains open at depth. None of the drill holes completed to date have intercepted bedrock (basement) and the resource remains open at depth.

Table 1: Cauchari Project Lithium Resource Estimate; March 2019

Measured (M) Indicated (I) M+I Inferred Aquifer volume (km3) 9.7 20.9 30.7 10.7 Mean specific yield 6% 6% 6% 6% Brine volume (km3) 0.6 1.2 1.9 0.6 Li mean grade (g/m3) 35 26 29 27 Li mean concentration (mg/l) 527 452 476 473 Resource (tonnes) 345,000 550,000 900,000 290,000 Lithium Carbonate Equivalent 1,850,000 2,950,000 4,800,000 1,500,000

Notes:

1. JORC and CIM definitions were followed for mineral resources.

2. The Qualified Person for this Mineral Resource estimate is Murray Brooker, RPGeo, MAIG.

3. Lithium is converted to lithium carbonate (Li 2 CO 3 ) with a conversion factor of 5.32.

4. Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Results of the brine chemistry analysis carried out confirm the Cauchari brine is similar in composition to the brine in the adjacent Olaroz Salar from which Orocobre is successfully producing lithium carbonate using conventional lithium processing technology. Table 2 provides a summary of the Cauchari brine characteristics. There is a reasonable prospect that the Cauchari brine could be successfully processed using technology similar to the Olaroz Lithium Facility.

Table 2: Cauchari brine chemistry characteristics

Samples Ratio Archibarca

Fan Clay East Fan Halite Deep Sand West Fan Mg/Li 2.3 2.5 1.6 2.7 2.5 3.2 SO 4 /Li 26.2 39.7 88.7 44.3 38.1 38.4



Resource Estimation Methodology

The updated lithium resource estimate for the Cauchari Project is based on the results of 26 diamond holes and five rotary holes drilled between 2011 and the end of 2018. Figure 1 shows a location map of the drill holes completed during the 2011 and 2017/8 drilling campaigns and Figure 2 shows a cut-away diagram of the resource area and concentrations. Brine sample collection consisted of bailed and packer samples in the diamond holes, and packer and pumped samples in the rotary holes. More than 2,000 brine samples (including more than 300 QA/QC samples) were analyzed by Norlabs (Jujuy, Argentina) as the primary laboratory and by Alex Steward Assayers (Mendoza, Argentina) and the University of Antofagasta (Chile) as secondary QA/QC laboratories. Brine was also extracted from diamond cores (centrifuge methodology) in an independent laboratory in the USA and analysed in the Norlabs laboratory to further verify and validate brine chemistry results.

HQ core was retrieved during the diamond core drilling from which more than 300 primary undisturbed samples were prepared for laboratory drainable porosity and other physical parameter determinations by Geo Systems Analysis (GSA) in Tucson, AZ. Laboratory QA/QC porosity analyses were undertaken by the DBS&A Laboratory, Core Laboratories and the British Geological Survey.

The lithium resource was estimated using SGEMs software applying ordinary kriging. The resource estimate was prepared in accordance with the guidelines of JORC and Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and uses best practice methods specific to brine resources, including a reliance on core drilling and sampling methods that yield depth-specific chemistry and drainable porosity measurements. The resource estimation was completed by independent qualified person Mr. Frits Reidel of Santiago based hydrogeology firm FloSolutions with extensive experience in the estimation of lithium brine resources in Argentina. Competent Person (CP) Mr. Murray Brooker reviewed advances during the drilling programs and during the resource estimation.

Figure 1: Location of Cauchari properties, drill holes and the resource area  dashed line indicates the cross section in Figure 2

A map accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8a739037-5849-4bf3-9794-a9746e9fbdc3

Table 3: Location of Cauchari drill holes

Exploration

Hole

Number Coordinates Gauss

Kruger Argentine* Elevation

Mean

Sea

Level

(m)+ Total

Depth

(m) Sector Year /

Phase of

work Drilling

Method Azimuth Dip Easting Northing CAU01D 3,425,589 7,378,259 3906 249 SE 2011 Diamond 0 -90 CAU02D 3,424,385 7,376,814 3907 189 SE 2011 Diamond 0 -90 CAU03D 3,421,874 7,373,649 3910 71.5 SE 2011 Diamond 0 -90 CAU04D 3,421,903 7,371,452 3909 46.5 SE 2011 Diamond 0 -90 CAU05D 3,425,500 7,374,882 3907 168 SE 2011 Diamond 0 -90 CAU06D 3,423,534 7,370,146 3909 506 SE Phase II Diamond 0 -90 CAU07R 3,421,199 7,383,985 3929 343 NW Phase II Rotary 0 -90 CAU08R 3,423,939 7,374,503 3908 400 SE Phase II Rotary 0 -90 CAU09R 3,423,783 7,377,788 3906 400 SE Phase II Rotary 0 -90 CAU10R 3,425,532 7,379,306 3906 429 SE Phase II Rotary 0 -90 CAU11R 3,421,752 7,372,569 3910 480 SE Phase II Rotary 0 -90 CAU12D 3,421,710 7,374,690 3908 413 SE Phase II Diamond 0 -90 CAU12DA 3,421,679 7,374,669 3909 609 SE Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU13D 3,422,774 7,376,298 3908 449 SE Phase II Diamond 0 -90 CAU13DA 3,422,747 7,376,293 3909 497 SE Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU14D 3,425,669 7,377,021 3908 600 SE Phase II Diamond 0 -90 CAU15D 3,419,293 7,373,397 3906 243.5 NW Phase II Diamond 0 -90 CAU16D 3,419,925 7,379,893 3905 321.5 NW Phase II Diamond 0 -90 CAU17D 3,419,965 7,387,434 3958 237.5 NW Phase II Diamond 0 -90 CAU18D 3,422,571 7,386,976 3925 359 NW Phase II Diamond 0 -90 CAU19D 3,421,819 7,369,848 3910 519.5 SE Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU20D 3,420,554 7,385,410 3945 390 NW Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU21D 3,420,311 7,382,080 3915 283 NW Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU22D 3,427,715 7,379,299 3913 418 SE Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU23D 3,419,547 7,372,053 3907 319 NW Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU24D 3,419,626 7,369,898 3905 352.5 NW Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU25D 3,427,793 7,381,272 3912 427 SE Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU26D 3,423,384 7,372,185 3910 617.2 SE Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU27D 3,426,942 7,376,023 3919 473 SE Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU28D 3,419,760 7,367,258 3918 303.5 NW Phase III Diamond 0 -90 CAU29D 3,420,463 7,364,858 3916 404 NW Phase III Diamond 0 -90

* Coordinates are in Zone 3 of the Argentine Gauss Kruger grid system.

+ Elevation determined by surveying with DGPS equipment.



Figure 2: Resource model looking northwest through the SE Sector and the Archibarca area (the serrated pattern represents resource blocks along the property boundary)

A graphic accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7fe79ff0-0038-4a98-bd8e-f6519db3e2c7

For more information please contact:

Andrew Barber

Investor Relations Manager

Orocobre Limited

T: +61 7 3871 3985

M: +61 418 783 701

E: abarber@orocobre.com

W: www.orocobre.com

https://twitter.com/OrocobreLimited

https://www.linkedin.com/company/orocobre-limited

https://www.facebook.com/OrocobreLimited/

https://www.instagram.com/orocobre/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuLtQ_xM61u8EFUzUa8YG_Q

Click here to subscribe to the Orocobre e-Newsletter

Qualified Persons/Competent Persons Statement

The information in this report that relates to exploration reporting at the Cauchari JV project has been prepared by Mr. Murray Brooker. Mr. Brooker is a geologist and hydrogeologist and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr. Brooker is an employee of Hydrominex Geoscience Pty Ltd and is independent of Orocobre. Mr. Brooker has sufficient relevant experience to qualify as a competent person as defined in the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. He is also a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. Mr. Brooker consents to the inclusion in this announcement of this information in the form and context in which it appears.
English Lithuanian

The Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Siauliu Bankas AB (the head office address Tilzes str. 149, Siauliai, Lithuania, company code 112025254) shall be convened on 28 March 2019.

The place of the Meeting  The Photography Museum Siauliai, address Vilniaus str. 140, Siauliai.

The Meeting starts at 3:00 p.m. (registration starts at 2:00 p.m.).

The Meetings accounting day  21 March 2019 (the persons who are shareholders of the Bank at the end of accounting day of the General Meeting of Shareholders or persons authorized by them, or the persons with whom shareholders concluded the agreements on the disposal of voting right, shall have the right to attend and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders).

The day of accounting of rights  11 April 2019 (the shareholders shall use the property rights arising from the resolutions passed during the General Meeting of Shareholders in proportion to the number of shares owned at the end of the day of accounting of rights).

The Meeting is initiated and convened by the Management Board of Siauliu Bankas AB.

Agenda of the Meeting

Presentation of the consolidated annual report. Presentation of the audit companys report. Comments and proposals of the Supervisory Council. Approval of the financial statements of 2018. Allocation of Banks profit. Approval of the Rules for Granting Shares. Acquisition of the Banks own shares.

Bank shall not provide the possibility to participate and vote in the Meeting through the electronic communication channels.

The draft resolutions on each agenda issue, documents to be submitted to the General Meeting of Shareholders and other information related with the exercising of the shareholders rights shall be available on the website of the Bank at www.sb.lt : About Bank  To Bank's Investors  General Meetings of Shareholders not later than 21 days before the Meeting. This information shall also be available for the shareholders at the head office of the Bank (on Tilzes street 149, Siauliai) in the room No. 201 from 7:30 a.m. till 4:30 p.m. Telephone for enquiry: +370 41 59 56 53.

The shareholders holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes, shall have the right of proposing to supplement the agenda of the Meeting by providing the Meeting draft resolution on each additionally proposed issue or in case no resolution is required - the explanation. The proposals to supplement the agenda shall be submitted in writing or by e-mail.

The proposals shall be presented in writing to the Secretariat on business days or by sending it by registered mail at the address: Siauliu Bankas AB, Tilzes street 149, LT-76348 Siauliai.

The proposals submitted via the e-mail shall be sent to info@sb.lt.

The proposals to supplement the agenda with the additional issues shall be submitted till the 14 March 2019, 4:30 p.m. In case the agenda of the Meeting is supplemented the Bank will report on it no later than 10 days before the Meeting in the same ways as on convening of the Meeting.

The shareholders holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes shall have the right of proposing new draft resolutions on the issues already included or to be included in the agenda of the Meeting. The proposals shall be submitted in writing or by e-mail.

The proposals in writing shall be presented by 12:00 at noon on 28 March 2019 to the Secretariat on business days or by sending it by registered mail at the address: Siauliu Bankas AB, Tilzes street 149, LT-76348 Siauliai. The proposals submitted in writing will be discussed during the Meeting in case they are received in the Bank till the Meeting date (28 March 2019) 12:00 at noon. During the Meeting the proposals shall be submitted to the Chairman of the Meeting after he announces the Meeting agenda and no later than the Meeting starts working on the issues of agenda.

The proposals submitted via the e-mail shall be sent on info.@sb.lt . The proposals submitted on this e-mail till the 28 March, 2019, 12:00 at noon will be discussed during the Meeting.

The shareholders shall have the right to present questions related to the General Meeting of Shareholders' agenda issues to the Bank in advance. The shareholders shall present the questions not later than 3 business days before the Meeting via the e-mail info@sb.lt. The Bank undertakes to respond to the submitted questions via the e-mail till the Meeting day, except the questions related to the Banks commercial secret and confidential information.

During the registration to attend the Meeting the shareholders or the persons authorized by them shall submit a document which is a proof of his/her identity. The shareholders' authorized persons shall submit the power of attorney confirmed by the established order. The power of attorney issued by the natural person shall be notarized. A power of attorney issued in a foreign country must be translated into Lithuanian and legalized in the manner prescribed by law. Representative can be authorized by more than one shareholder and shall have a right to vote differently under the orders of each shareholder.

The shareholder holding shares in the Bank, where the shares have been acquired on his own behalf, but for the benefit of other persons, must disclose before voting at the General Meeting of Shareholders to the Bank the identity of the final customer, the number of shares that are put to the vote and the content of the voting instructions submitted to him or any other explanation regarding the participation agreed upon with the customer and voting at the General Meeting of Shareholders.

Shareholder shall also have the right to authorize through electronic communication channels another person (natural or legal) to participate and vote in the Meeting on shareholders behalf. Such authorization shall not be confirmed by the notary officer. The power of attorney issued through electronic channels must be confirmed by the shareholder with an electronic signature developed by safe signature equipment and approved by a qualified certificate effective in the Republic of Lithuania. The shareholder shall inform the Bank on the power of attorney issued through electronic communication channels by e-mail info@sb.lt no later than the last business days before the Meeting at 4:00 p.m. The power of attorney and notification shall be issued in writing. The power of attorney and notification to the Bank, not the letter sent via the e-mail, shall be signed with the Electronic Signature.

Each shareholder or representative thereof shall have the right to cast his vote in advance in writing by filling in a general ballot paper. Upon the written shareholders request, the Bank no later than 10 days before the Meeting shall send a general ballot paper by registered mail or hand it in person against signature.The general ballot paper filled shall be signed by the shareholder or his representative. In case the ballot paper is signed by the shareholders authorized representative, such person along with the filled ballot paper shall submit the document to confirm the voting right. The ballot paper filled and the document confirming the voting right (if required) shall be submitted to the Bank by registered mail at the address Siauliu Bankas AB, Tilzes street 149, LT-76348, Siauliai or by submitting it to Secretariat. Only dully filled-in ballot papers received until the Meeting will be deemed to be valid. A filled in general ballot paper can be transferred to the bank via the bank's on-line system SB Linija as it ensures the security of the information transmitted and allows identification of the shareholder. In this manner ballot papers can be submitted by 4:30 pm on 2019 March 27.

The following information and documents during the whole period, starting no later than 21 days before the Meeting, is available on the website of the Bank www.sb.lt at About Bank  To Banks Investors  General Meetings of Shareholders

- the report on convening the Meeting;

- the total number of the Banks shares and the number of shares with voting right on the convening day of the Meeting;

- the draft resolutions on each agenda issue and other documents to be submitted to the Meeting;

- the general ballot paper form;

- the form of the power of attorney to represent the shareholder.

Deputy Director of Markets and Treasury Department Pranas Gedgaudas provides additional information and is available on tel. +370 41 595 653.
English German

Sika has agreed to acquire King Packaged Materials Company, a large independent Canadian manufacturer of dry shotcrete and mortars for concrete repair. With the acquisition Sika will further expand its geographical footprint in Canada and improve its growth potential in the home improvement, construction, mining and tunneling markets. The acquired business generates annual sales of CHF 61 million with a workforce of 180 employees. Closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the second quarter 2019.



King is a family owned business and a well-established manufacturer of products for the construction and mining industry as well as for the home improvement distribution channel. The portfolio includes shotcrete solutions, grouts, and repair and masonry mortars.



The company has an excellent reputation for its recognized brands, its high quality and reliable product solutions, and its strong technical sales expertise. King operates three large state-of-the-art plants, two of which are located at Boisbriand, Quebec, close to Montreal, and at Brantford, Ontario, near Toronto, which are the most populated regions in Canada with dynamic construction activities. Another plant is situated in Sudbury, Northern Ontario, close to the mining industry.



Christoph Ganz, Regional Manager Americas: "With the acquisition of King and its broad and highly complementary product offering we will further strengthen our presence in Canada and open up exciting new cross-selling opportunities. Especially in the home improvement market and in the growing tunneling and mining market segments, the acquisition of King Packaged Materials will make Sika one of the leading suppliers of concrete solutions in Canada. We look forward to a successful joint future and would like to extend a very warm welcome to all King employees as they join the Sika team."



The owners of King Packaged Materials Company, the Hutter and Macpherson families, strongly believe that Sika is the ideal partner to continue the growth of King products in all of their market sectors. They look forward to the joint business and sales activities which offer great potential to expand the product portfolio across Canada and internationally.

CONTACT

Dominik Slappnig

Corporate Communications &

Investor Relations

+41 58 436 68 21

slappnig.dominik@ch.sika.com

SIKA CORPORATE PROFILE

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories. Its more than 20,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 7.09 billion in 2018.

The media release can be downloaded from the following link:
Luxembourg, 7 March, 2019  ArcelorMittal (the Company or "the Issuer") completed yesterday the pricing of its offering of US$750,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its 4.550% notes due 2026 (the Notes).

The proceeds to ArcelorMittal (before expenses), amounting to approximately $745 million, will be applied towards repayment of existing debt including the $1 billion outstanding under a $7 billion term facilities agreement entered into in connection with the proposed acquisition of Essar Steel India Limited through a joint venture with Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation.

The offering is scheduled to close on March 11, 2019, subject to satisfaction of customary conditions.

The Issuer has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the Issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Issuer and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Issuer, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by contacting Citigroup Global Markets Inc. by calling toll-free at (800) 831-9146, Credit Agricole Securities (USA) Inc. by calling toll-free at (866) 807-6030, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC by calling toll-free at (866) 471-2526 or by emailing prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC by (212) 834-4533, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated by emailing dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com and RBC Capital Markets, LLC by calling toll-free at (866) 375-6829.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor will there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

This press release may contain forward-looking information and statements about ArcelorMittal and its subsidiaries. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "target" or similar expressions. Although ArcelorMittal's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors and holders of ArcelorMittal's securities are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of ArcelorMittal, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the filings with the Luxembourg Stock Market Authority for the Financial Markets (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") made or to be made by ArcelorMittal, including ArcelorMittal's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the SEC. ArcelorMittal undertakes no obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

No communication and no information in respect of the offering of securities may be distributed to the public in any jurisdiction where a registration or approval is required. The offering or subscription of securities may be subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. ArcelorMittal takes no responsibility for any violation of any such restrictions by any person.

In any EEA Member State, this communication is only addressed to and directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of Directive 2003/71/EC (such Directive and amendments thereto, including Directive 2010/73/EU together with any applicable implementing measures in the relevant home Member State, the Prospectus Directive).

This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the Order) or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as relevant persons). The Notes are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such Notes will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

MiFID II professionals/ECPs-only/No PRIIPs KID.

Ends

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal is the world's leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and an industrial footprint in 18 countries. Guided by a philosophy to produce safe, sustainable steel, we are the leading supplier of quality steel in the major global steel markets including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging, with world-class research and development and outstanding distribution networks.

Through our core values of sustainability, quality and leadership, we operate responsibly with respect to the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, contractors and the communities in which we operate.

For us, steel is the fabric of life, as it is at the heart of the modern world from railways to cars and washing machines. We are actively researching and producing steel-based technologies and solutions that make many of the products and components people use in their everyday lives more energy efficient.

We are one of the worlds five largest producers of iron ore and metallurgical coal. With a geographically diversified portfolio of iron ore and coal assets, we are strategically positioned to serve our network of steel plants and the external global market. While our steel operations are important customers, our supply to the external market is increasing as we grow.

In 2018, ArcelorMittal had revenues of $76.0 billion and crude steel production of 92.5 million metric tonnes, while own iron ore production reached 58.5 million metric tonnes.

ArcelorMittal is listed on the stock exchanges of New York (MT), Amsterdam (MT), Paris (MT), Luxembourg (MT) and on the Spanish stock exchanges of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia (MTS).



For more information about ArcelorMittal please visit: http://corporate.arcelormittal.com/
The acquisition of a fully licensed cannabis facility will expand Chemesis capabilities to process over

500,000 kg of cannabis annually within the U.S.



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chemesis International Inc. (CSE: CSI ) (OTC: CADMF ) (FRA: CWAA ) (the Company or Chemesis), announces it has entered into binding agreements to acquire 100% of a fully-operational extraction and manufacturing facility in Cathedral City, California (Facility). Once completed, this transaction (Acquisition) will expand the Companys processing ability to over 500,000 kg of cannabis annually. The new state-of-the-art facility is fully licensed, and the Acquisition is expected to double the Companys current capacity to process large amounts of cannabis to extract THC, CBD and other cannabinoid and terpene products.

The Facility is located within close proximity to the Companys existing licensed extraction facility, which commenced operations this quarter. Upon completion, the Acquisition will permit the Company to operate two fully licensed and commercialized facilities, which is expected to streamline resources for the Companys controlled expansion plan within the U.S.

The Acquisition will result in the Company acquiring control over the following licenses:

Cannabis Business Local License, #MCL-17-007-M-18

Cannabis Business Local License, #MCL-17-007-C-18

Type 7 Manufacturing License  Adult & Medical Cannabis Products, #CDPH-T00000362

Furthermore, the Company is exploring the possibility of processing hemp at the Facility for full spectrum plant extracts rich in CBD and leveraging the hemp legalization provisions of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill to capitalize on the expected increased demand for CBD. It has been estimated that the CBD market will have a value of over $2.1 billion by 20201. Legislation is currently pending in California that would accommodate incorporating hemp-derived cannabinoids and terpenes into the currently regulated cannabis supply chain (similar to neighboring legal cannabis states like Oregon), as well as non-THC-infused food, beverages and cosmetics.

The Company will, upon completion of the Acquisition, significantly increase its production and manufacturing capabilities in the U.S., said CEO of Chemesis, Edgar Montero. The addition of this new facility will allow the Company to extract high-quality cannabinoids and terpenes for use in a wide variety of consumer products. Chemesis will then be able to leverage its existing expertise in extraction, distribution, and sales to continue growing revenues and build long-term value. I believe this expansion will open up considerable new revenue opportunities for the Company when we begin processing hemp, added Montero.

Under the terms of this acquisition, Chemesis will pay $1,000,000 USD 90 days from closing and issue 4,600,000 shares. The stock is subject to 36-month lock-up/leak-out guidelines. The Acquisition is expected to close on or about March 30, 2019.

On Behalf of The Board of Directors

Edgar Montero

CEO and Director

About Chemesis International Inc.

Chemesis International Inc. is a vertically integrated global leader in the cannabis industry, currently operating within California, Puerto Rico, and Colombia.

Chemesis is developing a strong foothold in key markets, from cultivation, to manufacturing, distribution and retail. Chemesis has facilities in both Puerto Rico and California, allowing for cost effective production and distribution of its products. In addition, Chemesis leverages exclusive brands and partnerships and uses the highest quality extraction methods to provide consumers with quality cannabis products.

Chemesis will add shareholder value by exploring opportunities in emerging markets while consistently delivering quality product to its consumers from seed to sale.

Investor Relations:

ir@chemesis.com

1 (604) 398-3378

Social Media:

Chemesis.facebook

Chemesis.twitter

Chemesis.instagram

DesertZen.instagram

CaliforniaSap.instagram

Jay&SB.instagram

Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including in relation to statements regarding the Acquisition, the anticipated benefits of the Acquisition, the expected size of the CBD market, the Companys ability to increase production of various cannabidiol products, and generally regarding the business, products and future of the Companys business, its product offerings and plans for sales and marketing, including upon completion of the Acquisition. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance and developments to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the Acquisition will not be completed as proposed or at all, that the anticipated benefits of the Acquisition will not materialize, that the CDB market will not expand as anticipated, that the Company will not be able to expand production of CDB products at the rate anticipated upon closing of the Acquisition (or at all), and generally that the Company's products and plan will vary from those stated in this news release and the Company may not be able to carry out its business plans as expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation and does not intend to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information in this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and makes no reference to profitability based on sales reported. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release
Today, Schibsted and Adevinta host a joint Capital Markets Day in London. Adevinta is the name of Schibsted's international marketplaces operations, which will be spun off and listed separately.

The event starts at 09:00 UK time (10:00 CET). The presentation material and more information about the event is available on www.schibsted.com/ir. The presentation can be followed on a live webcast on the same URL, and a recording will be made available shortly after the end of the event, which is at 16:30 UK time, 17:30 CET.

At the event, CEO Kristin Skogen Lund presents the strategy for Schibsted after the demerger of Adevinta, with clear ambitions to be a Nordic digital front-runner, continuing to create shareholder value through long term growth in the company's three business areas Nordic Marketplaces, News Media and Next. The three areas will optimize their individual brands and business models, but at the same time they will increasingly reinforce each other by exchanging traffic, data, technology and competence.

Based on the new structure, Schibsted has set out the target to grow its revenue in the Nordic Marketplaces business area by 8-12 percent yearly in the medium to long term. The business area comprises leading online classifieds sites in Norway (Finn.no), Sweden (Blocket.se) and Finland (Tori.fi). For its News Media business area, Schibsted has the ambition to keep EBITDA margin stable, on the back of continued digital revenue growth curbed by decline in print related revenue. The company experiences strong growth in the fast developing financial services market, particularly driven by Lendo.

With regards to capital allocation, Schibsted will focus on targeted M&A activities aiming to strengthen market positions and bolt on adjacent businesses. Dividend will be stable to increasing over time, and the company will target a level of net interest bearing debt in the range of 1-3 times EBITDA, making it possible to lever up if a particularly attractive investment becomes available. Any over-capitalisation to be addressed through (extraordinary) dividend or share buyback.

CEO of Adevinta, Rolv Erik Ryssdal, presents Adevintas overall strategy and market position as a leading pure-play international marketplace operator. Adevinta operates in 16 markets, covering a population footprint of 800 million, generating 1.5 billion monthly visits. With an attractive business model, based on strong network effects and footprint in highly attractive geographies, Adevinta is in the position to exploit a significant global market opportunity.

Adevinta's medium- to long-term annual revenue growth target is 15-20 percent including contribution from joint ventures and associates based on Adevinta's respective ownership stakes. Adevinta expects low to mid-teens revenue growth in the first half of 2019 (including contribution from joint ventures and associates based on Adevinta's respective ownership stakes), with continued display advertising softness while verticals continue to be strong. The company is working both strategically and with short term initiatives to address this display advertising softness.

Operational leverage is expected to support targeted EBITDA (before other income and expenses, impairment, JVs and Associates) towards above 40% in the longer term including contribution from joint ventures and associates based on Adevinta's respective ownership stakes, in line with other leading online classified companies

Adevinta is well on track for a successful demerger from Schibsted and first day of trading as a separate company on the Oslo Stock Exchange 10 April 2019. Upon completion of the demerger, shares representing 35% of the total number of shares in Adevinta will be issued to Schibsted shareholders as consideration in the demerger. Schibsted will upon completion of the demerger hold the remaining 65% of the shares in Adevinta. Provided that prevailing market conditions so permit, Schibsted intends to sell down 5% Adevinta shares in the market (in the form of Adevinta B shares).

The Tinius Trust intends to divest a limited portion of its direct holding in Adevinta (owned through Blommenholm Industrier AS), in the form of Adevinta B shares.

Schibsted intends to remain a significant long-term owner in MPI, and the size and time horizon of Schibsted's ownership will be tailored to support and develop shareholder value for both companies. Schibsted will seek to exercise its ownership through the shareholder meeting and representation on MPI's Board of Directors, where CEO Kristin Skogen Lund is a member.

As a stand-alone, independent company with direct access to capital markets, the Board of Schibsted believes that Adevinta will be well equipped to expand its business and participate actively in value enhancing industry consolidation and acquisitions.

At the time of the listing, Adevinta will inherit Schibsted's dual share class structure. Schibsted as a majority owner will support a simplified governance structure without ownership or voting limitations and an amalgamation into one share class by 2019 year end subject to EGM approval.

J.P. Morgan Securities plc and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ), Oslo branch and Arctic Securities AS (who is also financial advisor to The Tinius Trust) are assisting Schibsted and Adevinta in connection with the contemplated demerger and separate listing of Adevinta on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Contact persons:

Trond Berger, CFO. Tel: +47 916 86 695

Jo Christian Steigedal, VP Investor Relations. Tel: +47 415 08 733





The presentations (pdf) can be downloaded here: www.schibsted.com/news/capital-markets-day-2019/



Direct link to the presentation webcast:

http://webtv.hegnar.no/presentation.php?webcastId=97797137

or alternatively www.youtube.com/SchibstedMediaGroup

Oslo, 7 March 2019

SCHIBSTED ASA



Jo Christian Steigedal

Head of IR
English French















INSEAD Showcases Innovation as a Force for Good

Largest INSEAD Middle East event advances the schools vision and its biggest fundraising campaign

Fontainebleau (France), Singapore, Abu Dhabi, 7 March 2019  INSEAD, the business school for the world, hosted the Global Business Leaders Conference (GBLC) on 24 February at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. The flagship INSEAD event in the region convened leaders of business, government and academia to discuss non-disruptive innovation and business as a force for good.

Despite the indisputable benefits of technology and innovation, disruption has come to define the behaviour of many business ventures today. This has created a zero-sum fight for survival, especially for established companies and industries. But digitisation and the evolving roles of public and private sector actors are opening a path to growth that creates new market space and increases the economic pie, according to speakers at the recent GBLC , the largest annual INSEAD event in the Middle East.



H.E. Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General, Smart Dubai Office, and Peter Zemsky, INSEAD Deputy Dean and Dean of Innovation

At the GBLC, H.E. Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General, Smart Dubai Office, shared that Dubai is moving to the smart city concept today. In this model, digitisation is not only the sole responsibility of the government but also of the private sector and academia. The government focuses on incentivizing innovation and improving the happiness and well-being of people, which benefits business and society.

We have to balance implementing new technologies and putting smart infrastructure in the city. We want our people to be happy. Today  after three years  I believe weve managed to strike a balance between these two agendas. We launched the happiness side in 2015, even before launching technological strategies like blockchain or AI. This sets the scene that what we are doing must focus on improving peoples happiness, said H.E. Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr.

INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Strategy Renee Mauborgne , co-author of The New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller Blue Ocean Shift, pointed out that while disruption is an important concept today, it comes with social adjustment costs. (For more, see Mauborgne and Kim, Sloan Management Review, Spring 2019 ).

Dubai reconstructed the boundary between modern and traditional Arabian culture, and between the East and West. Doing that created a city unlike any other in the world. That is how Dubai expanded their economic base and unleashed creative growth  enabling it to become a diversified, $105 billion economy. And it is how Dubai went from 30% of its GDP relying on oil revenue to less than 1% today.

When we think of INSEAD as a force for good, it reveals the other half of the strategy universe  from compete to create an innovation space, from disrupt to non-disrupt. It also puts people smack dab in the center of strategy. Because you can have the best strategy in the world, but without people it goes nowhere, she said.



Renee Mauborgne, INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Strategy

William Doucas, CEO of Elutions, a market-leading provider of artificial intelligence solutions for infrastructure intensive operations, shared two successful cases where Elutions has deployed AI at scale to deliver quantifiable benefits while being sustainable. He commented, When you think about sustainability, we see that profits should drive sustainability. The more we can help these entities, such as water and wastewater services or an electric utility, there is less burden on governments. The reduced costs can get invested back into society and help make society better.

All of us can do well by doing good if we look beyond purely shareholder value, and think about value for good, value in the world, said Paul Kewene-Hite , INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, when he opened the Tech for Good: Entrepreneurship and Innovation panel.



From left to right: Leila Hoteit, Partner & Managing Director Boston Consulting Group, R. Todd Ruppert, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ruppert International Inc., Paul Kewene-Hite, Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, INSEAD, Karl Magnus Olsson, Chief Xperience Officer and Co-Founder, Careem, and Chirag Shah, Serial Entrepreneur, Chairman, Simfoni

Karl Magnus Olsson, Founder and Managing Director of Careem, an Uber competitor in the Middle East, shared how the company is creating new market space in developing countries, We are rolling out dynamic buses in Cairo right now, but we're not disrupting an existing bus system because it doesn't exist. 90% of our customers in Saudi Arabia did not use taxis before Careem came about because of reasons of safety and liability. Within six years, the company has hired over one million captains, their term for drivers, creating meaningful employment across the greater MENA region and meeting mobility needs of more than 30 million customers.

Dr. Leila Hoteit, Partner & Managing Director of The Boston Consulting Group, pointed out that while technology can open doors and facilitate success, a key challenge lies in scaling up. To enable technology to innovate and scale up, the public sector has to play an important role. From legislation to funding and coordination with the private sector and third sector, the public sector must be active in building human capital across the ecosystem, she said.

Peter Zemsky , INSEAD Deputy Dean and Dean of Innovation, said that the schools vision of business as a force for good enables constant reinvention and innovation. As the business school for the world, we constantly ask ourselves, are we rising up to the challenge of the moment and what can we do to prepare leaders who are going to manage a fundamentally different environment than what we saw just five years ago. What wed like to do in this space is to create and lead the key conversations around the world that can touch the lives of thousands of current and future leaders, as well as offer transformative business education in line with our vision and values.



The Campaign for INSEAD Middle East Launch

The GBLC ended with the Middle East launch of The Campaign for INSEAD: A Force for Good, the schools most ambitious capital campaign to date. INSEAD will continue to spearhead a dialogue around the world about business as force for good. This will build on strong momentum from recent Campaign launch events and forums in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. To participate in this critical conversation, visit the Campaign website and follow us on social media to see how you can get involved.

###

About INSEAD, The Business School for the World

As one of the world's leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society. A global perspective and cultural diversity are reflected in all aspects of its research and teaching.

With campuses in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore) and the Middle East (Abu Dhabi), INSEAD's business education and research spans three continents. The schools 154 renowned Faculty members from 40 countries inspire more than 1,400 degree participants annually in its MBA, Executive MBA, Executive Master in Finance, Executive Master in Change and PhD programmes. In addition, more than 11,000 executives participate in INSEADs executive education programmes each year.

In addition to INSEAD's programmes on its three campuses, INSEAD participates in academic partnerships with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia & San Francisco); the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University near Chicago; the Johns Hopkins University/SAIS in Washington DC and the Teachers College at Columbia University in New York; and MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Asia, INSEAD partners with School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. INSEAD is a founding member in the multidisciplinary Sorbonne University created in 2012, and also partners with Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil.

INSEAD became a pioneer of international business education with the graduation of the first MBA class on the Fontainebleau campus in Europe in 1960. In 2000, INSEAD opened its Asia campus in Singapore. In 2007, the school inaugurated a Centre for Research and Executive Education in the United Arab Emirates and officially opened the Middle East Campus in Abu Dhabi in 2010.

Around the world and over the decades, INSEAD continues to conduct cutting edge research and to innovate across all its programmes to provide business leaders with the knowledge and sensitivity to operate anywhere. These core values have enabled INSEAD to become truly "The Business School for the World.

More information about INSEAD can be found at www.insead.edu.



INSEAD Press Contact

communications@insead.edu

Attachments
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and TORONTO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mr. Lube, Canadas leading quick lube provider in the automotive maintenance sector, is proud to announce that it has been recognized with the prestigious designation of Platinum Club Member by Canadas Best Managed Companies in 2018. To achieve this Platinum designation, Mr. Lube has been named a Best Managed Company for seven years in a row.



A Best Managed Company Award is the pinnacle of corporate success in Canada and highlights companies that are focused on their core vision, creating stakeholder value and excelling in the global economy.

The past seven years have been a period of tremendous growth, expansion and transformational change for our brand and operations. Throughout it all, every person on our team, from coast to coast, has risen to the challenge and set new standards for leadership, innovation and execution, while caring for the communities where we serve day in and day out. This recognition from industry peers, business leaders and most importantly, our communities where we live and work, provides great pride to all of us at Mr. Lube. This is an affirmation that our collective efforts are indeed succeeding in building a great Canadian company. On behalf of Mr. Lubes board of directors, our employees, our franchise owners, our partners and suppliers, we are very honoured and humbled to have achieved the prestigious Platinum designation,

President and CEO for Mr. Lube, Stuart Suls.

Sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post, Smith School of Business and MacKay CEO Forums, the Best Managed award recognizes Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $10 million for sustained growth, financial performance, management practices and the efforts of the entire organization.

2018 winners of the Canadas Best Managed Companies award, along with Requalified members, Gold Standard winners and Platinum Club members will be honoured at the annual Canadas Best Managed Companies symposium and gala in Toronto on April 16, 2019.

About Mr. Lube Canada

Mr. Lube is Canada's leading quick lube provider in the routine automotive maintenance sector. The company was founded in 1976, pioneering a category of automotive servicing that focused on convenience and no appointment necessary. With 179 locations across the country, Mr. Lube is operated by a national network of franchisees. Headquartered in Richmond, BC, the company also has an office in Mississauga, Ontario to support its national franchise network.

In 2002, Mr. Lube Canada founded the Mr. Lube Foundation to support its corporate goals of giving back to the community and helping those most in need. Today, the Foundation has donated in excess of $5.2 million dollars to charities across the country. For more information about Mr. Lube, please visit: www.mrlube.com; Facebook/MrLubeCanada ( www.facebook.com/MrLubeCanada ); Twitter @MrLube (www.twitter.com/MrLube).

About Canadas Best Managed Companies

Canada's Best Managed Companies continues to be the mark of excellence for Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $10 million. Every year since the launch of the program in 1993, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies have competed for this designation in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates their management skills and practices. The awards are granted on five levels: 1) Best Managed winner (one of the new winners selected each year); 2) Requalified member (repeat winners retain the Best Managed designation for two additional years, subject to annual operational and financial review); 3) Gold Standard winner (After three consecutive years of maintaining their Best Managed status, these winners have demonstrated their commitment to the program and successfully reapplied for the designation); 4) Gold Requalified member (Gold Standard winners may requalify for two additional years, subject to annual operational and financial review); 5) Platinum Club member (winners that maintain Best Managed status for a minimum of seven consecutive years). Program sponsors are Deloitte, CIBC, National Post, Smith School of Business and MacKay CEO Forums. For further information, visit www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca.

For additional information, comments or photos, please contact:

Paige Alexander

Senior Manager - Human Resources

Mr. Lube Canada

Tel: 604.759.4336

Cell: 604.616.5654

palexander@mrlube.com

bestmanagedcompanies@deloitte.ca

www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca




TORONTO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Equipment Sales & Service Limited (ESS) was recognized for overall business performance and sustained growth with the prestigious Canadas Best Managed Companies designation. The 2019 Best Managed program award winners are amongst the best-in-class of Canadian owned and managed companies with revenues over $15 million demonstrating strategy, capability and commitment to achieve sustainable growth. Having achieved the Best Managed designation for seven consecutive years, ESS joins an elite group of companies that have attained Platinum Club status.



Now in its 26th year, Canadas Best Managed Companies is one of the countrys leading business awards programs recognizing Canadian-owned and managed companies for innovative, world-class business practices. Every year, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies compete for this designation in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates the caliber of their management abilities and practices.

Michael and Peter Willis, Co-Executive Chairmen and owners of Equipment Sales and Service Limited stated: "2018 was an extremely rewarding year for our Company. We continued to focus on recent acquisitions; both new and existing sales territories and expanded market conditions. ESS was pleased to see not only improved markets and sales in Ontario, but also an increase in our Western Canadian operations after a lengthy market retraction. As a family owned 73 year old business, we are very thankful for the immense contribution all our employees make towards our continued success and the impact they have in the Company being designated a Platinum winner of the prestigious Canada's Best Managed Company program."

Businesses today need to be thinking long-term to succeed, and this years Best Managed winners are truly going the distance in investing in the future, said Lorrie King, Partner, Deloitte and Co-Leader, Canadas Best Managed Companies program. These companies can celebrate their accomplishments today, and should be excited for tomorrow.

Applicants are evaluated by an independent judging panel comprised of representatives from program sponsors in addition to special guest judges. 2019 Best Managed companies share commonalities that include a clear strategy and vision, investment in capability and commitment to talent.

Morgan Cronin, President of ESS, noted that: It was a significant accomplishment to be awarded our first Best Managed designation in 2011. I believe it is even more difficult to retain that status. We must constantly review and improve the way we do business including revisiting our strategies and how we deliver our product and services to our business partners. Retaining Platinum status is both a tremendous challenge and achievement for our company. It is a reflection of all our efforts to continuously improve. I would like to thank the dedicated people we have working at ESS who can translate plan into action. We are extremely proud of our Company and our team.

CIBC is pleased to congratulate Equipment Sales & Service Limited on being named one of Canadas Best Managed Companies, recognizing its excellence in leadership, business performance and innovation, said Dino Medves, Senior Vice President and Head, CIBC Commercial Banking. As a sponsor of the Canadas Best Managed Companies program for over 20 years, CIBC is proud to celebrate private companies like Equipment Sales & Service Limited as leaders in their industry.

2019 winners of the Canadas Best Managed Companies award will be honoured at the annual Canadas Best Managed Companies gala in Toronto on April 17, 2019. On the same date, the Best Managed symposium will address leading-edge business issues that are key to the success of todays business leaders.

The Best Managed program is sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, Canadian Business, Smith School of Business, and TMX Group.

About Canadas Best Managed Companies

Canada's Best Managed Companies continues to be the mark of excellence for Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $15 million. Every year since the launch of the program in 1993, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies have competed for this designation in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates their management skills and practices. The awards are granted on four levels: 1) Canadas Best Managed Companies new winner (one of the new winners selected each year); 2) Canadas Best Managed Companies winner (award recipients that have re-applied and successfully retained their Best Managed designation for two additional years, subject to annual operational and financial review); 3) Gold Standard winner (after three consecutive years of maintaining their Best Managed status, these winners have demonstrated their commitment to the program and successfully retained their award for 4-6 consecutive years); 4) Platinum Club member (winners that have maintained their Best Managed status for seven years or more). Program sponsors are Deloitte Private, CIBC, Canadian Business, Smith School of Business, and TMX Group. For further information, visit www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca .

About Equipment Sales & Service Limited (www.essltd.com)

Founded in 1946 and ranked as one of Canada's oldest and most established equipment companies, ESS has kept Canada's heavy equipment up and running for 73 years. ESS provides multi-line customer solutions for heavy equipment, parts and service from 10 locations across Canada.

For further information, please contact:

bestmanagedcompanies@deloitte.ca

www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca

Contact information:

Morgan Cronin

President, Equipment Sales & Service Limited

416-249-8141

mcronin@essltd.com

www.essltd.com




PUEBLO, CO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE  CannaGrow Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK: CGRW), A Liaison and Consultant providing turnkey solutions to licensed growers -- CannaGrow Holdings, Inc. announces the Huerfano County Building Department has issued a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy, as of March 6, 2019, based upon the completion of construction of the 1,600 sq. ft. steel building to be used exclusively for the Drying, Curing, and Packaging of the Cannabis being harvested at the Colorado Buffalo Ranch Facility.

Delmar Janovec, CEO, stated, Like everything else that has been built at the Colorado Buffalo Ranch Facility, the new building is State of the Art. The facility is 100% Climate Controlled, designed and built exclusively for Drying, Curing, and Packaging. The different computerized systems will work concurrently to eliminate humidity fluctuations caused by the extreme variance of temperature ranges within each 24-hour period in Southern Colorado. A special heavy-duty foam insulation was used throughout the entire building to stabilize indoor temperatures within a few degrees. Humidifier and Dehumidifier Systems were installed along with cutting edge Sensory Technology.

Janovec went on to say, "Our objective was to create an ideal hermetic and sanitary environment to eliminate any potential mold, mildew, or fungus threats that can occur during the Drying, Curing, and Packaging Process, and that is exactly what has been accomplished. This 1600 sq. ft. facility will adequately handle the winter production cycles currently taking place in the six (6) 2,880 sq. ft. Climate Controlled IGC Ranger Series 2000 Greenhouses in addition to the Summer/Fall harvest that have already proven to be in excess of one thousand (1,000) pounds of product. With this building project checked off of the list we can start to look toward the future expansion into Phases III, IV, and V of our Master Plan."

Rod Clawson, Managing Director of Category One Botanicals, the Licensed Grower at the Colorado Buffalo Ranch Facility added, I am continually amazed at how far C1B has come since receiving the Colorado State Recreational Growers License back in April of 2016. With a committed developer like NuGro Industries and a Property Manager like CannaGrow Holdings, I can see Category One Botanicals taking a lead role in the Cannabis Industry in the State of Colorado.

CannaGrow Holdings, Inc., the Liaison and Representative for NuGro Industries, will continue in its capacity of providing oversight as the Property Manager, working with the State/County Agencies and Category One Botanicals, LLC, the Licensed Grower for the facilities. The completion of this project will now provide the company the basis to begin generating revenues from Licensed Growers subleasing the Turnkey facilities being built to the specifications of Consultants, Dr. John P. Janovec, and Jason Wells.

About CannaGrow Holdings, Inc.:

CannaGrow Holdings, Inc. has entered the Medical/Recreational Cannabis Industry as a Lessor, Liaison, and Consultant to licensed Growers providing them with turnkey Growing Facilities in the State of Colorado. The Company intends to expand this business model within this industry as business opportunities evolve whereby providing for the highest return to its shareholders.

CannaGrow Holdings, Inc. does not and will not, until Federal law allows, grow, harvest, distribute, or sell marijuana or any substance that violates the laws of the United States of America.

CannaGrow Holdings, Inc. encourages the public to read the above information in conjunction with its year-end statement for December 31, 2017, and the quarterly statements filed in calendar year 2018, at: www.otcmarkets.com .

The information contained in this press release may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements usually contain the words "may," "could," "possibly," "feel," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "expect," or similar expressions that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include the Company's uncertain profitability, need for significant capital, uncertainty concerning market acceptance of its services, competition, limited service facilities, dependence on technological developments and protection of its intellectual property. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed herein.
English Finnish

EFECTE PLC -- COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT -- 7 March 2019 at 14.00

Efecte Plc: Notice to the Annual General Meeting

Notice is given to the shareholders of Efecte Plc to the Annual General Meeting to be held on Thursday 4 April 2019 starting at 12:00 EET at Innopoli 1, seminar room Leonardo, at the address Tekniikantie 12, Espoo, Finland. The reception of persons who have registered for the meeting and the distribution of voting tickets will commence at 11:30 a.m. EET.

A. MATTERS ON THE AGENDA OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

At the Annual General Meeting, the following matters will be considered:

1. Opening of the meeting





2. Calling the meeting to order

3. Election of persons to scrutinise the minutes and to supervise the counting of votes

4. Recording the legality of the meeting

5. Recording the attendance at the meeting and adoption of the list of votes

6. Presentation of the Financial Statements, consolidated financial statements, the Report of the Board of Directors and the Auditors Report for the year 2018

- Review by the CEO

7. Adoption of the Financial Statements and the consolidated financial statements

8. Resolution on the use of the profit shown on the balance sheet and the payment of dividend

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend be distributed for the financial year that ended on 31 December 2018.

9. Resolution on the discharge of the members of the Board of Directors and the CEO from liability

10. Resolution on the remuneration of the members of the Board of Directors

Efecte Plcs shareholders who in total represent approximately 40 % of all of Efecte Plcs shares and votes have proposed that the fees for the members of the Board of Directors remain unchanged. The members will be paid the following fees for their term of office: the Chairman of the Board be paid EUR 3,000 per month and the other members of the Board of Directors be paid EUR 1,500 per month each.

In addition, the above-mentioned shareholders propose that approximately 40 per cent of the remuneration be paid in Efecte Plcs shares and approximately 60 per cent be paid in cash. The part of the remuneration paid in shares will be paid by issuing new shares and/or transferring companys own shares to the Board members within four weeks from the release of the business review for 1 January - 31 March 2019 or, if this is not possible taking insider rules into account, as soon as possible thereafter. A member of the Board of Directors is not entitled to sell or transfer the shares received as Board remuneration during three years following the payment of the remuneration.

In addition, the Chairman of the Board and the other members of the Board of Directors be compensated for reasonable travelling costs for attending the Board meetings.

11. Resolution on the number of members of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that five (5) members be elected to the Board.

12. Election of members of the Board of Directors

Efecte Plcs shareholders who in total represent approximately 40 % of all of Efecte Plcs shares and votes have proposed that the current members of the Board Pertti Ervi, Turkka Keskinen, Kari J. Makela, Paivi Rekonen, and Hannu Vaajoensuu be re-elected to the Board for the term until the close of the next Annual General Meeting.

The CVs of all persons proposed as Board members are available on the company's website at www.efecte.com. All proposed members have given their consent to the election.

13. Resolution on the remuneration of the auditor

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the remuneration of the auditor be paid against an invoice approved by the company.

14. Election of auditor

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that Ernst & Young Oy, a firm of authorised public accountants, be re-elected as the companys auditor for the term until the close of the next Annual General Meeting. Ernst & Young Oy has notified the company that Authorised Public Accountant Juha Hilmola would be the companys responsible auditor.

15. Authorising the Board to decide on the repurchase of the companys own shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorise the Board of Directors to resolve to repurchase a maximum of 450,000 shares of the company in one or several instalments by using funds in the unrestricted shareholders equity. The proposed number of shares corresponds to approximately 7.7 per cent of all shares in the company.

The shares may be repurchased in order to improve the capital structure of the company, to carry out acquisitions or other arrangements related to the companys business, to be transferred or cancelled for other purposes, to be used in the companys incentive plans, or if the Board of Directors otherwise deems it to be in the interest of shareholders.

The price paid for the shares repurchased under the authorisation shall be based on the market price of the companys share in public trading. The minimum price to be paid shall be the lowest market price of the share quoted in public trading during the authorisation period and the maximum price the highest market price quoted during the authorisation period.

The companys own shares may be repurchased otherwise than in proportion to the shareholdings of the shareholders (directed repurchase).

It is proposed that the authorisation be effective until the next Annual General Meeting, however, at the latest until 30 June 2020. The authorisation will revoke the repurchase authorisation granted by the Annual General Meeting on 5 April 2018.

16. Authorising the Board to decide on the issuance of shares, option rights and other special rights entitling to shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorise the Board of Directors to decide on the issuance of shares, option rights and other special rights entitling to shares referred to in Chapter 10 Section 1 of the Finnish Companies Act in one or several instalments in the manner described below.

The Board would, pursuant to the authorisation, be entitled to decide on the issuance of an aggregate maximum of 1,000,000 new shares. The Board may decide to issue new shares or shares held by the company. The maximum number of shares included in the proposed authorisation accounts for approximately 17.2 per cent of the companys shares.

The authorisation includes the right to issue shares, option rights and/or other special rights entitling to shares through private offering, in other words, to deviate from the shareholders pre-emptive right, if there is a weighty financial reason for doing so from the companys point of view, such as using them as consideration to carry out acquisitions or other arrangements or investments related to the companys business, and/or as part of the remuneration of the Board members paid in shares as resolved by the Annual General Meeting. The authorisation also includes the right to issue shares, option rights and/or other special rights entitling to shares against payment or without charge. Issuance without charge requires that there is an especially weighty financial reason for doing so from the companys point of view and taking the interests of the companys all shareholders into consideration.

Under the authorisation, the Board of Directors will be entitled to decide on any terms and conditions of the issuance of shares, option rights and other special rights entitling to shares, including the recipients and the compensation to be paid.

It is proposed that the authorisation be effective until the next Annual General Meeting, however, at the latest until 30 June 2020. The authorisation will revoke the share issue authorisations granted by the Annual General Meeting on 5 April 2018.

17. Closing of the meeting

B. DOCUMENTS OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The above-mentioned proposals for decisions relating to the agenda of the Annual General Meeting as well as this notice are available on Efecte Plcs website at www.efecte.com. The Financial Statements, consolidated financial statements, the Report of the Board of Directors, and the Auditors Report of Efecte Plc will be available on the above-mentioned website no later than 14 March 2019. The proposals for decisions and other above-mentioned documents are also available at the Annual General Meeting. Copies of these documents and of this notice will be sent to shareholders upon request. The minutes of the meeting will be available on the above-mentioned website as of 18 April 2019 at the latest.

C. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

1. The right to participate and registration

Each shareholder who on the record date of the Annual General Meeting, i.e. 25 March 2019, is registered in the shareholders register of the company held by Euroclear Finland Ltd has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting. A shareholder whose shares are registered on his/her personal Finnish book-entry account is registered in the shareholders register of the company.

A shareholder who is registered in the shareholders register of the company and wants to participate in the Annual General Meeting shall register for the meeting no later than by 1 April 2019 EET on 10:00 a.m. by giving a prior notice of participation. Such notice can be given:

on the internet at https://investors.efecte.com/en

by telephone +358 50 306 9913 Mon-Fri from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or

by regular mail to the address Efecte Plc, Vaisalantie 6, FI-02130 Espoo, Finland.

All registrations must be received by the company no later than by 1 April 2019 EET on 10:00 a.m., irrespective of the method of registration.

In connection with the registration, a shareholder shall notify his/her name, personal identification number or business identification number, address, telephone number, as well as the name of a possible proxy representative or assistant and the personal identification number of the proxy representative. The personal data given to Efecte Plc is used only in connection with the Annual General Meeting and with the processing of related registrations.

2. Holders of nominee-registered shares

A holder of nominee-registered shares has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting by virtue of such shares based on which he/she would be entitled, on the record date of the Annual General Meeting, i.e. 25 March 2019, to be registered in the shareholders register of the company held by Euroclear Finland Ltd. In addition, the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting requires that the shareholder has, on the basis of such shares, been temporarily registered in the shareholders register held by Euroclear Finland Ltd at the latest by 1 April 2019 EET on 10:00 a.m. As regards nominee-registered shares, this constitutes due registration for the Annual General Meeting.

Holders of nominee-registered shares are advised to request without delay necessary instructions regarding the temporary registration in the shareholders register of the company, the issuing of proxy documents, and preregistration for the Annual General Meeting from their custodian bank. The account manager of the custodian bank shall register a holder of nominee-registered shares who wishes to participate in the Annual General Meeting temporarily in the shareholders register of the company by the deadline stated above.

3. Proxy representative and powers of attorney

A shareholder may participate in the Annual General Meeting and exercise his/her rights at the meeting by way of proxy representation. A proxy representative shall produce a dated proxy document or otherwise in a reliable manner demonstrate his/her right to represent the shareholder at the Annual General Meeting.

When a shareholder participates in the Annual General Meeting by means of several proxy representatives who represent the shareholder with shares on different securities accounts, the shares by which each proxy representative represents the shareholder shall be identified in connection with the registration.

Any proxy documents should be delivered as originals to Efecte Plc, Vaisalantie 6, FI-02130 Espoo, Finland, before the deadline for registration.

4. Other information

Pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Companies Act, a shareholder who is present at the Annual General Meeting has the right to request information with respect to the matters to be considered at the meeting.

On the date of this notice to the Annual General Meeting, 7 March 2019, the total number of shares in Efecte Plc is 5,813,988 and the total number of votes in Efecte Plc is 5,813,988.

Espoo, 7 March 2019

EFECTE PLC

The Board of Directors

Further enquiries:

Hannu Nyman

CFO

Efecte Plc

hannu.nyman@efecte.com

+358 50 306 9913

Certified Adviser:

Evli Bank Plc, tel +358 40 579 6210

www.efecte.com

Attachment
LOS ANGELES, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new market research report released by QY Research titled, Global Plastic Cutlery Market Report, History and Forecast 2013-2025, provides a complete market analysis with forecast to 2025. The global Plastic Cutlery market was valued at US$ 2620 Mn in the year 2017 and is likely to touch a valuation of US$ 2920 Mn by the end of 2025. The market is growing with a sluggish CAGR of 1.3% over the projected period.



Global Plastic Cutlery Market : Trends and Opportunities

With the rising use of plastics in our day to day life is generating a lot of plastic waste, however government regulations across the globe have banned the use of plastic to protect the environment. To overcome this challenge, many food packaging industries use plant-based raw materials for producing single-use packaging like disposable tray, plates, bowls, and cutlery. Increasing bio-based food service may benefit the demand for plastic cutlery over the forecasted period.

Since the past few years, there has been a shifting demand for biodegradable plastic cutlery which is made up of wood, wheat bran, sorghum, rice, and corn. This led to the growth of the market in the near future.

Global Plastic Cutlery Market: Segmental Analysis

The global market for plastic cutlery is segmented into applications and product type. Commercial and household are the main segments of the applications in the plastic cutlery market. Based on product type, the market is segmented into Plastic Spoon, Plastic Knife, and Plastic Fork.

Global Plastic Cutlery Market: Geographical Outlook

The Asia Pacific and Europe are leading the market for plastic cutlery in terms of consumption. In Asia Pacific regions, the countries such as India, China, Southeast Asia, and Japan are growing significantly over the predicted period. In Europe, the market is going in a downward trend due to an implication of a new ban policy of plastic cutlery. The innovative products like plant-based raw material is expected to create a positive impact on the growth of the market over the anticipated period.

Request Sample Report and Full Report TOC@ https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/582798/global-plastic-cutlery-market

Global Plastic Cutlery Market: Key players

Some of the major players functioning into the global market for plastic cutlery are Dopla, Huhtamaki, Biopac, Dart, Swantex, Lollicup USA, Fuling Global, Solia, Eco-Products, and TrueChoicePack (TCP). Dart and Huhtamaki are expected to be the leading manufacturers in the plastic cutlery during the projected period.

Global Plastic Cutlery Market: Competitive Landscape

The competition in the market is likely to become stronger with an introduction of new products and various mergers and acquisitions. Each manufacturer has its own sales network. Through resellers and retailers, their authorized partners keep expanding their sales of plastic cutlery. For a better understanding of the sales, producers are mainly investing in their marketing channel infrastructure every year.

Biopac India Standalone December 2018 Net Sales at Rs 4.08 Cr, down 67.63% Y-o-Y

The net sales of the Biopac in December 2018 was Rs 4.08 Cr. down to 67.63% from Rs. 12.60 Cr. in December 2017. Quarterly net loss in December 2018 was Rs. 7.01 down to 6579.94% from December 2017. In December 2018, Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) stands negative at Rs. 4.40 Cr. Down to 246.67% from 3.0 Cr. in December 2017. The shares of the Biopac closed at February 08, 2019 and has earned 26.96% returns during the past 6-months and -78.81% during the last twelve months.

Global Plastic Cutlery Market Now, Report delivery time within 24 hours @ https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/8ced257345a1a34dd66692a85abfe86d,0,1,Global%20Plastic%20Cutlery%20Market%20Report,%20History%20and%20Forecast%202013-2025,%20Breakdown%20Data%20by%20Manufacturers,%20Key%20Regions,%20Types%20and%20Application

For Any Special Requirement and Discount Request @ https://www.qyresearch.com/request-discount/form/582798/global-plastic-cutlery-market

Sales Contact:

USA Registered Office: QY Research, INC.

17890 Castleton, Suite 218,

City of industry, CA - 91748

USA: +1 6262 952 442

Emails  enquiry@qyresearch.com
DORADO, Puerto Rico, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GSRX Industries Inc. (OTCQB: GSRX) (GSRX or the Company) announced today that, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Project 1493 LLC, the Company has obtained a Permit of Use, and has requested final inspection, for its sixth Green Spirit RX medicinal cannabis dispensary in Puerto Rico. Located in the Isla Verde District of Carolina, this is the newest Green Spirit RX dispensary in Puerto Rico. Operations at the Isla Verde location will commence following the final inspection and receipt of the requisite operating permit from the Department of Health of Puerto Rico.



Currently, there are five Green Spirit RX medicinal cannabis dispensaries open in Puerto Rico, with locations in Dorado, Carolina, Fajardo, Andalucia and San Juans Hato Rey neighborhood. The Company has additional locations currently under development/construction in Guaynabo, Bayamon and Old San Juan.

Green Spirits newest Green Spirit RX dispensary is located at 1060 Av. Isla Verde, Carolina, Puerto Rico 00913. Isla Verde is one of the most popular beach vacation destinations in the metro San Juan area and attracts both leisure and business travelers. It is home to some of the islands most luxurious beachfront hotels, and Isla Verde Beach was voted the Best Urban Beach by USA Travel readers in 2016. Isla Verde is located within minutes of San Juans Luis Munoz Marin International Airport and boasts an active nightlife scene, offering casinos, dance clubs and elegant lounges.

Like the Companys other locations throughout Puerto Rico, GSRXs Isla Verde dispensary will offer patients an extensive selection of medicinal cannabis. Importantly, the island's cannabis law includes a reciprocity policy that allows dispensaries to serve patients who are visiting for business or pleasure and who hold a medical cannabis card from their home state.

GSRX recently announced that it has adjusted its 1st quarter guidance upwards, citing stronger than anticipated sales across the Companys dispensaries ( GSRX Raises First Quarter Guidance ).

About GSRX Industries Inc. GSRX Industries Inc. (OTCQB: GSRX), through its subsidiaries, is in the business of acquiring, developing and operating retail cannabis dispensaries and is in the process of expanding its business to include the cultivation, extraction, manufacture and delivery of cannabis and cannabinoid products. Currently, GSRX operates five cannabis dispensaries in Puerto Rico under the name Green Spirit RX, one dispensary in California under the name The Green Room, and has five additional pre-qualified locations in Puerto Rico, all of which are in various phases of development and construction. GSRX also owns and operates the e-commerce site GetPureAndNatural.com , which offers a broad range of pharmaceutical-grade CBD products.

Websites:

Green Spirit RX https://www.greenspiritrx.com/

Spirulinex https://www.spirulinex.com

Get Pure and Natural GetPureandNatural.com

Instagram:

Spirulinex https://www.instagram.com/spirulinex/

The Green Room https://www.instagram.com/greenroommendo/

Facebook:

Green Spirit RX (Puerto Rico) https://www.facebook.com/GreenSpiritRx

Spirulinex https://www.facebook.com/spirulinex/

The Green Room https://www.facebook.com/greenroommendo/

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such statements include statements regarding our expectations, hopes, beliefs or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to statements regarding our market, strategy, competition, development plans (including acquisitions and expansion), financing, anticipated revenues, operations, and compliance with applicable laws. Forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in any such statement. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements include the risks described in greater detail in the following paragraphs. All forward-looking statements in this document are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement except where applicable law requires us to update these statements. Market data used throughout this prospectus is based on published third party reports or the good faith estimates of management, which estimates are based upon their review of internal surveys, independent industry publications and other publicly available information.
English Finnish

Municipality Finance Plc

Stock Exchange Release

7 March 2019 at 2:30 pm (EET)

Proposals to the Annual General Meeting of Municipality Finance Plc

The Board of Directors (hereinafter the "Board") and the Shareholders' Nomination Committee have made the following proposals to the Annual General Meeting (the "AGM") convening on 28 March 2019 at 10:00 (EET):

Use of profit shown on the balance sheet

Municipality Finance Plc ("MuniFin") has distributable funds of EUR 133,868,022.38, of which the profit for the financial year totaled EUR 21,831,739.09. The Board proposes to the AGM that dividend amounting to EUR 0.16 per share, totaling EUR 6,250,207.68, shall be paid out, and that the remainder of distributable funds of EUR 127,617,814.70 be retained in equity.

In recent years, the company has been preparing for the anticipated entering into force of banking regulation related capital ratio requirements, the leverage ratio requirement in particular. The Board estimates that moderate distribution of dividends will not place the fulfilment of the capital requirements or the company's liquidity in jeopardy. MuniFin clearly fulfils all the prudential requirements set to it. Dividends will be paid to shareholders who are recorded in the company's list of shareholders on 4 April 2019. The Board proposes that the dividends be paid on 9 April 2019.

Board's proposal for Amendment of the Articles of Association

The Board proposes to the AGM that MuniFin's Articles of Association shall be amended by increasing the maximum number of Board members to nine. Currently the Articles of Association allow for maximum of eight Board members. The Board has evaluated that this amendment will ensure that the Board will collectively continue to have sufficient skills and experience as required by relevant banking regulations - taking also into account the requirements regarding the diversity of the Board, composition of the Board's committees as well as the rotation of members of the Board. The proposal is based on discussions between the Board and the Shareholders' Nomination Committee. Further, the Board proposes that some technical amendments shall be made to the Articles of Association.

Remuneration and composition of the Board of Directors

The Shareholders' Nomination Committee proposes to the AGM that the following remuneration of the Board for the term from the closing of the 2019 AGM, to the closing of the next AGM (the "Term 2019-2020"): annual fixed remuneration of a Board member EUR 20,000; annual fixed remuneration of the Vice Chairperson of the Board EUR 23,000; annual fixed remuneration of the Chairperson of the Board EUR 35,000; to the members, a fee of EUR 500 per Board and committee meeting attended; and to the chairpersons, EUR 800 per meeting attended. The Shareholders' Nomination Committee also proposes to the AGM that such fees are also paid per each meeting required by authorities. Proposed remuneration corresponds to the remuneration for the term 2018-2019.

The Shareholders' Nomination Committee proposes to the AGM that nine members will be elected to the Board of Directors for the Term 2019-2020 and that the following current members will be re-elected: Ms. Minna Helppi, Mr. Markku Koponen, Mr. Jari Koskinen, Mr. Kari Laukkanen, Ms. Vivi Marttila, Ms. Tuula Saxholm and Ms. Helena Wallden. Further, the Shareholders' Nomination Committee proposes the election of Ms. Maaria Eriksson and Ms. Raija-Leena Hankonen as new members of the Board for the Term 2019-2020 - however, Raija-Leena Hankonen's term will begin once the amendment of the Articles of Association concerning the number of the Board members has been registered in the trade register in accordance with the Finnish Limited Liability Companies Act.

Maaria Eriksson has long experience with Keva in various duties concerning investment activities and currently acts as the Deputy CIO, Head of External Fixed Income. Raija-Leena Hankonen has extensive and diverse experience of audit and advisory services for large companies and the financial sector (KPMG 1987-2019) and has acted as the CEO and the chair of the board of directors for KPMG Finland. Raija-Leena Hankonen's employment with KPMG Oy Ab will conclude in March 2019. After 2012, Raija-Leena Hankonen has not participated in any audits in respect of MuniFin nor to provision of any services to MuniFin.

The Shareholders' Nomination Committee proposes to the Board of Directors to be elected by the AGM to appoint Helena Wallden as the Chairperson and Tuula Saxholm as the Vice Chairperson.

Election and remuneration of the Auditor

The Board of Directors proposes to the AGM to re-elect KPMG Oy Ab as the company's auditor for the term 2019-2020. KPMG Oy Ab has announced that in the event they are elected as the company's auditor, Ms. Tiia Kataja, APA, will act as the principal auditor. Mr. Marcus Tottermann, who has acted as the principal auditor previously, has become unable to continue as the principal auditor due to rotation requirements set out in audit legislation. The Board proposes to the AGM that the auditor's fees will be paid against reasonable invoices.

The invitation to the AGM, including relevant appendices, is available on MuniFin's website in Finnish.

MUNICIPALITY FINANCE PLC



Esa Kallio

President and CEO

tel. +358 50 337 7953

MuniFin (Municipality Finance Plc) is one of Finland's largest credit institutions: the company's balance sheet exceeds EUR 35 billion. The company is owned by Finnish municipalities, the public sector pension fund Keva and the Republic of Finland.

MuniFin's mission is to build a better future in line with the principles of responsibility and in cooperation with its customers. MuniFin's customers are Finnish municipalities, municipal federations, municipally controlled companies and non-profit housing corporations. Lending is used for environmentally and socially responsible investment targets such as public transportation, sustainable buildings, hospitals and healthcare centres, schools and day care centres, and homes for people with special needs.

MuniFin's customers are domestic but the company operates in a completely global business environment. It is the most active Finnish bond issuer in international capital markets and the first Finnish green bond issuer. The funding is exclusively guaranteed by the Municipal Guarantee Board.

The Municipality Finance Group also includes the subsidiary company, Financial Advisory Services Inspira Ltd.

Read more: www.munifin.fi
Flor de Maria Vega Zapata is being honored for sparking change in #Perus environmental enforcement efforts, defying threats aimed to derail her work & promoting environmental stewardship to protect Perus environmental resources & communities that depend on them. #WomenofCourage pic.twitter.com/NyIdjf9SB8
Munich, Germany, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TUV SUD is acquiring the shares in the Series A financing round of flowtify. We expect the focus in our industry to shift from auditing pure and simple to remote monitoring, system monitoring and system management, says Thorsten Steinhubel, CEO of TUV SUD Food Safety Institute GmbH. Based on the strategic partnership with flowtify, in future the TUV SUD subsidiary will be able to offer services with digital solutions that facilitate their clients' day-to-day quality assurance and offer them tangible value added.



With the help of an app and IoT products, flowtify supports end-to-end and traceable cloud-based quality and hygiene controls within the scope of Regulation (EU) No. 852/2004 (HACCP). The flowtify app supports the digital structuring and implementation of documentation. By providing videos, photos and PDF documents, it assists employees with their assignments, enabling them to carry out tasks still unfamiliar to them independently. Integration of IoT support is planned to further improve food safety in the future.



In addition to its existing app for digital quality and hygiene checks, flowtify is currently developing an audit app. In recent months our customers have expressly requested a digital instrument for 2nd party audits. Catering to this request, we now plan to digitise the entire audit process and provide our customers with a digital tool which can be used for easy analysis, interpretation and documentation of data and processes, adds Steinhubel. TUV SUD Food Safety Institute plans to use flowtify in German-language countries at first. However, in the medium term the flowtify application may also be used in other areas of the audit and inspection business of TUV SUD. TUV SUD has signed a cooperation agreement to this effect.
09:53 | La Pampa (Madre de Dios), Mar. 7.





A delegation led by Defense Minister Jose Huerta, Interior Minister Carlos Moran, and Environment Minister Fabiola Munoz was present Tuesday at the launch of the military operation to protect the Tambopata National Reserve.









Officials built Alfa, the first temporary joint mobile base, to fight illegal mining in the area.





Huerta told reporters accompanying the delegation that the government was establishing the military bases to protect the Amazon from gold mining in areas where the activity was banned.





"The government has made the political decision to be present in the area, to eradicate illegal mining," Huerta said.





Every mobile base will be staffed by 100 soldiers, 50 police officers, and a prosecutor, the defense minister said.





Peru is the top gold producer in Latin America and No. 6 in the world, but experts estimate that up to 25% of the gold produced in the Andean nation each year comes from illegal mines.









Huerta said the vast area devastated by illegal mining would be monitored using drones, satellites and a military aircraft that will take aerial photographs.





Illegal mining deforested more than 18,000 hectares (44,478 acres) in 2018, the Andean Amazon Monitoring Project said in a report released in January.





was damaged by the mercury used to produce gold. The base-establishment phase, which will take 180 days to complete, is the second stage of Operation Mercurio 2019 (2019 Mercury Operation), launched on Feb. 19 to combat the criminal organizations involved in illegal mining in La Pampa, a region of tropical forests thatdamaged by the mercury used to produce gold.





In the first phase of the operation, authorities rescued 51 victims of human traffickers, arrested 80 suspects and confiscated S/53 million (US$16 million) worth of property.





President Martin Vizcarra's administration declared a 60-day state of emergency in Tambopata, Inambari, Las Piedras, and Laberinto to make easier to fight illegal mining.





The Prosecutor's Office sent 70 prosecutors specializing in environmental crimes to investigate new forms of illegal mining in La Pampa and the criminal organizations operating in the area.





Efe Agency: All rights are reserved. It is expressly prohibited reproduction without prior written permission from the Efe agency.





(END) EFE/MVB

The Peruvian government is moving forward this week with a plan to fight illegal mining in the Amazonian region of Madre de Dios by establishing three military bases in the ravaged La Pampa area, which has been affected by deforestation and mercury pollution.Published: 3/7/2019
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Artsakh Ashot Ghulyan on March 6 met with Vice-President of the European Parliament Sylvie Guillaume, the Artsakh Parliament told Armenpress.

At the meeting Ashot Ghulyan highlighted the importance of such meetings in terms of providing impartial and first-hand information to the members of the European structures, in particular, the European Parliament, about Artsakh.

The EP Vice-President welcomed the Speaker and attached importance to the update of information about Artsakh, as well as the constant development of the relations, adding that there is a great potential for this purpose.

The meeting also touched upon the friendship of the French and Armenian peoples, the further development of democracy and rule of law in Artsakh, the organization of election processes and the expansion opportunities of the parliamentary diplomacy.

Both sides reaffirmed their readiness to continue the cooperation after the upcoming elections of the European Parliament.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. The second case of imported measles has been detected in Armenia as a lab test confirmed the disease on March 6 in a person who arrived in Armenia from Belgium via Georgia on February 20, the healthcare ministry said. The ministry did not release the identity or nationality of the patient.

According to the news release of the healthcare ministry the person began experiencing fever from February 25, and three days later rash appeared on the body. At first, it was misdiagnosed as medication allergy. The patient was tested for measles on March 6, and the result was positive.

The first imported measles case in Armenia happened when an infected Ukrainian passenger arrived in Yerevan from Kiev via the PS611 flight. The healthcare ministry said both patients had contacts with many people before being diagnosed, and identifying and tracking down all of them is practically impossible.

The ministry called on everyone not having been vaccinated to do so, since it is the only preventive measure.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. The European Union is fully ready to support Armenia in its reforms agenda and implementation of development programs in general, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting, introducing the results of his Brussels trip, reports Armenpress.

As you know, our delegation has just returned from the talks held with the EU leaders. We can record that we are entering a new state for the implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the EU. In this regard, it was noted that the EU is fully ready to assist our reforms agenda and the implementation of development programs in Armenia in general, Pashinyan said.

The PM stated that there is no geopolitical agenda in these relations both by Armenia and the EU which is very important in this sense.

There is a nuance here that we should make important decisions in the future. Yesterday, I touched this topic in the Parliament, the issue is the following: we have discussed several megaprojects with the EU the first group of which concerns road and transportation infrastructures. Our goal is to make the roads of Armenia in accordance with the European standards. We also must make a decision on the North-South transportation project, the PM said.

He added that the next one relates to the water reservoir construction plan and the introduction of new water management system.

The next issue concerns building schools, especially in terms of seismic resistance, which we carry out. But we need to seriously expand this project, first of all to make these schools in accordance with the seismic, educational, content and latest demands from both building and property terms.

We also need to carry out serious programs in the justice sector. Speaking with the EU partners I have stated that the prison conditions of today cannot be considered comfortable with the standards of new Armenia. We have court hearings that are being held in corridor conditions and thus undermine the content of justice.

For the implementation of all these programs we have received the EUs readiness to assist, but there is one problem here that the EU is not ready to implement these programs by 100% and expects that Armenia will have a serious participation in this. Our task is to increase the state revenues via administration. In this context importance is also attached to the attraction of foreign funds, and we view the infrastructures as their main target, the Prime Minister said, adding that a political decision must be made here on how the executive reacts this issue. Because we also have certain legislative restrictions on the GDP-state debt ratio. Frankly speaking, I personally, when I was an MP, have voted against all loan programs, and it had a very concrete political explanation: I have stated that if I consider the government as corrupt, I cannot trust any fund to that government, especially a loan, and unfortunately, our observations during this period explain the justification of this political decision with a number of major programs.

Pashinyan stated that a joint discussion with the Central Bank is expected to be held within a month on this topic and they will come to a conclusion.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Former Deputy Minister of Healthcare Vahan Poghosyan has been arrested in suspicion of misconduct during his tenure amid an ongoing investigation conducted by the Investigative Committee regarding misappropriations at the National Anti-Tuberculosis Center.

Authorities said the investigation has revealed that the corruption scheme was conducted by officials of the center from 2014 to 2018.

Poghosyan is suspected in misconduct. Authorities say he was involved in the scheme from 2011 to 2016, when he was in charge of coordinating the funding works for the AIDS and HIV prevention and tuberculosis prevention programs.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (PTM:TSX; PLG:NYSE American) (Platinum Group PTM or the Company) reports that the previously announced transaction between the Japan, Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and Hanwa Co. Ltd. (Hanwa) has been completed.

In February 2018, JOGMEC held a public tender to transfer 9.755% of JOGMECs 21.95% interest in the Waterberg Project. Hanwa successfully won the bid, whereupon Hanwa and JOGMEC started the process required to complete and finalize the transfer. On October 24, 2018 Hanwa and JOGMEC officially entered into a transfer agreement. Upon the recent grant of approval from the government of the Republic of South Africa, the entire transfer procedure has been completed. JOGMEC will continue to be an active joint venture partner and will also continue the promotion of Japanese interests globally through mineral exploration and providing vital information on mineral resources.

Under the terms of the transaction Hanwa has also acquired the marketing right to solely purchase all the metals produced from the Waterberg Project at market prices. The transaction secures a key future source of platinum group metals (PGM) and nickel used for automobile catalytic converters, fuel cells and secondary batteries for industries in Japan.

The current measured and indicated mineral resource of the Waterberg deposit stands at 26.34 million ounces 4E (242Mt with an average grade of 3.38 g/t 4E -platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold)*. The deposit is amenable to fully mechanized mining with production costs estimated to be the lowest of PGM mines in South Africa. The deposit is also advantageous because of the highest palladium content (63.04%) amongst South African PGM mines. The mineral reserves and resources will be updated as part of the definitive feasibility study in process. Palladium prices have outperformed recently due to strong demand from autocatalyst manufacturers and a limited supply response capability from traditional producers in Russia and South Africa. Industry analysts expect deficits to continue.

Following the Hanwa transfer Platinum Group continues to hold a 50.02% effective interest in Waterberg JV Co., JOGMEC now holds a 12.195% interest, Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (Implats) holds a 15% interest, Hanwa holds a 9.755% interest and empowerment partner Mnombo Wethu Consultants (Pty) Ltd. holds the effective balance of the joint venture. JSE listed, broad based empowerment group, Hosken Consolidated Investments Limited (HCI) has recently acquired a 19.90% ownership interest in Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

Implats made a strategic investment of US $30.0 million in November 2017 to purchase their 15% stake in the Waterberg Project. Implats acquired an option to increase its stake to 50.01% by additional share purchases from JOGMEC for an amount of US $34.8 million and a commitment to expenditures of US $130 million for development work on the Waterberg Project and to arrange project financing. Implats also acquired a right of first refusal to smelt and refine Waterberg Project concentrate. The Implats option is exercisable within 90 days of completion of the Waterberg definitive feasibility study which is currently in the final stages of completion.

*Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource totaling 26.34 million 4E ounces is comprised of 63.04% palladium, 29.16% platinum, 6.37% gold and 1.43% rhodium (242.5 Million Tonnes at 3.38 g/t 4E) at a 2.5 g/t 4E cut-off grade on a 100% project basis.

About Hanwa

Hanwa is a Japanese trading company which supplies a broad spectrum of products, including steel, non-ferrous metals, metals and alloys, food, petroleum, chemicals, machinery, lumber and many other items, to an equally diverse range of customers. The company has solid positions in all of these businesses. As a trading company that performs many important roles, Hanwa will continue to enter more business fields in response to changes in the operating environment in order to meet the needs of customers.

About Implats

Impala Platinum Holdings Limited is one of the worlds foremost fully integrated producers of platinum and associated PGEs. The group produces approximately a quarter of the world's supply of primary platinum. Implats operations are located on the Bushveld Complex in South Africa and the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe, the two most significant PGE-bearing ore bodies in the world. In Southern Africa Implats is structured around five main operations namely Impala, Zimplats, Marula, Mimosa and Two Rivers with headquarters based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

About JOGMEC

Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), an incorporated administrative agency established by the Japanese government, plays a key role in ensuring a constant and stable supply of oil, natural gas, coal, geothermal energy and mineral resources to support industries and citizens in Japan through a wide range of activities relating these resources.

About Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

Platinum Group is focused on, and is the operator of, the Waterberg Project, a bulk mineable underground palladium deposit in northern South Africa. Waterberg was discovered by the Company. Waterberg has potential to be a low cost dominantly palladium mine and Implats, a smelter and refiner of platinum group metals, recently made a strategic investment in the Waterberg Project.

On behalf of the Board of

Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

R. Michael Jones

President and CEO

For further information contact:

R. Michael Jones, President

or Kris Begic, VP, Corporate Development

Platinum Group Metals Ltd., Vancouver

Tel: (604) 899-5450 / Toll Free: (866) 899-5450

www.platinumgroupmetals.net

Disclosure

The Toronto Stock Exchange and the NYSE American have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release, which has been prepared by management.

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities laws (collectively forward-looking statements), including statements regarding the projections in the Waterberg pre-feasibility study; the completion and contents of the Waterberg definitive feasibility study; the potential exercise of Implats option; and the potential development and cost structure of, and production from, the Waterberg Project. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Statements of mineral resources and mineral reserves also constitute forward-looking statements to the extent they represent estimates of mineralization that will be encountered on a property and/or estimates regarding future costs, revenues and other matters. Although the Company believes any forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations and assumptions in such statements will prove to be correct. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and the risk factors described in the Companys Form 20-F annual report, annual information form and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Canadian securities regulators, which may be viewed at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com, respectively.

Estimates of mineralization and other technical information included herein have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101). The definitions of proven and probable reserves used in NI 43-101 differ from the definitions in SEC Industry Guide 7. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, a final or bankable feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical average price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis to designate reserves and the primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority. As a result, the reserves reported by the Company in accordance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as reserves under SEC Industry Guide 7. In addition, the terms mineral resource and measured mineral resource are defined in and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101; however, these terms are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and historically have not been permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC pursuant to SEC Industry Guide 7. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. Accordingly, descriptions of the Companys mineral deposits in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of SEC Industry Guide 7.
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Governor of Lori Andrei Ghukasyan has rewarded the school boys who saved a motorist after the latter crashed into a river.

The incident took place in the town of Vanadzor on March 3.

The young heroes are 8th graders Edik Gharakeshishyan, Edmon Kocharyan and 7th grader Tigran Markosyan.

The initial report about the incident erroneously said that there were two boys involved in the heroic act, but turns out there was the third one.

The youngsters just happened to be passing by when a vehicle lost control and crashed into a river in Vanadzor. Without even a second of hesitation, the boys threw themselves into the freezing water to save the driver. They pushed the flipped car into a safe position, prevented a fire risk and even gave first aid to the driver and his passenger.

On March 7, the Governor of the province personally invited the boys to a meeting. Also present were the school principal and military education teacher Arkadi Martirosyan. Governor Ghukasyan personally thanked the young heroes for their selfless step.

I am extremely happy that such courageous boys are being brought up in our province and our city. I am sure your actions will be exemplary for many, the governor told the boys.

Ghukasyan gave certificates of appreciation and gifts to the three young heroes.

He urged them to do their best at school, achieve great heights in life, be proud citizens of Armenia and serve their knowledge for the development of their country.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon Vahagn Atabekyan on March 6 met with newly-appointed minister of social affairs Richard Kouyoumjian, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress.

The Armenian Ambassador congratulated the Lebanese minister on appointment and expressed hope that the sectoral cooperation between the two countries will continue developing.

Minister Kouyoumjian assured that the Armenian-Lebanese bilateral cooperation in the field of social affairs will continue developing and expanding.

The officials agreed that the new governments of Armenia and Lebanon will give new impetus to the bilateral ties.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian visited the Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences where he met with the Universitys teaching staff, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

Its a great honor for me to be in this important educational center today, the President said. My contacts with the University started when I was a student. I think the Brusov University is one of the most stable universities in Armenia with its vision, quality and principles. Its a perfect university because it has educated many generations and gave bright personalities and names to our country. Just few minutes ago we have opened one of the classrooms which is named after your university graduates  Gevorg and Gohar Vardanyan.

The President said he knows that 90% of the university students are girls, and taking this chance, congratulated all women and girls on March 8. During my whole life March 8 has been a day of women, motherhood and womens deep values. I am happy that we celebrate not one day, but a month from March 8 to April 7. In reality it would be better if the whole year was declared as a year for women, and we were careful to our mothers, sisters, women and girls, young and beautiful students which are in your corridors.

Our mothers and wives play a great role in our life. Lets not forget that each of us starts his life through his mother and from the first day mother is the main contact with the world, the President said.

He appreciated the fact that the role of women is gradually increasing in public, business and political life. I have numerous examples of life that female colleagues, women have worked more organized, talented and effective than my male colleagues, Armen Sarkissian said. One of our greatest national values is the Armenian family. A family that is the foundation of our state, our statehood and our nations existence.

At the end he addressed a call to men: After showing attention this month, lets continue to do so that 2019 will be a year of an Armenian woman, Armenian mother and Armenian girl.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani Speaker of Parliament Ogtay Asadovs daughter has been arrested in Moscow, according to Azadliq.

According to the report, Moscow police have conducted an operation in a nightclub owned by Asadovs daughter. The nightclub, Kapriz, is located on Baku Street in the Russian capital and is formally registered by the name of Asadovs wife, but is run by his daughter.

Authorities suspect the club is dealing with cocaine trafficking.

Azadliq claims Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is personally attempting to resolve the situation.

According to Azadliq, Kapriz strip club is worth around 10,5 million dollars.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, responsible for the Armenian-Italian inter-parliamentary relations, representative of the ruling Lega party, Giulio Centemero, has delivered remarks on the 1988 Armenian massacres in Sumgait, reports Armenpress.

I would like to deliver speech at this hall and remember perhaps one of the most tragic, but less known pages of the modern history  the Armenian massacres in the Azerbaijani town of Sumgait which have taken place 31 years ago. In February 1988, in response to the peaceful demonstrations of the people of Nagorno Karabakh aimed at exercising their right to self-determination, the Azerbaijani authorities organized violent pressures against the Armenian population of the Azerbaijani cities of Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad. Everything began from Sumgait where as a result of the obvious support and permission of the Azerbaijani authorities, numerous Armenians have been killed for one reason  their ethnic affiliation. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were forced to leave their homes and towns. During those days, one of the fundamental human rights  the right to life, has been violated, the Italian MP said.

He stated that following the Sumgait massacre the European Parliament adopted a resolution which characterized what has happened as a murder of people as such. The lawmaker emphasized that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is not a territorial demand, but a matter of physical existence of the people living in that territory.

Unfortunately, even 31 years later, we still are witnessing a real propaganda of a continuous anti-Armenian rhetoric and hatred. This was also demonstrated during the 2016 April four-day war by the use of artillery against the innocent people and brutal killings of elderly people in Nagorno Karabakh. Therefore, it is necessary to end the hatred rhetoric and educate the peoples to peace, respect to the person and freedom of religion. And therefore, its very important for our country, which chaired the OSCE in 2018, and also as an OSCE Minsk Group member state, to continue supporting the works of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, as the only format having a full international mandate to deal with the settlement of the NK conflict, Giulio Centemero said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. The group consisting of humanitarian deminers, doctors and Armenian specialists, while in Syria on a humanitarian mission, launched the demining works on February 19, the Humanitarian Demining and Expert Center SNCO told Armenpress.

As of today, the Armenian specialists have demined over 10510 square meters of land. Hundreds of anti-tank and other types of mines have been eliminated. The doctors involved in the humanitarian mission carry out activities in the military hospital of Aleppo and university clinics. From February 18 to today, the Armenian doctors, jointly with their Syrian colleagues, have provided 50 surgical and nearly 100 therapeutic assistance to the patients, the Center said, adding that one doctor each day is involved in the demining group. The humanitarian aid to the Syrian people continues, the Center said in the statement.

A group consisting of humanitarian deminers, doctors and Armenian specialists ensuring their safety, a total of 83 people, arrived in Syrias Aleppo on February 8 aimed at providing professional humanitarian support to the Syrian people.

The deployment, status, functions and security issues of the Armenian specialists in Syria will be settled in accordance with the Armenian legislation. The transportation and provision issues of the Armenian specialists are being carried out by the assistance of the Russian side.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. It has never been announced that the Armenian government has refused from the St. Petersburg and Vienna agreements regarding the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters after todays Cabinet session, reports Armenpress.

Steps have been taken for the implementation of these agreements, there is a temporary, but a significant change in the borderline. The process of expanding the capabilities of the Office of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office is not being carried out due to the Azerbaijani side, he said.

Asked in this case why the Prime Minister and foreign minister of Armenia are having meetings with their Azerbaijani counterparts, the deputy FM stated. Any meeting is more preferable than resumption of the military operations. And so far, the meetings aimed at reducing the risks of resumption of military operations.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Russia Vladimir Putin congratulated spouse of Armenias President, Mrs. Nune Sarkissian, on the International Womens Day, reports Armenpress.

Putin wished Nune Sarkissian good health and all the best.

I sincerely wish that this remarkable day will warm you with the warmth of spring, the attention and care of friends and relatives. Let success accompany you in your life, and the atmosphere of harmony and love prevail in your home, Putin said in the congratulatory letter.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also congratulated Nune Sarkissian on March 8. Accept my sincere congratulations on the occasion of March 8. Women make our world brighter, more beautiful and kind. They take care of their family, create harmony and comfort in home. And the most important is that they always give warmth to their relatives and friends, surround them with care and attention. Let the good mood of this day accompany you for a long time. I wish you health, happiness, welfare and all the best, reads the Russian PMs congratulatory letter.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today received Andrus Ansip, EU Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice-President of the European Commission, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia.

The Premier noted with satisfaction that the activation of top-level EU-Armenia relations over the past few years testifies to the high level of the political dialogue and the cooperation agenda. Nikol Pashinyan assessed as quite effective his March 4-5 visit to Brussels, during which issues of expanding bilateral cooperation were discussed with the heads of EU structures. The Prime Minister said the development of high and digital technologies is a priority on his governments reform agenda, and the EU is an important partner for Armenia in this area, as evidenced by the fact that this sector is a featured item in the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement.

With reference to the policy of forming a digital market within the European Union, the EU Commissioner for Digital Single Market pointed out that the EU is ready to deepen partnership with Armenia in information and high technologies, share experiences and achievements. Andrus Ansip specifically presented Estonias experience in the field of digitalization, noting that the modernization of e-governance and digital management has enabled Estonia to record significant financial savings and increased management efficiency.

After exchanging ideas on the introduction of e-governance tools, implementation of IT and telecommunication projects, the parties discussed prospects for implementing new joint programs. In this context, they touched upon the digitization of public services and expansion of the range of online services, raising public awareness, developing skills in using digital technologies and promoting cooperation in a number of other areas. An arrangement has been reached to start a series of discussions on a common digital program, which might include the priorities of EU-Armenia cooperation.



The Prime Minister instructed Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies Hakob Arshakyan to keep in touch with the EU partners and work together to develop cooperation in the field of information technology and digitalization.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. By now the only principles adopted as bases for negotiations of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement are the Madrid Principles. There are no other documents yet, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan told the reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

Its difficult to say what can lead to the resumption f negotiations. But at the moment the Madrid Principles are the only document that have been adopted by Armenia and Azerbaijan as basis for negotiations, but have not been adopted by Artsakh. Each side can offer some options and approaches, but as long as they are unacceptable for the opposite side, they cannot be adopted. Armenia has not approved those principles, it has just adopted them as bases for negotiations. The Madrid Principles are just the attempts of the Co-chairs to bring closer the controversial positions of the sides, ARMENPRESS reports Shavarsh Kocharyuan as saying.

The Deputy FM added that Azerbaijan has not taken any steps for preparing its population to peace, as well as for the implementation of the Madrid Principles. We do not see such efforts, and the contrary, the Baku authorities are talking about Zangezur and Yerevan. Armenia is interested in productive negotiations, but not in negotiations as a final goal, like it was before, which gave Azerbaijan an opportunity to boost its military power, he said.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
WORCESTER, Mass., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vystar Corporation , (OTC Pink: VYST) a family of eco-friendly brands including Vytex Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) and RxAir air purification products, announced that FirstFire Global Opportunities Fund, LLC (FirstFire), an institutional investor who previously provided funding to Vystar, has invested $200,000 in Vystar at $0.15 per restricted common share, a 250 percent premium to yesterdays market close. The stock purchase has no rights for conversion or warrants associated with it. FirstFire is permitted to participate in any of the Companys upcoming investment rounds in an amount up to $200,000 on the same terms Vystar offers to other investors for the next nine months.



"It is almost unheard of for an OTC company -- and an exciting, positive development for Vystar -- to have a lender retire a convertible note and then become an institutional investor on favorable terms, stated Steve Rotman, CEO of Vystar. We are pleased to have such a vote of confidence and FirstFires support to help us move forward.

We welcome FirstFire as our first institutional investor and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship, Rotman noted. Cleaning up our balance sheet by retiring all toxic convertible debt is a necessary step in the process of executing our strategic business plan to expand the company organically and through accretive acquisitions designed to improve our earnings per share. This multi-step event validates our business plan.

Videos on Vystar and products made with Vytex are available at: https://www.vytex.com/blog/category/videos/

About Vystar Corporation:

Based in Worcester, Mass., Vystar Corp. (OTC Pink: VYST) is the exclusive creator of Vytex Natural Rubber Latex (NRL), a multi-patented, all-natural, raw material that contains significantly reduced levels of the proteins found in natural rubber latex and can be used in over 40,000 products, and the owner of RxAir UV light air purification products. Vytex NRL is a 100% renewable resource, environmentally safe, "green" and fully biodegradable. Vystar is working with manufacturers across a broad range of consumer and medical products bringing Vytex NRL to market in adhesives, gloves, balloons, condoms, other medical devices and natural rubber latex foam mattresses, toppers, and pillows. For more information, visit www.vytex.com.

Contacts:

Media: Julie Shepherd, Accentuate PR, 847 275 3643, Julie@accentuatepr.com

Investors: Steven Rotman, Vystar CEO, 508-791-9114, srotman@vytex.com

Forward-looking Statements: Investors are cautioned that certain statements contained in this document as well as some statements in periodic press releases and some oral statements of VYST officials are "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). Forward-looking statements include statements which are predictive in nature, which depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, which include words such as "believes," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "expects," and similar expressions. In addition, any statements concerning future financial performance (including future revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or prospects, and possible future VYST actions, which may be provided by management, are also forward-looking statements as defined by the Act. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and to vary significantly from reporting period to reporting period. Although management believes that the assumptions made and expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there is no assurance that the underlying assumptions will, in fact, prove to be correct or that actual future results will not be different from the expectations expressed in this report. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and VYST has no specific intention to update these statements.
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met with European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission Andrus Ansip on March 7.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia, greeting the guest, Minister Mnatsakanyan noted that Armenia and the EU have accumulated vast experience of partnership and joint work during the last years and the recent visit of PM Nikol Pashinyan to Brussels was a good opportunity to outline the future practical steps aimed at expanding multidimensional cooperation.

The sides referred to the cooperation prospects over digital agenda. In this context the Armenian FM emphasized that the development agenda of the Government is based on fostering the development of IT, innovations and creative education.

Referring to the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership, Minister Mnatsakanyan noted that the Armenian side which has always been actively involved in Eastern Partnership format, will have its contribution also to the marking of the 10th anniversary of the Partnership, initiating an event dedicated to the youth and innovations.

The Armenian FM presented the preparatory works of the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT-2019) to be held in Yerevan in October, underscoring that the conference is a major international event of that sphere.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. The Coordinating Council of Russian-Armenian Organizations has addressed Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director General, drawing her attention on the extermination of the Armenian cultural heritage in Azerbaijan.

In connection with your first official visit to the Russian Federation from 5 to 7 March 2019 as Director General of UNESCO, the Coordinating Council of Russian-Armenian Organizations draws Your attention to the monstrous fact of vandalism that has taken place in the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the period from 1998 to 2005 in Azerbaijan, on the territory of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which in past has been a part of the historical Armenia, near the city of Julfa (Old Jugha), a targeted destruction of the cemetery has undertaken. This cemetery had thousands of medieval Armenian khachkars, i.e. tombstones.



According to the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and according to a number of Western media sources and Armenian sources, as well, destruction of ancient monuments of Armenian culture has been organized by the Azerbaijani authorities. All khachkars in the Armenian cemetery were smashed by people in military uniforms, with help of heavy construction machinery. Large fragments of tombstones were loaded by cranes into wagons and transported by rail, probably, for use as construction materials. As for smaller fragments of monuments, they were loaded into trucks and dumped into the Araks River. And Julfa cemetery itself, which was one of the most grandiose monuments of Armenian culture, was turned into a shooting range



The international community, unfortunately, has left this blatant act without the proper harsh condemnation of Azerbaijan. There were no decisive sanctions against this country, which organized this barbaric act of genocide against Armenian culture. Meanwhile, in 2010, UNESCO (United Nations specialized institution on the educational, scientific and cultural issues) included Armenian khachkars into the list of objects of intangible cultural heritage of the humankind. It is now generally recognized that the Armenian khachkars are masterpieces of world art. The largest museums throughout the world consider it an honor to have at least one khachkar in their collection.



Before destruction, the Armenian cemetery in Julfa was the world's largest surviving medieval cemetery of khachkars. At the beginning of 20th century, 6,000 have been numbered there. By the end of 20th century, this number decreased to 3,000. And at the turn of 20th and 21th centuries, Azerbaijani vandals have brought their dirty work to the end. Only preserved photos now evidence former beauty of these Armenian monuments and the talent of the Armenian masters who have created them.



Dear Ms. Azoulay, the Coordinating Council of Russian-Armenian Organizations strongly condemns the barbaric attitude of the Azerbaijani authorities regarding the monuments of Armenian culture and art in the territory of present-day Azerbaijan. We appeal to You to assess the destruction of the Armenian khachkars in Julfa (Old Jugha). We also ask You to take measures to prevent anything similar in the future, both in Azerbaijan and around the world. For, the masterpieces of each nation are the patrimony of all humankind, undoubtedly.

Looking forward to Your constructive response, reads the statement.
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Anna Hakobyan, the wife of the Prime Minister of Armenia received congratulatory messages and flowers from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev on the occasion of the International Womens Day, March 8, Anna Hakobyans spokesperson Hasmik Harutyunyan told ARMENPRESS.

I heartily wish this important holiday to warm you up with the warmth of spring, attention and care of friends and relatives. Let success accompany you in life, and atmosphere of harmony and love prevail in your home. I wish you good health and all the best, reads the congratulatory message of Vladimir Putin.

Russian PM Medvedev said in his message that women make the world brighter, beautiful and kind. Please, accept my heartily congratulations on the occasion of March 8. Women take care of the family, creating harmony and comfort in the home. And what is the most important  they always give the spiritual warmth to friends and relatives, surround them with care and attention. I wish the wonderful mood of the holiday accompany you for long, reads Medvedevs congratulatory message.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian received on March 7 European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission Andrus Ansip.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Armenian Presidents Office, during the meeting the interlocutors exchanged views on electronic management, development and implementation of digital agenda, digital public services and necessary regulations. They highlighted the measures aimed at the development of digital skills.

President Sarkissian said that innovations and new technologies are priority for Armenia. People in Armenia understand very well that the future is digital, moreover, innovative ideas in the digital market have more potential to be realized.

Presenting the EU policy for establishing a single digital market, Andrus Ansip said that they expect deeper cooperation with Armenia in this sphere.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received the delegation led by President of EBRD Suma Chakrabarti.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan highly assessed the cooperation between Armenia and the EBRD and highlighted its future expansion. Nikol Pashinyan noted that the projects of the EBRD are of great importance for the implementation of the reform initiated by the Government and for the economic revolution agenda in the directions of improvement of business environment, fostering the competitiveness in private sector and so on. The Head of the Executive hoped that the amount of EBRS investments will rise in the future and will cover other spheres of the economy. Nikol Pashinyn highlighted the implementation of projects for SMEs in Armenia by the Bank, adding that the goal of the Government is fostering the development of business.

Suma Chakrabarti noted that the EBRD, taking into account the positive developments in Armenia, is ready to continue its assistance to the Armenian Government for the implementation of projects in various spheres. The EBRD President noted that in its new strategy of cooperation with Armenia projects for SMEs will have a major place. Suma Chakrabarti expressed his personal and EBRDs assistance to the Government of Armenia in the reform implementation process. He noted that the assistance will be in the form of both financial and consultative.

During the meeting the sides exchanged views on various issues referring to the future partnership, spoke about the works of the annual conference of the EBRD to take place in May.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan referred to Meghri Free-trade-zone, noting that some unusual facts have been recorded in terms of obtaining lands near it.

We had preliminary information that some high level official, being informed in-advance that a free-trade-zone will be established there, obtained the surrounding lands at ridiculously low prices. And when I visited Meghri FTZ last year, I recorded that, in fact, there are no state-owned lands there, ARMENPRESS reports the PM said, inquiring from Chief of Prime Minister's Staff Eduard Aghajanyan about that case.

Aghjajanyan noted that a criminal case is initiated in the sidelines of that case. According to the Chief of Prime Minister's Staff , the police inform that the mentioned land is undoubtedly subject to be refunded to the state balance. According to our colleagues, it will take 2-3 months, he said.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan attended the reception dedicated to the Day of Diplomat at the National Gallery of Armenia.

Congratulating the diplomats on their holiday, Nikol Pashinyan said,

Honorable Speaker of the National Assembly,

Dear Government Members,

Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Dear diplomats,

State officials,

Dear representatives of diplomatic corps accredited in Armenia,

I congratulate you on the Day of Diplomat. This is a really important day for our country. Let me record that our diplomatic system meets this day in totally different conditions and situation. Fortunately, today our diplomats throughout the world do not need to spend long days and time to give explanations in different countries about to what extent the elections were falsified , and to what extent the elections will not be falsified during the next elections, or how many steps these elections were a progress and how many steps they were a reverse, or who, whom and where shot dead and for what. I think this is an important change that reflects the nature of the non-violent, velvet and peoples revolution. And I hope that this change will not be taken as a reason for working less, but vice the versa, it will be an inspiration for working more, more encouraged, with greater enthusiasm, because today the Republkic of Armenia has something to present to the world and today different parts of the world have a greater willingness to listen to the Republic of Armenia.

Pashinyan emphasized that the most important change that has occurred in Armenia and in all the government bodies, including among the diplomats, is that the entire Government, including the diplomats, do not serve the needs of a single person or even a government, but the people.

All the diplomats who missed the chance to participate in the political revolution in Armenia, today have a good opportunity to participate in the economic revolution, becoming the activists of the economic revolution, Pashinyan said, adding that the diplomats should present throughout the world the changes taking place in Armenia.

PM Pashinyan also highlighted the activities of the diplomats in terms of Nagorno Karabakh. I told you during our previous meeting that unfortunately during my international meetings in this period I came to the conclusion that the perceptions and understanding of the nature of Nagorno Karabakh issue has in many cases been distorted in the international arena, the PM said, emphasizing the necessity of presenting the real image and nature of the conflict on international arenas.

We have to also continue our policy aimed at the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. We clearly record that the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a key contribution to the global security and prevention of genocides and we view this issue from this nperspective, Pashinyan said.

PM Pashinyan thanked all the diplomats for their service, particularly those working in unstable regions with security risks. Particularly, our Consulate General in Aleppo deserves our deepest respect for its the uninterrupted work, despite the fact that the building was bombed. The same can be said about our Embassy in Baghdad, PM Pashinyan said.

Addressing to FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Nikol Pashinyan said, Mr. Mnatsakanyan, I wish you success, as it is usually said, in leading this difficult and complex staff. I also want to say words of appreciation to all the foreign minister of the 3rd Republic of Armenia for their efforts to accomplish the diplomatic system of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan concluded.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Ali Bongo of Gabon does not have a body double, his spokesman said Thursday, brushing aside rumours that a lookalike has been standing in for the 60-year-old president since he suffered a stroke in October. "There's no body double," Ike Ngouoni told a news conference, the first since Bongo fell ill. "The president is indeed there. He's the one on the job." He said there was "no reason to be concerned" about Bongo's health, while noting that "adjustments have been made for the head of state, who has gone through an unusual time." Bongo, who is convalescing in Morocco, has returned to Gabon only twice since falling ill, staying less than 48 hours each time. There has been no word on when he will return home definitively. In early January Bongo survived a brief coup attempt by army rebels while in Morocco. Gabon is notoriously rumour-prone, and the president's prolonged absence has prompted speculation about his health, as well as the possible existence of a stand-in. Late last month Bongo led a cabinet meeting during which a raft of appointments were announced and several close aides were dismissed -- but no media were on hand for the event. He also went for a ride through the capital Libreville, waving at people through the car window. "The president was there in flesh and blood. He went around the city... a lot of people can attest to that," Ngouoni said in answer to a question. "The president is indeed there; he's the one on the job," Bongo's spokesman told reporters
A mortar attack on a large ceremony attended by Afghanistan's chief executive and other leading government figures in Kabul Thursday killed three people and injured 32 others, officials said. The attack claimed by the Islamic State group represents a major security breach and marks a resumption of violence in the capital after weeks of calm amid ongoing peace talks between the US and Taliban in Doha. "Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us," said former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni from the stage during a live broadcast of the outdoor event. But moments after the announcement, another explosion and gunfire could be heard that sent people running in panic. A second unidentified voice then addressed the screaming crowd, saying: "I request my countrymen to stay calm. The mortar attack is far from the gathering." The blasts took place during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shiite Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country's political elite, including Afghanistan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai. IS later claimed the barrage by saying its fighters targeted the ceremony with mortar fire, according to a statement published by the group's propaganda agency Amaq. "Today around 12 noon... mortars were fired on the gathering of Abdul Ali Mazari," Nasrat Rahimi, interior ministry spokesman, said in a statement sent to journalists, adding that the mortars landed outside the actual event. The spokesman later confirmed that two assailants behind the incident had been killed and the "main attacker" arrested. "Sadly, three people have been martyred (killed) and 32 more injured in the mortar attacks," Rahimi told media. Presidential candidate Abdul Latif Pedram was among the injured, according to his official Facebook page, which said he was in "stable condition". Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani -- who was also at the scene -- later added that "terrorists launched rocket attacks", and said he had escaped safely. Mortar fire is commonly referred to as "rockets" by Afghan officials. - 'Unforgivable attack' - IS have claimed responsibility for a string of bloody attacks on Shiite gatherings and mosques across the country over the years. The group however has been relatively quiet in recent months as the Taliban, Afghan security forces, and the US all target IS's shrinking stronghold in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. "This was the most horrid and unforgivable attack on civilians by a merciless enemy," tweeted presidential candidate and former national security adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar. He added that eight of his security guards were injured in the attack. "How these attackers managed to get into this Shiite neighbourhood, pass through all the security cordons, and then attack such an important gathering is indicative of a major security and intelligence failure on the part of the Afghan government," security analyst Atiqullah Amarkhail told AFP. The incident comes as US and Taliban negotiations hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict. The last major attack in Kabul occurred in January when the Taliban claimed responsibility for a car bomb that struck the heavily fortified Green Village foreign compound. Heavy snowfall across large swathes of Afghanistan has led to a reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country's south will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of the spring fighting season. Analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in the coming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield and leverage at the negotiating table. On Wednesday at least 16 people were killed in a suicide attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan's Jalalabad city. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Islamic State group and the Taliban are active near the city, in Nangarhar province. Afghanistan has been stuck in nearly constant conflict since the Soviet invasion of 1979, which was followed by civil war, the Taliban regime, and the US invasion in late 2001. The incident comes as US and Taliban negotiations continue to hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack A wounded Afghan boy receives medical treatment at Isteqlal Hospital after two blasts struck a ceremony in Kabul
PHOENIX, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE -- For The Earth Corporation (the "Company" or "FTEG") (OTCMKTS: FTEG) is thrilled to announce the launch of its new line of premium pharmaceutical grade anti-aging Topical CBD Skin Care products under the brand designation "Clean Life". The line of products includes Day Cream, Night Cream, Eye Serum, Face Serum, and Face Mask, all infused with the Company's full spectrum THC-free CBD oil.



"Our analysis suggests that Topicals are the gateway product for mass adoption of CBD by the mainstream marketplace for consumable goods in North America," noted CEO Nelson Grist. "The total CBD market is expected to bloom by more than a factor of 20 over the next three years according to some leading estimates. That process is going to be powered by mainstream adoption of CBD, which may be led by products like those we are launching today because people are already used to skin creams with exotic botanical elements. It's easier for the average person to discover CBD this way."

According to Cannabis Business Times, the market for CBD Topicals grew by 44% last year as mainstream adoption of skin care products containing CBD accelerated. The overall skin care products market is estimated to hit $148 billion next year, according to Statista research.

"We are building a vertically integrated model," continued Mr. Grist. "Our success is ultimately going to be a function of branding. We are different from the ground up. Our CBD products will carry our Clean Life brand designation and come from our own extraction process. Top to bottom, we are going to embody what we believe our customers will value most."

Management notes that this initial launch is in a product testing phase, and the Company wants its shareholders to test the new line of products to find out how potent and effective they are. Anyone interested in trying a sample of this new line is encouraged to email a request to: infofteg@gmail.com and include a name and address. The first 50 requests will receive a sample package (Face Mask is not included).

About For The Earth Corporation

For The Earth Corporation is an emerging integrated CBD producer and retailer in the United States. The Company is in the process of establishing a vertical framework that will extend from cultivation to extraction and production to a strategic retail footprint that includes multiple locations in Las Vegas and New York featuring mall kiosks, vending machines, e-commerce, and full store locations serving both the human and pet CBD markets. Two mall leases have been signed recently in Las Vegas, with another vending machine location secured in New York City. The Company plans to expand its New York vending machine penetration by the end of 2019. In addition, the Company has begun early-stage work to establish a state-of-the-art CBD extraction and production facility in Eugene, OR.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties. See For The Earth's filings with OTC Markets, which may identify specific factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release includes forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and reflect management's current expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Some of these factors include: general global economic conditions; general industry and market conditions, sector changes and growth rates; uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; increasing competition; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of services; changes in the economy; changes in laws and regulations, including codes and standards, intellectual property rights, and tax matters; or other matters not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Press & Media Inquiries:

EHC Branding Agency

Info@EHCBrandingAgency.com

(626) MJ-BRAND

Corporate Contact:

For The Earth Corporation

20 East Thomas Rd.

Phoenix, AZ 85012 USA

Contact: Nelson Grist

Telephone: 602 502-0602

Email: infofteg@gmail.com
American fashion label Calvin Klein announced Wednesday it is closing its high-end runway division as part of a restructuring by parent company PVH. "I can confirm that the Calvin Klein 205W39NYC business is closing," the company told AFP. PVH brought in Belgian designer Raf Simons from Dior in 2016 to revitalize the brand, which had stagnated since the departure of its namesake New Yorker founder in 2002. Dubbed "chief creative officer," he had vast powers as he was charged with boosting profits of the brand's high-end collection. But Simons' departure was announced in December following weeks of uncertainty, after a PVH manager apportioned him some of the blame for declining sales. PVH, which also owns Tommy Hilfiger, in early January announced strategic changes including tweaking Calvin Klein 205W39NYC's name, and the closure of its flagship store on Manhattan's Madison Avenue. But it has now chosen to totally abandon the division and, according to specialist website Women's Wear Daily, has let go 100 employees in New York and Milan. The brand's spokesperson told AFP it is "open to presenting our collections in a broad range of formats moving forward, including runway shows." In 2017, Calvin Klein's sales of products from perfume to watches and glasses led to a turnover of $9.1 billion dollars. Belgian designer Raf Simons' departure from the brand was announced in December 2018
Danish police on Thursday said they had launched prosecutions against 14 people suspected of sharing on social media the murder video of one of the two young Scandinavian hikers killed in Morocco. Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland were found dead at an isolated hiking spot south of Marrakesh on December 17. The pair were stabbed, had their throats slit and were then beheaded, according to Morocco's counter-terror chief. A video circulating on social networks at the time, believed authentic by authorities, showed one of the murders in the High Atlas mountains. "The 14 people are accused of violating the penal code by sharing the video -- usually via Facebook Messenger or other social networks," said East Jutland police chief Michael Kjeldgaard in a statement. Two of them are also accused of apologising for terrorism, the prosecution told AFP. Six of those indicted, whose identities have not been revealed, are between 13 and 18 years old. The grisly killings of the hikers shocked Morocco, where tourism is a cornerstone of the economy. Moroccan authorities have called the killings a "terrorist" act and charged more than 20 people for their alleged involvement. The authorities allege that the four main suspects in the murder were inspired by the Islamic State group, but say they were not in direct contact with IS members in Iraq or Syria. Moroccans paid tribute to Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (L) and Norwegian Maren Ueland after they were murdered
Facebook said it blocked online manipulation efforts in Britain and Romania from faked accounts in the latest crackdown on "inauthentic" content on the huge social network. Facebook said in a statement the separate operations in the two countries misrepresented the identities of the users and sought to spread hate speech and divisive comments. "We're taking down these pages and accounts based on their behavior, not the content they posted," Facebook cybersecurity policy chief Nathaniel Gleicher said in a statement. "In each of these cases, the people behind this activity coordinated with one another and used fake accounts to misrepresent themselves, and that was the basis for our action." Gleicher added that "we didn't find any links between these sets of activities, but they used similar tactics by creating networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing." The move is the latest by Facebook to crack down on efforts to manipulate public sentiment in the US and elsewhere, with prior actions concentrating on accounts in Russia and Iran. In Britain, Facebook removed 137 Facebook and Instagram accounts purporting to be "far-right and anti-far-right activists," which frequently changed names and "operated fake accounts to engage in hate speech and spread divisive comments on both sides of the political debate in the UK," Gleicher said. "Despite their misrepresentation of their identities, we found that these pages, groups and accounts were connected. They frequently posted about local and political news including topics like immigration, free speech, racism, LGBT issues, far-right politics, issues between India and Pakistan, and religious beliefs including Islam and Christianity." Gleicher said the action stemmed from an internal investigation aided by British law enforcement and that Facebook has shared its findings with authorities. Separately, Facebook took down 31 accounts in Romania which posted about local news and political issues, "including partisan news under fictitious bylines in support of the Social Democratic Party (PSD)," according to Gleicher He said that while the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, "our manual review found that some of this activity was linked to an individual associated with the PSD." The move comes a day after Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said he sees the social network shifting to private messaging to meet demands for users for a "digital living room" rather than a digital "town square." Facebook said it took down accounts from users concealing their identities and seeking to influence political discourse in Britain and Romania
A man who abandoned his son in a Queensland park because he was tired of looking after him and blamed the toddler for the familys woes has been jailed.

What happened to Baden Bond after he was deserted on a park bench at dusk 50 metres from the Logan River in May 2007 is not known.

The two-year-olds body has never been found but he is presumed to have drowned alone in the dark in the river south of Brisbane.

One can only speculate as to how long he survived and what his mental state must have been, Justice Peter Applegarth told the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday.

His remaining time was probably full of fear.

Justice was a long time coming for Baden, as his father Shane Arthur Simpson lied to his family, the police, government agencies and a federal court for a decade about his whereabouts.

These included that Baden was with an aunt, his grandparents or in foster care. He was given away or the government took him.

Baden Bond is presumed dead following his disappearance south of Brisbane in March 2007

Simpson finally admitted to leaving him at the park, and admitted to manslaughter, but has never shown remorse, Justice Applegarth said in sentencing on Thursday.

Even someone with low intelligence and poor ability to solve problems had time to think and would have realised the danger to Baden, he said of the callous abandonment.

Baden was born to Dina Colleen Bond in 2005 with methamphetamine in his system, resulting in he and his siblings being taken into care.

Badens parents blamed the baby for that.

He was regularly called him devils child and evil, Justice Applegarth said.

His bedroom was often locked and visiting family members were told by you and Bond not to go into the room, he said.

The two windows in his room were blacked out with black spray paint.

Badens nappy was often left unchanged and his room smelled of urine and faeces.

Simpson said he was tired of looking after Baden and fried on drugs around the time he abandoned the boy without a backward glance.

He said he sat with Baden for 30 minutes at the Logan River boat ramp at Eagleby and said sorry before driving off.

Story continues

You saw no one there, it was going on dark  You say you sat on the park bench put your hand on Badens head and said that you were sorry, Justice Applegarth said.

You had planned to abandon Baden. It was not a spur of the moment decision.

He sentenced Simpson to 12 years in prison for the serious criminal neglect.

Simpson will be eligible for parole after 80 per cent of his sentence is served but is unlikely to receive it because his sons body has never been found.

Bond earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of being an accessory to the manslaughter for keeping up the lies about Baden.

She was sentenced to three years imprisonment but with time served will be eligible for parole immediately.

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.
In the capital of Cameroon's Southwest Region, people drily say the streets are so dangerous that even the dogs are too scared to go outside. The city has been stalked by violence for 18 months, after English-speaking separatists declared an independent state and took up arms against the French-speaking authorities. In Buea, barely a day goes by without the "Amba Boys" attacking police stations, state-run enterprises and public buildings -- anything that is a recognisable symbol of the state. Gunfire is heard frequently, despite army patrols introduced as part of a wide-ranging crackdown, and kidnapping is rampant. Last month, around 15 rebels entered the city, firing into the air and burning cars. After they left, people found a decapitated head left on the pavement. The victim has so far not been identified. A disturbing video being shared on social media shows a woman in her 30s being disfigured by separatists who accuse her of being an informant for the army. On Tuesday, the EU issued a statement warning about Cameroon's political and security situation, pointing especially to the two restive anglophone regions, where there were "persistent violence and violations of human rights". - Fear - One civil servant, who asked not to be identified, told AFP he had been living in his office for five months out of fear of being attacked. "I spend the night at the office to avoid the trip home," he said. "Informants could see that I was disobeying the Amba Boys' ban on working for the government." Nearby, his camp bed was folded in one corner, just beside his suitcase. Two jackets were hung up nearby while the remains of the previous day's meal sat on a hotplate. The town, once known as a peaceful haven nestled at the foot of Mount Cameroon, has been transformed by the conflict. "Buea is suffering," one local radio presenter recently lamented on air. Some businesses say they are struggling to survive. Fearing reprisals, they do not dare defy the shutdowns regularly declared by the rebels. The cost of living is mounting. One woman selling mangoes at a crossroads for 1,000 francs (about 1.8 euros, $2) apiece said the price of the fruit was rising "because there are few people to go and harvest them." - Exodus - The authorities in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde have responded to the rebellion by stepping up the security presence in the region. Troops and rebels alike have been accused of targeting civilians. At least 500 civilians and more than 200 members of the security forces have died in clashes, attacks and a government crackdown, the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank says. At least 437,000 people have fled the two regions, according to UN estimates, with another 32,000 fleeing across the border to Nigeria. Many people in Buea have fled to the port of Limbe, around 30 kilometres (19 miles) away. The road between the two towns is littered with the burnt-out remains of cars. As night falls on Down Beach, the view over the bay comes with an incessant roar of armoured vehicles carrying troops. In the local schools, teachers have got used to pupils turning up wearing uniforms from other establishments. "They come from nearby villages," said a teacher at one secondary school. "We put up with it." - Colonial legacy - Around a fifth of Cameroon's population of 24 million are English speakers. The roots of the conflict today date back a century, when post-World War I Germany surrendered Kamerun, its principal colony in West Africa, which was then taken over by Britain and France. France was given the greater part of the territory, which became independent in 1960. A year later, the British colony also gained independence. Some of the English-speaking areas opted to join newly-formed Nigeria, while others chose to join the federation of Cameroon. In 2017, anglophone resentment at perceived discrimination by the francophone majority came to a head, leading to the declaration of the "Republic of Ambazonia" in the two regions, named after the local Ambas Bay. Separatists have launched an armed campaign in Cameroon's two anglophone regions -- the government has responded with a crackdown Wreckage: The conflict has had a crippling effect on the region's economy -- some businesses are struggling to survive On patrol: Armoured vehicles are used to carry troops around Buea Map of Cameroon locating English-speaking regions and their capitals, Bamenda and Buea.
A Hungarian newspaper close to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party urged it Thursday to quit the European Parliament's conservative group and forge a more radical alliance instead of yielding to an ultimatum over an anti-EU poster campaign. "The time has come to make a new alliance. But a new alliance can only be forged if we break up the old one," said the Magyar Nemzet daily, which is seen as the mouthpiece of the populist leader's Fidesz party. Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas stressed Thursday that Fidesz wants to stay in the centre-right European People's Party (EPP). Though Fidesz has already said it will not yield to the ultimatum. After months of rising tensions between Brussels and Budapest, the EPP's Manfred Weber gave three conditions this week for Fidesz to remain in the grouping. Those included immediately withdrawing a "fake news campaign" against European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Weber is the EPP's leading candidate to replace Juncker after May's European elections. The editorial in Magyar Nemzet said "humiliating negotiations" with the EPP should end, and a new alliance should be forged with ruling far-right factions from Italy, Austria and Poland. "Only this way can the battle against immigration be led... The EPP no longer defends the nation, Christianity, or the traditional family model, or anything that can be called European tradition," it said. The EPP is the biggest party in the European Parliament and comprises the main centre-right movements in Europe, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU and France's Les Republicains, which have not moved against Orban. Orban's chief of staff, Gulyas, said Fidesz is "not negotiating with the European Parliament's radical parties". Harald Vilimsky, secretary general of Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), has said his grouping in the European Parliament, the Europe of Nations and Freedom Group, would welcome Fidesz with "open arms". Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is facing a growing backlash from centre-right allies


A man is behind bars after he was charged with the stabbing murder of Sydneysider Jamie Phillips, whose body was discovered in a vacant car park last year.

Mr Phillips, 46, was found by police in Rosemeadow on October 25, 2018.

The fathers body was found stripped naked and dumped in a vacant lot.

Detectives on Thursday arrested a 37-year-old man at a home in St Helens Park and charged him with Mr Phillips murder.

A man arrested over the murder of Jamie Phillips. Source: NSW Police

The fathers body was found stripped naked and dumped in a vacant lot. Photo: 7News

Police will allege he stabbed Mr Phillips at a home in Rosemeadow before dumping his body at the lot.

The man was refused bail to appear at Campbelltown Local Court on Friday.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador denied Wednesday that he was a member of the communist party in the 1970s, as alleged in intelligence files that his own government recently ordered declassified. Lopez Obrador, 65, became Mexico's first leftist president in recent memory after winning election in a landslide last year, along with strong majorities in both houses of Congress for his upstart party, Morena. The intelligence service's files on "AMLO," as he is widely known, include documents indicating that the one-time protest leader was associated with the communist party in the 1970s, when he was just getting into politics. "A lot of things in (the intelligence files) are invented. For example, it says I was a member of the communist party... and that I supported and gave money to that party," Lopez Obrador told a news conference. "I wasn't a member of the communist party -- although I did support social activists." In the context of Cold War-era Latin America, being a "communist" was practically a dirty word -- and could even amount to a death sentence -- as a slew of US-backed dictatorships used brutal tactics to keep the Soviet-linked ideology at bay in a region the United States considered its back yard. At the time, Lopez Obrador was a member of Mexico's then-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which governed as a one-party state for seven decades. He later broke with the PRI to help launch the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), then founded his own party, Morena, in 2014. Lopez Obrador threw open the intelligence service's archives this week, allowing anyone to consult anything in them, except for sensitive details such as information on minors or individuals' private lives. He vowed to shed light on the intelligence service's involvement in crimes and atrocities committed during the so-called "Dirty War" on leftist activists in Mexico from the 1960s to 1980s. "There were major injustices committed in the labeling of social activists. A lot of people were repressed. Farmers who didn't even know what communism was were accused and repressed in those years," Lopez Obrador said. "We must never again allow an authoritarian regime to persecute people for their ideals." Lopez Obrador's files also indicate he was branded a "traitor" of the left by a member of the now-extinct Unified Socialist Party of Mexico for allegedly sowing divisions in his native Tabasco state to benefit the ruling PRI. Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has opened the country's intelligence files to the public
LOS ANGELES, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global frozen bakery Market size is anticipated to surpass the revenue of USD 42.4 billion by 2026 and also market is projected to exhibit the CAGR of 5.2% during the coming years.



Increasing need for healthy and suitable baked products will boost the complete frozen bakery market in the estimate timeframe in most of the emerging countries, bakery product producers are reformulating their bakery product portfolio & modifying their product packaging, requesting to address the customers health concerns. The sector endures to see energetic development due to change in customer likings towards the healthier food choices that have longer shelf life & numerous nutritious benefits for instance high less sugar & fat, fiber content, etc. Aforementioned trends will shoot the whole market in forecasted timeframe.

Free Download Sample Report Pages For Better understanding@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/1186

Changing way of life, for example, receiving more beneficial schedules combined with surge in number of working ladies will prompt quick development in consumer food service. Worldwide packaged food utilization produced an income of around USD 2.5 trillion out of 2017, of which baked goods represent near 15% offer. Rising number of retail outlets moving the product in the developing economies combined with appealing promotions and marketing will likewise connote the demand for such extravagance nourishment things. The previously mentioned patterns will help the demand for frozen mixture in creating countries as individuals have lesser time to spend in their kitchens.

The global frozen bakery market is segmented into recipe, product, end-user and region. On the basis of recipe, the global frozen bakery market is segmented into bread, viennoiserie, patisserie, and savoury snack. On the basis of product, the global frozen bakery market is segmented into ready-to-prove, ready-to-bake, and fully baked. On the basis of end-user, the global frozen bakery market is segmented into convenience stores, hypermarkets & supermarkets, artisans bakers, hotels, restaurants, and catering (HORECA), and Bakery chains. On the basis of region the global frozen bakery market is bifurcated into Europe, Latin America, North America, Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific.

View Detail Information With Complete TOC@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/frozen-bakery-market

Comfort stores assumes a noteworthy role in marketing and circulation of the product and catches over 15% of the whole end-client section in 2018 and will demonstrate the huge development in coming years. The simplicity of accessibility of the product and frenzied way of life of individuals has prompted the prominence of accommodation stores, for example, Mom and Pops, SMU, Cup Cakes Factory, and so forth. Through such accommodation stores, fabricates have the upside of exhibiting their differing product portfolio in a single platform. This thus, will support the worldwide market development in future.

Hotels, restaurants, and catering end-client section grasps over 16% of the volume share in 2018 and will demonstrate a sluggish development over the gauge time allotment. The section incorporates the drive-thru food chains just as family eateries and lodgings that serve nourishment which sets aside less opportunity to cook bringing about negligible table time. Development in worldwide the travel industry will support the whole fragment request and this will emphatically impact the frozen bakery market in gauge period.

Browse All official Market Research Reports Press Releases@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/press-releases

Explore Our Market Blog@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/blogs

Germany drove the Europe market in 2018, with an offer of over 21% in 2018 and will probably grow its offer by 2026. Surge in the travel industry and providing food industry in European nations, for example, UK, Germany, Italy, and so forth will offer a promising regional development in coming years. The local market is driven by developing demand for bake-off and thaw & serve products that give simplicity to brisk administration eateries, retail pastry shops, and family units. Also, expanded timeframe of realistic usability of the product offers the upside of stocking the products for regular varieties, which is basic in Europe.

In 2017, North America has income of more than USD 8.4 billion in worldwide frozen bakery market and is required to develop at a huge rate by 2026. U.S. and Canada will have a flourishing business sector because of expanded processed food requirement prerequisite and changing purchaser ways of life. Also, the enhanced nourishment culture and expectations for everyday comforts alongside the local financial development will enlarge the frozen bakery showcase in future.

The significant businesses working in the worldwide frozen bakery market are BredenMaster, Grupo Bimbo, Vandemoortele, Aryzta, Europastry, Rich Products Corporation, General Mills, Inc, and Dawn Food Products.

INQUIRY BEFORE BUYING@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/inquiry-before-buying/1186

The report is readily available and can be dispatched immediately after payment confirmation.

Buy this premium research report  https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/1186

Would like to place an order or any question, please feel free to contact at sales@acumenresearchandconsulting.com | +1 407 915 4157

For Latest Update Follow Us:

https://twitter.com/AcumenRC

https://www.facebook.com/acumenresearchandconsulting

https://www.linkedin.com/company/acumen-research-and-consulting/
A survey in 11 emerging economies showed people in those countries happy to be connected with smartphones and social media, even if they worry about the impact of digital lifestyles on society and on children. The Pew Research Center report found the vast majority of adults in these countries have access to a mobile phone of some kind, with 53 percent using a smartphone capable of accessing the internet and running apps. Across these countries, a median of 64 percent use at least one of seven different social media sites or messaging apps. Most of these people say they personally benefit from the technology: more than nine in 10 say the devices have helped them stay in touch with loved ones, and nearly eight in 10 said they use them to get news and information about important issues. But when asked if mobile phones and social media have been good for society, the responses are mixed, with many expressing concerns about the impact of digital technologies on children. Some 79 percent of adults surveyed said people should be very concerned about children being exposed to harmful or immoral content, and nearly two-thirds said mobile phones have had a bad influence on children in their country. "The rapid advancement of the mobile-social package invites people to think about the role of these devices in their lives and to look around and see how they might be affecting their societies," said Lee Rainie, Pew's director of internet and technology research. "On the positive side, people in these nations say they reap personal benefits from the spread of mobile phones. "Yet, fewer say mobile phones and social media are bringing the same level of benefit to their societies, and a key flashpoint of their concern is the impact of mobile connectivity on children." The report is based on surveys conducted among 28,122 adults from September 7 to December 7, 2018 in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, South Africa, Kenya, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia. There were variations across these countries, but strong majorities said mobile phones have been beneficial for education and the economy. Most respondents said their devices are important for news but express concern about false or inaccurate information. Facebook was used by a median of 62 percent of adults in these countries, and WhatsApp by 47 percent. Smartphone users in emerging nations such as India, where this farmer is seen at a rally, say they get benefits from the devices but worry about the impact of digital technology on children A Kenyan Muslim woman takes a selfie on a fairground ride at the Sir Ali Muslim Club in Nairobi after prayers on Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr
North Korea on Thursday attacked ongoing joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington as an "open challenge" to moves towards peace on the Korean peninsula. The US and South Korea agreed on Sunday to replace two major war games that take place every spring -- the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drills -- with a shorter "Dong Maeng" or "Alliance" exercise which kicked off this week. The move was designed to further ease tensions with the North following the dramatic detente since early 2018. There are close to 30,000 US troops stationed in South Korea, and their annual drills with tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers have always infuriated the North -- with Pyongyang condemning the manoeuvres as provocative rehearsals for invasion. However, following the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last year, Trump raised eyebrows at a press conference when he said Washington would suspend the "very provocative" US joint military exercises with South Korea. The two leaders also signed a vaguely-worded pledge on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. But the North's official KCNA news agency has now warned that the ongoing nine-day drills were an "open challenge" against efforts for peace and stability. "The ill-boding moves of the South Korean military authorities and the US are a wanton violation of the DPRK-US joint statement and the north-south declarations in which the removal of hostility and tensions were committed to," it said, using the acronym for the North's official name. The flare-up comes just days after Trump and Kim Jong Un held a second summit, this time in Vietnam, but the talks broke up early with no progress toward Washington's goal of getting the isolated country to give up its nuclear weapons. Following the stalemate, researchers said this week that Pyongyang was rebuilding the Sohae long-range rocket site after Kim had agreed last year to shut it as part of confidence-building measures. Trump said he would be "very, very disappointed" if the reports proved true. Annual drills between the US and South Korean armed forces have always infuriated the North -- with Pyongyang condemning the manoeuvres as provocative rehearsals for invasion
Neymar will travel to Qatar to undergo a "complete assessment" six weeks into his recovery from a fractured right foot, Paris Saint-Germain said on Thursday. The Brazil forward watched on forlornly from the stands at the Parc des Princes as PSG crashed out of the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday to Manchester United on away goals following a 3-1 defeat. "Neymar Jr will travel to Aspetar (sports clinic) in Qatar for the next 3 days as scheduled in the initial recovery plan," the club wrote on its Twitter account. "He will undertake a complete assessment after six weeks of his injury. He will be accompanied by a medical team from PSG." The 27-year-old damaged the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in a French Cup win over Strasbourg on January 23 and was ruled out for 10 weeks. PSG were hoping he would be healed enough to get back on the pitch in time for a potential Champions League quarter-final in April, but the French side suffered a humiliating exit as United sensationally overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit. Neymar has played just one Champions League knockout match since joining PSG last season
Two Saudi sisters marooned in Hong Kong after fleeing their family have been granted an extended stay in the city until next month, their law firm said Thursday, as they urgently seek sanctuary in a third country. The siblings are the latest example of Saudi women escaping the ultra-conservative kingdom only to find themselves stranded in foreign cities and making public appeals for their safety. The young women, aged 20 and 18, said they made a break from an abusive family during a holiday in Sri Lanka last September, with the intention of heading for Australia. But they only made it as far as Hong Kong. The two women -- who use the aliases Reem and Rawan -- said they were intercepted at the airport by Saudi consular officials and their air tickets cancelled. The pair, who entered Hong Kong as visitors, also had their passports revoked, leaving them stranded in the southern Chinese city. Their stay was due to expire on the last day of February, their lawyer Michael Vidler had previously said. As that deadline loomed they issued a fresh appeal last week asking authorities to allow them to remain while they seek emergency rescue visas to another country. In a statement Thursday, Vidler & Co Solicitors said the immigration department confirmed the pair would be "further tolerated" until April 8 but added "the Director of Immigration now asserts that despite being tolerated, the sisters are liable to prosecution and removal as overstayers". Reem and Rawan said they are "in constant fear of being found by the Saudi authorities and our family and forced to return to Saudi Arabia," in a statement provided by the law firm. "We feel like fish trapped in a little oasis that is rapidly drying out," they said. Fearful they might be abducted, the pair said they have had to change locations many times to stay hidden. Their testimony cannot be independently verified and Saudi authorities have yet to comment on their allegations. But many Saudi women who flee overseas have spoken to media and rights groups of persuasive and coercive tactics used by Saudi officials and family members to pursue those who escape. At the beginning of the year, 18-year-old Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun drew global attention with her dramatic escape from an allegedly abusive family, gaining refugee status in Canada. Vidler said Thursday they are pressing for an "urgent determination" of the sisters' visas to a safe third country. The young women, aged 20 and 18, said they made a break from an abusive family during a holiday in Sri Lanka last September, with the intention of heading for Australia
Ole Gunner Solskjaer saluted Manchester United's never-say-die star as they reached the Champions League quarter-finals with an historic 3-1 win over Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday. United became the first team in European Cup history to recover from losing the first leg of a knockout round tie 2-0 at home. Romelu Lukaku scored twice either side of Juan Bernat's equaliser before Marcus Rashford converted a controversial stoppage time VAR-awarded penalty to send United through on away goals. It was an incredible result given United were without the suspended Paul Pogba as well as nine injured stars including Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Ander Herrera. But United interim manager Solskjaer insisted he never doubted his players could do the unthinkable in the last 16 second leg in Paris. "The belief in the boys was just what we hoped for. It was fantastic," Solskjaer told BT Sport. "You always know it is possible. With this club this is what we do. It's Man Utd. It's the Champions League. That's what it does." Faced with a daunting first leg deficit, Solskjaer admitted United desperately needed Lukaku's second minute goal to put the momentum back in their favour. Once United had opened the scoring, Solskjaer felt the French champions were haunted by the ghosts of their previous failures from winning positions in the Champions League, including blowing a 4-0 lead against Barcelona two years ago. "It was a great start. We started with a plan to get the first goal, but we didn't expect it to come so soon," he said. "We wanted an open game with many goals and that's what happened. "There is always some mental doubt because they (PSG) have had those experiences. "Our boys are young and fresh which gave us more energy when we needed that goal." United had a huge slice of luck for the winner as VAR ruled that PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe, turning his back as he jumped, had handled a Diogo Dalot shot as it struck him on the arm in the penalty area. Kimpembe barely extended his arm at all, but Rashford made the most of the opportunity as he calmly netted from the spot. - Fearless - Solskjaer claimed it was the right decision, although he was nervous when Rashford stepped up to take his first ever penalty for United. "The referee had a big, big call to make. My staff said the player made himself big, so it's a clear penalty," Solskjaer added. "I was in the Champions League with Molde and we got a penalty in the last minute and my player missed that and we went out. "I had to try and calm everyone down. Of course there were doubts. But Rashford, he's 21 and the pressure on the boy, there were no nerves whatsoever, fearless." Solskjaer has had an astonishing impact since arriving from Molde to replace the sacked Jose Mourinho in December. He is yet to lose a domestic match and has won every away game in all competitions. After masterminding one of the great European comebacks it is impossible to think he won't get the job on a permanent basis. When asked about the prospect of taking charge full-time, the Norwegian said: "Until the summer, let's see what happens." England striker Rashford insisted he never felt even a second of concern as he endured the long wait to take the penalty while VAR looked at the incident. "I think it was just about keeping a cool head. That's what you practice for. I wanted to take it," he said. "Those moments are the moments we live for, and we want to come out of them smiling after. "It's a beautiful thing, to have 10 players injured too, but it's an opportunity and it's what we deserve." Manchester United's Chris Smalling and Diogo Dalot lead the celebrations after their incredible win over PSG
A US journalist who was detained by Venezuelan security forces then deported from the country arrived in Miami Thursday, safe and with plenty to say about his interrogation. Cody Weddle, who worked in Venezuela for several years as a correspondent for a variety of US media, told reporters that Venezuelan agents were especially keen to find out about five unnamed military generals. Weddle said his head was covered as he was interrogated for 12 hours by military counter-intelligence agents in Caracas. "They continuously kept asking if I had contacts in the military, if I had contacts in the local police force or the national police force," Weddle told reporters who covered his arrival at the Miami airport. Weddle however said he never did a story about five generals. "I don't know where they got that information, but evidently they thought I had done a story speaking to five military generals," he said. "I did do a story speaking with local officials. I spoke to some military people in exile and also some National Police officers, but I didn't have their names I never took down their names purposely in case this situation were to happen," he said. "I wouldn't have given their names, anyway, and they weren't in my phone, either." According to Weddle, there is "a lot of paranoia," especially within the armed forces. "In the armed forces there is a lot of discontent especially among the ranking file, and that's what I continued to hear ... from plenty of officials and I reported that." Weddle's assistant, Venezuelan Carlos Camacho, was freed Wednesday after 12 hours in custody, according to the Venezuelan non-government organization Espacio Publico. Both had been arrested at their homes in Caracas. Weddle said that Venezuelan agents confiscated his electronic gear and his telephone, but then returned it all to him. According to Espacio Publico 49 journalists have been detained in Venezuela in 2019. Among the foreigners, German Billy Six has been held since mid-November 2018 at El Helicoide, the headquarters of military counter-intelligence. Last week Jorge Ramos, the star reporter US-based Spanish language TV network Univision, along with Daniel Garrido, a Venezuelan working for US-based Telemundo, were briefly detained in Caracas. Oil rich but impoverished Venezuela is in the throes of a political crisis triggered by Guaido's decision to proclaim himself interim president in January. He is recognized by more than 50 countries but lacks the support of high-ranking military necessary to seize power from Maduro, who he accuses of fraud in last May's presidential vote that saw the socialist leader return for a second term. Cody Weddle has worked in Venezuela for several years as a correspondent for a variety of US media, including ABC News and the Miami Herald German journalist Billy Six is reportedly being held at El Helicoide, the Caracas headquarters of the feared Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN)
A jury found Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche guilty Thursday of the "terrorist murders" of four people at Brussels' Jewish museum, in the first case of a Syria jihad veteran to stage an attack in Europe. Nemmouche, 33, now faces a life sentence for the anti-Semitic gun rampage in the Belgian capital on May 24, 2014, following his return from Syria's battlefields. Sentencing is now not expected to take place before Monday, the court said. Sporting a trimmed beard and wearing a navy blue sweater, Nemmouche showed no emotion and stared into space as the verdict was delivered. The 12 jurors, accompanied by the presiding judge and two other magistrates, had deliberated for two and a half days in secret at a Brussels hotel before returning their verdict. Nemmouche was found to have killed the four victims in cold blood in less than 90 seconds, but he denied the accusation telling the court he had been "tricked". Presiding judge Laurence Massart, who read out the jury's verdict, said: "The existence of a trap was not presented with enough credibility and must be ruled out." Nemmouche's lawyers had argued he was not to blame for the slaughter, but rather he had been caught up in some kind of plot targeting the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. The legal argument had centred around Israeli couple Miriam and Emmanuel Riva, the first two of the four people shot dead in the attack. A young Belgian employee, Alexandre Strens, and French volunteer Dominique Sabrier were also murdered. According to the defence, the museum shooting was not the work of the Islamic State group but a "targeted execution" aimed at Mossad agents. The defence said the Israeli couple who were killed were in fact Mossad agents murdered by another man who had hunted them down. The Riva family's lawyers have furiously rejected the theory and said attempts to pass off the tourists as secret agents was "an absolute scandal". Miriam Riva worked for Mossad but, as an accountant, she was not operational, said the investigating judges who travelled to Israel during their investigation. - 'Set of scattered deductions' - Yohan Benizri, the head of Belgium's Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organisations, denounced what he called a "nauseating conspiracy theory". The 12 jurors also found fellow Frenchman Nacer Bendrer, 30, who was accused of supplying the weapons, to be the co-author of the attack. Seated next to Nemmouche in the defendant's box, encased by bullet-proof glass on the sides, Bendrer then hung his head low for a few minutes before covering it with his hands. He also faces a life jail sentence. The investigation showed that the two men had dozens of telephone conversations in April 2014, when Nemmouche was preparing for the killings. Six days after the massacre, Nemmouche was arrested in the French city of Marseille in possession of a revolver and a Kalashnikov-type assault rifle. At the trial, Bendrer admitted that Nemmouche had asked him for a Kalashnikov when he came to Brussels in early April, but claimed he never delivered it. Among other personal effects, Nemmouche upon arrest carried a nylon jacket with gunshot residue, as well as a computer in which investigators found six videos claiming the attack with an off-camera voiceover thought to be Nemmouche. The presiding judge singled out the evidence on his jacket which she said "contained exclusively traces of DNA from Mehdi Nemmouche". In total, the prosecution said it had identified 23 pieces of evidence pointing to Nemmouche, who also physically resembles the shooter seen on the museum's surveillance video. The verdict said: "The defence limited itself to outlining a set of scattered deductions without ever elaborating on them." It added that Bendrer, by supplying the weapons, was aware of aiding a crime committed by "a longstanding radical," alluding to Nemmouche. The prosecutors say the attack was the first carried out in Europe by a jihadist returning from fighting in Syria. The Brussels killings came 18 months before the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks which left 130 dead. A court sketch of Mehdi Nemmouche, who was found guilty of killing four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in 2014 Four people were gunned down in the anti-Semitic attack in the Belgian capital on May 24, 2014 The trial in Brussels was held under tight security
English Danish

7 March 2019

Announcement No. 05/2019

Notice convening the Annual General Meeting on 3. April 2019

Notice convening the Annual General Meeting of Topdanmark A/S, CVR No. 78 04 00 17, on Wednesday 3 April 2019, 15:00 (CET), at Tivoli Congress Center, Arni Magnussons Gade 2-4, DK-1577 Copenhagen V.

The Board of Directors will submit:

I.Report on the companys activities during the past year.

II.Presentation of the audited annual report signed by the Board of Directors and the Executive Board.

III.Adoption of the annual report and decision on the appropriation of profits according to the annual report as adopted.

The Board of Directors proposes a dividend distribution of DKK 15 per share.

Any proposals submitted by the Board of Directors or the shareholders.

Proposals from the Board of Directors:

A. Proposal to amend the Articles of Association

1. Proposal that the Annual General Meeting, in addition to Danish, also has English as the corporate language etc.

In 2018, the Annual General Meeting adopted that, in addition to Danish, the annual general meeting can be held in whole or in part in English, Swedish or Norwegian.

For the purpose of making it possible to use English in other contexts also, the Board of Directors proposes that article 3 of the Articles of Association is amended to the effect that in addition to Danish, the Topdanmark group also has English as its corporate language, that a notice convening the meeting and the agenda with entire proposals for the general meeting and other material for this purpose can be prepared in English in addition to Danish, and that annual reports, in addition to Danish, can be prepared and presented in English only, and that company announcements can be prepared in English only where the Board of Directors so determines.

In continuation thereof, it is proposed that article 3 is amended to read:

Article 3:

(1) In addition to Danish, the Topdanmark group also has English as its corporate language.



(2). In addition to Danish, English, Swedish or Norwegian can be used in whole or in part at the general meeting.

(3). Notice convening the meeting and an agenda with complete proposals for the annual general meeting and other materials for the purpose thereof can be prepared in English, in addition to Danish.

(4). In addition to Danish, annual reports can be prepared and presented in English only.

(5). Company announcements can be prepared in English only where the Board of Directors so determines.

2. Proposal that the signing rules are specified so that it appears specifically from the Articles of Association that Topdanmark is also bound by the signatures of the entire Board of Directors.

The signing rules in article 24 of the Articles of Association are proposed to be amended to read:

Article 24

The company is bound by:

1. the joint signatures of the entire Board of Directors, or

2. the joint signatures of the chairman of the Board of Directors and the vice chairman, or each jointly with the signature of another board member or a director, or

3. the joint signatures of a director with a member of the Board of Directors or another director.

3. Proposal that the Articles of Association are linguistically updated in compliance with applicable legislation.

It is proposed that articles 14 and 23 are linguistically updated in compliance with applicable legislation, including that annual accounts are consequentially changed to annual report, and that annual review is consequentially changed to managements review.

B. Proposal on change to the remuneration policy

The Board of Directors wishes to enhance the possibility adopted by the Annual General Meeting in 2018 to be able to remunerate Topdanmarks Executive Board via performance-related bonus remuneration to also include Topdanmarks management group comprising a number of divisional directors and service area directors (Orientation Forum).

The Board of Directors proposes that the remuneration policy of the Topdanmark group be amended accordingly.

The full wording of the remuneration policy following the proposed amendments can be seen at www.topdanmark.com  Investor  News  General meetings .

As the result of a new organisation and new requirements for a remuneration policy and reporting from the directive on the exercise of certain rights of shareholders in listed companies, which must be implemented in Danish law no later than 10 June 2019, Topdanmark is working on a new People Strategy for the Topdanmark group, and in parallel therewith a new remuneration policy that supports the People Strategy and lives up to the new remuneration policy requirements.

It is expected that a new remuneration policy is presented for the adoption by the general meeting at Topdanmarks annual general meeting 2020.

C. Proposal on remuneration for the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors proposes that the ordinary basic remuneration for the financial year 2019 to be paid to the Board of Directors is maintained at DKK 385,000.



Proposal from shareholders:

D. Proposal from shareholder, Thomas Meinert Larsen

Thomas Meinert Larsen has submitted the following proposal:

The annual general meeting recommends that the Board of Directors will annually publish a statement for the exercise of active ownership in coal, oil and gas companies for the purpose of ensuring that these fossil companies stop misinforming about the climate and stop performing lobbyism counteracting the Paris Agreement on ensuring below 1.5 degrees or maximum 2 degrees of global warming. It is further recommended to the Board of Directors to dispose of shares and bonds in coal, oil and gas companies where the active ownership does not lead to a cessation of such activities.



The Board of Directors comments on the proposal: Topdanmark has joined the UN Global Compact principles and, i.a., reports on CO2 emissions and climate strategy via an annual climate report, in accordance with the Carbon Disclosure Project. Furthermore, Topdanmark declares on an annual basis how the company relates to the recommendations for active ownership determined by the Corporate Governance Committee, and reports annually on active ownership in the CSR report.

It is the opinion of the Board of Directors that Topdanmark conducts its business within a framework ensuring the necessary consideration of public interests, including climate and the environment, taking into account the relevant legislation for insurance groups. Consequently, it is the opinion of the Board of Directors that further or other initiatives are not currently required. Therefore, the Board of Directors does not second the proposal. The full wording of the Board of Directors comments to the proposal can be seen at www.topdanmark.com  Investor  News  General meetings .

V. Election of members to the Board of Directors.

All Board members elected by the annual general meeting are up for election.

The Board of Directors proposes the election of:

A.Anne Louise Eberhard

B.Cristina Lage

C.Petri Niemisvirta

D.Morten Thorsrud

E.Ricard Wennerklint

F.Jens Aalse

A detailed description of each Board member is available on Topdanmark's website www.topdanmark.com  Investor  News  General meetings . These descriptions have also been sent to the shareholders who have requested a written invitation to the Annual General Meeting.

VI. Election of one state-authorised public accountant.



The Board of Directors proposes re-election of Ernst & Young P/S in accordance with the recommendation of the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee has not been influenced by third parties and has not been subject to any agreement with a third party that restricts the Annual General Meetings election of certain auditors or auditing firms.

VII. Any other business.

Adoption requirements

The adoption of items III, IVA.3, IVB, IVC, IVD, V and VI on the agenda requires a simple majority of votes.

The adoption of item IVA.1-2 on the agenda requires that two thirds of both the votes cast and the share capital represented at the Annual General Meeting accept the proposal.

Voting will be based on the principle of one vote per share.

Amount of share capital, shareholders' voting rights and date of registration

The share capital of Topdanmark totals DKK 90,000,000 divided into 90,000,000 shares of DKK 1 each. Topdanmark's holding of own shares, which do not entitle the holder to vote at the Annual General Meeting, is 3,316,628 shares. Therefore, the number of voting rights at the Annual General Meeting is 86,683,372. Danske Bank is the share issuing bank, through which shareholders may exercise their financial rights.

The date of registration is 27 March 2019.

Shareholders who own shares in the company on the date of registration are entitled to attend the Annual General Meeting and to vote. A shareholder's shareholding is calculated on the date of registration based on the registration of the shareholder's shares in the register of shareholders and the information of ownership received by the company for registration in the register of shareholders. The attendance of a shareholder is also dependent on the shareholder having obtained in a timely manner an admission card as described below.

Admission card

Shareholders who want to attend the Annual General Meeting should obtain admission cards no later than 29 March 2019 via www.topdanmark.com  Investor  Investor service  InvestorPortalen or by contacting VP Investor Services, Weidekampsgade 14, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, email vpinvestor@vp.dk or at VP Investor Services website www.vp.dk/gf.

It will be possible to receive the admission card by email. Shareholders who want to receive the admission card by email must state this when ordering the admission card. It is a condition that

the shareholders email address has already been registered on InvestorPortalen. After registration, the shareholder will receive an electronic admission card that must be presented at the Annual General Meeting using a smartphone or a tablet. If the shareholder has forgotten the admission card, access can be obtained against presentation of identification. Ballot papers will be handed out at the entry point of the general meeting.

Proxy and vote by post

Shareholders may grant a proxy. Proxies can by revoked at any time. Shareholders may vote in writing by post. Votes by post are irrevocable. Shareholders may grant their electronic proxies and votes by post on Topdanmarks investor portal available on www.topdanmark.com  Investor  Investor service  InvestorPortalen . Paper proxy forms and votes by post forms can be downloaded from the company's website www.topdanmark.com  Investor  News  General meetings . Shareholders who want to grant a proxy or to vote by post must do so via Topdanmarks investor portal or at VP Investor Services website www.vp.dk/gf no later than 29 March 2019 or submit it in writing or by email to vpinvestor@vp.dk so that it is received no later than 29 March 2019.

Further information

For the three weeks preceding the Annual General Meeting, the notice convening the meeting, information on the total number of shares and voting rights on the date of the notice, the documents that will be presented at the Annual General Meeting, the agenda and the complete proposals, as well as those forms that will be used for voting by proxy or by post, will be available at the companys website www.topdanmark.com  Investor  News  General meetings . The materials can also be requested by contacting Topdanmark's Share Administration.

Questions from shareholders

Under section 102 of the Danish Companies Act, shareholders may ask questions about the agenda or about documents etc. to be used at the Annual General Meeting or on matters important to the assessment of the annual report and the Company's position or to questions to be decided at the Annual General Meeting. Prior to the Annual General Meeting, such questions can be asked by contacting, in person or in writing, Topdanmark A/S, Share Administration Department, Borupvang 4, DK-2750 Ballerup, Denmark, telephone + 45 44 68 44 11, email aktieadm@topdanmark.dk .

Webcast:

The Annual General Meeting will be broadcast live on Topdanmark's website www.topdanmark.com  Investor . Following the Annual General Meeting, the broadcast will also be available on the Companys website.

The broadcast, which includes both video and sound, will cover the platform and lectern of the Annual General Meeting.

As regards the collection and processing of personal data, reference is made to information about data protection law matters and the Companys privacy policy, which can be found at the Companys website, www.topdanmark.com  Investor  News  General meetings or at www.topdanmark.com CSR  CSR-in-topdanmark  policies .

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS





Please direct any queries to:

Steffen Heegaard, Group Communications and IR Director

Telephone: +45 4474 4017





Topdanmark A/S

Reg. No. 78040017

Borupvang 4

2750 Ballerup
Vietnam on Thursday jailed 15 people for "causing public disorder" after violent demonstrations last year over a proposed investment project that protesters said catered to Chinese firms. Scores have been jailed in the wake of rare nationwide demonstrations in June 2018 that quickly turned violent in some areas as police struggled to quell the unrest. On Thursday, 15 people were sentenced to between two and 3.5 years in jail by a court in southern Binh Thuan province, where police stations were ransacked and security vehicles destroyed. State-run Vietnam News Agency said "the 15 defendants were shouting, instigating the crowd" and blocked traffic on a major highway for 15 hours, citing the official indictment. "The jury board concluded that the defendants' behaviour undermined security, order and social safety... so they need to be seriously punished," VNA reported. A court official confirmed the sentences and said several others are currently under investigation on similar charges, he told AFP, refusing to be named. Last year's unrest was sparked by a proposal by the government to establish several economic zones with 99-year leases in the country that protesters said were designed to cater to Chinese investors. The draft bill made no mention of China -- and the government backed off the lengthy lease terms -- but it was not enough to prevent the demonstrations in several cities, including Hanoi and the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City. The bill has been shelved for now and officials have not said whether it may be revived. China and Vietnam, who fought a bloody border war in 1979, have long had tumultuous ties and frequently spar over the disputed South China Sea. This week a Chinese ship collided with a Vietnamese fishing boat in waters claimed by both Beijing and Hanoi, sinking the Vietnamese vessel and forcing the fishermen to scramble for safety on another ship, according to local press. The investment zones were aimed at attracting foreign cash to the fast-growing, export-oriented economy. The one-party state has clocked glittering growth in the past decade, while maintaining a firm grip on power. Protests of any kind are banned and dissidents are routinely jailed. Protesters at a demonstration in June 2018 march against proposed special economic zones some feared would benefit Chinese investors
As Lake Ontario water levels continue to rise, two New York state senators are calling on the U.S. Senate to confirm President Donald Trump's International Joint Commission nominees.

State Sens. Pam Helming and Rob Ortt, along with several of their colleagues representing communities along the lake and St. Lawrence River, signed a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urging him to hold a confirmation vote.

In 2018, Trump nominated former state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin, Rob Sisson and Lance Yohe to serve on the commission. Corwin, if confirmed, would serve as U.S. section chair.

The commission consists of six members  three from the U.S. and three from Canada. The bi-national panel regulates shared waterways, such as Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

The Senate didn't confirm Corwin, Sisson and Yohe before the end of session last year. Trump renominated the trio earlier this year, but there is no timetable for when their nominations will be considered.

State lawmakers believe the U.S. Senate should act quickly because of the situation along Lake Ontario. Rising lake levels have led to concerns that there will be a repeat of 2017, when flooding affected shoreline communities.

That year, Trump signed a major disaster declaration due to the damage caused by the flooding.

"It is imperative for the U.S. Senate to vote on the president's nominees for the International Joint Commission," Helming, R-Canandaigua, said in a statement. "We need to fill these positions with representatives from the United States who understand the unique challenges southern shoreline communities face. Every day that goes by without a vote puts our region in danger."

She added, "We cannot leave the fate of shoreline communities solely in the hands of the Canadian representatives on the IJC and the same individuals who originally approved Plan 2014. We deserve a voice."

Plan 2014 is a water management strategy that has been panned by Helming and some elected officials. The plan was adopted by the commission in 2016. When flooding occurred the following year due to record rainfall in the Great Lakes Basin, Helming and others blamed it on Plan 2014.

Since Trump took office, federal and state representatives have urged the president to appoint new U.S. commissioners. The two remaining commissioners, U.S. section chair Lana Pollack and Rich Moy, were appointed by former President Barack Obama. Moy and Pollack were on the commission at the time of Plan 2014's adoption.

One of the U.S. seats and the three Canadian seats on the commission are vacant.

New York's U.S. senators haven't taken a position on Trump's IJC nominees. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office said the nominations appear noncontroversial, but the timing of the votes and whether the Senate votes to confirm the nominees is up to McConnell and the Republican majority.

"We look forward to the opportunity to vote on these nominees when the Republican majority decides to put them up for committee review and then a floor vote," Schumer said in a statement. "But what matters, in terms of controlling water levels to reduce lake shore flooding, is that the IJC and the Board of Control take action now, as we have urged, to maximize water outflows at the Moses-Saunders Dam."

Gillibrand's office explained that the senator wants to ensure Trump's nominees will be balanced and follow the science.

The White House declined to comment on the status of the IJC nominees.

Even if Trump's nominees are confirmed, it's unlikely that Plan 2014 will be altered or repealed. Any action by the commission would require support from Canadian commissioners.

Corwin, who represented parts of Erie and Niagara counties in the state Assembly, opposes Plan 2014. But she acknowledged in an interview with The Citizen last year that it would be difficult to withdraw from the water management plan.

Sisson, of Michigan, and Yohe, of North Dakota, were familiar with the concerns about Plan 2014, but they didn't take a position on whether it should be changed.

"We must give the appointees ample time to consider what precautionary steps can be taken and to implement preemptive safety measures to protect the homes and businesses along Lake Ontario's south shore," said Ortt, a Republican who represents Niagara and Orleans counties.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Since the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center opened in November, the most-played song in its audiovisual catalog has been "Oh, Harriet the Brave."

Recorded by fifth-graders at Genesee Elementary School, the song honors abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who lived the second half of her life two miles down South Street.

"I think we all sing it in our sleep because we hear it so many times a day," said Courtney Kasper, the Auburn center's visitor experience manager. "It makes everyone happy and smile."

So as the center approached its first Harriet Tubman Day on Sunday, Kasper knew a live performance of the song had to be arranged. March being Music in Our Schools Month sealed it, she said.

If you go WHAT: Harriet Tubman Day celebration WHEN: Noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, March 10 WHERE: New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center, 25 South St., Auburn COST: Admission free and open to the public INFO: Visit historyshometown.com or call (315) 258-9820

In addition to the Genesee Elementary student performance, the inaugural Harriet Tubman Day celebration at the center will feature remarks by Tubman scholar Dr. Kate Clifford Larson, author of "Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero." Also on the program are music educators Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino, who comprise the folk duo Magpie and guided Genesee Elementary's students through the Tubman music program. That program was part of the "Harriet Was Here, In My Backyard: Geographies of Slavery and Freedom" project, whose creator, Martha Swan, will also attend the celebration. Guests in attendance will include Pauline Copes Johnson, Tubman's great-great-grandniece, and the emcee will be Jennifer Sanders of NewsChannel 9.

Though the program takes place from noon to 2 p.m., a selection of local artisans selling Tubman-themed commemorative items will be at the center all day, Kasper said. Participants include artist Sandra Shutter, #InOurWordsApparel, Auburn chocolate and coffee shop Gretchen's Confections, and Skaneateles food truck Potatoes & Molasses.

Kasper said the center began talking about its Harriet Tubman Day plans as soon as the doors opened to the public. The celebration takes place concurrently with Harriet Tubman Day tours at the Seward House Museum and the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, as well as a Harriet Tubman Day MLK Jam at Auburn Public Theater that evening.

Commemorating the day of the Underground Railroad conductor and Civil War spy's death in 1913, Harriet Tubman Day was proclaimed by President George H.W. Bush in March 1990. In New York state, the holiday was made official in 2003. Maryland, where Tubman was born, has observed the Harriet Ross Tubman Day of Remembrance since 2000, and this month marks the second anniversary of the opening of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in that state. Along with recent efforts to make the abolitionist the new face of the $20 bill and the Cynthia Erivo movie about her due later in 2019, almost every conceivable circumstance came together to make the Auburn center's inaugural Harriet Tubman Day a special one, Kasper said.

"We're trying to make it a collective day of celebration between Tubman's birth and resting places," she said. "The city of Auburn really wants to give her the recognition that's truly deserved."

Also happening

 Harriet Tubman Day will also be observed Sunday, March 10, at the Seward House Museum, 33 South St., and the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, 180 South St., Auburn. The Seward House will be open from 1 to 5 p.m., with tours beginning on the hour until 4 p.m. for a discounted admission rate of $5 for adults and free for children younger than 6. A National Park Service ranger will be at the Tubman park to give guided walking tours of the property, which includes the visitor center, Home for the Aged and brick residence where Tubman lived with her family until her death. For more information, call the museum at (315) 252-1283 or the park at (315) 882-8060.

 At 7 p.m. that day, Auburn Public Theater will host the Harriet Tubman Day MLK Jam. Hosted by MC John McLeod and organized by Celebrate! Diverse Auburn, the open-mic-style event will feature music and welcome guests to share their words. It was originally scheduled for Martin Luther King Jr. Day but was delayed due to weather. Admission is free and open to the public at the theater, 8 Exchange St., Auburn. For more information, visit auburnpublictheater.org or call (315) 253-6669.

Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @drwilcox.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
There is no question that kids perform better in school after having a nutritious breakfast. But a recent study found that weight gain and obesity were unintended consequences for some Philadelphia children when the School Breakfast Program was offered in the classroom rather than in the cafeteria before school.

Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Temple Universitys Center for Obesity Research and Education followed more than 1,300 students in grades 4 through 6 from low-income communities at 16 Philadelphia public schools for about 2 1/2 years. They partnered with the Food Trust and the School District of Philadelphia for the study.

The results were published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

Nationally, about 12.2 million children from low-income households take part in the federally assisted School Breakfast Program.

About half the schools in the study offered students breakfast in the cafeteria before classes began, along with a standard nutrition education program. The intervention schools served breakfast during first period along with breakfast-specific nutrition education.

The researchers initial hypothesis was that the intervention program would help decrease the prevalence of obesity and overweight in those students. Past studies showed that children who ate a regular breakfast were more likely to be at a healthy weight, said lead author Kate Bauer, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

All the breakfasts met U.S. Department of Agriculture requirements with a fruit or fruit juice, a grain, a protein, or milk. The calories on average didnt differ between the meals offered in the classroom or cafeteria. The study wasnt a test of the breakfast program, it was a test of when and where the school breakfast was offered, said Bauer.

The Philadelphia childrens heights and weights were measured to determine their body mass index (BMI). At the beginning of the study, nearly 18 percent of the students were overweight (defined as BMI over the 85th percentile) and 21 percent were obese (defined as BMI at or over the 95th percentile).

At the schools that implemented the One Healthy Breakfast educational program, students received 18 nutrition education lessons about the importance of eating a good breakfast. Tags were placed on local corner store shelves near the schools with targeted messages, and the One Healthy Breakfast logo or mascot to help kids identify nutritious breakfast options.

Parents were also included in the education efforts through monthly newsletters about healthy food options, recipes and family activities. There were also displays at back-to-school night events and report card conference days.

At the end of the study, researchers found that about 12 percent of the schoolchildren who ate breakfast in the classroom and 4 percent who ate breakfast in the cafeteria had a BMI in the obesity range, said Bauer, an epidemiologist.

Researchers said that the reason for the weight increase was that some kids may have already eaten breakfast at home, and the older elementary and middle school students had the freedom to buy food on the way to school, adding extra calories to their daily intake.

Many were having multiple breakfasts at multiple locations in the morning, said Bauer.

In the end, the researchers concluded that more research was necessary, and that they needed to find ways to improve the participation rates in the school breakfast program without having an increase in obesity among the children participating.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The Auburn Police Department's annual report for 2018 indicates its Finger Lakes Drug Task Force seized more than double the amount of marijuana as in 2017.

In 2018, FLDTF made 23 marijuana-related arrests resulting in 75 filed charges. While less than about 35 arrests and 125 drug-related charges filed in 2017, the task force seized 1,392 grams of marijuana in 2018, about a 60-percent increase from the 877 grams seized during the prior year. Roughly the same amount of cocaine was seized, two fewer grams of heroin seized, and 150 doses of controlled prescription medication, 120 doses less than in 2017, were seized.

Overall calls for service increased 13 percent to 38,991 calls. In terms of arrests, adult arrests decreased about 10 percent to 1,044 while juvenile arrests decreased about 20 percent to 38 arrests.

From 2017 to 2018 parking tickets increased 10 percent to 11,888 while traffic tickets decreased 35 percent to 2,048.

Investigations from Detective Bureau yielded similar felony and misdemeanor charges in 2017 and 2018. There were 108 felonies in 2018, compared to 2017's 96 and 82 misdemeanors compared to 2017's 73.

An area of sharp increase was APD's contact with sex offenders. Officers oversaw the state mandated reporting of 135 sex offenders on average residing in the City of Auburn which included 1,045 sex offender contacts for the year. The contacts with sex offenders increased 25 percent from 2017's 832 sex offender contacts.

For both 2017 and 2018, the School Resource Officer program handled about 1,300 incidents and about 20 arrests. For 2018 arrests included six adults and 15 juveniles.

In the months of July and August 2018, the Community Oriented Policing program dedicated 264 hours to community policing and visited 71 businesses, an increase from the 208 hours dedicated and 49 businesses visited in 2017.

During the year of 2018 the Auburn Police Department hired four new police officers. The department also lost six officers  three each to retirement and resignation.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
In last week's column, I wrote about the importance of seeking out traditional journalism to get informed about issues, rather than relying on pundits and social media commentary. Journalists' job is to gather all the facts through researching documents and conducting interviews, and then provide an impartial account of that information, included with relevant background and context.

This week, I'd like to share some behind-the-scenes perspective on how journalists get trained and continue their education to carry out this work.

The mission of journalism, to provide the public accurate and thoroughly reported information, has remained constant. But the tools used to do the work change with advances in technology. The ethical issues evolve. The logistical and financial challenges ebb and flow. Stress management and morale require regular attention.

All of these issues and more were discussion topics last Saturday at a conference of more than 100 journalists and journalism students at Syracuse University, and many of the staffers from The Citizen's newsroom were active participants in the program.

I've been fortunate to serve on the board of directors for the New York State Associated Press Association, an organization that promotes and supports journalism on behalf of the news organizations in the state that are part of the AP cooperative. In that role, I got an amazing front-row seat into the planning of the 2019 State of the Field conference at SU's Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Starting at 8:30 a.m. and continuing through 4:30 p.m., these students and professionals gathered to learn from an amazing group of practicing journalists who came to central New York from around the country. The guest speakers included Dan Shelley, Radio Television and Digital News Association, and Al Tompkins, senior faculty with the Poynter Institute, two organizations at the forefront of journalism advocacy and innovation. We also had sessions and panel discussions with award-winning journalists from Denver, Orlando, Washington and New York City.

Two of The Citizen's award-winning journalists, photographer Kevin Rivoli and political reporter/online producer Robert Harding, were presenters in afternoon breakout sessions on photojournalism and beat reporting, respectively. Three of our news reporters  Megan Ehrhart, Ryan Franklin and Dan Orzechowski  spent the day learning as much as they could.

Of course, while this was all going on, other newsroom staffers were back in Cayuga County, reporting, writing, shooting photos and editing for our readers. Auburnpub.com was updated throughout the day Saturday and a robust Sunday print edition hit doorsteps and newsstands on Sunday.

Those of us who took part in State of the Field will be sharing our newly gained knowledge and insight with our colleagues, and we'll all have conversations about what we can do to get better at fulfilling our mission. And we will take part in similar training and exchanges again and again.

As someone who was there on Saturday, I came away incredibly proud to be a journalist, and to be practicing journalism with such a dedicated, talented and passionate group of colleagues here in Auburn.

Executive editor Jeremy Boyers column appears Thursdays in The Citizen and he can be reached at (315) 282-2231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @CitizenBoyer

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
BURBANK, Calif.Reality TV drag star Farrah Moan joins the cast of new Men.com comedy Girls Night in a non-sex role, along with female adult luminaries Abella Danger, Alexis Fawx and Aaliyah Hadid.

Girls Night follow three friends played by Johnny Rapid, Beaux Banks and Jake Porter as they discuss the plight of sexually active gay men in small cities: running out of options. They say that their biggest wish would be to spend one night in a straight woman's body to take advantage of all the available straight men out there, and magically, fairy godmother Moan appears to grant their wish, turning them into Danger, Fawx and Hadid.

Hitting the town, the three protagonists pick up William Seed, JJ Knight, Damien Stone and Pierce Paris.

Commented director Iza, "Working with all these hot and talented superstars was so much fun, I couldn't have asked for a better cast! Everyone did their best work and Farrah was a total sweetheart. I miss her!"

The female cast members registered equal excitement about doing some fun crossover work, with Danger in particular expressing great joy about her gay fan base getting the chance see her show up on Men.com. She's even been showing off the Men hoodie the crew gave her on social media recently.

See interviews with the cast of Girls Night here.

Girls Night rolls out on Men.com in three parts as follows:

Part 1 starring Beaux Banks & William Seed goes live March 8.

Part 2 starring Jake Porter & Pierce Paris goes live March 15.

Part 3 starring Johnny Rapid, JJ Knight & Damien Stone goes live March 22.
SPARKS, NVIn the category of "Things We Didn't Know," turns out that the CWMC Group, an international legal prostitution support group, has been giving out Courtesan of the Year and Brothel of the Year awards for more than 20 yearssince 1998and this year, sensual companion and model Olivia Lush has announced that she has been nominated as Courtesan of the Year for the annual LPIN (Legal Prostitution in Nevada) Awards, the successor to the CWMC Awards.

The 5 4, 34D-27-37 Brazilian beauty, who welcomes visitors to the iconic Mustang Ranch, a legal brothel near Reno, Nevada, is an expert GFE and fetish provider with plenty of repeat clients for offering journeys into the realms of romance, fantasy and sensual bliss.

Olivia said she is surprised and absolutely thrilled by this nomination, especially since Ive only been working at The Mustang Ranch for eight months!

Lack of intimacy in life can be very hard, and unfortunately some people have difficulty filling that void in their personal lives. My objective is to always offer much more than the obvious to the gentlemen and couples that chose to spend time with me.

It's been an amazing journey, Olivia added. I am delighted to know that I am making a difference in other peoples lives and that some of them thought of me when voting for the 2018 Courtesan of the Year contest!

LPIN Awards Registered Voters must register on the LPIN Awards board before casting LPIN Awards ballots.

Registered members of the LPIN Board can enter their Preliminary Voting Round ballots here.

Registered voters who are unable to cast their ballot should PM the LPIN Awards Committee or Admin handles or email [email protected] for assistance.

Olivia Lush returns to The Mustang Ranch March 25 to April 4, just in time for Viagra Day on March 27. On that day in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration approved use of the wonder drug that treats impotence. Olivia prides herself on being the closest thing to organic Viagra.

Open 24 hours a day, the Mustang Ranch is located at 1011 Wild Horse Canyon Drive, Sparks, NV 89434; (800) 727-8638.

Fans (and would-be fans) can keep up with Olivias sexy adventures on Twitter @TheOliviaLush.
Tampa, FL, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In an effort to prepare for further growth and expansion while continuing to serve its clients at the highest level, Vector Solutions, the leader in industry-focused eLearning and performance support solutions, announced key Q1 structural changes to the executive team and operations. These changes come on the heels of back-to-back acquisitions of CrewSense and Halligan, and further Vectors strategy to expand its eLearning and training platform into a complete performance optimization solution.



These exciting changes reflect that Vector is headed in a great direction and preparing for another milestone year, said Jeff Gordon, CEO of Vector Solutions. This organizational shift allows us to meet the changing needs of our clients as our industry-focused technology solutions become increasingly critical to their daily operations. Were experiencing strong year over year growth, successfully integrating key acquisitions, and expanding our clients access to real-time data to help them make decisions. We believe these recent structural changes will fuel our ability to continue to evolve as a leading software company.



Moving into the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO), Marc Scheipe now oversees Vectors Public Sector Business Unit and Commercial Business Unit. As COO, Marc will coordinate closely with Vectors Education Business Unit and also focus on defining growth strategy and managing key functional areas within the business units. Marc previously served as Executive Vice President (EVP) of the Public Sector Business Unit.



Transitioning from a dual role as Vector EVP of Sales and Marketing and EVP of the Commercial Business Unit, Dave Brown will now serve as Chief Sales Officer (CSO). As CSO, Dave will focus his attention on driving integration and alignment between all sales-related functions and will directly manage Vectors enterprise sales function, sales operations, and channel partnerships.



Joining the Vector executive team as EVP of Strategic Integrations is Alex Berry, who most recently served as the EVP for Ericcsons iconectiv business. In his new role, Alex will focus on integrating new acquisitions and products to support growth across the business.



Additional key organizational changes include the creation of a Program Management Office to enhance customer experience and better execute on critical corporate-wide projects, as well as the consolidation of sales operations and customer operations under Vector Centers of Excellence for increased coordination of business units.



About Vector Solutions



Vector Solutions, a leader in eLearning and performance support, provides award-winning SaaS solutions for the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), industrial, facilities management, public safety, IT, and education industries. Its brands, RedVector-Convergence Training, TargetSolutions, and SafeSchools, deliver continuing education (CE), training, technology, and performance management solutions using the latest innovations in learning and technology to create safer, more capable, more compliant organizations. Its extensive online and mobile learning library offers approximately 8,000 courses written by over 250 subject matter experts and reaches over 7 million professionals worldwide. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, visit www.vectorsolutions.com. Follow us on Twitter @VectorPerform and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VectorPerformance.
Full-year sales at Greggs have broken the 1bn barrier for the first time in 2018, with the business seeing a 7.2% hike in turnover.

The growth follows the business increasing its estate by 99 stores  opening 149 (including 62 franchises) and closing 50  giving it 1,953 shops at the end of 2018.

Announcing its results for the year ending 29 December, the company reported an increase in pre-tax profits from 71.9m in 2017 to 82.6m, with operating profits excluding property profits and exceptional items up 9.1% to 89.1m.

The business said the first half of 2018 had been significantly impacted by the weather, with severe wintry conditions in early March hitting sales badly, and the June and July heatwave reducing demand for bakery items. It added that, once the weather returned to normal, sales picked up quickly.

In contrast to the general retail environment, the food-on-the-go sector overall continues to grow, though it remains highly competitive, said CEO Roger Whiteside.

We have worked hard over the last five years to redevelop our shop estate in order to be less dependent on shopping locations, and to refocus our product range on growth categories and extended day-parts, which have been key to our success.

Greggs now has 262 franchised shops, mainly in travel locations, and the business extended its company-managed estate into major transport hubs including Birmingham New Street station, Glasgow Buchanan bus terminal and East Midlands airport. In London, it opened in Westminster underground, Cannon Street and London Bridge stations, which it said had quickly become one of its busiest shops.

The company plans to add at least 100 new shops in 2019, including around 50 franchises.

%%Quote_52%%

Greggs also continued a major shake-up of its manufacturing and distribution operations in 2018 that included consolidation of its doughnut manufacturing at Newcastle upon Tyne, transfer of its pizza production to Manchester, closure of the bakery and distribution operations in Norwich, and setting up a national facility for the production of fresh cream products in Leeds.

The board recognises that 2018 was a year of significant change for many of Greggs employees, said Greggs chairman Ian Durant. We oversaw and engaged regularly with the exhaustive planning that went into the reorganisation of our manufacturing operations, designed to improve competitiveness and support further growth in the number of shops.

We were pleased that the changes are being made without a need for compulsory redundancies.

The company has now started work on a new southern distribution centre at Amesbury in Wiltshire, which is due to be completed by the end of 2019.

From 2020, work will start on converting its Birmingham site to a dedicated distribution centre, and the company plans to build an automated frozen distribution facility at its Balliol distribution centre to reduce reliance on third-party providers.

Looking to the future, Whiteside highlighted significant uncertainties in the months ahead, including the potential impact that a disorderly exit from the EU might have on supply chains, tariffs, exchange rates and consumer demand.

However, Greggs has started 2019 in great form, with company-managed shop like-for-like sales in the seven weeks to 16 February 2019 up 9.6%, and total sales up 14.1%.

We have enjoyed strong sales growth, particularly in January, helped in part by the publicity surrounding the launch of our vegan-friendly sausage roll, he added. We hope to continue benefiting from this strong momentum during the first half of 2019 before facing stronger comparatives later in the year.


The N.C. Legislative Building in Raleigh. (CJ photo by Don Carrington)

The North Carolina General Assembly lags behind most other states as one of seven state governments that doesn't offer video of any legislative sessions or committees.Reps. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell; Jason Saine, R-Lincoln; and Brendan Jones, R-Columbus, are behind a new bill which would turn on cameras in the House.which passed the House Rules Committee March 5, would push for some video coverage at the General Assembly. It establishes webcasts of daily House sessions and stipulates that sessions of "particular public importance" should be aired on UNC TV. The legislation also creates a study committee to weigh the feasibility of broadcasting daily House sessions on UNC TV.Hall said.he said.The legislature provides online audio streams of the House, Senate, major committee rooms, and press conference rooms in its complex. Members of the public can tune in while lawmakers debate and vote. But the lack of video coverage often makes it tough for viewers to follow the action.H.B. 218 directs the Legislative Services Office to create an Information Systems Division responsible forEstimates show equipment would cost $300,000. The legislature would hire only one or two permanent employees to run the system, Hall's office said.Saine said in a news release.Delaware, Kansas, Missouri, Vermont, Wyoming, and Maryland are the only other states without any video access to legislative proceedings, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures


State Board of Elections members Stella Anderson, Bob Cordle, Ken Raymond, and David Black at the March 4 board meeting. (CJ photo by Dan Way)

Candidate filing for North Carolina's fraud-scarred 9th U.S. Congressional District will begin next week for a May 14 primary, and the general election is set for Sept. 10.The State Board of Elections approved the special election schedule Monday, March 4, the same day candidate filing began in the 3rd U.S. Congressional District special election to replace 13-term U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, who died last month.The elections board also approved sending staff to Bladen and Robeson counties, the epicenter of the fraud allegations, to train and oversee county elections boards for the 9th District election.It's unusual to have two open congressional seats simultaneously up for special elections, but elections board Executive Director Kim Strach said having different schedules would not be a logistical problem for staff, and because the districts have no county overlap.The Rev. Mark Harris, a Republican, unofficially won the 9th District election on Nov. 6 over Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes, and by a much larger margin over Libertarian Jeff Scott.But the elections board refused twice to certify the election results over concerns about massive absentee by-mail election fraud and other irregularities. Harris' attempt to get a court to order the elections board to certify him failed. The elections board then held a four-day evidentiary hearing at which testimony and evidence corroborated fears of widespread corruption.Harris abruptly ended his evidentiary hearing testimony Feb. 21 in the face of what promised to be lengthy cross-examination by McCready's attorney, Marc Elias. Harris said he had not fully recovered from an illness requiring ongoing medical treatment, and called for a new election.As doubts about Harris' ability for a repeat win escalated, he withdrew his candidacy Feb. 26, citing health and a pending surgery.Leslie McCrae Dowless, the alleged mastermind of the absentee ballot fraud ring, was arrested and jailed, along with several alleged co-conspirators. He subsequently was released on bail.The elections board has responsibility to set the new 9th District election due to a law passed by the General Assembly late last year.Candidate filing will be March 11-15. Absentee by-mail ballots will go out March 29. A primary will be held May 14. Also on that ballot will be new elections for the Bladen County Commissioner District 3 race, and Soil and Water Conservation District. Those were caught up in the absentee ballot fraud investigation. Those races don't require primaries, just new elections.If no candidate wins 30 percent of the May 14 primary, a runoff would be held Sept. 10, and the general election would be pushed back to Nov. 5.Strach said having the election Sept. 10 would be helpful for counties, especially Mecklenburg, holding municipal partisan primaries on that day.Strach said.Among investigation findings was that Bladen County early voting poll workers unlawfully tabulated early voting results and turned them in to the county board. It's believed those results were leaked. Early voting numbers aren't supposed to be counted until election day.Gov. Roy Cooper set the dates for the 3rd Congressional District special election, culminating with election day April 30.Other important dates in that race include a candidate filing period that began Monday and runs through Friday; absentee by-mail voting starting March 15; one-stop early voting from April 10 through April 26. If a runoff primary is necessary because no candidate received 30 percent of ballots cast, that would be held July 9, with election day on Sept. 10. Other voting dates would be pushed back accordingly.
LISLE, Ill., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) Help Desk is the best in its class, according to a global leader in the contact center industry.



BenchmarkPortal rated MRED as the top small-sized center in the country based on objective, metrics-driven performance data such as caller satisfaction, average hold time, and average talk time. The first-place distinction in 2019 marked the 10th straight year MREDs Help Desk was named a top contact center.



Our entire team is singularly focused on providing real estate professionals with the best service possible, said MRED Support Center Manager Katrina Bressler. This award recognizes that our staff does an amazing job of helping people in a timely manner and with a smile.



MREDs Help Desk achievements in the 2019 rankings included:

Customer satisfaction ranking almost 20 percent higher than the industry average

Registering a nearly perfect score for tickets being closed on the first call

Being twice as fast as the industry average at answering calls

80 percent less hold time on calls than the industry average

Responding to emails 10 times faster than the industry average

BenchmarkPortal has conducted annual statistical analyses of call center operations throughout the world since 1995 and hosts the worlds largest call center metrics database.

MREDs achievement of a First Place Contact Center shows that it has achieved outstanding results when compared with centers from a wide variety of industries, which is a great accomplishment. said BenchmarkPortal CEO Bruce Belfiore. Ranking in the Top Contact Centers Contest attests to the fact that MREDs management and employees have successfully balanced efficiency and effectiveness in their operations.

We realize how important customer support is to our association partners and their members, so were intentional about making the experience as easy and helpful as possible, said MRED President/CEO Rebecca Jensen. This award shows that were reaching that goal and serving people well; Im proud of our team for earning first place this year!

About MRED

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is the real estate data aggregator and distributor providing the Chicagoland multiple listing service (MLS) to more than 45,000 brokers and appraisers and over 7,300 offices. MRED serves Chicago and the surrounding "collar" counties and provides property information encompassing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and northwest Indiana. MRED delivers more than 20 products and services to its customers. MRED is the 2013 Inman News Most Innovative MLS/Real Estate Trade Association, and for 10 consecutive years the MRED Help Desk has been identified as one of the best small business centers in North America by BenchmarkPortal. For more information please visit MREDLLC.com.



About BenchmarkPortal

BenchmarkPortals activities began in 1995, and it is now a global leader in the contact center industry, providing benchmarking, certification, training, consulting and research. The BenchmarkPortal team of professionals has gained international recognition for its innovative approach to best practices for contact centers. BenchmarkPortal hosts the worlds largest database of contact center metrics, which is constantly being refreshed with new data. BenchmarkPortals mission is to provide contact center managers with the tools and information that will help them optimize their efficiency and effectiveness in their customer communications. For more information, please call 1-800-214-8929 or visit www.BenchmarkPortal.com.

Attachment
"led to increased Medicaid payments to hospitals, fewer uninsured, less bad debt and less charity-care write-off for hospitals, [but] these policies did not result in a reduction in a hospital cost shift to other payers to cover the cost of uncompensated care as expected. Instead, prices continue to rise for non-governmental payers while hospital costs and margins also rise."

In 2007-14 physician prices for inpatient and outpatient hospital-based care grew by 18 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Hospital prices grew more, by 42 percent and 25 percent, respectively-more than twice as much as physician prices for inpatient care and four times as much as physician prices for hospital-based outpatient care.

Adults who don't receive health insurance through their employer struggle to find affordable plans when they look to buy coverage on their own from an insurance company. Some in North Carolina think the best answer to this challenge is to add these North Carolinians to the state's Medicaid program, expanding the role of government in providing health insurance by roughly half a million people, most of whom are able-bodied adults without children Expanding government's role is the wrong approach. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is Exhibit A. Ironically, Obamacare was sold to the public as the low-cost solution for the very people who are now unable to afford plans offered on the Obamacare exchanges. As I have argued before , the better course to expand access and lower costs is for the state to implement market-based reforms. Let's scale back on costly insurance mandates, repeal the outdated Certificate-of-Need laws, expand access to Association Health Plans, and open up the scope of practice for affordable practitioners.Doing so will bring down the cost of care for everyone.Despite the promise of market-based reforms, proponents of Medicaid expansion - chief among them, hospitals and the North Carolina Healthcare Association - claim that uncompensated care is the problem. They say expanding Medicaid would lower the overall cost of delivering medical care to North Carolinians because the bills for uninsured patients go unpaid. The more uncompensated care the hospital provides, they say, the more health care providers raise prices to offset the cost of free or discounted services.Gov. Roy Cooper and Medicaid expansion supporters agree that the amount of uncompensated care is what is driving skyrocketing hospital prices.But is that accurate? Let's consider the relationship between the cost of care and health insurance.Many variables determine insurance rates on the Obamacare exchanges: the number of insurers, the benefit level of the chosen plan, the prices that are negotiated between insurers and facilities, and more. However, high hospital prices are a significant factor when insurers determine rates for insurance premiums, deductibles, and co-payments.Proponents of expansion claim that if the state expanded its Medicaid program, uninsured patients would gain coverage from Medicaid and hospitals would receive some reimbursement for the cost of care that was previously unreimbursed. The thinking goes that a reduction in uncompensated care would, therefore, not require hospitals to shift uncompensated costs to the privately insured through higher prices for hospital services. Their logic continues that, by covering more uninsured individuals, hospitals would have to pass along fewer costs, which, in turn, would reduce overall premiums on the private insurance market.However, a recent report from the Colorado Healthcare Affordability and Sustainability Enterprise found no reduction in costs after the state expanded Medicaid. The article concludes that expanding Medicaid in Colorado:Now let's consider factors that may influence prices that hospitals and other providers can negotiate with insurers.There is a debate within the health care field about whether prices or utilization drives the total cost of health care. While there are issues with utilization and waste, the literature mostly agrees that prices in the United States are driving total health care spending.Now, this may seem like an obvious point. If health care prices in the United States are higher than in other countries, and we use comparable amounts of health care services, we should spend more than other countries.But why? Why are prices for procedures so much higher in the United States? For example, one study found One explanation for the difference could be the prevalence of hospital mergers. Regional consolidations may also play a role. The research is clear on hospital consolidations - they hurt consumers and raise prices for everyone. Mergers occurred at an alarming rate over the past two decades . As of 2016, 90 percent of metropolitan areas had become highly concentrated . Further, when hospitals buy physician practices in an area, prices rise . North Carolina is no stranger to hospital systems seeking to control larger segments of the market In addition to the findings above, a recent study in Health Affairs compared the growth rate of hospital costs to physician costs from 2007 to 2014. Their findings square with the research on hospital consolidations and the experience in Colorado. The study found:As hospitals consolidate and acquire more facilities, they have more bargaining power to negotiate higher rates with insurers.So, perhaps it is not the amount of uncompensated care that is driving the high prices of health care procedures in North Carolina. It could be that North Carolina hospitals enjoy protection from market competitors and use this shield to keep prices as high as possible.Policymakers considering expanding Medicaid should look at the Colorado case carefully. Their experience contradicts claims that eliminating high levels of uncompensated care will bring down health care costs in the state. Rather, hospital consolidation and protectionism may be to blame.Instead of expanding public insurance and creating more dependence on government, North Carolina lawmakers should aim to help become more self-reliant and to have more affordable options by bolstering what little of the free market remains in health care. There are multiple opportunities just waiting for action by policymakers dedicated to market-based reforms rather than expansive government.
Two facts about colleges stand out. First, they are largely (some argue almost entirely) a "private" good; that is to say, the benefits from college attendance accrue mainly to the student, not to society at large. For example, the Census Bureau tells us the typical male adult college graduate made about $30,000 a year more in 2017 than his counterpart with just a high school diploma. That's private benefit.While there are numerous arguments claiming "positive externalities" of college, the evidence for our 50 states suggests that state governments that shower lots of money on their public universities do not get higher rates of economic growth as a consequence-the positive economic externalities from spending state funds for higher education are pretty elusive.Second, evidence from the Equality of Opportunity Project of Raj Chetty and several others shows that the overwhelming majority of students at most four-year colleges and universities come from relatively affluent families. There are 38 private schools, including a majority of the Ivy League, where more students come from the top one percent in the income distribution than the bottom 60 percent.Even at the fairly typical state university where I teach, Ohio University, the median family income is over $90,000 annually-well above state and national norms. It is much higher still at prestigious state flagship schools-$135,100 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and even higher ($155,500) at its rival to the north, the University of Virginia.Poorer kids are less likely to complete high school, less likely to have good academic preparation, and thus less likely to attend schools with even minimally selective admissions.With that by way of background, I have been mystified by the efforts (primarily of liberal Democrats) to enact "free college" for at least a year or two at state-supported colleges. It seems to me at least possible that a large portion of the beneficiaries of such an effort will be relatively affluent middle-class individuals, especially at highly selective admission state flagship universities.Consider New Jersey, where Democratic governor Phil Murphy has favored high marginal income tax rates to help fund free college. To keep the proposal from favoring the rich, he proposes to make it available only to those attending community colleges, not state schools like Rutgers (median family income of attendees: $103,500) or the College of New Jersey ($133,000).I took five large (each over 10,000 students) public New Jersey community colleges (Bergen, Brookdale, Camden, Essex County, and Middlesex) and looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard . Not one of them had a graduation rate as high as 25 percent, with average earnings after attendance varying between $30,100 and $38,400 annually. That is just about what the average earnings of high school graduates were in 2017 nationally ($35,713). Free community college seems far from a likely path up the economic ladder!Meanwhile, the high-income taxes to help finance this scheme have contributed to New Jersey having significant out-migration of productive human resources.Proposals, such as Senator Bernie Sanders', for free college open to students at four-year state universities are almost certainly likely to primarily benefit students from moderately affluent families. Moreover, many really low-income families already get the equivalent of free or very low-cost tuition anyway, through school need-based scholarships and federal Pell Grants. Politicians are using proposed relief from high tuition costs resulting from dysfunctional federal student loan programs to promote their own re-election rather than truly help the poor.The good news is that there is a parallel, but little-publicized, "free college" movement underway. Private employers are increasingly paying the tuition of their employees. That doesn't cost taxpayers anything.For years, many employers have offered to pay part of the graduate schooling costs of some of their relatively high-paid managerial and technical employees. For example, a large business might pay some or all the tuition for an M.B.A. degree program, provided the employee agrees to stay at least two years after completion. But now employers are increasing their tuition benefit programs to relatively low-paying employees with high school diplomas who want to earn college degrees.Starting several years ago, for instance, Starbucks began providing some tuition benefits for its employees. This has spread to many other businesses, including the nation's largest private employer, Wal-Mart . Wal-Mart asks employees to pay a nominal amount ($1 a day) toward tuition at a small number of schools with which the company has negotiated contracts. A similar approach is used by others, including the Walt Disney Company . Federal tax law gives favorable treatment for benefits up to $5,250 annually, which has encouraged private support of tuition payments.Schools like Brandman University are offering online courses to employees at several companies. The schools offer cut-rate tuition since they are spared expenses associated with recruiting students and offering scholarships. The large employers, buying in volume, can usually get cut rates on textbooks as well. Some major universities (e.g., the University of Florida) are starting to participate in these corporate plans.Have corporations had a new swelling of altruism leading them to promote these new programs? I doubt it. I think it is related more to the very tight nature of the labor market. Wages have been rising more for those with minimal education than for college graduates in recent years because big box stores and fast food restaurant chains are having trouble getting employees. Companies report that the prospects of a low-cost college education enormously increase the retention rate of new hires -critically important where labor shortages exist.The massive expansion in college enrollments over the last two generations has been accompanied by rising income inequality. Colleges are becoming somewhat hedonistic finishing schools for their moderately affluent students while teaching little of consequence for many of them. Therefore, the use of tax money to support public colleges on income distributional grounds makes little sense to me.Let Wal-Mart and Starbucks subsidize college for their employees if they wish. Their employees might well learn something useful. That's vastly better than "free college" on the taxpayer's dime.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE -- Choom (CSE:CHOO) (OTCQB: CHOOF) is pleased to provide an update on its retail development strategy as an emerging consumer cannabis company that has secured one of the largest retail networks in Canada. Choom has successfully achieved a number of its strategic growth initiatives:



June 19, 2018  Secured 10 additional cannabis retail opportunities in Alberta and British Columbia

August 23, 2018  Secured 12 additional cannabis retail opportunities in Alberta and British Columbia

September 24, 2018  Choom was added to Canadian Securities Exchanges CSE25 Index

September 25, 2018  Choom was included to the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF

December 10, 2018  Choom completed the acquisition of Clarity Cannabis Medical Centers, which includes five new medical centers and a proprietary telemedicine platform

February 13, 2019  Choom entered into LOI with Ontario Cannabis Retail Store Applicant

February 19, 2019 - Choom completed buildout of a customized e-commerce channel through a licensed enterprise-level platform. The platform ensures flexibility to handle both B2C and B2B sales to service and sell to any type of buyer in the cannabis industry.

February 27, 2019 - Choom signed a definitive agreement to acquire Clarity Cannabis retail stores in Alberta, adding 30 retail locations in Alberta, 3 of which have been licensed by the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission (AGLC).

Choom has completed the buildouts of 17 retail locations across Western Canada and has 8 additional retail locations currently under construction. In all cases, these retail opportunities are subject to all the necessary provincial regulatory approvals.



Choom has demonstrated a strong commitment to rapidly executing its strategic growth plans by developing a sophisticated retail channel across Western Canada while diversifying their operations through further expansion into Ontario, said Terry Booth, CEO of Aurora. Through our strategic investment, we have helped to expedite Chooms commercial launch across Canada. Id like to congratulate the team at Choom on their success to date and look forward to the upcoming projects their team continues to work on as they roll out their unique retail brand experience across Canada.



Choom has been setting and achieving an aggressive pace to establish our retail strategy across the country, said Chris Bogart, CEO. We are successfully executing our strategy to acquire and open retail operations, and our new stores in Alberta and Ontario are examples of our recent successes. The establishment of a national cannabis retail sector remains in the very early stages and Choom is running hard and fast. In a very short period, weve been able to create one of the strongest retail networks across Canada. We are excited to have the opportunity participate in one of the largest consumer markets in decades and we look forward to our stores inheriting a portion of the estimated $4B+ of cannabis demand in the Country.



CHOOMS NATIONAL RETAIL NETWORK

Choom is currently developing a network of retail stores which will feature a curated selection of products from various licensed producers with a strong focus on elevated customer experiences for the adult use market. Choom has 3 stores operating in Alberta under Clarity Cannabis and is continuing to rapidly expand their commercial footprint in highly strategic locations. This includes a total of 8 stores under construction and an additional 17 stores having completed their build out in Western Canada. In all cases, the retail opportunities are subject to all the necessary provincial and municipal governmental approvals.



SAY HELLO TO CHOOM

Choom is an emerging adult use cannabis company whose mission is to establish one of the largest retail networks in Canada. The Choom brand is inspired by Hawaii's Choom Ganga group of buddies in Honolulu during the 1970's who loved to smoke weedor as the locals called it, Choom. Evoking the spirit of the original Choom Gang, our brand caters to the Canadian adult use market with the ethos of cultivating good times. Choom is focused on delivering an elevated customer experience through our curated retail environments, offering a diversity of brands for Canadians across a national retail network.



Chris Bogart

President & CEO



Contact: Choom Holdings Inc.



Chris Bogart

President & CEO

T: 604.683.2509

F: 604.683.2506

E: chris@choom.ca



Alex Porporo

Investor Relations

T: 604.683.2509 Ext. 231

F: 604.683.2506

E: alex@choom.ca



Cautionary Statement:



NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.



Forward-looking information

This news release contains forward-looking information relating to the Company's proposed activities and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking information relates to management's future outlook and anticipated events or results, and include statements or information regarding the future plans or prospects of the Company. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. These factors include risks and uncertainties associated with or arising as a result of delays in obtaining or an inability to obtain required regulatory approvals, the results of diligence investigations, the results of negotiations with third parties, developments in the cannabis sector, the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, reliance on key personnel, regulatory risks and delays and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of the Company's interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings, including the Companys Listing Statement, made with the applicable Canadian securities regulators. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking information.
Simple Business-Class Networking Without Sacrifice

The majority of midsize business IT executives are shifting their focus from keeping technology running to leveraging technology and data to drive business growth, according to Gartner.

But challenges remain. With midsize businesses so dependent upon mobile technology, for example, their networks must provide similar performance, security, reliability, and scalability typically found in large-scale enterprise networks.

In this white paper, learn about a secure, easy-to-deploy cloud-based network designed to help midsize businesses accelerate growth by simplifying operations and giving IT more time to focus on delivering business value.
Virtual Server Bottlenecks Among Most Troubling Data Storage Problems Whether physical servers or VMs, there are any number of places where data can be held up. Download this e-guide to learn how to troubleshoot server bottlenecks created by running multiple VMs, and solve NAS and software-defined storage performance problems.

Hyper-convergence Extends to New Horizonsand New Uses with All-flash Storage Download this expert guide to gain a foothold in the hyper-converged market, and discover why all-flash storage is now an integral component in converged infrastructure. Read on to learn how to apply flash-based HCI to high-performance databases, VDI workloads, and more.
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).
West Palm Beach, Fla, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rennova Health, Inc. (OTC: RNVA), (OTC: RNVAW) (Rennova or the Company), a vertically integrated provider of industry-leading diagnostics and supportive software solutions to healthcare providers, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of its third hospital by closing on the previously reported Asset Purchase Agreement to acquire a fifty-four bed acute care hospital, based in Jellico, Tennessee and CarePlus Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky for approximately $658,000. The hospital, known as Jellico Community Hospital, and the CarePlus Center were acquired from Jellico Community Hospital, Inc. and CarePlus Rural Health Clinic, LLC respectively. Due diligence, legal and other costs associated with the acquisition are estimated to be approximately $250,000 meaning the total cost of acquisition to the Company is approximately $908,000.



Jellico Community Hospital is a fully operational 54-bed acute care facility that offers comprehensive services, including diagnostic imaging, radiology, surgery (general, gynecological and vascular), nuclear medicine, wound care and hyperbaric medicine, intensive care, emergency care, and physical therapy. The CarePlus Center offers sophisticated testing capabilities and compassionate care, all in a modern, patient-friendly, environment. Services include Diagnostic Imaging Services, X-ray, Mammography, Bone Densitometry, Computed Tomography (CT), Ultrasound, Physical Therapy and Laboratory Services on a walk-in basis.

Annual net revenues in recent years have been approximately $12 million with government payers including Medicare and Medicaid accounting for in excess of 70% of the payor mix. Rennova does not expect that payor mix to change significantly in the near future.

We are delighted to close this acquisition and believe the purchase price once again demonstrates our ability to purchase operating assets at a fair and favorable price, said Seamus Lagan, CEO of Rennova. This acquisition is expected to add approximately $12 million per annum in collectable net revenue and means we now own three hospitals and two physicians offices, providing needed services to their respective communities, within 100 miles of each other. We believe we can grow the combined revenues to in excess of $50 million and believe we will benefit and profit from synergies in management and provision of services between the facilities.

About Rennova Health, Inc.

Rennova operates three rural hospitals in Tennessee and provides industry-leading diagnostics and supportive software solutions to healthcare providers. Through an ever-expanding group of strategic brands that work in unison to empower customers, we are creating the next generation of healthcare. For more information, please visit www.rennovahealth.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from expectations and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as expect, estimate, project, budget, forecast, anticipate, intend, plan, may, will, could, should, believes, predicts, potential, continue, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors are contained in the Companys most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in their expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.

Contacts:

Rennova Health

Sebastien Sainsbury, 561-666-9818

ssainsbury@rennovahealth.com



# # #
A couple who tested the effects of the poison ricin on their hamster have been charged by the government of Germany with plotting a terrorist attack.

On Thursday, German authorities said suspects Sief Allah H. and Yasmin H. started plotting for attacks in 2018 after Sief Allah H. failed to cross into Syria from Turkey two times, one year earlier.

After the suspects returned to Germany, GBA says he started posting Islamic State propaganda on the internet. Things escalated from there.

From Reuters:

A Tunisian man and his German wife who bought ricin and tested the lethal toxin on a hamster have been charged with plotting Islamist-motivated attacks using a biological weapon, German prosecutors said on Thursday. The GBA Federal Prosecutor's Office said that 30-year-old Sief Allah H. and 43-year-old Yasmin H. had acquired knowledge on how to turn ricin into a weapon and ordered 3,300 grains of the poison, which can be found in castor beans, online. Sief Allah H. was arrested in Cologne in June and police detained Yasmin H. a month later. The couple also face charges of planning attacks using metal balls and homemade explosives as well as seeking membership of Islamic State.

Prosecutors in Germany would not say if the suspects picked a date or location for their planned attacks.

More at general-anzeiger-bonn.de.
At the end of February, the EU Parliament released a bizarre video "explaining" the Copyright Directive, a controversial and sweeping internet regulation that has inspired more opposition than anything else in EU history.



The video was bananas: almost a parody of pro-Directive talking points that had long been debunked, blended with conspiracy theories about the role of "outsiders" (including me!) in the debate. These conspiracy theories keep getting repeated, and debunked.





You can learn a lot about what your opponents are up to based on what they accuse you of: the Parliament and its corporate allies claim that the anti-Copyright Directive movement is driven by corporate lobbyists, working in the shadows and laundering their influence through front groups: it turns out that there are massive corporate expenditures behind the debate over the Directive, and it's almost all coming from the pro-Directive side.

That also turns out to be the case with the Parliament's conspiracy video: MEP Julia Reda used Parliamentary privilege to force the Parliament to explain how this video came to be, and the answer won't surprise you: it was made by AFP, the giant French media company, who have been lobbying heavily for the Directive.

In other words, the Parliament gave public money to a corporation that stands to make millions from a piece of legislation, and then asked that corporation to make a video that used false statements and hysterical language to discredit the opposition to the law. It's not even lobbying, where a corporation uses the promise of campaign cash and other incentives to get officials on-side: this is public officials paying lobbyists to sway public opinion to win a law that will vastly enrich the corporation the lobbyists represent.





This is incredibly bad, obviously, but also par for the course with this Directive.

Here's the thing: the Directive will be voted on in the week of March 25, and that vote will be virtually the last thing the European Parliament does before its members go home to start campaigning for re-relection in Europe's May elections. They will be fighting for their seats against insurgent anti-EU parties who claim that the EU is a corrupt institution that does the bidding of corporate lobbyists and ignores the people.





If the Parliament gets its way, those Eurosceptic parties will go into the elections with a devastating piece of ammunition: if the European Parliament votes in a law in spite of the largest petition in the history of the human race opposing it; if it passes the law after being directly contacted by millions of concerned voters; if it passes the law after massive, continent-wide street demonstrations opposing it, then the Parliament will have proved Eurosceptics' point for them.

If the Directive passes, it will be an example of the EU willfully ignoring both public will and the best expert advice to serve the narrow interests of a handful of giant media companies, creating a policy that will devastate Europe's hopes for developing its own tech sector, while dooming artists to permanent bondage to a handful of abusive media companies.

I'm not surprised that the Parliament did this terrible, stupid thing. That's been their MO from the start in this debate and it's not even the worst thing they've done so far. But I continue to be amazed at how clumsy and baldfaced they are in their undemocratic, unbecoming activity. If you set out to discredit the European project, you could not do a better job than the Parliament is doing today.

I know now how the @europarl_EN came to publish an extremely biased video for the #copyright reform. The good news, it doesn't look like the administration deliberately tried to manipulate the public debate. What actually happened is equally worrying, though:#SaveyourInternet pic.twitter.com/PfcfGI5xOM  Julia Reda (@Senficon) March 7, 2019

The fact that #AFP paid a lobby agency to influence the #copyright vote last September, particularly to push through #Article11, was uncovered by French magazine La Lettre A last year: https://t.co/6uoLYxfLbM #SaveYourInternet  Julia Reda (@Senficon) March 7, 2019

In August, I showed that #AFP was mixing its lobbying activity for #copyright reform and particularly #Article11 with its news reporting, which should be independent. Making the video for @Europarl_EN is a blatant conflict of interest. https://t.co/SvPtifJObn #SaveYourInternet  Julia Reda (@Senficon) March 7, 2019
NEW YORK, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The number of women-owned businesses that applied for funding in 2018 increased by 13 percent, although their funding amounts went down, according to an annual study of women-owned companies by Biz2Credit, a leading online credit marketplace.



The study, which included 30,000 companies nationwide in over 20 industries -- including retail, healthcare, hospitality, construction and professional services, among others -- revealed that the average loan amount for women-owned companies was $48,341 last year. The most common type of funding was working capital for business expansion.

Additionally, the study found that while average annual revenues increased, credit scores for women business owners and the average age of women-owned companies applying for small business loans dipped.

"Small business owners were willing to take more risks in 2018 because the economy was very strong, said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora, who oversaw the research. Women business owners who might have previously held off from borrowing money for expansion or capital improvements, increased last year. Record high optimism and the strong economic tailwinds of 2018 supported the growth of small businesses.

Biz2Credit found that the Average credit scores for women-owned businesses dropped from 598 in 2017 to 588 in 2018 and trailed the scores of their male counterparts (613) by 25 points.

When we take a macro look, women are increasingly becoming entrepreneurial and are applying for loans at earlier stages of their companies life cycles," added Arora, whose firm has arranged more than $2 billion in financing for small business owners in the past decade. Their credit scores often are lower because of both the wage gap and the higher amounts of student loans that they are paying off.

There are some very practical actions that women can take to improve credit scores such as ensuring they are making payments on time, keeping credit utilization to 30 percent or less, and limiting the number of credit inquires, to name a few, Adrienne Garland of She Leads Media , an expert on womens entrepreneurship, says. With improved credit scores, women can seek larger amounts of financing, and use that as leverage to propel their businesses to even greater levels of growth and profitability to accomplish their goals and pursue their dreams.

At the same time, average annual revenues of women-owned business rose from $202,491 in 2017 to $228,578 in 2018, according to Biz2Credit, which analyzed 30,000 applications from business owners through its online platform last year.

Meanwhile, businesses owned by men in 2018 generated about 7 percent more revenue ($473,157) than they did in 2017 ($444,227), and made $244,579 more revenue on average than women-owned businesses last year.

The economy in 2018 was among the strongest on record. Optimism among small business owners was the highest ever recorded and, increasingly, business owners were willing to take risks. Businesses owned by women continue to grow, Arora added.

The Biz2Credit research found that the average funded amount for women-owned businesses ($48,341) was 31% less than the same for Men-owned businesses ($70,239) in 2018.

Funded amounts were lower for both men and women in 2018. This can be attributed, in part, to the high number of SBA loans granted this year. Increasingly, because of the government guarantees that come with SBA loans, banks were willing to lend money to businesses than might not otherwise qualify for traditional bank term loans, Arora explained. Additionally, younger businesses might be more conservative in asking for money and seem to be more carefully managing their growth.

According to Biz2Credit figures, the top five states for applications from women-owned businesses were California (13%), Texas (11%), New York (6%), Georgia (6%), and Ohio (5%). We have seen the most funding requests coming from technology centers like California, Texas, and New York.

We have seen the most funding requests coming from technology centers like Silicon Valley, Austin, Texas, and New York City, areas where the real estate markets are also booming, Arora explained.

Nearly one-in-five loan applications from women-owned businesses were in services (except public administration), which include translation and public relations services, as well as hair salons, nail salons, and cleaning firms, at 19.7%, followed by retail (18.2%). Other industries for which there were the highest percentage of loan applications were: accommodation and food services (14.3%), healthcare and social assistance (7.6%), and construction (6.4%).

Even though women-owned businesses are growing, they still face challenges, especially when the company is in a male-dominated industry. For instance, Maryam Zadeh, owner of the trendy HIIT BOX gym in Brooklyn, NY, had strong personal credit scores and a growing customer base, yet still found it challenging to secure funding.

Were a pioneer in Brooklyn with a boutique fitness gym. I can get press and have a level of notoriety, but often lenders will ask me where my male partner is, said Zadeh, who has twice moved into larger spaces because of the growing customer base for her high intensity interval training. Like any other business, we need growth capital.

She recently secured a bridge loan that enabled her to secure a larger space in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, a once gritty area that is booming. Zadeh says the solid offering of her business, her growth rate, and the positive publicity she has received were helpful in securing funding.

We are adding to our customer base, but with that growth comes increased costs, including front desk help, salaries and other costs, Zadeh says. There is always something to spend money on during a growth phase.

Key findings :

Volume of Applications from women-owned businesses were 28.8% of the applicants in 2018.

from women-owned businesses were in 2018. Average Annual Revenues of women-owned business rose to $228,578 in 2018, an improvement of 13% over 2017.

of women-owned business rose to in 2018, an improvement of 13% over 2017. Average Credit Score for women dropped ten points from 598 in 2017 to 588 in 2018.

for women dropped ten points from 598 in 2017 to in 2018. States where the greatest number of loan applications from women-owned businesses originated were: California, Texas, New York, Georgia, and Ohio.

where the greatest number of loan applications from women-owned businesses originated were: California, Texas, New York, Georgia, and Ohio. Industry Sectors: Services (except Public Administration) represented almost one-in-five (19.7%) women-owned companies in the study. Other top industries included Retail, Accommodation and Food Services, Health Care and Social Assistance, and Construction.

Comparing: Women-owned vs. Male-owned Businesses

Women-to Men Borrowing Ratio : 28.3% vs 71.7% registrations on Biz2Credit.com in 2018.

: 28.3% vs 71.7% registrations on Biz2Credit.com in 2018. Average Annual Revenue Gap women-owned businesses ($228,578) earned $244,579 less on average than male-owned firms ($473,157) in 2018.

women-owned businesses ($228,578) on average than male-owned firms ($473,157) in 2018. Average Credit Score : On an average the credit score for women-owned businesses (588) were 25 points lower than male-owned Businesses (613) in 2018.

: On an average the credit score for women-owned businesses (588) were than male-owned Businesses (613) in 2018. Average Loan Size for women-owned businesses ($48,341) was 31% less than the same for Men-owned businesses ($70,239) in 2018.

for women-owned businesses ($48,341) than the same for Men-owned businesses ($70,239) in 2018. Average Operating Expenses for women-owned Businesses (51%) less as compared to their male counterparts in 2018.

for women-owned Businesses as compared to their male counterparts in 2018. Average Age of Business (in months): 43 vs 52 for male-owned companies (the average age of business in months was lower for women-owned companies in 2018).

About Biz2Credit

Founded in 2007, Biz2Credit has arranged more than $2 billion in small business financing and has several times been named to Crains New Yorks Fast 50 and was recently ranked among the top 200 fast-growing companies on Deloitte's 2018 Technology Fast 500. Biz2Credit is expanding its industry-leading technology in custom digital platform solutions for leading banks and other financial institutions, investors and service providers in the U.S. Visit www.biz2credit.com or follow Biz2Credit on Twitter: @Biz2Credit, Facebook , and LinkedIn .

Media Contact: John Mooney, (908) 720-6057, john@overthemoonpr.com


Cynthia Newman, dean of the college of business administration at Rider University in New Jersey, has resigned from that position after her school denied Chick-fil-A a campus location "based on the company's record widely perceived to be in opposition to the LGBTQ+ community." (Newman will continue as a tenured professor though.) According to the university administrators, Chick-fil-A's "corporate values have not sufficiently progressed enough to align with those of Rider."



I first suspected Newman stepped down because she loves Chick-fil-A's waffle fries so much, but she says she actually has "a problem with University leadership passing judgement on Chick-fil-A's values which are reflective with the values of the Christian as well as other faiths."





"I endeavor every day to do exactly what Chick-fil-A puts forward as its overarching corporate value: to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to me and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with me," Newman said in her resignation speech.



From CNN:

Newman wrote that she asked administrators to apologize for offending Christians, but ultimately decided to step down after the university stuck to its original stance.

"While we respect Dr. Newman's personal decision, we maintain that the decision about choosing an on-campus restaurant franchise was in no way a judgment on religious values," Kristine Brown, a spokeswoman for Rider University, said in a statement to CNN.

"Rather, our intention was to foster a sense of respect and belonging of all members of the campus community, including those who identify as LGBTQ+."



More in the Rider University newspaper: "Dean steps down from position due to religious beliefs" (The Rider News)
Bowalley Road Rules



The blogosphere tends to be a very noisy, and all-too-often a very abusive, place. I intend Bowalley Road to be a much quieter, and certainly a more respectful, place.

So, if you wish your comments to survive the moderation process, you will have to follow the Bowalley Road Rules.

These are based on two very simple principles:

Courtesy and Respect.

Comments which are defamatory, vituperative, snide or hurtful will be removed, and the commentators responsible permanently banned.

Anonymous comments will not be published. Real names are preferred. If this is not possible, however, commentators are asked to use a consistent pseudonym.

Comments which are thoughtful, witty, creative and stimulating will be most welcome, becoming a permanent part of the Bowalley Road discourse.

However, I do add this warning. If the blog seems in danger of being over-run by the usual far-Right suspects, I reserve the right to simply disable the Comments function, and will keep it that way until the perpetrators find somewhere more appropriate to vent their collective spleen.


The workplace can be quite an interesting place when you are having a good run, which usually comes with good tidings like bonuses and promotions. However, there are also bad experiences when you have to deal with the negatives such as cutbacks. If you are an employer, then you are also faced with the difficulties associated with implementing defensive strategies at the workplace. In such cases, both the worker and the employer need to have a good understanding of everything that entails retrenchment South Africa to avoid unfairness and unnecessary legal battles.

Image: pexels.com, Christina Morillo (modified by author)

Source: UGC

Retrenchment happens when an employer dismisses an employee due to changing priorities and operational needs of the business. This option does not happen because a worker is at fault. It is essential for the employer to follow the correct retrenchment process as well as the cutback policy. According to the law, the employer is the one who is solely responsible for proving the fairness of retrenchment, and the employee needs to understand if the right protocol was followed. Therefore, this piece of writing is informative to both the employer and the employee.

READ ALSO: All Discovery medical aid options detailed comparison 2019

Fair retrenchment procedure in South Africa

In South Africa, the Labour Relations Act (LRA) clearly spells out the retrenchment procedure that must be adhered to correctly and in good faith by the employer. So, what steps should be followed for cutbacks to be considered fair?

1. Fair retrenchment process South Africa 2019 dictates that the employer has to issue a notice to the affected parties before engaging in talks with them. These consulting parties include those mentioned in the collective agreement as well as the registered trade union of the workers who will be affected by the move. In the event that there is no trade union, employees or their representatives must be consulted. The notice states the employers desire to retrench certain workers and provides necessary information for the employees to prepare them for any consultations. Some of the information the employer must include in the notice include:

Why the cutback is happening.

The number of total workers and how many employees will be affected by the downsizing.

Measures taken by the employer to avoid the retrenchment of the proposed employees. The employer should also explain why those measures were not accepted or failed and explain why the specific cutback method is appropriate.

The proposed compensation package for the affected staff.

Future employment possibilities for retrenched workers.

The number of staff members that the employer has retrenched within the past year.

The expected time when the workers can leave the company.

Keep in mind that the employees can always request more information from the employer if they feel that the provided information is insufficient. It all depends on the circumstances behind the retrenchment process and decisions.

2. The consulting party responds to the notice, if possible in writing. Consultation in the context of retrenchment South Africa simply means a dialogue to seek an agreement between the employer and the worker who will lose his/her job. The employer responds to the issues raised by the other party, in case he disagrees, and is required to come up with suggestions for the necessary terms and hopes to reach an agreement with the affected person. During the consultation, things like how the selection was made and the compensation for the affected workers should be discussed. During this actual consultation process, the parties involved must agree on other things such as how to:

Avoid or minimize retrenchment.

Change its timing.

Minimize the effects of the move.

Select workers that have to leave.

Severance pay.

Image: pexels.com, Rebrand Cities

Source: UGC

For companies with over 50 employees, South African labour laws stipulate that a minimum number of employees can be retrenched as follows:

50 - 200 workers: 10

200 - 300 workers: 20

300 - 400 workers: 30

400 - 500 workers: 40

500 and above workers: 50

If the employer targets to let go more than 50 employees, that number has to be added to the total number of employees that had to leave in the previous 12 months.

3. In case of a dispute:

The employees can strike.

The employer can lock out the workers.

The parties involved can change the periods for consultation or facilitation.

4. If requested by the employer or workers, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration will appoint a facilitator after 15 days of issuance of the retrenchment letter. 60 days after the retrenchment notice and a facilitator is appointed. After that, several actions can be taken.

Possible reasons for employers not following the retrenchment policy

There are several reasons why an employer can decide to retrench an employee without following the proper procedure. These reasons include:

Disbelief about the power of the law.

Distraction arising from operational reasons that make the employer forget about the legality of a retrenchment.

Poor legal advice given to employers.

Some employers believe that they are above the law.

Sometimes, employers use retrenchment unlawfully to get rid of employees they consider undesirable.

The belief that the law will be lenient on them once it comes out that there was a good reason for the cutback.

As you may have speculated, none of the above is a good reason for an employer to throw the law out of the window in matters concerning retrenchment South Africa. In the eyes of the court, the employee is losing a job through no fault of his/her own and deserves fair treatment. Coupled with the fact that finding a new job is hard, a fair procedure is now more important than ever.

Retrenchment compensation in South Africa

What is a retrenchment package? The retrenchment policy in South Africa clearly states that the retrenched employees are entitled to certain compensation packages. These are:

A severance package, which is usually an amount stipulated in an employees contract. Instead of a severance package, an employer can choose to give the retrenched employee alternative employment. If the employer declines the alternative employment, then he or she will miss out on the severance pay. Secondly, the employer must pay the employee for any leave or time off that the employee has not taken in that year. In addition to the leave package, the employer has to pay a notice pay to the employer depending on the length of time that the employee has been with the company. The notice pay can be either one, two, or four weeks notice payment. One week pay applies to employers that have been with the company for six months or less while the two weeks pay is for those who have been employed between six and 12 months. Anything more than that warrants the four weeks payment. The above payments aside, there is a possibility that the employee had certain clauses in the contract that may require payment in case of situations like retrenchment. These too have to be settled. Once the cutback is complete, then you as the retrenched employee will be entitled to the unemployment benefits from the government. The benefits are under the national Unemployment Insurance Fund for anyone who is unemployed. The unemployment benefits will become available to you within six months after your retrenchment if you have not found employment within two weeks of your retrenchment. For you to receive the benefit, you have to have the following:

Identity card.

The six most recent pay slips.

Proof of being a job-seeker from the Department of Labour.

A statement from your previous employer proving that you were retrenched.

What to do if you are unfairly retrenched

What is unfair retrenchment? This occurs when the right procedure is not followed. The law concerning retrenchment South Africa clearly states the way forward for employees to deal with employers who do not follow the appropriate policy. An employee can do the following:

Refer the case to a necessary authority within 30 days after the retrenchment.

Refer the case to the Labour Court if the matter escalates. The Labour Court can intervene for:

A fair process to be followed Avoidance of the cutback Re-employment of the worker Proper compensation

The demands that the employee makes of the employer have to be within reason, that is, the employer has to be in a position to meet the demands. In addition, the employee has to understand that there is a limit to the compensation received. The compensation cannot exceed 12 months pay.

READ ALSO: KeyHealth: All 2019 medical aid plans detailed review

In recent times, it is crucial for all parties to understand the processes, policies, and strategies of retrenchment South Africa so that protracted legal battles are avoided. In addition, it makes for a smoother transition and amicable parting between the two parties.

READ ALSO:

How to reverse eWallet payment in 2019?

50 best money quotes of all time

Best friend quotes

How to get your tax number in 2019

FNB cellphone banking: how to transfer money and register

Source: Briefly.co.za
Videos of a man allegedly bribing several traffic officers, on different occasions, has gone viral on social media.

PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed!

On Wednesday, Briefly.co.za reported on a video, which showed a man allegedly bribing a traffic officer. However, it appears it was not the motorist's first rodeo.

Later that day, a video compilation was shared on South Africa Live's Facebook page which showed the same man bribing two more traffic cops.

"So this guy went around filming himself dishing out bribes to different traffic officials?" the video was captioned.

The footage quickly went viral, reaching over 95,000 views in less than a day. According to social media users, it is believed all three alleged bribery videos were filmed in Botswana.

A social media user, Steven Moloto, explained that the incident took place in "the rural Botswana."

PAY ATTENTION: Do you want to know what's trending on Briefly.co.za? Join our WhatsApp group today.

However, regardless of the man's nationality, Mzansi was left fuming over the corruption, not only on the side of the officials, but the career briber as well.

READ ALSO: Ramaphosa wants to meet the girl, 8, who penned him an adorable letter

Ronellda Buchanan commented: "The one handing over the bribe should go to jail... thats initiating criminal behaviour..."

Jules Ramaphakela added: "The corruptee must also go to jail."

Take a look at the video below:

Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!

Source: Briefly.co.za
English French

MONTREAL, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier Inc. (Bombardier) today announced that it has successfully closed its previously announced offering of US$2,000,000,000 aggregate principal amount of new Senior Notes due April 15, 2027, which carry a coupon of 7.875% per annum and were sold at 99.2460% of par (the Notes).



Bombardier intends to use the net proceeds of this offering of Notes to finance its previously announced tender offers (collectively, the Tender Offers) for (i) all of its outstanding 7 % Senior Notes due 2020 (2020 Notes) and (ii) up to US$975 million aggregate purchase price of its outstanding 6% Senior Notes due 2021 (the 6 Notes) and 8.750% Senior Notes due 2021 (the 8.750 Notes, together with the 6 Notes, the 2021 Notes) and to pay related fees and expenses. To the extent that less than US$850 million aggregate principal amount of the 2020 Notes is tendered in the tender offer for the 2020 Notes, Bombardier intends to redeem all of its remaining outstanding 2020 Notes through a notice of redemption to be delivered promptly, using a portion of the net proceeds of this offering of Notes. Following such Tender Offers and redemption, and if less than US$975 million aggregate purchase price is tendered in the tender offer for the 2021 Notes, Bombardier intends to use the remaining net proceeds from this offering of Notes, if any, for general corporate purposes, including the repayment and/or retirement of other outstanding debt.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or buy or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation, sale or purchase of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offering, solicitation, sale or purchase would be unlawful.

The Notes mentioned herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, any state securities laws or the laws of any other jurisdiction, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. The Notes mentioned herein may be offered and sold in the United States only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act and outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. The Notes mentioned herein have not been and will not be qualified for distribution to the public under applicable Canadian securities laws and, accordingly, any offer and sale of the securities in Canada will be made on a basis which is exempt from the prospectus requirements of such securities laws. The Notes are being offered and sold in Canada on a private placement basis only to accredited investors pursuant to certain prospectus exemptions.

The redemption of the 2020 Notes, if required, will be made pursuant to a notice of redemption under the indenture governing the 2020 Notes.

The Tender Offers mentioned herein are being conducted in accordance with separate Offers to Purchase relating thereto.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements based on current expectations. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to important known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

For information


NEW YORK, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via CannabisNewsWire -- Cannabis entrepreneurs and investors from throughout the burgeoning cannabis industry are heading to Canada for the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference slated for April 17-18 in Toronto. Hosted by premier financial media outlet Benzinga, the Cannabis Capital Conference offers an incredible opportunity for cannabis companies, policy makers, entrepreneurs and industry trailblazers to find new opportunities and learn from those on the front line of this rapidly evolving sector.



Held at Torontos gorgeous Fairmont Royal York hotel situated in the heart of the city, the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is packed with two full days of engaging panels, fireside chats, lightning round presentations, facilitated networking opportunities and leading industry keynote speakers. Past attendees rave about Benzingas Cannabis Capital Conference as the best event to connect cannabis companies and investors in an environment that encourages one-on-one interactions and open conversation.

Benzingas Cannabis Capital Conference brings an eclectic group of forward-thinking cannabis entrepreneurs and investors together in a setting that encourages deals, deepens knowledge, and enables progress for the cannabis sector, said Neal Hamilton, vice president of marketing for Benzinga. This conference series consistently attracts an outstanding array of investors, business owners and cannabis experts who are eager to learn, grow and succeed in this rapidly evolving marketplace.

Day one of the conference features an exclusive, content-based conference for cannabis executives, investors and service providers that will focus on Canadas changing cannabis landscape post-legalization, market volatility, emerging markets and more. Day two caters to networking opportunities for conference goers who are invited to take full advantage of one-on-one opportunities to make deals and learn from cannabis influencers, policymakers and trailblazers.

Tickets for the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference are on sale now and can be purchased online at https://BenzingaCannabisConference.com . Early bird pricing, which saves attendees more than half of the standard conference price, is available until March 8. Investors can see if they qualify for a free full access pass by emailing bzcannabis@benzinga.com .

About Benzinga

Benzinga is a dynamic and innovative financial media outlet that empowers investors with high-quality, unique content that is coveted by Wall Street's top traders. Benzinga provides timely, actionable ideas that help users navigate even the most uncertain and volatile markets  in real-time with an unmatched caliber. From breakouts to unusual volume, analyst ratings, futures and options, Benzinga is the leading full-service, one-stop shop for investors of all stripes and styles.

Cannabis Capital Conference Contact:

www.benzingacannabisconference.com

877.440-9464 (ZING)

events@benzinga.com
MIAMI, Fla. , March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From a disaster, an important innovation in protecting storm-damaged homes was developed. After Hurricane Irma struck the Miami area in 2017, it was declared the most powerful hurricane to hit the continental United States since Katrina and left behind about $65 billion in damage. Friends Larry Bond, Spiro Naos and Christopher Mouriz were riding together in a truck after the storm when they saw a boat on a trailer traveling at about 70 mph. The boat was protected with a layer of shrink wrap.

This moment hatched the concept for WrapRoof.

The men have a combined 50 years of experience in construction and general contracting, and they immediately understood how a shrink-wrap method could protect buildings better than the current standard of blue tarps.

I had family members who had their homes damaged, Bond said. One of them paid $700 for tarps, and their house was still leaking. It frustrated me, and I thought, This could be the solution.

Through the Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA provides temporary coverage to damaged buildings with blue tarps. Known as Operation Blue Roof, the tarps are meant to provide temporary protection until permanent repairs can be made. Installing tarps requires nails and screws, and the method comes with the risk of mold development. Even worse, blue tarp roofing is effective for only 30 days.

Bond, Naos and Mouriz thought they could shrink-wrap damaged roofs to better protect buildings against leaks, mold and further damage. They tested how to heat-shrink a drum-tight layer of durable plastic on a roof, experimenting first on a dog house, then on a backyard shed, and finally on their own homes. The method was perfected, and they lost no time in establishing their new business, WrapRoof. The men wanted to help Floridians protect their belongings, homes and businesses.

Insurance adjusters love WrapRoof, and immediately the new company was busy shrink-wrapping mansions, ranch homes and everything between. Since that fateful day in 2017, WrapRoof has protected hundreds of residential and commercial buildings, from Key West to the Florida Panhandle.

Benefits of the WrapRoof system include:

A 1-year warranty

Ties into existing ventilation systems

Covers an entire roof and floats above the surface it protects

Can withstand winds up to 55 mph

Does not require sandbags, nails, screws or other intrusive methods on top of your roof for installation

Uses semi-translucent plastic, which allows light in and prevents mold from growing

WrapRoof operates throughout the entire state of Florida and is registered in the System of Award Management (SAM). With US Federal Contractor Registration's educational resources, they are learning the processes of federal contracting. Bond, Naos and Mouriz seek to help FEMA improve their disaster relief efforts and provide the roofing industry with a better temporary solution that protects properties from further damage.
Helado Negro's "This Is How You Smile" Is A Dreamlike Journey

HELADO NEGRO

This Is How You Smile

(RVNG Intl.)

Helado Negro, the musical project of Roberto Carlos Lange, unravels the threads of Langes identity in a cloud of electro-anchored Tropicalia. His Ecuador/Miami/New York ties create a framework for This Is How You Smile, which Lange describes as, the soundtrack of a person approaching you, slowly, for 40 minutes. The dream-like journey magnifies scars and snapshots, uncovers auras, affirms familial bonds, and validates existence as a Latinx in America. Brown wont go/Brown just glows, he sings on the flickering, tender embrace of ambient opener Please Wont Please. Langes Young, Latin, and Proud message from his 2016 Helado Negro offering, Private Energy, is carried further into this new release, helping to reveal the hazy figure as Lange himself. 4/5

ADVERTISEMENT

This Is How You Smile is out March 8, 2019

By Erin Wolf

This piece originally appeared in the March/April 2019 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!

More from BUST

TEEN Goes Bigger And Bolder With "Good Fruit"

This Brooklyn Based Band is Breaking Borders And Tearing Down Walls With Their Music

Lupa J Searches For The Perfect Woman In New Music Video For "Moth"
Sergio Martinez Campos, Hispano Suiza CEO, at the Geneva Motor Show 2019. Photo: Jill Petzinger

A storied car brand made its comeback at the Geneva Motor Show this week. Hispano Suiza, which belongs to Spains Suque Mateu family and rivalled Rolls-Royce back in the day, produced 12,000 cars from 1904 and 1946.

So why revive a brand that has been dead for over 70 years? Sergio Martinez Campos, Hispano Suiza CEO, told Yahoo Finance UK the time was right to bring back the brand and launch its new electric sportscar, the Carmen, because the car industry is finally embracing electrification.

The seed was planted in 1899, Campos said, when the engineer who co-founded the company with Damian Mateu made one of the first-ever electric prototypes, but it was rejected and the company went on to make petrol-powered cars.

The Carmens wild lines and retro curves echo its 1930s Art-Deco predecessor, Hispano Suizas Dubonnet Xenia, of which only one was built. The 1,005 horsepower car has a carbon fiber monocoque chassis, a top speed capped at 155 mph (250 kph), and will accelerate to 62 mph (100 kmh) in under three seconds.

Only 19 of them will be built, by hand, at the firms workshop in Barcelona. The Carmen will cost 1.5m (1.3m, $1.7m) each.

Its not as simple as paying your money and waiting, however. Hispano Suiza works with every potential client to ensure that they are right for the company and the company is right for them. Then, if each are deemed a good match for the other, the car will be customised  including performance, color, and the interior smell  to suit its owner.

Looking around the Geneva car show, teeming with executives under financial pressure to deliver on sales targets, begs the question of whether the head of Hispano Suiza has a dream job. But there is pressure, Campos said. In the sales process we do due diligence on the customers. The 19 cars are not all sold yet, and he must work on hand-selecting the perfect clients.

The financing for the development and production of the Carmen (theres a 40-strong team working on it) all comes from the Suque Mateu family. Hispano Suiza the only car brand where the owners are 100% family, Campos said. The family owns the Peralada Group, which comprises casinos, high-end hotels and resorts, Michelin-starred restaurants, and vineyards.

Story continues

Its very important to understand that Hispano Suiza is a lifestyle, a concept, according to the CEO, noting that youre not just buying into a car, youre buying into the luxury Peralada universe.

He describes their customers as super-collectors. Whether or not these super-collectors will actually drive their Carmens, rather than store them like works of art or museum pieces, is not really a concern for the company, Campos said.

However, since QEV Technologies, the engineering company behind Mahindra Racings Formula E-winning team, also developed the Carmen, they definitely should take it out for a spin.
(Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co. sued the U.S. government for barring its equipment from certain networks, delivering a legal riposte to American accusations it aids China in espionage.

The lawsuit is aimed at a U.S. statute that blocks government agencies from using equipment from Huawei and its domestic rival ZTE Corp., according to a complaint filed in federal court in Texas. Huawei argues in the suit that its unconstitutional to single out a person or a group for penalty without a fair trial.

The action signals a more aggressive response from the company toward its U.S. accusers, who have been trying to persuade other countries to ban Huawei gear from crucial fifth-generation communications networks. The complaint landed days after finance chief Meng Wanzhou sued Canadas government for allegedly trampling her constitutional rights during her December arrest -- an effort to discredit the case against her as she awaits potential extradition to the U.S. for bank fraud.

The White House didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

In its U.S. case, Huawei is taking aim at a provision in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. That provision bars any executive agency, government contractor or company that receives a government loan or grant from using Huawei and ZTE equipment, according to the complaint. The Chinese company argues that the provision is a bill of attainder, a legislative punishment without trial thats prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.

Thats a very hard argument to win but certainly something that they can try in an effort to slow down the federal government, Peter Henning, a professor at Wayne State University Law School, told Bloomberg on a podcast.

Legal experts give Huaweis lawsuit little chance of success based on a recent, similar case filed by Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab Inc.

In September 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security directed agencies to stop using Kasperskys anti-virus software based on concerns the Russian government could use the programs to spy on federal information systems. President Trump signed the ban Dec. 12, 2017.

Story continues

A Washington DC-based appeals court agreed late last year with a lower courts rejection of Kasperskys argument that the prohibition amounted to an unconstitutional bill of attainder because it addressed a national security vulnerability.

Huawei is increasingly in the crosshairs of the U.S. government and its allies, just as its pushing for leadership in supplying fifth-generation wireless technology. Countries are preparing to spend billions on the potentially revolutionary equipment aimed at enabling everything from smart highways to self-driving cars. The worlds top provider of networking gear faces the prospect of being shut out of pivotal infrastructure markets. And the clash has complicated negotiations between Washington and Beijing as they try to hammer out a trade deal.

Huawei also repeated its argument that a blockade on its gear simply disadvantages Americans.

Consumers in the United States (particularly in rural and poor areas) will be deprived of access to the most advanced technologies, and will face higher prices and a significantly less competitive market, the company said in the complaint.

Washington-based law firm Jones Day is representing Huawei in the lawsuit.

U.S. officials and industry executives have long harbored questions about Huaweis ties to Chinas government, and concerns about its technology have mounted in lockstep with its growing success. Federal authorities in Seattle are investigating the company for allegedly stealing trade secrets from U.S. partner T-Mobile US Inc., and in December Meng was arrested in Canada on fraud charges linked to Iran trade-sanction violations.

This is one part of a much broader effort here to confront China over trade secrets theft and how the Chinese government is subsidizing companies and trying to get their products into the United States, Henning said.

The case is Huawei Technologies v. U.S., 4:19-cv-00159, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas (Sherman).

(Updates with effort to reach White House for comment in fourth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Laurel Calkins, Joel Rosenblatt, Tom Mackenzie and Sabrina Mao.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.net;John Liu in Beijing at jliu42@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wollman at ewollman@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Oil pipes in an oil field

Oil continues to gain ground with the international benchmark Brent surging by 23% since the start of the year to be trading at US$66 a barrel. Despite this solid performance, many upstream oil producers, like Gran Tierra Energy (TSX:GTE)(NYSE:GTE) have failed to keep pace, with the Colombia-based driller only gaining 4%. This has created an opportunity for investors seeking to boost their exposure to crude and access outsized returns.

Growing reserves and production

Gran Tierra reported some solid full-year 2018 results. These include record annual production of 36,209 barrels of oil daily, which was 15% greater than a year earlier. It also announced that its proven and probable oil reserves had grown by 4% to 142 million barrels of oil equivalent weighted 99% to petroleum liquids. Those reserves have been determined to have a net-present-value of US$5.96 per share, which is almost triple Gran Tierras current market value, underscoring the considerable potential upside available.

The driller continues to benefit from some of the highest netbacks in its industry, which is important to note because this is a key measure of operational profitability for an upstream oil producer. For 2018, Gran Tierra reported an operating netback of US$41.85 per barrel, which was an impressive 42% higher than 2017 and one of the best among its peers. A key reason for the significant profitability of Gran Tierras production is its ability to access Brent pricing.

You see, for some time the international oil price has been trading at a significant premium to the North American benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which currently is close to US$10 per barrel. That gives Gran Tierra a handy financial advantage over those drillers solely focused on operating in North America. While there were claims by some analysts toward the end of 2018 that the price differential could expand to well over US$10 a barrel, this is unlikely, although it should remain at current levels for the foreseeable future.

Story continues

For these reasons, Gran Tierra reported some solid full-year financial results. The drillers EBITDA, when compared to 2017, more than doubled to US$377 million, while its net income jumped to US$103 million compared to a US$32 million loss a year earlier.

Gran Tierra also expects its 2019 oil production to grow by up to 19% to somewhere between 41,000 and 43,000 barrels daily. At US$65 a barrel Brent, it has forecast an operating netback of US$30-34.50 per barrel, which, combined with higher production, should give its earnings a healthy bump.

There is also every likelihood that oil will appreciate further with some analysts tipping that Brent could rise to as high as US$75 a barrel during 2019, which would further boost Gran Tierras earnings. Higher oil will also cause the value of the drillers reserves to increase because its net present value was calculated using an assumed Brent price of US$64.50 per barrel for 2019 and US$67.90 for 2020. This  along with rising earnings  would act as a powerful tailwind for Gran Tierras stock.

Gran Tierra is also focused on expanding its oil reserves and production, possessing considerable exploration upside across its acreage, while making opportunistic acquisitions that fit with those existing properties. Late last month, Gran Tierra announced it had entered agreements to purchase private companies; on completion they will bolster its presence in Colombias Putumayo and Llanos Basins as well as increase its 2019 production.

For a company that has been aggressively expanding its operations, Gran Tierra has a rock-solid balance sheet. It finished 2018 with considerable liquidity, holding US$51 million in cash and no debt maturities until 2021. The drillers long-term debt of US$399 million is a very manageable 1.1 times trailing 12-month EBITDA, and that ratio is expected to fall further as earnings grow.

Why buy Gran Tierra?

The outlook for oil continues to improve, making Gran Tierra a particularly attractive investment. Not only does it possess a quality portfolio of oil assets, significant exploration upside, and a strong balance sheet, but the driller is trading at a deep discount to the net present value of its oil reserves. This makes now the time for investors seeking outsized returns to buy Gran Tierra.

More reading

Fool contributor Matt Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2019
A "moosarandum of understanding" brings to an end the battle between communities in Saskatchewan and Norway fighting over which one has the world's largest moose statue.

On Wednesday, Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie and Stor-Elvdal Deputy Mayor Linda Otnes Henriksen announced a "Moose Truce."

Henriksen's town currently holds the record for largest moose statue in the world, a record that once belonged to Moose Jaw. The Saskatchwan city's Mac the Moose is 9.8-metres tall, while the Norwegian statue is 10 metres.

It has been agreed that Mac will reclaim the title as world's tallest moose with alterations that will be paid for with a $25,000 donation from Moosehead Breweries. Meanwhile, the four-year-old statue named Storelgen in Stor-Elvdal, will "forevermore be known as the shiniest and most attractive moose in the world."

Tolmie and Henriksen also discussed a potential twinning of their communities as well as several events that could provide tourism opportunities for both "moose-ipalities."

Premier does 'moose dance'

Mariusz.ks/Wikipedia, Shutterstock

During her visit to Saskatchewan, Henriksen stopped by Premier Scott Moe's office. After discussing the "Moose Truce" and posing for some photos, the Norwegian politician taught the premier a "moose dance"  featured in a Visit Norway video.

Mac built in 1984

Tourism Moose Jaw is currently working with engineers to figure out how to safely make Mac taller.

"Mac is a bit older, and we had to look and make sure he will be structurally sound to take on new antlers," he said. "We're waiting for those reports back and then make that assessment."

Mac is sculpted from concrete and steel and is located on the grounds of Moose Jaw's visitors' centre. It was built in 1984 by Saskatoon artist Don Foulds.

Brian Rodgers/CBC

Moose Jaw will celebrate Norway Day each May 17 with an official proclamation and activities celebrating all things Norwegian.

Story continues

In Stor-Elvdal, Oct. 15 is Storelgen's birthday. It will also be known as Canada Day, with an official proclamation and similar celebrations of Canadiana.

Tyler Pidlubny/CBC

Henriksen came to Saskatchewan to meet with Tolmie on Saturday. Since then, she's been kept busy, including attending Prism Awards for businesswomen in Moose Jaw, school visits and a trip to the base at 15 Wing Moose Jaw.

"Everyone here has been so great. This has just been amazing," she said. "I am charmed."

The proposed "moosarandum of understanding" was signed by Tolmie and Hendriksen, but will have to be approved by their respective municipal councils.
Gerald Butts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former top aide, testified Wednesday there was no intention on the government's part to pressure Jody Wilson-Raybould to change her mind on the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, and official engagements were meant only to ensure she had the full facts on the impact of a potential conviction.

"I am firmly convinced that nothing happened here beyond the normal operations of government," he told the Commons justice committee.

At all times, he said, the prime minister made it clear that the decision to prosecute or not was Wilson-Raybould's alone to make as attorney general, but that the issue merited robust discussion and consideration because there were so many jobs at risk.

Butts said highly trained legal staff worked on the file to ensure no line was crossed in engagements with the then-attorney general. He said the objective was to underscore the impact of a prosecution, including the thousands of jobs at stake.

Those discussions continued because Wilson-Raybould never informed the prime minister or other officials in writing of her decision, he said, leading people to believe that new information could come to light that would affect the decision. Butts said he first learned her decision was final in her committee testimony last week.

Butts also insisted Wilson-Raybould's move to the Veterans Affairs portfolio in a Jan. 14 cabinet shuffle had nothing to do with the SNC-Lavalin matter.

He said he did not want to quarrel with or discredit Wilson-Raybould but would offer a "different version of events," backed up by his own notes, text messages and conversations with other officials.

"It was not about second-guessing the decision. It was about ensuring that the attorney general was making her decision with the absolute best evidence possible," Butts said.

He said officials always understood the final call on whether to override a decision by the independent director of public prosecutions rested with Wilson-Raybould as attorney general.

Story continues

Because of the enormous impact of her decision, officials suggested getting an independent opinion from a former retired Supreme Court justice such as Beverley McLachlin, the former chief justice.

Butts said if Wilson believed something inappropriate was happening, she had many opportunities to inform the prime minister, but did not. The allegations did not come to light until after the cabinet shuffle, he said.

"If this was wrong, and wrong in the way it is alleged to have been wrong, why are we having this discussion now and not in the middle of September, or October, or November, or December?"

Later, he said: "I firmly believe that nothing inappropriate occurred here and nothing inappropriate was alleged to have occurred until after the cabinet shuffle."

The Liberal-dominated committee rejected an NDP motion to call Wilson-Raybould back to respond to Butts. Wilson-Raybould told CBC News that she would return if asked.

"With respect to the committee, I would of course make myself available to the Committee if requested to give additional testimony, to answer any further questions and to provide further clarity that may be required," she said in an email. "I will note, as I indicated at the time, my statement to the committee was not a complete account but only a detailed summary."

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said today's testimony does nothing to disprove the claim that Trudeau and his highest-ranking officials tried to politically interfere in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin by "bullying and threatening" Wilson-Raybould. "It continued, despite Ms. Wilson-Raybould rendering a final decision and telling the Prime Minister's Office to back off. And when she wouldn't do what Mr. Trudeau wanted her to do, she was fired," he said in a statement. "The bottom line is Justin Trudeau tried to subvert the rule of law to win elections and benefit his friends. Nothing Canadians heard today conflicts with that."

Butts disputed Wilson-Raybould's testimony last week  that she believed she was shuffled over the SNC-Lavalin matter  insisting Trudeau tried hard to avoid a shuffle because he was "happy with his team."

The prime minister tried unsuccessfully to have Scott Brison change his mind about resigning as Treasury Board president, Butts said. Having moved Jane Philpott to the position, he said, Trudeau asked Wilson-Raybould to take on the Indigenous Services portfolio, which she refused.

Butts said the PMO was surprised by her refusal, as cabinet decisions are "not the product of shared decision-making." But he said he tried to reassure her that her eventual move to Veterans Affairs had nothing to do with the SNC-Lavalin matter.

'Deeply concerned'

"I was deeply concerned by what the minister was saying. I tried to counter her misapprehensions with repeated, and believe me, honest efforts," he said. "In the end, I was unable to do so, and here we are today."

Wilson-Raybould testified last week that the week before the cabinet shuffle, she received a call from Trudeau advising her she was being moved from the justice portfolio. She would not divulge details of any communications regarding the shuffle but said she believed the reason she was moved from justice was "because of the SNC matter."

Butts said he takes responsibility for the "breakdown" in trust with Wilson-Raybould, and ultimately with Philpott.

Philpott resigned from cabinet Monday, citing a loss of confidence in the government's handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair.

The committee resumed with testimony from Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick and Nathalie Drouin, the deputy justice minister and deputy attorney general. CBCNews.ca is carrying it live.

Butts resigned Feb. 18 amid a growing controversy over alleged political interference related to a decision to prosecute SNC-Lavalin for bribery charges related to contracts in Libya.

In explosive testimony last week, Wilson-Raybould said she faced intense pressure and veiled threats from 11 officials from the Prime Minister's Office and elsewhere in government.

She said she was contacted through phone calls, meetings and text messages.

"For a period of four months from September to December 2018, I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my role as the attorney general of Canada in an inappropriate effort to secure a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with SNC-Lavalin," Wilson-Raybould testified.

She said she met with Butts on Dec. 5 to speak about a number of things, including SNC-Lavalin and the "barrage" of people "hounding" her and her staff.

Towards the end of that meeting at Chateau Laurier, she said, she told Butts that people must stop talking to her about SNC as she had made up her mind and the engagements were inappropriate.

"Gerry then took over the conversation and said how we need a solution on the SNC stuff. He said I needed to find a solution," Wilson-Raybould testified.

Today, Butts offered a very different account, recalling a two-hour dinner followed by congenial exchanges. He said he considered Wilson-Raybould a friend.

The former attorney general said she always believed that Butts was speaking with the "full authority" of the prime minister.

Wilson-Raybould also testified about a conversation her then chief of staff Jessica Prince had with Butts and Katie Telford, where they seemed "quite keen" on the idea of retaining an ex-Supreme Court justice to get advice. She testified that Prince said Telford believed it would give them "cover" in the business community and the legal community, and allow the prime minister to say they were doing something.

"She was like, 'If Jody is nervous, we would of course line up all kinds of people to write op-eds saying that what she is doing is proper,'" Wilson-Raybould said, reading from a text from Prince.

Butts said the discussion was not meant to exert pressure but to seek to understand the "reticence" in gaining external advice, which he considered to be sound public policy.

Liberals block Wilson-Raybould's return

Conservative justice critic and deputy leader Lisa Raitt called the decision not to bring back Wilson-Raybould "atrocious."

"The reality is there are stark contradictions and one of them isn't telling the full story," she said. "And we need to find which one it is."

In his opening statement, Wernick said he was "profoundly disappointed" by the fact that his testimony last week was characterized by some as partisan. He repeated his claim that he never applied inappropriate pressure on, or issued veiled threats against, Wilson-Raybould.

"The minister experienced lawful advocacy to consider doing something lawful in the public interest," he said.

In testimony peppered with testy exchanges with opposition MPs, Wernick said Wilson-Raybould's decision not to intervene was not considered final.

"As a matter of law, the decision is never final because she could always take into consideration public interest considerations and was able to take into account new information," he said.

Drouin said there was never any obligation on the part of the attorney general to present a written statement on her decision, or to provide reasons for it.

She said the Privy Council Office asked her department Oct. 19 for an opinion on the potential impacts of a criminal conviction on SNC-Lavalin, but that legal opinion was not provided to the PCO "at the request of the minister's office."

The justice committee reconvenes March 19  the day Finance Minister Bill Morneau tables his next budget  to debate whether to call more witnesses.




Canadians may have a reputation for saying sorry, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is refusing to do so for his role in the SNC-Lavalin scandal.

Speaking to reporters Thursday in Ottawa, Trudeau took responsibility for not being aware of an erosion of trust that developed between his former principal secretary, Gerry Butts, and the former attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould.

There was no breakdown of our systems, of our rule of law, of the integrity of our institutions, Trudeau said. There was never any inappropriate pressure.

The prime ministers speech was longer than 10 minutes, but there was one glaring omission.

Conspicuously, there was no apology, said Frank Buckley, a founding professor of law at George Mason University whos written several books and served as a former speechwriter for U.S. President Donald Trump. It really was remarkable for what a skeptic would regard as a cover-up.

Trudeau has been embroiled in a political crisis for a month now. The Globe and Mail reported on Feb. 7 that Wilson-Raybould faced pressure from the Prime Ministers Office while she was the attorney general to offer a remediation agreement to Montreal-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. This would help the company avoid a criminal prosecution for allegedly offering bribes to secure contracts in Libya.

SNC-Lavalin has 9,000 employees in Canada and a criminal conviction could potentially put those people out of work because it would prohibit the company from applying for government contracts for 10 years.





Wilson-Raybould testified last week that she faced inappropriate effort that included veiled threats from many people within the government over a four-month period in late 2018 to secure a Deferred Prosecution Agreement for SNC-Lavalin.

In January, Wilson-Raybould was shifted out of the justice ministry and into the veterans affairs portfolio during a cabinet shuffle. Trudeau has maintained that she would still be attorney general if former Liberal MP Scott Brison hadnt decided to resign, prompting a cabinet shakeup. However, the move from the justice ministry to veterans affairs is mostly viewed as a demotion.

Story continues

Butts testified Wednesday that nothing inappropriate took place, and this was simply the normal operations of government. He contended that Wilson-Raybould had a different version of events and no lines were ever crossed by government officials.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer came out swinging again following Trudeaus speech, accusing the prime minister of being fake and phony in his address.

He had an opportunity today to show some leadership, to accept responsibility for what he, himself, has done. And instead, he chose to duck and hide.

Deeply scandalous allegations

Scheer repeated his call for Trudeau to resign as prime minister. The Opposition leader also wants Trudeau to appear before the House justice committee to testify on the matter. So far, none of that has happened.

Buckley told Yahoo Canada that no matter how you slice it, the allegations are deeply, deeply scandalous and it was frustrating to see that Trudeau would not apologize.

There are a number of things he couldve, at a minimum, apologized for, Buckley said. He had a lot of sleazebags working in the Prime Ministers Office.

Earlier this week, University of Toronto assistant politics professor Renan Levine noted the scandal has gotten worse for Trudeau since Jane Philpott, one of Trudeaus top ministers, resigned from cabinet over the handling of the matter.

On March 7, 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there was never any inappropriate pressure placed on Jody Wilson-Raybould while she was the attorney general. Photo from The Canadian Press.

The prime minister admitted he couldve done a better job communicating with his minister, especially given the challenge of balancing potential job losses while maintaining the rule of law.

She did not come to me, and I wish she had, Trudeau said, adding that conversations were experienced differently. He admitted it had been a tough few weeks as prime minister.

Canadians expect and deserve to have faith in their institutions and the people who act within them.

However, Scheer repeatedly claimed that Trudeau acted inappropriately for partisan gain and trust between the prime minister and Canadians had been broken.

The truth cannot be experienced differently, he said. There is such a thing as right and wrong and real leaders know the difference between them.
Tirael Cohen is a resident of the Jordan Valley and founder and CEO of Kedma , a nonprofit group that encourages settlement by young people.

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.

.

..Israel Hayom..07 March '19..Last weekend, an interview with Maj. Gen. (res.) Tal Russo  the Labor Party's "security and defense" guy  was published in which he supposedly criticized the "whining" by residents of Gaza-adjacent communities. The response led to an apology by, the newspaper that ran the interview, and a clarification that stated that Russo had never actually made the remarks attributed to him.But the very discussion about the "whining" by residents of the Gaza periphery reveals a deep lack of understanding about the role of Jewish settlement on the country's borders. Residents of the communities near the Gaza Strip aren't hapless victims of terrorism who burden the defense establishment, but rather the civil front that protects the country's southwest border. The question isn't how much the people near Gaza suffer or what the defense establishment is doing to ease that suffering, but rather how we should defend our border with Gaza. The communities just east of Gaza take a daily part in the country's battle to protect its sovereignty and security. They are the front that protects the center of the country. Remember the days of Operation Protective Edge. The residents of the Galilee communities along the border with Lebanon are Israel's northern line of defense and they are facing the threat of Hezbollah's attack tunnels. The residents of the Jordan Valley, Judea and Samaria do the same on Israel's eastern border. It could be that the daily struggles of the border settlements and communities aren't heard a few dozen kilometers away from central Israel. It's easy to forget what the residents constantly have to deal with and take the relative quiet for granted.But the security of the nation rests on settlement, on human communities that implement our borders, and have since the days of the "wall and tower" operations. The Zionist choice to protect borders through settlement is an inseparable part of Israel's defense and security creed.The residents of the communities near Gaza aren't whiners. They explain and describe the challenges of life on the border. Their day-to-day reality exposes an uncomfortable truth about the country's security situation, and it's sometimes easier to dismiss their claims as "whining." But Israel should salute them, and be willing to listen about the challenges of their life.Other than the distress of the residents of Gaza-adjacent communities, border communities in general are the subject of systemic neglect. The rural settlements on the country's northern, southern, and eastern borders are seen more as a problem and less as a national challenge, with the settlers forming the vanguard.Strengthening border communities is a national mission: through tourism (the south is red with anemones, and the Galilee and Jordan Valley have never been greener); through agriculture (more hands are always needed); and through the economy (settlement businesses). Brave people have a chance to implement Zionism in the 21st century by joining settlement communities.




My posting is so backlogged that I am just now writing about my Hawaiian Islands trip (Apr 28 - May 5, 2018). The trip began when we met up with our cruise buddies in Maui airport where we took the same flight out to Kona. Upon collecting the rental car, we took a long scenic drive to Hilo where our lovely AirBnB accommodation was located near there. We stopped briefly at Costco and Safeway for supplies. The house we got was beautiful and spacious. It has a wrap-around balcony. The front balcony looks out to the water, although it is not located on the beach. We made dinner and ate in the first night. We couldn't believe our luck in finding this house. Sometimes you don't know for sure what you'll get with these rentals, but this one's a sure winner.I woke up early the next day, grabbed my journal and went to the balcony to write. It was a drizzly day as I look out to the water, the surf was a little rough. My attention shifted to the little birds that took turns on the electric wire. My writing took a back seat as I started to focus on taking photos (I also grabbed the camera).Pretty soon, I wasn't alone in the balcony. Then it was time to make and eat breakfast. We planned to cook most of our meals to cut back on our expenses, as you know Hawaii can be very expensive.The first order of business is to see the black sand beach or Punalu'u Beach , From the house, it felt like a long drive to get there especially since it had been drizzly and dreary all morning long, but once we were there the clouds parted temporarily and the sun peeked out giving a taste of true Hawaiian experience. The black sand beach is one of the must-sees in the Big Island, especially for the turtles that come here. No turtles were seen on that day unfortunately, but the whole visit was a big thumbs up regardless.The beach is very popular to visitors as we saw. We had a difficult time looking for parking - no parking structure or lot available, just street parking.There is a very nice pond across the water beyond the row of coconut trees, where a couple of ducks were seen floating peacefully until they hopped on the sand and started pecking at each other. What is that about? It was nice to watch how quickly the scene transitioned from peacefully floating together to pecking at each other the minute their webbed feet touch sand. SKYWATCH is a weekly gathering of sky lovers and sky watchers. Join us.
It was this last float that fuelled the most outrage. Videos and pictures of it circulated on social media and YouTube. The float is fronted by two giant models in pink suits, wearing sidelocks and shtreimels  a fur hat traditionally worn by Hasidic Jews  and with large, hooked noses. One of them has a rat on his shoulder. Both are standing on piles of gold coins and are surrounded by bags of money.

It was this last float that fuelled the most outrage. Videos and pictures of it circulated on social media and YouTube. The float is fronted by two giant models in pink suits, wearing sidelocks and shtreimels  a fur hat traditionally worn by Hasidic Jews  and with large, hooked noses. One of them has a rat on his shoulder. Both are standing on piles of gold coins and are surrounded by bags of money.

A carnival parade in the city of Aalst, in Belgium's Flemish region, has come under criticism for offensive costumes and displays  and not for the first time. The parade on Sunday, March 3, featured people dressed in Ku Klux Klan costumes, people in blackface, and one float with huge models of stereotypically Jewish figures.

The Coordinating Committee of Belgian Jewish Organisations in Belgium (CCOJB) and the Forum of Jewish Organisations (FJO) said in a statement, "At best, this shows a reprehensible lack of judgment, especially given the context of rising anti-Semitism in our country and in the world, at worst this is a reproduction of the worst anti-Semitic caricatures of the Nazi era".

A spokesperson from the European Commission called it "unthinkable" that anti-Semitic imagery was featured in the parade 70 years after the Holocaust.





However, the town's mayor, Christoph D'Haese, published an op-ed in Dutch media HLN defending the parade. He railed against any "censorship" of the festival, and said that those who participated in the parade should not be "lumped in with anti-Semites".





Local media reported that the leader of the far-right party Forza Ninove, Guy D'haeseleer, posed next to participants dressed up as Ku Klux Klansmen, drawing further condemnation from anti-discrimination associations.




TORONTO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trigon Metals Inc. (TSX-V: TM) (Trigon or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shandong Xinhai Mining Technology & Equipment Inc. (Xinhai) pursuant to which Xinhai has agreed to invest in Trigon, in exchange for the right to be appointed as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the open pit mining operations at Trigons Kombat project in northern Namibia (Kombat or the Project) (the Proposed Transaction). The open pit operations represent the first phase of Kombats life of mine strategy to bring both the open pit and underground mines back into production.



Xinhai has a proven track record of successful implementation of large-scale engineering and construction projects in Africa and is well placed to partner with Trigon to support the restart of mining at Kombat.

Pursuant to the MOU, Xinhai has agreed to invest up to 10% of the capital requirements of the Project by way of providing services in exchange for equity in Trigon. The structure and pricing of Xinhais investment will be determined by the parties, acting reasonably and in good faith.

Further, Xinhai will assist Trigon in securing up to an additional 80% of the capital requirements of the Project through debt financing through Chinese export credit facilities. The structure and pricing of the debt financing will be determined by the parties, acting reasonably and in good faith.

In exchange for the above funding support, Xinhai will secure the right to be appointed as the EPC contractor for the Project on commercial terms to be agreed between the parties.

The proceeds of the financing will be used for advancement of the Project, including engineering design, acquisition or leasing of land surface rights, refurbishment and start-up of Kombats existing processing plant and management of open pit operations.

The Proposed Transaction is subject to further evaluation by Xinhai of the Project, the entering into of definitive agreements on terms and conditions satisfactory to both parties, obtaining of the necessary regulatory approvals, including approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, and the approval of the boards of directors of both parties, as required.

Jed Richardson, President of Trigon, commented: We are extremely pleased to have advanced our plans for the restart the Kombat Mine. In partnering with Xinhai, we have gained access to both the funding and technical services necessary for the restart of mining operations at Kombat. Xinhai has excellent credentials in implementing projects of this nature and we look forward to a long term relationship as we execute our plans to build Trigon into a mid-tier copper producer.



Trigon Metals Inc.

Trigon is a publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core business focused on copper operations in Namibia, one of the worlds most prospective copper regions, where it has substantial assets in place. The Company continues to hold an 80% interest in five mining licenses in the Otavi Mountain lands, an area of Namibia widely recognized for its high-grade copper deposits. Within these licenses are three past producing mines including the Companys flagship property, the Kombat Mine.

For further information, contact:

Jed Richardson

+1 416 861 5893

jed.richardson@trigonmetals.com

Website: www.trigonmetals.com

Cautionary Notes

This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding investment in and financing for the Company and the Kombat operations, the MOU, the Companys ability to obtain adequate financing, the Companys strategies and the Companys abilities to execute such strategies, the Companys ability to restart the Kombat operations, the Companys expectations for the Kombat operations, and the Companys future plans and objectives. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Photo - Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel

Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel

The horses were restless, pawing the ground in the relentless heat. A shimmering haze hung over the desert, taunting the waiting riders and their thirsty stead with the promise of water. In the distance, a pall of dust obscured the fighting.

But the dust cloud was crawling aimlessly, not flying forward. It was obvious that the attack had failedjust as two previous attempts on nearby Gaza had been repulsed.

Fights over this oasis on the edge of the desert had been ongoing for nearly 4000 years. Abrahams argument with Abimelech over water rights had been settled with an oath and seven ewes at this spot: the wells of Beersheba.

Now, on 31 October 1917, another history-making moment had arrived. Men from the youngest nation on earth at the time had drawn their horses up outside the Turkish-held stronghold of Beersheba. Smarting from the defeat of Gallipoli, they were keen to engage the Turks on a new battleground.

In charge of the Australian troops was Harry Chauvel. Under his command were 34,000 horsemen and cameleers from various parts of the British Empire as well as France and Italy. This is considered by many to be the largest body of mounted troops since Alexander the Great over 2000 years before.

The British attack in the morning had failed. Chauvel, the first Australian to rise to Lieutenant-General within the British forces, thought there was still a chance to take this Turkish-held outpost. He ordered the Light Horse regiments to charge.

In they went. Just 800 of them. They tore across the dusty plains so swiftly that the towns gunners kept overshooting them, unable to hold them in target. Soon they were too close for the guns range.

31 killed

Thirty one Australian horsemen were killed with 36 wounded in this remarkable victory. The Turkish army suffered heavy casualties many hundreds dead and wounded as well as 7001000 who surrendered and were taken as prisoners of war.

The biblical significance of this battle in the place still called by the name Abraham gave it was not lost on the troops. Shortly afterwards, the ANZACs were instrumental in re-taking the city of Jerusalem. In his scrapbook, Chauvel wrote the word Prophetic under a photo of Jerusalem .

The city had been under Ottoman rule since the seventh century. The Emperor Hadrian in the first century, ordered Jerusalem razed to the ground. Christians and Jews were forbidden to enter on pain of death. Yet God had promised in Scripture to return his chosen people to their own land.

Liberation of Jerusalem

According to an article in the Jerusalem Post on 29 October 2007, the Australian victory in 1917 set in train some remarkable eventsthe liberation of Jerusalem, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate in Palestine and ultimately the establishment of the State of Israel.

The same article highlights a little known fact: the timing of the Light Horse charge at 4:30 pm appears to have coincided with a historic decision made in London in support of the establishment of the State of Israel. Although not officially made public until 3 days later, nevertheless it seems that, allowing for the time zone difference, this decision was made at the same hour as the attack on Beersheba on October 31.

Harrys strong faith can be traced back to France in 1685. His Huguenot ancestors were forced to flee across the English Channel under threat of death because of their faith in Jesus Christ and their unwavering belief in the Bible.

His personal faith was vibrant. On all his campaigns, he carried a copy of the Scriptures, which he read regularly. This wood-bound, engraved Bible in which he sought inspiration in difficult times is kept and treasured by his family.

What a man of God and what a wonderful legacy. What will your legacy tell us about you?

Photo - War Horses WW1

Graham McDonald is the President of DIDUNO and has permission to publish in his Christian Today senior writer column.
Debates continue to simmer over significant issues in the psyche of Australia.

Do we become a republic?

Do we change the date of Australia Day?

Do we change our flag and national anthem?

Do we constitutionally recognise First Australians?

Are they significant though?

Will these changes close the gap for Indigenous Australians?

Do we listen to what indigenous Australians think about these issues or any issues?

Deal with the crisis first

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told Parliament he does not know when Indigenous children will have the same opportunities as non-Indigenous Australians.

If this is not a crisis, then I am not sure what is.

The Opposition Leader (Bill Shorten) and Mr Morrison spoke frankly on February 14 as they made statements about the annual Closing the Gap report that showed minimal progress had been made towards reducing Indigenous disadvantage.

Mr Morrison said the current situation was "unforgivable".

"I want Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to have the same opportunity as any other child in this country. But, it's not true for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children growing up in Australia today, and it's never been true and I don't know when it will be true."

This year's Closing the Gap report revealed most targets were still off track.

Only two of seven targets showed positive progress: Year 12 attainment and early childhood education.

Other goals around life expectancy, child mortality, employment and education showed very limited improvements.

My thoughts continue to vacillate between debates and maybe I have preferred to try and take a middle ground with many of them, but I am often left confused and non-committal.

What can I do?

Support National Close the Gap Day March 21

National Close the Gap Day on March 21 (NCTGD) is a national day of action to pledge support for achieving Indigenous health equality by 2030. Each year the support for NCTDG continues to grow and last year people all over the country took part in events to create awareness of the Close the Gap Campaign. NCTGD aims to bring people together, to share information  and most importantly  to take meaningful action in support of achieving Indigenous health equality by 2030.

With continued support from the public, this day can ensure the Australian Government continues to work with Indigenous communities, commit additional funding and invest in real partnerships.

My four years teaching in Alice Springs and the four short trips I have made to the Torres Strait taught me a lot about the significant issues facing indigenous Australians. I also saw the great strides indigenous leaders; men, women and children, were making to change their lives and the lives of their families. Many of these success stories continue to be ignored and the voice of indigenous people continue to be suppressed and not heard.

The Christian church has had a positive role in the lives of many indigenous people, but also has been the cause of much of the pain, oppression and hurt in people. Our Christian Prime Minister has the opportunity to stand against racial sin and facilitate a lasting legacy of his leadership.

Key Messages

Everyone deserves the right to a healthy future; particularly in a rich country like ours. Yet depending on where they are around the country, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples can live 10, 15, sometimes 20 years less than other Australians. Past and present governments have created barriers to good health for Indigenous Australians, and this is having a profound impact on families and communities.

But it doesnt have to be this way.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities already have many of the solutions to these problems. They are simply asking that they be heard. We need our politicians to start listening and supporting them with the resources they need.

The image of God is in all people. There are many times we are quick to judge and not see people the way God sees them. We can be the people who challenge our employers and our politicians to seek to increase opportunities for indigenous people, to access the resources they need to live with dignity, to live with sufficiency, rather than scarcity and the spirit of oppression surrounding many.

Lets call out what racism, privilege and injustice is to God  they are sins and we need to ask forgiveness for the hurt caused in the past.

Racism, the expectancy of privilege and injustice can cripple the image of God in human beings. Through restoration and reconciliation, we can face the future together.

Hear their stories.

Share their stories.

Listen.

Justice can be restored.

Russell Modlin teaches English and Physical Education at a Christian School on the Sunshine Coast. He is married to Belinda and they have three children.

Russell Modlins archive of previous article can be found at www.pressserviceinternational.org/russell-modlin.html
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GCC Global Capital Corporation (TSXV: GCCC) (the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a loan agreement (the Loan Agreement) to borrow up to a maximum amount of $1,000,000 (the Loan) from Jiu Fa Investments Ltd. (the Lender). The principal amount of the Loan under the Loan Agreement shall bear interest at a rate of 12.0% per annum and the Loan shall mature on the earlier of: (i) February 28, 2021; or (ii) the date that Metath Investment Co., Ltd. ceases to own, or have control or direction over, common shares of the Company (Common Shares) representing at least 20% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares.



The Lender has provided an initial advance to the Company under the Loan Agreement in the aggregate amount of $50,000. Further amounts may be advanced during the term of the Loan in such amounts and at such times as agreed to by the Lender and the Company, up to the maximum amount of the Loan. Amounts outstanding under the Loan will be represented by a grid promissory note issued by the Company in favour of the Lender.

The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Loan to fund its operations and for general and administrative expenses.

Mr. Huijun Wang, a director and the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, is also the President of the Lender. Accordingly, the Loan is considered a related party transaction under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV) and Mr. Wang abstained from voting on the Loan in his capacity as a director of the Company.

The Company is exempt from the formal valuation requirement under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101) as its Common Shares are listed for trading on the TSXV. The Company is also exempt from the minority approval requirement under MI 61-101 as the Loan has been provided on reasonable commercial terms that are not less advantageous to the Company than if it were obtained from an arms length party. Further, the Loan is not convertible into or repayable in securities of the Company.

The Company did not file a material change report more than 21 days before the expected closing of the Loan, as the details of the Loan were not finalized until immediately prior to the closing and the Company wished to close the transaction as soon as practicable for sound business reasons.

About GCC Global Capital Corporation

GCC Global Capital Corporation is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange as an Investment Issuer. The Company focuses on the real estate, natural resources and high tech industries.

For further information please contact Andrew Liu, Chief Financial Officer at (778) 389-9960.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on 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 press release contains forward-looking information relating to the use of proceeds of the Loan. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company. The material factors and assumptions include the cost of operations and the availability of future capital. Risk factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by forward-looking information include, among other things: the need to obtain additional financing to continue operations and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; changes in tax laws; general economic and business conditions; and changes in regulations. The Company cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. 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.
Before I dive into my take on euthanasia, I want to make a disclaimer.

Im not sure what I think about euthanasia being requested by someone who is terminally ill, and their pain cannot be alleviate by ANY treatment. However, I believe in miracles and maybe just as some may see euthanasia as the final option, prayers for a miracle is a great first and last resort.

I begin to worry when anyone requests euthanasia and they are not bedridden. People will have differing views on my stance whether they support euthanasia or not.

New Zealand Act MP David Seymours End of Life Choice Bill has passed its first reading in parliament. The select committee has received over 30,000 public submissions and several oppose the bill. Although, different groups and individuals oppose for different reasons.

If the bill becomes law, it would allow NZ citizens and permanent residents over 18 years old to seek assisted suicide by a medical physician. They must be suffering from a terminal illness that is likely to end their life within six month or a grievous and irremediable illness.

Even if the safeguards are enough to prevent euthanasia being misused, as Seymour claims, what will safeguard against the government making amendments in the future to liberalize the bill. That's what scares me.

Pain and suffering - I want out

Mr. Seymour doesnt want his bill to be as liberal as euthanasia legislations in European nations. In Belgium for example, deaf twins were legally euthanised because they couldnt bare their psychological distress. Only time will tell if legislation in New Zealand would get out of hand.

Already, I find the stories of Kiwis Ive watched online who want to be euthanised really discouraging. They describe their tragedy or diagnoses which result in their abilities degrading. Some discuss how they cant take care of their own personal needs anymore.

People in these videos are not bedridden. Well, their illnesses have not progressed that far yet at least.

As someone who has lived with a disability my whole life, Im puzzled! Do they need education on living with a disability or is the pain and distress beyond what anyone can bare? I must say they have great courage and patience to advocate for a way to die with dignity.

Could people surrounding these individuals encourage them to redirect their courage to see the joys that's left? Look deep enough, I bet theres plenty.

Each case is different but I'm responding to the videos of people that have become impaired in some way. I don't know how unbearable the pain and distress are for these people, but if they can alleviate the pain I encourage them to make the most of the life they still have.

Living with a disability isnt all that bad! What you need support with may increase greatly, but with good supports, life is bearable, sometimes even fun!

Choosing when to die is a human right, but suicide isnt?

One article I read on Stuff NZ attempted to distinguish the difference between euthanasia and suicide. I say attempted because their definition for each both implies the individual deciding to end their own lives. The only actual difference is the method they use.

Jones, the author, claims that many people believe that individuals choosing when they die is a basic human right. He uses this position against the common view that the timing of someones death is left in Gods hands.

Jones defined suicide as one dying by their own hand which begs the question, does the apparent human right include suicide?

Again, I don't want to include the extreme cases of terminal illness. Though, why should someone not in palliative care be able to request euthanasia? Just because one takes the medical route of ending their life makes their choice acceptable?

Am I ignorant or missing the point? A law is passed, Belgium, or possibly New Zealand, making medically assisted suicide legal. This removes people from their pain and misery so its, dare I say it, moral?

I don't understand what difference it would make if I only removed medically from the paragraph above. Where is the line! When does choosing to die becomes moral and not suicide?

Supporters of euthanasia may say Im heartless, but frankly I don't see a difference.

Reasons to live

Life is tough on everyone whether we have an impairment or not. We all experience struggles, distresses and pain. The duration and amount of these experiences vary.

Attempting to go through the lows and woes of life alone is dangerous. How we respond to what life throws at us can build us or break us.

Creating communities where people feel valued. Improving disability support and palliative care services. Supporting people to feel real connection to the world around them. These are the keys to giving people reasons to live!

Manuele Teofilo lives in South Auckland with his parents and siblings. He has graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Human Services and plans to work in the disability sector. He enjoys getting around in his electric wheelchair and having fun with people.
THURSDAY, March 7, 2019 (American Heart Association News) -- Dan Willard doesn't remember a thing from those fateful 48 hours. Not what happened to the 32 pills of prescribed painkiller -- nor how his daughter dragged his body from the chair to the floor so she could follow the emergency operator's CPR instructions.

But he knows what led up to it all. The 65-year-old retired 911 dispatcher from the small Wichita suburb of Goddard, Kansas, had begun abusing the pills prescribed after surgery for an old back injury. Spasms exacerbated by degenerative disc disease kept him from sleeping. So, he began taking muscle relaxers, too.

"My body was in such a mess and such a spiral downward that it became so abusive, and of course I was as most people probably are, constantly in denial," Willard said. "They look at the statistics on the news every night and say, 'This can't happen to me.'"

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, about 1 in 4 patients who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them. And every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after opioid overdoses.

While worries about the dangers of drug use and overdosing have hit homes all over the country, there also is a growing concern, and a new raft of studies, about the cardiovascular dangers emerging from opioid and methamphetamine abuse.

A study in November showed opioid use may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, or AFib, a type of irregular heart rhythm that can lead to a stroke. The study included medical records of more than 857,000 young and middle-age military veterans and showed opioid use increases the likelihood of AFib by 34 percent.

A New York Times article last spring highlighted the growing problem of endocarditis, a deadly heart infection, that is happening in people who are injecting methamphetamines and opioids such as heroin.

In December, the American Heart Association launched self-directed training courses for health care providers and community members to help raise awareness about what to do in an opioid overdose, including CPR instruction and use of drugs like naloxone, which can help reverse an opioid overdose.

The problem doesn't seem to respect any boundary, said Dr. Isac Thomas, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

"It touches all ages and economic brackets. There are some definite cardiovascular impacts from taking these drugs," said Thomas, who helped lead two recent studies suggesting a growing epidemic of meth-induced heart failure, especially among younger adults.

"Addiction is a disease, and you have huge swaths of people across the country who are dealing with this disease, and then the vast new heart issues that arise," he said. "It's something I don't know if we are equipped just yet in our routine practice to deal or cope with.  We have to reeducate ourselves and involve other disciplines," such as addiction counselors and social workers to care for these patients.

Willard said he sees miracles throughout his story. He's grateful for the second chance -- and that his daughter, who was 21 at the time, didn't hesitate in following the CPR instructions until the ambulance arrived. It's an irony not lost on someone who spent 22 years answering emergency calls and dispatching ambulances.

After Nov. 4, 2017, a day he now calls his new birthday, Willard asked his doctor not to prescribe any more muscle relaxers. But he still has to take something to help with the physical pain. So, he asked his wife and daughter to take over dispensing those pills.

"With their help, I can be on track and not be tempted," he said. "I think I can deal with the pain more knowing that I have other people really depending on me to be around. I was in denial, but I'm finally on the right path."

This past summer, the county's emergency medical services hosted a celebration to reunite cardiac arrest survivors with first responders. Willard said there was "only one person who survived a cardiac event from an opioid overdose, and that was me."
THURSDAY, March 7, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Many women turn to hormone therapy to ease some of the more troubling symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and night sweats.

But new research suggests that relief may come at a cost -- an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

The study found that women taking hormone therapy had a 9 percent to 17 percent higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. In women who began taking hormone therapy before age 60, this increased risk was tied to long-term use of a decade or longer.

"The take-home message is that, in absolute terms, nine to 18 excess diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease per year will be detected in 10,000 women aged 70 to 80, especially in those women who had used hormone therapy for over 10 years," said study senior author Dr. Tomi Mikkola. He is an associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Helsinki University Hospital in Finland.

The study was published online March 6 in the BMJ, along with an accompanying editorial.

One of the authors of that editorial, Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of the division of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said the findings from this study are "not a cause for alarm."

"Overall, the research has been reassuring for younger women in early menopause who are seeking treatment for night sweats and hot flashes. Based on the totality of evidence, there appears to be relative safety for hormone therapy when taken in early menopause," she said.

Manson also pointed out that due to the study's design, it can only show an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship.

It's been almost 20 years since concerns were first raised about the possible health effects of hormone therapy, including increased heart and cancer risks. Studies since then have often had mixed results, including studies looking at memory and thinking abilities in women taking hormone therapy.

Some research has suggested that women who take hormones to ease menopausal symptoms may be less at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, while others show no harm or benefit. Now, the latest study suggests a possible increase in risk.

Both Mikkola and Manson said hormone therapy shouldn't be used specifically to try to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

But, if you're a woman experiencing menopausal symptoms that are affecting your quality of life, Manson said, "concern about Alzheimer's disease or cognitive [thinking] decline should not interfere with menopausal symptom management."

However, Mikkola noted that any woman taking hormone therapy for 10 years or more should be advised that they may have an increased risk of the memory-robbing disorder.

The study looked at nearly 85,000 postmenopausal women diagnosed with Alzheimer's in Finland from 1999 to 2013. The researchers compared these women to women who hadn't been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Nearly all of the women with Alzheimer's were diagnosed after 60. More than half were over 80 at the time of diagnosis, the findings showed.

The investigators reviewed health records to see if women were taking hormone replacement therapy. If they were, the researchers looked to see how long they had been taking it.

There are a number of different forms of hormone replacement therapy, including pills, patches, gels and creams. Ninety percent of hormone replacement therapy is given by pill in Finland, the study authors noted.

Three-quarters of the women had been taking hormone therapy for more than 10 years, according to the report.

The study didn't find a difference in Alzheimer's risk based on the formulation of hormone therapy. The risk was similar whether women took estrogen alone, or estrogen and progesterone together.

Mikkola explained that "the absolute risk increase for Alzheimer's disease is small," and said that the study "emphasizes the fact that hormone therapy should be used in recently menopausal women for symptom relief and if they benefit from the therapy."

Editorial author Manson said that the decision about whether or not to use hormone therapy has to be individualized. She said a woman and her doctor have to take into account a woman's risk factors, symptoms and preferences.

More information

Learn more about what causes Alzheimer's disease from the U.S. National Institute on Aging.
Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

LinkedIn

Email

Telegram



Safety concerns for media escalate along with political tensions

New York, March 7, 2019The Committee to Protect Journalists traveled this week to Colombia, including its border with Venezuela, to meet with journalists and other press freedom organizations.

CPJ has documented escalating attacks on media covering Venezuelas political crisis, including the brief detention on February 25 of an Univision crew in the presidential palace, confiscation of their equipment, and expulsion the next day. Yesterday, counterintelligence agents detained a U.S. freelance journalist and his Venezuelan fixer; both were released later that day. Authorities have also raided newsrooms and censored outlets, and security forces have assaulted journalists, according to CPJ research. The local press freedom organization IPYS Venezuela reported dozens of attacks on journalists in the last two months, including 21 press freedom violations on February 23 alone.

The Emergencies Response Team has provided safety information and advice. This week, CPJ Emergencies Director Maria Salazar Ferro traveled to Colombia to meet with Venezuelan, Colombian, and international journalists. Yesterday, Salazar Ferro traveled to Cucuta in northern Colombia with the local freedom of expression group FLIP to meet with journalists, including Venezuelans stranded there following the closing of the border. CPJ will provide them with emergency support and help them strengthen their safety protocols.

Our goal is to assess the rapidly changing situation first hand, and to understand how safety needs have evolved in tandem with the escalation of tensions during the political crisis, Salazar Ferro said. We want to understand how we can continue to support these journalists and help ensure that they can safely cover this developing story.

CPJ launched the Emergencies Response Team, headed by Salazar Ferro, in late 2016 to provide tangible safety advice and support to journalists in emergency situations. The team has addressed safety concerns on a wide range of issues, including covering elections and protests; preparing for screenings at border crossings; combating surveillance software; and hostile situations for journalists working in Syria, Nicaragua, Gaza and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The team has published safety advisories on, or deployed experts to, Iraq, Syria, Nicaragua, and the Gaza strip. Visit CPJs website to learn more about the Emergencies Response Team, or sign up for its emails.
EDMONTON, Alberta, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In 2018 Servus Credit Union marked 80 years of making a positive difference in the financial lives of Albertans, writing another chapter in its history with strong financial performance, record profit sharing, expanded member services and economic contributions to the province.



Servus's net income (after dividends, patronage allocation to members and taxes) was $86.4 million, up 4.7% from $82.5 million the previous year. As a result, the province's largest credit union paid $54.1 million to members through its annual Profit Share program, the largest payout in its history. Since 2009, the program has paid $473.7 million directly to members, a financial benefit of membership offered only by Servus and some credit unions.

At Servus we are making a real difference in the lives of our members by shaping their financial fitness with sound advice, secure, competitive services to help them manage their money on their terms and a direct financial return through Profit Share Rewards," said Garth Warner, Servus Credit Union's President and CEO. "When our members succeed, Servus succeeds, and our members are succeeding."

Members responded to Servus's promise to build their financial fitness with increased business in 2018, resulting in:

Assets grew 4.9% to $16.1 billion and our capital is well over the legislated requirement.

Net income (after dividends, patronage and taxes) rose by 4.7% to $86.4 million.

Deposits increased by 2.2% to $12.8 billion.

Loans expanded by 4.5% to $14.3 billion.

Retained earnings were boosted by 9.1% to $833.0 million.

Other FY 2018 highlights:

Servus Credit Union contributed $3.5 billion to Alberta's economy.

Servus invested $2.5 million in 982 community organizations.

Inglewood Credit Union and Canada Safeway Limited Employees Savings & Credit Union chose Servus as an amalgamation partner in 2018. More recently, the members of Edson Savings and Credit Union Limited also voted to amalgamate with Servus.

Delivery channels - expanded contact centre hours to 24/7, new online and mobile banking features, two new branches in Calgary.

Recognition by the Centre for Financial Services Innovation as one of its 2018 Financial Health Leaders, the only Canadian institution named.

Highest member satisfaction scores in Alberta and industry leading loyalty score.

Forbes recognized Servus as one of Canada's Best Employers in 2018, and one of the top three financial institutions in Canada.

Full details of Servus's 2018 financial performance can be seen at 2018 Servus financial statements .

About Servus Credit Union Ltd.

At Servus Credit Union we're building a better world, one member at a time. We've been shaping the financial fitness of Albertans for 80 years with a full line of secure financial services. We help members manage their money wherever they are through 100 branches in 59 communities; online, mobile and telephone banking; and 1900 no-fee ATMs across Canada. We invest our profits in our members and the communities we serve. The rest we return to members as Profit Share Rewards. For more information, call 1.877.378.8728 or visit servus.ca.

For more information contact:

Michael Dickinson

Director of Stakeholder Solutions

Servus Credit Union

T: 780.638.8012

C: 780.910.8712

Email: michael.dickinson@servus.ca
SAN FRANCISCO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As Lion One Metals Ltd. (LIO:TSX.V; LOMLF:OTCQX) , moves forward with getting its low-cost, fully permitted Fiji gold mine into production, Dr. Quinton Hennigh joins the team as an advisor.



Company mentioned: Lion One Metals Ltd.

Lion One Metals in 2011 acquired the high-grade Tuvatu gold mining project, located less than 20 kilometers from Fiji's major airport, Nadi, on the main island of Viti Levu.

Tuvatu's previous owners advanced it to a feasibility study in 2000, and the project has seen more than 110,000 meters of drilling to date, along with 1,600 meters of underground development. Last year the company reported that surface sampling from the Jomaki prospect of Tuvatu returned the high-grade result of 502 g/t gold over 0.70 meters. Less than 10% of its leased land has been explored.

Dr. Quinton Hennigh's appointment as technical advisor highlights the potential of the project. Hennigh is an "internationally renowned economic geologist, with over 25 years of exploration experience and expertise with major gold mining companies such as Homestake Mining Company, Newcrest Mining, and Newmont Mining where he last served as senior research geologist in 2007."

Lion One noted that Hennigh has since "made a number of significant gold discoveries for Canadian exploration companies." He is the chairman and president of Novo Resources Corp., which is exploring for gold in Australia.

"After completing my site visit and technical review I believe that Tuvatu has similarities not only to Vatukoula and other large alkaline systems in the South Pacific, but also to several multi-million ounce alkaline gold systems I'm familiar with in North America. Given that only a very small volume of the overall system has been explored, I see excellent potential for growth at Tuvatu," said Hennigh.

Continue reading this article: Fiji Gold Mine Attracts 'Internationally Renowned Economic Geologist'

About Streetwise Reports

Streetwise Reports shares investment ideas in many sectors. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

DISCLOSURE:

The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Lion One Metals. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees.
Karnataka: Fisheries deputy director recommends cancellation of 47 fishing boat registrations

March 07,2019 | Source: Daiji World

Deputy director of fisheries at Malpe, Parshwanath, said that he has sent a report to the deputy director of fisheries, Dakshina Kannada district, recommending to cancel licences of 47 fishing boats which have been violating orders of the central and state governments and transgressing interim order of the state high court.



He was speaking after accepting a petition jointly submitted by Traditional Country Boat Fishermen's Association and Deep Sea Fishermen's Association on Tuesday March 5 seeking legal action against those conducting unscientific fishing activity. He clarified that the department has stopped supplying subsidized diesel to these 47 boats and filed a complaint with Malpe police station and Coastal Security Police Force. He also said that out of these boats, generators of 12 boats were removed, their licences were cancelled and recommendation was sent to the deputy director of fisheries in Dakshina Kannada district seeking cancellation of registrations.



He said that he has also written to the directorate of fisheries department at Bengaluru, seeking permission to undertake strict measures against purse-seine fishermen who have been violating high court orders and conducting unauthorized fishing.



Sampath Kumar of women's police station, Brahmavar police circle inspector, Poovayya, Coastal Security Force police inspectors, Pramod and Nityananda Gowda, Malpe station house officer, Madhu B E etc monitored law and order situation. Fishermen leaders like Karunakar Salian, Shankar Salian, Dayanand Kunder, Vittal Karkara, Chandrakanth Karkera of country boat fishermen's association and others were present.
Bill ending capital punishment for murder heads to full Senate for a vote





In 2004, Alex Perez, then in prison on a murder conviction, was charged with killing a fellow inmate at the Limon Correctional Facility. He said he did not do it, but was promptly placed in solitary confinement at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Canon City. Prosecutors sought the death penalty in the case.





In 2011, a jury acquitted Perez of the murder, in part due to the lack of physical evidence.





Even in Colorado, an innocent man can be convicted and executed. I know, because it nearly happened to me, Perez, 31, told a committee of lawmakers during a nearly six-hour hearing Wednesday on a bill that would end capital punishment in Colorado.





Perez urged lawmakers to pass the bill, and the Senate Judiciary Committee did just that, voting along a 3-2 party line. The vote marks a historic step toward making Colorado the 21st state to ban state executions for murder. The bill heads now to a full vote of the Senate.





Since 2000, there have been 5 unsuccessful attempts to repeal capital punishment in Colorado due to concerns of cost and racial biases in the criminal justice system. But Democrats now control the state legislature and the governors mansion, and optimism is high among members of the party. Gov. Jared Polis has already said he would not just sign the bill, but also commute the sentences of the three men on death row if the proposed ban passes. Alex Perez testified on a bill to ban the death penalty on March 6, 2019.





Since the nationwide moratorium on death penalty was lifted in 1976 and later reinstated in Colorado, the state has executed 1 man, Gary Lee Davis, a convicted murderer and rapist. That was in 1997.





Ahead of the committee hearing, attorneys, district attorneys and elected officials mingled in the hallway. Catholics, who spoke in support of the bill, had black crosses on their foreheads for Ash Wednesday. Nearly 50 people had signed up to speak, many of whom have testified on similar abolition bills in the past.





Emotions on both sides of the debate ran high. Two of the three men on death row were convicted of the 2005 murders of Javad Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe, both of whom were scheduled to testify in another murder case.





Maisha Fields, sister of Javad and daughter of state Sen. Rhonda Fields, told the committee that the execution of Robert Ray and Sir Mario Owens, is justice.





I had to testify multiple times just like Im doing now, Fields said. I had to be my brothers voice on the stand just like Im doing now. And everytime I tell the story, its painful. And I dont want to feel like it was all for naught. I want to believe in the system, and the fact that we fought for the death penalty, that it matters.





A panel of Republican district attorneys laid out other arguments against repealing the death penalty, too. They cited details of gruesome murders, including the story of Chris Watts, who pleaded guilty to the 2018 killing of his pregnant wife and 2 daughters, saying that its a needed punishment to deter heinous crimes. Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said he used the threat of a death sentence to get a murder confession from Watts, a strategy that some attorneys have raised ethical concerns with.





The district attorneys also refuted costs estimates for death penalty cases and cast doubt on wrongful convictions more generally. El Paso District Attorney Dan May argued that in Colorado, there has not been in the modern age  a mistake with somebody who has been convicted and given the death penalty. May was a prosecutor on Perezs case.





Nationwide there have been 164 people exonerated from death row since 1973, mostly due to new evidence, according to a report by the Death Penalty Information Center. Juan Melendez is one of them. He was arrested while working in an apple orchard in Pennsylvania in 1984. Just days later, he told The Colorado Independent, he was sitting in a 6-by-9-foot cell in Florida on death row. He said he remembers watching the lights dim each time the electric chair was used for an execution. He contemplated suicide with a plastic bag. After 16 years behind bars, he said another mans taped confession to the murder was released. The following year, he was exonerated. Melendez, too, came to the state Capital on Wednesday to support repealing the death penalty.





We can never release an innocent man from the grave, Melendez said. He added, I dont want to let what happened to me happen to anybody else.





Opponents of the bill asked lawmakers to refer a measure to the ballot so voters could decide the issue. Since 1976, no state has successfully repealed the death penalty through a ballot measure, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.





The bill, sponsored by Angela Williams and Julie Gonzales, both Democratic senators from Denver, was introduced Monday, and that provoked Sen. Fields and others to argue that it was being fast-tracked and that in the rush to passage, victims were being sidelined.





Nobody has reached out to me, Bobby Stephens, the lone survivor in the 1993 Aurora Chuck E. Cheese restaurant shooting after Nathan Dunlap, who is now on death row, told lawmakers.





The testimony from victims drew the attention of lawmakers serving on the committee. But for many of them, they had already made up their mind.





I concluded some good deal of time ago that it is the rarest of things for people to change their mind and view about the efficacy of the death penalty, said Sen. Bob Gardner of Colorado Springs. He added that the death penalty is necessary for the more egregious murders. It is a matter of personal philosophy and belief.





In a statement after the vote, Williams called the death penalty costly, biased, and an ineffective deterrent of violent crime.





Gonzales said a death sentence is an arbitrary punishment that is irrevocable and permanent.





Sen. Pete Lee, a Democrat Colorado Springs who chairs the committee, said sometimes the criminal justice system makes mistakes.





We dont always get it right, he said. He added, In death penalty cases, there are no do-overs.

 | 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
RALEIGH -- A Wake County jury sentenced Seaga Gillard to death Monday, handing down the toughest but increasingly rare punishment for the hotel-room fatal shootings of a pregnant woman and her boyfriend.





The Caribbean-born Gillard, 30, now faces execution by lethal injection after his three-week trial showed he and co-defendant Brandon Hill targeted women working in prostitution, robbing and sexually assaulting them in low-budget hotel rooms across the Triangle.





The case drew attention partly because District Attorney Lorrin Freemans office sought the death penalty, which juries have consistently rejected in recent years. North Carolina has not executed a prisoner since 2006, and Wake County juries had opted against capital punishment in nine straight eligible murder trials prior to Gillards.





The last death sentence statewide came in 2016 in Pitt County.





The nonprofit Center for Death Penalty Litigation called Freeman an outlier for pursuing punishment the state increasingly rejects. In a statement Monday, the center said punishment given to Gillard does not reflect the views of the majority of North Carolina citizens, being costly and unevenly applied.





Most death row prisoners in North Carolina have been awaiting execution for more than 20 years, said Gretchen Engel, executive director for the center. Gillard will now join them, awaiting an execution that is unlikely to ever be carried out.





But Freeman also drew favorable attention in legal circles for seeking justice for victims many jurors might consider marginal. On the night she was shot, 22-year-old April Holland was advertising her services as a prostitute in the former Americas Best Value Inn near Raleighs Crabtree Valley Mall, and her boyfriend, Dwayne Garvey, was aiding the business.





Holland and Garvey had three children together, none of whom were living with them at the time of their death, and Holland was 12 weeks pregnant with a fourth child.





On Monday, Freeman noted the 13-year moratorium on the death penalty in the state. Still, she said, Gillards path of destruction merited seeking the toughest penalty after two murder victims, the death of an unborn child and seven sexual assaults.





These people mattered, Freeman said, and our community felt that they did not deserve to die.





The jurors unanimous decision came after prosecutors placed a long string of victims on the stand, nearly all of whom described the same scenario: advertising themselves on Backpage or PlentyOfFish, expecting a single customer but finding two at the door, being tied up with phone cords, robbed and sexually assaulted.





Details that spun out of that testimony painted a cruel picture of Gillard: ordering a woman to remove her clothes and then twirling a gun inside of her, instructing another women to show her teeth and then putting his gun to her mouth, naming his pistol Lemon Squeeze.





From the witness stand Monday, Garveys mother Jacqueline held up 8-by-10 photographs of her son Dwayne, describing him as loyal to Holland even as he tried to guide her out of prostitution, wanting to protect her above all else.





Im letting you know that Dwayne was a son, a brother, a father, an uncle, a cousin, a friend, a lover and a protector, she said. I hate with all my heart that they died that way. But not in vain. Because your raping and robbing was revealed through their deaths.





Gillard showed no outward emotion and made no statement.





Before sheriffs deputies led him away, he heard from Angel Holland, Aprils younger sister. She tearfully described seeing her sister in a casket and wanting only to hold her hand. She said April wanted to abandon her lifestyle but couldnt because thats all my sister knew.





You have no remorse and I know you dont care what you did, Holland said. I hate you for that. ... Im just happy no one else has to suffer.

 | 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
A proposal introduced Monday by Democrats and one Republican in the Oregon state House of Representatives would effectively abolish the death penalty by restricting its use only to convicted terrorists.





The bill, H.B. 3268 , would limit aggravated murder convictions to those situations in which two or more persons are killed in a terrorist attack, the Oregonian reported . Other crimes currently considered aggravated murder  like homicides in which the victim being a child or a police officer, or murdering someone while committing another violent crime  would be reclassified as first-degree murder, carrying a maximum penalty of life without parole.





A finding of aggravating circumstances has been required for capital punishment since 1976 , but states largely have discretion to determine what constitutes an aggravating factor. Some states have used this fact as a loophole to define almost any murder as potentially aggravated, but Oregon is going the opposite route and using it to narrow the death penalty's applicability to the point of de facto abolition.





State Rep. Mitch Greenlick (D.) is the bill's author; he's rallied ten members of the House to his cause, including Republican Rep. Ronald Noble.





"I think generally people support doing away with the death penalty," Greenlick told the Oregonian. "I know it's problematically applied and it's extraordinarily expensive."





Greenlick's bill cannot do away with the death penalty altogether, however, because a state referendum enshrined it in the state constitution in 1984 . The House bill therefore represents a continuation of Oregon lawmakers acting to limit the death penalty without consulting the state's populace: in 2011, Gov. John Kitzhaber (D.) implemented a moratorium on its use, which current Gov. Kate Brown (D.) carried over when she took office.





"Any change should be done in a transparent manner and should be decided by the voters," Beth Heckert, president of the Oregon District Attorneys Association, told the Oregonian.





Like many states, Oregon has not used the death penalty in recent yearsthe last execution took place in 1997. There are currently 30 convicted prisoners languishing on the state's death row.





The Oregon bill is just the latest in a bevy of efforts by state lawmakers to abolish the death penalty. The Wyoming State Senate recently voted against a house proposal to do so; but bills are still pending in states including New Hampshire and Kentucky . And in Washington state, the state Supreme Court recently found the state's death penalty unconstitutional as applied.





Source: freebeacon.com , Charles Fain Lehman, March 6, 2019









 | 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!












Facts:





As of October 11, 2018, capital punishment is legal in 30 US states.





According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 25 people were executed in the United States in 2018. The number of death sentences imposed was 42.





There were 2,738 people on death row in the United States on July 1, 2018, the most recent date for which data is available from the Criminal Justice Project.





Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated by the US Supreme Court, 1,493 people have been executed (as of March 1, 2019).





Since 1973, there have been 164 death row exonerations (as of March 1, 2019). Twenty-eight of them are from the state of Florida.





Between January 18, 2018, and February 28, 2019, 28 executions were carried out in eight states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.





Federal Government:





The US government and US military have 63 people awaiting execution as of December 21, 2018.





The US government has executed 3 people since 1988 when the federal death penalty statute was reinstated.





Females:





There were 55 women on death row in the United States as of July 1, 2018, the most recent date for which data is available from the Criminal Justice Project.





16 women have been executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty (as of December 31, 2017).





Juveniles:





22 individuals were executed between 1976 and 2005 for crimes committed as juveniles. March 1, 2005  Roper v. Simmons. The Supreme Court rules that the execution of juvenile offenders is unconstitutional.





Clemency:





Since 1976, 288 individuals have been granted clemency.





For federal death row inmates, the president alone has the power to grant a pardon.





Timeline:





1834  Pennsylvania becomes the 1st state to move executions into correctional facilities, ending public executions.





1846  Michigan becomes the 1st state to abolish the death penalty for all crimes except treason.





1890  William Kemmler becomes the 1st person executed by electrocution.





1907-1917  9 states abolish the death penalty for all crimes or strictly limit it. By 1920, 5 of those states had reinstated it.





1924  The use of cyanide gas is introduced as an execution method.





June 29, 1972  Furman v. Georgia. The Supreme Court effectively voids 40 death penalty statutes and suspends the death penalty.





1976  Gregg v. Georgia. The death penalty is reinstated.





January 17, 1977  A 10-year moratorium on the death penalty ends with the execution of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah.





1977  Oklahoma becomes the 1st state to adopt lethal injection as a means of execution.





December 7, 1982  Charles Brooks becomes the 1st person executed by lethal injection.





1984  Velma Barfield of North Carolina becomes the 1st woman executed since reinstatement of the death penalty.





1986  Ford v. Wainwright. Execution of insane persons is banned.





1987  McCleskey v. Kemp. Racial disparities are not recognized as a constitutional violation of equal protection of the law unless intentional racial discrimination against the defendant can be shown.





1988  Thompson v. Oklahoma. Executions of offenders age 15 and younger at the time of their crimes are declared unconstitutional.





1996  The last execution by hanging takes place in Delaware, with the death of Billy Bailey.





January 31, 2000  A moratorium on executions is declared by Illinois Governor George Ryan. Since 1976, Illinois is the 1st state to block executions.





2002  Atkins v. Virginia. The Supreme Court rules that the execution of mentally retarded defendants violates the Eighth Amendments ban on cruel and unusual punishment.





January 2003  Before leaving office, Governor Ryan grants clemency to all the remaining 167 inmates on Illinoiss death row, due to the flawed process that led to the death sentences.





June 12, 2006  The Supreme Court rules that death row inmates can challenge the use of lethal injection as a method of execution.





December 17, 2007  New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signs legislation abolishing the death penalty in the state. The death sentences of 8 men are commuted to sentences of life without parole.





April 16, 2008  In a 7-2 ruling, the US Supreme Court upholds use of lethal injection. Between September 2007, when the Court took on the case, and April 2008, no one was executed in the US due to the de facto moratorium the Court placed on executions while it heard arguments in Baze v. Rees.





March 18, 2009  Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico signs legislation repealing the death penalty in his state. His actions will not affect 2 prisoners currently on death row: Robert Fry, who killed a woman in 2000, and Tim Allen, who killed a 17-year-old girl in 1994.





November 13, 2009  Ohio becomes the 1st state to switch to a method of lethal injection using a single drug, rather than the 3-drug method used by other states.





March 9, 2011  Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announces that he has signed legislation eliminating the death penalty in his state, more than 10 years after the state halted executions.





March 16, 2011  The Drug Enforcement Agency seizes Georgias supply of thiopental, over questions of where the state obtained the drug. US manufacturer Hospira stopped producing the drug in 2009. The countries that still produce the drug do not allow it to be exported to the US for use in lethal injections.





May 20, 2011  The Georgia Department of Corrections announces that pentobarbital will be substituted for thiopental in the three-drug lethal injection process.





July 1, 2011  Lundbeck Inc., the company that makes pentobarbital (brand name Nembutal), announces it will restrict the use of its product from prisons carrying out capital punishment.





November 22, 2011  Governor John Kitzhaber of Oregon places a moratorium on all state executions for the remainder of his term in office.





April 25, 2012  Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signs S.B. 280, An Act Revising the Penalty for Capital Felonies, into law. The law goes into effect immediately and replaces the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole. The law is not retroactive to those already on death row.





May 2, 2013  Marylands governor signs a bill repealing the death penalty. The law goes into effect October 1.





January 16, 2014  Ohio executes inmate Dennis McGuire with a new combination of drugs, due to the unavailability of drugs such as pentobarbital. The state uses a combination of the drugs midazolam and hydromorphone, according to the state corrections department. The execution process takes 24 minutes, and McGuire appears to be gasping for air for 10 to 13 minutes, according to witness Alan Johnson, a reporter with the Columbus Dispatch. In May 2014, an Ohio judge issues an order suspending executions in the state so that authorities can further study new lethal injection protocols. In 2015, Ohio announces that it is reincorporating thiopental sodium, a drug which it used in executions from 1999-2011.





February 11, 2014  Washington Governor Jay Inslee announces that he is issuing a moratorium on death penalty cases during his term in office.





May 22, 2014  Tennessee becomes the 1st state to make death by electric chair mandatory when lethal injection drugs are unavailable.





July 23, 2014  Arizona uses a new combination of drugs for the lethal injection to execute Joseph Woods, a convicted murderer. After the injection, it reportedly took him nearly 2 hours to die. A state review board later rules that future executions will be conducted with a three-drug formula or a single drug injection if the state can obtain pentobarbital.





September 4, 2014  The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety issues a report about the botched execution of Clayton Lockett on April 29, 2014. Complications with the placement of an IV into Lockett played a significant role in problems with his execution, according to the report. It took 43 minutes for him to die.





December 31, 2014  Maryland Governor Martin OMalley commutes the death sentences of the four last men in the state scheduled for execution. It is one of his final acts in office.





January 23, 2015  The Supreme Court agrees to hear a case concerning the lethal injection protocol in Oklahoma. The inmates claim that the state protocol violates the Constitutions ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In a June 29, 2015, ruling, the court upholds Oklahomas use of the drug midazolam in its lethal injection procedure by a 5-4 vote.





February 13, 2015  Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf halts all executions in his state until a task force examining capital punishment in Pennsylvania issues its final report, citing the states error prone justice system and inherent biases among his reasons for the moratorium. Later, Wolfs action is upheld in court after Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams files a petition claiming the moratorium is an unconstitutional takeover of powers. The moratorium remains in effect after the report is published June 2018.





March 23, 2015  Utah Governor Gary Herbert signs legislation making the firing squad an authorized method of death if the drugs required for lethal injection are unavailable. The firing squad was last used in 2010 to execute a convicted murderer, Ronnie Lee Gardner.





June 29, 2015  The Supreme Court rules, in a 5-4 decision, that the use of the sedative midazolam in lethal injections is not a violation of the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Midazolam is 1 of 3 drugs that are combined to carry out the death penalty in Oklahoma.





August 2, 2016  The Delaware Supreme Court rules the states death penalty law unconstitutional. Attorney General Matt Denn later announces that he will not appeal the decision.





November 8, 2016  Voters in California, Nebraska and Oklahoma are asked to weigh in on the death penalty with referendum questions on ballots. In all three states, majorities vote in favor of the death penalty.





April 2017  Of the 8 prisoners Arkansas had planned to execute before the states supply of a lethal injection drug expires, 4 are put to death: Ledell Lee, Jack Jones, Marcel Williams and Kenneth Williams. The other 4  Jason McGehee, was later granted clemency and Stacey Johnson, Don Davis and Bruce Ward  receive stays of execution that were later lifted.





April 20, 2017  The FDA rules that imported vials of the execution drug sodium thiopental, ordered by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Arizona Department of Corrections, must be destroyed or exported within 90 days. The FDA had seized the shipment in 2015. Sodium thiopental is not approved in the United States.





April 25, 2017  The Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission releases a report recommending the continuation of the moratorium on the death penalty, citing the need for significant reforms.





January 25, 2019  Ohio Governor Mike DeWine delays execution of Warren Henness pending an official assessment of the states execution system. This is in response to a January 14 federal court decision regarding the severity of its three-drug protocol. DeWine later announces that the state will have no executions until a method that will stand up to legal scrutiny is established.





February 27, 2019  The Supreme Court rules in favor of death row inmate Vernon Madison, sending his case back to state court for renewed consideration of Madisons competency. His lawyers argue that states are forbidden from executing individuals whose mental state precludes them from understanding the reason for punishment. Madison, who has dementia, can no longer remember his crime, the April 1985 killing of an Alabama police officer. There is a 5-3 ruling by the court as Justice Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed after the case was argued. (Chief Justice John Roberts concurs.)





 | 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

KTVQ news, March 7, 2019
IRVINE, Calif., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Burnham Benefits Insurance Services  a growing industry leader in the California employee benefits brokerage space  promoted Maggie Lepore to Vice President at the firms annual State of the Company event. Lepore brings to the central coast the tools and resources of a large, state-wide brokerage firm, with personalized services for each client.



Weve been through the transition and renewal process so many times with the school districts that we can run an analysis quickly and fluidly execute Burnhams services right off the bat. Our growth in the public sector provides us with the unique ability to apply our services for each client besteach one is so unique. Because of this, we can work with the unions and develop a strategy to translate across multiple districts, says President and CEO Kristen Allison.

Lepore continues to expand Burnhams central coast footprint through her diverse expertise with public entities. She will utilize the same resources and depth of knowledge to support a tailored services designstrategically. Lepore will also focus on the development of local talent.

Lepore has 18 years of experience in employee benefits consulting, of which six were with Burnham Benefits. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Irvine. Lepores unique insight into public school districts stems from the fact that she is from a family of educators and administrators she understands the complex structure and speaks the language.

I look forward to continuing our growth. There are many other districts we can support out of my locationour expertise and resources help save moneyit's just a matter of them getting to know us and trusting us. It grows from there, Lepore asserts.

About Burnham Benefits Insurance Services:

Burnham Benefits Insurance Services, Inc. is a privately held, full-service strategic employee benefits consulting, and brokerage firm based in Irvine, California, with seven offices throughout the state offering comprehensive client-first strategic solutions. The closely held nature of Burnham allows its leadership to easily adapt and create customized programs that fit clients' best interests -- investing in cutting-edge technology, and the tools and resources needed to provide the specialized level of service that today's rapidly changing business climate demands. Burnham goes Well Beyond Benefits with its cadre of highly skilled industry professionals providing unmatched personal service. Retirement Consulting and Wealth Management services are also offered through our strategic partnership with Burnham Gibson Wealth Advisors, Inc. Burnham is a certified Benefits Corporation (B Corp), holds national recognition as one of the Best Places to Work in Insurance by Business Insurance magazine since 2013, and consistently ranks as one of the Best Places to Work by the Orange County Business Journal, North Bay Business Journal, and Los Angeles Business Journal. For more information, visit www.BurnhamBenefits.com

If you would like more information about Burnham Benefits or Maggie Lepore, please contact Kristen Allison at 949-252-4580 or email allison@burnhambenefits.com.

Contact: Cody Carroll, Burnham Benefits Insurance Services Phone: 949.252.4576 Email: carroll@burnhambenefits.com



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/058479e3-b488-4b83-9a81-8d9c96c871dc
The campaign for Ann Roe, who is running for Congress against Lyin' Bryan Steil has come out with the best one-liner of this cycle so far: I can't argue...

5 weeks ago
Huawei has confirmed that it will take legal action against the US ban on the use of its network equipment.

The Chinese vendor has filed a lawsuit in a US federal court and is attempting to procure nothing less than a permanent injunction against the ban. Huaweis rotating chairman Guo Ping told a press conference at the vendors Shenzhen headquarters that the US Congress has offered no evidence in support of the restrictions it has imposed on Huawei, and has acted as judge, jury and executioner without offering Huawei a chance to defend itself against the allegations in court.

We are compelled to take legal action as a last resort, said Guo. This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers. We look forward to the courts verdict and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people.

In August last year, the US government passed into law a defence spending bill that forbade government agencies and contractors from using any network equipment manufactured by Huawei or its compatriot vendor ZTE.

The New York Times reported earlier this week that Huawei would launch a legal challenge over the ban, with the vendor referring to the August 2018 bill as misguided and unconstitutional. Huawei has filed the lawsuit in Texas, the state in which its US head office is situated. If the federal court wishes to respond to the action, it must do so within 60 days.

Huawei notes in its lawsuit that the ban does not merely apply to government agencies and contractors  it also stipulates that executive or judicial oversight is required for these parties to award contracts, grants or loans to third parties that have purchased Huawei equipment. The vendor argues that this is in violation of the US constitutions due process and separation of powers-principles, as it is effectively a permanent ban.

If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the US and help it build the best 5G networks, said Guo. Huawei is willing to address the US governments security concerns.

Huaweis legal challenge against the ban can be seen as a culmination of its attempts to quell the security concerns  chiefly from the US - around its gear. Guo noted at MWC19 Barcelona that the US is far from blameless in terms of covert surveillance of its citizens, pointing to the US National Security Agencys Prism system which was exposed in 2013 by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The vendors chief legal officer Song Liuping added that while Huaweis sales in the US are fairly minimal, the US ban on its products has caused significant damage to both its sales and reputation globally, prompting it to begin legal action.
I am a retired newspaperman. I live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 44 years, Lou Ann. I grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather.



Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com
TORONTO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Union leaders held a press conference today at the Ontario Legislature calling on the Ford government to hold public consultations across Ontario on its sweeping health care restructuring law.



Bill 74 is the Ford governments omnibus health care legislation in which the government has given itself and its appointees in its new super agency wide-reaching new powers to force unprecedented health care restructuring without any public consultation, including mergers, closures and privatization of hospitals, long-term care, home care, diagnostic services, clinics, community care, mental health and addictions services, community health centres, and others.

The legislation was only brought to public awareness several weeks ago through a document leaked to the media by the NDP after they received the legislation and internal documents from whistleblower(s) in the civil service.

The legislation was introduced in the legislature on February 26. The Ford government used its majority to push the new law through first reading last week. It is already in second reading. The government has not committed to any public hearings on Bill 74. Unions have joined community groups and patient advocates in calling for province-wide public hearings and real public consultation.

How can the government claim it is creating health care teams when the organizations representing hundreds of thousands of members of that team have never been consulted? queried Michael Hurley, President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE representing more than 35,000 hospital and long-term care nurses and support staff. Equally importantly, the public has never been consulted. Communities stand to lose virtually all remaining local control of their health care services, yet the government is pushing their new law through the legislature with reckless speed. Doug Ford must follow proper democratic process and hold public hearings across Ontario to understand the unique needs of communities in Ontario.

This legislation covers 1,800 health care service providers, and, according to the Ford governments own statements, 15 million patients, almost all of whom have never been given any say about these unprecedented health care restructuring plans, noted Sara Labelle, Chair of the Hospital Professionals Division of OPSEU, a union representing more than 50,000 health care professionals, care workers and support staff. We are deeply opposed to the leaked secret plans and for-profit privatization of our laboratories, air ambulance, vital patient support services and others for which the Ford government has no mandate whatsoever. We are joining forces to insist in the strongest possible terms that this government slow down and consult with the people of Ontario.

We are putting the Premier on notice  publicly funded and delivered health care must benefit the people of this province, not the pocketbooks of businesses that have made friends with the PC party, said Ontario Federation of Labour President Chris Buckley. The labour movement will fight for the people of Ontarios right to quality public health care services that Ontarians need when they are sick, and quality jobs for the workers in the health care sector. Changing the way Ontario delivers health care without a debate is dishonest and ignores the people the PCs claim to represent.

The Ontario Federation of Labour represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.ofl.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter .





For further information, please contact:

Michael Hurley

President OCHU/CUPE

(416) 884-0770

Sara Labelle,

2nd Vice President, OPSEU

(905) 914-4037

Meagan Perry,

Director of Communications

Ontario Federation of Labour

mperry@ofl.ca l 416-894-3456

cope343
The top Democratic Party establishment SuperPAC, Priorities USA, has decided that Ohio, Iowa and Texas will not be target states for 2020. What a dumb-ass move! Their new report lists 15 states and puts them in prioritization categories. The top priorities will be Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire and Nevada. Next down are Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia. That's followed by Minnesota, Virginia and Colorado as Democratic "watch states" and Iowa, Ohio and Texas as Republican "watch states."





They plan to invest $100 in an early engagement program in Wisconsin, Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan, which they will expand to include New Hampshire, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. They have no plans for Texas (38 electoral votes and half a dozen vulnerable House seats and a possible vulnerable Senate seat), Ohio (18 electoral votes) or Iowa (6 electoral votes).





Seth Richardson, reporting for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote that "Ohio Democrats, including Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper, have scoffed at the idea of Ohio no longer being a prominent swing state-- even as Republicans have dominated them in the past decade." Obama won Ohio both times he ran-- 51.5% to 46.9% in 2008 and 50.7% to 47.7% in 2012. Hillary Clinton's utterly incompetent Ohio campaign brought he just 43.2% of the vote, the smallest share for a Democrat since Reagan thumped Walter Mondale (40.1%) in 1984. Priorities USA is filled with Hillary staffers who are misreading the state badly based on 2016. Last year, Sherrod Brown was reelected, comfortably, 53.4% to 46.6%. Also last year, 2 Democrats were elected statewide to the Supreme Court, Melody Stewart making history as the first-ever African American Democrat elected statewide. She ousted a sitting Republican justice, 52.6% to 47.4%. Meanwhile Democrat Michael Donnelly trounced Republican Craig Baldwin 61% to 39%. Still, Richardson wrote that in 2018, Democrats "failed to flip a single congressional seat despite strong showings-- and lots of outside money-- in several districts." The manifest incompetence of the DCCC-- recruiting dreadful conservative candidates who inspired no one-- shouldn't be a reason to give up on Ohio.





I spoke with an old friend, Mary Jo Kilroy, a former congresswoman who was re-districted out of her Columbus area seat in 2010. When I asked her about the SuperPAC's decision to ignore her state, she told me that "Ohio is not a Red state-- it's a gerrymandered state. Were it not for that factor, some of those congressional seats they referenced would have flipped in 2018, and could have generated more votes for the top of the ticket. There are a lot of reasons why Cordray did not win the governor's office, despite his campaign manager's efforts at excusing the loss by disparaging Ohio's winnability. The Clinton campaign's lackluster campaign in Ohio should not be a model for Priorities USA. Ohioans will respond to a full, spirited campaign, and early engagement here would pay off. Otherwise, the DC pacs are abandoning Ohio's workers just like GM and Trump did to Lordstown.





Ohio attorney and political blogger, Tim Russo, was more blunt-- and unfazed. "Good riddance," he told me. "Bernie Sanders won't need their money to win Ohio in 2020."





Recent electoral results in several of the states Priorities USA struggled with, before deciding to jettison Ohio, Texas and Iowa:

 Arizona

2012

Romney- 53.6%

Obama- 44.6% 2016

Trump- 48.1%

Clinton- 44.6% 2018

Sinema (D)- 50.0%

McSally (R)- 47.6%  Georgia

2012

Romney- 53.3%

Obama- 45.5% 2016

Trump- 50.4%

Clinton- 45.3% 2018

Kemp (R)- 50.2%

Abrams (D)- 48.8%  North Carolina

2012

Romney- 50.4%

Obama- 48.3% 2016

Trump- 49.3%

Clinton- 46.2%







 Iowa

2012

Obama- 52%

Romney- 46.2% 2016

Trump- 51.1%

Clinton- 41.7%  Ohio

2012

Obama- 50.7%

Romney- 47.7% 2016

Trump- 51.3%

Clinton- 43.2% 2018

Brown (D)- 53.4%

Renacci (R)- 46.6%  Texas

2012

Romney- 57.2%

Obama- 41.4% 2016

Trump- 52.1%

Clinton- 43.1% 2018

Cruz (R)- 50.9%

O'Rourke (D)- 48.3%

I spoke with an operative who isn't part of the Bernie campaign but works for a group that is supportive of Bernie's policy agenda. He said that he is 100% positive that both Ohio and Iowa are major targets for Bernie's campaign and "a big priorities... regardless of how any SuperPACs decide to spend their money." He also said that Bernie strategists are "optimistic about the direction Texas has been moving" and encouraged by the grassroots activism in the state. "Bernie isn't conceding Texas and had high hopes that he will be "helping some great local candidates and that they will be helping him."





I also spoke with a top Iowa politician who pointed out that Obama shredded it in his state in 2008 and 2012 and that Hillary abandoned the state in 2016. Two years later, Iowans gave the Democrats 3 of the state's 4 congressional districts and "came within 3 points of ousting Steve King in the 4th district with the DC Democrats not lifting a finger... well, maybe they lifted a middle finger, towards J.D.'s campaign."

Lucky for the Democrats, this is what they're up against:
The new Quinnipiac poll looks fairly dire for Republicans preparing for the 2020 election cycle, especially the bozo at the top of the ticket. Most Americans now consider Trump a criminal and less than a third of voters think he's honest. Here are some highlights:

 38% of voters (34% of independents) approval of the way Trump is handling his job while 55% disapproval (57% of independents)



 27% of voters (24% of independents) approval of the way congressional Republicans are handling their jobs while 66% disapprove.



 30% of voters think Trump is honest. 26% of independents do. 65% of voters think Trump is not honest (including 26% of Republicans and 69% of independents). His dishonest numbers are the worst since Quinnipiac started polling that question.



 Just 39% of voters think Trump has good leadership skills, while 58% think he doesn't.



 Asked if Trump is a good role model for children, 22% of voters-- may they rot in hell-- say Trump is, including 54% of Republicans, 3% of Democrats and 17% of independents. 71% of Americans say he is NOT a good role model, including 37% of Republicans, 97% of Democrats and 75% of independents.



 Asked who they believe more, Trump or Michael Cohen, 35% of Americans say Trump (79% of Republicans, 4% of Dems and 31% of independents) and 50% say Cohen (11% of Republicans, 86% of Dems and 51% of independents).



 64% of Americans think Trump committed crimes before he was elected and just 24% don't.



 45% of Americans think Trump has committed crimes as president and 43% don't. Significantly, just 38% of independent voters say Trump hasn't been committing crimes while in office.

Early this morning, a poll of Florida voters was released by Bendixen & Amandi International showing that just 40% of Sunshine State voters think Trump deserves to be reelected. 53% oppose a second term for him. This is no path to reelection for Trump that doesn't include Florida. And, by the way, Florida voters identified Climate Change as the number one issue facing the country, an issue Trump still calls a "Chinese hoax."

New York Times, Tim Wu is a law professor at Columbia University who ran for Lieutenant Governor New York with Zephyr Teachout a few years ago. Yesterday he wrote an OpEd for the The Oppression Of The Supermajority which makes the important point that, on many of the big issues of the day, Americans are not nearly as divided as a "divide and conquer" establishment would have us believe. In fact, he wrote "The defining political fact of our time is not polarization. Its the inability of even large bipartisan majorities to get what they want on issues like these. Call it the oppression of the supermajority. Ignoring what most of the country wants-- as much as demagogy and political divisiveness-- is what is making the public so angry.

 higher taxes for the ultra-wealthy- 75%

 guaranteed paid maternity leave- 67%

 strong net neutrality laws- 83%

 stronger privacy laws- 60%

 Medicare should be able to negotiate lower drug prices- 92%

 consumers should be able to import cheaper drugs from Canada- 71%

Thwarting the will of the American public is a long anti-democratic tradition that the establishment has honed into a science. Wu wrote that "During the first decades of the 20th century, the American public voted for politicians who supported economic reforms like maximum-hour work laws and bans on child labor. But the Supreme Court struck down most of Congresss economic legislation, deeming it unconstitutional. In our era, it is primarily Congress that prevents popular laws from being passed or getting serious consideration. (Holding an occasional hearing does not count as 'doing something.') Entire categories of public policy options are effectively off-limits because of the combined influence of industry groups and donor interests. There is no principled defense of this state of affairs-- and indeed, no one attempts to offer such a justification. Instead, legislative stagnation is cynically defended by those who benefit from it with an unconvincing invocation of the rigors of our system of checks and balances." And that brings us to why it is so crucial to elect Bernie president, not Status Quo Joe or Bloomberg or any of the other corporate candidates being dubbed "moderates" by the corporate media.

The president, because he is representative of more voters, might be thought an important remedy to this problem. And when running for office, Mr. Trump did gesture at his support for popular policies, promising to control drug prices, build public infrastructure and change trade policy to favor dispossessed workers. Yet since coming to power, Mr. Trump, with a few exceptions, like trade, has seemed to lose interest in what the broader public wants, focusing instead on polarizing issues like immigration that are not the publics main concerns but the obsessions of a loud minority faction.



As the United States begins the process of choosing the next president and Congress, we need to talk more openly about which candidates are most likely to deliver the economic policies that the supermajority wants. Yes, the people can be wrong about things, but so too can experts, embedded industry groups and divisive political factions. It is not a concession to populism, but rather a respect for democracy, to suggest that two-thirds of the population should usually get what they ask for.

The Blue America 2020 congressional thermometer above will help guarantee that if a progressive president is elected-- whether Bernie or Elizabeth Warren or anyone else with a plan to enact real change-- there will be more members of Congress ready to back them up. That's crucial. Please consider contributing what you can to any or all of the candidates.
An artist impression of the Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam. Photo by Airports Corporation of Vietnam

An appraisal council with foreign experts has been mooted for a feasibility study of the Long Thanh International Airport.

A proposal to this effect has been made by the Ministry of Planning and Investment to the Prime Minister.

The ministry says that the scale and complexity of the project makes it prudent that foreign consultants are involved, because it would make up for the lack of local experience in handling such a task.

An independent consultant or consultants should be hired immediately so as to meet the deadline for submitting the feasibility report to the National Assembly in October 2019, the proposal says.

The ministrys proposal also includes an Appraisal Committee chaired by the Minister of Planning and Investment with members from 13 relevant ministries and government agencies.

In mid-2018, The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), which operates 21 airports in the country, had proposed that it contributes more than a quarter of the $5.4 billion needed to build the new Long Thanh International Airport, becoming its main investor.

ACV signed a contract with JFV, a consortium of consultants comprising of three Japanese, one French and two Vietnamese companies, to complete a feasibility report for phase one of the airports construction by June.

Currently, the consultant has completed the concept design for the work, and is scheduled to complete basic designs by April 2019 for the Ministry of Transport to send to the State Appraisal Council.

The Long Thanh International Airport, with total investment capital estimated at VND336.63 trillion ($16.03 billion), is to be built in three phases over three decades, becoming Vietnams largest airport.

The first part is scheduled for completion in 2025, when the new airport will be able to handle 25 million passengers a year. The next two phases will run from 2030 to 2035 and from 2040 to 2050.

Experts have previously warned that the construction cost of the airport could double every five years.

Lying 40 kilometers east of HCMC, the airport is expected to take up the overflow from the largest existing airport in the country, Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Once completed, Long Thanh International Airport will have an annual capacity of 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade says electricity prices will go up 8.36 percent starting this month to cover rapidly rising costs.

While a ministry spokesman did not specify the date of increase, he said the plan has been approved by the Prime Minister.

As such, average electricity prices will go up from VND1,720 (7.4 U.S. cents) to VND1,864 (8 cents) per kWh exclusive of VAT, equivalent to a unit increase of 0.6 cents.

According to Vietnam Electricity (EVN), overall production costs rose by VND5.48 trillion ($235.46 million) year-on-year in 2018 mainly due to exchange rate differences in electricity purchase contracts and gas price increases. The utility expects costs to rise by VND15.25 trillion ($655.34 million) in 2019.

This is not to mention other expected increases in costs of production, as well as coal and electricity imports, EVN has said.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong said Vietnam's electricity prices were 8.1 percent lower than that of China and India, 18 percent lower than Laos and 26.5 percent lower than Indonesia. Even with the latest increase, the prices would only be on par with China and India, he said.

"The fact that Vietnam's electricity prices are lower than other countries is also why foreign investors are not interested in investing in electricity projects here," Vuong said, adding that while consumption is expected to rise by 10 percent this year, electricity projects by private investors have seen slow progress, not generating enough power to meet demand.

The power price increase could raise the consumer price index (CPI) by 0.26 - 0.31 percent, the ministry estimates. Vietnam's CPI increased by 3.54 percent in 2018.

Vietnam, one of Asias fastest-growing economies, has been struggling to develop its energy industry.

World Bank country director for Vietnam Ousmane Dione said at a recent forum that Vietnam will need to raise up to $150 billion by 2030 to develop its energy sector.

Dione added that electricity demand in the country will grow by about 8 percent a year for the next decade.
Amazon will offer support to Vietnamese businesses to help them reach global markets. Photo by Reuters

100 selected Vietnamese businesses will participate in a support program to help them reach more customers on Amazon.

These businesses will receive offline or online training, with in-depth support from Amazon and discounts from local service providers, according to a statement jointly released Wednesday by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Finance and Amazon Global Selling.

The program aims to help local businesses, especially in handicraft, textile, footwear and consumer goods, improve their export capabilities through selling on Amazon.

They will also have the opportunity to participate in the second stage of the program, which will help them develop their brands.

Other sellers who are interested can also join an online training program starting next month to get equipped with the basic knowledge of selling on Amazon.

Bernard Tay, Amazons regional director for Southeast Asia, said that the young, tech savvy population in Vietnam and strong development of the manufacturing sector generate great e-commerce potential in the country.

However, a lack of knowledge and experience prevents them from reaching out to the global market, he said.

Vu Ba Phu, director of Vietrade, said that the support program will open up new potentials for local companies in expanding their businesses internationally.

There are 300 million Amazon accounts in 185 countries and territories at present. Amazon also has 175 fulfillment centers worldwide.

Vietnam has more than 700,000 businesses, of which 98 percent are small and medium enterprises, according to Vietrade.

The countrys e-commerce market grew by 25 percent in 2017 and is expected to maintain this growth momentum over the next three years, according to the Vietnam E-commerce Association (Vecom).

It also estimates online retail revenues to hit $10 billion by 2020, accounting for five percent of the countrys retail market.
A month-long digital exhibition of works by van Gogh, worlds most famous post-impressionist artist, will open in Hanoi tomorrow.

35 artworks by the Dutch artist, including several world-famous and most recognizable ones like Sunflowers, Self-portrait and Almond Blossoms will be screened alternately and automatically through modern high-resolution projectors.

They will be categorized into still-lifes, self-portraits, plants landscapes.

The exhibition, "Reflective Impressions: van Gogh & his works" will be held March 8 to April 9 at the Vincom Center for Contemporary Arts (VCCA) in Hanoi.

According to the organizers, by projecting the original works on a large screen, the layers of the brush strokes will also be enlarged in size, enabling viewers to observe the paintings in every detail and contour.

They also believe that the digital display will show the viewer particular techniques used by the artist, like the famous thick brush strokes that capture van Gogh's strong emotions.

"The intricate combination of shapes, colors and brightness seems to highlight the genuineness, creating a matrix of brush strokes as well as the preciseness of the paintings, giving the audience a unique visual experience that compares to the authentic paintings," a VCCA representative said.

Within the framework of the exhibition, VCCA will also hold various other art events, including workshops to help the audience get deeper insights into van Goghs unique style.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) is one of the most famous artists in history. His artistic career lasted only the 10 years from 1880 to 1890, during which he left a legacy of about 850 colored paintings and over 1,300 drawings that are preserved to date, exclusive of a large number of watercolor paintings, lithographs and sketches in letters.
A mistaken assumption that a packet of toilet cleaning powder was Thai tea hospitalized 44 children in northern Vietnam.

Some of the 44 students who were hospitalized in Hai Duong Province after consuming toilet cleaning powder. Photo by Giang Chinh

On Monday morning, during recess at the Bac An Primary School in Hai Duong Province, a boy named Quyet found a red plastic package with Korean and English letters on a teachers motorbike parked in the school yard.

He tore open the bag and called his friends over to try some, saying this is Thai lipton tea.

Quyet's friends took the packet to their class and shared it with their classmates as well as some first and second graders, saying this is milk tea and calcium sticky rice."

"It was a white powder, looking like sugar, but it tasted sour and spicy. When I put it in my mouth, it was so terrible I had to spit it out. A moment later, my mouth and tongue were burning," one unnamed student said.

In all, 44 students in two fifth grade classes suffered abdominal pain, nausea, and burning in the mouth, and had to be hospitalized, local reports said. They did not mention what happened to the first and second graders who were given the powder.

After two days of treatment at Hai Duong General Hospital, more than 10 students were released. While the remaining were in stable condition.

The package of pre-dredging toilet cleaning powder that was consumed by around 50 primary school students in Hai Duong Province who were told it was edible. The accident happened in Hai Duong Province, one and a half hours east of Hanoi.

The management of Bac An Primary School coordinated with families and hospitals to provide them with treatment. The teacher said shed bought the powder in the morning before coming in to work and hung it on her motorbike. She said she did not imagine that the children would think it was food and eat it.

On Monday afternoon, Le Quang Duc, deputy director of the Hai Duong General Hospital, said most of the children had recovered and could be discharged the next day. Two of them, however, would remain in the hospital for a longer period because they had ingested the chemicals, leading to ulcers in the esophagus and stomach.
A photo taken from a military aircraft shows alleged reclamation by China on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Photo by AFP/Ritchie B. Tongo

A Chinese vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat off the central coast Wednesday, but its five-member crew was rescued unscathed.

The boat was fishing in the Da Loi (Discovery) Reef in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands when it was rammed by vessel number 44101, about which no other details are available yet, at around 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Committee for Incident, Natural Disaster Response and Search and Rescue.

The boat, from the central province of Quang Ngai, sank with only its bow remaining above the water, and the five fishermen on board were clinging on to it until rescue arrived.

The committee called on the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center to coordinate with China to rescue them.

The fishermen were eventually rescued by another Vietnamese fishing boat at around noon.

China seized the Paracel Islands from South Vietnam by force in 1974, and has since been illegally occupying them.

In 2012 it built the so-called "Sansha City" with Woody Island as its seat, and has since built a runway capable of handling military aircraft and other supporting structures.

The so-called city also extends to a number of reefs in Vietnam's Spratly Islands that China seized by force in 1988 and the Scarborough Shoal claimed by the Philippines.

On May 1, 2014 the Chinese brought an oil rig, Haiyang Shiyou 981, and installed it in the waters off the Paracels, changing the status quo in the waters. Days after that, Chinese ships had chased after, fired water cannons at and rammed many Vietnamese fishing vessels near the islands.
Four people, two Taiwanese and two Vietnamese, have been prosecuted for last years mass disappearance of 152 Vietnamese tourists.

They were charged on Tuesday with forging travel documents, breaching the Employment Service Act and violating the Human Trafficking Prevention law in the infamous case where 152 Vietnamese tourists went missing en masse after arriving in Taiwan on tourist visas.

The Taiwan News reports that Mai, Vietnamese employee of a Hanoi-based travel agency, faked documents for 20 Vietnamese citizens who planned to work illegally in Taiwan and arranged for them to be part of a tour group under a specialized visa program. For this service, the workers had to pay $1,000 to $3,000 each.

After acquiring electronic visas for her clients, Mai led the tour group of 19 Vietnamese to Kaohsiung on December 21, another person having been taken to Taichung on December 15.

Mais Taiwanese husband, whose surname is Hsiao, is charged with hiding two Vietnamese nationals in their home for several days and with arranging for another person to work as a delivery person in Taoyuan.

The missing tourists applied for electronic visas under the Kuan Hung visa program launched in 2015, which requires no visa fees for travelers from Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and India.

Following last years mass disappearance, Taiwan decided to halt issuing visas for groups of Vietnamese tourists under the program.

Another Taiwanese man, Cheng and a Vietnamese man, Nguyen, are charged with illegally bringing 33 Vietnamese citizens into Taiwan after charging them $1,000 to $2,500 each.

Taiwanese authorities have also issued arrest warrants for 27 other suspects linked with the disappearance.

The Kuan Hung visa program, a part of Taiwans New Southbound Policy to establish closer ties with selected nations, made it easier for citizens of Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to visit Taiwan by applying for electronic visas without paying for visa fees.

The policy also allows simplified visa procedures for groups of five tourists or more from the six countries, as long as they are organized by "quality travel agencies" recognized by the Tourism Bureau or if they are part of company-sponsored groups.

According to National Immigration Agency data, 56 tourists of the 152 missing Vietnamese tourists were still at large in Taiwan as of February 19. Some of the people who surrendered or were found by police have admitted that they hoped to work in Taiwan illegally.

Ever since Taiwan lifted a 10-year ban on certain categories of Vietnamese workers in 2015, the territory has become a sought after destination for Vietnamese seeking jobs overseas. The average wage that Taiwanese employers pay to Vietnamese workers is around $700- $800 a month, which is three or four times the typical remuneration in Vietnam.

In 2018, 65,000 Vietnamese workers were sent to Taiwan, accounting for nearly half of Vietnam's overseas workforce.
Dang Minh Thuan, 36, is held at a Saigon police station for snatching a cell phone from Filipino tourist. Photo by VnExpress/Quoc Thang

Alert cops chased and caught a man soon after he snatched a phone from a Filipino tourist in Saigon Wednesday.

The foreign tourist, whose name has not been revealed, was walking on Cong Quynh Street in the afternoon when Dang Hung Thuan, roaming the streets on a motorbike looking for targets, snatched her phone.

A group of police officers patrolling the touristy district saw the theft take place and immediately gave chase. The 36-year-old thief was caught at the crossroads of Tran Hung Dao and De Tham streets.

The phone has been returned to the owner.

Vietnam received 151.641 arrivals from the Philippines last year, up 14 percent from a year ago. As an ASEAN member, citizens from the Philippines can visit Vietnam without a visa.
DENVER, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pax8 , the leader in cloud distribution, today announced that it has been recognized with four 2019 XCellence Awards for Best in Show, Best Channel Program, Boardroom Presentation, and Executive Presentation. The conference was hosted by The Channel Company at the Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, NV.

It is rewarding to work with such a great community of technology leaders, said Ryan Walsh, Chief Channel Officer at Pax8. We strive to deliver the right content, education, and support to help leaders in the IT channel gain new skills, adopt new technology, and grow. These awards affirm that what we are doing to enable their success is having a lasting impact and strengthening the overall industry.

Pax8 was selected for these awards by leading solution providers attending the XChange conference in appreciation of its innovative products, services, and partner programs. These awards recognizes Pax8s extraordinary commitment to helping solution providers propel their business forward and ensuring their channel success.

XChange draws the IT channels elite technology vendorsvendors that are dedicated to providing leading-edge technology solutions and best-in-class business strategies to help solution providers lead their customers forward, said Bill Jones, senior vice president and general manager, events at The Channel Company. The programs and services Pax8 offers the community demonstrates an unmatched commitment to helping solution providers guide their customers to better business outcomes. We congratulate Pax8 and thank all the recipients of 2019 XCellence Awards for their valuable contributions to a rapidly expanding channel.

Walsh continued, We want to extend congratulations to the Pax8 partners who participated in the executive keynote: Zac Paulson, CEO at TrueIT; Daniel Johnson, President at machineLOGIC; Allan Jocson, CEO at AgilitecIT; and David Rounds, President at Neteffect. Thank you for your leadership, participation, and the valuable insight you shared with the XChange audience.

The Channel Companys XChange March conference, held this year in Las Vegas, NV, from March 3-5, provides attendees with empowering insight, actionable business strategies and unmatched peer connections. Attendees learn from industry leaders, who present the latest technologies, programs and business models that are profoundly impacting the channel landscape.

To view the full list of 2019 XChange XCellence Award winners, click here .

To learn more about Pax8, please contact the cloud solutions advisors at (855) 884-PAX8, email info@pax8.com , or visit www.pax8.com .

About Pax8

Pax8 is the leader in cloud distribution. As a born in the cloud company, Pax8 empowers managed service providers (MSPs) to achieve more with cloud technology. Through billing, provisioning, automation, industry-leading PSA integrations, and pre-and-post sales support, Pax8 simplifies cloud buying, improves operational efficiency, and lowers customer acquisition cost. Pax8 is a proven, award-winning disruptor in the market, earning accolades like NexGens Best in Show, Best Places to Work in IT by ComputerWorld, Biggest Buzz at IT Nation, CRNs Coolest Cloud Vendor, Best in Show at XChange, HTGs Best Partner Program, and more. If you want to be successful with cloud, you want to work with Pax8. Get started today at www.pax8.com .

Follow Pax8 on Facebook , LinkedIn , and Twitter .

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. Learn more at www.thechannelco.com .

The Channel Company logo is a trademark of The Channel Company, LLC (registration pending). All rights reserved.
After a two-month suspension, Taiwan will resume issuance of electronic visas for Vietnamese tour groups under a special program.

The Kuan Hung visa program, launched in 2015, allows citizens of six countries including Vietnam to visit Taiwan by applying for electronic visas without paying visa fees.

Last December, Taiwanese authorities decided to suspend the program following the infamous case of 152 Vietnamese tourists going missing en masse after arriving in the territory on tourist visas.

The Taiwanese Tourism Bureau Wednesday announced that the visa program will be resumed on March 20 for select Vietnamese travel agencies under stricter regulations, media reports said.

Vietnamese tourists arriving in Taiwan under the Kuan Hung visa program will now have to go through customs checkpoints with tour leaders; and they have to arrive and leave the territory at the same time as the group leaders.

Travel firms caught violating the e-visa regulations will be subject to fines. Applications for future e-visas will be rejected for two months if up to three tourists in a group exceed the registered length of stay or disappear.

If more than six tourists registered with a travel firm abscond, it will be removed from the list.

In recent years, Vietnam has been among the biggest feeder markets for Taiwans tourism boom. Taiwan has also emerged as a promising destination for Vietnamese workers looking for jobs overseas. Vietnam sent 65,000 workers to Taiwan last year, accounting for nearly half of all workers sent overseas.

Official statistics from Taiwans Tourism Bureau shows 225,702 foreign tourists have arrived in Taiwan under the visa program since 2015.

Of them, 566 people have gone missing to work illegally in the territory, and Vietnamese citizens account for 72 percent of the total, the Focus Taiwan newspaper reported.

As a result of the sharp increase in the number of unaccounted Vietnamese tourists, Taiwanese authorities have shortened the length of visas issued to Vietnamese from 30 to 14 days.

According to National Immigration Agency data, 56 tourists of the 152 missing Vietnamese tourists were still at large in Taiwan as of February 19. Some of the people who surrendered or were found by police have admitted that they hoped to work in Taiwan illegally.

Four people, two Taiwanese and two Vietnamese, involved in the mass disappearance have been indicted on charges of forging travel documents, breaching the Employment Service Act and violating the Human Trafficking Prevention law.
A pig infected with African swine fever is disposed of in Hop Thanh Village, Hoa Binh Province. Photo by VnExpress/Khuong Luc

The incurable African swine fever has spread to the northern provinces of Hoa Binh and Dien Bien, bringing the total number of infected localities to nine.

Hop Thanh Village in Luong Son District, Hoa Binh Province, detected an outbreak Tuesday, while Bon A and Long Luong villages in Dien Bien also detected multiple outbreaks recently.

"African swine fever is behaving unpredictably due to its diverse vectors, a lack of a cure and a 100 percent mortality rate," Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said Wednesday.

Over 6,400 pigs have been killed/died and disposed of, as of Wednesday, according to the Veterinary Department of the agriculture ministry.

Local authorities should sanitize affected areas and control the transportation, selling and butchering of pigs to curb the diseases spread, Tien said.

African swine fever was first detected in the northern province of Hung Yen early last month. Since then, it has spread to over 330 households, 49 villages and 20 districts in nine Vietnam provinces and cities, including the capital Hanoi.

Other infected localities are Hai Phong City, and Hung Yen, Thai Binh, Ha Nam, Hai Duong provinces in the north and Nghe An Province in central region.

70 percent of meat products in Vietnam are from pigs, with over 10,000 farms and 2.5 million households raising the animal for food.

Some countries and territories are banning pork imports from Vietnam following the numerous African swine fever outbreaks, including Taiwan, Dubai, the U.S. and the U.K. Violators face heavy fines and even imprisonment.

The African swine fever is a viral disease that infects all pig species through bodily fluids such as blood and mucus, causing hemorrhagic fever. There is currently no cure for it.

However, humans are not affected by the disease.

Twenty countries and territories have reported outbreaks of the disease since 2017 and over one million pigs have been culled, according to the World Organization for Animal Health. Vietnam is the third Asian country hit by the disease, following China and Mongolia.
China's Huawei sues US over federal ban on using its products

The United States says Huawei equipment could be manipulated by China's government to spy on other countries. Photo by AFP/Wang Zhao

Huawei said Thursday it was suing the United States for barring government agencies from buying the Chinese telecom giant's products.

The lawsuit opened a legal front in the company's battle against American warnings that they could serve as a tool for Chinese intelligence services.

Huawei said the suit was filed in a U.S. District Court in Plano, Texas, challenging a 2019 U.S. defense bill that prevents U.S. government agencies from buying the company's equipment and services, as well as working with third parties that are Huawei customers.

"The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Huawei's rotating chairman Guo Ping said in a statement.

"If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks."

Guo said the company was seeking unspecified damages for what he called "unconstitutional" restrictions.

"The U.S. government is sparing no effort to smear the company," he said at a news conference at the company's headquarters in the southern city of Shenzhen.

Guo even countered that the U.S. government "has hacked our servers and stolen our emails and source code", without providing details.

The United States says Huawei equipment could be manipulated by China's government to spy on other countries and disrupt critical communications.

Washington is urging governments to shun the company just as the world readies for the advent of ultra-fast 5G telecommunications, an advancement that Huawei was expected to lead and which will allow wide adoption of next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence.

Huawei has responded with an aggressive PR campaign to counter the U.S. warnings, with reclusive founder Ren Zhengfei denying the claims in a series of foreign media interviews.

The charm offensive went into another gear Wednesday as Huawei welcomed news organisations on a tightly guarded tour of its massive production lines and research and development facilities in southern Guangdong province.

Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, Ren's daughter, faces potential extradition from Canada to the United States over charges of Iran sanctions violations.

The U.S. Justice Department accuses Huawei and Meng of circumventing U.S. sanctions against Iran. Two affiliates also have been charged with stealing trade secrets from telecommunications group T-Mobile.

Meng faces a May 8 hearing in Vancouver, where she was arrested while changing planes.

Two Canadians have been detained in China in suspected retaliation over her arrest.

Huawei is the world leader in telecoms networking equipment.

But its dominance has increasingly caused concern in Washington, which fears that Beijing could use security "backdoors" to gain access to networks for spying or other purposes.

These concerns have been fueled by Ren's background he is a former Chinese army engineer and a law recently enacted by Beijing that obliges Chinese companies to aid the government on issues affecting national security.
Thousands of children trafficked to Britain from Vietnam are being abused and exploited while traveling through Europe.

This happened as governments pass the buck on their protection amid growing anti-immigration sentiment, three charities said on Thursday.

Vietnamese children destined for Britain are often forced to work - from cultivating cannabis to painting nails - or sold for sex to pay off debts to their traffickers as they are taken through Europe, the anti-slavery groups said in a report.

As Britain uncovers rising numbers of suspected child slaves from Vietnam, European nations are failing to spot or protect them, instead placing responsibility on other states, said Anti-Slavery International, ECPAT U.K. and Pacific Links Foundation.

"The extent of abuse children trafficked from Vietnam to Europe suffer is shocking," said Jasmine O'Connor, chief executive of Britain-based charity Anti-Slavery International.

"By the time they arrive in the United Kingdom, the vast majority have been mercilessly exploited along the way."

Vietnam is consistently one of the top source countries for modern slaves in Britain - at least 3,187 suspected Vietnamese victims have been identified since 2009, official data shows.

About 362 possible child victims from Vietnam were uncovered in Britain in 2017 - up more than a third on 2016.

European states must treat such children crossing their borders as victims - rather than criminals or illegal migrants - and stop them from "slipping through the net," the report said.

Britain is sold as the promised land to many Vietnamese, who pay traffickers large sums of money and travel thousands of miles across Europe by foot, boat and lorry over several months.

Children are typically controlled by the debt owed to their traffickers - sometimes as much as 30,000 pounds ($40,000) - for the cost of their travel and the supposed arrangement of a good job in Britain, according to the research.

Yet such jobs often fail to materialize and children are instead forced to work in abusive conditions to clear the debts, and are beaten by traffickers, the charities said in the report.

"Under international law, states have a duty to protect children from trafficking and exploitation," said Debbie Beadle, director of programs at anti-child trafficking group ECPAT U.K.

"It's simply not acceptable for states to regard trafficked Vietnamese children as another country's problem."

Authorities in Europe view the trafficking of Vietnamese as an issue to be dealt with by Britain as the destination country, while there is a lack of cooperation among various actors both within and between nations to tackle the trend, the report said.

"There is often a shrug of the shoulders ... an attitude that Vietnamese communities are closed off and hard to crack therefore 'we can't do anything about it'," said Mimi Vu of Pacific Links Foundation, a U.S.-based anti-trafficking charity.

"Preventing people leaving Vietnam is always the priority, but European countries must do more to stop trafficking and exploitation along the way," Vu, who has visited Vietnamese communities across Europe, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Former Trump campaign chief to be sentenced, could face life in prison

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse for a hearing in Washington, DC, on June 15, 2018. Photo by AFP/Mark Wilson

U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chief Paul Manafort can spend the rest of his life behind bars when a judge sentences him on Thursday.

Manafort, who turns 70 in April, was convicted by a Virginia jury in August of five counts of filing false income tax returns, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to report a foreign bank account.

Manafort is one of a half dozen former Trump associates and senior aides charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who has been investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

The sentencing guidelines for Manafort's crimes call for between 19 and 24 years in prison but his defense attorneys have urged Judge T.S. Ellis to impose a "substantially" lower jail term.

In a filing with the judge, they said Manafort is "truly remorseful" and is in poor health after spending the past nine months in prison.

They pointed out that Manafort, who suffers from gout, is a first-time offender and said the sentencing guidelines are "clearly disproportionate" for the crimes he committed.

Mueller's team issued a scathing rebuttal, stating that Manafort had breached a plea agreement reached with the government and lied repeatedly to investigators.

Manafort is accused of lying about various matters including his contacts with a suspected Russian operative, Konstantin Kilimnik, with whom he reportedly shared polling data about the 2016 presidential election.

"The defendant blames everyone from the Special Counsel's Office to his Ukrainian clients for his own criminal choices," prosecutors said.

Most of the tens of millions of dollars Manafort was accused of hiding from the US tax authorities were paid as consulting fees for work he did for Russian-backed Ukranian politicians between 2004 and 2014.

None of the charges against Manafort are connected to his role in the Trump campaign, which he headed for a couple of months in 2016.

'Own criminal actions'

In arguing for a lighter sentence, Manafort's attorneys said the veteran Republican political consultant has been "devastated personally, professionally and financially."

Mueller's office countered that it was "Manafort's own criminal actions that have led to these consequences."

Trump has repeatedly denied any election collusion with Moscow and denounced the probe by Mueller, a former FBI director, as a "political witch hunt."

Trump has also dangled the possibility of pardons for some of those indicted -- including Manafort, who he has praised as a "good man" who has been treated unfairly.

Manafort has also been charged in Washington with money laundering, witness tampering and other offenses and faces separate sentencing in that case.

Manafort, in addition to Trump's campaign, worked on the White House bids of Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole.

After making a name in domestic politics, he turned his talents to the lucrative practice of lobbying on behalf of questionable foreign leaders such as Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Somalia's Mohamed Siad Barre and Jonas Savimbi of Angola.

But it was his work for Viktor Yanukovych, who served as president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014, when he fled to Russia amid corruption allegations, which got Manafort in trouble.

Prosecutors alleged during his trial that Manafort used offshore bank accounts to hide tens of millions of dollars from Ukrainian politicians from the Internal Revenue Service.

The money was used to support a lavish lifestyle which included purchases of luxury homes and cars, antique rugs, and expensive clothes, including an $18,500 python jacket.

Donald Trump's former campaign chief Paul Manafort is to be sentenced for tax crimes and bank fraud

The Albert V. Bryan US Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, where former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort is to be sentenced for tax crimes and bank fraud

A lone protester holds up a sign and an American flag outside the Alexandria courthouse after former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty of tax crimes and bank fraud
Ukraine simplifies employment procedure for foreigners

The move is expected to increase Ukraine's attractiveness for highly qualified specialists.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter
Ukraine exports 33.3 mln tonnes of grain since July 1

Ukrainian farmers have already shipped 12.7 million tonnes of wheat abroad.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter
Naftogaz CEO donates US$66,143 to charity

In 2018, the Naftogaz Supervisory Board decided to pay $46.3 million in bonuses to its managers following their victory in the legal battle with Russia's Gazprom.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter
Los Angeles, CA, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Photos

A simple plastic bag seems harmless, but it can represent extreme suffering  and even death  for thousands of animals in the oceans. Depicting this unfortunate truth through strong images, Sea Shepherd, an NGO focused on the conservation of marine wildlife, is launching a plastic awareness campaign.

3D ads have been created in partnership between Tribal Worldwide Sao Paulo and DDB Guatemala, that bear the caption, "The plastic you use once tortures the oceans forever." The ads show different marine animals such as seals and turtles in extreme agony after coming in contact with plastics from items used in our daily lives and generally discarded without any special care. The 3D production was developed by Notan Studio.

"Unfortunately, a small and thoughtless action in our daily life can cause huge damage to nature without us even realizing it. In this campaign, we aim to remedy this by reaching the largest number of people possible, bringing awareness to the fact that with small and easy steps, we can ensure that terrible scenes like these do not happen," says Guiga Giacomo, Executive Creative Director at Tribal Worldwide Sao Paulo.

In addition to the print and posters, social media and digital media pieces have been developed, and further information about the negative impact of plastics in the oceans is available at www.seashepherd.org. The online content also highlights tips to reduce the use of plastic on a daily basis.

Sea Shepherd carries out beach clean-ups worldwide. The US branch of the organization has a campaign entitled "Operation Clean Waves, which collects marine debris that accumulates on offshore islands and in the middle of the ocean. Sea Shepherd also works with scientists to study the effects of microplastics on marine species.



"Scientists warn that in 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish in the sea," said Sea Shepherd founder and president Captain Paul Watson, concluding, Sea Shepherd is committed to preventing this from happening - because if the oceans die, we die."

Attachment
Witness testimony heard this week at the trial of Catalan separatist leaders in Madrid has shed new light on how the regional government strove to organize the illegal independence referendum of October 1, 2017 without using public money.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday also heard new revelations about how a pro-independence street protest intimidated a court official who was involved in a referendum-related raid on September 20, 2017.

Montserrat del Toro, the court clerk who was with the Civil Guard that day during a search of the Catalan economic affairs building in Barcelona, provided a very different version of events from the claims of the 12 defendants at the trial.

Contrary to statements made in court by Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, the leaders of the pro-independence associations ANC and Omnium Cultural, to the effect that the demonstration outside the building was spontaneous, peaceful and festive, Del Toro said that its organizers did not appear very cooperative and that she was afraid of being attacked by the crowd if she were to walk out the front door after the search.

Thousands of people had congregated outside the building following a call to action on social media. Video footage shows Cuixart and Sanchez standing on top of a police car, addressing the chanting crowd with loudspeakers. Patrol cars were vandalized and after 16 hours inside the building, Del Toro finally exited through a rooftop courtyard that led to a theater, where she mingled with people walking out after a play.

The court official described seeing an avalanche of people outside the building

Before that, she had phoned the judge in a state close to panic, urging him to find a way to get her out of there. She even asked for a helicopter, which was considered unfeasible because of insufficient landing space on the rooftop.

Del Toro said that she walked into the building at 8am and that two hours later there were already thousands of people protesting outside. She described seeing a flood of people and individuals crushed against the glass doors. The police advised her to stay indoors for lunch while the chanting gave way to screams and the typical sounds of a disturbance. Del Toro said that a Civil Guard lieutenant talked to Sanchez and Cuixart, who appeared to be the protest leaders, and they claimed that they were unable to call off the protest.

The events of that day are key to the prosecutions claims that violence and intimidation were employed during the independence bid, a necessary condition to uphold the charges of rebellion and sedition against several of the defendants, including former deputy regional premier Oriol Junqueras.

A woman stands on a police car at the protest on September 20, 2017. EFE

The accusation holds that separatist politicians worked to create the legal framework for an illegal break with Spain while social activists ramped up the street pressure. The defense claims that no violence was employed at any time, that their clients actions were legitimate, and that the trial is politically motivated.

Working for free

Also on Wednesday, witness testimony from small-business owners who worked for the Catalan government shed new light on how the latter tried to organize the referendum without using public money. Most of the defendants on trial have also been accused of misuse of public funds.

An advertising entrepreneur named Ferran Burriel explained that he was hired by the regional government to run a newspaper campaign about an alleged registry of Catalans living abroad as a way to promote the referendum. Burriel did the job, but was never paid the 80,000 he was owed.

We were told the Generalitat was not going to pay a thing. That we would get paid by a third party

Quim Franquesa, computer scientist

I asked the Generalitat about the invoice and why it wasnt being paid. There were queries via email and by telephone, said Burriel. The money never arrived, but Burriel did not turn to the courts, and he continues to do work for the regional government.

Another witness, a web designer named Teresa Guix, created a website called Pacte Nacional pel Referendum and sent an invoice for a little over 2,000. But then she received a police summons to make a statement, got nervous, and issued a negative invoice for the same amount to cancel out the debt. Guix was also asked by a government employee to buy the domain name from its owner using her own money.

And Quim Franquesa, a computer scientist, said he met with government officials about a potential project but was told clearly that the Generalitat was not going to pay a thing. That we would get paid by a third party. Asked who this third party was, Franquesa said he did not know.

English version by Susana Urra.
Popular Party leader Pablo Casado. J.L.Cereijido (EFE)

Spains Popular Party (PP) has announced it will not be attending the demonstration in Madrid for International Womens Day on Friday, March 8. In a press release, the opposition conservative group defended its decision on the grounds that the declaration that will be read out at the march is politicized and partisan.

Far left parties want to monopolize this demonstration, looking to create division and conflict between men and women

Popular Party

Far-left parties want to monopolize this demonstration, looking to create division and conflict between men and women, and even between women of different ideologies, the party stated.

However, PP leader Pablo Casado told members that they could still join the womens general strike, which has also been called for Friday, or attend the demonstration if they wanted to, according to sources from the PP.

On Thursday, Casado also made associations between left-wing feminism and both Catalan and Basque nationalism. I didnt see any left-wing feminists defending the wives of the Civil Guard officers in Alsasua, he said, alluding to a group attack by radical Basque nationalists against off-duty officers and their partners in a small town in Navarre in October 2016. This Thursday, an appeals judge found that the eight attackers who were brought to trial engaged in violence, but not in acts of terrorism. The same court also confirmed their prison sentences of between two and 13 years.

Speaking on the Catholic radio network Cope, Casado added that he also hadnt seen any leftist feminists defending Montserrat del Toro, the court clerk who testified on Wednesday at the trial of Catalan separatists in Madrid, where she talked about her fears of being assaulted by a pro-independence crowd that had congregated outside the building where she was collaborating with a police search on September 20, 2017.

Later in the day, at an event with the candidates for the regional elections of May 26, Casado had more to say about the womens march and strike. I have a daughter and a son, he said. I don't want to live in a country where my daughter is pitted against my son. I dont want to live in a country in which women demonstrate, or where there are colors for women, or there are demands from women that pit them against those of their [male] colleagues, against the other half of the world. I dont believe in trying to collectivize society due to sex, age, sexual orientation, religion or beliefs.

A global cry

Female leaders within the PP, including the vice secretaries of communication Marta Gonzalez, of social policy Cuca Gamarra and of studies and programs Andrea Levy, had planned to attend the Friday protest but changed their mind when they saw the declaration that would be read at the march, said PP sources.

In one paragraph, the text says: This year, we join the global cry of women in Brazil, in the United States, in Italy, in India and in other parts of the world against the patriarchal reactions to womens progress towards achieving our rights, and against the right and far right that have placed women and migrants as the top priority of their ultraliberal, racist and patriarchal offensive.

The declaration also demands that abortion be removed from the criminal code and be respected as a right, adding that the procedure must be guaranteed by all public health services.

Under the current legislation covering terminations, adopted under Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of the Socialist Party (PSOE) in 2010, abortion is allowed on demand within the first 14 weeks of term, and within the first 22 weeks if the mothers health is at risk or the fetus is seriously damaged. Casado, however, has come out in support of taking the country back to 1985 abortion legislation that only allowed pregnancy terminations in very limited cases.

The protest manifesto calls on abortion to be respected as a right

The text of the declaration continues: A long history of feminist struggles precedes us, the suffragettes and female unionists, the women who fought colonialism, who saw in the Second Republic [the Spanish democratic government that existed between 1931 and 1939], who fought in the Civil War and against the Franco dictatorship.

The PP has its roots in the former political party the Peoples Alliance, which was founded by Francoist tourism minister Manuel Fraga. The party has also been a strong opponent to the PSOE governments plans to exhume the body of former Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco from the controversial Valley of the Fallen monument, north of Madrid.

Instead of attending the protest, the PP has decided to hold its own separate event in honor of International Womens Day. The event will take place in Madrid at noon, with the party candidates for the regional and municipal elections on May 26. The group will also read their own declaration. In the press release, the PP said it will celebrate Womens Day accompanied by female candidates and together with representatives of different collectives that work looking toward a future for one society that prioritizes personal merit, ability and equal opportunity between men and women.

The decision comes as political parties compete to win over female voters  the majority of whom are undecided  ahead of the snap general election on April 28.

English version by Melissa Kitson.
English French

REGULATED RELEASE

INFORMATION REGARDING THE TOTAL VOTING RIGHTS AND SHARES OF KLEPIERRE

AS OF FEBRUARY 28, 2019

Paris  March 7, 2019

Date 02/28/2019 Company name Klepierre Trading place Euronext Paris (Compartment A) Mnemonic LI Symbols EPA:LI / LI:FP / LOIM.PA ISIN FR0000121964 Total number of shares 307,423,601 Total number of voting rights Number of theoretical voting rights(1) 307,423,601 Number of exercisable voting rights(2) 297,038,718

The change in the number of shares since the release of the latest financial statements is detailed as follows:

Total number of shares as of December 31, 2018: 314,356,063;

Number of shares canceled on February 20, 2019: 6,932,462;

Total number of shares as of February 28, 2019: 307,427,601.





ABOUT KLEPIERRE

Klepierre, the pan-European leader in shopping malls, combines development, property and asset management skills. The companys portfolio is valued at 24.4 billion at December 31, 2018 and comprises large shopping centers in 16 countries in Continental Europe which together host 1.1 billion visitors per year. Klepierre holds a controlling stake in Steen & Strm (56.1%), Scandinavias number one shopping center owner and manager. Klepierre is a French REIT (SIIC) listed on Euronext Paris and included in the CAC Next 20, EPRA Euro Zone and GPR 250 indexes. It is also included in ethical indexes, such as DJSI World and Europe, FTSE4Good, STOXX Global ESG Leaders, Euronext Vigeo France 20 and World 120, and figures in CDPs A-list. These distinctions underscore the Groups commitment to a proactive sustainable development policy and its global leadership in the fight against climate change.

For more information, please visit the newsroom on our website: www.klepierre.com

INVESTOR RELATIONS Hubert dAILLIERES

+33 (0)1 40 67 51 37  hubert.daillieres@klepierre.com

Mengxing ZHANG

+33 (0)1 40 67 53 05  mengxing.zhang@klepierre.com

Paul LOGEROT

+33 (0)1 40 67 53 02  paul.logerot@klepierre.com













([1]) Theoretical voting rights correspond to the total number of voting rights attached to all shares, including those deprived of voting rights (article 223-11 of the General Regulations of the Autorite des marches financiers).







([2]) Exercisable voting rights correspond to the number of voting rights net of shares deprived of voting rights.







Attachment
Cabify message announces the new service conditions. JOAN SANCHEZ

Ride-hailing service Cabify is operating again in Barcelona after pulling its services out of the city at the beginning of February in protest against restrictions introduced by the Catalan regional government.

The company says it has adapted its service to comply with the new rules that force customers to request their services 15 minutes ahead of their planned journey. But Cabify will only apply this restriction the first time a customer makes a reservation. In all following reservations, customers will be able to enjoy the service with the usual immediacy by signing a free one-year contract.

The business is coming to the rescue of the sector and the thousands of jobs created in Catalonia

Ride-hailing service Cabify

The new law from the regional government was passed in response to demands from taxi drivers, who have staged a series of strikes over what they consider to be unfair competition from companies such as Uber and Cabify, whose drivers operate in Spain using what are known as VTC (private hire) licenses.

After the law was approved, Uber and Cabify pulled their services out of Barcelona, arguing that the new rules would hurt their business. On Wednesday, Cabify announced that it had reconsidered the decision and adapted its service in order to operate again in the city. With a fleet of 300 cars, Cabify will stop being a third-party platform that connects customers to private drivers and become a transport business via the company Prestige & Limousine.

Cabify will avoid applying the 15-minute waiting period from the second reservation onward by inviting customers to sign a free, one-year contract, which can be renewed on a yearly basis.

The regional government is aware of this loophole but is holding off from taking action until Cabifys service is properly up and running again in the city. The regional public administration chief, Jordi Puignero, celebrated Cabifys return but made no comment on the fact that the company will not respect the 15-minute waiting period on all reservations.

Taxi drivers strike in Barcelona. EFE

In a press release, Cabify defended its decision to bring its services back to Barcelona, arguing that nearly a million people are registered [with the service] in Catalonia. It stated: The business is coming to the rescue of the sector and the thousands of jobs created in Catalonia, with the adoption of a new (and burdensome) business model.

The Madrid-based company is confident that the legislation will be revoked. In its press release, Cabify argues that the law was approved by the Catalan parliament even though the Council for Statutory Guarantees, the advisory body of the lower house, warned that some of the restrictions could be unconstitutional as they threaten business rights. Cabify also highlighted similar warnings from Spains competition watchdog, the CNMC.

As well as establishing a waiting period, which could be extended by other city halls and to the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the law bans geolocation and forces VTC drivers to return to a base or park their car once they have finished a journey until they receive their next reservation  measures that were also demanded by the taxi sector.

Taxi drivers in Barcelona went on strike in January and blocked the citys Gran Via avenue for seven days. Drivers in Madrid joined the action, striking for 16 days, but did not reach an agreement with the regional government on VTC regulation, which has become a recurrent issue since Madrid transferred regulatory powers over ride-hailing services to regional governments

English version by Melissa Kitson.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has met with U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale noting a significant strengthening of the Ukrainian-U.S. strategic partnership over the past four years, including a significant increase in security and defense cooperation, as well as active growth in trade and economic cooperation.

"Further joint steps on countering Russia's aggressive actions in the Black and Azov Seas, as well as measures in response to the Russian armed attack on Ukrainian ships were separately discussed. The need to further increase pressure on Russia, including through sanctions in response to aggressive policies, was noted. The need for further strengthening of pressure on Russia, including through sanctions in response to the Kremlin's aggressive policy, which purposefully undermines international stability and security, was noted," the press service of the Ukrainian President reported on Thursday morning.

In addition, the President of Ukraine and the Under Secretary of State discussed the issue of elections in Ukraine. "They emphasized the need to prevent external interference in the democratic electoral process and preserve internal stability in the country," it said.

Poroshenko emphasized the important role of the U.S. assistance for successful implementation of reforms and strengthening of the defense capability of Ukraine, which continues to move towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

The Under Secretary of State conveyed congratulations from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, noted a "significant progress Ukraine has made in recent years in the face of Russian aggression" and assured the President of Ukraine of the continued support by the United States of America.

As reported, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said on Twitter on March 6 that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale discussed prospects for the release of Ukrainian sailors and boats seized by the Russian Federation.

"U.S. & European partners stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression. Russia must return Ukraine's sailors & ships and all illegally jailed political prisoners. Under Secretary Hale communicated these messages and more in his meeting with President Poroshenko," the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said on Twitter on Wednesday.
The National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) conducted a number of searches of suspects named in the investigative journalist story about corruption in Ukraine's defense production sector. They included searches at the residences of ex-First Deputy Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleh Hladkovsky and his son Ihor, NABU Director Artem Sytnyk has said.

"Based on what we saw in stories of the investigative journalists, we opened two cases. In connection with one of them today we conducted about 20 searches, including the residences of Ihor and Oleh Hladkovsky, Vitaliy Zhukov, Andriy Rohoza and others," Sytnyk said during a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.

As reported, in a video uploaded to the Internet on February 25, investigative journalists from Bihus.info said during 2018 they received an anonymous letter with an electronic archive of correspondence between participants in corrupt deals to supply spare parts to the Ukraine's state-run Ukroboronprom concern. The journalists checked the information and concluded the leaked information was genuine.

The third series of journalists' probe was aired by the Nashi Groshi program on March 4. It presented materials alleging Oleh Hladkovsky and ex-head of the state-run Ukrspecexport Pavlo Bukin were allegedly paid at least $30,000 and $10,000, respectively, when purchasing Russian-made altimeters for repairing Kazakhstan's An-26 planes in Ukraine.

According to the journalists, in 2016-2017, the devices whose actual cost was about $85,000, through the mediation of Hladkovsky's son, Ihor Hladkovsky, and the latter's business partner Vitaliy Zhukov, were delivered to Ukraine through the UAE under the guise of spare parts for a civilian helicopter and sold to Ukroboronprom's Ukrspecexport, which was headed by Bukin at that time, for about $580,000.

The journalists said that Oleh Hladkovsky and Bukin had declined to comment on the facts. What is more, Oleh Hladkovsky denied he knew Zhukov.
On Monday, March 11, at 14.30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference "All-Ukrainian Platform of Donbas: Fundamentally New Level of Public Leaders' Alliance." Participants are Head of the All-Ukrainian Platform of Donbas, Head of the Public Council under the Ministry of Temporary Occupied Territories and IDPs Henandiy Borisichev; Coordinator for communications, Coordinator of the IDPs Alliance, leader of NGO All-Ukrainian Association of Forced Displaced Persons "Ukraine is My Family" Hennadiy Nikisha; Coordinator for non-state housing programs and state assistance, leader of NGO IDPs Union "Svit na doloni" ("World in the Palm [of Your Hands]") Iryna Hladkaya; Coordinator for non-state housing programs, land issues and humanitarian aid, leader of NGO IDPs Union "Spilna Sprava" ("Joint Activity"); Coordinator for the prevention and fight against corruption, leader of NGO "All-Ukrainian Lustration" Oleksandr Kulikovskiy (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. Details by phone: +38 050 578 0584; +38 068 165 5078, or email: nga65nga@gmail.com (communications coordinator Hennadiy Nikisha).
A highly controversial proposal to transfer water from the Caspian Sea to the parched inland province of Semnan has reportedly been approved by Irans parliament, much to the chagrin of environmentalists and coastal residents.

Visiting Semnan in December, President Rouhani, who was born in the province, insisted the problems with the project had been addressed and it would go ahead.

"If there are investors interested in the project, the government is prepared to expedite all necessary licenses, Rouhani said.

Several MPs from the Mazandaran province on the Caspian Sea in northern Iran have denounced the water transfer project as unscientific and impractical, with irrevocably damaging consequences for the region's ecology and economy. They have vowed to stop the project.

Accusing Rouhani of setting aside fifty billion rials (roughly $1.2 billion) earmarked for the project for his fellow Semnanis, MP from the coastal city of Noshahr, Ahmadi Lashaki, has warned "The nature loving people will not allow the dream of those who are determined to dry out the Caspian Sea to come true."

Meanwhile, local news outlets reported May 3 that the head of the Department of Environment, Isa Kalantari, had dismissed his deputy, Miss Parvin Farshchi, for her opposition the water transfer project.

Speaking to state-run Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) May 4, Kalantari said that he had decided to dismiss Ms. Farshchi months ago, and her dismissal had nothing to do with her opposition to the project.

Meanwhile, in an interview with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-run Tasnim news agency, Miss Farshchi asserted that she was not aware of the reasons behind her dismissal, but, "As an expert, I believe that transferring the Caspian Sea water to Semnan is not a wise decision---based on environmental, economic, and social reasoning, transferring water from one basin to the other is wrong."

Farshchi is not the only expert who is staunchly against the controversial project.

The detrimental impacts of transferring water from the Caspian Sea to the central province of Semnan can be more catastrophic than a nuclear explosion, Mohammad Darvish, a faculty member of the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands told the state-run Mehr News Agency (MNA) January 24.

Transferring water from the Caspian Sea can lead to multi-faceted environmental disasters both for the sea and the regions along the route, Darvish maintained.

He described two possible scenarios for this transfer, both of which would cause serious environmental damage.

If the water desalination is carried out at the source, the Caspian Sea will be more salinized, threatening its ecosystem more than ever, he told MNA, adding, The pollution level of the sea is currently 40 times above the standard range, and it cannot withstand any further pollution.

The second scenario is to do the desalination at the destination. This means that salty water is going to flow in pipelines through Hyrcanian forests. If, due to an earthquake or chemical reactions or any other reason the pipe bursts, a true catastrophe will occur in the forests which can be even more disastrous than a nuclear explosion.

He further argued that such water transfer programs should be approved by other Caspian Sea coastal cities, adding, They have a share in the sea water as well.

Instead of implementing the expensive water transfer project and harming the seas environment, water consumption patterns must be managed in different sectors, ISNA also quoted former DoE deputy Abdolreza Karbasi as saying February 24.

"Given that Iran is located in arid and semi-arid areas, and water supply must be provided, in the future, construction of water desalination system might be inevitable, Karbasi lamented, adding, however, water management systems must first be transformed before this option is considered.

The plan to transfer water through a 200-kilometer pipeline from the Caspian Sea, Mazandaran Province to Semnan Province has been promoted as a solution to help meet growing demand in the agricultural, industrial, and household consumption sectors of the water-stressed region.

Iran is experiencing an unprecedented drought that has pitted regions against each other as they compete for scarce water supplies.

sources ISNA, MNA, Tasnim
Iran's former moderate president, Mohammad Khatami has warned that in the absence of reforms, convincing people to go to vote in the next elections will be a tough undertaking.

Khatami, who served as president for eight years (1997-2005), was speaking to the reformist faction of Majles (Iranian parliament) on Wednesday, March 6.

In remarks reflected on a Telegram account attributed to him, Khatami described the current condition of Iran as "despondent" and stressed that the Islamic Republic's governing system "should be reformed and become flexible".

Since stepping down in 2005, the 75-year-old mid-ranking cleric has continued to advocate reforms while remaining critical of Washington's approach toward Tehran.

Considered to be the leader of reformists who oppose the dominant conservative camp, Khatami during his presidency presented limited reform plans, which almost immediately floundered under the pressure of Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his conservative allies.

However, Khatami played a pivotal role in the victory of, Hassan Rouhani, over his conservative challengers in the last two presidential elections in 2013 and 2017.

He also helped pro-reform candidates to win the majority in the last parliamentary election.

These victories, Khatami admitted on Wednesday have not led to no "real reform" in the ruling establishment.

"Today, I am challenged by people who say 'you dragged us to the ballot boxes but show us one single case of moving toward real reform. Has the judiciary been improved or can a healthy private sector compete in the economic field?" Khatami said, adding, "Have our foreign policy positions that forced us to face impasse been corrected, or healthy approaches [toward the world] were dismissed and their benefits hidden from the public?"

Apparently, Khatami was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers that led to lifting international sanctions imposed on Iran.

U.S. president Donald Trump decided last May to drop the agreement and reimpose two batches of sanctions on Tehran.

Nevertheless, Khatami praised JCPOA as a "great achievement" that ended U.N. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

"Today, it is very difficult to call the people to come forward and vote again. Do you think people will listen to you and me again and participate in the next elections," Khatami asked, and immediately responded, "I believe it is unlikely, unless we witness evolution in the coming year."

Khatami seemed to be referring to the next parliamentary elections, which will take place within a year, followed by presidential elections in 2021.

Meanwhile, without naming any group, Khatami accused a number of local "political factions" of attempting to deepen the sense of despondency in society, adding, "The reformists' loss will never lead to their rival's gain; it will only help subversive forces."

Iranian reformists, such as Khatami are sometimes very critical of the way the country is run but they cannot openly call on the Supreme Leader to account for the problems the country faces. At the same time, they defend the core ideology of the Islamic Republic and oppose pro-Western, secular forces.

Lack of freedoms and economic hardship led to widespread protest rallies in December 2017 and January 2018 that engulfed more than 100 cities across the country.

The protests, initially launched in one city against the economic performance of the Rouhani's administration, soon spread and turned into anti-regime demonstrations with unified slogans condemning both reformist and conservative factions dominating Iran.

"Reformists, Principlists (conservatives)! Your day is over," millions of people chanted across the country.

Although several officials, including President Rouhani, called for listening to the voices of disgruntled citizens, thousands were detained and persecuted.

Khatami has also been banned from attending public gatherings in recent years. Mainstream media have been ordered to keep away from any news or images related to the former president.

Khatami has also faced many limitations in his public activities. In October 2017, he was prevented to leave his house to attend a private meeting with his former aides and ministers. Since then, he has virtually been under some sort of house arrest.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 25 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said March 7, Trend reports.

The Armenian armed forces were using heavy machine guns.

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, Mar. 7

By Matanat Nasibova  Trend:

Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, head of the inter-parliamentary Russia-Azerbaijan friendship group Dmitry Saveliev regards the actions of State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin as an attempt to drive a wedge into relations between Moscow and Baku, Trend reports.

This is indicated by Savelyevs statement addressed to Zatulin, regarding the participation of Russian parliamentarians in the events in Baku dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide.

"I would like to ask Mr. Zatulin questions in connection with some very strange events. I mean the second meeting of the Lazarev Club held in Moscow, with the participation of Mr. Zatulin, where a certain someone from the separatist entity in the occupied territory of Azerbaijan was also present, someone who was introduced as the "Minister of Economy and Industrial Infrastructure", said Saveliev.

According to the head of the inter-parliamentary friendship group, such actions hardly correspond to Russia's mediating mission in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

How can this correlate with the repeated statements of our state on its recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan? And aren't such actions an attempt to drive a wedge in relations between Russia and Azerbaijan under the cover of slogans about Russian-Armenian cooperation? Saveliev asks.

Regarding participation in the event as part of the anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, Dmitry Saveliev said that, as part of the Russian delegation, he took part in the annual conference titled "Building a common future, searching for a common past and developing a common present" dedicated to strengthening Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation.

A nationwide march took place in memory of the 27th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, the Russian MP said. This is an official state event, and I am proud that in the mourning procession I walked alongside with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who makes every effort to expand and strengthen fraternal relations between our countries.

Savelyev noted that the Russian delegation laid flowers at the monument Mothers Cry, symbolizing the tragedy in Khojaly.

The procession participants were carrying banners with inscriptions Dont forget Khojaly! and Justice for Khojaly!, he said. Does Zatulin consider these slogans to be anti-Armenian?

The MP noted that he and his colleagues consider the Khojaly tragedy to be a terrible crime, because with each child who died in Khojaly, a part of Azerbaijans future was destroyed.

Savelyev said that he, just like many experts, believes that the Khojaly tragedy has all signs of genocide, and he repeatedly expressed such an opinion both in the media and in the State Duma (lower house of the Russian parliament).

Earlier, Savelyev stated about the need for Russia to recognize the Khojaly tragedy as genocide perpetrated against the Azerbaijani people.

Russia needs to work on this in order to recognize this slaughter, this tragedy as genocide, he said. We all perceive this tragedy as personal. We all need to work on its recognition.

----

Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova
NEW YORK, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Danske Bank A/S (Danske or the Company) (OTCMKT: DNKEY) and certain of its officers, on behalf of shareholders who purchased or otherwise acquired Danske American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) during the period between January 9, 2014 and October 23, 2018 (the Class Period). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firms site: www.bgandg.com/dnkey.

This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Danske Banks Estonian branch was facilitating money laundering through at least March 2016; (2) that a whistleblower had reported the Estonian money laundering to the Company in 2013; (3) that Denmarks Financial Supervisory Authority (the DFSA) had been investigating the Estonian money laundering since 2014; (4) that Danske Bank had concealed the results of its own internal investigation from the DFSA, further exposing it to regulatory action and fines; (5) that Danske Bank had been overstating its historical profits by including the profits derived from its illicit Estonian operations; and (6) that Danske Bank lacked effective internal and reporting controls.

On October 24, 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Justice, Treasury Department, and the SEC, are investigating Danskes small Estonian branch for allegedly processing about $234 billion from 2007 through 2015 from foreign countries, and the CEOs resignation. The Wall Street Journal also mentioned that Danskes management was informed that the Estonian branch could not isolate the issue and therefore acts against [anti-money-laundering] legislator principles. As a result of the abovementioned, Danske ADRs and U.S. bonds have dropped this year.

A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firms site: www.bgandg.com/dnkey or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in Danske you have until March 11, 2019 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firms expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact:

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Peretz Bronstein or Yael Hurwitz

212-697-6484 | info@bgandg.com
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has expressed dissatisfaction with the invitation of representatives of the separatist regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories to the Lazarev Club meeting, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys statement on March 7.

Media reports say that the second meeting of the Russian-Armenian Lazarev Club was held in Moscow on March 5-6, 2019, the statement said.

"The official representatives of the executive and legislative powers of the Russian Federation represented by Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation Sergey Glazyev attended the meeting. Glazyev conveyed greetings of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as First Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the Russian State Duma for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Konstantin Zatulin to the meeting participants," said the ministry.

Earlier, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expressed dissatisfaction and indignation to the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the invitation of representatives of the separatist regime created in the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia to the first meeting of the aforementioned club, as well as with the statements made during the first meeting that openly infringe upon Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity," the statement reads.

On the eve of the second meeting of the Lazarev Club, in response to a correspondents question about the position of the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding the invitation of the leaders of the separatist regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories to the meeting, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that it is about the event with participation of the representatives of a civil society and non-governmental organizations and there is no information about the participation of representatives of the state bodies of the Russian Federation in the event. Moreover, it was stated that as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the Russian Federation fulfills all its obligations, the statement said.

"In this regard, we update the Russian side that the available specific data on the participation of high-ranking officials of the state bodies of the Russian Federation at the aforementioned meeting on March 5, 2019, where they were present along with representatives of the illegal regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, is grossly contrary to the obligations of a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

The obligations have been determined upon the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, clearly indicating that in their activity the co-chairs will follow the OSCE principles and standards, the UN Charter and the decisions of the OSCE forums, including the decision of the Council of Ministers on March 24, 1992, and in particular the decision of the Budapest Summit, as well as the corresponding resolutions of the UN Security Council"," the ministry said.

"Once again we call on the Russian side to fulfill the commitments undertaken within bilateral relations, in particular, compliance with the provisions of the Agreement on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation of 1997, the statement reads.

The agreement specifically states that "the Parties undertake not to support separatist movements, as well as prohibit and suppress the activity of individuals directed against the state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of other Party"."

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The sides exchanged views on several issues in the agenda covering bilateral relations, including the development of cooperation in economic, trade, cultural, humanitarian and other spheres, as well as the continuation of successful cooperation in multilateral format.

Bocharnikov, upon the Russian leaderships instructions, invited Mammadyarov to take part in the meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers scheduled for April 5 in Moscow.

In turn, Mammadyarov expressed gratitude for this invitation. The Azerbaijani foreign minister underlined the strategic nature of the existing relations between Azerbaijan and Russia and stressed Russias role as one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In this regard, Mammadyarov stressed that the participation of the Russian officials in the second meeting of the Russia-Armenia Lazarev Club, which took place in Moscow on March 5-6 with the participation of representatives from the illegal regime created in the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan occupied by the Republic of Armenia, has caused the Azerbaijani side's protest.

The minister also said that the Azerbaijani side expressed dissatisfaction to the Russian side in connection with the invitation of representatives of the separatist regime to the first meeting of the above-mentioned Club held in Yerevan in late 2018, where provocative statements against Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity were made.

Such cases contradict the normative legal framework defining the basis of the Azerbaijani-Russian bilateral relations, as well as Russia's role as mediator, the minister added.

At the meeting, the sides also exchanged views on the recent regional and global developments.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, Trend reports referring to the ministry.

During the meeting, an exchange of views was held on the current situation at the contact line of the troops, the results of the monitoring and the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the city of Rasht met with the delegation of Azerbaijan taking part in the opening ceremony of the Qazvin-Rasht railway on March 6, Trend reports with reference to Azerbaijans Economy Ministry.

The Iranian president asked to convey his greetings to the president of Azerbaijan.

Noting that he is pleased to see the Azerbaijani delegation at the opening ceremony, President Hassan Rouhani stressed that by the will of the political leadership of the two countries, relations between Tehran and Baku are experiencing a new stage of development.

He said that the laying of the Qazvin-Rasht railway to Irans Astara city within the North-South International Transport Corridor reflects the national interests of Iran and Azerbaijan.

Rouhani added that as a result of mutually beneficial cooperation, the Rasht-Astara railway will also be built and commissioned.

The Iranian president stressed the importance of expanding cooperation between the two countries, its successful continuation in the field of transport, machine engineering, pharmaceuticals and other areas.

Rouhani noted that mutually beneficial cooperation will further strengthen economic ties between the countries and will serve to further improving the well-being of peoples.

Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev thanked for the cordial welcome and conveyed to the president of Iran the greetings of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Mustafayev stressed that the political will and friendly relations between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Iran laid a solid foundation for the development of cooperation, noting that meetings of high-level heads of state intensively held in recent years are important in expanding trade and economic ties.

The minister said that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attaches particular importance to the laying of Qazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran)-Astara (Azerbaijan) railway, and this issue is always in the center of his attention.

Mustafayev noted that the participation of the Azerbaijani delegation on the instruction of President Ilham Aliyev in the commissioning of the Qazvin-Rasht railway is also manifestation of the great importance that Azerbaijan attaches to the North-South International Transport Corridor.

The Rasht-Astara railway is one of the main components of the international corridor, and the joint activity of Azerbaijan and Iran on this project is an indicator of friendship between the two countries, the minister added.

The meeting, during which an exchange of views on issues of mutual interest took place, was attended by Azerbaijani Ambassador to Iran Bunyad Huseynov, Azerbaijani Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade and Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received Paolo Grimoldi, head of the Italian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Deputy Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, Trend reports citing Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry.

Noting that this is his first visit to Baku Paolo Grimoldi shared his impressions about Azerbaijan and expressed satisfaction with the meetings held within the visit.

At the meeting, the sides discussed the current state of relations between Azerbaijan and Italy in political, economic, tourism and other spheres. In particular it was mentioned that, the energy cooperation will give a new impetus to the development of existing relations between the two countries. The importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation in the development of bilateral relations was emphasized.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received the delegation headed by Rabbi Marc Schneier, the President of US-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, Trend reports citing Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry.

Rabbi Marc Schneier noted with satisfaction his meeting with H.E Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and said that very fruitful discussions took place at the meeting.

Furthermore, the guests noted the meeting with different religious communities within the framework of their visit to Azerbaijan, which gave them an opportunity to get acquainted with the conditions created for these communities. They also highly appreciated the exchange of views on the sidelines of the international conference titled "Inter-religious and inter-civilization dialogue through cooperation" organized jointly by the State Committee on Religious Associations and the Caucasus Muslims Office.

The representatives of the US-based Evangelical Christian communities, as part of the delegation, acknowledged the importance Azerbaijan is attaching to tolerance and preservation of inter-religious relations, as well as the peaceful coexistence of representatives of various religious communities. In this regard, the guests emphasized that Azerbaijan can serve as a model country.

In his turn, Minister Elmar Mammadyarov expressed his gratitude for the sincere words and noted that tolerance and multiculturalism is a state policy and a tradition of the Azerbaijani people preserved for centuries.

Furthermore, Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed his interlocutors on the current negotiations process of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and referring to the recent statements of the Armenian leadership highlighted that such statements undermine the peace process. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov emphasized the importance of the solution of the conflict from the point of bringing peace, prosperity and sustainable development to the region.

At the meeting the sides also discussed Azerbaijan-USA relations and other issues of mutual interest.
Headline changed, details added (first version posted on March 6 at 13:09)

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 6

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar.

Toivo Klaar expressed the EUs keenness to positively contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

President Ilham Aliyev hailed the European Commission leadership and some of its commissioners public statements regarding the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of international law, unsustainability of the current status-quo, continuation of the negotiations in the existing format, and the unacceptability of putting forward conditions in negotiations. The president said Azerbaijan supports this.

The head of state noted that the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be settled on the basis of the principles and norms of international law within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, adding that the format of negotiations cannot be changed.

Describing Azerbaijan as the most interested party in the soonest fair settlement of the conflict, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that the liberation of the occupied lands has always been the crucial component of the negotiation process.

The head of state underlined that the controversial official statements made by the Armenian side are unacceptable and undermine the negotiation process. He said it is necessary that the international community take this into serious consideration and convey targeted statements to Armenia.

The sides also exchanged views on the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union in various fields, and Azerbaijans involvement in Eastern Partnership program.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the groundbreaking ceremony of a new four-storey residential building for the quake-affected families in 20 January street, Shamakhi district.

The president laid the foundation stone for the 44-apartment residential building.

President Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva then met with local residents and talked to them.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the inauguration of the newly-built orphanage-kindergarten No 4 in Shahriyar settlement, Shamakhi district.

The orphanage-kindergarten was built as part of the Preschool Institutions Development Program implemented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

The president and first lady cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the orphanage-kindergarten.

President Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva then viewed conditions created there.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory letter to First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in connection with March 8, the International Womens Day.

Dear Mehriban Arifovna, I congratulate you on the International Womens Day, Vladimir Putin said in his letter. I sincerely wish that this wonderful holiday bless you with spring warmth, attention and care of family and friends. May good luck and success attend you throughout your life, and may your home be filled with harmony and love. I wish you good health and all the best.
NEW YORK, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Markel Corporation (Markel or the Company) (NYSE: MKL) and certain of its officers, on behalf of shareholders who purchased or otherwise acquired Markel securities during the period between July 26, 2017 and December 6, 2018, inclusive (the Class Period). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firms site: www.bgandg.com/mkl.

This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Markels subsidiaries did not appropriately record loss reserves; (2) as a result, the loss reserves would need to be adjusted and/or restated; (3) these misleading accounting practices would lead to regulatory scrutiny and financial loss to investors; and (4) consequently, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

On December 6, 2018, Markel issued a press release stating that after having been contacted on November 30, 2018, it is fully cooperating with inquiries by US and Bermuda authorities into loss reserves recorded in late 2017 and early 2018 at Markel CATCo Investment Management Ltd and its subsidiaries. Following this announcement, Markels stock dropped $99.70 per share, or over 8%, to close at $1048.23 on December 7, 2018.

A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firms site: www.bgandg.com/mkl. or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in Markel you have until March 12, 2019 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firms expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact:

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Peretz Bronstein or Yael Hurwitz

212-697-6484 | info@bgandg.com
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, has sent a congratulatory letter to First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in connection with March 8, the International Womens Day.

Dear Mehriban Arifovna, please accept my sincere congratulations on the occasion of March 8, reads the letter. Women make our world brighter, more beautiful and kinder. They carefully preserve the family hearth, create harmony and comfort at home. Most importantly they always give their emotional warmth to their loved and close ones, surrounding them with care and attention.

May the wonderful mood of this holiday be with you for a long time. I wish you health, happiness, well-being and all the best, Dmitry Medvedev said in his letter.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has signed an Order on measures to continue elimination of the consequences of the earthquake that occurred in Shamakhi, Ismayilli and Aghsu districts.

Under the Order, President Ilham Aliyev allocated 5 million manats to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and 2 million manats to each Executive Authority of Shamakhi, Ismayilli and Aghsu districts in order to tackle the damage caused to residential buildings, social and infrastructure facilities.
Details added (first version posted on 13:56)

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

By wordplay, the Armenian government cannot evade overwhelming responsibility, Hikmet Hajiyev, head of the foreign policy department of the presidential administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan, said in the article on EURACTIV.

Hajiyev made the remarks in response to the interview by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to EURACTIV.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans interview on March 4 with EURACTIV, particularly his claims on Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is diametrically opposite to the essence and format of negotiation process mediated by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, he said.

Since the Dushanbe meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan in September last year, Azerbaijan has taken constructive and courageous steps to create conducive environment to move the negotiation process forward, Hajiyev added. In the margins of CIS informal summit in St. Petersburg and in Davos two more meetings took place between leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, Armenian prime minister even avoids calling them meetings and prefers metaphorical illustration as informal contacts.

This hopeful dynamism has also been accompanied by four meetings of foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the mediation of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, he said.

But instead of positively responding to the optimism of co-chairs and international community at large to continue substantive and intensive result-oriented dialogue between the two countries, Armenian prime minister started to make unrealistic assertions to involve illegal puppet regime established in the seized lands of Azerbaijan into negotiations, Hajiyev said.

By such thinking Armenian side deliberately blocks and paralyzes the entire talks, he added. Armenian prime minister says that he cannot speak on behalf of Armenians of Karabakh but fails to answer the basic question: What are Armenian armed forces doing in the sovereign lands of Azerbaijan?

It is very well known that Armenia, in blatant violation of the UN Charter by illegal use of force, occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, Hajiyev added. Bloody ethnic cleansing has been perpetrated by Armenia against million more Azerbaijani civilians, who still continue to live as IDPs and refugees.

The direct involvement of the Armenian armed forces in the military hostilities against Azerbaijan and the presence of these forces in the occupied territories attest legal, political and moral responsibility of Armenia as the party to the conflict, he added.

Simply, by play of words Armenian government cannot evade this overwhelming responsibility, Hajiyev said. The occupiers often disguise their own role in the forcible seizure of the territory of another state by setting up puppet regimes in the occupied territories. The so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a vivid illustration of this policy and practice.

The European Court of Human Rights with regard to the case Chiragov vs Armenia put an effective end to Armenias persistent denial of responsibility, he said. ECHR ruled that the NKR and its administration survives by virtue of the military, political, financial and other support given to it by Armenia which, consequently, exercises effective control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 7

Trend:

Baku hosted the next stage of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and the Netherlands, Trend reports referring to the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The Azerbaijani delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ramiz Hasanov, while the Dutch delegation was headed by Deputy Director-General for Political Affairs of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pieter Jan Kleiweg de Zwaan.

It was noted during the consultations that the political dialogue between the two countries is at a high level. The parties analyzed the current state of relations and an exchange of views on prospects for cooperation took place. It was stressed that the dialogue between the heads of state and governments, the ministerial meetings, as well as contacts between the governments of the two countries, play an exceptional role in terms of enhanced cooperation.

The parties also exchanged views on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It was noted that the settlement of the problem is possible only on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Gratitude was expressed to the Dutch side for the unequivocal support of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The two sides also noted the successful activities of a number of Dutch companies in energy and transport projects implemented with the initiative and participation of Azerbaijan, and discussed opportunities for expanding ties in the non-oil sector (particularly in agriculture), and stressed the importance of improving the contacts of the peoples of the two countries in the fields of education, science and culture.
Details added (first version posted on 13:56)

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

By wordplay, the Armenian government cannot evade overwhelming responsibility, Hikmet Hajiyev, head of the foreign policy department of the presidential administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan, said in the article on EURACTIV.

Hajiyev made the remarks in response to the interview by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to EURACTIV.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans interview on March 4 with EURACTIV, particularly his claims on Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is diametrically opposite to the essence and format of negotiation process mediated by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, he said.

Since the Dushanbe meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan in September last year, Azerbaijan has taken constructive and courageous steps to create conducive environment to move the negotiation process forward, Hajiyev added. In the margins of CIS informal summit in St. Petersburg and in Davos two more meetings took place between leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, Armenian prime minister even avoids calling them meetings and prefers metaphorical illustration as informal contacts.

This hopeful dynamism has also been accompanied by four meetings of foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the mediation of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, he said.

But instead of positively responding to the optimism of co-chairs and international community at large to continue substantive and intensive result-oriented dialogue between the two countries, Armenian prime minister started to make unrealistic assertions to involve illegal puppet regime established in the seized lands of Azerbaijan into negotiations, Hajiyev said.

By such thinking Armenian side deliberately blocks and paralyzes the entire talks, he added. Armenian prime minister says that he cannot speak on behalf of Armenians of Karabakh but fails to answer the basic question: What are Armenian armed forces doing in the sovereign lands of Azerbaijan?

It is very well known that Armenia, in blatant violation of the UN Charter by illegal use of force, occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, Hajiyev added. Bloody ethnic cleansing has been perpetrated by Armenia against million more Azerbaijani civilians, who still continue to live as IDPs and refugees.

The direct involvement of the Armenian armed forces in the military hostilities against Azerbaijan and the presence of these forces in the occupied territories attest legal, political and moral responsibility of Armenia as the party to the conflict, he added.

Simply, by play of words Armenian government cannot evade this overwhelming responsibility, Hajiyev said. The occupiers often disguise their own role in the forcible seizure of the territory of another state by setting up puppet regimes in the occupied territories. The so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a vivid illustration of this policy and practice.

The European Court of Human Rights with regard to the case Chiragov vs Armenia put an effective end to Armenias persistent denial of responsibility, he said. ECHR ruled that the NKR and its administration survives by virtue of the military, political, financial and other support given to it by Armenia which, consequently, exercises effective control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories.

Recently, Pashinyans Cabinet member and chief of national security admitted Armenias policy of annexation of seized lands by justifying settlement practice and refusing to return even an inch of occupied lands, he said.

There is yet another inconsistency, Hajiyev added. In the interview Pashinyan welcomes the UN Secretary Generals statement on the conflict, but keeps silent over the four UN Security Council Resolutions on Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Armenia has yet to fulfil the demands of UNSCRs on immediate and unconditional withdrawal of troops from all occupied Azerbaijani lands.

Paradoxically, Armenian leadership from one side expresses support to the efforts of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, but from another side undermines the work of Co-Chair countries by calling for change of negotiation format, he added.

According to the decision of OSCE Helsinki Ministerial of 1992 Armenia and Azerbaijan recognized as conflicting parties and consequently, Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan as interested parties, Hajiyev said.

Under the conditions of committing ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenias groundless attempts to demand exclusive rights to Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh are contrary to the letter and spirit of human rights, he said. Armenia even tries to deny very existence of 80,000 more Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh and by all means blocks dialogue between two communities.

Azerbaijan supports statements by EU high officials during a press conference with Pashinyan, Hajiyev said. The status quo of occupation is unacceptable and must be changed. Putting conditions to negotiations is inadmissible, no need to create a new format, and negotiations should continue within existing framework based on agreed formula.

Continuity of and commitment to the negotiations must be preserved, he said. These are also unanimously shared view of international community. Therefore, addressed political-diplomatic messages should be delivered to Armenia. The Armenian side should finally understand that the period of euphoria has ended. Enough of street populism, it is time to take serious actions.

Armenias economic development is impossible without a settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Hajiyev said.

To achieve progress in the resolution of conflict, Armenia must withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and build civilized relations with neighbors, he said. Only in this case the most needed lasting and fair peace can be ensured in the region. Otherwise, Armenias political, economic and demographic crisis and self-isolation will continue to deepen.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to President of Senegal Macky Sall.

I sincerely congratulate you on your re-election as President of the Republic of Senegal, Ilham Aliyev said in his letter. I am confident that we will continue our efforts towards developing the relations of friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and Senegal. I wish you the best of health, happiness and success in your activity for the well-being of the friendly people of Senegal.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

New US ambassador to Azerbaijan Earle (Lee) Litzenberger is looking forward to assuming his duties as the US ambassador in Baku.

My wife and I are extremely happy and thrilled to be here in Baku. I am looking forward to assuming my duties as the US ambassador here, getting to know the people, the culture and the officials here and working to deepen and strengthen the relations between our two countries and two peoples, he said, Trend reports March 7.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry told Trend March 7.

T.Klaar emphasized with satisfaction his meeting with H.E Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and said that very fruitful discussions took place at the meeting.

Minister informed the EU Special Representative about the current negotiations process on the resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Referring to the recent statements of the Armenian leadership Minister Elmar Mammadyarov highlighted that such statements undermine the negotiations process. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov pointed out that non-resolution of the conflict is a serious obstacle to sustainable development and prosperity of the region, adding that the international community unequivocally supports the withdrawal of the occupying forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the return of the internally displaced persons to their homes and thus ensuring peace in the region. In this regard, Minister Elmar Mammadyarov referred to the latest statements of the EU officials made on the conflict settlement.

In his turn, T.Klaar stressed the importance of the substance of the negotiations and noted the readiness of the Union to contribute to preparation of the populations for peace.

Furthermore, the sides exchanged their views on the current status of the bilateral relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan, the mutual exchange of visits, as well as the ongoing negotiations on the new agreement, which will constitute the legal basis of the relations.

At the meeting the sides also discussed the regional issues of mutual interest.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

The next meeting of the Scientific Council was held at Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC). Members of the UNEC Public Supervisory Board also attended the meeting.

Describing the transparent and objective assessment of student knowledge at the exams as the principal position of the university, the rector of UNEC, professor Adalat Muradov noted that this position will remain unchanged. The rector said the results of the winter 2018/2019 exam session were satisfactory.

Vice-rector on Education and Training Technologies of UNEC, associate professor Anar Rzayev made a report on the results of the winter exam session of the 2018/2019 academic year. Noting that 11746 bachelors and 2280 masters students participated in the exam, the vice-rector told that exams were conducted both in writing and in test forms.

Pointing out that success rate of the university is 82% , A.Rzayev emphasized that the highest rate for bachelor's degree (95%) is recorded at International School of Economics. He said there was a huge increase in the number of students who received excellent marks compared with previous years, and that all 34 of the Presidential scholarships could maintain this name.

The innovations applied in the exam session were also disscussed in the report. It was noted that the exams in different faculties on speciality subjects like Introduction to Economics, Macroeconomics, as well as on technical and technological specialities have been held in written form.

But the exams on Marketing and Accounting have been held on the condition that the test questions on the basis of renewed single sillabus are kept confidential. Another innovation in this exam session was the organization and supervision of examinations being delegated to faculties.

Coordinator of the UNEC Public Supervisory Council, head of the social unity of XXI Century Education Center Etibar Aliyev said the council members had been monitoring the exams for the past three years. Pointing out that the members of the council were holding "Open Doors" without the participation of the UNEC leadership during the session, E. Aliyev stated that the "Hotline " was delegated to the mass media, and elucidated the results of anonymous survey conducted among the students.

He said that the vast majority of respondents had a positive attitude towards the organization of exams, provision of objectiveness, the quality of the questions, as well as the towards the relevance of the topics taught, the satisfaction of the students.

E. Aliyev expressed his confidence that UNEC would move more confidently to the goal it has set in comparison with the previous year and expressed his confidence that competent specialists would be trained in such a transparent environment.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) hosted International Womens Day celebration. It was attended by BHOS rector Elmar Gasimov, teachers, students and administration staff members.

At the beginning, the National anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was played.

Opening the gathering, Rector Elmar Gasimov extended his sincere congratulations to BHOS female students and staff members and to all Azerbaijani women on the International Womens Day, which is traditionally celebrated all over the country and worldwide on March 8 every year. In his words, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev pays special attention to strengthening the position of women in the political, social, economic, scientific and cultural spheres and provides all necessary support to their initiatives and activities carried out for the prosperity of the country. The Rector informed that the number of female students at BHOS is constantly growing and that women comprise 60 percent of all staff members.

In conclusion, Rector Elmar Gasimov once again congratulated women on the International Womens Day and presented gifts to all female students and staff members. Ten staff members were awarded Honorary Certificates and valuable prizes for their success in the work. The event concluded with a concert performed by the students of Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, and by the members of the Higher Schools Music Club.
BLUE BELL, Pa., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRA Health Sciences is delighted to be included as the only CRO on the Philadelphia Inquirers list of Top Workplaces for 2019.



The best employers around the country are annually recognized for their commitment to developing and sustaining a culture that supports, promotes, and values its employees with the Top Workplaces Award. This year, Philadelphia Inquirer partnered with Energage, a research company that administers online surveys to employees, to honor the companies nominated in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Were thrilled to once again be recognized as a Top Workplace, said Samir Shah, President of Strategic Solutions. At PRA, we cherish a people-first culture of value, respect, and support. This award is a direct reflection of our employees passion for the important work they do, and the hard work we put into building a work environment that encourages such feedback.

Employees answered 24 questions assessing their workplace, and companies were ranked based solely on the feedback from these anonymous surveys. PRA is honored by the privilege of once again being on the list of the most top-rated workplaces.

ABOUT PRA HEALTH SCIENCES

PRA Health Sciences is a full-service global contract research organization, providing a broad range of product development and data solution services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies around the world. PRAs integrated services include data management, statistical analysis, clinical trial management, and regulatory and drug development consulting. PRAs global operations span more than 70 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, South Africa, Australia and the Middle East, and over 15,800 employees worldwide. Since 2000, PRA has participated in approximately 3,700 clinical trials worldwide. In addition, PRA has participated in the pivotal or supportive trials that led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration or international regulatory approval of more than 75 drugs. To learn more about PRA, please visit www.prahs.com .
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 8

Trend:

Azerbaijan marks the International Women's Day - March 8, the international day of solidarity of women in the struggle for economic, social and political equality.

The decision to celebrate the International Womens Day was adopted at the Second International Conference (Copenhagen) of the socialist women in 1910.
Tehran, Iran, March 7

Trend:

Iran Presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi, during the meeting with Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev, stressed the efforts of Tehran to develop relations with Baku.

Vaezi said that the fact of Iran and Azerbaijan being two friendly and fraternal countries is a good factor to consolidate and deepen the level of relationships, Trend reports via Iranian Government's official website.

Vaezi was present in Iran's Gilan province on the sidelines of the opening of the Qazvin - Rasht railway.

Tehran has no limits in development of bilateral relations with Baku, said Vaezi in the meeting with Mustafayev.

Vaezi went on to call the day of the opening of the Qazvin - Rasht railway and the start of operations of the Rasht - Astara railroad, an important day in the history of cooperation between the two countries.

We must work to complete and finalize this project as soon as possible, he emphasized.

Mustafayev, in turn, conveyed greetings and congratulations of the President Ilham Aliyev and the government of Azerbaijan to the Iranian government and nation on 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

He also called the opening of the Rasht - Qazvin railway and Rasht- Astara, a historic move, and said that the railway is the most important part of the North-South Corridor, and it is important for both countries and even the countries of the region.

He also appreciated Vaezi's constructive role in the development of Tehran-Baku relations.
Tehran, Iran, March 7

Trend:

Two Memorandums of Understanding on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway between Iran's Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC) and Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, as well as a memorandum on the construction of the Rasht-Anzali railway line between the CDTIC and Anzali Free Zone, have been signed.

On the sidelines of the official opening ceremony of the Qazvin-Rasht railway, which was held on Wednesday evening in the presence of the Iran's president, two MoUs were signed, Trend reports citing IRNA.

The Qazvin-Rasht railway was launched on Wednesday evening with the presence of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani.

Qazvin-Rasht railway starts from the Black Cheshmeh station of Qazvin province. The rail link from the Rasht station is connected to Bandar-e Anzali and Astara.

The speed limit for passenger trains is 160 km/h, while for freight trains - 120 km/h.

The launch of the railway is an important factor as far as transportation of cargo and passengers from Qazvin and Gilan provinces goes. The railway will also serve as a new rail corridor for export and import as well as transit of goods from northern parts of the country to the Persian Gulf and international waters.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:

An official delegation led by Uzbek Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov arrived in Hungary to attend the meeting of Uzbek-Hungarian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, Trend reports with reference to press service of the Ministry.

Umurzakov met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, in Budapest.

The ministers exchanged views on prospects for bilateral cooperation, meaning the expansion of investment partnership and increasing trade turnover between two countries.

It was noted that Uzbekistan in the past two years has become one of the most open states for establishing sustainable economic relations due to the accelerated institutional reforms in the country.

Szijjarto expressed hope for a further rapprochement between Hungary and Uzbekistan, which will undoubtedly have a positive effect on development of both countries by strengthening the economic and socio-cultural partnership.

Moreover, Uzbek-Hungarian Business Forum on trade and economic cooperation was held with the participation of Uzbek Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, as well as heads of sector departments and ministries.

From the Hungarian side, the event was attended by representatives of big business in the agro-industrial sector, animal husbandry, construction and engineering, energy, pharmaceuticals, mechanical engineering, information and communication technologies and tourism.

The Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Petra Pana noted the great opportunities for inter-country cooperation in the exchange of technologies, scientific developments and the development of vocational education, and expressed the hope that the flow of tourists to both directions will increase this year.

At the end of the forum, a number of documents were signed between Hungarian entrepreneurs and representatives of Uzbek sector departments and ministries, defining the scope and timing of cooperation between the two parties in implementation of specific projects.

---

Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:

Uzbekistan and Luxembourg signed a protocol on air traffic, Trend reports via Uzbek media.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn signed the document during the visit to Uzbekistan.

The document will contribute to the legal streamlining of cargo, passenger and charter flights between two countries.

The protocol will allow Luxembourg Cargolux to carry out transit cargo transportation to Asian countries from 2020 through the international intermodal logistics center Navoi.

Moreover, the delegation held a meeting at Uzbek Ministry of Transport.

First Deputy Transport Minister Ilkhom Makhkamov welcomed the guests and spoke about the country's ongoing reforms to develop the transport and logistics sector in Central Asia, as well as about the activities, structure, goals and objectives of the ministry.

The parties discussed issues of cooperation in the areas of mutual interests of Uzbekistan and Luxembourg meaning transport, logistics and transit.

Following the talks, the parties agreed to develop cooperation projects in these areas.

----

Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:

The General Secretary of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Kunio Mikuriya, arrived in Uzbekistan on an official visit, Trend reports via Uzbek media.

The main purpose of the Secretary Generals visit is to involve Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, in the WCOs activities by participating in the Organizations activities, assisting customs services in improving their capacity in simplifying customs and trade procedures, and strengthening regional cooperation.

WCO Secretary General held meeting with the Chairman of Uzbek State Customs Committee Murotjon Azimov, where they discussed in detail various issues related to the international cooperation of Uzbek customs authorities in the field of customs.

During the meeting, Secretary General of the WCO noted that he was closely following the ongoing customs reforms in Uzbekistan. The system of double corridor introduced at all international airports of the country was especially emphasized. Its main purpose is to simplify customs control, launch an automated risk management system, open borders separating Uzbekistan from neighboring countries, in particular, the resumption of work at several checkpoints.

Uzbek customs service is one of the most important state institutions that protect the economic sovereignty of the country and holds one of the priority places in system of foreign and domestic policy of the state.

At the same time, the main objectives of the customs policy are the ensuring of effective customs control and regulation of goods exchange in the customs territory of the country, stimulating the development of economy, and protecting the internal market. The main attention at the meeting was paid to the further development of cooperation of Uzbekistan with the World Customs Organization and foreign countries in the customs sphere.

Currently, 182 countries in the world are members of the World Customs Organization which controls about 98 percent of international trade.

Uzbekistan joined the Convention establishing the Customs Cooperation Council on July 28, 1992. The country has actively participated in the activities of the World Customs Organization since then, and is also a party to more than 20 international conventions on customs issues.

It should be noted that agreements have been signed with such countries as Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus to create simplified customs corridors for the implementation of customs control for certain goods. In order to strengthen bilateral cooperation between customs services, proposals were made to 22 countries around the world on agreements developed by the Customs Service of Uzbekistan.

---

Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 7

By Elnur Baghishov  Trend:

The potential of Iran's flour processing plants is very high and imports of wheat bring additional income to the country at the same time, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad of Iran told Fars News Agency, Trend reports.

According to the official, the imported wheat is brought temporarily and flour products are being prepared.

Last year, the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad signed a contract with Russia for the import of 1 million tons of wheat, so as to use the full potential of Iran's flour processing plants.

"After being processed at 15 flour plants, the imported wheat is exported to countries of South-East Asia and China," he said.

Over the past days, the movement of an Iranian cargo carrier with about 4,900 tons of wheat was impeded at the Volga River. This has caused some Iranians to wonder as to why wheat is being imported to Iran, when there is no need for that.
Tehran, Iran,March 7

Trend:

Afghanistan's Ministry of Finance has ordered to open the Abu Nasr Farahi border to imports of four Iranian items.

The ministry has issued a statement that allows the import of four Iranian items, including oil products, cement, iron and tile, Trend reported citied IRNA.

"The temporary imports license have been issued and after four months period, it will be reviewed again," reads the statement.

The process of imports from Iran is to start next week and Afghanistan's customs chief will submit his evaluation report over the issue after the four months' timeline to the Finance Ministry.

The border was blocked by the order of Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani in February due to corruption of Afghan officials.

It was previously blocked imports of five Iranian items for 50 days in September, and then it was reopened by the frequent demand of the people of Farah.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Sara Israfilbayova  Trend:

Today Azerbaijan needs more technical assistance and less financial support, Mercy Tembon, the World Banks (WB) Regional Director for the South Caucasus, said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

In 1992, when Azerbaijan joined the WB group, it was not that developed and needed a lot of investments. But as time goes by, we can see that need for financial support is not as big as it used to be back then, she said.

Tembon stressed that although the WBs program with the Azerbaijani government equally consists of all three components (financial assistance, technical assistance, knowledge sharing).

Further, answering the question on financing of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), she said that if any help is needed, the World Bank is always ready to provide the necessary support.

The regional director said that SGC is a fantastic project, adding that the WB is happy of being one of the first international financial institutions, financing the project.

The Southern Gas Corridor envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe. The gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.

Azerbaijan joined the World Bank Group in 1992. During this period, the bank allocated loans for the implementation of over 50 projects in the country worth over $3 billion. Seven more projects worth about $1.5 billion are being implemented.

Besides the loans, WB allocated 45 grants to Azerbaijan totalling $41.586 million in 1995-2014.

----

Follow the author on Twitter: @Israfilbekova
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

The Azerbaijani company Islamoghlu Un Mamulatlari, which produces and sells flour products, sees a decline in sales of its products, a source in the company told Trend.

The source noted that the company's sales has dropped by 20 percent.

"This is a fairly large figure, even if we consider that the trend of decline in sales is associated with a seasonal factor. As a rule, our products are well sold in winter and autumn, in the other two seasons, consumer demand is much lower," the source said.

The decline in sales is also linked to increasing competition in this market segment, the source noted.

The company has no plans to export its products, but intends to sell in the domestic market, the source said.

The company has been operating in Baku since 2015, mainly produces bakery products, cakes and other types of sweets.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibova
RICHVALE, Calif., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lundberg Family Farms , a national leader in organic rice, rice products and US-grown quinoa, add flavor and variety to their pre-cooked Ready to Heat rice line. The first addition is a line of five rice pouches inspired by flavors from around the world. And also new is Black Thai, a black rice variety imported from Thailand that is Fair Trade certified and contains 47 grams of whole grains per serving. All are organic, non-GMO verified, and vegan.



Coconut Rice

Spanish Style Rice

Turmeric Rice

Sesame Soy & Ginger Rice

Harissa Rice

Black Thai Khao Dum Rice

Pre-cooked and ready to serve in only 90 seconds, these handy rice pouches make a great side dish or entree base, and provide a quick and convenient way to prepare a meal. Each eight-ounce pouch contains approximately 2 servings. These products are currently available to ship to distributors with a MSRP of $3.69, and the Black Thai pouch is available with a MSRP of $2.99.

For more information about Lundberg Family Farms and other products, visit www.lundberg.com .

About Lundberg Family Farms

Since 1937, the Lundberg Family has been farming rice and producing rice products at their farms in the Sacramento Valley. Now led by its third generation, Lundberg Family Farms uses organic and eco-positive farming practices to produce wholesome rice and quinoa products while protecting and improving the environment for future generations. For more information, visit Lundberg.com and follow us on Facebook , Pinterest , Twitter and Instagram .

Contact:

Clare Nordstrom

Lundberg@accesstheagency.com

Phone: 212-805-8075

Janet Souza

jsouza@lundberg.com

Phone: 530-538-3500

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2777f486-599c-4838-8428-c93596014659.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 7

By Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

Customs administrations of the Turkic Council member states will sign the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Customs Enforcement, Trend reports citing the press service of the Turkic Council.

The document will be signed at the 7th Meeting of the Heads of Customs Administrations of the Turkic Council on March 11 in Kazakhstans capital Astana.

Baghdad Amreyev, Secretary General of the Turkic Council, Marat Sultangaziyev, Chairman of the State Revenue Committee under the Finance Ministry of Kazakhstan, Ismayil Huseynov, First Deputy Chairman of State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, Sultan Mamasadykov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Kyrgyzstan, and Gonca Isk Ylmaz Batur, Deputy Trade Minister of Turkey, as well as the high level government officials and the representatives from the embassies of the member states will take part in the meeting.

During the meeting, the heads of delegations will review the work done in the field of customs cooperation since the last meeting in May 2017.

The parties will exchange views on the agenda items including the Silk Road Initiative and Caravanserai Project, public private partnership, the schedule of training programs for 2019 to be organized by member states, as well as the Turkic Council Modern Silk Road Trade Caravan Demonstration Tour.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashid
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

Trend:

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Labour and Social Protection held a meeting with a group of women who successfully built their business as part of a self-employment program, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population.

Azerbaijani Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population Sahil Babayev stressed that an important part of the participants of the self-employment program, being implemented upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs order, accounts for women.

He stressed that 1,309 out of 7,267 people participating in the program accounted for women in 2018.

"This year this figure will increase," Babayev added.

The establishment of individual households by low-income families within the program has created an opportunity to eliminate their dependence on state aid, increase family income through the labour and obtain the opportunity to launch business.

During the event, the production sites owned by women were inspected.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

OPEC oil output has dropped to the lowest level in February 2019 since March 2015, Trend reports citing S&P Global Platts.

Saudi Arabia's continued output discipline and Venezuela's struggles under US sanctions led OPEC's crude oil production in February modestly lower to 30.80 million b/d, an S&P Global Platts survey of industry officials, analysts and shipping data found.  The figure is a 60,000 b/d drop from January and is OPEC's lowest output level since March 2015, when Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo had yet to join the organization but Qatar was still a member.

S&P believes that despite the fall, OPEC still has more cutting to do to fully comply with its supply accord that went into force in January.

The 11 members with quotas under the deal achieved 79 percent of their committed cuts in February, and remain 170,000 b/d above their collective ceiling. This is a slight improvement on January's 76 percent, with Nigeria and Iraq producing far in excess of their cap, according to Platts calculations.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached an agreement in December 2016 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1.

Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from January 1, 2017.

OPEC and its partners decided to extend its production cuts till the end of 2018 in Vienna on November 30, as the oil cartel and its allies step up their attempt to end a three-year supply glut that has savaged crude prices and the global energy industry.

The 5th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held in Vienna, Austria, on December 7, 2018.

The meeting participants decided to adjust the overall production by 1.2 million barrels per day, effective as of January 2019 for an initial period of six months. The contributions from OPEC and the voluntary contributions from non-OPEC participating countries of the Declaration of Cooperation will correspond to 0.8 million barrels per day (2.5 percent), and 0.4 million barrels per day (2 percent), respectively.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Civil works are 90 percent complete at Well 37 at Azerbaijans Jafarli oil field, Trend reports citing Canadas Zenith Energy company, operator for development of Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab block of oil fields.

Workover and Drilling Manager, Ion Tica, met with the Field Team at C-37 well location. Well C-37 civil works 90 percent completed, said the company.

Moreover, Zenith Energy said that last trucks transporting BD-260 drilling rig have been loaded and en route to Azerbaijan on March 7.

The rig was purchased by Canadas Zenith Energy company for operations onshore Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR and Zenith Aran Oil Company signed a Rehabilitation, Exploration, Development and Production Sharing Agreement (REDPSA) in March 2016 for a block that includes the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab oil fields. Zenith Energy Ltd established its subsidiary company Zenith Aran Oil Company Ltd for production operations in these three fields. Production under the agreement began in August 2016.

Zenith holds an 80-percent participating interest in the three fields within the contract area, while SOCAR retains the remaining 20 percent. The agreement is for 25 years, with a potential extension by five additional years.

The total area of the Muradkhanli, Jafarli and Zardab fields is 642.2 square kilometers, and according to the contract, it is divided into rehabilitation and exploration territories.

The Muradkhanli-Jafarli-Zardab block is located in the Yevlakh-Agjabadi oil and gas region of Imishli district of Azerbaijan. The Muradkhanli field was discovered in 1971, Jafarli - in 1984, and Zardab - in 1981.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 7

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

The Turkmen Foreign Affairs Ministry hosted in Ashgabat a meeting of the technical working groups on the Regional Infrastructure Confidence Building Measures (RI-CBM) within the Istanbul Process on Afghanistan, Trend reports with reference to the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, co-organizer of the event.

The OSCE stands ready to employ its comprehensive security instruments to maintain a sustainable dialogue on the existing and planned infrastructure projects and to facilitate discussions in the areas pertinent to the RI-CBM, such as security of regional infrastructure and trade facilitation on new trade and transport routes, said Natalya Drozd, head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat.

The participants stressed the importance of the effective implementation of various large-scale and local economic projects in the region for fostering the socio-economic stability, security and further prosperity of the region.

The Istanbul Process was established as a platform for regional dialogue and co-operation for encouraging security, political, and economic co-operation between Afghanistan and its neighbors.

The participating countries of the Istanbul Process include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the UAE.

The project includes a number of large-scale regional initiatives, including the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, the Asian International Railway Corridor and the Lapis Lazuli Trade and Transportation Corridor.

Assistance in the organization of the regional technical groups meeting is provided as a component of an extra-budgetary project of the OSCE Center funded by the UK.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 7

By Elnur Baghishov  Trend:

A trade delegation comprising 20 economic agents from Iran's Tehran and Alborz provinces visited Turkey, with Raheem Banamullahi, head of the Alborz Province Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines & Agriculture and head the trade delegation, informing IRNA about the visit in advance, Trend reports.

According to Banamullahi, the purpose of the visit is to attend the Food-Tech Eurasia 2019  14th International Food and Beverage Technologies Fair held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Banamullahi said that the visit took place on the official invitation of the exhibition organizers.

Banamullahi added that Iranian food product exports to Turkey will also be discussed during the visit.

The Food-Tech Eurasia 2019  14th International Food and Beverage Technologies Fair will be held in Istanbul between March 7-10, 2019.
Iran and the group of five international mediators (Russia, China, the United Kingdom, Germany and France) have agreed to convene a joint commission on the implementation of a nuclear deal at the level of ministers, the commissions co-chairs said, Trend reported citing TASS.

"Participants stressed their determination to support practical solutions concerning sanctions lifting and agreed to keep progress under close review and to convene the Joint Commission, including at ministerial level, as appropriate in order to advance common efforts," reads a joint statement released in Brussels following a meeting in Vienna at the level of deputy foreign ministers and political directors.

The document says that Iran and the group of five mediators "will also continue to intensify efforts to preserve the JCPOA including as regards sanctions lifting through specialised and focused expert discussions including, as appropriate, sub-groups within the framework of the Sanctions Working Group."

The meeting of the Joint Commission to oversee the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for Irans nuclear program was held in Vienna on Wednesday. Russian Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said after the talks that Iran and the five international mediators have agreed to set up task groups to implement decisions made at the ministerial meeting held in New York on the sidelines of the 2018 UN General Assembly.
Moscow expects that the Russian-Turkish memorandum concerning Syrias Idlib province will help improve the situation in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday, Trend reports referring to TASS.

"We expect that the agreements that the two countries militaries reached will help turn the tide, stabilize the situation in Idlib and eliminate the terrorist threat emanating from there," she said.

According to Zakharova, the situation in northeastern Syria is difficult particularly because the residents of those areas, mostly Sunni Arabs, oppose local Kurdish administrations.

"Deadly clashes between the Arabs and the Kurds take place on a regular basis, nearly 100 terrorist attacks occurred in the past two months, which claimed the lives of about 200 people and left hundreds wounded," she explained.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at their Sochi meeting on September 17, 2018, agreed to create a demilitarized zone along the line of contact in the Idlib province that would be 15-20 kilometers wide. However, Ankara asked for additional time before the launch of joint patrols, as Turkey was unable to ensure security.
China's lunar rover has conducted scientific detection on some stones on the far side of the moon, which might help scientists find out whether they are from outer space or native to the moon, Trend reported citing Xinhua.

The rover Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit-2, was sent to the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3 in the Chang'e-4 mission.

Currently, the rover has traveled about 127 meters on the moon, and is taking a "noon break" as the temperature on the moon rises extremely high. It's scheduled to resume work on March 10 and switch to its dormant mode on March 13, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

Scientists said the rover has conducted scientific detection on its tracks and nearby stones. The largest stone detected has a diameter of about 20 cm, and the rover came as close as 1.2 meters to it.

Experts from the National Space Science Center (NSSC) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said they want to figure out the origin of the stones, whether they are aboriginal on the moon, or meteorites from outer space. If they are aboriginal, what is the physical process of their formation?

As a result of the tidal locking effect, the moon's revolution cycle is the same as its rotation cycle, and it always faces the earth with the same side.

The far side of the moon was regarded as a virgin territory with unique features, and scientists expect important discoveries.

Ping Jinsong, a researcher with the National Astronomical Observatories under CAS, said that the rocks on the lunar surface might be sputtered body as a result of the meteorite impact.

Scientists have found evidence indicating a heavy asteroid bombardment event in the solar system around 3.9 billion years ago. And the SPA Basin might be an impact from that period. The exploration might offer clues as to why the bombardment occurred, said Zou Yongliao, director of the lunar and deep space exploration division of CAS.

The other possibility is that the stones are aboriginal, and contain geological information different from the lunar dust, said Ping.

"The rocks on the far side are more ancient. The analysis of their substance composition might help us better understand the evolution of the moon," said Zou.

In addition, the study on the tracks of the rover may reveal the information about the evolutionary history of the lunar surface over billions of years, Ping said.

The 135-kg lunar rover Jade Rabbit-2 is the first ever rover to drive on the moon's far side, as well as the lightest rover ever sent to the moon.

From the images sent back from Chang'e-4, scientists found the area surrounding the probe is dotted with craters of different sizes, and it's very difficult for the rover to drive in the region.

The rover is capable of avoiding some obstacles. If there are obstacles in front of it, it can stop and plan a new route on its own. It can also climb some slopes and cross rocky terrain, according to its designers from the China Academy of Space Technology.

The rover has sent back pictures about the stones on the far side of the moon.

Experts from NSSC said it's not easy for the rover to take the pictures since it cannot move as freely as a human. It takes a long time to move and adjust the position and angle of the rover.

Scientists hope Jade Rabbit-2 will travel farther to send more images of the unknown terrain, "listen" to the stories recorded in the ancient lunar rocks, and find more traces of the early history of the moon and the solar system.

Scientists said it's just the beginning of the scientific journey of the Jade Rabbit-2, and they expect more interesting discoveries.
Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies sued the U.S. government on Thursday saying a law limiting its U.S. business was unconstitutional, racheting up its fight back against a government bent on closing it out of global markets, Trend reports referring to Reuters.

Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump in August, which bars federal agencies and their contractors from procuring its equipment and services.

The lawsuit marks the latest confrontation between China and the United States, which spent most of 2018 slapping import tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each others goods. The year ended with the arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer (CFO) in Canada at U.S. request, to the consternation of China.

Long before Trump initiated the trade war, Huaweis activities were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, according to interviews with 10 people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.

The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort, Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said in a statement.

This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers. We look forward to the courts verdict.

While Huawei had very little share of the U.S. market before the bill, it is the worlds biggest telecoms gear maker and is seeking to be at the forefront of a global roll-out of fifth generation (5G) mobile networks and services.

In its lawsuit, Huawei said its equipment and services are subject to advanced security procedures, and no backdoors, implants, or other intentional security vulnerabilities have been documented in any of the more than 170 countries in the world where Huawei equipment and services are used.

The privately owned firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive as Washington lobbies allies to abandon Huawei when building 5G networks, centring on a 2017 Chinese law requiring companies cooperate with national intelligence work.

The U.S. Government is sparing no effort to smear the company and mislead the public, said Guo in a news briefing at Huaweis headquarters in southern China.
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- -- (via Blockchain Wire) -- CoinAgenda (www.coinagenda.com), the premier conference series for connecting blockchain and cryptocurrency investors with startups since 2014, today announced the winners of its CoinAgenda Caribbean Blockchain Startup Competition. Coming in first place was Tide Foundation, creator of the Tide Protocol, which enables a data marketplace for businesses, consumers and third parties to share and monetize personal data using blockchain technology. In second place was TapJets, an on-demand private jet app. In third place was 0Chain, a fast, secure, and scalable blockchain that enterprises can use to build applications.

When CoinAgenda gave us the opportunity to present Tide to blockchain investors, we jumped at the chance, said Issac Elnekave, Co-Founder of Tide Foundation. Were developing a protocol that makes privacy profitable for businesses, marketers, and consumers, all by ensuring consumers reclaim control of their data. We are thrilled that this mission resonates with the CoinAgenda community.

To compete among such high quality companies, as is a staple at Michael Terpins CoinAgenda events, was an honor. To win was a significant accomplishment for TapJets, said Eugene Kesselman, Founder of TapJets. Im incredibly proud of the TapJets team and grateful to our private jet clients for their support.

I had a blast presenting at CoinAgenda and really appreciate those who voted for 0Chain, said Derick Fiebiger, Director of Operations at 0Chain. We are thrilled to finally bring a fast decentralized cloud to the blockchain space. Please check us out this month as we launch AlphaNet, and download our 0Box app.

CoinAgenda Startup Competition winners are awarded an exhibitor booth at an upcoming CoinAgenda conference, and conference passes to CoinAgenda and other blockchain industry events. Past CoinAgenda Competition winners include Bancor, Cashbet, Omega One, and SALT Lending, which have gone on to raise millions in funding.

Held at the InterContinental San Juan March 1-3, CoinAgenda Caribbean featured three days of panel discussions, keynotes, and fireside chats from industry leaders including Ryan Lackey, Head of Security at Tezos; Scott Walker, CEO at DNA and Chairman at Casper Labs; Harry Dent, Founder of Dent Research; Bo Collins, CEO of San Juan Mercantile Bank and Trust International; and Pedro Piquer Henn Esq. of the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce. Conference sessions explored topics including security tokens, IEOs, NFTs, exchange innovations, digital currency funds, and private equity in blockchain.

For information on future CoinAgenda events and competitions, please visit www.coinagenda.com.

ABOUT COINAGENDA

CoinAgenda is the premier global conference series for connecting blockchain and cryptocurrency investors with startups since 2014. CoinAgenda has held conferences in North America, Europe, and Asia, with its global conference happening each October in Las Vegas. To learn more, visit https://coinagenda.com/.

CONTACT: contact@coinagenda.com

Connect with CoinAgenda:

Twitter

Facebook

Telegram








The co-chairs of the Russian-Serbian intergovernmental committee on trade, economic and scientific cooperation met in Belgrade on Wednesday to discuss the potential of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, industry and transport, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said, Trend reports referring to TASS.

The meeting between Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, was "held in a narrow format in the run-up to the 17th plenary session of the intergovernmental committee," the ministry said in a statement.

The participants discussed "the opportunities for cooperation in energy, industry, transport and infrastructure" and "the present state of affairs in bilateral relations."

"Both sides expressed their particular satisfaction with the growing economic cooperation and the fact that the trade between Moscow and Belgrade topped $3 billion in 2018," the statement reads.

Prior to the meeting, Borisov said Russian-Serbian relations were "truly strategic by nature."

"Serbia was and will be Russias key trade and economic partner in the Balkan region and Europe. We highly appreciate the dynamics of bilateral dialogue at all levels," the Russian deputy premier said.

He also described Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Serbia on January 17 as a milestone in the development of bilateral relations, and confirmed Russias readiness to implement the agreements reached during the visit.
Britain will probably have to delay its departure from the European Union if lawmakers reject the governments proposed divorce deal in a vote next week, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Thursday, Trend reports referring to Reuters.

Unless Prime Minister Theresa May can get her divorce treaty approved by the British parliament, then lawmakers will have to decide whether to delay Brexit or thrust the worlds fifth largest economy into chaos by leaving without a deal.

The government is very clear where the will of parliament is on this. Parliament will vote not to leave the European Union without a deal, Hammond told BBC radio. I have a high degree of confidence about that.

Britain is due to leave the EU in 22 days, but if lawmakers reject the deal this will put in doubt how, when or possibly even if Britains biggest foreign and trade policy shift in almost half a century will take place.

Hammond warned eurosceptic colleagues if they fail to back the governments deal they face the risk of a closer economic relationship with the EU.

We will then be in unknown territory where a consensus will have to be forged across the House of Commons and that will inevitably mean compromises being made, he said. The way for my colleagues to avoid that is to vote for the deal.

Lawmakers on Jan. 15 voted 432-202 against her deal, the worst government defeat in modern British parliamentary history, largely due to the Irish backstop, which is intended to avoid the return of hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

Talks with Britain on amending its divorce deal with the European Union have made no headway and no swift solution is in sight, EU officials said on Wednesday.

Britain wants legally binding changes to the backstop to ensure it will not be indefinite, to allay concerns among lawmakers that Britain could be locked in a continued customs union with the EU.

When asked directly if Hammond would leave the government if May decided to leave without a deal, he said: I have always said that I believe it would be a very bad outcome for the UK to leave the European Union without a deal.
High-level Israeli and Jordanian officials held talks Wednesday evening in an effort to end the conflict over a contested religious area on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Trend reports referring to The Times of Israel.

The longstanding closure of an area near the Golden Gate has ignited tensions between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli police in recent weeks. Worshipers have forced it open and entered on several occasions.

Jordan oversees the Waqf, the Islamic custodians of the Temple Mount.

The Israeli team was led by the head of the Israel National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabbat, Haaretz reported.

Earlier in the day, junior officials from both sides held talks, during which Jordan offered that the site be closed for long-term renovations. While the Israelis agreed, they insisted it must first be closed without renovations taking place, as a statement of Israeli authority. This disagreement reportedly led to talks breaking down.

According to the report, another meeting between the head of the Waqf and the Israel Police commander for the Jerusalem District was canceled after the Waqf official received threats from extremist Palestinians who accused him of capitulating to Israel.

The cancellation of the meeting and the failed talks between junior officials led to the higher-level contacts later Wednesday.

Authorities are concerned that prayers at the Temple Mount on Friday, the busiest day of the week, could devolve into violent clashes over the dispute.

On Tuesday the Waqf rejected an Israeli court order to close the disputed area, which abuts the gate on the inside of the Temple Mount compound. Sheikh Abdelazeem Salhab, chairman of the Waqf Council, said that the area would remain open for Muslims to pray, despite Israels ultimatum to close the site by next Monday.

The area inside the Golden Gate, or Gate of Mercy, was sealed off by Israeli authorities in 2003 because the group managing the place had ties to Hamas, and it has been kept closed to stop illegal construction work there by the Islamic Waqf. The actual Golden Gate, which is a fortified gateway in the retaining wall surrounding the Temple Mount, has been bricked up for nearly 500 years.

Israeli officials believe the work carried out by the Waqf, which refused to allow any Israeli observers, led to the destruction of antiquities from periods of Jewish presence in the area.

Last month the Waqf reopened the site and Palestinian worshipers have begun to use it as a mosque, despite Israeli attempts to keep the area sealed.

The Waqf has repeatedly challenged the closure, convening and staging prayer-protests in the area that often erupted into clashes with police.

The Temple Mount, the holiest site to Jews, is referred to as the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims, who consider it the third-holiest place in Islam. The site is governed by a sensitive status quo agreement between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians.

In 2017, an Israeli decision to install metal detectors at entrances to the compound led to weeks of clashes.

Following continued clashes between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli police, Israel on Sunday banned Salhab and two other Islamic officials appointed by Jordan from entering the Temple Mount.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 16 people in Afghanistans Nangarhar province, Reuters reported citing the militant groups Amaq news agency.

Earlier in the day, suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a construction company office in the Afghan city of Jalalabad, killing 16 employees of the Afghan company, a provincial official said.

Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province, which is on the border with Pakistan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Using smartphones, and in particular, internet and social networks, may be banned for servicemen in Turkey, Trend reports March 7 with reference to the Turkish media.

Presently, using smartphones is partially prohibited in the territory of some military units of Turkey, but this rule may be applied to all military units.

The main problem with using smartphones in military units is that smartphones can be used for espionage purposes, the report said.

The General Staff of Turkey hasnt confirmed or refuted this information so far.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey and the EU will hold political consultations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Trend March 7.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey Sedat Onal and EU Political Director Helga Schmid will take part in the political consultations to be held in Brussels March 7.

The parties will discuss the development of bilateral relations between Turkey and the EU, the ministry said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier that Turkey hopes to strengthen its relations with the EU.

The Association Agreement between the EU and Turkey was signed in 1963. Ankara filed an application for EU membership in 1987, but accession negotiations began only in 2005.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

The Turkish Armed Forces are fully prepared for the beginning of new antiterrorist operations in northern Syria, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said, Trend reports March 7 with reference to the Turkish media.

Oktay said that Turkey wont turn a blind eye to threats to its security.

At any time, the Turkish Armed Forces can launch new antiterrorist operations in Manbij district and create a safety zone in northern Syria, he said.

On Dec. 12, 2018, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish Armed Forces will launch a new military operation in Syria against PYD/YPG. Erdogan claimed there were US soldiers in the detachments of the terrorists in Syria.

On Jan. 20, 2018, Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

On Aug. 24, 2016, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Operation Euphrates Shield against the "Islamic State", and with the support of the Syrian opposition liberated the border town of Jarablus, as well as Al-Bab in northern Syria.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
U.S. President Donald Trump is open to further talks with North Korea over denuclearization, White House national security adviser John Bolton told Fox News in an interview on Thursday, Trend reports referring to Reuters.

The presidents obviously open to talking again. Well see when that might be scheduled or how it might work out, Bolton said.
After a four-decade service in the India Army, General Rawat had been appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff in December 2019.
LOS ANGELES, Calif., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FleetMaster, a software developer of powerful cloud-based fleet and asset management solutions for rental and leasing companies, today announced Daimler has partnered with FleetMaster through an investment made by the Daimler Financial Services division to acquire a minority stake in the Belgian company through a capital increase. The investment will also support global scaling of FleetMaster.

Frederik De Witte, one of the co-founders of FleetMaster says, With the strategic investment of Daimler, we are enabling the further global expansion of our technology platform that supports the core back-end processes of major rental and lease companies, OEMs, dealers, automotive banks and alike. We are delighted to welcome Daimler as a partner backing the company in our fast-developing scale-up phase.

The partnership will allow FleetMaster to continue its path as an innovator and state-of-the-art mobility solution provider. The minority investment along with the current diverse customer portfolio of leading companies in our target markets underpins our claim to brand neutrality, De Witte says.

Hans Moertl, Head of IT Daimler Financial Services Europe says, With FleetMaster we have found a partner with a deep IT knowledge combined with an excellent experience in the rental business and the management of fleets. This partnership will allow us to extend the MB Rent business of Daimler Financial Services in Germany by creating a seamless customer experience. It will also strengthen our European Athlon Rent business for multi-brand fleets.

FleetMaster was founded in 2011 by Tom Coene, Frederik De Witte, Willem Dumon and Jochen Firey. It has offices in Ghent and Los Angeles and builds software on a global scale targeted at companies in the asset rental and leasing industry. FleetMaster offers a cloud-based, highly customizable software application that enables companies to manage and optimize their fleet and assets. The ERP platform is tailored to the needs of the sector and its customers in a SaaS (Software as a Service) setup and developed with a continuous focus on using modern technologies.

Headquartered in Belgium, the company is rapidly expanding its talent pool in order to support its global growth. We are confident that this investment will enable us to find the right talent for the exciting projects we are rolling out at high pace, says De Witte. We will stay true to our unique company culture that makes our offices an inspiring place to work, only from now on with the backing and support of a leading mobility group.

About FleetMaster

FleetMaster develops cloud-based, highly customizable applications to enable rental and lease companies to manage and optimize their fleet/assets. Our platform provides real-time information and can automate all core business processes. FleetMaster has offices in Belgium and Los Angeles, California. Please visit www.fleetmastersoftware.com.

CONTACTS: Global USA Frederik De Witte Dirk Thomaere +32 485 23 47 44 (916) 597-6698 fdewitte@fleetmastersoftware.com dthomaere@fleetmastersoftware.com




Kabul: On Thursday, at least two blasts rattled a large ceremony in western Kabul with the event abruptly cancelled and sending attendees fleeing -- including chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and other leading government officials. Former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni during a live broadcast of the event said "Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us,". But moments after the announcement, another explosion could be heard that sent people running for the exit. A second unidenitifed voice then addressed the screaming crowd, saying: "I request my countrymen to stay calm. The mortar attack is far from the gathering."

However, the blasts happened during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shiite Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country's political elite, including Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai. Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani -- who was at the scene -- later tweeted "terrorists launched rocket attacks on commemoration ceremony", and said he had escaped safely. No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, and no casualties have been reported.

also read The US President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen wraps up congressional testimony

It is to be noted that the incident comes as US and Taliban negotiations continue to hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict. The last major attack in Kabul occurred in January when the Taliban-claimed responsibility for a car bomb that struck the heavily fortified Green Village foreign compound. Heavy snowfall across large swathes of Afghanistan has led to a reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country's south will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of the spring fighting season.

However, analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in the coming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield and leverage at the negotiating table. On Wednesday at least 16 people were killed in a suicide attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan's Jalalabad city. The hours-long attack began early Wednesday when two suicide bombers detonated explosives at the gate of the compound, allowing three others to enter the area where they went on a killing spree.
NEW YORK, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Bridgepoint Education Inc. (Bridgepoint or the Company) (NYSE: BPI) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.



On March 7, 2019, Bridgepoint Education announced it would restate prior period financial statements for its third quarter 2018. Following this news, shares of Bridgepoint Education were down more than 33% on intraday trading on March 7, 2019. To obtain additional information, go to:

https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/bridgepoint-education-inc-loss-form

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@levikorsinsky.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, California, Connecticut and Washington D.C. The firms attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities and shareholder lawsuits. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.




Cocoa Beach, FL, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Healthe by Lighting Science is excited to announce the launch of SunLync, a unique device that autonomously synchronizes Healthe wireless-enabled lighting to the suns cycle. SunLync contains a GPS locator that captures local time and continuously broadcasts a system-wide mesh command to all Healthe lights within range. Lights respond by generating the appropriate spectrum and intensity, providing the right light at the right time. The frequent time signal generation from SunLync allows for a subtle response and fluid transition between light settings from the luminaires.

Healthe lighting products are designed with proprietary, engineered spectra technology to deliver circadian wellbeing for occupants of the built environment. The GoodDay spectrum is blue-enriched at 480 nanometers (nm), which is the peak wavelength for the bodys circadian sensitivity. GoodDay simulates the blue in natural sunlight, helps to increase our alertness and has the potential to improve productivity during the day. The GoodNight spectrum, which is blue-depleted at 480 nm, promotes the bodys natural response to sunset. It enables a better nights sleep relative to conventional lighting.

Today, Healthe products featuring both the GoodDay and GoodNight spectra can be controlled through Bluetooth wireless switches or 0-10V inputs. With the introduction of SunLync, users can benefit throughout the day from pre-programmed circadian lighting with Healthes dynamic spectrum, wireless solutions.

The addition of SunLync to the Healthe product portfolio increases the benefits provided by these products because, now, the lighting spectrum will change autonomously depending on location and time of the day says Gene Daniell, Director of Commercial Products for Healthe. The spectral transitions enabled by SunLync are seamless, so visual comfort is not compromised. We remove the hassle for the user and the resulting lighting is tailored for their circadian rhythm.

With easy installation and no programming required, SunLync suits a variety of 24/7 applications, such as residential homes, senior living facilities, hotels, college campuses and hospitals. SunLync is ideal for Healthe customers who are looking for automatic, dynamic lighting functionality. Currently, SunLync is available for use with the Good Day&Night Downlight and Troffer and will be compatible with the dynamic spectrum SunTrac A19 launching soon.

The Verandah at Graywood, a Sunshine Retirement Living community in Lake Charles, Louisiana, recently deployed SunLync in their assisted living and expanded memory care community. Approximately 650 Good Day&Night Downlights are installed in the community and orchestrated by SunLync.

More information about SunLync can be found at SUNLYNC .

For sales inquiries, please contact Healthe at customerservice@healthelighting.com or call 877.999.5742.

About Healthe, Inc.

Healthe is the leading provider of circadian and biological lighting solutions whose proprietary line of commercial and consumer products help regulate your bodys circadian clock, boost performance, enhance sleep and improve air quality. Learn more at www.healthelighting.com and join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Attachment
SmartNodeTM VoIP More than Just Talk!

NIEDERWANGEN, Switzerland, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Patton manufacturer of the famous SmartNodeTM voice-over-IP productshas appointed two new business leaders, Marjan Torkar and Michael Schwidder, to expand business operations and drive revenue growth throughout Europe.



Marjan Torkar , former Mobik CEO and Dialogic VP, has joined Patton as President of EMEA. Fluent in German, English and other languages, Mr. Torkar is responsible Pattons European business unit with the mission to grow revenue and deliver strong EBITDA performance. He leads business development activities with a special focus on multi-national telecom service providers based in Europe with operations in international markets.

Michael Schwidder , with over 20 years of Channel experience in Europe, is responsible for executing Pattons channel-centric, two-tier distribution strategy to achieve revenue targets in Europe as Director of Channel Management. With a focus on the SmartNode brand, enterprise telephony, UC and cloud services, Mr. Schwidder is tasked with generating sales growth by prospecting, onboarding, developing and managing direct and indirect resellers.

Patton is well known in the EMEA region for pioneering products and solutions that enable unified communications (UC), cloud networking, and the Internet of Things (IoT).



Patton has always focused on designing and building innovative products that connect legacy communication systems with leading-edge network technologies, Marjan Torkar said. I feel excited and privileged to contribute to their ever-increasing success.
ITHACA, N.Y. - A Cornell University team has found that the economic impact of the apple industry in New York State is 21 percent larger than traditional models suggest. Researchers used the apple industry as a case study to test a new - more precise - framework for economic impact analysis.

Traditional economic impact analyses often rely on secondary state and national data, which can give a distorted picture of how an agricultural industry will affect a local economy. The new model uses locally sourced data showing what farmers are spending their income on and where.

"If the analysis has implications for private or public local economic development initiatives, the more accurate the numbers, the better," said Todd Schmit, lead author of the study. "Collecting local data is really hard, it's costly, it's time consuming. The flip side is, in most cases, that's time and money well spent."

In a related report, the team found every $1 of apples or apple products sold in New York state generates an additional 58 cents spent in related industries, such as support services and supplies. Every apple industry job generates an additional 0.48 jobs, and every $1 of direct apple-industry gross domestic product generates an additional $1.14 in GDP from related business activity in the state. In total, the apple industry supports more than $2 billion in industry output and nearly 12,000 jobs.

The model can assess the economic impact of any agricultural sector, said Schmit, associate professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.

Depending on the agricultural sector being assessed, the model may not show an increase in economic impact, as it did in the case study. But, Schmit said, it will offer a more accurate analysis. "When you're trying to extract a particular industry from an aggregate of multiple industries," he said, "I would expect you're going to get bigger differences."

###

Schmit's co-authors are Roberta Severson, program leader of the Cornell Cooperative Enterprise Program at Dyson; Jesse Strzok formerly of Cornell Cooperative Extension; and former undergraduate research intern Jose Barros of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The research which appeared in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, was supported in part by the New York Apple Association.

Cornell University has dedicated television and audio studios available for media interviews supporting full HD, ISDN and web-based platforms.
She will develop new learning frameworks and algorithms to account for consumer behavior in product pricing and recommendation

New York, NY--March 04, 2019--Shipra Agrawal, assistant professor of industrial engineering and operations research at Columbia Engineering, has won a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her research, "Consumer Behavior-Aware Learning for Revenue Management." One of the NSF's most prestigious honors for faculty at or near the beginning of their careers, the five-year, $500,000 award will fund research Agrawal aims to conduct in collaboration with industry partners.

Agrawal, who joined Columbia Engineering in 2015, works at the intersection of operations research and data science. She combines optimization and learning techniques to design globally optimal decision-making frameworks for large, complex, and uncertain environments.

"I am deeply grateful for this recognition of my research by the NSF," said Agrawal. "I hope my project will have far-reaching implications for online marketplaces and benefit both consumers and sellers through a more efficient matching of supply and demand."

Modern consumer habits have been dramatically reshaped by the ubiquity of online customer review platforms, price aggregators, discussion forums, and connected communities. Today, a shopper increasingly forms her opinions based on social influences, imitates other users, learns and anticipates prices, and times her purchases. Market mechanisms that fail to account for such behavior can result in significant losses in revenue and inventory mismatches for businesses, as well as negatively affect the consumer's welfare.

In her research, Agrawal will investigate new learning techniques for dynamic pricing, product recommendations, and allocation under three broad types of commonly occurring consumer behavior: social influence and imitation, forward-looking and planning behavior, and consumer learning. In each category, she will develop new models and decision-making frameworks that can capture natural and uncertain consumer behavior, as well as learn from it. She will also develop new methods for exploration-exploitation, dynamic learning, and online optimization that will build upon and advance tools from multi-armed bandits, online convex optimization, dynamic programming, and reinforcement learning.

Ultimately, she aims to not only provide rigorous theoretical analysis, but also to test her theories and models by working with industry partners to evaluate performance in actual markets.

###
CHICAGO, March 7, 2019 - Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for cardiac screening in a new study of Eko's cardiac monitoring platform. The study aims to demonstrate that Eko's digital stethoscopes and AI algorithms can interpret heart sounds accurately to help screen for pathologic heart murmurs and valvular heart disease.

"If proven effective, Eko's platform could be a much simpler, lower cost way to identify patients with heart disease," said James Thomas, MD, director of the Northwestern Center for Heart Valve Disease and the principal investigator for the study at Northwestern. "We are looking to support and advance work that broadens access to the best diagnostic tools in healthcare, regardless of whether a patient lives in the city or a more rural area. Deep learning provides that expert knowledge, regardless of a patient's location."

Despite serving as the icon of medicine for two centuries, the stethoscope can be a challenging tool for healthcare providers to master. Stethoscopes demand a highly trained musical ear that can separate subtle abnormalities from normal sounds with cardiologist-level precision. While more objective cardiac screening tools, such as echocardiograms, are available in specialty clinics, the low cost and speed of the stethoscope exam makes it the standard for heart disease screening. Machine learning can combine the data from tens of thousands of heart sound patterns and provide that accuracy to physicians anywhere.

"Artificial intelligence is transitioning into clinical studies with potentially revolutionary implications for the practice of cardiovascular care," said Patrick M. McCarthy, MD, chief of cardiac surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and executive director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. "Northwestern Medicine is the perfect incubator for partnering with companies using machine learning in a variety of clinical settings, and it's through advancements like this that we will become even better physicians."

"One of the biggest problems in healthcare is that general practitioners so often miss heart murmurs that if found earlier would allow patients to get treatment before problems arise," said Connor Landgraf, CEO of Eko. "Northwestern is known for their work in valvular heart diseases and together we are working on AI technology that will detect the two most prevalent valve diseases with the sensitivity of a cardiologist. The results of this study will work to bridge the gap for general practitioners and early detection of these life threatening conditions."

Eko is funding the study of the AI systems at two sites, planning to enroll 1,000 patients, 800 of them at Northwestern. The clinical trial is part of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute's new Center for Artificial Intelligence, where Northwestern's cardiovascular clinical program works with early innovators in AI, develops new products, and trains physicians in this new field through Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science's Masters program in Artificial Intelligence.

###

About Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute

The Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute is part of the Northwestern Medicine health system, with multiple sites of care in Chicago and the region. Northwestern Memorial Hospital's heart and heart surgery program is ranked in the top 10 nationally and first in Chicago, Illinois and the surrounding states by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information, or to make an appointment with a cardiovascular specialist, call (312) NM-HEART or visit heart.nm.org. To learn more about Northwestern Medicine, visit http://news.nm.org/about-northwestern-medicine.html.

About Eko

Eko is applying machine learning in the fight against heart disease. It's a platform of cardiac screening devices, care coordination software, and interpretive algorithms to enable better monitoring and management of cardiovascular diseases. The company's first FDA-cleared device, CORE, is a smart stethoscope and software used by clinicians at over 1,000 hospitals & health systems around the globe and was recognized as a "Best Invention of the Year" by TIME Magazine. Eko's latest device, DUO, is the first cardiac monitor to combine digital stethoscope and ECG technology with machine learning for in-clinic and at-home patient monitoring.

For more information about Eko, please visit ekohealth.com. For more information on partnership inquiries, please email: contact@ekohealth.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Farmland  , a leading brand of bacon, sausage, and ham, is proud to continue its partnership with the National FFA Foundation to support the future of agriculture. For the third year in a row, Farmland is providing grants to FFA high school student chapters working on animal care and agriculture projects. This year, seven deserving chapters will be awarded $2,000 grants each, totaling $14,000.



"Local grants are so important to our FFA chapters and the success of their members. These students come up with such creative and innovative ideas for projects that would never be possible without the support of partners like Farmland. The National FFA Foundation is extremely grateful for Farmland's continued commitment to these local programs," said Cassy Puskala, regional director for National FFA Foundation.

Each chapter was selected based on a submission that focused on 1) Innovative or new ways to raise hogs or 2) Innovative or new restorative/protective farmland management techniques or ideas. Winning grant applications ranged from Aeroponic Farming for Increased Swine Health to Watershed Project Data Collection and Testing.

2019 Farmland Grant Winners

Fairview FFA Chapter, Fairview, Okla.

Bureau Valley FFA Chapter, Manlius, Ill.

Calumet FFA Chapter, Calumet Okla.

Cove FFA Chapter, Cove, Ore.

Madison Public Schools FFA Chapter: Madison Neb.

Denair High School FFA Chapter, Denair, Calif.

Mexico FFA Chapter, Mexico, Mo.

Since 1959, Farmland has been working in Americas heartland to provide our customers with food they can trust and feel good about. We are honored to again partner with FFA to assist in their vision of growing leaders, building communities, and strengthening agriculture at the local, state, and national levels, said Megan Thomas, Farmland senior brand manager.

For more information on Farmland, and how to support the National FFA Organization, please visit FarmlandFoods.com .

About Farmland

Founded in 1959, Farmland is a maker of high-quality, popular consumer goods such as bacon and sausage, and serves retail and foodservice customers. To learn more about Farmland, please visit www.FarmlandFoods.com . Farmland is a brand of Smithfield Foods.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathans Famous, Farmland, Armour, Farmer John, Kretschmar, John Morrell, Cooks, Gwaltney, Carando, Margherita, Curlys, Healthy Ones, Morliny, Krakus, and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental, and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com , and connect with us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn , and Instagram .

About National FFA Organization

The National FFA Organization is a national youth organization of 669,989 student members as part of 8,630 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization is supported by 459,514 alumni members in 2,236 local FFA Alumni chapters throughout the U.S. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. The National FFA Organization operates under a federal charter granted by the 81st United States Congress and it is an integral part of public instruction in agriculture. The U.S. Department of Education provides leadership and helps set direction for FFA as a service to state and local agricultural education programs. For more, visit the National FFA Organization online at FFA.org and on Facebook, Twitter and the official National FFA Organization blog .

About National FFA Foundation

The National FFA Foundation builds partnerships with industry, education, government, other foundations and individuals to secure financial resources that recognize FFA member achievements, develop student leaders and support the future of agricultural education. Governed by a 19-member board of trustees composed of educators, business leaders, individual donors and FFA Alumni, the foundation is a separately registered nonprofit organization. About 82 percent of every dollar received by the foundation supports FFA members and agricultural education opportunities. For more, visit FFA.org/Give.

Media Contacts:
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection can convert a harmless, inhaled protein antigen into an allergen, according to a study published March 7 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Rafaela Holtappels from the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, and colleagues. According to the authors, the findings suggest that CMV airway infection significantly enlarges the spectrum of potential environmental inducers of allergic airway disease.

CMV infection of the fetus causes birth defects, and in immunocompromised patients, CMV infection of the lung can result in life-threatening pneumonia. Holtappels and colleagues add a novel aspect of how CMV can contribute to airway disease. Primary infection with CMV occurs in early childhood and involves the airway mucosa, where CMV and inhaled environmental allergens can meet. This medically relevant situation was studied experimentally by using a mouse model of airway co-exposure to CMV and ovalbumin -- a protein antigen with inherently low allergenic potential.

Ovalbumin exposure or CMV infection alone failed to sensitize for allergic airway disease. By contrast, airway infection with CMV at the time of ovalbumin sensitization predisposed for allergic airway disease. This effect was mediated by activation of airway dendritic cells. The results show that even a protein antigen that has low-to-no allergenic potential on its own can sensitize for allergic airway disease when CMV activates airway dendritic cells for more efficient antigen uptake. According to the authors, future research should focus on defining the conditions under which CMV airway infection could possibly contribute to the development of full-blown asthma.

The authors add, "CMV infection of the airways activates dendritic cells for a more efficient uptake of inhaled environmental antigens of otherwise low-to-no intrinsic allergenic potential. This mechanism sensitizes detrimental immune cells that can cause allergic airway disease after antigen re-exposure."

###

Research Article

Funding: RH was supported by the IFF-I program of the University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Collaborative Research Center SFB 1292, TP 14. NAWL and MJR were supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Collaborative Research Center SFB 1292, TP 11. JM was supported by the Asthma Core Facility of the Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI) of the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation: Reuter S, Lemmermann NAW, Maxeiner J, Podlech J, Beckert H, Freitag K, et al. (2019) Coincident airway exposure to low-potency allergen and cytomegalovirus sensitizes for allergic airway disease by viral activation of migratory dendritic cells. PLoS Pathog 15(3): e1007595. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1007595

Author Affiliations:

Department of Pulmonary Medicine, University Medical Center Essen-Ruhrlandklinik, Essen, Germany

Institute for Virology and Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Asthma Core Facility and Research Center for Immunotherapy (FZI), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

Department of Pulmonary Medicine, University Medical Center Essen-Ruhrlandklinik, Essen, Germany

Department of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Pneumonology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper: http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1007595
A host protein called Serum Amyloid A (Saa) is a major factor mediating the effects of the microbiota on the function of immune cells called neutrophils, according to a study published March 7 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by John Rawls of Duke University School of Medicine, and colleagues.

Experiments in zebrafish showed that Saa produced by the intestine in response to the microbiota serves as a signal to neutrophils to restrict aberrant activation, decreasing inflammation and bacterial killing potential while simultaneously enhancing their ability to migrate to wounds.

The intestine is colonized by complex microbial communities called the microbiota, which impact diverse aspects of host physiology, including the development and function of the immune system. The microbiota strongly impacts the activity of innate immune cells called neutrophils, which are essential for host defense against infection, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Caitlin Murdoch, a graduate student in Dr. Rawls' lab suspected that the effects of the microbiota on immunity could be mediated by Saa. This host protein is produced by the intestine and liver in response to the microbiota, but until now, its functions in living organisms were elusive.

Using normal and mutant zebrafish, the researchers demonstrate that Saa promotes the recruitment of neutrophils to sites of injury, yet restricts the clearance of pathogenic bacterial infection. Analysis of isolated neutrophils revealed that Saa reduces the bactericidal activity of these cells and their expression of pro-inflammatory genes. These effects depend on microbiota colonization, suggesting that this protein mediates the microbiota's effects on host immunity. Collectively, these data establish that Saa induced by the microbiota in the intestine signals to neutrophils, tuning the extent to which they may be activated by other microbes or respond to injury. Because antibiotic treatment results in reduced intestinal Saa in mice, the authors suggest that antibiotic treatment could be associated with Saa-mediated aberrations in neutrophil function. They speculate that secondary infections that can occur following antibiotic use could be due in part to concomitant alterations in the production of this protein.

The authors add, "Our study demonstrates that a host protein made in the intestine following exposure to the microbiota affects innate immune cell populations, both in the gut and other tissues. Microbially responsive secretion of host factors from the intestine can therefore serve as a molecular rheostat which controls the development and function of the host innate immune system."

###

Research Article

Funding: This work was supported by NIH grant P01-DK094779 to JFR; AI130236 to DMT; and NSF grant DGE-1644868 to CCM. The Zeiss Z.1 Lightsheet microscope was supported by NIH S10 1S10OD020010-1A1. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation: Murdoch CC, Espenschied ST, Matty MA, Mueller O, Tobin DM, Rawls JF (2019) Intestinal serum amyloid a suppresses systemic neutrophil activation and bactericidal activity in response to microbiota colonization. PLoS Pathog 15(3): e1007381. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1007381

Author Affiliations:

Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America

Department of Immunology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America

Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper: http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1007381
Trio of papers examines the complexity of handoffs and strategies to improve them

INDIANAPOLIS -- End-of-shift handoffs are complex interactions influenced by many factors, and changes need to be made to prepare medical residents to successfully execute the transitions. A team of research scientists highlighted the challenges and provided guidance on creating a systematic approach to teaching and carrying out transfers of care.

Researchers from Regenstrief Institute, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Indiana University School of Nursing, Wayne State University School of Medicine and Applied Decision Science, LLC interviewed medical residents from three VA medical centers across the country to learn more about handoffs. They published three papers from their findings.

End-of-shift handoffs pose a substantial patient safety risk. The transition of care from one doctor to another has been associated with delays in diagnosis and treatment, duplication of tests or treatment and patient discomfort, inappropriate care, medication errors and longer hospital stays with more laboratory testing. Handoff education varies widely in medical schools and residency training programs. There have been efforts to improve transfers of care, but they have not shown meaningful improvement.

"There is very little attention given to training for handoffs, but handoffs are very important for patient safety. Preparation, training and the way doctors and residents receive handoffs is very important," said Regenstrief scientist Nicholas Rattray, Ph.D. "Attempts to design effective handoff interventions should balance the urge to standardize with the role of self and situation awareness." Dr. Rattray, also a research health scientist for the VA, was the first author on two of the papers and a co-author on the other.

Researchers conducted interviews with 35 internal medicine and surgery residents at three VA medical centers about a recent handoff and analyzed the responses. The team also video-recorded and analyzed more than 150 handoffs.

In one paper, led by Laura Militello and published in The Joint Commission Journal of Quality and Patient Safety, researchers detailed the importance of cognitive preparation for the handoffs. They identified six cognitive tasks residents engaged in before the handoff. These activities point to strategies for support via improved technology, organizational interventions and enhanced training. Those include a handoff tool that automatically populates key fields, creating a dedicated preparation time free from distractions and scenario-based simulation training.

Another finding of the study--medical residents said they were only partially prepared for enacting handoffs as interns, and experience is actually what taught them the most. In the paper published in BMC Medical Education, study authors discussed how formal education is not enough to teach effective handoffs. They offered recommendations to improve education, including:

Establishing collaborative learning meetings among medical students, interns and residents.

Providing point-of-care education programs connecting best practices with patient safety and efficacy goals.

Using stories to make handoff curricula salient for learners.

Enacting actual handoffs.

The third paper, just published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, explains how the person receiving the handoff can affect the interaction. Medical residents said they changed their delivery based on the doctor or resident who was taking over. Study authors concluded that interventions designed to improve patient handoffs should more explicitly account for the role of the handoff recipient and not overemphasize standardizing the procedure.

###

In addition to his position at Regenstrief, Dr. Rattray is a research health scientist in the VA Health Services Research & Development Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush VA Medical Center.

Richard Frankel, Ph.D., was a senior scientist on the papers. He is a research scientist at Regenstrief, a core investigator at the VA HSR&D Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush VA Medical Center and a professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Also involved in the project were Patricia Ebright, RN, Ph.D., from the Indiana University School of Nursing; Mindy E. Flanagan, Ph.D., and Zamal Franks from the HSR&D Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush VAMC; Laura G. Militello, M.A., from Applied Decision Science, LLC; Paul Barach, M.D., from Wayne State University School of Medicine; Shakaib U. Rehman, M.D., from Phoenix VA Health Systems and the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix; and Howard S. Gordon, M.D., from Jesse VAMC, VA HSR&D Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Healthcare and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"'Workin' on Our Night Moves': How Residents Prepare for Shift Handoffs" was published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety in August 2018. Militello was the lead author on this paper.

"Content counts, but context makes the difference in developing expertise: a qualitative study of how residents learn end of shift handoffs" was published in BMC Medical Education in November 2018.

"'Do You Know What I know?': How Communication Norms and Recipient Design Shape the Content and Effectiveness of Patient Handoffs" was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in February 2019.

The research was funded by the Center for Health Information and Communication, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research and Development Service (CIN 13-416), Project No. IIR 12 -090.
In January 2019, an international team of scientists working off the tip of southern Chile got their first live look at what might be a new species of killer whale. Called Type D, the whales were previously known only from a beach stranding more than 60 years ago, fishermen's stories, and tourist photographs.

Genetic samples the team collected will help determine whether this animal, with its distinctly different color pattern and body shape, is indeed new to science.

"We are very excited about the genetic analyses to come. Type D killer whales could be the largest undescribed animal left on the planet and a clear indication of how little we know about life in our oceans," said Bob Pitman, a researcher from NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California.

The team's encounter with the distinctive whales came after they spent more than a week at anchor, waiting out the perpetual storms of Cape Horn off southern Chile. It was here that the scientists collected three biopsy samples--tiny bits of skin harmlessly taken from the whales with a crossbow dart--from a group of Type D killer whales.

Into the Laboratory

Unraveling the secrets of these unique killer whales has now moved from the blustery Southern Ocean to the laboratory, where NOAA scientists will analyze DNA from the skin samples. "These samples hold the key to determining whether this form of killer whale represents a distinct species," said Pitman.

The first record of the unusual killer whales came in 1955, when 17 animals stranded on the coast of Paraparaumu, New Zealand. Compared to other killer whales, they had more rounded heads, a narrower and more pointed dorsal fin, and a tiny white eyepatch; no whales like this had ever been described, before.

Initially, scientists speculated that the unique look might have been a genetic aberration only seen in with those stranded whales. Then, in 2005, a French scientist showed Pitman photographs of odd-looking killer whales that had taken fish from commercial fishing lines near Crozet Island in the southern Indian Ocean. They had the same tiny eye patches and bulbous heads.

The location, a quarter of the way around the world from New Zealand, suggested that relatives of the stranded whales might in fact be widespread.

Burgeoning tourism in Antarctica has since produced wildlife photographs in unprecedented quality and quantity. To monitor the distribution, movements, and abundance of killer whales in Antarctic waters, Pitman and colleagues began to collect killer whale images from the Southern Ocean, including from tour vessels.

New Sightings Emerge

Among the tens of thousands of images compiled were six additional sightings of the unique whales. In 2010, Pitman and colleagues published a paper in the scientific journal Polar Biology describing the Type D killer whales. They included photos from each encounter and a map of the sighting locations.

The sightings indicated a distribution around the entire continent of Antarctica, but within subantarctic waters. Because Type D killer whales seemed to avoid the coldest waters, the authors suggested "subantarctic killer whale" as a common name. It was also evident from the few sighting records that this animal lived in offshore waters, in some of the most inhospitable latitudes on the planet: the Roaring 40s and the Furious 50s, known for their strong winds. No wonder it was almost unknown to science!

The stories continued: Chilean fishermen complained of killer whales stripping valuable toothfish off their lines, 60 to 80 miles south of Cape Horn, where the continental shelf drops off into the abyss. Based on photographs by fisheries observers, most of the fish-stealing killer whales were "regular" killer whales, but, among the images, there were also some groups of Type D whales.

The fishermen reported that the types did not mix and that the Type Ds stayed further from the boats when regular killer whales were around.

The Stories Become Real

This year, the stories and photographs finally became real. With support from an anonymous donor and Cookson Adventure Tours, and in collaboration with Centro de Conservacion Cetacea, Chile, Pitman assembled an expedition of international whale experts: Bob Pitman and Lisa Ballance from the United States, John Totterdell and Rebecca Wellard from Australia, Jared Towers from Canada, and Mariano Sironi from Argentina. In January, they set sail from Ushuaia, Argentina, on the 22-meter research vessel Australis, to search for the elusive Type D killer whale.

At first, luck did not seem to favor the Australis team--at one point they sat at anchor for eight anxious days, pummeled by 40 to 60 knot winds at Cape Horn. Then, during a brief lull in the weather, Australis pounded its way back offshore when the team's fortune changed.

They finally found the animals that Pitman had sought for 14 years.

The Australis spent three hours among a group of about 30 whales, which approached the vessel many times. When killer whale vocalization expert Rebecca Wellard towed a hydrophone behind the boat to record Type D calls, whales immediately came over to inspect it. From wide-angle cameras mounted on her hydrophone, she obtained revealing underwater images as the curious whales showed details of their unique color patterning and body shape.

The Type D killer whale images brought back by team Australis serve as a reminder of how little we know about life in our oceans. In the next few months, the DNA samples should finally reveal just how different the Type D is from other killer whales.

###
Athens, Ga. - The age a woman begins menstruation is associated with having high blood pressure later in her life, according to a team of researchers at the University of Georgia.

Specifically, researchers found that early onset menstruation significantly increased risk of hypertension in late adulthood, even after controlling for independent social economic factors, lifestyle behaviors, and other metabolic measures.

The study, which appeared in Hypertension Research, aimed to shed some light on how the age of menarche and menopause may affect chronic disease later in life. Existing research on the issue has yielded inconsistent answers.

"Some studies suggested that early menarche increased the risk of hypertension in late adulthood, while other studies indicated that late onset of menarche was associated with hypertension in late adulthood," said Luqi Shen, a doctoral student at UGA's College of Public Health and study author.

The data

The researchers evaluated survey data of 7,893 Chinese women from the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, which included information about biological, demographic and lifestyle factors that may contribute to high blood pressure.

Shen says the link may be explained by the rate our body systems develop. When one system develops early or experiences a delay that can have an impact on other body systems.

"Women with early menarche may have less than optimal developed cardiovascular system, therefore, had higher risk for adverse outcomes, such as hypertension in late adulthood," said Shen. "So, the association of early menarche with hypertension is as expected in this population."

However, they did not find a strong connection between age of menopause and blood pressure once they controlled for other lifestyle factors.

Body weight management

"Interestingly, this association is entirely explained by body mass index," said Shen. "This suggests that body weight management around menopausal stage is critical in blood pressure management for women at menopausal age, and we believe this finding is not specific to Chinese women and may be applicable to women in all countries."

The study contributes to a growing body of research seeking to determine how experiences in early life may affect long-term health, but Shen cautions that biological mechanisms underlying these associations may be alleviated by a healthy living environment and access to good healthcare.

###

The paper, "Associations of Ages at Menarche and Menopause with Blood Pressure and Hypertension among Middle-aged and Older Chinese Women: A Cross-Sectional Analysis to Baseline Data of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study," is available online at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41440-019-0235-5.

Co-authors include Li Wang with Shanghai Baoshan Luo Dian Hospital, Ying Hu with West China Second Hospital, Tingting Liu with the University of Arkansas, Jinzhen Guo with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; and Ye Shen, Ruiyuan Zhang, Toni Miles, and Changwei Li with the University of Georgia College of Public Health.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RavenQuest BioMed Inc. (CSE: RQB OTCQB: RVVQF Frankfurt: 1IT) (the Company or RavenQuest) announces that it will conduct a non-brokered private placement of up to 5,000,000 units (each, a Unit) at a price of CDN $0.60 per Unit to raise an aggregate CDN $3,000,000 (the Financing).



Each Unit will consist of one common share in the equity of the Company and one-half-of-one share purchase warrant (the Warrant). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of CDN $0.80 per share for a period of two (2) years from the closing of the Financing, subject to accelerated expiry in the event the closing price of the Companys shares is greater than CDN$1.60 for ten consecutive trading days.

The proceeds of the Financing will be used for general corporate purposes. The Company may pay a finders fee to qualified finders in respect to the Financing. Securities issued as a result of the Financing will be subject to a statutory hold period.

About RavenQuest BioMed Inc.

RavenQuest BioMed Inc. is a diversified publicly traded cannabis company with divisions focused upon cannabis production, management services & consulting and specialized research & development. RavenQuest is a licensed producer with facilities located in Markham, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta.

RavenQuest maintains a research partnership with Montreals McGill University focused upon cultivar (strain) recognition, plant stabilization and yield maximization of the cannabis plant. The Company focuses on partnerships with Indigenous communities.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

RAVENQUEST BIOMED INC.

"George Robinson"

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact: Mathieu McDonald, Corporate Communications

1-877-282-1586

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.



Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to completion of the Financing. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those identified and reported in the Companys public filings under the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian anti-corruption prosecutors are examining money- laundering allegations after receiving a complaint against unknown parties, a spokeswoman said when asked about media reports of a network alleged to include Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International.

Several European banking stocks fell, led by Raiffeisen Bank International, after the reports by an investigative consortium said the network allegedly channelled billions of euros from Russia through Western banks.

"A complaint against unknown parties for alleged money laundering has been received recently," the prosecutors' spokeswoman said, declining to say who had filed the complaint. The authorities will examine the allegations and then decide whether to initiate an investigation, she said on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Michael Shields)
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (BJRI) announced today that Chief Executive Officer, Greg Trojan and President and Chief Financial Officer, Greg Levin, will be participating in a fireside chat at the J.P. Morgan Gaming, Lodging, Restaurant & Leisure Management Access Forum on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 9:20 a.m. (Pacific). The Companys management will also meet with institutional investors at the conference, which will be held at the Wynn Las Vegas in Nevada.



About BJ's Restaurants, Inc.

BJs Restaurants, Inc. (BJs) is a national brand with brewhouse roots and a menu with over 140 offerings where craft matters. BJs broad menu has something for everyone: slow-roasted entrees, like prime rib, BJs EnLIGHTened Entrees including Cherry Chipotle Glazed Salmon, signature deep dish pizza and the often imitated, but never replicated world-famous Pizookie dessert. BJs has been a pioneer in the craft brewing world since 1996, and takes pride in serving BJs award-winning proprietary handcrafted beers, brewed at its brewing operations in five states and by independent third-party craft brewers. The BJs experience offers high-quality ingredients, bold flavors, moderate prices, sincere service and a cool, contemporary atmosphere. Founded in 1978, BJs owns and operates 202 casual dining restaurants. All restaurants offer dine-in, take-out, delivery and large party catering. BJs restaurants are located in 27 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington. For more BJs information, visit http://www.bjsrestaurants.com .

Certain statements in the preceding paragraphs and all other statements that are not purely historical constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on current assumptions and expectations and BJs Restaurants, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investors are referred to the full discussion of risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements contained in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K.




A group of U.K.-based law firms in South Korea are anxious about the future of their offices in Seoul, as a no-deal Brexit could force them to close their offices temporarily.



Currently, the five U.K. firms in Seoul  Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith Freehills, Linklaters, Stephenson Harwood, and Allen & Overy  operate their foreign legal consultant offices under a free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea and the European Union.



But once the U.K. leaves the E.U., those offices will no longer be covered under the FTA. And it is therefore not clear that their Seoul offices will be able to continue their operations after March 29, when Britain is scheduled to withdraw from the E.U.



While Britain hopes to extend the existing FTAs it has enjoyed as part of the E.U., including that with Korea, that is not likely to happen after it leaves the E.U. Under the U.K.'s proposed withdrawal agreement, which has not yet been approved by parliament, the E.U. trade bloc would ask its FTA partners to extend the benefits of the deals to the U.K. during a 21-month transition period, as the U.K. negotiates its own trade deals.



But that would occur only if the British Parliament approves the withdrawal deal. On January 15, the House of Commons rejected a deal proposed by Prime Minister Theresa May; a revised deal will be put before members of parliament for another vote by March 12. If the revised deal is again voted down, the situation could get worse as Britain could potentially leave the E.U. without a withdrawal agreement, known as a no-deal Brexit.



Deal or no deal, Brexit will likely happen without a U.K.-Korea FTA. For U.K. law firms in Seoul, one option is to change the office licence so it is registered under a home jurisdiction that does have a live FTA with Korea, such as the U.S. or Australia, according to Mickael Laurans, head of the international department at the Law Society of England and Wales.



Herbert Smith Freehills, the product of a 2012 merger between U.K. firm Herbert Smith and Australias Freehills, is trying to change its Seoul registration so it can be registered as an Australian firm. The firm's current Seoul office representative, Mike McClure, said he hopes the application will be approved by the end of March. According to the firm's website, Australian-qualified senior projects associate Ken Nam is the only lawyer that qualifies to be the new Seoul office representative.



"Herbert Smith Freehills remains committed to South Korea for the long term and we hope that our solution to this situation provides certainty to both our clients and our people in this market," said McClure, who is also a director of the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea and chairman of its market access committee.



Currently, the Korean Foreign Legal Consultant Act (FLCA) does not allow the switching of the Seoul office licence in the midst of its operation, said Taeyeop Kim, an official at the international legal affairs division of the Korean Ministry of Justice, who manages the foreign legal consultants and foreign legal consultant offices.



"Instead, for this to practically happen, the Ministry of Justice must first cancel the licence of the current foreign legal consultant office and then receive a new application for a foreign legal consultant office based on a separate FTA," Kim explained.



Other than Herbert Smith Freehills, this type of licence switch has occurred only once before. In 2014, DLA Piper had to change its Seoul office registration from a U.K. partnership to a U.S. partnership when former office representative Michael Kim, an English lawyer, left the firm and was replaced by U.S.-qualified Daniel Lee; the firm closed its Seoul office for four working days during the transition. Under Korean regulations, the Seoul office of foreign firms must have an office representative who is qualified in the same jurisdiction with which the office is registered.



But DLA Piper is an odd case: the firm's U.S. and U.K. partnerships are structured in a Swiss verein and are not fully financially integrated. In addition, the firm's management is split between London, New York and San Diego. The FLCA requires foreign firms to register their Seoul outpost with a firm that has a "principal office" where the highest decisions are made in a jurisdiction that is a contracting party to an FTA with Korea.



Kim of the justice ministry said a "principal office" under the FLCA is an office that "substantially functions as a headquarters that encompasses the other offices", and that "whether an office fits as a principal office can only be decided on a case-by-case basis after the application is submitted".



So far, no non-verein firm has successfully switched its licence. Last year, London-based Clyde & Co did consider launching a Seoul office under its U.S. partnership Clyde & Co U.S., but it put the plan on hold.



For those unable to do the licence switch, the prospect is dire.



"Leaving Seoul, with its consequential loss of local jobs and investment, may be the only option left," said the Law Society's Laurans. "Although they could still service South Korean clients from Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo or indeed London."



Currently, the five U.K.-based firms have about 30 lawyers based in Seoul.



One U.K. firm Seoul partner, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the firm won't be able to switch its licence and plans to temporarily close the Seoul office until an FTA between the U.K. and Korea is signed. If that's the case, said the partner, fee-earners can relocate to other offices such as London and Singapore and continue to provide English law advice. Korean clients are not worried, according to the partner.



But the Seoul partner and the U.K. Law Society are hoping it won't come to that. "The U.K. firms are hoping the British and South Korean governments agree to a grace period, such as six months," the partner said.



According to Kim, the Korean Ministry of Justice is still in the process of reviewing internally whether a grace period can be granted after Brexit.



The British and Korean governments are also keen to make bilateral trade agreements if there is a no-deal Brexit. The Korean minister for trade, industry and energy, Kim Hyun-chong, met with his U.K. counterpart, Liam Fox, in January to discuss the two countries' post-Brexit relationship, including a U.K.-Korea FTA, Yonhap news agency reported. "It is a question of when, not if, the Seoul partner said of the FTA.



Laurans said the U.K. Law Society and its members have also been engaging with the Korean Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Trade on the uncertain status of the U.K. firms' Seoul offices.



"The Korean government is still considering its course of action after March 29, should a U.K.-South Korea agreement not be in place at the time," he said.



According to the Seoul partner, the five U.K. firms in Seoul have spoken to the British Embassy in Korea and to the Korean Ministry of Justice, and both declined to explain what will happen to the firms after Brexit. They said they would wait to see the outcome of the next vote by Parliament on the revised Brexit deal.



An official at the British Embassy in Korea said last week it remains unclear what will happen to the U.K.-based firms in Seoul, but they have asked the Korean Ministry of Justice, which will have the final say about the fate of the firms.



"Its quite unhelpful," said the Seoul partner. "But you can understand they are not in a position to make any comments until there is certainty."





Story continues

Related Stories:





What top law firms are doing to prepare for Brexit



UK firms' right to practise in Korea at risk post Brexit
March 7 (Reuters) - Carlyle Group LP expects to seek 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) for its fourth fund to make buyout investments in Japan, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The U.S. private equity firm has started reaching out to some investors about the next Carlyle Japan Partners pool before it begins fundraising, Bloomberg reported https://tinyurl.com/y32dufms, citing people familiar with the matter.

Carlyle did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. ($1 = 111.6900 yen) (Reporting by Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)
EAGAN, Minn., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists ( ACEDS ), part of legal education leader The BARBRI Group, announces Sandline Discovery is the associations newest Gold Level affiliate partner.



This prestigious status allows Sandline Discovery to leverage and contribute to the full breadth of ACEDS education, marketing, training and professional development resources to enhance the overall electronic discovery skills and capabilities of e-discovery practitioners.

We are thrilled to welcome Sandline Discovery to the ACEDS family of affiliate partners, says Mary Mack, ACEDS executive director. Sandlines footprint extends from D.C. through Detroit to Taipei, making their commitment to innovation and service a wonderful resource for our global ACEDS community.

Among the ACEDS opportunities and resources available to Sandline Discovery and other members are leading-edge job tools, networking forums and opportunities through a global chapter network and events, a best-practices-oriented community of professionals and the exclusive preparation and exam for the career-enhancing CEDS professional certification, as well as the new ACEDS E-Discovery Executive Certificate Program.

We are extremely excited about our partnership with ACEDS, says Jon Canty, CEO of Sandline Discovery. The Sandline team is looking forward to the professional development opportunities and eager to share our experience with the ACEDS community.

About Sandline Discovery

Sandline Discovery is a premier litigation support and e-discovery service provider, assisting legal teams in the United States and globally. Sandline specializes in delivering innovative digital evidence solutions with exceptional, high-touch service. Providing digital forensics, e-discovery solutions, managed review and litigation consulting services, the Sandline team works alongside case teams and attorneys on the most complex discovery matters to deliver insightful service, measurable value and clarity where theres complexity. For more information, visit https://www.sandlinediscovery.com/ .

About ACEDS

The Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists ( ACEDS ), part of leading legal education provider The BARBRI Group, is a global membership association committed to promoting and verifying e-discovery skills and competence through training, education and certification to organizations and individuals. The associations goal is to help professionals and organizations reduce the costs and risks associated with e-discovery and realize the advantages of performing it effectively. ACEDS awards the Certified E-Discovery Specialist (CEDS) credential, which is held by practitioners at Am Law 200 firms, government agencies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Justice Department, and some of the largest corporations in the world.

Amy Juers

Edge Legal Marketing for ACEDS

ajuers@edgelegalmarketing.com

651.450.9090
BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) - China's finance minister said on Thursday that the government will collect more profits from certain state-owned financial institutions and centrally-owned firms, in a bid to support fiscal revenue as the government makes sweeping tax cuts.

The pressure to balance fiscal revenue and spending is very pronounced in 2019, finance minister Liu Kun told a news conference on the sidelines of an annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing. (Reporting by Yawen Chen and Ryan Woo; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Disney plans to soon launch its long-awaited Star Wars theme parks, CEO Bob Iger said on Thursday, but interested guests who want to go immediately will need to make advance reservations.

Galaxys Edge will launch at Anaheim, Californias Disneyland on May 31 and on Aug. 29 at Orlando, Floridas Disney World. The timeline to open the largest lands Disney has ever built was accelerated amid tremendous demand," Iger told investors on Thursday.

Were going to let guests explore those lands a bit earlier than we had originally planned, he said at the annual shareholder meeting.

Those guests looking to go to the California location between May 31 and June 23 will need to book advance reservations.

At the park, patrons will be able to explore the planet of Batuu, interact with legendary Star Wars characters and pilot the Millennium Falcon, among other attractions.

On "Rise of Resistance," the other major ticketed ride, guests will participate in a battle between the First Order -- the government formed in the aftermath of the fall of the Galactic Empire in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi -- and the Resistance.

This is the most technologically advanced and immersive attraction that we have ever imagined, Iger said. No one has ever attempted anything of this magnitude.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP

The new attractions come amid Disneys $2 billion investment into its theme parks across the globe.

The company is building a Tron-themed roller coaster in Orlandos Magic Kingdom and a new Marvel-themed land in Californias Disneyland, among other new offerings.

Disney is also preparing to launch its first online content streaming platform, bolstered by its purchase of key 21st Century Fox assets. The $71 billion deal is expected to close soon, Iger said.

21st Century Fox is the parent company of FOX Business and Fox News. The company sold its entertainment assets to Disney in 2017 and the deal is expected to close in the first quarter which will create the New Fox.

Related Articles
Snow covered transfer lines are seen at the Dominion Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Lusby, Maryland March 18, 2014. REUTERS/Gary Cameron/Files

By Sabina Zawadzki

LONDON (Reuters) - Shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) have gathered pace in March and Europe is set to stay a top destination for spot cargoes with Asian prices still too low to ship the chilled fuel that far.

But winter demand for gas is fading, while steady supplies of gas and LNG have kept inventories well stocked, depressing European gas hub prices. This has raised the question: how many more cargoes can Europe absorb?

Suppliers of U.S. LNG have loaded 14 cargoes so far in March, setting a faster pace than February when 29 cargoes were loaded in the whole month as storms and maintenance hampered output.

Asia remains the leading destination for cargoes shipped under long-term LNG supply contracts. But Europe and Mexico are, for now, more attractive destinations for spot cargoes.

European gas hub prices trade at a discount to Asian spot prices, but the discount needs to be more than $1 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) to cover the cost of shipping the fuel the extra distance to Asia from the U.S. Atlantic coast.

The Dutch gas price, the benchmark for West European prices, was about $5.60 per mmBtu on Thursday, compared to about $5.80 for a spot cargo of LNG in Asia.

GRAPHIC - Netbacks for Sabine Pass LNG to select destinations https://tmsnrt.rs/2VIqFml

Netbacks, a calculation showing how much LNG sellers can get for their cargo at various destination points, also show that Britain and other European destinations have become more attractive markets than Japan and other Asian destinations.

For Mexico, spot LNG fills the gas shortfall resulting from pipeline constraints. As a neighbour to the United States, LNG shipping costs are also low.

Some LNG traders have said the arbitrage to Asia will remain closed until at least September, when Asian demand typically picks up due to the need to restock inventories before winter.

The spread between the Asian JKM forward curve and Dutch gas hub prices is not expected to exceed $1 per mmBtu until August.

Story continues

GRAPHIC - European imports of LNG https://tmsnrt.rs/2VGOdrD

With arbitrage to Asia closed for now, U.S. cargoes headed to Europe could start squeezing smaller suppliers.

U.S. LNG output is expected to double to more 40 million tonnes this year, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie, turning the country into the world's third largest LNG producer.

GRAPHIC - Algerian pipeline gas supplies to Europe https://tmsnrt.rs/2C96B59

Gas from Europe's biggest suppliers delivered by pipeline overshadow LNG imports, from all origins including the United States, that amounted to 54 million tonnes last year.

Russia exported record gas flows to Europe in 2018 of 200 billion cubic metres (bcm), equating to 145 million tonnes of LNG, while Norway's flows amounted to 116 bcm, or 84 million tonnes.

But Algerian pipeline gas to Europe fell almost 40 percent in February compared with a year earlier. Consumption last month was just over 800 gigawatt hours per day (GWH/d), the equivalent of 1.5 million tonnes.

Dutch supplies are also falling, as the Netherlands shuts its Groningen field by 2030. Output is expected to fall to 15.9 bcm, or 11.5 million tonnes, in the year ending October 2020, a faster decline than planned.

GRAPHIC - Global LNG prices and curves https://tmsnrt.rs/2VEfPxF

Despite the potential to replace some pipeline supplies, inflows of LNG has already weighed heavily on prices. Dutch and British gas prices have halved since their late September peaks.

At such depressed price levels, European power suppliers are expected to favour taking electricity from generators using gas rather than coal as a feedstock, creating an additional driver for gas demand.

Dutch forwards gas prices are unlikely to rise enough to encourage suppliers to switch back to coal-fired generation until the end of September, according to Refinitiv data price curves.

(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Edmund Blair)
NEW YORK, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that a federal securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. (Diplomat or the Company) (NYSE: DPLO) securities between February 26, 2018 and February 21, 2019 (the Class Period), inclusive.



Investors who purchased shares of Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. are urged to contact the firm immediately at classmember@whafh.com or (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774. You may obtain additional information concerning the action on our website www.whafh.com.

If you have incurred losses in the shares of Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc., you may, no later than April 25, 2019, request that the Court appoint you lead plaintiff of the proposed class. Please contact Wolf Haldenstein to learn more about your rights as an investor in Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc.

## Follow the firm and learn about newly filed cases on Twitter and Facebook. ##

The filed complaint alleges that throughout the class period defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:

Diplomat had downplayed its success in integrating and growing its PBM business, which included LDI Integrated and National Pharmaceutical, two companies Diplomat had acquired in late 2017;



consequently, Diplomat would need to record a non-cash impairment charge upwards of approximately $630 million relating to its PBM business and these 2017 acquisitions;



due to the foregoing, Diplomat would withdraw its preliminary 2019 full-year outlook issued less than seven weeks prior; and



as a result, defendants statements about Diplomats business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

On February 22, 2019, Diplomat filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announcing it was postponing the release of its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 due to a "recent determination" that it would need to record a non-cash impairment charge upwards of approximately $630 million relating to 2017 acquisitions for its PBM business.

On this news, Diplomat's share price fell from $13.46 per share on February 21, 2019 to a closing price of $5.87 on February 22, 2019, a 56.4% drop.

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in New York, Chicago and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions regarding your rights and interests in this case, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735, via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com , or visit our website at www.whafh.com.

Contact:

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP

Kevin Cooper, Esq.

Gregory Stone, Director of Case and Financial Analysis

Email: gstone@whafh.com , kcooper@whafh.com or classmember@whafh.com

Tel: (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome.
(Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co., Chinas biggest smartphone maker, is using its financial and political clout to fight U.S. allegations that the company was involved in bank fraud, technology theft and spying.

The effort probably wont work, American legal experts say.

I dont see the U.S. backing away from these cases, said Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor who is now a professor at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit.

Huawei has aggressively fought U.S. claims it cant be trusted by business or government, allegations at the core of two indictments. The company has lobbied countries around the world to ignore American warnings against its products. On Wednesday, Huawei filed a lawsuit saying the U.S. broke the law by barring government agencies from using Huawei equipment in contracts. Its based on an argument that the company has been singled out for punishment by Congress in violation of the U.S. Constitution without a fair chance to defend itself.

And given that all of this is playing out amidst prolonged negotiations between China and the U.S. to resolve a trade war, theres intense speculation over how much the cases could be used as a bargaining chip for President Donald Trump.

Huaweis Legal Battles

Huawei CFOs Arrest Stokes China Fury Amid Key U.S. Trade TalksWhy 5G Phones and Huawei Have U.S. and Europe at Odds: QuickTakeU.S. Ramps Up Huawei Fight With Iran, Trade-Secret ChargesHuawei Goes on Legal Warpath With Twin North American Suits

The companys aggressive response to the criminal charges may reflect a desire to both wage a public relations campaign outside the U.S. justice system and combat claims within it that threaten billions of dollars in sales outside of China, said Alexander Capri, a visiting senior fellow at the National University of Singapore Business School.

Huawei is in a public relations blitzkrieg, Capri said. Spying allegations have done damage to the companys image and, if a significant number of U.S. allies were to block or restrict Huaweis access to either western tech or markets, the company would be in serious trouble.

Story continues

China has become addicted to western technology components, and Huawei cant afford to get cut off from U.S. suppliers, especially as it seeks to build the worlds next generation of wireless modems, Capri said. Last year, the Trump administration banned Chinese company ZTE Corp. from purchasing critical U.S. technology for violating export sanctions against Iran and North Korea. ZTE eventually paid more than $1 billion in fines.

Bombshell Arrest

But the Huawei prosecutions arent likely to get sidetracked, U.S. legal experts say. Thats in part due to the high-profile way in which theyre been handled, with a bombshell arrest in Vancouver on Dec. 1 of Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer and daughter of the companys founder, and a highly publicized press conference in Washington the following month when the indictments were unsealed.

In addition, the allegations at the heart of the two cases -- that Huawei stole trade secrets from an American company and that it violated U.S. sanctions on Iran -- are issues that the Trump administration has made top priorities. While prosecutors can always drop cases, its highly unlikely in this case -- even if it would help trade talks. A settlement on the other hand might be a more reasonable goal for Huawei.

What Bloomberg Opinion Says

The quest for justice is everyones right, yet Huawei risks coming off as belligerent instead of the calm and trustworthy partner its trying to portray. And the irony of appealing to Canadas rule of law when no such option exists back home isnt lost on the hordes of critics who were already wary of this new charm offensive.--Tim Culpan, columnistClick here to view piece.

I guess Trump could order the Justice Dept to dismiss the indictment, but that would be unprecedented, Henning said.

To be sure, Trump is an unusual president, and international trade professor Alan Sykes said the cases could be used as leverage in the negotiations.

Theres many ways for prosecutors to pull back on what theyre seeking, and U.S. attorneys are subject to the commands of the Attorney General, who works for the president, said Sykes, a professor at Stanford Law School. Theres a question of whether thats appropriate -- if it compromises the independence of the Justice Department. But its a logical possibility.

The prosecutions also may not interfere with trade negotiations, like when the European Union imposed billions of dollars of fines on Google or levied tax penalties on Apple Inc., Sykes said.

Multinational companies have legal issues in foreign markets all the time, he said. It doesnt mean the country that the company is based in and the country in which theyre operating cant negotiate constructively.

The U.S., citing security concerns, has urged allies to bar Huawei and other Chinese technology providers from building infrastructure for fifth-generation, or 5G, mobile cellular networks. China has dismissed the allegations against Huawei, saying U.S. actions are based on fear of facing a formidable industrial competitor.

In addition, it may be difficult for the U.S. to backpedal on the Huawei prosecutions after the Trump administration announced a get-tough initiative on Chinas business practices. In November, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the crackdown was intended to counter what he saw as a looming threat of Chinas economic espionage.

Trade Secrets

Among the enforcement actions being targeted were efforts by China to gain access to proprietary U.S. technology and trade secrets, through techniques such as computer hacking or theft by insiders. Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue, whose office is prosecuting Mengs case, is on a list of the nations top prosecutors on the Justice Departments Working Group for China.

And while Meng fights extradition from Canada -- she too has filed a retaliatory suit, claiming the Canadians violated her constitutional rights during her arrest -- the bank fraud and trade sanctions case that shes named in is moving forward all the same. Huawei is due to be arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on March 14. Both Meng and her company have denied any wrongdoing.

Given Mengs wealth and connections, she could drag out the extradition fight for years. But few have ever been successful in persuading a Canadian court not to extradite to the U.S., said Brad Simon, a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, New York, who is now a partner at Phillips Nizer LLP.

So, for Meng, too, the most likely positive outcome would be for a relatively lenient plea deal, given that under federal law, the charges she faces in Brooklyn carry as much as 30 years in prison.

--With assistance from Joel Rosenblatt.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Steve Stroth, Peter Blumberg

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
By Sijia Jiang HONG KONG (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies is set to announce a lawsuit on Thursday against the United States, ratcheting up its response to a campaign aimed at closing it out of Western markets for fear its telecoms equipment could be used by Beijing for spying. The privately owned firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive over the past two months as Washington lobbies allies to abandon Huawei when building fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks, centering on a 2017 Chinese law requiring companies cooperate with national intelligence work. Founder and Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei has said Huawei, the world's biggest telecoms gear maker, has never and will never share data with China's government. Close to 10 senior Reuters journalists have been approached recently by Huawei recruiters for public relations director roles, with some offered annual pay packages of $200,000. Such appointments would beef up its international media team just as it restructures a 300-strong corporate affairs department. In response to a Reuters query, Joe Kelly, vice president of communications, said Huawei was hiring but not more than usual, to fill positions where people had been assigned overseas. He did not verify salaries, which were advertised by headhunters. RETRIBUTION The planned legal action and public relations outreach compare with a more restrained response in December emphasizing "trust in justice" when its chief financial officer, Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Vancouver at U.S. request. The United States has accused Meng - Ren's daughter - of bank and wire fraud related to breaches of trade sanctions against Iran. Huawei's legal action, first reported by the New York Times on Monday, comes after news that Meng was suing Canada's government for procedural wrongs in her arrest. Days earlier, Canada authorized a hearing for an extradition request, quashing Chinese hopes of a rejection on grounds that Meng's arrest was politically motivated. The case had strained relations with China, which this week accused two arrested Canadians of stealing state secrets in a move widely seen as retribution for Meng's arrest. While Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver, it is unclear where the two Canadians are being detained in China. Sources previously told Reuters that at least one of the Canadians did not have access to legal representation. CHANGE OF TUNE Ren met international media for the first time in several years in mid-January, calling U.S. President Donald Trump "great" and refraining from commenting directly on Meng's case. Shifting tone, Ren in mid-February said Meng's arrest was politically motivated and "not acceptable". A week later at the Mobile World Congress, where Huawei unveiled the world's most expensive foldable phone, Rotating Chairman Guo Ping opened his speech with a jab at the United States. "PRISM, PRISM, on the wall, who is the most trustworthy of them all," he said, referring to the U.S. National Security Agency's internet surveillance program PRISM, which collected data from major internet companies. Guo later said the United States wanted to thwart Huawei's rise as it "hampers U.S. efforts to spy on whomever it wants". A senior member of Huawei's public relations team told Reuters the firm was taking a more proactive approach to U.S. attacks. It launched facts.huawei.com and invited media to tour its Shenzhen headquarters. "We've had enough," the staffer said. (Reporting by Sijia Jiang; Editing by James Pomfret and Christopher Cushing)
(Bloomberg) -- U.K. retailer John Lewis Partnership Plc cut employee-owners annual bonus to the lowest level in more than half a century, underlining the depths of the crisis in the countrys shopping districts.

The operator of department-store chain John Lewis and grocer Waitrose said it cut the bonus to reduce debt, maintain investment and retain cash as it wrestles with uncertainty over the economy and consumer confidence. The company said Thursday that profit before bonus payments fell 45 percent in the latest year.

The bonus of 3 percent is down from 5 percent a year earlier and is the lowest since 1953, when the company made no payout as Britain was stuck in a postwar economic slump. Now the retail industry is going through a new downturn as shoppers buy more via Amazon.com Inc. and keep a tighter grip on their wallets in the run-up to Brexit. Rival department-store chain Debenhams Plc issued its fourth profit warning in 14 months earlier this week, and retailers like stationer Paperchase are seeking rent reductions from landlords.

The profit decline shows the vulnerability of British retailers as we hurtle towards Brexit, Kantar Consulting analyst Anusha Couttigane said in a note.

As stores shut down, employment in the U.K. retail sector has fallen for more than three years, according to the British Retail Consortium. The U.K.s biggest retailer, Tesco Plc, announced plans to cut as many as 9,000 jobs as German discounters Aldi and Lidl expand.

Even the reduced payment provided a measure of relief to John Lewis employees, after the company had warned in January that it might not be able to pay a bonus at all. As recently as 2014, the payout stood at five times this years level.

Bonus Pot

When the bonus was announced there was a cheer louder than when there was a 15 percent bonus, Chairman Charlie Mayfield said at a press briefing. The companys roughly 80,000 partners will share a lump sum of 44.7 million pounds ($59 million), down from 74 million pounds a year ago.

Story continues

Profit in the department-store arm, known for its understated housewares, fell 56 percent. Earnings at Waitrose, a favorite of Londons upmarket shoppers, bounced back 18 percent.

Sales of homewares are under particular pressure from e-commerce, while the company is investing more in its online grocery platform. John Lewis has agreed to end a food-delivery partnership with Ocado Group Plc as that company enters a new arrangement with Marks & Spencer Group Plc.

(Updates with analyst comment in fourth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Thomas Buckley.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ellen Milligan in London at emilligan11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
By Alistair Smout and Tim Hepher

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The head of Dutch airline KLM sought on Wednesday to ease a Franco-Dutch row over share purchases in parent group Air France-KLM by the Dutch government - as low-cost airline chief Michael O'Leary gleefully stoked the embers of the dispute.

France, which owns 14 percent of the airline group, clashed with the Netherlands when the Dutch government abruptly bought a matching 14 percent stake in order to counter French influence over a group disproportionately heavily reliant on KLM profits.

"It's too early to (know) all the exact consequences and the exact impact. What's important is that we continue to do our work," KLM chief Pieter Elbers told reporters in Brussels.

Speaking on the sidelines of an Airlines for Europe conference, he said there was a "good atmosphere" with colleagues at Air France and that he had a good relationship with Air France-KLM Chief Executive Ben Smith.

Air France-KLM was born from a Franco-Dutch airline merger in 2004 in the hopes of creating a European champion, but has been hit by repeated French pilot strikes and uneven profits.

Tensions between French and Dutch partners came to a head when recently appointed Smith declined to give assurances sought by the Dutch in a meeting in The Hague on Feb. 15, sources have said.

Shortly afterwards, the Dutch government took Paris by surprise by buying a 14 percent stake in the airline - almost matching the Frances 14.3 percent stake.

The move drew a furious response from French politicians, though many analysts noted that state intervention is also a common feature of the French corporate landscape.

"It's good that some of these discussions have been clarified in the last couple of weeks, we can move forward now," Elbers said.

The Dutch government said last week it would seek seats on the board of Air France-KLM to increase its influence over the airlines strategy.

Manoeuvring at state-backed airlines like Air France-KLM and Italy's struggling Alitalia drew derision from the head of Europe's largest low-cost airline, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary.

Story continues

O'Leary joked during a panel at the conference that he would like to see more state involvement in airlines and poked fun at Alitalia, the Rome carrier that is looking to be rescued.

"I would positively encourage state involvement in the ownership of airlines. I compete with Alitalia in Italy," O'Leary said, adding French President Emmanuel Macron should increase France's stake in Air-France KLM to spark a bidding war.

"And we can sit back and enjoy the show."

(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Tim Hepher; Editing by Mark Potter)
* Ukraine to hold first round of presidential vote on March 31

* Kremlin sees win by Poroshenko as worst option - source

* Sees other options as less bad but not great either

* Hopes new president will be ready to talk to Moscow

* Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2EEQ22R

By Andrew Osborn and Pavel Polityuk

MOSCOW/KIEV, March 7 (Reuters) - Before Russia annexed Crimea and backed separatists in east Ukraine, Moscow had a Ukrainian president who did much of what it wanted. Now, as Ukraine readies to elect a new leader, none of the main candidates look that enticing to Russia.

Viktor Yanukovich, the last Moscow-friendly Ukrainian president, was toppled by protests in 2014 and fled to Russia, and Petro Poroshenko, his successor, has put fierce opposition to Moscow at the heart of his re-election campaign.

Challenger Yulia Tymoshenko, third in the polls behind Poroshenko, calls Russia an "aggressor country". And Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a TV comedian leading the polls, says the two countries are at war and wants Ukraine to join the EU.

Meanwhile Yuriy Boyko, a former ally of ousted Russia-friendly president Yanukovich, is trailing in fourth. While he has courted voters with promises to reverse unpopular heating tariff increases, he is unlikely to win.

Part of Russia's Ukraine problem is rooted in arithmetic.

Many voters in annexed Crimea and separatist-held eastern Ukraine, an area with a combined population of around 6 million people, according to data published by the separatists, are unlikely to take part in the election as they need to undergo a special registration process on Ukraine-controlled territory.

A further 3 million Ukrainians who live and work in Russia will not be able to vote either.

Moscow's 2014 actions mean it has lost almost all influence in the parts of Ukraine it does not control, giving it few options to shape events. Kiev says Russia is using cyber efforts to try to disrupt the election to undermine its legitimacy, a charge that Moscow denies.

Story continues

"Poroshenko is obviously impossible for us to deal with," said one source familiar with Kremlin thinking, who said a Poroshenko win would entrench a political stalemate between Moscow and Kiev.

Although Poroshenko was Moscow's worst case scenario, other candidates were a write-off for Russia too, the source said.

A second source close to the Kremlin agreed that a Poroshenko win was Moscow's least favoured outcome, but said other candidates, notably Tymoshenko, at least offered a faint hope that the two countries could start talking again.

The source noted Tymoshenko had experience of dealing with Russia in gas price negotiations when she was Ukrainian prime minister and might be more pragmatic.

"OCCUPIERS CAN'T BE CHOOSERS"

Despite his poll lead, Zelenskiy, the comedian whose fresh political face appears to be seducing many Ukrainians, is seen as something of an unknown quantity by Russia.

That is in part due to his business links to Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky who has helped finance militia groups to fight against pro-Russian separatists.

Other aspects of Zelenskiy, from a Kremlin perspective, may be more appealing however. A statement from Zelenskiy that he thought direct talks between Russia and Kiev were inevitable to stop the war was widely picked up by Kremlin-backed media.

The two sources familiar with Kremlin thinking said a Poroshenko win would doom any prospect of a deal over eastern Ukraine, while Moscow would welcome an agreement if it protected the interests of Russian speakers there while bringing Russia financial and sanctions relief.

Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko might at least be open to the possibility of talks, said Mark Galeotti, a Russia expert and fellow at the European University Institute in Florence.

Moscow was nurturing the hope it could return east Ukraine to Kiev, on its own terms, in return for some kind of soft recognition of Crimea, he said. Although the Ukrainian electoral line-up was not ideal for Moscow, the Kremlin would be happy with the prospect of a Zelenskiy win for that reason and therefore not be tempted to meddle in the election.

"If Poroshenko starts to make a serious revival, then this may change, but I think they are well aware of the risks of a backlash to electoral meddling," said Galeotti. "They have little reason to upset the apple cart right now."

"I think the Russians would be happier with Tymoshenko, but occupiers can't be choosers."

The political atmosphere in Ukraine and many Ukrainians' feelings about Russia mean that whoever wins will find their room for manoeuvre limited when it comes to dealing with Moscow.

Talk of talking with Russia is politically toxic in many circles.

"How can anyone talk about making agreements with Russia when our territory is occupied," said Mustafa Djemilev, a Crimean Tatar lawmaker who backs Poroshenko. "It would simply be capitulation."

He said he regarded some of the more than 40 presidential candidates as pro-Russian and warned of violent street protests if any future Ukrainian president made concessions to Moscow.

Egor Sobolev, a lawmaker from the Self Reliance political party, which describes itself as centrist, said Ukrainian politicians who had previously advocated for Russia's interests had not changed their views.

But he said they understood that voicing those views was self-defeating at a time when Kiev was still embroiled in a conflict with separatists that the United Nations estimates has killed around 13,000 people.

"The only thing that has changed is how voters think," he said. "Seventy percent of Ukrainians now believe Russia is a strategic enemy and not a friend as most people thought five years ago."

(Additional reporting by Matthias Williams in Kiev Writing by Andrew Osborn Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
At Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), geography is all.

The airport is located roughly halfway between Tokyo and New York City, and those coordinates translate into a booming cargo business. Anchorage is the fifth-largest in volume cargo airport in the world, after Dubai. About 80 percent of all air cargo traffic between Asia and North America passes through ANC, where carriers stop en route to fuel up.

Planes that layover in Alaska can reduce the amount of fuel they have to stow, said Darren Prokop, a professor of logistics at the University of Alaska, enabling airlines to "carry more revenue freight than cost-inducing fuel."

Alaska has built its reputation on location, location, location. But the airport also boasts an operations advantage that many carriers don't know about. That would be its unique cargo transfer program, which allows foreign airlines to offload cargo onto another foreign carrier for delivery to another city in the U.S.

In other states, the practice is strictly illegal. The Jones Act, passed in 1920, prohibits foreign airlines (and ships) from transporting cargo from one United States city to another.

Congress granted an exception to Alaska and Hawaii in 1996. The idea was to give these "outlier" states an edge over competitors in the lower 48, said Prokop. (The program doesn't make as much sense in Hawaii, he said, as the Central Pacific island doesn't enjoy Anchorage's strategic location.)

With e-commerce and international trade booming, ANC boosters hope more cargo airlines will begin to take advantage of the air transfer opportunity. Only a handful use it now, said Prokop, largely because many Asian carriers find it hard to believe it's legal.

New projects, and better marketing, are expected to raise awareness of Alaska's special status.

In 2018 air cargo at the Anchorage airport grew by 2.52 percent to 2.79 million metric tons. That's less than the 7 percent growth the airport saw in 2017, but is still solid, said ANC manager Jim Szczesniak.

Story continues

To keep the airplanes coming, the facility reduced landing fees in 2018 for tenants by 17 percent, a sizable amount of savings for the airlines, but offset by solid revenue, and some financial engineering on the bond debt.

The airport also added several new carriers, including SF Airlines, the Chinese version of UPS. The airport is building three to five new 747-8 parking positions, and is planning new e-commerce and cargo handling facilities.

"Our goal is to make sure we can serve the market and do anything we can to make sure airplanes leave here full," Szczesniak said.

When it comes to the air cargo transfer program, the handling center could be the real game changer.

First, a quick primer on that program. Consider, for example, two Air China flights landing in Anchorage at the same time  one from Tokyo, the other from Shanghai. One is headed to John F. Kennedy International Airport, the other to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Air China can exchange its load of iPhones from the airplane inbound from Shanghai with the Air China flight inbound from Tokyo. Or both planes can swap with another foreign carrier. "They come in from Asia, land here and can swap among themselves," Szczesniak explained.

The efficiencies are obvious. Carriers can load up in Asia with electronics, toys and clothes destined for buyers in different U.S. cities, regardless of where in the country a given plane is headed.

The ANC logistics center would make the system even more efficient. Under the existing system, two carriers wanting to drop-off or pick-up cargo have to land in Anchorage around the same time, Prokop explained. "But they may not be dispatched that way or coordinated."

With the new warehouse, a carrier bound from South Korea to Los Angeles, for example, will be able to drop and store pallets headed for New York in Anchorage. Another carrier can pick them up later and head for the East Coast.

"It is very similar to less-than-truckload (LTL) trucking," Prokop said. "It will change the importance of the Anchorage airport. It not only becomes a gas-and-go' facility but a true hub- and-spoke network."

The center will be located on a parcel of land next to the new parking positions, adding another level of convenience, Szczesniak said. A request for project proposals will be released in late spring, he said.

Other factors are driving growth at the Anchorage airport,  notably, an exploding perishables market between Latin America and Asia. Planes bearing cherries, blueberries and asparagus from Chile and Peru land in Chicago (a destination for LATAM, Latin America's largest cargo carrier), then head to Asia, with the requisite stop in Anchorage.

"We give them king crab or salmon to take along with them," Szczesniak said.

Want more content like this? Click here to Subscribe

Permalink

See more from Benzinga

 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
T.S. Ellis, III. (2010). Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/The National Law Journal/ALM Media



Paul Manafort will learn his fate Thursday afternoon, when a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, sentences the former Trump campaign chair for financial fraud convictions.



Manafort was convicted on eight counts of tax and bank fraud last year following a lengthy trial in the Eastern District of Virginia. It garnered significant media attention, in part because Manafort was the first defendant in a case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller III to force prosecutors to trial. The longtime lobbyist will also be the first person convicted in Muellers probe to receive more than a month in prison.



Manafort, who turns 70 in April, is already staring down the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. Sentencing guidelines estimate a range of 19.5 to 24.5 years for his crimes in Virginia, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in a Feb. 23 filing. But Manafort could face additional time from a separate criminal case in Washington, D.C.



Seeking leniency, Manaforts attorneys have told the judge in court papers that Manafort has accepted responsibility for his actions. Prosecutors painted Manafort as a criminal who brazenly and repeatedly violated the law to hide the millions of dollars he made through his foreign lobbying work form the U.S. Treasury Department.



Here are things were watching:





Will Manafort speak?





Since Manafort was first charged in the District in October 2017, the public has heard little from the man himself. Manafort did not testify during his trial in Virginia last year.



He could make rare remarks tomorrow in hopes of persuading Ellis to give him a lenient sentence. His attorneys have said in court papers that Manafort has already suffered the consequences of his actions, a point that Manafort could emphasize.



The hearing will also mark Manaforts first time back in Ellis courtroom after the lobbyist appeared at a hearing last year in a wheelchair with a bandaged foot. His attorneys have said Manafort, who is currently jailed in Virginia, has suffered from gout and depression.





Story continues

What Will Judge Ellis Say?





Whether Ellis makes any comment as he hands Manafort his sentence will be worth watching. The Ronald Reagan appointee made waves early on in Manaforts case when he publicly lambasted the special counsel probe. Manaforts lawyers have even played up those themes in their sentencing memos, writing: The Special Counsels strategy in bringing charges against Mr. Manafort had nothing to do with the Special Counsels core mandateRussian collusionbut was instead designed to tighten the screws to compel Mr. Manafort to cooperate and provide incriminating information about others.



Ellisan at times humorous, at times cantankerous forcealso caught heat during the trial for needling prosecutors to quicken their pace.



The judge has also been critical of federal sentencing laws. In a sentencing hearing for a convicted drug dealer last year, Ellis expressed frustration with mandatory minimums, as he sentenced the man to the minimum of 40 years imprisonment. "This situation presents me with something I have no discretion to change and the only thing I can do is express my displeasure," he said.





What About the D.C. Sentencing?





Manafort is also set to be sentenced in Washington, D.C., on March 13. Judge Amy Berman Jackson will sentence him after he pleaded guilty in September to two criminal counts: conspiring against the United States and conspiring to tamper with potential witnesses. Shell also likely take into account her finding this month that Manafort intentionally lied to federal authorities during the course of his cooperation, in violation of his plea deal.



Manaforts attorneys say he faces a maximum of 10 years combined for those counts in D.C. Theyve also argued that he should serve his sentences in D.C., and Virginia, at the same time, because they say the underlying conduct in those cases was related. Prosecutors have not yet told judges whether Manafort should serve his sentences concurrently or consecutively.



Read more:



Manafort Already Punished Substantially, Defense Lawyers Say



Manafort 'Repeatedly and Brazenly Violated the Law,' Mueller Tells DC Judge



Amid Manafort Mess, Skadden's Brand Shows Resilience



DC Circuit Upholds Muellers Special Counsel Appointment
Houston, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SHLX) announced today that Paul Goodfellow has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC, Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.s (the Partnership) general partner. Paul has served as a member of the Board of Directors since the formation of the Partnership in 2014; and will replace Curtis Frasier, who has offered his resignation from the Board of Directors, effective April 1, 2019. At the same time, Brenda Stout, Vice President Manufacturing Support and Excellence, has been appointed as a member of the Board of Directors, assuming Pauls previously-held seat.

Shell Midstream Partners has a proven track record of delivering against our promises, said Kevin Nichols, CEO, Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC. Id like to thank Curtis for his leadership since the early days of the Partnership and for helping us navigate through the evolving sector  ultimately delivering value to both the unitholders and our sponsor. The Partnership is well positioned for continued success, and I look forward to working with Paul in an increased capacity, and welcoming Brenda to the Board.

Paul Goodfellow is currently the Executive Vice President, Wells for Shell International, and will begin serving as Executive Vice President of Deepwater, effective April 15, 2019. Paul joined Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) in The Netherlands in 1991, after initially working in the mining industry in South Africa and Finland following his studies. He worked in a variety of Wells related roles throughout the Shell Group before being appointed as Wells Manager for the Americas Region in 2003. In 2008, Paul was named as Venture Manager for North America Onshore before becoming Vice President Development, Onshore, responsible for field development planning, technical and technology functions. Following this, Paul became Vice President Unconventionals US and Canada for Shell Upstream Americas in 2013  the role he held when he was appointed to the Board of Directors of Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC. In 2015, Paul moved to Aberdeen to take up the position of Vice President, United Kingdom and Ireland for Upstream International, accountable for the Upstream business in these countries. He has been in his current role as Executive Vice President Wells for Shell International since 2017, based in Houston.

Brenda Stout, currently Vice President Manufacturing Support and Excellence, has been appointed as member of the Board of Directors of Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC effective April 1, 2019. Brenda graduated from Texas A&M University in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. After spending 13 years with BP and Ineos in a variety of technical, financial and commercial roles, she joined Shell in 2006 as a Business Improvement Leader in the Americas Region. Brenda has spent most of her Shell tenure serving in key management positions at several refineries across Shells Global Manufacturing business, including Production Manager at the Martinez refinery in California; General Manager at the Mobile site in Alabama; and most recently, General Manager at the Pulau Bukom site in Singapore. She has also served as General Manager of Global Manufacturing Strategy Development, based in London.

Curtis Frasier became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Partnership at the time of the initial public offering in 2014. He was employed at Shell from 1982 to 2013, providing legal advice and services in the areas of commercial, corporate and international law based in the U.S., London and The Netherlands. Curtis served as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Shell Upstream Americas before retiring from the company in 2013.

# # #

About Shell Midstream Partners, L.P.

Shell Midstream Partners, L.P., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a growth-oriented master limited partnership that owns, operates, develops and acquires pipelines and other midstream assets. Our assets include interests in entities that own crude oil and refined products pipelines and terminals that serve as key infrastructure to (i) transport onshore and offshore crude oil production to Gulf Coast and Midwest refining markets and (ii) deliver refined products from those markets to major demand centers. Our assets also include interests in entities that own natural gas and refinery gas pipelines which transport offshore natural gas to market hubs and deliver refinery gas from refineries and plants to chemical sites along the Gulf Coast.

Inquiries:

Shell Media Relations: +1 832 337 4355

Shell Investor Relations North America: +1 832 337 2034

* SHELL and the SHELL Pecten are registered trademarks of Shell Trademark Management, B.V. used under license.
To access the newsletter, click on the link: http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/morning_News_Call/MNCGeneric_CA_03062019.pdf You can read Morning News Call Canada via TOPNEWS Canada page.

If you would like to receive this newsletter through your email, please register at: http://solutions.refinitiv.com/MorningNewsCallENsubscriptionpage ECONOMIC EVENTS 0830 Trade balance for Dec: -C$.80 bln; Prior -C$2.06 bln 0830 Exports for Dec:$48.33 bln 0830 Imports for Dec: Prior $50.39 bln 0830 Labor productivity rate for Q4: Prior 0.3 pct 1000 BoC rate decision: Expected 1.75 pct; Prior 1.75 pct 1000 Ivey PMI for Feb: Prior 49.5 1000 Ivey PMI SA for Feb: Prior 54.7 COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS March 6: Baytex Energy Corp (BTE). Expected Q4 loss of 5 Canadian cents per share Descartes Systems Group Inc (DSG). Expected Q4 earnings of 11 cents per share Element Fleet Management Corp (EFN). Expected Q4 earnings of 18 Canadian cents per share Pengrowth Energy Corp (PGF). Expected Q4 loss of 11 Canadian cents per share Peyto Exploration & Development Corp (PEY). Expected Q4 earnings of 13 Canadian cents per share March 7: Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ). Expected Q4 earnings of 14 Canadian cents per share Canadian Western Bank (CWB). Expected Q1 earnings of 79 Canadian cents per share Crescent Point Energy Corp (CPG). Expected Q4 loss of 3 Canadian cents per share Ensign Energy Services Inc (ESI). Expected Q4 loss of 22 Canadian cents per share Freehold Royalties Ltd (FRU). Expected Q4 earnings of 3 Canadian cents per share Obsidian Energy Ltd (OBE). Expected Q4 loss of 10 Canadian cents per share Profound Medical Corp (PRN). Expected Q4 loss of 4 Canadian cents per share CORPORATE EVENTS 0800 Street Capital Group Inc (SCB). Q4 earnings conference call 0800 Titanium Transportation Group Inc (TTR). Q4 earnings conference call 0830 EcoSynthetix Inc (ECO). Q4 earnings conference call 0830 Stars Group Inc (TSGI). Q4 earnings conference call 0900 Stuart Olson Inc (SOX). Q4 earnings conference call 1000 Aecon Group Inc (ARE). Q4 earnings conference call 1000 Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc (BRE). Q4 earnings conference call 1000 CanWel Building Materials Group Ltd (CWX). Q4 earnings conference call 1000 Semafo Inc (SMF). Q4 earnings conference call 1000 STEP Energy Services Ltd (STEP). Q4 earnings conference call 1030 Emblem Corp (EMC). Shareholders Meeting 1100 Alaris Royalty Corp (AD). FY earnings conference call 1100 Baytex Energy Corp (BTE). Q4 earnings conference call 1100 Pengrowth Energy Corp (PGF). Q4 earnings conference call 1100 Tourmaline Oil Corp (TOU). Q4 earnings conference call 1300 Timbercreek Financial Corp (TF). Q4 earnings conference call 1630 Points International Ltd (PTS). Q4 earnings conference call 1630 Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc (XENE.OQ). FY earnings conference call 1700 Descartes Systems Group Inc (DSG). Q4 earnings conference call 1800 Element Fleet Management Corp (EFN). Q4 earnings conference call EX-DIVIDENDS Atco Ltd (ACOx). Amount C$0.40 High Liner Foods Inc (HLF). Amount C$0.14 Computer Modelling Group Ltd (CMG). Amount C$0.10 Enerflex Ltd (EFX). Amount C$0.10 Jamieson Wellness Inc (JWEL). Amount C$0.09 For Morning News Call U.S. -- a preview of market-moving news for the trading day: - type US/MNC in a news browser if you are an Eikon user, or type RT/US/MNC in a news browser if you are a Thomson One user For The Day Ahead -- a recap of the day's events and preview of the next trading day: - type DAY/US in a news browser if you are an Eikon user or type RT/DAY/US in a news browser if you are a Thomson One user For an index of our newsletters click on
Investing.com - Oil prices headed higher on Thursday as analysts downplayed the chance of demand faltering in the U.S. despite a large build in stockpiles.

New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 65 cents, or 1.16%, at $56.87 a barrel by 8:38 AM ET (13:38 GMT).

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., traded up 73 cents, or 1.11%, to $66.72.

Although Wednesdays data on U.S. stockpiles showed a surge in inventories last week, the jump was attributed to seasonality rather than a sign of weakness in demand.

Transversal Consulting president Ellen Wald explained that the build in crude oil stores was seasonally appropriate and that the data also showed a draw in gasoline stores of 4.2 million barrels.

The key element to take away from the EIA report is that the large build in crude oil stocks is not indicative of faltering demand for oil in the U.S. or globally. Gasoline demand is still strong, and jet fuel demand is only slightly lower, she said.

Backing the narrative that demand remains solid, Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at SaxoBank, pointed to the fact that the 7 million barrel jump in stockpiles was driven by a 1.6 million barrel rebound in net imports. Crude oil imports from U.S. main suppliers all rose last week, he noted.

Oil has rallied more than 20% this year on the back of production cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day from OPEC and its partners, most notably Russia.

Reuters quoted sources this week that said OPEC is likely to push back to its June meeting a decision on whether or not to extend those cuts, giving itself more time to asses progress in market rebalancing. It had originally intended to decide in April

U.S. sanctions against OPEC members Venezuela and Iran have also helped curb supplies.

Venezuela's state-run oil firm PDVSA this week declared a maritime emergency, citing trouble accessing tankers and personnel to export its oil amid the sanctions.

Story continues

With regard to sanctions on Iran, countries that were granted waivers on oil imports are scrambling to extend them beyond May, when Washington intends to let them expire.

Among those, India is seeking to keep imports of Iranian oil at the current level of about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to a Reuters report on Thursday.

In other energy trading, gasoline futures gained 1.38% to $1.8137 a gallon by 8:41 AM ET (13:41 GMT), while heating oil rose 0.60% to $2.0282 a gallon.

Lastly, natural gas futures declined 0.46% to $2.828 per million British thermal unit.

Related Articles

Pompeo calls on oil industry to support U.S. foreign policy agenda

Gold Prices Up as Brexit Uncertainties Attract Safe-Haven Bids

Oil Prices Rise as U.S. Plans More Venezuela-related Sanctions
The iShares MSCI South Africa ETF (NYSE: EZA), the largest exchange traded fund dedicated to stocks in Africa's largest economy, is up about 6 percent this year.

On the surface, that sounds pretty good, but upon further examination, EZA looks weak and vulnerable to some downside.

What Happened

To be precise, EZA is up 6.05 percent year to date, but the South Africa ETF is trailing the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, of which South Africa is 5.95 percent, by more than 300 basis points. That statistic underscores the disappointing nature of South African stocks in 2019, but there's more.

South Africa is the world's largest producer of platinum and the second-largest palladium-producing country. EZA is slightly outperforming the largest U.S.-listed platinum-backed ETF, but the Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: PALL) is up 20.27 percent year-to-date, making the fund one of this year's best-performing commodities ETFs.

Why It's Important

The February 2018 installation of a new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has rekindled hopes of an economic renaissance, but the country still faces serious challenges, said FacSet in a recent note. After seeing two consecutive quarters of economic contraction in the first half of 2018, significant economic uncertainty remains.

While the regime change was initially cheered by investors, South Africa's economy still faces significant hurdles. Those hurdles can be seen as roadblocks for investors considering EZA because has to handily outperform the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by wide margins to turn its risk-reward proposition favorable.

Over the past 36 months, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index outperformed EZA by 2,100 basis points while being 1,300 basis points less volatile than the South Africa ETF.

What's Next

Last month, finance minister Tito Mboweni painted a bleak picture as he outlined the state of South Africas finances for 2019, according to FactSet. While the National Treasury predicts accelerating real GDP growth rate over the next three years (1.5% in 2019, 1.7% in 2020, and 2.1% in 2021), both the current account deficit and gross debt are expected to swell. Gross government debt, which has been rising steadily since 2009, surpassed 55% of GDP at the end of 2018. The latest government forecasts have debt topping 60% of GDP by 2024.

Story continues

If the U.S. dollar regains momentum, EZA would likely be sapped due to the commodities-intensive nature of South Africa's economy.

Related Links

Fast Starts For These New ETFs

A Unique Bond ETF

See more from Benzinga

 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
(Bloomberg) -- Ashok Krishnans colleagues at Bank of America initially brushed off his pitch to automate trading. He recalls how some barely acknowledged him in the halls. But before long their aversion gave way to requests for help.

As head of electronic trading in the banks global markets division, Krishnan is among a group of Wall Street equities veterans -- including Phil Allison at Morgan Stanley and Mark Goodman at UBS Group AG -- promoted in recent years to take on a delicate assignment: Build machines to handle trading in other markets such as bonds and currencies. Theyre convinced its possible after watching computers take over stocks.

In an interview at Bank of America Corp.s headquarters in New York, Krishnan, 48, ticked off technologies such as algorithmic and mobile trading that are giving machines a greater role in making complex markets.

Persuading humans is something else.

The long-predicted automation of bond and currency trading has been slow to arrive, after traders voiced skepticism that happened to protect their business and jobs. They argued clients want to talk through complex transactions and that automation weakens relationships. Even shifting simple bets to electronic platforms would reduce interactions with customers, missing opportunities to arrange other deals and cannibalizing the business. Yet investors are demanding more advanced platforms to cut costs, as well as new tools providing a clearer view into markets.

If you dont do this, your P&L goes down because the client just does business somewhere else, Krishnan said, invoking a Wall Street acronym for earnings.

The stakes are huge for Wall Street banks competing in the $22 trillion market for U.S. Treasuries and corporate debt and the $5.1 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market. Handling fixed-income products remains one of industrys biggest revenue generators. Now firms must disrupt the old model by building out their electronic platforms, or they risk getting sidelined in the future.

Story continues

Equities migrated to computers first because theyre standardized and trade frequently, making it relatively simple to match buyers and sellers. The same goes for parts of bond and FX trading, such as Treasury futures and spot currency transactions. Thats left stock veterans with the technical experience to tackle more-complex products -- as well as the confidence needed to overcome years of resistance.

It started with the equity guys saying, Lets make these markets look like our markets, said Kevin McPartland, head of research for market structure and technology at consultant Greenwich Associates. From the bond side it was: No, no, no. Ive been doing this for 20 years. I know my clients. Theres no way you can get a machine to replicate the knowledge I have.

Krishnan trained as an electronics and telecoms engineer before becoming a banker. He was running Bank of Americas electronic trading of equities two years ago when his bosses expanded his responsibilities to include fixed income, currencies and commodities. His peers at rival shops are leading similar efforts. Clients, too, are moving in the same direction.

Take Vanguard Group Inc.s Andy Maack. Formerly an equities portfolio manager, he was elevated in 2013 to build and run a centralized currency-trading desk for the asset manager, which oversees more than $5 trillion. Maacks expectations are based on his work with stocks: He says banks should offer advanced algorithms that fill orders quickly, cheaply and with extensive trade reporting and analytical tools.

Already, more than 90 percent of Vanguards spot-currency deals are handled electronically. Of those, over half rely on sophisticated algorithms, which calculate optimal times, order sizes and venues to trade.

Goldmans Warning

Ive noticed a pretty significant change of behavior over the last five years, Maack said, noting that even old-school Wall Street traders -- known for their prowess with phones and message systems -- have come to accept computerized processes. When somebody from equities got involved, the FX desk transitioned faster to electronic.

It helps that bank leaders have gotten behind the push.

Last year, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.s chief financial officer, Marty Chavez, told analysts that the old arguments against automation no longer made sense and that the firm was analyzing how traders and salespeople work to automate more processes. Advances in computing power mean machines can handle that extra complexity, he said. He was later named co-head of the firms trading division.

Electronic platforms can drive out traders two ways: They require fewer humans to facilitate transactions. And they require new skills from those who remain.

Concerns about jobs appear warranted: The worlds 12 largest banks have reduced front-office staff -- those who produce revenue -- by 11 percent from 2013, according to Coalition Development Ltd.

Yet banks have little choice but to adapt. Buy-side investors are embracing new technologies and pressing their market-makers to do it, too, to cut costs and offer more transparency, said Morgan Stanleys Allison. He oversees fixed-income automated trading from London and previously worked in equities at KCG Holdings Inc. and UBS.

It made sense for the division to enlist a stocks specialist, said Allison, who studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge. I probably bring a different perspective, he said. Ive managed large groups of people, all the way from high-touch sales traders through to heavy C++ developers.

He was hired by Sam Kellie-Smith, who previously ran equities trading at Morgan Stanley and now leads the banks fixed-income division.

At UBS, Goodman has seen the stock market move from the speed of a fax machine to millionths of a second. Instead of working phones, traders now create algorithms to slice, time and route orders. Hes working on a similar push for FX, rates and credit desks. For Goodman, who practices kung fu in his free time, embracing technology has been a good career strategy.

I took a risk, Goodman said. You get an opportunity to do something new. And if that eventually replaces the old, then you have an opportunity to really expand your career, rather than following what is a well-trodden path.

In the most liquid equity markets, more than 90 percent of trades are executed electronically, according to estimates from Greenwich Associates. That compares with 79 percent in global foreign exchange, 44 percent in U.S. Treasuries and 26 percent in U.S. corporate bonds, with the most room for growth in the latter two markets, according to McPartland at Greenwich.

People say, This market cant be electronified, its different, he said. That doesnt hold water anymore.

--With assistance from Sonali Basak, Alexandra Harris and Molly Smith.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lananh Nguyen in New York at lnguyen35@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, ;James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net, David Scheer, Dan Reichl

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
A Sinopec-operated LNG storage tank is seen in Fuling district, in Chongqing A Sinopec-operated LNG storage tank is seen in Fuling district, in Chongqing, China December 13, 2017. REUTERS/Chen Aizhu/Files

By Chen Aizhu

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China Petroleum and Chemical Corp plans to sign a 20-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply agreement with Cheniere Energy once China and the United States end their trade dispute, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

Cheniere and China Petroleum and Chemical, known as Sinopec, reached a consensus in late-2018 on commercial terms after months of negotiations, but the signing of the deal was held back by the ongoing trade friction between the world's top two economies, one of the sources, who has direct knowledge of the matter, told Reuters.

"Without the trade spat, the deal should have been signed some time ago," the source said, declining to be named because the matter is not public.

In recent weeks, Beijing and Washington appear to have moved closer to a deal to end a bruising eight-month dispute that has seen the countries slap tariffs on billions of dollars worth of the other's good. A resolution is widely expected to include stepped-up Chinese purchase of U.S. goods.

Sinopec intends to buy close to 2 million tonnes a year of LNG from Houston-based Cheniere starting 2023, the two sources added, without giving a deal value.

Cheniere may start delivering some supplies before 2023, said the second of the two sources.

Based on the delivered cost of U.S.-sourced supplies into east China in January at $8.30 per million British thermal units given by Chinese customs, the 20-year deal would amount to roughly $16 billion.

Sinopec and Cheniere both declined to comment on the status of a deal.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that as part of a trade deal with the United States, China would buy $18 billion worth of natural gas from Cheniere.

Officials from Cheniere visited Beijing in late February, said a third source, who was also familiar with the matter. Sinopec, a late comer to China's LNG scene compared to domestic rivals China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and PetroChina, has said it wants to more-than double its receiving capacity over the next six years to around 41 million tonnes annually, by building three new terminals along China's east coast and expanding existing facilities.

Story continues

China, the world's second-largest LNG buyer after Japan, imported just over 2 million tonnes of the super-chilled fuel in the first nine months of 2018 from the United States, according to Chinese customs.

Imports have since almost dried up after Beijing announced a 10 percent tariff on U.S. LNG in September, with sporadic shipments in November and January, amid an escalation of the tit-for-tat trade war.

In February 2018, before the trade war started, PetroChina's parent company CNPC signed a 20-year deal with Cheniere to buy 1.2 million tonnes of LNG a year through 2043, with a portion of the supply beginning in 2018.

Thanks to its shale boom, the United States is on track to become the world's third-biggest LNG exporter by capacity in 2019, after Australia and Qatar.

Cheniere said last week it planned to make a final investment decision to build a sixth liquefaction train at its Sabine Pass LNG export terminal in Louisiana in the coming months.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by Michael Martina in BEIJING; Editing by Tony Munroe and Christian Schmollinger)
Fara Cohen and Melissa Hazel Davis, Griesing Law



The effects of implicit bias create huge potential for age, race and gender discrimination on college campusesnot only in the faculty recruiting process, but also in the recruiting process for students on campus. According to the Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University, implicit bias is the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individuals awareness or intentional control. Residing deep in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that individuals may choose to conceal for the purposes of social or political correctness. Rather, implicit biases are not accessible through introspection. In a 2000 study, Cecilia Rouse, an associate professor at Princetons Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and Claudia Goldin, a professor of economics at Harvard University, found that the use of blind auditions during the audition process for symphonies, where the candidates identities were concealed by a screen, increased the probability that a woman would advance from the preliminary audition rounds by 50 percent. In a 2003 study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago, researchers sent out 5,000 resumes responding to job ads placed in the Boston and Chicago metro regions, randomly assigning stereotypical white-sounding names to some and stereotypically African-American names to others. The findings showed that those applicants with white-sounding names received an astonishing 50 percent more interview invitations than those with African-American names.



Even though bias tends to be an unconscious act (which is why it is so hard to address), there are steps university leaders can take to reduce biases in both the recruiting and hiring processes and facilitate a more diverse campus. Diversity creates a culture of acceptance, inclusion, and different perspectives, and is arguably needed now more than ever. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), college enrollment rates for young adults have been higher for women than men since 2000, and the total undergraduate fall enrollment increased for every racial/ethnic group from 1976 to 2008. However, according to an Association of American Colleges & Universities article, NCES also reported in 2008 that just under 20 percent of the nations professoriate consisted of people of color and, in certain disciplines (electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and physics), women make up less than 10 percent of the professors at the top 50 research universities.



In addition to fueling a less open and inclusive campus, a lack of diversity in hiring can also lead to litigation. In 2016, Noble Maseru, an African-American male with over 30 years of experience in public health, sued the University of Cincinnati after he applied for an associate professor in health policy management position and was passed over for a Caucasian male. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio held that the plaintiff had successfully stated a claim for intersectional sex and race discrimination because although the university ultimately hired a male for the position, under the intersectional theory, discrimination against an African-American male can still exist even in the absence of discrimination against white males or African-American females. In other words, this theory is based on a consideration of the combination of race and sex. At Auburn University, the former chair of the department of aerospace engineering resigned and alleged that he was forced out of his position after colleagues conspired to remove him because of his race. While creating a public relations nightmare for a university, hiring discrimination can also be costly. The University of Arizona faces a $20 million class action lawsuit alleging a pattern and practice of gender discrimination and a former Columbia University assistant professor was recently awarded $1.25 million after a finding that a professor retaliated against her after she accused him of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.



However, as opposed to current employees, the water is murkier when it comes to discrimination against potential hires. There is a circuit split in terms of whether would-be employees have standing to sue for employment discrimination at all. This January, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decision was issued in Kleber v. CareFusion holding that only current employees are protected against unintentional effects of neutral recruitment practices. Institutions bewareusing this as an excuse to discriminate in the hiring process could mean risky business. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines state that use of tests and selection procedures can violate federal anti-discrimination laws if they disproportionately exclude people in a particular group by race, sex or another covered basis. We will have to wait and see where other circuits come out on this issue.



Regardless of the split in law, it is good practice and has proven beneficial for institutions of higher education to do what they can to encourage diversity and limit bias in faculty hiring as mishandling of these accusations can have monetary consequences even if the initial claims are unfounded. For example, beginning in fall 2018, the University of Pennsylvania instituted a requirement that all faculty members on hiring committees receive unconscious bias training after more than 80 faculty members signed a letter in support of expanding university programming for reducing bias. The following are some steps that colleges and universities can take to recruit and retain more diverse faculty:





Story continues

Establish a designated committee to address diversity issues.

Broaden the search and the job posting terms. For example, do not use masculine terms such as competitive or dominant in the job posting and broaden the experience requirements. Advertise open positions in publications geared toward minority communities, conferences and the like.

Enact and require diversity and implicit bias training prior to reviewing applications.

Utilize anonymous or blind recruiting. For example, the University of Helsinki in Finland uses anonymous recruiting by removing candidates names, dates of birth, ethnicities and genders from applications. However, opponents argue that this is impractical as it is difficult to anonymize published work and research.

Try Britains Recruiting for Difference approach, where curriculum vitaes are no longer utilized. Instead, applicants state which journals they have published in and the roles they played in the papers, but their names, gender and ethnicity are not revealed at any stage in the hiring process.

Involve current employees with diverse experience and backgrounds in the interview process to assess candidates, as this is more likely to result in diverse faculty.

Enact policies that enforce and encourage faculty diversity and outline these policies in employee agreements, employee handbooks and codes of conduct.

Expressly reward and commend departments that have increased their diversity.

Appropriately and diligently investigate discrimination claims and consider bringing in experienced outside counsel because, if these claims are not handled properly, any other policies or procedures in place may prove meaningless.





While bias is still a prevalent factor in higher education hiring and recruitment, change is possible if colleges and universities continue to remain committed to diverse campuses and to take affirmative steps to rid employment and enrollment decisions of unconscious bias.



Melissa Hazell Davis is a senior associate at Griesing Law, where she focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation and labor and employment matters. She can be reached at 215-732-3924 or mdavis@griesinglaw.com.



Fara A. Cohen is an associate at the firm, where she focuses her practice on corporate transactions, commercial litigation and employment law. She can be reached at 215-501-7849 or fcohen@griesinglaw.com.




NEW YORK and SAN DIEGO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that it is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI) resulting from allegations that Bridgepoint may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.



On March 7, 2019, Bridgepoint disclosed that its previously issued financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 should no longer be relied upon. Bridgepoint further disclosed the restatement primarily relates to the revenue for the Full Tuition Grant program portion of our student contracts.

On this news, Bridgepoints stock price fell sharply, closing at $6.23 per share on March 7, 2019, a decline of 34%.

Investors who have purchased shares of Bridgepoint Education, Inc. are urged to contact the firm immediately at classmember@whafh.com or (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774.

## Follow the firm and learn about newly filed cases on Twitter and Facebook. ##

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in New York, Chicago and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.

If you wish to discuss this potential action or have any questions regarding your rights and interests, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735, via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com , or visit our website at www.whafh.com.

Contact:

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP

Kevin Cooper, Esq.

Gregory Stone, Director of Case and Financial Analysis

Email: gstone@whafh.com , kcooper@whafh.com or classmember@whafh.com

Tel: (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaks at a post-launch press conference after the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifted off on an uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., March 2, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

(Reuters) - SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk's security clearance is being reviewed by the Pentagon after the billionaire smoked marijuana on a California comedian's podcast in September, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

An incident report was started by the Pentagon some time after the marijuana event, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The review was first reported by Bloomberg.

Musk has a security clearance as SpaceX provides satellite launch services to the U.S. government. An unmanned capsule from the company was due to return to earth on Friday after a short-term stay on the International Space Station, part of NASA's long-delayed quest to resume human space flight from U.S. soil later this year.

"For privacy and security reasons, we do not publicly discuss individual clearance status," said Lieutenant Colonel Mike Andrews, a Pentagon spokesman.

Musk, who is also the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla Inc, has refiled his SF-86 security form, which requires a federal employee or contractor seeking a clearance to acknowledge any illegal drug use over the previous seven years, according to the Bloomberg report, which said the review has not impacted SpaceX.

The U.S. Air Force in September said reports that it was reviewing his security clearance were inaccurate.

In September, Musk provoked a Twitter storm by smoking pot, drinking whiskey and wielding a sword on a live web show with comedian Joe Rogan.

SpaceX declined to comment. Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The electric carmaker's shares pared gains and were lower in late afternoon trading.

(Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru and Mike Stone in Washington; editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Bill Rigby)
President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort faces the first of two sentencing hearings Thursday.

Special counsel Robert Mueller says that President Donald Trump's ex-campaign chairman deserves significant prison time.

A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, could give Manafort, 69, a sentence of between 19 and 24 years in prison, along with millions of dollars in fines.

Paul Manafort faces the first of two sentencing hearings Thursday  and special counsel Robert Mueller says that President Donald Trump 's ex-campaign chairman deserves significant prison time.

A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, could give 69-year-old Manafort a sentence of between 19 and 24 years in prison, along with millions of dollars in fines, as federal guidelines suggest. In a separate case in federal court in Washington, D.C., Manafort could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Manafort's sentencing dates, scheduled for Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in Virginia, and next Wednesday in Washington, mark the end of a long, steep and very public fall for the formerly high-powered political operative.

Manafort was convicted last year in Virginia federal court on eight criminal counts, including tax fraud, bank fraud and failing to file a foreign bank account report. The charges, lodged by Mueller as part of his probe of Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, mostly related to work Manafort did years earlier as a consultant for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine.

On the eve of his second trial in Washington, D.C., federal court, Manafort cut a plea agreement to cooperate with Mueller's team. But that deal fell apart months later when Manafort was accused of lying to the prosecutors.

Attorneys for Manafort argued Friday that their client deserved a much lighter sentence than the one calculated by federal sentencing guidelines. Manafort is a first-time offender, they said, and "the Special Counsel's attempt to vilify Mr. Manafort as a lifelong and irredeemable felon is beyond the pale and grossly overstates the facts."

Story continues

Mueller pushed back in a Tuesday night filing in the Virginia court, laying out a multi-pronged argument for why the request for leniency from the former political operative's attorneys should be ignored at his sentencing.

The special counsel accused Manafort of failing to ever take responsibility for his crimes, and for the additional wrongdoing he is alleged to have done since his initial indictment. Mueller said in that filing that Manafort tampered with witnesses while on bail  a charge that landed him in jail pending trial  and lied to the government and Mueller's grand jury on a variety of subjects after agreeing to cooperate with its investigations.

Based on this, Mueller, argued, "there is no reason to believe" that Manafort does not pose a risk of committing more crimes in the future.

"Manafort's effort to shift the blame to others  as he did at trial  is not consistent with acceptance of responsibility or a mitigating factor. Manafort has failed to accept that he is responsible for the criminal choices that bring him to this Court for sentencing," Mueller wrote.





More From CNBC


USPOULTRY program supports companys ongoing commitment to animal welfare

SPRINGDALE, Ark., March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of its commitment to animal welfare , Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN) has implemented a third-party certification program to help ensure the proper handling and transportation of birds in its chicken business. The company is the first major chicken producer to implement Poultry Handling and Transportation (PHT) certification offered by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY).



The PHT certification is in addition to the animal welfare training Tyson Foods already requires for frontline workers involved in handling and transporting live birds. PHT focuses on important areas such as biosecurity, disease recognition, emergency planning and the safe and humane handling of birds before, during and after transport.

The PHT certification program was developed by Penn State University scientists, the USDA and industry specialists, and is managed by USPOULTRY. More than 1,000 Tyson Foods poultry and transportation workers have received individual PHT certification over the past year.

Ensuring the safety and welfare of our people and animals is paramount at Tyson Foods, said Karen Christensen, senior director of animal welfare for Tyson Foods. By working with USPOULTRY to achieve certification across our organization, we are doubling down on our commitment to continuous improvement in animal welfare. Were proud of this certification and continue to evolve best practices in every aspect of animal welfare.

Tyson Foods commitment to this certification process demonstrates a pivotal moment in the industry, and were excited about the progress weve made together, said Rafael Rivera, Manager, Food Safety & Production Programs, USPOULTRY. Every training gives us a new opportunity to improve our practices and we look forward to continuing to drive progress in animal well-being.

In addition to PHT certification, Tyson Foods animal welfare efforts include:

Story continues

The Tyson FarmCheck  program, which involves third-party, on-farm animal welfare audits.

An Animal Welfare Advisory panel made up of external subject matter experts.

Extensive third-party remote video auditing system, monitoring bird handling in 33 poultry plants.

Almost 60 full-time animal welfare specialists across the companys beef, pork and poultry operations.

A pilot project for testing Controlled Atmosphere Stunning (CAS) at two Tyson poultry plants.

About Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN) is one of the worlds largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three generations of family leadership, the company has a broad portfolio of products and brands like Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, ibp and State Fair. Tyson Foods innovates continually to make protein more sustainable, tailor food for everywhere its available and raise the worlds expectations for how much good food can do. Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company had 121,000 team members at September 29, 2018. Through its Core Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity, create value for its shareholders, customers, communities and team members and serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it. Visit WWW.TYSONFOODS.COM .

About U.S. Poultry & Egg Association

U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) is the all-feather organization representing the complete spectrum of todays poultry industry, whose mission is to progressively serve member companies through research, education, communication and technical assistance. Founded in 1947, USPOULTRY is based in Tucker, Ga.

Contacts :

Morgan Watchous, Tyson Foods, 479-290-5394, morgan.watchous@tyson.com

Gwen Venable, USPOULTRY, 678-514-1971, gvenable@uspoultry.org

Source: Tyson Foods, Inc.

Category: IR, Newsroom
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PIMCO, one of the worlds premier fixed income investment managers, is pleased to announce the promotion of the following officers of the firm to Managing Director.



Mangala V. Ananthanarayanan, CFA

Ms. Ananthanarayanan is a managing director and head of the business management teams in EMEA and APAC who is based in the London office. She was previously responsible for building out the enterprise risk function as well as driving strategic initiatives across the EMEA region. Before that, she was an account manager, focusing on institutional clients in the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2006, she was in the assurance and business advisory services group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She has 16 years of investment experience and holds a master's degree from the London Business School. She earned her undergraduate degree at Osmania University and is a chartered accountant.

Pramol Dhawan

Mr. Dhawan is a managing director and portfolio manager in the Newport Beach office. He is the co-chair of the emerging markets portfolio committee and has served as a rotating member on the firm's Investment Committee. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2013, he was a managing director and head of emerging markets trading for the Americas at Societe Generale in New York. He was previously based in London, where he headed the Central and Eastern Europe emerging markets team for the firm. Additionally, he was a management consultant at Accenture. He has 15 years of investment experience and holds an MBA with a specialization in finance from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of Nottingham, England.

Greg Sharenow

Mr. Sharenow is a managing director and portfolio manager in the Newport Beach office focusing on commodities and real assets. He also co-manages PIMCOs Energy and Tactical Credit Opportunities fund. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2011, he was an energy trader at Hess Energy Trading, Goldman Sachs, and DE Shaw. Mr. Sharenow was previously senior energy economist at Goldman Sachs. He has 19 years of investment and financial services experience and holds bachelor's degrees in mathematical methods in the social sciences and in economics from Northwestern University.

Jason R. Steiner

Mr. Steiner is a managing director and portfolio manager in the Newport Beach office. He is responsible for opportunistic residential real estate debt and equity products in public and private markets. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2009, he spent eight years at Natixis Capital Markets in New York, most recently as a member of the proprietary trading group focused on structured products. He has 18 years of investment and financial services experience and holds undergraduate degrees in mathematics and computer science from Boston College.

Ichiro Takeuchi, CFA

Mr. Takeuchi is a managing director, account manager and head of the institutional client management group in Japan. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2003, he was with Goldman Sachs. Previously, he was a fixed income middle office associate at J.P. Morgan. He has 21 years of investment experience and holds an MBA from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He received his undergraduate degree from Clark University. He is a registered real estate notary in Japan.

About PIMCO

PIMCO is one of the worlds premier fixed income investment managers. With its launch in 1971 in Newport Beach, California, PIMCO introduced investors to a total return approach to fixed income investing. In the 45+ years since, the firm continued to bring innovation and expertise to our partnership with clients seeking the best investment solutions. Today PIMCO has offices across the globe and 2,500+ professionals united by a single purpose: creating opportunities for investors in every environment. PIMCO is owned by Allianz SE, a leading global diversified financial services provider.

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the performance of financial markets, the investment performance of PIMCO's sponsored investment products and separately managed accounts, general economic conditions, future acquisitions, competitive conditions and government regulations, including changes in tax laws. Readers should carefully consider such factors. Further, such forward-looking statements speak only on the date at which such statements are made. PIMCO undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

Contact:

Agnes Crane

PIMCO  Media Relations

Ph. 212-597-1054

Email: agnes.crane@pimco.com
(Adds details, quotes from interview)

By Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States has identified efforts by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to work with foreign banks to move and hide money and is ready to punish the banks with sanctions in the near future, a senior U.S. administration official said on Wednesday.

The United States moved to aggressively cut off Maduro and his associates from oil and other revenues with sanctions after recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head of state in January.

The White House said earlier on Wednesday that banks would face sanctions for "illegitimate transactions" that helped Maduro and his network.

The warning was prompted by efforts by Maduro, his officials, their family members, and state-owned entities to find ways to keep revenues flowing, the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"They're trying to move their money and hide that money in different places. Some banks - some foreign banks in particular - are being complicit in this behavior," the official said in an interview, declining to provide further details.

The U.S. government was getting ready to name and impose sanctions on banks that have ignored warnings, the official said.

"You'll definitely see some named in the near future," the official said. "We will be sanctioning some in the days and weeks to come." (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
LONDON (AP)  Brexit negotiations between Britain with the European Union will continue through the weekend, the country's chief law officer said Thursday as the U.K. scrambled to secure changes to the divorce deal before a vote in Parliament next week.

With Britain's scheduled departure from the bloc a little more than three weeks away, the EU says "difficult" talks have failed to produce a breakthrough because British proposals are unrealistic.

"We are waiting for a proposal from the British government," French Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau told BBC radio. "We have heard what you don't want; we are willing to know what you want."

U.K. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, however, insisted that said "focused, detailed and careful discussions" would resume "shortly."

"We are discussing text with the European Union," he said. "I am surprised to hear the comments that have emerged over the last 48 hours the proposals are not clear. They are as clear as day and we are continuing to discuss them."

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, but in January the U.K. Parliament resoundingly rejected the divorce deal that lays out the terms of an orderly departure and a transition period for businesses to adjust to new trade rules.

British lawmakers are due to vote again Tuesday on the deal, including any changes the government manages to secure. If they throw it out again, lawmakers will vote on whether to leave the EU without an agreement  an idea likely to be rejected  or to ask the EU to delay Brexit.

Treasury chief Philip Hammond warned pro-Brexit lawmakers that they should "think very, very carefully" about the consequences of defeating May's deal and potentially triggering the postponement of Britain's departure.

He said "they run the risk of us moving away from their preferred course of action if we don't get this deal through on Tuesday."

Story continues

Delaying Brexit would require approval from all 27 remaining member states. EU leaders have said it is likely to be granted  if Britain has a good reason for the request.

Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament's top Brexit official, said a short extension of up to two months "would not be a problem." But he said a longer delay that went beyond May's European parliament elections would solve little and would leave the EU's future on hold.

"In the coming two years we have other things to tackle than continue with the uncertainty of the Brexit process," Verhofstadt told a parliamentary commission.

British concerns about the divorce deal center on a provision designed to keep an open border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. The mechanism, known as the backstop, is a safeguard that would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the other 27 EU countries in order to remove the need for checks until a permanent new trading relationship is in place.

Brexit-supporting lawmakers in the U.K. fear the backstop could be used to bind Britain to EU regulations indefinitely, and Prime Minister Theresa May wants to revise the deal to reassure opponents that it would only apply temporarily.

EU leaders insist that the legally binding Brexit withdrawal agreement can't be reopened, though they are willing to add "clarifications" to ease British concerns.

___

An earlier version of this story misspelled the first name of French Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau.

___

Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this story.

___

Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit
HAMILTON, Bermuda, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg will join Brian Duperreault, President and Chief Executive Officer of AIG, Inc, at an industry forum in New York later this month highlighting Bermudas historic and mutually beneficial relationship with the United States.



The former three-term mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies will take part in a fireside chat with Bermuda Premier David Burt moderated by AIGs Duperreault at the multi-industry forum, the latest in a series hosted in different cities by the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA). The Bermuda Executive Forum New York takes place Thursday, March 21 at Convene at 117 West 46th Street.

The visit to New York by Premier Burt and the BDA underscores the importance of the US-Bermuda relationship and promotes opportunities to further develop initiatives that are mutually beneficial, said US Consul General to Bermuda Constance Dierman. The United States and Bermuda have enjoyed sustained ties for over 400 years, and our shared history has forged a strong relationship. Today, there are over 8,000 Americans who live and work in Bermuda and a half-million people from the US who visit Bermuda each year. The US is Bermudas most significant trading partner, accounting for more than 70 percent of all imports, and Bermuda is an important, strategic partner to the US in many areasincluding insurance, law enforcement, border security, aviation, space, marine research, and education.

The forum will mark the second time Bloomberg has participated in a BDA event. In May 2017, he addressed a forum of senior business leaders at Bloomberg LP in New York, highlighting the special role Bermuda plays in the global economy. Duperreault, the Bermudian market veteran who currently holds AIGs top role, was the keynote speaker at the BDAs first New York forum last May, detailing the islands unique combination of experience, quality and innovation to a packed audience of close to 300 attendees.

Premier David Burt will be joined at this months full-day event by Bermuda Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson and more than 40 leading industry and regulatory executives who will take part in moderated panel discussions on global industry trends and the advantages and opportunities for business in Bermuda.

Bloomberg, who will join the Premier and Duperreault for the days kickoff session, founded a start-up tech company, Bloomberg LP, in 1981. Building desktop computers and connecting them to an intranet he created that provided real-time financial data and news, he revolutionised the investment industry; the company has grown from a one-room office to nearly 20,000 employees in more than 120 countries. Bloomberg served as New Yorks mayor from 200113. He has been appointed the United Nations Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Climate Action and the World Health Organizations Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases. Bloomberg Philanthropies, which encompasses his charitable activities, focuses on five key areas: arts, education, the environment, government innovation and public health.

Duperreault spent 30 years working in Bermuda and the United States in senior executive roles at Marsh & McLennan Companies, ACE Limited, and AIG, where he started his career. He was appointed President and CEO, and to the Board Directors of AIG, in May 2017. Previously, he was chairman and CEO of Bermudas Hamilton Insurance Group, which he established in 2013.

We are thrilled to welcome Mr Bloomberg and Mr Duperreault to our New York event, said BDA CEO Roland Andy Burrows. They are both iconic and influential business leaders whose contribution to our events discussion and thought leadership will be invaluableand underscore Bermudas respected reputation as an innovative, blue-chip financial centre. We look forward to their participation.

The March 21 eventrunning 8am to 5:30pm, followed by a networking receptionwill be a valuable forum for prospective investors and professionals interested in learning more about Bermudas world-class market. Panelists will debate topics ranging from Brexit to US tax reform to climate change, along with industry trends affecting a wide gamut of sectors, from long-term, healthcare-liability, captive and cyber-risk insurance to alternative asset management and the impact of disruptive technologies on global finance.

As the worlds risk capital, Bermuda has been a critical partner to the New York economy, disproportionately supporting the regions financial resilience from events like Superstorm Sandy and the 9/11 tragedy to emerging risks like cyber, said Stephen Weinstein, the BDAs Deputy Chair and global chief legal officer for RenaissanceRe Holdings.

Bermudas many synergies and reciprocal relationships across other sectors with New York and other major US markets also merit recognition, noted Weinstein. The forum promises to be an exciting opportunity for attendees to connect with leaders from Bermudas public and private spheres, and to learn about opportunities to collaborate in both Bermudas traditional areas of excellence and emerging areas of innovation.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Rosemary Jones

Head of Communications & Marketing

rosemary@bda.bm

441 278-6558

441 337-4696

CONNECTING BUSINESS

The BDA encourages direct investment and helps companies start up, re-locate or expand their operations in our premier jurisdiction. An independent, public-private partnership, we connect you to industry professionals, regulatory officials, and key contacts in the Bermuda government to assist domicile decisions. Our goal? To make doing business in Bermuda smooth and beneficial.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f958b7ca-c4ea-443b-a638-697451beffda
A Kyrgyz woman has described how she was drugged and attacked by a group of men after they learned she was transgender. The first gender-reassigment surgery was performed in Kyrgyzstan in 2014, and Kyrgyz citizens can now change their legal gender, provided they have undergone surgery.
A prominent Tajik opposition activist says he was abducted, tortured, and forced to appear in propaganda videos before being released amid international pressure on Dushanbe over his case.



Sharoffidin Gadoev made the remarks in a videotaped statement released on March 5, three days after he arrived safely in Europe following what rights groups say was a harrowing ordeal in his home country.



I was kidnapped in Moscow. I was kidnapped illegally by the Tajik government, Gadoev, a member of the banned Group 24 opposition movement, said in the video posted on YouTube:

He thanked journalists, human rights groups, and Western governments and diplomats for their efforts to secure his release and return to the Netherlands, where he has refugee status.



If it hadnt been for your efforts, I would still be there in captivity, Gadoev said in the video, shared by the Europe-based opposition National Alliance of Tajikistan.



He said he would reveal more details about his treatment on March 7.



Gadoev, who fled Tajikistan in 2012, resurfaced there in February after a trip to Russia.



Human Rights Watch researcher Steve Swerdlow said on March 4 that Gadoev told him he had been seized by Russian police and handed over to Tajik authorities, who brought him to Dushanbe by plane.



"Now, we know that there was so much violence used against him that when he arrived in Dushanbe [from Moscow], his clothes were soaked with blood," Swerdlow told RFE/RL.



Swerdlow said Gadoev told him that when he tried to call for help at a Moscow airport, Tajik security officers severely beat him and taped his mouth so that he could not shout.



In an interview published on March 6 by the Prague-based Akhbor news agency, Gadoev said that he was given a stark ultimatum by the Tajik authorities in Dushanbe.



The Tajik security services gave me three choices: They would kill me, or jail me for some 25 years, or I would cooperate with them. To save my own life, I chose the third option, Gadoev told Akhbor.

And in an interview published on the Eurasianet website on March 6, Gadoev said that he met with the head of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) several times and was told that we should reinstitute Group 24 inside Tajikistan.



I was to become the leader of this group and to create the illusion of an opposition inside the country. We were to be under the direct control of the authorities and we were not to criticize the president or his family, he said.



Another task for him was to support Rustam Emomali, President Emomali Rahmons eldest son and mayor of Dushanbe, in the presidential elections scheduled for 2020.



Tajik authorities have claimed that Gadoev, 33, returned to the country voluntarily on February 15. They posted a video that shows Gadoev criticizing the opposition and urging other activists to follow suit and return to Tajikistan.



But Gadoev told Akhbor that the video was made under duress.



All those videos and photos [issued by Tajik authorities] were staged. I was surrounded by officials at all times and was doing what they instructed me to do, he said.



One of their conditions was for me to relocate from Europe," the activist said, adding that he was offered $2 million to keep silent "about what did they do to me in Dushanbe.

On February 19, the National Alliance posted a video it said was recorded ahead of his trip to Russia:

In that undated footage, Gadoev warned that if I suddenly appear on the Tajik television or some YouTube channel saying that I have returned of my own accord, you must not believe it.

He also said in the video that 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."

In his interview with Eurasianet, Gadoev said he was invited by a person close to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

He did not name that person.

On February 21, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said Gadoev had been arrested in Tajikistan on suspicion of criminal activities, an allegation linked to his past business activities. Tajik authorities never announced his arrest and have not commented on the Dutch statement.



Tajik officials have also not commented publicly about Gadoevs return to Europe, which was announced by the National Alliance on March 2 with a video showing him at the Frankfurt airport alongside Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT).



Rahmon, who has ruled Tajikistan since 1992, has long been criticized for his government's crackdown on dissent.



Group 24 was labeled as extremist in October 2014 and banned after it called for antigovernment protests in Dushanbe and other cities.



The IRPT, long an influential party with representatives in the government and parliament of the Central Asian country, was labeled a terrorist group and banned in 2015.



Dozens of IRPT officials and supporters have been prosecuted and many of them imprisoned, drawing criticism from human rights groups.



IRPT founder Umarali Quvatov was assassinated in Istanbul in March 2015.

With reporting by Akhbor and eurasianet.org
Tajik opposition activist Sharofiddin Gadoev said in a video statement that he was abducted in Moscow by Tajik government officials. Now back in the Netherlands, where he has refugee status, Gadoev said that he was tortured in Tajikistan, and pledged to give more details on the ordeal in the coming days.
Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry says the head of the Taliban's political office in Qatar has expressed interest in cooperating with Tashkent in order to push Afghanistan's peace process forward.

A ministry statement issued from Tashkent on March 5 says Afghan Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar also welcomed Uzbekistan's efforts to help build infrastructure in Afghanistan's energy, transportation, and education sectors.

The statement followed a meeting between Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and Baradar in the Qatari capital, Doha, where Taliban representatives have been meeting with U.S. envoys as part of the Afghan peace process.

The Uzbek Foreign Ministry said Baradar "noted that large infrastructural projects carried out by Uzbekistan will not only promote Afghanistan's economic development but will also create necessary conditions for starting a full-scale political process in this country."

The ministry also expressed hope that Afghanistan might eventually become "a bridge of confidence and cooperation" between Central Asia and South Asia.

The talks between Kamilov and Baradar were the highest-level official contacts between Uzbekistan and Taliban representatives.

They follow a visit to Uzbekistan in August 2018 by Taliban negotiator Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai.

Afghanistan's government signed an agreement with Uzbekistan in 2018 to cooperate on building a 75-kilometer railway link from Uzbekistan's Hairatan border terminal to the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif.

That project is expected to have significant economic impact on trade between the two countries because about half of Afghanistan's imports from Uzbekistan pass through Hairatan.

The Asian Development Bank has estimated that the project will quadruple capacity at the border.

Uzbekistan is also contributing $32 million to help Afghanistan build a 500-kilowatt power-transmission line between the village of Surkhan in southern Uzbekistan and Pul-e Khumri in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan.

Uzbekenergo chief executive Ulgubek Mustafaev has said that the 260-kilometer stretch of transmission line will enable Uzbekistan to increase exports of electricity to Afghanistan by 70 percent.

The Asian Development Bank has pledged $70 million toward the project, which is expected to cost about $150 million to complete.

Mustafaev says the project could eventually help Uzbekistan's energy exports to be delivered to Pakistan.

With reporting by Interfax
Joey Riese arrives at the Borriello Brothers New York Style Pizza on 8th Street Friday, Feb. 1, 2019, to eat lunch only to find the restaurant closed by the State of Colorado because of taxes owed. The original Borriello Brothers downtown on Platte Avenue has a different owner and was opened Friday. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
Ive been ruminating on Independence Day the last few weeks, as the 243rd anniversary of our nations independence will be observed Thursday.
Yes, I found a better job

Yes, but I'm still looking for a new job

Yes, I retired

Yes, I started my own business

No, I like my current job

No, but I'm currently looking for a new job

Vote

View Results
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lupaka Gold Corp. ("Lupaka Gold" or the Company") (TSX-V: LPK, FRA: LQP) is providing additional details under the debt-for-share conversion application to the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV), as well as an update with respect to the non-brokered private placement announced on January 28, 2019 and updated on February 14, 2019.



Will Ansley, President and CEO stated, The initiatives outlined today will improve the Companys short-term liquidity position by a combined $2.0 million, a significant milestone and development for Lupaka.

Non-brokered Private Placement

The Company has received subscription commitments of $665,000 with respect to the non-brokered private placement (the Offering, or Private Placement) announced on January 28, 2019 and updated on February 14, 2019. Each Unit will be priced at $0.06 and will consist of one common share of the Company and one transferable common share purchase warrant (each, a Warrant), with each Warrant entitling the holder to acquire one common share of the Company at a price of $0.10 for a period of 30 months from the date of the closing of the Offering.

Proceeds from the Offering are intended to be used for general working capital purposes, including community and social relations initiatives in Peru.

Liquidity Improvement Program

As announced on February 14, 2019, the Company has implemented a program to significantly improve its liquidity position. Under the liquidity improvement program (LIP) the Company has reached agreements with several creditors to convert $873,971 in bridge loans and short-term accounts payable in Canada into 14,566,175 Units with the same terms as the Private Placement, with a deemed price of $0.06. Certain directors and officers of the Company are participating in the shares for debt conversion, totalling $156,250 converting to 2,604,166 Units. Furthermore, an additional $450,000 of current accounts payable have been restructured into long-term notes, conditionally payable based on achieving future production thresholds at Invicta.

The closing of the Offering, and the issuance of the Common Shares in this shares-for-debt transaction is expected to occur on or before March 15, 2019 and is subject to receipt of approval of the TSXV.

The common shares and Warrants issued in the Placement and shares-for-debt transaction will be subject to a four-month hold period.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this news release.

About Lupaka Gold

Lupaka is an active Canadian-based company focused on creating shareholder value through discoveries and strategic development of the Invicta development project, located in Peru, approximately 120 kilometres north of Lima.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Will Ansley, President & C.E.O.

wansley@lupakagold.com

Tel: (416) 862-5257

or visit the Companys profile at www.sedar.com or its website at www.lupakagold.com

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including all statements, trend analysis and other information relative to anticipated future events or results. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the acceptance of the debt for shares conversion by the Companys creditors; the use of proceeds of the Offering, the receipt of regulatory approval of the Offering, the size and completion of the Offering.

Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made and which the Company believes are reasonable. Such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the Company. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: that regulatory approval of the Offering is not received; that financing will not be available when and if needed on reasonable terms; adverse changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities. This forward-looking information may be affected by risks and uncertainties in the regular course of business and due to market conditions. Additional risks are described in the Companys annual information form, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Lupaka Gold does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
As a crowd gathered Thursday to celebrate former Fort Carson Capt. Andrew Bundermanns receiving the nations second-highest medal for valor, he didnt feel much like celebrating.

The officer who led a cavalry troop through Fort Carsons deadliest day earned the Distinguished Service Cross for repeatedly risking his life to turn back enemy moves and to keep in communication with the artillery and air power that allowed his outnumbered unit to survive a furious attack by more than 300 Taliban fighters.

But a decade after the battle for Combat Outpost Keating, Bundermann called his reception at an arena on the University of Minnesota campus the most conflicting thing as he recalled the eight soldiers who died in the 12-hour firefight Oct. 3, 2009.

Instead of celebrating, Bundermann said the Distinguished Service Cross gives him a pause for remembering Justin Gallegos, Christopher Griffin, Kevin Thomson, Michael Scusa, Vernon Martin, Stephan Mace, Joshua Kirk and Joshua M. Hardt.

It gives an opportunity to honor those gentlemen, said Bundermann, who is now out of the Army and working as a regional manager for a Minnesota packaged foods company.

Bundermann initially earned the Silver Star Medal for his heroism in leading the 53 soldiers trapped at Keating. A Pentagon review last year resulted in his medal being boosted to the Distinguished Service Cross, one of only 19 that have been given during more than 17 years of war in Afghanistan.

The honor adds to the pile of decorations earned by the soldiers from his B Troop, part of the 4th Infantry Divisions 3rd Squadron of the 61st Cavalry Regiment. The unit earned two Medals of Honor, another Distinguished Service Cross, seven Silver Star Medals, 18 Bronze Star Medals and 37 Army Commendation Medals for Valor. Thats 66 medals for 53 soldiers, making Bundermanns troop easily the most-decorated unit for Afghanistan fighting.

Bundermann said its a record that would have been difficult for him to imagine while training at Fort Carson before heading to war.

I wouldnt have expected the valor to ever come up, he said.

Medals for valor never happen on a good day in the Army. Bundermann said even in other firefights, his soldiers werent called to show so much courage.

But Oct. 3, 2009, was a bad day that started early. After midnight, residents started clearing out of a village near the outpost in eastern Afghanistan. The outpost was fit tightly between the walls of a river valley, giving its troops little room to maneuver when enemy fire rained in before sunrise.

Some of the first rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds took out the units generator, which killed the units main radio. Bundermann knew his troops would die unless he could bring in artillery fire, Army helicopters and Air Force planes to tackle the enemy troops.

Risking his life, he set up a satellite dish for communications.

He did much more that day, maneuvering his troops and making hard calls. One of the tougher decisions Bundermann made was to turn American firepower on the nearby village, destroying buildings the enemy was using as headquarters.

Bundermann also realized that the enemy would be able to squeeze his small unit to death unless he led an counterattack. Thats a tough call when most of the 27 soldiers who would earn the Purple Heart Medal that day had been wounded.

But he knew his soldiers from months of fighting overseas and training at home. They were experts at taking the fight to their enemies.

Soldiers do not surprise me when they run to gun, he said Thursday.

Bundermanns soldiers pushed their enemies back. The move bought the unit time as American airpower roared in to turn the battle. Nearly half of the Taliban attackers were dead by the end.

But there was more to valor than killing that day. The Americans including Bundermann also worked to save lives. During the fighting, Bundermann, with the help of medics and an IV hose, pumped his blood directly into one of his wounded soldiers.

Bundermann has a simple explanation for the valor he showed and the blood he gave. Its a part of being a commander that the Army doesnt write down in field manuals.

I love those guys, he said.

Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx
At an event in Colorado Springs last October, Jennifer Peterson was proud to present the man they all came to hear: Luis Benitez, then director of Colorados Outdoor Recreation Industry Office for three years.

I remember making that comment in my remarks, said Peterson, executive director of the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Field Institute. Like, (it was) really hard to believe it had only been three years, given everything hes accomplished and everything hes done.

Most notably in 2018, he helped lure Outdoor Retailer from Salt Lake City to Denver  the industrys biggest trade shows occurring three times a year. Benitez has been something of a celebrity at the exhibits, taking selfies at constant request.

Since Gov. John Hickenlooper created the Outdoor Recreation Industry Office in 2015 and appointed the alpinist of Everest fame, Benitez has gone on to recruit several companies to the state. Across Colorado, conservation advocates such as Peterson and business people alike have praised Benitez for stirring a reported $62 billion industry while also rallying for public lands.

Now, with his former boss making a presidential run, Benitez is shifting gears, too.

Wednesday, he announced he is leaving the Outdoor Recreation Industry Office  for the biggest company he recruited to Colorado, VF Corp., parent to The North Face, Wrangler and Smartwool, to name a few. VF executives created his position to guide its philanthropic arm.

That might raise eyebrows. It did for Peterson. If Im honest, I was like, Huh. Thats a little fishy.

His blend of government and nonprofit experience, along with his passion for the outdoors and our industry, make him ideally suited for this role overseeing government relations and the VF Foundation, company spokeswoman Anita Graham said in a statement.

It was time for new leadership in the Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, Benitez said. The role has to evolve.

Im still part of the family, he added. The biggest thing for this job was trying to galvanize a community that Im now gonna go join. Thats pretty exciting.

The move may sound a little disjointed, Benitez said. The reality is, we crossed every t and dotted every i.

Within six months of a deal, state law prohibits a public officer from going to work for an employer who contracts with a state agency or any local government involving matters with which he was directly involved during his employment.

VF announced it would move its headquarters from North Carolina to Denver in August. Benitez said he started talking a couple of months ago with the company about the position. We were well clear of anything that might be perceived as a problem, he said.

A state ethics consultant said red flags could be raised if Benitez was offered incentives to get VF a better deal with the state, or if he directly negotiated tax breaks for the company. The agreement was reportedly $27 million in breaks.

Thats GBD, thats not me. I dont have anything to do with that, Benitez said, referring to Global Business Development, the division around the corner and down the hall from his office.

Asked if the Independent Ethics Commission had received a complaint alleging Benitez violated any ethics laws, Executive Director Dino Ioannides said: I cannot confirm or deny the existence of a complaint until commission says the complaint is non-frivolous. If it exists, I cant confirm or deny.

Its a non issue, said David Leinweber. The owner of local fly shop Anglers Covey and member of Benitezs hand-picked steering committee said Benitez did a great job and people noticed.

And when youre a company like VF, you want to hire the best people. Us on the steering committee, wed been thinking that Luis might not be long for us, because someone would come and get him.

Another Benitez fan said she trusts hell serve the public good in his new post. Amy Roberts, executive director of the Boulder-based Outdoor Industry Association, also noted the $1 million that the VF Foundation granted last year to OIAs mission to get kids outside.

I do think the private sector has an important role to play in creating positive societal change, Roberts wrote in an email.

Benitez plans to finish March representing the state. Last month, he chose a deputy director in Nathan Fey, a lifelong Coloradan and longtime river steward.

While Gov. Jared Polis ultimately will appoint the next leader of the Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, Leinweber said he and the committee will recommend names. He said he hopes the successor will carry on the momentum Benitez created.

Peterson, too, hopes they will bring the same passion and energy and focus. Man, the guy was driven. Luis was driven. He had a way of making things happen.
Colorados hospital provider fee does not violate the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, according to a District Court judge, who ruled that legislation passed in 2017 moving the fee into an enterprise fund is legal.

The TABOR Foundation initially sued the state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, then-Treasurer Walker Stapleton and the Colorado Hospital Association in 2015, claiming the hospital provider fee is a tax, not a fee. In his ruling Tuesday, Denver District Judge Ross Buchanan rejected the foundations arguments. The TABOR amendment doesnt define what a tax is, nor does it define fees, Buchanan pointed out.

As the courts have defined it, a tax is a charge levied for general government spending, while a fee is a charge intended to finance a particular government service, Buchanan wrote.

To determine whether something is a tax or a fee, the criteria is the intended purpose. If the statutory language indicates that the primary purpose of the charge is to raise revenues for general governmental spending, the charge is likely a tax, Buchanan wrote, citing existing case law.

On the other hand, if the language states that the charges primary purpose is to finance a particular service, it is likely a fee.

The statutory language of 2009 and 2017 legislation spoke to specific purposes for those funds, and a specific category of entities that would pay the fee (hospitals), making the HPF a fee, he wrote.

Under TABOR, adopted by voters in 1992, tax increases must be approved by voters, and the hospital provider fee was never sent to voters for approval. The fee was set up through legislation in 2009, levying hospitals a charge for every overnight patient stay and for certain outpatient visits. That money was pooled, matched with federal funds under the Affordable Care Act, and redistributed to hospitals, in part to cover health care costs for uninsured and Medicaid patients.

By 2017, the fee was drawing about $600 million per year and pushing the state over its TABOR revenue limits, which could result in a refund to taxpayers. It also would mean a budget cut to hospitals  up to a dozen rural hospitals complained they could not survive such large budget cuts and would be at risk of closing.

To solve the looming crisis, in 2017 a bipartisan group (then House Majority Leader KC Becker of Boulder, Republican Rep. Jon Becker of Fort Morgan, Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman of Denver and Senate President Pro tem Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling) came up with Senate Bill 17-267.
WASHINGTON  Cleaning up the kind of toxic chemicals found in drinking water in Fountain, Colo., and elsewhere would take years and cost billions of dollars, witnesses at a congressional hearing said Wednesday.

A House Oversight and Reform subcommittee on the environment held the hearing to determine whether the Environmental Protection Agency is taking adequate steps to get rid of perfluorinated compounds, like those tied to a firefighting foam used at Peterson Air Force base.

The chemicals have been linked to high cholesterol, decreased fertility, birth defects, liver disease and increased risk for thyroid disease and cancer.

The substances sometimes are known as forever chemicals because of their tendency to take thousands of years to break down. They also are known to stay in the human body for decades after they are ingested.

A recent study by University of Colorado Health Sciences researchers south of Colorado Springs found perfluorinated compounds in the blood of 200 residents as much as 10 times higher than the national norm.

The Environmental Protection Agency has traced the chemicals to nearby Petersen Air Force Base, where they were mixed into a firefighting foam to extinguish jet fuel fires. Afterward, they filtered into Widefield Aquifer, impacting drinking water for Security, Widefield and Fountain.

Although communities using the aquifer are now filtering out the perfluroinated compounds, the chemical remains in the groundwater and soil.

The cleanup ... right now is going to add approximately $2 billion to our existing liability of $27 billion, said Maureen Sullivan, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for environment, during the congressional hearing.

This year, her budget for chemical cleanup is slightly over $1 billion.

She was a key witness at the hearing, where subcommittee chairman Rep. Harley Rouda, D-Calif., said the Defense Department had woefully inadequate funding for the cleanup.

Theres no indication of when the process might actually be complete, Rouda said.

The Defense Department has identified 401 military sites with known or potential releases of perfluorinated compounds, largely from years of using firefighting foam.

The chemicals are largely unregulated by the government and widely used by industry. Their tendency to repel grease and water compelled chemical companies to use them for food packaging, clothing, non-stick pans and furniture.

As many as 10 million Americans might have ingested at least small amounts of the chemicals, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The EPA announced last month that it would develop limits for the chemicals in drinking water. First, the EPA wants to continue studying the problem.

The science to fully understand these chemicals ... is not yet as robust as it needs to be, said David Ross, assistant administrator of the EPAs water office.

Some of the alarms about chemicals arose from a federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry report last year that said the chemicals were harmful at much lower levels than anticipated by the EPA.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, said perfluorinated compounds present one of the most widespread public health crises facing the United States. He added that modifying the nations water treatment facilities to filter the chemicals could cost tens of billions of dollars.

Some states, such as New Mexico, accuse the military of evading the need to control the chemicals while the federal government lacks a clear environmental standard. New Mexico this week sued the Air Force for contamination near two bases in the state.
John Hickenlooper raised more than $1 million for his 2020 presidential campaign in less than 48 hours, his campaign announced Wednesday.

The former Colorado governor is one of four Democratic candidates to hit the $1 million milestone, CBS News reports. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dwarfed them all with a nearly $6 million haul on his first day.

Sixteen Democrats, including Hickenlooper, so far have entered the race officially, The New York Times reports.

Donations to the Hickenlooper campaign came from all 50 states, the campaign reported, adding that it is not accepting corporate PAC money.

The surge of support and enthusiasm for the governor is clear, said Dan Sorenson, Hickenloopers finance chairman. Governor Hickenloopers record of bringing people together and delivering real results on health care, climate and gun reform is resonating across the country.

After almost a year of pondering a run, Hickenlooper made it official with an announcement Monday.

The onetime petroleum-industry geologist turned brewpub owner is pitching himself as a seasoned executive with a progressive record who can repair the damage done to our country. But his bid is considered a long shot, given the star power of the politicians arrayed against him.

His campaign will kick off Thursday with a rally and concert in Denvers Civic Center.

Hickenlooper plans to start the next day a two-day swing through Iowa, which will hold the nations first nominating contest in February 2020.

Sorenson previously was deputy national finance director for the Democratic National Campaign Committee, for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and as the Colorado and New Mexico finance director for Hillary Clinton in 2016. The campaigns deputy finance director is Brendan Koch, who was deputy national finance director for Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, in 2018.

The campaigns fundraising consultants include Ashley Kennedy, Tonya Fulkerson and Sarah Paulos of Fulkerson Kennedy & Co., a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm specializing in fundraising.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Recall petitions are being drafted against two Democratic legislators for their votes on a state bill that adds Colorado to the national popular vote compact.

And a Facebook page has been set up to start a recall of Gov. Jared Polis, though he has yet to sign the bill.

Statements of purpose, the first step before the petition filing, have been submitted to the Secretary of States Office. Targeted are state Sen. Jeff Bridges of Greenwood Village and Rep. Meg Froelich of Englewood, both of whom voted for Senate Bill 42.

The measure would add Colorado to a multistate compact that, given enough participating states with sufficient electoral votes, would direct Colorados nine Electoral College votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the national popular vote.

Eleven states plus Washington, D.C., with a combined 172 Electoral College votes, have signed the compact, which would go live when the compact has 270 electoral votes, the number required to elect the president.

Another 11 states are considering such legislation, but the compact is unlikely to happen before the 2020 presidential election.

Matt Anthony of Englewood filed the first steps toward the recall petition, the Secretary of States Office reports. Once Anthony submits a hard copy of the petition, the secretary of state has seven days to approve it. Contact information for Anthony wasnt available.

For Bridges, the petition will need 19,703 signatures; for Froelich, its 9,587. Both have to be collected with 60 days of the petitions approval. Any legislator can be recalled after the session has gone past five days.

These are the same folks who just lost by historic margins trying to undo the will of the people of Colorado, Bridges said Tuesday. They lost fair and square but hope they can sneak through in a recall and somehow win when no one is looking. It wont work.

This goes against our Colorado values, and their cynicism about our voters will be proven wrong once again. ... Im not intimidated by bullies.

A recall wastes taxpayer money that should go to schools and roads, Bridges added.

Froelich said her focus is on doing the work of House District 3. We have exciting opportunities, and thats where my focus and energy will remain.

Its cynical, she said of the action. I find the work of the legislature challenging and rewarding, and I will keep doing it.

A recall of Polis would require more than 631,000 signatures to get to the ballot. And he cannot be recalled until hes been in office at least six months, advises the Secretary of States Office.

The Facebook page set up to discuss his recall has been around since 2014 and has gone through several iterations, including an apparent effort to recall then-Gov. John Hickenlooper throughout 2017 and 2018.

A petition to require that Senate Bill 42 go to voters in the 2020 general election was filed Feb. 21, the same day the House gave final approval to the bill. The petition proponents  Monument Mayor Don Wilson and Mesa County Commissioner Rose Pugliese  would have to submit more than 124,000 signatures to get that measure on the ballot.
NEW YORK, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationally acclaimed investor rights law firm, is investigating potential securities fraud claims on behalf of shareholders of Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (Bridgepoint or the Company) (NYSE: BPI) resulting from allegations that Bridgepoint and/or its executives may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.



If you purchased Bridgepoint securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options, please visit Bridgepoint Shareholder Investigation or contact Daniel Sadeh toll free at (877) 779-1414 or dsadeh@bernlieb.com .

On March 6, 2019, during aftermarket hours, Bridgepoint disclosed that the Companys previously issued unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 (the Restated Periods), should no longer be relied upon because of errors. Additionally, the Companys earnings and press releases and similar communications to the extent that they relate to our financial statements for the Restated Periods should no longer be relied upon. The Company further disclosed that the Company determined that the process used for recording the revenue for the Full Tuition Grant program portion of our student contracts and the related judgments and estimates were not designed with sufficient precision. As a result, the Company identified errors, relating to revenue, provision for bad debts, accounts receivable and deferred revenue, which resulted in the overstatement of revenue and expenses for the Restated Periods. The errors described above were material to the Restated Periods...

On this news, shares of Bridgepoint fell $3.21 per share, or over 34%, from its previous closing price to close at $6.22 per share on March 7, 2019.

If you purchased Bridgepoint securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options, please visit https://www.bernlieb.com/cases/bridgepoint-education-inc-bpi-lawsuit-class-action-fraud-stock-116/ or contact Daniel Sadeh toll free at (877) 779-1414 or dsadeh@bernlieb.com .

Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of lawsuits and class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journals Plaintiffs Hot List thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for ten consecutive years.

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.  2019 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, (212) 779-1414. The lawyer responsible for this advertisement in the State of Connecticut is Michael S. Bigin. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.
A line formed outside the Maggies Farm marijuana store in Manitou Springs for the first sales of recreational marijuana in El Paso County in this file photo from July 2014.
DENVER  Mom loved, and loved is the right word, our Denver neighborhood dominated by 1930s Arts and Crafts bungalows.

Her 2,500-square-foot brick home, two blocks from sprawling Washington Park, reminded her of the house where she was born on the Texas prairie. Nearly every other house resembled our house, giving the neighborhood a consistent, understated, soothing feel.

Please imagine my mothers outrage when, in 1992, a developer ripped down a bungalow a block from her home and constructed a 7,261-square-foot mansion. On later walks through the neighborhood, mom always stopped for a long and scornful gaze at the invasive monster.

I despise that house, mom said, elongating each word in her West Texas drawl.

I was thinking about mom last month while walking through the old neighborhood, which has a decidedly 2019 feel. Every time I return to look at moms house, theres the startling sight of a new empty lot in the neighborhood. Developers buy a lot for a million, or two, rip down the dwelling and pollute the past with a brand-new mansion.

This is the trend in many Denver neighborhoods. For 16 seasons, I covered the Broncos for The Gazette and for each game drove the same route to Mile High. This season, I turned the corner at Irving and 20th and was certain I had somehow gotten lost. For years, the same modest, century-old homes greeted me on 20th Street. On this September day, a slew of freshly constructed condos performed the greeting.

I was on the right street. From January, when one Broncos season ended, to September, when another season began, 20th street had utterly transformed. The past was, yet again, gone.

This tearing down of the past, Im told, is progress. This tearing down has been the norm in Denver for 30 years.

Is the teardown trend heading our way? Is the past in peril in Colorado Springs?

I ate dinner last week with friends from Wisconsin, and they raved about Colorado Springs. The scenery. The Incline. The weather. (They escaped a few hours before Saturdays snowstorm.)

My friends said throngs of young people in Wisconsin all seek the same thing:

To live in Colorado. Some of the throng will arrive in our city.

The Springs has long served as the somewhat sleepy little sibling of Denver. If you think this is a knock on the Springs, please realize its not. Relaxing is superior to racing.

I believe were nearing the end of that era. The Front Range population explosion is ever more fully headed our way, and this wave will carry a long list of benefits for those fortunate enough to dwell here. Soaring prices for our homes. An expanding arts scene. A more diverse range of restaurants.

But theres peril, too. More traffic. More hassles. More racing. Less relaxation.

Venerable Springs neighborhoods blessed with a consistent feel will be threatened by the same teardowns that transformed my old Denver neighborhood, a transformation that left mom with a serious case of the blues.

Dont get me wrong. Denver was, and is, a great American city. My hometown blazes with energy, with a revived downtown and a light rail system that covers a vast expanse of the metro area.

Rough neighborhoods that seemed doomed to remain forever fallen are thriving (with mind-boggling housing prices.)

Leaders in Denver did much right.

But mistakes were mixed in there, too. Those leaders failed to show enough care. At times, they rampaged into the future with no mind for precious slices of the past.

Im with mom. Tearing down our heritage is a mistake, in Denver or the Springs. Old belongs beside old.
OTTAWA, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Focus Graphite Inc. (FMS: TSX-V; OTCQX: FCSMF; FSE: FKC) (Focus or the Company) has announced today several changes to its Board of Directors. It is with great sadness that Focus announces that Chester Burtt has passed away. On behalf of its Board of Directors, management team and employees, Focus extends its deepest sympathies to Mr. Burtts family and thanks him for his dedication to the Company. His passing represents a great loss for all. Focus further announces that Francis Pomerleau has resigned from the Companys Board of Directors. Focus thanks Mr. Pomerleau for his service and valuable contributions during his tenure as director and wishes him all the best in his current and future endeavors.



Focus is pleased to announce that Robin Dow, HBA, MBA, FCSI has been appointed to its Board of Directors effective March 5, 2019, replacing Mr. Pomerleau. Mr. Dow has more than 35 years experience in financing public resource companies, and has raised over $150 million since he started Dow Group in 1988. Mr. Dows appointment remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Focus Graphite

Focus Graphite Inc. is an advanced exploration and mining company with an objective of producing graphite concentrate at its wholly owned Lac Knife flake graphite deposit located 27 km south of Fermont, Quebec. In a second stage, to meet Quebec stakeholder interests of transformation within the province and to add shareholder value. Focus is evaluating the feasibility of producing value added graphite products including battery-grade spherical graphite.

Focus Graphite is a technology-oriented graphite mining development company with a vision for building long-term, sustainable shareholder value. Focus also holds a significant equity position in graphene applications developer Grafoid Inc.

For more information about Focus Graphite, please visit www.focusgraphite.com .

Contact

Focus Graphite Inc.

Mr. Gary Economo

President and Chief Executive Officer

+1 613-241-4040

geconomo@focusgraphite.com

www.focusgraphite.com

Forward-looking statements

This news release may contain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, including, without limitation, the future results of operations, performance and achievements of the Corporation. All information contained herein that is not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. Except as required by law, the Corporation disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. This news release contains information obtained by the Corporation from third parties and believes such information to be accurate but has not independently verified such information.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biotricity , Inc. (OTCQB: BTCY ), a medical diagnostic and consumer healthcare technology company dedicated to delivering innovative, biometric remote monitoring solutions, today announced that it has achieved significant progress in their University of Calgary-based R & D program for their latest wellness monitoring systems. Clinical data collection has commenced for both its fetal/maternal and ambulatory adult heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring systems.

Dr. David Liepert, QA/QI and Safety Lead and Director for the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine Department of Anesthesia commented, We could not be more excited to participate in developing both these non-invasive medical-grade ambulatory monitors, utilizing the amazing fidelity and mobility of the Bioflux system. We expect both tools to contribute to better outcomes, lower costs and increased patient satisfaction.

Appropriate pre-rehabilitation and post-surgical rehabilitation has been shown to save up to $2,000 per patient and per surgery. Today, 89 percent of laboring patients in North America currently receive electronic fetal monitoring using either lower fidelity and less precise sound-based electrodes or higher fidelity fetal scalp electrodes. Trans-vaginal intrauterine pressure monitoring is used in approximately 15 percent of deliveries. Both electrode monitoring and trans-vaginal intrauterine pressure monitoring are invasive techniques that introduce possible trauma, infection, and patient discomfort.

Real-world ambulatory HRV monitoring will facilitate early risk stratification and more responsive patient management. Improved maternal/fetal prenatal and in-labor monitoring will assist caregivers to better control existing maternal conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and serious complications like pre-eclampsia. HRV monitoring will also facilitate safer and more comfortable antepartum care, making unforeseeable risks more predictable, manageable and potentially preventable. The U of C/Biotricity program will use actual clinical data to guide the development of efficient data processing and effective displays for both ambulatory adult medical and surgical patients and for non-invasive fetal/maternal prenatal and labor monitoring systems.

Biotricity seeks to facilitate the development of future medical devices that are easy to utilize in either the physicians office or the patients home as well as in acute-care settings. These medical-grade wearables are comfortable and small, and can offer precise remote data collection and more responsive care.

About Biotricity Inc.

Biotricity is a modern medical technology company focused on delivering innovative, remote biometric monitoring solutions to the medical and consumer markets, including diagnostic and post-diagnostic solutions for chronic conditions and lifestyle improvement. Biotricitys R&D continues to focus on the preventative healthcare market, with a vision of putting health management into the hands of the individual. The company aims to support the self-management of critical and chronic conditions with the use of innovative solutions to ease the growing burden on the healthcare system. To learn more, visit www.biotricity.com .

Important Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, which involve assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies, and expectations, are generally identifiable by use of the words may, should, would, will, could, scheduled, expect, anticipate, estimate, believe, intend, seek, project, or goal or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding (i) the plans, objectives and goals of management for future operations, including plans, objectives or goals relating to the design, development and commercialization of Bioflux or any of the Companys other proposed products or services, (ii) a projection of income (including income/loss), earnings (including earnings/loss) per share, capital expenditures, dividends, capital structure or other financial items, (iii) the Company's future financial performance, (iv) the regulatory regime in which the Company operates or intends to operate and (v) the assumptions underlying or relating to any statement described in points (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) above. Such forward-looking statements are not meant to predict or guarantee actual results, performance, events or circumstances and may not be realized because they are based upon the Company's current projections, plans, objectives, beliefs, expectations, estimates and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and other influences, many of which the Company has no control over. Actual results and the timing of certain events and circumstances may differ materially from those described by the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. Factors that may influence or contribute to the inaccuracy of the forward-looking statements or cause actual results to differ materially from expected or desired results may include, without limitation, the Company's inability to obtain additional financing, the significant length of time and resources associated with the development of its products and related insufficient cash flows and resulting illiquidity, the Company's inability to expand the Company's business, significant government regulation of medical devices and the healthcare industry, lack of product diversification, existing or increased competition, results of arbitration and litigation, stock volatility and illiquidity, and the Company's failure to implement the Company's business plans or strategies. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in the Company's filings with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release.

Media Contacts

McCoin & Smith Communications Inc.

Chris McCoin,

Chris@mccoinsmith.com , 508-429-5988

Richard Smith,

rick@mccoinsmith.com , 978-433-3304
Icelandic English

The number of passengers on international flights was 208 thousand in February and increased by 9% compared to February last year. The capacity increase was 8% and the load factor was 75.6% compared to 74.3% in February last year. The number of passengers on domestic and regional flights were close to 20 thousand, decreasing by 10% compared to February last year. Flights to Belfast, and Aberdeen stopped mid May 2018, explaining the reduction in the number of passengers. The load factor was 66.0% and increased by 3.4 percentage points comparted to last year. The number of sold block hours in charter flights decreased by 16% between years, due to fewer projects than at the same time last year. Freight increased by 6%. The number of sold room nights at the Companys Hotels was up by 20% from last year. The room utilisation was 79.0% compared to 84.9% in February 2018. The main reason for lower utilisation in our hotels in rural areas.



INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS FEB 19 FEB 18 CHG (%) YTD 19 YTD 18 CHG (%) Number of Passengers 208,252 190,720 9% 434,989 400,118 9% Load Factor 75.6% 74.3% 1.3 ppt 73.6% 73.2% 0.4 ppt Available Seat KM (ASK000,000) 832.4 767.5 8% 1,827.3 1,674.4 9% Revenue Passenger KM (RPK000,000) 629.2 570.0 10% 1,344.8 1,226.0 10% Stage length (KM) 3,047 3,014 1% 3,081 3,048 1% DOMESTIC AND REGIONAL FLIGHTS FEB 19 FEB 18 CHG (%) YTD 19 YTD 18 CHG (%) Number of Passengers 19,560 21,850 -10% 39,129 44,149 -11% Load Factor 66.0% 62.6% 3.4 ppt 61.3% 60.0% 1.2 ppt Available Seat KM (ASK000,000) 9.2 12.5 -27% 19.6 26.5 -26% CHARTER FLIGHTS FEB 19 FEB 18 CHG (%) YTD 19 YTD 18 CHG (%) Fleet Utilisation 90.9% 100.0% -9.1 ppt 91.3% 100.0% -8.7 ppt Sold Block Hours 2,274 2,694 -16% 4,925 5,709 -14% CARGO FEB 19 FEB 18 CHG (%) YTD 19 YTD 18 CHG (%) Freight Tonne KM (FTK000) 9,880 9,337 6% 20,343 19,835 3% HOTELS FEB 19 FEB 18 CHG (%) YTD 19 YTD 18 CHG (%) Available Hotel Room Nights 28,899 24,136 20% 62,317 50,893 22% Sold Hotel Room Nights 22,836 20,503 11% 44,509 39,211 14% Occupancy of Hotel Rooms 79.0% 84.9% -5.9 ppt 71.4% 77.0% -5.6 ppt

For further information please contact:

Bogi Nils Bogason, CFO, Icelandair Group tel: + 354 5050100

Iris Hulda orisdottir, Director Investor Relations, Icelandair Group tel: + 354 5050100
MIAMI, FL, March 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crystal Expedition Cruises today announced the complete roster of far-reaching 2021 itineraries for its luxury expedition yacht Crystal Endeavor. On expedition voyages of 10- to 28-nights, the polar class yacht will explore destinations legendary and unknown, remote and remarkable throughout Antarctica; Japan; the Russian Far East, Aleutian Islands and Alaska; Australia, New Zealand; Indonesia and the Indian Ocean; Norway and the United Kingdom; Western Europe; Canary Islands and Atlantic; and South America. In late February, Crystal announced that Crystal Endeavor will also sail the elusive Northeast Passage in 2021.

The voyages offered aboard Crystal Endeavor go far beyond a typical luxury cruise. Guests will have opportunities for rare wildlife sightings; bold, unexpected experiences and adventures that present themselves along the journeys, guided by our expedition teams; and intimate exposure to less explored destinations and cultures, said Carmen Roig, Crystals senior vice president of marketing and sales. Crystal Endeavor is made for this kind of exploration and is capable of taking travelers farther than they imagined, while they enjoy Crystals signature luxuries and service that welcome them home.

The complete roster of Crystal Endeavors 2021 itineraries and voyage highlights can be viewed here. Every voyage on Crystal Endeavor will focus on the bio-diversity, active adventure and natural and cultural history of the destinations, with expert expedition guides aboard. Some travel to extreme destinations rarely visited  from the Arctic to Antarctic  like New Zealands Sub-Antarctic Islands; Christmas Island; and the Aleutian Islands west of Alaska. Others offer unique access and new perspectives on popular locales, like prime dock positioning in the heart of Bangkok at Khlong Teoi, downtown Ho Chi Minh City and across from the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburghs port of Leith.

A bevy of natural and cultural wonders punctuate the journeys, including dozens of UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Japans Shiretoko National Park, Vietnams Imperial City of Hue, Australias Turquoise Bay and Ningaloo Reef, and New Zealands Fiordland National Park. Numerous opportunities for wildlife observation abound in the Aleutian Isles, Tasmania, Indonesia, the Northeast Passage, Antarctic Peninsula and beyond. The expeditions will offer experiences, climate and terrain that are suited perfectly for the boldest travelers, with opportunities for hiking, biking, kayaking, snorkeling, diving, helicopter and Zodiac tours, and encounters with majestic wildlife, depending on the region.

On board, guest expedition guides, scientists and destination experts will further illuminate the journey with engaging presentations and seminars focusing on the unique nature and history of the region.

At all times, itineraries and ports of call are subject to the Captains discretion based on prevailing weather and ice conditions and government permits. Wildlife sightings and wilderness highlights on any itinerary cannot be guaranteed.

Crystal Endeavors 2021 expeditions will be open for booking on March 13, 2019.

The German-built, 20,000-GRT Crystal Endeavor will accommodate just 200 guests with elegantly casual, expansive public spaces; all-suite, butler-serviced guest rooms; Michelin-inspired dining options including Master Chef Nobu Matsuhisas Umi Uma & Sushi Bar; full-service Crystal Life Salon & Spa and state-of-the-art Fitness Center. Expedition-specific amenities and spaces will enhance guests experience, including designated mud rooms and helicopter lounge. The ship is being built at MV WERFTEN Shipyard in Stralsund, Germany.

About Crystal

Only the world-renowned Crystal Experience offers an unwavering, unparalleled standard of excellence and luxury across four distinct cruising options: Crystal Cruises, the Worlds Most Awarded Luxury Cruise Line; Crystal River Cruises, the Worlds Most Luxurious River Cruise Line; Crystal Yacht Cruises, offering boutique luxury and bold adventure in the worlds most elite harbors; and Crystal Expedition Cruises, taking Crystals acclaimed elegance to the farthest reaches of the world. Crystal has been recognized with top honors in the Conde Nast Traveler Readers Choice Awards for a record 25 years; voted Worlds Best by the readers of Travel + Leisure for 20 years; and won the Best Luxury Cruise Line by Virtuoso for four years (2014, 2015, 2016 & 2018). Crystal is proud to be a platinum partner of the advisors of ASTA.

For more information and Crystal reservations, contact a travel advisor, call 888.799.2437, or visit www.crystalcruises.com. Join the hundreds of thousands who subscribe to the Crystal Insider blog, follow Crystal Cruises Facebook page and @crystalcruises on Twitter and Instagram, and engage in the conversation with #crystalcruises and #WhereLuxuryisPersonal.

###

Attachments
French English

PRIMA, an unprecedented, innovative and evolutive brain-machine interface in ophthalmology

PRIMA, bionic vision solution designed for advanced atrophic dry-AMD

PRIMA clinical performance to date exceeded initial expectations in advanced dry-AMD

Next phase of clinical development and regulatory confirmed

Paris, France. March 7, 2019  7.00 AM CET - Pixium Vision (FR0011950641 - PIX), a bioelectronics company developing innovative bionic vision systems to enable patients who have lost their sight to lead more independent lives, hosted its first Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) meeting on March 5, 2019 in Paris. KOL in retinal disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and prosthetic vision discussed the latest results with Pixium Visions wireless subretinal photovoltaic PRIMA system and its potential and position in the AMD treatment armamentarium.

Professor Frank Holz, University of Bonn (Germany) and President elect EURETINA society, explained the inescapable degeneration process in AMD and reaffirmed the major burden of the disease in a patients daily life and the importance of offering a treatment option to the increasing elderly population. He reiterated the significant unmet medical need and the lack of proven treatment options for the advanced dry form of AMD or Geographic Atrophy (GA) and the need for preventive and restorative solutions.

Professor Holz also welcomed the potential major benefit of PRIMA bionic vision system for treating dry-AMD when photoreceptors have degenerated, with capabilities to restore a useful form of central vision.

Professor Daniel Palanker, Stanford University (USA), inventor of the wireless PRIMA microchip, shared the rationale and mechanism of action of the system designed, from the start, for patients with dry-AMD. This includes a minimally invasive surgical procedure to enable preservation of peripheral visual acuity.

Professor Palanker also described the evolutive potential of PRIMA system functioning as a brain-machine interface for severe vision loss and blindness through:

The on-going improvements of computer vision-processing software, and other intelligent features that can be integrated to further improve the image resolution and overall combined natural and prosthetic visual perception;

The scalable and evolutive profile of PRIMA microchip technology, enabling future significant increases in the number pixels per chip, via more advanced processes.

Professor Jose Sahel, Sorbonne-Universite (France) and University of Pittsburgh (USA) presented the results from PRIMA feasibility study1 in patients with advanced dry-AMD. After reporting that all implanted patients confirmed light perception with PRIMA from atrophic central retina that no longer had any light perception, he focused on the performance of the majority of patients progressing, after training and reeducation, to identify letters and sequences of letters with positive improvement in central visual acuity through Landolt-C measurement. He also pointed out the minimal invasive character of the surgical procedure enabling preservation of residual natural visual acuity, a point of significance in assessing the safety profile, based also on the low level of mostly non-serious and treatable transitory adverse events to date.

Professor Sahel took the opportunity to also comment on the separate ongoing feasibility study being conducted in the US and outlined certain differences from the study in France including differences in the medical management of dry-AMD patients in the US healthcare system. He confirmed ongoing recruitment of patients and expects the first implantations during the first half of 2019.

In concluding the KOL meeting, Pixium Vision reaffirmed its plan next to proceed to the European pivotal clinical study with PRIMA. This pivotal study is expected to begin by the end of the current fiscal year. This trial will be a major milestone in the clinical development of the PRIMA system in advanced atrophic dry-AMD and represents a next step in its path to commercialization.

The presentation and the video recording of the KOL meeting will be available via Pixium Vision website in the coming days.

Contacts

Pixium Vision







Didier Laurens, CFO

investors@pixium-vision.com

+33 1 76 21 47 68 Media Relations

Newcap Media

Annie-Florence Loyer - afloyer@newcap.fr

+33 1 44 71 00 12 / +33 6 88 20 35 59

Lea Jacquin - ljacquin@newcap.fr

+33 1 44 71 94 94 US Investor Relations

ICR

David Clair

david.clair@icrinc.com

+1 646 277 12 66





ABOUT PRIMA

PRIMA is a new generation miniaturized and totally wireless sub-retinal implant. The 2x2 millimeters wide and 30 microns thick photovoltaic chip contains 378 electrodes. Implanted under the retina via a minimally invasive surgical procedure, it acts like an array of tiny solar panel powered by pulsed near infrared light projected from a miniature projector integrated into augmented reality glasses, along with a mini-camera. PRIMA is designed to restore sight in patients blinded by retinal dystrophies  a very significant unmet medical need. The target population includes patients with atrophic dry Age-related Macular Degeneration (dry AMD), and also Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). In addition to a clinical trial with five atrophic dry-AMD patients in France, PRIMA is approved for a similar five-patients study in USA.

ABOUT AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD)

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss and legal blindness in people over the age of 65 in North America and Europe. The global impact is significant with current projected estimates1 for people living with AMD of around 196 million people worldwide and expected rapid growth due to ageing population. Around 1000 new patients are diagnosed everyday just in Europe and USA. There are two forms of advanced AMD: the wet form, where treatment like anti-VEGF injections slows down the disease progression, and the dry form that is most frequent, where there is currently no curative treatment available. More than 5 million patients are afflicted with advanced dry AMD, also referred to as Geographic Atrophy. Patients suffering from this retinal dystrophy gradually lose their central vision (responsible for high visual acuity, e.g. for reading and face recognition) due to loss of photoreceptors.

ABOUT PIXIUM VISION

Pixium Visions mission is to create a world of bionic vision for those who have lost their sight, enabling them to regain partial visual perception and greater autonomy. Pixium Visions bionic vision systems are associated with a surgical intervention and a rehabilitation period. Pixium Vision is in clinical stage with PRIMA, its sub-retinal miniature photovoltaic wireless implant system, designed for patients who have lost their sight due to outer retinal degeneration, initially for atrophic dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD). Pixium Vision collaborates closely with academic and research partners spanning across the prestigious Vision research institutions including Stanford University in California, Institut de la Vision in Paris, Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, Institute of Ocular Microsurgery (IMO) in Barcelona, University hospital in Bonn, and UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. The company is EN ISO 13485 certified and qualifies as Entreprise Innovante by Bpifrance.





For more information, please visit: www.pixium-vision.com ;

And follow us on: @PixiumVision; www.facebook.com/pixiumvision

www.linkedin.com/company/pixium-vision

Disclaimer:

This press release may expressly or implicitly contain forward-looking statements relating to Pixium Vision and its activity. Such statements are related to known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could lead actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements to differ materially from Vision Pixium results, financial conditions, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements.

Pixium Vision provides this press release as of the aforementioned date and does not commit to update forward looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For a description of risks and uncertainties which could lead to discrepancies between actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements and those contained in the forward-looking statements, please refer to Chapter 4 "Risk Factors" of the companys Registration Document filed with the AMF under number R16-033 on April 28, 2016 which can be found on the websites of the AMF - AMF ( www.amf-france.org ) and of Pixium Vision ( www.pixium-vision.com ).

IRIS is a trademark of Pixium-Vision SA







1 Study of Compensation for Blindness with the PRIMA System in Patients with Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration (PRIMA FS) https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03333954

1 Wong, W. L., Su, X., Li, X., Cheung, C. M. G., Klein, R., Cheng, C. Y., & Wong, T. Y. (2014). Global prevalence of age-related macular degeneration and disease burden projection for 2020 and 2040: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 2(2), e106-e116 ( https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(13)70145-1/fulltext )





Attachment
English Estonian

In 2018, Inbank earned its largest profit, 9.3 million euros, and increased its loan and deposit portfolios by almost 1.5 times. Sales volumes increased in all four home markets and the efficiency of the company and credit quality of the bank improved as well.

In 2018, Inbanks consolidated profit increased to 9.3 million euros which was 25.3% more than a year before. The profit of the Estonian unit was 8.2 million, in Latvia 1.4 million, and the profit earned in seven months in Lithuania was 1.3 million euros. In 2018, the loss in Poland was 1.9 million euros. Inbanks balance sheet size increased from 126 million euros to 318 million euros in a year.

Inbanks deposit portfolio increased by 153% in a year and reached 240.2 million euros by the end of the year. The loan portfolio increased by 143%, reaching 225.6 million euros. In Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Inbank sold credit products for 204 million euros, which was 60% more than in 2017.

According to Jan Andresoo, Chairman of the Management Board of Inbank, the last year was best described by increasing business volumes and organizational development. In addition, Inbank was able to fulfil all set objectives in all markets.

Our balance sheet, loan and deposit portfolios, and number of people increased by several times, and at the same time, the credit cost decreased and the cost-income ratio improved, said Andresoo. In Estonia, we grew our credit portfolios market share by three percent to 16 percent among banks and rose to the second place by total consumer loans portfolio, said Andresoo.

A significant part of Inbanks growth was due to an acquisition of UAB Mokilizingas, a Lithuanian consumer financing company. In Lithuania, compared to last year, the sales of credit products increased by 1.9 times to 103.5 million euros, and the credit portfolio increased by over 1.8 times to 89.3 million euros. This means that we were able to keep growing after the transaction, Andresoo said.

In Latvia, the volume of Inbanks loan portfolios increased by 1.4 times to almost 20 million euros, and new sales grew by almost two times to 16.4 million euros.

In Poland, Inbank grew its sales volumes by over two times to 12.2 million euros, compared to last year. In the second half of the year, our Polish branch exceeded our Latvian company in terms of sales volume, and in December, the monthly sales in Poland rose already to more than 2.3 million euros, said Andresoo.

This year, Inbank expects further growth in Lithuanian and Polish markets. Inbank plans to open a bank branch in Lithuania and launch banking products in the market. In Poland, the priority is given to increasing business volumes and achieving break-even. In all markets, we are focusing on developing new attractive financing solutions and supporting our partners via various sales channels, said Andresoo.

In 2018, Inbank sold 10% of shares of Coop Pank AS and 25.9% of shares of Veriff OU. By these transactions, Inbank gained extraordinary profit in the amount of 3.2 million euros.

Key financial figures as of 31 December 2018

Balance sheet total 318 million euros

Total loan portfolio 225.6 million euros

Total deposits 240.2 million euros

Profit 9.3 million euros

Equity 36.4 million euros





Consolidated statement of profit and loss and other comprehensive income

EURt 2018 2017 Interest income 23 633 13 023 Interest expense -3 760 -2 009 Net interest income 19 873 11 014 Fee income 703 551 Fee expense -1 091 -607 Net fee and commission income -388 -56 Net gains from financial assets measured at fair value 1 204 0 Other operating income 666 705 Total net interest, fee and other income 21 355 11 663 Personnel expenses -5 795 -3 997 Marketing expenses -1 592 -929 Administrative expenses -2 814 -1 602 Depreciations, amortisation -445 -215 Total operating expenses -10 646 -6 743 Profit before profit from associates and impairment losses on loans 10 709 4 920 Share of profit from associates 1 986 6 203 Impairment losses on loans and advances -2 686 -3 532 Profit before income tax 10 009 7 591 Income tax -733 -92 Profit for the period 9 276 7 499 Other comprehensive income/loss Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss Currency translation differences

73 -38 Total comprehensive income for the period 9 349 7 461 Net profit attributable to Shareholders of parent company 9 262 7 496 Non-controlling interest 14 3 Profit for the reporting period 9 276 7 499 Total comprehensive income/loss is attributable to Shareholders of parent company 9 335 7 458 Non-controlling interest 14 3 Total comprehensive income for the reporting period 9 349 7 461





Consolidated statement of financial position

EURt 31.12.2018 31.12.2017 Assets Cash in hand 4 4 Due from central banks 64 620 14 767 Due from credit institutions 13 700 8 530 Financial assets at fair value through profit and loss 4 600 0 Loans and advances 225 639 92 895 Investments in associates 97 7 806 Tangible assets 545 279 Intangible assets 7 697 816 Other financial assets 64 61 Other assets 514 459 Deferred tax asset 564 364 Total assets 318 044 125 981 Liabilities Loan from credit institutions 10 429 0 Customer deposits 240 175 95 056 Other financial liabilities 8 776 1 263 Other liabilities 2 654 1 136 Debt securities issued 10 017 0 Subordinated debt securities 9 528 6 480 Total liabilities 281 579 103 935 Equity Share capital 874 782 Share premium 15 053 9 068 Statutory reserve capital 79 79 Other reserves 1 401 1 352 Retained earnings 19 018 10 739 Total equity attributable to the shareholders of parent company 36 425 22 020 Non-controlling interest 40 26 Total equity 36 465 22 046 Total liabilities and equity 318 044 125 981





The Estonian version of the annual report is attached to this announcement. The English version will be published via a stock announcement on 8 March 2019.

Inbank started its banking activities in 2015 and provides financial services through internet bank and partner network. Inbank is active in Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish consumer financing markets. In addition, international deposits are gathered from German and Austrian markets.

Additional information

Jan Andresoo

Inbank AS

Chairman of the Management Board

+372 508 4184

jan.andresoo@inbank.ee

Attachment
CALGARY, Alberta, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FluroTech Ltd. ( TSX-V: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF), (FluroTech or the Company ) is pleased to announce that a favorable Written Opinion (WO) has been received for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Patent Application No. CA2018/051387 (the PCT Application). The PCT Application entered national phase in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the USPTO) on November 2, 2018. In the WO all 58 pending claims as filed were both novel and inventive. Based on this favorable WO, a request for accelerated examination may be filed at the USPTO. A request for accelerated examination of claims 1 to 32 was filed at the USPTO on March 6, 2019. The remaining claims 33 to 58 of the PCT Application have not yet been filed at the USPTO but may be filed in a continuation application at the USPTO.



The Company holds exclusive, irrevocable rights for application of the subject matter of the PCT Application and the US Application for use globally in the hemp and cannabis industry. In addition to the national phase entry in the United States, the PCT Application may be filed in any additional member states of the PCT, which currently includes 152 countries.

The CompleTestTM hemp and cannabis testing device applies technology to improve signal stability in the face of thermal and other fluctuations in the light source, which in turn facilitates improved sensitivity and accuracy, particularly for portable instruments. The technology applied in the CompleTestTM device is claimed in the pending PCT Application and US Application.

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office acting as International Search Authority found no issued patents or published applications describing or making obvious the proprietary technology applied in the CompleTestTM system and claimed in the patent applications. This positive outcome at the international PCT stage, provides access to accelerated examination of all 32 claims filed in the United States. A continuation application including the other 26 claims that were found novel and inventive at the PCT stage and can also be filed in the United States, and accelerated examination will be available for those claims as well, stated Dr. Elmar Prenner, Chief Technology Officer at FluroTech. Additionally, the Company is developing technology for biomarking and is working with our legal counsel to draft and file patent applications protecting that technology, expanding the patent portfolio and supporting FluroTechs commercialization of a second line of business.

Developments on other advanced designs for future generations of the CompleTestTM system to maintain the Company's technical lead are in progress.

FluroTech believes it is emerging as a leader in the cannabis and hemp-house testing space with the development of badly needed technology to improve accuracy and repeatability. We believe with our data that we are meeting that need, commented Danny Dalla-Longa, Chief Executive Officer at FluroTech. Global regulation, rather than prohibition, of cannabis and hemp-flower products, and particularly loosening regulations around CBD products in certain countries, is encouraging FluroTech to leverage its global patent strategy. The export and import of analytical testing devices such as CompleTestTM system are not highly regulated, which increases the global testing market the Company can access. The Company is contemplating licensing opportunities in additional geographical jurisdictions and is in negotiations with international distributors to allow for quick sales expansion of the CompleTestTM system.

About the CompleTest System

The CompleTest system is FluroTechs flagship brand and product line. The CompleTest system is a portable, cost-effective, state-of-the-art hemp and cannabis testing device, able to provide fast, accurate and consistent testing results. It is designed for cultivators, processors, nurseries, researchers, other federal licensees, and even individuals with an interest in optimizing phytocannabinoid yield or consumer safety of cannabis products.

About FluroTech (TSX-V: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF)

FluroTech is a technology and marketing company whose core business is focused on the commercialization of new technologies in the cannabis industry. FluroTechs proprietary spectroscopy-based technology allows for the testing and identification of organic and inorganic compounds contained within biological samples. Using the technology that was developed in part at the University of Calgary, FluroTech has developed a two-part solution comprising an instrument called the CompleTest system and consumable testing kits for the CompleTest system.

To learn more, visit www.FluroTech.com .

Contact Information

Danny Dalla-Longa

Chief Executive Officer

403.680.0644

danny@flurotech.com

FluroTech Ltd.

Alistair Ross Technology Centre

Suite 111, 3553-31 Street NW

Calgary, AB T2L 2K7

info@flurotech.com

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the benefit or account of U.S. persons, absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information generally refers to information about an issuers business, capital, or operations that is prospective in nature, and includes future-oriented financial information about the issuers prospective financial performance or financial position. The forward-looking information in this news release includes disclosure about the filing of a continuation application in respect of certain of the claims, the filing of the PCT application in additional member states of the PCT, the benefits of the WO to the Company, the development of the Companys biomarking and the intellectual property strategy in connection therewith, development for advanced designs for future generations of the Companys technology, the Companys position as a leader in the cannabis testing space, the U.S. and global hemp market opportunity for the CompleTestTM system, FluroTechs ability to expand the addressable market, the ability to develop a hemp testing protocol and the timing of the protocol completion and future licensing opportunities for the Company.

The Company made certain material assumptions, including but not limited to prevailing market conditions and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, the need and demand for hemp testing protocol utilizing the CompleTestTM system in the U.S. and globally, the continuation of the trend of regulating and not prohibiting cannabis and hemp-flower products, including CBD and the success of future intellectual property filings, to develop the forward-looking information in this news release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information in this news release due to certain material risk factors. These risk factors include, but are not limited to, adverse market conditions and regulatory and other risks associated with the cannabis and hemp industry in general, users of the Companys CompleTestTM system and the CompleTest system failing to achieve the anticipated benefits of the product, changes to the anticipated regulatory regime in respect of the cannabis and hemp industry, competition from other developers of similar technology, failure to obtain patent or other intellectual property protection for the company, failure to reach commercialization of the technology and failure for the products anticipated market to develop. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material risk factors and assumptions is not exhaustive.

The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information in this news release, unless it is required to do so under Canadian securities legislation.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release.
BOSTON, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Promoboxx , the only retail engagement platform that connects brands, consumers, and retail partners to deliver the authentic experiences that consumers crave, announced today that it has joined the Running Industry Association (RIA) , a non-profit organization that supports the brick and mortar specialty running retail channel throughout the United States and Canada, as an associate member. Through this partnership, Promoboxx and the RIA will work together to support run specialty retail stores with digital marketing content.



The RIA has added Promoboxx as a benefit to all of its members. The organization is using Promoboxx to provide running and footwear content that is designed to drive in-store sales and online engagement for its retail members. The member benefit includes access to customizable RIA marketing campaigns and access to Promoboxx Industry Content that focuses on educating, entertaining and engaging local consumers.

Using Promoboxx, the RIA gains insight into how and where their content is being shared and can track the levels of retail and consumer engagement with the campaigns they create in the platform. The campaigns they are creating are inspirational, educational, and running focused, with the intention of driving shoppers into local stores, where they will provide a one of a kind authentic experience.



Promoboxx is an unbelievable asset for run specialty retailers looking to drive local in-store traffic, and grow their digital presence, said Terry Schalow, Executive Director at RIA. We are excited for the opportunity to work together to provide independently owned run specialty retailers with digital marketing content.

The Running Industry Association understands the value of the authentic retail experience that only a run specialty retailer can provide, said Ben Carcio, Co-Founder and CMO at Promoboxx. This partnership will help these stores scale their digital presence while building trust with their communities.

Promoboxx partners with over 90 brands to transform the way retailers and brands market together at the local level. By activating independent, specialty retailers with localized content and campaigns, Promoboxx creates thousands of local consumer touchpoints with a single campaign.

Run specialty retailers who want to sign up for RIA content through Promoboxx should contact support@promoboxx.com

Footwear brands looking to provide similar support to their retailers can learn more at www.promoboxx.com or request a demo.

About the Running Industry Association

The Running Industry Association (RIA) is a non-profit organization that supports brick and mortar specialty running retail throughout the United States and Canada. The organization provides a forum to achieve excellence and increase sales through education, communication, research, advocacy and member discount programs. For more information visit www.RunningIndustry.org .
Adds Entrepreneurial and Sales and Marketing Expertise

Syracuse, IN, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Znergy, Inc. (OTC: ZNRG ) (the Company) a leading provider of new LED lighting and turnkey LED lighting conversions for businesses, is pleased to announce the addition of Jerry Horowitz to the Board of Directors. Jerry Horowitz replaces Nicole Strothman.

Jerry Horowitz joined the family business, Morris Distributing in the early 1960s. Jerry soon moved from Binghamton, NY to Syracuse, NY and established a subsidiary called Morris Electronics. Jerry was very successful in sales of the many types and brands of electronics, such as stereos, speakers, radios, video games, etc. The business grew over the years to boast revenue of over $100 million. The business was successfully sold in 1987 so Jerry could pursue other avenues.

In 1988 Jerry founded Profit Motivators, Inc., a sales and marketing organization made up of professionals who have earned a reputation for producing winning results. Jerry and his brother/Partner, Richard bring over 35 years of marketing experience and success. Jerrys expertise in the retail/wholesale trade covers all markets in the United States. Since his contacts are key decision-makers from corporate headquarters to operational store level, he has built a sales distribution network that gives high exposure to the products they market. Jerry has established hundreds of long-term business relationships that are second to none. Profit Motivators Inc. is located in Syracuse, NY, and a Florida office opened in 1994.

Jerry is spending a considerable amount of his time working on large Znergy accounts that require lighting conversion. Jerry has an independent sales agreement with Znergy, Inc.

Znergy Chairman Rick Mikles, commented, We are very fortunate to have someone on our team with Jerrys successful background and years of experience. Jerry will provide tremendous benefits to the board and business as a whole.

About Znergy, Inc.

Znergy, Inc. (OTC: ZNRG ) is a provider of energy efficient lighting products, lighting controls and energy management solutions. Management is executing a growth strategy through developing large regional and national accounts, rolling out sales and installation teams across the United States. Our solutions enable customers to reduce energy consumption, lower maintenance costs and realize environmental benefits. Znergy is headquartered in Syracuse, Indiana. For more information, see our web sites at www.znergyworld.com .

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to the Companys future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Investors should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Companys control which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Companys current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could impact the Company and the forward-looking statements contained herein are included in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.
CALGARY, Alberta, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parkland Fuel Corporation (Parkland, the Company) (TSX:PKI) will host an Investor Day presentation on April 3, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario. The Investor Day presentation will be webcast beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern Time (7 a.m. Mountain Time), and will be available using the following link:



https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1939128/F208F2F5CA75B5006B4B051A8BB0DF9A



Please connect and log in approximately 10 minutes before the beginning of the presentation. The webcast will be available for replay two hours after the conference call ends at the link above. It will remain available for one year and will also be posted to www.parkland.ca.



For analysts and investors interested in attending in person, or if you require additional information, please contact Melanie Forsyth at Melanie.Forsyth@parkland.ca.

About Parkland Fuel Corporation

Parkland is Canada and the Caribbeans largest, and one of Americas fastest growing, independent suppliers and marketers of fuel and petroleum products and a leading convenience store operator. Parkland services customers in 25 countries through three channels: Retail, Commercial and Wholesale. Parkland optimizes its fuel supply across these three channels by operating and leveraging a growing portfolio of supply relationships and storage infrastructure. Parkland provides trusted and locally relevant fuel brands and convenience store offerings in the communities it serves.

Parkland creates value for shareholders by focusing on its proven strategy of growing organically, realizing a supply advantage and acquiring prudently and integrating successfully. At the core of our strategy are our people, as well as our values of safety, integrity, community and respect, which are embraced across our organization.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CROP INFRASTRUCTURE CORP. (CSE: CROP) (OTC: CRXPF) (Frankfurt: 2FR) announced today it has entered into an agreement with MYM Nutraceuticals Inc., (CSE: MYM) (OTCBB: MYMMF) (MYM) to partner with CROPs subsidiary, Elite Ventures Group LLC., on 120 acres of CBD-rich hemp in Nevada, USA.



Under the agreement, MYM will fund Elite with $500,000 USD in exchange for the rights to 50% of CBD rich hemp grown on a 120 acre parcel of land in Nevada. In consideration for the investment, Elite will provide all the necessary capital and consumable supplies, plant, grow and harvest the hemp. If requested, Elite will also arrange for the processing and sale of the biomass at no less favourable terms that those found in the Elite supply agreements.

Based on Elites previous success in cultivating 120 acres of similarly situated land in August 2018, the estimated production of hemp from the MYM parcel of land is 120,000 pounds per harvest with a CBD level of 10%-19%. This represents potential revenue of over $26 million, of which MYM is entitled to 50% less processing and sales fees.

CROP CEO, Michael Yorke, stated: This is very significant partnership arrangement with Vancouver-based MYM Nutraceuticals which has operations in three countries and will bring additional exposure to our organic hemp products.

About CROP

Crop is publicly listed company trading under symbol CROP.CSE. The company is focused on cannabis branding and real estate assets. CROPs portfolio of projects includes cultivation properties in California, two in Washington State, a 1,000-acre Nevada cannabis farm, 2,115 acres of Hemp CBD farms, and a growing portfolio of common share equity in upcoming listings within the cannabis space. CROP has developed a portfolio of assets including Canna Drink, a cannabis infused functional beverage line and 16 Cannabis brands.

About MYM

MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. is an innovative company focused on the global growth of Cannabis and hemp. To ensure a strong presence and growth potential within the industry, MYM is actively looking to acquire complementary businesses and assets in the technology, nutraceuticals and CBD sectors. MYM shares trade in Canada, Germany and the USA under the following symbols: (CSE:MYM) (OTC:MYMMF) (FRA:0MY) (DEU:0MY) (MUN:0MY) (STU:0MY).

Company Contact

Michael Yorke  CEO and Director

E-mail: info@cropcorp.com

Website: www.cropcorp.com

Phone: (604) 484-4206

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections about future events and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In addition, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Although Congress has prohibited the US Justice Department from spending federal funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws, this prohibition must be renewed each year to remain in effect. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as may, should, could, intend, estimate, plan, anticipate, expect, believe or continue, or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the expected returns from the California Project; the technological effects of California Project; the intention to expand its portfolio; and execute on its business plan. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding the regulatory and legal framework regarding the cannabis industry in general among all levels of government and zoning; risks associated with applicable securities laws and stock exchange rules relating to the cannabis industry; risks associated with maintaining its interests in its various assets; the ability of the Company to finance operations and execute its business plan and other factors beyond the control of the Company. Such forward-looking statements should therefore be construed in light of such factors, and the Company is not under any obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release.
Freehold, NJ, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- MEDIFIRST SOLUTIONS, INC. (OTC: MFST) (the Company or Medifirst), a provider of innovative laser technology with its FDA 510(k) cleared Infrared Time Machine TTML-8102000 Laser Thermal Therapeutic Device and a provider of Specialty Pharmacy Drug Consulting Services and Distributor of Dr. Gupta Pharma and USA Pharma CBD, is pleased to announce a company update for each division.



Medical Devices

Distribution

As previously announced, Medifirst has been working with Antah HealthCare Group to introduce and test the FDA cleared therapeutic Time Machine Infrared Laser as a drug-free and all natural treatment for pain and inflammation. Antah HealthCare Group is one of the largest Malaysian owned healthcare marketing and distribution companies in Malaysia. Commented Medifirst President, Bruce J. Schoengood, We are very pleased to announce that after successfully testing and purchasing the Time Machine Laser, Antah has agreed to become a distributor for Medifirst. A definitive agreement is being negotiated and formalized.

Regarding further international distribution, Medifirst is pleased to announce it is in the final stages of negotiation with a medical distribution company for distribution rights for its Infrared Laser for Latin America. Recent market research forecast strong growth in Latin Americas healthcare market, particularly when it comes to medical equipment and device sales. Brazil and Mexico and smaller markets like Chile, Peru, Guatemala and Costa Rica should become increasingly important players as well. Additionally, one of the major trends projected is a growing customer base for private medical services. Industry reports show that the middle class is complementing their public health coverage with a private option, so much so in fact that Latin Americas health insurance companies have the most rapid level of growth in the world, with 30% growth each year projected through 2025. Commented Schoengood, Considering its ease-of-use and affordability, we believe that our FDA cleared laser is a perfect fit for this growing market and we are excited to be introducing our laser to offer a new solution for people suffering from chronic and acute pain.

Distribution Affiliates

In further expanding the laser distribution, Medifirst has entered final negotiations with an affiliate healthcare company that has cutting edge healthcare products that presents a natural synergy with the Medifirst laser devices. The potential agreement would be part of a strategy to leverage each companys distribution and marketing network to the benefit of each company. Stated Schoengood, This opportunity allows both companies to expand their product lines and therefore expand their brands and products, and increase market awareness with the goal to create additional revenue streams.

Although no assurance of a final agreement for these distribution deals can be made now, Medifirst is very pleased with the progress made, and anticipates further updates for both distribution agreements in the upcoming days or weeks.

TMJ and Physical Therapy

Medifirst has identified both Oral Surgeons/TMJ and Physical Therapy as two sectors to target in which, we believe the Time Machine Infrared Laser can be most effective. TMJ (temporomandibular joint and muscle) disorder is a medical condition which causes dysfunction and pain in the jaw joint and the muscles that control jaw movement. Some of the major symptoms of this disorder are aching facial pain, tenderness or pain in jaws, pain while chewing, etc. After 1 to 3 treatments, many patients have seen very positive effects in reducing pain and inflammation for this condition.

The U.S. outpatient rehabilitation/physical therapy market is estimated to be a $30 billion industry with a projected annual growth rate of five percent or higher. Given the aging and active U.S. population, the demographics favor a sustained growth in patients seeking or requiring rehabilitation services. Also, increasing numbers of Americans who engage in fitness regimens, coupled with increasing numbers of weekend warrior athletes, is driving increased demand for physical therapy and rehabilitation treatments across the U.S. We believe, the laser can be an extremely effective treatment tool for physical therapists who seek to reduce inflammation and pain affecting many of their patients. One 8 to 10-minute laser treatment does not put any additional burden on the Physical Therapist, since patients typically spend up to 90 minutes per session.

Home Use

With millions of people suffering from everyday pain, the Company considers home use a game changer if the laser can be proven safe and FDA cleared for home use. Working cooperatively with affiliate companies, Medifirst is expanding its scope to initiate the possibility of applying for FDA clearance for home use for its Time Machine Infrared Laser. Medifirst is pleased to announce that an IRB study for the laser for safety has been approved for home use which would have to be successfully completed in advance of a FDA submission. Additionally, working with an affiliate company, a $3,000,000 government grant to help facilitate a study for the Time Machine Laser has been submitted, although currently not approved or funded. Stated Schoengood, FDA clearance for home would potentially be one of the biggest markets we can target. We could help people suffering from pain and provide a treatment in the convenience of their home. Many people are not physically able to travel several times a week to a doctor and it can be a financial burden as well. Medifirst anticipates further updates and details regarding this study in the upcoming weeks and months.

Infrared laser technology has historically shown to be effective for a wide array of conditions. Medifirst will also continue to explore and expand the wide range of conditions for which its Infrared Laser can safely and effectively be used. This expansion may involve new studies and FDA submissions that we would announce at the applicable times.

Aesthetic Green 532nm Time Machine Laser

The Medifirst 532nm Green Laser is designed for anti-aging and the aesthetics market. It is IRB approved and currently scheduled for FDA for 510(k) submission in 2019. We would announce the submission, which is subject to change, at the time of submission.

The Time Machine Aesthetic Program was created to strip away years of aging. Treatments include sun and age spots, wrinkles, acne, hyperpigmentation, scars, skin tightening, and stretch marks. The treatments are non-invasive with no redness or swelling and no downtime for the patients. Each patient gets a customized treatment program designed to meet their specific goals and expectations.

According to Global Industry Analysts Inc., the global market for aesthetic medical laser systems are forecast to reach US $10 billion by 2020, driven by the populations shift towards minimally invasive procedures, and growing awareness over the safety of laser-based procedures.

USA Pharma CBD

Medifirst is pleased to announce that it plans to begin stocking CBD inventory for the USA Pharma CBD for consumers and the Dr. Gupta Pharma line of premium CBD for physicians. The CBD will be sold in 30ml tincture bottles and will have various strengths. The consumer line will be marketed under the Medifirst CBD brand, USA Pharma CBD and the high strength CBD will be sold to healthcare professionals through the Gupta CBD line. In addition, Dr. Gupta has completed his flagship websites to offer medical guidance for people seeking to use CBD.

https://cbdprov.cbdhealthcard.com/home

This website is CBD portal for doctor education on CBD. It will include patient referrals as well.

http://www.cbdhealthcard.com

This website is designed to provide a CBD Health Card to all patients who use CBD. The website will both educate the consumer and to connect them with physicians for medical guidance.

Medifirst recently announced that it has launched USA Pharma, Inc., its division for CBD distribution, sales and products and that it completed an agreement with Dr. Gupta Pharma LLC to distribute a line of premium CBD oils. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, not related to Dr. Gupta of CNN, is a Harvard-trained physician who specializes in the treatment of pain, has significant experience using CBD for treating pain. As the President of the American Pain Association, Dr. Gupta believes that CBD, used under the guidance of a physician, can play a significant role in reducing pain and helping to curb the opioid epidemic. Additionally, he believes CBD can play a major role in overall health and wellness but, he concedes, CBD remains underutilized as there is a substantial lack of education and stigma from public and healthcare providers with regards to the benefits of CBD.

Concierge Concepts Rx. CCRX

CCRX, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medifirst, is pleased to announce that it has completed negotiations and expects to enter into a definitive agreement with a local SP (Specialty Pharmacy) to become contracted with them as a partner pharmacy. The SP is licensed currently in 37 states but only markets in NJ. As part of the final agreement, CCRX would take over marketing to physicians in all other states except NJ. CCRX will do all the billing as well as collections for every referral that occurs outside of NJ. Upon completion of a definitive agreement, which is not assured at this time, Medifirst will make the appropriate announcement.

CCRX is dedicated to expanding retail pharmacy into the emerging Specialty Pharmacy market and opening revenue streams to promote market competitiveness and profitability. Expertise includes: Specialty and infusion pharmacy consultants, billing expertise for Specialty Pharmacy products, third party billing provider and services, authorization analysis, experts with 60 years of combined specialty pharmacy and infusion therapy management. Industry analysts projects the total pharmaceutical industry to exceed $483 billion in 2020, with specialty pharmaceuticals making up 44% of the revenue. If these projections hold true, specialty drugs will have increased their revenues by over 5X from 20102020, growing from just 15% of the market to nearly half in that decade.

About the Time Machine Laser

The Time Machine Laser is the only all-in-one, affordable, FDA cleared, Infrared, 2000mW power, small, hand-held portable laser marketed for pain relief in the U.S. The Time Machine Laser, which has been extensively tested and approved by Intertek for safety and electrical standards, has the power and frequency often found in large and expensive stationary units and at a fraction of the cost. Medifirst Solutions, Inc., in response to its Premarket Notification 510(k) submission for The Time Machine Series Laser, received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its infrared Time Machine TTML-8102000 Laser Thermal Therapeutic Device. The Laser is intended for use in temporary relief of minor muscle and joint pain, stiffness, minor arthritis pain, muscle spasm, temporary increase in local blood circulation and temporary relaxation of muscles by means of topical elevated tissue temperature from infrared spectral emissions. Visit www.medifirstsolutions.com for more information. Follow on Twitter @Medi_First and for Facebook visit Medifirst Solutions.

Forward-Looking Statements:

The statements in this press release that relate to the companys expectations about the future impact on the company's results from new products in development are forward-looking statements, and may involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. Such risks and uncertainties are described in greater detail in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Since the information in this press release may contain statements that involve risk and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the company's actual results may differ materially from expected results. We make no commitment to disclose any subsequent revisions to forward-looking statements. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity.
44% of adults surveyed globally admit their sleep has worsened in the last five years

8 in 10 adults worldwide want to improve the quality of their sleep, but the majority (60%) have not sought help from a medical professional

Amsterdam, the Netherlands  Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced the findings from its annual global sleep survey in a report, The Global Pursuit of Better Sleep Health. The survey, executed each year in recognition of World Sleep Day (March 15), surveyed adults in 12 countries to capture attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors around sleep. Results showed that while awareness of sleeps impact on overall health is on the rise, for many across the globe, achieving quality sleep health remains elusive.

Despite 77% of surveyed adults recognizing that sleep has an impact on health, 62% admitted they sleep only somewhat well and 44% stated that their sleep has worsened in the past five years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep problems [1] and poor sleep health resulting in sleep deprivation, which has a high correlation to depression, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, neurocognitive disease, and even cancer [2].

The survey, executed by KJT Group on behalf of Philips, interviewed 11,006 respondents in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. The findings showed that most respondents would rather consult the Internet than a physician when it comes to sleep-related issues. Eight in 10 global adults want to improve the quality of their sleep, but the majority (60%) have not sought help from a medical professional. When struggling with sleep issues, those surveyed said theyre also most likely to turn to online information sources for their sleep concerns. Even more concerning, 65% of those who reported having sleep apnea have either never used or are no longer using sleep apnea therapy to treat their disease.

This data suggests that while people are waking up to the reality that sleep is fundamentally important, for most people, achieving quality sleep is still out of reach, said Mark Aloia, PhD, Global Lead for Behavior Change, Sleep & Respiratory Care at Philips. If we want to take sleep seriously and address the social and emotional aspects of poor sleep, we must begin to demonstrate that we can address these problems in both easy and meaningful ways that are supported by strong clinical science. Part of what were working towards at Philips is evolving our offering of clinically-validated solutions with a hope of addressing 80% of sleep issues across the globe in the near future. The hope is that people who have struggled with varieties of sleep issues for so long will have options available to them to sleep and live better.

The survey also found that 76% of adults surveyed globally experience at least one listed condition that impacts their sleep, with insomnia (37%) and snoring (29%) being the most common, an increase from the 2018 survey which showed 26% reporting insomnia, and 21% reporting snoring, respectively. With so many potential factors impacting a good nights rest, Philips aims to use this data to help people across the globe understand not only the value of sleep, but how to start improving their sleep habits.

For more insight from this years survey, please visit please click here . To view additional findings from this year or last years global survey, visit: Philips.com/WorldSleepDay .

Philips is deeply rooted in its commitment to developing clinically-proven solutions that help people take control of their sleep health. Philips aims to provide solutions that meet the growing and evolving needs of consumers and healthcare professionals alike, most recently with its expansion of the SmartSleep suite of solutions and its surpassing of ten million DreamWear masks and cushions sold worldwide . For more information on Philips advanced solutions for sleep and respiratory care, follow @PhilipsSleepWellness , @PhilipsResp or visit www.Philips.com/SmartSleep.

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_us.html

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19961/

For further information, please contact:

Kathy OReilly

Philips Group Press Office

Mobile: +1 978-221-8919

E-mail: kathy.oreilly@philips.com

Meredith Amoroso

Philips Sleep and Respiratory Care

Mobile: +1 724-584-8991

E-mail: meredith.amoroso@philips.com

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2018 sales of EUR 18.1 billion and employs approximately 77,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter .

About the Survey

This survey was conducted online by KJT Group on behalf of Philips from January 9  January 28, 2019 among 11,006 adults ages 18 and older in 12 countries (Australia: n=750; Brazil: n=1,001; Canada: n=750: China, n=1,001: France: n=1,000; Germany: n=1,003; India: n=1,000; Japan: n=1,000; Netherlands: n=750; Singapore: 750; South Korea: n=1,000 and the U.S.: n=1,000). The survey was web-based and self-administered in the primary language(s) of each country. These were non-probability samples and thus a margin of error cannot be accurately estimated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Meredith Amoroso at meredith.amoroso@philips.com .

Attachments
English Danish

Company announcement 5/2019

Sborg/Copenhagen, March 7, 2019

Resolutions from the annual general meeting of NNIT A/S

Today, NNIT A/S held its annual general meeting, at which the following were adopted:

Financial year 2018 and 2019

The Company's audited annual report 2018 was adopted.

Distribution of profit according to the adopted annual report 2018 was adopted. The dividend will be DKK 2.60 per share of a nominal value of DKK 10.

The remuneration of the Board of Directors for 2019 was adopted.

The Company's revised Remuneration Policy was adopted.

Elections

Re-election of Carsten Dilling as Chairman of the Board of Directors and re-election of Peter Haahr as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Re-election of Anne Broeng, Caroline Serfass, Christian Kanstrup and Eivind Kolding as members of the Board of Directors.

Re-appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab as the Company's auditor.

Shares and capital

Authorization to the Board of Directors to in the period until the annual general meeting in 2020 approve the acquisition of treasury shares with a total nominal value of up to 10% of the share capital, subject to the Companys holding of treasury share not exceeding 10% of the share capital.

Composition of the Board of Directors and committees

After the annual general meeting, the elected Board of Directors held a Board meeting to appoint members of its Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee.

The Board decided that the Board of Directors, Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee shall be composed as follows:

Carsten Dilling (Chairman of the Board of Directors and member of the Remuneration Committee)

Peter Haahr (Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors and member of the Remuneration Committee)

Anne Broeng (member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee)

Christian Kanstrup (member of the Board of Directors and member of the Audit Committee)

Eivind Kolding (member of the Board of Directors, member of the Audit Committee and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee)

Caroline Serfass (member of the Board)

Anders Vidstrup (employee representative)

Brankica Markovic (employee representative)

Trine Io Bjerregaard (employee representative)

Contact for further information

Investor relations:

Klaus Hosbond Skovrup

Head of Investor Relations:

+45 3079 5355

ksko@nnit.com

Media contacts:

Helga Heyn

NNIT Communications

Tel: +45 3077 8141

hhey@nnit.com

About NNIT

NNIT A/S is one of Denmarks leading IT service providers and consultancies. NNIT A/S offers a wide range of IT services and solutions to its customers, primarily in the life sciences sector in Denmark and internationally and to customers in the public, enterprise and finance sectors in Denmark. As of December 31, 2018 NNIT A/S had 3,214 employees. NNIT has approximately 400 clients of which around 150 are located outside Denmark. Some 20% are international life sciences clients (December, 2018).

For more information please visit www.nnit.com

Attachment
Fort Lauderdale, FL, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- MediXall Group Inc. , (OTCQB: MDXL), division of MediXall.com, a technology and innovation-driven organization focused on transforming the patient-provider experience, is pleased to announce today the companys expansion into the eye care arena with the appointment of Dr. Howard J. Braverman to the MediXall Advisory Board.



Dr. Braverman s distinguished career of more than 40 years in the eye care industry includes practicing optometry in Florida for more than 28 years, as well as serving as the President of the American Optometric Association. Most notably, he was the National Vision Director for Humanas Employer Group Segment. Dr. Braverman will provide guidance and support on strategic initiatives, as well as homing in on the patient-provider experience, as he has years of industry experience working directly with patients.

Patients today expect seamless and personalized experiences when it comes to their healthcare, which is why MediXall developed a new tool for physicians to engage their patients with the level of price transparency and digital convenience that they have come to expect in every other aspect of their lives. With Bravermans direct patient-provider experience, he will guide MediXall on optimizing the new MediXall Patient Experience, so that it integrates patient relationship management/commerce with digital marketing solutions to help grow their practice, improve office efficiency, and optimize appointment capacity.

Dr. Braverman is well-known and respected throughout the healthcare industry and is an outstanding business person with strategic vision and excellent execution skills, said Michael Swartz, President of MediXall. We're fortunate to have Dr. Braverman on our advisory board to assist with the critical areas of identifying and pursuing key strategies to help facilitate MediXalls roll-out into the Vision space. His impressive 40-year career in optometry, coupled with his experience serving in various leadership capacities within the healthcare industry, will be a valuable resource for our team as we continue to expand our services and streamline efficiency with our platform overall.

Dr. Bravermans previous experience included serving as President of The Vision Division of CompBenefits, Inc. He was also the Chief Executive Officer of Ultimate Optical, a wholesale prescription optical laboratory that was part of CompBenefits family of companies.

Dr. Braverman has also served in a leadership capacity as part of various board and professional organizations. Most notably, he was the President of the American Optometric Association from 2000 2001. He was also President of the Southern Council of Optometrists in 1993 and named Optometrist of the South in 1998. In addition, he served as the Chairman of the Florida State Board of Optometry, has been a member of the Florida Optometric Association, and has served as a trustee of Nova Southeastern University. He is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the Health Professions of Nova Southeastern University.

As a leader in the eye care profession, I am looking forward to working with the MediXall Leadership teams technology-driven innovations in the patient/ provider experience. MediXalls digital innovations will be an invaluable aid to help optometrists improve their office efficiency, which in turn allows optometrists to improve the quality of care for patients that they serve every single day, said Dr. Howard Braverman.

As a member of the MediXall advisory board, Dr. Braverman will work closely with the MediXall leadership team to consult on business strategy and sales, marketing, and product plans, as well as identify additional market opportunities and new strategic partnerships for the company. Furthermore, he will provide strategic and tactical insights on finding new ways to help address patients vision wellness needs, drive more patients to providers, improve provider growth and profitability, and help develop an eye care marketing campaign.

For more information, please visit www.medixall.com or call (954) 908-3481.

About MediXall.com: Medixall.com is a new generation healthcare marketplace platform designed to address the growing need of self-pay and high deductible consumers for greater transparency and price competition in their healthcare costs. The MediXall.com platform makes scheduling an appointment for specific healthcare services as simple and easy as booking a flight and hotel. The online experience was designed to mirror e-commerce and online booking sites found in other markets, with it centered on providing consumers with ratings/reviews, transparent pricing, and comparative shopping. With MediXall.com, consumers can search and compare most medical, dental and wellness services based on all-in cash price, location/distance, ratings, & availability, and select the best value according to their personal preferences. In this era of rapidly increasing deductibles and healthcare costs, the cloud-based platform is designed to be transformational and disruptive to traditional methods of medical care and provisioning of medical services to the consumer. For more information, please visit www.medixall.com or call (954) 908-3481.

About MediXall Group, Inc. : MediXall Group is a technology and innovation-driven organization purposefully designed and structured to bring effective change to the U.S. healthcare industry that is actively trading on the OTCQB under the symbol MDXL. The Company believes its revolutionary approach will help drive much-needed change that it envisions is needed in the current healthcare system. The mission of the MediXall Group is to revolutionize the medical industry by improving communication; providing better technology and support services; and enabling more efficient, cost-effective healthcare for the consumer. By approaching the healthcare ecosystem as a whole, MediXall creates, invests and incubates companies that embody its mission statement. For more information, please visit www.medixallgroup.com or call (954) 908-3481.

Safe Harbor Statement: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the Companys current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. Specifically, the Companys ability to raise additional capital, execute its business plan and strategy, sustain or increase gross margins, achieve profitability and build shareholder value are forward-looking statements. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the Companys business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.




TORONTO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Data On Tap Inc., the company behind Canadas newest all-digital wireless provider, dotmobile, announces opening of Toronto office and two strategic partnerships after securing initial seed financing round.



Initial capital will be used to establish dotmobile headquarters in Toronto next month and to launch the application in beta by this fall. In addition, Data On Tap Inc. announces strategic partnerships with Apptium Technologies, headquartered outside of Washington, D.C., and iTo, headquartered in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Less than thirty days after our brand concept launch, we are happy to announce that weve secured our initial seed investment. Weve reached our funding target a full month earlier than planned and we now have a clear path to launch dotmobiles application in beta by this fall, and full wireless service in 2020. Support from the Canadian government through the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) directive and presumptive CRTC policy changes have cleared a path for tiny telecoms, companies like us. We are excited to showcase our unique vision to Canadians and solicit their input a full year ahead of our launch in 2020 at our website, says Algis Akstinas, CEO of dotmobile.

Apptiums development centres in Toronto, Canada; Herndon, Virginia, USA; and Chennai, India will build the modern backend of dotmobile, powering their vision of an all-digital, member-powered experience.

We work with big telecoms in Canada, U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific, so weve seen the complexity behind older legacy systems. Its exciting to think of what can be built if we start with digital-only right from the beginning. Our platform is the perfect tool for MVNOs like dotmobile who want to build upon the most open, secure and forward-thinking architecture that exists. says Rick Kapani, CEO of Apptium Technologies.

iTos development centre in Kaunas, Lithuania will build the dotmobile application front-end, working closely with the digital experience designers at dotmobile HQ.

We are obsessed with building great experiences for telecommunication companies and work with them in some of the most competitive markets in the world. We joined dotmobile as an innovation partner at the end of last year when we were tasked with building their website and implement a member onboarding process that is private by design and simpler than any wireless service provider in Canada. The best digital experiences are those that are purposefully built. says Paulius Lazauskas, CEO of iTo.

Todays announcements are illustrative of our innovation partner strategy: sharing a common vision, collaborating on a transparent roadmap and creating value for everyone. In addition to that, each partner has the opportunity to showcase telcotech innovations without being bound by the rigidity of legacy systems. With four specialized technology delivery centers around the world we will have around the clock development and innovation. says Alex Bauman, CXO of dotmobile.

Data on Tap Inc. is building dotmobile, Canadas newest wireless provider, a smart tiny telecom with a simple goal - to make wireless more affordable and awesome. Canadians now have a chance to contribute to the development of innovative, affordable wireless service by backing tiny telecoms. Data On Tap, dotmobile, dot. and the dot. logo are trademarks of Data On Tap Inc.

Media inquiries: media@dotmobile.app
CLEARWATER, Fla., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Florida chapter at 101 N. Fort Harrison Avenue in downtown Clearwater welcomes all to their free, weekly Tuesday evening workshops. Topics include: How to get rid of Toxic People; How to Be Better Organized; How to Achieve Your Goals; and How to Be a Better Parent. The seminars start at 7:30 pm and last about an hour. Complimentary refreshments are served.



The course I did not only helped me to help myself, but also helped me to help others, said one person who studied The Cause of Suppression a lesson in ridding oneself of toxic people. In order to complete the practical assignments, I had to study other people in my environment, to identify different types of personalities and acts of suppression. The knowledge I have gained from this course is unlike any other. Now I feel that I can achieve anything, because nobody can hold me back!

Glendy Goodsell, the Executive Director for the VMs said that there is a lot of interest in Scientology, Overall attendees tell us they see how basic Scientology principles can be applied to improve their daily lives.

To learn more about the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, or to reserve your seat at an upcoming seminar, please call (727) 467-6965 or email the center at cwcentermanager@volunteerministers.org .

SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS:

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program was created in the mid-1970s by L. Ron Hubbard and is sponsored by the Church of Scientology International as a community service. The motto of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers is: Something can be done about it. Today, the program constitutes one of the largest and most visible international, independent relief forces, with more than 200,000 Volunteer Ministers from around the world.

A Volunteer Minister is described by L. Ron Hubbard as a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others. Hundreds of thousands of Scientologists and others, have been trained in person or online in a wide range of skills that use Scientology principles to bring relief from physical, mental or spiritual suffering and improve any aspect of lifecommunication, study, marriage, parenting, dealing with stress, being successful in the workplace, achieving goals and many more.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/facf0a33-dfd4-4141-a370-72b5214309c8
Vancouver, BC, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- INVICTUS MD STRATEGIES CORP. ("Invictus" or the "Company") (TSXV: GENE; OTCQX: IVITF; FRA: 8IS1) is pleased to provide an update on its binding letter of intent to create a joint venture with Cannamerica Brands Corp. (CSE: CANA) (OTCQB: CNNXF) and CBDistribution Company Ltd. (collectively, the Joint Venture) that was previously announced on January 7, 2019, with the intention of acquiring hemp biomass for extraction into CBD isolate using purpose-built facilities for large scale CBD extraction.

The transaction is anticipated to close on or before March 31, 2019. Each of the parties involved have received approval from their respective Board of Directors to enter into the Joint Venture. Once the transaction is closed, the Joint Venture will mark the Companys entry into the CBD market in the United States. The Joint Venture will no longer be purchasing eighty percent (80%) of the membership interests of Z3 Sciences, LLC, as previously announced on January 16, 2019, due to a mutual decision made by all parties involved.

Invictus has also granted 450,000 incentive stock options to certain consultants of the Company. Each stock option has an exercise price of $0.95 and is exercisable into one common share of the Company. The options vest immediately and are exercisable over a period of five years. The stock options were granted subject to the terms and conditions of the Companys Stock Option Plan.

For more information, please visit www.invictus-md.com.

On Behalf of the Board,

George E. Kveton

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Jessica Martin

Vice President, Public Relations and Regulatory Affairs

(833) 879-4363





About Invictus

Invictus is a global cannabis company offering a selection of products under a wide range of brands. Our integrated route-to-customer approach is defined by five pillars of sales and distribution including medical, adult-use recreational, retail, Licensed Producer to Licensed Producer and international.

Invictus has partnered with business leaders to convey our corporate vision, including KISS music legend and business mogul Gene Simmons as our Chief Evangelist Officer. To meet growing demand, Invictus is expanding its cultivation footprint, with three cannabis production facilities licensed under the Cannabis Act and Cannabis Regulations in Canada. To accommodate domestic and international sales, Invictus wholly-owned subsidiary, Acreage Pharms Ltd., is well advanced in building its Phase 3 purpose-built cultivation facility to be European Union Good Manufacturing Practices compliant. The Company is targeting for up to 50 percent of its production to comprise medical cannabis. To ensure consistency in quality and supply, Invictus participates in all aspects of the growing process through its subsidiary, Future Harvest Development Ltd., a high-quality fertilizer and nutrients manufacturer. Invictus drives sustainable long-term shareholder value through a diversified product portfolio with over 70 Health Canada approved strains and a multifaceted distribution strategy including medical, adult-use, international, Licensed Producer to Licensed Producer and retail stores. For more information visit www.invictus-md.com.

About CannAmerica Brands Corp.

CannAmerica Brands is a U.S. marine veteran founded and operated portfolio of cannabis brands with licensing agreements in the states of Colorado, Nevada and Maryland. The Company aims to maximize the value of its brands by employing strong brand management teams, marketing and licensing the brands through various distribution channels, including dispensaries, wholesalers and distributors, in the United States and internationally. The Companys core strategy is to enhance and monetize the global reach of its existing brands, and to pursue additional strategic acquisitions to grow the scope and diversity of its brand portfolio. For more information, please visit www.cannamericabrands.com



Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws or forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance, including that the Joint Venture transaction is anticipated to be completed on or before March 31, 2019 and that the Joint Venture Transaction is expected to close as anticipated by management are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this press release, including that the Joint Venture transaction will be completed on or before March 31, 2019 and that the Joint Venture transaction will close as anticipated by management. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Important factors that may cause actual results to vary, include, without limitation, that the Joint Venture transaction will not be completed on or before March 31, 2019, that the Joint Venture transaction will not be completed as expected by management and that there is no guarantee the Joint Venture transaction will close at all. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Acumen Research and Consulting, a global provider of market research studies, in a recently published report titled Unconventional Gas Market (By Type: Shale Gas, Tight Gas, Coalbed Methane (CBM); By Application: Industrial, Power Generation, Residential, Commercial, Transportation) - Global Industry Analysis, Market Size, Opportunities and Forecast, 2018 - 2026.



LOS ANGELES, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The international unconventional gas market value is forecasted to touch USD 258 billion by 2026 and the market is likely to project a CAGR of 9.2% during the coming years.

Free Download Sample Report Pages For Better understanding@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/1195

In December 2017, TechnipFMC plc. introduced the Surface International Facility Center in Abu Dhabi, the UAE. The organization intends to give arrangements and administrations to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and different organizations. The center is required to reinforce the business standpoint of TechnipFMC plc. in the Middle East. In October 2017, TechnipFMC plc. reported designs to go into a concurrence with Plexus Holding plc. to acquire the latters wellhead exploration equipment and hardware and administrations business for raise applications. The acquisition is foreseen to additionally expand and reinforce TechnipFMC plc's. position in investigation drilling products and administrations. In June 2017, Total S.A. gained an extra 75% enthusiasm for the Barnett shale in the U.S. Through this move, the organization means to extend business in North America. In June 2016, Det norskeoljeselskap ASA (Det norske) went into a concurrence with BP p.l.c. to set up an autonomous seaward E&P organization. The organization is relied upon to be named Aker BP ASA (Aker BP) and would be headquartered at Fornebuporten, Norway, with Aker ASA (Aker) and BP as primary modern investors. In March 2016, BP Plc. also, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) marked a creation sharing contract for shale gas investigation, advancement, and generation in the Neijiang-Dazu obstruct in the Sichuan Basin, China.

The global unconventional gas market has been classified into type, application, and region. Based on type, the global unconventional gas market is segregated into shale gas, tight gas, and coalbed methane (CBM). Based on application, the global unconventional gas market is segregated into industrial, power generation, residential, commercial, and transportation. On the basis of region, the global unconventional gas market is bifurcated into North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific.

View Detail Information With Complete TOC@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/unconventional-gas-market

Applications in the natural gas industry have been growing essentially. Natural gas is by and large progressively utilized as a energy fuel in transportation and domestics, for example private and business, divisions. The transportation part has helped the petroleum gas market, with ascend in organization of CNG vehicles. In excess of 24 million flammable gas vehicles (NGVs) were operational over the globe in 2017. Gaseous petrol can be utilized in all classes of vehicles, for example, cruisers, autos, vans, light and rock-solid trucks, transports, lift trucks, and trains. This pattern is relied upon to keep amid the estimate time frame, consequently pushing the growth of the unconventional gas market.

North America dominates the worldwide unconventional gas market in 2017. Asia Pacific is a key region of this industry. Discretionary income of consumers has been expanding at a fast pace in Asia Pacific. This is driving the GDP of the region. Increase in GDP is boosting the demand for energy in Asia Pacific. China, India, and Indonesia are the prime supporters of the demand for energy. As far as generation of eccentric gas, China and Australia are the significant nations in Asia Pacific. As indicated by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), China has the biggest in fact recoverable stores of shale gas (assessed at 31.57 TCM) on the planet. This is 68% higher than the shale gas holds in the U.S. India is additionally concentrating on the generation of unconventional gas. In March 2017, Reliance Industries began business generation of coalbed methane at its Sohagpur fields in Madhya Pradesh, India.

Browse All official Market Research Reports Press Releases@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/press-releases

Explore Our Market Blog@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/blogs

The government of the U.S. has been advancing demands in investigation of capricious gas through open private organizations. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has endorsed a charge on interstate gas deals to finance gas innovation R&D. This has quickened demand in R&D in the unpredictable gas market. Revelation of new natural gas reserves, particularly in the U.S., China, Argentina, and Canada, offers noteworthy potential for the Unconventional gas market.

The main companies in the global unconventional gas market are TechnipFMC plc., Baker Hughes, Emerson Automation Solutions, a GE company (BHGE), National Oilwell Varco, BP plc., Schlumberger Limited, Weatherford International Plc., Royal Dutch Shell plc., Halliburton Inc., Chevron Corporation, Total S.A., and ExxonMobil Corporation.

INQUIRY BEFORE BUYING@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/inquiry-before-buying/1195

The report is readily available and can be dispatched immediately after payment confirmation.

Buy this premium research report  https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/1195

Would like to place an order or any question, please feel free to contact at sales@acumenresearchandconsulting.com | +1 407 915 4157

For Latest Update Follow Us:

https://twitter.com/AcumenRC

https://www.facebook.com/acumenresearchandconsulting

https://www.linkedin.com/company/acumen-research-and-consulting/
Last night, members of a block association at Quincy Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, volleyed back and forth at a community meeting regarding a local BDSM business that recently moved in the neighborhood.

At the meeting, held in the basement of the Macedonia Church of Christ, residents voiced their concerns about the legality of the business (called The Taillor Group) operating out of a home, and what its presence represented on a residential block with children. An NYPD Officer from the 79th Precinct was there to take questions and, at times, acted as a mediator between the conflicting parties.

Several neighbors have been locked in an ongoing dispute with Charlotte Taillor, the owner of the business, since she moved to the block in January. Taillor says that a neighbor has been "harassing" her and the members of what she refers to as her "collective," both verbally and in the form of repeated Department of Building complaints. In the meeting, Taillor, who was accompanied by her attorney, repeatedly said that she intends to move out as soon as she can, and pleaded for people to cease with the complaints. She also said that it had cost her over $10,000 to move to the block in January, and that as a "mom and pop" operation, they didn't have the funds to relocate immediately.

Laurie Miller, who lives next door to Taillor, spearheaded the meeting. She denied that she had allegedly harassed the business, and said that she had been informing locals about The Taillor Group, and the nature of their business.

"If it was a meth lab Id be just as upset," Miller told Gothamist. "Because bringing these transient, nefarious-looking guys into the community that arent part of the community but coming in to do whatever they want to do and then bounce? They have no vested interest in the quality of life in this community."

Miller added that she had amended her lifestyle, such as parking her car on another block and putting sticks under her doorknob.

"Those are the kinds of fears Im having," she says. "Every time I open my door, come home, the anxiety is who Im gonna see outside."



Scenes from the meeting last night at Macedonia Church of Christ (Paula Mejia/Gothamist).

In the meeting, several residents questioned why Taillor had decided to bring the space to a solely residential block, instead of busier local thoroughfares such as Nostrand Avenue. "She could have saved everybody a lot of trouble if she just, like, talked to [her] neighbors first and said, 'Hi, look, heres what we do,'" says Pablo Power, a resident of the block. Locals also wondered if it was legally permissible to operate a business out of a residential space, given that the building doesn't appear to be zoned for commercial activity.

Andrew Rudansky, the Senior Deputy Press Secretary for the Department of Buildings, confirms that the agency attempted to inspect Taillor's space on February 14th in response to a 311 complaint. (Since they weren't able to access the space that one time, he says the agency will attempt an inspection one more time before the complaint is closed outthis is standard procedure for the DOB investigating these complaints, Rudansky said.)

In order for a home business to be legally compliant in New York City, Rudansky said it must be "accessory to the residential use of a house, and can occupy no more than 25% of the property," meaning that the property can't solely be used for a business, and that the DOB has to confirm that someone also lives there.

In an email, an NYPD spokesperson told Gothamist that "the Commanding Officer is aware of community concerns related to the location and address those concerns as they arise."



(Courtesy of Charlotte Taillor)

Taillor's business currently operates on the ground floor of the building, which is occupied by her and another tenant, who lives in the apartment upstairs. Taillor herself does not currently live at the property, though she stated that she intended to move into the apartment upstairs when the current tenants left. The owner of the building in question, who wished to remain anonymous, told Gothamist over the phone that the upstairs tenant is moving out, and that he'd discussed Taillor moving in as a "possibility" in case he wasn't able to imminently sell the building. The landlordwho says that he's been out of United States for roughly the last two months, and has only recently heard rumblings of the disputesaid that he'd intended to put the building on the market, and will do so when he returns at the end of the month.

"Theyve been no problem whatsoever, to be honest with you," he says of The Taillor Group. "Which is why I was very surprised at all of this." He says that Taillor had rented the space through an agency, and that "provided everything is legal, I have no problem with this," noting that the agent had told him that Taillor's business was "basically...a group of therapists."

For the moment, Taillor is raising money to leave the block via a GoFundMe, and by continuing to try and run the business.

"I dont feel theres any resolution until she moves out," Miller says. "Because theyre still going to be bringing their clientele through the block to get here...you could swing from the ceiling fan for all I care. But when what you do inside your private house affects me in the public, thats where the issue is."
A widely maligned plan for a 32-story residential tower on the Upper East Side that has been dubbed the building on stilts has been halted for fire safety concerns, offering a potential victory to community opponents who have fought the design.

In a March 4th letter addressed to four elected officials and Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, Thomas Fariello, the acting Department of Buildings commissioner, wrote that the city is asking the developers of 249 East 62nd Street, Real Estate Inverlad and Third Palm Capital, to submit written approval from the FDNY concerning the proposed conditions at the intermediate level outdoor space, including but not limited to FDNY emergency access and safety operations.

The outdoor space refers to the central design feature of the building  an exposed gap surrounded with pillars between the 13th and 16th floors that would effectively raise the upper half of the 510-foot building  that was widely seen by real estate observers as a mechanical void, a space meant to house mechanical equipment, but which are now being enlarged by luxury developers to maximize building heights.

The DOB has to date refrained from calling the section at the Rafael Vinoly-designed project a void. That, along with limiting its objection to fire safety, leaves open the question over whether the city intends to curb the much-criticized design element.

The answer, according to some, rests on a set of new zoning rules that is currently undergoing the public review process. In January, City Planning issued a zoning amendment proposal which, among other requirements, would make voids taller than 25 feet would count toward the residential projects permitted floor area. The planned changes were spurred by criticism of 249 East 62nd Street, which last year led to Mayor Bill de Blasio asking the Department of City Planning to examine the issue of mechanical voids.

Shortly after the announced zoning amendment, the DOB told Gothamist that the plan for 249 East 62nd Street would not be affected by the proposed regulations because the project did not include a mechanical void. Instead, a DOB spokesman said the feature was considered outdoor space and that the design had precedent in other buildings across the city.

The statement by the DOB at the time caught local residents and elected officials by surprise, especially since the department had in January issued a threat to revoke the permit for a 775-foot condominium tower on the Upper West Side, citing both its unusual use of a 160-foot mechanical void in a residential building and fire safety concerns.

On February 15th, state Senator Liz Krueger, Manhattan Borough President Gayle Brewer, Council members Keith Powers and Ben Kallos, wrote a letter to the DOB citing its actions on the Upper West Side project. Regardless of whether the void in the building proposed at 249 East 62nd Street is enclosed or open air as described to the press, we believe you must also refer this building to the FDNY.

On Thursday, Kallos said the letter was intended to "call attention to the disparate treatment by the DOB between East Side and West Side." He said he was glad that the matter had been referred to the FDNY, noting that the measure "will ultimately keep residents safe."

He said he hoped City Planning will address what he views as a flawed design at 249 East 62nd Street, adding, "I would be interested to see if government can move at the same speed on this issue as it does for developers."

In an email to Gothamist, a DOB spokesman wrote, "The applicant must resolve all DOB objections in order to forward with the project."

Rachel Levy, the executive director of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, which has filed a zoning appeal against the project, said her organization was pleased that the DOB has referred the buildings design to FDNY.

In a statement, she added: That said, we remain deeply concerned that unenclosed voids or stilts will not be addressed by the DCPs proposed text amendment. We continue to urge the City to revise this aspect of the proposal so that it impacts 249 East 62nd Street, one of the most egregious offenders of the mechanical void loophole, and a project that has catalyzed both FRIENDS and DCPs work on this issue.

George Janes, a planning consultant who has worked with Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, said the onus was now on City Planning. As the zoning amendments have made their way before community boards on the Upper West Side and Upper East Side in recent weeks, he and others have pressed the city to regulate what they consider to be open air voids."

The City Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing on the proposed amendments next week.

Its not DOBs decision, he said. They just got to enforce the rules. Right now, DCP has put together a solution but left a big loop hole in it. Are they going to do anything about it?
Being a teacher doesnt have to happen in a classroom setting. It can happen in a conversation, on a field trip or in a variety of different ways.

Yoli Vega 88 has been impacting lives at Hope College for the past 27 years, but dont think that means she has stayed in one place. Returning to her alma mater after teaching middle school English, she recruited for admissions, worked in the Office of Multicultural Education (now the Center for Diversity and Inclusion), helped lead TRIO Upward Bound and now directs the Phelps Scholars Program, a diverse first-year living and learning community. Next year, shell take on a new role as a senior academic and career adviser in the Boerigter Center for Calling and Career. Her varying career path is connected by a common theme: education for everyone.

Coming to Hope as a first-generation college student, Vega knew she wanted to be a teacher. I was one of those kids who would line up her stuffed animals [to play school], she said with a chuckle. When she left her job teaching middle schoolers to become a Hope College admissions representative, it might have seemed Vegas teaching career had ended.

About Hope People Series Some work directly with students; others behind the scenes. This ongoing series highlights the dedicated faculty and staff who help provide the acclaimed Hope education and community, sharing not only what they do, but why. With more than 800 serving across campus, please return from time to time as the collection of stories grows.

It hadnt. Although not every role along her journey has involved standing in front of a classroom, Vega has combined her passion for teaching and her heart for first-generation college students and diverse community in every step of her career. I didnt realize my job was an option, that I could be doing it and enjoying coming to work, not even seeing it as work, Vega said.

Through her range of experiences, shes been able to see that being a teacher doesnt have to happen in a classroom setting. It can happen in a conversation, on a field trip or in a variety of different ways. Currently, Vega does have the opportunity to teach in the more traditional sense. As director of the Phelps Scholars Program, she co-leads a First-Year Seminar, mentoring and guiding students as they begin their college careers.

Vega doesnt stop mentoring and guiding students after their first year, however. Every position shes held throughout the years has allowed her to form relationships that transcend the programs. I appreciate the gift of extended family that comes through staying connected with students, she said.

For so many, Vega has become much more than just their teacher. Her deep devotion to her students educational success and holistic well-being is clear as she encourages them beyond their comfort zones. Seeing [students] do what they didnt think they could do is my inspiration, she said, reflecting on times she had also been encouraged to reach beyond her own self-doubt. And thats a message Vega has aimed to send loud and clear to her students of all capacities: Youre able to accomplish things you dont believe you can.
My names Will Capers. For almost nine years, Ive blogged on various topics. I blogged as Blaque Ink first, and as Brotha Wolf second. The latter had a mu...

2 years ago
In 2017, two plainclothes NYPD officers took a young woman into custody after a traffic stop in Brooklyn, allegedly handcuffing her and throwing her in the back of a van after busting her for a small amount of weed found in the vehicle. She says the pair then took turns raping her; they say the sex was consensual. On Wednesday, the Brooklyn District Attorney's office declined to weigh in on that question, dropping over 40 chargesincluding rape, sexual assault, and kidnappingagainst ex-NYPD officers Richard Hall and Edward Martins, explaining in a statement that "unforeseen and serious credibility issues" and "ethical obligations under the rules of professional conduct" prevented them from prosecuting the alleged crimes central to the case.

The former officers, who quit the department two months after the alleged incident, have now been charged with official misconduct and accepting sexual favors as a bribe, which could earn them up to seven years in prison, rather than the original indictment's 25-year maximum.

At the time of the incident, the woman in question was 18: She said Hall and Martins pulled her over in Calvert Vaux Park in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and when they found the pot, arrested her. The woman had two friends in the car, both of whom watched her get into the unmarked van. Shortly thereafter, they allegedly received a call from a blocked number: They said it was from the officers, telling the woman's friends not to follow the van.

For the next 20 minutes, the woman said, the duo drove her around Brooklyn, orally and vaginally raping her before leaving her near Coney Island with a warning to "keep her mouth shut." Instead, she went to Maimonides Medical Center, where an exam turned up DNA evidence from both Hall and Martins.

On a common sense level, the idea that consent could exist between law enforcement officers and a suspect in their custody stretches credulity past the breaking point, but at the time, a legal loophole allowed for consensual sex between cops and those they've arrested in New York State. When the case blew up, state legislators changed the law, but in 2017, what the officers did would only have been considered rape if the woman could prove she'd been forced into sex by force or by threat.

After the fact, the woman provided detectives with detailed accounts of what she said happened in the van. She named landmarksthe Verrazzano Bridge, for examplethey'd allegedly driven past as a means of establishing the van's rough route. But the former officers' attorneys argued that cell phone data and footage from security cameras tore holes in the woman's story.

Again, common sense suggests that a person in her (alleged) position might misremember the details of their "ride from hell," as it was described in court, and we know that falsely reported rapes are rarepeople who come forward with sexual assault allegations don't often win in court, but many see their lives derailed by the legal process. We also know that trauma changes the way the brain stores memory, meaning victims might be hazy on the details of an attack.

Still, the defense played up the inconsistencies in statements the woman made under oath, discrediting her version of events.

Adding to the confusion, it then emerged that an assistant district attorney had been romantically involved with Hall at the time of his arrest. Although the D.A.'s office maintained that she had been completely cut off from all information pertaining to the case, the whole thing looked bad. In January, the D.A. joined the defendants in asking for the appointment of a special prosecutor, a request the judge denied. But all the chaos, the office's spokesperson suggested, meant they could not move forward with rape charges.

"We are fully committed to holding these defendants accountable by vigorously pursuing the charges in this case that can be proven with independent and reliable evidence," the spokesperson said. "We believeas the newly created statute recognizesthat any sexual conduct between police officers and a person in their custody should constitute a crime."

Michael David, the woman's attorney, blasted the decision. "None of the evidence has changed since the night that this happened," David told Gothamist: DNA clearly implicated both men; two witnesses saw them take the victim; video footage shows her leaving the van. And although the law has changed, David acknowledged, the woman couldn't have given consent under the circumstances.

"We're extremely upset about this. It's a very sad day for victims of sexual violence across the country," he said. "The sex that took place in that van, that was a rape, and they're getting away with it. It's a complete travesty of justice."

David noted that the woman's civil case will still move forward, and that he plans to ask the U.S. Attorney's office to pursue civil rights violations against his client. But he worries the D.A.'s decision will have a chilling effect on victims who might otherwise have come forward to report sexual abuse.

"My client, she spoke out because she wanted the world to know what happened to her," he said. "She's been dragged through the mud, she's been shamed, her life has been destroyed because of this."
click to enlarge Maia Acquavina of Oda House and IT columnist Peter Glatz exchanging business cards

During his appearance at the Oscars, activist chef and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Jose Andres spoke of the understanding and compassion that we all owe to the invisible people in our lives  immigrants and women  who move humanity forward. In recognition of International Womens Day, held every year on March 8, this weeks column profiles female immigrant chefs I visited with during a recent trip to New York City.



Chef Maia Acquavina is the chef and owner of Oda House, an East Village restaurant featuring the cuisine of the Republic of Georgia. The Republic of Georgia sits at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe on the route of the ancient Silk Road. Situated between Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia, the Republic of Georgia has rich culinary traditions; its ancient grape and wine culture dates back 8,000 years.

Chef Acquavina was born and raised in Georgia, where spending time in her grandmothers kitchen nurtured a passion for cooking. Years later, after becoming a successful plastic surgeon, she recalls that she would come home after performing eight hours of surgery and cook. It was relaxing  a great feeling.

After the breakup of her marriage, Maia decided to leave her homeland in 2007 to start a new life in New York City, where language difficulties limited her to a job as a physicians assistant. While in New York, her passion for cooking was rekindled. She took culinary courses and decided to trade her scalpel for a chefs knife. She became the executive chef at the Russian restaurant Mari Vanna before opening her own restaurant, Oda House. Oda House is a comfy, low-key spot serving home-style Georgian cuisine and Eurasian wines.

Maia says, Words cannot fully express how grateful I am for the opportunities that have been presented to me. A lot of people want to change their lives, and this country gives you freedom to do that. Her life motto is: If you want something with all your heart, the entire universe mobilizes around you to make your wishes come true.

Chef Mako Okano is the chef and owner of Shabu Shabu Macoron in New Yorks Lower East Side, which bills itself as the worlds first shabu shabu omakase. Shabu shabu is a Japanese dining tradition where small pieces of protein and vegetables are briefly cooked in a pot of broth that is simmering over a hot plate in the center of the dining table (shabu-shabu means swish-swish). Omakase is a Japanese phrase that means Ill leave it up to you. The chef decides what dishes you will be served.

Shabu Shabu Macoron is a tiny eight-seat restaurant where diners sit at an L-shaped bar that wraps around a tiny, spotless kitchen. Mako heads an all-female staff of three. Her $128 prix fixe menu consists a succession of four beautifully presented little appetizers followed by five courses of shabu shabu, ending with homemade soba noodles and dessert.

Chef Mako cooked for two years at a soba restaurant across the street before opening Shabu Shabu Macoron on a shoestring budget. She says she was eager to operate a restaurant for her first step in NY. After a glowing review by New York Times food critic Pete Wells, her eight seats are always full and reservations are booked out far into the future.



My story took a slightly different turn when I boarded the ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island. I was headed to Enoteca Maria, the last stop on my homage to immigrant women chefs. Passing the Statue of Liberty, I recalled the inscription on her pedestal: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.



Unlike the previous two restaurants in this profile, Enoteca Maria is owned by a man, but instead of being staffed by professional chefs, all the food is cooked by nonnas  grandmothers from around the world.

Joe Scaravella had no previous restaurant experience when he decided to open Enoteca Maria. Mourning the loss of his mother and sister, Scaravella especially missed sitting down with family for home-cooked meals. He placed an ad in an Italian language newspaper for Italian housewives to cook regional dishes and opened a restaurant staffed with Italian grandmothers. A few years later, in 2015, he invited a Pakistani nonna to cook for a night. This prompted him to broaden his concept to Nonnas of the World.

Now Enoteca Maria has a rotating staff of nine nonnas, hailing from such places as Italy, Peru, Greece, Sri Lanka, Siberia, Bangladesh and Armenia. Two nonnas work in the kitchen at any given time, one as head chef and the other as a sous chef. This means an Italian nonna and a South American nonna could be working side by side, learning each others recipes. You cant really put too many of them together, he playfully warns. Because youre gonna see, sparks are gonna fly.

In addition to serving lunch and dinner Thursdays through Sundays, Enoteca Maria hosts free cooking classes taught by its international staff of nonnas. They really bring the food culture to the next generation. Every time one of these grandmothers is in the kitchen you have a thousand years of culture coming out of their fingertips.

The theme of 2019 International Womens Day is #BalanceforBetter, celebrating womens achievements while calling for a more gender-balanced world. Recent revelations of abuse and sexual harassment in the restaurant industry, spurned by the #MeToo movement, reveal a culture badly in need of change. More than a third of all claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission come from restaurant workers. The talented immigrant women I interviewed are truly moving culture forward.



Peter Glatz and Bertha Bus will soon be heading out west to Oklahoma City to begin a new life as a chef at Nonesuch, Bon Appetit magazines Best New Restaurant.


As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
Before New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio heads to South Carolina this weekend, fueling increased speculation about a possible 2020 presidential campaign, he weighed in Thursday on a debate roiling Democrats in Washington, D.C.specifically his reaction to recent comments made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).

Speaking at an event in D.C. last Wednesday, Omar said, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country. And I want to ask, why is it OK for me to talk about the influence of the NRA, of fossil fuel industries, or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobby. Omar has said she is talking about groups that lobby on behalf of Israel

On Thursday, de Blasio offered a sharp rebuke.

Let me be really clear, suggesting that support for Israel means that you are beholden to a foreign power is absolutely unacceptable. And its illogical too, the mayor said stressing his strong support for Israels right to exist. He added, I happen to be Italian-American, Ive never heard any one suggest that because of my pride in my ancestral homeland, I am beholden to a foreign government.

Omar, serving her first term, is one of only two Muslim women in Congress. Her questions about the influence of those lobbying on behalf of Israel have been subject to ongoing scrutiny. Most recently, comments she made at an event in D.C. drew the ire of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Three of the leading Democratic presidential candidates defended Omar. Senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren each issued statements condemning anti-Semitism but also pushing back on the threats of violence and Islamophobia they said Omar faces.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also been outspoken in her support for Omar.

One of the things that is hurtful about the extent to which reprimand is sought of Ilhan is that no one seeks this level of reprimand when members make statements about Latinx + other communities (during the shutdown, a GOP member yelled Go back to Puerto Rico! on the floor). https://t.co/MwrRN4v4DG  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 5, 2019



While de Blasio is often more closely aligned with Democratic progressives, and once said Rep. Ocasio-Cortez came from his wing of the party, his view of Omars comments reflected his long-held views on Israel and his connection to Jewish voters in Brooklyn, stretching from his days in the City Council and Public Advocates office through to his mayoralty.

As Public Advocate, de Blasio created the Iran Watchlist, an online campaign that targeted car companies that did business with Iran. The launch coincided with the Auto Show at the Javits Center. The list was a joint effort with a coalition of Jewish groups that were focused on preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

In the first year of his mayoralty, de Blasio gave a speech at an event for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC which was closed to the press, Politico reported at the time. He concluded the speech by saying City Hall would always be open to AIPAC.

"When you need me to stand by you in Washington or anywhere, I will answer the call and I'll answer it happily 'cause that's my job, he said.

In his comments on Tuesday, de Blasio compared the anti-Semitism he perceived in Omars comments with the anti-Catholic sentiment present when John F. Kennedy ran for president.

There was a rampant discussion in this country whether he would be beholden to the Pope. It was anti-Catholic, it was inappropriate, it was offensive, and our country learned from that episode. We have to learn from this episode, de Blasio said.

He then offered his advice to Omar for a way forward: if she doesnt mean to offend, she should sit down with Jewish communities and hear the pain that they experience, hear what has been done to them over not just decades, but centuries, and recognize we need fight anti-Semitism with the same energy we fight sexism, racism, or Islamophobia, or anti-LGBT bias. It all goes together.

Other powerful New York Democrats have also called on Omar to apologize, including the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, along with Reps. Nita Lowey, Chair of the Appropriations Committee and Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Late Thursday, the House passed a Democratic-backed resolution condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other forms of bigotry. The vote was 407-23, with only Republicans voting against the measure.

Brigid Bergin is the City Hall and politics reporter for WNYC. You can follow her on Twitter at @brigidbergin.
On January 12-13, 2019, India and the five Central Asian countries  Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan  held their first ever ministerial dialogue in the beautiful and historic Uzbek city of Samarkand. Abdulaziz Kamilov, the foreign minister of Uzbekistan, Chingiz Azamatovich Aidarbekov, Foreign Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, Beibut Atamkulov, the Kazakh foreign minister, Rashit Meredow, the foreign minister of Turkmenistan, and Sirodjidin Muhriddin, the Tajik foreign minister participated in the dialogue which also included the foreign minister of Afghanistan Salahaddin Rabbani. The dialogue was floated first a year ago during a seminar on India and the Central Asian Republics (CARS) organized by the Indian Council for World Relations, under the aegis of Indias Ministry of External Affairs.

The Indian minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj termed the dialogue as historic, which testified to the centuries old ties between the peoples of India, Central Asia and Afghanistan, who are natural partners. She identified development partnership as a major emerging component of Indias foreign policy and urged the CARS to engage in similar partnership with India.

The CARS pledged their commitment to dynamic and fruitful friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation between India and the Central Asian countries at bilateral and multilateral formats. In Delhi too, the CARs representatives have been on a diplomatic blitzkrieg, holding road shows, food festivals, participating enthusiastically in cultural, people to people, business and trade events, aggressively advertising and wooing Indian tourists and investors to their beautiful countries.

So why are India and the Central Asian Republics suddenly focused on deepening relations?

Central Asia poses an opportune moment for India as it watches the rise of China in the region, and its once close friend and ally Russia steadily moving into the Chinese orbit and cultivating ties, including in energy and military with its arch-rival Pakistan.

For India, three fundamental requirements drive its Central Asian policy. One is the natural resources in the resource rich Central Asian region. From Kazakh and Turkmen oil and gas, to Uzbek uranium, India sees a lucrative source for its energy procurement, which it has been seeking to diversify for some time now. The ever volatile Middle Eastern region, the Western and now US sanctions against Iran, the steadily rising price of oil, with Indias ever increasing energy demands, most of which has to be imported, makes the Central Asian region a coveted one for India. In fact, ONGC Videsh Ltd., the overseas investment arm of Indias state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp had entered Kazakhstans hydro-carbon sector in 2011 through the purchase of the Satpaev oil block, though it has not met with any luck till now.

The second requirement is connectivity. All the CARS are landlocked states, and though it once was a contiguous neighborhood for India, the partition and subsequent emergence of Pakistan in 1947 deprived India of any direct routes to those countries. This has hampered trade and the movement of goods and people. The much touted TAPI (Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India) gas pipeline project for instance, has still not been implemented in spite of being floated way back in the 1990s precisely for this reason; India-Pakistan rivalry has hampered overland trade routes to and from India to Eurasia.

This is why India has engaged in the construction of the multi-modal International North South Trade and Transport Corridor (INSTC) which ambitiously seeks to connect Indias Mumbai port with St. Petersburg in Russia. To that end India has invested majorly in developing Irans Chabahar port through which the corridor will run. The Central Asian countries form a major component of the INSTC. For some it is also perceived as balancing Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While China has aggressively courted the CARS, with more resources at its disposal, and some of the countries have come on board, the CARS still remain skeptical about Chinas cheque book diplomacy in the region. A diplomat from a Central Asian country, who did not want to be publicly quoted, said that his country was still studying the BRI. For them the INSTC is an option they would like to explore. More recently, in 2018, India joined the Ashkhabad Agreement, facilitated by Uzbekistan. It is now mulling its own Silk Route which will traverse the region.





Airlines of the CARS majorly depend on the Indian sector for their business. Thousands of medical tourists from the CARS make their way to India for state-of-the-art treatment at competitive cost. Hundreds of citizens of the CARS undergo training in Indian IT, diplomacy, and police institutions.


In a March 5 statement, ahead of the soon-to-be-announced verdict in the case, Amnesty wrote about how the scientists were tortured and put in prolonged solitary confinement in order to force them into giving confessions.

The eight environmentalists, all members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, were arrested in January and February 2018 on charges of spying and were put on trial in a Revolutionary Court in Tehran in January this year.

The scientists are Taher Ghadirian, Niloufar Bayani, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Houman Jokar, Sam Rajabi, Sepideh Kashani, Morad Tahbaz, and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh.

The Iranian Parliament and Intelligence Ministry have found no evidence of spying, indeed, the scientists were monitoring and conducting research into Irans endangered animals, including the Asiatic cheetah and Persian leopard, with full permission of the Iranian Regime, but that has not garnered the release of the eco-activists.

Four of them are charged with sowing corruption on Earth, a crime that can result in the death penalty, three are still charged with espionage, and one has been charged with cooperating with hostile states against Iran and gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security. The latter four could face up to 11 years in prison.

Philip Luther, the Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director at Amnesty International, said: Protecting endangered wildlife is not a crime. These conservationists are scientists who were carrying out legitimate research. It is absurd that they have been prosecuted without any evidence and are being treated as criminals.

He continued: Irans authorities should release them immediately and unconditionally and drop the outrageous espionage-related charges against them.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards accused the conservationists of collecting classified military information via tracking cameras, which are standard tools used to monitor rare and endangered species that dont engage with humans.

Amnesty is not the only group calling out these accusations, with Human Rights Watch labelling the charges ridiculous in October.

The managing director of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, Kavous Seyed Emami, was arrested alongside his colleagues last January, but he died in prison under suspicious circumstances.

Authorities claim that the 63-year-old Iranian-Canadian sociology professor committed suicide, but his family and friends raised their doubts. Since then, Iran has not allowed Emamis wife, also a dual national, to leave the country.
The 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution has just been celebrated by Iranian officials. This is an anniversary that the people of Iran have been hoping that the regime would never be in a position to celebrate. It marks the 40th year of severe repression, the denial of human rights and the denial of freedom and democracy.

Not many people took to the streets in celebration. However, what many have been surprised about is the participation of German officials in the celebrations. Especially considering the delicate German history that brought so much shame to the nation.

In 1994, the Buenos Aires bombing was planned by the Iranian regime. The targets were Jews and 29 civilians lost their lives. The Iranian regime has also been supporting Hamas and is intentionally disrupting the balance of power in the region. The regimes claims that its terrorism is just resistance is a claim that cannot stand. It cannot claim that it presents a legitimate opposition to the West Bank occupation by Israel. Civilian targets prove otherwise.

It was reported that Foreign Ministry State Minister Niels Annen participated in 40th anniversary celebrations. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also messaged his congratulations to Irans President Hassan Rouhani.

The Iranian regime has denied the Holocaust on a number of occasions. Instead of keeping quiet about controversial subjects like this, the Iranian regime  as it always does  takes a very public stance no matter what the consequences. Iran has also repeatedly called for the destruction of the Jewish state so the fact that the German government has participated and associated with such celebrations undermines its position on human rights.

Germany is not the only European country that seems to value human rights when it suits them. When commercial benefit is on the cards, it seems like many EU officials will push the Iranian peoples human rights to the side.

Often there is a token gesture, like a comment or clause about the respect of human rights  but nothing that will break a deal. Especially if the human rights issues isnt brought up again.

In 1992, Klaus Kinkel took office as the German foreign minister. He make a big deal about human rights. He also made a big deal about expanding trade relations with Iran. He said that he would ensure human rights are tied into trade with Iran. The EU praised Germany on its dialogue but it soon became clear that trade between the two countries was increasing while the respect of human rights declined. And it has been the same ever since.
Khomeini issued fatwas, or religious decrees, that ordered the execution of anyone who had not repented and who was not willing to collaborate entirely with the regime. There are strong indications that Khomeinis fatwa was issued on July 26, 1988.

In the summer of 1988, the clerical regime summarily and extra-judicially executed about 30,000 political prisoners held in jails across the country. The Iranian regime has never acknowledged these executions, or provided any information as to how so many prisoners were killed in a matter of just a few months.

The executions began in Evin Prison, because almost all those with death sentences were kept in Evin, while those with life sentences were housed in Gohardasht. Soon, other prisons were included, such as Gohardasht, Qezelhesar, and others.

Every day, political prisoners were sent to the gallows and their corpses buried hastily in mass graves all around the country, particularly in the capital Tehran.

Khomeini decreed, Whoever at any stage continues to pledge legions to the [Mojahedin] must be executed. Annihilate the enemies of Islam immediately.

He went on to add:  Those who are in prisons throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the MEK/PMOI are waging war on God and are condemned to execution It is naive to show mercy to those who wage war on God.

Khomeini assigned a Death Commission comprised of the three individuals  a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence, a religious judge, and a prosecutor. They held a trial that lasted for a few minutes and the final decision rested with the Intelligence Ministry official.

The questions focused on whether the inmate continued to have any allegiances to the PMOI (MEK). The PMOI prisoners made up of more than 90 percent of those taken before the Death Commission. If the prisoners were not willing to collaborate totally with the regime against the PMOI, it was viewed as a sign of sympathy to the organization and the sentence was immediate execution.

The task of the Death Commission was to determine whether a prisoner was a so-called Enemy of God or not. In the case of Mojahedin prisoners, that determination was often made after only a single question about their party affiliation. Those who said Mojahedin rather than the derogatory Monafeqin were sent to be hanged.

The haste of the executions affected Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Khomeinis successor. He had doubts and protested this crime against humanity. In letters to Khomeini, Montazeri urged leniency. However, Khomeini ordered there should be no mercy to anyone, including teenagers. He said pregnant women should not be spared or have the chance to give birth to their child, but should be executed immediately.

In December 2000, Montazeri published his memoirs. The book revealed shocking secrets about the atrocities committed by the clerical regime. But the most horrendous was the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 on the strict orders of Khomeini.

Montazeris book was not the first document informing the world of this massacre. In fact, news had begun to trickle through the censorship imposed on the crime.

Masoud Rajavi, the leader of Resistance, unveiled the horrific extent of the massacres to the then UN Secretary General in a telegram. He told the Secretary General that 860 corpses that were buried in mass graves in Tehrans cemetery, Behesht-e Zahra, two weeks earlier.

A wave of international protests and campaigns condemned these atrocities. The efforts by the supporters of the PMOI under the leadership of Masoud Rajavi, and continued protests and demonstrations throughout the world forced the criminal regime to halt the wave of executions in late September.

There is still little information available about the extent of the massacre, especially in cities, including Isfahan, Shiraz, Rasht, Tabriz, Ardebil, Mashhad, Ahwaz, Abadan, Zahedan, Kerman, and other major cities. Unveiling the true stories is almost impossible. As well, there has been little international attention to this crime against humanity.

But, in 2008, twenty years after the massacre, Amnesty International renewed its call for those responsible for the prison massacre to be held accountable. There should be no impunity for such gross human rights violations, regardless of when they were committed.

Amnesty added, Those responsible for the killings  one of the worst abuses to be committed in Iran  should be prosecuted and tried before a regularly and legally constituted court and with all necessary procedural guarantees, in accordance with international fair trial standards.

The massacre of 1988 remains one of the least exposed and discussed crimes that some human rights experts describe as the greatest in the 20th Century following World War II. To date, it has gone unpunished. Not only has there been no prosecution of the criminals who orchestrated and carried out that summers gruesome murders, but the regime continues to deny that they even occurred.

However, former judiciary minister in the cabinet of President Hassan Rouhani, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, has acknowledged the horrendous summer 1988 massacre. Pourmohammadi was a member of the Death Commission and sent political prisoners to their deaths.

This is an active case. This dossier is now very much alive and the enemy has invested on this issue. And now, discussing this matter would be playing into the enemys hands. That is why I havent talked about this subject.

I dont know when it would be proper to talk about this matter and unfortunately, the publication of that tape was literally an act of treason, Pourmohammadi said in a state TV interview on Friday night. He was referring to the publication of a tape of remarks made back in 1988 by Grand Ayatollah Montazeri  remarks that criticized the regimes genocide in prisons throughout the country.

Still, the Iranian regime continues to deny the 1988 elimination of opposition prisoners. None of the perpetrators have been brought to justice, and none of the regimes senior officials, including the current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, have been held accountable.

The UN should launch an independent investigation into this crime against humanity.
Stevenson explained that the Regime is telling Western media ludicrous lies and slanders about the MEK, the democratic opposition banned in Iran, and called out the newspapers that parrot off Regime talking points with so much as a simple fact check, including the Guardian, the Independent, and Der Spiegel.

Der Spiegel, which recently published another MEK hit piece accusing the group of training members to gouge out eyes, tear open mouths, and cut throats, admitted only last December that one of their most notorious journalists, Claas Relotius was fired for writing false stories about the MEK.

It should go without saying that none of these claims against the MEK is true, as numerous politicians, legitimate journalists, and human rights advocates that visit the MEK headquarters in Albania (or any other country) can tell you, including Stevenson himself. But Der Spiegel turned down the opportunity to visit, which is the mark of a hack who would never get the truth get in the way of a good story.

Stevenson said: This kind of horrible fake news and attempts to blacken and demonize the PMOI (MEK) simply plays into the hands of the mullahs. Not a mention in that article about the human rights atrocities that go on, on a daily basis, not a mention of the 30,000 political prisoners [mainly MEK members] summarily executed in 1988.

But more important than the lack of journalist integrity is the fact that the mullahs are yet again using propaganda and fake news to justify their international terror campaign against the MEK. When the Western media becomes the mouthpiece for dictators and tyrants, it allows the Regime to violently attack the MEK with impunity, as they have done many times in the past and as they did several times over the past year on European soil.

Part of the problem is the European Unions continued appeasement of the Iranian Regime, which involves ignoring their human rights abuses in Iran and elsewhere in favour of lucrative trade deals, even when Iranian diplomats in Europe plot terror attacks targeting MEK rallies in the heart of France and assassination attempts against Iranian dissidents in the Netherlands.

Stevenson explains that the world is now at a crucial moment in the history of the Iranian regime, where the mullahs could finally be overthrown and the theocratic dictatorship could collapse, which means Europes inaction is particularly damning.

He advised that the international community have to make a choice between democracy and dictatorship, between peace and war, between right and wrong. They must pick between supporting the Iranian people and the MEK in their fight for freedom and democracy or back the violent dictatorship in their repression and human rights violations.

To be clear, the right side of history is to support the oppressed rather than the oppressors.

Stevenson said: I know which side I am on, thank you very much.
The article warns that the MEK is using deceitful social media campaigns to target inexperience[d] young people, who are easily influenced and less informed, to get them to commit criminal activities tantamount to measures against national security.

These national security crimes, by the way, are any sort of protest or political action from removing the forced veil in public to striking over unpaid wages. And in a nation where peaceful protest could land you in jail or worse, why would anyone not want to support the opposition?

This is nothing new. Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, head of the regimes public prosecutor office, spoke about the growing activities of the MEKs Resistance Units on social media on February 24, calling it the cause of crime and sin in Iran, something he termed as terrifying and a warning.

The comments, including a call for the authorities to shut down disgraceful messaging apps, are believed to be a way for the Regime to increase its internet censorship and domestic crackdown. After all, he previously warned that the Regime would face alarming circumstances if the cultural threats propagated on social media were not managed.

But Montazeri is far from the only mullah making these claims. Javad Javeed-Nia, Deputy Prosecutor General in Cyberspace Affairs, recently claimed that foreigners controlled 90% of the Iranian internet and that the MEK had established cyber armies to post aggressive content on social media.

The state-run Tehran Press has also acknowledged that the MEK is taking aim at the Regime and calling for regime change, with the Regime unable to combat the issue without a domestic crackdown. It said that even the loyal to the Regime were not immune to being convinced by the MEK.

Well, given the number of people in Iran desperate for regime change, this should not be a surprise. The Regime is failing to deal with the real issues of the Iranian people and so, of course, people would turn to a democratic opposition force.

With a crackdown on the internet likely, it is even more imperative that the West band together to launch a satellite over Iran to provide a free and open internet for the Iranian people to communicate with each other and the outside world.
Trump cited the deals failure to address Irans ballistic missile program and regional influence as a reason for potential withdrawal even before he took office. And since that time, he has floated the idea of establishing a new, more comprehensive agreement, despite Tehrans insistence that this is not an option.

Iranian talking points about the JCPOA are part and parcel of a larger strategy of non-cooperation, which was in place while nuclear negotiations were still ongoing. At the time, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei publicly barred his subordinates from engaging in discussions with the US or its allies over any matters other than Irans enrichment of nuclear material. Because the 2013 election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had been greeted in some circles as a victory for moderation, there was some speculation that Khameneis order ran contrary to the preferences of the administration. But subsequent events have cast doubt on this notion.

In the years since the signing of the JCPOA, and especially in the months since American withdrawal, Rouhani and his cabinet officials have actively participated in anti-Western rhetoric, including the blanket rejection of any further negotiations or compromises. The Iranian president repeated that sentiment on Wednesday in a televised speech that accused the US of seeking to overturn Irans theocratic regime. According to the Associated Press, Rouhani also declared that the differences between the two countries are so great that they are neither negotiable nor can there be a compromise.

Both hardline and moderate officials have worked to promote the narrative that Iran is under virtually constant threat from the US. However, little actual evidence has been cited in support of that narrative, and the nature of the threat is defined in only the vaguest terms. Since around the time of the nuclear negotiations, hardliners like Khamenei and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have been sounding the alarm over Western infiltration, and they have used this as pretext for crackdowns on foreign nationals as well as domestic social phenomenon that supposedly demonstrate sympathy with Western lifestyles and ideas.

In keeping with this trend, Rouhanis speech failed to point out specific threats but described Iran as being in economic and psychological war with America and its allies. Such statements arguably hold the US responsible for the domestic political consequences of economic sanctions on Iran, as well as virtually any foreign communications that reach an Iranian audience. In the terminology of the Iranian regime, such factors potentially contribute to the soft overthrow of that regime, although Rouhani insisted that their wish will not come true.

The vague condemnation of American activities may be viewed as ironic by those critics of the Iranian regime who observed its celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution last month. The protracted event involved the public exhibition of numerous weapons, accompanied by explicit military threats against foreign enemies, including the dubious announcement that the Iranian navy was prepared to send a flotilla to the Atlantic Ocean, near the American coast.

To whatever extent Tehran feels it is genuinely at risk from US-based pressure tactics, it is not clear how military readiness drills are expected to counter them. But those drills, in combination with media narratives about a foreign threat, help to project an image of strength at a time when the Islamic Republic is at risk not only from its international isolation but also from domestic protests that have been virtually constant, in one form or another, since the outbreak of a nationwide uprising at the end of 2017.

Tehrans response to those protests naturally includes efforts to discredit them by tethering them to preexisting media narratives about belligerent Western powers. In January 2018, while the uprising was at its peak, Khamenei credited the leading domestic opposition group, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran, with much of the on-the-ground organizing but also declared, without evidence, that it was operating at the behest of a triangle of enemies consisting of the US, Arab states, and Israel.

Interestingly, though, this narrative changed in the wake of the uprisings violent suppression, and Rouhani stated in his speech on Wednesday that the US was pushing for Iran to return to a time when it was ruled by a pro-Western monarchy. This claim, too, is being repeated without evidence, but is presumably intended to discourage Irans pro-democracy activists, including supporters of the PMOI, from accepting foreign assistance.

The earlier claim of US-backing for the PMOI-led uprising is belied by the fact that State Department documents continued to preclude the PMOI as an option for Irans future government at the time of the protests. However, the assertion that the US prefers an Iranian monarchy is belied by the fact that this has since changed. According to Al Monitor, the US government indicated this week that the PMOI now enjoys a place on a list of acceptable alternatives to the current, Islamist regime.

This adjustment may be attributable in part to the fact that advisors and supporters of President Trump, including Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton, are longstanding supporters of the PMOI. But the recency of the decision may indicate that it was undertaken partly in reaction to the successes of PMOI organizing during and after the anti-government uprising. According to the groups parent coalition the National Council of Resistance of Iran, there were 250 protests across 71 Iranian cities last month alone, suggesting that the regime faces a persistent crisis and a threat to its hold on power.

Many of these protests relate to the deteriorating economic situation  a problem that cannot be meaningfully addressed by accusations of foreign subterfuge or appeals to military pride. But as Iranian propaganda networks work to promote the idea of economic resilience, Iranian officials are insisting they have support from foreign powers other than the US, including US allies in Europe.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said as much on Wednesday in the wake of a meeting with the remaining parties to the JCPOA  the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China. Araqchi praised the European nations for their establishment of a trade mechanism that will supposedly circumvent US sanctions. But just one day earlier, Irans Fars News Agency quoted the same official as demanding that Europe pace up its efforts and provide Iran with better financial incentives for remaining in the deal.

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif echoed this sentiment, according to another Fars report, even as Tehran remained intransigent in the face of European conditions for full implementation of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, or INSTEX. Those conditions involve compliance with the anti-money laundering rules of the Financial Action Task Force, something the Islamic Republic has ostensibly committed to, but has failed to establish through the legislative process.

A video report by the Iranian propaganda outlet Press TV reported a bill to this effect as being in limbo in the Expediency Council, a body that mediates disagreements between legislative and clerical bodies. The council previously halted other bills along these lines, because FATF compliance was deemed adverse to the countrys interests, in part because it would certainly interrupt the flow of money to Hezbollah.

Press TV indicated that while some lawmakers were willing to put international trade ahead of such matters, others were inclined to dig in their heels on Irans hardline identity, even at the risk of alienating would-be sources of European economic support. Still others explained that they were ready to embrace that support, provided that it was specifically oriented toward sidelining Washington.

To the extent that the FATF debate showcases a relative lack of interest in cooperating with Europe, it threatens to deepen the Iranian regimes isolation at a time when overall tensions with the West are already escalating. The recent news that Iran and France had agreed to exchange ambassadors is indicative of ongoing efforts on both sides to establish the support that Araqchi envisions. But it does not diminish the fact that this exchange follows six months during which the diplomatic posts were vacant, owing to disputes involving the Iranian regimes behaviors.

Chief among these behaviors are recent terror threats against on Western soil. Last June, two Iranian operatives and a high ranking diplomat were arrested for plotting to set off explosives at a rally near Paris that was attended by tens of thousands of supporters of the PMOI.
A U.S. District Court judge on Wednesday ruled that the MTA violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it failed to install elevators during a 2013 renovation of a Bronx subway station.

In 2016, Bronx Independent Living Services sued the agency for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by its refusal to make the elevated subway station at Middletown Road in the Bronx wheelchair accessible. The renovation of the station, which included replacing floors, walls, ceilings, and stairs leading to the street and platform, cost more than $27 million.

The MTA is now on notice that whenever it renovates a subway station throughout its system so as to affect the stations usability, the MTA is obligated to install an elevator, regardless of the cost, unless it is technically infeasible, said Geoffrey Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a press release. His office intervened in the case in March 2018.

The MTA had argued that the scope of the work did not justify undertaking a renovation that would have disproportionately added to the cost of the project.

However, in a partial summary judgement for the plaintiffs, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos found that the work did in fact trigger higher requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The elevated station at Middletown Road, which was one of nine along the 6 train route targeted for renovation, is only accessible by two stairways, one from the street and another from the mezzanine.

In response to the ruling, MTA Chief External Affairs Officer Max Young said in a statement, The MTA is steadfastly committed to improving access throughout the subway, with a hard and fast goal of making 50 additional stations accessible over five years. Were not wavering from that commitment."

The MTA has also argued that the installation of elevators at the Bronx station was technically infeasible, something which the court has yet to weigh in on.

Over the years, the MTA has undertaken many station renovations that have not included elevators. In January, accessibility advocates and community members criticized the agency for failing to install elevators during renovation work on several elevated N/W stations in Astoria. Of the five stations that were set to undergo major improvements, only one, at Astoria Boulevard, was to have elevators installed.

Compared to other cities like Chicago and Boston, New Yorks subway system has a poor track record on accessibility improvements. The MTA claims that 24 percent of its subway stations are wheelchair accessible, but a recent study by the Manhattan Borough Presidents Office suggests that the actual percentage of stations that are fully accessible in both directions and for transfers between trains is "substantially lower."

Colin Wright, a senior advocacy associate at Transit Center, an organization that works on improving public transportation across U.S. cities, said that the MTA has been treating the disabled as second-class citizens.

With todays ruling, the agency is on notice that it cant do that anymore, he said.

The MTA is planning to upgrade at least 50 stations in the next five years, and under MTA President Andy Byfords Fast Forward initiative, within five years straphangers would be never be more than two stops from an accessible subway station.

But Byford's plan is contingent on funding, which has yet to be secured. The authority currently has an operating budget of $17 billion and has said it is looking at a nearly $1 billion budget deficit by 2021.

Ultimately, its going to take resources, Wright said. Its up to Governor Cuomo and the state legislature to comply with this court ruling.
Yellow cab drivers have a seen a loss of 15 to 20 percent in revenue since the states congestion pricing surcharge went into effect last month, according to The Taxi Workers Alliance, which arrived at the estimate after reviewing trip records from drivers. The congestion pricing fees are expected to generate $400 million a year for the MTA, but several taxi drivers interviewed on Wednesday said the fundraising initiative is cutting deeply into their already slim margins.

Under the congestion pricing fees that went into effect in February, yellow cab passengers pay a $2.50 surcharge for rides below 96th Street in Manhattan. Other for hire vehicle riders pay $2.75. Uber said at the time that it would raise prices to cover the cost.

Taxi Worker's Alliance executive director Bhairavi Desai is calling on state lawmakers to make an exemption for yellow and green cabs because theyve been paying a 50 cent surcharge to the MTA since 2009.

Desai argues that taxi drivers face fees and fines unlike another business in the state. For example, if a driver does a small trip that costs $10, the taxes on that ride would be nearly 30 percent. Drivers are required to pay state taxes at the end of every month, and face a 200 percent fee if theyre late.

There is no such late fee for any other state tax, Desai said. The economic impact and the real possibility that the crush of all this could lead to the dissolving a 100-year old industry just seems really unprecedented. And it just feels like the fix is in.

According to the TLC, there were 264,546 trips in the first 23 days of February, a 1.4 percent increase over the 254,593 yellow cab trips for the first 23 days of January. The weekly averages for both months are also very similar.

The Taxi Workers Alliance counters that January is usually a slow month, and that February is when rides should pick up; there was an 11 percent increase in yellow cab rides from January to February in 2018.



A cab outside Governor Cuomo's office on Wednesday (Brahmjot Kaur / Gothamist)

Outside of Penn Station on a recent morning a steady stream of yellow taxis lined the curb. One customer after another popped in, and each cab was quickly replaced by another.

Bikram Singh has been a cab driver for 12 years and said he made $1,000 less in February, compared to January. Lot of people not taking cabs, theyre walking, he said. Mostly people avoid taking taxis, they say the price is too high, this is not the taxi driver's fault.

He thinks it would be more fair if Cuomo imposed congestion pricing fees on all drivers, and he hopes at least that way traffic would be reduced.

Manjit Singh, a medallion owner who's been a cab driver for over 25 years, agreed that in the last month he's seen a not-insignificant drop in passengerssome days he said hes driven around for an hour without getting a customer. Mostly, hes noticed a drop in short trips.

For $5, $6 dollars, they didn't care [about] taking the cab [from] here to Time Warner building. Now [for] $10, $11, $12 they think twice. And theyre not taking the cab," Singh said.

But the first month with the congestion pricing surcharge has been a boon to other cabbies. Henni Coopers been a driver for over five years and said despite the extra charge, her income went up last month.

More riders, more tips, Cooper said. They still tip me, as a matter of fact my money has increased, I'm happy about that part."

The Taxi and Limousine Commission declined to comment on the drivers complaints about loss of income from the surcharge.

100 taxis with the @NYTWA driving/protesting around @NYGovCuomo office in NYC today! Every time they pass the governors office, they furiously beep pic.twitter.com/5HWTb0ATjI  Brahmjot (@brxhmjot) March 6, 2019

On Wednesday afternoon, dozens of cab drivers honked their horns outside of Governor Andrew Cuomos Midtown office to protest the new surcharge.

Its affected our business. Sometimes people dont tip, said Mohamed Hasan, a yellow cab driver of over 15 years. When [the surcharge] first started, three people got out of my car. They went inside, I pressed the meter, and they got out.

Paramjit Singh, another yellow cab driver at the protest, said he has been in the business for almost 25 years.

Theyre going to kill us because were not getting small fares, and were not making enough money, Singh said. If we make $200 or $300 every day, we have to pay for congestion price. Its almost $100 everyday. I have my gas, car, and mortgage for the medallion. How can I pay my mortgage if Im not making any money?

Asked for comment on the protest, Cuomo spokesperson Patrick Muncie said, "The surcharge on all rides in Manhattan's central business district is a positive step in our efforts to find a dedicated revenue stream for our subways and buses, as well as easing congestion throughout the district. More than $1 million a day is now going directly to the MTA, and we are moving forward vigorously with a full congestion pricing plan that will cover a total of $15 billion for the MTAs capital budget to ensure New Yorkers have a safe, reliable transportation system."

Additional reporting from Brahmjot Kaur.

Stephen Nessen is the transportation reporter for WNYC. You can follow him on Twitter @s_nessen.
The legendary White Horse Tavern, the literary watering hole where Dylan Thomas had his last drink(s), has been sold, along with other buildings on the same West Village blockand it appears the new owner is the notorious slumlord Steve Croman.

The sale was first reported by Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, which also noted a community board meeting next week for a new liquor license: "Eytan Sugaman [sic] or LLC to be formed, d/b/a White Horse Tavern, 567 Hudson St. 10014 (OP - Bar/Tavern with sidewalk cafe)."

Sugarman, the bar's new operator, told Eater, "We are only focused on preserving the rich history and legacy of this iconic institution for New Yorkers." He's also promising "updated infrastructure." Sugarman owns the UWS Made in New York Pizza, which was accused of stealing a sauce recipe from Prince Street Pizza; Southern Hospitality, which featured Justin Timberlake as a founder or something; and Times Square steakhouse Hunt & Fish Club, which is co-owned by... Anthony Scaramucci.

"White Horse will become Don Trump Jr and Company's FratBro/WhiteBro hang out," Jeremiah's Vanishing New York's tipster fears.

The Commercial Observer reports, "The sellers of 561 to 567 Hudson Street at West 11th Street, Eddie Brennan and James Munson, are ready to retire, but said their deal was contingent upon obtaining a leaseholder to maintain the century-old bar as is." Sugarman reportedly signed a 15-year-lease, and the broker involved with the deal said, "Eytan Sugarman will run it exactly as its been for the past 140 years."

Details of how the White Horse Tavern's lease appears to have changed hands are unclear; according to the Villager, "A White Horse bartender, Mackey, told this paper he has no knowledge of any change in ownership or a possible closing of the historic tavern. He said everything seems to be the same, including Eddie Brennan still being its co-owner."

Sugarman's rep confirmed to Eater that the building's new owner is Croman, whose practice of harassing and evicting tenants "sparked the formation of the first landlord-specific tenant union since the 1980s." Among the allegations that Croman, and broker Barry Swartz, faced: "Incentivizing said harassment by calling rent-stabilized tenants 'targets' in communication with employees, and having the workers compete to obtain the most buyouts, with bonuses of as much as $10,000; Filing repeated baseless lawsuits against tenants to pressure them out, and creating grounds for the cases by refusing to acknowledge receipt of rent, then suing for back rent."

Croman served jail time for tax and mortgage fraud as well as grand larceny and was released last year. The CNBC show American Greed even aired a segment about him, calling him the "Landlord from Hell."
by Daniel Cano

Author standing at the entrance to Sacred Valley

Cuzco, a tourist's city

First full view of Machu Picchu

Construction beyond comprehension

Tourists bearing gifts to children living at 16,000 feet

As I travelled through the wonders of Peru, something kept nagging at me. At first, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Okay, let me start at the beginning.It sounds silly, but in my mind, I carried the image of Cuzco, Peru, as Ron Arias described it in his 1987 novel. It had been a long time since I read the novel, in my mid-forties, but Fausto, the protagonist, and Cuzco were engraved in my mind: he an old man facing his death, a Chicano Quixote, of sorts, while visiting a dream-like colonial Peruvian town with his niece during the time of kings, nobles, and viceroys. Though the novel was set in modern times, Fausto, like Quixote, often slipped from present to past and future without much effort, an East L.A. transcendentalist, right up there with Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman.When I arrived to Cuzco (which our guide insisted we pronounce Cozco) this past January on LATAM Airlines from Lima, I didnt recognize the Cuzco of my literary imagination. Instead of a quaint, lovely colonial town based in the past, not unlike many colonial towns throughout Latin America, I found a large, thriving, modern city, looking more toward the future and less the past. And, in some ways, like Fausto, I, too, now in my early 70s, could see the bulk of the past behind me and only glimmers of the future ahead.Yet, Peru, with all its progress, like Fausto, also felt more past than future. I saw Inca kings andwarriors, as well as Spanish conquistadores and governors. Id read much of Peru, and Latin Americas history, so historys ghosts travelled by my side, and I could see fleeting specters in the main zocalo, the churches, the ruins, and around the corners and alleys Id creep through at night among the throngs of tourists, the Starbucks, KFC, McDonalds, North Face, and Patagonia storefronts, prominent, international names, that appeared to deface rather than illuminate.In the distance, surrounding the city, hundreds of thousands of lights twinkled in the dark mountains, newly constructed homes, old neighborhoods, and illegal settlements founded by the poor on vacant lands outside the city limits, the same urban blight as in other Peruvian cities.The thing about Peru is that the entire country is in the midst of growth, one of the few Latin American countries progressing in a region of the world where we hear about nothing but failure, chaos and confusion. Yet, even as I caught my plane home three weeks later, I never could truly find my footing, my comfort level in the land of Atahualpa, not like I could in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, or even Cuba, countries with strong identities, whether good or bad.To me, there was a sorrowful silence that permeated everything Peruvian, even the din ofmetropolitan downtown Lima. There was something unsettling beneath the surface of Peru I couldnt identify, as if the creature from the Black Lagoon was swimming on its back beneath our boat ready to pounce at any time, or perhaps the anticipation of living at the foot of hundreds of stewing volcanoes, maybe even the heartbreak of each new scandal corrupting legislators, young and old, and always, the people, no matter how hard they work, carrying the brunt of the sins.I couldnt seem to find Peru. Instead, I recognized the weight of other cultures, including Asian, European, Middle Eastern, and North American dominating the once proud Incan empire rather than complementing it. Its as if the Peruvian people are living on rented land whose landlords can hand out eviction notices at will, with Chile threatening from one side and Argentina from another. Everything seems temporary. With 2,000 varieties of potatoes, even the food tastes more European than Peruvian.Cuzco, a lovely, progressive city, is the jumping off point, in one direction to the heights of the Andes, where foreign mining companies exploit Peruvians working the gold and silver mines, and in the other direction to Machu Picchu and the depths of the Amazon, where oil and other natural resources are open to the highest bidder. On one side, ice and cold and on the other heat and humidity, with remnants of the great empire everywhere. Since 2007, and the induction of Machu Picchu as a World Heritage site, tourists flood the mountains, canyons, valleys, and jungles bringing in much needed income to desolate regions.For a vulnerable Latin American country, like Peru, gold, silver, ore, or uranium, as one tour guide explained, is like having a beautiful daughter, sometimes more a curse than a blessing. In Cuzco, and other Peruvian towns, many of the modern buildings are constructed atop ancient foundations laid by Inca and other Quiche speaking people, stone foundations of such strength and magnitude that to destroy them would have been nearly impossible, a poignant metaphor, as if the Peruvian people are propping up the outsiders who come in, extract anything of value, and place heavy burdens on those who remain.Like Fausto, as I climbed steep, cobble stone streets and pyramid steps, I could feel my own mortality, each beat of my heart pumping, the blood moving through my veins, the pressure in my head, the weight on my feet, and the curling of my toes. So many in much better shape than I have succumbed to the gods of heights. Cuzco is 7500 feet, Machu Picchu 4,000, Puno (and the infamous and enormous Lake Titicaca, with its 41 inhabited islands) 12,500 ft, and the upper levels of the Andes 16,500 ft. It is a beautiful country.Carlos, our guide from Cuzco to the Sacred Valley, told us only those who are sensitive to the country's mystical energy will experience it. Others see only antiquated ruins. As I watched condors with eight-foot wing spans fly, at 16,000 feet, I was cognizant of the fact that 2,000 feet above me, the illegal, nightmare of a town called La Rinconada, operated by a U.S. mining company, was destroying a wonderous landscape in its quest for gold, sending women and children, whose sleek, tiny bodies fit neatly into the narrow, frozen rock crevices. The Peruvian government turns a blind eye to the slaughter of innocence. There is no regulation, as in other industries.In an essay, Marie Arana wrote of Rinconadas streets, Mercury levels in those public spaces are 5,000 percent higher than what is permissible in regulated factories. But, here, no one is measuring. Women and children hurry through the murky haze, hawking their food and water. The sick struggle in and out of doorways, breathing the deadly air. At night, when the drinking establishments turn into brothels, La Rinconada descends through every circle of hell. Of course, La Rinconada, as well as other mining sites, where atrocities occur daily, are not on the tourist route."18 million [children] are engaged in hard labor in Latin America.... More than 2 million are in Peru, which accounts for the highest ratio of child laborers in all of Latin America."Miners are not paid a salary. They work 30 days for contractors and on the last day whatever they can pull from the mine on their back is theirs. "On average, a miner in La Rinconada earns $170 a month--$5.00 for every day of grueling work. If he has a bad month, he earns $30.00." And when one considers, "At 14,000 feet, the human body can experience pulmonary endma, blood closts, kidney failure; at 18,000 the injuries can be more severe." Working at La Rinconada is akin to indentured servitude. Many of the miners forfeit their identity cards and cannot leave until their contract has been completed.This type of systematic exploitation isn't only in Peru, or South America, but also in the fields of Central America and Mexico. Latin American governments receiving huge payouts by foreign governments and corporations, bribes couched as legitimate loans or government assistance, keep Latin American legislators' eyes turned away from the atrocities.So, when Americans see caravans of migrants heading north, seeking asylum, most are escaping, not just gangs, violence, or extortion, but ungodly working conditions under which they are required to toil. "For every gold ring that goes out into the world, 250 tons of rock must move, a toxic pound of mercury will spill into the environment, and countless lives--biological and botanical--will struggle with the consequences."As I enjoyed my lunch in the magnificent "white city" of Arequipa, dined in fine restaurants, and visited monasteries and museums, I came to understand why the nagging was more than just the altitude.
Hong Kong: Teresa Cheng visits Bangkok

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng promoted Hong Kongs legal and dispute resolution services in Bangkok today.

Ms Cheng met Thai Supreme Court President Cheep Jullamon and Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Prajin Juntong in the morning.

At the meetings, Ms Cheng introduced Hong Kongs legal system and the citys strengths in providing international legal and dispute resolution services under the Belt & Road Initiative.

Ms Cheng then attended a gathering with business sector representatives and briefed them on Hong Kongs latest developments.

On arrival in Bangkok on March 6, Ms Cheng attended a dinner hosted by the Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the Peoples Republic of China to the Kingdom of Thailand Lyu Jian.

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
News

UAE Rulers witness the launch of new 50-dirham banknote as part of Golden Jubilee celebrations

Sheikh Mansour added, "We see in this issuance that the UAE has entered a new phase in its history and a renewed pledge to continue the process of economic and social growth. This occasion also allowed us to express our appreciation and gratitude to our founding fathers, by issuing a new 50 dirham banknote to celebrate the passing of Fifty years since the establishment of the UAE.
Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

A judge Wednesday rejected an effort by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to force Sheriff Alex Villanueva to seize the badge and gun of one of his deputies, who was fired in 2016 over domestic abuse allegations. Villanueva rehired Carl Mandoyan after his election in November, claiming he was unfairly fired by former Sheriff Jim McDonnell.

Mandoyan was a key aide in Villanueva's successful campaign to oust McDonnell. The sheriff has denied the reinstatement was connected to his campaign work.

"I'm not sure the board has the authority to tell the sheriff not to rehire a deputy," said Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff, adding, "each county department head has the authority to hire eligible people."

"If the board controls the sheriff, why don't they fire the sheriff?" asked Beckloff, who went on to answer his own question: "Because they can't fire him."

The judge said he was also unconvinced by the county's argument that there was an urgent need to temporarily stop Mandoyan from acting as a deputy because McDonnell found him to be unfit to serve. The allegations over domestic abuse included a charge that Mandoyan stalked a fellow deputy. The civil service commission upheld his termination.

"What's the urgency?" Beckloff asked. "You've known about this for a while."

He set another hearing on the matter for June 26.

Mandoyan's attorney was elated.

"He's got a gun and badge and the judge said the board of supervisors cannot take it away from him," said attorney Greg Smith.

He declined to say exactly what Mandoyan is doing for the department. Mandoyan is assigned to the South L.A. station but has been seen at the sheriff's side at special events, including a graduation of new deputies from the academy.

REHIRED OR REINSTATED?

The county's lawyers argue Villanueva did not rehire but instead reinstated Mandoyan as a deputy. And there are rules that prohibit a sheriff from unilaterally reinstating a deputy, according to attorney Skip Miller.

"I'm concerned that a deputy who is no longer a deputy who went through the whole civil service process is out there holding himself out as a deputy and the sheriff is allowing it," Miller said. He said despite the judge's ruling, the county will continue to refuse to pay Mandoyan his salary.

Informed of Miller's comments, Smith said, "That's going to be a problem."

Attorneys for the sheriff declined to immediately comment.

Wednesday's hearing came in response to a county request that Beckloff not only order Mandoyan to relinquish his badge and gun, but that he enjoin Villanueva from recognizing Mandoyan as a deputy sheriff.

THE LETTER

The county filed the request after County Auditor-Controller John Naimo sent Mandoyan a letter on Feb. 28 informing him that his reinstatement was illegal and that he must return his badge and gun.

Miller said McDonnell fired Mandoyan in 2016 after the former sheriff concluded he had engaged in domestic abuse, breaking and entering into his ex-girlfiend's home and being untruthful about it with internal affairs investigators.

"He should not have a badge and gun and uniform," Miller said.

Once Mandoyan's rehiring became public, the Board of Supervisors sharply criticized the decision, saying it sends the wrong message to victims of domestic violence.

Some community groups echoed that criticism. The ACLU and a number of other organizations sent Villanueva a letter last month calling his decision to reinstate Mandoyan "deeply troubling," and accusing him of a "failure to take violence against women and abuse of power seriously."

Villanueva held his ground, dismissing those concerns and suggesting that because the female deputy refused to show up in court against Mandoyan that her allegations lacked merit. That further incensed at least some of the female supervisors, who said the sheriff's remarks betrayed a lack of understanding of how women deal with abuse.

The panel Villanueva set up to review Mandoyan's case said he had acted "in an irrational, unprofessional and impulsive manner" and "brought discredit to himself and the department" but still concluded that he should be rehired, according to a report obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

The group could not confirm the woman's claims that Mandoyan had physically abused her or that he had tried to break into her home, but it did say he had gone there, repeatedly knocked on her patio door and opened her unlocked bathroom window after she told him several times to leave, the Times said.

But in the end, the panel decided that "an individual should not be subjected to discipline based upon a police report alone and/or a temporary restraining order" without a conviction.
Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

The Los Angeles City Council voted 10-2 Wednesday in favor of settling a pending federal lawsuit filed by Skid Row residents. That suit, which accuses the city of unconstitutionally seizing and destroying their personal belongings, led to a temporary restraining order that has greatly restricted efforts to sweep area encampments for nearly three years.

The exact conditions of the settlement are not yet public, but they will likely codify strict limits on items that can be seized off the street in Skid Row.

The decision followed a series of raucous public meetings that pitted Skid Row anti-poverty advocates pushing for the city to settle the case against downtown business and redevelopment interests who wanted Los Angeles to litigate the case in court.

At City Hall on Wednesday, nearly two dozen people on both sides delivered impassioned testimony as to why L.A. should or shouldn't settle the case. After public comment, the city council recessed to closed session to discuss the matter.

Most everyone had left when council chambers re-opened to the public three hours later. During closed session, a steady stream of people in suits and carrying briefcases passed in and out of council chambers with of varying degrees of stressed or anxious expressions.

A QUESTION OF RIGHTS

The central tension is how Los Angeles can balance the constitutional rights of homeless people with health and safety concerns in the public spaces where homeless people often live.

The court case Los Angeles voted to settle on Wednesday, Mitchell v. Los Angeles, alleges the City of Los Angeles violated the fourth and 14th amendment rights of homeless residents by confiscating and destroying their property without notice, or a method for appeal.

One of the plaintiffs, Carl Mitchell, claims the city confiscated and destroyed his possessions, following his arrest for allegedly stealing a shopping cart. He says he was released from police custody 18 hours later on a 40 degree winter night without his blankets, medication, and identifying documents. According to court documents, Mitchell slept that night on the sidewalk beneath a single blanket he found on the street, with no way to keep warm.

A month after the case was filed, a federal judge issued a restraining order against Los Angeles that barred the city from seizing property on Skid Row unless the city could show it was abandoned, was contraband, or threatened public health.

Judge James Otero wrote in his April 2016 order: "To put it bluntly, Plaintiffs may not survive without some of the essential property that has been confiscated."

SETTLEMENT TERMS

The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in June.

Final settlement terms will have to be approved by the city council at a date yet-to-be-determined.

Steve Diaz, an organizer with the Los Angeles Community Action Network, a plaintiff in the case, said, "This is not about anything besides constitutional rights, and the right to property," said "What the [proposed] settlement does is make sure homeless residents of Skid Row are given ample notice of when a street cleanup happens to ensure they are able to move their personal belongings."

"Encampments do not come because people have constitutional rights. Encampments come because of the lack of housing, and the lack of affordability that exists in Los Angeles," he concluded.

But opponents say the proposed settlement would simply lead to deteriorating conditions.

"People have the right to their personal property, their clothing, their medications, their medical equipment, their documents, anything that will help them move forward in their lives. That's very different than unfettered amounts of debris that are causing unhealthy situations for people on the streets," said John Maceri, CEO of homeless services organization The People Concern.

Maceri, who opposed a settlement, added that having a different standard for property left on the street in Skid Row would complicate Los Angeles' ability to do encampment cleanups in other parts of the city.

Having different standards in different parts of the city is an invitation for more legal challenge.
One Interview May Jumpstart a New Beginning!

On Saturday, March 2nd 2019, The Southeast YouthSource Center- Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement Watts (LAYOM- Watts) in partnership with Focused on Youth a Southern California based non-profit began construction on a functional clothes closet to provide business professional clothes for the LAYOM Watts participants. The majority population of LAYOM-Watts participants consists of at-risk youth, many are Foster youth, current or former probation youth, homeless, and/or low income. In realizing the gap in services for the immediate needs and lack of business professional clothing, LAYOM-Watts and Focused on Youth thought it best to have an on site wardrobe. As of today Focused on Youth has donated over $5,000.00 worth of interview, office attire, accessories, as well as hardware and fixtures.

The Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters has also played an monumental part in bringing the project to fruition. Ted Jimenez, the Carpenters Union Special Representative collaborated with the Carpenters Union Participation Program (CUPP) and made the dreams of turning a small space, 57 feet, male locker room into a beautiful boutique. Six amazing volunteers on Saturday, spent eight hours providing labor, materials and equipment to make the clothes closet a fully functional. This venue will soon provide participants with their next interview outfit.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 11, Electrical Workers Minority Caucus (IBEW Local 11, EWMC) also sent six volunteers who contributed their time and skills on Saturday. New electrical lines were laid, receptacles were put in place, and lighting fixtures were installed. This project could not have taken form if it was not to the generous people of the community who had the desire to partake in this small but impactful project.

ADVERTISEMENT

On Saturday there was representation from Mayors Garcettis Office as well as Councilman Buscainos Office. Certificates honoring the volunteers were distributed for the hard work and their commitment to the community.

The clothes closet is expected to open on Tuesday, March 19th 2019 to LAYOM-Watts participants. Please call LAYOM-Watts if you are interested in programs and services, (323) 971-7659.

If you are interested in donating your gently used business professional clothing please contact [email protected].
Airbnb Partners with Los Angeles Emergency Management and the American Red Cross for Safety Workshop

Airbnb joined the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department and the American Red Cross to train local Airbnb hosts in Los Angeles about how to be prepared in the event of a natural disaster. The all-day workshop also included CPR First Aid Certification and was free of charge for Airbnb hosts. The workshop highlighted practical emergency preparedness guidance that hosts can incorporate to increase their disaster readiness during events such as an earthquake or a fire.

In addition to important safety information and CPR training, Airbnb hosts had the opportunity to learn about the companys Open Homes Initiative, which provides free, temporary housing to people who have left their home due to conflict, disaster or medical care.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Open Homes program also helps house relief workers and volunteers. During the California fires in Northern and Southern California last November, over 2,500 hosts Airbnb hosts opened their home to over 2,300 people in need of accommodations.

As a father of three, I know what its like to be concerned about ones family and their security. Airbnb not only allows me to make valuable income to support my family, it also allows to do something that Im very passionate about: help others. Through the Open Homes Program, Ive been able to open my home to six guests and look forward to continuing to help in times of need, said Airbnb host Marty Morisky.

Airbnbs Open Homes Program is a wonderful tool that better helps both Angelenos and visitors be ready in the event of a natural disaster. Were proud to partner with Airbnb to train Angelenos on emergency preparedness, said Aram Sahakian, of the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department.

Thanks to todays training, more Angelenos are prepared and ready for an emergency. We are proud to partner with Airbnb as they are committed to safety and building community resilience, said Joselito Garcia Ruiz of the American Red Cross.
BBA Hosts Annual Black History Awards Dinner

When ordinary people accomplish unbelievable achievements, they usually do so, with more heart than resources. Their defiance and rebelliousness are key to their economic transformation. Yet, through their personal gains and triumphs, they focus on uplifting communities. And in doing so, they become our heroes in business.

On Thursday, February 22, at the California African American Museum (CAAM), the Black Business Association (BBA) honored five community champions of human rights, social justice, and economic empowerment. Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., Bernard & Shirley Kinsey, Gwen Moore and Carl Dickerson, received Outstanding Recognition Awards, at BBAs 2019 Annual Black History Awards Dinner, in celebration of Black History Month.

This is not the end of Black History Month. Its important that we celebrate history, and Black folks every day of the year. Its our legacy of Black folks that this nations foundation was built on, said Earl Skip Cooper II, BBA president and CEO. He was overwhelmed by the line-up of honorees chosen.

The event attracted community leaders, business owners and various members of society, eager to celebrate the immense accomplishments of these Black entrepreneurs. This years theme was Black Migration. The organization saluted community builders who have paved the way for and inspired successful Black entrepreneurs from around the world.

l . Dickerson, founder and c hairman of the b oard of Dickerson Employee Benefits Insurance, received the Lifetime Entrepreneur Award of Excellence . He served over 50 years as an insurance salesman, and was known for his dependability and ti meliness . Because of prior commitments, Mr. Dickerson was unable to attend the event .

Bernard and Shirley Kinsey were awarded together because of their history of running leading businesses as partners. Mr. Kinsey is a Los Angeles philanthropist and entrepreneur with a passion for African-American history and art of the 19th and 20h centuries. He and his wife, Shirley, have been called, one of the most admired and respected couples in Los Angeles. They received the Lifetime Achievement in Black Heritage Arts Award. Mrs. Kinsey referenced their challenging but successful journey, migrating from the South to the West. And we did it without Green Book, she said. Mrs. Kinsey went on recognize those who paved roads before her. Tonight, we humbly accept this award, and those whose shoulders we stand on and whose voices we hear  you all are the answers to the prayers of our ancestors.

Mr. Kinsley shared that the dynamic business duo was celebrating 52 years of marriage. She is the best part of my day and night, he said. He elaborated on the balance of being married and business owners. You have to see the future together and thats what we did. Kinsey urged the audience to keep Black dollars circulating in the community.

ADVERTISEMENT

Danny J. Bakewell Sr., has fought, marched and protested for civil justice though out his life. He is the founding member and current board chairman and former president and CEO of the Brotherhood Crusade and currently the executive publisher/CEO of the Los Angeles Sentinel and the chairman of Bakewell Media. He received the Lifetime Civil Rights, Entrepreneurial Award of Excellence. He is the founder of Taste of Soul, the largest street festival west of the Mississippi, with over 350,000 attendees.

Mr. Bakewell praised Mr. Cooper for his leadership of the BBA and for creating the event. He then mentioned working with his family as a highlight in his business career. The man from New Orleans reflected on the award. Whether shutting down construction sites because they werent hiring Black people or shutting down the Tournament of Roses parade for not having Black board directors, Bakewell fought for the improvement of Blacks in business and provided jobs and housing opportunities for thousands.

I cant believe people want to honor me for the things that Ive done, when the things I have done are things Im supposed to do, he said. Black folks needed me at the time to provide some leadership and fill a void in our community. He urged attendees to honor the past but implored them to honor the current historical leaders in their own neighborhoods and families.

Gwen Moore, former legislator in the California State Assembly and now founder and CEO of GeM Communications Group, received the Lifetime Professional Award of Excellence. She is responsible for numerous pieces of legislature that were passed during her tenure as a legislator and she was the first African American female elected to the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees.

When I was in the legislature, I got more bills signed into law than any other legislator, she said. Moore is also responsible for bills that forced large supermarkets to have restrooms and the California Lifeline Bill for people who couldnt afford a cell phone or basic telephone service. She thanked her fellow awardees and attendees for coming. Let me say, thank you to the BBA and thank you to all who came out. We need more people to get involved because this is how we make a difference. This how we make a change.

African Americans have made contributions that stand as a testament to their resolve, resilience, and courage. Over the course of our Nations history, African Americans have endured egregious discrimination and bigotry. They have, nevertheless, always been determined to contribute their earnest efforts to Americas greatness. This annual observance is an opportunity to remember the challenges of our past, but also to honor

countless African-American heroes who inspire us to shape our countrys future, said Cooper II.

ADVERTISEMENT

www.BBALA.org
CCCCF Marks International Womens Month with Meagan Good

In honor of International Womens Day, the Sisters in Christ Ministry of the Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship (CCCF) will spotlight several diverse and multi-generational church members.

The service takes place on Sunday, March 17, at 11 a.m., in the CCCF sanctuary located at 2085 S. Harvard Blvd., in Los Angeles, said Pastor James K. McKnight. The theme is Steppin Out In Faith: Livin the Life God Designed.

We invite the community to join us as we welcome actress and author Meagan Good as our speaker and spotlight the gifts and talents of some of our members, said McKnight. These extraordinary women represent diverse disciplines and all of them have unique and unsung stories that deserve to be shared.

ADVERTISEMENT

The honorees are Randall Lindsay, Marlborough High School senior; Brianna Hammond, Xavier College freshman; Flora Cordett, community activist; Lauren Trosclaire Duncan, American Red Cross employee; Lastanja Baker, Toyota USA executive; Mildred Cogman, retired educator; Alice Walker Duff, retired Bread for the World employee; and church elders Jessie Irvin, Ruth Jordan and Eleanor Brown. Also, Vivian Clark will receive a posthumous award for her work with breast cancer awareness.

Good, a NAACP Image Award-winner, will share her journey and faith walk, noted McKnight. In 2016, she published The Wait: A Powerful Practice for Finding the Love of Your Life and the Life You Love with her husband, DeVon Franklin.

Her acting credits include the May 3 release of The Intruder, A Boy. A Girl. A Dream: Love on Election Night in 2018, Foxs series Minority Report in 2015, and Eves Bayou in 1997. Also, Good guest-starred in three episodes of the CBS medical drama, Code Black.

Following the worship, CCCF will host a fellowship reception. To learn more, call (323) 731-8869 or email [email protected].
Community Coalition Hosts Roundtable Discussion with Presidential Candidate Julian Castro

The Community Coalition is widely known across South Los Angeles for uplifting the voices of Black and Brown residents, surrounding topics like poverty, crime, and violence. As part of its ongoing mission to help transform the social and economic conditions in South L.A., the organization led a roundtable discussion with secretary of housing and urban development and 2020 presidential candidate, Julian Castro.

The event was held on Monday, March 4, at the Community Coalition headquarters to provide Castro with the opportunity to hear from local residents and community-based organizations regarding issues that affect African Americans and Latinos in local communities. Community Coalition president and CEO, Alberto Retana moderated the meeting.

Those in attendance included: SLATE Z executive director, Effie Turnbull Sanders, advancement project executive director, John Kim, SEIU 2015 president, April Verrett, Community Coalition SCYEA Youth Program alumni, Tanness Walker and Joshua Ham, Southern California regional lead, Niquise Toliver, Power California executive director, Luis Sanchez, and other local residents.

ADVERTISEMENT

The meeting began with Community Coalition vice president of organizational development, Leslie Johnson providing a brief overview on the organizations mission, beliefs, and core values.

Walker spoke first explaining how the Community Coalition changed her and her familys life.

I continue to volunteer with SCYEA after I graduated high school because I know that there are Black and Brown youth in my community that still need help and need to know what leadership is, she said.

If we dont teach them who will? I feel like there were many factors in my life and me and my brothers lives that were very negative and very detrimental to my family, but having COCO [Community Coalition] as a family showed us how to do things.

Another topic discussed during the meeting, was this idea of equity in marginalized communities and the negative effects of proposition 13.

About 50 years ago, the state [named itself] the golden state and that came about from decades of investment in our infrastructure, in our schools, and so on and so forth. What happened though is it became very clear overtime that it [California] was a golden state for a few folks and not for everybody, said Kim.

He goes on to say that there needs to be a continued push and fight for equity and excellence in the South L.A. community. The event continued with statements regarding Black and Brown voter engagement, raising the minimum wage in California, and providing resources for men and women, who have been released from prison.

ADVERTISEMENT

After hearing the concerns of the community members and local organizations, Castro shared his thoughts.

Thank you everyone for sharing the work you are doing in the community and your stories. What I am most proud of with this effort [involving] the Community Coalition is that it empowers residents themselves to be the engine of that change, he said.

I have been in public service long enough to know that a lot of times at the table where decisions are made, those decisions are made without the perspective of the people who are actually impacted and being affected and because of that sometimes things are made worse or sometimes you have a solution or an approach that is not as effective as it could be. Your activism, your energy, and your demanding of all of us who are running for office and those who are in office to be accountable is exactly what communities need.

Community Coalition president and CEO, Retana closed the meeting by inviting Castro back to the center to share his vision for helping Black and Latino communities in South L.A.
Congressional Delegation Returns From Africa

On Tuesday, March 5, Representative Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, and Representatives Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) returned from a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) to Ethiopia and Eritrea. The goal of the visit was to support regional peace and security in the Horn of Africa and to encourage countries to place human rights at the center of the reforms.

It was important our first Congressional Delegation trip of this Congress be to the Horn of Africa because of the change the region is going through following the historic peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea that ended 20 years of conflict, said Representative Bass. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came into office with a serious reform agenda aimed at ending political repression. Since coming into office, the Prime Minister has freed thousands of political prisoners, opened the media, and appointed women to half of the cabinet posts. I was in Ethiopia shortly after the Prime Minister took office and looked forward to an update on his progress. Our delegation was fortunate to meet with the President of Ethiopia and several of the new female cabinet members.

In addition to wanting to send the signal that we support Prime Minister Abiy Ahmeds reform agenda, our delegation was also meant to encourage the new peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The last U.S. Congressional Delegation to visit the country was in 2005, when my predecessor on the Subcommittee, the late Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey, traveled to Eritrea. Our delegation had a number of productive conversations with Eritrean government officials. We discussed the need for transformation and urged officials to be vigilant about human rights abuses in Eritrea and to implement respect for civil liberties. We also discussed Eritreas unlimited national service requirement, which is one of the main reasons why thousands have fled the country. The government officials we met with informed us that the policy is under review now that the security situation in Eritrea has improved. We also met with young Eritreans and were able to hear about their daily lives and their hope for the future.

ADVERTISEMENT

This Congressional Delegation to the Horn of Africa was critical because it signals to the region as a whole that we are supportive of positive reforms.

I echo Chairwoman Bass statement, and appreciated the opportunity to join her on this diplomatic CODEL trip to Ethiopia and Eritrea, said Representative Neguse. I look forward to further discussions with my colleagues and the State Department on how to further promote peace, security, human rights, and democratic reforms in the region.

I was impressed with the regional thaw in East Africa after Eritrea and Ethiopia made peace, said Representative Omar. As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, my focus has been on peace and human rights and shifting our focus on humanitarian aid to developmental aid. It was a great honor to join Chairwoman Bass for the first official CODEL to the Horn of Africa. The United States has been supportive of Prime Minister Abiys reform agenda, and I believe we must use this opportunity to foster prosperity in the region and make investments that will fundamentally transform our relationship with the region.
Congresswoman Norton Fighting for Black Press in New Congress

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is a living legend with more than 50 honorary degrees and a list of accomplishments the size of her beloved District of Columbia. One of the ways that Norton remains updated through her book club.

I think the book that I enjoy is On the Basis of Sex, about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Norton said. But, as far as having a favorite movie, television show or song, I dont have time. Thats because shes busy fighting for the rights of her fellow Washingtonians.

Its a battle shes fought for nearly 30 years as the Districts representative in the House of Representatives.

ADVERTISEMENT

Certainly nothing can be more important than making the District a state and I dont suppose that any member of Congress can do anything thats more important, said Norton, 81. We are going to get a vote on statehood this time and I expect it to be successful in Congress. Well just have to see what happens in the Senate.

Norton arrived in Congress in 1991.

Already a national figure known for her work during the civil rights movement, Norton arrived with a determination that others could easily see.

Her hard work helped to break barriers for Washington as she successfully fought for a bill that provided up to $10,000 annually for high school students in D.C. to attend any public U.S. college or university.

That bill also provided up to $2,500 per year for D.C. students to attend many private colleges and universities.

She also gained a unique $5,000 D.C. homebuyer tax credit for residents and helped stabilize the citys population with various incentives during times of economic crisis.

ADVERTISEMENT

Most of that was accomplished while Democrats sat in the minority.

What really excites me is that for most of my time, Ive been in the minority and now Im subcommittee chair of the biggest subcommittee, Norton said. Being in the majority means I get to vote on the House Floor in the Committee of the Whole. This is very important for the District on its way to statehood, she said.

The history of D.C. and her upbringing has kept Norton active and fighting, she said.

Im [was] born and raised in this segregated city without any Home Rule rights and no equal rights when the city was segregated, Norton said. Im a third generation Washingtonian and Im the great, great granddaughter of a runaway slave, so motivation is built into my DNA.

As a child, Black History Month was known as Negro History Week, but the importance of the observance is hard to lose when you are a child of the District, she said.

Washington had slavery and it wasnt liberated until just before the Civil War. So, the Black part of things is that its a major part of the life of my country, Norton said.

Womens History Month is likewise because I had parents who encouraged me to be whatever I wanted to be. Im fortunate enough to be at the birth of the Womens Rights Movement. It means that [she and her two sisters] have been a part of the most important movements of the 20th century, she said.

Each movement arrived when she was a young woman so she feels that happenstance being a part of both movements of freedom, Norton said.

Along with the many battles still ahead, Norton has also tackled the issue of federal agencies and how they spend their combined more than $5 billion advertising budget.

She said shes gathered co-sponsors for a bill that will require all agencies in the government to produce their spending reports and detail what they have spent and will spend with Black-owned newspapers and media companies.

I introduced it the last session, but its a new session and [Democrats] are in the majority so theres a difference, Norton said, adding that she remains amazed at how Black newspapers  particularly in a major city like Washington  have been able to thrive.

You just wouldnt know whats really going on if you didnt have the Black Press of America, Norton said.

Thats why I asked for a Government Accountability Office report to detail what federal agencies spend with the Black Press. My legislation will make the government lead by example in advertising with the Black Press and make them more conscious of their obligations.

Thats why I push it the way I am pushing it now, she said.

For Norton, it all syncs with a motto she adopted from the Declaration of Independence.

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, Norton said, quoting that famous document.

What I love is the saying, self-evident. Take a moment and think about that saying. I do, she said.
Councilwoman Nury Martinez: Working Toward a More Viable, More Inclusive L.A.

Since being elected to Los Angeles City Council in 2013, President Por Tempore Nury Martinez, made some of the most pressing issues in the city, like human trafficking, better wages and a better environment her priority. The Sentinel recently caught up with Martinez, to talk about these issues, giving residents some insight into how their council members are working for them. She and her colleagues, she said, are looking to move toward a more viable and cleaner Los Angeles, that includes every neighborhood, even those traditionally left behind.

Ive been working on the issue of minimum wage [here], Martinez told the Sentinel during a recent interview.

We wanted to increase the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour [and] my colleagues and I were successful in 2015 in getting the ordinance signed into law.

ADVERTISEMENT

It has been working families of color who have been hit the hardest [by the economic downturn], she said.

My argument is that we need to take care of the people who are barely getting by like a single mother (for instance) raising three children. She s trying to hold down two jobs. So, how do we make sure shes making decent wages and is able to support her kids?

On the heels of that, Martinez also worked with her colleagues to introduce the parental leave motion, that gives families the opportunity to bond with each other and their new additions.

Ive been very interested in parental leave as means for new parents to take up to eighteen weeks of leave without a reduction in pay, Martinez said.

That means whether you have a baby or adopt a baby, whether you are a man or a woman, you have eighteen weeks with uninterrupted pay to bond with your child. No parent should have to choose between their paycheck and bonding with their baby.

Im a big proponent of ensuring that we get closer to this goal. We are the epicenter of innovation in the 21st Century economy so its about time we catch up with making families a priority in our city.

ADVERTISEMENT

Martinez recently coauthored a motion she said, supporting a green deal for Los Amgeles.

This is basically talking about taking climate change head on. We need to make sure that every strategy were using to fight against climate change, starts in frontline communities.

Often times when we talk about climate change and we talk about the environment, neighborhoods like South L.A. and Pacoima are left behind. These are the communities of color who have been bearing the most burden of the infrastructure and development in our city.

The kids in these communities are the ones who suffer from asthma. Weve been left out of the green economy. So its really important that we start with these communities.

Perhaps one of the issues Martinez is most passionate about, is human trafficking, especially when it comes to the health and safety of children.

I became concerned, having been on a ride along with LAPD in my (6th) district, Martinez recalled.

What they had invited me to was a prostitution sting. And I was sort of wondering, well what does that mean? I grew up in my district so I know every square inch of it.

I went with a cop in an unmarked car and he talked about the prostitution on Sepulveda Blvd. And, we were trying to find what they called prostitutes. What became very apparent to me is that the girls they were calling prostitutes were children. I witnessed girls who were as young as 13 years old.

We made a number of arrests of men who were soliciting girls for sex. And we made a number of arrests of women who were prostitutes. What did not sit well with me, is that the women we were arresting and calling prostitutes were actually children. They were somebodys children.

No thirteen year old that Ive ever known wants to be out there in the middle of the night, cold, shivering, half naked selling her body. So, we need to find out what that is whats creating the problem, whats the main source of the problem. You dont have to be a woman or a parent to know that grown men soliciting children for sex is wrong. We shouldnt have to shame people into acknowledging that this is an epidemic in this country.

First we need to stop calling them women. First of all theyre children. Second, theyre victims because some is victimizing them (when they are forcing them to do it). What are we doing once we arrest them? Are we simply creating a rap sheet for them? Or, are we trying to take women off the street, especially children so we can help them turn their life around.

Also, what can we do to change the environment/ culture (in neighborhoods that allow this to go on?) I think theres a misconception in this country that these girls belong to someone else or they come from another country. Or, simply, because theyre brown and black kids maybe society just doesnt care. These children are predominately American girls. A lot of these kids are victims of the foster care system.

One, we started to change how the [police] departments dealt with these women. We stopped calling them women and started calling them victims. Instead of arresting women, why dont we go after the people who brought them here who are pimps?

We wanted to stand with victims so they could help prosecutors go after these guys and build a case that can put these people away for good.

We cant just throw these girls away and pretend theyre not our problem. They are. They look just like us

Besides her position as president pro tempore, Martinez represents Los Angeles 6th District. She was elected in a special election on July 23, 2013 to succeed Tony Cardenas, who vacated his seat to become U.S. House Representative for Californias 29th congressional district. Martinez was the only woman serving on the city council for nearly four years, and was the first Latina member in a quarter century.

Martinez is a 1996 graduate of California State University, Northridge. In 2009, she was elected as a member of the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District, representing the LAUSD District 6.
Emmy Winner Sterling K. Brown To Receive 2019 Nab Television Chairmans Award

This Is Us and Black Panther star Sterling K. Brown will receive the NAB Television Chairmans Award during the NAB: We Are Broadcasters Celebration on Tuesday, April 9 at the 2019 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The award honors individuals for significant achievements in television.

Brown currently stars in NBCs This Is Us. He received an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the role, becoming the first African American actor to win Best Actor in a TV Series in the Golden Globes 75-year history. Brown was also the first African American actor to receive the SAG Award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama, and twice received a SAG award alongside his cast for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

In 2018, Brown co-starred in Marvels record-breaking and Oscar nominated blockbuster Black Panther. This year, he will star in four films, including Sonys Angry Birds 2, Paramounts The Rhythm Section, Disneys Frozen 2 and A24s Waves. In 2017, he co-starred in the drama Marshall, for which he received an NAACP Image Award nomination for his performance.

ADVERTISEMENT

In 2016, Brown portrayed prosecutor Christopher Darden in FXs highly-rated award-winning television event series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. He won an Emmy Award and Critics Choice Award for the role and was nominated for a Golden Globe, SAG Award and NAACP Image Award. He previously starred in Lifetimes acclaimed series Army Wives. His other television appearances include hosting Saturday Night Live, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Insecure, Supernatural and Criminal Minds, among others.

Sterling Brown is a remarkably gifted actor who continues to break barriers with the range of characters he portrays on TV and the big screen, said NAB Television Board Chairman Jordan Wertlieb. We are honored to recognize Mr. Brown for his acting craft and his ability to connect with audiences of all types.

Established to recognize individuals for significant achievement in one or more specific art disciplines in television, the NAB Television Chairmans Award first debuted in 2009 with four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe-winning actor Kelsey Grammar as the recipient. The last recipient was television and film actress Kristin Bell in 2018.
Faith in God Guides Robinsons Business and Missionary Endeavors

March is Womens History Month and in recognition of the occasion, the L.A. Sentinel Religion section will present L.A.-area Champions of Faith, which features ordinary people inspired by their faith to make a difference in the community.

Evangelist Sonja Thompson Robinson, owner of One-Of-A- Kind Hats and missionary

What role has God or your faith played in your ministry/profession?

ADVERTISEMENT

Faith and trust in God have been a key element in my life and in every endeavor. The business I started in 1986 is a testament to that fact.

One-Of-A-Kind Hats was opened without a bank loan, substantial amount of capital or financial backers. It was opened with a dream, hard work, ethic, determination and the scripture Mark 11:25  Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them.

There have been three locations, including one in a major mall, over a 35-year period. The hat designs have been featured in movies, television, magazines and newspapers. We have a noted celebrity client base and have received numerous Awards.

What is a memorable moment or experience during your ministry/profession?

As an evangelist missionary, I have ministered in many countries including South Africa, Haiti, Brazil and Mexico. The most memorable moment in my ministry was a mission trip to Haiti.

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. There is no proper disposal of sewage, trash pickups are random and water supply or electricity is not consistent. Fifty-nine percent of the people live below the poverty line.

ADVERTISEMENT

Our mission group attended a church service with the local people. The women were dressed in white dresses and white lace for their heads. They were impeccable. I have never seen white that white.

They wash clothes in tin tubs with washboards. The church was so clean with polished wood banisters and floors. The men were neatly groomed in suits and ties. The choir was angelic. The people danced and rejoiced for hours.

Afterwards, they served us a chicken and rice dinner. What I experienced was richness in the midst of poverty. I saw pride, dignity, joy, love and giving. They were rich in spirit.

What are you doing or working on now and what are some of your future goals?

I am presently working on writing a business manual, a how to start your own business book. We are now in a volatile time in the job market, especially for minorities. I think you must learn to generate your own jobs. Entrepreneurship is the way of the future. The book will be a manual that will give you guidelines as how to start a business without a large amount of capital. My future goals are to establish business workshops and seminars.

How can others help or get involved in your efforts?

I think it is important to get involved in the community. The church goes beyond the four walls. Ministry must reach out to those that wont come inside a building. We must learn to reach out and relate to the millennials. The world is changing and we must change with it.
GLAAACC Names Patricia Williams Franchise Owner Of The Year

The Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce (GLAAACC) will honor entrepreneur and philanthropist Patricia Williams as the Franchise Owner of the Year at the 26th Annual Economic Awards Dinner on Friday, March 8, at the JW Marriott at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles. The gala awards ceremony recognizes individuals, small businesses and corporations who have contributed to the economic growth and development of the African American small business community.

Patricia Williams is one of the most successful franchise business owners in the country, said GLAAACC Chairman Gene Hale. Not only is Pat successful, but her generosity in giving back to the community makes it an honor to recognize her for her many contributions.

Williams did not start her career with entrepreneurial aspirations. With a bachelors degree in recreational therapy and a Masters Degree in counseling, she put her education to good use as a rehabilitation therapist. Her husband was a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. Williams was inspired to take a leap of faith and go through the certification process of becoming a McDonalds owner by a family member who owned McDonalds franchises. In 1984, the couple cashed out their retirement accounts and used the funds to purchase a McDonalds franchise in Compton.

ADVERTISEMENT

The first location turned out to be a success, which led to the purchase of a second franchise 18 months later. Unfortunately, the couple divorced, and Williams purchased her husbands share of the business. Ten years later, the single mother of two sold both stores and purchased five more franchises.

Williams strategy for business growth consisted of a combination of acquiring existing locations and building new ones. Over three decades later, Williams McDonalds empire includes over a dozen stores with 700 employees and an annual revenue of $50 million.

She has made Black Enterprises List of the countrys 100 largest Black-owned businesses (The BE 100) numerous times and received many awards and accolades. Her daughters, Nicole Enearu and Kerri Harper-Howie, have also joined the family business.

In the early 2000s, Enearu participated in McDonalds certification process for owners and purchased her own store. She later became the first female African American chair for McDonalds Southern California Regional Leadership Council.

Already a successful lawyer, Harper-Howie started out in the family business by providing legal and human resources assistance. She soon embarked on the Next Generation training program for children of McDonalds owners in preparation for operating her own store.

Today, Williams and her two daughters operate a multi-million dollar company that provides hundreds of jobs to the local community.

ADVERTISEMENT

They also provide scholarships to local students and fund local and national charities.

One lesson that I hope I instilled in every life that I have touched is that if you want it bad enough and youre willing to make the sacrifice, you can achieve it, said Williams.

Franchise Owner of the Year is one of over a dozen award categories that GLAAACC will be presenting at its annual gala, including African American Business of the Year, Banking and Financial Institution of the Year, Purchasing Executive, Construction Company of the Year, Small Business Advocate, Public Works Contractor of the Year and Corporation of the Year.

For more information on GLAAACCs 26th Annual Economic Awards Dinner, visit GLAAACC.org or call (323)292-1297.
Historic Trip to Ghana to Mark 400th Anniversary of Africans Arriving to U.S. in 1619

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first documented arrival of Africans in Virginia, a Philadelphia travel agency has organized a once-in-a-lifetime historic trip, retracing the steps of history in Ghana, dating back to 1619, the birthplace of so many Americans of African descent.

Lloyd Murray, founder and president of Palace Travel, says this trip is one of the most unique trips and experiences he has ever led to Africa. The Historic Return of the African Diaspora tour will take place August 5 to August 14, 2019. It is billed as an opportunity to draw the worlds attention to this symbolic moment of the long history of African enslavement.

For the first time traveler to Africa, I would say that this trip will offer them a rich, heartwarming experience that they truly wont get with any other tour, Murray said. For those who have traveled to Ghana before, all I have to say, youll experience this country in a way that youve never experienced in the past. With the 400-year anniversary, Ive worked with the tourism office and government officials to give you access to a trip that will get you even more familiar with Ghanas rich culture and history.

ADVERTISEMENT

What makes this trip unique is that it will take travelers along the slave route from capture to storage at Cape Coast Slave dungeon now referred to as Slave Castles. Also included will be atonement ceremonies. There will be wreath-laying and tributes to Pan African pioneers, including Dr. W.E.B. Dubois, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Diaspora participants will meet with chiefs and elders and will be addressed by high-level government officials.

Noted historians and local experts will take visitors on tours of W.E.B. DuBois former home and cultural visits to the Ashanti Kingdom where the groups will be especially welcomed by the Ashanti King. One of the more emotional legs of the trip will take travelers to Cape Coast Castle, known for the infamous The Door of No Return through which millions passed on the way to slavery. This is where travelers will be guest of the Paramount Chief of Elmina, Nana Kojo Conduah IV. The day will be capped off with the traditional Fihankra Ceremony where Returnees will participate in a traditional Naming Ceremony and receive their certificates of authentication.

For more information about the trip, go to PalaceTravel.com ( https://www.palacetravel.com/african-tours/return-african-diaspora-ghana/ ). Travel agents interested in receiving a commission for booking passengers on this trip, should contact the agency at ancestry(at) palacetravel.com
Local Organization Change the Tune Reimagines South L.A.

Charli Kemp has always been infatuated with music and cooking and how these activities bring people together. During the summer of 2017, Kemps two passions would intertwine creating her ideal non-profit Change the Tune.

Who is Charli Kemp?

Prior to launching Change the Tune, the Leimert Park native had dreams of becoming a lawyer and studying business. After graduating from Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES), Kemp attended and graduated from Spelman College with a bachelors degree in economics and political science.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ive always been the kid who sold candy in school, so [I like to say] I had an entrepreneurial spirit. When I went to Spelman for College, thats kind of what influenced me. I was like [political science] for law and economics for business and then my plan was to get a JD/MBA she said.

After completing her undergraduate degree, Kemp taught middle school math and science in New York City through Teach for America. In the classroom, Kemp integrated music and cooking in her lessons to teach students how to apply math and science concepts to real world experiences.

Shortly after her five year tenure, Kemp decided to pursue an MBA at University of Southern Californias (USC) School of Business. Later, she joined Green Dot Public schools as a cluster business manager. Today, Kemp is a leadership and life coordinator for Green Dot. Kemps educational background, combined with her experience as an educator, exposed her to the issues students were facing in the South Los Angeles area. Thus, Kemp decided to Change the Tune and recreate the system of inequity that perpetuates negative narratives.

The Birth of Change the Tune

The goal of Change the Tune is to create new systems that disrupt the system, that breaks down the system and that hopefully forges a new system to create what we want to see in our society, said Kemp.

According to Kemp, a few of the challenges impacting the South Los Angeles community are [the] lack of access to healthy food options, [the] lack of physical space for afterschool activities, and [the] lack of combined affordable and quality food options at music venues.

Change the Tune was curated to tackle these problems by bringing people together to connect, synergize, and collaborate leveraging the universal connectors music and food.

The non-profit organization accomplishes this by utilizing a three part model to help urban working professionals and local youth. Part one of the model allowed Change the Tune to team up with the non-profit organization Aim 4 the Heart to produce For the Change, a semi-annual music show case event inspired by social impact. Although the event provides attendees with healthy dinner, drinks, and a show, the primary purpose behind the music showcase is to create conversations about social challenges and raise funds for local youth after school activities.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tickets are priced between $15 and $20 and all proceeds go towards Change the Tunes student programming to support underserved communities.

The second part of the model, which launched in February 2019, is the organizations free after school multidisciplinary arts lab which is held at Hot & Cool Cafe in Leimert Park.

The lab, equips youth ages 10-14 with the critical thinking, collaboration, problem solving, creativity, and communication skills that are needed to thrive in the 21st century.

Kemp, who is also the Change the Tune lab instructor, helps children develop these skills through entrepreneurship, STEM, and trauma informed art practices like culinary arts, music/performing arts and visual arts.

The third piece of the model is social impact and consulting.

We target small businesses and business looking to increase their impact within underserved communities, said Kemp.

Additionally, our consulting practice and after-school program work with larger companies to create pipelines increasing diversity and inclusion within various sectors.

Whats next for Change the Tune? Kemp told the Los Angeles Sentinel that her primary focus is establishing the organization. However, in the future she plans to start a Change the Tune summer camp.

The Change the Tune multidisciplinary arts lab is free of charge and held every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30pm-5:30pm beginning February 12th through June 6th at Hot & Cool Cafe located at 4331 Degnan Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90008. Snacks will be provided.

To register your child for the multidisciplinary arts lab or for more information on how you can donate or volunteer with Change the Tune please visit www.changetune.org or call (213) 709-9315.
New Interactive Website Featuring Henry Louis Gates, Tracks Slave Voyages

In his PBS series, Finding Your Roots  Henry Louis Gates Jr. presents guests whose roots cover the globe  from Samoa, Nigeria, Taiwan and Sicily to Iran, Ireland, India and Cuba  and almost everywhere in between.

Each episode weaves together their stories, gleaned from cutting-edge DNA analysis and old school genealogical detective work.

And, at the center of it all and guiding every discovery is Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.

ADVERTISEMENT

Gates is also now featured on a newly updated website, slavevoyages.org, which contains databases of the Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American slave trade.

The databases are the culmination of several decades of independent and collaborative research by scholars who draw upon information in libraries and archives around the world, according to a news release.

The new slave voyages website counts as the product of three years of development by a multi-disciplinary team of historians, librarians, curriculum specialists, cartographers, computer programmers, and web designers, in consultation with scholars of the slave trade from universities in Europe, Africa, South America, and North America.

Among the many unique features are an African names database.

The producers of the site note that during the last 60 years of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, courts around the Atlantic basins condemned over 2,000 vessels for engaging in slave trafficking and recorded the details of captives found on board those ships, including African names.

Links are provided to the ships in the Voyages Database from which the liberated Africans were rescued, as well as to the African Origins site where users can hear the names pronounced and help us identify the languages they think the names originated from or are used.

ADVERTISEMENT

The site also takes a deep look at the slave trade within the Americas, which, after the initial disembarkation of African captives in the New World, has received scant attention from historians, especially for the period prior to the abolition of transatlantic slave traffic.

An article on the site examines similar types of intra-American trafficking as an introduction to the launching of the Intra-American Slave Trade Database, which aims to document evidence of slave voyages throughout the New World.

The site now offers access to details of more than 36,000 slave trading voyages between Africa and the New World; 11,000 voyages from one part of the Americas to another part; and 92,000 Africans who were forced to take the voyage, Gates said.

Users can analyze data and view video and they can contribute corrections and add information on voyages the editors dont even know about, he said. The website allows viewers to explore the dispersal of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic world.

According to the website, the digital memorial raises questions about the largest slave trades in history and offers access to the documentation available to answer them.

It recounts how European colonizers turned to Africa for enslaved laborers to build the cities and extract the resources of the Americas. Also, how those colonizers forced millions of mostly unnamed Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas, and from one part of the Americas to another.

Those viewing the website can analyze these slave trades and view interactive maps, timelines, and animations to see the dispersal.

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the work on the site was done at the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship, the University of California at Irvine, and the University of California at Santa Cruz with the Hutchins Center of Harvard University providing support.

I find it inspiring that our fellow Americans are so determined to explore their own ancestral heritage, Gates noted.
Prof. Hal and Dr. Bettye Walker Making History Opening The First Chapter of the National Space Society on the African Continent In Cape Town, South Africa

South Africa welcomed the opening of The first Chapter of theNational Space Societys (NSS) on the African Continent: The Cape Town Space Society(CTSS). Prof. Hildreth (Hal) Walker, Jr. , the man that conducted the Lunar Laser Ranging Operations during the Apollo 11 Moon Landing and Dr. Bettye Walker worked tirelessly to bring the first Chapter of the US National Space Society to The African Continent and received a grand welcome.

The audience of 600 enjoyed a true adventure into outer Space at Buren High School on Wednesday February 27, 2019. The Auditorium was transformed into a Space Vehicle and the Lights, Cameras and Action began!

Philosopher Andre du Toit, from Smile Radio Station 94 FM, served as MC for the event and the 3 students who attended the 2018 International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in Los Angeles with Hal and Bettye, stepped out of the Space Shuttle in their Astronaut outfits to present the follow up information on their VASIMR Engine Project.

Prof Hal Walker gave an amazing speech on the insight on his Laser Ranging Experiment during the Apollo 11 Moon Landing 50 Years ago. Dr. Bettye introduced NOMATHEMBA Kontyo, a former student that she trained who worked on the Mars Rovers mission at JPL/NASA when she was 15 and who now has her Masters in Geology. Bettye also introduced Astronomer and physicist from New York. In attendance, were the Deputy US Consul General and former Counsel General from South Africa to Los Angeles, along with VIP guests from Los Angeles, Washington, D.C, Detroit, Michigan, New York and the UK. Brian Hagerty, Chair, IEEE Southern California Council, brought greetings to the audience via SKYPE from Los Angeles. Other attendees included, The Rotary clubs of Sea Point, Am Kap and Blouberg with DG Kruger and PDG Stassen.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Opening was sponsored by The Afrinique Foundation for Women and Youth and The Croxton Cape pty Ltd.

In 1997, President Nelson Mandela asked Hildreth and Bettye to Promise to implement science and technology programs in South Africa schools. They fulfilled this promise and A-MAN, Inc. STEM International provides programs where students participate in hands- on activities with laser beams, robotics, and computer labs at Donix Electronic Solutions.

The National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, non  profit organization. The Cape Town Space Society website: http://www.capetownspacesociety.org.za/

Professor Hal and Dr. Bettye founded, the A  MAN, Inc. STEM International Science Center to promote Science and technology for girls and boys. In the 21st Century, we must use technology as a solution and promote technologists. says Walker.

Dr. Bettye Walker is also a pioneer of STEM education and outreach. Having served as a university professor and school principal, she launched a UCLA-funded pilot project in the 1980s for STEM outreach for at-risk and under-served populations. In 1997, she hosted STEM learning expeditions to South Africa, and was personally invited by Nelson Mandela to bring the Walkers African-American Male Achievers Network (A-MAN) and Young Ladies Achievers Club (Y-LAC) STEM programs and other initiatives to South Africa.

Professor Hal and Dr. Bettye Walker are amazing, telling important stories, moving ahead in STEM education and generously sharing their knowledge to the world.

The Opening of the National Space Societys (NSS) Cape Town Space Society, produced a show with the Sky not being the Limit and our Children are truly our future!
Remembering and Raising Dr. Julia Hare: Her Honored Life and Unforgettable Love

As an African people, a caring and committed people, we can never get used to the passing of those we love, respect and honor. We imagine them always with us, laughing and lifting us up, bringing the dawn and opening the way for us to see and assert ourselves in dignity-affirming, life-enhancing and flourishing-directed ways and we are duly disoriented if not undone when they leave us. So, it is with the passing and rising in radiance of Dr. Julia Ann Reed Hare (November 7, 1939 to February 25, 2019), author, educator, motivational lecturer, social commentator, radio talk host, educational psychologist, righteous and relentless servant of her people, and beloved wife, co-worker and co-author with the renowned educator, sociologist and clinical psychologist, Dr. Nathan Hare, whose sense of loss we share as best we can.

And of all her credits, she would tell you herself, none is more important than or desirably possible without her beloved husband, Nathan. Thus, we think of her as Dr. Julia (loves Nathan) Hare, for the way we know, love, respect, honor and remember her is inseparable from the loving, beautiful and symbiotic relationship they built and shared, modeled and mirrored. Early in their relationship before their marriage, he bought her Nat King Coles Unforgettable, not only as a signature song of their love, but also as a signifier of equal commitment in their life.

It is, above all, then, the legacy of togetherness that she leaves us; the model, mirror and message of togetherness in life, love and struggle, as both foundational principle and fundamental practice. It is, as I read her work, the way we will recover, build and develop our lives, strengthen and sustain our love and wage the victorious struggle that will enable us, as Black men and women, to be ourselves and free ourselves as persons and a people.

ADVERTISEMENT

For Julia, love of Nathan is at the heart and soul of her life. It is in meeting, loving, marrying him that she begins the beautiful journey on which she cooperatively broadened, deepened and developed her knowledge, nurtured and cultivated her love, enriched and expanded her life, and became the highly achieved, loved and respected woman we admire, respect and raise up in remembrance, reflection and reaffirmation. She defined and honored Nathan as one of my master teachers who got me very involved in fighting for the oppressed and knew she would, as he said, stand by her as she stood by him in all the ups and downs of life and struggle.

We of the African American Cultural Center (Us) family, where Julia and Nathan lectured many times, always appreciated their lively and loving exchange on a wide and ever-widening range of subjects about love, life and struggle. Nor could you miss how they sometimes interrupted each other with no sense of surprise from the other, periodically talked at the same time and made the same point from two interrelated and eventually merging perspectives. It was not that they did not sometimes differ, but it was a differing that did not divide them, did not matter more than they did to each other and did not change or challenge the foundational understandings they held in common.

Again, it is the legacy of togetherness that she, with Nathan, leaves us. She tells us that We must communicate gently and lovingly especially when challenges arise. For this builds intimacy and will help two people get through anything together. She teaches us a togetherness that allows each to remain an individual and have your own life, but come together and be together in conceiving and building a shared life. Moreover, she counsels us to learn and practice the art of compromise. Its important to compromise, she says, learn to disagree constructively and resist with all your might being confrontational or trying to get back at your mate. We must, she tells us, validate each other, for one of our greatest mistakes in our relationships is not validating each other. Thus, we must affirm the dignity, beauty, goodness, potentiality and agency of each other and self-consciously contribute to the well-being and flourishing of each other. Dr. Hare also lists as harmful to our shared love and life being competitive, saying, Often we are combative because we havent examined the societal forces that have pushed us toward mistrust with its class, color and consumerist emphases.

Julia also asked us to realize that the racist and sexist system we live in does not want us to be together in love and struggle. We have a system that would not like to see Black males and females coming together, she tells us. For oppressors understand the power of our coming together, the power of both Black men and women and our capacity to break their hold on our lives. In a word, she says, They understand that if our relationships are together, they lose, we win and the world benefits. But if we arent together, we cant build and sustain good lives, resist our oppression and will succumb to promises of social integration which she defines as the illusion of inclusion, far different than shared wealth, power and status.

Because our children are our future or our fate, Dr. Julia Hare, educational psychologist and community mother, tells us we must reclaim the minds of our children. They must be rescued from the special educational placements whose classroom she criticizes as holding cells before they are sent to prison. She is concerned about both the education of girls and boys, but she stresses the urgency of rescuing the endangered, targeted and hunted Black male, and the Black male killed under the camouflage and color of law with the racist social sanction of society. We must, she counsels, teach our children time-tested and value-grounded ways to be African boys and girls in the world, to be disciplined, loving, mutually respectful and productive.

Here she again calls for the togetherness in life, love and struggle of Black women and Black men in building family, raising children, strengthening community and waging struggle. She will not simply be for women isolated and unrelated but calls for a shared liberation as both a principle and practice, for our lives and futures and those of our children, male and female, are inseparably linked. Thus, she states, I am an advocate for brothers and sisters because I believe that whatever sisters are, brothers got to be that with us, and whatever brothers are, sisters got to be that with them. Indeed, she states, In that way we raise strong warrior males and females to take our places and to continue the legacy we have, the legacy of not only of her and our efforts, but also that inscribed in the ancient and honored sacred narrative we know as African history.

ADVERTISEMENT

And she stresses that in this reclaiming of the minds of our children and maintaining and advancing this legacy, it is important that we are clear about our own identity, for in that is the key to our purpose and direction. What matters is where we are in our minds, she counsels. And As long as we know we are Africans, as long as we know we are Black people living here in America, we know exactly who we are.

As Julias health continued to decline and Nathan brought her home to loving care, he reflected much on their love for each other, their life, work and struggle together and all the good they did and shared. And he said he thought about little things I should have said and done but didnt take the time. So, I just try to fill her life with whatever joy I can and always love her all the time. He knew that Alzheimers would eventually take Julias memory, but he is committed to continue to remember for them both. And thus, he shares again, the model, mirror and message of Julias and his legacy of an enduring togetherness saying, So even when it comes to the point that she no longer remembers me, I will remember her, and I will recall that she was unforgettable and thought I was unforgettable too. And they are inseparably so. Hotep. Ase. Heri.

Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State UniversityLong Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and Introduction to Black Studies, 4th Edition, www.OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org; www.MaulanaKarenga.org.
Rescuing Black Males: Rhetoric vs. Reality

Despite added focus on Black males in recent years, fundamentally, their plight is unchanged and they remain largely a rhetorical priority. Seemingly endless research and publicly proclaimed concern, few, if any, sustainable programs specifically intended and/or designed to benefit Black males exist. They remain a minor public policy consideration and are best described as a rhetorical priority. Poor young Black males, in particular, are talked about and researched ad nauseam, but little sustainable has been done to help them. The reasons for this are embedded in the pre-eminence of Americas racism.

Arguably, more than any other sub-group of Americans, Blacks and Black youth, in particular, reflect the challenges of inclusion and empowerment since the civil rights era. However, in contrast to the centrality of Blacks to the fabric of this country, their voices and concerns are generally absent, not only from public policy conversations, but even more important, from actual sustainable solutions to their intractable problems.

Nationally, an abundance of research on Black youth, in particular, gathers dust. (Hopefully, president Obamas Boys and Men of Color Initiative would prove sustainable-but in the Trump era, dont hold your breath.) In Los Angeles, follow-up on Black male projects has been lacking. This includes the 21st Century Foundations Black Men and Boys Initiative and the California Endowment Foundations Boys and Men of Color project. (When, in addition to Blacks, others of color are included in a policy, or program, Blacks tend to be accorded lesser priority than the others, especially Latinos, these days. Unapologetic focus on Blacks, and their specific needs, is indispensable for gaining policy support and resources commensurate with their needs. (In some cases, even this isnt sufficient, e.g., the 21st Century Foundations Initiative in Los Angeles: Following an auspicious kick-off there was very little follow-up with initial invitees who were told they would be kept informed about the project on an ongoing basis.)

ADVERTISEMENT

From his elitist perch, Bill Cosby castigated disgraceful young Black males whose egregious behavior included sagging pants. Sadly, many Blacks shared Cosbys predilection and maintain a safe distance, literally and figuratively, from the despised and disrespectful gangsters. (Middle-class Blacks skirt the self-condemning implications of abandoning their undeserving poorer Black brethren.)

The statistics are scary; even cynical pundits occasionally express concern over the worsening condition of young Black males in America. The economic meltdown, notwithstanding, the federal government continued to help other groups, but rarely Black men. Virtually every study shows that poorly educated Black men are increasingly more disconnected from mainstream America than comparable Whites or Latinos. As troubling, however, is the indifference among Blacks themselves to the crippling phenomenon of Black male disenfranchisement that affects the Black community first and foremost.

Confirming what most Blacks know all too well, studies show that Black males not finishing high school has become the norm, not the exception, especially in the nations inner cities. There, decent jobs are harder than ever to find and incarceration rates for Blacks often surpass high school graduation rates. (Ironically, even in the best labor market years, Black males statistics are unchanged.)

Some programs designed to better equip Black youth for gainful employment are placing as much importance on teaching skills such as parenting, conflict resolution and character-building, as job skills. This is laudable, although the share of young Black men without jobs continues to climb. (In 2000, 65 percent of young Black male high-school dropouts in their 20s were jobless; by 2004, the share had grown to 72 percent compared with 34 percent of Whites. Overall, most Black men in their 20s were jobless with incarceration rates at historic highs. Also in 2004, 21 percent of Black men in their 20s were incarcerated, and since that time, the rate has increased precipitously. Poverty, failing schools, non-participating parents, a decline in blue-collar jobs and a sub-culture that puts swagger over work, all contribute to the deepening plight of Black youth.

By their mid-thirties, 30 percent of Black men with no more than a high school education, have served time in prison, as have 60 percent of dropouts. Almost half of all Black men in their late 20s and early 30s who did not go to college are non-custodial fathers; the kind of work most of them find does not lead to advancement or provide adequate insurance or security for them or their families. This country has spent billions of dollars in start-up efforts that even included the start of a turnaround for Black women, but has yet to accord Black males comparable priority.

What is actually being done to reverse the downward spiral of Black males? Very little. Black leadership, elected officials, in particular, must come together and rally the community to create sustained pressure necessary for change. The mindset of Black people themselves also must change so that they no longer remain silent while Black youth is regularly annihilated by systemic negligence. The rhetoric of accountability rings very hollow as young Black males sink ignominiously into oblivion while many of us mutter eulogies from a distance.

ADVERTISEMENT

Black people must become sufficiently dissatisfied to do something other than complain about conditions and the behavior of our youth. There are no revelations in the massive stockpile of research on the plight of these young men. Therefore, we must no longer remain silent and insist that Black leaders lead the fight to address the specific needs of Black men and boys.

[email protected]
Stephon Clarks Family: A Shameful Legacy of Cops Killing Black Men and Getting Off

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert took a little over an hour to announce that her office will not file charges against police officers who shot and killed Stephon Alonzo Clark.

Two cops, Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet, shot and killed Clark, 22, in the backyard of his grandmothers home in Sacramento on March 18, 2018. Seven out of about 20 bullets the policemen fired hit the former Sacramento High athlete from the back, according to an independent autopsy report conducted by the family.

The official police report says Clark was facing and approaching officers when they killed him. He was a vandalism suspect.

ADVERTISEMENT

Schubert spoke during a press conference on March 2. Her presentation on the killing, resembled a courtroom trial without the judge and jury, Clarks family members say. It included a number of details unrelated to the shooting almost a year ago.

Community members were outraged by the DAs report on the victims alleged emotional state when the shooting occurred. They felt his past run-ins with the law and her attempt to paint the picture of a troubled and volatile young man should not have been the focus of her statement.

Many things were weighing heavily on Clarks mind, Schubert said. We must recognize that [police officers] are often forced to make split-second decisions and we must recognize that they are under tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving circumstances.

Nearly five hours after the DAs report, Clarks fiancee and the mother of his two children, Salena Manni, 24, spoke to the press and supporters in his defense. Her father, Raj Manni and mother, Rothigian Mohammed accompanied her.

The D.A. announced that the officers who shot my unarmed fiance wont face any charges, continuing the shameful legacy of officers killing Black men without consequences, and breaking my familys hearts again,  said Manni, reading a written statement at the news conference held at Harmony Church in Sacramento.

Manni laid out her case to the public, saying her familys world has been turned upside down.

My boys Aiden and Cairo have to grow up without their father and I have to continue on as a single parent.

ADVERTISEMENT

Now living in Los Angeles, Manni and her children arrived in Sacramento to the painful reality that the cops who killed Clark would not face charges. Meanwhile, the DAs office had all but officially declared her deceased fiance guilty with a stream of what she sees as irrelevant details.

Betty Williams, president of the Sacramento Branch of the NAACP, said Manni had previously expressed her thoughts to her after the long-awaited decision.

Shes been going through this horrific grieving process that continues to go with everything that the D.A. put out there today, Williams said.

Clarks name joins an all-too-familiar list of Black men and boys, killed unarmed by police officers across the country. And after their deaths, their struggles or shortcomings become public, the centerpiece of investigations designed more to incriminate the victims than bring the officers who shot them to justice.

Rev. Shane Harris, president of the Peoples Alliance for Justice traveled with Manni to Sacramento on the day of the announcement. He shared his perspective.

What we saw was a kind of way to try to criminalize victims who cannot defend themselves, Harris said.

Officers shot Clark while responding to 911 calls about a person breaking car windows in the Meadowview neighborhood where his grandmother lived. According to video of the incident, Clark was holding a cellphone when he was shot. Officers initially thought it was a gun.

The DA went as far as mentioning Clarks toxicology report  claiming blood samples tested positive for Xanax, codeine, hydrocodone, marijuana, cocaine metabolite and alcohol. The district attorney, who was re-elected to the position last summer, also alluded to Clark viewing websites about suicide.

Schubert added Manni to her equation, too, mentioning that she had called authorities about a domestic issue she and Clark may have had on March 16, two days before he died. She even shared information from private text messages exchanged between the couple.

Schubert described the young couples disputes, which she claims was the central theme between the two.

Im not going to entertain that, Clarks mother SeQuette Clark told California Black Media outside of Harmony Church. What was going on with them was between them. Its nobodys business. It had nothing to do with what happened to my son. This is about the officers who killed my son. This is about them.

Concluding her presentation, Schubert said, when we look at all of these facts and circumstances, we look at all of it. Everything.

Clarks family disagrees with the D.A.s decision.

There was clear evidence of police misconduct, Clarks older brother Stevante Clark said the day after the DAs announcement. No evidence presented yesterday could justify the way my brother was killed. There is no way I should be proving why my brother was innocent when the police officers should be proving theirs.

In January, the lawyers for the Clark family filed a $20 million wrongful-death lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.

On Saturday, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg also apologized for the DAs decision.

How do I as your Mayor give voice to the pain that is so real and so raw in our community? he said. How do I as a relatively privileged White man let my suffering community members know they do not suffer alone  that their elected leaders are genuinely committed to change? How do I step into your shoes?

On Monday, Harris and a group of African American ministers from around the state organized a rally in support of Manni, her sons and the Clark family. Earlier in the day, they delivered a letter to California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra expressing their disappointment with Schuberts announcement.

We are here to fight for what is morally right, Harris told a gathering of Clarks supporters at the state Capitol. We are tired of seeing the Department of Justice and the State of California, and the Legislature in California not take moral leadership. Prosecute the two officers who killed Stephon Clark.
Success On The Way: Ask Dr. Jeanette-Kill God?!

How many people want to kill God? Beyond counting! None are successful. When we look at the many acts of wrongdoing committed by people, the bottom line is that they just want to kill Almighty God, who wont give in to their treason, rebellion and disobedience! Lets think this through a bit. When murders happen, especially those deliberately committed, who do you think they are trying to kill? Yes, it may be true the murderer kills a person or persons.

However, a murderer may be thinking about killing that object of hatreda closer analytical look might be examined: What is really happening here? From ancient times, when Cain murdered is brother, Abel, do you think Cain actually knew the results and consequences? Im thinking somewhere in his mind, he knew that he was wrong, enticing his brother out into a secluded place. In his jealous anger, rage and resentment against Gods rules, he couldnt kill God, so he took it out on his brother to demolish his source of anger.

Cain didnt think God had a plan-B..thinking that would be the end of it. He may have thought he could just get rid of his problem by getting rid of his brother. He was dead wrong! He obviously had the big head of egotism, pride and arrogance. You know pride comes before a fall and what a great fall there is! His vicious, insane jealousy created immeasurable problems for all to come after him. Remember, God instructed him how to avoid his horrendous consequences of being exiled to being a vagabond and always afraid he would be killed. How many times are we warned and given opportunity to come to our senses? He didnt listenhard headed.

ADVERTISEMENT

He wanted to create his own worship. U.S. Abortion statistics calculate privately from the Guttmacher Institute (AGI) and publicly from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)show Guttmachers numbers, published every three years; CDC numbers, published annuallyderived from actual counts of every abortion reported to state health departments. California, Maryland, and New Hampshire do not publicly report abortion totals. I wonder if the U. S. Supreme Court could imagine the number of unborns killed? I doubt it. I dont want to believe they were diabolical in their intent. They left it up to moral conscience to decide. I understand that.

The ultimate Judge of all will hold each person responsible if they dont change. Since 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade 60,942,033 Total abortions. Based on numbers from the Guttmacher Institute 1973-2014, w/ projections of 906,308 for 2015-18, based on -2.05 percent drop seen by CDC from 2014 -15. GI has estimated possible undercounts of three-five percent, so an additional three percent is factored into the overall total. 1/19 [National Right to Life]. Jeanette Grattan Parker, Ph.d. is Founder/Superintendent Todays Fresh Start Charter School: www.todaysfreshstart.org: author: Inquiring Minds Want to Know;Will You Marry Me? Jesus Christ Proposes to YouThe Father Famine
University Inaugurates Thomas A. Parham as 11th President

Words of admiration and promise filled the Loker Student Union Grand Ballroom as California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) celebrated the investiture of President Thomas A. Parham on Feb. 8.

The afternoon ceremony was attended by nearly 450 faculty, staff, students, political figures, and notable community members. Parham delivered his inaugural address after being formally installed as president by California State University (CSU) Chancellor, Timothy P. White and CSU Board of Trustee Chair, Adam Day. He reflected on the power of higher education in society, and CSUDHs role, in particular, in helping shape the lives of the students and the communities it serves.

ADVERTISEMENT

The theme for my inauguration is Transforming Lives that Transform America. That theme is both a reflection of what this campus has historically done in impacting students lives, and a promise of what we will continue to do in the years ahead, said Parham. This theme speaks to the essence of the human condition to both be and become, in the context of the transformative possibilities of the human spirit.

Parhams remarks were preceded by a spirited program featuring words from a diverse gathering of friends, colleagues, and spiritual leaders.

CSU Board of Trustees member, Wenda Fong served as the investiture emcee and provided the welcome remarks for the ceremony, which were followed by a processional of visiting university and CSUDH faculty and administrators led in to music by the CSUDH Jazz Band, and an invocation by Reverend Mark Whitlock of Christ Our Redeemer A.M.E. Church.

The investiture keynote speaker was Ohio State Universitys president Michael V. Drake, who also served for nine years as chancellor of the University of California, Irvine, where Parham worked closely with him as his vice chancellor of student affairs.

Dr. Parham is actually a great example to the broader community of how one can remain true to ones values, true to oneself, and still succeed in this competitive world, Drake recognized. In fact, Id like to think that one can succeed in this competitive world precisely because one does stay true to ones values, and this is one of those occasions that good guys do finish first.

Laura Talamante, CSUDHs Academic Senate chair and associate professor of history, provided greetings and thanks on behalf of the universitys faculty.

President Parham will be a fighter for CSUDHstanding up for us, continuing progress made to change inequitable CSU funding formulas of the past, said Talamante. Thank you for demonstrating how deeply you care about the quality of our students educational experience, including the structures where learning and personal growth take place. I know you will not be satisfied until every building on campus is a space that properly supports our amazing students, staff, faculty, and administrators.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ellie Perry, the universitys sustainability coordinator, spoke on behalf of CSUDHs staff members. She likened members of the staff to prize fighters who are champions in their own right, but with instincts and abilities that we all share.

Our university only employs about 1,000 full-time staff members, but collectively we do the job of universities three or four times our size in providing benefit to the communities that we serve, Perry said. And when you look at our accolades, youll see we stand toe-to-toe with the best universities in the nation for our diversity and creating upward mobility for our students, alumni, and their families. So Dr. Parham, be sure to grab your reusable water bottle, your mouth piece, and gloves because we welcome you to our fight for our faculty and students success. You are now our champion, and we are in your corner.

Christian Jackson, president of Associated Students, Inc., endorsed Parham on behalf of the student body with immense anticipation for the universitys new president. Since the day Dr. Parham arrived, students, faculty, and staff are all now finding themselves at the table having conversations about what our students specifically need to be successful academically and in life.

CSUDH alumna Maria Villa (82, B.S., business administration), an attorney and partner in the Law Offices of Lathrop & Villa, offered remarks on behalf of the alumni and the universitys Philanthropic Foundation Board. She called the university a springboard that propelled me forward to succeed.

The foundation I received here allowed me to become a leader in my profession, including being elected the first Hispanic attorney to serve on the California State Bar Board of Governors, Villa shared. So my fellow Toros! Lets follow president Parhams lead in transforming our university. With your degree from Cal State Dominguez Hills, you will not only transform your lives, you will transform our country into a better place for all!

Day represented the board at the investiture. He called the selection of a campus president to be the trustees most important role.

My first official campus visit upon being appointed to the board was CSU Dominguez Hills. I purposefully made that decision because the story and fabric of this campus and community is not just special  it is critical to the success of the entire state of California, Day said. Dr. Parham impressed the selection committee and the trustees with his history of working with students from diverse backgrounds, his commitment and passion to student achievement, and his deep connections in the community. We have great faith and confidence in his ability to be the leader CSU Dominguez Hills needs.
WATCH: Congresswoman Lauren Underwood Question Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen

There are a lot of lawyers in this room, said Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., as she began to question Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen about the practice of separating immigrant children from their parents. And Im not a lawyer, Im a nurse. Underwood asked Nielsen several yes or no questions about whether DHS considered the physical and mental health of the children when they began family separation. Nielsen said she was not familiar with the idea of toxic stress, nor that it can change a childs developing brain, but broke in repeatedly to interject that kids should be with their families, and that parents shouldnt break U.S. law.

ADVERTISEMENT
Representatives of the people, such as U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, lobbied GM et al. hard to keep the Lordstown, Ohio plant operating. Here is the AP coverage.

But, today, the last auto - a white Chevrolet Cruze - rolled off the lines.

Then, 1,700 hourly workers went on "idle." This summer the United Auto Workers will discuss with GM the ultimate fate of that production facility. Can it be retrofitted for another vehicle?

Cruze, like all sedans, has become unpopular in the lineup of vehicles in this era of SVUs and pickups. Meanwhile, the global auto industry could be entering a slowdown.

Lordstown is part of the Youngstown Metro area. The region is stuck in Steel Past. So far it has failed to diversify as the other steel city - Pittsburgh - has. Pittsburgh, which has becoming a major gentrification town, is now known for healthcare and tech. Regarding the latter, Uber has been researching its driverless car in that city.

Folks in the OH Valley still recount, as if it were yesterday, how it was before the steel mills closed. Everyone who wanted a job had one - and those jobs usually paid enough to provide a middle-class lifestyle. Meanwhile, the skies were darkened by the emissions from the mills.

Currently there have been tech startups launched by those at Youngstown State University. But, that activity has not been enough to bring hope to the Valley. No wonder the region has been a sitting duck for the opioid epidemic.

Deep family roots prevent residents, including the young, from exiting the area and trying their luck in other parts of the US or the world.

The blue collar ethos includes creating a comprehensive support system through family. For example, in this residential rental complex in Austintown, OH, millennials and iGen rely on family members to fix their car and walk their dogs in an emergency. And family always comes through.

In contrast, in developments dominated by the white collar, those services are contracted through vendors and fees paid.

Such a helpful, reliable network contributes to the immobility of the kinds of workers idled at Lordstown. If offered employment at another GM plant in another state, they may be unlikely to accept the offer.

Of course, small businesses in the OH Valley are being negatively impacted.

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com.
Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Abdul Aziz Muhamat tried to seek asylum in Australia after fleeing the Sudan. He never made it there. Instead, he spent years detained in one of Australia's off-shore detention facilities on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

Aziz was no ordinary detainee. Utilizing the messaging app WhatsApp, Aziz reported on the conditions he faced at Manus Island. His reports became an award-winning podcast, The Messenger.

Though his outreach, Aziz has been a voice for those seeking asylum, the conditions they face, and their quest for safety.

In February, Aziz was honored with the 2019 Marin Ennals Award for human rights defenders. Here is his acceptance speech:

-KitJ

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2019/03/human-rights-award-given-to-manus-detainee.html
Thursday, March 7, 2019

Ugh. I don't know that I can wait until the next appropriate gift giving occasion. I may have to buy this $40 Embracelet now.

Check it out: The outside half of the bracelet is made from life vests discarded by refugees arriving on the island of Lesbos in Greece. The vests are shipped to the Netherlands and cut into bracelets by "refugees who are reintegrating into the labor market." The inside of the bracelet is leather and stamped with the phrase "building humanity."

If that doesn't entice you, here are some further details that just might: 50% of the company's profits go directly to "refugees in communities across America to help with education and language learning."

The company's founder is Mohamad Malim, a Somali-American entrepreneur and former refugee.

-KitJ

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2019/03/the-bracelet-youll-want.html
Ethiopia announced this week that a museum in Britain has agreed to return locks of hair belonging to a former Ethiopian ruler.

A British soldier cut the hair from the head of Emperor Tewodros II more than 150 years ago. Tewodros II took his own life after his defeat by British troops at the Battle of Magdala. The battle was fought in northern Ethiopia in 1868.

The locks of hair have been part of The National Army Museums collection in London since 1959. Museum officials said the family of an artist who painted the emperor on his deathbed donated the hair.

In a statement, the museum said it had agreed to send the hair back to Ethiopia after a request from Ethiopias minister of culture and tourism last year.

The objects are considered significant to the Museums collection for their historical connection to a major and unique campaign, the statement said. It added that the emperors hair was collected in good faith.

The National Army Museum said it remains in discussions with the Embassy of Ethiopia in London on details of returning the hair.

The Ethiopian Embassy in Britain said that it welcomes... the unanimous decision by the Trustees of the National Army Museum to return the locks of hair.

For Ethiopians everywhere, as the locks of hair represent the remains of one of the countrys most revered and beloved leaders, it said.

Embassy officials predicted celebrations when the hair is returned to its rightful home in Ethiopia.

Emperor Tewodros II claimed to be related to two people named in ancient times: King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The emperor died after a British force raided his mountaintop position to free European diplomats and others he had jailed.

The return of the hair follows a series of requests by Ethiopia for the return of human remains, documents and other objects taken in 1868.

Britain is also involved in a dispute with Greece over the return of the Parthenon Marbles. British officials have resisted those requests, noting laws that ban its museums from permanently disposing of their collections.

Im John Russell.

Aaron Maasho wrote this story for the Reuters news agency. John Russell adapted it VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in the Story

museum  n.a center established for the care, study and showing of objects of lasting value or interest

lock n.a small amount of hair

revere  v.to have great respect for (someone or something); to honor someone or something

significant  adj.important

unanimous adj.having agreement by all sides

dispose v.to remove or give away in an orderly way

faith n.belief and trust in someone
North Korea reportedly has rebuilt structures at a rocket launch site that it had begun to take down last year.

That information comes from foreign observers and a South Korean lawmaker who spoke with the Souths spy service.

North Korea had promised to destroy the Tongchang-ri launch site after the June 2018 meetings between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Two Washington-based groups that follow North Korea say some structures at the launch site have been rebuilt in the past three weeks. The two are the Center for Strategic and International Studies and 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea studies. They say satellite images show the structures were rebuilt over the past month.

Also, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that South Koreas National Intelligence Service told lawmakers on Tuesday about the rebuilding.

Recently, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano reported that North Koreas Yongbyon uranium enrichment site is still active. He added that North Korea is continuing work on an experimental light-water reactor at Yongbyon.

On Tuesday, a top U.S. official said the United States would look at increasing sanctions against North Korea if Kim did not end his countrys nuclear weapons program.

"If they're not willing to do itwe'll look at (increasing) those sanctions up, in fact," said National Security Advisor John Bolton.

North Koreas nuclear sites

Last month, the U.S. president and North Korean leader traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, for more talks. Those meetings collapsed when Trump left the negotiations. He said Kim demanded all sanctions on North Korea end at once in exchange for closing down the Yongbyon nuclear facility. The North Korean government denied making that request.

David Albright is the president of the Institute for Science and International Security and a former nuclear weapons inspector. He said Trump ended the negotiations because the United States knows North Korea can make nuclear weapons at other sites in its country.

They have enough enrichment facilities outside Yongbyon to make (weapons), he said.

Jeffrey Lewis is the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California. The U.S. government believes there are at least two additional enrichment (facilities), he said.

Olli Heinonen is a former deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency. He said that North Koreas enrichment centers are easy to hide because of the kind of technology they use.

Experts agree that North Korea must declare all its nuclear sites and let inspectors into the country to confirm the destruction of the sites.

North Korea launches

Six months ago, South Korean President Moon Jae-in traveled to Pyongyang to meet with the North Korean leader. At those talks, Kim offered to permanently shut down the Tongchang-ri engine test ground and launch area, with foreign observers present.

In a statement, the two men described the move as part of a larger effort to make the Korean peninsula free from nuclear weapons. This could suggest that North Korea was confirming the Tongchang-ri site is a nuclear-related center. After several failures, North Korea successfully launched a satellite from the site in 2012. It had another successful launch in 2016.

North Korea says its satellite program is peaceful. Experts say, however, that nuclear missiles and satellite rockets use similar technology.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered his government to do everything in its power to get the North Korean and U.S. leaders talking again.

I expect that the two leaders will meet again in the near future, Moon said, adding that he thinks the two will come to an agreement at their next meeting.

I'm Susan Shand.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the AP reports for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

site  n. the place where something is, was, or will be

facility  n. something (such as a building or large piece of equipment) that is built for a purpose or reason

sanctions  n. an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, or by barring economic aid for that country

enrich  v. to improve the quality of something
Britain and the United States have opened exploratory talks on a trade agreement. Such an agreement would take effect after Britain officially leaves the European Union.

The withdrawal, known as Brexit, is set for March 29.

Sharp differences have arisen between British and U.S. officials over agricultural issues. Britain is resisting U.S. demands to open its markets to farm products currently banned under EU law.

The most widely reported example is Europes import ban on American "chlorinated chicken." In the United States, the meat processing industry washes chickens in chlorine to remove harmful bacteria. Europe says that an over-dependence on chlorine lowers overall production and cleanliness on poultry farms.

U.S. officials are disputing the claim.

Use of artificial growth hormones

The European Union has also banned imports of meat from American cows that have been treated with artificial growth hormones. Natural hormones control growth in animal or plant cells.

American farmers use artificial hormones to increase the size of animals or to increase milk production. But EU officials warn that one commonly used growth hormone may cause cancer. They add there is not enough scientific information on other hormones to approve their use in food.

U.S. officials have made it clear that any future trade deal with Britain must see these food bans dropped.

Former U.S. lawmaker Darrell Issa is President Donald Trumps choice to lead the U.S. governments Trade and Development Agency. Issa says that the millions of Britons visiting the United States every year enjoy perfectly safe food.

Wed like to have that arrangement being one in which, in Britain, you can choose to have American chicken, American beef, or other agricultural products, just as you could when you come to the United States. It is a key lynchpin of an agreement. Financial, manufacturing and agriculture have to be free and fair.

The U.S. ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, recently wrote about the issue in Britains The Telegraph newspaper. He attacked what he called myths over American farming, claiming they are part of an effort to protect the interests of British farmers.

British food quality concerns

Britain has repeatedly said that it will not lower food quality rules after it leaves the EU. In answer to Ambassador Johnsons comments, British international trade minister Liam Fox said his country would not compromise.

Fox spoke to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Will we accept things that we believe are against the interests of our consumers or our producers? No, we won't. It's a negotiation.

The dispute over American meat imports is also influencing debate over the Irish border, a major issue in Britains attempt to cancel its EU membership.

British and EU officials want to avoid border inspections between Northern Ireland, which is part of Britain, and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar recently expressed fears that the border could open a back door into the EU. In other words, EU members might import products that fail to meet their food safety requirements.

Varadkar told reporters, If at some point in the future the United Kingdom were to allow chlorinated chicken or beef with hormones into their markets, we wouldn't want that coming into our markets or the European Union as well.

The United States says a trade deal would help British industries, like financial services. And Britain appears interested in strengthening its position in the post-Brexit world as an international trading power.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Henry Ridgwell reported this story for VOA News. George Grow adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

poultry  adj. chickens or birds raised for their meat

artificial  adj. not natural; produced by someone or something

arrangement  n. the organization of something

myth  n. a belief or tradition about someone or something

lynchpin  n. something that holds together different parts that exist or operate together as one

consumer  n. one that uses products or services

allow  v. to permit
Copyright

These pages are copyrighted as they appear by John Z. Guzlowski. All content on these pages is his sole property and cannot be used without his permission.


Yesterday, a group of local residents visited the Macau SAR Identification Department for a discussion on the issue of obtaining local residency permits for their adult offspring living on the mainland.

The group, which consists of members of the Macau Federation of Family Reunion and another association, was invited to meet with the bureau.

Accompanying the group, lawmaker Zheng Anting said that these local residents have always been in contact with him regarding the matter.

Zheng stated that over the past few years, the association has had several meetings with him. The group hopes that their concerns will be resolved in 2019 before the change of government.

This year, they hope that their problems can be solved [during] Chief Executive Chui Sai Ons term, said Zheng.

The lawmaker also said that the identification authority has always replied to the requests of these local residents.

They hope that the SAR government can reconsider [the restrictions] on adult offspring residency in Macau, said Zheng.

According to the group, there are currently about 1,200 local families experiencing problems affecting a total of 2,300 adult offspring.

The majority of the 2,300 adult offspring are said to live on the mainland. The group hopes that the SAR government can provide assistance so that they can reside, live and work in Macau. JZ
Indian and Pakistani soldiers shelled military outposts and villages along their highly militarized frontier in disputed Kashmir yesterday, in an outbreak of new violence despite stepped-up diplomatic efforts by the rival countries to ease tensions.

The two armies accused each other of initiating the artillery and mortar fire and small-arms gunfire. No casualties were immediately reported.

Tensions have been high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan last week, carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops.

Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian planes and capturing a pilot, who was later returned to India in a peace gesture. The two countries have also resumed bus and train services that were stopped following the escalation of tensions, the most serious in the long-simmering conflict since 1999, when Pakistans military sent a ground force into Indian-controlled Kashmir.

In another effort aimed at easing tension with India, Pakistan on Tuesday arrested dozens of people including the brother of the leader of the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, which claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Kashmir.

Among the detainees were Mufti Abdul Rauf and Hammad Azhar, two prominent members of the group who were on a list of suspects given by India to Pakistan over the weekend.

Pakistan yesterday continued a crackdown on seminaries, mosques and hospitals belonging to outlawed groups, saying the actions were part of its efforts to fight terrorism, extremism and militancy. AP
Early morning yesterday, night bus N3 crashed into a pillar of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT), causing minor injuries to ten passengers. The accident took place at the Estrada Flor de Lotus. The six men and four women who sustained injuries were all passengers onboard and were sent to Conde S. Januario Hospital. The driver (aged 35 years old) was also injured but refused to be sent to the hospital. The driver passed a breathalyzer test. According to the driver, the collision happened when he tried to avoid items which suddenly came into his sight. Another two motorbikes near the pillar were damaged during the accident.

Fire services employee given three months

A civilian employee from the Fire Services Bureau has been sentenced to three months in jail for drunk driving. According to a report by TDM, the court allows the imprisonment to be replaced by a fine of MOP27,000. The employee is also prohibited from driving for one year and six months. The Bureau also instituted disciplinary measures against the accused. In October 2018, an off-duty police officer was also suspended from his position and sentenced to three months in jail for drunk driving.

Lawmakers ask about hostel supervision

The Second Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL) has asked the government to explain its proposed supervision of hostels. The committee carried out its first discussion yesterday on the latest hotel business bill. The committee wants the government to detail which law the tourism authority will refer to when issuing restaurant and bar licenses. The bill, which proposes to allow budget accommodation options, does not cover current accommodation options that are similar to youth hostels.
One of Canadas largest grain processors said Tuesday that China has revoked its permit to export canola there, a move that some saw as retaliation for the Canadian governments arrest of a top executive for the Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Chinas action against Richardson International Ltd. following non-compliance notices alleging that some imports from Canada were contaminated with pests or bacteria.

According to Beijings Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, China acted to suspend canola imports from a Canadian company in accordance with laws and regulations and international practice.

Lu cited harmful organisms he did not further identify as a threat.

He yesterday said Chinas government needs to protect the health and safety of its own people.

I can tell you responsibly that the Chinese governments decision is definitely well-founded. Upon verification, China customs has recently detected dangerous pests in canola imported from Canada many times, Lu said.

Meanwhile, Canada disputes that claim.

I am very concerned by what weve heard has happened to Richardson. We do not believe theres any scientific basis for this, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said in Montreal. We are working very, very hard with the Chinese government on this issue.

The loss of the shipping permit comes as Canada is proceeding with an extradition hearing for Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who is the daughter of Huaweis founder. She was arrested by Canada at the request of the U.S., where she is wanted on fraud charges.

It wouldnt be the first time Beijing has retaliated against nations that offend it. China suspended its bilateral trade deal with Norway and restricted imports of Norwegian salmon after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Chinese political prisoner Liu Xiaobo in 2010.

Britain and other countries were retaliated against over meetings with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, considered a dangerous separatist by Beijing.

Canadian Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a statement that the government was closely monitoring the situation and any potential impact on Canadas agricultural trading relationship with China.

She said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency conducted further investigations after China issued the notices of non-compliance on canola seed imports, including nine since January, and said the agency had not identified any pests or bacteria of concern.

China is the destination for about 40 percent of Canadas canola exports, and the revocation of Richardsons permit hurts the entire value chain of industries involved in the market, the Canola Council of Canada said.

We are aware of challenges our exporters have faced shipping to China  these are concerning as they create instability and add costs, council spokeswoman Heidi Dancho said by email.

Dancho said that while the diplomatic frictions between China and Canada are concerning, there is no clear evidence they are related to the canola dispute.

Neil Townsend, senior market analyst at FarmLink, however, said he thinks there is a definite link to the Huawei case. Theres no doubt Chinas mad at us, he said.

Beijing has warned of serious consequences if Meng is not released. China arrested two Canadians on Dec. 10 in what was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng.

After Mengs arrest, a Chinese court also sentenced a Canadian to death in a sudden retrial, overturning a 15-year prison term handed down earlier.

Chinas move hits a vital crop for western Canada, and comes after canola prices have already been hit by Chinas retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports. The industry should be concerned because if China cuts back on buying it would hit prices further, Townsend said.

With China kind of saying  because theyre mad about the Huawei thing  theyre basically saying like, Oh, were not going to buy any more, Townsend said.

He said he suspects Richardson was targeted since it is the largest exporter that is fully Canadian-owned. AP
Chinas Communist Party chief in Tibet insisted yesterday that the Tibetan people feel more affection toward the government than to the regions traditional Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled following an abortive uprising against Chinese rule nearly 60 years ago.

The Dalai Lama hasnt done a single good thing for Tibet since he left, Tibet Party Secretary Wu Yingjie said during a meeting of Chinas ceremonial legislature.

The people of Tibet are instead extremely grateful for the prosperity that the Communist Party has brought them, he said.

Zhaxi Jiangcun, a Tibetan grass-roots delegate whom Wu called upon to speak, said as far as he knows there is no such thing as adoration for the Dalai Lama among Tibetans.

This Sunday marks 60 years since the 1959 rebellion which erupted in the regional capital of Lhasa.
Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace Cotai have once again been chosen as the official venue partner by Asias 50 Best Restaurants for the highly anticipated event in the Asian culinary industry.

The organizers of Asias 50 Best Restaurants will continue to host the #50BestTalks gastronomy forum, The Chefs Feast and the Awards Ceremony, giving world-renowned chefs and epicureans an opportunity to exchange ideas and to share Macaus rapid rise to success in the culinary industry.

The #50BestTalks forum will be held on March 25 at Wynn Macau, where a number of influential chefs and industry experts will share their insights around the theme  Vital Ingredients. The Awards Ceremony will take place at Wynn Palace on March 26, where Asias most influential restaurant winners will be revealed.

Kristoffer Luczak, Executive Vice President of Food and Beverage for Wynn Macau, Limited said: We are very pleased that Asias 50 Best Restaurants has chosen to return to Wynn once again to host their event. We are also proud to continue supporting Macau as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, where we can truly demonstrate the quality of Macaus diverse dining experiences.

Meanwhile, a Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, said: The gathering in Macau for the second consecutive year of so many top chefs for the unveiling of the most influential restaurants in Asia will offer a remarkable opportunity for our city to connect and be inspired by their innovative spirit.
The Court of Final Appeal (TUI) has ruled in favor of the Macau government regarding an appeal from the concessionaire of a land plot, the Times has learned. The government had considered the plot expired and had requested the retrieval of on the basis of non-usage during the 25-year concession period, but the developer appealed the decision.

According to the TUI ruling, it was clearly proven that the concessionaire is the only party responsible for the non-usage of the Pac On, Taipa land plot during the concession period.

The TUI noted that, on several occasions, the government had allowed the concessionaire to change the project to include a commercial area, and also change the land plot purpose from industrial to residential. The government had further granted several extensions for the concession.

For these reasons, the TUI considered the concessionaires appeal to be unjustified, and considered the government to have acted lawfully by claiming the land lot due to the lack of development.

Covering an area of approximately 7,000 square meters, the land in question is listed as plot D of the Pac On landfills. It had been conceded to the developer back in 1988 with a rental period of a quarter-century.

Initially, the land plot was to be used for the construction of a one-story building, consisting of a ground floor and mezzanine, for a ceramic tiles and pavement factory.

According to the contract, the industrial unit was to be under construction for a maximum period of 18 months from the beginning of the concession.

One year later, the concessionaire requested a change in the project to expand the building into a six-story one. The company would continue to use the ground floor for an industrial purpose, but use the other five storeys for commerce.

This request was approved and the concession was extended for another two years. A further extension was granted in 2008, when the concessionaire requested to change the land plot purpose from industrial to residential.

This time, instead of a six-storey building, the land would be used for a 58-storey residential block with a gross construction area of 113,785 square meters, including housing units, shops and a parking lot.

Still, the concessionaire was never able to complete the project on time and was the only entity responsible for the constant delays and lack of development. The concessionaire justified the delays with reference to economic crises and unfavorable market conditions, giving rise to the suspicion that there was never any intention to build the industrial unit but, instead, a highly profitable residential building in a privileged location.

With the final ruling from the TUI, the government now has one more land plot at its disposal, closing a judicial case and giving way to the possibility of using the plot to achieve a similar result with others in the same area, including one that has already been used for the construction of the governments multi-functional building.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has proposed a joint project with China to use artificial rain to clean the air in his country, where an acute increase in pollution has caused alarm.

Moon also instructed government officials yesterday to quicken the retirement of old coal-burning power plants, according to his spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom.

Seoul has been struggling to tackle the rise in air pollution that experts have linked to Chinas massive industrial activity and emissions from South Korean cars. Fine dust levels in South Korea have hit new highs over the past week, prompting people to wear masks while commuting under thick-gray skies that online users have compared to scenes from the movie Wall-E.

When asked about Moons proposal, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said cooperation would be good but downplayed Seouls claim that China is a major source of its pollution problems.

Is South Korea sure if their pollution is from China? Lu said. Many countries have realized that the causes of pollution are various.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, the fine dust concentration level was 136 micrograms per cubic meter in Seoul, according to the National Institute of Environmental Research, which defines levels above 75 micrograms per cubic meter as very bad.

Na Kyung-won, the floor leader of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, called for Moon to designate the air pollution as a national disaster. Ruling and opposition parties held an emergency meeting at which they agreed to swiftly pass bills to cope with the problem.

In a meeting with government officials, Moon noted that China was much more advanced than South Korea in rain-making technologies and expressed hope that creating rain over waters between the countries would help mitigate the air pollution, Kim said.

In January, South Koreas weather agency failed in an experiment to create artificial rain which involved an aircraft releasing chemicals into clouds over the sea.

China has claimed that South Koreas dust flies toward Shanghai, so creating artificial rain over the Yellow Sea would help the Chinese side too, Kim quoted Moon as saying during the meeting. Moon also proposed that South Korea and China develop a joint system for issuing air pollution alerts, Kim said.

Moon instructed government officials to take steps to quickly close coal-burning power plants that have operated for more than 30 years and draw up an extra budget if necessary to install more air purifiers in schools and support possible joint activities with China, Kim said.

In a meeting with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi last year, Moon said China was partially responsible for South Koreas pollution problem and called for Beijings cooperation in efforts to improve air quality. Kim Tong Hyung, Seoul, AP
Having long sought extradition treaties with both Beijing and neighboring Hong Kong, Macau authorities hinted at signs of a breakthrough last week with a consensus reached between the Secretary for Administration and her mainland counterparts in the Chinese capital.

Extradition agreements with Macaus major political and economic partners, Hong Kong and Beijing, have long been a personal goal of Secretary Sonia Chan.

In her November 2015 policy address, Chan announced that a draft law allowing for extradition agreements with the two Chinese jurisdictions was near completion. But the proposal fell through and was ultimately withdrawn from the Legislative Assembly while the government mused a change in strategy.

Little progress was seen in the years that followed until, suddenly, last month, Hong Kongs Security Bureau suggested a work- around following a high-profile murder in Taiwan with a Hong Kong resident as the principal suspect. The bureau proposed allowing extraditions within the greater China region to be studied on a case-by-case basis, adding that no prosecutions would be based on race, religion, nationality or political opinions.

Then, returning from meetings with her mainland counterparts at the end of February, Macaus justice chief announced the consensus over the transfer of convicted criminals. While that does not yet amount to an extradition agreement, it moves the Macau SAR a step closer to signing what would be a highly controversial bill.

The New Macau Association has for years expressed its opposition to an extradition treaty with the mainland, describing it as akin to opening Pandoras Box.

This is the principal concern shared by most extradition critics in the two special administrative regions. They objected to the guarantee given by Hong Kong authorities that would exclude politically-motivated crimes from the scope of the extradition agreement, arguing that ideological crimes could easily be disguised as economic offenses. In short, they say they dont trust mainland authorities to play by the rules.

Extradition agreements raise concerns when they are signed with countries that do not follow the rule of law, said lawyer Jorge Menezes yesterday. Its not sufficient for the authorities to say that they will not pursue politically-motivated crimes, [since] it would be easy to masquerade a political crime as another [different type of crime].

There are three main concerns: extraditions will be used for politically-motivated crimes; judicial systems are not fair; and the use of the death penalty.

In Hong Kong, pro-democracy politicians and activists have protested the Security Bureaus suggestion for the past few weeks, arguing that it would pose a security threat to nearly everyone in the city.

They called on the Hong Kong government to exclude Macau and mainland China from any agreement, citing concerns about the potential for the fugitive extraction process to be abused. Political party Demosisto suggested working with Taiwanese authorities to reach a mutual legal assistance agreement for this particular high-profile homicide case. But their repeated objections went largely unnoticed.

That was until yesterday, when it was revealed that a coalition of pro-democrats was traveling to Taipei to make the objections known.

According to media reports, as many as 19 pro-democracy groups from Hong Kong have answered the call and will spend their time in Taiwan meeting with government officials and lawmakers in a move that is likely to provoke Beijing.

The coalition will try persuade Taipei to agree to a narrowing of the scope of the agreement, which would exclude Macau and mainland China. This, they say, will prevent Hong Kong residents from being transferred to mainland China via Macau, or Taiwanese residents from being transferred to the mainland via one of the special administrative regions.

Asked whether such indirect extraditions could occur, lawyer Menezes told the Times yesterday that they are possible, if unusual.

Normally, extradition is only for the purpose of being tried for that specific crime in that specific place. In principle [further extradition] would violate the terms of the [initial] extradition, he said, adding that it would be a different matter if a new charge was introduced while the suspect or convict was in the custody of the middling authority. Daniel Beitler & Julie Zhu
A French man sentenced to one month in prison with hard labor for flying a drone in Myanmar completed his term yesterday, but remained in detention because his deportation order was delayed.

Arthur Desclaux, 27, was arrested on Feb. 7 for flying the drone near the parliament building in the capital, Naypyitaw. He was convicted of violating the Illegal Export-Import Act by bringing the device into Myanmar without a license. He also was fined about USD100 for violating two other laws covering aviation and immigration.

Myint Zaw, the chief immigration officer of Ottarathiri township, said Desclaux would be kept in a police jail over night because the deportation order from the Immigration Department had not arrived by late afternoon and no one was available to take responsibility for guaranteeing his whereabouts.

He said Desclaux could expect to be free today.

We will do this process quickly, he said. Unless we do so, it will not be good for both countries, the law will come under criticism. So, we will do it quickly.

Frederic Inza, a counselor at the French Embassy in Myanmar who has attended the legal proceedings, said: Now that all the procedures at the court have finished, were satisfied. We only have immigration procedures left.

He added his appreciation for the Immigration Departments work, but said it was unfortunate that no one in Myanmar could post a guarantee for Desclaux.

Desclauxs family had been trying to contact someone to take care of the guarantee but with no result so far, so he would have to remain in police custody, Inza said.

In 2017, a film crew working for Turkish state television was jailed for two months for trying to fly a drone over the parliament in Naypyitaw. A Singaporean and a Malaysian working for broadcaster TRT, along with two Myanmar assistants, were convicted under a 1934 law covering aircraft. The two foreigners were deported immediately after their release from prison. AP
Hardliners in Chancellor Angela Merkels government are fighting for the powers to keep Huawei Technologies Co. out of Germanys fifth-generation mobile networks.

The cyber-security hawks are concerned that Huawei could help China steal secrets from German companies or even the state and are pushing for strict criteria on equipment suppliers before the government begins the process of issuing 5G licenses in two weeks time, according to three people familiar with talks in Berlin.

While the cabinet has decided that an outright ban on the Chinese equipment maker would be legally impossible, officials across the administration are demanding tools that would allow them to block Huawei equipment from being used all the same, the people said.

The interior ministry, the foreign ministry and German intelligence are all pushing back against the economy ministry and industry lobby groups, which have said that sidelining Huawei would delay the roll-out of 5G by years and cost the country billions. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has said any restrictions cant involve targeting specific companies, but will have to involve security standards for all potential service providers.

Spokespeople in the Federal Chancellery and ministries have declined to comment while the negotiations are ongoing.

Huawei has become a lightning rod for tensions between the U.S. and Europe over trade and security policy as Washington threatens reprisals against any governments that allow Chinese equipment to form part of the crucial ultrafast networks.

The U.K.s foreign intelligence chief last month said an outright Huawei ban may be excessive and Italys deputy prime minister said his countrys intelligence has no security concerns on the Chinese. European telecom executives at a conference in Barcelona last week banded together to try to avert any bans against Huawei.

Security officials in Germany, however, are more sympathetic to U.S. concerns and arent giving up just yet.

Their efforts are now focused on the catalogue of security criteria that 5G equipment will have to meet in order to be certified by Germanys Federal Office for Information Security, or BSI. The U.K. has a similar certification process.

Ministries are still in the process of negotiating how strict the certification criteria will be.

One of those could involve an assessment of how trustworthy a provider is, one official said. Authorities will also have to pay close attention to how companies interact in their country of origin, according to another, referencing a Chinese law that requires Huawei to share data with intelligence services in Beijing.

Some criteria may be watered down by the time the catalogue is fleshed out  and the BSI may have leeway in granting certification. But the hawks are pushing for the threshold to be as high as possible. Patrick Donahue & Birgit Jennen, MDT/Bloomberg
The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) will organize an Experience Macau  Portugal mega promotion next week during Lisbon Travel Market (BTL) 2019, at which Macau will be a highlight as this years International Guest Destination. Macau mascot Mak Mak will be on site to greet and entertain visitors.

A string of activities will be conducted in Lisbon and Porto to market Macau as a tourism destination, emphasizing the upcoming occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region.

Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, will be in Portugal to preside over the activities conducted under the umbrella of Experience Macau  Portugal.

The mega tourism promotion will kick off with the presentation of a video mapping show titled Macau a Legendary Journey at Praca do Comercio on March 12, showcasing the citys history, its links to Portugal, and recent developments.

MGTO will participate in BTL with a booth under the themes Experience Macau Your Own Style and the 20th anniversary of the Macau SAR. The booth will showcase the citys UNESCO-listed heritage, as well as highlight Macanese gastronomy and Macau as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy with a food truck presenting Macanese delicacies.

There will also be Macau virtual reality tour experiences, with Macau tourism mascot Mak Mak welcoming and entertaining visitors at the booth.

An exhibition featuring works from over 30 Macau artists will open on March 13 at the Macau Economic and Trade Office in Lisbon. On the following day, four street dance groups from Macau (The Dancer Studio Macau, Macau Pop Music and Dance Association, the Association of Macau Street Dance and the Macau Street Dance Culture Association) will perform in four popular pedestrian streets and plazas in the heart of Lisbon.

On March 15, the Macau delegation heads to Porto for the opening of an exhibition to promote the arts among disabled people at Porto City Hall.

Then the delegation takes to Portuguese television to conduct a Macanese cooking demonstration, among other initiatives to be presented by visiting Macanese chefs, Antonieta Manhao and Carlos Cabral.
The Macao Customs Services used its latest police drone to search for and locate seafarers during yesterdays search and rescue drill.

The maritime authority also dispatched two rescue vessels and a speedboat.

Carried out in the sea by the Macao Science Museum and the Macau Outer Harbor Ferry terminal, the drill served mainly to assess the rescue coordination response and order maintenance of relevant governmental departments.

The exercise simulated the collision of two passenger ships on sea, with 14 passengers injured and three people missing.

Participants in the exercise included the Marine and Water Bureau, the customs authority, the Fire Services Bureau, the Health Bureau, and two shipping companies.

Wu Chu Pang, head of the Maritime Activities Department of the marine authority, said after the drill that Macau is developing a marine upstream project, and that the safety of vessels at sea is worthy of attention. He believes that the drill can enhance the emergency coordination capabilities of shipping companies in upstream projects, and enhance the coordination ability of governmental departments.

Yesterdays drill lasted about one and a half hours, with 160 people participating.

The marine authority said that the process was smooth and achieved the intended purpose.

In 2018, no passenger ferry collisions were reported. In an accident in 2016, two passengers were injured after a ferry collision.

No such accident has yet been reported in 2019. As of today, the marine authority has only prosecuted two bulk carriers, which previously collided with beacons. JZ
China will bar government authorities from demanding overseas companies hand over technology secrets in exchange for market share, a top economic official said yesterday, addressing a key complaint at the heart of the China-U.S. trade dispute.

The provision is contained in a foreign investment law to be debated at the current annual session of the National Peoples Congress, Ning Jizhe, vice chairman of the Cabinets economic planning agency told reporters at a news conference.

The law will clarify the system for advancement and protection of foreign investment, Ning said. The legal system will ensure that foreign businesses cannot be required to transfer technology by administrative means, providing a more encompassing and beneficial legal guarantee, he said.

The rubber-stamp legislature is expected to pass the law during its 11-day session, although the central government routinely says it has little control over commercial agreements between Chinese and foreign firms.

Nings statement came a day after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a robust annual economic growth target and promised in a speech to the congress opening session that foreign companies will be treated as equals with their Chinese competitors.

Accusations that China demands the disclosure of technology secrets are a key stumbling point in the U.S.-China trade dispute that has significantly disrupted commerce between the worlds two largest economies, affecting farmers, liquor exporters and Chinas key manufacturing industries.

Li on Tuesday set this years economic growth target at 6 to 6.5 percent. Such a growth rate, if achieved, would be among the worlds strongest. Yet it would be slightly below last years 6.6 percent growth in China and would mark a new three-decade low.

Chinas emergence as a competitor in smartphones, telecom equipment, solar power and other technologies has increased the range of products available to consumers and helped to drive down prices. But it rattles Washington and other governments that worry Chinese competition is a threat to their industries and employment.

Such concerns underscore a standoff between the U.S. and China over Huawei Technologies, the worlds biggest maker of telecom infrastructure for new high-speed 5G networks. Washington has been pushing hard to exclude the Chinese company from building the backbone of the future internet.

News reports say Washington and Beijing might be close to an agreement to end the trade battle and avoid further tariff hikes, although no firm agreements have been announced on the core of the dispute: U.S. pressure on Beijing to roll back its plans for state-led creation of global competitors in robotics and other technology.

Last year, the U.S. levied import taxes of 25 percent on USD50 billion of Chinese imports. It followed in September with 10 percent duties on an additional $200 billion. All told, the U.S. tariffs covered roughly half of what the U.S. buys from China.

Washington, Europe and other trading partners say Chinas policies violate its market-opening obligations and give an unfair advantage to domestic firms. Some American officials worry they might erode U.S. industrial leadership. Christopher Bodeen, AP
North Korea is restoring facilities at a long-range rocket launch site that it dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps, according to foreign experts and a South Korean lawmaker who was briefed by Seouls spy service.

The finding follows a high- stakes nuclear summit last week between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump that ended without any agreement.

South Koreas National Intelligence Service provided the assessment about the Norths Tongchang-ri launch site to lawmakers during a private briefing Tuesday. North Korea didnt immediately respond in its state media.

An article from 38 North, a website specializing in North Korea studies, cited commercial satellite imagery as indicating that efforts to rebuild some structures at the site started sometime between Feb. 16 and March 2.

Dismantling parts of its long- range rocket launch facility was among several steps the North took last year when it entered nuclear talks with the United States and South Korea. North Korea has carried out satellite launches at the site in recent years, resulting in U.N. sanctions over expert claims that they were disguised tests of banned missile technology.

It wasnt immediately clear how the report might affect nuclear diplomacy. The Trump- Kim summit fell apart because of differences over how much sanction relief North Korea could win in return for closing its aging main nuclear complex. The U.S. and North Korea accused each other of causing the summit breakdown, but both sides left the door open for future negotiations.

Trump said Kim told him that North Korea would continue to suspend nuclear and missile tests while negotiations are underway, and South Korea and the U.S. announced Sunday that they are eliminating massive springtime military drills and replacing them with smaller exercises in an effort to support the talks.

One of the South Korean lawmakers who attended the intelligence briefing said yesterday that NIS director Suh Hoon said the structures being restored at the launch site include roofs and building doors.

The lawmaker requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

He quoted Suh as saying that the move could be preparation to restart long-range rocket launches if nuclear diplomacy completely collapses, or could be an attempt to add structures that could be dramatically blown up in a show of denuclearization commitment when U.S. inspectors visit if negotiations with Washington go well.

The NIS said it couldnt confirm the report on Suhs briefing.

The 38 North report published Tuesday said the rail-mounted processing building, which is where space launch vehicles are worked on before theyre moved to the launch pad, is being reassembled. It said two support cranes can be seen at the building, and walls have been erected and a new roof added.

At the engine test stand, the website said it appears that the engine support structure is being reassembled. It said new roofs have been installed on the fuel and oxidizer buildings.

The report was written by Jack Liu and Jenny Town.

Beyond Parallel, a website run by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, issued a similar assessment of the Tongchang-ri site. It said satellite imagery taken Saturday, two days after the failed summit, showed North Korea is pursuing a rapid rebuilding of the rocket site. Hyung-Jin Kim & Kim Tong-Hyung, Seoul, AP
State troopers and volunteer officers in the southern US state of Alabama have broken up a demonstration of black and white civil rights protesters, injuring at least 50 people.

They assaulted a group of about 500 demonstrators using tear gas, whips and sticks after Governor George Wallace ordered the planned march from Selma to the state capital Montgomery to be halted on the grounds of public safety.

At least 10 of the injured have been taken to hospital with skull and limb fractures and suffering the effects of tear gas.

They were stopped by 200 police this morning at the Edmund Pettus Bridge as they were heading east out of Selma on US Route 80.

When they refused to turn back the state troopers, some on horseback, attacked in full view of photographers and journalists.

As they were pushed back to the Browns Chapel Methodist Church area, some protesters threw bricks and bottles at police but were chased into their homes by troopers wielding sticks, riot guns, pistols and tear gas bombs.

The streets were patrolled for an hour after the violence had subsided.

Among the injured was John Lewis, the chairman of the Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee (SNCC), who along with Hosea Williams, led the silent marchers from the Browns Chapel Church towards the outskirts of town.

He told the New York Times: Next time we march we may have to keep going when we get to Montgomery. We may have to on to Washington.

One of the doctors at Selmas Good Samaritan Hospital said it looked as if there had been a moderate disaster.

Another hospital official said most of the injuries had been sustained by heavy blows.

FBI agents will be interviewing the wounded and other witnesses tomorrow to establish if there are grounds for legal action against the officers involved.

The protest march had been planned to highlight discriminatory practices in the state that prevented black people from registering to vote.

It was also meant to commemorate the death on 17 February of Jimmie Lee Jackson who was shot by a state trooper on a civil rights march in Selma.

There is widespread outrage at events in the city.

Congressman William Ryan of New York said the Federal Government should send marshals, or even troops down to Alabama to protect the marchers.

But Governor Wallace remains steadfast in his views saying: These folks in Selma have made this a seven-day-a-week job but we cant give one inch. Were going to enforce state laws.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

Since 1963 Selma had been the focus of civil rights activists attempting to register black voters in Dallas County, Alabama.

Demonstrations in January and February 1965 tried to highlight violations of existing voting rights laws. On the orders of Sheriff James Clark and with the support of Governor George Wallace, the protests were forcefully broken up  resulting in the death of activist Jimmy Lee Jackson.

The violent scenes in Selma on 7 March, which left 17 people in hospital, came to be known as Bloody Sunday.

Civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King organised another march there two days later. His group knelt and prayed in front of state troopers who stopped them at the Edmund Pettus Bridge but did not attack them.

Dr King filed a federal lawsuit for the right to march on Montgomery and on 21 March began the third and final march under the protection of federal troops. He and his supporters arrived a week later and held a rally attended by thousands.

President Lyndon B Johnson finally signed a new Voting Rights Act in August 1965 that banned discrimination in voting practices and procedures on the grounds of race or colour.
President Donald Trumps former lawyer is returning to Capitol Hill for a fourth day of testimony as Democrats pursue a flurry of investigations into Trumps White House, businesses and presidential campaign.

Michael Cohen became a key figure in those investigations after turning on his former boss and cooperating with special counsel Robert Muellers probe. He was interviewed behind closed doors by both the Senate and House intelligence committees last week and is due for another private, daylong meeting with the House intelligence panel on today [local time].

Cohen also testified publicly before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, where he called Trump a con man, a cheat and a racist. He pleaded guilty last year to lying to Congress, campaign finance violations and other charges and is set to begin a three-year prison sentence in May.

Among the issues discussed in Cohens closed-door interviews with both the House and the Senate was the issue of pardons, according to people familiar with those interviews. They requested anonymity to speak about the confidential discussion.

The issue is expected to come up again during Cohens return visit. Though Cohen told Congress last week that he had never asked for nor would accept a pardon from Trump, a lawyer for Cohen expressed interest to the Trump legal team in a possible pardon for his client in the aftermath of a raid last April on Cohens hotel room, home and office, according to people familiar with the encounter who werent authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The presidents attorneys were noncommittal during the conversation with Cohens lawyer, Stephen Ryan, the people said. Cohen did not participate in the conversation.

No pardon was given, and Cohen ultimately wound up pleading guilty and cooperating against the president in separate investigations by the special counsel and by federal prosecutors in New York. Another of Cohens lawyers, Lanny Davis, said on MSNBC Tuesday evening that Cohen was referring to the time after he turned on Trump when he testified that he wouldnt accept a pardon.

There is nothing inherently improper about a subject in a criminal investigation seeking a pardon from a president given the presidents wide latitude in granting them. But lawmakers have requested information about talks on possible pardons for Cohen and other defendants close to the president who have become entangled in Muellers investigation.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said after last weeks private meeting with Cohen that the committee had additional document requests that they were discussing with him. Schiff would not comment on the substance of the interview, but said it helped to shed light on a lot of issues that are very core to our investigation.

The intelligence panel is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trumps campaign coordinated with the Russians in any way. They are also looking into Trumps foreign financial dealings and whether there was obstruction of justice. It is one of several probes Democrats have launched in recent weeks as they delve deeper into Trumps political and personal dealings.

On Monday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., sent 81 letters to Trumps family and associates seeking documents and information. Nadler said he would investigate possible obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power.

Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the duration of negotiations over a Trump real estate project in Moscow. In addition, he pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations for his involvement in payments to two women who allege they had affairs with Trump, affairs that Trump denies. Mary Clare Jalonick & Eric Tucker, Washington, AP
Prior antibiotic exposure and use of acid suppressing medications known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may increase the risk for hospitalized children to contract dangerous Clostridioides difficile infections, according to a study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

"In pediatric patients, hospital-acquired infections due to C. difficile have increased over the last 20 years. However, few studies have looked at risk factors for these infections in children," said Charles Foster, MD, a co-author and pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Cleveland Clinic Children's. "We found that antibiotic exposure and use of proton-pump inhibitors may be risk factors. Clinicians should continue to utilize antibiotics judiciously in hospitalized children to minimize the risk of C. difficile infection."

The incidence and healthcare burden of C. difficile infection in hospitalized children has increased in the past two decades, mostly attributed to the emergence of a new, hypervirulent strain of the bacteria. While the risk factors are well understood in adult patients, current understanding of pediatric C. difficile is complicated. Many infants and toddlers under the age of 2 are colonized with the bacteria, but do not develop clinical illness.

Researchers performed a meta-analysis and systematic review of 14 studies, including 10.5 million children, 22,320 of whom developed C. difficile infection. Based on this meta-analysis, previous antibiotic exposure and PPI use appear to be the most important risk factors associated with C. difficile infection in children. Children with prior antibiotic exposure may have approximately twice the risk of developing C. difficile infection, compared to patients without a recent history of antibiotic exposure, but the association was not statistically significant after pooling studies with only adjusted data. Researchers said that PPIs are suspected risk factors for CDI because they suppress gastric acid, which may disrupt the normal gastrointestinal microbial diversity in children.

"Physicians should remain vigilant and continue judicious use of antibiotics and PPIs in hospitalized pediatric patients to minimize the risk of C. difficile infections," said Abhishek Deshpande, MD, Ph.D., a co-author and assistant professor of medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. Dr. Deshpande has received research support from 3M, Clorox Company, and STERIS unrelated to this study.

The researchers note the limitation of this research, including use of unadjusted data. Additional high-quality epidemiologic studies are needed to better evaluate the risk factors for C. difficile in children.

Explore further Guidance for preventing C. difficile in neonatal intensive care

More information: Scott Anjewierden et al, Risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection in pediatric inpatients: A meta-analysis and systematic review, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology (2019). Scott Anjewierden et al, Risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection in pediatric inpatients: A meta-analysis and systematic review,(2019). DOI: 10.1017/ice.2019.23
Ebola virus particles (red) on a larger cell. Credit: NIAID

Efforts to curb the Democratic Republic of Congo's worst Ebola outbreak are stumbling, medical charity MSF warned Thursday, blaming the role of the security forces in the response and their "toxic" relations with local communities.

Seven months into the outbreak, "the Ebola response is failing to bring the epidemic under control," Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement.

It highlighted that more than 40 percent of deaths are occurring in communities rather than in Ebola treatment centres.

"That means that we have not reached them and they have not sought our care," MSF chief Joanne Liu told reporters in Geneva.

The outbreak emerged in North Kivu last August and then spread to neighbouring Ituri province.

It has claimed 561 lives out of 894 recorded cases, according the latest DRC health ministry figures.

Security in eastern DRC, a region rampant with rebel fighters, has complicated the response.

Liu warned that growing reliance on the security services to bring people to treatment centres was spurring hostility.

"The existing atmosphere can only be described as toxic," she said, adding that this "shows how the response has failed to listen and act on the needs of those most affected."

Her comments came after MSF suspended its activities at two treatment centres in North Kivu after the sites were attacked.

"Ebola responders are increasingly seen as the enemy," Liu said.

In the past month alone, she said, there had been more than 30 attacks and incidents involving elements of the Ebola response.

'Counterproductive'

An attack by gunmen on one of the centres last week in Butembo forced its temporary closure, but the health ministry said Monday that the centre would reopen.

It also said repairs would begin on the centre in Katwa, North Kivu, which was set ablaze on the night of February 24.

MSF, which is active across DRC, is considering whether to resume activities in the two areas, but is intent on avoiding the use of security personnel on site or in rounding up patients, Liu said.

"Some local health staff have told us that they live in fear of being associated with the response," she said, stressing that "the use of coercion adds fuel to this."

"Using police to force people into complying with health measures is not only unethical. It is totally counterproductive," she said.

"The effectiveness of this Ebola response will rest on whether or not it is viewed as legitimate and trustworthy."

While nearly half of all deaths in the outbreak are happening away from treatment centres, another alarm bell is the fact that more than one third of new cases are occurring outside of known transmission chains.

This "means we don't know how they got it," Lieu said.

The ongoing Ebola outbreak is the 10th in DRC's history and the second largest ever recorded worldwide.

The worst-ever outbreak, which was centred in West Africa from 2013 to 2016, killed more than more than 11,000 people.

 2019 AFP
Lead researcher Dr Priyanka Sagar looking into a microscope Credit: The Westmead Institute for Medical Research

People with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) could benefit from a moderate increase in water intake, according to new research.

A study from The Westmead Institute for Medical Research found that a moderate increase in water intake in rats with PKD led to a long-term reduction in kidney cyst growth and fibrosis.

This latest findings add to the growing body of evidence that supports water as a safe and effective treatment for PKD.

Polycystic kidney disease is the most common inherited cause of end-stage kidney disease. It is a chronic condition, in which fluid-filled cysts damage healthy tissue and kidney function.

Left untreated, it can cause complications, including high blood pressure, heart problems and, in severe cases, kidney failure.

More than 2,000 Australians with PKD currently receive dialysis or need a kidney transplant.

Lead researcher Dr. Priyanka Sagar said that water may be a potential treatment for PKD, because it stops the hormone responsible for cyst growth.

"Previous studies in animals haven't shown whether this benefit continues over time, and there is presently no evidence in humans," Dr. Sagar said.

"Our research in rats showed that increased water intake reduces the long-term progression of cyst growth and kidney fibrosis when administered during the early stages of kidney disease.

"Significantly, we identified that only a moderate increase in water was needed to have this sustained benefit in rats."

The research also showed that increased water intake had secondary benefits for some complications associated with PKD.

"Interestingly, we found that increased water intake also reduced hypertension," Dr. Sagar said.

"PKD is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, so this is an important protective effect."

Currently, treatment options for PKD in humans are limited. Dr. Sagar said that further studies are needed in humans to prove that water is an effective treatment for kidney cysts.

"We're finding more evidence to support water as a viable treatment for PKD," she said.

"However, further studies are needed to determine its effectiveness.

"Water is cheap and accessible, so the idea that it could be used as a treatment for PKD in the future is very exciting," she concluded.

Explore further New clinical trial using water to treat polycystic kidney disease

More information: Priyanka S. Sagar et al, Increased water intake reduces long-term renal and cardiovascular disease progression in experimental polycystic kidney disease, PLOS ONE (2019). Journal information: PLoS ONE Priyanka S. Sagar et al, Increased water intake reduces long-term renal and cardiovascular disease progression in experimental polycystic kidney disease,(2019). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209186

Provided by Westmead Institute for Medical Research
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

If you knew that expressing gratitude to a colleague would improve their life and yours, would you do it more often?

A new study by Portland State University researchersbusiness professor David Cadiz, psychology professor Cynthia Mohr, and Alicia Starkey, a recent Ph.D. graduate in psychologytogether with Clemson State University professor Robert Sinclair, exhibits a positive relationship between expressed workplace gratitude, physical health and mental health.

The study, "Gratitude reception and physical health: Examining the mediating role of satisfaction with patient care in a sample of acute care nurses," shows that being thanked more often at work predicted better sleep, fewer headaches and healthier eating, because it improved nurses' work satisfaction.

Improving Self-Care in a Stressful Work Environment

The study involved a group of Oregon nurses, a profession that has a particularly high rate of burnout. Cadiz discusses the findings and how applying the research can have a significant impact on quality of life and job retention by preventing stress-related illnesses and disease.

"Nurses tend to have a thankless job. It's very physical, and they're often being screamed at by patients who are at their lowest. When nurses receive gratitude, it boosts them," Cadiz explains.

"This type of study helps us understand how to keep nurses in the workforce in a healthy way. Nurses strongly align their profession with their identity and often look out for patients more than themselves. The gratitude matches up with their identity, gives them satisfaction in a job well done and ultimately increases self-care."

Many people inherently connect their identity to their job and feelings of appreciation within their roles. Employers who understand and react to this can create positive social and economic change.

Gratitude is Good Business

From an organizational, policy and leadership perspective, Cadiz says that employers should create formal or informal opportunities for people to express gratitude. Including gratitude in a business plan is an essential step that many business leaders miss, and that omission can have financial consequences.

"Employees that receive positive feedback are healthier, and that can impact the bottom line," adds Cadiz. "Preventing headaches and other stress-related symptoms means fewer sick days, and, in this case, cuts down the cost of replacement nurses and overtime pay."

These small changes can have a dramatic fiscal impact over time, which can result in more staff, better pay rates and increased benefits.

The big takeawayexpress gratitude when you see someone doing a good job. A positive feedback loop impacts you and those around you, and can ultimately shape a healthier and happier community.

"Gratitude reception and physical health: Examining the mediating role of satisfaction with patient care in a sample of acute care nurses" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Positive Psychology.

More information: Alicia R. Starkey et al. Gratitude reception and physical health: Examining the mediating role of satisfaction with patient care in a sample of acute care nurses, The Journal of Positive Psychology (2019). Alicia R. Starkey et al. Gratitude reception and physical health: Examining the mediating role of satisfaction with patient care in a sample of acute care nurses,(2019). DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2019.1579353
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

US states with more relaxed gun control laws and higher rates of gun ownership have higher rates of mass shootings, reveals a time trends analysis, published today in The BMJ.

And the gap in the rate of mass shootings between these states and those with more restrictive laws seems to have widened in recent years, the findings show.

Previous research suggests that more relaxed ('permissive') state laws and greater numbers of gun owners are linked to higher rates of gun deaths by murder and suicide. But despite the seemingly disproportionate occurrence of mass shootings in some states and not in others, it's not clear how legislation and ownership might influence this.

To try and explore this further, the researchers used the 1998-2015 editions of the Traveler's Guide to the Firearms Laws of the Fifty States.

This guide, which is published annually, scores the firearm laws for each of the 50 US states, from 0 (completely restrictive) to 100 (completely permissive).

The score is derived from 13 different factors, including permit requirements; magazine capacity (for semi-automatics); if and where guns can be carried and kept; and whether the right to self defence is enshrined in the state legislation.

To gauge the level of gun ownership, which is not directly surveyed across all 50 states, the researchers used Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on the percentage of suicides committed using a firearm, as a proxy measure.

Data on mass shootings in each state, bar Florida, were obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) Uniform Crime Reporting System for the years 1998 to 2015.

Between 1998 and 2014, the average score for each state, irrespective of whether it was 'restrictive' or 'permissive,' shifted towards greater permissiveness by 0.16 units every year.

Massachusetts had the most restrictive gun laws, while Vermont had the most relaxed ones throughout this period, during which 344 mass shootings occurred.

Around three out of four of these (263; 76.5%) were classified as 'non-domestic' to include acquaintances, employees, employers, friends, neighbours, strangers, and extended family members. The remainder (81; 23.5%) were classified as 'domestic' where the victims were first degree relatives or partners.

Yearly changes in the rates of mass shootings showed that, on average, restrictive states had lower rates of mass shootings than most permissive states, for most years.

And from 2010 onwards, the gap between permissive and restrictive states started to widen, with rates falling in restrictive states and rising in permissive states.

Levels of gun ownership were also significantly associated with mass shooting rates.

After taking account of key factors, a 10 unit increase in state gun law permissiveness, as defined by the scale, was associated with an 11.5% higher rate of mass shootings.

These findings held true, even when different factors were accounted for and whether or not the mass shootings were perpetrated by someone in a close relationship with the victims.

And a 10% increase in gun ownership was associated with a more than 35% higher rate of mass shootings.

"On the absolute scale, this means that a state like California, which has approximately two mass shootings per year, will have an extra mass shooting for every 10 unit increase in permissiveness over five years," explain the researchers.

"It will also have three to five more mass shootings per five years for every 10 unit increase in gun ownership," they add.

This is an observational study, and as such, can't establish cause, added to which the scoring system used has not been validated, although it was drawn up by lawyers for gun owners. Concerns have been voiced about potential under reporting to the FBI crime reporting system, note the researchers.

Nevertheless, they conclude: "Our analyses show that US state gun laws have become more permissive in recent decades, and that a growing divide in rates of mass shootings appears to be emerging between restrictive and permissive states.

Explore further Trauma researchers identify characteristics of communities where mass shootings occur

More information: State gun laws, gun ownership, and mass shootings in the US: cross sectional time series, BMJ (2019). Journal information: British Medical Journal (BMJ) State gun laws, gun ownership, and mass shootings in the US: cross sectional time series,(2019). www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.l476
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), shown here as tiny purple spheres, causes the disease known as AIDS. Credit: Mark Ellisman and Tom Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research

This week a team of scientists and physicians from the U.K. published news of a second HIV positive man, in London, who is in long-term (18-month) HIV remission after undergoing treatment for Hodgkins lymphoma. The unexpected success has launched a new round of discussion about a potential cure for HIV.

Since 2008, scientists have been trying to replicate the treatment that cured the "Berlin patient" of HIV. At the time, many in the field of HIV research were excited to learn that this man, who tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus in Berlin and had recently undergone treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, appeared to have been cured of his HIV. Until now, success in replicating that cure has been limited.

What is HIV?

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. Since the virus was first discovered in the 1980s, more than 75 million people worldwide have been infected with HIV. Today, almost 37 million people live with HIV. Of these, about 1.1 million live in the U.S.

Infection with HIV almost always led to AIDS, which in turn was almost always fatal. The field was revolutionized in 1996 with the introduction of HIV anti-retroviral therapy medications. These drugs halt HIV from replicating and allow an infected person to regain a functioning immune system. These medications are so effective that today a person living with HIV has almost the same life expectancy of someone without HIV infection. However, these medications must be taken every day, have multiple distressing side effects, and can cost thousands of dollars each month.

Yet even with this life-extending treatment, a functional HIV cure, defined as when someone with HIV no longer tests positive for the virus and does not need to take these medications, has remained elusive.

The 'cure' treatment

All of that seemed to change when in 2008 at the Conference on Retrovirus and Opportunistic Infections in Boston, Massachusetts, the news broke of the Berlin patient, named Timothy Ray Brown, who seemed to have been cured of his HIV. In order to achieve that serendipitous "cure," Brown had to undergo aggressive treatment for his acute myeloid leukemia that involved two hematopoietic stem cell transplantations  in which a patient's bone marrow is damaged  and full body irradiation.

Top panel illustrates the treatment course for the London patient. Step 1: Chemotherapy; Step 2: The patient received a stem cell transplant from a donor with a genetic mutation in the CCR5 receptor gene; Step 3: Sixteen months after the patients transplant, HIV medications were interrupted. Patient is in HIV remission 18 months later. Lower left panel shows the target for HIV, the CD4+ T-cell. Most HIV uses both the CD4 and CCR5 receptor to enter a persons immune cells. Lower right panel shows that after the stem cell transplant, the patients immune cells no longer displayed a working CCR5 receptor, which blocks more HIV from entering his CD4 cells. Credit: Cynthia Rentrope / Case Western Reserve University, CC BY-SA

This complex treatment involves destroying a person's own immune system with high doses of chemotherapy or radiation. Then the patient receives a transplant of new stem cells from either themselves or a donor.

This is a difficult treatment that carries a high risk of infection and other complications, such as graft-versus-host disease, blood clots and liver disease.

Researchers learned that Brown and the "London patient" both shared a novel treatment course. In the case of both Brown and now the London patient, the new blood cells transplanted into them were from donors who had two copies of a gene mutation for the CCR5 receptor. This CCR5 receptor mutation  present in about 1 percent of people of European descent  prevents HIV viruses from entering immune cells. This renders them resistant to most HIV infection.

However, it's not just surviving the transplant that confers the HIV "cure" or remission. After receiving treatment, both patients were eventually taken off their anti-retroviral medications and subsequent examination showed that that even with very sensitive blood tests, the team could not detect HIV in their blood. The inability to find HIV in their blood, coupled with the missing CCR5 receptor, constitutes the HIV viral remission of the London patient announced earlier this week.

What the new case shows

Given recent disappointments after hematopoietic stem cell transplantations in people living with HIV, the team reporting on remission of the London patient does not describe their patient as cured. Neither should anyone else.

While a second patient experiencing HIV viral remission with a slightly less toxic cancer treatment is certainly encouraging progress, an 18-month remission does not equal a cure.

Also, while the London patient's cancer treatment was less intense, with just chemotherapy and the stem cell transplant, it was still toxic and is not a course of treatment that otherwise healthy people living with HIV infection should embark upon.

Most importantly, the HIV community learned that Brown's case was not unique. This gives us another, and perhaps greater reason, to hope for future revolutions in the HIV cure scientific agenda.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
An electron micrograph of the measles virus. Credit: CDC/ Courtesy of Cynthia S. Goldsmith

As a measles outbreak spread in Northern California last spring, public health workers called the family of a young boy who they feared had been exposed to the disease.

The boy's mother, however, said her 7-year-old already had his shots, so they need not worry.

A month later, health investigators found out she had lied.

The boy, who had since caught measles, spread it to his brother and uncle, said Dr. George Han, deputy health officer in Santa Clara County.

"Normally, most people who we contact are happy to cooperate with our investigation because they understand we're using that information to prevent other people from getting sick," Han said in an interview.

The case, publicized in a report last week, is not unique.

Health officials across California say parents sometimes refuse to cooperate with public health investigatorsand even mislead themas officials try to stem outbreaks of serious diseases.

In some cases, parents may not comply because they simply don't understand why government workers are asking questions about their medical history. But often, the resistance appears to be another dangerous facet of the anti-vaccine movement.

Thwarting public health efforts endangers others, experts say. As outbreaks swell, the illness spreads quickly among those who have not been vaccinated, including people who cannot get shots for medical reasons, such as children undergoing cancer treatment.

One out of every four children who gets measles will be hospitalized and two out of every 1,000 will die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The reporting problem persists even after California enacted one of the strictest vaccination laws in the country. Amid a recent major measles outbreak in Washington, legislators in several states are considering adopting similar restrictions, hoping to curb future disease outbreaks.

But this emerging challenge in California reveals that even after passing such a law, public health officials still face many hurdles in controlling vaccine-preventable diseases and fighting anti-science beliefs.

When a 15-year-old brought measles to the Bay Area after a trip to Britain in March 2018, health workers did what they always do: Pick up the phone.

During a measles outbreak, health workers enter a race against the clock. They try to find anyone who may have crossed paths with an infected person, so they can vaccinate or quarantine them.

It's time-intensive work, but it's also one of the only ways to stop an outbreak of such a highly contagious disease. If a person infected with measles walks into a room, the virus can stay there for two hours after the person leaves, ready to infect.

So Santa Clara County health workers found out where the sick teenager had gone during the four days before and after the characteristic measles rash appeared. Then they contacted anyone who might have been at those locations.

The 7-year-old boy went to the same tutoring center as the 15-year-old, so they called the younger boy's mom. She said he did not have any measles symptoms and had already been vaccinated.

But weeks later, they learned his 33-year-old uncle was sick. He pointed to his nephew as the source of the infection. It turned out the mom hadn't been truthfulneither of her kids were vaccinated, and both had measles.

The family's "very disturbing" behavior wastes county resources and puts vulnerable people at risk, said Democratic Sen. Richard Pan, a pediatrician who advocates for stricter vaccine laws.

Although the Bay Area outbreak ultimately sickened only seven people, it still prompted a major public health investigation that spanned two states and 10 counties, with a dozen investigators working in Santa Clara County alone.

"They're actively undermining public health authorities," Pan said. "The decisions they're making are not to the benefit of the community around them, and not to their own benefit."

Three percent of people who have had the measles vaccine will still catch measles if exposed to the virus, doctors say. One sick person in the Bay Area outbreak had been vaccinated.

California's vaccination law, enacted in 2016, requires that parents have a note signed by a doctor showing that their child has a medical reason not to be vaccinated. California is one of only three states with such a tough law.

Yet some doctors have been accused of writing fraudulent medical exemptions, advertising that they can excuse children from vaccines if they have asthma or psoriasis. The number of kindergartners with medical exemptions jumped 441 percent after the law took effect.

The two boys in Santa Clara County had medical exemptions, Han said, authorized by a doctor who lived several hundred miles away. That prompted calls from vaccine advocates to tighten laws even more.

"Predatory doctors should not be allowed to monetize parental unfounded fears," said Leah Russin, executive director of Vaccinate California, a group that supported California's vaccination law, in a statement in response to Han's report.

University of California, Riverside professor Richard Carpiano, a medical sociologist who studies vaccine hesitancy, said parents who don't cooperate with public health investigators may not be purposely trying to stymie public health's efforts.

Parents who do not vaccinate typically say they do not want to inject their children with chemicals or fear that vaccines cause problems such as autism. Still, these families may feel shame around their choice not to vaccinate, especially if their children are linked to an outbreak, he said.

Parents may want to protect their kids from that sort of exposuresuch as being identified as Patient Zeroand are, "out of fear of that, sort of closing ranks."

However, it appears that some families are knowingly defying public health orders.

The CDC recently warned against "chicken pox parties," or gatherings where parents expose their children to the illness in the hopes they become sick and develop immunity. During a measles outbreak at Disneyland in 2015, California public health officials advised parents not to host "measles parties."

At that time, Alameda County health officials asked a family to keep their sons at home, one of whom was infected with measles, so the disease didn't spread further, said Dr. Erica Pan, Alameda County's interim health officer. (She is not related to Sen. Pan).

Later, officials discovered that visitors had come over to the house, in what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to be around people who had measles, Pan said. Ultimately, two people in a different county caught measles due to the defiance of the quarantine orders, spreading the disease to a new region.

Hershy Ten, a rabbi who runs Jewish health care foundation Bikur Cholim in L.A.'s Beverly Grove neighborhood, said he doesn't believe that all parents are intentionally noncompliant. Ten helped encourage vaccination during a 2017 measles outbreak in L.A.'s Orthodox Jewish community, in which 28 people fell ill.

Then too, many schools and parents would not cooperate or share information with investigators "for fear of being stigmatized," according to a report by L.A. County officials.

"One parent, for example, made a reference to 'Typhoid Mary,'" the L.A. report reads. "Some parents refused to open the door of their residence to speak with public health personnel; comments were made indicating there was no sense of urgency associated with the outbreak."

Ten said he believes families were not trying to hinder vaccination efforts, but were being cautious when government workers showed up to their door wanting to ask questions and offer vaccinations.

He said he thinks people would be more cooperative now, as they have watched measles outbreaks rage in Israel as well as in the Orthodox Jewish community in New York.

"To be fair, I think the public then did not appreciate or fully grasp how important it was, or how a disease like this can spread so quickly," he said.

Explore further Officials urge vaccinations amid Northwest measles outbreak (Update)

2019 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Scanning electromicrograph of an HIV-infected T cell. Credit: NIAID

And then there were two.

A London man infected with HIV has gone into long-term remission after getting a special stem cell transplant that not only treated his cancer, but also sent the virus into remission as well. His recovery, described this week in the journal Nature, marks the second time a patient has cleared HIV from his system with the help of a stem cell transplant.

Will there be more?

Doctors do not see the risky procedure as a way to treat the millions of people who are HIV-positive and at risk of developing AIDS. But it could help researchers design an equally effective treatment that alters a patient's DNA with pinpoint precision.

The apparent cure of the "London patient," who has not been identified, follows several unsuccessful efforts to replicate the 2008 experience of Timothy Brown, the "Berlin patient" who underwent treatment for leukemia and gained a robust resistance to HIV in the process. It has raised new hopes that a disease now held in check by costly drugs that must be taken every day could soon be cured with a single infusion of engineered immune cells.

At the dawn of an age in which genetic engineering and immunotherapy promise to become commonplace tools in medicine, the insights gleaned from these two patients could lead to a cure for a disease that has claimed 35 million lives and still kills 940,000 people per year.

"This is both really exciting and really important," said Jonah Sacha, an immunologist at Oregon Health and Science University who studies HIV and was not involved in the new research.

"It really gives a lot of hope to the HIV-cure field," Sacha said. "But it also underscores the scale of the task ahead. It's huge."

Across the globe, nearly 37 million people are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. Some 21 million are taking anti-retroviral drugs daily to suppress their infection.

But drug-resistant strains are surfacing routinely. That's caused worry about the long-term viability of current anti-retroviral medications and added urgency to the search for a way to knock out HIV for good in a single shot.

The London patient had long managed his HIV with anti-retroviral drugs. The bigger health scare came in 2012, when he was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma.

After the patient failed treatment with chemotherapy and proved unable to muster the necessary stem cells to provide his own transplant, doctors turned to an international registry to find a suitable stem cell donor. In addition to seeking a close match to the patient, they looked for someone who inherited a particular version of a particular gene from both their mother and their father.

The gene in question is known as CCR5, and scientists suspect it plays a key role in ushering HIV into cells. Those who have two copies of a version of the gene known as CCR5 Delta32 appear to be resistant to HIV infection.

It took considerable effort, but the researchers were able to find a donor who fit the bill. Following customary treatment protocols for blood cancers, doctors killed off and suppressed much of the patient's original immune system, then transferred a collection of stem cells drawn from the donor's bone marrow.

Sixteen months after receiving the transplant, the patient's immune system had fully incorporated the new pair of CCR5 genes. He was stable enough to see what would happen if he stopped taking his anti-retroviral drugs.

The answer: nothing. Even after 18 months, the London patient appeared to have suppressed the HIV virus completely, according to the Nature report.

While only time will tell whether his remission is permanent, the London patient looks to be cured of both his Hodgkin's lymphoma and his HIV infection.

The study authors made clear that they don't expect stem cell transplants to become a standard treatment for HIV. As currently performed, largely in the treatment of blood cancers, the transplants are costly, complex and extremely dangerous.

Instead, the Berlin patient and the London patient offer important lessons about the genetic machinery that may act as a control switch for HIV. If adapted to immunotherapy and other treatments already coming into broad use, it could pave the way toward a cure.

The successful clearance of HIV in both men offers support for researchers' long-held suspicion that having two copies of CCR5 Delta32 essentially knocks the gene out and prevents the most common form of HIV from entering a person's cells to replicate itself.

"It's quite clear that the CCR5 receptor is absolutely a critical part of what HIV needs to enter cells," said Dr. Otto Yang, an infectious disease specialist and HIV researcher at UCLA. Turning that knowledge into an HIV cure will take many, many more steps, he added.

For starters, the HIV-1 virus adapts quickly to new environments and has proven adept at developing workarounds to survive. In efforts to replicate the success of the Berlin patient, a person with a greatly weakened remnant of HIV infection was treated and it was found that even then, the virus could roar back by using a second genetic program to enter cells and replicate. That person, dubbed the "Essen patient," died.

Then there is the lingering uncertainty about the role a patient's own immune system could play in vanquishing HIV.

Patients with deadly blood cancers generally undergo the near-total destruction of their own immune system to make way for donor stem cells. But even with a good match, a recipient's own organs can come under attack by the newly transplanted cells, a phenomenon called graft-versus-host disease.

Researchers may try to skirt that outcome using techniques pioneered in the development of CAR-T cancer immunotherapies: They might harvest immune cells from an HIV patient, knock out the CCR5 gene that HIV needs to thrive, build up an army of altered cells and re-introduce them to the patient.

Such an approach could reduce the risk of graft-versus-host disease, Yang said. More importantly, it raises the question of whether it's idealor even necessaryto wholly disable a patient's immune system. Maybe with assistance from an immune-boosting agent, the reengineered cells could work with a patient's original immune system to vanquish HIV infection, he said.

Gene therapy might be another way to go, said Dr. Jeffrey C. Laurence, an oncologist and HIV researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine's Center for Blood Disorders in New York. This still-experimental approach would involve taking the machinery needed to produce cells with the desirable double mutation and ferrying it into a patient with the help of a virus.

Making HIV cures accessible to all will require even more hurdles to be cleared, Laurence added.

Even so, advances in gene editing, genetic engineering and immune therapies have made a cure seem possible, Sacha said.

"We know we can do this," he said.

2019 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Restrictive entry and integration policies are having an adverse effect on the health of migrants in high-income countries, according to the most comprehensive assessment of the impact of general migration policies on migrant health, published in The Lancet Global Health journal.

The systematic review and meta-analysis, synthesising all the available evidence from the scientific literature, finds that international migrants facing restrictive policies such as temporary visa status, detention, and reduced access to welfare are less likely to use general health services (hindering individual and public health), and are at greater risk of poor mental health and dying prematurely from any cause compared with native populations.

The authors say that efforts to improve the health of migrants would benefit from adopting a 'Health in All Policies' perspective, which considers the health effects of all migrant-orientated policies, and embracing a human-rights framework that emphasises the rights of migrants under international law.

"The steady rise in international migration from an estimated 155 million people in 2000 to 258 million in 2017 has been met with increasingly hostile policy responses across the worldputting migrants at risk of ill-health and psychological damage, and profoundly undermining their human rights," says Dr. Sol Pia Juarez, Stockholm University, Sweden, who co-led the research.

Co-author Dr. Andrea Dunlavy, Stockholm University, Sweden adds: "More inclusive approaches to support the integration of migrants into their host societies is likely to have a positive effect on migrants' health and life opportunities, as well as benefiting local populations. While international law supports improving the health of migrants, its enforcement is weak, and countries must be held to account. Without sustained and strong political action, healthy migration policies will not be achieved, to the detriment of all."

Contrary to widespread belief, migrants to industrialised nations are generally healthier than people in both the country they leave and their destination country. Concerns that unfounded myths about migration and health have enabled governments to introduce hostile and restrictive policies in many countries was the focus of a recent Lancet Commission on Migration and Health.

In the UK, hostile policy responses have been highlighted by the Windrush scandal of 2018, with long-term migrants being deported midway through medical treatment, whilst attempts to withdraw legal protection to undocumented migrants in the USA has resulted in migrants being jailed and children separated from their parents.

Previous research on migrant health has largely focused on mental health, infectious diseases, or health inequalities between migrant groups, rather than looking at the effects of migration policies targeting social determinants of health such as access to labour markets, education, housing, and welfare services.

In this study, the researchers took the novel approach of isolating the effects of different public policy types (i.e., whether access to health-promoting resources and opportunities was generous, restrictive, or inclusive) at multiple stages of the migration process (i.e., entry, integration, exit) on health outcomes among international migrants.

They conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all quantitative studies examining the impact of non-health-related public policies on migrant health compared with other populations who had not been exposed to these policies between January 2000 and September 2017. Data were analysed for 46 articles conducted in high-income countries that focused on the health-related impact of integration (37 articles) and entry policies (nine articles; table 1). Pooled estimates from 19 articles were included in the meta-analysis.

Results suggested that more restrictive entry policies including temporary visa status and detention were associated with increased levels of poor mental health among migrants including psychological distress, depression, and anxiety.

Compared to groups exposed to less restrictive integration policies (particularly those related to welfare eligibility and documentation requirements), international migrants were more likely to report poor general health, and faced greater risk of poor mental health and adverse birth outcomes (e.g., infant mortality), and were at higher risk of premature death.

The mortality disadvantage was particularly striking in 'exclusionist' settings, such as Denmark, where some groups of migrants were twice as likely to die prematurely, compared to comparable groups of migrants in 'inclusive' settings, like the Netherlands.

Welfare restrictions (as in the USA) were shown to limit migrants' use of general health-care services, but did not appear to markedly reduce public health insurance coverage or the number of uninsured.

"Migration policies contribute to health inequalities and are key social determinants of healthimpacting health directly through access to care, and indirectly via social and economic policies. Future research on how these policies impact medium- and long-term health, as well as whether the effects differ by gender, age, socioeconomic position, and reason for migration will be equally important for informing healthy migration policies," says co-author Ms Helena Honkaniemi, Stockholm University, Sweden.

The authors note several limitations, including that the effects of migration policies have yet to be studied in low- and middle-income countries and across other dimensions of migration policy, such as housing and educational opportunities, and deportation and exit procedures. They also highlight some methodological limitations such as potential confounding (eg, differences in unmeasured factors which may have affected the health outcomes of the study), and a lack of natural experimental studies to isolate policy effectswhich limit the conclusions that can be drawn.

Commenting on the implications of the findings, Prof Kayvan Bozorgmehr from Bielefeld University and University Hospital Heidelberg in Germany says: "The study represents a timely, innovative, and highly needed contribution to migrant health research... It forges a pioneering evidence base for the impact of non-health-related policies on migrants' health; especially in areas where the population already suffers remarkable vulnerabilities such as poor mental health and reduced access to obstetric care. This evidence-base is required to address harmful migration policies under the right-to-health framework, and to hold nations accountable for their obligation to respect the right to health in a non-discriminatory way."

However, he cautions, several questions remain to be answered: "How is the effect of non-health-related migration policies mediated, what are the mechanisms at work, and how can adverse effects be mitigated? What is the economic cost to society of restrictive policies? What are entry points for change, and which actors and tools can be leveraged to promote the human right to health, given that policymaking processes are often messy and the adoption of restrictive policies is driven by antimigrant ideology and power-acquisition motives?"

Explore further Migrants need better access to health care in Europe: WHO

More information: Sol Pia Juarez et al, Effects of non-health-targeted policies on migrant health: a systematic review and meta-analysis, The Lancet Global Health (2019). Sol Pia Juarez et al, Effects of non-health-targeted policies on migrant health: a systematic review and meta-analysis,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30560-6
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new study has uncovered a link between exposure to secondhand smoke and the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The study, which appears in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN), provides additional rationale for strengthening public smoking restriction policies and supporting educational programs about the harms of secondhand smoke.

Cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoking have been linked with higher risks of various diseases, but their effects on kidney health are unclear. A team from Korea led by Jung Tak Park, MD, Ph.D. (Yonsei University College of Medicine) and Jong Hyun Jhee, MD (Inha University College of Medicine) conducted a study to investigate the association between secondhand smoke exposure and CKD in adults who had never smoked.

The study included 131,196 never-smokers who participated in the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study from 2001 to 2014. Participants were classified into 3 groups based on frequency of secondhand smoke exposure as assessed with survey questionnaires: no-exposure, less than 3 days per week of exposure, and 3 or more days per week of exposure.

Participants with less than 3 days per week and those with 3 or more days per week of exposure had 1.48-times and 1.44-times higher odds of having CKD when compared with participants with no secondhand cigarette exposure.

In an additional analysis, the researchers assessed the risk of receiving a new diagnosis of CKD over an average follow-up of 8.7 years among 1,948 participants. Compared with the no-exposure group, the risk for developing CKD was 66% and 59% higher in participants with 3 or more days per week and less than 3 days per week of exposure, respectively.

"Secondhand smoke exposure at home or in the workplace is still prevalent despite legislative actions prohibiting public smoking. This exposure was found to be clearly related with CKD, even with less-frequent amounts of secondhand smoke exposure," said Dr. Park.

Explore further Secondhand smoke exposure saw big drop from 1988 to 2014
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Too much time in front of the bedroom TV deprives the child of more enriching developmental activities and may explain, in part, less optimal body mass, poor eating habits and socio-emotional difficulties as a teenager, says the study, published Dec. 26 in Pediatric Research.

"The early years are a critical period in a child's development," said study author Linda Pagani, a professor at UdeM's School of Psycho-Education, who will be discussing her study today at the International Convention of Psychological Science, in Paris.

"Intuitively, parents know that how their children spend their leisure time will impact their well-being over the long term," said Pagani. "And with TV being their most common pastime, it's clear that the many hours they spend in front of the screen is having an effect on their growth and development, especially if the TV is in a private place like the bedroom."

With their attention diverted, children risk not having enough physical and social interactions to promote proper physical and socio-emotional development, Pagani said. "To test that hypothesis, we longitudinally followed a birth cohort to examine whether there was a link between having a bedroom TV at age 4, during the neurodevelopmentally critical preschool period, and later physical, mental, and social problems in early adolescence. Our goal was to eliminate any pre-existing conditions the children or families had that could bias our results."

Pagani and her team analyzed Canadian birth cohort data of 1,859 Quebec children born between the spring of 1997 and the spring of 1998, part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development coordinated by the Institut de la statistique du Quebec.

Spending too much time watching TV in their room can harm preschoolers' development, an Universite de Montreal study finds.

To assess their health at age 13, independent examiners measured the childrens' body mass index; adolescents also reported their intake of unhealthy foods. To measure psychological problems, teachers rated how much emotional stress the children faced; the teens also completed a short version of the Children's Depression Inventory. For social problems, teachers reported on how the kids got along with their peers and whether they were bullied. All these measures are good predictors of later physical and mental health in adulthood.

Significantly higher body mass index

The study's results were clear: having a TV in the bedroom at age 4 made it more likely the child would later have a significantly higher body mass index, more unhealthy eating habits, lower levels of sociability, and higher levels of emotional distress, depressive symptoms, victimization and physical aggression, regardless of individual and family factors that would have predisposed them to such problems.

"The location of the TV seems to matter," Pagani said. "Having private access to screen time in the bedroom during the preschool years does not bode well for long-term health. The children in our study were born at a time when television was the only screen in the bedroom. Today, given the portability of digital devices and the constant switching from one device to another, the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics clearly have reason to encourage screen-free zones and screen-free locations at home, especially given the implications for the growth and development of children. Our research supports a strong stance for parental guidelines on the availability and accessibility of TVs and other devices."

Explore further Associations between television, early childhood and social impairment during adolescence

More information: Linda S. Pagani et al, Prospective associations between television in the preschool bedroom and later bio-psycho-social risks, Pediatric Research (2018). Journal information: Pediatric Research Linda S. Pagani et al, Prospective associations between television in the preschool bedroom and later bio-psycho-social risks,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41390-018-0265-8
Dr. Samuel Pierre examines a patient at the GHESKIO clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Credit: NIAID

Among people with HIV in Latin America, those diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) at an initial clinic visit were about twice as likely to die within 10 years as people not initially diagnosed with TB, according to findings from a large observational study. This increased risk persisted despite the availability of TB treatment and mirrored patterns seen previously in HIV-negative populations, according to research supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Investigators from the NIAID-supported Caribbean, Central and South America Network for HIV Epidemiology (CCASAnet) presented the findings today at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle.

People with HIV are at greater risk of TB disease than HIV-negative people without HIV due to HIV-related immune system damage as well as geographical and behavioral risk factors shared by both diseases. In 2017, the World Health Organization estimates there were 920,000 new TB cases among individuals with HIV globally, and approximately 300,000 people with HIV died from TB. Due to this large burden of HIV and TB co-infection, NIAID supports research to improve TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in the context of HIV infection.

"Tuberculosis remains the leading cause of death for people with HIV globally," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "This new analysis shows how devastating TB can be for people with HIV and underscores the need to do more to prevent and treat this co-infection."

Investigators analyzed the clinical records of 15,999 people with HIV who received care in CCASAnet clinics in Brazil, Chile, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Peru. Each participant remained in care for at least 9 months after their first clinic visit; they had not received antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV infection before arriving at the clinic.

Researchers found that 1,051 individualsnearly 7 percentwere diagnosed with TB during their first visit and were prescribed anti-TB and HIV medications. After 5 years of observation, approximately 10 percent of patients with TB had died, compared with fewer than 6 percent of those without TB at their initial visit. This pattern continued: after 10 years of observation, more than 19 percent of the group initially diagnosed with TB had died, compared with 10.5 percent of the group without an initial TB diagnosis. Investigators measured 5- and 10-year survival rates beginning at 9 months after each patient's initial clinic visit, at which time most people recover from TB with standard treatment.

"In recent years, the research community has observed that tuberculosiseven when treated and curedis associated with an increase in an HIV-negative person's long-term risk of mortality," said Serena P. Koenig, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and a lead study investigator. "Now we know this is also true for people living with HIV, but many questions remain as to why that is and how to lower that risk."

In addition to an initial TB diagnosis, lower CD4 T-cell counts, older age and lower education levels also were associated with an increased risk of death in the 10-year follow-up period. The analysis did not take cause of death or personal health historyincluding previously cured TB infectionsinto account. Researchers also did not confirm how many individuals who received TB and HIV treatment continued treatment as directed, achieved HIV suppression to an undetectable viral load, cured their TB or experienced additional TB infections after successfully clearing TB disease identified at their initial clinic visit. The severity of TB infection was also not included in the analysis.

"Many factors may play a role in this increased risk of death among people with HIV," said Catherine C. McGowan, M.D., associate professor at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and co-principal investigator of the CCASAnet network. "Our study has revealed an important pattern in clinical outcomes, but further research is needed to improve our understanding of the relationship between HIV and tuberculosis coinfection and to guide evidence-based treatment recommendations for this significant population."

More information: Morality after presumed TB treatment completion in persons with HIV in Latin America. S Koenig et al. Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Seattle. Mar. 6, 2019.
Credit: stock.adobe.com

As the opioid overdose epidemic continues to take its toll, causing 47,600 deaths in 2017, researchers continue to seek innovative solutions to the crisis. At Yale, a team of medical experts and students have come up with a tool that could help individual opioid users with one of the most important strategies to fight addiction: medication treatment.

Two years ago, assistant professor of medicine Dr. David Rosenthal was giving paper handouts to patients taking one of the FDA-approved addiction treatment medications, buprenorphine. The handouts crudely instructed patients on how to take the drug on their own. He wondered if instead of the handout, a digital guide would be a better service to today's more tech-savvy patients. Rosenthal enlisted medical students Josh Feler and Patrick Liu in the project, and they quickly turned around a working mock-up.

The next step was collaborating with Yale psychiatrist Dr. Theddeus Iheanacho, who suggested they apply for a grant. With $25,000 in funding from a VA innovation grant, they hired developers and tested the app with veteran patients. "Then we were off to the races," said Rosenthal. "We have been developing a first version for about a year."

A tech tool for the opioid age

This free smartphone app, called BUP Home Induction, walks patients through the first three days of taking buprenorphine, which is referred to as the induction phase. Buprenorphine relieves opioid withdrawal symptoms and helps patients stay off unprescribed or street opiate drugs. Years ago, patients would start taking the medication under supervision at a hospital or detox facility, said Rosenthal. But research supported the practice of having opioid users begin the drug at home. Yet patients often still needed guidance on getting to the right dose for them, which typically takes 2-3 days.

With BUP Home Induction, they receive clear, detailed instruction on what to do each of the first three days. "It's a companion to the medication," Rosenthal noted. Initially, the app asks users to check off symptoms to make sure they have started withdrawal and are ready to initiate the drug. Those symptoms include sweating, anxiety, nausea, and abdominal pain, among others. If patients confirm at least five symptoms, the app instructs them to start their first dose.

This free Yale-developed smartphone app walks patients through the first three days of taking the addiction treatment drug buprenorphine. Credit: Yale University

During the course of the three days, patients can read detailed information on how to take the medication, which dissolves under the tongue, and then record their dosage, between 2 and 16 mg. The app maintains patient privacy as they are not asked to record any personal information. By day three, they should have arrived at their optimal dose.

The app is also beneficial to clinicians, says Iheanacho, who treats homeless veterans with opioid use disorder. "It can help buprenorphine providers see more patients by providing them support for home-induction versus office induction," he said.

Research, practice, and saving lives

Now that the app is available for use, Rosenthal and his colleagues plan to evaluate it and apply for grants to study its use. They are also collecting data on downloads from androids and iPhones. Their ultimate goal is to raise awareness among doctors and patients so they adopt the tool. "We're adopting it in the Connecticut Veteran Affairs Healthcare System (Connecticut VA), and looking at how we can bring it into clinical practice," he said.

The word is already out: Other addiction researchers at Yale and at the Connecticut VA, where Rosenthal runs a program for the homeless, plan to incorporate the app in studies. "We see this as a tool that can be used across platforms in lots of research studies," noted Rosenthal.

The team has also heard from researchers at other institutions who are interested. "This is a nonprofit, nonpaid free tool for patients who are vulnerable," said Rosenthal. "Anything we can do to promote well-studied medications that save lives, we should be doing it."

Explore further Monthly buprenorphine injections effective for opioid use disorders
SCOTT KEELER | Times FOR FILE- Aerial of Florida State University campus with Doak Campbell Stadium in the foreground, Tallahassee. Two days after Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva criticized higher educations endless appetite for new construction," colleges and universities appeared before a House committee to justify their requests for state funds to build or renovate buildings.

They faced a meticulous financial questioning about each project on Thursday, and House Higher Education Appropriations committee chair Rep. Randy Fine said that process would continue for the next two weeks.

The questioning spurred universities and colleges to bring out the big guns  Florida State University President John Thrasher, a former speaker of the Florida House and Florida Atlantic University Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, former president of the Florida Senate, both attended. So did a slew of other college presidents and provosts, in addition to the usual cadre of lobbyists.

This is not a kabuki exercise, this is a legitimate exercise to vet these projects," Fine said. I think some projects did a great job of justifying themselves, and may be frankly, to me a no-brainer. Others, I still have some questions.

Thrasher said he felt the process was appropriate scrutiny over how the institutions use taxpayer money. After it was discovered that the University of Central Florida and others improperly used operational dollars for construction, the Florida House has turned up the heat.

But Thrasher also said he hopes the Legislature will continue to recognize that the universities are investments for the good of the entire state. Lawmakers in past years have challenged Floridas universities to rise in national rankings, which several, including FSU, have done.

Our overall point is to try to reach a higher level of expertise, he said. We think (the construction projects) will be beneficial to the university system and to the state of Florida, for that matter.

Many of the projects under scrutiny have already begun with an initial investment of state dollars. However, that doesnt mean that the state has an obligation to fund the rest of the construction. Among the projects addressed were: a new data sciences facility and new music building at the University of Florida; a business studies building, an interdisciplinary facility and a sciences lab at Florida State University.
MTN Group Ltd. announced the disposal of its share in a Botswana joint venture as Africas biggest wireless carrier by revenue kicks off a drive to raise at least 15 billion rand ($1.1 billion) from asset sales and strengthen the balance sheet.

The company agreed to sell its 53 percent stake in Botswanas Mascom to Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Ltd. for $300 million, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Other businesses now on the market include e-commerce services, which includes Nigerian online retailer Jumia Technologies AG. and Travelstart.co.za. MTN is also looking to sell its interest in IHS Towers Ltd., the company said.

The news comes a year after Chief Executive Officer Rob Shuter announced a review of MTNs then-22 markets across the Middle East and Africa to evaluate ways of simplifying the business. The sale of MTNs Botswana interest follows a disposal of its Cyprus unit for 260 million euros ($294 million).

We are simplifying the group, we are reducing risk, and improving returns, Shuter said in a phone interview. That will generate some returns that will be helpful for our gearing and other priorities.

The shares gained as much as 7.5 percent, the most since Dec. 27, and traded 7 percent higher at 81.41 rand as of 9:21 a.m. in Johannesburg. The stock has slumped by a third in the last 12 months, valuing the carrier at 153 billion rand.

MTN reported the strategy alongside 2018 adjusted earnings per share, excluding some items, of 3.37 rand. That compared with a company guidance of 3.28 rand to 3.46 rand. The firm also raised its medium-term service-revenue guidance to double-digit percentage figures from upper-single-digits. Dividend growth will be in the 10 percent to 20 percent range, though for 2019 the payout will probably be at the lower end.

The mobile-phone company is still facing a number of challenges across its territories, with a Nigeria court hearing into an alleged unpaid tax bill of about $2 billion due later this month. Thats just the latest in a series of controversies in MTNs biggest market. Late last year, the carrier agreed to pay $53 million to settle a separate allegation about the illegal repatriation of funds, while a $1 billion fine in 2016 led to a full-year loss. MTN still plans to list its Nigeria unit in Lagos over the first half of the year.

The $53 million outlay was among one-time costs outlined by MTN in a recent trading statement as hurting 2018 earnings. Those also include the effect of a stronger rand when compared to the various other currencies it uses in different markets.

The carrier said little about recent challenges in Uganda, where its local CEO was deported last month. MTN has been granted an extension of its operating licence to allow for negotiations about a renewal, the company said. Net debt rose to 63.5 billion rand from 57 billion rand, and proceeds from the asset sales will be used to pay that down.

MTN also reiterated that it sees no legal merit in a long-running $4.2 billion lawsuit by Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS over the award of its Iran license. The case returned to the spotlight in February after South Africas former ambassador to Iran was arrested on corruption charges.

The full-year year dividend was 5 rand a share, while subscriber numbers increased to 233 million across 21 countries.

Now read: Microsoft launches data centres in South Africa
Speaking at MTNs financial results presentation for the year ended 31 December 2018, Group CEO Rob Shuter announced that the mobile operator would launch a new instant messaging platform.

Shuter said the IM service would form part of the companys mobile money portfolio and aims to function as the WeChat of Africa, enabling mobile payments for the unbanked and underbanked.

The company plans to launch the platform, its own music streaming service, and an improved mobile money offering.

We have built our own instant messaging platform which has been in beta testing for months now, Shuter said.

It will begin launching across our operational markets this year, starting with two West African markets.

MTN Messenger in South Africa

Shuter told MyBroadband that the MTN messaging app would launch across the groups entire portfolio, including South Africa.

The rollout of the application will begin in African markets as a pilot and expand to other markets like South Africa going forward.

When it comes to taking on applications like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger in South Africa, Shuter said MTNs platform will offer communication channels which are not only reliant on data.

First and foremost, we are building in SMS integration into the messaging app. This is really important, he said.

The integration of SMS will allow data-enabled 3G customers to converse with non-data customers across a seamless messaging platform.

Localisation and integration

This will be an important differential between existing apps and the platform we are building, especially as the penetration of data customers increases in our market, Shuter said.

MTNs messaging app is built from scratch by an in-house team and will offer localisation across MTNs operational markets. The app currently supports 54 languages, he added.

Another focus is the integration of MTN Mobile Money in the markets where this service is offered, Shuter said.

He said the platform would be a messaging-centric app with an embedded payment mechanism, and it will also offer incentives for customers via the bundling of data promotions and services.

Integrating this platform within the MTN messaging application would allow users to make payments to other Mobile Money customers easily, while also communicating with other users via data-reliant and SMS messaging.

MTN Mobile Money will also expand to South Africa, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Sudan this year, Shuter added.

There is currently no launch date for the MTN messaging app in South Africa, but Shuter said the application will begin rolling out this year.
Samsungs Galaxy S10 will officially launch locally tomorrow, 8 March 2019, and take on Apples iPhone Xs.

Devices in these premium ranges are expensive and include the latest features available.

Samsungs Galaxy S10 and S10+ are a serious step-up from the manufacturers previous-generation devices, boasting redesigned displays with built-in fingerprint sensors and bezel-less panels with a cutout for the front-facing camera.

The smartphones also have an overhauled camera system and more powerful hardware.

We compared the pricing, specifications, and features of the Samsung Galaxy S10 against Apples iPhone Xs below.

Pricing

Following the lead of Apple, which announced a cheaper iPhone Xr device alongside its new premium products, Samsung announced the Galaxy S10e alongside its new S10 and S10+.

This device lacks the same camera hardware, curved display, and in-screen fingerprint sensor of the more expensive devices, but is priced significantly lower.

Apples iPhone Xs line-up also delivered a number of improvements over the iPhone X, but incurred a large price increase as a result.

This warranted the launch of the iPhone Xr, which is cheaper than the Xs, but lacks an OLED display and other flagship features.

We will only compare the Galaxy S10 and S10+ premium devices with their Apple counterparts for the purpose of this article, however.

Below is the pricing for Samsungs Galaxy S10 and S10+ in South Africa.

Samsung Galaxy S10 128GB  R18,999

Samsung Galaxy S10+ 128GB  R20,999

Samsung Galaxy S10+ 512GB  R25,999

Samsung Galaxy S10+ 1TB  R35,999

Below is the pricing of the iPhone Xs and Xs Max smartphones locally.

iPhone Xs 64GB  R21,499

iPhone Xs 256GB  R24,699

iPhone Xs 512GB  R28,999

iPhone Xs Max 64GB  R23,699

iPhone Xs Max 256GB  R26,999

iPhone Xs Max 512GB  R31,499

Features and hardware

Both the Samsung Galaxy S10 and iPhone Xs run the latest versions of their respective operating systems and are powered by cutting-edge processors.

The Galaxy S10 boasts Samsungs first 8nm Exynos 9820 Octa mobile processor, while the iPhone Xs has an A12 Bionic chip inside.

While the Galaxy S10 has dropped the capacitive fingerprint sensor on the back of the smartphone in favour of an in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, the iPhone Xs does not include a fingerprint sensor at all and relies on Face ID biometric authentication.

The iPhone Xs also does not support reverse wireless charging like the Samsung Galaxy S10, which can be used to charge Qi-compatible devices.

If you are willing to spend around R20,000 on the next instalment in the Samsung Galaxy or iPhone X line-up, the impressive specifications and slightly cheaper price tag of the Galaxy S10 might win you over.

However, the biggest difference as always is the operating system, and iOS users may prefer to spend a bit more for painless updates and continued access to the Apple ecosystem.

Below are the specifications and minimum local pricing for the Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+ compared to the iPhone Xs and Xs Max.

Galaxy S10 vs iPhone Xs

Specifications Samsung Galaxy S10 iPhone Xs OS Android 9.0 iOS 12 Display 6.1-inch 3,040 x 1,440 AMOLED 5.8-inch 2,436 x 1,125 AMOLED Processor Exynos 9820 Octa Apple A12 Bionic RAM 8GB 4GB Storage 128GB, MicroSD up to 512GB 64GB/256GB/512GB Rear camera 12MP + 12MP + 16MP 12MP + 12MP Front camera 10MP 7MP Connectivity 802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, Lightning Cellular LTE Cat.20 LTE Cat.16 Durability IP68 IP68 Battery 3,400mAh 2,658mAh Price R18,999 R21,499

Galaxy S10+ vs iPhone Xs Max

Specifications Samsung Galaxy S10+ iPhone Xs Max OS Android 9.0 iOS 12 Display 6.4-inch 3,040 x 1,440 AMOLED 6.5-inch 2,688 x 1,242 AMOLED Processor Exynos 9820 Octa Apple A12 Bionic RAM 8GB/12GB 4GB Storage 128GB/512GB/1TB, MicroSD 64GB/256GB/512GB Rear camera 16MP + 12MP + 12MP 12MP + 12MP Front camera 10MP + 8MP 7MP Connectivity 802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, Lightning Cellular LTE Cat.20 LTE Cat.16 Durability IP68 IP68 Battery 4,100mAh 3,174mAh Price R20,999 R23,699

Now read: Samsung is working on more foldable smartphones
PG&E wants to start paying out millions of dollars in employee bonuses again.

The utility asked a bankruptcy judge late Wednesday for permission to resume its employee incentive program for 2019. The cost could be as high as $235 million and would be spread among thousands of workers.

PG&E argued that its worth the expense to retain valued employees and stabilize the company. But with the company in bankruptcy and facing $30 billion in potential liabilities to wildfire survivors, the request is almost certain to generate considerable opposition from lawyers for the survivors and other creditors, as well as elected officials and regulators.

The $30 billion estimate includes potential liabilities from the Camp Fire last November that destroyed most of the town of Paradise and killed 85 people, more than any wildfire in California history. PG&E recently said a faulty transmission tower was probably the cause of the fire.

In late February, PG&E canceled bonus payments based on 2018 performance, telling workers counting on the checks that it couldnt justify bonuses when wildfire survivors face significantly greater hardships.

PG&E has said the 2018 payments would have totaled $130 million, although company spokesman Andrew Castagnola said Thursday that figure represented a partial payout, not the full plan. He wouldnt say how much employees would have received in total if the 2018 program hadnt been scrubbed.

Under the proposed 2019 plan, the $235 million would be spread among about 10,000 employees, mostly rank-and- file and middle management. No senior officers are included in this, Castagnola said.

PG&Es 2019 employee incentive plan prioritizes safety and operational excellence, with safety accounting for 50% of the performance metrics, the company said in a prepared statement. PG&E believes that this at-risk component of our employees compensation provides appropriate incentives for our team members to help us achieve our safety and operational goals. The 2019 plan was formulated to provide continued market-based compensation and appropriate incentives for participating employees, with a focus on both strong performance and our most important priorities. The companys most senior leaders are not eligible to participate in the 2019 employee incentive plan.

Instead of a lump sum, as PG&E has traditionally done, the new bonuses would be paid quarterly. The first payment, if the court approves, would come sometime this spring. A hearing is set for March 27.

The filing came a day after the federal judge overseeing PG&Es probation case threatened to prohibit the utility from paying its quarterly shareholder dividends, saying PG&E should conserve its cash to work on wildfire safety.
Saving money won't have to be its own reward if the California Legislature passes a bill offering a state tax deduction to families who put away cash for college.

The proposal, Assembly Bill 211, would give families a deduction of up to $10,000 if they contribute money to a state-managed college savings plan known as ScholarShare. Today, 34 other states that levy income tax offer that kind of deduction for contributions to tax-advantaged 529 college savings plans.

California lawmakers have raised the idea in the past, but shot it down over concerns that it would mostly benefit families who already are well off and able to save money.

It's getting new life this year with support from Treasurer Fiona Ma, who argues it would help middle-income Californians who lost IRS deductions in the 2017 federal tax overhaul.

That law capped an IRS deduction for state and local taxes that primarily benefited people in states with a high cost of living, like California, New York and Washington.

The Franchise Tax Board last year studied how the loss of that deduction would affect California households, and found that based on 2016 returns about 1 million Californians would pay the IRS an extra $12 billion. That caused some state leaders to fret that well-off residents might move to other states.

"We're going to have to pay a lot of tax right now," Ma said. "This is No. 1 giving an incentive for single folks and working couples to invest in the next generation, and also get a tax deduction."

She testified this week at a hearing with the bill's author, Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier. Again, the bill met resistance from lawmakers who say it seeks to help comfortable Californians while taking tax revenue from other programs.

"This rewards the people with the most money the most, and the people with the least money the least," said Assemblyman Bill Quirk, D-Hayward.

Former state Sen. Ted Gaines, R-El Dorado Hills, proposed a similar but smaller state tax deduction of up to $6,000 last year. His bill failed, and the Franchise Tax Board estimated it would consistently reduce annual state tax revenue by $100 million to $150 million.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report in 2012 that said few American households had so-called 529 college savings plans like California's ScholarShare. It said families with the savings accounts had a median net worth of $413,500, which was 25 times the holdings of families without college savings accounts.

At the time, households with 529 college savings plans had a median income of $142,400 compared to $45,100 for other families.

The report noted that the plans were growing in popularity because of rising tuition costs. Contributions to 529 plans are not deductible on federal tax returns. They help families save because earnings on the investment accounts are not subject to federal income taxes as long as the money is used for education.

Samantha Corbin, a lobbyist for the California Tax Reform Association, this week reiterated the arguments that led lawmakers to table Gaines' bill.

"This type of incentive really does favor people who can afford to save," she said.

Calderon and Ma countered that the deduction would be worthwhile to motivate middle-class families to prepare for expensive education expenses.

Recent reports from financial research firm Strategic Insight suggest that 75 percent of households with college savings plans have incomes under $150,000. That's a comfortable income and well within the top quintile of American households, but it doesn't go as far in the Golden State.

Meanwhile, the Institute for College Access and Success estimates that California college students graduate with an average debt of $22,875.

"Higher education expenses continue to grow for families across the state," Calderon said in a written statement. "At community coffees and town halls, I often hear from frustrated constituents who do not qualify for financial aid but are struggling to save money for college."

California's ScholarShare 529 has some incentives to help lower- and middle-income families decide to open accounts, including a matching grant of up to $200 for households with income up to $75,000 a year. Some lawmakers at the hearing on Calderon's bill this week suggested they'd rather give out more grants than offer a new tax deduction.

The College Savings Plan Network estimates that Americans have 13.6 million 529 college savings plan accounts that are worth almost $329 billion.

People can invest money in 529 plans sponsored by other states. The largest plan is Virginia's CollegeAmerica, which has 2.3 million accounts worth $64.2 billion.

California's ScholarShare has about 310,000 accounts worth $8.5 billion. Ma says that offering a state tax deduction for that plan would encourage financial planners to recommend ScholarShare over plans in other states, which could support the California program and potentially lower its investment costs.

"It's going to keep jobs and money here in California," she said.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Picayune Cellars will be relocating its wine tasting and retail business from a small building behind Palisades Deli Cafe, to a 1,200-square foot space at 1329 Lincoln Ave., formerly the Carmel Gallery.

The art gallery closed in early 2018 and the space has sat empty since.

The move from one commercial space to another was unanimously approved by the Calistoga Planning Commission Wednesday evening, with member Walter Abernathy abstaining.

Picayune owner Claire Weinkauf said in her permit application she wished to relocate to a more prominent space on Lincoln Avenue.

The 1329 building is less than 10 years old and has been recently renovated into a two-story retail office space. The second floor will be occupied by the offices of Illumination Technologies.

The increased space will allow Picayune to expand its offering of merchandise and provide the opportunity for indoor and outdoor tasting room seating, like it currently offers.

Weinkauf is also exploring the possibility of incorporating outdoor seating in the courtyard at the rear of the new building, as well as on the privately-owned recessed paved area at the front of the building. The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) will require any outdoor seating for be fenced off, the commission report said.

The larger place will also allow room for office administrative space, something the current location is lacking.

Picayune is one of nine tasting rooms in downtown Calistoga. Planned business hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to the report.

Picayune tasting room manager Carly Silva told the commission that they have had success in incorporating retail with wine tasting and customers are taken aback by the local, artisanal mix.

We like to work with people, not corporations, and merchandise that tells Clairs story. Were women that like great wine and like to shop, Silva said. Were a good team and well make Calistoga proud.

Both Weinkauf and Silva are Calistoga residents.

You can reach Cynthia Sweeney at csweeney@weeklycalistogan.com or 942-4035.

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.
The Jarvis Conservatory will present Young Picasso, at 4 and 7 p.m. on Saturday March 9. Tickets are $10.

Pablo Picasso is one of the greatest artists of all timeand right up until his death in 1973 he was the most prolific of artists. Many films have dealt with these later yearsthe art, the affairs and the wide circle of friends. But where did this all begin? What made Picasso great in the first place?

Directed by Phil Grabsky, Young Picasso looks at the early years of Picasso, the upbringing and the learning that led to his extraordinary achievements. Three cities play a key role: Malaga, Barcelona and Paris. Young Picasso spends time in each city, and this movie explores their influence on Picasso, focusing on specific artworks from these early years.

The film thus explains how this young artist learned his craft. Looking carefully at two key early periods, the so-called Blue Period and Rose Period, the film goes to 1907 and the creation of a critical painting in the history of artLes Demoiselles dAvignon. It was a painting that shocked the art world but changed it irrevocably. Picasso was only 25 years old. Working closely with all three Picasso Museums in Malaga, Barcelona and Paris this film explains how he rose to great heights.

Malen Gual, Senior Curator at Museu Picasso de Barcelona said, This film brilliantly shows what a solid artistic training Picasso had and what remarkable paintings he produced from an early age. I have worked for decades on Picasso and I was so impressed and excited by seeing his works  and the whole thrilling story  revealed on the big screen.

Jarvis Conservatory is at 1711 Main St., Napa. For details, call 707-255-5445 or visit jarvisconservatory.com.
In a clever twist of counterprogramming, Magnolia Pictures is releasing Woman at War the same day as Captain Marvel, presumably to give viewers more than one chance to see a female superhero pull up her sleeves and get to work.

As this intriguing, visually stunning movie opens, a woman named Halla is tightening her bow and sending an arrow across an array of utility towers, a real-life Artemis whose precise goal remains elusive in a mostly silent sequence.

Played by the Icelandic actress Halldora Geirharosdottirwho cuts an arresting, statuesque figure against mossy rural highlandsHalla doesnt speak until she encounters a farmer who agrees to help her in what turns out to be her single-minded quest: to protest the Icelandic governments cooperation with polluting corporations, in this case by temporarily paralyzing an aluminum smelter.

Back in Reykjavik, Halla engages in more respectable pursuits: Shes a choir director whose secret life she shares only with one or two accomplices. She has posters of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela hanging in her sunny middle-class house, suggesting either bourgeois dilettantism or self-sacrificing commitment.

Benedikt Erlingsson, who wrote and directed Woman at War, doesnt force viewers into one camp or another. As Hallas actions become riskier and more audaciousmade even more questionable by an unexpected development in her personal lifea film that could be a reflexive celebration of radical political action instead becomes a thoughtful meditation on the ethics of extremism, the limits of nonviolence and the proper response to global threats that arent just environmental or economic but existential.

Set in the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown, Woman at War has all the contours of a taut, paranoid thriller, if you can imagine that set within the tidy, brightly lit environs of Iceland, rather than the shadows of Wall Street or Washington. Although its photographed in widescreen glory to evoke Westerns, war pictures and other battle-ready genres, the films serious subject matter is continually undercut by a jaunty score, performed on screen by a trio of musicians who act as a silent Greek chorus and window into Hallas psyche. This is her movie and her soundtrack, we discover, and when three more musicians show uptraditionally costumed women singing Ukrainian folk songsher internal struggle between destructive and nurturing impulses is laid bare with even more captivating clarity.

A movie as intensely subjective as Woman at War had better have an actress deserving of unwavering attention, and Erlingsson has found her in Geirharosdottir, who proves to be supremely at ease with both the physical demands of the film and its trickier internal journeys (not to mention a neat bit of visual legerdemain). Tall and lithe, her auburn hair framing a tough and beautiful face, Geirharosdottir doesnt beg to be liked as a figure some will see as brave and heroic and others will see as woefully misguided.

Edited with swift, perceptive economy, Woman at War might have set itself up as a contemporary fairy tale, especially by way of its playful staging. But its also about very real questions having to do with globalization, ecological degradation, state-sanctioned media and the people we chronically dismiss, underestimate and ignore. (In one on-the-nose aside, one of Hallas associates has named his dog Woman, an epithet jokingly mirrored in a running gag involving a Spanish-speaking character, who appears throughout the story.)

As Halla continues to tilt at her modern-day windmills, she grows closer and closer to the Earth, covering herself in mud and soil, ultimately becoming one with the thing shes trying to save. By the time Woman at War concludes, with a biblical scene of a crowd of people trying to escape perilously rising floodwaters, what could be perceived as a happy ending also carries with it a Cassandra-like warning and a bittersweet note of futility.

Its a reflection of Erlingssons confidence, both in his audience and his own filmmaking skills, that he leaves the final interpretation up to us.

Three stars. Unrated. Contains nudity and coarse language. In Icelandic with subtitles. 100 minutes. Ratings Guide: Four stars masterpiece, three stars very good, two stars OK, one star poor, no stars waste of time.
The city of Napas infrastructure will be in new, yet familiar hands.

Julie Lucido, an engineer with government experience in the Napa Valley, will become director of the Public Works department on April 8, the city announced in a news release Wednesday afternoon. She returns to Napa after spending three years with the city of Fairfield, most recently as its public works head.

Julies extensive public works experience, as well as her leadership skills and ability to build community with our staff as well as our residents, will be invaluable, City Manager Steve Potter said in the statement.

Lucido replaces Jacques LaRochelle, who retired Jan. 15 after the city put him on leave in connection with an employees allegation, whose details have not been made public. His former deputy, Eric Whan, has led Public Works on an interim basis since LaRochelle was placed on leave in September.

A graduate of California State University, Chico, Lucido has spent more than 15 years in engineering and management posts for various local governments. Her background includes local posts with the city and the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, including a decade working on the Napa River flood control project.

After leaving the flood control district in December 2012, Lucido spent more than three years as a city senior civil engineer, a period when Napa restored its downtown east-west streets to two-way traffic for the first time since 1967 and partnered with the state to plan the rebuild of the oft-congested five-way intersection on the Silverado Trail and Third Street.

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 Yuba Countys Board of Supervisors asked its voters to hike sales taxes last year, it wasnt alone.

Hundreds of Californias local governments, cities and counties primarily, were doing so, promising voters that the new revenues would be used to enhance popular services, such as parks, police and fire protection.

Yuba officials also were not alone in failing to mention that much of the new revenue would be used to pay fast-rising costs of pensions for their employees. And, emulating what was happening elsewhere, county officialdom urged passage of the measure under the guise of education, with those opposed to the new tax alleging that taxpayer funds were used for the campaign.

After Measure K was approved by a narrow margin, the opponents complained about what they saw as misuse of public funds to the states Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

That was not unusual, either. A recent FPPC staff report said that since 2015, when local tax measures began proliferating, the agency has received 34 complaints about taxpayer funds being used for campaigns to raise taxes.

In addition, sponsors of a 2018 ballot measure to overturn Californias new gas taxes have complained that officials used tax money to oppose it. Voters rejected the measure, keeping the new taxes on the books.

State law very clearly and specifically makes misuse of taxpayer funds for political purposes illegal, but the FPPC has no power to enforce the law. Thats up to local prosecutors and the state Department of Justice. But as the FPPC report concluded, The Enforcement Division is not aware of any actions brought by state or local prosecutors related to those cases.

In other words, using public funds may be illegal, but those who do it have virtually no chance of being prosecuted.

All of that is frustrating to both those who file complaints with the FPPC and members of the commission, especially since Alice Germond became its chairwoman. There has been plenty of it, but they choose not to bring charges, FPPC member Brian Hatch said of county prosecutors when the commission took up the issue last month.

Under Germond, the commission has taken a roundabout path toward cracking down on the misuse of public funds. It has been investigating agencies, including Yuba County, for potential violations of the law it can enforce, which requires those making political contributions to file reports with the FPPC.

The agency has already cited the Bay Area Rapid Transit District for violating that law, sending a warning to other agencies that surreptitiously use public funds for political purposes. Its also moved against Los Angeles County for not reporting public funds it used to campaign for a tax measure, sparking a lawsuit by the California State Association of Counties to challenge the FPPCs authority.

Potentially, the FPPC crackdown puts agencies in a legal vise.

If they insist that they arent misusing the funds, they risk being fined by the FPPC. But if they file campaign contribution reports, they will be admitting to the misuse and putting themselves in jeopardy of being prosecuted.

However, the FPPC isnt stopping there.

We want the opportunity to take action when public money is misused, Germond said. Californians expect our tax dollars to be used appropriately, and when that is not the case, I want to be able to send a strong message on behalf of our citizens. And I want to set a clear precedent that such behavior is unacceptable.

Last month, by a 4-0 vote, it approved a request to the Legislature to amend state law and allow the FPPC to prosecute misuse cases that local and state prosecutors are shunning.

CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.
I would like the opportunity to set the record straight about oppositional distortions from those interested in further development on our hillsides. They say:

1. Its a solution looking for a problem. Measure C was anti-ag.

2. Measure C and the current proposal for a water and tree protection ordinance proposed by the county will be the demise of agriculture here in Napa County.

3. Theres no science behind the environmentalists claims.

4. Enhanced watershed protections take away property rights.

5. This idea for more water protections will kill the small farmer.

6. These ideas come from a small minority who have theirs and have deep pockets with selfish motivations.

7. Its too much to protect 70 percent of our forests.

8. Measure C would have allowed removing 795 acres of forest.

9. The Napa River is much cleaner than it was in the 60s.

Response: I call BS on all of that.

1. Theres a much greater threat to agriculture in Napa Valley than sparing our hillsides from deforestation, and thats running out of water. Its a finite resource we all share as a community. Two-thirds of the water used for ag on the valley floor comes from our hills.

2. There is a misconception that growth is mandatory if we want a strong wine economy. Absolutely untrue. Most longtime successful wineries are interested in quality (the brand ) not in growth. Growth is necessary only for those needing share prices to rise.

3. If only these people would open a book. Its ludicrous to think we dont have a climate crisis. All science points to the need for changing the way we take care of our home.

4. Property rights are limited by the effect on our neighbors. This is a community problem. Our community shares our water. Its not just for ag, but for the fish in the river, the water in our reservoirs, the habitat in our woodlands and ag.

5. The idea of a small farmer is not real. Its $200,000 per acre at a minimum to go from bare ground to a producing vineyard; thats if you already own the land. Actually the vast majority of successful wineries today have no interest in supporting the fantasy of small farmers.

6. The Yes on C constituency is made up of nearly 18,000 voters; that is no small minority. The Growers/Vintners for Responsible Agriculture are selfless individuals from the wine grape growing industry who feel their mission in this is to protect this treasured Napa Valley. They and all the others promoting enhanced protections only care about our future here. They speak from their hearts, not from their wallets.

7. We can take no pride in allowing 30 percent of our forests to be clearcut. The services the trees provide are far reaching: soil retention, certainty for water quality, carbon sequestration, species protections, and water, water, water for all. Lets take back our water from the self-interested, greedy segment who hide behind distortions of reality.

8. The 795 acres agreed upon after collaboration with the Napa Valley Vintners, was designed to be a soft landing for those with projects in the pipeline. It was a compromise that was used against us. If the current proposed ordinance were to pass, there would be nearly 30,000 acres open to deforest in Napa County. The voters didnt like 795. We cannot take any pride in allowing that level of clearcutting here at home.

9. Its true, we are not dumping pollutants from the likes of tanneries any more. But our Napa River is listed as impaired by federal standards that are regulated by the state. The river is in a critical stage where way too much sediment and nutrients are pouring in from increasing development. The fish that used to be abundant have left. That is indisputable. Coho salmon and steelhead are tiny in numbers. They are prevented from spawning because the river bottom that should be lined with gravel is covered with sediment. The river is too warm and negatively affected by negative nutrients.

Please write and call your local county representative and tell them we need the very strongest protections available that will help keep our Napa Valley, our community, our forests and streams, and our shared water supply plentiful and for all.

Mike Hackett

Angwin
Bangladesh police have arrested social media star Ashraful Hossen Alom on charges of beating up his wife for dowry.

Police officials said they detained the social media star popularly known as Hero Alom on Wednesday night.

Aloms wife Sadia Akter Sumi received medical treatment at Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital after the alleged assault on Monday, bdnews24.com reported.

Her father Saiful Alam told the media that he rescued Sumi from Aloms home on Tuesday night and took her to the hospital.

The 28-year old was injured in the back of her head, according to Saiful.

Alom rose to fame with amateur music videos that fired up the social media. He emerged on the political scene when he contested in the Dec 30 parliamentary polls as an independent candidate after failing to secure a ticket of HM Ershads Jatiya Party.

He also accused his wife and father-in-law of assaulting him and taking away Tk 500,000 from his home in a police complaint.

Bogura Sadar Police Sub-Inspector Abdur Rahim said Alom came to their station on Tuesday night and lodged a complaint that he was beaten up by Saiful, Sumi and three other people in the evening following a family dispute.

I went to the site on Wednesday morning and learnt that Hero Alom himself also beat up his wife. She took treatment at hospital. Both sides have made complaints, SI Rahim said.

Speaking to the media, Sumi alleged Alom stopped taking care of her and their children as he developed an affair with another woman and later married her.

Alom had earlier assaulted her when she had protested against his second marriage, according to Sumi.

The social media star came home to Erulia village on the outskirts of the town on Monday night after two months and spoke to a woman on mobile phone for three hours, his wife said.

As she protested, the man beat her up, Sumi said and added her father and other relatives rescued and hospitalised her.

Saiful said Alom has been torturing Sumi for a longtime.

In the police complaint, he alleged Alom also demanded Tk 200,000 in dowry from him.
The Meghalaya Cabinet has decided to hand over two hydel power projects of the state to North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), state power minister James K Sangma said on Wednesday.

The first project is the Umja-ut Hydro Electric Power Project with a capacity of 69 MW that has been renamed as Wah Umiam Stage I.

The second project is the Umduna Hydro Power Project with a capacity of 57 MW that has been renamed as Wah Umiam Stage II.

As per reports, the Cabinet has approved the allotment of both these projects to NEEPCO which is already implementing stage III Wah Umiam power project.

The decision to hand over the two hydel power projects to NEEPCO was taken at a recent meeting of the Meghalaya Cabinet.

Sangma further said that the Cabinet has also approved a proposal by the State-owned Meghalaya Electric Corporation Ltd (MeECL) to avail a loan from the Rural Electrification Corporation Limited to execute the 342 MW Myntdu Leshka Hydro power project.

The State Power Department has outstanding dues of over Rs 550 crore to be paid to the NEEPCO alone, forcing the State Power Department to resort to load shedding since January this year.
Justin Worland, March 6, 2019 (Time Magazine)

For years, climate change has been the also-ran of presidential campaign issues, even as the threat has become steadily more serious. Vice President Al Gore, who spent the previous decade calling for action, didnt center his campaign around the issue during his run in 2000. Barack Obama and John McCain both talked about fighting climate change in 2008, but global warming was dwarfed as an issue by Iraq and the economy. And in 2016, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump did not receive a single question on the issue over the course of three debates. Now, activists, environmentalists and some politicians think the dynamic has shifted, in part because voters are starting to see the effects of climate change in real time

[T]hose on the front lines of climate change politics say its no longer enough for it to be just one of several top issues. With time running out to cut greenhouse gases in order to stave off the worst-case scenarios, they say presidential contenders need to commit to making it their No. 1 issue when they take officeWith the 2020 election more than 600 days away, several key players are working to push climate change to the top of the agenda, at least for the Democratic nominee[The Green New Deal calls] for the U.S. to decarbonize by 2030  an aggressive goal that could require trillions of dollars in investment...Supporters argue the costs of inaction would be far higher[Many candidates] seem more animated by kitchen table issues like health care and economic inequality[but the] urgency of global warming is much easier to understand when your backyard is on fire or youre wading through your neighborhood click here for more

Tweet
The passivity of the OSCE Minsk Group in recent months against the backdrop of meetings between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan indicates the presence of some working draft, which is not made given public, Russian political scientist, expert on the problems of the countries of the Middle East and the Caucasus, Stanislav Tarasov told News Armenia-NEWS.am.

According to him, this is evidenced by four meetings of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as meetings of the leaders of the two countries, allegedly held under the coordination of the OSCE MG: Few people noticed, but against the background of the meetings of the foreign ministers of the two countries, a new status was defined for the OSCE MG. Armenian Foreign Minister stated that we are negotiating with Mammadyarov, then our proposals are being considered by the OSCE MG. That is, they agree, and the OSCE MG is trying to arrange it. In the past, he MG presented some scenarios, proposals and plans, and the parties studied, accepted or did not accept them. 

According to Tarasov, three personal meetings of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe, St. Petersburg and Davos, which took place outside of the OSCE MG format, are the best demonstration of this.

The first meeting of the leaders of the two countries in Dushanbe, in the opinion of the political scientist, worked, as the tension on the contact line decreased, and operational communication began to work. However, the script began to break down, and the OSCE MG returned to the conflict zone, announcing a meeting of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Pashinyan made a sensational statement in Tehran that the meetings with Aliyev were not negotiationsand that they agreed to meet with Aliyev at the earliest opportunity.

The question arises, and where is the OSCE MG, if Aliyev and Pashinyan agreed to meet again? But, if the parties say that we are ready to meet, that this suggests that there is some working draft, there is some working agreement that they discuss and which is not made public. And this is obvious, noted Tarasov.

According to the political analyst, contradictory positions and logical inconsistencies suggest that there was a project: Azerbaijan apparently hoped that bypassing the OSCE Minsk Group, Aliyev and Pashinyan would agree on some kind of compromise type. These games have led to the situation being in a dead-end phase. And now the initiative goes to the OSCE Minsk Group, which proposes the old agenda. 

According to Tarasov, if Baku continues its unchanged policy on the Karabakh issue, then revolutionaries who came to power in Armenia, who criticized the previous authorities on the Karabakh issue, have to say their know-how to solve the Karabakh issue: they do not do that, and moreover, have returned to the old format of negotiations within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

It seems that Yerevan did not work off its scenario on the Karabakh issue, and Baku reached an impasse with its games, making a bet on Pashinyan. By the way, Aliyev supported Pashinyan during the pre-election period, went to a verbal agreement on a ceasefire, although, logically, he could take advantage of the revolution and start a war. Baku had had certain hopes that Pashinyan should have shown some constructive approach, noted Tarasov.
Karabakh Ombudsman: 21-year-old resident of Martuni region was subjected to violence by Azerbaijanis

Armenia PM: Several circumstances behind loss of Karabakh's Khtsaberd and Hin Tagher contain state secret

Nikol Pashinyan: Armenia will have railway communication with Iran and Russia via Azerbaijan's territory

Lavrov underscores need to launch demarcation of Armenian-Azerbaijani border during talk with Mirzoyan

PM: Armenia will participate in initial meeting in '3+3' format

Joe Biden: Putting American troops on the ground in Ukraine is 'not on the table'

Armenia PM: Final status of Nagorno-Karabakh doesn't imply its independence

Assistants to deputies of opposition 'Armenia' parliamentary faction summoned to National Security Service

Armenia Parliament Speaker's meeting with relatives of Armenian POWs and missing servicemen is over

Armenia, Russia FMs discuss Karabakh issue, November 26 agreements and '3+3' format

Armenia's Pashinyan rules out possibility of provision of corridor to Baku through Armenian territory

Putin says Iran's President might pay visit to Russia

Armenia Parliament Speaker in meeting with relatives of Armenian POWs and missing servicemen

Armenia Parliament Speaker to move to governmental mansion in Yerevan district soon

Armenia MOD has new General Secretary

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani army fires at water truck of Armenian military unit in border's southeastern direction

NEWS.am daily digest: 08.12.21

Armenia MOD refutes Azerbaijan's statement that Armenian side fired at Azerbaijani army

Armenia PM refutes opposition MP's statement that government is implementing verbal agreements

Armenia President travels to Qatar

ARARAT Museum initiated an inclusive project #FeelwithYourHeart (PHOTOS)

Armenia opposition MP asks finance minister about operation of Amulsar gold mine

Minister briefs UK envoy on details of justice sector digitalization

Armenia opposition new MP is sitting with her back to parliament sessions hall

Armenia MFA draws OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanships attention to UN International Court of Justice orders

Dollar continues to rise steadily in Armenia

Armenia frontline furnishing in progress (PHOTOS)

10 captives who were returned to Armenia from Azerbaijan 4 days ago are questioned

Elnur Mammadov: Azerbaijan to file two lawsuits against Armenia in 2022

Azerbaijani MFA: Yerevan transmitted mine maps to Azerbaijan 3 days before ICJ's decision

Iran is ready to connect electric networks to Azerbaijan and Russia

Armenia parliament holding secret ballot for election of Audit Chamber member

Yerevan law enforcement manages to reopen Marshal Baghramyan Avenue

Russia Prosecutor General congratulates Armenian counterpart on his birthday

Armenia revenue committee chief meets Iran customs service head at Meghri border checkpoint

Yerevan police apprehending protesters who are blocking Marshal Baghramyan Avenue

Parents of missing and captured Armenian servicemen shut down road near parliament (LIVE)

Azerbaijan, Turkey FMs discuss 3+3 cooperation platform with participation of other regional countries

Attachment imposed on Armenia ex-defense minister Ohanyan, ex-President Sargsyan's former security chiefs properties

Film about Artsakh is submitted for competition at Golden Globe Awards

US congressmen approve about $ 770 billion draft defense budget for 2022

Russia reports 30,752 new COVID-19 cases

Chile parliament approves same-sex marriage bill

168.am: Border demarcation, delimitation commission members arrive in Armenia on board Russia MOD plane

Joint statement: Armenia officials statements on captives pose obstacles to human rights activities

Armenia parliament continues 2022 draft state budget debates

Copper price remains almost unchanged

1 more person dies of coronavirus in Artsakh

Legislature adopts amendments to law on Armenia citizenship

Armenia National Assembly passes bill on amendments, addenda to Civil Code

410 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia ombudsman in Paris, speaks about Azerbaijan genocidal policy after recent war (PHOTOS)

World oil prices falling

Armenia FM to head for Paris

Missing, captured soldiers families spend night at Armenia legislature entrance

Karabakh President stresses role of Russia peacekeeping mission

Newspaper: Who is accountable for Armenia losing at International Court of Justice?

Armenia PM sending delegation to Paris

Police bring in forces near Armenia parliament building

Newspaper: Armenia ruling partys plan works against it in local elections

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries FMs issue statement on Karabakh conflict

Putin, Biden task to continue Russia-US dialogue on Ukraine

NEWS.am daily digest: 07.12.21

Kazakhstan First President notes Russias role in resolving Karabakh conflict

Armenia opposition MP: We are launching legal process of National Assembly speaker's resignation

Fight occurs in Armenia legislature

Armenia legislature deputy speaker from opposition: We are at preparatory phase for rallies

Armenia parliament speaker claims video with his remarks on captive Armenian soldiers was edited

MFA: Armenia urges Azerbaijan to refrain from provocative rhetoric and actions

Legislature speaker: Criminal case will be launched against Armenian soldiers who laid down their weapons, surrendered

4 more die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Dejavu: Parliament speaker says Armenian captive soldiers no longer exist for him

National Assembly holding urgent discussion on Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan

Armenia legislature majority blocks opposition draft statement on border delimitation

Armenia ex-defense minister on border delimitation: Authorities say 'we negotiate whatever we want'

US embassy of Armenia on local elections: We note reports of pressure against opposition candidates

Ombudsman in Paris, briefs France colleague on Armenian captives in, war crimes of Azerbaijan

Opposition Armenia Faction plans to launch urgent parliamentary debates on POWs in Azerbaijan

Karabakh President pays tribute to 1988 Spitak earthquake victims

Pentagon discusses situation on Russia-Ukraine border

240 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

US Air Force plans to develop 2 new secret combat drones

Wreath laid in Gyumri on behalf of Armenia ex-President Kocharyan

Ombudsman provides details from Azerbaijan shooting at Karmir Shuka village of Artsakh

Armenia parliament session kicks off with minute of silence

Newspaper: As always Armenia citizens chose individuals over ideas in elections

Armenia remembers victims of 1988 earthquake

Newspaper: Armenia gets more than $11M from international organizations, several countries for Covid prevention

Seven die in Zanzibar after eating exotic food

Turkey and Qatar discuss possibility of joint operation of airport in Afghanistan

Development of warm relations between Abu Dhabi and Tehran is one of UAE priorities

Israel tries to convince US to strike Iranian targets

Bayramov and US Assistant Secretary of State discuss normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan

NEWS.am daily digest: 06.12.21

Armenia legislature majority to block opposition draft statement on border delimitation

Vahe Hakobyan underscores effective cooperation with UNDP Modern Parliament for a Modern Armenia project

Armenia prosecutor's office files lawsuit demanding confiscation of ex-Police chief, his familys illegal property

One dollar passes AMD 491 threshold in Armenia

Armenia parliament to set up friendship group with Montenegro

India-Eurasian Union free trade zone talks to begin early 2022
STEPANAKERT.  President of the National Assembly (NA) of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR), Ashot Ghoulyan, on Wednesday with vice president Sylvie Guillaume (France) of the European Parliament.

Thanking for the meeting, the Artsakh parliament speaker stressed the importance of such opportunities in terms of providing impartial and first-hand information about Artsakh to the members of European organizations, the Artsakh NA informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Welcoming the head of Artsakhs legislature, Guillaume consider it indispensable to update information on Artsakh, and she underscored the continued development of relations and stressed that there is a great potential in this regard.

The interlocutors reflected on the friendship between the French and Armenian peoples, further development of democracy and ensuring the rule of law in Artsakh, organization of electoral processes, and expansion of the capabilities of parliamentary diplomacy.

In addition, they assured their readiness to continue cooperation also after the forthcoming elections of the European Parliament.
Ankara hasnt extended accreditation for nearly 80 foreign presses, including 3 German journalists, and according to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is a restriction on freedom of speech, reports the German Channel.

Spokeswoman of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Adebar has strictly criticized Ankara. In our opinion, freedom of press is a supreme value, and German and other European journalists need to have the opportunity to work in Turkey. We hope these journalists receive accreditation certificates in the nearest future, the German MFA representative stressed.

However, Turkeys official position is clear-cut. The office of Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan has refused accreditation for German presses for the year 2019.

The Turkish governments decision can lead to serious consequences for journalists. As a rule, a valid accreditation certificate is not only a work permit, but a unique form of residency for a journalist in the particular country.
YEREVAN.  We can record that we are entering the phase of implementation of the Armenia-European Union (EU) agreement, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at Thursdays Cabinet meeting of the Government of Armenia.

In his words, in this connection, it was recorded in Brussels that the EU is completely ready to assist Armenia in its reform agenda and, in general, in the agenda of implementing development programs in the country.

[But] here its very important to record that there is no geopolitical agenda by the EU and by us [Armenia] in this cooperation, [and] which is very important, Pashinyan stressed.

Also, he informed that several mega projects have been discussed with the EU.

The first group of them refers to roads and transport infrastructures, the PM noted. Our objective is that the motorways in Armenia be brought to European standards, as well as we have to make important decisions regarding the North-South [Road Corridor construction].

The next big project is the plan of implementing a reservoir construction project in Armenia, and the introduction of a new water-management system.

The next task is to carry out school building. We [Armenia] are implementing such a project, but we need to considerably extend the scope of that project.
YEREVAN.  We have a task of implementing major projects in the domain of justice, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at Thursdays Cabinet session of the Government of Armenia. He noted this reflecting on his recent visit to Brussels.

We also have a [similar] task in the judicial system, he added, in particular.

Pashinyan noted that even though the European Union (EU) supports these projects, it does not plan on funding them by 100 percent, and it expects Armenia to make considerable funding as well.

[But] increasing incomes in Armenia is a major issue here, Pashinyan stressed. In this context, inclusion of foreign funds is also underscored. We have written in the governments program that we consider the development of infrastructures the primary target for them.

We have to make a political decision on this matter because we have certain legislative restrictions regarding the GDP/national debt ratio.

During my entire parliamentary activities, I myself have voted against all loan agreements, without any exception (). I have said that if I consider the government corrupt, I cant entrust that government the spending of any loan resource.

The PM noted that now the Armenian government has to respond to two questions.

First, whether we are able to create systemic guarantees that public fundsmoreover, loan resourcesare spent purposefully, Nikol Pashinyan explained. And if we are able to, which is that limit where we can keep the level of national debt manageable without additional risks?
Member of the European Parliament Dr. Eleni Theocharous hosted a conference entitled Armenophobia: historical and present-day resurgence in the European Parliament on March 6.

The event was co-organized by the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) and the Tufenkian Foundation. The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh Ashot Ghulyan, was the special guest speaker of the conference. More than hundred attendees were present at the event, among them Members of the European Parliament, representatives of civil society, as well as Armenian community members.

During the conference, the keynote speakers, including prominent scholars, historians, human rights activists, journalists and eyewitnesses addressed the phenomenon of Armenophobia, its origins and current manifestations in Azerbaijan and Turkey. The participants expressed deep concern over the dangerous consequences of incitement of hatred against Armenians all over the world, backed by the Turkish and Azerbaijani authorities on a large scale.

In his opening remark, the EAFJD President Kaspar Karampetian welcomed the participants and emphasized the importance of addressing the issue of Armenophobia at the European Parliament. Seeding hatred can never be a solution. The relevant bodies of the EU and in particular the EU Special Representative for Human Rights must encourage Turkey and Azerbaijan to stop the policy of nurturing anti-Armenian sentiment, said Karampetian.

Armenians are peaceful people with strong ideals and high capabilities of coexisting with everyone, stated MEP Theocharous. She expressed conviction that the Armenian people in fact predispose every conscious citizen to feel Armenophilia, sympathy and respect for Armenia.

One of the main points agreed on during the discussions was that the anti-Armenian sentiment is a clear demonstration of xenophobia, one of the greatest threats to the humanity.

In this regard, Mr. Ashot Ghulyan stressed: It is even more dangerous when xenophobia and hate speech become a state policy, calling into question the peaceful coexistence of peoples in the short and long term. A society poisoned with xenophobia can never and under no circumstances create a public and universal value.

Human rights activist Ragip Zarakolu highlighted the historic and current level of hatred towards Armenians in Turkey. He said: Armenophobia was always strong in Turkish history. Armenia was an obstacle to the realization of that times pan-Turkic ideology which led to the perpetration of the Armenian Genocide.

Speaking about Armenophobia in Azerbaijan, historian Pr. Jakub Osiecki mentioned that some scholars considered that the phenomenon of Armenophobia was allegedly related to the emergence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the beginning of the 20th century. However, he argues that Armenophobic behavior goes back to the 19th century, as also evidenced by many European historians of that period.

During the conference, war crimes and violations of international humanitarian norms committed by the Azerbaijani army during the 2016 April war were also condemned. Ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan presented evidence of the Azerbaijani atrocities against Armenians, including civilians. Furthermore, he expressed deep regret concerning the fact that after the April war the perpetrators of war crimes were awarded by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev personally.

The former Ombudsman of Artsakh Ruben Melikyan elaborated on the manifestation Armenophobia in the education system and media in Azerbaijan. He said that hatred against Armenians is being spread among children in the in schools and kindergartens of Azerbaijan on purpose. Melikyan presented the report published by the office of Ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh entitled Armenophobia in Azerbaijan: organized hate speech and animosity towards Armenians.

Well-known Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin who was persecuted by the Azerbaijani authorities, presented his personal experience and stated: I see some parallels between modern Azerbaijan and Nazi Germany during the beginning of World War II. Today, the propaganda of hatred towards people of Armenian descent is the basis of the state policy of Azerbaijan, concluded Lapshin.

The speeches were followed by a lively question and answer session, where the guest-speakers addressed the questions asked among others by Azerbaijani participants.

At the end of the conference, on behalf of the EAFJD Kaspar Karmapetian honored Ragip Zarakolu for his lifetime struggle for human rights, democracy and justice.
YEREVAN.  This draft of changes in the structure of the government has long been discussed, and we can record that it is primarily perceived among the public, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at Thursdays Cabinet session of the Government of Armenia.

He stated this commenting on the package of bills on making amendments to the law on the structure and activities of the government and on making amendments and additions to several related laws.

Our main task is to increase the effectiveness of public administration and relations with the [Armenian] diaspora, he added. But we will go in this direction with a balanced, calm process. [But] during this process we will not have personnel slaughter; the ministrieswith their positionswill be consolidated, which doesnt mean that they will continue to remain like that.

Yes, there will be [government job] cuts. But they will be with the evolutionary logic, and each and every public servant will get his chance; this evaluation process shall take place maximally objective.

The system of government [in Armenia] shall be such that it resolves problems, Pashinyan added, in particular. Therefore, leading specialists shall work and get a fitting salary; but it cant be at once, but in phases.
YEREVAN.  Former Deputy Health Minister Vahan Poghosyan has been detained along the lines of the criminal case which the Investigative Committee of Armenia is investigating into the case of misuse that was detected at National Center for Fight against Tuberculosis.

As a result of an audit that was conducted at this center, a criminal case was opened into apparent misuse by the centers former officials, the Investigative Committee informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Identity of those who committed financial misuse, and the respective time frame and mechanism have been determined.

It was found out that this misuse was committed from 2014 to 2018.

Also, information has been obtained with respect to former deputy health minister Vahan Poghosyans involvement in this misuse.

The preliminary investigation has determined that Poghosyan had overtly abused his official powers, from December 2011 to November 2016, holding the post of Deputy Health Minister coordinating the HIV/AIDS prevention and medical assistance activities in Armenia.

Vahan Poghosyan was detained Thursday on suspicion of committing the aforesaid crime.

The preliminary investigation is still in progress.
YEREVAN.  The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision is expected on the cases of Armenian nationals Manvel Saribekyan, Gurgen Margaryan, Mamikon Khojoyan, and Artur Badalyan.

Ara Ghazaryan, an attorney and international law expert, stated about the aforementioned at a press conference on Thursday.

To note, these four cases have been merged into one.

Still a few years ago, it was hard to convince the Europeans of [Azerbaijans] racism and xenophobia [against Armenians], the attorney said. But then the events of April 2016 took place [when Azerbaijan launched a full-scale military attack on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)], and the Europeans began to become convinced.

The court procedures for the abovementioned cases have been completed, and solely a ruling is expected.

Even if a decision is made on one case, its an important precedent, Ghazaryan added.

Armenian citizen Manvel Saribekyan died after Azerbaijani torture.

Armenian army officer Gurgen Margaryan was axed to death in his sleep in Budapest by Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov. Subsequently, the latter was extradited to Azerbaijan where he was declared a national hero.

Armenian national Mamikon Khojoyan died as a result of the injections he was administered at the Azerbaijani torture chamber.

And Armenian citizen Artur Badalyan spent about two years in Azerbaijani captivity. Azerbaijani authorities, however, refused to confirm his being in the country up until he was transferred back to his homeland.
Armenias accession to the Eurasian Economic Union should only be observed within the context of Russia-Armenia relations. This is what President of Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardyan said during a March 7 press conference.

According to him, Yerevan has no alternative to relations with Russia. If Armenia manages to enhance those relations more or less, the other issues, particularly the election of the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, shouldnt worry us because Yerevan is Russias only ally within the CSTO, Navasardyan stated.

Navasardyan emphasized the fact that top Russian officials have already come to grips with the idea that Vladimir Putin will stay in power even after 2024 and that, as it is known, changes in Russia will inevitably have an impact on the relations with Armenia. This is due to the fact that development of events that can lead to change of power seems unlikely for the time being. However, the Presidents rating is going down along with deterioration of the social-economic situation in the country. Changes in Russia will inevitably impact relations with Armenia, but Armenia should react calmly to those changes, the expert added.
YEREVAN.  From February 19 to today, Armenian specialists have demined 10,510 square meters of land, provided 50 surgical and 100 therapeutic assistance to patients, and conducted 160 clinical, biochemical, and hormonal laboratory tests in Syria.

The aforesaid is noted on the Facebook page of the Armenian Center for Humanitarian Demining and Expertise.

As reported earlier, an 83-member teamcomprising deminers, doctors, and their security professionalstraveled from Armenia to Syria on February 8, to provide humanitarian and professional assistance to the Syrian people.

The doctors included in the humanitarian mission carry out their activities at the military hospital and university clinics of Aleppo, the Facebook post also reads, in particular. Humanitarian assistance to the people of Syria continues.
The Armenian authorities have not announced about refusing the agreements reached in Vienna, Saint Petersburg and Geneva. This is what Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shavarsh Kocharyan told journalists after the March 7 government session.

According to the Deputy FM, the possible date of the meeting of Armenias Premier Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev is still undecided and needs to be agreed upon.

As Kocharyan mentioned, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs know very well that the issue of Karabakhs involvement in the negotiations must be solved upon mutual consent of the parties. Although Baku is doing everything it can to show resistance to that, Armenia needs to be consistent to impose that approach on Azerbaijan and through the efforts of the international community, he stated.

The Deputy FM stated that it is illogical to talk about the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict when one of the two parties is not participating in the negotiations. The parties to the conflict are Karabakh and Azerbaijan, and Armenia is a party that is engaged. Armenia is against any change of format of the negotiations, the Deputy FM clarified.

Shavarsh Kocharyan emphasized that the only principle that two of the three parties have accepted is the Madrid Principles and that there are no other documents for the time being. In this stage, the Madrid Principles are the only document that Armenia and Azerbaijan have accepted, but not Karabakh. Armenia has not approved those Principles. It has simply accepted them as a basis for negotiations. The Madrid Principles are only the Co-Chairs attempt to converge the parties opposing approaches, Shavarsh Kocharyan noted.

The Deputy FM added that Azerbaijan has not taken any action to prepare its people for peace and to implement the Madrid Principles. Armenia is interested in effective negotiations, not negotiations just for the sake of negotiations, he added.
Former Deputy Health Minister Vahan Poghosyan has been detained along the lines of the criminal case which the Investigative Committee of Armenia is investigating into the case of misuse that was detected at National Center for Fight against Tuberculosis.

The preliminary investigation has determined that Poghosyan had overtly abused his official powers, from December 2011 to November 2016, holding the post of Deputy Health Minister coordinating the HIV/AIDS prevention and medical assistance activities in Armenia.

Armenia is entering the phase of implementation of the Armenia-EU agreement, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.

Also, he informed that several mega projects have been discussed with the EU in Brussels. The first group of them refers to roads and transport infrastructures.

The next big projects are a reservoir construction project in Armenia, and the introduction of a new water-management system, as well as school building.

https://news.am/eng/news/500004.html

The Government of Armenia approved the package of bills on making amendments to the law on the structure and activities of the government.

According to the draft, the Government of Armenia shall comprise the prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, and ministers.

Also, there shall be twelve ministries instead of the current seventeen ones.

The jobs cuts to be made as a result of reorganization of the ministries primarily will apply to political and discretionary positions.

Member of the European Parliament Dr. Eleni Theocharous hosted a conference entitled Armenophobia: historical and present-day resurgence in the European Parliament on March 6.

More than hundred attendees were present at the event, among them Members of the European Parliament, representatives of civil society, as well as Armenian community members.

Former and current Artsakh Ombudsmen as well as Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin were also present.

From February 19 to today, Armenian specialists have demined 10,510 square meters of land, provided 50 surgical and 100 therapeutic assistance to patients, and conducted 160 clinical, biochemical, and hormonal laboratory tests in Syria.

As reported earlier, an 83-member teamcomprising deminers, doctors, and their security professionalstraveled from Armenia to Syria on February 8, to provide humanitarian and professional assistance to the Syrian people.

The second imported measles case has been recorded in Armenia. A person with measles arrived in Armenia on February 20 from Brussels via Georgia.

According to Armenia's Health Ministry, the laboratory test confirmed measles.

The first case was recorded in February when a citizen of Ukraine with measles (confirmed by a laboratory test) has arrived in Armenia after traveling from Kiev via flight PS 611.
The speaker of the Artsakh National Assembly, Ashot Ghulyan met with the MPs of House of Representatives of the Netherlands. The meeting was organized with the support of Mato Hakhverdyan, Chairman of the Federation of Dutch-Armenian Organizations.

Ashot Ghulyan stressed that the Artsakh parliament established partnerships with a number of European countries and inter-parliamentary organizations in recent years and meets with representatives of the Dutch legislative body for the first time.

The speaker of the Artsakh National Assembly expressed hope that the contacts will continue, which will give the Dutch parliamentarians the opportunity to thoroughly get acquainted with the realities of Artsakh and will serve as the basis for the institutionalization of relations.

Ashot Ghulyan informed about the political and legal foundations of the struggle of Artsakh for freedom and self-determination, about the peculiarities of the state construction of Artsakh.

At the end of the meeting, the speaker of the Artsakh parliament touched upon the current state and prospects for the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, the economic development of Artsakh and a number of other topics.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended a reception hosted by the National Gallery of Armenia on the occasion of Diplomats Day, reports the news service of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, according to NEWS.am.

Congratulating diplomats on Diplomats Day, Nikol Pashinyan particularly stated the following:

I congratulate you on Diplomats Day. This is truly an important day for our country. Allow me to state that this year our diplomats are celebrating Diplomats Day in totally different conditions and in a totally different situation. Today, fortunately, our diplomats around the world dont need to spend long days and time explaining to foreigners about electoral fraud in Armenia and the progress or regress of elections in the country or why this or that person was executed. I think this is a major change that shows the essence of the non-violent, velvet and peoples revolution that took place in Armenia.

I hope this change is perceived as an imperative to work harder, with more motivation and with more vigor because today, the Republic of Armenia has something to say to the world, and all countries have a greater desire to listen to what the Republic of Armenia has to day.

It is also very important to state the major change that is taking place now within all systems of governance in Armenia, including in the diplomatic system that has to take place, and we need to state that both the government and diplomats serve the people, not a specific person or a specific authority. In this sense, we are also in a different situation in the Republic of Armenia because the government has been formed through expression of the free will of the people.

Right from the first day I was elected Prime Minister, I have been guided by the hypothesis that diplomats and the diplomatic system are among the most well-established state systems in our country, and we have done everything possible to make sure the system remains sustainable and functions on a regular basis. In these conditions, I obviously expect Armenias diplomatic representatives and the entire diplomatic system to properly present the changes having taken place in Armenia, and I am certain that the system will properly serve for the Republic of Armenia and its people. All diplomats who missed the opportunity to participate in the political revolution, now have a good opportunity to participate in the economic revolution and become an activist for the economic revolution in the working sense of the word. This means that they should become the ambassadors to present the changes taking place in the Republic of Armenia and the content of those changes.

In this sense, I attach great importance to our future actions in regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict because, as I said during our previous meeting, my contacts with foreign officials have helped me come to the conclusion that, unfortunately, in many cases, foreigners lack a notion of and dont perceive the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. This is the most important objective of our future objectives and, in essence, it is necessary to work consistently so that foreigners know what we mean when we say the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and what the essence of the issue is.

We also need to continue the policy on international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. We clearly state that international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is Armenias major contribution to global security and the prevention of genocides, and we view the issue from this perspective.

Expressing gratitude to all of our diplomats for their service, I would especially like to highlight the diplomats who are working in the most unstable regions and in very unsafe environments in this period. I deeply respect the consulate general of Armenia in Aleppo for continuing to carry out its activities in spite of bombardment of the building. The same goes for the activities of our embassy in Baghdad.

Indeed, the successful implementation of our foreign policy objectives depends on the joint efforts of the entire staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including our embassies and consulates abroad.

Thus, dear diplomats, once again, I congratulate you and wish you introduce new approaches because we are living in an age when there are wide opportunities to create and achieve new heights. I wish you all more achievements for the benefit and welfare of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Artsakh and the Armenian people.

Mr. Mnatsakanyan, I personally wish you success in leading this, as they say, intricate staff. I would also like to express my appreciation to all the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Third Republic of Armenia for the efforts that they have made for the functioning of Armenias diplomatic system. Happy Diplomats Day.
Story Highlights Favorable ratings down slightly from high in January 2017

Eight in 10 Democrats, one in three Republicans view him positively

Most potential 2020 Democratic candidates are rated more negatively than positively

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As many Democratic Party supporters and power brokers wait to see whether former Vice President Joe Biden will enter the 2020 presidential race, recent Gallup polling indicates that he would be a formidable candidate, given Americans' positive image of him. Currently, 56% of Americans have a favorable opinion about Biden. Although that is down slightly from the prior reading in January 2017 near the end of his vice presidency, it still ranks among the best Gallup has measured for him to date.

The latest results are based on a Feb. 12-28 Gallup poll. Biden is expected to announce his intentions soon, and his high profile and overall popularity would arguably make him the presumptive front-runner.

Biden was also popular as a vice presidential candidate in 2008, although his ratings declined while he was vice president in President Barack Obama's administration. From late 2009 through early 2015, when Obama's job approval ratings were generally in the 40% range, Americans were about evenly divided in their views of Biden. This is similar to the pattern that has occurred for incumbent Vice President Mike Pence, who currently has a 42% favorable and 42% unfavorable rating.

Near the end of Obama's presidency, Biden's popularity increased, peaking at 61% during his final days in office. Biden has retained most of that increase over the past two years.

Eight in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have a favorable opinion of Biden. As would be expected, Republicans and Republican leaners are much less positive toward him, although nearly one in three do view him favorably.

By comparison, President Donald Trump has a 44% favorable and 56% unfavorable rating among all U.S. adults. Among Republicans and Republican leaners, his favorable rating is 87%, while it is 7% among Democrats and Democratic leaners.

Opinions of Sanders on Par With Biden; Other Democrats Rated Less Positively

Biden's image is similar to that of another leading contender for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who officially announced his candidacy on Feb. 16. Gallup last measured opinions about Sanders in September, at which time 53% of U.S. adults had a favorable opinion of him and 38% an unfavorable one. Sanders' image has been consistently positive since his campaign for the 2016 Democratic nomination ended.

In addition to Biden, the Feb. 12-28 Gallup poll included ratings on five Democratic U.S. senators who announced their intention run for president or set up exploratory committees to consider the possibility. These include Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Kirsten Gillibrand.

All five of these senators are rated similarly in that their unfavorable rating exceeds their favorable rating by between two and eight percentage points. There is variation in how well-known they are, with about twice as many unfamiliar with Klobuchar and Gillibrand as with Warren.

This is the first time Gallup has asked about Harris, Booker, Klobuchar and Gillibrand. Opinions of Warren have become more negative compared with Gallup's prior reading on her in August 2017. Since then, her favorable rating has held fairly steady at 32% (compared with 34%), but her unfavorable rating has increased nine points to 40%. Warren's claims of Native American ancestry have been a source of controversy for her. Shortly before the poll began, The Washington Post released a story showing that she listed her race as "American Indian" when she applied to the Texas bar in 1986.

Democratic Candidates Have Similar Unfavorable Ratings Among Party Base

As would be expected, Democratic identifiers and leaners generally view each of the potential Democratic contenders much more positively than negatively. All have favorable-to-unfavorable ratios of roughly 3-to-1 or better among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

The major differentiator in opinions of these candidates among the Democratic base is the extent to which they are known, because none are viewed very negatively. Unfavorable ratings of these candidates are mostly around 10%, though Sanders (15%) and Warren (18%) have slightly higher scores.

As such, the best-known Biden (80%) and Sanders (76%) have the highest favorable ratings among Democrats, while the lesser-known Gillibrand and Klobuchar have favorable ratings in the low 30s. A slim majority of Democrats view Warren (53%) and Harris (52%) positively, while 44% have a positive opinion of Booker.

Democrats' current opinions of Warren are less positive than they were in August 2017, with her favorable rating down five points and her unfavorable rating up by six points.

Implications

At this early stage in the 2020 presidential election cycle, Trump appears to be vulnerable, given his sub-50% job approval ratings and his weak favorable ratings. Democrats would enhance their chances of winning by nominating someone who is well-liked by the American public, something neither they nor the Republicans did in 2016. Typically, the candidate with the higher favorable rating wins, with 2016 being the only recent exception.

At this point, Biden and Sanders are the most well-liked, perhaps because of their higher profiles given their long government service and past presidential campaigns. However, that does not necessarily mean they will be the best candidates in the 2020 general election. Hillary Clinton was in a similar position in early 2015, before news came to light of her use of a private computer server installed at her home to conduct government business.

As occurred with Clinton and most candidates in past elections, Americans' favorable ratings of the candidates are likely to change in response to news during the campaign about the candidates and their pasts, and how well they do in debates and in the primary elections. Most of the lesser-known candidates should become more familiar to Americans, and can hope to become better-liked in the process.

It is nearly certain that Democratic Party supporters will mostly grow to love their party's eventual nominee (and Republicans likely will grow to dislike him or her), so a key will be how well the Democratic nominee appeals to independent voters and Republicans who are unhappy with Trump. But even within the Democratic Party, a candidate with favorable ratings in excess of 90% could engender greater enthusiasm among Democrats and translate into higher turnout for their candidate.

View complete question responses and trends.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]
Bioethicist lecture examines use of artificial intelligence in patient diagnosis, treatment

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill.  The importance of ensuring public trust in using artificial intelligence for patient diagnosis and treatment is the focus of the 2019 John and Marsha Ryan Bioethicist in Residence lecture this month at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Noted medical ethicist Alex John London will present Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Does Accountability Require Explainability?

The lecture is at 5 p.m., March 20, at the SIU School of Law in Carbondale. It will be simulcast to the SIU School of Medicines Dirksen Conference Room in the medical library in Springfield. The lecture is free, and the public is welcome.

Media Advisory

Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to attend the Ryan Bioethicist in Residence lecture with Alex John London at 5 p.m., March 20, in the SIU School of Law courtroom. For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Michele Mekel, the law schools director of external relations, at mmekel@siu.edu or 618/453-8768. For the March 22 lecture in Springfield, contact Kristie Parkins, SIU School of Medicine Medical Humanities, at kparkins@siumed.edu or 217/545-4261.

London is the Clara L. West Professor of Ethics and Philosophy and director of the Center for Ethics and Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. For more than a decade, he has helped shape key ethical guidelines for the oversight of research with human participants, according to lecture organizers.

He is co-editor of Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine, one of the most widely used textbooks in medical ethics and has published more than 85 papers in leading philosophy and medical journals. Londons work on ethics and artificial intelligence centers around the nature of ethical decision making in computational systems and mechanisms for ensuring social trust, accountability and non-domination.

AI technology brings hopes, fears

Like other new technologies, use of artificial intelligence, or AI, brings great expectations and hype, while some view AI as replacing physicians and a threat to the moral integrity of modern medicine, London said.

He takes a more measured view in applying artificial intelligence to the medical field. London said he is optimistic but cautious, and notes that even successful medical interventions have their costs, risks and downsides.

Important to understand how AI works

A critical component for many regarding artificial intelligences safe and effective use is to understand how and why it works, he said. London will discuss how medicine is different from other sciences in that our ability to do things, for example, cure a headache or treat anxiety, often comes before our ability to explain why what we do works.

London said it is important to establish, through careful testing, that artificial intelligence works. He believes there are valuable lessons about how to safely and effectively use artificial intelligence from the way we require proof of safety and efficacy in drugs.

Advancements could mean science fiction becomes science fact

Michele Mekel, an adjunct professor in health law and bioethics at the law school, notes that artificial intelligence is already an ingrained part of our daily lives in a multitude of ways. If that current trajectory continues, Mekel said greater dependency promises to come in more sophisticated ways.

And that is what calls for reflection now regarding the ethics, policy, and regulation that we, as a society, desire to institute in order to provide guideposts on the dos and do nots, she said. Such contemplation and governance decision making are especially critical with regard to AIs use in the most personal of arenas  our healthcare.

London will also present a lecture in Springfield

In addition to the public lecture, London will present lectures on the same general topic to the Southern Illinois Healthcare Bioethics Committee and students on March 21, and to faculty, students and medical providers at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield on March 22. In Springfield, London will present Ethical and Scientific Issues Developing AI in Medicine: Parallels to Drugs Development at 8 a.m. in the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation 2B Theatre.

Lecture series captures public imagination

This is the law schools 14th bioethicist-in-residence lecture, and the 12th since John C. and Dr. Marsha G. Ryan endowed the visiting lecture series.

Founded in 2006, the John and Marsha Ryan Bioethicist-in-Residence program supports an annual residence and lecture by a law or medicine ethics scholar for the SIU schools of law and medicine.

Connecting medicine, technology for patient diagnosis and treatment

Technology is expanding so quickly and widely that it was a matter of time before seeing how it could be applied within the medical care field. The lecture can help bring attention to those possibilities and pitfalls, and help focus on what that discussion should look like, Marsha Ryan said.

It may mean greater access to care. It may mean better monitoring of patient well-being and compliance, she said. It will certainly mean we need to be more vigilant, harvesting what is good and avoiding what is bad in terms of validity of the data, encroachment on patient autonomy and privacy.

Marsha Ryan earned her law degree from the SIU School of Law in 1987 and was an adjunct faculty member there for 30 years until 2017. She practiced general and breast surgery in Carbondale for 36 years until her retirement in 2017. John Ryan, a member of the law schools inaugural class, is a longstanding attorney at Feirich, Green, Mager, Ryan in Carbondale.
Getty Images

When you invest in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-deferred plan, you make a deal with Uncle Sam: You get years of tax-deferred growth, but you have to start taking money out--and give a cut to the IRS--after you turn age 70. The calculations can be complicated, and the penalties for missteps are steep: If you don't take the required minimum distribution by the deadline each year, you'll pay a penalty of 50% of the amount you should have withdrawn.

The prospect of taking RMDs and facing the tax bill can be daunting, but there are a number of strategies you can use to minimize taxes, make the most of your investments and avoid costly mistakes.

Calculate the Amount of Your RMD Withdrawals

Getty Images

Your RMDs are based on the balance in your accounts as of December 31 of the previous year, divided by a life expectancy factor based on your age. Most people use the Uniform Lifetime table (Table III) in Appendix B of IRS Publication 590-B. If your spouse is more than 10 years younger than you and is your sole beneficiary, use Table II, the Joint Life and Last Survivor table, for the life expectancy factor.

Your IRA or 401(k) administrator can usually help with the calculations, or you can use our RMD calculator to determine the amount.

SEE ALSO: 9 Smart Strategies for Handling RMDs

Time Your RMDs Right

Getty Images

You usually have to take your annual RMD by December 31, but you have until April 1 of the year after you turn 70 to take your first required withdrawal. However, delaying that first withdrawal means you'll have to take two RMDs in one year, which could have a ripple effect on other areas of your finances. The extra income could bump you into a higher tax bracket, make you subject to the Medicare high-income surcharge or cause more of your Social Security benefits to be taxable.

SEE ALSO: How 11 Types of Retirement income Get Taxed

Pick the Best Accounts for RMDs

Story continues

Getty Images

You have to calculate the RMD from each of your traditional IRAs (not Roths), including rollover IRAs and any SEP or SIMPLE IRAs. But you can add the total required withdrawals from all of those IRAs and take the money from any one or more of the IRAs.

When choosing which account to tap first, "pick the one you like the least," says Mari Adam, a certified financial planner in Boca Raton, Fla. You could start with withdrawals from the IRA that has the highest fees, limited investing choices or a concentration in one stock, she says.

IRAs are owned individually, even if you're married and file a joint tax return, so you and your spouse have to take your RMDs from your own accounts.

Understand How 401(k) Rules are Different

Getty Images

If you have several 401(k) accounts with former employers, you have to calculate and withdraw RMDs separately for each 401(k). You even have to take RMDs from Roth 401(k)s, although those withdrawals are not taxable. You can't take 401(k) account RMDs from your IRAs or vice versa.

If you're still working at 70, you may be able to delay taking your RMD from your current employer's 401(k) until April 1 of the year after you stop working (unless you own more than 5% of the company). But you still have to take RMDs from traditional IRAs and former employers' 401(k)s.

If your current employer allows it, you may be able to roll funds from other 401(k)s into your current plan and avoid taking RMDs on that money while you're still working. But those rules vary by plan, says Joe Gaynor, director of retirement and income solutions at Fidelity Investments.

SEE ALSO: Put Your Retirement IQ to the Test

Choose the Right Investments to Withdraw

Getty Images

Some IRA or 401(k) administrators automatically withdraw RMDs proportionately from each of your investments, unless you specify otherwise, and they could end up selling stocks or funds at a loss to make your payment. If you'd like to prevent that from happening, you can usually elect to take a fixed percentage from each of your investments or have 100% taken from cash. If you choose the cash option, the IRA administrator may send you an alert beforehand in case you need to sell shares to raise the cash.

Adam generally likes using pro rata withdrawals because it lets you keep your investment allocation the same, although sometimes she will withdraw more from one investment to rebalance the account.

SEE ALSO: 57 Dividend Stocks You Can Count On in 2019

Automate Your RMDs

Getty Images

If you want to simplify the process and not worry about missing deadlines, most IRA administrators will let you automate your RMDs. You can usually sign up to have the money withdrawn every month or quarter, or by a certain date each year. Make sure you understand how the IRA administrator chooses which investments to sell.

Donate to Charity and Get a Tax Break

Getty Images

After you turn 70, you can transfer up to $100,000 directly from your IRA to charity each year (called a qualified charitable distribution), which counts toward your RMD but isn't included in your adjusted gross income. This strategy can be particularly helpful now that fewer people itemize their deductions and otherwise wouldn't get a tax break for their charitable gifts.

You can make the transfer to one or more tax-qualified charities (but not to a donor-advised fund). The transfer must be made directly from your IRA to the charity to count as a QCD; you can't withdraw the money first. Ask your IRA administrator about its procedure. Most send the money directly from your account. A few let you write a check to the charity if you have check-writing privileges on your IRA. Let the charity know the money is coming so they can send you a confirmation, which you'll need to keep with your records (see below).

SEE ALSO: 8 Steps to a Happy Retirement

Roll Money Over to a Roth

Getty Images

You don't have to take RMDs from Roth IRAs, so any money you've rolled over from a traditional IRA to a Roth avoids future RMDs. However, you'll have to pay taxes on the rollover, and if you do it after age 70, you'll have to take that year's RMD before rolling over the money.

SEE ALSO: 6 Ways to Build a Roth Retirement Nest Egg

Consider a QLAC

Getty Images

Money you invest in a deferred-income annuity known as a qualified longevity annuity contract is removed from your RMD calculation. You can invest up to $130,000 from your IRA in a QLAC (or up to 25% of the balance in all of your traditional IRAs, whichever is less) at any age (most people do this in their fifties or sixties). You pick the age when you'd like to start receiving annual lifetime income, usually in your seventies or eighties (no later than age 85).

For example, a 60-year-old man who invests $130,000 in a QLAC could receive about $37,000 per year starting at age 80. That removes $130,000 from future RMD calculations, and he won't have to pay taxes on that money until he starts to receive the $37,000 annual payouts at age 80. If he dies before age 80, he won't receive anything--although he could get a version with smaller payouts that will give his heirs the difference if he dies before his payouts equal his investment.

SEE ALSO: 5 Ways to Avoid Taxes on Social Security Benefits

Don't Pay More in Taxes Than You Have To

Getty Images

If all of your IRA contributions were made with pretax or tax-deductible money, your RMDs will be fully taxable. But if you made any nondeductible contributions, a portion of each withdrawal will be tax-free. Keep track of your tax basis on Form 8606 so you don't pay more in taxes than you owe. For more information, see the instructions for Form 8606 at IRS.gov.

How to Report Your Generosity

Getty Images

If you made a tax-free transfer of your RMD to charity (called a qualified charitable distribution), you might be confused when you receive Form 1099-R from your IRA administrator. This form reports how much money was distributed from your IRA for the year, but it doesn't specify whether it was a withdrawal or a tax-free transfer to charity. It's up to you to keep track of the QCD amount and to let your tax preparer know. (Most tax software programs will walk you through the process.)

When you file your income tax return, you report the total distributions on line 4a of Form 1040. Then subtract any portion that was a QCD and report the remaining amount on line 4b, writing "QCD" to indicate why the full amount is not taxable. (If you gave your full RMD to charity and didn't have other distributions, you'd write "$0" and "QCD" on line 4b.) Keep an acknowledgement from the charity with your tax records.

SEE ALSO: 13 States That Tax Social Security Benefits

EDITOR'S PICKS



Copyright 2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors
After looking at Amsterdam Commodities N.V.s (AMS:ACOMO) latest earnings update (31 December 2018), I found it helpful to revisit the companys performance in the past couple of years and compare this against the latest numbers. As a long-term investor I tend to focus on earnings trend, rather than a single number at one point in time. Also, comparing it against an industry benchmark to understand whether it outperformed, or is simply riding an industry wave, is an important aspect. In this article I briefly touch on my key findings.

Check out our latest analysis for Amsterdam Commodities

Was ACOMOs recent earnings decline worse than the long-term trend and the industry?

ACOMOs trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 December 2018) of 31m has declined by -4.2% compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has been lower than its average earnings growth rate over the past 5 years of 1.2%, indicating the rate at which ACOMO is growing has slowed down. Why is this? Well, lets look at whats occurring with margins and whether the rest of the industry is facing the same headwind.

ENXTAM:ACOMO Income Statement, March 7th 2019

In terms of returns from investment, Amsterdam Commodities has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 16% instead. However, its return on assets (ROA) of 9.7% exceeds the NL Consumer Retailing industry of 5.5%, indicating Amsterdam Commodities has used its assets more efficiently. Though, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Amsterdam Commoditiess debt level, has declined over the past 3 years from 25% to 21%.

What does this mean?

Though Amsterdam Commoditiess past data is helpful, it is only one aspect of my investment thesis. Companies that are profitable, but have volatile earnings, can have many factors influencing its business. I suggest you continue to research Amsterdam Commodities to get a more holistic view of the stock by looking at:

Story continues

Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ACOMOs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for ACOMOs outlook. Financial Health: Are ACOMOs 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.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A protest over the shooting of an unarmed black man by Sacramento police has ended with at least 80 arrests, police said. Among those detained were clergy and a reporter.

Capt. Norm Leong tweets that the protest Monday night ended with "80 plus arrests. Still processing it all. "

Dozens of people staged the march in a wealthy area of the city after prosecutors declined to file charges against police who shot Stephon Clark last March. The officers said they thought the 22-year-old Clark had a gun, but he was holding a cellphone.

About 2  hours into the demonstration, police ordered protesters to disperse.

Remaining demonstrators were later surrounded on a freeway overpass, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Police handcuffed at least three clergy members and Bee reporter Dale Kasler, who was covering the demonstration, the newspaper reported.

Kasler's hands were twist-tied and he was led away as other reporters shouted that he was a member of the media on assignment, the Bee said. He was standing with several protesters when he was detained, the newspaper reported. The reporter was released after he had been held for an hour, the newspaper said.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg told the Bee in a text message that he questioned the police's response to the protest.

"I'm very disappointed that the protest ended the way it did," Steinberg said. "I have many questions about what caused the order to disperse and the subsequent arrests. I will withhold further comment until I get answers to these crucial questions tonight or tomorrow morning."

The mayor also told the Bee that he's upset about the reporter's arrest. "No matter what precipitated this order to disperse, no member of the press should be detained for covering a protest," Steinberg said in a phone call to the newspaper.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani supported the initiation of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban despite his public concerns, a top U.S. general said on Thursday. "It is my observation, from my close discussions with (U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad) that he is in fact consulting with President Ghani on a regular basis, keeping him well informed and that the actual initiation of these discussions was done with President Ghani's knowledge and support," U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, head of the U.S. Central Command, said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. (Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish)
The U.S. Air Force said it is "appalled and deeply sorry" for the experiences of Sen. Martha McSally, who dramatically disclosed this week that she was raped by a superior officer while serving in the Air Force.

McSally, an Arizona Republican and the first woman to fly in combat, said during a Wednesday Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing that she was horrified at how her efforts to share her experiences were handled.

Capt. Carrie Volpe, an Air Force spokeswoman, said in a written statement that McSally's experiences violate the values of the Air Force.

"The criminal actions reported today (Wednesday) by Senator McSally violate every part of what it means to be an Airman," Volpe said in the statement. "We are appalled and deeply sorry for what Senator McSally experienced and we stand behind her and all victims of sexual assault. We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behavior and breach of trust in our ranks."

McSally did not come forward right away because she felt ashamed and confused and did not trust that her story would be properly handled, she said. When she did come forward, "Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again," she said in the hearing, pausing to maintain her composure.

McSally, 52, said she almost left the Air Force at 18 years of service over her despair over how her accusations were handled. She did not name her assailant in her subcommittee comments.

"The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways," she said. "In one case, I was preyed upon and raped by a superior officer."

READ: Sen. McSally's testimony about being raped by superior officer in Air Force

McSally on Thursday thanked the public on Twitter for their support. Many people  including those who do not support her politics  thanked her for showing the courage to share her story.

"Thank you for the outpouring of support," she wrote. "It means a lot for all who have reached out."

Story continues

Thank you for the outpouring of support. It means a lot for all who have reached out.  Martha McSally (@SenMcSallyAZ) March 7, 2019

Cindy McCain, the widow of the Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who served as Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, said McSally's bravery will help other women. McSally was appointed to the Senate seat McCain once held following his death last year.

"Thank you @SenMcSallyAZ for your bravery," Cindy McCain wrote on Twitter. "Your courage will help thousands of women seek the help and justice they deserve."

Thank you @SenMcSallyAZ for your bravery. Your courage will help thousands of women seek the help and justice they deserve.  Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) March 7, 2019

McSally, who grew up in Rhode Island, has cited her father's death as a motivating force behind her career in the military.

In the Air Force, she rose to become the nation's first woman fighter pilot to serve in combat. She served six tours of duty, including flying 300 combat hours, and became the first woman to command a fighter squadron.

McSally retired in 2010 as a colonel before launching a political career. After an unsuccessful run for Congress in 2012, she won her 2014 campaign to represent the Tucson-based 2nd Congressional District. She won re-election in 2016 before unsuccessfully running for the Senate in 2018. She was appointed to her current Senate seat in January.

McSally will run for election during a 2020 special election.

Reach the reporter at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4712.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Air Force 'appalled and deeply sorry' over Sen. Martha McSally's rape experience
The Daily Beast

REUTERSAfter Jussie Smollett spilled all the tea he could on Monday, Special Prosecutor Dan Webb put the focus back on the attack on the Empire star that the actor allegedly staged in a brutal cross examination on Tuesday.Webb, a lawyers lawyer who nailed corrupt judges and cops when he served as the U.S. attorney for the district including Chicago and who prosecuted Ronald Reagans national security adviser and deposed the president as special counsel in the Iran-Contra affair, shifted the foc
Algiers (AFP) - Hundreds of Algerian lawyers staged a demonstration Thursday in Algiers against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's re-election bid, saying his ill health should disqualify him from the race.

Around 1,000 lawyers breached police cordons to march on the Constitutional Council, the body responsible for approving the candidacy of the 21 people registered to run in the poll.

The 82-year-old Bouteflika uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, and his bid to secure a fifth term at the April 18 election has sparked waves of protests.

"We are asking the Constitutional Council to assume its responsibilities," protester Ahmed Dahim, a member of the Bar Association of Algiers, told AFP as colleagues chanted "No to the fifth mandate".

"This candidacy is inadmissible," he said, adding Bouteflika's re-election bid should be rejected because there was no way he could have obtained the required medical certificate.

The Constitutional Council must decide on the candidates by March 14.

Bouteflika has been in Switzerland since February 24 for what the presidency has described as "routine medical tests".

A date for his return to Algeria has not yet been announced.

The announcement on February 10 that Bouteflika would stand for a fifth term has unleashed major protests in the North African country.

On Wednesday, the medical association said health certificates submitted by presidential hopefuls must respect "medical ethics" and be drafted by doctors who are members of the association.

Despite a ban dating back to 2001, demonstrations have been staged almost daily in the capital Algiers since a massive rally on February 22.

Journalists also began to gather on Thursday for a protest at Press Freedom Square in downtown Algiers, as they did on the previous week, media reports said.

They have been protesting over "pressures" being exerted over their coverage of the demonstrations against Bouteflika's re-election.
By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika issued his first warning on Thursday to protesters who have taken to the streets in thousands to demand an end to his 20-year rule, saying the unrest could destabilize the country. In the latest demonstration, hundreds of lawyers in black robes rallied in downtown Algiers on Thursday as momentum gathered in the country's most sustained protests since the 2011 Arab Spring. Bouteflicka, 82 and ailing, has not spoken in public since suffering a stroke in 2013 and he is staying in a hospital in Geneva. But in a letter reported by the state news agency APS, he said: "Breaking this peaceful expression by any treacherous internal or foreign group may lead to sedition and chaos and resulting crises and woes." He did not say who any of these groups might be. An Islamist insurgency in the 1990s that broke out after the army blocked an election victory by an Islamist party was crushed at the cost of up 200,000 lives. There has been sporadic militant activity in recent years. The stance taken by the military and security forces will be crucial to how the present situation unfolds. The military has stayed in barracks throughout the unrest. But analysts and former officials say the generals are likely to intervene if the protests lead to instability in one of Africa's biggest oil producers. At the lawyers' protest, police were deployed to monitor the demonstration but as with previous protests, they did not intervene. Lawyers shouted chanted: "The people want to overthrow the regime" and "Republic, not a kingdom. Tens of thousands of Algerians, tired of the dominance of elderly veterans of the 1954-1962 war of independence against France, have protested for the past three weeks to urge Bouteflika not to stand in an election scheduled for April 18. Despite his ill-health, he has submitted his candidacy papers. The national association of lawyers has demanded that the authorities postpone the election and set up a transitional government. RULING ELITE UNDER FIRE The unrest poses the biggest challenge yet to Bouteflika and his inner circle, which includes members of the military, intelligence services and big business figures. An anonymous call for a general strike has gone largely unheeded but the leadership faces another test - a call for a "March of 20 Million" this Friday. On Wednesday, the influential Algerian war veterans association expressed support for the so far peaceful protests. Two branches of powerful Algerian labor union UGTA, representing tens of thousands of workers, also opposed the re-election plan. Some officials from Bouteflika's ruling FLN party have turned up at demonstrations, and several public figures have announced their resignations. (Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
By Tracy Rucinski

CHICAGO (Reuters) - American Airlines Group Inc grounded 14 Boeing 737-800 airplanes on Thursday after complaints by pilots that overhead bins on some recently-retrofitted aircraft cabins were not closing, an American official said.

In a statement, American said the issue did not jeopardize the safety of flights and that it is working with the supplier that handled the cabin retrofits and the Federal Aviation Administration to immediately address the issue.

American had hired a long-time supplier, ATS, to update the main cabins of some of its 737-800s with 12 additional seats, said Gary Schaible, president of Transport Workers Union Local 591, which represents 4,800 American mechanics.

After write-ups from pilots saying that overhead bins on some 737-800s were not closing after the updating, the planes were taken to American's maintenance base in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where mechanics discovered additional issues, Schaible said.

The American official confirmed the problem of bins not closing.

"After further inspection by American, the work that was conducted on these two aircraft was not up to our standards. Out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively removed from service the additional 12 aircraft that were updated by this vendor and have notified the FAA," American said.

American, the world's largest air carrier, has rebooked all customers on 40 canceled flights so far as a result of the groundings.

The airline has completed around 70 retrofits of the 737-800s, the American official said, but only around 15 were done by ATS, with the remainder handled in-house and by a separate supplier.

The company has not had an issue with any of the other updated planes, the official said.

The outsourcing of maintenance work, to U.S.-based suppliers like ATS or in-house American employees abroad, is at the core of ongoing contract talks between American and its mechanics unions.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; editing by Steve Orlofsky and Susan Thomas)
American Water Works Company AWK announced that its unit, Pennsylvania American Water, has entered into an agreement to acquire the wastewater assets of the Sadsbury Township in Chester County, for nearly $8.6 million. This acquisition will add nearly 1,000 wastewater customers to its existing customer base. Most of these customers receive water services from Pennsylvania American Water.



Pennsylvania American Water, through its existing distribution network, serves nearly 2.4 million people in Pennsylvania. The said acquisition will expand the existing customer base and allow the company to render quality services to new customers at a reasonable cost.



Consolidation & Investment is Essential



Since the existing water and wastewater infrastructure in the United States is aging, proper maintenance and upgradation of the system will require investment of billions of dollars, which becomes difficult for small water utilities to make arrangement for. Per an American Water Works Association (AWWA) report, the cost of restoring aging underground water pipelines in the United States will be at least $1 trillion in the next 25 years.



Therefore, through the acquisition of small utilities, it becomes easier for large companies to make arrangement for funds to carry out these major overhauls. American Water, which is one of the most active players in the water space, continues to widen its market reach through acquisitions. In 2018, the company added 25,000 new customers in the regulated business through organic growth and acquisitions. It already completed a few acquisitions in 2019 and the pending ones, on completion, are expected to add nearly 61,000 customers to its customer base during the year.



We can also notice that other active water utilities like Global Water Resources, Inc. GWRS and Aqua America WTR have been pursuing acquisitions.



Large water utilities continue to invest in upgrading as well as maintaining their existing water and wastewater infrastructure. The water utilities have been undertaking initiatives to upgrade the systems of the newly-acquired assets and quality of services.



The company aims to invest within $8-$8.6 billion from 2019 through 2023, which will help improve earnings by 7-10% per year in the aforesaid period from a 2017 base. A major chunk of $7.3 billion will be directed to strengthen regulated businesses. Another water utility, Aqua America aims to make capital investment in excess of $1.4 billion over the 2019-2021 time period.



Price Performance



Shares of American Water have outperformed the industry in a years time.

Story continues





Zacks Rank & Another Key Pick



Currently, American Water has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Another top-ranked stock from the same industry is AquaVenture Holdings Ltd. WAAS, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 loss of the company has narrowed 2.9% in the past 60 days. The earnings and revenue estimates reflect year-over-year growth of 26.7% and 16%, respectively.



Is Your Investment Advisor Fumbling Your Financial Future?



See how you can more effectively safeguard your retirement with a new Special Report, 4 Warning Signs Your Investment Advisor Might Be Sabotaging Your Financial Future.



Click to get it free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Aqua America, Inc. (WTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report



AquaVenture Holdings Ltd. (WAAS) : Free Stock Analysis Report



American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Global Water Resources, Inc. (GWRS) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Water Intelligence plc (LON:WATR) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 14% in the last month. But that doesnt change the fact that the returns over the last half decade have been spectacular. In that time, the share price has soared some 533% higher! Arguably, the recent fall is to be expected after such a strong rise. Only time will tell if there is still too much optimism currently reflected in the share price.

We love happy stories like this one. The company should be really proud of that performance!

Check out our latest analysis for Water Intelligence

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

During five years of share price growth, Water Intelligence achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 25% per year. This EPS growth is slower than the share price growth of 45% per year, over the same period. So its fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. Thats not necessarily surprising considering the five-year track record of earnings growth.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

AIM:WATR Past and Future Earnings, March 7th 2019

We know that Water Intelligence has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? If youre interested, you could check this free report showing consensus revenue forecasts.

A Different Perspective

Its good to see that Water Intelligence has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 54% in the last twelve months. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 45% per year), it would seem that the stocks performance has improved in recent times. In the best case scenario, this may hint at some real business momentum, implying that now could be a great time to delve deeper. Before forming an opinion on Water Intelligence you might want to consider these 3 valuation metrics.

Story continues

Of course Water Intelligence may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on GB exchanges.

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.
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Wednesday it was "shameful" that Democrats have not taken a tougher stance on anti-Semitism, following controversial remarks about Israel by one of the first Muslim women in Congress.

With a single tweet the president weighed into a debate that has caused the latest awkward rift in the Democratic Party, as young progressives clash with the establishment old guard.

"It is shameful that House Democrats won't take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference," Trump said.

"Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it's inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!"

The criticism comes as Democrats grapple with how to reprimand one of their own, first-term Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, for her repeated criticisms of Israel and a powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington that prides itself on its influence in US politics.

Omar, a former Somali refugee, was assailed by Democrats and Republicans alike for suggesting last Friday that supporters of the Jewish state are urging lawmakers to have "allegiance to a foreign country."

Several lawmakers expressed outrage, warning that Omar was peddling in age-old anti-Semitic tropes about Jews having dual allegiances.

The Democratic-led US House had been expected to vote as early as Wednesday on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism.

But on Wednesday in a closed-door meeting of Democrats, the debate appeared to morph into a discussion over broader efforts to address hateful rhetoric, with some lawmakers pushing to include resolution language that decries anti-Muslim bias.

Some Democrats also have expressed anger that Omar could be facing an implicit rebuke while racist statements by Trump and other Republicans go largely unchallenged.

Number two House Democrat Steny Hoyer said the language of the resolution was still being worked out, and that a vote date had yet to be set.

Story continues

Hoyer also offered a defense of sorts of Omar, saying he did not believe she is anti-Semitic.

A small group of activists gathered outside the Capitol Wednesday in support of Omar, including Council on American-Islamic Relations head Nihad Awad who warned that House leaders were seeking to "intimidate" the embattled congresswoman.

"The fact that the Democratic leadership was forced to change the resolution" showed it was "unbalanced and it ignored Islamophobia and the suffering of Muslims here and abroad," Awad said.
The House passed a broad resolution condemning hate after backlash from a number of factions across the Democratic Party forced changes to a bill that originally focused on anti-Semitism.

The resolution was initially pushed by the Anti-Defamation League and some Jewish members of Congress who were upset with comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., at a progressive town hall last week. Omar, who had already apologized for remarks saying the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC deployed the benjamins to influence policy, told her audience she wanted to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.

A vote was initially planned for Wednesday on a draft resolution that did not mention Omar by name but condemned anti-Semitism. But the vote was delayed after pushback from members, including the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus, who wanted the resolution to condemn all forms of bigotry.

They got their wish, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday morning that resolution would condemn anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and white supremacy while not naming Omar specifically.

The revised resolution is longer than the draft that was circulated earlier this week and includes a long list of anti-Muslim hate crimes and additional acts of white supremacy. The resolution passed early Thursday evening, with all Democrats voting yes and 23 Republicans voting no over complaints that the bill was too broad. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, voted present.

Pelosi appears eager to put the issue behind her and proceed to consideration of HR-1, the omnibus House bill that addresses voting rights, campaign finance and government reform.

"I thought the resolution should enlarge the issue to anti-Semitism, anti-Islamophobia, anti-white supremacy, and that it should not mention her name, and that's what we're working on, said Pelosi. Something that is one resolution addressing these forms of hatred not mentioning her name because it's not about her, it's about these forms of hatred."

Story continues

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., sits with the House Education and Labor Committee during a bill markup on Capitol Hill on March 6. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Liz Cheney, the third ranking Republican in the House, denounced the measure.

Todays resolution vote was a sham put forward by Democrats to avoid condemning one of their own and denouncing vile anti-Semitism, Cheney said in a statement following her no vote.

Omar, a Muslim and a Somali refugee who wears Islamic dress in public, has been a target of racist attacks since winning election in November, as her supporters have noted. Last Friday, the congresswomans picture appeared on a sign linking her to terrorism, posted at a meeting of Republicans in the West Virginia statehouse. Shes been defended by her fellow freshmen, notably women of color including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.

We need to have an equity in our outrage, Pressley, who is a member of both the Black Caucus and Progressive Caucus, said Wednesday. Islamophobia needs to be included in this. We need to denounce all forms of hate. There is not hierarchy of hurt.

[Rep. Omars] strength inspires me and so many, wrote Tlaib, the other Muslim woman in Congress, on Twitter Sunday. She is being targeted just like many civil rights icons before us who spoke out about oppressive policies. As she uplifts my Sity [referring to her grandmother] and other Palestinians in the name of justice and peace, she shows us real courage.

More senior members of the Democratic caucus also defended Omar, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who is co-chair of the Progressive Caucus.

I do think we have pushed very hard for this resolution to also include anything around Islamophobia. This is a member of Congress who is being subjected to deeply unfair, in my part, scrutiny around everything she says, at a different level than others, said Jayapal in an interview Wednesday, adding, And so, we have been pushing, and weve been successful, I think, and Im grateful to Speaker Pelosi for recognizing that we need to take all of this on.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., speaks on Jan. 30 about a reintroduction of a resolution to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

What would be the appropriate level of punishment  a public flogging? asked Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., after a heated meeting of the Democratic caucus Wednesday afternoon where the resolution was discussed. We are all responsible for what we say, and there are consequences, whether it is this resolution or something else. But there is a double standard we have to be aware of. The level of condemnation on Ms. Omar has been really intense.

Late Wednesday afternoon, a number of Democratic presidential hopefuls in the Senate spoke out in support of Omar while condemning bigotry.

Anti-Semitism is a hateful and dangerous ideology which must be vigorously opposed in the United States and around the world, said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is Jewish, in a statement. We must not, however, equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel. Rather, we must develop an even-handed Middle East policy which brings Israelis and Palestinians together for a lasting peace. What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate. Thats wrong.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said she was concerned focusing on Omar could put her in danger but added that you can both support Israel and be loyal to our country. I also believe there is a difference between criticism of policy or political leaders, and anti-Semitism. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said, Branding criticism of Israel as automatically anti-Semitic has a chilling effect on our public discourse and makes it harder to achieve a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Threats of violence  like those made against Rep. Omar  are never acceptable.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 6. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Omar also received grassroots support, including from IfNotNow, an organization of young, progressive Jewish Americans who support ending Israels occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

This is a victory, said IfNotNow in a statement following the delay of the vote. Grassroots pressure from Jews, Muslims and our allies challenged the outrageous double standard being applied to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Leadership to delay the vote on their outrageous anti-Semitism resolution.

In February, Omar apologized for her comments about how the pro-Israel lobby uses money to advance its issues.

Anti-Semitism is real, and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes, said Omar, adding, I unequivocally apologize.

But she did not retract or apologize for her statement implying that supporters of Israel had allegiance to a foreign country.

Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman! wrote Omar in response to Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y. I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee. The people of the 5th elected me to serve their interest. I am sure we agree on that! I have not mischaracterized our relationship with Israel, I have questioned it and that has been clear from my end. I am told every day that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks.

President Trump during a meeting with former U.S. hostage in Yemen Danny Burch on March 6 in the Oval Office. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

I do not believe that she understood the full weight of the words, said Pelosi when asked about Omars refusal to apologize, adding, I feel confident that her words were not anti-Semitic but that she didnt have a full appreciation of how the words landed on other people where these words have a history and a cultural impact that may have been unknown to her.

Omars backers note she did not mention Jews specifically. Historically, Jews, who until 1948 were a religious minority in every country where they lived, have been suspected of disloyalty, and the victims of persecution as a result. Jewish Americans have traditionally been strong supporters of Israel, although today evangelical Christians are much more vocal in their backing. Many progressive Jewish groups have denounced the treatment of Palestinians by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Republicans have attempted to use the resolution as a wedge issue, as President Trump has repeatedly called for Omar to be stripped of her position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and to resign completely from Congress. It is shameful that House Democrats wont take a stronger stand against anti-Semitism in their conference, said Trump, whose anti-refugee rhetoric was seen as partial inspiration for a gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue last October. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history, and its inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!

It is unclear if Omar will face any further reprimand for her comments. Rep. Elliot Engel, D-N.Y., was one of the members pushing for the resolution, but he said Tuesday he would not remove the freshman congresswoman from her position on the Foreign Affairs Committee, which he chairs.

Members of Jews United Against Zionism gather outside the office of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., to show solidarity and support. (Photo: Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. High 78F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Slight chance of a shower late. Low near 55F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Ford Motor Company F has considered closing two plants in Russia in the past week. This auto giant is planning to take this move as it is making losses in all regions, except for North America. Further, the company is mulling over closing vehicle lines in South America, opting for production cuts in Europe and laying off workers in China.



Two other auto giants, Daimler AG DDAIF and BMW AG BAMXF, are set to collaborate for self-driving technology. In fact, auto companies from all over the world are investing huge amounts in this emerging but potentially revolutionary technology. Different partnerships and initiatives have already been adopted by automakers to stay ahead in the industry.



Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories



1. Daimler and BMW are likely to partner for the development of self-driving technology, per the Wall Street Journal. Heightened competition in the self-driving technology front brought these rival auto giants together. The aim of this partnership is to make autonomous driving technologies mainstream by the middle of the next decade.



So far, Daimlers efforts on the self-driving front have been limited to internal developments. The company already plans to launch a fleet of driverless vehicles in San Jose, CA, in 2019. This collaboration with BMW is likely to expand its development in self-driving technology. Then again, BMW has been working on automated technology since 2006 by collaborating with various vehicle manufacturers and technology companies. This latest collaboration with Daimler is likely to provide tremendous momentum to BMWs self-driving efforts.



Importantly, auto companies are investing huge amounts on this emerging but potentially revolutionary technology. Different partnerships and initiatives have already been adopted to stay ahead in the industry. Given these, this partnership is of huge importance compared with stand-alone efforts. (Read more: Daimler & BMW to Collaborate for Self-driving Technology)



Both Daimler and BMW currently carry a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).



2. Dana Incorporated DAN completed the acquisition of Oerlikon Groups Drive Systems segment, which consists of Graziano and Fairfield brands. The acquisition agreement was signed in July 2018 for CHF 600 million (approximately $600 million).



The newly added Drive Systems unit will widen Danas product offering, with high-precision helical gears for light and commercial vehicles. Further, Drive Systems wholly-owned business, VOCIS will enhance Danas electronic controls ability for transmissions and drivelines, thus, backing the companys electrification capabilities in key markets.



Additionally, the segments wide manufacturing presence will aid Dana to get closer to key customers in growth markets, consisting China, India and the United States. Wide product portfolio and strong manufacturing presence in growing markets will aid Dana in the long term. (Read more: Dana Expands Portfolio With Acquisition of Oerlikon's Segment)



Dana currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



3. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. ALSN is making an investment to build a vehicle testing facility in Indianapolis, IN. The new facility will be sited within the campus of the companys global headquarters on the westside of Indianapolis.



This new vehicle environmental testing center will allow Allison to test replicating vehicle environments and duty cycles. Testing will also aid the company to offer products for highly specialized vehicles that can perform under severe weather conditions. Further, the testing center can be utilized by third parties in times when not being used by Allison.



The planning for construction of the testing facility has already started and is scheduled to be completed in 2020. It will consist of two environmental chambers, which will simulate extreme temperature, altitude and on-road conditions.

The simulation will help in assessing on-board diagnostic development, regulatory compliance and performance improvements for vehicle functional optimization. (Read more: Allison Invests in Vehicle Test Center in Indianapolis)



Allison currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.



4. Ford is mulling over shutting down two plants in Russia, per Reuters. This move is in sync with the companys strategy of restructuring operations in regions, where it is not generating profits.



In fourth-quarter 2018, Ford incurred losses in all regions outside North America. This prompted this Dearborn, MI-based company to close vehicle lines in South America, opt for production cuts in Europe and lay off workers in China.



Per sources, in Russia, the company is likely to close one plant in the central region of Tatarstan and one in the northern Leningrad area. EcoSport and Fiesta models produced in the Tatarstan plant, and Focus and Mondeo passenger car models manufactured in Leningrad will no longer be produced in Russia.



In 2018, Ford sold 53,234 vehicles in Russia. Though vehicles sold by the company in Russia in 2018 increased 5.7% from that of 2017, it was well below the overall vehicle sales growth of 12.8% in Russia. Moreover, Fords share in vehicles sale in Russia in 2018 declined to 3% from 3.8% in 2013.



Heavy loss incurred by Ford in Russia might have prompted it to consider this downsizing. (Read more: Ford to Close Two Plants in Russia as Losses Increase)



Ford currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.



5. Tenneco Inc. TEN is providing suspension components for the new Jaguar I-PACE all-electric luxury crossover SUV. Tennecos passive front and rear dampers along with coil and air spring suspension modules will enhance the new Jaguar models performance and stability.



For efficient functioning of electric powertrains, e-vehicles should have a reduced amount of overall weight compared with combustion engine vehicles. Tennecos suspension module consists of plastic spring seats, aluminum top mount and light-weight components that will cut the weight of electric motors and battery, thus, improving performance.



Tenneco is supplying suspension components and modules from production hubs situated at Sint-Truiden, Belgium, Hodkovice, the Czech Republic and Birmingham, U.K. Each facility manufactures a specific component for customers. The plant at Belgium is providing front passive dampers while the Czech Republic manufactures rear passive dampers and rear modules, and front air & coil module assembly at the U.K. facility.



This is not the first time when Tenneco is supplying auto components for Jaguars vehicles. In October 2018, the company provided suspension technology for Jaguar E-PACE compact SUVs. Apart from Jaguar, Tenneco is also a regular component supplier for Ford Motor Company, BMW AG, AB Volvo and Daimler AG.



Tenneco currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.



Performance



In the last week, AutoZone, Inc. AZO gained the maximum while Tesla, Inc. TSLA declined the most.



In the past six months, AutoZone has rallied the most. Harley-Davidson, Inc. HOG declined the maximum.



Story continues

Company Last Week Last 6 Months GM -2.3% 14.1% F -3.3% -8.6% TSLA -12.2% -3.2% TM -3.5% -1% HMC -2.8% -3.3% HOG 2.2% -14.4% AAP -0.2% -5.4% AZO 2.6% 22.3%

Whats Next in the Auto Space?



Watch out for the usual news releases over the next week.



Is Your Investment Advisor Fumbling Your Financial Future?



See how you can more effectively safeguard your retirement with a new Special Report, 4 Warning Signs Your Investment Advisor Might Be Sabotaging Your Financial Future.



Click to get it free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Ford Motor Company (F) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BAMXF) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Daimler AG (DDAIF) : Free Stock Analysis Report



AutoZone, Inc. (AZO) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (ALSN) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Tenneco Inc. (TEN) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Dana Incorporated (DAN) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Frances National Assembly Finance Head has announced that the country wants to ban anonymous cryptocurrencies. The news comes off the back of Emmanuel Macron stating that blockchain could help traceability in agriculture. Whether blockchain or DLT is necessary for this is still up for debate. The usual tropes were wheeled out about cryptocurrencies including money laundering and tax evasion  the go-to issues for any government criticism of cryptocurrencies. But banning anonymous cryptocurrencies wont necessarily kill them.

The price of such cryptocurrencies would be reduced and their volume would drop. They could be removed from trading on exchanges as well. However, unless technology is created whereby these anonymous cryptocurrencies can be tracked, then there is nothing to stop a black market rising and people moving to OTC trading.

Therefore, the current method of exchanges allowing for the trading of such privacy coins actually reduces their anonymity through KYC procedures. Remove this, and tracing privacy coins becomes even more difficult.

There is little shock that the French government would like to try and remove the anonymity surrounding cryptocurrencies. Coin Rivet recently reported on the reduction of cash in society. One key aspect of the reduction of cash for governments is that as payments move to a more electronic system, they become easier to track. Not only is this ideal for keeping a close eye on citizens, it also allows big businesses to trace our spending habits. The retaliation of privacy coins reduces this. The payments remain electronic, but they are not traceable. There are many fans and builders of Bitcoin who hope to add more privacy features on top. This is for fear of the traceability of the Bitcoin blockchain.

The value of privacy coins does not lie in their fiat equivalent. The value lies in being able to send transactions anywhere anonymously. Even if their fiat value were to drop, there could still be enough demand for such cryptocurrencies. In effect, governments could shoot themselves in the foot if they follow through with banning anonymous cryptocurrencies.

The post Banning anonymous cryptocurrencies is impractical appeared first on Coin Rivet.
Lyon (AFP) - Philippe Barbarin, the French cardinal convicted on Thursday for failing to report the sexual abuse of minors by a priest in his diocese, is a conservative cleric who has made headlines for his blunt and controversial comments.

The 68-year-old archbishop of Lyon is one of the best-known figures in France's Catholic Church -- and its most senior figure to be caught up in a paedophile scandal.

Before his conviction, he was accused of ignoring the suffering of victims -- until they went public with their stories, plunging the Catholic Church into a deep crisis.

"It's true that I was slow to wake up," he admitted to Le Parisien newspaper in December 2016.

Earlier that year, he was criticised for being insensitive to victims at a press conference when discussing allegations he covered up for a paedophile priest.

"The majority of the acts come under the statute of limitations, thank God," he said at the time.

Barbarin, who has always denied shielding the priest, called the remark a "language error".

- 'Cool Christianity has no future' -

A cerebral figure who has written several books, including one entitled "Dieu est-il perime?" -- or "Has God reached his sell-by date?" -- he has taken an unbending stance on Church orthodoxy.

"It's not my problem if there are few Christians left in France. My problem is that we Christians are not Christian enough," he said on taking up his post in 2002.

"I know that some might find it shocking but I'll say it again: cool Christianity has no future."

In 2012 and 2013, he fiercely opposed a same-sex marriage bill that brought hundreds of thousands of conservative Catholics onto the streets of France.

"Next, they'll want three- or four-way couples and after that, maybe someday, I don't know, the ban on incest will be scrapped," he argued on TLM channel -- remarks which again drew criticism.

Story continues

- 'Happiest' in Paris suburbs -

Born into a well-heeled family of 11 children in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, Barbarin was ordained as a priest in 1977.

His first parish was the working-class Paris suburb of Creteil, where he spent nearly 17 years.

In a 2012 interview with Paris Match magazine, he described that time as "the happiest" of his priesthood.

In 1994, he made the leap to the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, a former French colony where he taught at a seminary for four years and was affected by the grinding poverty he witnessed.

On his return to France, he was named bishop of the central diocese of Moulins before becoming archbishop of Lyon in 2002. A year later, he was made a cardinal.

In their book on the Catholic Church in Lyon, authors Jean Comby and Bernard Berthod described him as "a bishop of the John Paul II generation" who had embraced modern communication -- Barbarin tweets regularly -- while remaining unyielding on sexual morality.

He was seen as close to Pope Francis, whom he will see in the next few days to submit his resignation.

Barbarin has repeatedly spoken out about the threats facing Christians in the Middle East, the birthplace of Christianity, where many have fled persecution by Islamic State fundamentalists, particularly in Syria and Iraq.

In 2014, he announced that Lyon was twinned with the city of Mosul in Iraqi Kurdistan -- a sanctuary for Christians and other minorities who fled the Islamic State further south.
Algiers (AFP) - Ailing Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Thursday warned of the risk of "chaos", on the eve of a major planned protest against his bid for a fifth term in office.

Bouteflika, 82, uses a wheelchair and has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, and his bid to secure another term at the April 18 election has sparked waves of protests.

Despite a ban dating back to 2001, demonstrations have been staged almost daily in Algiers since a massive rally two weeks ago, and organisers have taken to social media to call for another one on Friday.

Bouteflika has been in Switzerland since February 24 for what the presidency has described as "routine medical tests", and a date for his return home has not yet been announced.

In a message released on Thursday by the official APS news agency, Bouteflika warned trouble-makers may try to infiltrate the demonstrations to provoke turmoil.

"Many of our fellow citizens" have demonstrated across the North African country "to peacefully express their views", he said.

"However, we must call for vigilance and caution in case this peaceful expression is infiltrated by some insidious party... which could cause chaos."

He made no mention of demonstrators' demands he back down from his bid to seek re-election.

But echoing other senior Algerian officials, he warned of a return to the "national tragedy" of Algeria's decade-long civil war and of the "crises and tragedies caused by terrorism" in neighbouring countries.

Algeria has largely avoided the conflicts unleashed by the Arab Spring uprisings that brought down rulers in neighbouring Tunisia and Libya.

But discontent, particularly among the country's youth, turned to anger on February 10 after the veteran leader announced another bid for power.

- Candidacy 'inadmissible' -

His statement on Thursday came as around 1,000 lawyers took to the streets of the Algerian capital, saying his ill health should disqualify him from the race.

Story continues

They breached police cordons to march on the Constitutional Council, the body responsible for approving the candidacy of the 21 people registered to contest the poll.

As they demonstrated through the capital, the lawyers were applauded by passers-by, according to footage uploaded on social media.

"We are asking the Constitutional Council to assume its responsibilities," protester Ahmed Dahim, a member of the Bar Association of Algiers, told AFP as colleagues chanted "No to the fifth mandate".

"This candidacy is inadmissible," he said, adding Bouteflika's re-election bid should be rejected because there was no way he could have obtained the required medical certificate.

The Constitutional Council must decide on the candidates by March 14.

Algeria's medical association said on Wednesday that health certificates submitted by presidential hopefuls must respect "medical ethics" and be drafted by doctors who are members of the association.

On Thursday, Bouteflika's campaign manager Abdelghani Zaalane said the president's health raised "no worries".

The medical examinations Bouteflika has been undergoing in Switzerland were nearly completed, he said.

- Journalists protest -

The premier has seen support slip in important quarters, including three powerful organisations for veterans of Algeria's independence war, which backed him in previous polls.

On Thursday, the National Organisation for the Children of Martyrs (ONEC) released a statement supporting "the popular movement against the fifth term" -- although an ONEC official told AFP the statement did not represent the organisation as a whole.

In power for two decades, Bouteflika has promised if he wins the election he will organise a "national conference" to set a date for further polls which he would not contest.

But his pledge has failed to end the demonstrations against him, which have continued daily since February 10, drawing Algerians from all walks of life.

Dozens of journalists from private and public media outlets also gathered on Thursday for the second week in a row at Press Freedom Square.

They have been protesting over "pressures" being exerted over their coverage of the demonstrations against Bouteflika's re-election.

On Thursday they sought to show solidarity with the Arabic newspapers Echorouk and El-Bilad.

Journalists from the two dailies say the publications have been deprived for days of advertising by public institutions in retaliation their coverage of the protests.

The police, who arrested a dozen journalists at last week's protest, did not intervene at Thursday's demonstration.
If Brexit hadnt happened, another country would have left the EU by now, Brexit commentator Charles Grant has said (Picture: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg)

If Brexit hadnt happened, another country would have left Europe by now anyway, a leading commentator has said.

Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said while some in Europe have dismissed Britain as the pebble in the shoe, there are plenty of other pebbles who could take the same course.

Mr Grant was speaking at the Belvedere Forum in Warsaw  a two-day event discussing bilateral relations between Poland and Britain after the UK leaves the European Union.

Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European reform, made the comments at the Belvedere Forum in Warsaw (Picture: Alan Weller/Bloomberg News)

He told the audience: Theres a silly view in Brussels that you hear in the commission which is the British are the pebble in the shoe.

I have heard a very senior commissioner say, we have got the pebble out of the shoe with the British leaving. Thank god, we can get back to the good old days of Europe and integration with the pebble removed.

That is of course stupid because there are plenty of other pebbles ready to take Britains place when the British are out of the shoe.

READ MORE

Amber Rudd refers to Diane Abbott as a coloured woman

The science behind societys love of vengeful gods

Korea is planning to use artifical rain because pollutions so bad

He went on: There is a movement all across the developed world of hostility to elites, to free trade, to free movement, to threats to cultural identity, to perception of growing inequality. and these are the drivers that have driven Trump, have driven the Gilets Jaune, have driven Brexit and have driven many other movements in many other parts of Europe.

So I think its a much bigger phenomenon and if Brexit hadnt happened in Britain it would have happened in another country.

During the same panel event, Mr Grant gave his own predictions on the likelihood of various Brexit outcomes  with a no-deal Brexit as the least likely.

He said: The chances of Mrs Mays deal passing, I would say 25%/20%. The chances of a soft Brexit putting Britain in the Customs Union  25%.

The chances of no deal, I think only 10%  I think Parliament will stop that.

The chance of a General Election  20%, the chances of a referendum on reviewing the decision  20%.
London (AFP) - Britain said Thursday it will grant "diplomatic protection" to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a UK-Iranian dual citizen jailed in Tehran since 2016, citing a lack of due process and access to medical treatment.

"I have today decided that the UK will take a step that is extremely unusual and exercise diplomatic protection," Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement.

"This represents formal recognition by the British government that her treatment fails to meet Iran's obligations under international law and elevates it to a formal state to state issue."

Diplomatic protection is a rarely-used mechanism allowing nations to seek protection on behalf of its citizens on the grounds that they have been wronged by another state, according to Britain's foreign office.

Hunt said he had "not taken this decision lightly" but considered the "unacceptable treatment" Zaghari-Ratcliffe had experienced during her three years in detention.

"We have not even been able to secure her the medical treatment she urgently needs despite assurances to the contrary," he added.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has suffered from health issues, including undergoing tests for breast cancer and a series of panic attacks, while her emotional state has worsened during her confinement.

A project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the media group's philanthropic arm, she was arrested in April 2016 as she was leaving Iran after taking her infant daughter to visit her family.

She was sentenced to five years in prison in September 2016 for alleged sedition.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the British government have consistently denied the charges against her.

Hunt said his decision Thursday was "an important diplomatic step" signalling to Tehran that "its behaviour is totally wrong".

However he conceded that it was "unlikely to be a magic wand that leads to an overnight result" and repeated calls for her release.

Story continues

"I know there are many in Iran who understand the unjustness of this situation.

"No government should use innocent individuals as pawns for diplomatic leverage so I call on Iran to release this innocent woman so she can be reunited with her family," he said.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband Richard has been lobbying Hunt and the previous foreign secretary Boris Johnson for diplomatic protection for his wife since 2017.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  After successive years of devastating wildfires, California's fire agency announced a plan Tuesday that would dramatically increase the removal of dead trees and other forest management efforts with the help of the National Guard.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection released a list of 35 priority fuel-reduction projects it wants to start immediately across the state over roughly 90,000 acres. That's double the acreage the agency aimed to cover in the current fiscal year, CalFire Deputy Chief Scott McLean said.

The agency is also seeking National Guard assistance to coordinate the work. McLean said it was the first time he could recall turning to the National Guard for help with clearing trees and vegetation.

"It just goes to show you how committed everybody is," he said.

The deadliest U.S. fire in a century destroyed much of Paradise  a city of 27,000 people in Northern California  in November 2018 and killed 86 people. California also experienced devastating wildfires in 2017, including a blaze that killed 22 people and destroyed more than 5,500 structures around the wine country city of Santa Rosa.

Republican President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized California's Democratic officials for not doing a good enough job managing its forests and has threatened to cut off California's federal disaster funding.

The 35 projects are based on input from local Calfire units and would reduce wildfire risk to more than 200 communities, according to Calfire. They include removing dead trees, clearing vegetation, and creating fuel breaks, defensible spaces and ingress and egress corridors.

The projects prioritize communities at high risk from wildfires but also with significant numbers of vulnerable groups such as the elderly or poor. They include work around the city of Redding, which was also devastated by wildfire last year, and in Butte County, where Paradise is located.

Story continues

An estimated 15 million acres of forest land in California are in need of thinning or other restoration work, so the 35 projects are just a start, Calfire officials said. The agency wants to establish incident bases with the National Guard close to vulnerable communities to coordinate fuel-reduction projects.

Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California, said many of the recent fires were driven by high winds, so clearing trees and vegetation in forests is not the solution. Calfire should focus more on clearing brush immediately around homes and ensuring their roofs and attics are safe from flying embers, she said.

"We need to make sure we're doing the things that we know will protect homes," she said.

Calfire is also calling on officials to identify options for retrofitting homes as part of its recommendations released Tuesday.
Geneva (AFP) - Europe's physics lab CERN on Thursday cut ties with a scientist over a lecture that suggested physics was "built by men" and accused women of demanding jobs without proper qualifications.

Professor Alessandro Strumia from the University of Pisa, who had been a guest professor at CERN, made the comments during a workshop in September on high-energy theory and gender.

CERN had initially suspended Strumia but said Thursday that it had decided to permanently end the partnership.

"As a result of its own investigation... CERN decided not to extend Professor Strumia's status of Guest Professor," the lab said in a statement.

CERN also noted a public reprimand issued against Strumia by the University of Pisa in January.

Strumia's presentation -- which included various slides, charts and graphs -- appeared to claim that men face discrimination in the field of physics.

One pictorial series suggested that women line up to take gender studies and then later protest over a lack of jobs in stem fields, an umbrella term that covers areas like chemistry and engineering.

"Physics invented and built by men, it's not by invitation," one slide said.

CERN, the French acronym for the European Centre for Nuclear Research, is for the first time being led by a female director general: Fabiola Gianotti, an Italian expert in experimental particle physics, took charge in 2016.

The lab has launched a number of initiatives to boost female participation in the sciences, but has conceded that it is far from having achieved gender parity among its staff.
Washington (AFP) - Like humans, chimpanzees are culturally diverse but those differences are being eroded by human incursion, international researchers say in a groundbreaking study published Thursday.

The striking results, published in the American journal "Science," show that the behavioral diversity of chimpanzees was reduced by an average 88 percent in areas with the highest human impact, compared to remote pristine forests.

In the tropical rainforests and savanna woodlands that are the chimpanzees' natural habitat, the researchers observed 31 behaviors that were not universal or innate among chimpanzees and varied from one group to another, in a total of 144 chimpanzee communities studied in 17 Equatorial African countries where the animals live.

Reflecting the diversity, not all communities of chimpanzees use the same tools to hunt or dig. Neither do they extract termites and ants in the same way. Ditto for honey and nuts. Their use of stones, ponds and caves also varies.

Researchers assume this diversity is passed between individuals within the group.

They based their findings on existing studies supplemented with their own field observations of 46 communities over the past nine years.

Such data had never before been compiled on chimpanzee behavior, the researchers said. Until now, scientists have focused on the loss of genetic diversity, or human-caused population decline.

Their findings mean that the more humans disturbed the environment with roads, infrastructure, deforestation, agriculture, plantations and so on, the less chimpanzee behavior was diverse.

For instance, researchers have observed areas where nut cracking had ceased.

"These are very noisy behaviors, and hunters could locate you easily," Hjalmar Kuehl, an ecologist at the German iDiv research center and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, told AFP as a hypothesis of why the behavior may have been lost.

Another example of noisy and potentially vulnerable behavior: "accumulative stone throwing" by chimpanzees in Guinea-Bissau, a form of communication where chest-pumping apes throw rocks at trees.

Story continues

Fishing for algae with sticks, seen in Guinea, is also threatened by encroaching humans.

"Our findings suggest that strategies for the conservation of biodiversity should be extended to include the protection of animal behavioral diversity as well," said Kuehl.

He proposes to create "Chimpanzee cultural heritage sites," a concept that can be extended to other species with high degrees of cultural variability, including orangutans or whales.
A leak of around 364 million online records in a Chinese database, including private messages and ID numbers, has again highlighted the size and scope of Beijing's mass surveillance system.

The files show a wealth of information linked to online accounts, including GPS locations, file transfers, and chat logs, according to the database discovered by Victor Gevers, a security researcher at Dutch non-profit GDI Foundation.

The data collection appears indiscriminate -- some conversations are simply banter between teenagers, like one commenting on someone's weight and clothing size.

"They know exactly who, when, where and what," Gevers told AFP, explaining that thousands of records were piped daily to different databases for local law enforcement to review.

Government procurement documents and database records shared by Gevers show that the database is linked to an "internet cafe management system" developed by HeadBond.com, a tech firm based in eastern Shandong province.

In 2017, the public security bureau in Yancheng city, eastern Jiangsu province -- where at least one internet cafe named in the database is based -- contracted HeadBond for a system that monitors online activity at internet cafes.

On its website, the company calls its internet cafe management system "the best solution" for identifying online users for police on its website.

HeadBond declined to comment, and the Yancheng city government and public security bureau did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

- Internet cafe dragnet -

Over the past decade, the Chinese government has cracked down on internet cafes -- especially underground venues that serve minors -- over concerns of game addiction and crime.

Chinese law requires internet cafes to record the identities and "relevant" online activity of users, and provide them to the public security bureau on request -- which has resulted in an entire market of internet cafe monitoring systems like those offered by HeadBond.

Story continues

"This also explains why data leaks that involve personal information are more prevalent in China," said Lokman Tsui, an expert on internet policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

"Beijing requires most network services to register their users with real names," he told AFP.

"This means that every single mobile phone operator, internet cafe, social media website, and so on, are legally required to have databases filled with personal information, and all these databases are potentially vulnerable to attacks and leaks."

The capture of extensive user data, such as chat logs, also extends well beyond the stated purpose of catching minors surfing the web or playing games.

A government procurement notice posted last month by Liaoyuan city in northeastern Jilin province, for instance, outlines specifications for another "internet cafe management system" for local police, with explicit requirements for features that support querying and analysis of content on QQ, a popular messaging app in China.

"It's shocking the amount of personal data that is being collected on Chinese people," said Bob Diachenko, a security researcher who has reported on exposed databases in the US and Europe for the past few years, and is now looking at cases in China.

In particular, it is surprising to see the amount of additional data that is linked with a user's login data, Diachenko told AFP, such as their IP address, name, and even information about their family members.

"Sometimes it's just big data and it doesn't even make sense to collect that from a user perspective," he said.

- GPS tracker -

Last month, Gevers had found another publicly accessible database containing personal information such as ethnicity and GPS tracking data of 2.6 million people in Xinjiang. Access to the database has since been closed.

The restive northwestern region is home to most of China's Uighur ethnic minority, which has been under heavy police surveillance in recent years after violent inter-ethnic tensions.

"I would argue that good personal data protection is neither in the interest of the companies who gather the data for profit, nor the government who can (ab)use that data for power and surveillance," Tsui wrote in an email.

"It is the people in China and their basic human rights, in this case privacy, who end up drawing the short stick."
Logo of jester cap with thought bubble.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

China Distance Education Holdings Limited (NYSE: DL)

Q1 2019 Earnings Conference Call

March 07, 2019, 8:00 a.m. ET

Contents:

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good evening, and thank you for joining us for the China Distance Education Holdings Limited First Quarter Fiscal Year 2019 Earnings Conference Call. On today's call are Mr. Zhengdong Zhu, Chairman and CEO; and Mr. Mark Marostica, Co-CFO. During management's prepared remarks, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Following management's prepared remarks, we will open the call for questions.

Before we start, we remind listeners that this conference call contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The outlook for the second quarter and full fiscal year 2019, oral statements from management on this call, as well as the company's strategic and operational plans, in particular, the anticipated benefits of strategic growth initiatives, including the promotion of the company's lifelong learning ecosystem, as well as cost control and year-over-year improvement in the operating margins among other things may contain forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve, inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Further information regarding this and other risks is included in the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F and in other documents of the company as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law.

As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. In addition, the presentation, we will be referring to during the course of the call can be downloaded from the company's Investor Relations website. Further, a webcast of this conference call will also be available on the company's IR website at ir.cdeledu.com.

Story continues

I will now turn the call over to Mr. Zhu. Mr. Zhu, please go ahead.

Zhengdong Zhu -- Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

(Foreign Language)

Thank you, everyone, for joining our first quarter fiscal year 2019 earnings conference call. Our operating results were distributed earlier via Internet, newswire services and are also posted on our website, where a slide presentation is available as well.

(Foreign Language)

If you will now refer to the presentation, I will begin on Slide four with an overview of our financial results.

(Foreign Language)

In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, our net revenue increased by 18.8% year-over-year to $42.6 million, exceeding the high-end of our guidance range, which marks an encouraging start for the year. The higher than expected top line performance was driven by our core accounting vertical together with our legal vertical attributable to Beijing Ruida.

(Foreign Language)

Cash receipts from online course registration maintained strong growth momentum during the quarter, up approximately 50% to $60.5 million compared with the same period of last year. Contributing to our first quarter cash receipt growth was robust growth of cash receipts from our core verticals of accounting and healthcare, and more student enrollments in our longer duration premium and elite classes.

(Foreign Language)

Total enrollments increased by 4.6% year-over-year during the first quarter, primarily due to growth in accounting and engineering and construction or E&C continuing education enrollments.

(Foreign Language)

Next, as previously disclosed, we decided to dispose of 60% equity interest in our Tax School Program to the entities operating team, which can be more flexible in formulating future business development strategies. The transaction was completed in December 2018, and we've recognized a gain from deconsolidation of $6.9 million.

(Foreign Language)

Turning to recently acquired Beijing Ruida, a leading provider of exam preparation services for China's national legal profession qualification examination, we are pleased to report Beijing Ruida contributed revenue of approximately $6.8 million in the first quarter. We've been working closely with Ruida to further enhance its online presence and capabilities by leveraging our extensive experience and robust technologies for online course delivery.

(Foreign Language)

We believe there are significant synergies between Beijing Ruida's legal professional education platform and our strong online capabilities. Our collaboration with Ruida will ultimately enable Ruida to deliver its legal education content to a broader audience, while extending our offerings into a fourth core vertical, legal and further diversifying our business model.

(Foreign Language)

Last week, we announced that Zhengbao Yucai, our controlled company listed on the New Third Board, the over-the-counter stock exchange in China filed an application to voluntarily delist its shares from the New Third Board. Given the thin liquidity of Zhengbao Yucai's shares and the lack of fund-raising opportunities on the New Third Board, Zhengbao Yucai decided to delist from the New Third Board to facilitate better alignment with its operational and strategic needs. Note that we will continue to consolidate Zhengbao Yucai's operating results in our consolidated financial statements, after Zhengbao Yucai delist its shares for the New Third Board.

(Foreign Language)

I would next like to provide a few operational highlights.

(Foreign Language)

Recently, we launched the block chain technology-based Link 100 Professional Ability Chain in collaboration with Oracle. Link 100 is a comprehensive service platform that records and verifies an individual educational background, professional training and test results information using block chain technology. Block chain technology is able to facilitate the validation of individual job qualifications with reliable endorsements and promote fair competition among working professionals. This service platform has been fully developed and will undergo testing in the near future.

(Foreign Language)

As of December 31st, 2018, China Distance Education offered 68 mobile apps and recorded cumulative downloads of 48.8 million, up from 44.8 million as of September 30th, 2018. In the first quarter, daily traffic to our mobile website continued to increase, with daily active users in our accounting vertical increasing by 37.3% year-over-year. Further, our live streaming courses, which are designed for students who desire a more interactive learning experience are popular among our students.

(Foreign Language)

This concludes my update on our business operations and strategies. I will now turn the call over to Mark, our Co-CFO, to walk through key operating metrics and financials.

Mark Marostica -- Co-Chief Financial Officer

Before I discuss the details of our first quarter financial performance, I would like to provide some additional color regarding FASB's new revenue recognition accounting standard called ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which we adopted on October 1st, 2018. I'll follow with a discussion of ASC 606 with comments on the key drivers of our first quarter operating loss and operating margin outlook.

ASC 606 presents near-term headwinds for year-over-year revenue growth in Q1 and Q2 of fiscal 2019, primarily due to our inability to recognize lump sum deferred revenue from premium classes. Upon release of related exam results and the expiration of students rights to retake the courses as we have in prior periods. Beyond the first half of fiscal 2019, however, ASC 606 will provide a net benefit to our financial results. As cash receipts from our longer-duration programs can be recognized more evenly over the expected service period. Whereas under ASC 606's predecessor ASC 605, the significant portion of revenue was deferred until much later in the service period. And we can now capitalize and amortize commission fees of obtaining a student contract over the service period rather than recognizing these commission fees upfront as was the case under ASC 605.

We recorded an operating loss in our first quarter, primarily due to the amortization expenses of intangibles arising from the acquisition of Beijing Ruida of $1.7 million, an increase in rental expenses from our new Anhui Qiao office location in Beijing, higher commissions to agents and higher advertising and promotional expenses. Despite the first quarter operating loss, we continue to believe we will expand our operating margins in fiscal 2019 on the back of our expectation of healthy revenue growth in the fiscal year, coupled with the implementation of certain expense control measures. We also expect to get better leverage on rental expense for the anniversarying in our third quarter, third fiscal quarter, of the rise in our rental expense tied to our new office location in Beijing, and our decision to exit certain leased space at our Haidian headquarters, as we move certain staff to Anhui Qiao.

Now let me summarize some of our key operating metrics on Slides six and seven. Enrollments in our Online Accounting Test Preparation courses were down 9.4% year-over-year in the first quarter, primarily due to declines in Certified Public Accountants, or CPA enrollments, as well as accounting professional qualification exam or APQE enrollments. Of note, we faced tough year-over-year comparisons in the first quarter fiscal 2019 for both CPA and APQE enrollment growth, which were up 38% year-over-year, and 72% year-over-year in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 respectively. Enrollments in our Accounting Continuing Education courses increased by 2.9% year-over-year in the first quarter of fiscal 2019.

Total Online Accounting Test Preparation ASPs increased by 75.6% year-over-year in our first quarter. As ASPs increased significantly and our CPA, APQE and tax agent courses. These ASP increases were mainly due to increased student enrollments in our longer-duration premium and elite classes.

Enrollments in our Online Healthcare Test Preparation courses in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 increased by 15.6% year-over-year. ASPs for our Healthcare Test Preparation courses increased by 24.9% year-over-year in the first quarter, mainly due to overall ASP increases and in particular more student enrollments in longer-duration classes of our licensed pharmacists courses, which are offered at relatively higher price points.

Enrollments in our Online Engineering and Construction, or E&C, Test Preparation courses decreased by 24.9% year-over-year in the first quarter, primarily due to enrollment declines in our cost valuator (ph), as well as our Associate Constructor and Constructor Test Preparations. Enrollments in our E&C Continuing Education courses, however, increased by 51.9% year-over-year in the first quarter, mainly due to seasonality. ASPs for our E&C Test Preparation courses in the first quarter increased by 39.1% year-over-year, primarily due to increased student enrollments in our longer duration premium classes. The ASPs for E&C Continuing Education courses decreased by 10.1% year-over-year in the first quarter.

Let's turn to Slide 10 to look at some of our financial metrics. To be mindful of the length of our earnings call, I'll focus on key financial highlights and encourage listeners to refer to our earnings press release and financial filings for further details.

Non-GAAP gross margin was 40% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, compared with 48.9% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. The year-over-year decline in gross margin was primarily due to expenses associated with Beijing Ruida, including amortization expenses of intangible rising from the acquisition of Beijing Ruida. Increased rental and related expenses associated with the company's new office space in Beijing and offline training courses, and increased salaries and related expenses. The softer growth in revenue from online education services due to the adoption of ASC 606, as discussed in our earnings release also adversely impacted our non-GAAP gross margin.

Non-GAAP selling expenses increased by 59% to $14.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 from $9.1 million in the prior year period, driven primarily by an increase in advertising and promotional expenses, higher commissions to our agents, expenses associated with Beijing Ruida, and other miscellaneous selling expenses.

Non-GAAP, general and administrative expenses increased by 28.4% to $5.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 from $4.6 million in the prior year period. Mainly due to the provision for doubtful debts associated with our accounting continuing education and legal education businesses, and expenses associated with Beijing Ruida. Overall, the non-GAAP operating loss for the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 was $1.7 million, compared with non-GAAP operating income of $5.6 million in the prior year period.

We recorded a $6.9 million gain on the previously announced disposal of 60% equity interest in the Tax School Program in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, and fair value change of the remaining 40% equity interest. Income tax expense was $1 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, compared with $671,000 in the prior-year period, primarily due to an increase in taxable income. Non-GAAP net income increased $2.4 million from $596,000 in the prior year period.

Now let's turn to Slide 11 to review our cash flow. Net operating cash inflow increased by 101.6% to $26.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 from $13.2 million in the prior year period. The operating cash inflow was mainly attributable to the decrease in accounts receivable and deferred tax assets and the increase in deferred revenue generated from our professional education services segment, and the amount due to related parties. The operating cash inflow was partially offset by the increase in inventories, prepayment and other current assets, other non-current assets, and the decrease in accrued expenses and other liabilities, and refundable fees.

Cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments as of December 31st, 2018 increased by 10.9% to $110.5 million from $99.6 million as of September 30th, 2018, mainly due to the operating cash inflow generated in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, partially offset by capital expenditures of $7.5 million, mainly relating to our new office space in Beijing and new office building in Xiamen, and the repayment of an offshore loan of $5 million.

This completes my financial overview. I will now return the call to Mr. Zhu for concluding remarks as well as financial guidance for both the second quarter and for fiscal year 2019. Mr. Zhu, Please go ahead.

Zhengdong Zhu -- Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Mark.

(Foreign Language)

With fiscal 2019, well under way, we are focused on enhancing our lifelong learning ecosystem, which now covers four core educational verticals including accounting, healthcare, and engineering and construction, and more recently, legal. While our mandate has broadened over the years, we strive to partner with our students to help them obtain highly sought-after professional certifications, through effective exam preparation courses and services, while positioning our students for career achievement and success. We remain committed to enhancing our students' learning experience by providing superior educational content and services, top lecturers and tutors, innovative online learning platform, as well as multiple learning modalities to appeal to individual learning styles.

(Foreign Language)

We continued to expect to generate non-GAAP operating income growth in fiscal 2019 with improved non-GAAP operating margins while we balance growth with a keen focus on prudent cost control. And we are pleased to report that we are seeing continued strong growth momentum in cash receipts from online course registration, which increased by approximately 45% year-over-year on a constant currency basis during the second quarter fiscal 2019 through the end of February 2019.

(Foreign Language)

Turning to guidance. For the second quarter of fiscal year 2019, the company expects to generate total net revenue in the range of $33.3 million to $34.8 million, representing year-over-year growth of approximately 12% to 17%.

(Foreign Language)

For the fiscal year 2019, the company expects to generate total net revenues in the range of $208.3 million to $216.7 million, representing year-over-year growth of approximately 25% to 30%.

(Foreign Language)

This concludes my prepared remarks. Thank you for your time. Operator, we are now happy to take questions.

Questions and Answers:

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) If there are no questions, I would like to turn the call back to management for closing remarks.

Mark Marostica -- Co-Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, operator. On behalf of the management team, we thank you for joining us today, and we look forward to updating you on our progress.

Duration: 27 minutes

Call participants:

Zhengdong Zhu -- Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

Mark Marostica -- Co-Chief Financial Officer

More DL analysis

Transcript powered by AlphaStreet

This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability.

More From The Motley Fool

Motley Fool Transcribers has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has praised Pakistan's "restraint" and willingness to talk with India to ease tensions between the two countries after a deadly bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month. Pakistan is facing pressure from global powers to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack that killed at least 40 paramilitary police. The incident led to the most serious conflict in years between the nuclear-armed neighbors, with cross-border air strikes and a dogfight over the skies of Kashmir. The crisis eased after Pakistan returned a downed Indian pilot on Friday.Visiting Pakistan on Wednesday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said Beijing and Islamabad were "all weather" strategic partners and that they always supported each other, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. "China has paid close attention to the present situation between Pakistan and India, and appreciates Pakistan's remaining calm and exercising restraint from the beginning, and persisting in pushing to lower the temperature with India via dialogue," the ministry paraphrased Kong as saying. China maintains that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and does not want to see "acts that violate the norms of international relations", Kong added. "China calls on Pakistan and India to refrain from taking actions that aggravate the situation, show goodwill and flexibility, launch dialogue as soon as possible, and work together to maintain regional peace and stability," he said. China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in this regard, Kong added. The ministry said Kong had met Prime Minister Imran Khan, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Darren Schuettler)
Chinese authorities have prosecuted 11 people for smuggling $119 million worth of Mexican totoaba fish swim bladders, one of the country's biggest busts related to the trafficking of an endangered species used in traditional medicine.

Mexico has urged China for years to crack down on totoaba smuggling over fears that illegal fishing operations in the Gulf of California are also killing off the world's smallest porpoise, the near-extinct vaquita marina.

The Jiangmen city procuratorate in southern Guangdong province said the 11 people are suspected of smuggling nearly 20,000 swim bladders worth more than 800 million yuan ($119 million) from Mexico.

The group of smugglers, led by an individual named Liang Weihua, transported the fish parts in "large quantities" and sold them to consumers in China.

"This crime lasted for more than three years," said the Guangdong-based procuratorate, a legal supervision agency, on its website.

The smuggling route involved a number of neighbouring countries, including Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, it said, adding that the case is currently under further investigation.

The critically endangered totoaba fish has been in steep decline since the 1940s, largely because of its reputed healing powers in Chinese medicine.

The fish's swim bladder can fetch up to $20,000 on the black market in China, where it is believed to have beautifying properties and cure a host of ailments, from arthritis pain to discomfort during pregnancy.

In fact, they are so prized that some Chinese simply display them in fancy cases in their homes.

The Mexican navy and environmentalists patrol the Gulf of California to detect illegal fishing. Environmental group Sea Shepherd said its sea patrols were attacked this earlier this year, with one ship getting hit with rocks and firebombs thrown by dozens of people in 20 boats in February.

The nets are believed to claim a collateral victim, the vaquita marina, which like the totoaba is endemic to the Gulf of California and is near extinction.

Story continues

Though China has made efforts to crack down on the sale of illegal wildlife products, smuggling continues as demand is still fuelled by a thriving black market.

Pangolin populations, for instance, have been ravaged by a surge in demand, particularly in mainland China, and are one of the most heavily trafficked mammals in the world.

Last month, Hong Kong officials unveiled a record eight tonnes of pangolin scales found in a container from Nigeria, as the timid animal continues to be sought after for its meat and unproven medicinal properties.

In November, China said it postponed a controversial decision to partially lift a 1993 ban on trading tiger bones and rhinoceros horns, following criticism from conservationists likening the decision to signing a death warrant for the endangered species.
Tech giant Huawei on Thursday opened a legal front in its counter-offensive against US warnings that it could aid Chinese intelligence services, filing suit to overturn a US law that bars federal agencies from buying its products.

Huawei said the case was filed in a US District Court in Plano, Texas, challenging what it called an "unconstitutional" 2019 defence bill that prevents government agencies from buying its equipment, services, or working with third parties that are Huawei customers.

The move may send a global signal that Huawei is willing to use all means, including national courts, to prevent exclusion from a race to the 5G market -- the future of high-speed telecommunications.

"The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Huawei's rotating chairman Guo Ping said.

Guo added the company was seeking unspecified damages.

"The US government is sparing no effort to smear the company," he said at a news conference at Huawei's corporate headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Guo also said the US government "has hacked our servers and stolen our emails and source code", without providing details.

Washington has long considered Huawei a potential threat due to the background of founder Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese army engineer.

The concerns have escalated as Huawei has risen to become the world leader in telecom networking equipment and one of the top smartphone manufacturers alongside Samsung and Apple.

A law recently enacted by Beijing that obliges Chinese companies to aid the government on national security has added to the concerns.

- No 'backdoors' -

Huawei's lawsuit targets an "unconstitutional exercise of executive and/or judicial power" that deprived it of a "fair hearing" to rebut allegations against it.

Story continues

It also says the National Defense Authorization Act violates a bill of attainder clause by "singling out Huawei for punishment".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in Beijing that it was "entirely legitimate and understandable for enterprises to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through legal means".

He said Beijing had issued an official protest against the defence bill's "negative content concerning China".

Washington has warned that Huawei systems could be manipulated by Beijing to spy on other countries and disrupt critical communications, and is urging nations to shun the company in 5G networks.

Huawei is expected to play a key role in the coming rollout of ultra-fast 5G networks that will allow wide adoption of next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence.

The firm has responded to the pressure with an aggressive PR campaign in recent months, with Ren, its reclusive founder, denying the claims in several foreign media interviews.

This week the company gave news organisations a tour of its production lines and R&D facilities in southern Guangdong province.

The clash is heightened by ongoing US-China trade talks and the December arrest of Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, Ren's daughter.

A Canadian court on Wednesday set a May 8 date for the start of Meng's hearing into a US extradition request over charges that she and Huawei circumvented US sanctions against Iran. Two Huawei affiliates also have been charged with stealing trade secrets from telecom group T-Mobile.

Two Canadians were subsequently detained in China in suspected retaliation over Meng's arrest.

Huawei officials said it had never received any request from Beijing to install security "backdoors" in its equipment or to gather intelligence.

Chief legal officer Song Liuping acknowledged that Chinese laws may require Huawei to heed government requests for assistance but said it would only do so in matters such as terrorism or criminal activity.

- Competition fears? -

Huawei officials have denied that the privately held company was "owned or influenced" by China's government.

Some China-watchers, however, say it is highly unlikely Huawei could have become so globally dominant in such a strategic sector without the support of Beijing, which has clearly stated its goal of becoming the world's high-tech leader.

Much of the US concern is rooted in fears that China, through Huawei, may export the high-tech security state that is accelerating under President Xi Jinping.

It was unclear how much impact the lawsuit would have, however, as President Donald Trump could merely issue an executive order to block Huawei in the United States.

Guo suggested the effort to contain Huawei was related more to commercial competition than security issues.

Huawei equipment is seen as considerably more advanced than 5G competitors such as Sweden's Ericsson or Finland's Nokia, while no US company is considered a serious Huawei rival.

"Is (the United States) afraid that other countries may catch up to and overtake its use of advanced 5G technologies?" Guo asked.
By Nidhi Verma and Devjyot Ghoshal NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sonia Gandhi, former leader of India's main opposition Congress party, will contest the 2019 general election from the Rae Bareli seat, a family stronghold in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh that has voted for her since 2004. The Italian-born 72-year-old, who forged a Congress-led coalition government for two successive terms in 2004 and 2009 to run the world's largest democracy, has played a slightly reduced public role since being treated abroad for illness in 2011. In 2017 she handed over the reins of the Congress Party to her 48-year-old son Rahul Gandhi, who will contest the Amethi constituency in the state, according to the first list of candidates released by the Congress party on Thursday. The official entry of Sonia's daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, into electoral politics in January set the stage for the brother-sister duo to control Congress, which has ruled India for much of the time since independence from Britain in 1947. The siblings' great grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India's first prime minister following independence from Britain in 1947. Their grandmother, Indira Gandhi, succeeded him after a brief interval. After she was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984, her son, Rajiv Gandhi, took over as premier. Rajiv was killed by an ethic Tamil suicide bomber while campaigning for the general election in 1991. Sonia initially resisted calls to enter politics before taking the plunge and lifting Congress' flagging fortunes under her family's brand name. Congress is trying to build an opposition alliance against Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress' power base shriveled in the 2014 election in the face of the popularity of now-Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However the party, which won elections in some states last year, is looking to capitalize on rising discontent over weak farm income and lackluster job growth. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Toby Chopra)
A conservative watchdog group called Thursday for an ethics investigation of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, alleging that she employed improper fundraising techniques.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics that accused the freshman New York Democrat of improperly using taxpayer-funded resources and official action for political purposes in violation of numerous House ethics rules.

At issue is Ocasio-Cortezs use of official House of Representatives footage on her political Twitter and Instagram accounts, which violates congressional ethics rules prohibiting the use of taxpayer-funded resources for the solicitation of contributions and other campaign activities. She has also improperly linked a solicitation for campaign contributions as well as her official House page to her political Instagram, a breach of the House ethics rule that official social-media accounts may not be used for campaigns.

House ethics rules state that broadcast coverage and recordings of House floor proceedings may not be used for any political purpose.

Representative Ocasio-Cortez has not only violated the most basic congressional ethics laws on the books, she has done so repeatedly, said FACTs executive director, Kendra Arnold. These laws exist so that elected representatives are not using official business on behalf of the American people to push a political agenda or gain a political advantage. These are clear violations and the Ethics Committee needs to act.

Ocasio-Cortez has vowed to tackle and reform campaign-finance laws, which she said last month make it super legal for a member of Congress to be a pretty bad guy.

More from National Review
Corona is branching out beyond beer with a trio of tropical-flavored refreshing booze-spiked beverages.

The beer brand's first non-beer beverage, Corona Refresca, is a flavored malt beverage available in three varieties: Coconut Lime, Guava Lime and Passionfruit Lime. The Guava and Passionfruit flavored drinks will be available in six-packs ($9.99), while the Coconut Lime flavor can be found in a 12-pack ($16.99) with all three flavors.

The drinks will hit the market later this month in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina before going nationwide in early May.

Corona's new drinks, which weigh in at less than 199 calories per 12-ounce serving and 4.5 percent alcohol by volume, are the latest products in a trend that shows no signs of cooling off.

March freebies: Your monthly guide to food specials, meal deals and more

Mexican craft beer: Coming from south of the border for your taste buds

Sparkling, refreshing flavored beverages and seltzers are big sellers within a mixed drinks category that saw sales rise 6 percent in 2018, according to IWSR, a research firm that tracks the industry. Those products were outperformers in an overall U.S. beer and spirits industry that faced declines for the third straight year, IWSR says.

Among the top sellers are Smirnoff Spiked Sparkling Spritzers, as well as Bud Light premium malt beverage drinks and Spiked Seltzers  just two of several beverages owned by Anheuser-Busch  and Redd's and Steel Reserve drinks (owned by MillerCoors). White Claw Hard Seltzers had triple-digit growth in 2018, IWSR says.

Overall, sales of the top 20 selling flavored malt beverages rose 11.6 percent to $2.6 billion over the 52-week period ending Jan. 27, 2019, according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm, which tracks retail sales at grocery stores, convenience stores, drug stores, mass market stores and other outlets.

"We know consumers are seeking an alternative malt beverage experience," said Ann Legan, vice president of brand marketing for Corona, which tested Corona Refresca with consumers. The drinks are "for multi-cultural females and males who are looking for a premium spiked refresher that delivers a taste of the tropics," she said.

Story continues

Just as consumers have embraced sparkling waters as lower-sugar and lower-calorie alternatives, alcohol imbibers are also seeking healthier options with less booze, says IWSR's U.S. president Brandy Rand. "As these products are also in cans, they are portable and convenient which appeals to consumers. They also fill a gap for non-beer drinkers looking for something easy to drink," she said.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Corona is tapping into the non-beer drink trend with 3 tropical lime malt beverages
Shares of Costco COST slipped marginally during regular trading hours Wednesday, just a day before the discount grocery giant is set to report its fiscal second quarter financial results. This means it is time for a last-minute Costco earnings preview.

Overview

Costco offers free two-day delivery for non-perishable food and household supplies to customers nationwide on orders of $75 or more, with a fee charged for smaller orders. Costco has also expanded its same-day delivery service to most metropolitan areas through its Instacart partnership. These moves were made to help make the discount retailer more competitive in the e-commerce age as its peers, such as Kroger KR, Walmart WMT, and Target TGT, all roll out similar offerings.

Yet Costco has stood out from its rivals in terms of its digital expansion and experience. The firm overtook Amazons AMZN spot as the number one internet retailer in terms of customer satisfaction in 2018, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The big-box giant scored an 83 in its first year in the internet retail category to top Amazons 82 and dethrone the e-commerce giants nearly decade-long streak at the top.

On top of that, 90% of Costco members reportedly renew their subscriptions. Shares of COST dipped 0.27% on Wednesday to close regular trading at $219.23. This marked over a 10% downturn from Costcos 52-week high of $245.16 and gives the stock some room to run if it can impress investors Thursday.

Q2 Outlook & Earnings Trends

Before we look at what to expect from the retailer, investors should note that Costco reports its monthly sales figures throughout the year. With that said, Costcos January net sales jumped 8% to $10.71 billion. Plus, COSTs U.S. comparable sales popped 6.6% and its e-commerce comps jumped 22.1% for the month.

Overall, Costcos quarterly revenues are projected to jump 8.05% from the year-ago period to reach $35.65 billion, based on our current Zacks Consensus Estimate. This figure includes Costcos membership fees. Meanwhile, Costcos adjusted quarterly earnings are expected to surge 17.5% to hit $1.67 a share.

Story continues

Costcos earnings estimate revision activity has been mixed over the last 30 days. However, the last week has seen COSTs second-quarter consensus earnings estimate dip by $0.01 a share.

Costco is scheduled to release its Q2 fiscal 2019 financial results after the closing bell Thursday. So, make sure to head back to Zacks for a complete breakdown of Costcos actual quarterly metrics.

Today's Best Stocks from Zacks



Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%.



This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000  2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year.



See their latest picks free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Target Corporation (TGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Walmart Inc. (WMT) : Free Stock Analysis Report



The Kroger Co. (KR) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
Democrats will request copies of President Donald Trumps tax returns in a matter of weeks, according to one senior member of the tax committee in the House of Representatives.

Federal law says the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee can request any Americans personal tax information from the Treasury Department. Democrats will use that power in about two weeks, according to committee member Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.).

The Trump administration is feeling the heat, theres no question about it, because everybodys talking about the tax returns now, Pascrell said.

Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) has said it is necessary to build a public case for the need to obtain Trumps tax information. But he has declined to commit to a deadline.

I dont think that we have a definitive timeline right now, but that could change based on the information as its provided, Neal told HuffPost on Wednesday.

Obtaining Trumps tax returns is part of Democrats broader oversight of the Trump administration, which they began when they took control of the House this year. The House Judiciary Committee on Monday sent dozens of document requests to Trump affiliates who might have information about corruption within the Trump administration or Trumps 2016 presidential campaign.

Past presidential candidates have disclosed tax info while campaigning and divested from their businesses once taking office. Trump did neither.

Tax documents could show how much money Trump makes, where it comes from and how much he pays in taxes. Trumps former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, testified last week before the House oversight committee that Trump manipulated the value of his assets to get a break on his tax bill.

For Ways and Means, Trumps tax returns could show whether the IRS is doing a good job of enforcing the tax laws written by members of Congress. The IRS has already reported that individuals who underreport business income are the biggest contributors to the gap between what Americans collectively owe and what the IRS ultimately collects.

Story continues

In separate interviews over the past week, Pascrell and Neal have both said the other man supports his public statements, even though they seem to contradict each other. Pascrell complained last week that Neal was taking too long to request Trumps tax info; Neal said Pascrell told him privately he was doing a good job. And Pascrell said Wednesday that Neal has had no complaint about his two-week prediction, which he first made on Tuesday.

Im sticking with it, Pascrell said.

Neal has previously said he would wait until special counsel Robert Mueller had finished his investigation into the Trump campaigns collusion with the Russian government in 2016. He has only ever committed to making the request sometime this year.

The law says the chairs of congressional tax committees can ask for private citizens tax information and the treasury secretary shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such request. Congress created the law in the 1920s specifically as a check on corruption in the executive branch.

Neal has said his staff has been drafting the request carefully because the Trump administration will probably not comply with the law. A spokesperson for Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has said only that Mnuchin will review any requests for legality. Democrats expect to wind up in court once they do request Trumps taxes.

Ways and Means Republicans, for their part, say Democrats should just trust the IRS to audit the president, which the agency does every year by law.

This is all about politics, said Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.). I get it.

Related Coverage

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Lays Groundwork For Going After Trumps Tax Returns

Trump's Insurance Broker Subpoenaed By New York Financial Regulators

Trump Pledged To End Trade and Budget Deficits. He's Made Them Bigger Instead

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Democrats are poised to vote on a measure denouncing anti-semitism that is seen as a rebuke to Representative Ilhan Omar, whose comments on the Israel lobby in Washington have embroiled her in controversy and accusations that she has used anti-semitic tropes.

Ms Omar first sparked the controversy a month ago while discussing the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which she suggested has managed to build support for Israel through its big money lobbying efforts. She recently stirred more controversy during a panel discussion.

Those comments were met with outrage from Republicans and many Democrats, who said that Ms Omars claims that pro-Israel sentiment in Washington is influenced by the pro-Israel lobby played into anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish people and money.

Heres what you need to know.

Ms Omars statements on the matter date back to at least 2012

The freshman congresswoman  who is one of the first Muslim women to serve in Congress  has created a splash in Washington since joining Congress in January, but the alleged anti-semitic remarks date back to at least 2012, with a tweet when she wrote: Israel has hypnotised the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.

Since taking office, Ms Omar apologised for those words  specifically the notion that Israel and its supporters are somehow tricking the world into supporting it  saying that she did not intend on stirring up anti-semitic sentiments.

In all sincerity  I heard from Jewish [organisations] that my use of the word hypnotise and the ugly sentiment it holds was offensive, Ms Omar wrote on Twitter in January. That statement came in the context of the Gaza War. Its now apparent to me that I spent lots of energy putting my 2012 tweet in context and little energy is disavowing the anti-semitic trope I unknowingly used, which is unfortunate and offensive.

But, she noted in a later tweet that she believes it is important to distinguish between criticising a military action by a government and attacking a particular people of faith, saying that her 2012 tweet was aimed at criticising Israels attack on Gaza that year that left over 100 Palestinian civilians dead.

Story continues

Her more recent comments first took on the Jewish lobby

Its all about the Benjamins, Ms Omar wrote in February, raising critiques that the Jewish lobby buys off American politicians. She later clarified that she was talking about AIPAC specifically.

She later unequivocally apologised, but maintained that she believes that the influence of money in politics and lobbying is a threat to the US.

Ms Omars most recent comments came last week during a panel discussion with fellow freshman Representative Rashida Tlaib, a fellow Muslim representative: I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country, she said.

What Im fearful of  because Rashida [Tlaib] and I are Muslim  that a lot of our Jewish colleagues, a lot of our constituents, a lot of our allies, go to thinking that everything we say about Israel to be anti-Semitic because we are Muslim, she said. And so to me, its something that becomes designed to end the debate because you get in this space of  yes, I know what intolerance looks like and Im sensitive when someone says, The words you used, Ilhan, are resemblance [sic] of intolerance. And I am cautious of that and I feel pained by that.

She continued: But its almost as if, every single time we say something regardless of what it is we say that is supposed to be about foreign policy or engagement or advocacy about ending oppression or the freeing of every human life and wanting dignity, we get to be labelled something, and that ends the discussion. Because we end up defending that and nobody ever gets to have the broader debate of what is happening with Palestine. So for me, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.

Criticism has come from both sides of the aisle  but some progressives have rallied behind her

Early detractors of Ms Omars statements included Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, conservative commentators, and has grown to include Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

But she has received some support from progressives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said:  Calling out is one of the measures of last resort, not 1st or 2nd resort, she wrote in a recent tweet. We do it when repeated attempts to call in are disrespected or ignored. And I believe that Ilhan, in her statement a few weeks ago, has demonstrated a willingness to listen+work w/impacted communities.

Ms Tlaib has also supported her colleague, saying she is being targeted just like many civil rights icons before us who spoke out about oppressive policies.

What is AIPAC, anyway?

The lobbying group Ms Omar criticised in February  starting off this whole thing  has a long history in Washington, as has pro-Israel sentiment dating back to the formation of Israel as a Jewish state.

AIPAC wields power in a number of ways  notably, its political donations to individual candidates is generally seen as somewhat negligible  and its stated goal is to strengthen ties between the US and Israel.

One major way that it works to achieve that goal is through lobbying, and the group spends a pretty penny on that effort.

In 2018, for instance, AIPAC spent more than $3.5m, representing the vast majority of spending by the Jewish lobby that year, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics. There is some evidence their efforts work, too: The group was staunchly opposed to the Iran Nuclear Agreement, and lobbied heavily on the issue last year. Donald Trump ultimately announced the US withdrawal from that accord last year.

The group also often lobbies heavily for foreign aid to Israel.

AIPAC is also known for funding trips to Israel for members of Congress, including for Mr McCarthy.

What does the House resolution being considered say?

The resolution is expected to pass a floor vote sometime on Wednesday or Thursday, and includes language condemning anti-semitism.

Amid some backlash, language condemning anti-Muslim sentiment was also added.
Dinosaurs were thriving before deadly asteroid strike wiped them out 66 million years ago, study suggests

The dinosaurs were actually thriving right up until the moment when a huge asteroid hurtled in from space, heralding the end of their time as rulers of this planet.

At the end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago, a huge asteroid (possibly coupled with volcanic eruptions) wiped out the dinosaurs.

But some scientists believe that the huge creatures had been declining anyaway, due to climate change.

New mathematical analysis from researchers at the Imperial College London, University College London and University of Bristol has suggested that the creatures were actually thriving.

The researchers used ecological niche modelling to work out where there had been areas which would have allowed dinosaurs to survive.

Read More

Blind man asked to leave shopping centre because of his guide dog

Norwegian woman films avalanche crashing towards house

Pub offers cheapest Sunday roast in the country for just 1

Lead researcher Alessandro Chiarenza, a PhD student in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial, said: Dinosaurs were likely not doomed to extinction until the end of the Cretaceous, when the asteroid hit, declaring the end of their reign and leaving the planet to animals like mammals, lizards and a minor group of surviving dinosaurs: birds.

The results of our study suggest that dinosaurs as a whole were adaptable animals, capable of coping with the environmental changes and climatic fluctuations that happened during the last few million years of the Late Cretaceous.

Climate change over prolonged time scales did not cause a long-term decline of dinosaurs through the last stages of this period.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
Donald Trump has been accused as a

President Donald Trump will hit back hard as Huawei files a lawsuit against the United States government.

Huawei, the largest smartphone maker in China, says Trump acted as judge, jury and executioner with his ban on Huawei products. The Chinese telecoms giant says the US violated its own constitution. The lawsuit, filed in Texas, is the most aggressive action yet in the ongoing dispute between Trump and Huawei.

The news will anger the president as he inches closer to a trade deal with China. He will strike back with the full force of his administration and use the dispute as leverage in his talks with China.

JUST IN: Huawei sues U.S. government, supporting documents detailing lawsuit are not yet available pic.twitter.com/GYWIrFeOp5  Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) March 7, 2019

Is Huawei a National Security Threat?

The lawsuit is a response to Donald Trumps National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The law bans all federal government agencies from using Huawei devices.

Read the full story on CCN.com.
Twitter

Facebook

Chicago may be a no-go for The Boring Company's high-speed underground tunnel system, but there's always Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced a plan this week to build an underground "Loop" tunnel at the Las Vegas Convention Center  yes, the home of the annual consumer tech show known as CES. More than 182,000 attendees were at the show last year, and they absolutely mobbed every train, taxi, and CES-provided shuttle.

The proposed Loop is expected to cost anywhere from $35 to $55 million. The authority said the project would cost less than $10 million per mile, the same as the Boring Companys test tunnel in Hawthorne, California. They said the Las Vegas tunnel could be completed in time for CES 2021. Read more...

More about Ces, Tech, and Transportation
BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union will respond to further developments in Venezuela and the threat of further sanctions against socialist President Nicolas Maduro is still on the table, Germany's foreign minister said on Thursday. The United States and dozens of other countries, including Germany, have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president of the oil-rich country and increased pressure on Maduro to step down. "The European Union will be able to monitor and respond to further developments," Heiko Maas told ZDF broadcaster. "We already discussed at the last meeting of foreign ministers that the time can come when further sanctions from the European Union will come against the Maduro regime in Venezuela." (Reporting by Michael Nienaber,; Editing by Susan Thomas)
By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - The high-profile case of ex-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has shone a light in Japan on what critics call "hostage justice", in which suspects can be held for months after arrest, but any reforms will likely be incremental and slow. Ghosn, a former titan of the global auto industry, who has French, Brazilian and Lebonese citizenship, was released on bail of 1 billion yen ($9 million) on Wednesday after being held for more than 100 days following his Nov. 19 arrest by prosecutors on suspicion of under-reporting his compensation. In a scenario common in Japan's justice system, Ghosn was arrested two more times on fresh suspicions, including aggravated breach of trust, each time allowing prosecutors to keep him in custody and interrogate him without his lawyers being present. The term "hostage justice" refers to holding the suspect in custody while pressing for the "ransom" of a confession. Ghosn's case has sparked harsh international criticism of Japan's justice system, in which 99.9 percent of people charged with crimes are convicted. "The affair was reported abroad and many Japanese know that the Japanese criminal justice system is not necessarily at a global standard," wrote former Tokyo District Court judge Takao Nakayama in the Nikkei business daily. "In that sense, the Tokyo prosecutors opened a Pandora's box," he wrote. The article was part of a full-page spread headlined "What should be fixed in Japan's 'hostage justice'." Granting bail after indictment and ahead of trial is rare for suspects who, like Ghosn, maintain their innocence, with the stated reason being fears the defendant would flee, tamper with evidence or seek to sway witnesses. Ghosn had to agree not only to stay in Japan but to having surveillance cameras placed at his residence and to limits on his mobile phone and computer use. His first two requests for bail were rejected. "I do think that this has made the whole system, that most Japanese on the street don't really know exists, much more visible and much more vulnerable to criticism," said Tokyo-based lawyer Stephen Givens. Domestic civil rights groups and lawyers including the Japan Federation of Bar Associations have long criticized a system they say gives too much power to prosecutors and is too reliant on confessions, some later found to have been forced and false. ASKING QUESTIONS Ordinary citizens - and media - often equate arrest with guilt. "Japan is a country that respects authority and I think most people assume that when somebody is arrested, that there's a reason for that," Givens said. "Media ... are of that view - although I do think that some of the mainstream media are beginning to ask questions and present other views." Prosecutors have defended the system. "Each country has its own culture and systems," said Shin Kukimoto, a deputy public prosecutor, at a news conference in December. "I'm not sure it's right to criticize other systems simply because they are different." High-profile cases involving forced confessions periodically attract public attention, although no outcry has been sustained. In a possible sign the issue was creeping onto the public radar even before Ghosn's arrest, a private broadcaster launched in 2016 a television drama called "99.9 Criminal Lawyers" about defense lawyers fighting the odds against acquittal. The title refers to the conviction rate. Still, there is caution over prospects for change. "I'm skeptical and it depends on what you mean by 'change'," said Colin Jones, a law professor at Kyoto's Doshisha University. "Courts are institutionally subject to foreign pressure. The trend has been a gradual increase in the rejection of detention warrants and we might see a trend toward incremental change," he said. (Editing by Robert Birsel)
By Nidhi Verma and Timothy Gardner NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - India wants to keep buying Iranian oil at its current level of about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), as it negotiates with Washington about extending a waiver of U.S. sanctions past early May, two sources in India with knowledge of the matter said. India has reduced its purchases of Iranian oil, but has been in talks on extending a sanctions waiver, known as a significant reduction exception, a senior India official said in January. New Delhi is asking to be allowed to still buy Iranian oil at current levels of around 1.25 million tonnes per month, or about 300,000 bpd, the sources said. The United States reimposed sanctions against Iran last November in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear and missile ambitions, after President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. Although the United States granted Iran's biggest oil customers - China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece - waivers that have allowed them to continue limited imports, Washington is putting pressure on governments to eventually reduce purchases of Iranian oil to zero. The first round of waivers expires around May 4. Vincent Campos, a spokesman at the U.S. State Department's energy bureau, would not confirm that India was asking the United States to renew its waiver, but said talks are ongoing with the eight consumers of Iran's oil that received waivers in November with the aim of eventually cutting imports to zero. "We continue to have bilateral discussions" with each of the countries, including India, Campos said. A U.S. State Department official is this week visiting South Korea, Iran's fourth largest oil customer in Asia, to talk about sanctions, Seoul said. David Peyman, a deputy assistant secretary for counter threat finance and sanctions, met on Wednesday with Hong Jin-wook, an official specializing in African and Middle Eastern affairs at South Korea's foreign ministry. Peyman offered "to continue to closely consult on the extension of sanctions exemption and Korean companies technical issues regarding trade with Iran," a statement from Seoul's foreign ministry said. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to questions about their talks. Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), exported almost 3 million bpd of oil at its pre-sanctions peak, but that has dwindled to around 1.25 million bpd since the start of the year, shipping data from Refinitiv showed. Talks with Washington on extending the waiver slowed due to the U.S. government shutdown that extended through January, one of the Indian sources said. Talks have now resumed and India wants to get clarity before general elections scheduled in May, the source said. No immediate comment was available from India's oil or external affairs ministries. India's move to seek extended sanctions exemptions comes as Washington plans to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its exports to the United States. India is the biggest beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences, which dates from the 1970s, and ending its participation would be the strongest punitive action that Washington has taken against the country since Trump took office. Iran was India's seventh biggest oil supplier in January, as compared with its position as third-biggest a year ago before the reimposition of sanctions. (GRAPHIC: Iran seaborne crude oil & condensate exports - https://tmsnrt.rs/2ETwgRi) (Reporting by Nidhi Verma in NEW DELHI and Timothy Gardner in WASHINGTON; Writing by Henning Gloystein; editing by Richard Pullin and G Crosse)
In the decade after the Civil War, former slaves in the South searched for a way out. They were sickened and exhausted by the racist terrorism that had followed emancipation. Though freed from slavery, African Americans were routinely cheated, attacked and killed by whites who tolerated them barely, if at all.

Blacks who realized that Southern whites viewed them as basically units of labor ... insisted that Negroes would have to leave the South, historian Nell Irvin Painter wrote in her 1976 book, "Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas After Reconstruction."

So they left. The so-called Exodusters moved west to Kansas. Some settled in cities like Topeka and Kansas City, and others established towns like Bogue and Nicodemus in the western part of the state. By 1880, thousands had taken part in what historians call the first major migration of former slaves.

This western exodus has been overlooked in many tellings of black history. But scholars are using it and other mass migrations to construct a new framework for studying black history and experiences. Moving beyond focusing only on slavery and its consequences, scholars have identified 13 distinct migrations that formed and transformed African America, according to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the New York Public Library.

Former residents look toward the one-room schoolhouse in Nicodemus, Kansas, the oldest all-black town west of the Mississippi.

Some are well known. The transatlantic and domestic slave trades are the largest of the migrations and also the only ones that were involuntary. The Great Migration of the 20th century  the movement of blacks from the rural South to the cities of the North  is also a touchstone of popular history.

Others are less often discussed: Haitian immigration to the United States in the late 1700s and early 1800s; the movement of free African-Americans to the North in the 1840s; and immigration from Africa and the Caribbean since the 1970s. The voluntary migrations demonstrate independence and a willingness to make choices for a better life  what scholars call agency. Thats action. Thats taking your life in your hands, said Painter, a professor emeritus at Princeton. Thats the very definition of agency.

Story continues

More: Black History Month: We got distracted, but there were high points. Here's what we missed

More: Here's how NOT to celebrate Black History Month, and what you can do instead

Black Migrations: How 13 migrations of African-Americans changed the nation

Sylviane Diouf, visiting professor at Brown Universitys Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, said studying migration compensates for a bias found in conventional depictions of black history.

The slave trade, slavery, emancipation, Jim Crow and civil rights  its mostly what has been done to (African-Americans), Diouf said. But when you look at history through migration, you see how people were agents of their own future.

Diouf and Howard Dodson, director emeritus of the Schomburg center, were the experts behind In Motion, a multimedia exhibit and research project on African-American migrations.

The migration timeline starts in the 15th century with the transatlantic slave trade. From 1492 to 1776, about 6.5 million people came to the Western Hemisphere. Only 1 million of them were Europeans; the rest were enslaved Africans.

The transatlantic slave trade laid the foundation for modern capitalism, generating immense wealth for business enterprises in America and Europe, the exhibit says. At the same time, the devastating effects in Africa paved the way for European colonization of the continent.

Dodson says the slave trade also created a unique New World culture.

A lot of people think about Africa as a country, (but) its a continent with diverse ethnic, religious and cultural groups. The population that was enslaved was drawn from all of these, Dodson said. In the context of the slave experience, they transform into a new people, creating new languages, new religions, new forms of cultural expression.

Most of the millions of slaves brought to the New World went to the Caribbean and South America. An estimated 500,000 were taken directly from Africa to North America. But those numbers were buttressed by the domestic slave trade, which started in the 1760s  a half century before legal importation of slaves ended.

The domestic slave trade displaced about 1.2 million African-Americans from the upper South to the Deep South, Diouf said. People from Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina were forced to go by foot and by train to the Deep South to develop cotton plantations.

The impetus was the cotton gin, invented in 1794. Eli Whitneys machine lowered production costs and helped make cotton fabric affordable. The increased demand led to increased cultivation and created a plantation economy dependent on slave labor. Before Whitneys innovation, about 700,000 slaves lived in the South. By 1850 that population had soared to more than 3 million, according to the National History Education Clearinghouse.

Emancipation after the Civil War brought the hope of freedom, but the reality was more oppression.

The Nicodemus National Historic Site in Kansas commemorates the town founded by blacks who left the South after the Civil War. The side includes the town's former schoolhouse, seen at left.

Slaves prayed for freedom, and then they got it, former slave Patsy Mitchner said in 1937 when interviewed for the Works Progress Administrations oral history of slavery. They was turned out with nowhere to go and nothing to live on. They had no experience in looking out for themselves, and nothing to work with and no land.

Technically Mitchner was wrong. On Jan. 16, 1865, Gen. William T. Sherman issued a field order setting aside 400,000 acres in coastal Georgia, South Carolina and Florida for the new freedmen. But that order was short-lived. President Andrew Johnson, a Confederate sympathizer, returned the property to plantation owners in 1865  just months after the assassination of his predecessor, Abraham Lincoln. Thus another promise was given and broken.

In fact, the only asset many former slaves had was their labor, Painter wrote in "Exodusters." They rented the land they worked, usually paying white landlords with a share of the crop. The landlord kept the books, so the workers invariably came up short.

In her book, Painter quoted a letter that a freed slave from Texas, Jasper Arnold, wrote about his plight.

We are hard working people here  and give hige rent and big interest  we work and work and everry year we jest cand come out evean," Arnold wrote to the governor of Kansas around 1879.

Add in the violence visited upon freed people and conditions were truly abominable. In fact, Painter began researching the circumstances of former slaves because she had a question: Why did people stay in such a horrible situation?

The answer was they didnt, she said.

The new freedmen initially headed west at the urging of recruiters like Benjamin Pap Singleton. He was born into slavery in 1809 in Nashville, Tennessee. When he was 37, he escaped and headed to Detroit. After the Civil War, he came back to Tennessee, where he tried to help blacks buy land. When that failed, he traveled the South, organizing blacks to resettle in Kansas. He eventually headed west with 300 homesteaders in 1873.

His colonies eventually faltered, but his efforts flourished. As conditions in the South became more unbearable, blacks left by the thousands in a movement Harpers Magazine called The Great Negro Exodus. Because of Singletons fliers, many blacks headed to Kansas. But they went north as well.

In fact, so many left the South that a Senate committee investigated the matter. Conspiracy theorists at the time claimed Republicans were settling freedmen in states like Indiana and Kansas for political gain. But a minority report blamed the crisis on repressive Southern Democrats, while noting how leaders like Singleton organized efforts to give blacks a new start.

Here then, we have conclusive proof from the negroes themselves that they have been preparing this movement for many years, the minority committee members wrote in 1879.

Such mobility placed blacks in the center of the American experience, which looks to movement as symbolic of freedom, and a means to start afresh.

What was so devastating in slavery was the inability to move. Given that, we see lots of movement, Painter said. Americans are famously movers. Everywhere you look in American history, you will find people on the move.

That movement continues into the 21st century. Since 1970, more Africans have come directly to the USA than were brought here during the slave trade. According to the Pew Research Center, 1.6 million African immigrants lived the United States in 2016. That's more than double the 547,000 who lived here in 2000.

Dodson notes that migration is once again transforming not only the African-American community, but the entire country.

Migration is not simply a demographic phenomenon. Its cultural, its political, its economic.  Our presence changes the nature of the physical and cultural geography of the United States itself.

Afi-Odelia Scruggs is a journalist and author of "Claiming Kin: Confronting the History of an African American Family."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Exodus: Blacks fled the South in droves more than a century ago, seeking true freedom
(Reuters) - Facebook Inc said on Thursday it had removed 137 pages, groups and Instagram accounts in the United Kingdom and a further 31 in Romania for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior. The individuals behind these accounts represented themselves as far-right and anti-far-right activists and operated fake accounts to engage in hate speech and spread divisive comments on both sides of the political debate in the UK, Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Facebook's cybersecurity policy wrote in a blog post. They frequently posted about local and political news including topics like immigration, free speech, racism, LGBT issues, far-right politics, issues between India and Pakistan, and religious beliefs including Islam and Christianity. About 175,000 accounts followed one or more of these pages, and around 4,500 accounts followed one or more of these Instagram accounts. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)
By Chad Terhune (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration called on Congress to modernize rules for cosmetics safety on Tuesday after it issued an alert warning consumers not to use three cosmetics products sold by Claire's Stores Inc because they tested positive for asbestos, a known carcinogen. The FDA said it would work with Congress to update the regulatory framework that the agency has been operating under for more than 80 years for cosmetics. It said there are currently no legal requirements for any cosmetic manufacturer selling goods to American consumers to test their products for safety. In its safety alert, the FDA identified the products as Claire's eye shadows, contour palette and compact powder and cited the talc used in the products. Claires disputed the FDA test results, saying they show significant errors and have mischaracterized fibers in the products as asbestos. The retailer, which emerged from bankruptcy in October, said, There is no evidence that any products sold by Claires are unsafe. However, out of an abundance of caution, it said it removed the three products in question from stores as well as any remaining talc based cosmetic products. The FDA has come under intensifying pressure from lawmakers and consumer advocates to investigate possible asbestos contamination of talc following a report published by Reuters on Dec. 14 about talc in Johnson & Johnson powders. The Reuters report detailed that J&J knew that the talc in its raw and finished powders sometimes tested positive for small amounts of asbestos from the 1970s into the early 2000s. J&J did not disclose its test results to regulators or consumers. The alleged presence of asbestos in talc products is at issue in thousands of lawsuits filed against J&J. Last month, J&J said it had received federal subpoenas for the first time related to the asbestos litigation and said it is cooperating with the inquiries. J&J and its talc supplier, Imerys Talc America, have said numerous studies and tests by regulators worldwide have shown their talc to be safe and asbestos-free. In response to the FDAs call on Tuesday for new rules, J&J said it supports the agencys efforts to reaffirm the safety of cosmetic talc products. The company said it has backed previous legislative efforts to modernize FDAs regulatory authority over cosmetics. J&J also reiterated Tuesday that for decades global independent laboratories and health authorities have tested Johnsons Baby Powder and have never found asbestos. In 2009, the FDA hired an outside lab to test 34 samples of cosmetic talc powders, including a bottle of J&J's baby powder, as well as raw talc. No asbestos was detected when the results came back a year later. "SHIFT THE SAFETY PARADIGM" The FDA on Tuesday said it would investigate cosmetics manufacturers' sources for talc and what steps they take to test the raw material or their finished products. The agency did not name specific companies. "We also want to know how many cosmetics products contain talc and whether manufacturers have received adverse event reports associated with talc-containing products," the FDA said. In a joint statement on Tuesday, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who separately announced his resignation, and the director of the agency's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Susan Mayne, said federal rules have not keep pace with the cosmetic industry's substantial growth and a global supply chain. "To significantly shift the safety paradigm of cosmetics in the U.S., we would need to work with stakeholders, including Congress, to modernize the outdated regulatory framework that the FDA has been operating under for more than 80 years when it comes to cosmetics," they said in the statement. The FDA said the new rules for cosmetics manufacturers may require companies to report adverse events, provide access to consumer complaints during routine inspections and disclose known allergens on a products label. In the meantime, U.S. regulators are asking cosmetics firms to voluntarily register their products and a list of ingredients, including talc, with the FDA. Asbestos is a mineral often found near talc, a common ingredient in many cosmetics, and if steps are not taken to purify raw talc sufficiently the talc put in consumer products may be contaminated with asbestos, the FDA said. Talc may be used in cosmetics, for example, to prevent caking or to make facial makeup opaque. In 2017, the FDA said it became aware of reports of asbestos contamination in several cosmetics sold by Claire's and another retailer, Justice, which is owned by Ascena Retail Group Inc. The two retailers subsequently removed certain products, such as glitter creams, eye shadows and make-up sets. The FDA then ordered independent tests and the results received in late February confirmed asbestos in three Claire's products and one from Justice. The Justice product had already been recalled from the market. In a statement on Tuesday, Justice said it quickly and responsibly issued a voluntary recall in 2017 out of an abundance of caution. The FDA said Claire's had refused to comply with its request to recall the products that tested positive for asbestos. The FDA said it does not have the authority to mandate a recall, so it issued the safety alert. The United States Public Interest Research Group last May reported the health and safety regulator for the Netherlands ordered Claire's to remove several makeup products from Dutch shops after a study by U.S. PIRG showed contamination with asbestos. Claire's in March 2018, in a statement, questioned the accuracy of asbestos testing by Dutch authorities. It said its own testing at independent laboratories in the European Union and the United States labs found that Claire's products were compliant with all relevant cosmetic safety regulations. Claire's, based in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, operated 2,471 stores in North America and Europe as of August 2018. (Reporting by Chad Terhune; Additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; editing Leslie Adler and Bill Berkrot)
On Wednesday, Fifth Third Bancorp FITB, headquartered at Cincinnati, OH, received the Federal Reserves approval to complete the acquisition of Chicago, IL-based MB Financial, Inc. MBFI. The deal was entered into in May 2018, per which the former had agreed to be merged with the latter, for a total value of $4.7 billion.



Previously, in September 2018, MB Financials common shareholders accorded their assent to the agreement. Notably, MB Financials preferred shareholders votes did not account for two-thirds of the total votes casted in favor of the merger. As a result, now the company will not be merged into Fifth Thirds existing subsidiary and instead, will become an independent subsidiary.



The combined entity will form the fourth largest bank in Chicago, in terms of deposits, with a 6.5% market share. However, shares of Fifth Third have depreciated 15.9%, since the announcement, as investors concerns were visible on the deal value which seems to be highly priced as per market sentiments.



The merged entity will stand second in estimated retail deposits and acquire 20% share of middle-market relationships in Chicago.



Terms of the Deal



Per the deal, each common shareholder of MB Financial will get $54.20 of total value, based on the closing price of Fifth Third as on May 18. Notably, the total value indicates a premium of about 24% to share price of MB Financial as of May 18.



The consideration includes stock equivalent to 1.45 of per Fifth Third share and $5.54 in cash for every MB Financial share held. The deal has been agreed upon 90% stock and 10% cash.



Per the terms, two members of MB Financials board of directors might join the board committee of Fifth Third, on the deals closure.



MB Financial, with about $20 billion in assets, serves middle-market customers as a leader with its strong deposit franchise, customer-centric corporate culture and commercial expertise. On completion of the merger, MB Financials strengths and Fifth Thirds huge corporate lending, capital markets, wealth management and the payments business will benefit customers with the complementary capabilities of both banks.



After-Effects of the Deal



This strategic-fit deal for Fifth Third comes with some financial benefits as well. The merged entity is expected to record an IRR of about 18.5% and be accretive to Fifth Thirds operating EPS in the first year. Moreover, accretion of about 7% is projected in the second year, on realization of full cost savings.



Per Carmichael, this merger is expected to speed up achieving NorthStar financial targets and might improve the prior guidance as well.



Furthermore, the deal will reduce Fifth Thirds regulatory common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio by nearly 45 basis points. The pro forma tangible common equity to tangible assets (TCE) ratio of the combined entity is estimated to be 8.2%.



Bottom Line



We believe the latest acquisition is a befitting one that will support Fifth Thirds future prospects in commercial banking. Post merger, the bank will be able to cater smaller commercial clients, along with the existing large corporate clients, in the highly competitive Chicago market.



The companys repositioning and restructuring efforts, which are still underway, help it reallocate the capital into core markets. Additionally, its focus on cost control and efforts to boost long-term profitability are anticipated to augur well.



Currently, Fifth Third carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Among other banks, M&T Bank Corporation MTB and Enterprise Financial Services Corporation EFSC are worth considering with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), respectively. Both banks have been witnessing upward estimate revisions, for the last 60 days.



Is Your Investment Advisor Fumbling Your Financial Future?



See how you can more effectively safeguard your retirement with a new Special Report, 4 Warning Signs Your Investment Advisor Might Be Sabotaging Your Financial Future.



Click to get it free >>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) : Free Stock Analysis Report



M&T Bank Corporation (MTB) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Enterprise Financial Services Corporation (EFSC) : Free Stock Analysis Report



MB Financial Inc. (MBFI) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
By Gina Cherelus

(Reuters) - A Florida jury on Thursday convicted a former police officer for manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder in the fatal 2015 shooting of a black motorist who was waiting for his car to be towed off the highway.

Nouman Raja, 41, was charged in 2016 after a grand jury found he had used unjustified force when he shot and killed 31-year-old Corey Jones while wearing plainclothes on a highway exit ramp in West Palm Beach. Prosecutors said Raja, who was fired from the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department after the shooting, did not identify himself as a police officer.

Raja looked distraught as the jury read the verdict after five hours of deliberations. He was then was placed in handcuffs and escorted out of the courtroom. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced on April 26.

Relatives of Jones left the West Palm Beach courtroom in tears, hugging each other and raising their hands in praise.

"It was truth that convicted him. It was truth that brought him to justice. It was the truth that sent him to jail," the victim's father, Clinton Jones, told reporters outside. "It was truth that gave us justice for Corey."

Jones' brother, Clinton Jones Jr., said the family knew he was innocent from day one. "From his character alone, it's just impossible for him to do that," he said during a news conference.

Raja's lawyer, Richard Lubin, argued on Wednesday that the police officer feared for his life when Jones pulled out a gun during the roadside encounter, according to WPEC CBS12 News.

Lubin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Raja was driving an unmarked van when he approached Jones early on Oct. 18, 2015, and fired six shots at the victim within 13 seconds, according to prosecutors.

Jones, who was a drummer, had pulled out a .380-caliber handgun that he had legally purchased three days earlier. He was hit three times and died of a gunshot wound to his chest.

Story continues

Audio from the incident was captured on a recording of a roadside assistance call that Jones had placed before Raja arrived. According to prosecutors, the recording showed that Raja did not identify himself as a police officer.

Protesters held a peaceful rally in Palm Beach Gardens four days after Jones was killed, and dozens of mourners attended his funeral more than a week later.

The Rev. Al Sharpton was among those who spoke at the memorial service, where pallbearers wore hats and jerseys of the National Football League's Oakland Raiders, Jones' favorite team.

Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for Jones' family, said at the news conference that the musician was passionate about helping people and playing his music.

"Without that tape recorder, he (Raja) would have lied and his proclamation that he was standing his ground would have reigned supreme," Crump said.

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)
NEO prides itself on being the blockchain for the smart economy. Its founders even project that NEO (currently lagging in 17th place on CoinMarketCap) will be the number one blockchain by 2020. However, even the ultra-optimistic Da Hongfei rather sheepishly admits that date is awfully close. So, how will the Chinese Ethereum reach this lofty goal and where does John deVadoss come in?

I met up with deVadoss at NEO DevCon in Seattle last month to find out what lured an ex-Microsoft MD to the world of blockchain tech. I also wanted to know his reasons behind heading up NEOs latest NGD branch in the Pacific Northwest, and why he believes that NEO, not Ethereum, is the right platform to work on.

John deVadoss will focus on the developer experience

John deVadoss is no stranger to the damp and chilly Seattle climate. In fact, he first came out to this corner of the world to work for Microsoft in 1999. He says, I spent about 16 years there in a variety of roles. Most recently, I built Microsoft Digital from zero to half a billion dollars of business worldwide.

Rather than pause for shock value or await applause, deVadoss bursts out laughing. It was a lot of fun building it up and working with Fortune 100 customers across the world, he admits. However, what hes most proud of from his time working for the worlds number one software company is his involvement with Microsoft.NET.

Previously, he explains, I was GM on Microsoft.NET, the developer platform. I was working on the architecture and the developer engagement. We built V1 of the platform with the focus on developer reach, adoption, and making sure the platform was as easy to use for developers across the world as possible.

And thats exactly what deVadoss will be doing for NEO from the Seattle branch. He will be working on the developer experience alongside co-lead and also ex-Microsoft employee Peng Huang. They will focus on being connected to the developer community, listening to their feedback, and improving NEO.

Story continues

I am a platform guy. I like platforms, I enjoy building platforms, and evangelizing platforms, he states.

Why NEO over Ethereum?

NEO may have some traction in the developer space with the City of Zion developer community and around 100 dApps on its platform, but that pales into insignificance against Ethereums 1,300+ dApps and significantly larger developer community. So, what made John choose NEO?

He crumples his face. They make you learn a whole new language [Solidity]. Why would you put such a barrier to an already complicated system?

John loves NEO for various reasons, but mainly because developers dont have to learn new languages since NEO is compatible with the key ones including JavaScript and C++.

He explains, I love the NEO architecture. I think the algorithm for consensus is unique. We are also polyglot. You pick the language you want to use and you can really go to town.

He continues, As a developer, you look for a few things. Platforms that are productive, that are fun, that you enjoy working on, that have a community you can rely on and a use case so you can create real business value.

So, among his goals over the coming months is to work on making NEO more attractive to developers globally.

We want to build on the framework and make it appealing in terms of time to market and enabling the global community.

He then confesses, Actually, one of the things that lead me to NEO was the global community, its presence in the Americas, in Asia, all around the world We can raise the bar in terms of what is a developer platform.

How will NEO appeal to more developers?

With Da Hongfei announcing on stage that NEO will be number one by 2020, lets zero in a little on what he means.

He asked: What is the number one blockchain? Its not the most expensive or biggest, its to become the most favourable platform by providing best performance, diversified ecosystem, and compliant solutions.

He then went on to add, I want to emphasise one word: platform. NEO for developers is a platform. We need developers.

Its no coincidence that NEO chose to branch out to the city thats the home of developer talent in spades. Both Microsoft and Amazon are headquartered in Seattle.

Hongfei said, Probably nobody knows better how to win a platform competition better than Microsoft.

So, deVadoss will be working day in, day out on enhancing the developer experience and attracting more developers to NEO. He says, There are probably 20 million+ developers across the world

Success is increasing the reach of the of the NEO platform to these 20 million+ developers If we can get double digits reach, that would be a good first step. Thats how we measure the success of the platform, and we have the foundation to be the number one.

He finishes by adding that we should not underestimate the importance of blockchain nor how far it will go. The smart economy may still be in the analogue phase, but just look at cloud technology a little over a decade ago.

This is like the cloud in 2006 or 2007. Whats happened in 12 years? The world has changed. Whos not using the cloud?

Whether the NEO team with Microsoft talent on its side will lure more developers to its fold remains to be seen. But after speaking to deVadoss, I get the distinct sense that it wont be for lack of trying.

The post Former Microsoft MD John deVadoss wants to make NEO the worlds best developer platform appeared first on Coin Rivet.
Eurostar passengers faced lengthy delays as France tested customs checks to prepare for a no-deal Brexit (Picture: Getty)

Eurostar passengers and lorries have faced delay as French officials tested border checks that could be put in place in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

According to reports, Eurostar passengers faced queues of up to two hours while lorries were stuck in long traffic jams amid the tightened checks.

Unions have voiced concerns over the predicted increase in their workload post-Brexit, with customs officials saying measures put in place so far will not be enough to deal with the aftermath of a no-deal Brexit, including having to check every vehicle travelling to or from the UK.

French Customs on day 2 instigating what I think are 3rd Country reinforced checks ahead of No Deal Brexit on all passengers at Eurostar terminal, (Calais too on freight) douane asking everyone (incl EU/UK) after bag search why in France, & for how long = lengthy queues/delays pic.twitter.com/RrrownV21R  Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) March 7, 2019

 so the interesting thing  the French customs extended controls involved manually checking every passport and asking every passenger 2 or 3 questions AFTER we had passed first stage French and then British passport control and bag scan so controls not so juxtaposed pic.twitter.com/f7o8PSZDqn  Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) March 7, 2019

Their work-to-rule action in protest started on Monday in Calais and moved to Eurostars terminal in Gare du Nord  sparking delays for both lorry drivers using Eurotunnel as well as Eurostar passengers.

READ MORE

Cowboy builder jailed after conning families out of 220,000

Sky News political editor Faisal Islam tweeted pictures from the Eurostar terminal, saying French Customs were carrying out what appeared to be 3rd Country reinforced checks ahead of No Deal Brexit causing lengthy queues/delays that could last for days.

Story continues

Stephen Dunbar-Johnson, international president of The New York Times Company, tweeted after getting caught up by the delays.

He tweeted: Three passport controls, only two baggage scanners functioning. Trains severely delayed. A Douanier told me, this will be what it is like after Brexit. Back to 1970s.

Long lines at Gare du Nord for Eurostar passengers as French Doaune conduct a work to rule in preperation of Brexit. 3 pport controls, only 2 baggage scanners functioning. Trains severly delayed. A Douanier told me, this will be what it is like after Brexit. Back to 1970s.  S Dunbar-Johnson (@SDunbarJ) March 6, 2019

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has warned that tailbacks at the Calais could be putting the lives and livelihoods of lorry drivers at risk.

Chief executive Richard Burnett said: Since Brexit discussions began, we have been voicing our concerns that the number of customs agents currently employed will be insufficient to tackle the new procedures.

The French union officials claim that the action is aimed at showing what will happen after Brexit is totally unacceptable.

Many of our members caught up in the queues are bearing the brunt of this action.

They will be stuck with no facilities and will inevitably suffer financial losses as a result of delayed deliveries  particularly those carrying perishable goods.
Complaints relating to Mr Miller began in 2015. Source: Norfolk Trading Standards

A builder who scammed families out of thousands of pounds with potentially dangerous work has been jailed for four years.

John Miller, 46, from Costessey, Norfolk, was found guilty in January of fraudulent trading and money laundering after an investigation by the Norfolk Trading Standards (NTS).

Norwich Crown Court heard that Mr Miller continued to accept contracts for building work and taking money from customers in the knowledge that he couldnt complete the work properly or at all.

Properties were often left unfinished and had multiple problems, including uneven walls, no heating, sloping floors, ill-fitting doors and in one case a roof that began to sag under its own weight.

Most projects were left unfinished. Source: NTS

During one project, which was never completed, he took holidays to Las Vegas, New York, Greece and Tenerife.

Margaret Dewsbury, chairman of Norfolk County Councils communities committee, said: It was dreadful to hear that in one case a parent was left with a new born baby in a house with no heating or hot water in March for weeks.

In all the cases the crimes led to a lot of stress, distress and considerable financial loss for people who were simply looking to make improvements to their homes.

NTS decided to prosecute Miller after eight of his customers complained about his work. Problems included sagging floors. Source: NTS

His victims used their life savings, took out bank loans and spent over 120,000 to undo Mr Millers damage and finish jobs.

They suffered from sleep deprivation and severe stress, prosecutor Alison Lambert said.

Judge Stephen Holt said: Ive not seen a single ounce of remorse from him.
Marine Le Pen could face up to three years in prison for tweets from 2015. | Source: Shutterstock

The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen faces three years imprisonment and a possibly 75,000 ($90,000) fine over tweets she shared four years ago showing ISIS atrocities.

The 50-year-old former presidential candidate, President of the National Rally political party (previously named National Front), is being prosecuted for distributing violent images, few weeks after the Paris terror attacks in November 2015, where 130 people were killed, according to reports.

She was charged last Thursday following her 2015 tweets that showed executions by IS extremists, including the killing of American reporter James Foley. The charges pose a slap on the French parliament whose party is still in crisis after losing to President Emmanuel Macron in 2015. Last year, she faulted a court judgment which ordered a psychiatric test in what appears to be part of a broader investigation into her tweets. She described the ongoing investigation as being politically persecuted.

Marine Le Pen will be prosecuted for anti-ISIS tweets.

She faces 3 years in prison & a 75,000 euro fine.

There is no free speech in Europe anymore.

America had better wake up & FIGHT for our free speech rights before they're gone, too!  Kimberly Roberts (@12253102) March 6, 2019

Beyond the anti-ISIS tweets, Le Pen is also under a formal investigation over her alleged misuse of European Parliament funds while she was an MEP. Investigators are examining claims that 5 million euros ($4.4m) of parliamentary funding went to National Front assistants not working for MEPs but instead working on party business in France.

Read the full story on CCN.com.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Thursday he wanted to extend the European Union's naval mission in the Mediterranean, setting the stage for another standoff with his Italian anti-immigration peer Matteo Salvini.

The mandate of the Sophia mission, which contributed to lowering the number of refugees and migrants reaching Europe across the sea from Libya, expires at the end of March.

Italy has previously threatened to withdraw from it unless the migrants rescued at sea by Sophia vessels are not shared out among EU states rather than being brought to Italian ports, as is currently the case.

"I want Sophia to be continued and will do what is in my power to support the operation," Seehofer told journalists in Brussels on the sidelines of talks among EU interior ministers.

Salvini, who did not attend the Thursday meeting, has built his political reputation in Italy on an uncompromising anti-immigration stance, and the EU is concerned he may be looking for another public fight on the matter to win points at home ahead of EU parliamentary elections in May.

Other EU states are divided over migration, with some not keen to welcome in migrants picked up from the Mediterranean.

A diplomat in Rome said Salvini was keen to see Operation Sophia concentrate on training the Libyan coastguard, so its boats could stop migrants in Libyan waters and bring them back to the north African state rather than continue towards Europe.

Political tensions over migration remain high despite the fact that the numbers of new arrivals via the central Mediterranean, where Sophia ships patrol, have plummeted.

Italy says just 335 migrants have come ashore since the start of this year against 5,457 in the same period last year.

A public spat over migration between Rome and Berlin kept EU national leaders locked in difficult negotiations through the night during a summit on migration last June. The next EU summit is due on March 21-22.

(Reporting by Peter Maushagen and Clare Roth, Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer in Rome; Writing by Gabriela Baczynska)
One person was killed and 17 were injured when a grenade exploded at a bus terminal in India's restive state of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

The blast in the city of Jammu comes amid heightened India-Pakistan tensions after 40 Indian troops were killed on February 14 in the part of Kashmir that New Delhi controls, sparking the biggest standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbours in years.

Jammu police chief M.K. Sinha told reporters that the grenade was lobbed at the bus stand, and the explosion left "approximately 18" people injured.

One of the injured later died during treatment at the hospital, an officer at the regional police headquarters told AFP.

Police said the bus hit by the grenade was leaving for Pathankot city in Punjab state when the blast occurred, with many local media reports putting the number of injured at 28.

Purported videos of the incident circulating on social media showed injured people lying on the ground with locals trying to help them.

The blast comes weeks after the February bombing, which was the deadliest attack on Indian forces in a 30-year insurgency by militants seeking either independence for Kashmir or a merger with Pakistan. Tens of thousands have died in the violence.

India and Pakistan control parts of the disputed Himalayan region, but both claim it in its entirety.

New Delhi has long accused Islamabad of supporting insurgents in Kashmir, and the attack last month -- claimed by the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) -- sparked a major escalation in tensions.

In response, New Delhi said it carried out air strikes on February 26, targeting what it called a JeM training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, and killing "a very large number of JeM" militants who were planning more attacks in India.

The Pakistani government said that no such sites or targets were hit, and on February 27 launched its own air strike as a show of force.

In an ensuing dogfight, at least one Indian aircraft was shot down and the pilot captured by Pakistan. India claimed it had also shot down a Pakistani fighter.

Story continues

As fears rose that the two nuclear-armed nations might enter their fourth war, Pakistan released the pilot in what it called a "gesture of peace".

This helped ease tensions, although both countries have continued to fire artillery and mortars over their de facto border, the Line of Control, in Kashmir, killing civilians on both sides.

Indian forces have also fought gun battles with militants and arrested hundreds of people since the February bombing.

Jammu is largely a Hindu-dominated area of the contested region. It has seen militant attacks in the past, despite little or no support for armed rebels that enjoy widespread public backing elsewhere in the region.

Police suggested that the blast on Thursday could be aimed at fomenting communal tensions in Jammu.

Authorities imposed a curfew for several days in Jammu in the wake of the February 14 attack after Hindu mobs attacked and set fire to properties belonging to Kashmiri Muslims.

bb-pvz-ja-stu/qan/amz
By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin LONDON (Reuters) - Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, a protege of Irans supreme leader who helped oversee the execution of political prisoners in 1988, was named chief of the judiciary on Thursday, a job that positions him to undermine the influence of moderates. Despite his role in executions as deputy prosecutor in Tehran, Raisi's promotion will make him a contender to succeed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Raisi, a former presidential candidate who is seen as close to the elite Revolutionary Guards, replaced Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani. Also a potential candidate for the supreme leader post, Larijani is accused by rights groups of condoning widespread violations of the rights of political detainees. The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Larijani last year for human rights abuses. He has said Iran's judiciary is one of the fairest in the world. Appointed by the supreme leader, the head of the judiciary holds significant power in Iran, a country that has long used its powerful legal system to crack down on political dissent. Iran says its judiciary is independent, and its judgments and rulings are not influenced by political interests. "Larijanis work as the head of judiciary was not acceptable," Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi told Reuters. "But to replace him with Raisi, who had a role in the past in extrajudicial execution and massacre of political prisoners, will taint the judiciary even more ... It is replacing bad with worse." AUDIO TAPE Raisi ran in presidential elections in 2017, criticizing pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani for signing a deal with the United States and other powers to curb Irans nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions. In a fiery election speech, Rouhani accused Raisi of being a pawn of the security services and said Iranians would not vote for "those who have only known how to execute and jail people". Raisi's failure in the elections was widely attributed to a then 28-year-old audio tape which surfaced in 2016 and purportedly highlighted his role in the executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988. In the recording, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the deputy supreme leader at the time, said the executions included pregnant women and 15-year-old girls and were the biggest crimes committed by the Islamic Republic. Montazeri's son was arrested and sentenced to jail for release of the tape. Raisi prosecuted the case. Raisi said last year that the trials of political prisoners were fair, and he should be rewarded for eliminating the armed opposition in the early years of the revolution. "It's my honor that I fought against hypocrisy," Raisi said, using a term Iranian officials use when referring to the main opposition groups of the 1980s. In a report in 2018, Amnesty International said the lowest estimates put the number executed at around 5,000. "The real number could be higher, especially because little is still known about the names and details of those who were rearrested in 1988 and extrajudicially executed in secret soon after arrest." Raisi's office could not immediately be reached for comment. AMBITIOUS CLERIC Although Raisi failed in the 2017 elections, he has remained outspoken, expressing his conservative views on the economy and foreign policy. Echoing the views of Khamenei, Raisi has said Iran should be self-sufficient in production of essential goods, so it can resist against Western sanctions on its missile program and regional military presence. He is currently a member of the Assembly of Experts, an influential clerical body that selects the supreme leader. "Raisi is in Khamenei's circle of trust. He has been one of Khamenei's students and his thoughts are very close to the Supreme Leader's," former lawmaker Jamileh Kadivar told Reuters. Raisi was not well known until 2016 when Khamenei appointed him the custodian of Astan Qods Razavi, a multi-billion dollar religious conglomerate that owns mines, textile factories, a pharmaceutical plant and even major oil and gas firms. Although some believe Raisi lacks the charisma to replace Khamenei, he shares his deep distrust of the West, limiting U.S. chances of pressuring Tehran to change its domestic and foreign policies if he becomes supreme leader. RISE TO POWER Raisi was born into a religious family in Mashhad, Iran's second biggest city and home to some of its most sacred sites. He lost his father at the age of five, but followed his footsteps to become a cleric. As a young student at a religious seminary in the holy city of Qom, he took part in protests against the Western-backed Shah. After the 1979 Islamic revolution, Raisi's contacts with top religious leaders in Qom made him a trusted figure in the judiciary. He was deputy head of the judiciary for ten years before being appointed prosecutor-general in 2014. Last June, Raisi said "internal threats to the Islamic Republic are more dangerous than external threats", a clear signal that he would not tolerate dissent. Yet Raisi, a father of two, has in the past surprised many by his unconventional initiatives. Although his father-in-law, a hardline cleric, banned concerts in the holy city of Mashhad, Raisi met an Iranian rapper during his election campaign and said music can be used to promote religious ideas. He is also one of the few senior clerics who has publicly spoken about his wife, a university professor, saying women should be encouraged to work and help society move forward. Larijani's appointment as the head of the judiciary in 2009 coincided with an uprising in Iran when millions of people came to the streets to protest against the disputed election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the biggest unrest in the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution. Hundreds of protesters, activists, journalists and opposition figures were arrested and put on mass trials shown on state television. Raisi, then deputy head of the judiciary, defended the execution of a dozen protesters in 2009, saying they were linked to "anti-revolutionary" and "terrorist" groups. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Babak Dehghanpisheh and Giles Elgood)
Why do societies believe in vengeful Gods? (Getty)

The sort of vengeful, punitive God seen in the Old Testament might have been a factor in helping humans form larger societies, a new study has suggested.

Researchers from Harvard University recruited 2228 people from Asia, Africa and South America, who practised religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and ancestor worship.

In a psychological coin game, the volunteers were asked to share coins between themselves and others, including people from their own religious group.

The researchers found that people who believed in punitive, vengeful gods were more likely to share their coins with people of the same religion, even if they were far away.

Read More

Blind man asked to leave shopping centre because of his guide dog

Norwegian woman films avalanche crashing towards house

Pub offers cheapest Sunday roast in the country for just 1

The researchers believe that the result may indicate that religion was a key factor in allowing early humans to cooperate on a large scale.

Researcher Martin Lang at Harvard University said, In two experiments with 2228 participants from 15 populations, ratings of gods as monitoring and punishing predicted resource-sharing with co-religionists.

Sharing with outgroups varied between sites: in the absence of intergroup hostility, moralizing gods may promote cooperation with outgroups.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
By James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) - Two Saudi sisters fleeing what they described as beatings and repression in their home country have been granted an extension to stay in Hong Kong until next month, their lawyer said. The sisters, who have renounced their Muslim faith, arrived in the Chinese territory in September 2018 after fleeing a family holiday in Sri Lanka and had booked a connecting flight to Australia. The women said the connecting flight was canceled and they were intercepted by officials who tried to put them on a flight to Riyadh. They managed to escape and enter Hong Kong as visitors, lawyer Michael Vidler said. They have been in hiding in the city ever since.. "Hong Kong immigration authorities have confirmed that the presence of the HK Saudi sisters in Hong Kong will be further tolerated until April 8, 2019," Vidler wrote in a statement posted on his firm's Facebook page. The sisters are the second high-profile example in Asia this year of Saudi women seeking to escape their country. An 18-year-old Saudi woman fled her family in January saying she feared for her life and barricaded herself in a Bangkok hotel room before eventually being granted asylum in Canada. The sisters, aged 18 and 20, whose identities have not been revealed, say they could face death if they are deported. Saudi Arabia's Consul General in Hong Kong had earlier declined to comment on the case when reached by Reuters. "We are urgently seeking clarification from Hong Kong immigration authorities and continue to press for an urgent determination of the sisters' visas to a 3rd country place of safety," Vidler said. Amnesty International last month urged Hong Kong authorities not to return the sisters to Saudi Arabia, saying they had fled the kingdom after "repeated abuse by male relatives". The sisters said in a statement that the Saudi authorities have been actively looking for them but they weren't able to leave Hong Kong as their passports had been canceled. "We feel like fish trapped in a little oasis that is rapidly drying out. We are in constant fear of being found by the Saudi authorities and our family and forced to return to Saudi Arabia," they said. (Editing by Nick Macfie)
NEW ORLEANS  As she lay in her hospital bed a week after giving birth, Felicia Wests body started sending out warning signals.

Her blood pressure spiked. She complained of a splitting headache.

For three hours as she headed toward a stroke, medical records show no one at Touro Infirmary called a doctor to respond to danger signs for any new mother. They gave her painkillers and an ice pack  and they made her wait.

Then, after a series of handoffs, a doctor in training finally was tapped to deal with Wests blood pressure. The doctor was in no hurry.

"OK, well it will be a while before I can see her because I have a lot of people before her, she responded at 6:45 p.m., the hospitals nursing notes show.

Before dawn, West was dead.

Felicia West, a single mom who had done janitorial work before her pregnancy, turned 21 in the hospital while being treated for complications following the birth of her premature son. Her baby would eventually be fine. But West would not.

For years, hospitals have blamed rising maternal deaths and injuries on problems beyond their control. Almost universally theyve pointed to poverty and pre-existing medical conditions as the driving factors in making America the most dangerous place in the developed world to give birth.

That narrative shifts the focus away from examining how doctors and nurses perform in maternity units. When Wests family sued, Touro denied that its medical care had anything to do with what happened to her.

But a USA TODAY investigation shows that Wests death  along with several other deaths and close calls at Touro  cannot be explained by demographics alone. The data, medical records and lawsuits suggest a complicated mix of misdiagnoses, delayed care and a failure to follow safety measures.

West didnt get the rapid intervention for dangerous blood pressure called for in national treatment guidelines. Another woman nearly bled to death after an emergency C-section performed by doctors in training. A mother showing signs of infection instead was given tests by trainee doctors that their supervisors later testified were of questionable merit, including one that was extremely painful and another for a rare condition. She wound up with gangrene and amputations of her legs and hands.

Story continues

These kinds of life-threatening childbirth complications are happening at Touro more often than at most hospitals. It is one of 120 hospitals where mothers suffer severe complications at far higher rates, USA TODAY found by examining billing records from 7 million births in 13 states.

MORE IN THIS SERIES

Women at these outlier hospitals were more than twice as likely to have had blood transfusions, hysterectomies, seizures, heart attacks, strokes or other indicators that their deliveries turned deadly.

Explore USA TODAY's database of childbirth complication rates here.

With national childbirth harm numbers soaring  700 women dying every year, 50,000 more injured  a focus on hospitals with the highest rates could provide a road map to improvement. Studies have found half of mothers deaths and severe injuries could be prevented or reduced with better medical care.

One of the nations leading childbirth safety experts called hospitals rates of severe childbirth complications  the numbers USA TODAY produced for this report  a window into the opportunity for improving maternal care.

We all think were giving great care and we are treating everybody equally, said Dr. Elliott Main, medical director of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative. The data doesnt support that.

Hospitals, Main said, too often respond defensively instead of using the data to evaluate their care practices.

In a statement to USA TODAY, Touro said it serves a medically vulnerable patient population and called the analysis of hospital data unsound. As a result, the hospital said, it would not answer questions about it.

"Lifestyle diseases, the high cost of healthcare, delaying or non-compliance with medical treatment, limited care coordination, poor health, high rates of poverty and high rates of morbidity are all realities of our State and community, it said.

Childbirth safety advocates called the hospitals response troubling, particularly because a majority of women who deliver at Touro are black. Nationally, black mothers are dying from childbirth at three to four times the rate of white mothers; they suffer severe complications twice as often.

We find the responses the hospitals have are full of these dog whistles that are anti-black and anti-woman, said Monifa Bandele, senior vice president of MomsRising, a national organization working on maternal justice issues. This statement is a perfect example of how black women feel entering this hospital: Youre poor, youre uneducated, youre fat.

At some hospitals, more women are harmed

Hospitals across the nation record details of every patient's treatment in computerized billing records, and most report it to their states. Researchers use that data to study hospital care and trends. But an individual hospital's rate based on that data is not usually public.

USA TODAY was able to collect the data from 13 states and use it to scour nearly half of the deliveries nationwide over the past four years for indicators of severe childbirth complications.

The analysis tallied complications at 1,027 hospitals using a formula developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  the same one used for years by academics, big insurance companies, hospitals and others to track and study women harmed from childbirth. Touro participates in two programs that calculate rates this way, one run by Blue Cross Blue Shield, another by the state of Louisiana.

Find childbirth complication rates at nearly 1,000 hospitals across the U.S.

How often do women's deliveries turn deadly? USA TODAY calculated rates of life-threatening complications in 13 states where we obtained data. Used by hospitals, insurance companies and researchers, these rates are often kept secret from patients. Until now. Search our database: hospitalrates.usatoday.com

Search hospitals

Even though pregnancy and childbirth is the No. 2 reason for hospitalization in the United States, the federal government allows hospitals to keep their childbirth complication rates private. USA TODAYs analysis marks the first time rates for hundreds of hospitals are easily available.

Childbirth complication rates at most hospitals were less than 1.5 percent. But at a small group  about one out of eight hospitals studied  women experienced potentially deadly deliveries at least twice as often as at the typical hospital.

Those 120 hospitals come in all types, sizes and locations  from New York City to the hills of Kentucky to the California desert. While many deal with patients who show up at the hospital with challenging medical conditions, the outliers defy categorization, serving every imaginable mix of patients.

There are reasons some hospitals might have higher rates. Poor women often have less consistent access to prenatal care. Black mothers are more likely than white mothers to have hypertension, blood disorders and other conditions that complicate pregnancies. A couple dozen of the hospitals are specialty centers that care for women with extreme underlying health problems.

But the list also includes community hospitals in cities, suburbs and small towns where many routine births typically occur.

What's more, at the 120 hospitals with the highest severe complication rates, it wasnt only poor women or black women who experienced life-threatening deliveries more often.

Compare the outcomes for white women, and the same hospitals jump out. White mothers at the outlier hospitals were three times as likely to experience potentially fatal complications. The complication rates also were higher for mothers with health insurance.

Safety advocates said that without public access to data, it has been too easy for hospitals to excuse poor outcomes by blaming mothers health problems.

Its a valid point, but its not a point that hospitals can use to simply not do better, said Elizabeth Dawes Gay, a founding co-director of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, which advocates for racial justice in women's health. They also have to be willing to change, to look at their practices, their policies, their providers and ask: Where are we failing women?

Hospitals vary widely in how many maternity patients they serve each year. Some in USA TODAYs analysis handle 1,000 or more deliveries annually; others deliver only about 100.

The billing records USA TODAY obtained also do not detail every medical problem a patient had before giving birth, making it impossible to gauge how many risky cases a hospital faced or whether doctors and nurses could have prevented problems. For instance, theres no way to tell whether a woman was obese, which can be a risk factor.

Looking more deeply at New Orleans shows the kinds of differences among hospitals the analysis exposed. Seven hospitals deliver all the citys babies. Of them, Touros maternity patients were far more likely to face serious complications.

Touros rate was 2.8 percent, or about 360 of more than 13,000 women who delivered there from 2014 to 2017. The next highest rates in the city were Ochsner Baptist Medical Center (1.9 percent) and Tulane Lakeside Hospital (1.5 percent)  two other hospitals that also take on risky births.

No matter how USA TODAY sliced the data, moms delivering at Touro experienced worse outcomes than women in similar situations who went to other hospitals.

Compare the births of poor mothers at Touro with poor mothers at other area hospitals  Touros moms had more complications. Compare black mothers. White mothers. Mothers with private insurance. Touros patients fared worse.

The pattern held true with patients coming from individual ZIP codes.

ZIP code 70119 is just blocks northwest of the French Quarter, but it's a world apart. It is one of Louisianas poorest areas.

About half of the 1,800 women from the area who gave birth from 2014 to 2017 went to Touro, where more than 4 percent of them experienced severe complications. The complication rate for women in the same ZIP code who went to the other hospitals: 1.3 percent, less than one-third.

Those same differences played out in almost every ZIP code across New Orleans.

Hospital records offer answers, and more questions

Touro Infirmary is known to many in New Orleans by its longtime slogan that its the place Where babies come from. It is among hospitals where USA TODAY found women are suffering severe childbirth complications at twice the rate of other hospitals.

A short walk from the historic St. Charles Streetcar Line, Touro Infirmary has been a cornerstone of health care in New Orleans for more than 165 years. It has long marketed itself as the place Where babies come from.

When Felicia West fell in her bathroom at home and struck her six-month-pregnant belly on the tub, she headed to Touro to get checked out.

Wests pregnancy had been healthy, said her sister and roommate, Renata McClendon. Not even morning sickness. Hospital records document prenatal care, prenatal vitamins and no history of high blood pressure. They say she was obese, however, weighing more than 200 pounds while pregnant, at just over 5 feet tall.

Shortly after arriving at Touro in October 2012, West had a seizure  her first ever, McClendon said  and went into respiratory arrest. When doctors became concerned Wests placenta had detached, they delivered her baby by emergency C-section. The baby boy would eventually be fine. But West would not.

During her stay at Touro, West developed a complex set of symptoms. Along with the seizure, odd blood test results and problems with her kidneys led a doctor to diagnose a rare blood disorder.

He was wrong, a misdiagnosis and improper treatment course that later would be the only care failure cited by a state medical review panel. The panel otherwise concluded that there was nothing to indicate the hospital and other staff deviated from the standard of care.

Protect yourself

You can help protect your own life  or a loved one who is pregnant. This printable guide to take with you lists the most important questions you can ask the doctor and the hospital about their safety practices.

Get the Guide

After West was still hospitalized a week after birth and being treated for that diagnosis, records show, her blood pressure shot up to dangerously high levels: 177/67, 171/90, 174/103.

Nearly a year earlier, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists had warned doctors that pressures above 160 may be the most important predictor of a coming stroke in pregnant women and new moms that if not treated expeditiously can result in maternal death.

For three hours, nurses recorded those blood pressure spikes in Wests chart. Then, according to medical records obtained by plaintiffs attorneys as part of the familys lawsuit, over the course of nearly another hour a nurse began calling and paging one doctor after another to find someone to help. Some were off duty, others on-call for them.

The nurse ran through five doctors before she found someone who would address Wests blood pressure: a doctor learning internal medicine skills through one of Touros training programs. Even when told the latest reading was 175/94, the resident didnt react as if Wests blood pressure was an emergency.

Renata McClendon is tortured by thoughts that she somehow didnt do more to ensure better care for her sister Felicia West. I feel like, as a big sister, I failed at that, she said. But I also feel that the doctors failed at it too, because they're in the medical profession. They went to school for it. They should've known that something was happening with her.

That evening, McClendon got call on her cellphone from her sisters hospital room.

I kept saying, Hello, hello,  McClendon said. West didnt say a word.

A nurse took the phone.

Whats wrong with her? McClendon asked. She recalls the nurse saying: Shes being kind of stubborn. She doesnt want to talk on the phone.

McClendon knew better. She hopped in her car. By the time she arrived at the hospital, her 21-year-old sister seemed in a daze.

It was almost like she was having an out-of-body experience, McClendon said. She would look at us, turn away, look at us, turn away.

McClendon rushed to the nursing station. Somethings wrong with her. Somethings wrong with her.

That was the last time McClendon would see her sister alive.

Trainee doctors repeatedly cited in deadly deliveries

Over the years, the OB/GYN training program at Touro has drawn concern from a national accreditation group that oversees medical education. Four recent lawsuits accused trainee doctors at Touro of failing to order the right tests, being slow to recognize emerging complications and making surgical or medication mistakes.

Of the 120 high-complication hospitals identified by USA TODAYs analysis, at least 56 are training sites for OB/GYN residency programs, and 22 of them have accreditation histories that include warnings, probation or both. University hospitals tend to be major medical centers and often are OB/GYN training sites.

In 2015, Nathan Nedopak suited up to go into the operating room, thinking he was going to be with his wife, Jenny, for her emergency C-section. Instead, he encountered a shocking scene: their baby already delivered, his wife unconscious  and a lot of blood.

As Nedopak was taken to a side table to meet their newborn daughter, the doctors whispering near his wife "looked panicky," he said. A woman was talking to someone on the phone.

All three of the doctors in the operating room were trainees in Touro's medical education program, run by the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, according to the family's lawsuit. Two were residents. newly graduated from medical school and still learning to be obstetricians. The third had recently completed her residency but was a fellow, not yet board-certified as an obstetrician.

No OB/GYN faculty member was present when Jenny Nedopak's delivery turned dangerous in 2015, the lawsuit and the Nedopak's attorney allege. Trainees didn't call their professors for help until 20 minutes after the baby was delivered and Jenny was hemorrhaging.

RonJana Bunch, 19 helps her mother Shantel Smith put on her prosthetic legs. Everything I do takes time and it takes more effort, Smith said. You get up everyday, you want to look pretty and normal like other women. But you're always going to look different. You know, that's been the hardest part. But the way I cope with that is handicap is a state of mind. So, as long as I'm not handicapped in my state of mind, I'm fine. It's basically mind over matter."

In addition to Nedopak, Shantel Smith  after a stillbirth at Touro in 2011  nearly died from a pelvic infection, unrecognized so long by a team of mostly trainee doctors that she developed sepsis and gangrene, her lawsuit says. Doctors had to amputate her right hand, most of the fingers on her left hand and both of her legs below her knees.

Nicole Phillips stopped breathing the day after she gave birth in 2014 and spent 19 months in a coma before dying. Her family has accused Touro, nurses and doctors  several of them also trainees  of giving her too much pain medication after her C-section and failing to quickly address signs that she was having problems breathing, according to a lawsuit filed last year.

Jessiffi Francois died from blood clots in her lungs in 2014 after a trainee doctor failed to send her home with clot-reducing drugs after delivery, her family says in a lawsuit filed in December. Francois had a family history of blood clots. She had been on such medications during her pregnancy and while hospitalized after the delivery, records say.

Jenny and Nathan Nedopak said that before her delivery went bad, they hadnt given much thought to residents being involved in her care. They just assumed experienced physicians would be there, too.

Jenny Nedopak remembers only the first part of her emergency C-section  needed because her babys heart rate had slowed during labor. The trainee doctors started to deliver the babys head, but they couldnt get it out.

There was a lot of yanking. The whole table was rocking, she said. Then the anesthesiologist put her under.

After delivery, the OB/GYN fellow discovered Jenny Nedopaks uterus had ruptured, court records say. Bleeding from ruptures can be fatal. Only then, the familys lawsuit alleges, did the trainee doctors call their LSU professors to help perform a hysterectomy to stop the bleeding.

Jenny Nedopak lost massive amounts of blood and needed another lifesaving surgery several hours later.

The Nedopaks lawsuit says that extensive uterine damage occurred due to aggressive and inexperienced delivery maneuvers by the residents. The doctors, as well as Touro and LSU officials, had no comment.

In court records, Touro and other health care providers have generally denied the malpractice allegations in lawsuits filed over the care received by Nedopak, Smith and Phillips. The suit over Francois death is so recent that Touro and other defendants havent yet filed responses.

There is no national requirement that a professor be in the room when OB/GYN residents and fellows treat patients or do surgery. Faculty only must be immediately available.

Jamal Wright said excitement turned to horror in the hours after his then-girlfriend Nicole Phillips gave birth. I expected her to get the best care possible. That didn't happen though, said Wright, who is raising their daughter, Janaya.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education lets programs determine the level of supervision needed based on each trainees skills and each patients needs. Even then, the group allows supervision to come in many forms, including by other residents and fellows  or professors reachable by phone.

Accreditation records show the LSU OB/GYN training program that uses Touro as its primary teaching site has drawn concern from the council. It was placed on warning status from February 2018 until last month and probationary status from 2005 to 2007.

Reasons for the actions are kept confidential by the privately run council. According to the council's records, warning status was created to let a program know when the Review Committee is seriously concerned about its performance. Probationary status reflects a higher level of concern. Both actions are relatively rare across the country.

Asked about the 2018 warning, LSU spokeswoman Leslie Capo said only that it had nothing to do with patient care and was addressed. She wouldnt say whether resident supervision was an issue.

Capo sent repeated statements to USA TODAY suggesting that Hurricane Katrina was the reason behind its OB/GYN programs 2005 probation. Yet a 2008 medical journal article  written by OB/GYN officials at the university  says the residency program was put on probation before Katrina for inadequate clinical experience in training.

The CEO of Touros parent company urged LSU officials to make sure residents didnt respond to USA TODAYs queries, according to internal emails obtained through a public record request.

Residents speaking to the media could have far-reaching ramifications, wrote Gregory Feirn, CEO of LCMC Health.

LSU spokeswoman Capo also objected to USA TODAYs continued reporting.

We told you that the warning had nothing to do with patient care. Period, she said in an email. Your emails make it seem that you are planning to link our accreditation status to maternal morbidity and mortality. THERE IS NO LINK. It has no place in your story.

Hospital explanations dont hold water

Like Touro, hospitals across the country blame their high complication rates on demographics. A closer look at them indicates thats not a full explanation.

About 30 miles outside New York City, Westchester Medical Center has a complication rate double its state median and three times the median of all hospitals examined by USA TODAY. Like Touro, it is a primary teaching site for new doctors learning to become obstetricians.

Medical center officials said the rate is entirely driven by maternity patients with underlying medical problems, and they said the residency program has no effect on that.

Healthy mothers rarely deliver at the center, said communications director Andrew LaGuardia. Here, all are considered high-risk.

Westchester is among 17 maternity hospitals designated by New York to take on more complex cases. Fourteen had lower complication rates than Westchester.

In Texas, officials at University Hospital in San Antonio explained its complication rate of 6.9 percent  more than four times the median  by saying its patients are uniquely complex.

University Hospital, also an OB/GYN teaching site, said it could be fairly compared only to a tiny group of specialty hospitals in Texas. Asked to identify peers, officials named three  University of Texas Medical Branch Hospital in Galveston, Ben Taub Hospital in Houston and Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

All three have lower rates, USA TODAY found. And Universitys rate was more than four times higher than one of them, the UT hospital in Galveston.

You know, they're probably not true apples to apples, University chief medical officer Dr. Bryan Alsip said after being shown the numbers.

While many hospitals with the highest rates pointed to patients poverty, the USA TODAY analysis identified plenty of hospitals serving high concentrations of poor women or black women with far lower complication rates.

Among the hospitals where most maternity patients are black, just over half had complication rates twice the norm, meaning nearly half had lower rates.

And, among hundreds of hospitals where two-thirds of mothers giving birth were on Medicaid, only one in five had complication rates twice the norm. Almost 100 of those hospitals rates were below the median.

In the heart of Baltimore, Mercy Medical Center  the largest birthing hospital in the city, delivering one of every five babies  is surrounded by poverty. Its maternity patients race and Medicaid status nearly match Touro Infirmarys.

Yet, Mercys rate of childbirth complications was far lower than Touros: At 1.4 percent, it matched the norm across the nation. Black mothers delivering at Mercy also bucked the national trend among delivery patients. Their severe complications were half the overall rate from USA TODAYs analysis.

"We too have a similar issue with a lot of patients coming in late to care, or with no prenatal care, and substance use disorders becoming a real problem," said Dr. Robert Atlas, chairman of Mercy's OB/GYN department. He said very low-risk patients are uncommon at the hospital.

Atlas isn't sure why Mercys complication rate was lower than that of other urban medical centers. Perhaps its because Mercy was an early adopter of many childbirth safety practices, he said, or because it requires the two big OB/GYN doctor groups that deliver there to have an on-call physician in the building 24/7.

He also noted the hospital is run by the Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic religious organization with a social justice mission that includes eliminating "poverty, the widespread denial of human rights  the continued oppression of women. That mission, he said, is a core value for the hospitals administrators, doctors, nurses and other health care providers.

Everybody, no matter what your ability is, gets the same level of care, he said. Thats so incredibly important as it relates to how the outcomes are looked upon.

Behind the rates, a human toll

Shantel Smith developed a pelvic infection and gangrene after the delivery of her stillborn son in 2011. She had to learn how to walk, drive and do basic tasks like making dinner for her family after she needed amputations to her hands and legs to save her life.

As policymakers and health care providers search for solutions to the nations maternal health crisis, the human toll is enormous  and growing.

Jenny Nedopak lost the ability to have the four children she had always wanted. Nicole Phillips and Jessiffi Francois daughters and Felicia Wests son will never know their mothers  and, as their families raise those children, they continue to grieve.

For Shantel Smith survival means raising her four children without legs and fingers. It means coping with hot flashes from an emergency hysterectomy at age 30 after surgeons discovered her ovaries had turned blue from dead tissue and her abdomen was filled with pus. It means using a girdle to support and cover the enormous scar that runs across her abdomen.

It means the heartbreak of sensing that her children are embarrassed by her appearance.

You get up every day, you want to look pretty and normal like other women. But youre always going to look different, Smith said. I just try to be there like a normal mother.

She still grieves over her baby boy, Jamal, who died before birth, yet has no grave to visit: the hospital disposed of his body without her permission, her lawsuit alleges.

Lawsuits still are pending over the care received by Nedopak and Francois. The suit over Phillips care is pending against Touro, but was dismissed against her LSU doctors because they werent properly notified of the lawsuit. A confidential financial settlement in the lawsuit over Wests death exhausted Louisianas $500,000 malpractice payment cap, according to court records. Because most of the records are sealed, it is unclear which healthcare providers were involved in that settlement.

As to Smith, she has spent more than six years fighting an uphill battle through Louisianas malpractice system seeking financial compensation for her injuries and answers to what went wrong. In 2015, a three-member medical review panel of Louisiana doctors said Smiths caregivers recognized her complications as soon as they were manifest.

Smiths suit against Touro, LSU and various doctors also is pending. In court records, they, too, have denied her malpractice allegations.

If any lessons were learned by the experienced and trainee doctors involved in Smiths care, they werent shared with the chief OB/GYN resident on her case. When he was questioned by Smiths attorney last year, Dr. Barry Hallner testified he had thought for all these years that her sepsis was caused by a ruptured bowel obstruction.

The day Smith was transferred to the ICU and headed for exploratory surgery was Hallners last day on a residency rotation at Touro. Now an assistant OB/GYN professor for the same LSU program that trained him, Hallner declined to comment.

In response to USA TODAYs questions, Hallner and LSU have asked a court in New Orleans to stop Smith and her legal team from sharing any more information with the news media.

Smith moved to Baton Rouge to escape reminders of her old life  one in which she had a good job with medical insurance as an assistant manager at a fast food restaurant and enough money to take her kids to the mall and Chuck E. Cheese's in her red Mustang.

Its really hard, but you just have to be strong, Smith said. I wish it never would have happened. And I wish that it never, ever happens to another woman.

Contributing: Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News, Frank Gluck of The News-Press in Ft. Myers, Fla., Nicole Hayden of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., Miranda Moore of Treasure Coast Newspapers in Stuart, Florida, David Robinson of The Journal News in Westchester County, New York, Kevin Robinson of the Pensacola News-Journal, Sean Rossman of USA TODAY, Laura Ungar of the Louisville Courier-Journal, and Colleen Wilson and Allison Wrabel of USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maternal death is rising. This data could help moms but it's secret.
Every year, thousands of women suffer life-altering injuries or die during childbirth because hospitals and medical workers skip safety practices known to head off disaster, a USA TODAY investigation has found.

Doctors and nurses should be weighing bloody pads to track blood loss so they recognize the danger sooner. They should be giving medication within an hour of spotting dangerously high blood pressure to fend off strokes.

These are not complicated procedures requiring expensive technology. They are among basic tasks that experts have recommended for years because they can save mothers lives.

Yet hospitals, doctors and nurses across the country continue to ignore them, USA TODAY found.

As a result, women are left to bleed until their organs shut down. Their high blood pressure goes untreated until they suffer strokes. They die of preventable blood clots and untreated infections. Survivors can be left paralyzed or unable to have more children.

The vast majority of women in America give birth without incident. But each year, more than 50,000 are severely injured. About 700 mothers die. The best estimates say that half of these deaths could be prevented and half the injuries reduced or eliminated with better care.

Instead, the U.S. continues to watch other countries improve as it falls behind. Today, this is the most dangerous place in the developed world to give birth.

Identifying every hospital that doesnt provide recommended care is next to impossible. There is no national tracking system for childbirth complications. Mothers tell harrowing tales of survival, but they often have no idea whether their doctors and nurses did something wrong.

USA TODAY obtained more than a half-million pages of internal hospital quality records and examined the cases of more than 150 women whose deliveries went terribly wrong. Reporters contacted 75 birthing hospitals to track whether they follow recommended procedures.

Together, these documents and interviews reveal a stunning lack of attention to safety recommendations and widespread failure to protect new mothers.

Story continues

At dozens of hospitals in New York, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas  where USA TODAY obtained records through federally funded quality programs  fewer than half of maternity patients were promptly treated for dangerous blood pressure that put them at risk of stroke. At some of those hospitals, less than 15 percent of mothers in peril got recommended treatments, the records show.

Many hospitals across the country conceded in interviews with USA TODAY that they were not taking safety steps such as quantifying womens blood loss or tracking whether moms with dangerously high blood pressure got proper medication in time.

The lack of attention happens at hospitals big and small, from tiny community delivery units to major birthing centers that tout state-of-the art technology and training. It also happens in doctors' offices when they miss or fail to act on signs of serious complications during pregnancy and after delivery.

In Ohio, Ali Lowry bled internally after giving birth in 2013, but medical staff didnt recognize and act on the warning signs for hours, according to records in a lawsuit that she has since settled. By the time she was airlifted to another hospital for lifesaving surgery, her delivery hospital had nearly run out of blood and Alis heart had stopped.

In Texas, Beatriz Garcia nearly bled to death when doctors and nurses were slow to help her after not quantifying her blood loss, she alleged in federal and state lawsuits. Garcias heart stopped. She needed a hysterectomy. Shes now awaiting a kidney transplant.

And in South Carolina, one of the states top hospitals sent YoLanda Mention home with her newborn despite her dangerously high blood pressure. When she returned to the emergency room with even higher blood pressure and an excruciating headache, the staff made her sit for hours in the waiting room, according to a lawsuit filed by her husband. She had a stroke while waiting, and later died.

Today, YoLandas husband, Marco, is raising their three daughters alone in rural Nesmith. He balances work as a school bus driver with all the demands of raising kids on his own  cooking the meals, cleaning and getting three girls to schools and day care.

He spends his evenings leading his church choir and reminding his girls about a mother who the youngest knows as a picture in a curio cabinet.

The girls, they ask when she's coming home and I don't know what to tell them, Mention said, wiping tears. It seems like a nightmare and I just need to wake up.

It doesnt have to be this way.

Countries around the world have reduced maternal deaths and injuries by aggressively monitoring care and learning from mistakes. The result has been two decades of steady or reduced maternal harms in the rest of the developed world  as U.S. rates climbed.

Divergent paths

From 1990 to 2015, the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 births in most developed nations has been flat or dropping. In the U.S., the rate has risen sharply.

SOURCE The Global Burden of Disease 2015 Maternal Mortality study as published in The Lancet medical journal.

One exception in the U.S.: California, where safety experts and hospitals worked together to implement practices that are now endorsed by leading medical societies as the gold standard of care. Statewide, Californias maternal death rate has fallen by half, while deaths rose across most of the country.

Despite widespread recognition that the California safety measures save lives, hospitals elsewhere have been slow to use them.

Our medicine is run by cowboys today, where everyone is riding the range doing whatever theyre wanting to do, said Dr. Steven Clark, a leading childbirth safety expert and a professor at Baylor College of Medicine. While there are hospitals that follow best safety practices, change is happening slowly, he said. Its a failure at all levels, at national organization levels and at the local hospital leadership levels as well.

In part, thats because regulators and oversight groups that could require hospitals to do more have not, USA TODAY found.

The lack of action by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to protect mothers stands in sharp contrast to its more aggressive approach to trying to improve care for elderly Medicare patients.

As a condition of getting Medicare payments, the federal agency requires hospitals to disclose information such as complication rates for hip and knee surgeries and whether heart attack patients got prompt care. All of that information is posted online.

That same agency helps pay for about half of the nations nearly 4 million births each year via Medicaid, and it could set similar rules about childbirth complications.

So far, it has not.

The Joint Commission, a private accreditation group that sets safety standards for thousands of hospitals, makes hospitals track cesarean section rates.

But the commission has no requirements that hospitals report how often their health care providers fail to follow national guidelines for protecting moms against leading childbirth dangers. Officials said the group is still studying the safety practices, some of which have been known for at least eight years.

For us to make it a requirement for every organization to follow something, there has to be clear national consensus that this is the standard of care, said Dr. David Baker, executive vice president of the commission's Division of Health Care Quality Evaluation.

Baker said the safety practices to protect moms from hemorrhages are promising. But he said there are questions about whether the protocols calling for fast treatment of dangerous blood pressure are appropriate for the commission to require at the hospital level. I suspect within the next two months, there will be a decision on whether to go forward, he said.

The American Hospital Association, the influential trade association representing nearly 5,000 hospitals and health networks, has in recent years held closed-door training sessions aimed at getting maternity hospitals to improve care.

In a series of webinars, AHA first warned anyone not invited to disconnect.

Then, trainers for the association went on to bluntly discuss how wide-ranging care failures at birthing hospitals are causing needless deaths and injuries.

What we know about those deaths is that most of them were absolutely preventable, a trainer for the association told maternity staffs during a 2015 webinar. They were from causes that we could have done something about. We could have prevented it if we had recognized the emergency early on.

During another closed session in 2016, a hospital association trainer said studies show that as many as 93 percent of women who bled to death during childbirth could have been saved if hospital staff had been aware of how much blood the woman lost.

The trainer said 60 percent of studied deaths from preeclampsia, a severe blood pressure disorder in pregnancy, also were preventable because we failed to control the blood pressure or to recognize other emergencies that were happening.

Were not talking about a Third World country, were talking about us, here, the trainer said. This shouldnt be happening here.

The hospital association declined to grant an interview and wouldn't answer questions about the toll of preventable harms at its member hospitals or how many of those hospitals follow best practices. In a statement, the group said U.S. hospitals are "committed to continuously working to keep all patients safe."

There is a growing recognition by hospitals that they need to adopt standardized care practices to save mothers' lives. In the past year, the number of maternity hospitals participating in a voluntary childbirth safety improvement program endorsed by leading medical societies has more than doubled.

The 985 hospitals currently enrolled in the AIM Program to reduce harms to mothers represent about 40 percent of the nations birthing hospitals and they are in various stages of implementing care reforms, organizers say.

Routine failures

For more than a decade, the experts who guide medical practices in the U.S. have been pushing doctors and hospitals to change how they treat pregnant women.

At least as far back as 2010, researchers in California began promoting tool kits of childbirth safety practices to reduce deaths and injuries.

These kits, built upon years of published research, were made up of policies, procedures and checklists that, pursued together, appeared to save mothers lives.

Around the same time, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists was lending its influence to address one of the leading childbirth killers: high blood pressure.

In a 2011 bulletin to providers, the group warned that blood pressure above certain levels if not treated expeditiously can result in maternal death. The group gave hospitals and doctors step-by-step instructions, even specifying which IV drugs to give.

Three years later, a coalition of the nations leading medical societies created the AIM Program. The program formalized safety practices that have been shown to reduce maternal injuries into a series of safety bundles that detail treatment policies, safety equipment, training programs and internal reviews every maternity hospital should have.

The AIM Programs safety bundles have been sponsored by a coalition of leading medical societies whose members include ACOG, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the American Academy of Family Physicians and groups representing obstetric nurses and anesthesiologists.

Learn more about the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) Program

For example, the AIM recommendations set time deadlines for taking blood pressure readings and administering medications to pregnant women and new moms experiencing dangerously high blood pressure.

Despite nearly a decade of medical studies, warnings, advice and training, hospitals continue to provide uneven care.

USA TODAY obtained internal hospital data collected from dozens of hospitals in 2015 and 2016 as part of other voluntary quality-improvement programs. Among other things, some of the federally funded programs tracked how often staff gave recommended blood pressure medicine within the called-for, one-hour deadline.

Among about 40 maternity hospitals in New York state, less than half of mothers experiencing dangerously high blood pressure got proper treatment, the records show.

In Pennsylvania, the data for about a dozen hospitals show mothers being promptly treated only 49 to 67 percent of the time.

More than 65 percent of mothers didnt get proper treatment at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina.

At Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, nearly 40 percent of mothers did not receive timely blood-pressure treatments. The failure rate was 78 percent at Carolinas HealthCare System NorthEast in Concord and nearly 90 percent at Stanly Regional Medical Center in Albemarle.

At Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington, North Carolina, the breakdown was almost universal. Only one of the 48 maternity patients with dangerous blood pressure readings got proper treatment.

Officials at each of these hospitals said their performance has since improved.

Womens Hospital in Greensboro is one of the biggest birthing hospitals in North Carolina, delivering about 6,000 babies a year in a metropolitan area of about 760,000 people.

The hospital says on its website whether you seek specialized care for a high-risk pregnancy, the latest diagnostic services, or alternative birth options such as a water birth, you can count on us for world-class service thats close to home.

But the federal records obtained by USA TODAY show doctors and nurses there put scores of mothers at risk by reacting slowly to signs of dangerously high blood pressure.

Womens Hospital failed to provide timely blood pressure treatment for 189 of 219 mothers, according to its own monthly tallies from October 2015 through June 2016.

The treatment failures at Womens Hospital occurred even though medical staff knew their work was being tracked.

Protect yourself

You can help protect your own life  or a loved one who is pregnant. This printable guide to take with you lists the most important questions you can ask the doctor and the hospital about their safety practices.

Get the Guide

Its unacceptable. Thats really what it is, said Eleni Tsigas, who leads the Preeclampsia Foundation. She questions whether voluntary care-improvement programs alone will ever get enough hospitals to make lifesaving changes.

There is no way to know how widespread the failures like those in the Carolinas are at maternity units nationwide. The government doesnt track it and hospitals internal numbers are usually a closely guarded secret.

Cone Health, which operates Womens Hospital and Alamance Regional Medical Center, excused its poor performance in 2015-2016 by saying it had just started training staff to quickly treat dangerous blood pressure  even though ACOG issued its treatment warning in 2011.

Cone Health defended the delayed training by saying ACOG treatment guidelines aren't mandatory and its own hospitals and doctors needed time to evaluate whether the best practices being touted by the nations top experts were appropriate.

The numbers suggest they were. Cone Health said its two hospitals that participated in the federal quality program have significantly improved.

At Womens Hospital, 84 percent of mothers with high blood pressure got proper treatment from June 2016 to April 2017, officials said. At Alamance, it was 72 percent. And the number of mothers suffering seizures and strokes  consequences of dangerous, untreated high blood pressure  have dropped.

I was really scared

It was about 4 a.m. when they wheeled Ali Lowry back to Room 25 at Knox Community Hospital after delivering her baby.

As a nurse in the hospitals birthing center in Mount Vernon, Ohio, an hour northeast of Columbus, she had helped many other women deliver babies. But this was finally a baby of her own, and she was so excited to finally hold him.

As Lowry, 24, settled in and began breastfeeding her son, her vision went black.

I was really scared, because I knew that, that I shouldnt have been feeling that way, she recalled of that morning in August 2013.

Lowrys blood pressure had plummeted. Over the next hours, nurses took her blood pressure repeatedly and found it to be low. Around 5:30 a.m., the readings were: 52/26, 57/25, 56/24, 59/27.

Blood pressures at 85/45 or below ought to be a warning sign to hospital staff that a woman is losing life-threatening amounts of blood and action is needed, according to the childbirth safety tool kit California experts made available to hospitals across the country in 2010. For women like Lowry, who deliver by C-section, the bleeding can be internal and hidden from sight.

Yet for hours, no one at the hospital took emergency action to check for internal bleeding, according to records in Lowry's lawsuit against her providers. Not the nurses on duty nor Dr. Ioanna Kanellitsas, who delivered Lowrys baby. Instead, blood continued to pool inside her body and no one knew how bad it was.

It wasnt until 7 a.m.  nearly three hours after she first began passing out  that the court records show Lowry started to get meaningful help to save her life.

A supervising nurse coming on duty saw Lowrys blood pressure history and terrible condition, and mobilized a rapid response team. Lowry was moved to intensive care and started getting blood transfusions.

A doctor coming on duty, David De Lorenzo, found Lowry no longer lucid, her skin turning blue.

Around 10 a.m., Kanellitsas took Lowry into surgery and removed six cups of blood and clots from her abdomen. But she saw no active bleeding.

We were in the operating room for an hour and a half watching this. So, I was as certain as I could be that we had controlled the bleeding and that she wasnt having further bleeding, Kanellitsas said in a deposition in the familys lawsuit against the doctor and the hospital.

Yet Lowry kept bleeding. Unconscious and on a ventilator, blood soaked her legs and drenched her bed.

When nurses alerted Kanellitsas, the court records indicate the doctor told them it was OK. It looked like normal postpartum bleeding, she testified.

It is unclear whether the doctor and hospital staff had been quantifying Alis cumulative blood loss since her delivery. At least during Lowrys C-section and later exploratory surgery, her blood loss  beyond what was collected in a suction machine  was being visually estimated, according to deposition testimony of the nurse anesthetist who was in the operating room for both procedures.

Multiple studies have found visual estimates underestimate blood loss, which can delay lifesaving treatments.

She just kept getting worse and worse, Ali Lowrys husband, Shaun, said.

He had been asking for Ali to be transferred to a major medical center, but it refused to take her because she was too unstable.

By then it was clear that Lowry needed a hysterectomy to save her life  something Knox normally would have been able to handle.

But the hospital was down to its last unit of matching blood, according to court records. We didnt even have enough blood to give her a hysterectomy, De Lorenzo said in a deposition.

De Lorenzo called Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, which agreed to take Lowry.

As paramedics lifted her off the gurney, she went into cardiac arrest. If Lowry had stayed at Knox, De Lorenzo said: She surely would have died.

At Riverside, doctors found a lacerated artery, but had to remove Alis uterus to stop the bleeding.

I was just kind of shocked by everything, Lowry said. I was definitely devastated by losing my uterus but at the same time I was also so thankful to be alive and that my baby was OK.

The family settled a lawsuit against Kanellitsas and the hospital, who denied the suit's allegations of wrongdoing. The terms are secret.

Knox officials declined to be interviewed. Frederick Sewards, an attorney for the hospital and Kanellitsas, said: The resolution of that doubtful and disputed claim was subject to a confidentiality agreement, which neither I nor my clients will violate.

Frustrations of the 50,000

Across the country, USA TODAY talked with dozens of women who are among the 50,000 each year who suffer severe injuries after surviving potentially deadly deliveries.

Some praise the care they received. But many women said they felt frustrated, angry and powerless after encountering doctors and nurses they felt didnt listen or werent prepared for emergencies.

This was supposed to be the best time of my life and this is the worst and nobody should feel that way about the birth of their child, said Susan Goodhue of Annapolis, Maryland. Her blood pressure spiked and her liver and kidneys started to fail when she gave birth in 2012.

The staff, by not knowing, and not listening and not taking precautions, almost killed us, she said.

Women talked about excruciating pain and fighting to survive for their children. Some say they never got good explanations for what went wrong and why.

ZaKiya Bell-Rogers of Asheville, North Carolina, said she still doesnt know what caused the blood loss that required her emergency hysterectomy in 2015. "I need to know what happened, but I dont know if mentally I can take it if there was a mistake on their end.

Donielle Bell, who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, also says she never got good answers about why she hemorrhaged in 2016  and whether it would happen again when she gave birth to her third child this spring.

Im facing this fear daily, she told USA TODAY earlier this year. Im terrified that I wont walk away from it.

In April, Bell delivered a healthy son, but she lost so much blood this time that she needed an emergency hysterectomy to save her life.

Over and over, these women said they wanted other mothers to know the importance of finding health care providers who listen to their concerns, pay attention to warning signs and are trained to deal with complications.

Having the right hospital is life and death, said Alana Alvarez of Mililani, Hawaii, who nearly bled to death and needed a hysterectomy and other surgeries to survive a 2015 birth.

Having the right doctors, having the right care, having the right people that know about your diagnosis, that understand your diagnosis, that know what theyre doing, its life and death, she said.

Attacking the problem

At University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, maternity officials didnt want to believe that the way they cared for mothers could be one of the reasons why 12 percent of their patients suffered hemorrhages in 2013  triple the national rate.

Like many hospitals, they were quick to blame the women as being unusually high risk instead of scrutinizing their own care.

We initially rationalized this, Dr. Erin Clark, the hospitals director for maternal-fetal medicine, told maternity staff from other hospitals at a 2015 training session.

But the hospital realized it had a problem when it compared its results with other university hospitals. Their peers also cared for high-risk moms, but their patients werent hemorrhaging as often.

We stood out in an obvious way and not a good way, she told USA TODAY.

The hospital dug into patients records. We diagnosed hemorrhages too late, Clark said. And we didnt treat them fast enough or aggressively enough.

The hospital reduced its rate by one-third after it began adopting the best practices called for by California experts and the AIM Program, Clark said. That progress has been seen in other groups of hospitals following the safety practices, too.

According to a study published last year in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, women giving birth in hospitals participating in a California quality-improvement collaborative suffered 21 percent fewer severe harms related to hemorrhage from 2014 through early 2016 than those in previous years. Thats fewer women suffering heart attack, kidney failure or blood-clotting disorders, and fewer women being put on ventilators or undergoing hysterectomies.

When hospitals work with well-organized state-wide quality groups  that help them train staff, track data and benchmark against peers  care can improve faster than if theyre left to do it on their own, experts said. From May 2016 through June 2017, about 100 Illinois hospitals participating in an AIM Program-affiliated project increased from 42 percent to 79 percent the number of maternity patients getting treatment for dangerous blood pressure within one hour, according to data published earlier this year in the same medical journal.

For decades, hospitals and medical experts have often blamed rising maternal deaths and injuries on women for being unhealthy or overweight, or pointed to risk factors such as poverty or the age of mother.

Just because youre older and heavier, doesnt mean you should die, said Dr. Elliott Main, medical director of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, which is credited with reducing maternal injuries and deaths in the state. That just means you should be on guard, you should bring your A game.

Blaming moms for poor health or lacking prenatal care helps mask care failures.

We cannot just blame the women, said Debra Bingham, a former vice president at Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, who is now at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

Nurses and doctors believe they provide good care and dont want to harm patients, Bingham said.

So its very hard to accept that what Ive been doing for years may not have been the best way to do it, she said.

Women want answers

Until they had a birth go terribly bad, many women told USA TODAY they never knew different hospitals handle childbirth emergencies differently.

Rachel Yencha, who nearly bled to death after giving birth in 2015, said it would have been helpful to know upfront whether hospitals follow best safety practices.

Yencha, who was young and healthy, chose a small maternity hospital near her suburban Cleveland home. But when complications arose during delivery, she had to be transferred to a bigger hospital that could save her life.

Even if you have a normal pregnancy, you want them to be prepared for anything, she said.

Because there are no requirements that U.S. maternity hospitals follow best practices, nobody knows how many of them take all of the AIM Programs recommended actions.

I dont have a good sense for what percentage of the hospitals. Its not huge yet, but its gaining momentum rapidly, said Dr. Barbara Levy, vice president of health policy at ACOG.

Even if women and their loved ones knew the questions to ask, USA TODAY found that it would be nearly impossible for them to find out the safety records of maternity hospitals or whether they are following best safety practices.

USA TODAY repeatedly contacted 75 hospitals in 13 states to press for specific answers about whether they are following the AIM Programs recommended practices for hemorrhage and hypertension.

Half wouldnt answer the questions.

Those refusing to answer included Northside Hospital in Atlanta, one of the nations largest birthing hospitals, which annually handles about 16,000 deliveries. We are going to have to pass on this opportunity. I'm not able to get you what you need, hospital spokesperson Katherine Watson said in an email.

We respectfully decline to participate, said Giselle Tiley, spokeswoman for Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, Florida.

Even hospitals that brag about their expertise in childbirth emergencies wouldnt answer questions about whether they are taking AIMs recommended safety steps.

We will pass on this one, Johnny Smith, a spokesman for St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, said in an email after a reporter contacted the hospital and its parent health system, Ascension, nearly a dozen times. On its website, the hospital says: "Our innovative approach to obstetric emergencies set us apart.

The 37 maternity hospitals that answered USA TODAYs questions said they are doing many of the AIM Programs best practices to prevent women from bleeding to death. But more than 40 percent acknowledged they were not quantifying blood loss after every birth  despite it being a cornerstone safety practice.

When it came to ensuring women with dangerous blood pressure readings got proper treatment within 60 minutes, the hospitals answers also indicated lax compliance. Of 31 hospitals that said they follow a 60-minute treatment policy, only nine said they track how often doctors and nurses actually gave treatment in time.

Experts say the slow pace of change is largely because, in this country, doctors and hospitals enjoy wide latitude in how they practice medicine. How they treat patients is often based on what providers were taught  years or decades earlier  in medical or nursing school, plus their individual experiences over time.

When researchers identify safer ways of caring for patients, there are no mandates that providers read or follow these practices. In maternity care  as well as other areas of medicine  it can take a decade or more for best practices to be widely adopted by health care providers.

The result: a system that experts say fails patients and leads to needless deaths and injuries.

In countries with publicly funded national health care systems, such as the U.K, it is easier to insist hospitals and health providers follow standard safety practices, said Dr. James Martin Jr., director of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and a past president of ACOG.

Martin and other experts said thats one reason why women giving birth in Great Britain die from childbirth complications at one-third of the rate they do here.

Without a centralized system, reform will require multiple entities to insist on change: hospital administrators, insurance companies and others that pay for childbirth, and malpractice insurers who defend practitioners against lawsuits, Martin said.

If they say, 'We expect you to do it this way,' that youve got to get on and use this safety bundle  it can be driven from that point of view, Martin said.

Hospitals need to be accountable and the public should be able to find out each hospitals rates of childbirth complications, said Helen Haskell, president of Mothers Against Medical Error, a nonprofit patient safety group in South Carolina.

Weve put a lot of credence in the idea of voluntary improvement and its just not enough, Haskell said. You have to have transparency and you have to have regulation.

Until that happens, women will continue to be harmed.

So many of these are preventable, said Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, an Atlanta group that is part of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, which is pushing for national policy discussions. I think the country should be outraged.

The team behind this investigation

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maternal mortality rates rise as hospital safety measures go unused
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou is suing the Canadian government for her arrest in December. | Source: Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP

Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou, CFO of China tech superpower Huawei, are suing the Canadian government for breaching her constitutional rights.

A new page was turned in the ongoing war between Huawei and the US and Canadian governments on Monday when lawyers for Meng Wanzhou announced that they are suing Canda.

This is the latest development in what looks like being a long-battle between one of Chinas biggest companies and the two North American governments.

WHAT EXACTLY IS SHE SUING CANADA FOR?

Ms. Mengs lawsuit was filed in British Columbias Supreme Court on Friday and claims damages against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the federal government for allegedly breaching her civil rights under Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

According to Mengs claim, CBSA officers held, searched and questioned her at the airport under false pretenses before she was arrested by the RCMP.

Read the full story on CCN.com.
Vancouver (AFP) - Meng Wanzhou, the Chinese telecom executive at the center of an escalating row between Ottawa and Beijing, appeared briefly before a Canadian judge on Wednesday who set May 8 for the start of a hearing into a US extradition request.

Meng's arrest in Vancouver in December on a US warrant infuriated China, which arrested two Canadians days later in what was widely seen as retaliation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday he was "very concerned" over reports from Chinese state news agency Xinhua that the Canadians, including a former diplomat, were suspected of espionage.

Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei, a telecoms giant founded by her father, was changing planes in Vancouver when she was detained at Washington's request for allegedly violating US sanctions on Iran.

Canada's justice department last week gave its nod for the case to proceed, saying evidence against Meng submitted by the United States was sufficient to put before a judge under its treaty obligations.

Meng, 47, has been granted bail until the outcome of the case, which could take months or years.

If the judge rules in favor of extradition, Canada's attorney general will have the final say over whether to hand Meng to US authorities who accuse her and Huawei of circumventing sanctions against Iran.

Huawei is also accused, via two affiliates, of stealing trade secrets from US telecommunications group T-Mobile.

Sporting a hoodie, Meng was ushered into the downtown Vancouver courtroom past a gaggle of journalists for the a hearing that lasted just 15 minutes.

Her lawyers said they needed more time to prepare a defense, which would include alleged abuse of process.

Outside, a small group of protesters burned a China flag, and waved placards calling for Meng to be extradited and demanding Beijing release the two Canadians.

- 'False imprisonment' claim -

Beijing denounced the accusations as the product of "strong political motivations" and an attempt to undermine its flagship telecoms company. Meng and Huawei have also denied wrongdoing.

Story continues

Meng is suing Canadian authorities, alleging her rights were violated when she was arrested.

She is seeking damages for "misfeasance in public office and false imprisonment," her attorneys Howard Mickelson and Allan Doolittle said in a statement.

They charge that Meng was improperly interrogated for three hours by customs officers, officially as part of a routine inspection, before being served with her official arrest.

Customs officers searched her phones and computers as well as her luggage, in violation of her rights, the lawyers said.

Nine days after Meng's arrest, Chinese authorities detained two Canadians -- former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor.

A third Canadian, meanwhile, had his sentence for drug trafficking upped from 15 years in prison to death row.

Trudeau has decried the arrests as arbitrary while insisting on a strict hands-off approach to the Meng case.

His former ambassador to China was sacked after he undermined that position by saying Meng had a "strong" case against extradition, citing comments by US President Donald Trump, and later adding that it would be "great for Canada" if the US dropped the case.
Huaweis complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, which includes its U.S. headquarters. It objects to Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) signed into law in August, which prohibits federal agencies and related contractors from doing business with the company.

The State Department has expressed concerns that President Xi Jinpings government could use Huaweis smartphones to spy on Americans. Huawei has in turn brushed that worry aside, claiming that as a private company it has no affiliation with the government.

Theyll steal American technology and, frankly, use those systems to invade your privacy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday. Huawei is owned by the state of China and has deep connections to their intelligence service. That should send off flares for everybody who understands what the Chinese military and Chinese intelligence services do. We have to take that threat seriously.

Huawei has an excellent security record and program. No contrary evidence has been offered, said Huaweis chief legal officer, Song Liuping.

In a 13-count indictment filed in New York City in January, the Justice Department charged the company and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, with a laundry list of crimes including conspiracy, money laundering, bank and wire fraud, flouting U.S. sanctions on Iran, and obstruction of justice. Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver in December and is currently awaiting extradition to the U.S.

More from National Review
By Sijia Jiang and Jan Wolfe

HONG KONG/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies sued the U.S. government on Thursday, saying a law limiting its American business was unconstitutional, ratcheting up its fight back against a government bent on closing it out of global markets.

Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump in August, which bars federal agencies and their contractors from procuring its equipment and services.

The lawsuit marks the latest confrontation between China and the United States, which spent most of 2018 slapping import tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods. The year ended with the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer in Canada at U.S. request, to the consternation of China.

Long before Trump initiated the trade war, Huawei's activities were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, according to interviews with 10 people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.

"The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said in a statement.

"This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers," he said. "We look forward to the court's verdict."

While Huawei had very little share of the U.S. market before the bill, it is the world's biggest telecoms gear maker and is seeking to be at the forefront of a global rollout of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks and services.

In its lawsuit, Huawei said its "equipment and services are subject to advanced security procedures, and no backdoors, implants, or other intentional security vulnerabilities have been documented in any of the more than 170 countries in the world where Huawei equipment and services are used."

Story continues

The privately owned firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive as Washington lobbies allies to abandon Huawei when building 5G networks, focusing on a 2017 Chinese law requiring companies to cooperate with national intelligence work.

"The U.S. Government is sparing no effort to smear the company and mislead the public," Guo said in a news briefing at Huawei's headquarters in southern China.

The U.S. State Department declined comment on the lawsuit on Thursday.

"More generally," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters, "the United States advocates for secure telecom networks and supply chains that are free from suppliers subject to foreign government control or undue influence which would pose risks of unauthorized access and malicious cyber activity."

U.S. Representative Mike Conaway, a Texas Republican who has sponsored anti-Huawei legislation, called the Huawei lawsuit "bogus."

"NO PROOF"

The NDAA bans the U.S. government from doing business with Huawei or compatriot peer ZTE Corp or from doing business with any company that has equipment from the two companies as a "substantial or essential component" of their system.

In its lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Huawei argues that the section in question is illegal because it could sharply limit the company's ability to do business in the United States despite no proof of wrongdoing.

The lawsuit also alleges that Huawei has been denied due process and that Congress, by stripping Huawei of commercial opportunities, has violated the "separation of powers" portion of the U.S. Constitution by doing the work of the courts.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he had no information on whether China's government may also seek legal action against the U.S. law, but added Huawei's move is "totally reasonable and totally understandable."

UPHILL BATTLE

Some legal experts said Huawei's lawsuit is likely to be dismissed because U.S. courts are reluctant to second-guess national security determinations by other branches of government.

The lawsuit "will be an uphill battle because Congress has broad authority to protect us from perceived national security threats," said Franklin Turner, a government contracts lawyer at McCarter & English.

In November, a federal appeals court rejected a similar lawsuit filed by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, which was challenging a ban on the use of its software in U.S. government networks.

The Texas court hearing Huawei's case will not be bound by that decision, but will likely adopt its reasoning because of similarities in the two disputes, said Steven Schwinn, a professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

"I don't see how (Huawei) can really escape that result," said Schwinn.

Huawei's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said the two cases were different in terms of evidence and scope, and that the Chinese company's case had "full merits."

If a judge decides Huawei has a plausible claim, the case will proceed to the discovery phase, in which internal documents are shared and U.S. government officials could be forced to provide testimony and lay out their security concerns.

RETRIBUTION

The legal action compares with a more restrained response in December emphasizing "trust in justice" after the arrest of Chief Financial Officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei later said Meng's arrest was politically motivated and "not acceptable."

Meng - Ren's daughter - is accused by the United States of bank and wire fraud related to breaches of trade sanctions against Iran. Canada approved extradition proceedings on March 1, but Meng has since sued Canada's government for procedural wrongs in her arrest. The next court hearing is set for May 8.

The case strained Canada's relations with China, which this week accused two arrested Canadians of stealing state secrets and blocked Canadian canola imports.

Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver. It is unclear where the two Canadians are being detained in China, and at least one does not have access to legal representation, sources previously told Reuters.

(Reporting by Sijia Jiang in HONG KONG and Jan Wolfe in WASHINGTON; additional reporting by Twinnie Siu in HONG KONG, Ben Blanchard in BEIJING and Diane Bartz in WASHINGTON; editing by James Pomfret, Christopher Cushing and Jonathan Oatis)
BERLIN (Reuters) - German fashion house Hugo Boss said it expected its operating profit to rise faster than sales in 2019, predicting strong momentum in its online business and Asia.

Known for its smart men's suits, Hugo Boss has introduced more casual and sportswear styles to appeal to a younger audience and invested heavily in its online offer after a bid to go upmarket backfired a few years ago.

The company said it expected a high single-digit percentage increase in operating profit for 2019 and a mid single-digit percentage rise in currency-adjusted sales.

"We are ensuring profitable growth in 2019 and beyond. Strong momentum in our own online business and in Asia will make a significant contribution this year, Chief Executive Mark Langer said in a statement.

Investors are worried about slowing demand for luxury goods as the economy stalls in China, but Hugo Boss forecast "overproportionate growth" in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company said it expected strong double-digit growth to continue in its online business, after it reached sales of more than 100 million euros in 2018 for the first time.

British rival Burberry reported a 1 percent rise in same-store sales in the 13 weeks ending Dec. 29, missing a 2 percent growth forecast.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; editing by Thomas Seythal and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Now we're ruining the lives of our closest animal relatives.

Human activity is wreaking havoc on chimpanzee "culture," a study suggests, as we continue to expand into what had been wild areas in central and western Africa.

Thus, humans aren't only wiping out chimp populations, they're also decimating the animals' unique behavioral traditions.

Cultural behaviors drop by as much as 88 percent, the study said, for the chimps that live near humans. Study authors suggest the animals' behavior diversity should be protected along with the species itself.

What is 'chimp culture?'

In one national park, chimps are known for fishing algae. In another they crack nuts or have certain hunting methods or fish for termites, said study lead author Hjalmar Kuhl, a primatologist at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Others may throw stones.

These distinct behaviors are passed on from one generation to the next, similar to human culture, according to Science magazine.

The causes of the chimp cultural disruptions are human activities such as deforestation, habitat degradation, poaching, climate change and disease. The disruptions affect not only chimp behaviors but also the chimpanzee themselves, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

During the 10-year research study, which the society calls the "most complete description of chimpanzee culture to date," scientists observed 144 chimp groups in 15 countries that are located throughout the entire geographic range of wild chimpanzees in Africa.

The authors of the study say the findings highlight the need to expand current conservation policies.

"Locations with exceptional sets of behaviors may be protected as 'chimpanzee cultural heritage sites' and this concept can be extended to other species with high degree of cultural variability as well, including orangutans, Capuchin monkeys or whales," study lead author Kuhl said.

Story continues

Emma Stokes, the Wildlife Conservation Society's central African director, warned that we risk destroying these forests before even discovering what secrets they hold."

The study appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is 'chimp culture' and how are humans messing it up?
By Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co is considering plans to suspend production at its oldest plant in China, the South Korean carmaker said on Wednesday, as it reels from tumbling sales and massive overcapacity in its biggest market.

The move by Hyundai, which together with affiliate Kia Motors was the No.3 automaker in China until 2016, highlights the reversal of fortunes of China's auto industry, which suffered its first contraction in decades last year.

Hyundai and Kia face major risks from the industry's slowdown, with the duo already grappling to fend off competition from Chinese rivals and global automakers in the world's biggest vehicle market.

"Hyundai Motor is reviewing production to enhance competitiveness and profitability," the company said in a statement, adding that the plan includes "suspension, not closure of Plant 1 in Beijing".

The company, which has three manufacturing plants in the city, said that it has yet to decide when a suspension would start. However, the Korea Economic Daily newspaper reported that suspension could start as early as next month.

All of Hyundai's five factories in China are operated by its Chinese joint venture with BAIC Motor Corp, at which about 2,000 employees have taken voluntary retirement or transferred to other factories, the statement said.

Hyundai Motor shares rose as much as 3.6 percent on Thursday.

"My view is that Hyundai is taking steps to closing the plant. It has been dragging its feet over a shutdown, and it is positive that they are finally taking action," Samsung Securities analyst Esther Yim said.

Hyundai's redesigned Sonata sedan, which was unveiled on Wednesday, has also sparked hopes that the automaker would be able to regain ground in its mainstay sedan segment, she said.

OVERCAPACITY

Hyundai's sales in China amounted to only half its total production capacity in the country last year.

China's auto industry has been slowing after a period of strong growth, hit by a weakening economy and the fallout of trade frictions with the United States.

Story continues

For Hyundai, its troubles have been exacerbated by a diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing that hit demand for South Korean products in China.

A lack of attractive models and strong branding also makes Hyundai vulnerable to competition from both Chinese and global carmakers, analysts and dealers have said.

Hyundai will start to produce its new ix25 SUV at its latest plant in Chongqing from September, according to an internal document seen by Reuters. The current ix25, Hyundai's second-biggest selling SUV, is made at the Plant 1 factory built in 2002.

Hyundai Motor CEO Lee Won-hee last week said the company was considering cutting capacity in China, sources said.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Additional reporting by Hayoung Choi in Seoul; Editing by David Goodman and Richard Pullin)
Prominent progressives including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have come to the defence of Representative Ilhan Omar amid controversy following her criticism of pro-Israel groups and politicians, which some have deemed anti-semitic.

Mr Sanders, who is Jewish, said that he believes the attacks on Ms Omar are aimed at silencing discussion of American foreign policy with regards to Israel.

What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate, Mr Sanders, who is top democratic presidential candidate, said in a statement. That's wrong.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez claimed that the attacks on Ms Omar illustrate the hypocrisy in Congress surrounding questions of racism or anti-semitism.

:: Read everything you need to know about the controversy surrounding Ms Omar's statements right here

One of the things that is hurtful about the extent to which reprimand is sought of Ilhan is that no one seeks this level of reprimand when members make statements about Latinx + other communities (during the shutdown, a GOP member yelled 'Go back to Puerto Rico!' on the floor), Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

She continued: Its not my position to tell people how to feel, or that their hurt is invalid.

But incidents like these do beg the question: where are the resolutions against homophobic statements? For anti-blackness? For xenophobia? For a member saying hell send Obama home to Kenya?
Something remarkable is happening on the Democratic side of the aisle. Faced with multiple anti-Semitic statements from freshman member of Congress Ilhan Omar, the Democrats are actually struggling to unite to condemn her remarks. This disunity is made all the more remarkable by the fact that there is nothing at all subtle about what Omar has said. In the past shes tweeted that Israel has hypnotized the world. Recently, shes claimed that American support for Israel was all about the Benjamins and has now twice raised the argument that support for Israel involved allegiance to a foreign country.

Each of these statements represents a classic anti-Semitic trope, and the latter statements were made after she came under fire for her previous comments. She knew she was under scrutiny and yet doubled down.

While multiple Democrats have condemned her comments forcefully and unequivocally, shes also enjoying a curious wave of support. Just as a sampling, theres this:

I am so honored to serve with @IlhanMN, an incredible courageous woman. Every time I worry about her and the ugly attacks, I remember what she said to me two months ago: "I survived war, I can survive this." https://t.co/2wyrC0m6ry  Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) March 6, 2019

And this:

All three headlines naming Ilhan Omar in WashPo today are in defense of her. pic.twitter.com/JRU5x1QpdD  Natalie Johnson (@nataliejohnsonn) March 5, 2019

And this stunning statement from House majority whip Jim Clyburn, as reported at The Hill:

Clyburn came to Omars defense Wednesday, lamenting that many of the media reports surrounding the recent controversy have omitted mentioning that Omar, who was born in Somalia, had to flee the country to escape violence and spent four years in a Kenyan refugee camp before coming to the United States. Her experience, Clyburn argued, is much more empirical  and powerful  than that of people who are generations removed from the Holocaust, Japanese internment camps during World War II and the other violent episodes that have marked history. Im serious about that. There are people who tell me, Well, my parents are Holocaust survivors. My parents did this. Its more personal with her, Clyburn said. Ive talked to her, and I can tell you she is living through a lot of pain.

Story continues

What is going on? Why are we seeing so many prominent voices rally to Omars side? This is how intersectionality works. Essentially, the pattern goes like this. Under intersectionality theories, your identity grants you credibility, your experience grants you authority, and the responsibility then of your progressive friends is to act as your allies.

Omars identity  as a woman of color, as a Muslim, as a refugee  means that she speaks with great experiential authority. She comes to the public square (as Tlaib and Clyburn indicate) from a position of personal pain and direct experience with marginalization and oppression. Allyship then means that its important to elevate her voice and to protect her credibility. To treat her as the GOP (finally) treated Steve King is unthinkable. Direct rebuke (much less direct action, such as stripping her of her committee assignments) is interpreted as an attack not on her ideas but on her very identity.

And so, there is now talk of a compromise resolution, one that comports with requirements of intersectionality by not singling out the marginalized member of Congress in the most powerful nation in the history of the world, but rather condemning bigotry more broadly. According to the Washington Post, the Democrats are now set to vote on a resolution that will not mention Omar by name and will condemn other forms of hate, including that directed at Muslims.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez approves:

The way we reject the 0-sum idea that some communities win at the cost of others is by using opportunities to address issues intersectionally  to highlight that Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all bigotry serve the same ends & that we prevent division by championing one another.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 6, 2019

This is campus activism come to Congress. Did you wonder why campus incidents so often seem to elevate the most radical voices? The same dynamic applies. Activists who possess the proper identity then speak with absolute authority, and the only acceptable woke response is to ally with their demands.

On the one hand, there is an element of intersectionality that simply comports with common sense  after all, people from different identity groups do experience the world differently, and any diverse society values diverse voices. But identity isnt a substitute for credibility or authority or morality. We respect people enough to treat them as adults and weigh their ideas on their own merits.

By that standard, there is no merit to Omars noxious thoughts. Accusations of Israeli hypnotism, purchased loyalty, and dual allegiance dont represent thoughtful critiques of Israeli policy. Omars challenging childhood isnt the fault of the Israeli government, and it doesnt relieve her of the obligation to shun the vicious anti-Semitism that plagues the extreme Left.

Moreover, anti-Semitism is no small matter. Carol Roth gets this exactly right:

Antisemitism isn't some political talking point or hot potato. One-third of the ENTIRE Jewish people were wiped off the face of the Earth within the last 100 years. Stop playing politics and take it seriously.  Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) March 7, 2019

We might also add that, immediately after the Holocaust, multiple Arab nations united in a generation-long effort to use massive military force to wipe out the worlds only Jewish state. And even today, Jews in the most advanced nations of Europe face a level of anti-Semitism and violence that is utterly shameful. Americans shouldnt be so arrogant as to assume that our nation is immune to those ideological currents.

In fact, given the zealous defense of Ilhan Omar, the continued reign of the anti-Semites perched atop the Womens March, and the ongoing acceptance of Louis Farrakhan, its clear that parts of the American Left are drifting in the direction of Jeremy Corbyns Labour party.

Identity cannot be a substitute for or a supplement to reason and morality. Anti-Semitic voices are no more valuable coming from a refugee than from a redneck. If Democrats cannot recognize that fundamental fact, then intersectionality will have encroached on decency, and bigotry will have made yet another cultural advance.

More from National Review
WASHINGTON (AP)  The International Monetary Fund is ready to rescue Venezuela's economy, but the task will be so huge that it will require financial help from other international players, the head of the body said Thursday.

"As soon as we are asked by the legitimate authorities of that country to come in and help, we will come in," IMF managing director Christine Lagarde told The Economist Radio. "It is going to require significant financing from all the international community."

The IMF has yet to determine whether it will recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela.

Guaido, who is the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, pledged on Jan. 23 to serve as interim president of the South American country and has been recognized by many countries in the Americas and Europe who argue Nicolas Maduro's re-election as president was invalid.

Lagarde called a potential economic rescue a "monumental" task, mainly because the fund would have to a lot to catch up on since late President Hugo Chavez and his successor Maduro refused to provide information that would enable the IMF to perform the annual audit it requires of its members.

She added that the amount of financing needed by the country would be "significant," but did not provide a precise amount.

"We will open our wallet, we will put our brain to it and we will make sure our heart is in the right place to help the poorest and the most exposed people," she said.

The economy of the oil-rich nation has shrunk by more than half since 2013, according to IMF data. Hyperinflation and shortages of food and other necessities have also driven at least 3 million Venezuelans out of their country, according to the United Nations.

In comments about who the body believes is the legitimate president of Venezuela, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said Thursday the "situation remains very fluid on the ground and in terms of international recognition."

Story continues

Rice said he is not aware of any contact in the past month and a half between the IMF and neither Venezuelan authorities nor members of Guaido's staff. He also said the executive board has not convened a meeting, which would be the first step toward lending Guaido official recognition.

"If you look at other international organizations, many have not made a determination as yet, including the United Nations," Rice said.

Important members of the IMF including Russia and China continue to recognize Maduro.

As is common with multilateral organizations, the IMF prefers to reach a consensus rather than vote on divisive topics.

Rice described the Venezuelan crisis as "one of the most complex situations we have seen here at the Fund."

___

Luis Alonso Lugo on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/luisalonsolugo
A federal appeals court in California ruled Thursday that migrants who fail the initial step to qualify for asylum in the U.S. should be able to fully appeal the rejection in U.S. courts.

Under U.S. law, migrants who don't establish a "credible fear" of returning to their home country  a test by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers  now can appeal the decision to an immigration judge only on minor, technical grounds. In its decision, the appeals court concluded the law violates decades of judicial rulings granting constitutional protection to non-citizens.

"The historical and practical importance of this ruling cannot be overstated," said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt. "This decision reaffirms the Constitutions foundational principle that individuals deprived of their liberty must have access to a federal court."

In the decision, the judges wrote: "We think it obvious that the constitutional minimum  is not satisfied by such a scheme."

The ruling comes as record numbers of migrant families and children, most of them from Central America, try to enter the U.S. to request asylum, and it could give them another avenue to plead their case. And the ruling could further add to an immigration court backlog that is already drowning under 800,000 cases and not enough judges to process them.

Immigration judges have been turning down the limited credible fear appeals at a far higher rate since President Donald Trump took office. By June 2018, only about 15 percent of applicants who appealed to immigration judges were found to have established a credible fear, down from about 33 percent for the same month in 2017, according to Syracuse Universitys Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC.

Gelernt, who argued the appeal, said migrants who failed their initial asylum hearings are fast-tracked out of the country through "expedited removal" proceedings, quickly ending any hope they have of finding safety in the U.S.

Story continues

With Thursday's ruling, Gelernt said all rejected asylum-seekers in the 9th Circuit  which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington  will immediately be able to request an appeal from a federal judge.

The Justice Department may seek an emergency stay from the Supreme Court, but the department did not respond to questions about its plans.

Office of Customs and Border Protection agents allow access to the United States to a group of 33 migrants seeking political asylum in the U.S.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has been the subject of intense criticism from Trump over rulings that strike down several of his immigration policies. The three-judge panel that ruled on Thursday's case were all nominated by President Bill Clinton.

Thursday's case involves Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam, a Sri Lankan native who is part of the Tamil ethnic minority group battling for independence for decades. He says he has been kidnapped, beaten, and tortured  to the point of losing consciousness  for supporting a Tamil political candidate.

He crossed the southern border in California in February 2017 and was arrested by Border Patrol agents, when he requested asylum. He was interviewed by a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agent a month later, who found Thuraissigiam had not established a "credible fear" of returning to his home country.

Asylum is granted to foreigners who have suffered persecution, or fear persecution, based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

Thuraissigiam tried to appeal the decision but learned U.S. law allows appeals in only three areas: whether the person is indeed a non-citizen, whether the person 'was ordered removed' by expedited removal, and whether the person is a lawful permanent resident or has another status exempting him from expedited removal. The law does not allow a federal judge to review the person's case and decide whether he has established a "credible fear" of returning to his home country.

More immigration news: Democrats attack Trump immigration policy; Kirstjen Nielsen grilled over family separations

Against the emergency: Who are the Republicans senators planning to vote against Trump's border emergency?

Another point of view: 'We have D-Day every month': GOP lawmaker compares immigration to famous WWII offensive

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Immigration asylum-seekers have a constitutional right to appeal, says court
It doesnt seem like the kind of thing Jared Kushner would forget. On Dec. 13, 2016, Donald Trumps son-in-law met with Sergey Gorkov, the head of a multibillion-dollar state-run Russian development bank, who was in the U.S., the bank later said, as part of a new investment strategy. To memorialize the event, Gorkov even gave Kushner a piece of art and a bag of dirt from the village where Kushners grandparents had grown up. But just one month later, Kushner failed to report the meeting when he applied for permission to view the U.S. governments most closely held secrets.

The episode is emerging as a key moment in what Democrats allege was a much larger Russian effort to exert influence over Trumps inner circle as the President-elects team prepared to take office in late 2016. As part of a wide-ranging probe into security clearances, House Oversight chair Elijah Cummings is expected to issue the Democrats first subpoena of the Trump White House for information about the meeting and other contacts, committee member Gerald Connolly tells TIME. Cummings already has demanded all the documents Kushner provided in his security-clearance application as well as those he gave the White House after the request was rejected. In response, Trumps White House lawyer said Congress was overstepping its authority by casting such a wide net, and Trump called the security-clearance investigation presidential harassment.

But the Gorkov meeting and Kushners failure to report it helped accelerate the FBIs investigations of Russias 2016 influence operations, including the inquiry that special counsel Robert Mueller took over five months later, two sources familiar with the probes tell TIME. The Gorkov meeting, and others held by Trump transition figures with then Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, these sources say, helped make what had been a relatively slow-moving counterintelligence investigation a top priority.

At issue, these and four other intelligence and law-enforcement officials say, is whether Russia used the business interests of Trump, Kushner and others in an attempt to influence U.S. foreign- and national-security policy, like trying to ease sanctions, soften U.S. opposition to Moscows expansionist aims and limit American military aid to Ukraine. Its at the heart of the question about whether Russia has any financial leverage over any members of the Administration, one of the sources tells TIME. If Jared was an adviser to the incoming President of the United States and trying to profit from that by doing private business with the Russians or anybody else, then hed have a problem, and his clearance might be the least of it.

Story continues

The Kushner and Gorkov face-to-face attracted the attention of FBI investigators from the start. According to the Washington Post and New York Times, Gorkov is a graduate of the academy of the Federal Security Service, which grooms future Russian spies and Kushner told congressional committees in 2017 that Kislyak had said Gorkov had a direct line into Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moreover, a VEB official, Evgeny Buryakov, pleaded guilty in 2016 to charges he was part of a Russian spy ring in New York; Buryakovs Russian handlers had previously attempted to recruit onetime Trump foreign-policy adviser Carter Page, according to court documents.

Then-Chairman of Russias Vnesheconombank, Sergey Gorkov, left, meets Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Aug. 3, 2016.

Unsurprisingly, the FBI was already watching Gorkov when he arrived in New York City, two law-enforcement officials tell TIME. Gorkov was there, VEB told Reuters in a March 2017 statement, as part of a global tour to launch a new investment strategy that included talking with the head of the Kushner Companies. Since 2014, U.S. Sanctions had prohibited American companies from lending money or buying equity with the bank. A spokeswoman for VEB, contacted for this story, said the banks explanation for the meeting has not changed.

Kushner, however, has characterized the meeting differently. Testifying before Congress in July 2017, he said the Gorkov meeting lasted just 20 to 25 minutes and involved little more than an exchange of light pleasantries. Kushner told Congress there was no discussion of personal business, the Kushner Companies, real estate projects or loans. Kushner also said his initial application for a security clearance didnt leave off just the Russia meeting but all foreign contacts, and was inadvertently submitted before it was complete. Kushner, his lawyer and his lawyers spokesman all declined to comment for this story.

Kushners problems are compounded by the fact that his family real estate company was in deep financial trouble at the time of the Gorkov meeting. His company was facing $1.2 billion in debt stemming from vacancies in a 41-story office tower at 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, according to the New York Times. Kushners company was courting funding from a Qatari source, and he had met with officials from Anbang Insurance Group, a massive Chinese financial company, according to the Washington Post.

The significance of these meetings, and the Gorkov one, became a source of contention at the highest levels of the Trump White House. After Kushners January 2017 clearance request was denied, he received temporary permission to view top-secret materials. Trumps former chief of staff John Kelly and his former White House counsel Don McGahn both wrote internal memos saying they had concerns with issuing Kushner a permanent security clearance, according to the New York Times. Trump denies any role in Kushners clearance.

Intelligence officials remain confounded by the episode. After the Presidents Inauguration, Kushner had access to the Presidents Daily Brief and other highly classified materials, thanks to his temporary top-secret clearance, one former and two current U.S. officials tell TIME. The PDB contains some of the most sensitive information about U.S. intelligence sources and methods. There is no waygiven [Kushners international] meetings, his failure to report them, his financial vulnerabilities and his lack of experiencethat he would have been issued a top-secret clearance on any basis and access to the PDB unless the President directed it, one intelligence official says.

For their part, congressional Democrats smell blood. Why would [Kushner] use a Russian banker who is trained as a spy and is close to Putin as your so-called legitimate avenue of communication to talk about legitimate things? says Representative Don Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia, referring to the reports of Gorkovs background. Cummings gave the White House until March 4 to comply with his demand for information. The White House refused and has declined to further address the matter. The Democrats now face an early test of how they intend to wield their new power. Issuing a subpoena would likely spark months of legal battles; declining to do so would anger scandal-hungry Democrats everywhere.

So just what was Russia after with its 2016 efforts, and the Gorkov meeting in particular? Moscow has been explicit in its efforts to get sanctions relief and limit U.S. arms sales to Ukraine. Senior U.S. intelligence officials also believe there was a larger Russian aim: to undermine faith in U.S. government. Whatever their other goals, few can dispute that they succeeded in that one.

With reporting by ALANA ABRAMSON/WASHINGTON and SIMON SHUSTER/BERLIN
Just over half of MPs are feminists, a poll for Yahoo News UK and YouGov found

Nearly half of MPs do not consider themselves to be feminists, according to an exclusive poll conducted by Yahoo News UK.

The figures, revealed on International Womens Day, show that 53% of MPs across parties say they identify as a feminist, 37% said they do not and 10% said they dont know.

The survey of 100 MPs by YouGov finds that just 28% of Conservative MPs identify as a feminist, whereas 60% do not and 12% dont know.

Labour MPs are almost three times as likely as their Tory counterparts to call themselves a feminist, while MPs outside the two main parties are the most likely to identify as a feminist, with 81% saying they adopt the label.

Cross-party MPs gather alongside aspiring woman from their constituencies to show them the inner workings of Westminster. (Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images)

Female MPs are almost twice as likely as male MPs to consider themselves a feminist.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, told Yahoo News UK the results reflect a continuing hostility to the term feminism.

She said: To the extent that Parliament represents wider society I wasnt that surprised that only half of MPs consider themselves feminists.

We know theres a residual resistance to the word feminism and that it had negative connotations to some, and thats what youre seeing reflected in the numbers.

She stressed that the poll shows some positive signs about changing attitudes within Parliament.

Clearly it is disappointing that there are those who reject the term and dont see that its relevant to them.

But actually in a place like Parliament where we know its a bit anachronistic and it still runs itself like an old mens club, perhaps we shouldnt be surprised by that.

But I take heart from the proportion who do say theyre feminists.

I know from working with MPs in Parliament that there are a lot of them, a number of women and some of the men, who are active on this agenda and really want to drive forward change, she added.

The results are a stark contrast to the optimistic view portrayed by Harriet Harman, senior Labour MP and leading feminist advocate in March 2018, when she hailed the entry of Tory feminists into the House of Commons.

Story continues

In a speech marking International Womens Day last year, she said: The whole agenda for women in the House of Commons has changed, firstly because of the numbers  there are more than 200 female MPs now.

But, secondly and critically, there has been a dramatic change in the nature of Conservative women MPs.

We have now got feminists on the Tory side, who are very different from the doughty tweedy matrons of the past.

These MPs are more modern, and people that we, as Labour women, can work cross-party with.

Theresa May has called herself a feminist in an interview while she was Home Secretary following a backlash over her previous reluctance to using the term.

In 2016 she was pictured wearing a T-shirt produced by the Fawcett Society with the slogan this is what a feminist looks like.

Read more:

Why its better to be a woman now than last year

Everything you need to know about Emmeline Pankhurst

Ms Smethers stresses that politicians calling themselves feminists must back this up with actions.

She said: I would want our politicians to wear their feminism in an authentic way and do it in a way thats genuinely translated into actions.

It comes back to deeds not words at the end of the day.

We have to ensure that we are our policy and legislative change is consistent with the label feminist.

Naz Shah MP, Labour Women and Equalities Minister, told Yahoo News UK: I do consider myself as a feminist, as the basis of feminism is the emancipation of women from the injustices of a patriarchal society and fight for a fairer and more equal society.

Of course, there are different strands and approaches to feminism and that highlights the diversity of women around the world. But no matter the strand or approach, we are all feminists and sisters  struggling for a common aim.

Labour MPs are more likely to be feminists because Labour MPs are more likely to be women as opposed to the Conservatives. Our Labour MPs stand tall on socialist values, which includes standing up for the rights of women.

The attitudes of some men can cause much of the problems in a patriarchal society, and if they dont want to be labelled feminists, while also being silent on issues relating to the Gender Pay Gap, sexual harassment at work or other issues of womens equality, then those men are also part of the problem.

The research shows that MPs are more likely than the general population to call themselves a feminist.

YouGov polling in 2018 found out that just 26% of Brits are feminists, with 31% saying there is no longer a need for feminism.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi President Barham Salih said foreign Islamic State fighters tried in Iraq could be handed death sentences, according to an interview published by Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National on Friday. The IS fighters "will be tried in accordance to Iraqi law and may be sentenced to death if found guilty" of killing Iraqis, the paper quoted Salih as saying on its website. U.S.-backed forces in Syria handed some 280 Iraqi and foreign suspected Islamic State members last month, Iraq's military said. More such handovers are expected under an agreement to transfer some 500 detainees held by U.S.-backed forces in Syria. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said Iraq would either help repatriate non-Iraqi IS detainees to their home countries, or prosecute those suspected of having committed crimes against Iraq and Iraqis. Under Iraqi law those could face the death penalty. Salih's remarks were the first public comments confirming that foreign IS fighters could face execution in Iraq. "There are certain cases in which some of these foreign fighters have been implicated in cases of terrorism on Iraqi soil or against Iraqi citizens. Here Iraqi law will take precedence," he said. Iraq has said, however, that it does not expect to have to deal with all Islamic State fighters transferred from Syria. "To laden Iraq with this issue on behalf of the world, is too much to ask of Iraq," Salih said. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces group is driving Islamic State militants out of some of the very last territory they hold, nearly five years after they swept through eastern Syria and northern Iraq and imposed their own brutal rule, declaring an Islamic "caliphate". (Reporting by John Davison; Editing by John Stonestreet, William Maclean)
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government will not fall over a Italy-France rail link row, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio reiterated on Thursday. In an interview with the online daily Affaritaliani.it Di Maio was also quoted as saying that to find an agreement within the ruling coalition parties on the issue was "hard". The rail project, meant to connect the cities of Turin and Lyon, has been delayed for months because Italy's 5-Star Movement opposes it while coalition partner the League is in favor. (Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni)
By Gavin Jones and Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) - A dispute in Italy's coalition over the future of a high-speed rail link with France escalated suddenly on Thursday and raised the risk of a government collapse, with one party chief accusing his partner of acting irresponsibly. The Alpine rail line is backed by the ruling League party but is fiercely opposed by its coalition partner, the 5-Star Movement, which argues Italy's share of the funding would be better spent upgrading existing roads and bridges. After League leader Matteo Salvini said in an evening television interview he would not back down and his party would "never sign" a decree to block the project, 5-Star chief Luigi Di Maio accused him of threatening to bring down the government. "He will bear the responsibility before millions of Italians," Di Maio said in a statement. "I consider this to be irresponsible behavior." The TAV project (Treno Alta Velocita) is a joint venture between the Italian and French states to link the cities of Turin and Lyon with a 58-km (36-mile) tunnel through the Alps on which work has already begun. The European Union has pledged to fund up to 40 percent of costs, Italy up to 35 percent and France up to 25 percent. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said earlier on Thursday that recently updated traffic projections for the line warranted a review of the project's long-term viability and, if necessary, a renegotiation of the way the funding is split. He told reporters he had strong personal doubts about the validity of the venture and he would take responsibility for a final decision based on a cost-benefit analysis already carried out by the government. That analysis, commissioned by Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli, a 5-Star politician, found the TAV was a waste of public money, estimating the economic return would be a negative balance of 7.0 billion-7.8 billion euros ($7.9 billion -$8.8 billion). Conte, who is not a member of either ruling party but is closer to 5-Star, called the funding of the TAV "iniquitous" and said he would speak to France and the EU "to share our doubts and perplexities." Despite these doubts, he acknowledged the ruling coalition remained "deadlocked" over the issue, as a Monday deadline approaches when the tenders must be launched to build or block key parts of the project. The right-wing League and the anti-establishment 5-Star have often been at loggerheads since forming an unlikely alliance last year after inconclusive elections. Conte dismissed media speculation the Alpine rail link could be the issue that finally brings it down as "absurd" and said the dispute between the ruling parties was transparent and constructive. ($1 = 0.8841 euros) (additional reporting by Gavin Jones and Crispian Balmer; Editing by Mark Bendeich, Jon Boyle, Alexandra Hudson and Cynthia Osterman)
There was a big Welsh parti at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday: Penblwydd hapus (Happy anniversary) to the Prince of Wales!

Prince Charles was formally installed as Prince of Wales on July 1, 1969, in an elaborate ceremony marking the semi-coronation of the monarch's eldest son as the heir to the throne, during which he is "invested" with the regalia and other symbols of his rank.

But as is the case with many royal milestones such as the sovereign's birthday, the party doesn't happen on the actual date. Hence, Queen Elizabeth II hosted a midday reception at the palace to mark the anniversary, attended by Charles' wife, Duchess Camilla of Cornwall, and his sons and daughters-in-law and other honored guests.

Perhaps most interesting to royal watchers, the bash marked the first joint public appearance for William, Kate, Harry and Meghan of 2019. The foursome was last seen together in public on Christmas.

Recent rumors have swirled about rising tensions between Meghan and Kate. The buzz led to a TLC special, which aired on Feb. 5, titled "Kate v Meghan: Princesses at War?"

Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry make the rounds at Prince Charles' reception.

Meghan was snapped patting her baby bump, which was nestled in a champagne-colored, flora brocade dress over which she wore a winter-white Amanda Wakeley coat. According to tweets from the royal-fashion-tracking website Meghan's Mirror, the mom-to-be carried an oyster-colored Wilbur and Gussie silk clutch and wore tan suede Paul Andrew stilettos.

The queen wore a tweed jacket  in purple, the color of royalty, naturally  over a polka-dotted dress, while Camilla wore a hunter-green suit.

Her sister-in-law, Duchess Kate, donned a seafoam green dress featuring puffed long sleeves and a pleated, tea-length skirt.

Among the other guests are leading figures in Welsh and U.K. public life, as well as representatives from Prince Charles' many Welsh charities, including The Princes Trust Cymru, Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales. The Archbishop of Canterbury will also give a speech to mark the anniversary.

Story continues

A major draw for the cameras: The Investiture Regalia was on display. Guests can check out all the baubles worn by Charles at the 1969 ceremony, including the investiture coronet, sword, ring and rod, as well as the letters patent for the creation of Charles as Prince of Wales in 1958, when he was 9.

The reception also featured a musical performance in the palace ballroom by students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, of which Charles is royal patron.

The performance included a new piece written for the anniversary by Welsh composer Paul Mealor, inspired by the Welsh legend of the Lady of the Lake, a mountain lake near Charles' Welsh home, Llwynywermod in Carmarthenshire.

The investiture celebration is the latest honor for Charles, now the oldest and longest-serving Prince of Wales in history. His 70th birthday in November also was marked with a major shindig hosted by the queen at the palace last year.

Charles became the Prince of Wales on July 26, 1958, but was not formally invested with the title until the 1969 investiture ceremony when he was 20. The ceremony was largely stage-managed by the queen's then-brother-in-law, Lord Snowdon, Antony Armstrong-Jones, the former society photographer of Welsh descent who had married her sister, Princess Margaret.

CAERNARFON, UNITED KINGDOM: Queen Elizabeth II holds the hands of her son Prince Charles during his investiture as Prince of Wales, July 1, 1969, at Caernarfon Castle in Wales.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams says there were 4,000 guests at the ceremony and a worldwide audience of 500 million watched it. "It was considered a spectacular success," Fitzwilliams says. "The monarchy was the one establishment institution that ended the 1960s with its reputation enhanced, largely due to these initiatives and before the advent of the tabloid press."

The custom of giving the monarch's heir-apparent the title Prince of Wales dates back to 1301, when King Edward I of England, having conquered and subdued the principality of Wales (and killed its hereditary prince), bestowed the title on his own heir, later King Edward II, who was born at Caernafon Castle in northwest Wales. But the idea of holding the investiture ceremony at the castle wasn't revived until the 1911 ceremony for Charles' great-uncle, later Edward VIII, when he was Prince of Wales.

In contrast to 1911, Charles' ceremony was a massive media event of the era, watched by millions on TV and designed to symbolically cement the bonds between the crown and Wales. Once a separate country with its own language and culture, Wales harbored lingering nationalist hostility to the English royals at the time.

The film footage from the ceremony shows the queen investing Charles with the girdle, sword, a new Prince of Wales coronet, ring, rod and an ermine mantle. Thus draped, he knelt before her declaring, "I, Charles, Prince of Wales, do become your liege man of life and limb and of earthly worship, and faith and truth I bear unto you, to live and die against all manner of folks."

He gave two speeches, in English and in Welsh. Later, the queen led him to the castle's Queen Eleanor's Gate to receive the homage of the Welsh people.

For Prince William, 36, the anniversary party may also be an occasion for contemplation. The queen turns 93 in April and may reign for another decade, but eventually, his father will become King Charles III and he will be created the new Prince of Wales.

So will William have an investiture ceremony - and what will it look like?

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will & Kate, Harry & Meghan come together to celebrate Prince of Wales at palace party
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kylie Jenner on Tuesday was named the youngest self-made billionaire of all time by Forbes magazine, thanks to the booming cosmetics company she founded three years ago.

Jenner, 21, the half-sister of reality television stars Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, made it onto the annual Forbes list of billionaires after debuting her Kylie Cosmetics online in 2015 with $29 lip kits containing matching lipstick and lip liner.

Forbes said she was both the world's youngest billionaire and also the youngest self-made billionaire ever.

On their billionaires list, Forbes distinguishes between those who inherited much of their wealth and those who made their fortunes on their own. Kylie would be in 2,057th place whether she was self-made or inherited.

Last year, Kylie Cosmetics did an estimated $360 million in sales, according to Forbes. Jenner, who has a one year-old daughter, owns 100 percent of the company.

She also makes money from endorsements and appearances on cable TV's "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," and was ranked at number 2,057 on the Forbes 2019 list.

Kylie Cosmetics last year signed a deal with Ulta Beauty Inc <ULTA.O> to put her products in all of the retailer's 1,163 U.S. stores.

Forbes put 2,153 billionaires on its 2019 list, down from 2,208 in 2018, and said their total combined net worth was $8.7 trillion, down from $9.1 trillion in 2018.

The richest person in the world remained Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, whose net worth increased to $131 billion from $112 billion in 2018, according to Forbes.

Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> co-founder Bill Gates remained in the No. 2 position with an estimated fortune of $96.5 billion, up from $90 billion last year.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped three places to No. 8, as his fortune fell by $8.7 billion to $62.3 billion.

The full list can be seen at Forbes.com/billionaires.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Dividends can be underrated but they form a large part of investment returns, playing an important role in compounding returns in the long run. Historically, Xiamen International Port Co., Ltd (HKG:3378) has paid dividends to shareholders, and these days it yields 3.6%. Lets dig deeper into whether Xiamen International Port should have a place in your portfolio.

See our latest analysis for Xiamen International Port

5 checks you should do on a dividend stock

When assessing a stock as a potential addition to my dividend Portfolio, I look at these five areas:

Is it paying an annual yield above 75% of dividend payers?

Does it consistently pay out dividends without missing a payment of significantly cutting payout?

Has dividend per share risen in the past couple of years?

Is its earnings sufficient to payout dividend at the current rate?

Based on future earnings growth, will it be able to continue to payout dividend at the current rate?

SEHK:3378 Historical Dividend Yield, March 7th 2019

Does Xiamen International Port pass our checks?

Xiamen International Port has a trailing twelve-month payout ratio of 36%, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. However, going forward, analysts expect 3378s payout to fall to 25% of its earnings. Assuming a constant share price, this equates to a dividend yield of around 2.9%.

When assessing the forecast sustainability of a dividend it is also worth considering the cash flow of the business. Companies with strong cash flow can sustain a higher payout ratio, while companies with weaker cash flow generally cannot.

If dividend is a key criteria in your investment consideration, then you need to make sure the dividend stock youre eyeing out is reliable in its payments. Dividend payments from Xiamen International Port have been volatile in the past 10 years, with some years experiencing significant drops of over 25%. This means that dividend hunters should probably steer clear of the stock, at least for now until the track record improves.

Story continues

In terms of its peers, Xiamen International Port produces a yield of 3.6%, which is on the low-side for Infrastructure stocks.

Next Steps:

Whilst there are few things you may like about Xiamen International Port from a dividend stock perspective, the truth is that overall it probably is not the best choice for a dividend investor. 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. Below, Ive compiled three relevant aspects you should further research:

Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 3378s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 3378s outlook. Valuation: What is 3378 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 3378 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.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testifying in the House (all times local):

12:45 p.m.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says the crisis at the southern border is not manufactured.

Nielsen is speaking before the House Homeland Security Committee on border security. She says border agencies are on track to apprehend nearly 1 million people crossing illegally this year at the southern border. Those are levels not seen since the early 2000s.

Last month, there were 76,000 migrants apprehended; most were families from Central America. Many seek asylum and are released into the country to wait out their immigration cases, which can take years.

Nielsen says "no rational person" would design an immigration system like the U.S. has today.

She is expected to face tough questioning from Democrats who have recently taken control of the House.

___

10:35 a.m.

A House panel is grilling Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for the first time since Democrats took control of the chamber. The panel's chairman says oversight of Trump administration's border policies is long overdue.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson says he wants to use Wednesday's hearing to give Nielsen the opportunity to start a "serious discussion," rather than echoing Trump's claims of a security crisis at the border.

The hearing is one of three at the Capitol on border issues Wednesday. Since Democrats took control of the House, they have prioritized investigating last year's family separations and have subpoenaed documents related to the policy.




Viewers tuning into Leaving Neverland were left shocked by James Safechucks mum, Stephanie.

The first part of the documentary, which aired on Channel 4 on Wednesday 6 March, featured Wade Robson and James Safechuck revealing  in detail  the sexual abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of Michael Jackson.

Whilst the two men recalled how they met Jackson and what happened in the months that followed, the programme also included interviews with members of Safechuck and Robsons family.

Stephanie Safechuck was criticised for her reaction during the Leaving Neverland documentary (Channel 4)

As the cameras focused on Stephanie, she was seen giggling whilst talking about how her son would be kept in Jacksons room.

Read more: Michael Jackson Fans Protest Leaving Neverland Broadcast in U.K.

I wanted to know what was going on in the room, she giggled.

My son doesnt know this but I would go to the door and try to hear what conversation was going on and then Id sneak away, she added.

Wednesday night saw the first part of Leaving Neverland, the controversial HBO/Channel 4 documentary about Michael Jackson. The second part will air on Thursday night.

However, viewers were left shocked by Stephanies demeanour and took to Twitter to share their thoughts.

Also, why on earth would a mum look back and laugh/smile when thinking back on when her little boy was allegedly sexually abused? #LeavingNeverland, one user shared on Twitter.

Read more: Michael Jackson documentary called cheap shot by fans as it airs in America

Whilst another commented: What the hell is this mums problem or is it just me that its so bizarre she smiles laughs and jokes while her son talks about being sexual abused, violated and raped this is extremely tough to watch #LeavingNeverland.

What the hell is this mums problem or is it just me that its so bizarre she smiles laughs and jokes while her son talks about being sexual abused, violated and raped this is extremely tough to watch #LeavingNeverland, a third user of the social networking site shared.

James Safechuck spoke about the abuse he allegedly suffered (Channel 4)

A different tweet read: Why is the mum laughing so much? LeavingNeverland.

The documentary, which concludes on Thursday 7 March, sparked a debate about who was telling the truth.

Story continues

Read more: Michael Jacksons estate posts live concert footage during Leaving Neverland TV premiere

However, Leaving Neverlands director Dan Reed defended Jacksons accusers when he told Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain recently that he didnt think Robson and Safechuck were after money.

No, they want justice, they are not fussed about the money. I dont know what theyd do with the money when they get it. Theyre entitled as citizens to use the courts to hold the Jackson estate  and their contention is that all these people who worked with Jackson looked the other way while they were being raped.

Leaving Neverland continues on Channel 4 at 9pm tonight.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon on Thursday warned its Mediterranean neighbours that a planned EastMed gas pipeline from Israel to the European Union must not be allowed to violate its maritime borders.

Beirut has an unresolved maritime border dispute with Israel - which it regards as an enemy country - over a sea area of about 860 sq km (330 square miles) extending along the edge of three of Lebanon's southern energy blocks.

Israel is hoping to enlist several European countries in the construction of a 2,000 km (1,243 mile) pipeline linking vast eastern Mediterranean gas resources to Europe through Cyprus, Greece and Italy at a cost of $7 billion.

Lebanon's foreign minister, Gebran Bassil, said he had written to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Italy to request that the pipeline does not infringe on Lebanon's rights within what it claims as its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

In a copy of the letter sent to Greece's foreign ministry seen by Reuters, Bassil said Lebanon would not allow its sovereignty to be breached, "especially when it comes to any eventual attempt from Israel to encroach on Lebanon's sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its EEZ".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Israel within the next few days to help with its plan to export natural gas to Europe.

"In a few days, the leaders of Cyprus and Greece will come here, together with ... Pompeo, to advance a gas pipeline from Israel to Europe via these countries," Netanyahu said.

Pompeo on Monday said his visit to the region will also include a stop in Beirut and Kuwait.

Lebanon last year licensed a consortium of Italy's Eni, France's Total and Russia's Novatek to carry out the country's first offshore energy exploration in two blocks. One of the blocks, Block 9, contains waters disputed with Israel.

Story continues

Lebanese leaders have repeatedly warned Israel not to encroach on its offshore oil and gas reserves.

A number of big gas fields have been discovered in the eastern Mediterranean Levant Basin since 2009. However, the region lacks significant oil and gas infrastructure and political relations between the countries - including Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and Syria - are strained on a number of fronts.

In January Eastern Mediterranean countries agreed in Cairo to set up a forum to create a regional gas market, cut infrastructure costs and offer competitive prices. Lebanon and Turkey did not participate in the meeting, nor did war-torn Syria.

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Laila Bassam; Editing by David Goodman)
House Resolution 1, also known as the For the People Act, is House Democrats latest effort to further federalize and micromanage our governance. The enormous 571-page bill is a progressive wish list of new rules and regulations that would undermine the legitimacy and functionality of our entire electoral system. And its now set for a vote on the House floor.

The Constitution deliberately decentralizes power over elections as it does over most other areas of law, leaving states and localities to determine rules for when, where, and how to cast a vote. We have laws in place to stop racial discrimination and the like, but short of that, decentralization ensures that no single entity exerts too much influence over elections. Indeed, the reason its very hard to hack a presidential election is because its not a national election but 50 state ones.

H.R. 1 would strip states of their longstanding responsibilities as electoral gatekeepers by imposing one-size-fits-all rules. A key provision of the bill would require states to use independent commissions to design congressional districts. But the constitutional authority to draw districts rests with state legislatures, so the federal government cant force states to use commissions. That would surely invite legal challenge as a violation of the anti-commandeering doctrine established by the Supreme Court in New York v. United States (1992) and reiterated just last year in Murphy v. NCAA (2018), which prohibits the federal government from conscripting state officials into carrying out preferred policies.

One of the most worrisome reforms is tucked away in the bills Federal Election Commission provisions. After Watergate, Congress created the FEC as a six-member, politically independent body so that neither party could use its regulatory power to punish political opponents. H.R. 1 abandons this longstanding structure, refashioning the FEC into a five-member commission that allows a simple majority to investigate and prosecute. The bill does state that no more than two members can be from the same political party, but this wouldnt stop obvious partisans like, say, Bernie Sanders (whos technically an independent) from being appointed. Adopting these changes would subject the FEC  our election monitor  to partisan control.

Story continues

The partisan implications of this change are clear. If this bill were to become law under a Democratic president in 2021, he or she would get to appoint all five FEC commissioners. Two commissioners would be appointed for three-year terms, and the other three for six years. All terms thereafter would be for six years. So a Democratic president could, in theory, appoint two Republican members to three-year terms expiring in December 2024, and then again in December 2030, and so on. This would essentially guarantee Democratic control of the FEC for at least six years.

On the campaign-finance front, H.R. 1 represents a blatant assault on the First Amendment. Even the American Civil Liberties Union has said that the bill goes too far by trying to silence necessary voices that would otherwise speak out on public issues. In a recent letter to the House Rules Committee, the ACLU pointed to numerous provisions that would impinge on individuals and public-interest organizations freedom of speech.

For one thing, certain politically active organizations, including tax-exempt 501(c)(4) charitable groups and unions, would be compelled to disclose donors who have contributed more than a certain amount. Digital-ad companies, like Facebook, would be required to create an online database disclosing all political-ad purchases totaling more than $500. These provisions would impose considerable compliance costs and chill political speech  which is, of course, the goal of most campaign-finance reformers.

H.R. 1 also asks taxpayers to subsidize congressional campaigns. The bills small-dollar financing program provides a six-to-one match for private contributions up to $200. In practice, a $200 private donation would trigger a $1200 taxpayer donation, which could have up to a $9.6 billion price tag in the 2020 election alone. Under the guise of public financing, Americans of all political stripes would be forced to financially support candidates whose views they abhor.

In the end, H.R. 1 will be dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled Senate, but we should be wary of such omnibus centralization of our electoral mechanism in the name of good government all the same. The bill offers little in the way of real policy reform, proposes numerous provisions that are clearly unconstitutional, and undermines basic principles of federalism. If ever adopted, it would give power to one slice of Washingtons elite at the expense of American democracys carefully crafted checks and balances.

Ilya Shapiro is the director of the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. Nathan Harvey is a legal associate at Cato.

More from National Review
The ancient Greek poet Archilochus wrote, "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog one great thing." The fable tells the story of a wily, hedgehog-stalking fox, repeatedly defeated by the hedgehog's prickly spines, which proved to be an impenetrable defense. Jack Bogle did, in fact, know many things, but he never forgot the one important thing, which he defended until the end, sometimes in a prickly fashion: Costs matter in investing.

See Also: The 6 Best Vanguard Index Funds for 2019 and Beyond

Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group and creator of the first retail index fund, stuck by the conclusion of his senior thesis at Princeton. The mutual fund industry's growth was best maximized by cutting sales loads and management fees, argued the young Bogle.

To a modern investor, this is just common sense. The less money you give to your fund (or your broker), the more money you keep. But to people in the pre-Vanguard world--especially those in the mutual fund industry--it was heresy. The commissions you paid for stocks and mutual funds were the entrance fee to the magic kingdom of Wall Street. Ads extolled listening to E.F. Hutton's brokers, and the business press lionized active fund managers.

Bogle didn't buy it, especially since fat commissions and fees kept investors from beating the returns of an index, such as Standard & Poor's 500-stock index.

Bogle didn't endear himself to the industry that he worked in his entire life, thanks to frequent--and frequently blunt--criticisms. "I have a lover's quarrel with the industry," he said. In his best-selling Common Sense on Mutual Funds: New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor, first published in 1999, he wrote, "The mutual fund industry has been built, in a sense, on witchcraft."

Bogle helped break the spell. Actively managed funds were 85% of the industry's assets in 2007; that share is 65% today. Expense ratios, pressured by low-cost index investing, have fallen from an average of 1.04% for all U.S. stock funds in 1996 to 0.59%, on average. And the low-fee bandwagon he set into motion rolls on. Fidelity Investments now offers mutual funds with an expense ratio of zero. Fidelity and Charles Schwab & Co. have eliminated commissions on hundreds of ETFs.

Story continues

John Clifton Bogle died on January 16, 2019, but his legacy lives on.

EDITOR'S PICKS



Copyright 2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors
Adolf Hitler was one of the most evil figures of the 20th century. His ideology of war and racism led to millions of deaths.

What was it that drove him to adopt the abominable policies he did? Did his views on religion play any role in this?

Theres a startling lack of information on this subject in the public sphereand much of what you hear is wrong.

So lets set the record straight.

Ideologues Have Ideas

Ive looked into the question of Hitlers religion for decades. I remember being in bookstores back in the 1990s, leafing through the indices of biographies of Hitler, searching for information on the subject.

Yet the biographies I checked said little, and it was hard to find concrete information. They discussed his persecution of Jews andto a lesser extentChristians, but they didnt devote much space to what he, personally, believed.

It was as if Hitler either didnt have religious views or they werent important.

That never struck me as plausible, because of the kind of figure Hitler was.

It isnt just that he was an authoritarian dictator. I can imagine someone who has no particular views on questions like God and the afterlife ending up in political power and then doing cruel things to maintain it. Such a person would simply be an opportunist.

He might have a personality disorder that leads him to do extreme things to maintain his hold on power, but that wouldnt mean he had strong views on religious questions.

Yet Hitler wasnt simply an opportunist. He was an ideologue.

His rabid anti-Semitism was an illustration of that. So was his Aryan master race ideology, his plan to build a Thousand-Year Reich for Germany, and his belief in an overarching destiny for his movement.

Ideologues are obsessed with ideas, and that means they inevitably have views on the Big Questions. Is there a God or not? What does he want? Is there an afterlife? Whats our ultimate destiny?

Ideologues dont have to be favorable to traditional religions. Since the nineteenth century, Communist ideologues have fiercely opposed belief in God and the afterlife.

However, that just replaced traditional religions with a new one: atheism. Further, instead of seeing a divine plan behind history, they saw the laws of the material universe providing an inescapable triumph of Communism over other systems.

It thus seemed inevitable that Hitler would have some kind of views on religious subjectsviews that would have inspired his ideology of war, racism, and destiny.

The question was: What were they?

A Practical Question

I was interested in the subject for its own sakejust to understand a seemingly inexplicable historical evilbut it was also a partly practical question for me.

The reason is that its a fact of history that Hitlerlike ninety percent of everyone born in Austria at the timewas baptized a Catholic.

This made it easy for anti-Catholics to portray Hitler as a loyal son of the Church who simply took the anti-Semitism found in European Christian circles to its murderous and logical extreme.

In 1963, German playwright Rolf Hoccuth published a play called The Deputy in which he portrayed Pius XIIthe pontiff during World War IIas having failed to take action against or condemn the Holocaust.

In 1999, British journalist John Cornwell published the book Hitlers Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, in which he argued that the wartime pontiff was anti-Semitic and silent in the face of the murder of six million European Jews.

Both works were roundly criticized by historians who looked into the subject, but they helped fuel the fires of those who wished to portray the Catholic Church as having a cozy relationship with Nazism.

In reality, the Church vigorously opposed it. Even before the war, Eugenio Pacellithe future Pius XIIcontributed to the 1937 encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge (German, With Burning Concern), which condemned Nazi ideology.

To underscore the Churchs forceful rejection of it, this encyclical was written in German instead of the usual Latin and then smuggled into Germany to be read from the pulpit of every Catholic church on Palm Sunday.

It condemned the Nazis so-called myth of race and blood, as well as numerous actions of the German state, and after it was released, Hitler was beside himself with rage. Twelve presses were seized, and hundreds of people sent either to prison or the camps (Anton Gill, An Honourable Defeat; A History of the German Resistance to Hitler).

During the war, Pius XII oversaw clandestine Catholic efforts to save Jewish people from being shipped to the concentration camps, and in his book Three Popes and the Jews, Orthodox Rabbi Pinchas Lapide estimated that the final number of Jewish lives in whose rescue the Catholic Church had been the instrument is thus at least 700,000 souls, but in all probability, it is much closer to . . . 860,000.

Pius XIIs opposition to Hitler was so well known that he wrote a letter of resignation in the event that he was captured by the Nazis, so that a new pope could be elected in a neutral country, away from Nazi control (Andrea Tornielli, Francis: Pope of a New World).

Upon his death, Golda Meir, the future prime minister of Israel, stated: When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the Pope was raised for the victims. The life of our times was enriched by a voice speaking out on the great moral truths above the tumult of daily conflict. We mourn a great servant of peace.

Despite the opposition of the Church to Nazi ideology, the question of Hitlers religion had a practical aspect for me from an apologetic perspective.

It was one thing to show that Hitler had turned his back on Catholic teaching, but it would be better to be able to identify exactly what he came to believe.

False Starts and Better Information

I thought I had a promising lead when I found the 1989 book The Nazis and the Occult by American journalist Dusty Sklar.

In it, she linked Nazi ideology to various occult and neo-pagan ideas that were floating around Austria at the time, and for a while I relied upon this book.

However, I came to realize that while Sklar was correct that such ideas were present in the ethos of the time, the book was unscholarly, and these ideas could not simply be attributed to Hitler.

I also came across unreliable documentaries that similarly sought to portray Nazism as a fundamentally occult/neopagan movement.

Fortunately, in recent years much more information about Hitlers religious beliefs have become availableas well as more easily findable due to the Internetand today there are several quality treatments of the subject.

One is American historian Richard Weikarts 2016 book Hitlers Religion: The Twisted Beliefs that Drove the Third Reich.

It is a balanced, carefully argued work that interacts with the views of different scholars and documents Hitlers beliefs using his own writings and speeches, as well as memoirs of him by his associates.

The quotations in the sections that follow can be found in it unless otherwise noted.

Was Hitler an Occultist or a Pagan?

Those who link Hitler to occultism or neopaganism can point to the fact that there were prominent occult societies in Vienna, Austria, where Hitler lived in early adulthood.

Further, some of his associates were involved in these activities. Individuals such as Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, and Alfred Rosenberg, a Nazi educational leader, both favored the reintroduction of German paganism, involving the worship of deities such as Wotan (Odin) and Thor.

However, this did not mean Hitler subscribed to these views. Weikart notes, At the Nuremberg Party Rally in September 1938, Hitler confronted head-on the neopaganism in his own party. Some Germans were becoming unsettled at Rosenbergs and Himmlers attempts to resurrect ancient Germanic gods, rites, and shrines. Hitler reassured his followers that this did not represent the official party position, nor did it correspond with his own perspective.

Not only did Hitler distance himself from such views in public, he also mocked them in private. According to Nazi architect Albert Speer, he derided Himmlers religious efforts, saying, What nonsense! Here we have at last reached an age that has left all mysticism behind it, and now he wants to start that all over again. We might just as well have stayed with the church. At least it had tradition. To think that I may someday be turned into an SS saint! Can you imagine it? I would turn over in my grave.

Weikart also notes, Hitlers military adjutant likewise recalled that Hitler disapproved of Himmlers plans to reintroduce the cult of Wotan and Thor. In October 1941, Hitler ranted again about the foolishness of trying to resurrect the cult of Wotan.

Was Hitler an Atheist?

Hitlers godless behavior made it easy for some to portray him as an atheist. The millions of deaths he was responsible for represent a slaughter comparable only to those of the atheistic, Communist dictators of the twentieth centurysuch as Stalin, Mao, or Pol Potand it is easy to see Hitler as one who feared neither God nor man.

Some of Hitlers contemporaries even described him in atheistic terms. One was the early Nazi Party official Otto Strasser. Another was Hitlers friend Ernst Hanfstaengl, who said, He was to all intents and purposes an atheist by the time I got to know him (Hitler: The Memoir of the Nazi Insider Who Turned Against the Fuhrer).

But Strasser and Hanfstaengl both turned on Hitler, and their descriptions of him as an atheist may have been attempts to damage his reputation or distance themselves from him. Hanfstaengl, in particular, only said that he was an atheist to all intents and purposes, suggesting that he was just very irreligious, not a committed disbeliever in God.

Hitler was not an atheist according to his public statements. Thus in 1937 he remarked that the German national anthem constitutes a pledge to the Almighty, to his will and to his work: for man has not created this Volk [i.e., the German people], but God, that God who stands above us all.

However, many politicians engage in insincere God-talk just to curry favor with their constituents, and there is no doubt that Hitler was a prolific liar who refrained from fully disclosing his religious beliefs to the German people, lest he lose support among believers.

We thus must ask whether Hitler actually believed in a deity or whether he just mouthed what he thought people wanted to hear.

Weikart writes: Was this just a pose for public consumption? Not likely. Hitler not only appealed to Providence as his guide in many public speeches and in both his books, but he also did the same in his private monologues. His closest colleagues also testified that he believed Providence had anointed him for a special task.

Was Hitler a Christian?

If Hitler professed a belief in God even in private, we need to ask what kind of deity he believed in. Was it the Christian God?

In his speeches and writings, he attempted to give the impression that it was. However, his antagonism toward historic Christianity was so strong that he publicly reinterpreted it.

Early in his career, he said he supported what he called positive Christianity, according to which Jesus was a great Aryan who fought against Jewish materialism.

He then used this image of Jesus-as-fighter to inspire his followers to likewise fight. In 1923, he gave a speech in which he said, We must bring Christianity to the fore again, but the fighting Christianity (Kampfchristentum) which did not involve mute acceptance and suffering, but rather a doctrine of struggle against injustice, saying now is the time to fight with fist and sword.

Hitlers understanding of Christ was bizarre. According to him, Jesus was not a Jew. Weikart notes, in April 1921, he told a crowd in Rosenheim that he could not imagine Christ as anything other than blond-haired and blue-eyed, making clear that he considered Jesus an Aryan. In an interview with a journalist in November 1922, he actually claimed Jesus was Germanic.

Although Hitler was prepared to see Jesus as having been martyred because of his opposition to Jewish practices, he did not believe in the Resurrection. According to Hitlers confidant Otto Wagener, Hitler stated that Christs body was removed from the tomb, to keep it from being an object of veneration and a tangible relic of the great new founder of a religion.

As the years progressed, Hitler deemphasized positive Christianity and in private he admitted this was a pose.

As early as 1931, Weikart notes, Goebbels recorded that Hitler wished to withdraw from the Catholic Church but was waiting for the right moment. Hitlers wish seemed to excite Goebbels, even though he admitted it would cause a scandal. But Goebbels relished the thought that he, Hitler, and other Nazi leaders would someday leave the churches en masse.

Hitler also envisioned the overall demise of Christianity. In 1937, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary that The Fuhrer thinks Christianity is ripe for destruction. That may still take a long time, but it is coming.

One reason it would take time was that Hitler felt he needed to keep the German people united in order to fight the war. However, afterward things would be different. In 1941 he told his district lieutenants, There is an insoluble contradiction between the Christian and a Germanic-heroic worldview. However, this contradiction cannot be resolved during the war, but after the war we must step up to solve this contradiction.

His rejection of Christianity did not mean embracing atheism, however. As Hitler privately told Nazi newspaper editor Hans Ziegler, You must know, I am a heathen. I understand that to mean: a non-Christian. Of course, I have an inward relationship to a cosmic Almighty, to a Godhead.

What Was Hitler?

If Hitler wasnt an occultist, a neopagan, an atheist, or a Christian, what was he?

The answer is that, religiously as in other matters, he was an eclectic who didnt follow an established school of thought. Instead, he borrowed different ideas that were floating around in the culture of his day.

If we had to describe his religious views in a single phrase, we could say that he was a pseudo-scientific evolutionary pantheist.

Each of these elements requires some unpacking.

Pantheism

Pantheism is the view that God and the world are identical. It emphasizes the immanence of God in nature at the expense of his transcendence.

It began to gain traction in Europe in the 1600s as a result of the Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza and, later, the German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel.

Pantheism lacks a personal God separate from creation. Instead, the world itself is understood as a spiritual entity.

This is why Hitler could still affirm a belief in a cosmic Almighty, despite his rejection of the Judeo-Christian God.

Hitler was powerfully impressed with natureas illustrated both by his racial theories and by nature imagery in Nazi propagandaand so he tended to conflate God with nature.

Thus in 1941 he spoke of the helplessness of humanity in the face of the eternal law of nature. It is not harmful, if we only come to the knowledge that the entire salvation of humanity lies in trying to comprehend the divine Providence and not believing that he can rebel against that law.

As Weikart points out, In this passage, Hitler equated divine Providence with natural laws that are also eternal.

Hitler did not believe that the world was created. Instead, it was eternal, and rather than being able to appeal to a loving Creator who can intervene in human history, Hitler believed people must simply submit to the iron laws of nature.

Evolution

This leads to the next element of Hitlers religion: It was heavily focused on evolution. This is the reason for his racial policies.

Hitler believed that, through the process of evolution, nature had produced a hierarchy of races, with Nordic Germans at the top and groups like Jews and Africans much further down.

Since evolution involves survival of the fittest, Hitler believed that conflict between these races was natural and desirable, that the weaker should be subjugated or eliminated so that the superior might prosper.

It also is why he opposed race mixing, because it would mean weakening the superior strains of humanity by introducing genetically inferior material into their lines.

And it is why he favored euthanasia, which he saw as helping to weed out the genetically defective and the weak from the gene pool.

All of these things, according to Hitler, facilitated the process of evolution and thus corresponded to the will of nature.

This also explains Hitlers antipathy toward Christianity, with its emphasis on the equality of all peoples and its efforts to help the weak.

Pseudo-Science

Although some of Hitlers ideas were shared by the Social Darwinists and eugenicists of his era, they remain fundamentally unscientific.

Conceived of as a purely natural process (as opposed to the tool of an intelligent Creator), evolution would not produce a hierarchy of organisms or, within humanity, of races.

Hitlerlike many othersmisunderstood the concept of survival of the fittest. This does not mean the survival of the strongest or the most aggressive.

Instead, it means the survival of those life forms that are most fit or adapted to their environment. Thus, fish have been evolutionarily fitted for life underwater, while humans have been evolutionarily fitted for life on land.

As environments change over time, what counts as fit changes. This is why the dinosaurs died out and mammals began to fill the ecological niches they left behind.

Its also why, during the Cold War, many feared that humans might no longer be fit for the environment that would result from a nuclear war, but cockroaches might be.

If evolution were a purely natural process, as Hitler believed, then there would be no permanent, overall standard of fitnessonly adaptation to changing environments.

Hitler had a simplistic understanding of evolution and did not take into account things like the development of altruistic behaviors or how a species overall survival might be promoted by it helping its physically weaker members and the contributions they could make.

The pseudo-scientific nature of his understanding can be seen by considering his policy against race mixing. Why should this apply only on the level of races? Why not apply it to individual bloodlines within races?

On Hitlers logic, one could argue that a superior family should never breed with lesser families lest it taint its genes, but we know what the result of that would be: inbreeding and everything that follows from it.

Not only are highly genetically similar populations prone to birth defects, they also are more vulnerable to diseases, because if a germ comes along that works against a given set of genes, and everyone has those genes, the population can be fatally damaged.

Consequently, breeding outside of ones group often promotes greater population resilience, and individuals who result from such unions often display greater strengthsa phenomenon known in biology as hybrid vigor.

It is tragic that Hitlers pseudo-scientific ideas led him to embrace a pseudo-religion that resulted in the deaths of millions of innocent people through genocide and war. His example stands as a witness to the evil that can result from blinding oneself to the true God and his message of love and compassion for all
Decades ago, Hispano Suiza was responsible for high-end cars and airplane engines. The pre-war machines were synonymous with luxury, quality, and performance, on par with a Rolls-Royce, per one the marketing gents explaining the brands storied history in its Geneva Motor Show booth. We wanted to continue that tradition with the Carmen, says Sergio Martinez Campos, the CEO of Hispano Suiza, gesturing to the recently debuted vehicle.

Hispano Suiza Carmen

Related stories

Polestar Knows You Hate Car Shopping So It's Making Online Buying Easier

Hispano Suiza Will Unveil a Fully Electric Gran Turismo at the Geneva Motor Show

Japan's 1,150 hp Aspark Owl Electric Hypercar Aims to Break the Nurburgring Record

The Carmen is fully electric, with two motors on the rear-axle (one per wheel), and they provide 1,019 horsepower to the coupe. The Lithium Ion battery pack, which sits in a T-shape low in the carbon-fiber chassis, will provide about 248 miles of range on a charge, provided youre not hammering it, says Campos. Need to recharge? Campos claims itll only take about a half an hour to get back to 80 percent.

There are different driving modes, including sport, comfort, and eco, and depending on what you select, the computer can detune the horsepower to help extend range, Campos says. The top speed is limited to 155 mph, and it takes less than three seconds to hit 60. At 3,726 pounds, the whole car is moderately light, considering the heavy battery pack. Everything that could be made from carbon fiber was, including the monocoque cell, the chassis, eleven body panels, and more. For comparison, a Tesla Model S is about two and a half tons.

Hispano Suiza Carmen

The interior is handsome and well appointed, drenched in alcantara and leather, and an oak laminate runs atop the dashboard. Every car can be personally perfumed, Campos says, but the wood and leather smells fantastic as is.

While the exterior design may certainly be polarizing, customers can opt to have the body painted in any hue they wish, or just leave it naked and show off all that carbon. Each of the 19 buyers will have to agree to keep the Carmen for three years before they attempt to sell it, and that $1.6 million sticker also gets you access into a special owners club.

Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
(WASHINGTON)  Michael Cohen, President Donald Trumps former lawyer, on Wednesday turned over documents to the House intelligence committee related to a Trump real estate project in Moscow  a subject he lied to the committee about in 2017.

Cohen brought the documents to the intelligence panel as he returned to Capitol Hill for a fourth day of congressional testimony, according to a person familiar with Cohens interview who requested anonymity to speak about the confidential meeting.

Lawmakers have been interested in talking to Cohen about the Moscow project ever since he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the subject. Cohen acknowledged in his guilty plea last year that he misled lawmakers by saying he had abandoned the project in January 2016 when he actually continued pursuing it for months after that as Trump campaigned for the presidency.

The Trump Tower Project is one of many under scrutiny as the Democrat-led panel investigates Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trumps campaign was involved, among other matters, including Trumps foreign financial dealings.

Cohen has become a key figure in congressional investigations after turning on his former boss and cooperating with special counsel Robert Muellers probe. He was interviewed privately by both the Senate and House intelligence committees last week and has another daylong meeting with the House intelligence panel behind closed doors on Wednesday.

Cohen testified publicly before the House Oversight and Reform Committee last week, where he called Trump a con man, a cheat and a racist. He pleaded guilty last year to the lying to Congress, campaign finance violations and other charges and is set to begin a three-year prison sentence in May.

Among the issues discussed in Cohens closed-door interviews with both the House and the Senate last week was the issue of pardons, according to people familiar with those interviews. They requested anonymity to speak about the confidential discussion.

Story continues

The committee was expected to discuss the subject in Cohens second day before the committee, according to one of the people familiar with the meeting.

Cohen told Congress last week that he had never asked for and would not accept a pardon from Trump. But that may not be the full story.

According to people with knowledge of the situation, a lawyer for Cohen expressed interest to the Trump legal team in a possible pardon for his client in the aftermath of a raid last April on Cohens hotel room, home and office. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The presidents attorneys were noncommittal during the conversation with Cohens lawyer, the people said. Cohen did not participate in the conversation.

No pardon was given, and Cohen ultimately pleaded guilty and is cooperating against the president in separate investigations by the special counsel and by federal prosecutors in New York.

Asked about the pardon issue Tuesday evening, another Cohen attorney, Lanny Davis, said his client was speaking carefully during his public testimony. He acknowledged on MSNBC that Cohen was certainly looking at the option of a pardon before he decided to come clean and turn on Trump.

But since then, Davis said, Cohen has been clear that he wouldnt accept a pardon.

There is nothing inherently improper about a subject in a criminal investigation seeking a pardon from a president given the presidents wide latitude in granting them. But lawmakers have requested information about talks on possible pardons for Cohen and other defendants close to the president who have become entangled in Muellers investigation.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said after last weeks private meeting with Cohen that the committee had additional document requests that they were discussing with him. Schiff would not comment on the substance of the interview but said it helped to shed light on a lot of issues that are very core to our investigation.

The intelligence committee investigation is one of several probes Democrats have launched in recent weeks as they delve deeper into Trumps political and personal dealings.

On Monday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., sent 81 letters to Trumps family and associates seeking documents and information. Nadler said he would investigate possible obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power.

Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the duration of negotiations over the Trump real estate project in Moscow. In addition, he pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations for his involvement in payments to two women who allege they had affairs with Trump, affairs that Trump denies.

Federal prosecutors in New York have said Trump directed Cohen to arrange the payments to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the run-up to the 2016 campaign. Cohen told a judge that he agreed to cover up Trumps dirty deeds out of blind loyalty.

Cohen said in the Oversight testimony that Trump directed him to arrange the hush money payment to Daniels. He said the president arranged to reimburse Cohen, and Cohen took to the hearing a check that he said was proof of the transaction.

Trump has said Cohen did bad things unrelated to Trump and is lying in order to reduce his prison time.
Donald Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen allegedly asked about the possibility of a presidential pardon, contradicting what he recently told a congressional hearing.

The 52-year-old, who for more than a decade worked as Mr Trumps legal fixer, last week told the House of Representatives oversight committee he had not sought a pardon from the man now occupying the Oval Office.

I have never asked for it, nor would I accept a pardon from President Trump, he said, as he delivered a scathing attack on the president, terming him a conman and a racist.

But reports suggest Cohen did indeed ask about the possibility of a presidential pardon, after FBI agents raided his offices and home in the spring of 2018 having received a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, who is heading the Russia investigation. The Wall Street Journal said the conversations about a possible pardon involved Stephen Ryan, Cohens attorney at the time, and Jay Sekulow, Rudy Giuliani and Joanna Hendon, who then made up the presidents personal legal team.

The revelation emerged as Cohen sued the Trump Organisation, seeking $1.9m in what he claimed were unpaid legal costs. He also said the organisation owed him another $1.9m as part of his criminal sentence. In a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, Cohen said the Trump Organisation breached its obligations to indemnify him after it became clear he would cooperate in investigations into his work.

The Journal said Mr Trumps lawyers dismissed the idea of a pardon at the time, but Mr Giuliani, who still represents the president, left open the possibility of a future pardon.

On Thursday, a spokesman for Cohen, Lanny Davis confirmed to ABC News his client had asked Mr Ryan to meet with Mr Giuliani.

Mr Davis claimed Cohen stood by his testimony last week, saying that last year he was part of a joint defence agreement with the president and many of his advisors.

Prior to Michael Cohens decision to leave the Joint Defence Group and tell the truth on July 2 2018, Michael was open to the ongoing dangling of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media, Mr Davis said.

Story continues

During that time period, he directed his attorney to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump.

The suggestion that Cohen contradicted his most recent testimony of Capitol Hill will be seized on supporters of the president, who have long sought to portray the former lawyer as unreliable. Mr Trump described his appearance before the committee as shameful.

Mr Giuliani tweeted: The defence now to Cohen saying under oath he NEVER asked for a pardon is a familiar one; Whats The Meaning of Never. Serial liars often try the same deception too often. Lets hope Congress and DoJ are outraged at Cohens disrespecting them by perjuring himself repeatedly.

The revelation Cohen sought a pardon came a day after he completed his fourth and final day of testimony before congressional investigators. He emerged from a closed-door session of the House intelligence committee to tell reporters: I believe theyre happy and I have given them my assurance that any additional information that they need I will continue to cooperate.

The committees chairman, Democrat Adam Schiff, said: He was fully cooperative with the committee. I think the members found it an enormously productive session.

Cohen is due to go to jail in May to serve a three-year his term after he last year pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion, bank fraud, and campaign finance violations in relation to hush money payments made to two women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, on the eve of the 2016 election.

He also pleaded guilty to a separate charge brought by Mr Muellers office that he lied to Congress about discussions over the construction the the planned Trump Tower building in Moscow.
Michael Cohen  Donald Trumps former personal lawyer  has completed several days of scathing testimony about the president, emerging from a closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill to declare the committee members were satisfied with the evidence he gave.

On the day he had been due to start a three-year prison sentence after being convicted of paying hush money to two women in violation of campaign finance laws  something he claimed he did to protect Mr Trump  Cohen completed his fourth and final day of testimony before congressional investigators.

I believe theyre happy and I have given them my assurance that any additional information that they need I will continue to cooperate, the man who once bragged he would take a bullet for the president said, as he emerged from a hearing of the intelligence committee of the House of Representatives.

The committees chairman, Democrat Adam Schiff, sounded even more positive. He was fully cooperative with the committee, he said of Cohen. I think the members found it an enormously productive session.

The 52-year-old last week delivered a damning attack on the man he once worked for, when he described the president as a conman and a racist as he gave public testimony before the House committee on oversight and reform.

I am not protecting Mr Trump anymore, he said. My loyalty to Mr Trump has cost me everything: my familys happiness, friendships, my law licence, my company, my livelihood, my honour, my reputation, and soon my freedom. I will not sit back say nothing and allow him to do the same to the country.

Cohen delivered his words as Mr Trump was in Vietnam for dencuclearisation talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The talks did not progress far, something experts had said was no surprise given that the two sides had failed to even come close to an agreement before the two leaders sat down.

As it was, Mr Trump sought to blame the failure on Cohens testimony and the platform given to him by Democrats.

Story continues

For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the walk, Mr Trump tweeted in reference to his claim he had been forced to walk away from the negotiating table. Never done when a president is overseas. Shame!

It was not immediately clear what Cohen had said to the committee on Wednesday. CNN said he had provided members with new documents showing edits to the a false written statement he delivered to Congress in 2017 about the Trump Organisations pursuit of the Trump Tower Moscow project.

It said documents were provided to further explain his public testimony last week in which he said Mr Trumps then-personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, made changes to his statement to the House and Senate intelligence committees.

Cohen is due to go to jail this spring to serve his term after he last year pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion, bank fraud, and campaign finance violations in relation to hush money payments made to two women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, on the eve of the 2016 election.

He also pleaded guilty to a separate charge brought by Robert Muellers office that he lied to Congress about discussions over the construction the the planned Trump Tower building in Russia.

Cohen had been due to report to prison on 6 March. Federal judge William Pauley last week granted him an extension until May 6. Cohens lawyer said his client required more time to cope with both recovery from a recent surgical procedure and to prepare for testimony on Capitol Hill.
Its International Womens Day tomorrow. A time to reflect on how far womens rights have come and how much more needs to be done.

A study found that only 6% of people in blockchain are women. I posted a story Id written about an inspirational woman in blockchain on Reddit recently and some of the comments were disgusting  one decried it as SJW cancer and others were equally unpleasant.

Ive heard stories of women being targeted at conferences by unwanted sexual advances, women are regularly objectified on social media in the murky world which seems to be stuck in the past in terms of womens rights. Women have been underestimated because of their height and patronised. The list goes on!

So what can be done to change these views and encourage more women to work in blockchain and fintech generally?

Dig deep

Lone Fnss Schrder, CEO of Concordium, the business blockchain network, says: Its been important for me to develop the ability to force myself to dig deep into a subject which I might not have an interest in at first glance and allow myself to gain expertise in it. The more time is spent on a particular subject and the more persistent I have been about understanding it, the more interesting it becomes.

She says she believes consistency, commitment and the ability to keep doing research and asking until you understand the fundamental principles of success will allow anyone to excel.

While female role models are important, she says, it is just as (if not more) important to first understand how you define yourself. Do not let others try to stick a label on you.

Dysfunctional working relationships

She advises not to stay in dysfunctional working relationships, but rely and react on your good judgment.

Citali Mora Catlett, strategy and special projects at B9lab, which provides blockchain education and training, says: Although women seem to be coming into parity with men, gender balance in all its dimensions is still not a reality.

Story continues

Issues remain, especially in the tech industry, including pay gaps, a low representation of women and women leaving in the middle of their careers.

She urges business cultures to encourage and actively promote a working environment of diversity, inclusion and equality, as well as making it possible for women to balance the high requirements of mastering the tech industry while reconciling career and family life.

Role models

Women in tech are the biggest allies to gender balance, as they encourage other women to join the industry, serve as role models for future generations and contribute to finding solutions to improve the openness and inclusivity of the working environment.

Serelin Zhang, IT Project Manager at Utopia Music, the blockchain-powered music tracking and attribution platform, says: For women in tech to

achieve an equal footing with men, the industry as a whole has a responsibility to eliminate existing gender inequalities.

More than half (56%) of women leave the tech industry in the middle of their careers which is why it is important for us to understand the reason behind this figure in order to fix the problem and to ensure women receive the support they need, she says.

Women are inspired by other women whom they can relate to in their everyday lives and work environments. When women see other women achieving success, they will see that it is possible to excel in a traditionally male-dominated sector.

Opinions valued

Shes hopeful that in the future we will achieve equal opportunity where womens opinions are valued and heard just as much as mens.

Natalia Karayaneva, CEO of Propy, says inequality arises from differing abilities, choices and preferences.

Its important for young women to understand that their lives and their development is in their control. What worries me is not simply gender inequality in tech, but the fact that there are still nations around the world that treat women differently where the fundamental freedom of choice and action is stripped from

them.

Its not a secret that generally, the tech space is still male-dominated and women are vastly underrepresented. I am trying to mentor junior peers, show them the opportunities in the field, and help them to build confidence and be courageous.

Solitary female

Sa Wang, co-founder and CMO of IOST, a blockchain network powering next generation internet services, says: Quite often I find myself being the only female in the room at blockchain events in China, but I take this as a critical opportunity to set the tone for how people see women in tech, particularly those in blockchain.

The crypto and blockchain industry is definitely a boys club, but if the playing field is made level, that shouldnt stop women from knocking down the door.

While profiling women in tech and sharing their stories also has a strong part to play in encouraging and inspiring other women, its critical that the spotlight is based on merit, highlighting real achievements, such as that of He Yi, co-founder of Binance, who set the bar for all in the tech industry.

In summary  the crypto and blockchain may be a boys club, but there are a group of talented and determined women who are determined to break down the barriers. Heres to the numbers of women in blockchain increasing throughout 2019.

By Helen Bennicke  March 7, 2019

The post Comment: More women are needed in blockchain appeared first on Coin Rivet.
By David Brunnstrom and Hyonhee Shin WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is open to additional talks with Pyongyang over denuclearization, his national security adviser said on Thursday, despite reports that North Korea is reactivating parts of its missile program. New activity has been detected at a factory that produced North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the United States, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing lawmakers briefed by the National Intelligence Service. This week, two U.S. think tanks and Seoul's spy agency said North Korea was rebuilding its Sohae rocket launch site, prompting Trump to say he would be "very, very disappointed" in North Korea leader Kim Jong Un if it were true. The think tanks said on Thursday they believed the launch site was operational again. Asked on Thursday if he was disappointed about recent North Korean activity, Trump told reporters: Its disappointing, while adding without elaborating: Well see. Well let you know in about a year. The reports of North Korean activity raise more questions about the future of the dialogue Trump has pursued with Kim after a second summit between them broke down in Vietnam last week.White House national security adviser John Bolton, a hard-liner who has argued for a tough approach to North Korea in the past, said Trump was still open to more talks with the country. "The president's obviously open to talking again. We'll see when that might be scheduled or how it might work out," he told Fox News, adding that it was too soon to make a determination on the reports of the North Korean activities. "We're going to study the situation carefully. As the president said, it would be very, very disappointing if they were taking this direction." The Feb. 27-28 Vietnam summit collapsed over differences on how far North Korea was willing to limit its nuclear program and the degree of U.S. willingness to ease economic sanctions. Trump, eager for a big foreign policy win on North Korea that has eluded his predecessors for decades, has repeatedly stressed his good relationship with Kim. He went as far late last year as saying they "fell in love," but the bonhomie has failed so far to bridge the wide gap between the two sides. "NO COMMITMENT YET" U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he was hopeful he would send a delegation to North Korea for more talks in the next couple of weeks, but that he had received "no commitment yet." A senior State Department official told reporters on Thursday Washington was keen to resume talks as soon as possible, but North Korea's negotiators needed to be given more latitude than they were ahead of the summit. He said no one in the U.S. administration advocated an incremental approach North Korea has been seeking and the condition for its integration into the global economy, a transformed relationship with the United States and a permanent peace regime, was complete denuclearization. "Fundamentally, where we really need to see the progress, and we need to see it soon, is on meaningful and verifiable steps on denuclearization. That's our goal and that's how we see these negotiations picking up momentum." The official, who did not want to be identified, said the U.S. side still saw North Korea's complete denuclearization as achievable within Trump's current term, which ends in January 2021. While the official said he would "not necessarily share the conclusion" that the Sohae site was operational again, any use of it would be seen as "backsliding" on commitments to Trump. "We are watching in real-time developments at Sohae and we will definitely be seeking clarification on the purposes of that," he said. MISSILE FACTORY South Korean spy chief Suh Hoon told lawmakers in Seoul this week that movement of cargo vehicles was spotted recently around a North Korean ICBM factory at Sanumdong, the JoongAng Ilbo reported. The paper also quoted Suh as saying North Korea had continued to run its uranium enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex after a first summit between Trump and Kim last June in Singapore. The Sanumdong factory produced the Hwasong-15 ICBM, which can fly more than 13,000 km (8,080 miles). After a test flight in 2017, North Korea declared the completion of its "state nuclear force" before pursuing talks with South Korea and the United States last year. South Korea's presidential office and defense ministry declined to confirm the Sanumdong reports and the U.S. State Department said it could not comment on intelligence matters. Separately, Washington's 38 North and Center for Strategic and International Studies think tanks reported on Thursday that North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station, which Kim pledged in Singapore to dismantle, appeared to be operational again after rebuilding work that began days before the Hanoi summit. "The rebuilding activities at Sohae demonstrate how quickly North Korea can easily render reversible any steps taken toward scrapping its Weapons of Mass Destruction program with little hesitation," CSIS said. It called the action "an affront" to Trumps diplomatic strategy that showed North Korean pique at his refusal to lift sanctions. SANCTIONS WARNING Some analysts see the work as aimed at pressing Washington to agree to a deal, rather than as a definite move to resume tests. A U.S. government source, who did not want to be identified, said North Korea's plan in rebuilding the site could have been to offer a demonstration of good faith by conspicuously stopping again if a summit pact was struck, while furnishing a sign of defiance or resolve if the meeting failed. 38 North said photos from Wednesday showed a rail-mounted transfer building used to move rockets at the site was complete, cranes had been removed from the launch pad and the transfer building moved to the end of the pad. "But we don't draw any conclusions from that besides they are restoring the facility," Joel Wit of 38 North told Reuters. "There is no evidence to suggest anything more than that." On Wednesday Bolton warned of new sanctions if North Korea did not scrap its weapons program. Despite his sanctions talk, there have been signs across Asia that the U.S. "maximum pressure" sanctions campaign against North Korea has sprung leaks. In a new breach, three South Korean companies were found to have brought in more than 13,000 tons of North Korean coal, worth 2.1 billion won ($2 million) since 2017, South Korea said. North Korean media have given conflicting signals on U.S. relations, while appearing to target Bolton as a spoiler. Its state television aired a 78-minute documentary late on Wednesday showing a cordial mood between Trump and Kim as the Hanoi summit ended, indicating Pyongyang was not about to walk away from negotiations, experts say. It also showed a stone-faced Bolton during a meeting in Hanoi, while Trump and other U.S. participants were all smiles. In a return to a more usual strident tone, the KCNA news agency criticized new small-scale military exercises that the United States and South Korea plan to hold instead of a large-scale spring exercise they have called off. It said the drills would be a "violent violation" of agreements with the United States and South Korea. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, David Brunnstrom and Steve Holland in Washington; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, David Alexander and Tim Ahmann in Washington and Hyonhee Shin and Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Alistair Bell and James Dalgleish)
How Mueller's team fears Russia could learn US secrets in court case originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team argued Thursday that if it's forced to hand over millions of "sensitive" documents to Russian individuals as part of court proceedings, Russia could mine the material for operational secrets and use them against the U.S.

Prosecutor Jonathan Kravis made the argument at a pre-trial hearing for a case against a Russian firm accused of funding a St. Petersburg troll farm that allegedly conducted a widespread propaganda and disinformation campaign ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Kravis said that while most of the 3.2 million "sensitive" documents that have been collected in discovery for the case were relatively innocuous on their own, a shrewd reading of the whole lot could reveal important U.S. investigative secrets.

(MORE: Russian company indicted by Mueller pleads not guilty to election meddling charge)

PHOTO: A view of the four-story building known as the 'troll factory' in St. Petersburg, Russia, Feb. 17, 2018. (Naira Davlashyan/AP, FILE)

It might be possible, for instance, to determine from the information the government has what information the government does not have -- the "gaps in the coverage." One could also potentially use the information available to "recreate the steps of the investigation," Kravis said.

"That information, used by a foreign adversary, could be used to avoid detection in the future," he told the court.

The argument is the closest the government has come yet to articulating a concern that legal and national security experts shared with ABC News back in October. They said then that Russia might be using the U.S. court system to gather intelligence on Mueller's investigation or other U.S. secrets through the discovery process.

(MORE: Who is 'Putin's Chef,' the Kremlin ally indicted by the special counsel?)

PHOTO: Former FBI Director Robert Mueller at an installation ceremony at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., October 28, 2013. (Charles Dharapak/AP, FILE)

Prosecutors say the Russian firm, Concord Management and Consulting, is controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Previous court filings from the Mueller team indicate they're concerned that sensitive information provided to any officers of Concord, including Prigozhin, for its defense could take a detour to Moscow.

Story continues

Concord is the only one of three Russian businesses and 13 individuals, including Prigozhin, charged by the special counsel in the troll factory case to answer the accusations in court. The firm has pleaded not guilty to a fraud-related charge and has mounted a spirited pre-trial defense through the American law firm Reed Smith.

All of the Russian individuals charged in the case are believed to be in Russia, beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement, but U.S. law allows a corporate entity to defend itself without any individual officers ever being in court.

Early in the case U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich placed tight restrictions on discovery in the case, including provisions that the sensitive material had be housed at Reed Smith offices in the U.S. and could not be shared with individuals in Russia. A so-called "firewall counsel" was appointed to help determine what information could be shared with whom.

(MORE: Is Russia playing a double game in Mueller court battle?)

PHOTO: http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/mueller-ap-er-171208 (CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images, FILE)

But for months Mueller's team and the defense have tussled in various motions over the question of sharing information.

Concord's lead attorney, Eric Dubelier, has vehemently argued that it would be virtually impossible to mount an effective defense without being able to show -- or even discuss -- the millions of documents of potential evidence with any actual officers of Concord in Russia. He said the governments labeling of the millions of documents as sensitive was overly broad.

Dubelier said Thursday that if the government didn't think that many of the 3.2 million "sensitive" documents were actually that sensitive on their own, they should go back and reclassify them.

(MORE: 'Firewall counsel' to protect government secrets in Russian election meddling case)

He also said idea that Concord officers would come to the U.S. to view the documents, which is allowed by the judge's restrictions, was a "non-starter." Prigozhin, for example, presumably would be arrested the moment he set foot in the U.S. since he's a co-defendant in the case.

Dubelier indicated that he has made a sealed filing suggesting a secure way to share information with individuals in Russia -- a matter that the Friedrich said the court would discuss in a closed session that immediately followed the public hearing today.

Kravis said the government was willing to work with the defense to identify documents or groups of documents theyd be willing to share, and to redact some information more closely related to the investigative process - like search warrant information or metadata on some documents.

Whatever the outcome of the closed hearing, it appeared that after months of wrangling the two sides still had a long way to go to finding an agreement on the discovery question. No trial date has been set.

U.S. intelligence officials have warned that online influence campaigns emanating from Russia have continued long after the 2016 election and are expected to continue into the race for 2020.
By Nyasha Nyaungwa WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Namibian tribes seeking damages over genocide and property seizures by Germany more than a century ago said on Thursday they would appeal a U.S. court's dismissal of their suit. A judge in New York said on Wednesday claims by descendants of the Herero and Nama tribes over Germany's role in what some historians call the 20th century's first genocide could not proceed in her jurisdiction. Herero leader Vekuii Rukoro said District Judge Laura Taylor Swain made fundamental errors in her analysis and the tribe would ensure the decision was reversed on appeal. "To this effect, we have directed our lawyers in New York to proceed with immediate effect," he said in a statement. According to the plaintiffs, thousands of Herero and Nama were slaughtered, left to starve or died at concentration camps from 1904 to 1908, when Namibia was known as South-West Africa, after the tribes rebelled against German rule. A 1985 United Nations report called it a massacre and genocide, and Germany has in recent years negotiated with Namibia's government over the claims. Germany has acknowledged "moral responsibility" for the killings, but has avoided an official apology to ward off compensation claims. The German foreign ministry said the U.S. court decision reinforces Germany's position that it is immune from claims by descendants of Namibian tribes under U.S. jurisdiction. A ministry official, who declined to be named, said discussions with the Namibian government were underway on finding a common position on Germany's colonial past. "The talks are advancing constructively and in an atmosphere of mutual respect," the official said. Last year, Germany handed over to Namibia skulls and other remains of massacred tribes-people used in the colonial era for experiments to push claims of European racial superiority. Largely ignored for decades, Germany's colonial history is drawing increasing attention. About three years ago, the German Historical Museum curated a major exhibition on the subject. Germany, which lost all its colonial territories after World War One, was the third biggest colonial power after Britain and France, which lost theirs after World War Two. (Reporting by Nyasha Nyaungwa in Windhoek and Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Andrew Cawthorne)
'Constitutional Carry' passes in Kentucky

By Dean Weingarten. March 6th, 2019

Original Source

On Friday, 1 March, 2019, Constitutional Carry, SB 150, passed the Kentucky House with a vote of 60-37. On 14 February, two weeks earlier, SB 150 passed the full Kentucky Senate, 29-8.

The bill was watched intently by Second Amendment supporters. It passed the House just before 1 p.m.

Gutshot II, a longterm, vigorous contributor to OpenCarry.org, was in the gallery of the House of Representatives in Kentucky when SB150 passed......

..... Now the bill goes to Matt Bevin, the strongly conservative governor of Kentucky. Governor Bevin is widely expected to sign the bill into law. Matt Beven was given an endorsement by Gun Owners of America in his governors race. .......

So far 15 very sensible and constitutionally oriented states have this implemented, although VT has always required no permit. It is well past time that other states followed suit although with a few such as CA, NJ, NY, MD, HI etc, there will be little chance of any progress so no point in holding breath. There should never be any requirement for a permit to excercise a basic Second Amendment right and yet the belligerent states continue to hardly issue permits at all to regular citizens. "May issue" unfortunately usually means very unlikely.

Back to Top


Photo of a young woman who is starting her day with a daily check up of a social media and news online, while still lying in her bed

Spring allergy season can arrive as early as late February, depending on where you live - and with it, the itching, sneezing, sniffling symptoms you probably know all too well. If you find that you feel especially restless at night, you're not alone.

In fact, it's quite common to feel worse late at night if you spend a lot of time outside during the day. "This is because pollen sticks to you from outside," David Erstein, MD, a board-certified allergist and immunologist in New York City, told POPSUGAR. Meaning, you should really change clothes and shower before falling into bed, no matter how exhausted you feel.

This is true even if you typically only spend evenings outside - because while pollen counts are generally higher in the morning, the warmer temperatures push pollen up into the air during the day, leaving them to fall back down once the temperatures cool, explained Allan Rosenbaum, MD, a board-certified otolaryngologist at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, TN.

Related:

How to Minimize Allergy Symptoms

13 Ways to Keep Spring Allergies From Taking Over Your Life

Then there's the issue of indoor allergens, including dust mites and pet dander - both of which can wreak havoc when you're at home. "No matter how much you try, you'll never be able to get rid of those dust mites completely, and pet [dander] removal is not usually an option, so reduction strategies help immensely," Dr. Erstein said. He suggests trying to avoid carpet in your bedroom, using non-feathered pillows, and changing your sheets weekly, cleaning them with hot water and high heat. "Dust mite covers for the mattress and pillow cases may also help, and air purifiers with HEPA filters can reduce the pet dander suspended in the air," he added.

Still, it's best to get ahead of your symptoms by working with an allergist to develop the best treatment plan. "Thankfully, there is more help available to sufferers than what you can get over the counter at your local pharmacy," Dr. Erstein said. "Allergists can prescribe other helpful medications if symptoms warrant and can provide specific allergy immunotherapy to help build up your tolerance to the pollens you are allergic to, if necessary."
By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The general overseeing U.S. forces in the Middle East said on Thursday that he was under no pressure to withdraw forces from Syria by any specific date, after President Donald Trump ordered the drawdown of most U.S. troops from Syria.

"What is driving the withdrawal of course is our mission, which is the defeat of ISIS, and so that is our principal focus, and that is making sure that we protect our forces, that we don't withdraw in a manner that increases the risk to our forces," U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, head of the U.S. Central Command, said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

"There is not pressure on me to meet a specific date at this particular time," Votel said.

Trump ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria in December after he said they had defeated Islamic State militants in Syria. The abrupt decision sparked an outcry from allies and U.S. lawmakers and was a factor in Jim Mattis resignation as defence secretary.

But Trump was persuaded by advisers that about 200 U.S. troops would join what is expected to be a total commitment of about 800 to 1,500 troops from European allies to set up and observe a safe zone being negotiated for northeastern Syria.

About 200 other U.S. troops will remain at the U.S. military outpost of Tanf, near the border with Iraq and Jordan.

Some lawmakers were critical of Trump's announcement to draw down troops from Syria and were concerned about the impact on allies.

"In terms of the public perception, the international perception is that prior to that Tweet it wasn't planned, he sent it out and now we are responding," Democratic Representative Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said.

In December, Trump put a video on Twitter where he said U.S. troops were leaving Syria.

Votel said Russia viewed Trump's announcement positively.

"It puts Russia more in the driver's seat ... It solidifies their presence in the Middle East," Votel said.

Story continues

Thousands of people could still be left inside Islamic State's last enclave in eastern Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said, as waves of evacuations from the tiny area continued on Thursday.

The SDF has said it wants to ensure all civilians have been evacuated before launching a final assault on the besieged enclave of Baghouz. It is the last shred of populated territory held by Islamic State, which once controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Votel said he believed that Islamic State militants being evacuated from the remaining territory controlled by the militant group were largely "unrepentant, unbroken and radicalised." He said the militant group was waiting "for the right time to resurge."

"We will need to maintain a vigilant offensive against this now widely dispersed and disaggregated organisation that includes leaders, fighters, facilitators, resources and toxic ideology," Votel added.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan spoke with his French counterpart and other European allies on Syria. He is expected to speak with other European allies next week.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Algiers (AFP) - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has almost completed the medical tests at the Swiss hospital he was transferred to on February 24, the head of his controversial re-election campaign said Thursday.

Abdelghani Zaalane insisted the 82-year-old leader's health raised "no worries" and that he would be vindicated by a silent majority in Algeria who have not joined huge protests against his candidacy.

The medical tests which Bouteflika has been undergoing in a Geneva hospital are "almost completed" and "his state of health raises no worries", Zaalane told El Khabar newspaper.

He did not give a date for the president's return to Algeria.

Bouteflika has used a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 2013 and is rarely seen in public.

The decision to put himself forward for the April 18 election has drawn tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets.

In a bid to calm public ire, Bouteflika has pledged to step down early if re-elected to a fifth term in office.

"Whether Algerians have rejected or accepted the reforms nobody can predict before the results of the ballot are known," said Zaalane, referring to the proposed concessions.

The campaign chief said they would have to "take into account the opinion of Algerians who have not taken to the streets and have held onto their views until election day".
South Korea's military is carefully monitoring North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities after it said new activity has been detected at the intercontinental ballistic missiles plant.

The US and South Korean militaries are maintaining close intelligence coordination over developments at the Norths missile research centre in Pyongyang and a separate long-range rocket site, Seouls Defence Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said on Thursday.

She did not elaborate, but South Korean media reported that movement of cargo vehicles were spotted recently around the facility at Sanumdong in Pyongyang, which produced North Koreas first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the US.

Spy chief Suh Hoon told politicians briefed by the Souths National Intelligence Service he viewed the activity as missile-related, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said.

It also quoted Mr Suh as saying the North continued to operate its uranium enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex after the first summit between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last June.

It comes after a second summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim broke down last week in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi over disagreements about limiting the North's nuclear programme in return for US sanctions relief.

On Tuesday, two US think-tanks and the South Korean spy agency reported work was underway to restore part of the Norths Sohae Satellite Launching Station, even as the Hanoi meeting took place.

North Korea began dismantling a missile test stand at Sohae last year, in line with a pledge Mr Kim made at his first summit with Mr Trump.

I would be very disappointed if that were happening, Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, when asked if North Korea was breaking a promise.

Its too early to see ... Its a very early report. Were the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I dont think I will be, but well see what happens. Well take a look. Itll ultimately get solved.

Story continues

Earlier this week, satellite imagery from Planet Labs Inc analysed by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California showed activity at Sohae from 23 February up until Wednesday.

The Washington-based 38 North said its latest photos from Wednesday indicated the rail-mounted transfer building used to move rockets at the site was now complete, and said cranes had been removed from the launch pad and the transfer building had been moved to the end of the pad.

On Tuesday, Mr Trumps national security adviser, John Bolton, warned new sanctions could be introduced if North Korea did not scrap its weapons programme.

Additional reporting by agencies
Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley. Photo: PA

Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley said on Thursday that she was profoundly sorry for saying that killings by British soldiers or police officers during the Northern Ireland Troubles were not crimes.

Yesterday I made comments regarding the actions of soldiers during the Troubles. I want to apologise. I am profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt that my words have caused, Bradley said in a statement.

The language was wrong and, even though this was not my intention, it was deeply insensitive to many of those who lost loved ones.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Bradley said that the 10% of killings during the Troubles committed at the hand of the military and police were not crimes.

Authorities in Northern Ireland will announce next week whether British soldiers involved in the 1972 Bloody Sunday killings, which saw them kill 14 unarmed Catholic civil rights protesters, would face trial.

Bradleys remarks were interpreted as an attempt to influence this legal process. The soldiers, she said, were merely people acting under orders and instructions and were fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way.

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry, which was established in 1998 by former prime minister Tony Blair, found that the actions of British soldiers on Bloody Sunday were unjustifiable.

When the report from the inquiry was published in 2010, then-prime minister David Cameron apologised on behalf of the British Government, saying he was deeply sorry.

Bradley faced mounting calls for her resignation on Wednesday, with leaders from Sinn Fein and Northern Irelands SDLP and Alliance parties condemning her remarks.

Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle ONeill said the comments were outrageous and offensive, while SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said they displayed Bradleys stunning ignorance about the past.

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar, meanwhile, called the remarks insensitive and wrong.

In the 30 years before the 1998 signing of the Good Friday Agreement, clashes during the Troubles took the lives of more than 3,600 people. Thousands of British troops were deployed to Northern Ireland to try and curb the violence.

Noting that the UK government believed fundamentally of the rule of law, Bradley said on Thursday that she understood why families wanted to see justice properly delivered.

I share that aim and that is why I launched the public consultation on addressing the legacy of the Troubles, she said.
Chicago (AFP) - America's first gay marriage has officially been fully recognized after a five-decade legal battle.

Michael McConnell and Jack Baker obtained a marriage license in 1971, thanks to an overlooked legal loophole in their state of Minnesota and a bit of trickery.

They are the first known gay couple to legally wed in the country and possibly the world.

But local officials decades ago refused to record their marriage when they found out the two were of the same sex.

It took a court battle that ended only last year for their marriage to be officially recognized.

NBC News reported Thursday that the couple received the last piece of the recognition for which they have fought only three weeks ago: the right to federal retirement benefits as a long-time married couple.

"This just simply proves that the first same-sex marriage ever recorded in the public files of any civil government anywhere in the world happened in Minnesota," Jack McConnell told NBC.

The McConnells -- they share Michael's last name -- exploited the fact that their Midwestern state in the 1970s did not explicitly forbid a marriage between two people of the same sex.

Baker changed his name to the gender ambiguous "Pat Lyn." McConnell did not mention to a clerk that his spouse-to-be was a man.

They were able to obtain a legal marriage license and were wed in a religious ceremony.

Last year, a state judge ruled their marriage was valid -- meaning they did not need to get married again after the US Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal in 2015.

The final recognition was from the federal government. The Social Security Administration granted the 77-year-olds retirement benefits as a married couple of 48 years.

They will celebrate their 49th anniversary in September.

The two memorialized their story in the 2016 book "The Wedding Heard 'Round the World: America's First Gay Marriage."

"We are truly proud to be the first," Michael McConnell said on Facebook a year later.

"Our years together have been an amazing journey."
Lagos (AFP) - Rights groups have gone on the offensive over the deployment of the military in Nigerian elections as a new polling day looms.

With elections due on Saturday for governors in 29 states and local assemblies, campaigners say the military cast a dark shadow over last month's vote for the presidency and legislature.

Two lobby groups, the Save Democracy Women (SDW) and Impact Future Nigeria (IFN), staged a peaceful protest in Abuja on Wednesday over what they called "the militarisation of the 2019 general elections".

IFN convener May Uneku blamed last month's low voter turnout -- just 35 percent -- on the heavy presence of troops in the streets.

"We condemn in totality the involvement of the military in our elections," she was quoted as saying in local media on Thursday.

"During the just-concluded polls, people were killed. The elections were a total charade because there are video and pictorial evidence of people screaming for their lives, military men were harassing and shooting people."

The February 23 vote, which also chose legislators for the National Assembly, was marred by violence that claimed at least 53 lives and many more wounded.

Civil society monitors said they also recorded instances of soldiers blocking voters from getting to polling stations in the south.

The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose beaten presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is challenging the result, has also questioned the use of troops.

The army has no official role in providing election security but can provide armed back-up to the police if required.

- 'Ruthless' -

In the runup to the vote, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered soldiers to be "ruthless" with ballot box snatchers.

The 76-year-old former military ruler warned anyone who tried to disturb voting risked his life.

That ruffled feathers in the opposition camp, sparking accusations that it was a "licence to kill" and calls for the order to be withdrawn.

Story continues

But army chief Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai said his men would obey their commander-in-chief.

The PDP cautioned Buratai against dragging the military into politics -- a sensitive issue in Nigeria where there have been six successful military coups since independence in 1960.

It described Buhari's order as "an aberration of Nigerian laws and a recipe for crisis".

Buhari insisted his directive was meant only for trouble makers and election riggers. Buratai has again repeated the military is "apolitical".

In southern Rivers and Bayelsa states in the heart of the oil-rich but volatile Niger delta, an army officer and three soldiers were killed, sparking fear of reprisals among the people.

In one instance, Rivers governor Nyesom Wike accused the military of complicity in the killing of 16 people in Abonnema while dozens have been arrested.

He said soldiers had laid a siege on the riverine town, forcing thousands to flee to Port Harcourt, the state capital.

- Tensions -

Tensions are running high in Rivers, which has a history of political violence, after the Supreme Court ruled that candidates from Buhari's All Progressives Congress could not run because of procedural irregularities.

There have been a rash of similar court cases elsewhere, notably in Kano in the northwest, while ethnic tensions are adding to fears about the outcome of a close race in the commercial capital, Lagos, in the southwest.

Analysts and activists though still question the rationale for deploying troops for purely civil matters.

Security consultant Don Okereke told AFP the deployment of soldiers was "an aberration".

"We have seen a situation where soldiers have been accused of extra-judicial killings. In Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states, many people were killed on election day in skirmishes with soldiers," he said.

The military's role was to protect the sovereighty of the country against external aggresssion.

"We are not in a war situation. So why deploy soldiers for election matters? This is the job of the police and other para-military outfits," he said.

Okereke said the courts have also previously ruled against the deployment of soldiers for elections.

Buhari has already been accused of acting beyond his remit, stoking fears of authoritarianism, by suspending the chief justice, who is charged with corruption.

The potential use of soldiers against the opposition would not help the situation, he added -- "Such a practice is not good for our democracy. It should be discouraged."

Some commentators have also suggested that low turnout on February 23 may have been caused by voter disinterest.

The election was initially scheduled to be held on February 16. But Nigeria's electoral body ordered a week-long postponement for technical reasons, just hours before ballots were due to be cast -- a move that caused widespread anger and dismay.
Pakistan has detained more than 100 suspected militants, the country's interior ministry said Thursday, amid an ongoing crackdown on extremist groups prompted by weeks of high tension with neighbouring India.

Members of two Pakistani militant groups accused of attacks on Indian soil were targeted in the operation, which was announced Monday following an insurgent attack in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that killed 40 Indian paramilitaries last month.

"Law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today," the interior ministry said in a statement.

A government official told AFP that security forces detained members of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the February suicide attack, and UN-listed terrorist organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).

India says JuD is a front for the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, which it accuses of carrying out the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks which killed more than 160 people.

JuD leader Hafiz Saeed is wanted by the US but has largely operated freely in Pakistan in the past, despite a $10 million US bounty on his head.

A source close to the groups confirmed to AFP that authorities were detaining suspected militants on a daily basis.

Nearly 200 religious schools, along with several hospitals and other charitable organisations run by the militant groups, have been seized and their operations turned over to provincial governments, the interior ministry said.

The crackdown was part of an ongoing drive against proscribed organisations and not conducted under pressure from India, interior minister Shehryar Afridi claimed on Tuesday.

Last month's suicide bomb attack in Indian Kashmir spurred tit-for-tat air raids between India and Pakistan, igniting fears of an all-out conflict as world powers pleaded for restraint.

Pakistan captured one Indian pilot, releasing him on Friday in a bid to pull both countries back from the brink, though tensions remain high.
'Constitutional Carry' passes in Kentucky

By Dean Weingarten. March 6th, 2019

Original Source

On Friday, 1 March, 2019, Constitutional Carry, SB 150, passed the Kentucky House with a vote of 60-37. On 14 February, two weeks earlier, SB 150 passed the full Kentucky Senate, 29-8.

The bill was watched intently by Second Amendment supporters. It passed the House just before 1 p.m.

Gutshot II, a longterm, vigorous contributor to OpenCarry.org, was in the gallery of the House of Representatives in Kentucky when SB150 passed.

From opencarry.org:

Gutshot II:

I am sitting in the gallery of the House Chamber now. They will start soon.

garyh9900:

The bill has passed and is being sent to the governor for signature.

Gutshot II:

I was there. Vote was 60-37.

Now the bill goes to Matt Bevin, the strongly conservative governor of Kentucky. Governor Bevin is widely expected to sign the bill into law. Matt Beven was given an endorsement by Gun Owners of America in his governors race.

When Governor Bevin signs SB150 into law, Kentucky will become the third state this year to pass a Constitutional Carry, or "permitless" carry bill in 2019. Kentucky will become the 16th state with Constitutional Carry.

Governor Matt Bevin has said he will sign Constitutional Carry. From wkyt.com:

Gov. Bevin said Friday afternoon to Gray TV that he would sign the bill.

"It doesn't break new ground. It simply says that people do indeed have the right to keep and bear arms," said Gov Bevin. "... For those people who are offended at this idea and don't like it, there are other places in America where they could live."

Gov. Bevin also said he is a concealed carry gun owner and that this bill is a constitutional carry bill.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed SB47, South Dakota Constitutional Carry into law on 31 January, 2019. She signed the bill only a week after passage. That is considered to be very fast as these things happen. Noem quickly kept her campaign promise. Noem set the stage for Oklahoma and Kentucky.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt likely set records when he signed the Oklahoma Constitutional Carry bill just two hours after it was passe on 27 February, less than a month after the South Dakota bill was passed.

We will see how long it will take Governor Bevin to sign SB 150 for Kentucky.

It is only two months into 2019, and three additional states have joined the Constitutional Carry club.

The term Constitutional Carry means the state has returned the law to a close approximation of what it was when the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, was signed, in 1791. At that point no permits were required to carry deadly weapons, openly or concealed.

How many other states might pass Constitutional Carry in the remainder of the year?

No other state is as far along as Kentucky. Alabama has a Senate Judiciary committee hearing scheduled on their Constitutional Carry bill SB4, for 3 March, 2019.

Several other states have bills in the legislative works.

It is possible that one or two more states could pass Constitutional Carry bills in 2019.

The 15 states that have passed Constitutional Carry are:

1791: Vermont has had Constitutional Carry as long as the Bill of Rights existed.

2003, Alaska passed Constitutional Carry to restore the exercise of Second Amendment rights.

2010, Arizona passed Constitutional Carry.

2011, Wyoming passed Constitutional Carry.

2013, Arkansas passed Act 746 into law. It is effectively Constitutional Carry. Some county prosecutors threaten prosecution, but it has not happened.

2015, Kansas, and Maine became Constitutional Carry club members.

2016, Idaho, Missouri, West Virginia, and Mississippi became Constitutional Carry states.

2017, New Hampshire, and North Dakota passed Constitutional Carry.

2019, South Dakota and Oklahoma passed Constitutional Carry.

Kentucky is waiting for Governor Matt Bevin's signature.

2019 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Gun Watch

Back to Top


These fierce lions decided to take the term "food fight" quite literally, as three of them violently tussled over their prey amid a screen of dust. Captured by Gordon Donovan in Etosha National Park in Namibia, Africa, the images captured the cloud of dust that kicked up as three lions converged over a springbok carcass. As the drama unfolded, two young males successfully fought off the older male, with one even making off with a leg. (Caters News)
Photo credit: Polestar

From Car and Driver

Volvo announced this week that it will limit the speed of all its production vehicles to 112 mph, starting with the 2021 model year.

A Polestar spokesman told C/D that the performance-oriented brand will not be following suit.

The decision underscores the Polestar brand's independence.

Rebelling against authority is a key component of a healthy childhood and adolescence, and some of us, uh, I mean, people who are definitely not me, have turned it into a lifelong passion. So when Volvo recently created all kinds of hub-and-bubbery over the announcement that it will speed-limit its cars to 112 mph, we wondered whether the automaker's recently adopted Polestar division would blindly follow suit or show a little juvenile defiance. We queried both companies, and while Volvo hasn't yet replied to our questions regarding the nuts and bolts of the speed-limiting decision, Polestar confirmed to us at the Geneva auto show that it will not be adhering to the parent company's decision to put the brakes on all the fun.

Specifically, Polestar's spokesperson told us that it "can confirm that Polestar will not be speed-limiting its cars. That wouldn't fit our performance ethos." Spoken with the condescension of a genuine teen. Polestar appears to be a kindred spirit.

This is particularly good news as the recently revealed Polestar 2 EV is said to be capable of extracting sub-five-second zero-to-60-mph times from the combined 402 horsepower produced by its electric motors.

Volvo's announcement regarding limiting the speed of all its production vehicles to 112 mph starting with the 2021 model year came earlier this week. Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo's president and CEO, was quoted as saying: "While a speed limitation is not a cure-all, its worth doing if we can even save one life. We want to start a conversation about whether carmakers have the right or maybe even an obligation to install technology in cars that changes their driver's behavior."

Story continues

Samuelsson added that the ability to deactivate the limiter for markets such as Germany, where parts of the autobahn still have unrestricted speed limits, is a possibility. Volvo is also exploring using geofencing to automatically limit speeds around schools and hospitals, and the automaker is putting on a safety conference in Sweden later this month to discuss this and related issues.

It's worth noting that the European Parliament has moved to require the fitting of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) devices on all new cars from 2022. This could just be Volvo's attempt to get the news out ahead of that decision.

('You Might Also Like',)
ROCKFORD, Illinois  A sheriff's deputy trying to serve an arrest warrant on a parole violator died Thursday of gunshot wounds inflicted by the suspect, who fled the scene and led police on a 150-mile manhunt before his car crashed off an Illinois interstate.

The suspect, identified as Floyd Brown, 39, of Springfield, Ill., was wanted on multiple warrants, including for burglary, from two central Illinois police departments and had violated terms of his parole on an earlier conviction, police said.

He barricaded himself inside his car for several hours after crashing on Interstate 55. He was taken into custody around 5 p.m. CT, said Illinois State Police Sgt. Delila Garcia.

Police say Brown, who was staying at an Extended Stay America with a female acquaintance, allegedly fired on the officer with a rifle, then fled by apparently jumping out a third-floor window and sped away in his own vehicle.

The officer, Jacob Keltner, was pronounced dead shortly after 3:30 p.m. CT, according to the McHenry County Sheriffs Office.

Keltner was a McHenry County deputy assigned to a U.S. Marshal fugitive task force and was a 12-1/2 year veteran of the department. He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and died about six hours later.

Keltner leaves behind a wife and two young children. His father and brother are also local law enforcement officers, said McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim.

"Jake was a fine young man," Prim said. "He was part of a group of officers who chased after the worst of the worst. Unfortunately sometimes (for) these people who are willing to take on these responsibilities, it's an unfortunate end."

Police said Brown shot his female companion, 25, during the ordeal but her wounds were not life-threatening. She was treated and released from the hospital Thursday afternoon, police said.

After Brown fled from Rockford, an Illinois State trooper encountered the suspect near the central Illinois city of Bloomington and attempted to stop him. Brown led the officers on a pursuit through Bloomington and neighboring Normal before heading back on to Interstate 55, said State Police Master Sgt. Sam Thomas.

Story continues

Police said during the chase, which lasted about 30 minutes, Brown was driving over 100 mph.

Police said they ended the pursuit when a trooper near the town of Lincoln rammed his squad car into Brown's car, knocking it into a ditch. At some point during the chase, Brown pointed his rifle at officers.

Brown exited and re-entered the vehicle after the crash before barricading himself inside his Mercury Grand Marquis for approximately six hours, police said.

Police spoke with Brown in short fits throughout the day, with the suspect frequently cracking open his door to communicate with the officers who surrounded him. By early evening, SWAT officers decided to pounce.

Brown suffered minor injuries and remained hospitalized Thursday evening.

"Our SWAT team deployed flash bangs and were ultimately able to take the suspect into custody peacefully," Trooper Sean Ramsey told reporters near the scene where Brown was apprehended.

The interstate was shut down in both directions for much of the day as officers surrounded Brown's vehicle and tried to persuade him to surrender.

Rockford Deputy Police Chief John Pozzi said the incident unfolded Thursday morning when members of the task force attempted to serve multiple warrants, including parole violations, on Brown.

"The suspect fled prior to the large law enforcement response," Pozzi said. No shots were fired by law enforcement officers, he said.

RPD officers are on scene investigating an active shooter situation at the extended stay off N. Bell School Rd. Please avoid the area.  RockfordILPolice (@RockfordPD) March 7, 2019

Winnebago County state's attorney Marilyn Hite-Ross said Brown has been charged with first-degree murder of the officer. Authorities were also preparing to bring federal first-degree murder charges against Brown because he shot an officer who was assisting federal law enforcement agency, said assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Schneider.

"The death penalty is a possibility," Schneider said. "There is a whole process we have to go through to determine if that will be done."

Brown has a lengthy rap sheet, including multiple incidents in which he had been charged with domestic battery, according to court records.

He was convicted in March 2013 for a series of burglaries in McLean and Macon counties and sentenced to 13 years in state prison, according to McLean County court records.

Brown was arrested in Sangamon County on June 8, 2018, for disorderly conduct. A woman filed for an order of protection against Floyd that same day. He was cited by Illinois State Police for driving 35 mph over the speed limit that same month.

In November 2017, he received a two-day sentence for resisting arrest. He plead guilty in 2013 after being charged in 2010 with felony vehicle invasion, domestic battery, aggravated battery and endangering the life of a child, court records show.

Rockford is about 90 miles northwest of Chicago, near the Wisconsin border.

Dozens of law enforcement vehicles could be seen rushing from the Chicago area to Rockford shortly after the shooting was reported.

The incident came three weeks after a mass shooting at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, 70 miles southeast of Rockford. Six people including the gunman died and five responding officers were wounded in that incident.

"The people of Illinois join the family of the fallen officer in mourning his loss, and with our deepest gratitude for his courageous service," Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Illinois deputy killed serving warrant; suspect caught following standoff on Interstate 55
LISBON (Reuters) - Buildings across Portugal flew flags at half mast and parliament held a minute of silence in honor of domestic violence victims on Thursday, a day after a 39-year-old woman was strangled to death. The latest killing shocked the country, bringing the number of victims since the beginning of the year to 12, the highest figure in a decade, which prompted the government to declare a day of mourning. "Sadly the number increased yesterday," said parliament speaker Ferro Rodrigues. "It's our obligation to do better." Police said a woman in north Portugal was strangled to death on Wednesday and have arrested her husband on suspicion of having killed her. The number of murders so far this year is more than double the same period in 2018, according to the Observatory of Murdered Women, a Portuguese campaign group. In 2017, 12 murders were recorded through the whole year. In addition to the minute of silence, held before parliament's biweekly debate, new measures to tackle the crime have been proposed including a plan to create specialized courts to deal with domestic violence cases. The Portuguese justice system has been heavily criticized, with activists describing it as sexist, after a court upheld in 2017 a light sentence for a woman's attacker on the grounds that he may have been motivated by her adultery. (Reporting by Catarina Demony and Goncalo Almeida; Editing by Axel Bugge)
New York (AFP) - R&B superstar R. Kelly denied allegations he sexually abused women and girls in his first public comments since being indicted last month.

"I didn't do this stuff. This not me," Kelly told "CBS This Morning", saying he was "fighting" for his life in an interview to air Wednesday. Excerpts were released Tuesday.

He dismissed the allegations against him as rumors.

"Whether they're old rumors, new rumors, future rumors, not true," said Kelly, who became upset and emotional during the interview.

Kelly, 52, pleaded not guilty late last month in Chicago to 10 counts of aggravated criminal sex abuse.

He spent three nights behind bars and was released after coming up with $100,000, 10 percent of the $1 million bail set in court.

The sex acts are alleged to have occurred between May 1998 and January 2010, according to prosecutors.

Kelly has been accused of sexual misconduct before.

In 2002 he was charged after allegedly filming himself having sex with a 14-year-old girl. He was tried and acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008.

Now he says his reputation is being used against him.

"People are going back to my past, OK? That's exactly what they're doing. They're going back to the past and they trying to add all of this stuff now to that. To make all this stuff that's going on now feels real to people," Kelly said, according to the CBS transcript of the interview.

He also addressed a report by BuzzFeed in 2017 that said Kelly had kept women as virtual sex slaves at homes he owns in Chicago and Atlanta.

Kelly denied ever holding anyone against their will.

"I don't need to. Why would I? How stupid would it be for R. Kelly, with all I've been through in my way, way past, to hold somebody," he asked.

"That's stupid," Kelly added, looking right into the camera.

The BuzzFeed allegations did not lead to any charges.

In January, a six-part documentary called "Surviving R. Kelly" was released. It alleged he engaged in sexual, mental and physical abuse of girls and women.
Martin Stokes(Metropolitan Police)

A man who shouted racist abuse before deliberately driving at worshippers leaving a mosque has been jailed for five years.

Martin Stokes was sentenced for the late-night attack in September last year at the Al Hussaini Association Muslim community centre in north-west London in which three people were injured, police said.

The 25-year-old, of Lynton Close in Wembley, was also banned from driving for seven-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and a religiously aggravated offence, the Metropolitan Police said.

It followed a similar attack on another north London mosque a year before.

Stokes had been drinking and smoking with others while parked up in the car near the mosque in Cricklewood where a private event was taking place, the force said.

The group, who were said to be causing a disturbance, were asked to move on by the events stewards but instead Stokes shouted racist abuse before deliberately driving his car into a group of people as they left the mosque just after midnight.

He then fled the scene, leaving three injured including one man in his fifties who was hospitalised for more than three weeks.

Read More

Blind man asked to leave shopping centre because of his guide dog

Norwegian woman films avalanche crashing towards house

Pub offers cheapest Sunday roast in the country for just 1

Following his sentencing at Harrow Crown Court on Wednesday, Detective Sergeant Kelly Schonhage said: Stokes selfishly drove his car at a group of innocent pedestrians and had no regard whatsoever for their safety.

It is very fortunate that no lives were lost in this incident and we are pleased that Stokes has now been brought to justice.

Javid Rana, chairman of the Association of Muslim Police, said: We know this incident caused significant concern within the community and we were pleased to be able to support this investigation and provide reassurance to the public.

Story continues

Police described the incident as a hate crime (PA)

Mohammed Al Bayati, from the Al Hussaini Association, praised those who had helped in the aftermath of the incident.

The members of our association wish to join me in recognising the selfless actions and bravery of all our community wardens, men and women, young and old and the other members of our community whose care and prompt actions helped minimise the extent of the injuries sustained and prevented an even deeper, unthinkable tragedy, he said.
Raleigh Restaurant owner rewards employees with free trip to Disney World. (Photo Credit: State Farmers Market Restaurant)

In the 17 years since Gypsy Gilliam opened her State Farmers Market Restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina, her employees have become her extended family. So, to show her appreciation for their hard work, Gilliam, 71, decided to reward them with an all-expense-paid trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth: Disney World.

They have blessed me beyond belief and I wanted to give them and their families an opportunity to enjoy something that they may otherwise not have the chance to do, Gilliam tells Yahoo Lifestyle of her gift.

Rumors of the trip began flying around the kitchen of the Southern-food outpost just before Christmas.

At first it was a rumor  nobody believed it, Danielle Scott, a server at the restaurant tells Yahoo. It didnt really sink in until Gypsy called a meeting announced it and [the general manager] Chris posted a note asking who wanted to go!

But when Gilliam made the official announcement, she says The emotions in the room were what you would imagine  lots of happiness, tears, crazy dancing and excitement.

State Farmers Market Restaurant employees on the bus to Orlando. (Photo credit: State Farmers Market Restaurant)

As promised, Gilliam closed the restaurant for a couple of days during the week of Feb. 25 and boarded 20 employees and their families (totaling about 50 people) on a bus for the eigh-hour journey to the Orlando amusement park. For single mom Scott and her 9-year-old son Aiden  neither of whom had ever been to Disney World or Florida  it was the trip of a lifetime.

Since I was a child, I have wanted to go. So to be able to take [Aiden] as a kid was a dream come true, says Scott, adding that most of the servers at the restaurant are single moms, as well. God only knows if or when I may be able to take him on my own.

Danielle Scott, 31, and her 9-year-old son Aiden at Disney World. (Credit: State Farmers Market Restaurant)

Thanks to Gilliams generosity, Scott was able to meet all her favorite childhood movie characters, including Peter Pan, with her son by her side.

It was so amazing. I cried a couple of times, Jasmine Kamel, another employee, told WRAL News. I could cry right now. I dont think shell ever understand how grateful we are for what she did for us.

Story continues

But Gilliam says that paying for the trip was one of the greatest rewards of my life.

She adds, Having a restaurant where the team is your extended family is priceless. The togetherness and caring that we all share, well its me who is the lucky one, having a team like this where we just enjoy coming to work.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

 Teacher says she was fired over lesbian relationship

 Walmart faces backlash for marketing video featuring gay men on a blind date

 Jewish teacher was fired after reporting anti-Semitic harassment from students, lawsuit claims

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.




By Radu-Sorin Marinas BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Huawei equipment is not used in any of Romania's state critical infrastructure under the administration of the NATO member's Special Telecommunications Service (STS), the STS told Reuters on Thursday. Washington is concerned about the expansion of the Chinese giant in its NATO allies in central Europe, including Hungary and Poland. Romania has become particularly important since 2016, when the United States activated an $800 million missile shield site, angering Russia. Under a 2013 memorandum of understanding with Huawei, the then government offered the company an opportunity to participate in the building of its national information and telecommunications system, traffic monitoring and e-government systems. "We note that the STS was not consulted, did not endorse that document and has no involvement in its implementation," it said in an emailed answer to a Feb. 26 Reuters request under the freedom of information laws. STS is the public authority in charge with critical infrastructures related to IT&C and national security sectors. "STS is continuously assessing the risks related to the specific aspects of its field of activity. It has adequate security and resilience measures throughout the lifespan of its managed infrastructures - that significantly reduce risks of cyber threats," it added. Romania's biggest opposition party said it would trigger a public inquiry into the Chinese giant's potential contribution to critical telecom networks and seek to bar it from 5G network development due to mounting security concerns. Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, faces intense scrutiny in the West over its relationship with the Chinese government and U.S.-led allegations that its equipment could be used by Beijing for spying. No evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has repeatedly denied the allegations, which have led several Western countries to restrict Huawei's access to their markets. (Reporting by Radu Marinas; editing by Jason Neely and David Evans)
In April 2018, Russians attend an opposition rally in central Moscow to demand internet freedom in Russia. Authorities tried to block access to the popular messaging app Telegram in the latest onslaught against dissent under Vladimir Putin.

Russian lawmakers passed a series of bills Thursday to punish online media and journalists for spreading "fake news" and for disrespecting authorities, including President Vladimir Putin.

The State Duma adopted the bills in a third and final reading and sent them to the upper house Federation Council for consideration, Moscow News reports. If passed, they will go to Putin for his signature.

The "fake news" bill bans the spread of unreliable socially-important information that could endanger lives and public health, raise the threat of massive violation of public security and order or impede functioning of transport and social infrastructure, energy and communication facilities and banks.

An increasingly outspoken group of Russian free speech and internet activists planned to protest the bill in Moscow on Sunday  the latest expression of public concern over constraints on the internet. At least 8,000 people turned out in Moscow last April when authorities tried to block access to the popular messaging app Telegram.

The ban on "fake news" was adopted 322-78, with lawmakers from A Just Russia, the Communist Party and the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party opposed. The bill penalizing those who insult authorities passed 327-40 with one lawmaker abstaining, according to RFE/RL.

The proposed law exempts traditional organizations including newspapers, television networks and radio stations.

Under the law, online news outlets would face fines from $450 to $15,000 for disseminating "false information that is socially under the guise of accurate reports," according to Moscow News.

Showing "obvious disrespect" for authorities, including Putin, as well as state symbols, carries fines up to $5,000 and 15 days in jail for repeat offenders.

If "fake news" or posts disrespectful of authorities are not immediately and voluntarily deleted, the online news outlets can be legally blocked by the telecommunications watchdog, Roskomnadzor.

Story continues

Internet service providers will also be forced to block access to content that "offends human dignity and public morality," CNN reported.

Three weeks ago, the Duma, or lower house, passed the "Sovereign Internet" bill that calls for Russian internet traffic and data to be rerouted through state-controlled points. It would also set up a domestic Domain Name System to allow the internet to continue functioning in Russia even if it is cut off from foreign infrastructure, RFE/RL reports.

Proponents argued that the bill would give more independence to the Russian segment of the internet and help guard the country against potential cyberattacks.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russian lawmakers pass bill to punish online sites for spreading 'fake news'
Salma Hayek (Credit: Getty Images)

Reaching a certain level of fame and notoriety does not preclude you from racism, Salma Hayek has said.

The Mexican-born, Oscar-nominated star of movies like From Dusk Till Dawn and Frida, was asked if shed ever been the subject of incidents of overt racism, to which she replied millions.

A lot of people are very shocked that I married who I married, she told Town and Country magazine.

Read more: Warner Bros launches probe into allegations against CEO

She wed the French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault, the CEO of Kering, the retail giant behind super-brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen.

And some people are even intimidated now by me. But its another way of showing racism. They cant believe this Mexican ended up in the life that she has, and theyre uncomfortable around me.

Hayek and husband Francois-Henri Pinault (Credit: DPA)

She added that thanks to the sea change in Hollywood, the major studio players are scared sh*tless, they are terrified to say the wrong thing now, but you can still notice it.

She also spoke about her past experiences with the producer Harvey Weinstein.

In 2017, as the allegations of misconduct were mounting around the movie mogul, she wrote in an op-ed column in the New York Times that he had at one time threatened to kill her after she snubbed his sexual advances on multiple occasions.

She also called him a monster.

Salma Hayek Pinault attends the Gucci show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 20, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Credit: Jacopo Raule/Getty Images)

Emotionally, I was shocked by how much [writing that piece] affected me, Hayek says.

Because Im strong, and I thought I was done with that whole story. It really haunted me.

She added that her husband, along with friends of hers, were angry that she had not told them about Weinsteins behaviour towards her before.

Read more: Cillian Murphy back in the frame for Bond

Yes, absolutely, she says. [Pinault] was upset that I didnt tell him before. So were Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz, whos a very good friend of mine. She was furious.

Because he did the best movies, and I didnt want to jade their experience professionally, she says of why she didnt tell them.

Story continues

I was being protective of my friends. But I didnt know he was doing it to so many women. I had no idea.




It may be the largest county in America by land area, but San Bernardino County, Calif., has decided it doesnt have enough room for big wind or big solar projects. On February 28, the countys board of supervisors approved a measure that bans large renewable-energy projects on more than 1 million acres of private land.

The move provides yet another example of how the energy sprawl that inevitably comes with large-scale renewable-energy deployment is colliding with the interests of rural landowners and local governments that dont want green projects in their neighborhoods. Of course, theres no small irony that that collision is happening in California, which passed a law last year that requires utilities to be getting 60 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2030.

As Los Angeles Times reporter Sammy Roth drily noted, achieving those renewable-energy goals will require cooperation from local governments  and big solar and wind farms, like many infrastructure projects, are often unpopular at the local level. All across the country rural landowners and governments have been rejecting or restricting renewable projects, and theyre doing so at the very same time that left-leaning politicians and some of the countrys biggest environmental groups are claiming that the U.S. must quit using hydrocarbons and nuclear energy, and instead rely solely on renewable energy for our electricity.

In January, some 600 environmental groups, including 350.org, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, and the Environmental Working Group, submitted a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, which said that the U.S. must shift to 100 percent renewable power generation by 2035 or earlier. It continued, saying any definition of renewable energy must . . . exclude all combustion-based power generation, nuclear, biomass energy, large-scale hydro, and waste-to-energy technologies. For good measure, it said this new hypothetical electric grid must have the ability to incorporate battery storage and distributed energy systems that are democratically governed.

Story continues

That last bit about democratically governed is the issue in San Bernardino County and elsewhere. The new regulation requires that more than half of the energy produced by new renewable projects in San Bernardino County, which covers more than 20,000 square miles, must be used in local communities. If they dont meet that standard, the projects wont be approved. In other words, San Bernardino County, which is already home to two big thermal-solar projects, including Ivanpah and Abengoa Mojave, doesnt want to be an energy plantation for people who live in other places.

This isnt the first time that California regulators have rejected renewables. In 2015, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance banning large wind turbines in the countys unincorporated areas. During a hearing on the measure, then-supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said that wind turbines create visual blight. In addition, he said, the skyscraper-sized turbines would contradict the countys rural dark skies ordinance which aims to protect dark skies in areas like Antelope Valley and the Santa Monica Mountains.

There are numerous other examples of the growing land-use conflicts around renewable-energy projects. Rural residents in Spotsylvania County, Va., are fighting a proposed 500-megawatt solar project that, if built, would cover nearly ten square miles. According to the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, local residents believe the project is too big to be near homes and that it poses potential health and environmental risks. They also are concerned about impacts to property values.

In Henry County, Ind., more than half a dozen small communities have passed measures banning wind turbines within four miles of their borders. In an article last year titled County Towns Putting Up Walls Against Wind, Darrel Radford, a reporter for the New Castle Courier-Times, wrote that theres still lots of anti-turbine activity in the county and that as many as half of the incorporated communities in the county had passed anti-wind measures.

The land-use fights over renewable energy reflect the urbanrural divide in American politics  a divide that was obvious in the 2016 presidential race. Hillary Clinton won big in urban areas; Donald Trump dominated in rural areas. Big environmental groups and urban liberal voters like the idea of renewable energy and want more of it. But the all-renewable scenario they are pushing depends on what I call the vacant-land myth: Theres an endless amount of unused, uninteresting territory out in the boondocks thats ready and waiting to be covered with energy infrastructure.

The urbanrural divide is particularly obvious in New York, which has a 50 percent renewable-electricity mandate by 2030. Despite the mandate, three upstate New York counties  Erie, Orleans, and Niagara  as well as the towns of Yates and Somerset, have been fighting a proposed 200-megawatt wind project called Lighthouse Wind for four years. In an interview on Wednesday, I asked Dan Engert, the supervisor in Somerset, about the urbanrural divide and how it affects the promotion and siting of renewable-energy projects.

Those urban voters will never have to deal with the reality of a wind project in their backyard, Engert told me. As these projects move closer to humans and where people live, you are seeing resistance in places across rural America.

The punchline here is obvious: The urbanrural divide in American politics is growing, and a key part of that divide is the debate over climate change and what we as a society should be doing about it. The anti-hydrocarbon, anti-nuclear Left fastidiously ignores the land-use implications of their all-renewable plans. But rural residents in places such as San Bernardino County, Somerset, and Henry County are not going to be ignored.

As Sara Fairchild, a resident of Pioneertown in San Bernardino County, told the supervisors during the hearing last week, These vast open areas are precious for their natural, historical and recreational qualities . . . . They are fragile, and no amount of mitigation can counter the damage that industrial-scale renewable-energy projects would cause. She added: Once destroyed, these landscapes can never be brought back.

More from National Review
Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has gone full gangster, US senators said at a confirmation hearing for Donald Trumps nominee to be US ambassador to the Middle Eastern kingdom.

Both Republican and Democrat senators at retired general John Abizaids confirmation condemned Saudi Arabias conduct in Yemens civil war and its heavy-handed diplomacy.

They also criticised the kingdom for its human rights abuses including the torturing of womens activists and a US citizen, and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Mr Abizaid called for accountability for the murder of Mr Khashoggi, a US resident, and support for human rights, but repeatedly stressed the strategic importance of Washington-Riyadh ties.

Despite increasing tension between the two countries, the United States has not had an ambassador to Saudi Arabia since Trump became president in January 2017.

In the long run, we need a strong and mature partnership with Saudi Arabia, Mr Abizaid told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It is in our interests to make sure that the relationship is sound.

Mr Abizaid, a retired four-star US army general who led US Central Command during the Iraq war, is expected to easily win Senate confirmation.

Mr Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the Riyadh government, was killed at a Saudi consulate in Turkey in October.

His death fuelled simmering discontent in Washington over Saudi Arabias human rights record and heavy civilian casualties in Yemens civil war, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The Senate and House of Representatives have passed resolutions that would end US support for the Saudi-led coalition, an important rebuke of Riyadh. But Mr Abizaid said the Trump administration believes strongly that US support should continue.

Doing so bolsters the self-defence capabilities of our partners and reduces the risk of harm to civilians, Mr Abizaid said.

It was also the confirmation hearing for Matthew Tueller, the current US ambassador to Yemen and Mr Trumps nominee to be ambassador to Iraq. He also defended US support for the coalition.

Story continues

US politicians have been sharply critical of crown prince bin Salman. Some blame him for Mr Khashoggis killing and other human rights abuses.

Eleven suspects have been charged in Saudi Arabia for Mr Khashoggis murder and Riyadh has denied the crown prince ordered the killing.

Saudi Arabia has engaged in acts that are simply not acceptable, said Republican senator Jim Risch, the committee chairman.

Mr Risch has held two classified briefings in the past two weeks for the panel to discuss Saudi Arabia.

Democrat senator Bob Menendez acknowledged the strategic importance of Saudi ties, amid threats from Iran.

But we cannot let these interests blind us to our values or to our long term interests in stability, Mr Menendez said.

He did not mention by name Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law who has met with Saudi leaders, rankling some in Congress.

But Mr Menendez asked Mr Abizaid if he would insist on being fully informed about all White House interactions with the Saudis. Mr Abizaid said he would.

As the hearing continued, Republican senator Marco Rubio said crown prince bin Salman had gone full gangster, an assertion repeated by another Republican, senator Ron Johnson.

He is reckless, hes ruthless, he has a penchant for escalation, for taking high risks, confrontational in his foreign policy approach and I think increasingly willing to test the limits of what he can get away with the United States, Mr Rubio said.

Mr Abizaid said in prepared remarks that the Isis has been nearly vanquished on the ground, but remains a potent threat to the United States and its allies.

While contradicted by some military and intelligence officials, Mr Trump announced in December that he would withdraw all US forces from Syria and has declared that the militant group has been driven out of all its territory.

After criticism, Mr Trump has since decided to leave hundreds of US troops in the country over the longer run.

Reuters
People facing hip and knee replacement can go online and find out how often those surgeries go awry at hospitals across the country.

They can look up a hospitals death rates for stroke and heart attack patients, too, or how many of its patients get infections.

Yet, in the United States  the most dangerous country in the developed world to give birth  maternity hospitals childbirth complication rates are a well-guarded secret.

Many hospitals know them. So do many state health agencies, insurance companies and researchers. But they fear the complication rates are too complex for regular folks to understand.

There are certainly questions about the data. Some hospitals are more likely to treat patients with health problems, so childbirth complication rates are difficult to compare. Some of the best-equipped hospitals in the country may have higher complication rates because mothers who are very sick get referred there.

Because of that, hospitals and others in the health care industry have argued against releasing complication rates, saying they are unfair and could lead women to make bad choices.

The investigation: Hospitals blame moms when childbirth goes wrong. Secret data suggest its not that simple.

Search our data: Childbirth complication rates at maternity hospitals in 13 states

Childbirth complication rates at maternity hospitals

One of the nations top childbirth safety experts, however, said looking at the rates presents an opportunity for health providers to evaluate the care they're giving to women and to find ways to improve.

Youre going to get a lot of defensiveness in response to probing questions, said Dr. Elliott Main, medical director of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative. But the value of a story or a series like this is it truly is making people stop and think about their reflexive responses.

That's why USA TODAY is publishing severe complication rates for hundreds of maternity hospitals in 13 states where its journalists obtained records documenting patients care. USA TODAY sought the data in all 50 states, but many refused to provide it or imposed restrictions rendering the data useless.

Story continues

The data reveal wide variations from hospital to hospital. The exclusive analysis of 7 million anonymized patient records found women suffered life-threatening complications at rates at least double the median at about one in eight U.S. hospitals that delivered babies from 2014 to 2017.

Where the number comes from

More than a decade ago, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created a method for calculating how often women giving birth endure severe complications using diagnosis and procedure codes that hospitals record in patient billing records.

The resulting severe maternal morbidity rate is like a composite score of things that can go wrong at the hospital before, during or after delivery  heart attacks, strokes, blood transfusions, hysterectomies and other emergencies that can permanently harm or even kill a new mother.

The CDC developed the rate to study trends at state and national levels. Its now widely used privately to evaluate outcomes at individual hospitals. Patient safety groups, state health departments, insurers and hospitals regularly use them to measure hospitals progress in reducing preventable deaths and injuries.

The rate is not a definitive count of how many women suffered serious complications, but instead an indicator or estimate.

For example, the CDC method uses blood transfusions as an indicator that a woman may have hemorrhaged. But its impossible from billing data to know whether the woman received one unit or many units of blood.

More: Each year, more than 50,000 women suffer harm related to childbirth

More: How hospitals are failing new moms, in graphics

Some experts say that could inflate the rate. Others note that transfusions are counted for all hospitals and a blood transfusion is not part of a routine childbirth.

Also, some hospitals have higher rates because they are specialty facilities where doctors send the riskiest cases. Some serve more poor mothers, who often get less consistent prenatal care. Others serve larger numbers of black mothers, who tend to have higher rates of certain health problems, such as hypertension, that can lead to serious complications.

Put simply, comparing hospitals with differing case mix profiles is equivalent to comparing apples, oranges, and lemons, physicians at Dallas Parkland Hospital wrote to USA TODAY in response to questions about that hospitals childbirth complication rate, which is about four times the median.

Parkland noted it serves complex cases and a disproportionate share of poor mothers. USA TODAYs analysis found many hospitals with similar challenges but lower complication rates.

Theres no consensus among experts about how to adjust the data to factor in all of the variables unique to childbirth.

In some studies using experimental risk adjustment, many hospitals with higher rates of complications still stood out. USA TODAY found the same: after removing some kinds of risky cases, almost all of the same hospitals had the highest rates.

Making the complication rates more public

In recent years, Blue Cross Blue Shield noticed the majority of hospitals were not even aware of SMM rates, the company told USA TODAY.

The insurer began sharing complication rates with hospitals it designates as excelling in other areas of maternity care to encourage them to assess and improve their rates.

The insurance group said the number is an important one that hospitals should be aware of, evaluate and strive to improve.

Researchers said the complication rates are not appropriate for head-to-head comparisons of one hospital against another. Some state programs use the measure to help hospitals compare themselves against groups of patients or hospitals. Academics and government agencies use the rates to compare hospitals in studies.

Thats what USA TODAY has done: calculated hospitals complication rates and then compared them against the median among hospitals in the 13 states that released data. Reporters then scrutinized hospitals with complication rates at least twice the median.

Childbirth safety experts caution that a hospital with a lower rate isn't necessarily safer. The hospital might just serve many more healthy women at lower risk of complications. A smaller hospital with a lower complication rate, because it does not regularly treat high-risk cases, may be less prepared for an emergency.

The rates are a starting point for scrutinizing a hospital's maternity care.

Its important we treat providers fairly, but its also important we hold them accountable, said Carol Sakala, who leads maternity care programs for the National Partnership for Women & Families, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for women's health care. The act of collecting and reporting  especially public reporting  of results can make a difference in accountability and quality of care.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission have the power to collect and report numbers that could inform mothers and their loved ones about individual hospitals. So far, neither has done so.

For moms, the Joint Commission, a private group that accredits hospitals, makes hospitals track only C-section rates, but rates for individual hospitals arent public. CMS tracks nothing related to injuries to mothers.

USA TODAY reported last summer that the Joint Commission was studying whether to create any new rules to protect moms. Spokeswoman Maureen Lyons said the group met this week to review draft standards for hemorrhage and high blood pressure  two of the leading preventable causes of mothers deaths. Lyons did not release details and said it could take three to four months before the standards are finalized, she said.

Contributing: Christopher Schnaars and Sean Rossman

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The secret number maternity hospitals dont want you to know, and why were revealing it
By Eric Beech

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Martha McSally, the first female combat pilot in the U.S. Air Force, said on Wednesday she had been raped by a superior officer but did not report it because she blamed herself and did not trust the system.

"The perpetrators abuse their position of power in profound ways, and in one case I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer," McSally, an Arizona Republican, said during a Senate hearing on sexual assault in the military.

"But unlike so many brave survivors, I didn't report being sexually assaulted," she added. "Like so many women and men, I didn't trust the system. I blamed myself. I was ashamed and confused. I thought I was strong but felt powerless."

McSally did not identify her attacker.

Another member of the subcommittee, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth who is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and lost both legs in combat in the Iraq war, said the military "has utterly failed at handling sexual assault."

Sexual assault and harassment in the U.S. military is largely under-reported and came under renewed scrutiny two years ago after a scandal involving Marines sharing nude photos of women online came to light.

In fiscal 2017, the most recent period for which statistics are available, the U.S. Department of Defense received 6,769 reports of sexual assault involving service members as victims or subjects of criminal investigation. That represented a nearly 10 percent increase in reported cases from the previous year, according to a Pentagon report last year.

'STAYED SILENT FOR MANY YEARS'

McSally, speaking at the Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing, said: "I stayed silent for many years, but later in my career as the military grappled with scandals and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know: I too was a survivor.

"I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences were handled," she said, adding that she came close to leaving the Air Force after 18 years.

Story continues

"Like many victims, I felt the system was raping me all over again."

Air Force spokeswoman Captain Carrie Volpe said in a statement: "We are appalled and deeply sorry for what Senator McSally experienced and we stand behind her and all victims of sexual assault. We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behavior and breach of trust in our ranks."

In a separate incident, authorities in Georgia said on Wednesday they had arrested three members of the U.S. Navy on charges of rape and aggravated sodomy.

The men were taken into custody following a report of a sexual assault on Sunday at a party in a private residence, the Richmond County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

McSally's disclosure came less than two months after Senator Joni Ernst, an Army veteran, said publicly that she had been raped in college by someone she knew and that her ex-husband had physically abused her. An attorney for her former husband declined to comment at the time.

Ernst, a Republican, has in the past worked with Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to combat sexual assault in the military.

McSally, 52, who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, was appointed in December by Arizona's governor to take over the Senate seat once held by the late John McCain. A special election will be held in 2020 to fill the remaining two years of McCain's six-year term.

In November's congressional elections, McSally lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in the contest for Arizona's other U.S. Senate seat, formerly held by Republican Jeff Flake.

(Reporting by Eric Beech, Mohammad Zargham and Patricia Zengerle, Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Seniors who go for walks with leashed dogs could place themselves at a significant and rising risk of getting injured, a study published Wednesday suggests.

University of Pennsylvania researchers found emergency room patients 65 and older with fractures linked to injuries from walking leashed dogs surged from 1,671 injuries in 2004 to nearly 4,400 in 2017.



Researchers analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance database, which features public, anonymous data managed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on injuries in emergency rooms in the U.S.

Nearly 80 percent of patients suffering injuries between 2004 and 2017 were women, the study says. The most common fracture was the hip, researchers found, followed by upper extremity injuries such as the wrist or upper arm. More than 28 percent of patients required admission to a hospital, per the study.

For older adults  especially those living alone and with decreased bone mineral density  the risks associated with walking leashed dogs merit consideration, the studys authors say.

Their findings were published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Surgery.

Researchers say doctors could play a role in lowering the risk of fractures by advocating for measures such as obedience training for dogs or suggesting smaller dog breeds.

Dr. John Fernandez, an orthopedic surgeon at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said he treats injuries connected to dog walking at least weekly and hes noticed an increase among older patients.

Fernandez said that hospital coding changes that include more specific details about how injuries occurred might partly explain the increase. But he said the numbers also likely reflect an aging U.S. population.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Seniors walking leashed dogs could increase risk of injury, study says
A former TD Bank employee was declared dead despite being very much alive (Getty)

When Saadia Behilil left her job at TD Bank, as far as her former employer was concerned, she was dead to them.

In a story reported by CTV Toronto, Behilil was stunned to receive a notice from TD addressed to her estate. Her status had been changed to deceased and her accounts at TD were frozen. Access to banking, stocks, insurance, and financial records was blocked.

When she contacted the bank to get to the bottom of the situation she learned TD changed her status to deceased instead of resigned.

Behilil says TD assured her the problem would be fixed within a couple of days but weeks went by.

After CTV contacted TD about the situation, the bank issued a statement.

We made an error and sincerely regret and apologize from the inconvenience we caused our former employee, and are making every effort to resolve this as quickly as possible.

Behilil says she is once again able to access her accounts and her status is longer deceased.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - He didn't count on the women in white. President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech on Tuesday was billed as his attempt to unify the country. But Democratic women lawmakers from the House of Representatives, many of them dressed elegantly in white to celebrate 100 years of women having the right to vote, projected a picture of calm displeasure during Trump's speech that made clear his version of unity was not one they could accept. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful Democrat in the country, sat behind the president on the stage, wearing a white pantsuit. She shook her head or looked on disapprovingly when he challenged Democrats or laid out a dark vision of illegal immigrants assailing America. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a young social media star, looked down or away when Trump delivered comments she viewed as egregious and stared daggers at colleagues who stood and clapped. Then the president spoke about women in the workforce, and the dynamic changed. Briefly. As he lauded the growing number of women finding jobs in the economy, the women lawmakers in white rose and cheered, apparently for themselves, for filling many of the open jobs in Congress during the congressional elections in November. "You weren't supposed to do that," Trump said with a smile, pointing at them and drawing laughter. Telling them not to sit down yet because there was more good news to come, Trump went on to recognize the record number of women serving in the Capitol. They cheered some more and chanted: "USA, USA!" Republicans joined in. It was a rare moment during the long speech, which otherwise drew mixed reactions from the audience, divided with Republicans on one side of the chamber and Democrats on the other, in a reflection of the deep partisan chasm that has characterized the country before and after Trump's 2016 election victory. When Trump said the United States would be at war with North Korea had he not won the presidency, Democrats groaned. When he declared the state of the union "strong," they disagreed and most stayed in their seats. When he warned against "ridiculous partisan investigations," the sound of hissing could be heard. Proclaiming that the United States would never be a socialist country, Trump drew an ovation from Republicans and even some Democrats. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential hopeful, hesitated but eventually stood up and clapped. Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described Democratic Socialist, smiled broadly. BIPARTISAN MOMENTS There were some moments of bipartisanship. When the president called for embracing the principles of compromise, Pelosi stood up and applauded heartily. Trump turned around and nodded to her in acknowledgement. Lawmakers applauded an elderly American who helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp in Germany during World War Two and erupted in cheers for former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. But those moments were more a rarity than a rule. At the beginning of the evening, as Trump entered the chamber, Republicans clapped, while some Democrats stood and kept their hands folded. The image-conscious president's signature red tie hung slightly to the left in his jacket as he walked in, and stayed that way while he spoke. In the chamber's balcony, first lady Melania Trump, dressed in black, sat with specially invited guests. They included Debra Bissell, whose parents Trump said were killed by an illegal immigrant; Matthew Charles, a former drug dealer who was released from prison as part of bipartisan prison reform efforts; and Joshua Trump, a sixth-grade student from Delaware who has been bullied because of his last name. Pelosi's guests included two active-duty transgender members of the U.S. Army, Captain Jennifer Peace and Major Ian Brown, in a critique of Trump's efforts to ban transgender men and women from serving in the military. During the 35-day government shutdown that ended on Jan. 25, Pelosi essentially rescinded Trump's invitation to deliver his address in the House chamber. The White House considered choosing another location for the president's speech, perhaps at a venue near the U.S.-Mexico border to emphasize his call for a wall to keep out illegal immigrants. But Trump decided to delay, wanting the pageantry and spotlight that only come with the annual address to Congress inside the Capitol's walls. He got the pageantry. He got the decorum. But unity was scarce. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Warsaw (AFP) - The statue of a Solidarity-era Polish priest accused of sex abuse will be permanently removed from a public square, city authorities in the port of Gdansk decided on Thursday, despite objections from supporters.

Claims of abuse against the late Father Henryk Jankowski resurfaced in December when liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza published an article reviving allegations that had first surfaced years ago.

Gdansk Mayor Aleksandra Dulkiewicz said she saw only "one possible decision", speaking ahead of Thursday's city hall vote to remove the statue.

Jankowski, who died in 2010, had faced long-standing accusations of paedophilia.

An investigation into allegations of sex abuse by Jankowski against young boys and girls was opened but shelved in 2004.

Activists toppled the statue last month and then draped it with underwear and altar boy's clothing.

The incident occurred several hours before the opening of a landmark Vatican summit on fighting child abuse within the Catholic Church.

Supporters of the priest, including conservatives and Solidarity union representatives, then restored it to its plinth.

The three men arrested over toppling the statue face up to five years in prison.

Late last year activists also daubed red paint on the hands of the privately-financed statue.

Jankowski was a close aide to Lech Walesa during the Gdansk shipyard strikes in 1980 led by the anti-communist Solidarity movement and which led to the creation of Poland's first free trade union.

It went on to play a pivotal role in toppling communism in 1989.

After the regime fell, Jankowski's reputation was tarnished amid claims by some former associates that he was a nationalist with anti-European and anti-Semitic tendencies.
Khartoum (AFP) - An emergency appeals court in Sudan on Thursday overturned prison sentences handed down to eight protesters for participating in demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir's iron-fisted rule, a defence lawyer said.

The demonstrators had been given jail terms ranging from six months to five years by special emergency courts in Khartoum last week after they were arrested for participating in rallies the same day in the capital.

"The appeals court dismissed the charges against these people who had been sentenced on February 28," said defence lawyer Enaam Atieg, a member of a lawyers' association that is part of an umbrella group spearheading protests against Bashir's rule.

"The appeals court has ordered their release," she told AFP.

The jail terms were the first such punishments handed down by special emergency courts set up to investigate violations of a year-long state of emergency Bashir imposed on February 22.

ln total about 900 protesters were brought before emergency courts on February 28, hours after they were arrested for demonstrating in the capital and its twin city of Omdurman, state media reported.

Scores of them were freed immediately, while many others were sentenced to jail terms of up to one month.

"The appeals court also cancelled their jail terms and instead ordered them to pay fines," Atieg said without specifying how many protesters actually had their charges dismissed on Thursday.

Haider Khairallah, the father of one of the protesters, confirmed on Facebook that his son Ahmed had been freed on Thursday.

Bashir imposed a state of emergency after an initial crackdown on nationwide protests failed to suppress the rallies against his rule stretching back three decades.

He has also banned all unauthorised rallies and given sweeping powers to security forces to carry out raids and personal searches.

Deadly protests have rocked Sudan since December 19 after a government decision to triple the price of bread.

But the rallies turned into nationwide protests against the veteran leader's rule, with protesters calling on him to step down.
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters hit the streets in several neighbourhoods of Sudan's capital Khartoum on Thursday and security forces rounded up a number of demonstrators calling on President Omar al-Bashir to step down, witnesses said.

It was the latest in a series of protests against Bashir and his National Congress Party across Sudan since Dec. 19. It is the most sustained popular challenge to Bashir since he took power in a military coup 30 years ago.

Witnesses said that activists chose a women's day theme for Thursday's protests and many of the hundreds who turned out in Omdurman, across the Nile river from the centre of the capital, and in eastern Khartoum, were female.

They chanted "Peace, freedom and justice", and "Revolution is the choice of the people". Hundreds also took to the streets in Khartoum's Burri neighbourhood, a flashpoint for protests.

Security forces appeared to have changed tactics and were rounding up protesters using batons, and sending them to trial in emergency courts, rather than dispersing them with tear gas, according to witnesses.

However, tear gas was used to scatter demonstrators at the National University, a witness said, and later in Burri.

A police spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Officials have confirmed 33 deaths in the unrest since December, though activists say the toll is significantly higher.

Last month Bashir declared a state of emergency, dissolved the central government, replaced state governors with security officials, expanded police powers and banned unlicensed public gatherings.

Emergency courts have since been trying protesters in evening sessions, sparking further rallies outside court buildings.

On Tuesday, a strike called by opposition activists shut down some non-essential health services and economic activity in Khartoum.

(Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Four in 10 Americans think President Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from office in a new poll, a slight uptick since November.

According to a Monmouth University Poll conducted after former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified before Congress, 42% of Americans back impeachment and removal, an increase from 36% who felt the same way in the previous poll.

The fact that more independents are starting to question Trumps fitness for office could be a sign of trouble, if not for impeachment itself than for his re-election prospects in 2020, said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

The poll also found that 54% of respondents believe that Trump reimbursed Cohen for paying off porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election, and 48% believe he personally asked people to mislead investigators or Congress on his business dealings or Russian interference in the election.

The live-interview poll was conducted March 1-4 of a national random sample of 802 adults over 18. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Near Baghouz (Syria) (AFP) - A top US commander warned Thursday that the battle against the Islamic State group was "far from over" despite the jihadists' loss of territory, as survivors abandoned the last shred of the group's collapsing "caliphate" in eastern Syria.

A fierce assault by US-backed forces has sparked an exodus of dust-covered children, veiled women dragging suitcases and dishevelled men, many of them wounded, from the village of Baghouz where besieged IS fighters are making a last stand.

But General Joseph Votel, head of the US Central Command, warned that many of those being evacuated are "unrepentant, unbroken and radicalised", calling for a "vigilant offensive" against the group.

The Syrian Democratic Forces are waiting for more survivors to leave before dealing what they hope will be a final blow to jihadists holed up in a makeshift camp along the banks of the Euphrates.

The SDF was not advancing Thursday out of concern for remaining civilians, but its fighters entered the settlement two days earlier and now control a chunk of it, an SDF source told AFP.

Remaining families have been pushed towards the far end of the camp near the river, he said.

Inside Baghouz on Thursday afternoon, an eerie quiet was interrupted by a brief burst of automatic gunfire.

AFP journalists taken into the battered hamlet watched the SDF stage a controlled explosion of a mine found on the side of a road during a sweep of the area.

Shortly after, a convoy of lorries carrying civilians and a handful of white vans carrying the wounded came trundling down the same street and out towards a screening point on the edge of village.

Hundreds of women disembarked at the outpost, where they waited to be processed and searched by the SDF and members of the US-led coalition.

- 'Unrepentant, unbroken and radicalised' -

More than 7,000 people have exited the enclave over the past three days, mostly women and children.

Story continues

The deluge of fire unleashed by SDF artillery and coalition air strikes at the weekend appears to have taken a toll on the diehard jihadists still inside.

Votel however told Congress on Thursday that IS remains prepared for a resurgence, even though its territory is disappearing.

"Reduction of the physical caliphate is a monumental military accomplishment -- but the fight against ISIS and violent extremism is far from over and our mission remains the same," he told Congress.

"The ISIS population being evacuated from the remaining vestiges of the caliphate largely remains unrepentant, unbroken and radicalised," he said.

"We will need to maintain a vigilant offensive against this now widely dispersed and disaggregated organisation."

US President Trump stunned allies in December when he announced all 2,000 US troops would withdraw from Syria as IS had been defeated.

The White House later said that around 200 American "peace-keeping" soldiers would remain in northern Syria indefinitely.

Members of Trump's administration, including the US Defence Department, have repeatedly warned that without a sustained presence, jihadists could resurge in Syria within months.

- Symbolic victory -

Around a tenth of the nearly 58,000 people who have fled the last IS bastion since December were jihadists trying to slip back into civilian life, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.

IS fighters had previously managed to secure passage out of their former strongholds before US-backed forces recaptured the territory.

Remaining jihadists, however, are now surrounded on all sides, with Syrian government forces and their allies on the west bank of the Euphrates blocking any escape across the river and Iraqi government forces preventing them from moving downstream.

A senior SDF officer said 400 jihadists were captured on Tuesday night as they attempted to slip out of Baghouz and reach remote hideouts.

The battle against IS is now the main front in the Syrian war, which has claimed more than 360,000 lives since 2011.

The capture of Baghouz would mark the end of IS territorial control in the region, where its "caliphate" proclaimed in 2014 once covered huge swathes of Syria and Iraq.

At its peak, the proto-state was the size of the United Kingdom and administered millions of people.

It effectively collapsed in 2017 when IS lost most of its major cities in both countries in the face of multiple offensives.

But despite the impending loss of Baghouz, which the SDF says is only days away, the group continues to carry out deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq.
T-Mobile's push to merge with Sprint is facing government pushback from lawmakers.

Last week, freshman congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., sent a letter to Department of Justice antitrust head Makan Delrahim and Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai outlining her opposition to the $26 billion deal.

The letter, signed by 36 other Democrats, reiterated prior concerns voiced from critics of the deal about how the reduction of national wireless carriers from four to three will lead to higher prices. Tlaib's note also said that the merger would "disproportionately hurt lower-income people and communities of color."

T-Mobile operates the prepaid service Metro while Sprint runs the Boost and Virgin Mobile brands. Combined, the letter notes, the two companies have a "disproportionately high percentage of customers in communities of color."

The letter also challenges the companies' claims that they need each other to build nationwide 5G wireless networks and says that the combination of the two carriers will result in the loss of "30,000 jobs nationwide" due to "overlapping retail store closures" and "duplicative functions at corporate headquarters."

Tlaib's jobs figure comes from a Communications Workers of America (CWA) estimate in 2018. CWA is a union representing telecom workers, though it largely works with AT&T and Verizon employees and not those at T-Mobile or Sprint.

The CWA has long been fighting the merger, arguing in January that in New York, for example, that the deal would eliminate 1,705 jobs.

The new phones are coming: The real-world impact of foldable screens and 5G

Long live the phone: The wallet as you know it may be dying

T-Mobile, meanwhile, told the New York State Public Service Commission in a recent filing viewed by USA TODAY that the combined companies total number of employees will equal or exceed the total number of employees of Sprint and T-Mobile in New York at closing, as of two years following the merger.

Story continues

At the close of its most recent fiscal year last March, Sprint said it employed roughly 30,000 people across its entire company.

The Sprint and T-Mobile merger is a bad deal for the American people, especially for communities of color, low-income, and our working families, Tlaib said in a press release accompanying the release of the letter.

The House Democrats' letter follows separate letters sent by Senate Democrats last month to the Justice Department and FCC opposing the merger, according to The Hill. Among those who have voiced opposition include 2020 presidential hopefuls Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also sent a letter.

While lawmakers can express their thoughts on prospective mergers, final approval ultimately falls on the FCC and Department of Justice.

T-Mobile responds

While both Sprint and T-Mobile have announced plans to launch 5G independently of each other, the two have also argued that they need to combine to better deploy a 5G network on a nationwide level that would not only rival AT&T and Verizon but also serve as a traditional home broadband replacement.

T-Mobile and Sprint have also announced plans to build five new customer service centers across the country, which it says will create 5,600 additional jobs by 2021.

In a blog posting last month, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that the new combined company will create "more than 12,000 new jobs" while also promising that the new company will add "at least 600" new retail stores.

"We appreciate that various members of Congress are interested in our merger," T-Mobile said in a statement provided to USA TODAY when asked about the latest response from lawmakers to its merger. "We have been having open and detailed conversations about the benefits that the New T-Mobile will bring to consumers, and as a result, we are pleased that we already have a considerable amount of bipartisan support."

5G plans: T-Mobile says it will have unlimited and won't raise rates

"This is not your typical merger. The New T-Mobile will be a disruptor that aggressively challenges industries that are currently dominated by entrenched wireless and cable companies. When you look at the actual facts, data and analysis here, the merger will create jobs from day one, deliver more to customers of all incomes for less, reach rural America like never before and create a transformational nationwide 5G network that our two companies could not deliver alone.

Sprint did not respond to a request for comment.

New report suggests potential DOJ concerns

A new report from the New York Post Tuesday added another possible wrinkle for the companies from the Department of Justice. Citing anonymous sources, the paper says that "prominent" staffers in the department are not pleased with parts of the companies' deal, particularly T-Mobile's pledge to not raise rates for three years if the merger is approved.

Citing two anonymous sources with "direct knowledge of his thinking," the paper says that Department of Justice antitrust head Delrahim is "not impressed" with some of the details of the deal with the anonymous Justice Department officials noting how AT&T's merger with Time Warner included a provision that AT&T would not blackout Turner content from rival cable companies for seven years after the deal closed.

Blackouts often happen when a cable or satellite company and a content provider are arguing over new rates to carry channels, with content providers then pulling channels from cable systems as a negotiating tactic.

AT&T's $85-billion merger was finally completed last month after the Justice Department lost its appeal to the block the deal. The Justice Department previously sued to stop the deal, saying it would harm consumers and lead to higher TV rates.

It is currently unclear if the Justice Department will support the T-Mobile/Sprint deal or sue to block it similar to the AT&T merger. It is also unclear what the current thoughts of new attorney general William Barr are.

Barr previously served on Time Warner's board and was general counsel and executive vice president at Verizon from 2000 to 2008.

Barr has stock options in AT&T, a T-Mobile and Sprint rival, worth between $250,001 and $500,000 and dividends from AT&T worth between $500,001 and $1,000,000 according to a federal disclosure filing Barr signed last December.

The Department of Justice declined to comment when asked by USA TODAY about the report and Barr's status.

Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: T-Mobile's merger with Sprint is facing pushback from Democrats
When it comes to tax returns, the rule of thumb is to store those suckers for seven years in case the Internal Revenue Service or state government has some questions.

But for most taxpayers, thats probably overdoing it.

How long you should keep them  and any supporting documents such as W-2s and 1099s  depends on your tax situation for the year and when that period of limitations for that tax return runs out.

The period of limitations is how long you have to amend your tax return to claim a credit or refund, or how long the IRS has to assess additional tax. You may also want to keep W-2s and other supporting documents longer than the IRS guidelines for other purposes.

Most taxpayers: Three years

The statute of limitations for an IRS audit expires after three years. That means most taxpayers should keep their tax records for three years after the date they filed their return, or two years after they paid tax  whichever is later.

Food fun: National Cereal Day brings chicken and waffles, other odd flavors and a lot of spoons

Real estate ranking: Buying a house? Here are 10 cities with the biggest increase in homes for sale

There are three exceptions to the IRS audit time limit. The agency can go back six years for an audit if you under-reported your gross income by 25 percent or more.

The IRS can also audit returns that claim a capital loss on worthless securities or take a deduction for bad debt, up to seven years after the return was filed.

If you didnt file a tax return or filed a fraudulent one, there is no statute of limitations for an IRS audit. In these cases, keep all your records indefinitely.

Other tax-related documents

The IRS also recommends taxpayers hold onto employment tax records for at least four years after the date that the tax is due or paid  whichever is later.

With stocks, bonds or property, maintain records until you sell the asset. For instance, you may need this documentation to determine depreciation or amortization as well as calculating a gain or loss after the sale.

Story continues

State tax requirements

You may need to keep your tax records longer, depending on the statute of limitations for audits in the state where you live. For instance, California has a four-year statute of limitations. If your state return under-reports income or contains false information, that period could be longer. Check with your state tax authority for more information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taxes 2019: How long should I keep my tax returns?
(Reuters) - Tesla Inc said on Thursday it signed an agreement with lenders in China for a 12-month facility of up to 3.5 billion yuan ($521 million) for the electric carmaker's Gigafactory in Shanghai, and secured new commitments from banks that could be used for investments in the United States and elsewhere. The company broke ground on the factory in January. A Shanghai city government official said on Wednesday the factory is expected to be completed in May. Tesla has said that the Gigafactory will cost around $2 billion. In its filing, Tesla said it had amended its asset-backed lending credit agreement with a syndicate of banks, increasing revolving commitments by $500 million to a total of $2.425 billion, while extending the maturity date of the agreement by three years. The credit agreement is secured by part of Tesla's accounts receivable, inventory and equipment. Tesla borrowed $431.0 million under the agreement in 2018. The amendment also doubled the letter of credit subfacility to $400 million from $200 million. Producing cars in China is likely to help the company minimize the impact of the U.S.-China trade war, which has forced Tesla to adjust prices of its U.S.-made cars in China. Keeping prices in check will also help Tesla fend off competition from a swathe of domestic electric vehicle startups such as Nio Inc, Byton and XPeng Motors. ($1 = 6.7132 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru and Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Bill Berkrot)
By Stella Qiu and Brenda Goh

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Tesla's upcoming vehicle assembly facility in Shanghai is expected to be completed in May this year, a Shanghai city government official said on Wednesday.

Chen Mingbo made the comments on the sidelines of an annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing, adding that part of the facility's production line would be put into operation by the end of the year.

Chen, who heads the city's economic and information technology commission, did not provide any further details.

The U.S. electric carmaker broke ground on the Shanghai factory in January and its CEO Elon Musk has said the firm aims to finish initial construction this summer and start production of the Model 3 towards the end of the year.

A full-fledged auto assembly factory can take about two years to build but the Shanghai government has thrown its support behind the Tesla project, which would be China's first wholly foreign-owned car plant and a reflection of the government's broader shift to open up its car market.

Tesla has been pushing forward its plans for the 500,000-vehicle-capacity plant after it secured a site in October, hiring staff, starting procurement for building materials and setting up a local financial leasing company.

Producing cars locally is also likely to help Tesla minimise the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war, which has forced the car maker to lower prices of its U.S.-made cars in China - which has becoming increasingly important as the company seeks to offset softening demand in the United States.

On Tuesday, Tesla's shares fell more than 5 percent in early trade after Chinese media reported Shanghai customs had suspended clearance for a batch of Tesla's cars.

The company said that authorities have accepted its plan to resolve the clearance problem.

Chinese customs confirmed in a statement on its official WeChat account on Wednesday that it had stopped the Tesla Model 3 imports and was now monitoring the firm' rectifications.

It said the Model 3 cars were stopped because they did not have Chinese language-warning signs and had missing or incorrect nameplate labels. It added, however, that the nameplates could be replaced at the port.

(Reporting by Stella Qiu in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Additional Reporting by Yilei Sun in BEIJING; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Thailand's constitutional court acted after Princess Ubolratana's nomination - AFP

Thailands constitutional court on Thursday ruled to dissolve one of countrys main opposition parties, dealing a crushing blow against the democratic movement contesting a March 24 election.

The verdict to disband the Thai Raksa Chart party means that its executives will be banished from politics for at least 10 years and its 251 candidates will be disqualified from campaigning or standing in the upcoming poll.

The nine judges voted unanimously to dissolve the party and were divided six to three on imposing a ban on the executive members.

Thai Raksa Chart, aligned to the Pheu Thai party of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, landed itself in a legal minefield last month when it nominated the kings sister, Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya as its prime ministerial candidate.

The selection of the princess caused uproar in the southeast Asian nation, where the royal family is revered and strictly enforced lese-majeste laws make it a criminal offence to insult the monarchy.

Thai Raksa Chart party leader Preechapol Pongpanich and members of his party before appearing in court in Bangkok Credit: REUTERS

King Maha Vajiralongkorn swiftly crushed his older siblings political ambitions, damning the partys unconventional move as "inappropriate".

The princess apologised for the controversy, but the wheels of the TRCs demise were already in motion and the Election Commission swiftly proposed that the party be dissolved for dragging the royal family into politics, referring the case to the court for a final ruling.

The constitutional court judges on repeatedly stressed that the monarchy was above politics and that its neutrality should not be compromised.

At least 600 police officers were deployed outside the court on Thursday ahead of the much-anticipated ruling, and the authorities slapped a ban on public gatherings within 50 metres of the building.

The decision comes amid fears that the Thai election, the first since a military coup in 2014, will be neither free nor fair as army chiefs seek to cling to power.

Story continues

The poll will see a battle between democratic opposition parties, some of which are linked to Mr Shinawatra, and Phalang Pracharat, a party founded by military junta leader and prime ministerial hopeful, Prayuth Chan-o-cha.

Thai Raksa Chart was fielding 261 candidates across the country Credit: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

Ahead of Thursdays court drama, Preechapol Pongpanich, the TRCs leader said that Thai Raksa Chart would accept the ruling and urged everyone to do the same.

Today is an important day for our party. It will decide our future, whether we can continue on our path, he said, urging party supporters to stay at home out of fear of unrest.

The dissolution verdict was widely expected. Five of the nine judges overseeing the case have in the past ruled against other politicians deemed to be allies of Mr Shinawatra, who left the country after a 2006 coup.

Human rights groups were swift to condemn the verdict.

Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch warned that the ruling showed that Thailand was moving towards a bogus election.

Thailands military junta and the Palang Pracharat party it controls have used every dirty trick in the book to tilt the political playing field their way and now the constitutional court just did them a big favour with a highly dubious ruling that destroys a major opposition political party, he said.

Leading candidate Chaturon Chaisang on the campaign trail ahead of the court verdict Credit: Nicola Smith

PM General Prayut Chan-ocha and elites behind him are clearly quite keen to establish a sock-puppet democracy, one which keeps a passing resemblance to popular rule while soldiers control all the power, added Mr Adams.

The big losers today in the dissolution of Thai Raksa Chat Party are the Thai people and their hopes for a return to a rights-respecting democracy.

The TRC would have boosted Pheu Thais ability to form a government in a newly crafted proportional representation system in the 500-seat House of Representatives, although some analysts argue that the partys voters will switch to other democratic forces and not to the regimes Palang Pracharat.

In the run-up to the court decision, Thai Raksa Chart continued to hit the campaign trail across the country, focussing its agenda on improving Thailands moribund economy and raising living standards.

While meeting voters at the Damnoen Saduak floating market on the outskirts of Bangkok on Sunday, Chaturon Chaisang, a former deputy prime minister and one of the partys leading lights, told The Telegraph that we dont believe that this election will be free and fair.

He added: The fundamental problem of this country is the fact that democracy has been interrupted by several coups. Mr Chaisang was unavailable for comment immediately after the verdict.
Tika R Pradhan is a senior political correspondent for the Post, covering politics, parliament, judiciary and social affairs. Pradhan joined the Post in 2016 after working at The Himalayan Times for more than a decade.
Chicago (AFP) - The governor of the US state of Ohio on Thursday delayed three scheduled executions over concerns that a drug currently used in lethal injections could mimic the effects of "waterboarding," widely considered a form of torture.

Governor Mike DeWine delayed executions scheduled as early as May, in line with a court ruling that using the controversial sedative midazolam could cause pain and suffering. The state is seeking alternatives.

"Governor DeWine is issuing today's reprieves because it is highly unlikely that the state's new execution protocol, which is still in the process of being developed" would be ready for use by the scheduled execution dates, his office said in a statement.

The governor's office cited federal Judge Michael Merz's January ruling that there was "good evidence that midazolam will cause the 'waterboarding' effects of pulmonary edema."

Pulmonary edema is a medical term describing fluid buildup in the lungs. Waterboarding is an interrogation technique that simulates drowning.

The reprieves affect convicted murderers Cleveland Jackson, Kareem Jackson and Gregory Lott.

Midazolam has been the subject of numerous legal challenges, previously focused on the sedative not being strong enough to keep prisoner's unconscious during executions.

Seven states have resorted to the drug as previously-used medications for lethal injections have become harder to obtain.

Ohio halted its use of capital punishment in 2014, following the botched midazolam execution of Dennis McGuire, during which the inmate appeared to suffer, snorting and gasping for several minutes.

Government officials since have insisted that increasing the drug's dosage has resolved the problem.

Court rulings allowed executions in Ohio to proceed, including a federal appeals court decision in 2017 that endorsed a 50-times greater dose of midazolam.

But concerns over the drug's use have persisted.

Story continues

Last year, a convict in Tennessee opted for the electric chair, instead of a three-drug protocol including midazolam.

US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent last year in another death penalty case, said using midazolam could cause "sensations of drowning, suffocating, and being burned alive from the inside out."

"We have stopped being a civilized nation and accepted barbarism," if such an execution procedure is allowed to remain legal, she wrote.
By Naomi Tajitsu and Maki Shiraki

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected a last-minute attempt by prosecutors to keep former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn in prison, ruling that the once-feted executive could be released on $8.9 million (6.8 million pounds) bail after more than 100 days in detention.

The Tokyo District Court, which had earlier granted Ghosn bail, said it had rejected an appeal by prosecutors who had sought to keep him in prison, pending his trial for financial misconduct.

The decision paves the way for Ghosn's release as early as Wednesday and marks a victory for his new legal team, brought in last month and spearheaded by a lawyer known as "the Razor" for his success in several high-profile cases.

On what was Ghosn's third bail request, the court accepted defence lawyers' assurances that he would submit to extensive surveillance.

The release would allow Ghosn - the architect of Nissan's automaking partnership with France's Renault and one of the industry's most celebrated executives - to meet his lawyers frequently and build a defence ahead of his trial.

Ghosn faces charges of aggravated breach of trust and under-reporting his compensation to the tune of $82 million at Nissan for nearly a decade.

If convicted on all the charges, he faces up to a decade in jail. The ex-chairman of Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors has denied wrongdoing and late on Tuesday reiterated his position.

"I am extremely grateful for my family and friends who have stood by me throughout this terrible ordeal," Ghosn said in a statement.

"I am innocent and totally committed to vigorously defending myself in a fair trial against these meritless and unsubstantiated accusations."

Nissan declined to comment on the bail decision, which comes a day after the head of Ghosn's new legal team said he was optimistic the executive would be released with a promise to submit to surveillance.

The case has cast a harsh light on Japan's criminal justice system, which allows suspects to be detained for long periods and prohibits defence lawyers from being present during interrogations that can last eight hours a day.

Story continues

Public opinion is likely to have played a role in the court's bail decision, said Shin Ushijima, a former prosecutor and lawyer.

"The court was partly influenced by the opinion of the entire world," Ushijima said. "People in general thought (the detention period) is too long. This will change Japan's criminal procedures."

$9 MILLION BAIL

There was a heavy media presence earlier on Tuesday outside the Tokyo detention centre where Ghosn is being held, with throngs of reporters setting up ladders to gain a clear view over the tall fence. A helicopter briefly buzzed overhead.

While Ghosn's 1 billion yen (6.8 million pounds) bail would rank among the highest in Japan, it is half the amount paid in 2005 by Mitsuru Asada, a businessman who was later convicted of defrauding the government through a beef buyback programme.

Ghosn, who turns 65 on Saturday, has spent more than 100 days in a 4.8 square metre (52 sq ft) cell. In his only court appearance, in January, he said he looked forward to his trial to "finally have the opportunity to defend myself".

In an interview later with Japan's Nikkei newspaper, Ghosn said that Nissan executives opposed to his plans for closer ties with Renault were behind the allegations against him.

The appointment last month of lawyer Junichiro Hironaka, who earned his nickname for his combative style, was widely seen as a move to adopt a more aggressive legal strategy with Ghosn's defence.

Hironaka has argued that the allegations should have been resolved as an internal company matter and blasted the judicial system for keeping his client in jail.

Ghosn's France-based lawyers on Monday said that they had complained to the United Nations that their client's rights had been violated during his detention in Japan.

Though the granting of bail represents a significant development, Ghosn still faces a criminal justice system in which only three of every 100 defendants who plead not guilty are acquitted.

There is also no plea-bargaining mechanism that would allow Ghosn to agree to lesser charges for a lighter sentence.

(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg and Tim Kelly in Tokyo and Mike Spector in New York; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by David Evans and David Goodman)
The US State Department has demanded the immediate release of an American journalist detained in Venezuela after it was reported on Wednesday the countrys counter-intelligence agency arrested the freelance reporter.

Cody Weddle was reportedly obtained by Venezuela authorities during a raid at his home in Caracas this week.

The journalist, who produced freelance coverage on the political crisis under Nicolas Maduro for publications like the Daily Telegraph, Miami Herald and ABC News, had not been reached since 8am on Wednesday morning, according to a Venezuela press workers union.

Kimberly Breier, an assistant secretary of state at the US State Department, called on Venezuela to release the journalist in a tweet on Wednesday, saying the federal agency was aware of and deeply concerned about the developments.

The Venezuela leader  whose recent electoral victory has been deemed a farce by the international community  prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it, Ms Breier wrote.

Being a journalist is not a crime, she added. We demand the journalists immediate release, unharmed.

The arrest arrives a week after Jorge Ramos  a notable journalist and Univision anchor  was detained in Venezuela along with his crew. The incident occurred as the reporter was interviewing Mr Maduro, according to the Guardian, which said the news team was deported shortly afterwards.

The latest arrest has sparked outcry from civil rights groups and press organisations alike.

The Maduro regime, desperate, is doing the only thing it knows to do: repress and censor, Jose Miguel Vivanco, a director at Human Rights Watch, wrote in a tweet.

Donald Trump and his White House administration have thrown their support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido, who recently invoked a Constitutional authority allowing the leader of Venezuelas Democratically-elected Congress to assume the presidency.

Meanwhile, the Maduro regime has blocked international aid from coming into the country, causing a deadly confrontation at the nations borders, as the economic and political crisis continues to intensify.
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Thursday negotiations to resolve his eight-month trade war with China were making progress, expressing fresh optimism about resolving the confrontation between the world's largest economies.

Trump told reporters at the White House that the talks were "moving along pretty well."

Chinese and American officials have alternated between expressing optimism that a deal is at hand and also warning that much remains to be done to resolve the trade war, which has rattled markets and dented manufacturing sectors on both sides of the Pacific.

The two nations have slapped painful tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade since July, but citing progress in the negotiations, Trump last month said he was suspending plains to raise duty rates on $200 billion in Chinese goods.

American officials have demanded far-reaching reforms to Chinese industrial policy which they say involves the theft of American technology and unacceptable state intervention in markets.

Analysts say that as China faces a slowing economy, Beijing will be eager to cut a deal and likely will offer deep concessions.

Citing trade uncertainty, among other causes, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi on Thursday announced renewed economic stimulus to boost growth on the Continent.

The US Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the trade deficit in goods with China hit $419.2 billion last year, the highest level ever recorded, despite Trump's aggressive efforts tariffs on Chinese imports.
New York (AFP) - President Donald Trump's real estate group the Trump Organization was sued Thursday by his former lawyer Michael Cohen for "millions of dollars" in legal fees Cohen says the company was obliged to pay.

Cohen alleges the company stopped paying his legal costs related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe and other matters "only after" he began cooperating last year in investigations that have since implicated the president in wrongdoing.

"The Trump Organization's failure, without any reasonable basis, to pay Mr. Cohen's attorneys' fees and costs and other amounts incurred by Mr. Cohen in service to and at the behest of the Organization and its principals, directors, and officers, constitutes a breach of the Trump Organization's indemnification obligations," said the lawsuit, filed in New York.

It was the latest chapter in the story of Cohen's break with his former boss. Cohen, who was sentenced in December to three years in prison, has implicated Trump and the White House in the charges of campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress that he pleaded guilty to.

His lawyer Lanny Davis yesterday also alleged that representatives of the president "dangled" the possibility of a pardon to Cohen last year before Cohen began cooperating with investigators examining Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign and Trump Organization.

In the lawsuit, Cohen notes his former position as executive vice president and special counsel at the Trump Organization, where he became known as Trump's fixer. He was also a Trump campaign advisor.

In those roles, he says, he made hush payment arrangements ahead of the 2016 election for two women who allegedly had affairs with Trump.

After the campaign became subject of investigations, Cohen's suit claims he and the Trump Organization made an agreement that the company would repay his legal costs.

Story continues

It did pay those costs until June 2018, when it became apparent that Cohen would be cooperating with investigators. When the Trump Organization failed to pay a $1 million bill to Cohen's lawyers -- the firm McDermott Will & Emery -- they quit representing him, the lawsuit says.

Between that time and January 25, Cohen accumulated another $1.9 million in legal bills, which he says the Trump Organization should pay.

In addition, the lawsuit said, the company is obliged to pay the $1.9 million that the court fined Cohen in his plea deal last December.
(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Two years after promising to eliminate deficits in the federal budget and the balance of trade, President Donald Trump instead presides over colossal increases in both.

Trumps Commerce Department announced on Wednesday that the trade deficit in goods hit $891 billion in 2018, up more than $80 billion from 2017. A day earlier, Trumps Treasury Department disclosed that the budget deficit for the first three months of this budget year hit $310 billion, a 77 percent increase over the same period in the previous year.

White House officials would not comment on the numbers, but outside economists said they were not at all surprised, given the Trump-backed massive tax cut that became law in late 2017 and the tariffs he has imposed.

He messed up the fiscal deficit with his tax cuts, and his tariffs made foreign goods that the U.S. no longer produces more expensive, said Monica de Bolle, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

She added that she doubts Trump understands any of those relationships. Does Trump get it? No.

The annual trade data out today, with record imports and exports, show a strong U.S. economy and vibrant export sector, said Scott Lincicome, a trade lawyer affiliated with the Cato Institute who also lectures at Duke University. But the presidents misguided trade balance obsession means he cant take credit.

During his presidential campaign, Trump frequently conflated the trade and budget deficits, saying he would address annual budget shortfalls by blaming China, Mexico and other countries for unfairly exporting too many goods into the United States.

Regardless, he promised he would eliminate both. He said imposing tariffs and renegotiating disastrous trade agreements would make the United States a net exporting nation. He claimed that he would not only eliminate federal spending deficits, but would actually wipe out the then $20 trillion national debt by his the end of a second term.

Story continues

Instead, the trade deficit in goods is the highest ever, and Trump has already added over $2 trillion to the national debt in just 25 months, even though he inherited a strong economy that has remained that way. Most economists anticipate that budget deficits will increase even further in the next economic downturn, which will drive up the national debt all the faster.

Sadly, this is completely expected since it is the result of huge tax cuts and spending increases passed by Congress, said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Predictable but extremely troubling.

Trumps Council of Economic Advisers referred questions to the White House press office, which declined to respond to HuffPost queries on the matter.

It did, however, push out a news release pointing to a New York Post op-ed written by Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, in which he praises the presidents America First trade policy  but fails to mention the higher trade deficit.

Trump economic policy adviser Larry Kudlow, meanwhile, in a Fox News appearance on Tuesday acknowledged the higher budget deficit but said increasing growth will bring in more taxes in the coming years.

Growth solves the problem, Kudlow said. That will solve all of these problems and people will be very prosperous.

Whether anywhere near the level of growth needed to balance the budget can be achieved is unlikely. While Trump claimed he could provide 4 percent, 5 percent, and even 6 percent growth while he was campaigning, the economy wound up growing just shy of 3 percent last year  and that was after the $1.5 trillion tax package poured deficit-financed cash into the economy. Growth forecasts for coming years are edging back down toward 2 percent.

The real macroeconomic concern here is going forward. As stimulus fades, the larger trade deficit will be a drag on growth, said Jared Bernstein, formerly the top economic adviser to former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden.

He added that he laid out his thoughts on Trumps economic policies in a Washington Post op-ed last year, but said he does not believe Trump has paid it much mind. Nope. Im not the Jared he listens to, he said, referring the presidents son-in-law.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
The verdict is in on Trumps refusal to strike a deal with North Koreas Kim Jong-un at their summit in Hanoi last week  or more precisely two verdicts are in. The media and the usual Trump critics have pronounced the summit a disaster: How the Trump-Kim Summit Failed: Big Threats, Big Egos, Bad Bets, is how the New York Times portrayed it. The other verdict comes from Trump admirers who have compared Trumps performance with Ronald Reagans at Reykjavik in 1986, when Reagan walked away from a deal with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev regarding nuclear weapons  a walkout that most historians now concede represented a watershed in U.S.Soviet relations and led ultimately to the end of the Cold War.

As it happens, the admirers are more correct than the critics. But its important to understand why the comparison with Reagan is not farfetched  and why in this case President Trump has a much stronger hand to play with the North Koreans than Reagan had with Gorbachev.

A little history is in order. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev held their first-ever summit in Geneva the previous year, and continued their discussion regarding reducing their respective nuclear arsenals in Reykjavik in October 1986. In the end, Reagan walked away from a final deal that would have spelled the end of all U.S. and Soviet ballistic missiles and even the elimination of all nuclear weapons, because Gorbachev wanted constraints on the Strategic Defense Initiative, which Reagan had announced three years earlier.

Reagan walked away because he sensed that SDI was his ace in the hole in dealing with the Soviet Union. Denounced and derided as Star Wars by critics (the same critics who would lambaste Reagan for walking out at Reykjavik), the Strategic Defense Initiative offered a long-term insurance policy that the Soviet Union could never threaten the U.S. with nuclear-missile attack.

Today, whether he knows it or not, Trump has his own ace, and his own insurance policy, for dealing with North Korea. Its a game-changing ballistic-missile technology that deploys remotely piloted drones to target missiles in flight while the missile booster engines are still firing. During this early boost phase, the intense heat of the boosters makes missiles easier to detect  and their slower speed makes it easier to intercept them with a high-speed kinetic missile.

Story continues

The system is simple, and unlike Reagans Strategic Defense Initiative, involves the use of already-available technologies. High-altitude drones would circle above the Sea of Japan at roughly 45,000 feet for shifts of up to 20 hours. Detection systems the Air Force already uses on surveillance drones would be able to pick up North Korean missiles soon after launch. Once the drones operators determine that the missile is on a threatening course, a high-speed missile interceptor launched from the drones would destroy the ICBMs, ensuring that any debris would fall onto or near North Korean territory.

This program can be realized in less than two years. I have discussed it in this space in the past. Since then, Congress has authorized money to be used to develop and test the concept. The Air Force has expressed interest in investing in it, in part through the use of manned as well as unmanned aircraft. The Missile Defense Agency has admitted its feasible. All thats needed is the political will to see it through.

This is Trumps other ace. As in 1986, we have a president who understands that protecting the American people must be his number-one priority, not reaching international agreements that win the applause of the New York Times and the Council on Foreign Relations. He also has a new secretary of defense, Patrick Shanahan, who understands how technology can reshape the international balance of power as well as the battlefield; and a national-security adviser and a secretary of state who both understand that dealing with a totalitarian rogue nation such as North Korea demands both carrots and sticks. And a boost-phase intercept program that can snatch away, for good, Kims ability to threaten his neighbors and the U.S. with ballistic missiles is a pretty impressive stick.

The New York Times dismissed Trumps summit as a gamble. But its not a gamble if you know you have the winning card all along.

More from National Review
Brokers demand to be allowed to diversify into other services

Stockbrokers are asking the Securities Board of Nepal to allow them to operate as proprietary traders, portfolio consultants and portfolio manager too. The board is preparing to allow banks to provide brokerage services and the Citizen Investment Trust to operate as a stock dealer.
By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen provided the U.S. House Intelligence Committee with new documents and may hand over more, the panel's chairman said after a day-long hearing behind closed doors.

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff told reporters that Cohen was cooperative and the eight-hour hearing was "very productive." He did not say what the new documents related to and declined to comment on the substance of Cohen's testimony.

"We had requested documents of Mr. Cohen. He has provided additional documents to the committee. There may be additional documents that he still has to offer and his cooperation with our committee continues," Schiff said.

Cohen, who in public testimony last week before a different House committee, called Trump a "racist," "conman" and "cheat," arrived for his testimony before Schiff's committee carrying a brown file folder and wheeling a black suitcase.

Two congressional sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Cohen was due to face questions from lawmakers on the issue of a pardon from his former boss. The sources added that Trump's representatives maintain that Cohen's team first raised the issue of receiving a pardon while the former lawyer's representatives have said the opposite.

Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said in a statement that Cohen has now spent 16 hours testifying before the intelligence committee.

"Mr. Cohen responded to all questions truthfully and has agreed at the request of chairman Schiff to provide additional information in the future, if needed. He also offered to answer additional questions from Republican members. He remains committed to telling the truth and cooperating with authorities," Davis added.

The sources said Cohen also likely would be questioned about the extent of Trump's personal involvement in pursuing a tower project in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump at the time had denied any links to Russia but has since defended the proposed tower project, which never materialized.

Story continues

CNN and the New York Times reported that Cohen shared documents with the committee showing edits made to written testimony he provided to Congress in 2017, saying that the Moscow projected ended in January 2016.

Cohen subsequently pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in the testimony. He has since said pursuit of the Moscow project continued until June 2016, after Trump had clinched the Republican presidential nomination.

During testimony last week, Cohen said Jay Sekulow, one of Trump's lawyers, was among those who edited the 2017 document. Sekulow has called Cohen's assertion "completely false."

Patrick Boland, a spokesman for Schiff, declined to comment on the reports.

Cohen's testimony on Wednesday was the latest in a series of appearances before congressional panels, most of them private. His televised Feb. 27 testimony before the House Oversight Committee was followed by a rapid expansion of Democratic investigations focusing on Trump.

Intelligence panel members also were expected to question Cohen on Wednesday about Trump's discussions with advisers in 2017 about how to respond when news reports first surfaced revealing that senior campaign figures including his son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chairman Paul Manafort met in June 2016 with Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, one of the sources said.

Trump's son arranged the meeting after being promised "dirt" on Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. When news of the meeting broke, Trump Jr. issued a statement saying it was set up to discuss adoption policy, not politics. He later admitted he had been expecting intelligence on Clinton.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is completing an investigation into whether Trump's campaign conspired with Russia and whether the president has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe. Trump has denied collusion and obstruction, Russia has denied election interference.

Cohen is due to report to prison on May 6 to begin a three-year sentence after pleading guilty in a separate case last year to criminal charges including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Will Dunham and Lisa Shumaker)
Antonio Singh Boparan admitted responsibility for causing the death of a girl at Birmingham Crown Court (Picture: SWNS)

A multi-millionaires son has been jailed for causing the death of a toddler who died nine years after he smashed head-on into the car she was travelling in.

Arrogant Antonio Singh Boparan, who was 19 at the time of the crash, ploughed his Range Rover into the family car while speeding on the wrong side of the road at 70mph in a 30mph zone.

Cerys Edwards, then just one, was left paralysed, unable to breathe unaided and needing 24-hour specialist care. She died in October 2015, a month before her 10th birthday, after complications caused by an infection.

Boparan, now 31, was jailed for 18 months at Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Boparan drove the Range Rover head on into the family car. (Picture: PA)

After the crash, Cerys was unable to breathe normally and required a ventilator (Picture: SWNS)

Judge Melbourne Inman QC said he had showed an arrogant disregard for the safety of others when he drove that day, and caused catastrophic injuries to little Cerys.

He said: The quality of her short life was destroyed as in many ways was that of her parents.

Finally, Cerys yielded to her injuries and disabilities and your criminal actions eventually took her life away from her.

READ MORE

Snow set for Scotland and Northern England as temperatures drop

Sex workers set to strike on International Womens Day

Amber Rudd apologises for calling Diane Abbott coloured

Boparan, of Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, was also banned from driving for three years and nine months.

As he was sentenced, Boparan blew out his cheeks, turned to his father in the public gallery, buttoned up his suit jacket and was taken down to the cells.

Boparan (left) arrives at Birmingham Crown Court (Picture: SWNS)

Speaking after the sentencing, Mr Edwards said the family had finally got justice for Cerys but the time Boparan would actually serve in jail was a complete insult.

He added: We have been left with a life sentence without our beautiful little girl whose precious life was stolen from us. Finally we can say it as it is, Boparan is a child killer.

Boparan is the son of Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan, who run the 2 Sisters Food Group, the third largest food company in the UK by turnover with an annual revenue of 3.4 billion, and is heir to a 800 million poultry business fortune.

Story continues

He was previously convicted of dangerous driving in April 2008 but released just six months into a 21-month sentence.

The crash caused severe injuries to Cerys (Picture: PA)

Prosecutor Simon Davis described the case as a short-lived piece of aggressive driving, with Boparan driving at speeds up to 80mph in a 30mph limit.

Fellow motorists saw the then-teenager overtaking other cars and appearing as if it was about to lose control before ploughing head-on into a Jeep Cherokee driven by Ceryss mother Tracey, with husband Mr Edwards a passenger, and their little girl securely fastened in a rear car seat.

Cerys was thrown from her baby seat and broke her spine, leaving her severely brain damaged and paralysed and needing round-the-clock care.

Despite undergoing dozens of major operations over the years, she died in hospital on October 17, 2015, just a month before her tenth birthday.

Following Ceryss death, police reopened the case and a post mortem revealed she had died as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.

Boparan could have faced 14 years in prison if Cerys had died at the time but instead served just six months in prison.

The outrage over the sentence sparked a national campaign that led to changes that means anyone convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving now faces up to five years in prison instead of the previous maximum of two.

Cerys was awarded 5 million compensation in 2012, along with a guaranteed annual payout of 450,000 to help pay for her annual care bill.

Before sentencing, Boparans barrister James Sturman said: This was a stupid and immature piece of bad driving at high speed over a relatively small distance by a young man, 19 at the time, then driving for six months, and he has caused devastation to Cerys Edwards and her family.

He said married father-of-two Boparan, who had a conviction for assault and violent disorder in 2015, had raised 10 million over 10 years with his father through setting up the Boparan Charitable Trust for children with disabilities. His father also made a 200,000 payment to Ceryss parents to buy a house suitable for her needs.

Immediately following sentence, Mr Sturman made an 11th-hour application for bail, pending an appeal of sentence, but the judge rejected the legal bid.
By Yeganeh Torbati and Mica Rosenberg (Reuters) - U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Wednesday defended the government's position that the country faces a dire crisis due to migration at the U.S.-Mexico border in the face of fiery questioning from Democrats in Congress. Testifying before Congress for the first time since Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in January, Nielsen defended President Donald Trump's decision to declare a national emergency to unlock funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. She also repeated previous calls for Congress to lift limits on how long families can be kept in immigration detention. "Illegal immigration is simply spiraling out of control," Nielsen told the House Homeland Security Committee. Democrats questioned Nielsen over the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" prosecution policy, which last year led to the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents and generated a fierce backlash, as well as the administration's new restrictions on people seeking asylum at the border. Democratic Representative Nanette Barragan challenged Nielsen over claims that the government is not turning away people seeking asylum at official ports of entry, stating that she herself on Saturday witnessed a Honduran asylum seeker being turned away by a border agent. "Madam Secretary, I don't know if you know what's happening, or if this is happening without you knowing, but it's totally unacceptable," Barragan said. Also on Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about record numbers of families from Central America crossing the border, which he said is stretching the resources and capabilities of border officials. New government statistics show a significant spike in arrests of migrants trying to cross the U.S. southern border: over 268,000 between October and February, a 97 percent increase over the 136,000 arrested over the same period last year, and the largest number in 12 years. McAleenan said his agency continues to see increasing numbers of children and families from Central America, outpacing the number of single adults illegally crossing from Mexico. In February 2019, unaccompanied children and people traveling in families accounted for 65 percent of all arrests along the southwest border, according to CBP data. McAleenan testified that human smugglers have developed new routes to take busloads of families, mostly from Guatemala, to the U.S.-Mexico border in a matter of days where large groups are then dropped off in remote areas away from infrastructure and facilities. Border officials said they are seeing an alarming number of large groups of over 100 migrants presenting themselves at the border - 70 so far in the 2019 fiscal year, compared with 13 in all of 2018 and just two in 2017. McAleenan said because the bulk of those detained at the border turn themselves in to authorities, a physical barrier would not have as much impact as changes to existing immigration laws that the Trump administration says incentivizes people to come with their children. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati and Mica Rosenberg; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government of Zimbabwe under President Emmerson Mnangagwa has failed to bring about political and economic changes needed to improve the country's reputation, the State Department said on Thursday. The comments relate to President Donald Trump's decision this week to extend by one year U.S. sanctions that target more than 100 entities and individuals in Zimbabwe, including Mnangagwa. "We believe that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has yet to implement the political and economic overhaul required to improve the country's reputation with the community of nations, and with the United States," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters. "The actions of the targeted individuals continue to undermine Zimbabwe's democratic processes," he said, adding that there were ongoing concerns in the United States over human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Mnangagwa has called for U.S. sanctions to be lifted against the ZANU-PF ruling party, top military figures and some government-owned firms. The sanctions were imposed during long-time rule of former president Robert Mugabe. Washington has called on Mnangagwa to change Zimbabwe's laws restricting media freedom and allowing protests. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday it has halted the informal 180-day "shot clock" on the review of the merger of wireless providers Sprint Corp and T-Mobile US Inc to give the public three additional weeks to comment on the $26 billion tie-up.

The FCC said the decision was made after the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers had filed significant additional information on their network integration plans for 2019-2021 and other new information on the merger.

The FCC said it typically allows for additional public input after "substantial new submissions" by the applicants. The FCC said it expects to resume the "shot clock," at the current Day 122 on April 4.

T-Mobile and Sprint in separate statements called the FCC decision "a positive step" that the FCC is "so deeply engaged in understanding this transaction and our recent filing, and we completely understand their desire" to stop the clock "to fully review the merits of our merger."

Sprint said it hopes to complete the regulatory approval process by the end of June.

The deal to combine the carriers, struck in April 2018, was approved by both companies shareholders in October and has received national security clearance, but still needs approval from the Department of Justice and the FCC. A number of state attorneys general are also reviewing the merger.

Last month at a congressional hearing, House Democrats raised worries about the deal because the U.S. wireless market has just four main carriers. The industry leaders are AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc.

T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere defended the deal, arguing that it will create jobs and help with the construction of the next generation of wireless networks. He said the merged company would have more capacity which would lead to a push to lower prices.

Legere and Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure will testify at another U.S. House hearing on March 12.

Story continues

The deal has run into criticism from unions, consumer advocates, and rural operators.

The Communications Workers of America said in a statement Thursday the decision of the companies to file new analyses of the merger suggests they "have failed to persuade regulators." The union argues the deal will eliminate tens of thousands of jobs.

A group of eight Democratic U.S. senators and independent Senator Bernie Sanders last month urged regulators to reject the deal, saying monthly bills could rise as much as 10 percent.

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Diane Bartz; editing by Richard Chang and Grant McCool)
(Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party will not support a new referendum on Brexit in all circumstances, The Independent reported on Thursday, citing sources close to the party leadership. The sources said Labour is not advocating a referendum on anything other than a "damaging Tory Brexit" deal, the report said. The confirmation that Labour would only support a public vote on Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May's deal was likely to anger Labour's pro-European Union members of parliament, the newspaper said. (Reporting by Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool)
A Canadian flag with a cannabis leaf flies on Parliament Hill during the 4/20 protest, Monday, April 20, 2015 in Ottawa. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

Un-Canadian, inappropriate, simply wrong, and insulting. When it comes to the taxation of medical cannabis, Canadas pot producers and patient advocates are not mincing words.

A patient can get a prescription for an opioid that has no tax applied, then is reimbursed by provincial drug plans and private insurers. At the same time, cannabis, a substance that for many patients can be an alternative, is discriminated against, Aurora Cannabis Inc. Chief Corporate Officer Cam Battley (ACB.TO) told Yahoo Finance Canada in an interview. This simply strikes us as outrageous.

The reality is, governments dont like to give up on taxes, Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED.TO) co-CEO Bruce Linton told Yahoo Finance Canada at a recent event in Toronto. For medical cannabis, its inappropriate.

Last fall, Canada sparked global excitement when it became the first G7 nation to legalize the drug for recreational use. For those reliant on doctor-prescribed cannabis to treat medical conditions, the landmark legislation made it instantly harder to afford.

In Canada, there are no taxes on prescription medications. Cannabis is the exception. The government has collected taxes since July 2001, when the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations enabled individuals authorized by their health care practitioner to access the drug.

The Cannabis Act absorbed the previous medical legislation on Oct. 17 of last year. Under that framework, the government charges an additional $1-per-gram or 10 per cent of the cost on both medical and recreational cannabis, whichever is higher. Thats on top of sales taxes.

Its actually a tax upon a tax. How does that make any kind of sense at all? said Battley. The cost to the government of dropping the taxes would be miniscule. But the impact on actual patients dealing with serious illnesses is significant.

Edmonton-based Aurora recently took its opposition to the streets with a bold public awareness campaign to shame the government into dropping all taxes on medical cannabis.

Story continues

On a grey February afternoon, Battley tweeted a photo of cube van strategically parked in front of Finance Minister Bill Morneaus Toronto constituency office. On its sides, large screens display a digital ticker showing the rising tally of tax dollars paid by Canadian medical cannabis patients since 2014. On that day, Feb. 19, it read $121,550,915.

Do you think @Bill_Morneau will consider this, or dismiss it? Who needs the money more? The federal government, or patients with chronic illnesses trying to get by? Do the right thing, Mr. Morneau. Lets all get together on this. #DontTaxMedicine pic.twitter.com/FGJr9SyA1p  Cam Battley (@CamBattley) February 20, 2019

The ticker also lives on an Aurora-sponsored website called CannabisTaxTicker.com.

Canopy is equally determined to see Ottawa scrap the taxes. However, the Smiths Falls, Ont.-based company sees a different path to putting tax-free cannabis in the hands of patients.

All the lobbying in the world isnt going to win, where science could, Linton said. Thats what were doing.



He expects Canopy will have enough evidence this year to begin making scientific claims about certain products, paving the way for better integration into the medical system.

Were running sleep trials now. Were trying to show that a combination of cannabinoids works better than say benzodiazepine-based sleep aids, which do not attract taxation if they are given under prescription, he said.

Once we do studies, and we can actually call it a medical product because it can actually have a drug identification number (DIN), I think then it is going to be much easier to say this is not going to be taxed.

Canopys newest executive has more than 20 years experience serving medical patients. Initially, outside the bounds of the law. Needless to say, Chief Advocacy Officer Hilary Black is no stranger to grassroots activism. For now though, she and Canopy are staying focused on fast-tracking its scientific trials to secure DINs.

What I have been told quietly is that the taxation isnt going to change until we have products that have gone through the drug approval process and have DIN numbers, she told Yahoo Finance Canada. Thats the message that I have been getting from inside the government.

Pressure on Ottawa to eliminate taxes on medical cannabis is building ahead of the release of the federal budget on March 19.

The advocacy group Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana (CFAMM) organized a rally on Parliament Hill on Feb. 19. The event united Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Conservative health critic Marilyn Gladu and NDP health critic Don Davies in a call to change how medical cannabis is taxed. Aurora, Hexo (HEXO.TO), Tilray (TLRY), Organigram (OGI.V), PureSinse (PURE.V), Strainprint, Ample Organics, and Gage Cannabis are among the corporate backers of the groups #DontTaxMedicine campaign.

The Department of Finance would not say if changes to how medical cannabis is taxed are under consideration.

It would not be appropriate to speculate on tax changes, a Finance department official told Yahoo Finance Canada in an email. The Department of Finance Canada regularly assesses the tax system, and consults with stakeholders to ensure that our tax system is fair and efficient.

The finance department added that the Medical Expense Tax Credit can be applied to medical cannabis. In 2019, the tax break will provide a 15 per cent credit on eligible expenses in excess of the lesser of $2,352 or three per cent of net income.

The crux of the governments case for keeping medical and recreational cannabis taxes aligned has rested on concerns that non-medical users would be incentivized by lower prices to seek out prescriptions.

That argument shows a lack of faith in Canadian doctors, their ethics, and their ability to spot drug-seeking behaviour in patients, according to Battley.

Physicians are not going to write false prescriptions for medical cannabis. I find that perhaps a little bit insulting, and not consistent with the reality of how physicians operate in this country, he said. They have their licenses and they have their insurance at risk should they engage in any fraudulent activities.

CFAMM president Gerald Major started suffering from arthritis at 14 years old. He was eventually forced to step away from a career in finance as senior vice president of operations for Citibank Hedge Fund Services North America.

For Major, having an excise, or so-called sin tax applied to medical cannabis undercuts its therapeutic value, and enforces the damaging stereotype that medical users are turning to cannabis to get stoned for fun.

When you have an excise tax applied to something, that means you should be limiting its use, like tobacco and alcohol, he told Yahoo Finance Canada. How a government and a country that says cannabis is medicine can go ahead and act like this is beyond me.

Major warns scores of patients are underdosing, sacrificing living expenses, and turning to the black market because of high costs.

He points to Karlie Starchuk. A 26-year-old from Burlington, Ont. who receives $800 per month in disability support from the Ontario government. She lives with cerebral palsy, and buys cannabis illegally to save money.

She uses eight grams per month. This kid technically needs three, four or five grams per day. And that would be fairly light for her, Major said. She uses a bowl in the morning to wake up, and she doesnt do another one until night time. She goes all day without.

Canopy, Aurora and CannTrust Holdings Inc. (TRST.TO) are among the licensed producers committed to footing the bill for the federal governments excise tax while advocating for changes to the tax guidelines.

We will continue to absorb it until the day that patients arent charged it anymore. This is an unjust tax on critically and chronically ill patients, said Black. Its very un-Canadian.

Battley is hopeful that change is on the horizon, given the support from members of the three main political parties.

In the meantime, he promises Aurora will keep up efforts to pressure on federal lawmakers.

Advocacy is in our DNA, Battley said. This is part of what gets us up in the morning.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian mining magnate Lang Hancock famously discovered the world's biggest iron ore deposit when he noticed the red-stained cliffs of a canyon while flying over the Outback in the 1950s. Now, the days when massive mineral deposits could be simply spotted by plane are gone, so miners are adopting new lab techniques and machine-led mapping to detect metal traces in everything from sand to gum tree leaves and groundwater. Australian miners are taking a deeper look at the 80 percent of the country that lies "under cover" - obscured by meters of sediment and sand, particularly in the desert interior, across an area twice the size of India. They are using a mix of new techniques and established methods in new ways, backed by greater computing heft, including a new generation of multi-layered maps produced by Australian government agencies. "There has been a perception that Australia is a mature destination and all the big finds have been found," said Will Robinson, managing director at Encounter Resources, which is exploring for gold using a new type of soil sampling developed by the CSIRO, Australia's peak science body. "Youre seeing more success as companies go out there and supply new technologies and new thinking into areas to find new big deposits," he said. "It has reset the maturity clock." Having repaired their balance sheets on the back of a commodities price recovery, miners large and small are rushing to peg out prospective land in undercover areas. Anglo American told Reuters it has recently been granted or is seeking permits over almost 11,000 square km of land in Queensland state, while iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group raised its exploration tenements by a third last year. Rio Tinto also sharply increased its exploration holdings under the remote Great Sandy Desert, where it announced a large copper find last week. Encounter Resources last month reported a gold find under shallow sand using CSIRO's Ultrafine Soil technique, sending the explorer's shares up 30 percent. "These ancient landscapes have buried deposits," said Ryan Noble, a CSIRO scientist leading the development of the process. The analysis relies on separating out large particles of sand, which in remote Australia can account for as much as 95 percent of a sample, from much smaller clays and iron oxides, which attract gold, copper and zinc. Developments in analysis mean smaller particles of 2 microns can now be detected, about one-50th the size of a grain of salt, revealing signs of mineralization as deep as 10-20 meters (30-65 feet) under soil or sand. "We think there is huge value for Australia and other places to reprocess the samples they have collected and generate new targets and open up new areas," CSIRO's Noble said. Other new techniques are also starting to show results. In South Australia, ASX-listed Marmota is using a biogeochemical leaf analysis which helped guide it to a high-grade gold strike at its Gawler Craton project in September. Gum trees siphon up minute traces of gold from their roots to their leaves, which are then analyzed in a lab. "The gums were able to pick up moderate mineralization down to about 60 meters (200 feet)," geologist Aaron Brown told Reuters. The technology was developed during the boom years of 2012-2013 but has taken time to be used commercially as miners and investors look to reinvest in exploration after several lean years. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Australian government bodies are also getting on board. The Australian government is part way through a four-year, A$100 million ($70.75 million) exploration program under the oversight of GeoScience Australia. It includes projects to collate soil geochemistry data with groundwater data sets into predictive maps for highly prospective mineral regions. Geoscience Australia is also working with other international bodies such as the Geological Survey of India to help uncover hidden deposits on the subcontinent, underscoring the competition among global mining zones to attract capital in the new wave of exploration. "The release of excellent pre-competitive geoscientific data by Geosciences Australia and the Geological Survey of Queensland has enabled us to evaluate previously under-explored parts of Australia, including undercover areas of interest," Anglo American told Reuters. Meanwhile, IBM, which launched a resources platform developed in Canada that uses machine learning to better predict where mineralization lies, is drawing interest from Australian miners. IBM's Watson for the natural resources industry uses artificial intelligence to combine data such as government drill results and aeromagnetic surveys with historical visual data including hand drawn maps in a way that has not been done before. Geologists can ask technically specific questions of Watson about a resource and get an answer back. Traditionally geologists would spend 80 percent of their time sorting through data, trying to find it, correlate it, then organize it, and then running their models," IBM partner David Dickson told Reuters. "Now its flipped and 20 percent of the time is spent doing that, and geologists can spend more time on getting insights from the information and making better decisions on where the prospective regions are. Australia has a long tradition in mining and a significant potential of still unexplored reserves, he said. "Gold for example, generally is very low-grade so you can spend a lot of money on exploration. The more we remove the uncertainty and variability from the exploration program, the more viable the program is." (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
Childrens charity UNICEF is holding talks with the government of Kyrgyzstan over the potential use of blockchain technology to provide internet access to all schools in the country.

Due to the remote locations of many schools in Kyrgyzstan, around 5% cannot connect to the internet.

The initiative, which is called Project Connect, aims to find a solution to the lack of internet in more than 1,500 schools in Kyrgyzstan.

Project Connect will work with UNICEF to explore the use of blockchain technology for improving and monitoring internet connectivity throughout the country.

Last week, OneWeb sent six satellites into earths orbit with the aim of connecting schools in rural areas of the globe.

The Ministry of Education and Science partnered with UNICEF and OneWeb to connect a school in the mountain-locked Kotur-Suu village in Naryn.

The geographical location of schools directly affects how children receive information in hard-to-reach regions of the Kyrgyz Republic. The school connectivity map helped to give a realistic assessment of the situation and mobilise the necessary resources to ensure that all children have access to online learning opportunities regardless of their location and status, said Yukie Mokuo, representative of UNICEF in the Kyrgyz Republic, according to a press release.

This initiative is the latest in a long line of solutions that blockchain technology can offer in the education sector.

Last month, it was reported that Ripple had partnered with a number of top universities to start educating students on the impact of blockchain technology.

For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here.

The post UNICEF in talks with Kyrgyzstan government over use of blockchain in schools appeared first on Coin Rivet.
Washington (AFP) - A Muslim American congresswoman's remarks deemed anti-Semitic by some colleagues has exposed deep fault lines among Democrats, with the party seeking to contain the damage with passage Thursday of a measure condemning bigotry and hate.

After days of soul-searching and febrile recrimination, the Democratic leadership appeared desperate to move past a controversy that has left the party split two months since reclaiming the House majority.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a resolution that she called the "strongest possible opposition" to anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and white supremacist bigotry.

The decision followed acrimonious debate over how to reprimand Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar, who sparked a firestorm over repeated criticisms of Israel and a powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington that exerts influence in US politics.

The resolution passed overwhelmingly, 407 to 23, with all Democrats voting in favor including Omar herself.

The former Somali refugee had been assailed for suggesting supporters of Israel are urging lawmakers to have "allegiance to a foreign country."

Lawmakers expressed outrage, warning that Omar was peddling in age-old anti-Semitic tropes about Jews having dual loyalties.

Weeks earlier she drew ire for suggesting Jewish political power comes through their money, and that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbying group was paying US politicians to support Israel.

- 'Hateful expressions' -

A vote had been expected on a resolution specifically condemning anti-Semitism.

But on Wednesday some Democrats pushed to include language decrying Islamophobia and other bigotry.

Ultimately it condemns anti-Semitism and discrimination against Muslims and other minorities as "hateful expressions of intolerance" contradictory to US values.

The resolution does not mention Omar by name, and some Republicans complained that the measure's original intent was "watered down."

Story continues

"Today's resolution vote was a sham put forward by Democrats to avoid condemning one of their own and denouncing vile anti-Semitism," said number three Republican Liz Cheney.

Omar joined the two other Muslims in Congress, Rashida Tlaib and Andre Carson, in praising the measure's passage.

"It's the first time we have voted on a resolution condemning Anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation's history," they said, noting the worrying rise of extremism in America.

"Our nation is having a difficult conversation and we believe this is great progress."

Some Democrats including three 2020 presidential contenders Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, expressed frustration that Omar faced an implicit rebuke, while racist statements by Trump and other Republicans go largely unchallenged.

"We must not... equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing Netanyahu government in Israel," said Sanders, who is Jewish.

Pelosi declined to condemn Omar outright.

"I feel confident that her words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude, but that she didn't have a full appreciation of how they landed on other people," she said.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman, nevertheless slammed Omar and described her dual loyalty charge as anti-Semitic, not anti-Israel.

"She is casting Jewish Americans as the other, suggesting a dual loyalty that calls our devotion to America into question," he said.

The expansion of the resolution to broadly address hate did not sit well with some lawmakers.

- Enough 'loyalty'? -

"When one of our colleagues invokes the classic... anti-Semitic language that Jews control the world, that Jews care only about money, that Jews cannot be loyal Americans if they also support Israel, this too must be condemned," Democrat Ted Deutch said in a passionate floor speech.

Another Jewish House Democrat, Elaine Luria, said over a 20-year military career she deployed six times on US Navy ships, "overseeing nuclear reactors, driving ships and ultimately commanding a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors."

"Is that not enough to prove my loyalty to our nation?" she boomed.

Trump himself saw the discord as a political opportunity, tweeting Wednesday it was "shameful" that Democrats wouldn't take a stronger stand against anti-Semitism.

That earned clap backs from Democrats who pointed to his equivocal remarks after a deadly 2017 neo-Nazi protest in Charlottesville.

The Democrats' growing diversity -- in ethnicity, religion, gender, age and ideology -- has created new challenges for party leaders, said Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University.

"The tension here is that there are a number of Jews, especially young Jews who are actually quite sympathetic to the progressive policies of congresswoman Omar and others in the new Congress," Sarna told AFP.
Congress rival factions in bid to form united force to challenge Deuba

Two rival factions of the Nepali Congress have ganged up against party President Sher Bahadur Deuba to put pressure on him to correct the recently amended party charter and redress the disputed issues at the earliest.
Washington (AFP) - A US journalist who was detained for more than 12 hours by Venezuelan security services was released Wednesday after more than 12 hours in custody, one of the networks he worked for reported.

Cody Weddle, who worked in Venezuela for several years as a correspondent for a variety of US media, "has been released after being detained by Venezuelan authorities," Miami's WPLG Local 10 News said on Twitter.

Venezuela's National Union of Press Workers, known by its Spanish acronym SNTP, added he had been taken to Caracas' Simon Bolivar International Airport where he would be deported.

The release was also announced by Senator Marco Rubio, a strident critic of the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose leadership was challenged in January by National Assembly chief Juan Guaido, setting off an ongoing power struggle.

"They do this for one reason alone, to intimidate journalists from reporting on @jguaido & on conditions in #Venezuela," said Rubio.

Kimberly Breier, the US assistant secretary of state for hemispheric affairs, had earlier demanded Weddle's "immediate release," charging that Maduro "prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it."

Weddle's disappearance was reported by a non-government organization, Espacio Publico, in Caracas.

"We know that members of the military intelligence directorate appeared at his home this morning to ask him questions about his coverage on the border," Carlos Correa of Espacio Publico told AFP.

According to the SNTP, Weddle was detained at his Caracas home at 8:00 am and his work equipment was confiscated.

His assistant, Venezuelan Carlos Camacho, was freed after 12 hours in custody, according to the same group. He had been detained by security services at his home, the union said.

Oil rich but impoverished Venezuela is in the throes of a political crisis triggered by Guaido's decision to proclaim himself interim president in January.

He is recognized by more than 50 countries but lacks the support of high-ranking military necessary to seize power from Maduro, who he accuses of fraud in last May's presidential vote that saw the socialist leader return for a second term.
Washington (AFP) - US lawmakers will vote Thursday on a measure that condemns anti-Semitism and other forms of hate, a Democratic leader said, amid a backlash over controversial comments by a Muslim congresswoman.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told fellow Democrats at a closed-door meeting that "a resolution opposing hate will be voted on today," an aide said, adding that the text will be released shortly.

The decision follows acrimonious debate over how to reprimand Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar, who sparked a firestorm over repeated criticisms of Israel and a powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington that exerts influence in US politics.

Omar, a former Somali refugee, was assailed by Democrats and Republicans alike for suggesting Friday that supporters of Israel are urging lawmakers to have "allegiance to a foreign country."

Several lawmakers expressed outrage, warning that Omar was peddling in age-old anti-Semitic tropes about Jews having dual allegiances.

The Democratic-led US House had been expected to vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism.

But on Wednesday in a closed-door meeting of Democrats, the debate expanded to address hateful rhetoric in general, with some lawmakers pushing to include resolution language that decries anti-Muslim bias.

Some Democrats also have expressed anger that Omar could be facing an implicit rebuke, while racist statements by Trump and other Republicans go largely unchallenged.

In the middle of the Democrats' splintering talks about the path forward, President Donald Trump himself tweeted Wednesday that it was "shameful that House Democrats won't take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference."
Cody Weddle was arrested on Wednesday morning

The United States has condemned the arrest of an American journalist, Cody Weddle, who was seized by Venezuelan military intelligence in an early morning raid on his Caracas home.

Agents of DGCIM, the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence, detained Weddle and his Venezuelan assistant Carlos Camacho at around 8am local time on Wednesday, a Venezuelan press union said.

After being held for 12 hours at DGCIM's headquarters, Weddle was taken to Caracas airport for deportation, while Camacho was released.

The arrest further stoked tensions between the government of Nicolas Maduro and the US, which along with more than 50 other countries has recognised National Assembly leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president.

On Wednesday, the US State Department demanded Weddle be immediately released "unharmed", adding that Mr Maduro "prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it".

Weddle, a freelance journalist who has lived in Caracas since 2014, has contributed to The Daily Telegraph, with his last article published on February 20. He has also worked for the Miami Herald, ABC, CBC and South Florida TV station WPLG Local 10, among others.

Telemundo journalist is kidnapped for six hours and robbed by armed men while covering the detention of Univision journalist Jorge Ramos -> https://t.co/xKNuoGXOgE  Cody Weddle (@coweddle) February 26, 2019

Witnesses to the raids said the pair had been arrested on orders signed by a military tribunal and accused of espionage and treason, the National Press Workers Union (SNTP) reported. Weddle's computer and other work equipment were also seized.

US senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida expressed outrage at the detention, Mr Scott saying the US would not stand for this intimidation.

Story continues

The director of the US-based Human Rights Watch, Jose Miguel Vivanco, said it was "very worrying", adding that the "desperate regime" of Mr Maduro was doing "the only thing it knows how to do: repress and censor".

Luis Almagro, secretary-general of the Organisation of American States, castigated the "oppressive usurper regime of Venezuela, calling for an end to the intimidation and censorship" of journalists in the country.

Venezuelan security forces have detained 49 reporters, some of them briefly, so far this year, according to Espacio Publico, a press monitoring organisation.

The group is investigating the circumstances of Weddle's detention but had yet to receive any explanation from authorities, a representative told The Telegraph.

Analysts warned that the arrest could draw a forceful response from the US, which has raised the prospect of military intervention and yesterday revoked 77 visas of individuals linked to the Maduro government.

"Given the current state of relations between the US and Venezuela, having military intelligence arrest a US citizen.... seems like unnecessary provocation", said Phil Gunsion of the NGO Crisis Group.

Further inflaming the international crisis, Venezuela yesterday ordered the German ambassador, Daniel Kriener, to leave the country within 48 hours, accusing him of recurrent acts of interference" in the country's internal affairs.

The move sets up a three-way diplomatic standoff between the Maduro regime, Mr Guaido, and Berlin.

Heiko Maas, the German minister for foreign affairs, said Europe's support for Mr Guaido was "unbreakable" and said the decision would "escalate the situation".

Mr Guaido described the order as a "threat" against Germany and insisted Mr Kriener should stay in his post.

Mr Kriener was one of 13 ambassadors who went to Caracass airport to greet Mr Guaido as he returned on Monday under threat of arrest, raising the prospect that the expulsion of other envoys could follow.

In a bid to entrench his leadership, Mr Guaido has this week nominated his own envoys to several of the countries that recognise him, including to Germany, which has said it is studying the request.

He has also reached out to public sector workers, appealing them to abandon the government which has long demanded their unwavering support.
Washington (AFP) - Sherrod Brown, the popular and unassuming US senator whose broad support among working-class voters made him a potential contender against President Donald Trump, announced Thursday he will not launch a 2020 White House bid.

"I will keep fighting for all workers across the country. And I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate in 2020," Brown, a 66-year-old from the swing state of Ohio, said on Twitter.

"The best place for me to make that fight is in the United States Senate."

The retreat of Brown, who had been on a weeks-long "dignity of work" tour to test the waters for a possible run, helps clear a path for a White House campaign by former vice president Joe Biden, the most prominent national figure yet to announce his 2020 plans.

Four other Democrats also announced this week that they will not run: New York's centrist ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg, Obama-era attorney general Eric Holder, Senator Jeff Merkley, and 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton.

Biden nonetheless would be entering a crowded field, with a dozen Democrats already in the race to challenge the Republican president.

They include senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar.

Biden would join Klobuchar in occupying the largely uncluttered centrist lane, as other contenders embrace liberal policies like universal health care and a sweeping climate change proposal.

In a sign of Brown's broad appeal, aides and supporters of the liberal Sanders were believed to be keeping a close eye on the Ohioan's moves, well aware of his strength among labor groups and other progressive movements.

"Dignity of work is a value that unites all of us. It is how we beat Trump," Brown said.

"And I plan on making sure that happens," he added. "I will keep calling out Donald Trump and his phony populism."

Story continues

- Sanders ally -

Sanders praised Brown after he dropped out, saying he has been an "ally in the fight for economic justice."

Brown himself has displayed a form of folksy populism. He has proved he can win elections in the American heartland, even as voters in Ohio elected more Republicans at the state and local level last year.

Trump snatched a shock victory in 2016 partly because he won key Midwest and Great Lakes states that had long leaned Democratic, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Experts and Democratic strategists had said Brown was in a decent position to win those states back. But he never registered substantially on the national radar.

The RealClearPolitics average of this year's Democratic nomination polls put Brown at just 1.7 percent.

Biden leads that average tally with 29.3 percent support, compared to second-place Sanders at 19.8 percent and Harris at 11.8.
[Question]What are the rules for withdrawing money from a 529 college-savings plan to pay for high school expenses? - E.L., Oakland, Calif.

[Answer]Federal law now allows you to withdraw up to $10,000 tax-free from a 529 plan each year to pay tuition for kindergarten through 12th grade. Most states follow the federal law, but a few have different rules. California, for example, charges a 2.5% state penalty tax on earnings used for K-12 tuition. Oregon residents may have to repay any tax deduction they received for 529 plan contributions if they use the money for K-12 expenses. Check with your state and plan before making the withdrawal. See collegesavings.org for links to state plans.

EDITOR'S PICKS



Copyright 2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors
An elementary school teacher may face disciplinary action after she allegedly made a young student wipe a religious symbol off his head in front of his class.

William McLeod, a 4th-grade student at Valley View Elementary School in Bountiful, Utah, told KSTU that when he arrived at school on Ash Wednesday, he was the only student wearing an ash cross, a symbol which designates the start of the Lenten season, on his forehead.

A lot of students asked me what it is," he told the station. "I said, 'I'm Catholic. It's the first day of Lent. It's Ash Wednesday.'"

However, soon after McLeod went to class, he claims he was confronted by his teacher, who made him remove the symbol.

"She took me aside and she said, 'You have to take it off,'" he said.

McLeod claims he tried to explain the religious significance of the cross to the instructor, but that she ultimately told him "its inappropriate."

"She gave me a disinfection wipe ... and she made me wipe it off," he recounted.

The young student says he was embarrassed by the incident, as he was forced to clean off his head in front of his friends and peers.

McLeod's grandmother, Karen Fisher, told KTSU that she was "pretty upset" after learning of the incident from the school principal.

"I asked (the principal) if she read the Constitution with the First Amendment and she said, 'No' and 'Ohhhh,'" Fisher recounted.

Chris Williams, a spokesperson for the district Davis School District, issued an apology to the boy and his family over the ordeal, stating that students of all faiths should be made to feel welcome.

"Why that even came up, I have no idea," Williams said. "When a student comes into school with ashes on their forehead, its not something we say 'Please take off.'"




Authorities in Venezuela have reportedly arrested a US freelance journalist after an early morning raid on his Caracas home by the countrys feared military counter-intelligence agency.

Related: Venezuela orders German ambassador to leave

Cody Weddle, who freelances for the Miami Herald, the Daily Telegraph and ABC News, has been out of contact since 8am when the raid took place and his equipment was confiscated, according to a press workers union in Venezuela.

Weddles assistant Carlos Camacho, a Venezuelan national, was also detained after a raid on his home by the same counter-intelligence agency on Wednesday morning, reported the union, who catalogued 36 cases of journalists held this year.

Weddle is the latest in a string of foreign journalists to be detained in Venezuela. Last week Univision anchor Jorge Ramos and his crew were held while interviewing the countrys embattled president, Nicolas Maduro. They were released and deported shortly afterwards, while their equipment  including the recordings of the curtailed interview  were kept by authorities.

The Maduro regime, desperate, is doing the only thing it knows to do: repress and censor, tweeted Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

Maduro, who is fending off mounting international pressure to cede power to the opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido, detained two French journalists in January who were filming outside the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. Numerous local journalists have been harassed in recent years.

Sign up for the US morning briefing

Florida senator Marco Rubio, long one of Maduros fiercest critics on the international stage, joined the chorus expressing outrage over Weddles detention on Wednesday morning. US citizen & journalist Cody Weddle is missing in Venezuela and apparently arrested by the Maduro regime this morning, he tweeted.

The move against Weddle worried several Venezuela analysts, who see little logic to Maduros authoritarian attacks against individual journalists.

Story continues

Related: Univision anchor Jorge Ramos deported from Venezuela after Maduro interview

If [Weddles detention is] true, this is extremely problematic and a very dangerous move for the Maduro government to make, Eva Golinger, a former adviser to Maduros late predecessor Hugo Chavez, tweeted. Trump is waiting for any excuse to intervene, she went on to say, in reference to the persistent threats leveled by the White House since it threw its weight behind Maduros ouster in late January.

Phil Gunson, a consultant with Crisis Group in Venezuela, seconded that concern. Given the current state of relations between the US and Venezuela, having military intelligence arrest a US citizen, freelance reporter Cody Weddle, seems like unnecessary provocation, he tweeted. Who thought that would be a good idea?
Brussels (AFP) - A jury found Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche guilty Thursday of the "terrorist murders" of four people at Brussels' Jewish museum, in the first case of a Syria jihad veteran to stage an attack in Europe.

Nemmouche, 33, now faces a life sentence for the anti-Semitic gun rampage in the Belgian capital on May 24, 2014, following his return from Syria's battlefields.

Sentencing is now not expected to take place before Monday, the court said.

Sporting a trimmed beard and wearing a navy blue sweater, Nemmouche showed no emotion and stared into space as the verdict was delivered.

The 12 jurors, accompanied by the presiding judge and two other magistrates, had deliberated for two and a half days in secret at a Brussels hotel before returning their verdict.

Nemmouche was found to have killed the four victims in cold blood in less than 90 seconds, but he denied the accusation telling the court he had been "tricked".

Presiding judge Laurence Massart, who read out the jury's verdict, said: "The existence of a trap was not presented with enough credibility and must be ruled out."

Nemmouche's lawyers had argued he was not to blame for the slaughter, but rather he had been caught up in some kind of plot targeting the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.

The legal argument had centred around Israeli couple Miriam and Emmanuel Riva, the first two of the four people shot dead in the attack.

A young Belgian employee, Alexandre Strens, and French volunteer Dominique Sabrier were also murdered.

According to the defence, the museum shooting was not the work of the Islamic State group but a "targeted execution" aimed at Mossad agents.

The defence said the Israeli couple who were killed were in fact Mossad agents murdered by another man who had hunted them down.

The Riva family's lawyers have furiously rejected the theory and said attempts to pass off the tourists as secret agents was "an absolute scandal".

Story continues

Miriam Riva worked for Mossad but, as an accountant, she was not operational, said the investigating judges who travelled to Israel during their investigation.

- 'Set of scattered deductions' -

Yohan Benizri, the head of Belgium's Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organisations, denounced what he called a "nauseating conspiracy theory".

The 12 jurors also found fellow Frenchman Nacer Bendrer, 30, who was accused of supplying the weapons, to be the co-author of the attack.

Seated next to Nemmouche in the defendant's box, encased by bullet-proof glass on the sides, Bendrer then hung his head low for a few minutes before covering it with his hands.

He also faces a life jail sentence.

The investigation showed that the two men had dozens of telephone conversations in April 2014, when Nemmouche was preparing for the killings.

Six days after the massacre, Nemmouche was arrested in the French city of Marseille in possession of a revolver and a Kalashnikov-type assault rifle.

At the trial, Bendrer admitted that Nemmouche had asked him for a Kalashnikov when he came to Brussels in early April, but claimed he never delivered it.

Among other personal effects, Nemmouche upon arrest carried a nylon jacket with gunshot residue, as well as a computer in which investigators found six videos claiming the attack with an off-camera voiceover thought to be Nemmouche.

The presiding judge singled out the evidence on his jacket which she said "contained exclusively traces of DNA from Mehdi Nemmouche".

In total, the prosecution said it had identified 23 pieces of evidence pointing to Nemmouche, who also physically resembles the shooter seen on the museum's surveillance video.

The verdict said: "The defence limited itself to outlining a set of scattered deductions without ever elaborating on them."

It added that Bendrer, by supplying the weapons, was aware of aiding a crime committed by "a longstanding radical," alluding to Nemmouche.

The prosecutors say the attack was the first carried out in Europe by a jihadist returning from fighting in Syria.

The Brussels killings came 18 months before the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks which left 130 dead.
In a theater where Barry Manilow revs up shrieking Fanilows and Wayne Newton crooned "Danke Schoen," first lady Melania Trump took the stage at Westgate Las Vegas Tuesday to talk opioids at a town hall and to answer questions via social media.

On the second day of her two-day trip to the West to promote her FLOTUS causes, Trump spoke to a half-filled theater crowd that included Newton himself and an Elvis impersonator at a town hall moderated by former Fox News host Eric Bolling in the International Theater.

Wearing a belted navy-blue dress with a pussy bow, Trump repeated a claim that she made at a similar opioid town hall last year in Virginia: That the Trump administration considers the opioid epidemic "the worst drug crisis in American history."

And she insisted the media should do better in covering it.

"I challenge the press to devote as much time to the lives lost  and the potential lives that could be saved  by dedicating the same amount of coverage that you do to idle gossip or trivial stories," she said.

First lady Melania Trump speaks at a town hall on the opioid epidemic with moderator Eric Bolling in Las Vegas, March 5, 2019.

After her remarks, Trump received a standing ovation and answered questions sent in via social media.

Yes, she talks to her 12-year-old son, Barron, about the dangers of drugs and recommends parents start conversations when their kids are as young as 8. No, she hasn't had time to do any cooking yet in the White House, but she loves the residence chefs and said a good meal for the Trump family is spaghetti. Yes, she just renovated the White House bowling alley: "It looks beautiful."

What's her day like? My days are very busy. I wake up very early and make sure my son gets off to school. And then I start working. I have a team in my East Wing. I have a hundred people working in the residence and then working with the White House Historical Association to make sure the White House is perfect.

Shortly before she appeared, her husband, President Donald Trump, perhaps in a bid to boost attendance, tweet-touted the show, offering free tickets to the already free event.

Story continues

"Our great First Lady (@FLOTUS) will be doing a LIVE show TODAY at 1:00 PM PT with the terrific @EricBolling at the @WestgateVegas Resort. Shes on her #BeBest Tour, helping address the #OpioidCrisis. Free admission for the first 1,500 people!"

Our great First Lady (@FLOTUS) will be doing a LIVE show TODAY at 1:00 PM PT with the terrific @EricBolling at the @WestgateVegas Resort. Shes on her #BeBest Tour, helping address the #OpioidCrisis. Free admission for the first 1,500 people!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2019

Reporters who accompanied the first lady said the 1,700-seat theater appeared to be half full, but they spotted Newton come in to check out the stage, greet fans and take a seat. The Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr. also was seen in the audience, as was that Elvis impersonator.

The Sin City venue Trump appeared in, previously known as the Las Vegas Hilton, currently hosts Manilow's residency show, "The Hits Come Home," and is the theater where Newton headlined from 1987 to 1993. (Newton, 76, whose nickname is "Mr. Las Vegas," is one of the city's most beloved entertainer.)

Trump left Washington on Monday on her first solo domestic trip since she became first lady. She flew first to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to visit a charter elementary school that teaches character development throughout its curriculum.

First lady Melania Trump arrived at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nev., as the sun was setting on March 4, 2019.

She then flew to Seattle for a stop at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, to check out some of its new technologies to help parents protect their kids from online bullying and abuse.

Tuesday was all about fighting opioid abuse, one of the pillars of her "Be Best" first-lady initiative, which aims to improve children's well-being, protect them from online bullying and help their parents avoid opioid addiction.

"While you may never personally become addicted, the chances of you knowing someone who struggles with it are high," she said. "Please educate yourselves so you know the signs of addiction, and also feel secure enough to talk about it, and keep talking about it until help arrives.

"Mr Las Vegas," singer Wayne Newton, third from left, at a town hall on the opioid epidemic featuring first lady Melania Trump, in the Sin City theater where Newton used to perform, March 5, 2019.

"If even one of you leaves here today and talks to a friend or family member about the potential to end this crisis, then we have succeeded."

This was her second opioid town hall with Bolling; last November, she went to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, to deliver a speech in which she first called the opioid crisis the worst in American history.

She also disclosed a few rarely shared personal details of her life as first lady, during a post-speech sit-down Q&A with Bolling, whose teenage son died of an accidental drug overdose in 2017. Among other issues, they covered dinners with her husband, her lack of time, her thoughts on mean tweeting, her criticism of the media and even her much-mocked White House Christmas decor featuring blood-red trees, which she stoutly defended.

"I think they look fantastic," she declared.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Viva Las Vegas: Melania Trump talks opioids in Barry Manilow's and Wayne Newton's theater
Theres a new superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and shes a strong-willed woman, played by Brie Larson.

Captain Marvel follows the story of Carol Danvers, who the audience meets as a Kree warrior known as Vers (pronounced Veers). The Kree, led by the Starforce Commander (played by Jude Law), are in a galactic battle with shape-shifting aliens called Skrulls.

While in battle and subsequently on the run from the Skrulls, Larsons character finds herself on Earth, or Planet C-53, in the year 1995. Its during this time in the film that we are introduced to Samuel L. Jacksons legendary character Nick Fury. We also meet Maria Rambeau, played by British actress Lashana Lynch, a former test fighter pilot and one of Danvers closest allies in the film.

Yahoo Canada spoke to Lynch about what it was like to step into the shoes of Rambeau for this film.

Captain Marvel is now in theatres across Canada.
Debate over Nepali womens right to pass on citizenship to children reignites as House Committee holds discussions on controversial provisions

Activists say lawmakers reluctance to grant equal citizenship rights to women is reflective of the deep-rooted patriarchal beliefs in society.
For years, Apple Pay and other mobile wallets have offered customers the ability to "tap to pay" at the register. Now, U.S. credit- and debit-card issuers are hopping on the bandwagon. Contactless payments are typically speedier than transactions in which you insert a card into a chip reader. To use a contactless card, you hold it within a few inches of any terminal that accepts near-field communication (NFC) payments--look for a symbol with four vertical curves.

SEE ALSO: The Best Rewards Credit Cards

All newly issued and renewed Chase Visa consumer credit cards now have contactless-payment capability. Chase Visa debit cards will carry the technology starting in the second half of 2019. Capital One added contactless technology to its Quicksilver, Savor and Venture credit cards last year. American Express is actively issuing some credit cards--including the Hilton Honors and Gold cards--with contactless capability, and you can request a contactless-enabled version of any Amex consumer card. Pentagon Federal Credit Union is also issuing contactless Visa credit and debit cards.

Among U.S. merchants that accept Visa payments, 78 of the top 100 (ranked by number of transactions) can now handle contactless transactions. Target recently announced that it would soon take contactless payments; other merchants accepting them include Costco Wholesale, CVS Pharmacy and McDonald's.

More secure. A contactless card transfers unique, encrypted data when you tap to pay--just as it does when you insert it into a chip reader--so that thieves can't glean enough useful information in a breach to create counterfeit cards. Fraudsters could use a skimming device to steal data from your card by coming in close proximity to it. But that's not a valid concern because crooks still can't gather enough viable data to make counterfeit cards, says Randy Vanderhoof, director of the U.S. Payments Forum.

SEE ALSO: Credit Card Payoff Calculator

Story continues

You could buy an "RFID blocking" wallet or sleeve to play it safe, but it may not be worthwhile. Wrapping your card in foil will obstruct the signal, says Vanderhoof.

EDITOR'S PICKS



Copyright 2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors
Actor Will Ferrell arrives at the UK Premiere of Daddys Home 2 at Vue West End on November 16, 2017 in London, England. (John Phillips/Getty Images)

Yep, it appears this Eurovision song contest comedy really is happening, with Netflix announcing a director for Eurovision in a mail-out to journalists this afternoon.

David Dobkin will try to achieve the impossible and make the competition funnier than it already is. Dobkin has form in the comedy world, with Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Knights, and The Change-Up the stand-outs on his CV.

Wedding Crashers helmer David Dobkin has signed on to direct the Netflix comedy Eurovision, with Will Ferrell attached to star.

Read more: Netflix hits back over Steven Spielbergs Oscar plan

And hell have solid help in the form of band-mate Will Ferrell, who is to star and script (with former Saturday Night Live head writer Andrew Steele).

The film will be Will Ferrells second Netflix feature-length production. He also worked on Ibiza, the comedy starring Gillian Jacobs, released on the streaming service last year.

The first Eurovision song contest was held in Switzerland in 1956, with seven West European nations participating.

Read more: On set with Holmes and Watson

The show has become a global phenomenon with fans all over the world, but the UK has traditionally had the best television coverage, thanks mainly to a gently mocking tone established by Terry Wogan before his sad passing in 2016. We hope the film contains some sort of tribute to the legendary broadcaster.

Read more: Will Ferrell to Star in Gus Van Sants Prince of Fashion

Former contestants ABBA (winner in 1974 for Sweden) and Celine Dion (winner in 1988 for Switzerland) launched successful worldwide careers after their wins at the contest, which just makes us wonder if Will Ferrells going to be the next big pop sensation  hes sung in movies like Step Brothers, and for skits on SNL.

We just hope the films funny, wed hate to have to give it nul points.




The questions started the second Southwest Airlines put tickets to Hawaii on sale Monday.

Travelers trying to snag cheap tickets to Honolulu or Maui from cities including Baltimore, Chicago and St. Louis turned to social media and the airline's reservations center in droves to find out why they could book a flight to Hawaii but weren't finding any flights home.

The problem wasn't that the flights were sold out, though many of Southwest's new nonstop flights between California and Hawaii sold out quickly thanks to fares as low as $49 each way.

One traveler fired off a post on Southwest's Facebook page: "Is there a point to fly to Hawaii from St. Louis when there are NO available return flights?''

A passenger from Austin, Texas, told Southwest via Twitter that he couldn't complete his booking because there were no flights coming back.

Hi, Josh. I'm sorry for that. We currently have limited return service for connecting flights from Hawaii. You can book a flight on https://t.co/qJUDbsTE7y from Hawaii to Oak or SJC, and then a flight from those places to Austin. -Katie  Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) March 4, 2019

The issue is Southwest's initial, limited flight schedule from Hawaii to California doesn't get passengers into California in time to catch Southwest flights to most cities east of California. So the airline isn't selling many round-trip itineraries with connections. The exceptions are nearby cities, including Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, Portland and Seattle.

The two new daily Southwest flights from Honolulu to Oakland, for example, arrive in Oakland at 5:50 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time.

The last flight from Oakland to Chicago Midway: 4:50 p.m. The last nonstop between Oakland and Chicago is even earlier: around 2:30 p.m.

Story continues

The last flight from Oakland to Baltimore: 2:35 p.m.

The story is similar from Maui to Oakland, where the daily flights arrive at 5:20 and 8:50 p.m.

Travelers trying to book a round trip Southwest flight between Baltimore and Maui on the airline's website will find daily flights to Maui for sale and a blank calendar on the way back.

Travelers trying to book a flight from Honolulu to Chicago Midway run into the same issue.

More: Southwest Hawaii flights: 12 things travelers need to know

More: These are all of the routes U.S. airlines fly to Hawaii

Southwest competitors, including Hawaiian, American and United airlines, get around this problem by including red-eye flights from Hawaii to the West Coast. The flights leave Hawaii late at night and arrive early the next morning. That leaves passengers groggy but allows connections around the country.

Southwest doesn't have any red-eye flights from Hawaii or any city but hasn't ruled them out.

Travelers are also likely to see increased connections to and from Hawaii as Southwest grows its Hawaii operation, which is starting slow but is expected to account for half of the airline's growth this year, according to CEO Gary Kelly.

Southwest plans to offer nonstop flights between two more California cities, San Diego and Sacramento, and Hawaii. It will also beef up its schedule to and from Oakland and San Jose. And it plans to add flights to Kauai, too.

"When developing these schedules, our primary focus was to offer the best possible timings for local customers (in Hawaii and California),'' Southwest said in response to questions posed on its Southwest Airlines Community message boards. "As we continue to add service to Hawaii and increase some of our technical capabilities, we will only see more cities gain connections to the state.''

Until then, travelers outside the West Coast bent on flying Southwest to and from Hawaii have to buy (or cash in frequent-flier points for) separate tickets: a one-way ticket to Hawaii, a return ticket from Hawaii to California and a ticket the next day from California back home.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why can't Midwest and East Coast travelers find Southwest Airlines return flights from Hawaii?
By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A lavishly detailed 445-page report by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr released by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998 concluded that President Bill Clinton "committed acts that may constitute grounds for an impeachment" and paved the way for an unsuccessful attempt in Congress to remove him from office.

But Special Counsel Robert Mueller's impending report on the findings of his investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. election may far fall short of the searing and voluminous Starr report, legal experts said, in part due to constraints on Mueller that did not exist when Starr produced his report.

The Starr report presented explicit details about Clinton's sexual encounters with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky and accused Clinton of specific crimes including perjury, attempted obstruction of justice, witness tampering and "a pattern of conduct that was inconsistent with his constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws."

Starr operated under an independent counsel law that has since lapsed. Mueller's powers differ from those of Starr, and Justice Department regulations place limits on him that Starr did not face. Mueller since May 2017 has looked into whether Trump's 2016 campaign conspired with Russia and whether the president unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe.

Trump has denied collusion and obstruction. Russia has denied election interference.

Here is an explanation of some of the factors that may limit what ends up in Mueller's report to U.S. Attorney General William Barr and what ultimately may be released to the public.

WHAT DO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REGULATIONS CALL FOR?

Congress let the independent counsel law expire in part because of concern among some lawmakers that Starr had exceeded his mandate. The Justice Department then crafted regulations to create the job of special counsel in 1999, with certain limits on powers.

Story continues

The department's No. 2 official, Rod Rosenstein, appointed Mueller to take over the Russia investigation after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, whose agency had led the probe, and directed Mueller to abide by the special counsel regulations.

But the regulations provide only limited guidance on the parameters of Mueller's final report, stating that at the conclusion of his work he should provide the U.S. attorney general, the nation's top law enforcement official, with a "confidential report" explaining his "prosecution or declination decisions." The term "declination decisions" refers to judgments that Mueller made not to bring criminal charges against a given individual. Mueller already has brought charges against 34 people - including the former chairman of Trump's campaign Paul Manafort and other campaign figures, Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and former national security adviser Michael Flynn - and three Russian companies.

Video: AG Bill Barr Will Not Recuse Himself From Russia Probe

For more news videos visit Yahoo View.

The regulations require Barr to notify the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that Mueller's investigation has concluded. The Justice Department's policy calls for Barr to summarize the confidential report for Congress with "an outline of the actions and the reasons for them." According to the regulations, Barr "may determine that public release of these reports would be in the public interest, to the extent that release would comply with applicable legal restrictions."

WHAT HAS BARR SAID ABOUT WHAT HE WILL RELEASE?

In his January Senate confirmation hearing, Barr provided some insight into his thinking. He said that "it is very important that the public and Congress be informed of the results of the special counsel's work." Barr added, "For that reason, my goal will be to provide as much transparency as I can consistent with the law. 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 decision."

House Democrats have vowed to subpoena the report and go to court if necessary to win its full release.

WHAT WILL MUELLER'S REPORT LOOK LIKE?

Some legal experts said the text of the 1999 regulations and the context under which they were written in the aftermath of the Starr report signal that Mueller should not write a lengthy narrative like Starr did, but rather deliver straightforward and concise findings. The regulations were intended to give a special counsel some independence while ensuring a degree of accountability and oversight by the Justice Department.

But some experts said Mueller would be well within his power to provide Congress with information it can use to conduct further investigations. Leon Jaworski, who served as a special prosecutor during President Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal, adopted this approach when he finished his investigation. Jaworski's "road map" document, which helped prompt Nixon's resignation, remained secret until 2018.

Comey, in a Washington Post opinion piece on Tuesday, urged Barr to make an expansive release, saying "a straightforward report of what facts have been learned and how judgment has been exercised may be the only way to advance the public interest."

PROOF BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT

There is a tension between a decades-old Justice Department policy against public comment on decisions not to bring criminal charges and the requirement in the special counsel regulations that Mueller explain which criminal cases he brought and which ones he declined to bring. Rosenstein in February said, "If we aren't prepared to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt in court, then we have no business making allegations against American citizens."

This policy might lead Mueller to keep his explanations of his declination decisions brief, legal experts said, and Barr subsequently could opt not to disclose those parts of the confidential report. Department policy, presented in a 1973 Nixon-era memo and reaffirmed in a 2000 Clinton-era memo, is that a sitting president cannot face a criminal indictment.

Some lawyers have said this policy, combined with the practice of generally not explaining decisions not to prosecute someone, limits what Mueller can put in the report about Trump's conduct. Other lawyers have said Jaworski, who had an analogous role, set a precedent that Mueller would be within his power to lay out a case for removing Trump from office through impeachment, as Starr did with Clinton in 1998.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Will Dunham)
A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Universal Technical Institute (UTI). Shares have added about 2% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Universal Technical 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 drivers.

Universal Technicals Q1 Loss Wider Than Expected



Universal Technical Institute, Inc. recently reported fiscal first-quarter 2019 results, wherein loss of 17 cents per share was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 11 cents. The reported loss also widened from the year-ago level.



Nevertheless, quarterly revenues of $83.1 million surpassed the consensus mark of $81.3 million by 2.2%. Moreover, revenues increased 2.3% from the prior-year quarter, attributable to additional earning day and higher average tuition. Total starts also rose 14.8% year over year to 1,511 during the quarter.



Operating Highlights



Operating expenses of $90.3 million grew 6.5% from a year ago due to $4.2 million rise in one-time transformation consultant termination cost. Rising student population at the Bloomfield campus contributed $1.6 million to the companys direct costs.



Adjusted operating loss in the quarter was $3 million compared with $1.9 million in the prior-year period.



Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) declined 50% to $1.3 million from the prior-year figure of $2.6 million.



Financial Highlights



As of Dec 31, 2018, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $58.6 million compared with $58.1 million recorded in the corresponding period of last year.



Net cash provided by operations came in at $4.4 million in the fiscal first quarter compared with net cash used in operations of $2.6 million a year ago. Adjusted free cash flow of $5.6 million improved significantly from the prior-year quarter.



Reiterate Fiscal 2019 Outlook



Universal Technical expects mid-high single digit new student starts growth across its existing campuses, including the new Bloomfield, NJ campus. The average student population is likely to rise in low-single digits.



Fiscal 2019 revenues are expected in the range of $322-$332 million. Operating expenses are projected in the range of $337-$347 million.



Universal Technical expects to incur operating loss between $10 million and $15 million. Moreover, adjusted operating loss is anticipated in the range of $6-$11 million.



Adjusted EBITDA is anticipated in the range of $9-$15 million. Capital expenditure for fiscal 2019 is likely to be between $6 million and $8 million (versus $8-$10 million expected earlier).

Story continues

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

In the past month, investors have witnessed an upward trend in fresh estimates. The consensus estimate has shifted 15% due to these changes.

VGM Scores

At this time, Universal Technical has a strong Growth Score of A, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with a D. Following the exact same course, the stock was allocated a grade of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Estimates have been trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of this revision looks promising. It comes with little surprise Universal Technical has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). We expect an above average 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



Universal Technical Institute Inc (UTI) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
A Georgia schoolteacher won $10,000 from an insurance company for doing what dozens before her failed to do: She read the fine print.

Donelan Andrews was seven pages deep into the fine print on a travel insurance contract when she spotted some curious text, according to Squaremouth, the Florida-based company that issues a policy known as Tin Leg.

If youve read this far, then you are one of the very few Tin Leg customers to review all of their policy documentation," read the text, revealing a secret contest inviting Andrews to claim a $10,000 reward.

Andrews was the first to reach out to Squaremouth about the contest, the company said, 23 hours after the event launched and after 73 policies spelling out the $10,000 reward had been issued.

The company calls the contest Pays to Read, an effort to reward those who read policy documents from beginning to end. Andrews told Squaremouth she never skips fine print and that she tells students in her life skills classes to do the same.

I used to put a question like that midway through an exam, saying If youre reading this, skip the next question,'" she told the company. "That caught my eye and intrigued me to keep reading.

Andrews plans to use the $10,000 on a 35th wedding anniversary trip to Scotland with her husband. Squaremouth hopes its campaign will highlight the importance of careful reading.

"We understand most customers dont actually read contracts or documentation when buying something, but we know the importance of doing so," the company said, adding that "many travelers buy travel insurance and just assume theyre covered if anything goes wrong, without actually reading the details of their policy."

"This lack of understanding is one of the biggest reasons travel insurance claims are denied," the company said.

The two schools Andrews teaches at will benefit from her keen eyes, too: Squaremouth donated $5,000 to Upson-Lee High School and Lamar County High School in Western Georgia. Both schools will put the money toward new textbooks and work-based learning programs.

The company gave another $10,000 to Reading is Fundamental, the DC-based charity focused on children's literacy.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Woman wins $10,000 for reading fine print on her insurance policy
The 360 is a feature designed to show you diverse perspectives on the days top stories.

Speed read

Who & Where: Women and men in the United States

What: Men between the ages of 18 to 25 must register with the Men between the ages of 18 to 25 must register with the Selective Service System , a U.S. government agency that manages information about citizens who may be called to serve in a military draft. Women are not required to register with Selective Service.

When: The Selective Service System was founded in 1917. In 1981, the The Selective Service System was founded in 1917. In 1981, the Supreme Court ruled that the male-only draft was fully justified because women were ineligible to participate combat roles. In 2015, the Pentagon lifted all restrictions for women serving in the military, which allows them to serve in all capacities, including combat.

Why: The recent legal challenges are increasing pressure on Congress to decide if the draft should apply equally to men and women and whether the requirement to register with Selective Service should exist at all.

The case of the New Jersey plaintiff, Elizabeth Kyle-Labell, could be significant because shes asking for an order that would do one of three things: require women as well as men to register, make registration voluntary for both sexes, or abolish Selective Service registration entirely. Her attorney said the recent rulings increase the likelihood the case could reach the Supreme Court.

Story continues

Whats next: The National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, an 11-member panel created by Congress, The National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, an 11-member panel created by Congress, is currently studying the future of the military draft. There are 2 main questions : Does the United State still need Selective Service at all? If so, should women be required to register with Selective Service?

In its interim report in January, the commission gave no hints about how it will side on those issues and says its seeking input from the public. But commission chairman Joe Heck said , I dont think we will remain with the status quo. The commissions final report is due to be released March 2020.

Perspectives

A military draft should include both men and women equally.

Requiring women to register will not make the military a social laboratory any more than it has always been one.  But whatever the eventual system, women must be included equally. We cant exclude an entire class of Americans from the obligations and benefits of citizenship. Our society requires it. So does our national defense. As one of our most famous soldiers, Dwight D. Eisenhower, said about women in 1948, I am convinced that in another war they have got to be drafted just like men. I am convinced of that.  Kara Dixon Vuic, associate professor of history at Texas Christian University, Washington Post

Young people today are far less engaged in world events than during the Vietnam era, largely because the threat of being drafted into war doesnt loom nearly as large. That threat has a way of impressing the gravity of war upon registrants, which is probably a good thing. As long as draft registration is in effect, its unfair to men and insulting to women that it remain gender-specific at a time when soldiering no longer is.  Editorial, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Even if the Pentagon hadnt made that decision, having a draft for only men would still have seemed dubious, given that the great majority of military jobs now require technical or other cognitive skills. As the judge wrote, In the nearly four decades since [the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a men-only draft], womens opportunities in the military have expanded dramatically. The male-only rule is an anachronism.  Editorial, San Diego Union-Tribune

A civilized nation doesnt force women to fight wars.

A civilized nation does not force its women to fight its wars. This is a matter of moral common sense. The purpose of the U.S. military is, above all, to defend the public from external threats, so that we can live our lives in the freedom and thriving America uniquely allows. If our wives, daughters, sisters, and mothers can be conscripted to the front lines and forced to become either killers or the killed, then its unclear what were fighting for.  Editorial, Washington Examiner

This entire debate isnt really about military preparedness but is about social engineering  changing the way people perceive things so that they can be arranged according to the designs of a relatively very few.  Progressives will twist themselves into balloon poodles trying to codify gender differences, but heaven forbid we should speak of sex differences, not to mention cultural adaptations to better ensure survival of the species.  Im going to go out on a limb and simply say that a civilized nation doesnt put its women in combat where they have an unequal ability to survive.  Kathleen Parker, Washington Post

Having equal rights requires that we shoulder equal responsibilities.

With equal rights and equal opportunity come equal responsibilities. If men have to register with the Selective Service, women should, too. Likewise, both genders should be subjected to mandatory conscription should another draft ever be declared. The U.S. military has been all-volunteer since 1973.  There is no question of womens valor or competence on the battlefield, now or long ago.  If there is to be a Selective Service, it should be Universal Service. Congress  especially the barrier-breaking women of this 116th Congress  should smash through this barrier to the fullness of American citizenship.  Editorial, Pittsburgh-Post Gazette

I would urge the commissioners to recommend that both men and women be required to register with the Selective Service System, and that the system be retained in the interests of equality and national security. I also would urge the commissioners to support forms of public service that maximize universal access and limited universal expectation. I would hope that the commission would reject universally obligated service because of financial, social, legal and national security issues.  Maj. Gen. Dennis Laich, retired from U.S. Army in 2006 after more than 35 years of service, The Hill

Selective Service is outdated and unnecessary.

Its long past time for Congress to reconsider the Selective Service System. Registration is a vestige of a very different era, when young men could be conscripted to serve in the military involuntarily. The U.S. ended the draft and shifted to an all-volunteer military in 1973, after public support for conscription had dwindled amid the bloody, years-long Vietnam War.  Yes, of course, women have a civic duty just like men and should be called upon to serve if that time of need comes. But progress isnt adding women to what may be an obsolete draft registry system. Congress should fix the system first.  Editorial, Los Angeles Times

Why should anyone  male or female  have to register for the draft in 2019? The last man was drafted into military service in 1973. And yet today, male citizens and residents of the United States ages 18 through 25, including documented and undocumented immigrants, still must register for the draft  or risk fines and prison time. On paper, anyway. No one has been prosecuted for failing to register since 1986, the Congressional Research Service reported in January in a study of selective service and the draft issues for Congress.  So, if the Selective Service System is a dinosaur  and it is  lets scrap it and dedicate our resources to making voluntary service a shared expectation.  Marsha Mercer, The News & Advance

The military is no place for social experiments.

But should women be drafted into the military instead of volunteering, one of two things will have to happen: either huge percentages of women will wash out of boot camp, or officers will have to introduce two standardsone for men, and one for womenthat would severely compromise the combat-readiness of our military. This kind of gender politics, like the underlying postmodern worldview its based on, doesnt align with reality. It expects reality to align with it, something reality consistently refuses to do. The battlefield brings with it a rude introduction to reality. Its not the place to turn our military into a social experiment.  John Stonestreet and G. Shane Morris, BreakPoint

Drafting women ignores differences for combat role.



 Barbara Kay, War is about defeating an enemy through superior power, about achieving victory with minimal losses. It is a fact that men are better physically endowed for traditional ground combat than women. Of 36 women who have tried, only two have passed the U.S. Marine Corps legendary infantry-officer training course. Apart from reasons of political correctness, why would our Armed Forces actually want an infantry in which a quarter of the troops were demonstrably more vulnerable than they have to be? It is only in countries where the danger of war is remote and battle readiness is a low priority that political and military elites indulge themselves in the luxury of policies based in gender dogmas instead of realism and the national interest. Barbara Kay, National Post

Videos
The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). Well show how you can use Deutsche Telekom AGs (FRA:DTE) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. Based on the last twelve months, Deutsche Telekoms P/E ratio is 32.22. That means that at current prices, buyers pay 32.22 for every 1 in trailing yearly profits.

View our latest analysis for Deutsche Telekom

How Do You Calculate Deutsche Telekoms P/E Ratio?

The formula for price to earnings is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price  Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for Deutsche Telekom:

P/E of 32.22 = 14.72  0.46 (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2018.)

Is A High Price-to-Earnings Ratio Good?

A higher P/E ratio implies that investors pay a higher price for the earning power of the business. All else being equal, its better to pay a low price  but as Warren Buffett said, Its far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

If earnings fall then in the future the E will be lower. Therefore, even if you pay a low multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become higher in the future. A higher P/E should indicate the stock is expensive relative to others  and that may encourage shareholders to sell.

Deutsche Telekom saw earnings per share decrease by 38% last year. But over the longer term (5 years) earnings per share have increased by 3.9%. And over the longer term (3 years) earnings per share have decreased 22% annually. This growth rate might warrant a low P/E ratio.

How Does Deutsche Telekoms P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

The P/E ratio indicates whether the market has higher or lower expectations of a company. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (23.2) for companies in the telecom industry is lower than Deutsche Telekoms P/E.

Story continues

DB:DTE Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 7th 2019

That means that the market expects Deutsche Telekom will outperform other companies in its industry. The market is optimistic about the future, but that doesnt guarantee future growth. So investors should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.

Remember: P/E Ratios Dont Consider The Balance Sheet

Its important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

Is Debt Impacting Deutsche Telekoms P/E?

Deutsche Telekom has net debt worth 84% of its market capitalization. If you want to compare its P/E ratio to other companies, you should absolutely keep in mind it has significant borrowings.

The Bottom Line On Deutsche Telekoms P/E Ratio

Deutsche Telekom trades on a P/E ratio of 32.2, which is above the DE market average of 18.7. With meaningful debt and a lack of recent earnings growth, the market has high expectations that the business will earn more in the future.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. If the reality for a company is better than it expects, you can make money by buying and holding for the long term. So this free visualization of the analyst consensus on future earnings could help you make the right decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold.

But note: Deutsche Telekom may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with strong recent earnings growth (and a P/E ratio below 20).

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.
New York (AFP) - A New York federal court has dismissed a lawsuit by the Herero and Nama tribes seeking compensation from Germany for the genocide of their ancestors in what is now Namibia.

In a 23-page judgment dated Wednesday, Judge Laura Taylor Swain said that the principle of sovereign immunity of a state applied, rendering the case inadmissible.

The two tribes were seeking compensation for the persecution their members suffered in what was known as German South West Africa during colonial rule from 1884-1915. The territory has since become Namibia.

Tens of thousands of members of the Herero tribe and some 10,000 Namas were killed from 1904-1908 after rebelling against German rule.

"This is indeed a disappointing ruling for us and all nations of the world who are committed to justice and fairness for all," Herero chief Vekuii Rukoro said in a statement read at a news conference.

"We assert that Judge Swain has made some fundamental errors of law in her jurisdictional analysis and we are determined to see to it that this decision is reversed on appeal and that our claims for reparations shall proceed."

The plaintiffs argued that two exceptions to the principle of sovereign immunity -- one covering state commerce outside the US that causes a "direct effect" inside the country, and another on property taken in violation of international law -- applied in the case.

The plaintiffs said that, among other issues, the presence of bones of genocide victims -- which were sold by the wife of a German anthropologist to the American Museum of Natural History -- constitutes a "direct effect" under the commercial activity exception.

And they said that the "takings" exception applied since plunder from Namibia went to Germany, which then purchased four buildings in New York.

But Swain ruled that in the first case, plaintiffs failed to demonstrate a "direct effect" in the US, while in the second, they did not sufficiently demonstrate the existence of commercial activity necessary for the exception to apply.

The court "lacks subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to the ... commercial activity and takings exceptions," Swain wrote.
The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal on Wednesday granted the request by Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to be allowed to inspect the electoral materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the conduct of the February 23 poll.

But the three-man panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki unanimously rejected other prayers by the applicants seeking orders permitting them to, among others, photocopy and scan the electoral documents.

The tribunal also refused their requests to be allowed to conduct a forensic examination and forensic analysis of the materials and have access to card reader data and information contained in the cloud and electronic storage used for the poll.

Delivering the lead ruling, Justice Aboki said by virtue of the provision of section 151 of the Electoral Act on which the applicants motion ex parte was anchored, they were only entitled to inspection of the electoral materials and the certified true copies of all the materials used for the poll.

The two other members of the panel, Justices Peter Ige and Emmanuel Agim, agreed with the lead ruling.

Earlier, the three-man panel, in a pre-hearing session of the tribunal had on Wednesday, entertained the applicants argument for about 45 minutes and rose.

It promised to return in one hours time to deliver its ruling but did not return until about three hours after.

The applicants legal team was led by Mr. Livy Ozoukwu (SAN), but Chief Chris Uche (SAN), made submissions on behalf of the team.

As expected in an ex parte hearing, the respondents  President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission  were absent and not represented by their lawyers.

Uche said during the Wednesdays hearing that the ex parte motion contained six prayers, one of which sought the tribunals leave to bring the motion up in the tribunal pre-hearing session.

He added, Prayers 2 to 6 are in summary seeking orders of this honourable court to allow the inspection and production of election documents used by the Independent Electoral Commission for the conduct of the presidential election to enable the applicants to institute and maintain an election petition.

But during the proceedings, members of the panel expressed reservations about whether the tribunal could grant some prayers contained in the application for orders allowing them to scan and photocopy electoral materials as well as allow them to conduct forensic examination and forensic audit of the materials.

Responding, Uche insisted that there were authorities of the Court of Appeal which had interpreted section 155 of the Electoral Act to mean that petitioners could be granted all the prayers sought in the ex parte application.

KINDLY DROP A COMMENT BELOW
Education consultancies putting pressure on probe team to not recommend action against them

Education consultancies have intensified lobbies to put pressure on a probe team under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to not recommend action against them for sending hundreds of students to an unaccredited institute in Australia and putting their futures in limbo.
Home | News | General | Senate presidency: South south APC makes demand

- The APC in south south is calling for support to produce the next senate president

- The zonal chapter of the party said this will help boost support in the region

- The party promised to support the president in his policies

The south south chapter of the All Progressives Congress has called on Nigerians to support the zoning of the Senate presidency position to its region.

Daily Trust reports that the APC zonal national chairman, Ntufam Hilliard Etta, in a statement on Wednesday, March 6 said zoning the position to the region will help build the support of the party.

He said a senate president from the south south would support President Muhammadu Buhari to help deliver the dividend of democracy.

READ ALSO: Breaking: Court grants Atiku leave to inspect presidential election materials

The statement reads: In the days ahead as our country strives to equitably zone offices to all the zones of the country, the South South zone having considered so many factors, wish to state the followings:

Our zone has and will continue to play its critical and pivotal roles in order to help our dear country, Nigeria achieve and realize all its inherent potentials. The leadership of our great party in the zone has done extreme hard work towards stabilizing the polity to ensure that business thrives in the region, and equally informing our teaming youths that development can only thrive in the atmosphere of peace.

We appreciate all the leaders of the zone and we are grateful that our youths have reciprocated the good gesture of Mr. President, by embracing peace, as the panacea to continuous development of our region in particular, and the country in general. Gone are the days when youths restiveness will impede developments.

We recall that when our son, Senator Joseph Wayas, held sway as the Senate President, he did our zone and the country very proud. During his tenure as the Senate President, we saw a harmonious working relationship between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary; and the benefit at this was for all Nigerians.

The south south zone believes in the ideology of Mr. President in particular and the All Progressives Congress in general. As a geo-political zone that is blessed with God given wealth and natural resources, we are very proud that Mr. President is eminently harnessing our resources for the general good of all Nigerians and for the benefit of mankind as it is obvious the numerous achievements of the APC led Federal Government in just three and a half years.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, following the outcome of results in the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections across Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress (APC) may likely give the Senate presidency to the north while the speaker of the House of Representatives goes to the south.

Daily Trust reports that the ruling party has since the election garnered of lawmakers in both the upper and lower chamber of the National Assembly with 64 senators-elect and over 200 representatives-elect.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

INEC announces Buhari as 2019 election winner, Nigerians react | Legit TV

[embedded content]

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General
Home | News | General | Why I dumped PDP for APC - Former Fayose aide

- Ayodeji Adu alongside some PDP members defected to the APC

- The former special assistant to Ayo Fayose commended Governor Fayemi for his performance

- Adu said his decision was based on the spirit of patriotism

Ayodeji Adu, a Special Assistant on Local Government Affairs under the Ayo Fayose administration in Ekiti, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Adu, along with some PDP supporters in Afao Ekiti, announced their defection when the campaign train of the APC House of Assembly candidate in Irepodun/ Ifelodun State Constituency II, Hakeem Jamiu, arrived the community on Wednesday.

READ ALSO: Breaking: Court grants Atiku leave to inspect presidential election materials

The former governors aide, who spoke for the defectors, said they were captivated by Gov. Kayode Fayemis sterling leadership qualities in taking the decision.

This decision to dump PDP for APC was borne out of patriotism and it is for the betterment of my state and country home

Afao Ekiti, despite producing the governor of the state for eight years is still in shambles without meaningful development, hence the need to embrace the right ideas that can take the town out of the current economic and social despondency

 I pledge my commitment to the success of the APC candidate in Afao-Ekiti. I want to assure that the APC will have a block vote in the town come Saturday,  he said.

NAN reports that Jamiu assured the people of the state that the next assembly would not be a rubber stamp under the Fayemi administration.

Gov. Fayemi is exposed and I know that he will see the new legislative arm as partners in progress, he said

Meanwhile, ahead of the governorship and state House of Assembly elections, President Muhammadu Buhari has addressed Nigerians calling for a peaceful process.

In the address on Wednesday, March 6, the president noted that the coming elections were very important considering the governors and state lawmakers were closer to the people.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

INEC announces Buhari as 2019 election winner, Nigerians react | Legit TV:

[embedded content]

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General
Home | News | General | Smiles, handshakes as APCs Ganduje, PDPs Yusuf, other guber candidates in Kano sign peace accord (photos)

- Gubernatorial candidates in Kano have signed a peace accord ahead of the March 9 elections

- Among those who signed the accord were Gov Ganduje of the APC and Abba Kabir Yusuf of the PDP

- The Kano state commissioner of police was also present at the signing ceremony

Ahead of the Saturday, March 9 governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections taking place nationwide, gubernatorial candidates of various parties in Kano state have signed a peace accord.

Among the candidates who signed the accord on Wednesday, March 6 were Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Abba Kabir Yusuf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Daily Trust reports.

READ ALSO: Im not dead - Man who drank gutter water to celebrate Buharis victory

Legit.ng gathers that the Kano state commissioner of police, Mohammed Wakili, was also present at the signing ceremony.

See photos from the event:

The candidates pictured signing the peace accord (Photo credit: Sani Maikatanga for Daily Trust)

Source: Twitter

The candidates shake hands as the police commissioner looks on (Photo credit: Sani Maikatanga for Daily Trust)

Source: Twitter

A cross section of attendees at the signing ceremony (Photo credit: Sani Maikatanga for Daily Trust)

Source: Twitter

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the governorship candidate of the PDP in Kano, Abba Kabir Yusuf, said his candidacy was in no way affected by the recent court ruling nullifying it, as the case was against the party.

Yusuf made the assertion in a statement released by his spokesman, Malam Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa.

The candidate insisted that hell continue with his campaign activities till Thursday night, March 7, which is the deadline for campaigns.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

What has changed in Nigeria since the last election? - on Legit TV:

[embedded content]

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General
Home | News | General | Legit poll: Nigerians react to deployment of military to Rivers state for guber election

Ahead of the governorship and state House of Assembly elections coming up on Saturday, March 9, Legit.ng conducts a poll on Facebook and Twitter asking Nigerians whether they want soldiers deployed to Rivers state for the elections.

Elections in Rivers state have always been characterised with violence and killings.

For instance, the February 23 presidential and National Assembly elections in the state were marred with violence.

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Yakubu Mahmood, during a briefing with journalists and some international observers including the United States ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Syminton, on Sunday, February, 24, confirmed the death of an ad hoc staff in the state.

Ibisekin Amachree was hit by a stray bullet on her return from duty Degema local government area of Rivers state.

The violence in the state also led to cancellation of National Assembly polls in some parts of the state, forcing INEC to reschedule supplementary elections for the National Assembly seats yet to be conducted.

Despite the security challenges experienced in the state, Nigerians are still divided over whether or not the military should be deployed to the state to curtail violence during the governorship elections.

In the Facebook poll, 45% agreed that military should be deployed to the state while 55% disagreed.

However, on Twitter, 57% agreed that military should be deployed while 43% disagreed.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that two soldiers on the evening of Saturday, March 2, were allegedly killed by unknown gunmen in Abonnema, Akuku-Toru local government area of Rivers state, according to an eyewitness.

The incident reportedly happened in the Obonoma community and the victims were shot by gunmen wearing military uniforms.

The Amanyanabo of Abonnema Kingdom, King Disrael Gbobo Bob-Manuel, said the gunmen stormed the military checkpoint and killed the officials.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General
Home | News | General | Man calls out SARS for allegedly kidnapping, torturing and extorting N464,000 from his mother in Ikorodu

- A Nigerian man identified as Emmanuel has called out some operatives of The Special Anti-robbery Squad for allegedly extorting his mother

- His plight was posted on twitter by social media famous lawyer and SARS reformer, Segalink

- Emmanuel allegedly fell victim of some SARS operatives whom he accused of extorting N464,000 from his mother in Ikorodu

A Nigerian man identified as Emmanuel has called out some operatives of The Special Anti-robbery Squad after they allegedly extorted his mother for the sum of N464,000.

According to social media famous lawyer and SARS reformer, Segalink, Emmanuel Adegbite was attacked by some SARS operatives on March 5, in Ikorodu. According to him, Emmanuel was kidnapped, tortured and only got released after his mother pay a sum of N464,000 to the operatives.

It was gathered that the attack was perpetuated by men of Zonal Intervention Squad, attached to Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos. They allegedly broke into Royal crown Hotel Asolo in Ikorodu and captured Adegbite alongside some other people. They were then taken to Ladegboye base ijede, where they were tortured for hours and threatened at gun point.

READ ALSO: Veteran actress turned politician Ibinabo Fiberesima dumps PDP for APC

Emmanuel was only released after his mother bailed him out with a huge sum of money.

Read post below:

PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group

Segalink has shared that moves are being made to bring the accused operatives to justice.

Meanwhile, the police command in Bayelsa has confirmed the dismissal of a sergeant who allegedly killed a 20-year-old undergraduate. It all happened when a SARS team went on a raid in Yenagoa on Friday, November 23. The police spokesman in the state said that the sacked sergeant will be arraigned in court after investigations.

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

#ENDSARS or #REFORMSARS? Nigerians blow hot on Legit TV:

[embedded content]

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General
The police said it has arrested 10 persons over various electoral offences in Katsina during the last Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The state commissioner of Police, Sanusi Buba, in a chat with newsmen in his office said the command is ready for improved services at the governorship and state assembly elections holding this weekend.

According to him, the offences of those arrested have to do with attempts to disrupt the electioneering exercises as well as a violation of the non-movement orders during the polls.

Others include criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, public nuisance and being in possession of dangerous weapons like axes, machete and knives noting that they have since been charged to court.

He said security is to re-enforce at the 9 local governments perceived to be insecure due to the closeness to Rugu forest, a hideout for bandits.

He added that We are resolute to ensure hitch-free elections not only in those places but the whole state at large

The police restriction order is still going to be enforced from 6am to 6pm on Saturday; anyone found wanting will be arrested and prosecuted accordingly.

KINDLY DROP A COMMENT BELOW
Dear Newsie Readers,

Newsie has now permanently ceased it's services as of Friday 20th December 2019.

Newsie has been an owner-funded operation since day one.

Coming up to three years old, while we still firmly believe Newsie has a place in the New Zealand media landscape, the cost in both time and money has become too burdensome for the owners to continue alongside other ventures.

With the current government looking to restructure public broadcasting, and seemingly supporting NZME buying a ring-fenced Stuff, the time seems right to call it a day.

Should it happen, the combination of NZME and Stuff will ensure New Zealands national media will die a death by a thousand opinion-based articles.

Newsie has always tried to stick to balanced news, to inform readers of the facts of a situation, amid being largely ignored by government. Hopefully, one day someone else will take up the challenge to fight the good fight.

The good news, however, is that there were no job losses as a result of Newsie closing. Thanks to careful structuring, everyone involved in Newsie will retain their current positions.

We hope you all have a happy Christmas and new year. Stay safe, and stay out of the news.

The team at Newsie
Gandaki Medical College chief executive, exam controller arrested on fraud case

Police on Wednesday arrested Chief Executive Officer of Pokhara-based Gandaki Medical College Santosh Khanal and Exam Controller Laxman Sharma after the students pursuing MBBS at the college filed a fraud complaint against the college administration.
Alzheimers Disease, Prion Diseases Share Similarities

Photo: Marleen Van Den Neste

Fatal brain disorders called prion diseases might provide insight into the cause of Alzheimers disease, said Dr. John Collinge at a recent Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series talk in Lipsett Amphitheater.

There are more and more similarities between what we see in prion disease and what were seeing in Alzheimers disease, said Collinge, professor of neurology at University College London (UCL), director of the United Kingdom Medical Council prion unit, director of the UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, director of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgerys United Kingdom National Prion Clinic and visiting professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School.

A prion is an abnormal form of a naturally occurring protein that has the ability to catalyze the conversion of the normal form into the same abnormal form. Prions have been implicated in several diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which affect animals and humans, Collinge said. Over time, prions accumulate and damage the brain.

Symptoms of prion disease include changes in behavior, rapid onset of dementia and movement problems. Prion diseases are usually rapidly progressive and always fatal, according to the CDC. Most cases of prion disease occur randomly, Collinge explained. Certain host mutations can increase the risk of getting the disease.

The first prion disease shown to be transmissible from one person to another was kuru, a disease discovered among the Fore people of Papua New Guinea. In the 1950s, almost 2 percent of the population died from kuru annually. Collinge said it affected women and children of both sexes.

As a mark of respect, the Fore people consumed their deceased relatives brains at funerals. Although the practice had cultural significance, it also transmitted the fatal disease. Even though the feasts ended in 1959, when the link to kuru was established, the disease continued to appear decades later in patients who had been infected earlier.

Weve seen patients with incubation periods up to 60 years, which is quite extraordinary, Collinge said.

One of the most common forms of prion disease is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). One type is classic, or sporadic CJD, which typically affects patients ages 65 years or older. Most patients die within 6 weeks of diagnosis. It doesnt pass from person to person. There is no risk of acquiring CJD from contact.

Another type is variant CJD, which results when a person eats meat infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease. Variant CJD typically affects patients under 30 years old.

Prion diseases can also be acquired from medical procedures, Collinge explained. Between 1958 and 1985, doctors in the U.K. gave human growth hormone (HGH) to treat almost 2,000 children with delayed growth problems. The HGH was taken from the pituitary glands of people who died.

In 1985, one patient treated with HGH from cadavers died from whats called iatrogenic CJD. Evidently, some of the HGH that patient received came from a person who had prion disease. Although treatments using human-derived growth hormone stopped more than 30 years ago, Collinge still sees patients who develop iatrogenic CJD.

Photo: Marleen Van Den Neste

In reviewing autopsy materials of patients who died long ago from iatrogenic CJD, Collinge found evidence of Alzheimers disease. Although the patients didnt have Alzheimers symptoms, he worried that the seeds of harmful proteins associated with the disease could be transmitted during medical procedures involving human tissue, particularly tissue from the central nervous system.

Collinge found some of the HGH the children received in a medical archive and confirmed the hormone had Alzheimers proteins. Then, his lab injected the hormone into mice. Sure enough, there was unequivocal evidence of seeding.

Theres no risk of catching Alzheimers from a person with the conditionthe concern relates only to inoculation by medical procedures, he clarified.

Doctors must continue epidemiological research to determine whether or not theres a link between surgical procedures and Alzheimers disease. Until then, he advised physicians to consider the risks of transmission and sterilize or destroy contaminated surgical instruments.

Recently, Collinge and his lab began offering an experimental monoclonal antibody called PRN100 to patients with sporadic CJD. Mouse studies of PRN100 have been promising. Results have shown the antibody prevents abnormal proteins from attaching themselves to normal proteins and spreading. Its too soon to say whether the drug will eventually be effective treating prion diseases in humans.

Its early yet, but Im relieved weve gotten underway to test this drug in patients with this awful disease, Collinge said.
In recent days employers have claimed that rising construction wages are a significant contributor to high prices in the residential and infrastructural sectors. Not only do these claims not hold up, they are crude attempts to divert attention from the real drivers of prices.

On the front page of the Sunday Business Post (paywall) there was a claim that:

The last pay rise of 10 percent for construction workers in October 2017 was cited as one of the reasons why the cost of the National Childrens Hospital had increased from 980 million to 1.7 billion.

This is groundless. The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) states that labour makes up 40 percent of the overall costs of construction (we will see below this is highly contestable). So if labour made up 40 percent of the original estimate of 980 million  that would come to 392 million. A 10 percent pay increase would add 39.2 million.

However, the cost of the project ballooned by over 700 million. The pay increase made up only a fraction of the project increase  5 percent. So where did the other 95 percent come from?

Now that construction workers have lodged a pay claim for a four percent annual increase over the next three years, the CIF is at it again.

An increase in labour costs would add to the cost of construction for a house builder . . . This in turn would result in an increase in the cost of the house to the purchaser. Driving up the cost of housing at this time would only serve to exacerbate the current housing crisis.

Its hard to know where to start in de-constructing this assertion. So lets start with some comparisons.

European Comparisons

Employee compensation in the Irish construction sector is low by comparison with our peer group in the EU.

Irish construction compensation would have to rise by 17 percent to reach our peer group average, and a lot more to reach the table leaders.

Recently, Irish compensation has been increasing faster than our peer group (after a long period of stagnation). In 2018, Irish construction compensation rose by 4.1 percent; our peer group rose by 3.1 percent. But our employer class shouldnt worry too much. At this rate, Irish compensation wont catch up to the average until 2033.

Wages and Prices

The CIF worries that higher wages will fuel higher house prices. But wages make up only a small proportion of the cost of residential and commercial construction. There are two ways to measure this: the production value approach (compensation as a percentage of production) and the value-added approach (compensation as a percentage of combined non-labour and labour costs). In both measurements, Irish proportions are much smaller than our peer group  meaning wage increases would have a smaller impact.

Not only is Irish employee compensation in the bottom half of the table in both measurements, this shows that employee compensation is between 16 and 22 percent of costs. The difference is that the production value includes value-added (that is, both wages and profits). This is a far cry from the CIFs claim that wages make up 40 percent of costs.

A four percent pay increase would represent less than one percent of total costs in either measurement. Even if we took the CIFs claim that employee compensation makes up 40 percent of the costs, a four percent increase would still have a minor knock-on effect: 1.6 percent of production costs.

Thats if you believe there is a relationship between wages, costs and prices.

A Sector Detached From Costs

Irish house prices long ago detached themselves from costs and wages. Prices operate on a different plane.

In the decade prior to the crash, the construction cost index rose by 68 percent. During that same period new house prices rose by 214 percent  more than three times the rate of costs. Not much of a relationship.

Between 2007 and 2012  when new house prices bottomed out  construction costs rose by one percent; new house prices fell by 30 percent. Not much of a relationship there, either.

So whats been happening recently?

Here we go again. Between August 2012 and August 2017 (the last month we have data for construction costs), new house prices rose by 59 percent; construction costs rose by 4 percent. One more piece of evidence that house prices and construction costs dont relate to each other.

Heres something provocative. The Labour Costs Index shows that construction wages rose by four percent in 2018. National new house prices rose by less than one percent; Dublin new house prices actually fell by four percent. I wont suggest that if we increase Dublin building workers wages, Dublin prices will fall further. Instead, we see no relationship.

Of course there is no relationship. As Orla Hegarty, Lorcan Sirr and Mel Reynolds (this is one Troika I would like to see take over government housing policy) have consistently shown, house prices are determined by the interaction of a number of factors  land prices, developer margins, credit availability and cost, planning and design, etc. And profits.

Profits

There is some data that the CIF are reluctant to highlight.

Value-added is made up of two components  profits (gross operating surplus) and employee compensation. The higher the profit percentage, the lower the wage percentage: its a zero-sum relationship. And profits in the Irish construction sector are doing quite well. 40 percent of value-added is captured by profits. This is lower than the UK  where low wages and bogus self-employment are even more than here  but much higher than a number of other countries.

Another way to measure profits is as a percentage of turnover, or sales.

This measurement  Gross Operating Rate  shows profit as a percentage of turnover. Again, we see Ireland at the top (bar the UK) and well above many other peer-group countries.

Employers will point out that this represents a catching up, that profits were on the floor during the recession. It is true that profits crashed in the years following the crash. This was just as unsustainable as the white heat frenzy prior to the crash. But theres catching up, then theres overtaking by a wide margin.

* * *

So what have we found?

Irish construction wages trail our peer group average by a significant amount and on current trends will take well over a decade to reach that average.

Wage increases have only a fractional impact  whether thats measured as a percentage of production costs or of the non-value-added component.

There is no relationship between wages and costs, and new house prices. There hasnt been one for a long, long time.

Irish profits in the construction sector are much higher than all other countries in our peer group, bar the UK.

In short, the CIF is making disingenuous arguments about costs and ignoring the real drivers in prices. But there is a wider lesson here; namely, that government policy must focus on establishing a long-term relationship between house prices and construction costs. If prices mirrored construction costs since 1997, the average national house price in 2016 would have been 177,000 instead of the actual price - 314,000.

If we dont link prices with costs, well continue to suffer the roller-coaster of booms-and-busts in the construction sector  with all the damage to the economy that we know only too well.
(Bloomberg) -- The European Unions inability to agree on taxing Internet giants like Google and Amazon shows the need for majority voting at the soon-to-be 27-member bloc, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.

Finland, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden shouldnt be allowed to block 23 countries from imposing a tax that they think is needed and just, Le Maire said at a press conference in Paris as he presented a French tax that would apply to about 30 Internet giants like Facebook Inc. and could raise 450 million euros ($509 million) in its first year.

Frances tax, which Le Maire called, simple, targeted, and efficient, is a temporary measure while the EU and The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development seek agreement on how to better tax Internet companies that play off tax rules by booking revenue in countries that arent necessarily where they actually make their money.

These giants have created much value and they have created many jobs, and I will never denounce their success, Le Maire said. But we must fight against the distortions that these giants have created, especially on tax optimizations and on the dominant positions many have created. We must create taxation for the 21st century.

The bill including the tax will be approved at todays cabinet meeting and then presented to parliament in early April.

Tax Details

Le Maire said 23 of the EUs 28 members favor some sort of Internet tax, though the tax that Germany has agreed to support has a narrower base than that being unilaterally rolled out in France.

The levy of 3 percent of French sales starts retroactively from Jan. 1 and potentially could raise 650 million euros annually by 2022. The tax applies to any Internet company with global revenue above 750 million euros and French sales above 25 million euros, and covers locally targeted advertising, data sales, and marketplace.

The tax excludes direct sales of goods and services, messaging and payment platforms, and financial services. Le Maire gave the example of Amazon.com Inc., which wouldnt be taxed on its direct sales but would be taxed for linking outside vendors with clients.

Story continues

To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Vidya Root

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Health officials fear leprosy resurgence in the country

The prevalence rate of leprosy, which was declared eliminated in 2009, reached 0.94 percent in 2018, which experts fear marks the resurgence of the disease in Nepal. The percentage could be more, officials say, as the current said percentage has been derived just from preliminary data.
(Bloomberg) -- As Theresa Mays Brexit deal stumbles over the thorny issue of the Irish border, another frontier farther south risks causing problems of its own.

Betting companies with operations in Gibraltar on Spains southern flank worry Madrid will restrict land access to the tiny British territory when the U.K. leaves the European Union.

GVC Holdings Plc and William Hill Plc have more than 1,400 employees on the rocky peninsula, which has long been an international betting hub because it had a legal framework for gambling before the U.K. mainland and more favorable taxes. Competing claims over the territory have caused tension between Spain and Britain for three centuries.

About 80 percent of William Hills 400 Gibraltar staff, who include financial managers, compliance officers and programmers, commute from Spain. The companies say the threat that Brexit will choke the border has forced them to invest in improved remote office technology and find ways for employees to fill in for colleagues who cant get to work.

It could take a lot of time to get across if the Spanish decide to put in place detailed passport checks and other checks, William Hill Chief Executive Officer Philip Bowcock said in an interview. If that happens then that becomes a problem -- but we obviously have business protection plans in place.

GVC Chief Executive Officer Kenny Alexander said the situation would have been much worse 14 or 15 years ago when remote office technology was less sophisticated.

The executives spoke after the betting companies reported full-year financial results showing continued growth in online betting.

Both have been adjusting their overseas operations to ensure they can still operate in the EU if Britain leaves its single market for services. With the U.K. government tightening regulation in response to concerns over problem gambling, the continent has become even more vital to their growth prospects.

William Hill shifted some regulatory functions from Gibraltar to EU member state Malta when it acquired Swedish bookmaker Mr. Green in October. GVC said Tuesday it would move servers hosting its online gambling platforms to Ireland and bring parts of the business with EU customers under Malta online gambling licenses. Its online gambling headquarters remain in Gibraltar.

Story continues

Financial services and online gaming account for a quarter of jobs in Gibraltar and 40 percent of its economic output. Fears that Brexit could disrupt those industries underpinned almost unanimous support from the territory for continued EU membership in the 2016 referendum.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Seal in London at tseal@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Thomas Pfeiffer

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.
What a fucking monster.

Reply

Thread

Link

She should have gone for sole from the beginning, wtf.

Reply

Thread

Link

jfc i knew it was bad, but the details...

Reply

Thread

Link

I didn't know it got physical. I remember watching their spinoff and it really made her seem like the crazy, unreasonable one.

Reply

Thread

Link

scumbag

Reply

Thread

Link

I saw this guy in the lobby of my work building once and I just glared at him the entire way to the door.

Reply

Thread

Link

i love how my comment is right under yours lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I once saw Bethennys ex husband on the street and he checked me out from head to toe. It was... creepy.

Reply

Thread

Link

The article only talks about the toilets. Where are the rest of the allegations coming from?

Reply

Thread

Link





http://twitter.com/PageSix/status/1103360007482036226



http://twitter.com/PageSix/status/1103339517677850624



PageSix had been copying all the previous stories into the current one but guess they removed it to get more clicks or something:

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Oh thats nuts. I was wondering if they had to take it down or something.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

What a monster

Reply

Thread

Link

Frankel had a padlock installed on a spare bedroom door so if he lost his temper, she could barricade herself in the room until he calmed down or the police arrived.



Holy shit I hope that she gets full custody! Even if she does, I fear for her and her daughter.

Reply

Thread

Link

I believe it.

Reply

Thread

Link

That's so terrifying and sad. No one deserves that kind of treatment.



Edited at 2019-03-07 01:13 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

Complete piece of shit.



Reply

Thread

Link

jesus christ

Reply

Thread

Link

Just the thought of being in her position makes me want to cuddle my intimacy issues a bit closer.

Reply

Thread

Link

Jesus Christ, horrific.

Reply

Thread

Link

Jesus christ.

Reply

Thread

Link

I went from being super apathetic about her to unapologetically stanning for this one woman FEMA and I really don't think she gets enough credit for all she does because she was a former real housewife. I hope her ex is sent to an island for seclusion

Reply

Thread

Link
Chandan Kumar Mandal is the environment and migration reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering labour migration and governance, as well as climate change, natural disasters, and wildlife.
Amber's so stupid.



"She says she would vote for a woman even if she was Republican just because we need more women in office. She also talks about how her book honors male allies and invites them to become part of the Times Up movement."

Reply

Thread

Link

that's so quintessentially liberal like lol



Edited at 2019-03-06 11:35 pm (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

It's more like white feminism

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Its kind of amazing to be the stupidest person in the room with Meghan McCain sitting there but she did it

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

no no no.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

physically recoiling at these sentences

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Trump separating families at the border is bad. But a woman doing it? That's feminism.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i don't think she's dumb, she's just a white liberal.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

She's so terrible.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

She says she would vote for a woman even if she was Republican just because we need more women in office.



girl bye with this bullshit. not when these Republican women do not see every other woman as their equal.. what is this entry level to feminism thinking..

Reply

Thread

Link

She says she would vote for a woman even if she was Republican just because we need more women in office.







Reply

Thread

Link

She says she would vote for a woman even if she was Republican just because we need more women in office.



cool cool #ffffffeminism , you can keep it

Reply

Thread

Link

I just find Meghan so weird...

Reply

Thread

Link



Did this just come out of nowhere? https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/i-need-be-careful-texts-reveal-warner-bros-ceo-promoted-actress-apparent-sexual-relationship-1192660

Reply

Thread

Link

that was wild from start to finish

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

ikr?! I haven't been on ontd lately but did thr just drop this, no comment, no general gossip foreshadowing it? I'm just 

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Lol thats bourgeois feminism in a nutshell. MarginalizedPeopleShouldBeOppressedB yTheirOwn

Reply

Thread

Link

Aren't we lucky to have her????

Reply

Thread

Link

I see Bernie Sanders has put out a statement in support of Rep. IlHan Omar while the women of the Democratic Party leadership have abandoned her after failing to tokenize her. But yes, we need more of those women.

Reply

Thread

Link

How Ilhan Omar is being treated is just so frustrating.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

yuuppp

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Kamala Harris put one out as well.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





NEW: Dems plan to condemn "all hate" after backlash over planned Ilhan Omar rebuke https://t.co/JMnJ5bxcSj  The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 6, 2019



Meanwhile Dem leadership:

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmao ohhhhhhhhh democrats

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

ooooh the accuracy here

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren both issued statements today in support of Rep. Omar and the Democratic party leadership in the House has delayed/abandoned the proposed resolution. So it all appears to be over at this point.



Edited at 2019-03-07 04:35 am (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Thanks to the progressive base/public Sanders has helped ignited and got elected to challenge the neocons of the Dem establishment.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

it's ridiculous to me that they're calling people misogynistic when they pick and choose when to play the "you NEED to support other women" card on us. i don't vote with my vagina, but i do feel more excited about it when the person representing my values is a woman.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The whole thing is infuriating, and proves the point.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

"She also talks about how her book honors male allies"



the one where men get raped ? nope nope nope

Reply

Thread

Link

Regarding his lawyer "Where is his lawyer? And how could his lawyer allow him to do this?"





Trust me, if you've seen a ten second clip of his fuckwad of an attorney, you'd totally understand why he would do this.

Reply

Thread

Link





ASK MEGHAN & ABBY! @MeghanMcCain and @HuntsmanAbby are going to be answering your questions!



Reply to this tweet with what you want to ask and they may answer in an upcoming video! https://t.co/dmlfoAj9EC pic.twitter.com/SEhS3o9k73  The View (@TheView) March 5, 2019



lol read the replies

Reply

Thread

Link

Can you ask if they think they got their jobs only because of their fathers, or if they believe they have some kind of demonstrable skill that for whatever reason isnt shown on The View?





Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

nnn

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

omfg LMAO

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i still don't understand why they gave her a job. there's plenty of other white women they could have to appeal to that arena without being so damn stupid.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Lmao this bitch is everything I hate about white women whewww. Id vote for a republican woman even tho she thinks my reproductive organs are the only important part of me headass. I HATE WHITE WOMEN SO MUCH.

Reply

Thread

Link

lmao i cant with her.



also i dont see how the bernie campaign started with hilary is incapable woman



more like hilary is a moderate shill who will cave to the banks



IM NOT REFERRING TO BERNIE BROS BTW. I am referring to the other 95% of people who voted for bernie and volunteered for his campaign in the primaries

Reply

Thread

Link





Where he stands by calling her unqualified:

https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/06/politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-qualified/index.html No, Bernie flat out said she was unqualified. April, 2016, which is a joke because he was very close to being mathematically eliminated by that point and had almost no way of winning the primary. But her refused to drop out. He hung on until the Convention in August because he was hoping she'd be indicted and he could swoop in and get the nomination at the last possible moment.Where he stands by calling her unqualified:

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

he has such a god complex.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

some great Bernie quotes in that article, thanks for linking!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I think the full quote is relevant here. He wasn't just like "Clinton is unqualified" pointblank like you are insinuating but rather pointing out disastrous decisions she made and questioning if that was good leadership. Her team acted like crybabies in response instead of pointing out why those decisions were the right choice for her to make. If somebody makes criticisms towards you, defend yourself instead of whining to twitter about a ~new low.~ These are fucking adults ignoring valid criticisms and just wanting to paint him as an asshole instead of doing the right thing and facing the words head on. And people wonder why many never respected their ill-run and disastrous campaign.



Thanks for providing a link though so I could go to the source easily.



"When you voted for the war in Iraq, the most disastrous foreign policy blunder in the history of America, you might want to question your qualifications. When you voted for trade agreements that cost millions of Americans decent paying jobs, and the American people might want to wonder about your qualifications. When you're spending an enormous amount of time raising money for your super PAC from some of the wealthiest people in this country, and from some of the most outrageous special interests ... Are you qualified to be president of the United States when you're raising millions of dollars from Wall Street whose greed and recklessness helped destroy our economy?"



Edited at 2019-03-07 05:44 am (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

bloop lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link
Michael Bloomberg will not run for president. That was the main outtake from the businessman and philanthropists op-ed for Bloomberg the other day. But the more important outtake was his announcement of a new climate change initiative: Beyond Carbon.

I will launch a new, even more ambitious phase of the campaign  Beyond Carbon: a grassroots effort to begin moving America as quickly as possible away from oil and gas and toward a 100 percent clean energy economy, Bloomberg said.

At the heart of Beyond Carbon is the conviction that, as the science has made clear, every year matters. The idea of a Green New Deal  first suggested by the columnist Tom Friedman more than a decade ago  stands no chance of passage in the Senate over the next two years. But Mother Nature does not wait on our political calendar, and neither can we.

Bloomberg certainly has an exemplary track record with the Beyond Coal initiative: 284 coal-fired plans retired and replaced with less polluting alternatives, removing 605 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere and US$3.5 billion saved in healthcare costs. Plans are to have all remaining coal-fired plants in the United States retired within the next 11 years, Bloomberg said in his op-ed.

Obviously, this sort of success would make one confident that if this is possible, then it would be possible to completely move the grid from fossil fuels to renewable energy. However, Bloomberg steered clear of giving away any details or a deadline of any sort for this initiative. Given its magnitude, it was only reasonable to do so.

The goal of this initiative is the same as the ultimate goal on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez interpretation of the idea for a New Green Deal first suggested by Tom Friedman. In this interpretation, the 100-percent renewable power, zero carbon emission economy will be the result of efforts including investment in renewable power, boosting the grids energy efficiency, and building smart grids that distribute affordable power, and investing in things like sustainable farming and new, emission-free, transport. Related: Vietnams Energy Dilemma Is About To Become A Crisis

Its clear enough that such a massive undertaking would involve a huge amount of money. No wonder, then, that Republicans in Congress blasted the New Green Deal as wildly unrealistic and called it a radical environmental policy.

Critics do have a point. The investments needed would be massive, but proponents of the deal argue that not doing anything about climate change would cost even more over the long term. Already, extreme weather and fires over the last decade have cost the federal government some US$350 billion and these will cost the U.S. economy another US$500 billion by 2100.

Yet, according to Republicans, the Green New Deal will cost a lot more than that. The American Action Forum, a center-right organization, put the price tag at US$93 trillion. Democrats have said the figure is way too inflated but the speardriver of the bill, Ocasio-Cortez has not argued about the fact it will be quite expensive to completely switch to renewables. She has, however, offered a way to foot the bill: by raising taxes for the very wealthy to 60-70 percent. Thats another thing many have called unrealistic as people are quick to migrate if their income is being threatened by higher taxes than they can stomach.

And now here comes Bloomberg with a net worth of US$55 billion and a long experience of phasing out fossil fuel power plants. Perhaps his plan, when detailed, would sound more realistic than the Green New Deal. Whether it will be more affordable, however, is doubtful.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads from Oilprice.com:
The listing of Saudi Arabias energy giant Aramco is on track to take place in 2021, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said, echoing earlier assurances he and Aramcos chief executive made over the past year.

In January, Al-Falih said the company will issue an international bond in the second quarter of this year, mostly to fund the acquisition of a majority stake in petrochemicals major Sabic, valued at US$70 billion, but also to tap multiple sources of capital.

Given Aramcos reluctance to make any of its accounts public, as befits a company preparing for a listing, many were skeptical that the bond will take place, since international bond investors are just as interested in a companys financial health as stock investors. Yet Riyadh has been insistent both the bond and the listing are going as planned.

With or without the SABIC transaction a company the size of Aramco - its capital program and its capital spend is going to be from $40 to $50 billion a year - its very prudent they have access to the capital market, Falih also said in January.

Apparently, with or without the Aramco IPO, the company is looking to expand internationally as well.

We are no longer going to be inward-looking and focused only on monetising the kingdoms resources. Going forward the world is going to be Saudi Aramcos playground, Al-Falih told the Financial Times in February. If I have investors from New York or London or Tokyo that are investing in Saudi Aramco they want Saudi Aramco to be competing with the worlds best international oil companies, Al-Falih also said at the time.

The now notorious Aramco IPO was shelved indefinitely last summer, but in November the companys CEO, Amin Nasser, said it was going to happen, most likely in 2021, market conditions permitting. He added, however, the listing was contingent on Aramcos acquisition of Sabic.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Colorado is overhauling the laws governing how the oil and gas industry operates in the state.

The legislation seeks to put more protections on public health, safety and the environment as it relates to oil and gas development. Colorado has emerged as a major source of shale drilling in recent years, and as new fracked wells proliferate, they have encroached upon denser populations, particularly around the suburbs north of Denver.

As communities come in ever-greater contact with the industry, conflict has increased. Last year, a public referendum on increasing the required setback distance for shale wells from homes and schools became a huge flashpoint. The industry poured money into the vote, vastly outspending proponents of greater setbacks. Expanding setback distances would have put a lot of drilling off limits, so much so that the industry said it threatened to grind oil and gas production to a halt. The vote went down in defeat, and the shale industry breathed a sigh of relief.

But the same election also delivered victories for proponents of more regulation. The new governor is less of an ally of oil and gas interests than the former governor, and Democrats scored gains in the legislature. That brings us to today, where the legislature is looking to overhaul oil and gas regulations, which the industry sees as a threat to its operations. Related: Whats Behind The Cobalt Price Crash?

The bill would do several things. First, it would grant more authority to cities and counties to regulate drilling operations in their jurisdictions. This has been a perennial fight in Colorado. Several years ago, a series of bans on fracking in individual cities set off legal battles. The Colorado Supreme Court shot down those prohibitions and drilling accelerated across key parts of the state.

The new legislation would give local communities more say on siting, inspections and other matters  a more modest proposal than the fracking bans and moratoria of years past.

Currently, the states interest in developing oil and gas supersedes local interests. The state regulator can, by itself, approve the siting of a drilling operation. Under the proposed changes, drillers would need local permits for siting.

The legislation would also restrict the use of forced pooling, which allows a company to drill in an area that has multiple landowners so long as just one of the landowners approves. They can drill even if other landowners in that unit are opposed. The proposed changes under consideration would require at least 50 percent of landowners to offer their consent.

Royalty rates would also increase slightly. As it stands, non-consenting landowners receive a 12.5 percent royalty rate. That would rise to 15 percent. Related: OPEC Chief: U.S. Shale Helped Avert Total Chaos In Oil Markets

The industry says the legislation would threaten to derail shale development. It all but guarantees the industry could not operate in certain jurisdictions, Tracee Bentley, executive director of the Colorado Petroleum Council, told a state senate committee. The bill would send the message that Colorado is closed for business.

A more fundamental change comes down to the core mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates oil and gas in the state. Currently, the agency has two priorities: Regulating the industry, but also promoting its growth. The new bill working its way through the legislature would revise that mission, elevating health and safety as top priorities.

The bill cleared a legislative committee vote on March 5 and is inching forward. With Governor Jared Polis support, and Democratic control of both chambers of the states legislature, there are decent odds of passage. On the other hand, even if it passes, the industry will likely try to fight it in the courts. Both sides held rallies this week at the state capitol.

Some of the companies that will be most impacted are Anadarko Petroleum and Noble Energy Inc., the two largest holders of acreage in the state, according to Bloomberg.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Turkey appears to be throwing down the gauntlet in terms of oil exploration and its conflict with Cyprus. But things are not always as they appear. Turkey has just announced, very publicly, that it will launch oil and gas exploration off the coast of Cyprus. To wit: The Turkey foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said drilling will start in this area in the coming daysand it is a direct challenge to the Greek Cypriots, and, indeed, Exxon, which has recently started exploring in this area of the eastern Mediterranean. The Turkish foreign minister said two drilling ships would be deployed around Cyprus. The message

BREAKING: We are about to witness the next UAE/Saudi-led attack on Qatar, which has the potential to shake markets. Our network of high-level sources in the region say that the UAE is now spinning a story to its regional allies that it has proof that Qatar is supporting terrorists using its financial infrastructure. They are trying to bring down Qatar National Bank, which claims to have been hacked in 2016. The UAE story is that they found names on the QNB database that support the allegation that Qatar is financing terrorism. In other words, the UAE hacked into QNB.

Sources

- Deputy aid to Turkish Foreign Ministry

- High-level official in Turkish Energy Ministry

- High-level diplomatic, intelligence and banking sector sources in UAE

BREAKING: We are about to witness the next UAE/Saudi-led attack on Qatar, which has the potential to shake markets. Our network of high-level sources in the region say that the UAE is now spinning a story to its regional allies that it has proof that Qatar is supporting terrorists using its financial infrastructure. They are trying to bring down Qatar National Bank, which claims to have been hacked in 2016. The UAE story is that they found names on the QNB database that support the allegation that Qatar is financing terrorism. In other words, the UAE hacked into QNB.

Investors: Why You Should Bet on Cypriot Oil & Gas, Despite Turkish Threats

Turkey appears to be throwing down the gauntlet in terms of oil exploration and its conflict with Cyprus. But things are not always as they appear. Turkey has just announced, very publicly, that it will launch oil and gas exploration off the coast of Cyprus. To wit: The Turkey foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said drilling will start in this area in the coming daysand it is a direct challenge to the Greek Cypriots, and, indeed, Exxon, which has recently started exploring in this area of the eastern Mediterranean. The Turkish foreign minister said two drilling ships would be deployed around Cyprus. The message was this, with no need to read between the lines: Let those who come to the region from far away, and their companies, see that nothing can be done in that region without us. Nothing at all can be done in the Mediterranean without Turkey, we will not allow that, the foreign minister said.

But Turkeys threatswhile not empty entirelyare not exactly genuine. This is an election year, and Turkeys oil exploration rhetoric should be viewed partly in the context of these elections. Make no mistake, though, there is some substance to the threat that goes beyond mere populism.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Energy Minister Fatih Donmez have repeatedly hailed drilling operations in the Mediterranean in recent weeks. Fatih, a ship that is currently drilling off the coast of Antalya, will soon be joined by Yavuz, according to Turkish officials.

As the March 31 local elections approach, the two ships' activities are more or less vessels of nationalism for the Turkish public. They are also intended to pump up optimism about the future of the economy. In recent years, before each election, Turkey's ruling party applied the same two tactics: 1) Appealing to nationalist voters with jingoistic policies and 2) Releasing fake news stories through state-run media that hail the discovery or possible discovery of energy reserves, anywhere from southeastern Turkey to the northwest.

We have access to the foreign ministry and the energy ministry in Turkey. And while they will not outright admit that this sudden renewal of pomp and circumstance over drilling off Cyprus is about election point scoring, it is clear in lengthy talks with them that populism is the key element. A top aide of the deputy foreign ministry and a senior bureaucrat at the Energy Ministry have conceded as much. Once the elections are over, this rhetoric will suddenly be dialed down. Consider the second drilling shipthe Yavuz: Our source within the Turkish Energy Ministry admitted that it is going to be withdrawn to the Black Sea for Turkey exploration there. So it may have made it to the Mediterranean in a show of populist force against the Greek Cypriots and Western drillers, but that was more of a parade-like detour on its way back to the Black Sea.

Our source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry likewise confirmed that there was "no big game plan" for now regarding the activities of the two ships. But he also made it clear that the end game here is to stop the Cypriots by being as disruptive as possible. "Regardless of these activities, one of our red lines is to stop Greek Cypriot from exploiting the island's reserves alone by sidelining the Turkish Cypriots. We will continue to oppose it," he said.

So, what can Turkey do to disrupt Cyprus oil and gas exploration? Behind being simply a hindrance and making a big deal about it vocally, it is not clear what the Turks can do. After all, even its foremost ally, Qatar, is participating in Greek Cypriot drillingand that is the most important thing to remember. All of the noise coming out of Turkey serves two purposes: 1) political populism ahead of elections; 2) getting the UNs attention for a mandated negotiation.

The timing of the governments latest threat is significant in another way, too: On the same day last week, ExxonMobil announced a natural gas discovery off the southwest coast of Cypruscalling it the biggest find off Cyprus so far; and one of the biggest discoveries in the world in the past couple of years. The stakes have never been higher: Exxon says the preliminary data suggests 5-8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in place. It also follows a world-class discovery. But, again, Qatar Petroleum is Exxons partner in this, so that makes things a bit tricky for Turkey.

Regardless, energy is an urgent issue for Turkey, and last years currency crisis made it even more urgent. It also explains the need for the appearance of economic optimism ahead of elections. Turkey will need billions of dollars to stabilize its economy in the coming months and years, and large oil or gas discoveries, whether in the Black Sea or the Mediterranean or on the land, would be extremely beneficial.

But Turkish officials arent nearly as optimistic as their public statements would have them seem. According to our source in the Energy Ministry: "Drilling only recently started and we don't know whether it will be feasible to extract it even if we discover oil and gas reserves thousands of meters deep. It's too early," he said.

The bottom line is this: Turkey cannot stop this, and it can only go so far in even trying to hinder or threaten Exxons drilling off Cyprus. Qatar is far too important an ally for Turkey, who has definitively gone on the offensive against Saudi Crown Prince MBS. Without Qatar, Turkey has no Middle East allies outside of Iran. For investors, it should not make sense to bet against Exxon over Cypriot oil based on threats emanating from Turkey. Exxon knows this, and partnering with Qatar Petroleum was its human shield. Cypriot oil and gas will be huge.

Global Oil & Gas Playbook

Deals, Mergers & Acquisitions

- Warburg Pincus, KKR, and two independent energy producers are among the suitors for BPs shale assets worth $7 billion that the company is selling to streamline its onshore U.S. operations after the $10.5-billion acquisition of BHP Billitons shale portfolio in the country. BP plans to sell a total $10 billion worth of assets in the U.S. over the next two years.

- Japans Inpex has become the latest newcomer to the U.S. shale patch after a subsidiary of the energy major, Inpex Americas, acquired a number of exploration and production assets in the Eagle Ford play from GulfTex Energy. The buyer did not disclose the size of the deal but said it will help expand its oil and gas operations and boost production of oil and gas.

Tenders, Auctions & Contracts

- Occidental Petroleum has inked a production sharing agreement with Oman for the operation of Block 72. The deal is worth $59 million and will be carried out in two phases covering exploration before production begins. Occidental has been present in Oman for three decades and operates three oil fields there.

- TechnicFMC has scored a contract for the front-end engineering design of BPs floating production, storage and offloading vessel it will station at the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim offshore gas field spanning across the border between Mauritania and Senegal. The value of the contract is between $496 million and $1 billion, the Italian company said. The FLNG project will have an annual capacity of 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas.

- Essar Oil has become the first company granted a license for both conventional and unconventional gas exploration in India under a new, laxer regulation regime. Essar will explore for shale gas in West Bengal, in a coal bed methane block it holds the rights to. Previously, energy companies could explore for either conventional oil and gas, or shale oil and gas and coal bed methane.

Discovery & Development

- BP has started production from the Angelin natural gas field offshore Trinidad. This is the third gas project BP embarks on in Trinidad and Tobago in the last three years and also the third new project to begin production since the start of the year. The Angelin platform has a daily production capacity of 600 million cu ft of gas. Trinidad and Tobago are a major part of BPs plans to boost its average daily production by 800,000 bpd of oil equivalent by 2020, accounting for a fifth of the increase.

- Bahrain is in talks with U.S. energy companies for assistance in the development of what the sultanate proclaimed the largest oil discovery in about a century. The offshore deposit is unconventional and may contain up to 80 billion barrels of oil, of which 5-15% recoverable. The government hopes it could attract a partner with expertise from U.S. shale oil extraction by the end of the year.

- The Queensland government has approved the first large-scale LNG project in several years as gas supply for the local market tightens on the back of booming exports. The $7.14-billion Surat gas project is a joint venture between Shell and PetroChina and will bring 5 trillion cu ft of natural gas into markets, both local and international. Production should start next year, using infrastructure from a nearby Shell project, QGC.

- Total has announced it will end drilling operations at an offshore project in French Guyana after failing to strike commercial amounts of oil or gas. The company had planned five drilling sessions at the deposit but only if the first one produced promising results, which it apparently did not.

Company News

- Petrobras booked its first annual profit in five years in 2018, at $6.83 billion. The result missed analyst expectations but suggested the Brazilian energy giant is on the mend after a corruption scandal and the 2014 oil price crisis shook its foundations. The company is not yet trouble-free, with a still substantial debt load that it plans to relieve through asset sales.

- Petrofac reported $106.54 million in 2018 pre-tax profits, up more than twofold on the year, thanks to a strong order book, the company said. The value of this book stood at $9.53 billion at the end of 2019.

- Tellurian reported LNG sales revenues of $5.9 million for 2018, its second year as a public company. It also booked natural gas sales revenues of $4.4 million.

- Encana swung into a profit in the fourth quarter of 2018, at $1.03 billion versus a negative result of $229 million a year earlier. The result was boosted by a $941-million one-off gain.

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict

- Tension between India and Pakistan flared up last week when a suicide bomber attack against Indian troops led to air strikes from India.

- Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has announced he will return to Venezuela after violating a Maduro-imposed travel ban. How the incumbent in the presidents office will react may determine the outcome of the political crisis in the country. In the meantime, Maduro has managed to move another 8 tons of the countrys gold out of the Central Bank in a desperate effort to raise cash while sanctions strangle him. We dont yet know where this gold went, though it has gone previously to Turkey and the UAE.

- Algeria is undergoing something akin to an Arab Spring over President Bouteflikas announcement that he would run for a fifth term, despite massive protests calling on him to step down. Hes barely alive at this point, but determined to hold on to power despite his 82 years and a stroke that has largely incapacitated him. This time around, the Algerian regime may not be able to buy its way out of an Arab Spring with generous subsidies funded by energy wealth.

- The Saudis has scored an easy few points with Washington (while Senators are still pushing for something more over the Khashoggi murder) by stripping the son of Osama bin Laden of citizenship as the U.S. offers $1 million for information on his whereabouts. Earlier this month, Hamza bin Laden released a video in what is seen as the revival of Al-Qaeda, calling for attacks on Western targets and threatening to target Americans abroad. Other recent bones thrown to the American public by the Crown Prince include the flashy appointment of a female ambassador the U.S. (at the same time that it is rounding up female activists at home). The Crown Prince also met with Kushner for the first time since the Khashoggi murder, and Kushner is the link between the Crown Prince and Washington (via MBS creators in the UAE).

- There is now, once again, talk that Libya will hold elections by the end of the year. Last week, the prime minister of Libyas internationally recognized (tongue-in cheek) government, Fayez al-Serraj, met with powerhouse General Haftar (who controls the Libyan national army). We do not yet have any details on those talks, but the LNA is making a massive push for control and could very well make a run on Tripoli this year. Timing elections for the end of the year gives Haftar enough time to secure control.
Since then its ability to export both gas and electricity to Iraq has increased.

Irans internal response to sanctions in the past has been to increase oil burn for power generation, maximise refinery throughput and use petrochemical plant to produce oil products such as gasoline. In 2010, Irans oil use in power generation was about 225,000 b/d, but, by 2013, at the height of the earlier sanctions period, this had more than doubled to 471,000 b/d.

Irans use of oil for power generation is likely to rise sharply this year as a result of the re-imposition of US sanctions on the countrys crude exports from November 5 last year. Irans crude exports were estimated at between 1.1-1.3 million b/d in January and February, according to industry sources, down from 2.5 million b/d in April 2018 just before Washington withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

There are two reasons why oil-for-power use will buck its long-term trend in both 2019 and 2020, even though the secular forces pushing it slowly towards obscurity are now more powerful than ever before.

Oil demand for power generation has been in long-term decline since 1990 as countries have gradually displaced oil with cheaper feedstocks, primarily coal and natural gas. Since 1990, this process has freed up some 2 million b/d of oil for other uses. However, oil for power still accounts for just over 4 million b/d of demand or 4-5% of global oil consumption.

Oil demand for power generation has been in long-term decline since 1990 as countries have gradually displaced oil with cheaper feedstocks, primarily coal and natural gas. Since 1990, this process has freed up some 2 million b/d of oil for other uses. However, oil for power still accounts for just over 4 million b/d of demand or 4-5% of global oil consumption.

There are two reasons why oil-for-power use will buck its long-term trend in both 2019 and 2020, even though the secular forces pushing it slowly towards obscurity are now more powerful than ever before.

Iran sanctions

Irans use of oil for power generation is likely to rise sharply this year as a result of the re-imposition of US sanctions on the countrys crude exports from November 5 last year. Irans crude exports were estimated at between 1.1-1.3 million b/d in January and February, according to industry sources, down from 2.5 million b/d in April 2018 just before Washington withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Irans internal response to sanctions in the past has been to increase oil burn for power generation, maximise refinery throughput and use petrochemical plant to produce oil products such as gasoline. In 2010, Irans oil use in power generation was about 225,000 b/d, but, by 2013, at the height of the earlier sanctions period, this had more than doubled to 471,000 b/d.

Since then its ability to export both gas and electricity to Iraq has increased. Tehran has every incentive to maximise oil burn at home to sustain the revenues gas and electricity exports provide. Power blackouts were also cited as a key grievance behind violent protests in the oil producing Basra region in Iraq last year. Given the failings of its own gas and electricity grids, Baghdad is equally keen to see these imports continue.

The US is thus engaged in multiple balancing acts when it comes to sanctions.

Although US officials have reiterated their desire to reduce Iranian crude exports to zero as they consider the extension and possible tightening of waivers from April, it is also a major supportive factor for crude oil prices. Higher oil prices hit the pockets of US consumers at a time of economic fragility just as presidential elections loom on the horizon.

Equally, forcing a reduction in gas and electricity imports from Iran to Iraq risks stoking social and political discontent within Iraq, which is also a major oil exporter.

US sanctions on Iran take barrels off the international market, but are also likely to see Iranian oil for power generation double from just over 150,000 b/d in 2017 to around 300,000 b/d or more in 2019 and 2020.

Sulphur rules

The second factor likely to push oil-for-power use higher in the next two years is the International Maritime Organisations 0.5% cap on sulphur in bunker fuels, which comes into effect from January 1 2020. A lack of conversion capacity worldwide is expected to see a temporary surplus of as much as 500,000 b/d of High Sulphur Fuel Oil (HSFO) as shipping turns to lower sulphur fuels.

While many countries which still burn significant amounts of oil for power - for example South Korea and Japan - will be blocked from taking this cheap feedstock by domestic air pollution regulations, others - particularly in the former Soviet Union and Middle East - do not face such restrictions. Cheap HSFO will temporarily displace other feedstocks in areas such as power generation, refinery own use and cement production.

Secular decline

2019 and 2020 are, however, likely to be the exceptions that prove the rule, although how long the USs current sanctions regime lasts and how tightly it is applied are key uncertainties.

Oils demise as a source of power generation will continue in the longer term, owing to the rise of both gas/LNG supply and distributed renewable generation.

The largest use of oil for power is in the Middle East, most notably Saudi Arabia, but Saudi Arabia saw a peak in oil-for-power generation in 2015, while for the region as a whole the high point was in 2013, driven by sanctions-induced Iranian consumption. Gas in power generation in the Middle East has been rising steadily, displacing oil and allowing oil producers to sustain oil exports.

The region generated 840 TWh of electricity from gas in 2017 up 7.7% from 2016 and a jump of almost 50% from 2013, displacing predominantly direct crude burn and HSFO use.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE all have large gas expansion programs. By 2030, Saudi Arabia plans to add 93 Bcm a year of new gas supply, Abu Dhabi 31 Bcm and Kuwait 29 Bcm as all three start to more intensively develop non-associated gas reserves. This gas will be used to support oil field production, for power generation, in refineries and as petrochemical feedstock.

On the power generation side, growing gas use will be supported by the development of 5.6 GW of nuclear capacity in the UAE and large amounts of solar capacity. New solar projects announced across the Middle East and North Africa region exceeded 12 GW last year. Current plans suggest as much as 25 GW of solar capacity could be built in the Middle East by 2030.

Gas is also making serious inroads into other key oil-for-power markets. Mexico can expect to see oil demand for power generation fall as increasingly large amounts of US shale gas flood across its northern border. In Pakistan, oil use in power generation tripled between 2004-2014, but the country can now import LNG and is developing its LNG-to-power supply chain. Egypt has already curtailed its oil use in power generation as a result of developing its East Mediterranean gas reserves. Oil-for-power use in these markets will become an emergency back-up option.

Remote usage

However, oil in power generation faces other threats, namely distributed renewables and small-scale LNG as an alternative to off-grid diesel generation in remote areas. Renewable energy sources and batteries are competitive against diesel in island settings, while small-scale LNG infrastructure is expanding in the Caribbean. Both renewables and small-scale LNG can offer competition to diesel in large archipelagos such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

Micro-renewables are increasingly seen as a cheaper and more effective way of achieving universal electricity access targets in developing economies. Diesel remains expensive, but renewables can deliver small amounts of power for critical needs at much lower capital cost than the build out of electricity and gas grid infrastructure, delivering in terms of both capital and operating costs. Micro solar is proving popular in countries like Nigeria and Kenya where the alternative would be a small diesel generator. Electrification is progressing on a different path than before.

Given the rise in gas supply, both pipeline and LNG, oil-for-power use will eventually resume its steady long-term downward trend. After an increase in 2019 and 2020, a major downward adjustment could occur if there is a change in US policy on Iran after the 2020 presidential elections, at precisely the same time that the impacts of the IMOs sulphur cap are being resolved.
- The market once again saw a stock buildup for the week ended March 01 (API reported 7.3MMBBl w-o-w  EIA 7.1 million bpd. - US crude exports dropped to 3.4mbpd from last weeks 3.6mbpd, with imports falling along at a much steeper rate to 5.6mbpd, some 1.6mbpd down from the week ended February 15. - After weeks of incremental decreases, the refinery utilization rate started its move upwards with a 1.2 percent hike to 87.1 percent, on the back of 179kbpd of additional

Early signs (see Point 4) point to the possibility of a breakthrough in US-China trade talks, yet if the history of the last four months is anything to go by, do not bet your money on it yet. As of Wednesday end of day, Brent traded 65.7-66 USD per barrel, whilst WTI oscillated around the 56 USD per barrel mark.

The correlation between the OPEC/OPEC+ production cuts and rising US production has been the theme of the oil market for the past several months and most likely will be further on. This week has been no different, creating a peculiar set of counteracting trends that first push prices up, then pull them down  OPEC producing the lowest volume in 4 years was easily undone by two US oil majors, Chevron and ExxonMobil revealing their ambitious plans to ramp up Permian output even higher than it is already, with US crude stocks most likely rebounding back from last weeks decline.

The correlation between the OPEC/OPEC+ production cuts and rising US production has been the theme of the oil market for the past several months and most likely will be further on. This week has been no different, creating a peculiar set of counteracting trends that first push prices up, then pull them down  OPEC producing the lowest volume in 4 years was easily undone by two US oil majors, Chevron and ExxonMobil revealing their ambitious plans to ramp up Permian output even higher than it is already, with US crude stocks most likely rebounding back from last weeks decline.

Early signs (see Point 4) point to the possibility of a breakthrough in US-China trade talks, yet if the history of the last four months is anything to go by, do not bet your money on it yet. As of Wednesday end of day, Brent traded 65.7-66 USD per barrel, whilst WTI oscillated around the 56 USD per barrel mark.

1. US Crude Stocks Rise While Gasoline and Distillate Inventories Draw

- The market once again saw a stock buildup for the week ended March 01 (API reported 7.3MMBBl w-o-w  EIA 7.1 million bpd.

- US crude exports dropped to 3.4mbpd from last weeks 3.6mbpd, with imports falling along at a much steeper rate to 5.6mbpd, some 1.6mbpd down from the week ended February 15.

- After weeks of incremental decreases, the refinery utilization rate started its move upwards with a 1.2 percent hike to 87.1 percent, on the back of 179kbpd of additional crude being refined.

- Motor gasoline stocks have dropped for the fourth week in a row by 4.2MMbbl to 250.7MMbbl in total, which, however, is still more than 4MMbbl above the 5-year average.

- Distillate inventories have edged lower, too, albeit insignificantly by 2.4MMbbl to 136MMbbl, some 4MMbbl below the 5-year average rate.

2. Saudi Aramco Raises All Its Asia-Bound April OSPs

- The Saudi national oil company Saudi Aramco has mandated an across-the-board increase of all its April-loading grades destined for Asia Pacific.

- Arab Light and Extra Light witnessed the steepest increase, rising 50 cents month-on-month to $1.45 and $1.20 premiums over the Oman/Dubai average.

- Interestingly, Saudi Aramco cut its Mediterranean prices, with FOB Ras Tanura prices dropping a hefty $80-90 cents month-on-month, whilst FOB Sidi Kerir OSPs were down by some $60-70 cents compared to March.

- This sweeping reduction is largely Saudi Aramcos reaction to Europes leading medium sour crude Urals weakening against Dated Brent, swinging back into discount territory after it traded much of January at a premium to Brent.

- Saudi Aramco April-loading OSPs for Northwest Europe were cut, too, however to a smaller extent than the Mediterranean ones, by $30-40 cents per barrel.

- Saudi Aramco rolled over its Arab Light, Medium and Heavy US-bound prices for the third consecutive month, only hiking the Arab Extra Light OSP by $30 cents to a 4.8 premium vs ASCI.

3. China Cuts VAT, Impacting Energy Profitability

- To buttress its slowing economy, Chinese authorities intend to cut value added tax (VAT) for the manufactoring sector from the current 16 percent rate to 13 percent.

- Resulting in refiners having to pay less tax on the crude they purchase, eventually bringing about savings around 1 USD per barrel on gasoline/diesel sales.

- The effect will be even more palpable with imported gasoline, diesel and fuel oil supplies, which are currently subject to a 1 percent import duty (as opposed to crude), and even more so for bitumen, lubricants and aromatics, whose import duties are even higher.

- Analysts predict the VAT cut will not produce that much of an explosion on the Chinese domestic market as the nation still experiences motor fuel oversupply, which will influence profitability more than tax rate changes.

- Pipeline gas and LNG, which are currently subject to a 10 percent VAT rate, will see it fall 1 percent.

4. US Exports First Cargo of 2019 to China

- After China stopped buying American crude starting December 2019, shipping data suggest a thaw in relations might not be that far away.

- MT Maran Artemis has finished loading at the Southtex Lightering Zone on February 28 and is now on its way to Qingdao where it should arrive by mid-April.

- This marks the first occasion this year that a US crude-laden vessel is loaded and dispatched to China.

- Interestingly, the loading took place three days after US President Donald Trumps decision to postpone the tariff hike on Chinese goods that was initially planned for March 01.

- Compared to the 53 million and 67 million barrels of US crude supplied to China in 2017 and 2018, this years one cargo (1.2 million barrels) indicates 2019 numbers will most probably lag significantly behind.

5. El Sharara Force Majeure Lifted

(Click to enlarge)

- The Libyan national oil company NOC lifted the 300kbpd El Sharara fields force majeure status on Monday, stating production would start within hours and that it would be just a matter of days until the field gets back to its pre-shutdown production capacity.

- This is more than welcome news for Libyas oil sector in general, which without El Sharara and El Feel volumes dropped to 0.89mbpd in January-February 2019 from its multi-year high of 1.16mbpd in October 2018.

- NOC estimates that shutdown and restart costs, equipment theft and missed-opportunity losses during the 3 past months amount to a hefty $1.8 billion, corroborating the necessity to create their own armed forces.

- It remains to be seen to what extent did General Haftars Libyan National Army retain its presence around El Sharara, however, all members of the operating company Akakus Oil received written confirmations from LNA guaranteeing the safety of operation.

6. ExxonMobil Announces Cyprus Gas Find

- ExxonMobil announced a new gas discovery in Cyprus offshore zone, spudding its Glaucus-I wildcat well in Block 10 to a total depth of 4200m.

- Having encountered 133 metres of an excellent gas-bearing reservoir, the Glaucus is estimated contain 5-8 TCf of gas, confirming assumptions that fields in Blocks 10 and 11 have a similar structure that Egypts giant field Zohr, located just a couple dozen miles from there.

- Somewhat taming the drillers ardour, in early February ExxonMobil and its JV partner Qatar Petroleum have spudded the Delphynus-I wildcat some 10 miles to the south of Glaucus and found no commercial volumes of natural gas.

- With Cypriot offshore drilling in full swing, Turkey has stated it would start drilling in the maritime zone northwest of Cyprus, the demarcation of which is still pending.

- Turkeys foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu promised to spud the first well as soon as April, however Turkeys national upstream company TPAO retorted it can only start operations from summer.

7. PDVSA Gas Head Jailed

- Further tightening the screws within the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in another tour de force of law enforcement zeal, the Venezuelan military intelligence unit Sebin detained the president of the PDVSA gas division, Rosa Mota.

- With the military searching for scapegoats to blame the current dilapidated condition on, Mota made headway with the offshore Dragon field being developed jointly by Royal Dutch Shell, PDVSA and Trinidads NGC.

- Interestingly, Mota was detained when PDVSA CEO Manuel Quevedo was out of the country, travelling to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for an OPEC-IEA workshop.

- Even though 90 percent of Venezuelas gas is associated and is mostly reinjected or flared, gas production did not witness a drop as radical as that of crude, with output standing at 3.6 BCfd as of early 2018.
The U.S. and China are closing in on a trade deal, and the result could be a lot more U.S. LNG heading east.

Reports suggest that Trump is eager to ink a deal, whether or not the content of the agreement resolves all or even most of American grievances, because he fears that the lack of a deal would sink the stock market. At this point, he views that as a domestic political threat, with the 2020 presidential campaign starting up. On top of that, the collapse of talks with North Korea have made Trump a little hungry for a win.

China, too, wants a resolution, although they didnt want the trade war to begin with. In other words, the stars seem to be somewhat aligned in favor of a deal. But that doesnt mean that the huge, sweeping structural issues dividing the two nations will be solved. Far from it. In fact, the rush to sign a trade agreement likely means that those issues will simply be pushed off. Nevertheless, a deal would signal the end of the trade war, taking one of the largest downside risks to commodity markets off of the table.

Moreover, the trade deal itself might result in a stepped up purchases of energy. The Wall Street Journal reported that an agreement may include China buying as much as $18 billion worth of LNG from Cheniere Energy. The LNG exporter saw its stock jump more than 3 percent on the news. After that report, Cheniere admitted that it had been in talks with Sinopec for some time. The two sides are close to a 20-year agreement.

The WSJ also reported that Chinese banks would provide some financing for Cheniere to expand its export facilities. That would be a strong signal that there will be other (contracts) to follow, said Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, told the WSJ. Cheniere is close to giving the greenlight for a sixth liquefaction train at its Sabine Pass export terminal, according to Reuters. Related: Asian LNG Prices Continue To Tumble

Sinopec is hoping to build several more import terminals in order to double its import and regasification capacity, according to Reuters. In fact, China is the main driver of global LNG demand, and sits at the center of any short-, medium- and long-term LNG forecast.

But the LNG market has suddenly hit a rough patch, in no small part because of some softening in Chinese demand.

LNG prices in Asia have been in a steady decline in recent days and weeks, recently plunging to a 19-month low. That is notable since the winter is often when demand is highest, but warmer than average temperatures in China have kept consumption for heating in check. Also, China saw natural gas shortages last winter, stemming from both cold temperatures and an aggressive coal-to-gas switch for home heating. This year, China was more prepared, and ample stocks of gas have left imports flagging.

Meanwhile, Japan recently started up five nuclear reactors that had been shuttered since the Fukushima catastrophe in 2011. Japan is the largest LNG importer in the world, so any competition in the electric power sector has direct effects on LNG markets. As those five reactors reach full capacity, Japans LNG imports could dip by 6 percent, according to the EIA.

Low prices are actually starting to deter buyers from signing new deals. If supplies are abundant, there is less incentive to lock oneself into a rigid long-term agreement. But developers of new export terminals tend to need those contracts in order to secure financing for new projects. As a result, new LNG projects are starting to fall behind deadlines while others risk being cancelled outright, according to S&P Global Platts. A few high-profile projects recently received a greenlight, particularly in the U.S., but those appear to be exceptions to the rule. Related: Bezos, Bloomberg And Gates Back Revolutionary Exploration Tech

We expect several further FIDs to be taken in 2019. But this is a race with clear frontrunners, and the finish line is well in sight, S&P Global Platts Analytics said in its 2019 outlook report. LNG buyers remain reluctant to sign long-term contracts, and hence project developers that are able to finance a project without firm offtake agreements seem to be in the driving seat.

More to the point, however, is that a wave of new LNG export capacity is set to come online this year, threatening to keep the market oversupplied into the early 2020s. Many projects that have not already received an FID may not move forward at all. According to S&P Global Platts and Bernstein Research, new LNG supply could fall off a cliff after 2020 due to the dearth of new investment. As a result, by the mid-2020s there could be a supply deficit  setting off another boom following the unfolding bust.

In the short run, the emerging U.S.-China trade deal could remove one headwind from LNG prices. China slapped a 10 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. LNG last year, and the removal of that levy, plus an $18 billion-dollar deal for gas from Cheniere Energy, could provide a jolt to LNG markets.

However, the Cheniere-Sinopec deal may have happened anyway. Without the trade spat, the deal should have been signed some time ago, a source told Reuters.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Canada recorded a record trade deficit in December 2018, almost entirely due to declining energy exports as a result of falling crude oil prices and decade-low Canadian oil prices, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.

Canadas exports dropped by 3.8 percent in December, while imports rose by 1.6 percent, due to higher imports of energy products. As a result, Canadas trade deficit with the world widened to a record US$3.44 billion (C$4.6 billion) in December from US$1.5 billion (C$2.0 billion) in November.

Excluding energy products, Canadas exports were essentially unchanged in December. Since July, Canadian exports have dropped by 9.8 percent, and energy products were responsible for 80 percent of that decline, Statistics Canada said.

Canadian exports of energy products slumped by 21.7 percent in December, to the lowest level since July 2016. Crude oil exports plunged by 28.7 percent to US$2.5 billion (C$3.3 billion), down by more than half since peaking in July 2018, according to Statistics Canada.

As Canadian oil production was growing last year, takeaway capacity constraints and maintenance at U.S. refineries in the fall of 2018 drove down the price of Western Canadian Select (WCS)the benchmark price of oil from Canadas oil sandsto as low as US$14 a barrel in October and November, with its discount to WTI at around US$50 a barrel.

In early December, the Alberta government moved in to shore up the price of Canadian heavy oil and in the most drastic measure yet, the province of Alberta mandated an oil production cut of 325,000 bpd beginning in January 2019.

Alberta eased some of the cuts last week, saying that April oil production would be up by 100,000 bpd compared to the initial limit set for January.

In recent weeks, the discount of WCS to WTI has been below US$15 a barrel, compared to more than a US$40 differential in the fall of 2018.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Iran is smuggling crude oil in violation of the U.S. sanctions and this needs to stop, Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, urging the international community to do the stopping, the Times of Israel reports.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony at a naval base in Haifa, the Prime Minister said Iran is trying to bypass the sanctions on it through the covert smuggling of petroleum via the sea, adding As these attempts expand, the navy will have a more important role in efforts to block these Iranian actions.

The latter part of this statement is particularly interesting since the Israeli navy has not traditionally had any presence in the Persian Gulf.

The Israeli Prime Minister also called on the international community to halt, by any means, Irans attempts to bypass the sanctions via the sea.

However most of what we usually mean by the international community is still part of the Iran nuclear deal: the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China. None of these countries wants to antagonize Iran or cut off relations with it, which makes Neanyahus calls for halting Irans oil exports devoid of actual meaning.

Last month, Iran carried out a large-scale military drill in the Persian Gulf in the latest muscle-flexing exercise as the United Stateswhich unlike Israel has a presence in the Gulfsteps up the sanction pressure on Tehran.

Several Tehran officials have threatened to close off the Strait of Hormuz if the countrys oil exports are reduced to zero, which has prompted the U.S. to strengthen its presence in the Gulf. So far, the threats have not had consequences, with the likelihood of Irans oil exports going down to zero roughly equal to the likelihood of any other power present in the Gulf letting it close off the worlds top oil chokepoint.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Landslide-blocked Mailung-Syaphru road section yet to come into operation

The Mailung-Syaphrubesi section of the Galchhi-Trishuli-Mailung-Syph-rubesi-Rasuwagadhi road project, which was obstructed by landslides some nine months ago, has not yet been cleared of landslide debris.
The UK government launched on Thursday a joint government-industry Offshore Wind Sector Deal, which is expected to significantly raise the share of renewable energy generation by 2030 and help it overtake fossil fuel-powered generation for the first time in UK history.

By 2030, the UK government expects 70 percent of the electricity generated in the UK to come from low-carbon sources, with offshore wind power in the countrys generation rising to 30 percent by 2030.

According to the latest quarterly figures from the UKs Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the share of low carbon electricity generation accounted for a record high 56 percent in the third quarter of 2018, up from 54 percent in the same period of 2017, thanks to higher power generation from renewable sources.

Renewables share of electricity generation jumped to a record 33.1 percent in Q3 2018, from 30.0 percent in Q3 2017, with renewable electricity capacity at 43.2 GW at the end of the third quarter of 2018, up by 10 percent, or 3.9 GW, compared to a year earlier.

According to the new Offshore Wind Sector Deal unveiled today, the share of offshore wind of the annual UK power generation rose from just 0.8 percent in 2010 to 6.2 percent in 2017, and is expected to further rise to around 10 percent by 2020.

The UK government and the industry are committing to long-term certainty in renewable power contracts and investments in infrastructure, respectively, to boost the offshore wind industry in the UK.

The sector will deliver total infrastructure investments of over US$52.5 billion (40 billion) by 2030, based on the sectors estimates, according to the deal. The UK government, for its part, will provide up to US$732 million (557 million) available for future Contracts for Difference.

The deal is also expected to triple the number of jobs in the UK offshore wind sector to 27,000 by 2030.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Russias largest oil producer, state-run Rosneft, plans to open a trading arm in Singapore in a bid to boost its crude sales on the fastest-growing oil market in the world, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing six sources with knowledge of the companys strategy.

Rosneft registered Rosneft Singapore at the end of last year and plans to relocate several employees from Moscow to Singapore this spring and summer, according to the sources.

The Russian oil giant has also reportedly picked a top crude trader, Andrey Bogatenkov, who is currently the first deputy head of crude and product exports for Rosneft in Moscow, to lead the new Asian trading division, some of the sources told Reuters.

Rosneft has started to pay more attention to the fast-growing Asian oil consumer market, aiming to seize more opportunities there, as U.S. sanctions have made Western financing for Russian firms more complicated. This has made many Russian energy firms, including Rosneft, to increasingly borrow more funds from Asian companies and banks.

According to Russias energy ministry data cited by Reuters, Rosnefts crude oil exports to markets in Asia Pacific stood at 51 million tons, or 1 million bpd, in 2018. This was around half of Rosnefts foreign crude oil sales.

In November last year, Rosneft signed a crude oil supply deal with China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) to send ESPO crude of up to 2.4 million tons through the Kozmino port for a year.

Conclusion of the contract will lead to an increase in direct supplies of oil to the strategic Chinese market and ensure a guaranteed cost-effective export channel for the Company's crude sales, Rosneft said in November, adding that its crude oil sales to China accounted for 6.5 percent of total Chinese crude oil imports in 2017.

In India, another key growth Asian market, Rosneft holds 49.13 percent in Nayara Energy Limited, which owns the second largest private refinery in the country.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Russian accounts of Venezuelas state oil company PDVSA and all other Venezuelan companies will be moved to a Russian bank that is sanctioned by the United States, Russias RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing two sources familiar with the plans.

Russia is the staunchest supporter of Nicolas Maduros regime in the political power struggle in the Latin American country sitting on top of the worlds largest oil reserves, while the U.S. and many European nations have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president. Russia has stood by Maduro for years and has poured billions of U.S. dollars in Venezuela in the form of loans and oil investments in joint ventures.

The Russian authorities have decided to move the Russian accounts of Venezuelan firms to the Russian Financial Corporation Bank (RFC Bank) after they held consultations with Venezuela and the businesses, according to RIA Novostis sources.

RFC will become the main bank for servicing all Venezuelan business, most of all, PDVSA, one of the sources told the Russian news agency.

The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on RFC Bank in April 2018, because the bank is a subsidiary of state-owned Russian weapons trading company Rosoboroneksport. The U.S. sanctions on RFC Bank came along with the designation of seven Russian oligarchs and 12 companies they own or control, including Oleg Deripaska, and 17 senior Russian government officials.

Russias Gazprombank has frozen accounts held by PDVSA and has stopped conducting transactions involving these accounts on concern of getting penalized under the latest round of U.S. sanctions against PDVSA, Reuters reported last month, quoting an unnamed source at Gazprombank.

The Venezuelan state oil firm was quick to describe the report as fake news on Twitter.

Yet Reuters reporters note that Russian companies are wary of falling under secondary sanctions for doing direct business with PDVSA, despite the Kremlins official support for the Maduro government.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
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...
According to a report by San Diego media outlet 7 Investigates, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials created a secret database of journalists, lawyers and other immigration advocates who were reporting on or working with members of the migrant caravan.

A Department of Homeland Security source leaked screenshots of the database to 7 Investigates. The American photojournalists on the list include Kitra Cahana, Ariana Drehsler, Go Nakamura, Bing Chen Guan and Robert Wilson. The database indicates that alerts were placed on the photojournalists passports, and in some cases says that the photojournalists were interviewed by federal agents.

According to the 7 Investigates report, Drehsler was pulled into lengthy screenings and warned by customs officials that an alert was placed on her passport. Cahana told 7 Investigates she was detained for 13 hours in Mexico City before being denied entry into the U.S. for no reason, and that she was denied entry into Mexico on other occasions.

Read the report and review the database images on the 7 Investigates site here.
Jamas nos callaran



Fisica y culturalmente



Nec plus ultra, nec variatur



Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript.

Precio del WTI To get the oil price, please enable Javascript.

Paginas vistas en total

Dolar USA Vs Euro

Sin ellas, no seremos



Deja vu



Nada que celebrar



Hasta cuando?



Colombia Hoy



Para nunca olvidar



'Parasite' painted on a statue of Queen, Elizabeth in Kent, England



Sin palabras



La UE le apunta a la paz



Cada vez mas solo



Precio del Oro To get the gold price, please enable Javascript.

LULA y su Pueblo



Bye Bye



Homenaje al genial Quino



Fueron ellos



Una imagen que resume



Tan bajo ha caido que se deja tocar el trasero?



Porky y el Nene (archiconocido narcotraficante)



Ladrones al poder



Asi mira el perrito a su amo



Crazy



Clamor popular



La nueva inquisicion



Bolivia



Chile Hoy



Eso es todo amigos!



Piensalo!



Pinerachet



No More Trump



Adios Macri, hasta nunca



La Marioneta se desinfla



Asi o mas cinico



Almugre



Mexico en 1794



Mas arrastrado imposible



Hasta cuando!



La pura verdad



Solidaridad con Palestina



Serie Capitalismo



Espejismos de la clase trabajadora



Asi es!



Comerciantes o delincuentes



No pasaran!



Asi es la vida



USA HOY



01/01/1959



La avaricia no tiene limites



AYUDA HUMANITARIA?



Chile Hoy



Asi son las cosas



Mapa Electoral de Venezuela



Patagonia argentina?



Un aniversario mas del mayor genocidio de la Humanidad



Retrato del franquismo en Espana



Visca Catalunya!



El Chulo de Madrid



Cuando la policia se roba la democracia



Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras



La purita verdad



Asi gobierna la maldita burguesia



Mi pobre clase media



Como Chavez nadie



Comparte La Colmena via twitter Twittear

Programa de la MUD



Asi o mas clarito



Por que Trump no ataco Corea del Norte?



Hace 15 anos Por que la OEA no se pronuncio?



Una verguenza nacional



La luz que nos guia



La Union Europea Premio Nobel de la Paz?



Feudalismo ayer y hoy



Obama, el mentiroso



Curiosa coincidencia



Un mundo de cerdos



No es extrano?



La Marioneta



Los ricos protestan, los pobres celebran



MARICORI Y OBAMA



Cuantas muertes este ano?



USA TODAY



USA HOY 6



USA HOY 5



USA HOY 4



USA HOY 3



USA HOY 2



USA HOY (1)



Insaciable



Cronologia de un agresor



Guarimbear en USA



Mexico hoy



Bolivar y Chavez



Primero Amargado



Dios los cria y ellos se juntan



USA hoy (III)



USA hoy (II)



USA hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Obama



La verdad sea dicha



Los ricos



Que no nos vea Obama



Pobre Obama



SOS PALESTINA



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



Archivo del blog Archivo del blog marzo (4) abril (9) mayo (8) junio (10) julio (11) agosto (10) septiembre (17) octubre (11) noviembre (15) diciembre (10) enero (9) febrero (10) marzo (8) abril (5) mayo (6) junio (8) julio (13) agosto (10) septiembre (7) octubre (12) noviembre (8) diciembre (15) enero (17) febrero (11) marzo (11) abril (12) junio (6) julio (11) agosto (15) septiembre (5) octubre (15) noviembre (14) diciembre (11) enero (13) febrero (9) marzo (10) abril (8) mayo (7) junio (12) julio (12) agosto (8) septiembre (8) octubre (4) diciembre (8) enero (35) febrero (20) marzo (29) abril (19) mayo (21) junio (27) julio (21) agosto (28) septiembre (40) octubre (47) noviembre (21) diciembre (34) enero (62) febrero (81) marzo (117) abril (141) mayo (114) junio (111) julio (126) agosto (98) septiembre (160) octubre (234) noviembre (493) diciembre (319) enero (219) febrero (267) marzo (230) abril (291) mayo (347) junio (223) julio (179) agosto (191) septiembre (239) octubre (350) noviembre (406) diciembre (353) enero (284) febrero (202) marzo (274) abril (250) mayo (232) junio (251) julio (188) agosto (249) septiembre (230) octubre (178) noviembre (141) diciembre (164) enero (187) febrero (147) marzo (211) abril (190) mayo (199) junio (164) julio (162) agosto (174) septiembre (182) octubre (225) noviembre (114) diciembre (132) enero (223) febrero (147) marzo (133) abril (108) mayo (387) junio (465) julio (785) agosto (748) septiembre (485) octubre (681) noviembre (754) diciembre (805) enero (708) febrero (896) marzo (735) abril (831) mayo (723) junio (555) julio (658) agosto (619) septiembre (457) octubre (455) noviembre (295) diciembre (269) enero (534) febrero (556) marzo (205) abril (119) mayo (194) junio (255) julio (294) agosto (182) septiembre (207) octubre (340) noviembre (351) diciembre (281) enero (114) febrero (128) marzo (216) abril (195) mayo (116) junio (141) julio (182) agosto (181) septiembre (50) octubre (72) noviembre (104) diciembre (88) enero (168) febrero (102) marzo (151) abril (207) mayo (43) junio (72) julio (35) agosto (146) septiembre (54) octubre (46) noviembre (48)

Chavez Cuanto te queremos!



Por culpa de Chavez



Cerveza Polar







Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar







Translate













LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares?



























Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano...



Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos:



Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias.



Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera.



No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje.



En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio.



Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida.



Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella.



Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal.



Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista.



Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen.



Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che?



Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio.



Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora.



Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo.



Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo.



Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania.



No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar.



Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga.





Alguna duda?



Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino



Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia.



OZ1



OZ2



OZ3



OZ4



Homenaje a Jason Galarraga



La Victoria de Samotracia



Odalisca



Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008



























La Sierra Nevada de Merida



Nuestro precioso Churum Meru



Homenaje a Picasso



Autoretrato



Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola?

La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.

Mi profesion?

Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.

Sal en la Coca Cola?

A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.

De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:

Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto

Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)

azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)

Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas

Mucha Cafeina

Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio

Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe

Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion

El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.

Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.

Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.

En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).

Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.

La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.

Bebidas Light?

Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el

Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.



Publicado por loretahur



En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur

MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina:

1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias.

2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina.

3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard.

4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos.

5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla.

6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos.

Ahora... sobre la margarina:

1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) .

2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias.

3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno).

4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer.

5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna.

6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo.

7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina.

Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas:

* No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo).

* No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!!



No a la guerra, Si a la Paz



Misterios de la ciencia...



Los costos de la guerra



medicos y capitalismo...



Capitalismo...



medicos (2)



Quien educa a nuestros hijos?



Los Medios...



Sin Palabras...



Chistes feministas

- Cual es el problema, Eva?

- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz...

- Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.

- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...

- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.

- Que es un hombre?

- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.

- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.

- Cual es el truco?.

- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.

- Cual?

- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.





Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Ellas...



Ellas (2)...



Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1

Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije:

-Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro.

Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria.

Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre?

-Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa!



VENGANZA NUMERO 2

Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris.

A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita:

- Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!!

Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta.

La mujer paso quince dias en Francia.

El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla.

Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es:

- Y amor me trajiste mi francesita??

- Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina.



VENGANZA NUMERO 3

El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion.

- No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo.

- Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz.

Te quiero confesar algo.

- Esta bien, esta bien. Habla!

- He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga.

- Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!!



machismo y cibernetica



Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston.

-Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide.

-Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!.



.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti.

Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos.

Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco.

Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas



Gol !!!!



Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso!



Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy!


This semester my EdMethods students used Microsoft Sway for their final lesson design projects. This document-based lesson by Nicole Matier students examine a variety of source material in preparation for a debate.

Students will use these sources to construct an argument to debate the question: Was the U.S. justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Japan?

After you read these documents you are going to create a thesis statement in response to the essential question. Be sure to collect evidence from the text to support your thesis statement. When doing this consider whether the evidence you are choosing appeals to a reader through ethos, pathos or logos.

For a direct link to the Sway click here.

More lessons in this series.

Click navigation tab in lower right to to scroll and eliminate cookie notification.

Like this: Like Loading...
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

FOUR persons were killed, while two others were wounded in a shooting incident in a wake in Infanta, Quezon on Wednesday evening, March 6.

The Infanta police identified the slain persons as Herman Cuento, 70; Leon Turgo Cuento, 73; Manuel Avellaneda Cuerdo, 41; and Michael Nuza Cuento, 50.

Wounded were Maximo Junio Cuento, 56, and Napoleon Miras, 68.

Based on initial investigation, a man, armed with a caliber .45 pistol, entered the house in Purok Irrigation, Barangay Ilog in Infanta and shot the victims, who were then attending a wake.

The gunman escaped after shooting the victims.

The victims were rushed to Claro M. Recto Memorial District Hospital but only two of them survived.

Investigation is ongoing. (SunStar Philippines)
PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Albayalde defended on Thursday, March 7, the manner of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Major General Guillermo Eleazar in confronting a cop who

PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Albayalde defended on Thursday, March 7, the manner of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Major General Guillermo Eleazar in confronting a cop who was arrested on Wednesday for extortion.

Kung minsan talagang hindi mo maiwasan yung outburst mo dahil sa sobrang galit. Pareho din yan ng kung minsan napapalo natin yung mga anak natin sa bahay, Albayalde said.

(There are times when you can't control your anger. That's the same with punishing our kids at home.)

Despite kasi itong mga direktiba na paulit-ulit sa mga kapulisan natin na tumigil na sa mga ganitong gawain ay ito pa rin ang ginagawa ng iilan sa amin, he added.

(Despite the directives repeatedly released by our police regarding extortion, some of the cops are still doing it.)

Albayalde said if it was him, he could have done more.

He said there is a small portion of erring cops who remain in the service, but every time their illegal activities are reported, the whole organization is negatively affected.

This, he added, is unfair, as they try to change the publics perception on the PNP.

"Ginagawa namin lahat para mabago 'yung imahe namin para mapatunayan sa ating mga kababayan na gusto naming magbago (We are doing everything to change the public's negative perception on the PNP, so we can prove them that we want to change)," he said.

Albayalde said since July 2016, a total of 2,528 policemen were dismissed, while 4,511 others had been suspended from service amid the PNPs intensified internal cleansing.

On Tuesday evening, March 5, police arrested Corporal Marlo Siblao Quibete, a member of the Station Drug Enforcement Unit (SDEU) after he tried to demand money from the family of an arrested drug suspect in exchange for his freedom and the dropping of charges against him.

Following his arrest, Eleazar confronted him, scolded, collared and held him in the head and force him to look at him.

Story continues

Hours later, on early Wednesday dawn, another policeman, Corporal Anwar Nasser, was arrested for another extortion incident. His cohorts, including the head and other members of the Pasay Police SDEU were able to elude arrest together with the boodle money.

Eleazar confronted Nasser while inside the jail.

Quibete and Nassers arrest resulted in the relief of 44 policemen, including Eastern Police District Director Brigadier General Bernabe Balba and Pasay police chief Colonel Noel Flores over command responsibility.

Earlier, Eleazar apologized for losing his temper but noted that he will never apologize to erring cops as they deserve such treatment.

Kinuwelyuhan ko, tiningala ko ang mukha at dinuro-duro ko. E dapat lang, he deserves that, he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte said he got Eleazars back.

Sabihan mo kay Eleazar, okay iyon. Eh ano bang namang ganon-ganon? Sabihin mo, I have his back covered, he said.

DILG Secretary Eduardo Ano said he is also in support to Eleazar as his actions was simply a manifestation of his frustration over police scalawags in his unit who continue to tarnish the image of the PNP.

While General Eleazar has already publicly apologized, his outburst was understandable given the circumstances. It was a classic case of a 'father losing his cool over his son's misbehavior' with the goal of correcting it and sending a message to his other children that bad behavior will not be tolerated in his household, he said.

There is no place in the PNP for police scalawags, especially those who extort money from drug personalities. They are not only a disgrace to their uniform but to the good men and women of the PNP, many of whom have given their lives in the relentless anti-drug campaign of the administration, he added.

Ano directed Albayalde to intensify much more the PNP internal cleansing to weed out erring cops from the service.

Eleazar, for his part, vowed to relentlessly pursue to remove bad eggs from the service and to thank and reward the good ones.

"The President's approval on the way I handled the cops involved in robbery/extortion activity yesterday only shows the consistency of our President -- how he abhors policemen involved in the illegal drug trade and policemen taking advantage of our war against illegal drugs to make money for themselves. He has called these cops as narco-cops and even narco-generals, he said.

The drug war, as perceived by our President, is a noble war. It is designed to save our youth from drugs and its ill effects. It is meant to save the so-called future of our nation. President Duterte has said and warned drug lords and pushers time and again not to touch or drive our youth into drugs or he will kill them.' While his is a figure of speech, the content and message is very clear, Eleazar added. (SunStar Philippines)
Case filed against eight cops for torture, evidence destruction in Nirmala rape and murder case

A case has been lodged at Kanchanpur district court against six police officials for their involvement in destroying evidence in the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant. The 13-year-old school girl was raped and murdered on July 26, 2018 in Bhimdutta Municipality, Kanchanpur.
A mortar attack on a large ceremony attended by Afghanistan's chief executive and other leading government figures in Kabul Thursday killed three people and injured 32 others, officials said. The attack claimed by the Islamic State group represents a major security breach and marks a resumption of violence in the capital after weeks of calm amid ongoing peace talks between the US and Taliban in Doha. "Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us," said former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni from the stage during a live broadcast of the outdoor event. But moments after the announcement, another explosion and gunfire could be heard that sent people running in panic. A second unidentified voice then addressed the screaming crowd, saying: "I request my countrymen to stay calm. The mortar attack is far from the gathering." The blasts took place during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shiite Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country's political elite, including Afghanistan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai. IS later claimed the barrage by saying its fighters targeted the ceremony with mortar fire, according to a statement published by the group's propaganda agency Amaq. "Today around 12 noon... mortars were fired on the gathering of Abdul Ali Mazari," Nasrat Rahimi, interior ministry spokesman, said in a statement sent to journalists, adding that the mortars landed outside the actual event. The spokesman later confirmed that two assailants behind the incident had been killed and the "main attacker" arrested. "Sadly, three people have been martyred (killed) and 32 more injured in the mortar attacks," Rahimi told media. Presidential candidate Abdul Latif Pedram was among the injured, according to his official Facebook page, which said he was in "stable condition". Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani -- who was also at the scene -- later added that "terrorists launched rocket attacks", and said he had escaped safely. Mortar fire is commonly referred to as "rockets" by Afghan officials. - 'Unforgivable attack' - IS have claimed responsibility for a string of bloody attacks on Shiite gatherings and mosques across the country over the years. The group however has been relatively quiet in recent months as the Taliban, Afghan security forces, and the US all target IS's shrinking stronghold in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. "This was the most horrid and unforgivable attack on civilians by a merciless enemy," tweeted presidential candidate and former national security adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar. He added that eight of his security guards were injured in the attack. "How these attackers managed to get into this Shiite neighbourhood, pass through all the security cordons, and then attack such an important gathering is indicative of a major security and intelligence failure on the part of the Afghan government," security analyst Atiqullah Amarkhail told AFP. The incident comes as US and Taliban negotiations hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict. The last major attack in Kabul occurred in January when the Taliban claimed responsibility for a car bomb that struck the heavily fortified Green Village foreign compound. Heavy snowfall across large swathes of Afghanistan has led to a reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country's south will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of the spring fighting season. Analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in the coming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield and leverage at the negotiating table. On Wednesday at least 16 people were killed in a suicide attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan's Jalalabad city. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Islamic State group and the Taliban are active near the city, in Nangarhar province. Afghanistan has been stuck in nearly constant conflict since the Soviet invasion of 1979, which was followed by civil war, the Taliban regime, and the US invasion in late 2001.
Iranian hackers working to penetrate systems, businesses and governments around the world have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, a report said Wednesday. Researchers for tech giant Microsoft said the attackers stole secrets and wiped data from computer networks after targeting thousands of people at some 200 companies over the past two years, according to The Wall Street Journal. Microsoft did not immediately respond to an AFP query on the report. The Journal said Microsoft traced the attacks to Holmium, a group linked to Iran, and that some of the hacking was done for Holmium by another Iranian group known as APT33. John Lambert, the head of Microsoft's Threat Intelligence Center, told the newspaper the attacks were "massively destabilizing events." The report said the hackers notably targeted oil-and-gas companies, heavy-machinery manufacturers and international conglomerates in Saudi Arabia, Germany, Britain, India and the United States. In 2017, the security firm FireEye blamed APT33 for destructive malware that targeted organizations in the Middle East and elsewhere. The news comes with Iran, according to security experts, seeking to step up its cyber capabilities amid increasing efforts by the United States to isolate the Islamic regime.
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

I HAVE often wondered why until now the government has not filed charges against any one of those included in President Dutertes list of narco-politicians. Presidential spokesperson and chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo may have provided a clue when he said the list is based on phone conversations that some foreign governments wiretapped and shared with us.

Wiretapping is illegal, even criminal, and any evidence acquired through it is inadmissible in court for being what the lawyers pompously describe as the fruit of a poisonous tree. And because they have no independent evidence to pin down the suspects, our authorities have decided to shame them instead by publishing the so-called narco-list.

The purpose of the anti-wiretapping law is to protect the privacy of our citizens. Can you imagine if anyone can just eavesdrop on your conversations and get away with it? Well, the spy agencies of China, Russia, Israel and the United States will not only get away with their invasion of our privacy of communications, they might even get a huge thank you card from our government if Panelo can have his way.

While wiretapping is illegal in the Philippines, Panelo said that there is no law that prohibits accepting intercepted information and that the Philippines should be grateful for the foreign help. No law? Try profiting from the effects of the crime, sir.

Were not naive. The sharing of intelligence information is standard practice among nations, especially on those matters that are a common concern. The drug menace is a global threat and other nations should be interested in what is happening in our streets as we should be in theirs. Certainly, many if not of most of the shared information were not acquired through legitimate means.

But this is the first time that I heard a government publicly extolling another government, in fact many governments, for spying on its citizens by tapping their phone calls and it is unsettling. If the government cannot, will not, safeguard our right to privacy, who will?

Story continues

But why should we worry unless we are into the drug trade ourselves? That is completely missing the point which is that the governments praise of the foreign wiretappers can be interpreted as a go signal to indiscriminate eavesdropping, an invitation to disregard the law that prescribes the process through which legitimate interception of information, as Panelo put it, can be had.

The drug problem is a very serious one and we are grateful to President Duterte for making the eradication of this social evil the cornerstone of his administration. He cannot win the war on his own. We have to support him.

But there are areas that should remain sacred and kept immune from the drug wars overreach. The citizens right to be secure from any unwarranted and unnecessary invasion of his privacy is one of them.
Sometimes the questions become too much for artificial intelligence systems. Credit: sdecoret/Shutterstock.com

Artificial intelligence systems are powerful tools for businesses and governments to process data and respond to changing situations, whether on the stock market or on a battlefield. But there are still some things AI isn't ready for.

We are scholars of computer science working to understand and improve the ways in which algorithms interact with society. AI systems perform best when the goal is clear and there is high-quality data, like when they are asked to distinguish between different faces after learning from many pictures of correctly identified people.

Sometimes AI systems do so well that users and observers are surprised at how perceptive the technology is. However, sometimes success is difficult to measure or defined incorrectly, or the training data does not match the task at hand. In these cases, AI algorithms tend to fail in unpredictable and spectacular ways, though it's not always immediately obvious that something has even gone wrong. As a result, it's important to be wary of the hype and excitement about what AI can do, and not assume the solution it finds is always correct.

When algorithms are at work, there should be a human safety net to prevent harming people. Our research demonstrated that in some situations algorithms can recognize problems in how they're operating, and ask for human help. Specifically, we show, asking for human help can help alleviate algorithmic bias in some settings.

How sure is the algorithm?

Artificial intelligence systems are being used in criminal sentencing, facial-based personality profiling, resume screening, health care enrollment and other difficult tasks where people's lives and well-being are at stake. U.S. government agencies are beginning to ramp up their exploration and use of AI systems, in response to a recent executive order from President Donald Trump.

It's important to remember, though, that AI can cement misconceptions in how a task is addressed, or magnify existing inequalities. This can happen even when no one told the algorithm explicitly to treat anyone differently.

For instance, many companies have algorithms that try to determine features about a person by their face  say to guess their gender. The systems developed by U.S. companies tend to do significantly better at categorizing white men than they do women and darker-skinned people; they do worst at dark-skinned women. Systems developed in China, however, tend to do worse on white faces.

The difference is not because one group has faces that are easier to classify than others. Rather, both algorithms are typically trained on a large collection of data that's not as diverse as the overall human population. If the data set is dominated by a particular type of face  white men in the U.S., and Chinese faces in China  then the algorithm will probably do better at analyzing those faces than others.

Biased training data can make systems better, or worse, at recognizing certain kinds of faces. Credit: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com

No matter how the difference arises, the result is that algorithms can be biased by being more accurate on one group than on another.

Keeping a human eye on AI

For high-stakes situations, the algorithm's confidence in its own result  its estimation of how likely it is that the system came up with the right answer  is just as important as the result itself. The people who receive the output from algorithms need to know how seriously to take the results, rather than assuming that it's correct because it involved a computer.

Only recently have researchers begun to develop ways to identify, much less attempt to fix, inequalities in algorithms and data. Algorithms can be programmed to recognize their own shortcomings  and follow that recognition with a request for a person to assist with the task.

Many types of AI algorithms already calculate an internal confidence level  a prediction of how well it did at analyzing a particular piece of input. In facial analysis, many AI algorithms have lower confidence on darker faces and female faces than for white male faces. It's unclear how much this has been taken into account by law enforcement for high-stakes uses of these algorithms.

The goal is for the AI itself to locate the areas where it is not reaching the same accuracy for different groups. On these inputs, the AI can defer its decision to a human moderator. This technique is especially well-suited for context-heavy tasks like content moderation.

Human content moderators cannot keep up with the flood of images being posted on social media sites. But AI content moderation is famous for failing to take into account the context behind a post  misidentifying discussions of sexual orientation as explicit content, or identifying the Declaration of Independence as hate speech. This can end up inaccurately censoring one demographic or political group over another.

To get the best of both worlds, our research suggests scoring all content in an automated fashion, using the same AI methods already common today. Then our approach uses newly proposed techniques to automatically locate potential inequalities in the accuracy of the algorithm on different protected groups of people, and to hand over the decisions about certain individuals to a human. As a result, the algorithm can be completely unbiased about those people on which it actually decides. And humans decide on those individuals where algorithmic decision would have inevitably created bias.

This approach does not eliminate bias: It just "concentrates" the potential for bias on a smaller set of decisions, which are then handled by people, using human common sense. The AI can still perform the bulk of the decision-making work.

This is a demonstration of a situation where an AI algorithm working together with a human can reap the benefits and efficiency of the AI's good decisions, without being locked into its bad ones. Humans will then have more time to work on the fuzzy, difficult decisions that are critical to ensuring fairness and equity.

Explore further An AI that 'de-biases' algorithms

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: Gary Belovsky

In the United States, the Great Salt Lake in Utah is home to a multimillion-dollar brine shrimp industry, which collects and sells brine shrimp cysts, or eggs, as a food source for prawn farming around the world. However, the GSL and brine shrimp are also a key resource for waterbirds during migration and nesting. To balance the needs of the animals and the industry that rely on brine shrimp cysts, a University of Notre Dame researcher and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) completed a study over 20 years to evaluate and improve management of the GSL.

In the 1990s, concerns emerged about how the harvesting of brine shrimp cysts was affecting the needs of waterbirds that annually use the GSL. In 1992, the state of Utah began requiring harvesters to purchase a license to better monitor the industry. Then, just four years later, a formal harvest management system was finally put into place after an emergency closure of the cyst harvest season, which was necessary to protect the lake's ecological system.

"I began studying the GSL in 1994 with the UDWR before any harvesting limitations had been set," said Gary Belovsky, Gillen Director of the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center and professor of biological sciences. "Due to our timing and expertise, our research team had a unique opportunity to develop a management strategy, see it eventually implemented through policy, and realize the benefits of adaptive management to conservation and industry in real time."

Belovsky and W. Clay Perschon from the UDWR were tasked with monitoring the GSL and collecting data about the ecology of the lake, its inhabitants and the waterbirds that rely on it. Nearly a third of all western birds in the United States nest or migrate through the GSL, including more than two-thirds of the Eared Grebe bird population, which primarily eat brine shrimp.

In 1997, researchers developed a model to project how many cysts should be left unharvested so that enough cysts would be left to hatch the next spring to feed the waterbirds. The model uses adaptive management, meaning that each year the model is improved based on a number of factors and results from that year's particular harvest and brine shrimp population. By implementing this type of management system, the state of Utah prevents overharvesting, which could deplete the brine shrimp population beyond repair.

"Although overharvesting can hurt waterbirds, when unchecked it could also cause the productivity of the brine shrimp populations to sharply decline for the harvest industry. This would make it difficult for the GSL to recover and has been detrimental at other locations where brine shrimp were harvested," said Belovsky. "While conservation of brine shrimp with the adaptive management plan is important ecologically, it is also critical to sustain the brine shrimp industry for the state of Utah's economy."

Although Belovsky turned over the harvest model to the state of Utah in 2014, the state continues this management system today.

The study titled "A Management Case Study for a New Commercial Fishery: Brine shrimp harvesting in Great Salt Lake" was published in Ecological Applications

Explore further Current brine shrimp egg harvesting practices could lead to economic and environmental concerns

More information: Gary E. Belovsky et al. A management case study for a new commercial fishery: brine shrimp harvesting in Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA, Ecological Applications (2019). Journal information: Ecological Applications Gary E. Belovsky et al. A management case study for a new commercial fishery: brine shrimp harvesting in Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA,(2019). DOI: 10.1002/eap.1864
A Seychelles flycatcher. Credit: John Nevill

A team led by a conservation biologist from the University of Kent has successfully re-located threatened Seychelles paradise flycatchers (Terpsiphone corvina) to a different island to help prevent their extinction.

Four females and two males were caught on Denis Island and taken to Curieuse Island, where they joined 11 males and nine females who were moved there from La Digue Island at the end of last year. Four weeks after that release, the first birds had nested, with the first chick recently fledged.

The project was led by Jim Groombridge, Professor of Biodiversity Conservation and Head of Kent's School of Anthropology and Conservation (SAC). Dr. Rachel Bristol, who completed her Ph.D. at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) in SAC managed the project in partnership with the Seychelles National Parks Authority. The project was financed by the UK Government's Darwin Initiative.

The move required the team to:

catch the birds using mist nets

delicately mark their tails so they are individually identifiable until their next moult

take blood samples

put them in transfer boxes (recycled cardboard boxes- modified to ensure air and with a branch placed inside for the birds to perch on)

transfer them by plane to Praslin, then by boat trip to Curieuse

give them rehydration and energy fluid

before releasing them from the hand

The Seychelles paradise flycatcher is currently 'Critically Endangered' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN red list of endangered species and conservationists hope that successfully establishing this additional population on Curieuse Island could mean they are down-listed to a less endangered category.

The first ever conservation introduction of the Seychelles paradise flycatcher, from La Digue to Denis Island, was undertaken by the team in 2008. It was so successful that the population there has grown considerably from the 23 translocated individuals to the current estimate of over 85 birds. It is from this population that the conservation team were then able to source some of the birds for this second transfer to Curieuse Island, the rest coming from the relict population on La Digue Island.

Professor Groombridge said: 'This is such a positive start for this new population. The translocation is a crucial milestone in the successful recovery of this critically endangered bird, and represents a highly successful long-term international collaboration between the Government of Seychelles, local conservation partners and DICE at the University of Kent, and will hopefully lead to a more secure future for this beautiful bird. Successes like this are part of what I teach to our Wildlife Conservation BSc students as these cases require a real understanding of how to bring species back from the brink of extinction.'

Explore further Global trade in exotic pets threatens endangered parrots through the spread of a virus
The Conservation Biology Group of the University of Barcelona describes for the first time the beneficial effect of ecological viticulture on bird population in the environment. Credit: Conservation Biology Group - University of Barcelona

Ecological farmlands help protecting bird populations and reducing the effects of global change on the environment, according to a study published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment by the experts Joan Real, Alex Rollan and Antonio Hernandez-Matias, from the Conservation Biology Group of the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona (IRBio).

According to the study, which was supported by the Torres Family, from Vilafranca del Penedes (Spain), ecological viticulture increases the abundance and amount of species of farmland birds, and favours the insectivore bird populations that help with natural control of plagues in ecological crops. This agricultural practise helps to improve the resilience of farmland birds - which are especially sensitive to environmental changes - towards the effects of global warming.

Farmland birds: at risk due intensive agriculture and climate change

Changes in agricultural production systems - from traditional to intensive - generated several environmental impacts on the environment, such as the loss of biodiversity. Currently, intensive agricultural exploitation in Europe has caused the loss of millions of farmland birds, which are also affected by global change.

In this context, the practice of ecological viticulture has spread over the last years in the sector of the vineyards, one of the most traditional cultures in the country. In Catalonia, this sector represents the first important ecological crop in the agricultural field, and one of every four vineyards has its origins in ecological agricultural production. Without insecticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers, this practice includes a series of ecological and integrated techniques (mechanical control of diseases, etc.) in a context of a growing social interest for sustainable practices with biodiversity and the environment.

What is the impact of ecological crops in farmland birds?

The beneficial effects of the ecological crops of vineyards on several organisms were known from years ago. "However -says Alex Rollan, first author of the study-, there wasn't much information on their real impact in the community of farmland birds".

In this context, from 2014 to 2015, UB-IRBio experts created bird censuses in a total of thirty-three vineyard parcels -designation of Origin Penedes- to see how the practice of ecological agriculture affected the community of farmland birds -insectivore ones mostly- and the most vulnerable species to climate change.

The new study describes for the first time the positive impact of the ecological viticulture on the abundance and amount of species of insectivore birds in the Mediterranean vineyards. The presence of herbaceous cover -a growing practice in European vineyards- has a beneficial effect on insectivore birds, in particular in spring and other seasons when people work on ecological crops, according to the study carried out by the Conservation Biology Group (UB-IRBio).

A more environment-friendly agricultural production

Birds are sensitive to changes and impacts that occur in the ecosystems worldwide. "Therefore, they are perfect bioindicators, since they show the state of conservation of natural systems"; says Joan Real, head of the team of Conservation Biology, linked to the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the Faculty of Biology and IRBio. "Knowing the factors that can interact with these bioindicators helps us getting information to improve the management of natural habitats and environmental sustainability", notes Joan Real.

The new study, published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment provides practical information for the sector of ecological viticulture and will help shape a management for a "more sustainable agricultural production regarding biodiversity conservation in the rural environment, and in particular, those birds that are endangered due the agricultural intensification and climate change", notes Antonio Hernandez-Matias.

Since 1992, the Biology Conservation Group (UB-IRBio) and Torres Family Foundation, from the company with the same name, have launched several research projects and initiatives in the field of conservation of natural heritage and the design of new management tools for the conservation of biodiversity with a global and efficient perspective.

Explore further Climate change models of bird impacts pass the test

More information: Alex Rollan et al, Organic farming favours bird communities and their resilience to climate change in Mediterranean vineyards, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2018). Alex Rollan et al, Organic farming favours bird communities and their resilience to climate change in Mediterranean vineyards,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2018.09.029
The company will also reject the ad it finds that contain misinformation about vaccines

Facebook launched an offensive Thursday to suppress the spread of misinformation about vaccines on the 2.3-billion-member social network.

The company has faced pressure in recent weeks to tackle the problem, amid outbreaks of measles around the United States attributed to growing numbers of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

US lawmakers have decried the higher incidences of preventable diseases in the wake of a movement against child vaccination, in large part due to rumors they can cause health or developmental issues.

Monika Bickert, Facebook's vice president for global policy management, said the social media network would reduce the distribution of false data and provide users with authoritative information about vaccinations.

"We will reduce the ranking of groups and pages that spread misinformation about vaccinations in news feed and search," Bickert said in a statement.

Facebook also will remove the misleading content from search recommendations and predictions, reject advertisements found to contain misinformation about vaccines, and disable accounts that continue to violate company policies on vaccine information, she said.

The company no longer allows targeting based on users' interest in "vaccine controversies" and will share educational materials with users that come across such misinformation.

The World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified "verifiable vaccine hoaxes," Bickert said, and, "If these vaccine hoaxes appear on Facebook, we will take action against them."

WHO in February listed "vaccine hesitancy" among its top 10 most pressing global health threats for 2019 and the UN last week warned against "complacency" as measles cases soared worldwide.

The resurgence in some countries has been linked to debunked claims that vaccines cause autism. Prior to taking office, US President Donald Trump promoted this claim.

New research published this week, which followed 650,000 Danish children for more than a decade, again concluded that vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella did not increase the risk of autism.

Explore further AAP: Social media companies must curb spread of vaccine myths

 2019 AFP
Four new wearables are joining the Fitbit family.

Say hello to the Fitbit Versa Lite Edition, Fitbit Inspire and Inspire HR, and Fitbit Ace 2.

On Wednesday, the maker of the popular fitness trackers announced a quartet of wellness devices that includes a new budget-friendly smartwatch, two health-focused fitness trackers, and a revamped device for children ages 6 and older.

"Since founding Fitbit almost 12 years ago, we've focused on making health fun and achievable for everyoneregardless of fitness level or goals," said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit in a statement. "Bringing more users to the wearables category and growing our community of active users is a critical part of our strategy," Park said.

The wearables join Fitbit's extensive line of products including the Fitbit Charge 3 and Fitbit Versa that came out in 2018. Before that, the company unveiled the Fitbit Alta HR and Fitbit Ionic smartwatch in 2017.

Inspire devices

The Inspire and Inspire HR, which were exclusively launched earlier this year through some healthcare plans and employers, are now available to the masses on the Fitbit website. The baseline wellness device costs $69.95 and the premium HR option is priced at $99.95.

The swim-proof Inspire offers most basic fitness tracker functions, including activity and sleep tracking, burned calories monitoring, move reminders, goal celebrations, and mobile alerts. It's available in black, and sangria color options and can be worn as a wristband or on a clip.

The slightly more premium Inspire HR adds an additional 15 workout modes, sleep tracking and guided breathing. It has all the heart monitoring features. It comes in black, white/black, and lilac color options.

Both products have a thin design with a touchscreen display, smartphone notifications, and up to 5 days of battery life for day to night wear.

The Clip add-on ranges in price from $19.95 to $69.95.

Versa

Building off the success of Fitbit's smartwatch line, the new Versa Lite is cheaper than its predecessor, $159.95 compared with the typical Versa at $199.95.

The unisex smartwatch has several fitness and smart features including automatic activity reading, heart rate monitoring and sleep stages tracking. The smartwatch also has exercise modes, connected GPS, smartphone notifications and four-day battery life.

It features a simple one-button, lightweight, swim-proof design in new

vibrant blue and purple color choices.

Existing Versa accessories are compatible with the Versa Lite Edition. The wrist bands range from $29.95 to $99.95 on Fitbit's website.

Fitbit Versa Lite, Inspire HR and Inspire devices will be available in stores and online in starting in March.

Ace 2 for kids

In 2018, Fitbit unveiled its first fitness tracker for kids, which looked like a basic rebadged Fitbit Alta.

The company's new kid-friendly wearable, the Ace 2, has a fun redesign.

The plastic, brightly colored device has a modular design and a bumper around the screen to protect it. It's swim proof for bathtime and stain resistant so it's easy to wipe down if it gets dirt, mud, slime or food all over it.

Kids can select between watch faces that have rockets ships blasting off, googly-eyed blob monsters, and animated flower pots. These cartoons evolve over the course of the day as your kid reaches their activity goals.

The Ace 2, made for ages 6 and up, will be available in stores and online beginning summer 2019 for $69.95 in peach with a teal clasp or navy blue with neon yellow clasp.

The device is $30 cheaper than the original Ace and includes five-day battery life.

Parents must create a Fitbit family account in order to set up the Ace 2.

The Fitbit app

Along with the four gadgets, Fitbit's app is also getting a major facelift.

The new design will make it easier to view and understand health and fitness stats, log data, discover new content and monitor progress in Challenges. The company is also launching a Rewards beta program to test new ways to engage with users.

"Being 'on Fitbit' is about more than just wearing a device," said Jonah Becker, VP of design of Fitbit. "The power is in the platform we've built that connects our devices, software, services and engaged community to support people at every step of their journey and help drive positive behavior change."

Fitbit, which has reportedly sold over 90 million devices, is the fourth-largest wearables maker in the world, according to market intelligence firm IDC. Fitbit falls well behind Apple, which held 27.4 percent of the market in late 2018. Two Chinese electronics companies, Xiaom and Huawei captured the second and third positions with 12.6 percent and 9.6 percent.

Fitbit captured 9.4 percent of the worldwide market for wearables in late 2018.

Explore further Fitbit launches new wearable, but your employer has to sign you up

(c)2019 USA Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Lithic tool associated with giant ground sloth bones. Credit: Gustavo Politis and Pablo Messineo

A team of researchers from the National University of Central Buenos Aires, Olavarria, Stafford Research and La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, has found evidence that suggests the giant sloth went extinct before the onset of the Holocene. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the team describes their study of giant sloth remains found in Argentina and what they found.

Prior research has shown that the giant sloth went extinct during the Pleistocene after the end of the last ice age. In this new effort, the researchers used a more stringent testing technique to date the age of giant sloth remains found at the Campo Laborde dig site. They report that their technique showed the sloth died much earlier than previous testing showed.

The researchers note that just one bone from a giant sloth had collagen that could be used for radiocarbon dating. They also note that the collagen had been contaminated by chemicals in the soil in which they were buried. They point out that prior efforts to date the sloth had not accounted for such contamination, and thus gave inaccurate results (most found the sloth to have died approximately 9,730 years agoputting it during the Holocene). To overcome this problem the researchers used XAD purification chemistry to isolate amino acids in the collagen which could only have come from the sloth. Once that was done, traditional radiocarbon dating could properly date the sloth using the amino acids.

Video Campo Laborde. Credit: Gustavo Politis and Pablo Messineo

The dating technique showed that the giant sloth had perished approximately 10,570 years ago, still firmly in the Pleistocene. This finding is significant, because other studies have shown the sloth died at the hands of humans. This suggests that the large creatures may have been aided in their extinction by humans hunting them during a time when they were also at the mercy of a dramatically changing climate. The researchers suggest their findings also hint at the possibility that many mega-mammals in South America and perhaps other parts of the world also did not survive to the Holocene, as other studies have shown. If the other studies involved the use of contaminated collagen, their findings could have been off by thousands of years.

Lithic tool (biface). Credit: Gustavo Politis and Pablo Messineo

View of the giant ground sloth bones. Credit: Gustavo Politis and Pablo Messineo

View of the excavation of Campo Laborde. Credit: Gustavo Politis and Pablo Messineo

Aerial view of Campo Laborde. Credit: Gustavo Politis and Pablo Messineo

Explore further Ancient extinct sloth tooth in Belize tells story of creature's last year

More information: Gustavo G. Politis et al. Campo Laborde: A Late Pleistocene giant ground sloth kill and butchering site in the Pampas, Science Advances (2019). Journal information: Science Advances Gustavo G. Politis et al. Campo Laborde: A Late Pleistocene giant ground sloth kill and butchering site in the Pampas,(2019). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau4546

 2019 Science X Network
Police conduct raid in Chand hometown in Kapilvastu, seize weapons

Police on Thursday seized arms and ammunitions in a raid in Shivraj Municipality, the hometown of Communist Party of Nepal leader Netra Bikram Chand, in Kapilvastu.
The Chickamauga Dam, completed in 1940, was a crowning achievement of the New Deal. Credit: Everett Historical/Shutterstock

The Green New Deal has broadened imaginations worldwide on the subject of climate change, encouraging people to consider what action to tackle it could do for society. U.S. congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced the Green New Deal resolution in February 2019, calling for a rapid transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions, a massive investment in infrastructure and financial redistribution.

While the project would attempt to halt further warming, it would also counter inequality and compensate losers from the energy transition, such as workers in carbon-intensive industries such as coal mining.

It's already helped wrest the political agenda in the U.S. from the regressive policies and scandals of the Trump administration, and has gained bipartisan support among U.S. voters, despite right-wing pundits denouncing it as a communist plot.

The Green New Deal borrows its name and ethos from the New Deal  introduced in the 1930s by then U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt to kickstart an economy crippled by the Great Depression. But are strategies which echo the needs of the 1930s and 1940s  ending the Depression and defeating Nazism  suitable for the rapid transition from fossil fuels that defines our needs in the early 21st century?

Can any strategy which relies on historical analogies be adapted to the current climate emergency?

Teaching an old deal new tricks

The Green New Deal's proposed investment in public infrastructure and focus on inequality mirrors the original aims of the New Deal, but economic transformation will look very different under a Green New Deal. Whereas Roosevelt's New Deal aimed to grow the economy, its modern equivalent entails shrinking many economic activities currently central to the economy's operations.

Another way of looking at this is that the original New Deal spurred a massive increase in greenhouse gas emissions. By generating huge public investment in roads and power stations, as well as redistributing wealth through the emerging welfare state, it set the stage for what some call the "great acceleration" in greenhouse gas emissions during and after World War II.

In the U.S., military build-up was central to this early on, but then it was sustained by the expansion of consumption after the war  most directly by the shift to mass car ownership and urban sprawl that "locked in" high fossil energy use, not only in transport but in housing.

The urban sprawl which the New Deal nurtured has locked in high consumption, high emission lifestyles. Credit: John Wollwerth/Shutterstock

The Green New Deal therefore contains a basic contradiction that anyone pursuing it will have to wrestle with as it develops. Many of the measures proposed  such as investing in infrastructure and spreading wealth more evenly  will intrinsically work in tension with efforts to decarbonise the economy.

They create dynamics that increase energy use at the same time as other parts of the Green New Deal are trying to reduce it. For example, building infrastructure such as new road networks will both create demand for carbon-intensive cement manufacture and opportunities for more people to travel by car.

To reach net zero emissions by sometime early in the second half of the 21st century, as the Paris Agreement and the IPCC Special Report on 1.5C state we must, the global economy has to decarbonise by at least 3 percent per year. In rich countries such as the U.S., this needs to happen more rapidly so that poorer countries, which have contributed less overall to global warming, have more time to adapt.

The targets in the Green New Deal are consistent with this sort of time-frame for decarbonising the global economy. But even if wealthy countries like the U.S. "only" have to achieve 3 percent cuts per year, as the economy grows by  say  2 percent, then in effect the country has to cut emissions by around 5 percent per year relative to the growing size of the economy. To illustrate the scale of this challenge, historically, emissions have declined relative to GDP by only about 1 percent per year in the aftermath of the 2008 recession.

So the challenge is enormous. But of course, the effect of much of the Green New Deal  to invest in infrastructure, to redistribute income  will be to generate significant economic growth. Indeed, this is the point  to get the U.S. economy out of its present stagnation.

But it's hard to see how this will be done without generating new sources of carbon emissions  more housing, more cars and more consumption generally. Herein lies the tension that will recur through the life of the Green New Deal, even if it gets through the immediate quagmire of U.S. politics.

Its supporters will have to manage this tension, even though the vast majority of the U.S. left and environmental movement are behind it.

If one imperative is to build new infrastructure to get the U.S. economy going, how much of this will really do more than pay lip service to the energy system transformation in practice? The "Green" in Green New Deal demands that all new infrastructure built is effectively carbon neutral.

Even new transit infrastructure, for example, would have to be entirely electric, at the same time as that electricity system is supposed to rapidly abandon coal and then natural gas. It's easy to imagine which will win when that tension works its way through the political process.

It's not that the Green New Deal isn't worth pursuing  it's an extremely promising development. It's just important to remember Naomi Klein's invocation that "this changes everything"  dealing with climate change is unlikely to lend itself to off-the-shelf solutions from an earlier age.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Berg--a chimpanzee in the Ngogo group, Kibale National Park, Uganda. Credit: Kevin Langergraber

Compared to other animals, chimpanzees show tremendous variation across groups in their behaviorfrom the types of tools they use in their feeding behavior to the specific gestures they use in communication. Research in captivity suggests that chimpanzees acquire information socially, learning to do things in a certain way based on how it is done by other members of their group. Thus, much of the variation in the behavior among wild chimpanzee groups may be akin to "cultural" variation in humans.

As part of an international team led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Arizona State University researchers Kevin Langergraber and Kevin Lee were coauthors in a study examining the relationship between human impact and behavioral diversity in chimpanzees. This paper will be published online by the journal Science on Thursday, March 7, 2019.

Unfortunately, chimpanzee populations are declining across their range in equatorial Africa due to deforestation, hunting and diseases, many of which originate in humans. Much of the empirical work and debate surrounding the loss of biodiversity has focused on declines in genetic diversity or population size.

However, behavioral diversity is also a facet of biodiversity, but has not been considered as an additional concern until recently. Several international conservation organizations, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity or the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, of the United Nations Environment Programme, now call for the protection of biological diversity in its entirety, including behavioral diversity of culturally rich wildlife.

Aerial view of rainforest and river. Credit: Hjalmar S. Kuhl

Due to limited empirical data, until now it had been unclear whether behavioral diversity would similarly be negatively affected by human impact.

"Chimpanzees are highly intelligent and adaptable creatures," says Lee, "and there have been various reports of chimpanzees, both in captivity and in free-living conditions, that have relatively more frequent contact with humans exhibiting some 'novel' behaviors not observed in more remote populations, but it was not clear how overall behavioral diversity would be affected."

The international research team compiled an unprecedented dataset on 31 chimpanzee behaviors across 144 social groups or communities, located throughout the entire geographic range of wild chimpanzees. Though part of this information was already available in the scientific literature, the team also conducted extensive field work at 46 locations, including on a group near Langergraber's long-term research site in Kibale National Park, Uganda, while Lee led a separate team in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. The particular set of behaviors considered in this study included the extraction and consumption of termites, ants, algae, nuts and honey; the use of tools for hunting or digging for tubers; and the use of stones, pools and caves among several others.

Two adult male chimpanzees fish for algae in Bakoun, Guinea. Credit: PanAf/MPI-EVA

The occurrence of behaviors at a given site was investigated with respect to an aggregate measure of human impact.

"We measured multiple levels of human impact, including human population density, roads, rivers and forest cover," says Langergraber. "The analysis revealed a strong and robust patternchimpanzee behavioral diversity was reduced by 88 percent when human impact was highest compared to locations with the least human impact."

Male chimpanzees of the Rekambo community groom one another at Loango National Parl, Gabon. Credit:  Tobias Deschner/Loango Chimpanzee Project

There are a number of potential mechanisms that may explain the loss of behaviors observed. As is known for humans, population size plays a major role in maintaining cultural traits and a similar mechanism may function in chimpanzees. Chimpanzees may also avoid conspicuous behaviors that inform hunters about their presence, such as nut cracking. Habitat degradation and resource depletion may also reduce opportunities for social learning and thus prevent the transfer of local traditions from one generation to the next. Lastly, climate change may also be important, as it may influence the production of important food resources and make their availability unpredictable. Very likely a combination of these potential mechanisms has caused the observed reduction in chimpanzee behavioral diversity.

Explore further New chimpanzee culture discovered

More information: H. Kuhl el al., "Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity," Science (2019). Journal information: Science H. Kuhl el al., "Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity,"(2019). science.sciencemag.org/lookup/  1126/science.aau4532
UA engineering researchers built a large antenna and a unique radar to image the bottom of an ice stream in Greenland. Credit: Dr. Stephen Yan

Using the word summer to refer to Greenland is an insult to the idea of summer.

Nevertheless, it was "summer" when a team of researchers from The University of Alabama dragged a radar across the Arctic ice in hopes of seeing underneath.

"In the middle, when you're there, it's just all white. You look around 360 degrees, and it's just flat and white," said Christopher Simpson, a doctoral student in aerospace engineering, of the experience of working on an ice sheet where temperatures never rose above freezing in August. "One day we had white out conditions where it was overcast. You couldn't tell the difference between the sky and ground."

Despite the extreme conditions, the researchers used a one-of-a-kind radar  developed and built by UA professors and students in less than six months  to help scientists unveil ancient climate history and to provide perspectives on improving climate models. The team included Simpson, along with graduate student Joshua Nunn and Dr. Stephen J. Yan, who specializes in ultra-wideband radar and antenna research.

It was the first time a radar, using high frequencies between 600 and 900 MHz, imaged the bottom 10 percent of the ice sheet, which is about 1.7 miles deep, Yan said. These results will contribute to developing satellite missions to completely map Greenland and Antarctic ice.

"People have used radars for a long time, but we are innovating to do something that has never been done with this technology," said Dr. Prasad Gogineni, lead UA engineering researcher on the project and an internationally recognized expert in the field of remote sensing. "We took measurements that could not be done otherwise."

It is uncertain how much glaciers and ice sheets will influence rising seas because scientists are not quite sure how they behave, contributing to wide predictions of future sea levels. To provide clarification, an international team of researchers is studying the North East Greenland Ice Stream, led by Professor Dorthe Dahl-Jensen at the University of Copenhagen.

Engineering researchers at UA developed a radar to provide an accurate image of what occurs at the base of the ice. The radar is the first of its kind, advancing the use of a type of radar known as ultra-wideband surface-based radar for scanning the interior of ice.

Like a slow moving river, the North East Greenland Ice Stream carries water into the ocean by dumping icebergs and from melting on its edges. Its speed is increasing, but changes in the ice stream are not well understood, making it difficult to predict through modeling.

The radar was inside a PistenBully that towed the antenna that is nearly 18 yards wide and 20 yards long. Credit: University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa

"If you believe in climate change or not, coastal protections are a major issue in the future," Gogineni said. "This work contributes to a better projection of what the sea level will be and how we can protect the coasts."

The ice stream has been studied heavily through drilling ice core samples and radar surveys, and Gogineni has been involved in several such projects at his previous position at the University of Kansas.

However, this project aims to understand how the structure of the ice crystals and the interaction within the ice, particularly at the bottom, has influenced flow over time. To help with that, researchers need a detailed image of the ice stream from the radar built by the UA engineers.

The radar is being used to expand knowledge from a site where an ice core sample will be removed. The ultra-wideband radar operates in the Very High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency bands to penetrate deep into ice, as opposed to commercial radios or satellites that use microwave frequencies with large antennas to transmit over longer distances.

The radar is 1,000 times more sensitive than the current state-of-the-art radar used to image glaciers, operating at a higher power with a bigger, yet lighter, antenna than similar radars for ice sounding, said Yan.

"The larger the antenna, the more sensitive the system," he said.

While Yan and his students designed and developed the radar, Dr. Charles O'Neill, aerospace engineering researcher at UA, and his students built the radar antenna. Shaped like a plus sign 17.5 yards wide by 19.6 yards long and made up of 16 connected antenna panels, it was pulled over the ice surface at about 4 mph, moving much slower than existing airborne radars and thus allowing more sensitive measurements. The team in Greenland covered about 60 miles during two weeks on the ice.

The system sent signals deep into the ice, giving a vertical scan of the internal structure of the ice at a resolution of less than two feet. This helped scientists better understand how it formed over time. Collecting nearly 20 terabytes of data in the field, the UA team will generate fine images of the bottom of the ice stream.

The plan is to return to Greenland later this year for radar testing before going to Antarctica to support core drilling.

Explore further Researchers develop airborne radars to gauge US snowpack characteristics for water models
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The Paris Agreement relies on voluntary and therefore weak commitments. But contrary to popular belief, if some countries "free-ride", this does not undermine the commitment of others, writes Thomas Bernauer.

If you stick to the rules, so will I  but if you break them, I might as well too. In many areas of society we behave according to the principle of reciprocity, a mutual process of give and take. Reciprocity also plays an important role on the international stage.

Take for example trade policy: countries usually only commit themselves to opening up their markets if the other countries involved do the same. However, there are also areas in which countries behave predominantly in a non-reciprocal manner. One example is the UN Convention against Torture. Almost no country would leave or violate this convention and reintroduce torture simply because other countries are not abiding by it.

How reciprocal is international climate policy?

The prevailing opinion is that climate policy follows the model of trade policy rather than that of the Convention on Torture. Many statements made by politicians imply this, also in Switzerland. Typically, their arguments are as follows: we shouldn't act as long as others are not. After all, reducing CO 2 is expensive. If other countries do not follow suit, we will have a competitive disadvantage, jobs will be lost and global climate targets will still not be achieved.

It is an undisputed fact that many countries are doing too little to mitigate climate change. But does this really diminish support for climate policy in other countries? Does it weaken the political will of citizens and governments to reduce emissions? If international climate policy were genuinely based on reciprocity, the prospects for the Paris Agreement  which is largely based on voluntary and hitherto inadequate commitments by member states  would be poor.

Protecting it  even when others are not

We have investigated this problem using representative surveys and decision experiments with several thousand participants in the US and China. These two countries account for about half of global emissions.

The main findings are surprising given the frequently voiced reciprocity arguments in climate policy: citizens' attitudes towards international climate policy predominantly adhere to non-reciprocal patterns. Their opinions do differ on whether and to what extent their own country should engage in international efforts to reduce emissions. However, these opinions are rarely influenced by what other countries are doing.

Challenging the "free-rider" argument

What can we conclude from these results? From the perspective of climate protection, it is encouraging to note that the design of the Paris Agreement is not flawed when it comes to reciprocity and free-riding. The agreement may not impose few concrete obligations on governments to reduce emissions, thus, in principle, allowing countries to do nothing or too little for climate protection without penalty  nevertheless, these free-riders do not undermine public support for ambitious climate policies in more climate-friendly nations.

Even the rhetoric of climate protection sceptics, who try to slow down climate protection in their own country by pointing to free-riding by other states, seems to have little traction with the general population. This implies that, despite the reciprocity and free-riding rhetoric, the communication efforts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and many other institutions are having an impact. Most people consider it both appropriate and important to reduce emissions in their own country  regardless of other countries' behaviour.

The generational challenge remains

Despite this, even if the cumbersome and sluggish pace of global climate cooperation has less of a negative impact on national climate policy than expected, reducing emissions to almost zero in the coming decades remains a Herculean task. Many people are still not prepared to accept the costs and sacrifices associated with protecting future generations from climate damage at home and abroad  no matter what other countries are doing.

Explore further CO2 emissions in developed economies fall due to decreasing fossil fuel and energy use

More information: Liam F. Beiser-McGrath et al. Commitment failures are unlikely to undermine public support for the Paris agreement, Nature Climate Change (2019). Liam F. Beiser-McGrath et al. Commitment failures are unlikely to undermine public support for the Paris agreement,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0414-z Liam F. McGrath et al. How strong is public support for unilateral climate policy and what drives it?, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change (2017). DOI: 10.1002/wcc.484 Thomas Bernauer et al. Unilateral or Reciprocal Climate Policy? Experimental Evidence from China, Politics and Governance (2016). DOI: 10.17645/pag.v4i3.650 Journal information: Nature Climate Change
A new APS report, 'The Impact of Industrial Physics on the US Economy,' shows the significant role of physics, which contributed an estimated $2.3 trillion (12.6 percent of U.S. GDP) in 2016 alone. Industrial physics encompasses the application of physics knowledge and principles to the design and manufacture of products and services. Many people working within this field have job titles other than physicist, so this report includes all aspects of industrial physics contributions. Credit: APS

Industrial physics plays a significant role in driving the U.S. economy, according to a new report by the American Physical Society, which will be described this week at the 2019 APS March Meeting in Boston.

The report, "The Impact of Industrial Physics on the U.S. Economy," found that industrial physics contributed an estimated $2.3 trillion in 2016, which was 12.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

What Exactly is Industrial Physics?

"Industrial physics is the application of physics knowledge and principles to the design and manufacturing of products and services," said Steven Lambert, APS Industrial Physics Program Manager. "The success of modern technology is built upon a foundation of innovations in physics. Sometimes that's done directly or indirectly, but industrial physicists are the catalysts for making this happen."

Industrial physics contributes to the U.S. economy in several key ways, according to the report. This includes not only physicists with degrees who are working in industry as researchers, product designers, managers, research directors and entrepreneurs, but also engineers, chemists, materials scientists, technicians and other scientists and technologists who use experimental or theoretical physical principles within their professions.

Another way industrial physics contributes is through the use of fundamental physical principlesthe laws governing the electronic, nuclear, mechanical, electrical, magnetic, acoustic, heat and radiation behavior of physical substancesto conceptualize, design and manufacture physical products and systems, including understanding their use and impact.

"We expected to find that industrial physics is important to the U.S. economy, but we were surprised at the size of the contribution: 12.6 percent of the U.S. GDP and 6 percent of direct employment," said John Rumble, of R&R Data Services and a member of the APS Industrial Physics Advisory Board. "This reflects the increasingly technological basis of our economy and is one reason that the U.S. continues to be the leading economy in the world."

Among the report's other key findings about the industry's impact on the U.S. economy:

11.5 million people were employed in physics-based industries in 2016.

Approximately 70,000 degreed physicists joined industry from 2003-2016, more than 58 percent of the total number of U.S. physics graduates.

U.S. exports by physics-based sectors accounted for about $1.1 trillion in 2016.

U.S. physics-based companies invested $150 billion in internal R&D in 2015.

More than 340,000 physics patents were granted to U.S. companies from 2010-2016.

One highlight from the report: "Since the end of World War II, physics discoveries of the 20th century have been transformed by industrial physicists into incredible products and services. Examples include consumer electronics, personal computers, cell phones, GPS, MRI scanners, digital everything, and the Information Revolution that makes life today virtually unrecognizable to someone who lived 70 years ago. The flow of physics into industry is neither stopping, nor even slowing down, as new disruptive products and services continue to emerge."

The report concludes that for industrial physics to continue to thrive, it needs support from the entire physics communityindustry, academia, government, and physics societiesto continue to support industrial physics so that it can continue to thrive. It cautions that the 21st-century industry will need new physics and a better understanding of our physical world, a goal that requires the U.S. to maintain its leadership in physics R&D.

"U.S. industry needs the creativity and knowledge of industrial physicists to continue the pace of technology development that we've seen during the past 50 years," said Bob Doering of Texas Instruments and chair of the APS Industrial Physics Advisory Board. "Physics training fosters the creativity and technical skills that are essential for this pursuit."

Explore further One million UK jobs depend on physics, report reveals

More information: The 2019 APS March Meeting presentation "The Economic Impact of Industrial Physics on the U.S. Economy: What value we physicists bring to economic activity," by John Rumble, will take place Thursday, March 7, at 3:42 p.m. in room 205A of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Abstract: The 2019 APS March Meeting presentation "The Economic Impact of Industrial Physics on the U.S. Economy: What value we physicists bring to economic activity," by John Rumble, will take place Thursday, March 7, at 3:42 p.m. in room 205A of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Abstract: meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR19/Session/V34.3
Professor Pete Walker (left) and Dr Shawn Platt (right) from the University are Bath are testing a number of waste materials to assess their thermal performance as potential materials for insulating buildings. Credit: University of Bath

The University of Bath is testing a number of waste materials to assess their thermal performance as potential materials for insulating buildings.

This collaborative project between the University of Bath, University of Brighton, UniLaSalle in Rouen (France) and five other academic and non-academic partners, and funded under the Interreg VA France (Channel) England programme, is investigating the performance of a range of waste materials and bio-based co-products as alternative building insulation materials.

Three different materials are being evaluated  wheat straw bales, rapeseed stalks (processed into bio-composite), and recycled duvets.

The research team at the University of Bath is testing and comparing the thermal performance of each of the insulation materials by constructing three identical prototype wall panels, each containing one of the materials. Their performances will be compared and contrasted with each other as well as against industry standard insulation used currently in most buildings.

The UK Government has set the UK construction industry the aim of halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, favouring the introduction of technologies capable of building energy-efficient, cost-effective housing and infrastructure.

It is hoped that by using already existing waste materials or co-products, widespread use of such materials in the construction sector could lead to significant reductions in emissions associated with construction as well as reducing the dependency on natural resources used in traditional insulation such as glass wool and rock wool.

The panels are 150mm thick by 1.1 metre square and fitted with 9mm plywood either side, similar of how insulation is commonly constructed into buildings. Each panel contains a number of probes measuring relative humidity, interior and exterior temperature, and heat flux.

The panels will undergo six weeks of consecutive rigorous testing in a state-of-the-art environmental chamber at the University's Building Research Park. There will be two tests  a steady state and a non-steady state temperature test.

In the first test an increasing temperature will be applied to one side of the panels to calculate how much energy is required to increase the temperature on the other side of the panel. The second test will involve increasing the humidity to evaluate how each material maintains and holds moisture.

Research Associate in the University of Bath's Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, Dr. Shawn Platt, said:

This is the first time these materials will have been tested in such a robust scientific way allowing us to accurately assess their thermal performance against each other as well as against industry standard insulation.

It is important we continue to play our part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the potential to use waste and co-products as potential future alternatives for building insulation, which could significantly help the construction sector become more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Professor of Innovative Construction Materials at the University of Bath, Pete Walker, commented:

Our previous research has shown the performance of straw bales as a sustainable and energy efficient building material, however, there are a number of other waste and co-products which could also perform well as construction materials.

The opportunity to exploit these waste and agricultural co-products is not something that should be ignored and we are hopeful that if their thermal performance is comparable or better than current insulation, industry will think seriously about using the materials in future construction.

The three materials being tested are either bio-based co-products (wheat straw and corn pith panel) or waste (duvets).

In the UK up to 7 million tonnes of straw remains after the production of wheat flour, and up to half this amount is effectively discarded due to its low value, to be used as animal bedding. It is estimated this 'leftover' 3.8 million tonnes of straw could be used to build over 500,000 new homes, solving the UK housing shortage within five years

Similar to wheat straw, the performance of straw bales as an energy efficient and sustainable building material has already been proven. In 2015, the first straw eco homes went on sale in Bristol as a result of University of Bath research.

Duvets are an industrial waste product and it is estimated 61,900 tonnes of duvets and pillows enter the waste stream each year, especially from hospitals where they are either buried in landfill or simply burned. Also, manufacturing goods such as polyester duvets requires energy and releases greenhouses gases.

Corn pith is the internal part of the corn stalks. The corn stalk is currently underused in maize grain crops (50 percent returned to soil). This agricultural byproduct presents a very high potential of valorization for agromaterials. The total estimated potential maize pith resource is 420,000 tonnes a year in the INTERREG program area.

The University of Bath researchers hope that from completing these rigorous tests, they will be able to identify which of the materials are a viable waste material for use in insulating buildings with a view to commercialising this in the future.
16 arcsec  16 arcsec GTC/OSIRIS Sloan r (left) and i-band (right) images of the J0740 field. The images are smoothed with the Gaussian kernel of 3 pixels, compatible with the seeing value. The white circle shows the 3 pulsar position uncertainty of  0.24 arcsec, which accounts for the optical astrometric referencing errors and the radio timing position uncertainties, corrected for the proper motion. The region of 2.3  2.3 arcsec within the black box in the right panel is enlarged and shown in the inset at the right-top corner of the image. The solid and dashed circles are 1 position uncertainties of the pulsar and its possible binary companion, respectively. Image credit: Beronya et al., 2019.

A new study published February 28 on arXiv.org suggests that a millisecond pulsar known as PSR J0740+6620 has a stellar companion. The research provides evidence indicating that this object is most likely accompanied by an ultracool white dwarf exhibiting a pure helium atmosphere.

Pulsars are highly magnetized rotating neutron stars emitting a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The most rapidly rotating pulsars, with rotation periods below 30 milliseconds, are known as millisecond pulsars (MSPs).

Astronomers believe that MSPs are formed in binary systems when the initially more massive component turns into a neutron star that is then spun-up due to accretion of matter from the secondary star. Observations conducted so far seem to support this theory as more than a half of known MSPs have been found to have stellar companions.

Located some 1,300 light years away from the Earth, PSR J0740+6620 (or J0740 for short) is an MSP with a spin period of about 2.88 milliseconds. Previous studies of this pulsar suggested that it has a secondary star, most likely a white dwarf. Now, a new study published by Daria Beronya of Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and colleagues provides more evidence supporting this assumption.

Using the Optical System for Imaging and low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) of Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), Beronya's team performed deep optical observations of J0740 in December 2017 in order to identify a possible companion of this pulsar.

"We report detection of the likely companion of the binary millisecond pulsar J0740+6620 with the Gran Telescopio Canarias in the r and i bands. The position of the detected starlike source coincides with the pulsar coordinates within the 1 uncertainty of  0.2 arcsec," the astronomers wrote in the study.

According to the paper, the companion has a minimum mass of about 0.2 solar masses, a temperature below 3,500 K and a cooling age of over five billion years. Furthermore, observational data indicates that the object has a pure helium atmosphere and is the reddest source among known white dwarf companions of MSPs.

Although the researchers suppose that the detected source is a white dwarf companion of J0740, other possibilities cannot be excluded yet. Alternative explanations taken into account are that the object is a red dwarf, red subdwarf or a brown dwarf. Moreover, the identified source could be not associated with J0740 at all, residing even outside our Milky Way galaxy.

Hence, in order to draw final conclusions about the nature of the discovered object, more observations are required.

"Deep infrared observations are necessary to clarify the properties and nature of the detected source. For a cool white dwarf with a pure helium atmosphere one can expect the blackbody-like spectral energy distribution. Future proper motion measurements can confirm the association of the likely counterpart with J0740," the astronomers noted.

Explore further New pulsar discovered during a search for a companion to a low-mass white dwarf

More information: D. M. Beronya et al. The ultracool helium-atmosphere white dwarf companion of PSR J0740+6620? arXiv:1902.11150 [astro-ph.SR]. D. M. Beronya et al. The ultracool helium-atmosphere white dwarf companion of PSR J0740+6620? arXiv:1902.11150 [astro-ph.SR]. arxiv.org/abs/1902.11150

 2019 Science X Network
Research led by Stacy Lindshield shows protected areas like national parks are effectively preserving many mammal species in Senegal. Credit: Purdue University/Stacy Lindshield

The West African chimpanzee population has declined by nearly 80 percent in recent decades. Habitat loss is threatening their livelihoods across the continent, and especially in Senegal, where corporate mining has started eating up land in recent years.

The geographical distribution of West African chimps overlaps almost perfectly with gold and iron ore deposits, and unfortunately for the chimps, mining is a key piece of the country's development strategy, said Stacy Lindshield, a biological anthropologist at Purdue University.

Extractive industries are already improving people's livelihoods and promoting investment and infrastructure development, and researchers are trying to find a way to protect Senegal's chimps without surrendering these benefits. Many of Earth's animal species are now dying off at accelerated rates, but as human's closest living relatives, they tend to tug at our heart strings. Chimps are scientifically important, toobecause they participate in collective activities such as hunting and food-sharing, they're often studied by social science researchers.

A new study of animal populations inside and outside a protected area in Senegal, Niokolo-Koba National Park, shows that protecting such an area from human interaction and development preserves not only chimps but many other mammal species. The findings were published in the journal Folia Primatologica.

"We saw the same number of chimpanzee species inside and outside the park, but more species of carnivores and ungulates in the protected area," Lindshield said.

Although habitat loss is the biggest threat to West African chimps, they're sometimes killed for meat. This is uncommon in Senegal, where eating chimpanzee meat is a taboopeople think chimps are too similar to humans to eat. But this isn't the case in other West African countries, where researchers might see a bigger difference in chimp populations inside and outside protected areas. National parks could be especially effective at protecting chimps in these nations.

The difference in the number of species of carnivores and hooved animals (known as ungulates), inside and outside the park was starktheir populations were 14 and 42 percent higher in the park, respectively. This is in sharp contrast with what Lindshield was hearing on the ground in Senegal: There's nothing in the park; all the animals are gone.

"There were qualitative and quantitative differences between what people were telling me and what I was seeing in the park," she said. "Niokolo-Koba National Park is huge, and the area we study is nestled deeply in the interior where it's difficult for humans to access. As a consequence, we see a lot of animals there."

Hunting practices and human-carnivore conflict are two big reasons for ungulates thriving inside the park. These animals are frequently targeted by hunters, and some carnivore species turn to livestock as a food source when their prey species are dwindling, creating potential for conflict with humans. Because the two sites are relatively close geographically and have similar grassland, woodland and forest cover, the researchers think human activity is the root of differences between the two sites.

Lindshield's team conducted basic field surveys by walking around the two sites and recording the animals they saw. They also installed camera traps at key water sources, gallery forests and caves to record more rare and nocturnal animals.

"We're engaging in basic research, but it's crucial in an area that's rapidly developing and home to an endangered species," Lindshield said. "This provides evidence that the protected area is effective, at least where we are working, counter to what I was hearing from the public. The management of protected areas is highly complex. Myriad challenges can make management goals nearly impossible, such as funding shortfalls or lack of buy-in from local communities, but I think it's important for people to recognize that this park is not a lost cause; it's working as it's intended to at Assirik, especially for large ungulates and carnivores."

Lindshield hopes her future studies will uncover not only which species exist in each site, but population sizes of each species. This metric, known as species evenness, is a key measure of biodiversity.

Data from the unprotected area in Senegal was collected by Jill Pruetz of Texas State University. Stephanie Bogart and Papa Ibnou Ndiaye of the University of Florida, and Malle Gueye of Niokolo-Koba National Park, also contributed to this research. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Leakey Foundation, Rufford Foundation, Primate Conservation Inc., Jane Goodall Research Center at University of Southern California, Purdue and Iowa State University.

More information: Stacy Lindshield et al, Informing Protection Efforts for Critically Endangered Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and Sympatric Mammals amidst Rapid Growth of Extractive Industries in Senegal, Folia Primatologica (2019). Stacy Lindshield et al, Informing Protection Efforts for Critically Endangered Chimpanzees () and Sympatric Mammals amidst Rapid Growth of Extractive Industries in Senegal,(2019). DOI: 10.1159/000496145
An artist's visualization of Harald in the ocean, detecting and measuring chlorophyll a as an indication of phytoplankton amounts and locations. Credit: David Fierstein and Arild Hareide

Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food chain but are notoriously difficult for scientists to account fora little like trying to identify and count motes of dust in the air. A truly independent underwater vehicle shows it can do the job.

Trygve Olav Fossum watched an orange, torpedo-shaped instrument slide off the R/V Gunnerus and plop into the coastal waters near the island called Runde. It was June 2017 and Fossum, a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), was part of a team of researchers trying to find answers to a vexing problem.

Runde, a triangle-shaped island off the mid-Norwegian coast, is known for its large seabird populations, including Atlantic puffins and Northern Gannets.

In recent years, bird numbers here and in much of the North Atlantic have dropped precipitously. No one knows quite why.

As a first step in their search for clues, NTNU researchers had assembled an interdisciplinary team of geologists, biologists, mathematicians, computer scientists and engineers, like Fossum, whose two metre-long autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) would contribute to one of the most unusual pieces of information on the Gunnerus's week-long survey.

Fossum's AUV, named after the Norwegian oceanographer Harald Sverdrup, would collect information that allowed scientists to make a 3-D map of hot spots of phytoplankton. These are the tiny single-celled algal cells at the base of the food chain. Their microscopic size and tendency to collect in patches have made this information nearly impossible for biologists to gather in the past.

The AUV was programmed to think on the go"seeing" where the phytoplankton were, choosing its own course to zoom in on patches in an area to get a better sample. Scientists call this "adaptive sampling." The 3-D maps, in turn, could provide important clues as to why bird populations around Runde were plummeting.

Zooplankton eat phytoplankton. Little fish eat zooplankton. Bigger fish eat the smaller fish. Finally, seabirds like puffins feast on these patches of fish. If something was changing phytoplankton amounts or distribution, it could set off a chain reaction that could affect the birds.

Having a smart AUV that can be programmed to seek out phytoplankton patches "is a complete game-changer," says Geir Johnsen, an NTNU biologist is collaborating on the project. The results from Harald's tour in the waters off Runde were recently reported in Science Robotics.

Large areas of unknown, and concentrated patches of fecundity

Harald the smart AUV off on its hunt for phytoplankton patches. Credit: Trygve Fossum, NTNU

Marine biologists face a fundamental problem. The ocean is deep, broad and generally poorly understood. Some areas are more interesting than others, especially the small, concentrated areas that teem with life, such as coastal waters or the places where currents meet. To do their job, biologists need to understand what factors make some patches of ocean fertile while others are not.

Biologists describe this situation as, well, "patchiness," Fossum said. The patchiness of phytoplankton is related to a number of different biophysical interactions, such as currents, turbulence and mixing, and biological processes, like how many other creatures are eating the phytoplankton.

"That means it's a very hard question to figure out what controls the patchiness of these organisms in the ocean," Fossum said.

Even if you are in a place that's known to be a hot spot, patchiness can make it difficult to accurately quantify marine organisms in the area, especially if you are taking samples from a research boat, says Glaucia Fragoso, a postdoc at NTNU's Department of Biology who was on the cruise with Fossum.

"If we drop our sampler in the wrong spot, we may undersample and underestimate phytoplankton numbers," she said. "Or if we drop our sampler right in the middle of a patch, we can overestimate."

Why patches are where they are

That's what makes the adaptive sampling of Harald, the AUV, so unique, Fragoso said. Given an area to explore, it can make a 3-D map of phytoplankton patches. And knowing where patches are allows scientists to study other characteristics of that area so they better understand why the patches are where they are.

"Is the (phytoplankton) concentration there because of salinity?" said Fossum. "Maybe the phytoplankton are concentrated along a temperature or salinity layer, or maybe there is some other physical effect that is keeping them where they are?"

Puffins, photographed on Runde Island during early summer. Populations of puffins and other seabirds that nest on Rundes steep cliffs have dropped dramatically in recent years. Credit: Rick Strimbeck/NTNU

Knowing where and why phytoplankton aggregate and cluster in different ways can help answer questions about creatures that depend on the ocean for food, like the seabirds at Runde.

Seabirds typically nest in areas where they have easy access to food, since they have to feed themselves and their chicks, too. So figuring out phytoplankton amounts and where they are, in combination with other measurements, may help explain larger trends in seabird populations.

Adaptive sampling for greater detail

Harald was programmed with a sophisticated brain and equipped with a special measuring device called an ECOpuck nestled in its backside. When Fossum released it into the water that June day, Harald would roam the ocean's depths in an area bounded by a 700700 metre box, collecting information to make a 3-D map of phytoplankton.

The ECOpuck doesn't actually measure phytoplankton itself, but something called chlorophyll a fluorescence. Phytoplankton use chlorophyll a pigments in the process of photosynthesis, and the substance fluoresces red when exposed to light. The ECOpuck detects the fluorescence, which can indicate how much phytoplankton biomass is found in the water.

At the start of the AUV's journey, it takes measurements on the sides of the box and then gradually zooms into the area outlined by the box as it detects the region that seems to have the most chlorophyll a, Fossum says.

"It boxes in a volume of water and based on what it sees, it estimates what is inside," he said. "Then it plans a route for inside and makes a map of the most interesting region. What I really want from this is an accurate map, with the accuracy where it is most neededwhere the plankton aggregation is high."

The researchers also relied on other sampling methods to collect even more information about plankton around Runde, including a special camera that took pictures of individual plankton, and counted and identified them automatically to help verify the results from the AUV.

A future for ships and AUVs

An artists visualization of Harald under the waves in the context of the waters off Runde. Credit: David Fierstein and Arild Hareide.

In spite of the success of the AUV, Fossum and others explain that biologists still need to gather information from other sourceslike research cruises aboard the R/V Gunnerus.

"Oceanography is moving towards combined efforts to collect data, where robotic sampling is an essential part, providing capabilities and resolution that were previously unattainable with traditional methods," Fossum said. "The ultimate goal is to effectively measure the impact of climate change in the ecosystem, for example."

Fossum says there's a need for much more persistent monitoring of Norway's coasts, marine protected areas, and fragile habitats.

"The goal is to eventually automate much more of this work, but we are not aiming to replace ships, they are still vital in this endeavour," he said.

The mystery remains

For her part, Fragoso sees the value of having an AUV like Harald to help pinpoint where she and other biologists should conduct more detailed sampling.

"Phytoplankton are just not easy to sample because they are constantly responding to an ever-changing environment," she said. "This gives us a lot of additional information about how phytoplankton occur in the water column. And the more information we have, the better."

As for the mystery of the birds on Runde, Fossum and Johnsen say scientists need to do more research over a longer period. For example, the timing of food availability is very important for both fish and birds.

"Birds need to find food especially when their chicks are hatching, and the fish need to be the right species and size for seabirds to survive," Johnsen says. "Climate change and pollution are now rapidly altering conditions in the marine ecosystem, and we need to know more."

"We took a snapshot of that area, which tells us something about the current ecosystem at that time," Fossum added. "But we'll need to go back and get another snapshot to detect changes and identify potential causes to say something about why the birds are declining."

Explore further Later tropical blooms could affect marine life

More information: Trygve O. Fossum et al. Toward adaptive robotic sampling of phytoplankton in the coastal ocean, Science Robotics (2019). Journal information: Science Robotics Trygve O. Fossum et al. Toward adaptive robotic sampling of phytoplankton in the coastal ocean,(2019). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aav3041
Fireflies glowing in unison. Credit: Radim Schreiber

Fireflies, heart cells, clocks, and power grids all do itthey can spontaneously sync up, sending signals out in unison. For centuries, scientists have been perplexed by this self-organizing behavior, coming up with theories and experiments that make up the science of sync. But despite progress being made in the field, mysteries still persistin particular how networks of completely identical elements can fall out of sync.

Now, in a new study in the March 8 issue of the journal Science, Caltech researchers have shown experimentally how a simple network of identical synchronized nanomachines can give rise to out-of-sync, complex states. Imagine a line of Rockette dancers: When they are all kicking at the same time, they are in sync. One of the complex states observed to arise from the simple network would be akin to the Rockette dancers kicking their legs "out of phase" with each other, where every other dancer is kicking a leg up, while the dancers in between have just finished a kick.

The findings experimentally demonstrate that even simple networks can lead to complexity, and this knowledge, in turn, may ultimately lead to new tools for controlling those networks. For example, by better understanding how heart cells or power grids display complexity in seemingly uniform networks, researchers may be able to develop new tools for pushing those networks back into rhythm.

"We want to learn how we can just tickle, or gently push, a system in the right direction to set it back into a synced state," says Michael L. Roukes, the Frank J. Roshek Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering at Caltech, and principal investigator of the new Science study. "This could perhaps engender a form of new, less harsh defibrillators, for example, for shocking the heart back into rhythm."

Synchronized oscillations were first noted as far back as the 1600s, when the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens, known for discovering the Saturnian moon Titan, noted that two pendulum clocks hung from a common support would eventually come to tick in unison. Through the centuries, mathematicians and other scientists have come up with various ways to explain the strange phenomenon, seen also in heart and brain cells, fireflies, clouds of cold atoms, the circadian rhythms of animals, and many other systems.

In this video, the researchers show an example of synchronization. In the beginning, no apparent phase order is seen at any point in time and the oscillators are not synchronized. This is because the oscillators are uncoupled. However, in this system we have control over coupling. As they turn on the coupling they observe a stark transition to an antiphase synchronized state. Credit: Matthew H. Matheny

In essence, these networks consist of two or more oscillators (the nodes of the network), which have the ability to tick on their own, sending out repeated signals. The nodes must also be connected in some way to each other (through the network edges), so that they can communicate and send out messages about their various states.

But it has also been observed since the early 2000s that these networks, even when consisting of identical oscillators, can spontaneously flip out of sync and evolve into complex patterns. To better understand what is going on, Roukes and colleagues began to develop networks of oscillating nanomechanical devices. They started by just connecting two, and now, in the new study, have developed an interconnected system of eight.

To the team's surprise, the eight-node system spontaneously evolved into various exotic, complex states. "This is the first experimental demonstration that these many distinct, complex states can occur in the same simple system," says co-author James Crutchfield, a visiting associate in physics at Caltech and a professor of physics at UC Davis.

To return to the Rockettes metaphor, another example of one of these complex states would be if every other dancer were kicking a leg up, while the dancers in between were doing something entirely different like waving their hats. And the examples get even more nuanced than this; with pairs of dancers doing the same movements between pairs of other dances doing something different.

"The perplexing feature of these particular states is that the Rockettes in our metaphor can only see their nearest neighbor, yet manage to be coordinating with their neighbor's neighbor," says lead author Matthew Matheny, a research scientist at Caltech and member of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute.

In this video, the researchers show pattern formation over oscillator phases. The pattern they discuss here arises out of a uniform synchronized state with identical oscillator phases, i.e. the in-phase state. The in-phase state is only stable when network coupling is large. If they suddenly shift this coupling down beyond where the state is stable they quench the system. After the quench, the system displays a a spread in the phase, which is not random. The phase winds up and down with a spatial period of 8 oscillators. Credit: Matthew H. Matheny

"We didn't know what we were going to see," says Matheny. "But what these experiments are telling us is that you can get complexity out of a very simple system. This was something that was hinted at before but not shown experimentally until now."

"These exotic states arising from a simple system are what we call emergent," says Roukes. "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts."

The researchers hope to continue to build increasingly complex networks and observe what happens when more than eight nodes are connected. They say that the more they can understand about how the networks evolve over time, the more they can precisely control them in useful ways. And eventually they may even be able to apply what they are learning to model and better understand the human brainone of the most complex networks that we know of, with not just eight nodes but 200 billion neurons connected to each other typically by thousands of synaptic edges.

"Decades after the first theories of the science of sync, and we are just finally beginning to understand what's going on," says Roukes. "It's going to take quite a while before we understand the unbelievably complex network of our brain."

The new Science study is titled, "Exotic States in a Simple Network of Nanoelectromechanical Oscillators."

Explore further Physicists train the oscillatory neural network to recognize images

More information: "Exotic states in a simple network of nanoelectromechanical oscillators" Science (2019). Journal information: Science "Exotic states in a simple network of nanoelectromechanical oscillators"(2019). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi  1126/science.aav7932
Credit: The Ohio State University

New research shows just how powerful the United States' and other countries' influence can be on persuading other nations to ratify international treaties.

The first-of-its-kind study shows the influence of countries in treaty ratification can extend beyond their close allies and could even help persuade rivals to join agreements.

"The simple act of a single country ratifying a treaty can have dramatic ramifications for what other countries do in ways that haven't always been apparent," said Skyler Cranmer, co-author of the study and the Carter Phillips and Sue Henry associate professor of political science at The Ohio State University.

In an article published today (March 7, 2019) in PLOS ONE, the researchers debuted a model that could predict how other countries would react when an individual country ratified one of 198 international environmental agreements between 1972 and 2000.

For example, the study found that the United States' signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 may have influenced Russia to ratify the treaty. Without action by the U.S., Russia would have had only a 40 percent probability of signing the treaty, according to the model.

"Superpowers can influence each other even if they're rivals and their interests aren't always aligned," Cranmer said.

Russia wasn't the only unexpected country that signed the UNFCCC as a result of American ratification. U.S. support of the UNFCCC also influenced Nigeria, Thailand and Uruguay to sign, all of which have lacked significant, direct relationships with the United States.

Cranmer worked to develop the model with colleagues Benjamin Campbell, a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Ohio State; Frank Marrs, a Ph.D. candidate in statistics, and Bailey Fosdick, an assistant professor of statistics, both at Colorado State University; and Tobias Bohmelt, a professor of government at the University of Essex.

The model that the researchers developed allowed them to analyze the complex interactions between countries and treaties, relationships between the countries themselves, and other factors in ways that have never been done, Cranmer said.

"We didn't have a good way of measuring country-to-country influence before, but now we do," Cranmer said.

Most other research that has examined why countries did or did not ratify a particular treaty examined attributes of the country, such as its type of government and level of economic development.

"But this is missing the whole dynamic of international leadership. You're not seeing how states influence each other," he said.

This study found that countries can be both positive and negative influencers on how other nations respond to international agreements. An example of negative influence is one country's ratification of a treaty making it less likely that another will do the same.

One reason may be that some countries are looking for a "free ride," Cranmer said. Countries get a free ride when they don't ratify a treaty, but still benefit from its environmental protections when nearby countries ratify.

The study showed that countries are less likely to ratify treaties when countries within their continent have ratified it. Countries near others that ratify may benefit the most from a free ride.

Still, one country acting as a negative influence on another country's ratification was relatively uncommon.

Positive influencewhen ratifying a treaty makes another country more likely to joinwas much more common.

"To us, this demonstrates that, on average, international institutions, such as the United Nations, have worked in facilitating global environmental protection. This isn't something that we would always expect given the criticism of these institutions and global governance efforts," Cranmer said.

Cranmer said it was significant that the United States' ratification of the UNFCCC had a positive influence on distant countries like Nigeria and Thailand also acceding.

"These indirect effects are something we have not been able to document before in international politics," he said.

The effects go beyond even the single treaty itself. The study found that the United States' ratification of UNFCCC not only influenced other countries' probability of ratifying that treatyit also influenced Mexico and Russia's probability of joining a different treaty: the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

"The actions of the United States have indirect influence on a lot of other countries that we could not quantify before," Cranmer said.

The new model developed by the researchers is a powerful tool to study international relations in a variety of ways.

"Environmental treaties are not the only application. We now are using the same tool to examine how countries influence each other on human rights treaties," he said.

Explore further Sacrificing the climate for reelections

More information: Benjamin W. Campbell et al. Latent influence networks in global environmental politics, PLOS ONE (2019). Journal information: PLoS ONE Benjamin W. Campbell et al. Latent influence networks in global environmental politics,(2019). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213284
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Paul Boxer is a Professor of Psychology and Senior Fellow in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers UniversityNewark who studies the development, prevention and treatment of violent and nonviolent antisocial behavior, particularly among youths involved in the juvenile justice system.

He is Director of the Rutgers Center on Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, and was recently named head of research for the New Jersey Center on Gun Violence Research, which is being set up by the New Jersey State Legislature in conjunction with Rutgers University and is only the second research center of its kind in the nation.

Recently Boxer and colleagues from across the U.S., Israel and the West Bank completed an ambitious longitudinal study, funded by the National Institutes for Health, which strongly links Israeli and Palestinian youth's persistent exposure to ethnic-political violence to serious violent and antisocial behavior as they become young adults.

Beginning in 2006, the researchers interviewed Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Arab children and their parents over the course of seven years, starting with cohorts of 600 Palestinian Arab and 450 Israeli Jewish youth, ages 8, 11 and 14, with a final follow-up sample of about 400 Palestinians and 160 Israeli Jews when they were 14, 17 and 20. They also included nearly 500 Israeli Arab children who were not part of the final round of interviews or their Externalcurrent paper, published recently in the journal Aggressive Behavior, by the International Society for Research on Aggression.

We sat down with Boxer to discuss the project and his findings.

This is a seven-year study involving, at least at the outset, 1,500 youths and their families abroad, including the Israeli Arab children. How was your team able to pull this off?

The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, based in Ramallah, Israel, on the West Bank, developed a methodology for getting interview subjects, along with colleagues at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University. We relied on their local expertise to pull all the data together, and we and our U.S. colleagues developed the theoretical model and aggregated all the data as it came in to develop datasets that could be used for subsequent analysis. We could not have done this without the support of our colleagues on the ground in Israel and the West Bank.

How do we make sense of the findings?

This study fits into, and is consistent with, the larger literature on what happens when kids grow up under conditions of persistent and chronic violence, whether it's kids in urban communities or kids growing up with domestic violence or in neighborhoods with lots of crime: It increases the likelihood that they themselves will become violent. We know these are risk factors, and now we know this is true as well with kids growing up with ethnic and political violence.

And though it's a little bit of a broader leap because we didn't measure suicide attacks per se or extreme violent political terrorist events, we do think these findings gives us some insight into conditions that can lead people down the path to terrorism. People often say young adults in the Middle East participate in political violence because of economic conditions. That may in part be true, but in our sample, many said they're inclined to do so because of violence directed toward their communities. That goes for both Palestinian Arab and Israeli Jewish kids, though the likelihood is greater for the former because they report significantly more exposure to violence at the hands of the Israeli military than Jewish kids do the other way around, and the Palestinian youth are far more distressed in general, according to our data.

Why did you jettison the Israeli Arab kids from the latter part of the study?

They were in the middle regarding their experience with violence and trauma, but when we broke down other analyses of ethnicity, nationalism and beliefs about their country, we found they're in a bind in how they're perceived by the other two groups, and the results were much less clear than they were with the Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Arab kids. We meant in no way to diminish their experience by omitting them from the final analysis, but given the methodology we were usingno focus groups or expansive ethnographiesit would have been difficult to pull out what was really going on with them and do justice to their situation. I could see that being a separate study unto itself.

Are you breaking ground by studying the effects of ethnic and political violence on children?

We are. It's really difficult research to do. Accessing samples of kids who have had these kinds of experiences is tough. There are only a handful of places in the world where this kind of research is happeningNorthern Ireland, Congo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, and other studies of Israeli and Palestinian kidsand a very small number of researchers doing it. Doing this kind of work, a prospective longitudinal design following a large sample over time, requires a tremendous amount of effort and connection on the ground. Again, we couldn't have done it without our Israeli and Palestinian colleagues.

What do you see going forward?

I hope that our work encourages other folks, especially junior investigators, to keep pushing on these issues. It's not easy, but there are populations around the world that have not gotten the attention from scientific and social research that they deserve, and this is one way to promote that.

Thank you for sitting down with us.



I enjoyed it. Thank you.

Explore further Chain of violence: Study shows impact on Palestinian and Israeli children

More information: Eric F. Dubow et al. Serious violent behavior and antisocial outcomes as consequences of exposure to ethnic-political conflict and violence among Israeli and Palestinian youth, Aggressive Behavior (2019). Eric F. Dubow et al. Serious violent behavior and antisocial outcomes as consequences of exposure to ethnic-political conflict and violence among Israeli and Palestinian youth,(2019). DOI: 10.1002/ab.21818
A rare photo of type D killer whales from South Georgia Island, showing their blunt heads and tiny eyepatches. Credit: J.-P. Sylvestre.

In January 2019, an international team of scientists working off the tip of southern Chile got their first live look at what might be a new species of killer whale. Called Type D, the whales were previously known only from a beach stranding more than 60 years ago, fishermen's stories, and tourist photographs.

Genetic samples the team collected will help determine whether this animal, with its distinctly different color pattern and body shape, is indeed new to science.

"We are very excited about the genetic analyses to come. Type D killer whales could be the largest undescribed animal left on the planet and a clear indication of how little we know about life in our oceans," said Bob Pitman, a researcher from NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California.

The team's encounter with the distinctive whales came after they spent more than a week at anchor, waiting out the perpetual storms of Cape Horn off southern Chile. It was here that the scientists collected three biopsy samplestiny bits of skin harmlessly taken from the whales with a crossbow dartfrom a group of Type D killer whales.

Into the Laboratory

Unraveling the secrets of these unique killer whales has now moved from the blustery Southern Ocean to the laboratory, where NOAA scientists will analyze DNA from the skin samples. "These samples hold the key to determining whether this form of killer whale represents a distinct species," said Pitman.

The first record of the unusual killer whales came in 1955, when 17 animals stranded on the coast of Paraparaumu, New Zealand. Compared to other killer whales, they had more rounded heads, a narrower and more pointed dorsal fin, and a tiny white eyepatch; no whales like this had ever been described, before.

Top. An adult male 'regular' killer whale - note the size of the white eye patch, less rounded head and dorsal fin shape. Bottom. An adult male Type D killer whale - note the tiny eye patch, more rounded head, and more narrow, pointed dorsal fin. Credit: Uko Gorter.

Initially, scientists speculated that the unique look might have been a genetic aberration only seen in with those stranded whales. Then, in 2005, a French scientist showed Pitman photographs of odd-looking killer whales that had taken fish from commercial fishing lines near Crozet Island in the southern Indian Ocean. They had the same tiny eye patches and bulbous heads.

The location, a quarter of the way around the world from New Zealand, suggested that relatives of the stranded whales might in fact be widespread.

Burgeoning tourism in Antarctica has since produced wildlife photographs in unprecedented quality and quantity. To monitor the distribution, movements, and abundance of killer whales in Antarctic waters, Pitman and colleagues began to collect killer whale images from the Southern Ocean, including from tour vessels.

New Sightings Emerge

Among the tens of thousands of images compiled were six additional sightings of the unique whales. In 2010, Pitman and colleagues published a paper in the scientific journal Polar Biology describing the Type D killer whales. They included photos from each encounter and a map of the sighting locations.

The sightings indicated a distribution around the entire continent of Antarctica, but within subantarctic waters. Because Type D killer whales seemed to avoid the coldest waters, the authors suggested "subantarctic killer whale" as a common name. It was also evident from the few sighting records that this animal lived in offshore waters, in some of the most inhospitable latitudes on the planet: the Roaring 40s and the Furious 50s, known for their strong winds. No wonder it was almost unknown to science!

The stories continued: Chilean fishermen complained of killer whales stripping valuable toothfish off their lines, 60 to 80 miles south of Cape Horn, where the continental shelf drops off into the abyss. Based on photographs by fisheries observers, most of the fish-stealing killer whales were "regular" killer whales, but, among the images, there were also some groups of Type D whales.

In January 2019, an international team of scientists working off the tip of southern Chile got their first live look at what might be a new species of killer whale. Called Type D, the whales 'could be the largest undescribed animal left on the planet.' Credit: Type D Killer Whale Research Team 2019, taken under Chilean Sub-Secretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Permit, Res. Ex. 1811 and Res. Ex 4402

The fishermen reported that the types did not mix and that the Type Ds stayed further from the boats when regular killer whales were around.

The Stories Become Real

This year, the stories and photographs finally became real. With support from an anonymous donor and Cookson Adventure Tours, and in collaboration with Centro de Conservacion Cetacea, Chile, Pitman assembled an expedition of international whale experts: Bob Pitman and Lisa Ballance from the United States, John Totterdell and Rebecca Wellard from Australia, Jared Towers from Canada, and Mariano Sironi from Argentina. In January, they set sail from Ushuaia, Argentina, on the 22-meter research vessel Australis, to search for the elusive Type D killer whale.

At first, luck did not seem to favor the Australis teamat one point they sat at anchor for eight anxious days, pummeled by 40 to 60 knot winds at Cape Horn. Then, during a brief lull in the weather, Australis pounded its way back offshore when the team's fortune changed.

They finally found the animals that Pitman had sought for 14 years.

The Australis spent three hours among a group of about 30 whales, which approached the vessel many times. When killer whale vocalization expert Rebecca Wellard towed a hydrophone behind the boat to record Type D calls, whales immediately came over to inspect it. From wide-angle cameras mounted on her hydrophone, she obtained revealing underwater images as the curious whales showed details of their unique color patterning and body shape.

The Type D killer whale images brought back by team Australis serve as a reminder of how little we know about life in our oceans. In the next few months, the DNA samples should finally reveal just how different the Type D is from other killer whales.

Explore further Scientists use DNA from a museum specimen to study rarely observed type of killer whale
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The United States could fulfill its greenhouse gas emission pledge under the Paris Climate Agreement by virtually eliminating coal as an energy source by 2024, according to new research from Portland State University.

Although the Trump Administration announced in 2017 that United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the U.S. cannot officially pull out until 2020.

The researchco-authored by PSU Ph.D. graduate student John Anasis and faculty from PSU's departments of physics, economics and systems sciencewill be published in the March issue of the journal Applied Energy. It examines the energy shifts that would need to take place for both the U.S. and China to reach the Paris Agreement's goals. Together, the two countries produce roughly 40 percent of global emissions.

The researchers said eliminating coal as an energy source was the most significant step for the U.S. to meet its emissions target. As a result, the U.S. would need shift to an energy portfolio based on natural gas, efficiency, wind, solar power and biofuels, with oil used predominately for transportation fuel.

In the best of all worlds, nuclear power also would be part of the mix. The authors state that 12 new nuclear power plants would have to be built by 2025 to cost efficiently make up for the loss of coal, but that the goals could be reached without them at only a slightly higher cost.

"Given the concerns and controversy surrounding nuclear power, this is significant," said PSU Economics Professor Randall Bluffstone, one of the co-authors.

Anasis, the paper's lead author, said the research also showed that a strong push towards energy efficiency and the adoption of electric vehicles would be among the most cost-effective strategies for meeting the emissions targets under the Paris accord.

The authors say many of the energy resource shifts described in the paper are well underway.

"The declining costs of both natural gas and renewables is already displacing significant amounts of coal-fired generation," Bluffstone said.

The Paris accord, dealing with mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, is an agreement adopted in 2015 as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. To date, 195 countries have signed on to the agreement.

More information: John G. Anasis et al. Optimal energy resource mix for the US and China to meet emissions pledges, Applied Energy (2019). John G. Anasis et al. Optimal energy resource mix for the US and China to meet emissions pledges,(2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.01.072
Fewer than 500 people live in the village of Heckenbeck near the town of Bad Bandersheim. Credit: Kielhorn

How can communities living together in rural areas be developed to ensure that they continue to exist and thrive? Much emphasis has been placed on innovation within urban areas. However, new research shows that rural communities can also play a pivotal role in generating solutions for sustainability. Using the village of Heckenbeck in southern Lower Saxony as an example, researchers from the University of Gottingen investigated what these communities need to continue to flourish. The results of the study were published in the journal Sustainability.

Fewer than 500 people live in the village of Heckenbeck. Like many villages around the world, it is located in an economically vulnerable region and is severely affected by increasing demographic change. Despite that, it has demonstrated that it has sustainable infrastructure. How have the inhabitants managed this? "The transformative potential of villages is often limited to the personal networks of a few 'pioneers,' by which we mean those who are the first to use a new method or idea. The pioneers' distance from other areas restricts the success of these ideas to the inhabitants in the immediate surroundings and prevents their spread," says Dr. Markus Keck of the Geographical Institute of the University of Gottingen. He and his colleagues have investigated how Heckenbeck succeeded in overcoming this "island status."

In Heckenbeck, many projects, organisations and rural infrastructures have been established that not only improve the local quality of life but also create conditions for more sustainable forms of consumption, mobility and education. "Many of these projects have become an integral part of the village community," says Keck. These include the Free School Heckenbeck, the kindergarten, the cultural centre Weltbuhne as well as basic medical care and midwifery practice. The projects are usually organised jointly. "The local environmental association Heckenrose supports sustainable forms of mobility in the village, such as car sharing and a bicycle rental system," reports Keck.

Moving away from rural areas and demographic change - Heckenbeck has developed survival strategies. Credit: Kielhorn

"Our case study clearly shows how sustainable lifestyles and economic practices can spread successfully throughout rural areas," says Janes Grewer, joint author of the study. "The more openly and visibly that alternative lifestyles are lived, the greater the chances of their spreading and the greater the added value they create for quality of life. The basic prerequisite is regular meetings on an equal footing between pioneers and residents who have lived locally for a long time. This can be achieved, for example, by setting up meeting places or collaborating on joint projects."

However, the initiative of dedicated pioneers and the example of sustainable lifestyles alone is not enough, because those involved are dependent on favourable conditions: "Many of the new village structures were started by pioneers, but could only be realised through an exchange with established decision-makers," says Grewer. New infrastructures and permanent services are the key to success, as they make sustainable local behaviour much easier for all residents. "Sustainable lifestyles will then no longer be taken up just for personal ethical reasons, but also because they can be easily implemented."

Explore further Global examples of sustainability projects offer potential seeds for a more just future

More information: Janes Grewer et al, How One Rural Community in Transition Overcame Its Island Status: The Case of Heckenbeck, Germany, Sustainability (2019). Janes Grewer et al, How One Rural Community in Transition Overcame Its Island Status: The Case of Heckenbeck, Germany,(2019). DOI: 10.3390/su11030587
Djalal Mirzayev. Credit: SUSU

Researchers from South Ural State University are working on producing an innovative, super-light, and super-strong kind of steel called bainite. This new material has potential applications in the aviation industry, mechanical engineering and the defence industry.

The developments have been published in Physics of Metals and Metallography. The authors of the article are Doctor of Sciences (Physics and Mathematics), Professor Djalal Mirzayev and Associate Professor of the Department of Optoinformatics of the SUSU Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Ivan Buldashev.

Highly Strong and Malleable Steel

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, but depending on the temperature the iron is heated to, it is possible to obtain different steel structures. This is because within the interval of zero to 911 degrees Celsius, the properties of iron change completely. At a temperature lower than 911 degrees Celsius, austenite enters a more malleable and soft phase called ferrite, which is formed with slow cooling. In manufacturing, ferrite is used for machining. However, with shock cooling, austenite forms a superhard phase called martensite.

Structure of the bainite phase Fe-Si-Mn-Cr-V of still under a scanning electron microscope Credit: SUSU

"Martensite is a solid phase of steel, since during quick cooling, carbon is unable to separate fully as carbide and gets 'stuck' in the structure. In addition, during this kind of cooling, many microscopic defects appear  dislocations, which are not dangerous, but weaken the steel. Martensite is simultaneously a hard and brittle structure. Our goal is to create steel that maintains the high hardness of martensite and sufficient malleability, and is therefore stronger," says Djalal Mirzayev.

New steel for the oil industry

The basis of the current research is bainite, which is similar to martensite. It is produced by adding such elements as nickel, chrome, manganese and silicon. Maintaining the highest level of strength, bainite has a higher malleability than martensite. However, the malleability of bainite is not ultimate. The researchers from SUSU are working on obtaining carbide-free bainite, which will make it possible to increase its impact resistance, since carbide particles are stress concentrators that stimulate fracture. One more important aspect is cutting the time of production required for this kind of steel.

It is important to note that this new steel will become 15 to 30 percent stronger. It could find application in the defence industry and the oil industry. Pipes made from carbide-free bainite will not only have high impact resistance, they will also have durable strength in arctic climates. In the future, the scientists will work on searching for the optimal composition of new steel, the properties of which will depend on the industry the material will be intended for.

More information: I. L. Yakovleva et al. Structural Aspect of Isothermal Bainitic Transformation in High-Carbon ManganeseSilicon Steel, Physics of Metals and Metallography (2018). I. L. Yakovleva et al. Structural Aspect of Isothermal Bainitic Transformation in High-Carbon ManganeseSilicon Steel,(2018). DOI: 10.1134/S0031918X18100149
One hundred and three newly discovered species of the genus Trigonopterus from Sulawesi. Credit: Alexander Riedel

The Indonesian island of Sulawesi has been long known for its enigmatic fauna, including the deer-pig (babirusa) and the midget buffalo. However, small insects inhabiting the tropical forests have remained largely unexplored.

Such is the case for the tiny weevils of the genus Trigonopterus of which only a single species had been known from the island since 1885. Nevertheless, a recent study conducted by a team of German and Indonesian scientists resulted in the discovery of a total of 103 new to science species, all identified as Trigonopterus. The beetles are described in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

"We had found hundreds of species on the neighboring islands of New Guinea, Borneo and Javawhy should Sulawesi with its lush habitats remain an empty space?" asked entomologist and lead author of the study Dr. Alexander Riedel, Natural History Museum Karlsruhe (Germany).

In fact, Riedel knew better. Back in 1990, during a survey of the fauna living on rainforest foliage in Central Sulawesi, he encountered the first specimens that would become the subject of the present study. Over the next years, a series of additional fieldwork, carried out in collaboration with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), managed to successfully complete the picture.

"Our survey is not yet complete and possibly we have just scratched the surface. Sulawesi is geologically complex and many areas have never been searched for these small beetles," said Raden Pramesa Narakusumo, curator of beetles at the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB), Indonesian Research Center for Biology.

Why have all these beetles remained overlooked for so long?

Unlike the all-time favourite stag beetles or jewel beetles, tiny beetles that measure no more than 2-3 millimeters seem to have been attracting little interest from entomologists. Their superficial resemblance does not help identification either.

From left to right: Trigonopterus asterix, T. obelix and T. idefix, three newly described species from Sulawesi (Indonesia). Credit: Alexander Riedel

In fact, the modern taxonomic approach of DNA sequencing seems to be the only efficient method to diagnose these beetles. However, the capacity for this kind of work in Indonesia is very limited. While substantial evidence points to thousands of undescribed species roaming the forests in the region, there is only one full-time position for a beetle researcher at the only Indonesian Zoological Museum near Jakarta. Therefore, international collaboration is crucial.

103 beetle names

Coming up with as many as 103 novel names for the newly described species was not a particularly easy task for the researchers either. While some of the weevils were best associated with their localities or characteristic morphology, others received quite curious names.

A small greenish and forest-dwelling species was aptly named after the Star Wars character Yoda, while a group of three species were named after Asterix, Obelix and Idefixthe main characters in the French comics series The Adventures of Asterix. Naturally, Trigonopterus obelix is larger and more roundish than his two 'friends'.

Other curious names include T. artemis and T. satyrus, named after two Greek mythological characters: Artemis, the goddess of hunting and nature and Satyr, a male nature spirit inhabiting remote localities.

Additionally, the names of four of the newly described beetles pay tribute to renowned biologists, including Charles Darwin (father of the Theory of Evolution), Paul D. N. Hebert (implementer of DNA barcoding as a tool in species identification) and Francis H. C. Crick and James D. Watson (discoverers of the structure of DNA).

Dense mountain forest of Central Sulawesi, where some of the new species have been found. Credit: Alexander Riedel

Six-legged deja vu

Back in 2016, in another weevil discovery, Dr. Alexander Riedel and colleagues described four new species from New Britain (Papua New Guinea), which were also placed in the genus Trigonopterus. Similarly, no weevils of the group had been known from the island prior to that study. Interestingly, one of the novel species was given the name of Star Wars' Chewbacca in reference to the insect's characteristically dense scales reminiscent of Chewie's hairiness. Again, T. chewbacca and its three relatives were described in ZooKeys.

On the origin of Trigonopterus weevils

Sulawesi is at the heart of Wallacea, a biogeographic transition zone between the Australian and Asian regions. The researchers assume that Trigonopterus weevils originated in Australia and New Guinea and later reached Sulawesi. In fact, it was found that only a few populations would one day diversify into more than a hundred species. A more detailed study on the rapid evolution of Sulawesi Trigonopterus is currently in preparation.

Future research

To help future taxonomists in their work, in addition to their monograph paper in ZooKeys, the authors have uploaded high-resolution photographs of each species along with a short scientific description to the website Species ID.

"This provides a face to the species name, and this is an important prerequisite for future studies on their evolution," explained the researchers.

"Studies investigating such evolutionary processes depend on names and clear diagnoses of the species. These are now available, at least for the fauna of Sulawesi."

More information: Alexander Riedel et al, One hundred and three new species of Trigonopterus weevils from Sulawesi, ZooKeys (2019). Journal information: ZooKeys Alexander Riedel et al, One hundred and three new species of Trigonopterus weevils from Sulawesi,(2019). DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.828.32200
Diagram showing the operation of the single-molecule quantum sequencer. Credit: Osaka University

DNA is small. Really, really, small. So, when researchers want to study the structure of a single-stranded DNA, they can't just pull out their microscopes: they have to get creative.

In a study published this week in Scientific Reports, researchers from Japan's Osaka University explain how they came up with a really small solution to the challenge of studying anticancer drugs incorporated into single strands of DNA.

With almost half of us likely to develop cancer at some point in our lifetime, the need for novel and effective treatments has never been more critical. And while researchers are constantly developing new and improved therapies to kill cancer cells, or at least halt their replication, a limited understanding of precisely how these drugs work can sometimes make it difficult to advance otherwise promising treatments.

One such treatment, trifluridine, is an anticancer drug that gets incorporated into DNA as it replicates. While similar to thymine, one of the four nucleotides that make up DNA, trifluridine can't bind to thymine's partner nucleotide, adenine. This destabilizes the DNA molecule, resulting in aberrant gene expression and, ultimately, cell death.

But exactly where trifluridine gets incorporated into the DNA remains a mystery because it is not distinguished by traditional DNA sequencing methods, hampering efforts to fully understand and develop the technology.

Therefore, the team at Osaka University set about developing a DNA sequencing method that could distinguish the drug molecules from normal nucleotides in short strands of DNA. Using microscopic probes, the researchers passed an electrical current across a distance approximately 65,000 times smaller than a grain of sanda gap just wide enough to fit a strand of DNA.

"Using this single-molecule quantum sequencing method, we successfully identified individual molecules in the DNA based on differences in electrical conductance," explains lead author Takahito Ohshiro. "For the first time, we were able to directly detect anticancer drug molecules incorporated in the DNA."

Importantly, the conductance of trifluridine was lower than that of the four native nucleotides, which also displayed divergent conductance values, allowing it to easily be distinguished in the DNA sequence. Based on these values, the researchers successfully sequenced single DNA strands of up to 21 nucleotides, pinpointing the exact insertion sites of trifluridine.

"Now that we have the ability to determine exactly where the drug is incorporated, we can develop a better understanding of the mechanism involved in DNA damage," says senior author Masateru Taniguchi. "We expect that this technology will aid in the rapid development of new and more effective anticancer drugs."

Explore further Rethinking existing method opens new doors for cancer diagnostics

More information: Takahito Ohshiro et al. Direct Analysis of Incorporation of an Anticancer Drug into DNA at Single-Molecule Resolution, Scientific Reports (2019). Journal information: Scientific Reports Takahito Ohshiro et al. Direct Analysis of Incorporation of an Anticancer Drug into DNA at Single-Molecule Resolution,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-40504-x
Residents searching for belongings are dwarfed by the devastation in Beauregard, Ala., Wednesday, March 6, 2019. The twister that smashed Beauregard was the deadliest U.S. tornado in nearly six years. The weather service said it remained on the ground for an hour and 16 minutes, crossing the Chattahoochee River into western Georgia along a path stretching roughly 70 miles (Joe Songer/AL.com. via AP)

The number of tornadoes confirmed to have touched down in a deadly weekend outbreak across the Southeast has risen to at least 36.

Survey teams for the National Weather Service found evidence of the twisters in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.

The most powerful was an E4 tornado blamed for killing 23 people Sunday in rural Lee County, Alabama. Its destructive winds reached 170 mph (274 kph) as it carved a path of destruction nearly a mile wide. The tornado trekked nearly 70 miles (113 kilometers) from western Alabama into Georgia after crossing the Chattahoochee River at the state line.

All of the tornado deaths were in Alabama, though several people in Georgia were injured.

Residents searching for belongings are dwarfed by the devastation in Beauregard, Ala., Wednesday, March 6, 2019. The twister that smashed Beauregard was the deadliest U.S. tornado in nearly six years. The weather service said it remained on the ground for an hour and 16 minutes, crossing the Chattahoochee River into western Georgia along a path stretching roughly 70 miles (Joe Songer/AL.com. via AP)

Crosses stand as a makeshift memorial for the victims of a tornado in Opelika, Ala., Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Residents searching for belongings are dwarfed by the devastation in Beauregard, Ala., Wednesday, March 6, 2019. The twister that smashed Beauregard was the deadliest U.S. tornado in nearly six years. The weather service said it remained on the ground for an hour and 16 minutes, crossing the Chattahoochee River into western Georgia along a path stretching roughly 70 miles (Joe Songer/AL.com. via AP)

Explore further Satellites reveal tornado tracks in Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Toyota employs more than 3,000 people at its two plants in Britain, which include a motor making factory in Wales

Toyota Europe's CEO has warned the firm could end production in Britain by 2023 if the country exits the European Union without a deal, the Nikkei business daily said Thursday.

Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, Johan van Zyl told reporters that "if the business environment becomes very, very difficult to operate," a withdrawal "should be on the agenda as well," the Nikkei said.

He also raised other less drastic possibilities, including scaling back production or investment, the daily said.

A Toyota spokesman confirmed van Zyl's comments.

"In the exchange of questions and answers with Japanese reporters there, he replied to a question on whether future withdrawal from the business in the UK is possible, saying it is 'an option', in general terms," the spokesman told AFP.

"Of course we have to compete and the business environment is important," the spokesman added.

But he stressed that Toyota's position on Brexit was unchanged, namely "that a hard landing is not desirable."

"But we don't know what will happen and nothing's been decided yet," he said.

The reported 2023 date is related to the firm's production cycle.

Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29, but months of negotiations on a deal to govern post-Brexit ties have so far failed.

The British parliament is due to vote next week on a final version of a proposed exit deal. But if MPs again reject it, they will then vote on whether to leave with no deal or delay Brexit.

Toyota employs more than 3,000 people at its two plants in Britain, which include a motor making factory in Wales.

Last month, Honda announced it would shut a major plant in Britain, putting 3,500 jobs at risk and becoming the latest Japanese firm to downsize operations as Brexit looms.

The firm's president insisted the move was not related to Brexit, but analysts said while the downsizing had been long in the works, the timing of the decision was almost certainly linked to concerns about Britain crashing out of the EU.

Japanese firms Sony, Panasonic and Hitachi are also scaling back operations in Britain ahead of the country's departure from the European Union.

Explore further Sony to shift UK HQ to avoid Brexit disruption

 2019 AFP
Forests recover growth in a few decades, but it may take centuries before the species diversity returns to the original composition, according to a study co-authored by Robin Chazdon of UConn. Credit: University of Connecticut

Tropical forests are threatened by high levels of deforestation, mostly driven by agricultural expansion. But, once agricultural fields are abandoned, they tend to naturally regrow, leading researchers to ask whether that process reverses species loss and brings native species back.

An international team of ecologists inventoried trees in 1,800 tropical forest plots located in 56 sites across 10 countries in Latin America, and found that forests recover growth in a few decades, but that it may take centuries before the abundance of the species present returns to the what is found in old-growth forests. Secondary forests now make up as much as 28 percent of the land area in Latin America.

Tree species found in regrowing forests are usually different from those in neighboring old-growth forest, according to the paper published in Science Advances. After 20 years of regrowth, only 34 percent of the original species composition recovered.

Researchers used plot data from secondary forests of different ages and compared it to neighboring, well-conserved, old-growth forests. The team included UConn professor emerita of ecology and evolutionary biology Robin Chazdon, and colleagues across Europe and Latin America.

"It is great news that natural regeneration can restore tree biodiversity relatively fast," says Chazdon. "However, targeted restoration actions for the introduction of typical old-growth species, as well as the conservation of old-growth forests, may be necessary to guarantee long-term conservation of tropical tree species."

This study has direct implications for forest restoration policies and practice. Natural forest regeneration has typically been viewed as an ecologically sound way to restore large areas of forest at lower costs compared to active tree plantings.

Natural forest regeneration may therefore be the ideal method to meet the goal to restore 350 million hectares of forest in 2030, as set under the Bonn Challenge.

But tropical forests, home to more than 53,000 tree species, account for 96 percent of the global tree diversity.

"While young secondary forests contribute importantly to biodiversity conservation in these modified landscapes, they do not contain many of the species found in well-conserved forests," says co-author Lourens Poorter, leader of the 2ndFOR network. "Both secondary and old-growth forests must be preserved to guarantee biodiversity conservation in human-modified landscapes."

Chazdon stresses that both secondary and old-growth forests are important for conserving biodiversity and providing resources for wildlife. Lead author Danae Rozendaal, from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, agrees.

"We were impressed to find that it takes only five decades, on average, to recover the total number of species found in well-conserved old-growth forests, and that within only 20 years, already 80 percent of the number of species is present," says Rozendaal. "This emphasizes the importance of secondary forests for biodiversity conservation in human-modified tropical landscapes."

To learn more about Chazdon's efforts to restore forests world-wide, follow her on the People and Reforestation in the Tropics Network for Education Research and Synthesis (PARTNERS) website and blog.

Explore further Recovering forests important to conservation, study finds

More information: Danae M. A. Rozendaal et al. Biodiversity recovery of Neotropical secondary forests, Science Advances (2019). Journal information: Science Advances Danae M. A. Rozendaal et al. Biodiversity recovery of Neotropical secondary forests,(2019). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau3114
This image of Ultima Thule can be viewed with red-blue stereo glasses to reveal the Kuiper Belt object's three-dimensional shape. Credit: NASA

Cross your eyes and break out the 3-D glasses! NASA's New Horizons team has created new stereo views of the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule  the target of the New Horizons spacecraft's historic New Year's 2019 flyby, four billion miles from Earth  and the images are as cool and captivating as they are scientifically valuable.

The 3-D effects come from pairing or combining images taken at slightly different viewing angles, creating a "binocular" effect, just as the slight separation of our eyes allows us to see three-dimensionally. For the images on this page, the New Horizons team paired sets of processed images taken by the spacecraft's Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) at 5:01 and 5:26 Universal Time on Jan. 1, from respective distances of 17,400 miles (28,000 kilometers) and 4,100 miles (6,600 kilometers), offering respective original scales of about 430 feet (130 meters) and 110 feet (33 meters) per pixel.

The viewing direction for the earlier sequence was slightly different than the later set, which consists of the highest-resolution images obtained with LORRI. The closer view offers about four times higher resolution per pixel but, because of shorter exposure time, lower image quality. The combination, however, creates a stereo view of the object (officially named 2014 MU69) better than the team could previously create.

"These views provide a clearer picture of Ultima Thule's overall shape," said mission Principal Investigator Alan Stern, from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado, "including the flattened shape of the large lobe, as well as the shape of individual topographic features such as the "neck" connecting the two lobes, the large depression on the smaller lobe, and hills and valleys on the larger lobe."

"We have been looking forward to this high-quality stereo view since long before the flyby," added John Spencer, New Horizons deputy project scientist from SwRI. "Now we can use this rich, three-dimensional view to help us understand how Ultima Thule came to have its extraordinary shape."

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, designed, built and operates the New Horizons spacecraft, and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The MSFC Planetary Management Office provides the NASA oversight for the New Horizons. Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, directs the mission via Principal Investigator Stern, and leads the science team, payload operations and encounter science planning. New Horizons is part of the New Frontiers Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Explore further New Horizons spacecraft returns its sharpest views of Ultima Thule
This June 30, 2017 remote camera image released by the U.S. Forest Service shows a female gray wolf and her mate with a pup born in 2017 in the wilds of Lassen National Forest in Northern California. U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that's run into conflicts with farmers and ranchers after rebounding in some regions, an official told The Associated Press, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (U.S. Forest Service via AP, File)

U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that's running into conflicts with farmers and ranchers as its numbers rebound in some regions.

The proposal would give states the authority to hold wolf hunting and trapping seasons. It was announced Wednesday by acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt at a wildlife conference in Denver.

Wolves had previously lost federal protections in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, where hunters and trappers now kill hundreds of the animals annually.

Wildlife advocates and some members of Congress reacted with outrage to the latest proposal and promised to challenge any final decision in court.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now with the group Defenders of Wildlife, warned of an "all-out war on wolves" if the plan advances.

"We don't have any confidence that wolves will be managed like other wildlife," she said.

But government officials countered that the recovery of wolves from widespread extermination last century has worked and they no longer need the Endangered Species Act to shield them.

"Recovery of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act is one of our nation's great conservation successes, with the wolf joining other cherished species, such as the bald eagle, that have been brought back from the brink," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Gavin Shire said in an emailed statement.

Agriculture groups and lawmakers from Western states are likely to support the administration's proposal.

Further details were expected during a formal announcement planned in coming days.

Long despised by farmers and ranchers, wolves were shot, trapped and poisoned out of existence in most of the U.S. by the mid-20th century.

They received endangered species protections in 1975, when there were about 1,000 left, only in northern Minnesota. Now more than 5,000 of the animals live in the contiguous U.S.

Most are in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rockies regions.

Protections for the Northern Rockies population were lifted in 2011. State officials and government biologists say the region's wolves have continued to thrive despite pressure from hunting. The animals are prolific breeders and can adapt to a variety of habitats.

Wildlife advocates want federal protections kept in place until wolves repopulate more of a historical range that stretched across most of North America.

In this April 11, 2018 file photo, a gray wolf stands at the Osborne Nature Wildlife Center south of Elkader, Iowa. U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that's run into conflicts with farmers and ranchers after rebounding in some regions, an official told The Associated Press. (Dave Kettering/Telegraph Herald via AP, File)

Since being reintroduced in Yellowstone National park and central Idaho in the mid-1990s, the Northern Rockies population has expanded to parts of Oregon, Washington and California.

Those states so far have not allowed hunting, despite growing pressure from ranchers whose livestock herds have been attacked.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has argued for years that gray wolves have recovered in the lower 48 states, despite experts who contend they occupy only about 15 percent of the territory they once roamed. Agency officials insist the recovery of wolves everywhere is not required for the species no longer to be in danger of extinction.

John Vucetich, a wildlife biologist at Michigan Technological University, said most wolf experts probably would agree the species is not at imminent risk. But said he dropping federal protections was a premature move.

Many people "still find it difficult to live with wolves," primarily because they kill livestock as well as deer and elk that people like to hunt, Vucetich said. If wolves are returned to state management, he said, "I do worry that some of the states could be overly aggressive and that wolves could fare worse than their current condition."

The government first proposed revoking the wolf's protected status across the Lower 48 states in 2013. It backed off after federal courts struck down its plan for "delisting" the species in the western Great Lakes region states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Fish and Wildlife Service officials disclosed to the AP last year that another scientific review of the animal's status had been launched.

Shire declined to disclose the agency's rationale for determining the species had recovered, but said members of the public would have a chance to comment before a final decision in coming months.

Ryan Yates, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation, applauded the federal agency's plan and said many farmers and ranchers have lost livestock to wolf kills since the species was granted legal protections. The farmers and ranchers will respect state regulations aimed at managing wolf populations, he said.

"Some people like them, some people don't, but the law's the law," Yates said.

Lawmakers in Congress frustrated with court rulings maintaining protections for wolves have backed legislation to forcibly strip protections in the Great Lakes region and beyond. A similar effort by lawmakers ended protections for Northern Rockies wolves.

Explore further House passes bill to drop legal protections for gray wolves

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
1. Yes. The Schlueter Group has extensive experience and contacts. Its a good investment.

2. Yes. The firms namesake has a background as a legislator and knows Killeen well.

3. No. The expenditure is a waste of money. Our lawmakers should be doing that work.

4. No. The contract should be shorter, incentivized and based on performance benchmarks.

5. Unsure. Its not always easy to quantify the outcomes of lobbying efforts.

Vote

View Results
"Art is anything you can get away with." ~ Marshall McLuhan I find it interesting that nearly everyone who hears the above quot...
Constitution Classes Resume for the

First Three Weeks of December,

then we take a break the week before

Christmas and the week after Christmas.
WASHINGTON -- Two RFE/RL Ukrainian Service journalists, reporter Katerina Kaplyuk and cameraman Borys Trotsenko, were attacked today by two officials of the village council of Chabany, located just south of the capital, Kyiv in Kyiv Region. Trotsenko was diagnosed with a concussion and his camcorder was damaged in the attack.

The journalists were attacked in the offices of the village council, as they attempted to interview a village official for an investigation by the Ukrainian Services anti-corruption program Schemes into the allocation for private use of state lands controlled by Ukraines National Academy of Agrarian Sciences.

Police responded to the scene and took statements from the RFE/RL journalists. The head of Ukraines National Police for the Kyiv region later announced that an investigation has been opened into the attack, under Article 171 of Ukraines criminal code, on the Obstruction of the Legal Professional Activities of Journalists.

Schemes reporters have been the targets of numerous efforts to obstruct their work. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern for the safety of journalists working for Schemes after they reported being followed and surveilled in mid-February, allegedly by vehicles registered to a security company owned by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov. Police are also investigating this case under Article 171.

In September 2018, Schemes host Natalia Sedletska had to secure a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision to keep the Ukrainian government from accessing months of data collected on her cellphone as part of an investigation into the alleged disclosure of state secrets to journalists in 2017 by Artem Sytnyk, director of the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine.

In November 2017, Schemes journalists were attacked while on assignment by masked men apparently working for prominent Ukrainian politician and businessman Victor Medvedchuk, and two months earlier, Schemes reporters (including Trotsenko) were assaulted by members of Ukraines presidential security team while looking into potential misuse of government assets at an event attended by high-ranking Ukrainian officials.

RFE/RLs investigative program Schemes: Corruption in Details is an award-winning weekly program devoted to exposing high-level political corruption and abuse of public office in Ukraine. A joint production of RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service and Ukrainian Public Television (UA:Pershiy), it also airs on the private Ukrainian Channel 24, independent channel Hromadske TV, and on Facebook and YouTube.

RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service, with a monthly average of over 4 million visits to its website, sets a standard in the Ukrainian media market for independence, professionalism, and innovation. Its comprehensive coverage includes the award-winning reporting of its Donbas Realities and Crimea Realities websites.

----

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Joanna Levison in Prague (levisonj@rferl.org, +420.221.122.080)

Martins Zvaners in Washington (zvanersm@rferl.org, +1.202.457.6948)
The Democratic field is shaping up as one of the largest and most diverse groups in history, featuring a half-dozen women and minority candidates with a range of experience in both government and the private sector. Some of the candidates are already well-known while others will face the challenge of building a national profile.

The various contenders will compete to see who can meet the partys desire for a strong challenger to take on President Donald Trump, a Republican, while also promoting a progressive agenda on economic and environmental issues, a focus that could tug the party further to the left next year.

* Candidates who have suspended their campaigns

Michael Bennet, Michael Bloomberg, Cory Booker, Steve Bullock, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Bill de Blasio, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, John Hickenlooper, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Wayne Messam, Seth Moulton, Beto O'Rourke, Deval Patrick, Tim Ryan, Joe Sestak, Tom Steyer, Eric Swalwell, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang
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
By Ritah Kemigisa.

The Speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga has appointed a committee to investigate the utilization of shs 151 billion meant for payment of 10 selected Ugandan traders who supplied goods to the south Sudan government.

The committee chaired by the Kyankwazi woman MP Ann Maria Nankabirwa has been tasked to produce a list of verified traders and the money paid so far and also examine the criteria used to select the traders.

They are also required to find out whether the payments were effected to actual beneficiaries and report to parliament within two weeks.

In 2016, government of Uganda and south Sudan signed a bilateral agreement to pay verified traders by the government of south Sudan.
Illinois governor Pritzker has proposed a 5 cent tax on plastic grocery bags which he believes will be a huge help to the environment as well as generating between 19 and 23 million dollars in additional revenue. Ah. The revenue.

At the moment neither Missouri or Illinois make shoppers pay for each plastic bag they get at checkout, but I've experienced this practice while out in the DC area visiting our daughter. I often go to one of their grocery stores while there (actually more like everyday) and find paying for these bags an annoyance. It's not the nickle per bag that bothers me, it's just not wanting to pay for them. I often get to the store and remember I hadn't brought my own bags and feel like the day is ruined. My kids have a drawer in the kitchen filled with plastic grocery bags which they take with them and reuse.

Some people have a hoard of the canvas shopping bags in their cars to avoid plastic or the fee for plastic. I'd do this, I guess, but more often than not I'd forget them at home. The main reason for the plastic bag fees is to try to stop their use altogether to help our environment-or revenue. The bags go into landfills where supposedly they never ever deteriorate. Or, they get loose outside and blow around where wildlife can choke on them.

It's too bad stores don't just have the old fashioned brown paper bags. Maybe they are too expensive, or shoppers find them too heavy or awkward. We could cut way back on plastic bags if grocery store baggers would put more stuff in each bag. Too often the bagger will put two things in one bag sometimes just one. Are we that physically weak that we can't have 5 or 6 items in each bag? I use the self checkouts when available to avoid this sort of thing.

One more observation. Plastic bags do deteriorate, maybe not as fast as a paper towel blowing around, but keep on eye on a plastic bag caught in a tree or some such. It will eventually go to pieces and disappear.

It's a strange time we live in. All of a sudden in our neighborhood there are popping up many people who find possums great animals to have around their yards. They are great for the environment it is said. Some of the same people like the idea of coyotes roaming their neighborhoods too.
By Ritah Kemigisa.

The Pan African Parliament has commended Uganda for its progressive policies in the management of refugees in the ongoing Committee meetings in Midrand, South Africa.

Ugandas open door policy to asylum seekers was lauded as one of the most generous in the world because it grants refugees relative freedom of movement, the right to seek employment and also accords migrants land for farming.

George Kuchio of the UNHCR who made a presentation on Migrants, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons urged regional bodies such as the Pan African Parliament, East African Community and the African Union to rethink how they can address the challenge of refugees and internally displaced persons.

On her part, the Buyende woman MP Babirye Kadogo urged the continental parliament to come up with solutions to the refugee problem who sometimes burden host countries and communities.

Related Stories.

Over 300 refugees From Congo enter Uganda
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Education Reporter

Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe.
" " Wikimedia Commons Sealab II, built on the design of Sealab I, which included multiple chambers and a dedicated support ship, was submerged at a depth of 205 feet (62 meters) near La Jolla, CA in August 1965.

Even though around 70 percent of our planet is covered in saltwater, we have a better map of Mars than we do the oceans that sustain virtually every living thing on Earth. Sure, ocean exploration is expensive and complicated, but so is space exploration, and we do plenty of that.

There was a time, though, during the early years of space exploration, that aquanauts were pushing the limits of how deep humans could dive under the ocean, and how long they could stay down there. Sealab, a program launched by the U.S. Navy in 1964, was intended to figure out how to send divers down into the freezing, high-pressure environments of the deep sea for longer periods of time than anyone ever thought possible. And the program was a big success, until it wasn't anymore.

Advertisement

Humans Underwater

It's always challenging to get a human body free-swimming at any great depth, the reason being that our bodies are not made to withstand millions of gallons of water piled on top of us. Divers have to breathe pressurized air, which contains inert gases  nitrogen, mainly  that dissolve into the bloodstream and tissues, which works out great so long as the weight of the entire ocean keeps them compressed. If a diver wants to come up to the surface, she must do it slowly in order to avoid the gases making little bubbles in her blood, migrating to her joints and causing decompression sickness (or, "the bends"), which is unspeakably painful, and sometimes fatal.

In the early 1960s, a Navy physician named George Bond figured out how to let people explore the ocean in a way nobody ever thought possible through a technique called saturation diving. In his laboratory experiments, Bond was able to saturate the blood with inert gases like helium in such a way that divers could not only go deep, they could stay down indefinitely, so long as they had the right set-up and a shelter. Divers could become acclimated to a habitat 200 feet (60 meters) below the surface and free dive even deeper from there.

"Dr. Bond's breakthroughs were a little bit like the diving equivalent of breaking the sound barrier," says Ben Hellwarth, author of "Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor." "It was a quantum leap in technology over what the diving parameters had been for more than a century."

Advertisement

Sealab

Sealab I, the first iteration of the Sealab experiment, was housed in a 57-foot-long (17 meters) steel tube lowered onto the ocean floor off the coast of Bermuda in July of 1964, at a depth of 192 feet (59 meters). Four men successfully stayed submerged in this pod for 11 days, and the experiment went so well that Sealab II was submerged off the coast of La Jolla, California at a depth of 205 feet (62 meters) in August of the next year. Sealab II had hot showers, a refrigerator and a dolphin named Tuffy, trained to deliver supplies and rescue aquanauts, if necessary. After a 30-day stay on Sealab II, aquanaut (and astronaut!) Scott Carpenter spoke to President Lyndon Johnson from his helium-atmosphere decompression chamber sounding like a cartoon chipmunk. He might have sounded ridiculous, but history was made: he had survived a month at a pressure of 103 psi, which is seven times that of Earth's atmosphere.

"I want you to know that the nation's very proud of you," President Johnson told Carpenter.

It's strange, then, that only a few years later, an accident on Sealab III, which was situated on the seafloor off the coast of San Clemente, California at a depth of 600 feet (183 meters), could have shut the program down. But when aquanaut Berry Cannon went down to fix a carbon monoxide leak on the still-uninhabited Sealab III and died of asphyxiation, the Navy shut the program down in short order.

"Most people involved were aware that this was a dangerous operation  they always knew it had been," says Hellwarth. "Sealab I and Sealab II had gone well, with no major injuries. After the tragedy on Sealab III, they all expected to press on, but the Navy didn't see it that way, so the program was canceled. It was still a low-profile enough program that there wasn't a national uproar about giving up the race to the bottom of the ocean that you would expect if they had tried to cancel the space program two years earlier after the Apollo I launchpad fire that killed three astronauts. I think everyone expected the program to go on, but for various reasons it didn't."

Advertisement

The Legacy of Sealab

We still use the technical breakthroughs George Bond pioneered with the Sealab program, mostly in the oil industry, setting up oil platforms. Saturation divers can go to a job site hundreds of feet below the surface and stay down there for an entire eight-hour shift.

"Unbeknownst to most people, we all owe the fuel in our tank to some extent to some saturation diver working out in the Gulf of Mexico or the North Sea," says Hellwarth.

But George Bond's vision was not just industrial  it was military, civilian and scientific. He solved the problem of going deeper and staying longer, but after Sealab was canceled, it turned out that industry is where the money was. Any military application  equipping military submarines to release saturation divers as spies during the Cold War, for instance  would be highly classified, and therefore hard to document.

But there is one place on Earth where a Sealab-type facility still exists for scientific research: the Aquarius Reef Base south of the Florida Keys, that's been in operation for over 20 years. Scientists can go down there, 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface, and live anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks, running experiments on the reef.

"Dr. Bond's vision was science-related," says Hellwarth. "He thought we ought to have Sealab-like bases set up in the ocean wherever there might be something of interest to study and observe. We should get to know that environment better because there's value to spending time in the ocean, just like there was value in Jane Goodall's being able to sit and observe in the jungle. Once you're down there and can stay awhile, you really don't know what you're going to see. That's how we discover things."

Learn more about Sealab in "Papa Topside: The Sealab Chronicles of Capt. George F. Bond, USN" by Helen A. Siiteri, ed. HowStuffWorks picks related titles based on books we think you'll like. Should you choose to buy one, we'll receive a portion of the sale.

Now That's Interesting Saturation divers who work on modern oil rigs have a dangerous job, but they make up to $1,400 per day.
" " With the advent of DNA testing, first used in forensics in the early 1990s, more historical and criminal mysteries are now ripe for solving and exhumations are becoming more common. Scott MacBride/Getty Images

For most people, zombies excluded, being laid to rest brings with it the guarantee of eternal slumber. But for some of history's major players, being buried was more like a nap. That's because they weren't laid to rest for eternity. They were dug up after being buried, and sometimes more than once.

A lot of times it was due to DNA. With the advent of DNA testing, first used in forensics in the early 1990s, more historical and criminal mysteries are now ripe for solving. Exhuming a corpse can help provide answers to those mysteries, from murders to issues of paternity.

"By 1995, DNA testing alone had scientific acceptance in court as having the ability to identify a single person," explains Dr. Monte Miller, director of Forensic DNA Experts, who has more than 20 years of specialized DNA laboratory experiences and has been involved in thousands of criminal and civil court cases. DNA testing can determine "everything about you," he says. And when it comes to digging up bodies, DNA offers plenty of information, as long as there is still viable material.

"DNA degrades over time if subjected to heat, moisture, chemicals, outdoor environment and sunlight," Miller says. But without these elements, (as in when someone is buried) DNA can be stable for years  even centuries. Take these five famous people who were buried, then exhumed, and then buried again, and then exhumed again, in some cases to test their DNA.

Advertisement

1. Christopher Columbus

" " Christopher Columbus. ecliff6/Getty Images

After four transatlantic journeys, the explorer who gets credited with first connecting the two hemispheres died in Spain in 1506 and was buried in Valladolid, Spain. Three years later, Columbus was dug up and moved about 375 miles (600 kilometers) to his family's mausoleum in Seville. However, he had apparently wanted to be buried in the "New World," which at the time of his death did not have a church worthy of his status. Finally, in 1542, his daughter-in-law Maria de Rojas y Toledo had him exhumed once again and moved to the island of Hispaniola  where the Dominican Republic and Haiti are today. When France took control of Hispaniola in 1795, Columbus' remains were moved again to the Santa Maria de la Sede Cathedral in Seville where his tomb can be visited today.

But in 1877, a box of remains marked "Cristobal Colon" were found in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Colon is Columbus's Spanish name). Were these the remains in the Dominican Republic really Christopher Columbus? It depends whom you ask. While multiple cities claim they have his remains, recent DNA tests that compared the Seville remains with DNA taken from his brother's corpse have proven those as authentic. The test results notwithstanding, the Dominican Republic continues to allege that they have Columbus, although DNA testing of the remains housed in the Santo Domingo Columbus Lighthouse mausoleum and museum have yet to be performed.

Advertisement

2. Russian Royal Family

If you've seen the 1971 Academy Award-winning film "Nicholas and Alexandra" about Russia's final monarch, you probably remember the climax when the czar and his family were taken into the cellar where they were killed by firing squad. After three centuries of Romanov rule, the February Revolution in 1917 led to the abdication of Nicholas II and the seizure of the Winter Palace by the Bolsheviks that October. The royal family was held in the city of Yekaterinburg until July 1918 when they were all executed. Or were they? Rumors that Princess Anastasia had survived spawned a 1997 animated film, which has now been adapted into a Broadway musical. There was also a 1956 film starring Ingrid Bergman as an Anastasia pretender. Through the years, many women have claimed to be the death-defying princess.

" " The Russia royal family (l to r): Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra Fyodorovna, Anastasia, Alexei and Tatiana, in 1913. Wikimedia Commons

Mystery surrounding the Russian royals began immediately following the execution. When the family was killed, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin only confirmed the death of Nicholas II, and the location of the bodies was kept secret during the time of the Soviet Union. A mass grave in Yekarterinburg was dug up in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed, but it only contained the czar, czarina and three daughters. One daughter and the only son, Alexei, were missing. DNA testing based on living relatives and a bloody shirt proved that the five bodies were Romanovs. In 1998, they were laid to rest in St. Petersburg. A second Yekarterinburg grave was found in 2007, and DNA showed the remains to be those of Alexei and Princess Maria, which meant that Anastasia was included among the original five found in 1991. By 2011, Russian authorities decided that the remains were definitely those of the Romanov family, and in a move to get the Russian Orthodox Church to recognize them, Nicholas II and Alexandra were exhumed, along with the last czar's father and grandfather. According to Smithsonian, the findings were conclusive. Mystery solved; sorry Anastasia fans.

Advertisement

3. Lee Harvey Oswald

Different questions about Russian identity led to the exhumation of a notorious American nearly 20 years after his burial. Around 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly aimed a rifle at President John F. Kennedy who was traveling in a motorcade through the streets of Dallas, killing him with shots to the neck and head. In less than an hour and a half, authorities had arrested 24-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who had lived in the Soviet Union and brought a Soviet wife back with him. Based on Oswald's time behind the Iron Curtain, his statement that he was "just a patsy," and all kinds of other claims about photograph altering and marital woes, wild theories quickly surfaced. In "History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time" Brad Meltzer writes, "It's amazing just how manyconspiracy theories surround the assassination." While being transferred to the county jail just a couple of days later, Oswald was shot by local nightclub owner Jack Ruby. The Warren Commission launched an investigation into Kennedy's death, and to this day, many believe that Oswald did not act alone.

" " Lee Harvey Oswald's booking photo, Nov. 22, 1963. Wikimedia Commons ( CC 1.0

But getting back to exhumations, one of the many conspiracy theories led to Oswald being dug up in 1981. This theory claimed that when Oswald returned to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1962, he had been replaced by a Russian spy bent on completing his mission to assassinate the American president. According to Scott Patrick Johnson in "The Faces of Lee Harvey Oswald: The Evolution of an Alleged Assassin", as early as 1960, government officials had been concerned that a Russian imposter could be using Oswald's birth certificate. Johnson explains that the idea may seem farfetched today, but considering the history of Cold War intelligence operations, "the imposter scenario seems plausible."

Discrepancies in Oswald's autopsy, like a missing mastoidectomy scar and misplaced arm scars, and lots of other questions about his identity finally led to Oswald's body being exhumed from its resting place at Rose Hill cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1981. After examining the body and comparing it with dental records from Oswald's time in the Marine Corps, forensic pathologists agreed that the Rose Hill corpse was indeed that of the alleged assassin. Did that suffice for conspiracy theorists? Of course not. Some still argue that the body of the imposter was switched with the real Oswald sometime between 1963 and 1981. DNA testing could settle the matter, but another exhumation has not been planned.

Advertisement

4. Dr. Sam Sheppard

The assassination of Kennedy and the true identity of his killer remains the stuff of conspiracy theories for some and digging up a body to prove guilt or innocence does not always offer a simple answer either. Although DNA expert Miller has not seen a rise in exhumations for old criminal trials yet, he says this could be coming. "With the new law enforcement activity involving cold cases and ancestry DNA sites, this is likely to increase greatly in the near future."

" " The crypt of Sam and Marilyn Sheppard in Knollwood Cemetery, Mayfield Heights, Ohio. Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 2.0

In the case of Dr. Sam Sheppard, which inspired "The Fugitive" television series and film, it has already become a reality. In 1954, Sheppard's wife Marilyn was murdered in their home. DNA tests revealed her husband's innocence nearly five decades later, but that did not change the past or everyone's mind. The pregnant Marilyn was beaten to death following an evening of entertaining at the house. Sam claimed he had struggled with a "bushy-haired" man who knocked him out. Following a much-publicized trial and the implausibility of Sam's assailant story, the doctor was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In 1966, during a second trial due to the "prejudicial publicity" of the first, Sam was acquitted but not proven innocent. He died in 1970, and his son Sam Reese Sheppard later filed a wrongful-imprisonment suit against the state of Ohio.

DNA testing in 1997 revealed that there was blood at the scene that didn't come from Marilyn. Sam's body was exhumed, and his blood was excluded as well, according to The New York Times. The tests showed that it could be a match for Richard Eberling, a man who had cleaned the Sheppard's windows two days before Marilyn's death and who by that time was in prison for a 1984 murder. In 1999, Marilyn's body was also exhumed for medical testing. Despite the DNA evidence and the possibility of Eberling as the killer, Sam Reese lost his case against the state of Ohio, and an appeal determined that any financial claim against the state had died with Sam.

" " Salvador Dali with his pet ocelot, Babou. Wikimedia Commons

Advertisement

5. Are You My Dali?

Despite the benefits of genetic testing for criminal trials and proving the authenticity of remains of really important people, when it comes to the words "DNA test," something more Jerry Springeresque often comes to mind. And that was exactly the reason for the exhumation of surrealist artist Salvador Dali, who died in 1989.

In the 2017 exhumation-for-paternity case, fortune teller Maria Pilar Abel Martinez, who had long claimed to be the daughter of the painter, sought to prove her lineage. Her evidence? A tryst between her mother and Dali in 1955 and family lore. Martinez also asserted she looked just like the artist minus his most recognizable feature, his mustache. She had already undergone inconclusive tests based on DNA from Dali's death mask and material from one of his friends. In addition to bragging rights, a positive DNA result would have given Martinez a significant share in Dali's estate. Samples of hair, nail and bone from Dali's exhumed body showed that he was not the father. The samples have been returned to his body, which was reinterred at the Figueres Theatre-Museum in Catalonia. The Guardian reported that embalmer Narcis Bardalet, who assisted with the exhumation, assured the continued survival of Dali's famed mustache.

Now That's Interesting Explorer Meriwether Lewis died under suspicious circumstances in a cabin in Tennessee in 1809. It has long been debated whether he was murdered or, as he was known to suffer from depression and alcoholism, took his own life. Since his grave is located on National Park Service land, descendants have petitioned the Interior Department for permission to exhume his body but have thus far been denied.
Jaren Hayman's documentary This is North Preston is all set to close this year's edition of the Canadian Film Festival here in Toronto on March 29th. His look at the city of North Preston, Halifax, Nova Scotia, the oldest and largest black community here in Canada, may prove to be a sobering but important film.

At first occupied by three waves of freed slaves, refugees and migrants between the American Revolution and the War of 1812 the community in Halifax still experiences its share of hardships and struggles to this day.

North Preston is the largest black community in the country and started as a safe haven for escaped slaves but has more recently been painted as one of the biggest hubs of pimping & human trafficking in the nation. This Is North Preston explores how the town of 4,000 has dealt with generations of pimp culture, violence, economic struggle, and constant systemic racism through the eyes of the pimps, trafficking victims, politicians, police, and community members looking to change the narrative. This Is North Preston not only tells a truly unique story, but also an incredibly important one. While the community has several deep rooted issues its facing including an accepted pimp culture and high levels of gun violence, the film explores how and why this is now a reality. The movie also looks at the decades of systemic racism that the town has experienced and continues to experience.

Our friends at Northern Banner Releasing have picked up the film for distribution and will make a theatrical run across Canada in April. We have your first look at the trailer below.
Two weeks from tonight the What The Fest!? film festival begins its second year in New York City.

Over five days residents and visitors will catch the world premiere of Larry Fessenden's new film Depraved on opening night. You will also have the opportunity to praise the dark one with events devoted to Satan called 'Satan Is Your Friend'. There you will find the World Premiere Restoration of Ray Laurents 1970 documentary Satanis: The Devil's Mass to start. Then our friend and author Grady Hendrix will speak on heavy metal and the 'Satanic Panic' of the '80s, as well as his terrific new novel We Sold Our Souls with a book signing. Finally there will be the NY Premiere of Penny Lanes Sundance documentary Hail Satan?

Be sure not to miss the panel, Female Trouble: Fearless Women Leading the Way in Horror, Fantasy, and Suspense on the 24th. The Wind's Emma Tammi, Body at Brighton Rock's Roxanne Benjamin and journalist Meredith Alloway are already confirmed to lead a discussion about the challenges and opportunities facing women in horror.

Other festival circuit standouts include The Unthinkable, One Cut of the Dead, and Zhang Yimou's Shadow.

The complete press release follows with a gallery of all films in this year's lineup. Find more information at the official site here

IFC Center is proud to announce the full slate of the 2019 What The Fest!? film festival ( www.whatthefestnyc.com ), a five-day showcase of outrageous content -- horror, sci-fi, documentary, thrillers, and beyond -- from March 20th through March 24th. What The Fest!? will feature exciting premieres, including one World Premiere, two North American Premieres; one U.S. Premiere, two East Coast Premieres, seven New York premieres, and a Restoration World Premiere -- all coming to satiate your thirst for mayhem, for adventure, or really for any of your cinematic desires. What The Fest!? also boasts exciting pre and post-screening events, as well as a bevy of in-person talent. Opening night of What The Fest!? will feature the World Premiere of Larry Fessendens latest film DEPRAVED, his unique take on the classic Frankenstein story -- this time, set in contemporary Brooklyn. Preceding the film will be a Frankenstein Origins video presentation, and Fessenden and cast will appear in-person for a post-screening Q&A. We are absolutely thrilled to announce the line-up of What The Fest!? We hope the diversity in programming gives food for thought, excites everyone and we encourage you to take a closer look on some of the events designed for the films, says Artistic Director, Maria Reinup. Discover what a doomsday specialist has to tell us. Dare to plunge into the world of pathology. Test the expertise of a working stuntwoman. Or pay tribute to cult author Jack Ketchum. All of this, and more, kicking off with a Frankenstein-themed evening as we world premiere DEPRAVED. On behalf of the team and myself -- we really cant wait to see you in the cinema! More What the Fest!? programming standouts include the North American premiere of Peter Brunners TO THE NIGHT, starring Caleb Landry Jones (GET OUT) as a New York artist haunted by his fiery past, as well as the U.S. Premiere of Zack Lipovsky and Adam B. Steins FREAKS, starring Emile Hirsch as an overprotective father who holds his young daughter in a homemade fortress until she plans to break free via an ice cream truck driver (Bruce Dern)... and yes, the film is preceded by an ice cream social. Three events make up the festivals Satan Is Your Friend, sidebar, a look at contemporary satanism, taking place Sunday, March 24th. The lineup features the World Premiere Restoration of Ray Laurents 1970 documentary SATANIS: THE DEVILS MASS, a look inside the infamous Black House in San Francisco, where the Church of Satan was established; a talk by author Grady Hendrix about the heavy metal Satanic Panic of the '80s and his book We Sold Our Souls, followed by a book signing, and the NY Premiere of Penny Lanes Sundance hit documentary HAIL SATAN? with subject Lucien Greaves in-person. The Closing Night of the festival features the North American premiere of Kiril Sokolovs WHY DONT YOU JUST DIE!, a stylized, dark action comedy preceded by a stand-up set from comedian Harrison Greenbaum (Last Comic Standing). For the second year in a row, West Village neighborhood bar Vol de Nuit (148 West 4th Street) will serve as a central What The Fest!? gathering place, bringing together filmmakers, film fans, and everyone in between. Tickets for What The Fest!? events can be redeemed at special festival events for free drinks as you socialize with your favorite genre filmmakers. What The Fest!? Artistic Director Reinup is a veteran film programmer who has worked in the film industry for the past decade in her native Estonia and around the world. In addition to programming last years What The Fest!?, she has served as Director of the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival for seven years; additionally, she programs the Black Nights Film Festival, the only A-list art house festival in Northern Europe. Over the years, she has also worked for several other notable film festivals and has produced and directed short films and music videos. The programming team is rounded out by Programmer Matthew Kiernan, a longtime genre industry insider who also serves as Brand Manager for the Fantasia International Film Festival and Senior Programmer at the Lighthouse International Film Festival. What The Fest!? is made possible by Event Sponsors IFC Midnight and Shudder, and by Friends of the Festival Bloody Disgusting, Essentia, Fangoria, Magnolia Pictures, and Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies.
Security experts at Symantec linked the massive Singapore Healthcare breach suffered by SingHealth to the Whitefly cyberespionage group.

In 2018, the largest healthcare group in Singapore, SingHealth, has suffered a massive data breach that exposed personal information of 1.5 million patients who visited the clinics of the company between May 2015 and July 2018. Stolen records included patients name, address, gender, race, date of birth, and National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) numbers.

SingHealth has 42 clinical specialties, a network of 2 Hospitals, 5 National Specialty Centres, 9 Polyclinics, and Bright Vision Community Hospital.

Now security experts from Symantec linked the SingHealth massive data breach to the cyberespionage group Whitefly that has been targeting organizations in Singapore since at least 2017.

Singapore official Personal Data Protection Commission, the local privacy watchdog, imposed fines of Sg$1 million ($740,000) on a healthcare provider and an IT agency over the massive security breach.

According to a data breach notification released by Singapores Ministry of Health (MOH), hackers stole personal information along with information on the outpatient dispensed medicines of about 160,000 patients. Data belonging to Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and of other ministers have been exposed in the security breach.

According to Singapores authorities, the hackers specifically and repeatedly targeted Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loongs data.

MOH explained that the data breach is the result of a targeted attack, local media speculate the involvement of a nation-state actor in the cyber attack.

Symantec believes the attack was carried out by the Whitefly espionage group that targeted in previous attacks organizations in healthcare, media, telecommunications and engineering organizations in Singapore. The group also targeted foreign companies operating in the country.

The Whitefly group used both custom malware and open source hacking tools, and legitimate applications.

Symantec researchers have discovered that this attack group, which we call Whitefly, has been operating since at least 2017, has targeted organizations based mostly in Singapore across a wide variety of sectors, and is primarily interested in stealing large amounts of sensitive information. reads the analysis published by Symantec.

Whitefly compromises its victims using custom malware alongside open-source hacking tools and living off the land tactics, such as malicious PowerShell scripts.

The hackers target the victims with spear-phishing messages using a .exe or .dll file disguised as documents or images. The files contain a dropper that downloads and execute a loader tracked as Trojan . Vcrodat .

When attackers deliver a DLL file, the malware leverages a technique known as DLL hijacking to get executed.

This technique takes advantage of the fact that Windows does not require an application to provide a specific path for a DLL that it wishes to load. If no path is provided, Windows searches for the DLL in specific locations on the computer in a pre-defined order. continues the analysis.

Attackers can therefore give a malicious DLL the same name as a legitimate DLL but place it ahead of the legitimate version in the search order so that it will be loaded when Windows searches for it. Whitefly frequently delivers Vcrodat as a malicious DLL that has the same name as DLLs belonging to legitimate software from various security vendors.

Once loaded, Vcrodat loads an encrypted payload onto the victims computer. The payload connects the C2 domain and sends system information about the infected computer to the C&C server and downloads additional tools. Whitefly configures multiple C&C domains for each target.

The attackers also used tools like the Mimikatz post exploitation tool and an open source tool designed to exploit the CVE-2016-0051Windows vulnerability.

The list of tools used by Whitefly includes a simple remote shell tool, an open-source hacking tool called Termite (Hacktool.Rootkit), and the

Nibatad info stealer.

Some of the tools used by Whitefly were also used in operations targeting organizations outside of Singapore, for example, in attacks aimed at defense, energy and telecoms organizations in Southeast Asia and Russia.

Experts discovered the Vcrodat loader being used in an attack targeting a UK-based organization in the hospitality sector. Experts argue that some of these attacks abroad were carried out by other threat actors with access to the same tools.

It now appears that the SingHealth breach was not a one-off attack and was instead part of a wider pattern of attacks against organizations in the region. concludes the experts.  Whitefly is a highly adept group with a large arsenal of tools at its disposal, capable of penetrating targeted organizations and maintaining a long-term presence on their networks. Links with attacks in other regions also present the possibility that it may be part of a broader intelligence gathering operation.

Pierluigi Paganini
BY DERRICK WANDERA.

Religious leaders under the Christian Ecumenical Council of Uganda (CECU), a Christian body that is made up of over eight denominations, have petitioned the minister of ethics and integrity, Fr Simon Lokodo accusing the inter-religious council of being segregative.

These led by their chairman Fr Jacinto Kibuuka accuse the inter religious council of being selfish and deliberately putting them on board.

They are also demanding for inclusion in the ongoing process of coming up with a policy to regulate churches and to also be consulted.

Some of the churches of the CECU include the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EDC), Orthodox Anglican Church (OAC) and World Wide Church.

Others are; Charismatic Episcopal Church, Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (BCAC), Universal Peace Federation and Anglo Catholic Church.

Fr Lokodo has since promised to address their grievances adding that he was not aware of their existence.

Related Stories..

FDC, inter-religious council fails to agree on national dialogue.
Real estate tycoons Robert and Philip Ng who control Far East Organization lead the field with a net worth of US$12 billion.

A total of 22 Singaporeans made it to Forbes magazines list of billionaires for 2019, with real estate tycoons Robert and Philip Ng taking the lead with a net worth of US$12 billion, reported the Straits Times.

Taking the 112th spot, the Ng siblings control Far East Organization  the biggest private landlord and property developer in Singapore.

Can you afford a million-dollar property in Singapore? Check your affordability now.

Paint tycoon Goh Cheng Liang followed in 203rd place with US$7.2 billion, while hotpot chain Haidilaos founder Zhang Yong came in next at 224th with US$6.8 billion.

Forbes revealed that the Asia-Pacific region boasts the most billionaires, with 767, followed by the United States and Europe with 607 and 545 billionaires respectively.

Mukesh Ambani of India is the richest man in Asia. Ranked at 13th, he built his US$50 billion fortune from refining petrochemicals and in the oil and gas sectors.

China saw the most newcomers with 44, but also the most drop-offs with 102, said Forbes.

Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos remains the worlds richest for the second consecutive year, with a US$131 billion fortune, up by US$19 billion from the previous year.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates settled in second place with a fortune of US$96.5 billion, while United States billionaire investor Warren Buffett came in third with US$82.5 billion.

One of the most notable first-timers on the list is 21-year old Kylie Jenner, who emerged as the youngest billionaire in the world. Forbes magazine also named her as the youngest self-made billionaire of all time.

Home buyers looking for Singapore Properties may like to visit our Listings, Project Reviews and Guides.

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
By Sijia Jiang and Jan Wolfe HONG KONG/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies sued the U.S. government on Thursday, saying a law limiting its American business was unconstitutional, ratcheting up its fight back against a government bent on closing it out of global markets. Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump in August, which bars federal agencies and their contractors from procuring its equipment and services. The lawsuit marks the latest confrontation between China and the United States, which spent most of 2018 slapping import tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods. The year ended with the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer in Canada at U.S. request, to the consternation of China. Long before Trump initiated the trade war, Huawei's activities were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, according to interviews with 10 people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters. "The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said in a statement. "This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers," he said. "We look forward to the court's verdict." While Huawei had very little share of the U.S. market before the bill, it is the world's biggest telecoms gear maker and is seeking to be at the forefront of a global rollout of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks and services. In its lawsuit, Huawei said its "equipment and services are subject to advanced security procedures, and no backdoors, implants, or other intentional security vulnerabilities have been documented in any of the more than 170 countries in the world where Huawei equipment and services are used." The privately owned firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive as Washington lobbies allies to abandon Huawei when building 5G networks, focusing on a 2017 Chinese law requiring companies to cooperate with national intelligence work. "The U.S. Government is sparing no effort to smear the company and mislead the public," Guo said in a news briefing at Huawei's headquarters in southern China. The U.S. State Department declined comment on the lawsuit on Thursday. "More generally," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters, "the United States advocates for secure telecom networks and supply chains that are free from suppliers subject to foreign government control or undue influence which would pose risks of unauthorized access and malicious cyber activity." U.S. Representative Mike Conaway, a Texas Republican who has sponsored anti-Huawei legislation, called the Huawei lawsuit "bogus." "NO PROOF" The NDAA bans the U.S. government from doing business with Huawei or compatriot peer ZTE Corp or from doing business with any company that has equipment from the two companies as a "substantial or essential component" of their system. In its lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Huawei argues that the section in question is illegal because it could sharply limit the company's ability to do business in the United States despite no proof of wrongdoing. The lawsuit also alleges that Huawei has been denied due process and that Congress, by stripping Huawei of commercial opportunities, has violated the "separation of powers" portion of the U.S. Constitution by doing the work of the courts. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he had no information on whether China's government may also seek legal action against the U.S. law, but added Huawei's move is "totally reasonable and totally understandable." UPHILL BATTLE Some legal experts said Huawei's lawsuit is likely to be dismissed because U.S. courts are reluctant to second-guess national security determinations by other branches of government. The lawsuit "will be an uphill battle because Congress has broad authority to protect us from perceived national security threats," said Franklin Turner, a government contracts lawyer at McCarter & English. In November, a federal appeals court rejected a similar lawsuit filed by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, which was challenging a ban on the use of its software in U.S. government networks. The Texas court hearing Huawei's case will not be bound by that decision, but will likely adopt its reasoning because of similarities in the two disputes, said Steven Schwinn, a professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. "I don't see how (Huawei) can really escape that result," said Schwinn. Huawei's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said the two cases were different in terms of evidence and scope, and that the Chinese company's case had "full merits." If a judge decides Huawei has a plausible claim, the case will proceed to the discovery phase, in which internal documents are shared and U.S. government officials could be forced to provide testimony and lay out their security concerns. RETRIBUTION The legal action compares with a more restrained response in December emphasizing "trust in justice" after the arrest of Chief Financial Officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei later said Meng's arrest was politically motivated and "not acceptable." Meng - Ren's daughter - is accused by the United States of bank and wire fraud related to breaches of trade sanctions against Iran. Canada approved extradition proceedings on March 1, but Meng has since sued Canada's government for procedural wrongs in her arrest. The next court hearing is set for May 8. The case strained Canada's relations with China, which this week accused two arrested Canadians of stealing state secrets and blocked Canadian canola imports. Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver. It is unclear where the two Canadians are being detained in China, and at least one does not have access to legal representation, sources previously told Reuters. (Reporting by Sijia Jiang in HONG KONG and Jan Wolfe in WASHINGTON; additional reporting by Twinnie Siu in HONG KONG, Ben Blanchard in BEIJING and Diane Bartz in WASHINGTON; editing by James Pomfret, Christopher Cushing and Jonathan Oatis)
Swedish black metal band Watain is scheduled to perform in Singapore on 7 March 2019 at Ebenex Live Space. IMAGE: Facebook

Swedish metal band Watain, known for Satanist references in their music, has had their concert in Singapore cancelled due to security concerns raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

In a statement on Thursday (7 March), the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said that the Watain Live in Singapore concert, which was scheduled to take place at the EBX Live Space on Thursday evening, will no longer go ahead.

An IMDA spokesperson noted that MHA had expressed serious concerns about the concert, given the bands history of denigrating religions and promoting violence, which has potential to cause enmity and disrupt Singapores social harmony.

He said that Watain is known for their Satanist views, adding, Some of their previous controversial performances involved animal carcasses and throwing pigs blood on its audience. The band also espouses anti-Christian views and advocates Satanism through their songs, and endorses violence.

MHA has therefore asked IMDA to consider cancelling the concert for reasons of public order, and IMDA has agreed.

IMDA had earlier allowed the concert to take place with a rating of Restricted 18 (R18). The agency also imposed further stringent requirements including the removal of songs which are religiously offensive, that the band cannot make references to religion or use religious symbols, and that no ritualistic acts are performed on stage.

On Wednesday, a petition was launched calling for Watain and Soilwork, a Swedish death metal band, to be banned from performing in Singapore.

The creator of the petition, Rachel Chan, wrote, These heavy metal bands do not represent the culture which we want in our youths. Their subliminal messages in their songs include death and suicide. The petition is addressed to the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.

The petition has since garnered more than 16,000 signatures as of 4.45pm on Thursday.

Related story:

Petition calls for ban on 2 Swedish heavy metal bands to perform in Singapore
SINGAPORE (Mar 7): Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), says the central bank is committed to partnering global financial institutions and companies to realise the potential of blockchain technology in Singapore.

My plea to you is pick a viable use-case [for blockchain technology] with deep economic or social impact and work towards bringing it to life, says Menon on Thursday at CordaDay Singapore 2019, a blockchain-centred conference.

The event was attended by representatives from over a hundred financial institutions and companies globally. It was organised by R3, a blockchain technology company which MAS supported under the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) scheme.

As one of the leading blockchain centres in the world, Singapore is a great place where you can collaborate, experiment, and scale. We have a strong pool of talent and expertise within the blockchain ecosystem, Menon adds. MAS, as the central bank and financial regulator, is committed to partnering you on this journey.

Already, Singapores financial sector has applied blockchain technology with good prospects in at least two use case experiments.

The first was Project Ubin, which began in 2016 as a collaborative effort among MAS, the Singapore Exchange (SGX), banks, technology companies, and academic institutions, to ease the clearing and settlement of payments and assets.

The grand vision in the payment and settlement space is a blockchain based system that allows 24/7 cross-border transactions that can be settled in close to real-time, Menon says.

Singapore has also embarked on the TradeTrust project, which uses blockchain to potentially link up different parties in global trade and facilitate the flow of information across the trade value chain.

TradeTrust is led by the Info-communications and Media Development Authority (IMDA), in partnership with Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, and supported by Singapore Customs and the Singapore Shipping Association.

Story continues

The replacement of paper-based documents with electronic documents verified on the blockchain will improve the flow of trusted data across transacting parties and enable increased automation of trade processes, Menon says.

This will not only improve the efficiency of the trading and logistics sectors, but also create opportunity for the financial sector, especially in cross-border trade finance, he adds.

According to Menon, MAS is also working with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to develop the Global Trade Connectivity Network as a cross-border infrastructure to digitalise and facilitate trade and trade finance.

As banks are plugged into the network, documentary trade finance could become more digitised, and securing of trade finance could become faster, more efficient and transparent, he says.

Calling blockchain one of the most misunderstood technologies in recent times, Menon highlighted several misconceptions about blockchain.

These include the false impression that blockchain is all about crypto currencies or tokens; that it is inadequate for enterprise usage because it is slow, inefficient, and scales poorly; and that there is no business value for the use of the blockchain.

However, the central bank chief cautions against misunderstanding that blockchain is the solution for all kinds of problems.

While the blockchain holds promise as a solution for some of industrys big problems, it is not a solution for every problem, he says.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Danny Burch, an oil engineer who was taken hostage in Yemen in September 2017, and his family in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By David Brunnstrom and Hyonhee Shin

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is open to additional talks with Pyongyang over denuclearisation, his national security adviser said on Thursday, despite reports that North Korea is reactivating parts of its missile program.

New activity has been detected at a factory that produced North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the United States, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing lawmakers briefed by the National Intelligence Service.

This week, two U.S. think tanks and Seoul's spy agency said North Korea was rebuilding its Sohae rocket launch site, prompting Trump to say he would be "very, very disappointed" in North Korea leader Kim Jong Un if it were true. The think tanks said on Thursday they believed the launch site was operational again.

Asked on Thursday if he was disappointed about recent North Korean activity, Trump told reporters: Its disappointing, while adding without elaborating: Well see. Well let you know in about a year.

The reports of North Korean activity raise more questions about the future of the dialogue Trump has pursued with Kim after a second summit between them broke down in Vietnam last week.White House national security adviser John Bolton, a hard-liner who has argued for a tough approach to North Korea in the past, said Trump was still open to more talks with the country.

"The president's obviously open to talking again. We'll see when that might be scheduled or how it might work out," he told Fox News, adding that it was too soon to make a determination on the reports of the North Korean activities.

"We're going to study the situation carefully. As the president said, it would be very, very disappointing if they were taking this direction."

The Feb. 27-28 Vietnam summit collapsed over differences on how far North Korea was willing to limit its nuclear program and the degree of U.S. willingness to ease economic sanctions.

Story continues

Trump, eager for a big foreign policy win on North Korea that has eluded his predecessors for decades, has repeatedly stressed his good relationship with Kim. He went as far late last year as saying they "fell in love," but the bonhomie has failed so far to bridge the wide gap between the two sides.

"NO COMMITMENT YET"

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he was hopeful he would send a delegation to North Korea for more talks in the next couple of weeks, but that he had received "no commitment yet."

A senior State Department official told reporters on Thursday Washington was keen to resume talks as soon as possible, but North Korea's negotiators needed to be given more latitude than they were ahead of the summit.

He said no one in the U.S. administration advocated an incremental approach North Korea has been seeking and the condition for its integration into the global economy, a transformed relationship with the United States and a permanent peace regime, was complete denuclearisation.

"Fundamentally, where we really need to see the progress, and we need to see it soon, is on meaningful and verifiable steps on denuclearisation. That's our goal and that's how we see these negotiations picking up momentum."

The official, who did not want to be identified, said the U.S. side still saw North Korea's complete denuclearisation as achievable within Trump's current term, which ends in January 2021.

While the official said he would "not necessarily share the conclusion" that the Sohae site was operational again, any use of it would be seen as "backsliding" on commitments to Trump.

"We are watching in real-time developments at Sohae and we will definitely be seeking clarification on the purposes of that," he said.

MISSILE FACTORY

South Korean spy chief Suh Hoon told lawmakers in Seoul this week that movement of cargo vehicles was spotted recently around a North Korean ICBM factory at Sanumdong, the JoongAng Ilbo reported.

The paper also quoted Suh as saying North Korea had continued to run its uranium enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex after a first summit between Trump and Kim last June in Singapore.

The Sanumdong factory produced the Hwasong-15 ICBM, which can fly more than 13,000 km (8,080 miles). After a test flight in 2017, North Korea declared the completion of its "state nuclear force" before pursuing talks with South Korea and the United States last year.

South Korea's presidential office and defence ministry declined to confirm the Sanumdong reports and the U.S. State Department said it could not comment on intelligence matters.

Separately, Washington's 38 North and Center for Strategic and International Studies think tanks reported on Thursday that North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station, which Kim pledged in Singapore to dismantle, appeared to be operational again after rebuilding work that began days before the Hanoi summit.

"The rebuilding activities at Sohae demonstrate how quickly North Korea can easily render reversible any steps taken towards scrapping its Weapons of Mass Destruction program with little hesitation," CSIS said.

It called the action "an affront" to Trumps diplomatic strategy that showed North Korean pique at his refusal to lift sanctions.

SANCTIONS WARNING

Some analysts see the work as aimed at pressing Washington to agree to a deal, rather than as a definite move to resume tests.

A U.S. government source, who did not want to be identified, said North Korea's plan in rebuilding the site could have been to offer a demonstration of good faith by conspicuously stopping again if a summit pact was struck, while furnishing a sign of defiance or resolve if the meeting failed.

38 North said photos from Wednesday showed a rail-mounted transfer building used to move rockets at the site was complete, cranes had been removed from the launch pad and the transfer building moved to the end of the pad.

"But we don't draw any conclusions from that besides they are restoring the facility," Joel Wit of 38 North told Reuters. "There is no evidence to suggest anything more than that."

On Wednesday Bolton warned of new sanctions if North Korea did not scrap its weapons program.

Despite his sanctions talk, there have been signs across Asia that the U.S. "maximum pressure" sanctions campaign against North Korea has sprung leaks.

In a new breach, three South Korean companies were found to have brought in more than 13,000 tons of North Korean coal, worth 2.1 billion won ($2 million) since 2017, South Korea said.

North Korean media have given conflicting signals on U.S. relations, while appearing to target Bolton as a spoiler.

Its state television aired a 78-minute documentary late on Wednesday showing a cordial mood between Trump and Kim as the Hanoi summit ended, indicating Pyongyang was not about to walk away from negotiations, experts say.

It also showed a stone-faced Bolton during a meeting in Hanoi, while Trump and other U.S. participants were all smiles.

In a return to a more usual strident tone, the KCNA news agency criticized new small-scale military exercises that the United States and South Korea plan to hold instead of a large-scale spring exercise they have called off.

It said the drills would be a "violent violation" of agreements with the United States and South Korea.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, David Brunnstrom and Steve Holland in Washington; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, David Alexander and Tim Ahmann in Washington and Hyonhee Shin and Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Alistair Bell and James Dalgleish)
A now-abandoned pension reform announced in April 2018 kicked off months of protests in Nicaragua against the government of President Daniel Ortega that were harshly repressed, claiming more than 300 lives. The leftist Ortega regime has jailed several hundred opposition figures, and more than 50,000 Nicaraguans fled their country during the turmoil. Here is a timeline of the unrest. - Pension reform fury - April 18, 2018: The government presents a plan to increase employee and employer contributions to the social security fund and reduce benefits in an IMF-backed bid to cap a rising deficit. The move is deeply unpopular. Student-led protests that break out in several cities are harshly repressed, with 25 mostly young people killed in five days. April 22: Ortega scraps the pension reform. - 'Unlawful' killings - April 23: Tens of thousands of people demonstrate in the capital Managua to demand an end to government repression. April 24: The United Nations urges Nicaragua to carry out an independent investigations into the deaths, saying some may have been "unlawful." - Catholic Church mediates - May 16: Talks begin in Managua between Ortega and opposition groups mediated by the influential Catholic Church. One week later the Church calls off negotiations talks when the government rejects a plan for early elections. Amnesty International says paramilitary groups are being used to suppress anti-government demonstrations. May 31: The death toll hits 100 as Ortega rejects calls to step down. June 7: When mediation resumes the Church postpones a plan for early presidential elections and constitutional reforms. It says Ortega requested a "period of reflection." - General strike - June 11: Violence erupts in Managua, with anti-riot police attacking barricades manned by protesters. June 14: A general strike paralyzes Nicaragua, with more deadly violence. June 15: The government and opposition leaders agree that human rights observers should investigate the violence. - University, basilica attacked - June 22-23: Police overnight open fire at a key student protest camp in the capital, leaving more dead. July 7: Ortega rules out bringing forward presidential elections, describing his opponents as coup plotters. July 8: Hundreds of Ortega supporters break into the San Sebastian Basilica in the opposition heartland town of Diriamba and harass Roman Catholic bishops. July 16: The regime approves a terrorism law that would send demonstrators to prison for up to 20 years. The death toll passes 300. - 'Climate of fear' - August 31: The government expels the UN human rights mission after it criticized a "climate of fear" in Nicaragua. November 1: Washington labels the leftist regimes in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua a "troika of tyranny." December 19: The Ortega regime expels two expert missions from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, accusing them of bias and interference. December 20: US President Donald Trump signs a law limiting Nicaragua's access to international loans. December 21: Police shut down an opposition television channel and arrest its director, who is accused of "terrorism." - Peace talks - January 29, 2019: The Socialist International, the worldwide association of socialist and labor parties, kicks Ortega's Sandinista Party out of the group over rights violations. February 27: Peace talks between the government and opposition get underway. Authorities release scores of prisoners arrested during the protests. March 5: Government and opposition negotiators announce they have agreed on rules for a dialogue aimed at resolving the turmoil. Representatives from the Catholic and evangelical Protestant churches will act as witnesses in discussions, and "international guarantors" -- to be chosen by consensus at a later date -- will participate. A tentative date for finalizing negotiations is set for March 28.
During the launch event, the company hosts success stories sharing session with its clients Hong Kong Airlines and Lion & Lion

Social listening and analytics platform Talkwalker has officially opened its new office in Singapore following the expansion from Europe to the United States. Singapore will be the base for the companys Asia Pacific expansion and growth.

Also Read: UOB, The FinLab launch programme to help SMEs in Thailand go digital

With a growing base of brands and agencies across the region, were very excited to be on the ground, shared Ben Soubies, Talkwalker Head of APAC.

Ben Soubies, Talkwalker Head of APAC

At the launch event, guest clients like Dennis Owen, the Hong Kong Airlines GM for Branding and Social Media Dennis, was invited to speak about leveraging consumer insights on social. Another esteemed guest was Lion & Lion Chief Digital Officer Emily Lim, who shared about PR crisis and launching a new brand in a highly competitive market.

Social listening is super important. We cannot afford not to do social listening because what people say out there defines your brand, said Emily Lim, Lion & Lion Chief Digital Officer.

Emily Lim, Lion & Lion Chief Digital Officer

In its official statement, Talkwalker shared about Digital 2019 report that showcased Asia Pacifics internet penetration at 52 per cent and half of the regions population using social media actively. This means brands need to listen to what customers are saying about them online.

As a brand, you cant always stop bad things from happening but you can turn things around if you respond the right way, which can only be done effectively with social listening tools, explained Dennis Owen, Hong Kong Airlines GM for Branding and Social Media.

Dennis Owen, Hong Kong Airlines GM for Branding and Social Media

Also Read: Go-Jek facilitates drivers with medical teleconsultation via Doctor Anywhere

Talkwalkers team

Talkwalker provides companies with an easy-to-use platform to protect, measure, and promote their brands worldwide. It usese AI-powered technology to monitor and analyze online conversations in real-time across social networks, news websites, blogs and forums in 187 languages.



The post [In-Photos] AI-based social listening platform Talkwalker opens office in Singapore appeared first on e27.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he'd be "very, very disappointed" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports that work is underway to rebuild a long-range rocket site are confirmed. Speaking to reporters, Trump said "it's too early to see" if the information about work at the North Korean site is true. Warning he'd be disappointed, he added: "I don't think I will be, but we'll see what happens." Trump and Kim met last week in Vietnam to negotiate on getting rid of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, but the summit broke up early with no progress. Researchers say that rebuilding of the facility in question has been underway since the summit and may have started before the Vietnam meeting. "This facility had been dormant since August 2018, indicating the current activity is deliberate and purposeful," said researchers at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Researchers said that the activity may be intended to "demonstrate resolve in the face of US rejection" of the North's request for an easing of sanctions in return for some dismantlement of nuclear weapons infrastructure. Kim had agreed to shutter the Sohae missile-testing site at a summit with the South's President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, as part of confidence-building measures, and satellite pictures in August had suggested workers were already dismantling an engine test stand at the facility. But CSIS said building activity is now "evident" at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, from where Pyongyang launched satellites in 2012 and 2016. North Korea was later banned by the UN security council from carrying out the space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs. - Preparing for launch vehicles? - The respected Washington-based 38 North project, another independent research website specializing in North Korea, also reported building work at the Sohae facility, based on commercial satellite imagery. According to 38 North, the efforts to rebuild structures at the Sohae facility started sometime between February 16 and March 2 this year. The pictures show a moving structure that had been used to carry launch vehicles to a launch pad on rails has been restored, it said. "Two support cranes are observed at the building, the walls have been erected and a new roof added. At the engine test stand, it appears that the engine support structure is being reassembled," the 38 North reported. In a briefing to parliamentarians this week, Seoul's spy agency said it had detected signs of work at the site. - 'Timing matters' - Joel Wit, the director of the 38 North project, cautioned that the evidence was not necessarily "consistent with preparations for an ICBM test." "Aside from the fact that (North Korea) has never tested an ICBM from Sohae -- it's a space vehicle launch site -- preparation for any launch would require a wide range of activities not observed in the imagery," Wit said. However, a rocket engine test could be performed there and that would send "a really strong signal" to Washington, Wit said. "A lot depends on how the US reacts to what's going on," Wit said. "The danger here is that we could start spiraling downward as each side takes steps and undermine the process that's been in place since last spring." - No deal in Hanoi - Impoverished and isolated North Korea conducted its first successful nuclear test in 2006 followed by a string of increasingly successful ICBM launches. In 2017, it claimed it had become capable of fitting a viable nuclear weapon on an ICBM that could reach as far as the United States' eastern seaboard. In response, the UN Security Council later banned the North's main exports -- coal and other mineral resources, fisheries and textile products -- to cut off its access to hard currency. At their groundbreaking first summit in Singapore last year, Kim and Trump produced a vague statement on the "denuclearization of the Korean peninsula." There were high expectations for Kim and Trump's second meeting in Hanoi, but no agreement was reached. Despite the stalemate, both sides said they were open to further talks. John Bolton, the US national security adviser, however said on Tuesday that the US would look at "ramping those sanctions up" if Pyongyang did not give up its nuclear weapons program.
MOU aims to revitalise smart-building industry and to establish KNX training center

Ajou University (Vice president of Ajou University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation) and KNX Association (Mr. Christophe Parthoens on behalf of CFO/CTO) and KNX NG Korea (Chairman: Yun-hee Lee) announced on February 22 that the MOU Tripartite Agreement for the establishment of a mutual technical cooperation and education center was signed at the Ajou Universitys main building.

KNX is the worldwide standard for home/building automation, and an open-type protocol that supports interoperability of all the kinds of building control solutions in a variety of fields without manufacturers/national barriers. KNX Association is the international organization that supports the KNX standard and it has engaged in technical cooperation with over 40,000 companies from 128 countries, local national groups of 110 countries, and industry-academic cooperation with more than 100 universities worldwide.

The MOU is aimed at

(1) cultivating qualified professional human resources who have secured global competitiveness through the establishment of a domestic KNX training center in Korea, which is to be led by experts certified by the KNX Association, as well as

(2) mutual cooperation and technical interchange among the industrial-academic parties, proceeding joint projects, and technical application based on KNX by joining Scientific Partnership of KNX Association.

Mutual technical cooperation and promotion of joint projects through MOU signing

Through the MOU agreement ceremony between Ajou University, KNX Association and KNX NG Korea, each party agrees to proceed with joint projects in smart lighting/smart building field resulting in KNX-based technical cooperation.

It is also announced that each party will cooperate on solutions needed in modern commercial and residential architectural control areas, such as smart homes/smart buildings/smart cities. Through this process, it will develop technologies that can be commercialized in both local/global markets.

With the MOU signing, Ajou University, KNX Association and KNX NG Korea expect to strengthen the basis for global competitiveness, as they seek to commercialize current products/solutions toward the global market through the international standard protocol, KNX.

The Foundation plan of KNX training center in Korea for cultivating professional personnel

The MOU agreement also provides confirmation of the plan for the KNX training center, which is to be established in May this year.

This February, the experienced professional experts from Ajou University and 3 other related enterprises have already participated in KNX tutor course in Ajou University Campus Plaza, and 8 certified KNX tutors have qualified through the strict examination.

KNX tutors, responsible for the training courses of the KNX training center, are professional educators with international credentials through KNX Basic/Advanced/Tutor Courses and rigorous certification review by the KNX Association, and all the KNX tutor candidates have long field experience in the electronic/building control area.

The KNX training center will be opened in May through a joint establishment process between Ajou University and Jung Korea Electric Co. Ltd., and those professional training curricula will be set up for fostering professional personnel with KNX technical skills, aiming to revitalize the smart building control industry and job creation in domestic/foreign markets.

Mr. Yunhee Lee, the president of KNX NG Korea, said that he was encouraged to accept the agreement with Ajou University, the well-known historical place of learning and the renowned academy for industry-academic cooperation. He also said that KNX NG Korea and its partners are going to support domestic companies with new opportunities to expand the global market based on KNX, the international standard of building control solutions.

The MOU agreement will not only offer job creation in the smart building industry but also secure technical exchanges and networks with global technical partners with our future technical personnel, said Sung-keun Oh, Vice president of Ajou University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation.

In the KNX training center, people can acquire expertise in smart building control solutions applicable to various types of buildings, such as residence, offices, hotels and all the special-purpose building (hospitals, exhibition halls, etc.) based on KNX, and the full knowledge of on-site technical expertise will be also offered.

For more information about KNX training centers courses/registration process contact KNX Korea Association info@knx.or.kr or info@jung-korea.com

www.knx.org
Malaysia Airlines, what was once a symbol of our countrys prestige among the worlds best airlines is now a burden of a national carrier, having been unable to turn a profit since it was taken private in 2014.

In fact, in the words of industry analysts, MAS has been bleeding money, after Khazanah Nasional Bhd took a majority stake in the airline. The sovereign wealth fund, who is MASs single shareholder, has spent RM6 billion (US$1.5 billion) over the last three years trying to put the airline in the black again, to no avail. Many are saying that its time to suck it up, and pull the plug.

Speaking to New Strait Times, Shukor Yusof, the founder of Endau Analytics, a Malaysia-based aviation consultancy, did not mince his words:

MAS ought to shut down. There is no economic or financial rationale in maintaining it in its current condition. A loss-making business cant continue indefinitely, he told the New Straits Times.

If the national airline was shut down, its assets, such as aircraft and properties, could be used to repay debts while some of its workers could be redirected to other airlines, such as Malindo Airways or AirAsia.

Whats more important, in my view, is to take to task the people who have been responsible for ruining MAS. There must be accountability.

Hes not alone; Moshin Aziz, a financial analyst from Maybank, one of Malaysias largest banks, who is tasked with forecasting moves in the aviation industry has echoed the sentiment, saying that the best way forward for MAS would be to discontinue operations as plans to turn a profit have been unsuccessful.

Aziz adds:

Should Malaysia have a national airline? That argument is becoming weaker because we have been bailing it out many times.

Nowadays, the attachment and sentiment to the national airline is not as strong as before.

However, Khazanahs managing director has dismissed the doomsday predictions, saying that the airline has a multiplier effect of eight to 10 times, bringing in tourists for each dollar spent on the airline.

Story continues

Some have suggested that MAS might benefit from unloading or shutting down some of its less profitable subsidiaries, which include Firefly, MASwings, MAB Kargo, AeroDarat Services, MAB Leasing, MAB Pesawat and MAB Academy. Others wonder if they might slim down their considerable large fleet, and streamline services.

After Khazanah announced a loss of RM7.3 billion in 2018 (US$1.8 billion) this Tuesday, news hit that half of the costs were due to the carriers unprofitability.

They have since asked the airline for a new strategy.

This article, After years of bleeding money, aviation industry analysts are saying its time to shut down or sell off Malaysia Airlines, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!
By Sivamaalaa : Poems , Commentaries to other literary works. Etymology of selected words          WELCOME   .
A dean at Rider University in New Jersey announced her resignation from her position this month after the school declined to pursue a contract with Chick-fil-A for a new restaurant on campus. The university explained that it had removed Chick-fil-A from consideration specifically because of the companys record widely perceived to be in opposition to the LGBTQ+ community. It sounds unwise to give up a university deanship because your campus isnt getting a particular fast-food franchise, no matter how much you love the waffle fries. But the dean, Cynthia Newman, didnt quit over chicken sandwiches.* She told the conservative site Campus Reform that she resigned rather than parrot the schools talking points about Chick-fil-As unwelcome corporate values. I am not willing to compromise my faith and Christian values, Newman said.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Newman quit because she understands what many other conservative Christians do: The Chick-fil-A brand is so strongly associated with their values that the restaurant serves as a kind of avatar for conservative American Christianity as a whole. A community that embraces Chick-fil-A is a community friendly to Christian values, the thinking goes, and a community hostile to Chick-fil-A is likely hostile to those values as well.

Not so long ago, that was something that most progressives believed too. In 2012when only a handful of U.S. states allowed same-sex-marriageChick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy famously made several comments in the Christian press about his opposition to the unions. We are inviting Gods judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,  he told a Christian radio host. Facing backlash, he doubled down a few days later, saying he was guilty as charged and that he supported the biblical definition of the family unit. It turned out that Chick-fil-As charitable organization had donated millions to conservative organizations, including ex-gay ministry Exodus International, which shuttered in 2013 but was still active at the time.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its hard to stay mad at a ubiquitous and popular brand, especially when it does the bare minimum to stop pissing you off.

Cathys 2012 remarks turned a fast-food joint into a loyalty test. Many progressives quickly said they would boycott the chain. GLAAD staged a kiss-in at Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country. Another protest asked people to order a large water at Chick-fil-A drive-thrus, as a way of taking money from the company. (The customer was supposed to cite a Bible verse about feeding your enemies if the employee declined.) The mayors of Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston suggested the restaurant would not be welcome in their cities. Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not try to come any closer, the mayor of San Francisco tweeted.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

But over the years, the furor has faded, and many progressives have slunk back through the restaurants doors. For several years, the only time youd catch an LGBTQ person or an ally at Chick-fil-A was for a protest, the editorial director of HuffPost Personal, Noah Michelson, wrote last year in an essay lamenting the slump in resolve. For some strange reason I still dont fully understand, some queer people and their friends and families began eating at Chick-fil-A again and are still eating there. A Daily Beast columnist called for queer people to forgive Chick-fil-A in 2015, citing the Supreme Court decision that year that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Its legal, she argued, so who cares what Dan Cathy thinks? When Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted last JunePride Monthabout ordering from the restaurant, he later confessed that he completely forgot about their background.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Get The Angle in Your Inbox Every weekday, Slate's copy editors round up the stories you should read. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

How did Chick-fil-A gradually become uncanceled? For one, the chain has gotten harder for urban progressives to avoid. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in 2012 that the companys values are not Chicago values, but there are now multiple Chick-fil-A outlets in Chicago, and they seem to be thriving. The first New York City Chick-fil-A opened in 2015, and the chain opened the worlds largest Chick-fil-A in downtown Manhattan a few years later. It is now planning its first outlets in Boston and Brooklyn. Anecdotally, many progressives still feel vaguely guilty about eating at Chick-fil-Abut they eat there anyway, citing factors like convenience, picky kids, and the universally acknowledged excellence of its food compared with fast-food competitors.

Advertisement

The company has also tried to leave its anti-gay reputation behind, although its actual efforts have been minimal. It often reminds critics that anyone is welcome to eat there, the lowest bar imaginable for a national consumer-facing business. The company now focuses its corporate giving on youth and education programs, rather than on political activism. (Critics point out that some of the organizations it supports, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, are not LGBTQ-friendly, but they are also not primarily devoted to opposing gay rights.) And the company still rates 0 on the Human Rights Campaigns Buyers Guide. Among other issues, it does no diversity training for employees on LGBTQ cultural competence, and its nondiscrimination policy does not include LGBTQ people.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

As it turns out, its hard to stay mad at a ubiquitous and popular brand, especially when it does the bare minimum to stop pissing you off. Just ask the conservative Christians who boycotted Disney in the mid-1990s over issues including its participation in the so-called homosexual agenda. In declaring victory nine years into the boycott, the American Family Associations president said it was harder than ever to find evidence of new missteps by the company. Thats a fair summary of the reason progressives seem increasingly comfortable eating at Chick-fil-A, too: Its not as egregious as it used to be, and the product is irresistible. That may be a reasonable moral calculation. But it still seems worth a little guilt.
Dear Prudence,

I have two daughters, 27-year-old Lilah and 20-year-old Lisa. Lilah dated Andrew, 29, for four years. She was gutted when he broke up with her last year. Lisa recently confessed that she ran into Andrew at a bar, they reconnected, and theyre falling in love. Lisa wants help telling Lilah about their romance. She thinks theres a chance that Lilah could be happy for them. Ive tried to explain to Lisa how and why Lilah will be deeply hurt by this, but Lisa (in part due to immaturity) thinks love should be given a chance. I dont know what to do. Lisa has always looked up to Lilah, and maybe this is her trying to emulate her older sister? I am pretty grossed out by Andrew, and I worry about the fallout to my family.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Mister vs. Sister

Lisas starry-eyed optimism that her sister is going to be happy for the two of them really highlights her relative youth and inexperience next to her nearly decade-older boyfriend. Youre right to be put off by Andrews behaviortrading in one sister for a younger model and then leaving her to tell the family about itbut your best move, as the girls parent, is to tread cautiously and play the long game.

Explain to Lisa that you cant keep a secret from Lilah that you know will hurt her, so you want to give her and Andrew the chance to tell her sister before you do. If Lilah finds out youve known for a long time and kept it from her, shes likely to feel like her whole family has been conspiring against her, and I want her to be able to rely on your support when she gets the news. Then youre just going to have to let Lilah be hurt and angry. This was a serious, long-term relationship that ended recently, and now hes dating her sister, so shes going to be upset. You dont have to pretend to approve of Andrews behavior to keep Lisas illusions intact, but you also dont have to go out of your way to try to convince her that hes not the great guy she thinks he is; time will likely do that for you. Nor do you have to choose sides between your daughters, but you should avoid acting as a go-between. Stick to encouraging both of them to talk to each other about how theyre feeling (when theyre in a relatively calm frame of mind, that is, and not itching for a fight). This is unlikely to blow over in a few weeks or months, but if they fight clean and you wait long enough, you may have reason to hope that a few years from now the three of you will be able to talk about it without immediate bitterness or pain. (Hopefully Andrew wont be there.)

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Want to See Dear Prudence Live?

Check out dates and locations for our national tour. Tickets here.

Dear Prudence,

My husband, Tom, threw me out of the house after the results of a paternity test said he wasnt the biological father of our newborn child. Tom is the only man Ive slept with in almost 16 years; I knew the test results were wrong. I was really hurt when he asked for one, since Ive never been unfaithful. Tom had an emotional affair around the time our child was conceived, though, and because we werent having sex that often, he doubted he was the father. I thought a paternity test would put his fears to rest. Before throwing our baby and me out, Tom raged at us. The things he said to me will haunt me for the rest of my life, and when I comforted our sobbing baby, he became truly unhinged. I convinced Tom to get several more paternity tests, and they all confirmed hes the biological father. Tom is repentant and wants me to move back home. I want a divorce. Tom is upset I cant see things from his point of view: He made a horrible mistake, but at the time he had every reason to believe Id cheated on him. Im exhausted and heartbroken. I will do all I can to ensure Tom and our baby have a relationship. But I dont want to be his wife. Am I making a mistake?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Bogus Paternity Test

Every once in a while, when you get anxious over the fact that you left your ex, you can check your concerns by saying, Im no longer with my ex-husband, who ordered a paternity test after having an emotional affair while I was pregnant and threw me and our sobbing baby out of the house. Just imagine saying that to a relatively together stranger. Sounds reasonable, right? I imagine 999 out of 1,000 people would say something like, Wow. That makes a lot of sense to me. Also, do you need anything, like a hug or a cookie? Tom seems to think that if only you understood why he said those things, you would automatically have to forgive him and want to continue to live as his partner and share intimacies and vulnerabilities with him for the rest of your life. Thats not actually the case! Its possible to understand where someone was coming from, extend maximal compassion and sympathy, and still decide that your romantic relationship is no longer viable. Your goal of trying to make sure your soon-to-be-ex is able to visit your child often and of possibly being able to develop a civil co-parenting relationship is excellent. I also think you made the right call in ending your marriage.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

How to Get Advice From Prudie:

 Send questions for publication to prudence@slate.com. (Questions may be edited.)

 Join the live chat every Monday at noon. Submit your questions and comments here before or during the live discussion.

 Call the voicemail of the Dear Prudence podcast at 401-371-DEAR (3327) to hear your question answered on a future episode of the show.

Dear Prudence,

My very close friend has a chronic degenerative illness. Theyre quite private about their diagnosis and dont tell people unless they need to know. Lately theyve been doing well, but its always something they need to be mindful of. Last year my aunt was diagnosed with the same condition. My aunt is deteriorating very quickly (this illness progresses at different rates in different people). Often I wont find out how badly shes doing until I hear from someone who bumped into her how surprised they were by how frail she is. Im scared of losing her. I want to talk to my friend about thistheyre the person I usually go to when things get toughbut I dont want to be unkind or unfair by talking about the worst-case scenario for the illness they have. In some ways, I feel like theyre the only person I know who understands the roller coaster of ups and downs that goes along with this illness. Is it selfish to go to them for support in this? I havent said anything for months, and I know if my aunt dies, Ill be devastated. Her condition isnt a sure death sentence, but things wont get better from here.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Aunt Dying of Friends Illness

You should turn to one of your other friends for primary support here. You know your friend is private when it comes to their diagnosis, and I cant imagine they have the time or the energy to walk you through your grief about a family member possibly dying of the very same illness. Just because your friend understands the ups and downs doesnt mean theyre ready to hear about someone else dying of the condition theyre trying to deal with right now. You should line up someone (or a couple of someones) else first to whom you can go to share your pain and fear with; then, after you feel like youve been able to address some of it, you can ask your friend if theyre available to hear some news about a family member of yours whos sick. Make it clear that if theyre not up for it, you understand and that you wont press the issue.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In the meantime, do as much as you can to spend meaningful time with your aunt and offer her whatever help youre able to provideto take her to appointments, to run errands for her, to help keep her house clean. If shes too far away for you to help her out in person, send flowers or some little gift you think shed like, catch up over the phone, write her a letter, or have a meal delivered. That may go a long way toward alleviating some of your fear and uncertainty right now.

Get Prudie in Your Inbox Sign up for the Dear Prudence mailing list to receive notifications of new columns and chats We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

Dear Prudence,

Im estranged from my adult children, Alice and Noah. I divorced their abusive father when they were toddlers. I couldnt afford a lawyer, and my ex got full custody. I fought for years to see my kids, but their father said I abandoned them. When I eventually remarried and had two more children, they believed I had replaced them. Nothing could be further from the truth; I ache for them always. When they were in their early 20s, I told Alice and Noah about their fathers abuse. They accused me of being a manipulative liar, and we didnt speak for years. Now Alice is pregnant and has reached out to me: If I admit that I lied about the abuse and go to counseling with her and Noah, I could maybe be a part of my grandchilds life. Having a relationship with my older children is my wildest dream. I thought Id do anything to re-establish contact. But my ex didnt just push me when he was angry; he threw me into walls, punched me in the head, and came close to choking me. I dont know if I can lie and say that never happened. Am I being selfish? A mother should do anything for her kids, right?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Kids Want to Erase My Abuse

I cant tell you how much my heart aches for you. Im so sorry for all that youve been through, and I cant imagine how painful it is right now to consider pretending you were never abused, all in the hopes that youll be able to meet your grandchild. I think you should tell your daughter youre more than willing to see a counselor together but that you cant lie about what happened to you. If shed be able to meet you on those terms, you might be able to develop a new kind of relationship. But no, this definitely does not fall under the umbrella of doing anything for your kids, especially when the kids in question are all grown up, totally safe, and dangling the possibility (your daughter only said you could maybe be a part of your grandchilds life if you were willing to lie to her) of reconnection in order to get you to let their father off the hook. And youd have to prop up the lie every time you saw your children. Thats not a one and done kind of lie, and I think youd eventually collapse under the weight of taking responsibility for your exs abuse. Youre not being selfish, but you are being put in an unbearably difficult situation. Please see that counselor even if your children decide not to go with you.

Advertisement

Dear Prudence Uncensored

This will not be something you can stop, and it will be bad.

Daniel Mallory Ortberg and Nicole Cliffe discuss a letter in this weeks Dear Prudence Uncensoredonly for Slate Plus members.

Dear Prudence,

I was dating a transgender guy for a while (Im a trans guy too), until we broke up, and now she has gone back to using female pronouns and her birth name in order to be accepted by her evangelical family. Before that, theyd been estranged for a year and a half. I respect her choice and use those pronouns for her, but I have a problem with her returning to a group of people who threw her out when she needed them the most, just for being trans. Whenever she used to tell stories of how they treated her (sometimes as if they were funny anecdotes), it sounded controlling and abusive, but she got upset with me for saying so. I dont feel like I can be honest with her, and Im beginning to regret being her friend. Her behavior seems really self-destructive, even though she tries to put a positive spin on it. Shes an evangelical, and Im an atheist, and she claims that its just our different worldviews, but I seriously doubt that. Am I nuts? What should I do?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Regretting Friendship With Ex

Based on your letter, your ex sounds like shes probably on the young side, and Im inclined to cut her some slack. Ive known a lot of people in similar situations, and over time, usually theyre able to let go of their families expectations and go on to lead the kind of lives that feel the most meaningful and worthwhile to them. It can also be pretty overwhelming trying to come out in an evangelical context. Sometimes you have to do it a few times before it sticks. But none of that means youre obligated to continue a friendship with your ex if youre not getting anything out of it! You can wish her all the best in navigating finding a life that works for her and also figuring out what kind of relationship she wants with her family without getting an obligatory catch-up brunch every weekend. If you feel up to maintaining a bare-minimum, low-effort type of contact with herthe occasional texting session every few months or soit might help to keep a line of contact open if and when she ever decides she wants to come out again. But if you need a little permission to step back and not force yourself to stay besties with your ex, you certainly have it.

Advertisement

Dear Prudence,

My middle-aged husband is unable to hold a full-time job because of depression problems related to traumatic childhood abuse. He is making progress in treatment. The good news is that I earn enough to support us both, and he is great at being a house husband. He walks dogs, runs errands, washes laundry and dishes, does repairs, and even brings me my morning coffee in bed. My problem is that when people ask that classic line, What does he do for a living? every reply leads down Awkward Street. We dont have kids, so the expectation is that he should be out of the house. Hes not retired and not physically disabled, and I dont want to embarrass him by blowing the whistle on his mental health. My remaining honest replies are, None of your business (harsh), Hes my assistant (Like at an office or something?), Unemployed (What field? Ive got leads!), and Taking a break (Oh, so youre spoiling him!). Youre good at scripts, so whats my line?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Explaining My Husbands Depression-Related Unemployment

He keeps house for us has a sort of charming, retro flair to it (a flair that house husband, for some reason, doesnt). Hes at home full-time also gets the point across while sort of parroting office talk, which might satisfy curious questioners. Its a content-free answer that sounds like youre going into detail.

Advertisement

Advertisement

If youre talking to someone youll likely never see again and you just want to end that line of questioning, you can say, He works from home, which is strictly true but obviously misleading. But your best bet is to briefly describe what he does, which is keeping house, and then if anyone tries to reply with a cutesy little follow-up like, Oh, so youre spoiling him (or I wish I could do that in a way that implies but of course I couldnt), you can blandly observe, Oh, what an odd thing to say! and then change the subject.

Classic Prudie

My stepchildrens mom died suddenly not long ago. They are 11 and 13, and now live with my husband and I; we have always lived nearby their moms house. I recently discovered I was pregnant but have not told anyonefor over a weekbecause Im not sure whether it would be fair to have the baby. My stepchildren obviously need unending amounts of love, support, and stability as my husband and I help them navigate their grief. A newborn would be a major disruption. But at the same time I want this baby so much. My husband and I had begun to try before his ex-wife died. Part of me is scared he will ask me to abort the baby. Another part thinks thats the only fair thing to do. What advice can you offer?
The following essay is adapted from an episode of The Gist, a daily podcast from Slate about news, culture, and whatever else youre discussing with your family and friends.

In late 2016, Barack Obama dismissed the idea of reparations during an interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates, saying: As a practical matter, it is hard to think of any society in human history in which a majority population has said that as a consequence of historic wrongs, we are now going to take a big chunk of the nations resources over a long period of time to make that right. The president went on to note, wisely, Its hard to find the model in which you can practically administer and sustain political support for those kinds of efforts.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Further, he went on to say that he was not so optimistic as to think you would ever be able to garner a majority of the American Congress that would make those kinds of investments above and beyond the kind of investments that could be made in a progressive program for lifting up all people.

To strip the blessedly nuanced argument to its essentials, Obama is saying that he opposes reparations because a) they would be unfeasible; b) they would be unpopular; and c) their beneficial effects can be achieved in a different, better, more realistic, and fairer ways. I agree on all counts and would add that many Obama programs were in fact doing the work of lifting all people up.

Advertisement

Let us now consider the answer to the question of reparations that California Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gave to Charlamagne tha God on The Breakfast Club radio program:

Well look, I think that we have got to address that again, its back to the inequities. Look, America has a history of 200 years of slavery. We had Jim Crow. We had legal segregation in America. Weve got to recognize back to that earlier point, people arent starting out on the same base, in terms of their ability to succeed. So, we have got to recognize that and give people a lift up.

Advertisement

There we have itthe door to reparations has been opened by a leading Democratic candidate. Massachusetts Sen. and fellow presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren also voiced support for reparations when she told the the Washington Post of the need to institute systemic structural changes to support black families. Add to this chorus candidate Julian Castros pledge of support for reparations, and you get this Washington Post headline, Three 2020 Democrats say yes to race-based reparations, and this New York Times headline, 2020 Democrats embrace race-conscious policies, including reparations.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The headlines are accurate. Castro, Warren, and Harris did indeed answer yes when asked the question Should we institute reparations? They said yes. When Barack Obama was asked the same thing, he answered, No. Despite that fundamental diametric disagreement, all of these Democratic politicians then endorsed the same exact same approach. They proposed broad programs that would help poor communitiesprograms that would benefit many, many black people.

But that is not reparations. Those are broad social programs that the Democratic Party has been championing for ages, programs that are often thwarted by Republican majorities and legislatures. The real meaning of reparations is to identify the descendants of slaves and to say to them, Here is some money, or, Here are some goods or programs that we should give you as a country because of your race and our history.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

I happen to think reparations are a bad idea. Mostly because, as per the argument of Barack Obama, they are impractical, unpopular, and probably disastrous to the electoral viability of any candidate that seriously proposed them, which is why no Democrat is seriously proposing them.

Warren and Harris have good, interesting programs for the poor and the historically discriminated against. Theyre just not reparations. They are not saying, You descend from a slave, here is some restitution money. Reparations in Germany actually happened. In 1952, as part of the Luxembourg agreement between West Germany and Israel, the government of West Germany agreed to a plan to pay survivors of the Holocaust. The first payments of over almost $8 billion in todays dollars went to Israel, where hundreds of thousands of Germanys victims had settled.

Advertisement

Even today, anyone who can prove they were in a concentration camp, ghetto, or hid from the Nazisor were a fetus as their mother suffered such persecutionis eligible to receive 2,500 euros. In 1988, the U.S. Congress voted to give reparations to the precise Japanese people who were interned during World War II. There were still tens of thousands of them alive, and each survivor of internment received $20,000 until 1999 when the government ended the program, having spent $1.6 billion.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Nothing like that is being proposed here. Neither of the aforementioned programs paid money to the heirs of victimsyou needed to be a victim (or a fetus) who directly suffered. Its been 150 years since slavery ended in the United States, and the legacy still stains the national character, rends the national soul, and continues to unfairly stymie the progress of millions of Americans. But finding an actual administrable, sensible, workable, fair government program to address in monetary terms that historic injustice is seemingly impossible task. Its also sure to be an unpopular one.

Advertisement

I cant imagine reparations passing Congress. I also cant imagine the specter of DNA testing to qualify for reparations, arguments over whose family immigrated from Nigeria 50 years ago, versus who could trace their lineage back 200 yearsor a requirement that funding from the bottom three quintiles of white society, where the average income is $38,000, be provided in part to the top quintile of black America, where the average income is $155,000. I cant imagine the government telling Latino Americans, Sorry, not discriminated against enough. I furthermore cant imagine them telling Latino people who are black, Sorry, your ancestors were brought to this hemisphere as part of the slave trade, but not to America.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The candidates clearly realize these landmines are scattered about. Thats why theyre not proposing actual programs for actual reparations in the sense that the term is actually used. They are answering the question Do you believe in reparations? by saying, Yes, we do, and here is my broad program to help black people. Barack Obama answered the question, Do you believe in reparations? by saying, No, I dont, and heres my broad program to help black people.

Advertisement

Advertisement

What those different answers, buttressed by similar proposals, tell me is that the candidates perceptions of Democratic voters have radically shifted, and most candidates arent eager to let an opponent of theirs stake out a position to the left of them. Were also dealing with candidates who dont have the confidence of Barack Obama to match their rhetoric with their programs. Obama knew he was disappointing a lot of Democrats and a lot of people in the African-American community. He was fine with it. Warren and Harris are not, though Harris, post Da Breakfast Club interview, seems to have backtracked or at least obfuscated when asked to provide a yes or no answer to the reparations question.

Granted, the 2020 Democrats are running in a different age against a different background and a different set of opponents. But if they think theyre going to win a primary by telling potential voters what they think the voters want to hear, and then not match those words with actual programs, I think they damage their credibility and hurt their chances. There might be no repairing that.

Listen to The Gist for free every day via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.
The Democratic Party has officially ruled out letting Fox News host one of its 2020 presidential primary debates. Democratic National Chairman Tom Perez had raised the possibility of picking the conservative network as a debate host earlier this year, but he said Wednesday that a recent blockbuster expose convinced him to scrap the idea. Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates, Perez said in a statement first provided to the Washington Post. Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates.

Advertisement

Good call.

Democrats never had any reason to trust Fox to give them a fair shake in the first place. Now that should be crystal clear in the wake of Jane Mayers report documenting in detail how the conservative network has moved from partisanship toward propaganda in the age of Trump. Among the conflicts she reported in the New Yorker this week: During the 2016 GOP primary, network brass may have tipped Trump off about questions ahead of Fox-hosted debates; during the 2016 general election, Fox killed a story about Trumps relationship with Stormy Daniels; and during Trumps first year in office, the president ordered Gary Cohn to pressure the Justice Department to pursue an antitrust case involving Time Warner, the parent company of Fox rival CNN, allegedly as political payback.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

You dont need to take Mayers reporting as gospel to see that Fox has a vested interest in keeping Trump in the White House, where he routinely receives formal and informal advice from Fox veterans past and present. Likewise, you can believe that Chris Wallace and Bret Baier are respectable journalists and still have serious doubts whether, as debate moderators, they would have been the ones truly running the show. And you can also think Democrats should make a more concerted effort to reach new audiences and still believe there are better ways to do thatoff the top of my head: travel to Wisconsinthan by lending legitimacy to a network that helped spread debunked and dangerous conspiracy theories about everything from Obamas birthplace to child sex rings to the 2016 murder of former DNC staffer Seth Rich.

Advertisement

The decision has some drawbacks. If Fox News is state media, then more Americans watch state media than any other cable network. A Fox-hosted debate would have offered Democrats a platform to speak directly to an audience they almost never reach unfiltered. Winning over loyal Fox viewers wouldnt have been easy, but simply making the overture might help with those swing voters who are exhausted by partisanship. Similarly, Democrats are now opening themselves up to criticism that theyre afraid to take serious questions from conservative media. Never mind that Republicans pulled out of a 2016 primary debate with NBC after their candidates didnt like the questions CNBC moderators asked at a previous debate or that the White House press briefing has become a thing of the past under Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its unclear how seriously the DNC was considering giving Fox one of the debate slots even before the New Yorker story broke. Fox hosted back-to-back town halls with Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton during the 2016 primary, but the last time the network hosted an official Democratic debate was 2004. (During the 2008 cycle, the DNC pulled the plug on a planned Fox debate after then-Chairman Roger Ailes made an Osama Bin Laden-themed joke about Obama.) What makes Perezs decision stand out, though, is how he made it. The DNC plans to hold 12 primary debates but so far it has selected media partners for only the first two: NBC (and its sister networks) and CNN. Perez, then, could have simply waited until he had selected the remaining 10 debate hosts, ruling out Fox by omission in the process. Instead, he seized a moment that offered the easiest out the DNC is likely to get and that simultaneously maximizes the New Yorker storys damage to Fox and Trump. If this fight with Fox was unavoidable, then Perez was smart to throw the first punch.
Thursdays somewhat surprising political news is that Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown has decided not to run for president in 2020.

The reason its surprising is because Brown won re-election by a seven-point margin in 2018 even as other Democrats in his state struggled, giving him a strong case that hed have 2020 appeal in the crucial and Ohio-like Midwestern swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. He also was known as someone who had honed a strong message about progressive economics and the dignity of work that had the potential to appeal to both white and nonwhite Democratic voters.

Advertisement

The reason that Browns pre-emptive dropout was not surprising, though, particularly this week, is Joe Biden. Biden sells himself as having a cosmic connection to working-class whites and other relatively moderate Democrats, and if he ran, hed start from a position of much greater name recognition than Brown. The New York Times is reporting that Biden is 95 percent committed to entering the primary, and hed be a clear front-runner if he did so as a big-donor favorite who consistently leads early polls. On Tuesday, another potential primary candidate who would have competed with Biden for moderate votersMichael Bloombergannounced that hes going to focus on funding advocacy campaigns rather than running for POTUS. A similar statement was released Monday by Bidens Obama-administration colleague Eric Holder. And yet another figure who might have appeal to the Biden demographic, Andrew Cuomo, has already said that Biden himself is the best 2020 candidate.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Over on the partys other ideological wing, Oregons Jeff Merkley has decided not to run in 2020, a decision that follows the official entry into the race of Bernie Sanders, whom Merkley endorsed in 2016. Democratic voters will probably strongly support the partys 2020 candidate regardless of whether that candidate identifies as moderate or leftist, and many voters base their primary choices on factors other than policy. But Merkleys progressive policy record is his most distinguishing feature as a national figure, and Sanders is already much more well-known for holding similar positions; the Vermont senator typically polls not too far behind Biden, a few ticks ahead of the rest of the field. Like Cuomo, Bloomberg, Holder, and Brown, Merkley seems to have concluded that the race already involves someone who replicates his strengths without having critical weaknesses.

Advertisement

One thing this implies is that these Democrats and their advisers do not see Bidens and Sanders candidacies as likely to founder because of their advanced ages. Biden will be 78 on Inauguration Day in 2021, and Sanders will be 79. For someone seeking eight years in the presidency, thats old! Both would be older before taking office than Ronald Reagan, whose mental state during his later years in the White House is still the subject of debate, was when he finished his second term. While not every octogenarian suffers from dementia, many do, and mental problems are obviously not the only health concerns that become salient when youre in your 80s. If Biden or Sanders were to win again in 2024, theyd end up being older during their presidencies than Ruth Bader Ginsburg is now; while seemingly mentally sharp, Ginsburg has missed Supreme Court arguments for health reasons, and the potentially destabilizing effects of her death or incapacitation are morbidly regular topics of national discourse.*

Its hard to blame potential candidates for being shy about bringing up Uncle Bernies and Uncle Joes ages, though, when 50 percent of combined Democratic poll respondents say theyre ready to vote for the pair. But with so many other candidates, some as young as 37, in the race, the issue does seem likely to come up at some point. Biden and Sanders no doubt have their top people working on table-turning debate bons mots as we speak.
For a rising star in the Democratic Party and candidate for president, Julian Castros visit to Los Angeles on Monday was strikingly low-key. The former San Antonio mayor and secretary of Housing and Urban Development met with a small group of students at UCLA, where he received a warm welcome, and later sat with immigration-policy faculty at a conference room inside the Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Castro, who looks younger than 44, burst onto the national stage after delivering an impassioned keynote speech during the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Soon after, he joined Obamas Cabinet and was considered a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton. When Clinton passedand then lostCastro was left without a formal platform from which to build a national profile. But that has not deterred him. He is now trying to be the Democratic presidential nominee despite never having won a statewide election.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

I first met Castro in Las Vegas a few years back. He struck me as strangely mimetic of Obama: the same grave voice, long pauses, and careful delivery, dressed in an appropriately dark suit. The similarities are not coincidental. Like Obama, Castro has long been thought of as an ideal politician to reach across racial divides. In 2010, after he began his term as mayor of San Antonio, the countrys seventh-most-populous city, the New York Times hurried to label him the post-Hispanic Hispanic politician. Castro has relaxed since then: Gone are the ties and the Obama staccato. (He has also polished his Spanish since then. As a third-generation Mexican American from Texas, Castro was not fluent). But he still embraces the broader character that brought him national attention in the first place. When I asked Castro if he thought it indispensable for the Democratic Party to choose either a woman or a Latino politician like himself in 2020, Castro resisted the invitation to advocate for identity politics, instead explaining that the party should first and foremost ensure the nominee is well-qualified, has great ideas for the future of the country, and can represent everybody.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

As we sat inside the office of Gary Segura, dean of the Luskin School and a well-known Latino vote expert and advocate, surrounded by books on immigration and Chicano studies, Castro spoke not of these issues but of a wider agenda that would attract voters far beyond the countrys Southwest. I asked Castro if he thought his candidacy could appeal to disaffected white voters in the Rust Belt. After acknowledging that the size of the Democratic field would be a daunting challenge, Castro described an inclusive vision with ambitious aims. I can get support even from some people who voted for Donald Trump, Castro said. I believe I can go into Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and win those states back, that I can go get the electoral votes that we lost very closely in 2016.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Castro told me he sees himself as the antithesis of Trump, particularly on immigration issues. He has called Trumps border wall the definition of insanity. In Los Angeles, I asked him about Trumps policy on Central American refugees and the willingness of the new government of Mexico to collaborate with the presidents punitive policies. I was surprised that the Mexican government cooperated with President Trump, Castro told me. If a family has traveled thousands of miles, they never expected to end up in Mexico. I believe they should have the opportunity to seek asylum under national and international law and to do that in the United States.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Castro has long been thought of as an ideal politician to reach across racial divides.

On other foreign policy matters, Castro fell into a familiar trap among Democratic progressive politicians. When I asked him whether he recognized Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela, he vacillated. I think that the people of Venezuela should have the opportunity to recognize Guaido and that he has, under the Constitution, this sort of interim status, he told me. The same thing happened when I asked Castro if he considered Nicolas Maduro a dictator. He has failed the people of Venezuela. Im not shedding a tear for Maduro, Castro replied.

Advertisement

Advertisement

When I pushed back, asking for clarification on whether Maduro should indeed be regarded plainly as a dictator, Castro tiptoed around the definition, much like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have in recent weeks. I believe he has acted like a dictator. I have no love for Maduro, Castro said.

Julian Castros identity as an inclusive, progressive politician who can appeal to voters beyond the Latino community will face its two biggest tests in Iowa and New Hampshire, less than a year from now. If Castros candidacy survives those contests, where the Hispanic share of the electorate is still small, he will get a chance to come back south, to Nevada, and, crucially, California, where he will face steep competition from, among others, Sen. Kamala Harris, whos vying to become the first-ever Democratic candidate from the countrys most populous and most immigrant-rich state. If Castro somehow manages to sneak past Harris, his improbable journey might yet continue.
Days before the Nov. 2018 midterm elections, President Trump cooked up pre-election hysteria over the so-called caravan of migrants a thousand miles away in southern Mexico, who were slowly making their way on foot towards the U.S. border. The presidents anti-immigrant chauvinism couldnt stop his party from losing the House in a blue wave of Democratic victories, and afterward Trump largely dropped the issue until it became politically useful again months later during the government shutdown. The American government, however, sharpened its focus after the furor died down, according to a chilling report from NBC 7, NBC News local affiliate in San Diego. Documents leaked to NBC 7 show that the Trump administration went about gathering names of journalists, activists, and attorneys who had covered or worked with the fleeing migrants, and created a database that included dossiers on 57 people, including 10 journalists.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Those swept up in the government database where then targets for surveillance and harassment with at least 21 individuals subsequently questioned or arrested by Customs and Border Protection. The U.S. government, in some cases, placed alerts on the targeted individuals passports who were listed in the database titled: San Diego Sector Foreign Operations Branch: Migrant Caravan FY-2019, Suspected Organizers, Coordinators, Instigators and Media. The documents dated Jan. 9, 2019 included files on some 39 American citizens, including seven who were tracked by the U.S. government. The documents are part of an interagency SharePoint application accessible to a myriad of agencies, including agents from Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S.

Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, and the San Diego office of the FBI.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Some of the individuals who were there for the ultimate caravan standoff with border patrol suspected they were being targeted in the aftermath and the leaked documents showed the extent to which they were being singled out, including journalists being harassed at the U.S.-Mexican border, taken into secondary screening on the grounds it was a national security matter, and in one case denied entry to Mexico altogether. Heres more on what was compiled from NBC 7:

Advertisement

For each person, the documents show their photo, often from their passport but in some cases from their social media accounts, along with their personal information. That information includes the persons date of birth, their country of commencement, and their alleged role tied to the migrant caravan. The information also includes whether officials placed an alert on the persons passport. One dossier, shared with NBC 7, was on Nicole Ramos, the Refugee Director and attorney for Al Otro Lado, a law center for migrants and refugees in Tijuana, Mexico. The dossier included personal details on Ramos, including specific details about the car she drives, her mothers name, and her work and travel history.

Trumps America.
After 15 years of encouraging us all to share our lives with the world, Facebook has decided that the future is really about privacy. If so, that might be more convenient for Facebook than it first seems.

In a landmark 3,200-word manifesto Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg laid out his vision for a privacy-focused social networkone that spans Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram as well as Facebook itself. In particular, Zuckerberg said he expects future versions of Messenger and WhatsApp to become the main ways people communicate on the Facebook network.

Advertisement

People will be able to message each other across those platforms, and their communications will be encrypted end-to-end, which means even Facebook itself cant read them. Facebook will make a habit of deleting data and wont store it in countries that have a track record of human rights violations and privacy violations. The result, he said, will be a Facebook experience that feels less like a town square and more like a living room.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Such a sweeping change would have far-reaching implications for Facebooks business, its users, governments, dissidents, and the mediajust for starters.

 It would make Facebook less like the feed-based platform we know today and more like Snapchatthough a better analogy might be WeChat, the social app that dominates online life in China.

Advertisement

Advertisement

 It would constrain the companys advertising business, while opening up new realms of e-commerce and in-app purchases.

 It would put China itself essentially off-limits for Facebook, closing off the worlds largest growth market while sparing the company all the headaches of trying to do business there.

 It would push some of Facebooks biggest PR problems under a rug, such as fake news, hate speech, election interference, and harassment, which would become much harder to policeor to hold Facebook accountable for.

 And it would open new ones, creating dark social networks that could be havens for criminal or even terrorist activity, while giving equal shelter to everyone from dissidents to hate groups. There are also the technical challenges of how to let people share encrypted information across Facebooks apps while keeping them distinct (and allowing people to opt out of that sharing, as Zuckerberg promises).

Advertisement

Advertisement

Two big questions now are: How serious is Facebook about this shift? And what is its main motive?

The naive view is that Zuckerberg and company have at long last seen the light and recognized that their model of making the world more open and connected was inherently flawed. Persuaded at last that privacy is a precondition of free expression, theyre embracing all the criticism theyve received from privacy and security advocates and adopting it as their new gospel. Zuckerberg encourages this interpretation in his final paragraph:

I believe we should be working towards a world where people can speak privately and live freely knowing that their information will only be seen by who they want to see it and wont all stick around forever. If we can help move the world in this direction, I will be proud of the difference weve made.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Of course, the naive view requires forgetting pretty much everything weve learned about Zuckerberg and Facebook over the years. Theyve shown at every turn that they value growth and dominance over privacy, security, or any other high-minded principles they might espouse when its convenient.

The cynical view is that Zuckerbergs focus on privacy and encryption is largely public relations theater designed to distract from the companys true motive: binding together its major social apps so tightly that neither users nor privacy or antitrust regulators can untangle them.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Facebook is fast becoming a target for regulators of all stripes, and one plausible direction for those regulations would be to limit how it can share users data and identities between Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. But Facebook may be betting that it can move faster than regulators do, head off any effort to silo or break up its social media empire, and dress it all up in a guise of virtues like privacy and security. In this view, Facebook isnt really bent on transforming its personal datadriven advertising business so much as entrenching it.

Advertisement

I think Mark Zuckerberg has just announced that he's merging messaging across all Facebook & non-Facebook platforms & has wrapped it up in a nice "privacy & encryption" bow which large swathes of the press appear to be buying. Nice work @nick_clegg! https://t.co/zLuylCkUlV  Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 6, 2019

Advertisement

Advertisement

The cynical view is more plausible than the naive view because its in keeping with Facebooks tradition of figuring out its business strategy first, then tacking on a high-flown social mission to justify it. But it risks underselling the magnitude of the shift Zuckerberg is describingand the ways that a pivot to privacy might actually benefit the companys business long-term.

Advertisement

Theres a third view that both takes Zuckerberg largely at his word that the company is reinventing itself and helps to explain why that might be in their long-term interests. This view recognizes that activity within the Facebook universe was already shifting toward private groups and messaging, and that Instagrams explosive growth reflects a desire among users for more intimate settings than the news feed. At the same time, its the news feed that has presented Facebook with years worth of PR nightmares and forced it to become an arbiter of online speech, including political speecha role it never wanted and to which it has proven poorly suited. Embracing private messaging and encrypted communications both leans into the companys future and retreats from its fraught present. Facebooks former chief security officer, Alex Stamos, called this a judo move.*

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

5) Right now FB gets crap (from the same people) for both invading people's privacy and not policing communications enough. This is the judo move: in a world where everything is encrypted and doesn't last long, entire classes of scandal are invisible to the media. pic.twitter.com/bIrl6lMRIq  Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) March 6, 2019

Advertisement

Advertisement

If this shift saves Facebook scores of unsavory headlines, it could also come with terrible consequences as its networks become havens for all sorts of illicit activities beyond the reach of law enforcement, regulators, or the media. It could also punish Facebooks advertising business by limiting Facebooks access to the content of its users messages, although theres no reason to believe that Facebook and Instagram proper cant continue to thrive.

Advertisement

In this view, the move for Facebook is not just about consolidating its existing business, but making a bold play to dominate another oneprivate messagingin countries WhatsApp has not already conquered.

Advertisement

In a surprising moment of self-awareness, Zuckerbergs manifesto acknowledges perhaps the biggest obstacle to this transformation:

Frankly we dont currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services, and weve historically focused on tools for more open sharing. But weve repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services that people really want, including in private messaging and stories.

Its true that Facebook has shown a remarkable capacity to evolve over the years. But privacy and security are postures that require long-term commitment, not a finger in the wind. A big pivot to privacy may well be in Facebooks interestbut whether its in users interest to trust Facebook is another matter.
Welcome to Source Notes, a new Future Tense column in which Stephen Harrison explores Wikipedia, digital knowledge, and the search for a fact-based world.

Two weeks ago, Dr. James Heilman discovered something strange. The Canadian emergency room physician and avid Wikipedia contributor noticed that DrugBank, an online database for drug information, was copying text directly from Wikipedia. Although Heilman considers Wikipedias medical content to be of surprisingly good quality, he was concernedbecause he didnt just find DrugBank copying and citing Wikipedia; he had also found several examples of Wikipedia likewise copying and citing DrugBank.

Advertisement

For example, the DrugBank page for protamine sulfate, a medication often used in heart surgery, included information taken from the medications Wikipedia page. But the medications Wikipedia page cited the medications DrugBank page. This circular referencing created a problem for proving the veracity of the information found on the Wikipedia pagewhere was the original source material really from? Could it be trusted? Heilman found five other Wikipedia articles about medications with similarly circular references, and he speculated that there could be many more. He contacted DrugBank about the issues, and they are working to resolve them. Meanwhile, Heilman (known by the Wikipedia username Doc James) expressed concern on the WikiProject Medicine talk pagethe forum where Wikipedia editors discuss improvements to articles about medicine and healththat citogenesis has become a reality.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Author and Xkcd creator Randall Munroe first coined the term citogenesis to describe this type of circular referencing in a popular 2011 comic. In it, Munroe depicts citogenesis as a four-step process:

Advertisement

Mathematicians and Ashton Kutcher fans might conceptualize this as a sort of digital knowledge butterfly effect.

Its difficult to quantify the prevalence of citogenesis incidents involving Wikipedia because the platform doesnt require citations for new entry of information, so theres no systematic way to identify each potential circular reference. Instead, many incidents are stumbled upon by users themselves when they come across an eyebrow-raising entry. Examples include a series of study guides that relied heavily on Wikipedia content and were then used as a source themselves, and the JarEdo Wens hoax, in which a user made an unsourced Wikipedia article about a fictitious Australian aboriginal god with a name strikingly similar to Jared Owens (the only other contribution associated with the users IP address was an entry for another fake Australian god, Yohrmum). By the time JarEdo Wens was outed as a hoax almost 10 years after its initial entry, the Wikipedia article had been name-checked in multiple books. But not every incident is caught, or caught right away.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The most infamous cases of citogenesis are those that resulted in the widespread distribution of a falsehood in news media. The list of such confirmed incidents of citogenesis ranges from the quirky, like a joke about the inventor of the butterfly stroke that ended up in the Guardian, to the more significant, like important biographical discrepancies. In December 2016, an anonymous user edited Secretary of State Mike Pompeos Wikipedia page to state that Pompeo had served in the Gulf War. The false claim was repeated in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker until, in April 2018, the CIA confirmed that Pompeo did not in fact serve in the Gulf War.

Of course, if a reporter writes an article based on flawed information from Wikipedia, they bear the responsibility for the inaccuracy. Relying on Wikipedia as an independent source is simply bad journalistic practice. The online encyclopedia explicitly states that it does not guarantee the validity of information contained on the site, which is maintained by a community of volunteer editors and not subject to a formal review process. But, at the same time, the practical reality is that millions of internet users (not just journalists) rely on Wikipedia for information. And because the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation says it aims for Wikimedia projects to become the essential infrastructure of free and trustworthy knowledge, it makes sense for the movement to at least consider some countermeasures to reduce the risk of misinformation being spread by circular reporting.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

But, as I realized after corresponding with Wikipedian Liam Wyatt, who wrote his thesis on how historians can use Wikipedia to understand society, the solution to the citogenesis problem may not be so simple.

Like a lot of Wikipedians, Wyatt has his favorite example of the phenomenon: the Stalins bathroom incident, which shows just how sticky the problem can get. In February 2009, an anonymous editor changed the German Wikipedia page for Karl-Marx-Allee (a major boulevard in Berlin) to claim that it was known as Stalins bathroom, implying it was the Soviet dictators toilet. Multiple publications repeated this bad information. Feeling guilty, the Wikipedia editor who created the fake nickname tried to remove the bad informationhowever, when he tried, other editors reversed his change because there were reliable citations for it. As it turns out, the original prankster editor was a journalist, so he decided to out himself as the original anonymous editor who executed the stunt in an article for the newspaper he worked fora move that gave him a proper counterreference to use to finally correct the record.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Wyatt explained that, besides the occasional case of sloppy journalism, the underlying difficulty behind such citogenesis problems is that the Wikipedia community does not require citations for every bit of information added to the site. As a matter of policy, all content on the encyclopedia must be verifiable, but theres no requirement that it be verified when its first added. This reflects the tendency of Wikipedia editors toward eventualism, a focus on the long-term rather than the immediate value of the project. This ethos tends to err on including stubs and low-quality articles with the idea that they will be improved over time versus strictly deleting anything but high-caliber additions.

All content on the encyclopedia must be verifiable, but theres no requirement that it be verified when its first added.

But mandating citations for every fact isnt necessarily a practical, nor desirable, answer to the citogenesis problem. For one, Wikipedia already upholds some important standards about sourcing, like requiring references when adding new content for biographical pages for living persons. But many of the exceptions exist for a purpose. For stylistic reasons, the lead or introductory section of an article usually does not include citations, since these openings are usually written with more generality than the latter, more detailed sections of the page. Wikipedia also does not require citations for common, uncontroversial knowledge (i.e., you dont need to cite that the sky is blue). And annoying citation overkill is discouraged.

Advertisement

Wyatt explained via email that, even setting these conventions aside, requiring citations for all forms of information would also be a problem because of the cultural barriers it would create. He wrote that, for example, theres an increasingly visible discussion about how Wikipedians can best accommodate and incorporate forms of knowledge that fall outside the traditional Western model for a reliable source. He said community representatives have discussed, without resolution, how it might be possible to integrate knowledge from societies with oral history cultures into Wikipedia in a way that doesnt undermine our core policies of reliable sources and no original research.  But requiring traditional citations for every fact would almost certainly be a step backward for this type of inclusion.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Logistically, too, it gets complicated. I asked the Wikipedia administrator known as TheSandDoctor, or TSD, to consider a hypothetical technological fix to the citogenesis issue: What if a content filter required users to include a citation whenever they added information to the encyclopedia? TSD explained that this would be problematic on several fronts. For one, the only way TSD sees such a filter being implemented would be to require that any and all changes or additions to a page include a citation. This would, in practice, mean that minor edits like adding punctuation or a space would need citations, which is not only nonsensical, but would also make the often tedious task of editing Wikipedia more frustrating.

TSD also predicted that this type of forced technological change would not be met with open arms by the Wikipedia editing community, especially those who believe that Wikipedia is a work in progress wherein perfection is not required. Many such editors would prefer the occasional citogenesis incident to a technological control that would throttle the sharing of knowledge, TSD wrote.

Advertisement

Could there be a middle ground solution that doesnt problematically mandate citations for every new entry? Perhaps. The German and Polish language editions of Wikipedia use a technology called pending changes, which requires new and anonymous users to get any of their changes approved by another editor in good standing. A user graduates to free live editing only after making several hundred edits that have been manually approved. This initiation process would presumably select for users with good sourcing habits. But this system, too, seems to conflict with the ethos that Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. So far, English Wikipedia has only implemented the pending changes tech for a small group of articles, such as controversial biographies that are frequently vandalized.

For now, its up to vigilant editors like Heilman to identify suspected citogenesis incidents by relying on their experience and instincts. And, of course, its still on everyday readers to apply critical thinking when engaging with new information, whether the platform is Wikipedia or not. Remember that fictions like Stalins bathroom smell as both metaphor and fact.

This page has been updated with an image of the xkcd.com comic.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
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.
The Russian Embassy did not like the opinion piece written by State Secretary of the Defence Ministry Robert Ondrejcsak.

News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

The Russian Embassy in Slovakia has sent a note verbale to Slovakia's Foreign Affairs Ministry in response to the op-ed written by State Secretary of the Defence Ministry Robert Ondrejcsak (Most-Hid) concerning the fifth anniversary of the start of military conflict in Ukraine.

The piece, titled "Five Years since Crimea: The War in Europe is not taboo", was published in the Sme daily on February 26.

"Technically speaking, Russia carried out a military operation against Ukraine in February 2014, first on the Crimean peninsula. It invaded Crimea by using military force and subsequently annexed it," Ondrejcsak wrote.

The Russian Embassy in Slovakia responded in a way the Foreign Affairs Ministry does not consider to be part of a common diplomatic communication, according to Sme.

"The state secretary, using his own fabrications and opinions, describes Russia and Europe as 'enemies'," the Russian Embassy in Bratislava wrote in an open letter published on Facebook. "And this is really dangerous."

Read also:

Read also: Andrej Danko: I will not renounce Russia Read more

The embassy meanwhile asked Sme to publish a response to the op-ed. However, the daily turned down the request, saying that the text was "misleading and contained untrue claims".

"Moreover, it degraded to personal attacks, which are inappropriate of the diplomatic representation," said Beata Balogova, Sme's editor-in-chief.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed concern over the words used by the Russian Embassy, which "go beyond standard diplomatic communication". The ministry will also send a note verbal, as it informed in a statement.

While the Foreign Affairs Ministry backed Ondrejcsak, the Defence Ministry, led by Peter Gajdos (SNS), has distanced itself from the text.

"The state secretary's statements express his personal and political opinions in the name of Most-Hid and are not the official statement of the Defence Ministry," Danka Capakova, the ministry's spokesperson, told Sme.

The op-ed on the conflict in Ukraine

"Firstly, in Russia's strategic documents, the West, NATO and the EU are enemies," Ondrejcsak wrote in his op-ed. "Secondly, in political statements, we are enemies. Thirdly, in Russia's military exercises, we are the main enemies and they train offensive operations against us."

Read also:

Read also: Pellegrini: Slovakia will not oppose sanctions against Russia Read more

The Russian Embassy labelled his opinion as "the incompetent assessment of Russia's politics", recommending the state secretary from the Defence Ministry "simply" read Russia's strategic documents.

Moreover, the embassy rejected Ondrejcsak's claims in the letter, adding that Russia is not involved in the conflict. Moreover, it went on to call "the annexation of Crimea" and "Russian aggression in Ukraine" typical propaganda cliches.

In fact, the UN condemned the annexation of Crimea in its resolution in March of 2014, which was embraced by 100 countries, while 11 voted against it and 58 abstained from the vote, Sme wrote.

"We think while such an officer is in the management of the Defence Ministry, the Slovak public cannot, indeed, feel safe," the Russian Embassy concluded its letter of protest.

Ondrejcsak responded on Facebook

Read also:

Read also: Ruling parties split over attitude to Russia Read more

After the embassy published its response on Facebook, Ondrejcsak wrote that Slovakia is a confident, free and democratic EU member state as well as a member state of NATO.

"I am the official representative of Slovakia, state secretary at the Defence Ministry of the Slovak Republic, not of the Russian Federation," he wrote. Therefore, he formulated his opinions in accordance with Slovakia's interests and statements in the published op-ed.

"Fortunately, we do not live in the times before 1989 when the Russian/Soviet Embassy dictated who could say, or write, what in Slovakia," Ondrejcsak claimed on Facebook.
We should be teaching everyone not only the empirical facts of history, but also how to read and write and think critically, says historian Marci Shore.

News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

In response to the post-factual times we live in, historian Marci Shore says she now encourages her students at Yale to teach history at high schools or to be a journalist, because those are the professions that are really on the front line.

Marci Shore visited Bratislava to give a lecture at Bisla College in February, five years after the killings at Maidan in Kyiv marked the bloodiest days of the 2014 revolution in Ukraine.

-What are the lessons we can learn from what is happening in Ukraine and what are the chances we could face similar challenges?

-Generation played a role in Maidan, just like it did in 1989 Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia.

-How can people feel nostalgia for times they have never lived in?

-Why is it wrong when people use the word Maidan as a symbol of imported values?

-Why don't we learn from history?

-How does it feel to be a historian at a time when facts matter to people less and less?

TSS: What are the lessons we can learn from what is happening in Ukraine, and what are the chances we could face similar challenges?

MS: No one knows the answer to the latter question. Historians can never tell you what will happen. In the best case, we can tell you what did happenand even then we can never say decisively why, because you cant do a control study on real life. Theres no way to go back and play the scene again, holding certain variables constant in the interest of determining which variables are causal. What historians can help us understand is what is possible. And as a general rule, anything is possible. . . What most people dont grasp is that the thing that seems absolutely unimaginable today can become the new normal a few months later.

Marci Shore is an Assistant Professor of History at Yale University, where she teaches European cultural and intellectual history. She is the prize-winning author of books The Taste of Ashes: The Afterlife of Totalitarianism in Eastern Europe (2013), Caviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generations Life and Death in Marxism, 1918-1968 (2006) and The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution (2017).

Im always very, very hesitant to say that, say country X is immune from temptation Y. There are moments in history when a seemingly stable state of affairs has changed very rapidlyfor better or for worse.

For me, one of the lessons of the Maidan is that what Hannah Arendt describes as the lost treasure of revolution remains possible even in our post-modern world even if that kind of revolutionary solidarity, generosity, transcendence happens very rarely, and unpredictably, and lasts only for a moment. That it happens at all reminds us that it is possible, that we human beings carry in ourselves that capacity.
After a powerful pocket score last week, Willyorwonthe ($4.80) made every pole a winning one  albeit narrowly  in Wednesday night's (March 6) $11,500 Preferred 2 Handicap Trot at The Raceway at Western Fair District.

The six-year-old Angus Hall gelding braved frigid temperatures on the point, clearing from his assigned outside post 6 under Ryan Holliday before controlling fractions of :28.4, :59 and 1:28.2 while stalked throughout by Absolut Seelster (Scott Young). Willyorwonthe successfully turned aside an extended first-over try from Mighty Nicky (Alfie Carroll) on the far turn, only to face a late challenge from Absolut Seelster, who knifed through up the pegs after being locked in. In the end, Willyorwonthe held his ground, prevailing by a neck in 1:58.3. Absolut Seelster was 1-3/4 lengths in front of third-place finisher On The Ridge (Garrett Rooney) who rallied from the tail of the field after saving ground.

Bill Megens both owns and trains Willyorwonthe, whose fifth win in eight starts this year lifts his career tally to 27.

In the sub-featured $8,500 Preferred 3 Trot, Eric Johnston's Summit City Nate ($10.10) scored a pillar-to-post triumph, keeping Yoooukilis 2-1/2 lengths at bay in 1:59.1. J Harris drove the seven-year-old Justice Hall gelding to his third victory in four starts for trainer Terry Gallant.

To view Wednesday's harness racing results, click the following link: Wednesday Results  The Raceway at Western Fair District.
Australias trade minister Simon Birmingham and his Indonesian counterpart Enggartiasto Lukita signed the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement on Monday. Only afterwards (as is often the case) did we get to see what was in it.

We might never see an independent assessment of its costs and benefits.

Beforehand the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released a summary of the good news about increased Australian agricultural and education exports, together with statements of support from export industry representatives.

It said more than 99 percent of Australian goods exports by value would enter Indonesia duty free or under significantly improved preferential arrangements by 2020. Indonesia will guarantee automatic issue of import permits for key products including live cattle, frozen beef, sheep meat, feed grains, rolled steel coil, citrus products, carrots and potatoes. Australia will immediately eliminate remaining tariffs on Indonesian imports into Australia.

But most deals have winners and losers. The devil is in the detailed text, released only after the ceremony.

Employment rights? The environment?

First, whats missing. There are no chapters committing both governments to implement basic labour rights and environmental standards as defined in the United Nations agreements, and to prevent them from seeking trade advantages by reducing these rights and standards.

Such chapters are increasingly included in trade deals like the Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP-11) encompassing nations including Brunei, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and Vietnam, and the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement at present under negotiation.

They acknowledge that trade agreements increase competitive pressures, and are intended to prevent a race to the bottom on labour rights and environmental standards.

The fact they are missing from the Indonesia-Australia agreement shows neither government sees them as a priority.

Extra-national tribunals

The deal does include something else contentious that was included in the Trans-Trans-Pacific Partnership; so-called investor-state dispute settlement clauses, in Chapter 14, Section B.

They give special rights to foreign corporations to bypass local courts and sue governments for millions of dollars in extra-national tribunals if they believe a change in law or policy will harm their investment.

The tobacco giant Philip Morris tried it in 2011 using investor-state dispute settlement provisions in an obscure Australia Hong Kong agreement after it lost a fight against Australias plain packaging laws in the High Court. It eventually lost in the international tribunal, although after four years and at the cost to Australia of nearly 40 million dollars.

Temporary migrant workers

Article 12.9 of the Indonesia-Australia agreement will give Indonesia an additional 4,000 temporary working holiday visas, and a commitment over the next three years to negotiate arrangements for more contractual service providers.

Unlike permanent migrants, who have the same rights as other workers, temporary workers and contractual service providers are tied to one employer and can be deported if they lose their jobs, and so are vulnerable to exploitation, as shown by recent research.

After signing, the implementing legislation has to be passed by both the Australian and Indonesian parliaments before it can come into force.

And not for some time

In Australia, the next steps are for the treaty to be reviewed by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. But the likely calling of the federal election in April will dissolve this committee. The committee will be reconstituted after the election with the winning party having a majority.

Last year Labor faced a strong backlash from its membership and unions when it supported the implementing legislation for the TPP-11 despite the fact that it was contrary to the then Labor policy.

This led to the adoption of an even stronger policy at its national conference and a draft bill that would apply to both future and existing trade agreements.

It requires independent assessments of the economic, social and environmental impacts of future trade agreements before they are ratified, outlaws investor-state dispute settlement clauses and the removal of labour market testing for temporary workers, mandates labour rights and environmental clauses and requires the renegotiation of non-compliant agreements should Labor win office.

If the Coalition wins office but not a Senate majority, and Labor implements its policy, a Coalition government could face opposition to ratification of the Indonesia-Australia agreement in the Senate.

If Labor wins government, it will face pressure from its base to implement its policy to conduct an independent assessment and renegotiate the provisions before ratification.

In Indonesia, which has elections in April, the deal could also face a rocky road.

Criticisms of the process led civil society groups to lodge a case which resulted in a ruling by the Indonesian Constitutional Court in November that the Indonesian President cannot approve trade agreements without parliamentary approval.

The opposition parties have been sceptical about the deal. Azam Azman Natawijana, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee overseeing trade, was quoted in The Australian saying he expected the ratification process to be protracted.

Dr Patricia Ranald is an Honorary Associate in the Department of Political Economy. This piece originally appeared on The Conversation.
As well as preventing the departure of refugees from the al-Rukban Camp, the US continues to attack civilians and infrastructure writes SANA.

Washington and its allies dont only support terrorist organizations, cover up their crimes and continue to attack civilians and infrastructure, but the US forces deployed in the al-Tanf are also preventing tens of thousands of civilians in the al-Rukban Camp from returning to their hometowns, which have been liberated from terrorism by the Syrian Arab Army.

In light of this obnoxious exploitation of the suffering of refugees by Syrias enemies, Syria has exerted tireless efforts to perform its duty in meeting the humanitarian needs of citizens, who have been affected by the unprecedented terrorist war waged against the country.

The Syrian Government has always worked to provide all possible facilitations and has taken all the necessary steps to guarantee the return of the displaced who live in camps, through humanitarian corridors.

To achieve that humanitarian work and based on its duty to protect its citizens, the Syrian state cooperates with Russia the UN, with the aim of evacuating all the displaced held at the al-Rukban Camp as two humanitarian corridors were opened in the towns of Jalib and Jabal al-Ghourab on Feb. 19, 2017.

On Mar. 1, 2019, convoys were sent to evacuate civilians besieged in the camp to their hometowns, but the US forces and their terrorist mercenaries blocked their return, prolonging the suffering of the refugees, who live in catastrophic conditions.

Preventing humanitarian convoys from accomplishing their task, proves that Washington continues to exploit terrorism and to exert pressure on the Syrian Government, which relentlessly tries to stop the humanitarian suffering of about 50,000 displaced Syrians who are living at the camp in appalling conditions.

Washington and the terrorism-sponsoring states that have exploited the suffering of the displaced, have worked on promoting misleading and fabricated news and lies, about the fate that awaits those who return to their homes, which has delayed their decision to leave the camp.

That situation wont last for a long time as the misleading media agendas will be exposed and they will not be able to prevent the displaced at the camp from knowing the real news and facts about the governmental measures on the ground, with regards to the humanitarian corridors opened by the government to facilitate their return.

The humanitarian crisis at the refugee camps in the neighboring states, particularly Turkey will be solved soon thanks to the victories achieved by the Syrian Arab Army, which will culminate with the ending of the illegitimate presence of the US, British, French and Turkish forces, which support terrorism and block humanitarian work.

Warplanes of the alleged US-led International Coalition has committed crimes and massacres, claiming the lives of thousands of Syrians, mostly women and children, in addition to destroying infrastructure.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Any criticism of the Assad regime, even from committed loyalist, is being punished in the most severe manner reports Alsouria Net.

The regime has recently pursued a policy of arresting, disappearing and expelling loyalist journalists, which has affected television personalities and other loyalist media figures who have criticized the shortcomings and corruption inside the Assad government. The most recent of these was the well-known Syrian television director Mehran Salah, who was arrested by security forces a few days ago.

It seems that the Assad regime will not tolerate criticism directed at its government and officials within its regime, even from prominent media figures who have supported it and stood by the regime for years and have supported it in its war against Syrians. The limited margin of freedom that had been given them after the revolution broke out is no longer permitted.

This is not Salahs first arrest, as the Criminal Security branch had previously summoned and investigated him because of his Facebook posts in which he criticized the regime government and its Prime Minister Imad Khamis, according to what Salah told a pro-regime website in February.

Salah was also summoned in December after he criticized the Minister of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) because of Legislative Decree No. 16, which provoked widespread controversy, and which gave the Minister broad powers. The Minister filed a complaint to the anti-electronic crimes branch, which then held and interrogated Salah for two hours, before releasing him.

Wissam al-Teir

Two and a half months after his arrest, the fate of the director of the Damascus Now news network, Wissam al-Teir, is still unknown. He was arrested by regime intelligence and taken to an unknown location. Efforts by his family to find out where he is or make contact have failed.

The regime has not announced any charges against Teir, who is known for his fierce loyalty to the regime, and who has previously appeared alongside Asmaa al-Assad after being honored by her. The network he runs is one of the biggest pro-Assad loyalist news networks and since the beginning of the protests in Syria, has supported the regime and attacked the Syrian opposition.

The arrest of Teir sparked criticism of the regime by loyalists and journalists, who asked, Is there any journalist left in Syria who hasnt been in prison? Any criticism of the government ends with prison and arrest, espeically given that Teir is considered one of the most prominent media faces backing Assad.

Hezbollah Loyal Journalists Arrested

The correspondent Omar Drau was the latest journalist to be targeted for their work, despite the fact that part of Draus work was with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. He was arrested by the information crimes branch on Aug. 13, 2018, and was sent to an unknown location after a decision to arrest him was issued by a major official in the regime.

The pro-regime Hashtag Syria website noted that Drau worked for them, as well as the Lebanese Al-Manar channel and Al-Nour radio, which are under Hezbollahs authority, and Al-Medina radio in Syria. The website said that another journalist named Omar al-Azou was also arrested.

Regime security agencies have previously released the loyalist journalists Ehab Awad and Roula al-Saadi, after they were detained for about 20 days, when they were discovered in Umayyad Square at the same time as university students in Damascus participated in a sit-in in the square to call for supplementary courses in October. This was despite the fact that Awad had been among those demobilized from Series 102 in the regime forces, which was maintained for eight years.

Regime measures to silence critical voices from among loyalist media have not been limited to arrests and disappearances alone. A correspodnent for the pro-Iran Al-Mayadin channel, Rida al-Basha, was expelled last month after reporting about the poor economic and living conditions in Aleppo city.

Basha is considered one of the most prominent war correspondents at the channel, and had accompanied Assad forces in a many number of battles against the opposition.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
In December of last year, US President Donald Trump said that he would pull out all 2,000 US troops from Syria, but now appears to be changing his mind writes Al-Araby al-Jadeed.

US President Donald Trump has made an auditious claim that he is 100 percent in favour of keeping US troops in Syria, despite shocking policy makers by ordering a withdrawal last December.

A letter obtained by NBC News on Tuesday stated that Trump wrote I agree 100 percent. All is being done, in response to lawmakers request that some American troops should remain in Syria.

We support a small American stabilising force in Syria, the legistlators wrote in a letter to Trump.

We agree that a stabilising force, which includes a small contingent of American troops and ground forces from our European allies, is essential to ensure stability and prevent the return of [IS].

Trump photocopied the letter and highlighted the section reading: like you, we seek to ensure that all the gains made in Syria are not lost, adding that he agreed 100 percent.

It follows an abrupt announcement by Donald Trump on Twitter in December that US would be swiftly pulling all 2,000 American troops out of Syria.

Our boys, our young women, our men, theyre all coming back and theyre coming back now, he said.

The comments shocked his allies who appeared caught off guard by his pledge, with some senior officials  including Defence Secretary Jim Mattis  resigning in response.

The story follows a report in The Washington Post, which claims that Trump discussed the US Syria strategy plan during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The meeting was behind closed doors, without note taking, and only in the presence of two translators.

[Security Adviser John] Bolton told senior officials working on Syria policy that Trump had insisted that US troops would stay in Syria until Moscow forced out its Iranian allies  an ambitious declaration that could keep the Americans there for years, the story alleges.

With no reason to doubt Boltons account, officials at the Pentagon and State Department fine-tuned a strategy that made Irans departure a primary objective of the 2,000-strong US presence.

Last month, White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders said a small peace-keeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for a period of time.

The US is now reportedly pushing for a multi-national peacekeeping force for Syria, to prevent IS re-emerging.

Id say that the Trump [administration] generally has been irresponsible and reckless in Syria. For example, Trump announced defeating IS in Bhaghouz and until now furious battles are ongoing, Zouhir al-Shimale is a Syrian journalist from Aleppo told The New Arab.

I think that this step comes along with IS continuous threats in the future they will not stop their terror, and having the foreign families whether American or British on Syrian soil will not help, he added. US troops [remaining in Syria] will be a massive slap to Russian plans to dominate in Syria and will [help] stabilise Iran and the Assad regime will not be pleased to about this.

Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Hezbollah has joined regime forces in fighting opposition forces in and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in the Aleppo countryside reports Al-Modon.

On Tuesday evening, the fronts between regime militias and the armed opposition on the outskirts of Aleppo witnessed heavy clashes amid artillery, rocket and mortar fire that was exchanged between the two sides. Regime militias brought military reinforcements to the front, with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah contributing to the bombing of opposition positions.

A military source in the Faylaq al-Sham told Al-Modons correspodnent, Khalid al-Khatib, that regime militias had tried to slip toward opposition positions on the al-Rashidein, al-Mansoura and al-Bahouth al-Almiyeh fronts, northwest of Aleppo. The militias repeated their attempts in the northern outskirts on the al-Malah and al-Zahraa Association fronts. According to Al-Modons source, The hostile groups were dealt with in direct clashes and their attack was foiled.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham struck the regime militias on the outskirts of the Zahraa Association and Artillery Brigade fronts in Aleppo with snipers and heavy machine guns and bombarded the militia positions at the Iranian observation point at the Military Academy in the al-Hamdaniyeh district.

The pace of Tahrir al-Shams bombardments of militia points has picked up recently. The bombardment is part of the operation launched by the group under the name Heal the Hearts of the Believers, which it has struck militia positions with artillery and mortars in the al-Howeiz and Associations areas in the southern Aleppo countryside, as well as a number of areas in the Jabel al-Turkman area in Lattakia and Jourin and areas in the northern Sahel al-Ghab.

The regime militia bombardment is ongoing and has struck more than 30 cities and towns in the countrysides of Idleb, Hama and Lattakia.

New Russian forces are deployed in the town of Tel Salba and Qubaybat Abou al-Hoda in the western Hama countryside, in addition to snipers. Tel Salba is considered a strategic area due to its elevated position over the villages and towns of the northern Hama countryside.

Al-Modons sources said that Hezbollah was participating in the bombardments of opposition areas from its positions near the city of Mahardah, west of Hama.

An atmosphere of frustration and anger prevails in the towns and villages of the pro-regime Hama countryside, calling for the start of the battle to recapture Idleb, to end the opposition threat once and for all. Regime forces and National Defense units are protected from opposition bombardment by the residential structures, refugee and Red Crescent centers for civilians in the regime-controlled areas.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Before this revelation, it was unclear who invited President Assad and why the Foreign Minister was not informed about the visit writes Russia Today.

The deputy commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Ismail Ghaani, said that it had been his unit that had recently invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to visit Tehran.

Ghaani said that the Quds Force had invited Assad to Tehran and that President Rouhani had been informed of Assads visit but it seems he neglected to inform Zarif, which is a matter for the government.

Ghaani added, Assads visit to Tehran was a sensitive task and operated on a need to know basis.

He continued, There are many differences in viewpoints between the government and the Quds Force, but in the end, this government is our government and their honor is ours, and we are working with all its members.

He added that the Quds Force commander, Qasem Soleimani, is, a friend of the Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and the Quds Force stands by the Iranian government.

Zarif had recently submitted his resignation, after a visit by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Tehran, which it seemed was not coordinated with Zarif.

However President Hassan Rouhani refused to accept the resignation, saying that it conflicted with the countrys higher interests.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Welcome to my Vampire blog

Here you will find views and reviews of vampire genre media, from literature, the web, TV and the movies.







Please note that, by the very nature of the subject matter, my blogs are designed for the mature reader







Also note: on the occasion of a Guest Blog the views of the guest are their own and not necessarily the view of Taliesin_ttlg or Taliesin meets the Vampires. Features about crowd-sourcing projects are for awareness purposes and not an endorsement of the product, support is given at the reader's own risk. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases when you follow a link to Amazon from this blog.







Theme Tune copyright C. Esquivel, Vid P. Wakefield. A. Boylan asserts his moral right to be recognised as author of all articles bar guest blogs.












8 hours ago

MarketBeat vs. Seeking Alpha Comparison

MarketBeat and Seeking Alpha are two of the well-known websites that give individual investors access to stock research and analysis. Both sites provide a significant amount of many of free content. But with many similar features, it can be hard to distinguish between the two sites. Thats why weve provided this article that compares MarketBeat to Seeking Alpha.

Read Article
[Yr. Hmbl. Ed. has been moderately messed up in the comment moderation. So that you don't miss them, here are seven "Featured Comments" from the post I SNAFU'd this week, "One Good Book: Guest Counterpoint" written by Moose. Yr. Hmbl. Ed.]

Geoff Wittig: "Yes! Thanks for saying it, Moose. John Szarkowski was immensely influential, and no doubt he was extremely knowledgeable and erudite on the subject of visual art. Yet his opinion imposed a kind of stylistic straightjacket on what was considered acceptable art photography, a modernist view quite similar in my mind to the vision Leo Castelli imposed on painting. Many of the photographers Szarkowski embraced (Gary Winogrand and Diane Arbus come to mind) are pure nails-on-a-chalkboard to me, ostentatiously rejecting traditional aesthetic notions for the shock of the new. "

David Raboin: Looking at Photographs has been a favorite of mine for years and my wife recently bought me a copy of Szarkowski's Atget book. I don't believe either book is about the photographs they contain so much as they're about how to think about photographs and photography. Szarkowski is the antidote for the 'great capture' and 'stunning!' crowd. He's so careful, thoughtful, and educated. Szarkowski decodes the photographer's intentions and puts everything into historical context. He's my dream audience.

"In his Atget book, there is a beautiful paragraph about Atget's decision to point his camera into the sun where Szarkowski discusses the struggles of artists across all mediums to depict the feel of looking into the sun. If I ever received a comment like that on Instagram I think I would cry."

JOHN GILLOOLY: "I completely agree with Moose's take. I bought that book years ago after it was recommended here and just did not connect with it at all."

David Comdico: "Looking at Photographs is a great book. I had to pick up my copy to re-read the text as the essay here seemed woefully inaccurate. To begin, Szarkowski doesn't say 'there are only three ways of seeing the physical world.' He says that there are three ways of accepting the evidence of one's senses. There is a difference between the two, and not noticing this from a critical perspective is sort of...well, similar to not accepting the evidence of your senses.

"For Szarkowski, the nature of photography is that it is evidentiary. His text here is highly ironic (Szarkowski here falling into the humorist camp). He says, 'The consistent flaw in the system [i.e., photography] has been that it has recorded the wrong facts: not what we knew was there but what has appeared to be there.' Every bad or inept photo can be said to result from this 'flaw' the camera recorded the wrong facts and instead of showing us what we knew was there, it captured what appeared instead.

"As the popular saying goes, there is no one easier to fool than yourself. The real dangerous bias we must confront is confirmation bias. Szarkowski puts it thusly: 'Faced with a contradiction between what he sees and what he reads, the average person will ignore what he sees.'

"So trusting my senses, I find it trite and unconvincing to say that Erwitt's photo is a putative indictment of the museum, in that it just houses old treasures (which is how Szarkowskis makes his point, albeit very ironically). Similarly, Looking at Photographs isn't a mere vault of musty old photos. As a user of Instagram, I've seen variations of these photos thousands of times: DeCarava's man holding a briefcase, Friedlander's surreal refractions, Arbus' trenchant view of the proto-MAGA jingoist.

"Szarkowski is not above reproach (Janet Malcom's criticism is hard-hitting), but he is not only historically important, he is an astute and terrific writer. One of the few. Most writing on photography is bad; less criticism than narrative, or, worse, confused theory. Clarity and insight is more valuable than polarizing approbation or repudiation.

"Finally, the insight Szarkowski provides here is one that we need to take to heart. Ours is a culture in which we are constantly told to not trust our 'lying eyes.' Mere appearance has been de-legitimized. And so we have instead a photographic culture predicated on graphical manipulation, a broken financial and political system that insists it is the best ever devised, and an increasingly dangerous environmental calamity that we are told isnt happening. Those that can see the reality peeking behind these fictions are indeed saints, simpletons, and humorists. Szarkowskis essay on 'Venice, 1965' is not only astute but prescient."

Mark Roberts: "Although it's tangential to the main point of Moose's piece I can testify to the fact that sentiment expressed in the Russell Miller quotation is wrong: I teach college students, all of whom have grown up in a world in which color photography was invented first as far as they're concernedit's the original, default way of shooting for anyone raised on digitaland making good monochrome photographs is always one of the most popular topics."

Eric Perlberg: "I agree with Moose's general argument. I personally have nothing against and can appreciate mid-20th-century photography for what it was, but in terms of interesting photographic art things have moved on. One of the historic characteristics of art (Art?) is that its in a state of constant renewal; what was once groundbreaking becomes part of the accepted canon, comfortable, familiar, but no longer pushing the envelope or making one rethink one's aesthetics. Such was Szarkowski pushing boundaries when he publicised, defined and explained a then-new generation of photographers.

"Today the photography he supported is comfortably classic, like Mahler's First Symphony, which was hissed and booed at its early performances but which now fills music halls worldwide, or Elvis's early music which shocked a Doris-Day-music-buying public with his wild guitar and shaking hips. Now Elvis comfortably lives on.

"Leaving aside the popularisation of mediocre photography due to smartphones and online galleries there are a plethora of excellent photographic artists pushing the boundaries of the medium (and they're often on Istagram too). Unfortunately (for me) these photographic artists are almost never mentioned or referenced on TOP or by its readership. It's an oversight I can personally live with due to Mike's otherwise thoughtful and humane writing style across a wide variety of subjects. But I personally cringe a bit when mid-20th-century photographers are held up as the pinnacle of the field."

Bob F.: "Couldn't resist commenting on the 'three-minute rule.' When I was a disk jockey on a local radio station (the late, not lamented KKJO in St. Joseph, Missouri) in the mid '60s, Marty Robbins' 'El Paso' was an essential part of the playlist because it was four minutes, 37 seconds long, allowing us to make it to the toilet and back while the record was playing, while the 'three minute' records didn't. I've always thought this had a lot to do with the song's great success."

[I wonder if from now on I should just publish comments? You'll are so interesting maybe you don't need me! :-) (Moose's post started life as a long comment.) Mike the Ed.]

(Posted by) Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Want to help?

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)

Featured Comments from:

Ernest Zarate: "Moose seems to have two main complaints with the book in question, Looking at Photographs. First, he is not a fan of John Szarkowskis writing. Second, the photographs suffer two fatal flaws: they are old and they are not in color.

"I happen to be in the same camp as our esteemed editorI think the book is an important volume in my library and I encourage my photo students to seek it out. Szarkowski has written 100 brief, accessible, and sophisticated mini-essays that not only discuss the photograph on the opposite page, but also shed light on the complete history, development, joys and surprises, and cultural context of the art of photography. To do this using only 100 photographs selected from the thousands of photographs in MOMASs vault is impressive, in my opinion. To do all that to the level of excellence Szarkowki has is astounding. It is a tour de force.

"The current trend of writing on photography (and, Lord help us all, video blogging!) is dry, self-important, twisted and confused. I am grateful for the oasis Mike provides with TOP. (Note: I would say that Mike is very generous in taking into consideration the ideas and suggestions of his readers. If there are contemporary photographers and/or writers a reader like Eric would like to see on TOP, Im sure they will get due consideration.)

"But, hey, to each their own. Some like Szarkowski, some dont. I do think its a bit disingenuous to criticize a book published in 1973 for not having more current photographs in it, though. And to quote Szarkowki from the books Introduction, 'The future of this beautiful, universally practiced, little-known art will be determined by young and unborn photographers, who will decide how best to build on their rich and ambiguous tradition. A small part of that tradition is reproduced on the following pages.' Hardly the sentiment of a dictator of aesthetics.

"The other issue, of damning the photographs because theyre old and not in color, I certainly do take issue with. If one was to follow this 'logic,' then any work of creative effort older than, what, 50 years (the age of the last photograph in the book) must be tossed into the garbage? Art has a shelf life? And if its not in technicolor then it has never had any value at all? A photograph is damned because it was made using, horror of horrors, monochrome materials?!? And analog materials at that?!?

"I guess the good news is that museums the world over, once they dump their 'old' art into the nearest dumpster will have ample room to start collecting and storing all the au courant digital work.

"In closing Ill paraphrase a rather famous writer: 'Moose doth protest too much, methinks.'"
NHTIs dental hygiene students still need your help! The students are required to take a clinical board exam to obtain licensure, and are in desperate need of volunteer patients for this exam.

The Concord dental hygiene students will hold another open clinic on Monday, April 1, 2019 from 5-8pm, for screenings to determine if volunteers meet the criteria to qualify as board patients. All screenings and any necessary x-rays will be free of charge, and x-rays will be forwarded to the patients dentist on request. Free toothbrushes and toothpaste will be given to all volunteers. You may call the dental clinic to register for this screening at (603) 230-4023.

The students will take their clinical boards on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. Patients must be available to sit for the exam either from 7am - 12pm, or from 12-5pm. Both the screening clinic and the board exams will be held at the Dental Hygiene Clinic in MacRury Hall on NHTIs Concord campus.

For more details, please visit nhti.edu/dental-clinic. Your help is needed and very much appreciated. Thank you for your consideration.

NHTI is a dynamic public institution of higher learning providing accessible, rigorous education, serving students, businesses and the community by creating pathways for lifelong learning, career advancement and civic engagement. With 100 full-time faculty and 250 adjunct faculty, NHTI Concords Community College offers more than 90 academic programs to more than 4,000 students annually. NHTI is a member of the Community College System of New Hampshire, and has been accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education, a nongovernmental, nationally recognized accrediting agency, since 1969.
On Sunday, a float rolled down the streets of Aalst, a Belgian town, for carnival. It featured two grotesque caricatures of Hasidic Jews, hooked noses, hands reaching out for money, and a rat sitting on money bags. Thats 2019. A second float, pictured abovein Marburg, Germany, in 1936featured celebrants dressed as Orthodox Jews. The only real difference is that the former was more elaborately and professionally executed, and if anything more grotesque.Anti-Semitism, or, to speak more plainly, Jew hatred, is the animus that never dies. Like some malignant virus, it always lies dormant, ready to wake. Like other viruses, it may be, at various times, more or less virulent, more or less lethal. There probably will not be a massacre of Jews in Belgium in the next few years. What happened a few years after the float rolled down the streets of Marburg requires no elaboration.In the wake of the Holocaust, the deliberate killing of Jewish, non-Israeli civilians is usually condemned across the political spectrum (butcheries of Israeli civilians being often excused as an understandable expression of Palestinian frustration). But those are easy sentiments, because it costs nothing to sympathize with dead Jews as opposed to standing up for live ones. The virus survives.

Some physical threats persist. A young male Jew wearing a yarmulke in the cities of so-tolerant Scandinavia ( Malmo, for example ), or even on some of the streets of Paris in laicized France, risks a beating or worse. And sometimes terrorists of the left or right decide to shoot up a supermarket, a community center, or a synagogue. When they do, the press usually describes them as lunatics rather than ideologues. After the bodies have been taken to the morgue and the blood has been mopped up, it is easier to rationalize the murders that way.But in the West, no one is going to massacre Jews or send them to concentration camps. Other parts of the worldthe Arab world most notablyhave been subject to such thorough ethnic cleansing in the recent past that there are no Jews left to pummel or kill. To be sure, that does not stop virulent anti-Semitism without Jews, a phenomenon noted in Poland under communism in its later stages, and present today in countries such as Pakistan, whose press prints cartoons indistinguishable from those in the Nazi broadsheets of nearly a century back.Social anti-Semitism, the kind permissible in polite society, continues. But even that has changed. Once upon a time, it was a kind of establishment or upper-crust disdain for pushy newcomers, the sons and daughters of immigrants on the make. Sometimes it was subtly expressed. Well, there goes your Semite, Hugh. A different god, a different mountaintop, said John Gielgud in Chariots of Fire, a movie about the 1924 Olympics. In the 20th century, it was usually just doors firmly shut at clubs and universities. Why were so many hospitals with names such as Beth Israel founded in the early 20th century? In part, to give Jewish doctors a place to practice the healing arts. But social anti-Semitism, in the sense of nonviolent Jew baiting, still exists in the West, even if some posh columnists for prestige publications on the left or right are more likely to drizzle their venom on neoconservatives than on hawkish foreign-policy Jews.Its ugliest forms have been most clearly on display in Britain of late, where the leader of the Labour Party refuses to acknowledge, and certainly act against, the persecution of Jewish members of his own party, a number of whose parliamentary members have now quit in disgust. Jeremy Corbyns friendship with terrorist groups, his willingness to pose near or under anti-Semitic caricatures, and his failure to do anything to suppress the vile attacks on fellow leftists who happen to be Jews are, at the moment, unique in liberal democracies. But other leaders in democracies or quasi-democracies play with Jew hatred: Why else does Viktor Orban so insistently invoke the image of George Soros, a bogeyman that some American white nationalists have similarly summoned up? Jew hatred is of both left and right.
The initial American press release had called upon Luxembourgish politicians to put pressure on the Russian prime minister over Russia's annexation of Crimea.

On Wednesday afternoon, ambassador Randy Evans spoke with the press about the statement that had sparked some controversy on Monday. In fact, his press release urged Luxembourg to condemn the annexation of Crimea in talks with Dimitri Medvedev. In response, deputy prime minister Etienne Schneider expressed his astonishment that the USA's embassy would put such pressure on a different country's leadership.

The ambassador reacted on Wednesday, telling the press that the US is worried about the Crimea and that the US and Luxembourg actually have a communal position on the Crimea annexation.

He then went on to voice suspicion regarding Russia's timing of the visit, which coincides with the anniversary of the annexation. He believes that Russia minutiously selected the timing of Medvedev's visit in order to have an opportunity to gain good press. As a result, Luxembourg hosted the Russian prime minister on the 5th anniversary of the annexation.

He also stressed that he had no particular intent with his statement, explaining that the embassy publishes statements about most political visits.
The old post office building on Hamilius remains a piece of Luxembourgish history. It has now stood empty for two years.

While the construction works on the new Centre Royal-Hamilius remain in full swing, a historic building stands vacant and unchanged: the old Hotel des Postes has been empty for two years now.

In 2017, the general management of the Luxembourgish Post moved into the newly built Mercier near Luxembourg Gare (central train station). The aim of the move was to better regroup different parts of the administration. The move was meant to be temporary, however. In three years, they want to move into a new building on Rue dEpernay just next to where the former Post building stood. Post Letzebuerg, which still owns the building on Hamilius, takes a number of measures, like regular heating, to prevent the building from deteriorating.

A design proposal by Belgian eco-architect Vincent Callebaut as part of a 2015 competition had planned new modern restaurants, offices and flats in the building. The design also involved a lot of greenery and a large glass dome. This project has since been abandoned due to size restrictions and safety concerns.

Currently, Post and Luxembourg City are discussing the idea of transforming the building into a hotel. One of the post office counters is also supposed to stay. More concrete plans are to be discussed in the coming months.
This Wednesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn signed a so-called "air agreement" in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

This agreement secures the right for Cargolux to land in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent. For the Luxembourgish cargo airline, this could be an important stopover point for flights into and out of East Asia.

The former Soviet Republic is one of the Central Asian nations that are approaching the EU in a slow democratisation process. Human Rights Watch has observed an improvement in human rights situation in the country since the end of the authoritarian Karimov regime. As has been confirmed to Jean Asselborn from official authorities, Uzbekistan no longer has political prisoners. According to the authorities, the wide-spread practice of child labour in the cotton industry is also being combated through education programs.

In addition, led by Luxembourg, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is currently running a seminar in Tashkent on the topic of fighting against corruption. The seminar is directed at representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, among others.
The latest Eurobarometer survey has revealed that Luxembourg remains, for the most part, pro-European Union. For many, this may come as a relief as other countries increasingly support Eurosceptics.

Hardly surprising for a country considered the epicentre of the European Union, Luxembourg remains broadly satisfied with the EU. On Wednesday, the latest Eurobarometer results were presented at the Maison de l'Europe in Luxembourg City.

Just over 500 residents of the Grand Duchy took part in interviews in November 2018 - of those surveyed, 62% had Luxembourgish citizenship and the remaining 38% had other European citizenships.

We've broken down the main takeaways from the survey.

Healthy economy, healthy home situation

Globally, 91% of respondents believed that Luxembourg's economy is in a good state. Compared to other European nations, only the Netherlands and Malta had a higher estimation of their own economies. Our French neighbours, on the other hand, place less confidence in their country's economic situation: only a quarter of respondents shared optimism about their country's financial situation. Looking at the European economic situation, 56% of Luxembourg's residents viewed it as healthy.

85% of respondents in the Grand Duchy expressed satisfaction with the financial situation of their own household. However, in a contradictory turn, half of those surveyed also believed they had difficulties making ends meet. It is perhaps likely that respondents relativised their own financial difficulties in declaring themselves satisfied.

On a national scale, residents remain concerned by three predominant subjects - housing (56%), the cost of living (29%), and the educational system (18%). With these main concerns, Luxembourg differs from other European countries, which predominantly worry about immigration and unemployment. On a European level, however, Luxembourgish residents share the same concerns as other Europeans, as they consider immigration to the EU (41%) and the state of public finances in the EU (20%) to be the main issues.





Luxembourg's residents also showed themselves remarkable in two ways: first of all, Luxembourg is the country where the fewest residents worry about retirement (7% of those polled) and second, 4 out of 5 respondents are satisfied with democracy in Luxembourg. This faith in democracy is the second highest in the entire European Union.





Luxembourg, a Europhile stronghold



56% of Luxembourgers have a positive image of the European Union, which is no doubt a reassurance compared to the wave of Euroscepticism coursing through the EU. The EU average of a positive perception of the institution was 43% in this latest survey. It is worth noting that the British are average in terms of their favourable or unfavourable opinion on the EU.

Luxembourg's residents above all appreciate the EU for its freedom to travel, to study, and to work throughout its member states. Peace, the Euro, and its cultural diversity are also valued. However, 21% believe the EU represents a waste of money. A further 20% dislike its bureaucracy.





59% of respondents identify as both Luxembourgish and European. They highlight culture, history, languages, and values that create a sense of community. Those crucial values for the respondents are peace, respecting human lives and human rights.

Faith in the future

62% of Luxembourg's residents believe that the Grand Duchy is heading in the right direction. Our neighbours appear to have less faith in their respective countries: only 50% of Belgians are confident, compared to even less confident Germans (38%) and French (21%) residents.

While Luxembourgers are confident the Grand Duchy is heading in the right drection, they have a little less faith in the EU as a whole. 53% believe the EU is heading in the right direction, which is 5% less than in 2018. However, again, our immediate neighbours are much more pessimistic.

Migration, a delicate subject

Migration has remained a delicate topic across Europe for years. In an unsurprising move, 82% of Luxembourgish respondents supported additional measures to "solve the irregular immigration problem", whilst 79% also remain supportive of internal EU migration and supporting refugees.
Your browser does not support the audio element.

As a 108-year-old global event, its well known and respected, at least in most modern and progressive cultures  but how much has it aided womens lives in Vietnam?

Vietnam celebrates the value that women add to their culture twice. As part of the movement highlighting womens issues on March 8th and then later on October 20th celebrating the nations women in a softer fashion, a little like Valentines Day although on both occasions feminine achievements in science, culture, education and other contributions, charity work for example, are awarded.

All good and well, I suppose, but are the local lasses better off yet? Vietnam has been pretty good on the legal front with the 2007 Law on the Prevention and Control on Domestic Violence, which has been upgraded twice to include more robust definitions of violence to aid prosecutions. However, domestic violence is still a very serious issue, often hidden behind family dynamics and the common local perception by men that its all right to belt a woman to keep her in line. Many Vietnamese men Ive spoken to are surprised that its considered a bad thing.

Like so much of this nation  attitudes and behaviors are going to take a long time to modify and a lot of this depends on an education system still struggling to upgrade itself to the demands of the twenty-first century vs the traditional ways that are still enforced in local communities and households. I suspect that this and the next generation, through education and changing social attitudes, thanks to social media, TV and local training, will learn to give women more respect.

The 2006 Law on Gender Equality has also helped women gain entitlements in the workplace and ownership to land and businesses as well. Yet thats only half the story. The gender pay imbalance is still every bit as bad as some Western countries despite Vietnam having one of the highest rates of participation in the workforce. In the informal work sector  working from home, small businesses (not to mention all the little street stalls!) women actually outnumber men but sadly earn about half of male incomes. Keep in mind that the gender pay difference is even worse in a number of other Southeast Asian countries so the fact that theres any improvement in Vietnam should be a positive thing.

There are hundreds of projects operating across the nation to alleviate and improve female lives. The UN, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank fund a huge amount. A lot of these projects are organized by the Vietnam Womens Union, founded in 1930.

As part of this years celebrations, the union is planning a campaign: safety year for women and children focusing on educational efforts in the areas of school, family, work, social networks, food safety and hygiene. The Ministry of Public Security also pledged to assist in the enforcement of the laws protecting women and children as part of the unions project, particularly domestic violence and human trafficking.

The union also hosts the annual Kovalevskaya Award, which honors scientific achievements over the past year. Both events kick off just before March 8th to gain media awareness ahead of the main events which are largely ceremonial.

An intriguing project I discovered by accident from a Facebook comment is a local one in Hoi An (where I live) involving waste management disposal and giving jobs to poor local women, including supplying bicycles and equipment. Funded out of a United Nations small project grants fund and operated with the help of the Hoi An Womens Union, the project has reduced the waste by 70% to the local landfills by sorting out recyclables and other waste. It might not seem like much but this again is yet another example of locals helping locals.

Its estimated that if women could fully participate the world economy in all countries, it would create a mindboggling 16 trillion dollars in newly created global wealth. Equally, although less acknowledged, are all those unpaid contributions to our lives by women  mothers, carers, bread-winners and the support they give communities. All our lives depend on the women around us.

Theres a lot I havent covered in this story  the MeToo issues, womens health, educational access (especially higher education), ethnic women and lots more  still that means lots more to discuss and write about. So even if Ive skimmed over a lot, these issues wont be ignored, by me or others.

Also Id like to acknowledge the work of the foreign women in the Quang Nam area who also contribute to the women (and kids) of Vietnam. Jackie Wrafter at The Kianh Foundation, Tanya Carmont and others at SwimVietnam, Mai McCann at Hearing and Beyond (deaf kids), Linda Burn at Children's Education Foundation and Karen Leonard at Lifestart.

So on this coming Womens Day, ladies everywhere, I salute your cleverness, bravery, patience, innovation and ability to keep going, even when its heartbreaking hard. Happy International Womens Day!
Your browser does not support the audio element.

A Vietnamese fishing boat was hit and sunk by a Chinese ship off Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago in the East Vietnam Sea on Wednesday, local authorities have confirmed.

The Vietnamese ship was operating near Da Loi (Discovery) Reef in Hoang Sa, around 198 nautical miles off the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang, at 10:00 am on Wednesday when it was hit by a Chinese vessel and sank, the National Committee for Disaster Response, Search and Rescue said in a statement.

Five men including captain Nguyen Minh Hung were aboard the vessel from Quang Ngai Province, which kept afloat only by its bow after the collision.

No one was injured in the incident and the fishermen managed to cling onto the bow until rescuers arrived at the scene.

The Chinese ship that hit them bore the registration number 44101, Vietnamese authorities said.

The five fishermen were rescued by another Vietnamese fishing boat from Quang Ngai at 12:06 pm the same day, a source told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

They are now in stable health, the source said.

Binh Chau Commune in Binh Son District, Quang Ngai is home to the largest fishing community in the province, with over 400 fishing boats currently registered.

Most local fishermen depend on the fishing grounds near the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes for their living, which provide 80 percent of their catch.

This is not the first incident in which Chinese boats have attacked Vietnamese fishermen in the East Vietnam Sea

In March 2018, two Vietnamese fishing boats were ambushed by Chinese vessels and robbed of their fishing equipment while operating near Hoang Sa.

In January 2016, a Chinese vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese boat fishing 70 nautical miles off Con Co Island, administered by the north-central province of Quang Tri.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A teacher in the south-central Vietnamese province of Binh Thuan has been suspended from work after being accused of having an affair with a tenth-grade student.

Doan Van Thai, director of the provincial Department of Education and Training, confirmed on Thursday he had ordered the management board of a high school in La Gi Town to impose the suspension upon the teacher to assist a police investigation.

The teacher, named H., was previously accused of having an improper relationship with a tenth grader, who is one of her students at the school.

A video clip in which H. and the boy were caught being together in a hotel room was also submitted along with a written accusation.

The incident was discovered in January, before family members of the student reported it to the school board.

We asked the teacher to pledge that she would not continue the affair, said D., the boys mother.

According to the schools principal, the board has been working with police officers to verify the case.

H. has taught math at the school for three years, the headmaster continued.

As the case is very complicated, it takes time to clarify whether or not the teacher had violated criminal law, he added, implying she may face a charge of having an affair with minors.

Colonel Pham Duy Khang, chief of police in La Gi Town, affirmed that an investigation into the case had been initiated.

The legal age of children defined in Vietnam's revised Law on Child Protection, Care and Education is under 16. The schoolboy has yet to turn 16.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Police officers in Ho Chi Minh City have captured a suspect accused of attempting to snatch a smartphone from a foreign visitor in the downtown area.

Police in District 1 confirmed on Wednesday they had arrested Dang Minh Thuan, 26, for the crime.

A team of officers under the district-level police unit was on duty in the afternoon when they spotted Thuan riding his motorbike suspiciously and decided to follow him.

Thuan, who was not aware he was being tailed, approached a foreign tourist who was walking along Cong Quynh Street and snatched his smartphone.

The victim resisted and managed to hold onto the phone and call for help.

Thuan fled on his motorbike, but he was chased down by the officers.

He was eventually nabbed at the intersection of Tran Hung Dao with De Tham Streets.

At the police station, Thuan claimed he committed the crime because he was in need of money.

Records showed that the suspect is a drug addict and has been previously convicted of robbery twice.

Officers are finalizing their investigation to determine a suitable punishment for Thuan.

The victim was also invited to the police station to give a statement.

In mid-December 2018, police in District 1 captured two men who disguised themselves as women to steal from a foreigner.

The two rode a motorbike and approached a Canadian man, tricking him into getting on the bike with them.

They took him to a secluded alley, grabbed his phone, and left him behind.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
SKY News has announced The Innovation Forum, a new six-part series examining Australias place in the global innovation landscape.

Hosted by Melbourne Bureau Chief and Senior Reporter Ahron Young, the series will explore issues, challenges and triumphs in education, policy, creativity and planning contributing to the growth of Australias innovation industries.

He will be joined by a panel of industry experts on Australias status in the technology industry and future growth.

Ahron Young said: Australians have always been brilliant innovators. Weve had to be. On a land as arid and uncompromising as ours, weve created one of the most advanced societies in the world. From the invention of the black box flight recorder, to WIFI, Australian engineers are world leaders.

Well also look at some of the big challenges we face too. How we can become better marketers of our own ideas, and what we need to do to keep the best minds living and working in Australia.

Thursday 7 March at 8pm AEDT then fortnightly Thursday 21 March, Thursday 4 April, Thursday 18 April, Thursday 2 May and Thursday 16 May.
With three members of the Conservative party defecting to join the new Independent Group and dissatisfaction rife in parliament, May has said she would consider giving MPs an option between no deal or delaying Brexit if her amended withdrawal agreement is turned down for a second time.

Amended Deal

May has promised MPs a vote on her amended deal by 12 March, although Downing Street would be eager to push this up if certain changes can be secured within the next week.

Although her deal was voted down in a historic defeat in January, key speakers in parliament have expressed confidence that an agreement would be supported if sufficient changes  specifically regarding the Irish Backstop  are met.

According to Sir Graham, the Brexit negotiations and British politics as a whole are starting to look like lions led by donkeys, but despite this he does feel that When the right compromise is offered, we should pull together behind the prime minister and help her to deliver our exit from the European Union.

He further stated, This is not a time to make the best the enemy of the good, and most MPs are in a mood to compromise, but the danger of this backstop becoming permanent is a real one, and it has to be tackled.

This does suggest that theres growing support for May and many MPs may back her deal once assurances have been made that the backstop will not be permanent.

Delay or No Deal

Although theres conditional support for Mays deal, other MPs and EU officials have suggested that a delay might be inevitable, even if she is able to get her deal through.

According to Michel Barnier, chief negotiator for the EU claimed he does not believe it would be possible for the required legislation for the UK to leave can be passed by 29 March. Instead, he believes there would have to be an extension.

Further to this, we already know theres cross-party support of an extension to Article 50 in parliament, as this was a key feature of many of the amendments put forward by MPs.

Although they were all voted down, it did appear to be a common theme with many MPs stating disbelief that it would be physically possible for us to have a completed Brexit deal plus required legislation in place by the intended leave date.

Pro-EU ministers including Amber Rudd, work and pensions secretary, David Gauke, the justice secretary, and Greg Clark, the business secretary, have been among MPs privately calling for a delay to Brexit in order to avoid a no-deal situation.

In contrast, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt and Commons leader Andrea Leadsom have argued that the active pursuit of a delay to Brexit, with no purpose beyond frustration, is a betrayal of the referendum result. A line which has been regularly regurgitated by no-deal and hard-line Brexit supporters who are against anything other than leaving on 29 March regardless of whether or not a deal has been reached.

Although theyre not supporters of delaying Brexit, Hunt and Leadsom have also condemned those who are turning their backs on a far more attractive option in the PMs deal, believing voting against Mays latest deal for the sake of embrac[ing] no deal would cause disruption and uncertainty for businesses and our people.

Similarly, justice minister Rory Stewart has argued that a delay to Brexit would create a zombie world, where people do not know where we are going and that it would resolve nothing.

'Three Tests'

With Britain due to leave the EU on 29 March, The European Research Group (ERG) of Eurosceptic Tories have brought together a group of MP lawyers to dissect any deal put in front of parliament on 12 March to ensure it meets the demands of MPs.

In response to this assembly, the group has created three tests which the withdrawal agreement must meet in order to secure the support of this group.

The first test is to ensure there is a clearly worded, legally binding, treaty-level clause overriding the text of the agreement.

This cannot be wording which is simply re-emphasising or re-interpreting any aspect of the original agreement, which is the second test. The third test is whether the agreement offers a clear and unconditional route out of the [Irish] Backstop if trade talks fail.

Support

Amongst all the talks of a delayed or no deal Brexit, there has been a growth in support for the Prime Minister, with the hopes that if issues surrounding the Irish Backstop can be resolved then MPs may find Mays deal a satisfying compromise between hard line and soft Brexiters alike, without needing to call a second referendum or cancel Brexit entirely: something MPs are reluctant to do due to claims this would go against the will of the people, despite mounting support for a Peoples Vote on any final decisions.

Rory Stewart has claimed extending Brexit would be a worse option than the Prime Ministers deal, a comment which is reflected in Leadsom and Hunts article for the Daily Telegraph in which they stated there is a far more attractive option in the PMs deal when asked whether they would back no deal.

According to Stewart, people are becoming more pragmatic; theyre recognising much more than they did in the past that there are a limited number of alternatives to [Mays deal] and the alternatives are worse. He goes on to claim that MPs are increasingly supporting the view that the proposed deal will allow us to move on give business certainty [and] bring investment into the country.

Alternative

Despite this debate ongoing in the UK, some are still convinced Britain will end up part of the EU eventually. Wolfgang Schauble, president of Germanys Bundestag, articulated this over the weekend, telling Funke Media Group I believe Britain will either not leave the EU at all or come back at some point.
US President Donald Trump speaks during St Patricks Day celebrations in 2018. Photo: PA

Concerns about Brexit and US President Donald Trump saw the value of mergers and acquisitions deals involving Irish companies decline by 57% to 7bn (6.1bn) last year. This was down from around 15bn (13bn) in 2017.

Though the number of deals jumped slightly, from 151 to 162, the size of these deals were markedly lower, with most of them occurring in the mid-market, rather than at the higher end.

Brexit, Trump, and the impact of trade wars have all contributed to this plunge, according to law firm William Fry, which produced the research in partnership with specialist deals firm Mergermarket.

Almost half of the mid-market deals, which account for 90% of all transactions, were in the 15m100m range.

US companies have long been criticised for a process known as inversion, which sees large multinationals merge with Irish-based companies to take advantage of Irelands lower corporate tax rate.

During the 2016 US election, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton condemned the $16bn merger of Johnson Controls with Irelands Tyco, calling the practice a perversion.

In November 2017, after he was elected president, Trump went so far as to single out Ireland, saying it was one of several countries that corporations used to offshore profits.

Other data has shown that US investment in Ireland overall has declined, a sign that the sweeping tax reforms introduced by Trump have impacted the decisions of American multinational companies.

The reforms, which changed the minimum rate of effective tax on payments between US corporations and foreign subsidiaries, had long been mooted by the Trump administration.

Irish businesses have long been wary of the impacts of Brexit, with groups warning of devastating consequences for Ireland.
Jeremy Corbyn is more certain than ever MPs will back a deal to keep the UK closely tied to the European Union after talks with senior Tories.

The Labour leader said he believed the Commons would force the Government to back a sensible Brexit plan.

His comments came after Theresa Mays efforts to resolve the Brexit deadlock ran into difficulties in Brussels and peers inflicted a defeat over a key part of her strategy.

(PA Graphics)

Writing in the Daily Mirror, Mr Corbyn said Labour would support a second referendum to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit or a no deal outcome, but stressed his efforts to find a deal.

On Wednesday he held talks with former Tory ministers Nick Boles and Sir Oliver Letwin, along with Labours Stephen Kinnock and Lucy Powell, about their Common Market 2.0 plan which would keep the UK in the single market and customs union.

.@jeremycorbyn is spot on  the biggest cost of Brexit is that we arent addressing the real issues the country faces.Good to read that he is positive after our meeting today too. https://t.co/KhCNU6yMZR  Lucy Powell MP (@LucyMPowell) March 6, 2019

The Prime Minister has rejected the idea, insisting that single market membership would mean signing up to Brussels rules with no influence and accepting continued free movement of people.

She also rejects a customs union because it would restrict the UKs freedom to strike trade deals around the world after Brexit  a key prize for those who championed leaving the EU.

On Wednesday night the House of Lords backed by a majority of 66 a Labour-led cross-party move to keep Britain in a tariff-free trade bloc with Brussels.

Story continues

BREAKING: Peers vote 207-141 FOR #TradeBill amendt, led by Labour's @WilfStevenson with LibDem, Cons & XBench support & calling on Govt to take all steps to enable UK to participate, post-#Brexit, in a new #CustomsUnion with #EUOppn. Maj. 66 pic.twitter.com/IQCqWYRd9Y  LabourLordsUK (@LabourLordsUK) March 6, 2019

Supporters of the amendment to the Trade Bill argued MPs should have the opportunity to think again on the issue of a customs union.

The Government pointed out MPs had already rejected such a proposal, with Tory frontbencher Lord Bates telling peers: It doesnt need a chance to think again.

But writing in the Mirror, Mr Corbyn suggested MPs were coming round to the idea of a soft Brexit.

He said he was more certain than ever that we can find a way to work across Parliament to force the government to back a sensible Brexit plan that protects jobs.

Oliver Letwin and I were happy to join @LucyMPowell and @SKinnock in this meeting with Jeremy Corbyn to discuss our Common Market 2.0 proposal. For months now we have been meeting with senior MPs from all parties in search of a cross party Brexit compromise. https://t.co/dNKpLbEQXR  Nick Boles MP (@NickBoles) March 6, 2019

Mr Corbyn added: I will continue to reach out to get a decent Brexit deal so our country can spend more time talking about our childrens future than a customs union.

Labour respects the result of the referendum and a close economic relationship is the best Brexit compromise for both 17 million Leave voters and 16 million Remain voters.

But we cant accept a damaging Tory Brexit or a no deal outcome, so we also support preparing for a public vote in case Parliament is not able to achieve a sensible Brexit.

We will do whatever we can to find a solution that can unite the country so, together, we can face down the real challenges and seize the opportunities in this moment of great change.

Both the UK and EU sides admitted talks in Brussels on efforts to find a way to resolve the difficulties over the Northern Ireland backstop had been difficult.

The European Commission said there was still no solution to the impasse over the Irish backstop following a meeting between the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay.

The meeting took place as Mrs May prepared for next weeks crunch meaningful vote in the Commons on her Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

The Prime Minister has said she wants legally binding changes to the backstop  intended to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland  to ensure the UK is not tied to EU rules indefinitely, in order to convince MPs to back her deal.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Downing Street is already making preparations for a third meaningful vote on the assumption that MPs will reject Mrs Mays deal for a second time next week.
FILE PHOTO: Sisters from Saudi Arabia, who go by aliases Reem and Rawan, are pictured at an office in Hong Kong FILE PHOTO: Sisters from Saudi Arabia, who go by aliases Reem and Rawan, are pictured at an office in Hong Kong, China February 23, 2019. REUTERS/Aleksander Solum/File Photo

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Two Saudi sisters fleeing what they described as beatings and repression in their home country have been granted an extension to stay in Hong Kong until next month, their lawyer said.

The sisters, who have renounced their Muslim faith, arrived in the Chinese territory in September 2018 after fleeing a family holiday in Sri Lanka and had booked a connecting flight to Australia.

The women said the connecting flight was cancelled and they were intercepted by officials who tried to put them on a flight to Riyadh. They managed to escape and enter Hong Kong as visitors, lawyer Michael Vidler said.

They have been in hiding in the city ever since.

"Hong Kong immigration authorities have confirmed that the presence of the HK Saudi sisters in Hong Kong will be further tolerated until April 8, 2019," Vidler wrote in a statement posted on his firm's Facebook page.

The sisters are the second high-profile example in Asia this year of Saudi women seeking to escape their country.

An 18-year-old Saudi woman fled her family in January saying she feared for her life and barricaded herself in a Bangkok hotel room before eventually being granted asylum in Canada.

The sisters, aged 18 and 20, whose identities have not been revealed, say they could face death if they are deported.

Saudi Arabia's Consul General in Hong Kong had earlier declined to comment on the case when reached by Reuters.

"We are urgently seeking clarification from Hong Kong immigration authorities and continue to press for an urgent determination of the sisters' visas to a 3rd country place of safety," Vidler said.

Amnesty International last month urged Hong Kong authorities not to return the sisters to Saudi Arabia, saying they had fled the kingdom after "repeated abuse by male relatives".

The sisters said in a statement that the Saudi authorities have been actively looking for them but they weren't able to leave Hong Kong as their passports had been cancelled.

"We feel like fish trapped in a little oasis that is rapidly drying out. We are in constant fear of being found by the Saudi authorities and our family and forced to return to Saudi Arabia," they said.

(Editing by Nick Macfie)
Syrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported airstrike on the rebel-held Salihin neighborhood of Aleppo - AMEER ALHALBI/AFP/WORLD PRESS PHOTO HANDOUT

Human rights lawyers have today filed the first ever case against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his government at The Hague, after making a breakthrough in attempts to hold the regime to account.

The lawsuit, which was submitted to the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday, is on behalf of 28 Syrian refugees in Jordan who were forcibly displaced.

Each of the 28 has testified about being bombed, shot at, detained, tortured, and having witnessed mass killings since the war began in 2011, which forced them to flee.

Syria is not a signatory to the ICC Statute, which meant it had not previously been possible to open a case against the government.

The ICC can investigate international crimes in any country if the United Nations Security Council requests it do so, as has happened in Sudan and Libya. However, Russia and China, both allies of the Assad regime, blocked a request by the US to bring Syria before the court in 2014.

A Syrian refugee boy plays with a tire at Zaatari refugee camp, in Mafraq, Jordan Credit: Raad Adayleh

A modest number of prosecutions have been brought against Syria in Germany and Sweden using universal jurisdiction, whereby perpetrators of international crimes can be prosecuted in these states irrespective of their citizenship, but they have been largely symbolic.

British lawyers are now attempting to use a legal precedent set by a landmark ICC decision made in September on Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The court found that while Burma, also known as Myanmar, is not a member, Bangladesh is, and that because part of the alleged crime of deportation happened on Bangladeshi territory the chief prosecutor had jurisdiction.

The lawyers are trying to use the same principle in the case of the two-dozen Syrian refugees in Jordan, whom they say represent thousands of other victims of alleged crimes against humanity.

A child clears damage and debris in the besieged area of Homs Jan. 26, 2014. Credit: Thaer Al Khalidiya

All the crimes the Syrian government has committed over the years - the bombing, the chemical attacks, havent been able to be considered as they happened inside Syria and Syria isnt a member of the ICC, Rodney Dixon QC, an international human rights lawyer working with a team from London-based solicitors Stoke White, told the Telegraph.

Story continues

There had been a stalemate for years, but the recent Rohingya case has been a breakthrough, a gateway if you like.

We are asking the prosecutor to investigate mass deportations, so they could issue arrest warrants for those responsible. This goes all the way up the chain to Assad, the commander-in-chief, he said. If found responsible, these people could face arrest if they travel to ICC member countries.

We just hope it will act as a deterrent, particularly with the fate of Idlib in the balance, said Mr Dixon, referring to the densely populated last opposition-held province in Syria which is currently under attack by the government.

Since 2011, more than 600,000 have been killed and half the countrys 21 million population has been either internally or externally displaced.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, meets with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir in Damascus, Syria, last year Credit: SANA

The Assad government, which is led by the Muslim Alawite minority, has faced accusations of repopulation along sectarian lines.

In strategic areas across the country, Sunnis, who have largely supported the uprising against the regime, have been forced out.

One of the 28 included in the lawsuit told how they were forced to flee to Jordan, which is hosting more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

One woman, who requested anonymity because of a fear of reprisal, described how government forces targeted her family after her brother decided to leave the military. She testified about repeated raids on her familys home in the middle of the night, threatening her family with death when they did not find him.

They fled from Syria to Jordan in late 2011.

Another, from the central Syrian city of Homs, said she became a target because of her work treating protesters in the early days of the conflict.

She said the army tried to recruit her eldest son, but he refused. He was taken away and brought back to our house a few days later, he was bruised all over and didnt recognise me, she said. We knew we had to leave.

I left with my four other children and we made our way to Jordan, said the woman, who is now living in Zaatari refugee camp. It was a very difficult journey. I havent heard from my son in all these years, I dont know if he is alive or dead.
Hundreds of Algerian lawyers marched to the Constitutional Council in Algiers on Thursday, March 7, to protest against President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas decision to run for a fifth term of office, local reports said.

The lawyers are demanding that the government postpone the election and set up a transitional government, Reuters reported.

Footage shared by Mustapha Bastami, an Algerian journalist, shows the lawyers at the Constitutional Council, which oversees Algerias elections.

Bouteflika, a veteran of Algerias war of independence, turned 82 on Saturday and has suffered from ill health in recent years. He has been in office since 1999. Credit: Mustapha Bastami via Storyful
MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday that China should define its "so-called ownership" in the disputed South China Sea so other claimant countries can start to gain benefits from the resource-rich waters.

Mahathir stressed the importance of freedom of navigation in the busy waterway, saying in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel in Manila that if there were no restrictions and sanctions, "the claims made by China will not affect us very much."

Malaysia, the Philippines, China and three other governments have been locked in long-simmering territorial disputes in the South China Sea. China has claimed virtually the entire sea but has refused to define the extent of its claims except for a vague line with nine dashes on its maps, complicating the disputes.

Efforts by the Philippines, for example, to explore for undersea deposits of oil and natural gas in Reed Bank west of its Palawan island province have been stymied for years by Chinese protests and claims to the offshore region. The Philippines has declared a moratorium on exploration in the area in the past because of Chinese threats.

"We have to talk to China on the definition of their claims and what is meant by their ownership or so-called ownership they claim to have so that we can find ways of deriving some benefits from them," Mahathir said.

"I think that whatever may be the claim of China, the most important thing is that the South China Sea in particular must be open to navigation," Mahathir said. "There should be no restriction, no sanction, and if that happens, then I think the claims made by China will not affect us very much."

During talks in Manila between the visiting Malaysian leader and President Rodrigo Duterte, the territorial conflicts were high in the agenda.

"We emphasized the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight over the South China Sea," Duterte said after the meeting, adding that force or the threat of it should not be resorted to.

Story continues

Duterte thanked Malaysia for brokering peace talks between the Philippine government and Muslim guerrillas in the south, homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation. The rebels have become leaders of a new Muslim autonomous region in the country's south under a peace deal.

The Malaysian leader, who at 93 is the world's oldest prime minister, visited the Philippines as his country's leader in 1987 and 1994.

"I'm glad to see that, at last, peace has come to the southern Philippines. Development cannot take place in war. In war, we destroy but in peace we build," Mahathir told a business forum in Manila before meeting Duterte.

With enormous economic opportunities opening up in the former battlefields, Mahathir said Malaysia is looking forward to investing in the region and pledged that his country will continue to back Philippine peace efforts. Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the two countries plan to resume the ancient practice of barter trading between Malaysia and the southern Philippine towns of Jolo, Siasi and Bongao to ease poverty that breeds criminality and terrorism.

A Malaysia-led team of 28 international peace monitors will remain in the south until all Muslim guerrillas have demobilized under the peace deal, Malaysian officials said. The European Union, Japan and Brunei also have contributed personnel to the peacekeeping contingent.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Murad Ebrahim, the former Muslim rebel leader who now heads the five-province autonomous region called Bangsamoro, attended a state banquet hosted by Duterte for Mahathir. Officials were trying to arrange a meeting between Mahathir and Murad.

The Philippines and Malaysia, along with Western governments and the guerrillas, see 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 in the region.

Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia agreed in 2017 to carry out sea and aerial patrols to confront a wave of abductions along their sea border by Abu Sayyaf militants and allied gunmen from the southern Philippines. The sea abductions have eased but ransom-seeking Abu Sayyaf militants are still holding a Malaysian and two Indonesians captive in their jungle hideouts.

"Malaysia is committed to take the necessary steps to address the serious issue of terrorism and violent extremism" through the accord, Mahathir said.
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.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has agreed Britain will accord diplomatic protection to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian mother held in Iran where she is accused of spying.

Mr Hunt said he had decided to invoke the rarely used diplomatic device in recognition of Irans failure to meet its obligations under international law in its treatment of the 41-year-old dual national.

While he acknowledged the move was unlikely to be a magic wand that secures her immediate release, he said it elevated the dispute over her detention to a formal state-to-state issue.

The announcement was welcomed by her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who has been lobbying ministers to take the step for some time.

It is a very clear statement and so hopefully the Iranian authorities will realise this has gone on too long. They cannot play games like this with ordinary peoples lives, he said.

In reaching his decision, Mr Hunt said he had taken into account Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes unacceptable treatment by Iran since she was detained in 2016, including the denial of medical treatment and the lack of due process in the proceedings against her.

The Foreign Secretary said Tehrans actions had been totally wrong and that no state was entitled to use innocent individuals as pawns for diplomatic leverage.

This represents formal recognition by the British Government that her treatment fails to meet Irans obligations under international law and elevates it to a formal state-to-state issue, he said in a statement.

My decision is an important diplomatic step which signals to Tehran that its behaviour is totally wrong.

It is unlikely to be a magic wand that leads to an overnight result. But it demonstrates to the whole world that Nazanin is innocent and the UK will not stand by when one of its citizens is treated so unjustly.

Story continues

I know there are many in Iran who understand the unjustness of this situation. No government should use innocent individuals as pawns for diplomatic leverage so I call on Iran to release this innocent woman so she can be reunited with her family.

Richard Ratcliffe has welcomed the decision to grant his wife diplomatic protection (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Diplomatic protection is a mechanism in international law through which a state may seek reparation for injury to one of its nationals from an internationally wrongful act by another state.

Effectively it represents the right of states to raise the treatment of their nationals by other states and to call on them to account for their actions on the international stage.

It is distinct from diplomatic immunity which covers the status of accredited diplomats.

While it does not automatically dictate any particular course of action, the Foreign Office has indicated it will take the steps it believes are most likely to secure the goal of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes release.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in April 2016 at Tehran airport as she was returning home to London with her then 22-month-old daughter, Gabriella, following a family visit.

She was subsequently sentenced to five years imprisonment, despite strenuously denying the charges against her, while Gabriella remains in the country cared for by family.

Repeated calls for her release by the British Government  including a direct appeal by Theresa May to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani during last years UN general assembly in New York  have failed to produce results.

Mr Ratcliffe has previously said his wife was told by judges in court that her case related to an unpaid 400 million debt the UK owes to Iran in relation to purchase of Chieftain tanks in the 1970s.

In January, she went on hunger strike for three days saying the Iranian prison authorities had refused her treatment for a series of medical conditions including lumps in her breasts, severe neck pain, and numbness in her arms and legs.
Storyful

An endangered whale entangled in fishing line for months was spotted by authorities off the coast of Cumberland Island, Georgia, with a new calf on December 2.The North Atlantic right whale  nicknamed Snow Cone  was first seen entangled in fishing gear in Cape Cod Bay on March 10, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (Georgia DNR).The department said several disentanglement attempts were made and the trailing rope the whale was caught in was shortened.Georgia DNR said the calf seen in this footage is new and is not entangled, but has been observed swimming in, through and around the ropes.Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, like lobster and crab pots, are major threats to North Atlantic right whales, which are critically endangered, Georgia DNR said. Credit: Georgia Department of Natural Resources via Storyful
Toyota and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are collaborating on a new moon mission which will see the carmaker develop a lunar rover.

The project will mark the manufacturer's first complete contribution to space exploration technology, according to officials and local media reports.

Toyota had previously co-developed Kirobo, a small robot astronaut sent to the International Space Station in 2013.

However, the robot was later repurposed as a potential companion for lonely people .

A JAXA spokesperson said: "We are planning to cooperate with Toyota in an exploration mission to the moon."

Toyota is also set to announce a joint project "on mobility and a space probe", although it declined to comment further.

According to the Jiji Press news agency, the "mobility method" which Toyota is working on could be used on the lunar surface, where JAXA aims to land an astronaut by 2030.

To date, only Russia, the US, and China have successfully landed spacecraft on the moon - although other states have crashed spacecraft there.

Israel is set to become the fourth nation to successfully land on the moon following a SpaceX rocket launch in February.

Its robotic lander, Beresheet, is undergoing a two-month journey covering roughly four million miles (6.5 million km) as it orbits the Earth at a steadily increasing distance until it falls to the gravitational pull of the moon.
15 Rings to be Won at the Upcoming WSOP International Circuit Kings Casino

March 07 2019 Matthew Pitt

The Kings Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic is hosting the 2018/19 WSOP International Circuit festival where 15 coveted gold rings are up for grabs between March 14 and April 1.

A packed schedule of tournaments awaits anyone traveling to the fantastic Kings Casino with buy-ins ranging from 299 up to the 5,300 No-Limit Holdem High Roller event.

Schedule Highlights

At least 331,050 is guaranteed to be won in the 299 Spring Opener event that kicks off the festival in style. Featuring six starting flights with two re-entries permitted per flight, the Spring Opener event should be huge. A similar tournament took place the last time the WSOP International Circuit stopped at Kings Casino in September 2018 and attracted 2,085 runners who were all outlasted by Andrej Desset; he collected 94,495 for his victory.

Other highlights include the 250 buy-in Mini Main Event with its 551,750 guarantee, the 5,300 No-Limit High Roller that has 100,000 guaranteed and the 1,103,500 guaranteed Main Event that costs 1,700 to enter.

2018/19 WSOP International Circuit Kings Casino Schedule

Date Time Tournament Thu 14 March 6:00 p.m. Event #1: 299 Spring Opener Day 1A Fri 15 March 1:00 p.m. Event #1: 299 Spring Opener Day 1B 5:00 p.m. Event #1: 299 Spring Opener Day 1C Sat 16 March 1:00 p.m. Event #1: 299 Spring Opener Day 1D 5:00 p.m. Event #1: 299 Spring Opener Day 1E Sun 17 March 10:00 a.m. Event #1: 299 Spring Opener Day 1F Turbo 3:00 p.m. Event #1: 299 Spring Opener Day 2 6:00 p.m. Event #2: 777 Lucky 7s Day 1A Mon 18 March 2:00 p.m. Event #1: 299 Spring Opener Final Day 6:00 p.m. Event #2: 777 Lucky 7s Day 1B Tue 19 March 2:00 p.m. Event #2: 777 Lucky 7s Final Day 3:00 p.m. Event #3: 660 No-Limit Holdem 6-Handed Wed 20 March 3:00 p.m. Event #4: 250 Seniors Event 6:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Day 1A Thu 21 March 1:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Day 1B 3:00 p.m. Event #6: 300 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better 6:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Day 1C Fri 22 March 1:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Day 1D 3:00 p.m. Event #7: 660 Bounty Hunter 6:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Day 1E Sat 23 March 12:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Day 1F 6:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Day 1G Sun 24 March 3:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Day 1G Turbo 3:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Day 2 4:00p.m. Event #8: 330 Seven Card Stud 7:00 p.m. Event #8: 550 No-Limit Holdem Monster Stack Day 1A Mon 25 March 2:00 p.m. Event #5: 250 Mini Main Event Final Day 6:00 p.m. Event #8: 550 No-Limit Holdem Monster Stack Day 1B Tue 26 March 4:00 p.m. Event #10: 550 NLHE/PLO Mix 6:00 p.m. Event #8: 550 No-Limit Holdem Monster Stack Day 1C Wed 27 March 5:00 p.m. Event #11: 2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller 6:00 p.m. Event #8: 550 No-Limit Holdem Monster Stack Day 1D Thu 28 March 12:00 p.m. Event #8: 550 No-Limit Holdem Monster Stack Day 2 6:00 p.m. Event #12: 5,300 No-Limit Holdem High Roller Fri 29 March 2:00 p.m. Event #8: 550 No-Limit Holdem Monster Stack Final Day 2:00 p.m. Event #13: 1,700 Main Event Day 1A 4:00 p.m. Event #14: 220 Ladies Event Sat 30 March 2:00 p.m. Event #13: 1,700 Main Event Day 1B 4:00 p.m. Event #15: 440 No-Limit Holdem Freezeout Sun 31 March 2:00 p.m. Event #13: 1,700 Main Event Day 2 Mon 1 April 2:00 p.m. Event #13: 1,700 Main Event Final Day

PokerNews Coverage

PokerNews Live Reporting team will be at Kings Casino bringing you coverage from both the 5,300 High Roller and the 1,700 Main Event and we cannot wait for the action to unfold.

Some 40 players turned out for the last edition of this 5,300 High Roller and it was Bulgarias Fahredin Mustafov who emerged victorious to claim the 70,300 top prize and a gold WSOP Circuit ring.

The Main Event was even more exciting, drawing 672 entries. The winner of that one was Germanys Hossein Ensan who banked a cool 184,812 for his victory, in addition to a piece of WSOP Circuit gold.

Stay in Rozvadov for The Big Wrap

The Big Wrap runs straght after the WSOP International Circuit festival and is a must-play for pot-limit Omaha fans. Featuring week-long PLO cash games and two huge PLO tournaments, including a 2,350 buy-in with a 1 million guarantee, The Big Wrap is a PLO festival that Omaha players will not want to miss.
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.
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/
Washington Examiner





October is National Community Planning Month and this year I mean to write a post "in honor" but it will also include a discussion of some of the structural problems I see in the field.Monday'shas an article, " In Northern Va., a fight over moving a bilingual school stirs questions of race and class ," about Key Elementary School in Arlington County, Virginia. As the community around the school changed, they created a Spanish-language immersion program there, which also became popular with Anglos. At the same time the school became a key community anchor for the Latino community.But as the Columbia Pike corridor has gone through redevelopment, intensification, and housing price appreciation, fewer Latino families live in the area, and it's harder for Arlington Public Schools to fill the native language spots in the various grades, while the non-Hispanic seats are oversubscribed.So the system looks to relocate the bilingual language immersion program. But the still remaining Latinos in the area don't support this, because of how the school anchors the community, even if it's shrinking.In 2011, I wrote some pieces about this in relation to other similar examples, and that community planning/neighborhood planning, because too often it fails to recognize that local schools are the building blocks of neighborhoods, gets planning backwards.-- " One way in which community planning is completely backwards -- " Missing the most important point about Clifton School closure in Fairfax County -- " Rethinking community planning around maintaining neighborhood civic assets and anchors Below is a compilation of the argument, which is relevant to the Key Elementary School situation. What I would do is create another language immersion program and locate it elsewhere.And at the same time, for community social development reasons, Arlington County should provide funds to the school system to better support the non-school community development functions that Key Elementary School provides to the Latino community and the Columbia Pike corridor.(Note that APS has another Spanish language immersion elementary school, Claremont.)=========I hate to be put in the position of agreeing witheditorial writer Barbara Hollingsworth, of whom I normally have the tendency to excoriate, but her piece, "Fairfax school officials to review closing Clifton Elementary," on the closure of a community school serving a rural section of Fairfax County, illustrates a problem that we have in cities also, when decisions to close schools based on enrollment levels or the cost to rehabilitate the school end up having devastating impacts on the quality of neighborhood-community life.Thealso has a long piece on Clifton School, " Closure shuts many doors ," focusing on the community-connectedness, volunteerism, and involvement of the community within the school and outside of the school deriving in part from the way that the school knits the community together.I joke sometimes that "offices of planning" aren't really in charge of "planning," but instead are "offices of land use development" because virtually all of the "planning" done by the other government agencies isn't coordinated by the office of planning and/or never comes before the office for substantive comment.A key example is schools planning, which for the most part, is the domain of the local public school system, with limited input from other agencies, including the office of planning.As far as delivering educational programs that's fine. (Well, it isn't, but that's another story.)But the problem is the disconnect between the reality that schools, especially elementary schools, are the basic building block and foundation of quality neighborhoods and local community.Schools are the fulcrum of community activity in so many places, and provide the means for people to meet and interact within communities outside of strict propinquity--meaning you have a chance to meet and become friends with a wide variety of people, not just the people you live next door to or across the street from.It might just be, despite the fact that most households don't have children, that without a high quality neighborhood elementary school, you don't have a high quality neighborhood, and as importantly there are fewer connections between households, because of the lack of a civic connector.Just like I believe that transportation planning needs to be done at two levels: (1) at the metropolitan level, setting requirements for network breadth and depth, level of service standards for the network and specific services; and (2) at the level of transit operations; schools planning should not solely be the domain of the school system, because schools aren't only about delivering education programs, but also neighborhood strengthening qualities and programs.The issue involved here, from a planning perspective, is the maintenance of community institutions as building blocks for neighborhoods and sustainable transportation systems.In short:My point is that maintaining healthy neighborhoods is too important a task to have only the school system be responsible for schools planning.Therefore, the community's land use, neighborhood, and economic development planning initiatives need to be co-equal in planning so that all neighborhoods are served by at least one quality public elementary school.And if the the costs for running a neighborhood school are greater than the system average, then it is reasonable to "subsidize" the school's costs from non-school funding sources.For example, in my neighborhood, which is gaining households with children, I don't know any families that send their children to the local elementary school, which is five blocks away. Mostly, their children go to charter schools or private day care. Although I guess people with children (and the people who live next door to them) end up meeting other families with children throughout the neighborhood because when they are out walking with their children, the kids end up being a "social bridge" that ease the process of meeting and making others' acquaintance.In Baltimore County, the school system and the parks and recreation department have had for at least 50 years a memorandum of understanding about joint use of public school facilities for recreation programs.In practice, that means that schools are used for more hours of the day and that the County doesn't need two different buildings to serve different functions. At the same time, certain school facilities such as gyms and auditoriums may be "overbuilt" so that they also can handle larger community functions, but that the money to pay for this comes in part from the Department of Recreation and Parks.This idea needs to be extended so that a base number of schools are designated as what we might call "neighborhood foundation" schools, and the resources provided to the school would be funded in part for neighborhood stabilization and resident attraction and marketing purposes, meaning that some funds to maintain the schools in such places would come from outside of the budget of the school system.. WRT this last point, I haven't written about it yet, but just as I frequently mention the concept that neighborhood libraries should also serve simultaneously as culture centers (" Update: Neighborhood libraries as nodes in a neighborhood and city-wide network of cultural assets , the same could be said of schools.The way that the Escuela Key anchors the Latino community in the Columbia Pike neighborhoods is an example.

Labels: capital planning and budgeting, civic assets, civic engagement, integrated public realm framework, land use planning, neighborhood planning, public education/K-12, public finance and spending
Para poder comentar debes estar registrado y haber iniciado sesion. Olvidaste la contrasena?
Just days ago, Democrats in the House of Representatives, spearheaded by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, introduced what is being called the party's most ambitious health care bill in anyone's memory, dubbed the Medicare for All Act of 2019.

This bill was released by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) on Wednesday, February 27, and although similar bills have been introduced in recent years in Congress, this one goes above and beyond any of them.

Jayapal's version would guarantee every American access to medical, dental and vision benefits while eliminating premiums.

Unlike the previous version of this bill, which was introduced by Sanders in 2017, this iteration would transition every citizen from their current private insurer (or no insurance, as is the case for an estimated 30 million Americans) onto the proposed system within two years instead of the four years outlined by Sanders.

Medicare for All is becoming a mainstream idea

Just under four years ago, when Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, announced he was running for the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2016 presidential election, universal health care, one of his pet issues, was considered a fringe, extremist issue by people on both sides of the aisle.

But Sanders' insistence on revamping America's health care system and the delivery of its services into a model that is more akin to what most other first world nations have has apparently moved the needle, so to speak.

In recent years, other prominent Democrats, such as Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and California Senator Kamala Harris, all of whom are running for president in 2020, have come out in favor of some sort of universal health care system.

The most popular model that is being supported by the left wing of the party is a "Medicare for All" system, which, in essence, would expand America's current Medicare system, which is currently only available to individuals who are either over age 65 or considered disabled and unable to work, to every U.S.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

citizen. In past years, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan introduced legislation that would implement such a system.

Conyers struggled to find co-sponsors, but in 2017, the idea started to catch on, and just last year Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Debbie Dingell, and Keith Ellison started the Medicare for All Caucus in the House of Representatives.

From its inception, it had 70 members.

Now in 2019, with a majority of the seats in the House, Democrats are making perhaps their biggest push towards making universal health care the law.

Trying to pass universal health care is a Democratic party tradition

In decades past, leading politicians on the left looked to provide guaranteed health care for all Americans at no cost, starting with President Franklin D Roosevelt in his 1944 proposal for a "Second Bill of Rights." Later, Senator Ted Kennedy looked to make the fight for a national health care system his life's mission.

With the Democratic Party's move to the center of the political spectrum at the end of the 1980s, they put the issue on the backburner, instead of looking to make incremental improvements to America's existing system that would work in concert with private insurance carriers and for-profit hospitals and medical centers.

This was made evident when former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act was passed several years ago, which lacked a public option and was actually considered by some to be a boon to insurance companies.

But with the emergence of Sanders as a major influence on Democrats and their policy proposals, the party as a whole has started to move sharply to the left on health care, although there are still some holdouts when it comes to a Medicare for All system, such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

The GOP doesn't like it, and neither do some Democrats

Moderate and left-of-center Democrats feel that switching to universal health care would be too drastic a change. New York Magazine notes that some simply want more incremental changes to the Affordable Care Act or to expand private coverage.

Other ideas being championed by centrist Democrats include allowing people between the ages of 50 to 64 to "buy-in" to the current Medicare system.

The Republican party, now led largely by President Donald Trump, has always been a thorn in the side of any sort of Democratic party proposal to expand health care coverage or benefits. For the last few years, Republicans in both houses of Congress have tried but failed, to repeal the Affordable Care Act and remove protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Among other things, the GOP has cited the extremely high cost of implementing the Medicare for All Act of 2019 as a reason for why it is either unrealistic or simply a bad idea. It has been estimated that such a system will cost taxpayers about $30 trillion dollars, and the bill doesn't offer any solutions on how the federal government would procure such funds.
Are you lost in the wild?

Sorry, but the page you're looking for has not been found

Try checking the URL for errors, goto home or try to search below.
SEATTLE, Wash.  For the first time in five years, the Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) will have an Arch Priest. Dusty Dionne will be elevated to that position at The Spring Mysteries in late April. That post has been vacant since the death of Pete Pathfinder Davis on Samhain 2014. Davis had founded the ATC in 1979. The Spring Mysteries will take place in Nordland, Washington from April 18 through April 21.

The Aquarian Tabernacle Church has organized the Spring Mysteries for the last 34 years. At 36 years old, Dusty Dionne will be just two years older than the festival where he will become Arch Priest.

The Wild Hunt recently spoke with Belladonna LaVeau, Matriarch of the Mother Church of the ATC. She has held that position since 2012. She described the ATC as a British traditional religious hierarchy. A single Matriarch or Patriarch heads the ATC. Each Matriarch or Patriarch appoints their successor. These are lifetime appointments. LaVeau has chosen Dionne as her successor.

LaVeau said that Dionne was there at her side when she was being trained to be the matriarch. She continued, He has been my confidant and partner for 14 years now, and together we have looked for an Arch Priest to serve with me. We have quietly considered many High Priests, both ATC and from other magical houses. She said that Dionne stood out for his work in consciousness raising and in defending Pagan civil rights.

Looking to the future, LaVeau stated, Ill still be the Matriarch of the church, and well have a strong, brilliant, young Arch Priest to step into the role of Patriarch and keep the wisdom going many years after I pass.

As the prospective third head of the ATC, Dionne mirrors changes in the 40 year old organization. LaVeau reported that some current members of the ATC community are third and fourth generation Pagans. Fewer people need introductory courses. LaVeau said, We are more focused on Earth Stewardship and navigating our community through the Earth Changes. The Climate Crisis is upon us, and the Goddess has asked us to turn our attention to saving our food supply and replanting Her Earth.

The ancient mysteries

The Eleusinian Mysteries formed a central part of ancient Greco-Roman Pagan history. A highly effective vow of silence bounded what happened inside those mysteries. Still some knowledge did pass down through the centuries. What is known about the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries forms the basis of the Spring Mysteries.

The Kore-Demeter-Persephone myth formed the basis of this Pagan ritual. The mysteries had two sequential parts: The Lesser Mysteries and the Greater Mysteries. Initiates of the Lesser Mysteries became the Mystai. Only the Mystai were eligible to take part in the Greater Mysteries. Initiates of the Greater Mysteries become Epoptes. The Lesser Mysteries took place in the Spring. The Greater Mysteries took place in the Fall.

The ancient mysteries were open to all, even enslaved people. Prospective initiates, however, had to bring a pig to sacrifice, which would have excluded those without a certain amount of wealth.

No one is sure when these mysteries began. They may have begun as early as the Mycenean period (1600 to 1100 BCE). It is known that they ended with the imposition of Christianity. In 392 CE, the Emperor Theodosius I ordered the closing of all Pagan sanctuaries. Four years later, Christianized Goths, led by Alaric, sacked the temple site. Thus ended the major pilgrimage of the ancient Mediterranean. It can be viewed as the end of ancient, public Greco-Roman Pagan Religion.

The town of Eleusis is now a major industrial center. It has the largest oil refinery in Greece, as well as the ruins of the sacred site.

The Spring Mysteries

The ATC has based the Spring Mysteries on that which has survived. About 200 people attended the Spring Mysteries last year. In keeping with the Eleusinian tradition, LaVeau called attendees pilgrims. Not all pilgrims were members of ATC.

As no permanent temple exists, each year the ATC transforms Fort Flagler in Nordland, Washington (state) into the Holy City of Eleusis. Pilgrims come from all over the world to honor the Great Mother and commune with the Gods of Olympus. LaVeau described the Mysteries as an oath bound initiatory rite into the mysteries of the Goddess of Grain and Abundance, Mother Demeter.

Mirjanamimi [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

More will happen at The Spring Mysteries than the elevation of the Arch Priest. Pilgrims will process to the sea. They will be able to commune with the Olympians. They will be able to become initiates of the Lesser Mysteries. Those who are initiates of the Lesser Mysteries will be able to become initiates of the Greater Mysteries.

After the procession to the sea, participants can visit shrines to each of the Olympian Gods. Each shrine has a votary and wisdom keeper as well as a vessel, a second degree initiate who hosts the god of that shrine. ATC refers to this possession as a Full Embodiment. According to LaVeau, a vessel must audition for this role. Once selected, that vessel goes through an extensive training.

LaVeau said, Each vessel is holding the gods within themselves and allows that deity to use their body to speak and interact with the pilgrims of Eleusis. Pilgrims can make offerings and talk with the Pagan gods through the vessel. LaVeau said that frequently the vessels will have no memory of any conversation. According to LaVeau, The priests and priestesses of the ATC are known for their skills at invocation. It can be very similar to possession.

One pilgrim, Natalie Zaman, wrote about her experiences at the Spring Mysteries for Witches and Pagans and remains available on the Spring Mysteries website.

This year, musician Wendy Rule will debut her new album in the U.S. at the Spring Mysteries. Titled Persephone it contains 22 songs which weave throughout the Spring Mysteries. LaVeau said Wendys music allows us to ride a wave through the second part of the Lesser Mysteries that make me feel like Im getting to experience the rites for the first time.

The 2019 Pagan Festival Season Starts March 20

The spring equinox marks the beginning of the Pagan Festival circuit. At least six festivals will occur between March 20 and April 1. A forthcoming Wild Hunt article will discuss them.
GLASTONBURY, Somerset, England  The 2019 Glastonbury Occult Conference (GOC) was held on February 23, and 24, 2019.

Now in its tenth year, this annual conference brings dozens of practitioners, scholars, and seekers to the famous and fabled town near the foot of Glastonbury Tor.

Liz Williams, Ph.D, author and Glastonbury resident, co-founded the conference in 2010.

We started the GOC around 2010, said Williams. We wanted to have a serious conference dedicated to the occult, a little narrower than the, Pagan, remit, as the Pagan Federation and other groups do a great job of organizing Pagan conferences.

Williams, who also co-owns the esoteric shop The Cat and the Cauldron with her partner, Trevor Jones, is a member of the organizing committee, along with Jones, Sally North, Ph.D, and James North.

We held the first one on January 9th, 2010, said Williams.Since then it has been run by different people, and we recommenced running the conference directly in 2019, although weve been involved with it for the last few years.

The two-day conference offered programs and workshops on a wide variety of topics, book-ended by opening and closing rituals.

We choose speakers rather than topics, explained Williams, and were all well connected with the British occult scene. So we leave topics up to the speakers.

This years roster of speakers included authors Ronald Hutton, Nikki Wyrd, David Rankine, Julian Vayne, Paul Weston, and Robert Anderson Plimer. Also featured were teacher and Secret Landscape Tours founder Louise Hodgson, goetic magician Jake Stratton-Kent, author Nikki Wyrd, and academic researcher and Ph.D candidate Deja Whitehouse.

Speakers topics ranged from Hodgsons, Deep Into the Land- the Beauty and the Terror, to Plimers, The Golem, to Wyrds, Age-Old Magic: Ways to Approach Death.

Craft, conjure, and occult history are also on the program.

Wyrd, Vayne, Rankine, and Plimer held workshops as well.

Wyrd and Vayne teamed up to present, Psychic Spring Cleaning Practice. Rankine and Plimer both hosted workshops on different aspects of Kabblalah.

In addition, conference co-organizer David North held a workshop titled, Rosicrucian Magic, Elementals and Faieries, while Satanic Temple International founder Zeke Appolyon presented, The Devil You Know: Modern Satanisms Changing Face.

Mima Cornish of Hedge Rose Healing and practitioner and author Thea Faye presented, Ritual Techniques and Personal Praxis.

Saturday evenings events included a launch party for Westons latest book, The Occult Battle of Britain, and a performance by comedian and poet Donna Scott.

It is difficult to imagine a setting better suited than Glastonbury to host an event of this type, a fact that is not lost on the organizers of the conference.

Were keen that people connect with the town, with the spirit of the place  that if they are coming from a distance, they get to see a little bit of Glastonbury as well as just attending the conference, said Williams. We had some American visitors and some guests from the Continent this year. Weve got some great pubs and cafes here, and our fellow shopkeepers have been very supportive, too.Even those in the community who are not necessarily part of the Pagan community are supportive of their efforts.

Weve had a lot of support from the Town Hall itself, where the Conference is held, explained Williams. They host a lot of Pagan and alternative events.

She also told The Wild Hunt that the event has not drawn the kind of pushback or protest that occult and Pagan events often do in other areas.

Williams reported that while attendance at the event has varied from year to year, the 2018 conference drew approximately one hundred guests. The upward trend continued in 2019. More than one-hundred twenty people attended this years conference.

The organizing committee, however, is already focused on the 2020 conference.

Williams told TWH that tickets will go on sale sometime around the Spring Equinox.

The exact timing of the event has not yet been determined, though. While they have scheduled the event around the same time of year to this point, Williams said that they were considering moving to later in 2020 due to travel problems associated with winter weather.

The safety and comfort of attendees is important to the organizers of the Glastonbury Occult Conference. Their affection and appreciation comes through in official statements posted on their Facebook page.

Some of you came from as far away as Canada and the US, some from northern Europe, Switzerland, from all over the UK, Ireland, and from our little vale of Avalon. So very touched by your support. Next year will be even better, and we have listened, are are still listening, to your feedback and suggestions  so keep them coming. Liz, Sally, Trevor and James wish you all the best until next year. Keep checking back here for news and updates as we put it together. For now  Hail and Farewell.

For those looking for information about the conference, the organizing committee maintains a website in addition to their Facebook page. Updates will be posted as events warrant.

Correction: TWH mistakenly listed Nikki Wyrd as the head of the British Isles Section of the Illuminates of Thanateros. Soror Brigantia is actually who is head of the British Isles Section of the Illuminates of Thanateros.
As Black History month comes to a close and Womens History Month begins, I am struck by a shift in the conversation about diversity and race. For one thing, it seems we are having the conversation more and it is featured more prominently. And women of color are stepping into the limelight and being recognized for their achievements.

The difference was striking in the 2019 Oscars, in which nominees, presenters, and winners of color were all well represented. Four of the eight films nominated for best picture were about the narratives centered on people of color. The monster hit Black Panther represents a real sea change in cinema. Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Eugene Robinson writes,

The cast is suddenly in high demand. For African American filmmakers in Hollywood, Black Panther didnt open doors. It blew them away.

Two of the years best and most admired films highlight women of color. Roma, which won many awards including Best Foreign Film, highlights the life of an indigenous Mexican woman and the middle class family she serves, and to some extent, holds together. Pregnant, she has been abandoned by her boyfriend but the woman she works for stands by her. Her employers own husband has left the family, and together the two women pick up the pieces.

Another film featuring a woman of color is If Beale Street Could Talk. This movie deals with the persistent racism haunting a middle class African American family in the supposedly liberal New York of the 1970s. Accepting her Oscar for her performance for best supporting actress, Regina King thanked her mother (in the audience) saying this award is an example of what it looks like when support and love is poured into someone.

In the film, King plays a fiercely devoted mother herself, who is trying to cope with her artist sons wrongful arrest for murder by a racist cop. Despite the contrast often drawn between the northern states and the southern parts of the country, in the 1970s, when the film (and novel, by James Baldwin) is set, shows the way Northern, urban blacks were (and still are) targeted.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told an interracial audience in New York City in 1960, There is a pressing need for a liberalism in the North which is truly liberal, He longed for real liberalism that rises up with righteous indignation when a Negro is lynched in Mississippi, but will be equally incensed when a Negro is denied the right to live in his neighborhood, He wrote that the white moderate, who is more devoted to order than to justice, is as much an impediment to civil rights as an outright racist.

One of the things most striking about Beale Street, as reflected in both Regina Kings performance and her acceptance speech, is the important role that women, especially mothers, have in African American life. King was not the only award winner to mention the strength and support they received from their female family members. Spike Lee, in his speech, lauded his grandmother, who saved up for years in order to send him to college and graduate school.
Username: Password: or Register

Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread Thread Rating: 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average

1

2

3

4

5

"35 Pounds" Of Dirt Trapped In Tesla Model 3 Reveals Stunning Design Flaw LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 348173

03-07-2019 11:02 PM











Post: #1 "35 Pounds" Of Dirt Trapped In Tesla Model 3 Reveals Stunning Design Flaw

Advertisement



The "mass accessible" electric car, which became infamous for having its bumpers fall off, was found to have a design flaw in its underbody that causes the car to trap and retain dirt, water and sand from roadways, according to electrek, who this week published an article detailing the flaw.



The blog points out that Tesla has "often been accused of designing cars for the Californian climate" and that water, dirt and sand used to de-ice roads in colder climates are susceptible to getting trapped in the underbody of Model 3 cars.



Hilariously, after the pro-Tesla rag says that Tesla vehicles have "performed extremely well in colder climates", it goes on to remind readers that some owners, including the editor of electrek himself, ran into "issues in Canada where things like the door handles, charge ports and frameless windows didnt perform well in extremely cold weather". For those who missed it, here's our article from November 2018, inclusive of a video of editor Fred Lambert cursing at his Tesla.



"Jesus Christ!" Lambert exclaims about 53 seconds into the video, hands shaking from the cold, upon finally getting his door handle to pop out.



And the reality check keeps on coming for electrek's editor, who has now learned - firsthand - about yet another problem with the Model 3 in cold climates.



Eric Bolduc, who owns a body shop in Quebec has "found significant amounts of sand and dirt accumulating in the underbody panel at the back of every Model 3 he has worked on so far."



Theres even a striking video of him removing sand and dirt stuck inside of a Model 3 before working on the car. The video shows him approach the vehicle, repeatedly tap the underbody of the vehicle with a mallet, and then watch what appears to be an avalanche of sand and dirt fall out from a Model 3 on a lift.











https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-0...esign-flaw When one of the best known pro-Tesla blogs on the web says that the Model 3 has a substantial design flaw, its time to pay attention.The "mass accessible" electric car, which became infamous for having its bumpers fall off, was found to have a design flaw in its underbody that causes the car to trap and retain dirt, water and sand from roadways, according to electrek, who this week published an article detailing the flaw.The blog points out that Tesla has "often been accused of designing cars for the Californian climate" and that water, dirt and sand used to de-ice roads in colder climates are susceptible to getting trapped in the underbody of Model 3 cars.Hilariously, after the pro-Tesla rag says that Tesla vehicles have "performed extremely well in colder climates", it goes on to remind readers that some owners, including the editor of electrek himself, ran into "issues in Canada where things like the door handles, charge ports and frameless windows didnt perform well in extremely cold weather". For those who missed it, here's our article from November 2018, inclusive of a video of editor Fred Lambert cursing at his Tesla."Jesus Christ!" Lambert exclaims about 53 seconds into the video, hands shaking from the cold, upon finally getting his door handle to pop out.And the reality check keeps on coming for electrek's editor, who has now learned - firsthand - about yet another problem with the Model 3 in cold climates.Eric Bolduc, who owns a body shop in Quebec has "found significant amounts of sand and dirt accumulating in the underbody panel at the back of every Model 3 he has worked on so far."Theres even a striking video of him removing sand and dirt stuck inside of a Model 3 before working on the car. The video shows him approach the vehicle, repeatedly tap the underbody of the vehicle with a mallet, and then watch what appears to be an avalanche of sand and dirt fall out from a Model 3 on a lift. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 466912

03-07-2019 11:06 PM











Post: #2 RE: "35 Pounds" Of Dirt Trapped In Tesla Model 3 Reveals Stunning Design Flaw

That's where the bastard will rust out. Fu Manchu

Registered User

User ID: 438500

03-07-2019 11:07 PM



Posts: 513









Post: #3 RE: "35 Pounds" Of Dirt Trapped In Tesla Model 3 Reveals Stunning Design Flaw

not only clean fuel, but it cleans the streets! LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 537071

03-12-2020 06:07 AM











Post: #4 RE: "35 Pounds" Of Dirt Trapped In Tesla Model 3 Reveals Stunning Design Flaw

Fu Manchu Wrote: (03-07-2019 11:07 PM) not only clean fuel, but it cleans the streets!

That was good one! That was good one! LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 517571

03-12-2020 06:10 AM











Post: #5 RE: "35 Pounds" Of Dirt Trapped In Tesla Model 3 Reveals Stunning Design Flaw

LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 537735

03-12-2020 10:13 AM











Post: #6 RE: "35 Pounds" Of Dirt Trapped In Tesla Model 3 Reveals Stunning Design Flaw

Kremlinhedge is easily stunned. Looks like a valance panel needs to be redesigned. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 442089

03-12-2020 10:58 AM











Post: #7 RE: "35 Pounds" Of Dirt Trapped In Tesla Model 3 Reveals Stunning Design Flaw

You have to take it to the dealer every 3-6 months for a deep clean.



$500

Back to

Forum

Reply to

This post

Post New

Thread
















Doug Henwood in Jacobin:

Now that policies made famous by Bernie Sanders, like Medicare for All and free college, and newer ones like the Green New Deal, are infiltrating the political mainstream, advocates are always faced with the question: how would you pay for them? Although there are good answers to this question that could even be shrunk down to a TV-friendly length and vocabulary, theyre not always forthcoming. Even self-described socialists seem to have a hard time saying the word taxes. How lovely would it be if you could just dismiss the question as an irrelevant distraction?

Conveniently, theres an economic doctrine that allows you to do just that: Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Newly elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is at least MMT-curious, and its all over Marxist reading groups and Democratic Socialists of America chapters. Its even seeping into the business press  Bloomberg s Joe Weisenthal is friendly to the doctrine. James Wilson of the New York Times tweeted recently, The speed with which young activists on both left and right are migrating toward MMT is going to have a profound effect on US politics in the 2020s and 2030s.

More here. [Thanks to Tony Cobitz.]
Lizzie Wade in Science:

In the 14th century, the Black Death swept across Europe, Asia, and North Africa, killing up to 50% of the population in some cities. But archaeologists and historians have assumed that the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis, carried by fleas infesting rodents, didnt make it across the Sahara Desert. Medieval sub-Saharan Africas few written records make no mention of plague, and the region lacks mass graves resembling the plague pits of Europe. Nor did European explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries record any sign of the disease, even though outbreaks continued to beset Europe. Now, some researchers point to new evidence from archaeology, history, and genetics to argue that the Black Death likely did sow devastation in medieval sub-Saharan Africa. Its entirely possible that [plague] would have headed south, says Anne Stone, an anthropological geneticist who studies ancient pathogens at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe. If proved, the presence of plague would put renewed attention on the medieval trade routes that linked sub-Saharan Africa to other continents. But Stone and others caution that the evidence so far is circumstantial; researchers need ancient DNA from Africa to clinch their case. The new finds, to be presented this week at a conference at the University of Paris, may spur more scientists to search for it.

Plague is endemic in parts of Africa now; most historians have assumed it arrived in the 19th century from India or China. But Gerard Chouin, an archaeologist and historian at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a team leader in the French National Research Agencys GLOBAFRICA research program, first started to wonder whether plague had a longer history in sub-Saharan Africa while excavating the site of Akrokrowa in Ghana. Founded around 700 C.E., Akrokrowa was a farming community surrounded by an elliptical ditch and high earthen banks, one of dozens of similar earthwork settlements in southern Ghana at the time. But sometime in the late 1300s, Akrokrowa and all the other earthwork settlements were abandoned. There was a deep, structural change in settlement patterns, Chouin says, just as the Black Death ravaged Eurasia and North Africa. With GLOBAFRICA funding, he has since documented a similar 14th century abandonment of Ife, Nigeria, the homeland of the Yoruba people, although that site was later reoccupied.

More here.
Experts who have long tried to encourage early treatment of depression now have another reason to do so: It may be associated with a higher risk of stroke.

A new University of Miami study of older adults  average age 70  found that those who showed signs of depression at the start of the 14-year study were 75 percent more likely to experience an ischemic stroke, the most common form. An ischemic stroke involves a blood-flow blockage in the brain.

Our study was an observational study, not a clinical trial, says author Marialaura Simonetto, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She explains that further investigation is needed to determine whether depression causes stroke. While the connection between depression as a risk factor for heart disease (and vice versa) has been studied, she adds, the stroke-depression interplay has been underexplored.



But, Simonetto adds: For people suffering from depression or who think they may have depressive symptoms, it is important for them to seek appropriate care.



Strokes have been in the news this week for other reasons: A massive stroke was reported as the cause of Beverly Hills, 90210 star Luke Perry's death on Monday. The term massive stroke, Simonetto explains, refers to the size of the affected brain tissue (the infarction"), not the kind of stroke. The two basic kinds of stroke are ischemic, as described in this study, or hemorrhagic, caused by a vessel that ruptures and bleeds into the surrounding brain tissue. A TIA, or a temporary ischemic attack (sometimes referred to as a ministroke), is a temporary blockage that doesn't cause lasting damage.



The results of the University of Miami study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurologys annual meeting in Philadelphia in May. This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and is part of a collaborative project between Columbia University and the University of Miami to investigate stroke in minority populations. Study participants were primarily Hispanic.
When Valerie Lefler was a teenager growing up on a dairy farm in rural Nebraska, one of her regular chores, when she wasn't milking cows, was to drive the workers' family members around.

"I helped them to get to important appointments, such as parent-teacher conferences at school," she explains. "Otherwise, many times, the mom wouldn't have been able to go, because the dad was working and had the family's only truck. So I would drive her."

That youthful experience gave Lefler insight into the difficulties residents of sparsely populated rural areas and small towns face when they don't have a vehicle or are unable to drive.

As the executive director and founder of the nonprofit Feonix: Mobility Rising, Lefler and her team connect residents in "vulnerable and underserved communities" with the transportation services they need in order to access health care, get to work or school, or simply be less isolated. The concept of providing individuals with needed transportation when none exists is often referred to as "MaaS" or "Mobility as a Service."

As a "transportation technology innovation framework," MaaS, says Lefler, "is not about the retroactive process of making systems that have 'special accommodations' for seniors, individuals with disabilities, veterans, refugees, and families in crisis . We should design mobility solutions to be inclusive and equitable and factor in their needs in the first place."
The widening political, cultural and economic divide between urban and rural Americans has been a near constant topic of discussion in the media for several years. It sometimes sounds as if America is splitting into two hostile nations  one side prosperous, diverse, young and future-focused; the other side poorer, whiter, older and yearning for the good old days. Is this really the case?

Not at all, says LaMonte Guillory, leader and chief communications officer of the LOR Foundation, which champions small communities in the nations Mountain West  namely Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Colorado. "We understand why people are rural by choice. Our hope is to make that choice easier," declares the organization's website.

LOR does that by listening to residents' visions for their communities and then working to "provide expertise, make connections and support projects that allow towns to thrive." This can mean revitalizing Main Streets, protecting clean water supplies, improving opportunities for outdoor recreation and other citizen-led initiatives

Guillory himself punctures stereotypes about rural regions. He is an African-American eco-advocate living in small-town Wyoming. He serves on the national board of directors for the Rural Communities Assistance Partnership, the Communications Network and the Rural Development Innovation Group.

Guillory jokes that he thought he grew up in a small town  Beaumont, Texas  before moving to Wyoming, where people told him that a community of 100,000 was a really big city.
En espanol | The nations top law enforcement official on Thursday announced the largest-ever crackdown on fraud against older Americans, highlighting a yearlong effort that led to criminal charges against 225 people here and abroad.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr said the cases, combined with civil actions taken against dozens of other people, involved more than 2 million victims in the U.S. with losses totaling more than $750 million. Altogether, more than 260 criminal and civil defendants were caught in the enforcement effort, he said.

Crimes against the elderly target some of the most vulnerable people in our society, Barr said, addressing reporters at a news conference at the Department of Justice.

Double-barreled approach

Barr, flanked by officials from the FBI, Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and other agencies, described a double-barreled approach to root out elder fraud, which according to conservative estimates costs older Americans about $3 billion a year.

Barr called elder fraud a despicable problem and promised his department would ratchet up efforts to wage an all-out attack against such crimes.

Barr was also the attorney general from 1991 to 1993 and noted that his old official portrait was used two years ago by fraudsters on Facebook in a scam promising help obtaining government grants.

I was a lure, if you can believe that, he said, describing being besieged with calls at the law firm where he worked from people who wanted him to fulfill his purported promise to send them money.

A Georgia woman told him shed lost her life savings of $40,000 to the con, according to Barr, who said a TV station broke the story of his image being appropriated and helped him get the portrait off Facebook.

Federal and state authorities focused largely on computer tech support cases, he said. In these, criminals, through a phone call or a pop-up warning on victims computers, con them into believing the computer has a virus or has been hacked. Often the bad actors, many from transnational crime groups, masquerade as representatives of legitimate firms, such as Microsoft, Apple or Amazon, according to DOJ.

Victims are persuaded to give the fraudsters remote access to their computers, ostensibly for technical help, then the fraudsters demand quick payment or even steal money or personal information from them.

Separately, investigators and prosecutors singled out more than 600 people nationwide who allegedly helped fraudsters by acting as money mules. A mule is someone who transfers money acquired from illicit acts and forwards it to perpetrators or ringleaders of fraud schemes  or their associates in the U.S. acting as middlemen  either by mail or electronically.

The mules, in the vast majority of cases, avoided civil or criminal sanctions and instead received warning letters since they did not know they were facilitating a fraud, according to a senior Justice Department official.

Addressing how overseas fraudsters target victims, the official said many work from call centers based in India, and these range in size from small operations to large-scale call rooms with more than 500 workers operating on day and night shifts that make calls 24 hours a day.

He and a second senior Justice Department official spoke on condition that they not be identified by name.
Getty Images

En espanol | Lawmakers expressed outrage at widespread reports of abuse and neglect in the nations nursing homes at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, noting that resident mistreatment has been a problem for decades despite regulatory reforms and attempts at improved government oversight.

Seniors in nursing homes are among the people most vulnerable to the life-threatening consequences of abuse and neglect, said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the senior Democrat on the committee. Across this country, that vulnerability is being exploited in unimaginably cruel ways.

That exploitation was detailed in statements from regulators, relatives of victims and other experts, and has included reports of medication mismanagement, neglect resulting in bedsores and other preventable infections, starvation, dehydration, sexual abuse and even death.

The hearing included testimony from two women whose mothers were victims of nursing home abuse: Patricia Olthoff-Blank, whose mother died as a result of alleged neglect at the Iowa facility where she lived for 15 years, and Maya Fischer, who recounted learning that her mother, a Medicare patient living with advanced Alzheimers disease, had been raped by a nurse at her Minneapolis nursing home.

I still feel the guilt, Fischer said, of not being able to take care of her myself and having to entrust her care to others, only to have her subjected to this unthinkable assault.

Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who sponsored the 2017 Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act aimed at strengthening the federal governments ability to curb elder abuse in a variety of settings, noted that the mistreatment of older adults in nursing homes remains a systemic problem. Hardly a week goes by, he noted, without seeing something about nursing home abuse or neglect in the national news.

The committee addressed a number of concerns related to quality of care, including issues with staffing and Medicaid funding. Wyden called proposed cutbacks to the program, which helps cover costs for 2 out of 3 seniors in nursing homes, draconian. The senators also discussed the unique challenges faced by those in rural communities

The panel also turned its attention to flaws in the five-star rating system and the Medicare.gov Nursing Home Compare tool that make it difficult for people to adequately evaluate nursing home quality. These tools, lawmakers noted, dont measure how easy it is for consumers to use the tool or provide a way for consumers to give feedback about their experiences.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Tuesday that changes to the rating system will be implemented in April, including a lifting of the freeze on health inspection ratings that was instituted in February 2018. CMS said other improvements next month will include different ratings for short- versus long-term care, and the introduction of new quality measures, such as those covering a facilitys number of emergency room transfers.

When asked why regulations have been relaxed in spite of acknowledged gaps in oversight, CMS Chief Medical Officer Kate Goodrich responded that such loosening was aimed not at standards of care themselves, but at the paperwork and administrative requirements that may be getting in the way of patient care.

AARP Legislative Policy Director David Certner expressed support for strong federal nursing home oversight in a four-page letter to the committee in advance of the hearing. Certner wrote that any weakening of federal nursing home regulations will negatively impact the approximately 1.3 million Americans across the country who are currently receiving care at these facilities.

CMS, he said in the statement, should maintain strong federal nursing home quality standards, oversight and enforcement to protect nursing home residents rights, health, safety and well-being.
New Northern State building included in Noem's budget proposal

Noem announced her support for the project, which was introduced to the Board of Regents in October.
SANTA FE  One of the top budget gurus in the Senate is not a fan of a sweeping tax package passed last week by the House.

Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, the influential chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, laid out his objections to the bill in a Senate floor speech today.

I personally cannot support that tax bill at all, said Smith, who explained he opposes raising certain tax rates at a time the state has an estimated $1.2 billion budget surplus.

The package passed by the House last week  via a 40-25 vote  would increase the personal income tax for upper-income New Mexicans by creating new tax brackets.

It would also raise the tax on motor-vehicle purchases, impose a tax on internet sales, expand an existing tax credit for working families and enact a new tax break to offset the impact of recent changes to the federal tax code, among other provisions.

House Democrats who support the measure  it would generate an estimated $358 million for state government and roads in the coming year  describe it as necessary to give the state more revenue stability to keep paying for higher teacher salaries and other education programs in future years.

But Smith suggested the legislation is not responsible in its current form. He said it might be more acceptable if pared back, though he didnt specify which provisions he would like to see removed.

The legislation, House Bill 6, is currently pending in the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee. If approved by that panel, it would then advance to the Senate Finance Committee.

Meanwhile, Smith also expressed concern about a proposal to eliminate the $50 million annual cap on state film incentive spending, a plan pushed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Were putting in more (money) into the film credit than we are on early childhood programs, Smith said.


Remember, man, that you are dust and to dust you shall return.

Former Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan uttered those words countless times as he wove through the county jail Wednesday holding a small bowl of ashes.

As he has done for years, Sheehan visited 1,400 inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center on Ash Wednesday  placing ashes on the foreheads of inmates and jail staff.

Good morning, Im Archbishop Sheehan and this is Ash Wednesday. If anybody wants to receive ashes you may come forward now  doesnt cost a thing, he said as he strode into a mens cell block.

One after the other, several inmates lined up to receive ashes from Sheehan. Some knelt, others stood. Many filed back to their bunks afterward, but a few dwelled by his side. Eventually, they asked if Sheehan would join them in prayer. In whispers, they asked forgiveness. They prayed for strength.

One of those inmates, 43-year-old Felipe Kozlowski, said he is grateful for the opportunity.

He doesnt have to come see us, he said. He takes time out of his day.

Kozlowski said Christianity has played a role in his faith from the very beginning.

Raised in the Barelas neighborhood, Kozlowski said he was baptized at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and religion symbolizes the connection with his grandmother.

A man asked what Lent is all about, what Bible passage refers to it. Another wondered, if he washed off the ashes, will he still be blessed. A man from Florida said he cant read or write but wanted to learn so he can study the Bible when he gets out in July.

Several of the inmates seemingly came forward just to participate in something out of their day-to-day routine. A few looked down at the gathering from the second tier, their elbows perched on the railing.

Sheehan walked from cell block to cell block, lamenting a nation full of crowded jails and the ills that lead to such a state. But he is not the stereotypical priest. He likes to tell jokes, even when it comes to serious matters  such as his recent Alzheimers disease diagnosis. (He said it makes it easier to get people to drive him around.) The jail staff all know him by name and its clear, after 55 years of priesthood, he doesnt plan on stopping anytime soon.

It gives me joy, it really does, he said with a thin smile. Its what I became a priest for and I really love the priestly work. I wouldnt trade a day of it for anything.
Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexico lawmakers might draw a state salary  for the first time  under a proposed constitutional amendment that passed the House on Wednesday.

The proposal, if approved by the Senate, would ask voters to decide whether to establish an independent salary commission to determine the pay of the governor, lawmakers, statewide officials and judges.

Under the current system, New Mexico legislators are reimbursed for some expenses and draw per diem payments during the session or when attending interim meetings, not a set salary.

Rep. Angelica Rubio, a Las Cruces Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, said a salary would broaden the number of people who could serve in the Legislature. Many professionals  especially young people  cant afford to leave their jobs and families each year during the session, she and other supporters said.

This is about whos being left out of this system, Rubio said. Maybe we dont have right people sitting at this table.

Republican lawmakers blasted the proposal as an expansion of government. They said it would be tough to look a constituent in the eye and argue that legislators deserve more pay.

Given the state is almost dead last in every yardstick for which we can be measured, how can we make the case that were not already overpaid? asked Rep. Larry Scott, R-Hobbs.

Much of the debate focused on what it means for New Mexico to have a citizen Legislature  in which many members are either retired or hold regular jobs. Lawyers, teachers, ranchers and business owners all serve as legislators, for example.

Critics say the system creates potential conflicts between lawmakers public duties and their private interests.

Even without a salary, some lawmakers can end up making about $20,000 over the course of a year, depending on their committee assignments and how far their home district is from the Roundhouse.

They get about $160 to $180 a day for lodging, meals and similar expenses, based on the federal reimbursement rate for work in Santa Fe.

The legislation, House Joint Resolution 5, passed 44-24 and now heads to the Senate, with 10 days left in the session.

The proposed Public Officer Salary Commission would be a seven-member group, with limits on how many members of each political party could serve.

The governor and chief justice of the Supreme Court would each appoint two members, and the Senate president pro tem and House speaker would each appoint one person. The commission itself would pick the final member.
WASHINGTON  Robert Muellers final report should present Congress with a clean choice: Either the facts warrant impeachment of President Trump, or they dont. That was the promise of Muellers appointment as special counsel: He would gather the evidence, and then Congress and the public could make a judgment.

In a country with a healthy political system, Muellers report would lead to such a consensus and resolution. But we dont live in that country.

Instead, congressional Democrats seem to want it both ways. They argue that investigations of Trump should continue  and even expand  after Mueller finishes, but not necessarily through a formal, disciplined impeachment process. Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems to envision multiple probes by various committees. She wants to focus on governing and avoid disarray, but the three-ring investigative circus may have the opposite effect.

The Republicans, meanwhile, are continuing their ruinous campaign to investigate the investigators  further undermining public confidence in the FBI and the intelligence community. California Rep. Devin Nunes astonishingly said Sunday on Fox News that without such a full scrub  youre going to see generations of conservatives who will not trust the Department of Justice, they will not trust the FBI. That sounded almost like a call to insurrection.

Continuation of our national fever dream  all Trump, all the time, with no resolution until an incendiary 2020 presidential election  cant be in anyones interest, except Trumps. He lives to dominate the national conversation in this way, with a daily spasm of anti-elitism, media-bashing and self-love. Were all his enablers, Fox News and MSNBC watchers alike.

Ideally, Muellers report would bridge existing differences. Parts of it will probably disappoint each side in the debate: He may find less evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Trump and the Russians than MSNBC-world had believed, but more evidence of deliberate, continuing efforts to obstruct justice than Fox-world wants to admit.

Unfortunately, Trumps game of chicken with Mueller, and GOP acquiescence, almost guarantees division rather than unity. Rather than coalesce around Muellers findings, partisans are likely to cherry-pick the parts of the report they like and ignore the rest. In this sense, the Mueller report may prove yet another demonstration of what social scientists call confirmation bias, in which people accept facts that affirm the views they already hold and screen out the rest.

As the competing narratives about Trump diverge, arguing the facts becomes harder. Mueller has shielded himself by refusing to speak outside his formal legal pleadings, which have distilled the evidence he has gathered. Hopefully the public version of his report will be similarly precise  and foster a truly fact-based debate. But it will be an uphill fight.

Constant repetition of lies is a kind of reverse alchemy; it turns precious gold into dross, or simply makes it impossible to tell the difference.

Think of the falsehoods that have become embedded in the public mind: Hillary Clintons use of a private email server was a serious felony, punishable by prison; the four Americans killed in Benghazi in 2012 were victims of an Obama administration conspiracy; the Iran nuclear agreement was the worst deal ever negotiated, even though  unlike Trumps North Korea pact  it halted a nuclear program; NAFTA was the worst trade deal ever made, even though Trumps own rewrite made only modest changes. Each lie has been shown to be false, yet each persists.

Muellers report will land in a polluted political landscape. Increasingly, nobody seems to believe anything that comes out of Washington  which, perversely, was the overriding aim of the Russian covert-action program Mueller was tasked to investigate.

A final problem with leaving the Trump-Russia inquiry festering, post-Mueller, is that it blocks any new dialogue with Moscow about security issues. The debris of 2016 must be cleared before serious contact resumes. Mueller must resolve the collusion issue, and Russia must refrain from sabotaging American politics again. Then, the two countries can start urgent talks about Ukraine, arms control and other issues.

Perhaps Mueller could accompany his report with the equivalent of instructions to the jury: Congress and the public need to understand what crimes the special counsel is alleging and which ones he declines to prosecute. They need guidance about how to weigh the evidence. Most of all, they need advice on whether the facts in this case warrant the constitutional remedy of impeachment.

If Congress decides against impeachment, this case will go to the public in 2020. That will be a raucous and unwieldy jury, just what the Founders feared, but perhaps it will be the only venue left.

E-mail davidignatius@washpost.com.  2019, Washington Post Writers Group.
Editors note: this story has been updated to reflect that the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association supports the bill.

Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

In New Mexico, a persons criminal history can be accessed with just a few clicks of a mouse on a publicly available court website.

But this would change if the Criminal Record Expungement Act is passed by the Legislature this session and signed by the governor.

The proposed legislation, House Bill 370, would allow many people charged, indicted or even convicted of a crime to petition a judge to wipe their criminal records from public view.

Proponents of the bill, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, say it would allow people to move on from a past mistake and not be forever marked when undergoing a background check for a job or housing.

However, opponents, including the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, say businesses have a right to know who theyre hiring.

And the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government argues that the bill violates the most basic principle of the publics right to know by erasing what is and has historically been a public record.

It would let the courts wipe away the public record of arrests and convictions as though they never have occurred, said Melanie Majors, FOGs executive director.  This bill asks the courts to change our history. We believe passage of this bill would set a very dangerous precedent with potentially serious consequences to public safety.

The act would allow people to petition the court for expungement if they have been wrongfully arrested as a result of identity theft; if they have been arrested, charged or indicted for a crime but not convicted  either as a result of a dismissal or an acquittal  as long as they dont reoffend within a year; or if they have been convicted of a crime but have served their sentence and have not been convicted again for a certain period.

The option to expunge would not apply to those convicted of a crime against a child, an offense that caused great bodily harm or death, a sex crime, embezzlement, or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

If a judge grants a petition to expunge, all arrest and court records for that individual would be shielded from the public. Law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges would still have access to a persons complete criminal history.

Awaiting hearing

The Criminal Record Expungement Act  sponsored by Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, and Sen. Bill ONeill, D-Albuquerque  passed the House 52-17 last month and sailed through the Senate Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

This is not the first expungement bill to wind its way through the Legislature.

Four similar bills, dating back to 2007, have passed the House and the Senate, only to be vetoed by Govs. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, and Susana Martinez, a Republican. Other such bills have died before reaching a vote.

Proponents of the legislation say New Mexico is one of the last states not to allow people to expunge their records.

Rep. Maestas did not respond to requests for an interview, but at a midday news conference on criminal justice overhaul, he addressed the concern that the bill would allow too many people to expunge their criminal histories. He said it has adequate protections in place before a record is wiped from public view.

For example, he said, a suspect arrested on a rape charge would have to win court approval for expungement  a process that would involve notifying prosecutors and allowing them to object to the petition. Victims would also be given the chance to weigh in.

Regardless, Maestas said, a defendant released without conviction, even after being charged with a serious crime, deserves a chance to at least apply for expungement. The foundation of the legal system, he said, is that youre innocent until proven guilty.

ACLU support

The ACLU has long championed transparency and the publics right to know.

But in this case, its lawyers support expungement of criminal records.

Paul Haidle, senior policy strategist for the ACLU of New Mexico, worked with Maestas on the bill, and he said it aims to remove barriers from people seeking jobs and housing by allowing them to keep past mistakes off a background check.

He said the ACLU sees a persons criminal record as an inherently different type of public record from those its lawyers usually fight for.

Its really an issue, as Im sure you know, that criminal records then attach to a person for the rest of their life and cause all these collateral consequences that can impact their family, impede their ability to find safe housing and a good job, Haidle said.

However, lawyer Greg Williams, a member of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Governments executive committee, sees it differently.

He said that if records are allowed to be shielded from the public, the community and the media will be hampered in the ability to scrutinize police, prosecutors, judges and the rest of the criminal justice system.

These are not just records that deal with the person arrested, these are records of law enforcement and records of the judicial system, Williams said. Its important that we keep as thorough records of those entities as we can  To the extent that the media serves as a watchdog of court systems and law enforcement, its ability to do so is lessened.

Chamber opposes bill

Representatives from the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce say that a businesss ability to run background checks on a potential hire is necessary to protect the enterprise and keep their employees, customers and clients safe.

Can we agree that innocence isnt the only reason that a person arrested for a crime might not be convicted? wrote Christopher Narkun, in a Chamber newsletter. In many of our judicial districts, for example, those arrested for serious crimes might have just a 50/50 chance (or lower) of being convicted.

Karen Coates, president of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, said she worries that if records are shielded from the public, researchers cant effectively study criminal justice.

If were getting rid of that information (from the public) then social scientists dont have the information to work from to accurately assess the lay of the land and whats happening with law enforcement and the court systems, Coates said.

However, Rikki-Lee Chavez, legislative coordinator with the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said the group sees this as an important criminal justice reform that would help lower recidivism by giving people an incentive to not re-offend.

I think it gives people an opportunity to realize that they made a mistake, Chavez said. It doesnt have to follow them around for the rest of their life and change the course of their life.

Journal staff writer Dan McKay contributed to this report.
U.S. Border Patrol says agents took more than 700 migrants into custody at the El Paso border early Wednesday.

El Paso Border Patrol Supervisor Ramiro Cordero said those detained include two convicted sex offenders who had been deported after serving jail time in the states and an escaped convict.

As for the other migrants, who came in several large groups, Cordero did not yet know if they were all seeking asylum.

We wont know that until they are all processed, he said. This is just 700 today; were still not done with the ones from yesterday and the day before. It will be awhile.

Border Patrol officials announced Tuesday that more than 76,000 migrants crossed the Southwestern border in February and more than 70 large groups of 100 or more migrants have crossed the border since October, with 29 in New Mexico alone.

The groups are comprised of mainly families and unaccompanied minors from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The most recent influx started just after midnight when agents caught a group of 112 migrants at the border wall near Downtown El Paso, according to a news release sent out Wednesday.

Officials say that at the same time Border Patrol was working to process 252 migrants who were found at the border just west of Bowie High School.

Throughout the morning hours several smaller groups also arrived at multiple locations along the border in the El Paso metropolitan area, according to the release. In just a few hours the total number taken into custody exceeded 500.

Officials say an unaccompanied 2-year-old was found in one of the groups and agents are working to locate the parents.

Cordero said agents arrested two convicted-sex offenders while Border Patrol was preoccupied with the large groups.

Both subjects had been convicted of their sex offenses and had served time in jail before being deported from the United States, according to the release.

Agents also found a 28-year-old U.S. citizen, wanted on a federal arrest warrant, in a group of six migrants caught in far-East El Paso County. That person was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The vast majority of Central Americans entering the country are fleeing poverty and violence and are seeking asylum, a legal claim that is decided in immigration court by a judge.
Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

Yazmin Irazoqui Ruiz told members of Congress on Wednesday that she felt as though her dream of becoming a physician was slipping away when the Trump administration decided to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Like the two other DACA recipients, or Dreamers, and a Temporary Protected Status holder who testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, she said she has lived in fear of being deported.

They appeared before the committee to lobby for a law that would grant DACA recipients and TPS holders permanent status and a pathway to citizenship. The hearing was the first of its kind since Donald Trump became president.

Ruiz, a third-year student at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, said during the hearing that her mental health was shot after the decision was made to end the DACA program in 2017.

Here I am once again, having worked hard and made it to medical school and was facing the reality of having a future career as a physician being pulled out from under me, she said.

Ruiz said she wasnt alone in feeling that her dreams were in jeopardy.

While I am on my way to becoming a physician, I know that others with DACA, TPS and DED (Deferred Enforced Departure) protections have started careers, bought homes, started families, she said. And here we were facing all of that being taken away.

Ruiz and others like her have gotten a reprieve because of court challenges that have temporarily halted Trumps efforts to end the program.

Under DACA, roughly 700,000 participants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families that overstayed visas received a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and became eligible for work permits in the United States.

Ruiz told lawmakers that she, her twin sister and mother immigrated to the United States when she was 3 under visitors visas. They originally settled in Phoenix.

She said she learned of her immigration status when she was 16, after her mother suffered a stroke.

In the blink of an eye, our biggest concerns went from student government and grades to living with the burden of wondering whether our mother would survive and whether ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents or Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio would tear our family apart, Ruiz said.

Her family sought the advice of an attorney, who told them: In this country, you are no one, and in this country, you do not exist. You will never be able to attend college.

Fearing deportation, Ruiz said, the family decided to move to Albuquerque.

And despite being told she would never go to college, Ruiz made plans to attend college, anyway.

Ruiz said she faced obstacles before the DACA program was created under President Barack Obama in 2012.

She said financial aid was limited, and she turned down a scholarship at New Mexico State University because it was too close to the border.

Ruiz earned a bachelor of science degree from UNM. She said DACA made her life easier.

After that, life changed for me and many immigrant youth, she said. I had access to different jobs, I could move freely in the U.S. I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Ruiz said she knows what life is like for others without DACA. I see it every day, she said.

With the New Mexico Dream Team and United We Dream, young people and allies brought counseling to the community because children were terrified, fearful that their parents would be taken away by Trump and CBP (Customs and Border Protection) and ICE, Ruiz said.

Trump has linked extending protections for DACA recipients with proposals to build a wall along the Mexican border.

Ruiz urged lawmakers not to support such a move, expressing concerns that it would place her mother and others like her in danger.

I know that some say that young people with DACA should be protected for a price, Ruiz said. They call for more immigration enforcement, which would put my mother in danger in exchange for my safety.

The Trump administration and others have questioned whether Obama had the authority to create DACA by an executive branch memorandum in the first place.

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the program unconstitutional and argued that the program would not withstand a court challenge. At the time, Republican attorneys general from 10 states were challenging DACA in court.
A local anchor who delivered the news in the morning for 16 years is leaving that role later this week.

KOAT-TV announced Wednesday that Marisa Maez, the co-anchor of Action 7 News More in the Morning, is leaving the station. Her last day is Friday.

Maez joined KOAT as an associate producer in January 1999. She worked as a reporter and co-anchored the 6 p.m. show prior to taking her current position 16 years ago, she said on the morning show Wednesday.

Maez is leaving to spend more time with her family, according to a news release from the station.

I am so grateful to all of the loyal viewers who have faithfully watched me go through so many changes professionally and personally, Maez said in a prepared statement. How lucky I am to have had such a wonderful career, it makes saying goodbye so difficult.

A native New Mexican, Maez started at KOAT shortly after graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of New Mexico.

We are very sorry to see Marisa leave KOAT. She is an excellent anchor and journalist and a valuable member of our morning team, said KOAT President and General Manager Lori Waldon. But we understand her desire to spend more time with her family. We will miss her.

Marisa Maez
Two cases of cattle larceny in Lincoln County recently were pursued by the New Mexico Livestock Board, the most recent resulting in the arrest over the weekend of Teal Ray Bennett.

According to New Mexico Court records, Bennett was charged March 1 with 10 counts of cattle larceny, a 3rd-degree felony; 10 counts of shipping, driving or receiving livestock out of state without an inspection, a 4th-degree felony; and 10 counts of failure to exhibit written evidence of ownership or legal possession of livestock, a misdemeanor.

His first appearance occurred March 5 in Lincoln Countys Division 1 Magistrate Court in Carrizozo. Bond was set at $50,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 2.

Troy Patterson, area supervisor for the livestock board, could not be reached for comment or more details Wednesday.

Lincoln County Sheriff Robert Shepperd said the board handled the case using its police powers connected to livestock. Greg Mendoza was the case agent.

Bennett worked at one time for rancher Ed Tinsley, owner of the K-Bobs restaurants, the sheriff confirmed.

The reason the Texas Rangers were involved was because he (allegedly) was taking the cattle from New Mexico and selling them in Texas, Shepperd said.

Texas is not a brand state so you dont have to brand your cows in Texas. New Mexico is a brand state and before you can sell any cows, there are brand inspections and a process.

Based on the information he was given, Shepperd said he understood Bennett was arrested at a bull sale in Roswell on warrants executed by Chaves County Sheriffs deputies.

He does have a pretty lengthy criminal history, but mostly in Texas, the sheriff said. He came from Texas up here.

The livestock board earlier arrested a woman and her partner for allegedly stealing cattle from a neighboring ranch and re-branding them, the Sheriff said.

Its still cattle rustling, he said.

According to Beef Magazine, branding remains the best defense against livestock theft and hot-branding is permanent and less likely to be altered.



2019 the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.)

Visit the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.) at www.ruidosonews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
WASHINGTON  Divided in debate but mostly united in a final vote, the House passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other bigotry Thursday, with Democrats trying to push past a dispute that has overwhelmed their agenda and exposed fault lines that could shadow them through next years elections.

The one-sided 407-23 vote belied the emotional infighting over how to respond to freshman Rep. Ilhan Omars recent comments suggesting House supporters of Israel have dual allegiances. For days, Democrats wrestled with whether or how to punish the lawmaker, arguing over whether Omar, one of two Muslim women in Congress, should be singled out, what other types of bias should be decried in the text and whether the party would tolerate dissenting views on Israel.

Republicans generally joined in the favorable vote, though nearly two-dozen opposed the measure, one calling it a sham.

Generational as well as ideological, the argument was fueled in part by young, liberal lawmakers  and voters  who have become a face of the newly empowered Democratic majority in the House. These lawmakers are critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government, rejecting the conservative leaders approach to Palestinians and other issues.

They split sharply from Democratic leaders who seemed caught off guard by the support for Omar and unprepared for the debate. But the leaders regrouped.

Its not about her. Its about these forms of hatred, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote.

The resolution approved Thursday condemns anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against minorities as hateful expressions of intolerance. Omar, a Somali-American, and fellow Muslims Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Andrew Carson of Indiana, issued a statement praising the historic vote as the first resolution to condemn anti-Muslim bigotry.

Some Democrats complained that Omars comments on Israel had ignited all this debate while years of President Donald Trumps racially charged rhetoric had led to no similar congressional action.

The seven-page document details a history of recent attacks not only against Jews in the United States but also Muslims, as it condemns all such discrimination as contradictory to the values and aspirations of the people of the United States. The vote was delayed for a time on Thursday to include mention of Latinos to address concerns of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. It was inserted under a section on white supremacists who weaponize hate for political gain over a long list of traditionally persecuted peoples.

An earlier version focused more narrowly on anti-Semitism. The final resolution did not mention Omar by name.

Getting this debate right will be crucial for Democrats in 2020. U.S.-Israel policy is a prominent issue that is exposing the splits between the partys core voters, its liberal flank and the more centrist Americans in Trump country the party hopes to reach.

What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate. Thats wrong, said presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent.

Anti-Semitism is a hateful and dangerous ideology which must be vigorously opposed in the United States and around the world, the senator said. We must not, however, equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel.

Other Democratic presidential contenders tried to walk a similar line.

California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris said we need to speak out against hate. But she said she also believes there is a critical difference between criticism of policy or political leaders, and anti-Semitism.

A statement from Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said, Branding criticism of Israel as automatically anti-Semitic has a chilling effect on our public discourse and makes it harder to achieve a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians. She said threats of violence, including those made against Omar, are never acceptable.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said, Everyone is entitled to their opinion, they are allowed to have free speech in this country, Gillibrand said. But we dont need to use anti-Semitic tropes or anti-Muslim tropes to be heard.

Another member of the new crop of outspoken young House freshmen, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, said the final product, as well as the way presidential candidates are now talking about the issue, showed theres been some really great progress weve made.

But Omars rhetoric is taking Democrats to a place that leaves many uneasy. The new lawmaker sparked a weeklong debate in Congress as fellow Democrats said her comments have no place in the party. She suggested Israels supporters were pushing lawmakers to take a pledge of allegiance to a foreign country, reviving a trope of dual loyalties. It wasnt her first dip into such rhetoric.

The new congresswoman has been critical of the Jewish state in the past and apologized for those previous comments. But Omar has not apologized for what this latest comment.

Pelosi said she did not believe that Omar understood the weight of her words or that they would be perceived by some as anti-Semitic.

Asked whether the resolution was intended to police lawmakers words, Pelosi replied, We are not policing the speech of our members. Instead, she said, the goal was to condemn anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and white supremacy.

Some of the Houses leading Jewish Democrats wanted to bring a resolution on the floor simply condemning anti-Semitism.

But other Democrats wanted to broaden the resolution to include a rejection of all forms of racism and bigotry. Others questioned whether a resolution was necessary at all and viewed it as unfairly singling out Omar at a time when Trump and others have made disparaging racial comments.

There remained frustration that the party that touts its diversity conducted such a messy and public debate about how to declare its opposition to bigotry.

This shouldnt be so hard, Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., said on the House floor.

Among the Republican dissenters, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a member of the GOP leadership, called the resolution a sham put forward by Democrats to avoid condemning one of their own and denouncing vile anti-Semitism.

In part, Democratic leaders were trying to fend off a challenge from Republicans on the issue.

They worry they could run into trouble on another bill, their signature ethics and voting reform package, if Republicans try to tack their own anti-Semitism bill on as an amendment. By voting Thursday, the House Democratic vote counters believed they could inoculate their lawmakers against such a move.

___

Associated Press writers Padmananda Rama, Mary Clare Jalonick, Elana Schor, Juana Summers and Doug Glass contributed to this report.

___

Follow Mascaro and Kellman on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/LisaMascaro and http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman
LYON, France  In a surprise ruling, Frances senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, was convicted Thursday of failing to report a known pedophile priest to police, the latest high-ranking churchman to fall in the global reckoning over clergy sex abuse and cover-ups.

Magistrates in Lyon found that Barbarin had an obligation to report the Rev. Bernard Preynat to civil authorities and gave the cardinal a six-month suspended prison sentence. Barbarin offered to resign.

Preynat, who is scheduled to be tried on sexual violence charges next year, has confessed to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 1980s. People who said they were among the victims accused Barbarin and other church officials of covering up the priests crimes for years.

Nine victims brought the case to trial. A group of Preynats victims hailed the unanticipated conviction as a victory for child protection and a strong signal that church leaders will be held accountable.

We see that no one is above the law. We have been heard by the court, said Francois Devaux, president of La Parole Liberee (Lift the Burden of Silence.)

The verdict came as a surprise since the statute of limitations had expired on some charges. At the end of the trial, prosecutors argued for an acquittal, saying there were no grounds to prove legal wrongdoing.

Five co-defendants  an archbishop, a bishop, a priest and two other officials  were acquitted.

Barbarins conviction furthers the crisis facing the Catholic Churchs embattled hierarchy. The sex abuse scandal recently led to Australian Cardinal George Pells abuse conviction and the defrocking of Americas ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for sexually molested minors and adult men, including during confession..

The scandal swept up Pope Francis last year after he defended a bishop accused of veering up abuse in Chile. Francis is facing new questions about his backing for a bishop now under investigation for sexual abuse in his native Argentina.

With the confidence of Catholic faithful in the church hierarchy shaken, Francis brought church leaders from around the world to a summit last month at which he vowed an all-out battle to end abuse but issued no new rules to stop cover-ups.

In the French courts decision, read by The Associated Press, the magistrates wrote that Barbarin had the obligation to report accusations against Preynat between July 2014 and June 2015 because the priests accusers didnt request ecclesiastic secrecy.

The victims allegation of a cover-up that allowed Preynat to be in contact with children until his 2015 retirement was thrown out of court in 2016 for insufficient evidence.

Alexandre Hezez, one of those who put it back on the docket through a direct approach French law allows as a recourse, met with Barbarin in November 2014 and kept informing him there were probably other Preynat victims, according to the court ruling.

Barbarin didnt take the initiative despite Hezezs request and insistence, the magistrates wrote.

The cardinal was not in court when the decision was handed down. His lawyer, Jean-Felix Luciani, said he will appeal.

This is a decision that is not fair at the juridical level, Luciani said. He added: We hope that at the next step, justice will be done.

Barbarin, 68, nevertheless said he would offer to resign when he meets with Pope Francis in a few days.

I have decided to go and see the Holy Father to offer him my resignation, he said in a brief statement, expressing his compassion for Preynats victims.

Barbarin was made a cardinal by St. John Paul II in 2003, a year after John Paul made him archbishop of Lyon.

Unlike most cardinals, he does not have a large presence outside his home country. He only serves as a member of a single Vatican office, the congregation for religious orders. Even cardinals who live much farther from Rome work on two or three congregations at a time.

The Vatican didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pope Francis previously said the French justice system should take its course, but praised Barbarin as brave.

Francis now has to weigh whether to accept, reject or delay Barbarins offer of resignation.

Last year, Francis reluctantly accepted the resignation of one of his key supporters, Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl, after he was implicated in cover-ups from decades ago.

The cases were revealed by a Pennsylvania grand jury report. Francis kept Wuerl on as a temporary administrator pending the appointment of a replacement.

He also accepted the resignation last year of Adelaide, Australia Archbishop Philip Wilson after he was convicted of covering up abuse. The conviction was reversed on appeal, but Wilson already had been replaced. His future status is unclear.

In France, the priests said top clergy had been aware of Preynats actions since 1991, but allowed him to be in contact with children until his 2015 retirement.

Several men recounted during the four-day trial in January the fear and shame they felt after they were abused.

Christian Burdet, 53, testified that Preynat forced him to go into his tent when he was a 10-year-old Scout.

Describing years of suffering, Burdet said he wanted to understand how this system was put in place and help other victims to speak out.

A date for Preynats trial next year has not been set. Only 13 cases will be heard in court, as the statute of limitations had expired for others. The priest is estimated to have abused 85 victims.

Devaux, of the victims advocacy group, said the cardinals conviction sent strong signals to both victims and the top ranks of the Catholic Church.

Top church officials need to re-evaluate their sacred dimension. Were on Earth here, and while some things are acceptable, others are not.

A lawyer for some of Preynats victims, Yves Sauvayre, called the verdict historic.

The cardinal is convicted because he didnt do what needed to be done, he said.

Anne Barrett Doyle, of the online resource BishopAccountability.org, said Thursdays decision was a significant step forward in making the Catholic hierarchy answerable for conduct it hid for decades.

In affirming the victims claims, the French court implicitly rejected the grab bag of excuses that Barbarin and other Catholic bishops use to justify non-reporting, she said in a statement.

The decision against Barbarin was handed down less than two weeks after the conviction of another prince of the church, Pell, was announced in his native Australia of sexually abusing two youths. He too is appealing.

________________

Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report
New Mexico has plenty of history  especially its place in the Wild West.

The area was home to Billy the Kid and his famous shootouts, mainly one with Sheriff Pat Garrett.

A new film featuring that colorful history is hitting theaters today, and it was filmed in New Mexico.

Vincent DOnofrios feature film directorial debut The Kid opens in theaters in Albuquerque and Santa Fe during a limited run.

The film is set between 1880-81, when lawlessness was running rampant, in part because of outlaws like Billy the Kid.

The story follows 13-year-old Rio, played by Jake Schur, who finds himself with a horrible choice.

His violent and unpredictable father is beating his mother, as he has done so many nights before. Rio steals his fathers gun and shoots the man, killing him, though his mother is also dead.

He then must choose between Billy the Kid, played by Dane DeHaan, and Garrett, played by Ethan Hawke, in an effort to realize which of them will be noble enough to help rescue his sister Sara, played by Leila George, who has been kidnapped by their evil uncle Grant, played by Chris Pratt.

Rio sets out to find Garrett and Billy the Kid, where he witnesses the shootout that eventually leads to Billy the Kids death.

The New Mexico Film Office says production began in October 2017 in Santa Fe.

The production employed about 80 New Mexico crew members, 20 New Mexico principal actors and 500 New Mexico background talent.

It is produced by Jordan Schur, Nick Thurlow and Sam Maydew.

Its great to be filming The Kid in New Mexico. Here in the Land of Enchantment, with the echo of Billy the Kids past exchanges with Pat Garrett, what better place to be filming our story, Thurlow said.

Local New Mexico supporting cast include Clint Obenchain, Chris Bylsma, Tait Fletcher and Keith Jardine.

Bylsma plays Charlie Bowdre, who is one of Billy the Kids closest friends.

During production, Bylsma said the cast and crew worked closely together.

Because it was a New Mexico-heavy story, Bylsma was excited to have a role in the film.

In fact, he and Obenchain, who plays Tom Pickett, took a road trip to Fort Sumner to visit the gravesites of Billy the Kid and Charlie Bowdre.

We also went to the actual coordinates of the hideout where the shootout between Sheriff Pat Garrett and the gang happened, Bylsma said. Theres not much left to identify it by now, but it was a somber, surreal feeling to know we were standing in the place where something like that actually happened.

It was over five hours of driving alone that we sacrificed out of our day leading up to the shoot, but I know were both so glad we were really able to dig that far for our characters. What a memory.
There are 650 New Mexico State Police officers. Forty-one are women.

And out of 299 Bernalillo County Sheriffs deputies, 35 are women.

The Albuquerque Police Department has 134 women on a force of 922 and the U.S. Marshals Service employs four women in sworn positions, out of a total of 58.

The local FBI operation has a little more than 100 women employed with the bureau, out of almost 300 employees total. A department spokesman asked the Journal not to provide exact numbers for security reasons.

With those statistics in mind, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies will hold an event Monday aimed at recruiting more women into public safety.

The purpose of the event is to recruit the next generation of special agents, marshals, police officers and sheriffs deputies, said James Langenberg, special agent in charge of the Albuquerque FBI Division, at a media briefing last month. Were seeking diverse individuals with unique educational, professional and life experiences to carry out our respective critical missions.

The media briefing was attended by women who work for local agencies  ranging from a civilian media specialist for APD, a BCSO spokeswoman and an FBI agent who just graduated the academy to a 7-year veteran with NMSP and a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals.

Several of those women will be on a panel at the recruiting event.

Emily Fertitta, a special agent with the FBI, said she began her career in law enforcement last year after being inspired by her husband and his friends who work for the FBI.

I think its something women need to step up and do, she said. Were half the population and we have the opportunity. We need to stand up and make those sacrifices, and have the support of our community to make it happen.

Frank Fisher, an FBI spokesman, said the Valencia County Sheriffs Office, Sandoval County Sheriffs Office, U.S. Secret Service, Las Cruces Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Rio Rancho Police Department will also attend.

Public safety recruiting for women

When: Monday from 5-7 p.m.

Where: Sid Cutter Pilots Pavilion, Balloon Fiesta Park

Who: FBI, APD, BCSO, DEA, US Marshals, State Police, RRPD and more

Goal: To hire the next generation in public safety
The Energy Department issued a notice to FGen LNG Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Gen Corp., to proceed with a $1-billion liquefied natural gas project in Batangas City in partnership with Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said he signed the notice to proceed Thursday morning. Tokyo Gas, also the Japanese government, have been watching, pursuing this in any economic, ministerial meetings here and in Japan. That is always part of the subject matter, Cusi said. Late last month, we were in Japan, together with Undersecretary Donato Marcos and other secretaries. That again was taken up. So I said, hopefully when I go back to Manila, it will be ready for my signature. Im happy to say that we have signed the NTP, Cusi said. Cusi said FGEN has no overlapping market with Tanglawan Philippine LNG Inc., the consortium of Phoenix Petroleum Philippines and CNOOC Gas and Power Group Co. Ltd., which was also given an NTP for a separate LNG project. No [overlapping market], otherwise we will not have approved it. It was approved because they have a different business model and they can stand and live up to their business model, Cusi said. Alena Mae S. Flores First Gen president Francis Giles Puno said the NTP was a positive development. The next phase is the selection of the contractor. The main reason for selecting the contractor is to firm up the cost of the projectHopefully, we move towards financing close, he said.Puno said First Gen was expecting to complete the partnership arrangement within the year and start the construction of the project next year. Were going through this phase now with the final design of the facility and then hopefully we make a decision on the contractor. In the meantime, were also looking at other partners that are available, he said. Puno said other foreign investors expressed interest in joining the project. For me, it improves our likelihood to be able to proceed with the project, he said. I think I can say is that were just flexible because we need to make sure it proceeds. But fortunately, its not the lack of interest from other investors. Its in a way a good position because there seems to be a lot of interest, he said. Puno said First Gen was looking at a capacity of about 3 million to 5 million metric tons of LNG depending on the shipment and the usage.
New Mexico State Police say a woman may face charges after she drove into oncoming traffic Wednesday morning and caused a multi-vehicle crash that left her unrestrained 5-month-old child dead.

State Police spokesman Ray Wilson said the baby, Osiris Castillo, died at the scene and the childs mother, a 28-year-old from Albuquerque, was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries. An Albuquerque man in another vehicle was injured in the crash. He is expected to survive.

Wilson said speeding and driver inattention on the mothers part are believed to have led to the crash and, pending the investigation, she may face felony charges in her childs death.

Alcohol does not appear to be involved, and seat belts were worn by everyone  except the baby was not properly restrained, Wilson said.

The crash occurred around 8 a.m. on N.M. 371, several miles north of Thoreau, which is along Intestate 40 between Grants and Gallup.

Wilson said the mother was headed south when, for reason still under investigation, she drove into oncoming traffic and clipped one cars side mirror before crashing almost head-on into a sport utility vehicle. The womans car then spun into an unoccupied vehicle of a McKinley County Sheriffs Office deputy, who was investigating another crash. No deputies were injured.

This case is still under investigation with the assistance of the New Mexico State Police Crash Reconstruction Unit, he said.
The New Mexico Brewers Guild has named Leah Black of Marble Brewery as executive director. She succeeds John Gozigian, who is leaving for another opportunity, according to Black.

Gozigian did not respond to a request for comment.

Black is the first woman to lead the organization in its 22-year history. It represents 75 breweries throughout New Mexico.

Theres still more men in this industry, but things are changing, said Black. Ive heard that women in Egypt were among the first brewers. We need the balance of female energy in the business.

Black will begin her new position on March 25, at which time she will leave her position as Marbles public relations and social media director to avoid any potential conflict of interest. She said that while leaving Marble is bittersweet, she is excited to leverage her skill set to increase the digital presence of the guild and its members.

Black spent more than a decade working in radio and TV before working at La Cumbre Brewing Co. Her work at Marble included both social media management and beertending, allowing her to interact with customers both digitally and face to face.

Among her other priorities: publicizing the international awards won by several New Mexico breweries and working with the organizations two lobbyists on political issues that could affect the industry.

In April 2017, Gozigian told the Journal there were 69 breweries in the state. That number has since grown to about 80, said Black.

Asked whether New Mexico is likely to reach the point of having more breweries than the local customer base can handle, Black said its true that a handful have closed in recent years for various reasons. Still, she said she is confident that there are plenty of opportunities for the industry to expand here.

I love New Mexico so much, but in some ways were still this little untapped gem in the desert, said Black. We have more room to grow.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Thursday said that despite limited financial resources, the Duterte administration would properly implement the Universal Health Care Act, to provide Filipino families proper medical treatment. Limited financial resources should not be a hurdle to getting life-saving medical treatment, medical treatment that is available... but inaccessible. Medical treatment that is available, but unaffordable. Medical treatment that is available, but beyond the reach of the ordinary Filipino family, Nograles said in a statement. In a related development:  Former Senate President and returning senatorial candidate Juan Ponce Enrile has brought attention to the financial viability of the recently-signed UHC Act, citing that funds would have to be diverted from infrastructure, education, defense, and other sectors of government spending to bankroll the program. This field must be carefully studied. Health care involves moneylots of it and from the public. It will involve the financial capacity of the taxpayers to fund a health care program, said Enrile, who previously served as secretary of Finance under the administration of then President Ferdinand Marcos. They need to get it from other present sources of revenue, so you have to reduce from infrastructure, education, or defense so you can fulfill that program, Enrile explained, adding: You have to study all of these and balance the need of the people to have income in their pockets to consume so that the economy will grow and the need of the government to provide services to the people plus investment for infrastructure.Speaking to members of the Philippine Rheumatology Association during its 25th Annual Meeting at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City, Nograles said that the concern of the President is for the welfare of the Filipino people. Build, Build, Build may be the catchphrase of the governments infrastructure program, but it could very well capture what this administration has sought to accomplish, he said. The Presidents objective is to build a society where everyone has opportunities, a society where farmers are given free irrigation and a chance to become more productive; a society where our youth can avail of free college education so they have a chance to get better jobs; a society where everyone can be assured of accessible medical treatment so that every Filipino can lead a long and healthy life, the former legislator from Davao said. Nograles, who supported the passage of the UHCA law when he was the representative of the First District of Davao, said that the government recognized that work had to be done to ensure that the objectives of the law would be met. Like any law, the positive impact of the UHC Act is contingent on the success of its implementation, he said.
CHICO, Calif. -- Chico police are still investigating how a man breached Chico Airport security Wednesday afternoon and stole a jet fuel truck.

Chico police told Action News Now the man called them an hour before the airport incident from El Paso Way and East Lassen Avenue. In that call the man said he was suicidal. When officers arrived at El Paso Way and East Lassen Avenue they couldn't find him.

Around 2 p.m. the same man called police and said he stole a truck at the Chico Airport.

When police arrived they found the man in the fueling truck. Police said he left the airfield and crashed through the security fence where officers stopped him.

"My understanding is he jumped over the fence and then he went to the business where the fuel truck is parked in front of and it's normal because they're so busy with fueling aircraft that a lot of times the keys are in there and that will be changing very soon. I've had that happen at other airports too," said Sherry Miller, Manager at the Chico Airport.

"You can't really say he was compliant, but it took a few minutes to talk to him. He was agitated. The officers did a great job of de-escalating the situation and talked him into giving up peacefully," said Chico Police Patrol Commander Jeremy Struthers.

Police said they did not arrest the man, who they are not identifying, but they did detain him. The man is being treated and receiving mental health services.

Miller said no one was hurt. The fuel truck suffered minor damage.
The BBC Crossing Divides Global Survey shows that while politics maybe a thorny issue, unlike popular perception, over half of urban Indians polled (55%) believe that it is important for them to listen to people with different views on politics, even if they disagree with them. Further, 42% urban Indians polled say that they feel comfortable sharing their political opinion with others even if they have a contrary view to theirs. India is placed fourth in the pecking order. Other three markets endorsing this view were Turkey (61%), Mexico (45%) and South Africa (43%). At the bottom of the heap were Japan (7%), South Korea (27%) and Italy (28%)  being least comfortable about sharing their political opinions.

Hold a contrary view? 43% self-righteous urban Indians believe opposers care less about Indias future. India is 2nd in pecking order. Turkey tops at 46%. Half of Indians polled (48%) tend to think that that opposers have been misled and 35% Indians feel that one should avoid conversation with them (highest across all markets). Indians realize the futility of the exercise  because 51% feel that those with opposing views even on presentation of evidence are likely to stay rigid with their opinions. 56% Indians profess to have conversations with people with opposing views on issues like politics, climate change, immigration, feminism etc. at least once a week.

Only two in ten Indians (22%) feel that peoples divisive views on politics are dangerous for the society. Majority shrug off the negative impact of the same. Poland (56%) however is most worried, while Japan is least worried (6%).

At the same time, 34% Indians feel that compared to 20 years ago, our society now is more prone to clash of views between people on politics.

Social Media  a boon or curse?

Majority of urban Indians exhort merits of social media like Facebook and Twitter  at least 68% feel that these two platforms are giving a voice to people who would not normally take part in debates and social issues. Further, 63% Indians credit social platforms like Facebook and Twitter for breaking down barriers between the public and those wielding power.

Though 64% Indians polled feel that the debates on these social platforms are quite divisive.

Immigration, ethnicity, religion  myths busted?

43% Indians hail the positive impact of immigration on India. Though 2 in 10 (20%) hold the contrary view.

53% Indians say that they are comfortable in groups of people who are like them. Though in practice, it does not hold true, our study shows.

Only 19% Indians have friends from the same ethnicity as them; only 18% Indians say that their friends are from the same religious faith or belief as them; only 25% Indians have friends with same level of education as them; only 29% Indians have friends of the same age group as them; only 16% Indians have friends with the same political views as them; only 22% Indians would have friends with same views on climate change as them; only 13% Indians would have friends with same level of income as them and only 19% Indians would have friends with same level of views on feminism as them.



A new global study by Ipsos for the BBC Crossing Divides season carried out online among adults under 65 across 27 countries captures views on how differences of views are impacting societies.

The study shows that Indians are taking the opposing views in their stride and have figured out a mature way of dealing with them by avoiding direct confrontation. Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter are a big hit among Indians as conduits enabling the common man to connect with public figures, something which has been a dream come true for them. Also, majority of Indians exhort the merits of social platforms as interactive mediums. Downside being, social platforms are denounced for being divisive though, says Parijat Chakraborty, head of Ipsos Public Affairs, Ipsos India.



Worlds Apart? Global findings

While people around the world agree there are political divisions in their country, they are split over whether these divisions are healthy or dangerous for society

Globally, while the majority of people (81%) say there are differences in peoples political views in their country, a third (33%) think these divisions are healthy for society but a similar proportion (32%) thinks they are so divisive that they are dangerous for society. Only 16% think that these differences have no major impact on their society.

People in Poland (56%) and the United States (51%) are much more likely to think these differences are dangerous for society, whereas close to half in Mexico (49%) and Peru (47%) believe they are healthy.

Britons follow the global picture, with 85% agreeing that there are divisions in society. And despite Brexit, they are more confident that these divisions are healthy for society (41%), but three in ten (31%) still think they are dangerous.

Two in five (41%) think their countrys society is more at danger because of divisions between people with different political views than it was twenty years ago; this rises to over half (57%) in the United States (57%), Sweden (57%), South Africa (53%) and France (53%). However, three in ten (29%) say that divisions are about the same as they were twenty years ago, and more so in Japan (40%), Italy (39%), Belgium (38%) and Canada (37%). Only 14% believe that society is less in danger now than it was 20 years ago. This is higher in Chile (27%), but perhaps they were still recovering from the Pinochet dictatorship two decades ago.

Half believe that its important to listen to people with different viewpoints, but only a third say they talk to others who have opposing views on a weekly basis

Half of all people (50%) say that it is important to listen to people who are different to themselves, even if they disagree with the other person, they still want to understand them  this sentiment is significantly higher in South Africa (71%) and Turkey (68%). But the study shows that in Germany (43%), Malaysia (44%), Belgium (45%) and Brazil (45%) there is less of a willingness to listen to those with opposing views.

However, despite saying it is important to listen to others just over a third (35%) of people say they have conversations with people who have opposing views to their own (on issues such as politics, climate change, immigration and feminism) on at least a weekly basis, although nearly three in five (58%) say they do on at least a monthly basis. Just one in ten (10%) say they never speak to people holding opposing views to them, while a similar proportion saying they dont know (11%).

One in five (21%) say they talk to people with opposing views on a less than monthly basis, and is higher in Canada (33%), the United States (30%) and Russia (30%). Weekly conversations among people with different views happen more frequently in India (56%) and an array of Latin American countries  Peru (54%), Argentina (49%) and Colombia (49%). Meanwhile, respondents in Japan (40%) and South Korea (34%) are more likely to say they never have conversations with people holding opposing views to them.

Around two in five say that over half of their friends have similar views or beliefs to them, in terms of religion (38%), immigration (38%), climate change (42%) and feminism (37%). However, when asked about political views, this drops to around three in ten (32%).

Politics is a thorny subject - only one in three say theyre comfortable sharing their political views with other people

Around a third (35%) of people globally say they feel comfortable sharing their political opinions with other people, including those they do not necessarily agree with them. Respondents in Turkey (50%) and Mexico (45%) are much more comfortable sharing opposing political views than average - but this is much less the case in South Korea (27%), Germany (28%), Italy (28%) and Malaysia (28%).

One in five globally (19%) say they do not feel comfortable sharing their political opinion with others at all, and this is higher in the United States (24%) and Peru (24%).

Two in five globally (41%) say they feel more comfortable in groups of people of people who are similar to them, and this is significantly higher in China (68%) and Hungary (57%), while less so in Italy (30%) and Belgium (30%).

Around half of all people say that over half of their friends share similar demographics to them, in terms of ethnicity (56%), age group (49%) and levels of education (46%). However, this drops to less than a third (30%) when discussing levels of income.

Political views are fairly entrenched; half of all people think that people with opposing views are unlikely to change their opinions regardless of the evidence presented

Around half of all people globally (49%) agree that those with opposing political views to them are unlikely to change their opinions regardless of the evidence presented (just 14% disagree). And this rises to three in five in Hungary (63%), the United States (62%) and South Africa (62%).



People are split on whether people with different political views care about the future of the country or not. Close to three in ten (28%) think that people with opposing political views to their own dont care about the future of their country but a similar proportion (31%) disagrees. Respondents in Turkey (46%) and India (43%) are much more likely to think those with different views dont care about their countrys future. However, people in the United States (39%) and Colombia (38%) are more likely to disagree that this is the case.



Over a third (36%) believe that people with opposing political views to them have been misled (19% disagree). This is particularly the case in Hungary (55%), South Africa (54%), Turkey (51%) and Colombia (50%). On the other hand, people in South Korea (31%) and Mexico (25%) are most likely to disagree with this statement.



Despite political differences, only a quarter globally (24%) think that people with opposing political views to them arent worth trying to have a conversation with, although this is much higher in India (35%) and South Africa (33%). Two in five (37%) however disagree - with those in Poland (50%) and South Korea (48%) the most likely to disagree with this statement.



A third of people globally (31%) agree that people with opposing political views do not care about people like them, with a quarter disagreeing (24%). Turkey (46%) and India (44%) were more likely to agree, while more disagreed in Columbia (31%) Mexico (30%) and Poland (30%).



However, only one in ten (11%) say that all or almost all of their friends have the same political positions to them, and around three in ten (32%) say over half their friends share the same politics. One in five (20%) they were unsure of their friends political views, which reaches over a third in France (36%) and Australia (36%).



Respondents in South Africa (20%), Russia (18%), Hungary (18%) and Peru (18%) are the most likely to say that all or almost all of their friends have the same political views as them while this is much lower in Japan (2%), South Korea (3%) and Australia (6%).



These findings link into other recent polling by Ipsos MORI, which show that nearly two in three (65%) think that people across the world live in their own internet bubble, but only one in three admit they do themselves (34%). It also reveals that three in five (60%) think that other people dont care about facts anymore, they just want to believe what they want.

Two in five Brits (38%) say that over half of their friends share the same views as them on Brexit, while only 12% said less than half do. Close to three in ten (28%) say that do not know their friends position on Brexit, which is notable given that Brexit is one of the key dividing lines in UK politics.

Social media  boon or curse? Views are mixed; it has enabled more people to join in on social debates but it has made society more divisive.

Across the world, three in five (61%) agree that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are giving a voice to people who would not normally take part in debates about social issues, and 44% agree that they are breaking down barriers between the public and people in power. However, over half (54%) believe that social media platforms are making these debates much more divisive than they used to be  only one in ten (11%) disagree.

Belief that social media is empowering people who were previously not engaged is highest  over three in four  in South Africa (78%), Mexico (76%) and Colombia (75%). Comparatively, it drops to under half in Germany (45%), South Korea (48%) and Belgium (50%).

Latin American countries are much more likely to agree that social media is breaking down barriers between the public and people in power  Colombia (67%), Peru (67%), Chile (61%)  and are joined by India (63%) and South Africa (63%). This sentiment is lowest in Hungary (24%) and Belgium (28%).

Respondents in Colombia (67%), South Africa (65%), Mexico (64%) Turkey (64%) and India (64%) are most likely to say that social media is making debates much more divisive while respondents in Russia (32%), Poland (41%) and Germany (45%) are less likely to agree with this sentiment.

Globally, more think that immigration has had a negative impact on their country rather than positive impact but the British are most positive

Around a quarter (24%) think that immigration has had a positive impact on their country compared with two in five (39%) who believe that it has been negative.

People in the UK (48%), Saudi Arabia (48%) and Australia (46%) are the most positive, but seven in ten say that it has been negative in Colombia (71%) and Turkey (71%). These findings for Colombia and Turkey are likely to reflect the fact that both these countries have recently taken in large numbers of refugees.

A number of European countries are more negative than average too  Italy (55%), Hungary (54%), France (53%), South Africa (53%), Belgium (52%) and Germany (51%).

Immigration is an issue that divides people; globally just 16% say that all or almost all of their friends have the same view on immigration as them, this more than doubles in Hungary (35%) and is much lower across East Asia - Japan (2%), South Korea (3%) and China (8%). One in five (21%) report that they dont know their friends views on immigration, which rises to over a third in Australia (36%), Canada (34%) and France (33%).

Technical Note
French skin-care brand, BIODERMA, has announced the appointment of Mr. Shanth Kumar as the Head Marketing-Digital & Ecommerce.

In his role, Mr. Shanth Kumar is responsible for building and driving digital and e-commerce strategies, both long-term & short term while also initiating digital transformation at an organizational level. Mr. Kumars experience would be highly leveraged for reimaging BIODERMAs business in the digital age as well as responding, adapting and improving the consumer experience.

With over 12 years of extensive Omnichannel experience, Mr. Kumar has been able to build his expertise in handling brand strategies for premium and luxury categories. An MBA in Marketing, Mr. Kumar has earlier worked with multinational firms like Dell India, Diageo Plc and Sebamed, where he has handled various roles. His competencies include developing and managing P&L, brand management/strategy, digital marketing, innovation, consumer insights to arrive at business/brand solutions.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Shanth Kumar, Head Marketing-Digital & E-commerce at BIODERMA says, Joining the organization gives me an unparalleled opportunity to work in a globally competitive digital environment and build a strong platform for the firm. At BIODERMA, I look forward to introducing advanced digital experiences for better decision making as well as supporting the team with robust technologies for superior organizational performance.

Shanth has been awarded as a Distinguished Leader of the Year - 2018. He was also awarded by India Book of Records - 2017 and was recognized by Tetrapak for product innovation in the Spirits industry.
In a bid to improve transparency in job search, Indeed has introduced Company Pages Premium, a tool that provides recruiters with extended control over their employer brand. Indeed Company Pages help employers communicate their brand values to jobseekers more effectively by offering all relevant details in one place, such as company description, employee reviews, photos and videos, job openings and other useful information. With the redesign, it is now even easier for job seekers to access Indeeds 100 million ratings and reviews to get detailed and specific insights on each companys culture and performance.

In this age of radical transparency, it is increasingly important for companies to be open as they bid to attract the best talent in a competitive landscape. In 2018, job seekers viewed an Indeed Company Page to research an organisation more than 1.5 billion times. This is a clear indicator that reputation and transparency go hand in hand and employers should embrace this new culture of transparency. Companies must seize every opportunity they have to share their stories and build their employer brand.

Company Pages can play a key role in enhancing a companys employer brand. On Indeed, employers can claim their employer profiles and use them to engage current and potential employees by hosting and sharing useful information. Indeed Company Pages combine employer storytelling with employee reviews and ratings on key workplace satisfaction criteria such as work-life balance, remuneration and benefits, job security, scope for career advancement, organizational culture and management, and so on, to provide insight to job seekers. Company Pages Premium provides enhanced design interface, improved branding and analytics for employers (https://www.indeed.co.in/ hire/company-pages).

The new premium offering enables employers to fast track their employer brand and offerings in the age of transparency and openness. With extensive analytics that provides insight into their potential workforce, companies can enhance their recruitment process by utilizing this service. Company Pages Premium enables employers to better understand job seekers, therefore making it easier than ever to match the right job seeker with relevant companies, says Mr. Sashi Kumar, Managing Director, Indeed India.

The Company Pages Premium update allows employers to:

 Feature customized branded content

 Show job postings to candidates based on their Indeed job searches

 Use enhanced page viewer analytics to gain insights on how the company is performing on key metrics  how does the company compare with competitors on salary? Where the company stands on work-life balance? and so on

 Filter and sort ratings and reviews by location and department

 View competitive page insights and choose tools to showcase brand strengths

 Showcase two sections  Snapshot, which provides jobseekers with an at-a-glance view of what people are saying about the company, and Why Join Us, which is a landing page that employers can completely control and customize with videos, text, photos, social feeds and company updates

 Be automatically eligible for Indeeds employer recognition awards program, Top-Rated Workplaces, which helps jobseekers identify top places to work by recognizing the best employers across a variety of categories that matter to jobseekers
Amitesh Rao joins McCann Delhi as Executive Vice President and Head of McCann Delhi.

Amitesh, an MBA from IIM Bangalore, has over 23 years of experience in advertising, client side marketing, and as an entrepreneur.

He has worked with agencies like McCann, Publicis India, JWT, Rediffusion Y&R. He has also worked with companies like RPG Enterprises and MTS India, besides having founded tech startups in e-commerce and gaming. He was till recently Executive Director at TBWA India managing the Delhi operations and additionally he was Managing Director of Nissan United India (Omnicoms integrated communications unit for

Nissan).

Amitesh will report to Alok Lall, Executive Director MWG and India Head of Advertising

Prasoon Joshi Chairman McCann Asia Pacific and CEO & CCO McCann Worldgroup India said Amitesh comes with a range of experience, a keen eye for innovation and an entrepreneurial zeal. His joining the McCann fold will add a new dimension to our valued client relationships in our Delhi operation.

Partha Sinha  Vice Chairman & Managing Director McCann Worldgroup India said, "Amitesh is a seasoned professional in both new economy and the traditional economy. In the time when the world and the country are throwing new challenges to our business, Amiteshs experience will be invaluable. McCann is well placed today to ride and navigate through changing socio-economic scenario and Amitesh will be a valuable addition to an already formidable team."

Alok Lall - Executive Director MWG and India Head of Advertising said, "Amitesh is an industry stalwart who has a wide range of experience both at the client and agency end. He has an innovative approach backed with solid strategic thinking. Most of all he is an entrepreneur at heart. I am confident he will take our operations in Delhi to greater heights and add value to our clients."

Amitesh said The industry is going through a dramatically exciting and challenging period, and I am really looking forward to be a part of the agency and team thats right in the thick of it.
Underlining its commitment towards community development and diversity, carmaker MG (Morris Garages) Motor India today signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with IIMPACT, an NGO engaged in providing quality education to the girl child through its learning centres in remote villages across the country. Under the programme, MG Motor India will adopt and support 30 learning centres run by the NGO across India.

Founded by IIM alumnus, IIMPACT aims to reach out to the girl children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Through the programme, MG Motor India plans to impart education with subject-wise classes up to 5th standard for a period of 5 years. The programme will endeavour to provide access to quality education to at least 1,000 girl children in 2019. To begin with, the programme will cover various centres in the remote districts of Haryana, Rajasthan, and Orissa.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajeev Chaba, President & Managing Director, MG Motor India, said, As part of our community development initiative and focus on gender diversity, we aim to provide quality education to girl children hailing from socially and economically underprivileged households in remote areas across India. Our association with IIMPACT will help us achieve that vision and ensure a strong foundation for a better tomorrow. As part of the initiative, we aim to contribute a certain amount from the sale of every MG vehicle to the learning centres operated by IIMPACT. The initiative also gives an opportunity to the owners of MG vehicles to contribute and support a good social cause.

Commenting on the initiative, Rema Harish, Executive Director, IIMPACT, said, We are proud to associate with MG Motor India, which is focused on diversity as a principle within its organization. Our aim is to provide access to quality education to the girl child, particularly in areas lagging in basic social services and economic development. Regional inequalities are compounded by historical social inequalities, particularly for the girl child and our program seeks to bring about social change through education. We are grateful for this partnership which will help address these issues in the specific areas.

The carmaker has launched its community connect programme focusing on health, road safety, and clean environment, even before its first vehicle hits the market. MG Motor India recently announced a partnership with TRAX NGO to train teachers and educate school students across 300 schools in Gurugram and Faridabad around road safety. Since its launch in November last year, the programme titled Road Safety and Juniors Programme has already impacted 295 teachers and 165,000 school students so far, across 257 schools in Gurugram and Faridabad.

MG Motor India is a future-ready organization that is trying to set the industry benchmarks not only in terms of a young & smart work culture, but also in terms of diversity; female employees already account for 31 percent of the companys total workforce, with plans to further increase the number of women hires in the future. With a focus on three key pillars of innovation, diversity and community, the carmaker is building a strong base for its future operations ahead of the MG Hectors launch in Q2 2019.
Mountain Dew has always saluted the spirit of risk taking, of pushing boundaries to achieve extraordinary success. Continuing with the pioneering format of biopic storytelling built on their Risk Takers of India platform, Mountain Dews 2019 campaign celebrates an exhilarating journey of real-life heroes, Gerrari Offroaders-Gurmeet Virdi and Kirpal Singh Tung who are synonymous with off-roading in India today.

The celebration of the inspiring journey of Gerrari Offroaders, is consistent with Mountain Dews efforts over the last three years, of showcasing real life heroes through its Risk Utha Naam Bana campaign. Risk Utha, Naam Bana is based on the powerful insight that greater success needs greater risks and one should always strive to break out of the ordinary.

Naseeb Puri, Director, Mountain Dew & Energy, PepsiCo India says, Mountain Dew has always celebrated the spirit of those who push themselves to achieve extraordinary results, making a name for themselves in the process. Gurmeet & Kirpal are an embodiment of the Dew philosophy of Risk Utha, Naam Bana and it is our privilege to be able to share their inspiring story with millions of Indians across the country.

Taking inspiration from the adventures of Gurmeet, Kirpal, Kabir & the Gerrari Offroaders, the Mountain Dew film is an ode to those who take risk head on and come out victorious. In the words of the Gerrari Offroaders themselves, when theyre seen as the underdogs, what they may lack in resources, they make up for in jigar. In the moment of choice, its that jigar that makes the difference between Naam & Namumkin.

According to Senthil Kumar, Creative Chief at Wunderman Thompson, Mountain Dew brings authentic and inspiring stories of real heroes using the popular cinematic biopic storytelling format. This time Hrithik Roshan shares the story of Indias first 4x4 world champions. Set amidst rainforest landscape this shoot was an adventure like no other. The journey of these men is one filled with grit and guts. This Mountain Dew film is a salute to the spirit of risk taking and the hunger to make a name inspiring the viewers to do the same.

Speaking about his experience, Hrithik Roshan, Mountain Dew brand ambassador said, The story of Gurmeet & Kirpal is truly inspiring. As movie actors, we perform stunts on screen but these guys live a new adventure each day. Their story is one of passion, risk & courage and its been my privilege to bring the story of these risktakers to the big screen.

Risk Utha Naam Bana has been consistently bringing to life, authentic stories of real-life heroes through its Risk Takers of India platform; the most recent one being the hugely successful 2018 campaign featuring mountaineer Arjun Vajpai.

The 2019 campaign too will bring alive stories of motor sporting risk takers like Aishwarya Pissay and Yuvraj Singh. It will also be supported by a scale surround program across digital, outdoor, on-ground etc. that will go deep into the heartland markets.

About Gerrari Offroaders

Members of the Gerrari Offroaders namely, Gurmeet and Kirpal were the first ever Indians to win the Rain Forest Challenge (RFC) in Malaysia in 2016. Gurmeet and Kabir won RFC India in 2017.

RFC is widely known as a sports/adventure tourism event, first launched in Malaysia on 23 Nov 1997 and since then it has attracted participants and media from around the world. The event is an extreme off-road motorsport competition that tests the contestants' driving and vehicle recovery skills, team spirit along with their physical and mental strength under extreme off-road conditions.

Agency Credits:
Around 1000 female students of the capital city got an unforgettable experience as National Geographic and Indian Navy organized an exclusive screening of Tarini, National Geographics documentary based on the historic journey of the Indian Navys sailing vessel. The students not only watched the inspiring documentary, but also got a chance to interact with the six women Indian Navy officers who are the pride of the country for creating history by circumnavigating the globe in a grueling 254-day voyage. The excitement was palpable at one of the most prestigious colleges of the city, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, as the officers engaged students with conversations on women breaking the odds to emerge victorious, as part of the National Geographics ongoing #GirlsWhoSailed initiative. The event was commemorated by Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba who was present, along with Vice Chief Naval Staff, Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar from The Indian Navy.

National Geographics Tarini - which will premiere on the channel on International Womens Day at 9 pm - chronicles the challenges and hardships the six brave officers overcame during their expedition. With the help of the documentary, National Geographic is encouraging women to break gender stereotypes. Hence as part of the #GirlsWhoSailed initiative, National Geographic earlier took the Tarini crew to interact with 1000 students amidst much fanfare at MICA College in Ahmedabad and Mount Carmel College in Bangalore.

Additionally, #GirlsWhoSailed is encouraging people across the country to share such inspiring stories of themselves or women they know. With this background, Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi (skipper), crew members including Lt. Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lt. Commander Aishwarya Boddapati, Lt. Commander P Swathi, Lt. Commander S Vijaya Devi, Lieutenant Payal Gupta, shared their stories with students about the historic voyage. Students were filled with inspiration after a 20-minute discussion, which was aimed at helping them unlock their true potential.

At the exclusive screening, Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba said, It is indeed a pleasure for me to be here today on the occasion of this special screening of the National Geographic channels documentary Tarini based on the Navika Sagar Parikrama, the first circumnavigation of the globe by an all women crew of India. The Indian Navy believes in fostering the spirit of adventure as a means of nurturing leadership qualities and developing a sense of purpose, determination, and courage in our personnel. The Navika Sagar Parikrama was envisaged in consonance of this philosophy of challenge and spirit of adventure.

Vartika Joshi, Lieutenant Commander and lead, Tarini Crew commented, There are bound to be hurdles that one has to face while achieving a dream. Many a times these hurdles would back you down and may make you believe that its unachievable. Courage, however, lies in sailing beyond these hurdles, holding on to yourself and rising up even when you do not have the energy, even when your surroundings look murky. Despite all odds, the challenges, the stereotypes, there are a few who choose to look beyond the societal mind sets about gender, etc. and make them a non-factor in the way to achieving their dreams. Hence, we are grateful to National Geographic for extending support with the #Girlswhosailed campaign and giving us a platform to encourage women, while showcasing a story of our own

Commenting on the launch of the documentary Tarini, Gayatri Yadav, President -Consumer Strategy and Innovation, Star India, said, It is rightly said that fortune favours the brave. The courageous Tarini Crew has not only made the nation proud by successfully circumnavigating the globe on their historic mission, but has also inspired millions of women and men across the nation. National Geographics initiative, #GirlsWhoSailed, salutes the crews mission, and we feel privileged to be able to tell the powerful story of their courage, grit and determination. With our documentary and initiative, we want to celebrate each and every woman who has conquered barriers and stereotypes to achieve her dreams.

From harsh seas, stormy conditions to extreme cold temperatures, National Geographics Tarini chronicles the journey of every difficulty the vessel faced during the incredibly inspiring expedition known as Navika Sagar Parikrama. On September 10, 2017, the all women crew of INSV took off from Goa to set a milestone of circumnavigating the globe. The grueling 254-day voyage, which included touching five countries, crossing the equator twice, sailing across four continents and three oceans, completing more than 21,600 nautical miles, ended with the crew returning home on May 21, 2018.

Tarini will premiere on National Geographic at 9 pm, on March 8, 2019. It will also be available on Hotstar.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers challenges electoral candidates to stand with the education sector and fight for an agenda that will address the most pressing issues of the sector and of the nation. The 2019 elections relevance lies on whether it will bring meaningful change for the people, the group said in a press statement. ACT said: We urge candidates to join us in the just fight for SWELDO, which embodies the meaningful change education workers and the rest of the people need and deserve: S  alary Increase W  elfare and Benefits E  ducation and Social Services L  abor Rights and Lasting Peace D  emocracy and Pro-people Development O  wnership and Sovereignty The midterm elections come at a time when people suffer from high prices due to imposition of additional taxes, record-high unemployment rate, waning local production with the threat of import influx, and increasing rates of poverty among Filipinos.Unrest is an inevitable consequence of the dire economic conditions in the country, with more people continually seeking substantive changes, it said. Such is the case of teachers and education workers who have mounted bigger demonstrations to protest lamentable conditions of teachers and of the whole education sector. Act said: Various forms of protests and lobbying efforts have been launched to further their fight for decent and livable salaries, as well as for sufficient budget for education and other social services. Education workers and advocates have joined other sectors in calling for the junking of TRAIN Law, for the protection and upholding of labor rights, for genuine agrarian reform, for the defense of our territories against foreign invasion and exploitation, and many other united call of the Filipino people. These just demands, however, have been met with repression and political persecution by the Duterte administration. The state has launched attacks aimed at stifling dissent and political expression, effectively compromising peoples democratic rights. It has utilized and weaponized the entire bureaucracy in its war against the rising Filipino people in the guise of its counterterrorism campaign. The clear targets of such are known vanguards of democracy, truth, and integrity in the countryteachers, journalists, lawyers, church workers, among others.
Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Incredible India organized a Tourism and Travel Tech Conference on 6th March, 2019 with the theme Shaping the future of Travel in India. The conference touched upon key aspects of the Travel and Tourism Industry such as Building the Tourism Ecosystem, Disruption of Digital Travel and Technology- enabled Travel experience. Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Dhruv Shringi, Co-Founder & CEO, Yatra.com said Travel and Tourism Industry has emerged as one of the major contributors to Indias GDP. It is flourishing at a rapid pace and is poised to become a USD 50 billion industry over the next few years. In fact with the growth of disposable incomes and travel expense, India will witness 20% growth in the number of air travelers. 

It is however pertinent to note that the tourism industry is execution oriented hence the operators need to focus on enhancing operational efficiencies in order to capture the opportunities in this industry. Mr. Shringi added.

Prominent speakers at the conference included Mr. Neeraj Singh Dev - SVP & Head Ecommerce, Thomas Cook, Ms. Ritu Mehrotra- Country Manager India, SriLanka and Maldives, Booking. Com, Mr. Abhijit Mishra-Diector, India and Middle EAST, kayak, Mr. Aloke Bajpai-Co-founder & CEO, IXIGO, Mr. Amit Madhan- Group President IT & E-business, ThomasCook India, Mr. Nikhil Ganju- Country Manager, TripAdvisor, Mr. Sanjay Mohan CTO MakeMyTrip and Co-Chair, IAMAI travel tech committee, Mr. Amanpreet Bajaj - Country Manager, Airbnb, Mr. Amit Damani,- Founder, Vista Rooms and Mr. Kadamjeet Jain  co-founder, Treebo Hotels

All the speakers were unanimous in their view that for travel and tourism industry to really flourish in India, it is really important that all the stakeholders including industry both offline and online and the government join hands to create an atmosphere or frictionless travel. Tourism and travel industry is one of the biggest employment generators and hence it is important that the bottlenecks are removed at the earliest, to be able to contribute to the growing Indian economy.
by John Stone

Since November I have been writing, on and and off about my correspondence with Dame Sally Davies, the out going Chief Medical Officer of England, and to the British Government. This correspondence is now published under Freedom of Information (barring my address and telephone number). It began when I asked Dame Sally to support her comment on the BBC about MMR "It's a a safe vaccine - we know that".

Recently, I made this list of points which I believe emerged from the exchange:

- ASD in schools is at least 15 times the level of 25 years ago

- 1.74% of all schoolchildren in the recent Northern Ireland census (the most complete data we have at the present time) had a severe/complex level of ASD disablement (education Stage 5)

- The overall rate is 2.9% for the province but 4.7% for Belfast

- Epidemiologists trying to explain the rise in ASD at the beginning of the millennium were still only talking about a rate of 0.2%

- 1999 National Statistics for schools mental health showed a rate of 0.2% for ASD/PDD for those born between 1984 and 88 but by the 2004 survey the overall rate was 1%

- The rate appears to have risen 5 times during the years following the introduction of MMR and 3 times since, and the majority of cases are not fringe diagnoses

- There is still no robust or adequate evidence of a large ASD population over the age of 35 and Dame Sally was unable to cite any

- Our schools, and their finances, are breaking down under the burden of disablement, with ASD being frequently mentioned as the major cause

- The social cost of ASD, once almost invisible, is set to outstrip old-age in the near future and is only likely to keep rising

- There is no robust or adequate evidence base for MMR safety: the six studies in the single review cited by Dame Sally were flawed and inadequate

- The first of these studies was only published 14 years after the products were introduced in the UK, and Dame Sally failed to cite any pre-marketing data, so the question also arises what the evidence base was for safety before they were introduced?

- The MHRA yellow card scheme would be incapable picking up long term neurological effects of vaccination

- The government has no coherent or convincing explanation of these events which are set to engulf everybody

A pdf of the correspondence can be read and downloaded here.

John Stone is UK editor of Age of Autism.
AoA links to Lyons-Weiler's review of the new paper by Hviid:"



An Autopsy on Hviid et al. 2019s MMR/Vaccine Science-Like Activities

JUST IN TIME to be sandwiched between two one-sided Senate Hearings, a new cohort study by Hviid et al. has all of the hallmarks of a completely well-done study. Well done as in overcooked. Here is my initial assessment.

The burnt ends on this brisket are obvious. Just like all the past studies on the MMR/autism question, the study focuses on one vaccine. This is a problem because the variable they call genetic risk (having an older sibling), which is the most significant variable, is confounded with health user bias (there is no control over vaccine cessation). Its an important variable, but genetic risk of what? Of autism? Or of autism following vaccination? Its impossible to tell because the study never tests a VACCINE x FAMILY HISTORY interaction term. Or any other interaction term that includes vaccines.

Were it not such an imporant question for which so much science-like activities have occurred, we could just shrug our shoulders, one could argue that defining the data analysis strategy is just about how one like to season their meat. But there is real evidence Hviid (who did the data analysis) appears to be up real data cookery here.

(1) The smoking gun is the study-wide autism rate of 0.9-1%. The rate of ASD in Denmark is 1.65%. Where are the missing cases of ASD? Given past allegations of this groups malfeasance and fraud, the rest of the study cannot be accepted based on this disparity alone: the study group is not representative of the population being studied.....(continue reading at JamesLyonsWeiler.com)
No one was allowed into the HELP Hearing. They clogged the halls.

On Tuesday, five white men met to discuss the vaccination status of a nation of 327,000,000 men, women and children of every race, creed and color. They met to discuss removing medical choice by imposing federal vaccine mandates. We had hoped one of the white men would be Robert Kennedy, Jr to balance if not the demographics, then to balance out the position of 100% pro-vaccine mandates. To discuss why exemptions are necessary in a free nation where each citizen has medical rights and a unique biological status.



Watch the hearing here.

More than 500 (majority) women moved heaven and earth to get to Washington, DC to watch the hearing. These are women with vaccine injured children, most of whom have autism. It takes an act of Congress (ha ha) for us to leave the house for any sort of business trip. And there they were. BARRED from entering the open seats in the hearing room.



"Jane Crow" laws in action. Back of the hall, ladies. The new Green Book will be where an un- or not fully vaccinated child can attend school, or day care or where parents can work.



We scare the white men in the hearing seats. Even the youngest man there, an 18 year old who defamed his own Mother and took his Percy Weasley moment in front of the cameras. Imagine a hearing on abortion where women are not allowed to participate. Imagine a hearing on breast cancer where women are not allowed to have a voice. This hearing affects MOTHERS - because we take our kids to the pediatrician as a rule. WE stay home on sick days. WE call early intervention when our toddler stops talking. Women. And yes, most of us are white, by the demographics of the USA. MeToo has nothing for us. We and our children will be pillaged for pharma gain at the whim of the men. With a nation cheering the event.



We are lighthouses. And they are tearing us down as they head for the rocks. Kim






The axiom holds that history is written by the victors.

But history is complicated, especially in the modern era of fake news.

Thirty years ago, the Soviet Unions nine-year invasion of Afghanistan ended in defeat. Today, though, Russian President Vladimir Putin is repackaging" that defeat as a patriotic victory, noted The Washington Post recently, pointing to a resolution passed by the Russian parliament declaring that the war was justified. The Post noted that while makeovers of history are not uncommon in many countries, Russias remaking of the Afghan war narrative is among the most comprehensive and systematic of such historical revisions.

Helping to muddy the historical water was U.S. President Donald Trump, who, noted The Atlantic, recently mischaracterized the Soviet pullout while attempting to explain his own policy toward the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

The real history of the Soviet invasion was grim: During Russias nine-year war in Afghanistan, at least 1 million Afghans and 15,000 Soviet soldiers died. Afghanistan was devastated, its agriculture was ravaged, and one-third of its people fled and became refugees, noted The Post, adding, Soviet citizens at the time were bewildered and privately furious about the officially imposed silence and mounting casualty toll  all while the state was collapsing.

The reality of the Soviet defeat was captured by photographer Viktor Khabarov. Now 67, Khabarov was a major in the Soviet military, working among the troops as a photographer in Afghanistan, noted The Post, which recently featured his work. In early 1989, he was working around the USSRs border with Afghanistan as the Soviet army prepared to withdraw. Khabarov and a colleague raced across 300 miles of Afghan terrain in search of great photos before Soviet troops stopped them from going further. Everyone was leaving, and we were trying to get back in, Khabarov told The Post.

That ended up being some of the best photography I took in Afghanistan, said Khabarov.

Whatever current leaders say, Khabarovs images stand as historical evidence of the ignominious end of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Khabarov, noted The Post, was one of the last Soviets to leave the country, walking out by foot on the final day of the withdrawal

Meanwhile, The New York Times recently spotlighted work by Farshad Usyan, an Afghan photographer who has been capturing everyday life in his country after 16 years of Americas war there.

Usyan, noted The Times, put his medical studies on hold in 2013 to begin work as a photographer for Agence France Presse. His eldest brother, Qais had supported the family working for the wire service. When his brother died, Farshad took up photography to help support his mother, three brothers and his sister-in-law. But, noted The times, a passion for the medium grew when, like Qais, he realized it provided a way to convey the aspirations he had for change in Afghanistan.

The Atlantic also recently spotlighted the work of a news service photographer, Mohammad Ismail of Reuters, who has been documenting life today in Afghanistan  focusing on a young people who are war-weary and ready for peace. When President Trump declared recently that he wanted to withdraw U.S. troops from the country, these young Afghans also faced an uncertain future in which the Taliban might regain some level of power through peace talks.

For young people who were babies when the Taliban were driven from power by a U.S.-led campaign in 2001, the prospect of peace with the hard-line Islamists brings a daunting mix of hope and fear, Ismail told The Atlantic.

For villagers in rural Afghanistan, where traditional ways have always counted for more than central government law, life may not change much, noted Ismail. But for the young of Kabul and other cities, there is much to lose, in particular the freedoms restored after the Taliban were oustedfrom playing music to modeling and adopting trendy haircutswhich theyve grown up with.

__________________________

At top: From Viktor Khabarov
Mississippi-based photographer Rory Doyles ongoing project Delta Hill Riders challenges the stereotype of the American cowboy. The series, which began in 2017 when Doyle attended a rodeo in Greenville, Mississippi, celebrating cowboy heritage in the region, documents an African-American subculture that has been underrepresented, notes the PrintSpace gallery of London, where the work is on view through March 26. (See more at The Guardian.) Doyle notes that after the Civil War, one in four cowboys were black.
Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier?

Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop.

Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News

Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time.

Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up!

Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page.
The Sandiganbayan has reset to March 14 the resumption of trial of former Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr.s for the 16 counts of graft charges leveled against him over his alleged role in the pork barrel scam. The anti-graft courts First Division postponed Revillas hearing Thursday pending receipt of a formal authority from the Supreme Court to conduct the proceedings at the Sandiganbayan premises. Revilla, who is running to regain his Senate seat in the May elections, was acquitted of plunder after the prosecution failed to prove he pocketed public funds amounting to P224.5 million. However, Revilla is still facing 16 counts of graft in connection with the transactions done with Napoles non government organizations when he is a sitting senator.Revillas camp was also asked by the anti-graft court division to comment on the prosecutions motion that he owes the government millions of pesos due to his dismissed plunder case. The court believes Revilla is still allegedly liable, along with plunder convicts businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and lawyer Richard Cambe, to return to the government some P124.5 million. Earlier, the prosecution said the Sandiganbayan ruling purportedly did not specify Revilla if free of any civil liability after he was acquitted from plunder case last December.
US administration talking points no longer exclude the Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK) as a potential replacement for the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Al-Monitor has learned.

Removed from a State Department list of terrorist organizations in 2012 after an expensive lobbying campaign, the MEK is understood to be widely reviled inside Iran as a leftist Islamist cult that sided with Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. The group advocates the overthrow of the Iranian government and the elevation of Maryam Rajavi, the wife of MEK founder Massoud Rajavi, as the new leader. She lives in exile outside Paris.

Top officials close to the Donald Trump administration  including national security adviser John Bolton and Rudolph Giuliani, the presidents personal lawyer  have taken tens of thousands of dollars in fees from the MEK and its front organizations over the years to speak before rallies that promote Maryam Rajavis leadership ambitions. Just last month, Giuliani told a pro-MEK rally in Warsaw, Poland, on the sidelines of a US-organized Middle East conference that Irans leaders are assassins and murderers who should be overthrown and then replaced by Rajavi.

In the past, State Department talking points have said that the United States believes that the MEK is not a viable political alternative for Iran. But that line was changed just before the Warsaw conference last month.

We have said in the past, and say it now, that the Mujahideen Organization has no place among the people of Iran, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Stickney told Deutsche Welles Persian-language channel as recently as September.

Asked this week if the MEK is now on a list of acceptable alternatives to the current government in Iran, a State Department spokesperson would not rule it out.

"We support the Iranian people. We have had many opportunities to engage the large and vibrant Iranian diaspora to hear many diverse views about the future of Iran, the spokesperson told Al-Monitor. As President Trump has clearly stated, the United States wants to see a free and prosperous future for the people of Iran. We do not back any specific Iranian opposition group; rather we back the Iranian people as they struggle to secure the freedoms and dignity they deserve."

Officially, the Trump administration insists that its policy on Iran  quitting the nuclear deal last year and reinstating harsh sanctions  is meant to compel the Iranian government to change its policies, particularly on regional intervention. But the hawkish views of individuals such as Bolton and the rhetoric used by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicate that the real goal for many in the US administration is regime change.

On the 40th anniversary of the Iranian revolution, Bolton tweeted a harsh video message to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, telling him, I dont think youll have many more anniversaries to enjoy. Pompeo has chastised European governments for seeking to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal despite continued Iranian compliance, as has Vice President Mike Pence.

Newt Gingrich, a veteran Republican politician who is close to the Trump administration, sought guidance from the Justice Department last year about whether he needed to register as a lobbyist for a foreign political party that appears to be the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the name for the MEKs political front. In January, the NCRI hired Robert Joseph, a former undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, to lobby for it for $15,000 a month. Joseph replaced Bolton at the State Department under the George W. Bush administration.

The MEK, whose name in Farsi means Peoples Holy Warriors, came into existence as a guerrilla group that sought the overthrow of the US-backed shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It was responsible for numerous acts of violence, including the assassination of six Americans in the 1970s, and supported the 1979 revolution. The group broke with the Iranian government after the revolution when it lost out in a struggle for power to supporters of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Massoud Rajavi fled first to Paris and then to Iraq, where Saddam Hussein gave the group refuge. The MEK fought against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, earning the enduring enmity of most Iranians. The government executed thousands of jailed followers of the MEK in 1988 after members of the group in Iraq entered the country following Irans acceptance of a UN cease-fire.

Over the years, the MEK has paid tens of thousands of dollars in speaking fees to former US officials from both the Republican and Democratic parties. Its sources of funding are a mystery. In the current environment, the group clearly sees an opportunity to find favor among those hoping that sanctions will weaken and destabilize the government in Tehran.

Some backers of regime change, particularly in the Iranian diaspora, have looked toward the son of the late Shah as a more plausible substitute for the Irans theocratic government. However, Reza Pahlavi made clear at an appearance late last year at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that he doesnt see himself as a replacement for the current Iranian leadership but simply someone who could play a guiding role after that regimes fall. He spoke today at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

At the Washington Institute, Pahlavi also appeared to reject any role in a post-Islamic Republic Iran for the MEK. The continuing problem we have, or you can see with the MEK, is that they have yet to agree to work with democratic forces, he said. Maybe its because by doing so theyll lose the integrity and control of their structure.
CAIRO  Based on a vote by the majority of parliamentarians, parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal referred Feb. 25 a bill amending Law No. 49 of 1972 on the organization of public universities to the parliamentary Education Committee for further examination. A vote on the bill is to be scheduled following the issuance of the committees report on the bill on a date that is yet to be determined.

Al-Monitor learned from parliamentary sources that the proposed amended Article 189 would read as follows: A public university shall dispose of and manage its own funds, including the establishment of national nonprofit universities or branches, solely or in partnership with the private sector in accordance with Law No. 162 of 2018. The disposition and management of the university funds and accounts shall be subject to the provisions of the financial and accounting regulations issued by a decision of the minister of higher education after taking the opinion of the University Council and the approval of the Supreme Council of Universities.

Nonprofit universities are not free as students pay education expenses and univerisity costs, which include staff salaries, water and electricity fees, building maintenance expenses, and so on. The board of trustees of each university determines this amount under the supervision of the Central Auditing Organization.

Under Law No. 49 of 1972, public universities were not allowed to establish nonprofit universities or branches; the proposed bill would allow them to do so. This issue has raised controversy in Egypt with many wondering what would push the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and public universities to establish national nonprofit universities, and how would these universities affect free education at public universities.

Egypt has six private nonprofit universities: Nile University, Egyptian E-Learning University, Zewail City University of Science and Technology, French University of Egypt (UFE), Workers University and Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology.

A student at UFE told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The establishment by public universities of national nonprofit universities or branches is an investment or a business. This is a project that allows the state to reap financial gains in general, even if the established university does not make direct profits.

He added, The state collects taxes, customs and social security contributions from citizens in order to provide free education services. What if the state collected all of these levies but offered education services at their cost without making a profit? Wouldnt this be a business activity? The state would be collecting the taxes and not offering free education. This would turn the collected levies into profits since they would not be spent on education.

A member of the parliamentary Education Committee has a different opinion. He told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that tax revenues are allocated to several services such as security, public facilities and development of roads  not only university education. The Egyptian budget is still registering a deficit that reflects on the budget allocated to university education, he said.

He noted, The state is committed annually to providing free education to 3 million students in public universities, of whom about 750,000 students prefer private or nonprofit education. The establishment by public universities of nonprofit universities under twinning agreements with international universities aims to encourage more affluent students to enroll in nonprofit education instead of free public education, thus reducing the deficit of the university education budget.

He added, The state spends about 4% of its gross national product [around $2.3 billion] on university education and scientific research, which is higher than the 2% set in the constitution. A country with a budget deficit cannot make a profit from or invest in nonprofit universities. Establishing this type of university aims only to reduce the deficit while ensuring good education services.

Article 21 of the Egyptian Constitution of 2014 obliges the state to develop free university education in state universities and institutes. It adds, The state allocates [for this purpose] a percentage of the government expenditure that is no less than 2% of the gross national product.  The state shall encourage the establishment of nonprofit universities.

Mohsen Mansour, a lawyer before the Constitutional Court, told Al-Monitor that the constitutional text is clear. Article 21 of the constitution prohibits the state from establishing any universities that are not free, even if these universities collect only education costs without reaping profits, he said.

However, Sami Hashim, head of the parliamentary Education Committee, disagreed, saying, The establishment by public universities of nonprofit branches is not contrary to the constitution or the principle of free admission to public universities. Nonprofit branches will be established under a partnership or twinning agreement with international universities and will not be fully owned by the state or the government. No international university could be persuaded to twin with an Egyptian university without receiving tuition fees in return.

Mahmoud Alwan, another lawyer before the Constitutional Court, told Al-Monitor that Article 21 provides that the state shall encourage the establishment of nonprofit universities and guarantee the quality of education offered by nonprofit and private universities and their compliance with global quality criteria.

He said, The fastest policy to achieve this is that government universities establish nonprofit branches in partnership with international universities capable of upgrading Egypt's education to the global level.

He pointed out that the public universities where the state is bound to guarantee free education are universities completely owned by the government or the state. Universities established in partnership with international universities are not subject to state control and policy alone, he added.

Mohamed Khalil, former undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, told Al-Monitor that the principle of free education is not wrong but has been misused in Egypt since 1952. He said that free education, and in particular university education, is a type of support offered by the state to those who cannot afford it.

After the revolution of July 23, 1952, public university education in Egypt became free.

In light of Egypts limited education budget allocations it is difficult for the state to provide free education to all citizens, Khalil said. The state is required on an annual basis to spend billions to increase the space and capacities of free public universities to accommodate the growing number of students amid a steady increase of around 2.5 million per year in Egypts population.

He explained that the best strategy, in this case, would be to reduce the number of students enrolled in free public universities by establishing more nonprofit universities in partnership with international universities. This strategy must be applied in tandem with improving elementary school education and linking secondary or specialized education to the labor market so that students are not necessarily required to get a university education to find a job, he added.

Khalil noted that the state ought to launch more awareness campaigns about the need to join the labor market when finishing secondary school. Many Egyptians still refuse to break the norm of completing university education before getting a job, he concluded.
CAIRO  Turkey and Egypt, rivals for influence in the Middle East and Africa, are trading insults once again.

On Feb. 27, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly criticized Turkey's president, who had described Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisis regime as totalitarian for executing nine people.

On Feb. 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said he would refuse to meet with Sisi  though he hadn't been invited to  and added that the Egyptian judiciary lacks integrity.

Relations between Ankara and Cairo have been tense for years, since the Egyptian army toppled Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohammed Morsi after a wave of popular protests against his rule in 2013. While Cairo considers the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, Turkey hosts many of the organizations members and considers it peaceful.

In late 2013, Cairo expelled Turkish Ambassador Huseyin Avni Botsali and reduced the Turkish diplomatic representation, prompting Turkey to do the same.

During the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16, Sisi alluded to the Armenian massacres saying, One hundred years ago, Egypt welcomed the Armenians after the massacres they were subjected to. They arrived to Egypt where they found security, peace and stability.

Sisis statement, which angered Turkey, came as the debate between Turkey and France around using the term genocide was at its peak. Although Turkey acknowledges the killing of many Armenians in 1915 under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, it challenges the number of victims and refuses to use the term genocide.

Although the tension between Egypt and Turkey isn't new, it's intensified during the past couple of years as Sisi works to restore Egypt's regional power and authority. Their competition for influence has been evident, especially with the latest request from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) addressed to Egypt.

On Feb. 17, the Kurdish-led SDF asked for Egyptian intervention as a counterplan to the buffer zone Turkey wants to establish at the Syrian border. Riad Darar, co-chairman of the Syrian Democratic Council (the SDF's political arm), told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Coventry, England, that the council is trying to arrange a visit to Egypt because it considers Cairo a potential safety net against Turkey's threats. Cairo, however, has yet to respond to the requests.

Turkey views the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), the main SDF component, as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which it considers a terror organization.

Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt has built up its ties with Cyprus and Greece. The three countries have agreed on the demarcation of maritime borders since 2013. Sisi also has met with Greek and Cypriot leaders more than seven times since he took power. The latest meeting came during an October tripartite summit held in Greece where the leaders discussed maritime security in the Mediterranean and petroleum excavation.

Tension has been brewing among Turkey, Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean amid attempts to invest in natural gas. Greece supports the internationally recognized Cyprus, while Turkey backs what it calls the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Last year, Turkey rejected the legitimacy of a maritime demarcation deal signed between Egypt and Cyprus in 2013. Turkey has banned Cyprus from conducting petroleum and gas excavations in the Mediterranean. This is what pushed Egypt to warn Turkey in February 2018 against tampering with its economic rights in the Mediterranean.

Tamer al-Shahawi, a member of the Egyptian parliament's Defense Committee, considers the regional power race between Egypt and Turkey to be one of the most pressing matters at this time. Shahawi, who is also a former intelligence officer, told Al-Monitor that Cairo has been isolated from regional leadership since the Egyptian revolution in 2011 and is now trying to re-establish its authority.

Turkey has tried to block Egypt from the regional equation, he said. The Turkish president has on several occasions asked the international community to boycott Egypt, calling Sisi an illegitimate tyrant.

Shahawi explained that Sisis allusion to the Armenian genocide was a reminder of how dangerous Turkeys expansion could be. He pointed out that after Egypt carried out the nine executions, Erdogan denounced the EU for attending the first Arab-EU summit, held Feb. 24 in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Shahawi added, We are trying to have regional allies, to re-establish our regional influence. He said that, in addition to Turkey and Egypt, the regional power extends to Iran and Saudi Arabia. He believes Saudi Arabia doesn't have the kind of political and military elements needed for general regional influence, as Egypt does.

Egypt rejected Turkey's intervention in Syria. Cairo is unlikely to get its military involved even if the Kurds ask for it, Shahawi added. Yet he didn't exclude the possibility that Cairo would offer political cooperation with the Kurds, as long as it serves Egyptian national security.

Mohamed Orabi, a member of the Egyptian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, believes Cairo considers Turkey a greater threat than Iran.

Orabi, a former foreign affairs minister, told Al-Monitor that Turkey seeks to restore the Ottoman Empire and that Egypt is the only country that can impede this plan, as it has one of the regions strongest armies and the largest Muslim population in the region. Orabi added that even though the Arab world doesn't support Turkey's expansion dreams, Egypt still finds them concerning.

The presence of Turkish forces in Iraq, Syria and Qatar, Orabi said, comes at the expense of Egypts power in the region. When it comes to military intervention, Orabi stated, Egypt will not be implicated in any tactic. It would only get involved at a greater strategic scale.

He noted that in 2017, Turkey opened a military base in Somalia, a country Egypt considers part of its national security plan.

Orabi said Turkeys recent provocation of Egypt regarding the Arab-EU summit is a sad attempt to smear Cairos international reputation after Turkeys failure for years to become an EU member state.

Bashir Abdul Fattah, a researcher at the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, highlighted the timing of Turkeys remarks. The comments came soon after Egypt succeeded in holding the Mediterranean Gas Summit on Jan. 14 and hosted the first Arab-EU Summit on immigration and anti-terrorism policies.

Egypts capacity to successfully hold such summits earns it international trust, while Turkey is losing all the expansionist ideas it has bet on," Abdul Fattah told Al-Monitor.

He noted that Egypt has also negotiated several truces between Syrian factions through direct dialogue with the opposition and the government. Meanwhile, Turkey hasn't achieved any advances with the Kurdish factions.

There is a competition on regional roles, and every advance Egypt makes is considered a point of failure for Turkey," he added.
Iran's state broadcaster is currently airing "Last Station of Lies," a controversial documentary series that claims to reveal the truth about outside forces seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

Part two of the series focuses on Amad News. Founded in 2015 by Ruhollah Zam, an exiled journalist based in Paris, Amad News has long been demonized by the Islamic Republic, cast as a news source that incites violence and promotes regime change through the dissemination of fake news. Amad News operates across a variety of platforms, including Telegram, the most popular social media network in Iran.

The documentary includes video chats between Zam and a "source" inside the Iranian government, who provides Zam with detailed but fabricated information. This source is actually an agent working with Iranian intelligence to entrap Zam. In the chats, the agent offers Zam insider information in exchange for intelligence on leaders of various foreign-based anti-Iran opposition groups, whom Zam is in close contact with.

Amad News has long been a thorn in the Iranian government's side. It devoted special coverage to the nationwide protests that broke out in Iran in late 2017 and early 2018, sparked by economic grievances. The news outlet relied on amateur videos, which it said were submitted by subscribers. Amad News also said that many of its reports were based on intelligence from informants inside the Islamic Republic.

Amad News claims it has deep influence among Iranian authorities, as well as access to classified information. It previously released documents alleging that a daughter of Sadegh Amoli Larijani, the powerful outgoing head of the judiciary, had spied for the UK government. Iranian authorities have vehemently denied these reports, insisting that Amad News' stories are baseless and intended to only draw a bigger audience. They accuse Zam of working for "the CIA, Mossad and several European intelligence organizations."

During the December 2017 and January 2018 protests, the Iranian government said Amad News was engaged in sabotage, provoking protesters to bring down the regime. In one case, Amad News' Telegram channel showed protesters how to make Molotov cocktails to attack the police.

The documentary now reports it has uncovered Zams links with a wide spectrum of foreign-based Iranian opposition groups, including monarchists, senior members of the Green Movement, and Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, which was removed from the US government's terrorist list in 2012.

The bulk of the documentary focuses on a fake regime-change plot dubbed Cyrus II. The Iranian agent seemingly dupes Zam into reporting on Amad News that an unnamed person will travel to Iran via Israel to restore the monarchy. The story was later relayed on Amad News, word for word, and rapidly went viral, with many opposition figures claiming they were "Cyrus II," the would-be ruler of Iran.

Amad News has dedicated much of its coverage to envisioning alternatives to the Iranian establishment. This includes reinstating a constitutional monarchy, with exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last king Mohammad Reza Shah (who was ousted in 1979), in power. However, Zam has lately been at odds with Pahlavi. In the documentary, Zam suggests that Pahlavi is unfit to govern, stating that he is not open to criticism and would execute opponents if he were to gain power.

Zam, 45, reacted with defiance to the documentary. Zam, whose father is a cleric with a long history of culture-related public service in Iran, insisted that the agent had been assigned to assassinate him outside the UK Embassy in Paris. "But the conspiracy was neutralized," he said, "thanks to my vigilance and that of my advisers. The French government has also been kept fully informed throughout the entirety of the case."

Following the January 2018 protests, Iran's minister of information and communications technology officially requested Telegram to remove the Amad News channel due to its promotion of violence. Telegram approved the request. However, Amad News found its way back, with a new name: Seday-e Mardom, or Voice of the People. It did not take long for Amad News to gain back the subscribers it had lost.

It's unclear whether the Iranian public sees Amad News as a reliable news source. Amad News has capitalized on an information vacuum in Iran, given its lack of private news networks that challenge the state. Amad News' target audience desires information and analysis from sources whose narratives oppose those of state media. Many have blamed the Iranian state broadcaster and its lack of professional coverage for the quick rise of Amad News.

A former member of the Islamic Students Association, a Reform-leaning movement in Iranian universities, tweeted, "Now the time has come for a documentary to be made on why Zam could sell the Iranian audience all that nonsense while our domestic media, enjoying whopping financial support, are losing viewers on a daily basis. That new documentary should be dubbed 'the collapse of the publics trust.'"

Another user responded that Amad News has a lot in common with Iran's hard-line state media: "Despite the good start, Amad News has long been on a downward trend  because the type of journalism [it practices] resembles that of [ultraconservative daily] Kayhan. But since Amad News is viewed as an opposition outlet, many still keep it [on their phones].  Sometimes you feel too embarrassed to forward the stories, as they carry too many slurs."
The Sandiganbayan Third Division has denied the motion to dismiss the case filed against Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. in connection with the alleged P900-million Malampaya fund scam. In a 28-page resolution dated March 6, the anti-graft court said it would be unfair for the prosecution to dismiss the case against the lawmaker now without a full-blown trial. The arguments and/or allegations of the prosecution, as well as the arguments and/or defenses of accused-movant Andaya Jr., should all be heard by the court at an opportune time, or at the time which they are required to submit their respective pieces of evidence, the court said. Andaya and his several co-accused said in the case, including detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, and 22 others are facing 97 counts each of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents. They were accused of diverting P900 million from the Malampaya funds allocated by the Department of Budget and Management to the Department of Agrarian Reform in 2009 and in the process using 12 Janet Lim Napoles-led non government organizations as conduits to the alleged fraud. Andaya, who was then Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management, allegedly released the funds through the Agrarian Reform department. In his motion, Andaya described as fatally defective the charges of 97 counts each of graft and malversation through falsification filed against him as his accuser failed to show how he participated in the scheme. Maricel V. CruzAndaya also said his mere approval of the special allotment and release order and the notices of cash allocation worth P900 million, intended for relief operations and rehabilitation of areas affected by Tropical Storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng between 2009 to 2010, were part of his duty as then-Budget and Management secretary. He also belittled the issue of conspiracy in his case, calling it a bare allegation that lacked specifics on the persons whom he allegedly conspired with. But the Sandiganbayan said the facts against Andaya were sufficient in form. Matters of evidence and other details, i.e., the facts supporting the ultimate facts as well as the finer details of why and how the crime was committed, do not need to be alleged in the information, the Sandiganbayan said. Jurisprudence holds that all conspirators are liable as co-principals regardless of the extent and character of their respective participation because, in contemplation of law, the act (of) one is the act of all, it said. Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang penned the resolution, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Bernelito Fernandez and Ronald Moreno.
Excluding spending for state-owned enterprises, the Iranian governments proposed budget for the coming fiscal year (beginning March 21) is set at 4,700 trillion rials ($111.9 billion). The education budget, which covers the expenditures of elementary to upper secondary schools, amounts to 458 trillion rials ($10.9 billion).

While public spending has risen by 40% overall in the proposed budget, the educational systems allocated resources have only increased by 28%. However, in comparison to other state entities, the increase in educational spending has been notable. Administration officials attribute the difference to President Hassan Rouhani's considerations for education.

Yet spending on education remains at an average of less than 10% of the budget. The highest proportion was seen in the final year of Reformist President Mohammad Khatamis administration (1997-2005) and the first year of conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads administration (2005-13), at 15.2%. Since then the figure gradually decreased, reaching 7.3% in the final year of the conservative presidents rule.

With the election of Rouhani in 2013, the share of spending on education in the budget gradually increased, reaching above 9%. But despite this increase and particularly in the next Iranian fiscal year, education in Iran still faces extensive financial issues, prompting yet another round of teacher strikes. Given the enormity of the problems, the current trend does not appear promising.

The Education Ministry has been struggling for more than a decade with a growing budget deficit. Parliament member Hamidreza Haji Babaee  who served as minister of education in Ahmadinejads second term  puts the deficit in the current Iranian year at 50 trillion rials ($1.19 billion). For the next Iranian year, he expects another 80 trillion rial deficit ($1.9 billion), for a combined 130 trillion rials ($3.09 billion), almost a third of the ministrys total budget. Even if the government sets the official exchange rate at 57,000 rials per dollar from March 21, as expected, the projected total deficit by March 2020 will stand at a whopping $2.28 billion.

The deficit has had a direct impact on the performance of the Education Ministry  the largest government ministry in Iran  limiting its ability to address its growing problems.

One of these issues is public access to education. While Iran has experienced major strides in this respect since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, there is still a long way to go to make education accessible to all Iranians. According to official data, access to education is 99% at the elementary level, 94% at the lower secondary level and 82% at the upper secondary level. Some experts argue that these estimates are high. Even taking the available data at face value, it is evident that more spending is required to achieve the goal of making education fully accessible to all Iranians at all levels.

Comparatively low teacher salaries are another major challenge. A crucial pillar of any high-quality educational system is its teachers. As a consequence of the financial difficulties faced by Irans education sector, teachers have experienced and expressed discontent for decades. The situation has further deteriorated with the reimposition of US sanctions on Iran, which have not only hit state finances directly by impacting oil export revenues but also led to a major increase in consumer prices due to the depreciation of the rial.

Teacher salaries are low in comparison to those of other state employees. The average annual income of Iranian teachers in the current fiscal year stands at 324 million rial ($7,714). To address the pressures faced by teachers and other state employees, a fixed 4 million rial ($95) wage increase and a 10% raise on top of that amount has been proposed by lawmakers. However, even then, the annual salary of an Iranian teacher would be far below the average of $23,000-27,000 in neighboring Turkey. One of the causes of teacher protests during the last two decades has been this wage gap. Yet, regardless of his promises to pay more attention to such issues  and despite the proposed wage increases  Rouhani has not addressed teachers demands in a satisfactory manner. As long as these demands are not met, it is evident that high-quality education will remain out of reach.

The budget deficit and resulting financial difficulties have created other challenges. For instance, middle and lower-level managers in education have in effect gotten the green light to accept and rely on funding from students' families to run public schools. Furthermore, using the budget deficit as a justification, consecutive administrations have pursued an effective privatization of education, even though Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution has a clear emphasis on providing free education through upper secondary school.

While the implementation of privatization schemes by past administrations was pursued in a fairly covert manner, this process has rapidly advanced since Rouhani took office in 2013. Unlike previous officials who ostensibly sought to impede informal payments by families to public schools, ministers of education in Rouhanis cabinet have been trying to formalize these payments. Although there is resistance among civil society and some governmental institutions, the difficult domestic and international conditions  including the unfavorable economic situation  have paved the way for greater privatization of education. Of note, the privatization process under Rouhani has not been limited to the establishment of private schools but also includes selling or renting public schools to the private sector, increasing the working hours of formally employed teachers, hiring more teachers on short-term contracts, increasing the retirement age as well as buying educational services from private actors.

Although lawmakers possess the power to increase educational spending in the budget for the next fiscal year, past experience indicates that such a move will not bring it above 10% of the budget. Given the current economic circumstances in Iran as well as US pressures, there is little hope for effective change. Yet even a moderate increase in educational spending could solve some issues while curbing the exacerbation of others. As such, it is hoped that the parliament will in the short term increase the spending on education in the public budget as much as possible, and in the longer term, approach it in a way that shields students from the fiscal deficits burdening the educational system.
As Iran's parliament debates whether or not to join the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)  a global organization that develops policies to combat money laundering  recent developments indicate such a move on the part of Tehran would be good news for the state of Israel.

Pressure from the FATF recently forced the Pakistani government to ban a terror-related organization (Jamat-ud-Dawa) as well as a financial organization with terrorist links (Falah-e-Insanyat Foundation). According to the same report, six Pakistani banks and 109 bankers are being investigated by Pakistani authorities for opening fake bank accounts. What is even more interesting is that Pakistan is not a FATF member, but a member of Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG). However the prospect of being moved to FATFs blacklist has motivated it to take stringent action. Iran is currently not a member of any anti-money laundering or terror-financing-prevention treaty. Lawmakers have been debating whether to join the FATF and its associated agreements. So far, two parts of the FATF agreement have been approved by Iranian authorities. However two other requirements, namely joining the CFT (Combating the Financing of Terrorism) and the Palermo Convention (the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime) still need to be approved by the Expediency and Discernment Council.

There are numerous advantages for Israel if Iran joins the FATF. By joining, Iranian banks will be under what will be unprecedented international scrutiny. This will make it more difficult, although not impossible, for Iran to transfer money to terror organizations whom Israel considers as its enemies, such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Additionally, Iranian membership in the FATF would weaken the financial strength of the Iranian hard-liners, who have always called for a more aggressive foreign policy in the region. Such weakening would likely to come as a result of regime-affiliated economic institutions such as various bonyads (foundations) and various companies owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps finding it more difficult to hide their financial transactions  something they have allegedly done for smuggling activities, money laundering and to avoid paying taxes.

Shadowy regime-affiliated companies that do not answer to the government play a very important part in Iran's economy. Mohsen Safayee Farahani, a member of the Reformist organization Jebhey-e Mosharekat (Participation Front) and a well-known executive with experience in several industries, told Khabaronline that 65% of Iran's economy is in the hands of 120 organizations and foundations over which there is no state control. He said that 50% of Iran's GDP is in the hands of such organizations, in which he includes Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's own Bonyad Setad Ejraiye Farmane Emam (Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam). Hitting the balance sheets of shadowy regime foundations and companies by making it more difficult for them to take part in tax avoidance and money-laundering activities would also be good news for Israel, as it could damage these organizations' leverage within Iranian politics. Hitting Iranian smugglers in their pockets would be also be welcome news to Israel as smugglers have played a leading role in sanctions-busting activities.

Shadowy regime economic organizations are very worried about the damage that the approval of all FATF-required conventions (particularly Palermo and the CFT) could cause damage to their activities, especially money-laundering schemes. This was demonstrated by the fire and fury shown by hard-liners to comments made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Nov. 12 about Irans major money-laundering problems. Zarif is one of the most senior Iranian politicians to publicly address this issue. Majles parliamentarians who have been debating whether Iran should join the Palermo convention have received anonymous threats, with one member stating he had received more than 100 death threats. A member of the Expediency Council, Majid Ansari, also received a death threat.

On the other side of the coin, there are also downsides for Israel if Iran joins the FATF. First and foremost, as stringent its obligations are for transparency, and as unprecedented as they would be (if accepted) for Irans financial system, they are not foolproof. Shadowy Iranian organizations could come up with new ways to hide their transactions, and to launder money. The regime and its affiliate organizations have access to an army of cyber experts and specialists who could help them hide their transactions through the creation of secret parallel financial systems. Additionally, such organizations have the support of Irans most powerful man  Khamenei. According to a 2013 Reuters investigation, Khamenei's foundation was estimated to be worth more than $90 billion. Therefore he would have every reason to want to avoid financial transparency. And when it comes to dispatching money to organizations such as Hezbollah, Israeli intelligence says Iran is reported to be smuggling missile GPS kits to the organization in suitcases by car and even via passenger aircraft. Sending money in suitcases would be even easier. And if Iran joins the FATF, it could come up with even more ingenious ways to avoid detection in such circumstances.

Despite the downside for Israel if Iran joins the FATF, the upside is much better. Hitting Iran's shadowy state organizations in their pockets through the FATF would be of much benefit to Israel.

And if in the end Iran refuses to join the FATF, that will also have advantages for Israel as the Islamic Republic would be shooting itself in the foot. This refusal would cause the small number of foreign banks who are still taking the risk of doing business with Iran to cut off relations. Some Iranian estimates say this could cause more severe damage to Iran's economy than the Trump sanctions.

This makes it appear that, for once, when it comes to Iran, Israel is facing a win-win situation. A rare occasion indeed.
One enduring aspect about former Reformist President Mohammad Khatami  whose presidency ushered in one of the more liberal eras in modern Iran  is that he has remained committed to voting in the Islamic Republic despite his many setbacks. Through the numerous challenges of his presidency presented by the judiciary and security forces, the disputed 2009 elections and a de facto media ban on him in the country, Khatami has repeatedly believed in the process of voting in Iranian elections. Even in the 2012 parliamentary elections when many Reformists discussed boycotting, Khatami ultimately voted.

All the factions and major power centers in Iran often urge a large voter turnout, believing that it gives legitimacy to the government and allows them to represent the people. The 2017 presidential election had a 70% voter turnout, in large part due to Khatamis call to vote for Hassan Rouhani. However, with his latest meeting with the Reformist faction of parliament, Khatamis enthusiasm for the ballot box seems to have waned as he publicly questioned calling for Iranians to vote once again. Today I am encountered with this question from the people: You encouraged us to go to the ballot box. Show me one instance that was in the direction of true reforms? Khatami said to his audience. Has the judiciary and the way they confront people become better? Can we have a presence in a healthy private sector? Has the behavior that has put us at a large foreign impasse been reformed? Or has there been healthy resistance to this behavior?

Khatami continued, It is now very hard to tell people to vote. Do you think that in the next election people will go to the ballot box based on our words? It is unlikely, unless there are transformations within the next year.

He added, Unfortunately [and in line] with the desires of some domestic currents, disappointment in our society is in a state of growth and the falling out [of votes] from Reformists will not go in to the basket of the rivals of Reformists, but will go into the basket of regime changers.

It was these lines above that caught the most attention online. One journalist at Reformist Shargh Daily tweeted wryly, When Khatami is more hopeless than us  Journalist Masoumeh Naseri, who is outside of Iran, tweeted a similar sentiment, Khatami too has finally lost hope.

Other Iranians expressed surprise that people had only approached him regarding the judiciary and not corruption among Khatamis own Reformist friends. Are peoples question of Khatami really about why the judiciary has not become better, tweeted Iranian writer Bahman Daroshafaei, as did some others. People dont ask him why the parliaments and the administrations performances are such as they are, [or] why Reformists are not that different than their rivals when it comes to corruption and other questions like this.

Khatami assessed that Iran is in an extremely difficult situation. He said that as a result of the current crisis in Iran, it will increase the mistrust of the people toward the government and society, and this mistrust will turn into hopelessness. He added that the current situation is the result of some of the policies and directions, which should be reformed.

Khatami said there are problems both in structure and incorrect behavior. Despite these problems, he added, Even if Reformists have criticisms, they are within the government," warning, The danger is that people will become disappointed in the current situation. Khatami said that the government must become reformable and flexible so that with reforms within the government the disappointments are eliminated.
The selection of a design for the new Beirut Museum of Art building marks an important step forward for women in the Middle East and in the Lebanese cultural scene. In December 2018, the museum announced that the winning design was from WORKac, a New York-based firm co-founded by Beirut-born architect Amale Andraos.

Andraos, currently the dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, co-founded WORKac with her partner, Dan Wood. The museum design developed by WORKac will sit atop a section of Beirut that was once part of the Green Line, the demarcation point between various factions of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990).

"We are confident that WORKac's design will create an inspiring space for our visitors, exhibitions and programming," Joe Saddi, executive president of the Board of Trustees of BeMA (Beirut Museum of Art), told Al-Monitor. He added, BeMAs core mission is to be a site of dialogue and discussion among diverse communities in Lebanon, an aim that is both expressed philosophically and concretely facilitated through the porous surface and staggered galleries of WORKacs design.

The new museum is a democratized space and features a honeycombed exterior that also seems to invoke the muqarnas  a type of ornamental vaulting found in traditional architecture across the region. This allows the building to feature more than 70 balconies, some of which will be open to the public and others that will serve as working spaces. The building will feature 2,700-square-meters of dedicated exhibition space to present the work of contemporary artwork from Lebanon and artwork generated by Lebanese in the diaspora.

The inviting vertical promenade will offer a site for programming as well as accessible public space connecting seamlessly with the cityscape, Saddi said, adding, Inside the museum, sight lines between gallery spaces encourage audiences to recognize connections across modern and contemporary works.

Andraos was born in Beirut in the early 1970s. She left Lebanon for a life that would take her everywhere from Saudi Arabia to France. After attending McGill University in Montreal, she earned a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She also worked in the Netherlands for celebrity Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas at the Office of Metropolitan Architecture.

Despite the traveling and the turbulence of the Lebanese civil war, Beirut remained home and the subject of her intellectual curiosity. Earlier in her academic career, she also taught at the American University of Beirut.

BeMA is a culmination of many ideas we have explored through architecture about the city.  My thesis as a student was also on Beirut  the site of which was downtown  and explored the tensions between the sites past, present condition and projected future, she told Al-Monitor.

WORKac's design for the new Beirut Museum of Art building in Beirut, Lebanon (WORKac press release)

Despite  or because of  the destruction of much of the city, Beirut has served as the unlikely incubator for some of the most interesting architects in the Middle East.

There is no shortage of projects that invoke Lebanons tragic past, often through dark humor. The most well-known, perhaps, is Bernard Khoury, whose haunting B018 night club doubles as a mausoleum to the civil war and just underwent another upgrade this year. Another Lebanese architect, Salim Al-Kadi, has developed a number of interesting buildings but is probably best known for developing a bulletproof keffiyeh in 2016. The wounds of that conflict can still be seen in the bullet holes on many walls and shells of once-grand structures around downtown Beirut. However, Andraos  working closely with her husband and the rest of her team  have designed spaces with a more uplifting vision of humanity from a new community library in New York to a conference center in Gabon.

The wounds of the Lebanese civil war are still there, and today, new difficulties have been layered unto those. No single project can undo those, but the museum will contribute to sharing a longer history, she said of the conflict that cost as many as 150,000 lives  most of them Lebanese.

The aftermath of the Lebanese civil war was one landscape she had to navigate; the other was being a woman in a challenging field.

It is still surprisingly difficult to operate as a woman in architecture, especially within contexts where there are very few of them who are visible," Andraos said.

Despite the larger number of creative Lebanese architects, there have been few opportunities for women in Beirut and elsewhere in the country of 6 million. An important milestone occurred in 2014 with the completion of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs building on the American University of Beirut (AUB) campus.

Zaha Hadid, who died in 2016, designed the building. Born in Baghdad in 1950, she rose to become an unlikely architectural star the world over who broke some informal barriers to women in the industry. Hadids design for the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, was the first art museum in the United States designed by a woman.

Her legacy and its extent is still to be fully understood, and as we uncover more and more women who were visionaries in their time, redefining what architecture and design meant through an expanded field of practice  from the Bauhaus to artists and architects who are finally being acknowledged today  we will be able to open up new models of practice not only for women, but for everyone with a desire to engage the built environment and the lives it holds," Andraos said.

Hadids building on the AUB campus also holds a bittersweet distinction. It stands closer to her native Iraq than any other project completed during her lifetime. That dream may be fulfilled posthumously, as Hadid designed a plan for a new Iraqi parliament building and a towering new Central Bank of Iraq building. The status of both projects remains unclear at this time, however.

The Beirut museums link to the Lebanese civil war demonstrates one of the core competencies of WORKac  namely, the reimagined spaces that were once off limits. For example, the architecture company once redesigned a 1-kilometer (0.6 miles) section of Hua Qiang Bei Road in Shenzhen, which was also a project to reimagine of what had once been a gritty industrial area of the Chinese city.

The firms New Holland Island Cultural Center Masterplan seeks to repurpose a space of historical St. Petersburg, Russia, that was once a Tsarist military installation and was off limits to the public for 300 years.

In her work and practice, Andraos continues to deconstruct barriers in cities around the world and build new identities. It is a great moment for women in the field in general, and we are making strides, Andraos said.
CAIRO  The Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter launched a military campaign in the Libyan south on Jan. 15 to secure oil fields and eliminate criminal gangs.

On March 2, the LNA announced it had taken full control of southern Libya after taking several cities and oil fields like El-Sharara and El-Feel. The moves angered the rival Presidential Council of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli. Chairman of the GNAs Presidential Council Fayez al-Sarraj accused the LNA of seeking political gains by expanding its area of control.

In a phone interview with Al-Monitor, Misbah Douma, a member of the Tobruk-based parliament representing Sabha, one of the main cities of the Libyan south, revealed the latest details of the LNA activities in the south and his position on the accusations directed at these activities.

He also discussed the concerns about clashes between some southern tribes and the LNA, especially after the Toubou tribe accused the LNA of exploiting tribal rivalries and Sudanese opposition forces in this cleansing. Toubou is among the main tribes of the south and inhabits the border between Libya, Chad, Sudan and Nigeria. Its members are estimated at 2 million and are believed to originate from Chad.

Al-Monitor: The situation in South Libya flared up recently after the LNA launched, on Jan. 15, the operation to cleanse the south and control the areas under the rule of criminal gangs and terrorist groups. What is your take on this operation? How is the situation in the south now?

Douma: The operation is long overdue, and the LNA has received a warm welcome from the people, who want nothing more than security and safety, given the increased activity and control of terrorist, criminal and foreign gangs in the region. We must underline that the successive governments in Libya served only their own interests and offered no meaningful support for the south or its citizens to fight Chadian and Sudanese insurgent gangs. When the LNA forces came along, the people in the south stuck with them. It is because of this solidarity that the operations are ongoing and have reached the southern Libyan borders to cleanse the south of criminal gangs and terrorism.

Al-Monitor: Sarraj said that the LNA operation in the south is intended to achieve political gains. The LNA soldiers were accused of raiding opposition members houses. How true are these accusations?

Douma: Sarraj is well aware of the situation in the south and the violation of Libyan sovereignty as well as the chaos on the borders. Since he took office [in 2015], we have spoken to him in our capacity as representatives of the cities of the south to support us. But his hesitation to appoint a commander of the military region confused the situation in the south.

I believe Sarrajs statements about the operation reflect concerns about loss of authority and expansion of the LNA's power. His concerns are not related to the interests of the southern inhabitants who are happy with the LNAs actions.

Some tribes in the south announced that they would not protect criminals among them because they believe in the steps of the LNA in the south. The government has the legal right to arrest any criminal. Any person abused illegally by the army can sue his abuser, as is the case in the rest of the world.

Al-Monitor: There are concerns among the Toubou tribe and the GNA that a civil war might break out in the south due to the LNAs actions. Did the operation breed a conflict between the army and social components and tribes in the region?

Douma: Whoever has concerns must voice them and discuss them with the LNA to receive guarantees and reassurance. As members of parliament of the Libyan south, we are ready to handle this issue and forward it to the LNA, which has the countrys best interest at heart.

However, whoever is obstructing the LNAs work and threatening the security of people and the nation will be stopped. But I have not in fact heard about these concerns. The real concerns involve criminal foreign gangs ongoing violation of Libyan sovereignty and borders after controlling several southern regions and turning them into hotbeds for terrorist, criminal and mercenary groups that tightened the noose on the Libyan Sahara. These groups get their funding from the drug trade, illegal migration, fuel smuggling and kidnapping citizens in exchange for ransom.

Rumors about a possible civil war are far from the truth. As representatives of Libyans, we will not accept unjust abuse of any social component in the south. At the same time, we will not allow transborder tribal extensions to desecrate Libyan territories in their attempt to twist the states arm and naturalize foreigners from neighboring countries with the force of arms. Most tribes of the south have familial extensions in countries like Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Mali and Algeria. Although they are our relatives, they should come to the south as honored guests, not as foreigners carrying arms against Libyans. They should respect Libyans in their country.

Al-Monitor: In its Feb. 9 statement, the Toubou tribe accused the LNA of exploiting rival tribes and Sudanese opposition forces in the southern cleansing operation. What is your take on these accusations?

Douma: This question is for the LNA, not me.

Al-Monitor: The GNA Presidential Council decided to appoint a military leader for the Sabha region, Ali Kenno, who announced he would fight the LNAs actions in the south. What is your take on this decision? How did it affect the situation in the south?

Douma: The decision of the GNA Presidential Council to appoint Kenno as leader for the Sabha region is just talk and has no real impact or power over the course of action of the LNA.

Al-Monitor: The LNA announced its control over El Sharara oil field Feb. 6 and El Feel oil field on Feb. 21.  The head of the National Oil Corporation said on March 4 operations will resume in El Sharara field. Will these developments impact the Libyan economy?

Douma: The situation is stable thanks to the wisdom of the Tuareg tribe and Ubari citizens who support the LNA. They realize that the armys control of El Sharara oil field will have a positive impact on the Libyan economy.

Al-Monitor: What are the main challenges and problems facing south Libya? What do you think are the best solutions for these crises?

Douma: The main problems in the south include the absence of an executive state and representatives, leading to a lack of services. The south is lost between the GNA based in Tripoli and the interim government in Al-Baydaa.

After the LNA entered the south, the interim government took control because the army recognizes it but does not recognize the GNA. The interim government is suffering from a lack of resources because the GNA is confiscating everything, as the international community recognizes it. Therefore, a unity government must be formed, and a prime ministers office in the south must be created and granted privileges. Offices for vital ministries should also be opened in the south.

The second problem in the south is the southern borders, where chaos is rampant, and Sudanese and Chadian groups are taking advantage of the situation. Organized crime, abductions and murder are on the rise due to the lack of security.

Al-Monitor: How did the parliament deal with the crises in the south and with the citizens suffering?

Douma: At first, I voiced my approval of the political agreement in Al-Sukheirat in 2015 that resulted in the formation of the GNA. I thought it would be a united government, but the rift only worsened and now Libya has two governments.

Then, we noticed the GNAs sole attention to Tripoli and its neglect of the south. Even its offers of services to the south, like spending 1 billion Libyan dinars ($721 million) on the south in December 2018, were just talk. The interim government decided Feb. 14 to spend 200 million dinars ($144.2 million) on services in the south. But the amount was not enough because the south is large and in need.

Al-Monitor: Why did you call for presidential elections to preserve Libyan unity?

Douma: Presidential elections are necessary to protect what is left of the state due to political conflicts. People should have the final say in deciding their rulers.

Al-Monitor: You called for presidential elections to protect Libyas unity, but UN special envoy to Libya Ghassan Salameh said Feb. 3 that a date for elections will not be set before a settlement is reached. What do you make of Salamehs statements about the elections? Why do you think elections at this stage are important?

Douma: Salameh is not well informed about the Libyan situation, the problem of most UN envoys who came to Libya. Salameh must realize that the interim phase always bears corruption and chaos, and only elections can put an end to that and unite governments. They would give the Libyan people an elected president, a recognized government and a united army and budget distributed fairly among Libyan cities.

Al-Monitor: Sarraj met on Feb. 28 with Hifter in Abu Dhabi, and they agreed on the need to hold elections. What is your take on this meeting?

Douma: In order for any meeting between Sarraj and Hifter to succeed, a timetable [for elections] should be announced and all parties must abide by it. Elections should produce a national unity government and pave the way for a constitutional referendum. The Abu Dhabi meeting will only succeed if intentions are translated into reality. We do not measure success based on statements.

I also see the need to elect an interim president in light of the chaos and failure of the Presidential Council to manage the country. The people are yearning to cast their vote. There is also a need to unify the state institutions, including the Central Bank of Libya, which has two branches  one in al-Bayda affiliated with the interim government, and another in Tripoli affiliated with the GNA. The interim president would be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, a position that is a source of dispute in the talks on unifying the Libyan army. Sarraj and Hifter have yet to agree on a candidate for the armed forces commander-in-chief. This is why elections are the solution to this problem.

Al-Monitor: How will the elections be held amid battles in the south and sporadic clashes between armed groups in Tripoli?

Douma: The Libyan people cant wait to cast their votes in the ballots. They realize the division has impacted the economic situation. Saying that the elections cannot be held due to clashes and spread of weapons is an exaggeration. Those who want to remain in power are using this excuse to stall. If we succumb, we will never have elections. Libya is like any state facing terrorism and it has an army fighting for it.

Al-Monitor: What are the future possibilities for the Libyan crisis? What is the best-case scenario?

Douma: The best-case scenario is holding the presidential elections as soon as possible. People want an elected president to handle the tasks of the armed forces chief of staff, to work on facing chaos, terrorism and criminal groups and to protect Libyas sovereignty and secure the borders. Any other scenario would breed more division and chaos. Libya needs to put an end to the transitional phase it has been enduring.
RAMALLAH, West Bank  Amneh Baagour's career as a mosaic artist started seven years ago when her daughter, a post-graduate art student, rejected Baagour's offer to help her daughter with her projects. Today, the works of the 67-year-old autodidact mother and her academic daughter, Kinan el-Rubaie, are often displayed side by side in exhibitions.

Baagour makes mosaics. Rubaie, an artist with a Ph.D. in art education from Egypts Helwan University in Greater Cairo, uses various media such as photography to clay. Together they have held a number of joint exhibitions, including one in Cairo in 2013 and the Phoenix Exhibition in Palestine in 2016. Both love to use Palestinian symbols such as horses, fish, eyes or olive branches in their works.

Baagour has been interested in crafts ever since her childhood in Lebanon's Beddawi refugee camp. She was born into a family of Palestinians evicted from Jaffa in 1948; the familys means were small, and toys and books were rare. She was taught to sew at the refugee camp. She also learned embroidery and even how to cut hair, thanks to a teacher at the camp who worked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

When Baagour turned 18 in 1970, she got married and left the camp to live with her husband in the southern Lebanese village of Chebaa, where they had four daughters. They then lived briefly in Tunisia and returned to the Gaza Strip in the 1990s after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.

Baagour participated as a young woman in various embroidery exhibitions organized by the Union of Palestinian Women in Lebanon, but her interest in mosaics did not start until she was well into her 60s and living with Rubaie in Greater Cairo so that Rubaie could study at Helwan University.

As part of her academic projects, Rubaie had to make mosaics at home; her mother offered to help by cutting the pieces of glass and stones. Baagour decided to have a go on her own after her daughter rebuffed her offer.

My mother watched me as I worked on the mosaics. Then she tried on her own, and her creations were dazzling and far better than mine, Rubaie admitted to Al-Monitor. Mosaics are a difficult and painstaking form. It requires a great deal of mental effort and care, as you need to bring [together] minuscule pieces to develop color schemes, shading and depth. Small pieces of glass or stone contain a lot of color grading [and take] a lot of time and effort to arrange. Cutting pieces into squares and shapes also results in small wounds. So, many artists go for an easier type of art.

Baagour said she learned a lot from her daughter. I not only learned how to make mosaics, but I also spent time sifting through books and attending exhibitions and seminars with my daughter. When her friends used to come over for a visit and talk about art, I listened carefully. What I did not understand, I asked my daughter.

Baagour's favorite pieces are her "Architectural Mosaic, which depicts the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and her first creation, the Colorful Horses Mosaic.

Her love for Palestinian symbols is also shared by her daughter, whose Ph.D. was on the use of the cultural symbols in Palestinian womens garments. Rubaie also works on mosaics occasionally, but she is a multidisciplinary artist and her recent works range from calligraphy to oil paintings. Rubaie has participated in many group exhibitions in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Palestine. She has held two solo exhibitions: Dreams like Windflowers" at the El Sawy Culture Wheel in Cairo, and Return of Migratory Birds at the Young Artists Forum in Ramallah.

Baagour says ensuring the production of high-quality mosaics is difficult because some of the materials  from glass to grout  are difficult to find in Gaza. Although mosaics are part of the Palestinian heritage, she says there is very little official support for this art form.

Despite all the hardships, Baagour has managed to participate in 30 art exhibitions in Egypt and Palestine over the past few years, representing her country locally, internationally and in the Arab region. She has also received several awards, including in the Spring Salon in Egypt in 2010 at the El Sawy Culture Wheel; the 2016 Phoenix Exhibition, a joint exhibition with her daughter in Ramallah; and the 2010 group exhibition "Saturated Souls" by artists of the International Foundation for Arts and Culture in Cairo.
Saudi Arabia's $200 billion public investment fund has signed a New York public relations firm to try to distance the fund from the country's embattled crown prince as it seeks to overhaul the kingdom's oil-based economy.

The fund's managing director, Yasir al-Rumayyan, signed a $120,000-a-month contract with KARV Communications on Feb. 16, according to newly uploaded lobbying filings. The firm is tasked with providing investor and public relations advice and counsel by providing outreach and relationship-building to various stakeholders in business and the media.

Tellingly, the first communication goal listed in an appendix to the contract is to create a clear distinction between the fund and its investment-driven mission and the political leadership in Saudi Arabia. This may prove a tough sell with Prince Mohammed chairing the investment fund, while Saudi ministers make up six of the remaining eight board members.

The Saudi public investment fund (PIF), launched in 1971, passed from the Saudi Ministry of Finance to the Prince Mohammed-chaired Council of Economic and Development Affairs in 2015. Under his leadership, The PIF shifted its investment strategy from being a silent shareholder of major companies in Saudi Arabia to new investments in global technology firms, said Robert Mogielnicki, a resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

The change in institutional oversight of the sovereign wealth fund, the structure of the funds board and its new investment strategies suggest that the crown prince is playing central role in the PIF, Mogielnicki said. Vision 2030, considered the brainchild of the crown prince, likewise describes the PIF as the engine behind economic diversification efforts in Saudi Arabia. Thus, it will be a difficult task to draw a clear distinction between the PIF and the political leadership of Saudi Arabia.

Other priorities for the contract with KARV include enhancing the reputation and image of the fund and its senior executives while underscoring the business-only purpose and focus of fund; to build trust and improve relations with key international stakeholders such as current and potential investors and portfolio companies, business leaders and media; and to ensure the fund is well prepared for any potential negative developments and future external scrutiny that it may encounter.

KARV Communications will be providing strategic communications counsel to the Public Investment Funds Managing Director, Yasir al-Rumayyan, and his professional senior management team as they work to identify new international investment opportunities, KARV founder and President Andrew Frank told Al-Monitor in an emailed statement.

The hire comes as Saudi Arabia  and its investment arm  is still reeling from the fallout from the Oct. 2 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Prince Mohammed, who had been heralded as the youthful face of reform during a triumphant tour of Washington, Wall Street and Silicon Valley in the spring of 2018, has become persona non grata in all three places.

Days after Khashoggi's death, dozens of Western firms bailed on Prince Mohammed's Davos in the Desert investment conference, despite a strong showing of thousands of executives and investors. Two months later, The Wall Street Journal reported that several Western executives had left the fund, with one allegedly complaining that the fund was dominated by the crown prince. The prince oversees Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 program, which seeks to reduce the country's dependence on oil revenues.

But the KARV contract paints a different picture about decision-making.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) receives money from the Saudi government, and the Board of PIF consists of senior government officials, in keeping with standard Sovereign Wealth Fund best practices, says the firm's lobbying filing with the US Justice Department. There is a separate professional investment committee within PIF that oversees its investment decisions.

Recently, the fund has once again been garnering positive attention. CNN reported last month that the PIF plans to open offices in New York, San Francisco and London with the goal of increasing its assets from $224 billion to $400 billion by 2020. It also aims to increase staff from 450 currently to 700 by the end of the year and up to 2,000 by 2025.

"We're hiring people from all over, from Saudi, from the region, from all over the world," Rumayyan told CNN, contradicting The Wall Street Journal report of a Western exodus.

In addition to KARV, the fund has been represented in the United States by Akin Gump since March 2018. A contract with Gladstone Place Partners was terminated Oct. 11, 2018, days after Khashoggi's murder. KARV separately lobbies for the UAE emirate of Ras al-Khaimah on investment issues and other matters; the contract dates back to 2013.

Mogielnicki said the fund will have to make changes if it wants to be seen as truly separate from the ruling royals.

Most sovereign wealth funds in Gulf Arab states lack transparency, audited statements and clear investment policies, Mogielnicki said. This has led some outside observers to question the linkages between government figures and sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf. Greater transparency of investment policies would help to assuage concerns that sovereign wealth funds, like the PIF, are being managed effectively.
ANKARA, Turkey  Turkey has brushed off Americas threat to renege on the sale of F-35 fighter-bombers if Turkey goes ahead with its purchase of the Russian S-400 air-defense missiles.

Turkey buys anything it needs and nobody can intervene, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said today. If we need S-400s, we will buy them.

His remarks came a day after US State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters of the consequences of Turkeys acquiring a Russian weapon that is not compatible with NATO systems. We have clearly warned Turkey that its purchase of S-400s will result in a reassessment of Turkeys participation in the F-35 program and risk other potential, future arms transfers to Turkey as well as lead to potential sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, Palladino said.

The 2017 law, which is intended to punish Iran, North Korea and Russia, prohibits other countries from trading with the Russian arms industry.

Today the US presidential envoy for Syria, James Jeffrey, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Palmer concluded two days of negotiations with the Turkish government in Ankara. A major goal of their visit was to persuade Turkey to cancel its purchase of the S-400s and instead buy the American air-defense missiles known as Patriots. But Turkey has been reluctant to accept the US offer, apparently because it contains no transfer of technology  a key element desired by the Turkish arms industry.

In his remarks to supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Balikesir, Cavusoglu came close to insulting the State Department envoys and spokesman, saying the Turkish government was not concerned about what US officials say.

What concerns us is what [President Donald] Trump says about this because the interlocutor of our president is Trump, Cavusoglu said.

The foreign minister did not address what Turkey would do if the United States cancels the delivery of the F-35 aircraft. He did not even mention the F-35s, according to media reports.

Instead he seemed to be addressing the domestic audience, stressing that Turkey is an independent country that follows its own path.

If there is a need, we will buy from whomever we want, Cavusoglu said.

He also pointed to the fact that some NATO countries already have Russian air-defense systems. If the Americans have a problem with Turkeys purchase of S-400s, he asked rhetorically, Why arent they looking at NATO members that have S-300s? (These include Greece and Slovakia.)

In a separate news item today, the respected daily Cumhuriyet devoted its main story to the bizarre case of a state lawyer who had led the prosecution of a major newspaper, Sozcu, and rose to become chief prosecutor of a large town  despite having been convicted of bribery and abuse of office 17 years ago.

Prosecutor Asim Ekren seemed to have lived a charmed life since his crime in 2002. His sentence was reduced twice, and his conviction seemed to have been forgotten as he was steadily promoted. However, in December, days after he took office as chief prosecutor of Buyukcekmece, a town outside Istanbul with a population of 380,000, somebody in the Justice Ministry stumbled on his previous conviction. He was demoted to ordinary prosecutor in a regional court.

Cumhuriyet wrote: We tried to phone Ekren, but we could not reach him no matter how hard we tried.

Ekrens story began when he was a prosecutor in the remote, southern province of Osmaniye in 2002. According to Cumhuriyet, he interrogated two men charged with sexually abusing a child. After ordering their detention, he visited them in jail and offered to close their case if they bought him a Renault Clio and gave him a certain sum of money.

The newspaper reported that one of the accused complained to the Ministry of Justice. Osmaniye Criminal Court 1 convicted Ekren of corruption and abuse of office. It sentenced him to one years imprisonment, a fine and suspended him from the civil service for three months.

Later a court reduced his sentence to 10 months imprisonment, a fine and suspended him from the civil service for two months and 15 days. The newspaper said the judge decided to be lenient on the grounds that the bribe had not been paid.

A third court reduced the sentence further by canceling the prison term and ordering Ekren to pay a fine and serve a suspension of two months and 15 days. The Supreme Court confirmed this sentence on Sept. 23, 2004, Cumhuriyet reported.

The Justice Ministry assigned Ekren to Karabuk, a town on Turkeys northern coast, and in 2015 it promoted him to the prosecutors office in Istanbul.

It was in Istanbul that Ekren led the states case against Sozcu, now the third biggest-selling newspaper in Turkey, accusing it of links to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, the alleged mastermind of the 2016 coup attempt.

Cumhuriyet, like Sozcu, is a pro-opposition newspaper that is waging its own court battle against the government. Fourteen of its journalists and managerial staff have been convicted of terrorism in a case that is widely cited internationally as an abuse of justice intended to intimidate the press. The case is on appeal.

On Dec. 4, Ekren was appointed chief prosecutor of Buyukcekmece. But two weeks later his bribery conviction was noticed in the Ministry of Justice and he was demoted.

Cumhuriyet said that questions about how Ekren was protected during these years, and how he managed to work as a chief prosecutor, have not been answered.
WASHINGTON  The US administration is struggling to get European allies to commit troops for Syria, even as some administration officials have tried to walk back President Donald Trumps surprise announcement in December that he was ordering US forces to leave Syria over the coming months.

The State Department on Tuesday declined to confirm an estimate of 400 US forces remaining in Syria for some indeterminate amount of time previously offered by the White House, but said talks continue with partner nations about the composition of what it called a multinational force to prevent the re-emergence of the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS) in northeast Syria.

A residual force of the United States military is going to remain in northeast Syria as part of a multinational force in order to prevent ISIS resurgence and to support stability and security in northeast Syria, State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino told journalists at the State Department press briefing Tuesday.

The drawdown is going to continue, Palladino said. And as we  transition, were going to continue to be working with our allies and partners to clear liberated areas, conduct targeted counterterrorism operations and support stabilization efforts.

Talks are ongoing with our allies about the future, Palladino said.

Asked what other nations have agreed to be part of such a multinational force, Palladino declined to provide details, but said consultations continue.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke by phone with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday, according to State Department readouts.

Pompeo also met on Tuesday with new UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen.

Pompeo reiterated the administrations strong support for the UNs efforts to reinvigorate efforts toward a political solution, including constitutional reform and the need for credible preparations for free and fair elections, the State Department said in a readout of the Pompeo-Pederson meeting. The Secretary emphasized the United States interest in de-escalating the conflict in order to save lives and provide space for the political process.

But pointed comments from some of Washingtons closest European allies have indicated little willingness or trust in the US administration to commit troops to make up for those the United States withdraws.

We look forward to further discussions with the US on their plans, a UK official, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor. As the foreign secretary has said, there is no prospect of UK forces taking the place of US troops after the US withdrawal.

"There is no prospect of British troops going in to replace the American troops leaving, Britains Hunt told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper Feb. 16. But of course we had discussions with the United States on an ongoing basis and when I was in Washington a couple of weeks ago about how we stabilize the situation in Syria."

Allies have also expressed mounting frustration with the lack of US consultation and sudden reversals of its plans, and the ongoing inability of their administration counterparts to speak authoritatively for the administration.

Frances Le Drian, responding to Sen. Lindsey Grahams claim at the Munich Security Forum last month that Trump had been persuaded to keep US forces in Syria after all, expressed open exasperation.

Thats news to me, Le Drian said at the Munich Security Forum Feb. 15, with evident sarcasm. He added mockingly: That fills me with joy.

Theres one thing I dont understand on American policy in this region, Le Drian said. How can one be very firm against Iran and at the same time abandon northeast Syria, when one knows that in the end it favors Iranian activities in the region?  Its a mystery to me.

Even if 200 to 400 US troops remain in Syria, the British and French are not going to make up for the approximate 2,000 US forces that are leaving, a European official, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor. This is not going to happen for sure, he said.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, speaking at a joint press conference with Frances Le Drian last week, said they were waiting for more information from the Americans to make their decision on troop adjustments for the mission to counter IS, also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh.

Our absolute focus is on addressing the threat of terror wherever it occurs in the context of the global coalition to counter Daesh, Payne said at a joint press conference with Le Drian Feb. 26. We are a steadfast member of that group.

As Jean-Yves has said, however, in relation to the most recent American statements, I think there is more detail to come from the United States and we will work with our colleagues, counterparts and allies as that comes to hand, in relation to conditions and expectations, and Im sure well have more to say about that in due course, Payne continued.

US efforts to try to persuade European allies to provide or increase forces for Syria are being inhibited by the Trump administrations casting of the mission as not just to prevent a resurgence of IS, but to counter Iran, said Aaron Stein, director of Middle East programs at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

The US effort to win European support for more troops in Syria is struggling for two reasons. First, no one trusts Trump, Stein told Al-Monitor. And why should they, he ordered a withdrawal on a phone call with a foreign leader without telling anyone, or consulting with Americas closest allies.

Second, the Europeans will need a clear defeat-ISIS mandate, and the US is now talking about using Syria as leverage in a shadow war with Iran, Stein said. With ISIS territorially and militarily defeated, and the US now shifting the goal-post to talk about denying Iran and the regime territory, the mission for Europeans becomes less clear cut. So this myopic focus on Iran, actually, makes it harder to get European buy-in beyond the Trump factor, which is also an acute problem for diplomats tasked with this problem set.

Even different US government agencies seem to talk about the potential mission in Syria with slight but key variations, perhaps in a reflection of whether they are tasked with trying to persuade other nations to get on board.

While the State Department described a residual US military force being part of a multinational force doing counterterrorism and stability operations in northeast Syria, the White House, under national security adviser John Bolton, has emphasized that half of the US forces that would remain in Syria would be tasked to the al-Tanf garrison in southern Syria, apparently as a message to Iran.

A couple hundred United States Armed Forces will remain in northeast Syria as part of a multinational force, a senior US administration official, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor today. Separately, the United States will maintain a presence at the al-Tanf garrison in southern Syria.

The fuzzy understanding of what Trump wants makes US diplomats task to try to get other nations on board harder.

The most challenging part of the Trump presidency for the bureaucracy is interpreting the presidents guidance, Stein said. I dont think they know because the president is volatile and could change his mind at any moment because he cares so little about how this impacts American allies.

I think the hope is that if they can keep a residual force, the Russians could then become more amenable to an American point of view of the conflict, Stein continued. This is fantasy but I think something that a handful of senior folks have convinced themselves could be an outcome of all this work.
I am excited to have found a new LBD resource. Unfortunately my finding led to another finding that I am probably a Stage 4 Lewy patient on a 7-part scale.

My new resource is Norma Loeb, and she runs the Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center.

She contacted me recently after hearing the K-Pod podcast where I was interviewed by Kerri Kasem, daughter of Top-40 radio personality Casey Kasem who they believe died of LBD.

So glad she contacted me because the first thing I noticed going to her website was a post listing the seven stages of Lewy body. I have heard people talk of different stages. but I dont believe I knew there were seven and I havent seen anything breaking that down in simple language like this.

I would classify myself in Stage 3 at best, but most probably Stage 4 based on this scale. Yikes. Although I believe I was diagnosed early. It has been nearly three years and it appears I am moving up (down?) the scale rather quickly. Makes it a little more serious when I put it like that.

A blood test or other simple, inexpensive tests may someday allow doctors to detect Alzheimers or other forms of dementia much sooner.

I need to stretch my stages out a little longer, I think.

Without further ado, here is Norma Loeb's post:

Dementia is a disease that affects millions of Americans. There are several types of dementia that we know of, including Alzheimers Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.

While forms of dementia vary in symptoms and severity, the Global Deterioration Scale aids in identifying the typical progression.

If you or someone you know may be in the early stages of dementia, heres what you need to know about its seven stages:

STAGE ONE: NO COGNITIVE DECLINE

Stage one is entirely undetectable to the patient, loved ones, and physicians. At this stage, individuals do not experience or present with any cognitive decline.

STAGE TWO: VERY MILD COGNITIVE DECLINE

Stage two may bring subtle changes in the individual, such as mild forgetfulness. These instances may include forgetting names or having trouble locating familiar objects. In the second stage of dementia, its difficult or impossible to notice these minor symptoms, and a diagnosis is not yet able to be reached.

STAGE THREE: MILD COGNITIVE DECLINE

Stage three involves mild cognitive decline. The symptoms may become more noticeable to loved ones of the individual in stage three dementia, and a diagnosis may be near. This stage often includes mild memory loss, out of character forgetfulness, and a slightly decreased ability to concentrate.

STAGE FOUR: MODERATE COGNITIVE DECLINE

Many people living with dementia are officially diagnosed during stage four, which is when physicians are able to pinpoint cognitive decline with an exam. At this point, the patient will likely present symptoms such as life-disrupting forgetfulness and out-of-character difficulty performing daily responsibilities. It may become more challenging for those with stage four dementia to manage finances or navigate to new locations.

STAGE FIVE: MODERATELY SEVERE COGNITIVE DECLINE

Stage five is marked by moderately severe cognitive decline. Individuals in this stage often have notable memory loss and begin to struggle with daily activities. Significant details such as address or phone number may be difficult to recall, and those with stage five dementia will likely need assistance with tasks such as meal preparation and bathing.

STAGE SIX: SEVERE COGNITIVE DECLINE

Individuals in stage six need a high level of support to live comfortably. Memory loss tends to be significant, and many in stage six dementia are only able to recall memories of early life. Incontinence is common in this stage, and many patients also begin to lose their ability to speak. A change in personality may occur during this time period, which lasts an average of 2.5 years.

STAGE SEVEN: VERY SEVERE COGNITIVE DECLINE

Stage seven typically lasts for 1.5 to 2.5 years and is characterized by very severe cognitive decline. Patients in stage seven lose their ability to communicate, and are often unable to walk. Individuals in late stage dementia require extensive assistance with lifes activities, and often need round the clock support.

Dementia affects approximately 5 million Americans each year. Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) comprises approximately 1.4 million cases within this figure, and is often misdiagnosed. If youd like to learn more about Lewy Body Dementia or seek support, please visit us online at lewybodyresourcecenter.org or reach out to our helpline at 516-218-2026.

My Vinyl Countdown post today in AL.com
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
Seven more police officers assigned in drug enforcement unit were placed under arrest on Thursday for their alleged involvement in the kidnap-for-ransom and extortion case in Cavite. Metro Manila police director Guillermo Eleazar presented to members of the media the seven policemen Police Staff Sergeant Joel Lupig; Police Corporal Vener and Jayson Arellano, and Patrolmen Jeffrey De Leon, Mark Jefferson Fulgencio, Raymart Gomez and Erickson Rivera, all assigned at the Las Pinas Police Drug Enforcement Unit. Eleazar said the arrest was made after Judge Jose Lorenzo dela Rosa, of Tagaytay City 4th Judicial Region Branch 134, issued a warrant against the police officers on March 1. The police officers are now detained at the National Capital Region Police Office-Headquarters Support Group Custodial Detention in Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig City. Investigation showed that on Nov. 21, 2018, the policemen then assigned at Las Pinas City Police Station Drug Enforcement Unit tried to extort money from the sister of their arrested drug suspect in exchange for his release. But the suspects sister sought the help of the NCRPO that led to the entrapment operation against the police officers who were charged with kidnapping with serious illegal detention. Meanwhile, Eleazar apologized for losing his temper to a police officer arrested for extortion in Pasig City. He also denied slapping and pulling the hair of Police Corporal Marlo Siblao Quibete when he presented the latter to media men. Im apologizing to you if it appeared that I was not able to control my emotions but these people, theres no place for them [in the police force], he said. I didnt slap him, I didnt hit him on the chest. I didnt pull his hair. I pulled his collar, I made him face me, and I pointed my finger at him. Thats just right. He deserved that. Eleazar made the apology even as President Rodrigo Duterte supported his actions.In a statement on Thursday, Eleazar said that the Presidents approval on the way I handled the cops involved in robbery/extortion activity yesterday only shows the consistency of our Presidenthow he abhors policemen involved in the illegal drug trade and policemen taking advantage of our war against illegal drugs to make money for themselves. Based on the Presidents message, our mandate has been established. The PNP is tasked with implementing an all-out war against illegal drugs and cops who are in one way or another involved in this illegal trade. This is why our current Chief PNP Oscar Albayalde launched our Internal Cleansing campaignthe primary targets being cops in the drug trade, and secondary targets being cops in criminal acts, he said. Eleazar vowed that the NCRPO will relentlessly pursue and remove police scalawags in their ranks. The President has even given us a substantial wage increase, so there should not be any cases like these robbery extortion cases anymore, he said. According to reports, more than 400 police officers have been dismissed from the service since President Duterte took office in 2016. Quibete, a member of the Eastern Police Districts (EPD) Drug Enforcement Unit, was caught red handed accepting marked money from his victim during an entrapment operation. On the same day, Pasay City police officer Anwar Nasser was also arrested for kidnap-for-ransom. Eleazar immediately ordered the relief of EPD director Police Brigadier General Bernabe Balba and Pasay City Police chief Police Colonel Noel Flores, citing command responsibility after the arrest of Quibete and Nasser. Balba was replaced by Brig. Gen. Christopher Tambungan while Police Colonel Sterling Blanco was temporarily appointed as Pasay City Police Station chief. Forty-two other policemen assigned in EPD and Pasay police drug enforcement teams were also relieved and are being investigated to determine if they were also involved in illegal activities.
U.S. Sen. Doug Jones urged Alabamians to take future tornado warnings seriously following what was determined to be the most deadly March tornado since 1932.

Jones was the latest public official to tour the devastation in Lee County, as he saw disaster areas on Thursday morning. Governor Kay Ivey toured on Wednesday, and President Donald Trump is scheduled to come to the area on Friday.

"We walked through and talked to a number of people," Jones said. "Family members who lost more than one family member. A grandmother who lost her grandson. And today, she's going through and the thing that she needs most from going through the destroyed home of her son and daughter was the lunchboxes from the surviving children. It's those little things that make us strong."

The death toll from the E-4 tornado remained at 23 people, according to Lee County coroner Bill Harris. Four people remain in intensive care. The final tally was 12 tornadoes that hit the area on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. They remained on the ground for a total 70 miles.

Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said there have been several reports of looters trying to take valuables out of the rubble, but no arrests have been made.

The director of the Lee County Emergency Management Agency, Kathy Carson, said donations of used clothing are no longer needed. Rather, monetary donations are preferred.

She also confirmed that the search and rescue portion of the disaster had been completed, and that they were now entering the long-term recovery phase.

Alabama EMA director Brian Hastings said that debris cleanup will likely begin on Tuesday. They chose not to call in the national guard to help complete the job on a national federal level  choosing to rely locally for the cleanup efforts.

Jones said he hoped the President would see and understand the devastation, and also try and understand a way to help prevent future loss of life.

Of course, Jones said, theres no way to prevent natural disasters such as tornadoes. And with this only being March, and tornado season typically happening in April, he warned people to remain vigilant for tornado warnings.

"People need to be careful. They need to watch," Jones said. "Lee County may be spared this weekend, but somebody just north of Lee County may be in that polygon. Don't take this for granted. It's human nature sometimes because these weather folks do such a phenomenal job, but they give these warnings, and they don't always come true and that's a good thing that they don't come true.

But dont take it for granted that its not going to come true.
At least four of the 23 people killed in Sundays tornado outbreak in Lee County were said to have been inside mobile homes when the EF-4 tornado hit Beauregard. That number could grow as we learn more about what happened.

But whatever the final totals from Sundays storm, Alabamas combination of relatively high numbers of tornadoes and mobile homes will continue to be an issue for the state in years to come, according to Stephen Strader, an atmospheric scientist at Villanova University.

Strader published research last year showing that Alabama had a 350 percent greater risk of tornado impact on mobile homes than Kansas, a comparison state that also experiences tornadoes.

Strader said that Alabama has a higher percentage of mobile homes than many other states, and that those mobile homes are spread out across wider areas, not just concentrated in trailer parks or large-scale mobile home developments.

"As you're driving down a country road in Alabama, you see mobile homes peppered throughout those rural areas," Strader said. "You don't see that typically in other parts of the U.S., and what that means in terms of impacts is when a tornado does occur, the odds of it hitting a mobile home, or affecting a mobile home resident, are much greater than anywhere else on Earth."

Excluding the massive storms on April 27, 2011, 65 percent of Alabama's tornado fatalities from 2000-2017 occurred in mobile homes, according to statistics kept by the National Weather Service. Across the entire Southeast, 54 percent of tornado deaths occurred in mobile homes.

On April 27, 2011, unusually mammoth EF-5 tornadoes claimed most of the 231 lives lost to storms that day in Alabama. Strader said that in tornadoes as powerful as the April 2011 storms, the difference between mobile homes and permanent homes is much less pronounced. Only 54 of Alabama's 245 tornado deaths from 2011 occurred in mobile homes.

"Those tornadoes in 2011 were so devastating that frankly, it didn't really matter if you were in a mobile home or a permanent home," Strader said. "They were extremely dangerous and there were many of them, so that kind of skews the results."

The same may be true of Sundays Lee County storms, which had winds estimated at 170 miles per hour, and ravaged mobile and permanent homes alike.

Even including the 2011 storms, Alabama's percentage of tornado deaths that occur in mobile homes is still around 30 percent, yet mobile homes make up just 14 percent of the total housing units in the state.

Graph showing tornado deaths in the Southeast from 2000-2017, and the percentage of mobile home deaths.

"What that statistic illustrates is a very small percentage of the housing stock, which are mobile homes, is responsible for over half the deaths [from tornadoes]," Strader said.

Why don't people leave?

While weather forecasts and warning systems are continuously improving, and the forecast for Sunday's tornado event has been described as a "slam dunk," many people stayed in mobile homes during dangerous storms.

"Really since the 2011 outbreak, we've started to realize we have to think about decision-making," Strader said. "If we can figure out why someone decides to flee versus why they don't or why does someone decide to film the tornado with their cell phone versus take shelter, we can start addressing these issues."

In addition to his research on the prevalence and risk of mobile homes in areas where tornadoes are common, Strader said he is working on studies to understand people's decision-making processes during tornadoes. He said he conducted interviews with more than 500 Alabamians about their tornado habits, including more than 50 living in mobile homes.

"We used to assume that mobile home residents just didn't understand tornadoes and they didn't get the warnings," Strader said. "Well, we were kind of wrong, or it's changed. Mobile home residents know just as much about tornadoes, if not more, than the average citizen.

"They received the messages and the warnings just like everybody else, with plenty of time. So something's going on where they're making choices to stay or flee."

Where would people go?

Strader and other colleagues are working on a paper about the availability of tornado shelters in Alabama, including Lee County. He declined to discuss those results before completion of the peer review process for publication in a scientific journal, but he said that the lack of shelters may not be the biggest factor in preventing tornado deaths in Alabama going forward.

"There's a lot of problems with just saying, 'let's just build shelters,'" he said. "There's logical issues like how does the shelter get opened? Who opens it? Can people bring their pets? Do people have access to vehicles so they can actually drive to the shelters? How long do they have to make the decision before the warning comes out?

"What we're starting to realize is just because there are shelters present, there's decision-making processes that are keeping people from actually using them."

What can be done?

One potential improvement Strader suggested was to encourage or mandate mobile homes on concrete slabs to use tie-downs that attach the mobile homes to concrete and help secure it in the face of tornadic winds.

Those tie-downs may not be effective in the event of EF-4 or EF-5 storms like the one in Lee County, but could improve the odds of survival in lesser tornado events.

It doesn't seem like that would make a huge difference in these events, but those tiedowns, the very act of that simple reinforcement of anchoring the mobile home keeps it from getting rolled over, Strader said. It keeps it from getting tossed and it increases the survivability of people that might be in there.

More tornadoes in populated areas

The occurrence of tornadoes in populated areas of Alabama seems destined to increase, Strader said, as populations continue to expand into previously undeveloped areas, and the frequency of tornadoes in Alabama edges up, as shown by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Northern Illinois University.

Victor Gensini at NIU and Harold Brooks at NOAA published a study last year showing a shifting of tornado activity over recent years, with the number of tornadoes decreasing in western Oklahoma but increasing in the "Mid-South" region that includes Alabama.

Visualization of research conducted by Northern Illinois University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showing that the incidence of environmental conditions favorable for tornadoes is increasing in places like Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, while decreasing in western areas like Texas and Oklahoma.Northern Illinois University

Strader said the potential of seeing more tornadoes in areas like Alabama, which are vulnerable because of the large numbers and wide distribution of mobile homes in the area is "a bit scary."

"You have tornado patterns and tornado risk shifting further east as you have this inflating population in these vulnerable areas," he said. "What we've seen and what we expect to see continuing into the future -- with climate change, with development change, urban sprawl -- is greater odds of tornado impacts, greater disaster potential, increasing number of people affected by these events.

"And its a pretty scary thought.
The U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory for The Bahamas, a popular destination for spring breakers. The advisory was prompted by an increase in violent crimes such as burglaries, armed robberies and sexual assault, particularly in New Providence and Grand Bahamas Island.

U.S. government personnel are not permitted to visit the Sand Trap area in Nassau due to crime, the advisory noted, adding that activities involving commercial recreational watercraft, including tours, are of particular concern.

Watercraft are often not maintained, and many companies do not have safety certifications to operate in The Bahamas, the state department said. Jet-ski operators have been known to commit sexual assaults against tourists. As a result, U.S. government personnel are not permitted to use jet-ski rentals on New Providence and Paradise Islands.

The advisory is a level 2. Visitors are asked to exercise increased caution.

In a statement, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation advised visitors to maintain awareness of their surroundings and exercise basic precautions, as they likely would in their home cities and not on holiday.

In reality, the vast majority of our 6 million annual visitors do so without any incident whatsoever, the ministry said.

If you do travel to the Bahamas, the State Department recommends:
The immunity hearing in Huntsville police officer William Darbys murder case has been rescheduled for next month.

In an order issued today, Madison County Circuit Judge Donna Pate said she will hold the hearing on April 3. The hearing, initially scheduled for this past week, was postponed because Darbys attorney was out of town working on an unrelated trial.

The immunity hearing in the murder case of Huntsville police officer William Darby is rescheduled for April 3--one year to the day after he killed Jeffrey Parker in an on-duty shooting. Darby argues he acted in self-defense. pic.twitter.com/9ttxgj2lyI  Ashley Remkus (@aremkus1) March 6, 2019

Darby, a 25-year-old officer, is seeking immunity from prosecution in the fatal shooting of 49-year-old Jeffrey Parker. The shooting happened when Parker called police on April 3, 2018. Parker told the authorities he was armed and suicidal, according to the police department. Officers said they briefly spoke to Parker at the scene on Deramus Avenue. Parker didnt comply with Darbys orders to drop the gun, the police department said, and Darby fatally shot him.

The defendant contends that, acting in his official capacity as a Huntsville Police Officer, he was acting in self defense and in the reasonable defense of others pursuant to ... (Alabama law), Darbys attorney wrote in a motion for immunity.

The police departments internal review board cleared Darby of wrongdoing. Months later, a Madison County grand jury indicted Darby on a murder charge.

The shooting was filmed by body cameras, but the city has refused to release the videos to the public.

The Huntsville City Council  at the urging of Mayor Tommy Battle  voted to pay for Darbys defense.

Judge Pate issued a gag order that prohibits public comments by lawyers and law enforcement regarding the case.
This weekend will bring yet another threat of severe weather to storm-weary Alabama, according to the National Weather Service.

NOAAs Storm Prediction Center has outlined a risk of severe weather for nearly all of Alabama for Saturday -- and for part of the state on Sunday as well.

A slight risk is in place for nearly all of north Alabama and a large part of central and southwest Alabama on Saturday. A slight risk means scattered severe storms will be possible.

A marginal risk covers all of the rest of the state except for the extreme southeast corner. A marginal risk means isolated severe storms will be possible.

The risk for storms will extend into Sunday for parts of south and east Alabama. Heres Sundays severe weather risk outlook:

The possibility of severe weather will extend into Sunday for part of Alabama.

All forms of severe weather remain on the table for Saturday, including tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain.

However, forecasters continued to stress on Wednesday that uncertainties still exist about the timing and strength of this weekends storms.

The storms are expected to develop along and ahead of a cold front and push Alabama on Saturday afternoon.

The National Weather Service has sped up the time frame and said the weather could begin to go downhill in west Alabama as early as noon on Saturday and spread eastward through the afternoon and evening.

Then the front could stall across parts of central or south Alabama and set up another round of storms on Sunday over those areas.

The weather service said Sundays storms could be more of a damaging wind or hail threat, but a tornado cant be ruled out, especially several days out ahead of the event.

An unsettled period will follow the weekend system, and forecasters said they will have to keep a close eye on future systems for storm potential.
Somewhere along Broad and Government streets, Michael Lyons heard the thunder and Theresa Saad saw the lightning.

The sky turned black, and winds picked up. Torrential rain soon followed, scattering the foot marchers. Some ran off to nearby bars, where the Joe Cain Day parties were well under way.

But for the 36 or so truck- and trailer-float entries, and the hundreds of revelers aboard, there were few places to seek shelter.

Days later, some of the participants are wondering if there is anything the city and organizers can do to ensure the Joe Cain Day Procession  and other Mardi Gras parades  are more prepared for severe weather.

Said Saad, a representative of the Joe Cain Parading society: I was surprised that once the lightning started, that the city didnt (move the parade) at Washington and Canal streets and back to the park where we had assembled, as opposed to continuing around Broad Street.

She added, It was rough. It was a hard rain. And the majority of floats, the riders had nowhere to go. It was a little scary.

Storms are supposed to show up around 3pm, and we're in a tornado watch. They adjusted parade times. Happy Joe Cain Day!  Clomping Librarian (@wyolibrarian) March 3, 2019

Another totally normal Joe Cain Day parade full of fun, friends, booze, severe thunderstorms and tornado watches. #MardiGras pic.twitter.com/IvhIqzMpqO  Keath (@kclubkeath) March 4, 2019

And boom goes the dynamite. Active Joe Cain day. Hopefully everyone is paying attention. https://t.co/WXlqkhupca  Brandon Black (@backinblack_wx) March 3, 2019

Alternatives explored

The Joe Cain Procession rolled on despite a powerful weather system that slammed into Alabama, spawning a deadly EF4 tornado more than 200 miles northeast of Mobile in Lee County. The twister carved a destructive path nearly a mile wide through the small community of Beauregard, killing 23.

The deadly consequences werent known at the time in Mobile where the city was celebrating Joe Cain Day, which typically draws a small army of eclectic participants for the so-called Peoples Parade.

The Joe Cain Procession started a half-hour earlier than scheduled because of concerns about the approaching weather system.

The area was under a tornado watch for most of the day, but there were no warnings or direct forecasts of actual twisters. An EF1 tornado was later confirmed to have touched down in nearby Washington County.

Had that been coming to Mobile, obviously we would not have paraded said Wayne Dean, who portrays the fictious Chickasaw Indian chief, Slacabamarinico, and rides aboard a horse-drawn coal wagon each year during the procession.

Indeed, ahead of the procession, the foot-marching and parading societies conferred with the Mobile Police Department about possibly moving the event to a different date.

One idea was to switch it to Fat Tuesday, to follow the mornings Order of Athena parade. Another idea called for the foot marchers to follow the Comic Cowboys parade Tuesday afternoon.

Neither scenario, said Dean, could have worked.

Said Dean, Either you do it on Joe Cain Day, or you dont. But its not like you have a lot of options. If you cancel it, you have a lot of disgruntled people.

Lyons said he was in contact with police around 9 a.m. about the impending weather system.

They did ask me that if we had to pick an alternative time to do it, that we should come up with a priority list, he said. They said if there was lightning, theyd have to call it off right away. I got on the phone and called some people  We gave police (the Fat Tuesday parade alternative) options. But they said to just try and get down there and line up and if we roll early, we will.

Starting early

Another obstacle soon loomed: corralling the foot marchers, truck floats and bands so that the cavalcade could start earlier than the 2:30 p.m. scheduled time. And by then, a squall line of thunderstorms was moving into Mobile.

Unlike the citys venerable mystic societies, the Joe Cain Procession has no chain-of-command structure and communication network.

Lyons said he spoke with the Police Department three times Sunday morning. He said, At one point, they asked if wed consider marching at 1 p.m. I said that we are not organized to the point where we have a line to communicate with each other. There are so many people that it just wouldnt work.

Said Dean, Because of the nature of the beast, there are a lot of independent marchers. And as good as the media is today in getting the word out, you are going to miss people.

Lyons said the Police Department wanted the procession to begin at 1:45 p.m.

We ended up rolling around 2 p.m., said Lyons. They knew the bad weather was coming  (police on) motorcycles came up alongside and told us that we needed to speed it up, that there was bad weather approaching.

City reacts

James Barber, the executive director of public safety in Mobile, said that, in general terms, the decision to hold a Mardi Gras parade during inclement weather is a joint call between Mobile police and the organization.

If there is lightning and immediate threats, we are just not going to (allow it), Barber said. If its rain that is coming, then its usually something that has to be worked out with the organization.

Barber said there were no regrets with the Joe Cain Day Procession occurring when it did.

Of course, we had heavy downpours, but not the tornadic activity they had up north.

City Councilmen John Williams and Levon Manzie said the weather most likely caught all sides off guard.

Williams said the way the city manages the parades during Mardi Gras season has improved a great deal over the years. And, he pointed out, Weve been doing it along time,

Williams said one beneficial aspect is that Mobile separates its parades by a fire truck so that emergency responders can respond to anywhere that we get a call from downtown. Also, he said, the city has two physicians who ride on bicycles on the northern and southern parts of Government Street during the parades.

I think we have the bases of reasonable response covered and if there is a certain risk out there, I know we are calculating it, said Williams.

Manzie said hes confident that police took into account the severe weather observations and alerts.

But in hindsight, he said, We can always look to err on safety and to make sure those who come here are as safe as possible, particularly if we dont know what could occur.

That was the same (system) of weather that produced those tornadoes in Lee County, said Manzie. We have professionals doing a great job, but I believe they will learn from that experience and take it into account for future parades.

Street dancing

Dean and Lyons said that the rain did add some unexpected ambiance to the revelry. Both of them completed their journey along the parade route, finishing up drenched near the Mobile Civic Center.

The foot marchers stopped and danced in the street in the rain, said Dean. I had a great time on the wagon. Youre already wet anyway, so just might as well ride everything out.

Saad said shes happy that no one got hurt, and credited Mobile police with overseeing a smooth operation during one of the wildest days during Mobile Mardi Gras.

I think the city has a great plan, said Saad. I was just a little disappointed they didnt shift gears there when the lightning started. But I think it runs smoothly on a normal weather day.

The crowd along the parade route was a meager 5,068 people, which is far below the 105,600 people who showed up two days later on a sunny but chilly Fat Tuesday.

Its also below the 16,896 people who showed up during the 2017 Joe Cain Day, which was also hampered by rainy weather. By contrast, the sunny 2016 Joe Cain Day drew 118,798 revelers.

Said Lyons, We are due for nicer weather.
The former students saddled with debt from a shuttered Birmingham-based, for-profit private college system should not have to pay their balances, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., said Wednesday in a letter sent to the schools attorney.

Education Corporation of America, which operated several Virginia College campuses in Alabama and other branded colleges in other parts of the country, suddenly closed in December after its accreditation was pulled and it had trouble courting investors. The schools offered associate degrees and vocational training.

It is fundamentally unfair to collect debts from students who attended a collapsed school, and it is shocking that some students would now be receiving surprise bills after their accounts had been dormant for some time, Jones said in a letter to Education Corporation of Americas attorney dated Wednesday. Given the extreme circumstances surrounding ECAs collapse, I am writing to urge you to forego the collection of payments on any debts collected from former ECA students and to write off all amounts owed.

The senator argued that the students were promised a degree by paying tuition but that ECA failed to uphold its end of the bargain.

ECA entered into a contract (enrollment agreement) with the students to provide an education, and that contract has now been clearly violated, Jones wrote to ECA attorney John F. Kennedy. Even for the students who graduated from one of ECAs colleges, they now have a degree that is less valuable in the marketplace compared to other institutions of higher education. I urge you to clarify your intention to collect debts from students and consider the hardship they will continue to encounter due to Education Corporation of Americas actions and collapse.

Jones said 3,800 students in Alabama alone  670 of them veterans who used their G.I. Bill benefits to attend Virginia College  were impacted by ECAs closure.

ECAs collapse has left countless numbers of students stuck with debt but no degree, credential, or discernable value from their education, the senator wrote. Many of them are still struggling to make ends meet and determine how, or whether, to restart their educational career.
Update: Marilyn Drake has been found safe, Birmingham Police said Thursday.

Investigators stated she is home and reported to be fine, said Birmingham Police Sgt. Johnny Williams.

Earlier: The Birmingham Police Department has launched a missing person investigation in the disappearance of a 71-year-old woman.

Police were seeking the publics help in locating Marilyn Drake, 71, of Birmingham.

Drake, who is schizophrenic, was last seen 3 p.m. Wednesday in Norwood. She was last seen wearing a black and gray jacket, blue jeans and a red hat, police said.

Anyone with information on Drakes whereabouts was asked to call Birmingham Police at 205-297-8435 or 911. Anyone with additional information on the investigation was asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
State authorities have issued an alert for a missing elderly woman in east Alabama.

The Glencoe Police Department is asking for the publics help finding 83-year-old Lorene Virginia Collier. She was last seen on Tuesday, March 5, in the Glencoe area traveling to Gadsden.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Collier could be driving a blue 2019 Kia Optima with Florida license plate number 1175MQ. She maybe suffering from a condition that impairs her judgement.

She is a white female with blue eyes and gray or partially-gray hair. She is 5-feet, 2-inches tall and weighs 135 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call Glencoe Police at 256-549-4269 or call 911.
A 22-year-old Walker County woman has been charged in a DUI crash that killed her passenger more than one year ago on Valleydale Road in Shelby County.

A Shelby County grand jury indicted Felicia Jean Willcutt, of Oakman, in the July 31, 2017 death of 34-year-old Michael Francis Xavier Lee. Indictments were issued again Willcutt in June 2018 but werent made public until Thursday.

She is charged with reckless murder, second-degree assault and DUI.

The crash happened about 3 p.m. that Monday in the 4600 block of Valleydale Road, near the Providence Park offices and the Jefferson State Community College campus. Authorities said Willcutts vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed along Valleydale. A Shelby County deputy turned around to stop the vehicle and saw the wreck happen.

Alabama State Troopers, Hoover police and the North Shelby Fire Department responded to the scene. Sheriff's officials at the time said multiple people were injured and taken to the hospital.

Willcutt was driving a Kia Spectra. She caused the death of Lee, the indictment states, by driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and operating the vehicle in a reckless manner.

The attempted murder charge stems from injuries sustained by one of the motorists struck by Willcutt.

Willcutt was booked into the Shelby County Jail Tuesday and remains held on bonds totaling $72,500. A preliminary hearing in the case has been set for April.
The Agriculture department and other government agencies have stepped up mitigation projects and programs as 22 provinces are expected to experience drought in April due to El Nino. READ: Early El Nino onset feared Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said their agency has drafted a Nino mitigation and adaptation plan designed to lessen the impact of drought to the agriculture sector and restore productive capacity for the next cropping season in the affected areas. The Agriculture department has created a national El Nino task force to monitor and coordinate various efforts to mitigate the effects of El Nino not only with its attached agencies and bureaus, but also with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Pinol appealed to affected farmers to come forward to report damage and losses on their crops to their local governments agriculturists, who will relay the information to their regional office for the provision of assistance. The Agriculture department is also eyeing cloud seeding operations in some parts of Mindanao. According to Milagros Casis, the departments regional director, they are preparing for at least 40 rounds of cloud seeding operations in Mindanao and Luzon this month. Arnulfo Villaruz, Cotabato Citys provincial disaster risk reduction and management council operation officer, said the El Nino-related damage to the agriculture sector had already reached P470 million with 8,500 affected farmers in 13 towns in Kidapawan City. Ana Liza Solis of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administrations Climate Monitoring and Prediction Section said drought was affecting Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Maguindanao, Cebu and even Ilocos Norte. READ: El Nino: State of calamity in Zambo City The dry spell will be experienced in Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Ilocos Sur and La Union in March. According to Solis, the drought-hit areas could reach 22 in April. The weather bureau has told the public to brace for a longer dry season due to El Nino.The Agriculture department gave the assurance that they had readily available interventions, such as the provision of high quality drought-tolerant varieties of rice, corn and high value crops, advisory to farmers to plant early maturing or short gestation crops, and provision of production and recovery loans. As far a the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is concerned, Secretary Roy Cimatu has ordered all 16 regional directors to stay alert for forest or wild fires, come up with a region-wide assessment and update of forest protection plans, and prioritize vulnerable sites within the protected areas and those that have been rehabilitated under the enhanced national greening program. On the other hand, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Eduardo Gongona told the Manila Standard that part of their interventions were the provision of input assistance such as pumps, livelihood assistance and available fish health laboratory services. He fears for a fish kill because of the poor water supply, high water temperatures and dissolved oxygen depletion, depletion of fish catch, low supply of fingerling and even red tide frequency brought about by El Nino in the affected areas. READ: Manila Water limits supply He advised the aquaculture sector to reinforce their dikes for increased water holding and fish farmers to observe proper stocking and avoid overfeeding the fish. Local Water Utilities Administration chief Jeci Lapus said Mindanao had been experiencing the impact of El Nino since January. Actually, Metro Manila is also reeling from water interruptions, he said. He called on the DENR to draw measures to impound rainwater at the watersheds, and the Department of Public Works and Highways to implement flood control projects in the mountainous regions. A dam is an investment, he said, adding based on the World Water Forum, the Philippines would be faced with a water crisis by 2040. Danilo Flores, Pagasa hydrologist, said according to the National Water Resources Board, the major dams in Luzon were still within their normal water elevation. Angat Dam [which supplies 97 percent of the water to Metro Manila] is still okay as well as La Mesa Dam, he said.
With little fanfare the Mobile City Council voted Wednesday to approve the sale of a distinct Midtown property, the Ashland Fire Station.

The picturesque but small station on Old Shell Road between Kenneth and Florida streets had been closed for some time, superseded by a new and significantly larger facility nearby in the Crichton area. The sale price, in a contract submitted by the administration of Mayor Sandy Stimpson, was $368,850.

Robert Isakson Sr. of Lafayette Land Company, the buyer, said via email that the company is honored to be entrusted with this architectural gem, and this treasure of Mid-Town Mobile. You can be certain that we will conduct this restoration with the utmost care.

We are seeking a user that will be compatible with the neighborhood atmosphere, cater to the neighbors and residents of Mid-Town, and be in keeping with the architectural design of this fabulous treasure, Isakson said.

The station was built in 1930. According to information provided by Isakson, its architecture has been described by some an English Cottage Style with Spanish Colonial elements" and by others as "Colonial Revival embracing Picturesque, Tudor, and Cottage elements with Spanish effect.

In late September, the city released a Request for Proposals to purchase and renovate this property for commercial use. According to the RFP the site is zoned residential but sits along a stretch of other commercially zoned properties on Old Shell Road. Rezoning would be up to the purchaser, according to the RFP. Lafayette Land Co.'s winning bid was a response to that RFP.

A 2017 public facilities assessment commissioned by Stimpson's office found the building to be "in fair condition with respect to the structural components and mechanical systems" but in need of upkeep to prevent expensive problems from developing. The survey said that the building's age means it may contain lead paint or asbestos and projected about $200,000 in maintenance needs. More than three-quarters of that was for replacement of the tile roof, and the survey suggested the cost might be lower if the roof could be restored rather than entirely replaced.

The purchase and sale agreement with Lafayette Land Acquisitions II LLC specifies that both parties understand the city's wish to sell the property "includes the preservation and restoration of the existing north facing street facade and maintenance of the historic nature of the building."

According to information provided by Isakson, "tradition holds" that the station was designed by George B. Rogers, whose works included the Van Antwerp Building, the Bellingrath Home and other distinctive Mobile landmarks.

Lafayette Land Co. is operated by Isakson along with his son, two daughters, two sons-in-law and a nephew. It develops commercial products throughout much of the country and had conducted historic preservation projects in Mobile and New Orleans and Mobile. Such projects in Mobile include the Cheese Cottage on St. Louis St. and Nova Coffee and the Iron Hand brewpub in De Tonti Square.

"We plan to restore the Ashland Place Fire Station No. 12 in the same intricate manner," said Isakson.

Potential tenants interested in the former fire station should inquire with Heather I. Huffman of Huffman Realty, 251-423-1182 or heather@huffmanrealestateservices.com, or Robert J. Isakson II of Lafayette Land Co., 251-423-1165, risakson@lafayetteland.com.
A British colonial-era law is being exploited by men attempting to force their spouses back into unhappy marriages.

Lahore, Pakistan  Six weeks after her husband threw her out, Amber* filed for divorce in Islamabad. She was nervous when she arrived at the first of three divorce hearings.

The chairman of the Islamabad Arbitration Council, set up by the Union Council, which is responsible for signing off on divorce, attempted to dissuade her.

Dont get emotional and end your marriage, said the chairman, a complete stranger to her. I am sure your husband is on his way and will convince you to return home with him.

Ambers then-husband did not attend the hearing.

Instead, he tried to force her to return to the marital home by employing the restitution of conjugal rights (RCR), a legal mechanism under Pakistans Muslim Family Law Ordinance.

Aside from the cultural taboo surrounding divorce in Pakistan, women seeking to end their marriages face legal hurdles that men do not encounter as frequently.

Amber was stunned.

Why would he want a court to force me back home when he himself kicked me out? said the 26-year-old.

The law her ex-husband used was originally designed to provide an opportunity to reconcile, but is today used to intimidate.

The moment women file for divorce, maintenance, or a dissolution of marriage, mens first response is to file an RCR, said Hadiya Aziz, an Islamabad-based civil lawyer and prosecutor. About 80 percent of the time, an RCR is a method of getting back at the woman.

Although they can be filed by husbands and wives, RCRs are overwhelmingly used by men.

People say getting married is difficult, but in this country, getting divorced with dignity is much tougher. Laleen Sukhera, author

Out of the 100 odd divorce cases I have handled in my career, restitution was filed 30 times, and only two of the complainants were women, says Chaudhry Muhammad Umar, a barrister experienced in family law.

Aziz explained: Divorce proceedings initiated by men are concluded so fast that women hardly get a chance to file RCRs.

She said that those brought by women tend to drag on for months  and in some cases years.

For instance, it took Laaleen Sukhera, a Lahore-based author, more than two years to be granted a divorce.

After 18 months of legal proceedings that seemed to be leading nowhere, Sukhera withdrew her divorce petition.

At this point, I was buried in litigation. My ex-husband did his best to intimidate me in court, from accusing me of insanity to filing an RCR against me, said Sukhera. My lawyer told me the RCR is an antiquated law that may soon be outlawed.

Other lawyers agree, and say although the RCR is used frequently, is rarely decreed in favour of men.

Courts are hesitant to issue solutions that require constant supervision.

Additionally, there is no constitutional definition of a spouses conjugal rights.

So why are men so prepared to use it?

Essentially, husbands file restitution cases for three reasons: to demonstrate to the court that they never wanted this divorce and hence shouldnt have to pay a hefty maintenance; to put legal pressure on the woman and bury her in litigation; and/or to add to her financial burden, says Umar, the barrister.

Family law related courtrooms are overcrowded as the backlog of cases keeps growing [Maham Javaid/Al Jazeera]

Daanika Kamal, a lawyer working with legal aid centres across Punjab, said the RCR is used to delay divorce proceedings, further intimidating women.

Fearing further distress, Sukhera, the author, opted for a khula, a dissolution of marriage that is meant to be faster and less harrowing than divorce.

But it took six months of cross-questioning in various family courts before being granted the separation.

The khula forces women to forfeit much of her haq meher  a mandatory payment in Islamic marriages from the husband seen as insurance in the case of divorce and her dower.

Sukhera is now fighting to claim her haq meher in another case.

In 2000, the family of a 13-year-old girl from Pakpattan, in Punjab, reported to police that she had been abducted and gang-raped.

One of the accused responded with an RCR, claiming that since they were married, the assault could not be considered abduction or rape.

The RCR was decreed in his favour and the girl was sent to live with her alleged rapist.

In 2004, he divorced the teenager during a hearing of the rape case against him. In 2014, the man walked free.

Abduction and rape [are] extreme and rare ways in which the RCR can be misused, said Zubair Abbasi, a law professor and author.

But frequently the RCR is misused as a pressure tactic.

He believes that the RCR can be challenged in court.

Lawyer and teacher Abira Ashfaq went a step further, saying the RCR could be declared as unconstitutional because it is against a persons dignity and privacy, and is discriminatory toward women.

The law has been challenged twice in Pakistan, unsuccessfully.

Although the law is currently proving to be more of a burden than a benefit, in spirit it is meant to provide an opportunity for reconciliation between two parties, said Fauzia Waqar, head of the government-backed Provincial Commission on the Status of Women.

Colonial-era law

The British, who introduced the law of restitution in the subcontinent, dropped the RCR about 50 years ago.

Today it is thought of as a Muslim law, but the concept came to Asia from English Ecclesiastical courts in 1857.

It was meant to force back husbands who had settled with other women, said Abbasi. [Now] as women are growing more economically empowered, they are at the risk of losing their assets due to this law.

Recently, Pakistans media regulator warned broadcasters not to air indecent content that includes divorce and infidelity, which highlighted the sociocultural barriers in even discussing divorce.

Speaking outside a civil court in Lahore, after her divorce was finalised, Sukhera said: People say getting married is difficult, but in this country, getting divorced with dignity is much tougher.
Kajiado County, Kenya  Lasois father told her she was getting married 11 days after she was cut.

She didnt know the man she was getting married to nor had she seen him before but a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) arrived at her home to take her to her groom.

Lasoi, who is 10, is one of the 320 girls seeking refuge from female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage at Naningoi Girls School and Rescue Centre in Kenyas Rift Valley.

She escaped from her husbands home the following morning, running back to her parents house.

There she was beaten by her father and taken back to her husband.

One week later Lasoi ran away to her parents for a second time, only to be beaten and turned back again.

Tormented by the husbands relatives and disowned by her own family, Lasois life became a series of pitiless beatings and household chores. She was denied food when caught playing with other children and was expected to sleep in her husbands house every night.

Lasoi was found lying unconscious in a grazing field by an old Maasai herder a few weeks after marriage.

She was followed by her husband while she was grazing the cows and she was beaten and left unconscious. She was rescued by members of Nashipai Maasai Community Project and taken to the Naningoi Rescue Centre.

Lasois story is not out of the ordinary in areas like Kajiado and Narok counties, both predominantly Maasai areas.

Though the practice of FGM has been criminalised in Kenya since 2011, thousands of families still perform it, especially in rural areas.

To avoid detection and subsequent prosecution, the practice thrives behind closed doors. It is impossible to find an adult woman here who has escaped the cut, says Selina Nkoile, an activist born into the Maasai tribe, who in 2017 decided to quit her job at a multinational company in Nairobi to embark on a rescue mission.

Once a girl is married, her family will be compensated with cows  the most valuable asset in the Maasai Community. Girls dont belong to their parents. They belong to their husbands.

I will never accept child marriage being part of my culture. When I was growing up, women were getting married, but a parent would wait for his girl to grow up and develop all the external organs that show that she is a woman, and after that, she will go through the cut and get married. But today parents cannot wait for their children to grow older. People are hiding behind the culture, but when they look at their daughters, what they see is cows they will receive when they will marry them.

Selina established the Nashipai Maasai Community Project, through which she was able to rescue more than 250 girls from the surrounding villages and bring them to Naningoi Girls Secondary School.
Like chronic indigestion that refuses to go away, presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner is back causing much discomfort to the general public.

Kushner meets Saudis MBS for the first time since Khashoggi murder, Al Jazeera recently reported, The meeting focused on increasing cooperation between Washington and Riyadh, as well as the Middle East peace process.

But there might be more on their plate than just another bogus peace process.

Kushner has two paramount concerns while sitting comfortably in the big pocket of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS): pursuing his own personal financial gains and helping Israel steal what is left of Palestine. MBS also has two objectives while playing with Kushner, like a shiny marble in his pocket: To confront Iran and to establish himself as a ruling tyrant not just in Saudi Arabia but throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

The slaughter of innocent men, women and children in Yemen and the butchery of Jamal Khashoggi are the first flowers of his dream of a Saudi Spring. But in his pursuit of power and glory through murder and destruction, MBS does not seem to be satisfied with using only conventional means. It appears that he is now harbouring a great desire to go nuclear and the Trump administration is more than willing to oblige.

As the New York Times recently revealed, the Trump administration has been pursuing a deal with Saudi Arabia to develop its nuclear energy sector. By ramming through the sale of as much as $80 billion in nuclear power plants, the Trump administration would provide sensitive know-how and materials to a government whose de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has suggested that he may eventually want a nuclear weapon as a hedge against Iran and has shown little concern for what the rest of the world thinks, the newspaper claimed.

At the forefront of these efforts, of course, are Kushner and his business interests. It turns out a company that bailed out his family after an ill-conceived real estate deal in New York brought them close to bankruptcy now intends to sell nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia.

That, along with other shenanigans, has gotten the US security establishment worried. Their attempts to cancel his security clearance, however, have been repeatedly overridden by his father-in-law.

Hence, Kushner remains undeterred in his pursuit to nuclearise Saudi Arabia.

In exposing this worrying reality, the US media, however, has made two very wrong assumptions: one, that a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia somehow contradicts the interests of the Israeli leadership; two, that it is the result of some kind of a Gulf-money entrapment.

An island of democracy in a sea of instability

In a column for the New York Times, American journalist Nicholas Kristof makes a valid observation that there are too many unanswered questions about the White Houses role in advancing Saudi ambitions. But he also makes the incorrect claim that the Israeli government is objecting to the nuclearisation of Saudi Arabia.

Given that President Donald Trumps son-in-law has been the principal driving force behind a peace plan that aims to strip Palestinians of all their legitimate rights and legalise the Israeli occupation, it is hard to believe that he is now pursuing a policy that contradicts Israeli interests.

The Kushner family is known not only for their extensive business interests in Tel Aviv and support for illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but also for their close personal relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

And if the Israelis managed to convince Trump to dismantle the Iran nuclear deal, would they not be able to stop his administration from nuclearising Saudi Arabia, if they really wanted to? What is stopping Netanyahu from standing in front of the UN with a little bomb chart, warning the world that Riyadh is so close to acquiring a nuclear weapon?

Indeed, Israels defence policy for a long time has focused on making sure no Middle Eastern country ever acquires a nuclear weapon that could threaten its security  hence, its sabotage attacks on Iranian and Iraqi nuclear facilities.

That its leadership is not too worried about a nuclear Saudi Arabia is quite telling. It means that normalisation of Saudi-Israeli relations has advanced so far that Tel Aviv feels confident enough that a Saudi nuclear programme would not constitute a threat. It also means that it intends to be involved in the process in order to control it and make sure Saudi Arabia does not achieve military equity with its defence capabilities.

The reason why a Saudi nuclear programme is in the interest of the Israeli settler colony is very simple: It would fuel Saudi-Iranian rivalry, keeping them in a permanent state of war in the shadow of nuclear proliferation, which is good for Zionism, and of course, for the Israeli arms industry. It would keep the populations of both countries preoccupied with the imagined Sunni-Shia conflict and make them increasingly oblivious to the plight of the Palestinian people and the desecration of the holy sites in Jerusalem.

The prospects of these two regional adversaries being embroiled in perpetual conflict, while chasing after a nuclear programme, frees up Israel to steal the rest of Palestine. It also reinforces the myth Israel has put much effort into maintaining: that it is an island of democracy in a sea of instability in the Middle East. It is a myth often used to justify why the US should continue to extend unconditional support for the Israeli state.

Spreading US best practice

In his column for the Financial Times, British journalist Edward Luce offers a crucial warning about the dangerous corruption of Kushners deals with MBS: In the cold war, US nuclear diplomacy was called atoms for peace. In this case, it looks more like atoms for bailout.

But while criticising the Trump administration, Luce succumbs to delusional old-fashioned Orientalism, claiming that: US administrations used to spread best practice to the Middle East and beyond  or at least to pay lip service. Under Mr Trump, the flow has reversed. Washington is importing the Gulfs culture of patronage clientelism.

When precisely was it, pray do tell, that US spread best practice to the Middle East and beyond? When in collaboration with British intelligence, it staged a military coup in Iran, removing a widely popular and democratically elected prime minister? Or when lying to the world that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and defying the United Nations, it invaded Iraq, precipitating the murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, the incitement of sectarian hatred and the complete annihilation of the countrys infrastructure?

And how is it that the home-grown maleficence of a real estate mogul, accused of a litany of fraud and tax evasion crimes, and the greed of his equally suspect son-in-law are somehow rooted in the Gulfs culture of patronage and clientelism?

It turns my stomach to see how opinion makers in the US and the UK are so pathologically oblivious to the terror of their Orientalism that right in the middle of assessing the horrors their countries are perpetrating around the globe, they still manage to blame us for what they do to us.

Donald Trump is as corrupt as Tony Blair or even worse  one a blue-blooded American from New York and the other a blue-blooded Brit from Edinburgh, Scotland. They are yours, the product of your societies, so own them up.

That both of them have sowed chaos and endangered regional and global peace in the pursuit of self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement has much to do with the colonial cultures from which they hail. And it is the imperial power they have projected and exploited that has contributed greatly to the entrenchment of the culture of patronage clientelism, corruption and authoritarianism in the Middle East and beyond.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
British lawyers accuse kingdom of arbitrary arrests and the disappearances of dozens of political activists.

British lawyers have called for Saudi Arabia to be removed from the United Nations Human Rights Council, stating that the kingdom detains political and free speech activists without charge.

In a report released on Wednesday in London, Rodney Dixon QC and Lord Kenneth Donald John Macdonald said more than 60 individuals were detained in September last year, many of whom are believed to be human rights defenders or political activists.

Our main recommendation is that steps should be taken by the General Assembly to suspend the government of Saudi Arabia from the [UN] Human Rights Council, Dixon told Al Jazeera.

It is completely contradictory and ironic for a government with systemic patterns of abuse  as we have highlighted in the report  to be sitting on the council, and in fact previously to have chaired the council.

That suspension will act as a major lever for the government to clean up their act and make a proper new start.

The report, titled Shrouded in secrecy: the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia following arrests in September 2017, was commissioned by the relatives of detainees and will be forwarded to Saudi authorities.

Muslim leader held in solitary, hospitalised

Dixon urged Saudi Arabia to release all political detainees.

Those detained have not been charged with any offence, and the information about the reasons for their arrests and circumstances of their imprisonment are very limited, the report said.

There is cause for serious concern about the treatment of many of those detained, including Mr Salman Al-Awda who has recently been hospitalised and others who are, effectively, disappeared.

Awda is one of Saudis most popular Muslim leaders with almost 150 million followers on Twitter. He was recently hospitalised after five months of solitary confinement. It remains unclear why he was arrested.

{articleGUID}

Al Jazeeras Sonia Gallego, reporting from London, said: While there may have been quite a lot of drama created by the very high-profile arrests at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which was targeting mainly princes, politicians and businessmen, less has been said about these arrests which have caused a lot of concern.

According to the report, there are 30 arbitrarily detained and another 31 who have simply disappeared.

Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman led the detentions of dozens of high-profile Saudis accused of corruption late last year. The group was held for months in Riyadhs Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The kingdom announced on Tuesday that it had seized more than $100bn as part of its anti-corruption purge.

Saudi Arabias membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council expires in 2019.

The suspension of membership rights is not simply a hypothetical possibility, the report said.

In February 2011, the council called for Libya to be suspended as the government of Muammar Gaddafi was being accused of human rights violations against civilians during the uprising. A month later, the General Assembly voted for the suspension of Libyas membership  marking the first time it has used its power to revoke a countrys membership.

Human rights groups have previously called for Saudis membership to be taken away, citing the kingdoms involvement in the bloody war in Yemen, which has killed tens of thousands of people.
A government official says three people have died in the multiple explosions that hit a rally by Shia Muslims.

At least three people have died after multiple explosions targeted a political gathering attended by Afghanistans chief executive and a former president in the capital Kabul, government officials said.

We have reports of explosions in the western part of Kabul. Investigations have been launched, said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman at the interior ministry.

Another source at the interior ministry told the local media that the source of the explosions came from someone firing mortar shells from a house in Kabuls District 18.

190228075558274

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

An official who was at the ceremony, speaking on condition of anonymity, however, told The Associated Press that seven people were killed and 10 wounded. The different accounts of casualties could not immediately be reconciled.

Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, former president Hamid Karzai, former NSA Haneef Atmar, former Vice president Yunus Qanuni, Acting Foreign Minister, Salahuddin Rabbani, 2nd Deputy Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq, & other officials were at the ceremony which came under attack. pic.twitter.com/jMrq1aPQOo  TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) March 7, 2019

Earlier, a senior interior ministry official said the attackers could have targeted a large gathering of Shia Muslims attending a commemoration on the anniversary of a leaders death at Musala-e-Mazari compound

Hundreds of people were attending the Kabul meeting to mark the 24th anniversary of the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, leader of the Hezb-e-Wahdat party.

190225183106239

Mazari was killed by the Taliban after he was taken prisoner by them in 1995.

High-value targets

Al Jazeeras Charlotte Bellis said military vehicles were heading to the site.

There was intelligence last night that this [gathering] may be attacked as there are many high-value targets, she said, reporting from Kabul.

The countrys Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and former president were both in attendance and unharmed, AFP news agency reported.

Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani  who was at the scene  later tweeted terrorists launched rocket attacks on commemoration ceremony, and said he escaped safely.

The ministry of interior told us they have arrested one person they believe to have fired one rocket and that special forces have surrounded a house nearby to where this gathering took place where they believe the rockets were sent from, Bellis said.

Speaking to local news agency Tolo, a witness said security forces were attempting to evacuate the attendees, and that the area had already been cordoned off.

The people I saw who were evacuated were those inside their own homes, which had smoke and fire coming out of them, the unnamed witness said.

People were trying to get to any means of transport available in order to evacuate the wounded quickly to the hospital, he added. One of the injured was lying on a cart.

Men take an injured person to the hospital after attacks in Kabul [Mohammad Ismail/Reuters]





The incident came as the United States and the Taliban continue to hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict.

The last major attack in Kabul occurred in January when the Taliban claimed responsibility for a car bomb that struck the heavily fortified Green Village foreign compound.

Heavy snowfall across large swaths of Afghanistan has led to a reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the countrys south is likely to lead to an increase in bloodshed.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo on Thursday said nobody on the list of narco-politicians had been wiretapped. Panelo backtracked from his earlier pronouncement that foreign governments had provided information obtained through wiretaps on Filipino politicians allegedly involved in illegal drugs , but said such intelligence would not be ignored. As far as I know, nobody has provided us with wiretapped information, Panelo said in a mix of English and Filipino, adding that his remarks Tuesday about foreign sources were based on an educated guess. Earlier, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino said the narco-list of politicians allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade had come from local, not foreign sources. President Rodrigo Duterte has authorized Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano to release the list of 82 politicians, which includes at least six congressmen. Aquino said 64 of the politicians are seeking elective positions in the May 13 midterm polls. There were originally 83 in the list but with the recent arrest of Mayor [Norodin] Salazar of Maguindanao, the list is now down to 82. If I am not mistaken, at least six or seven are congressmen, Aquino said. Panelo on Thursday said the government would not ignore information from foreign countries just because it was obtained through wiretapping, which is illegal in the Philippines. We do not allow wiretapping. What Im saying is if in the course of cooperation with other countries we are given wiretapped information, why will we not use it?, Panelo said in a press briefing. If it is a matter of national security, I dont think that its bad to use these information as a lead, Panelo said, adding that he understands that information obtained illegally is inadmissible as evidence in court. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines on Thursday said the government cannot use information obtained through wiretapping without authorization from the courts. IBP president Abdiel Dan Fajardo said that without approval from a court, wiretapping is illegal and evidence obtained through such an act is inadmissible in any proceeding. The Constitution describes the right to privacy of communication as inviolable. Any evidence obtained in violation of the rule is inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding. The Bill of Rights limits government power, Fajardo said.This is the reason the government needs to secure authorization from a court of law if it decides to eavesdrop on private conversations. But the Commission on Human Rights and critics maintained the release of the list would violate the right to due process of people on the list. Spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said the timing of the publication set by the DILGat the start of the campaign periodwould fuel reckless mud-slinging, character assassinations and violence. If we can withhold judgment against some candidates still facing plunder cases before the Sandiganbayan, Secretary Ano can also respect and follow due process, she added. Malacanang on Thursday said that United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet may have been fed with wrong information about the Philippines continuing war on illegal drugs. Bachelet earlier said the Philippines war on illegal drugs is not a good model for any other country to follow. But Panelo said Bachelet was provided with wrong information when she claimed that up to 27,000 people may have been killed in the anti-illegal drugs campaign after President Duterte assumed office in June 2016. READ: Duterte has power over narco-list The number is five times higher than the governments tally of 5,176 deaths from July 1, 2016 to Jan. 31, 2019, Panelo said. Panelo said the problem with the UN official is that she relies on information coming from the critics and the detractors of the administration. Dutertes spokesman also said the governments drive to stop illegal drugs is governed by strict police protocols and law enforcers adhere to the existing laws to protect the lives of every person, including criminals. Panelo also criticized Bachelet for meddling in the domestic affairs of the country. READ: Pros outweigh cons on narcos
The group claimed responsibility for the blast in a heavily guarded area of Mogadishu near the presidential palace.

A car bomb in Somalias capital, Mogadishu, has killed seven people and wounded several others, police say.

The bomb that went off on Thursday was in a car parked outside a restaurant near a checkpoint manned by the presidential guard regiment.

What we know so far about the attack is that a car bomb blast targeted the busy Dalsan restaurant, killing five people, including soldiers and civilians, Adan Ahmed, a police officer, told Anadolu Agency by telephone.

The blast was caused by a car loaded with explosives, we perceive that it was parked near a restaurant along the road, Somali police official Ibrahim Mohamed told the AFP news agency.

190301070517452

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened in the vicinity of the presidential palace  an area with some of the highest security in Mogadishu  saying it had targeted government officials.

The blast is the second in less than a week, following another car bomb last Thursday, which killed 29 people, mainly civilians. Al-Shabab later claimed responsibility.

A gun battle followed the March 1 attack, shutting down parts of Mogadishu.

Five people are thought to have been killed in the attack, with several more injured [Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP]

Ongoing violence

Somalia has been plagued by violence since a civil war began in 1991 but the country has stabilised somewhat in recent years.

Al-Shabab has been fighting to dislodge Somalias Western-backed government, which is protected by African Union-mandated peacekeepers.

The armed group controls large parts of rural, southern and central Somalia and continues to carry out high-profile attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere.





Since 2017, the United States has dramatically increased air attacks against al-Shabab since President Donald Trump took office.

The US military command for the African continent reportedly carried out 50 air raids in Somalia in 2018.

The number appears to be rising this year, with the military command in Africa reporting 23 raids as of February 26.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has warned that the ongoing protests against his reelection campaign risk being exploited by internal and external parties attempting to disrupt the countrys stability.

Tens of thousands of Algerians have taken part in nationwide protests since February 22, challenging Bouteflikas attempt to run for a fifth consecutive term in office.

In a letter carried by the official Algeria Press Service news agency on Thursday, Bouteflika welcomed the peaceful nature of the demonstrations, but cautioned against infiltration aimed at stirring seditions and spreading chaos.

There are many people who regret that Algeria survived  peacefully and serenely the surge of the Arab Spring, the 82-year-old said.

These circles, which envy our liberty, independence of our decisions and our just positions, have never ceased to conspire against our country.

190226133220101

The statement reflected a growing concern among government officials that traditional supporters were becoming more sympathetic with the protest movement, Riccardo Fabiani, an analyst at Energy Aspects, told Al Jazeera.

Bouteflika and his allies are trying to rally their supporters around the presidents flagship policy of stability, said Fabiani.

After all, this is the main achievement, having brought stability back to Algeria after 10 years of civil war. These messages aim to close ranks within the pro-regime coalition of interests and constituents.

Failing health

First elected in 1999, Bouteflika has been widely credited with helping end Algerias decade-long civil war.

A veteran of the countrys war of independence against colonial France, Bouteflika has seen his popularity wane in recent years as a result of his deteriorating health.

He suffered a serious stroke in 2013, and the wheelchair-bound president has not addressed the nation since then. He was, however, reelected a year later for a fourth term.





Analysts say a combination of memories of the civil war and generous state subsidies  the result of high oil prices  have both played a role in helping the president weather the wave of protests that toppled leaders elsewhere in the region.

But the announcement on February 10 that Bouteflika would run for a fifth term in the April 18 election did not prove popular.

Defying a 2001 ban on protest in the capital Algiers, tens of thousands of people turned up on February 22 to demand the ailing president step down.

Security sources at the interior ministry told local media that as many as 800,000 people turned up to the protest in downtown Algiers last Friday.

In response, Bouteflika said that if he were elected, he would organise a national dialogue, reform the constitution and schedule elections within a year.

However, that has done little to assuage protesters, who have grown in number and spread to different parts of the country.

Lawyers and journalists protest

On Thursday, the protests continued when several hundred lawyers gathered in downtown Algiers and called for Bouteflika to be disqualified from running for the countrys top job.

They breached police cordons to march on the Constitutional Council, the body responsible for approving the candidacy of the 21 people registered to contest the poll.

Footage on social media showed the demonstrators being applauded.

We are asking the Constitutional Council to assume its responsibilities, Ahmed Dahim, a member of the Bar Association of Algiers, told AFP as nearby colleagues chanted no to the fifth mandate.

By law, presidential hopefuls must prove they are medically fit to run in the election.

The constitutional body has until March 14 to decide on the list of candidates.

Dozens of journalists also staged a rally in the Press Freedom Square in Algiers, alleging they were pressured to skew their coverage in favour of the incumbent.

Reporters from the Arabic-language Echorouk El Yawmi and El Bilad newspapers said they lost advertisements from public institutions in response to their coverage of the protests.

190305192908825

In a separate development, France announced it was watching the situation in Algeria closely, but insisted it was up to Algerians to decide their future.

The current stance adopted by the French government is probably the only possible course of action, said Fabiani.

Algerians would reject any attempt to interfere in their internal affairs and any suggestion coming from the international community, even if well-intentioned, could easily backfire and reinforce the other side.

Additional reporting by Ramy Allahoum. Follow him on Twitter @rallahoum
Senator Martha McSally said she was sexually assaulted by a superior officer during her time in the Air Force.

United States Senator Martha McSally, the first female Air Force fighter pilot to fly in combat, said on Wednesday that she had been raped by a superior officer, and later, when she tried to talk about it to military officials, she felt like the system was raping me all over again.

McSally, 52, who spent 26 years in the Air Force and commanded a fighter squadron, revealed the attack in emotional remarks during a Senate subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military.

I am also a military sexual assault survivor but unlike so many brave survivors I didnt report being sexually assaulted, McSally said.

Like so many women and men I didnt trust the system at the time, she added. I blame myself. I was ashamed and confused. And I thought I was strong but felt powerless.

McSally, who served in the Air Force until 2010 and retired with the rank of colonel, said she kept quiet about the assault for many years.

But later in my career, as the military grappled with scandals and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know  I too was a survivor, she said.

I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled, she added. She almost left the Air Force after 18 years.

Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again.

Suffered in silence

She was in the ninth class at the Air Force Academy, and said sexual harassment and assault were prevalent. Survivors mostly suffered in silence, she said.

She did not say whether her assaults happened at the academy or during active duty. She didnt name any names.

Legislators also heard from other service members who spoke of being sexually assaulted and humiliated while serving their country.

Reports of sexual assaults across the military jumped nearly 10 percent in 2017  a year that also saw an online nude photo-sharing scandal rock the Defense Department. Reporting for 2018 is not yet available. Reports of sexual assaults were also up at the military academies, most at West Point.

McSallys revelation comes not long after Senator Joni Ernst, who served in the Iowa Army National Guard, detailed her own abuse and assault. Her comments also come at a time of increased awareness over the problem of harassment and assault in the armed forces and the larger #MeToo movement that roiled Hollywood and major corporations.

An under-reported crime

McSally said she shares in the disgust of the failures of the military system and many commanders who havent addressed the problems of sexual misconduct.

She said the public must demand that higher-ranking officials be part of the solution, setting the tone for their officers.

We have come a long way to stop military sexual assault but we still have a long way to go, the senator said. It took many years and too many lives ruined.

Her colleagues on the committee lauded her for coming forward.

Im deeply affected by that testimony, said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

An Air Force spokeswoman said the Air Force is deeply sorry, and that the criminal actions reported by McSally violate every part of what it means to be an airman.

Carrie Volpe added that the Air Force stands behind McSally and all survivors of sexual assault and that the Air Force is committed to eliminating reprehensible behaviour and breach of trust.

McSally served in the Air Force from 1988 until 2010 and rose to the rank of colonel before entering politics.

Defence officials have argued that an increase in reported assaults reflects a greater willingness to report attacks, rather than indicating assaults are rising.

Sexual assaults are a highly under-reported crime, both in the military and across society as a whole.

Greater reporting, they argue, shows there is more confidence in the reporting system and greater comfort with the support for survivors.
Leaders of so-called Ambazonia Freedom Fighters to appear in court over several attacks in surge of violence.

An armed separatist group in Cameroons southwest wants the government to be give official status to a state called Ambazonia.

The so-called Ambazonia Freedom Fighters have attacked villages, schools and businesses over the past year.

Their aim is to pressure the government into establishing an English-speaking state, in what is a mostly French-speaking nation.

Al Jazeeras Victoria Gatenby reports on the effect this has had.
Opposition grows to legislative initiatives in Guatemala and El Salvador that would set war criminals free.

Guatemala City, Guatemala  For decades, Raul de Jesus Gomez fought for justice for his brother Ramiro, killed in a 1982 massacre in northern Guatemala. Now, he is fighting to keep the perpetrators behind bars.

The year Gomez was born marked the beginning of the 1960-1996 civil war between the army and leftist guerrilla forces. He was just a young child when his family moved to Dos Erres, a farming community in the Peten department. By the time Gomez was in his 20s, the militarys scorched-earth campaign was in full swing.

All told, the armed conflict left 200,000 dead and 45,000 disappeared. According to a United Nations-backed truth commission, military forces carried out acts of genocide in several indigenous Mayan regions.

The truth commission documented 663 massacres. One of them was in Dos Erres, where Kaibiles special forces, a special operations wing of Guatemalas armed forces, killed more than 200 men, women, children and infants on December 6, 1982.

My older brother died there. He was massacred by the soldiers, Gomez told Al Jazeera.

Gomez is part of a growing chorus of opposition to legislative initiatives in Guatemala and El Salvador that would grant broad amnesty to perpetrators of crimes against humanity.

Guatemala bill

In Guatemala, a bill to reform the National Reconciliation Law passed in the wake of the 1996 peace accords is making its way through a divided congress. The second of three readings of the amnesty bill took place on Wednesday, sparking passionate interventions on both sides.

190213234804759

Motions presented on Wednesday to send the bill back to a commission and to consult the Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of the bill both failed. The third debate and final vote could be scheduled as early as next week.

The bill would order the release within 24 hours of more than 30 military and paramilitary men convicted of forced disappearance, rape, massacres and other war-time atrocities. It would also shut down current and future trials.

Six soldiers each sentenced to thousands of years in prison for the Dos Erres massacre are among those who will walk free should the bill pass.

As victims, we hope that bill does not prevail, said Gomez.

The Guatemala amnesty bill would order the release of dozens of military and paramilitary men convicted of forced disappearance, rape, massacres and other war-time atrocities [Sandra Cuffe/Al Jazeera]

Proponents of the bill argue the measure is necessary for the country to move forward. They claim left-wing interference in the judicial branch has led to biased and politically-motivated prosecution of military officials. Many deny crimes against humanity occurred.

The amnesty bill would put an end to ideological persecution and the business of reparations, congress president Alvaro Arzu tweeted on Wednesday.

Congressman Amilcar Pop, an indigenous rights lawyer, rejects the arguments of amnesty advocates. Only one guerrilla fighter is among the convicts, but the ratio is roughly in line with the truth commissions findings, he said. The commission concluded the military carried out 93 percent of atrocities and guerrilla forces only three percent.

190131204908624

Crimes during combat are not on trial and that is important to recognise, Pop told Al Jazeera.

What there are are attacks on civilians, minors, women, and even newborns killed in massacres, he said.

El Salvador initiative

In neighbouring El Salvador, a similar legislative initiative is the subject of growing controversy. An ad hoc commission of politicians is working on a draft bill to grant amnesty to perpetrators of war crimes.

The 1979-1992 armed conflict between the Salvadoran military and leftist guerrilla forces left an estimated 75,000 people dead and thousands disappeared.

As in Guatemala, the Salvadoran militarys scorched-earth and counterinsurgency campaigns included the targeting of civilians and massacres of whole villages. As in Guatemalas case, a truth commission also concluded the military was responsible for the vast majority of atrocities.

Over the course of the conflict, the United States government provided billions of dollars in funding to the Salvadoran government.

A 1993 amnesty law prevented the prosecution of war crimes, but the countrys Supreme Court struck it down in 2016. The ruling facilitated the current trial of high-level military officials for the December 1981 El Mozote massacre of nearly 1,000 villagers by a special forces battalion. More than half of the victims were children.

181210151727647

Survivors and relatives of victims of the El Mozote massacre are among the dozens of groups speaking out against attempts to bring back the amnesty. A bill to that effect would generate a dysfunctional societal model based on impunity, according to a statement on Wednesday by the National Commission for the Search of Disappeared Persons during the Armed Conflict.

The protests of Salvadoran survivors and human rights groups have been echoed by international organisations. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet spoke out against Guatemalas amnesty bill earlier this year and has now also condemned its incipient counterpart in El Salvador.

Amnesties for the most serious crimes under international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, are contrary to international law, Bachelet said in a statement on Wednesday.

By effectively granting impunity to those guilty of serious crimes, it would make repetition of similar crimes more likely, she said.
Joint military exercises in South Korea act as open challenge towards achieving peace, says North Korea.

North Korea has attacked the ongoing joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington as an open challenge to the efforts towards peace on the Korean Peninsula.

On Saturday, the US and South Korea agreed to replace two major annual war games  the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drills  with a shorter Dong Maeng or Alliance exercise which kicked off this week.

The move was designed to further ease tensions with Pyongyang following the dramatic detente since early 2018.

The ill-boding moves of the South Korean military authorities and the US are a wanton violation of the DPRK-US joint statement [in Singapore] and the North-South declarations in which the removal of hostility and tensions were committed to, the Norths official news agency, KCNA, said.





There are almost 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, and their annual drills with tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers have always infuriated North Korea  with Pyongyang condemning the manoeuvres as provocative rehearsals for invasion.

However, following the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last year, Trump raised eyebrows at a press conference when he said Washington would suspend the very provocative US joint military exercises with South Korea.

The two leaders also signed a vaguely worded pledge on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

It is unclear what violation of that pledge North Korea was referencing in its statement.

The flare-up comes just days after Trump and Kim held a second summit, this time in Vietnam, but talks concluded early with no progress towards Washingtons goal of getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

Following the stalemate, researchers said this week that Pyongyang was rebuilding the Sohae long-range rocket site after Kim had agreed last year to shut it as part of confidence-building measures.

A disappointed Trump

On Thursday, US experts said the missile launch site was operational again.

Movement of cargo vehicles was spotted recently around a factory at Sanumdong in the capital Pyongyang, which produced North Koreas first intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States, South Koreas JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing legislators briefed by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

JoongAng Ilbo also quoted Suh as saying North Korea continued to operate its uranium-enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex. But that contradicted reports from a day earlier that no activity was ongoing there since late last year, concurring with findings from the UN atomic watchdog.

Trump said he would be very, very disappointed if the reports proved true.

Joel Wit, a North Korea proliferation expert who helped negotiate with North Korea in the mid-1990s, said the Sohae reports are Kims way of showing hes getting impatient with lack of progress in negotiations.

We have to watch to see what else happens, Wit said. Its a space launch facility and has been used to send satellites into space  Problem is some of the technologies [with rockets] are the same.
Telecom giant says US has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support restrictions on Huawei products.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei said on Thursday it was suing the United States for barring government agencies from buying the telecom companys equipment and services.

The lawsuit is Huaweis latest attempt to fight back against US warnings that the company could serve as a Trojan horse for Chinas intelligence services.

Huawei  the worlds biggest telecoms-equipment maker  has said it hasnt and would never share data with Chinas government.

The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort, Huaweis Chairman Guo Ping said at a press conference in Shenzhen.

Huawei has always taken its responsibilities seriously, he added.

The company also accused the US of hacking its servers and stealing emails.

Huawei said the US acted illegally by enacting a law that forbids the government from doing business with companies that use Huawei equipment as a substantial or essential component of their system.





The privately-owned firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive over the past two months as Washington lobbies its allies to abandon Huawei when building fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks, centring on a 2017 Chinese law requiring companies to cooperate with national-intelligence work.

Thursdays move challenges Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a section signed into law by US President Donald Trump in August that banned federal agencies and their contractors from procuring its equipment and services.

This ban not only is unlawful but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers. We look forward to the courts verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people, said Guo.

Making arrests

The US-China dispute has intensified in recent months.

Huaweis Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou faces potential extradition from Canada where she was arrested by the US over charges of Iran sanctions violations.

The US Justice Department accuses Huawei and Meng of circumventing US sanctions against Iran. Two affiliates also have been charged with stealing trade secrets from telecommunications group T-Mobile.

Meng faces a May 8 hearing in Vancouver, where she was arrested while changing planes.

Two Canadians have been imprisoned in China for whats being seen as Beijings retaliation over Mengs arrest.

Huaweis legal action came after Meng appeared in court on Wednesday, during which her lawyer expressed concerns the allegations had a political character, prompting Trumps comments on the case.

Meng is suing Canadas government for procedural wrongs in her arrest.
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin found guilty of failing to report the abuse of a minor by Reverend Bernard Preynat.

Frances top Catholic official, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, has been convicted for his role in a sex abuse cover-up, receiving a six-month suspended jail term and will offer to resign.

The archbishop of Lyon, who was not in court, was found guilty on Thursday of failing to report the abuse of a minor by the Reverend Bernard Preynat between 2014 and 2015. Five other defendants were acquitted either because the alleged crimes were too old or unproven.

Barbarin, 68, is the most senior French official to be caught up in the global paedophilia scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church.

The suspended nature of the jail term means he will not serve time behind bars. His lawyers announced immediately that they would appeal the judgment.





The reasoning of the court is not convincing, lawyer Jean-Felix Luciani told reporters. We will contest this decision by all the means possible.

Magistrates wrote in the decision that Barbarin had the obligation to report accusations because the alleged victims didnt request the ecclesiastic secrecy.

In the wake of the conviction, Barbarin announced he would be presenting his resignation to Pope Francis in the coming days.

I have decided to go and see the Holy Father to offer him my resignation, he said. He said Pope Francis will see me in a few days, and expressed his compassion for the alleged victims.

He also said the victims and their families were in his prayers.

Al Jazeeras Natacha Butler, reporting from Lyon, said the case has damaged the reputation of the Catholic Church in France.

It is an institution in crisis. Over the years, there are less and less followers. Fewer priests are ordained and in fact the figures have really plunged over the past decade. It used to be about 800 new priests a year, now there are less than a hundred, she said.

Major victory

Barbarin faced long-standing allegations from victims groups that he failed to report a priest under his authority to police after learning of abuse which took place in the 1980s and 90s.

But prosecutors said those crimes were beyond the statute of limitations  meaning they were too old to prosecute  and declined to press charges.

During the trial, victims accused Barbarin of being aware of the abuse allegations from at least 2010 and then trying to cover up the scandal, under orders from the Vatican, from 2015.

Francois Devaux, who leads the victims group La Parole Liberee (Liberated Word) in Lyon, called Thursdays verdict a major victory for child protection.

The Catholic Church has been roiled in recent years by claims against priests which have come to light in the wake of a global move by victims to go public with evidence.

Clerics have been denounced in countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ireland, and the United States, leading Pope Francis to promise to rid the church of a scourge that has done enormous damage to its standing.
Rights groups have voiced concern over the targeting of journalists, activists, and lawyers who have aided or represented migrants at the southern border by the United States government.

Leaked documents, obtained by NBC station KNSD-TV, show that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) compiled a list of 59 journalists, lawyers, and activists  most of whom are US citizens  to subject to secondary screening at the US-Mexico border and include in an intelligence-gathering effort.

Agents have questioned or arrested at least 21 of them, KNSD-TV reported.

Since the list was created, several of those included on it told NBC News they have been pulled aside by agents at the border for what was said to be a national security investigation.

In some cases, authorities flagged their passports for alerts, the television station reported.

Others who do not appear on the leaked list have also reported being subjected to secondary screenings. Al Jazeera journalists have also been pulled aside for additional questioning.

CBP told NBC News the list was of people who were present during the violence that broke out at the border with Tijuana.

Those on the list have also had their social media accounts monitored. The US government is believed to have created dossiers on them all with the help of Mexican officials.

Trample on rights

{articleGUID}

Mitra Ebadolahi, a senior staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of San Diegos Border Litigation Project, said for years the government has used the pretext of border security to trample on Americans constitutional rights.

This most recent example is just the latest in a steady stream of CBP abuse of authority, and once again underscores the dire need for meaningful agency oversight and accountability, she said in a statement.

Esha Bhandari, a staff lawyer with the ACLUs Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said this was a violation of the First Amendment.

The government cannot use the pretext of the border to target activists critical of its policies, lawyers providing legal representation, or journalists simply doing their jobs.

She said the ACLU was exploring all options in response.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the NBC report confirmed the organisations suspicions about CBPs actions toward journalists covering the migrant caravan.

We will meet with CBP today and ask them once again to commit to no longer using secondary screenings as a pretence to harass journalists or gather intelligence, Alexandra Ellerbeck, CPJs North America Program Coordinator, said in a statement.

We are also asking members of Congress with oversight over the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to thoroughly investigate this disturbing pattern of activity, she added.

US-Mexico cooperation

The US government list is dated January 9, 2019, and titled, San Diego Sector Foreign Operations Branch: Migrant Caravan FY-2019 Suspected Organizers, Coordinators, Instigators, and Media, according to US media.

The list was made after thousands of Central American migrants fleeing poverty, political persecution and violence travelled to Tijuana to begin seeking asylum in the US at the San Diego border. US President Donald Trump falsely described the Central American exodus, previously dubbed the migrant caravan, as an invasion.

Mexico later pledged to increase security near its border crossings.

The cover of the list reportedly includes a seal with both the American and Mexican flags.

Last month, The Intercept reported that four photojournalists who had gone to the southern side of the US-Mexico border to document the arrival of migrant caravans from Central America had their passports photographed by Mexican officials.

{articleGUID}

One was later barred from reentering Mexico while others were questioned upon reentry to the US.

Also last month, CPJ said officials from Mexicos National Institute for Migration refused entry to two journalists who came to cover a migrant caravan in Tijuana.

Responding to reports of secondary screenings last year, CPJ put forth a series of recommendations for CBP and DHS to ensure that security measures did not undermine press freedom.
Chinese tech giants lawsuit seen largely as a PR ploy, but legal action could provide insight into the US ban.

Shenzhen, China  Huawei Technologies, Chinas telecommunications giant, said on Thursday it filed a lawsuit against the United States for banning government agencies, employees and contractors from using Huawei equipment as the company attempts to fight back against perceptions that it is a tool used for spying by Beijing.

Speaking to reporters in the southern city of Shenzhen, Huawei Chairman Guo Ping called the ban unconstitutional and declared that the company never installed back doors and never will install back doors in its equipment.

Guo said the US government had misled the American public regarding Huawei, and never presented evidence regarding its allegations against the company.

The ban came into effect last August as part of the Defense Authorization Act, which also placed similar restrictions on fellow Shenzhen-based telecoms equipment company ZTE.

It is an abuse of the US lawmaking process, this strips Huawei of its due process  and goes against the very nature of the Constitution, Guo said.





Huawei said it filed the lawsuit in the Eastern District Court in Plano, Texas where it has its US headquarters. The suit claims the company has been singled out for punishment without a chance to defend itself by a legislative act of Congress that could be considered unconstitutional, the so-called bill of attainder.

Public relations ploy

While the move may force the US government to provide more details on the ban, most legal analysts see the action more as a public relations gambit for Huawei, which has found its global image shattered over the last year amid increasing scepticism about its close ties to the Chinese government.

Its a good public relations ploy for Huawei for various reasons, said Jerome A Cohen, a New York University law professor and Council of Foreign Relations senior fellow.

Although unlikely to win the suit, it may cause the US to reveal more data and spell out arguments for the exclusion of Huawei, Cohen said. I dont think the bill of attainder gambit will work [however].

Christopher Balding, an associate professor at the Fulbright University Vietnam, who recently left Shenzhen after nine years as an economics professor at the HSBC Business School of Peking University, said Huawei needs to be more transparent about its company and perceived ties to the Communist Party in Beijing.

[The lawsuit] seems more like a ploy to make their case than a real change of character, Balding told Al Jazeera.

If they wanted to alleviate questions about their ownership structure, it would be easy to put information into the public domain to address those concerns but they continue to refuse to do so.

Huawei has been pulling out all the stops on the public relations front.

Reuters reported on March 7 that at least 10 senior journalists have been approached by headhunters hired by the company, offering annual packages of $200,000. A reporter who writes for Al Jazeera in Shenzhen was also approached by Huawei-connected headhunters with exactly the same offer.

Huaweis Meng Wanzhou leaves her family home in Vancouver earlier this week [Ben Nelms/Reuters]

International blowback

The US is pressuring other allies that are part of the Five-Eyes intelligence alliance  including the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada  to ban Huawei products, urging them to bar Huawei from participating in the rollout of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks in their countries.

Bans on government use of Huawei products have already been issued in Australia and New Zealand since the US action.

Huawei is also embroiled in a legal tussle over the December 1 arrest of Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou by Canadian authorities after an extradition request from the US over allegations of bank and wire fraud related to breaches of US-imposed sanctions on Iran.

Meng is the daughter of Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of Huawei, who recently said in a rare interview that the company would never share information with Beijing.

Meng, who is on bail and living at her Vancouver home, appeared in court on Wednesday to argue against the extradition, saying the request was politically motivated.

During the proceedings, they referred to US President Donald Trumps Twitter remarks in December when he alluded to dropping the extradition request if the US and China reached a trade deal.

The two superpowers are currently conducting video-conference negotiations to reduce trade friction after Washington delayed a deadline to increase tariffs by 25 percent on about $200bn in Chinese products last week.

Huawei, which insists it is a private company and not at the bidding of the government in Beijing, has also denied its equipment can be used for intrusion under Chinese cybersecurity and national security laws.

But legal experts at global law firms who asked not to be identified said those laws do spell out how the government can compel telecommunications companies to open their systems for snooping.





Spying accusations

Chinese authorities have emerged as staunch defenders of Huawei.

Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat and currently an analyst with Brussels-based international conflict monitoring think-tank Crisis Group, and Michael Spavor, a businessman and consultant, were arrested after Mengs arrest.

On Monday, China accused them of spying.

Asked whether other countries such as Australia that have been pushing back on using Huawei technologies could face similar legal action in the future, Elena Collinson, a senior project and research officer at the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology in Sydney, said even if it did the likelihood of success would be low.

Huawei Australia stated last year they would take all possible measures to protect our legal rights and interests in response to the Australian governments decision to block Huawei from participating in the rollout of Australias 5G network, Collinson said.

While we might not be able to rule out completely the potential for Huawei to bring a case against the Australian government on the ban, there would probably be limited scope for any such action to succeed, she added.

Collinson said Australian courts have generally been reluctant to weigh in on executive decisions related to national security there, nor would there be much scope for Huawei to base a lawsuit on breaches of a 1988 bilateral investment treaty between the two.

Imports of coal from Australia have recently been caught up in the northern port of Dalian over environmental inspections, causing concerns a ban had been implemented.

Chinas foreign ministry last month denied there was any ban. Spokesperson Geng Shuang said coal that did not meet the countrys environmental standards had been found in recent years, so this was part of general quality-and-safety inspections.
The Department of Justice will launch a special body to be called Committee on Decorum and Investigation to handle cases of violence and harassment against women and children. This coincides with the National Womens Month Celebration every March 8, which coincides with the worldwide observance of the International Womens Day. The theme of the cleberation, from 2017 to 2022, is We Make Change Work for Women, which, officials said, highlights the empowerment of women as active contributors to and claimholders of development. The 2019 NWMC shall focus on strengthening efforts to improve and track the progress of implementation of the Magna Carta of Women, and other relevant laws and commitments to the international community such as the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action, and the Sustainable Development Goals.DOJ Committee on Women and Children Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar told reporters Thursday the special panel, which would be launched at the end of the month, would be called Committee on Decorum and Investigation. This is leading actually to our launching of Committee on Decorum and Investigation which handles cases of harassment, Villar said. Villar said at present there was an 85-percent increase in the resolution of cases related to violence against women and children when compared with the previous years, which she attributed to the use of a plea bargaining system.
Requests filed the International Criminal Court on behalf of refugees to ask for investigation into Syria.

This story has been updated to clarify that Toby Cadman is not the lead counsel for Stoke White solicitors.

Human rights lawyers have urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open a preliminary investigation into alleged mass deportations by Syrian authorities, in an attempt to hold President Bashar al-Assads regime accountable for atrocities carried out during the countrys bloody civil war.

On Thursday, a group of lawyers filed requests with the ICC on behalf of 28 victims who were forced across the border into Jordan, according to a statement by UK law firm Stoke White.

Another set of lawyers had filed an article 15 communication on Monday with the ICC, using what appears to be the same precedent for bringing Syria under the courts jurisdiction.

Syria is not a member of the ICC and thus the court has had no jurisdiction in the country.

That has meant that numerous allegations of atrocities committed during the conflict have not been prosecuted at the worlds first permanent criminal tribunal.

Both sets of lawyers cite a case involving the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar that could be used to give the ICC jurisdiction over at least part of the Syrian conflict

180919082206813

That case focussed on Muslim Rohingya driven out from Myanmar, which is not an ICC member, into Bangladesh, which is and the ICC ruled it had jurisdiction to look at a range of allegations against Myanmars security forces.

Groundbreaking ICC ruling

The new arguments say that the ICC could exercise jurisdiction over Syrian civilians forced into Jordan, because Jordan is a member of the court.

The same principle [used for Myanmar and Bangladesh] should apply to Syria and Jordan, said Toby Cadman a lawyer for the Guernica Centre for International Justice which filed the article 15 communication.

He added that atrocities committed by Syrian government forces forced about a million civilians to flee into Jordan.

The threat of more mistreatment, if they return, is preventing them from returning home, he said.

The ICC exists precisely to bring justice to the victims of these most brutal international crimes, said Rodney Dixon, from Temple Garden Chambers. He is the leading lawyer in the group representing the 28 Syrian refugees, along with UK-based firm Stoke White.

What we are trying to do is to highlight the crimes committed against these people in the right platform, that is the ICC, said Hakan Camuz, with Stoke White.

Camuz said they have been investigating crimes against civilians in Syria for the last two years and have submitted all evidence collected to the ICC prosecutors.





The very people who actually committed these heinous crimes think they have somehow impunity, he added.

In a statement, Stoke White said the case would also focus on the wider pattern of attacks and crimes against the civilian population in Syria including torture, rape, chemical attacks and disappearances in order to establish the full breadth of the systematic violations of which the deportations form a part.

The ICC is a court of last resort, which steps in only when national authorities are unable or unwilling to prosecute alleged crimes.

In a written response, the ICC prosecutors office confirmed it had received the filing and said it would analyse the material.

As soon as we reach a decision on the appropriate next step, we will inform the sender and provide reasons for our decision, the office said.

The ICC and its chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda have faced criticism in recent years after a series of failed prosecutions. Addressing crimes in Syria could help restore faith in the court and its prosecutor, Cadman said.

I think this is this is an opportunity for her to really establish the credibility of her office, he said.
A top pro-independence leader in Indian-administered Kashmir has been booked under the controversial Public Safety Act (PSA) which could see him imprisoned for up to two years without a trial.

Yasin Malik, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was sent to Kot Balwal jail in Jammu city from a police station where he had been kept since his arrest on February 22 together with 160 other people.

The arrest came amid a wider assault in Jammu and Kashmir by Indian authorities after its government banned religio-socio-political organisation Jamaat-e-Islami and detained more than 300 of its members.

Tension in the region has been running high since a suicide bombing in Pulwama in Indian-administered Kashmir last month killed at least 40 Indian troops.





The attack, the deadliest in 30 years of the Kashmir conflict and claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), escalated into a massive standoff between the two South Asian nuclear powers.

This government has reached the extreme level of suppression. They are detaining everyone who raises his voice, a senior JKLF official told Al Jazeera.

The situation calmed down after days of rising tension between Pakistan and India as well as exchanges of fire across the Line of Control. But violence and deaths have continued in Kashmir, the Himalayan territory claimed in full by the two nuclear-armed rivals.

Spree of arrests

Joint Resistance Leadership, a group of separatist leaders in the region, has called for a complete shutdown on Friday to protest the arbitrary arrest.

This spree of arrests, the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and the attempts to tinker with hereditary state subject law deserves our stiff protest and resistance, a statement released by the group said.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads a faction of the pro-Pakistani Hurriyat Conference, condemned Maliks arrest.

Strongly condemn slapping of draconian PSA and shifting to #KotBalwalJail Jammu of Yasin Malik and others by the authorities, tweeted Farooq.

Strongly condemn slapping of draconian PSA and shifting to #KotBalwalJail Jammu of #YasinMalik & others by the authorities.These illegal & undemocratic tactics will not stop people & leadership from demanding peaceful resolution of #KashmirDispute in accordance with peoples will pic.twitter.com/DvHgXBSuPz  Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (@MirwaizKashmir) March 7, 2019

Last year, a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights questioned the arbitrary use of PSA by India and said that more than 1,000 Kashmiris were detained using this act between March 2016 and August 2017.

In a statement on Tuesday, Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, said, Indias failure to address the rights of people in Kashmir has to lead to increased violence in recent years.

They have been victims of torture, threats, extortion, arrests, and killings, said Ganguly.

International community should now insist on reform to address the decades of repression in Kashmir.

Additional reporting by Rifat Fareed in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir.
Iraqi President Barham Salih has said foreign Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL,ISIS) fighters tried in Iraq could be handed death sentences, according to an interview published by Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National on Friday.

The ISIL fighters will be tried in accordance to Iraqi law and may be sentenced to death if found guilty of killing Iraqis, the paper quoted Salih on its website on Thursday. Iraqi law allows for capital punishment and we will uphold Iraqi law.

190225154733224

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces backed by the United States handed over some 280 Iraqi and foreign suspected ISIL members last month, Iraqs military said. More such handovers are expected under an agreement to transfer some 500 detainees held by the Kurdish-led SDF.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said Iraq would either help repatriate non-Iraqi ISIL detainees to their home countries or prosecute those suspected of having committed crimes against Iraq and Iraqis.

Iraqi law will take precedence

Salihs remarks were the first public comments confirming that foreign ISIL fighters could face execution in Iraq. He was speaking to the paper at the Sulaimani Forum in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq.

There are certain cases in which some of these foreign fighters have been implicated in cases of terrorism on Iraqi soil or against Iraqi citizens. Here Iraqi law will take precedence, he said.

But Salih did not expect to have to deal with all ISIL fighters transferred from Syria.

To laden Iraq with this issue on behalf of the world, is too much to ask of Iraq, Salih said.

The SDF is driving ISIL fighters out of some of the very last territory they hold, nearly five years after they swept through eastern Syria and northern Iraq and imposed their own brutal rule, declaring an Islamic caliphate.

190306160315079

On Wednesday, a senior commander for the group said that hundreds of ISIL soldiers had surrendered from the last shred of territory they controlled in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz, in Deir Az Zor province.

Salih said Iraq faces many challenges, including rebuilding after decades of conflict and sanctions. He said not much of the $30bn pledged at the Kuwait conference over a year ago for recovery had been allocated. Lack of security and a framework for financial delivery were partially responsible for the delays.

Renewed optimism

Even so, the Iraqi president said with the end if ISIL, the country was ripe for development and the international community recognises the need for a strong, stable country.



There is a sense of renewed optimism about Iraq, both internally and internationally, he said. And it is incumbent on us as this new team leading Iraq to move and push forward the Iraqi agenda that we consider to be vital for a new regional order based on economic integration and collaboration among the nations of the region, but also internationally in the fight against extremism.

He refuted the claim by US President Donald Trumps that US forces are in Iraq to keep an eye on neighbouring Iran.

The United States is an ally and supported us in our war on terrorism. The forces in Iraq are here based on an agreement with the government of Iraq to train and assist in the fight against terrorism, there are no combat troops or US bases here, Salih said.

The specific aim is to fight terrorism  any other reason is unacceptable to us. We have spoken to the Americans and they understand that.

As SDF forces try to finish the military battle with ISIL in neighbouring Syria, Salih said the ultimate solution wouldnt be found through fighting.

There is no option except a political option to end the war, he said. I have told all the leaders of the region who I have met the same thing and they all agree. What happened in Syria was a catastrophe for Syria and its people but also for the region.
Members of the House of Representatives say the fighting could create long-term instability and pose a future threat to the United States.

The US House of Representatives has voted to end US funding for the war in Yemen, in defiance of President Donald Trumps support for the Saudi-led coalition.

Trump says he will veto it, even as his administration has ignored measures to reduce civilian deaths.

Trump says Saudi Arabia is a valuable strategic partner, but witnesses say continued support could undermine regional stability.

Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher reports from Washington.
Speaking at meeting with Philippines President Duterte, Malaysian PM said other countries wanted to exploit waters.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said China should define its so-called ownership in the disputed South China Sea so other claimant countries can start to gain benefits from the resource-rich waters.

Mahathir stressed in an interview with ABS-CBN network in Manila on Thursday the importance of freedom of navigation in the busy sea lanes, saying if there were no restrictions the claims made by China will not affect us very much.





Malaysia, the Philippines, China, and three other governments have been locked in long-seething territorial disputes in the waterway.

China has warned that it is not prepared to give up a single inch of the waters, and describes them as the legacy of its ancestors.

Its stance has also agitated the United States which has sent its navy vessels through the sea in a bid to curtail Beijings efforts to limit freedom of navigation there.

Chinas foreign ministry has, in the past, strongly condemned the USs presence in the waters and urged Washington to stop such provocative actions and to immediately correct its mistakes.

Mahathir is visiting Manila for talks with President Rodrigo Duterte and other top officials, who are expected to thank Malaysia for brokering peace talks between the Philippine government and Muslim rebels, who have become governors of a new Muslim autonomous region.
Saif al-din Abu Zeid, 15, was shot in the head by Israeli sniper during Wednesday protest, Gaza health ministry says.

A 15-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday during an evening protest near the Israeli fence east of the Gaza Strip.

According to the Gaza ministry of healths spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra, the teenager was identified as Saif al-din Abu Zeid, who was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper east of the besieged enclave.

Six other protesters were wounded by Israeli forces and were taken to Shifa Hospital for treatment.

Every night since February, young Palestinian men, known as the night disturbance unit, have been gathering by the border with Israel as part of the Marches of Return protests, which began in late March last year.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have taken part in the demonstrations, demanding Palestinians be allowed to return to the lands their families were ethnically cleansed from in 1948 by Zionist paramilitaries.

They also demand an end to Israels 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclaves economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

At the end of February, United Nations investigators said there is evidence pointing to crimes against humanity by Israeli security forces who shot, injured and killed Palestinians during the massive protests last year.

A UN Commission of Inquiry consisting of independent human rights experts counted 189 Palestinians killed and estimated more than 9,000 injured. Other counts put the number of Palestinian victims killed at

260 and the injured in excess of 26,000.

One Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper and four others were injured during the demonstrations, the UN report said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the report, saying that it is setting new records of hypocrisy and lies, out of an obsessive hatred of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.

Israeli raids

Meanwhile, early on Thursday, Israeli warplanes launched raids in the vicinity of the new port in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, with no reports of casualties.

The Israeli army confirmed on Twitter that fighter jets and aircraft struck several military targets in a Hamas compound in Gaza.

No injuries were reported, but according to local Palestinian al-Quds Radio, facilities were destroyed and nearby houses were also damaged.

The army added that it held Hamas accountable for the cross-border attacks, which it said hit an empty area in southern Israel. No damage or injuries were reported and no one had yet claimed responsibility for firing the rocket.
Critics see the legislation as part of Kremlin efforts to stifle criticism and tighten control.

Politicians in Russia have passed legislation that imposes restrictions on online media and penalties on those who insult the state.

The bill, introduced on Thursday by the Kremlin-controlled lower house, the State Duma, prescribed fines for publishing materials showing disrespect to the state, its symbols and government organs. Repeat offenders could face a 15-day jail sentence.

Parliament approved the bill in the third reading and endorsed a separate bill that would block anyone publishing fake news online that was perceived to threaten public health and security.

Critics see the bill, which President Vladimir Putin is expected to sign into law once approved by the upper-house Federation Council, as part of Kremlin efforts to stifle criticism and tighten control.

Communist lawmaker Alexei Kurinnyi warned that the authorities could use the fake news bill to punish critics.





Dear colleagues, lets ask ourselves, why do people believe the so-called fake news? Apparently, its because they dont trust the government, the official sources, because the government  especially lately  has been telling lies, said Kurinnyi.

It lies unapologetically, providing unauthentic information, but it never faces any consequences.

Valery Gartung of the Just Russia faction also criticised the legislation, saying its vagueness would open the way for selective interpretation.

Our faction shares this concern, said Gartung. The issue raised with this law is indeed very important, and we do have to find a way to combat the fakes, but we cannot support this law under its current draft because it wouldnt achieve the specified goals.

We are worried about its law-enforcement practice, which we have a reason to believe would be selective, and we cant allow that to happen.

The ultra-nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky spoke about the need to fight lies that lead to revolutions and wars, but added that his faction wouldnt support what he described as insufficiently prepared legislation.

Members of the main pro-Kremlin faction, United Russia, who drafted the new legislation, argued that it was needed to protect the state.
Ignoring US warnings, President Erdogan says contracts for the advanced Russian missile defence system already signed.

Turkey will never turn back from a deal to buy S-400 missile defence systems from Russia, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that Ankara may subsequently look into buying S-500 systems.

In an interview with broadcaster Kanal 24, Erdogan also said on Wednesday the United States should not try to discipline Turkey through trade measures, adding Ankara had its own penalties prepared.

We concluded the S-400 issue, signed a deal with the Russians and will start co-production, said Erdogan. Later, we may work with S-500s, the next generation system, he added.

The US has warned that procuring the S-400 systems from Russia could jeopardise defence industry deals between the NATO allies, and this week decided to end preferential trade with Turkey.

A State Department spokesman said on Tuesday that Ankara was told: acquisition of the S-400 will result in a reassessment of Turkeys participation in the F-35 programme, and risk other potential future arms transfers to Turkey.

The US agreed to sell 100 of its latest fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighters to Turkey and has so far delivered two of the aircraft. But Congress last year ordered a delay in future deliveries.

NATO nations  particularly the US  view Turkeys purchase of the Russian-made equipment with suspicion. Ankara says it needs alternative missile defences to counter regional threats.

Russias advanced S-500 anti-ballistic missile system will enter service with the Russian armed forces soon, Russian media reported last week.

The first group of military officers will complete a training course this year to use S-500, a long-range system that will form the backbone of Russias air and missile defence systems, TASS news agency said.
Senators challenge Trumps nominee for US ambassador to Saudi Arabia to take tough line with kingdom on human rights.

Senators challenged US President Donald Trumps nominee to the post of United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia to take a tough line with the kingdom on human rights and other abuses.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch warned while Saudi Arabia was a strategically important ally, the alliance must be reconciled with American values.

As Trumps nominee, retired four-star general John Abizaid, defended the US-Saudi relationship, senators accused the kingdom of a litany of misdeeds and criticised Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as going full gangster.

They also condemned the kingdoms conduct in the civil war in Yemen, heavy-handed diplomacy and jailing and torturing its critics, including several womens rights activists. They also brought up the murder of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Abizaids hearing comes two days after senators received a briefing from administration officials on Khashoggis killing. Senators say they believe the Saudi crown prince ordered the killing.

{articleGUID}

If confirmed, Abizaid pledged to push for more information on the Khashoggi killing and have forceful discussions with Riyadh on other human rights abuses.

In the long run, we need a strong and mature partnership with Saudi Arabia, Abizaid told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It is in our interests to make sure that the relationship is sound.

Simmering tensions

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the Riyadh government, was killed at the Saudi consulate in Turkey on October 2. His death fuelled discontent in Washington over Saudi Arabias human rights record.

Last month, the House of Representatives passed a resolution that would end US support for the Saudi-led coalition, an important rebuke of Riyadh.

Abizaid said the Trump administration believes strongly that US support should continue.

Saudi Arabia has engaged in acts that are simply not acceptable, said Risch, who held two classified briefings in the past two weeks for the panel to discuss Saudi Arabia.

{articleGUID}

Senator Bob Menendez, the committees ranking Democrat, acknowledged the strategic importance of Saudi ties, amid threats from Iran.

But we cannot let these interests blind us to our values or to our long-term interests in stability, Menendez said. Saudi Arabia is an important strategic partner on combatting terrorism, confronting Iran.

Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said Saudi Arabia was the USs most difficult ally.

They are also our most difficult partner right now because it almost asks us to agree to stay silent on grotesque violations of human rights both domestically and abroad and their crown prince is not making things easier, Rubio said.

Reckless and ruthless

As the hearing continued, Rubio said MBS had gone full gangster, an assertion that was repeated by Senator Ron Johnson.

He is reckless, hes ruthless, he has a penchant for escalation, for taking high risks, confrontational in his foreign policy approach and I think increasingly willing to test the limits of what he can get away with the United States, Rubio said.

Meanwhile, Menendez said senators were discussing whether to impose new sanctions on Saudi Arabia because of the murder of Khashoggi and the Trump administrations failure to produce a report under the Global Magnitsky Act, a US law providing for action on human rights violations.

{articleGUID}

The bottom line is the administration is in violation of the law, Menendez told Al Jazeera outside the hearing.

A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to Trump on October 10, 2018, triggering a Magnitsky investigation and asking for a determination on MBSs role in Khashoggis killing.

US intelligence agencies have determined MBS ordered the killing, according to senators.

The law is very clear. The administration had to give us, within 120 days of the letter that I and former chairman Corker sent to the president, to have a specific determination on the crown prince. And so now the question is, whether the Senate must act in having its own set of sanctions, Menendez said.

Senators were frustrated when US Treasury Department officials offered no new information on Khashoggi during a closed-door briefing on Monday.

The US has not had an ambassador to Saudi Arabia since Trump became president in January 2017.

Abizaid, who led US Central Command during the Iraq war, is expected to easily win Senate confirmation.

With additional reporting by William Roberts from Washington, DC.
Disqualifying the Thai Raksa Chart party strikes a blow to the oppositions chances of winning the general election.

A top Thailand court has banned an opposition party for nominating the kings sister, Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, as its candidate for prime minister ahead of the March 24 election.

Disqualifying the Thai Raksa Chart party on Thursday struck a blow to the opposition parties chances of winning the general election and defeating parties allied to the military government that has ruled Thailand since a coup detat in 2014.

The Constitutional Court has ruled to dissolve the party, Judge Twekiat Menakanist said, banning 14 party executives from politics for a decade.

Al Jazeeras Wayne Hay, reporting from Bangkok, said the verdict against the party by a committee of nine judges was unanimous whereas the decision on the executives was objected by three.

He also said the development was the end of a line for 300 candidates who were going to stand for the party in the election on March 24 both in constituency seats and in the party list system.

They are not banned from politics going forward but they are prevented from taking part in this election, he said.

190211092412442

Thai Raksa Chart is one of several parties loyal to overthrown former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in an election that broadly pits his supporters against establishment parties, including one that has military leader Prayuth Chan-ocha as its prime ministerial candidate.

While Thai Raksa Chart is not the largest pro-Thaksin party, dissolving it is expected to weaken his supporters strategy of fielding several separate parties in the hope of securing more seats for Thaksin loyalists.

New electoral rules put in place by the outgoing military government benefit smaller parties at the expense of the top vote-winning parties when 150 party seats are shared out in the 500-seat House of Representatives.





The other 350 seats are directly elected.

Dissolving Thai Raksa Chart  would lead to a kind of disenfranchisement because Thai Raksa Chart forms a large chunk of the pro-Thaksin party team, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, told Reuters news agency.

He also said the banning of Thai Raksa Chart was unlikely to result in fewer votes for pro-Thaksin parties and more for pro-military ones.

Voters who had been aiming to support it would simply switch to another pro-Thaksin party.

The structure of Thailands polarisation with Thaksin and what he stood for as the fault line remains more or less the same, he said.

Princess Ubolratana

The Election Commission asked the court to dissolve the Thai Raksa Chart party after it nominated Princess Ubolratana for prime minister, which the commission described as antagonistic towards the constitutional monarchy.

The princess relinquished her royal titles in 1972 but is still officially treated as a senior member of the royal family, which is highly revered in Thailand.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn strongly opposed his sisters nomination, calling it inappropriate and unconstitutional and her candidacy was swiftly disqualified by the Election Commission.

Princess Ubolratana is currently in Germany, according to her posts on Instagram.

She has not made a direct reference to the court ruling, but said on Thursday: Today, I want to continue moving ahead in working for Thailand.

Thaksins opponents have sought to portray his movement as insufficiently loyal to the monarchy  which the self-exiled Thaksin vehemently denies  and Thai Raksa Charts nomination of the kings sister was intended to refute that assertion.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday warned the Philippines against letting in foreigners who could disturb the political equations as President Rodrigo Dutertes Beijing pivot has sparked an influx of Chinese workers. At least 200,000 Chinese have flocked to Manila since Dutertes 2016 election, many of them employed by online gaming firms that cater to Chinese players, a Senate inquiry was told late last year. This has touched off concern, with some Filipino politicians alleging it drives up property prices, takes away jobs from locals and even affects tax revenues. Mahathir, who has suspended several of his nations major projects with China, warned during an official visit to the Philippines against allowing a surge of foreigners. Foreign direct investment should not involve bringing huge numbers of foreigners to live in the country because that might disturb the political equations in the country, Mahathir told ABS-CBN television in an interview. If huge numbers of any foreigners [come] to live and stay in the country or to even influence the economy of a country, then you have to do some rethinking as to whether it is good or bad, or the limits that you have to impose on them, Mahathir said. Mahathir, 93, is in the Philippines for the first time since his shock election victory last year. The Malaysian leader has taken a cautious approach to relations with China, saying he would discuss unfair terms of deals signed by his predecessor, Najib Razak. Dutertes pursuit of closer ties with China for the Philippinesa traditional ally of the United Stateshas prompted a surge of Chinese worker arrivals. Last year legislators said around 200,000 Chinese were working in the country, and vowed to introduce protection for Filipinos.Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez had also said he would ensure that foreigners working in the nations offshore gaming industry paid taxes. However, Duterte last month said Chinese workers should be allowed to continue staying in the country as Beijing also hosted hundreds of thousands of Filipinos. Most of them are domestic workers in Hong Kong. Duterte has warmly embraced China despite his nations long-standing maritime row with Beijing over the South China Sea. Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich sea, with competing claims from the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Vietnam. Commenting on the sea dispute on Thursday, Mahathir said there should be no impediment to vessels using the strategic waterway, through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year. The most important thing is that the South China Sea in particular must be open to navigation, he said. On Thursday, the Labor department urged skilled workers to consider local employment in the construction industry and support the government in the full blast implementation of the Build Build Build Program rather than applying for jobs abroad. Construction workers are badly needed here in our country thats why we are slowing down the deployment to address the manpower shortage in the local construction industry and support implementation of the infrastructure program of the President, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said. The Labor chief said that around 800,000 to one million skilled workers in the field of construction, architecture, and engineering are needed up to 2022 to address labor shortage with countrys construction boom.
The battle to beat Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is failing, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials, MSF) has warned, with health workers unable to bring the epidemic under control amid a climate of deepening community mistrust.

Seven months into the largest-ever outbreak of the deadly virus in the DRC, various political, social and economic grievances and an overly militarised response are impeding efforts to combat its spread, MSF said in a statement on Thursday.

A range of issues have led to these tensions: from the massive deployment of financial resources focussing only on Ebola, in a neglected region suffering from conflict, violence and long-standing health needs; to elections being officially postponed due to the Ebola outbreak, exacerbating suspicions that Ebola is a political ploy, MSF said.

The DRCs current Ebola outbreak, its tenth to date, has killed at least 569 people.

It emerged in eastern North Kivu province in August and later spread to the neighbouring Ituri province, both of which are wracked by intercommunal violence and unrest.





Amid the turmoil, health workers and emergency responders have struggled to win the cooperation of affected communities, many of which are deeply distrustful of the government and a roll-out of medical strategies  supervised by security forces  that have clashed with local customs.

Historically poor access to government-run health facilities has made care by traditional healers or self-medication the preferred healthcare option for many in the region, meaning a government-backed vaccination programme has often encountered local opposition.

Unidentified attackers last week torched two of MSFs treatment facilities at the focal point of the epidemic, in the towns of Butembo and Katwa in North Kivu, prompting the charity to suspend its operations in the area.

The arson attacks were among dozens of other onslaughts against the Ebola response in the past month alone, according to MSF.

Divisions over strategy

The failure to overcome the ongoing epidemic has seen it evolve into the second-largest ever breakout of its kind, trailing an epidemic between 2013-2016 that killed about 11,300 people in West Africa as it surged through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The World Health Organization (WHO), which has coordinated an emergency response to the current flare-up alongside the DRCs health ministry, likened its attempt to beat back the virus as a steep uphill climb.

MSFs International President Joanne Liu, meanwhile, described the outbreaks indicators as abnormal.

According to MSF, more than 40 percent of new cases since the beginning of the year pertain to people who died in the community, not in treatment centres.

That means that we have not reached them, and they have not sought our care, Liu said.

The charity said the epidemic would not end until authorities treated patients as partners in the response and increased efforts to listen to their needs, not preach to or coerce them.

190209194317462

It also raised the alarm over heavy-handed use of security forces in a region rampant with rebel fighters, which Liu claimed contributed to the creation of a toxic atmosphere.

MSF alleged that security forces had used coercion while overseeing safe burials, tracking contacts and assisting with the admission of patients to treatment centres.

The use of police and armed forces to compel people to comply with health measures against Ebola is leading to further alienation of the community and is counterproductive to controlling the epidemic, it added.

Jessica Ilunga, a spokeswoman for the DRCs health ministry, said there was a misunderstanding about the role of security forces in dealing with the outbreak, however, and rejected MSFs claims as a gross exaggeration of the situation.

The police and the army are not involved in Ebola-response activities, and their role has never been to enforce sanitary measures, Ilunga said.

Contrary to international agents, local health workers dont have the privilege of being evacuated when security conditions worsen. As such, it is necessary to reinforce the security to allow for smooth response operations, she added.

WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic, meanwhile, said while it was not ideal for security forces to be present at treatment centres or during health workers visits to the community, the WHO and partners must keep our workers safe.

It is a difficult balance to strike, he added.

Cautiously optimistic

Ilunga also said efforts to contain the outbreak had proved quite positive, pointing to success in keeping the disease relatively contained geographically.

She added there was a need for caution, however, given the high mobility of the population and the spread of misinformation and rumours about the medical response creating a risk of further infections.

We can share the right messages, but if you have counter-messages, that makes it hard, Ilunga said.

Ebola, which can cause multiple organ failure, is passed from human to human. Transmission may occur from contact with the mouth, nose, broken skin, blood or other bodily fluids of those infected. It has an incubation period of between two to 21 days, according to the WHO.

181202091946851

The DRCs current outbreak has seen no new cases registered within 21 days in about half of the 19 health zones affected by the epidemic, Jasarevic told Al Jazeera, adding the figures provided authorities with a cause for cautious optimism.

We have seen outbreaks end in areas where the communities have become engaged, from health workers to religious leaders to youth groups, Jasarevic said.

In every town, partners work with social scientists, anthropologists and local leaders to understand the context and tailor the approach to what works, he added.

No single approach or single organisation will end this outbreak  every pillar of the response continues, from contact tracing to vaccination.
Movement of cargo vehicles also spotted recently around an intercontinental ballistic missile plant, news reports say.

US President Donald Trump said he would be very disappointed in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports about rebuilding at a rocket launch site in North Korea proved true.

Trumps comments came as new activities were detected at a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile plant, South Korean media reported on Thursday.

Movement of cargo vehicles was spotted recently around a factory at Sanumdong in the capital Pyongyang, which produced North Koreas first intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States, South Koreas JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing legislators briefed by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

Spy chief Suh Hoon told the politicians on Tuesday he viewed the activity as missile-related, according to JoongAng Ilbo.

The newspaper also quoted Suh as saying North Korea continued to operate its uranium-enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex. But that contradicted reports from a day earlier that no activity was ongoing there since late last year, concurring with findings from the UN atomic watchdog.





Rocket man

Two US think-tanks and South Koreas Yonhap News Agency reported work was under way to restore part of North Koreas Sohae Satellite Launching Station  even as Trump met Kim at a second summit in Hanoi last week.

I would be very disappointed if that were happening, Trump told reporters when asked if North Korea was breaking a promise.

Well, were going to see. Its too early to see  Its a very early report. Were the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim  and I dont think I will be  but well see what happens. Well take a look. Itll ultimately get solved.

North Korea began work to dismantle a missile engine test stand at Sohae last year after pledging to do so in a first summit with Trump in June.

A second summit between Trump and Kim broke down last week in Vietnam over differences on how far North Korea was willing to limit its nuclear programme and the degree of US willingness to ease sanctions.

We have a very nasty problem there. We have to solve a problem, Trump said on Wednesday, adding in apparent reference to Kim: The relationship is good.

Loving Kim

Trump  eager for a big foreign policy win on North Korea that has eluded predecessors for decades  has repeatedly stressed his good relationship with Kim. He went as far late last year as saying they fell in love, but the bonhomie has failed so far to bridge the wide gap between the two sides.

Satellite images seen by 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea project, showed structures on the Sohae launch pad had been rebuilt sometime between February 16 and March 2.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank released a separate report, also citing satellite imagery, that concluded North Korea was pursuing a rapid rebuilding at the site.

180417084208782

News of the work at Sohae was first reported by Yonhap, which quoted South Korea legislators on details of the NIS briefing.

The White House did not immediately respond when asked what Trump meant by were the ones that put it out, but US and South Korean intelligence agencies cooperate closely.

The reasons for construction at the launch site remain unclear.

Some analysts say the work is a signal that Kim is getting ready to conduct more tests, but others suggest he is just registering his disappointment that no agreement was reached at the summit.

The North Koreans actually havent used it formally for missile tests and its not necessarily clear the rebuild is actually leading up to that, Robert Kelly, a professor at Pusan National University, told Al Jazeera.

My own sense is this is sort of pique by the way Donald Trump treated them in Vietnam.

Joel Wit, a North Korea proliferation expert who helped negotiate with North Korea in the mid-1990s, said the Sohae reports are Kims way of showing hes getting impatient with lack of progress in negotiations.

We have to watch to see what else happens, Wit said. Its a space launch facility and has been used to send satellites into space  Problem is some of the technologies [with rockets] are the same.





Sanctions warning

Trumps national security adviser, John Bolton, warned on Tuesday new sanctions could be introduced if North Korea did not scrap its nuclear weapons programme.

The summit breakdown and sanctions threat have raised questions about the future of denuclearisation dialogue.

While North Koreas official media said last week Kim and Trump decided at the summit to continue talks, its vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, told reporters Kim might lose his willingness to pursue a deal and questioned the need to continue.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday the United States was continuing to have ongoing conversations with North Korea but did not elaborate.
At a Homeland Security Committee hearing, Democrats grilled Trumps top immigration official about the presidents decision to declare a national emergency at the Mexican border.

Democrats attacked US President Donald Trumps controversial border policies that have separated families and caused a humanitarian crisis on Wednesday.

The Committee is now controlled by Democrats, who grilled Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen about the presidents decision to declare a national emergency at the Mexican border.

Nielsen defended the presidents move saying that illegal crossings in February had surged to the highest monthly point in decades and that the emergency was not manufactured.

Al Jazeeras Heidi Zhou-Castro reports from Washington, DC.
Attacks by armed groups and sectarian violence have forced tens of thousands from their homes in the past two months.

The United Nations says Burkina Faso is facing a full-blown humanitarian crisis, with almost a million people in need of urgent help.

Inter-communal violence and attacks by armed groups have forced tens of thousands from their homes in the past few weeks.

Both civilians and the state have been targeted as Al Jazeeras Nicolas Haque reports.
With border crossings closed thousands of Venezuelan children journey into neighboring Colombia to attend school.

Every day, thousands of Venezuelan children journey into neighbouring Colombia to attend school.

With border crossings closed, they have to find often dangerous routes just to receive an education.

Al Jazeeras Manuel Rapalo reports from Cucuta, Colombia.
Dr Marc Lamont Hill is an award-winning journalist and author and is the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University. Hill is known for his work addressing the intersections of race, justice, politics and culture. His latest best-selling book is We Still Here: Pandemics, Policing, Protest and Possibility which follows on the success of Nobody: Casualties of Americas War on the Vulnerable from Flint to Ferguson. Hill has received numerous prestigious awards from the US National Association of Black Journalists, GLAAD, and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
El Segundo, United StatesShe is turning 60 this year and still doesnt have a single wrinkle.

Blonde or brunette, slender or curvy, black or white, princess or president, Barbie is a forever favorite for young girls, even if she has caused controversy over the years. The iconic doll has evolved to keep up with the timescheck out her Twitter feed. And despite fierce competition in the toy industry, 58 million Barbies are sold each year in more than 150 countries. In an industry where success today is three to five years, 60 years is a huge deal! said Nathan Baynard, director of global brand marketing for Barbie. Around the world, Barbie is as universally known as Coca-Cola or McDonalds, Baynard said during a recent visit to Mattels design studio in El Segundo, a suburb of Los Angeles. In all, more than one-billion Barbie dolls have been sold since she made her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959. She was invented by Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, who was inspired by her own children to create the doll. AFP Her daughter Barbara was limited in the choices of her toysthe only ones were baby dolls, Baynard recounted. The only role she could imagine through that play was caregiver, mother, whereas Handlers son could imagine being an astronaut, cowboy, pilot, surgeon. Barbie is, of course, a shortened version of Barbara. The doll was supposed to teach girls that they had choices, that they could be anything. In 1959, it was a radical idea! Baynard said. Barbie was an instant success. In the first year, 300,000 dolls were sold, he added.From the start, Barbies pinup measurements didnt immediately seem all that feminist, and would spark criticism for decades to come. In 1959, her body structure was exaggerated to match the aesthetics of the time and the fabric available, said Barbie designer Carlyle Nuera. Since the blonde beauty first hit stores, and after a torrent of complaints over what was seen as unrealistic proportions, Mattel has made many changesintroducing multiple body types and dozens of skin tones. MG Lord, author of Forever Barbie, also argued that the original criticisms were unwarranted. She is what the child wants her to be. How a child sees the Barbie doll is often framed by how the mother of that child feels about the idea of femininity, Lord told AFP.The problem here is not an 11.5-inch plastic object. The problem is the larger culture and the idea of femininity. In 1965, four years before Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, Barbiebecame an astronaut. In 1968, the first black Barbie doll, a friend named Christie, hit store shelves. Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and global general manager for the Barbie brand, said that today, 55 percent of the dolls sold around the world have neither blonde hair nor blue eyes. Mattel has more than 100 people working in the El Segundo design studio, a massive hangar-like building wedged between Los Angeles International Airport and a freeway. Designers begin with a simple sketch. From there on, every bit of a prototype is made by an army of expertsfrom sculpting the doll using state-of-the-art software and 3D printing to painting the face, styling the hair, choosing fabrics and crafting the clothing patterns. The entire design process for a new Barbie can last 12 to 18 months. Then, the prototype is sent from the California workshop to factories in China and Indonesia for mass production. Sometimes, you see her on a shelf and then it gets back to you: oh yes, I designed this one! Nuera said with a smile.Barbie is not only a toy store successshe has a massive social media presence, and is something of an influencer, with millions of followers. She has an actual identity: Barbie Millicent Roberts, who hails from the made-up town of Willows in the Midwest. And now, she speaks directly to girls about her life, and important current topics. In 2018, the brand launched a sweeping campaign to help young girls close the so-called Dream Gapusing Barbie to teach them to believe in themselves, and not to buy into sexist gender stereotypes. Barbie has a hair stylist, makeup artist and photographer who travel with her for real in the United States and abroad for Instagram photo sessions (check out @barbiestyle). The account has nearly two million followers. So, does Barbie have it all as she hits 60, but remains forever young, still single and without kids (so far)? The narrative of the Barbie brand is that shes a young woman and shes independent and pursuing careers, McKnight said. AFP
If you hired a plumber to fix a leaking pipe in your basement and after a dozen visits to your home the pipe was still dripping water, would you hire that plumber again? And if you did decide to continue using this plumber's services, and the pipe continued to leak, how long would you wait before you considered the plumber to be incompetent and terminated the working arrangement?

Well, the 2020 election will soon be upon us, and the African-American community has hired the same incompetent political party for the past 50 years. You would think, after receiving such overwhelming support from the black community, Democrats would do everything in their power to make their dedicated minority supporters the envy of every citizen. Sadly, following election day, Democrats get a strange case of amnesia. What has been the payoff to the black community for religiously voting for Democratic leadership? To start, although blacks make up 13% of the U.S. population, they account for nearly 50% of the homicides.

According to the National Council for Home Safety and Security, the top 10 most dangerous cities in the United States for 2018 had Democrats as mayors, and according to the 2019 American Community Survey, 9 out of the top 10 poorest cities also have Democrats as mayors. Many of these cities have the largest population of African-Americans in the country.

The ongoing battle between Democrats and Republicans regarding the southern border is another clear example of how Democrats protect their power at the expense of the black community. Republicans are in favor of strong border security, which in addition to saving lives protects the economic stability of minorities. Democrats not only object to guarding against an increase in the flow of low-wage illegal workers which would economically destroy minority communities in the U.S. by bringing down wages, but have even suggested dismantling already existing boundaries, as was proposed by Beto O'Rourke, a rising star in the Democratic party. Democrats know full well that open borders will greatly increase the supply of low-skilled workers directly, negatively impacting lower-income earners in the U.S.

If Democrats have their way and are successful in achieving open borders, it will have a disastrous impact in the black community, as well as with other minorities. This scenario was addressed in a 1995 study by Augustine Kposowa that concluded, "non-whites appear to lose jobs to immigrants and their earnings are depressed by immigrants." A 1998 study of the New York area by David Howell and Elizabeth J. Mueller found that a 10-percentage-point increase in the immigrant share of an occupation reduced wages of black men about five percentage points. Looking at the poor living conditions, fatherless children, and poor neighborhood schools, the KKK could not have created a more evil system of legally harming the black community as today's Democratic Party has.

So by every account, it appears that African-Americans are in a severely dysfunctional relationship and sometimes deadly alliance with Democrats resulting in perpetual poverty, high crime rates, and shattered families. And it's not a matter of race, color or creed, because entitlements negatively impact any person who continually receives them. Free stuff is the political product sold by Democrats that creates dependence and acts in the same way that highly addictive drugs do. Democrats may sound caring and sympathetic to the struggles of lower-income people, but talk is cheap and the catastrophic results year after year speak louder than their empty campaign rhetoric.

The Democratic Party also relies on greedy, morally bankrupt minority community members such as "religious" leaders to spread their message in order to keep them in power. Booker T. Washington, a black educator and author who advised U.S. Presidents, wrote in his 1911 book My Larger Education, Being Chapters from My Experience: "There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs -- partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs."

History clearly shows that the Democratic Party, along with corrupt black leaders and many corrupt media outlets, perpetuates a demonstrative lie when they say the Democratic Party has always been the champion of the black community.

Education with honest and truthful information is not tolerated in today's liberal propagandist education system. Democratic politicians and their private media continually lie about their shameful history, stating that Republicans were the party for slavery. However, the inescapable truth comes to light when it's learned that the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, passed in 1865 with 100% Republican support but with only 23% of Democratic support in Congress.

The 14th Amendment, giving full citizenship to freed slaves, passed in 1868 with 94% Republican support and 0% Democrat support in Congress, and the 15th Amendment, giving freed slaves the right to vote, passed in 1870 with 100% Republican support and 0% Democrat support in Congress.

Even the integration of the U.S. military was implemented by Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, who saw initial opposition for the Civil Rights Act of 1957 by none other than the then-Democratic Senate majority leader Lyndon Johnson who, before supporting the act, voted the straight segregationist line.

The black community is an American community, but in order to regain its self-sufficiency, it needs to go through a difficult revolution of sorts. A revolution not undertaken with violence but with thought and direction. It will take courage and trust in new leadership to turn the page.

The decision as to whether or not the time has come to resurrect the black family unit, to have real economic advances and truly exceptional education, is completely up to those in the black community. But the first order of business before any of that can be accomplished is to recognize that perhaps the time has come to hire a different plumber.
As the numerous Democratic hopefuls for 2020 jockey for position on the far left, we are left to contemplate the consequences of their proposals. Be it free tuition, the Green New Deal, a living wage, or universal income, all are unworkable in their own way. The proposal that seems to be currently most popular with the Democrats in Washington, Medicare for All, remains ill-defined by its backers. Presidential hopeful Senator Kamala Harris has gone so far as to declare that we need to "move on" from private insurance. While the senator may believe government-run health insurance would be fairer, it is more likely to deliver coercion, corruption, and inequality.

Before discussing KamalaCare, we first need to review the effects that a government monopoly over health insurance would have on the delivery of care. Assuming that the senator's plan will operate like Medicare, it is safe to assume the program will be underfunded from inception. This means shortages and the need for the new agency to quickly find a means to ration what health care can be supplied.

Coercion

Given the federal government's obsession with paperless medical records, we can expect KamalaCare to ramp up the data collection by requiring extensive pre-insurance screening from each applicant. This would go beyond BMI calculations, blood pressure readings, and the taking of samples to a full genetic screening for preconditions. All results would be gathered into one's permanent electronic record to be used to determine premiums. These files would be widely shared throughout the system and constantly updated with new information. Every appointment, every trip to the emergency room and every interaction with a MedFed employee documented and costs assessed, for later premium recalculations.

But don't worry about the escalating cost of using your KamalaCare plan -- there will be plenty of opportunities to earn discounts and credits. Since prevention will be the guiding principle, clients will be incentivized to join a support group dedicated to improving their "health outcomes." If your file indicates that you could stand to lose a few pounds, stop smoking, eat less junk food or simply exercise more, there'll be a support group just for you. Simply strap on a permanent monitor and it will record your every move and report back to your certified health advisor. Your advisor will review your progress towards your goals and help guide you and your groupmates towards a healthier tomorrow. Even if the promised discounts for participation never seem to materialize, the intervention and forced discipline alone will make you forever praise a system that's there to help you avoid the doctor.

If you're more the persistent type and simply must see a medical professional about a particular health concern, be ready to endure a multi-layer screening process that'll take weeks to navigate. Those who live outside major congressional districts will be routed through a hub and spoke system of consolidated facilities before arriving at that final destination; a gigantic public hospital possibly hundreds of miles from home. Those actually admitted may wish they hadn't bothered when they discover their federal hospital to be nothing more than a patient warehouse staffed by overworked medical personal doing their best to provide care on an industrial scale.

Corruption

As with any government-created shortage, individuals will find ways to re-impose market discipline. In KamalaCare, bureaucrats will be ready to smooth the way for those willing slip some money under the table to them. Don't want to pay for insurance you're not using? Then wait until you're really sick then grease the palm of an insider who can get you enrolled with a few quick taps of the keyboard. Need a surgeon or kidney dialysis? No problem, pay off the federal hospital employer who arranges appointments and you'll soon be at the head of the line.

Inequality

While fairness will be the stated intention of KamalaCare, the organizations patient hierarchy will be nothing of the sort. The elites and their family members (administrators, members of Congress, celebrities, and anyone else deemed important to the well-being of the system) will have first access to the best care everyone else can buy. Residents of important voting districts will be next in line, followed by everyone else, who will end up making do with a pseudo nurse's assessment, a health counselor's encouragement, and a desperate hope that an alternative medical treatment works long enough until the sufferer can get in to see a real medical professional.

Some few who can afford it will be allowed their own private hospital. Like an exclusive club, participation in these magnificent facilities will be by invitation only and admission by subscription. The highly regulated independents will end up serving as a dumping grounds for a federal system all too eager to shed its least profitable patients. The privates will be tempted to pay off their regulators (cash or treatment) in order to get back to practicing real medicine, even if they have to do so illegally. Ultimately, we'll end up with in a Prohibition-like world, where the wealthy and well-connected get the care they need while the rest overpay for what's left.

Is this an unrealistic vision of the future? Perhaps, but are you willing chance it?

Dr. Tar is the pseudonym of Barry Foltos, Ph.D. Dr. Tar is a regular contributor to iOTW Report and author of the speculative thriller FairPoint, based on the world described in this piece.
The Democrats find themselves in a bind over whether or not they should acknowledge that a sizable segment of their party are anti-Semites. They had a chance yesterday to go on record with a strong statement condemning anti-Semitism and ended up panicking when the party's radical left wing pushed back.

MPR:

House Democrats on Wednesday postponed indefinitely a vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism after a contentious meeting in which some new members confronted leaders over their push to rebuke Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. In the party's weekly closed meeting, Democrats protested the way Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders tried to rush out a resolution this week responding to Omar's latest remark about Israel. Omar last week suggested the Jewish state's supporters are pushing lawmakers to pledge "allegiance" to a foreign country. That forced Democratic leaders to respond, but their draft of the resolution condemning anti-Semitism angered Omar's fellow freshmen and their liberal supporters. Pelosi had already said the measure would be broadened to decry anti-Muslim bias. But that didn't quiet the ranks, and the party's first major dissension broke out in an uncomfortable confrontation, according to three officials familiar with the episode, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private matters. The upheaval prompted Democrats, who regularly celebrate their diversity, to push off a decision about the resolution. "It is shameful that House Democrats won't take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference," President Trump tweeted. "Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it's inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!"

The problem is that Democrats agree with Omar that Jews and supporters of Israel have "dual loyalties"  a classic anti-Semitic slur that is only the latest in a series of casually nauseating anti-Semitic comments from the Muslim congresswoman. Omar can claim she is criticizing only Israel all she wants, but when Jew-hatred is so deeply embedded in her beliefs, she can't hide it.

Radical Democrats can't hide it, either. They are claiming that those who accuse Omar of anti-Semitism are really trying to stifle debate on Israel's policies, that they don't hate the Jews; they hate only Israel.

Omar herself made that claim. But why the "dual loyalties" trope? You can criticize Israel's policies without adopting the language of Hitler.

Democrats running for president aren't taking any chances and are defending the radical anti-Semites.

Washington Examiner:

Leading Democratic candidates Sens. Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren have all come out defending Omar and pointing fingers at her critics, despite a series of statements she has made targeting American Jews. Omar has been unrepentant over statements she made lamenting the influence of Jewish money in politics and questioning whether Jews were more loyal to Israel than America. The bigoted statements perpetuated classic anti-Semitic stereotypes, but that is now what's considered acceptable in the Democratic Party  as long as it gets subsequently laundered as mere criticism of Israel. Sanders said "We must develop an evenhanded Middle East policy which brings Israelis and Palestinians together for a lasting peace. What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate." Harris echoed this, saying, "There is a difference between criticism of policy or political leaders, and anti-Semitism" and also arguing, "I am concerned that the spotlight being put on Congresswoman Omar may put her at risk."

There's really no excuse for this. These and other more "mainstream" Democrats are pretending the anti-Semitic comments by Omar aren't the issue; the issue is hate directed against Omar that "may put her at risk." It's certain to make the radical anti-Semites in the party feel better about themselves because they want U.S. policy to be more "even-handed"  accept the murderous Palestinians as legitimate "partners" and push Israel to commit suicide.

Democrats want to adopt a generalized, milquetoast statement against all "hate." The radicals will have racked up another victory and put themselves in even firmer control of the Democratic Party.
It was easy enough to predict that Trump would appoint Dr. William Happer to set up a Presidential Committee on Climate Science.

Two years have passed and have been lost. The first years of the Trump administration were hobbled by poor Cabinet picks, a proportion of whom conspired against him and others who were just hopeless. Scott Pruitt at the EPA should have got on with Dr Happer's appointment straight away but instead spent $3.5 million on his own security detail. In the meantime, the climate juggernaut rolled on, producing 1,500 pages of alarmist nonsense in an official government report.

You can tell how important Dr Happer is by the forces that have been marshaled against him. The three major lefty media organizations  CNN, the Washington Post, and the New York Times  all came out to say Dr. Happer's efforts would be wasted. The Democrats are alarmed, calling Dr Happer's proposed panel "dangerous."

The deep resources of the Deep State were mobilized to send a letter to the president signed by some people who once had a connection with the military, such as John Kerry. The 58 signatories to that letter have self-identified as foot soldiers for one-world government and impoverishing the U.S. They are also so delusional that they can believe in global warming even as record cold temperatures are freezing a large part of the lower 48 states.

Calling those 58 signatories delusional is giving them the benefit of the doubt. In one of his speeches in Washington, Obama was going on how dreadful global warming is when the audience started tittering. That reaction indicates what Washington insiders really think of the issue. But leaders of Obama's ilk can't afford to have people laughing out loud at their gravest causes. So the next time he mentioned global warming was at a Coast Guard graduation ceremony. Cadets couldn't laugh at Obama's inanities without their careers ending.

Brazil had an election last year, and the corrupt and incompetent socialists were thrown out and replaced by people who seem to understand how the world works. The first words out of the mouth of Brazil's new foreign minister were that climate change is a Marxist plot. Why would he say that? Actually, he is only repeating what the Marxists doing the plotting have been saying:

Senator Tim Worth, 1992: "We have got to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic policy and environmental policy."

Mikhail Gorbachev, former chief communist on the planet, 1996: "The threat of environmental crisis will be the international disaster key to unlock the New World Order."

Richard Benedick, U.S. State Department, 1992: "A global warming treaty must be implemented even if there is no scientific evidence to back the greenhouse effect."

That's just a sample. There are plenty more such statements. Why did the Marxists latch onto global warming as an issue in the early 1990s? The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 meant that suddenly, the left side of politics had no basis for existence. Socialism was discredited by its failure, and so there was no need to rule the world, interfere in people's lives, and take income from workers and give it to bludgers. So the threat of global warming was conjured up on no evidence  thus that last statement that a global warming treaty didn't need to be based in scientific fact. Science fiction will do the trick.

Some of the Washington insiders, such as those who tittered at Obama, are indifferent to the hoax that is draining the country. They know that it is a hoax, but it is not their problem. There are people who believe in global warming even as record cold temperatures are set in the U.S., year after year. These people are too stupid to be helped. They are Lenin's useful idiots for the Marxist plotters. And then there are the likes of the 58 former military men and women who signed that letter. They know that their status as retired military means that their letter to the president was delivered wrapped in the flag. In their hearts of hearts, they might as individuals believe in global warming  which would mean they are incredibly stupid. But, if they have any doubt of the veracity of global warming, then that means they are conspiring against the nation. That is a very bad thing, indeed. It is a binary choice with the gang of 58: evil or stupid.

How will Dr. Happer and his panel set the world free? At the moment, the Marxist plotters bang on about the 97% scientific consensus on global warming. They have created a sealed edifice of lies and have maintained it assiduously. After Dr. Happer's report is released, the mantra of "Are you denying the science?" will be turned on its head.

Global warming has been a state-sponsored religion, with its priesthood funded from the public purse to the tune of $2.5 billion a year in the U.S. alone. The priests of that cult will be plucked off the public teat, and the memory of what they preached will fade. That frabjous day can't come soon enough.

David Archibald has lectured on climate science in Senate and House hearing rooms.
The Democrats are in a dilemma. They're desperately slavering to destroy President Trump. House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Smith, for instance, has taken a "kitchen sink" approach to finding something, anything, on President Trump now that the Mueller probe is winding down with little to show on the original charge, that Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the election from Hillary Clinton. So now it's balls to the wall for the Democrats, to Get Trump, by any means necessary, even with virtually nothing on him. Here are a couple of choice Trump tweets to give the flavor:

The greatest overreach in the history of our Country. The Dems are obstructing justice and will not get anything done. A big, fat, fishing expedition desperately in search of a crime, when in fact the real crime is what the Dems are doing, and have done!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2019

Congressman Chris Stewart: No one is accusing the President of a crime and yet they (the Democrats) are issuing hundreds of subpoenas. This is unprecedented. They are desperately trying to find anything they can, even a punctuation mistake in a document!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2019

Politico reports that the issue is coming up now about whether to Get Trump's Kids since the Democrats are having such a bad time pinning anything on Trump.

As with most things, they're divided. Politico reports secondhand that House Oversight Committee chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) doesn't think this is a good idea. Another experienced Democrat, Virginia's Gerry Connolly, is openly stating his leeriness of the entire idea:

"Getting to family members I think is dangerous," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a senior member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. "Only because it gets real personal, real fast. And it risks backfiring. "Maybe at some point we have to call them in," Connolly added, "but I'd rather let prosecutors look at that."

Rep. Jamie Ruskin, another Maryland Democrat, is also in favor of steering clear.

The fact of the matter is, when you're obviously going after someone's kids in a desperate bid to take down the old man, because you can't get the old man, the voters are going to see what's happening and get pretty disgusted. It's an appalling state of affairs to see the prosecutorial dragnet target the kids and their spouses, who, after all, had little to say about who their father is. Ivanka, Jared Kushner, Don Jr., and Eric Trump are all potentially in the crossfire now. Internal polls and general voter behavior suggest that voters find this bad stuff, and that does get some of these Democrats' attention. No wonder they have the willies.

But in the Politico report, these three were the only cited examples. There's also an abundant supply of the other kind of Democrats, the kind who can't stop themselves and want to see an attack on all fronts to take down the kids, too. Do they outnumber the smarter Democrats?

Well, there's Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, a member of the Oversight and Intelligence Committees, and Rep. Steven Lynch (D-Mass.) of the Oversight Committee, who are still all in for prosecuting Trump's kids now that Trump is proving elusive.

It's hard to say at this point if they outnumber people such as Cummings and Connolly, but they are out there. Call them the dumber Democrats  and there are undoubtedly more of them beyond the Politico report.

What's vivid here is how different these Democrats are from past Democrats who always sought to keep presidential children out of the line of fire. Remember how they yelled when Amy Carter was criticized for her anti-nuclear activities? Remember how they tried to shield President Obama kids from criticism of their open pot-smoking in public places? (The Bush twins, who got falling-down drunk, got the double standard.) The broad precedent has always been to leave the kids out.

If the dumber Democrats succeed in dragging the Trump kids into their probes, trying to jail them, trying to heap the legal costs onto them, a lot more might happen than just voter disgust, although that problem is real enough. The bar will be lowered, and Democrats could find themselves seeing their own kids in the line of fire. U.S. politics will start looking like Mexican politics, with its jail-them-all, drive-the-ex-president-out ethos.

Should the kids of Joe Biden and John Kerry, both of whom have gotten immensely rich in matters linked to their fathers' positions in public office, suddenly be targets of find-something, find-anything probes? How about the kids of House speaker Nancy Pelosi? And then there are the Kennedy kids  a look there can find all kinds of stuff. Shall the "can indict a ham sandwich" style of prosecution be leveled at those kids, too? Anything that can be done on one side can be done on the other. Democrats, who changed House and Senate rules in the belief that theirs was permanent political power, looked on in dismay as Republicans took power and captured their weapons.

The dumber Democrats sound as if they're going to have to learn this lesson a second time.
The Sandy O story may be one for the ages. We are now reading about potential campaign finance violations and stories of a millionaire chief of staff.

Maybe someone will ask Sandy O if her chief of staff benefited from Trump's tax law. After all, we hear that all of the benefits went to the top 2%.

We also heard about Sandy O's mother, who now lives in Florida:

The mother of soak-the-rich Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she was forced to flee the Big Apple and move to Florida because the property taxes were so high. "I was paying $10,000 a year in real estate taxes up north. I'm paying $600 a year in Florida. It's stress-free down here," Blanca Ocasio-Cortez told the Daily Mail from her home in Eustis, a town of less than 20,000 in central Florida north of Orlando. The mother of two  who calls herself BOC  said she picked Eustis because a relative already lived there, and right before Christmas 2016, she paid $87,000 for an 860-square-foot home on a quiet street that dead-ends at a cemetery.

As they say, you can't make this up!

My guess is that most Americans can sympathize with Mom. After all, Florida and other states are full of Empire State "refugees" walking around with Yankees caps.

My problem is how Sandy O is allowed to preach the policies that drove her own mom to get away from New York.

In this story, mother knows best, and daughter is another ignorant socialist.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
The Senate confirmed Allison Jones Rushing to the 4th U.S. District Court of Appeals, making the 37-year-old one of the youngest federal judges in history.

Rushing's qualifications were questioned, but her greatest sin was her association with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a public interest law firm that has opposed redefining marriage on religious freedom grounds and defended businesses and individuals who ran afoul of the various local and state gay rights statutes.

Rushing never worked for ADF but did intern with the group in 2005. Do you think that stopped her detractors from trying to smear her as a hateful bigot and ADF as a "hate group"?

NBCNews:

"Throughout her brief legal career, Allison Rushing has supported and closely associated herself with one of the most extreme anti-LGBT organizations operating in this country today, the Alliance Defending Freedom," Ian Wilhite, a spokesperson for LGBTQ legal group Lambda Legal, said in a statement shared with NBC News. "Rather than disqualifying her from consideration, this aspect of her record seems to have made up for all of the other deficiencies in her record." The 4th Circuit Court, which sits one level below the Supreme Court, covers West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. Lambda Legal estimates there are roughly 1 million LGBTQ people who live in those states.

ADF's mission is to defend their conception of religious freedom and free speech. Other public interest law firms defend their conception of "women's rights" or "civil rights." The ADF holds views on gays and marriage that are at odds with the LGBT community but faithful to their own interpretation of the Constitution.

The designation of ADF as a "hate group" is spurious. It is one group's  the Southern Poverty Law Center  definition of "hate group," wildly biased and hardly objective. This is a political construct bearing no relationship whatsoever with the reality that ADF's activities center on protecting businesses and individuals from what they see as discrimination on religious freedom grounds. And they have been successful at it, recently winning a big victory for a Colorado baker who was being persecuted for his opposition to redefining marriage and "gender transition."

You can disagree with their interpretation of the law, but it's grotesque to smear them as a "hate group."

That said, Rushing's association with the ADF was limited.

While Rushing does not hold an official role with the ADF, she interned for the group as a law student in the summer of 2005, authored amicus briefs for clients in support of the ADF's positions on at least three cases, co-authored a legal brief about religious liberties with an ADF attorney, and spoke at ADF events at least once a year from 2012 to 2017.

Is that really enough to disqualify her from serving? The bottom line is that Democrats and their radical culture warriors despise the notion that anyone can disagree with them and not be a "hater." Their routine smearing of Christians who disagree with them about marriage and some aspects of gay rights has nothing to do with the law and everything to do with politics.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif., rich white), the first grandmother to be elected House minority leader and also the first grandmother elected to be speaker of the House, was shocked, shocked, absolutely shocked, I tell you, but not too upset when discovering then-Minnesota state representative Ilhan Omar's multiple bigoted tweets (since deleted for some odd reason) against Israel. Pelosi was so OK with these euphemistically deemed "very bad" tweets (according to the know-it-all East-Coast New York Times) that she appointed the brand-new first Somali Muslim black female refugee (have I missed any significant identifiers?) in Congress, Ilhan Omar (D), to the coveted House Foreign Affairs Committee. Yes, that means she receives highly secret intelligence briefings.

Pelosi was also not too disturbed that several years ago, Omar was also quite OK with other Somali refugees living in Minnesota leaving to join ISIS, which some, including the U.S. State Department, think is a terrorist organization. During their trial in Minnesota, she wrote and told a judge to give in to these terrorists, to be nice to them, to show compassion toward them, or they would suffer. If not, she continued, hinting at her approval of extortion, they would not only continue with terrorism, but encourage others to do the same.

"The best deterrent to fanaticism is a system of compassion[.] ... We must alter our attitude and approach; if we truly want to effect change, we should refocus our efforts on inclusion and rehabilitation. ... "Incarcerating 20-year-old men for 30 or 40 years is essentially a life sentence. Society will have no expectations of the to-be 50- or 60-year-old released prisoners; it will view them with distrust and revulsion," read Omar's letter to the judge, as obtained by FOX 9 of Minneapolis-St. Paul. "Such punitive measures not only lack efficacy, they inevitably create an environment in which extremism can flourish, aligning with the presupposition of terrorist recruitment[.]"

Did I mention that Omar will receive highly secret intelligence briefings? As does House Speaker Pelosi, who presumably does not have sympathy for ISIS terrorists. Presumably.

Some members of Congress, who were not OK with Omar's many anti-Jewish tweets and other public statements, put together a mild resolution condemning anti-Semitism  i.e., anti-Jewish racist hate  which was set to be voted on on Wednesday, March 6. Pelosi was somewhat OK with that.

Whoops! Others weren't. Linda Sarsour, the bigoted anti-Jewish, anti-Christian, somewhat anti-men leader of the annual January anti-President Donald J. Trump (R) gathering, misleadingly labeled a Women's March, was so not OK with this, posting a bigoted statement:

Nancy is a typical white feminist upholding the patriarchy doing the dirty work of powerful white men.

Sarsour continued her rant, rationally whining about something called Islamophobia and its acceptance.

According to the ethos of liberalism, Sarsour can't be a racist because she is a politically correct minority  two, in fact: Muslim and female.

Another protected bigot, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-no Amazon jobs for N.Y. because world ends in 12 years so no kids for me) agreed, asking, But what about other forms of bigotry? She apparently was too busy worrying about farting cows in Iowa to notice that Rep. Steve King, a Republican from Iowa, was removed from his committee assignments because of alleged racist statements.

So, perhaps because powerful males of other politically correct backgrounds also strongly objected to this resolution, typically white feminist Nancy Pelosi caved, postponing the vote so the resolution can be modified.

The modified resolution will state that bigotry bad. Bigotry and racism defined by liberals bad; all other forms of bigotry and racism that we don't think are bigotry and racism are fine.

Additionally, doubting reports of racist attacks by approved minorities such as Jussie Smollett and American Indian Nathan Phillips is racist because they have suffered so much. It is also racist to prove them wrong.

The typical Democrats will be totally OK with this modified racist resolution. And unapproved minorities such as Jews, religious Christians, and conservatives will continue to endure the racism of the politically correct racists.

Image: Leopaltik1242 via Wikimedia Commons.
The city of Agra on the banks of Yamuna is a historical city full of monuments from the Mughal period, of which the Taj Mahal is one of the best known. This colossal marble mausoleum with a dazzling white facade, four towering minarets and an onion dome on the roof is so breathtakingly beautiful that it overshadows pretty much everything else in this 500-year-old city, even something as rare as a Roman Catholic Church commissioned by an Islamic ruler.

The Church of Akbar. Photo credit: Jeromeenriquez/Wikimedia

Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor who reigned India from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father Humayun when he was only fourteen, but under the counsel of his trusted military commander and chief mentor, Bairam Khan, the young emperor learned quickly. Barely fifteen years old, Akbar was already leading armies against rulers of adjacent kingdoms. He regained Delhi, Agra and Punjab after his father had lost them to Sikander Shah Suri, sending the Sur ruler packing east to Bengal. Akbar then marched towards Lahore, in present day Pakistan, and conquered the capital. He even ousted the mighty Rajputs from their home, Rajasthan. All this before he was eighteen. It was Akbars many military exploits during his half-century rule that earned him the title of the greatest Mughal emperor.

Akbars ruthlessness in the battlefield was matched by his compassion for his subjects, his intolerance towards all religious groups and his great love for art and culture. Akbar routinely invited priests and scholars from different religion to his court and asked them to have debates on philosophical and religious issues. Later, he built a meeting housethe Ibadat Khana, or House of Worshipat Fatehpur Sikri, where such scholarly exchanges could be held.

While many Muslim leaders of the era forced Hindus to convert to Islam, Akbar tried to reconcile the differences between the two religions by creating a new faith called the Din-i-Ilahi, where he incorporated the virtues of both.

Akbar abolished jizya, a tax that non-Muslims had to pay. He granted Hindus the ability to freely worship their faith and build temples. Akbar himself participated in many Hindu religious festivals and ordered translations of many Hindu scriptures and literature into Persian, the official language of the Mughal state.

The fall of the Rajasthani fortress of Chitor in 1568 (left), and Akbar's attack on Ranthambhor Fort the same year (right). Illustrations circa 1600.

In 1580, Akbar learned that a delegation of Jesuit priests was in Goaa city 600 km south of Mumbaiwhich at that time was under Portuguese colonial rule. Akbar sent word to the Portuguese governor of Goa that he would like to hear from the Christian priests. The governor, hoping that the priests might be able to convert the Great Mughal emperor, promptly dispatched three Jesuit priests Antony Monserrate, a Spaniard; Rudolf Aquaviva, an Italian; and Francis Henrique, a Persian. After a long and difficult journey, the three priests arrived in Agra with paintings of Jesus and Mary as gifts for the emperor. The priests stayed with Akbar for three years, and the Mughal emperor listened to the priests as he listened to religious men of various faith, benefiting from their many insights. Akbar never renounced his religion and converted to Christianity, but impressed by their knowledge, he granted the Jesuit priests land on the outskirts of Agra for the first church to come up. The church was built in 1598, and came to be called Akbars church.

Akbar holds a religious assembly in the Ibadat Khana in Fatehpur Sikri. The two men dressed in black are the Jesuit missionaries Rudolfo Acquaviva and Francisco Henriques. Illustration circa 1600.

During Christmas Akbar and his nobles, along with their ladies, came to the church to see nativity decorations and take part in the festivities. The practice begun by Akbar was continued by his son, Jahangir, who donated further to have the church enlarged. Three of Jahangirs nephews actually converted to Christianity, and was baptized in this church. According to scholar Harbans Mukhia, the conversion to Christianity was a ploy to enable Jahangir to procure a Portuguese wife for himself. When that failed, his nephews converted back to Islam.

Jahangirs relations with the Portuguese began to deteriorate. In 1613, when the Portuguese seized the Mughal ship Rahimi, which was on its way to Mecca with pilgrims and a large cargo, Jahangir was outraged. He ordered the seizure of the Portuguese town Daman, and the arrest of all Jesuit priests within the Mughal Empire. After more than two decades, Jahangirs son, Emperor Shah Jahanhe is the one who built the Taj Mahalagreed to release the Jesuit priests on the condition that the church be pulled down. Akbars church was demolished in 1635, only to be rebuilt the very next year.

The church that stands todaya testimony to Akbars remarkable religious tolerance actually dates to 1769, the year it was built again by the European mercenary and Commander of Agra Fort, Walter Reinhardt, after it was ransacked by the Persian ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali. Over the centuries the place has evolved into a large complex of church buildings that has dwarfed the original Akbars church.

Photo credit: sarsonkekhet.in
SeoulActivity has been detected at a North Korean long-range rocket site, suggesting Pyongyang may be pursuing the rapid rebuilding of the facility after the collapse of the Hanoi summit, according to analysis of satellite imagery. Another research website suggested the rebuilding of the site may have started even before last weeks meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump. The summit ended abruptly after the pair failed to reach an agreement on walking back Pyongyangs nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The renewed activity was recorded two days after the talks and may demonstrate resolve in the face of US rejection of the Norths request for an easing of sanctions, said researchers at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. This facility had been dormant since August 2018, indicating the current activity is deliberate and purposeful, it said. Kim had agreed to shutter the Sohae missile-testing site at a summit with the Souths President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, as part of confidence-building measures, and satellite pictures in August suggested workers were already dismantling an engine test stand at the facility. But CSIS said building activity is now evident at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, from where Pyongyang launched satellites in 2012 and 2016. North Korea was later banned by the UN security council from carrying out the space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles. The respected Washington-based 38 North project, another independent research website specializing in North Korea, also reported building work at the Sohae facility, based on commercial satellite imagery. The pictures show a moving structure that had been used to carry launch vehicles to a launch pad on rails has been restored, it said. Two support cranes are observed at the building, the walls have been erected and a new roof added. At the engine test stand, it appears that the engine support structure is being reassembled, the 38 North reported. In a briefing to parliamentarians this week, Seouls spy agency said it had detected signs of work at the site. But Joel Wit, the director of the 38 North project cautioned that the evidence was not necessarily consistent with preparations for an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) test.Aside from the fact that (North Korea) has never tested an ICBM from Sohae -- its a space vehicle launch site -- preparation for any launch would require a wide range of activities not observed in the imagery, it said. Ankit Panda of the Federation of American Scientists agreed the imagery does not suggest an imminent sign of an ICBM launch, but it could be a reminder of when times were worse and what stands to be lost if the process collapses. According to 38 North, the efforts to rebuild structures at the Sohae facility started sometime between February 16 and March 2 this year, based on what commercial satellite imagery shows. Timing matters. ... the imagery tells a story that this took place amid the Biegun-Kim Hyok Chol working-level talks in the weeks leading up to Hanoi, Panda tweeted. Choe Son Hui warned of Kim Jong Uns waning will and Kim Jong Un himself warned the US not to test his patience on Jan 1. Impoverished and isolated North Korea conducted its first successful nuclear test in 2006 followed by a string of increasingly successful ICBM launches. In 2017, it claimed it had become a nuclear state, capable of fitting a viable nuclear weapon on an ICBM that could reach as far as the United States eastern seaboard. In response, the UN Security Council later banned the Norths main exports -- coal and other mineral resources, fisheries and textile products -- to cut off its access to hard currency. At their groundbreaking first summit in Singapore last year, Kim and Trump produced a vague statement on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. There were high expectations for Kim and Trumps second meeting in Hanoi, but no agreement was reached. Despite the stalemate, both sides said they were open to further talks. John Bolton, the US national security adviser, however said on Tuesday that the US would look at ramping those sanctions up if Pyongyang did not give up its nuclear weapons program.
Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou saw nothing resembling a resolution of her ongoing legal battle with the Canadian government after attending a hearing on the matter in front of the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Wednesday.

The gathering scheduled for 10 AM PST was only used by the Canadian prosecutors as a platform for requesting an extension meant to provide them with more time to review their legal options, i.e. motions they could invoke with the goal of honoring the request to extradite Ms. Meng and have her face the United States judicial system. As of late January, shes being charged with numerous criminal transgressions, including a conspiracy to violate stateside trade embargoes placed on Iran and an international bank fraud devised as part of the former.

After being detained during a flight stop in Vancouver on her way to Mexico in late November Ms. Meng was unable to leave Canada, yet posted bail equivalent to $7.5 million and spent the following months under a limited house arrest, wearing an ankle monitor and being without her password.

Advertisement

Following tensions, delays, and initial exchanges of legal blows, the Canadian Justice Department decided Ms. Meng is eligible to be extradited but left the final decision on the matter to the countrys judicial system. The Wednesday hearing was meant to follow up on that order and was always unlikely to lead to significant new developments as local prosecutors are doing things by the book and not taking any unnecessary risks.

At the same time, Ms. Mengs legal team is pointing to the drawn-out nature of the case as proof that certain legal principles are already being abused. One of her attorneys claimed her Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms have already been violated, whereas the all-star legal team assembled for the cause already went the route of describing her as a victim of political persecution. Huawei and the U.S. have been on largely bad terms for years now but Ms. Mengs arrest represents an unprecedented escalation that already led to several diplomatic incidents after China started detaining Canadian citizens in an apparent response to the development.

Justice Heather Holmes on Wednesday set the date of Ms. Mengs next hearing for May 8. The next step of the process is hence likely to proceed in a much more low-key fashion seeing how it coincides with this years iteration of Google I/O in Mountain View, California.

Advertisement

Ms. Meng, a 46-year-old industry veteran and one of three children of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, repeatedly denied any wrongdoing on her part, with her defense being backed by the company itself. Shes facing up to three full decades in federal prison if shes extradited to the U.S. Huawei, for its part, is now resolved to sue Washington, albeit not one in direct relation to its CFOs case. Instead, the firm took issue with Capitol Hills latest spending bill that outlaws the use of its equipment based on what it claims are frivolous allegations of spying. Its chances of winning may not be great but some industry watchers interpret the move as an effort to bring attention to its struggles in the West, which is something Huawei believes would be beneficial in the long run regardless of how the current events play out.
The Huawei dilemma threatens over Vodafone and threatens many plans associated with the fifth generation of mobile networks in the United Kingdom. As authorities ponder the possibility of forcing the wireless carrier to not only drop its collaboration with the Chinese electronics giant but also get rid of all existing Huawei-made equipment powering its network, Vodafone Chief Technology Officer Scott Petty went on record to assert such a move would not only cause irreparable damage to the London-based firm but also cripple the UKs ambition to be on the bleeding edge of telecom tech.

No real reason to be worried for now

Mr. Pettys comments werent outright pro-Huawei so much as they were targeted against any notion of imposing a ban on equipment used in already existing infrastructure. Their timing is also rather telling seeing how the industry veteran is kind of late to the Huawei-in-the-centre-of-the-public-discourse party and could have done more to echo his message within the governments ranks had he offered them sooner.

Advertisement

British authorities spent the majority of the last twelve months probing the Chinese firm and its technologies employed by domestic wireless carriers following troublesome findings from security experts, yet not even credible cybersecurity concerns unrelated to Huaweis home country  a factor crucial to the criticism it faces from the United States  arose as part of a routine state-sponsored report.

Instead, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport recently recommended the British wireless segment and London officials with say in such things to work on limiting reliance on Huawei networking gear. Naturally, that turn of events can hardly be seen as a win by the Chinese firm yet its a far cry from countries that are codifying political opposition to its technologies, publicly attacking them on a regular basis, and working on jailing their top executives.

Far from the far-from-blameless image

Advertisement

None of that is to say the bizarre case of Meng Wanzhou is in any way related to Huaweis 5G ambitions and its existing global dominance, though thats the exact angle being pushed by the Far Eastern firm; the story goes something like the U.S. is afraid of Huawei being too good to compete with and wants to ban it before its companies go out of business trying to rival the unrivallable.

The other side of the story involves a string of suspicions and allegations covering decades worth of (occasionally comically bad) corporate espionage, a fundamental lack of respect for any norms not enacted by Beijing, and outright hostile actions against any potential rivals.

A British stronghold

Advertisement

Huawei remains deeply entrenched into the UK wireless market but as its highly public stand-off with the U.S. continues, so do its chances of getting kicked out of many other lucrative markets keep increasing. For now, the firm has some solace in the fact that close to a third of Vodafones 4G LTE installations use its tech and its bound to play some kind of a role in early British rollout efforts targeting 5G due to the very nature of the non-standalone 3GPP standard  that name says it all, really.

That doesnt mean Vodafone isnt worried about hundreds of millions in extra costs and other dramatic ramifications of a potential order to ditch Huawei gear, as Mr. Petty put it this week. The current situation certainly doesnt bode well for Huaweis future plans for the UK, a country wherein its already investing literal billions in grants and other financial vehicles, many of which arent even directly benefitting its business.
Huawei has asked its suppliers to increase component shipments, according to a Nikkei report. By doing this, Huawei wants to secure smartphone components for a summer launch of new models, while the company is also attempting to avoid any supply disruptions by doing this.

Huaweis mass production of its latest smartphone models will go into full swing in early summer, which is why Huawei needs its suppliers to boost production by that time. The Huawei P30 series will become official at the end of March, as the company already scheduled a press conference for March 26. The Huawei P30 Lite, P30, and P30 Pro will be in high demand this summer, or at least Huawei expects them to be, as those three devices are probably the main reason behind this decision.

The source notes that Murata Manufacturing has received double the usual volume of orders from Huawei, and will boost shipments accordingly. Issues with the US are another reason why Huawei did this, the company is attempting to avoid any disruptions, like component shortages, which ZTE struggled with.

Advertisement

Huaweis spokesperson also added that Huawei expects sustained growth once more this year, and that the company will expand cooperative relationships with Japanese partners. Huawei managed to sell over 200 million smartphones in 2018, and the company is aiming to increase that number to 250 million this year, so they will need more components than ever.

Huawei is aiming to overthrow Samsung at some point, and become the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. The company is actually aiming to do this by the end of this year, though that will be extremely hard to do, but who knows what will happen in a year or two, as Huaweis shipments and market share have been growing rapidly over the last couple of years, and the company managed to get really close to Samsung.

Nikkei also notes that Rohm Semiconductor will also increase supplies of integrated circuits and camera-related parts following Huaweis request, and those increases will be felt by May. On top of that, Kyocera received additional orders from Huawei for circuit parts, while Toshiba Memory was asked to increase flash memory production.

Advertisement

Huawei makes its own semiconductors, as many of you probably already know, but it does get other smartphone parts from Japanese and American sources, for the most part. Considering its difficulties with dealing with the US, Huawei apparently has to look elsewhere for smartphone parts, mainly in order to prevent shortages, as already mentioned.

Huawei actually said that it plans to do $8 billion worth of business with Japanese suppliers this year, which is a considerable increase compared to last year, when Huawei spent $6.6 in that regard. It is also worth noting that Huawei sued the US government quite recently, you can read more about that by clicking here. Things are getting more and more complicated between the two countries, it seems, and the solution seems to be further than ever. It remains to be seen what will this lawsuit bring, whether Huawei will come out on top or not.
Huawei is currently holding a news conference in Shenzhen, China, announcing its lawsuit against the US government.

This lawsuit is over the US governments ban of Huaweis telecommunications equipment being sold and used in the country. During the news conference, the company stated that it has no choice, other than to sue the government. After the actions of the US Congress have hurt both the US and China. An executive from Huawei said during the news conference that it has not, and will never implant any backdoors and will not allow anyone else to do so.

The executives at this press conference are reading off of foldable Mate X smartphones that were shown off at Mobile World Congress last month.

Advertisement

In a bold move, Huawei is also accusing the US government of hacking its own servers and stealing emails. It is also claiming that the US government is smearing the company, without having any evidence. And finally, blocking its ability to compete in the 5G space around the world. The US is not only blocking Huaweis equipment in the US, but also telling their allies to block Huaweis equipment from networks in their countries. And with 5G right around the corner, it has a bigger meaning than it would have, about five years ago.

Huawei is focusing on the National Defense Authorization Act, that was signed into law last August. This law called Huawei by name, to block federal agencies from working with Huawei and using its products. However, Huawei is stating that it is willing to work with the US government to resolve any concerns that it might have.

For many, many years, Huawei has had a stigma that it was used by the Chinese government to spy on its customers. During the Obama administration, many investigations were opened into Huawei, including a lengthy, multi-year investigation. All of which turned up zero evidence of Huawei spying on its users. Under the Trump administration, Huawei has been hit with the ban hammer a few times. Forcing AT&T and Verizon not to carry Huaweis Mate 10 Pro last year, and then banning its equipment altogether in the US.

Advertisement

The US government is also using Huawei as a pawn to approve the Sprint/T-Mobile merger. Forcing the parent companies, SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom respectively, not to use Huawei in their home countries of Japan and Germany. As if that wasnt enough, the US is persuading its allies to not use Huaweis networking gear on their networks as well. Essentially forcing Huawei out of the 5G game. For those unaware, Huawei makes the majority of their money through networking gear, smartphones and mobile products are a small percentage of its revenue.

This is not the only thing going on with Huawei recently. Its CFO was arrested in Canada last year, and is now facing extradition to the US. This is over her alleged violation of US sanctions with Iran and North Korea. Not to mention the fact that, a couple Huawei officials were arrested in Poland recently, on espionage charges.

To say the least, theres a lot of bad press going on for Huawei right now, and it isnt going to let up anytime soon.
"Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has assured the public that there is no cause for concern on Huaweis involvement in the countrys telecommunications industry." "Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has assured the public that there is no cause for concern on Huaweis involvement in the countrys telecommunications industry."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for one. After making a categorical declaration during his recent brief visit here that the US would come to the countrys aid in the event of war in the South China Sea under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, he also warned that the government should keep the Chinese technology firm Huawei at arms length as it poses a security risk. Our task has been to share with the world the risks associated with that technology, the risks to the Filipino people, the risk to Philippine security...We believe that competition, whether its in 5G or some other technology, ought to be open, free, transparent, and we worry that Huawei is not that, Pompeo said. He emphasized that while every nation must make their own sovereign decision on the use of Huawei technology, the US wants to make sure that the world has its eyes wide open on the risks posed by the use of Huawei systems as the backbone of communication networks. He pointed out that the US would not partner with countries that make use of Huawei systems, as doing so would endanger the US. But in the same breath, the American official also touted US technology: American companies are the best partners in the priorities of infrastructure development and the digital economy because they operate with the highest standards of transparency and adherence to the rule of law. The same cannot be said for Chinese state-run or state-backed enterprises. Now the cat is out of the bag as to the American agenda. Is that because Huawei has already emerged as the worlds No. 1 telecom supplier and the No. 2 smartphone maker after Samsung, dislodging the American-owned Apple? Could it be that strenuous American efforts to convince other countries to stay away from patronizing Huawei smartphones and other telecommunications technology is that Apple and other US firms are hurting badly from the Chinese telco giants development of cutting-edge 5G technology, leaving them biting the dust? And given the Trump administrations bloody trade war with China in recent years, is Washington using its crackdown on Huawei to assert its dominance as an economic and military superpower? It appears that Washington wants to get Huawei out of the way by invoking national security risks not just to the US but also other countries, including the Philippines. After all, as observers have noted, control of the critical infrastructure that runs 5G is crucial as the new network will not only support super-fast mobile internet but will also be the backbone behind other advanced technology like driverless cars.Is the US hysterics over Huaweis 5G advances working? In July last year, Australia said it would ban Huawei from 5G rollout amid security concerns. Later, Britain followed suit, saying it would strip Huawei equipment from 4G network by 2021 and wont use it in 5G core. In February this year, the US State Department urged European countries not to use Huawei equipment in their 5G rollouts. Last month, Italy was also reported as pushing for a ban on Huawei 5G. Here at home, however, US calls for the government to keep Huawei out seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has assured the public that there is no cause for concern on Huaweis involvement in the countrys telecommunications industry. Lorenzana brushed aside the possibility of the Chinese listening in on the countrys communication lines via the Chinese firm: Well, that is a cause for concern if they are already interfering in our activities. But Im sure the officials of the Department of Information and Communication Technology are doing their job to secure us. The DICT has assured us that our security is not compromised. The Department of Interior and Local Government is also eyeing a partnership with Huawei and China Telecom for its 18-city, 12,000-camera surveillance project called Safe Philippines. The P20-billion contract with state-owned China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation for the emergency response and monitoring system involves tapping Huawei to provide the equipment, including CCTV cameras. While the China-funded project has been flagged bys senators concerned about security and privacy risks, it appears that the project is already ready to roll. The Bases Conversion and Development Authority has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei for the development of smart cities in Clark, Pampanga and Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Huaweis billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei and other senior executives have given assurances that the company would not build backdoors or hand over customer data to Beijing. Ren also said the company would never help China spy on the United Stateseven if required by law. We never participate in espionage, and we do not allow any of our employees to do any act like that. But what does Beijing think about this issue? According to Chinese government spokesperson Zhang Yesui: Some U.S. government officials have been playing up the so-called security risk associated with products of certain Chinese companies and linking it with Chinese national intelligence law. This kind of behavior is interference in economic activities by political means and it is against WTO (World Trade Organization) rules. And it disrupts international market order that is built on fair competition. This is typical double standard. It is neither fair nor ethical. [email protected]
Posted on: March 7, 2019 9:25 AM

The Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba is a full member of the Anglican Communion but not part of a formally recognised province. It is one of six extra-provincial churches. Anglican churches here once formed a diocese of the US-based Episcopal Church, but following the Cuban Revolution and the US-blockade it was forced to become independent; albeit with the support of a Metropolitan Council encompassing the primates of the Anglican church of Canada, the Church in the Province of the West Indies, and the US-based Episcopal Church. In July 2018, the Episcopal Church General Convention, meeting in Austin, Texas, voted to restore the diocese to the province. Ahead of that vote, the Revd Marek Zabriskie led a fact-finding pilgrimage to Cuba with members of his St Thomas Episcopal Church in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. In this report, first published in the April 2018 edition of Anglican World, he sets out what he found.

When Castor took over Cuba in 1959 and pursued a communist ideology, it became impossible for the US-based Episcopal Church to stay connected with the 2,000 members of the Episcopal Church of Cuba. The state declared atheism its philosophy, and detention camps were established for those who openly practiced religion. An entire generation was lost from the Church.

But many Christians quietly struggled to maintain and practice their faith. Today, the Episcopal Diocese of Cuba has 6,000 members served by 23 clergy in 46 congregations, and three seminarians. It has six cars and a handful of motorcycles; clergy travel by bus, on foot or by hitchhiking to serve multiple churches. The Diocese has an operating budget of only $90,000 USD (approximately 64,000 GBP). Clergy receive a salary of just over $1,000 dollars a year, thanks to donations from the Friends of the Episcopal Church of Cuba. Until this year, they earned a mere $55 per month.

The first Protestant churches in Cuba were built by Episcopalians; but today many congregations meet in members homes, because their church was destroyed by a hurricane and during the Atheist Period the government refused to allow them to rebuild. Since the death of Fidel Castro, the government is beginning to issue some licenses to rebuild.

Its very challenging, Father Gilberto Hunco, Rector of La Iglesia de San Pablo in Cienfuegos, said. Im constantly searching for funds to repair my car so that I can serve my other churches. His car is a 32-year-old Russian import.

Over the last 15-20 years, the relationship between the church and the state has got better. You can now be a Christian and a member of the Communist Party, Hunco said. I have members of my church who are members of the Communist Party  some openly and some covertly. The State has come to realise that the Church has values that are helpful to society.

San Pablo was founded in 1937 when Americans working in the sugar industry asked for clergy and a church to be built. The work of the women in the church in Cuba is very good, he said. The Association of Episcopal Women kept the churches open during the 1970s and 1980s. Without them, we would have no churches today.

The Bishop of Cuba, Griselda Delgado del Carpio, with the Revd Marek Zabriskie and 100 Spanish language Books of Common Prayer which was donated to the Episcopal Church of Cuba by the Pennsylvania pilgrims.

In 1903, Emilio Planas, a former slave who became the first indigenous priest of the Episcopal Church of Cuba, founded the church of San Felipe Diacono to serve other former slaves. It is the third oldest Episcopal church in Cuba but was all-but destroyed by a hurricane in 1987. Ever since, the parishioners have worshipped in the tiny clergy vesting sacristy, which was the only portion of the church to survive the hurricane.

Today, the congregation is composed of 36 members, 34 of whom are black women who are descendants of slaves. These brave women worshipped faithfully during the Atheist Period despite prohibitions and great adversity.

These are very faithful, loving women who care a great deal for this church, said the churchs Rector, the Revd Marianela de la Paz. She is working with the Revd Dr Clara Luz Ajo Lazaro, Vice-Rector of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Matanzas, to raise $148,000 to rebuild their church and create a parish hall and a rectory in the town of Limonar, a town of 10,333 inhabitants in one of Cubas former sugar-producing regions. The sugar industry has struggled for years and is only now starting to make a comeback.

Pensylvania pilgrims standing by the clergy vesting sacristry which is all that remains of San Felipe Diacono in Limonar

Water in Cuba is hard. It has bad effects on the health and destroys the teeth of Cubans. In Mantanzas, la Iglesia Fieles a Jesus, the oldest Episcopal church in Cuba, provides fresh water to benefit 1,800 members of the city. People associate our cathedral as a source of healing and health for the entire community, said the Revd Tulia Sanchez Ortiga, their rector.

Our pilgrimage team took a driving tour of Havana in vintage 1950s American cars, which are treasured in Cuba. New cars are non-existent so Cubans drive vintage American cars or little Russian cars; or ride on carts pulled by horses or oxen. Havana is lost in a time warp and is of full of stunning architecture and crumbling facades.

Since the Cuban Revolution and the American Blockade, the 12 million people of Cuba have been cut off from much of the world. Like Noahs ark, they are surrounded by water and feel isolated. The Castro regime has been brutal over the years, silencing and killing opponents and exporting revolution while failing to improve Cuba economically. Yet the Cubans have an excellent, free health-care system available to every citizen, unlike in the US. They have nearly eradicated illiteracy and have greatly improved their educational system.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz of the Anglican Church of Canada has said that his province will continue to have a relationship with the Church in Cuba even if it is restored to its former home in the Episcopal Church. Theres a kind of a mix of emotion  theres a great sense of anticipation about being reintegrated into TEC, and they can see some of the advantages of that, Hiltz told the Anglican Journal after visiting Cuba for their Synod in February 2018. At the same time many members of the Cuban church are a little anxious about this relationship with the Anglican Church of Canada because, as they will say themselves, the Anglican Church of Canada accompanied them for so long.


Posted on: March 7, 2019 6:29 PM

The An Garda Siochana  the police service in the Republic of Ireland  have recovered the mummified head of The Crusader, which had been stolen from the crypt of a Dublin church last month. The head along with another skull, were taken from the crypt of St Michans Church in Dublin over the weekend of 23  25 February. This week a police spokesperson said that the items were recovered as a result of information that came into the possession of the investigating Gardai.

In a statement, they added: An Garda Siochana would like to thank the public for their assistance in the investigation, which remains ongoing.

The Anglican and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Dublin visited the Church together following the desecration and issued a joint appeal for the return of the remains. The Anglican Archbishop, Michael Jackson, this week welcomed the recovery of the remains  a popular tourist attraction in Ireland.

We in the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough are delighted that both the head of The Crusader and the skull which also was in the crypt of St Micans Church, Church Street, Dublin, have been recovered, he said. They were left in a place where the Gardai were able to make this recovery.

As Archbishop of Dublin, I should like to thank the Gardai and everyone else who has worked tirelessly to make this possible.

The National Museum of Ireland are now acting in an advisory capacity. There had been concerns that the remains would crumble once removed from the protective atmosphere of the crypt.

The emphasis will now be able to turn to consideration of future security and display of the remains in the crypt of St Michans, Archbishop Michael said. Renewed thanks go to all who have shown interest and concern for the mummies. They are a priceless part of the heritage of the city of Dublin and its citizens.

Elsewhere in Ireland, the Gardai in Donegal are appealing for the publics assistance to locate a bronze Celtic Cross which was stolen from the Church of Ireland in Greencastle at some point between 3 and 22 February.
Posted on: March 7, 2019 7:10 PM

The family of Father Anthony Idris Jatau, who were kidnapped in an incident in which he was killed, have been released, the Diocese of Sokoto has confirmed. The Children were released on 24 February  the day that the Anglican Church of Nigeria celebrated its 40th anniversary. Negotiations continued for the release of Father Anthonys wife, and and it has now been confirmed that she, too, has been released.

The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of 10 million Nigerian Naira (approximately 21,500 GBP) for the release of his family. The Diocese of Sokoto has said that no ransom was paid for the familys release.

We thank all who have been a shoulder of support to us in our predicament, the Diocese said in a Facebook post after the release of the children. We solicit your prayers as we expect Gods intervention.

Confirming the release of Mummy Jatau, as she is known, the Diocese said: God, in His infinite mercy, brought our brethren back undefiled!

As she was released, Mummy Jatau pleaded with the kidnappers for the release of a 10-year-old orphaned girl who was also being held. In its Facebook post, the diocese said that the request was granted.

It has emerged that the kidnappers had threatened to rape one of their captives at gunpoint; but did not carry out their threat.

The family were taken on Thursday 7 February. Father Anthony was driving his family to a new posting in Katsina State when gunman opened fire on their car, forcing it to skid off the road. He was killed and his body left at the side of the road. His wife, three children and two sisters-in-law were kidnapped.

Kidnapping is a regular occurrence in Nigeria, part of an ongoing cycle of violence in the region.
Posted on: March 7, 2019 4:31 PM

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has led tributes to one of his predecessors, Lord John Habgood, whose death, yesterday (Wednesday), was announced today. He was 91. The scientist and theologian  he attained a double first in natural sciences at Cambridge University  was serving as Bishop of Durham when he was appointed Archbishop of York in 1983. He held the post until his retirement in 1995, and was appointed to the House of Lords as a Crossbench (independent) Peer in his own right. He had previously been a member as Bishop of Durham and Archbishop of York.

His episcopacy was somewhat controversial. It was widely reported that he was turned down for the vacant Archbishop of Canterburys post because of opposition from the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Dr George Carey was appointed to the post.

As a hugely distinguished scientist, theologian and philosopher, Archbishop Habgoods faith in Christ gave him a particular perspective and a persuasive witness both to church and nation for his time, Dr Sentamu said in response to todays announcement. His many books simplified big and complex questions, revealing an incredibly perceptive intellect. Im very glad to have confirmed his grandchildren and dedicated a room in his honour at Bishopthorpe Palace [the official residence of the Archbishops of York].

His towering presence, physical, intellectual, and spiritual, was a gift to all who knew him. My prayers are with his family at this time. May he Rest in Peace, and rise in glory.

The Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, added: The sad news of John Habgoods death yesterday calls us to give thanks for his ministry as Bishop of Durham from 1973-83. . . Alongside his leadership of the Diocese through these years his contribution to science and religion was immense. His legacy in this regard continues to be significant in Durham today. His family are in our prayers.

Lord Habgood was predeceased by his wife Rosalie in March 2016.
"As mindsets become more progressive, the gender gap in wages should narrow." "As mindsets become more progressive, the gender gap in wages should narrow."

With much still to do by way of uplifting the condition of women in the Philippines, the country still has a better track record than others in some aspects, particularly in the workplace. This years theme for International Womens Day (March 8) is #BalanceForBetter. The slogan pertains to gender balance in all aspects of human activityin business, media coverage, sports... Gender balance is essential for economies and communities to thrive. Good news for us, the Philippines has been among the top 10 most gender-equal countries in the world for business since the World Economic Forum reports were launched in 2006, according to Sofia Tomacruz of Rappler. The latest WEF report, released Dec. 18 last year, showed the Philippines at 8th place in the Global Gender Gap report, from 10th place in 2017, having managed to close about 80 percent of the gender gap. It was 7th rank in 2016. The report ranks 149 countries in four categories: labor force participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. The WEF attributed the countrys strong ranking last year to robust efforts to close the gender gap in political empowerment. Related to this, the rest of the world can learn from the Philippines when it comes to gender balance in the workplace, said University of British Columbia Assistant Professor Michael Daniels, writing in 2015 for the Human Capital Leadership Institute. The Philippines is a bright spot in Asia with regard to the status of women Women aremore heavily represented in business in the Philippines than in neighboring countries, said Daniels. He cited global professional services firm Grant Thorntons data on the Philippines: the country ranked first in Southeast Asia and fifth worldwide for the proportion of women holding senior management roles, with 37 percent of such roles occupied by women. And women comprise an average of 34 percent of corporate boards in the Philippines, exceeding the global average of 19 percent. Clearly, the Philippines is more progressive than both its Asian neighbours and a majority of Western countries in terms of gender diversity, he added.When discussing women in the workplace, the female overseas Filipino workers must be considered. The Philippine Statistics Authority Women and Men Handbook 2016 shows that in 2015, there were 1.25 million female OFWs compared to 1.197 million male workers. Saudi Arabia was the most common destination for female OFWs in 2014 and 2015, and laborers and unskilled workers the most common occupation. As of December 2018, total remittances were at $21 billion. It is unknown how much of that amount women OFWs contributed, but its pretty safe to say a sizable percentage. These are interesting statistics, but what they show is that there arent enough well-paying jobs to go around in the country. Women employed in the local workplace seem to be doing well enough, but over a million others are forced to travel abroad to find work to support their families. This situation needs to be addressed because of the social cost of parents working overseas. Their absence takes a toll on family life, and children are raised by relatives or other people. In the Philippines, population is almost exactly divided between the sexes. The Philippine Statistics Authority projects the 2019 population of women at 53.7 million, men at 54.7 million. Of the women aged 15 years and older, 46.6 percent are employed or looking for work compared to 75.1 percent of men. But the agencys 2015 data also shows that women bring home more bacon than menP284,000 average annual income compared to P262,000and save moreP58,000 compared to P50,000 in average annual savings. Women are making good use of the gender diversity in the workplace by pulling more than their own weight. As mindsets become more progressive, the gender gap in wages should narrow. Having salaries fixed to positions, as they are in government, is a good start. Moreover, the new laws being created often specify that there should be women on the board or commission. The near future should see more women in the boardroom and senior management than the current one-third. As the country observes Womens Day, let us remember that women are, as the Philippine Commission on Women says, active contributors to and claimholders of development. Mao Zedong: Women hold up half the sky. / FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO
"He can blend ideal policy reforms with the hustle-bustle of politics and deal-making and still come out on top in the end." "He can blend ideal policy reforms with the hustle-bustle of politics and deal-making and still come out on top in the end."

The new governor of the Bangko Sentral Benjamim E. Diokno, 70, was a reformist Budget secretary. He has solid educational credentials, here and abroad, giving him the gravitas of a technocrat and a conscientious public servant even as he pursued expansionary spending policies under the Corazon Aquino and Rodrigo Duterte administrations. A pragmatist, he can blend ideal policy reforms with the hustle-bustle of politics and deal-making and still come out on top in the end. He was President Dutertes secretary of the Department of Budget and Management from July 2016 to March 5, 2019. He was also the Budget secretary under President Joseph Estrada, from July 1998 to January 2001. When Estrada conducted an all-out war against Muslim separatists and terrorists in Mindanao, Diokno readily provided the funds for the military operations. It paid off. Estrada captured 45 rebels camps, including their headquarters. Diokno also served as Undersecretary for Budget Operations at the Department of Budget and Management, from 1986 to 1991, during the administration of President Corazon Aquino. Aquino exceeded the budget deficit to GDP ceiling (deficit hit more than 5 percent of GDP) but greater expenditures were needed to revive a slumping economy following the worst political and economic crisis ever in the country. Under Duterte, Diokno went all out to finance the Presidents ambitious Build, Build, Build infrastructure buildup and fulfill the former Davao mayors campaign promise to double the income of soldiers, policemen, and teachers. Today, soldiers, policemen and teachers are the highest paid civil servants in their respective pay scales. During the Aquino presidency, Diokno provided technical assistance to several major reforms such as the design of the 1986 Tax Reform Program, which simplified income tax and introduced the value-added tax, and the 1991 Local Government Code of the Philippines. During the Estrada administration, Diokno initiated and instituted several reforms that would enhance transparency and improve the efficiency of the delivery of government services. The first major reform instituted was the what you see is what you get or WYSWYG policy that is a simplified system of fund release for the General Appropriations Act. This allowed agency heads to immediately plan and contract out projects by just looking at the GAA, which is available in print and at the DBM website, without waiting for the issuance of an allotment authority. Diokno initiated the reform of the government procurement system through the adoption of rapidly improving information and communications technology. He secured technical assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency to help the GPS develop an electronic procurement system along the lines of the Canadian model.By August 1999, the DBM had two documents necessary to initiate reforms in public procurement. In early 2000, Diokno and USAID successfully concluded a substantial technical assistance program for the DBMs budget reform programs, which now included procurement reform. Other budget reforms instituted by Diokno concerned procedures for payment of accounts payable and terminal leave/ retirement gratuity benefits. The release of cash allocation were programmed and uploaded to the departments website while payments were made direct to the bank accounts of specific contractor. Diokno finished his bachelors degree in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines (1968), and earned his masters in Public Administration (1970) and Economics (1974), also from UP. He also holds a Master of Arts in Political Economy (1976) from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA and a Ph.D. in Economics (1981) from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, USA. He is professor emeritus at UP Diliman. Diokno served as Fiscal Adviser to the Philippine Senate. He also served as chairman and CEO of the Philippine National Oil Co. and Chairman of the Local Water Utilities Administration. He was also chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (City University of Manila). In his third tour of duty as Budget secretary, he pursued an expansionary fiscal policy to finance investments in human capital development and public infrastructure. In addition, he sought passage of a Budget Reform Bill to ensure the compliance of future budgets with the pertinent laws of the land. He also aims to reorganize and professionalize the bureaucracy with a Government Rightsizing Act. [email protected]
BARCELONAJudge Manuel Marchena began the day's Supreme Court session in the Catalan referendum trial by admitting an error. Before beginning the witness examination of Guardia Civil Colonel Diego Perez de los Cobos, Marchena forgot to ask him if he had ever been tried in court. So far this question had been asked of all the witnesses. This morning Marchena corrected himself before resuming the interrogation and asked the colonel if he had ever been tried for a crime,. "Yes, I was prosecuted and acquitted," admitted the colonel.

Perez de los Cobos was charged with torturing a member of ETA, Kepa Urra, in 1997. The case dated back to 1992, and five other civil guards were indicted along with the colonel. Three of them were sentenced to four years in prison for physically abusing Kepa Urra while in custody. A Bilbao court of found that before transferring him to the Guardia Civil barracks, they handcuffed the prisoner and took him to a deserted field, stripped him, struck him with a blunt object, and dragged him across the ground. Perez de los Cobos was acquitted because the court concluded that there was not enough evidence against him to connect him to this episode.

In fact, Perez de los Cobos who was assigned to anti-terror duties in the Basque Country for years was not indicted for the same abuse as the other convicted officers, but rather for having covered Urra's mouth and nose and mistreating him while he was held in hospital and under guard. But the court did not find enough evidence to prove this other incident.

After his stint in the Basque Country, the Guardia Civil colonel whose brother Francisco Perez de los Cobos is the former president of the Constitutional Court went to work at the Ministry of the Interior, where he has been stationed for the last twelve years, initially as an advisor to minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba. Since 2011 he has been director of the Office of Coordination and Studies of the Secretary of State for Security under the orders of Jorge Fernandez Diaz and later of Juan Ignacio Zoido. The PP government appointed him as the coordinator of the 1-O operation [which sought to prevent the independence referendum from taking place]. After the referendum he was promoted and appointed head of the Guardia Civil in Madrid.

Must witnesses be asked about whether they have ever been tried in court?

Spains law of criminal prosecution establishes that this question be asked of the witnesses before they begin their statement. In the same way that their identity is checked, they are also questioned as to whether they have any relationship of kinship or friendship with the defendants, and reminded that they are obliged to tell the truth. Even so, judicial sources explain that there is no regulation that establishes that it is imperative or obligatory to ask this.
As of today, women at Abu Dhabi Airports make up: 57% of the Human Resources, GCAS & Administration Division; 50% of the Strategy and Communication Division; 44% of the Commercial Division; 41% of the Contracts and Procurement Division; 40% of the Legal Division; and 39% of the Technology Division.

In addition, talented Emirati women occupy a number of leadership positions throughout Abu Dhabi Airports. Samiha Al Nuaimi serves as Head of Engineering and Technical Support with the MTB team, Hala Al Ameri as Vice President of Airfield Projects at Abu Dhabi and Head of Design, Laila Al-Ameri is Acting Chief Financial Officer, Elham Al Mahri is Head of Airport Operational Systems Delivery, and Zamzam al Hammadi is the General Manager of the Gulf Center of Aviation Studies.

Bryan Thompson, chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi Airports, said: I am immensely proud of the incredible achievements of women throughout Abu Dhabi Airports. Working across our company in a wide range capacities, women are instrumental to our continued success and advancement.

Abu Dhabi Airports is committed to developing a diverse and talented workforce, we believe that the empowerment of women is essential to achieving our vision of becoming the worlds leading airports group. Our female employees are remarkable and bring great value to our company, and by highlighting their contributions during International Womens Day we hope to inspire the next generation of female leaders in the aviation sector, added Thompson.
The Armed Forces of Kuwait have delayed the acquisition of Russian-made T-90MS main battle tanks (MBTs). However, the deal is not cancelled, the chief of the Kuwaiti Army`s Armament and Equipment Authority Anwar al-Mazidi told the Xinhua news agency.



T-90MS main battle tank (Picture source: Army Recognition)

"The purchase of Russian [T-90MS] tanks was not cancelled, but postponed," said al-Mazidi. The general also praised the cooperation between the Russian Armed Forces and the Kuwaiti military. Kuwait is reported to show interest in the T-90MS MBT that has been developed by Uralvagonzavod (a subsidiary of Rostec) research-and-manufacturing corporation.

The T-90MS is a development of the T-90. It was presented for the first time to the public during the Russian Expo Arms in September 2011. This tank is a complete modernization of the T-90 by touching all the characteristics of the basic variant to increase its operational capabilities in combat and against modern threats of the battlefield.

The export version of the T-90MS main battle tank has a new fire control with a set of all-day stabilized sights of the commander and the pointer. The fire control is integrated into the terminal of the controlling system to obtain tactical information in the automatic system of unit control. The single tactical-level system was designed by Sozvezdie Concern. The first contract for the delivery to the Russian troops was signed in late 2018. Sozvezdie said the system provides information exchange between tanks in real time, a general picture of the battlefield, and creates a single information network. The concept of the so-called netcentric war appeared in the West and has to provide information and communication supremacy over the adversary by networking all participants in combat.

Terlikov said the T-90MS has a better fire density and survivability of the 125mm gun. The tank fires a broad range of munitions, including a guided missile and a high-explosive fragmentation shell with preset detonation. The weight of the tank does not exceed 50 tons.
Seven months after the launch of Zeitz Mocaa, Africas first major museum of contemporary art, Cape Town will gain another ambitious private institution. The Norval Foundation is due to open on Saturday (28 April) in a 10,500 sq. m building designed by South Africas DHK Architects, on the vineyard-dotted slopes of the Tokai suburb near Table Mountain.

The venue, which includes a sculpture park and a nature reserve, will show contemporary and Modern South African art, as well as work by international artists who are engaged with what is happening here, says its Canadian-born chief curator, Owen Martin. He left Zeitz Mocaa, where he was the registrar and then the curator of the moving image, to join the new gallery.

Norval Foundation DHK architects

Another Zeitz defector is Elana Brundyn, who served as its director of institutional advancement and external affairs, and is now the executive director of the Norval Foundation. She had always intended to leave Zeitz Mocaa after the opening and planned to lie on the beach for six months, she says. But when she saw the foundations new building and surrounding gardens, she was persuaded to join.

The gallery has been entirely financed by the South African property investor Louis Norval. He would not be drawn on the cost of the project so far but says he will continue to provide funding until it is self-supporting. Im establishing a capital fund and I hope this will sustain the museum within three to five years, Norval says. Further revenue will come from the restaurant, bar and shop, as well as admission fees six days a week (ZAR140 or $11.60 for adults, and free for under-18s; Mondays will be free for all).

Before Zeitz Mocaa

Norval and his family have been collecting South African art for 20 years and in 2010 started to think about how we could make a difference through art, he says. I felt there was a big hole in societyarts education [in South Africa] is very much lacking.

Norval acquired the nearly 12-acre plot of land for the foundation in 2011, before Jochen Zeitz [the German entrepreneur and collector behind Zeitz Mocaa] even considered opening a museum, he says. But he stresses that the family is a minority on the governing board and that he will not interfere in the running of the space. He says: There is no requirement or expectation that it should show art from my collection.

Sydney Kumalo's St Francis of Assisi (1962) Courtesy of the Kumalo family

The gallery is, however, opening with a small show of works from the Norval collection focused on spirituality in South African art (until 22 October). It is the first in a planned series of displays drawn from major private collections in South Africa or with a connection to the country, Martin says.

He is organising one of the two main inaugural exhibitions, Pulling at Threads (until 20 August), which consists entirely of loans from other collectors and artistsSouth African and internationaland will consider the social and political aspects of craft techniques.

Meanwhile, the foundations senior advising curator, the artist and southern African art expert Karel Nel, is staging the first museum show devoted to the South African Modernists Sydney Kumalo and Ezrom Legae (until 10 September). Their bronze sculptures and drawings will be shown with those of their friend, the Italian-born sculptor Edoardo Villa, who spent four years as a prisoner of war in South Africa and then made his home in the country. Norval owns the artists estate and is lending many works, while others are coming from public institutions such as the South African National Gallery in Cape Town and the Pretoria Art Museum.

This kind of research into South Africas Modern art history is what drew Martin to the foundation. The chance to learn about this pivotal moment in this regions visual culture was irresistible, he says.

In a rare move for a private museum, the Norval Foundation is also embracing performance art. A series of performances around queer and black identities, organised by its adjunct curator Khanyisile Mbongwa, will mark the opening of the space.
Dear SFMOMA and Sothebys: Have you no shame?

In my previous post on the San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts ill-conceived deaccession of an important Rothko, I noted that there were circumstances specific to this disposal that make it uniquely problematic.

Let me elaborate:

In its online sales pitch for Rothkos Untitled, 1960, to be auctioned in New York on May 16, Sothebys claimed that the painting is distinguishedby its connection to Peggy Guggenheim, preeminent philanthropist and patron of the 20th century. But SFMOMA undid that connection, having become disenchanted with the early Surrealist-influenced Rothko that Peggy had given to the museum:

Rothko, Slow Swirl at the Edge of the Sea, 1944, now owned by Museum of Modern Art

Bequest of Mrs. Mark Rothko through The Mark Rothko Foundation

In 1962, SFMOMA made the direct request to Rothko to exchange the work for a more contemporary example of his oeuvre, as recounted by Sothebys. Rothko acceded, and SFMOMA selected for its collection the 1960 painting, below, that it now plans to unload in order to bankroll purchases of diverse works (as yet unidentified) that catch its eye now or in the future:

Rothko, Untitled, 1960

Presale estimate: $35-50 million

Its bad enough for a museum to decide it no longer wants a work that it had specifically requested from its owner. Its much worse when that owner is the artist himself. How will future potential donors regard such caprices?

This latest Rothko switcheroo is being executed in the spirit of experimentation, diversity of thought and openness to new ways of telling stories, according to Neal Benezra, SFMOMAs director. But a comprehensive museum of modern art shouldnt deplete its displays or its holdings of works by time-honored favorites in order to fixate on new stories.

To borrow an overused Twitter meme, its like this:

Why must SFMOMA dispose of the old in order to engage with the new? Several commentators (notably the Art Newspapers Ben Luke) have questioned why the museum cant apply to its collection-building the same fundraising skills that successfully bankrolled its 2016 expansion.

I have a theory about this, and its name is the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection. When I visited SFMOMA at the beginning of last month, at a time when several galleries were in transition between recently closed displays and new installations and exhibitions, I was struck, more than ever, by the dominance of the Fisher Collection on the three floors that are named for them.

This gave new relevance to my August 2016 warning about the possible ramifications of the Fisher strictures (which limit non-Fisher works to no more than 25 percent of whats on view on SFMOMAs three Fisher floors):

What other collector would want to make major art donations [or, for that matter, donations of acquisition funds] to SFMOMA under these fishy Fisher circumstances? No wonder the museum was reluctant to divulge the full terms of this deal: Its windfall could become its downfall.

That windfall was a long-term, renewable Fisher loan (not a permanent gift) of some 1,100 works, focused on the following: American abstraction; American Pop, figurative, and minimal art after 1960; German art after 1960. As I speculated here, the Fisher pact may have helped Stanford University to clinch its deal to acquire the highly important Harry W. (Hunk) and Mary Margaret (Moo) Anderson Collection.

Had the Andersons collection gone to SFMOMA (to which they had previously donated important works), their gift might have been overwhelmed by the larger Fisher trove. The Anderson Collection is considerably smaller than the Fisher holdings but, to my eyes, of higher overall quality. (Ive viewed in person the Anderson works displayed at SFMOMA and at Stanford.)

As it happens, one preeminent Fisher-owned work was recently removed from SFMOMA and transported to Stanford: Richard Serras monumental Sequence, the first work installed in SFMOMAs Snhetta-designed new wing, has been returned (no small task) to its previous outdoor site beside Stanford Universitys Cantor Arts Center (which adjoins the Anderson Collections facility).

During my last visit to SFMOMA, I gazed upon the enormous void left by Sequence, whose ghostly outlines can be seen on the floor of the glass-walled gallery that had been designed to accommodate it:

Photo by Lee Rosenbaum

That desolate space will be animated for 11 months, beginning in late May, by The Chronicles of San Franciscoa scrolling digital mural of the citys neighborhoods and inhabitants by the artist JR.

As noted in this report by Adam Brinklow in Curbed San Francisco:

Before its [Sequences] trek to SFMOMA, Stanford characterized the move as a for-keeps transition, calling the museum its permanent location. SFMOMA, however, now refers to the acquisition as a loan.

Which raises another question: What happened?
The many Chinese nationals living in condominiums and working in Philippine offshore gaming operations, or Pogos, are creating a stir in Congress and among Filipinos. They are inconspicuous in malls, restaurants and other public places. Their employers have jacked up the prices of real estate properties and condominium buildings by buying whole floors, instead of individual units, presumably for sub-lease to hired Chinese workers. Lawmakers last year estimated that around 200,000 Chinese were working in the Philippines, right after China banned online gambling and cracked down on illegal casinos in the mainland.

Their presence, however, has not escaped the attention of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who vowed to collect an estimated P3 billion worth of income tax each month from foreign nationals working in Pogos. All foreigners should be taxed, not just Chinese, says Dominguez, adding that the government was not focusing on particular nationalities working in Pogos. The Bureau of Internal Revenue earlier declared that all foreign and Philippine-based gaming operators, including those with offshore licenses, were required to register with the BIR as a prerequisite in the renewal of their Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. license. The BIR has listed 54 Pogo licensees, comprising of 10 local companies and 44 offshore operators. But only seven local operators and eight offshore licensees were registered with the BIR. The Justice Department, meanwhile, reported that less than 95,000 foreign nationals obtained various forms of temporary work permits as Pogo employees from the Bureau of Immigration as of June 2018.The sheer number of Chinese Pogo workers in the Philippines, while boosting the revenues of the property sector, malls and the fast-food business, will inevitably shape and mix with the local culture. The phenomenon has also drawn a warning from visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who noted that the influx of Chinese workers could "disturb the political equations." "If huge numbers of any foreigners [come] to live and stay in the country or to even influence the economy of a country, then you have to do some rethinking as to whether it is good or bad, or the limits that you have to impose on them," says the Malaysian leader in a television interview. Foreign workers are welcomed in the Philippines as long as they do not take away jobs from locals. They should also be reminded that they are still guests here and must respect the local laws, irrespective of the amount of investments placed by their employers.
Do it yourself if you can We accept  in principle  that private equity can deliver (somewhat) excess returns over most other asset classes. But there are a lot of qualifications attached to that, and most of them are very relevant to whether and how pension funds should invest in private equity.
Utah House Passes Bill to Legalize Sex Outside of Marriage

Fornicating With a Stranger in Utah Might Not Be a Crime for Much Longer

As the number of adults cohabiting increases year after year, it might be difficult to imagine that in some areas of the U.S., having sex outside of marriage could land you behind bars. In Utah, at least, legislators are working to change that.

The Utah House recently passed Senate Bill 43, hoping to repeal the crime of sex between those who are not married. After being criminalized in 1973, fornication is now considered a Class B Misdemeanor. If you do end up getting arrested, the charge can carry penalties of up to six months in jail and/or up to a $1,000 fine. Other examples of Class B misdemeanors in Utah that have no direct correlation to sex include assault, DUI and shoplifting.

The current bill in Utah is part of an effort to update its criminal code, hopefully removing unenforceable laws from the books. However, while many might consider legalization of sex outside of marriage to be a step in the right direction, the decision wasnt an unanimous one as some of Utahs conservative House members voiced their concerns. Republican Rep. Kevin Stratton, someone who objected to the bill, stated that, What is legally is often far below what is morally right. And I recognize our laws are not strong enough to rule an immoral people.

RELATED: Your Genes May Determine if Your Marriage Will Last

Other laws that the Utah Legislature passed as part of its mission to clean up its criminal code include the decriminalization of adultery and sodomy among consenting adults, and allowing sex workers who are attacked or have crimes committed against them to report the crimes without fear of prosecution.

In January, Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield noted that some of these old laws have been determined to be unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. "As part of our cleanup for this, we're just going to strike those out of our laws here because we can't enforce them," said Ray.

The bill to decriminalize sex out of marriage passed with a 41-32 vote. At this point, its a waiting game to see if itll receive a signature or veto from Governor Herbert.

You Might Also Dig:
On a cool early Saturday evening last March 2, the parking area between the Volkswagen and Honda dealerships in the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig became the venue for a street party-like event celebrating five years of growth for Volkswagen Philippines. The showroom of the VW BGC dealership became a virtual picnic area where registered guests were treated to a food galore from the partner-vendors like Purefood Tender Juicy Hotdogs, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Magnolia Ice Cream. There were discounts from Thule and Graco while a BPI booth offered car loan application forms.

In the showroom, highly visible executives included Manny Aligada, the president of Kia Philippines, and Carl Decloedt, the head honcho of KTM Philippines. VW, Kia and KTM are part of the Ayala Corporation automotive brands. Joining the celebration were John Sullings, the distributor of KYT and Suomy motorcycle helmets in Australia, who visited the country for a couple of days in Boracay before going on to business in Malaysia.Around nightfall, the party, dubbed as Kalye V, moved outside. Party hostess and emcee extraordinaire Issa Litton revved up the crowd which is composed of VW enthusiast and members of various VW car clubs while VW Philippines Chief Operating Adviser Klaus Schadewald, President Felipe Estrella III, and ACP President and COO Dino Santos, opened the event with impassioned speeches. Guests also had fun test driving the latest VW modelsLamando, Santana, and Tiguan.
Gilbert + Tobin (G+T) has helped sell the largest flour and baked goods manufacturer in Australia.

The independent firm advised Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) and management shareholders on the sale of Allied Pinnacle to the Nisshin Seifun Group, the largest flour miller in Japan. Reports suggest that Nisshin Seifun paid $950m for Allied Pinnacle, which generates sales of around $750m every year.

G+Ts team was headed by corporate M&A partner Hiroshi Narushima. He was supported by lawyers Ilona Hunnisett and Oliver Yee. Narushima described G+Ts long-standing involvement with what became the Allied Pinnacle company.
Legal assistance funding in Australia is abysmal and in need of urgent review. Some of our most vulnerable people are slipping through the cracks, as the Law Councils Justice Project illustrates, Mr Moses said.

He added that Commonwealth funding for legal aid has been cut from $11.22 per capita in 1997 to below $8 per capita today.

Australias family law system is chronically under-resourced, under-funded and overburdened. Families and children are having to wait up to three years, in many cases more, to have matters heard. As the federal courts workloads continue to increase, more resourcing is desperately needed to keep up with demand. This must include appointing further judges and registrars, and additional legal assistance, Mr Moses said.

Among the measures The Law Council is calling for is a review of the resourcing needs of federal courts and tribunals.

DLA Piper publishes global mergers handbook

A three volume guide to help in-house legal teams and others with mergers and corporate reorganizations has been published by DLA Piper.
The Australian govt looks set to crackdown on employers, shonky labour-hire firms etc who underpay employees. This is especially aimed at employer and firms who exploit migrant workers. More details here:
TDI

AMG

Our boots on the ground at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show sent us advanced details of the enemy's forces. Even though these cars look like they're packing high-caliber weapons, they're just plastic toy guns.This time around, the photographers focused their shots on the tails of VWs, Skoda, Audis, BMWs, and Mercedes models. These are the biggest offenders, though we're sure other automakers are in on it.Giant pieces of chrome trim make you think that the Passat or Tiguan have pipes on both sides. But as engines have been getting more efficient, the number of gasses they produce should be a little lower too. In most cases, the VWs or Skodas are equipped with a 2.0, emitting out of only one muffler hidden away on the left side of the vehicle.What's even stranger is that the new Polo TGI had no muffler at all. This probably has to do with it being a pre-production prototype. Meanwhile, the Skoda Kodiaq RS has a real port on the left and a fake one on the other side, just like the Octavia RS.BMW is on the list with its M850i sporting smaller tips inside the trademark rectangular outlet. We'll let that pass because the pointless carbon fiber trim that might increase the weight of the coupe is what bothers us.We gave Mercedes a stern scolding last year in Paris for the same stuff VW is now pulling. However, they're back with new shenanigans. It seems that even thoughmodels have quad tips, most are fed by just two pipes. Again, the AMG GT R Roadster is in the gallery, but we want to let it slide. You're not going to see another car with such a weird setup back there.
With no production version in sight, the concept is supposed to be a solution to city driving, combining the size of a motorcycle with the safety and comfort of a car. The Minimo measures 2.5 meters in length, and only 1.24 meters is width, making it ideal for sneaking past other vehicles stuck in traffic.Despite looking very small, the SEAT Minimo can accommodate two people, in a 1+1 seating setup that provides the same distance between the hip point of the rear passenger and driver as in the Mii.At the same time, SEAT says the distance between the occupants and the door is greater even than in the Ibiza.The vehicle is fitted with all the modern connectivity solutions and is powered by Android Auto. Information is relayed to the driver via a central digital display.As with most other electric concepts for the future shown in Geneva, the Minimo too is meant to be autonomous, as high as Level 4. This would allow it to act as a taxi service with no driver.The industry is adapting to changes in the way customers view personal transport. With the Minimo, the vision of our first product designed to purpose, SEAT is addressing those challenges, combining autonomous driving technologies with electric powertrain systems to create the future of urban-mobility said in a statement Luca De Meo, SEAT president.The battery pack fitted inside the vehicle is capable of providing a range of 62 miles (100km) on a single charge, more than enough for its intended use. The battery cannot be charged, but it can be replaced in a matter of seconds and with minimal fuss.Power is sent to the road via four wheels, sized 17-inch, placed at the far corners of the vehicles.
How the New Green Deal Has Already Worked

If you have assets, income, or both, then you are responsible for every bad thing that has happened in the U.S. But dont worry! The Green New Deal, co-sponsored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, will give you a chance to fix it.



All you have to do is sign over, well, everything to the central government, which will then use its wisdom to determine how we should live for the foreseeable future so that all outcomes are equalized and no one is left behind.



Good-paying jobs? Check.





Universal healthcare? Of course.Free education? For everybody!Pollution? Zero (after 2050).Respect all indigenous people? You know it.Consider every single environmental impact for every action ever undertaken? Duh.As you read the Green New Deal proposal, youll find that it says its not just a good thing to do this, it is theof the United States to go down this path.The document would be laughable except for one thing. Few people are laughing.More than 600 organizations signed in support of it, and so have dozens of individuals, including many Democratic Presidential hopefuls.Its hard to say any of them think this proposal, which is more of a college freshmans dream or a description of Cuba or Venezuela from the good old days, is realistic, but thats not the point.As AOC, as shes called, explained in her Instagram chat while chopping vegetables, the goal is to move the boundaries of the conversation far enough with the extreme Green New Deal proposals that a carbon tax would look like the moderate option.America, you just got playedAOC and Markey used a tactic that recalls the Overton Window, a reference to a range of scenarios within two extremes that are considered possible.The goal of the policy conversation isnt to land on one particular thing, its to expand the window one direction so as to put more options on the table.To be fair, the Overton Window was first described by political scientist Joseph Overton of the conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy. This sort of gambit has been used by people of all political persuasions, and even parents when dealing with their kids.The key to the conversation  dont discuss the alternatives at the other end of the spectrum.The entire Green New Deal has been priced out at $50 trillion to $90 trillion, but that includes stuff about healthcare, job guarantees, education, etc. Lets focus on just climate change.Beyond getting rid of airplanes and cows, the deal to reduce emissions by 40% to 60% by 2030 and completely by 2050 would require spending about $14 trillion, according to numbers from the American Action Forum (give or take a few trillion). Thats about three times the current spending plan of the U.S. government for all of 2019 (I didnt call it a budget because theres no balance).And it wont work.The most generous estimates of how to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius (beyond which it doesnt matter because the bad changes will happen anyway) all require nations around the world to participate  heres looking at you, China and India  and some way to extract carbon from the air on a large scale.The first one, participation, isnt happening, and the second, carbon extraction, isnt technically feasible today.But forget that. As long as AOC and Senator Markey can make you feel good about reaching a compromise position that calls for widespread carbon taxes instead of these extreme measures, then hey, theyve succeeded.The carbon tax is just the tip of the melting iceberg. If that gets through, you can bet well hear demands for all sort of other taxes to pay for all the free stuff. Its amazing how things called free by the government end up being so expensive for taxpayers.And of course, if the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is correct on our changing planet, a carbon tax wont do a thing to keep temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The changes brought about by such a tax would be a drop in the proverbial bucket. But they will take more assets from us and put them in the hands of the central government, which is clearly staffed by people who are smarter than us and know more than we do.Notice that Miami doesnt show up in the national conversation. The residents of Miami arent waiting for some proposal on high. They passed an infrastructure funding plan and have begun to work on shoring up their town (pun intended) against the potential of rising sea levels.But we cant discuss mitigating the effects of climate change instead of fighting to eliminate rising temperatures in the first place, because that would be opening Overtons Window the other direction and ruin the current narrative and take moneyfrom the central government.I cant imagine a single national politician signing on to such a plan. What do you think about the Green New Deal? Good? Bad? Otherwise? Email me at economyandmarkets@dentresearch.com

Rodney Johnson

Follow me on Twitter ;@RJHSDent

By Rodney Johnson, Senior Editor of Economy & Markets

http://economyandmarkets.com

Copyright  2019 Rodney Johnson - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

Rodney Johnson Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




It holds Uber not criminally liable for the womans death, National Public Radio reports. However, the publication notes, the case could still land Uber in hot water in civil court, while experts stress that the announcement doesnt mean that the company doesnt owe the public an explanation for what happened.After a very thorough review of all the evidence presented, this Office has determined that there is no basis for criminal liability for the Uber corporation arising from this matter, the Yavapai County Attorney's Office writes in a letter to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.The crash occurred at nighttime, when Elaine Harzberg crossed the street at an unmarked spot. She was pushing a bicycle and the human operator of the self-driven car was, at the time, engaged in streaming The Voice on her cell phone. The impact happened at about 44 mph but was severe enough to cause life-threatening injuries.Uber has reached a settlement with the Harzberg family out of court, but it was still being investigated for its part in the crash, since they had hired the driver. The human operator of the Volvo XC90 , Rafaela Vasquez (at the time, Rafael), had a criminal history and was clearly not paying attention to the road.The National Transportation Safety Board investigation revealed that, at the time of the crash, Vasquez had been looking at the phone screen for a very long time and that she hit the brakes only after impact. She swerved less than a second before hitting the victim, when she accidentally looked up from her phone screen.The decision not to hold Uber criminally liable doesnt exonerate them from all guilt, Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor, tells the same publication. They owe the public a proper explanation for what went wrong, as well as some sort of guarantee it wont happen again, he believes.It's not necessarily exculpatory  it doesn't exonerate Uber or put the company's conduct then or now beyond criticism. And I'm not sure it tells us much about the criminal, much less civil, liability of automated driving developers in future incidents, Smith says. And I would still like to see Uber publicly apologize and explain what specifically went wrong. Companies should earn our trust in part by being candid about their failures as well as their successes.
Jordan Flake suffers from a rare, genetic skin condition known as Ichthyosis, which turns the skin dry and scaly. Her 12-month son Jackson has also been diagnosed with it, but Jordan says shes never been in a situation as humiliating as the one in which American Airlines crew put her.In a post on Facebook, she writes that she and Jackson were boarding a plane (they had been visiting with the boys father, who was about to be deployed), and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The staff even joked and smiled at Jackson, but things took a turn for the worst when they had finally settled in their seats.Apparently, the crew had called another employee with the airline company, who approached Jordan with the goal of informing her that she wouldnt be able to travel on that flight.He then quietly asked me about my rash and if I had a letter from a doctor stating it was ok for me to fly. I explained to him that it was called Ichthyosis and it was a genetic skin condition, Jordan says. He came back and said he apologized but we wouldnt be able to fly and we had to get off the plane. He helped me get my bags and Jackson. He talked to the pilot as we were getting off. The pilot seemed ok with it, but the flight attendant rudely said (without even acknowledging me) well she doesnt have a letter from a doctor, so....Adding insult to injury, they werent able to retrieve Jordans checked luggage. The man put her and Jackson up in a hotel, but she still had to buy changes of clothes and lotions for the both of them, while also making arrangements for her older daughter at home.Financial complications aside, the worst part about the whole thing was the feeling of shame and humiliation Jordan was left with, she says in the same post, which has earned her considerable support online.American Airlines was paying attention, it would seem. In a statement to People Magazine , the operator acknowledges the incident and apologizes for the way the crew handled it.Our goal at American Airlines is to create a welcoming environment for all of our customers, they say. Our Customer Relations team has already spoken to her directly and upgraded them on their American flights. We also refunded the cost of their trip as well.
Austria-based Austro engines will soon be relying on its own manufacturing for aircraft diesel engine cores rather than repurposing cores from automotive giant Mercedes Benz. The company announced this week that it will fully transition to licensed production of the Mercedes-designed OMB 640 block for its two aerodiesel engines, the AE300 and AE330.

Austro launched in 2006 as a sister company of Diamond Aircraft when the companys then owner, Christian Dries, was unhappy with diesel engines supplied by Thielert Aircraft Engines. Teething pains and a flawed economical model put Thielert into bankruptcy in 2008 and it was eventually bought by Continental Motors. Meanwhile, Austro began supplying diesel engines for the popular Diamond DA42 twin, some singles and eventually the DA62.

Austros model was to buy the OM640 diesel used in the Mercedes A100, strip it down to the core and add its own gearbox, fuel system and other accessories. (This AVweb video explains the process.) Because the advancing automotive product cycle threatened the core engines longevity, Austro had always planned to build its own cores. Jurgen Heinrich, Austros managing director, told AVweb this week that the transition took a while because the company had to carefully evaluate each step to retain certification approvals.

Heinrich said that even at volumes a fraction of those enjoyed by Mercedes, costs of the in-house manufactured cores would remain competitive. Initially, Austro will build its own cores from components, but it will eventually hire a vendor to assemble and deliver completed cores, adhering to the original business model. The new cores will have only minor changes.

Heinrich said about 2000 Austro engines are flying, with some 2 million total fleet hours. The company expects to build about 500 engines this year and also overhauls runouts in its Wiener Neustadt, Austria, factory. The engines currently have an 1800-hour TBO and unlike the competitive Continental engines, theyre overhauled, not replaced. Also, the gearboxes are lifetime parts, with only inspections required between engine overhauls.
While there are certainly arguments about how many pilots will be needed and when, stats like those presented in Boeings last Pilot & Technician Outlook, which estimates that 635,000 commercial aviation pilots will be needed in the next ten years, have caught the attention of the airline industry. So much so that the last five years have seen several airlines and even a couple of aircraft manufacturers launch their own ab initio flight training schools. While its too early to tell how most of these new airline cadet academies will work out in the long run, classes have started and incoming aviation professionals are starting down new pathways to a spot with the majors.

Perhaps the most attractive thing offered by these programs is a streamlined approach to training for individuals who are looking for airline careersespecially true for those that offer guaranteed positions or interviews after graduation. So far, in spite of the not insignificant cost, that seems to be something students are interested in.

Most of these academies are just beginning to graduate their first classes, leaving a lot of room for speculation about program effectiveness and even more for how much such programs will actually help to fill the projected need for pilots over the next decade. Still, the founding of ab initio academies and programs marks a significant growth in airline and manufacturer interest in early pilot training and with it, industry investment in new pilots.

JetBlue Gateway Select

Image: JetBlue

The first class of JetBlues Gateway Select Program graduated from initial training in April 2018. The program offers the unique opportunity to complete all phases of pilot training with JetBlue, the company said. Having looked at some of the best commercial and military pilot training programs in the world, we are pleased to offer JetBlues Program participants the chance to learn how to fly complex aircraft using JetBlue standards from the beginning. This allows for a more seamless transition to a JetBlue First Officer position once all mandated requirements are met.

Gateway Select applications go through several phases. First, applicants submit an online application. Selected applicants then receive an assessment, for which they are charged a $160 fee. The assessment is taken online at a designated testing facility. Those who pass the assessment will meet with JetBlue for interviews after which spots will be offered to chosen candidates. The program is primarily designed for U.S. residents: International assessment testing is not available.

JetBlue says that pilots with prior flight training can apply but cautions that the program is designed for students with no experience. Trainees will go through the same curriculum regardless of experience level and wont be able to test out of any of the training modules. Classes begin three times a year with spots for 16 trainees per class. Training is done with CAE in Phoenix, Arizona, and JetBlue in Orlando, Florida. The program is a full-time commitment and requires relocation for non-local students. Students are also assigned a mentor for the duration of the program.

The Gateway Select Program takes between three and four years to complete with primary classroom, technical and flight training taking approximately two years, and an additional two expected for flight instructing and hour-building. Cost to the student is approximately $110,000, which covers training, supplies, lodging, transportation and some food costs. Payment is due in installments over the first 12 months of training. Financing is available through Wells Fargo and US Credit.

Gateway Select students are offered an E190 First Officer position once they are accepted for training, contingent on successful completion of the program. After meeting all program requirements, including the FAAs 1,500 flight-hour requirement, graduates go into the new-hire pool and complete the same orientation and six-week instruction as other JetBlue first officer new hires.

To be eligible for the program, applicants must be able to legally work in the U.S. and have a high school diploma or GED. They will be required to get and maintain a first-class medical certificate. Student also must have a valid passport and the ability to travel in and out of the U.S. Finally, candidates must be at least 23 years old by the end of training and demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing and speaking English.

Republic Airways LIFT Academy

Image: Republic Airways

Republic Airways launched the Leadership In Flight Training (LIFT) Academy in May 2018, directly citing the pilot shortage as the reason behind the creation of the academy. By creating LIFT, [we] took a unique, proactive approach to addressing this growing shortage, becoming the only regional airline to operate its own training academy specifically designed to create a direct-to-hire path for its graduates, Republic said. Students train on state-of-the-art, eco-friendly training technologies with flight simulators built to achieve the most realistic cockpit environment. The first LIFT class began in September.

The LIFT application process starts with filling out an online application. Selected applicants will be invited for an in-person interview and an aptitude assessment at the school in Indianapolis, Indiana. There is no application fee. LIFT tuition runs $65,000, which covers training and materials, including an iPad and headset. Food and lodging are not included. Republic offers financing opportunities and a loan assistance program.

LIFT does accept students with prior flight training. Tuition is prorated for students who already have flight time. New classes begin the first week of every month throughout the year. LIFT is located at Indianapolis International Airport. Training includes a combination of flight, online and classroom time. Relocation is necessary for non-local students. Similar to JetBlues program, LIFT graduates are guaranteed a first officer position at Republic Airlines upon completion of their training.

Students who attend the program are expected to pass through all flight ratings and commit to flying with Republic Airways for five years. According to the academy, the training program can be completed in as little as one year. After earning a private pilot certificate, instrument rating, multi-engine certification, commercial certificate and a certified flight instructor certificate, students are given a paid CFI position while building hours for the ATP requirement. Once reaching 1500 hours, the LIFT students begin training for ATP certification and an Embraer 175 type rating.

LIFT students must be at least 18 years old and U.S. citizens. They need to have a valid U.S. drivers license and have graduated from high school. Applicants must also be able to pass an FBI background check, FAA medical examination and random drug and alcohol tests. LIFT also notes that they are looking for good communication skills, including the ability to speak and understand the English language, and good motor skills.

American Airlines Cadet Academy



Image: American Airlines

The American Airlines Cadet Academy (AACA) also opened its doors in April 2018. Although American is not experiencing a pilot shortage, there is a growing deficiency in the industry, the airline told AVweb. American wants to incrementally increase the pilot pool by providing a clear pathway to those who might otherwise not have the opportunity.

The application process for AACA starts with an online application that includes an online assessment and essay questions. Selected applicants will then be asked to submit a video interview. From there, candidates will be invited to Dallas for face-to-face interviews and further testing.

Cadets train at one of three partner schools in four locations: American Flyers in Pompano Beach, Florida, and Dallas, Texas; CTI Professional Flight Training in Memphis, Tennessee; and CAE in Phoenix, Arizona. The cost of training and materials varies between schools, ranging from $73,000 at the Memphis location to $89,000 at the Phoenix location. Pricing does not include housing. Funding for the program and associated costs is available through Discover Student Loans.

According to American, the flight training portion of the program typically takes between nine and 12 months at which point the cadet will have their private pilot certificate through their CFI and CFII certificates. From there, cadets will build hours as paid flight instructors. If no flight instructor positions are available at the school where a cadet trained, the academy says it will make every reasonable effort to find the cadet a position another school. Once the cadet successfully completes the program and reaches 1500 hours, which American estimates will take 18 to 24 months, they are guaranteed interviews with the airlines three regional subsidiariesEnvoy, PSA and Piedmont.

Cadets begin training as part of a class. The program is still ramping up, but American expects to be accepting about 250 cadets per year by the end of 2019. AACA cadets are partnered with American Airlines pilots, who act as mentors throughout the program.

AACA requires that cadets have the ability to work legally in the U.S., obtain a first class FAA medical, be able to get a valid passport and be at least 21 years old by the end of the program. A high school diploma or GED is required with a college degree preferred and students must demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing and speaking English. Cadets will also need to pass a background check.

Lufthansa European Flight Academy



Image: Cirrus

Lufthansa Groups European Flight Academy is probably the oldest airline-run pilot academy. Unlike most of the others mentioned here, its been in operation since 1955. The group has locations in in Germany, Switzerland and the U.S. Lufthansa Group airlines include Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, Eurowings and Brussels Airlines.

Training takes approximately two years. The first year is focused on theoretical training with flight training beginning the following year. European Flight Academy offers options for two internationally recognized commercial pilot licenses: the airline transport pilot license (ATPL) and the multi-crew-pilot license (MPL). Programs start every three to six weeks and are designed to be a full-time commitment.

After submitting an online application, selected applicants will go through a two-stage qualification process followed by medical and drug screening. The first stage of qualification includes assessments of technical and physical knowledge, English skills, math and logical thinking, cognitive abilities, motor skills and the ability to multi-task. The second stage involves assessments of social, leadership, teamwork and communication skills.

Cost of training runs between 60,000 (approximately $68,100) for the ATPL program and 80,000 (approximately $90,750) for the MPL program. Payment options include paying the entire amount up-front, paying in installments during training and deferring payments until after employment, at which point the fee will be deducted from the pilots wages. ATPL graduates will be qualified to fly for Eurowings Group Airlines. MPL graduates are qualified to fly for any of the Lufthansa Group airlines. Program graduates are not guaranteed a position.

Applicants need to be at least 18 years old at the beginning of training. Permanent EU and Swiss residence with a work permit and an unrestricted passport is required. ATPL courses require English fluency. MPL courses are taught primarily in German, requiring fluency in both German and English. For the ATPL, a general/subject-linked university entrance qualification or secondary school leaving certificate and completed vocational training is required. For the MPL course, applicants will need a diploma that qualifies them for university matriculation or a general/subject-specific higher education entrance qualification.

Emirates Flight Training Academy



Image: Emirates

Another overseas option is Emirates Flight Training Academy (EFTA). EFTA, which is located in Dubai, opened in 2017 after the completion of its new campus at Al Maktoum International Airport. The school has capacity for up to 600 cadets and is intending to accept around 160 to 180 students a year. EFTAs training curriculum and software infrastructure was developed in collaboration with Boeing.

EFTA says that new students are accepted every three months when space is available. Admissions are currently closed, although interested students can sign up to be notified when the online application is open again. In addition to being tested on math and physics, applicants will undergo a personality test and a pilot aptitude test.

Course completion is estimated at between 21 months and 3.5 years and includes at least 1,100 hours of ground-based training and 315 hours of flight training (including simulator flying). Cadets graduate with a commercial pilot license (CPL), multi-engine and instrument ratings, and frozen airline transport pilot license (ATPL). During flight training, cadets first learn to fly on single-engine piston aircraft and then progress directly to the Phenom 100EV very light jet. Program cost and funding options have not been published. No positions or interviews are guaranteed after graduation.

A high school diploma is required to apply for EFTA, along with proficiency in written and spoken English. International students are accepted. Depending on a students test scores, foundation programs are offered in English, math and physics.

Boeing Pilot Development Program

Boeing introduced its Pilot Development Program at AirVenture 2014. The program includes English training, basic classroom and flight instruction, jet bridge and type-rating training. Instruction takes place at schools in Boeings network of training providers and at Boeing training campuses around the world. Courses are designed to produce 737 type-rated first officers.

While initial training occurs through approved providers, Boeing manages applicant screening and selection, managing student performance and correction and developing commercial pilot training courses and materials. Reading, writing and speaking English are required for applicants, along with a first class medical and a visa (if needed).

Like many of the programs already discussed, students typically graduate with 200 to 250 hours, meaning that those who need to meet FAA ATP requirements will need to find hour-building work. Boeing has previously said that it expects that graduates needing hours will be hired into the program as flight instructors. Expected cost for the program is between $100,000 to $150,000. It takes approximately 12 to 18 months to complete and no positions or interviews are guaranteed after graduation.

Airbus Pilot Cadet Training Programme

Image: Airbus

Airbus launched Cadet Training Programme in 2018 in partnership with Escuela de Aviacion Mexico (EAM). The first class of 20 cadets began training in January 2019. Airbus has a second partner location, called the Airbus Flight Academy, in Angouleme, France. Neither location guarantees positions or interviews after graduation.

Training for the EAM program takes place in Mexico City, close to the Airbus Mexico Training Center. Pilots participating in the EASA-based program will complete their initial training at EAM and then transfer to the Airbus Mexico Training Center to qualify on the A320. The program is expected to take 18 months and will include 750 hours of ground school and 200 hours of flight training.

The Airbus Flight Academy program offers initial training at six locations in France. The school has partnerships with several banks to offer course financing with a delayed payment plan.

Applicants to both programs undergo online and on-site screening tests including assessments of English, mathematics and physics knowledge. English courses are available at EAM for students who dont meet the language requirement. A Class 1 medical will also be required. There is a $40 fee for the online assessment and a fee for the on-site testing ($155 at EAM and 200 at Airbus Flight Academy). The program is open to high school graduates over 18 years old. The EAM class is currently only open to Mexican citizens. Airbus has said it intends to open similar programs in other countries. Course costs vary depending on location.
For the second straight year, the Bering Sea  a turbulent and bountiful stretch of the northern Pacific Ocean  is virtually ice free at a time of year when it should be gaining ice.

Expand chart Reproduced from Rick Thoman using NSIDC data; Chart: Axios Visuals

Why it matters: The ice pack's ebb and flow each year has far-reaching consequences for the broader Bering Sea ecosystem, including determining the reach and abundance of prized fish species such as Alaska pollock and Pacific cod. This is the richest fishing ground in the U.S., featured in the Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch."

The big picture: Scientists who keep close tabs on this region say the ice's early melt is upending life in the Last Frontier. It also portends consequences for the Lower 48 states and beyond. In a new study published in Earth's Future on Thursday, scientists warn that Arctic climate change is already reverberating far outside the region.

By the end of February, Bering Sea ice extent was lower than it has been since written records began in 1850.

The March 6 departure from the long-term average shows that an area of ice equivalent to California and Montana combined is missing from the Bering Sea.

Details: Rick Thoman, a scientist at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, tells Axios that a combination of unusually mild ocean waters and a persistent, anomalous weather pattern combined to decimate the region's sea ice cover: "One year maybe is a fluke, two years sure looks like weve crossed a threshold now.

Since Jan. 23, a series of 16 powerful low-pressure systems have moved north from the Pacific into the Bering Sea region, bringing heavy precipitation and mild southerly winds.

These winds have vaulted warm, moist air into the region and northward into the Arctic. They've also broken up the thin ice cover.

The impact:

March is normally when people would be crabbing and fishing out on the ice. That's not happening now.

The sea ice loss makes hunting animals like walrus and seals, which serve as key food sources for native Alaskans in coastal villages, far more risky: It's much harder to haul a dead walrus into a boat than up onto solid ice.

Communities exposed to high seas are seeing severe erosion and threats to their infrastructure.

Diana Haecker, a reporter for the Nome Nugget newspaper in Nome, Alaska, tells Axios in an email: "The disappearance of sea ice and the ensuing weather is not only impacting our lives, it is disrupting life and is forcing each one of us, hunter or not, to refocus our energy on sheer survival."

Context: Zack Labe, a PhD candidate at the University of California at Irvine, says that although the past two years have brought historically low Bering Sea ice conditions, year-to-year trends there can fluctuate considerably.

Labe says some years may see temporary upticks in Bering Sea ice extent, but that overall, climate change is now in the driver's seat.

A study published last year found that a marine heat wave in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska in 2016 cannot be explained without including human-caused global warming.

What's needed: Thoman says residents of the Lower 48 should be aware of and concerned about what's happening in Alaska: "The environment is changing and its impacting your fellow Americans now."

The bottom line: The loss of sea ice could change ocean temperatures, salinity and currents enough to alter the distribution and abundance of commercially valuable fish in this region. The stakes here are high, as the Alaska pollock fishery alone was worth $413 milion in 2017.
Scooter company Bird is finally rolling out its franchise program, first announced last fall, through which it will provide select entrepreneurs with scooters and software for them to operate local scooter rental services.

The big picture: This could be a clever way for the company to outsource some of its growth into new markets. But it will also be interesting to see whether it'll be a healthy business.

Although Bird founder and CEO Travis VanderZanden tells Axios that the franchise model will be "economically good," the company and rival Lime have reportedly been burning a lot of cash and are raising more.

How it works: Entrepreneurs will purchase scooters through Bird at cost (meaning theyll pay whatever Bird pays to its manufacturers, roughly $500 a piece), and will have free access to it software technologies, including its mobile apps, and management software on the back end for free.

In some cases, these local fleets will sport Birds brand. In others, they'll have custom brands that will be marked as "powered by Bird."

The only fee they'll pay Bird is a 20% revenue cut from rides, and they will be responsible for other expenses like charging and repairing the scooters.

Bird will work with only one fleet operator per city, though it won't require them to sign exclusivity deals. Ideally, Bird hopes it will provide such a great product and service that such entrepreneurs will be happy and wont want to work with competitors should that become an option.

The first such fleet will debut in Auckland, New Zealand, and more will roll out there, as well as in Canada and Latin America.
Huawei said Wednesday night that it has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government, challenging the constitutionality of a law that keep it from selling its telecommunications gear here.

Why it matters: The U.S. has launched an all-out blitz aimed at stopping the Chinese equipment vendor from selling its current and future products throughout the world.

Details: Huawei is seeking an injunction as well as a declaration that the law being used to limit its sales, Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act, is unconstitutional.

That part of the law specifically prohibits government entities, government contractors and those receiving federal funding from buying equipment made by Huawei and ZTE, another Chinese telecom gear maker.

What they're saying: Huawei says the NDAA violates the constitution in several ways, including unfairly singling out the Chinese companies and violating Huawei's right to due process.

"It is an abuse of the lawmaking process," said Guo Ping, Huawei's rotating chairman, during a webcast. "The U.S. congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence supporting its restrictions on Huawei products."

He added that security concerns are misplaced, saying Huawei has never and will never install "backdoors" in its products, nor will it allow others to do so.

The big picture: This is the latest in a series of battles between Huawei and the U.S. government.

In addition to banning sales of the company's gear in the U.S., the Trump Administration has been seeking to get allies to also pledge not to use Huawei gear.

The administration has also filed criminal charges against the company for trade secrets theft and for evading U.S. sanctions against Iran.

It's seeking to have the company's CFO extradited from Canada to face charges.

Go deeper: Read the lawsuit.
The Trump administration on Tuesday sanctioned  for the first time  an Arab, Iran-backed Shiite militia operating in both Iraq and Syria.

Why it matters: Since unveiling its Iran strategy in October 2017, the administration has struggled to implement regional elements of the policy. Washington has been reluctant to sanction Iran-backed forces, but now appears willing to do so to name, shame and penalize Irans agents of influence in the Middle East.

Details: The group, Harakat al-Nujaba, and its leader, Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi, were sanctioned by the State Department as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, subjecting them to punitive economic measures.

Al-Kaabi, who was first designated by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2008, traces his origins to the various Iran-backed terror groups that emerged in U.S.occupied Iraq after Muqtada al-Sadrs Mahdi Army splintered, and remains an ardent follower of Irans Supreme Leader.

Al-Nujaba, which was created in 2013, has since become one of Irans most important militias in Iraq, having participated in key battles in the Syrian conflict, such as the siege of Aleppo. The commander of Irans elite foreign operations has been photographed alongside al-Nujaba members in Syria.

The big picture: Iran arms, trains and funds proxy and militia forces like al-Nujaba to project power, shore up its partners and clients, and its influence across the Middle East with little direct involvement.

While the administration has relied on sanctions to change Irans regional behavior in the past  having designated two Shiite militias fighting in Syria in January  it has until now done so only with non-Arab militias, which constitute a much smaller portion of those operating in Iraq and Syria than do Arab ones.

The bottom line: Ahead of Iranian President Rouhanis visit to Iraq, the sanctions send an important signal about Washingtons willingness to punish and stigmatize Irans proxy network. But if the Trump administration is serious about getting Tehran to change its behavior, it will need to broaden the scope of militias it targets  some of which are politically represented in Iraq  and work to impede their mobility across the heartland of the Middle East.

Behnam Ben Taleblu is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan urged political forces on Wednesday to start negotiations on reforming Armenias electoral legislation and bodies.

The electoral institutions need to be improved and I want to take this opportunity and invite political forces to start jointly developing electoral reforms, Mirzoyan said. He stressed that the pro-government majority in the Armenian parliament is ready to accept radical changes that would require constitutional amendments.

Vahagn Hovakimian, another lawmaker from the ruling My Step alliance, said the offer applies to not only the parliamentary opposition but also parties that are not represented in the National Assembly. The majority leaders will soon clarify the format of the proposed multi-party talks, he said.

Gevorg Gorgisian, a senior deputy representing the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK), reacted cautiously to the proposal, saying that it is not clear enough.

But the other parliamentary opposition force, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), welcomed the idea. A senior BHK figure, Naira Zohrabian, told RFE/RLs Armenian service that her party will definitely participate in the proposed reform of the Electoral Code.She said it will specifically advocate a lower vote threshold to enter the parliament and the abolition of nationwide constituencies from which half of the members of the current parliament were elected.

The previous Armenian parliament came very close to enacting these and other amendments before being dissolved in November. Former President Serzh Sarkisians Republican Party was widely blamed for its failure to pass them.
Zhoghovurd writes on the 60th birthday anniversary of Armenias late Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian marked on Tuesday, saying that it rekindled memories of the October 1999 attack on the Armenian parliament in which he and seven other officials were assassinated. The paper hopes that the shock killings were be finally solved under the current Armenian leadership. After a 20-year pause, many are now sure that the organizers of the October 27 [attack] can be identified, it says.

In this regard, the paper quotes President Armen Sarkissian as calling for a proper legal evaluation of the 1999 shootings after laying flowers at Vazgen Sarkisians grave on Tuesday. It notes that the head of state has made more ambiguous statements about the March 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan.

Zhamanak reports, meanwhile, that former President Serzh Sarkisian attended a separate remembrance ceremony for Vazgen Sarkisian which was held in Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday. The daily believes that the event also had political connotations since it followed the latest newspaper interview given by another ex-president, Robert Kocharian. The latter expressed serious concern over the current Armenian authorities policy on the Karabakh conflict. The paper says that Kocharian is keen to exploit the issue in his efforts to secure his release from prison and resume his political activities. It claims that Serzh Sarkisians silent attendance of the event in Stepanakert is a political response to Kocharians alarmist statements on Karabakh.

Hraparak dismisses allegations by some opposition politicians and other critics of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian that Armenian civic groups and activists financed by U.S. billionaire George Soross Open Society Foundations (OSF) pose a serious threat to Armenias sovereignty and national security. The paper blasts the limited mindset of those critics. The higher the degree of public self-consciousness and the more developed a country is, the fewer cliches it has, it says, adding that educated Armenians will not buy such conspiracy theories.

(Lilit Harutiunian)
Armenia has reached a political agreement with neighboring Iran on importing larger amounts of Iranian natural gas, outgoing Energy Minister Garegin Baghramian said on Thursday.

Baghramian also told RFE/RLs Armenian service that Armenian and Georgian officials are already negotiating on possible Iranian gas supplies to Georgia that would be carried out via Armenia.

The gas issue featured large during Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians official visit to Tehran last week. Speaking after talks with Pashinian, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his hydrocarbon-rich country is ready to sell more gas to Armenia and also use Armenian territory for gas exports to Georgia.

Pashinian said that Yerevan is willing to boost imports of Iranian gas. He admitted, though, that the two sides have yet to agree on its price.

Armenia currently receives up to 500 million cubic meters of Iranian gas each year under a swap scheme that also involves exports of Armenian electricity to the Islamic Republic. Its overall gas imports total roughly 2 billion cubic meters per annum and they mostly come from Russia. According to the current and former Armenian governments, Russian gas is cheaper for the South Caucasus state than Iranian.

In Baghramians words, Rouhani and Pashinian instructed relevant Iranian and Armenian bodies to look into ways of implementing their political understandings on the gas issue, and a commercial deal could take different forms.

There could be an increase in [Iranian gas] volumes for the purpose of a transit to Georgia, explained the minister. If there is a mutually beneficial price offer, there could be an increase in gas volumes in the form of direct sales [to Armenia.]

Not only we are negotiating [with Georgia] but also Iranian companies have reached certain understandings with Georgian companies, Baghramian, adding that Armenia is ready to serve as a transit route for Iranian gas supplies to Georgia.

Baghramian further insisted that Russias Gazprom gas giant cannot block or impede greater Iranian gas supplies to Armenia.

Gazprom not only meets the bulk of Armenias gas needs but also owns the countrys gas distribution network. The latter in turn controls the Armenian section of a pipeline delivering Iranian gas. The pipeline can pump at least 2 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
A detailed report published in an American art journal sheds more light on the reported destruction of an ancient Armenian cemetery in Azerbaijans Nakhichevan exclave.

The cemetery located near Djulfa, a small town close to the Iranian border, used to have the largest collection of traditional Armenian cross stones, or khachkars, dating from the 9th to the 16th centuries. Amateur videos that emerged in late 2005 showed Azerbaijani troops smashing the UNESCO-protected gravestones. They prompted condemnation from the European Parliament and other bodies.



The Azerbaijani government denied their destruction at the time. However, a 2006 article by the London-based by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) confirmed that the cemetery has vanished.

The report published by the Hyperallergic.com journal last month presents more details of the destruction of thousands of stones encrusted with crosses, Armenian inscriptions and patterns. Its authors, Armenian-born political science lecturer Simon Maghakyan and Yale University scholar Sarah Pickman, compare the erasure of indigenous Armenian culture in Nakhichevan to the destruction of Syrias ancient Palmyra by the Islamic State.

In an interview with RFE/RLs Armenian service, Maghakyan, who is based in Denver, insisted that Azerbaijans government committed a cultural genocide and crime against humanity.

Its not just about the Djulfa khachkars, he said. We are talking about a complete destruction of Armenian heritage of Nakhichevan.

Maghakyan claimed that 89 Armenian churches, 5,800 khachkars and 22,000 tombstones were destroyed in Nakhichevan from 1997 to 2006.

Even in [historical] western Armenia where Turkish authorities wiped out around 3,000 Armenian churches we can still find remnants of churches and some churches there were even renovated. But in Nakhichevan no traces of Armenian culture have been left, he said.

I am very happy that many Azerbaijanis who assisted in our research also condemn that, said Maghakyan. He singled out Arif Yunus, an exiled human rights campaigner, and Akram Aylisli, a prominent author who has endured years of intimidation after writing about massacres of ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani authorities have refused to allow international inspectors to visit the Djulfa cemetery site. In 2011, the then U.S. ambassador in Baku, Matthew Bryza, travelled to Nakhichevan but was barred from inspecting the site.

Such stonewalling renders independent verification difficult, but the sheer amount of forensic evidence that Maghakyan and Pickman present makes a rock-solid case for at least not being deterred, Britains The Guardian newspaper wrote in a March 1 article about the Hyperallergic.com report.
Zhoghovurd quotes Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian as reporting a major increase in cash receipts issued by Armenian shops, restaurants and other businesses in January and February. Speaking in the parliament, Pashinian said Armenians thus responded to his appeals to help the government tackle tax evasion and thus make their contribution to an economic revolution promised by him. There is now a much more serious obstacle to the economic revolution: the current state of economic legislation, comments the paper, calling for revolutionary amendments to those laws.

Zhamanak reports on Pashinians renewed calls for Nagorno-Karabakhs involvement in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace negotiations. In essence, Pashinian declared in the Armenian parliament that the problem is the format of the negotiations, writes the paper. Baku has said that there will be no change in that format. Pashinian said in Brussels that at their upcoming meeting he and [Azerbaijans President Ilham] Aliyev will talk about this as well. The paper wonders whether these public statements could lead to the cancellation or delay of the meeting.

Aravot says that Pashinians recent visits to Berlin, Brussels and Tehran were a success. Any unbiased person will agree that the changes which have occurred in Armenia in the past year have had a positive impact on our foreign relations developing in these directions and our partners are now ready for closer cooperation with our country, editorializes the paper. But it cautions that this will not quickly translate into tangible benefits for Armenia and its people. It says Armenian government bodies need to work hard to capitalize on these foreign policy gains.

(Lilit Harutiunian)
By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 25 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said March 7, Trend reports.

The Armenian armed forces were using heavy machine guns.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Leman Mammadova

Azerbaijan boosts revenues from the non-oil sector by increasing the range of products sent to foreign markets.

In January of this year, Azerbaijan exported polypropylene worth $ 4.3 million.

This is stated in the February export review of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications for 2019, Report informs.

It was noted that since January 2019, exports of polypropylene produced by SOCAR Polymer occupied a special place in the structure of non-oil exports.

This industrial complex will fully meet the needs of the domestic market and export the remaining 75 percent of products to the Turkish and European markets. As a result, the export revenues of the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan will increase by 15 percent due to the SOCAR Polymer project.

The SOCAR Polymer project includes a polypropylene plant with an annual output of 184,000 tons and a plant for the production of high-density polyethylene with a capacity of 120,000 tons per year. The total capacity of the factory can reach 570,000 tons of products by 2021. During the operation period of the plants is expected to profit in the amount of $ 6.6 billion, 30 percent of which will be the net income of the company.

About 100,000 tons of high density polyethylene and 140,000 tons of polypropylene will be produced by the end of 2019.

Opening of the polypropylene plant was held on July 18, 2018 with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Italian President Sergio Mattarella. The plant began to export products on October 5. Initially, 170 tons of products were exported to the Turkish market.

The export is carried out by SOCAR Trading - SOCAR trading branch

SOCAR Polymer was established in July 2013 in Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park to accelerate the development of the chemical industry. The company received the status of the second resident of the park. SOCAR Polymer covers 30 hectares of the park territory.

The polypropylene product produced at SOCAR Polymer complex is exported to Turkey and Ukraine today. In the future, the product is expected to be exported to CIS and European countries.

SOCAR Polymer is the first petrochemical company in Azerbaijan based on a public-private partnership.

Such companies as Maire Tecnimont (Italy), Fluor (Netherlands), etc. are involved in the project. The project will provide for the improvement of professional skills of national engineering personnel. To achieve this goal, a single project management team has been created. Fluor organized refresher courses for national engineering and other workers in Amsterdam, Milan and Mumbai.

Shareholders of SOCAR Polymer are SOCAR (52.2 percent), Vitol (19 percent), Pasha Holding (9.9 percent), Ecoland (9.8 percent), Polymer Investments (5 percent) and AKKIK (4.1 percent).

The total investment costs of the project are estimated at $816 million. The credit in the amount of $489 million has been allocated to SOCAR Polymer by Russian Gazprombank for a period of 10 years.

---

Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Laman Ismayilova

The Stone Chronicle Museum hosted the Day of Italian Design on March 5-6.

The project was co-organized by the Italian Embassy in Azerbaijan and the Italian Trade Agency.

A press conference was held prior to the event.

Director of the Italian Trade Agency Maurizio Ferri stressed that the Day of Italian Design features Italian jewelry, design and fashion brands.

The Day is observed in over 100 cities across the world. The third edition of the event is timed to the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci. By the way, the event dedicated to the architecture will be held on March 7.

Italian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Augusto Massari expressed his gratitude to the director of the Italian Trade Agency Maurizio Ferri for organizing the event.

In his speech, Massari stressed that the initiative was launched by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote the Italian design worldwide. The Day is celebrated to show the creativity and innovation of the Made in Italy brand.

After Visa credit card and Coca Cola, Made in Italy is the third most famous brand in the world according to the international statistics.

Augusto Massari noted that during the event, the guests had a possibility to appreciate Italian Design, fashion and exhibition which was promoted by the Italian Association of Architects.

Paolo Grimoldi, head of the Italian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Deputy Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament also addressed the event.

Grimoldi expressed his gratitude to the Italian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Augusto Massari and to the director of the Italian Trade Agency Maurizio Ferri for the invitation.

Deputy Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament noted that the event was organized with the support of Salone del Mobile.

Grimoldi underlined that Azerbaijan is one of the main partners of the Italy. The two countries cooperate and enjoy close political and economic ties.

Afterwards, guests were invited to enjoy Italian fashion and design.

The collections of "Rossorame" clothing brand, shoe designer Wladi Rigati as well as Vicenza's Jewelry Museum were presented at the event.

Famous Italian jazzman Fabio Lepore delighted the guests with his performance.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

The desire by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to change the format of the negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may be considered as an attempt to undermine the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group, and in particular its co-chairs represented by Russia, the US and France, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva told Trend March 6.

Abdullayeva was commenting on Pashinyans statements as part of his visit to Brussels regarding the participation of the separatist regime established in the occupied Azerbaijani territories in the negotiations.

Abdullayeva said that it is impossible to change the format approved by the 1992 Helsinki decision of the OSCE Ministerial Council without reaching consensus of the OSCE member states.

Id like to remind that on the basis of this decision, Armenia and Azerbaijan act as parties to the conflict, while the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno-Karabakh region act as interested parties, she added. It would be better for the Armenian authorities not to waste time on improvisations in vain attempts to find new interpretation of peaceful settlement of the conflict. Anyone who has been involved in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict over the years knows that the plan for resolving the conflict is clearly defined.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, head of the inter-parliamentary Russia-Azerbaijan friendship group Dmitry Saveliev regards the actions of State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin as an attempt to drive a wedge into relations between Moscow and Baku, Trend reports.

This is indicated by Savelyevs statement addressed to Zatulin, regarding the participation of Russian parliamentarians in the events in Baku dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide.

"I would like to ask Mr. Zatulin questions in connection with some very strange events. I mean the second meeting of the Lazarev Club held in Moscow, with the participation of Mr. Zatulin, where a certain someone from the separatist entity in the occupied territory of Azerbaijan was also present, someone who was introduced as the "Minister of Economy and Industrial Infrastructure", said Saveliev.

According to the head of the inter-parliamentary friendship group, such actions hardly correspond to Russia's mediating mission in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

How can this correlate with the repeated statements of our state on its recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan? And aren't such actions an attempt to drive a wedge in relations between Russia and Azerbaijan under the cover of slogans about Russian-Armenian cooperation? Saveliev asks.

Regarding participation in the event as part of the anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, Dmitry Saveliev said that, as part of the Russian delegation, he took part in the annual conference titled "Building a common future, searching for a common past and developing a common present" dedicated to strengthening Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation.

A nationwide march took place in memory of the 27th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, the Russian MP said. This is an official state event, and I am proud that in the mourning procession I walked alongside with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who makes every effort to expand and strengthen fraternal relations between our countries.

Savelyev noted that the Russian delegation laid flowers at the monument Mothers Cry, symbolizing the tragedy in Khojaly.

The procession participants were carrying banners with inscriptions Dont forget Khojaly! and Justice for Khojaly!, he said. Does Zatulin consider these slogans to be anti-Armenian?

The MP noted that he and his colleagues consider the Khojaly tragedy to be a terrible crime, because with each child who died in Khojaly, a part of Azerbaijans future was destroyed.

Savelyev said that he, just like many experts, believes that the Khojaly tragedy has all signs of genocide, and he repeatedly expressed such an opinion both in the media and in the State Duma (lower house of the Russian parliament).

Earlier, Savelyev stated about the need for Russia to recognize the Khojaly tragedy as genocide perpetrated against the Azerbaijani people.

Russia needs to work on this in order to recognize this slaughter, this tragedy as genocide, he said. We all perceive this tragedy as personal. We all need to work on its recognition.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

The US and Azerbaijan have strong partnership, Trend reports citing the new US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Lee Litzenberger.

Over my 34 years as a diplomat, I have served in Afghanistan, Algeria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Serbia. Now I am pleased to come to Azerbaijan. The US and Azerbaijan have a strong partnership. Our countries have worked together for over 25 years in important areas such as security, energy, economic growth and democratic development. As ambassador, I will work to strengthen all aspects of our bilateral relationship and find new areas of cooperation. And I look forward to meeting with people from all walks of life and hearing from many different points of view, he said.

The US Senate has approved Earle (Lee) Litzenberger's candidature, which was proposed by US President Donald Trump, for the position of ambassador to Azerbaijan.

At various times, Litzenberger served at the German Marshall Fund, the US Mission to NATO, the US Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, and the US Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received Paolo Grimoldi, head of the Italian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Deputy Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, Trend reports citing Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry.

Noting that this is his first visit to Baku Paolo Grimoldi shared his impressions about Azerbaijan and expressed satisfaction with the meetings held within the visit.

At the meeting, the sides discussed the current state of relations between Azerbaijan and Italy in political, economic, tourism and other spheres. In particular it was mentioned that, the energy cooperation will give a new impetus to the development of existing relations between the two countries. The importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation in the development of bilateral relations was emphasized.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the city of Rasht met with the delegation of Azerbaijan taking part in the opening ceremony of the Qazvin-Rasht railway on March 6, Trend reports with reference to Azerbaijans Economy Ministry.

The Iranian president asked to convey his greetings to the president of Azerbaijan.

Noting that he is pleased to see the Azerbaijani delegation at the opening ceremony, President Hassan Rouhani stressed that by the will of the political leadership of the two countries, relations between Tehran and Baku are experiencing a new stage of development.

He said that the laying of the Qazvin-Rasht railway to Irans Astara city within the North-South International Transport Corridor reflects the national interests of Iran and Azerbaijan.

Rouhani added that as a result of mutually beneficial cooperation, the Rasht-Astara railway will also be built and commissioned.

The Iranian president stressed the importance of expanding cooperation between the two countries, its successful continuation in the field of transport, machine engineering, pharmaceuticals and other areas.

Rouhani noted that mutually beneficial cooperation will further strengthen economic ties between the countries and will serve to further improving the well-being of peoples.

Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev thanked for the cordial welcome and conveyed to the president of Iran the greetings of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Mustafayev stressed that the political will and friendly relations between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Iran laid a solid foundation for the development of cooperation, noting that meetings of high-level heads of state intensively held in recent years are important in expanding trade and economic ties.

The minister said that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attaches particular importance to the laying of Qazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran)-Astara (Azerbaijan) railway, and this issue is always in the center of his attention.

Mustafayev noted that the participation of the Azerbaijani delegation on the instruction of President Ilham Aliyev in the commissioning of the Qazvin-Rasht railway is also manifestation of the great importance that Azerbaijan attaches to the North-South International Transport Corridor.

The Rasht-Astara railway is one of the main components of the international corridor, and the joint activity of Azerbaijan and Iran on this project is an indicator of friendship between the two countries, the minister added.

The meeting, during which an exchange of views on issues of mutual interest took place, was attended by Azerbaijani Ambassador to Iran Bunyad Huseynov, Azerbaijani Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade and Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, has sent a congratulatory letter to First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in connection with March 8, the International Womens Day.

Dear Mehriban Arifovna, please accept my sincere congratulations on the occasion of March 8, reads the letter. Women make our world brighter, more beautiful and kinder. They carefully preserve the family hearth, create harmony and comfort at home. Most importantly they always give their emotional warmth to their loved and close ones, surrounding them with care and attention.

May the wonderful mood of this holiday be with you for a long time. I wish you health, happiness, well-being and all the best, Dmitry Medvedev said in his letter.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a congratulatory letter to First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in connection with March 8, the International Womens Day.

Dear Mehriban Arifovna, I congratulate you on the International Womens Day, Vladimir Putin said in his letter. I sincerely wish that this wonderful holiday bless you with spring warmth, attention and care of family and friends. May good luck and success attend you throughout your life, and may your home be filled with harmony and love. I wish you good health and all the best.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Leman Mammadova

Ministry of Energy held a meeting with a delegation led by head of the Italian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Deputy Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament Paolo Grimoldi.

Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov noted the important role of energy cooperation within multilateral cooperation relations between the two countries. The minister stressed that Italy is one of the main buyers of Azerbaijani oil and Azerbaijan will also supply gas to this country through the Southern Gas Corridor.

Shahbazov appreciated Italys position on the implementation of TAP, which is part of the Southern Gas Corridor.

The minister emphasized that the TAP project will not only serve as the new source of gas for Italy, but it will also help to shape affordable price formation for consumers of the natural gas and contribute to the goal of decarbonization.

Paolo Grimoldi appraised the TAP pipeline as a project that meets the interests of both countries. He noted that TAP will provide not only development of economic relations but also political.

Italy is interested in investing in energy and technology fields in Azerbaijan and developing cooperation in these areas, head of the Italian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly further added.

During the conversation, the involvement of Italian companies in other sectors was also in spotlight, and the sides continued exchange of their views on cooperation within the framework of the Intergovernmental Commission.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority projects for the EU and envisages the transportation of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.

The Southern Gas Corridor consists of four projects: Shah Deniz 2, Expansion of South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum), the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

The launching ceremony of the first stage of the Southern Gas Corridor was held in Baku on May 29, 2018, while opening ceremony of TANAP was held on June 12, 2018 in the Turkish city of Eskisehir.

Thus, the first gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field has already gone through the first segment of the Southern Gas Corridor - from the Sangachal terminal to the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline.

Estimated at 4.5 billion euros, TAP is a part of Southern Gas Corridor project, that envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz-2 gas field to Greece and southern Italy across the Adriatic Sea through Greece and Albania, and involves designing, construction and operation of the natural gas pipeline.

The Intergovernmental Agreement on the TAP project was signed by Albania, Italy and Greece in February 2013. The 878-kilometer-long TAP pipeline (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers) having connected to the TANAP on the Turkish-Greek border, will run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italys south.

The initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year with the possibility of doubling it.

TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

The TAP project is one of the strategic objectives of the EU in the energy security and diversification of energy sources, chosen as the shortest and direct way to export natural gas from Azerbaijan to the European markets.

Italy is a reliable partner of Azerbaijan in Europe with whom bilateral beneficial cooperation exists in all areas. Both states enjoy high level of economic cooperation and intend to intensify ties as the relations in the economic sphere bring real benefits to both sides.

Azerbaijan and Italy are strategic partners in the energy sector.

Since 1995 ENI Italian company has been involved in several projects on the operation of oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan, which laid the foundation for economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Italy

Italy has begun to receive a large part of Azerbaijani oil exported through the Baku - Supsa pipeline since 1999 and then through the Baku - Jeyhan. This made Italy the number one partner for Azerbaijan and this position is maintained until today.

Italy is an important economic and trade partner of Azerbaijan. Italy accounts for about 20 percent of our trade turnover with foreign countries. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $6.2 billion in 2018. In total, the investments of Italian companies in Azerbaijan have amounted to about $530 million, and the volume of Azerbaijani investments in Italy is estimated at $135 million.

Presently, Azerbaijan and Italy are preparing a new agreement on the promotion and protection of investments between Azerbaijan and Italy, on a joint action plan, envisaging the expansion of cooperation in various sectors of the economy.

Two countries have great potential for expanding economic relations, in particular in such areas as energy, agriculture, industry, trade, investment, transport, environment.

---

Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

During the visit to Iran, the Azerbaijani delegation led by Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev met with Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian, Trend reports with reference to the Economy Ministry.

During the meeting, Mustafayev stressed that the political ties between Azerbaijan and Iran are at a high level, and also noted the political will of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Iran to expand cooperation.

It was noted that Azerbaijan and Iran successfully cooperate in the field of energy. The two countries have signed agreements on the Khudaferin/Giz Galasi and Ordubad/Marazad hydroelectric facilities. A joint technical commission for the construction and operation of these projects has been established.

In addition, the Mugan (Imishli-Parsabad) power line with capacity of 330 kilovolts was built. A framework agreement on the sale of electricity from Azerbaijan to Iran was signed.

In 2018, a meeting of deputy energy ministers of these three countries was held in Baku to connect the electricity systems of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. In October 2018, the first meeting of the working group took place in Moscow.

Mustafayev said that during the 13th meeting of the State Commission on Economic, Trade and Humanitarian Spheres between Azerbaijan and Iran in March this year, issues of cooperation in the field of energy will also be discussed in Baku.

Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian stressed that Iran, just like in other areas, is interested in expanding cooperation with Azerbaijan in the energy sector as well, and also noted the importance of ongoing projects in the development of both Irans and Azerbaijans energy systems.

At the meeting, the parties discussed the expansion of Azerbaijani-Iranian energy cooperation, the interconnection of electricity grids between Iran, Azerbaijan and Georgia along the South-West energy corridor and the creation of an energy corridor between Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey.
By Leman Mammadova

BP plans to drill six wells in Azerbaijan within the next two years, BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gary Jones told at a meeting on the results of 2018 and plans 2019, Trend reports.

Gary Jones noted that BP has signed four exploration contracts, and the drilling will be carried out on the basis of these contracts.

He noted that expectations from the block D-230 are high. If the work at this exploration block is successful, BP will discover a field similar to the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field in volume, he said.

Jones stressed that BP exceeded its forecasts in 2018. He noted that the work carried out in Azerbaijan has a special place in the BP portfolio and in terms of volume is similar to the work carried out in Brazil.

Later, Jones added that an investment decision is planned to be made on the Azeri Central East project in the second quarter of 2019.

As noted by Jones, there are initial proposals for the cost, which are presented to shareholders and discussed with the Azerbaijani government and SOCAR.

He noted that discussions on the cost of the project are currently underway, and there is enough time for a decision to be made.

First oil production from the Azeri Central East Project, which is a part of the project for development of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields, will be implemented in 2023.

Azeri Central East Project represents the next stage of development in the ACG Contract Area.

It is expected that the Azeri Central East project will include a residential unit and a platform for extraction and drilling, as well as placing 3 new underwater gas, oil and water lines (along with related underwater infrastructure) between the Central Azeri and East Azeri platforms at a depth of approximately 137 meters, and integrated underwater energy (spare) and telecommunication cables connecting the East Azeri and Azeri Central East platforms.

The contract for developing the ACG field was signed in 1994. On September 14, 2017, a modified and re-developed agreement was signed on joint development and shared distribution of production from the Azeri, Chirag fields and the deepwater part of the Gunashli field (ACG). The new agreement provides for the development of the field until 2050.

The new ACG participating interests are as follows: BP - 30.37 percent; AzACG (SOCAR) - 25 percent; Chevron - 9.57 percent; INPEX - 9.31 percent; Statoil - 7.27 percent; ExxonMobil - 6.79 percent; TP - 5.73 percent; ITOCHU - 3.65 percent; ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) - 2.31 percent.

The AzeriChiragDeepwater Gunashli is a complex of oil fields in the Caspian Sea, about 120 kilometers (75 mi) off the coast of Azerbaijan. It consists of Azeri and Chirag oil fields, and the deepwater portion of the Gunashli oil field. An overall estimated area of the development is 432.4 square kilometers (167.0 sq mi).

It is developed by the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, a consortium of international oil companies, and operated by BP on behalf of the consortium. The ACG fields have estimated recoverable reserves of about 5 to 6 billion barrels (790 to 950 million cubic meters) of petroleum.

BP is one of the world's most renowned oil and gas suppliers and has been managing large projects for exploration, development and transportation of oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan since 1992.

BP and SOCAR have long-term cooperation in the oil and gas industry of Azerbaijan.

BP Azerbaijan is operator of ACG, Shah Deniz, Shallow Water Absheron Peninsula, Shafag-Asiman and Gobustan fields.

---

Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The war of words pitting President Uhuru Kenyatta against Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi has taken another twist after the outspoken MP accused the head of state of influencing graft cases against members of the Kalenjin community.

President Uhuru on Tuesday indirectly told off Sudi and challenged him to present evidence of corruption to the DCI offices rather than complaining at funerals.

In his retort, Sudi took to Facebook hours after Uhurus remarks and claimed that: Uhuru is DCI and DCI is Uhuru, implying that the President directly influences the work of the investigative agency.

Well, well, well said Mr. President, I agree with you that we must not address these issues in funerals, weddings or other public functions. But unfortunately, Uhuru is DCI and DCI is Uhuru, posted Sudi, who is considered by political observers as DP Rutos attack dog.

In another Facebook post on Wednesday, Sudi went a step further in his criticism of the president and listed examples of cases and instances where Uhuru influenced the DCI against the Kalenjin community.

He listed the cases in an open letter addressed to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Read it in full below.

*****************************************************

Mr.President,

I have heard you repeatedly say the fight against corruption is not against any community or individuals.

I beg to differ Sir.

In fact, your so-called fight against corruption is targeted at individuals and a community. And I will give you examples.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

With the arrival of Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the presidency of Uzbekistan, the vector of military cooperation with the Republic of Tajikistan has changed for the better.

The Lower House of the Parliament of Tajikistan unanimously ratified the agreement between Tashkent and Dushanbe signed last August on military-technical cooperation on March 6.

Speaking on this issue, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan, First Deputy Minister of Defense, Lieutenant-General Emomali Sobirzoda, said that within the framework of the implementation of this agreement, the two neighboring countries could launch joint production of arms and military equipment.

In addition, the agreement provides for the joint repair, reconstruction of military equipment, the exchange of military delegations and information.

Regarding the issue of demining at the border of two states, Sobirzoda noted that demining is carried out exclusively by the forces and means of Uzbekistan.

They refused our help in this case since demining is carried out exclusively on the territory of a neighboring state, the lieutenant-general said.

Sobirzoda noted that today, there are no problems in the cooperation of the defense departments of the two states.

We are in constant contact with our Uzbek colleagues, in the near future we will hold regular joint exercises of the armed forces of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the lieutenant-General stated.

The first anti-terrorist exercises of soldiers and officers of the defense departments of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were held at the Sogdian military training ground "Chorukhdairon" in September 2018.

Diplomatic relations between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were established on October 20, 1992.

Having come to power in December 2016, the current head of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev firmly stated that he intends to improve relations with neighbors. In November 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan announced "deep changes in the Tajik-Uzbek relations".

Since the beginning of 2018, more than 10 checkpoints have opened on the border of the two countries. Uzbekistan has restored the Galab-Amuzang railway line.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited Dushanbe with an official visit on March 9-10, 2018. In two days, the President of Tajikistan and the head of Uzbekistan signed over 27 documents. In particular, the parties determined the deadlines for demining the Tajik-Uzbek border, abolished visas and agreed to fully restore air traffic.

It is planned to open air communication between Dushanbe and the Uzbek cities of Bukhara and Samarkand in 2019, where a large number of ethnic Tajiks live.

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are counting on an increase in trade turnover to $ 500 million by 2020.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Strengthening and developing bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation with China is one of the priorities of Tajikistans foreign policy. Meanwhile, China is also very interested in the Central Asian region as a whole.

China State Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc will help to raise $ 300 million for the development of the textile industry in Tajikistan.

A delegation of Chinese businessmen under the leadership of the trade manager of China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc Hu Sina met with Nematullo Hikmatullozoda, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan on March 5.

At the meeting, it was noted that the Chinese state corporation will assist the Shino Tajikistan Kulyab Textile Industry Park enterprise in attracting foreign direct investment for processing cotton fiber.

This enterprise is located on the territory of the newly formed Kulyab free economic zone, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade reports.

It is expected that investment in this enterprise will be carried out in two stages. At the first stage, financing will be $ 130 million, and at the second - $ 170 million.

It is planned to create 5,500 jobs at the enterprise, the annual processing of cotton will be 35,000 tons.

The resolution on the establishment of the Kulyab FEZ was adopted by the Tajik Government at the end of February 2019.

Since 2008, four FEZs - Sogd, Dangara, Pyanj and Ishkashim have been operating in the republic.

Founded in September 1953, China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc is the largest construction state corporation in China.

Until the middle of the 2000s, cotton was considered one of the two main export goods of Tajikistan (along with aluminum). In the 1980s, about 800,000 tons of cotton were harvested annually in Soviet Tajikistan.

At the same time, most of the cotton fiber produced in the country is exported as raw materials. The processing of these products within the country is insignificant.

Diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and China were established on January 4, 1992.

It was previously announced that it is planned to increase the foreign trade turnover of Tajikistan and China to $3 billion by 2020.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Moscow will always support UNESCO and expects the agency to support Russias development plans and joint projects, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay on Wednesday, Trend reported citing TASS.

"We have always supported the agency and plan to continue to do that in the future," Putin said. "We are always at your service and we also expect you to support us, particularly as far as the implementation of our national plans and plans for cooperation between Russia and UNESCO go," he added.

Putin pointed out that 2019 marks the 65th anniversary of Russias UNESCO membership. "I know that a whole lot of activities are going to take place in this regard," he noted.

"I am very pleased to note that relations between Russia and UNESCO are progressing. We believe that UNESCO has been and remains a key international intergovernmental organization active in the humanitarian field," Putin emphasized.

Azoulay, who took office in late 2017, is on her first official visit to Russia on March 5-7. Her agenda includes a meeting with Putin and a tour of the Moscow Kremlin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. She will also travel to Russias Tatarstan Region and meet with its head Rustam Minnikhanov.

Azoulay said earlier in an interview with TASS First Deputy Director-General Mikhail Gusman that her first official visit to Russia was aimed at boosting cooperation in resolving the issues of todays world.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Turkmen officials met with WB Regional Director for the Central Asia Lilia Burunciuc and WB Country Manager for Turkmenistan Jan-Peter Olters in the Turkmen Foreign Ministry, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry.

The sides discussed the possibilities of diversifying cooperation. WB representatives proposed to expand cooperation in digital economy, logistics, energy, water resources and hydrometeorology.

Moreover, the sides stressed readiness to consider the proposals for the implementation of the projects in the fields of transport, healthcare and education.

WBs expert advice on improving the Turkmen banking system and achieving international financial standards in the country was also proposed.

The sides also discussed the WB assistance in the activity of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), in which Turkmenistan presides this year.

WB representatives stressed interest in development of cooperation at the regional level and appreciated Turkmenistans assistance projects to neighboring Afghanistan.

According to a report by British Petroleum (BP), Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in terms of natural gas reserves and currently exports it to China and Iran.

The country set a course for diversifying the local economy. The oil, gas, chemical, and building material industries are actively developing.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Iran still doesn't know how the INSTEX works, and asked Europe to pay more attention to this issue and take it seriously, Trend reports citing Fars News Agency.

INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) is a mechanism, created to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran, allowing European companies to trade with the Islamic Republic without being hit by the sanctions.

On Jan. 31, three European countries  France, Germany and the UK (shortened as E3)  officially announced the creation of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), a special purpose vehicle, to allow them bypass US sanctions on trade with Iran. INSTEX facilitates non-dollar trade with Iran, allowing European companies to trade with the Islamic Republic without being hit by the sanctions.

Araqchi recently was in Vienna to attend the JCPOA Joint Commission meeting.

Co-chaired by Araghchi and Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Helga Schmid, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) joint commission meeting was held in Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday, with deputy foreign ministers of Germany, UK, France, Russia, and China in attendance.

Araqchi said that initiatives have been taken.

"Of course it is at the beginning of INSTEX, and we still do not know how it can solve problems. We need to have detailed discussions," he noted.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Instead of support in Brussels, the Armenian Prime Minister received a diplomatic but yet tough objection.

Nikol Pashinyan was on a visit to Brussels, where he held meetings and delivered speeches on March 4-5. The Armenian leader tried to do everything to bring his know-how in the Karabakh settlement to the Europeans and get support in this matter. This is about Yerevan's demand to achieve participation of Karabakh separatists in negotiations as party.

Pashinyan, in an interview with journalists in Brussels, stated a need for a new format of negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh. He expressed the opinion that in order to "effectively solve the problem, an effective format should be created, that will require the participation of "Karabakh" in the negotiations".

However, Pashinyan encountered in Brussels an extreme indignation of European officials.

During a joint conference with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the question of how the EU could contribute to the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict, European Neighborhood Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn expressed the opinion that in the negotiations on Karabakh there is no need to invent some kind of new mechanism just for the sake of novelty, it is better to stick to the current format.

Hahn noted that the first contacts between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the heads of the foreign affairs agencies are a "good starting point" for negotiations on Karabakh, but its premature to talk about concrete progress.

He stated that the EU can contribute from the outside, supporting the entire region. "To facilitate cooperation between the countries of the region and, in particular, contacts between people," he concluded.

In turn, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini spoke in favor of the full participation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement without preliminary conditions, according to a message posted on the website of the European External Relations Service on March 6.

"Mogherini and Pashinyan discussed the process of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peaceful settlement in the light of recent contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Mogherini called for the full participation of Prime Minister Pashinyan in the negotiations without preliminary conditions under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs," the message said.

Pashinyans visit to Brussels appeared to be an initiative of Armenians. So, no one invited Pashinyan to Europe and no one was waiting for him there. Europeans, in general, have no time for Armenia and its "revolutionary" leader now.

The European political elite is preparing for the May elections; all parties and politicians have gathered their forces to prepare for the election process. On the other hand, the European Commission sums up its work, the Council of Europes parliamentarians are busy with election campaigning.

For this reason, even in government circles, there is an opinion that this was not the most suitable time for a trip to Brussels. Moreover, there was no need to urgently discuss a very serious agenda and a package of documents.

In sum, if Nikol Pashinyan is capable of critical analysis, he must understand that an idea of changing the format of negotiations has failed.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Trend

The Turkish Armed Forces are fully prepared for the beginning of new antiterrorist operations in northern Syria, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said, Trend reports March 7 with reference to the Turkish media.

Oktay said that Turkey wont turn a blind eye to threats to its security.

At any time, the Turkish Armed Forces can launch new antiterrorist operations in Manbij district and create a safety zone in northern Syria, he said.

On Dec. 12, 2018, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish Armed Forces will launch a new military operation in Syria against PYD/YPG. Erdogan claimed there were US soldiers in the detachments of the terrorists in Syria.

On Jan. 20, 2018, Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

On Aug. 24, 2016, the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Operation Euphrates Shield against the "Islamic State", and with the support of the Syrian opposition liberated the border town of Jarablus, as well as Al-Bab in northern Syria.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has strongly condemned the proposed takeover of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The firebrand legislator has also threatened to lead daily protests against Kenya Airways.

Speaking at the JKIA on Wednesday, March 6, the former students leader said the planned takeover deal is fraudulent and ill-timed.

I am a member of the Public Investment Committee and we called the CEO of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Johny Andersen too explain this takeover. This is a fraudulent takeover.

I will lead demonstrations daily to ensure KQ does not take over KAA. This was just the beginning. We are aware KQ is a loss-making loss company, KAA is a public company that has been making profit. There is no way a company that makes losses can take operations of one that is doing well, added Babu.

In a follow-up statement on his social pages, Babu Owino noted that JKIA is in his constituency and he wont allow Kenya Airports Authority employees to be sacked for protesting the takeover.

Read Babu Owino statement on the JKIA takeover and strike by aviation workers.

*********************************************

IN SUPPORT OF THE KAA STAFF STRIKE

Kenya Airports Authority workers have today morning began a strike action aimed at drawing attention to the proposed take over of the management of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by Kenya Airways.

When this matter was brought to Parliament, I strongly and vehemently opposed any such action and I hold the same position today. I am in full support of the strike and I call upon the Government to terminate this bad idea with immediate effect.

Anybody suggesting that such a move is progressive is being mischievous. Last year, under the management of KAA, JKIA won the acclaimed award for Africas Airport of the Year for its excellence in air cargo at a ceremony held in Johannesburg, South Africa. How can such a company be taken over by a company that reported a net loss of 4 billion shillings last year and 5.6 billion shillings the year before that?

Kenya Airways debt collectively stands at over 100 billion shillings! How can JKIA which is fast becoming a continental leader be taken over by KQ which continues to be a public embarrassment?

JKIA has in recent years moved from strength to strength while KQ has moved into financial doldrums. This move must be opposed by everybody who means well for Kenya.

More specifically, JKIA lies in my constituency and I oppose this take over because of the potential job losses that will result. Under the Presidential Big 4 agenda, we are meant to be creating jobs for Kenyans not destroying lives. I will not allow a single person employed by KAA to be sent home as a result of the selfish and greedy ambitions of a few people trying to force this deal through for their own aggrandizement!

I further condemn the reported arrest of the Kenya Airport Workers Union Secretary General Mr Moss Ndiema as illegal and unconstitutional. I urge comrade airport workers not to be intimidated; history is on their side!

I will begin a dialogue and I am in the process of seeking out the relevant stakeholders including the CS Transport James Macharia, the CS Treasury Henry Rotich, the Management of KQ and KAA as well as the Unions to come to the table and all agree that if its not broken, dont fix it!
How to watch

The "Military Might" episode of "Truck Night in America" featuring Sharleen Ciesielska airs on History at at 10:03 p.m. Thursday and again at 1:06 a.m. Friday.
If you go

Who: Rapid Response Network of Kern and Building Healthy Communities South Kern

What: Community organizations hope to raise $319,000 to ensure that detainees inside the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility are not transferred away if the facility closes on March 19.

When: Thursday, 10 a.m.

Where: 425 Golden State Avenue
One cannot simply win an argument against Miguna Miguna! That must be the main takeaway some Kenyans on Twitter will remember after engaging the firebrand lawyer in a debate over sign language interpretation.

The deported General once again found himself in the all-too-familiar territory of negative backlash after he questioned the authenticity of the sign language interpreter during President Uhurus speech at the Devolution Conference in Kirinyaga.

The outspoken Miguna Miguna wondered whether the interpreter, Citizen TVs Youla Nzale, was using freshly invented gestures to mock Kenyans.

Is that legitimate sign language the young woman to @UKenyattas right is using or those are freshly invented despotic gestures intended to mock Kenyans? Miguan posed.

Is that legitimate sign language the young woman to @UKenyattas right is using or those are freshly invented despotic gestures intended to mock Kenyans?  Dr. Miguna Miguna (@MigunaMiguna) March 5, 2019



As expected, his remarks opened a portal for Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) to slate him or even perhaps correct him on the laws of sign language interpretation. They shouldnt have.

The Kenyan/Canadian lawyer proved his barrister credentials as he took on his critics one by one.

One Twitter user tried to correct Miguna Miguna, writing: That lady is using Kenyan Sign Language which incorporates facial expressions, hand & body movements. She is doing it 99% of how it should be.

But Miguna was quick to respond: The expression Kenyan Sign Language is not a known language or subject in Kenya.

Another KOT innocently quipped: I dont think she would sit there for the soul purpose of mocking Kenyans.

But Miguna turned the quip into a grammar lesson, writing: She was clearly STANDING; not sitting. And the word you were looking for is S-O-L-E  not s-o-u-l-. The latter is purportedly inside your dirty gut!

Below are some screengrabs of Miguna Migunas amusing comebacks.
Everybodys favorite sign language interpreter, Youla Nzale, is overwhelmed by the attention she has been getting following her animated translation of President Uhuru Kenyattas address during the official opening of the 6th Annual Devolution Conference in Kirinyaga County Tuesday.

Youla, who is described as a shy person, provides sign language interpretation services for Citizen TV prime-time news bulletins.

It [attention] is overwhelming. That explains why I am declining media interviews, she told Citizen Digital.

Asked if she expected her interpretation of Uhurus speech to go viral, Ms Youla said: I did not. And, that should not be the case, adding: You know the presidents speech at that function was more important to Kenyans; sign language only enabled the deaf to understand the Head of States speech.

She defended herself against claims that her passionate facial expressions were unprofessional saying facial expression is part of sign language. However, the level of animation varies from one interpreter to another.

My emotions went hand-in-hand with the presidents tone. I tried capturing every moment in his speech  when he was serious, sad Deaf people do not [often] read [the lips], they cannot hear; so, they read the facial expressions. So, an interpreter needs to be happy, when the speaker is happy; sad, when the speaker is sad; confused, when the speaker is confused. That explains my facial expressions during the presidents speech.

Mz Nzale also explained that she was part of a sign language interpretation team contracted to provide services at the 5-day devolution seminar.

As interpreters, we take turns [during such events and live programmes]. It just happened that it was my turn to offer sign language interpretation services when the president was speaking. I have never been and was not his official sign language interpreter at the conference, said Ms Nzale.

Here are some photos of Youla Nzale in action at the Devolution conference.
Kim Brent

A crew member aboard a ship that docked in Port Neches last month tested positive for measles, the City of Port Arthur Health Department announced Wednesday.

In a brief news release, the department said the man was from another country and posed no significant threat to the community because he was taken immediately to a local hospital and other crew members were denied permission to leave the ship.
Photo by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration, as preserved by the Library of Congress.

A utility worker should count his blessings after walking away from a near-death experience last month on a Fort Bend County highway, according to a driver who captured the incident with his dashboard camera.

Sugar Land resident Andrew Wolf said he was driving west down U.S. 90 on Feb. 25 when a truck in front of him clipped a utility worker's bucket.

The worker had been working on lights on Pitts Road, standing in a bucket suspended over an open highway lane, Wolf said.

A bus was following Wolf's truck just before the bucket fell, he said.

FREAK ACCIDENT: Driver killed running across Katy Freeway after crash

The worker could have fallen directly in front of both cars if it wasn't for his safety harness, which saved him from hitting the road, Wolf said. The bucket also shattered, forcing the cars to swerve further out of the way, he said.

"The bucket shattered and spread debris on my truck, as well as on the bus...," Wolf said. "Amazingly the worker was able to walk away when they lowered the crane."

BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to you.

Wolf said the worker, as well as the driver who struck him, were shaken up after the ordeal. The worker was taken to a hospital but didn't appear to suffer any major injuries, he said.

Wolf said he wanted to check with authorities before he released the full video. He has only released a still image from the footage.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.
A woman in Nakuru who declined to move into a house that President Uhuru Kenyatta gifted her claims her life is in danger.

Damaris Wambui Kamau, the mother of 13-year-old Dennis Ngaruiya who recited a poem that left President Kenyatta in a burst of hearty laughter in October 2014, alleges that a group of men has been stalking her.

The unknown men reportedly stormed her mud house in Lanet on Tuesday.

If it is because of a house that I should lose my life, I end my pursuit for it, Ms Kamau told Citizen Digital.

Yesterday [Tuesday, March 5], a group of men, who I dont know, drove to my place and forcefully demanded to see me. They directed their vehicles headlamp rays to my house, maybe, in a bid to prevent me from seeing their faces. One of them ordered me to move to where he was. I sensed danger and fled the scene, recalled Ms Wambui.

The single mother added that the men trailed her in their car but she was able to escape them.

I, however, managed to hide in one of the houses. That was the point they realised they couldnt reach me, forcing them to drive off.

The woman said she has since filed a police report on threats on her life but refused to share details of where she filed her formal complaint, saying: No, they might use that information to try to trace me.

She added that an unknown person has been calling her on phone warning her against talking to the media about the gift house she rejected.

Currently, I even fear picking calls from new numbers because I do not know what could be the callers intention, said Ms Wambui.

I am too young to die; I am too young to leave my son motherless. Rejecting the house has landed me in deep trouble. Though, I would like to clarify that I have since left my pursuit for that house. I have come to terms that it was given to another family, and there is nothing I can do to either repossess it, or get a new house built for me, she went on.

I am just urging those who are after my life to know I have no issue, whatsoever, against them, she said.

Ms Wambui Kamau blames top Nakuru county officials for her troubles.
With the rapid growth of the ASC industry, competition is increasing between centers and other entities, according to Jellyfish Health.

Three ways ASCs can set themselves apart:

1. Market your services to referring physicians and insurers. Promoting your center ensures you stay top-of-mind when physicians and insurance companies refer patients for procedures.

2. Grow your customer base. If physicians at your ASC see certain patients routinely, accommodate those patients in a way that encourages loyalty and ensures a steady revenue stream for the ASC.

3. Improve patient experience. Making your ASC more efficient while improving patient experience will help your center stand out from the competition. Advancing patient communication, improving the hand-off process so patients don't have to answer the same questions twice and following up with patients after procedures improves the overall patient experience.
West Seneca, N.Y.-based Center for Ambulatory Surgery filed an application to transfer interest to a new owner.

What you should know:

1. The ASC plans to sell 101 membership units to Asher Weiner, MD, for $2,600 per unit, constituting 5.39 percent of all company membership interests.

2. Immediately after that transaction is complete, Ravinder Chopra plans to gift 2.67 percent interest to his spouse, as well as .26 percent to each of his two sons.

3. After the gift transfers, Ravinder Chopra will own 74.24 percent interest, Mohini Copra will own 5.34 percent interest, and Raman and Rajiv Chopra will each own .53 percent interest.

4. The transfer is under review by the New York State Department of Health.
Edison (N.J.) Surgery Center is the newest member of the New Jersey Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers.

Three facts:

1. A group of ASC owners founded the NJAASC in 1992.

2. The organization's mission is to advocate for New Jersey's ASCs and their efforts to deliver optimal, cost-effective care.

3. The NJAASC provides industry networking opportunities, legislative information and access to state healthcare agencies, while serving as a liaison to accrediting agencies.
Medscape released its 2019 General Surgeon Lifestyle, Happiness & Burnout Report.

Medscape surveyed 15,069 U.S. physicians across more than 29 specialties to compile the report.

How general surgeons weighed in:

1. Only 27 percent of general surgeons said they were happy at work, which was lower than the percentage for plastic surgeons, ophthalmologists, oncologists and orthopedists.

2. Outside of work, 57 percent of general surgeons said they were very or extremely happy, taking the No. 5 spot on the list.

3. Forty-six percent of general surgeons said they were burned out, 12 percent said they were colloquially depressed and three percent said they were clinically depressed.

4. The most popular method for dealing with burnout is exercise at 44 percent, followed by isolation (42 percent), sleep (37 percent) and talking with close family and friends (33 percent).

5. General surgeons said too many bureaucratic tasks such as charting and paperwork (49 percent), along with lack of respect from administrators and others (42 percent) and insufficient compensation (36 percent), contributed the most to their burnout levels.
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board gave Quincy (Ill.) Medical Group more time to answer remaining questions about its proposed ASC project, the Herald-Whig reports.

What you should know:

1. QMG is seeking approval for a $19.5 million ASC in the former department store in Quincy. Quincy-based Blessing Health System  which operates a surgery center  opposes the proposal.

2. The health board issued findings on QMG's proposal in late February, finding the surgery center was an unnecessary duplication of facilities, did not improve access to care and did not conform with viable and reasonable standards. Despite these findings, three members of the five-person board voted in favor of the center.

3. Two members abstained. All five members need to approval the proposal.

4. The board did grant QMG more time to address the failings from its findings. The board will hear QMG's proposal again at a later date

5. QMG CEO Carol Brockmiller said, "We respect the HFSRB's feedback on our project and look forward to providing them with additional information. We remain steadfast in our commitment to this project that will modernize the way we deliver care in a manner that is safe, cost-effective and convenient."
Ann Castro, BroadJump's vice president of non-acute sales, has 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, specifically in the group purchasing organization space. Before joining BroadJump, Ms. Castro worked as a facilitator for a surgery center client committee.

Becker's ASC Review asked Ms. Castro to share her thoughts on the supply chain challenges facing ASCs today.

Note: Responses have been lightly edited for style and clarity.

Question: Why are physician preference items challenging for ASCs? What are some ways ASCs can tackle these challenges?

Ann Castro: Physician preference items represent the highest percentage of supply chain expenses. Physicians are trying to work with these specific items and don't want to move. At BroadJump, we've found price variances [of] up to 442 percent for PPIs, making this a challenging area when it comes to controlling costs. Instead of asking the physician to switch products, the ASC should identify where the variation is and focus on how to fix it. I believe an easy way to do this is by using a comparative analytics tool and [using] their positioning in the market to pay a more realistic price for these products. Once you know where you stand in the market, you can use that information to really level the playing field when you're negotiating with some of these suppliers.

Q: Are you seeing any disruptive forces affect ASC supply chain management?

AC: We're at a point where patients are demanding price transparency for their procedures. Surgery centers and physicians have got to demand transparency from their suppliers. Utilizing a supply chain or inventory management system can really help [ASC staff] track expenditures so they can understand the reasons for the change. Tools have unbiased data to provide true transparency in the current market. This allows ASCs to better negotiate with suppliers and really maximize efficiencies.

Surgery centers also lack bandwidth to negotiate better pricing. It's not often that we see a dedicated materials manager in a surgery center. Typically, the person responsible for supply chain have many other responsibilities and most materials managers don't have time to allocate toward data mining and price-checking to cut costs. Surgery centers need to utilize tools that can easily identify the need of improvement in the price point to make decisions toward decreasing spend. ASCs should really focus on items that [present] a reimbursement challenge or that have a high area of spend like physician preference items. That way, they can maximize what little time they do have available.

Q: What tools can ASCs use to improve supply chain operations?

AC: ASCs need to start by tackling big-ticket items. Those who handle supply chain at ASCs are often really busy, however, if they focus on the areas that might truly be hurting their overall financial health, that can have an extremely beneficial outcome. Data analytics tools that aggregate all the center's data provide an overall view of supply spend, as well as [a] breakdown by category. This allows surgery centers to decide where to devote their time and maximize their efficiencies.

Q: Can you delve into the challenges planned orthopedic surgery costs present for ASCs?

AC: For orthopedics, that is the biggest area for physician preference items. Typically, for those centers, their supply chain spend is allocated at a 60 percent rate. So, orthopedic practices spend a majority of their overall supply chain budget on physician preference items. With so many procedures moving to an outpatient setting, I'm finding the dynamics of the volume are really shifting within our market. The time is right to leverage market share and volume, and begin to focus on physician preference items.

Q: How does supply chain play into case costing? What challenges are ASCs facing in that space?

AC: It's easier for a single-specialty to know exactly where [its] case costing is. If you're not watching your preference cards or case costing, you really could be losing revenue. If your costs outweigh what's being reimbursed, that's not an ideal way to increase your revenue. Focusing on what encompasses that procedure  and the implant is going to be the biggest part would be the first area to focus on.

To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Rachel Popa at rpopa@beckershealthcare.com.

For a deeper dive into ASC industry trends, attend the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC in Chicago, June 13-15, 2019. Click here to learn more and register.
The Kentucky Hospital Association and Kentucky Office of Rural Health have teamed up with a software company to develop a statewide hospital data-sharing network, according to local NPR news station WKU.

Many of the hospitals within the two organizations use different EHRs, making data-sharing difficult. The care coordination network would seamlessly share patient information between hospitals to identify at-risk patients.

Through the data-sharing tool, providers and staff will be able to track which hospitals a patient has visited and the controlled substance prescriptions the patient may have received. Using Collect Medical software, providers will be alerted in real time of a patient's record of visits to different hospitals.

Kentucky has another prescription-monitoring database, KASPER, which requires providers to search for patients' prescription history.

Hospitals that use the care coordination network also will be able to track patients who are high-users of emergency rooms. The tool would include patients who visit an ER more than five times per year.

Elizabethtown, Ky.-based Hardin Memorial Hospital and Prestonsburg, Ky.-based Highland Regional Hospital already are using the tool. Another 34 hospitals are in the processes of joining the network.

More articles on EHRs:

Data breach exposes 45,000 Rush patients

Microsoft discontinues Band wearable, health dashboard apps

4 notes on Lyft in healthcare
South Africa: Nersa grants Eskom 9.4% tariff increase

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has granted Eskom a 9.41% tariff increase in the 2019/20 financial year.

The regulator in September 2018 received two applications from the power utility with respect to Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) Year 5 (2017/18) and the Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD) 4 application.

With regards to the MYPD4 application, the utility had applied for a total balance of R219.6 billion for the duration of three years. For the 2019/20 year, Eskom applied for R219 billion, R252 billion for 202/21 and R291 billion for 2021/22.

The regulator evaluated this application using the MYPD4 methodology, which is forward looking in nature.

Making the announcement at its offices in the capital, the regulator approved allowable revenue percentage price increases of 9.41%, 8.10% and 5.22% respectively over the three-year period.

Making the announcement following deliberations that went on past 2pm on Thursday, Nersa chairperson Jacob Modise said the regulator has granted allowable revenue of R206.380 billion in 2019/20, R221.843 billion for financial year 2020/21 and R233.078 billon for financial year 2021/22.

[Nersa] will subject the costs to further extensive prudency reviews, efficiency tests and performance thresholds. The Energy Regulator will also perform an independent valuation of Eskoms Regulatory Asset Base (RAB). If necessary, adjustments will be made, said Modise.

RCA application

With regards to the RCA application, Eskom had applied for R21.6 billion.

The RCA is an account in which all potential adjustments to Eskoms allowed revenue, which has been approved by Nersa, is accumulated and managed. The methodology allows Eskom to adjust for the over- or under-recovery of preceding years regulated costs and revenues through the electricity tariffs in subsequent years.

The regulator approved a RCA balance of R3.869 billion, which will be recoverable from standard tariff customers, local Special Pricing Arrangement (SAPs) customers and international customers.

Modise said the regulator will develop an implementation plan for the MYPD3 Year 5 RCA for the 2017/18 financial year balance for approval.

The RCA application was evaluated using the MYPD3 methodology. The MYPD was first introduced in 2006 and is revised per MYPD period to enhance regulation and increase transparency.

The decisions come after the regulator published both the RCA and MYPD4 applications on its website in October 2019. In January, up until 5 February, the regulator conducted public hearings in seven of the countrys nine provinces, which afforded stakeholders the opportunity to present their views on the matter.

In terms of what was disallowed in the RCA application, regulatory member for electricity and piped gas Nomfundo Maseti said the big adjustment related to the sales revenue.

We have made a huge adjustment in terms of revenue, as well as on the primary energy costs. The other adjustments, which informed this decision, was on the capital expenditure and the R1 billion that Eskom requested from the regulator to consider on the McKinsey contract, she said.

During the public hearings, Eskom said it wanted to use the money it recovered from McKinsey to reduce its application of R21 billion to R20.623 billion and to recover the 207/18 RCA over a period of three years from 2020 to 2023.

In July 2018, Eskom announced that the management consulting firm would pay back the R1 billion paid to it under the Turnaround Programme.

Load shedding, liquidity

The Nersa decision also follows on recent episodes of load shedding, which also included the shock implementation of Stage 4 load shedding seen on 11 February due to the unexpected loss of six generating units at the power utility.

The regulator expressed concern at this. Nersa has conducted an analysis of the financial information submitted to it by Eskom and also carried out an economic impact assessment.

Among the considerations taken into account for the RCA application is that of coal, revenue variance, open cycle gas turbines and nuclear decommissioning.

RAB, primary energy, depreciation, and research and development were among the issues considered in the MYPD4 application.

As the regulator held its press briefing, Eskom meanwhile warned of a high risk of rotational load shedding today, while also highlighting that load shedding would only be implemented if absolutely necessary.

Last month, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) said the power utility would cease to exist at the current trajectory by April this year, as it faces a R420 billion debt.

Making the right decision

Modise said during discussions, a lot of information volumes were dealt with -- referring to the 119 000 written comments received from the public.

The decisions are complex and we always have to do a balancing act between the interests of the licensee and those of the public. We are satisfied that we reached the right decision, said Modise in response to a question.

Modises comments were echoed by Maseti.

It has not been an easy exercise. There is some information that we would have loved to have before the decision so that we can enhance our robustness in verifying the cost that Eskom has requested [for both applications], she said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
In ceremonies Feb. 28, Emory presented the universitys highest alumni honor to David Adelman, former U.S. ambassador to Singapore, and Richard Hubert, a philanthropic leader in the field of global health. Photos by Tiffany Powell Photography.

The 2019 recipients of the Emory Medal, the universitys highest alumni honor, have spent their careers working for the global good and have been wonderful stewards and representatives of Emory in the world. Ambassador David Adelman 89L and Richard Hubert 60L were honored by the Office of Alumni Engagement in ceremonies Feb. 28 at The Carter Center.

Adelman served his constituents in the Georgia State Senate before departing for a diplomatic post in Singapore, then settled in New York in private practice. A prominent attorney in Atlanta, Hubert has been fulfilling his parents vision to feed people in distress and to help those who are sick, through his work as executor and trustee of the Hubert Foundation.

David Adelman 89L: Global leadership

Family is the greatest source of pride for Ambassador David Adelman 89L. We are a tight knit family, and we cherish our time together, he says. That family bond was on full display when he along with his wife and three children represented the United States in Southeast Asia while Adelman served as the U.S. Ambassador to Singapore from 2010-2013.

It was an honor for our whole family, says Adelman, who has had a wide-ranging career across the public and private sectors in Atlanta, Washington, Singapore, Hong Kong and New York. I am fortunate to have enjoyed a very diverse career in the years since graduating from Emory. I have worked all over the world and hopefully in a way that has helped others.

Adelman holds degrees from the University of Georgia, Georgia State University and the Emory School of Law. At Emory, I was introduced to young people from all over the world, he says. My time at Emory really developed my world view and appreciation for the importance of the rule of law and high ethical standards.

After graduation from Emory Law, Adelman served as an assistant attorney general in Georgia and then practiced with a law firm in Washington and Atlanta.

With Emory, Adelman has served on the Law School Alumni Board, the Board of Visitors, the Law School Council and the Emory Public Interest Committee Advisory Board. He and his wife have hosted alumni and student events in Atlanta, Singapore and New York. He was a trustee of the Grady Health System and served for eight years in the Georgia State Senate where he earned the reputation as a legislator who worked across political party lines.

In 2009, Adelman was nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. My greatest privilege was to represent the United States in an important part of the world," he says. During his four-year tenure, Adelman launched the U.S.-Singapore Strategic Partnership Dialogue and established a Third Country Training Program to address health, educational and environmental issues in the region, earning him the U.S. State Department Superior Honor Award and the U.S. Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

Currently, Adelman serves on several corporate advisory boards and is a partner in an international law firm working in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore on trans-Pacific trade and investment issues. He also is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and an adjunct professor at New York University, where he teaches international relations.

Richard Hubert 60L: Supporting health around the world

For more than half a century, Richard Hubert 60L has been a credit to Emory both for his tireless volunteerism and his philanthropic leadership in the field of global health. Over the years, Hubert has contributed mightily to the Atlanta community via his work representing the interests of his neighbors in the Druid Hills area and has earned a spot on Best Lawyers in America lists in Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law practice areas.

Hubert was actively involved in community service, serving as the president of the Druid Hills Civic Association for two terms and as the president of the Lawyers Club of Atlanta. As the former treasurer and now emeritus board member, Hubert is also extremely proud of the work he did with the Global Health Action Committee and the work they do in Africa, China and the Caribbean in the areas of health and hunger.

Of particular note, Hubert practiced law dedicated to community service to the benefit of the economic wellbeing of the law firm. Through the beginnings of a grassroots effort in his neighborhood of Druid Hills, one of the high points in his successful law career was representing the community and its legal efforts to save the Olmsted Parks on Ponce de Leon Avenue.

For Hubert, philanthropy has deep roots, beginning many years ago when he was a young teenager. On one particular day, his father called a family meeting, saying Youre all going to have more than enough, so we should think about what we should do with the rest. And after some discussion, it was decided. They would feed the hungry and make the sick well.

And, via the familys foundation, that is what they have done. With Hubert at the helm as executor and trustee, the Hubert Foundation has been key in Emorys stake as a leader in global health, establishing the Hubert Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health , becoming the first named global health department among schools of public health in the United States. The foundation has created endowment funds and fellowships, as well.

We intended to support the kind of health care we want to deliver to populations that otherwise would simply be without, says Hubert.

The O.C. Hubert Fellowships in International Health have enabled more than 700 public health students to engage in research and fieldwork throughout the world, participating in such diverse projects as refugee health surveillance in Belgium, assessing disaster preparedness in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and evaluating interventions for domestic partner abuse in Nepal.

The Hubert Foundations influence can be felt across departments and is instrumental in Emorys leadership in the space. The foundations efforts in public health do not just stem from the Emory campus. Among other projects, the Hubert Foundation also supports select charities around the world in an effort to promote a kind of brotherhood of man. They helped with cancer research and created a goat farm in North Korea, improved prenatal care in China and have projects in the Caribbean. Out of them all, what is Hubert most proud of? I favor the Goat Project, says Hubert. Its a direct way to help and it sustains itself.
In February, Georgiana (Ala.) Medical Center announced it would close March 31. Leaders have now moved the closure date to March 8, according to WSFA.

Ivy Creek Healthcare in Georgiana, which owns the hospital, cited growing costs and reimbursement cuts as the reason for the closure. Ivy Creek CEO Mike Bruce said the hospital is shutting down sooner than expected "to maintain the quality of care," according to the report.

"This decision was not made lightly; it is very important to close the hospital fully staffed and with the quality care we have always offered," he said.

Ivy Creek's rural health clinics will remain open after Georgiana Medical Center closes. The clinics will be managed by LV Stabler Memorial Hospital in Greenville, Ala. Ivy Creek and LV Stabler will also combine their home health operations.

More articles on healthcare finance:

Indiana hospital closure will result in 269 layoffs

Pennsylvania hospital shortchanges workers' paychecks  again

10 hospitals seeking CFOs
A Denver district court has ruled that Colorado hospital fees do not violate the state's taxpayer bill of rights, according to The Denver Post.

Eight things to know:

1. The fees, a Colorado Medicaid funding mechanism, have brought in more than $4.6 billion to the state in the last decade, according to the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.

2. The March 6 ruling found that the original hospital provider fee and subsequent healthcare affordability and sustainability fee are "fees, and not taxes" and not subject to the bill of rights provisions, a health department news release states.

3. The ruling was in favor of the health department.

4. The TABOR Foundation in 2015 reportedly challenged the constitutionality of the fees in court. According to the Post, the hospital provider fee, referred to as a "bed tax" in other states, is imposed on hospital stays.

5. The health department said the March 6 ruling found that Senate Bill 17-267, which created the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee, "does not violate the single subject requirement of the Colorado Constitution."

6. "With this ruling, Medicaid is able to pay higher reimbursements to hospitals, which is especially important to rural hospitals," said Kim Bimestefer, health department executive director. "The second thing it does is continue funding both the Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus expansions which helped lower the uninsured rate to 6.5 percent. Just those two things  lower uninsured rate and increased hospital reimbursements  are powerful drivers of the economy while allowing us to take care of people who need it most."

7. The original hospital provider fee program was enacted in 2009. The program involved the collection of fees from Colorado hospitals, which were matched by the federal government and then redistributed to hospitals.

8. Senate Bill 17-267 was subsequently enacted by state lawmakers, creating the Colorado Healthcare Affordability and Sustainability Enterprise and the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee. It also ended the hospital provider fee program.

More articles on healthcare finance:

10 hospitals seeking RCM talent

Georgia Senate OKs surprise billing legislation: 6 things to know

5 recent RCM tips
Dozens of nurses and other staff members at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago were reportedly fired for improperly reviewing the medical records of actor Jussie Smollett, CBS 2 Chicago reports.

Five things to know:

1. Sources told CBS 2 Chicago the workers, including some nurses and other hospital staff, were terminated last week after gaining access to the actor's medical chart.

2. One nurse told CBS 2 Chicago she was fired after her shift Feb. 26 and escorted off of hospital property. She told the publication she never accessed Mr. Smollett's records and had simply scrolled past them while looking for another patient's name. The nurse said she was not asked any questions about the alleged incident before she was fired and was denied the chance to explain.

3. The nurse told the television station she plans to appeal the hospital's decision and that several other staffers were similarly fired for simply scrolling past Mr. Smollett's records.

4. Mr. Smollett arrived at the hospital Jan. 29, claiming he was assaulted by two men yelling racial and homophobic slurs at him around 2 a.m., the report states. However, police claim the actor orchestrated the attack himself as a "publicity stunt" because he was upset with his salary on the television show "Empire." Police charged Mr. Smollett with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false policy report, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

5. A spokesperson for Northwestern Memorial told CBS 2 Chicago the hospital cannot comment on the employment status of any staff member.

To access the full report, click here.
A physician with dual citizenship in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia has reportedly been detained in the Middle Eastern nation since 2017 and says he has been tortured at least once during that time, according to The New York Times.

Six things to know:

1. Walid Fitaihi, MD, has been detained in Saudi Arabia since November 2017 as part of a nationwide crackdown on corruption. He was reportedly one of 200 individuals detained at the time, and remains imprisoned without any public charges or a trial.

2. Dr. Fitaihi received his American citizenship while studying medicine at the Washington, D.C.-based George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. After his studies, he returned to Saudi Arabia and founded a private hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

3. Dr. Fitaihi reportedly told several friends and relatives that roughly one week into his detainment, he was taken into another room and was slapped, blindfolded and shocked with electricity during what appears to be a single hourlong session of torture, The New York Times reports. While the reason behind his detainment is unclear, Dr. Fitaihi said he was questioned about a relative by marriage who had also been detained, and believed his captors were seeking evidence against the relative.

4. Dr. Fitaihi's case may pose another threat to the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia. The Trump administration has still not responded to Congress' deadline to determine who was responsible for the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi last fall.

5. A lawyer for Dr. Fitaihi said in a letter to the U.S. Department of State and obtained by The New York Times that Dr. Fitaihi "is in fear for his life, that he cannot take his situation any longer, and that he desires all possible help." A State Department representative declined to comment to the publication about the case, citing privacy concerns.

6. Saudi officials have denied any mistreatment of detainees. A spokesperson for the nation's embassy in Washington told The New York Times: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia takes any and all allegations of ill treatment of defendants awaiting trial or prisoners serving their sentences very seriously."

To access the full report, click here.
Workers at Fatima Hospital in North Providence, R.I., this week gave their bargaining team the OK to give a 10-day strike notice to the hospital if necessary, according to local TV station WPRI.

The vote came amid talks between the hospital and members of United Nurses and Allied Professionals, who have worked without a contract since the beginning of the year.

The union says members want to raise awareness about patient and worker safety issues under healthcare management company Prospect CharterCARE, according to the report.

"We don't take this step lightly, and we realize what's at stake for each other, our patients and the community we are proudly a part of," Cindy Fenchel, president of the union's Local 5110 told WPRI. "It's time for Prospect CharterCARE to come to the table and make substantive commitments on improving patient care and strengthening worker safety."

CharterCARE expressed disappointment that union employees voted to authorize a strike notice and stressed that it is committed to reaching a contract agreement.

"We want to assure patients, physicians, visitors and vendors that the union's informational picketing has not and will not interfere with open access to our facility or to any aspect of hospital operations," a statement from the company reads. "While we respect the union and its representation of our employees, we do not support the disruptive environment that it is trying to create. We are committed to bargaining in good faith with the union to reach an agreement that is fair to union members as well as our hospitals."

More articles on human capital and risk:

California community hospital averts strike

Massachusetts hospital takes union vote challenge to DC

CHI St. Alexius nurses try for second time to unionize
Amid resistance from top shareholders, Bristol-Myers Squibb urged investors in a letter to support its $74 billion deal to acquire cancer drugmaker Celgene, CNBC reports.

In the letter, Bristol-Myers said its board is "confident" that the deal is the best path forward for the company as it will ensure its leadership in the rapidly growing oncology market.

"We undertook a robust and comprehensive review of our core business and strategic expansion opportunities potentially available to the company and identified the Celgene acquisition as the most attractive opportunity for shareholder value creation," the company wrote, according to CNBC.

Hedge funds Wellington Management and Starboard came out against the deal, arguing it makes Bristol shareholders assume too much risk. Wellington is Bristol's largest institutional shareholder, with 135.3 million shares. Starboard has about 1 million shares.

Over the last few weeks, Bristol-Myers has also sent executives to meet with key investors in an attempt to sway them to support the deal.

Read the full report here.
The World Health Organization will implement "wide-ranging reforms" to support its five-year plan of helping 3 billion more people globally, the group announced March 6.

The WHO's "triple billion" plan aims to achieve the following goals within five years:

Get 1 billion people universal healthcare coverage

Offer 1 billion people better protection from health emergencies

Improve the health and well-being of 1 billion more people

The organization will adopt a new corporate structure modeled around four pillars: programs, emergencies, business operations, and external relations and governance. The WHO will also create an emergency preparedness division to support its outbreak infection and response work.

"Our vision remains the same as it was when we were founded in 1948: the highest attainable standard of health for all people," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said in a press release. "But the world has changed, which is why we have articulated a new mission statement for what the world needs us to do now: to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable."
Television subscription services like Netflix and Hulu make money because while it costs each provider millions to make a television show or movie, each new stream costs little or nothing. New York Times contributor Tina Rosenberg claims another product can work in a similar fashion: medicine.

The U.S. has seen steadily rising healthcare costs during the last few years, spurred in a large part by exploding drug costs. Ms. Rosenberg says in an op-ed for The New York Times that executives at these pharmaceutical companies have blamed everyone else in the supply chain, and the federal government has done little to bring costs down.

However, she says there is proof that the Netflix model can work in medicine. In 2015, Australia signed a deal with Gilead, AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck to receive unlimited hepatitis C medicine for five years in exchange for $1 billion Australian dollars (about $766 million USD). The payment guarantees the drug companies get large profits, while Australian citizens can obtain hepatitis C treatment for an affordable price.

Two U.S. states  Washington and Louisiana  have begun to make similar deals with pharma companies. Louisiana received responses from AbbVie, Merck and a Gilead subsidiary in bidding that closed Feb. 28. The state's health chief has said she hopes to have contracts with one or more companies and begin providing patients with medicine by July 1, Ms. Rosenberg says.

"The Netflix model is an example of delinkage: pricing schemes that decouple rewards for pharmaceutical innovation from a drug's price," Ms. Rosenberg writes. "Even with good profits assured, pharmaceutical companies are hesitant about schemes like the Netflix model; they're wary of doing anything that could put a crack in a system that has served them well, and hope to ride out public anger at high prices."

While rising costs have been an issue for some time, the difference now is that the public has taken more notice and has expressed outrage over the situation, Ms. Rosenberg writes.

"Australia said we're not going to settle for 10 percent coverage. We're going to find a way to 100 percent. If other governments were to follow that course of action, they'd get results, too," Suerie Moon, PhD, director of research at the Global Health Center of the Graduate Institute of Geneva in Switzerland and lead author on a study of Australia's drug program, told Ms. Rosenberg.

To access the full report, click here.
St. Augustine, Fla.-based Flagler Hospital will open three telehealth sites at Publix pharmacies in St. Johns County, Fla.

The hospital recently announced its rebranding campaign to Flagler Health+, a extension of Flagler Hospital that provides telehealth services for physical, social and economic health of communities. Publix is a supermarket chain based in Florida.

The telehealth sites at Publix's pharmacies will feature a private room with teleconferencing and medical equipment such as cameras, stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs. Physicians will be able to communicate with patients directly through video chat to direct the patient's use of the appropriate tools to make a diagnosis. Publix Pharmacy support staff can also assist during visits.

Appointments will not be required to use the telehealth sites. A visit is expected to cost roughly the same as a copay for a physician's visit.

In addition to telehealth services, Flagler plans to open a Publix Pharmacy within its hospital.

The locations and site opening dates have yet to be determined.
Warsaw, N.Y.-based Wyoming County Community Hospital will spend $10 million on an expansion adding an outpatient orthopedic clinic, Buffalo Business First reports.

What you should know:

1. The hospital plans to turn its former emergency department into an outpatient orthopedic clinic.

2. The renovation will cost $1.1 million.

3. The expansion will add operating rooms and an ambulatory surgery space.

4. The hospital plans to file a certificate of need application in the coming months.
Candler School of Theologys Faith and Finance Program at Emory University will host a two-day conference March 22-23 titled Giving Freedom: A Right-Side-Up Approach to Church Fundraising.

The event, which turns traditional fundraising models right side up, features an evening keynote address on Friday, March 22 by the Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the 25,000-member United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, and author of Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity. Hamilton will speak on The Fruitful Life and take questions from the audience following the talk.

On Saturday, March 23, seven leading pastors, authors, philanthropists and financial experts will share their insights and teach practical strategies for Giving Freedom in participants congregations and communities.

Conference organizer Justin Latterell, director of the Faith and Finance Program, says the events title is intentionally multi-layered.

The concept of giving freedom has a triple meaning for our conference, he explains. On one hand, it refers to a different approach to church fundraising that starts not with pledge drives, but with ministering to the personal financial struggles, skills, dreams and needs of congregants. The second meaning follows from personal financial freedom: Those who have financial freedom are freer to give generously to their churches.

Finally, giving freedom means confronting oppression. How can churches turn the world right-side-up by responding to a God to who turns the world upside down? How can standing up for the values of fairness, equity and sustainability advance a churchs fundraising?

The conference is an outgrowth of Candlers work through its Faith and Finance Program, an initiative jointly funded by Candler School of Theology and Lilly Endowment Inc. to promote financial literacy among seminary students.

Registration fees for the conference range from $10-30 and include lunch on Saturday. Register here.
Paul Cagle, MD, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, will be among several orthopedic surgeons from Mount Sinai who present at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, March 12 to 16.

Dr. Cagle is also the associate residency program director and chief of quality assurance at New York City-based Mount Sinai West Hospital in the department of orthopedic surgery. His practice focuses on shoulder and elbow treatment. Here, he discusses new trends in value-based care and where he sees pain management headed in the future.

Question: What are the biggest trends you're seeing in value-based orthopedic care? What should we expect over the next two to three years?

Dr. Paul Cagle: The biggest trends in value-based care are movements focused on ensuring standardization and safety for patients during and after surgery. By focusing on these two pillars, value-based care can be provided to patients. In the next two to three years, increasing local and national standardization should lead to safer and improved value-based care.



Q: How can orthopedic surgeons get on the forefront of value-based care and delivering a great patient experience in addition to a great outcome?



PC: Orthopedic surgeons need to take the lead by controlling the cost of both surgery and the care after surgery. Using modern pain control methods, patients are able to go home much sooner after surgery, need fewer medications after surgery and are more comfortable after surgery. Improving the postoperative course decreases the costs of care after surgery and greatly improves the experience for each patient.



Q: How have you seen postoperative pain management change in the wake of the opioid epidemic? What solutions do you see becoming more prominent in the future?



PC: The opioid epidemic has hit all facets of medicine, and each facet has taken individual steps towards a better and safer patient experience. Orthopedic surgeons have been at the frontline of this movement by studying and using alternative pain control methods. These methods include methods to keep the limb pain-free or near pain-free for sometimes two to three days after surgery, and also different medications such as anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant medication have been utilized to decrease the amount of postoperative narcotics that are needed.

To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.

For a deeper dive into the future of orthopedics, attend the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC in Chicago, June 13-5, 2019. Click here to learn more and register.
An accountancy firm is restructuring after the appointment of a new director who has taken a stake in the business.

Brian Stewart has joined the board of directors of Ross Boyd Belfast Ltd, one of four new subsidiaries of the company.

Mr Stewart is the first shareholder in the business other than Mr Boyd and is now the resident director in Belfast. The company also has offices in Glasgow, Dublin and London.

Mr Boyd said: "This is the Belfast team maturing, which will allow me to focus on expansion beyond Northern Ireland in Glasgow and Dublin. We have a great team of 12 in Belfast that will soon grow to 15."

Mr Stewart joined the firm as its fourth employee in 2012, two years after the practice was first established.
A new drive to entice 'Generation Z' workers into Northern Ireland's manufacturing sector could boost annual output by an extra 200m, a report has claimed.

Manufacturing employs 10.7% of the workforce here, but shortages of skilled workers is pushing up salaries by between 11% and 28% year-on-year, according to Barclays.

UK-wide research by the bank has suggested that just 6% of 16 to 23-year-olds are considering a career in manufacturing.

Barclays said that specifically targeting people from Generation Z (those born between 1995 and 2010) could double employment growth in the local manufacturing industry by 2023.

It has called for an enhanced approach to training opportunities, forging education links and promoting the career benefits of manufacturing.

The report followed research by the Mid Ulster District Council, which found 4,700 vacancies across six industries in the region during 2016/17, with 71% of businesses in the area struggling to attract staff with the right qualifications.

Among the case studies highlighted by Barclays is Co Tyrone firm Nugent Engineering, which has seen its workforce grow from 60 to 100 in the past five years.

However, the company, which makes trailers and agricultural machinery near Dungannon, has struggled to fill its demand for qualified welders.

"Lack of skills is always dragging us back a bit," production manager Leigh Falls said.

"If you advertise a welding job, you don't currently have the luxury of selecting from three or four candidates - one applicant is a good result."

Nugent is among the firms which have collaborated with the South West College in a Department for the Economy-backed skills academy specifically for welders. Terex, Mallaghan Engineering and Strickland Ireland have also taken part in the Dungannon-based training scheme.

Skills shortages remain, but the initiative has produced two new employees for Nugent.

Stephen Kelly of Manufacturing NI said 80% of firms in the sector are reporting growth.

"However, every business leader I speak to tells me they struggle to recruit people even to meet existing orders, far less to equip them for future ambitions," Mr Kelly added.

"The sector needs to throw open its doors and show off the reality of modern manufacturing and potential career benefits."

Adrian Doran of Barclays said: "If we are to avoid holding these businesses back from growth, we must look at what the issues are and address them quickly.

"This includes making the sector more attractive to young people and aligning our education system to produce more of the types of skills that employers need."
The former head of the Army, Lord Dannatt said "bad things" happened of Bloody Sunday and "life moves on" but he said it was reasonable for Secretary of State Karen Bradley to offer an apology on her comments in the House of Commons.

However, he said she should not resign as her comments none of the killings carried out by the security services during the Troubles constituted a crime were not a "hanging offence".

Next week the Public Prosecution Service will announce if there will be prosecutions into the Bloody Sunday killings.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron, on publication of the Saville report into the Bloody Sunday killings, said the actions of the Army were "unjustified and unjustified" on offering an apology on behalf of the government.

Karen Bradley later "clarified" her remarks saying they may have been open to interpretation but she has refused to apologise.

Read More

"I think it would not be unreasonable for her to offer an apology," said Lord Dannatt who described the Secretary of State's comments as "unwise and "extraordinarily embarrassing and naive".

He added: "I think it would be unnecessary for her to resign."

"There is enough confusion in our political world at the minute and you have no Assembly sitting at this time. I think an apology would be perfectly reasonable. She was right to go back three hours later and clarify what she said."

Lord Dannatt said there was not a case for an amnesty or statue of limitations, as had been mooted, for Troubles-era crimes. Although he said soldiers should have added protections.

Speaking on the Nolan Live television show, he added: "In 1972 when I was a platoon commander on the streets of Northern Ireland I knew who the top of the wanted list in Belfast and Londonderry.

"I became head of the British Army, others became head of the political institutions in Northern Ireland.

"Life moves on.

"As far as Bloody Sunday was concerned bad things happened."

Lord Dannatt acknowledged the hurt of those killed during the Troubles saying life did not move on for those killed by soldiers as well as for the families for those he served with in the line of duty.

"If you want life to move on you have got to think about the bigger issues and think about what kind of community and society do people want to live in, in the future," he added.
The brother of a teenager killed by paratroopers in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday has described as "stomach-churning" comments by one soldier present on the day who said it was a "job well done".

Relatives of the victims said they were deeply angered and horrified by the lack of remorse shown by one of the soldiers facing possible prosecution over his actions.

Read More

The comments come a week before the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) announces whether it will prosecute soldiers involved in the killing of 14 people and wounding of around a dozen others on Bloody Sunday.

'Soldier O' also told the BBC he would do the same again and described everyone taking part in the Civil Rights March through Derry on January 30, 1972, as criminals, because they did not have permission to hold the event.

John Kelly, whose brother Michael (17) was the youngest person to die on the day, said he is even more determined to see him in a courtroom dock.

Mr Kelly said: "It was stomach-churning to hear what Soldier O said. I was so angry I really had to struggle to calm myself down and in fact I am still seething.

"It certainly gives an example of what we have been dealing with and the mindset of these people. That has made me more determined to see these people in the dock."

Mr Kelly's determination to see prosecutions after watching Soldier O's interview was shared by Kate Nash, whose brother William (19) died on Bloody Sunday and whose father was among the wounded.

She said: "I was horrified listening to what this soldier said about how he considered Bloody Sunday as a job well done.

"Neither I nor my sister Linda slept a wink, we were so distraught, we sat up most of the night talking about it.

"It disturbs your mind when you realise there are people like him in this world who have no remorse whatsoever even though he now accepts there were some innocent people on the march.

"They were all innocent but he then said he would do the same thing again. I wouldn't like to think he would have access to a gun today.

"This man boasted that he did not co-operate with the police, did not answer their questions and yet he has plenty to say when there's a television camera pointed at him.

"If he is as free from guilt as he thinks he is, he could have said that to the police," she said.

"Whatever the PPS decides next week, that man has made me more determined than ever to seek prosecutions."
Police have launched a murder investigation following the deaths of three people in Newry.

The bodies of a 38-year-old man, 37-year-old woman and 15-year-old girl were discovered at a flat in Glin Ree Court at 11am on Thursday.

Read More

The three bodies have not yet been identified and the cause of death has not been established.

Police are investigating the cause of death and post mortem examinations will take place in due course.

They confirmed they are not seeking anyone else in connection with the deaths.

Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy said: "At about 11am this morning the police received a call from a concerned member of a family worried they had not been in contact with the family member for a number of days.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Police at the scene of an incident in the Glin Ree Court area of Newry where three bodies have been discovered on March 7th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott / INM) Kevin Scott / INM Police at the scene of an incident in the Glin Ree Court area of Newry where three bodies have been discovered on March 7th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott / INM) Kevin Scott / INM Police at the scene in Newry. Picture: Kevin Scott Police at the scene. Picture: Kevin Scott. Police at the scene. Picture: Kevin Scott / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Police at the scene of an incident in the Glin Ree Court area of Newry where three bodies have been discovered on March 7th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott / INM)

"Police officers have responded to the flat at Glin Ree Court in Newry and forced entry into the flat and found inside the bodies of three people.

"At this stage we believe the bodies are of those of a young female, aged approximately 15, a female aged approximately 37, and a male aged approximately 38.

"At this stage the deceased have not been formally identified and as yet we have no defined cause of death for those individuals.

"At this stage I do not believe that anybody else is involved in the deaths of those individuals and I am not currently seeking anybody else in connection with their deaths. It is still a very early part of the enquiry and the investigation is ongoing.

"If that position changes we will of course be in touch.

At this stage we are treating this as a murder investigation. The exact cause of death with regards to the three individuals is unclear. Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy

Mr Murphy said it is not clear when the victims died and what nationality they are, however, local representatives have said at least two of the victims may be foreign nationals.

Flowers carried by members of an emotional family arrived at the scene on Thursday evening.

At the scene here in Newry where police have discovered the bodys of three people in a flat. @BelTel for more info pic.twitter.com/tkKvphzSSB  Kevin Scott (@Kscott_94) March 7, 2019

The PSNI's forensic team attended the scene on Thursday afternoon.

Newry and Armagh DUP MLA William Irwin said he was concerned by the discovery.

This is an awful tragedy and I understand police have commenced investigations into this very concerning discovery. I extend my sincerest sympathy, thoughts and prayers to the wider family of the deceased individuals at this awful time," he said.

SDLP MLA Justin McNulty said a "dark cloud" was hanging over Newry.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased," he said.

Over the coming hours and days more will become known but for now this community is stunned and my thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives and with this community.

Local SDLP councillor Michael Savage said that he believed a "very tragic story is unfolding" and said the news had sent "shock waves across our city and has left many local people unnverved".

Sinn Fein councillor Charlie Casey offered his sympathies to the families of those involved.

Details are still emerging and a police investigation is underway and that should be allowed to proceed," he said.

I would encourage anyone with information on this incident to bring it forward to the PSNI.
A former senior PSNI officer has warned that protests planned for the Irish border the day after Brexit could be exploited by "sinister forces".

Allan Jones is the security advisor and director of Transformational Policing Associates (TPA).

He previously served in the RUC and later the PSNI for nearly 30 years.

Read More

During that time he was the head of public order training, responsible for the delivery of training to all police officers and support staff in the PSNI in all areas of conflict management.

He was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2007 for distinguished service in dealing with and resolving violent widespread public disorder.

The Border Communities Against Brexit group is planning a number of protests at crossing points on the Irish border the day after Brexit on March 29.

Mr Jones said that the protests could cause widespread disruption in Northern Ireland.

Expand Close Former PSNI officer Allan Jones. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Former PSNI officer Allan Jones.

He pointed out that around 12,500 Ulster rugby fans will be heading to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin for the quarter finals of the Heineken Champions Cup on March 30.

Based on previous experiences, Mr Jones predicts widespread disruption to cross border travel is possible, with a significant knock-on effect to traffic, rail and a myriad of other security issues that will impact on day-to-day policing activity.

He said that while BCAC had a "right to peaceful protest", the border protests could be "hijacked' by more sinister forces with different intentions and codes of behaviour".

While the BCAB is intent on mounting a series of legitimate peaceful protests, businesses and private citizens must take into account that there is a real likelihood that other groups or individuals who do not share the same democratic values may use the occasion as an excuse to act in ways that are less peaceful, Mr Jones said

While many protest groups begin with the best intentions at heart, they often draw the attention of extremists who either see this as an opportunity to piggyback' their views onto mainstream agenda or a way to justify their illegal activities.

Some protesters may push the boundaries of peaceful protest to what is often called civil disobedience. Protest by its very nature is an emotive subject and if mishandled (or if deliberately provocative) can result in violent behaviour."

Mr Jones said that groups may encourage violence to have it caught on camera and said that police should be prepared for an overreaction.

As the spectrum of groups that join the protest increases, it is not beyond the balance of probabilities that one or more may be willing to take criminal action to achieve their aims," he said.

The continued attacks on the Belfast to Dublin train link, especially at Lurgan, show that even hoax bombs (and hoax bomb calls) can seriously disrupt border crossings."

The international security expert said that with Brexit looming, people should be prepared for public protests.

The countdown clock to Brexit Day is running out fast and the public need to be informed as to what to expect and how they should plan for what may become widespread disruption right across Northern Ireland on March 30 and maybe beyond, Mr Jones said.
Mid Ulster District Council has denied that a delegation heading to the US today is "motivated by financial pressures" after a newspaper report stated it was a "bid to save" a centre dedicated to Seamus Heaney.

The local authority issued a statement after a report in the Irish News that HomePlace in Bellaghy has lost 1m since opening in 2016.

It reported that a team - including Seamus Heaney's son Christopher, council chief executive Anthony Tohill, HomePlace manager Brian McCormick and two councillors - was heading to the US to meet groups including philanthropic organisations and universities in a "funding dash".

The 4.25m building celebrates the life and works of the late poet and Nobel Laureate.

According to yesterday's report, the centre is "in the red to the tune of more than 1m - with the district's ratepayers picking up the tab".

However, a council spokesperson said that "Press reports which imply that the forthcoming visit to the US has been motivated by financial pressures are simply incorrect".

She added: "Seamus Heaney HomePlace is meeting and, indeed, exceeding its visitor and income targets and operating within the annual budget, set and agreed by the council.

"To date, we have welcomed almost 80,000 visitors from more than 20 countries and income stands at close to 500,000."

The spokesperson said the attraction required a "subvention", which she described as an "investment" in the centre, and regeneration of the locality. "HomePlace has acted as a catalyst for business development, job creation and economic growth and is estimated to generate more than 800,000 in visitor spend and bed nights in the area per annum," she added.

"Seamus Heaney was a figure of global importance and HomePlace is an international facility.

"Now that it is established and successful, we are working to extend our reach internationally and our visit to the US is part of that work to develop partnerships and to promote HomePlace."
An artists impression of Clear Rosemounts proposed residential and retail development on site of the former Ulster Bank on the Lisburn Road

A derelict bank in south Belfast looks set to be demolished to make way for a new 5m residential and retail complex.

The three-storey former Ulster Bank building at the corner of Lisburn Road and Tates Avenue has been vacant for more than a decade.

Officials at Belfast City Council have now given the green light to Clear Rosemount's proposal to knock it down to make way for a new five-storey apartment building with three retail and cafe units.

The company's directors include Colin Johnston, who heads the Clear Healthcare pharmacy group.

The developers have said they expect that between 40 to 50 jobs will be created during the construction phase.

Mr Johnston is also involved in a bid to convert a former Northern Bank in Lurgan into a coffee shop.

The High Street building was better known in recent years as the premises of homegrown department store Houstons.

Lurganbridge Ltd, of which Mr Johnston is a director, has submitted an application to turn the ground floor of the building into a coffee shop.

Clear Rosemount's proposed development on the Lisburn Road involves the bank and a vacant site next door.

The site also stretches onto Ashley Avenue.

Planning permission was previously granted to Largie Developments in 2010 to build 45 apartments and three retail units on the site.

However, the company entered administration prior to planning approval being granted and was eventually dissolved in 2017.

The administrators initially put the site on the market with an 800,000 price tag, but it was not sold. It was once again marketed in late 2015 with a new guide price of 550,000.

It is understood that Clear Rosemount bought the site in mid-2016 for just over 600,000.

The developer's proposal includes half the number of apartments, spread over five levels. It will be broken down into 15 two-bedroom and eight single bedroom flats.

In its submission to the council, Clear Rosemount said: "We believe the application brings forward a modern and high quality mixed use retail, commercial and residential development at a key location in south Belfast."

Officials have described the 1960s era former bank building as being in a state of dereliction.

Recommending that the demolition and redevelopment go ahead, officials said the building makes no ma terial contribution to the character of the Lisburn Road.
Consumption rooms would allow users to safely inject drugs like heroin

Facilities where people can safely inject themselves with illegal drugs should be considered for Northern Ireland, a medical chief has said.

Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said the use of "consumption rooms" could stem the problem of users injecting in public places and reduce the risk of drug overdoses.

He was speaking after it emerged that drug-related deaths among men in Northern Ireland have almost doubled in the last ten years.

Figures show that 101 of the 136 such deaths in 2017 were males, compared to 51 in 2007.

Read More

Dr McBride said health professionals have seen an increase in the use of heroin among patients in recent years.

"My own view on this is that we need to look at all options that can reduce the harm associated with intravenous drug misuse," he told BBC NI.

"Yes, we have reduced the risk of overdose through making available Naloxone, but we also need to look at whether or not there are other alternative models such as consumption rooms.

Expand Close Dr Michael McBride said consumption rooms should be considered. (Paul Faith/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Dr Michael McBride said consumption rooms should be considered. (Paul Faith/PA)

"Ultimately, decisions of that nature will be a matter for a minister in an executive in due course."

Naloxone is a drug used to reverse the effects of an opiate overdose. According to the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, the drug has been administered 1,845 times since 2016 - with the rate steadily increasing each year.

Consumption rooms have been successfully introduced elsewhere in Europe, however Dr McBride said it was a "complex issue" and some fear they could encourage addicts to continue injecting hard drugs.

"I don't think it's a problem that's going to go away any time soon," he said.

"We're beginning to make progress in some areas, but this is a complex issue, there are no simple solutions."

Measures have already been taken in some parts of Northern Ireland to deal with the problem of drug users discarding used needles in public places.

Several parks across Belfast have had "sharps bins" installed, where used needles can be safely dispose of.

Needle exchange programs also operate in various pharmacies across Northern Ireland.

Earlier this month, the Belfast Drug and Alcohol Coordination Team and charity Extern hosted a conference to learn how about how other countries are responding to injecting drug use.

Seamus Mullen said with "significant numbers" of users injecting drugs, "it is vital that we continue to explore how we can further engage with this vulnerable group to reduce the risks to them and to others, and to support them into treatment."
A 65-year-old woman is being treated for shock after a pipe bomb attack in Craigavon, County Armagh. Pic Pacemaker

A 65-year-old woman was treated for shock after an explosion at her Co Armagh home.

A pipe bomb detonated at around 12.50am on Thursday causing damage to the door and hallway of the home.

Detective Sergeant Patterson said: At around 12:50am this morning, Thursday 7 March, it was reported that a device had been pushed through a letterbox and had detonated inside the house.

"Damage was caused to both the front door and hallway of the property.

"A female resident aged in her 60s was upstairs in the property when the attack occurred. She was treated at the scene for shock but was not physically injured.

Enquiries are continuing and we would appeal to anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area to contact detectives on 101, quoting reference number 19 of 7/3/19. Alternatively, information can be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.

police explosion craigavon

Upper Bann MLA Carla Lockhart described the attack as "horrific".

"This type of behaviour is reckless," she added.

"We could be dealing with a death or a serious injury. The community does not want this type of activity in the area. Any information please come forward to the police."

Craigavon Sinn Fein councillor Catherine Nelson added: "We could be waking up to a death this morning due to the murderous actions of idiots who planted a pipebomb outside a home.

"If you noticed anything suspicious report it to the PSNI. The people of Craigavon deserve better. Thoughts with the resident impacted."

Police are appealing for information and can be contacted on 101.
A man allegedly kicked a police officer to the head and threatened to leave his colleague "stone f****** dead", the High Court has heard.

Christopher Boyle turned violent after attacking a house in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh while a woman and her four-year-old child were inside, prosecutors claimed.

The 21-year-old faces charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, threats to kill, disorderly behaviour, criminal damage and assault on police over the incident on February 14.

He is also accused of punching another PSNI officer about the head and face in a separate outburst of aggression earlier in the month.

Refusing bail, Judge Brian Sherrard said: "I can't be persuaded that this man is not a risk of re-offending."

Boyle, of Corban Avenue in the town, was allegedly among a group of around 15 people trying to get into a house in the Foxhill Close area, the court heard.

According to the prosecution the woman inside with her child locked the door, ran upstairs and phoned police.

She claimed to have viewed Boyle on a CCTV camera, kicking and cracking a pane of glass on her door.

When police arrived he allegedly shouted "F*** you, f*** the PSNI" and tried to head-butt one officer.

Others in the crowd surrounded police as Boyle continued to struggle and resist arrest, it was contended.

A Crown lawyer alleged that he kicked one of the officers to the side of the head, causing an open wound and breaking his earpiece.

Limb restraints were applied amid a further attempt to inflict a head-butt, she claimed.

Boyle allegedly made a series of threats to kill, telling one officer: "I swear to God, Constable, when I get out I'm going to kill you stone f****** dead."

The court was told a motive for the incident remains unclear.

Defence barrister Michael Boyd stressed his client has no problem with the woman living at the house.

Instead, Boyle claims he was verbally abused and had objects thrown at him by another man as he walked past.

Counsel said the accused denies damaging the property but accepts that he "reacted extremely badly" when police arrived.

"He did it in the heat of the moment, he completely lost his cool," Mr Boyd added.

Boyle is separately charged with assaulting police and disorderly behaviour at Cornagrade Road in Enniskillen on February 1.

He was allegedly part of a group drinking in the area, with the prosecution claiming he became aggressive and responded to a pre-emptive baton strike by punching an officer several times about the head and face.

Ruling that the accused must remain in custody, Judge Sherrard expressed little confidence he would abide by any bail conditions.
Detectives today renewed their appeal for information to help solve the murder of two soldiers at a Co Antrim army barracks on the 10th anniversary of the shootings.

Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar were shot dead outside the barracks on Saturday, March 7, 2009.

Two of their colleagues were also injured in the attack, as were two civilians delivering pizza to the base.

Another soldier, who was nearby, narrowly escaped injury.

Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray said: "Our thoughts today are very much with the families of Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar, whose ongoing grief, pain and hurt must be unimaginable.

"It is also a poignant day for those who were injured and maimed and now live with the physical and psychological scars of that fateful attack.

"It is our appeal today that anyone who has information about the attack and those who carried it out would come to the police with that information which may open up new lines of enquiry.

"One person has been convicted for offences involved in the murder by providing the phone used to make calls claiming the attack. However, it is the killers themselves who we want to bring before the court."

Mr Murray described the investigation as "long and complex".

He said that the probe had so far generated 4,062 investigative actions, 1,858 witness statements, 33 searches and 14 arrests.

"Today, on the 10th anniversary, I would appeal to those who know anything about the events of that night to come forward to police," Mr Murray added.

Anyone with information should contact detectives in the Major Investigation Team on 101 or can give information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley returned to the House of Commons to clarify her comments (PA)

Northern Irelands former police ombudsman Baroness Nuala OLoan has urged the Prime Minister to seek Karen Bradleys resignation.

The Northern Ireland Secretary has said she did not intend to cause offence but fell short of apologising after claiming deaths caused by soldiers and police during the Troubles were not crimes.

Her comments were criticised by victims of the security forces and nationalist political leaders, while the Irish Government sought an explanation.

Expand Close Baroness Nuala OLoan (Niall Carson/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Baroness Nuala OLoan (Niall Carson/PA)

Baroness OLoan said: Those comments show a complete disregard for the operation of the rule of law.

Moreover, they also demonstrate a total lack of understanding about Northern Ireland and utter contempt for those who suffered the loss of loved ones.

Ms Bradley returned to the House of Commons to clarify to MPs that where there is evidence of wrongdoing it should always be investigated.

Baroness OLoan was Northern Irelands first police ombudsman, an independent post charged with scrutinising police investigations.

Her tenure covered landmark inquiries into the polices handling of the Omagh bombing as well as prominent cases of security force collusion with loyalists.

It is incomprehensible that anyone seized of the responsibilities given to Ms Bradley, who should be fully aware of the history of Northern Ireland, should comment in these termsBaroness Nuala O'Loan

She chairs the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, which reviews the polices handling of the murder of a private investigator in London.

She is also a member of the Independent Advisory Group for Operation Kenova, which is probing murders linked to a high-ranking Army mole in Northern Ireland.

She said there was a vociferous and uninformed campaign among elements in the UK to close down the proper and lawful investigation of the crimes of the past.

Notwithstanding that, it is incomprehensible that anyone seized of the responsibilities given to Ms Bradley, who should be fully aware of the history of Northern Ireland, should comment in these terms.

The remarks she made when she returned to the House of Commons did not even include an apology.

Karen Bradley should be asked to resign as Secretary of State. If she refuses I ask you to remove her as Secretary of State.

The people of Northern Ireland have suffered and continue to suffer terribly. If we are to build a new future we must do so upon the solid foundations of the rule of law.

I was absolutely determined to be clear to everybody that what I had said needed correcting and to do so on the floor of the House of Commons is the biggest statement I can makeKaren Bradley

Asked on Wednesday evening if she would apologise for her comments, Ms Bradley told the Press Association: Coming back to the House of Commons and correcting the record is the biggest statement I can make in terms of the inadvertent comments that I made during oral questions.

I was absolutely determined to be clear to everybody that what I had said needed correcting and to do so on the floor of the House of Commons is the biggest statement I can make.

She said she did not intend to cause any offence or upset to anybody, adding: I am determined that we will find a way to deal with the issue of the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland as soon as possible and in a way that is right and fair for victims and everyone.

Pressed on whether she would say sorry, Ms Bradley, who was at a St Patricks Day event at the embassy of Ireland in London, said: As I say, I never intend to cause any offence. I want to ensure that we have a system that works for everyone.

Ms Bradley initially told MPs on Wednesday: The fewer than 10% (of deaths) that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes.

They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way.

She later returned to the Commons to say: The point I was seeking to convey was that the overwhelming majority of those who served carried out their duties with courage, professionalism and integrity and within the law.

I was not referring to any specific cases but expressing a general view.

Of course, where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated  whoever is responsible.

These are of course matters for the police and prosecuting authorities, who are independent of Government.
Sinn Fein, the SDLP and a victims' group last night called on Secretary of State Karen Bradley to resign after controversial comments on security force killings.

Mrs Bradley's claim that such acts were "not crimes" provoked fury from nationalist politicians, who are to raise the issue with the Prime Minister.

Read More

Responding in the House of Commons to a question about legacy issues from DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly, the Secretary of State said: "Over 90% of the killings during the Troubles were at the hands of terrorists - every single one of those was a crime.

"The fewer than 10% that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes.

"They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duty in a dignified and appropriate way."

Next week prosecutors will announce whether soldiers will face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings of 14 innocent civilians in Londonderry.

Mrs Bradley later returned to the chamber to clarify her comments.

"I was not referring to any specific cases, but expressing a general view," she said.

"Of course, where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated, whoever is responsible.

"These are, of course, matters for the police and prosecuting authorities, who are independent of the Government."

Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle O'Neill last night said she had told Mrs Bradley "in the strongest possible terms" that her comments were "beyond unacceptable" and that it was "a resignation matter".

Ms O'Neill said it was an issue which went "right to the heart of British Government policy". Denouncing the remarks as "outrageous and offensive", she added: "These comments are an insult to families who have lost loved ones at the hands of the British Army, state agencies and their proxies in the loyalist death squads, which were directed by the British state."

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said she had written to both the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach about the remarks, which she said had "caused great distress to the many victims of British state forces".

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood tweeted: "Karen Bradley is publically (sic) interfering with the rule of law. No one has the right to deliberately pressure or intervene with due process. She should resign."

Mr Eastwood said the Secretary of State was again exhibiting "her stunning ignorance about the past". Her comments were "particularly insensitive given that the Bloody Sunday families await news on whether former British soldiers will be prosecuted for murdering 14 innocent civilians in Derry", he added.

Relatives for Justice chief executive Mark Thompson slammed Mrs Bradley's comments as "odious, disgusting and deeply offensive".

He said: "Rather than the miserable spectacle of 'clarifying in case she is misunderstood', Karen Bradley should resign.

"Further, her Government is neither fit nor neutral to take forward proposals to deal with the past.

"Both Governments should move to appoint an international body that can take forward a comprehensive, independent process on legacy based on the Stormont House Agreement."

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said there must not be a one-sided approach to dealing with the past. "We have been involved in discussions with the Government to support our veterans against the witch hunts against them," he said. "However no one should be above the law and all innocent victims deserve justice.

"Sinn Fein need to face up to the reality that they have denied IRA involvement in murders and continue to glorify terrorism. If there is to be justice, it should not be one-sided."

Victims campaigner Willie Frazer congratulated Mrs Bradley on her remarks.

"It's about time that the British Government resolutely and unquestionably supported those many veterans who served in Northern Ireland, upholding law and order with honour and distinction," he said.

"The continual and systematic attempts to discredit and blacken the forces of law and order need to be recognised as a calculated, unashamed campaign, orchestrated and prolonged by republican apologists."

Alliance leader Naomi Long said Mrs Bradley comments represented an "unwarranted and unjustifiable act of political interference" in the justice system which "undermined due process and the rule of law".

Her remarks were also "appalling and deeply hurtful" to families still waiting justice, she added.

Green Party leader Clare Bailey said the comments "constitute a new low for the Secretary of State".
The appointment of a special representative to support UK victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism has been welcomed as a positive step forward by unionist politicians.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt named former Charity Commissioner William Shawcross as the new representative and he will now assist the efforts of victims to obtain compensation from the Libyans.

It's estimated London banks hold around 12bn of Libyan funds after the UN ordered that they be frozen in 2011 to prevent their theft or misuse during the civil war that toppled Colonel Gaddafi.

The dictator supplied weapons, including Semtex explosives, to the IRA during the Troubles.

Among victims seeking redress are the families of those killed and injured in the 1987 Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing.

"I sincerely hope this marks a new beginning in our efforts to get justice for the victims of Libyan-sponsored terrorism," said Ulster Unionist peer Sir Reg Empey.

Lord Empey has been working on a Bill at Westminster to secure release of the money for compensation for almost three years.

"For some time now it has been clear that there are elements within the Foreign Office who are reluctant to tackle the Libyan problem," he said. "Until we see the terms of reference it will be difficult to know for sure whether this is real progress or simply window dressing, but the very fact that something is happening does at least provide some encouragement."

Making the appointment, the UK Government said it remains "committed to supporting the victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terrorism".

"UK ministers and diplomats in Libya continue to press the Libyan authorities to engage constructively with victims and their representatives," said Middle East Minister Alistair Burt.

"This appointment will bring greater focus to our efforts to support the victims of these terrible acts of terrorism.

"Mr Shawcross's role will be to help inform the Government's approach to this issue. The precise terms of reference are being finalised, but among the issues Mr Shawcross will advise on is the amount of compensation that should be sought."

Mr Shawcross served as chair of the Charity Commission and has a broad range of experience in human rights and a distinguished record over a 40-year career in journalism.

DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly said: "This is another step in the right direction.

"There has always been a strong case for Libya to put in place a compensation scheme for victims of the PIRA.

"Gaddafi armed the PIRA with Semtex.

"There is a huge responsibility on the Government to take every possible step to ensure Libya recognises the role it played in the PIRA campaign.

"It is vital that we assess the number of victims who could potentially qualify for a compensation scheme, what levels of compensation should be requested and how the issue can be best progressed.

"In 2004 Libya agreed to pay compensation for the 170 people killed in the bombing of UTA flight 772 in 1989.

"The German Government secured $35 million for those killed in the 1986 bombing of the La Belle discotheque in Berlin.

"PIRA victims across the United Kingdom have a very worthy and compelling case.

"They were let down by previous Governments."
Sinn Fein members of the Policing Board Philip McGuigan, Linda Dillon and Gerry Kelly at a previous meeting with PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton

The DUP has denied a deal was struck with Sinn Fein to allow the republican party to be represented on the selection panel to appoint the new PSNI Chief Constable.

It follows comments from Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald, who said she could not identify anyone in the senior PSNI command that could take over the Chief Constable's role.

It had prompted concerns over Sinn Fein's inclusion on the appointment panel.

Last night, sources suggested that Sinn Fein Policing Board member Linda Dillon was put forward by the party for the role instead of the higher-profile Gerry Kelly MLA to allow the process to continue.

Mid-Ulster MLA Ms Dillon will sit as one of five politicians on the eight-person panel which will choose the successor to George Hamilton, who steps down from his position in June on completion of his four-year contract.

It is understood there were angry exchanges at the meeting to decide on the panel and that the final decision was not a unanimous one.

Some board members were unhappy that Sinn Fein would have a role on the panel amid fears over potential legal action by unsuccessful candidates.

Asked if a deal had been struck with Sinn Fein, DUP Policing Board member Mervyn Storey MLA said it was a matter for each party who they placed on the panel.

"The board has agreed a process for appointing a new Chief Constable," he said.

"We will be part of the selection panel. It is a matter for each party who they nominate to sit on selection panels."

Sinn Fein's Ms Dillon joins Policing Board chair Anne Connolly, John Blair MLA (Alliance), Alan Chambers MLA (UUP), Dolores Kelly MLA (SDLP), Colm McKenna, Wendy Osborne and Mr Storey on the selection panel.

The Policing Board said it is taking extra measures to ensure a fair and balanced approach to the recruitment process after agreeing to bring in additional independent scrutiny.

In the wake of her comments, Mrs McDonald had been accused by the DUP of interfering with due process and the board sought legal advice. "The comments by Mary Lou McDonald were foolish. She should have apologised and withdrew them," said Mr Storey.

"Everyone should be circumspect in their comments and work to help build confidence in policing rather than undermine it."

At the time, Gerry Kelly had attempted to clarify the comments by his party leader. "Any Sinn Fein member who will sit on any of the selection panels will act on the basis of objectivity and merit, whether those candidates are from within the PSNI or outside," he said.

Last night, the Police Federation, whose chair Mark Lindsay had slammed the Sinn Fein president's comments as "wholly inappropriate and offensive", said it "would reserve judgment but would be keeping the situation under close attention".

Policing Board chair Anne Connolly said the board is now confident of an open and transparent selection process.

"This is a significant appointment and the board is fully confident that the process can move ahead with integrity and on the basis of equality of opportunity for all," she said.

"The board, and the panel now appointed, is responsible for progressing a recruitment process that is based on the key principles of merit, fairness, openness and transparency.

"In order to provide further assurance and confidence, the board has today agreed to incorporate additional independent scrutiny throughout the process to bring an extra level of scrutiny, probity and transparency.

"In moving forward, it is the board's priority to ensure the appointment process as a whole is based on principles of equality of opportunity for all potential candidates and is completed by the end of June 2019."
A 13 y/o boy left with injuries in Banbridge after he was arrested by a police officer

The Police Ombudsman's Office has appealed for witnesses to an incident during which a 13-year-old boy was arrested by police in Banbridge on Saturday March 2.

The footage which circulated on social media showed the 13-year-old boy being led away by two officers. At one point it appears the teen is thrown roughly to the ground by a male officer, causing his face to bleed heavily.

Read More

During the confrontation, other young people filming the incident can be heard screaming and swearing at the officers while the boy is put into a police car.

Police said they responded to a report of an assault on a young male involving a number of youths in Solitude Park on Saturday evening.

A police ombudsman spokesperson said."We would also be keen to hear from anyone who saw what happened or who may have recorded other footage on their mobile phones.

"Anyone who believes they may be able to assist is asked to contact the Police Ombudsman's freephone witness appeal line, which is 0800 032 7880."
Police have discovered a "significant terrorist hide" in a forested area in Co Armagh.

The hid was found at the Carewamean Road area of Forkhill following searches on Wednesday.

Police discovered component parts for mortars including six mortar tubes after being made aware of suspicions items buried in the ground in a wooded area in a constructed hide.

Detective Inspector Graham Orr from the PSNIs Terrorist Investigation Unit said that initial observations suggest the hide is from a more recent time period and may be linked to dissident republican activity.

Due to the location of the find and the items located in it, I believe vehicles or machinery may have been used to transport the items and access the site. The investigation is in the early stages and we are still working to establish the timeframe," he said.

"Our enquiries are progressing and a detailed forensic examination of all these items will take some time. At this stage, it is too early to attribute ownership of these materials to any particular grouping or individual.

It is vital that people remain vigilant, wherever they are and whatever they are doing. We will continue to work with our communities to disrupt the activities of the small group of people who are intent on using violence.

"There is no place for this type of activity and the vast majority of people in our communities want to live in a peaceful society.

Detective Inspector Orr appealed for anyone with information on the find to come forward.

"I would appeal to anyone who has noticed any suspicious activity or vehicles in the Carewamean Road area to contact detectives on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 846 .

"This may have been something you saw recently or it could have been a few years ago - please let us know either way and we can consider the information.

"Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.
Police are at the scene of a security alert on the Cromwell Road.

A security alert in the Botanic area of Belfast has ended after the discovery of a non-viable suspect device.

A number of properties were evacuated and roads closed due to the security alert on Thursday afternoon.

The suspect device was discovered in the Cromwell Road area.

The road has now reopened and evacuated residents have been allowed to return to their homes.

Lord Mayor of Belfast Deirdre Hargey condemned those behind the alert.

The security alert on Cromwell Road has caused significant disruption to local residents this afternoon with a number of properties being evacuated and the streets closed," the Sinn Fein councillor said.

"Those responsible for this disruption have shown complete disregard for the local area.

"There can be no justification for this type of reckless activity."

Inspector David White thanked the public for their patience and co-operation during the security alert.

"Keeping people is our priority and we will not take any chances. I would appeal to anyone who knows anything about this incident to contact us on the non emergency number 101, quoting reference number CCS 473 07/03/19.

"Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime."
Researchers at Queen's University have discovered a treatment that could improve the lives of people suffering from chronic lung disease

Researchers at Queen's University have discovered a treatment that could improve the lives of people suffering from chronic lung disease.

Researchers found that the symptoms associated with cystic fibrosis (CF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could be alleviated through inhibiting the activity of an enzyme found in the lungs.

The breakthrough builds on a previous study led by the team at Queen's that found that high levels of a particular enzyme, cathepsin 'S', in the lungs of children with cystic fibrosis were associated with increased inflammation and lung damage.

Lead investigator Professor Cliff Taggart, from the Wellcome-Wolfson Centre for Experimental Medicine at Queen's University, said the discovery could make a huge difference.

"We know that this enzyme plays a key role in provoking symptoms of chronic lung diseases such as CF and COPD," Mr Taggart explained.

"We have now discovered that treatment to target this specific enzyme can significantly reduce inflammation, lung damage and mucus obstruction - key hallmark features of CF and COPD."

CF is one of the UK's most common life-threatening inherited diseases.

It causes thickened mucus to form in the lungs, which blocks the airways, causes inflammation and can make it difficult to breathe.

The average life expectancy for people with the disease in the UK is 40 years old, with a much lower life expectancy in developing countries.

COPD patients also experience heightened inflammation in the lungs, as well as increased lung damage.

According to the World Health Organisation, COPD is expected to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030.

The CF research, published in the European Respiratory Journal, brought together experts from Queen's University Belfast, the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, INSERM Paris and Virobay Inc US.

At the same time, researchers at Queen's jointly led an international study on COPD with the State University of New York in Brooklyn, in collaboration with Imperial College London, which has been published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "Many drugs are developed as enzyme inhibitors, but they don't target specific enzymes," explained Professor Taggart.

"This general approach may lead to significant issues, including increased infection.

"The specific targeting of cathepsin 'S' enables the delivery of a more targeted treatment to address the symptoms without unwanted side effects.

"Excessive inflammation in chronic lung diseases such as CF and COPD leads to irreversible damage of the airways, progressive loss of lung function and, ultimately, death due to respiratory failure."

"There is a high need for effective anti-inflammatory therapies for patients with these chronic lung diseases, and targeting of cathepsin 'S' is a promising strategy that can now be tested in future clinical trials."

Lead author Dr Sinead Weldon, from Queen's University, said further testing was key to trying to improve the quality of life for chronic lung disease sufferers.

"Thanks to this research, we now understand the causes and how to reduce the symptoms associated with both CF and COPD," she added.

"Moving forward, we need to apply this knowledge in further testing, so that we can improve the quality of life for those affected by these diseases."
Police are at the scene of an operation in the Co Armagh village in Jonesborough with reports a possible "historic weapons hide" has been found.

Police have cordoned off part of the village since late on Wednesday night and remain at the scene.

They have not yet commented on the operation.

Read More

Sources have said the operation is in its early stages but indications on Thursday morning were a Troubles-era weapons hide has been found.

Sinn Fein councillor for the area Mickey Larkin said the operation appeared to be "low-key".

He said there has been one road closure and having spoken with police expected the operation to conclude some time in the afternoon.

"It's too early to say what's been found, police are waiting to see what it is that has been found," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"They have been there from last night and while there has been a road closure disruption for residents in the area has been minimal."

UUP councillor David Taylor said he was aware of the ongoing operation.

"The police have informed us but not said anything so far. It is too early in their operation."

Police have not yet responded to requests for comment.
The Prince of Wales spoke of the friendship between Ireland and the UK (Jeff Spicer/PA)

The Prince of Wales has said he has faith the friendship between Ireland and the UK will endure for generations as he vowed to visit all 32 counties on the island.

Charles made the remarks in a speech, which featured a few words of the Irish language, in front of stars including Sir Kenneth Branagh at the Embassy of Ireland in London.

Along with the Duchess of Cornwall, Charles sat down for an early St Patricks Day dinner with guests such as the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, comedian Dara O Briain and actors Fiona Shaw and Adrian Dunbar.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall met stars including Sir Kenneth Branagh, Adrian Dunbar, Fiona Shaw and Dara OBriain tonight at the @IrelandEmbGB in London. pic.twitter.com/5fbgwnpqaf  Catherine Wylie (@wyliecatherine) March 6, 2019

The princes words at the celebration of UK and Irish relations are likely to be interpreted by commentators as partly referring to the importance of the relationship between the two countries amid the challenges presented by Brexit.

Charles, who has toured Ireland every year since 2014, said: Above all we are friends, we are partners and we are the closest of near neighbours, bound together by everything that we have in common  and by just how far we have come together.

If I may say so ladies and gentlemen, this is precisely why it has been of such importance to both my wife and myself that we too should visit Ireland so often over these past few years  to experience and celebrate as best we can the unparalleled bonds between our two countries and to highlight just what a fundamental difference they make to us all.

And I must say Im slightly amazed to find that weve managed to visit 15 counties already.

At tonights reception, Their Royal Highnesses met guests from across the UK and Irish communities  including Sir Kenneth Branagh, Fiona Shaw & Dara OBriain. pic.twitter.com/Hf2UPw8Sg6  The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 6, 2019

I am quite determined before I drop dead and finally lose my marbles that I should get around to the remaining 17.

Charles added: And so, as our relationship evolves over the coming months and years, I have both the faith and the hope that the essential friendship between the people of Ireland and the people of the United Kingdom will not only endure but will renew itself for generations to come.

Charles finished his toast by wishing everyone a happy Saint Patricks Day in Irish: La Fheile Padraig sona daoibh.

Guests at Wednesday nights dinner feasted on Connemara cured ham and organic Irish salmon.

Camilla wore a green Kaftan, which was a gift from the King of Morocco when the couple visited in 2011.

Expand Close Camilla wore green (Jeff Spicer/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Camilla wore green (Jeff Spicer/PA)

In a speech, Mr Coveney said it was a privilege to be at the event to celebrate the British-Irish relationship approaching Saint Patricks Day at a pretty serious time for everybody.

He added: All of us here this evening understand that its not a time of entirely plain sailing in this relationship. There are some big issues at stake.

Mr Coveney said it was important to celebrate the extraordinarily vibrant and overwhelmingly positive connections enjoyed by the UK and Ireland.

Before the dinner, Charles and Camilla were shown a new portrait of poet Seamus Heaney by artist Mark Baker.

The Nobel laureates widow Marie Heaney joined the royal couple in viewing the painting, and told Camilla she thought it was terrific, adding: Im very touched. Its lovely.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall were shown a newly-installed painting of poet Seamus Heaney - in the Embassy of Irelands Heaney Room. pic.twitter.com/Un8P7OtJnF  The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 6, 2019

Meanwhile, Sir Kenneth said he discussed his upcoming film Artemis Fowl with Charles, and said: I think hes interested in all things Irish.

Commenting on the importance of celebrating relations between Ireland and the UK, Sir Kenneth said: Always better to talk than not talk.

Harry Potter star Shaw said she meets the royal couple regularly, and said events like the one on Wednesday night were important in order to save the ties between the two countries.

On the issue of Brexit, she said: What is stupendous is that Europe is protecting that border.

Asked how optimistic he is about the border issue being resolved, Line Of Duty star Dunbar said: No idea. Nobody knows whats happening. Nobody knows whats going on.

O Briain joked that he would like Brexit chaos to carry on until June when comedy panel show Mock The Week is back, saying: Frankly I dont want to be doing Mock The Week in a post-Brexit landscape.
Police at the scene near North Birkbeck Road in Leyton, east London, after a man was stabbed on Wednesday evening (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Theresa May continued to face a mounting backlash for denying a link between officer numbers and bloodshed on Britains streets as another man lost his life in a fatal stabbing in the capital.

A murder investigation was launched after a man believed to be in his mid-20s was knifed to death in Leyton, east London, on Wednesday evening.

His death follows a string of high-profile stabbings in recent days, including 17-year-olds Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, who were killed in separate incidents in London and Greater Manchester over the weekend.

A murder investigation has been launched following the fatal stabbing of a man in Leyton. My heart goes out to his loved ones.



I'm in close contact with the Met Commissioner. Anyone with information is urged to contact @metpoliceuk on 101, or @CrimestoppersUK anonymously. https://t.co/91gT0B5V6x  Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) March 6, 2019

In Birmingham, three teenagers died in the space of 12 days last month.

The killings have prompted warnings of a national emergency and sparked intense scrutiny of reductions in the size of the police workforce.

The number of officers in the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales has fallen by more than 20,000 since 2009.

Mrs May, who was home secretary from 2010 to 2016, argued earlier this week that there was no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers.

But a string of senior figures in policing have lined up to dispute her assertion.

Productive meeting with senior police leaders today to discuss knife crime & what more we can do to stop this senseless violence. Resources & powers important & Ill continue to listen to law enforcement about their needs. Vital we take action on many fronts pic.twitter.com/4vzRbojAJN  Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) March 6, 2019

Lord Stevens, a former Metropolitan Police commissioner, told the BBC that he believed the PM had not been listening to police forces concerns.

I dont think she listens, quite frankly, to what shes being told, she said.

On Wednesday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid acknowledged that police resources were important in tackling knife violence after holding emergency talks with chief constables.

Speaking after the meeting, he said: I think police resources are very important to deal with this. Weve got to do everything we can.

Im absolutely committed to working with the police in doing this. We have to listen to them when they talk about resources.

Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (PA Graphics)

Senior Labour politicians, including police and crime commissioners, have written to the Prime Minister urging her to put 10,000 police officers back on the streets.

The joint letter, also signed by London mayor Sadiq Khan, said: There is not a town or city across the UK which hasnt been touched by the outbreak of serious youth violence.

It said nationwide there had been a 93% rise in children under 16 being stabbed since 2013, taking knife crime to the highest level since records began.

This is a national crisis and it requires leadership from the top of government, the letter added.

It called on the Prime Minister to drop this dangerous delusion that police cuts were not correlated with certain crimes.

Mrs May announced she would host a summit on knife crime and said the Government was putting more resources into policing.

But Mr Khan said having a one-off knife summit by itself wont solve this issue.

Whilst we all need to work together to tackle violent crime - we also need leadership from the Prime Minister.



As Mayor I'm continuing my calls for a united plan of action for all arms of Govt, and proper funding for our police & public services. #Pestonpic.twitter.com/Tj7NnKIJqU  Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) March 6, 2019

He told ITVs Peston: Of course I welcome any movement by the Prime Minister to address the issues that cause knife crime but I think a one-off summit may make great pictures, and may lead to one or two good soundbites, but by itself wont be enough.

He said the reasons for the increase in violent crime were quite complex and added: What Id like to see is a joined-up public health approach in dealing with this very serious issue.

At Prime Ministers Questions, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed the Prime Minister was trying to keep communities safe on the cheap.

He said: Does the Prime Minister now regret cuts in police numbers and will she undertake that under this review they will be restored to the level they were formerly at?

A proposed cash boost could see total police funding rise by nearly 1 billion in 2019/20, including money raised through council tax.

Asked whether the PM still believed there was no direct link between police numbers and violent crime, her official spokesman said: Clearly resources and powers are important.

We have just given the police more resources and more powers and we always listen to what the police are saying.

But its hugely important that we dont just treat this as a policing issue, that we do look across society at things such as changes in the drugs market and address issues like gang culture with children being groomed into this lifestyle and carrying knives, and we look at public health.

Later this week, police chiefs will present ministers with details of the resources they need for a surge in capacity to combat the rise in violent crime.
The Foreign Secretary has said a gaffe where he described Slovenia as a Soviet vassal state was an attempt at an expression of friendship.

Jeremy Hunt made the statement while visiting the country  which was part of the former Yugoslavia and not the USSR  last week.

The SNPs Stephen Gethins described his comments in the House of Commons as an example of how the UK was losing friends in the EU just at the point it needed them to renegotiate the Brexit deal.

It was an expression of friendship, from the UK to SloveniaJeremy Hunt

Mr Hunt said on Thursday: What I was saying to Slovenia when I was there was how impressed I was with the transformation of Slovenia, since they were part of the former Yugoslavia.

It was an expression of friendship, from the UK to Slovenia.

The Foreign Secretary spoke while visiting Heriot-Watt Universitys Scottish Borders campus in Galashiels, where he had a go at making his own print T-shirt.

He said the UK could conquer the world with its creativity after leaving the EU.

Expand Close Mr Hunt puts on rubber gloves before making a T-shirt screen print (Jane Barlow/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Mr Hunt puts on rubber gloves before making a T-shirt screen print (Jane Barlow/PA)

Mr Hunt added: Brexit is an opportunity for us as a country to ask ourselves how are we going to be successful in the 21st century?

The key quality we have in Scotland, in the whole of the UK, is creativity.

This creativity that can conquer the world in the 21st century means being open to  not just big European markets  but markets all over the world.

Brexit will be a springboard to that.
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley said she did not intend to cause offence but fell short of apologising after saying deaths caused by soldiers and police during the Troubles were not crimes.

Her comments sparked calls to resign and provoked trenchant criticism from outraged victims of the security forces and nationalist political leaders, while the Irish Government sought an explanation.

Ms Bradley returned to the House of Commons to clarify to MPs that alleged wrongdoing should always be investigated.

Next week, prosecutors will announce whether soldiers will face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings of 14 innocent civilians in Londonderry.

When asked on Wednesday evening if she would like to apologise for her comments, Ms Bradley told the Press Association: Coming back to the House of Commons and correcting the record is the biggest statement I can make in terms of the inadvertent comments that I made during oral questions.

I was absolutely determined to be clear to everybody that what I had said needed correcting and to do so on the floor of the House of Commons is the biggest statement I can make.

Read More

Mrs Bradley said she did not intend to cause any offence or upset to anybody, adding: I am determined that we will find a way to deal with the issue of the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland as soon as possible and in a way that is right and fair for victims and everyone.

Pressed on whether she would say sorry to people she upset, Ms Bradley, who was at a Saint Patricks Day event at the Embassy of Ireland in London, said: As I say, I never intend to cause any offence. I want to ensure that we have a system that works for everyone.

Coming back to the House of Commons and correcting the record is the biggest statement I can makeKaren Bradley

Ms Bradley initially told MPs on Wednesday: The fewer than 10% that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes.

They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way.

She later returned to the House of Commons to make clear her position, saying: The point I was seeking to convey was that the overwhelming majority of those who served carried out their duties with courage, professionalism and integrity and within the law.

I was not referring to any specific cases but expressing a general view.

Of course where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated  whoever is responsible.

These are of course matters for the police and prosecuting authorities, who are independent of Government.

Expand Close Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney was due to meet Ms Bradley to seek clarification (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney was due to meet Ms Bradley to seek clarification (Niall Carson/PA)

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, who was also at the event at the Embassy of Ireland, was due to meet Ms Bradley to seek clarification.

A spokesman said: Secretary of State Bradleys reaffirmation this afternoon that where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated  whoever is responsible is important.

There are no amnesties from prosecution provided for in the Good Friday Agreement or any subsequent agreements including the Stormont House Agreement.

The Irish Government has been clear that it would not support any proposal to introduce such a measure, for state or non-state actors.

Mickey McKinney, whose brother William was shot by a Parachute Regiment soldier, said of Ms Bradleys initial comments: Its very hurtful.

She should resign right away, is she not aware that there was an inquiry that found our people completely innocent, was she not aware of David Camerons apology to the people for the behaviour of the army?

For her to come out with ridiculous comments, that is completely outrageous.

These comments are an insult to families who have lost loved ones at the hands of the British army, state agencies and their proxies in the loyalist death squads which were directed by the British state.

These offensive and hurtful comments should be withdrawn immediately. https://t.co/Ow1uNZoykg  Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) March 6, 2019

More than 90% of deaths caused during 30 years of violence involved republican or loyalist paramilitaries.

John Kellys brother Michael was aged 17 when he was shot dead during the January 1972 Bloody Sunday civil rights march.

Mr Kelly said: She has to resign, she has no option, she has to go because she cannot be representative now of anybody now in the North.

The Secretary of State is supposed to be impartial but she showed her true colours today.

Ciaran MacAirt, grandson of a woman killed in Belfasts McGurks Bar by loyalists during the Troubles, said her comments were disgusting.

She has not accounted for the hundreds of killings perpetrated by and at the behest of state agents.

Furthermore, she will never be able to whitewash such indefensible killings as the deliberate shooting dead of civilians including children, never mind all of the other unlawful killings by the British armed forces.

Also calling for Ms Bradley to resign, nationalist SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Ms Bradley was publicly interfering with the rule of law.

Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle ONeill said Ms Bradley had made outrageous and offensive comments during her initial appearance in Parliament and later told her it was a resignation matter.

The Northern Ireland Secretarys words came during oral Northern Ireland-related questions in the House of Commons.
Chancellor Philip Hammonds demand that police shift existing resources into tackling knife crime rather than expect more funding has been branded an insult.

Speaking on Thursday after another stabbing death in London, Mr Hammond said forces should move officers away from lower priority crime and on to knife violence.

His comments, which also included a suggestion that public services would get more cash if MPs voted for Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit deal, were lambasted by the Police Federation of England and Wales.

Expand Close Chancellor Philip Hammond (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Chancellor Philip Hammond (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

National chairman John Apter said: Children are dying on our streets and he has the audacity to suggest that the police need to prioritise. Let me assure him  this is a priority.

Across England and Wales my members are the ones working flat-out to prevent more young people being killed.

They are often the ones on their knees in the street trying desperately to save the lives of these young victims, they are the ones who have to deliver the terrible news to families that their loved one will never be coming home again.

And they are doing it with almost 22,000 fewer colleagues than when the Conservative Government came to power.

Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (PA Graphics)

Mr Hammond told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that the spike in knife crime needed to be tackled through a surging of resources from other areas of policing activity.

Thats what you do in any organisation when you get a specific problem occurring in one area of the operation  you move resources to deal with that, he said.

And what the public will want to know is that this Friday night and this Saturday night there are going to be more police officers focused on dealing with knife crime, and that means necessarily fewer police officers that will be dealing with other lower priority areas of activity.

On Wednesday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said after an emergency meeting with chief constables that resources were very important and the Government should listen to police.

Mr Hammond insisted that police budgets were rising, and said knife crime is an immediate problem, you cannot solve it by recruiting and training more officers  that takes time.

He said the right Brexit deal will enable money set aside for no-deal to be put into public services over the next three years.

Expand Close Home Secretary Sajid Javid said police resources were very important after discussing violent crime with chief constables (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Home Secretary Sajid Javid said police resources were very important after discussing violent crime with chief constables (PA)

The number of police officers across the 43 forces in England and Wales has fallen by more than 20,000 since 2009 but the Prime Minister has said there is no correlation between the decline and certain crimes.

Calling on Mr Hammond to leave his Westminster bubble and increase funding, Mr Apter said: It is an insult to my dedicated and hard-working colleagues, and it shows a shocking lack of awareness or understanding of the reality of the crisis happening right now in towns and cities across the country.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell accused Mr Hammond of being tin-eared and acting like a management consultant.

He said: The two most senior members of the Government are in total denial about the impact of police cuts. You cant protect people on the cheap.

The funding spat followed the fatal stabbing in Leyton, east London, of a man in his 20s on Wednesday night and the death in hospital of a 22-year-old man who was attacked in Oxford on February 27.

West Midlands Police are also investigating whether knives were involved in an incident at Matthew Boulton College in Birmingham on Wednesday afternoon, which left two teenagers in hospital.

It can't be right so many young people who've committed offences have been excluded from school.



I'm calling on the PM to act urgently & give local authorities & schools the power & resources to properly support vulnerable children at risk of exclusions.pic.twitter.com/bHx52qSVUP  Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) March 7, 2019

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and seven Police and Crime Commissioners have written a letter to Mrs May, warning that a broken school exclusion system is exacerbating the surge.

Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (PA Graphics)

It cannot be right that so many of those who have committed offences have been excluded from school or were outside of mainstream education, it said.

The letter, sent on Thursday, also urged an end to off-rolling  removing pupils from school registers  to increase average exam results.
The Queen will visit the Science Museum in London to announce its summer exhibition, Top Secret. Hannah McKay/PA Wire

The Queen will visit the Science Museum to announce its summer exhibition  Top Secret.

One of the star attractions from the forthcoming event will be on display for the head of state, an enigma machine loaned by GCHQ  the intelligence, security and cyber organisation.

It will be the second time in the past few weeks the Queen will have seen one of these iconic pieces of equipment used by Nazi forces during the Second World War to encrypt their messages.

During a visit to GCHQs former home in central London the Queen was shown the device along with a phone used by Margaret Thatcher to scramble her conversations when Prime Minister.

When she tours the Science Museum in central London the Queen will meet primary school children taking part in an activity with beebots  robots designed for use by youngsters  and chat to other students involved in computer coding sessions.

The Queen will also unveil the Smith Centre  a new space at the Science Museum which can trace its origins back to the Great Exhibition of 1851 and aims to ignite curiosity among visitors of all ages through iconic objects, exhibitions and stories of scientific achievement.

Science Museum supporters and employees who will benefit from the new space, which will be used for networking, events and lectures, will meet the Queen when she tours the facility.

The Queen last visited the Science Museum in 2014 when she sent the first royal tweet under her own name to declare the opening of the new Information Age Galleries.
A 26-year-old Spaniard is the latest victim to die in London after being stabbed.

David Martinez collapsed and died in the street after being knifed in Leyton, east London, police said.

Mr Martinez is the 15th person killed by a knife in the capital in 2019.

Expand Close A police officer reads a card on flowers left at the scene at North Birkbeck Road in Leyton (John Stillwell/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A police officer reads a card on flowers left at the scene at North Birkbeck Road in Leyton (John Stillwell/PA)

The Metropolitan Police said he was attacked at an address on North Birkbeck Road before leaving and collapsing in the street. He was declared dead at the scene at around 5.10pm on Wednesday.

Police are hunting for his killer who they believe was known to Mr Martinez.

His family have been told.

Scotland Yard said the killing is not believed to be gang-related.
Negotiators are preparing to work through the weekend in a frantic effort to break the deadlock in the Brexit talks ahead of nexts week crunch Commons vote.

EU officials are reported to have given the UK until Friday to come back with fresh proposals after talks earlier this week to end the impasse on the Northern Ireland backstop broke up without agreement.

With MPs preparing to vote on Tuesday, officials in Brussels were said to be ready to work through the weekend if the UK was able to present an acceptable plan, according to the BBC.

The European Commission confirmed technical talks were continuing and said president Jean-Claude Juncker was available 24/7 to meet Theresa May if a deal was close.

In the Commons, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox  who has been leading for the UK in the latest negotiations  said the talks would almost certainly carry on through the weekend.

In practical terms the Government needs an agreement by Sunday night at the latest as any new documentation relating to the deal must be published by Monday  the day before the vote.

Mr Cox and the Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay are thought likely to return to Brussels on Friday in a final bid to secure an agreement ahead of next weeks crunch vote.

It is thought that Number 10 is hoping a deal can be reached by Sunday night, with the possibility of the Prime Minister travelling to Brussels on Monday morning to meet European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

Expand Close Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has told MPs he is continuing to seek changes to the backstop (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has told MPs he is continuing to seek changes to the backstop (PA)

Ministers were said to be braced for another heavy defeat on Tuesday after the previous meaningful vote was overwhelmingly lost by a majority of 230, with many MPs deeply unhappy about the backstop.

Mr Cox told MPs he was continuing to press for legally binding changes to the backstop  intended to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland  that would ensure the UK could not be tied indefinitely to EU rules.

He rejected claims that the Government had again failed to come forward with concrete proposals, insisting there had been focused, detailed and careful discussions.

We are discussing text with the European Union, he said.

I am surprised to hear the comments that have emerged over the last 48 hours the proposals are not clear. They are as clear as day and we are continuing to discuss them.

Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (PA Graphics)

However there was clear frustration on the EU side, with chief negotiator Michel Barnier reportedly complaining that Mr Cox had produced a legal solution to a political problem.

Frances Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau said they were still waiting for a sustainable proposal from the British side.

We have heard what you dont want, we are willing to know what you want. There were no precise proposals  there were ideas, she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

Expand Close Philip Hammond told Tory Brexiteers to think very, very carefully about next weeks vote (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Philip Hammond told Tory Brexiteers to think very, very carefully about next weeks vote (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Meanwhile Chancellor Philip Hammond warned Tory Brexiteers they risk seeing Britains withdrawal from the EU delayed if they vote down Mrs Mays deal again.

He said he had a high degree of confidence that MPs would come back the next day to vote against Britain leaving without a deal.

If the Prime Ministers deal does not get approved on Tuesday then it is likely that the House of Commons will vote to extend the Article 50 procedure, to not leave the European Union without a deal, and where we go thereafter is highly uncertain, he told the Today programme.

For those people who are passionate about ensuring that we leave the European Union on time, it surely must be something that they need to think very, very carefully about now, because they run the risk of us moving away from their preferred course of action if we dont get this deal through on Tuesday.

However former Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers, who backed Leave in the referendum, warned the Government appeared to be heading for another defeat.

I suspect we will get the same result, she told BBC Radio 4s The World At One. It really does depend on whether there is a last-minute breakthrough in the Geoffrey Cox work.

Expand Close Jeremy Corbyn has held talks with senior Tories (Joe Giddens/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jeremy Corbyn has held talks with senior Tories (Joe Giddens/PA)

Earlier, Jeremy Corbyn said he was more certain than ever that MPs would back a deal to keep the UK closely tied to the EU after he held talks on Wednesday with senior pro-EU Tories.

The Labour leader met former ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Nick Boles along with Labour MPs Stephen Kinnock and Lucy Powell to discuss their proposed Common Market 2.0 plan which would keep the UK in the single market and the customs union.

Writing in the Daily Mirror he said he was confident they could find a way to work across Parliament to force the Government to back a sensible Brexit plan that protects jobs.

We will do whatever we can to find a solution that can unite the country so, together, we can face down the real challenges and seize the opportunities in this moment of great change, he said.

However the move risks infuriating Labour MPs who back a second referendum, after he last week said the party would support another public vote if it was unable to get its own Brexit plan passed.
Bhumchu Zangmo walks out of the airport carrying her twins Nima and Dawa (Karan Gurung/AP)

Two formerly conjoined twin sisters have arrived home in Bhutan after being separated in an operation in Australia.

Twenty-month-old Nima and Dawa returned on Thursday after a 22-hour flight from Melbourne with their mother, four months after their operation.

The girls had been born joined at the torso and shared a liver, and the sight of them walking independently for the first time sparked joy among family members.

Expand Close Sisters Nima and Dawa share a kiss on their return home (Karan Gurung/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Sisters Nima and Dawa share a kiss on their return home (Karan Gurung/AP)

Barely controlling his emotions, their father Sonam Tshering said it was like a miracle.

The girls were separated by a team of 25 surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists in an operation in early November at Melbournes Royal Childrens Hospital that lasted almost six hours.

They recovered after the operation at a retreat run by the Children First Foundation, the charity which brought them to Australia.

Debbie Pickering, from the charity, said as they left Melbourne: Theyre much the same as when they were together.

Expand Close Nima and Dawa walk holding the hands of relatives at the Tachog Lhakhang Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Thimphu, Bhutan (Karan Gurung/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Nima and Dawa walk holding the hands of relatives at the Tachog Lhakhang Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Thimphu, Bhutan (Karan Gurung/AP)

Weve got one thats very much more outgoing and one thats very placid.

Nima is said to be the outgoing sister, while Dawa is the quieter child.

They are just developing into beautiful little girls, Ms Pickering added. They are delightful in every way.
The May (L.A. Screenings) 2019 editions of WORLD SCREEN and TV LATINA will be available to program buyers attending the Screenings in Los Angeles, in addition to their worldwide mailing. These editions will also include TV NINOS and TV SERIES. Exclusive Distribution Extensive distribution throughout the InterContinental

Available to program acquisition executives at all the major studios

Daily distribution to ten hotels in Los Angeles

Distribution at our suite at the InterContinental Here are all the FREE value-added benefits you will derive from advertising with us at the L.A. Screenings.



1) We will place your advertisement upfront in WORLD SCREEN or, if you prefer, inside any of our targeted magazinesTV LATINA, TV NINOS and TV SERIES. These targeted magazines appear both inside WORLD SCREENreaching the global television communityand as separate publications, with their own distribution at the L.A. Screenings and their own mailing to content executives in Latin America, the U.S. Hispanic market and Iberia. No other publishing group can give you that level of exposure.



2) Also keep in mind that, besides our targeted distribution in Latin America, your ad in WORLD SCREEN will be sent to our extensive circulation of program buyers worldwide, giving you added exposure in over 120 countries at no additional cost. 3) You will receive a company profile upfront in the magazine featuring program highlights, an image of a show, a quote from an executive at the company and a headshot.



4) The company profile will also be published in WORLD SCREEN NEWSFLASH, DIARIO TV LATINA, TV DRAMA DAILY or TV KIDS DAILY before the market. 5) You will receive invaluable social media exposure by having your profile tweeted to @worldscreens or @tvlatinas followers. 6) Our publications will be distributed daily to the top ten hotels where buyers stay in Los Angeles, at our suite, in the lobby and on every floor of the InterContinental. In addition, we will send copies to all the major studios in Los Angeles for display in their screening rooms.



7) Your ad will also appear in the digital edition, reaching 35,000 executives a week before the event.



8) You will also get your complete program listings in a digital edition of TV LISTINGS, which will be available to our online database of 35,000 readers a week before the market. The digital edition of TV LISTINGS averages 15,000 views before the market begins. Don't miss out on being included in the ultimate resource for program buyers.



9) We will also run your complete program listings, including InterContinental suite number and executives attending, in the WORLD SCREEN APP and in the Spanish-language TV LATINA APP, both available for iOS and Android devices.



10) You can place up to ten video clips of your programs in your own Screening Room for the L.A. Screenings on our video portals WorldScreenings.com and TVLatinaScreenings.tv. These Screening Rooms will be extensively promoted during the weeks prior to the event, and will be kept on our portals for two months.



11) We will place your electronic button ad in any of our targeted websitesTVEurope.ws, TVKids.ws, TVFormats.ws, TVReal.ws, TVAsia.ws, TVLatina.ws, TVDrama.ws, TVMEA.ws, TVUSA.ws, TVCanada.ws and TVNovelas.wsfor two months. 12) As an advertiser you will get priority treatment for your product news items in our four daily newsletters, ten weekly newsletters and 22 websites.

Deadlines: Space Reservations....April 25

Ad Materials................April 29 For more information, please contact Ricardo Guise on (212) 924-7620

or rguise@worldscreen.com


Cardinal Philippe Barbarin pictured earlier in his trial in court in Lyon (Laurent Cipriani/AP)

A French court has found top Catholic official Cardinal Philippe Barbarin guilty of failing to report accusations against an alleged paedophile priest.

In a surprise decision on Thursday, the Lyon court handed Barbarin a six-month suspended prison sentence for not reporting the facts in the period between July 2014 and June 2015.

The Rev Bernard Preynats alleged victims said Barbarin and other church officials covered up for him for years, but the statute of limitations had expired on some charges and even the victims had expected that the cardinal would be acquitted.

Expand Close Victims spokesman Francois Devaux welcomed the verdict (Laurent Cipriani/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Victims spokesman Francois Devaux welcomed the verdict (Laurent Cipriani/AP)

The prosecutor had also argued against convicting, saying there were no grounds to prove legal wrongdoing.

Preynat is accused of abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 80s and will be tried separately.

Following the verdict, Barbarin said he would soon offer his resignation to the Pope.

Barbarin was not in court for the decision, but in a brief statement afterwards he said: I have decided to go and see the Holy Father to offer him my resignation.

He spoke of his compassion for the alleged victims and said they are in his prayers.

His lawyer Jean-Felix Luciani said he will appeal against the verdict, which he said was not fair at the juridical level.

Speaking of his disappointment at the sentence, Mr Luciani added: We hope that at the next step, justice will be done  suggesting he is hopeful of acquittal in the appeal.

Five other defendants were acquitted.

This is a victory that sends a strong signal to lots of victims and a signal to the church as well.Francois Devaux

Alleged victims of Preynat said Barbarins conviction is a victory for child protection.

Francois Devaux, president of the victims association La Parole Liberee (Lift the Burden of Silence), said: We see that no-one is above the law. We have been heard by the court. This is the end of a long path.

This is a victory that sends a strong signal to lots of victims and a signal to the church as well.

A lawyer for some of Preynats alleged victims, Yves Sauvayre, called the verdict historic.

He added: This is a turning point.
A boy injured in the incident recovers in hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan (Rahmat Gul/AP)

Three people were killed when mortar shells exploded outside a ceremony in the Afghan capital Kabul attended by the countrys chief executive and a former president.

The ceremony commemorated the 1995 death of prominent minority Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari, who was killed by the Taliban.

Afghan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and ex-president Hamid Karzai attended the gathering. Both men were unharmed, but three others were killed and 31 people were injured in the attack launched from a house near the ceremony.

Expand Close Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai attended the ceremony which was attacked, but was not injured (PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai attended the ceremony which was attacked, but was not injured (PA)

Security forces battled for several hours with militants holed up in the house, and two insurgents were eventually killed and one person was arrested.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Presidential candidate and former Afghan national security adviser Hanif Atmar tweeted that eight of his personal guards were injured in the horrid and unforgiveable attack.

Another presidential candidate, Latif Pedram, was injured but his condition is not known.

Hundreds of people attended the ceremony in a large hall on the western edge of Kabul in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood.

Azizullah Amini, who attended the event, said he heard at least four explosions and the hall shook as if something was slamming into the ground outside the building.

Expand Close A man injured in the attack is treated in an ambulance (Rahmat Gul/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A man injured in the attack is treated in an ambulance (Rahmat Gul/AP)

The ceremony quickly ended as people were rattled by the blasts.

IS said on an affiliated website that it had targeted a Shiite celebration attended by senior government officials.

Meanwhile, IS has claimed responsibility for an attack on Wednesday on a construction company in eastern Nangarhar province that killed at least 17 people and triggered an hours-long gun battle with Afghan forces.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban waged a blistering four-hour battle with security forces on Wednesday night in northern Kunduz province, in the Qalay Zul district, killing seven policemen.

Early on Thursday, the Taliban killed four Afghan border patrol officers in western Herat province, near the border with Iran.
Satellite photos showing new activity at a North Korean rocket launch site have raised fresh doubts that Kim Jong-un will ever give up his drive for nuclear weapons.

But US President Donald Trump has said he is still hoping to reach an agreement on the issue that eluded the leaders at their summit last week.

The president said his relationship with the North Korean leader remains good, even though Mr Trump walked away from negotiations at their high-profile meeting in Vietnam.

Expand Close An image of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp An image of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

He said at the time that the Norths concessions on its nuclear programme were not enough to warrant sanctions relief, and added on Wednesday that he would be unhappy if reports prove true that Mr Kim is rebuilding a launch site.

The North Korean leader had promised in Vietnam to extend his ban on nuclear and rocket tests.

Asked about reports of new work at the Sohae Satellite Launch Station, which is tucked into the hills north-west of Pyongyang, Mr Trump said: I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim.

Past US administrations have discovered the perils of trying to do business with North Korea, which has a history of backing out of agreements.

Mr Trump believes his discussions will be different because Mr Kim has publicly announced his desire to focus on economic development in his reclusive nation, which is suffering under harsh US and international sanctions.

Mr Trump has favoured direct talks with Mr Kim, but with no third summit under discussion right now, the next stage of negotiations is likely to be conducted at lower levels.

On Wednesday, Mr Trumps envoy to North Korea Steve Biegun had lunch at the State Department with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea. The South Koreans have proposed semi-official three-way talks with the United States and North Korea as it works to put nuclear diplomacy back on track.

Suh Hoon, the director of South Koreas National Intelligence Service, told the parliament in Seoul that North Korea is restoring facilities at a rocket launch site it had dismantled last year in a goodwill measure.

Meanwhile, 38 North, a website specialising in North Korea studies, said commercial satellite imagery indicates the rebuilding started between February 16 and March 2.

And the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, issued another report saying satellite imagery taken on Saturday  just two days after the summit ended  showed North Korea pursuing a rapid rebuilding of the rocket site.

Some analysts think the work is a signal that Mr Kim is getting ready to conduct more tests, but others suggest he is just registering his disappointment that no agreement was reached at the summit.

Joel Wit, a North Korea proliferation expert who helped negotiate with North Korea in the mid-1990s, said the new work at Sohae is Mr Kims way of showing that he is getting impatient with lack of progress in negotiations.
It could be that getting an apology out of Jude Collins for his disparaging remarks about her weight will turn out to be Alliance leader Naomi Long's greatest achievement in politics.

The reliably obnoxious rent-a-quote merchant has been making offensive remarks about anyone who doesn't sign up 100% to his happy-clappy, pro-united Ireland cult for years, causing more outbreaks of collective nausea along the way than a batch of undercooked chicken.

Few - not even those tired of Alliance's relentless attempt to portray itself as the one true voice of reason in Northern Ireland, soaring high above all the petty sectarian squabbles - would begrudge Long her victory.

Collins just picked on the wrong woman at the wrong time. Right now there is unprecedented focus on the personal abuse that women in public life routinely face for speaking out about what matters to them.

Commenting on Long's weight - and, worse, speculating on possible medical causes, as if that is any of his business - is not the worst example of this phenomenon, but it is sadly typical of it.

Any woman who's ever dared to have an opinion will have heard the remarks and thought: "Been there, done that, got the (oversized probably, according to Collins) T-shirt." DUP leader Arlene Foster is another regular target (even if she gets much less sympathy).

It's not exclusively directed at women either. Those who applaud People Before Profit's Gerry Carroll for saying that "nobody should be subjected to comments about their weight/look/appearance when it comes to politics" might well want to consider how Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg is a target of vitriolic mockery on the Left for his speech and dress and mannerisms too.

That's considered a hoot. Just because he doesn't complain about it doesn't mean it's not equally below the belt.

It would be pig-headed for its own sake, though, to deny that women are disproportionately the target of such abuse. It's a cruel game played out daily on social media.

That's confirmed by a new study that found over half of young women on Facebook have been subject to harassment, including being stalked.

Expand Close Blogger Jude Collins / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Blogger Jude Collins

Admittedly, "including" covers a multitude of sins, as does the word "harassment". It's important to define precisely what we mean when using these loaded terms, because they can easily be exploited by politicians with an agenda to control what others may say and think and do.

It's also wise to tread carefully when looking at this sort of self-generated research, which always seems to find exactly what those behind the research want to find. In this case, it's an organisation called Level Up, whose stated objective is to "end sexism in the UK".

A feminist group funded research which concluded that sexism is alive and well? Fancy that!

Quibbles aside, it's still impossible not to be disturbed by the responses of some of the women who took part in the survey. Over 1,000 were asked to describe their experiences and 38% said they had received messages that made them afraid for their safety.

A quarter had been sent unsolicited explicit images. Half of those who reported the abuse to Facebook say no action was taken.

This all comes at a time when, in Westminster, there are scores of women currently on the receiving end of terrifying torrents of abuse for criticising Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's handling of anti-Semitism allegations in the party.

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has even had panic buttons installed at her home following online rape and death threats after she praised a recent TV interview by former leader Tony Blair.

Telling these women that they should just shut up and take it as the price for participation in political life would be outrageous - not least after the 2016 murder of campaigning MP Jo Cox by a far-Right extremist.

The one common factor in the abuse, however serious or relatively minor, is the role played by the internet in stretching the boundaries of what is considered acceptable speech.

What would have been regarded as beyond the pale not so long ago is seen these days as fair game and that can't be unrelated to the fact that there's no filter online between thought and speech.

Collins is an example of that too. For years the former schoolteacher held down a respectable job, writing for newspapers without causing much of a ripple. Since launching himself online, freed of editorial control, he has repeatedly put his foot in his mouth in increasingly offensive ways.

If a man of his age, who ought to know better, can fall into the trap of thinking he can say what he likes without consequences, what hope for young people who have never known a world outside this online Wild West?

Of course, there are people who will say that the fuss over Collins' remarks about Long's weight is another example of that old staple - political correctness gone mad - and that the complaints by young women about harassment on Facebook is evidence that we've reared a generation of so-called snowflakes, who can't face any challenge to their worldview without falling apart. It really isn't. It's just a sign that the centre of power is shifting and, while that may be painful for those whose traditional power is under threat, it's long overdue.

Recently, I happened across a video on YouTube of a 1990s show by the late comic and EastEnders star Mike Reid.

The Cockney comedian was a master storyteller; his technique still stands up, no pun intended, brilliantly.

The material is another matter. It's uncomfortably sexist, racist, homophobic, you name it, and one doesn't need to be a quivering milksop to be taken aback at the language.

The right to offend is inviolable and no subject should be off-limits, but it's still awkward to watch audiences falling about at this stuff like it was the funniest thing imaginable.

Times change, in good ways and bad, but while misogyny and personal abuse are nothing new, the internet has undoubtedly enabled them to flourish in ever-evolving forms, which means the response to the damage they can do needs to adapt as well in order to keep up.

Tomorrow is International Women's Day. For a long time, it has been tempting to dismiss this annual carnival of cliches as nothing but an ego trip for self-pitying, self-satisfied, middle-class women.

But if decades of pushing a simplistic message of female empowerment has resulted in a wider social refusal to accept the misogyny of old as if it were part of the natural order, then maybe it was worth putting up with all the slogans.
From left: Christy McQuillan, former Siptu divisional organiser, Debbie Coyle, senior trade union officer, Mick Halpenny, former Siptu senior official, and Ruairi Creaney, group spokesman and trade union official, during a launch event for Trade Unionists for a New and United Ireland in Belfast last month

Last week saw the emergence of a new republican pressure group, Trade Unionists for a New and United Ireland, which is supported by 150 signatories. There was a Dublin launch on Monday at the offices of the Communication Workers Union and then a Belfast launch on Tuesday.

This is not the first time that such an organisation has emerged. A group with a similar name and format, Trade Unionists for Irish Unity and Independence, was launched in Dublin in 1984.

The 1984 group was more transparent, because it listed the trade union and the position beside each name, whereas this time it is just a list of 150 people with names such as Willie Hamilton. There must be hundreds of people called Willie Hamilton on both sides of the border.

However, some names do stand out, and we can do no better than start with the four trade unionists at the top table for the Belfast launch  two from Northern Ireland and two from the Irish Republic.

Spokesman Ruairi Creaney, from Lurgan, describes himself as a socialist republican, trade union organiser, anti-capitalist and Sinn Fein activist.

So, the spokesman for the group is a Sinn Fein activist. He may not have said that at the launch, but that is how he describes himself on his Twitter account.

The other person from Northern Ireland was Debbie Coyle, who is a welfare officer with the Omagh and Fermanagh branch of Unison.

It wasnt mentioned in the newspaper reports, but she is also a Sinn Fein councillor from Enniskillen. Moreover, she is not the only Sinn Fein councillor on the list of 150 signatories.

Mick Halpenny, of Siptu, was also at the top table, and he is a long-standing believer in a united Ireland. He was one of the sponsors of the 1984 group and was a speaker at a Sinn Fein conference in London in 2010 with the title Putting Irish Unity on the Agenda.

In 2013, he was also the presiding officer at a republican-sponsored peoples referendum on a united Ireland.

The referendum was held in Crossmaglen and Cullaville, so, not surprisingly, it got 93% support.

The fourth person at the top table was Christy McQuillan, a former Siptu organiser in the Irish Republic. He was in Belfast in 2016 for the centenary parade to mark the execution of James Connolly in 1916, after the Easter Rising.

On that occasion, he was selected to read the 1916 republican proclamation, and An Phoblacht (May 16, 2016) had a striking photograph of Christy marching up the Falls Road with Liam McBrinn, a trade unionist and Sinn Fein activist and Sinn Fein and Siptu activist Jim McVeigh.

You will not be surprised to find that Sinn Fein members Liam McBrinn and Jim McVeigh are among the 150 signatories. Indeed, Jim McVeigh, often known by his nickname Flash, is a former Sinn Fein councillor in Belfast.

Before that, he was an IRA terrorist who served two prison sentences for bombing offences.

Among the other signatories is Daisy Mules, a trade unionist and a member of the Martin McGuinness Sinn Fein Cumann. Mark Lohan, from the Galway Council of Trade Unions, is also a Sinn Fein representative and Tommy Guilfoyle, president of the Clare Trades Union Council, is a Sinn Fein activist in Ennis.

This group of 150 trade unionists calls on other trade unionists to join them in a campaign for Irish unity, and to advance that campaign they are holding a conference in Dublin on April 27.

Unfortunately, this tactic is deeply divisive and damaging, especially since some of the signatories hold top-tier positions in their trade unions.

A trade union movement, which should be able to embrace unionist and nationalist workers in support of the rights and conditions of workers, is now being divided into republican trade unionists and other trade unionists.

That is regrettable, particularly since it follows on from the civic nationalist letters to Leo Varadkar, in which people designated themselves as nationalist academics, nationalist solicitors, or whatever.

Overall, it seems that republicans are quite prepared to turn whole areas of society into cold houses for unionists.
Given the recent succession of unexceptional Secretaries of State, Karen Bradley is quite extraordinary. Extraordinarily inept, inane and ineffective.

When Mrs Bradley isn't adopting a gutless approach to the ongoing political paralysis at Stormont and the unjustifiable MLA wages bill, she is blundering her way through matters she clearly knows nothing about.

Read More

Her claim that security force killings in Northern Ireland weren't crimes is factually inaccurate, grossly offensive, and utterly undermines any bridge-building that the government has been doing with nationalists.

It would be bad enough if it was an off-the-cuff remark. But this was a statement in the House of Commons in reply to a question from DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly.

If the Secretary of State is as clueless about Northern Ireland history as she herself has admitted, the same must surely be said about those who are employed to advise her.

Shadow Secretary of State Tony Lloyd said that if she didn't apologise for her comments she risked "losing the credibility the Secretary of State needs". He was being far too generous. The one thing that unites all Northern Ireland's political parties is that Mrs Bradley doesn't have any credibility to lose.

The DUP may be with her on legacy, but the party is as unimpressed by her on almost everything else as Sinn Fein, the Ulster Unionists, SDLP and Alliance.

Nine years ago David Cameron made an unambiguous apology for Bloody Sunday. In her first statement, Mrs Bradley was effectively saying the soldiers who shot dead 14 innocent civilians did no wrong. That her comment came just a week before the PPS's decision on prosecutions is announced is breathtakingly clumsy.

Given the gravity of the situation, her "clarification" fell well short of what was required to put things right. Her words poison the atmosphere around the government's legacy consultation.

As Relatives for Justice stated, the overwhelming majority of the 364 people killed by the state - including 82 children - were unarmed and civilians.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein is calling for the Secretary of State to resign. With the Provisional IRA's record on truth and transparency, it will be understandably argued that it is no position to lecture anyone on justice issues.

But those who believe that Mrs Bradley is doing more harm than good in her role stretches way beyond that party's ranks.
Secretary of State Karen Bradley must surely realise that her position requires her to think carefully before she makes any comment. That is especially true when she chooses to talk about the controversial and sensitive subject of dealing with the legacy of the past.

She certainly was emphatic in her initial comments yesterday about deaths caused by the security forces. She said that more than 90% of killings during the Troubles were caused by republican and loyalist terrorists and every one of those was a crime. That is a self-evident statement.

However, she went on the say that the less than 10% of deaths caused by police and soldiers were not crimes.

Understandably that caused immediate controversy, especially as there has been ongoing debate over the possible charging of soldiers with murder over deaths on Bloody Sunday.

Later the Secretary of State attempted to clarify her position by saying that where there was evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated. But by that stage the harm had been caused in nationalist circles and among the bereaved relatives of Bloody Sunday.

She was right to attempt to distinguish the roles of terrorists and the forces of law and order. Terrorism is wrong and a crime in all cases. The police and Army have lawful roles to perform and when they do so according to the rules they operate under, their actions are legal. However, whenever they step outside the law they should be liable to the same scrutiny and legal sanction as anyone else. Simply wearing a uniform does not give either police or Army carte blanche.

While there have been calls for the Secretary of State to resign, those are expected knee-jerk reactions and serve little value. Better that she learn to avoid such unfortunate comments in future and plot a way to deal with the toxic legacy of past.

Her comments came after the news that Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Herron is considering prosecuting four soldiers for their part in the killings on Bloody Sunday - deaths of innocent people, as the Saville Inquiry found. Some people will interpret her comments as undue interference by the Government on the independent Public Prosecution Service.

While there should be no question of a statute of limitations on murder, as some Army and police supporters suggest, there can be a useful debate on what should happen to elderly men if convicted.
China has not offered Rohingya refugees money to repatriate to Myanmar, a Chinese Embassy attache in Dhaka told BenarNews, after the news outlet reported that a delegation of officials from Beijing had promised refugee families up to U.S. $6,000 each if they returned to Rakhinestate.

The embassy official was asked to comment on a video posted online by a Rohingya NGO that showed Chinese delegates meeting with refugees in southeastern Bangladesh, and offering families money to return to their homeland. Bangladeshi officials and Rohingya leaders confirmed the meeting and the offer to BenarNews on Tuesday.

I didn't see the video so I cannot say whether theres Chinese official[s], political attache Vera Hu said in an email response to BenarNews.

However, she clarified, China never offers money to Rohingya people for them to go back.

It is Myanmar government that would offer the money to Rohingya families who dont want to accept the houses built by Myanmar in Rakhine, as a fund to rebuild their homes by themselves, she said.

On Thursday, BenarNews could not confirm Hus statement. Win Myat Aye, chief of Myanmars Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, Aung Tun Thet, a member of Myanmars Rakhine inquiry commission, and a foreign ministry spokesman did not immediately return calls from the Yangon office of Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews,

The video of the Chinese delegation was taken when Sun Gouxiang, Chinas special envoy for Asian Affairs, arrived at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar on March 3. During his visit, the diplomat met with 29 refugees, including 14 women.

A Bangladeshi official and Rohingya leaders who attended the meeting confirmed to BenarNews that the delegation had offered each family up to U.S. $6,000 to help the refugees rebuild their homes in Rakhine state.

They asked us whether we would go back if they gave us five thousand to six thousand dollars, Syed Ullah, secretary-general of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), an NGO, told BenarNews.

At least 200,000 homes would be constructed in Myanmar to accommodate the returning refugees, the Bangladesh official, who requested anonymity, told BenarNews.

The Chinese government offered them the money, so that each Rohingya family can build their own houses when they go back, he said.

About 730,000 Rohingya fled their homes in Rakhine and crossed into Bangladesh at the height of a brutal crackdown launched by the Myanmar military in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security posts in August 2017. The United Nations and the United States described the killings that took place during the military counter-offensive as ethnic cleansing.



Last week, Bangladeshs Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told a U.N. Security Council meeting that the refugee crisis had gone from bad to worse and said Dhaka would no longer be able to take in refugees from Myanmar.
Thai Raksa Chart Party leader Preechaphol Pongpanit (second from left), arrives at the Constitutional Court in Bangkok, March 7, 2019.

Thailands Constitutional Court on Thursday dissolved an opposition party linked to deposed former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, ruling it had acted in a hostile way toward the monarchy by nominating a princess as its prime ministerial candidate for upcoming elections.

In early February, the Thai Raksa Chart Party proposed Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi to the election commission as its sole candidate for the nations top political post. Her younger brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, swiftly issued a royal decree condemning her candidacy for the March 24 polls as extremely inappropriate.

Acting on a request from the election commission, a nine-judge-panel unanimously decided to disband the pro-democracy party associated with fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin, who exerts influence over Thai politics despite living in exile. In addition, the Constitutional Court panel voted 6-3 to ban 13 Thai Raksa Chart executives from politics for 10 years.

[T]he status of the monarchy which is above politics and political neutral was undermined. ... The act is deemed being hostile to the constitutional monarchy in accordance with Section 92(2) of the Political Party Act, the court therefore ordered that the Party dissolved accordingly, Judge Taweekiat Meenakanit read from the verdict broadcast to reporters gathered at the court house.

Thursdays ruling to disband the party, which came 17 days before the general election, was the latest in a series of decisions taken by the same court against parties or governments aligned with Thaksin and his sister Yingluck, who were ousted by military coups in 2006 and 2014, respectively.

Another judge said King Rama VII, who abdicated the throne in 1932 and lived in exile in Great Britain until his death, had wished to keep the royals completely out of politics. The partys nomination, which aimed to have a royal gain administrative power while having the king as the head of state, was deemed to be unconstitutional and subversive, the panel said in its decision on Thursday.

Thai Raksa Chart Party leader Preechaphol Pongpanit said he and other party officials regretted their actions.

After hearing the court ruling, I and the partys executives reaffirm that we honor the royal decree given on Feb. 8 and we are loyal to the king and all royalties, Preechapol told reporters at the court.

The disbanding certainly impacts basic rights and freedom, at least those of the candidates and people who are heading for the March 24 elections, he said.

We sincerely want to steer the country to the right direction and do good things. ... Though we cannot get to the goal, I thank you of all who walk with us, Preechapol added.

Princess Ubolratana, who was in Germany, reacted to the decision with a posting on her private Instagram account.

Im acknowledged (of the news). It is a sad story, she wrote, according to the Matichon online newspaper.

A police official said thousands of personnel were deployed around the court and in suburban Bangkok to maintain order.

About two dozen supporters chanted Pick the pen, kill the dictator! Pick the pen, kill the dictator!

I feel sorry that Thai Raksa Chart Party is dissolved and the party executives are banned because they are a young generation who could change the nation, supporter Napassorn Boonlee told reporters at the court house in Bangkok. Never mind, we will vote for pro-democracy parties Chat Thai, Pheu Chart, we dont accept a dictator.

Past anti-Thaksin rulings

The same court toppled Thaksin, in 2006, and his younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in 2014, from the prime ministers office and disbanded two other political parties linked to the Shinawatra dynasty, Agence France-Presse reported.

Through Thursdays action the Thai Constitutional Court had now dissolved three pro-Thaksin parties and ousted three pro-Thaksin governments  with two more ousted by coups, Jonathan Head, the Southeast Asia correspondent for BBC News who is based in Bangkok, said via Twitter.

Its worth remembering that the Constitutional Court is viewed as partisan by many Thais, he said. [N]o other political faction has been dealt with like this.

Rights groups react

Human rights groups spoke out against the courts ruling as well.

This decision highlights the Thai authorities abuse of judicial powers to restrict the peaceful association and expression of the political opposition. This far-reaching measure raises strong concerns about the human rights to freedom of association and expression in the period leading to the elections, Amnesty Internationals (AI) Thailand campaigner, Katherine Gerson, said in a statement.

AI said Thailand has seen serious human rights violations during the last decade of political instability, including these last four years of military rule.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the court rushed its verdict.

Thailands military junta and the Palang Pracharath Party it controls have used numerous dirty tricks to tilt the political playing field their way. Playing in their favor has been an election commission of Thailand composed of commissioners hand-picked by the junta who rushed to send this case to the Constitutional Court, which quickly obliged by issuing a highly questionable verdict that destroyed a major opposition political party, HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said in a statement sent to BenarNews.

The big losers today in the dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart Party are the Thai people and their hopes for a return to a rights-respecting democracy.

Meanwhile, a political analyst said the decision proved positive for pro-democracy parties by increasing voter turnout.

The dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart Party may catalyze supporters of Pheu Thai to vote because they were bullied, Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science faculty at Ubon Ratchathani University, told BenarNews.

But I dont think the politic after this would see violence because everyone wants elections. Holding street protests will simply give a pretext to the military to delay the polls.
Siripa Intavichein of the Democrat Party (left) and Tidarat Yingcharoen of the Pheu Thai Party (center) join Pannika Wanich of the Future Forward Party as they greet reporters before hosting a forum about women in Thai politics, at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok, March 6, 2014.

Thai women are fighting an uphill battle in an electoral landscape dominated by men, three female politicians said.

Politics is dirty for pretty faces, the three women told reporters Wednesday night. The next day, Thailands Constitutional Court ordered the Thai Raksa Chart party dissolved, ruling that it acted in a hostile manner toward the monarchy by nominating a princess as its prime ministerial choice for the March 24 general election.

People find that women should not enter politics because Thai politics is dirty, dangerous  especially when you are pretty, rich and you have other choices, Pannika Wanich, spokeswoman for the Future Forward Party, said during a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok.

People say politics is about one right strong man to lead the country, said Pannika, who is running for a parliamentary seat.

Only seven of about 70 candidates for prime minister are female, according to a report from the FCCT. One of the electoral hopefuls is a transgender, the report said, underscoring that male candidates outnumbered women, even though the nations population of about 70 million is 51 percent female.

Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya would have been the highest-profile woman among politicians contesting the forthcoming elections. But hours after the Thai Raksa Chart announced her nomination on Feb. 8, her plan to join politics swiftly unraveled when her brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, condemned her candidacy as extremely inappropriate.

Among the leading male candidates for prime minister is Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the incumbent in the office and former army general who spearheaded a military coup that toppled Yingluck Shinawatra five years ago. Yingluck, who is in a self-imposed exile, was Thailands first female prime minister. She had three women ministers in her cabinet.

Pannika and two other candidates from rival parties  Tidarat Yingcharoen of the Pheu Thai Party and Siripa Intavichein of the Democrat Party  complained about stereotypes against women in the Buddhist-majority nation.

Traditional voters have a stereotyped mindset of not having women as leaders. We should change the mindset, encourage women to enter politics, said Siripa, who is the spokeswoman for her party.

We are equal in politics, she said, but when I look at the number, it is not equal.

Seventy-nine women ran for a seat in the 500-member House of Representative in 2011, according to the Election Commission.

Women in Thailand occupy more than one-third of the CEO and CFO positions, far higher than the global average, according to the thailandbusinessnews.com.

But in the political arena, the news website said, Thai women are underrepresented, as cultural barriers remain strong in a society that has experienced more than 20 military takeovers or attempted coups since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.

About 12 million women or 52 percent of voters cast their ballots in the 2006 general election, but only 8.7 percent of the parliamentarians were female, it said.

Pheu Thais Tidarat said women should be trained to lead under an environment that allows women to excel.

Train women to have better skills, she said. Change social perception to support women.

Pannika, a former TV anchor, said female politicians should not only touch on soft issues such as education or public health, but on topics like military reform.

But, she acknowledged, it would be a tough sell to attract voters in a male-dominant culture that discourages women from entering politics.

They just want to see pretty faces, she said, referring to male voters.
For over 75 years, the School of Art at Bowling Green State University has nurtured choice, allowing students to express their creative voice in an environment where art is innovative, vibrant, and full of possibilities.

Our 5 divisions include Art Education, Art History, Digital Arts, Graphic Design and Studio.

At the School of Art, students pursuing our BA or BFA degree experience the exclusivity of a private art academy - our faculty to student ratio is 14:1 - yet enjoy the affordability of a state university. And, because we are one of the largest state art schools in Ohio, we are able to offer diverse study abroad opportunities, as well as the facilities and faculty to position students for successful internships and careers with organizations such as Disney Animation, Pixar and the Museum of Modern Art.

The Digital Arts program at BGSU is one of the leading programs in the nation for studying digital arts and animation, focusing on creative expression using digital technology. Students are encouraged to investigate aesthetic and perceptual possibilities as they engage in alternative art discourses. Digital Arts courses investigate the theoretical, aesthetic, and technical aspects of the digital arts while providing hands-on experiences with state-of-the-art equipment.
The Schmidthorst College of Business offers one of the nations top undergraduate supply chain management programs, according to U.S. News and World Report. Supply chain management is a growing field with plentiful internships and full-time job prospects. Supply chain management is primarily concerned with the planning, acquisition, conversion, flow, and distribution of goods from raw materials to finished goods. The program prepares students to handle broad managerial responsibilities that impact the success of the company and the competitiveness of the entire supply chain. Graduates from the program work initially as buyers, supply chain analysts, and inventory supervisors and then move up to managing positions in buying, purchasing, and plant facilities.

Todays students of the supply chain program are in demand for internships and highly recruited by companies from across the U.S. Often there are more job opportunities than graduates to fill the strong demand.

The BGSU supply chain management program has some of the worlds foremost experts and scholars on supply chain and logistics.

Why Study At BGSU?


For over 75 years, the School of Art at Bowling Green State University has nurtured choice, allowing students to express their creative voice in an environment where art is innovative, vibrant, and full of possibilities.

Our 6 divisions include Art Education, Art History, Digital Arts, Graphic Design and 3-D and 2-D studies.

At the School of Art, students pursuing our BA or BFA degree experience the exclusivity of a private art academy - our faculty to student ratio is 14:1 - yet enjoy the affordability of a state university. And, because we are one of the largest state art schools in Ohio, we are able to offer diverse study abroad opportunities, as well as the facilities and faculty to position students for successful internships and careers with organizations such as Disney Animation, Pixar and the Museum of Modern Art.

Read information about this program
Our business and marketing education program is a hallmark program in the state. The program, which prepares students for teaching and business careers, is the major supplier of business and marketing education professionals in Ohio. In fact, BGSU is the only university in the state offering a program that leads to licensure to teach marketing (DECA) in high schools.

We provide you the unique opportunity to gain real-world experience during business internships, plus student teaching experience in schools. Youll receive a broad background in both business and methodology classes, and utilize state-of-the-art software similar to that being used currently in businesses.

During the course of their careers, our alumni have found success in school districts as teachers, principals, superintendents and counselors; in colleges and universities as instructors, administrators and student personnel; in governmental agencies such as the State Department of Education; and in business and industry in accounting, management, marketing, offices, sales and small business.

Read information about this program
Learning Outcomes



Upon completion of the graduate degree, students in Business Administration are expected to be able to:

Goal 1: Students graduating with an MBA degree will demonstrate competency in business knowledge and its application.



Outcomes: Students will - Demonstrate a fundamental understanding of core business knowledge Demonstrate a fundamental understanding of strategy in the global environment Demonstrate competency in integrating knowledge across business disciplines.

Outcomes: Students will -



Goal 2: Students graduating with an MBA degree will demonstrate competency in applying business knowledge appropriate problem solving, decision making and critical thinking skills



Outcomes: Students will 

Identify a business problem, develop and critically evaluate and prioritize alternative solutions, and make recommendations and provide appropriate support

Outcomes: Students will 

Goal 3: Students graduating with an MBA degree will demonstrate effective communication and interpersonal skills



Outcomes: Students will - Prepare effective business communication and reports Make effective oral presentations in both individual and team settings. Demonstrate the understanding and application of teamwork.

Outcomes: Students will -



Goal 4: Students graduating with an MBA degree will recognize the ethical aspects of business.



Outcomes: Students will - Apply appropriate professional ethics knowledge in dealing with common ethical situations confronting managers. Describe the ramifications of unethical behavior.

Outcomes: Students will -



Goal 5: Students graduating with an MBA degree will recognize the roles of leaders in shaping behavior to achieve individual and organizational success.



Outcomes: Students will - Demonstrate an understanding of motivation and leadership concepts

Outcomes: Students will -



Accreditation and/or Program/Cluster Review

Bowling Green State University [BGSU] is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. BGSU has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 01/01/1916. The most recent reaffirmation of accreditation was received in 2012 - 2013. Questions should be directed to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

The Master of Business Administration program is accredited by Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and is in good standing.



Professional Licensure (If applicable)

Bowling Green State University programs leading to licensure, certification and/or endorsement, whether delivered online, face-to-face or in a blended format, satisfy the academic requirements for those credentials set forth by the State of Ohio.

Requirements for licensure, certification and/or endorsement eligibility vary greatly from one profession to another and from state to state. The Master of Business Administration program does not lead to professional licensure.



Gainful Employment (If applicable)

Under the Higher Education Act Title IV disclosure requirements, an institution must provide current and prospective students with information about each of its programs that prepares students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.

The Master of Business Administration program is not a recognized occupation that requires a Gainful Employment disclosure.
ACCESSIBILITY

Report an Issue

Accessibility Enhanced Pages

BGSU offers alternative versions of all of its pages for our users. You can select the high-contrast version below to persist throughout your BGSU website experience. Accessibility Information

Toggle High Contrast

Events

To individuals with disabilities, please indicate if you need special services, assistance or appropriate modifications to fully participate in events by contacting Accessibility Services, access@bgsu.edu, 419-372-8495. Please notify us prior to the event.

Title IX Administrative Contact information

Complaints or notice of alleged policy violations, or inquiries about or concerns regarding Title IX (sexual harassment) and procedures, may be made internally to: Lakeshia Dowlen, Title IX Coordinator, Office of Title IX, 207 Hayes Hall, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403, 419-372-8476. Inquiries may be made externally to: Office for Civil Rights (OCR) U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20202-1100 Customer Service Hotline #: (800) 421-3481 OCR@ed.gov



Title IX Deputy Coordinators

See It. Hear It. Report It.
The Epistle of Jude is a short but fascinating book in the New Testament. There are important lessons and insights to discover in its introduction of the author, its purpose, its target audience and most importantly, its various references from the Old Testament and a few apocryphal texts.

Today lets focus on the opening lines of the epistle and get to know the author, his audience, and his purpose in writing this book.

Meet Jude: the Brother of Jesus?

Jude introduces himself as "a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James" (Jude 1:1). It is strongly believed that this Jude was the half-brother of Jesus Christ.

"At the time when Jesus visited His own town Nazareth and preached in their synagogue, the people were offended at Him. They said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenters son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" (Matthew 13:54-56, Mark 6:1-3)

We see Jude, Jesus half-brother being introduced in these verses where Jesus is being rejected and down-played by His neighbors and townsmen (his name was often shortened by English translations in order to disassociate Jude from Judas Iscariot, the betrayer).

Even Jesus own brothers rejected His authority. At another time during His ministry, Jesus was walking in Galilee to avoid Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him. But his brothers insisted that He go to Judea so that His disciples and the world might see His works, yet Scripture says, "For even His brothers did not believe in Him" (John 7:5). Can you see how strong their unbelief was? They were possibly blinded by jealousy that their step-brother received all the attention.

You can see how, for Jude, it was a huge leap from the gospels to the epistle of Jude where he introduces himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Somewhere along the line, Judes eyes were opened. He recognized the Messiah in his brother. Jesus Christs resurrection sealed his belief. (1 Corinthians 15:7) He was changed forever. Jude is now humbled that he stoops himself to the position of a bondservant.

Who Did Jude Write to?

To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:1)

Jude makes a lot of references to the Old Testament. He reminds his audience of the Exodus, the fall of the Angels, and the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah (Jude 1:5-7). He also refers to other Jewish literature outside the canon of the Bible in verses 9 and 14. With the inclusion of these references, the audience are more likely to be familiar with the Old Testament and other Jewish Literature. So the recipients were most probably Jewish converts to Christianity.

Why Did Jude Write?

Jude clearly defines the purpose of the book in the opening lines.

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.(Jude 1:3)

Jude originally intended to talk to them about salvation, but due to the onset of false teachers amidst the church, he felt a pressing need to talk to them about the faith that was delivered to them and how to maintain their life in the truth.

Verse 1:3 says that Jude was exhorting them and contending earnestly with them, meaning he was strongly encouraging and at the same time insistent with them. He takes a rather passionate yet compulsive tone with the audience in this book. Judes approach in defending Gods word and the faith is similar to that of Nehemiahs workmen who used one hand for the construction of the wall and the other hand to hold weapons to defend the wall from the enemies. Their zeal was palpable, because this work is great and extensive (Nehemiah 4:19). And so is Judes passion for the word of God and his faith.

Jude Teaches Us to Distinguish Truth from Lies

For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.(Jude 1:4)

In these lines, Jude warns them about ungodly men who have made their way among Gods people rather casually and unnoticed. The term unnoticed calls for our attention and careful discernment. We need to be able to rightly divine the word of God and His truth so that we can distinguish it from the lies of ungodly men.

Jude 1:4 points out two tactics ungodly men act on:

They turn the grace of God (which is salvation) into lewdness. They deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thankfully, Gods word addresses these attacks, and it will serve us well to learn these defenses and integrate them into our lives, so we can stand firm against the enemy and his lies.

First, salvation comes from the Lord. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). We are saved for good works and not by them. If it were up to our works, we would never be able to match His expectations. Graciously, God sent His son to die in our stead, so that by His grace, we can be made whole.

However, as Jude explains, certain men took this as an excuse and a license to live immoral lives. If God can forgive all our sins, and all we need is His grace to be free, why not keep repeating this sinful cycle? But as the apostle John points out in 1 John 2, we have an advocate who pleads for our case before the Father if and when we sin. But John also tells us, ever so pleadingly, that he writes these words so that we dont take it as an excuse to keep sinning.

Second, we must acknowledge the person of Jesus Christ as Lord. Peter in his sermon after Jesus resurrection says, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). Denying the Lordship of Jesus Christ is a sin. In fact, acknowledging Jesus Lordship is a prerequisite for our salvation.

If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NIV)

Judes Warning Brings Us Back to Gods Grace

Jude opens the book by recognizing his position as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Right there we see his transformation from a doubter to a believer, from an envious person to a humble professor of truth. Encompassed by his zeal for the Lord, he set out to write this epistle, gently reminding the believers of Gods original grace.

This book is a great reminder for us to get back to the basics of our salvation. It encourages us to not let the myriad of doubts and lies derail us from the one true gospel. I hope as you read through Jude, you will understand even more the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the price He paid for our salvation.

Alice William is a wife and programmer with a passion for writing. She started the blog, Walking in the Word, by journaling her Bible Studies. Her desire is to encourage other women in their walk with God with words that He has used to strengthen her own walk with Him. Her recent eBook An Ode to the Word is a collection of 31 poems inspired by the word of God referenced in Gods word. Each poem is drawn from the verse that talks about the word of God, sparking your curiosity and inviting you to a deeper experience with God's word. You can connect with Alice on Instagram and Pinterest.

Photo Credit: Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash
Media Advisory, March 6, 2019

Contact: Stephanie Kurose, (203) 524-0562, skurose@biologicaldiversity.org

'Wolf Pack' to Rally Near White House Protesting Trump's Disastrous Wolf Plan

WASHINGTON Activists in wolf masks will rally outside the White House at noon Thursday to oppose the Trump administrations new plan to end protection for nearly every gray wolf in the lower 48 states.

Trumps plan, announced Wednesday afternoon, is the most significant blow to the recovery of wolves in the past 40 years. Thousands of people around the country have already spoken out.

Trumps plan will bring the recovery of Americas wolves to a bloody and tragic halt, said Stephanie Kurose, endangered species policy specialist with the Center for Biological Diversity. But this isnt over. Americans from coast to coast stand ready to fight this plan with everything weve got.

What: Dozens of protesters in wolf masks will speak out against Trumps wolf plan.

When: Noon on Thursday, March 7.

Where: In front of the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

Media availability: Activists with the Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups will be on hand for interviews before and after the rally.

Background

Trumps proposal would remove federal protections for all gray wolves, with the exception of Mexican gray wolves, which are listed separately under the Endangered Species Act. It will also likely ensure that wolves are not allowed to recover in the Adirondacks, southern Rockies and elsewhere that scientists have identified suitable habitat.

Congress stripped wolves in Idaho and Montana of protections in 2011, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stripped protection from Wyoming wolves in 2017. This led to the killing of thousands of wolves and cessation of further recovery in these states.
The appointment is effective April 2, 2019

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has announced that Alessandro Riva, MD, will join its new innovation company as Chief Executive Officer. Alessandro is currently Executive Vice President, Oncology Therapeutics and Cell Therapy for Gilead Sciences.

The appointment is effective April 2, 2019. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals announced on February 14, 2019, the in-principle approval from its Board of Directors to spin off the innovation business into a new company headquartered in the US. The new company will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glenmark and will operate with Alessandro Riva as the CEO, a management team and an independent Board of Directors.

Glenn Saldanha, Chairman & Managing Director, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said, We are pleased that Alessandro will assume the role of CEO of the new innovation business. His extensive and diverse industry experience leading global R&D will no doubt be invaluable in driving our pipeline towards commercialization. We are excited for this major step as a company and are confident Alessandros talent and leadership will shape the innovation business into a major global biotech company.

Alessandro is with Gilead Sciences, where he is the Executive Vice President, Head of Oncology Therapeutics and Head of Cell Therapy. As part of the Gilead senior leadership team and executive committee member, he is responsible for leading the oncology R&D program and support functions, defining the strategic direction for the oncology therapeutic unit. In addition, he plays a critical role in key corporate initiatives including strategic acquisition, partnering and business development.

Prior to joining Gilead, Alessandro spent 12 years with Novartis where he was the Executive Vice President and Head of Global Oncology Development and Medical Affairs in the Oncology Business Unit, managing a global group of more than 2,500 associates. He also served as Interim President of the Novartis Oncology Business Unit during the acquisition of GSK Oncology. Prior to his time at Novartis, Alessandro held leadership roles with Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and Aventis, France.

Im excited to join a company so committed to driving business through entrepreneurial innovation. The novel technology and diverse pipeline, which includes clinical-stage candidates on track to progress rapidly, has the potential to differentiate in areas of unmet need, said Alessandro Riva. Im looking forward to bringing my experience to lead the company and work together with highly experienced teams to deliver first-in-class therapies to the patients who need them the most.

The new innovation company will be headquartered in Paramus, New Jersey. Global locations include two R&D centers in Switzerland, the R&D center at Mahape, Navi Mumbai, India, and the GMP biologics manufacturing facility in Switzerland. The new company will include approximately 400 employees working to provide an enhanced focus on the innovation business and help accelerate the pipeline towards commercialization.

The current pipeline has eight assets, including new chemical entities (NCEs) and new biological entities (NBEs), in various stages of development in the areas of immunology, oncology and pain management. The pipeline includes an immuno-oncology pipeline with three bispecific antibodies developed through Glenmarks proprietary BEAT (Bispecific Engagement by Antibodies based on the T cell receptor) platform. Of the five clinical and three preclinical assets in development, three clinical assets are currently in Phase 2b, and one asset is likely to enter Phase 2b in FY20.
News of the funding comes as Dr. Hamied and the Royal Society of Chemistry celebrate the successful completion of the Yusuf Hamied Inspirational Chemistry Programme (YHICP).

Renowned Indian business leader, scientist and philanthropist, Dr. Yusuf Hamied, has recently announced the launch of the new Inspirational Science Programme with a significant donation to the Royal Society of Chemistry in India.

News of the funding comes as Dr. Hamied and the Royal Society of Chemistry celebrate the successful completion of the Yusuf Hamied Inspirational Chemistry Programme (YHICP), which has helped deliver more than 1,000 training workshops to over 23,000 teachers between 2014 and the end of 2018. More than 9,000 schools across the 26 states of India benefited.

In addition, more than 1,600 students from 500 schools attended 26 Salters Chemistry camps across 16 states since 2015. The new four-year programme will pick up where the YHICP programme leaves off, aiming to:

Expand provision of the Salters Chemistry Camps to reach a further 2,400 students from under-privileged backgrounds.

Expand the provision of the Teacher Training workshops to reach 20,000 teachers by recruiting and training new Teacher Developers to cover most regions of India.

Rs. 8.7 crore has been committed to the programme.

Dr. Yusuf Hamied, chairperson of pharmaceuticals company Cipla and a pioneer of affordable medicines for patients in developing countries, said: The first phase of this programme was a tremendous success, reaching three times more people than we had originally targeted.

The impact on education across the country cannot be underestimated. Thats why I am excited to announce the continuation of this programme with the Royal Society of Chemistry over the next four years, which I believe will deliver even greater results.

The overarching aim of the programme is to give Indian teachers new tools for delivering engaging and effective science lessons, and to encourage students to reach the necessary standards to study science at university.

The next phase of the programme will reach more students and teachers over a wider geographical area, strengthen existing partnerships with leading Indian universities and will focus on tailoring our training to better equip teachers to educate and inspire the next generation of great Indian scientists.

Dr. Robert Parker, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: Dr Hamieds generosity has led to the establishment of a programme that has already helped hundreds of thousands of students. We are delighted that he has felt strongly enough about the benefit of this programme to support its expansion and we are excited to continue to deliver a programme of real benefit to Indian science.

A key part of the new programme will be to explore the introduction of three new key enhancements; to translate teacher training content into selected local languages, to develop training modules to cover additional specific disciplines, and to explore how mobile access to the Royal Society of Chemistrys teaching resources could complement the programmes aims.

After an exploratory phase, implementation of any additional activities would commence from 2020 onwards.

Dr. Yusuf Hamied added: Indias next generation of chemists and scientists could play a significant role in shaping the world we live in and improving our day-to-day lives, which is why I am so passionate about this programme. We must make sure our teachers have the right tools and information to ensure students are excited and engaged by chemistry so we can nurture the next generation of talent.

The numbers weve seen over the past five years has been a fantastic indicator of the tremendous success of this partnership so far and long may that success continue.

The Royal Society of Chemistry has a large number of active and enthusiastic members all across India and they have been working hard to support education in India for many decades. Dr Parker was of the view that they could provide excellent opportunities for scientists to volunteer and get involved in supporting this programme.

The 800,000 Yusuf Hamied Inspiration Chemistry Programme in numbers:

23,000 science teachers trained - almost triple the initial

9,000 schools in 26 states

1,000 workshops were conducted

40 Teacher developers received master training

1,600 students attended chemistry camps at the leading universities

(50% of them are female students)
Expert team of doctors will comprise an endocrinologist, nutritionist, gynecologist and fertility specialist under one roof.

To mark the International Womens Day 2019, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, tricity s leading chain of maternity, childcare and fertility hospitals has announced the launch of its first dedicated PCOS and Menopause clinic. This comprehensive clinic will aim at providing one stop solution for women of all age groups especially young adolescent girls and elderly women to discuss their problems with a team of doctors related to PCOD, lifestyle disorders, menopause, fibroids and endometriosis. Expert team of doctors will comprise an endocrinologist, nutritionist, gynecologist and fertility specialist under one roof.

This special womens clinic will be operational at Cloudnine Hospital, Chandigarh once a week, every Thursday from 2 pm to 4 pm. All appointments will start from 8th March 2019 through the helpline number 1860 500 9999.

At the sidelines of the launch says Dr.Pawan Kumar, Regional Director (North), Cloudnine Group of Hospitals Within our complex system of long-term care, women's caregiving is essential in providing a backbone of support to the family. Women regardless of professional achievements, are still relied upon by the family and society as the central caregivers and it is all the more essential to provide them with a platform where they can discuss, evaluate and act upon any health conditions which can be challenging at later stage. I am happy to announce the launch of our novel initiative which not only engage but offer the best solutions to every women under one roof by our excellent panel of doctor. Offerings under this clinic will make healthcare more accessible to the women in the tricity and nearby regions.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony of the clinic, Dr.Seema Sharma, Senior Consultant  Obesetriction and High risk Pregnancy specialist, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Chandigarh said the problem of PCOD is a very prevalent reproductive disorder in women these days and one of the leading causes of infertility among women today. At least 1 out of every 5 women today suffer from some kind of hormonal health issues and many aspects of the disorder are not understood properly as its symptoms and severity vary greatly. There is a need that early diagnosis and treatment is offered to help and prevent any kind of health problems in women. Through this clinic, we aim to connect with women of all age groups and offer a well-rounded treatment approach to manage their health.

Says Dr.Ritambhara Bhalla, Senior Consultant - Gynecologist and Obesetriction, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Chandigarh said  There is a general lack of awareness regarding hormonal health issues and it often remains undetected for years which leads to further health complications such infertility or recurring miscarriages. Unbalanced lifestyle, lack of physical activity, late marriages are some of the reasons contributing to these problems. As reproductive functions play out over time hormone levels take a plunge, triggering the onset of menopause and common hormone imbalances associated with the change of life, it is very important that women are given a common platform to talk and discuss their problems and arrive at preventive measures

In India, womens health is often neglected and understanding the causes of hormone imbalance empowers with a specialized team of experts allows every women to prevent them, and at the same time, feel better, think better, and better prevent the occurrence of many other diseases.
Mozambique has seen a phenomenal increase in demand for meetings, conferences, incentives and events in recent years, a trend that is likely to continue to intensify with the recent opening of the country's new Maputo-Katembe suspension bridge.

Image(s) Supplied.

1. A Maputo foodie experience

2. With your toes in the sand

3. Walk on the wild side

4. Get to the heart of Maputo

5. Explore neighbouring cultures

The longest suspension bridge in Africa, it connects the north and south banks of Maputo but has also cut travel times between South Africa and Swaziland.International hotel brands including Tsogo Sun, Radisson Blu, Sheraton and AccorHotels, have all entered Mozambique, and are capitalising on the growing Meetings, Incentives, Conference and Events (MICE) market. Dana Tours Director Natalie Tenzer-Silva says more top brands could follow, especially as foreign and domestic arrival numbers continue to climb.Maputo is also set to host a number of big-name, reputable events in 2019, including the US-Africa Business Summit in June. Companies booking smaller MICE events are impressed by the countrys beauty and by the attractions it offers for delegates.Day trips are a favourite and easy way to spice up any event.Tenzer-Silva suggests five of the most exciting options in reach of Maputo that are worth booking in 2019:African countries are not especially known for their food tourism markets, but Mozambique is an exception. Around five hundred years of Portuguese influence mixed with local African culture, locally-grown tropical fruit and delicious fresh fish and seafood make Mozambique heaven for food-lovers.Delegates visiting Mozambique can also embark on a culinary journey, sampling of traditional street food; Badjia (bean dumplings fried in oil), Matoritor (a coconut sweet), and fiery Piri Piri.Mozambique is best known for its beautiful beaches, sparkling blue waters and golden beach sand. For delegates with only a few hours to spare, venture off the beaten track to Santa Maria, Inhaca Island, and Portuguese Island, drenched with wild, beautiful beaches and exciting coral reefs popular with divers, snorkellers and explorers.Speedboat transfers from the Maputo Marina (Escola Nautica) to Santa Maria operate in the morning. At Santa Maria, delegates can enjoy snorkelling in the warm waters before heading to Inhaca Island for a delicious seafood lunch. Theyll also visit Portuguese Island for a swim before their return to Maputo.The world-renowned Kruger National Park is on many a travellers bucket list. The good news is, this iconic Big Five wild reserve is only 100 kilometres from Maputo, making it the perfect opportunity for a day-trip for delegates who would like a break from the conference room.Delegates visiting can enjoy a slow drive through the park to spot elephant, buffalo, giraffe, impala, zebra and, for the very fortunate, lion or rhino.Although the trip does cross the Mozambican border, and immigration formalities must be considered, a professional driver is on hand to assist delegates through the checkpoint.A melting pot of Latin and African flavours, Maputo is a unique and historic city with plenty of unique attractions.Various tours of the city explore the different sides of Maputo. Delegates can meet the Maputo loved by its locals on a half-day tour that includes stops at the Fortress, Central Market, Museum of Natural History, Railway Station and FEIMA curio market.Or explore the soul of the city on the Mafalala Walking Tour. The walk is an enlightening three-hour meander through a historic neighbourhood in the capital, where guests will learn more about Mozambique's history and get acquainted with the delicious food and community life, Mafalala literature, marrabenta (local rhythm), traditional dancing and sports. The tour is also part of a community development programme run by a local NGO focused on elevating the Mafalala community and creating opportunities for its women and youth.The culture of the Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) people involves music, food, religion, architecture, and kinship, and certainly warrants a day trip to explore.Delegates can browse for locally-produced jewellery and art at the Manzini Market and the Mantenga Craft Centre, after which the tour moves to the Mantenga Cultural Village to learn about the history and culture of this legendary nation. To the beat of echoing cowhide drums, traditional dancers will perform in a nearby boma.Delegates can also take in more art and craft attractions at the popular Malandelas Complex before making the return journey via the famous Swazi Candle Factory. Lunch is hosted either at Malandelas or at the Candle Factory.
The Cape Town Toiletry Co Pty Ltd

Cape Town, Muizenberg



2 Nov 2021
The Eastern Bloc Prodigy

7. 3. 2019 / Albin Sybera

cas cteni 8 minut

Picture: Jachym Bohumil Kartous



This last piece in the series of portraits of the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis discusses the third component of his enigma personality dominating the Czech politics since 2013. That year saw his political movement ANO turn from a platform of disenfranchised citizens into the second strongest member of the then ruling coalition. The staggering story of Andrej Babis, however, began as that of a state official in the late 1970s and early 1980s communist Czechoslovakia. This last piece in the series of portraits of the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis discusses the third component of his enigma personality dominating the Czech politics since 2013. That year saw his political movement ANO turn from a platform of disenfranchised citizens into the second strongest member of the then ruling coalition. The staggering story of Andrej Babis, however, began as that of a state official in the late 1970s and early 1980s communist Czechoslovakia.

As was common among the fellow graduates of the Bratislava School of Economics, Babis the university student had many of the necessary prerequisites to embark on a successful career in the state structures of the communist Czechoslovakia. He was born in 1954 to a family of career state officials with his father, Stefan Babis, being one of the founding fathers of the Slovak international trade, as Babis notes in his biographical manifesto.

Moreover, during his fathers posting in Geneva, Andrej Babis although hospitalized due to serious illness, learnt very good French. Young Andrejs path indeed began in the states foreign trade units, namely in Chemapol Bratislava and Petrimex.

While these jobs alone were hardly imaginable for someone without the Communist Party membership, in the above-mentioned self-portrait Babis also stresses that his father was expelled from the Communist Party of Slovakia in 1965 and consequently was unable to acquire a proper job for full three years.

Babis sr., nevertheless, secured postings in Ethiopia and Paris prior to that, and then again as the Czechoslovak GATT representative at the UN in Geneva from 1969 onwards (his party membership was restored during the reformist era known as the Prague Spring). Yet, throughout much of the account of his life in the communist Czechoslovakia, Babis stresses that his father was never a communist prominent.

Moreover, he leaves an impression as though his family could not live to its fullest potential and talent due to the constraints imposed on people in Czechoslovakia by the communist rule. This he further illustrates with the example of his uncle Dr. Ervin Scheibner, a famous geologist who emigrated to Australia following the ending of Prague Spring with Soviet-led armies entering Czechoslovakia in August of 1968.

Precisely how these two assertions of his family being pushed around by the communist authorities and yet managing to secure interesting posts in the state institutions are compatible is a highly intriguing question. In fact, such question has become rather symptomatic of one of the fiercest fights Andrej Babis the politician has waged in the name of his image in the Czech public domain.

That is, Czech PMs staunch argument that he never consciously collaborated with the Czechoslovak security service, the powerful StB, despite the StB files suggesting the contrary (although in an inconclusive way). In fact, Babis went as far as to sue the Nation's Memory Institute in Slovakia, where the surviving files StB collected on him are held, for being listed as StB agent wrongfully. The Czech PM maintains that he was unaware of StB filing up information about him, and the he never agreed to collaborate with StB.

In what is perhaps the most well-organized and researched biography of Andrej Babis available in Czech  Babis, a Story of an Oligarch, its author Tomas Pergler writes that in the case of the degree of Babiss involvement with StB, a hitherto rarely discussed aspect of StB activities has entered the Czech public domain.

That is, the scope of StB operatives engaging in a domain which itself has not been documented even in their organized files. One of their chief counterintelligence activities had been the monitoring of state officials working in the foreign trade units and their interactions with traders from the West. This, however, involved numerous cases when StB agents themselves were bribed or implicated in illicit activities.

As Pergler notes, both Babis sr. who worked at Polytechna Bratislava after his return from Geneva, and Anton Rakicky, Babis jr.s boss at Petrimex, were investigated for serious financial misdeeds such as embezzlement or harming the state economy. Babis sr. was spared of further criminal investigation following the presidential amnesty of May 8, 1985 (Pergler, p. 31).

The Czech PM claims he only came in touch with StB during the official interactions when its agents were inquiring about the imports of Syrian phosphates into Czechoslovakia. Babis states he was shocked upon learning that StB knows his relatives emigrated from Czechoslovakia and that he had no idea how the other, non-economic, StB functions.

In December 2018, The European Court of Human Rights rejected the petition by Andrej Babis against Slovakia, and the Czech PM wowed to continue the legal battle over his collaboration with StB in Slovakia. But why is Andrej Babis fighting so fiercely over a matter that does not appear to hinder his present-day activities in any way?

With ANO winning the parliamentary election in 2017 and Babis securing the post of the Czech PM for himself the StB affair does not appear to cause any disapproval among his voters and supporters. As many observers pointed out, Andrej Babis accomplished a hitherto unthinkable feast in the Czech post-communist politics  he became the first politician unharmed by his communist past.

In fact, the question looms large whether Babis being complicit with the communist authorities does not actually help him garnish voter support. Public discourses in the post-communist Czech Republic have for a long time been marked by a strong anti-communism cutting through the political spectrum (save for the Czech Communist Party), and until the surge of the populist parties generally accepted as one of the axioms describing the post 1989 developments in the country.

So strong has the clinching to the binary division of the Czech past into evil communists and good anti-communists been that a French historian researching Czech society under communism, Muriel Blaive, has been frequently attacked by fellow Czech historians and commentators for allegedly relativizing the crimes communist regime inflicted upon the Czech people.

There is little room for carrying out a research into Czech society under communism if one is not willing to abide by readymade thesis of Czechs being victims of a totalitarian communist state apparatus, as a Czech writer and journalist Jandourek indicates in one of the latest criticisms of Blaive's work.

The life story of the Czech PM, however, demonstrates quite well that life under communism had been more ambivalent than a childish narrative of a handful of evil communists oppressing (and oppressed they did) innocent and democratic-minded population would like to stipulate. Babis, just like majority of the Czechoslovak population, lived in a country where the living itself necessarily involved cooperation with the regime of some sort on daily bases.

Moreover, the future Czech PM was certainly a highly ambitious man just like other members of his immediate family. Drive for the success of her sons was why Babiss mother Adriana let herself be employed at the Institute of Marxism-Leninism, according to the PMs own words.

Babis makes no heightened fuzz about it. He sends his supporters clear message  that of a man involved in authorized student organizations, Communist Party and eventually achieving his dream of being posted abroad, namely Morocco in 1985.

In doing so, Babis gives Czechs what no other post-communist politician has thus far been able to do. He legitimized their own ambivalent feelings about their lives in the communist Czechoslovakia. Afraid about what others may say about your fine job under communism, or you being able to study fancy fields such as economics or history? It is fine  in our ANO-led Czech Republic this does not make you an evil communist.

As long as liberal and democratic-minded currents in the Czech Republic will adopt the meek, black-and-white vision of the Czech past, they will likely be losing their battles over popular support to populist parties such as ANO. Moreover, in doing so they also help pave the way to a more serious relativizing of values.

That is, heeding to the twisted logic of worshiping profits first whatever the questionable business practices were employed along the way. Just as the success of Babis the owner of Agrofert is that of a ruthless entrepreneur, politics of Babis the Prime Minister too leave an impression of a winner-takes-all mentality.

The business model Andrej Babis personifies does not leave room for democracy other than using democracy to meet the ends of those who master it. In a strange twist of affairs, the Czech PM during his visit to the US is to find another entrepreneur at the White House to whom success seems to be the measure of all things.

One is left to wonder whether these men have more in common as objects of interests of Russian intelligence and its feared predecessor, the KGB, or as heartless entrepreneurs, or politicians, or actually all of the above combined in unprecedented ways.

0
Reciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado

Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACION
PR Newswire

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., March 6, 2019

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., March 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Many people are looking to the internet to find out the proper way to close their pool during winter. Most checklists and articles will tell you to lower your pool water and make sure pipes are clear to avoid any freezing, cracking, or bursting, but did you know how important it is to leave that small amount of water in your pool? LOOP-LOC, manufacturer of pool liners, discuss reasons why you should leave water in your pool when it's closed.

Having the perfect liner in your pool really completes your backyard escape. Leaving a bit of water in your pool will protect your pool liner from the elements. If you live in a region with harsh winters, adding the right winterizing chemicals to the water will keep your pool liner in great condition for when it's time to jump in once again. When a pool is drained completely, a liner can dry out. This leads to cracks and imperfections that water can seep through, damaging to your pool. For an additional layer of protection, consider adding a winter pool cover so you won't need to worry about any debris falling in and causing dirty water.

Adding the chemicals we mentioned above will help make opening your pool and easier and smoother process come swimming season. Products like chlorine shock, stain prevention, and algaecide will ensure the water is clean and will require minimal balancing upon opening. It's a shame when the sun comes out and it takes an additional few weeks for it to be ready for use. Investing the time in winterizing your pool will save you precious time in the warm summer days, so you can get the most use out of your backyard this upcoming season.

Not sure how much to drain from your pool and how much to leave in? Draining your pool past skimmer levels is usually ideal so you can clean out the plumbing system and avoid any freezing pipes. If you have an in-ground pool, it can require even more draining. Having too much water can lead to pool liner damage, so it's important to find a good balance and take care of your pool. It's the centerpiece to your backyard sanctuary!

About LOOP-LOC: There's only one company known for manufacturing safety pool covers strong and tough enough to support an elephant: the legendary LOOP-LOC. LOOP-LOC is a global leader in the pool industry with a 200,000-square-foot headquarters in Hauppauge, New York, and 300 employees. Through its network of dealers, the company has sold safety swimming pool covers on every continent on earth except Antarctica. LOOP-LOC pool safety covers manufacturer now also manufactures a line of luxury in-ground pool linerswith more exclusive designer patterns than any other companyas well as the BABY-LOC removable fencing, a convenient, cost-effective additional layer of protection to help deter toddlers from gaining access to a swimming pool.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/loop-loc-manufacturer-of-pool-liners-discuss-why-you-should-leave-water-in-your-pool-when-its-closed-300808148.html

SOURCE LOOP-LOC
PR Newswire

LOS ANGELES, March 7, 2019

LOS ANGELES, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jhpiego, an international health nonprofit and Johns Hopkins University affiliate, will honor actress Zoe Saldana-Perego and her husband, artist Marco Perego-Saldana, with the 2019 Visionary Award in recognition of the couple's outstanding philanthropic efforts to support mothers and newborns.

Ms. Saldana-Perego, star of Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Trek and Avatar, and Mr. Perego-Saldana, an internationally recognized artist whose work has appeared in shows from London to Miami, will be honored April 29, 2019, at Jhpiego's Los Angeles gala, Laughter Is the Best Medicine. The couple, parents to three boys, has championed a community of diverse, artistic voices through BESE, a media platform they co-founded in 2018 to celebrate "the untold stories of today's changing America."

Ms. Saldana-Perego and Mr. Perego-Saldana were chosen to receive the Visionary Award, which recognizes significant humanitarian work and an abiding commitment to improving the lives of women and children globally, based on their joint commitment to tackle tough issues, pursue their convictions fearlessly, and advocate powerfully for a better future for women and families.

Ms. Saldana-Perego, who has spoken about the premature birth of her twins, has said, "My wish for every child and every global citizen is that they have medical aid accessible to them. That's what I wish for children and people all over the world."

Held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the Jhpiego event showcases the organization's global achievements and impact in the delivery of lifesaving, high-quality health care to women and families worldwide. Ms. Saldana-Perego and Mr. Perego-Saldana will be honored along with Wyck Godfrey, president of Paramount's Motion Picture Group, and Mary Kerr, MD, MPH.

Mr. Godfrey, acclaimed producer of the recently released First Man, starring Ryan Gosling, and the two hit series The Maze Runner and Twilight, and Dr. Kerr, a prominent Los Angeles obstetrician-gynecologist, will receive the Elyse Bila Ouedraogo Award, named for a nurse in Burkina Faso who worked passionately to ensure that women had access to screening for cervical cancerthe disease that ultimately took her life. The couple was chosen to receive this award because of their commitment to giving back and improving inequities and disparities in people's most basic needs, such as access to health care and clean water.

Ms. Saldana-Perego, who has worked with [email protected] and Brave Beginnings to ensure babies have access to lifesaving immunizations and quality newborn care, and Mr. Perego-Saldana, a parent who defies traditional gender norms and stereotypes, have shown that they understand the inequity and challenges women and children face, whether they live in Johannesburg or Baltimore.

Ms. Saldana-Perego's breakthrough in film came in 2009 with her appearance as Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek film series and as Neytiri in the Avatar film series. Mr. Perego-Saldana has exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Museo Tuscolano in Rome, Art Basel Miami and Zurich's Galerie Gmurzynska.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zoe-saldana-perego-and-marco-perego-saldana-to-receive-global-humanitarian-award-300808848.html

SOURCE Jhpiego
Infirm Algerian President Bouteflika, who applied to run for a fifth term from a hospital in Geneva, is facing a permanent threat to life, his Swiss doctors told the media.

A medical source speaking anonymously told Swiss paper La Tribune that the president is facing a permanent risk of lung infection due to his frail health.

The President is an old man who did not recover from the stroke he endured in 2013, the source added.

Bouteflika flew to Geneva late last month amid protests in his home country calling on him to step down.

In three years, his condition deteriorated starkly from a state of vulnerability allowing a sort of normal life to a serious state requiring continuous care, the Swiss paper reported.

Bouteflika is unable to speak intelligibly although he understands what is being said to him, the medical source said.

The ailing President, or the people speaking on his behalf commonly known as le Pouvoir, defied popular protests by submitting candidacy for the Presidential elections while promising to step down after less than a year for early elections.

The proposal further ignited the anger of the protesters across the country where clashes have erupted with the Police.
Morocco and Spain cooperate closely on political, security and economic arena with tangible results on the ground.

According to EU statistics agency Eurostat, Spain kept its position as Moroccos first trading partner in 2018 exporting 8.221 billion to the north African country while importing 6.652 billion.

Globally, Morocco was the ninth destination of Spanish goods and the second outside the EU just behind the US.

Some 20,714 Spanish companies exported their products to Morocco as the two countries foster trade at all levels.

At the security level, the two countries build on their close ties with talks recently between minister delegate for national defense administration Abdellatif Loudiyi and Spanish minister of Defense, Margarita Robles.

The two officials discussed cooperation in the field of cyber security in addition to industrial and technological projects.

They also examined cooperation to fight all sorts of trafficking and illegal migration.

Last month, Spain and Morocco signed eleven cooperation agreements on the occasion of a visit to Rabat by King Felipe VI of Spain.

These agreements cover energy, security, culture, transport and trade.
Pretoria will have Youssef El Amrani as a Moroccan ambassador soon, le360 news website reported.

Moroccos foreign ministry received a letter from its South African counterpart confirming the accreditation of El Amrani who served previously as secretary general to the foreign ministry, head of the Union for the Mediterranean and in charge of mission at the Royal cabinet.

El Amrani was appointed ambassador by King Mohammed VI in August 2018.

His nomination was a strong signal reflecting Moroccos willingness to mend ties with South Africa.

South Africa and Morocco have multiple cooperation prospects as two of the continents most advanced economies but the potential of their bilateral ties was left untapped due to Pretorias hostile stands towards the Kingdoms territorial integrity.

Pretoria has recognized the Algeria-backed separatist Polisario front in 2004. Since then diplomatic ties were downgraded.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/3/2019 (1013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Western Manitoba Pre-Veterinary Medical Association president Paige Schmitz, left, and association secretary Ellie Duncan gather signatures at Brandon University last month for the province to retain funding for a Saskatchewan veterinary school Manitoban students attend. (File)

Pre-veterinary medical students at Brandon University can apparently breathe a little easier.

A spokeswoman for Education and Training Minister Kelvin Goertzen said Wednesday there will not be any changes in todays provincial budget to the funding level for placements into a Saskatchewan veterinary medicine college.

"That is 100 per cent amazing," said Western Manitoba Pre-Veterinary Medical Association (WMPVMA) president Paige Schmitz, whose organization collected 1,200 names on online and hard-copy petitions to keep funding for Manitoba placements into the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) at the University of Saskatchewan at the current level.

It is the only college to which Manitoba students can apply.

The province contributes $6 million a year into the program that pays for 15 seats in the program.

"I am so happy to hear that," Schmitz said Wednesday. "Im having a hard time believing its actually true."

The students were planning to attend a meeting with Flin Flon NDP MLA Tom Lindsey next week to discuss their plan of action. Lindsey could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Their petition was sparked by comments made by Douglas Freeman, dean of the veterinary medicine college, in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press in January.

Freeman said the school has been in discussions with government officials in Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan for about two years, focusing on a new funding arrangement.

Since 1963, the four western provinces have each contributed millions to WCVM, guaranteeing that some students from their regions are accepted into the competitive veterinary program.

Freeman said in the interview Manitoba was considering clawing back funding.

"Manitoba has said that they are considering whether or not to decrease funding to the college, and that translates into fewer seats allotted to students from Manitoba, but it actually impacts the entire operations of the college," Freeman said in January.

However, Goertzen has maintained no decision had been made with regards to funding.

"We will continue to work closely with our colleagues in Saskatchewan to foster a positive relationship, which serves the best interest of our respective citizens," he said in a statement at the time.

Andrea Lear, executive director of the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association, was hesitant to comment until speaking with the assistant deputy ministers of education and agriculture on Friday.

"Id rather have our clarity and be able to ask our questions before we say anything," she said.

"I want to get it from the horses mouth."

However, Lear said, the current agreement with the veterinary medicine college expires in 2020.

"So the funding is for the class of 2020, which would be the fall of 2020, which weve been led to understand would be in this budget, but perhaps somehow it swings into next springs budget," Lear said.

Getting admitted into the college is no easy feat, even with 15 seats available, the pre-veterinary medical association said.

Only 26 per cent of Manitobans who applied for the 2018-19 year at the Saskatchewan college were accepted into the program.

There are currently 25 pre-veterinary students at BU, seven of whom are set to finish their courses this year.

 brobertson@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press

 Twitter: @BudRobertson4
VANCOUVER - A timeline of the Meng Wanzhou case, and rising tension between Canada and China.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER - A timeline of the Meng Wanzhou case, and rising tension between Canada and China.

2018

Aug. 22: A New York court issues a warrant for the arrest of Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.

Dec. 1: Canadian authorities arrest Meng at Vancouver's airport while she is en route from Hong Kong to Mexico, after an extradition request from the Americans. The news becomes public on Dec. 5.

Dec. 6: China demands Canada release Meng and "immediately correct the mistake" officials made in arresting her. The Chinese also say they were not briefed on the reasons for Meng's arrest.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Meng's case is part of an independent legal process with no outside political influence.

Dec. 7: Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada's envoy to China has briefed Chinese officials about Meng's case. She declines to comment on suggestions from analysts and former diplomats that China will likely retaliate by jailing Canadians.

In Vancouver, Meng appears in court, where allegations of fraud are laid out. The U.S. alleges Meng misled American banks in a bid to get around American sanctions on Iran.

Dec. 8: Canada's ambassador to China, John McCallum, is summoned to a meeting with China's assistant foreign minister so the country can register complaints about Meng's arrest. "China strongly urges the Canadian side to immediately release the detained Huawei executive ... or face grave consequences that the Canadian side should be held accountable for," the assistant minister, Le Yucheng, says in a statement.

Dec. 9: China summons the American ambassador to China to lodge similar complaints about Meng's case and demand the U.S. rescind the order for her arrest.

Dec. 10: Chinese authorities arrest two Canadian men. Michael Kovrig, who was on leave from Global Affairs Canada, and entrepreneur Michael Spavor. Kovrig's arrest becomes public on Dec. 11. Spavor's becomes public on Dec. 12.

Meanwhile, China's vice premier, with responsibility for the domestic economy, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin talk about the ongoing tariff battle between the two countries.

Dec. 11: In the morning, Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, tells reporters it is "absolutely false" to assume a political motive behind the Meng's arrest.

Later in the day, Meng is released on $10 million bail. In an affidavit submitted for a bail hearing, Meng, 46, details a lifetime of health issues, including thyroid cancer, sleep apnea and high blood pressure.

The day ends with U.S. President Donald Trump telling Reuters in an interview that he would "certainly intervene" in Meng's case "if I thought it was necessary" to help forge a trade deal with China.

Dec. 12: China's foreign ministry says it has no information about Kovrig, but says the organization he worked with  the International Crisis Group  was not registered in China, making its activities in the country illegal.

The Liberals spend the day outlining how the extradition process will work, reiterating that it is an independent process. Trudeau reaffirms Canada's commitment to the rule of law, "regardless of what goes on in other countries." Freeland warns any comments made in the United States could be used by Meng's lawyers before Canadian courts, which would have to judge their relevance in deciding whether to follow through on the American extradition request.

Dec. 13: Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer accuses Trudeau of taking a "naive approach" to China, leaving Canada without "the leverage that we might otherwise have" to resolve the situation. He calls on Trudeau to reach out to the highest levels of the Chinese government.

Earlier in the day, Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, says the arrests of the two Canadians were plainly a response to Meng's arrest: "That's the Chinese playbook and again the problem we always have with China is when we launch legitimate concerns over whatever it is, China comes back and does these kinds of actions."

China's foreign ministry says Kovrig and Spavor have been detained on suspicion of "endangering national security."

Dec. 14: Canadian officials are granted consular access to Kovrig, and McCallum meets with him in Beijing. Meng's case comes up during a meeting between Freeland and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, with the two agreeing that no politics be injected into the extradition process. Pompeo publicly calls on China to release Kovrig and Spavor.

Dec. 16: Canadian diplomats in China are granted consular access to Spavor.

Dec. 19: Global Affairs Canada says a third Canadian has been detained in China. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government has no reason to believe the case is linked to the detention of Kovrig and Spavor. The next day, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying says the Canadian woman, Sarah McIver, received an administrative penalty for illegal employment.

Dec. 20: Indictments unsealed in the United States allege two Chinese citizens targeted companies in Canada and around the world as part of a years-long hacking campaign to steal data.

Dec. 21: Kovrig's employer, the International Crisis Group, says he has not been given access to a lawyer while in custody. A source familiar with the conditions of Kovrig's detention says he is questioned three times a day and kept in a room with the lights on continuously.

Freeland formally demands both men be let go, calling in a statement "for their immediate release." Similar statements come out from the United States, Britain and the European Union.

Dec. 22: During a visit to Canadian peacekeepers in Mali, Trudeau says countries around the world are "extremely disturbed" by China's detention of Spavor and Kovrig.

Dec. 24: China's foreign ministry calls out the U.S., Britain and EU, saying the trio should be condemning Canada for Meng's arrest. Spokeswoman Hua Chunying says Canada should "correct its mistakes" and stop acting at the behest of the United States. She says Kovrig and Spavor's rights are being respected in custody.

Dec. 27: Chinese state media bring up the case of a Canadian man charged with drug smuggling. The Global Times, an English-language publication of the official People's Daily, says Robert Lloyd Schellenberg appeal of his conviction will be heard on Dec. 29. Global Affairs says the case has been ongoing for several years.

Dec. 28: Global Affairs confirms that McIver has returned to Canada after being released.

Dec. 29: A Chinese court orders a retrial for Schellenberg, raising the possibility of a harsher sentence, including death. The Wall Street Journal reports Chinese authorities took the odd measure of inviting a number of news outlets to the appeal.

Dec. 30: Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne says in a statement that her government is "very concerned" about Kovrig's and Spavor's detentions. Earlier in the day, a group of 36 Australian academics demanded their government "call for the immediate release of these two detainees."

2019

Jan. 3: At a news conference, China's prosecutor general Zhang Jun says Kovrig and Spavor "without a doubt" violated Chinese law. He says the investigation is also following the rule of law, but doesn't provide more details about the allegations.

Jan. 7: The Prime Minister's Office says Donald Trump has affirmed his respect for judicial independence. In a summary of a phone call between Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the PMO indicated the leaders discussed the high-profile U.S. extradition request  though Meng was not named  and agreed on the importance of respecting the independence of judges and the rule of law.

Jan. 9: China's envoy in Ottawa suggests Canada and its Western allies are white supremacists for calling for the release of two Canadians imprisoned last month by his country's communist government. Ambassador Lu Shaye makes the accusation in an op-ed in the Hill Times.

Jan. 14: Trudeau says he's very concerned to see China "acting arbitrarily" by applying the death penalty to a Canadian convicted of drug trafficking. He says Canada will do all it can to intervene on Robert Lloyd Schellenberg's behalf after a court in Dalian in northeastern Liaoning province announced it had given Schellenberg the death penalty after reconsidering his case.

Jan. 15: China expresses its "strong dissatisfaction" with Trudeau over his criticism of Schellenberg's sentence. Trudeau should "respect the rule of law, respect China's judicial sovereignty, correct mistakes and stop making irresponsible remarks," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying says.

Jan. 16: The U.S. State Department says China's death sentence against Schellenberg is "politically motivated." A statement says Pompeo and Freeland spoke and "expressed their concerns about the arbitrary detentions and politically motivated sentencing of Canadian nationals."

Jan. 17: Ambassador Shaye says Canada's arrest of Meng was an act of "backstabbing" by a friend. Lu warns of "repercussions" if Canada bars the firm from its new 5G network for security reasons, as have three of its intelligence-sharing allies.

Jan. 18: Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says the government's decision on whether to ban Huawei from being used in Canada's next generation 5G wireless network will not be influenced by threats of retaliation from China.

Jan. 22: China demands the U.S. drop a request that Canada extradite Meng. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Meng's case was out of the ordinary and Canada's extradition treaty with the U.S. infringed on the "safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens."

Jan. 23: Ambassador McCallum says there are strong legal arguments Meng can make to help her avoid extradition to the United States. Speaking to Chinese reporters a day earlier in the Toronto area, McCallum listed several arguments Meng's legal team can make in her defence.

Jan. 24: Trudeau dismisses calls to remove McCallum following his comments to Chinese reporters, saying such a change wouldn't help the two Canadians detained by Chinese authorities get home any sooner. Later, McCallum says he "misspoke" when he suggested detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou had a strong case to avoid extradition to the United States.

Jan. 25: McCallum tells StarMetro Vancouver it would be "great for Canada" if the United States drops its extradition request. "We have to make sure that if the U.S. does such a deal, it also includes the release of our two people. And the U.S. is highly aware of that," he told the Star.

Jan. 26: McCallum resigns as ambassador to China at Trudeau's request.

Jan. 28: The U.S. Department of Justice formally levels criminal charges against Huawei, two subsidiaries and Meng. The charges, contained in two newly unsealed indictments, allege that Huawei misrepresented its ownership of a Hong Kong-based subsidiary to circumvent American sanctions against Iran. Furthermore, they say Huawei stole telecommunications technology, trade secrets and equipment from U.S. cellphone provider T-Mobile USA. Meng is charged with bank fraud, wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit both. In a statement, Huawei denied committing any of the violations cited in the indictment.

Jan. 29: The Canadian government says it has received a formal request for the extradition of Meng, who appears in a Vancouver court to change the people who are providing her with some of the financial sureties for her release. China calls on the U.S. to "stop the unreasonable crackdown" on Huawei, saying it will "firmly defend" its companies.

Jan. 30: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg weighs into the ongoing diplomatic spat, calling on Chinese officials to treat the two Canadians detained in the country "fairly and with due process."

Feb. 15: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says the response by the United States to China's detention of the two Canadians has not been strong enough.

Feb. 24: Larry Kudlow, Trump's senior economic adviser, gives Canada and Trudeau a symbolic pat on the back for how the federal government has been "hanging tough" on the diplomatically delicate extradition case.

March 1: The Justice Department gives the formal go-ahead for the extradition case to proceed.

March 3: Meng's defence team announces it has filed a notice of civil claim alleging "serious violations" of their clients constitutional rights.

March 4: China accuses the two detained Canadians of acting together to steal state secrets. Trudeau dismissed the allegation made in Chinese state media, saying: "It is unfortunate that China continues to move forward on these arbitrary detentions."

March 6: A lawyer for Meng tells a judge the United States' bid for extradition raises serious concerns about the political motivations behind the case as the matter is scheduled to return to court on May 8 to set hearing dates.
OTTAWA - A chronology of the SNC-Lavalin controversy, according to public documents, reports and testimony to the House of Commons justice committee:

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The headquarters of SNC Lavalin is seen Thursday, November 6, 2014 in Montreal. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. says it has won the bid to build a $660-million light-rail extension project in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

OTTAWA - A chronology of the SNC-Lavalin controversy, according to public documents, reports and testimony to the House of Commons justice committee:

Feb. 19, 2015 - The RCMP lays corruption and fraud charges against Montreal-based engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin, over business dealings in Libya. SNC-Lavalin says the charges are without merit and the allegations linked to people no longer with the company. A conviction could bar the company from bidding on federal contracts.

Oct. 19 - The Liberals win a federal election. Two weeks later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau names Jody Wilson-Raybould minister of justice and attorney general of Canada. She is the first Indigenous person to hold the post.

March 27, 2018 - The Liberals table a budget bill allowing for "remediation agreements," plea-bargain-like deals for corporations to avoid criminal proceedings by making reparations for bad behaviour. SNC-Lavalin had lobbied for such a provision in Canadian law.

Sept. 4 - The Public Prosecution Service rejects SNC-Lavalin's request to negotiate a remediation agreement. Wilson-Raybould is told about the decision. No public announcement is made.

Sept. 5 - Justice Department deputy minister Nathalie Drouin testified she first spoke with Wilson-Raybould about the decision during a late afternoon phone call while the minister was in Fiji. The department agrees to provide Wilson-Raybould with advice on the powers of the attorney general.

Sept. 6 - According to Wilson-Raybould's testimony, Finance Minister Bill Morneau's chief of staff, Ben Chin, warns his counterpart in Wilson-Raybould's office, Jessica Prince, of job losses during a Quebec provincial election absent a deal for SNC-Lavalin.

Sept. 8 - Justice Department deputy minister Nathalie Drouin provides Wilson-Raybould with a briefing note on the attorney general's powers on remediation agreements.

Sept. 12 - Drouin testified that on this day, the Finance Department tells her that SNC-Lavalin is still in discussions with the prosecution service about a remediation deal, suggesting to Drouin that the decision not to pursue a deal isn't set in stone.

Sept. 16 - According to Wilson-Raybould's testimony, officials in the PMO call Prince. They say the Crown prosecutor wants to negotiate an agreement, unlike the director of prosecutions, and suggest a solution before the company's board meets in four days.

Sept. 17 - According to Wilson-Raybould's testimony, Trudeau asks Wilson-Raybould to "find a solution" for SNC-Lavalin to avoid job losses, talks about the Quebec election and notes that he is a Quebec MP.

"Are you politically interfering with my role, my decision as the attorney general? I would strongly advise against it," Wilson-Raybould says, according to her justice committee testimony. Trudeau says, "No. We just need to find a solution."

Wernick raises the election as well, but he later testifies that he did so to highlight the long-standing convention for the federal government to stay out of provincial campaigns.

In Trudeau's version of events, he says mentioning he was a Quebec MP was not in a partisan context, adding it is up to MPs to advocate for their constituents, and that concern for job losses in Quebec and elsewhere were top of his mind. He says he asked to reconsider her decision and she agreed.

Sept. 18 - Drouin meets with Wilson-Raybould to debrief about the meeting with Trudeau. Drouin testified Wilson-Raybould expressed unease with the content of the conversation.

Sept. 19 - Drouin meets with Wilson-Raybould on SNC-Lavalin. Drouin testified Wilson-Raybould told her this would be the last time the two are going to discuss the matter, and that Wilson-Raybould instructs her not to talk with the director of prosecutions.

Sept. 21 - The remediation-agreement provisions come into force.

Oct. 9 - The prosecution service confirms it will not negotiate an agreement with SNC-Lavalin. The company challenges the decision in Federal Court.

Oct. 15 - According to Wernick's testimony, he takes a call from Kevin Lynch, the chairman of the board of SNC-Lavalin and a former clerk of the Privy Council. Lynch asks about a remediation agreement and what can be done. He tells Lynch the company's lawyers will have to deal with the prosecutor.

Oct. 26 - According to Wilson-Raybould's testimony, official Mathieu Bouchard muses to Prince about getting outside legal advice on a deal for SNC-Lavalin. Wilson-Raybould later recounts that Bouchard brings up the need for the Liberals to get re-elected in 2019.

Dec. 5 - Wilson-Raybould and Gerry Butts, Trudeau's principal secretary, meet for dinner at the Chateau Laurier. SNC-Lavalin is discussed, but the two later give differing accounts of the tone of the conversation.

Dec. 18 - Prince meets with Butts and Katie Telford, Trudeau's chief of staff. Afterwards, Prince texts Wilson-Raybould, citing Butts as saying, "there is no solution here that does not involve some interference" after being told what is being proposed is political interference in a prosecution. She cites Telford as saying "we don't want to debate legalities anymore."

Butts later tells the justice committee that he didn't  or wouldn't  have used the word "solution" and denies anything nefarious in his comments. The point of the meeting, and anything said, was about getting a second opinion from someone like a former Supreme Court justice because the law had never been applied before.

Dec. 19 - According to Wilson-Raybould, Wernick warns her she is on a collision course with the prime minister and Trudeau wants to get a deal done. Wernick later testifies that he doesn't recall saying that.

Jan. 7, 2019 - Trudeau tells Wilson-Raybould she is being shuffled out of the justice portfolio. Wilson-Raybould says the PMO denies the move is over the SNC-Lavalin file. Butts testified Wilson-Raybould was originally offered to be minister of Indigenous services, but she refused, citing her opposition to the Indian Act.

Jan. 14 - Trudeau shuffles his cabinet. David Lametti, a Montreal MP and former law professor, becomes justice minister. Jane Philpott becomes Treasury Board president. Wilson-Raybould becomes veterans-affairs minister.

Feb. 7 - Citing unnamed sources, the Globe and Mail newspaper reports that Trudeau's aides pressed Wilson-Raybould to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin case. Trudeau calls the allegations false.

Feb. 11 - Trudeau says Wilson-Raybould's continued presence in his cabinet speaks for itself and that he told her any decision on SNC-Lavalin was hers alone. Meanwhile, ethics commissioner Mario Dion launches an investigation.

Feb. 12 - Wilson-Raybould resigns from cabinet. Trudeau says she had a duty to tell him about any undue pressure applied to her in her role as attorney general.

Feb. 13 - The House of Commons justice committee debates its own probe. Liberals use their majority to push for a narrow hearing that doesn't include Wilson-Raybould. The Liberals call it a first step in a cautious investigation. The opposition calls it a coverup.

Feb. 15 - Trudeau says Wilson-Raybould asked him in September whether he would direct her on SNC-Lavalin. He says he told her he would not.

Feb. 18 - Butts resigns. He denies any impropriety but says his presence in the PMO has become a distraction.

Feb. 19 - Wilson-Raybould stuns observers by addressing a cabinet meeting. Cabinet confidentiality means nothing can be revealed about why or what was said.

Feb. 20 - Trudeau says he is confident probes by Dion and the justice committee will provide an airing of the facts. The Liberals use their majority to defeat an opposition motion calling for a public inquiry.

Feb. 21 - Wernick testifies for the first time before the justice committee. He calls allegations of political interference false and even defamatory and says none of his conversations crossed any lines.

Feb. 25 - Trudeau partly waives solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidentiality so Wilson-Raybould can speak publicly, but not about communication with Kathleen Roussel, the director of public prosecutions.

Feb. 27 - Wilson-Raybould tells the justice committee she came under "consistent and sustained" pressure  including veiled threats  from the PMO, the Privy Council Office and Morneau's office to halt the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Trudeau rejects her characterization of events. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer calls on Trudeau to resign. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh calls for a public inquiry.

Feb. 28 - Butts asks to testify before the justice committee.

March 1 - Trudeau makes longtime MP Lawrence MacAulay his new veterans-affairs minister, replacing Wilson-Raybould. Marie-Claude Bibeau replaces MacAulay as agriculture minister and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef takes on the additional portfolio of international development. All three express support for Trudeau.

March 4 - Philpott quits cabinet, saying she has lost confidence in the way the government has dealt with the ongoing affair and citing her obligation to defend the cabinet as long as she is a part of it. Trudeau names Carla Qualtrough interim Treasury Board president.

At a rally in Toronto, Trudeau says the ongoing affair "has generated an important discussion" about how ministers, staff and officials conduct themselves. "Concerns of this nature," he says, "must be taken very seriously and I can assure you that I am."

March 6 - Butts tells the justice committee that Wilson-Raybould never complained about improper pressure to halt the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin until Trudeau decided to move her out of her coveted cabinet role as justice minister and attorney general. Wernick disputes parts of her testimony as well. Drouin provides more details about the timeline.

March 7 - Trudeau holds a press conference where he says he should have been aware that trust had eroded between his office and Wilson-Raybould but denies anything inappropriate took place. He talks about learning from the events; he does not specifically apologize.

March 19 - The justice committee's next scheduled meeting, which is also federal budget day, when MPs are to debate calling further witnesses. Opposition MPs on the committee have indicated they want to recall Wilson-Raybould as well as several officials from the Prime Minister's Office.
OTTAWA - Five things we heard Wednesday as the House of Commons justice committee heard from Gerald Butts, former principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick and deputy justice minister Nathalie Drouin.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gerald Butts, former principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, prepares to appear before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights regarding the SNC Lavalin Affair, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

OTTAWA - Five things we heard Wednesday as the House of Commons justice committee heard from Gerald Butts, former principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick and deputy justice minister Nathalie Drouin.

The committee is trying to determine whether the Prime Minister's Office improperly pushed former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to head off a trial of SNC-Lavalin for fraud and bribery by ordering prosecutors to negotiate a remediation agreement with the company.

1. The cabinet shuffle

Butts said the only reason Trudeau shuffled his cabinet in January was that Scott Brison quit politics. Trudeau didn't want another shuffle and wanted to keep it as small as possible. Butts said Trudeau needed an experienced minister replacing Brison as president of the Treasury Board and was concerned about choosing a new Nova Scotia minister without alienating other Nova Scotia MPs. SNC-Lavalin was not a consideration, he said.

"If Minister Brison had not resigned, Minister Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice today," said Butts. "That is a fact. And facts are stubborn things."

In his account, Trudeau and his aides chose Jane Philpott for Treasury Board because she was already the vice-chair of the Treasury Board and capable. Her move left an opening at Indigenous Services.

Butts said Trudeau decided to offer Indigenous Services to Wilson-Raybould because he wanted to signal to Indigenous communities that the file was still of incredible importance to him. Trudeau also felt there were many lawyers in caucus who could be justice minister.

Wilson-Raybould said no because she had spent her entire life opposing the Indian Act and she would not become the minister applying it.

Butts acknowledged that had he had more time to think about the shuffle, he would have realized that would be her response. But he advised Trudeau that he couldn't set a precedent for a minister to refuse to be shuffled, and therefore they moved Wilson-Raybould to Veterans Affairs.

2. Decision-making timeline

Deputy justice minister Nathalie Drouin said her department was made aware on Sept. 4 that the director of public prosecutions had decided SNC-Lavalin was not eligible for a remediation agreement. Her office immediately began preparing a document to advise Wilson-Raybould  who was in Fiji until Sept. 12  of her options and obligations.

She could ask the director of public prosecutions for more information about the decision to proceed with a criminal trial rather than a remediation agreement, appoint another prosecutor to reassess the matter, or take over the prosecution personally. If she deemed an agreement appropriate, the attorney general would then appoint another agent to negotiate it.

Drouin said on Sept. 6 or 7 she was told by Wilson-Raybould's policy adviser, Emma Carver, that Wilson-Raybould was "not keen" on any of those possibilities.

On Sept. 11, Drouin was informed in an email that Wilson-Raybould would not intervene. Drouin also said a day later, on Sept. 12, she was informed the director of public prosecutions was still talking to SNC-Lavalin, which indicated to Drouin that the decision not to proceed to a remediation agreement was not final.

Liberal MPs on the committee appeared intent on suggesting that Wilson-Raybould made her decision too quickly and then refused any further advice or information.

3. First signs of concern

Drouin said Wilson-Raybould told her on Sept. 18 that she had been uncomfortable with a conversation she had with Trudeau and Privy Council clerk Wernick the day before.

Wilson-Raybould testified last week that Trudeau mentioned that he was a Quebec MP and that concerns about the Quebec election were also raised, which she felt were political interference in the case of an important Montreal-based company.

Drouin told the committee that at the end of October, the Privy Council Office asked her department for an opinion on the potential impacts for SNC-Lavalin if the prosecution resulted in a criminal conviction.

Her department prepared the report, which she said constituted legal advice, but before sending the report to the Privy Council Office, Drouin consulted Wilson-Raybould.

"I was instructed not to send it," said Drouin.

4. Briefing up the new justice minister

Last week Wilson-Raybould told the committee her former chief of staff, Jessica Prince, was told before the cabinet shuffle that Drouin had been asked by the Privy Council Office to prepare to brief a new minister of justice on the SNC-Lavalin file. The implication was that the SNC-Lavalin file was top of mind for Trudeau in his selection of and orders to the new minister.

Drouin indicated that SNC-Lavalin was just one of a host of issues she was asked to include in briefing notes. She said Wernick indicated the primary need was to cover the roles and responsibilities of the minister of justice and attorney general. He also said Indigenous files were critical because Trudeau might invite the new minister to attend meetings with Indigenous leaders the following week. The SNC-Lavalin situation was one of another list of issues, which Drouin said was proper.

5. He said/she said

Wilson-Raybould said last week she told Butts on Dec. 5 that the "barrage of people hounding me and my staff" was inappropriate. She said Butts told her she "needed to find a solution on the SNC stuff." She also said her chief of staff, Prince, was "urgently summoned" to a meeting with Butts and Trudeau's chief of staff, Katie Telford, on Dec. 18, where Prince was told by Butts that there was no solution on SNC-Lavalin "that does not involve some interference."

In Butts's version of the Dec. 5 dinner, Wilson-Raybould asked if he had a view on the file and they talked briefly of asking a retired Supreme Court justice for advice. He has "no memory" of her asking him to reprimand staff and says at no point did she suggest anyone had done anything wrong.

Butts also said the Dec. 18 meeting was not urgent and that all Prince was told was that he couldn't see how seeking advice from someone like former Supreme Court chief justice Beverley McLachlin constituted political interference.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in an armchair discussion at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Convention in Toronto on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Six stories in the news for Thursday, March 7



TRUDEAU TO MAKE STATEMENT ON SNC-LAVALIN TODAY

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will try to put the SNC-Lavalin affair behind him today by acknowledging mistakes were made and promising to do better in future. But while he'll adopt a more conciliatory tone, well-placed sources say Trudeau will continue to insist there was no unethical or illegal behaviour involved. Rather, he is expected to attribute the controversy to a breakdown in trust and communications between his office and former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the statement Trudeau is scheduled to make at an early morning news conference today. Trudeau's government faces allegations that Wilson-Raybould was improperly pressured to stop a criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.



SNC-LAVALIN URGED FEDS TO EASE PENALTIES

SNC-Lavalin, facing a 10-year ban from federal business over corruption charges, urged the Liberal government in 2017 to water down the penalty scheme for corporate misconduct to the point a guilty company could completely dodge a ban on receiving public contracts. In essence, the company recommended the Liberals leave wiggle room for a "zero debarment" time period under the government's integrity regime. The regime's current rules disqualify offenders from receiving federal contracts for a decade, though in certain cases the period can be trimmed down to five years. The request was part of SNC-Lavalin's submission to public consultations that explored the merits of changing Ottawa's tools to deter and punish unethical corporate behaviour. The document was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.



TRUDEAU TO APOLOGIZE FOR MISTREATMENT OF INUIT

The prime minister is to deliver an apology today on behalf of the federal government in what is expected to be an emotionally charged event marking decades-old mistreatment of Inuit sickened in tuberculosis outbreaks. Justin Trudeau is to offer the apology in person while visiting Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. Perhaps more importantly, sources familiar with today's planned event, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an announcement that isn't yet public, say the prime minister will also announce the opening of a database that Inuit families can soon use to find loved ones who died when they were transported south for treatment.



BUDGET DAY COULD BRING TAX CUT IN MANITOBA

It's budget day in Manitoba, and many political observers are watching to see whether there will be a long-promised tax cut that would lead to an early election. The Progressive Conservative government vowed in the last election campaign to cut the provincial sales tax to seven per cent from eight per cent before the end of its first term. The next election is slated for Oct. 6, 2020, but Premier Brian Pallister has not ruled out calling an earlier vote. Opposition Leader Wab Kinew says if the sales tax cut comes today, an election will very likely be called early. Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont has said he expects an election could come as early as this spring.



B.C. GROUP WANTS COMMERCIAL SEAL, SEAL LION HUNT

A British Columbia group is calling for the revival of the seal and sea lion hunt on the west coast, prompting some scientists to warn of ecosystem consequences for the controversial practice. Thomas Sewid the Pacific Balance Pinniped Society says seal and sea lion populations have risen in recent decades, becoming dangerous pests to commercial fishermen and contributing to the decline of salmon stocks. But Peter Ross of the Vancouver Aquarium says there hasn't been an explosion in population, only a rebound to historic levels. He says seal and sea lion populations were decimated by over harvesting until their protection by the Fisheries Act in the 1970s.



ONLINE AUCTION REVEALS PIECE OF VANCOUVER HISTORY

A glimpse of British Columbia's sometimes seamy history goes to the highest bidder Saturday in an online auction. A legal document written after the May 1875 death of John Deighton  better known as Gassy Jack lists the debts of one of the first men to bring liquor to the hardscrabble community of Granville, which eventually became Vancouver. Brian Grant Duff of All Nations Stamp and Coin says the list has the potential to provide a better understanding of the city's earliest years. Online bidding for the document had passed one-thousand dollars yesterday and Duff expects it will eventually change hands for several thousand dollars.



ALSO IN THE NEWS:

 The BC Coroners Service will release the latest provincial statistics for illicit drug overdose deaths in 2018.

 Gabor Lukacs, founder and co-ordinator of Air Passenger Rights, will ask the Federal Court to order reassessment of the penalty Air Transat was ordered to pay for the violations it committed in July 2017 by keeping passengers on the tarmac for five hours without adequate water, food or ventilation.

 Statistics Canada will release its building permits data for January.
NOBLETON, Ont. - The Progressive Conservative government's first budget will be presented April 11, the finance minister announced Thursday, saying it would show a path to balance.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli speaks with media following meetings with federal, provincial and territorial counterparts in Ottawa, Monday December 10, 2018. Finance Minister Vic Fedeli says Ontario's next budget will be released April 11. It will be the Progressive Conservative government's first budget, and Fedeli says it will show a path to balance. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

NOBLETON, Ont. - The Progressive Conservative government's first budget will be presented April 11, the finance minister announced Thursday, saying it would show a path to balance.

Vic Fedeli did not say, however, if the $13.5 billion deficit will be eliminated within the government's four-year mandate.

When asked if getting to balance would mean job losses, Fedeli said the premier has talked about finding efficiencies.

"You're going to see our promises kept, and one of the promises that the premier made is that no front-line workers will be cut," Fedeli said in Nobleton, Ont.

During last year's election campaign, Premier Doug Ford often said not a single job would be lost under his government, and he did not use a "front-line worker" qualifier.

Fedeli said the budget would put the province on a path to long-term fiscal sustainability.

"It will bring jobs and growth back to our province while protecting what matters most: our hospitals, our schools and our other vital public services," he said.

Opposition politicians have accused the Tories of inflating the deficit so they can justify cuts to programs and services.

When the Tory government took office last year they pegged the deficit at $14.5 billion, though the financial accountability officer said it was closer to $12 billion.

Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy said last month he has directed ministries to limit spending until fiscal year end of March 31.

The education ministry has also advised school boards to defer filling vacancies for retirements and other leaves for teachers and other staff until the minister gives them an update by March 15.
OTTAWA - SNC-Lavalin, facing a 10-year ban from federal business over corruption charges, urged the Liberal government in 2017 to water down the penalty scheme for corporate misconduct to the point a guilty company could completely dodge a ban on receiving public contracts.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The SNC-Lavalin headquarters is seen in Montreal on February 12, 2019. SNC-Lavalin, facing a 10-year ban from federal business over corruption charges, urged the Liberal government to water down the penalty scheme for corporate misconduct to the point a guilty company could completely dodge a ban on receiving public contracts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

OTTAWA - SNC-Lavalin, facing a 10-year ban from federal business over corruption charges, urged the Liberal government in 2017 to water down the penalty scheme for corporate misconduct to the point a guilty company could completely dodge a ban on receiving public contracts.

In essence, the engineering and construction giant recommended the Liberals leave wiggle room for a "zero debarment" time period under the government's integrity regime.

The regime's current rules disqualify offenders from receiving federal contracts for a decade, though in certain cases the period can be trimmed down to five years.

The request was part of SNC-Lavalin's submission to public consultations that explored the merits of changing Ottawa's tools to deter and punish unethical corporate behaviour. The document was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

A forthcoming proposal to update the integrity regime  which Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough has said will be finalized in about a month  might have major consequences for SNC-Lavalin. It could help the embattled firm avoid a lengthy, economically punishing ban on federal contracts.

The Montreal-based company finds itself at the centre of a national political storm amid allegations prime ministerial aides leaned on former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to help the engineering firm avoid criminal prosecution.

The company was charged in 2015 with corruption and fraud over allegations it resorted to bribery while pursuing business in Libya.

Wilson-Raybould recently told the House of Commons justice committee she came under relentless pressure from the Prime Minister's Office and other federal officials to ensure the company was invited to negotiate a remediation agreement, a sort of plea bargain that could allow it to continue doing business with the government.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his former principal secretary, Gerald Butts, have disputed the notion any inappropriate arm-twisting of Wilson-Raybould took place.

Following public consultations in 2017, the Liberal government ushered in legislation last year to establish the remediation agreement regime.

SNC-Lavalin lobbied the government for the creation of a remediation agreement tool  but the federal director of public prosecutions ruled late last year that its case was ill-suited for such an agreement. Wilson-Raybould agreed with the director's decision and declined to overturn it, though she had the power to do so.

However, the company could still escape severe punishment through an update to the integrity regime, which is aimed at fostering ethical business practices by shunning companies guilty of offences such as bid-rigging, bribery, fraud and money-laundering.

The Liberal government came forward with a proposed new scheme last fall that includes no minimum ineligibility period.

The proposal, which triggered another round of public consultations, was intended to take effect in early 2019, but the government has not yet indicated whether or when it will proceed.

Qualtrough, the minister in charge of federal procurement, told a Commons committee last week the government wants more flexibility in the regime for dealing with companies that have integrity problems.

The 2017 consultations canvassed opinions about the overall federal integrity regime, including input on the sanctions that can prohibit a company from receiving government contracts  a process known as debarment.

In a written submission to the government consultation, SNC-Lavalin called on Ottawa to align its ineligibility guidelines with those of the United States, where an organization could be excluded from bidding on procurement contracts for up to three years, with the possibility of extension.

"This also means that discretion allows for a zero debarment time period," said the October 2017 submission.

SNC-Lavalin argued the current penalties were "sufficiently draconian" to discourage a company from disclosing wrongdoing by rogue employees. It said there should be "little or no consequence" for a firm that condemns bad conduct promptly and punishes the employees in question.

"When it comes to fostering a culture of good ethics in business, as the saying goes: 'One good sacking is worth a thousand memos.'"

In sum, the company said the integrity rules should not result in punishment of companies that have "legitimately disavowed their employee's misconduct in ways that make it clear the company itself had no criminal intent to commit the misconduct."

A federal summary of the integrity regime consultation indicates SNC-Lavalin was not alone in its views about the penalties, saying most participants felt the existing disqualification period was too long. "The principal view was to favour full discretion in the determination of a period of ineligibility, including the ability to reduce the period to zero," the summary says.

 Follow @JimBronskill and @AndyBlatchford on Twitter
OTTAWA - The Canadian Forces are considering whether to recruit elite special-forces soldiers straight off the street rather than forcing them to follow the traditional route of first spending several years in the military.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Forces are considering whether to recruit elite special-forces soldiers straight off the street rather than forcing them to follow the traditional route of first spending several years in the military.

The idea, which is still being debated, comes as Canada's special forces  and the military as a whole  look at radical new ways to attract and retain people with the skills and experience needed to fight tomorrow's wars.

Major-General Peter Dawe speaks to reporters at a Canadian Special Operations Forces Command change of command ceremony in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. The Canadian Forces is considering whether to start recruiting its elite special-forces soldiers straight off the street rather than forcing them to follow the traditional route of first spending several years in the military.THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

That includes not just computer experts, for example, but also those with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and language skills, as the special forces aim to operate more effectively in different parts of the world.

"This is not about achieving set quotas or anything else," Maj.-Gen. Peter Dawe, commander of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, told The Canadian Press in an exclusive interview.

"From a hard-operational perspective, do we have the right mix of people with the right sort of background, education, language, ethnicity, gender ... that will allow us to do what our government expects us to do and will expect us to do in the future?"

Canada has about 2,000 special-forces members whose units include Joint Task Force 2, the Canadian Special Forces Regiment, a special helicopter detachment and a unit that specializes in responding to biological, chemical and nuclear incidents.

Incoming commander of CANSOFCOM Major-General Peter Dawe speaks to reporters at a Canadian Special Operations Forces Command change of command ceremony in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. The Canadian Forces is considering whether to start recruiting its elite special-forces soldiers straight off the street rather than forcing them to follow the traditional route of first spending several years in the military. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

The government's defence policy calls for an additional 600 special-forces members amid a realization of the growing importance of special forces to modern militaries.

Canada currently has about 120 special forces soldiers in Iraq and smaller teams working with counterparts in several other countries, including Belize, Jamaica, Niger and Malaysia.

More diverse special forces would make it easier to make connections in different parts of world, understand the environment, interact with power brokers and figure out a way to respond to changing circumstances, Dawe said.

At the same time, he said expectations within society are changing as young people look at different opportunities available to them, which requires the Forces to make it as attractive as possible to join.

Anyone who wants to join the special forces is required to have at least two years in uniform, though they are often required to attain other qualifications that require more time.

Dawe said some "really hard-charging, high-achieving individuals like varsity athletes and super-talented folks out there on civilian street" are interested in the special forces, but they don't want to spend several years in the regular military before applying.

"So one of the things we would like to look at is whether there is scope to accelerate that, because there is a qualitative dimension that we might not be exploiting or tapping into as well as we could."

There is precedent for such a move, Dawe said, pointing to Australia and the U.S. as examples where "accelerated" recruiting has been successful.

At the same time, "inculcating future members of the Canadian Armed Forces, doing that properly, making sure they understand what they are joining and why are joining it, is important," he said, noting recruits will still need to meet the same standards and go through training.

"You have to make sure you strike a good, healthy balance there in terms of making it as efficient as possible without discarding those important enculturation gateways that have served us so well historically," Dawe said.

The move toward new ways of recruiting comes as special forces undergo a shift from its primary task of fighting terrorists to face new threats, including the nebulous new type of conflict known as hybrid warfare.

Hybrid warfare is a strategy that uses propaganda, misinformation and cyberattacks to complement conventional military forces or non-conventional forces such as insurgents and proxies. Russia's intervention in Ukraine is widely seen as a prime example.

While Canada and its allies have struggled to address this new threat, Dawe argued his forces are part of the solution as they put more emphasis on better collecting information  particularly in "murky" environments.

"We just have to make sure we're not bringing a hammer or even a scalpel to the party," he said. "You have to bring a whole bunch of ability to illuminate the threat, figure out what it is and what you're going to do about it."

 Follow @leeberthiaume on Twitter.
OTTAWA - The country's top public servant received profanity-laced social-media messages calling him "garbage," a "traitor," a "loser" and a "liar" after defending the Trudeau government's conduct in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1006 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick leaves after appearing before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights regarding the SNC Lavalin affair, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA - The country's top public servant received profanity-laced social-media messages calling him "garbage," a "traitor," a "loser" and a "liar" after defending the Trudeau government's conduct in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Michael Wernick, clerk of the Privy Council, tabled with the House of Commons justice committee Wednesday some of the messages he'd received since he first testified on the controversy two weeks ago.

"I believe that you will want to discuss this as the intimidation of a witness before your committee and a breach of the committee's privileges," Wernick said at the time.

As it turned out, committee members did not want to discuss the matter, preferring to concentrate on Wernick's alleged role in pressuring former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to halt a criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. No one asked about the messages, sent to Wernick via Facebook messenger. Nor did the committee release them publicly since they were not in both official languages.

However, on Thursday, Wernick's office released copies of eight expletive-filled, sometimes barely coherent messages.

"Your garbage pal. If you don't want to be calked name like treason and traitor then don't indulge in it then, you (expletive) idiot goofs!" said one.

"You should be ashamed of yourself for the comments about assinations! Arrogant pos! Get a real job you (expletive) deadbeat," said another.

Wernick prefaced his first appearance before the committee with surprise remarks about the deteriorating state of political discourse in Canada.

"I worry about the rising tide of incitements to violence when people use terms like treason and traitor in open discourse," he said. "Those are words that lead to assassination. I'm worried that somebody is going to be shot in this country this year during the political campaign."

Wernick went on to say he's also worried about "the reputations of honourable people who have served their country being besmirched and dragged through the market square, I worry about the trolling from the vomitorium of social media entering the open media arena."

Wernick's performance before the committee, along with his stout defence of the integrity of staff in the Prime Minister's Office, earned him the scorn of opposition MPs, who accused him of being partisan and demanded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fire him. In the House of Commons last week, NDP MP Charlie Angus referred to Wernick as Trudeau's "personal goon."

The social media vomitorium, as Wernick called it, has been less restrained.

"Michael, you are dirty. Your manipulation of the fallout on the SNC-Lavalin criminal bribery scandal does not look good on you," said one message he received.

"You're a loser. And a liar. You'll amount to an absolute nobody in Canadian history. A spineless puppet," said another.

"YOU SHOULD BE FIRED. A disgrace to Canada ... Overpaid, bureaucratic LIBERAL BOZO ... protecting liberal LIars!!!" opined yet another.
The European commission has praised Moroccos migration policy and the actions made by the North African country in this field, voicing EU desire to foster further partnership with Morocco.

I would like to commend Morocco for its actions and assure Rabat of our support, said on Wednesday Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos.

We look forward to developing a closer, deeper and more ambitious partnership with Morocco, he added in his speech on progress made under the European Agenda on Migration.

He also called for increasing the European financial assistance to Morocco. This begins by completing the implementation of the 140 million support package for Morocco that focuses on improving their border management capacity, underlined the European Commissioner for Migration.

We need to strengthen our relationship with Morocco, said Mr. Avramopoulos, hailing the sustained efforts made by Moroccan authorities to strengthen control of the countrys border and prevent a large number of irregular departures.
IQALUIT, Nunavut - Just when the prime minister was escaping the political controversy swirling in the nation's capital  at least for a few hours  Mother Nature let him know she had other plans.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/3/2019 (1007 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in an armchair discussion at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Convention in Toronto on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

IQALUIT, Nunavut - Just when the prime minister was escaping the political controversy swirling in the nation's capital  at least for a few hours  Mother Nature let him know she had other plans.

After holding a news conference in Ottawa early Thursday to answer questions about the latest testimony about the SNC-Lavalin affair, Justin Trudeau flew off, bound for Iqaluit.

He was to apologize for how past governments mistreated Inuit who went south for tuberculosis care in the middle of the last century, some of whom died and were buried rather than being returned to their families.

But an early morning windstorm in Iqaluit quickly turned into a blizzard that by the lunch hour forced his plane to divert to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L.

While Prime Minister's Office staff in the capital of Nunavut voiced hope initially that Trudeau could arrive later in the evening, the whiteout conditions and wind chill temperatures of -45 C  winds gusted to nearly 80 km/h  soon made it evident the event would be postponed until Friday morning at the earliest. Friday, the weather forecast calls for light snow rather than a blizzard.

The apology has been in the works for the better part of two years since Trudeau signed an Inuit-Crown partnership agreement in 2017.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the organization that speaks for Inuit in Nunavut, has said it wants to help family members locate burial sites of those who died during tuberculosis treatment from the 1940s through the 1960s and whose bodies were buried in southern Canada.

A dinner feast that was planned for the event Thursday, which was to include samplings of narwhal and caribou, was also postponed as Iqaluit was virtually shut down.

"Services such as water delivery, waste management, garbage pick-up and snow removal are being suspended, and city facilities are being closed to the public, until further notice, due to severe weather conditions," the city said in a statement posted on social media. Taxis and local residents were also advised to stay off city roads.

Tuberculosis rates among Inuit are still 290 times higher than among Canadian-born non-Indigenous people, according to a 2018 paper from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Cairn Homes is to hold off on progressing its Cork-based landbank for another couple of years as it looks to maintain its entire focus on the Greater Dublin area in the near-term.

The publicly quoted housebuilder has land in Cork, Kilkenny and Galway and said despite the current Dublin focus it still harbours national ambitions.

Cairn grew revenues by 125% last year to 337m and saw operating profit increase by 267% to 53.2m. It also lowered its net debt by 25m to 134.4m.

On the back of such healthy annual results, the company said it would be formally announcing its maiden interim dividend - of 2.5c per share - in September; a year ahead of target.

Cairn sold 804 of its houses last year at an average selling price of 366,000; compared to 418 sales at an average price of 315,000 in 2017.

The company closed the year building on 12 sites which, when complete, will deliver around 4,400 new homes. It has five new sites due to launch this year.

Chief executive Michael Stanley said Cairn should do 1,000 house sales this year and break the 1,500 mark by 2021.

All of its live sites are in the Greater Dublin area, but stretch as far as Maynooth and Naas. Cairn also still intends to lower its landbank by not replacing spare land after completing building projects and selling non-core land. It currently has three non-core site sales planned. Cairn has land with capacity for 15,000 houses at the moment and wants an overall landbank with capacity of between 6,000 and 8,000 houses by 2025.

Mr Stanley said the company hopes to get planning approval for the high profile land it bought from RTE at the broadcaster's Donnybrook headquarters later this year and to be building apartments on the site by early next year.

Mr Stanley also said that the target of 35,000 homes being built per year in Ireland to alleviate housing demand is not realistic and that 25,000 would be a more achievable feat. However, he added that even that target is "very optimistic".

"That should be what we are realistically aiming for; although it will likely take two-to-three years to get there," he said.

"There is still a long way to go towards scaling the industry," Mr Stanley said, pointing out that only three firms built more than 200 houses last year.

Sustainable capital and high funding costs; allied with affordability issues and the cost of building are the main constraints to a functioning housing market, he said.
Cork aims to have a direct flight to New York within three years, the managing director of Cork Airport has said.

Niall MacCarthy, who was speaking following the monthly business breakfast of Cork Chamber, said advances in aircraft technology meant Cork Airport's runway length would no longer be prohibitive.

Cork Airports short runway, by international standards, has historically been the reason why most bigger aircraft cannot fly transatlantic routes.

Boeing's 737 Max aircraft, which is more fuel efficient and lighter, led to Norwegian Air International operating the first transatlantic flights in July 2017 to Providence, Rhode Island, an hour from Boston.

Mr MacCarthy said with the next generation of Boeing Max and Airbus A321 and A321LR aircraft, direct flights to New York were "two to three years away" for Cork Airport.

"The length of the runway will not be the previous restriction that it was. We were told originally that we could not do transatlantic because the technology did not enable it.

"The Boeing Max has proved we can, so next is to see how far we can go, and that is New York. The technology is getting better all the time.

We have not got an airline interested yet, but we do foresee that there should be a flight to New York out of Cork -- probably in the next two to three years realistically, to sign up an airline.

"The A321LR and A321Neo are even better at fuel efficiency than the Boeing aircraft and Aer Lingus has an order in for those," said Mr MacCarthy.

The airport is keen to build on its growth so far this year, Mr MacCarthy said, with Berlin and Rome in its sights for future routes. An estimated 2.6 million passengers will travel on Cork Airport's 51 routes.

"We can reach anywhere in Europe we want. The question is around demand. We have seven new routes this year which we were working on two years ago. You are always working quite a bit ahead. We had 9% growth in January and 10% in February, beating Dublin and Shannon, so the proof is in the pudding -- if we continue to grow like that, we will continue to add new routes and serve the people of Munster," Mr MacCarthy said.

Airline consolidation was good for passengers, Mr MacCarthy said.

"Consolidation has been really good for Aer Lingus, which is generating more profits and carrying more passengers than ever before. Weak airlines tend to be unreliable and the passengers dont have confidence in them. It is in everyones interest to have good competition among strong players, that can weather booms and busts, and expanding economies and recessions."
Irish Ferries owner, ICG has stepped up its dispute with the Governments National Transport Authority (NTA) by linking the closure of the Rosslare-France route to the demands made by the authority that ICG pays compensation to customers.

ICG confirmed that it had started a legal action to challenge the NTAs decision in the courts to prevent it being forced to pay compensation under EU rules over the late delivery of its WB Yeats ship.

It was hit last year by the late delivery of the WB Yeats and then took a second blow when the Ulysses between Dublin and Holyhead was put out of action by propellor trouble which caused widespread disruption to schedules and Irish Ferries customers.

It announced in December it was ending its Rosslare-France route to focus on Dublin Port.

The uncertainty caused by the NTA interpretation of the EU regulation covering sea passengers has already, unfortunately, led us to close one route from Rosslare to France, ICG said in its 2018 earnings.

And it claimed: We believe it is in the best interests of our customers to protect the viability of direct links to the continent which is now all the more critical against the backdrop of the proposed UK exit from the EU.

These direct links are threatened by what we strongly believe to be the NTAs incorrect interpretation of the regulation, and hence the importance of proceeding with this legal challenge.

In a challenging year, earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation fell 15.6% to 68.4m, ICG said.

Its shares, which fell almost 1% in the latest session, have slid 11% in the past year to value the firm at around 966.5m
A survey from Eurostat has found that two out of five managers in Ireland are female.

However, their survey also found that the number drops for the European Union, where out of nearly 9.4 million people in managerial positions, six million are men (64%) and 3.4 million are women (36%).

In Ireland - 41% of managers are female, but when it comes to senior executives in Ireland there are just 16% that are female

Also, just 19% of Boards in Ireland are made up of women.

In the EU, women account for 27% of board members of publicly listed companies and for 17% of senior executives in 2018.

Ireland South MEP, Deirdre Clune, said: As we celebrate International Womens Day on Friday around the world, figures show that women remain underrepresented in the business and political world. We have to continue to do all we can to support women across all aspects of society.

"Be it a woman who wants to return to work after having children or a woman who would like to embark on a political career - it is vital that supports are in place to ensure women can make this happen.

We are working hard at EU level at the European Parliament to bring in measures to ensure people are entitled to things like flexible working conditions which will go a long way to helping women advance in their careers. Earlier this year the European Parliament and the Council reached a deal on a Work/Life Balance Package. The aim of the measures is to help workers balance their professional and family lives and to work towards a modern family policy and economic prosperity for families all around Europe.

Work/Life balance is an issue which concerns many people in the workforce and it needs to be tackled with concrete policy measures both in Europe and in Ireland."

"The workplace can be an exciting and exhilarating place. However, it can also be a challenging place. What many people will struggle with is getting their work/life balance right.

In Ireland, the Government is doing a lot of work on the issues with legislation to extend unpaid parental leave from 18 weeks to 26 weeks for all parents with children under eight years and also measures to help parents financially with young children.
An Post has issued new stamps to acknowledge the Irish Coast Guards provision of search and rescue on the coast and waterways of Ireland.

The two new stamps designed by Vermillion Design are based on an original painting by the late Caitriona Lucas, who lost her life while volunteering with the Coast Guard on September 12, 2016.

Members of the Irish Coast Guard and Bernard Lucas, widower of Caitriona Lucas, unveiled the set of stamps in the GPO earlier today.

The artwork depicts a rescue team working at sea, both in the air and on the water. The scene in the painting was divided into two stamps by Vermillion Design.

Debbie Byrne, Managing Director, An Post Retail paid tribute to the Coast Guard.

Stamps mark important aspects of Irish life and these beautiful stamps acknowledge the service given by members of the Coast Guard to keep us safe when we are in or near the water.

"We also recognise the families of those Coast Guard volunteers and staff who have lost their lives while serving the Irish people".

Gerard OFlynn, National Manager of the Coast Guards volunteer branch welcomed the stamp saying that he was delighted with public recognition and particularly pleased that Caitriona's work is being honoured in this way."

"We would hope that the Lucas family will take some strength from this recognition," he said.

The stamps are on sale at main Post Offices nationwide and online at www.irishstamps.ie and from the GPO Dublin.

The N rate stamps cover standard letter postage within the island of Ireland.

The Irish Coast Guard responds to maritime and inland search and rescue emergencies with its main objective to reduce the loss of life on lakes, waterways, rivers, sea and coastal areas.

The Coast Guard comprises 65 full-time staff and 940 volunteers who assist on average 4,500 people, saving 200 lives and handling 3,000 maritime emergencies each year.

Key messages from the Coast Guard to always keep in mind:
Latest: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that Karen Bradley's comments were insensitive and wrong.

It comes after the Northern Ireland Secretary apologised for the "offence and hurt" caused after she suggested deaths caused by British soldiers and police during the Troubles were not crimes.

"Legacy issues in Britain and Ireland are very difficult," Mr Varadkar said.

"I've met families who have lost loved ones during the Troubles and they're still grieving and seeking justice.

"In that context, I think the Secretary of State's comments were insensitive and they were wrong."

"Bear in mind we're talking about the killing of civilians, peaceful protesters in Derry on Bloody Sunday, we're talking about Ballymurphy and Kingsmills, and Dublin and Monaghan."

"We need a British Government that is at least open to the possibility that these killings of civilians were crimes.

"Indeed, there have been convictions for such killings."

Asked if Ms Bradley should resign, Mr Varadkar said: "Not gonna go there.

"It's not for me to determine the composition of any other government, that's something for the Prime Minister and Karen herself to decide."

Earlier: Karen Bradley 'profoundly sorry' for 'deeply insensitive' comments

Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley has said she is "profoundly sorry" for "deeply insensitive" comments she made yesterday suggesting that deaths caused by soldiers and police during the Troubles were not crimes.

Ms Bradley faced calls to resign following the comments yesterday, which sparked criticism from victims of the security forces and nationalist political leaders, while the Government sought an explanation.

I am profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt that my words have caused

In her apology, Ms Bradley said her language was wrong and deeply insensitive to many of those who lost loved ones.

She said: Yesterday I made comments regarding the actions of soldiers during the Troubles. I want to apologise. I am profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt that my words have caused.

The language was wrong and even though this was not my intention, it was deeply insensitive to many of those who lost loved ones.

I know from those families that I have met personally just how raw their pain is and I completely understand why they want to see justice properly delivered. I share that aim and that is why I launched the public consultation on addressing the legacy of the Troubles.

My position and the position of this Government is clear. We believe fundamentally in the rule of law.

Where there is any evidence of wrongdoing this should be pursued without fear or favour, whoever the perpetrators might be. That is a principle that underpins our approach to dealing with legacy issues and it is one from which we will not depart.

Next week, prosecutors will announce whether soldiers will face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings of 14 innocent civilians in Derry.

Ms Bradley initially told British MPs on Wednesday: The fewer than 10% (of killings) that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes.

They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way.

She later returned to the Commons to say: The point I was seeking to convey was that the overwhelming majority of those who served carried out their duties with courage, professionalism and integrity and within the law.

I was not referring to any specific cases but expressing a general view.

Of course, where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated  whoever is responsible.

These are of course matters for the police and prosecuting authorities, who are independent of Government.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney says he met with Ms Bradley last night and told her the view of the government is that there should be effective investigations into all deaths during the Troubles regardless of the perpetrator.

PA

Update: Karen Bradley's killings comments 'misguided and ill-judged'

By Vivienne Clarke

The comments of Northern Secretary Karen Bradley in the House of Commons yesterday have been described as misguided and ill-judged by the sister of an IRA victim of the Troubles.

Ann Travers told RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show that Ms Bradleys comments had done nothing to help the healing.

I just feel shes put us all a step back, she added.

Her sister Mary Travers was killed as she walked home from church with her mother and father who was a magistrate. She was aged 23 and worked as a primary school teacher.

Im not stupid, I realise that as time has gone on evidence has been lost or not stored properly and it is unlikely that anyone will ever end up in court.

She told of she and her brothers had run from their home on hearing the shots and saw her injured parents and fatally wounded sister. The memories will remain forever.

As was the case with so many other families, the trauma and hurt was so palpable, so real.

She said she was horrified when politicians say things like Ms Bradley had said in the House of Commons.

Her comments were so stupid. They have done nothing to support those good men and women who were sent to Northern Ireland to do their job properly, who did not act criminally. She has done nothing to help them or us.

The SDLPs Colum Eastwood told the same programme that Ms Bradleys comments were a very silly intervention.

I dont understand how she could stand up and say those words and think there would be no impact.

He said it was time for Ms Bradley to resign. It is beyond acceptable for her to remain in that position.

Professor of social policy at the University of Ulster, Deirdre Heenan said that the Northern Secretarys comments were grossly inappropriate and that it appeared that the British Prime Minister Mrs May valued loyalty over capability.

Mr Eastwood added that it appeared Ms Bradleys comments were part of the British governments cackhanded attempts to influence the decision due next week from the Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service about whether British soldiers will be prosecuted for the Bloody Sunday killings.

This has been a long-running issue. State actors are trying to influence the issue.

Ms Travers said that any process of reconciliation has to be holistic and be an all-island effort. However, she said she would find it very difficult to believe anything told to her by the IRA in a Truth and Reconciliation process.

I just dont know. We need to start talking to each other, we have to start listening to each other, trying to build up relationships. We need to work on reconciliation.

Prof Heenan said that some people want or need the truth to move on, while others want justice. The difficulty is that as time moves on memories fade. It looks like the British government is trying to let the clock wind down.

Here the legacy of the past seeps into the future. The reality is they cant go on fudging the issue. People like Karen Bradley need to take ownership of their words.

Earlier: Bradley's comments 'like a colonial governor, lording over people', says brother of Bloody Sunday victim

By Vivienne Clarke

The brother of a Bloody Sunday victim has described Northern Secretary Karen Bradleys comments about killings by the British army as like a statement from a colonial governor of the past, lording over people.

Yesterday in the House of Commons, Ms Bradley said killings by the British army and police during the Troubles were not crimes.

Liam Wray, brother of 22-year-old Jim Wray who was shot by a British paratrooper on Bloody Sunday, told RTE radios Morning Ireland that he wasn't surprised at what she said.

I was more surprised that she was so blatant and open about it, and it certainly was not a slip of the tongue.

"It wasn't a word out of place, it was a clear statement, like some colonial governor of the past lording over people to say it was not a crime for British soldiers to kill people here in Northern Ireland.

It is horrendous that anybody could have an attitude like that in public life in the 21st century.

When asked about Ms Bradleys later clarification when she used a point of order to say that she was expressing a general view rather than referring to any particular case, Mr Wray said: it sounded like a worm getting off the hook, she had pushed it too far and she realised that from the response she got.

She thought she could get away with it, to say it was a slip of the tongue.

"It was certainly not a misunderstood statement, it was a clear statement that British soldiers did not commit crimes when they murdered people.

Karen get honest, you meant what you said, it was clear, it was unambiguous, you came back then with a statement saying you were misunderstood, you were heard clearly.

It's not up for me to tell Karen Bradley to resign, if she was a woman of substance and a woman of dignity she would know what she should do herself.

Mr Wray described his brothers death as very savage. It was a very sad day for the family obviously and it's affected us for a long time.
A High Court Judge has remanded a businesswoman in custody overnight arising out of her failure to comply with an order not to interfere with the receivership of several properties owned by her and her husband.

The order was made by Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds against Wendy Whitty this afternoon, who the judge said needed to get legal advice so she can understand the seriousness of the situation.

This week, the judge made an order committing Ms Whitty to Mountjoy Prison due to her failure to comply with orders not to interfere with the receivership of several investment properties she and her husband Mr Scott Dyer in Co. Wexford and in Cork.

The judge made the orders after being told Ms Whitty had not complied with undertakings previously given to the court not to interfere with the properties, and that the couple had threatened to evict tenants who co-operate with the receiver.

The committal order was not executed, and today Ms Whitty attended at the High Court seeking to have the order set aside, and to purge her contempt.

The Judge said Mr Whitty had previously given an undertaking not to interfere with the receivership.

The Judge said Ms Whitty had not complied and she had sent a letter to the court, and others including the President of Ireland, politicians and judges, stating the undertaking was given under duress and that "duress voids all contracts".

Ms Whitty "had laughed in the face of the court", the Judge said, adding that clearly there was on-going interference with the receivership, particularly with the tenants of properties based in Wexford.

Ms Whitty, who was not represented by a solicitor or barrister, needed to get the advice of a lawyer and had to furnish them the letter sent to the court, the Judge said.

The Judge said that she had previously told Ms Whitty to get legal advice and she had failed to do. As a result, she was remanding Ms Whitty in prison overnight and would revisit the situation on Friday morning.

Ms Whitty, a mother of four children, said she had not breached the court's orders and had not gone near the properties since giving the undertaking.

Ms Whitty was not present in court on Wednesday when the committal order was made. She said she did not believe she needed to be there.

When asked to give the names of all the persons staying at those properties in Cork she said she did not know the name of everyone living there as she never went near those particular properties.

The order committing Ms Whitty to prison was made on Wednesday after Brian Conroy Bl for the receiver Ms Siobhan O'Dwyer said Ms Whitty and Mr Dyer had not complied with an injunction not to interfere with the properties, including continuing to collect rent from the tenants.

Last month Ms Whitty with an address at Kilbrainey, Gusserane, New Ross, Co Wexford, gave undertakings not to impede the receiver.

Ms Whitty also undertook not to hold herself out as the person entitled to get rents from the tenants, communicate with the tenants or enter at the various properties.

Similar proceedings were brought against Mr Dyer, but a letter from his doctor stated that the defendant was too ill to attend court.

The couple's properties are located at Sunset Avenue Riverchapel, Co Wexford, Beales Hill, and Nelson's Terrace, Lower Glanmire Road Cork, Wrixons Lane, St Mary's Road, Cork, and Myrtlehill Terrace, Glanmire, Cork.

Injunctions were secured against the couple by the receiver in 2017 due to their alleged ongoing interference with what are investment residential properties.

The injunction was sought after a Polish family living in one of the Cork properties, who had co-operated with the receivership, were evicted in November 2016.

The couple obtained mortgages in respect of the properties from AIB, who appointed Ms O'Dwyer as receiver over the properties in 2015 after the couple failed to satisfy a demand to repay 747,000 allegedly owed to the bank.

The couple have at all times disputed the validity of the receiver's appointment.
Former Donegal TD Niall Blayney is not happy with Fianna Fail's plans to hold a European election selection convention for the North-West constituency in Longford on Friday, March 15.

Neither is his party colleague Galway East TD Anne Rabbitte, who, along with Mr Blayney is one of nine candidates seeking selection.

Mr Blayney told RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show that selection conventions are predominantly held on Sundays to make it easier for delegates to attend.

He said that conventions have never been known to be held on a Friday before and it was going to cause a lot of travel difficulties on the Friday of a bank holiday weekend.

It is going to be difficult for those on the periphery of the constituency to attend. Some of them are from up to 100km away. Any of those who work on a Friday wont be able to attend.

Members of the party who love elections were upset and felt they were unwanted. This was discrimination against the membership, he said.

It seemed like a cold, calculated effort to have their chosen candidate selected.

There are nine candidates, seven from the periphery of the constituency who lived more than 100km from Longford.

At the very worst members should be given the option of other locations where they could cast their vote for the European election candidates. He suggested there should be four boxes across the constituency where they could vote.

Ms Rabbitte said she agreed with Mr Blayneys comments and that a lot of delegates lived long distances from Longford. But she said that the conventions need to be held now so the party could have candidates in place.

She acknowledged that geographically Longford is the most central point in the constituency, but that the day on which the convention is going to be held is going to cause difficulty for some delegates. Its a big ask.

Mr Blayney added: the day is the biggest problem. It will be impossible to do a days work and get there (Longford) by 8pm.

He said that the selection convention should have been held at an earlier date. At the very worst if they want it on the Friday, give us the four locations.
Moroccos national flagship carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has suspended its activities on the Casablanca-NDjamena-Nairobi route with the airline saying it took the decision to re-position itself on markets that are more profitable.

The suspension became effective on March 2. However, RAM head in Kenya, Othman Baba, told HuffPost Maroc that the decision is temporary.

The route launched in 2016 according to the RAM official did not meet expectations. Baba added that the airline could return with a new market approach.

In the aeronautic or aviation industry, it is normal that an airline pulls out temporarily, to develop a new approach, Baba said.
Fees paid to consultancy firms hired to advise the government on high profile projects will be linked to clear performance standards in a series of reforms to strengthen management of capital projects.

If companies fail to meet these metrics, they will be penalised in future tender evaluations.

Robert Watt, general secretary of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance that the measure was on foot of a number of high profile projects that had "highlighted issues with the performance of advisory firms".

Mr Watt was addressing the committee to discuss his department's role in relation to the new National Paediatric Hospital (NPH), the cost of which could exceed 2bn.

A spokesperson for DPER subsequently told the Irish Examiner that it would be exploring "new mechanisms for the management and recording performance on projects".

"In consultation with the Attorney Generals Office, the Office of Government Procurement will investigate how such mechanisms can be used to ensure that companies who fail to meet those performance metrics are penalised in future tender evaluations," the spokesperson said.

Asked by Fianna Fail finance spokesperson Michael McGrath to explain why the cost of the hospital had escalated so dramatically, Mr Watt said the estimation of the Bill of Quantities was "fundamentally wrong".

He said there was "95% certainty" around the approximate Bill of Quantities, but "that turned out not to be the case".

Mr McGrath said it was "just extraordinary" that details of the cost overrun were not known to DPER until November even though the Department of Health knew since August.

He asked Mr Watt why details of the overrun were not included in the Revised Budget Estimates (REV) which include additional information to the estimates published on Budget Day in October. Mr Watt said it "wasn't possible" because they didn't have all the information they needed.

He said it was "not clear" that the hospital would have been cheaper if they had opted for the 'lump sum" approach instead of a two-stage tender process. He said the Government Contracts Committee for Construction had awarded 12 derogations from the lump sum approach since 2011. Not all involved a two-stage tender process, but the Dunkettle Interchange in Cork did.

Labour Party finance spokesperson Joan Burton said the runaway costs of the new hospital "has put very big question marks over the ability of the public service to provide reliable estimates".

Mr Watt defended his record saying they'd produced a balanced budget over the last number of years. He said the 100m that would have to be found this year to make up for the hospital cost overrun was "a manageable amount".

"People will spin it if I say it's not significant," he said, but in the "overall context" of an 8bn budget "it's a manageable amount".

Ms Burton said it would be "shocking to an awful lot of people" that "this is a manageable amount". She asked if there was "in effect a cartel in place among a small group of contractors" in this country "as they seem to be able to call the shots on [project] variations".

Mr Watt said there was an issue "around the depth of contractors in Ireland" but he wouldn't describe it as a cartel.

Sinn Fein Senator Rose Conway Walsh asked how many people in DPER were monitoring health spending, given its responsibility to protect the public purse.

Mr Watt said: "Not enough, it would seem, given our record".
Gardai investigating the murder of Kane McCormack in Co. Meath have released a man in his 40s.

The man was arrested in the Dublin area yesterday by gardai investigating the discovery of a body in a field at Walterstown in Dunboyne in December 2017.
Government plans to introduce standards in the third level sector to tackle sexual harassment and violence are due to be published in the coming weeks.

Education minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor made the commitment during her keynote address at the final conference of the Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE) project in Dublin today.

The event brought together more than 120 experts, students, higher education representatives and policymakers from across Europe.

The Government established a working group late last year to prepare a report on tackling sexual violence in third level education.

Ms Mitchell O'Connor told attendees that she had received the report and would publish its findings in the coming weeks.

Harassment and assault are experiences too common for many of our third level students. Non-consenting experiences encompass sexual violence, rape, and assault. I look forward to launching my initiative in the coming weeks, where our overriding ambition is to embed a cultural change within our higher education institutions so we create safer and more respectful campuses. It is important that we assist our institutions in following best practice, development of their college policies, and working collaboratively in addressing sexual harassment and assault," she said.

The minister said the working group had devised "a roadmap for the implementation of a framework" in the area of sexual violence on college campuses and that her department was working on finalising these details.

Project Coordinator for the ESHTE project Tara Brown said it had developed a toolkit that can be used by higher education institutes to lead change in this area.

"This cannot be achieved by higher education institutes in isolation but requires a multi-agency approach. This is why the collaborative approach that we adopted as part of the ESHTE project, bringing together womens organisations like the National Women's Council of Ireland, An Garda Siochana, sexual violence services, student bodies and Government departments, was so important in achieving positive change," she said.
A motorist found guilty of manslaughter, despite unanimous expert opinion that he was legally insane, has been committed to the Central Mental Hospital as in inpatient after his jury verdict was declared perverse by the Court of Appeal.

Polish national Dariusz Alchimionek (aged 44), with an address at Barrow Way, Spa Street, Portarlington, Co Laois, had denied the manslaughter of John Gorman (aged 19) and assault causing harm to his brother, Adam, on December 29, 2015.

The brothers had been returning home from Tullamore when a vehicle driven by Alchimionek suddenly crossed the road into the path of their oncoming car at Ballycrystal, Geashill, Co Offaly.

Tullamore Circuit Criminal Court heard how Alchimionek had become convinced the Islamic State group, or Isis, were about to invade Europe and a third World War was about to begin.

Consultant psychiatrists for both the prosecution and the defence, both of whom worked at the Central Mental Hospital, agreed that Alchimionek met the criteria to be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The jury had the option of returning of three verdicts: guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity.

The trial judge told the jury: "In light of the medical evidence, it would seem to me that you have no option but to accept... the defence of not guilty by reason of insanity is available to the accused, and in such circumstances, you are obliged to acquit."

After two hours and 50 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned majority guilty verdicts of 11-1 on both counts, which were met with applause in the courtroom.

Alchimionek was then sentenced to nine years imprisonment with the final three suspended by Judge Keenan Johnson in October 2017.

The Court of Appeal quashed the jury verdict last week on grounds it was perverse and against the weight of the evidence.

President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said the quashing of a jurys verdict because it was perverse was very exceptional but the court felt compelled to do so in this case.

The three-judge court heard today from Dr Paul OConnell, consultant psychiatrist at the Central Mental Hospital, who assessed Mr Alchimionek in recent days.

Dr OConnell told the court that in his opinion, Mr Alchimionek warranted continued detention as in inpatient at the CMH.

On foot of the assessment, the court committed Mr Alchimionek to the CMH.

Mr Justice Birmingham said it was a traumatic case and a terrible tragedy that must not be easy for anyone to cope with.

Last week, Mr Justice Birmingham said the court was very conscious of the impact the terrible tragedy had on the family of the deceased.

However, he said it was never in controversy that Mr Alchimionek was, in fact, insane at the time of the incident and, if the court directed a retrial, it seemed inevitable the evidence would be the same.

If another jury was to reject the unanimous expert evidence a second time, he said the Court of Appeal would very likely find itself dealing with another perverse verdict.

On the other hand, if another jury in a retrial acted on foot of the unanimous expert evidence, then the verdict would be the same as the Court of Appeal could enter now.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice Brian McGovern, said prolonging matters towards an inevitable conclusion by directing a retrial would not be in the public interest.

Counsel for Mr Alchimionek, Kenneth Fogarty SC, along with Niall Flynn BL, said a retrial was an unnecessary exercise.
A man who is in a critical condition following a gun attack in west Dublin yesterday has been named locally.

Lee Boylan, 24, suffered gunshot wounds after the incident in the Huntstown area of Blanchardstown shortly after 5pm.

He was treated at the scene and taken to taken to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.

He remains in a serious condition in hospital this morning but is said to be stable.

The victim is reported to be a father-of-two and is known to gardai.

Mr Boylan was driving along the Blakestown Road in Mulhuddart yesterday evening when was shot a number of times.

A silver BMW 3 series, which gardai believe was involved in the shooting, was discovered on fire nearby at Saddlers Grove.

The scene remains sealed off this morning as investigations continue.

Gardai are appealing to anyone who was in the Blakestown Road or the Saddlers Grove area between 4.30pm and 5.30pm yesterday evening to come forward.

The latest shooting follows a number of incidents in the nearby Corduff area, most recently, last month, when images of gunmen on the estate, including men opening fire, were captured and circulated online and in the media.

There have been a series of shootings in the locality.
A Clonakilty man who was barred for life from a local hotel was jailed for two years today for violently kicking in a door at the premises during a Christmas visit.

Does he understand the meaning of the word barred? Judge Gerard OBrien asked at Cork Circuit Criminal Court toiday.

Desmond Hayes, defending, explained that Robert ODonoghue, aged 40, of 2 Assumption Place, Clonakilty, Co Cork, had been in the same premises a few nights earlier and believed that a brother of the woman who told him he was barred had no problem with him being on the premises.

Judge Gerard OBrien, who heard the evidence of the trial of ODonoghue on the criminal damage and other charges, said: That is simply not credible.

Mr Hayes said of ODonoghue: He will not be going into ODonovans Hotel ever again.

Sgt Kevin Long, who investigated the case, read a victim impact statement from Dena ODonovan of ODonovans Hotel, Pearse St, Clonakilty, in which she said the aggression shown to her by ODonoghue shook her to the core and caused her fear that made her look over her shoulder now.

I no longer feel safe in my own home or in my own town, Ms ODonovan said.

Mr Hayes said: He would like to express his remorse. He is apologetic. He accepts the verdict of the jury for criminal damage. Kicking of the door does not show aggression. She has nothing to worry about. He poses no threat to her.

He said the defendant was drinking that night arising out of a family tragedy.

Judge OBrien saw CCTV of the defendant kicking the locked door in the hotel where Ms ODonovan was on the other side of the door.

The judge said the ferocity of the kicking of the door would have caused anyone to feel extremely intimidated. The judge said the defendants demeanour and defiance during the trial would have contributed to the victim feeling fear.

A jury found ODonoghue guilty of causing damage and not guilty of threatening to cause damage and threatening to kill or cause injury.

The judge imposed a sentence of five years with the last three years suspended. Registrar, Shay Bowen, put the conditions of the suspension to the defendant, and they included remaining sober, not going within 10 metres of the hotel and writing a letter of apology to the victim, and asked if he acknowledged himself bound by the conditions. Mr Hayes said he needed to take instructions from ODonoghue at that stage.

Judge OBrien expressed disbelief that instructions could be needed in relation to a sentence imposed by the court and commented on the fact that defendant and the barrister were in conversation during the sentencing.

The judge said to the barrister: When the conditions were outlined, neither you nor he were listening. This is basic etiquette of court. He did not listen and neither did you.

Judge OBrien rose for a few minutes and when he returned the defendant acknowledged himself bound by the conditions on which three years of the five-year sentence were suspended.

The incident that gave rise to the case occurred at the hotel on December 27, 2017.

Sgt Long said the defendants previous convictions included four years for breaking into a house in Cork City wearing a balaclava while carrying a shotgun with the barrel sawn off. For extortion, ODonghue was sentenced in an Amsterdam court to 407 days in prison. Other Irish convictions included assaults, criminal damage, burglary, public order and drug-dealing, Sgt Long said.
A man who set fire to an apartment with three children inside will be sentenced later this month.

Ian O'Connor (29) of Emmet Crescent, Inchicore, Dublin threw a pipe bomb at another family home less than a month later, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

He pleaded guilty to arson at Tyrone Place, Inchicore on September 18, 2017. He also pleaded guilty to arson at Ailesbury Road, Dublin on October 15, 2017.

Detective Inspector David Harrington told Philipp Rahn BL, prosecuting, that on the date in September, Margaret Green was asleep in her apartment along with her three children and woke to find the stairs on fire.

Ms Green was trapped upstairs by the fire and tried unsuccessfully to smash the windows to escape. She covered her two youngest children with wet towels in her bedroom and was choking on smoke when they were rescued by the fire brigade.

Her eldest son had fallen asleep while watching television downstairs and woke up to the sight of the front door on fire. He escaped via a balcony at the back of the apartment with the help of a neighbour who brought him a ladder.

O'Connor admitted to starting the fire by pouring petrol in the letterbox and on the front door. He said he owed money to certain persons who had instructed him to light the fire and had told him that there would be no one in the house.

Inspector Harrington agreed with Caroline Biggs SC, defending, that O'Connor believed that had he not lit the fire, then his family would have been pipe-bombed. O'Connor was given a bag of cocaine beforehand, but said he did not do it for the drugs.

In a victim impact statement which was read out in court, Ms Green said that her seven year old daughter's hearing aid had melted in the fire causing a permanent scar to her ear. The court heard that all four members of the family sustained injuries.

Ms Green said she thought that she and her family were all going to die. She said she remembers her youngest son telling her that he was going to Heaven and that he would come back and help them escape the fire.

Detective Garda Shane Cahill told Mr Rahn that on the date in October, William Godson woke to find flames outside the kitchen window of the home of his parents and two younger siblings. He grabbed bottles of water and used them to douse the fire.

O'Connor told gardai that he got an offer of 2,000 to put a petrol bomb through a window and was told that there was no one in the house, but he had not been paid as it had not worked. He said he had brought two petrol bombs to the house but had only thrown one.

Det Gda Cahill agreed with Ms Biggs that her client had been in debt and felt he had no option of getting money anywhere else. He agreed that there was some speculation that the wrong house had been targeted.

O'Connor has previous convictions for drunk driving and for being drunk in charge of a vehicle. He is unmarried and has one child.

Ms Biggs told the court that her client's uncle and cousin had been assassinated over drug debts in particularly gruesome killings, adding, he had seen what happens if you dont pay.

She said OConnor had a history of dependence on cocaine, benzodiazepams and alcohol since the age of 12 and had been under the influence of vast amounts of drugs at the time of the offences.

She said that O'Connor has been diagnosed with ADHD at the age of four and had suffered from panic attacks, anxiety depression since his teens.

A psychiatrists report said OConnor displayed the traits of schizoid personality disorder. She said her client was genuinely remorseful for his actions and had considered suicide.

The court heard OConnor was working as a cleaner in prison and was willing to take whatever steps necessary to rehabilitate himself.

Judge Melanie Greally remanded O'Connor in custody and adjourned the matter for sentencing on March 22, next.
A mushroom picker injured her back when she fell from an unsuitable low platform while picking from an upper shelf of a mushroom growing facility, the High Court heard.

Mother of two, Ewa Rolbiecka (aged 51), who is Polish and has been living in Arklow, Co Wicklow, since 2006, is suing her employer Michael Kennedy of Kennedy Mushrooms farm, Arklow, over the accident on January 3, 2016, in a mushroom-growing "tunnel".

Mr Kennedy denies negligence and pleads contributory negligence.

She claims she was not provided with proper equipment and fell because she had to stand on a low platform to reach the top shelf of mushrooms she was required to pick.

She had one foot on the low platform and the other on the middle mushroom shelf when she became unbalanced, she said. She fell hard on her right foot on the concrete ground surface, jarring her back.

The accident, the court heard, caused compression of the nerve root in her back.

She was taken later to hospital by her husband and underwent various treatments and medications but continued to suffer ongoing back pain. She was unable to return to work but wants to go back, initially on a part-time basis, her counsel Paul Burns said.

She had been employed at Kennedy's since 2007 without any problems until the accident, counsel said.

It is claimed there were not enough high platforms or trolleys to go around to reach the top shelf with the result that the method used by Ms Rolbiecka was regularly used by the workers.

It is alleged the caster wheels on some of the high platforms did not work properly which meant they could not be moved around.

Management knew this method of reaching up standing on a low platform was common practice but there was never any warning not to do so, it was claimed.

It is alleged the defendant was negligent and in breach of duty by not making sufficient serviceable, safe or adequate high platforms available, permitted an unsafe system of work and did not provide adequate training.

The defendant denies the claims and pleads contributory negligence because Ms Rolbiecka failed to use the available platform.

She still has significant low back pain and has been found by two occupational therapists unfit to return to work unless her condition improves, the court heard.

The case continues.
A patient waiting at an emergency department was accused by another patient of taking photographs of him but when the man showed there were no such pictures the other man smashed his phone.

Inspector Gary McPolin outlined details of the unusual incident at Cork District Court yesterday where David OBrien, aged 32, of 2 The Avenue, Gurran Darra, Wilton, Cork, pleaded guilty to charges of being drunk and a danger, engaging in threatening behaviour and causing criminal damage to the other mans phone.

The incident happened at Cork University Hospital on July 2.

Insp McPolin said: Mr OBrien said to stop taking pics of him. He said, I am not taking pictures and showed him his mobile phone which had no pictures. He smashed the phone valued 400. The owner did not know him. Gardai who arrived at the scene said he was in aggressive mood but he did not show violence.

Judge Con OLeary noted that with all of the previous convictions which the accused had he was never given a jail sentence. He never got a custodial sentence. That would explain why he felt free to act as he did when there were no consequences.

Michael Quinlan, defence solicitor, said the accused had serious mental health problems and that was the simple explanation for why he behaved in the way that he did.

Mr Quinlan said the accused had been advised in the course of previous hospital treatment that if he felt suicidal he should go to Cork University Hospital.

He suffers paranoia. He thought this man was taking photos He said he put it on his leg to look at it and it turned up damaged.

Mr Quinlan said OBrien was on medication at the time but was not strong enough to be effective. The solicitor said the young man became homeless around this time.

Judge OLeary put the accused on a probation bond to be reviewed in July on threatening charge, fined him 100 for being drunk and a danger, and remanded him on bail on the criminal damage charge for sentencing on July 4 so that the court can be updated on OBriens progress under the probation service.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the World Bank and the European Union (EU) will support a renewable energy program worth about 142 million in Gambia.

The program will ensure that 1,100 rural schools and health centres will benefit from an energy supply using solar and battery technology.

The European Union will provide 106 million.

This includes 65 million under a 25-year long-term concessional loan from the European Investment Bank and a 41 million grant from the European Union budget.

The project will also be supported by 35.7 million financing from the World Bank.

The project will be implemented by Gambian electricity utility company NAWEC and will increase energy supply in the Gambia by one fifth. It is also expected to transform electricity access in rural communities through construction of a new photovoltaic plant at Jambur near Banjul, a new power transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Connecting one of the largest solar power plants in West Africa to communities across the Gambia will increase access to clean energy, create new economic opportunities and improve health and education for future generations, EIB Energy vice president Andrew McDowell said.

The new engagement represents the first European Investment Bank engagement in Gambia since 1991.
A man is facing a possible prison sentence after he was found guilty of spitting in the face of his ex-partner.

Adrian Henry had denied the offence when interviewed by gardai but was not present in court when the case was heard.

Mr Henry, with a previous address at 11 Woodfield, Curra Woods, Riverstick, Co Cork, is now in the UK, Bandon District Court was told.

The 44-year-old had been charged with a Section 2 assault on August 4, 2018, in Kinsale, Co Cork.

His ex-partner, Catriona Coleman, told Judge James McNulty that she and Mr Henry, from whom she is separated, have two children and their father sees them on Saturdays between 10am and 4pm.

Ms Coleman said Mr Henrys attendance had been inconsistent, including a two-month spell in Jersey last summer.

The court heard he had returned to Ireland and on August 4, 2018, Ms Coleman and the children were at a pre-arranged pick-up point outside SuperValu in the town at 10am. She received a call at 10.05am from Mr Henry saying he would be an hour late.

She said Mr Henry arrived at 11.10am, by which time the children were upset. Ms Coleman said I was upset myself and that she told the children to stay in the car while she walked over to Mr Henrys vehicle, telling him she wished he had never come back, to which he said nothing.

He then brought the children to his car, the court heard. Ms Coleman said: He came over to my car and spat in my face as I was sitting in the car.

She said the children did not see what had occurred and that Mr Henry had made no comment.

Garda Ricky OSullivan told the judge that Ms Coleman presented at Kinsale Garda Station afterwards and was extremely and visibly upset.

He sought CCTV footage from SuperValu but said the quality of it was poor.

He then made contact with Mr Henry who later made a cautioned statement which was read out in court.

In it, Mr Henry said his ex-wife had been giving him dogs abuse and had been pulling at his car door. He told gardai at that time that I gave her the abuse she just gave me, telling her someone else needed to do the drop-offs as when they met there was nothing but aggro.

He admitted his ex-partner probably felt threatened but told gardai: At no point did I threaten her. At no point did I spit at her.

Judge McNulty said the prosecution had proven the case.

The court heard Mr Henry had a previous conviction for a public order offence and the judge convicted him in his absence but said he wanted to hear a plea of mitigation on his behalf before he imposed penalty.

He said the assault contained a number of aggravating factors which he said placed it in the area of a custodial sentence.

The case was adjourned for one month to allow Mr Henry or someone on his behalf to attend to provide mitigation.
Plainclothes gardai on duty at Soho bar in Cork city overheard two men discuss buying cocaine before following the duo and seeing one of them get into a car to buy the drug.

The driver of the car was later arrested after being caught selling 450 worth of cocaine.

Shane Hickey, of 42 St Josephs View, Riverstown, Co Cork, confessed to a drug-dealing offence and got a total jail term of seven months.

Nikki OSullivan, defending, appealed the sentence yesterday on the basis that the accused had gotten himself clean of drugs since he was caught in June 2017.

An aggravating factor in the case was that the 32-year-old had another drug-dealing conviction that dated back 10 years.

Judge Gerard OBrien said he was very concerned about the fact that the conviction in 2009 did not cause the accused to sober up and get clear of drugs then. However, the judge said at Cork Circuit Appeals Court he would suspend the seven-month sentence for the 2017 offence.

The judge said the only reason he was giving Hickey a chance was because he had cleaned himself up in relation to drugs.

Sergeant Gearoid Davis said that on June 4, 2017, plainclothes gardai in Soho on Grand Parade, Cork, heard two men talk about buying cocaine. The officers followed them to Washington St, where one of them sat into a car driven by Hickey and bought four bags of cocaine with a street value of 450. Hickey pleaded guilty to having cocaine for sale or supply.

Ms OSullivan said the appellant spent the following two months in rehabilitation and stayed clear of drugs since that time.

The barrister said the 32-year-olds life had stabilised since this period and he was now back living at home.
The Department of Public Expenditure's secretary general has been forced to apologise to a Dail committee after he told officials before a crunch children's hospital costs meeting that the group's chairman "has to control the mob".

Robert Watt apologised if he had caused offence to the Dail's public accounts committee despite later saying the remark was "colloquial" and that he could not remember if he said it.

Before the first of two long-awaiting public grillings on the children's hospital scandal yesterday, PAC chairman and Fianna Fail TD Sean Fleming met with Mr Watt in the lobby outside the PAC committee room to ask why a key official was not attending.

During the eight-minute pre-meeting discussion, Mr Watt repeatedly told Mr Fleming that while the State's chief procurement officer, Paul Quinn, had been invited to attend, it is up to Mr Watt to decide.

Despite Mr Fleming emphasising that Mr Quinn - who was a "public interest" official on the hospital board - has questions to answer, Mr Watt told him that he is the only person who is legally obliged to attend.

After the discussion, Mr Watt returned to his officials in the lobby and was asked what happened.

Mr Watt was heard by the Irish Examiner to say that Mr Fleming was "just trying to help", before adding that "he [Mr Fleming] has to control the mob".

On learning of the remark, PAC members including Labour's Alan Kelly, Fianna Fail's Marc Mac Sharry and Sinn Fein's David Cullinane asked Mr Watt to apologise for what he said.

"I don't know what I said. If I said anything that offended anybody, apologies for that.

"I don't recall saying it, to be honest, but if I did say it, it is a colloquial expression. It is not in any way intended to be demeaning to anybody. I don't recollect to be honest," Mr Watt responded.

Mr Kelly noted that Mr Watt did not deny making the comment and that his response sounded like he did.

In later exchanges, Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell said the remark was "unbecoming" of someone in Mr Watt's position, while unaligned Independent TD Catherine Connolly and Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said it was "inappropriate".

Mr Watt responded that while he did not recall making the comment, he apologised if it has caused offence.

The remit of the PAC has recently come under scrutiny due to concerns over its level of grilling of public officials.
Revenue officers seized 2.3 million smuggled cigarettes at Dublin Port on Monday.

The seized cigarettes, which originated in Belarus, have a retail value of over 1.2m, and represent a potential loss to the Exchequer of over 1m.

They had arrived at the port in a container from Rotterdam and were found as a result of routine profiling by officers.

Revenue says that investigations are ongoing.

Yesterday, 12,000 unstamped cigarettes were seized by Revenue officers during the search of a house in North County Dublin.

The cigarettes, branded Marlboro Gold, originated in the Ukraine and have an estimated retail value of over 6,400.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has described his own government's mishandling of the National Children's Hospital as a debacle.

However, he said it is not the reason as to why his party's popular support has slipped over the past six months.

He was speaking after the latest IPSOS/MRBI poll in the Irish Times which showed support for Fine Gael has slipped to 30% while his own personal popularity has slipped by eight points.

No is the short answer. I dont think it has done us any favours obviously because it has been quite a debacle. I do think though that when the childrens hospital is fully constructed and up and running nobody will doubt that it was a good investment and nobody will be sorry that we built it, he said.

He accepted that over the past six months, his party's support has slipped from the mid-30s to the low 30s in percentage terms.

I never read too much into any one poll but I am not going to pretend that I ignore them. I tend to take them in threes or fours. And what is evident is that over the course of the past six months support for my party, Fine Gael, which I suppose had been mid-30s is now low 30s. There may be lots of reasons for that.

"How do you deal with it? How do you improve that? You concentrate on the issues people care about: Brexit, the economy, jobs, putting money in peoples pockets, making progress in healthcare and housing. That is how I am going to respond, he said.

Pressed as to why his popularity has waned, he said: I cant know that for sure. There may be lots of different reasons. One thing we have definitely seen from the middle of July last year is a real fall-off in consumer confidence. Consumer confidence in Ireland is now back to where it was in 2012. Bear in mind 2012 was in the teeth of austerity and right after the financial crisis and that is happening despite the fact that there is almost full employment, rising incomes and rising living standards.

Perhaps some of that is related to Brexit, concerns around Brexit. Perhaps it is related to other matters too.

There are definite issues around the cost of living, of course, issues around rents and so on.

"We need to analyse that. What I am absolutely convinced of as a government, involving Fine Gael and Independents, and as a party, the best way to recover your poll ratings is the concentrate on the peoples business, doing the stuff they want you to do.

"Getting Brexit right, keeping the economy and jobs safe, improving living standards, making progress in health care and housing and that is entirely my focus and that of government, he said.
Yes, honey.

Queer Eye's resident grooming expert and all-around nice guy has announced his 2019 UK and Ireland stand-up tour debut.

The hairdresser, podcaster and television personality known as the star of the Emmy-nominated web series Gay of Thrones, and the Emmy-winning reality show Queer Eye, is set to bring his fabulous, unstoppable energy to the stage.

The man oozes confidence so we can only expect a hilarious and captivating performance encouraging self-love and equality, hunnies.

The tour is inspired by his current and ongoing attempt to become a figure-skating prodigy in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, sharing his anything is possible infectious attitude with his fans.

Jonathan will take to the spotlight with his 'Road to Beijing' tour which kicks off in Dublin on October 16.

Tickets go on general sale on Saturday, March 16 at 9am on Ticketmaster.
The Moroccan and Serbian governments have agreed to strengthen cooperation in trade, tourism and culture with the signing of deals in these fields.

These agreements were sealed on the sidelines of the 2nd session of the Morocco-Serbia joint committee convened Wednesday in Rabat.

The first agreement aims to facilitate and develop long-term trade in goods and services between the two countries and establish a joint committee for trade and investment to supervise and enforce the agreement.

The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding that seeks to promote cooperation in the field of tourism on the basis of reciprocity and mutual benefit.

In the cultural field, Moroccos National Library and its Serbian peer agreed to foster cooperation through the exchange of professional, bibliographic, scientific and technical publications.

The Serbian delegation that took part in the Morocco-Serbia joint committee meeting in Rabat was led by Deputy PM and minister of trade, tourism and telecommunications Rasim Ljajic.

During his trip to Morocco, Mr. Ljajic met tourism minister Mohamed Sajid, minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy Moulay Hafid Elalamy and other top officials including Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Talks focused on bilateral relations and economic cooperation prospects and joint business opportunities in industry, agriculture, textiles and IT.

Trade between Morocco and Serbia remains below the potential of the two countries economies totaling $20 Million in 2017, including $13 million imports from Belgrade.
A stormy forecast is bringing a group of daredevil windsurfers to Ireland to take part in the worlds toughest windsurfing contest.

The Red Bull Storm Chase has got the go-ahead to take place off the Atlantic coast in the coming week, amid a forecast of Force 10 winds gusting up to 100kph and waves climbing to 10m in height.
A mother in England accused of murdering her three-year-old daughter said she drowned her in the bath to "save her" after separating from her executive husband who she feared was having an affair, a court has heard.

Claire Colebourn is accused of drowning Bethan at their home in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in southern England after the 36-year-old split with husband, Michael, the CEO of luxury marine interior company Trimline.

Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, told Winchester Crown Court Bethan was found by her grandmother, Janet Fildew, when she arrived for a visit to the family home in Whitsbury Road on October 19 2017.

The lawyer said: "Bethan was three-years-old, she was a much-loved daughter of Claire and Michael Colebourn, but she was found dead at her home.

"Claire Colebourn, when Bethan was found, was also in the house and she was at the time suffering a diabetic episode.

"Bethan died because she had been put in the bath at home and held under the water, the act was completed by her mother."

Miss Maylin said that in a nine-and-a-half-hour period that day, Colebourn had administered a dosage of insulin 10 times that she would normally use in a whole day.

The prosecutor said that just over a month before Bethan's death, Colebourn and her husband, who had been together for 16 years and married for six years, separated and Mr Colebourn had moved out.

Miss Maylin said their relationship had been difficult and the defendant went on to make "unfounded accusations" on Facebook and an email sent to his work, that her husband was having an affair with the company's finance director Kelly Futcher.

In the email to Trimline, she wrote: "He has been having an affair with his finance director at work, everything has been pre-planned, of course the finances.

"They are aiming to take over the business and set up a new life together."

Miss Maylin said Colebourn also told friends she had visited Ms Futcher's home looking for her husband's car.

The lawyer said Colebourn also became worried, without foundation, that Mr Colebourn was monitoring her computer and arranged for an IT firm to supply her with a new laptop and wifi at her home.

She said that within minutes of receiving the new computer in October, she began searches for suicide-related websites and another website called How To Kill By Drowning, as well as watching a YouTube video titled Someone Drowns In A Tub Nearly Every Day.

On the day before Bethan's death, Colebourn also wrote a letter to her mother saying: "I love you, Bethan loves you, thanks for everything. Please make sure Walter (horse) and Charlie (dog) are looked after. Love always, Claire."

She added: "Please make sure I am buried with Bethan in Fordingbridge."

Miss Maylin said that following her arrest, she told medical staff she had tried to kill herself the previous day.

The prosecutor said a doctor described how she was "only emotional when discussing the fact Michael Colebourn had left her and her daughter and her father had done the same to her mother".

She later wrote in a letter intercepted at a hospital she was staying in: "In my eyes I saved her, everything over those days is a blur."

She later told police: "I am responsible for Bethan's death because she drowned and I am responsible for it. Bethan drowned because I was there, I held her under the water."

She also made accusations that her husband had been "controlling and a bully".

Miss Maylin said the last time Mr Colebourn saw his daughter alive was when he took her to a soft play centre on October 15 and said: "He and Bethan had a nice afternoon and when he left she hugged and kissed her father goodbye."

Colebourn denies murder and the trial continues.
A court in Thailand has ordered the dissolution of a major political party ahead of this month's general election because it nominated a member of the royal family to be its candidate for prime minister.

On February 8, the Thai Raksa Chart Party nominated Princess Ubolratana Mahidol as its candidate for the March 24 polls.
Leave Don Jr. alone? Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Democrats are like hypochondriacs who fear right-wing backlash instead of illness. After winning back the House last fall, the party didnt even wait to take power before it started wringing its hands about overusing it. The American people will understand thoughtful, well-grounded investigations, Connecticut Democrat Jim Himes said in late November. But they will bridle at investigations that seem overtly political.

Since taking ownership of the House Oversight Committee this year, Democrats have dragged their feet in pursuing the presidents tax returns, and worked to snuff out talk of Donald Trumps impeachment. Now, they have convinced themselves that they cannot investigate Donald Trump Jr.  because the public would never forgive them for going after a figure so sympathetic and relatable.

Or so this new story from Politico suggests. On Wednesday night, the outlet reported that Democrats see potential pitfalls in dragging Trumps adult children into their political squabbles with the president.

Getting to family members I think is dangerous, Gerry Connolly, a senior Democrat on the Oversight Committee, told Politico. Only because it gets real personal, real fast. And it risks backfiring.

But the article later clarifies that the controversy isnt about Trumps adult children per se. The Democrats seem to all agree that Ivanka is fair game, since she is a White House official. Meanwhile, Eric is largely irrelevant. And Tiffany is, as (tragically) usual, an afterthought. So, what the party is really fretting about is whether looking into the presidents eldest son  whom Michael Cohen just accused, under oath, of involvement in illegal hush-money payments  would make things too personal.

[M]any House Democrats are urging caution when it comes to Trumps adult children who do not serve in the government. Kushner and Ivanka Trump both serve as senior advisers to the president and are subject to congressional scrutiny like any government official.

We have to distinguish members of the Trump family who are actually in the government or playing public roles from those who are not, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the Oversight Committee, said in an interview. As for Trump family members who are not members of the administration or taking decision-making roles, they should only be called if theres a compelling reason that goes to questions of public importance and public policy.

Fearing public backlash for investigating Ivanka  Trumps most telegenic and media-savvy child  is neurotic. Having such fears about going after Don Jr. is straight-up bonkers: We are talking about a preternaturally oily trust-fund kid whose favorite hobbies including murdering elephants, likening migrants to zoo animals, and mocking the genocide of Native Americans.

oh my god pic.twitter.com/Rz6TqIxBgo  Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) February 9, 2019

Donald Trump Jr. with an Elephant tail and knife in his hand, barbaric or game?  via @TMZ pic.twitter.com/fCBjAACTGC  AJ Joshi  (@AJ) May 7, 2015

This is the one member of the Trump campaign who is on record saying that he loved the idea of cooperating with a Kremlin plot to elect his father. The man is a private citizen in name only  Don Jr. comports himself as a surrogate for the Trump administration on a near daily basis, even though, as a top executive at the presidents private company, he had once promised to keep his distance from the White House. And, beyond all this, Michael Cohen just (ostensibly) implicated the guy in federal crimes!

All of which is to say: Don Jr. is both a totally legitimate target of congressional oversight, and one of the least sympathetic figures in American public life. The fact that Democrats have found a way to believe that giving a more racist, less charming version of Gob Bluth a hard time will alienate suburban moderates would be impressive if it werent so pathetic.

Humanitys long-term survival depends on this party summoning the courage to take on the worlds most powerful industry. And it cant even dredge up the nerve to take on the less likeable and accomplished Donald Trump.
Update: A grenade blast at a bus station in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir has left one civilian dead and at least 30 others injured.

Police said the grenade was hurled at the main bus station in Jammu city and rolled beneath a bus, where it exploded.

Four people were taken to hospital in a critical condition, and one of them later died from their injuries.

Police are investigating who was responsible for the blast.

In the past, Indian authorities have blamed rebels fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region for similar grenade attacks, often without producing any evidence.

Rebels have in turn accused government agents of carrying out the attacks to defame their movement.

Jammu, a Hindu-majority city, experienced days of protests following a suicide bombing in the Indian-held portion of Kashmir on February 14 that killed 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers, the deadliest attack against Indian forces since the start of an armed rebellion in 1989.

Hundreds of Hindu nationalists attacked Muslim neighbourhoods in the city, burning vehicles and hurling rocks at homes. Authorities imposed a curfew for several days in the city.

About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian crackdown since 1989.

Earlier: Grenade blast at bus station injures 18 in Indian-held part of Kashmir

At least 18 people have been injured by a grenade blast at a bus station in the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir.

Police said the grenade was hurled at the main bus station in Jammu and that it rolled beneath a bus, where it exploded.

The injured were taken to hospital, including at least four who were in a critical condition.

Police said they are investigating who was responsible.

In the past, Indian authorities have blamed rebels fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region for similar grenade attacks.

India and Pakistan each claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety.

- Associated Press
Mortgage lending veteran Mark Bouris, the chairman of listed broker Yellow Brick Road, says conditions facing borrowers are the toughest he has experienced during his time in the industry.

In the latest warning from a broker about tighter credit, Mr Bouris said the last six months of 2018 had been "unusually tough" for Yellow Brick Road, which reported a $34.1 million loss for the half on Thursday, after its shares were suspended from trading last week for missing the deadline to file its accounts.

Mark Bouris said borrowing conditions were the toughest he had seen in his career. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"It is now particularly hard for mortgage originators and brokers to assist borrowers to obtain an approved home loan," Mr Bouris said in a statement.

"In all the years of being involved in the home loan business, I have never seen such difficult borrowing conditions. These factors have caused an adverse impact to our new lending, particularly in the December quarter, he said.
The small not-for-profit US biotech firm dragging Australian hearing aid maker Cochlear through US courts for patent infringement says Cochlear's belief it can still win and they will go away is ignoring the facts.

The Alfred E. Mann Foundation (AMF) and Advanced Bionics (AB) have spent more than 11 years in a dogged court case with Cochlear, winning multiple judgements over Cochlear's use of their technology.

"The best case scenario is still a loss for Cochlear," AMF chief executive John Petrovich said.

A cochlear implant.

"But a win for AMF in the appeal is a complete loss for Cochlear."
Neobank Volt has small business in its sights as it develops data-driven products, acknowledging that startup founders are the most likely to take up digital banking options first.

The startup, which secured a fully fledged banking licence in January and is preparing to launch a consumer offer in coming months, joins other financial technology firms in its quest to offer self-employed customers better products by reviewing their data in real time.

Volt Bank chief executive Steve Weston addresses the crowd at Salesforce World Tour Sydney. Credit:Salty Dingo.

Speaking from the sidelines of Salesforce's World Tour event in Sydney on Wednesday, Volt chief executive Steve Weston said the business was looking at rolling out business transaction accounts, term deposits and business loans from 2020.

"The tech community and entrepreneurial community will be front and centre," Weston said when discussing early adoption of digital banks.
I went shopping for breastfeeding clothes but quickly learned stores are not equipped for pushers or babies accompanying you into a change room. Not only this of course, but after having a baby you're no longer the same size and shape as you were previously so it's unlikely your pre-baby style will still suit you as it did. I looked online but specially-designed "nursing wear" was expensive. I knew I couldn't have been the only woman feeling frustrated by the current options. I was determined to find fashion that had button or zip access under $100. The money: Initially it was a local "hobby" business aimed at supporting my young family financially but it surprisingly grew each month. Now, nearly two years on, Breastfeeding Wear Australia stocks more than 40 different labels of breastfeeding fashion under $100 and sells to customers around Australia and internationally, including New Zealand, Canada and Iran. We bootstrapped from day one, so I was delighted to reach six figures within the first 18 months. Transferable skills:

Being a midwife means quick thinking and sometimes doing what you can with resources available at the time. This absolutely translates to business. Being a breastfeeding mum of two has also been pivotal in my business. I once had a midwife tell me "you dont need to have a baby to know how to deliver one". She was absolutely right, but the empathy and understanding you have for what mums need to breastfeed their babies is so much clearer once you have been in their shoes. If I was starting from scratch: I would invest in PR and marketing from the very start. Growth did not happen for me until I started on Instagram  it was a game changer. Hardest times: In the early days, I purchased a large amount of a popular style from a new label. Unknown to me, the stock had not been pre-washed prior to manufacture. This meant after customers washed their dress they shrank to an unwearable size. It took months to sort out and I absorbed most of the cost; it nearly closed the business.
St George Illawarra player Jack de Belin has not been banned from playing as the new rule giving the NRL the ability to suspend him does not yet exist, the code has been forced to clarify before a court.

But Federal Court judge Steven Rares told the NRL's barrister, Alan Sullivan, QC, that in declaring that the Dragons forward had already been stood down as a result of a sexual assault charge, the league had injured his career.

St. George Illawarra Dragons player Jack de Belin has not been suspended, the NRL has clarified. Credit:AAP

"It's damaging to him as a professional and as an individual," Justice Rares said during the Thursday hearing.

The league's clarification followed widespread statements to the contrary, including those published on the NRL's website and spoken by Australian Rugby League chairman Peter Beattie on the ABC's 7.30 program on Wednesday night.
Before she was killed, slain dentist Preethi Reddy had met with her former boyfriend and told him she was planning to move interstate to be with her new partner.

A source close to the investigation said she was "so happy" and "so in love" with the Melbourne man she had started a long-distance relationship with in the wake of her break-up with Tamworth dentist Harshwardhan Narde.

Preethi Reddy was apprehensive about attending the same conference as her ex-boyfriend on Saturday.

Investigators believe that Dr Reddy went to her former boyfriend's room at the Swissotel on Market Street in the early hours of Sunday to tell him the relationship was done.

They are now looking at whether she was killed inside the room, her remains then stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in a car by the side of the road before Dr Narde drove into a semi-trailer and died.
The gangly, bespectacled, well-spoken recruit suffered taunts from a couple of inner-city toughs as they were marched to Long Bay rifle range for target practice, predicting as soon as I was called upon to fire a live round I would tremble in fear and lose control of my bodily functions.

We each fired five initial rounds from 100 yards and it was with malicious satisfaction that I saw their own far-from-heroic reactions to the loud explosion and accompanying kick in the shoulder from the .303 and their abysmal scores, while I received the praise of the sergeant for my creditable score of two bulls and three inners. Good lad! he said. Youve fired a 303 before. Yes, sergeant. Bush boy, eh? Yes, sergeant.

Paul Henningham, who has died aged 97, was proud of his country upbringing. The eldest of four children of Gallipoli and Somme veteran, and MC winner, Herbert Henningham and his London war bride, Mercy, Paul's home in the 1920s was a series of central western NSW towns where his parents ran general stores, before Herbert joined the teaching staff of the Child Welfare Departments Riverina Welfare Farm at Yanco (aka a bad boys home).

Paul Henningham Credit:Cass McBride

It was an idyllic boyhood, much centred on the irrigation canals. With his brother Jack he swam, fished and made boats of flattened corrugated iron. When other boys joined us, a small flotilla of assorted vessels was to be seen on the canals, he wrote.
Two female police officers were rushed to hospital after they were beaten by a man at a Logan home on Wednesday night.

Police were looking for a 44-year-old described as 185cm tall with an average build, brown/grey hair and brown eyes. Credit:Queensland Police Service.

One officer had her nose fractured, and lower lip injured while the other had bruising to the face and blurred vision.

The two officers had gone to the Woodridge home at Logan, about 24 kilometres south of Brisbane, to speak to a 44-year-old man.

Police allege the man became aggressive and started punching both police officers in the head before running away, about 7.15pm.
Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Photo: J Scott Applewhite/AP

Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar has been at the center of Washington, D.C., controversy for weeks. The Democratic Party is hoping to put it to rest Thursday with a vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, of which the freshman lawmaker has been accused, and other forms of hate.

Omars remarks and the Democratic partys response to them has been the first problem for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi since the beginning of the new Congress. Some Democrats want to bring the hammer down on Omar. Others have come to her defense. Heres whats going on.

What did the Congresswoman say?

Two things. She first caused controversy in February with a tweet that said support for Israel is all about the Benjamins, referencing a 22-year-old Puff Daddy song and, according to critics, suggesting that the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC is buying off American politicians. She later deleted the tweet and issued an apology.

Just as that controversy was dying down, another began. Speaking on a panel with fellow Muslim Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Omar, whos also been criticized for a 2012 tweet about Israel, complained that claims of anti-Semitism are often used to shut down legitimate critiques of Israel. Then she said: I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country. This was problem, as New Yorks Eric Levitz explained:

Omars intentions were ambiguous; it is not clear exactly whom she meant by people, or what she meant by allegiance. But one premise of anti-Semitic ideology in the U.S. is that American Jews primary loyalty is to Israel, not America (and that, since Jews illicitly control the political system, the federal government has adopted the same treasonous allegiance). By suggesting that it is not okay for American Zionists to push for allegiance to a foreign country, Omar evinced insensitivity about this trope.

Who was upset?

Democrats and Republicans. Omars comments on AIPAC drew criticism from both sides of the aisle, with House Democratic leadership calling on her to apologize and President Trump calling on her to resign.

Her comment on dual allegiance also drew criticism from both parties. Democratic representative Eliot Engel accused Omar of using a vile anti-Semitic slur, and Republican representative Steve Scalise suggested that she poses a national security threat. Nancy Pelosi has to remove [Omar] from the [House] Foreign Affairs Committee, Scalise said. She is literally getting intelligence briefings on foreign policy of the United States, including our relationship with Israel, as she makes these kind of comments  Why would you have her on a committee that important, that sensitive?

Omars choice of the word allegiance was key here, as Jonathan Chait explained:

To believe in a strong American alliance with Israel (or Canada, or the United Kingdom, or any other country) is not the same thing as giving ones allegiance to that country. Omar is directly invoking the hoary myth of dual loyalty, in which the Americanness of Jews is inherently suspect, and their political participation must be contingent upon proving their patriotism.

Whos on her side?

A closed-door meeting among Democrats Wednesday turned into a gripe session about the partys treatment of Omar, the Times reports. Progressive lawmakers, particularly those of color, came to Omars defense.

Massachusetts representative Ayanna Pressley argued that Omar was being unfairly singled out. She told reporters that Democrats need to have equity in our outrage. She added: The occupant of this White House who is seeding every form of hate, emboldening it with racist rhetoric and policies, that is who we all need to be focused on, and this is a distraction.

Others defended Omar by saying that not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism is a hateful and dangerous ideology which must be vigorously opposed in the United States and around the world, Senator Bernie Sanders said in a statement. We must not, however, equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel.

What about the resolution?

The idea for a resolution condemning anti-Semitism reportedly came from Engel and fellow New York Democrat Nita Lowey, both of whom are Jewish. They brought the proposal to Democratic leadership and by Tuesday, a version was circulating through the House, the Times reports.

Omars allies, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, agitated for the inclusion of other forms of hate, include Islamophobia, in the resolution. Others took issue with a woman of color being singled out while so many white man regularly spew hate in Washington. Meanwhile, some senior Jewish lawmakers were reportedly upset that the resolution didnt go further and call out Omar by name.

A vote on the resolution, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed after the contentious meeting among Democrats. By Thursday morning, leadership had decided to hold the vote and revised the resolution to include more than a condemnation of anti-Semitism. Pelosi told reports at a press conference that the resolution will call out anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and white supremacy. Its not about her, Pelosi said, its about these forms of hatred.
A man has been critically injured in a tackle at a Gold Coast sporting field on Thursday.

The man, aged in his 30s, was rushed to hospital with serious spinal injuries suffered at Runaway Bay sporting oval about 11.30am.

Paramedics could not confirm the sport the patient had been playing but said his spine was injured in a tackle.

The man was driven from the oval at Morala Avenue to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition.

Critical care and high acuity response paramedics were on board for the 70-kilometre trip from the Gold Coast to the hospital.
Tangalooma Island Resort has taken Brisbane City Council to court over an unreasonable half-million-dollar infrastructure services charge on a new resort planned on Moreton Island.

In 2014, the resort submitted a development application to the council for a new resort complex on the southern section of its lease of state-owned land on Moreton Island.

Tangalooma Island Resort plans to expand its tourism offerings on the island.

The resort has an in-perpetuity lease on the state land for tourism, and in 2014 reported 500,000 visitors a year, according to the development application.

The application was approved in September 2018, at which point the council issued an infrastructure charges notice of $534,181.
Strokes kill more Australian women every year than breast cancer, but health authorities are fighting against a public perception that it is a condition that mostly affects older men.

For Tracey Revell, that perception was so great she insisted she couldnt be having a stroke, even as the left side of her body went limp.

Ms Revell, now 48, suffered a stroke three years ago at her office but thought she was having a migraine.

Strokes affect more women than men, and kill more women annually than breast cancer.

I was still arguing with the doctor at the hospital, telling him it was a migraine, she said.
A woman with two children was threatened by a knife- and sword-wiedling man before her car was stolen in Brisbane earlier this week.

Police said a 24-year-old man held up the weapons towards the woman standing beside the parked car with the children inside on Sambar Close at Chermside West.

A man threatened a woman and two children with a sword and knife at Chermside West on March 6. Credit:Queensland Police Service

The man then demanded the car keys about 4.30pm on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old woman removed the children from the car before the man fled in the white 2008 Ford Focus hatchback with Queensland registration 775 YNH, which remains outstanding.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The High Court overturned Cardinal George Pell's conviction for historic child sex offences in a judgment handed down April 7, 2020. In a unanimous decision all seven High Court judges found Victoria's Court of Appeal should not have upheld Pell's conviction. It found the evidence could not support a guilty verdict.

Cardinal George Pell - one of the world's highest ranking Catholics - is in jail after being found guilty of five child sex offences, and his conviction has sent shockwaves across the globe.

This week on Please Explain - the fury and fallout of Pells conviction. Alex Lavelle, editor of The Age and John Silvester, author, crime writer and columnist, join the podcast to discuss the case. We also speak with Louise Milligan, ABC investigative journalist and author of Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell.

The verdict immediately generated a media frenzy from which two camps emerged: those who accepted the conviction, and those who questioned it. Pell was a conservative martyr, the second group said, hated for his conservative opinions and his senior position in the church.
Dozens of native lizards worth more than half a million dollars have been seized and three houses in suburban Melbourne raided in the biggest wildlife protection enforcement operation ever undertaken in Victoria.

Officers raided three properties in Narre Warren, Oakleigh and Clayton on Thursday and rescued the reptiles, which were to be sold as pets on the black market in Hong Kong and China.

An adult coastal shingleback lizard from WA seized in a raid on wildlife smugglers in Melbourne.

In all, more than 150 lizards were seized from the smugglers, including scores at two other raids in Werribee and Melbourne in the past month.

Some of the lizards had been wrapped in masking tape, aluminium foil or plasticine and stuffed inside items including Pringles boxes, Milo tins, jigsaw puzzle boxes and rice cookers.
Trinity Grammar has appointed a new headmaster, signalling the end of the most tumultuous period in the schools 115-year history.

After an expensive global search for a new leader, the Kew private school announced on Thursday that Adrian Farrer, who is currently the principal of Cathedral College Wangaratta, would take on the top job.

New Trinity Grammar principal Adrian Farrer

Chaos broke out at the Anglican school last March when popular deputy headmaster Rohan Brown was sacked for cutting a students hair on photo day.

In the wake of the incident and following intense pressure from parents, students and staff, former principal Dr Michael Davies announced his resignation.
Hollywood superstars Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon have been spotted heading up the WA north-west coast with family.

Australian actor Hemsworth arrived at Perth Airport on Thursday afternoon via a private jet with his wife and children, stopping to take a quick selfie with a fan.

Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon at a tackle shop in Carnarvon. Credit:Twitter

Family friend Damon accompanied the clan.

Hemsworth is an ambassador for Tourism Australia.
One of the most senior officers of the Australian Federal Police, deputy commissioner Ramzi Jabbour, has been stood down pending an internal investigation.

Mr Jabbour, who was embroiled in the Mohamed Haneef scandal a decade ago, has worked for the federal police for almost 30 years.

AFP deputy commissioner Ramzi Jabbour.

Staff were informed of his suspension on Thursday afternoon.

"The AFP can confirm a senior executive officer is currently on leave pending a professional standards investigation," a spokesman said.
Fair and balanced. Photo: Fox News

The Democratic National Committee has decided that it will not allow a Republican propaganda outfit known for fomenting racial paranoia, facilitating serial sexual assault  and directly advising the GOP president  to host any of the Democratic Partys 2020 primary debates.

Not that Democrats didnt consider doing so. As DNC chair Tom Perez said in a statement Wednesday, I believe that a key pathway to victory is to continue to expand our electorate and reach all voters. That is why I have made it a priority to talk to a broad array of potential media partners, including Fox News.

But, Perez continued, Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates.

How Perez could have possibly been unaware of this inappropriate relationship before reading Jane Mayers latest bombshell is unclear. Nevertheless, The New Yorker article does make said impropriety undeniable. In it, Mayer reveals that, in 2016, a Fox reporter named Diana Falzone had acquired hard evidence of both Trumps affair with Stormy Daniels and his efforts to buy her silence  only to have an editor kill her story, telling her, in so many words, Good reporting, kiddo. But Rupert wants Donald Trump to win. After the moguls victory, the network demoted Falzone. She then sued, and won a settlement that included a nondisclosure agreement.

There are many things you can call a media organization that punishes its employees for digging up stories that are politically inconvenient for the Republican Party  a legitimate news network is not one of them.

Nevertheless, the DNCs announcement (bafflingly) inspired tsk, tsks from some corners of the Fourth Estate. The APs Zeke Miller said of the Democrats decision on Twitter, if you arent prepared for tough questions/subjects in a primary debate, how will you handle the general? NBC News reporter Jonathan Allen echoed this sentiment, tweeting, There are plenty of quality journalists at Fox, some of whom have been excellent questioners at past presidential debates. And really, if you cant answer questions  especially if theyre not the questions you want asked  maybe you dont have good answers.

The core premise of both these tweets  that Democrats are turning down Fox because they are afraid of tough questions  is bizarre. Imagine someone invites you to play ping-pong at a bar known primarily for hosting dogfights in its basement. If you refuse, is that proof that you are afraid of a competitive game of ping-pong? If you were assured that this bar  where men go to coerce dogs into mauling each other  has plenty of quality ping-pong tables, would you therefore have no excuse not to attend? Or could you reasonably express the concern that those ping-pong tables, as nice as they are, appear to function primarily as a means of softening the image of a fundamentally evil enterprise that deserves to be shunned by all right-thinking people?

This is not a perfect analogy. But, as stipulated above, Fox News is a racist, Republican propaganda outfit that throws a couple of journalists out front to keep up appearances, like so many ping-pong tables at a dogfight bar.

After all, we are talking about a channel whose most-watched program is hosted by one of the Republican presidents most influential advisers. By his own account, Sean Hannity speaks with Donald Trump every night. By the Washington Posts, White House advisers refer to the cable host as their shadow chief of staff. Ahead of the 2018 midterms, Hannity joined Trump onstage at a campaign rally. Two years before that, the host defended himself from allegations of pro-Trump bias by exclaiming, Im not a journalist!

The channels second-most-watched show is hosted by man who accused the Democratic Party of plotting a coup last summer, one that would use immigrants as its shock troops. Tucker Carlson has also told his viewers that immigrants make our own country poorer and dirtier. He has excoriated Macys for selling fashionable hijabs (insisting that corporations have a moral responsibility not to cater certain forms of consumer demand), and scolded PayPal for refusing to provide payment services to the white nationalist website VDare (insisting that corporations had a responsibility to serve all would-be customers). White nationalists understandably love him.

The channels chairman is a longtime friend of the president. The presidents director of communications was a longtime co-president of Fox News. And for almost all of its history, the channels CEO was a Republican operative who saw it as a tool for protecting the conservative movement from the bias of a liberal, mainstream press.

But Fox News doesnt just look like a racist, Republican propaganda outfit. It demonstrably functions as one. As Voxs Matt Yglesias recently observed:

A study by Emory University political scientist Gregory Martin and Stanford economist Ali Yurukoglu estimates that watching Fox News translates into a significantly greater willingness to vote for Republican candidates.

Specifically, by exploiting semi-random variation in Fox viewership driven by changes in the assignment of channel numbers, they find that if Fox News hadnt existed, the Republican presidential candidates share of the two-party vote would have been 3.59 points lower in 2004 and 6.34 points lower in 2008. Without Fox, in other words, the GOPs only popular vote win since the 1980s would have been reversed and the 2008 election would have been an extinction-level landslide.

It would be ridiculous, of course, to argue that absent conservative propaganda broadcasting, Republicans would never win an election. What would happen, instead, is that in order to avoid constantly losing, Republicans would need to do more to bring key aspects of their policy agenda in line with public opinion and display less indifference to the prevalence of scandal-plagued individuals in party leadership. The conclusion, however, remains the same: Fox appears to be a decisive influence in making the Republican Party as currently constituted an electorally viable entity. And these studies are based on Foxs past  according to Mayer, the network has only become more propagandistic since the 2016 election.

Democrats arent cowards for shunning this network. But theres a decent case that Foxs few genuine journalists are for declining to do the same.
Liquidators of the company at the centre of Australia's largest tax fraud case say workers chasing almost $1 million in unpaid income are not entitled to payment before others owed money.

More than 300 workers paid through Plutus Payroll have told liquidators the company owed them before federal police swooped on it and charged 10 people.

Deloitte Financial Advisory has asked the Supreme Court of NSW to clear the way for it to deny workers payment before other creditors, saying many claimants were not Plutus employees and evidence was lacking to identify others as staff employed by the company.

Claimants could be out of pocket thousands of dollars once Plutus is wound up, if the Supreme Court of NSW agrees with liquidators.

Workers have reported missing payments after the Australian Federal Police closed the business in May 2017 and arrested alleged parties to a scheme prosecutors say involved signing contracts with employers to process gross wages and entitlements for their contractors, and then skimming taxes.
Western Australia shouldn't expect much cash in next month's federal budget because it has a number of Commonwealth commitments already, including GST top- ups, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated.

Scott Morrison is expected to spend his WA visit campaigning in at-risk Liberal-held seats - Pearce, Swan, Canning and Stirling - and also in Cowan, held by Labor's Anne Aly. Credit:AAP

As Mr Morrison embarked on a four-day visit to the state, Premier Mark McGowan outlined his wishlist, asking for more money for the Metronet rail project.

Mr McGowan noted Canberra had already committed $500 million for the Ellenbrook line but said he would welcome more money for the outer-metro link to Morley.

He also called for more funding for regional roads including the Karratha-Tom Price Road.
San Diego: The US government ran an operation to screen journalists, activists and others while investigating last year's migrant caravan from Mexico, a San Diego TV station reported Wednesday, local time, citing leaked documents.

Dossiers that included photos from their passports or social media accounts, date of birth and other details were kept in a database and some freelance journalists had alerts placed on their passports and were flagged for secondary screenings at customs points, the station KNSD-TV said.

One freelance photojournalist was denied entry to Mexico for reasons that were never stated, the station reported.

Members of a US-bound migrant caravan stand on a road after federal police briefly blocked their way in Mexico in October last year. Credit:AP

The documents, in the form of dossiers and screenshots, were provided to NBC 7 Investigates by a Homeland Security source on the condition of anonymity, the station reported. Those listed as warranting secondary screening included 10 journalists  seven of them Us citizens  a US attorney and 47 people from various countries labelled as organisers, instigators or "unknown", the station said.
Geneva: European countries will urge Saudi Arabia this week to release detained activists and cooperate with a UN-led probe into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in the first rebuke of the kingdom at the Human Rights Council, diplomats and campaigners said.

The joint statement, due to be read out on Thursday, local time, comes amid growing concern about the fate of detainees, identified by watchdog groups as women's rights activists, after the public prosecutor was reported to be preparing their trials.

Iceland has led the initiative, winning support from European countries and possibly delegations from other regions for the criticism of Saudi Arabia, a member of the 47-nation forum, activists said.

"We believe that members of the Council have a particular responsibility to lead by example and put on the Council's agenda human rights issues that warrant our collective attention," an Icelandic diplomat said on Tuesday, adding rights in Saudi Arabia was one such instance and this view was shared by numerous countries.
Latest News Australians are giving up on dream jobs for a shot at homeownership The Great Resignation is everywhere, but Australia as workers stay in unsatisfactory careers

Westpac makes fourth rate hike in two months Thirty points across all longer-term rates for major lender

On International Womens Day, a family-owned aggregator has announced the latest instalment of its womens program.

The 2019 edition of the Leading Ladies of Loan Market growth summit will take place in Byron Bay on May 27 - 28.

Leading the agenda, Alison Hill, CEO of Pragmatic Thinking  an AFR Fast 100 company  has been confirmed to deliver the keynote address.

As a psychologist, award-winning businesswoman, best-selling author, producer and host of the Stand Out Life podcast, she will share her knowledge and tips for career success, as well as discussing what leadership means in the workplace.

Today, no industry should be dominated by one gender, but we continue to see disparities across many occupations, including broking, said Loan Market executive chairman, Sam White.

The industry has just endured a turbulent period, much of which has been outside our control. But what is within our control is a professional environment in which brokers have no barriers to success, irrespective of gender, he added.

The summit is part of an annual program of events that includes quarterly gatherings, retreats, wine and cheese nights, and an annual conference, which last year welcomed 100 attendees.

In 2017 we initiated the Leading Ladies of Loan Market for female entrepreneurs to come together to drive growth and profitability in their businesses. Since then the initiative has swelled to touch hundreds of women in our network and beyond, said group executive director Andrea McNaughton.

Naughton is the latest women to be appointed to a senior role within the group and joins an Australian leadership team comprised of 45% females.
Latest News Australians are giving up on dream jobs for a shot at homeownership The Great Resignation is everywhere, but Australia as workers stay in unsatisfactory careers

Westpac makes fourth rate hike in two months Thirty points across all longer-term rates for major lender

In 2016, a banking veteran, newly retired from the time- and effort-intensive world of executive leadership, told his Twitter followers, There is life after a full-time career. Welcome to the other side.

This week, he was named as the new chairman at National Australian Bank (NAB).

While Philip Chronican may not have envisioned such a prominent position at a big four bank this late in his career, NABs board of directors unanimously backed him as the person to bring stability to an institution still reeling from the royal commission and the recent resignations of former chairman Ken Henry and CEO Andrew Thorburn.

The Dunedin-born banker entered the world of finance at the New Zealand Treasury before spending the next 27 years of his career at Westpac, holding executive positions such as CFO and head of institutional banking. It was during this time that he completed his MBA and moved to Australia.

In 2009, Chronican left Westpac to act as head of Australia at ANZ. Despite having successfully navigated the bank through the global financial crisis and being considered a leading candidate to succeed Mike Smith as CEO, Chronican decided to step down from his position in 2015 to pursue non-executive roles.

The following year Chronican became a non-executive director at NAB, holding positions on a number of committees.

It was on 1 March 2019, after the unexpected resignations, that Chronican found himself in the CEO role in an interim capacity while the bank searched for a permanent candidate.

Over the course of Chronicans 35 years in banking, he has been outspoken about the need for transparent and ethical practices, as well as the many benefits of making the industry a more diverse and welcoming place.

In a video interview with the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA), Chronican spoke about becoming aware of his personal responsibility towards cultivating an inclusive environment.

As I was maturing in leadership and management roles, there was this realisation that I can help shape the norms and behaviours in the workplace. Theres an expression that You get what you put up with. If you dont want something then you dont put up with it, he said.

His commitment to integrity was again evidenced when Chronican was among the first to voluntarily take the Banking and Finance Oath (BFO), a pledge created by an independent organisation intended to raise the ethical standards in the industry.

By taking the BFO, Chronican acknowledged that trust is the foundation of [his] profession, and promised to compete with honour, speak out against wrongdoing, and accept responsibility for [his] actions.

According to NAB director David Armstrong, Chronican made it clear to the board that he was not open to remaining in the CEO role on a permanent basis and was therefore appointed as chairman.

In a June 2018 interview with Investment Magazine, Chronican said that its the ability to facilitate keeping the climate open but having everyone perform and prepare that makes for a good and effective chair.

NAB is certainly in a place to benefit from Chronicans extensive experience, frank acknowledgment of all that has gone wrong, and commitment to facilitating the change necessary for the bank to make it out of this tumultuous chapter intact.
Educators at a Williamsburg yeshiva allowed a virulent measles outbreak to infect 21 new victims by letting an unvaccinated child attend class there, according to the citys chief physician, who urged parents to inoculate their kids against the potentially fatal illness.

As a pediatrician, I cant stress enough how critical it is to vaccinate children against measles, said Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. Measles is a serious, highly contagious, and potentially deadly infection. Complications and fatalities are rare but do happen.

Leaders of Wilson Streets Yeshiva Kehilath Yakov permitted the unvaccinated youngster to mingle with his mates, even though the school is subject to an emergency-health measure that mandates schools within certain parts of Williamsburg and Borough Park  where the measles virus infected 121 people since October  prohibit kids who have not received the required number of doses of the MMR vaccine from attending classes, according to Health Department reps.

The unvaccinated pupil did not display symptoms at the time, but already contracted the virus, and the highly contagious airborne pathogen soon swept through the school.

Health Department spokesman Michael Lanza could not immediately say when the outbreak at Kehilath Yakov began, and added that agency officials have yet to issue any violations or penalties in the wake of the new infections. But Barbot issued a signed commissioners order reinforcing the emergency mandate to yeshiva leaders, who may be penalized if they further violate the demand, according to Lanza.

Health Department sleuths tracked the wider outbreak of the disease in Brooklyn to an initial case a Kings Countian contracted during an October visit to Israel, where another outbreak of the virus is in full swing. In the five boroughs, the illness has only spread among members of the Orthodox Jewish community, with all but one case originating in Kings County, according to agency spokeswoman Stephanie Buhle.

And news of the 21 additional measles cases prompted Orthodox Councilmen Kalman Yeger (DBorough Park) and Chaim Deutsch (DSheepshead Bay) to join city health officials and other experts in their calls for vaccination, with Yeger stressing the importance of immunization to members of his community.

It is imperative that parents immediately vaccinate their children, he said. It is just as imperative that our parents and yeshivas take all the necessary precautions to keep unvaccinated children away from harm.

Kehilath Yakov staffers declined to comment.
Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

Park Slope residents and other passersby on March 5 laid mementos and offered silent prayers at a memorial near the Fifth Avenue intersection where a driver hit and killed two kids as they crossed the street one year ago to that day.

One pint-sized mourner struggled to comprehend the deadly collision that killed 1-year-old Joshua Lew and 4-year-old Abigail Blumenstein as he stopped to leave a note at the Ninth Street shrine.

I just cant get over the fact that theyre dead, said a Park Slope middle-school student Neftali.

The kids died after motorist Dorothy Bruns ran a red light and struck them and their mothers, including Blumensteins then-pregnant mom, Tony Awardwinning actress Ruthie Ann Miles, who months later miscarried her unborn child due to injuries sustained in the crash.

Law-enforcement officials subsequently arrested and charged Bruns with reckless manslaughter, with prosecutors claiming she got behind the wheel that day against the order of doctors, who told the seizure-prone driver to stay off the road due to her history of epileptic fits  one of which allegedly struck her moments before she smashed into the pedestrians. But the defendant  who faced 15 years behind bars  never made it to trial, because she allegedly died by suicide in her Staten Island home last October.

Another local who runs a business near the crash site said Brunss shocking death troubled her as much as the tragic deaths of the two children.

All I can think about is how awful it is, said entrepreneur Peggy, who lives in Bay Ridge. She must not have been able to live with the guilt and pain of this.

Following the collision, the city redesigned Ninth Street between Prospect Park West and Third Avenue, installing protected bike lanes and so-called bulb-outs to narrow intersections along the stretch. But the redesigned street will do little to prevent future crashes if the city does not also beef up enforcement along the road, according to a Red Hooker who works in Park Slope.

It wasnt the bike lane that was the problem  they need a police presence or something over here, said Kristen.

 with Natallie Rocha
Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

One of New Yorks Finest will spend as many as seven years behind bars after a jury convicted him of brutally beating another man with his gun and handcuffs during a fit of road rage in Midwood last year.

Jurors on Tuesday found Officer Michael Baror guilty of felony assault, weapons-possession, and other charges, according to Brooklyns top prosecutor, who called the cops behavior especially egregious given his mandate to serve and protect locals.

The fact that he is a trained police officer makes his behavior even more disturbing, said Eric Gonzalez. There is no place on our streets for road rage, and now a jury has held the defendant accountable for his brazen criminal conduct.

Baror was off duty and behind the wheel of his personal Jeep Cherokee equipped with illegal lights and sirens on New Years Day in 2018, when he began flashing his high beams at another car before rear-ending it at the corner of Avenue N and Bedford Avenue around 10:30 pm, according to prosecutors.

The cop got out of his car, pulled out his pistol, and hit the other driver with it, before repeatedly striking the 29-year-old man in the face with his handcuffs, then driving off, Gonzalez said.

But the victim gave chase, speeding after Baror as each ran multiple red lights while the mans girlfriend called 911 amid the pursuit, which ended when the two cars collided and Baror fled before police arrived, according to prosecutors.

Following the incident, the victim received stitches for wounds on his mouth, and treatment for bruising and a contusion on his head, as well as for cuts and an injured shoulder. And authorities caught up with Baror the next day, cuffing him on Jan. 2, and issuing him a 30-day suspension before placing him on modified duty.

Baror, who formerly patrolled Transit District 32 in Crown Heights, is currently out on bail and suspended from the force without pay, according to Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Jessica McRorie.

The cop lives in Brooklyn, according to officials, who refused to specify what neighborhood he resides in because he is still with the Police Department.

Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun is set to sentence the cop  whom jurors also convicted of reckless driving, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, improper display of plates, and improper use of a siren  on May 8.
Representative Ilhan Omar has had a bulls-eye on her back from the moment she entered Congress. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call

The interminable brouhaha over U.S. Representative Ilhan Omars dubious if murky comments on the reasons for reflexive U.S. support for Israel is obviously a problem for Democrats who arent sure whether to criticize her or defend her. But for Republicans, its benefits are almost endless, which is why they are exploiting it for all its worth.

Just try to count the ways in which attacking her accomplishes multiple partisan purposes:

1. It provides a classic turn-the-tables maneuver in response to the Steve King controversy. The hype about Omar wouldnt have half its current volume if not for the recent explosion of controversy over veteran Republican congressman Steve King of Iowa, whose disparaging comments about immigrants and the importance of Americas white heritage finally crossed so many lines that his own Republican colleagues had to condemn him and strip him of his committee assignments.

That there is a significant element of whataboutism in the GOP attacks on Omar was made plain when demands almost immediately rose to strip her of her membership on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on grounds that she is somehow an national security risk. See? the message appeared to be. This member of the Democratic Party is not only a bigot, but a potential terrorist! And some conservative commentators were quick to make the comparison of Omar to King, challenging Democrats to show they werent hypocrites by meting out the same punishment to one as to the other. No matter what ultimately happens to Omar, Republicans will bring up her name for decades whenever one of their own pols gets a little too racist for comfort.

Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.

2. It enables a nice juicy pander to the Christian right and keeps open lines to American Jews. The most maddening feature of the Omar saga is that all the talk about Jewish support for Israel distorts the fact that it is conservative Evangelicals, not Jews, who are far and away the most important U.S. constituency for the posture of unconditional support for Israel Omar criticized. Its certainly the constituency Republicans care about most (only two Republican members of Congress are Jewish, and Jewish voters have been largely pro-Democratic  usually heavily pro-Democratic  for a century). But its a bonus that this chance to smite the perceived enemies of Israel undergirds an Israel-based GOP appeal to Jewish voters, too.

3. It reinforces a general strategy of protecting Trump by accusing Democrats of extremism. Its probably no coincidence that the crusade against Omar is happening at the same time as a highly coordinated Trump-GOP-conservative media effort to paint Democrats as an out-of-control band of socialists. And both are central to the 2020 Trump reelection strategy of distracting attention from his own antics (at least among undecided voters) and arousing fears about the alleged extremism of the other party.

It is fortunate for them that Omar is close to Democratic congressional supernova Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has defended her in the current controversy. There is a longstanding if patently absurd right-wing meme holding that socialists and Muslims are together conspiring to conquer America and impose some sort of alien order on this sturdy Christian nation. The friendship of AOC and Omar (and also fellow Muslim Margaret Tlaib, who like AOC is a self-identified socialist) is heaven-sent for this purpose.

4. It is already spawning endless Democrats in Disarray media stories. In the wake of the 2018 midterms, and anticipating the world of trouble Trump may soon face as the result of the Mueller report and House Democratic investigations, Republicans have an enormous vested interest in depicting the Democratic Party as weak and divided. Conservative media eternally promote this story line, and for complicated reasons (including an effort to show balance) its catnip to the mainstream media as well. The very real differences of opinion among Democrats over Omars utterances will likely be exaggerated into a world-historical event that exposes deep and intractable rifts in the Donkey Party.

All in all, its clear Ilhan Omar had a bulls-eye on her back from practically the moment she entered Congress. To be sure, shes contributed to her own misfortune with clumsy and sinister-sounding characterizations of Israel supporters. But shes just too convenient a devil figure for Republicans to be much of anything else for the time being.
Rudy Giuliani campaigning for Republican Senate hopeful Mike Braun on November 3, 2018 in Franklin Township, Indiana. Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

The guesswork and false reports about the Mueller investigations impending conclusion have surely levied a great deal of stress on President Trumps lawyers and PR team. But according to a new report from the Los Angeles Times, all those known unknowns have left the White House prepared for anything.

For Trump, that team readiness is the good news; the bad news is that the defense theyve come up with doesnt sound very sophisticated. Speaking with the L.A. Times, Giuliani said that if the Mueller report provides further damning evidence about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting  in which Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer to discuss potential dirt on Hillary  the Trump team would point out that nothing ever happened and it never went anywhere. So, if the special counsel does provide new evidence on the meeting, the messaging would effectively be that the Trump campaign did collude with Russia for kompromat on Clinton, but they did a bad job. According to Giuliani, the White House has prepared an 80-page counter-report full of such legal and argumentative wisdom.

In recent months, Trump has also boosted his defensive flanks to prepare for the close of the Mueller investigation. In January, the office of White House Counsel Pat Cipollone hired 17 new attorneys to receive the Mueller report. And in February, as the L.A. Times notes, the president shipped an experienced attorney, Steven Groves, to the White House Press Office, a shop that had been filled mostly with interns and assistants.

Within the Times report, Trump allies gave a clear picture of their thoughts on the looming end of the Mueller investigation. Newt Gingrich  the leader of the House effort to impeach Bill Clinton  called the White Houses strategy to survive the report an endurance contest, and said that the news will cause a couple days of bad media. He also asked, In this environment, how will that be any different? Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster, expected that the report could not substantially break through Americas staunch partisan divide. How entrenched is concrete? he asked. Of course, neither mentioned that it is not public perception, but the decision of Senate Republicans to stand by a compromised president, that makes impeachment a nonfactor for Trump.

At the moment, Rudy Giuliani is maintaining a collusion-half-fake mindset on the Mueller reports potential findings. If they exonerate him, Giuliani told the L.A. Times, well just say congratulations.
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
Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel will not go very far in concessions to gain approval for a planned steel venture, four people familiar with the matter said, adding their offer might not be enough to satisfy the European Commission. The two companies last year struck a deal to combine their European steel units to create the continents second-largest steelmaker after ArcelorMittal, a move that must be cleared by the European regulators. Brussels last month sent a statement of objections in its antitrust review of the transaction, effectively asking for remedies in exchange for ...
President Trump. Photo: Brendan Smialowksi/AFP/Getty Images

The anticipated conclusion of Robert Muellers investigation into the Trump campaigns connections to Russia has given way to a broad sense of anticlimax. Media coverage has fixated on the potential that Mueller will produce new revelations of impeachable conduct, emphasizing heavily the expectation he will not. This belief simply shows how the case has already been proven and it simply has not registered.

A great many intelligent people who hold no brief for Trump have nonetheless refused to believe that he is hiding some deep, dark secrets regarding Russia. As more and more evidence has appeared over the last two and a half years, that bloc of skeptics has melted away but failed to disappear completely.

The cause of this incredulity, I have come to suspect, lies in the vast distance the mind must travel between the normal patterns of American politics and the fantastical crimes being alleged. The Russia scandal seems to hint at a reality of fiction or paranoia, a baroque conspiracy in which the leader of the free world has been compromised by a mafiocracy with an economy smaller than South Koreas.

The flaw lies in the assumption about what constitutes normal. In this case, the baseline should not be previous American elections, but other foreign elections in which Russia has intervened. There are several, and they follow a pattern. Moscow has cultivated right-wing parties overseas through a combination of covert payments to their leaders (often disguised as legitimate business transactions), illegal campaign donations, and propaganda support through traditional and social media. Russian election corruption scandals pop up in Europe all the time. Russia secretly and illegally funded Ukraines Party of Regions; Frances National Front party got a secret 2014 election loan from a Russian bank; the Brexit vote benefited from a huge donation from a British businessman who has secretly met with Russian officials dangling lucrative business deals. Just last month, Italian journalists discovered the leader of a right-wing party had negotiated a lucrative secret transaction with a Russian firm.

When you bear these events in mind, it no longer seems strange to believe that Vladimir Putin formed a corrupt alliance with Trump. Given all the outward signs of their relationship, it would be curious if he didnt.

The fact that the same person who managed the campaign for the pro-Russian candidate in Ukraine next turned up (after a brief disappearance) to run the campaign of the pro-Russian candidate in the United States is merely one of an overwhelmingly long list of clues placing Trump in the pattern. Trumps defenders have invested enormous energy into parsing the term collusion, which they note is not the name for a discrete crime. So lets say instead that Trump, like many other right-wing politicians, has been corruptly influenced by Russia and elected knowingly with its aid. Some of the clues establishing this pattern lie in the carefully redacted indictments that Mueller has already filed; others sit before us in plain sight.

***

First, Trump developed financial ties with Russia, an effort that dates back to the 1980s. Within the last decade, it accounted for a significant, if not dominant, share of his income. Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets, said Donald Trump Jr. in 2008; We dont rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia, Eric Trump reportedly boasted in 2014. Trump spent the campaign negotiating a deal to build a massive tower in Moscow, the existence and extent of which he dissembled about at the time and for years afterward, but which offered a payday in the hundreds of millions of dollars, reported Michael Cohen, who negotiated it.

He has concealed the extent of these ties by refusing to publish his tax returns, but a lot of Russian financing of his business over the last decade and a half is a matter of public record. Unlike open-market states with reliable rule of law, Russia is a crony capitalist economy in which large business interests routinely serve Putins. The scope of Russias financial leverage over Trump remains hidden, but the basic fact of it is undeniable. Trump had, at minimum, a strong financial incentive to stay in Putins good graces that precluded him from devising a Russia policy based solely on the national interest.

Second, Trump and Russia cooperated actively. During the campaign, 17 campaign officials and advisers had 100 contacts with Russians between them. They attempted to cover up these contacts by lying about them repeatedly, frequently risking perjury charges by doing so before Congress or the FBI. The breadth and the depth of their commitment in refusing to acknowledge their Russian contacts is striking, and impossible to square with any innocent explanation.

Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos met in April 2016 with Joseph Mifsud, who told Papadopoulos he had returned from Moscow and had learned dirt about Hillary Clinton. Papadopoulos later said he couldnt guarantee he didnt share this information with fellow campaign staffers. Donald Trump Jr. set up a meeting in Trump Tower premised on what was pitched to him as part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump, and invited the campaign manager and the presidents influential son-in-law to attend.

While Russia was exerting itself on Trumps behalf through emails hacks and social media messaging, Trump did nothing to disavow the help, and several things to enable it. He frequently denied Russians had stolen Democratic emails, even after U.S. intelligence agencies had fingered them. He publicly implored Russia to steal more emails (Russia, if youre listening), an invitation Russian hackers accepted and tried to act upon hours later. And he did everything in his power to magnify their impact, touting the importance of WikiLeaks some 164 times in the last month of the campaign alone.

The basic fact of this cooperative relationship is not in question. All that remains to be established, again, is its extent, and any laws that may have been broken in the process. Mueller has revealed a few tantalizing hints. During the campaign, Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort passed campaign data on to Konstantin Kilimnik, his former business partner and an active Russian intelligence agent. This was not political gossip, but very detailed data running to 75 pages in length.

Trump also clearly used Roger Stone as an intermediary to WikiLeaks. The indictment of Stone notes a senior Trump campaign official was directed to contact Stone about any additional releases and what other damaging information the organization had. (Who but Trump can direct senior officials?) Michael Cohen has testified to Congress that he overheard a conversation between Trump and Stone about WikiLeaks.

Another Trump campaign operative, Peter W. Smith, working under Michael Flynn, attempted to acquire more Clinton emails by reaching out to Russian hackers.

The unanswered questions here center on how much deeper this cooperation goes, and what laws might have been tripped. Trump campaign officials, and possibly Trump himself, could potentially be charged for conspiracy to defraud the United States, the crime for which Mueller indicted Russian hackers. What we know already is that Trump was not the passive beneficiary of Russian assistance, but welcomed it and took at least some steps to encourage more of it.

Third, Trump gave Russia a return on its investment. A few weeks after announcing his candidacy, Trump appeared at a public forum, where  of all people  Russian operative Maria Butina asked him about his position toward Moscow. Unlike his customary instinct of catering to the crowd (a Republican base that had been trained to mock Obama for surrendering to Russia), Trump went the other way by promising to get along better. And also in contrast to his default posture of getting tough with other countries and seizing more leverage, Trump instead called the sanctions unnecessary.

Given the staunchly anti-Russian orientation of the party Trump took over, his Russophillic agenda was bound to face opposition in Congress and his own foreign policy bureaucracy. That tension has merely served to highlight the depths of Trumps commitment to placating Russia. In contrast to his rapid capitulation on so many of his other heterodox stances  universal health insurance, closing the carried interest loophole, allowing reimportation of prescription drugs, pulling out of NAFTA  the tenacity with which Trump has fought for his idiosyncratic Russia policy is striking.

The Trump campaigns sole intervention in the 2016 Republican platform debate was to beat back an amendment that would have endorsed arming Ukraine, which was facing slow dismemberment by Russia. During the campaign, Manafort and Kilimnik discussed a plan to recognize Russias invasion of Ukraine, a version of which Michael Cohen hand-delivered to Michael Flynn, Trumps national security adviser, in early 2017.

Russias primary policy objective, winning relief from Obama-era sanctions, was thwarted, when veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers of Congress voted to escalate sanctions in retaliation for Russias election interference. Trump was reportedly apoplectic over the bill, delayed signing it for four days, and has dawdled on implementation, but has been unable to roll it back.

Trump has managed to wrest control of his personal diplomacy with Putin, meeting the Russian dictator repeatedly without aides present to record the discussions. The discussions seem to have left a deep impression. After his most public meeting with Putin, in Helsinki last summer, Trump praised his counterparts plan to allow Russian intelligence to interrogate various American critics of the regime. Trump has, at various times, described NATO ally Montenegro as aggressive and a threat to Russia, defended the 1980 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, disbelieved U.S. intelligence reports of a North Korean missile launch because Putin had assured him Kim Jong-un had no such capability, and halted American military exercises with South Korea at Putins suggestion. Trump has likewise tangled with the leaders of Canada, Britain, France, and Germany while frequently calling into question the American commitment to NATO.

There will almost certainly never be proof of any direct quid pro quo agreement for Putin to support Trumps candidacy in return for policy outcomes. But while the pro remains conjecture, both the quid and the quo are abundantly evident.

And finally, Trump has obstructed the investigation. Trump has employed precious little artifice in his obstruction. This is largely because he does not understand obstruction of justice as a crime, but rather as his natural and proper right as head of the Executive branch. Trump has repeatedly expressed his view that obstruction of justice simply means fighting back. He does not believe obstructing justice is improper, let alone criminal. And he acted on this view from the beginning of his presidency.

Trumps obstruction efforts began almost immediately into his presidency, when he pulled FBI Director James Comey aside, and (according to Comey) tried to create a patronage relationship while leaning on Comey to let Michael Flynn  then the primary known link to the Russia investigation  off without charges. After firing Comey, Trump ordered the draft of a memo stating he was fired over the Russia investigation, settled for a memo creating a cover story for the firing, before blurting out his real reason in a television interview with Lester Holt (when I decided to just do it, I said to myself  you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story), and in an Oval Office meeting with Russian officials (He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. Thats taken off.).

He has stated, also publicly, his belief that covering up presidential crimes is the attorney generals proper role:

Holder protected President Obama  when you look at all of the tremendous, ah, real problems they had, not made-up problems like Russian collusion, these were real problems. When you look at the things that they did, and Holder protected the president. And I have great respect for that, Ill be honest, I have great respect for that.

And he has followed through on this vision. Trump raged against his attorney general for following ethical guidelines and recusing himself, tried to get him to violate those guidelines by un-recusing himself, and then fired him. He instructed Michael Cohen to falsely testify about his dealings with Russia during the campaign, according to Cohen, by prompting him, before his testimony, with what both men knew were lies. His lawyer dangled pardons before key witnesses, even while Trump was heavily hinting at the same in public (i.e., Trump tweeted, I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. Justice took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to break  make up stories in order to get a deal. Such respect for a brave man!)

There is a reasonable argument that a president can legally use a pardon in a case involving himself, because doing so shifts responsibility in the public mind to the president. But there is no case for floating a pardon in advance, which obscures the president from any accountability and which absolutely qualifies as obstruction of justice.

Most recently, Trump was overheard thanking Matt Gaetz, a sycophantic congressional Republican who crudely attempted to intimidate Cohen before his public testimony.

***

Trumps efforts to obstruct justice have been so persistent and flagrant that his supporters have hardly bothered to deny it. Instead they have presented obstruction as a process crime, a runner-up prize sought by Mueller in lieu of finding proof of true wrongdoing.

But the real wrongdoing is rampant and sitting in front of our faces. And the obstruction is the reason no conclusion Mueller reaches can clear Trump of all suspicion. If the president were innocent, or if he wanted his critics to concede his relationship with Russia broke no laws, he could have encouraged his allies to cooperate with the investigation. But obstructing the investigation, while making it harder to produce evidence of criminality, makes it impossible to produce exoneration. Trump, using his pardon power, persuaded the two campaign staffers in closest touch with Russias campaign operations, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, to shut their mouths.

Trump has prevailed upon his underlings to lie and lie and lie about every aspect of his financial and political dealings with Russia. They have conceded nothing voluntarily, admitting only that which has been proven (and sometimes not even that), replacing old lies with new ones. They are hiding a corrupt relationship with Vladimir Putins gangster state. All that remains to be learned is details.
India is set to raise Saudi Arabia's flying rights quota by 40% from April 1 following which Saudi will become the only country within a 5,000-km flying distance from India to get a quota increase by the Modi government, the Economic Times reported on Thursday. Citing sources, the daily said the decision was taken in the view of incentives provided by Saudi Arabia.

The oil-rich nation has unilaterally allowed Indian carriers to add as many flights as they want to Dammam. According to the report, the new aviation policy does not allow any extra seats to countries within 5,000 ...
Tim Cook with Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on March 6, 2019. Photo: AL DRAGO/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Trumps nicknames, in and of themselves, are rarely funny. Ranging from the outright offensive (Pocahontas for Elizabeth Warren) to the repetitious (Lyin Ted, Lyin Hillary, Lyin James Comey), the combination of derogatory adjective plus first name is usually too forced, too formulaic to work. Unlike his sobriquets, its usually pretty funny when the president calls a person the wrong name, like on Wednesday when Trump called Apple CEO Tim Cook Tim Apple while Cook was sitting right next to him.

Trump just called Apple CEO Tim Cook Tim Apple pic.twitter.com/gTHHtjWvc9  Sean O'Kane (@sokane1) March 6, 2019

Trump sat with Cook in the State Dining Room, as part of a panel with the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, a meet-up of 25 executives from IBM, Visa, Lockheed Martin, and others. After praising Cook for his companys big investment in our country, Trump botched his name  though hed addressed Cook properly earlier in the meeting.

Cook did not respond to the gaffe while seated next to the president, but on Thursday afternoon he quietly changed his name in his Twitter bio.

Trump, a chronic name-forgetter, has made similar errors in the past: Last March, the president introduced Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson as Marillyn Lockheed. But theres something less funny about subbing in the title of a notorious defense contractor for a CEOs name, compared to say Tim Apple, which suggests a VeggieTales character who has abandoned Christian messaging in the pursuit of corporate excellence. Still, in the pantheon of Trump gaffes, the event is less funny than when the president spelled his wifes name as Melanie.

This post was updated to include Cooks response on Twitter.
The Election Commission is prepared to list dates for Lok Sabha elections "any day" and an announcement could come over the weekend or by Tuesday, said a senior official of the organisation. The elections are likely to be held over seven or eight phases in April-May, sources said on Thursday.

The announcement of dates will be followed by a meeting of election observers next week for the first and second phase of polling. A notification for the first phase could be issued by the end of March for voting in early April, sources said. There is a strong possibility ...
Type address separated by commas

Your Email:
Pakistan intensified its crackdown against Islamist militants on Thursday, with the government announcing it had taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as part of its push against banned groups. The move represents Pakistan's biggest move against banned organisations in years and appears to be targeting Islamic welfare organisations that the United States says are a front for militant activities. Pakistan is facing pressure from global powers to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed ...
Republicans will run their old strategy even if Democrats dont nominate a democratic socialist. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Republicans, their conservative media allies, and more than a few Donkey Party apostates, have been calling Democrats socialists for a long, long time. The habit really began with FDR, who was generally thought to have introduced a social-democratic strain to American liberalism. His predecessor as Democratic presidential nominee and as governor of New York, Al Smith, said this to a room full of anti-Roosevelt conservatives in 1936:

Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.

Just get the platform of the Democratic Party and get the platform of the Socialist Party and lay them down on your dining-room table, side by side  After you have done that, make your mind up to pick up the platform that more nearly squares with the record, and you will have your hand on the Socialist platform.

At least FDR was indeed advocating significant new public policy restraints on private enterprise, if not anything you could really characterize as socialist by historic standards. But the same label was applied to virtually every postWorld War II Democratic president other than perhaps Jimmy Carter.

In 1945 the American Medical Association attacked Harry Truman for advocating socialized medicine (the same label they would attach to the original Medicare and Medicaid programs as advocated by LBJ). Shortly into the presidency of the resolutely centrist Barack Obama, the Republican National Committee very nearly adopted a resolution calling on all their partisans to begin referring to the opposition as the Democrat Socialist Party. And soon after another centrist Democrat, Hillary Clinton, beat back a challenge from that rarest of beasts, a self-identified socialist running a viable presidential nomination campaign, she encountered widespread conservative claims that Donald Trump was the only thing standing between a virtuous America and a tsunami of leftism, or perhaps socialist totalitarianism.

So today, when 2016s self-identified socialist is the consensus front-runner for the 2020 Democratic nomination, and when another self-identified socialist, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has become the darling of party activists and a huge national celebrity, theres no question the GOPs The Socialists Are Coming! rallying cry will become even louder. Thats particularly true because Republicans desperately need to do to Democrats in 2020 what they did in 2016: Make doubts about about Trumps opponent the center of attention, rather than Trumps own character. No wonder Trump himself is leading the chorus of warnings about socialism.

But how effective will it be? That could depend on a number of variables.

The baseline reality is that Americans are less hostile to socialism, defined vaguely, than theyve been in the past, though in a recent Gallup sounding there are very clear generational differences (as one might expect given the self-identification of the Cold Wars communist bad guys as socialist). A majority of Democrats, and of voters under the age of 35, say they have a more positive view of socialism than of capitalism. But overall only 37 percent of Americans have a positive view of socialism.

To be clear, Americans understanding of what socialism means isnt very clear or consistent, as Frank Newport explains:

When asked to explain their understanding of the term socialism, 17% of Americans define it as government ownership of the means of production, half the number who defined it this way in 1949 when Gallup first asked about Americans views of the term. Americans today are most likely to define socialism as connoting equality for everyone, while others understand the term as meaning the provision of benefits and social services, a modified form of communism, or a conception of socialism as people being social and getting along with one another. About a quarter of Americans were not able to give an answer.

Views of socialist politicians are inconsistent, too. On the one hand polls show being socialist as the most undesirable quality for a presidential candidate. On the other hand, the one viable self-identified socialist to run for president, Bernie Sanders, is consistently the most popular United States senator, and his national favorability ratio (54/38 according to Gallup late last year) is positive if not sensational.

In terms of policy positions arguably identified with socialism, the record is murky as well. Despite GOP efforts to scare people about Medicare for All as a socialist abomination, its generally quite popular, even among rank-and-file Republicans. Heavy taxation of the very wealthy, another socialist proposal, is popular as well.

There are a number of scenarios for how this latest socialism debate will play out between now and November 3, 2020.

The rapidly approaching Democratic presidential nominating contest will soon begin to capture some of the enormous attention currently being paid to congressional socialists like AOC and Rashida Tlaib (and their close ally Ilhan Omar), and with it some of the Democrats are moving to the hard left talk that has dominated political coverage since the midterm elections. But if any self-identified moderate presidential candidates choose to make the 2020 primaries a struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party and issue their own warnings about incipient socialism (which Republican pols and conservative media would happily amplify), the same debate would continue with a slightly different cast of leading characters. And if this hypothetical loud-and-proud moderate does poorly in the polls and then in the primaries, the perception that the party has chosen to move left will be enhanced. That is particularly true if Bernie Sanders wins the nomination.

The salience of attacks on Democrats as the party of socialism becomes less clear if presidential candidates who arent clearly moderate but who disclaim any socialist allegiances do well. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Beto ORourke have all gone out of their way to proclaim themselves as aiming at the reformation of capitalism, not socialism. But then again, Harris and Warren, along with Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, all signed onto the Senate resolution encompassing the Green New Deal with its very big government implications.

Republicans are very likely to continue their attacks on Democrats as one big happy socialist family, forcing them either to fight over acceptance or rejection of the label or grin and bear it through a sustained red scare. In the end Donald Trumps record and character may cast so large and ominous of a shadow over the country in 2020 that nobody much cares whether the candidate who challenges him is a firm capitalist-roader or something to the left of that. Indeed, while its very likely the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign will be significantly more out-front progressive than Hillary Clintons indistinct and largely negative 2016 effort  barring some shocking Hickenlooper boom in the primaries  it might be best for the party to postpone any struggle for its soul until Trump is gone. But without question, Trumps MAGA legions will try to force the issue, loudly.
The Delhi Police has booked AAP MLA Mohinder Goyal for allegedly raping a woman.

The case was registered at the Prashant Vihar police station here after the woman lodged a complaint against the Rithala MLA.

According to police officials, an FIR under IPC sections 376 (rape), 506 (threatening) and 509 (outraging the modesty of a woman) was registered on February 28.

The case is being investigated by the Crime Against Women Cell of Delhi police.

The woman has alleged that in December last year when she approached MLA in connection with a pension issue he raped her. According to police, the woman has alleged in her complaint that she was again raped at the MLA's office over a month later.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation, saying that the latter was busy shooting for a documentary even after receiving the news about the Pulwama terror attack.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi must give an answer, who is responsible for the martyrdom of our soldiers in Pulwama when Prime Minister was busy in a photo-shoot. When will the BJP ask for the PM's resignation," said Bhupesh Baghel.

"BJP leaders should stop playing with the sentiments of the people of this country. Indian Army is not made by Narendra Modi but is the result of several years of hard work of our Jawans and officers," he added.

The Chief Minister also took a swipe at BJP president Amit Shah and said, " Amit Shah is saying 250 died while some other BJP leader says that 300 have died. We are not raising question on the strike and the Air Chief has himself said that IAF has done his job and they didn't count the casualties. But BJP must tell on what basis they are claiming these figures."

While addressing a rally in Ahmedabad on March 3, BJP president Amit Shah claimed that over 250 terrorists were killed in the air strike.

Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa on Monday said the fighter planes had hit the target given to them but he cannot give the number of casualties suffered as it is for the government to do so. India carried out the air strike 12 days after the Jaish terror attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives. JeM had claimed the responsibility of the attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China on Wednesday reiterated its support to Pakistan in restabilising regional peace and security.

Geo News reported that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, who was on a two-day visit to Islamabad, from March 5-6, called on Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Xuanyou also held separate talks with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the meetings, both Pakistan and China reaffirmed their time-tested and all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, said a statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

"Pakistan thanked China for its steadfast support. Vice Foreign Minister was briefed on Pakistan's efforts to resolve all issues with India through dialogue," the statement added.

"Vice Foreign Minister Kong underscored that Pakistan and China are close friends and partners. He reiterated China's support to Pakistan for peace and stability in the region. He also acknowledged Pakistan's measures against terrorism," the Foreign Ministry said.

Both sides noted with satisfaction the strong bonds in their bilateral relations and agreed to further enhance cooperation and coordination at all levels, the statement read.

Spokesperson of Pakistan Armed Forces and Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor, took to twitter saying, "H.E Mr Kong Xuanyou, Vice Foreign Minister of China called on COAS. Matters of mutual interest, regional security, bilateral cooperation and current situation between Pakistan and India discussed. Visiting dignitary appreciated Pakistan's efforts for regional peace and stability."

The meetings come amid reports of escalating tension between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir. The responsibility of the terror attack was claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) group.

After India's February 26 air strikes on a JeM camp in Pakistan, China had urged New Delhi and Islamabad to "exercise restraint" and avoid further provocations.

China had also stated that tackling terrorism is a global issue which requires active international cooperation and all the countries need to maintain cordial relations in the long-run.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The recommendations approved were made by the Army for turning itself into an agile, lethal and capability-based force to tackle the challenges of future warfare.

"After the approval, 229 officers would be optimised from Army headquarters and would be relocated to units and formations of the field armies... The Defence Ministry has approved all the recommendations made by the Army headquarters on February 27 after nearly nine months they were initiated by the ground force," Defence Ministry officials said.

Interestingly, some of the recommendations and suggestions made for the reform have been hanging fire for more than four decades now but have been cleared now.

As per the new plans, the Army will get a third deputy chief who would be known as Deputy Chief (Strategy) and who will look after all the important directorates of military intelligence, information warfare and operations in the force.

Information Warfare will also get a major boost as a Lt Gen would monitor this aspect along with cyber warfare.

At present, there are two deputy chiefs in the Army. The first Deputy Chief is known as Deputy Chief (Planning and Systems) who looks after capital procurement in the force while the second one is known as Deputy Chief (Informations systems and Training), officials said.

As per the new plan which is the brainchild of Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat, the Army will get rid of the post of the Director General of Rashtriya Rifles who would now be shifted to Northern Command in Udhampur and will now be looked after a Maj General rather than a Lieutenant General.

In the other significant plans of the restructuring of Army Headquarters and reorganisation of the force, entire modernisation and revenue procurement of the Indian Army is going to be done by the Deputy Chief (Capability Development) who was earlier known as Deputy Chief Planning and Systems.

To look after the cases of corruption and ensure probity and transparency, a new officer of the Major General rank has been appointed under the Army Chief who would report directly to him while another post has been created for the Army who will look after human rights.

The Indian Army had ordered four separate studies as part of Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat's plans on restructuring the force into a lean and mean fighting machine.

The Defence Ministry on its part had also ordered a separate study under Lt Gen DS Hooda for the same purpose.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The carrier strike group (CSG) was flagged off by French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly from on board aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off Toulon, ahead of its departure for an operational deployment lasting several months, informed the French embassy.

"Over 2,000 women and men embarked the Charles de Gaulle, which spent 18 months in a dockyard for a major refit and upgrade of its weapons system. It can now accommodate 30 Rafale combat aircraft and two Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft," the embassy said in a statement.

"The carrier strike group (CSG), known as the Clemenceau Mission, has been deployed to participate in air and naval operations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant, to enhance knowledge of the areas it traverses, as well as to reinforce European cooperation and nurture the strategic partnerships that France maintains in the Near and Middle East, as well as in the Indian Ocean," the statement added.

An air defense frigate, a multi-mission frigate, a command and supply ship, and a nuclear-powered attack submarine are also part of the CSG, which will be reinforced throughout the mission by ships from many different allied navies, it added.

It will include Portuguese, Danish, British, Italian, Australian and American escort vessels, providing a major opportunity to enhance their inter-operability, the French embassy said.

"As part of its primary mission to protect French citizens, the carrier strike group will join the international coalition against the Daesh for one month, under its French component, known as Operation Chammal," it said.

It will then enable France to improve its knowledge of the strategic environment and strengthen its partnerships in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean through several exercises with neighbouring nations, the statement said.

At its final stop, Singapore, where it will dock during the Shangri-La Dialogue, the CSG will contribute to boosting France's international reputation by affirming its status as a maritime power, it added.

The Armed Forces minister addressed the crew of the Charles de Gaulle off Toulon, to wish fair winds and following seas to its 2,000 sailors.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Hyderabad police has apprehended one person for allegedly smuggling Gold from Dubai.

The police recovered 550 grams of gold worth Rs 17.5 lakhs in the international market from the possession of accused on Wednesday.

According to the Commissioner's Task Force, West Zone Team, the smuggler allegedly used to bring gold from Dubai and sell it to people in Hyderabad at a higher rate.

The accused has been identified as Syed Abdul Hai Tameem.

Anjani Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad said that the accused smuggled gold in different forms like powder, paste and ornaments.

Further investigation is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Students of this school in Gujarat wear Army print uniform to acknowledge the sacrifices, security personnel make in order to keep the nation safe.

Kailash Manas Vidyamandir's PT uniform is a copy of the Indian Army's uniform. The school brought about this change 15 years ago.

Most of these children asserted that by wearing an Army look-alike uniform makes them feel proud of themselves and the Indian Army.

"Our uniform is similar to that of our Army soldiers fighting at the border. It makes me feel proud of our Army," said a girl of third standard.

"I feel proud of myself after wearing this dress," said another student, Nishan Mishra.

Principal Indira Patel said that the motive is to discipline students and help them know about the kind of sacrifices personnel of Indian Armed forces make for the nation.

"The dress code was introduced since 15 ago. The motive is to make the students realize that it is because of the Army at the borders that we are safe and secure here. They must know how to respect this great institution," said the Principal. She told that students have to don the dress twice in a week.

Similarly, exuding love for the nation and Armed forces, a cloth mill in Surat is manufacturing sarees with prints showing Indian Air Force (IAF) strikes in Balakot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pictures.

The feeling of patriotism has gripped the nation ever since February 14, when a JeM suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Pulwma killing 40 personnel. Following the ghastly attack, the IAF conducted airstrike on Jaish camps in Pakistan.

On February 27, Varthaman, flying a MiG-21 Bison, was chasing Pakistani F-16 fighters which had transgressed into the Indian airspace, and in the process, his plane crossed over to the Pakistani side and was shot down. He ejected safely but was taken into custody by the Pakistan Army upon landing. Before his plane was shot, he had hit a Pakistani F-16.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One terrorist was killed in an exchange of fire between terrorists and security forces in Handwara in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Thursday.

Another terrorist is believed to be trapped in the joint operation of security forces that is continuing in Handwara.

A search operation is underway.

Meanwhile, Internet services have been snapped in the Valley.

Details are awaited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said, India wants to have good relations with all its neighbours but Pakistan has made terrorism a state policy.

He was interacting with the Indian community at Paraguay.

"We want to have good relations, including with all our neighbours. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said you can change friends, but you cannot change your neighbour. Keeping that in mind we are trying our best," said Vice President Naidu.

"But one of our neighbours has made terrorism a state policy. They are aiding, funding, training terrorists. Time and again, they have been persuaded, they make public commitments, but never stop funding terrorism," he added.

The Vice President dubbed terrorism as enemy of humanity and said, "It (terrorism) has no religion. It is mad and bad. It should be eliminated from the globe. That is possible only when the entire international community comes together."

He said that India is capable of fighting with the terrorist on its own. "We do not want any kind of support to fight terror in India. We are capable. We have shown our capacity recently. When they attacked CRPF and killed 40 people, the response was given. IAF not attacked military in Pakistan, didn't harm a single citizen and precisely hit the target," said Naidu.

The Vice President also hit out at the opposition parties for questioning the outcome of air strike and said "Now the discussion is going about casualties. It is for them to count the numbers. Yesterday, Home Minister suggested that if anyone has doubts, they can visit Pakistan and inquire Pakistan government. We don't want war, but can't be a silent spectator to nonsense going on for a war."

The Vice President is on a two-day visit to the Latin American Country.

Venkaiah Naidu is accompanied by a high-level delegation consisting of the Minister of State for Tourism K.J. Alphons, Ram Kumar Kashyap, Member of Parliament and senior officials from the Government of India.

Naidu met with the President of the Republic of Paraguay, H.E. Mario Abdo Benitez, the Vice President, H.E. Hugo Velazquez, and the President of the National Congress (Senate), H.E. Silvio Ovelar.

Both sides agreed that terrorism posed a grave threat to global peace and stability, stressing that there could be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is lodged inside Kot Lakhpat prison, on Wednesday told his family members that he is being severely troubled in the name of medical treatment.

According to geo news, Sharif said "Neither have I begged for treatment, nor will I ask for it. Politics is being done in the name of treatment".

This comes after, Nawaz's mother, his brother Shehbaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz met the former premier today to convince him to be shifted to hospital.

Sharif, 69, who is serving a seven-year imprisonment asserted that he was being taken to one hospital from another.

"The government has not yet provided any treatment facility, [I am] only being troubled," he said. "I will prefer to die honourably, but humiliation is unacceptable. The insulting behaviour of the government is not acceptable," he added, according to Geo news.

"Whatever would be the will of Almighty Allah, it would happen," Sharif told his mother.

Speaking to media, Shehbaz confirmed that his elder brother's condition was unsatisfactory.

"Nawaz is suffering from pains in his arm repeatedly, which is an alarming symptom," Shehbaz told reporters.

Sharif was shifted to Jinnah Hospital on February 15 after he complained of fever, stomachache and headache. However, he was later moved to the jail after Islamabad High Court last week rejected his petition seeking bail on medical grounds.

Sharif has been imprisoned at Kot Lakhpat jail since December 2018 following his conviction in the Al-Aziziya Steel Mills corruption reference in line with the Supreme Court's July 2017 verdict.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 Diminishing the Horrors of Nazism | Main | Is a Fake Twitter Account Outed by NY Times Really Real? 

March 06, 2019

NY Times Reporter David Halbfinger Editorializes Israel as "Brutal"







New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief David Halbfinger



Israel, according to the New York Times, is a brute.

A March 3 news analysis piecenot an opinion pieceby the newspaper's Jerusalem bureau chief David Halbfinger uses that word when broadly charging the Jewish state with "brutal treatment of the Palestinians":

Running as Israel's indispensable man, Mr. Netanyahu argues that he is the only one who can keep Israel safe when Iran is making aggressive moves from nearly every direction. Because of him, he says, Israel's tech sector has become the envy of much of the world, formerly hostile capitals have opened to Israeli diplomats, and a thorough debunking has been administered to the idea that Israel, with its brutal treatment of the Palestinians, had to choose between its security and international acceptance.

This isn't reporting, and certainly isn't reporting "without fear or favor," as the newspaper repeatedly promises. It's anti-Israel activism.

It is true that, ever since its independence, Israel has been mired in a longtime conflict with neighboring countries and with violent terror organizations committed to the destruction of the state. Yes, it has fought wars with Hamas in Gaza in order to stop relentless rocket attacks on Israeli towns and cities. Wars are indeed destructive.

It did respond to a deadly wave of Palestinian suicide bombings in cafes, pubs, and pizzerias with a military operation and a separation barrier. It protects its borders and uses checkpoints to stop potential attacks. Its settlement policies are controversial, and a right-wing government has been in power ever since Israelis despaired of reaching a peace agreement with Palestinian leaders who have repeatedly rejected peace offers and embraced violence.

Israel's critics, and certainly those who support the aims and tactics of the country's adversaries, might choose to characterize all of this as "brutal" treatment of "the Palestinians." But that's clearly not a fact. It's an opinion, and one that, to put it mildly, many serious observers would strongly dispute. It's troubling enough that the man largly responsible for New York Times coverage of Israel seems to think about the conflict in such simplistic terms. But the failure to recognize or care that this view is just thata view, an opinionis outrageous.

(It's worth noting what else the newspaper's foreign desk has described as "brutal" this year: most frequently, dictatorships like North Korea's Kim Jong-un regime or attacks by Islamic State and Al Qaeda affiliates and other terror groups  situations like "thousands of civilians forcibly displaced following a scorched earth policy in which the parties to the conflict are attacking villages, torching homes, killing civilians and also raping women and girls" in South Sudan, or ISIS "beheading journalists, enslaving and systematically raping women from the Yazidi minority and burning prisoners alive.")

Posted by gi at March 6, 2019 01:53 PM

Guidelines for posting

This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material.

Post a comment
The National Green Tribunal has slapped a penalty of Rs 500 crore on Volkswagen for using "cheat device" in its diesel cars in India. Earlier, a panel formed by the NGT had recommended a fine of Rs 171.34 crore over the damage emissions from Volkswagen cars had done. Declaring the judgement on Thursday, a bench headed by NGT Chairman Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel instructed the German auto manufacturer to deposit the amount within two months. Volkswagen will reportedly challenge the NGT order before the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen refuted the allegations of violating BS-IV norms levelled against it. The company argued that the emission test results in question were based on "on road testing" of its cars and there were no prescribed standards for this.

"The Volkswagen Group in India reiterates that all cars from the Group are compliant with the emission norms defined in India. The Group awaits the copy of the order of Honourable NGT. The Volkswagen Group will challenge the order of the Honourable NGT before the Honourable Supreme Court," Volkswagen India said in a statement.

The NGT bench, however, turned down Volkswagen's objection, stating that sustainable development is the main guiding factor, and thus, the manufacturer's objections to the report can be admitted. The green tribunal said that it may consider utilising the money towards improving air quality in the Delhi NCR region and other highly polluted areas of the country.

ALSO READ:Mercedes Benz "cautiously optimistic" on growth in election year

The tribunal is hearing pleas filed against Volkswagen vehicles in 2015 for alleged violation of emission norms in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal in the US. Volkswagen had admitted to installing a "defeat device" in 11 million diesel engine cars sold in the US, Europe and other global markets. A "cheat" or "defeat device" is a software in diesel engines to manipulate emission tests by changing the performance of the cars.

In its tests conducted on some Volkswagen models, Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) found that their on-road emissions were 1.1 times to 2.6 times higher than the permissible levels under BS-IV norms. Following this, Volkswagen India had recalled around 3.23 lakh vehicles fitted with EA 189 diesel engines which were in alleged violation of emission norms to rejig the software. The company, however, had said that the recall in India was purely voluntary in nature as it did not face any charges regarding violating emission norms in India unlike in the US.

On November 16 last year, the tribunal had said that the use of 'cheat device' by Volkswagen in diesel cars in India led to inference of environmental damage and had asked the German auto major to deposit an interim amount of Rs 100 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

ALSO READ:Renault-Nissan sold most cars last year, but now Volkswagen's on top

A four-member committee was also formed to look into whether Volkswagen had exceeded the prescribed environmental norms. The panel comprised ARAI director Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Dr Nitin Labhsetwar, chief scientist of CSIR-NEERI, Ramakant Singh director, Ministry of Heavy Industries, and Prashant Gargava, member secretary of CPCB. This quartet estimated that in 2016 Volkswagen cars had released approximately 48.678 tonnes of nitrogen oxide (NOx) - a smog-forming pollutant linked to heart and lung disease - in the national capital.

The panel has recommended a fine of Rs 171.34 crore on the auto company. "The value may be considered conservative due to lack of methodologies for calculating the overall impact of NOx on environment in India and hence only health damages are valued," the committee added in its report. The penalty was determined on the basis of the 3.27 lakh Volkswagen cars in India that had deceit software installed.

Significantly, the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill, 2017, pending in the Parliament for over two years, reportedly includes a provision for mandatory recall of defective vehicles by the manufacturer, along with a provision for penalising manufacturers for vehicles that fail to meet standards.

(Edited by Vivek Punj with PTI inputs)
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he would be "very disappointed" if reports on North Korea restoring parts of nuclear missile site is confirmed to be true.

The Hill quoted the US President, addressing the media at the White House, as saying, 'I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim."

"I don't think I will be, but we'll see what happens," Trump added.

The statement by the US President has come after South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Tuesday informed that North Korea has been restoring part of the Dongchang-ri nuclear missile launch site in Yongbyon, located north of Pyongyang.

The 5-megawatt graphite-moderated reactor, capable of yielding five to seven kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium annually, was dismantled late last year, with no signs of reprocessing activities there anymore.

Trump did not confirm or deny the reports, however, asserted that it may prove to be a hurdle once again in reaching a peace agreement with North Korea.

At the same time, the US President seemed confident in reiterating that Washington would soon reach an agreement with Pyongyang.

"We'll take a look. It will ultimately get solved," Trump said.

Denuclearisation of the entire Korean peninsula has always been a contentious issue during talks between the US and North Korea.

During the recent summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which took place in Hanoi last month, both the leaders walked out of the meeting without striking a deal. According to reports, both the leaders showed disagreement over the steps Pyongyang must take to rid of nuclear weapons.

Previously, both the countries had reached an impasse regarding sanctions relief for Pyongyang soon after the first Summit in June 2018, leading to extremely slow progress on the denuclearisation front.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharti Airtel gave further details of its largest capital infusion plan involving a mix of Rights Issue and Perpetual Bond Issue to raise a total of up to Rs 32000 crore to further bolster its capital structure.

The Board of Bharti Airtel (the Board) has approved Rights Issue to raise up to Rs 25000 crore through issuance of fully paid up shares at a price of Rs 220 per share and to raise an additional Rs 7000 crore via the Foreign Currency Perpetual Bond Issue.

The entire rights entitlement of Promoter and Promoter Group of approx.

Rs 16785.7 crore will be subscribed by them and GIC*, with Promoter and Promoter Group subscribing to Rs 11785.7 crore and GIC* subscribing Rs 5000 crore by way of renouncement in their favour.

The Promoter and Promoter Group also reserves the right to subscribe either itself or through investors for additional shares in the Issue, including in the event of undersubscription by public, in accordance with the applicable laws.

The Board has additionally provided an in principle approval for the issuance of a foreign currency perpetual bond of up to Rs 7000 crore (USD 1Bn), subject to price, market conditions and terms and conditions as acceptable, and such conditions allowing for full accounting equity credit and subject to all applicable laws including under ECB Regulations. The Company is in the process of appointing banks to take this forward.

* GIC has confirmed to subscribe to this renounced entitlement on behalf of Government of Singapore and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is quoting at Rs 372.9, up 0.05% on the day as on 12:44 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 15.67% in last one year as compared to a 7.71% spurt in NIFTY and a 13.34% spurt in the Nifty Energy.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd gained for a fifth straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 372.9, up 0.05% on the day as on 12:44 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is down around 0.19% on the day, quoting at 11032.3. The Sensex is at 36624.01, down 0.03%. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has risen around 10.52% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Energy index of which Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is a constituent, has risen around 2.28% in last one month and is currently quoting at 15363.05, down 0.04% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 42.4 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 53.26 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark March futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 373.15, up 0.66% on the day. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is down 15.67% in last one year as compared to a 7.71% spurt in NIFTY and a 13.34% spurt in the Nifty Energy index.

The PE of the stock is 12.11 based on TTM earnings ending December 18.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Many of the issues affecting the Thermal Power Sector are likely to get resolved

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the recommendations of Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted to examine the specific recommendations of High Level Empowered Committee (HLEC) constituted to address the issues of Stressed Thermal Power Projects.

The CCEA has approved recommendations of the GoM mainly relating to grant of linkage coal for short-term PPA, allowed existing coal linkage to be used in case of termination of PPAs due to payment default by DISCOMs, procurement of bulk power by a nodal agency against pre-declared linkages, Central/State Gencos may act as an aggregator of power, increase in quantity of coal for special forward e-auction for power sector, coal linkage auctions to be held at regular intervals, non-lapsing of short supplies of coal, ACQ to be determined based on efficiency, payment of Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) made mandatory, non-cancellation of PPA/FSA/LTOA post NCLT scenario and non-cancellation of PPA for non-compliance of COD. With the implementation of these recommendations, many of the issues affecting the Thermal Power Sector are likely to get resolved.

The Government of India constituted a High Level Empowered Committee (HLEC) under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary to address the issues of stressed thermal power projects. The committee made its recommendations to resolve the stress in thermal power sector and submitted its report in November 2018. The report of HLEC is available on the website of Ministry of Power. The Government thereafter constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to examine the specific recommendations of HLEC and forward its comments for consideration of the Cabinet. Subsequently GoM recommended majority of HLEC recommendations.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Polices on Hydro and Stressed Thermal Power Projects also approved

Cabinet committee of on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has taken several key decisions for strengthening of the power sector today. Approval was given for four projects worth over Rs. 39,000 crore located at Buxar (Bihar), Khurja (UP), Kishtwar (J&K) and Sirwani (Sikkim). In addition to these, Cabinet approved measures to promote development of Hydro Power and to alleviate the stress in thermal power projects. Details of these projects/polices are as given below-

Buxar Thermal Power Project: The CCEA has approved the proposal of Investment approval for 2x660 MW Buxar Thermal Power Project (Buxar TPP) in District Buxar of Bihar at an estimated cost of Rs. 10,439.09 Crore. The plant will be set up by SJVN Thermal, a wholly owned subsidiary of SJVN, a Mini Ratna CPSU under Ministry of Power, Govt. of India.

The Buxar TPP will be based on Supercritical Technology with two units of 660 MW each, equipped with latest emission control technology to protect the and has high efficiency. The Buxar TPP will improve the deficit power scenario in Bihar and Eastern region. Govt. of Bihar has already signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for supply of not less than 85% of generated power.

The project is expected to generate substantial direct and indirect employment apart from various other socio-economic development in the project area. The Buxar TPP will start generating power from 2023-24.

Khurja Super Thermal Power Plant: CCEA have approved the proposal for setting up a 2x660MW Super Thermal Power Plant (STPP) in Khurja, District Bulandshahar of Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 11,089.42 crore and has also approved the funds for the development of the allotted coal block - the Amelia Coal Mine in District Singraulli, Madhya Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs. 1587.16 crore. The project will be set up by THDC India, a Mini Ratna CPSU under the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India.

The Khurja STPP will be based on Supercritical Technology with two units of capacity 660 MW each, equipped with latest emission control technology to protect the and has high efficiency and uses less fuel to generate power. Amelia Coal Mine was allotted to THDC India by Ministry of Coal, Govt. of India in January, 2017. The Khurja STPP will improve the deficit power scenario of Northern Region and particularly of Uttar Pradesh, which has already signed Power Purchase Agreement with THDC India for purchase of 60% Power from the Project and the other beneficiary states i.e Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.

The project is expected to generate substantial direct and indirect employment and overall development of District Bulandshahr and nearby districts of Western Uttar Pradesh. The Khurja STPP will start yielding benefits from 2023-24.

KIRU HEP: The CCEA has approved the investment sanction for construction of Kiru HE Project (624 MW) by M/s Chenab Valley Power Projects (M/s CVPPPL), at an estimated cost of Rs. 4287.59 crore. M/s CVPPPL, is a joint venture company amongst NHPC, JKSPDC and PTC with equity shareholding of 49%, 49% and 2% respectively.

The project is located on River Chenab in Kishtwar district of Jammu & Kashmir. It envisages construction of a 135 m high concrete gravity Dam, with installed capacity 624 MW (4 x 156 MW). The Project would generate 2272.02 MU in a 90% dependable year.

The project shall provide much needed power to the Northern grid and shall accelerate the process of development of remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir. The Project is scheduled to be completed in a period of 4 years.

Teesta VI HEP: Teesta Stage-VI HE Project is a Run of River (RoR) Scheme in Sirwani Village of Sikkim to utilize the power potential of Teesta River Basin in cascade manner. It consists of construction of a 26.5 m high Barrage across river Teesta. The project would generate 2400 MUs in a 90% dependable year with Installed Capacity of 500 MW (4x125 MW).

The Project was earlier proposed to be developed by a SPV i.e. M/s LancoTeesta Hydro Power (LTHPL), promoted by the Lanco Group. However, due to financial crunch in the Company, the Project could not be completed by scheduled completion time.

Accordingly, the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) was initiated by order dated 16.03.2018 of Hon'ble NCLT, Hyderabad Bench. In Bidding Process under NCLT, NHPC has emerged as highest bidder with Bid Amount of Rs. 907.00 crore. Accordingly, the investment proposal for an estimated cost of.Rs 5748.04 crore, being implemented by NHPC, a CPSU of Government of India, has been approved by the CCEA on 07th of March, 2019. Completion period of the project shall be 60 months.

Stressed Thermal Power Projects: The CCEA has approved the recommendations of Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted to examine the specific recommendations of High Level Empowered Committee (HLEC) constituted to address the issues of Stressed Thermal Power Projects.

The Government of India constituted a High Level Empowered Committee (HLEC) under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary to address the issues of stressed thermal power projects. The committee made its recommendations to resolve the stress in thermal power sector and submitted its report in November 2018. The report of HLEC is available on the website of Ministry of Power. The Government thereafter constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to examine the specific recommendations of HLEC and forward its comments for consideration of the Cabinet. Subsequently GoM recommended majority of HLEC recommendations.

The CCEA has approved recommendations of the GoM mainly relating to grant of linkage coal for short-term PPA, allowed existing coal linkage to be used in case of termination of PPAs due to payment default by DISCOMs, procurement of bulk power by a nodal agency against pre-declared linkages, Central/State Gencos may act as an aggregator of power, increase in quantity of coal for special forward e-auction for power sector, coal linkage auctions to be held at regular intervals, non-lapsing of short supplies of coal, ACQ to be determined based on efficiency, payment of Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) made mandatory, non-cancellation of PPA/FSA/LTOA post NCLT scenario and non-cancellation of PPA for non-compliance of COD. With the implementation of these recommendations, many of the issues affecting the Thermal Power Sector are likely to get resolved.

Measures to Promote Hydropower Sector: In order to promote Hydropower sector, the Cabinet has approved the Proposal of Ministry of Power to adopt some measures. It has been decided to declare Large Hydropower Projects (LHPs i.e. above 25 MW capacity) as Renewable Energy, separate Hydropower Purchase Obligation (HPO) for LHPs commissioned after notification of the measures. Extend budgetary support for flood moderation and enabling infrastructure, i.e., roads & bridges. Methodology for tariff setting has been revised to ensure that tariff is back loaded.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu held high level talks with the leadership of Paraguay, in Asuncion, in a bid to extend India's outreach in the Latin American region and strengthen bilateral ties. The Vice President who is on a two-day visit to the Latin American Country, is the highest-level representative of the Republic of India to visit Paraguay in the last 58 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on 13 September 1961.

The Vice President called on the President of the Republic of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benitez, the Vice President, Hugo Velazquez, and the President of the National Congress (Senate), Silvio Ovelar. The Vice President emphasized that Paraguay was an important partner of India in the Latin American and Caribbean region and said that the bilateral relations between the two nations have been showing an upward trend. He opined that India and Paraguay shared common values, interests, aspirations and promising futures.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least one person was killed and 30 others were injured on Thursday when a grenade flung under a parked bus by a militant exploded at Jammu's main bus stand. The attacker was arrested within hours.

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh told reporters that police had arrested Yasir alias Arhaan of Kulgam district in the Kashmir Valley who had thrown the grenade.

"He was caught while trying to flee from the explosion site," he said.

The thunderous explosion occurred around 11.30 a.m. when the General Bus Stand, as it is known, was teeming with people.

Inspector General of Police Manish Kumar Sinha said the grenade rolled under the parked bus that was headed to Uttarakhand.

The explosion also injured passengers in a nearby parked bus which was set to leave for Amritsar in Punjab.

One of the badly wounded civilians succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, Sinha said. He has been identified as a 20-year-old man from Uttarakhand.

"Four others have suffered critical injuries," a police officer said.

Some witnesses said they initially thought the sound had been caused by a tyre burst.

"At first, we thought it was a tyre burst. But when we approached the site, we saw people lying injured and in critical condition," said Sunil Kumar, 26.

Thursday's is the third such attack at the Jammu General Bus Stand by militants in the last nine months.

--IANS

sq/mr/pg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan on Thursday said that law enforcement agencies took 121 people into preventive detention and seized 182 madrasas as part of its continuing crackdown on terror groups.

The operation began this week amid tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the February 14 Kashmir suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers.

The incident resulted in mounting pressure from the international community on Islamabad to act on terrorist groups based on its soil. Pakistan, however, says that its action against the terror groups was not taken under any pressure.

The Interior Ministry said 121 people were taken into preventive detention in compliance with the National Action Plan (NAP), according to Geo News.

The provincial governments also took over the management and administrative control of 182 madrasas, 34 schools and colleges, five hospitals, 163 dispensaries, 184 ambulances and eight offices as part of the NAP, the Ministry said.

The government launched a crackdown against terror groups on Tuesday and arrested the brother and son of JeM Masood Azhar along with 42 others affiliated with the banned terror groups.

The government also seized properties belonging to Hafiz Saeed's proscribed Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its charity arm Falah-e-Insaniyat.

Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi said: "We won't let anyone use Pakistani soil against anyone so that no force can intervene in Pakistan's domestic issues. We are taking the action (on our own)."

--IANS

soni/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A month after a hooch tragedy claimed around 100 lives in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, two persons died and two others fell critically ill after they consumed spurious liquor in Uttarakhand's Tehri district, police said.

Sona (75) and Sohan Lal (45), who were celebrating Maha Shivratri on Monday at Maroda village by drinking the liquor died on Wednesday night after falling ill, police said.

Two others who had consumed the liquor along with them are battling for life in a hospital.

Director General of Police Ashok Kumar said an investigation has been ordered into the incident.

--IANS

str/mag/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least three people were killed and another 22 were injured on Thursday after several rockets were fired at a gathering, reportedly attended by thousands of members of the Shia Muslim Hazara minority community, in the Afghan capital.

The gathering was marking the anniversary of the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, a Hazara leader. The explosions were heard in the afternoon when the country's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah was speaking at the event. It was broadcast live, Efe news reported.

Other top government officials, including Presidential candidate Abdul Latif Pedram, were also in attendance. He escaped with minor injuries, according to a post on his official Facebook page.

Interior Minister Nasrat Rahimi told Efe news that "several mortars were fired" and they landed around 100 metres from the gathering.

"Fortunately the attacker who was firing the mortars from a house was arrested by the security forces," Rahimi said, adding that those helping the attacker would be arrested soon.

The Ministry of Public Health's spokesperson Wahidullah Mayar tweeted: "Three martyred and 22 injured, including three children and one woman."

The event was cancelled immediately after the attack and Deputy Chief Executive and the event's organizer, Mohammad Mohaqiq, advised the participants to evacuate gradually.

"They are firing mortars, they are changing the direction of the shelling, to target the gathering," Mohaqiq was heard saying during the attack.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned "the terrorist attack" in a statement and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. "Attacking public gatherings is a criminal act and a clear enmity against democracy and democratic values.

Candidates for the forthcoming general election in July had also gathered to pay their respects to Mazari - founder of the Hazara party Hezbe Wahdat - who was killed by the Taliban in 1995.

No one has claimed the attack yet but the Hazaras - the most persecuted community in the country - have been frequent targets of attacks by Sunni Muslim militant groups such as the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS).

The commemoration of the Hazara leader's death anniversary was also targeted last year, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the event after he was stopped by the security forces.

The attack, in which nine people had died and 18 were wounded, was claimed by the IS.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least five people were killed and three injured in a car bomb attack claimed by Al-Shabaab militant group in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday, the police said.

The explosion struck the city centre near a security checkpoint that protects the country's Presidential Palace and the National Theatre, said police officer Abdelrahman Bidar who was present at the site of the attack.

"We heard a loud explosion this morning around the National Theatre near the Presidential Palace that was followed by clouds of smoke and heavy gunfire," a witness was cited as saying by Efe news.

Presidential security forces intervened and locked down the blast area which the Al Shabab militants had previously attacked on December 22. That attack had killed at least 12 people, among them a local journalist.

--IANS

soni/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday said that in the 76 days of the Congress government in the state, 83 promises made in the election manifesto have been fulfilled.

He was presenting the report card of the newly-elected Congress government in the state.

In response to a query on the law and order situation in the state, the Chief Minister told the media: "We are only 76 days old, whereas bringing the law and order situation under control is a long process... There was no law and order in the last 15 years and rhat's why, the morale of the criminals is high."

Talking about the state of finances in Madhya Pradesh, he said it is in an utterly bad shape.

"When we took over the reins, state's financial condition was extremely bad. Mismanagement and unrealistic ambitions of the previous government brought the situation to this pass. The Central government has also weakened our financial condition by slashing Rs 2,000 crore it earlier gave to various schemes. Nonetheless, we are committed to fulfilling our promises, come what may!"

Asked on transfers in the state, Kamal Nath said that under the previous regime, many officers and staff members were working with a leaning towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), so it became imperative to shift those officials.

"Besides, since this government has come after a long gap of 15 years, it's quite natural that there will be transfers and postings. It's a normal process and if needed, more transfers would be effected," the Chief Minister said.

Kamal Nath also gave an account of how the farmers' loans waived and promised to work for all sections of the society.

--IANS

hindi-nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A wooden chair kept in a glass casket in the BJP headquarters in Kanpur, which proved lucky for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, has become auspicious and turned into an inspiration for the party cadre.

After Modi was projected as BJP's prime ministerial candidate in its Goa National Executive meet, he started his election campaign in Uttar Pradesh by addressing a huge public rally named "Vijay Shankhnad" in Kanpur.

The wooden chair, which has now been turned as a "heritage chair" for party cadre, was used by Modi at a rally in Kanpur's Indira Nagar ground on October 19, 2013. Until, Modi became Prime Minister, it was just like any other ordinary chair.

It could be superstition; but for Surendra Maithani, BJP's Kanpur district chief, the chair is an inspiration for him as well as the youth workers of the party.

"After Modi ji became Prime Minister, this chair became the centre of attraction for everyone. It was about to be auctioned in Agra and Allahabad, but I didn't allow it. It was auspicious for us," Maithani, then the convenor for party's rally in Kanpur, told IANS.

He said the district unit of the party decided to turn the chair into a piece of heritage because it was used by Modi, who brought the Bharatiya Janata Party to power with a thumping majority.

"We polished the chair and put it in a glass casket. It is still there in district party office in Naveen Market," he said.

Asked whether the Prime Minister would use the chair again when he visits Kanpur on March 8 to kickstart the party's election campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls, his answer was "no".

"It is now a Khadau (revered wooden slippers) for us. It inspires us and the youth. It has now turned into a heritage chair for the party cadre," he said.

He said this is for the third time that Modi was coming to Kanpur as Prime Minister. "As the chair is a valuable asset of the party, it has been kept in a glass chamber at the district party office," he said.

Maithani said this chair is very lucky not only for Modi but also for the party.

"Since 2013, Modi ji has addressed four election rallies in Kanpur. It is lucky. We won state assembly polls in 2017, too. Modiji is again starting his campaign in Uttar Pradesh -- yet again from Kanpur.

"I am sure, it will prove lucky for him as well for the party," he said.

Maithani said the chair has also become an attraction for the youth as they take photographs and selfies with it whenever they come to the party office.

"When a youth joins BJP, he is taken to the chair and is briefed about it. It inspires the newcomers and the youth of the party," he said.

(Brajendra Nath Singh can be contacted at brajendra.n@ians.in)

--IANS

bns/in/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator has been booked for raping a woman who approached him seeking help in connection with a pension-related matter, a police officer said on Thursday.

Mohinder Goyal, AAP legislator from Rithala, was booked on charges of rape, issuing threats and outraging the modesty of a woman in Prashant Vihar Police Station after the woman, 40, on February 28 lodged a complaint against him.

"The investigation is in preliminary stages as of now and being conducted by the Crime Against Women Cell. We have booked Mohinder Goyal and will call him soon for interrogation," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) S.D. Mishra told IANS.

In her complaint, the woman has alleged that Goyal first time raped her in December last year when she had gone to meet him with the pension issue.

"She was again raped at Goyal's office around a month later. Goyal also made her obscene video clips and threatened to make it viral if she did not comply with his orders," a police officer associated with the probe said.

--IANS

sp/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Well-known Telugu actress Jayasudha on Thursday joined the YSR Congress Party.

She, along with her son Nihar Kapoor, met YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy at his residence here and formally joined the party.

Jayasudha had quit the Congress to join the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2016 but remained largely inactive in it.

The actress, who played leading role in many films in 1970s and 1980s, was elected to Andhra Pradesh Assembly from Secunderabad constituency in 2009. She, however, could not retain the seat in the 2014 elections.

Jayasudha told reporters after meeting Jaganmohan Reddy that she would work to strengthen the party. She stressed her close relation with Andhra Pradesh but said she had no plans to contest the elections.

She recalled that she joined under the guidance of Jaganmohan Reddy's father and then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

"Jaganmohan Reddy will be the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and I will work according to his guidelines," she said.

--IANS

ms/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
National carrier Air India's Board will meet on Friday to decide on the issuance of bonds up to Rs 7,000 crore through private placement.

The company, which is reeling under a massive debt burden of around Rs 55,000 crore, requires the sum to pay of its lenders and for working capital.

Its Board includes ITC Chairman Y.C. Deveshwar and Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla as Independent Directors.

--IANS

rv/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
National passenger carrier Air India will operate 12 all-women crew flights on its medium and long-haul international routes and over 40 return domestic and short-haul flights all over India to mark the International Women's Day on Friday.

According to the airline, the women cockpit and cabin crew of Air India will be operating both wide and narrow body aircraft.

"Seldom has a single airline scheduled so many flights operated by its women employees, setting a benchmark to reiterate the equal role and opportunity women rightly deserve in any organisation," the airline said in a statement.

Air India will be deploying its B787 Dreamliners and B777s to operate to 12 international medium and long-haul flights operated by women pilots and attended by women cabin crew on the day.

"Women pilots and cabin crew will be operating Airbus family aircraft as well as Dreamliners to over 40 domestic destinations and back to commemorate the occasion," the statement said.

"For most of these flights, the technical services will be provided by woman aircraft engineers, technicians and flight dispatchers; while woman duty managers, counter staff, helpers and doctors will do the honours for most of these flights."

Air India's foray into all-woman crew flights dates back to November 1985 when an all-woman cockpit crew operated a Fokker Friendship flight from Kolkata to Silchar.

--IANS

rv/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid border tensions with Pakistan, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday visited forward areas along the Rajasthan border.

He visited locations at Barmer and Suratgarh sectors to review the operational deployment and preparedness of the forces.

Gen Rawat was briefed on the current operational situation, prevailing security scenarios and preparedness of the formations.

Gen Rawat expressed his confidence in the capabilities of the Indian Army to thwart the enemy's "nefarious designs".

He told the troops to remain prepared for all eventualities in close coordination with the Air Force.

The Army chief visited forward locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and the international border in Jammu region on Sunday.

--IANS

mak/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After witnessing the hooch tragedy that killed many in the state, the Assam government has decided to work with Pune-based National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) to develop a cost-effective testing kit for detection of spurious liquor, an official of the Excise Department said on Thursday.

A delegation of the state Excise Department, including the top brass, met scientists of the NCL on Wednesday and discussed at length the details about the project, the official added.

Over 150 people were killed in a span of less than one week in Assam's Golaghat and Jorhat districts due to consumption of spurious liquor last month.

"We are planning to set up a modern chemical laboratory to test and authenticate liquor products in Assam. We have urged the laboratory to develop a low-cost paper-based kit for detection of spurious liquor," said the official.

He said that the laboratory will be built under the World Bank-funded ASPIRe (Assam State Public Finance Institutional Reforms) project of the Finance Department at an estimated cost of Rs 4 crore.

The NCL, which is a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, will prepare the action plan and detailed project report of the planned laboratory in the state within six months, he informed.

--IANS

ah/pg/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Assam government in collaboration with the Singapore-based ITE Education Services (ITEES) set up the North East Skill Centre (NESC) here on Thursday.

The NSESC will aim to provide better skill training to thousands of unemployed youth of the state.

The state government set up the NESC, a first of its kind in the region, as part of a MoU signed between the government of Assam and the government of Singapore in October 2016. NESC is a collaboration between the Assam Skill Development Mission, the government of Assam and the ITEES, Singapore.

"Assam has a large youth talent pool. We want to skill the young generation to harness the potential of this human resource and make Assam one of the top states in the country.

"The youth are not only leaders of tomorrow, but also partners of today. India is driven by its youth as the country has an unrivalled youth population and we must capitalise on this human capital by making 'Skill India' a successful endeavour," Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said at the inauguration ceremony of NESC in the city.

The NESC would offer one-year diploma courses in four segments -- beauty and wellness, retail services, hospitality - food and beverages and hospitality - housekeeping.

Leading industrial players would facilitate the training of the students through guest lectures, industry visits and internship projects.

Preparing the trainees for national and international job markets through cutting edge training methods of the ITEES, the NESC would ensure holistic development of the trainees by teaching them the best practices prevailing in the industry.

Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been steadfast in his commitment to develop the Northeast region at a rapid pace, Sonowal highlighted the landmark investment of nearly Rs 23,000 crore by the Central government to augment the production capacity of the Numaligarh Refinery and setting up of the gas pipeline from Barauni to Assam as steps that would open up newer avenues of employment for the youth of the state.

"For taking advantage of this positive environment, the youth of the state must empower themselves by acquiring skills in various sectors," Sonowal said.

The Chief Minister also urged the parents and teachers to motivate the young generation to strive hard for establishing themselves as able citizens and guide them through their formative years by sharing information about various disciplines of study and their employment prospects.

--IANS

ah/arm/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Cabinet on Thursday approved the Airports Authority of India's (AAI) proposal to surrender encroached AAI land measuring 106.76 acres at the Bhopal Airport to the Madhya Pradesh government.

"The Cabinet has approved the proposal of Airports Authority of India for surrendering encroached AAI land measuring 106.76 acres at Gandhi Nagar in Bhopal to the state government," an official statement said.

"It is in lieu of 96.56 acres of land already handed over by the government of Madhya Pradesh. The remaining 10.20 acres (approximately) of land will be handed over by the Madhya Pradesh government to the AAI," it said.

The statement also said that this will help in freeing up AAI's land measuring 106.76 acres, which is being utilized by the Madhya Pradesh government for various purposes like establishment of government offices and public amenities and to rehabilitate migrated Sindhi families.

In lieu of AAI's encroached land, the Madhya Pradesh government has agreed to provide an alternate land parcel which is contiguous with the land of Bhopal Airport and can be utilized by the AAI for aviation purposes.

--IANS

ravi/sn/arm/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ridiculing Amit Shah for claiming 250 casualties in the air strike at Balakot in Pakistan, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday said the BJP President appeared to possess "special power" to see in the dark.

"Amit Shah deserves special prize for his unique ability of counting more than 250 bodies in the thick of the night and darkness of the dense forest of Balakot. Perhaps he is endowed with special power of a nocturnal bird to see in the dark," NCP leader D.P Tripathi said here.

It was highly condemnable that the Defence Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Air Force chief had refused to talk about the casualties of terrorists, Tripathi told the media.

The contradictory statements made by different sections of the central government demonstrated utter confusion in their mindset, he said.

He said the Modi government was dubbing everyone "anti-national" for not believing in its claims. "It happened during the Emergency. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is speaking the line of Emergency."

He also attacked Modi for saying that nothing happened in the country in the past 70 years. "The arrogance has gone beyond limits."

--IANS

spk-and/mr/pg

(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 on Thursday accused the Centre and the Telangana governments of behaving like 'economic terrorists'.

He said both governments were targeting the opponents, including those from the corporate sector, by threatening them or by fabricating false cases against them.

Addressing a news conference here, he said both the Narendra Modi-led government and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government were creating an atmosphere of fear by targeting the opponents through raids or by causing mental agony to them.

Naidu also came down heavily on the Centre for threatening to file cases against 'The Hindu' and N. Ram, Chairman of the publishing group, under the Official Secrets Act. He termed this as a serious threat to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief referred to the raid conducted by the Telangana Police on an information technology firm providing services to the party. He alleged that the TRS government took away the data of his party and gave it to the YSR Congress to help it in the coming elections.

Naidu said 160 people who were working with the company ran away from Hyderabad as the TRS government created fear through the raid.

'They also filed a false case against us that government data was stolen. In what way are you concerned with this? Do you have so much love for Andhra Pradesh,' he asked.

The Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh would take all steps, including legal recourse, to protect its sovereign rights.

He alleged that the TRS, BJP and YSR Congress had colluded to create chaos in Andhra Pradesh which was on the path of development and prosperity thanks to the efforts of his government during the last five years. He also claimed that they were trying to get the names of eligible voters deleted from the electoral rolls.

Stating that the Central and the Telangana governments forced many opponents, including some industrialists, to surrender before them, he said there was no question of compromising with them.

'They are threatening me of using the CBI, the ED and other agencies, but they can't do anything. I have done nothing wrong in my 40-year-long political career and I will continue to fight,' Naidu said.

--IANS

ms/arm/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A visiting senior Chinese diplomat has said that Beijing was willing to play a "constructive" role to help ease tensions between India and Pakistan, and called on the two countries to refrain from taking any action that could further escalate the situation.

China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners who have always shared firm mutual support in issues concerning each other's core interests, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said during his meetings with the Pakistani leadership here on Wednesday.

China paid close attention to the current situation between Pakistan and India, he said, adding that Beijing "appreciates the calmness and restraint on the Pakistani side and its efforts to defuse the tensions through dialogues with the Indian side", reports Xinhua news agency.

Beijing has maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and it does not wish to see any actions that violate rules of international relations, Kong said.

China urged both sides to avoid any actions that could further escalate the situation, show good will and flexibility, and engage each other in dialogues as soon as possible so as to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, he added.

During his visit, Kong met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. He also held talks with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua.

Pakistan appreciated China for remaining "objective and fair" over the current situation and thanked Beijing for its efforts to reduce the tensions.

--IANS

ksk/bc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In order to give a tough fight to the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress must support other opposition parties, particularly the AAP in Delhi and the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh, NCP leader D.P Tripathi said on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference here, the Nationalist Congress Party General Secretary also said that the Congress-NCP alliance had been finalized in Maharashtra with negotiations for one or two seats still underway.

"The doors are still open for the Congress to forge an alliance with (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal. We support Kejriwal's move. We appeal to Congress to enter into an agreement with the AAP. Seats can be shared in accordance with their hold," he said.

"The SP-BSP alliance is a key part of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance). The Congress must support it to make it more successful."

Tripathi maintained that the NCP will contest from Bihar's Katihar seat, which is represented by Tariq Anwar who defected to the Congress last year.

"It is not a personal fiefdom of Tariq Anwar. We will fight from Katihar. It is our seat. We have spoken to both Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)," he said.

Tripathi said the opposition parties had pressured NCP leader Sharad Pawar to contest the election since they want a "seasoned politician" in the Lok Sabha.

"It is possible he may contest from Madha," he said.

He said the issue of who will be the Prime Minister from Mahagathbandhan will be discussed after the polls get over.

He said the opposition parties were busy drafting a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and they will meet as soon as the election dates are announced.

--IANS

spk/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said people of the city are disappointed with Centre for approving only three of the six metro corridors.

"People of Delhi very disappointed that the Centre has decided to approve only 3 of the 6 corridors. Why is Modi govt so much against the people of Delhi? Why does Modi govt create obstacles in every project? There shud be no wid Delhi's development," Kejriwal tweeted.

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot also expressed his disappointment.

In a statement, he said: "The Union Cabinet has approved three out of six corridors of Delhi Metro's Phase-IV Project. While I am glad by the decision, I must convey that I am disappointed with the Union Cabinet approving only three corridors."

He said the Delhi Cabinet had approved all the six corridors comprised in Metro's Phase-IV Project in December, 2018.

"Even after more than two months of the decision, the Union Cabinet has approved only three corridors without citing any reason. I hope the Cabinet would soon clear the remaining three corridors," he said.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave an "in-principle" approval to three of the six new Delhi Metro corridors under Phase-IV of the network.

The government approved the Tughlakabad-Aerocity (20.20 km), Janakpuri West-R.K. Ashram (28.92 km) and Mukundpur-Maujpur (12.54 km) sections. This will add to the existing 350 km-long Delhi Metro network.

The other three lines which are yet to receive the Cabinet's nod are Rithala-Bawana, Inderlok-Indraprastha and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block.

--IANS

nks/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 28.19 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the investigation against the now defunct Paramount Airways and its promoter M. Thiagarajan.

The attached immovable properties include factory premises of Paramount Mills Pvt Ltd, a company belonging to Thiagarajan who is currently running and controlling it in the name of Briar Knoll Mills Pvt Ltd.

The shares held by Thiagarajan in Paramount Textile Mills Pvt Ltd have also been attached.

Paramount Airways, which was in operation till 2010, had availed various credit facilities from five nationalised banks on the basis of credit insurance policies issued by the Oriental Insurance Co Ltd.

The ED initiated investigation under the provisions of PMLA on the basis of two separate chargesheets filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Thiagarajan and Paramount Airways.

The first chargesheet was for causing wrongful loss to five nationalised banks to the tune of Rs 441.11 crore and the second for fraudulently obtaining Scheduled Operator Permit (SOP) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Thiagarajan also illegally diverted funds to the tune of Rs 19.68 crore to an account in Singapore which during investigation was found to be his own entity and registered with British Virgin Islands.

In addition, Thiagarajan illegally diverted aircraft spares and parts which were hypothecated to the lending banks without their knowledge to overseas entities and diverted the proceeds to his group entities.

--IANS

vj/mag/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The battle for the next Lok Sabha is raging aggressively -- on the social

Diehard supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his bitterest critics have taken on each other in Twitter and Facebook in an unprecedented manner, the charges and counter-charges often turning bitterly ugly.

There is a spurt in heated exchanges on issues ranging from economic development to religion, from nationalism to Pakistan, replacing the earlier mostly polite discussions.

In many cases, the war is being fought even within families and among relatives.

From "bhakts" to "Modi haters" and from "traitors" to self-proclaimed "true Indians", there is a label for everyone who has an opinion.

And most debates on social -- much like the ones on TV news channels -- end on sour note with abuses followed by "unfriending" and "blocking".

There are hashtags for every occasion on Twitter as well.

If it was #ExposeDeshDrohis (Expose Traitors), #GoBackToPakistan and #TimeForRevenge targeted at Kashmiri Muslims after the Pulwama suicide bombing, it was #GoBackModi and #GoBackSadistModi during Modi's visits to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The Congress and its President Rahul Gandhi were not spared either after he called for an investigation in the Rafale jet deal.

Hashtags like #RahulGandhiPagalHai, #CongressPakistanBhaiBhai and #CongressMuktBharat started doing the rounds. In response came #WhoAteTheRafalePie.

There are conspiracy theories behind almost every trend that goes viral.

If the usual suspects earlier used to be members of the two major parties and their IT cells, Pakistan and its intelligence agency ISI have now been included.

Claims of 'ismein Pakistan aur ISI ka hath hai' (Pakistan and ISI are behind this) and counterclaims keep flying.

There are claims that most tweets against Modi emerge from Pakistan. There are also claims that tweets targeting Kashmiris and people supporting Kashmiris also originate from Pakistan - to create discord between Kashmiris against India/Modi.

With elections only weeks away, the tempers are expected to keep soar further.

--IANS

vv/mr/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Several explosions were heard on Thursday near a large political gathering of the Shia minority Hazara community in the Afghan capital, the media reported.

The number of casualties was not known, Efe news reported.

The first explosions were heard in the afternoon when the Afghan head of government Abdullah Abdullah was giving a speech in front of thousands commemorating the death anniversary of the leader of the Hazara community, Abdul Ali Mazari.

--IANS

soni/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People who read Facebook's News Feed that showcases previews of various news articles tend to overestimate their political knowledge and form a strong opinion, says a study.

With approximately half of Internet users using Facebook to access news, the study has important implications for how people learn about politics.

The study, published in the Research and Politics journal, argued that although reading the short article previews provides one with political information, individuals especially those who are motivated to seek emotions think they know more than they actually do.

They tend to form strong opinions and are significantly more likely to overestimate their knowledge.

"Social media can inform audiences, even the little article previews that appear in Facebook's News Feed. However, with this learning comes a false confidence; some individuals (particularly those motivated by their gut reactions) think they learn more on the issue than they actually do," Nicolas M. Anspach from the York College of Pennsylvania in the US told PsyPost.com

"This overconfidence might translate to increased political participation, but concern remains over whether social media provides enough information for voters to make fully informed choices," he added.

In the study, a group of 320 participants read an article from The Washington Post about the safety of genetically modified foods.

Another group of 319 participants read a mock Facebook News Feed containing four article previews, where one preview was about genetically modified foods, while a third group of 351 participants, used as a control, did not read anything.

When tested about their knowledge of the subject, the participants who read the full article answered the most questions correctly, while those who read the News Feed correctly answered only one question more often than the control group on average.

But participants who read the News Feed were more likely to overestimate their knowledge, especially among those motivated to experience strong emotions.

--IANS

rt/pg/na/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ball is in India court,now to de-escalate tensions: DG ISPR

Pakistan Army Wednesday said the ball is in Indias court now to de-escalate tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals. The two sides have been eyeballs to eyeballs in Kashmir, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor told CNN in an interview. It is now up to India to move forward towards de-escalation, he said. Should they decide to escalate more, this situation will go bad, he said, adding that the two countries had come close to conflict but the release of Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistani custody last Friday brought the two neighbors back from the brink of war.



Maj Gen Ghafoor said Pakistan is not bowing to Indian or international pressure as it cracks down on militant groups in the country.



On Tuesday, authorities said they detained 44 members of banned organizations, including the son and brother of Masood Azhar, the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).



JeM claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pulwama in Indian-held Kashmir on February 14, which resulted in the deaths of 40 Indian troops and precipitated the current escalation in tensions between the two nuclear-armed powers.



The ISPR chief said any clamp-down on banned outfits is part of an ongoing domestic policy. We are not doing anything under anyones pressure, he said, adding that Pakistan will root out anybody who operates from Pakistan  we feel that it is not in the interest of Pakistan.



Following the Pulwama attack India, in violation of Pakistans airspace, claimed to have struck an alleged JeM camp in Balakot. Pakistan disputed the existence of the camp. Not even a single brick has been found there if there was infrastructure, and not even a dead body found there. Their claims are false, Maj Gen Ghafoor said.



Islamabad retaliated for the strike by sending its planes over the line of control. In the ensuing dogfight, Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian fighter jets, capturing one pilot.



Further elaborating on the governments decision to act against JeM, the ISPR chief shot down Indian claims over the February 14 Pulwama attack. First of all, the claim was not made from within Pakistan since JeM does not exist in the country. It was proscribed by Pakistan and the United Nations. Instead of blaming Pakistan, it is time the world assists and facilitates Pakistan in getting rid of such organisations, he asserted.



When the host asked Maj Gen Ghafoor to reflect on what triggered the attack on Indian soldiers in the disputed valley, the military spokesperson said the answer could be found in the recent report on Indian-held Kashmir issued by the United Nations Human Rights Commission. If you suppress the local population to an extent that they are being killed, raped and fired upon by pellet guns, then it is a natural reaction, he said, and stressed that the claims were not just by Pakistan but part of the UNHRC report. The world has to see what is forcing the Kashmiri youth towards violence, he said, and urged India to introspect rather than frame allegations against Pakistan.
Republican Senator Martha McSally, the first US female fighter pilot to fly in combat, has said that she was "preyed upon and raped" by a superior officer while she served in the Air Force.

The Arizona Senator, 52, made the revelation during a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military, CNN reported.

McSally said she did not immediately report the rape as she felt ashamed and confused, and distrusted the system. She did not offer any details about the assaults or name the senior officer who she said raped her.

"Like you, I also am a military sexual assault survivor, but unlike so many brave survivors, I didn't report being sexually assaulted. Like so many women and men, I didn't trust the system at the time," she said to the witnesses present at the hearing.

"I blamed myself. I was ashamed and confused. The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways. In one case I was preyed upon and raped by a superior officer."

The Senator said that years later she tried to share her experiences with senior officers but met with "wholly inadequate responses".

"I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again. But I didn't quit, I decided to stay."

McSally flew an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft while enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq after the 1991 Persian Gulf war. She was deployed in Kuwait in January 1995, and took command of the 354th Fighter Squadron in July 2004.

She served 26 years in the US Air Force, rising to the rank of Colonel, before retiring in 2010. She was then elected for two terms in the US House of Representatives before becoming a Senator in January.

McSally called the issue of sexual assault in the military a "deeply personal" topic for her. "We've come a long way to stop military sexual assault but we have a long way to go."

A Pentagon report for fiscal year 2017, the most recent available, found that the Defence Department received 6,769 reports of sexual assault involving service members as either victims or subjects of criminal investigation, which was nearly a 10 per cent increase over the 6,172 reports made the previous year.

But according to figures gathered in 2016, annual rates of sexual assault over the past decade decreased by half for active-duty women and by two-thirds for active-duty men.

The top Democratic member on the Committee, Senator Kristen Gillibrand, said she was "deeply affected by that (McSally's) testimony".

An Air Force spokesperson said: "The criminal actions reported today by Senator McSally violate every part of what it means to be an Airman."

"We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behaviour and breach of trust in our ranks," said Capt. Carrie J Volpe.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A top French cardinal on Thursday resigned after a court found him guilty of covering up sexual abuse committed by a paedophile priest in his Archdiocese.

A court in Lyon handed Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, 68, who is the Archbishop of the city in southwestern France, a six month suspended sentence for failing to report accusations brought by the alleged victims of priest Bernard Preynat, Efe news reported.

In a statement to the media, Barbarin announced his resignation and expressed his "compassion" for the victims.

"This victory sends a strong signal to lots of victims and allows them to understand that they are heard, listened to and recognized," Francois Devaux, a plaintiff, and co-founder of the La Parole Liberee, an association for survivors of child abuse in the Catholic Church, told the media.

The allegations of child abuse date back to a period between 1970-90, although the court found Barbarin helped silence controversy in a period between 2014-15.

The sentencing came as a surprise as even the prosecution did not recommend punishment, citing a lack of evidence. Furthermore, some of the accusations were outside the given statute of limitations.

Barbarin will not serve time unless he is found to have re-offended. He was also ordered to pay a symbolic settlement fee of one euro ($1.13) to each of the eight complainants, according to France Info. Barbarin's lawyers said they would appeal the ruling.

Describing the abuse as "horrible", Barbarin said he never tried to cover it up and added that he had only heard rumours until 2014 when one of the alleged victims approached him directly.

"The court's motivation did not convince me. We will, therefore, challenge this decision using all legal avenues," said Jean-Felix Luciano, a defence lawyer for Barbarin.

In 2015, Barbarin asked the Vatican for advice on how to handle the case. The heart of the Catholic Church suggested he punish the priest but avoid a public scandal, although the cardinal delayed taking the measure until August of that year.

Five other senior officials who were summoned to the trial were acquitted. Preynat had admitted to molesting children in the Boy Scouts in the 1970s-80s.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Firebrand Patidar leader Hardik Patel is set to join the Congress and even contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, informed sources said on Thursday.

Sources in his Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) confirmed late Thursday that the decision was taken at a meeting held at Tarkhadi village in Rajkot district. According to PAAS leader Gita Patel, only Hardik Patel will join the Congress.

While Hardik Patel could not be reached for comment after several attempts, reliable Congress sources said he would contest from the Jamnagar constituency in Saurashtra region where the Bharatiya Janata Party's Poonam Madam is the sitting MP.

Patel will join the Congress at the party's massive rally in Ahmedabad slated for March 12 where General Secretary in charge of East UP, Priyanka Gandhi, will make her first speech after being brought full-time in Congress President Rahul Gandhi, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel, among others, will also be present.

The rally will come after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making arm of the party, on the same day.

Explaining why the Congress would not be averse to Hardik Patel joining it, party spokesperson Manish Doshi said the 25-year-old had forced the Narendra Modi government to announce 10 per cent reservation for the economically-weaker sections and raised serious issues of education and unemployment.

Patel had launched his pitched agitation for reservation to Patels (Patidars) in government jobs and educational institutions in July 2015, that resulted in major revival of the Congress, first in the local self-government elections that year and subsequently in the 2017 assembly elections.

He had confirmed last month that he would contest the Lok Sabha elections now that he had turned 25 - the age of eligibility - but had not disclosed if he would join any political party.

--IANS

desai/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Editors Guild of India on Thursday said it was perturbed by the reported threats that criminal action will be initiated against journalists or lawyers who use documents pertaining to Rafale fighter jet deal with France.

The Press Club of India, the Indian Women's Press Corps and the Press Association also expressed "deep concern" on the development.

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that petitions seeking an inquiry into the Rafale fighter jet deal were based on documents "stolen" from the Defence Ministry.

And the government would initiate "criminal proceedings" since the documents were related to sensitive military purchases and were covered by the Official Secrets Act, he said.

The Guild condemned the Attorney General's remarks and said any attempt to use the Official Secrets Act against journalists would be reprehensible.

"Although the Attorney General later clarified that the investigation and contemplated action would not be initiated against journalists or lawyers who used these documents, the Guild is perturbed over such threats. These will intimidate the media in general and curb its freedom to report and comment on the Rafale deal in particular," the Guild said in a statement.

It further said that asking journalists to disclose their sources was also reprehensible.

"The Guild denounces these threats and urges the government to refrain from initiating any action that might undermine the media's freedom and independence," the statement said.

A joint statement issued by Press Club of India, Indian Women's Press Corps and Press Association expressed "deep concern" at the statements made by Venugopal.

"The Attorney General's statements made in open court suggesting that the publication of such reports and the documents imperiled national security and therefore should be deemed as criminal has the potential of sending out a chilling effect to one and all in the media," said the statement.

The journalist bodies said that the fourth estate was bound by its dual responsibility of reporting what is in public interest as well as raising questions, irrespective of the government in power.

"It is deeply unfortunate that it is the discharge of this responsibility that is being sought to be stymied by top ranking officials of the government. We feel it is time that the Official Secrets Act as well as law on Defamation are re-examined given the potential of their misuse against the Fourth Estate," the statement added.

--IANS

ss/rtp/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese tech giant Huawei on Thursday announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the US government, challenging a law that bans federal agencies from buying the company's products.

The company said that it has filed the lawsuit in Texas, where its American headquarters are located. It asks a US federal court to overturn part of a provision in the National Defence Authorization Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump last August, CNN reported.

Huawei alleges that a portion of the law violates the US Constitution by singling out an individual or group for punishment without trial.

"This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers," Huawei Deputy Chairman Guo Ping told the media on Thursday morning the company's headquarters in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The legislation specifically forbids government agencies from using technology from Huawei and its smaller Chinese rival, ZTE.

"The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products," Guo said.

"We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort."

Thursday's announcement comes after a Canadian court on Wednesday ruled that Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's initial extradition hearing will take place on May 8.

Meng faces fraud charges in the US, where an indictment unveiled in January accused her of deceiving banks into approving transactions that may have violated unilateral US sanctions against Iran.The lawsuit is Huawei's most aggressive move yet to fight back against US claims that the Chinese smartphone and telecom equipment maker's technologies pose a global security threat, CNN said.

Huawei is one of China's biggest tech firms and a key player in the global rollout of super-fast 5G wireless networks. Its smartphones compete globally with those of Apple and Samsung.

It describes itself as an employee-owned company and denies any of the products pose a security risk.

The Trump administration has been urging allies to ban or restrict Huawei products from their 5G networks, citing spying concerns but without providing clear evidence.

Germany and the UK are deciding what kinds of restrictions to impose on Huawei equipment. Australia banned the company from providing technology for its 5G networks last year.

US prosecutors have also filed criminal charges against Huawei in Washington and New York states.

Last week, the company pleaded not guilty in Seattle to charges that it tried to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The International Centre For Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR) on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court challenging Centre's decision to establish New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC).

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao indicated that it can pass interim order for staying the ordinance.

However, the bench said it will pass a detailed order later, and directed the the Central Government to file its response on the plea within two weeks.

The court was hearing ICDAR plea challenging the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Ordinance, 2019 promulgated by the President of India.

ICADR's counsel and Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave told the court that there was no urgency to create NDIAC by way of an Ordinance.

The plea said though the situation did not require immediate action on the "object and purpose to be achieved by way of the said Ordinance, the same has been promulgated thereby adversely effecting the working of the Petitioner society (ICDAR) which has been working since 1995 for achieving Alternate Dispute Resolution".

"By way of promulgating the said ordinance and taking over the assets and properties of the Petitioner Society, the government is virtually acting against public interest," said the plea.

He said that the ordinance is unconstitutional. However, ICADR's counsel said that he has no objections with NDIAC being a parallel institution.

Additional Solicitor General Maninder Acharya opposed the plea.

The Centre on March 2 promulgated an ordinance for setting up the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) for the purpose of creating an independent and autonomous regime for institutionalised arbitration.

International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ICADR) was established in 1995 to facilitate early resolution of disputes and to reduce the increasing burden of arrears on Courts.

--IANS

akk/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Indian Air Force on Thursday said it is in a high state of preparedness to proactively engage any perceived threat in the present security scenario.

"A strict vigil in the skies to detect and thwart any act of aggression from Pakistan Air Force is being maintained," it said in a statement.

As per information, Pakistan has opened their airspace with Oman, Iran, Afghanistan and China only. Eleven entry/exit points located along Indo-Pak airspace boundary are still closed.

--IANS

spk/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India is expected to be the third-largest consumer economy as its consumption is likely to triple to $4 trillion by 2025 owing to shift in consumer behaviour and expenditure pattern, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu said here on Thursday.

Addressing the India-Paraguay Business Forum meeting here, the Vice President said Paraguay is an important partner of India in the Latin American and Caribbean region and there is an enormous potential to further increase this engagement.

Naidu is the highest level representative from India to visit Paraguay in the last 58 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on September 13, 1961.

He said the bilateral trade in 2017-18 increased by around 20 per cent to $335 million and there is immense scope for the Indian companies to investment in Paraguay, especially in automobile, pharmaceuticals and engineering goods segments.

He said Paraguay leads the world in the export of renewable energy and offers interested Indian investors opportunities in the sector of small and medium-sized energy-generation components.

Naidu said India-Paraguay Joint ventures in the pharma sector could greatly benefit Paraguayan consumers and noted that India extends e-visa facilities to all Latin American and Caribbean countries including Paraguay.

He said India is witnessing a country-wide sweep of digital connectivity, transformative economic reforms, favourable demographics and a vibrant start-up ecosystem.

"India is expected to be the third-largest consumer economy as its consumption may triple to $4 trillion by 2025, owing to shift in consumer behaviour and expenditure pattern. We have started work to build next-generation infrastructure including 100 Smart Cities, 7 high-speed train corridors and nationwide broad-band connectivity," he said.

Earlier during his visit, the Vice President Naidu met Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez and discussed terrorism and a range of bilateral issues.

According to an official statement, Paraguay said it would support India's candidature to various and other multilateral bodies, including permanent members of the Security Council.

Naidu also met Paraguay's Vice President Hugo Velazquez and President of the National Congress (Senate) Silvio Ovelar.

"Both sides agreed that terrorism posed a grave threat to global peace and stability, stressing that there could be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever. Outlining a common desire to take an uncompromising stand against terror, India and Paraguay have agreed to cooperate to deal with the menace of terror," the statement said.

Paraguay decried the brutal terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14, saying India could always count on its support in the fight against terrorism and in voicing India's concerns on terrorism in international fora.

Citing the scourge of cross-border terrorism in India, Naidu stressed the need to take strong measures against terrorists, terror organisations, their networks and all those who encourage, support, finance and provide safe haven to them.

Paraguay also affirmed its support for a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism proposed by India.

The Vice President also emphasised that Paraguay is an important partner of India in the Latin American and Caribbean region and said that bilateral relations have been showing an upward trend.

The Indian and Paraguayan leaders noted with satisfaction the strengthening of bilateral relations over the years and the 10-fold growth in the bilateral trade over the last decade, while agreeing that there is greater scope to increase trade volume and diversify the trade basket.

Naidu urged the Paraguayan leadership to explore new areas of collaboration including agriculture, hydro-electric and solar energy, health, pharmaceuticals, traditional medicine, Information and Communication Technology, and biotechnology. Both sides agreed to facilitate promotion of exchanges between academics and universities and also between stakeholders in tourism.

He requested Paraguay to facilitate convening of the next round of expert-level discussions between regional bloc MERCOSUR and India to take forward the shared agenda of the expansion of the Preferential Trade Agreement.

He also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic and Consular Academy of Paraguay and the Foreign Service Institute of India.

"Decision was made to task experts from both nations to finalize pending agreements including Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, Bilateral Investment Treaty and for Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance," the statement said.
Indian Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez on Thursday discussed terrorism and a range of bilateral issues.

According to an official statement, Paraguay said it would support India's candidature to various UN and other multilateral bodies including for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council.

Naidu, who is on visit to Paraguay, also met Vice President Hugo Velazquez, and the President of the National Congress (Senate), Silvio Ovelar.

"Both sides agreed that terrorism posed a grave threat to global peace and stability, stressing that there could be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever. Outlining a common desire to take an uncompromising stand against terror, India and Paraguay have agreed to cooperate to deal with the menace of terror," the statement said.

Paraguay decried the brutal terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14, saying India could always count on its support in the fight against terrorism and in voicing India's concerns on terrorism in international fora.

Citing the scourge of cross-border terrorism in India, Naidu stressed the need to take strong measures against terrorists, terror organizations, their networks and all those who encourage, support, finance and provide safe haven to them.

Paraguay also affirmed its support for a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism proposed by India.

The Vice President also emphasized that Paraguay was an important partner of India in the Latin American and Caribbean region and said that bilateral relations have been showing an upward trend.

The Indian and Paraguayan leaders noted with satisfaction the strengthening of bilateral relations over the years and the ten-fold growth in bilateral trade over the last decade, while agreeing that there is greater scope to increase trade volume and diversify the trade basket.

Naidu urged the Paraguayan leadership to explore new areas of collaboration including agriculture, hydroelectric and solar energy, health, pharmaceuticals, traditional medicine, Information and Communication Technology, and biotechnology. Both sides agreed to facilitate promotion of exchanges between academics and universities and also between stakeholders in tourism.

He requested Paraguay to facilitate the convening of the next round of expert level discussions between regional bloc MERCOSUR and India to take forward the shared agenda of the expansion of the Preferential Trade Agreement.

He also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic and Consular Academy of Paraguay and the Foreign Service Institute of India.

"Decision was made to task experts from both nations to finalize pending agreements including Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, Bilateral Investment Treaty and for Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance," the statement said.

--IANS

spk/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid the ongoing tension with Pakistan, India on Thursday signed a $3.3 billion deal with Russia for leasing the third nuclear-powered Akula class attack submarine.

An Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) was signed between the two countries in New Delhi. The submarine, to be called Chakra -3, will be delivered in 2025 for a 10-year period. It will be prepared out of one of the several Akula class submarine hulls available at the Zvedochka shipyard in Severodvinsk after extensive re-fit process. India at the moment operates Chakra-2 whose 10-year lease ending in 2022.

This is the second major India-Russia defence project finalized this month. A new facility to manufacture AK-203 assault rifles is coming up in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

INS Chakra is a nuclear-powered submarine and unlike INS Arihant, the other nuclear submarine in Indian navy fleet, it does not have a strategic weapon.

The Navy is all set to induct its second French Scorpene submarine -- Khanderi -- next month. The first submarine in this class -- INS Kalvari -- is already under operation. The Navy will get four more boats in the coming years.

The Navy has 14 conventional submarines apart from a nuclear attack and nuclear ballistic missile submarine.

--IANS

gd/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CAA issued fresh NOTAM

RAWALPINDI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued on Wednesday a fresh NOTAM (notice to airmen) intimating that the countrys airspace would remain closed till 1pm on Thursday (today).



However, flight operations to and from Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta international airports, and partially from Lahore and Faisalabad with restricted routes, are continuing.



Flight operations from Multan, Chitral, Punjgur, Turbat and Gwadar airports were restarted on Wednesday with restricted air routes, after having remained suspended for seven days, a spokesperson for the PIA said.



According to a senior CAA official, flight operations from Sialkot, Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ismail Khan airports could not be initiated on March 5 due to security concerns, while flights on the eastern routes remain suspended. Flights from airports on the [Pakistan-India] border cannot resume until clearance is given by the authorities concerned. However, he added, given that the Pakistan Navy blocked an intrusion attempt by an Indian submarine recently, clearance may not be given even on Thursday.



Earlier, the CAA had said that Pakistans airspace would remain closed till 1pm on March 5 (Tuesday), but flight operations to and from Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta international airports, and partially from Lahore and Faisalabad with restricted air routes, would continue.



The CAA official said that due to restrictions on air routes, a flight from Islamabad to Karachi that flew direct and took just under two hours was currently taking nearly three hours, flying over Balochistan.
UK-based automobile and aerospace major Rolls-Royce has selected Infosys as a strategic long-term partner to deliver engineering and digital services, said the global software services major on Thursday.

"As part of the engagement, we will leverage offer Rolls-Royce engineering and digital solutions to meet its customers' needs for sustainable energy," said the city-based IT giant in a statement here.

The $11-billion outsourcing firm has experience in delivering programmes in aero and land-based gas turbines spanning component development, next-generation manufacturing technologies, service engineering, support, testing and validation services.

"Through our engineering and digital services, we will support Rolls-Royce to become more productive, agile and innovative. We will also invest in the partnership to support the British firm navigate into its transformation journey," said Infosys Vice President Jasmeet Singh.

As a leading industrial technology firm, Rolls-Royce's commitment to innovation is essential to meeting customer and society's needs for sustainable power.

"Our association with Infosys enables us to increase our differentiation in the engineering and digital domain while accelerating cost optimization and competitiveness," said Rolls-Royce South Asia & India President Kishore Jayaraman in the statement.

With customers in 150 countries the world over, comprising 400 airlines and leasing companies, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers, the 15-billion pound worth British behemoth Rolls-Royce has invested 1.4 billion pounds on research and development in 2018.

--IANS

fb/mag/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Barely two weeks into its historic journey to the Moon, Israel's first spacecraft has taken a selfie of the Earth from a distance of 37,600 km.

The unmanned craft, called "Beresheet" (meaning genesis in Hebrew), took the photograph during a slow spin, Israeli non-profit SpaceIL tweeted on Tuesday.

Besides Australia, the selfie also showed a plaque installed on the spacecraft, with the Israeli flag and the inscriptions "am yisrael chai" and "small country big dreams".

"At a distance of 37,600 km from Earth, Beresheet's selfie camera took a picture of Earth," SpaceIL tweeted.

The Beresheet, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 21 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in the US, made Israel only the fourth nation to make a "soft landing" on the lunar surface, after Russia, US and China.

The unmanned craft, weighing 1,300 pounds and standing about one metre tall and 2.3 metres wide, began the nearly seven-week journey to the Moon last month. It aims to touch down on the lunar surface on April 11.

After landing, Beresheet will start carrying out scientific experiments that would include measuring and mapping the moon's magnetic field, the Israeli Science and Technology Ministry said.

--IANS

rt/in/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a major policy shift, the government has decided to give the "renewable energy" tag to large hydro power projects.

The tag allows these to qualify as part of the framework for non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) of the states.

The decision taken by the Union Cabinet is part of a series of measures aimed at rationalising tariffs and promoting hydro power in the country.

Development of hydro power projects is important to provide India a stable grid, given the country's committment towards 160 GW capacity addition from infirm sources of power like solar and wind by 2022.

Under the existing policy, only hydro power projects less than 25 MW are categorised as "renewable energy" and enjoy the benefits associated with such projects.

With the latest decision, large projects of public and private sector companies such as NHPC, Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) and JSW would also qualify as "green" and help states meet their RPO obligations.

This, however, will apply only to large hydro power projects commissioned after the notification of these measures.

The trajectory of annual large hydro power project targets will be notified by the Ministry of Power based on the sector's projected capacity addition plans.

The new measures give developers the flexibility to determine tariff by backloading it after increasing the project life to 40 years, increasing the debt repayment period to 18 years and introducing an escalating tariff of 2 per cent.

This will help bring down the initial tariff of hydro power projects, which is normally on the higher side on account of including flood moderation and enabling infrastructure costs in the project cost.

The government will also provide budgetary support to fund the cost of the enabling infrastructure.

Power distribution companies (discoms) are reluctant to sign hydro power purchase agreements (PPAs) owing to higher tariffs, particularly in the initial years.

India is endowed with a large hydro power potential of 1,45,320 MW, of which only about 45,400 MW has been utilised so far.

The country has added only about 10,000 MW of hydro power in the last 10 years.

The importance of hydro power increases significantly with the country targeting to add 40 per cent of the total capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030 to honour its Nationally Determined Contribution for Climate Change.

The sector is, hoeever, going through a challenging phase as the share of hydro power in the total capacity has declined from 50.36 per cent in the 1960s to around 13 per cent in 2018-19.--IANS

sn/rtp/bc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the CPI-M in Kerala deciding to field its candidates in 16 Lok Sabha seats out of the 20 in the state and the Communist Party of India already getting four, none of the other eight allies of the ruling Left Democratic Front will get a seat to contest.

This decision came on Thursday when the CPI-M leadership finalised 15 candidates. The only one seat for which they have not decided a candidate is the Ponnani Lok Sabha constituency, for which the name would be announced in a day or two.

Among those who are contesting this time on a CPI-M ticket are sitting members P.K. Sreemathi (Kannur), M.P. Rajesh (Palakkad), P.K. Biju (Alathur) and A. Sampath (Attingal).

Two others who won as Left independents, ace comedian Innocent (Chalakudy) and Joyce George (Idukki) have also been asked to contest again.

Innocent's name had evoked strong resistance from the CPI-M leadership in the constituency, but that was overlooked.

P.Karunakaran who had completed a hat-trick of wins from Kasargode constituency has been dropped and in his place comes former party legislator K.P. Satish Chandran.

The others include three sitting legislators -- A. Pradeep Kumar (Kozhikode), A.M. Arif (Alappuzha) and Left independent legislator Veena George (Pathanamthitta).

The biggest surprise in the list is party veteran P.Jayarajan, who is a former legislator and was jailed in two murder cases. He will contest from the Badagara seat in Kozhikode district.

V.N.Vasavan, a former legislator, has been fielded from Kottayam, while two former Rajya Sabha members P.Rajiv (Ernakulam) and K.N.Balagopal (Kollam) are also in the fray.

In 2014, the Kottayam seat was given to Left ally JD(S).

V.P.Sanu, All India president of the Students Federation of India, has been fielded from Malappuram.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, one seat was given to Janata Dal (Secular), while the CPI-M fielded its candidates on 10 seats. In five constituencies it fielded independent candidates while the CPI was given four seats.

The tally in 2014 was that the CPI-M led LDF won eight seats, while the Congress led UDF won 12.

--IANS

sg/rs/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The last rites of Matua matriarch Binapani Devi, popularly known as "Boroma", were performed on Thursday with full state honours in Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district, even as her family members remained torn between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress, which entered into an altercation over the timing of the funeral.

The mortal remains of the Dalit leader, who passed away late on Tuesday following multi-organ failure at the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, were originally scheduled to be consigned to the flames on Wednesday afternoon, but it was delayed by a day to give the devotees a chance to pay their last respects.

Eyewitnesses said the family members belonging to the two opposing political parties engaged in a war of words over the timing of the funeral in front of lakhs of devotees who thronged the area.

West Bengal Food Supplies Minister Jyotipriyo Mullick admitted that there was a long standing dispute within the family. He said the family feud came out in the open when those aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party wanted to delay 'Boroma's' funeral.

"There are some internal problems within the family. We are trying to solve the issue. There should not be any over 'Boroma' as she was like a goddess and above all political differences," said Mullick, who was present at the funeral.

"Unfortunately, the BJP is trying to engulf the family with its dirty We are strongly against this. They (the BJP aligned faction) wanted to deliberately delay the funeral. But we did not want that as her body might have started to decompose. Such incidents are uncalled for on a day like this," Mullick said.

Binapani Devi, who was accorded a state funeral as promised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, held huge sway over the Dalit community, which migrated in large numbers from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) after Partition.

The community was a key force behind the Trinamool Congress' triumph over the 34-year-old Left Front government in the 2011 Assembly elections.

Devi's elder son Kapil Krishna Thakur contested and won on a Trinamool ticket from Bongaon in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. After his death, his wife Mamata Thakur fought the election and won on a ruling party ticket.

The political rift within the family became evident after Devi's younger son Manjul Krishna Thakur, a former Minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, joined the BJP along with his son Shantanu Thakur, who was influential in arranging Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Thakurnagar in February this year.

Shantanu Thakur on Wednesday demanded a central probe into the passing away of his grandmother to ascertain if the death was natural.

--IANS

mgr/arm/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Thursday accused the Congress-led Madhya Pradesh government of cheating the farmers, saying this is a middlemen's government that cares only for its luxury.

Addressing the 'Palak-Sanyojak Sammelan' (Nurturer-Convenor Summit) here Shah said: "The BJP is a different kind of party. Other parties win election over the face value of their leaders but BJP is the only party which contests and wins polls over its workers' credibility."

Taunting the Kamal Nath-led state government he said this government brought a big change in the past two months. During the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan government the meaning of law and order was 'kanoon vyavastha'. But this government has changed it to 'lo or order karo' (take bribe and give orders).

"Earlier, the government was running for poor, tribals, youths etc. but now it is being run for middlemen," said the BJP chief.

Shah said that this government has cheated the farmers. It is waiving their loans with thier money only. "The farmers in the state were looking for Rs 50,000 crore loan waiver but this government has not even waived Rs 5,000 crore of debt yet," alleged Shah.

"This government is bothered about its luxury and the middlemen, not for farmers," Shah alleged.

"The upcoming Lok Sabha election is very crucial, not only for BJP but for the whole country. It is necessary to form a government under Narendra Modi's leadership to continue the changes that Central government has made in last five years," Shah said.

Listing the achievements of the Central government, Shah said: "Modi government is bothered about every faction of the society. The government has taken two big decisions to benefit traders in the past three months. The entrepreneurs with a turnover of up to Rs 60 lakh, have been exempted from the Goods and Services Tax. And, the government has exempted the people with income of up to Rs 5 lakh from paying I-T."

"Recently, our government has also started a pension scheme for the workers of unorganised sector," he added.

Shah, a Rajya Sabha MP, said that the Central government has allotted Rs 3 lakh crore in the budget for defence. The Prime Minister has shown that what could be the consequences for crossing India's border, first time through the surgical strike and the second time with the air strike.

"Modi government has given a free hand to the army. If someone fires at you then retaliate with bomb, give a befitting reply," said Shah.

Criticising Congress president Rahul Gandhi for demanding evidence of the air strike he said that Rahul Gandhi wants evidence, he should feel ashamed. When our air force is claiming that it has destroyed the dens of militants, so what is the doubt in it? Its an insult to the security forces of the country, people will reply to it," Shah said.

--IANS

hindi-rs/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 50th Raising Day celebrations of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Sunday, CISF Director General Rajesh Ranjan said on Thursday.

"It is a moment of great pride for the CISF as in the last four decades no Prime Minister had graced the occasion of Raising Day parade," Ranjan said at the CISF annual press briefing.

Asked if there was any specific reason behind the Prime Minister's decision to join the event, Ranjan said he was not aware.

"I can guess that he may discuss the recent Pulwama attack and the death of a CISF trooper in a Delhi fire and enhance the morale of Central Armed Police Forces," Ranjan said.

During the event being organised at the CISF's 5th battalion camp at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, the Prime Minister will review a parade and address the personnel.

Modi had earlier met the personnel of the the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) and the Border Security Force (BSF) at their base camps.

The CISF, one of six paramilitary forces in the country, functions under the Union Home Ministry and is celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year.

Raised in 1969, the 1.56 lakh strong force provides security to 345 vital installations including 61 airports, seaports, nuclear and space installations, Delhi Metro and different steel and power plants.

The Special Security Group (SSG) of CISF provides security to 83 categories of protectees.

--IANS

rak/arm/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday imposed a Rs 500 crore penalty on German automaker Volkswagen for using a "cheat device" in its diesel cars to deceive emission tests.

However, the company said that it will challenge the order in the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, the Tribunal ordered the company to deposit the amount within two months.

An NGT-appointed committee had earlier recommended a penalty of Rs 171.34 crore, which the bench enhanced in its Thursday order.

Volkswagen, however, said that it did not violate the Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) emission norms and that the results were based on "on-road testings" for which there were no prescribed standards.

The Bharat Stage are government instituted standards to regulate emission of air pollutants from motor vehicles.

The bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said, "Sustainable development is the main guiding factor... We are unable to accept the manufacturer's objections to the report."

The bench passed the order on a petition moved by Delhi-based teacher Saloni Ailawadi.

A Volkswagen Group India spokesperson said: "The Volkswagen Group in India reiterates that all cars from the Group are compliant with the emission norms defined in India. The group awaits the copy of the order of the NGT."

"The Volkswagen Group will challenge the order of the Honourable NGT before the Supreme Court."

--IANS

rrb-rv/sn/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The CPI-M has told the Election Commission that the atmosphere is not conducive for holding the Lok Sabha elections in Tripura due to "total lawlessness".

It has urged the poll panel to restore a democratic environment before holding the election, party leaders said here on Thursday.

A six-member Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) delegation led by General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and asked him "to protect democracy in Tripura".

"After the BJP-led government came to power, law and order machinery has completely broken down mostly due to the partisan acts of the state administration and police authorities," CPI-M leader Gautam Das told the media.

He said that "lawlessness, continued attack on opposition parties and inactiveness of the administration" and the consequent sense of fear and intimidation posed a major challenge to holding free, fair and peaceful polls in Tripura.

Das, the Tripura state Secretary of CPI-M, said that in the first 11 months of the BJP government, six CPI-M members were murdered, 1,515 members and supporters were injured in attacks and 445 party offices were either burnt or looted or occupied by BJP members and hoodlums.

Accompanied by three MPs from Tripura -- Jiten Choudhary, Shankar Prasad Datta and Jharna Das Baidya, the CPI-M leader said that in no case did the police arrest the culprits or even register an FIR in most incidents.

"The situation prevailing now in Tripura exists in no state in India. CPI-M and other opposition parties are not allowed to hold even indoor meetings. Police reject written appeals from the party to hold meetings. Even if the police give permission in one or two cases, the BJP men and their hooligans attack the meetings," Das said.

--IANS

sc/rs/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
No one wants a war between India and Pakistan, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said here on Thursday, adding that his country was ready to mediate between the two neighbours.

"The European Union is playing its role in (de-escalating tensions) between Pakistan and India. Luxembourg is (also) ready to mediate between (Pakistan and India)," Asselborn said while addressing a joint conference with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

"But our mediation potential is not strong enough to resolve the Kashmir issue," he was cited as saying by Geo News.

Asselborn is in Pakistan to promote bilateral trade between the two countries.

Expressing concern over the escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the February 14 Kashmir attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers, Asselborn said that Luxembourg was "desirous of peace and stability in the region".

Asselborn and Qureshi discussed a wide range of regional and bilateral issues as well as the peace and security situation in the region.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Despite ease of tensions with India,threats still remain: Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan has remarked that despite the ease of tensions with India, threats still remain. He was addressing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentary meeting. It was because of timely and correct decisions that war was averted,PM told the meeting.



According to sources, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was commended for his diplomacy during the meeting.



Sources further added, PM said that the decision to act against banned organization was not made under any pressure and was an internal matter of the country. He added that very clear message had been sent to the international community that Pakistan would act in its self-interest. The Finance Amendment Bill 2018-19 was also approved during the PTI parliamentary meeting.



Pakistans military representative Major General Asif Ghafoor has cautioned that the situation will go badif New Delhi opts for further escalation. He said that the ball was in Indias court after Pakistans peace gesture of releasing Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday condemned the thrashing of Kashmiri vendors in Lucknow.

"Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in Jammu and Kashmir than videos like these," he said in a series of tweets along with the video post.

"Keep thrashing Kashmiris like this on the streets at the hands of RSS/Bajrang Dal goons and then try to sell the idea of 'atoot ang' (unbreakable part), it simply won't fly."

He also called upon Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to punish "those guilty of this assault". Singh represents the Lucknow parliamentary constituency.

Videos of the attack that took place on Wednesday have gone viral on social media.

--IANS

sq/ksk/in/bc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One person was killed and 30 others were injured on Thursday when a grenade rolled under a packed parked bus in Jammu's main bus stand by a militant exploded with a thunderous explosion, police said.

The incident occurred around 11.30 a.m. when the General Bus Stand, as it is known, was teeming with people.

Inspector General of Police Manish Kumar Sinha said the grenade rolled under the parked bus that was headed to Uttarakhand.

The explosion also injured passengers in a nearby parked bus which was set to leave for Amritsar in Punjab.

One of the badly wounded civilians succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, Sinha said. He has been identified as a 20-year-old man from Uttarakhand.

"Four others have suffered critical injuries," a police officer said.

The area was cordoned off after the explosion but the militant merged into the crowd and escaped.

Some witnesses said they initially thought the sound had been caused by a tyre burst.

"At first, we thought it was a tyre burst. But when we approached the site, we saw people lying injured and in critical condition," said Sunil Kumar, 26.

Thursday's is the third such attack at the Jammu General Bus Stand by militants in the last nine months.

--IANS

sq/mr/soni

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the absence of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi is slated to distribute the party symbol to candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, a party official said on Thursday.

"Rabri Devi will hand over the party symbol to the RJD candidates contesting the polls", the official said. Lalu Prasad is unlikely to get bail ahead of the elections, the Rashtriya Janata Dal official said.

Lalu Prasad was convicted in three fodder scam cases in December 2017 and January 2018 and was awarded 14 years imprisonment. He has applied for bail in the Supreme Court.

"If he fails to get bail within the next two weeks, candidates will be given the party symbol by Rabri Devi in his absence," another party leader said.

Lalu Prasad, as President of the RJD, is entitled to distribute the party symbol.

He is currently undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.

Earlier, a PIL was filed in the Patna High Court questioning the legitimacy of distribution of the party symbol by Lalu Prasad who, it stated, could not hold the post after being convicted in corruption cases.

--IANS

ik/ksk/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for playing over the Pulwama terror attack which killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers on February 14.

"The Congress supported the government after the Pulwama attack, but it is sad that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is politicising the attack," Gandhi said while addressing a rally in Chambi village in Kangra district, around 15 km from here.

Taking a jibe at the Prime Minister over the Rafale deal, Gandhi said Modi was responsible for the "delay in the delivery of Rafale fighter jets" to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

His assertions came in the wake of Modi's statement that the absence of Rafale fighter jets was hurting India's defence preparedness.

"Prime Minister Modi says Rafale aircraft would have benefited India, but the truth is that the Indian negotiation team has clearly stated that due to Modi government's new deal, the delivery of Rafale aircraft is getting delayed."

"Modi got the contract delayed and now he says this delay is hurting India," Gandhi said.

Stating that Himachal Pradesh was in the forefront in matters of defence, Gandhi thanked the people of the state for their bravery.

Questioning Modi on demonetisation, Gandhi said: "Modi claimed that demonetisation was an attack on black money. If that was true, why did only the honest people suffer in long queues?"

"During the Pulwama attack, Adani got contract for five airports. They (the BJP) are dividing the nation into two parts. One where few industrialists benefit and in return help Mr Modi, while the other only gets Mr Modi's lies," he said.

--IANS

vg/arm/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday talked to J&K governor Satyapal Malik over phone and took stock of situation in the state where one person was killed and 30 injured after a grenade explosion at Jammu bus stand.

He also expressed deep anguish over the death of a 20-year-old youth Mohammed Sharik from Uttarakhand who succumbed to his injuries in a hospital.

"Deeply anguished at the loss of precious life in a grenade attack at Jammu bus stand today. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. I also spoke to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satyapal Malik, over the phone and discussed the situation in the wake of this incident," Rajnath tweeted.

Police said the blast occurred around 11.50 a.m. when a grenade hurled by a militant under a packed parked bus exploded. The bus was headed to Uttarakhand.

The explosion also injured passengers in a nearby bus which was set to leave for Amritsar.

According to police, four others were critically injured.

Soon after the explosion, the area was cordoned off and the militant merged into the crowd and escaped. But, the police later claimed to have caught him, declaring the role of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen behind the attack.

--IANS

rak/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Rishi Kapoor has denied any plans to return to India this month.

There has been a buzz about the ailing actor's return to India after his treatment in the US.

According to reports, Rishi is said to have communicated to a friend that he is likely to return to India by March end.

However, on being contacted in the US, Rishi denied any plans to return to India in the near future.

So what is Rishi Kapoor's health report?

The much-loved brilliant actor has responded well to the treatment. But the healing process is taking time.

A source close to the Kapoor family said: "Rishi is homesick and very eager to return home. They have a wedding to plan (son Ranbir Kapoor is reportedly set to marry Alia Bhatt). And he's counting the days.

"But he's not ready yet to return. His treatment is slow but steady. Hopefully, he can come home in a few months. But end of this month? No way!"

--IANS

skj/rb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sabarmati Ashram -- Mahatma Gandhis abode for over a decade and the starting point for the historic Dandi March on March 12, 1930 -- will host a traditional painting exhibition here on his life and legacy in 12 different artforms next week.

Titled 'Relive the Ideals of the Mahatma through Art', the group exhibition provides a retrospect on some historical events and highlights important lessons from Mahatma Gandhi's life.

The 25 exclusive paintings were developed for the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank). They were showcased in Delhi and Pune prior to this.

As per a statement from Exim Bank, the participating artists represent 12 traditional art forms: Warli painting, Gond painting, North East weaving, Pattachitra painting, Papier Mache art, Tanjore painting, Sanjhi craft, Pattua painting, Kalamkari painting, Mata-Ni-Pachedi, Phad painting and Madhubani painting.

The exhibition will not only provide an opportunity to the residents of Ahmedabad for a rendezvous with the milestone events from the Mahatma's life but will also share lessons from his life with Indian and foreign tourists who visit the Sabarmati Ashram, the bank said.

The three monkeys, which is a pictorial maxim of 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil', is a popular theme and is manifested in several paintings by Gond artists.

"Sanjhi artists who have lived in oblivion for far too long will also have their intrinsic scissor-work art displayed at the exhibition," the organisers said.

On the genesis of the paintings, Exim Bank's MD David Rasquinha said: "We shared the concept about the project and left it to the artists to develop the paintings according to their own interpretation of important events from Mahatma Gandhi's life. The artists worked on them for over two months."

The exhibition will help provide a bigger platform to traditional Indian art forms, he said.

Opening on the eve of the 89th anniversary of Dandi March's first step, the show will be free for the public. It will run from March 11-15.

--IANS

sj/mag/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the Smart City Projects would herald a sea change in urban amenities and boost the rapid development of the northeastern states.

"The Smart City Projects would solve many long pending and crucial problems of the people and their cities. They would greatly help to make a sea change of the urban amenities and boost the rapid growth and development of the northeastern states," Modi said.

The Prime Minister was speaking after laying the foundation stones of five Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) of Smart City Projects in five cities in three northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Tripura -- from New Delhi through video conference.

Modi said under the Smart City Projects, 500 projects at a cost of Rs 15,000 crore would be implemented in 10 cities of eight northeastern states. "Work orders have been issued for 59 projects."

He said that each city has already identified their key problems and issues and these would be solved by 2019 end or in 2020.

"Applying the digital technologies through centralised monitoring, smart solutions would be used in traffic management, transportation, waste management, energy conservation, drainage system, water supplies.

"Crime against women, citizen centric basic necessities, water harvesting, housing and other human matters would be dealt with by the ICCC. Under the Smart City Projects, people can enjoy free internet through a large number of WiFi hotspots," Modi said.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said Rs 11,370 crore would be spent on the Smart City Projects in Agartala.

Chief Executive Officer of Agartala Smart City Projects Shailesh Kumar Yadav told IANS that the ICCC would administer various electronic, service components, information and smart solutions by using modern technologies to make the cities world class smart metropolises.

He said the GPS (Global Positioning System) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Services)-enabled wireless communication services would be put in place to administer various services, schemes and works.

--IANS

sc/mag/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The documents pertaining to the purchase of Rafale fighter jets based on which articles were published in The Hindu were not stolen and the sources which provided them will not be revealed, said N. Ram, Chairman of The Hindu Group of Publications.

Contrasting the days when he wrote extensively on the kickbacks paid in the Bofors gun deal, Ram said no threats were then made to him or to The Hindu like invoking the Official Secrets Act as it was being done by the Modi government.

On Wednesday, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the Supreme Court that the Rafale deal documents were stolen from the government and those publishing them were guilty under the Official Secrets Act.

Speaking to IANS on Thursday, Ram said the bogey of stolen documents were raised during WiKi leaks, Pentagon Papers and other issues as well.

On the central government's stand that the documents pertaining to Rafale fighter jet deal were stolen, the veteran journalist said: "We don't have stolen documents. We will not reveal our source as we have given our word (to our sources)."

Ram said the information was published in public interest as part of investigative journalism as it was suppressed despite repeated demands made inside and outside Parliament.

According to him, the government saying the documents were stolen authenticated their genuineness.

Ram said there was protection available under Article 19 (1) A of the Constitution, the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression as also under Sections 8(1) (i) and 8(2) of the Right to Information Act that overrides the Official Secrets Act.

According to him, the India specific enhancements in the Rafale fighter planes were not published as they were not relevant for investigative journalism.

Asked if the data he had put out were part of the papers submitted to the Supreme Court by the central government, Ram said: "We don't know what the central government gave to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover. I feel what we have published may not be part of the documents shared with the Supreme Court by the central government."

Ram said the Official Secrets Act had outlived its necessity and must be scrapped.

He said there was no threat from the central government after his first report on Rafale deal some time ago.

On the impact of central government advertisement revenues to The Hindu after he started writing about the Rafale deal, Ram said: "We are getting the advertisements. Initially our access to DAVP (Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity) was blocked after a couple of reports."

When the Hindu exposed the kickbacks allegedly given in the Bofors artillery deal, Ram said, "there was no threat to The Hindu and to me.

"Our investigation into the purchase of Swedish gun Bofors started after the Swedish Radio put out news about commissions paid as part of the deal. We carried out our investigations for over two years and we got the first set of documents in 1988," Ram recalled.

Ram said the then Congress government did not make threats to invoke the Official Secrets Act.

"I had a meeting with Rajiv Gandhi when we were carrying reports about the Bofors deal. It was a friendly meeting. We also talked about Sri Lanka.

"Even at the swearing in ceremony of V.P. Singh as the Prime Minister, I had met Rajiv Gandhi who was friendly. He acted like a co-host offering tea."

Ram was critical of newspapers when it came to reporting about the Rafale deal.

"During the Bofors investigation days, the competition was severe, with Arun Shourie writing in the Indian Express and India Today also carried articles about Bofors deal.

"But now big newspapers are not doing what is expected of them in the Rafale deal," Ram added. "Further television channels are carrying out propaganda for the government.

"There is a huge difference between the two periods - Bofors period and Rafale period. At that time investigative journalism was on the upswing," Ram said.

--IANS

vj/am/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thailand's Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered the dissolution of an opposition party that nominated the Kings elder sister as its prime-ministerial candidate for the March 24 general election.

The nine-judge panel unanimously ordered the dissolution of the Thai Raksa Chart party and banned, with six votes in favour and three against, the members of the party's executive committee from taking part in for 10 years.

More than 1,000 police officers were deployed in the vicinity of the court in the Thai capital, where supporters of the party gathered, Efe news reported.

Thai Raksa Chart announced Princess Ubolratana Mahidol's candidacy on February 8, but hours later her brother King Maha Vajiralongkorn issued a royal communique in a national television broadcast calling his sister's nomination "highly inappropriate", effectively ending her candidacy.

Members of Thailand's highly revered royal family have traditionally refrained from participating in

Ubolratana had agreed to run for Prime Minister as she had relinquished her royal titles in 1972 at the time of her marriage to an American. But following her divorce in 1998, she returned permanently to Thailand and has since been treated as a de facto member of the royal family.

Following the King's public announcement, the Election Commission rejected her candidacy and filed a petition with the Constitutional Court to dissolve the party.

Thai Raksa Chart is linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown by a coup in 2006, and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who suffered the same fate eight years later. Both currently live in self-imposed exile.

The upcoming election is the first to be held in the country since a military coup overthrew Yingluck's government in 2014.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha - who led the coup - will run as a candidate for the Palang Pracharat Party, viewed by analysts as the successor to the military junta.

For more than a decade, Thailand has been embroiled in a political crisis that has seen the nation caught in a cycle of democratically elected governments, anti-government protests and military rule.

--IANS

soni/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Govt took control of JuD-FIF

A day after a brother and son of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) leader Masood Azhar among dozens of others were taken into protective custody for investigation, the government on Wednesday sealed or took over administrative control of scores of establishments run by the proscribed Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as well.



New khateebs and imams were appointed by the Auqaf department to replace the existing ones at the mosques and madaris being previously run by the JuD and FIF.



Among the mosques and madaris taken over by the district administration in Islamabad are Masjid-i-Quba, Madni Masjid, Ali Asghar Masjid, Madressah Khalid Bin Waleed, and Madressah Ziaul Quran.



Additionally, a madressah, hospital, and two dispensaries located on the Chakrah and Adiala roads and run by the JuD were sealed by the district government of Rawalpindi.



The measures are being taken on the directives of the federal government in line with the provisions of the National Action Plan (NAP).



Reports said a list of all the establishments run by these proscribed outfits has been created and the respective district governments have been tasked to take action against those. The law enforcement agencies reportedly also took several people into custody during the clampdown.



Following suit, the Sindh government took over control of 56 facilities run by the JuD and FIF, including schools, hospitals and madaris in different districts of Sindh.



Advisor to Chief Minister for Information Barrister Murtaza Wahab Wednesday confirmed that the madaris and public welfare facilities being run by the proscribed outfits in Sindh province have been taken over by the provincial government. However, he clarified that the services at such schools, hospitals and madaris will continue for the general public under the administrative control of the government and that no person will be denied the services being provided through these institutions. He said the staff of such institutions will continue after due clearance and scrutiny as per standards and procedures of the provincial government.



Giving a break-up of the facilities, the advisor said 31 schools, 16 madaris and nine hospitals located in Sindh have been taken over by provincial government. He said 10 schools, nine madaris and five hospitals were located in the Karachi division; three schools and one hospital in Hyderabad district; two schools and one madressah in Matiari; one school in Jamshoro; three schools and one hospital in Mirpurkhas; four schools in Sanghar; one school in Tando Allahyar; three schools and one madressah in Badin; one school, two hospitals and one madressah in Tharparkar; one madressah in Noshehro Feroz; two schools and three madaris in Shaheed Benazirabad; and one school was located in Kambar Shahdadkot.



The adviser said committees have been constituted at the provincial, divisional and district levels to manage these facilities in the best interest of the common people. He said the provincial committee will be headed by secretary home department as chairman and Special Branch additional IG, special secretary education, special secretary health and chief administrator auqaf will be its members. The divisional committee for Karachi comprises of commissioner as its chairman, while police additional IG and divisional heads of education, health and auqaf departments as members. The advisor said these institutions will be run under the supervision of Sindh government and all the expenses will be borne by the provincial government. The Balochistan government also launched a crackdown against organisations declared proscribed by the federal government.



According to Quetta Deputy Commissioner Tahir Zafar Abbasi, all assets in Quetta belonging to JuD and FIF have been taken over. These outfits had four madaris, schools and dispensaries in the city which have all been taken over by the district administration, he said.



The deputy commissioner revealed that the boards previously placed on the front facade of the buildings, with the names of the banned organisations prominently displayed, have been taken down and replaced with the district administrations signage. He said the four ambulances seized during the operation have been handed over to Civil Hospital.



Reports said the Balochistan home department is also likely to take over madaris belonging to the banned organisations in Chaman, Pishin and Hub districts.
The Constitutional Court of Thailand on Thursday ordered a dissolution of a party that had nominated the elder sister of the country's King as its presidential candidate for contravening the constitutional monarchy.

The Thai Raksa Chart had announced Princess Ubolratana Mahidol's candidacy on February 8. But the same day, the country's television broadcast a statement by King Maha Vajiralongkorn calling his sister's nomination "inappropriate".

The political party is linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was overthrown by a coup in 2006. His sister Yingluck Shinawatra suffered the same fate eight years later. Both of them are in exile.

--IANS

soni/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien on Thursday hurled a series of 'fact bombs' at Prime Minister criticising various central schemes and pointing at his failure.

Addressing as "Mitron56inch", he said, "face these! FactBomb 1 Response to an RTI filed by a news website shows companies owe farmers Rs 2,800 crore since the launch of PM Fasal Bima Yojana".

"The two-month claim settlement deadline has long passed, but dues still remain unpaid," O'Brien tweeted.

Criticising the government for the poor show on job creation, the Trinamool leader said: "Where are the jobs? 11 million lost their jobs during 2018, as per a CMIE study.

"India's unemployment rate at a 15-month high of 7.4 per cent in December 2018," he said, adding that " failed to deliver, yet again".

His next fact bomb was targeted at the 'Startup India' scheme. "StartupIndia is failing India! In the first 30 months since its launch, only four per cent of startups recognised by the government were certified for tax exemption under the scheme," said the Trinamool spokesperson.

The member also pointed out that the government spent more money on publicity for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, as compared to the funds allocated to the beneficiaries.

"For BJP, Public Relations is greater than governance. 56 per cent funds under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao were used for publicity, 19 per cent fund weren't released at all and less than 25 per cent reached districts," he said.

Echoing his party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had criticised the Prime Minister a day back saying all his development works were for "publicity", O'Brien highlighted the advertisement expenditure of the

"RTI: Money spent by on advertising since 2014: Rs 5,000 crore v/s Money spent on: Swachch Bharat (urban): Rs 2,223 crore; Smart Cities Mission: Rs 183 crore; Funds for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: Rs 291 crore. What is BJP's priority: Governance or PR," he said.

--IANS

bnd/ssp/in/bg

(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 bitter rivalry between West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress and formidable challengers BJP will now spill over to the streets of Kolkata on Friday -- the International Women's Day -- when stalwarts of the two parties take part in mega rallies around the same time.

As in previous years, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee would spearhead her party's rally from Shraddhananda Park in north Kolkata to city hub Dharamtala to celebrate the day.

Party's women's leaders would participate in the procession, with heavyweight ministers Chandrima Bhattacahrya and Shashi Panja walking beside their beloved didi (elder sister -- as Banerjee is affectionately called).

Almost simultaneously, the state BJP would take out a rally from its headquarters at Muralidhar Sen Lane to Shyambazar five-point crossing, for restoration of democracy in Bengal.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, and convener of the party's state election management committee Mukul Roy would be the vanguard of the rally where a central minister is expected to participate.

The rallyists would demand a free and fair Lok Sabha election in a congenial atmosphere sans fear.

State BJP Mahila Morcha activists would take part in the rally in a bigway.

"The BJP activists and supporters will hit the streets in huge numbers on that day. Those who were attacked on March 3, during the bike rallies to observe Vijay Sankalpa Divas, will also be there," said Ghosh.

The BJP has claimed that 60-70 of its activists sustained various degree of injuries in attacks by the anti-socials sheltered by the Trinamool Congress and the police when the workers were bringing out "peaceful" bike rallies as part of the party's campaign programme ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

--IANS

ssp/vc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A blundering US President Donald Trump on Thursday addressed tech giant Apple's CEO Tim Cook as "Tim Apple" while the latter sat there, nodding quietly during a meeting at the White House for the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board.

"We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple," Trump told Cook during a meeting at the White House for the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board to discuss technology eduction and jobs, The Guardian reported.

Trump then reportedly went on about the "invasion" of immigrants over the southern border and human trafficking which he said had been going on for "a million years", according to the Evening Standard.

A video featuring Trump and Cook also went viral on all social media platforms as users posted memes pertaining to the incident.

"'Mr. Apple' is sitting there like, 'I can't correct him because he's the President but I can't let him continue looking like an idiot! What do I do?" a YouTube user commented on the video.

"Donald Trump says his meeting with Tim Apple went better than his meeting with Bill Windows," a tweet read.

Post the incident, some people declared Trump "unfit to be President", suggesting him to undertake "immediate medical attention".

Trump has a history of mispronouncing people's names and even messing up the names of executives before. He once called Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin CEO, Marillyn Lockheed.

On one occasion, Trump has been attacked for forgetting the name of public figures like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

--IANS

rp-ksc/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Thursday said his tweet that the government "fabricated" minutes of a high-level panel's meeting that named M. Nageswara Rao as acting CBI Director was a "genuine mistake" based on the letter of Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge.

Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Justice A.K. Sikri, Kharge, the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, attended the January 10 meeting that had recommended the removal of Alok Verma as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief, and Nageswara Rao replacing him as a stop gap arrangement.

Sikri, who retired on Wednesday, attended the meeting on behalf of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

Reading out Bhushan's statement terming his tweet of February 1, 2019 a "genuine mistake", Attorney General K. Venugopal told the bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Navin Sinha, that he was not pressing for contempt proceedings against Bhushan.

Bhushan's tweet had said, "See the letter of LOP Kharge re the unilateral appointment of Nageswara Rao as interim Director CBI by govt, w/o going through HPC of PM, CJI & LOP. Yet govt produced minutes of meeting saying that HPC approved appt. Seems govt gave fabricated minutes to court! Contempt of Court!."

The Attorney General reiterated that even in the previous hearing, he had made it clear that he was not looking for any punishment to Bhushan and has conveyed to the Central government, through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, that it should not press for this.

However, the Attorney General urged the court to decide the larger issue whether in a matter, which is sub-judice, is it open to litigants and lawyers to criticise the court proceedings to affect public opinion.

The other question involved is what are the rights of the litigants and what may amount to interference in the course of administration of justice.

The next hearing on Bhushan's application seeking the recusal of Justice Mishra and the larger issue involved in the contempt plea would take place on April 3.

These questions were framed by the court when it heard the matter on February 6 and sought response from Bhushan on the contempt plea by the Attorney General.

However, Bhushan refused to offer an "unconditional apology" to the court for filing an application seeking the recusal of Justice Mishra from hearing the contempt plea on the grounds of reasonable apprehension of bias.

Right from the outset of the hearing, Justice Mishra made it clear that he was not going to recuse himself and Justice Sinha too backed his stand as senior counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for Bhushan, pressed for it.

Both the Attorney General and the Solicitor General, appearing for the Centre which too moved the court seeking contempt proceedings against Bhushan, opposed the plea.

However, senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for one of the interveners, questioned Mehta addressing the court on the issue, contending the Centre has not taken nod from the Attorney General to file contempt against Bhushan.

The court, however, refused Mehta's plea to pass an order that Bhushan may not file an application seeking recusal of a judge from hearing a matter.

"There can't be a restraint for all times to come. Sometime they may be justified, sometime they may not be justified," Justice Mishra said.

The court also asked senior counsel Anand Grover to see the rules of the Bar Council of India relating to a lawyer appearing for their spouse.

As Grover rose to address the court, Justice Mishra asked him who he was appearing for.

When Grover said "for a lawyer and writer Jaising", the judge asked "Not Indira Jaising". as he said yes, the Attorney General said he should say his wife but withdrew the remark as Jaising protested, saying "I am a person in my own right" and that both she and Grover retain their respective names.

Justice Mishra said that he had earlier advised Bhushan not to appear for the Centre for Public Interest Litigation and Common Cause as he was part of their executive committee.

Jaising said that she is aware of the rule that bars the director of a company from appearing in the matter relating to the commercial entity he is part of, but would look into the BCI Rules on tHis score.

She also apologised to the Attorney General for losing her cool and raising her voice to assert her independent identity.

--IANS

pk/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The British government has confirmed details of measures that would ensure flights continuity in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority said in an announcement on Thursday.

The announcement came as the EU is also about to finalize its no-deal aviation regulation that would protect British airlines flying into Europe, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Measures put forward by the UK and the EU will ensure that flights can continue in any scenario; deal or no deal," said British Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg.

"This is good news, not only for the industry, but most importantly it reaffirms the fact that passengers can book flights with confidence, as normal."

The British minister said, however, that she hoped the contingency measures would never be needed as the efforts remain focused on securing a deal from the EU.

According to the announcement, around 164 million passengers travel between Britain and the EU each year.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UKs National Security Advisor (NSA) Mark Sedwill spoke to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Thursday and expressed solidarity with India in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

Sources said Sedwill conveyed that all assistance will be extended to India bilaterally in dealing with any form of terrorism through counter-terrorism cooperation, intelligence sharing and by bringing the perpetrators of terrorist attacks to justice.

Earlier in the week, US NSA John Bolton had spoken to Doval over the prevailing situation between India and Pakistan following the February 14 Pulwama attack and the retaliatory Indian air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan.

--IANS

ps/mag/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister Giriraj Singh is upset with his party, the BJP, as the national leadership has reportedly agreed to give the Nawada parliamentary seat in Bihar that he represents to the LJP, an NDA constituent.

The Nawada seat is said to have gone to the LJP under the seat-sharing formula finalised by the NDA.

Though formal seat allocations and the names of NDA candidates are yet to be made public, a senior LJP leader said the party will contest from Nawada and give up the Munger seat it holds.

"It was decided at a meeting of (BJP president) Amit Shah, (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar and (LJP chief and Union Minister) Ram Vilas Paswan that the LJP will be given the Nawada seat in lieu of leaving the Munger seat for ally JD-U. LJP has made up its mind to contest from Nawada," the LJP leader said.

Giriraj Singh was reportedly offered the Begusarai seat, from where fromer JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar is likely to contest as a CPI candidate supported by the opposition Grand Alliance (RJD, Congress, RLSP, HAM).

"Giriraj Singh is not ready for this and refused the offer. He is adamant on contesting from Nawada," a BJP leader close to him said.

Giriraj Singh had announced last week that he will either contest from Nawada, which he won in 2014, or will not contest the upcoming general elections.

"To date, nothing has been finalised. Everything is in the process of finalisation; anything is pissible," a BJP leader here said.

Giriraj Singh, known for his controversial statements, has been keeping away from the media since last Sunday when he failed to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Sankalp rally on health grounds. BJP leaders close to him said he was suffering from viral fever.

The Opposition RJD, Congress and RLSP taunted Giriraj Singh as he had stated that it would be clear from those who didn't attend Modi's March 3 rally in Patna as to who supported Pakistan, when he himself failed to attend the event.

Giriraj Singh is a staunch supporter of Modi and a champion of Hinduvta

Belonging to a landed and powerful upper caste Bhumihar family, Nawada is a safe seat for him against the backdrop of Bihar's caste-ridden Nawada, with a sizeable population of Bhumihars, followed by Nitish Kumar's Kurmis, as also Dalits and Extreme Backward Castes (EBCs), is seen as a solid social support base for the NDA, particularly the BJP. The rival RJD-led Grand Alliance enjoys the support of Lalu Prasad's Yadavs, as also Muslims, Kushwahas, Dalits and EBCs.

Sources in the NDA said the LJP's Veena Devi, wife of former MP Surajbhan Singh, a criminal-turned-politician, will vacate her Munger seat and will contest from Nawada. She is also a Bhumihar.

Interestingly, JD-U president Nitish Kumar has convinced the BJP to give his party the Munger seat as his close friend and senior party leader Lalan Singh, a Bihar minister, is keen to contest from there.

Lalan Singh, a Bhumihar, had won from Munger in 2009 seat but lost in 2014 when the JD-U was not part of the NDA and contested the polls alone.

According to the seat-sharing formula, the BJP and the JD-U will contest 17 seats each, while the remaining six seats will go to the Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP.

(Imran Khan can be reached at imran.k@ians.in)

--IANS

ik/vm/am

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order according to which American intelligence officials will no longer be required to publicly disclose the number of civilians killed in airstrikes against terrorist targets.

Trump's order on Wednesday lifts an Obama-era mandate for intelligence professionals to provide an "unclassified summary of the number of strikes" as well as "assessments of combatant and non combatant deaths resulting from those strikes" each year, reports CNN.

The White House said the order was not an effort to decrease transparency about casualties resulting from US strikes.

"The US government is fully committed to complying with its obligations under the law of armed conflict, minimising, to the greatest extent possible, civilian causalities, and acknowledging responsibility when they unfortunately occur during military operations," a National Security Council spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

Instead, the administration argued that the measure was intended to streamline the process by eliminating "superfluous reporting requirements".

The Pentagon released its fiscal year 2017 report on June 1, 2018, and plans to release the 2018 report on May 1.

The manuary 2017 report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had said the "US government" conducted 54 strikes outside of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan during 2016, resulting in one civilian death.

The Secretary of Defence is legally required to provide a similar report and will continue to do so despite Wednesday's executive order.

However, the report pertains solely to US military operations in places like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A US reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted approaching the Russian airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Defence Ministry said here on Thursday.

A Russian Su-27 fighter jet approached the target at a safe distance and identified it as an RC-135 reconnaissance plane of the US Air Force, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.

"The Russian fighter jet returned safely to its home base after the foreign aircraft flew away from the Russian border," it added.

--IANS

ksk/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian opp parties launched attack on Modi

Indian opposition parties are launching a united attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what they see as his politicization of the armed forces as he tries to ride a patriotic wave into a second term in office at a general election.



It is a high-risk bet that could backfire given the jingoistic fervour that has overtaken India since a suicide bomber killed 40 paramilitary police in Indian-held Kashmir on Feb 14.



Pollsters say opposition parties may be making a mistake by questioning Modi on national security instead of focusing on more basic issues, such as a shortage of jobs and farmers distress. Voters concerned about those issues ousted Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in three state elections late last year.



But amid mounting doubts about the success of an Indian air strike on an alleged JeM camp in Pakistans northeast on Feb 26, the opposition sees Modi as potentially vulnerable over both the governments claims and its behaviour. The opposition is coordinating this and talking to each other every day, said Derek OBrien, a lawmaker from the West Bengal-based All India Trinamool Congress, the third-biggest opposition party in the lower house of parliament.



The strategy is to first keep exposing them and bringing out the fact that they are trying to appropriate the armed forces. And two, we show that this is being done purely for election purposes.



OBrien was referring to Modi speaking at a rally with the pictures of the paramilitary police killed in the bombing in the background, as well as a BJP leader in Delhi attending a public event in army fatigues.



The BJP denies the accusations that its misusing the armed forces for political benefit.



The main opposition Congress party said that most opposition parties  there are more than 20 of them, some caste-based  were on one page in launching a counter-attack on the BJP line that India needs a leader like Modi to take on Pakistan. What we are convinced about is that the government is diverting attention from its failures because it saw defeats in the three state elections, and the narrative is against the government, Congress spokesman Sanjay Jha said.



Pollsters say that they expect Modi and the BJP to get a boost from Indias aggressive response to the suicide bomb attack. He is seen as decisive and resolute by voters, they say.



The only problem may come if the government line  that it killed a large number of militants in the attack  turns out not to be true.



We will expose the BJPs failures, the number of security forces killed, the rise in militancy, and, most important, the elephant in the room that people are not talking about, is Modis monumental failure in terms of putting Kashmir in a serious crisis, Congress Jha said.



Modis policies in the occupied valley have been harder-line than his Congress predecessors in government, with greater use of the security forces and fewer attempts to engage with those in the Muslim community who believe in some kind of separate state.



Since a crackdown was launched in the region after the bomb attack, 15 Kashmiris have been killed in six separate gun battles. Twelve Indian security personnel and two civilians have also died during the operations.



In recent days, BJP leaders, and Modi himself, have slammed the opposition for demanding evidence about the success or otherwise of last weeks strike. On social media and in political rallies, the BJP has accused Congress and its partners of helping Pakistan by questioning the success of the military strike.
Venezuela's National Press Workers Union (SNTP) on Wednesday said that a journalist from the US and his Venezuelan assistant had been arrested.

The union said on Twitter that Cody Weddle, reporting from Venezuela for Miami television station WPLG Local 10, and Carlos Camacho were arrested on early Wednesday when military counterintelligence personnel raided their residences and seized their work equipment and other material.

The union reports that, according to neighbours, Weddle's home was searched "allegedly with an order signed by a military court."

"With the arrest of Cody Weddle and Carlos Camacho, there are 36 cases of journalists and press workers imprisoned by @NicolasMaduro so far in 2019," the SNTP said, referring to Venezuela's embattled president, reports Efe.

Three of those newspersons remain in custody, according to the union.

Local 10 said earlier that it had received unconfirmed reports claiming that Venezuelan officials arrived early Wednesday at the 29-year-old Weddle's home and took him away.

"We are working through various channels to get as much information as we can and to see that Cody is released," station president and CEO E.R. Bert Medina said in a statement.

"Cody has been dedicated and committed to telling the story in Venezuela to our viewers here in South Florida. The arrest of a journalist doing his job is outrageous and unacceptable."

The US State Department on Wednesday called on the Venezuelan government to "immediately" release Weddle.

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Kimberley Breier said on Twitter: "@StateDept is aware of and deeply concerned with reports that another US journalist has been detained in #Venezuela by #Maduro, who prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it. Being a journalist is not a crime. We demand the journalist's immediate release, unharmed."

Last week, a team from Hispanic Univision network was detained for more than two hours at the Miraflores presidential palace after an interview with Maduro.

Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos and his production team, who were deported the day after their detention, reported that Venezuelan authorities stole their equipment and footage of the interview with Maduro.

Reports of journalists being arrested in the South American country have increased ever since the political crisis in Venezuela worsened in January with the decision of the speaker of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Juan Guaido, to proclaim himself acting president contending that Maduro's re-election was illegitimate.

In January alone, the SNTP has blamed Maduro's regime for 40 attacks on journalists, including the arrests of 19 workers, including four people working for Efe.

The Maduro government says that the press, particularly foreign outlets, is mounting "media campaigns" against him and accuses them of lying about the situation in Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Guaido on Wednesday said that the expulsion of German Ambassador Daniel Kriener, a move ordered by the Maduro government, was a "threat" by a "regime" that lacked legal authority.

"Today, the regime, which is usurping power, which lacks the authority to declare anyone persona no grata, is simply engaging in coercion, it's just a threat, and that's how it should be taken by the free world, against an ambassador and a country ... that has provided much in the way of humanitarian aid," Guaido said.

--IANS

vc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara is under investigation over allegations of an affair with an actress and that he subsequently tried to help her land roles in Warner Bros' productions.

The studio's parent company was forced to act after The Hollywood Reporter published a report detailing the history between Tsujihara and British actress Charlotte Kirk.

The studio previously investigated the allegations in the fall of 2017 and found no wrongdoing or abuse of power by Tsujihara, who is married, reported variety.com.

Tsujihara and Kirk met in 2013 through mutual acquaintances, Australian media mogul James Packer and director-producer Brett Ratner. At the time Packer and Ratner were negotiating a $450 million film financing pact with Warner Bros through their RatPac investment venture.

Kirk issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter denying that there was any "inappropriate behaviour" on the part of Tsujihara, Ratner or Packer, and she asserted "Kevin never promised me anything".

However, text messages included in the report indicate Kirk later accused Ratner and Packer of using her with Tsujihara to help close the RatPac deal.

A WarnerMedia spokesman emphasized that Kirk had made no claims against Tsujihara or the studio.

"Through her spokesperson, the actress has publicly denied any impropriety in her casting, and our prior investigation did not find otherwise," the WarnerMedia representative said.

"Whenever we receive new allegations, it is our standard practice to conduct an appropriate investigation. And that is what we will do here."

--IANS

rb/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the Centre threatening a probe over stealing of "privileged documents" related to Rafale deal from the Defence Ministry, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded an investigation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for conducting parallel negotiations and delaying the delivery of the French jets to India.

Addressing the media here, Gandhi said that the stolen documents clearly state the Prime Minister was responsible for the delayed delivery and inflated price of the jets.

"The government now says it will investigate the media for the Rafale files being stolen. But the one (Modi) who conducted parallel investigation why will he not be investigated?

"If the documents have been stolen, that means they are authentic and they clearly state that parallel negotiations were carried out by the Prime Minister, the price of the jets were inflated and the delivery of the jets was delayed.

"Let there be investigation about the documents but at the same time also investigate the Prime Minister's role in the Rafale (deal)," said Gandhi.

Referring to the Centre's arguments in the Supreme Court during hearing of petitions seeking recall of its December 14 verdict giving a "clean chit" on the purchase of the Rafale jets, Gandhi said the sole objective of the government and its machinery was to defend the "chowkidar" (watchman).

With the government rejecting the Congress party's persistent demand for a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Gandhi asked why Modi was afraid of investigation into the deal.

"Why isn't the Prime Minister allowing an investigation against himself if he is not guilty? Why did he refuse a JPC? If there is nothing wrong in the deal, then let there be an investigation. Modi should say he is not afraid of any probe and allow investigation into the deal," asserted Gandhi.

Citing the documents, Gandhi said that the Indian negotiating team clearly stated that the Prime Minister carried out parallel negotiations to enrich his industrialist crony by Rs 30,000 crore in the deal.

"It's a blatant case of corruption, it is clearly stated that the Prime Minister of India carried out a parallel negotiation. Why should there not be a criminal investigation?

"The problem in India is, there is a criminal investigation only on people who oppose Modi," said Gandhi, who a day earlier had called for an FIR against him saying there was enough evidence to prosecute him for corruption in the deal.

--IANS

and/am

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the Election Commission expected to announce the schedule of Lok Sabha elections soon, the Narendra Modi government has been taking a flurry of decisions at the meetings of Union Cabinet and the CCEA. Over the past fortnight, both have taken 96 decisions.

The decisions pertain to all sections of society including farmers, central government employees, youth, weaker sections, poor and ex-servicemen.

The cabinet meeting held on February 20 took 23 decisions while the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) took five decisions, and in the meet on February 28, the Cabinet took 29 decisions and the CCEA nine.

The meeting of union cabinet held on Thursday took 18 decisions while CCEA approved 12 proposals.

The decisions taken also pertain to promulgation of ordinances including that on triple talaq.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also laid foundation stone of Integrated Command and Control Centres in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

He also flagged off Nagpur Metro, interacted with beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana and released new series of visually-impaired friendly coins.

Modi is scheduled to visit Varanasi, Kanpur and Ghaziabad on Friday.

--IANS

ps/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A key prosecution witness in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case Thursday reiterated before a Delhi court that Congress leader Sajjan Kumar had instigated the mob to kill Sikhs.

Denying Kumar's suggestion that she had not named him in her earlier statement given to the Delhi police, Cham Kaur told the court that she always named Kumar as the one who instigated the mob.

While cross-examining her, Kumar's lawyer suggested, "You took names of all the rioters in your statement....But you never named Sajjan Kumar. You are taking his name now."



To this, Kaur said, "I have always taken the name of Sajjan Kumar."



Kaur had earlier told the court that she had seen Kumar allegedly addressing the crowd in national capital's Sultanpuri area in 1984 that Sikhs had killed "our mother" and instigated the mob to kill them.

"On October 31, 1984 we were watching TV on the demise of Indira Gandhi. On November 1, 1984 when I stepped out to look for my goat, I saw accused Sajjan Kumar addressing the crowed and was saying 'hamari ma maar di. Sardaro ko maar do' (our mother was killed... kill the Sikhs)," Kaur had told District Judge Poonam A Bamba.

She further said that the next morning, they were attacked in which here son and her father were killed.

"My son Kapoor Singh and my father Sardarji Singh were pulled out of the hiding place on second floor, beaten badly and were thrown down from the roof," she said, adding that she herself received injuries in the attack.

During the proceedings, Kaur had also identified Kumar, who was present in the court.

"I could recognise the accused Sajjan Kumar, as we used to visit him for getting help in making ration card, passport. We used to visit the accused for getting the papers stamped as he was the MP/MLA," she said.

She further named other persons who were shot dead on the same date by the mob. The injured and the family members of victims were taken to the police station and relief camps by police and army respectively.

She told the court that she had named Kumar earlier also.

Before Kaur, another key prosecution witness Sheela Kaur had identified Kumar as the one who had instigated the mob in Sultanpuri.

The case was transferred from Karkardooma court to Patiala House court here by the Delhi High Court, which had directed the district judge to video record the proceedings at the cost of the accused.

Kumar and two other accused, Brahmanand Gupta and Ved Prakash, had said that they were ready to bear the expenses of the videography of proceedings.

The three accused are facing trial on charges of murder and rioting in the case pertaining to killing of Surjit Singh in Sultanpuri.

The proceedings in the case were earlier stayed after the victim and complainant Joginder Singh approached the high court seeking transfer of the case while alleging that evidence was not being properly recorded.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As many as 22 terrorist training camps, including nine of Jaish-e-Mohammed are active in Pakistan, but no action is being taken against them, a senior Indian official said here on Thursday, warning that New Delhi will carry out operation similar to that of the Balakot airstrike if there is an act of terrorism coming from across the border.

In a pinpointed and swift air strike that lasted less than two minutes, India pounded JeM's biggest training camp in Pakistan on February 26, killing up to 350 terrorists and trainers who were moved there for their protection after the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in which 40 soldiers were killed. The JeM claimed responsibility for the Pulwama strike.

Pakistan is a "global epicentre of terrorism and it needs to take verifiable and credible steps against terrorist organisations and terrorists", said the official on condition of anonymity.

The official also accused Pakistan and its leadership of being in denial mode and trying to create a war hysteria kind of situation between the two nuclear-weapon states.

"As many as 22 terrorist training camps, including nine of JeM are still being run in Pakistan and there has been no action against them," the official said.

The Balakot airstrike conducted by India was a counter-terrorism operation, which was well within the international laws. However, a day after on February 27, Pakistan attacked Indian military installation with as many as 20 fighter jets, the official claimed.

"Instead of taking action against terrorist groups, Pakistan escalated the situation and indulged in war hysteria by doing things like declaring emergency in Karachi, blocking air traffic and creating rumours, which is part of its familiar pattern," the official said, adding, "India on the other hand exercised restraint."



Islamabad now bears the responsibility to end terrorism, the official said and warned that "India will carry out retaliatory counter-terrorism operation like the one on February 26, deep inside Pakistan, anytime there is an act of terrorism coming from across the border".

Referring to the recent actions taken by Pakistan against several terrorist groups, the official said that these actions are "nothing unusual" as the country takes such steps after every terrorist strike in India.

"These actions", the official described, "are a revolving door policy, under which house arrest of terrorist leaders simply means keeping them in luxurious accommodation".

They are released once the situation becomes normal, the official said.

But after the Pulwama attack, India has set "a new normal". "For every terrorist attack coming from across the border, India will retaliate and there will be a price that the neighbouring country would have to pay."



Accusing Pakistan of being a state sponsor of terrorism, the official said there is a feeling in India that Islamabad is unlikely to stop funding terror activities "unless the cost of it is too heavy for it to pay".

Asserting that India has the right to self-defence, the official told reporters that New Delhi by successfully carrying out strikes inside Pakistan "has been able to call the Pakistani bluff" on the nuclear front.

"This will not work in the future," the official said and warned Pakistan that "there will be reprisal" for every act of terrorism.

Responding to a question, the official said India has given to the US details of the violation of the end user agreement by Pakistan when it used F-16 fighter jets and advanced missiles against India on February 27.

India, the official said, is very closely engaged with the US and has support of the Trump administration.

The official also said India is opposed to any IMF bailout packages to Pakistan.

Pakistan has received as many as 21 bailout packages, including seven in the recent past, from the IMF. However, none of them have been able to address the economic woes of Pakistan because the money intended to improve the economy and developmental purposes have been diverted for non-civilian means.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 40-year-old agriculture officer has been arrested in Palghar district of Maharashtra for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a farmer, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said.

Balaram Douda, posted at the Palghar zilla parishad, allegedly demanded Rs 23,000 from the farmer for approving his bill under an agriculture scheme for digging up a well. He later settled the deal for Rs 20,000, an ACB release said.

The farmer approached the ACB which laid a trap and caught the accused while he was accepting the money from the complainant on Tuesday, it said.

The accused was subsequently arrested and booked under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Maharashtra government has decided to hold a cabinet meeting for the second time this week, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls which are likely to be announced any time now, officials said on Thursday.

The cabinet meeting is generally held once a week.

This time, another meeting has been scheduled for Friday afternoon where all the cabinet ministers are expected to be present, a senior government official said.

"A number of decisions are likely to be taken during the cabinet meet on Friday," a senior state minister said.

Earlier, the cabinet meeting was held on Tuesday where a number of major decisions were taken, including government's in-principle approval for two 660 MW coal-based supercritical units at the Koradi Thermal Power Station.

The cabinet also cleared a 29-km Metro line for the neighbouring Thane city and gave its nod for a special purpose vehicle for the proposed Purandar international airport in Pune district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A convoy carrying aid for 50,000 people reached the northern Syrian city of Manbij on Thursday, in the first such delivery from government-held territory, the United Nations said.

The UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent sent 37 trucks loaded with "862 metric tons of food, non-food items, education materials, nutrition and medical supplies", it said.

"This is the first time we manage to deliver assistance to Manbij through Aleppo," a government-held city in northern Syria, Fran Equiza, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, was quoted as saying.

Manbij is a former Islamic State (IS) group stronghold now held by a military council affiliated to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab force supported by a US-led coalition.

One in five people living in Manbij have been internally displaced from other parts of Syria, Equiza said on Twitter.

The UN said the delivery would "cover the (food) needs of 50,000 people for approximately 30 days", and provide enough medicine and medical supplies to treat 81,000 people.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), Syria is experiencing "widespread food insecurity" and 6.5 million people are unable to meet their food needs.

Manbij constitutes a major point of contention between Syria's Kurdish minority, which maintains de facto autonomy in parts of northern and northeastern Syria, and neighbouring Turkey.

In December, Ankara threatened to launch a new offensive to dislodge the People's Protection Units (YPG) -- a Kurdish militia that forms the backbone of the SDF, but is considered a terrorist group by Turkey -- from its borders.

Syria's multi-fronted war has killed more than 360,000 people since it began in 2011 with President Bashar al-Assad's regime bloodily suppressing protests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An ailing Pakistani prisoner died at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Thursday during treatment, said police.

The prisoner, Mohammad Anin Chaudhary, a resident of Karachi, was lodged at Palara jail near Bhuj town of Kutch district since 2017.

The 66-year-old was arrested by the Jakhau police of Kutch district on charges of illegally crossing the Indo-Pak border in the creek area for fishing, said officials.

According to civil superintendent M M Prabhakar, the patient referred to the hospital was a "stroke patient" and he died during treatment.

"In March last year, he was sentenced to three years in jail by a local court. He was lodged at Palara jail near Bhuj. When his condition deteriorated on February 20, he was first referred to a hospital in Bhuj and later shifted to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital," said a senior official.

The official added Chaudhary could not recover and eventually died Thursday in the hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NA passed The Finance Supplementary Bill 07 March, 2019



Related News Imran Khan distributed loan cheques under Kamyab Jawan Programme PTI govt to face all challenges coming its way: Imran khan More on this View All Types of Casino Payment Methods

Tips for Taking Incredible iPhone Travel Photos

Top 2021 Accessories We Know You Will Love

Are Slot Developers Important for players?

Best Poker Hands ever played on a Casino

Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry

Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday passed The Finance Supplementary (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 with a majority vote. The finance bill envisages revolutionary incentives and measures to encourage investment, exports, ease of doing business and strengthen important sectors of the national economy.



Winding up debate on The Finance Supplementary (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019, Finance Minister Asad Umar expressed the resolve that the government will take every decision in the best interest of the people of Pakistan to ensure peace and development. He said the government will accept the conditions for an IMF loan package only if those are in line with the interest of the people of Pakistan.



The minister said the foreign direct investment in recent months remained 13.3% higher than that in the previous governments tenure. He said $48 million foreign portfolio investment came to Pakistan only during the last two months. He said the confidence of foreign investors has gone up due to the prudent economic policies of the siting government which will help revamp economic outlook of the country.



Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari termed the Pulwama attack a reaction of the local youth against Indian atrocities and held Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for it. He said Modis government has broken all the previous records of barbarism and human rights violation in the occupied valley, and called for implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions that provide for the exercise of right to self-determination by the Kashmiri people to restore lasting peace in South Asia.



Paying rich tribute to the pilots who shot down two Indian jets, the PPP leader said that Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has once again proved itself to be the best air force in the world. He also paid tribute to the soldiers martyred due to India firing at the Line of Control (LoC). Bilawal said on this occasion, they should not forget the services of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto who equipped Pakistan with atom bomb and missile technology and made the countrys defense impregnable.



The policy to bring banned organizations in national sphere is entirely wrong. It is neither the policy of the parliament nor it can be of the country. How is it possible that an elected PM is hanged but cant file case against terrorist organizations? he remarked. There is accountability only for the opposition but none for the banned groups. There could be a JIT on my breakfast but there cant be a JIT on banned organizations, he said.



Such decisions were also announced in the past after APS attack as National Action Plan was unanimously approved by the parliament, he said. However, he regretted the National Action Plan was never implemented in the country in true letter and spirit.



Responding to Bilawal Bhuttos speech, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi invited the PPP chairman, Leader of Opposition Shehbaz Sharif and other parliamentary leaders to offer their input on Pakistans foreign policy.



I would like to thank PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Leader of Opposition Shehbaz Sharif for showing solidarity with the people Pakistan in this state of alertness, he said. Bilawal offered that in these testing times, he is willing to take a bipartisan approach on foreign policy. I take this offer and I invite Bilawal and Shehbaz Sharif and the leader of MMA to the Foreign Office. We are willing to seek their input on foreign policy, because this is a time when the nation stands together to send a message to the East that Pakistan is united to defend itself, he added.



Qureshi also officially identified Squadron Leader Hassan Siddiqui and Wing Commander Nauman Ali Khan as the Pakistan Air Force pilots who shot down two Indian fighter jets in a rare dogfight last month.



He said the recent steps taken by the government of Pakistan were in the interest of the country. We gave a befitting response to India when it was required, he added.



He vowed the government will implement the National Action Plan in letter and spirit. But questions remain as to what caused obstacles in implementation of the NAP. Who was ruling the country when Pakistan was put on FATF grey list? What were the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz doing when Pakistan was being pressurized by the international community? he questioned.



PML-N leader and former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal said that Indian prime minister himself came to meet Nawaz Sharif in the past but now does not even bother to receive call of Imran Khan. He expressed serious concerns over the policies of the government, terming them a threat to the country.
As the world gears up to celebrate International Women's Day on Friday, the country's airlines have decided to mark the occasion in their own special way by operating all-women crew flights and promising complimentary upgrades to women passengers.

Taking the lead is the national carrier Air India which will operate 12 international flights and over 40 domestic flights with all-women crew.

"I would like to congratulate our women crew deciding to operate so many flights on various international and domestic routes fuelled by their indomitable women power," said Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani Thursday.

The international flights that will have all-women AI crew include those from New Delhi to Sydney, Rome, London, Paris, Shanghai, Newark, Washington, Chicago, and San Francisco, and from Mumbai to London, Newark and New York.

Following the footsteps of its parent, Alliance Air, the regional arm of Air India, will also take to the skies in one of its aircrafts with an all-women crew.

An all-women crew flight will take off from New Delhi to Dharamsala and fly back to the national capital under the captainship of Ashna Acharya and co-pilot Kanika Sharma, Alliance Air said in a statement.

There will also be cultural programmes at the airline's office, celebrating the various colours of the culture represented by Alliance Air women employees, it said.

Private carrier Jet Airways plans to operate four domestic flights--- Mumbai-New Delhi-Mumbai and Mumbai- Bengaluru-Mumbai--- with an all-women crew.

Besides the crew, the other functions involved in operating a flight such as engineering, ground handling and ground services, the security would all have the fairer sex exclusively managing the show, the Jet said.

The airline will also surprise select women guests



on-board these flights by presenting them with gift hampers, where each goody bag will contain gifts from top-notch brands, it said.

As part of its special in-flight fund raising drive, Jet Airways is supporting the work of two leading NGOs working on women's issues. The airline will contribute the benefits of these in-flight collection proceeds to an NGO which aims to empower the underprivileged women and girls through education, technical skills and employment generation.

No-frills carrier Spicejet will be operating 22 flights with all-women crew to mark the day.

Women flyers will also be offered 'priority check-in' and 'priority boarding' besides a welcome rose while boarding, it said, adding depending on the availability they will also be offered an upgrade to a Spicemax seat.

Another budget carrier GoAir said all women travellers will be eligible for a complimentary upgrade to its business class across its network depending on "availability as well as on first-come-first serve basis".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday vacated its interim ban on mining activity in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the All India Kaimoor People Front of Sonbhadra to restrain the state government from granting mining leases through any procedure other than e-tender system.

A bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice S S Shamshery said private respondents might go ahead with mining operation, saying the ban would cause loss of state revenue.

The high court had in May 2017 restrained private lease holders from excavation of minerals.

At the hearing, the state counsel argued that private parties had invested huge amount of money for excavation.

The bench fixed April 10 for the next date of hearing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving "mere assurances" on resolving the food legacy debt of Rs 31,000 crore that has put a massive burden on the state exchequer.

"I had met Modi not once, twice, or thrice... (but) at least five times on this issue. He assured me that he will look into it. Our finance minister, Manpreet Badal, met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, but he also gave just assurances," Singh said while recalling his meetings with Modi regarding the food legacy debt.

The debt arose because of a mismatch between the cash credit availed for procuring wheat, paddy and foodgrain stocks in the account books of the state procurement agencies since 2004. The Rs 31,000-crore amount included Rs 12,000 crore principal and around Rs 19,000 crore interest.

The Congress leader also blamed the previous regime led by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for the debt.

"What did you (SAD) do when the amount reached Rs 31,000 crore? Your minister (Harsimrat Kaur Badal) is in the cabinet at the Centre, but you failed to resolve the issue. And you burdened the state by converting Rs 31,000 crore of cash credit limit gap into long-term loan on its last day of term. Why should we pay for it?" he asked.

Singh said the state had been paying Rs 3,200 crore per annum as interest on this debt and it would end up paying Rs 65,000 crore after 20 years.

The chief minister was addressing a public meeting in Moga district during the launch of the fourth phase of the state government's farm-loan relief scheme. Congress president Rahul Gandhi was also present at the occasion.

Singh called for a resounding victory in favour of the Congress to oust the BJP at the Centre in the general election and reiterated his 'Mission 13' to give all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state to Gandhi. "Time has come for a battle. Elections may be announced anytime. You (voters) have to be strong and support us to oust the Akalis and the BJP."



Singh claimed that his own government had successfully fulfilled all its major promises, -- including farm-loan waiver and breaking the backbone of drugs -- in sharp contrast to the "misrule" of the previous Akali regime.

The chief minister said the 43 incidents of desecration of holy scriptures reported during the Akali rule had been solved since his government took over. He vowed not to spare even the mightiest of those involved and ensure that each one of them goes behind the bars.

Earlier, state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar lambasted Modi for "forcing the country into war for political gains".

Alleging that Punjab faced discrimination from the BJP-led government, Jakhar demanded from Gandhi that if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, it should allot a big project for the state.

The Congress incharge of Punjab, Asha Kumari, accused the Akalis and the BJP for plunging a prosperous Punjab into the drug net.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Accusing the government of politicising the IAF's strike on a JeM camp in Pakistan's Balakot, the NCP Thursday took a swipe at BJP president Amit Shah, saying he could count the number of terrorists killed in the action as he has special powers of a "nocturnal bird".

In a pinpointed and swift air strike that lasted less than two minutes, India pounded Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Balakot on February 26.

The BJP chief had recently claimed that over 250 terrorist had been killed in the air strike.

NCP's general secretary and chief spokesperson D P Tripathi said after the air strike, opposition parties stood firmly behind the government and it was a common understanding that the counter-terrorist operation will not be politicised.

"But unfortunately, Prime minister Narendra Modi, his government and the BJP leadership started politicising the issue. By doing so, they have insulted and made a mockery of the patriotic commitment of our armed forces," he told reporters here.

The prime minister has been levelling baseless allegations against all opposition parties in his rallies across the country and he uses "very foul" and "indecent" language against them, Tripathi alleged.

While Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale have refused to talk about the number of casualties in the air strike, Shah has stated the figure as 250, Tripathi said.

"Perhaps, he is endowed with special powers of one nocturnal bird to see in the dark. The contradictory statements made by the different sections of the central government demonstrates utter confusion...," he said.

The NCP leader claimed that any question regarding the air strike is perceived as "anti-national".

Tripathi said a pertinent question that the government has to answer is about the breach of security by terrorists that led to the Pulwama attack.

On February 14, a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel.

Tripathi also said the government must put pressure on Pakistan to stop and ban all terrorist organisations operating from its soil.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has narrated the story of bravery and devotion of CISF personnel in a commemorative film made by the force to mark 50 years of its raising.

The around 14-minute film depicts the operational activities of the 1.56-lakh personnel strong force with Bachchan also reciting a few lines from the famous 'Agneepath' poem penned by his father, Late Harishvansh Rai Bachchan.

"We are thankful to the actor for the gesture of lending his powerful voice to the special film made on the force," CISF Director General (DG) told reporters during the annual press interaction meet here.

The film has been made in a short time of about two weeks and the 76-year-old actor speaks about the valour, dedication and commitment to duty of the force's personnel with a voice over that plays along with action oriented pictures and videos of the paramilitary force.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is celebrating its 50th Raising Day on March 10 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review the parade and take salute during a martial ceremony at a force base in Ghaziabad near here. The force was raised in 1969.

(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 Thursday said any party supporting the separatists is anti-national, in an apparent reference to PDP and National Conference who criticised the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI).

Without naming the two, the Governor said, "The political parties which are coming out in support of banned organizations are making their position clear and are siding with separatists."



Referring to the ban on the JeI, NC vice-president Omar Abdullah Thursday said the crackdown on the organization would not help in improving the situation in the valley. Last Friday, the PDP and NC had also criticised the Centre's decision to ban JeI, saying it is against the essence of democracy which allows space to opposing political thoughts.

"Any party or person supporting separatists is anti-national and is playing into the hands of terrorists and Pakistan," Malik said at a high level meeting convened here to review the law and order situation in the aftermath of the grenade attack on a bus stand in the heart of the city in which a teenager was killed and 32 others were injured.

The meeting was attended by K Vijay Kumar, advisor to Governor, Chief Secretary B V R Subramanyam, Principal Secretary Home Shaleen Kabra, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh and other senior police and civil officers, an official spokesman said.

Malik said the war against terrorism and militancy is not going to be stopped at any cost and "this is a battle that we will win and government will ensure that militancy is eradicated from the state."



The Governor lauded police for swift action in apprehending the culprit involved in the grenade attack.

"This is an act of terrorism which is a reaction of anti-national and terrorist elements in the state who are losing their grip fast," Malik said.

He said his government has come down hard on separatists since the Pulwama terrorist attack and has withdrawn security for the Hurriyat and 170 persons, banned Jamaat-e-Islami and has arrested all its leaders for engaging in "unlawful activities".

"Facing imminent defeat, these anti-national elements are targeting civilians and soft targets," he said and described the act of throwing grenade on unsuspecting bus passengers as a cowardly attack by someone who cannot challenge the security forces.

The Governor expressed concern that innocent youngsters are being led to believe that sacrificing their lives will lead to paradise which they are gullibly believing.

Malik appealed to the people in the state to maintain peace, harmony and brotherhood.

"The people of the state are known since times immemorial for upholding the values of mutual brotherhood and communal harmony," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Thursday alleged the Modi government was trying to silence the media through "unconstitutional means", condemning the Centre's threat of invoking action under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) against The Hindu newspaper in the Rafale case.

The government Wednesday told the Supreme Court that documents related to the deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry and threatened the newspaper with action for publishing articles based on them.

"Instead of coming clean on alleged irregularities of Rafale deal brought out by The Hindu and Mr N Ram, the Modi govt is trying to silence the press through unconstitutional means by creating a climate of fear. It signals an imminent possibility of the breakdown of democracy," the chief minister tweeted.

"After misguiding SC, misleading the nation, destroying all vital institutions of the country, Modi govt's threat to file cases under Official Secrets Act against The Hindu and Mr N Ram is a serious threat to freedom of speech & expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India," he claimed.

Attorney General K K Venugopal had said before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that those who put documents on the Rafale deal in the public domain are guilty under the act and contempt of court.

Unruffled by the Centre's stand, Hindu publishing group Chairman N Ram had said nobody would get any information from the newspaper on the confidential sources who provided the documents.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Israel's elections committee said Thursday it has barred an Arab alliance from taking part in April elections over claims it supports violent resistance against the country.

The committee voted 17 to 10 in favour of disqualifying the Ram-Balad alliance late Wednesday night, spokesman Giora Fordis said, after earlier approving Jewish candidates from an extreme-right party many view as racist.

The committee is made up of representatives of parties in parliament and its decisions can be appealed to the supreme court.

Ram-Balad is one of two main Arab alliances running in the April 9 elections.

Its candidacy had been challenged by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, under laws disqualifying those who challenge the definition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state or who back armed opposition to it.

"Those who support terror will not be in the Israeli Knesset!" Netanyahu wrote on social media after the vote.

The committee's decision went against a recommendation by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who said the evidence presented against Ram-Balad was old and a previous attempt to disqualify it had been overruled by a court.

The committee also barred Ofer Cassif, the sole Jewish candidate for the mainly Arab Hadash party, under the same criteria.

"It's worrying what's happening in this country, but not surprising," Balad candidate Heba Yazbak told Israeli army radio Thursday.

"Balad is usually disqualified before elections," she said.

"We shall appeal to the supreme court." Arab nationalist party Balad is fiercely critical of Israeli policies, particularly the occupation of Palestinian territory.

Arab Israelis are descended from Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of Israel in 1948.

They hold Israeli citizenship, making up 17.5 per cent of the country's population, but most see themselves as Palestinians.

All of the election committee's Wednesday rulings are being challenged in petitions expected to be filed with the supreme court on Sunday, Israeli media reported.

The court has overturned such rulings in the past.

The Israel Democracy Institute think-tank said Thursday that the structure of the committee is problematic.

"A committee composed of political party representatives competing against each other on the eve of elections cannot be expected to impartially implement judicial rulings," it said in a statement.

The committee on Wednesday also cleared two candidates from the extreme-right Jewish Power party to run in the elections.

Michael Ben-Ari, who has described Israeli Arabs as "treacherous and murderous", and Itamar Ben-Gvir were given the green light.

The attorney general had recommended Ben-Ari be disqualified, saying the politician's comments amounted to "incitement to racism".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat has directed army personnel deployed along the border with Pakistan to remain prepared for all eventualities in close coordination with the Indian Air Force, officials said.

Gen. Rawat issued the direction after visiting the forward locations along the LoC and international border in Jammu and Kashmir and several border posts in Rajasthan.

During the visit, the Army Chief was briefed on the prevailing security scenario and preparedness of the formations to deal with any eventualities.

"The Army Chief expressed his complete confidence in the capabilities of the Indian Army to thwart any nefarious design of Pakistan," the Army said.

"He praised high state of morale of troops and instructed them to remain prepared for all eventualities in close coordination with the Air Force," it said in a statement.

In Rajasthan, Gen. Rawat visited forward locations like Barmer and Suratgarh to review the operational deployment.

Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan on February 26.

Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations on February 27. However, the IAF thwarted their plans.

The Indian strike on the JeM camp came 12 days after the terror outfit claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After a group of men were seen on camera assaulting Kashmiris selling dry fruits in Daliganj locality in Uttar Pradesh's capital city, police swung into action and arrested four persons involved in the act.

The incident took place Wednesday evening amid the nationwide backlash on Kashmiris following the February 14 terror attack in Pulwama.

"The Kashmiri youths were selling dry fruits on Daliganj bridge and a group of men beat them up, terming them as stone pelters," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani told repoters here Thursday.

He said after an "alert citizen" made the video, the matter came to light after which police teams swung into action and arrested the main accused, Bajrang Sonkar, who has more than a dozen criminal cases including that of murder, loot, theft and arms act pending against him.

On his tip off, three others -- Himanshu Garg, Aniruddh and Amar Kumar -- were also arrested on Thursday, the SSP said.

About the victims, he said they were Abdul and Afzal of Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir, who come here during winters to sell dry fruits.

Naithani said police wanted to give a stern message that such acts would not be tolerated and those involved will be brought to book.

The victims were attacked with sticks by saffron-clad men, the video of which has gone viral.

The locals, however, rushed to their rescue and informed the police.

An FIR was lodged in this connection at Hasangaj police station under various sections of the IPC, including 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 307 (attempt to murder), and Criminal Law Amendment Act.

Sonkar claims to be the president of the Vishwa Hindu Dal.

Incidents of harassment of Kashmiris, especially students and traders, have been reported from various parts of the country after the Pulwama terror attack on February 14.

The two Kashmiris, who were beaten up, later told mediapersons that they were satisfied with the police action, which they termed as prompt.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
UN human rights chief warned India against divisive policies

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet warned India on Wednesday that its divisive policies could undermine economic growth, saying that narrow political agendas were marginalising vulnerable people in an already unequal society.



We are receiving reports that indicate increasing harassment and targeting of minorities  in particular Muslims and people from historically disadvantaged and marginalised groups, such as Dalits and Adivasis, Bachelet said in her annual report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.



The UN human rights chief also warned of the threat posed by growing global inequality over income, wealth and access to resources and justice. In recent months we have seen people across the world take to the streets to protest, said Bachelet. She referred specifically to a recent wave of protests in Sudan, as well as protests in Haiti and France. She also warned of the existential threat of hate speech and xenophobia.



Bachelet expressed concern that the demands of citizens protesting against inequality were being met by violent and excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions, torture and even alleged summary or extrajudicial killings. In Sudan, for the past several months, people protesting harsh economic conditions and bad governance have been violently dispersed by security forces, sometimes using live ammunition, she said.



Bachelet singled out Venezuela as an example of how violations of civil and political rights can accentuate inequality and worsening economic conditions. She also criticised Israel over its blockade of Gaza, and said she regretted Israels immediate dismissal of a report by a UN Human Rights Council commission of inquiry, without addressing any of the very serious issues raised.



UN experts said last week that Israeli security forces might have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity while responding to weekly mass Palestinian protests along the Gaza-Israel border last year. The experts investigated the deaths of 189 Palestinians and said they found reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli snipers had shot at children, medics and journalists, even though they had been clearly recognisable as such. All parties concerned should exercise restraint as the date of March 30 approaches, Bachelet said, referring to the first anniversary of the start of the Palestinian protest campaign. The Israeli government said the report was hostile, mendacious and biased against Israel.
/ -- Company also wins achievement as 'Dream Employer of the Year'



Automation Anywhere, the global leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), was honoured as a 'Dream Companies To Work For' and 'Dream Employer of the Year' by the World HRD Congress.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/541440/Automation_Anywhere_Logo.jpg )



Now in its 27th year, the World HRD Congress recognizes the efforts of organizations that demonstrate merits through innovative programs. The organization presents awards annually to Indian companies that promote innovative human resources practices. Automation Anywhere was one of over 50 nominees honored with this recognition.

"These prestigious, twin achievements are testimony to our company as a great place to work," said Ankur Kothari, Co- founder and CRO, Automation Anywhere. "It not only reinforces our dedication to our employees, but also our vision to redefine the future of work and help other enterprises in India and across the globe augment their human workforce and accelerate digital transformation."



Automation Anywhere works with hundreds of enterprises in India across industries and has enabled them with a digital workforce platform that is transforming how they work today and tomorrow. This fast-evolving technology uses software bots that work side-by-side with human workers to do the repetitive, mundane tasks - liberating employees to focus on higher-level business value that only humans are equipped to provide. The RPA industry is growing at unprecedented rates due to the high levels of efficiency that can be achieved from intelligent automation.

Automation Anywhere won two awards at the 2019 World HRD Congress in Mumbai, India. The accolades include:



Dream Companies to Work - Computer Software: Automation Anywhere received the award for their innovative HR practices, providing equal opportunities for women leaders, and having the best talent development strategy to attract and retain employees.

Dream Employer of the Year - HR Talent Leadership Award: Automation Anywhere received the award for the company's senior leadership's contribution in human resources for institution building and organizational transformation.

The awards were evaluated by a distinguished jury comprising of senior industry professionals, who judged the entries on a pre-defined process.

Interact with Automation Anywhere:



Visit our website: http://www.automationanywhere.com Check out our monthly webinar series BotVisions: https://www.automationanywhere.com/company/webinars



Follow us on Twitter: @AutomationAnywh Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/automation-anywhere About Automation Anywhere



Automation Anywhere is the leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the platform on which more organizations build world-class Intelligent Digital Workforces. Automation Anywhere's enterprise-grade platform uses software bots that work side by side with people to do much of the repetitive work in many industries. It combines sophisticated RPA, AI and embedded analytic technologies. Over 1,600 organizations use this AI-enabled solution to manage and scale business processes faster, with near-zero error rates, while dramatically reducing operational costs. Automation Anywhere provides automation technology to leading financial services, insurance, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, telecom and logistics companies globally. For additional information, visit http://www.automationanywhere.com.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bangladesh's opposition Gano Forum on Thursday expelled a prominent leader, a day after he took oath as a parliamentarian defying the decision of the party that rejected the January 30 polls claiming it to be "massively rigged".

Sultan Mohammad Mansur, who won the Moulvibazar-2 seat on the ticket of Kamal Hossain-led Gano Forum, was sworn in as a lawmaker by Speaker Shirin Sharmin on Wednesday.

Mansur "has betrayed" the "principles and ideals" of the Gano Forum and "violated the party's constitution", Forum's general secretary Mostafa Mohsin Montu told media here.

"We are expelling Sultan Mansur...and will take necessary actions against him later," he added.

Meanwhile, Mansur claimed he took the oath after consulting the Gano Forum chief Hossain, who also heads the National Unity Forum (NUF) that includes jailed ex-premier Khaleda Zia's party BNP.

NUF, which emerged as the opposition platform just around a month ahead of the general election, conceded a miserable defeat bagging together only eight seats in the 300-seat parliament in the polls that installed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party for the third consecutive term.

BNP bagged six seats, while Gano Forum got two, a situation prompting



the NUF to reject the elections and demand fresh polls under a non-party caretaker government.

Mansur was also removed from the NUF's steering committee as well.

A prominent former president of Awami League's student front, Mansur had led the 1990 student upsurge against deposed military ruler and former president HM Ershad and subsequently became a lawmaker of the party.

However, in 2008 a rift was developed between Mansur and the Awami League high ups and after years of political hibernation, he recently joined the Gano Forum.

As per Bangladesh's Constitution, a lawmaker would siege to be a parliament member if he or she violates the party decision or resigns from the party.

But Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the provision prescribed in the Constitution's Article 70 was inapplicable for Mansur as there was no lawmaker from Gano Forum in the parliament other than him.

"Therefore, nobody from Gano Forum can cancel his parliamentary membership," Alam said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
She is turning 60 this year and still doesn't have a single wrinkle.

Blonde or brunette, slender or curvy, black or white, princess or president, is a forever favourite for young girls, even if she has caused controversy over the years.

The iconic doll has evolved to keep up with the times -- check out her Twitter feed.

And despite fierce competition in the toy industry, 58 million Barbies are sold each year in more than 150 countries.

"In an industry where success today is three to five years, 60 years is a huge deal!" said Nathan Baynard, director of global brand marketing for

Around the world, is as universally known as Coca-Cola or McDonald's, Baynard said during a recent visit to Mattel's design studio in El Segundo, a suburb of Los Angeles.

In all, more than one billion Barbie dolls have been sold since she made her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959.

She was invented by Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, who was inspired by her own children to create the doll.

"Her daughter Barbara was limited in the choices of her toys -- the only ones were baby dolls," Baynard recounted.

"The only role she could imagine through that play was caregiver, mother," whereas Handler's son "could imagine being an astronaut, cowboy, pilot, surgeon." Barbie is, of course, a shortened version of Barbara.

The doll was supposed to teach girls "that they had choices, that they could be anything. In 1959, it was a radical idea!" Baynard said.

Barbie was an instant success. In the first year, 300,000 dolls were sold, he added.

From the start, Barbie's pinup measurements didn't immediately seem all that feminist and would spark criticism for decades to come.

"In 1959, her body structure was exaggerated to match the aesthetics of the time and the fabric available," said Barbie designer Carlyle Nuera.

Since the blonde beauty first hit stores, and after a torrent of complaints about what was seen as unrealistic proportions, Mattel has made many changes -- introducing multiple body types and dozens of skin tones.

MG Lord, the author of "Forever Barbie," also argued that the original criticisms were unwarranted.

"She is what the child wants her to be. How a child sees the Barbie doll is often framed by how the mother of that child feels about the idea of femininity," Lord told AFP.

"The problem here is not an 11.5-inch plastic object. The problem is the larger culture and the idea of femininity." In 1965, four years before Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, Barbie became an astronaut. In 1968, the first black Barbie doll, a friend named Christie, hit store shelves.

Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and global general manager for the Barbie brand, said that today, 55 per cent of the dolls sold around the world have neither blonde hair nor blue eyes.

Mattel has more than 100 people working in the El Segundo design studio, a massive hangar-like building wedged between Los Angeles International Airport and a freeway.

Designers begin with a simple sketch. From there on, every bit of a prototype is made by an army of experts -- from sculpting the doll using state-of-the-art software and 3D printing to painting the face, styling the hair, choosing fabrics and crafting the clothing patterns.

The entire design process for a new Barbie can last 12 to 18 months. Then, the prototype is sent from the California workshop to factories in China and Indonesia for mass production.

"Sometimes, you see her on a shelf and then it gets back to you: oh yes, I designed this one!" Nuera said with a smile.

Barbie is not only a toy store success -- she has a massive social media presence, and is something of an "influencer," with millions of followers.

She has an actual identity: Barbie Millicent Roberts, who hails from the made-up town of Willows in the Midwest.

And now, she speaks directly to girls about her life, and important current topics.

In 2018, the brand launched a sweeping campaign to help young girls close the so-called "Dream Gap" -- using Barbie to teach them to believe in themselves, and not to buy into sexist gender stereotypes.

Barbie has a hair stylist, makeup artist and photographer who travel with her "for real" in the United States and abroad for Instagram photo sessions (check out @barbiestyle). The account has nearly two million followers.

So, does Barbie have it all as she hits 60, but remains forever young, still single and without kids (so far)? "The narrative of the Barbie brand is that she's a young woman and she's independent and pursuing careers," McKnight said.
The two BJP lawmakers who had exchanged blows met the Uttar Pradesh party president here on Thursday to explain their conduct even as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath warned of strict action over the fracas.

But no immediate action has been announced against Sant Kabir Nagar MP Sharad Tripathi and Mehdawal MLA Rakesh Baghel, who fought at an official meeting.

A party leader said BJP state unit president Mahendra Nath Pandey told them sternly that they should have refrained from the behaviour they displayed at the district planning committee meeting in Sant Kabir Nagar on Wednesday evening.

The party leader said Pandey met the two separately for their versions and has also sought a report from state minister minister Ashutosh Tandon, who too was present at the meeting in Sant Kabir Nagar



The next course of action will be decided after getting the report, he said.

Earlier, at an event here, Adityanath said the BJP is a disciplined party.

Indiscipline will not be tolerated. In this particular case, strict action will be taken against the guilty," the chief minister said Thursday.

Pandey had summoned the two lawmakers to Lucknow after the fracas that was caught on tape, leaving the ruling party red-faced.

The two leaders had got into an argument at the meeting over taking credit for a newly laid road.

The opposition has mocked the Bharatiya Janata Party over the fight, with the Congress calling it the Bharatiya Joot (shoe) Party.

At Wednesday's meeting, after a brief exchange of words, Tripathi had got up from his seat and begun thrashing Baghel with his shoe.

The MLA reacted, landing a few blows on Tripathi.

Tripathi was apparently angry that his name was missing from the plaque marking the inauguration of the road in the district's Mehdawal area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Several explosions struck Thursday outside a ceremony in Kabul attended by Afghanistan's chief executive and the former president, both of whom were unharmed, officials said.

There was conflicting information as to the casualty figures in the immediate aftermath of the blasts.

A short while later, Health Ministry official Mohaibullah Zaeer said an initial check of Kabul's hospitals revealed three people have been killed and 32 wounded in the attack but he said the figures were not final.

Earlier, another official, who was at the ceremony, said seven people were killed and at least 10 were wounded. He spoke on condition of anonymity to talk to reporters. The different accounts on the casualties could not immediately be reconciled.

There was also no claim of responsibility for the explosions.

Nusrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the blasts were due to mortar shells being fired and that one person has been arrested. Rahimi declined to answer questions on casualties.

The ceremony was commemorating the 1995 death of prominent minority Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari, who was killed by the Taliban. Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai attended the gathering.

There were hundreds of people at the ceremony, said Azizullah Amini, who was in the audience at the commemoration, held at a huge hall on the western edge of Kabul, in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood.

Amini told The Associated Press he heard at least four explosions and that the hall shook as if something was slamming into the ground outside the building. The ceremony quickly ended as people were rattled by the blasts. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group stage near-daily attacks across Afghanistan, including in the capital of Kabul.

The IS affiliate has in the past often targeted the ethnic Hazaras, a mainly Shiite Muslim minority in Sunni majority Afghanistan. IS has declared war on Shiites, considering them heretics and attacking their mosques and educational institutions.

The militant group has often struck in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood, where Hazaras dominate. The Taliban, by contrast, have distanced themselves from attacks on Shiites in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, IS claimed responsibility for an attack on Wednesday on a construction company in eastern Nangarhar province that killed at least 17 people and triggered an hours-long gunbattle with Afghan forces, assisted by U.S. troops. The militant group on an affiliated website posted photographs of the two suicide bombers, both Afghan nationals.

The dawn assault started with a suicide bombing outside the gates of a construction company by the airport in Jalalabad, the provincial capital.

Afghan officials said a total of five attackers were involved and that all were killed, including two suicide bombers.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban waged a blistering four-hour battle with security forces on Wednesday night in northern Kunduz province, in the Qalay Zul district, killing seven policemen, according to Mohammad Yosuf Ayubi, chairman of the provincial council. Ayubi said 90 percent of the district is now in Taliban hands.

And early on Thursday, the Taliban killed four Afghan border patrol officers in western Herat province, near the border with Iran, said Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Attacks have continued in Afghanistan despite stepped-up US efforts to find a negotiated resolution of the 17-year war, America's longest.

US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is currently holding talks with the Taliban in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, where the insurgents have a political office. The latest round of talks is now in its second week, which has raised expectations that there could be some progress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Brazil's far right President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that "democracy and freedom only exist when the armed forces want them to" -- prompting a quick clarification from his vice president.

Former army captain Bolsonaro, 63, has spoken previously of his admiration for Brazil's military dictatorship from 1964-85.

Speaking at a ceremony for Rio de Janeiro's naval fusiliers, Bolsonaro said he has decided to govern "with good Brazilians, who love their homeland, who respect the family, who want to align with countries that share our ideology, those who love democracy and freedom."



But he added: "Democracy and freedom only exist when the armed forces want them to." Vice President Hamilton Mourao, a retired general, felt moved to parse his boss's remark.

"What the president said was that where the armed forces aren't involved in democracy and freedom, those values die," said Mourao.

"That's what's happened in Venezuela... that's what he wanted to say," added Mourao, who has proved a moderating voice in Bolsonaro's government, despite initial fears he was further to the right than the president.

It's not the first controversy sparked by Bolsonaro this week. He came under fire on Wednesday after publishing an obscene carnival video on Twitter showing a man urinating on another's head.

While Bolsonaro said he wanted to demonstrate how the country's carnival had got out of control, some accused him of disrespecting the dignity of his office in posting the 40-second clip.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To fast-track strategic sale of CPSEs, the Cabinet Thursday allowed the Alternative Mechanism to decide on the timing, price and quantum of shares of a state-run company to be put on the block for outright sale.

"The CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) has approved delegation of the following Alternative Mechanism in all the cases of strategic disinvestment of CPSEs where CCEA has given 'in-principle' approval for strategic disinvestment," an official statement said.

The Alternative Mechanism (AM) on strategic disinvestment was set up in 2017 and consists of the finance minister, the road transport and highways minister and the minister representing respective administrative department.

So far, the AM has decided on the terms and conditions of the sale from the stage of inviting of expressions of interest (EoIs) till inviting of financial bid.

With Thursday's decision, the panel has been permitted to take decisions on final pricing of the transaction, quantum of shares to be sold and the selection of strategic partner or buyer.

"This will facilitate quick decision-making and obviate the need for multiple instances of approval by CCEA for the same CPSE," the statement said after the Cabinet meeting, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As many as 35 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) have already been lined up for strategic sale.

The companies that have been shortlisted for strategic sale include Pawan Hans, Air India, Air India subsidiary AIATSL, Dredging Corporation of India, BEML, Scooters India, Bharat Pumps Compressors, and Bhadrawati, Salem and Durgapur units of steel major SAIL. The other CPSEs for which approvals are in place for outright sale include Hindustan Fluorocarbon, Hindustan Newsprint, HLL Life Care, Central Electronics, Bridge & Roof India, Nagarnar Steel plant of NMDC and units of Cement Corporation of India and ITDC.

The CCEA Thursday decided to allow the AM to decide on the quantum of shares to be transacted, mode of sale and final pricing of the transaction or lay down the principles or guidelines for such pricing, and the selection of strategic partner or buyer, terms and conditions of sale.

The AM will also decide on the proposals of the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment with regard to the timing, price, the terms and conditions of sale and any other related issue to the transaction.

Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Atanu Chakraborty had earlier said that his department is planning to streamline processes to cut down the "long winding" time for the outright sale of state-owned companies.

The government has set a target of raising Rs 80,000 crore from CPSE disinvestment, including by way of minority stake sale and strategic sale, in the current financial year. The same for the next fiscal has been budgeted at Rs 90,000 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government Thursday gave approval to the pact between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW).

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave ex-post facto approval of the memorandum of understanding signed in 2008 and renewed in 2014 between ICAI and ICAEW, said an official statement.

The pact will encourage more Indian chartered accountants to take up the recognition of ICAEW professional designation to further help them pursue professional opportunities in the UK, the statement added.

Besides, it will help in developing a mutually beneficial relationship in the best interest of members, students and their organisations.

The MoU apply to all qualified and experienced ICAEW and ICAl members irrespective of the syllabus they followed for their home body membership, the statement said.

The ICAI is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament of India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To boost hydro power generation, the government Thursday approved a slew of measures including providing renewable energy status for large hydel projects and new funding provisions.

Earlier, hydro projects up to 25 MW capacity were considered as renewables and were eligible for various incentives like financial assistance and cheaper credit.

With the government's decision, hydro projects above 25 MW can also avail the benefits.

"Union Cabinet approves a slew of measures to promote hydro power sector," an official statement said.

The Cabinet decision has also paved the way for adding hydro capacities of about 45 GW to the renewable energy basket of existing 74 GW which includes solar, wind and small hydro.

India is aiming 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. With addition of large hydro to clean energy segment, India is poised to have 225 GW of renewable energy by 2022.

With the new measures, large hydro projects (LHPs) would be allowed back loading (reducing) of tariff after increasing project life to 40 years, increasing debt repayment period to 18 years and introducing escalating tariff of 2 per cent.

At present, hydro power tariff is expensive than other sources. These measure would help rationalise the tariff by hydro power projects.

Also, LHPs would now be able to sell renewable energy certificates under non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) to discoms.

Discoms are required to either purchase specified proportion of renewable energy or buy renewable energy certificates in lieu of that.

After notification of these measure, the Hydro Purchase Obligation (HPO) as a separate system within non-solar RPO will cover LHPs. Small hydro projects are already covered under non-solar RPO.

The Cabinet also approved funding for enabling infrastructure like roads and bridges of Rs 1.5 crore per MW for projects up to 200 MW and Rs one crore per MW for projects above 200 MW.

The statement noted that discoms are reluctant to sign Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for hydro power due to higher tariff, particularly, in the initial years.

One of the reasons for high tariff of hydropower is the loading of cost of flood moderation and enabling infrastructure in the project cost.

In this backdrop, the decision has been taken to adopt measures to promote hydropower sector including providing budgetary support for flood moderation cost and enabling infrastructure cost and tariff rationalization measures to reduce tariff and thus the burden on the consumer, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Union Cabinet Thursday approved three out of six corridors of the Delhi Metro's proposed Phase IV, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said.

According to the government, corridors of Mukundpur-Maujpur, RK Ashram-Janakpuri West and Aero City-Tughlakabad have been approved by the Cabinet.

There will be 17 underground and 29 elevated stations in the three corridors whose total length will be 61.679 km.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Union Of Ghana Student has urged all students in the country to always live the dreams of our forefathers. In a statement; NUGS encouraged Ghanaian students to continue to cherish our Freedom and empower one another in peace and unity.



Read full statement below =



Today marks an important day in the history of not just our Motherland Ghana but Africa as whole. Exactly 62 years ago, Ghana gained her Independence from British colonial rule and brought an end to several decades of direct control and influence by the imperialist and colonialist power.



Throughout history, students have continually played substantive roles in the fight for freedom and justice and also in resisting oppressors rule. This is evident in the fight for the establishment of the National Service Scheme, Students Loan Trust Fund, GETFUND among others.



Today, the National Union of Ghana Students wishes to encourage Ghana students to continue to cherish our freedom, empower one another in peace and unity. We must hold our independence with the spirit that ensures we moved forward and not backward in our achievements for the continent.



As students, we must not fail the future, we must not fail the next generation, we must continue to shape the politics and policies of today to benefit the future of students and youth who will take over for us.



As Ghanaian Students, let us continue to protect the freedom and integrity our founding fathers fought hard for and fight to make Ghana a better place for all. Forward remains our watch word.



God bless our Homeland, Ghana!



Aluta Continua, Victoria Ascerta





Signed





Kobby Otchere Marfo



Press & Information Secretary, NUGS



Tinkaro Asare Osei



President, NUGS

Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The government on Thursday approved an investment of Rs 25,816.1 crore for two thermal power projects and a hydro electric plant.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) cleared a proposal for investment of Rs 10,439.09 crore for 1320 MW Buxar Thermal Power Project in Bihar, an official statement said.

The CCEA, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved an investment of Rs 11,089.42 crore for 1320 MW Khurja Super Thermal Power Plant in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh and Amelia Coal Mine in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh.

The government also approved an investment of Rs 4,287.59 crore for construction of Kiru Hydro Electric Project (624 MW) on river Chenab in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Union Cabinet Thursday approved an agreement between India and Germany on cooperation in the field of occupational safety and health, an official statement said.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was renewed in November last year.

The collaboration till date has immensely helped in adopting the modern training techniques and tools on various aspects of occupational safety and health (OSH) in different sectors of economic activity, the release said.

Under the MoU, the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) through the International Social Security Association (ISSA) is bringing in the know-how to meet OSH challenges, especially in the construction and manufacturing sector.

"Also, it will benefit the large work force by improving their safety and health, and preventing occupational injuries and diseases," it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Union Cabinet Thursday approved a pact with Germany for cooperation in the field of occupation safety and health.

The cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Germany on cooperation in the field of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), an official statement said.

The MoU was renewed on November 13, 2018. The collaboration till date has immensely helped in adopting modern training techniques and tools on various aspects of OSH in different sectors of economic activity, it added.

Under the MoU, German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) through the International Social Security Association (ISSA) is bringing in know-how to meet the OSH challenges, especially in the construction and manufacturing sector. Also, it will benefit the large workforce by improving their safety and health, and preventing occupational injuries and diseases.

The cooperation is expected to result in capacity building of Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), the technical arm and attached office of Ministry of Labour, India and Chief Inspector of Factories Officers (CIFs) in the field of OSH; strengthening of inspection system for meeting emerging challenges; upgradation of laboratories for carrying out applied research in the area of OSH; development of OSH standards and development in safety culture for enhancing the well-being of the Indian workforce.

Meanwhile, another official statement said the Labour Ministry has signed an MoU with SIMTARS, Australia for cooperation in occupational safety.

The Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) and Safety in Mines, Testing and Research Station (SIMTARS) propose to explore opportunities including the feasibility of technical knowledge sharing in the area of occupational safety, health and welfare of persons engaged in mining operations, among others.

The MoU was signed Thursday between Utpal Saha, Director General Mines Safety on behalf of the Ministry of Labour and Employment and Gitesh Agrawal, Queensland Trade and Investment Commissioner on behalf of SIMTARS, Queensland Government, Australia.

SIMTARS is a premier training and research institution under the Government of Queensland, Australia and is comprised of professionals from various disciplines of occupational safety, health and environment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Centre Thursday approved a proposal to constitute a committee, under the chairmanship of Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, to recommend a process to confer ownership or transfer rights to residents of unauthorised colonies here.

The move, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, is likely to provide major relief to 30 per cent of Delhi's population who live in unauthorised colonies amid a constant fear of action by authorities.

The 10-member committee will submit its report within 90 days.

The Delhi Development Authority's vice-chairman, the Union housing and urban affairs ministry's additional secretary, Delhi chief secretary and commissioners of all three municipal corporations are among those in the committee.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The Cabinet approves a proposal to constitute a committee to recommend process for conferring ownership or transfer rights to residents of unauthorised colonies in Delhi," the government said in a statement.

There are over 1,650 unauthorised colonies in the national capital where migrant population plays a vital role in deciding the fate of any political party during elections.

Speaking to reporters here, Union Minister Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "delaying" the process of regularising unauthorised colonies.

Reacting to the Union Cabinet's decision, Kejriwal sought to know what the BJP was doing in the last five years over the issue and alleged that they (the BJP) do the same thing before every election and later, forget their promises.

According to the terms of reference for the committee, it will suggest a process and mechanism for conferring or recognising rights of ownership or transfer or mortgage to the residents of unauthorised colonies and consequential benefits.

It will also recommend measures, including revision, if any, in urban planning and development control norms, to ensure redevelopment for improving living conditions in these colonies.

The panel will recommend the roles and responsibilities of all agencies concerned.

It has also been asked to suggest a methodology for conferment of ownership or transfer rights to residents including eligibility and conditions for regulation of the beneficiaries.

The 10-member panel will also set out the procedure and timelines and terms for granting and recognising of such rights, besides providing a definitive time-frame for completing this exercise.

Last month, Union Minister Puri had written to Kejriwal, saying the whole process of regularising unauthorised colonies in Delhi was stalled due to "apathy and inaction" of the AAP government, which vehemently rejected his claim.

In the letter to the chief minister, Puri had cited reports involving a charge sheet against Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendra Jain as he was regularising these colonies.

He had also cited another media report in which Kejriwal alleged that if the BJP comes to power again at the Centre, it will "demolish" unauthorised colonies.

"I have allowed sufficient time to lapse in the hope that there would be some clarification from your side at the patent misinformation being spread. Since, that is not forthcoming, I will put on record the facts as they are," Puri had said in the letter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a bid to boost regional air connectivity, the Cabinet Thursday approved a proposal to "revive and develop" a number of "un-served and under-served airports" across the country at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore.

"Cabinet approves revival and development of un-served and under-served air strips of state governments, Airports Authority of India (AAI), civil enclaves, Central Public Sector Units (CPSU), helipads and water aerodromes," a government statement read.

According to the statement, the government would spend Rs 4,500 crore on the entire exercise.

"As an outcome, small cities/towns shall be connected on commencement of operation of flights to under-served/un-served airports," the statement said.

The government said the move will further boost economic development in these cities or towns as well as surrounding areas in terms of job creation and related infrastructure development.

The regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying affordable.

The revival of airports under UDAN is demand driven, depending on firm commitment from airlines and state governments for providing various concessions.

"Under UDAN phase 1 and phase 2, 56 unserved airports are to be operationalised. Out of these 56 airports, 23 airports have been operationalised. Under UDAN 3, routes connecting 13 unique unserved airports have been awarded on January 25, 2019," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha had told the Rajya Sabha on February 13.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After building a social network that turned into a surveillance system, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he's shifting his company's focus to messaging services designed to serve as fortresses of privacy.

Instead of just being the network that connects everyone, Facebook wants to encourage small numbers of individuals to carry on encrypted conversations that neither Facebook nor any other outsider can read.

It also plans to let messages automatically disappear, a feature pioneered by its rival Snapchat that could limit the risks posed by a trail of social media posts that follow people throughout their lives.

It's a major bet by Zuckerberg, who sees it as a way to push Facebook more firmly into a messaging market that's growing faster than its main social networking business.

It might also help Facebook ward off government regulators, although the Facebook CEO made clear that he expects the company's messaging business to complement, not replace, its core businesses.

But there are plenty of obstacles. Facebook has weathered more than two years of turbulence for repeated privacy lapses, spreading disinformation, allowing Russian agents to conduct targeted propaganda campaigns and a rising tide of hate speech and abuse.

Zuckerberg submitted to two days of grilling on Capitol Hill last April. All that increases the challenge of convincing users that Facebook really means it about privacy this time.

Encrypted conversations could alleviate some of those problems, but it could make others worse. Security is an "admirable goal," said Forrester Research analyst Fatemeh Khatibloo.

"I'm just not sure it addresses the bigger issues Facebook is facing right now." Facebook grew into a colossus by vacuuming up peoples' information in every possible way and dissecting it to shoot targeted ads back at them.

Anything that jeopardizes that machine could pose a major threat to the company's share price, which would also affect its ability to attract and retain talented engineers and other employees.

In a Wednesday interview with The Associated Press, Zuckerberg predicted Facebook's emphasis on privacy will do more to help the company's business than hurt it. While most of the stock market slipped in Wednesday trading, Facebook's shares gained $1.25 to close at USD 172.51.

The Facebook CEO has been telegraphing some of these changes to investors for the past six months, but his Wednesday blog post is the first time he has explained the idea to the more than two billion people that use Facebook's services and look at its ads.

Those ads are expected to generate $67 billion in revenue this year, according to the research firm eMarketer.

If everything falls into place, Facebook will also display similar advertising on the privacy-protected messaging services. Those services are also likely to offer other moneymaking features, such as a digital wallet, as Facebook attempts to build something similar to Tencent's popular WeChat service in Asia.

"If you think about your life, you probably spend more time communicating privately than publicly," Zuckerberg said in his AP interview. "The overall opportunity here is a lot larger than what we have built in terms of Facebook and Instagram." That's far from proven.

While Facebook has already tried to show ads in the Messenger app, it's seen only limited success, and hasn't even tested the concept in WhatsApp since it acquired that service for $22 billion in 2014.

"There are some huge unknowns about how successful Facebook is going to be rolling advertising into a more private messaging environment," said eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

Some critics are convinced that Facebook has become so powerful even a threat to democracy as well as to people's privacy that it needs to be reined in by tougher regulations or even a corporate breakup.

But unraveling Facebook could become more difficult if Zuckerberg can successfully stitch together the messaging services behind an encrypted wall.

"I see that as the goal of this entire thing," said Blake Reid, a University of Colorado law professor who specializes in technology and policy. He said Facebook could tell antitrust authorities that WhatsApp, Instagram Direct and Facebook Messenger are tied so tightly together that it couldn't unwind them.

Combining the three services also lets Facebook build more complete data profiles on all of its users. Already, businesses can already target Facebook and Instagram users with the same ads, and marketing campaigns are likely coming to WhatsApp eventually.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There is always the next Avengers movie to satiate the never-dying hunger for costumed saviours but "Captain Marvel", the first female superhero stand-alone from Marvel Studios, is set to make a timely landing in the post #MeToo era in Hollywood.

DC may have had the first-mover advantage with "Wonder Woman", but "Captain Marvel" will benefit from the changing gender politics and probably carry the momentum forward for "Wonder Woman: 1984".

They may be arch rivals but what unites Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman is intent.

The two studios are catering to female audience, especially in the superhero genre, where women characters were subjected to "fridging", a term used to describe the female characters of superhero films where they are generally relegated in parts of supporting lover.

But Brie Larson's heroine is no damsel-in-distress.

And what makes "Captain Marvel" special that it has many firsts to its credit.

It is the first Marvel female superhero movie, steered by an Oscar-winning actor, equally known for being a vocal women's rights activist. It is also the first time a female director, Anna Boden, is driving a superhero film in Marvel's stable with her "equal" collaborator of 20 years, Ryan Fleck.

Larson, in an interview in Singapore, had told PTI that the film gave her a bigger platform to talk about feminism, a cause close to her heart.

"I feel so lucky that I made my first blockbuster movie and I just get to talk about feminism all day. I never would have thought that was like a possibility for me. That's like my dream," the actor said last month.

Boden said as challenging as directing the film was, it was also empowering to be at the helm of a big studio production.

She, however, hoped that there comes a time when a female director for a superhero film becomes a norm rather than an exception.

"It's 2019... And everybody here looks for the day when it is not newsworthy that a woman is directing this kind of movie," she said at press conference in Singapore.

The theatrical release in India and the US on International Women's Day is an obvious move but the film is clear in its projection and reflection of a world that is going through campaigns like Time's Up.

But the risks, no matter how calculated, cannot be ignored.

It is the first attempt at a studio film as big as Marvel for the directors, who have indie, character-driven films like "Half Nelson" and "Mississippi Grind" to their credit.

Shouldering a stand-alone introductory film of a female hero in the aftermath of Harvey Weinstein scandal is a big responsibility.

The director duo said they did an "all expenses paid" course at 'Marvel University', where they were supported by the team well-versed with the MCU history, which was an unfamiliar terrain for them.

Despite the training, directing "Captain Marvel" was a "scary and humbling" experience for Boden though the directors don't feel any obligation towards "Endgame" where Captain Marvel is already set to play a integral role as the post-credit scenes in "Infinity War" revealed.

"Honestly, since they won't tell us anything about 'Avengers' They have a lock and key on that, we feel no commitment and responsibility to that movie at all. We're just focused on our movie," she told PTI.

The film spells out its goal, clearly aided by dialogues that check all the trending words - feminism, female representation, diversity, racism and xenophobia moulded in signature Marvel-esque humour.

The world of "Captain Marvel" is populated by Samuel L Jackson's younger, simpler Nick Fury; multi-layered women in Gemma Chan's no-nonsense Min-Nerva, Lashana Lynch's instinctive Maria, Annette Bening's double stunner, Jude Law's focused Yon-Rogg and Ben Mendelsohn's Talos who one ends up rooting for.

But what helps the film most is Larson's earnestness as the new hero on the horizon, who is capable of taking on Thanos in "Endgame".

The film has its flaws like the character herself, but she is a suitable role model for female fans of superhero genre.

All in all, a Marvel fan will walk out from the theatres with lots of trivia and '90s nostalgia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The CBIC Thursday clarified on the vexed issue of levy of GST on sales promotion schemes like 'buy one get one free' offered by FMCG firms, saying taxes would be paid on the price recovered from the customer.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), under the Finance Ministry, said that in case of offers like Buy one, Get one free' it may appear at first glance that one item is being supplied free of cost' without any consideration.

"In fact it is not an individual supply of free goods but a case of two or more individual supplies where a single price is being charged for the entire supply. It can at best be treated as supplying two goods for the price of one'," the CBIC said.

PwC Partner and Leader Indirect Tax Pratik Jain said it has been clarified that 'under buy one get one' scheme, GST would be paid on the price recovered from the customer without reversing the input credit.

With regard to free samples and gifts', like in the pharmaceutical industry to provide drug samples to their stockists, dealers and medical practitioners without any consideration, the CBIC said this shall not be treated as supply under GST and hence will not be liable to tax.

"Samples which are supplied free of cost, without any consideration, not qualify as supply under GST," the CBIC said.

Under Goods and Services Tax law supply includes all forms of supply of goods or services such as sale, transfer, barter, rental, lease or disposal made or agreed to be made for a consideration by a person in the course of furtherance of business.

Jain said the clarification on tax treatment of sales promotion schemes under GST is a welcome relief particularly for FMCG and Pharma, where these promotional schemes are very common.

"The clarification would help in reducing avoidable litigation and is line with global practice," he added.

EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said, "The explicit clarification on availability of credit on goods supplied under 'Buy One Get One Scheme' would be quite welcome by most industry players.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhiites will get to experience wildlife safari soon, with the central government Thursday saying a city forest or eco park will be developed at the closed site of Badarpur Thermal Power Station at a cost of Rs 343 crore.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the city forest will be provided with unique herbivore and carnivore safari.

Talking to reporters here, Puri said the ecological project will be spread across 884 at the closed site of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in Badarpur.

According to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, the NTPC power plant is closed since October 15, 2018.

"The city forest or eco park will be developed in 24 months," Puri said.

Delhi Development Authority (DDA) Vice-Chairman Tarun Kapoor said the NTPC will develop an eco-park on its area, which will be handed over to an appropriate agency in consultation with the ministry after development.

Besides, the government will develop 'Bharat Vandana Park' in Dwarka Sector 20 based on the mini-India concept, which will have cuisines from different states, an aquarium and recreation zones.

Kapoor said the tentative cost of 'Bharat Vandana Park' is Rs 446 crore and the project will be executed in 24 months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Firing a fresh salvo at the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, disgruntled BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on Thursday termed as shameful the submission made before the Supreme Court that documents pertaining to the Rafale deal had gone missing.

Talking to reporters here after emerging from the residence of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, Sinha urged that no political meanings be attached to the courtesy call, even as he remarked that the turnout at the Prime Ministers rally in the city earlier this week was nowhere near the crowd that had gathered at the Gandhi Maidan at rallies organized by the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad in the 1990s.

Sinha refused to make any remark against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U) and would be fighting the Lok Sabha polls as an NDA partner, saying he is like my younger brother. I have never spoken against him and am not going to do so now.

Expressing resentment that for Modis rally he was neither invited nor his images figured on the posters, the Patna Sahib MP also mocked BJP national president Amit Shah, saying he is fond of making claims of prachand bahumat (thumping majority) before every election though quite often results prove to be otherwise.

Refusing to reveal his cards, the actor-turned-politician however added the time has come for decisions. The outcome will be there for all to see even as he reaffirmed as far as my constituency is concerned, Patna Sahib will remain my first and last choice.

At a time when there is so much of spotlight on the Rafale deal, the claim that documents have gone missing from the office of the defence ministry is shameful. I strongly condemn this, Sinha said.

Asked about the oppositions attacks on the prime minister for alleged irregularities in the defence deal, he said it is the norm it is the leader who receives the bouquets as well as the brickbats.

About the partys prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls wherein claims have been made that the NDA would win all the 40 seats in Bihar, he remarked these things are said to enthuse the cadre. Our party president Amit Shah is also very fond of uttering the phrase prachand bahumat. He made the claim during the recent assembly polls which was won by the Congress. He made similar claim in Bihar assembly polls of 2015, which was won by the Mahagathbandhan.

He had claimed a two-third majority for the BJP in Delhi assembly. We ended up winning two or three seats, enough to ride on a single scooter while Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal made a clean sweep, Sinha remarked.

Wait for a month, it will become clear which way the wind is blowing at present, the actor-politician popularly known as "Bihari Babu" added.

He also denounced leaders like Shah, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh and Yogi Adityanath for having come out with varying figures of casualties in the Balakot airstrikes without any proper basis.

It is essential that they come out with some concrete details to boost the morale of the nation. Something which could convince the people of the country that something tangible has been achieved. Many countries in the world have done so, Sinha remarked.

About his meeting with Rabri Devi, Sinha pointed out I had met Lalu in Ranchi last week. He is a family friend. So it was imperative that when I come here I meet either his wife or children. My visit should be seen in the same light and no political meanings should be attached.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) has said Ghana can no longer blame its setbacks on anyone else but itself.



Today, we are responsible for the actions and inactions to our cause, it stated in a message to commemorate Ghanas 62nd Independence anniversary which falls today.



The message by the partys leader and National Chairman, Prof. Edmund Delle, noted that poverty, illiteracy, disease, joblessness, homelessness were still with us.



He said there were and still were acts of treachery from among our own, while we endured imprisonments, abuses , brutalities, loss of property and life.



He, however, said while we were still grappling with these challenges the narrative could not be the same saying,  No more can we blame our setbacks on anyone else but ourselves.



He said it was time to shun the elements that might threaten our peace such as intolerance, greed, abuse of power and disrespecting the views of others.



He said the unitary form of government and maintenance of political pluralism had allowed for the expression of all manner of views, including unethical and reprehensible ones.



As Ghana turns 62 years today from the year of her birth in 1957, Prof. Delle said the CPP remembered the struggles of the leadership and membership of the CPP and the nation had to endure to achieve independence for Ghana.



He said the CPP was the first to break the yoke of Britains imperial control and hardly had any example to follow and yet triumphed with determination.



He said the CPP wished every Ghanaian a hearty and reflective celebration saying, the battles fought were never easy, and the battles we have waged since then have not been easy.



We pray that Ghana identifies and sticks to her mandate as the hope of Africa. May we find inspiration in the deeds of our forebears for ours. May we learn from the mistakes of our forebears to avert ours. May we learn to live lives that would inspire generations following us, the message concluded.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
China Thursday "commended" its close ally Pakistan for showing restraint after the terror attack and urged New Delhi and Islamabad to refrain from aggravating the situation as Beijing weighed its options to take a stand on the fresh move in the to declare JeM chief as a global terrorist.

China on Wednesday despatched its Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou to Islamabad to defuse the Indo-Pak tensions.

Kong held in-depth talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, besides Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, regarding the Indo-Pak tensions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media in Beijing.

In Islamabad, Pakistan's Foreign Office said that both Pakistan and China reaffirmed their "time-tested and all weather strategic cooperative partnership".

"Pakistan thanked China for its steadfast support. Vice Foreign Minister was briefed on Pakistan's efforts to resolve all issues with India through dialogue," the FO said in a statement.

"He underscored that Pakistan and China are close friends and partners. He reiterated China's support to Pakistan for peace and stability in the region. He also acknowledged Pakistan's measures against terrorism," it said.

Both sides noted with satisfaction the strong bonds in their bilateral relations and agreed to further enhance cooperation and coordination at all levels, the FO statement added.

Kong's visit coincides with the US, the UK and French application in the 1267 counter committee of the UNSC to declare Azhar as a global terrorist. If listed by the committee, Azhar would face a global travel ban and asset freeze. JeM has already been banned by the UN.

China thrice blocked efforts to list Azhar as a global terrorist by the UNSC by putting up technical holds. However, expectations are high that Beijing may take a different stand this time considering JeM has admitted its role in the attack. Also, China's relations with India improved after the first informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in Wuhan last year.

In an interview early this week, Qureshi said the Pakistan government will consult all parties before approaching China while responding to a question whether Islamabad would request Beijing to veto the proposal to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the UNSC.

While Lu has not stated whether the issue figured in Kong's talks with the Pakistani leaders, official Chinese sources told PTI in Beijing that China is trying to work out a solution acceptable to both India and Pakistan to permanently resolve the issue.

In his talks with Pakistani leaders and officials, Kong "stressed that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners," Lu said.

"We commend that Pakistan has been restrained and calm and tried to ease the tension. He also stressed that China believes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a country should be upheld. We are not willing to see any action that is violating international law," Lu said.

"China calls on both Pakistan and India to refrain from aggravating the situation, to uphold regional peace and stability through dialogue at an early date," he said, adding that China will continue to play a constructive role.

He said, "Pakistan also appreciates China's unbiased attitude and Pakistan also stressed that it is not willing to see rising tensions. It is willing to resolve the problem with India and hopes that China and other members of the international community can play a constructive role in this process."



Asked whether Kong in his talks with Pakistan leaders raised the question of emanating from Pakistani soil and the need to eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorism, Lu said, "so the major concern is the security situation in the region. Recently a lot has happened in this region and there are many issues. China has stated our position."



"The first, the sovereignty and territorial integrity should be upheld. And as to specific issue like whether we believe, we should take positive measures to ease the tensions, so as to maintain peace and stability in this region. This is a general issue," he said.
Chinese telecom giant Huawei said Thursday it was suing the United States for barring government agencies from buying the telecom company's equipment and services.

Huawei said the suit was filed in a US District Court in Plano, Texas, challenging a 2019 US defence bill that prevents US government agencies from buying Huawei equipment and services, as well as working with third parties that are Huawei customers.

The lawsuit is Huawei's latest attempt to fight back against US warnings that the company could serve as a Trojan horse for China's intelligence services.

"The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Huawei's rotating chairman Guo Ping said in a statement.

"If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks." The United States says Huawei equipment could be manipulated by China's Communist government to spy on other countries and disrupt critical communications.

Washington is urging governments to shun the company just as the world readies for the advent of ultra-fast 5G telecommunications, an advancement that Huawei was expected to lead and which will allow wide adoption of next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence.

Huawei has responded with an aggressive PR campaign to counter the US warnings, with reclusive founder Ren Zhengfei denying the fears in a series of foreign media interviews.

The charm offensive went into another gear Wednesday as Huawei welcomed organisations on a tightly guarded tour of its massive production lines and research and development facilities in southern Guangdong province.

Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, Ren's daughter, faces potential extradition from Canada to the United States over charges of Iran sanctions violations.

The US Justice Department accuses Huawei and Meng of circumventing US sanctions against Iran. Two affiliates also have been charged with stealing trade secrets from telecommunications group T-Mobile.

Meng faces a May 8 hearing in Vancouver, where she was arrested while changing planes.

Two Canadians have been detained in China in suspected retaliation over her arrest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad Thursday alleged "match-fixing" between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack, prompting the BJP to accuse the opposition party of "stooping to a new low" and claiming that he spoke at the instance of Rahul Gandhi.

"If you look at the chain of events that have taken place after Pulwama, it looks like Narendra Modi had a match-fixing with the Pakistani people," he said.

His remarks drew condemnation from the BJP, which said the Congress leader has crossed all limits of decency by insulting the armed forces with such "obnoxious" remarks and that the party has no future under its chief Rahul Gandhi.

Hariprasad's remarks came after Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that Gandhi neither believes the Indian Air Force nor the Supreme Court verdict and asked if he needed a certificate from Pakistan about the Rafale fighter aircraft.

The Congress president believes Pakistan more than Indian forces and its leaders, Prasad said.

Hariprasad hit back saying, "Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad should clarify whether there is any match-fixing between Pakistan and Mr Narendra Modi. Otherwise, without their knowledge this Pulwama incident would not have taken place."



Prasad hit back at the Congress leader, saying it is a day of "great pain" for the country that the Congress "could stoop so low for political gains".

"Congress leader B K Hariprasad says there is collusion between Modi and Imran Khan behind air strikes. He crossed all limits of decency and propriety...He has dishonoured the country and its army. They have insulted forces and martyrdom of 40 CRPF personnel. The entire world condemns obnoxious statement and the Congress has no future under Rahul's leadership," Prasad said.

"I do not seek any apology from Congress because people of India will respond to these insulting statements. These comments are not accidental but designed and directed on instance of Gandhi," the union minister and BJP leader also said.

The statement came on a day when Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked the prime minister over the Rafale deal alleging that he delayed the aircraft purchase and there should be a probe against him.

The BJP and the Congress have been engaged in a slinging match over the events in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, including the air strike carried out by the IAF on a terrorist camp in Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sparking a major row, senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad Thursday alleged there was a "match fixing" between prime minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on the Pulwama terror attack.

"There is a match fixing between Narendra Modi and Imran Khan, or else this Pulwama incident would not have taken place," Prasad, a Rajya Sabha member, told reporters here.

BJP in Karnataka sharply reacted to Hariprasad's charge, calling it irresponsible and saying he should be ashamed of making such statements.

Hariprasad's comments came while reacting to union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the "stolen" Rafale papers.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi asked why a probe cannot be ordered against Modi for a "Rs 30,000-crore scam" when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents related to the fighter jet deal.

Hitting back, Prasad said: "I totally condemn blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi. He does not believe the Indian Air Force, does not trust the Supreme Court verdict that clearly said there is no commercial impropriety in the (Rafale) procurement process. He does not believe the CAG."



Coming down on the union government, Hariprasad sought to know how the huge cache of RDX went undetected when the government agencies could find beef at different places.

"People who talk about the security of the nation, they can detect two kg of beef from Akhlaq's house, they can detect two kg of beef in Kerala guest house, they can't detect 350 kg of RDX on the national highway. It's a shame on them," he said.

BJP state general secretary and MLC N Ravikumar slammed Hariprasad for his remarks.

"This is a highly condemnable, irresponsible statement. He should be ashamed of making such statements. Where had he mortgaged his brain before making such a statement," he said.

He blamed the Congress for terrorism in the country.

Forty CRPF jawans were killed in a suicide attack carried on their convoy in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, for which Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility.

Indian Air Force had carried out pre-emptive strikes on the training camps of terrorists inside the Pakistan soil.

The attack had escalated tension between Pakistan and India.

Hariprasad is not new to controversies. Earlier in January, he had mocked BJP national president Amit Shah's illness when the latter was admitted to the AIIMS for contracting H1N1.

Addressing a meeting here, Prasad had said in Kannada that Amit Shah got the 'swine flu' because he tried to destabilise the Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A case was registered in Andhra Pradesh on a data theft complaint by the ruling TDP and a SIT set up to probe it while Telangana police said sensitive data related to the state was also found in the possession of the Hyderabad-based IT company which has been booked by it.

The case was registered in Amaravati by Andhra Pradesh police on a counter complaint by TDP alleging "a conspiracy" by YSR Congress leaders and followers and some police officials of Telangana with the aim of "stealing" data belonging to it.

The Andhra Pradesh government also set up a 9-member special investigation team, headed by Additional Director General of Police-rank IPS officer N Balasubrahmanyam, to probe the alleged data theft that has now become a major contentious issue between the two neighbouring states.

In Hyderabad, the Special Investigation Team probing alleged theft of data of voters in Andhra Pradesh by the IT firm Thursday said senstive data related to Telangana was also found in the private company's possession.

A day after it was set up, the SIT took over the two cases filed by Hyderabad and Cyberabad police against IT Grids India Pvt Ltd'for alleged 'theft of data' of voters through "Seva Mitra" mobile app, used by the TDP in Andhra Pradesh.

"Data related to Telangana also has been found. Investigation will be made to know how they got Telangana data.. What was the need. We have suspicion they may have manipulated, " Inspector General of Police (West Zone) Stephen Raveendra, who is heading the Telangana SIT,told reporters in Hyderabad.

He said Telangana police has jurisdiction to probe the cases.

The Cyberabad police had on March 2 registered a case against the company and conducted searches at its office here based on a complaint by a data analyst.

The complainant had alleged that the company misused personal information and sensitive data of voters in Andhra Pradesh through the 'Seva Mitra' mobile app.

Later, the Hyderabad Police also registered a case on a complaint which alleged that several names of persons staying in Hyderabad but are natives of Andhra Pradesh had been deleted from voter list.

According to police, preliminary investigation revealed that the company got illegal access to personal and sensitive data of individuals such as Aadhaar, electoral roll, government schemes and voters information related to various political parties, which can be misused for illegal purposes.

The case is very technical and complex,Ravindra said adding "We will identify who is the key person in the case".

Reacting to a question on D Ashok, CEO of the company, against whom Look out Circular (LOC) has been issued, the IGP said they would nab him.

"We will find out where Ashok is... whether Amaravati or America and catch him," he said.

Four teams have been formed to nab Ashok, after he "failed" to appear before Cyberabad Police despite being summoned as part of the probe into the case.

Andhra Pradesh Principal Secretary (Home) A R Anuradha in an order said the state SIT will investigate the case that was registered with the Tulluru police in the Amaravati capital region.

The case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code was registered Thursday based on a petition filed late Wednesday night by TDP state unit president K Kala Venkata Rao.

He had alleged that a conspiracy was hatched by YSR Congress leaders and followers and some senior police officials of Telangana government "with an object of stealing the data belonging to the Telugu Desam Party."



The objective, according to the petition, was to cripple the party activities and also intimidate the cadre with an ultimate aim of furthering the political prospects of opposition YSRC.

Rao also alleged that they (YSRC leaders and Telangana police officials) conspired to engineer en-masse requests for deletion of names from the voters' list, which was established by several applications being generated from same IP addresses.

In view of the above facts, the government has decided to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for further investigation, as the investigation of the case has interstate ramification and it requires lots of technical expertise, the Principal Secretary said in her order.

The AP SIT includes four IPS officers.

Earlier, the TDP government has dismissed the charge of data theft and sought transfer of the case from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh while chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has accused BJP and TRS of helping YSRC.

TRS working president K T Rama Rao had said Telangana police was only probing the charges as per a complaint and asked Naidu why he should fear a probe if he had not done anything wrong.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Thursday claimed Delhiites were "very disappointed" with the Centre's decision to approve only three of the proposed six corridors under the Metro Phase-IV project, wondering why the Modi government was "so much against the people of Delhi".

Kejriwal said there should be no over Delhi's development.

Earlier in the day, the Union Cabinet approved three -- Mukundpur-Maujpur, R K Ashram-Janakpuri West and Aero City-Tughlakabad -- of the six corridors proposed under Metro Phase-IV.

The other three proposed corridors not yet approved by the Union Cabinet are: Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Inderlok-Indraprastha and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block.

"People of Delhi v disappointed that Centre has decided to approve only 3 of the 6 corridors. Why is Modi govt so much against the people of Delhi?



"Why does Modi govt create obstacles in every project? There shud be no wid Delhi's development. Delhi is nation's capital (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted.

His cabinet colleague and Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot also expressed disappointment, saying no reasons were given as to why the three corridors were not approved.

"I hope that the Union cabinet will approve the remaining three corridors as well at an early date," he said in a statement.

However, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta welcomed the central government's decision ro approve the three corridors.

"Despite Kejriwal Government's obstacles during the last four years of its rule, the Union Cabinet today under the Chairmanship of PM Modi takes the historical decisions with regard to unauthorized colonies and Metro Phase-IV (sic)," Gupta tweeted.

Asked why the government did not approve the three other corridors, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters there was an urgent need for mobilisation of resources as the fourth phase of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was already delayed.

These corridors will be approved later, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rapper-actor Awkwafina says it would be unfair to dismiss diversity as a mere "trend".

The term has both Hollywood and social media abuzz and the 29-year-old artiste believes inclusion is here to stay.

"I think that there's a progressive shift in Hollywood right now. People's diversity is not a trend. Diversity is something that's just here to stay.

"The projects that I have been in were very reflective of that and I'm very lucky to have been on those sets," Awkwafina told The Hollywood Reporter.

She is currently working on the show "Awkwafina" that tracks her days as a young millennial in her real-life turf Queens, New York.

She said the Comedy Central show is equipped with an all-female writers room.

Awkwafina also starred in 2018's hit "Crazy Rich Asians", which was an all-Asian cast ensemble.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Teachers' associations at DU and JNU on Thursday welcomed the government decision to bring an ordinance on reservation mechanism for appointment of faculties in universities.

Earlier Thursday, Union minister Arun Jaitley said the Cabinet has cleared an ordinance on the matter.

Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar earlier this week said the Centre was committed to restoring the reservation roster in educational institutions following a series of protests on the issue by various students' and teachers' organisations.

They had been urging the government to bring an ordinance to restore the 200-point roster taking college or university as a unit for reservation in teaching posts.

The Delhi University Teachers' Association said the "overdue cabinet decision" to bring in a law through an ordinance to restore the college/department -wise 200-point roster is a victory.

"It is a victory for the principled struggle of the DUTA, the principled struggles carried on by various groups for social justice and inclusive and the coming together of all of us notwithstanding differences of opinion in joint actions," it said.

It was the timely opposition and protests by the DUTA and many other organisations following the March 5, 2018 notification which forced the government to admit that the department/subject wise roster was unjust and to take belated legal action.

"For almost a year, however, it refused to act on its promise to bring an ordinance. This led to stoppage of permanent appointment in DU and other universities while the government remained an insensitive bystander. The campaign and protests which engaged the students, research scholars and those concerned about and social justice created public opinion that was difficult for the government to ignore," DUTA said.

Jawaharlal Nehru Teachers' Association president Atul Sood said the ordinance was a "timely measure".

"It is a correction to a historical and social justice blunder. It has come in time otherwise the loss of jobs would have been high. The government has to ensure that such a thing does not happen again. It took more than a year to correct the blunder that was caused," he said.

Reacting to the the cabinet's decision, DU professor and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said, "We stand vindicated".

"This regime waited to bring in the ordinance for so long. Had the several groups not given a call for Bharat Bandh on March 5, I doubt that they would have brought this ordinance in probably the last cabinet meeting. HRD Minister Javadekar had said on February 8 that they would bring in an ordinance within 24 hours if their review petition was rejected by the Supreme Court but they waited for so long," he told PTI.

Jha said incidents like the Rohith Vemula suicide, dilution of SC/ST Act, gives us a full circle view that this government has an 'anti-social mindset'.

The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also welcomed the ordinance.

The University Grants Commission had announced in March last year that an individual department should be considered as the base unit to calculate the number of teaching posts to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates, following an order by the Allahabad High Court in April 2017.

The Supreme Court had last month dismissed a review petition filed by the HRD Ministry after its special leave petition against the court order was rejected by the apex court.

Javadekar had said in the Lok Sabha on February 11 that the government can "bring an ordinance if its review petition filed in the top court is rejected".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The will soon announce its schedule for the high-voltage elections, which is likely to be spread over 7-8 phases in April-May, sources said on Thursday.

Sources said the poll panel is in final stages of completing its logistical preparations to hold elections for the 17th and a detailed polling schedule could be announced as early this weekend or by early next week.

The term of the present ends on June 3.

The announcement of dates for the elections, in which Prime Minister will make his bid to return to power amid hectic parleys by several political parties to put a united fight against the ruling BJP, would be followed by a meeting of election observers next week for the first and second phase of polling.

A senior functionary said the poll panel is now prepared to announce the dates "any day" and it could happen over the weekend or at most by Tuesday.

Notification for the first phase could be issued by the end of March for voting some time in early April, sources suggested.

There is a strong possibility that the EC may go by the precedent and hold assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and along with the Lok Sabha polls.

Since the Assembly has been dissolved, the EC is bound to hold fresh polls there as well within a six-month period, which will end in May.

While there is a view that the assembly elections can be held along with the Lok Sabha polls, but a lot depends on the complex security situation in the state given the heightened tension along the India- border.

While the Centre and the state administration, being managed by the Centre-appointed governor, are against holding the two elections together, all political parties there favoured simultaneous polls during a meeting with the earlier this week.

The J-K assembly's six-year term was to end on March 16, 2021, but it got dissolved after a ruling coalition between the PDP and the BJP fell apart. The other state assemblies and Lok Sabha have five-year terms.

While the term of the Assembly ends on May 27, 2019, the terms of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and assemblies end on June 18, June 11 and June 1 respectively.

The Commission has held several review meetings across the country in last few weeks to gear up its machinery.

The required electronic voting machines and paper trail machines are in place to be deployed in nearly 10 lakh poling stations across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.

This is a high probability of the elections being spread across 7-8 phases this time.

In 2004, the Commission had announced four-phase Lok Sabha polls on February 29. While the first date of polling was April 20 and the last date was May 10.

In 2009, the EC had announced Lok Sabha poll scheduled on March 2. The five-phase polls began on April 16 and ended on May 13.

In 2014, the EC had announced the election schedule on March 5 and the nine-phase electoral exercise was spread across April and May.

While the first phase polling was on April 7, the last phase was on May 12.
The European Union on Thursday handed over equipment worth 1.2 million euro to the Nepal government for facilitating laboratory testing and inspection of food products.

The equipment was provided under the EU Funded 'Trade and Private Sector Development Project', according to a press release issued by the EU Nepal office.

Veronica Cody, EU Ambassador to Nepal, handed over the ownership of the equipment to the officials of the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology and the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, it said.

The machines include a range of state-of-the-art laboratory testing and inspection devices for food products, cooking gas cylinders and taxi meters.

"The equipment and technical assistance provided by EU will help the Nepali government and private sector to ensure standards for food safety and security as well as standardizing measurements and calibration of other key products and services," the press release stated.

This will raise domestic demand for products, as consumers are assured of quality and safety, and also allow Nepal to meet the standards required for export to the international market, thus contributing to increasing its trade and boosting the economy, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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.
The European Union said Thursday it hopes Venezuela will reconsider its expulsion of the German ambassador as the EU seeks to maintain communication lines with the feuding sides.

President Nicolas Maduro's government on Wednesday ordered Germany's ambassador Daniel Kriener to leave the country for "interference" in its internal affairs. He had greeted returning opposition leader Juan Guaido at Caracas airport.

"We regret the fact that the German ambassador to Venezuela is pressed to leave the country in spite of a tense and complex political context," said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

"The European Union has been keen to maintain lines of communication with all key parties in Venezuela including the government of Mr. Maduro," she told a press conference in Brussels.

"And from that perspective the European Union hopes that this decision can be reconsidered," Kocijancic said. "We remain strongly committed to a peaceful and democratic solution to the current crisis in Venezuela."



She recalled the EU's leading role in setting up the international contact group, where she said Germany plays an "active" role.

Guaido -- recognised as interim president by more than 50 countries -- said Kriener's expulsion will be seen "as a threat to the free world."



Kriener was among more than a dozen foreign representatives who welcomed the National Assembly leader, but so far the only one deemed "persona non grata".

Kriener had tried to help bring humanitarian aid to the country, Guaido said in a speech to opposition lawmakers, adding: "It seems that the Maduro regime does not forgive anyone who wants to help Venezuela."



German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that kicking Kriener out only "aggravates the situation".

The European Union last month condemned Caracas for its use of armed supporters and violence to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into Venezuela.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has been chosen for the 'Yashwantrao Chavan National Award 2018' for his contribution towards economic development.

Rajan will be presented the award at a function here on March 12 on the occasion of 106th birth anniversary of late Yashwantrao Chavan, who was the first chief minister of Maharashtra, a release issued here said.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who is president of the Yashwantrao Chavan Prathisthan, will preside over the function, it said.

Rajan served as RBI governor between September 2013 and September 2016.

The award is given every year by the Yashwantrao Chavan Prathisthan to individuals/institutions in recognition of their outstanding contribution towards national integration, democratic values, and social and economic development.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Thursday the party's alliances across the country were "on track" but its Delhi unit was unanimously against any tie-up with the Aam Aadmi Party.

"If you see, our alliances have been finalised in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand. In Delhi, our party unit was unanimously against the alliance. But overall alliances are on track," he said, when asked about the party not tying up with AAP in Delhi.

This is the first time Gandhi has spoken on his party not having an alliance with AAP, which has accused the Congress of "helping" the BJP by doing so.

Other opposition parties appear keen on forming alliances in states to ensure that there is no division of the anti-BJP votes to defeat the saffron party in Lok Sabha elections.

They are said to be pushing the Congress for forming an alliance in Delhi.

Sources said the Congress may be a part of the "grand alliance" in Uttar Pradesh.

The Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party combine has kept the grand old party out of their alliance, leaving only two seats Amethi and Rae Bareli for it.

Amethi is Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency and Rae Bareli is UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A nine-day photo exhibition showcasing success stories of Indian women scientists was set in motion here on Thursday by the Ministry of Science and Technology on the eve of International Women's Day.

The exhibition 'Celebrating Indian Women in Science: An Incredible Journey', with posters and stories of 40 women scientists who have made a mark in the field, was inaugurated by Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) under the Ministry.

She urged women to get inspired by the women who have contributed immensely in the field of science in the country.

"The objective of this exhibition is to show the budding scientists, researchers and students that women have played a key role in the field of science in our country and to get inspired by their stories and pursue their dream of becoming a scientist," Swarup said.

The exhibition will go on till March 15.

Swarup also launched a book featuring women scientists from various fields of science. The event was attended by various women scientists from universities, institutes, IIT Delhi and several other colleges.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The battle against the Islamic State group is "far from over" and the jihadists remain unbroken and prepared for a resurgence despite the elimination of their physical base in Syria, a top US commander said Thursday.

"Reduction of the physical caliphate is a monumental military accomplishment -- but the fight against ISIS and violent extremism is far from over and our mission remains the same," General Joseph Votel, head of the US Central Command, told Congress.

"The ISIS population being evacuated from the remaining vestiges of the caliphate largely remains unrepentant, unbroken and radicalized. We will need to maintain a vigilant offensive against this now widely dispersed and disaggregated organization," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Thursday sought a reply from the Pakistan government on the steps taken to ensure the return of former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf to face the high treason case trial.

Hearing a plea by the Lahore High Court Bar Association over delay in trial of Musharraf by the special court in the treason case, a three-bench bench headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said "Should the government become hostage to a suspect? If a suspect does not appear, then does the court become helpless?"



General Musharraf, 75, who lives in Dubai, is facing several cases including a treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007, which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges.

The treason case was started by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in 2013 and he was indicted in 2014. A conviction for high-profile treason carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.

The former military ruler left for the UAE in 2016 for medical treatment and has not returned since, citing security and health reasons.

Few months later, the special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his no-show.

The Chief Justice asked what measures the government had taken to call back Musharraf to the country.

"It was said that the court allowed him to go abroad, but the government and not the court permitted him to. The court had left it to the government, the court order did not state that Musharraf be sent abroad," the top judge added.

"If Musharraf does not come back then his statement can be recorded via video link. If he still does not record his statement via video link, then it will be understood that he has denied the charges and the special court can write 'denied' in front of all his statements," he said.

The bench said that a treason case has been registered against Musharraf and a special court was formed for his trial and was directed to take immediate steps. "The trial has been halted because Musharraf is not in the country."



The top judge then sought a report from the registrar of the special court over the reasons of delay in hearing of the case.

The apex court also issued notices to the federal government and directed the attorny general to submit a reply on behalf of the federal government and appear in person for the next hearing on March 25.

"Everyone is equal before the law. The attorney general should apprise us of the measures taken by the government for Musharraf's return," the chief justice said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
/ -- Extended gender-neutral program recognizes all types of family through childbirth & adoption



Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned perfume and taste company, is significantly extending its paid leave for all new mothers and fathers around the world. Launched on International Women's Day, the gender-neutral parental program, offers a global minimum of 16 weeks fully paid leave[1] for the primary caregiver, as part of the company's commitment to offer a family-friendly environment, with equal opportunities for all.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/798187/Firmenich_Logo.jpg )



"We want to make Firmenich the best place to work, and the most family-friendly company, in our industry and a big part of this is encouraging a culture where both men and women can thrive," said Gilbert Ghostine, Chief Executive Officer. "Our extended parental leave is designed to support all of our colleagues, regardless of their gender or how they became a parent, so that together they can give their child the best start in life."Starting this year, Firmenich is offering leave to parents for both childbirth and adoption. This lets colleagues, whether new fathers or mothers, take 16 weeks of paid leave if they are the primary caregiver, and two weeks of leave for secondary caregivers[]. Unless local laws offer more generous terms, this is a global company-wide minimum standard.

"As a family-friendly company, we are very proud of our ability to hire and most importantly, accompany the very best people in our business along their individual journey in life," said Mieke Van de Capelle, Chief Human Resources Officer at Firmenich. "With 93% of new mothers staying with us after maternity leave, the case is clear for going beyond traditional maternity leave to offer gender neutral parental benefits. Our new extended leave builds on Firmenich's broad support system, including flexible working arrangements, gender equal pay, and inclusive development and promotion practices."



Committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, in December 2018 Firmenich became the first company in its industry, and one of only seven multinationals worldwide to be globally certified as a gender equal employer. Going well beyond equal pay, this gender parity certification by EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality), is the leading business standard for workplace diversity worldwide. This year, Firmenich also launched flexible working to give its colleagues more choice in their work hours to best balance professional and family commitments.

Parental leave varies widely between countries and will, thanks to this program, increase in a majority of Firmenich's markets. In Mexico and Indonesia for example, paid leave for primary caregivers will rise from 12 weeks to 16 weeks, while in India, a secondary caregiver is now entitled to two weeks rather than two days. In the UK employees have the right to take up to 52 weeks of parental leave, the first ten weeks of which are fully paid. Today's initiative adds another 6 weeks of paid leave to a new mother's entitlement. Special conditions apply in the United States, with paid parental leave up to 12 weeks.

The flexible family program at Firmenich also offers parents care before and after the birth of a child, including adjusted working conditions for pregnant colleagues, breastfeeding support and protected jobs for up to four cumulative months[1].

About Firmenich



Firmenich is the world's largest privately-owned perfume and taste company, founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895. Driven by its purpose to create positive emotions to enhance wellbeing, naturally, Firmenich has designed many of the world's best-known perfumes and tastes, bringing delight to over four billion consumers every day. Renowned for its world-class research and creativity, as well as its leadership in sustainability, each year, Firmenich invests 10% of its turnover in R&D to understand and share the best that nature has to offer responsibly. Firmenich had an annual turnover of 3.7 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2018. More information about Firmenich is available at http://www.firmenich.com



References:



1.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The archbishop of Lyon, the most senior French cleric caught up in the global paedophilia scandal that has rocked the Catholic church, announced his resignation Thursday after being given a six-month suspended jail term for failing to report sex abuse.

A court in Lyon, in southeastern France, had ruled that 68-year-old Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who was not present for the verdict, was guilty of failing to report allegations of abuse of minors committed by a priest in the 1980s and 1990s.

He is the third senior French cleric to be found guilty of failing to report sex abuse.

"I have decided to go to see the Holy Father to hand him my resignation. He will receive me in a few days' time," Barbarin told a conference after the verdict.

"Independently from my own fate, I wish once again to stress my compassion for the victims," he said.

He was on trial at a time when the Catholic Church has been hit by abuse scandals in countries as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Chile and the United States.

Barbarin "in all conscience" chose not to tell authorities about the abuse allegations "in order to preserve the institution to which he belongs", Thursday's verdict read.

"By wanting to avoid a scandal caused by a priest's multiple sex offences, and probably in seeking to conform to inadequate decisions taken by bishops before him, Philippe Barbarin preferred to take the risk that justice would be unable to uncover a great number of victims of sexual abuse and prevent them from voicing their pain," it added.

Francois Devaux, who leads a victims' group in Lyon, called the verdict a "major victory for child protection".

"It's a signal, a strong message sent to the French church, to the world and to Pope Francis," he told reporters.

Devaux was one of up to 85 victims of priest Bernard Preynat, who was charged with sexual abuse in 2016 and is expected to be tried this year.

"It's obvious that this verdict will hugely encourage people to speak out," Devaux added.

The suspended nature of the jail sentence means Barbarin will not serve time behind bars, but his defence lawyer immediately announced he would appeal.

"The reasoning of the court is not convincing," Jean-Felix Luciani said. "We will contest this decision by all the means possible."



He also suggested that it had been difficult for the court "to resist pressure" from public opinion which has long been debating the case. A feature film about the case has already hit cinemas.

Five former aides who were also on trial were all found not guilty, either because the alleged crimes were too old or unproven.

Barbarin had faced a maximum three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (USD 54,000).

Two other senior French religious figures have been convicted of failing to report child abuse in the past: the archbishop of Bayeux-Lisieux, Pierre Rican, in 2001, and the former bishop of Orleans, Andre Fort, last year.

"I cannot see what I am guilty of," Barbarin had told the court at the start of the trial in January. "I never tried to hide, let alone cover up these horrible facts."



The case broke three years ago and lawyers for nine adult plaintiffs -- former boy scouts allegedly abused by Preynat -- took legal action.

Preynat was first interviewed by church leaders in 1991 and was prevented from leading scout groups, but he was later allowed to teach children again and held positions of authority.

Barbarin, an arch-conservative who took over as archbishop in Lyon in 2002, only suspended him and stopped him from working with children in September 2015.

The archbishop had said in a newspaper interview he was first made aware of allegations against the priest "in 2007 or 2008".

Since the abuse related to acts committed before 1991, prosecutors declined to press charges because of the statute of limitations and it was the victims who insisted on having a trial.

They accused Barbarin of being aware of the abuse allegations from at least 2010 and then trying to cover up the scandal, under orders from the Vatican, from 2015.

Pope Francis last month vowed to engage in an "all-out battle" to tackle every single case of sexual abuse by priests, comparing paedophilia to "human sacrifice".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
France's Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau on Thursday said the European Union was "waiting for a proposal" from Britain to break the Brexit logjam, but warned the current agreement was not up for renegotiation.

Loiseau urged British politicians to "live up to the moment" as they prepared for next week's monumental votes on whether to accept the deal struck between the EU and Prime Minister Theresa May's government.

"My feeling is that this is a historic moment," Loiseau told the Guardian.

MPs already rejected the deal in January, demanding that May go back to renegotiate the so-called "backstop" solution, designed to keep the Irish border open.

Its opponents fear the legal guarantee would leave Britain indefinitely stuck in a customs union with the EU.

Talks on Wednesday to break the deadlock ended with "no solution", according to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, raising the chances that the deal will once again be rejected.

"So far, we are still waiting for a proposal from London," Loiseau said of negotiations.

"It's really a British initiative which has to come," she told the Guardian. "And it has to be supported domestically in the UK." But she later insisted on BBC Radio 4 the EU "cannot reopen" the withdrawal agreement "because it is balanced."



"We sincerely hope we find a solution together, the solution is on the table. The withdrawal agreement is the best possible solution." European Commission secretary general Martin Selmayr said progress was still possible, despite the failure of Wednesday's talks.

"These things often happen at the very last minute," he told a Brookings Institution event in Washington.

"We have to wait for the next couple of days and weeks. We have to be very patient." French minister Loiseau said the EU did not want to activate the backstop either, but rejected Britain's calls for an escape mechanism to be built into it, saying "what is not possible is that one of the parties decide unilaterally to leave".

If May loses Tuesday's vote, MPs will then vote on whether to proceed without a deal.

Loiseau said France had been "preparing for all scenarios" and that no deal "will not be a disaster for France or the European Union", although was concerned it could trigger cross-Channel animosity.

"I'm worried that... there would be bitterness between nations and there would be British-bashing in France and French-bashing or European-bashing in London," she told the Guardian.

If MPs reject a no-deal outcome on Wednesday, they would then vote on Thursday on whether to ask the EU for an extension to the March 29 departure deadline.

"Why would be there be an extension without a reason?" Loiseau told the Guardian.

"We have been in discussions for quite a long time now. There needs to be something specific to justify an extension," she added, pointing out that was the position of French leader Emmanuel Macron and German counterpart Angela Merkel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government-run Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), among India's premier research institutes, will pay only half the net salary for February to its staff due to fund crunch, an official said Thursday.

The announcement was made by TIFR registrar Wing Commander (retd) George Antony in a letter to the staff Wednesday, the official told PTI.

"Due to insufficient funds, all staff members and students and post-doctoral fellows of TIFR, its centres and field stations will be paid 50 per cent of the net salary for the month of February immediately. Remaining part of the salary will be paid when sufficient funds are available," the letter said.

Despite getting just 50 per cent of the salary, the staff and fellows will have to bear deductions as per their full salary.

"All deductions will be calculated on full salary and will be deposited to respective authorities as per rules," the communication from the registrar said.

When contacted, Antony declined to comment.

A former staffer said the pay cut decision will impact the around 3,000 employees, students and post-doctoral fellows of TIFR in Mumbai and other centres.

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha said TIFR is in a perilous state. "The perilous financial state of one of Indias finest scientific research institutes," he tweeted.

Another twitter user said the government should explain why this (salary cut) has happened. "If this is the condition of TIFR, then what will be the future of in our country?" he said.

A tweet appeared to question the motive for shortage of funds to TIFR.

"There goes another piece of prime real estate. I suspect thats the real game going on - just like the cantonments. TIFR will be asked to move out. Magically, funds will reappear. In a more remote location." it said.

TIFR is a national centre of the Government of India under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy, and a deemed university since 2002, awarding degrees for master's and doctoral programmes.

The institute was founded in 1945 with support from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust under the vision of Dr Homi Bhabha.

It carries out basic research in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science and science

The main campus is located in Mumbai, with centres at Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Thursday said the tender for developing the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar airport at Nagpur into an international aerodrome has been approved and will execute the task.

Fadnavis was speaking at the inauguration of Nagpur Metro Rail.

Prime Minister flagged off the first commercial run of Nagpur Metro Rail.

Fadnavis said, "We wanted that Nagpur should get an international airport and we had invited tender for Nagpur international airport.

"I am happy to announce that our board has approved the tender for Nagpur airport's development. GMR, which had developed Delhi airport, will develop Nagpur airport.

A completely new international airport will come up in Nagpur," informed Fadnavis.

Fadnavis, lauding the launch of commercial run of Nagpur Metro, said it was a historic day for the city.

"This is not just a start for metro rail. But, it is a start of 21st century Nagpur city through metro."



Fadnavis said a good public transport is very important for the progress of any city.

"If we want to improve our air quality and create sustainable cities, then people should get an option of 'smart public transport', which is sustainable and creates less carbon foot print.

"And, metro is a fast, efficient and sustainable transport system," he said.
A GoAir flight from Patna to the national capital made an emergency landing at Lucknow airport on Thursday due to a technical snag.

In a statement, the airline said flight G8-150 from Patna to Delhi which departed at 17:10 hours had to be diverted to Lucknow due to a technical snag.

"While the technical snag is being investigated, alternate arrangements have been made for all the 128 passengers for their onward journey," it added.

The airline was operating an A320 neo plane.

A source said the flight made an emergency landing at the Lucknow airport.

On Tuesday, a GoAir flight suffered a bird hit at Patna airport. Subsequently, the flight was cancelled.

"GoAir aircraft VT-WGJ had to be declared Aircraft on Ground (AOG) after it had a bird hit during landing of flight G8-217 at Patna airport. Due to this technical (bird hit) reason, GoAir flight G8-218 from Patna to Delhi had to be cancelled which was scheduled to depart at 20:10 hours on March 5, 2019.

"The passengers were provided light refreshment at the airport and given hotel accommodation," the airline said in a statement on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ruling AIADMK Thursday said there was a "good chance" of more parties joining the coalition led by it in Tamil Nadu for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

AIADMK is leading the NDA coalition in the state and its constituents include the BJP and PMK besides a couple of small outfits.

"There is a good chance of more parties joining the AIADMK-led alliance for the coming general elections," AIADMK Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam told reporters here.

The comments came on a day when the Vijayakanth-led DMDK hinted that it was in the process of finalising its alliance with the ruling party.

Asked about the prospects of DMDK, Panneerselvam repeated his statement.

Hinting at a possible poll pact with the AIADMK for the coming Lok Sabha elections, DMDK leader LK Sutheesh had earlier in the day said that a decision on the matter would be arrived at in a couple of days.

"Yesterday you know we had held talks at a private hotel...we will inform in a couple of days the number of seats and segments," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Uttar Pradesh parliamentarian from Gorakhpur and 20 others were detained on Thursday while staging a demonstration for granting reservation to the Nishad community under the Scheduled Caste category, police said.

Gorakhpur MP Praveen Nishad and people from the community were staging a demonstration in Bhagwanpur area.

Nishad said they were going towards the 'mini office' of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the Gorakhnath temple to hand over a memorandum, but the police used force and stopped them.

"The police had used batons on us. Around 100 people were injured... I have also received injuries at my hand. We were demonstrating for our constitutional right," he said, adding that even an MP was not safe under the Adityanath government.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sunil Gupta said the protesters had permission for the programme in Bhagwanpur only.

The SSP said when the protesters started marching towards the temple, the police tried to stop them but they did not listen.

To disburse the crowd, water cannon was used first and when it didnt work out, "light force" was used, the officer added.

Nishad had last year won the bypoll to the Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency on a Samajwadi Party ticket with the support of the Bahujan Samaj Party. The bye-election was necessitated after Adityanath vacated the seat when he became the chief minister.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a major move, Defence Minister has approved the first batch of reforms in the Army which include relocation of 229 officers from the Army headquarters, creation of a new post of deputy chief for military operations and strategic planning, and setting up new wings for vigilance and human rights issues, official sources said Thursday.

Finalised after 12 independent studies, the transformative reforms in the Army are being implemented to make the 1.3 million-strong force leaner and meaner as well as to enhance its combat capabilities.

The defence minister has approved the first batch of long-pending reform measures in the Army, the sources said.

They said the number of officers being moved out is 20 per cent of the total officers in the Army headquarters in the national capital, and they be deployed in forward locations along the borders with China and Pakistan.

They said the post of Deputy Chief of the Army Staff Strategy DCOAS (Strategy) is being created to deal with military operations, military intelligence, strategic planning and operational logistics.

At present, the DG (Military Operations) and the DG (Military Intelligence) report to the Army Chief.

The defence minister also approved creation of a new information warfare wing in keeping the needs of the future battlefield, hybrid warfare and social media reality, the sources said.

They said the government has approved merging of the separate verticals of the DCOAS (planning and strategy) and the Master General Ordnance (MGO) into one office of the DCOAS (Capability Development and Sustenance).

"Towards the Army's capability based modernisation needs, this would synergise and coalesce all revenue and capital spending under one organisation and effectively prioritise competing requirements with an operational focus to get better value for funds allocated by the government," said a senior Army official.

Sources said the government has also approved creation of two new branches to deal with vigilance and human rights issues, reflecting the Army's commitment to probity and transparency. Both the branches will be headed by Major General rank officers.

The new ADG, Vigilance will function directly under the Chief of Army Staff and the new ADG Human Rights will function under the VCOAS. the ADG (Vigilance) will also have a new Vigilance Investigation Unit under him, the sources said.

The reform initiatives were finalised by top commanders of the Army in October last year to usher in transformative reforms in the force.

The reforms will also include restructuring the Army's officer cadre, bringing down age of key commands, arresting rising revenue expenditure and "right-sizing" the force.

Sources said the reform measures will be implemented with a sense of urgency.

The Army headquarters had instituted four studies with an overall aim to enhance the operational and functional efficiency of the force, optimise budget expenditure, facilitate modernisation and address aspirations.

The first study on 're-organisation and right-sizing of the Indian Army' was focused on the operational structures to make the force efficient and future-ready by taking into account the operational situation on western and northern borders, the spokesperson said.

The second study was on 're-organisation of the Army headquarters with an aim to bring in "integration and preclude the redundancies".

The third study was on 'cadre review of officers' and its focus was to recommend how to carry out reorganisation and restructuring to meet the aspirations of the officers' cadre.

The fourth study on 'review of terms of engagement of rank and file' was aimed at harnessing the higher life expectancy and ensuring younger profile of key commands and motivation of the personnel.
The government has cleared investment of around Rs 31,560 crore in four power projects of total 3,760 MW generation capacity and approved two policies to boost hydro power as well as revive stressed assets in the sector, Union Power Minister R K Singh said Thursday.

However, Singh admitted that two recommendations of a high level committee (HLC) regarding payment security mechanism for private power producers and gas-based stressed assets were not approved by the Union Cabinet on Thursday, saying a lot of ground is to be covered for implementing those suggestions.

The HLC had suggested that bills of discoms towards generators can be discounted by the financial institution.

"The government today approved investment for four power projects and two policies on hydro power and stressed power assets," Singh told reporters.

He said that a lot of ground is to be covered for implementing payment security mechanism for private power producers and reviving gas-based stranded projects as talks are going on with RBI as well as oil ministry on both the issues.

Talking about the hydro policy, he informed that the government approved a slew of measures under the hydro policy including providing renewable energy status for large hydel projects and new funding provisions.

Earlier, hydro projects up to 25 MW capacity were considered as renewables and were eligible for various incentives like financial assistance and cheaper credit.

With the government's decision, hydro projects above 25 MW can also avail the benefits.

The Cabinet decision has also paved the way for adding hydro capacities of about 45 GW to the renewable energy basket of existing 77 GW which includes solar, wind and small hydro.

India is aiming 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. With addition of large hydro to clean energy segment, India is poised to have 225 GW of renewable energy by 2022.

With the new measures, large hydro projects (LHPs) would be allowed back loading (reducing) of tariff after increasing project life to 40 years, increasing debt repayment period to 18 years and introducing escalating tariff of 2 per cent.

At present, hydro power tariff is expensive than other sources.

Discoms are reluctant to sign Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for hydro power due to higher tariff, particularly, in the initial years.

These measure would help rationalise the tariff by hydro power projects.

The policy also provides for funding for enabling infrastructure like roads and bridges of Rs 1.5 crore per MW for projects up to 200 MW and Rs 1 crore per MW for projects above 200 MW.

The Cabinet Committee has also approved recommendations of the Group of Ministers based on suggestion made by the HLC.

The minister told that that recommendations of the GoM include grant of linkage coal for short-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), allowing existing coal linkage to be used in case of termination of PPAs due to payment default by discoms and procurement of bulk power by a nodal agency against pre-declared linkages.

The GoM has also recommended that Central/State Gencos may act as an aggregator of power, increase in quantity of coal for special forward e-auction for power sector, coal linkage auctions to be held at regular intervals.

Besides, it recommended non-lapsing of short supplies of coal and ACQ (Annual Contract Quantity) to be determined based on efficiency.

The panel also recommended that payment of Late Payment Surcharge be made mandatory, non-cancellation of PPA/FSA (fuel supply agreement)/LTOA (long term open access) post NCLT proceedings and non-cancellation of PPA for non-compliance of COD (commercial date of operation).

The government has said with the implementation of these recommendations, many of the issues affecting the thermal power sector are likely to get resolved.

The government had constituted the HLC to address the issues of stressed thermal power projects. It submitted its report in November 2018.

The government also approved investment of Rs 10,439.09 crore for 2x660 MW thermal power project in Buxar district of Bihar. The plant will be set up by the SJVN Thermal Private Ltd, an arm of state-run SJVN Ltd.

The government also approved investment of Rs 11,089.42 crore for setting up a 2x660MW Super Thermal Power Plant in Khurja, District Bulandshahar of Uttar Pradesh and has also approved the funds for the development of the allotted coal block the Amelia Coal Mine in District Singraulli, Madhya Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 1587.16 crores.

The project will be set up by state-run THDC India Ltd.

The government also approved investment sanction of Rs 4,287.59 crore for construction of Kiru hydro project (624 MW) by Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Ltd (CVPPPL).

The CVPPPL is a joint venture company amongst NHPC, JKSPDC and PTC with equity shareholding of 49 per cent, 49 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.

The project is located on River Chenab in Kishtwar district of Jammu & Kashmir.

The government also approved the proposal to take over of Lanco's Teesta Stage-VI hydro project of 500 MW by state-run NHPC.

In Bidding Process under NCLT, the NHPC has emerged as highest bidder with bid Amount of Rs 907 crore. Accordingly, the investment proposal for an estimated cost of Rs 5748.04 crore, being implemented by the NHPC has been approved by the CCEA on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Greenpeace India Thursday termed the government's nod to a super thermal power plant in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district "a double blow" to the health and wealth of public.

The NGO's reaction came hours after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved investment of Rs 11,089.42 crore for setting up the 1,320 MW Khurja Super Thermal Power Plant in Bulandshahr district.

"After allocating a mere Rs 400 crore for implementation of National Clean Air Program (NCAP) which was supposed to move India towards clean air, the government approval for Rs 11,089.42 crore investment for a coal power plant in the most polluted National Capital Region (NCR) is a double blow to public money and public health,"



Pujarini Sen of Greenpeace India said.

"The approval comes at a time when the coal power sector is reeling under multiple challenges, including low Plant Load Factor (PLF) due to high cost of coal power and inability of distribution companies to purchase power," the NGO said in a statement.

Earlier this week, a report from Greenpeace India stated that over 20 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world were this country and among them the NCR is most polluted.

Seven of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are in Uttar Pradesh, the state in which the Khurja plant will be located, it said.

"The power plant will receive its coal from Amelia coal block in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh. Mining in Amelia would result in destruction of close to a million trees in one oldest sal forests in central India," Greenpeace India said.

"This investment is going to be a disaster in multiple ways - located in the most polluted region in the world, destroy one of the oldest forests in the country, displace vulnerable communities dependent on the forest, put enormous pressure on the stressed coal power sector and increase cost of power purchase for struggling distribution companies," Sen said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government Thursday approved a proposal for state-run hydro power giant NHPC to take over debt-laden Lanco's 500 MW Teesta hydro-electric power project in Sikkim.

"Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gives approval for the investment sanction for acquisition of LancoTeesta Hydro Power Ltd (LTHPL) and execution of balance work of the Teesta Stage-Vl Hydro Electric Project by the NHPC Ltd in Sikkim," according to an official statement.

Earlier, briefing reporters on the decision taken by the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that NHPC has also been allowed to spend Rs 574.04 crore to complete the balance work at the project.

The project would be implemented with an estimated cost of Rs 5,748.04 crore (at July 2018 price level). The project would generate 2,400 million units of power in 90 per cent dependable year with installed capacity of 500 MW (125 MWX4).

Teesta Stage-VI hydro-electric project is a run of river (RoR) scheme in Sirwani Village of Sikkim to utilise the power potential of Teesta river basin in cascade manner.

The project shall help in meeting peaking demand of energy, balancing and ramping requirement of the grid.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido called on Europe Thursday to intensify financial sanctions against the regime of Nicolas Maduro, a day after Caracas expelled the German ambassador for "interference".

European countries "should strengthen financial sanctions against the regime. The international community must prevent Venezuelan money from being misused to kill opponents of the regime and indigenous peoples," Guaido, who declared himself interim president in January, said in an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai terror attack mastermind has been barred by the government from delivering weekly Friday sermon at Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) headquarters in Lahore in Pakistan's Punjab province.

This is perhaps for the first time in years that Saeed despite being present in Lahore will not be able to deliver Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid Qadsia, the JuD headquarters here.

Saeed was never stopped from delivering Friday sermons even during the years when Masjid Qadsia's control was under the Punjab government.

"As the Punjab police have sealed the Jamia Masjid Qadsia, Saeed will not be allowed to enter the premises to give his weekly sermon on Friday," a senior official of the Punjab government told PTI.

"Saeed requested the Punjab government to allow him give sermon on Friday at Qadsia Masjid but it was turned down. This is significant with regard to the 'clout' of Saeed as for the first time he is not being allowed by the government to give sermon on Friday," he added.

authorities on Thursday sealed the Lahore headquarters of JuD and FIF and detained over 120 suspected militants as part of an ongoing crackdown on banned groups.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The US Department of the Treasury has designated its chief Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:

Home Regional News East
Patidar leader Hardik Patel will join Congress on March 12 in presence of party chief Rahul Gandhi, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) announced here Thursday.

The announcement came after the Samiti's core committee meeting in Rajkot.

Hardik Patel is the convenor of PAAS.

"Hardik will join Congress on March 12 when Rahul Gandhi will be in Gujarat. Hardik will be inducted into the party at a rally in Ahmedabad. PAAS gave its permission to Hardik to join the party today," core committee member Geeta Patel said.

Hardik Patel, who is facing sedition charges and currently out on bail, had announced he would fight the coming Lok Sabha election from Gujarat.

"Hardik may fight the election from Amreli, Mehsana or Jamnagar seat. However, nothing has been finalised yet. Since he will be joining the Congress, it is the party that will take a final call about the seat," Geeta Patel said.

Congress has announced that Gandhi and other senior leaders will be in Ahmedabad on March 12 for the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting and a public rally.

The CWC meeting, which was earlier scheduled to take place on Feb 28, had been postponed in the wake of the IAF air strike in Pakistan's Balakot.

Hardik Patel had come into limelight for leading strident protests in Gujarat over his community's demand to get reservation in education and jobs.

Before the Gujarat Assembly elections in December 2017, Hardik Patel had declared his support to the Congress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a relief to candidates who were provisionally selected to the posts of lecturers in state-run polytechnics in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court Thursday directed the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) to proceed with the selection process.

The court also directed the board to reject the candidature of 196 aspirants who are accused of tampering answer sheets.

The issue of alleged tampering of answer-sheets brought whole selection process to a grinding halt.

A Division Bench, comprising justices K K Sasidharan and P D Audikesavalu, confirmed the order of a single judge at the high court's Madurai Bench and directed the TRB to complete the selection exercise by April 30.

The TRB had invited applications for 1,058 vacant posts of lecturers in various disciplines in polytechnics in the 2017-18 academic year. The written exam was held on September 16, 2017, for which 1.33 lakh candidates had appeared.

When the board was verifying certificates, after holding the written exam, complaints were made alleging malpractice in respect of scanned copies of the Optical Mark Reader/Recognition (OMR) sheets entrusted for evaluation to an external agency based in Noida.

The TRB immediately cancelled the entire selection process and the notification rescinding the selection was challenged before the Madurai Bench by a batch of petitioners who were provisionally selected.

The single judge at Madurai allowed the petitions, opining that after cancelling the candidature of the 196 tainted candidates, it would be possible for the board to proceed further.

Another single judge at the principal seat, however, dismissed a batch of writ petitions on the ground that the sanctity of the selection process should be maintained by all concerned.

When the appeals came up, the division bench said the core question before it was whether the TRB was correct in cancelling the whole selection process.

The police officer who probed the case submitted before it that more marks were awarded to 196 candidates by using the scanned images of OMR sheets, the bench said.

Originals of all the 1,33,568 OMR sheets, however, remained in the safe custody of the board.

The officer, an additional deputy commissioner of police, stated that the tampering was established after verifying the 196 scanned images seized from the external agency with corresponding original OMR sheets with the board.

Citing various Supreme Court judgments, the high court bench in its order said that "in the subject case, there is absolutely no difficulty to reject the candidature of the tainted candidates."



The board did not consider possibility of segregation of tainted candidates from others and cancelled the very selection, it said.

Such a measure was to the detriment of those who were not in any way responsible for tampering with the scanned copies of the OMR sheets, the bench said.

"We are of the considered view that the learned single judge at the Madurai Bench was correct in the finding that the Board...

"...should have segregated the tainted candidates from non-tainted candidates and proceeded with the selection process," it said.

The court also set aside the order of the Single Judge at Principal seat at Madras.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Afzal Kohistani, a man at the centre of a campaign to expose one of Pakistan's most notorious "honour killings" cases has been shot dead in the garrison city of Abbottabad, media reports said Thursday.

In 2012, Kohistani emerged as one of the first Pakistanis to violate a local custom in remote northern Kohistan district where matters of family honour are settled in blood. Those perceived to have violated the code are killed with the mutual consent of families involved.

Afzal was shot dead on Wednesday night in a busy commercial area of the north-western city of Abbottabad, police said, quoting witnesses to the killing. He suffered multiple injuries and died on the spot, they said.

He was shot by unidentified gunmen who managed to flee.

According to Station House Officer Ghafoor, of the Cantt police station, Afzal was accompanied by his nephew at the time of the incident. The nephew shot back at the gunmen and remained unhurt.

Afzal's death comes amid a blood feud that has also seen three of his other brothers killed in 2013, Dawn reported.

About 1,000 "honour-killings" of women by relatives are recorded each year in Pakistan, say human rights activists.

According to the custom, the male family members of a woman suspected of an out-of-wedlock liaison should first kill the woman, and then go after the man. The family of the man would not oppose this action.

The Kohistan video scandal made headlines in 2012 when eight boys and girls were killed by members of their tribe after a mobile phone video of them at a wedding in a remote village in Kohistan emerged on social media.

The video showed five females singing and clapping along as the male family members danced. The mixed gathering had taken place in a village located in an extremely conservative part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the eyes of the local people, the youngsters had violated tribal norms and brought dishonour upon them.

After the video was leaked, a jirga was held by the girls' tribe which decreed the killing of the boys and girls under 'riwaj' (a tribal custom).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Idris Elba is reportedly in negotiations to replace Will Smith in the "Suicide Squad" sequel.

The follow-up, which is being branded as a relaunch, will be directed by "Guardians of the Galaxy" helmer James Gunn. Gunn has also written the script.

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter, Elba met Gunn on Friday and since things went well the talks began with Warner Bros studio.

The "Luther" star was the first and only choice for Gunn and the studio, the insiders said.

The move comes a week after Smith left the project due to scheduling issues, who, along with Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, led the ensemble of the 2016 movie and played assassin anti-hero Deadshot.

The film would mark Gunn's return to the director's chair after Disney sacked him from "Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3" last July when his old offensive tweets resurfaced on social media.

"Suicide Squad 2" is slated to be released on August 6, 2021.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An India-born eminent mathematician and his wife have given USD one million to an American university to establish a professorship honouring legendary Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.

The new position aims to honour the genius Ramanujan, who made substantial contributions to mathematics in the early 1900s.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has received the amount from mathematics professor emeritus VS Varadarajan and his wife Veda to establish the Ramanujan Visiting Professorship' in his home department, the varsity said in a statement.

The new post will help attract visiting faculty members in Varadarajan's specialisations of automorphic forms, an important concept in number theory, and representation theory, which has been linked to elementary particles and quantum physics.

The UCLA Academic Senate and the University of California Office of the President has to approve the chair's establishment. The gift is part of the Centennial Campaign for the UCLA, which is scheduled to conclude in December 2019 during the university's100th anniversary year, the article said.

The additional expertise would enhance the UCLA's renowned mathematics department, which was ranked among the top 10 graduate programmes in the country in 2018 by the US & World Report.

The UCLA said Varadarajan's career included work in various areas of mathematics and physics and his research has been motivated by a "desire to understand the role of symmetry in mathematics and physics."



A Ph.D in Mathematics from Calcutta University and Master's in Math and Statistics from the University of Madras, Varadarajan has an honorary doctorate in physics from the University of Genova, and was awarded the Lars Onsager medal from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology for his work in mathematics.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai-born tycoons David and Simon Reuben on Thursday emerged as the second richest on a new list of Britain's Tax Haven Elite, who declare in company filings that they are usually resident in low-tax jurisdictions around the world.

The Reuben brothers, who were born in India to a wealthy Iraqi-Jewish family before moving to Britain in the 1950s, made their fortune in metals and property.

They were ranked fourth in The Sunday Times Rich List 2018' with a fortune of 15.09 billion pounds and have now been named by The Times' among a third of British billionaires who make use of offshore tax havens.

The newspaper's investigation claims the UK Exchequer is denied billions of pounds a year as a result of offshore tax havens, while many of the billionaires continue to reap the benefits of British assets.

"The younger brother, Simon, 77, has lived in Monaco for almost 20 years, while David, 80, moved abroad several years ago and splits his time between the French Riviera and Florida, the new list notes.

It adds: They are British citizens but are believed to have non-domicile status. Their property portfolio includes Millbank Tower, where the Tory party used to be based, the John Lewis headquarters in Victoria and the Curtain hotel in Shoreditch."



"Many are ultimately owned by offshore companies based in tax havens including BVI [British Virgin Islands], the Isle of Man and Jersey. This would mean that their beneficiaries can avoid inheritance tax of 40 per cent on the value of these assets.

The newspaper's analysis, which names chemicals entrepreneur Jim Ratcliffe as the richest Briton with an estimated wealth of 21.05 billion pounds to move offshore to Monaco, notes that many of these billionaires continue to maintain their influence on UK politics and business from distant shores. The Reuben brothers have donated regularly to the ruling Conservative Party over the years.

The brothers have also established a UK charity called the Reuben Foundation, which makes grants to improve healthcare and education, including a scholarship programme that helps disadvantaged students to attend Oxford or Cambridge University.

A spokesperson for the Reubens said the brothers "were not born in the UK, nor do they reside in the UK and that they operate many businesses, including UK ones, which fully comply with UK tax laws.

The Reubens have always followed the law and tax regimes of the countries where they have lived and where their companies operate. Any political or charitable donations reflect their views as to who will be best at looking after the people or country involved, the spokesperson said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India and Paraguay have agreed to identify sectors of mutual interest to promote bilateral investment and decided to explore new areas of collaboration, including Information and Communication Technology and space and biotechnology.

The decisions were taken as Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited the country. He is the highest-level representative of India to visit Paraguay since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1961.

During the visit, Naidu met Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Bentez, Vice President Hugo Velazquez and President of the National Congress (Senate) Silvio Ovelar.

Talks were held in a warm and cordial atmosphere when the two sides discussed bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest, an official statement said.

The representatives highlighted the progressive increase of bilateral trade, whose average, in the last five years, amounts to approximately USD 376 million, and agreed to articulate mechanisms that allow a better use of its potential, it said.

Both sides agreed to identify sectors of mutual interest to promote bilateral investment considering the highly favourable business environment existing in their countries.

They also expressed their intention to encourage the private sector to promote alliances that allow them to take advantage of the stability of their economies.

The two sides agreed to explore new areas of collaboration including in hydel and solar, health including traditional medicine, Information and Communication Technology, farming and agriculture machinery, space and biotechnology, railways and tourism related infrastructure.

They tasked also their teams to facilitate promotion of exchanges between academics and universities and also between travel professionals and stakeholders in tourism. Paraguay welcomed the offer of India of capacity building through enhanced scholarships for higher education and its ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) programme, the statement said.

The two sides welcomed signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic and Consular Academy Paraguay and the Foreign Service Institute India, it said.

They also expressed their interest in finalising the negotiations of the pending instruments.

Both sides agreed to jointly celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandh. India welcomed the issuance of a commemorative postal stamp.

Both side concurred in the importance of strengthening Parliamentary linkages.

The two sides exchanged views on the Preferential Trade Agreement between MERCOSUR and India, in force as of 1 June 2009.

MERCOSUR is an economic and political bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Paraguay strongly condemned the brutal terrorist attack in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. The attack by Pakistan-based



Jaish-e-Mohammed left 40 CRPF personnel dead.

Both sides agreed that terrorism and transnational organized crime constitute a serious threat to world peace and stability.

Paraguay said that India could count on its support in the fight against terrorism and in raising concerns about threats of terrorism in the international fora.

They also stressed the importance of taking firm measures against terrorism and pledged to strengthen multilateral cooperation to combat this scourge including through cooperation against terrorist threats from groups listed in relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions and working towards early adoption of a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

In order to discuss many of the collaborative proposals and strengthen ties between both countries, the vice presidents of the two nations agreed that a third meeting of consultations between the Foreign Ministries of both countries be held at an early date.

The Consultations could explore among other things further institutional linkages to facilitate wide ranging cooperation between the two countries.

The president if Paraguay accepted the invitation extended by Naidu to visit India at a convenient opportunity for both parties.

Paraguay assured that it would support India's candidature to elections to various UN and multilateral bodies.

Paraguay appreciated the International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative launched by India and France in 2015, adding that it would be joining it shortly.

They agreed that ISA, launched by India and France in 2015, would facilitate use of clean energy, tap into abundant source of solar energy and transition from conventional to renewable sources.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India and Paraguay have underlined the need to take firm measures against terrorism and pledged to strengthen multilateral cooperation to combat the scourge.

Paraguay strongly condemned the brutal terrorist attack in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 as Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited the Latin American country and held talks with its leadership.

The attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed left 40 CRPF personnel dead.

Both sides agreed that terrorism and transnational organised crime constitute a serious threat to world peace and stability.

Paraguay said that India could count on its support in the fight against terrorism and in raising concerns about threats of terrorism in the international fora.

They also stressed the importance of taking firm measures against terrorism and pledged to strengthen multilateral cooperation to combat this scourge including through cooperation against terrorist threats from groups listed in relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions and working towards early adoption of a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

Naidu is the highest-level representative of India to visit Paraguay since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1961.

During the visit, Naidu met Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Bentez, Vice President Hugo Velazquez and President of the National Congress (Senate) Silvio Ovelar.

Talks were held in a warm and cordial atmosphere when the two sides discussed bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest, an official statement said.

The representatives highlighted the progressive increase of bilateral trade, whose average, in the last five years, amounts to approximately USD 376 million, and agreed to articulate mechanisms that allow a better use of its potential, it said.

Both sides agreed to identify sectors of mutual interest to promote bilateral investment considering the highly favourable business environment existing in their countries.

They also expressed their intention to encourage the private sector to promote alliances that allow them to take advantage of the stability of their economies.

The two sides agreed to explore new areas of collaboration including in hydel and solar, health including traditional medicine, Information and Communication Technology, farming and agriculture machinery, space and biotechnology, railways and tourism related infrastructure.

They tasked also their teams to facilitate promotion of exchanges between academics and universities and also between travel professionals and stakeholders in tourism. Paraguay welcomed the offer of India of capacity building through enhanced scholarships for higher education and its ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) programme, the statement said.

The two sides welcomed signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic and Consular Academy Paraguay and the Foreign Service Institute India, it said.

They also expressed their interest in finalising the negotiations of the pending instruments.

Both sides agreed to jointly celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. India welcomed the issuance of a commemorative postal stamp.

Both side concurred in the importance of strengthening parliamentary linkages.

The two sides exchanged views on the Preferential Trade Agreement between MERCOSUR and India, in force as of 1 June 2009.

MERCOSUR is an economic and political bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

In order to discuss many of the collaborative proposals and strengthen ties between both countries, the vice presidents of the two nations agreed that a third meeting of consultations between the Foreign Ministries of both countries be held at an early date.

The consultations could explore among other things further institutional linkages to facilitate wide ranging cooperation between the two countries.

The president of Paraguay accepted the invitation extended by Naidu to visit India at a convenient opportunity for both parties.

Paraguay assured that it would support India's candidature to elections to various UN and multilateral bodies.

Paraguay appreciated the International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative launched by India and France in 2015, adding that it would be joining it shortly.

They agreed that the ISA would facilitate use of clean energy, tap into abundant source of solar energy and transition from conventional to renewable sources.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India Thursday sealed a USD 3 billion deal with Russia for leasing of a nuclear-powered attack submarine for the Indian Navy for a period of 10 years, military sources said.

The two countries signed an inter-governmental agreement capping months of negotiations on price and various other aspects of the deal.

Under the pact, Russia will have to deliver the Akula class submarine, to be known as Chakra III, to the Indian Navy by 2025.

It will be the third Russian submarine to be leased to the Indian Navy.

A spokesperson in the Defence Ministry refused to comment when asked about the deal.

India has been significantly bolstering its naval prowess in the backdrop of China's attempts to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean region.

India Navy has taken two more submarines from Russia on lease.

The first Russian nuclear-powered submarine -- christened INS Chakra -- was taken in 1988 under a three year lease. A second INS Chakra was taken on lease in 2012 for a period of 10 years.

The lease of Chakra II will expire in 2022 and India is looking at extending the lease, sources said.

The deal for the Chakra III came days after Indo-Russian joint production facility to manufacture AK-203 assault rifles for the Indian Army was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

In October, India signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Russia to procure a batch of S-400 air defence missile system.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India's mass measles vaccination campaign helped save the lives of tens of thousands of children between 2010 and 2013, according to a latest study.

The finding, published in the journal eLife, suggests that the measles vaccine campaigns helped save 41,000 to 56,000 children in India during 2010 to 2013, or 39-57 per cent of the expected number of deaths nationally.

The researchers, including Prabhat Jha from the University of Toronto in Canada, found that mortality in children aged between one and 59 months fell more in the campaign states following launch (27 per cent) than in the non-campaign states (11 per cent).

The finding suggests that eliminating deaths from measles in India could be possible, although it will require continued diligence to ensure high immunisation rates among Indian children and direct mortality monitoring.

The results may also help to encourage greater uptake of vaccinations in children across the world, the researchers said.

"Together, our results demonstrate the significant success of the measles vaccination campaigns in saving children's lives in India," Jha said in a statement.

The researchers note that there have been substantial decreases in the number of deaths from measles over the last 30 years.

However, the infection remains a significant cause of mortality in children under five years old globally, with much of the burden of mortality and transmission residing in Africa and Asia.

India was one of the last countries to adopt two doses of the measles vaccine as part of national immunisation programmes, researchers said.

In 2010, the government implemented second-dose measles vaccines alongside mass immunisation campaigns in districts with low child vaccination rates, they said.

"We know that measles deaths have declined in India, but what we did not know prior to this study is if the national measles campaign reduced child mortality rates," said Benjamin Wong, Epidemiologist at St Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto.

"Until now, no studies had directly answered this question due to gaps in the available data," Wong said.

The researchers applied a novel statistical method to data from the Million Death Study (MDS) -- a nationally representative sample of all deaths in India, which includes detailed interviews with families about child deaths.

They examined 27,000 child deaths from 1.3 million households surveyed from 2005 to 2013.

During this period, the MDS captured deaths for 13,490 girls and 13,007 boys aged between one and 59 months old.

Measles mortality risk was notably lower for children living in the campaign districts and those born between 2010-2013.

The team also found that the campaign was particularly successful for girls, as there was a steeper decline in the mortality rates of girls than boys in the vaccination campaign states during the three-year period.

However, while this highlights a narrower gap between girls and boys, mortality rates remain higher for girls, researchers said.

This is possibly due to lower vaccination coverage, a social preference for boys and/or lower levels of breastfeeding and healthcare access, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 60-member Indian Army contingent from the Udhampur-based Northern Command will leave for Oman next week for a joint military exercise, a defence official said Thursday.

Northern Command General-Officer-Commanding-In-Chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh interacted with the contingent Thursday.

The team is participating in the fortnight-long 'Al-Nagah III', the third in a series of bilateral army exercises between the two countries, the spokesman said.

Lt Gen Singh said the exercise is scheduled to be held from March 12-March 25 at Jabel Al Akhdar mountains and it will see the two armies exchange expertise and experience in tactics, weapon-handling and firing.

The exercise aims to enhance interoperability in antiterrorist operations in semiurban mountainous terrain, the spokesman said.

The bilateral security ties have continued to develop since the beginning of India-Oman Joint Military Cooperation meetings in 2006, underscoring the strategic partnership between two important nations of Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

The Indian contingent will be represented by four officers, nine Junior Commissioned Officers and 47 other ranks of the Garhwal Rifles regiment, The spokesman said.

He said similar strength is also to be fielded by the Jabel Regiment of Royal Army of Oman (RAO).

Observer delegation comprising senior officers of both the armies will witness the validation demonstration to be held on March 25, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the vast presence of Indian expatriates contributes to the economic development of the two countries.

The relationship between the two nations assumes special significance with IOR fast turning out to be the nerve centre of trade, commerce and energy security between the east and the west, the spokesman said, adding the exercise will go a long way in enhancing and understanding of capabilities and strengthening camaraderie between the two armies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UK government on Thursday unveiled changes to its visa and immigration system which includes two new visa categories for business people from around the world and an expansion of the list of countries offered streamlined student visa procedures.

India once again failed to make the cut to be added to the expanded list of countries, which has now included Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Oman, Peru and Tunisia.

The UK Home Office said the change will not only benefit students, who will be able to apply for visas through a more streamlined process, but also help to ensure that the UK's "world-leading education institutions remain competitive internationally".

This is the second time in months when a review of the so-called Appendix H list for Tier 4 student visas, which includes China and Mexico among other countries, has overlooked India - among the top source countries for foreign students applying to UK universities.

The UK government claims that India does not meet the "required criteria" to be included on the expanded list and that Indian students will experience no change in the service they receive.

The other key changes unveiled by the UK Home Office on Thursday include two new visa routes open to skilled business people to set up businesses in the UK.

The Start-up visa route will be open to those starting a business for the first time in the UK, while the Innovator visa route will be for more experienced business people who have funds to invest in their business.

Both routes will see endorsing bodies and business experts rather than the UK Home Office assessing applicants' business ideas. This will make sure that the routes are focussed on only the most innovative, viable and scalable businesses.

"My priority is making sure that talented business people continue to see the UK as an attractive destination to develop their businesses. This will help create more jobs across the country and ensure our economy continues to thrive," said UK immigration minister Caroline Nokes.

Alongside these new routes, the Home Office is also bringing forward reforms to the Tier 1 (Investor) route. The government said the reformed route will better protect the UK from illegally obtained funds, whilst ensuring that genuine investors have access to a viable visa route.

Applicants will be required to prove that they have had control of the required 2 million pounds for at least two years, rather than 90 days, or provide evidence of the source of those funds seen as an effort to combat fears of money laundering.

"What we will not tolerate is those who seek to abuse our system and that is why I am bringing forward new measures which will make sure that only genuine investors, who intend to support UK businesses, can benefit from our immigration system," Nokes said.

The Home Office will also extend the salary exemption in the Tier 2 (General) visa so that the state-funded NHS and schools can continue to attract and hire experienced teachers, nurses and paramedics from overseas, including India.

The salary exemption applies to all nurses and paramedics, medical radiographers and secondary school teachers whose subjects are in maths, physics, chemistry, computer science and Mandarin.

A two-year scheme, which will allow up to 20 nurses from Jamaica to come to the UK to gain vital experience in NHS hospitals as part of an exchange scheme, has also been announced.
Indonesia ended the search Thursday for victims of last week's mine collapse on the island of Sulawesi as the death toll climbed to 27, an official said, even as dozens are still feared missing.

Rescuers were forced to stop using excavators as conditions deteriorated and it was no longer possible to operate heavy machinery on such unstable ground.

"Our assessment found it is no longer possible to search for the victims because of the possible landslides, it is getting more and more dangerous for the rescuers," local disaster mitigation agency official Abdul Muin Paputungan told AFP.

"We decided to end the search for the mine collapse victims today."



The remains of 27 miners have been found following the disaster on February 26, while 18 were pulled out alive, Paputungan said.

Rescuers have been hampered by steep terrain, unstable soil and dangerously narrow mining shafts.

It remains unclear how many miners were in the shafts at the time of the accident as survivors had given varying tallies. Rescue agencies said some miners reported it could be as high as 100.

"At least five bodies had been buried in a mass grave because no family had claimed them," Paputungan said.

The accident happened in the Bolaang Mongondow region of North Sulawesi, where five miners were killed in December after a similar illegal gold mine accident.

Mineral-rich Indonesia has scores of unlicensed mines -- many with complete disregard for even the most basic safety procedures.

In 2016, 11 miners died after a mudslide engulfed an illegal gold mine in Sumatra's Jambi province.

A year earlier, 12 people were killed when a shaft collapsed after they tunnelled into a disused gold mine on Java island.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An official with a mainly Shiite militia organisation in Iraq says Islamic State militants attacked a bus carrying the group's forces in northern Iraq, killing six militiamen and wounding 31 fighters.

The official from the government-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces told The Associated Press that the Wednesday night ambush took place near the town of Makhmour, south of the northern city of Mosul.

The official says the bus was en route from Mosul to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters. Although IS was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017, the group's sleepers cells are still carrying out deadly attacks in northern and western Iraq.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday alleged that Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and some people in his administration were trying to "sabotage assembly elections" in the state.

He was responding to the governor's statement asking mainstream parties to exercise restraint in their political discourse.

In a tweet, Abdullah said, "He (Governor) should be focused on improving the security environment to enable elections but one hears from responsible people that the Governor is so keen to remain in power that he & some in his administration are trying to sabotage assembly elections."



Malik on Thursday said any party supporting the separatists is anti-national, in an apparent reference to PDP and National Conference who criticised the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI).

Without naming the two, the Governor said, "The political parties which are coming out in support of banned organizations are making their position clear and are siding with separatists."



Referring to the ban on the JeI, NC vice-president Omar Abdullah Thursday said the crackdown on the organization would not help in improving the situation in the Valley. Last Friday, the PDP and NC had also criticised the Centre's decision to ban JeI, saying it is against the essence of democracy which allows space to opposing political thoughts.

In another tweet, Abdullah said on Thursday, "While we are now immune to Mr Malik's political diatribes he owes the country an explanation. It is on his watch that Pulwama happened & more than 40 CRPF jawans were killed, on his watch Jammu saw a grenade blast today (sic).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday condemned the grenade attack at a crowded bus stand here that left a teenager dead and 32 others injured, with the BJP pledging to wipe out terrorism and the Congress expressing concern over security preparedness.

Condemning the attack, Governor Satya Pal Malik directed the administration to provide best medical assistance to the injured.

He asked all agencies to ensure that those responsible for the attack are brought to justice. The governor announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs 20,000 each to those injured, his spokesperson said.

The J&K Congress unit said the lapses that led to the attack should be looked into as it showed the "total failure" of the Centre and the state administration in dealing with security situation.

In a statement, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina called the attack an "utter cowardice act" and pledged to wipe out terrorists and their supporters from the state.

He said unnerved by the crackdown on separatists and terrorists, Pakistan and its sponsored terrorists are trying to show their existence by carrying out these ghastly acts.

"Pakistan's nefarious designs have failed till now and it will be taught lesson for all misdeeds," he said adding Pakistan and its sponsored terrorists have tried to vitiate the atmosphere of Jammu and "this is not acceptable to us."



"All those responsible for the act will be hunted down by our forces," Raina said, adding Jammu is a "Dogra heartland", which has never succumbed to these tactics and always responded in a befitting way.

"Terrorists cannot succeed in demoralizing the brave Dogras and those who dream to create fear and tension among communities in the region will be dealt with iron hand," he said, expressing sympathies with the victims and assured them BJP stands with them in this hour of distress.

Condemning the blast, Pradesh Congress Committee chief G A Mir said, "This kind of incident in the heart of the city is a matter of great concern when the security agencies are on high alert in the state".

"This raises a question mark over the alertness of security apparatus and indicates that the anti-national elements have shown their strength to strike in the busiest area which is highly guarded," he said.

The Congress leader expressed sympathies with injured and prayed for their early recovery, a party release said.

National Conference also condemned the attack and prayed for speedy recovery of the injured. "Such cowardice acts were a challenge to the civilized society, which are needed to be fought unitedly," NC provincial president Devender Singh Rana said.

Rana, along with former minister Surjeet Singh Slathia, state secretary Rattan Lal Gupta, former MLC Trilochan Singh Wazir and Provincial Secretary Pradeep Bali visited the bus stand and interacted with people.

Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also condemned the attack.

"Saddened by the of death of a civilian and the injury to scores of others in a blast in #Jammu at a bus stand and strongly condemn it," the Mirwaiz tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn's release from detention nearly four months after his arrest has gripped Japan, giving the public rare glimpse into how the criminal justice system works.

Ghosn was recuperating Thursday, his lawyer said, after leaving the Tokyo Detention Center the evening before, just in time for his 65th birthday on Saturday. His trial on charges of financial misconduct is sure to draw attention as one of the biggest court cases in the history of corporate Japan.

Japan's relatively low crime rate means high profile cases like Ghosn's are uncommon. His trial, which could start later this year, is sure to draw attention as one of the biggest court cases in the history of corporate Japan.

The front pages of all major newspapers carried photos of Ghosn, his identity obscured by a surgical mask, blue cap and laborer's clothes on Thursday.

Broadcasters showed stacks of Japanese currency about the size of a small bed to demonstrate what his bail of 1 billion yen ($8.9 million) would have looked like.

The payment was made electronically but the full amount was required, unlike bail systems like the U.S. where a portion is offered as surety and the full amount is forfeited only if the defendant fails to appear.

While Westerners were wondering at how the idea of "presumed innocent" doesn't seem to apply in Japan, many here were shocked his release came so soon.

"An exceptional case of quick release," said a headline in the newspaper Yomiuri.

Suspects in Japan are usually not released from detention until all documents from both sides are readied for a trial because prosecutors worry that suspects might tamper with evidence or flee. The court rejected two earlier requests by Ghosn for bail.

Theoretically, suspects in Japan are presumed innocent until proven guilty. But the complexity of a case can determine the length of pretrial detention. And long detentions mean suspects practically serve time before they are found guilty.

Seiho Cho, a defense lawyer, says his clients wonder why they aren't getting released as quickly as Ghosn was. Ghosn's legal team offered special conditions, such as a surveillance camera, to win his release.

Bail should be granted without such stringent restrictions, Cho said.

"What we have now is totally wrong," he said. "We hope this will have a positive effect on future cases."



Ghosn, who headed the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors alliance, has been charged with falsifying financial reports in under-reporting his income and breach of trust in having Nissan shoulder investment losses and make payments to a Saudi businessman.

He says he is innocent, that the income allegedly under-reported was never paid or decided; Nissan never suffered the investment losses and the payments were legitimate business expenses.

A French lawyer for Ghosn, Jean-Yves Le Borgne, blamed his client's troubles on a "plot against him" over opposition within Nissan to his effort to draw the Japanese automaker closer to Renault with a strong French boss.

He said in an interview on Wednesday that Ghosn fell into "a kind of trap." Le Borgne said he was concerned whether the defense will get full access to all documents to be presented as evidence.

The business daily Nikkei said Ghosn's case highlights inequities human-rights advocates have long criticized as unfair, such as extended detentions and interrogations without a lawyer present. "Japanese-style justice shaken," the headline said.

There have been several cases where suspects signed false confessions after harsh questioning during months-long detentions, but were later exonerated by DNA tests or other evidence.

Lawyer Yuichi Kaido welcomed the international scrutiny due to Ghosn's case.

"I realize there is the view that we can't give special treatment to Mr. Ghosn or that Japan has its own way of doing things," he said, but "The case of Carlos Ghosn has highlighted how outdated this system is."



Ghosn has hired a star defense lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka. Nicknamed "the Razor," he has won rare acquittals in a nation where the conviction rate is 99 per cent.

"We hope this can serve as a way to end the 'hostage justice system,'" Hironaka told reporters Thursday, using the term often used by critics to refer to long detentions typical in Japan. "The world is watching," he added.

Hironaka said the lawyer most responsible for securing Ghosn's release was Takashi Takano, who has studied at Southern Methodist University's law school in Dallas.

Hironaka said Ghosn needed rest after his detention.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist from Pakistan was killed in an encounter with security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, police said.

Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Kralgund area of Handwara in the north Kashmir district late Wednesday night following information about the presence of some terrorists in the area, a police official said.

He said the cordon was maintained during the night and contact was established with them in the morning after the forces zeroed in on the location.

There was an exchange of firing between the two sides, in which one terrorist was killed, the official said.

He said the slain terrorist was identified as a Pakistani national, known as Anwar, who was affiliated to the JeM.

Incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, were recovered from the site of the encounter, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Auto major Thursday said its struggling British arm has posted a 4.1 per cent decline in its global sales to 38,288 units in February.

China continues to impact overall performance despite strong sales growth in North America and UK markets, according to a company filing to the BSE.

Sales of Jaguar brand of vehicles in February were up 5.8 per cent at 12,235 units over February 2018, the company said in a statement.

range posted sales of 26,053 units in the month, down 8.1 per cent over a year-ago period, it added.

"Despite strong sales of the and Sport, we saw a dip in sales for the brand during the month," said JLR Chief Commercial Officer Felix Brautigam.

Demand for the sporty compact E-PACE and the all-electric I-PACE powered growth for the Jaguar brand in key regions, he added.

"In the face of the ongoing macro-economic challenges being felt by the automotive industry, particularly in China, our strong sales growth in North America, the UK and Europe reflect continued demand for our exciting product line-up and two strong brands," Brautigam added.

However, JLR expects improvement in the performance after the launch of new compact Evoque with hybrid powertrain and space-efficient platform.
Two Kashmiris selling dry fruit were thrashed by a group of saffron-clad men in Daliganj locality here, following which four persons have been arrested, police said Thursday.

The incident took place Wednesday evening, the latest in a series of cases in which Kashmiris across the country were targeted after the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel.

The assault on the Kashmiri vendors, which was caught on camera, was strongly condemned by Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The Kashmiri youths were selling dry fruit on Daliganj bridge and a group of men beat them up, terming them stone pelters," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani told reporters here.

Local people, however, rushed to their rescue and informed the police, he said.

An "alert citizen" also made a video of the attack, following which police teams swung into action and arrested the main accused, Bajrang Sonkar.

Sonkar has more than a dozen criminal cases including that of murder, loot, theft and under the Arms Act pending against him, he added.

On a tip-off, three others -- Himanshu Garg, Aniruddh and Amar Kumar -- were also arrested on Thursday, the SSP said.

Sonkar claims to be the president of a little-known Vishwa Hindu Dal.

Naithani said the victims, Abdul Salaam and Mohammed Afzal, are from south Kashmir's Kulgam district and come here during winters to sell dry fruit.

The victims later told media persons that they were satisfied with the police action, which they termed prompt.

The SSP said police wanted to give a stern message that such acts would not be tolerated and those involved will be brought to book.

An FIR was lodged at Hasangaj police station under various sections of the IPC, including 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 307 (attempt to murder), and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, a police official said.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said the assault in Lucknow hurt the idea of India.

"Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in J&K than videos like these. Keep thrashing Kashmiris like this on the streets at the hands of RSS/Bajrang Dal goons & then try to sell the idea of 'atoot ang' (integral part), it simply won't fly," he said in a series of tweets.

"Dear PM @narendramodi Sahib, this is what you had spoken against & yet it continues unabated. This is the state governed by your handpicked Chief Minister. Can we expect action in this case or do we file your concern & assurances as a jumla, meant to placate but nothing more?" he asked.

Abdullah also posed a question to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who represents the Lucknow seat in Lok Sabha, that if he would step in to deliver the justice in this case.

"Jenab @rajnathsingh Sahib. You represent this constituency in the Lok Sabha, this is the constituency where Vajpayee Sb was elected from & went on to be PM. If no one else will step in & deliver justice can we expect you to punish those guilty of this assault?" he added.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti accused the Centre of encouraging such people to polarise society.

"Kashmiris are being hounded & punished. The culprits here were clad in saffron kurtas & are from VHD. They have no fear & in fact uploaded the video on SM. GoIs conspicuous silence is actually a political tactic to encourage such elements & communalise the atmosphere until polls (sic)," she tweeted.

"You humiliate & assault Kashmiris. Make them feel like criminals & that they dont belong to this country. Why are you surprised then when young pliable men are taken under the wings of terror groups & indoctrinated?," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Muslim cleric, absconding after an alleged sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl near here, was arrested in Madurai in Tammil Nadu Thursday, police said.

Shafeeq Al Qasimi, who was removed as imam of a nearby mosque after the assault came to light, was nabbed from a lodge in the temple city, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar told PTI here.

Qasimi had been on the run for the last one month and shifted his place of stay with the help of a relative, who was also arrested and their car seized, a deputy superintendent of police Ashok Kumar told PTI.

A case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act had been registered against him based on the mosque committee's statement.

Qasimi had allegedy lured the girl to an isolated forest area at Vithura, near here, and sexually assaulted her.

The abuse came to light after a group of local women confronted the cleric on seeing him with the school-going girl in the forest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A one-year-old boy kidnapped over eight months ago from Thane district in Maharashtra and allegedly sold to a woman was rescued and two persons were arrested in this connection, police said.

The boy was sleeping with his grandmother in the verandah of their home at Mharal village in Kalyan town on June 29, 2018 when he was kidnapped, senior police inspector Balaji Pandhare said.

The child's mother, a widow, later lodged a police complaint under Indian Penal Code Section 363 (kidnapping).

Acting on a tip-off, the police kept a tab on the movements of local resident Somnath Pawar (36), who was suspected to have kidnapped and sold the child for Rs 25,000 to his relative Renuka Pawar (40), who has three daughters but desired to have a son, he said.

During the investigation, the police got to know that the boy was taken to Karad in Satara district, located around 300 km from here, he said.

A Thane police team went there a few days back and found the boy in the custody of Renuka Pawar, Pandhare said.

The child was rescued and reunited with his mother on Wednesday, he said.

The kidnapper and his woman relative were arrested and produced before a local court which remanded them in police custody till March 11, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Election Committee of Karnataka Congress that met on Thursday has finalised a panel ofnames for 15 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats, which will be submitted to the party's screening committee.

The meeting attended by several senior Congress leaders including CLP leader Siddaramaiah, state President Dinesh Gundu Rao and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara among others discussed the seats where party and its coalitionpartner JD(S) do not have sitting MPs, other than Shivamogga.

"Sitting MP constituencies of both INC & JD(S) were notdiscussed. For the remaining 15 seats excluding Shivamogga, apanel of names were finalised for submission to the screeningcommittee, which is to convene on 11th March in New Delhi," Gundu Rao said in a tweet.

Currently, BJP holds 16 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, Congress 10 and JD(S) 2.

In the meeting at least three names have been finalised for each of the constituencies, sources said.

Candidate for Shivamogga constituency was not discussed in the meeting as the seat is likely to go to JD(S).

JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda has already said that former MLA Madhu Bangarappa will be the coalition candidate from Shivamogga.

Madhu, son of former Chief Minister S Bangarappa, had lost to BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra duringthe recent by-polls, after Yeddyurappa vacated the seat to contest in the May 2018 assembly elections.

The Congress has gone ahead with the process, even as themeeting on seat-sharing between Congress President Rahul Gandhi and JD(S) chief Deve Gowda on Wednesday at Delhi was inconclusive.

However, scaling down his party's demand, Gowda on Wednesday had asked Congress to allot at least 10 out of the 28 Lok Sabha seats to his party.

The JD(S) had earlier demandedthat it be given 12 seats to contest.

After his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Gowda had said, theseat-sharing agreement is likely to be finalised shortly andwill be announced by March 10.

Sharing of seats from old Mysuru region is expected tobe an acid test for both the parties, as the JD(S) considersit its bastion, and the Congress has its sitting membersfrom most of the seats there.

There is pressure from within the Congress not to cedetoo many seats to JD(S), especially the ten seats where theparty has sitting MPs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday appeared to be on collision course with President Maithripala Sirisena over Sri Lanka's commitment to the UNHRC on war-time atrocities against Tamils as he reiterated the government's commitment to implementing the UN resolution.

The Prime Minister's Office in a joint statement with the Foreign Ministry on Thursday said Sri Lanka will continue to demonstrate its commitment and determination towards a steady and long-lasting reconciliation process through a co-sponsored resolution.

It said the government will seek an extension of the timeline of the UHRC resolution 30/1 of October 01, 2015, through a co-sponsored roll-over resolution at the ongoing 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The statement stands in contrast with President Sirisena's comments on Wednesday that he would send his own team to the UNHRC session later this month to seek a reprieve. He said the UN must allow Sri Lanka to resolve its own issues without digging into past.

The Foreign Ministry statement said that Sri Lanka's co sponsoring of the resolution had attested to the country's ownership of the implementation process and to its continued policy of constructive engagement and dialogue with the UN and bilateral partners.

The UNHRC resolutions since 2013 had censured Sri Lanka on its alleged human rights abuses. They called for probing of rights abuses by both LTTE and the government troops by setting up an international investigation.

The current session is expected to review Sri Lanka's progress since the resolution co-sponsored by Sri Lanka along with the US in 2015. Although Sri Lanka has taken some steps to implement the resolution, the Tamil community has complained about the slow speed and the inadequacy of the progress.

Taking a U-turn on Sri Lanka's pledges to the UNHRC over war-time atrocities against Tamils, Sirisena said the country needs "space" to settle its own problems "without interference" over the issue.

Sirisena, who after coming to power in January 2015 had pledged to ensure accountability for war-time abuses, said Sri Lanka had moved on after the end of the separatist war now for over 10 years.

"We need space to settle our own problems without interference," Sirisena said.

His team would be appealing on behalf of the government at the UN rights body.

Sirisena sending his own men, who are not ministers, adds an interesting dimension to the issue as he and his Prime Minister Wickremesinghe are clashing with each other over the issue of governance.

In October last year, Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe in a move seen as unconstitutional. The prime minister was later restored after the Supreme Court intervened.

The government has come under fire from the main opposition for agreeing to co- sponsor the resolution.

The government's defense has been that this strategy will prevent international war crimes allegations being continuously levelled against Sri Lankans through strengthened ownership of the implementation process.

The Tamil groups, however, remain disgruntled that even after four years of the current government who pledged redress for Tamil grievances had achieved very little in its reconciliation agenda.

The Tamil parties have called for the setting up of a UN rights body office in Sri Lanka to monitor the progress. They urge that the government should not be given any more time to implement the resolution.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath Thursday said his 76-day-old government got "empty coffers", but it has since improved the state's financial health and worked for the people welfare, especially farmers.

He expressed confidence his party, the Congress, would win 25 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh as the government has fulfilled 83 promises made in the manifesto.

"We are done with 83 promises of the manifesto in 76 days," he told a press conference here.

"The others promises will be acted upon," he said, but did not mention the number of pending promises.

Nath, who is also the state Congress president, said "By tomorrow evening, loans up to Rs two lakh each of 25 lakh farmers in Madhya Pradesh would be waived.

"Our aim to write off the remaining loans of 25 lakh farmers shortly," he added.

"Despite getting empty coffers from the BJP which ruled the state for 15 years we have bettered the finances and waived farmers' loans," he added.

"I have given the account of my 76-day-old government and expect the previous state BJP government and also the Modi regime to give account of their 15 years and 5 years respectively," Nath said.

He claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be unseated in the upcoming general elections.

In the 2014 polls, the BJP had won 26 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, while the Congress had bagged the remaining three.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Maharashtra government decided Thursday to reduce the in-house quota for FYJC admissions after SSC exams, a move that will help open category students.

Minister Vinod Tawde said SSC pass students will now get 7 per cent seats in the open category, after reducing the in-house quota from 20 per cent to 10 per cent in FYJC (first year junior college) admissions.

Tawde Thursday held a meeting with various institutions having in-house quota to sort out the issue.

It was decided to slash in-house admission quota from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, resulting in 7 per cent seats for students from the open category after implementation of the new 16 per cent Maratha reservation and 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker sections in admissions.

The state also issued a government resolution (GR) in this regard, providing relief to students from the open category, as they can now apply for 7 per cent seats in junior colleges attached to schools.

After the meeting, Tawde appealed to parents and students not to panic as far as FYJC admission was concerned.

"It was an unnecessary assumption that the new 16 per cent reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) and 10 per cent for economically weaker section (EWC) quota would result in no seats for open category as the share of quota would go up to 103 per cent," said Tawde.

There are about 1,887 colleges in Mumbai of various streams and 639 of them have an in-house quota. Of these, 306 are of minority status and have 50 per cent reservation while 333 junior colleges are attached to higher secondary schools.

"For all colleges that have 20 per cent in-house quota other than those colleges having minority status and following the 16 per cent Maratha and 10 per cent EWS quota, we have decided to reduce the 20 per cent in-house quota to 10 per cent to clear the way for 7 per cent seats for the open category," said Tawde.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Maharashtra government Thursday launched a special scheme for construction workers in the state.

The scheme, "Atal Aahar Yojna," will provide good quality and hygienic food to construction workers at a highly subsidised rate.

The yojana will be implemented in some areas of the state on a pilot basis and later its scope will be expanded, a government official said.

In the first phase, the target is to cover 20,000 workers and provide them with good quality food at a nominal cost of Rs five, he said.

Launching the scheme in Nagpur, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "Nearly 10 lakh labourers have been registered with the Labour Board in the state so far. However, we will not stop at just registering their names, we will also try to provide benefits of every welfare scheme to them."



Under the yojana, construction workers will be provided nutritious food at their work place for just Rs five.

The scheme will transform the lives of these labourers, said Fadnavis.

The government will provide all the possible help on three fronts education, income and health to the construction workers. It is already providing a subsidy of Rs 4.5 lakh to labourers for house construction, he added.

Under the Shramev Jayate Yojana, a pension of Rs 3,000 is given to construction workers above the age of 60 years.

In case of a worker's death, the pension will be given to his widow, he added.

Under the scheme, 2.5 lakh labourers have been registered so far. We plan to register about 24 lakh labourers in the near future, the chief minister said.

Under the Jan Aarogya Yojana, labourers are provided with medical facilities up to Rs 1.5 lakh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A court in Thane district of Maharashtra has awarded life imprisonment to a 28-year-old man for killing his minor cousin after she refused to marry him.

District Judge S P Gondhalekar Wednesday pronounced Jahir Sayyed guilty under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt and assault) and fined him Rs 6,000.

According to the prosecution, Sayyed was in love with his 14-year-old cousin and wanted to marry her.

However, the girl and her family members opposed it, arguing that she was a minor.

Sayyed along with two of his friends went to the girl's house in Mumbra town on November 3, 2014 and when she again refused his proposal, he stabbed her 10 times with a knife, killing her on the spot, the prosecution said.

His two friends ran away from the spot, and when the girl's father tried to save her, Sayyed attacked him also, injuring him.

Sayyed was subsequently arrested and a case lodged against him.

As many as 13 prosecution witnesses, including the girl's father, deposed in the court.

The judge while pronouncing the sentence said the prosecution successfully proved all the charges against Sayyed beyond reasonable doubt.

The court gave benefit of doubt to the two friends of Sayyed and acquitted them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The NDAgovernment should clear the air over the last month's aerial strike on a terrorist camp in Pakistan to put to rest all "doubts and suspicions" over the operation, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said Thursday.

He said details related to the February 26 aerial strike by the Indian Air Force on a terror camp run by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at Balakot in Pakistan should be made public.

"When the air strike has become a subject of doubts and suspicions (shak-shanka), I think the central government, that has talked so much about it, should make public its details," Nath told reporters.

"There is nothing secret in it. Pakistan knows it as it has been attacked. Is it a secret to anyone? So, its details should be made public like this was what we did, this was the building, camp (that was targeted).

"Such number of people were killed. What is the problem in making these things public, I can't understand?" the Congress leader said.

Doubts have surfaced over the aerial operation due to reports of certain international agencies and material flooding social media sites, he said.

"Today everything is there in GPS and satellite photography," he said.

Taking a dig at the BJP, he said, "They are claiming the country was safe under their leadership. This means the country was safe only in the last five years under the leadership of Modiji and unsafe for 70 years before that."



Nath said the Congress has contributed in building defence institutions.

"I think misleading the nation was not right. Who raised the defence forces? Who set up the Indian Military Academy (IMA), the National Defence Academy (NDA)...Sainik Schools. Were they built by the BJP or Modiji?" he asked.

Taking potshots at the BJP, he said the people who are giving lessons on "nationalism" now a days did not play any role in India's independence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The producer of the film '#MeToo', which portrays kidnapping of a girl with the motive of committing a sexual crime, has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the order of censor board asking it to change the title of the film and make several cuts.

The petition is likely to come up for hearing before Justice Vibhu Bakhru on Friday.

Producer Sajid Iqbal Qureshi sought setting aside of the November 12, 2018 order of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) by which it directed public exhibition of the movie be restricted to adults subject to carrying out of "several excisions/modifications/ cuts".

The board also asked them to change the title of the movie or insertion of disclaimer, the plea said and sought a stay on the CBFC order.

Advocate Shilpi Jain, representing the producer, said the portrayal of the female character, who is a victim of kidnapping with the objective of committing a sexual crime is a highly sensitive issue and any tempering with the scenes, meddling with the script can cripple the narrative.

She said "leaving the craft of the film sloppy and ineffective, the film maker has attempted to throw light on the socio-cultural milieu, revoke perverse mind set and address the collective consciousness, the gender ethos, confining patriarchal structures, which need to be brought down".

"So, a single girl does not end up becoming a causality of the environment. Let's keep on hold some 'shock value', lest that the integrity and credibility of the work of art should become bigger casualty. The film maker's intent was to convey what goes on in the minds of men, who abduct a woman with the plan of raping her," the petition said.

It said as the petitioner is a young film-maker, his work is being treated with "discrimination and bias" and is being made a target of unnecessary and baseless censorship.

The plea alleged violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which ensures equality to all before law, and said the directions for cuts/ excisions is against the rule of law.

Regarding the board's recommendation to change the title '#MeToo', the petition said CBFC has not given any reasonable justification for it and their view that the complexity of the 'Me Too' movement would be misunderstood or compromised if the title is not changed, is absolutely without any application of mind and neither rational nor justified.

"None of the directions contained in the order (of CBFC), whether with regard to change of the title of the movie or by way of insertion of disclaimer or deletions/ excisions/ modifications fall within the ambit of the Cinematograph Act of 1952 or the Guidelines and violate the Constitution of India and are hence illegal and deserve to be quashed/set aside," it said.

It said the petitioner had addressed an email to the Film Certification Appellate Court on February 18, seeking permission to file an appeal against the CBFC order after the statutory period of 60 days as the delay was on account of the death of the producer's mother.

However, the prayer was declined after which he approached the high court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata



Banerjee Thursday said the theft of Rafale files from the Union Ministry of Defence was a matter of concern and demanded an enquiry into it.

She also sought the central government's version about the theft and asked who was the 'chhuppa rustam' (hidden person) behind this act.

In a tweet in Hindi, Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, described the entire matter as 'tamasha' (farce) and hinted that its fallout would be known after the Lok Sabha elections.

"What farce is going on in the country? Documents are being stolen from the Ministry of Defence itself. This is a very dangerous situation for the country," she tweeted.

"What would the government say on this? Who is the hidden person behind this? There must be an enquiry into it," she added.

The chief minister asked the people to "wait for sometime as general election results would come out soon".

Attorney General K K Venugopal had informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the Rafale files were stolen from the Defence Ministry.

The government had also threatened The Hindu newspaper with action under the Official Secrets Act for publishing articles based on data allegedly taken from the stolen documents.

Banerjee had on Wednesday condemned the "threats by the BJP" to N Ram, chairman of The Hindu publishing group.

"Media plays an important role in democracy. I strongly condemn threats by BJP govt to one of India's most senior & respected editors, N Ram. Invoking Official Secrets Act to threaten journalists is a shame," she had tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 39-year-old man has been booked for allegedly preparing and selling fake government documents in Thane district of Maharashtra, police said on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, the anti-extortion cell of Thane police raided the premises of the accused, Santosh Pol, in Kalyan town on Tuesday and seized several fake certificates, documents and material used for making it, a police spokesperson said.

The accused and his associates had allegedly been preparing bogus revenue and legal documents pertaining to land deals by forging signatures and stamps since 2014 and selling them to people, the police said.

Following the raid, the accused was booked on Wednesday under various Indian Penal Code Sections for cheating and forgery, the spokesperson said, adding that a search was on to nab him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 37-year-old man was stabbed to death following an altercation between him and the accused persons over a dispute in northwest Delhi's Ashok Vihar, police said.

The incident took place on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, they said.

The deceased identified as Ratan, hails from West Bengal and lived with his wife and two children in Shakarpur. He was involved in several criminal cases and was released from jail in September last year, police said.

Officials of Ashok Vihar were informed at 6.36 am regarding a person lying unconscious in pool of blood at service road in front of a factory near under pass at Wazirpur Industrial Area after which they went to the spot, a senior police officer said.

During enquiry, police learnt that the man sustained head injuries and died at the spot following which a case was registered and an investigation was taken up, Vijayanta Arya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) said.

Ratan was taken to Deep Chand Bandhu hospital where he was declared brought dead by the doctors, she said.

The accused, Sanjay (22), was arrested and two juveniles were apprehended in connection with the incident, she added.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that there was previous history of altercation between them. The accused Sanjay was released from jail a week ago in connection with a robbery case related to Ashok Vihar police station, the officer said.

The accused and the victim, both involved in criminal cases have had such altercations even before. They belonged to the same group. However, due to internal dispute, they separated some five-six months ago, another police officer said.

On the day of occurrence, when the accused saw Ratan, they ended up in a fight with him after he slapped them. Thereafter, the accused persons stabbed him and also smashed his head with stone, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A suspected Maoist leader, who has a slew of cases against him, was killed early on Thursday morning in an exchange of fire with police personnel which lasted for several hours, officials said.

The gunfight started on Wednesday night and went on till early Thursday morning, they said.

"A resident of Malappuram district, C P Jaleel was killed during the exchange of fire between Maoists and the police. A country-made firing weapon was found next to his body," Kannur Range IG Balram Kumar Upadhyay told PTI.

He said the force was on full alert after there was an intelligence report on the movement of Maoists in hilly Wayanad district which shares border with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

"Two members of the gang reached a private resort on Wednesday night and demanded food for 10 members of their team and money... We have estimated that there were around five to eight people in the group," IG said.

The resort staff alerted the police about the presence of the extremist group and a specialised 'Thunderbolt' squad of the Kerala Police rushed in.

"No officer was injured in the exchange of fire. One more person in the armed gang was injured as we picked up a blood trail up to the hills," he said.

The forested locality near Vythiri in Wayanad district has been cordoned off and combing operations were underway to capture the rest of the members of the armed group.

Upadhyay also said the deceased, Jaleel, was an active member of the ultra group.

"He was involved in so many cases. There were cases registered against him in 2014 and 2016. He had been an active member of the group for the last five to six years," he said.

Kerala Thunderbolts is an elite command force of the Kerala Police under the India Reserve Battalion.

Meanwhile, Jaleel's brothers C P Rasheed and C P Jishad demanded a judicial inquiry into his death.

Rasheed said he identified the body and found many bullet injuries on it.

"However, it's difficult to believe the police version. They (police) might have caught him, brought him to the resort and killed him there. They say that the exchange of fire continued all the night," he told reporters.

Jishad said the body of his brother must be handed over to the family.

He also said his family has lodged a complaint with the district collector with regard to his brother's death.

A report from Coimbatore in neighbouring Tamil Nadu said police were maintaining a tight vigil along the state's border with Kerala as there was a possibility of the injured Maoists entering the region for treatment.

An alert has been sounded especially in tribal hamlets and hospitals in Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts, bordering Kerala, to inform authorities about any person seen with bullet injuries, it said quoting local police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Drug firm Marksans Pharma Thursday said it has received eight observations from the US health regulator after the inspection of its Goa facility.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has concluded inspection of company's Goa plant, Marksans Pharma said in a filing to BSE.

"The inspection of the facility took place between February 25 to March 6, 2019 resulting in a Form 483 with eight observations," it added.

None of these observations are considered either critical or repetitive in nature, the company said.

However, it did not provide any details about the observations.

The "company is highly confident of closing these expeditiously and remains committed to global standards of quality and compliance," it said.

The site will continue to supply all approved abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) to the US markets. The inspection will help the company receive approval for pending ANDAs, Marksans Pharma said.

As per the USFDA, a FDA Form 483 is issued to a firm's management at the conclusion of an inspection "when an investigator(s) has observed any conditions that in their judgment may constitute violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act and related Acts."



Shares of Marksans Pharma closed at Rs 26.15 per scrip on BSE, down 2.43 per cent from its previous close.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Muslims are worried and they need someone to address their concerns, All India Imam Association president Maulana Mohd Sajid Rashidi said, reflecting the sentiments of the minority groups present at a BJP pre-poll programme on Thursday.

Several representatives of minority communities voiced their concerns over incidents affecting certain sections of the society like lynching, saffronisation of education, distortion of historical facts and media trial of Muslim youths arrested in suspected terror cases at the event, 'Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat, Modi Ke Saath', an exercise launched by the party to prepare its manifesto in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"The Muslim community is worried. They have been exploited and now they want somebody to listen to them and address their issues. BJP should pay attention to this.

"Muslim youths who are being caught in connection with suspected terror activities undergo media trial even before being proved guilty. This should stop as it destroys both the lives of these youths and their families. They should be punished if found guilty and the entire community will disown them," Rashidi said.

Rashidi also said that the government should provide compensation to youths who are acquitted after spending several years in jail as undertrials so that they can live a life of dignity in the society.

He said there is a perception among Muslims that the ruling BJP is against the community and doesn't want it votes nor wants to give them any election ticket.

"This perception should change," he added.

Father Joseph Manipadam, National Secretary, Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) Office for Education and Culture, said that the minority communities should feel secure in the country and sought extension of SC status and reservation for Muslims and Christians.

"There should be no suppression of institutions and media, or any form of lynching due to differences of religions, practices or food habits...government must protect indigenous cultures and communities, take special care of dalits, tribals, the poor and the marginalised," he said.

He also stated that eviction of tribals from their lands should be stopped.

He also spoke against the saffronisation of textbooks and distortion of historical facts and demanded that Christian missionaries be involved in drafting the National Education Policy, citing their immense contribution.

He also sought revival of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) saying it was still without a chairperson and a Christian member for the last two years. Facilitate issuing minority certificates by the state minority commission and NCMEI without too many hassles.

Raising the problems faced by the Parsi community, Ava Khullar, President of Delhi Parsi Anjuman, sought reservation for youths from the community, at least in medical and engineering institutions which have been endowed by Parsi money.

Stating the population of the community was shrinking with there being only two-three families left in some towns, and that the properties left are being encroached upon by other communities, she said that the new government should help in protecting these properties.

She also suggested setting up of state minority commissions in Maharashtra and Gujarat having large Parsi population so that the concerns of the community can be represented.

Indian film-maker Muzaffar Ali, who was also present at the event, said that the multi-cultural, secular heritage of the cultural institutions in the country should be preserved and that there should be transparency in such organisations.

Similarly, representatives of the Sikh and other communities also put forth their concerns and suggestions.

Union Minority Affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot, who received the suggestions, said that the party would consider them while preparing its 'sankalp patra' (manifesto).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel Thursday said the NDA government is the "weakest ever" dispensation at the Centre since independence and its leaders are only good at delivering good speeches.

Patel was replying to a question of newsmen at Singala village in Karjan tehsil on the grenade attack in Jammu in which one person died and around 30 others were injured.

"I say this is the weakest government after independence. This government believes that by delivering speeches they can fight terrorism.

"This government needs to do basic things to fight terrorism," Patel said.

He recalledBJP leaderstellingthe then Congress-led UPAgovernmentat the Centre to talk tough with Pakistan.

Withoutnaming anybody, he criticisedtheModi-led government for "weakening" spirit (manobal) of the Armyby politicising the air strike inside Pakistan.

"Why aretheypoliticising the attack of the Army in Pakistan territory and breaking their 'manobal'?he asked.

"The Congress has lauded the courage of Indian Air Force pilots who destroyed a Jaish-e-Mohammed trainingcamp in Pakistan,whilethe BJPwas politicising the sacrifices made by our armed forces," Patel said.

He said people who have not made any sacrifice for the country are askingthe Congress what it had done in 60 years of its rule.

"The Congress party will expose the BJP governments failure on various fronts during poll campaign. The BJP failed to provide jobs to youth, farmers are committing suicide while entrepreneurs and industrialists are facing problems," he said.

He asked Congress MLAs, who may think of joining the ruling BJP in Gujarat, to ponder over what happened to leaders who switched sides.

Patel, however, made it clear that no party MLA will join the BJP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy Thursday claimed that Rafale negotiations were brought to an "advanced stage" during UPA regime but the Modi government "delayed" the deal.

"Rafale has been delayed because of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi. The negotiations were brought to an advanced stage during the Manmohan Singh government. The negotiations were almost finalised in March, 2014. Then came the elections. Then you (Modi) took office in May. Why did you delay it for four years. There was no delay on the part of the UPA government at all, he told reporters.

He was asked to comment on Modi's allegation that the Rafale fighter aircraft deal got delayed because of the Congress and furore by other opposition parties.

Reddy also said India did very well in carrying out air strikes against terror camps in Pakistan, but that cannot be used for political purposes.

Asked about the political fight over the veracity of the strikes, Reddy said Congress President Rahul Gandhi was among the first to salute the IAF, it was Modi who "personalized" the entire outcome, he alleged.

The Congress leader congratulated The Hindu newspaper for publishing very relevant, correct, authentic document in regard to the alleged dissent about the price of Rafale aircraft.

"Rafale aircraft is more costly in the hands of NDA government than the one negotiated by UPA... The CAG said the price negotiated by the UPA was costlier by 2.5 per cent. It arrived at the figure because it did not take into account bank guarantees. If you take into account the expenditure incurred by bank guarantees, the purchase price under UPA would have been cheaper. This fact has been brought out through a document published by N Ram (of The Hindu).., Reddy said.

He said journalists should be able to publish any document provided it is authentic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP-led government at the Centre is "weakening the relationship" between the Union and Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah alleged Thursday.

Our party has never questioned the accession. We have always said that whatever we achieve, we will achieve from the Constitution of this country. But, under the Constitution, everyone has equal rights of safety and security.

(However), which Constitution do I talk about when my people are not protected, which flag do I talk about when these people (attackers) take refuge in the (national) flag and attack my people. What law do I talk about when your own chief minister does not uphold it, he said, referring to attack on two Kashmiris in Lucknow on Wednesday.

A group of men were seen on camera assaulting two Kashmiri youths in Daliganj locality in Uttar Pradesh's capital city. The locals, however, rushed to their rescue and informed the police. The main accused, identified as Bajranj Sonkar, has been arrested.

The former chief minister was addressing a party function here where former PDP MLA Mohammad Shafi Wani joined the NC.

Abdullah said the state's relationship with the Union cannot be made stronger by choking the voice of the people.

When questions arise, it is not my job to answer them, but yours (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and of your colleagues. You cannot keep J-K through conspiracies. The relationship of J-K with India cannot be made stronger by choking the voice of the people here. You are weakening this relationship, he said.

The former chief minister said his grandfather and NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah had warned that Delhi will try to create leaders in every nook and corner of the valley so that the people of Kashmir do not talk in one voice.

And that is really what is happening Why is a third front being created in Kashmir only and not in Jammu? When youth come into in Kashmir, they create new parties which does not happen in Jammu or Ladakh. I cannot understand this. It seems all this is done intentionally, he said.

Abdullah said Kashmir was being used as a laboratory for experiments by the Centre and assured the people to foil such designs once the party returns to power.

Kashmir is being used as a laboratory for experiments. They mix this and that so that there is some smoke from anywhere and they do their work through these experiments. But, I hope elections take place as soon as possible and our party comes into power. Then, we will make sure all their plans are foiled, he said.

Referring to the ban of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Abdullah said the crackdown on the organization would not help in improving the situation in the valley.

There is well thought out plan to disturb the situation here. Everyone knows that NC and JeI have been at loggerheads but we have fought each other politically. We know that the action against them will not benefit the state. It was banned for five years in 1990, but it did not help improve the situation.

The situation was better in 2011, 2012, 2013 or 2014 (when Abdullah was the chief minister), but there was no ban on JeI. If only JeI is responsible for disturbing the situation, then how did the situation improve after 1995. In that case, the situation should not have improved, he said.

The NC vice-president expressed hope that assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir would be announced along with the general elections to the Lok Sabha.

We asked the Election Commission to conduct election in the state. This government is not concerned about the people. They take political decisions rather than care about the people. Every political party whether the NC, the PDP or the Congress have asked for immediate polls.

"We hope that when (general) elections are announced in a few days, assembly polls in J-K are also announced. It should be our endeavour to have a single party government in the state, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra has given free hands to forces to give befitting reply to terrorists.

"Armed forces had asked to take action after 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai but the then UPA prime minister did not give permission.

However, Prime Minister Narendra gave free hand to forces to give a befitting reply to terrorists,"Javadekar said at a party meeting here.

After the Pulwama incident, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, the Indian Air Force (IAF) had carried out air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan.

He said similarly scientists of the country were ready way long back to conduct nuclear tests but the then prime ministers did not give permission. Later, Nuclear tests were done in 1999 under the farsighted leadership of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Javadekar, who is also party's state election incharge, highlighted major decisions taken by the Centre, including ordinance on 200 point roster for jobs in universities, medical facility for jawans of short service commission and those taking pre-mature retirement and their family members.
A top US commander on Thursday said though the ongoing talks between the US and the Taliban have made considerable progress, much left to be done in war-torn Afghanistan.

President Donald Trump's South Asia Strategy is working in Afghanistan, General Joseph Votel, Commander of the US Central Command, told members of House Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing.

"The efforts of our Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, are demonstrating that there is a path to progress...but there is much left to do to move towards our end state of reconciliation between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban," he said.

Khalilzad is currently leading a US delegation for talks with the Taliban in Doha. US officials have indicated that progress is being made in the dialogue.

"Our military efforts are focused on supporting the Afghan National Security Forces (ANDSF) and providing Ambassador Khalilzad the maximum military pressure and leverage to support his diplomatic efforts to establish a framework that will lead to an Afghan dialogue, a reduction in violence and ultimately a negotiated settlement," Votel said.

He also noted that Afghanistan was used as a platform to attack America in 2001, and as such the US has an enduring vital national interest to ensure that such incident doesn't happen again.

"Safeguarding this national interest and preventing violent extremist organisations like al-Qaeda and ISIS-Khorasan from plotting attacks against our country is also a continuing effort for our forces --- one that we will need to be prepared to address as long as violent extremists can operate from this region," the commander said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf has admitted that Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out attacks in during his tenure on the instructions of the intelligence agencies.

Musharraf, 75, who is currently in Dubai, said that the government's crackdown on the JeM, which also tried to assassinate him twice, was a good move.

The JeM recently claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack that left 40 CRPF personnel dead, increasing tensions between and

Last month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi during an interview with CNN said that Azhar is in Pakistan, but the government can act against him only if presents "solid" and "inalienable" evidence that can stand in a court of law.

military, however, denied the terror group's presence in the country.

Amid mounting pressure after the Pulwama attack, Pakistan on Tuesday detained 44 members of the banned militant outfits, including Azhar's son and brother.

"This is a good move. I have always said that the JeM is a terrorist organisation and they only had carried out a suicide attack in an attempt to assassinate me. Action should be taken against them. I am happy the



Musharraf, who also served as Pakistan's army chief, said that the action against the JeM should have been taken earlier.

When asked why he himself had not taken any action against the Jaish leadership and the organisation when he was in power, the former military ruler said, "Those were different times. Our intelligence men were involved in a tit-for-tat between India and Pakistan...This was continuing at that time and amid all of this, no major action was taken against the Jaish. And I also did not insist."



Musharraf had ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. Musharraf, who has been living in Dubai since March 2016, is facing the treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007, a punishable offence for which he was indicted in 2014.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday approved several projects of phase-3A of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) worth Rs 33,690 crore, railway officials said.

"The Centre approved Rs 33,690 crore MUTP 3A project for infrastructure expansion of Mumbai suburban railways. This will help augment new lines, improve signalling system, development of station and more AC train operations in Mumbai and neighbouring cities," a senior of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) told PTI.

MRVC is a joint venture of the Maharashtra government and the Indian Railways and mandated to plan, develop and execute the Mumbai Suburban Railway projects.

Among the projects, that will now see the light of the day are extension of Harbour line from Goregaon to Borivali, 5th and 6th line between Borivali and Virar, 4th line between Kalyan and Asangaon, 3rd and 4th line between Kalyan and Badlapur, segregation of long-distance and suburban train at Kalyan Yard, Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) technology, procurement of 191 AC local trains, the official said.

However, two of the most prestigious projects- fast elevated CSMT-Panvel corridor and New Suburban Corridor between Panvel and Virar were not approved by the committee.

Commenting on this, the MRVC official said that these two projects will be tabled before the committee for reconsideration.

The Mumbai suburban railway network on Central and Western Railways has 385 route kms. There are five corridors, two on Western Railway, two on Central Railway and one on Harbour Line. Everyday about 8.0 million people travel in the suburban sections in more than 3000 train services.

There is severe overcrowding in the suburban trains and during peak hours, passengers carried are more than four times the carrying capacity.

Chief spokesperson of MRVC, Anil Kumar Pitke, said, "Once the projects get executed, it will not only immensely benefit the passengers of Mumbai, but also those from Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts."



The projects are likely to take five years to complete, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Five people accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case on Thursday denied allegations levelled against them by CBI before a Delhi court and said there was not enough evidence to prosecute them.

According to a lawyer associated with the case, the accused made the submission before Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha who was hearing arguments for framing of charges against them.

They told the court that the CBI's allegations against them were false and there was no evidence to substantiate them, advocate Shivika Singh said.

Other accused in the case too had denied allegations against them previously.

On Feb 7, the Supreme Court ordered authorities to transfer the case from Bihar to a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Saket District Court complex in Delhi, which would conclude the trial within six months by holding preferably day-to-day hearing.

Several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at an NGO-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. The issue had come to light following a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

In light of the report, an FIR was filed on May 31, 2018 against 11 people.

The apex court had said the TISS report raised grave concern about 17 shelter homes in Bihar and the CBI must look into all of them. Of these, the Muzaffarpur case was already being looked into by the CBI.

So far, 17 people have been arrested.

The amicus curiae assisting the court in the case had told it there were 1,028 shelter homes across India where instances of sexual and physical abuse have been reported.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday underlined the need to explore further business cooperation between India and Paraguay in fields of mutual interest.

Naidu was in the South American country as part of his two-nation trip to Paraguay and Costa Rica. He is the highest-level representative of India to visit Paraguay since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1961.

"VP @MVenkaiahNaidu addressed India-Paraguay Business Forum in presence of Paraguay's Industry & Commerce Minister @Lizcramer_py Remarked on sectors where complementarities exist & need to be explored for mutual benefit," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Ravish Kumar tweeted.

After a successful visit to Paraguay, Naidu emplaned for Costa Rica.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The NCP appealed to the Congress on Thursday to ally with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi to avoid division of votes that could help the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha election.

Its appeal came hours after Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the party's alliances across the country were "on track" but its Delhi unit was unanimously against any tie-up with AAP, which has been insisting on a pre-poll tie-up with the Congress in the national capital.

Incidentally, AAP chief and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Gandhi had, for the first time, participated together in a meeting of opposition leaders at NCP president Sharad Pawar's residence in Delhi last month.

NCP chief spokesperson D P Tripathi expressed hope that a Congress-AAP alliance in Delhi will happen. "I appeal to the Congress to ally with the AAP in Delhi," he said in response to a question about formation of alliances between opposition parties in the country.

Asked about NCP's alliance with Congress in Maharashtra, he said the tie-up was finalised after a meeting between the presidents of the two parties last month.

"The alliance was finalised when our party president and Rahul Gandhi met (last month). The issue over a couple of seats is being addressed," Tripathi said.

He said opposition parties have been insisting that Pawar should contest the Lok Sabha election, due by May. The 78-year-old Maratha strongman is likely to enter the fray from Madha constituency, the one he had represented in 2009.

Asked about its alliance in Bihar, Tripathi said the NCP has conveyed to the Congress and the RJD about its claim over Katihar seat.

The seat was represented by Tariq Anwar, who quit NCP to join Congress following disagreements with Pawar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Security forces in Arunachal Pradesh apprehended a woman cadre of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) on early Thursday.

The cadre is a self-styled lance corporal of the outfit, Kohima-based Defence spokesman Colonel Chiranjit Konwer said in a statement here.

The rebel was apprehended from Changlang district of the state when she tried to infiltrate into the Indian territory from Myanmar.

The insurgent is the wife of Rebgan, self-styled home secretary of the NDFB, the spokesman said.

She was handed over to police after interrogation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) Thursday arrived here and began interrogating a man who was arrested recently for alleged links with terror outfit Jamat-ul Mujahidden Bangladesh, police said.

The two-member team of the probe agency is headed by an inspector, Sub-divisional Police Officer Ajay Kumar Das said.

The Tripura Police on Tuesday had detained a man, identified as Nazir Sheikh, for alleged links with the Jamat-ul-Mujahidden Bangladesh, Director General of Police (DGP) A K Shukla said.

A local court on the following day remanded him to 12 days police custody.

The DGP had told reporters on Tuesday that Sheikh was an expert in making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and he was in touch with people in India with terror links.

Sheikh hails from Murshidabad district of West Bengal and was detained from West Tripura district.

The DGP said that during the visit of the Dalai Lama at Bodh Gaya on January 19, 2018, three IEDs were recovered from there which was believed to be the handiwork of Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh.

Details on how Sheikh was detained was not disclosed by the state police chief.

"I can only say that he was detained from a place in West Tripura district on the basis of intelligence inputs. Interrogation has started," the DGP said.

The Tripura Police, during investigation of drug smuggling cases, have found that the terrorists have links with drug peddlers, Shukla said.

Police is investigating if Sheikh had any specific targets in mind, he said.

"Lok Sabha election is nearing and the movement of VIPs during the time is frequent, so we are also investigating if he was targeting any VIP," he said.

The DGP said the matter has been brought to the notice of the NIA.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kriti Sanon is happy with the success of her latest "Luka Chuppi" and the actor says good reception of a film reflects the artiste and audience are thinking along the same lines.

The actor with co-star Kartik Aaryan starred in the rom-com as a couple who get into a live-in relationship to try out their compatibility before tying the knot.

"I'm thrilled. There's also a lot of gratitude. There is a lot of hard work that goes into it. Saying yes to the film was a very instinctive decision as I loved the script. It's nice to know that your thinking matches with the audience somewhere," Kriti told PTI in an interview.

After "Bareilly Ki Barfi", Kriti again stepped into the shoes of a character from a small town with "Luka Chuppi" but the actor does not believe churning stories from the Hindi heartland is becoming a template.

"Every small town differs. Even in UP, things are different every 10km. The flavour, people are different. Also in one particular town, there are very different kinds of people and it depends on their environment, education, etc.

The actor said the two characters of Bitti and Rashmi are very different from each other.

"Bitti grew up in a cocooned environment in Bareilly. She was strong but her aspirations in terms of her career were a bit off. Even if she wanted to get married, it was about someone accepting her the way she is. She didn't really want to fall in love.

"On the other hand, Rashmi was a tricky combination of a modern girl and a small town girl. She was somewhere in the higher class of a small town and was educated in Delhi. So her thought process was quite evolved."



Kriti agrees the role of a working woman has started to get screen space.

"It has become a lot more common among us as the women are working and want to work. They want to see the women who are working on screen too. So, I think it always flows from the audience.

"When you watch these characters, you feel inspired. You want to see stronger characters now. I think now when we write characters we have to make it relatable to the audience," she said.

Kriti has three more films up for release this year- "Arjun Patiala", "Housefull 4" and Ashutosh Gowariker's "Panipat".

Kriti, who plays a crime journalist in "Arjun Patiala", said her character in the upcoming film is a lot more serious about her profession than Rashmi of "Luka Chuppi".

"That character is way more ambitious. It will have the flavour of north India."



She revealed "Houseful 4" has an "angle of reincarnation", where she will play two characters.

The actor, who is currently filming on her first period drama "Panipat", said she is thoroughly enjoying working in the film.

"As a Punjabi woman from Delhi, playing a Maharashtrian in itself is a huge change. The character also belongs to a different era and I'm playing a person who was alive at some point of time. Ashu sir is amazing with the magic that he creates on the set," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 34-year-old Nigerian has been arrested from Dwarka Sector-19 with four kg heroin, police said Thursday.

The accused was identified as Okoya Ifeanyi J, they said.

On Tuesday, police got a tip-off that Okoya would deliver a consignment of heroin to one of his contacts near Dwarka Sector-19.

"A trap was laid and at around 9.20 pm, Okoya was apprehended," Deputy Commissioner of Police (special cell) PS Kushwah said.

Okoya disclosed that he was supplying heroin after collecting consignments from his associate, who lives in Uttam Nagar and is a fellow Nigerian, Kushwah said.

Okoya said he had procured several consignments of heroin from his associate who used to get the drugs from Afghanistan, he added.

Okoya later said he used to send the heroin to various other countries, including England, France, Canada, South Africa, through courier companies, the DCP said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SNc Channels:



Search

About Salem-News.com



Mar-07-2019 15:14 TweetFollow @OregonNews Federal Gray Wolf Delisting Brings Oregon Contrary Responses "Ranchers, landowners, environmental groups, and government agencies all want and depend upon a healthy ecosystem."

Gray Wolf in snow

Photo by pixabay / Pexels

(SALEM, Ore.) - Today, acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the Trump administrations intent to remove endangered species protections for wolves in the lower 48 states. The administration will release the proposal to the public in the next few days. The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife reports that there are at least 124 known wolves in the state of Oregon today, well above the goals set by the state Wolf Plan, and this number has increased annually since 2009. In fact, they say wolves recently have been found as far west as the Oregon Coast. The U.S. population of gray wolves also far surpasses recovery targets called for by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Oregon Farm Bureau applauds the U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife Services proposal to remove the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list. They say the recovery of the gray wolf in Oregon and other states is a conservation success story by any measure. John Mellgren, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center, responded differently. "Given that gray wolves in the lower 48 states occupy such a small percentage of their historical habitat, it is almost laughable for the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine that they are successfully recovered. "We look forward to taking the Fish and Wildlife Service to court should its proposal not be based on what the science tells us. OFB says that the federal delisting will help simplify Oregons patchwork of laws. "Right now, because of such strong recovery rates, wolves on the east side of the state are not covered by the state endangered species law, only the federal ESA. "The federal delisting proposal is also a laudable example of successful collaboration between ranchers, landowners, environmental groups, and government agencies. All of these stakeholders want and depend upon a healthy ecosystem. "We are glad the Trump administration has joined both the Obama and Bush administrations in supporting the federal delisting of the gray wolf, basing decisions on sound science, and negotiating with a diverse group of stakeholders. "We hope this will inspire greater collaboration at the state level around wolves and their increasing harm to livestock and Oregons ranching families." Wolves are a keystone species whose presence on landscapes regulates animal populations and improves ecosystem health  something the Service has acknowledged for at least 44 years, said Kelly Nokes, Shared Earth Wildlife attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center. Allowing people to kill wolves in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana has already stunted recovery in those states. Applying this same death-sentence to wolves throughout the contiguous U.S., would nationalize these negative effects, with potentially catastrophic ripple effects on ecosystems wherever wolves are found today. WELC has said they will challenge any premature removal of endangered species protections for gray wolves by the Trump administration that does not meet the Endangered Species Acts clear and strong scientific requirements. Source: Oregon Farm Bureau; Western Environmental Law Center _________________________________________

Oregon | Health | Environment | Most Commented on





Articles for March 6, 2019 | Articles for March 7, 2019 | Articles for March 8, 2019
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday called on the bereaved families of slain CRPF constable Ratan Kumar Thakur and inspector Pintu Kumar Singh who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack and the Handwara encounter respectively.

Kumar visited Thakurs village in Kahalgaon sub-division of Bhagalpur district where he met his wife Rajnandini Devi, father Ramniranjan Thakur and brother Milan Kumar, spending about half an hour at their place.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by state assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Principal Secretary (Home) Amir Subhani, among others.

The slain CRPF constables father later told reporters that he presented the chief minister with a charter of demands which included requests for setting up of a degree college named after Thakur, a government job for his wife and brother, state assistance for the marriage of his sister and the education of his son aged four years.

He said the chief minister assured that the demands would be given a "sympathetic consideration".

Kumar, thereafter, flew to Begusarai district where he visited the village of Pintu Kumar Singh in Bakhri block. The Chief Minister offered floral tributes before a picture of the slain CRPF inspector and consoled his bereaved family members.

Notably, the absence of any dignitary at the Patna airport where Singhs body was brought from Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday had caused much resentment among locals. They had questioned why the slained CRPF inspector was treated differently from those martyred in the Pulwama terror attack.

The bodies of Thakur and Sanjay Kumar Sinha from Masaurhi block in Patna district who were killed in Pulwama



was received at the airport by the chief minister, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and several members of the state cabinet. Many dignitaries had also attended the funerals of Thakur and Sinha.

Residents of Pintu Kumar Singhs village had also complained that a host of dignitaries had turned up, barely an hour afterwards, to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was in the city to address a rally but nobody bothered to be present when the body had landed.

Kumar had visited Sanjay Kumar Sinhas residence on Saturday last.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An uneasy calm prevailed along the Line of Control (LoC) in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri in with no report of by Pakistan over the past 20 hours, officials said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister called off her scheduled visit to Jammu province on Thursday to review the situation along the borders in the wake of intense shelling over the past nine days besides inaugurating two vital bridges in Samba and Akhnoor sectors, they said.

A defence spokesman said there was no report of by Pakistan anywhere along the LoC in Jammu province, especially in the worst-hit Rajouri and Poonch districts since Wednesday afternoon.

Pakistan had used artillery guns and long-range mortars to target civilian areas in the two districts, prompting strong and effective retaliation by the Army.

The cross-border skirmishes between the two sides had caused panic among the border residents.

"The Army remains on high alert all along the LoC and the International Border and is keeping a close watch on the situation," the spokesman said.

There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations by Pakistan after India's preemptive air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp in Balakot on February 26 following the February 14 suicide bombing in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

Four civilians, including three members of a family, were killed and several others injured as Pakistan targeted over 80 villages in over 100 incidents of ceasefire violations along the LoC in the state last week.

On Wednesday, the issued a stern warning to Pakistan against targeting civilians along the LoC, saying any further provocation or misadventure by it will have "dire consequences".

The warning came after Pakistan targeted forward posts in Nowshera sector of Rajouri with 155 mm artillery guns which was retaliated by the with Bofors guns.

The spokesman said the visit of the defence minister to Samba and Akhnoor sectors for the inauguration of Bein bridge and Dhok bridge has been called off.

"Fresh schedule will be intimated later," he said without giving reasons for the postponement of the visit.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Thursday ruled out the possibility of holding assembly polls in the state along with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He said the assembly will not be dissolved ahead of its schedule, indicating there will be no early polls.

Assembly polls in the state are due in the second half of 2019. The 2014 assembly polls were held in mid-October.

Asked by reporters if the state assembly will be dissolved ahead of its term, Fadnavis replied in the negative.

"This is not going to happen in Maharashtra. You write it down," said the chief minister, who was here for the inauguration of the first phase of Nagpur metro.

Fadnavis's assertion came in the backdrop of speculation in political circles about advancing the assembly polls and holding them along with the parliamentary elections.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said there was a talk of advancing the assembly polls and his party is ready to face them.

"Devendra Fadnavis is not sure of getting elected again on the basis of his own strength. He wants to get political mileage out of the events in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

"Whatever the issue, we are ready for simultaneous polls," the former chief minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa Thursday said that no one can make his country "budge through use or threat of use of force" as the top military commanders reviewed current situation, amid heightened Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack.

Gen Bajwa, who chaired the 219th Corps Commanders conference in Rawalpindi, directed for "continued state of vigilance and alertness so as to be prepared for response to any threat", state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

"Pakistan is on the positive trajectory of peace, stability and progress. No one can make us budge through use or threat of use of force," he said.

The commanders expressed "strong will, resolve and determination to defend the country against any misadventure or aggression."



Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1.

The Generals expressed concern over the "targeting of civilians" along the Line of Control and said it should be stopped in the interest of regional peace.

They also discussed progress of the National Action Plan (NAP), which was prepared in response to a Taliban attack on an army school in Peshawar in 2014 that killed 150 people, mostly students.

Gen Bajwa directed to further the efforts in line with decisions of the government to accelerate implementation of NAP while rendering full assistance to other state institutions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Contemporary Indian writers are chalking out stronger female narratives and the interpretation of feminism too is being redefined.

While women writers are taking bolder steps across genres, male authors too are defining their female characters with more earnestness.

Ahead of International Women's Day, here's what some writers, both women and men, have to say about what feminism means to them, the impact of women on their writing and their portrayal and sketching of female characters.

Reshma K Barshikar, author of The Hidden Children (Two Ravens) and Fade Into Red (Penguin Random House) feels there seems to be a new war afoot, a constant struggle to define feminism - lipstick feminism, second generation feminism, eco feminism, all of which only seem to undermine our singular goal - equal rights for both sexes.

Rashmi Joshi, the author of Here and Beyond (Bloomsbury India) says feminism is about battling injustice, breaking out of punishing patriarchal mindsets and the right to a dignified living.

My idea of feminism emerged when I returned from a year of studies abroad. Archaic points of view were probably entrenched in me so much while living in India that I automatically agreed with them, says young writer, Neharika Gupta whose first novel is scheduled to come out later this year with HarperCollins India.

One of the fiercest voices on sexuality and gender, author of several books including the most recent CUT: The Death and Life of a Theatre Activist (Bloomsbury), Sreemoyee Piu Kundu says there is hypocrisy behind feminism.

When I sent Sita's Curse' to publishers I was told why I not chose a younger more urban protagonist. For most operating out of Delhi, the idea of feminism is narrowed and compartmentalised to a very urban one. Ironically, the land of Kamasutra that has a history of firebrand writers like Kamala Das and Ismat Chughtai who explored erotica in some of their writings continues to be uncomfortable with Indian eroticas, she says.

Sreemoyee further states that feminism cannot be without the politics or without examining the freedom and several other issues the country is fighting against.

We talk about feminism without the understanding and implementation of feminism in its true sense. Today writing is not restricted to books but there is a lot more good writing happening in online spaces which is revolutionary and bold, says Kundu.

Today the narrative of feminism and women is also changing and reflecting in the writing of male writers. Books such as Devdutt Pattanaik's The Girl Who Chose: A New Way of Narrating the Ramayana to Amish Tripathi's Sita: The Warrior Princess reflect their effort to give a new narrative to the story of Sita. More and more narratives are about strong women, including in the ones in the retelling of epics.

S Venkatesh, author of Kaalkoot: The Lost Himalayan Secret (TreeShade Books) says in an era where women are shattering stereotypes, breaking out of constraining role definitions and challenging power structures, the character of Damini in the book epitomises role reversals.

Even in male narratives of women, we see strong women protecting friends and family and at times nation, breaking codes, disposing of unwelcome advances from men fending marriages, giving new meaning to sexuality even with disapproving murmurs.

But at the same time, she mirrors the pressures women face today, as beneath the confident exterior, she has to handle gnawing guilt and a creeping sense of doubt about her life-choices, he adds.

Tarun Gautam, author of Rewind and Play (TreeShade Books), whose female protagonist Nafisa is an independent girl running her own company, agrees.

"I chose a strong female character because I wanted to break the male stereotype that is associated with the engineering field. Women are equally capable in that field and can solve complex problems. In Rewind and Play', she is someone who gets everyone together to get Raghav out of his predicament," he says.

According to Reshma, at all times she wants to show a ferocious internal strength coupled with kindness, which she thinks embodies most women she knows. Kindness is paramount, she says.

But does this also impact the writing of non-fiction writers too?



Kaninika Mishra, author of the business non-fiction The Indian Millionaire Next Door, says she explores subjects ranging from life insurance sales to entrepreneurship in my writing and even though labelled as male dominated fields, these professions, in fact, have a large number of highly successful women.

From Ritu Nanda, India's top life insurance salesperson who I profiled in my book The Indian Millionaire Next Door', to women yoga teachers who feature in my forthcoming book, The Indic Quotient', Indian women have been creating impact across professions and serve as role models to the younger generation, she says.

Rashmi Joshi adds most definitely women have more powerful narratives to share than most men. Compelled by exhaustive expectations that the world has thrust upon her, she drives herself to the breaking point in order to live up to those who in her book has covered many stories of victims.

To a question on if and how the narrative has changed over the years, Joshi says powerful voices are now being heard from women writers on varied subjects, ranging from science to spirituality.

Gupta puts that 90 years ago, it was important to fight for a room of one's own, today's quest is a world of one's own.

Mishra sums it all by saying her foray into writing was inspired to a large extent by Gita Piramal's book Business Maharajas. So there is a growing impact of women and women writing on all writers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Only one musk deer is present across zoos in the country, according to a response obtained under the Right to Information Act.

The Central Zoo Authority, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoECC), stated that the lone male musk deer was in a zoo in Himachal Pradesh.

A Noida-based RTI activist had sought details on the population of musk deers across states in the country, both in zoos as well as in the wild. He had also asked statistics related to the poaching of the wild species, if any.

"There is only single male musk deer (that) exists in recognized zoo (Himalayan Nature Park, Kufri as on 31.03.2018)," said the Central Zoo Authority, which maintains the records of captive animals in zoos.

There are seven musk deer species of the genus Moschus and all of them are endemic to Asia.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the endangered species is native to Bhutan, China, India and Nepal with its population on a rapid decline.

Little is known of the species' current status, the IUCN website states about the musk deer which has been traditionally hunted for its use in medicine and perfume industry.

Tomar, also a lawyer, said the government needs to take every possible step to prevent the muse deer from extinction.

It is strange that this male deer has been in the zoo in Kufri since 2018 and has not been mated yet in order to save its species, he said.

No official data could be found immediately on the population of musk deer living in the wild.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Condemning the attack on two Kashmiris in Lucknow, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi Thursday alleged the assailants were from Sangh Parivar ideology and the incident showed that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not serious about checking such crimes.

Owaisi regretted that the incident happened in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, which is being represented in the Lok Sabha by the country's Home Minister (Rajnath Singh).

The incident also shows that the Prime Minister was not serious about checking incidents like mob lynchings and attacks on Kashmiris, he claimed.

"It also shows that the Prime Minister is not serious, whether it is mob lynching, whether it is lynching of Dalits, whether it is now the attack on Kashmiris, the Prime Minister always does lip service.

"I am still telling you, if the Prime Minister is very serious, he can put an end to all these things within 10 minutes," Owaisi said.

These are attacks on "our Constitution", he claimed.

"These videos are being used by enemies of our country to show how we treat Kashmiris. It is high time that we as Indians condemn this behaviour of this buffoons, these goons who are from the Sangh Parivar ideology.

"We have to win over Kashmiris. That will be a great day for India," he said.

A group of men were seen on camera assaulting two Kashmiri youths in Daliganj locality in Uttar Pradesh's capital city.

The incident took place Wednesday evening when the Kashmiri youths were selling dry fruits on Daliganj bridge.

They were attacked with sticks by saffron-clad men, the video of which went viral.

The main accused, identified as Bajrang Sonkar, has been arrested, a police official said.

Asked about Rafale issue, he alleged that if the government is not able to safeguard one file, it shows its incompetence.

The Defence Minister when she spoke in parliament should have stated that a file had been stolen, he said.

He questioned the move to invoke Official Secrets Act against media organisations who put out stories on the issue.

Owaisi also condemned the grenade attack in Jammu.

What lessons the government has learnt after the Pulwama incident and why intelligence system is failing in detecting the perpetrators of attacks is important, he said.

Owaisi took a dig at the incident in which BJP law-makers exchanged blows in UP and said the party's slogan of "mera booth sabse majboot" should be "mera joota sabse majboot" (my shoe strongest).

The Hyderabad MP also alleged that the Sangh Parivar-BJP combine was trying to impose its ideology, while the country is diverse and multi-cultural.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 56 seminaries and facilities being run by Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation in Pakistan's southern Sindh province have been taken over by authorities since Islamabad launched a crackdown against banned outfits in the country.

The Sindh government confirmed that it has taken control over 56 facilities being run by these proscribed organisations.

"The Sindh government also decided to move against the proscribed organisations after the crackdown started by the Centre, advisor to the Sindh Chief Minister on Information and Law, Barrister Murtaza Wahab said.

The confiscation of properties of JuD and FIF comes after Pakistan formally placed them in the list of banned organisations on Tuesday.

According to Pakistan's National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) list, which was updated on Tuesday, the JuD and FIF were among 70 organisations proscribed by the Ministry of Interior under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

The Federal government has declared both organisations as proscribed so we have also taken over the welfare and educational facilities being run by the two outfits in the province, he said.

He said the schools, medical facilities and seminaries being run by the JuD and FIF will now be run by the provincial government.

The advisor said the two banned outfits were running their seminaries, schools and medical units in many parts of Sindh including Karachi, Matiari, Jamshoro, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Badin, Naushero Feroz and Shahdadkot.

According to officials, JuD's network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance service. The two groups have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The US Department of the Treasury has designated its chief Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.

Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008. He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November 2017.

The NACTA has so far declared 70 terrorist organisations as banned and a sizeable number of these organisations are based in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Already, government has arrested at least 44 individuals of various banned groups.

Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar's son and brother were among 44 members of the banned militant outfits taken into "preventive detention", Pakistan said on Tuesday, amid mounting pressure from the global community on it to rein in the terror groups operating on its soil.

The crackdown came amid tensions with India following a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14 by Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

India last week handed over the dossier to Pakistan to take action against the JeM, as pressure mounted on Islamabad to take action against individual and organisation listed by the UN Security Council as terrorists.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan's latest crackdown on banned terror groups are merely an "eyewash" to placate the West in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from the country's soil, a US based website which reports on the war on terror has commented.

Pakistan said Tuesday that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar's son and brother were among 44 members of the banned militant outfits taken into "preventive detention", amid mounting pressure from the global community on it to rein in the terror groups operating on its soil.

Islamabad also said it is shuttering institutions that belong to Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a designated terrorist group that is an alias for Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The crackdown came amid tensions with India following a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14 by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

India recently handed over the dossier to Pakistan to take action against the JeM for the Pulwama terror attack.

"If the past is any guide, the efforts are merely eyewash to placate Western governments in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from Pakistani soil," the Long War Journal has commented.

"That's because Pakistan has claimed it has shut down JuD offices and detained its top leaders in the past, only to allow the offices to reopen and the leaders free months later," it said on Wednesday.

Ironically, Pakistani generals and government officials routinely state that terrorist groups are not permitted to operate on Pakistani soil. Yet the JuD operates freely in Rawalpindi, the city that headquarters Pakistan's military, the website noted.

Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its successor, JuD, has been placed under "protective custody" at least four times in the past two decades, only to be released, it noted.

"Even when he was in purported custody, Saeed was free to travel and give sermons at LeT/JuD-run mosques in Lahore," it recalled.

Saeed's ties to both the Pakistani state and global terrorist groups such as al Qaeda are indisputable, it said, adding that the Pakistani state supports Saeed and his organisation, which has offices across the country.

Pakistan also routinely rounds up known terrorist leaders and places them under protective custody, only to release them when foreign pressure wanes, the article said.

Dangerous jihadist commanders such as Masood Azhar (Jaish-e-Mohammed), Qari Saifullah Akhtar (Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami), and Malik Ishaq (Lashkar-e-Jhangvi) have been detained numerous times, only to be freed, it noted.

"There is little reason to believe this latest 'effort' will be any different," the Long War Journal concluded.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its displeasure over the delay in trial of former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf in the treason case and sought an explanation from the government, according to a media report.

General Musharraf, 75, who lives in Dubai, is facing several cases including a treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007, a punishable offence.

The treason case was started by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in 2013 and he was indicted in 2014.

The former military ruler left for the UAE in 2016 for medical treatment and has not returned since, citing security and health reasons.

Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa summoned the attorney general of Pakistan to appear before it in person and appraise the apex court as to what steps have been taken by the government to bring Musharraf back, the Express Tribune reported.

He was hearing a plea filed by the ex-president of Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi bench's bar association, which said that the proceedings of the treason case - being heard by a special court - had come to a halt since Musharraf had not returned to the country since 2016.

"The former president was not sent abroad by the court but by the government. Court decisions did not say that Musharraf should be sent abroad. If he is not coming back, his testimony should be recorded via Skype," he said.

"It was the government's job to put Musharraf's name on the Exit Control List (ECL), and bringing him back was also their job," the CJP said, adding that should the court be held hostage by the accused.

Chief Justice Khosa also sought a report within 15 days from the court's registrar over the reasons of delay and issued notices to the federal government and other respondents, before adjourning the case till March 25, the report said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
GAUTIER, Mississippi -- A 21-year-old Tulane University student died Tuesday when a tire from an 18-wheeler struck her as she and her friends were stopped at an Interstate 10 rest stop.

Gautier Police Capt. Casey Baxter said the victim, later identified as Margaret Kathleen Maurer, and her two friends had stopped at the eastbound rest area to use the restroom and were returning to their vehicle when the accident occurred.

The westbound 18-wheeler lost two tires, both of which bounded across the median and eastbound lanes, into the rest stop on the south side of the roadway.

Reports indicate the driver of the 18-wheeler, seeing emergency vehicles arriving at the rest area, turned around and stopped nearby.

Maurer was a senior at Tulane, majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and was due to graduate this year. A top student in her field, Maurer spent a semester abroad in 2018 studying in Ecuador.

She also served as an undergraduate fellow, assisting in teaching biology courses. Maurer was also a research assistant to Dr. Katherine Jack and a scientific illustrator in Tulane's Sherry Laboratory.
Pakistan authorities on Thursday sealed the Lahore headquarters of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its charity wing Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as part of the ongoing crackdown against the banned organisations.

"Under the National Action Plan (NAP), the government has taken complete control of the banned JuD and FIF headquarters in Lahore and Muridkey," said a statement issued by the Punjab Home department Thursday.

It said the government has been taking over the control of the mosques, seminaries and other institutions of the banned organisations in the province.

"We have intensified action against the banned organisations," it said.

A senior government official told PTI that the authorities have sealed the Jamia Masjid Qadsia, the Lahore headquarters of the JuD and FIF.

The official said the government has also taken over the complete control of the JuD headquarters in Muridke, some 40-km from Lahore. However, the home department did not confirm it.

The official further said that Saeed and his supporters did not protest when the administration and police reached there to take over the control of the building.

"Saeed along with his supporters left for his Jauhar Town residence," he said. The whereabouts of Saeed was immediately not known.

Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008. He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November 2017.

According to officials, JuD's network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance service. The two groups have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The US Department of the Treasury has designated its chief Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan authorities on Thursday sealed the Lahore headquarters of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its charity wing Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and detained over 120 suspected militants as part of an ongoing crackdown on banned groups.

"Under the National Action Plan (NAP), the government has taken complete control of the banned JuD and FIF headquarters in Lahore and Muridkey," said a statement issued by the Punjab Home department Thursday.

It said the government has been taking over the control of the mosques, seminaries and other institutions of the banned organisations in the province. "We have intensified action against the banned organisations," it said.

A senior Punjab government official told PTI that the authorities have sealed the Jamia Masjid Qadsia, the Lahore headquarters of the JuD and FIF.

"At least six administrators of the Punjab government have been appointed at the Muridke headquarters of JuD and two in Lahore's," the official said, adding that the Jamia Qadsia has been sealed and will be opened once the administrators take over the charge.

The official said the Punjab government has also taken over the complete control of the JuD headquarters in Muridke, some 40-km from Lahore. However, the home department did not confirm it.

The official further said that Saeed and his supporters did not protest when the administration and police reached there to take over the control of the building.

"Saeed along with his supporters left for his Jauhar Town residence," he said. His whereabouts was not immediately known.

Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008. He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November 2017.

The ongoing operation against the banned groups would continue till achievement of objectives under the National Action Plan (NAP) of 2014, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi said, adding that efforts were being made to accelerate progress on NAP.

Some 44 activists of Jaish-e-Mohammed and other banned groups, including the son and brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, had already been taken into custody.

The Ministry of Interior said law enforcement agencies had taken 121 people into preventive detention as of Thursday in compliance with the NAP, formulated after the Taliban attack on an army school in Peshawar in 2014 that killed nearly 150 people, mostly students.

According to Punjab police, the government has seized control of 160 seminaries, 32 schools, two colleges, four hospitals, 178 ambulances and 153 dispensaries associated with JuD and FIF in Punjab.

The police confirmed that it has taken over more than 500 properties of the banned outfits and arrested more than 120 of their activists. "Most of the assets belonged to JuD and JeM," said an official of the provincial police.

Interestingly, the government had taken over the control of the JuD properties including its headquarters several years ago but subsequently handed over to Saeed and company when the 'international pressure' eased.

At least 56 seminaries and facilities being run JuD and FIF in southern Sindh province have been taken over by authorities.

"The Sindh government also decided to move against the proscribed organisations after the crackdown started by the Centre, advisor to the Sindh Chief Minister on Information and Law, Barrister Murtaza Wahab said.

The confiscation of properties of JuD and FIF comes after Pakistan formally placed them in the list of banned organisations on Tuesday.

He said the schools, medical facilities and seminaries being run by the JuD and FIF will now be run by the provincial government.

The advisor said the two banned outfits were running their seminaries, schools and medical units in many parts of Sindh including Karachi, Matiari, Jamshoro, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Badin, Naushero Feroz and Shahdadkot.

According to officials, JuD's network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance service. The two groups have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The US Department of the Treasury has designated its chief Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan turned down the visa request of a UN team which wanted to interview Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed on his application for removing his name from the UNSC sanctions list, according to UN sources.

Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008 after the Mumbai terror attack in which 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists killed 166 people. He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November 2017.

A representative from the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN informed the UN Ombudsperson in October last year that no visa would be issued for their travel to Pakistan, UN sources told PTI.

The UN Ombudsperson reviews requests from UN designated individuals and entities to be removed from the UN Sanctions Committee listing.

Sources said the Pakistani representative had sought that the visit be postponed till the beginning of 2019 but the Ombudsperson had made it clear that such an extension for the travel could not be given due relevant UNSC provisions.

The UN has rejected an appeal of Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, to remove his name from its list of banned terrorists, they said.

Notably, the decision comes at a time when UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee has received a new request to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the strike.

The UN decision to reject appeal of Saeed, also the LeT founder, came after India provided detailed evidence including "highly confidential information" about his activities, sources told PTI.

They said that the verdict of the global body was conveyed to Saeed's lawyer earlier this week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan on Thursday said it will "soon" respond to a dossier handed over to it by India on "specific details" of involvement of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in the deadly Pulwama terror attack as also the presence of camps of the UN-proscribed terror outfit in the country.

"It's being evaluated and a response would be given soon," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal told reporters here.

The JeM had taken the responsibility of the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after the attack.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1.

Responding to questions during his weekly media briefing, Faisal claimed Pakistan "defeated India militarily, diplomatically and politically in the ongoing border row, which has de-escalated over the past few days."



"Our desire is peace but when we talk it is considered weakness," he added.

On the Kartarpur corridor, Faisal said it was a project initiated by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, for which a Pakistani delegation will be visiting India on March 14.

He said India first suggested that meeting be held in New Delhi, which Pakistan accepted, however, the venue was later changed to Attari.

"Pakistan again agreed with Indian suggestion and if circumstances are not changed until March 14, then the Pakistani delegation will visit India," he said.

India and Pakistan agreed to open up a special border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free visit of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Kartarpur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli fire during renewed clashes along the Gaza border overnight Thursday, the enclave's health ministry said, with Israel striking a Hamas position in response to the violence.

Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said Saif al-Deen Abu Zeid, 15, died "due to wounds sustained east of Gaza (City) a few hours ago."



The teenager was shot during clashes along the border late Wednesday, Qudra told AFP.

An Israeli army spokeswoman did not comment on the specific incident but said hundreds of "rioters" had hurled rocks and explosive devices at troops along the border.

Soldiers responded according to "standard operating procedures," she said.

Israeli fighter jets later struck several sites belonging to Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas in the south of the enclave, an army statement said.

The military said the strikes were "in response to the balloons carrying explosive devices and the projectile that were launched from the Gaza Strip at Israeli territory earlier this evening."



Projectile often refers to a rocket, but Israel's military said it could provide no further details.

A Palestinian security source said a Hamas base was struck in southern Gaza, causing damage but no injuries.

It was the fifth such Israeli strike since Saturday, each in response to either balloon-borne explosive devices floated across the border or explosive devices hurled at the border fence.

The uptick in violence has raised fears a fragile truce agreed in November between Israel and Hamas could collapse, with both sides accusing the other of breaching the terms of the informal agreement.

Islamists Hamas have controlled Gaza since 2007 and have fought three wars with Israel since.

At least 252 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March 2018, the majority shot during the at least weekly border protests, while others have been hit by tank fire or air strikes in response to violence from Gaza.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ratcheting up his attack on the BJP government over the Rafale aircraft issue, Congress President Rahul Gandhi asked on Thursday why a probe cannot be ordered against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a "Rs 30,000-crore scam" when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents related to the fighter jet deal.

Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi accused the prime minister of performing a bypass surgery in the deal and the government of manipulating institutions to "save" him.

"Justice should be for all. Investigate everyone, but probe Modi as well" as it has emerged in the official files that the Prime Minister's Office was involved in parallel negotiations in the fighter jet deal, he said.

The parallel negotiations "retarded" the delivery of Rafale. The aircraft could not come earlier because "you wanted to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore", he alleged.

Gandhi also took a swipe at the government over Attorney General K K Venugopal telling the Supreme Curt on Wednesday that the Rafale files were stolen from the defence ministry.

"Gayab ho gaya" is the new tagline of the Modi government, he said, adding the Rafale files had disappeared like jobs for youths, right prices for farmers' produce, and the promises of Rs 15 lakh to everyone, farmers' insurance, black money after demonetisation and Dokalam.

"An interesting thing happened yesterday... The government said the media will be investigated, but there is no probe against those involved in the Rs 30,000-crore scam. The government is protecting Narendra Modi, the 'chowkidaar', at any cost," he told the press conference.

"The prime minister delayed the Rafale deal... The parallel negotiations retarded the delivery of Rafale. The aircraft could not come early because you wanted to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore," he alleged.

The government has constantly rejected the allegations levelled by the Congress with the BJP accusing Gandhi of spreading lies to torpedo the Rafale deal due to his vested interests. Ambani has also rejected corruption allegations.

"You do whatever you want to do legally, but justice should be for all. If files have been stolen, then you are accepting that the stories based on those documents are true...Why should not there be a criminal investigation? When a probe can be ordered against anyone who opposes the prime minister, then why not against Narendra Modi?" he asked.

Hitting back at Modi for calling the Congress a "poster boy" of Pakistan for questioning the air strike on terror camps in Balakot, Gandhi said "it is he who is Pakistan's poster boy, not us".

He recalled that the Modi government had invited Pakistan's spy agency ISI to India to probe the Pathankot terror attack and then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif to attend his swearing in.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Punjab government has formed a committee for framing a comprehensive policy for the regularisation of about 45,000 contractual employees in the state.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Wednesday evening ordered the constitution of a committee headed by a retired officer Dilsher Kalha, said an official release here on Thursday.

The committee will examine all the major aspects of such a policy, including its administrative, financial and legal implications, it said.

Secretary Personnel and Secretary Finance, along with a nominee of the Advocate General's office, would be the other members of the committee, the release said.

The committee will submit its report within 90 days to the cabinet sub-committee, headed by Health Minister Brahm Mahindra, for the final decision.

The cabinet sub-committee also comprises finance minister and the minister of the concerned department to which the employees belong as members.

Though the Punjab cabinet on Wednesday had approved the regularisation of services of 5,178 teachers and 650 nurses, the chief minister felt that it was necessary to have a holistic and wide-ranging policy on board to deal with the problem of the 51,000-odd contractual employees, whom the previous regime had failed to regularise, the release said.

Given the tight fiscal situation it had inherited from the previous SAD-BJP dispensation, the government was forced to delay the regularisation of these employees till things improved on the fiscal front, it further said.

Contractual employees, working in various state government departments, have been demanding regularisation of their services. They had even threatened to launch a stir if their demand was not met.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A plea in the Delhi High Court on Thursday sought setting aside of last month's government notification which bars people with more than 80 per cent disability from being admitted to medical courses.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) however informed a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao that it has taken some decision on the issue which would be communicated to the court.

Advocate T Singhdev, appearing for MCI, said the central government had asked the MCI to look into the matter after which it has taken some decision and it will be communicated to the court on March 12.

The bench listed the matter for further hearing on March 12.

Mohd Shaloo, having a benchmark disability of 90 per cent, challenged the February 4 notification which made him ineligible to study medical course (NEET-PG, 2019).

The petition, filed through advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, said the decisions of MCI's board of governors and medical counselling committee to make Shaloo ineligible to study the medical course are not only highly irrational, arbitrary and discriminatory but also against Article 21 of the Constitution and various provisions of the Rights of person with disability Act.

Shaloo is an MBBS doctor who has served as junior resident in RML Hospital and has cleared NEET-PG with a good rank.

However, due to the MCI notification, he cannot do post graduation and has challenged the notification, Bansal said.

The plea said the authorities have violated the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, which provides that no person with disability shall be discriminated on the ground of disability.

On February 26, the high court had sought response of the Centre and MCI on a similar PIL seeking setting aside of the same, February 4, notification.

The court had asked MCI and the ministries of Health and Social Justice and Empowerment to file their replies to the petition by April 4.

The earlier plea was filed by Satendra Singh, an associate professor in the Department of Physiology at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, in which it was contended that the February 4 notification has been issued without any application of mind and was "highly irrational, arbitrary and discriminatory"



It had argued that barring persons with more 80 per cent disability from taking admission in the medical courses violated their fundamental rights of equality and life guaranteed under the Constitution as well as various provisions of the RPWD Act, 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbing him as the "poster boy of Pakistan" for hugging former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and inviting the country's spy agency ISI to Pathankot after the IAF base was attacked.

Gandhi's remarks came after the prime minister on Tuesday called the opposition as "poster boys of Pakistan" for seeking proof of IAF's action on a terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

"He is the Pakistan's poster boy, not us", said Gandhi, hitting back at Modi for having publicly hugged Sharif during his swearing-in ceremony and later when he visited Pakistan to wish him on his birthday.

The Congress president also attacked the prime minister for inviting Pakistan's spy agency ISI to India to probe the Pathankot terror attack.

He said he has seen the views of families of CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack, who have raised questions on the impact of the air strike in Pakistan, asserting that the Congress has also said this.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dubbing him the "poster boy of Pakistan" for publicly hugging former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and inviting the neighbouring country's spy agency ISI to Pathankot after the IAF base was attacked.

Gandhi's remarks came after Modi on Tuesday called the opposition as the "poster boys of Pakistan" for seeking proof of the Indian Air Force's (IAF) action on a terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

"He is the Pakistan's poster boy, not us," said Gandhi, hitting back at Modi for having publicly hugged Sharif during his swearing-in ceremony and later when he visited Pakistan to wish the leader on his birthday.

The Congress president also attacked the prime minister for inviting the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to India to probe the Pathankot terror attack.

"I do not remember, did we go to Nawaz Sharif? Who came to Pathankot--the ISI. The Prime Minister got the ISI to investigate Pathankot. Prime Minister went to Mr Nawaz Sharif''s (family) wedding and we are the poster boys," he said at a press conference.

"He (Modi) is the poster boy of Pakistan, hugging Mr Nawaz Sharif, calling Mr Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony. The fact of the matter is that the issue here is corruption in Rafale and it is very clear that prime minister personally got the contract for Anil Ambani and put Rs 30,000 crore in his pocket," Gandhi said.

The BJP has often accused the Congress of aiding Pakistan and 'speaking their language' as it said the statements made by Congress leaders were being used by Pakistan to attack India.

Gandhi added that he has heard the views of the families of CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack, who have raised questions on the impact of the air strike in Pakistan, asserting that the Congress leaders have also discussed this.

"I read in the newspaper yesterday that the families of martyred CRPF jawans have raised the demand and their feelings are hurt and want to know what action has been taken in the air strikes. The Congress leaders have discussed that and I do not want to say anymore," he said when asked about certain Congress leaders demanding proof of the air strikes.

On the reported stealing of crucial files related to the Rafale deal and how the Centre was threatening The Hindu newspaper with the Official Secrets Act and whether it was an archaic law, the Congress chief said, "We do not know, that is a technical question and I am sure there are many things that cross the line of secrecy."



He, however, added, "You are being punished because you are brave, that is why you are punished and I am very proud that you have the guts to stand against Mr Narendra Modi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Arunachal Pradesh unit of the BJP Thursday blamed the Congress for instigating people over the Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) protests which claimed three lives besides leaving a trail of destruction in the state capital last month.

The development came a day after opposition parties including the Congress, Janata Dal (Secular), Peoples Party of Arunachal and National Peoples Party on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to Governor B D Mishra demanding resignation of Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju.

The opposition parties under the banner of All Party Coordination Committee (APCC) demanded the resignation of Khandu, Mein and Rijiju for their inability to control law and order situation during the mob frenzy.

"The Congress misled the youths, took advantage of the PRC issue and incited the youth, even school-going minors, to go on a massive rampage from February 22 to 24 last, BJP vice president Dominic Tadar told reporters at party office here, flanked by another VP Tame Phassang.

While condemning the opposition for making such demand, both the party leaders alleged that the PRC issue was a handiwork of the Congress.

"The opposition parties have no genuine issue to raise and hence demanded the resignation of Khandu, Mein and Rijiju," Tadar said.

The saffron party leaders also alleged that during the protests, only properties of BJP leaders were vandalised and looted but not of leaders from any of the opposition parties.

Was it a targeted protest or just a impossible coincidence?" Tadar asked.

Dismissing demands of resignation of Khandu, Mein and Rijiju, the party leaders said that investigations would be conducted to unearth the truth and bring the culprits to book.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Ram Nath Kovind will present the Nari Shakti Puraskar, the highest civilian honour for women in India, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday.

The awards for 2018 will be presented by the president at a special ceremony on the occasion of International Women's Day.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development confers the Nari Shakti Puraskar on women and institutions to recognise their relentless service towards the cause of women empowerment and social welfare.

This year, around 1,000 nominations were received by the ministry and 44 were selected for the award, according to an official statement.

Scientists, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, social workers, farmers, artists, masons, a woman marine pilot, a woman commando trainer, journalists and film-makers are among the recipients of the award, it said.

"No field has been left untouched, where women have not left their indelible mark, making women the leading force of our development trajectory.

"I thank all concerned for sending nominations and letting us know about the remarkable work of women of our country," Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said.

This year, a state, which has shown exceptional progress in improving child sex ratio at birth under the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' scheme, and a one stop centre, which supports women affected by violence and abuse, are recipients of the award, the statement said.

The 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' scheme is a flagship initiative of the Centre to empower girls and improve sex ratio.

While making the selections, a nominee's contribution in empowering vulnerable and marginalised women was taken into account, it said.

Efforts were also made to include women who have contributed to "spheres and issues which have gained utmost importance and focused attention in the last few years", the statement said



The awardees have contributed in their unique ways to the society, impacting lives of people and are role models and an inspirations to many others, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A group of press bodies Thursday expressed concern over the government threatening The Hindu newspaper with action under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for publishing articles on the Rafale deal based on documents stolen from the Defence Ministry, and said the legislation needs to "re-examined".

In a joint statement, Press Club of India, Indian Women's Press Corps and Press Association said, "We feel it is time that the Official Secrets Act as well as law on defamation need to be re-examined given the potential of their misuse against the Fourth Estate."



The government Wednesday told the Supreme Court that documents related to Rafale aircraft deal have been stolen from the Defence Ministry and the petitioners seeking a review of its verdict dismissing all pleas against the purchase of the jets relied upon those documents.

The Attorney General also submitted in the apex court that the documents on the deal relied on by the petitioners were marked secret and classified, and therefore, are in violation of the Official Secrets Act.

He had also sought dismissal of the review petitions and perjury application as they relied on stolen documents and said that today's The Hindu report on Rafale amounts to influencing hearing in apex court and is itself contempt of court.

"We, the undersigned journalist organisations express deep concern over the statements made by the Attorney General of India insinuating that reports on the Rafale deal published in The Hindu newspaper were based on documents stolen from the Ministry of Defence," the joint statement said.

The Attorney General's statements made in open court suggesting that the publication of such reports and the documents "imperiled national security and therefore should be deemed as criminal, has the potential of sending out a chilling effect to one and all in the media," the statement claimed.

The implications and ramifications of the statements made by the top most legal officer of the government are not only for the media but also for the sources of information that journalists rely on, the press bodies said.

The joint statement by the press bodies said, "These statements in addition to submissions made by the government in court that the Official Secrets Act had been violated, contradict the very idea of a free press in an open democracy like ours."



"The Fourth Estate is bound by its dual responsibility of reporting what is in public interest as well as raising questions, irrespective of the government in power, which is part of its moral responsibility, the joint statement said.

"It is deeply unfortunate that it is the discharge of this responsibility that is being sought to be stymied by top ranking officials of the government," it alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Providing reservation to women undermines their capabilities, Supreme Court judge, Justice Indira Banerjee said Thursday while speaking at an event here on the eve of International Women's Day.

Women should be capable in every respect and they have proven time and again to be so, Justice Banerjee said, at a seminar-cum workshop organised by the Citizen's Rights Trust.

"If you ask me, providing reservation to women undermines their capabilities. Women should be capable in every respect and they have proved to be so," Justice Banerjee said, adding that she herself has been subjected to comments because of these existing reservations which she has found "awfully insulting".

"When I was elevated as a judge in the Calcutta High Court, for four and a half years I was the only woman judge there. Male colleagues on the bench would say it on my face that I got a benefit because I was a woman. I wanted income figures matched, sufficient number of judgements, I have fulfilled those criteria, they why. I don't think I was elevated as a Supreme Court judge because I was a lady. I happened to be a lady," she said.

March 8 is marked as International Women's Day.

Justice Pratibha M Singh, a Delhi High Court judge, said that rather than getting laws made to protect the rights of women, the change should be in the mindset.

While talking about the struggle of women litigators, Justice Singh said though there is a stigma attached to women being litigators, more women are joining the legal profession.

"It is a tough profession. Firstly it is tough to be a woman and in litigation. Then to be a mother and in litigation. Then a wife and in litigation... Mothers of daughters come to me and say they would like their daughters to change their profession soon so that they can get them married... We can see the pyramid widening because large number of women are joining litigation," she said.

"We can see in district judiciary that in a place like Delhi, women constitute 50 percent of the judicial system. It is not any kind of statute's doing. It is the simple change in mind set. This is how it should be. Change should be organic. It should not be by simply fighting and getting law made," she added.

Justice Singh further said that sometimes one may think laws were beneficial but maternity benefits, for example, dissuade employers from employing women.

"The more maternity benefits are granted, employers, if they have an equal man and a woman, they prefer the man. That's why in some countries maternity benefits are reduced... Laws have to kind of take care and balance the gender protection," she said.

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, said that women are required to lead the nation as they have more compassion, concern and are more caring.

"If we can help one woman who is facing gender discrimination, we will do great service to the nation... Women are not the weaker sex. Let's end this debate once and for all," he said.

Justice Banerjee said that although women have proven time and again their capabilities to lead, "we are still talking about women to lead the nation because although they constitute 50 percent of the population over the world, they are financially weaker, less educated, less confident, less nourished, more prone to malnutrition related illness, subjected to domestic violence at home and sexual harassment at the workplace".

She further said that in order for women to lead, we have to educate them and added the need to recognise the vast number of women in unorganised sector.

Justice Singh also talked about women in science and scientific research and noted that hardly any patents are granted to women in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Qatar has sold bonds worth $12 billion (nine billion euros), the finance ministry said Thursday, attracting strong demand despite an economic and diplomatic boycott by its former Gulf allies.

"The state of Qatar has achieved a successful return to the international financial markets with a total of three tranches -- worth $12 billion," said a ministry statement carried by the official Qatar Agency (QNA).

The sale received orders of more than $50 billion, it said.

Qatar has been economically and politically isolated by a Saudi-led bloc -- including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt -- since June 2017 over claims it supports terrorist groups and seeks better ties with Saudi arch-rival Iran.

Doha denies the accusations and says its opponents are seeking regime change in Qatar.

In 2018, the gas-rich state raised $12 billion in its first dollar bond sale in two years, eclipsing Saudi Arabia's $11 billion bond issue the same year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of politicising the air strikes on the Balakot terror camp in Pakistan, saying his own party had exercised restraint.

Addressing a rally in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district, Gandhi continued his attack on Modi over the Rafale deal, blaming the BJP-led government for the delay in the procurement of the military aircraft.

The Congress president said his party would accord the martyrs' status to paramilitary men killed in the line of duty, bringing them on par with those from the three armed services.

The recent air strikes at a major Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Pakistan had followed a terror attack in Kashmir that killed 40 paramilitary men.

When our air force carried out air strikes, we fully supported them and Congressmen did not speak anything about them for seven-eight days. But the PM himself started doing on it, Gandhi said at the public meeting at Chambi.

He referred to the prime minister's statement that the outcome of the recent confrontation with Pakistan would have been better for India had the Rafale aircraft arrived.

Gandhi claimed that what delayed their delivery was the new deal the Modi government negotiated for the fighter planes.

He said this deal was meant to provide undue benefit of Rs 30, 000 crore to industrialist Anil Ambani, repeating a Congress allegation denied by the government.

Paying homage to CRPF jawan Tilak Raj, who hailed from the same area and died during the Pulwama attack, Gandhi said personnel from paramilitary forces should be given the status of martyrs, just as those from the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force who die for the country.

If we come to power, we will accord the status of 'shaheed' to CRPF, BSF and other paramilitary jawans who lay down their lives for the nation, he added.

The public meeting, Gandhi's first in Himachal Pradesh after becoming the All India Congress Committee president in 2016, was called Parivartan Rally, or a rally for change.

Gandhi attacked the Narendra Modi government on the issues of Goods and Services Tax (GST), demonetisation, jobs and farm loan waivers.

He claimed big businessmen have benefitted from the GST but it has hurt small traders and shopkeepers.

We will provide you with a simple GST with only one slab of tax it we come to power, he promised.

Attacking the government's controversial move in 2016, Gandhi said, Narendra Modi claimed that demonetisation was an attack on black money. If that was true, why did we see only honest people suffering in long queues?



Former chief minister Virbhadra Singh could not attend the meeting as he was busy with his MLA-son Vikramaditya Singh's marriage, party leaders said.

Rahul Gandhi was presented with a rare photograph of late prime minister Indira Gandhi in a Lahauli dress.

The photo was reportedly taken two months before her 1984 assassination.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi Thursday alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi was responsible for delay in delivery of Rafale fighter jets as he was holding "direct negotiations" in the deal and asked why there was no investigation against him when the government was talking of probing others for theft of documents.

Repeating his allegation of a "Rs 30,000 crore scam" in the Rafale deal, Gandhi also accused the government of manipulating institutions to "save" Prime Minister Modi and said justice should be for all.

The BJP hit back with union ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad alleging that Gandhi was resorting to "blatant lies", had more faith in Pakistan than in Indian forces and was getting more TRP in Pakistan.

Jaitley also dubbed Gandhi's attack on Modi as an attempt to shift the focus due to people's "revulsion" towards the Congress party.

Gandhi's attack came a day after the government told the Supreme Court that documents related to the Rafale deal have been stolen from the Defence Ministry. The government told the court that it was probing the theft and also warned of using the Official Secrets Act against media publications for publishing reports based on those documents.

The Editors Guild of India has condemned the submission before the Supreme Court, saying any attempt to use the Official Secrets Act against the media is as "reprehensible" as asking journalists to disclose their sources.

BSP chief Mayawati also took a dig at the Centre's disclosure about the "stolen" documents, saying it was a "very strange and irresponsible chowkidari".

"The Modi govt made a sensational disclosure in the Hon'ble Supreme Court that secret documents pertaining to Rafale fighter deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry. Very strange & irresponsible chowkidari. Is national security & interest in the safe hands? Think long & loud," she tweeted.

Later in a statement, she said it was "most irresponsible, most unfortunate and shameful" that Rafale documents got stolen.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the theft was a matter of concern and described the entire matter as 'tamasha' (farce) and hinted that its fallout would be known after the Lok Sabha elections.

"What would the government say on this? Who is the hidden person behind this? There must be an enquiry into it," she added.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi said "gayab ho gaya" (vanished) is the new tagline that has emerged in the Modi government as he referred to 'vanishing' of the Rafale documents and alleged other things that have 'vanished' include two crore jobs for youths, right prices for farmers' produce, Rs 15 lakh in everyone's bank accounts, farmers' insurance and promise of eradicating black money after demonetisation, etc.

Referring to the government investigation into theft of Rafale documents, Gandhi said everyone can be investigated but there must be a probe against Modi also as he alleged that the ministry files showed the prime minister was holding parallel negotiations in the fighter jet deal.

"An interesting thing happened yesterday... The government said the media will be investigated, but there is no probe against those involved in the Rs 30,000-crore scam. The government is protecting Narendra Modi, the 'chowkidaar' (watchman), at any cost," he said at a press conference.

"The prime minister delayed the Rafale deal... The parallel negotiations retarded the delivery of Rafale. The aircraft were delayed because you wanted to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore," he alleged.

Gandhi said it is the government's job and the court's job to give justice and "we are just saying give justice to everybody".

"If Prime Minister is not guilty, then why does not the prime minister say he is ready for a probe as he does not fear anything and will bring the truth out," he said.

The government has rejected allegations by the Congress. Ambani has also rejected the allegations.

"You do whatever you want to do legally, but justice should be for all. If files have been stolen, then you are accepting that the stories based on those documents are true... Why should not there be a criminal investigation? When a probe can be ordered against anyone who opposes the prime minister, then why not against Narendra Modi?" he asked.

The Congress chief alleged the files showed Modi was doing parallel negotiations on Rafale deal. "Narendra Modi has done bypass surgery. You act against all, but also act against the one whose name appears in the Rafale scam," he said.

He alleged there was a "blatant case of corruption" against Modi and that has come out in media reports quoting the defence ministry file on Rafale.

Hitting back at Modi for calling the Congress a "poster boy" of Pakistan for questioning the air strike on terror camps in Balakot, Gandhi said, "It is he who is Pakistan's poster boy, not us".

"Prime Minister got ISI to investigate Pathankot. Prime Minister went to Nawaz Sharif's (family) wedding and we are the poster boys. He is poster boy of Pakistan hugging Mr Nawaz Sharif, calling Mr Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony doing drama," he said.

The Congress chief also lauded the Hindu newspaper for publishing the Rafale article and said, "You are being punished because you are brave, that is why you are punished and I am very proud that you have the guts to stand against Mr Narendra Modi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday alleged that Congress president Rahul Gandhi's claim that farm loans have been waived by his party's government in Punjab was an attempt to deceive the people of the state.

During a public meeting in Moga on Thursday, Gandhi spoke about farm debt loan waiver schemes implemented by Congress governments in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

He also launched a scathing attack on Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal and alleged that the prime minister was benefiting certain industrialists while refraining from helping out the country's debt-ridden farmers.

In a statement here, former Punjab minister and senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia said it was shocking that Gandhi "lied" and "tried to deceive" the people of Punjab and the country by stating that farm loans had been waived by the Congress government in the state.

"This is furthest from truth. The Congress government in Punjab has failed to implement its promised Rs 90,000 crore loan waiver scheme encompassing nationalised and cooperative banks as well as private money lenders. It (the state government) has come out with a partial crop loan waiver scheme which has exacerbated the situation and led to more than 900 suicides," Majithia alleged.

He also accused Gandhi of remembering farmers only during election season.

"This is the reason why he was talking about farmers in Moga today. However, he did not spare one day in the last two years to meet and console even one of the 900 farm suicide victim families whose kin committed suicide after the chief minister reneged on a solemn promise to waive their entire loans," the SAD leader said.

"The real situation is that farmers were sitting on rail tracks demanding their dues, including payment for sugarcane supplied to the state."



Majithia said that he condemned the manner in which public money was "wasted" to host a "pre-election rally" in the name of farm debt scheme.

Meanwhile, Punjab Ekta Party president Sukhpal Singh Khaira asked Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to clarify who paid the expenses for the function which was held at Moga.

He demanded that the Congress party foot the bill if expenses incurred for holding the function were paid out of public money.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi is set to visit Tripura on March 20 to kick off the party's Lok Sabha poll campaign with a public rally.

A senior leader in the party said preparations were afoot to welcome the Gandhi scion.

"Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Pradyot Kishore Debburman has recently convened a meeting to discuss the preparations being made for Gandhi's visit. He will be meeting leaders in Delhi to finalise the programme," Tapas Dey, the party's state unit vice president, told PTI.

The Congress, which had bagged ten seats in the 2013 Assembly seats, drew a blank in last year's state elections.

Sources said the party hopes to make structural changes in the wake of last year's debacle before selecting candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Debabaraman, after his appointment last month, requested all defected leaders to return to the party.

The newly appointed TPCC chief said everyone in the party would be given due respect and, in return, they would have to work with honesty and integrity.

"It would be my endeavour to build a strong organisation with the participation of youth, women, educated and honest people," he told reporters Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address thousands of party polling booth in-charges in Delhi at a convention on Monday.

The convention -- 'Mera Booth, Mera Gaurav' (my booth, my pride) -- will be held at Indira Gandhi Stadium on March 11, working president of Delhi Congress Haroon Yusuf said Thursday.

"In light of the reports of BJP's manipulations to win elections, Rahul Gandhi will guide the booth in-charges on how to remain alert at booths and check EVMs (electronic voting machines) and keep watch on working of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines during the elections," Yusuf said.

Delhi Congress leaders said that Gandhi wanted to meet the booth in-charges, who serve as foot soldiers of the party, to encourage them and give them tips about cornering the BJP and the AAP over the failures of their dispensations at the Centre and in Delhi, respectively.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi will kickstart the campaign of the DMK-led alliance for the coming Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu by addressing a rally in Kanyakumari on March 13.

Besides Rahul Gandhi, DMK president M K Stalin, MDMK chief Vaiko and Left party leaders would participate in the meeting, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K S Alagiri told reporters here Thursday.

"The meeting will be a historic one," he said.

Alagiri held a meeting with partymen to discuss arrangements for the rally.

He alleged that the leaders in Tamil Nadu at present did not have any policy nor principles.

"Once the state of Tamil Nadu had great leaders who led the state and the nation. But now the state leaders were without any policy or principles," he said.

Referring to actor Rajinikanth's political statements, Alagiri said, "Rajini is doing some sort of We can enjoy him only in cinema theatres..."



Asked if he would contest from Kanyakumari district, the TNCC chief said Rahul Gandhi will decide who will contest and from where.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The reference annuals 'Bharat 2019' and 'India 2019', giving an insight into government's policies and achievements, were released on Thursday by Information and Broadcasting Ministry Secretary Amit Khare.

Khare, speaking on the occasion, said that these annuals are an important tool to highlight the policies and achievements of the government.

He said every edition of these reference annuals sets new publishing benchmarks.

Highlighting their immense popularity, Khare said that the books are read not only by young readers and those desirous of knowing about the development of the country, but also by foreigners who want to get authentic information about India.

He also informed that these books will be carried along by the Indian delegation participating in London Book Fair.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan Thursday requested Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar to reconsider his decision to put candidates of his political front in 22 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

This is necessary if Ambedkar wanted to ensure the defeat of the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, he said.

Talking to reporters, Chavan said to defeat the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, all like-minded parties must come together.

"We want to hear from Ambedkar on this. He should reconsider his decision to field candidates in 22 seats and then com to talks (on alliance) with us," he said.

Chavan was responding to questions on Ambedkar's statement that none of the 22 candidates announced by his Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) will withdraw from the race.

At the same time, Ambedkar had said he was ready to hold talks with the Congress for an alliance for the remaining 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

"The 22 seats include Madha, Baramati, Nanded. He has to reconsider," Chavan said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sale of slots will lead to uncertainty in an airline's operations as well as harm established networks and future connectivity, according to global airlines' association IATA.

A senior IATA official also said re-allocation of slots midway through a season would "probably be too late to enable airlines to publish services and for airports to resource according to expected demand".

The International Airport Transport Association (IATA) is a grouping of around 290 carriers across the globe. Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara are also members.

Recently, Philip Ireland, Manager (World Wide Airport Slots) at IATA said sale of slots would lead to uncertainty in an airline's operations, which negatively impacts the ability of both airports and airlines to invest in future services and infrastructure.

"It would harm established networks and future connectivity, will compromise competition and create perverse incentives to a process that is fair, neutral and non-discriminatory today.

"Disabling entry for many carriers, who today are able to access congested infrastructure - this only serves to undermine competitiveness of Indian aviation," he told PTI recently.

The civil aviation ministry is planning to revamp the existing slot allocation mechanism.

IATA has also sought a single and independent coordinator for allocation of slots at airports across India. Besides, the grouping has stressed on the need for transparency in the process and ensure that slot availability is declared through NAC (Notice on Airport Capacity) charts for all airports.

Ireland said trying to reallocate slots midway through a season would probably be too late to enable airlines to publish services and for airports to resource according to expected demand.

According to him, slot changes, slot swaps, slot transfers and re-allocations between airlines are already taking place.

"It is an ongoing process slot coordinators, airlines and airports are familiar with," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saudi's top diplomat met Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday and delivered a "special message" from powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, amid global efforts to de-escalate Indo-Pak tensions, according to media reports.

Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir called on Prime Minister Khan at the his office where the two discussed the ongoing Indo-Pak tensions and matters of regional and bilateral interest, Geo TV reported.

Jubeir conveyed him a special message of the crown prince, it added.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, PM's adviser on trade, secretary foreign affairs and other higher officials were present during the meeting.

Ahead of his meeting with Khan, Jubeir met Qureshi and discussed Pakistan's recent tensions with India, regional security and bilateral relations.

The Saudi diplomat assured Qureshi of his country's support towards solving the issues with India in a peaceful manner.

According to Pakistan Foreign Office, Jubeir will also meet Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Jubeir was earlier supposed to visit Pakistan on March 1 but it was delayed due to heightened tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi.

Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1.

Countries like the US, the UK, China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were involved in easing tensions between India and Pakistan.

While announcing the Saudi minister's visit, Foreign Minister Qureshi Wednesday said that the Saudi envoy is coming to Pakistan with a "special message" from Crown Prince Mohammad.

Jubeir's visit comes after the crown prince stand alone visits to Pakistan and India soon after the Pulwama terror attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court Thursday asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to inform it within 10 days about a possible date for the meeting of the selection committee, headed by Prime Minister, to appoint the country's first anti-corruption authority -- the Lokpal.

The top court was informed by the Centre that search committee, headed by former apex court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, had recommended to the selection committee three names each for the Lokpal panel -- chairperson, judicial member and non-judicial member. It can have maximum of eight member.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi ordered, "We have considered the matter. At this stage, the order which we consider appropriate to pass is to request the Attorney General to inform the Court within ten days from today about the possible date of convening a meeting of the Selection Committee for finalization of the names for constitution of the Lokpal".

The bench, also comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, was told by Venugopal that the search committee in pursuant to the apex court's earlier order has shortlisted three panels of names and has recommended them on February 28 to the selection committee.

It was hearing a contempt petition filed by NGO Common Cause which has raised the issue of non-appointment of Lokpal despite the apex court's judgement of April 27, 2017.

The top court also refused to pass any direction for putting the names shortlisted by the search committee in public domain after advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for petitioner NGO argued that the Lokpal Act mentions about transparency and therefore names should be uploaded on the website.

"So far as the prayer of Mr. Bhushan, for putting the names recommended by the Search Committee in the public domain is concerned, we have considered the provisions of Section 4(4) of the Act and it is our considered view that no direction from the Court should be issued in this regard," the bench said.

The court said that the matter should be now left for a just determination by the Selection Committee as and when the meeting of the Committee is convened.

At the outset, the bench asked the Attorney General as by when will the meeting of selection committee can be convened.

Venugopal replied that he would ask secretary of Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) to convene the meeting as soon as possible.

He said that search committee has recommended three panel of three names each for the post of chairman, judicial member and non-judicial member to the selection committee.

The bench said as per the Lokpal Act the selection committee comprises of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India or his nominee, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the leader of opposition and an eminent jurist.

"There is no leader of opposition at present then who would represent him. Will the leader of single largest opposition party will be invited as no amendments were carried out in the Act to replace 'leader of opposition' with 'leader of single largest opposition party'," the bench asked Venugopal.

To this, he replied that the arrangement would be similar as done in the appointment of CBI director, where leader of single largest opposition party is part of the high powered appointment committee.

Venugopal said that leader of single largest opposition party Mallikarjun Kharge will be invited for the meeting of selection committee for appointment of Lokpal and its members.

"So, he (Kharge) is being invited as a special invitee and that is his objection," the bench said.

When Bhushan said that names shortlisted by the search committee should be uploaded on the websites as the Lokpal Act requires transparency should be there in the selection process.

To this, the bench said the Act does not say that names should be put in public domain and objections are called from public.

"People understand the word transparency in their own perspective. It is a subjective term and has its own connotation. Mr Bhushan, we appreciate the good work you have done but there has to be a limit somewhere. We don't think names are required to be put in public domain," the bench said while listing the matter for further hearing after ten days.

The top court had on January 17, requested the search committee to recommend by February end a panel of names for appointing the country's first anti-graft ombudsman.

The top court on July 24 last year had rejected as "wholly unsatisfactory" the Centre's submission on the issue of setting up of a search committee for Lokpal and demanded a "better affidavit".

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is the leader of the largest opposition party, has been giving a go by to the meetings of the selection panel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Thursday said improved relations between India and Pakistan will lead to peace and stability in the region and the exchange of visits by delegations of the two countries discuss the Kartarpur Corridor will help in de-escalating tensions.

Qureshi's comment came following his meeting with Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood, who discussed with him the relations and current situation between Islamabad and New Delhi.

Mehmood, who is scheduled to return to New Delhi after he was summoned by Islamabad for consultations following flare up of tensions between the two neighbours after the Pulwama terror attack.

"Pakistan desires de-escalation and an improvement in the current situation. The delegation-level visits will play a key role in this," Qureshi was quoted as saying by Geo

"In March, both the countries will hold consultations over the Kartarpur Corridor," he said.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured its pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1.

Qureshi also said that Pakistan wants peace in the region and has taken several steps in this regard.

India and Pakistan will discuss on March 14 the modalities of the operationalisation of the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate easy access by Indian Sikhs to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.

India had earlier said that the discussions with Pakistan over the Kartarpur Corridor would be held according to the government's decision to operationalise the corridor for easy access to the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP president Amit Shah Thursday accused the Bhupesh Baghel government in Chhattisgarh of duping farmers by only waiving their short-term loans, as against the Congress's promise of writing off entire farm loan.

Shah also slammed the government over its decision to withdrawn the general consent accorded to the CBI to probe cases in the state, and also for pulling out of the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

He was addressing a convention of party workers here.

"The Congress has duped the farmers. The party had promised to waive their entire farm loan, but it wrote off only short-term loans and that too not completely," Shah said.

"Rahul baba had announced a hike in paddy procurement prices, but now they are sweating in cold. The condition is that the government has to take loans from the Reserve Bank of India for paddy procurement," he added.

Shah said, "After Coming to power in the state, Congress decided to pull out of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which is meant to benefit poor. Why did the government ban the entry of CBI into the state? Are they (Congress) preparing to commit corruption. The chief minister should answer this."



On the liquor ban promise that the Congress had made in its assembly election manifesto, Shah said the party was now saying it was a complicated task.

"If it was a not an easy task, why did they promise it?" he asked.

He also slammed state government for rechristening the schemes named after Pt Deendayal Upadhyay.

"Our government never changed the names of the projects named after former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. But after the Congress came to power in the state, it rechristened schemes named after Pt Deendayal Upadhyay. This kind of act should not be done in public life," he added.

Shah said the BJP was the only party in which a worker sitting in the last line can rise to become the party chief.

He asked workers to ensure that the BJP wins all the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state so that the Modi dispensation continues to remain in power.

This was Shah's first visit to the state after his party suffered a massive drubbing in the November assembly election and lost power after 15 years.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 10 out of the 11 seats in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Maharashtra Principal Secretary (Home) Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay Thursday told a special court here that he had endorsed a proposal to transfer the Sheena Bora murder case to the CBI as he found it to be in 'interest of justice'.

Upadhyay, who is currently the police commissioner of Nagpur, was posted as the principal secretary (Home) in 2015. He had issued a notification for transferring the murder case probe to the CBI.

"I'm aware of the Sheena Bora murder case. Initially, the case was investigated by Khar Police. Thereafter, the file came to our department (in September 2015) for the transfer of the case to CBI," he said while deposing before special court judge J C Jagdale.

It was decided by the home ministry that the case should be handed over to the CBI. Accordingly, a notification was issued to this effect, he said.

Responding to the defence advocate's question, Upadhyay said the proposal to transfer the case had come from the office of the Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) in September 2015. It was forwarded by the then DGP Sanjeev Dayal.

"The proposal was dealt with by me, the then Additional Chief Secretary (K P) Bakshi and Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis), who held the Home portfolio. I endorsed the proposal as I found it to be in the interest of justice," he said.

Sheena (24) was killed allegedly by her mother Indrani Mukerjea with the help of others in a car in April 2012. However, the incident came to light in August 2015 after Mukerjea's driver Shyamvar Rai, who was arrested by the police for possessing firearms, disclosed it.

Police had arrested Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and Rai for allegedly killing Sheena. Later, Indrani's husband and media baron Peter Mukerjea was also arrested for allegedly being part of the conspiracy.

The CBI has claimed that a financial dispute was the reason for the murder.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scientists have designed a metal frame that increases the amount of sunlight captured by a solar cell, enhancing its energy production by almost one-third.

The simple, inexpensive and ingenious method could increase solar energy captured for people in developing countries, as well as remote regions that are off the grid, researchers said.

"In Uganda, between 20 to 25 per cent of people have no access to electricity," said Beth Parks, an associate professor at Colgate University in the US.

"One solar cell supplies enough energy to power lights and charge cell phones and radios. This is a huge quality-of-life improvement," said Parks.

While solar panels offer a clean source of renewable energy, they are typically mounted on a fixed frame and only optimally oriented towards the sun during specific hours of the day.

Parks previously saw a design for a frame that would allow the solar panel to track the sun using hanging weights.

However, the design had not been tested to see how it actually performed. Nor had it been optimised for affordability to ensure commercial viability and adoption.

Parks worked with students at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda to design a frame using metal tubing that a local welder could easily obtain and assemble.

"We have created a frame using inexpensive materials that allows the solar panels to track the arc of the sun throughout the day," Parks said.

"This approach could make solar energy more affordable to households and small businesses in the developing world," she said.

In her design, a bucket of rocks is placed on the west side of the frame and a bucket of water is placed on the east side.

Using a controlled leak from the water bucket, the weight shifts and the panel slowly rotates from east to west throughout the day.

Parks and her team tested the design on 20 random days in Uganda. The solar cell on the movable frame captured 30 per cent more sunlight than the stationary solar cell at the same location.

"If this frame is adopted, it has the potential to create a small industry for the local community," Parks said.

According to Parks, the cost of the system -- the solar cell, battery, charger and frame -- is about 10 per cent less than a comparable rooftop solar cell system.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel Thursday received commitment from its single-largest shareholder Singtel, promoters and GIC Singapore to participate in its Rs 32,000 crore capital raising programme.

Singapore telecom major SingTel said it will infuse Rs 3,750 crore in Bharti Airtel by subscribing to the proposed Rs 25,000 crore rights issue of the company.

GIC Private Limited, on behalf of Government of Singapore and Monetary Authority of Singapore, has made a commitment of Rs 5,000 crore in the proposed programme.

"The entire rights entitlement of Promoter and Promoter Group of approximately Rs 167,857 million (Rs 16,785.7 crore) will be subscribed by them and GIC, with Promoter and Promoter Group subscribing to Rs 117,857 million (Rs 11,785.7 crore) and GIC subscribing Rs 50,000 million (or Rs 5,000 crore) by way of renouncement in their favour," Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

The board of Bharti Airtel last week approved rights issue to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through issuance of fully paid up shares at a price of Rs 220 per share, and an additional Rs 7,000 crore via the foreign currency perpetual bond issue.

Bharti Airtel said the capital infusion will help it continue investments in future rollouts to build large network capacity and create content and technology partnerships to ensure the best customer experience.

SingTel announced that "it will subscribe to 170 million new shares in the Rs 250 billion rights issue by regional associate Bharti Airtel (Airtel) at an issue price of Rs 220 per share, for a total consideration of Rs 37.5 billion (approximately USD 525 million), representing the rights entitlement for its direct stake of 15 per cent."



Together with Airtel's major shareholders and GIC, a total of 67 per cent of the rights issue has been committed, SingTel said.

With this rights issue subscription, Singtel's effective interest in Airtel will be 35.2 per cent and the company will continue to be the single largest shareholder in Airtel. At present SingTel holds around 39.5 per cent stake in the India telecom firm.

"The Promoter and Promoter Group also reserves the right to subscribe either itself or through investors for additional shares in the Issue, including in the event of under subscription by the public, in accordance with the applicable laws," the statement said.

Airtel is in the process of appointing banks to take this forward.

"The Rights Issue reiterates the confidence of our shareholders in the competitive strength and sound business strategy of Airtel. It shall further strengthen our balance sheet with desired financial flexibility so as to meet future opportunities, particularly in the rapidly transforming Indian mobile market," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India & South Asia) - Bharti Airtel said.

He said the fresh capital infusion will help the company to continue investments in future rollouts to build large network capacity and create content and technology partnerships to ensure the best customer experience.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Spanish police said Thursday they rescued an elderly man and woman locked up in a house, allegedly drugged and fed via a tube by a couple whose other "wards" died mysteriously.

The Civil Guard police force in the southwestern city of Cadiz said a German-Cuban couple are suspected of having befriended elderly people to rob them of their assets, accumulating more than 1.8 million euros ($2 million) over four years.

In what police described as a "house of horrors," they found an elderly German man and Dutch woman in a "terrible state", locked up in separate rooms, drugged and fed via a nasogastric tube, without needing it. It is unclear exactly how old they are. They were taken to a care home where their health "improved significantly."



The discovery came during an investigation launched when police were notified by their German counterparts that a wealthy 101-year-old woman called Maria Babes was missing.

Police found her in a care home where she had arrived in a bad state. Questioned, Babes told police the couple had approached her in Tenerife where she lived, befriended her, offered to look after her and transferred her to Cadiz.

Babes told police she was kept locked up for several months in a house, handcuffed.

"In October, she had more than 162,000 euros in the bank and after this couple appeared in her life, by mid-December she had under 300 euros, her house in Tenerife had been sold and she didn't receive one euro of the sale," the Civil Guard said in a statement.

The couple have been jailed pending further investigations.

But before police managed to detain them, they said the two came to the care home and took Babes away. Five hours later, she was dead.

"Maria left the centre at 11:00 am, in good health, and her death was reported at 4:00 pm while she was in a car with her carers," police said.

The couple also allegedly insisted on cremating her body rapidly, so no autopsy was done.

After their detention, police searched the couple's home and found they had another house rented out nearby.

That's where they found the Dutch woman and German man. They also discovered that the Dutch woman had pretended to be Babes to sign for the sale of her home.

Police also identified four other people who had been "looked after" by the couple and alleged that the four "had died unexpectedly once they (the couple) had taken all their capital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sri Lanka's biggest mass grave predates the country's bloody civil war by hundreds of years, according to an independent carbon dating report unveiled in a court Thursday.

The remains of over 300 men, women and children were found last year at a site in the northern Mannar district, where ethnic Tamil guerrillas fought security forces during a 37-year ethnic war that ended in May 2009.

Sri Lanka's Office on Missing Persons (OMP) funded tests on the remains to determine whether the victims were killed during the conflict, which claimed the lives of at least 100,000 people.

But a Miami-based laboratory concluded that the victims likely died up to 615 years ago -- predating even the first European colonisation of the Indian Ocean island by the Portuguese -- according to testimony in the Mannar magistrates court.

Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces both held Mannar district at different times during the conflict, as did troops from neighbouring India, who were deployed in the country in the late 1980s.

The mass grave in the former war zone was discovered by construction workers. The OMP, which is independent of the government but has a state mandate, said just over 300 skeletal remains had been found, including the remains of about 20 children.

The office has wide powers to investigate cases of people still missing after the civil war. Both soldiers and Tamil rebels were accused of targeting civilians. About 19,000 people, including 5,000 security personnel, are still unaccounted for after the conflict, a 2013 government panel said in 2013.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former navy chief Admiral L Ramdas (Retd) has urged immediate intervention of the Election Commission in stopping political parties from using incidents like the Pulwama attack, Balakot strike and Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's operations to influence the electorate.

In an open letter to the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, Admiral L Ramdas (Retd) expressed concerns on "recent instances" of parties using armed forces' heroics for political gains.

"With elections due in a few weeks from now, it is particularly important that there should not be any misuse of these recent events by any political party to send triumphalist or jingoistic messages which can influence the electorate," he said.

In his two-page letter, the former navy chief said the armed forces have always prided themselves on belonging to a structure, an ethos and an environment which have been both apolitical and secular.

"And it is in this context that as a responsible citizen and a proud veteran of the Indian Armed Forces, I share our collective sense of dismay and deep concern at how some political parties are brazenly pushing their agenda using images, uniforms and other examples, showing pictures of the armed forces with political figures, in public spaces, in media, election rallies and so on," he said.

The retired Admiral said it was completely unacceptable since it has the potential to destroy the very foundations and value system of armed forces, drawn from the vision, the spirit and intent of the Indian Constitution.

He said he could not circulate the open letter for more signatures due to a paucity of time "although many veterans are duly agitated by these attempts to compromise the integrity and secular nature of the Indian Armed Forces".

"We, therefore, urge the Election Commission to immediately intervene and send a strong message to the political parties that there should be no misuse of the photographs as indeed any other material/reports or other information pertaining to the armed forces for electioneering in any way," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police have apprehended some suspects in connection with an alleged attack on a team of power distribution company BRPL, during a raid to check power theft in Geeta Colony area of east Delhi, an official said Thursday.

The team of BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) was attacked by a property dealer and his men, while it was removing illegal wires in Shastri Nagar area in Geeta Colony, on February 26, said a BSES spokesperson.

Police apprehended a few suspects in connection with the attack on Wednesday and interrogated them, he said.

"The unprovoked attack on the team took place when they were sprucing-up the local network and removing the illegal wires from an electricity pole near a house in Shastri Nagar," the spokesperson said.

"The goons suddenly came out of a shop of a local property dealer and physically attacked them injuring two. They were joined by the property dealer himself," he added.

Another team of the discom was attacked recently in Jhatikira village of Najafgarh in west Delhi, in which three persons were injured, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tea exports fell marginally from 23.85 million kilograms in January 2018 to 22.27 million kilograms in the same month of 2019, according to Tea Board provisional data.

Value of tea exports in January 2019, however, increased to Rs 480.77 crore as compared to Rs 470.83 crore owing to rise in unit price per kilogram to Rs 215.88 from Rs 197.42 in January 2018.

Destination-wise, exports to CIS countries fell to 4.96 million kilograms in January 2019 as compared to 6.06 million kilograms in the same month of last year.

Exports to UAE during January 2019 fell sharply to 1.51 million kilograms from 3.19 million kilograms in January 2018, the data said.

Offtake by Iran saw a rise in January 2019 at 5.90 million kilograms from 2.82 million grams in the same period of 2018.

Exports to Pakistan also saw a rise to 1.31 million kilograms from 1.14 million kilograms in January 2018, according to the Tea Board data.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A key party linked to Thailand's powerful Shinawatra clan was dissolved Thursday by a court, just weeks before a general election, over its ill-starred bid to front a princess as a candidate for premier.

Thai Raksa Chart, which is tied to ex-premiers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, proposed Princess Ubolratana as its prime ministerial candidate if its bloc emerged with a lower house majority after the March 24 election.

It was an unprecedented move in a constitutional monarchy where royals are officially above the political fray, and prompted a rare public rebuke by her younger brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who issued a royal command declaring the party's move "inappropriate".

Thai Raksa Chart was found guilty of committing an act "hostile to the constitutional monarchy" by the nine-member Constitutional Court, which unanimously voted to dissolve the party.

Party executives -- including two Shinawatra family members -- were also banned from for a decade.

"The monarchy is above and to maintain political neutrality, the king, the queen and princesses can never exercise political rights by casting votes," judge Nakharin Mektrairat said at the end of an extensive ruling.

The princess reacted to the on Instagram, where she posts regularly.

"I have heard the It is sad and depressing," she said. Dissolution is a blow to the prospects of the powerful Shinawatras winning a parliamentary majority at the polls.

Thai Raksa Chart was established to back up the Shinawatras' main political vehicle Pheu Thai, which won the 2011 elections with a landslide.

Conversely, its downfall -- the party lasted just four months -- is a major fillip to its army-allied rivals who are fielding current junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha as their candidate for premier.

Thai Raksa Chart was set to compete in 174 constituencies with 108 candidates vying for seats through the party list -- a system to allocate extra parliamentary seats according to the proportion of votes they scoop up.

Grim-faced party executives, all dressed in black suits and led by party chief Preechapol Pongpanich, filed out of the Constitutional Court through the ranks of media. Fighting back tears, Preechapol told reporters the party was "extremely saddened" by the dissolution, a ruling which "will affect the rights and freedoms" of candidates and voters.

The same court has disbanded two other parties linked to the Shinawatra dynasty -- and toppled two of its prime ministers -- in the last 13 years of political turmoil since Thaksin was booted from office by a coup in 2006.

The legal moves were "deja vu", said political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University, in a country trapped in a spin-dryer of short-lived civilian governments, bloody street protests and coups.

The last army power grab toppled Thaksin's sister Yingluck in 2014. There were tears among the smattering of die-hard Shinawatra supporters gathered near the court.

"Can we have democracy? We have fought for it for more than 10 years," Oye, 51, told AFP, giving only one name.

Thais have powered Shinawatra-linked parties to government at every poll since 2001 only to be knocked down by the courts and coups.

Pheu Thai's electoral dominance was cast into doubt by a new electoral system designed by the junta to limit the number of seats it can win.

The Shinawatras have one other party called Pheu Chart for supporters to transfer some votes.

But Thursday's court ruling raises the odds of a broad -- and potentially uncomfortable -- pro-democracy alliance as the only route back to power for the Shinawatras.

Future Forward, a new party whose billionaire leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit is an acerbic critic of the junta but not an natural ally of Thaksin, is emerging as an untested force at the polls.

With 18 days to go, tension is rising.

The country remains deeply divided between those who loathe the military and fear its return to office after elections, and the anti-Thaksin camp.

Thaksin's enemies accuse him of toxifying Thai with corruption and nepotism.

He has been in self-exile since 2008 to avoid jail, but still draws adoration from the rural poor for his economic and welfare policies in a society with a chasmic wealth gap.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor Thursday told a Delhi court that former AIIMS forensic chief Sudhir Gupta concealed the post-mortem report of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.

Tharoor's lawyer cited the prosecution report and told Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj that Gupta, who no longer works with AIIMS, concealed the original copy of the report and was flashing the documents in the media.

"Original documents are with Dr Sudhir Gupta who no longer works with AIIMS. Those documents should not be with him. How can he carry documents wherever he goes? Those documents needed to be filed in the court.

"It is deliberately concealed. Gupta, who is retired already, is going and flashing documents in media," senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, appearing for Tharoor, said.

Pahwa made the allegations while seeking certain documents provided to him by the prosecution in electronic form, saying he was not able to access them.

"Each and every document on which the reliance is placed should be given," the counsel said.

Tharoor, meanwhile, was granted exemption from personal appearance by the court for the day, after a request was made by his counsel in this regard.

Special Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava, appearing for Delhi police, opposed the submissions made by Tharoor's advocate saying that "26 adjournments were taken during 8 months 18 days, between the filing of charge sheet and the committal of case to the special court."



The court has now put up the matter for March 15 when it will pronounce order on Tharoor's plea seeking documents.

The court had on February 4 sent the case to Sessions Court for further proceedings since the offence under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was triable by a sessions judge.

Tharoor, former Union minister, has been charged under sections 498-A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 of the IPC, but has not been arrested in the case.

Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of January 17, 2014. The couple was staying in the hotel as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three ultras of the banned Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) were killed in an encounter with security forces in Hazaribagh district on Thursday, police said.

Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police Mayur Patel Kanhaiyalal said the encounter took place in a dense forest near Bundu under Keredari police station of Hazaribagh district, bordering Chatra district.

Superintendent of Police (Operation) Nigam Prasad said that the 190th battalion of the CRPF and district police on a tip-off about the presence of TPC ultras rushed to the Tara forest.

The ultras opened fire on the security personnel who returned the fire and in the encounter that followed three ultras were gunned down, Prasad said,



The bodies of the three ultras recovered and the process of their identification was underway, he said, adding that two INSAS rifles, one AK-47 rifle and bullets were recovered from the encounter spot.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government-run paid only half the net salary for February to its staff citing fund crunch, but coughed up the remaining amount after the the cash paucity news went viral.

In a letter to the staff Wednesday, TIFR registrar Wing Commander (retd) George Antony said,"Due to insufficient funds, staff members and students and post-doctoral fellows of TIFR, its centres and field stations will be paid 50 per cent of the net salary for the month of February immediately."



"The remaining part of the salary will be paid when sufficient funds are available," the letter had said, adding deductions will be calculated on full salary as per rules.

After the news that a premier research institute in the country was facing fund shortage spread, the authorities, in an apparent fire-fighting exercise, deposited the remaining salary component of the staff in their bank accounts.

"The complete salary of all the employees of TIFR has been credited to their respective bank accounts. The issue has been solved now," Antony told PTI.

A former staffer said the pay cut decision had impacted the around 3,000 employees, students and post- doctoral fellows of TIFR in Mumbai and other centres.

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha said earlier Thursday that TIFR is in a perilous state. "The perilous financial state of one of Indias finest scientific research institutes," he tweeted.

Another twitter user said the government should explain why this (salary cut) happened. "If this is the condition of TIFR, then what will be the future of education in our country?" he said.

A tweet appeared to question the motive for shortage of funds to TIFR.

"There goes another piece of prime real estate. I suspect thats the real game going on - just like the cantonments. TIFR will be asked to move out. Magically, funds will reappear. In a more remote location." it said.

TIFR is a centre of the Government of India under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy, and a deemed university since 2002, awarding degrees for master's and doctoral programmes.

The institute was founded in 1945 with support from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust under the vision of Dr Homi Bhabha.

It carries out basic research in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science and science education.

The main campus is located in Mumbai, with centres at Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
The government-run Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) here will pay only half of the net salary to its staff for February due to fund crunch.

"Due to insufficient funds, all staff members and students/post-doctoral fellows of TIFR, its centres and field stations will be paid 50 per cent of the net salary for the month of February immediately," TIFR registrar Wing Commander (retd) George Antony said in a letter to the staff.

"Remaining part of the salary will be paid when sufficient funds are available," he said in the letter.

Antony declined to comment when contacted by PTI.

TIFR is a national centre of the Government of India under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy, as well as a deemed university awarding degrees for master's and doctoral programmes.

The institute was founded in 1945 with support from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust under the vision of Dr Homi Bhabha.

TIFR carries out basic research in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science and science

The main campus is located in Mumbai, with centres at Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A grand flintlock gun and gold-encrusted sword are among eight rare artefacts evaluated as items from Tipu Sultan's armoury discovered by a couple in their attic in the English county of Berkshire.

The artefacts, brought back by Major Thomas Hart of the East India Company after the Tiger of Mysore's defeat at Seringapatam in 1799, are now set to go under the hammer at an auction later this month.

The items were passed down generations and could fetch millions of pounds for the unnamed family in whose home it was discovered.

"This is a very exciting discovery, made in an ordinary little home in Berkshire after lying wrapped up in an attic for 220 years," said Anthony Cribb, of Anthony Cribb Ltd auctioneers who specialise in arms and armoury related sales.

"The family is not motivated by money and sincerely hopes these items find their way back to India, maybe to a museum, for future generations to have access to it," he said.

The auction house will put up all eight items for auction on March 26 as individual pieces, without any price estimates, due to the "special" nature of the discovery.

Cribb said it was impossible for him to put a price to any of the items and would rather let the market and buyers decide.

The lots came to light in January this year when the couple who made the discovery of this innocuous family heirloom contacted Anthony Cribb Ltd about a sword they had in their attic.

After an evaluation, a gold "Haider" symbol found on the sword confirmed that the sword belonged Haider Ali Khan Tipu Sultan's father.

Three other swords bearing similar gold markings were found soon after, along with a bayonet and gun.

"The gun is definitely the highlight as it not only bears the symbol of Tipu Sultan's armoury but is also battle-worn. There is a chance that this gun was among the weapons used by the ruler in his famous last stand against the British in the Anglo-Mysore battle," said Cribb.

Alongside the arms, an intricately designed Betel Nut Casket and a shield belonging to Tipu Sultan as well as a Gold East India Company Seal ring belonging to Major Thomas Hart will also go under the hammer.

In 2014, a solid gold ring belonging to the 18th century ruler of Mysore had fetched 145,000 pounds at a Christie's auction in London and a collection of items associated with him sold at another auction for around 6 million pounds in 2016.

The upcoming sale is described as special because of its rare discovery under one roof after hundreds of years and bearing the trademark Tipu Sultan tiger and tiger stripes as proof of provenance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Claiming that a coalition government would be formed post the Lok Sabha elections with neither the NDA nor UPA getting a majority, TRS working president K T Rama Rao Thursday said his party can ensure heavy flow of funds for Telangana if it won 16 seats.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader also insisted that the popularity graph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was waning as seen in BJP's defeat in Rajasthan and other states in the assembly elections in December last year.

"If five-six regional parties or like-minded parties come together...if we can win 17 seats from Telangana, we (TRS) 16 and our friend Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) will anyway win Hyderabad (Lok Sabha)...a situation of Telangana people deciding who should sit in Delhi's chair will definitely come... Then funds would come like a flood," he said.

The total number of Lok Sabha seats in Telangana is 17.

Rao, who was addressing a TRS meeting at Warangal, in preparation for the coming Lok Sabha polls, said surveys conducted by national-level media organisations showed that neither NDA nor UPA was in a position to form the government on its own.

Citing the surveys, he claimed the NDA and UPA may not get more than 150 and 100 seats, respectively.

The atmosphere in the country was not the same as in 2014, he said adding people have understood after five years that Modi "can give good speeches, but cannot do anything that can bring a change in the lives of common people."



Modi did not agree to the requests of Telangana to give national status to an irrigation project or funds to schemes though the NITI Aayog made recommendations to the effect, he alleged.

Congress MPs would not be able to do anything substantial either as they need to obtain permission from Delhi (party high command) for everything, Rao charged.

"If Rahul Gandhi says sit, it is sit, and stand, if he says stand," he said.

Speaking at another preparatory meeting for Bhongir Lok Sabha constituency, Rama Rao said people would realise after five years that the Modi government has done nothing for people though they had voted for Modi in 2014 with great hopes.

He said Telangana had been neglected in various spheres as leaders in Delhi feel they don't need it.

"If Narendra Modi is Prime Minister, bullet train would go from Delhi to Mumbai, touching entire Gujarat. It does not come to Hyderabad, Telangana. Bullet rail. Because, they feel they don't need us," Rama Rao said.

The bullet train would come to Telangana if the state decided who would rule the country, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump has revoked an Obama-era policy that required the US government publish an annual report on the number of civilians killed in drone strikes on high-value terrorists in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia.

The 2016 executive order was brought in by then-President Barack Obama, who was under pressure to be more transparent on drone strikes carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Since the 9/11 Al-Qaeda terror attack, drone strikes have been increasingly used against terror and military targets.

The Trump administration said the 2016 rule was "superfluous" and distracting.

The order applied to the CIA, which has been carrying out drone strikes in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia.

The CIA-operated drone strikes in Pakistan have killed top terrorists like Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in 2016, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud in 2009 and Hakimullah Mehsud, TTP chief, in 2013. Khalid Mehsud, the TTP deputy chief was killed in a US drone strike in 2018 Pakistan's North Waziristan.

President Trump's action "eliminates superfluous reporting requirements, requirements that do not improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission," a National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

The Obama-era rule required the head of the CIA to release annual summaries of US drone strikes and assess how many died as a result.

Trump's executive order on Wednesday does not overturn reporting requirements on civilian deaths set for the military by Congress.

There have been 2,243 drone strikes in the first two years of the Trump presidency, compared with 1,878 in Obama's eight years in office, the BBC quoted figures of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a UK-based think tank.

Officials pointed to a major defence law passed by Congress last year that requires the administration to submit a civilian casualty report to lawmakers. That measure, however, allows the Defense Secretary to classify the report if he decides that its publication would pose a national security threat, The Hill reported.

The provision applies to military operations and does not cover drone strikes carried out by the CIA, which oftentimes carries out strikes in areas where US forces are not present.

Meanwhile, former Obama administration officials criticised Trump's decision, which they said will deprive the public of the ability to hold the government accountable for civilian deaths.

Daphne Eviatar, an official with Amnesty International USA, blasted Trump's decision as "unconscionable" and a "complete disregard of fundamental human rights."



"This is a shameful decision that will shroud this administration's actions in even more secrecy with little accountability for its victims," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President said Wednesday he'd be "very, very disappointed" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports that work is underway to rebuild a long-range rocket site are confirmed.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said "it's too early to see" if the information about work at the North Korean site is true. Warning he'd be disappointed, he added: "I don't think I will be, but we'll see what happens."



Trump and Kim met last week in Vietnam to negotiate on getting rid of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, but the summit broke up early with no progress.

Researchers say that rebuilding of the facility in question has been underway since the summit and may have started before the Vietnam meeting.

"This facility had been dormant since August 2018, indicating the current activity is deliberate and purposeful," said researchers at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Studies (CSIS).

Researchers said that the activity may be intended to "demonstrate resolve in the face of US rejection" of the North's request for an easing of sanctions in return for some dismantlement of nuclear weapons infrastructure.

Kim had agreed to shutter the Sohae missile-testing site at a summit with the South's President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, as part of confidence-building measures, and satellite pictures in August had suggested workers were already dismantling an engine test stand at the facility.

But CSIS said building activity is now "evident" at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, from where Pyongyang launched satellites in 2012 and 2016.

North Korea was later banned by the UN security council from carrying out the space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

The respected Washington-based 38 North project, another independent research website specializing in North Korea, also reported building work at the Sohae facility, based on commercial satellite imagery.

According to 38 North, the efforts to rebuild structures at the Sohae facility started sometime between February 16 and March 2 this year.

The pictures show a moving structure that had been used to carry launch vehicles to a launch pad on rails has been restored, it said.

"Two support cranes are observed at the building, the walls have been erected and a new roof added. At the engine test stand, it appears that the engine support structure is being reassembled," the 38 North reported.

In a briefing to parliamentarians this week, Seoul's spy agency said it had detected signs of work at the site.

Joel Wit, the director of the 38 North project, cautioned that the evidence was not necessarily "consistent with preparations for an ICBM test." "Aside from the fact that (North Korea) has never tested an ICBM from Sohae -- it's a space vehicle launch site -- preparation for any launch would require a wide range of activities not observed in the imagery," Wit said.

However, a rocket engine test could be performed there and that would send "a really strong signal" to Washington, Wit said.

"A lot depends on how the US reacts to what's going on," Wit said. "The danger here is that we could start spiraling downward as each side takes steps and undermine the process that's been in place since last spring."



Impoverished and isolated North Korea conducted its first successful nuclear test in 2006 followed by a string of increasingly successful ICBM launches.

In 2017, it claimed it had become capable of fitting a viable nuclear weapon on an ICBM that could reach as far as the United States' eastern seaboard.

In response, the UN Security Council later banned the North's main exports -- coal and other mineral resources, fisheries and textile products -- to cut off its access to hard currency.

At their groundbreaking first summit in Singapore last year, Kim and Trump produced a vague statement on the "denuclearization of the Korean peninsula." There were high expectations for Kim and Trump's second meeting in Hanoi, but no agreement was reached. Despite the stalemate, both sides said they were open to further talks.

John Bolton, the US national security adviser, however said on Tuesday that the US would look at "ramping those sanctions up" if Pyongyang did not give up its nuclear weapons program.
A group of men were seen on camera assaulting two Kashmiri youths in Daliganj locality in Uttar Pradesh's capital city.

The incident took place Wednesday evening when the Kashmiri youths were selling dry fruits on Daliganj bridge.

They were attacked with sticks by saffron-clad men, the video of which has gone viral.

The locals, however, rushed to their rescue and informed the police.

"We have lodged an FIR in this connection at Hasanganj police station against unidentified persons immediately after the matter came to our notice," a police official said.

The main accused, identified as Bajranj Sonkar, has been arrested, he said.

Sonkar claims to be the president of the Vishwa Hindu Dal.

Incidents of harassment of Kashmiris, especially students, have been reported from various parts of the country after the Pulwama terror attack on February 14.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two cadres of the proscribed militant outfit People's Liberation Army (PLA) were arrested by security forces in Manipur's Imphal East district, police said Thursday.

A team of Manipur police commandoes while conducting frisking and checking at Hatta area in Imphal East district on Wednesday arrested the two PLA cadres, a press release issued by PRO Manipur police said.

A case has been registered at Porompat police station for further investigation, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The (EU) has issued an ultimatum for the UK to come up with some fresh proposals by Friday to break the deadlock over ongoing negotiations to strike a deal in time for the March 29 deadline.

While the European Commission's spokesperson said that "no solution" was in sight as British ministers left after talks on Wednesday, the UK has claimed that "reasonable" proposals to satisfy British MPs' concerns about being tied to EU rules post- had been made.

These are very sensitive discussions, we are in the meat of the matter now. We've put forward some proposals, very reasonable proposals, are we are now really into the detail of the discussion, said UK Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox.

"Both sides have exchanged robust strong views, said Cox, who, along with Secretary Stephen Barclay, are in charge of finalising a renewed Brexit deal that would stand a better chance of being voted through by the in a crucial vote next Tuesday.

British Prime Minister is seeking legally-enforceable changes to the controversial backstop clause in the withdrawal agreement an designed to prevent physical checks on the border between UK territory and EU member-country

MPs, who had decisively rejected the agreement earlier this year, are due to vote for a second time on the deal in a so-called meaningful vote next week. If they reject the deal once again, they will get to choose between leaving the EU without a deal, a prospect not supported by a majority of MPs, or deferring the UK's exit from the economic bloc beyond the scheduled date of March 29.

The House of Commons remains deeply divided on all of the options available at this late stage in the negotiations.

"If the Prime Minister's deal does not get approved on Tuesday then it is likely that the House of Commons will vote to extend the Article 50 procedure, to not leave the without a deal, and where we go thereafter is highly uncertain," said UK Chancellor

Meanwhile, Opposition Labour Party met senior back-benchers proposing the UK enter a Norway-plus relationship with the EU, which would keep the UK in the single market and Customs Union, maintaining free movement of people.

This soft Brexit option has few takers across the political spectrum, with many favouring a much harder Brexit and others calling for a second referendum to put the issue back to the public.

At this stage in the process, the practical deadline for securing changes to the withdrawal agreement is being pegged as Sunday night. If there is a breakthrough, May is likely to travel to over the weekend to sign off changes with Jean Claude Juncker.

Once it is wrapped up in Brussels, the government is scheduled to table a Commons motion by Monday afternoon calling for the deal to be voted on Tuesday.

We are absolutely working to secure changes to the backstop to ensure we can't be trapped in it indefinitely, there's more still to do but that work is ongoing, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

The second point is we have given the commitment we will hold the meaningful vote by the 12th [of March] and we stand by that, the spokesperson said.

If the government fails to secure adequate changes to May's withdrawal agreement and bring rebels from within her own Tory Party on board, the vote is likely to prove another major loss in Parliament for the British PM on Tuesday.

According to her assurances in the last round of Commons votes, there will then be further votes on Wednesday on whether to leave the EU without a deal or not, and then again on Thursday, on whether to extend the Article 50 negotiating period and delaying Brexit.

The biggest barrier to a deal remains the controversial Irish backstop, which will come into force if no new trading arrangement is struck between the UK and EU by the end of 2020. Brexiteers fear it would see Britain potentially locked against its will into a Customs Union with the economic bloc.
With the debate around streaming versus theatrical experience intensifying in Hollywood, director Christopher Nolan has said it is up to the filmmakers to create stories that will entice the audiences to cinema halls.

Nolan, who will start shooting his "Dunkirk" follow-up, has always been a strong proponent of theatrical releases.

While speaking at the UK Cinema Association conference, he said he will be working with exhibitors to ensure that his film is a definitive theatrical experience, reported IndieWire via ScreenDaily.

"We will certainly be asking (exhibitors) to really help us, and asking you to be our partners in terms of putting on a show for the audience and giving them a reason to come out for the evening, and engage with the world of cinema which we all love so much," Nolan said.

"What we never want to forget is the idea of showmanship... whatever the economic realities are, whatever costs need to be cut or corners need to be cut."



The director, one of the most respected filmmakers of this generation, said his love for cinema was shaped not only by films but also the physical experience of watching them in theatres.

"My memories are not just of the films themselves and the amazing adventures unfolding on screen. They're also of the sense of occasion, of being a young child entering an architectural space that's so much bigger and grander than myself; the thrill of the curtains opening, moving to enlarge the screen for a widescreen presentation. Above all my enduring memories are of scale, of the size of screen, the idea of seeing people and places that are larger than life, potentially overwhelming but engrossing and involving," he said.

Nolan, however, said it was up to the filmmakers to ensure that their films attract moviegoers to cinema halls.

"The pressure is on us as never before to give people a reason to get out of the house. To use the big canvas that (exhibitors) can supply us, and tell stories in an exciting way, and bring fresh ideas, fresh takes on existing genres and new genres - inventing new genres."



The debate over Netflix versus movie theatres escalated after Oscars when Netflix-backed "Roma", despite winning three Oscars, lost the top award to "Green Book".

Director Steven Spielberg, who had backed "Green Book", has made his dislike of streaming platforms clear by saying that their films should compete for Emmys, not Oscars.

The filmmaker is advocating for a rule change that would force Netflix to adhere to more traditional theatrical windows or risk not being eligible for Oscar consideration.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A US military commander suggested Thursday that a loose security grouping of his country, Japan, Australia and India, also known as the quad, may be shelved for now.

Admiral Phil Davidson, who heads the US Indo-Pacific Command, said he was on a panel with the other navy chiefs at the Raisina Dialogue, a multilateral conference in New Delhi in January.

Davidson said the issue came up "several times" but Indian navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba "made it quite clear that there wasn't an immediate potential for a quad."



"That does not omit or prevent our ability to cooperate in crisis and conflict. And we continue collectively, all of us, to seek opportunities in which we might exercise and work together moving forward," he added.

Davidson was asked if the quad was relevant to his country's vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, which was the central theme of his lecture in Singapore.

The US and the other three countries had come together to provide humanitarian assistance after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe then suggested they form the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which met three years later.

The meetings stopped for a decade after China formally reached out to each country to seek information on the meetings' purpose.

The quad met again in 2017. India's Ministry of External Affairs said they addressed "issues of common interest" such as terrorism and "proliferation linkages impacting the region." While members have said the grouping is not in opposition to China, it is viewed as a counterbalance to Beijing's rising influence in Indo-Pacific.

India had stressed in the past that the quad was not a military grouping. Lanba noted at January's conference that the Chinese navy had added 80 ships in the last five years, according to Indian media.

The US is also keeping a close watch on North Korea following reported activity at a rocket launch site.

Davidson told reporters earlier Thursday that he was committed to maintaining UN sanctions against North Korea and a "readiness of our forces there."



He added that he was working with countries including South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and France to catch any sanctions breaches via methods such as ship-to-ship transfers.

"Many of those nations will contribute either maritime patrol aircraft or ships later this year," he said.

On Wednesday, foreign experts and a South Korean lawmaker who was briefed by Seoul's spy service said North Korea was restoring facilities at a long-range rocket launch site that it dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps.

Satellite photos taken on various dates showed new activity at the Tongchang-ri launch site, northwest of Pyongyang.

The reports surfaced less than a week after President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Vietnam but failed to reach any agreement on the North's nuclear programme.

Davidson also addressed recent comments by Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who called for a review of a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with Washington to prevent the Philippines from being dragged into a "shooting war" in the South China Sea.

China is pitted against the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries in multiple territorial disputes in the waters, which are crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves.

The treaty calls on the US and the Philippines to come to each other's defense against an external attack. "I should note that the Philippines relies heavily on the freedom of the seas and the South China Sea especially," Davidson said.

He added that he takes the treaty "quite seriously" and that the US Embassy was in contact with the Philippines regarding the matter.

Davidson took command of around 380,000 civilian and military personnel in the region last April.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The West Bengal cabinet Thursday gave in principle approval to amend the West Bengal Thika Tenancy (Acquisition and Regulation) Act, to facilitate people living on 'thika tenancy land' to construct a house and make alterations, urban development minister Firhad Hakim said.

A thika tenancy land is a plot which the government possessed after the zamindari system was abolished.

The amendment to the Act would allow inhabitants of thika tenancy land, mostly in the slum areas of Kolkata, Howrah and Asansol, to build G+4 structures, doing away with the present rule of constructing a fixed height of 9.5 metres (two storey house).

"We will have to send the proposal to the law department and then to the finance department before placing it in the Assembly," Hakim said.

Around 50,000 people residing on 200-acre of land in Kolkata and 517-acre in Howrah would now be allowed to build residential structures conforming to the respective corporation building rules, Hakim said.

"The cabinet Thursday approved in principle that people and tenants living on such land under thika tenancy which are mostly slum areas should be allowed to build structures beyond the existing 9.5 metres," Hakim, who is also the mayor of Kolkata, said.

The inhabitants and the tenants, mostly in slum areas of Burrabazar, Aharitola, Jadavpur, Chetla and Topsia in the city, would be allowed to build G+4 residential buildings on their own, he said.

Hakim said that as per the proposal, the land owner and the tenant would be able to make alterations but no promoter can be engaged in the construction.

A Group of Ministers, under the chairmanship of finance minister Amit Mitra, was set up to propose the amendments to the West Bengal Thika Tenancy (Acquisition and Regulation) Act.

Meanwhile, Mitra said that the cabinet also decided to select Dubai-based DP World to set up the Kulpi Port in South 24 Parganas district.

The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) would own a stake of 11 per cent in the venture, Mitra said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The CPI(M) on Thursday said it would welcome support from any secular and democratic party in its fight against BJP in Tripura in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Though the CPI(M) has decided to field candidates for both the Lok Sabha seats in the state, it would be glad to work with secular and democratic political parties or individuals, who wish to extend support to defeat the BJP in the parliament polls, state party secretary Goutam Das told reporters.

"The CPI(M) has been contesting in both Lok Sabha seats in Tripura since 1952. Both the seats were won by the party in most elections. But this time it is necessary to oust the BJP from power in the country. We shall be glad if any secular and democratic party or any individual extends support to us to defeat the BJP," Das said.

"We would soon declare the names of our candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats. We feel it extremely necessary to oust the Modi government and set up a secular government with alternative policies at the Centre," he said.

In the last general elections, CPI(M) had won both -- Tripura East (ST) and Tripura West -- seats defeating Congress candidates.

The CPI(M), which was the state's ruling party during the last Lok Sabha polls in 2014, had bagged 64 per cent votes. Congress had secured 15.20 per cent votes, while BJP could manage only 5.70 per cent.

After ending the 25-year Left rule in the state, the BJP is hopeful this time about the two seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Political sources in the state said no formal talks have taken place between the Congress and the CPI(M) in regard to seat-sharing in this northeastern state.

Das said his party has submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission in Delhi on Wednesday and complained about "death of democracy in Tripura" under the BJP rule.

"Democracy has become obsolete in Tripura since BJP-IPFT combine assumed office in March last year. We have sought interference of the Election Commission to ensure peaceful, free and fair Lok Sabha election," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bombay High Court Thursday asked the Election Commission of India why it was hesitant to issue specific directions to prohibit political advertisements on social media 48 hours before election day.

A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N M Jamdar posed the question after the poll panel submitted that it was deliberating on bringing in such a direction, and currently, consulting experts and stakeholders.

"But, how long will the deliberations go on? Why don't you take a decision, say yes, we are going to issue specific orders (to the above effect)?" the bench said.

It was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a lawyer, Sagar Suryavanshi, seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to regulate fake in the form of paid political ads on social media.

The PIL had also urged the court to direct the ECI to prohibit all persons, whether politicians or private individuals, from posting advertisements related to politics or the elections, or paid political content on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, 48 hours before election day.

During the previous hearing, social media platform Facebook had told the court that it had introduced a strict "pre-verification processes" for all political ads and paid content of "national interest" on their websites in India ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The new system ensures that only bona fide individuals, who are citizens of India, and political organisations based in the country can place political ads.

Twitter and YouTube told the bench Thursday that they only permitted such political ads that had been verified by the ECI.

The social media sites, however, told the court that they could not voluntarily impose a 48-hour ban as sought by the petitioner.

The counsels for Facebook, Google, and YouTube said they could prohibit display of political ads on their websites 48 hours before polling day, if they are directed by the ECI to do so.

The Representation of the People Act already prohibits political campaigning 48 hours before polling day and a notification of the ECI regulating ads on TV and print media prohibits publication of political ads 48 hours before the polling day.

The court, therefore, asked why the ECI could not formulate a similar direction for political ads on social media.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A senior Mahila Congress leader Thursday said the party's state units should give election tickets to a good number of women candidates.

Apsara Reddy, All-India Mahila Congress General Secretary Apsara Reddy, said women's empowerment should begin from the grassroots level.

Addressing a press conference, Reddy, who is in Goa ahead of Congress president Rahul Gandhi's visit to the state for a public meeting on March 8, said the process of women's empowerment has suffered under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She demanded that all Pradesh Congress Committee presidents give ticket to as many women as possible during elections.

"Rahul Gandhiji is pressing for 33 per cent reservation for women (in ticket distribution). Ever since he took over as Congress president, he has groomed women leaders at block and state levels," she said.

"Women empowerment is not good enough if you have a screaming Raksha Mantri in Parliament," Reddy said in an apparent reference to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's vocal support of the Rafale deal in the House.

"We need grassroots level empowerment and clear care of women in this country," she said.

Reddy suggested fielding Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee president Pratima Coutinho from the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scores of activists of the Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress (DPYC) staged a protest near Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's residence here on Thursday over the theft of files related to the Rafale fighter jet deal from the ministry.

The protesters gathered near Sitharaman's residence at Safdarjung Road, raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded his resignation.

Police stopped the protesters from marching and detained them when they tried to cross a barricade.

Taking a dig at Modi, DPYC President Vikas Chikara said, "The chowkidar has failed to serve country as he cannot protect such important and security files."



The central government Wednesday told the Supreme Court that documents related to the Rafale aircraft deal have been stolen from the Defence Ministry and the petitioners seeking a review of its verdict dismissing all pleas against the purchase of the jets relied upon those documents.

Those who put documents on the Rafale deal in the public domain are guilty under the Official Secrets Act and contempt of court, Attorney General K K Venugopal said before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook will start to emphasize new privacy-shielding messaging services, a shift apparently intended to blunt both criticism of the company's data handling and potential antitrust action.

In effect, the Facebook co-founder and CEO promised to transform the service from a company known for devouring the personal information shared by its users to one that gives people more ways to communicate in truly private fashion, with their intimate thoughts and pictures shielded by encryption in ways that Facebook itself can't read.

But Zuckerberg didn't suggest any changes to Facebook's core newsfeed-and-groups-based service, or to Instagram's social network, currently the fastest growing part of the company.

"It's not that I think the more public tools will go away," Zuckerberg said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. "All indications that



Facebook and Instagram will continue growing and be increasingly important." Critics aren't convinced Zuckerberg is truly committed to meaningful change.

"This does nothing to address the ad targeting and information collection about individuals," said Jen King, director of consumer privacy at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society. "It's great for your relationship with other people. It doesn't do anything for your relationship with Facebook itself."



Zuckerberg laid out his vision in a Wednesday blog post , following a rocky two-year period in which the company has weathered a series of revelations about its leaky privacy controls. That included the sharing of personal information from as many as 87 million users with a political data-mining firm that worked for the 2016 Trump campaign.

Since the 2016 election, Facebook has also taken flak for the way Russian agents used its service to target U.S. voters with divisive messages and for being a conduit for political misinformation. Zuckerberg faced two days of congressional interrogation over these and other subjects last April when he acknowledged and apologized for Facebook's privacy breakdowns in the past.

Since Zuckerberg's appearance before Congress, Facebook has suffered other privacy lapses that have amplified the calls for regulations that would hold companies more accountable when they improperly expose their users' information.

As part of his effort to make amends, Zuckerberg plans to stitch together its Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram messaging services so users will be able to contact each other across all of the apps.

The multiyear plan calls for all of these apps to be encrypted so no one but senders and recipients can see the contents of messages. WhatsApp already has that security feature, but Facebook's other messaging apps don't.

Zuckerberg likened it to being able to be in a living room behind a closed front door, and not having to worry about anyone eavesdropping. Meanwhile, Facebook and the Instagram photo app would still operate more like a town square where people can openly share whatever they want.

While Zuckerberg positions the messaging integration as a privacy move, Facebook also sees commercial opportunity in the shift. "If you think about your life, you probably spend more time communicating privately than publicly," he told the AP.

"The overall opportunity here is a lot larger than what we have built in terms of Facebook and Instagram." Critics have raised another possible motive the threat of antitrust crackdowns. Integration could make it much more difficult, if not impossible, to later separate out and spin off Instagram and WhatsApp as separate companies.

"I see that as the goal of this entire thing," said Blake Reid, a University of Colorado law professor who specializes in technology and policy. He said Facebook could tell antitrust authorities that WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger are tied so tightly together that it couldn't unwind them.

Combining the three services also lets Facebook build more complete data profiles on all of its users. Already, businesses can already target Facebook and Instagram users with the same ad campaign, and ads are likely coming to WhatsApp eventually.

And users are more likely to stay within Facebook's properties if they can easily message their friends across different services, rather than having to switch between Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. That could help Facebook compete with messaging services from Apple, Google and others.

As part of the process, Zuckerberg said Facebook will meet with privacy experts, law enforcement officials concerned about the new encryption making it impossible to uncover illegal activity being discussed on the messaging service and government officials.

Creating more ways for Facebook's more than 2 billion users to keep things private could undermine the company's business model, which depends on the ability to learn about the things people like and then sell ads tied to those interests.

In his interview with the AP, Zuckerberg said he isn't currently worried about denting Facebook's profits with the increased emphasis on privacy.

"How this affects the business down the line, we'll see," Zuckerberg said. "But if we do a good job in serving the need that people have, then there will certainly be an opportunity" to make even money.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharti Airtel disclosed details of its proposed Rs 32,000 crore rights issue in a regulatory filing today. This is not only the telco's largest capital infusion plan but also among the largest such exercises ever undertaken by a domestic company. Last week, Airtel's board had approved plans for a rights issue to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through issuance of fully paid up shares at a price of Rs 220 per share and to raise an additional Rs 7,000 crore through Foreign Currency Perpetual Bond Issue.

Vodafone-Idea, Jio, Airtel pay spectrum dues of Rs 6,000 crore in March; RCom yet to pay

The company is in the process of appointing banks to execute this. The promoters of Bharti Airtel along with Singapore government's investment arm GIC Private Ltd will subscribe to over half of the proposed rights issue in a bid to infuse funds in the company.

"The entire rights entitlement of promoter and promoter group of approximately Rs 167,857 million (Rs 16,785.7 crore) will be subscribed by them and GIC," Airtel informed the exchanges.

Its statement added that the promoter and promoter group will subscribe to Rs 11,785.7 crore and GIC will subscribe to shares worth Rs 5,000 crore by way of renouncement in their favour. GIC has confirmed to subscribe to this renounced entitlement on behalf of Government of Singapore and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Airtel, Zoom join hands for unified communications solution for businesses

Another promoter, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel), said it will infuse Rs 3,750 crore in the telco by subscribing to the rights issue. The company announced that "it will subscribe to 170 million new shares" representing the rights entitlement "for its direct stake of 15%".

With this, Singtel's effective interest in Airtel will be 35.2% and the company will continue to be the single largest shareholder in the country's second largest telecom company. "The promoter and promoter group also reserves the right to subscribe either itself or through investors for additional shares in the Issue, including in the event of under-subscription by public, in accordance with the applicable laws," the statement added.

According to Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel, the rights issue will further strengthen the company's balance sheet "with desired financial flexibility so as to meet future opportunities, particularly in the rapidly transforming Indian mobile market."

He added that the fresh capital infusion will help the company to continue investments in future rollouts to build large network capacity as well as create content and technology partnerships to ensure the best customer experience. Moody's Investor Service believes that the proposed rights issue is "credit positive" as it will enable the company to pare debt and improve liquidity.

In the statement the credit rating agency said it still expects a significant portion of proceeds from the rights issue to be used to lower debt, strengthening Airtel's balance sheet and providing the company with greater financial and operational flexibility for its Indian operations.

However, S&P Global Ratings has said the rights issue is not enough to stabilise Airtel's credit rating. The rating agency said there is a negative outlook, an indication of the rating downgrade, which looks at renewed competition and higher capital spending by the company that will keep its debt level up.

On the other hand, if it is successful, the move will "go a long way in restoring Bharti's balance sheet and shoring up leverage". Airtel's net debt stood at over Rs 1 lakh crore at the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal.

With PTI inputs
Women comprise only 8 per cent of the total fund managers across fund houses in India, an improvement from the last year, but only marginal. According to a report by Morningstar, there are only 29 women fund managers who either are managing funds as primary/secondary managers or have oversight as heads of equity/debt out of total 345 fund managers in the country. This is an improvement from the reported 24 women managers last year and 18 the year before that.

"Though the growth in the women manager presence is pleasing, it is still considerably below global standards with many Asian countries showing among the highest representation of women in the mutual fund industry," noted Morningstar.

The study also shows that women managers are clustered more in debt funds. Out of the total funds managed by women, nearly 74 per cent were debt funds and 26 per cent were equity.

In percentage terms, the assets handled by women fund managers stood at 15 per cent of the overall industry for both open and close-ended funds, cumulatively totaling to approximately Rs 3.41 lakh crore, up 11 per cent from last year.

Some of the well-known women fund managers leading the mantle for gender diversification include Lakshmi Iyer, CIO (Debt) and Head of Products at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, Bekxy Kuriakose, Head- Fixed Income at Principal PNB Asset Management, Sunaina Da Cunha, Fund Manager at Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management and Anju Chhajer, Senior Fund Manager at Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management.

Morningstar has identified following four relatively unknown 'new crop of managers' who are beginning to make a mark in the mutual fund industry:

Mansi Sajeja: Mansi currently co-manages the SBI Credit Fund along with Lokesh Mallya. She has been with SBI FM for almost a decade, joining as a credit analyst back in 2009 and now has been given the reign to co-manage the fund since early 2017.

Hetal Shah: Hetal is one of the key personnel at Baroda Pioneer Mutual fund where she manages multiple funds across various fixed income categories. She has rich experience of over 18 years in treasury and fund management and has been working with Baroda Pioneer for over 12 years as a fund manager.

Snigdha Sharma: Snigdha is one of the few women fund managers who have been bestowed the task of managing equity funds. Snigdha co-manages three equity funds across Dynamic Asset Allocation, ELSS and Multicap space for Motilal Oswal AMC.

Meenakshi Dawar: Meenakshi started managing the Reliance Value fund since mid-2018 which now has assets over Rs 3000 crore. Meenakshi has an overall experience of over 10 years where she has also worked in the capacity of a fund manager for IDFC AMC as well as an equity research analyst for ICICI Securities.

Also read: Companies facing visibility, consistency challenges when it comes to cloud security: Palo Alto
Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. High 77F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Slight chance of a shower late. Low 57F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Berlin-based data start-up Zeotap has announced a data sharing partnership with Lifesight, a location intelligence platform and data company in Asia. Under this partnership, Lifesight's offline behavioural data will complement Zeotap's newly launched 'purchase intent data', which gives brands a precise view of the purchase intent of a potential customer.

Lifesight's client portfolio will complement the existing data offering from Zeotap, tapping close to 400 million profiles in the Indian market. Zeotap claims it will be able to provide high-performing mobile-based audience segments based on real-world behavioural data to its clients, to optimise business ad spend and make better decisions. Some of the segments that will be available include Zeotap> India > Intent: Food & Drink > Dining Out; Zeotap> India > Intent: Automotive > Cars and Car Culture; Intent: Style, Fashion and Beauty > Clothing.

Retail, automotive, QSR, FMCG, CPG, travel, hospitality and fintech are top-serving verticals for Lifesight, and the ones that will benefit the most from this partnership. Brands looking to increase store footfall--and ultimately track offline attribution--will be given the chance to work with Lifesight and Zeotap to measure store footfall variations after targeting a location-based segment, the company said.

According to the company, the addition of Lifesight's data into Zeotap's high-tech data platform ZeoCore will help Zeotap's clients boost conversion rates by targeting the right consumer at the right time and place.

Lifesight collects the majority of its data via Software Development Kit (SDK) from smartphone users in APAC. They also partner with several third-party SDK aggregators to collect data attributes about a user. The main dataset is sourced via SDK that is embedded in location-aware smartphone apps using the device's GPS and WiFi sensors. The data collection methodology is privacy-compliant.

Zeotap, founded by Daniel Heer, Projjol Banerjea, Stephan Schwebe, was launched in 2014 in India, Italy and Spain. Today, the company counts US as its biggest market and claims that India is one of its top five markets, globally.

"India has been an important market for us right from the start. Our entire technology team is based out of Bangalore. We have global team of about 85-90 now and 65 of those are based in Bangalore," Banerjea told Business Today. It has Unilever, Diageo, ITC, Jet Airways etc. as its clients in the country.

"We now source data in the Indian market from the largest telecom operators as well as few other large enterprises. It is a mix of telecom and non-telecom. Non-telco examples are classified, insurance market places, some OEMs," he added.

According to Banerjea, purchase intent data is critical for them going ahead, especially in India. They also plan to keep on expanding their product offerings.
Philip Morris International Inc has for years paid manufacturing costs to its Indian partner to make its Marlboro cigarettes, circumventing a nine-year-old government ban on foreign direct investment in the industry, internal company documents reviewed by Reuters showed. The Indian government in 2010 prohibited foreign direct investment (FDI) in cigarette manufacturing, saying the measure would enhance its efforts to curb smoking. Restricting foreign investment leaves cigarette manufacturing largely in the hands of domestic players, and is supposed to prevent any foreign-funded expansion. A year after the government's decision, Japan Tobacco exited India, citing an "unsustainable business model". Philip Morris, though, stayed in India and used another route, according to company documents dated between May 2009 and January 2018. A year before the FDI ban, it struck an exclusive deal with India's Godfrey Phillips to locally manufacture the world-famous Marlboro cigarettes.

Ever since then, Godfrey has publicly acted as a contract manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes in India, while Philip Morris's majority-owned local unit acts as a wholesale trading company and promotes the brand. But dozens of internal company documents - including invoice bills, legal agreements, e-mails and accounting statements - show Philip Morris has for years indirectly paid costs related to Marlboro cigarette manufacturing in India. Some former Indian enforcement officials said the practice of indirectly paying for manufacturing-related costs violates regulatory rules. However, some lawyers such as Pratibha Jain, a partner at Nishith Desai Associates, disagreed, pointing out that the federal rules did not explicitly prohibit such payments.

Philip Morris' director for corporate affairs in India, R. Venkatesh, in an e-mail, said the company's "business arrangements with Godfrey Phillips India comply with Indian Foreign Direct Investment Rules". He did not elaborate. The company did not answer detailed questions for this article and did not offer any executive for interview, despite repeated requests from Reuters over the past month.

MANUFACTURING CHARGES

Six invoices issued by Godfrey showed billing of 45.5 million Indian rupees ($644,200) to Philip Morris between December 2013 and January 2018 for manufacturing-related charges. Philip Morris paid for items ranging from large cigarette-making machines to costs of smaller equipment such as barcode scanners and printers deployed in Godfrey's factories. One invoice from January 2018 sent from Godfrey to Philip Morris showed the Indian company had spent 206 million rupees ($3 million) on capital expenditure for Marlboro-related manufacturing activities since 2009, though it was not clear how much of that was paid by Philip Morris.

Godfrey Phillips' head of corporate affairs, Harmanjit Singh, said in an email that all the commercial arrangements "are in complete compliance with the extant regulations governing the Indian Foreign Direct Investment and other applicable laws, and, incidentally, all transactions are in Indian Rupees. Also, it is our considered view that no illegality can be impugned to these commercial transactions between the parties." Philip Morris' local unit and Godfrey arranged a mechanism for such transfer of funds around the time they struck the 2009 deal. A 94-page "procurement agreement" signed between the two sides that year, which is not public but has been reviewed by Reuters, said that Godfrey may acquire new machinery for solely manufacturing Marlboro cigarettes and will then "invoice PM (Philip Morris) India" for charges in a phased manner. Philip Morris "shall pay such invoice by bank transfer", the agreement said.

The agreement specified Philip Morris would make periodic payments calculated according to the normal depreciation charge of the machinery, plus 10 percent per annum on its net book value. Other than those regular payments, Philip Morris also signed off on one-time expenses and refurbishment costs incurred by Godfrey on at least two occasions in 2013 and 2014, according to internal e-mails and accounting records. It then accounted those transactions internally under a heading "Packaging - Research", accounting records showed.

"THEY ARE CAMOUFLAGING"

Three former officials and one former head of India's main financial crime-fighting agency, the Enforcement Directorate, reviewed the Philip Morris documents for Reuters and said the dealings should be investigated for circumventing India's foreign investment rules. One of the former officials said that paying for machines to manufacture cigarettes essentially resulted in the promotion of cigarettes, and the government's intent of banning foreign direct investment in 2010 was to deter that. Bhure Lal, a former head of India's Enforcement Directorate, said the companies "should be investigated ... they are camouflaging". The current chief of India's Enforcement Directorate, Sanjay Kumar Mishra, did not respond to a request for comment. If the Enforcement Directorate investigates a company and finds it to be in violation of the rules, Indian law allows it to impose a penalty of up to three times the amount contravened.

Jain of Nishith Desai Associates, which also advises global companies on foreign investment rules and reviewed the Philip Morris documents for Reuters, said the company was able to circumvent the FDI prohibition in cigarette manufacturing by paying for the machines through invoices. That's because the Indian regulations only restrict direct foreign investments into a company and were silent on such indirect payments for machines, she said. "The company can argue in its defense that it is only funding the equipment purchases and not investing directly in an Indian cigarette manufacturing company, and they would be technically correct," Jain told Reuters.

INDIA CIGARETTE MARKET

The Indian journey of Philip Morris, which is one of the world's largest international tobacco companies, began in the late 1960s when it acquired a majority stake in the London-based parent of Godfrey Phillips. It gradually reduced its stake in Godfrey over the years, in part due to regulatory changes, and currently holds a 25 percent equity stake. Though India banned foreign investment in cigarette manufacturing in 2010, it still allowed tobacco companies to invest through technology collaboration and licensing agreements. Investments could also be made by forming a trading company. Ahead of the 2010 ban, Philip Morris formed a new wholesale trading company with Godfrey. The New Delhi-headquartered local unit, named IPM India Wholesale Trading Pvt. Ltd, is 50.1 percent owned by the global tobacco giant, with the rest owned by Godfrey and an investment firm. Among the payments outlined in the documents, Godfrey in January 2018 sent an invoice to Philip Morris's local unit for 10.2 million rupees ($144,500), billing for charges for the preceding six-month period, an invoice showed. In August 2017, Godfrey sent an invoice for manufacturing-related charges of 9.5 million rupees ($134,600). The documents also showed that Philip Morris at times would discuss with Godfrey which type of equipment should be used for Marlboro manufacturing, and then sign off on related payments.

In July 2016, the head of Philip Morris's India supply chain operations, Nilay Mehta, asked a Godfrey Phillip executive in an e-mail to raise a purchase order for an embossing roller, a type of equipment used in cigarette manufacturing. Given the equipment had to be used only for Marlboro manufacturing, "IPM will be picking the cost for this", Mehta said in an email to a Godfrey executive on July 26, 2016. Mehta did not respond to an e-mail from Reuters. India has 106 million smokers, second only to China, and a young demographic makes it an attractive market for tobacco companies. Philip Morris is a small player in India's estimated $12 billion cigarette market but has seen its market share rise steadily in recent years. That was aided by its marketing activities, such as advertising at roadside kiosks and free distribution of cigarettes at parties. Both tactics were described as illegal by health officials in a Reuters investigation published in 2017.

Also read: US-India trade spat: Govt considers moving WTO over withdrawal of import sops
The government-run Tata Institute of Fundamental Research has declared that it will pay only half the net salary for February to its staff. In the beginning, the Mumbai-based institution cited insufficient funds for this decision, but paid the remaining salary to its employees after the cash crunch news came out in the open.

"Due to insufficient funds, staff members and students and post-doctoral fellows of TIFR, its centres and field stations will be paid 50 per cent of the net salary for the month of February immediately. The remaining part of the salary will be paid when sufficient funds are available," TIFR registrar Wing Commander (retd) George Antony said in a letter to the staff dated March 6, 2019.

"All deductions will be calculated on full salary and will be deposited to respective authorities as per rules," the letter had further said.

After the news that a premier research institute in the country was facing fund shortage spread, the authorities deposited the remaining salary component of the staff in their bank accounts.

"The complete salary of all the employees of TIFR has been credited to their respective bank accounts. The issue has been solved now," Antony told PTI.

Meanwhile, Dr K Kasturirangan, who is listed as a member on the TIFR board of management told Business Today that he is not aware this development.

A former staffer of TIFR said the pay cut decision had impacted the around 3,000 employees, students and post-doctoral fellows of the research institute in Mumbai and other centres.

ALSO READ: Income tax exemption limit on gratuity doubled to Rs 20 lakh, says labour ministry

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha had said earlier on Thursday that TIFR is in a perilous state. "The perilous financial state of one of Indias finest scientific research institutes," he had tweeted.

Other users on Twitter posed questions to the government regarding this matter, demanding explantions as to why the premier institute was facing a shortage of funds. Some even alleged foul play in this turn of events.

TIFR is a national centre of the Government of India under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy, and a deemed university since 2002, awarding degrees for master's and doctoral programmes. The institute was founded in 1945 with support from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust under the vision of Dr Homi Bhabha.

TIFR carries out basic research in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science and science education. Its main campus is located in Mumbai, with centres at Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

ALSO READ: India Inc's average salary increment pegged at 9.7% in 2019, says Aon survey

With PTI inputs
IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman remained unfazed in the face of danger and torture during his over 60 hour captivity in Pakistan.

He repelled all attempts by the Pakistani interrogators who tried to extract crucial information on Indian troop deployment, sensitive logistics and high-security radio frequencies within the first 24 hours of capturing him from Horra'n village (barely 7 km from the LoC) in Bhimber district of PoK, according to a senior officer debriefing the fighter pilot.

The IAF pilot was tasked with averting Pakistani F16 jets' intrusion into the Indian air space as they tried to target Indian military installations in the Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) a day after the Indian Mirage-2000 jets struck and bombed Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) terror den in Balakot, Pakistan.

Also Read: IAF Pilot Abhinandan: Wing commander returns home, received by BSF officials

Varthaman was not provided any medical treatment during initial hours after he ejected from his MiG-21 following a dogfight with Pakistani Air Force's (PAF) aircraft on February 27.

He was beaten, choked, deprived of sleep and subjected to mental and physical harassment by Pakistani interrogators. The IAF pilot was made to stand for long hours, made to hear loud music to confuse him and increase his discomfort, the official who is part of a team debriefing the fighter pilot told Hindustan Times.

The official said that the pilot was constantly moved around and largely remained in Pakistani army's custody even as PAF questioned him.

The officer added that Varthaman held back critical information as Pakistani officers tried to get him to spew secretes related to high-security radio frequencies the IAF uses to transmit messages, troop and fighter jet deployment, and sensitive logistics.

Also Read: Wing Commander Abhinandan needs to be medically fit before he flies again, says Indian Air Force

All Indian fighter pilots are tutored to hold back information as long as they can when they get captured so that the deployment and frequencies can be changed within the first 24 hours to thwart any attempt by the enemies to leverage the advantage, the official said.

Wing Commander Abhinandan did the same and staved the Pakistani interrogators off despite getting tortured.

A select group of officers divided in a least three to four teams at present are debriefing Varthaman who has been feted as a hero for the calm, poise and dignity he maintained throughout his detention by the Pakistani army.

Myriad videos and pictures had gone viral on social media where the IAF pilot was seen being captured and held captive by Pakistani villagers before handing him over to the Pakistani army.

Commissioned into the IAF in the year 2004, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman showed exceptional valour by taking down much sophisticated F-16 fighter jets of Pakistani Air Force in an aerial dogfight that ensued over the skies of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Also Read: India-Pakistan tension: IAF shows evidence of crashed F-16, exposes Pakistan's lie

While engaging PAF's aircraft, Abhinandan's MiG 21 burst into flames and came down swiftly, due to which he had to eject and descend on the Pakistani territory.

The IAF pilot's release is being viewed as a big diplomatic win for India, which mounted aggressive political and international pressure on Pakistan to release Wing Commander Abhinandan back home.

India since its strike on JeM's terror den in Balakot, Pakistan has also been trying to build maximum pressure on neighbouring country to take action against terrorists operating from its soil.
A day after a Reuters report used satellite images taken by San Francisco-based Planet Labs Inc to raise questions on India's February 26 Balakot strike, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has reportedly submitted proof of its own to the government. The IAF is sticking to its stand that the precision bombs dropped by the Mirage 2000s hit the intended target.

Rejecting such commercially-available satellite imagery being cited by some experts to claim there was no major visible external damage to the Jaish-e-Mohammed's training facility in Balakot, IAF sources told The Times of India that it was up to the government to decide whether it wanted to release the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery and other pictures captured by Indian surveillance platforms during the strikes.

The IAF, in fact, submitted a dossier to the government yesterday as proof that 80% of the bombs deployed during the airstrike hit their intended targets. The dossier contained 12 pages of high-resolution satellite images and SAR imagery collected from an intelligence aircraft platform flying in Indian airspace, sources told India Today TV.

The Reuters report, however, had claimed that a March 4 satellite image of the facility that it had sourced - or six days after the Indian strike - was "virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo" of the area. "There are no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees around the madrasa or other signs of an aerial attack," the report had added.

Also read: IAF pilot Abhinandan choked, beaten, sleep deprived as Pakistan tried to extract sensitive info: report

According to sources in the know, the Mirage 2000 fighter jets had dropped Israeli Spice 2000 precision bombs with "penetration warheads" during the raid. These bombs "pierced roofs" of the buildings targeted and exploded inside. So the damage was "internal". The buzz is that the dossier submitted by the IAF is currently being looked at by the top echelons of the government to decide whether to make the information public or not. This development comes amid clamours in the Opposition demanding "proof" of the body count and success of the operation. Apparently, it is not enough to hear Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa clearly state that " We [IAF] don't count human casualties, we count what targets we have hit or not". At the press conference on Monday he had added, "If we plan to hit the target, we hit the target, otherwise why would he [Pakistan PM] have responded, if we dropped bombs in the jungles why would he respond?"

Earlier this month Pakistan had accused India of "eco-terrorism" for destroying pine trees in the cross-border strike and had announced plans to lodge a complaint in the UN.

(Edited by Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal; with agency inputs)

Also read: Foxbat fury: When IAF MiG-25s flew unchallenged over Islamabad
As many as 28 people were injured in a grenade explosion at the Jammu bus stand on Thursday morning. Police confirmed that the grenade explosion caused mild to severe injuries to at least 28 people, following which they were transferred to nearby govt medical college. The incident happened around 12 noon, after which the police cordoned off the entire area, and are conducting an investigation. MK Sinha, IGP Jammu on blast at bus stand, earlier told ANI: "It was a grenade explosion, it has caused injuries to approximately 18 people, all shifted to hospital." The blast has occurred just a few days after 44 CRPF jawans were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. More details are awaited.

Catch latest updates on BusinessToday.In live blog.

5:06pm: The person who threw the grenade at the Jammu bus stand earlier today, has been arrested, said DGP Dilbagh Singh.

4:20pm: Visuals from the bus stand.

Latest visuals from Jammu bus-stand: A grenade explosion occurred at the bus stand earlier today, injuring 28 people. Later, one person succumbed to his injures. #Jammu pic.twitter.com/c8B4cXcjlK - ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019

3.10pm: One person injured in the Jammu bus stand blast has succumbed to his injuries, ANI reported.

#UPDATE: One person injured in grenade explosion at Jammu bus-stand succumbs to injuries. https://t.co/M0GTPWvkFy - ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019

2.47pm: Visuals from a hospital where people who were injured in a blast at a bus stand have been admitted for treatment.

Jammu: Visuals from a hospital where people who were injured in a blast at a bus stand have been admitted for treatment. pic.twitter.com/Cu6FfIqDjI - ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019

2.04pm: Windscreens of a parked state road transport corporation (SRTC) bus were damaged in the blast, a police official said, adding condition of one of the injured was stated to be "critical".



2.03pm: Sinha, who immediately rushed to the scene to take stock of the situation, said preliminary investigation suggests that someone lobbed the grenade, causing injuries to 18 people who were evacuated to the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital, reported PTI.

2.02pm: The scene of the blast along the B C Road was sealed off by police and a massive hunt has been launched to nab the grenade thrower, Inspector General of Police, Jammu, M K Sinha said, reported PTI.

1.48pm: The number of injured people in the explosion has reached 28; some of them are critically injured, say the police.

#UPDATE 28 people injured in grenade explosion at Jammu bus stand https://t.co/4Zs62BD7xj - ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019

1.14pm: Apart from today's blast, grenade explosions were also reported at this crowded bus stand on December 29, 2018, and May 25, 2018.

1.09pm: Security forces say there were reports of the possibility of a blast in the area; police yet to identify those behind the attack.

1.07pm: Sniffer dogs have been deployed to searchfor any other possible threat; police are probing the exact cause of theincident.

1.03pm: According to reports, the grenade was thrown from outside with an anticipation of causing maximum damage. The grenade fell beneath a bus at the bus stand, causing a huge blast, which injured at least 18 people.

Also read: IAF pilot Abhinandan choked, beaten, sleep deprived as Pakistan tried to extract sensitive info

12.57pm: A mysterious blast has taken place inside a bus in Jammu. More details are awaited.

A mysterious blast has taken place inside a bus in Jammu. Details in the video.#ITVideo More videos: https://t.co/Nounxo6IKQ pic.twitter.com/yL23KAkGdr - India Today (@IndiaToday) March 7, 2019

12.30pm: Police says the entire area has been cordoned off and the injured have been rushed to the nearby government hospital.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in parallel negotiations in the Rafale deal and asked him to probe the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) first before carrying out an investigation against those responsible for the disappearance of the secret documents. "They say they want to investigate media for missing Rafale files, but they don't want to investigate the person who stole Rs 30,000 Cr, and who conducted parallel negotiations in Rafale deal, for which there is proof," said the Congress President.

On the issue of missing Rafale files, Rahul said: "Rafale files have disappeared like jobs for two crore youths, right price for farmers' produce and promise to give Rs 15 lakh." The Congress President said the government was saying the documents were missing, which only meant that the Rafale document were genuine. He added that media reports published on the basis of missing documents clearly said the "PMO was carrying out parallel negotiations".

"Yes of course, take action on those involved in this missing documents case but also initiate an inquiry on PMO for making parallel negotiations," Rahul Gandhi said, adding the missing papers clearly say that Narendra Modi had done "bypass surgery" in the Rafale deal. Basically, everything possible is being done to safeguard Narendra Modi, he said.

On the issue of mega alliance before Lok Sabha elections 2019, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said that most alliances were on track but the idea of an alliance was unanimously rejected by the party unit in Delhi. Rahul Gandhi also highlighted concerns of some family members of the martyred jawans who had asked for proof of the damage caused by the air strikes conducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Balakot region of Pakistan.

Also read: Rafale Verdict: A not so clean chit

"I won't talk much about it (IAF strikes), but yes I read that families of some of the CRPF personnel who were martyred have raised this issue, they are saying we were hurt so please show us what happened," said the Congress President.

The government on Thursday told in the Supreme Court that the documents related to the Rafale deal were stolen from the defence ministry. The government also stressed that the review petitions on the Supreme Court's Rafale verdict cannot refer to these stolen documents. The review plea had claimed that the government had withheld crucial facts related to the procurement of 36 Rafale jets when the apex court decided to dismiss the batch of PILs against the deal last year in December.

The joint review petition was filed by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, former union minister Arun Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan.

Bhushan had referred to a report about the deal by The Hindu, Venugopal objected that the write-up was based on missing documents and used selective portion from them. A report in Wednesday edition of the daily had claimed the French supplier's refusal, with support from the French government, to provide bank guarantees made the Rafale deal negotiated by the NDA government costlier by 246.11 million euros, as compared to that during the UPA regime.

Also read: Secret Rafale files were stolen from Defence Ministry: Centre tells Supreme Court

Inside the Reliance-Dassault factory that's making Falcon 2000 jets in Nagpur

Watch:
Asia's billionaire population growth is set to outpace other regions between 2018 and 2023, according to the Knight Frank's 13th edition of The Wealth Report. The number of billionaires from the region is expected to rise by 27 per cent, surpassing growth in North America (17 per cent) and Europe (18 per cent), reaching 1,003 in the next 4 years-more than a third of the world's total billionaire population of 2,696. However, this growth is at a slower pace compared a the last period measured between 2013 to 2018 when the number of billionaires in the region more than doubled from 363 to 787. India saw a rise of 116 per cent in billionaire population between 2013-18.

Echoing the trend seen in previous editions of the report, Asian countries will also see the fastest growth in ultra-high-net-worth individual (UHNWIs), defined as those with net assets of $30 million or more, in the period between 2018 and 2023. Of the 59 countries and territories in Knight Frank's forecasts, 8 of the top ten countries by future growth are in Asia, with Ukraine and Romania taking the remaining spots. India leads with 39 per cent growth, followed by the Philippines (38 per cent) and China (35 per cent). Despite the election uncertainties of 2019, India's wealth is expected to charge ahead over the next five years with the number of UHNWIs rising to 2,697.

India's UHNWI population grew by 24 per cent in the last 5 years (2014-18) and accounts for 1,947 UHNWIs, whose net worth was over $30 million in 2018. According to the report two-thirds of the world's UHNWIs saw their wealth increase in 2018. The UHNWIs in India grew by 7 per cent in 2017 to 2018 well above the global average (4 per cent) and the Asia average (3 per cent). 61 per cent of Indian UHNWIs expect their wealth to increase in 2019 showing confidence in the economic growth of the country.

Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, says,"63 per cent of the world's ultra-high-net-worth individuals saw an exponential surge in their wealth in 2018, clearly showcasing the economic optimism around the globe. Despite a slide in the Indian rupee against the US dollar, India witnessed a growth in UHNWIs due to heightened economic activity and strong performance of equity markets. Not surprisingly, the growth has been observed in gateway markets of Mumbai and Delhi by 38 per cent. However, Bengaluru is first amongst the top five eye-catching 'cities of the future' based on their future economic potential predicted to witness 40 per cent growth of UHNWIs over the next five years. Indians will continue to remain optimistic in their wealth creation in 2019 as well."

ALSO READ: Mukesh Ambani is the world's 13th richest man; wealth increased 25% in a year: Forbes

ALSO READ: Only 61 individuals declared gross income of Rs 100 cr in AY2017-18
State-run State Bank of India (SBI) and private major HDFC Bank have jointly bagged the 'Bank of the Year' award at Business Today-Money Today Financial Awards 2019. While this is the first time SBI has won the award, for HDFC Bank, it was fifth year running. The latter has also bagged the 'Best Large Bank' award. On the other hand, SBI won the award for 'Best Innovation'.

Best bank awards in small bank, foreign bank and mid-sized bank categories were conferred to RBL Bank, JP Morgan India and Kotak Mahindra Bank, respectively.

In its 23rd edition, the Business Today-Money Today Financial Awards also honoured top performing fintech firms, mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund was awarded with the 'Best Fund House' tag, while HDFC Pension Management was given the 'Best Pension Fund' award.

Soumendra Nath Lahiri, CIO at L&T Mutual Fund and Suyash Choudhary, Head of Fixed Income at IDFC Mutual Fund, won the best fund managers award in equity and debt categories, respectively. The New India Assurance bagged award for the 'Best General Insurance Provider'. LIC was given the 'Best Life Insurance' title.

Creditmantri won the best fintech award for its value-added services, while Ezetap and Lending Kart won best fintech awards in payments and lending categories, respectively.

In his keynote address, Prosenjit Datta, Editor at Business Today talked about disruptions that mutual fund and insurance policy managers have had to deal with and yet how they emerged as winners.

He also highlighted the hard core issues that established banks faced all this while. "Some of the big banks of yore have got into serious trouble with non-performing assets because of lax risk assessment and over aggressive lending. The best banks have also had to deal with a situation wherein corporate credit offtake has been low, and technology is eating into margins," he said.

The guest of honour was Anand Sinha , former Deputy Governor of the RBI.

Speaking from a regulatory perspective, Sinha, who also served as a member on the board of SEBI, suggested the vulnerability comes from failure of corporate governance, risk management and unethical practices.

The other winners were Mirae Asset India Equity Fund and Kotak Corporate Bond Fund. They were awarded as 'Best Value Creators' in equity and debt categories, respectively.

L&T Mutual Fund and SBI Mutual Fund won the best fund house in equity and debt categories, respectively. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and ICICI Lombard General Insurance were joint winners of the 'Best Motor Insurance' category.

HDFC Click 2 Protect 3D Plus bagged an award for 'Best Term Plan'; Bajaj Life Goal Assure won an award for 'Best Unit Link Insurance Plan'; Bank of Baroda won an award for being the 'Best Fintech Engagement'; PNB bagged award for the ' Best Financial Inclusion'. Star Health Insurance was conferred with the 'Best Health Insurance Provider' award.

The award ceremony, presented by ICICI Securities, began with an interesting panel discussion on 'How To Retire Rich'. The knowledge partner for the Best Bank and Fintech category was KPMG, Policy Bazaar was the knowledge partner for the insurance awards, while the knowledge partner for the mutual funds awards was ICRA Online.
In recent years, cloud has emerged has a vulnerability for businesses when it comes to cyber security. According to a report by US-based cloud security company, Palo Alto Networks, over just four months in mid-2018, there were multiple high-profile breaches involving public cloud environments, due to negligence on the part of the cloud service providers. In an interview with Business Today, on the sidelines of Cloud Security Summit in Mumbai, Simon Green, senior vice president, APAC of Palo Alto Networks and Anil Bhasin, regional vice president, India & SAARC at Palo Alto Networks, shared their thoughts on cloud security trends and the way ahead.

Business Today: What are some major challenges that companies are facing when it come to cloud security?

Simon Green: Before we talk about cloud security let's talk about cloud, generally. The cloud market depending on who you are talking to, is estimated would be $500 billon in the next 5 years. Many organisations are trying to get out of the data centre business and focussing on core competencies of running their business and outsourcing the data centre and IT capabilities. They are also trying to get the data and applications and customer delivered services closer to the customer. And those data centres tend to be cloud oriented infrastructure. So companies are trying to find better ways of doing things, doing them more rapidly and getting closer to their customers and cloud is one solution to do that.

When it comes to security, you have less control, when your data is residing out in cloud. We have less knowledge on exactly where that information is sitting as opposed to you and I if we had physical infrastructure we can see it, feel it, touch it and we feel more secure. So companies are trying to deliver consistent security outcome no matter where that data resides. The challenge for those organisations today is consistency, visibility (ensure that I can see everything that is going on the cloud), control of how my IT people are putting information in the cloud. What are the compliance parameters in that programme? So these are the challenges that they are facing.

This going ahead can become more pervasive and not less. The cloud market today is about $140 billion so if it grows to $500 billion, then it is significant.

BT: Different types of cloud, do they come with their own set of vulnerabilities?

Anil Bhasin: Cloud has three nuances--infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). In software as a service there is nothing I own, not even my applications; in infrastructure as a service, I still own my applications. So there are different nuances. What we are trying to do is address all of these three different nuances with consistency. So for us it doesn't matter if you are using IaaS, PaaS or SaaS. This is where we are trying to simplify.

In cloud the first basic thing is visibility; let's say I am an employee, I open an account with AWS, I just need to swipe it through my credit card, how does anybody in the organisation know what I have done, as I have not taken any permission. Through me I could have just pushed my password and I just forgot about it. And I have created vulnerability for the organisation without it knowing.

Customers will always try and look at a hybrid model. There are cloud native companies, they have an advantage, where they have developed nothing on premise, so cloud security is embedded as part of their architecture, they are always ahead. But most of organisations have a hybrid model; you have something available on premise and a lot of work load on the cloud. The question is, how we secure data regardless of where data can be addressed, data can be motioned? So our narrative of prevention has resonated very well with cloud security customers and because we have a platform approach and not a product approach to cloud security.

BT: Which sectors have already moved to ensure cloud security?

Bhasin: First of all, it is a myth that people think they are not on cloud. You would be quite surprised that many organisations are not aware that they are on the cloud. We just had a customer in the morning, where he thought there were just two accounts sanctioned and they ended up with 147. I have another customer who is trying to find out how many people have opened accounts. Most organisations are using cloud in some shape and form. How many customers use office 365? Office 365 is on cloud. How many customers user Salesforce? How many customers use Dropbox? So in some shape and form they are already using the cloud. You would think banks don't use cloud. We have to nuance whether it is private cloud, public cloud.

Green: There are lot of start-up organisations and it is not industry specific; they are people with great ideas, they want speed, and they don't want the infrastructure cost so they are leveraging the cloud. They won't need data centres, they issue people laptops, and they provide an Internet connection and consume all of their applications from the cloud. I don't know that all companies get to that point but that is the direction they are going because traditional companies are competing with start-ups, who have the speed and rapid development capabilities and they are all doing it with cloud.

BT: What is the ideal solution when many verticals in the company are employing cloud and there are many accounts?

Bhasin: Our solution is Redlock. It can scan the clouds and provide the visibility to all things cloud. Can tell you what is secure, what is not secure, what is compliant and what is not compliant.

BT: How important is team synergy for cloud security?

Green: Think it is an organisational statement; it should not be department by department, CISOs today are trying to raise visibility and education around navigating the digital age. The obligations and thought processes within an organisation are not as pervasive probably as they should be. So it is a CIO and a CISO challenge. How do they ensure that security is at the heart of IT deployment in the organisation?

Bhasin: In any organisation there are clear roles and responsibilities. You have a network team that is responsible for the firewalls, an info-sec team that is responsible for policy making and compliance, an endpoint team that takes care of all the end points, an operations team that makes sure everything works, a business dev-ops team that is responsible for developing applications, and then they report into different functions. Sometimes CIO reports directly to the board, sometime CISO reports directly to the board but if you see across all of these functions security is pervasive. This is about creating awareness. We at Palo Alto Networks are talking across all these functions and making sure they are on same page but there has to be an aggregation point. Whether it is at the board level or sometimes collaboration between the CIO and the CISO. It is something that is work in progress; you will need not just education but technology where you can allow them the control.

Also Read: An electronic number plate key to check illegal drone menace

Also Read: Foxbat fury: When IAF MiG-25s flew unchallenged over Islamabad
If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE).
UK based Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) is a non-governmental organisation that calls for a basic income for every individual. The group has advised the Finnish government in their attempt to offer a fixed amount as basic income to all its citizens. It is advising the Sikkim Government to something similar in their state. In an interaction with Business Today, Guy Standing, a founding member and honorary co-president of BIEN tells that the Central Government's move to provide direct income support to small farmers (Rs 6000 per household a year) is a right first step in that direction.

Excerpts:

BT: How do you say that a particular amount of basic income can make a difference in the lives of people?

Guy Standing: We provided Rs 300 per person, per month (to every member of some villages of India on a pilot basis), and if you look at the statistics and the reports, it did make a difference. Because, supposing you are in a family with two children, husband and other relatives around, you fall ill and need to go to a hospital, the whole family has got their basic income; each will help out to tide over the crisis.

The central government has announced that it will transfer Rs 2000 for each small and marginal farmer family once in every four months as income support .Will it help?

You give Rs 500 as basic income to every person in that community and it will have real positive economic impact. It is much cheaper to administer than identifying the small farmer, check the details, avoid mistakes etc. A comprehensive scheme (that includes everyone in a village) works better. However it is better than giving subsidies. I would say fertiliser subsidy is something that mainly goes to richer farmers. So if you have to provide basic income to a farmer, do it while phasing out the subsidy at the same time so that they don't feel that they are losing. When we gave the people the choice to continue with PDS or the basic income, initially half chose PDS. But the same people came to us asking to shift them from PDS because they realised that it allows people to make choices.

BT: Is Rs 500 enough?

Standing: You start low. Money is a scarce commodity. What is important is that nobody should be excluded in that community. When we did, we went to the villages and politicians were skeptic when we asked people to open bank accounts. We gave it in cash for the first two months and by that time we wanted them to open their bank accounts. We got 96 per cent open the bank accounts within 3 months. I think we are in a stage where all of us should move to a comprehensive system of basic income. Ideally I would want every area to get the same amount.

BT: Should it be universal?

Standing: You start by rolling it out for the lowest income community. Tribal communities, for instance are the most vulnerable, the poorest, perhaps, you start with them. We found that it made a huge difference.

BT: How do you see MNREGA?

Standing: It is a disaster. You are asking them to work in tropical heat, burn calories to build assets that do not last and pay them a very small amount. Contrast, if I give you the same equivalent amount and you buy seeds or fertilisers.

BT: Has any government approached you?

Standing: We have been approached by the Sikkim Government. And I think what they are planning is exciting. It has to be comprehensive, not exclude one particular group or other.

Also Read: An electronic number plate key to check illegal drone menace

Also Read: Foxbat fury: When IAF MiG-25s flew unchallenged over Islamabad
08 Mar 2019, 2:37 PM

At 7.2%, India's unemployment rate in Feb worst in 29 months; labour force down 25.7 million: CMIE

The latest news on the unemployment front is a cause for concern for the Modi government, long criticised for jobless growth after making it a key electoral promise in 2014. According to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in February 2019, the worst in 28 months. Meanwhile, the labour force is down 25.7 million since September 2016 and the number of employed persons has declined by 18.3 million in the same period.

Balakot airstrike: 80% bombs hit target, says IAF in proof submitted to govt

Ten days after the Indian Air Force dropped bombs in the training camp of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot in Pakistan, the IAF has reportedly provided the government with proof that it hit targets during the February 26 airstrike. The IAF has submitted satellite images to the Centre as proof of successful Balakot airstrike, which showed that 80 per cent of the bombs deployed during the airstrike hit their intended targets, top sources within the service told India Today TV.

Most northern, eastern states lose sizeable electricity in transmission and distribution

The country lost 21.4 of electricity produced in transmission and distribution (T&D) in the financial year 2016/17 which came down just 1.6 percentage points since 2012/13. T&D losses represent electricity that is generated but does not reach intended customers. According the Reserve Bank of India's latest release on statistics of states, the worst performer was Arunachal Pradesh with a maximum T&D loss of 49.4 per cent in 2016/17, down from 50.6 per cent in the previous year. This was followed by Jammu & Kashmir with a T&D loss of 47 per cent.

Mukesh Ambani is the world's 13th richest man; wealth increased 25% in a year: Forbes

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani saw his wealth increase nearly 25% in the past year. And with that he has jumped six positions to rank 13th on the latest Forbes World's Billionaire list just released. The 61-year-old Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries is now worth $50 billion, up from $40.1 billion in 2018, when he had stood in the 19th spot on the list. Back in 2017, he had come in way down on 33rd position among the world's richest.

Mercedes Benz "cautiously optimistic" on growth in election year

Luxury car maker Mercedes Benz on Wednesday said that it is "cautiously optimistic" about growth prospects in 2019 since it is an election year. "This is an election year. So, we are cautiously optimistic about growth in the first half as people are deferring purchases. We expect that there will growth in the second half," MD and CEO of Mercedes Benz India Martin Schwenk said.

Google launches Bolo app to help children read, available on Play Store

Google has launched a speech-based reading-tutor app called Bolo for Android-based smartphones to help children in rural India with their reading skills. With the reach of the mobile phones rising in India, Google would be looking to use the app to expand its presence in the country. The app is aimed at helping kids who are unable to go to schools or have no access to it. The Bolo app can be downloaded for free from the Google's Play Store. The app can also work offline and does not require an active internet connection.

Tata Motors plans to bring plenty of EVs not just for fleet, govt sales but also for private consumers

Tata Motors plans to bring a plethora of electric vehicles catering to not just fleet owners and government sales but also to private consumers with aspirational products going ahead, according to a senior company official.The auto major, which sells Tigor EV in the domestic market, mostly supplying for state-owned EESL's orders, has also decided to adopt a focussed market approach for its EV sales, targeting 20-25 locations across India.
The second edition of a commissioned report by Truecaller, which aims at understanding the impact of harassment / spam calls for women, says women living in Delhi receive the highest calls and texts with offensive and sexual imagery or videos on a weekly basis, making it the highest in India, with no surprises there.

A survey of over 2000 women across 5 metros, 6 mini-metros and 3 tier-1 cities showed nearly 70 per cent of women shared their contact details at various instances such as entering a contest or lucky draw, at the billing counters when shopping or accepting deliveries without knowing how the same data would be used.

Banks and telecom operators continued to be the biggest spammers when it came to nuisance calls and SMSes . The survey also highlighted that 52 percent of women received harassment calls with inappropriate and sexual content, and 47 percent received unsolicited videos and pictures with inappropriate sexual content at least once a week.

The report also says that such calls are taking a toll on women's wellbeing. Eight in 10 women either felt irritated or angry with these kind of calls and almost 35-40 per cent of them felt troubled, worried or fearful.

However, compared to last year, women have started taking proactive steps to stop harassment. The number of women taking steps to save themselves from such calls has also gone up. 74 per cent of the respondents in the survey said that the first two steps that they took was either blocking specific numbers or searching phone number to identify callers. Also, activation of DND (donotdisturb) services with their mobile operators was the best-preferred option for most women.

Interestingly, the number of women who approached police officials against spammers has gone up compared to last year. According to the report, last year only 10 per cent of women reported offensive calls, but this year a whopping 38 per cent said that they have filed a police complaint in order to tackle the harassing calls and messages.
The American Chamber of Commerce Ireland today hosted its inaugural US Ireland Business Conference  At the Heart of the Transatlantic Economy.

Incoming President of the American Chamber Mark Gantly welcomed guest of honour, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to the event, which also featured the launch of the 2019 US Ireland Business Report with an economic chapter by Wall Street economist Joseph Quinlan which highlights the continuing growth and strength of the Irish US business relationship.

This comes after recent research showed that 12.6% of investment into the EU is in Ireland. It is estimated that over 700 US companies now employing 155,000 people directly in Ireland, with an additional 100,000 employed in supporting businesses.

The American Chamber US Ireland Business Conference will explore a number of the themes and challenges that are central to Irelands continued success in the battle for US FDI, including:

1. Ireland  an island of opportunity at the centre of the world

2. The State of Play  Two Way Investment, Trade Relations and the current Geo Political Climate

3. Ireland  an island of innovation at the heart of the transatlantic relationship

4. Regulating for a Digital Economy  Trust and Security



Apart from an address by An Taoiseach, guest speakers will include Andrew McDowell (VP, European Investment Ban), Majorie Chorlins (VP, US Chamber of Commerce), leaders from a number of US multinationals and Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon. The event will close with an address by Irish Ambassador to the US, Dan Mulhall, and the Acting US Ambassador to Ireland, Reece Smyth.



Speaking at the conference, An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar said, "The cumulative impact of decades of American investment in Ireland has been central to our emergence as a dynamic, competitive, open economy. Ireland is now a location of choice for more than 760 US companies, which among them directly employ upwards of 160,000 people here. I believe the economic relationship between Ireland and the United States is resilient, and full of promise for the future.



The President of the American Chamber, Mark Gantly added, "Our US Ireland Business Report shows that US direct investment stock in Ireland totalled a record $446bn in 2017, a 14% increase from the prior year. And figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show that Irelands share of US investment stock in Europe was 12.6%. On the back of those figures, its fair to say that the transatlantic business relationship continues to deliver for the Irish economy."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Head of Hong Kong Bourse Proposes Allowing Overseas Investors in High-Tech Board

By Wei Yiyang, Zhao Runhua / Mar 07, 2019 02:12 PM / Finance

The Chinese mainland should allow overseas investors to participate in activities in the primary and secondary markets of Chinas new high-tech board, said the chief executive of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Charles Li (also known as Li Xiaojia). He presented the proposal during the high-level Two Sessions meetings of Chinas National Peoples Congress and Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference.

International investor participation could improve the high-tech boards liquidity and investor structure, Li said.

Overseas investors are less likely to follow mainland investors mania which pushes up stock prices, nor will they be easily discouraged from purchasing stocks when IPO prices are lowere than expectations, Li said.

By integrating the high-tech board with the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program, which offers market accessibility to foreign investors, and setting up related block trading mechanisms, the proposal can be achieved, Li said.

Related: Chinas High-Tech Board May Tap Almost $45 Billion

https://www.caixinglobal.com/2019-03-05/chinas-high-tech-board-may-tap-almost-45-billion-101387292.html
news, crime

A former Australian military lawyer and captain in Britain's elite Special Air Service has been charged over the leak of documents exposing alleged unlawful government conduct. David William McBride, 55, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday where he was charged with the leaks to journalists Dan Oakes, Andrew Clark and Chris Masters. He has not entered any pleas. The charges relate in part to an ABC investigation published in 2017 called "The Afghan Files: Defence leak exposes deadly secrets of Australias special forces". The investigation was said to give an unprecedented insight into the clandestine operations of Australias special forces, including incidents of possible unlawful killings. Speaking outside court, Mr McBride said he had admitted handing over the documents but would defend the charge on legal grounds. "I saw something illegally being done by the government and I did something about it," he said. "I'm seeking to have the case looking purely at whether the government broke the law and whether it was my duty as a lawyer to report that fact." Mr McBride is charged with theft and three counts of breaching the Defence Act, for being a person who is a member of the the defence force and communicating a plan, document or information. The charges, if prosecuted on indictment, attract an unlimited fine or imprisonment for any term as the maximum penalties. If dealt with summarily the penalties are six months in prison or a small fine. Mr McBride faces a further charge under old secrecy provisions in the federal Crimes Act, which make it an offence for a Commonwealth official to disclose information without authorisation. That law has since been revoked and replaced in the Criminal Code, broadening its scope and increasing the penalties that apply in certain cases. Mr McBride said he first sought an internal inquiry through defence and then went to police. When police did not act he went to the media. Mr McBride said he gave the documents to the ABC, the Sydney Morning Herald and Chris Masters but only the ABC published a report. The prosecution of Mr McBride will draw inevitable comparisons with that of the former Australian spy Witness K and his lawyer Bernard Collaery. The pair are also being pursued by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions accused of revealing information about the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. Witness K revealed an illegal bugging operation by the Australian government on East Timor during negotiations over an oil and gas treaty. The pair face a maximum two years in jail if found guilty, a penalty since increased to 10 years. National security claims over the brief of evidence have delayed the defence access to it and the case's progress. A preliminary hearing for that case will be heard in secret. On Thursday, a Legal Aid lawyer for Mr McBride told the court some of the relevant material was classified and his office was having difficulty finding a lawyer with the necessary clearance. The one option so far was the director of the service Dr John Boersig, the lawyer Hugh Jorgensen said. Mr McBride said the government's claim of classified material was a smokescreen and there was no reason why the case shouldn't be held in the open. Mr McBride said he had been living in Spain when he was arrested at the airport in Sydney on his way home in September last year. Aware of the risk of arrest, he had returned home to attend a father daughter dance. Mr McBride studied at Sydney University before going to Oxford. He then joined the British army, spending six years with the Blues and Royals, the Queen's household cavalry. He also served with the SAS and did tours of duty in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan. "I have a duty to look after Australia, if that means reporting illegal activity by the top brass of the ADF I'm going to do it, I'm not afraid of going to jail," he said. "If I was afraid of going to jail, why would I have been a soldier?" He is next due in court on May 13.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/e0bd11fd-e56a-4ae6-8710-bfa73a3db8e3/r0_220_4288_2643_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang's Regular Press Conference on March 7, 2019

2019/03/07

Q: US National Security Adviser John Bolton said in an interview on March 5 that the US still wants to have dialogues with the DPRK and waits positive signals from the DPRK. But he also made it clear that if the DPRK is not committed to denuclearization, it is not going to get relief from the US side. We noted that on the same day, the Choson Shinbo of the DPRK carried an article, saying that if Trump does not wish to lose forever the opportunity for denuclearization, he should take the lead in making synchronized steps towards building trust between the DPRK and the US, before the DPRK embarks on finding a "new path". What is China's take on resolving the Korean Peninsula issue after the US-DPRK summit in Hanoi?

A: China always maintains that the Korean Peninsula issue can only be resolved peacefully through political dialogues. After their meeting in Hanoi, both the DPRK and the US leaders have made clear their willingness to continue with their dialogues. We recognize and encourage that. We hope that the two sides could persist in translating such willingness into concrete actions.

The Korean Peninsula issue has not evolved to this stage overnight. No one should expect it to be resolved in just one day. The key is to take into account the legitimate concerns of all parties in a balanced way and consolidate mutual trust and gradually gather consensus, thus paving the way for securing a political settlement to the Korean Peninsula issue. This has been our position all along. We also raised concrete proposals like seeking a package solution and taking phased and synchronized steps, which we hope parties concerned will give some serious consideration.

Q: What is China's comment on the meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) held yesterday in Vienna?

A: Since the two foreign ministers' meetings in July and September last year, with the joint efforts of all parties and the broad support of the international community, our work to uphold the JCPOA has yielded positive results. We believe it is conducive to upholding the international non-proliferation regime, peace and stability in the Middle East, and upholding multilateralism and international rules in the current international landscape.

The most important goal of this meeting was to consolidate the political momentum and outline the next-step moves. As you can see in the media reports, during the meeting, all parties highly commended Iran for continuing to meet its nuclear obligations compliant with the JCPOA, and the IAEA for undertaking monitoring and verification activities in a neutral, professional manner. All parties reaffirmed their commitment to firmly uphold and act upon the JCPOA, implement the outcomes of the two foreign ministers' meetings, have discussions on practical measures as soon as possible, and continue to safeguard their economic and trade cooperation with Iran.

In fact, not only in this meeting, during the IAEA Board of Governors meeting which was also held this week, support for the JCPOA was also the main theme. China is ready to continue working with all parties to uphold and implement the JCPOA while safeguarding our country's legitimate rights and interests.

Q: Several Western countries recently have announced that their citizens who have joined the Islamic State have now been captured. They would be stripped of their citizenship and they would not be allowed to return. Now the Islamic State is collapsing. It is said that there are some Chinese that have ended up in Iraq and Syria, fighting for the Islamic State. If any of these Chinese citizens are captured, what is the Chinese government's position on them? Does China want the Syrian or Iraqi government to return them to China ?

A: On the issue of counter-terrorism, we have said before that terrorism is a common challenge faced by the international community. To address this issue calls for the concerted efforts of all countries. You just mentioned that some western countries are taking actions. We still need to verify that. We would like to discuss this specific issue with relevant countries.

As to the current situation, thanks to the concerted efforts, the Islamic State is falling apart in the Middle East. We hope that all countries will continue to strengthen coordination and crack down on all terrorist forces including the remnants of the Islamic State, thus rooting out the breeding ground for terrorism.

I want to reiterate that China firmly opposes all forms of terrorism. We hope that the international community will enhance communication and coordination and forge synergy in this regard.

Q: The US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that the US will impose sanctions on foreign institutions that have financed Venezuelan President Maduro's government. Are you concerned that Chinese companies might be affected?

A: We have said before that in international relations, China consistently upholds the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs. We have also said that the problems facing Venezuela now shall be resolved by the Venezuelan people themselves through consultations. History has proven once and again that external intervention including unilateral sanctions will help in no way resolve practical issues and will only complicate the situation.

Cooperation between China and Venezuela has been conducted on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, common development and commercial principles. Such cooperation conforms with law and benefits the people and should not be affected no matter how the situation might evolve.

Q: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet yesterday said that her office hopes to carry out an independent assessment of the situation in Xinjiang. Will the Chinese government allow UN human rights investigators to come to Xinjiang and carry out an independent assessment?

A: We have noted relevant reports. In fulfilling their duties in a truly just and objective way, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and her office should first and foremost, earnestly abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and respect the sovereignty of the UN member states.

I am sure you have all noted that recently many foreign delegations have visited Xinjiang at China's invitation, providing the international community with better access to know the real Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In principle, we welcome all sides, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights included, to visit Xinjiang on the condition that they comply with Chinese laws and follow relevant procedures. However, I must also stress that those who are politically-motivated and seek to use a visit to Xinjiang as a pretext to interfere in China's internal affairs and undermine its sovereignty and territorial integrity will not be welcome.

Q: A cybersecurity intelligence unit of the US company Accenture Security will release a report this week, claiming that Chinese hackers have targeted at least 27 universities in the US, Canada and Southeast Asia to steal maritime technologies for military use. I wonder what is China's comment on this?

A: I believe no one will be surprised if the US institution you mentioned indeed releases such a report. It seems that for some time, several US institutions have been releasing information or reports on their fabricated stories that aim to play up their "Chinese hackers stealing secrets" theory. But if you read their "stories" carefully, you will find a common feature: the hacker attacks they described are very similar to those detailed in the NSA documents disclosed by Edward Snowden. I must say that those people do know how to launch these attacks like the back of their hands.

Q: I have two questions. First, yesterday and today, the ROK President Moon Jae-in and Minister of Environment both emphasized that the country will strengthen cooperation with China on smog prevention and control. So I wonder what is China's comment? Second question, the ROK Foreign Minister said this morning that the smog in the ROK did stem from China. Do you have any comment on this?

A: I will answer your second question first. Yesterday I answered a similar question, but I still want to underscore that the causes of smog are very complicated. I don't know if the ROK senior official you mentioned has based her remarks on scientific analysis, or if her conclusion can be backed up by experts.

Residents in the Seoul Capital Area have made complaints on the heavy smog that has been there for several days, and we understand that the ROK government needs to address their concern. That being said, one should not look for reasons elsewhere whenever there is a problem at home. Instead, one should grasp the very nature of a problem. Only by facing up to a problem can one solve it. China believes that a scientific attitude is needed when dealing with the smog issue.

Now we come back to your first question. To strengthen cooperation on smog prevention and control, as proposed by President Moon Jae-in, has been promoted by China too. The smog issue is indeed a complicated one. I believe all regional countries concerned can benefit if relevant countries can sit together to study and find out the causes of smog and ways to address it.

Q: Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou had important meetings with Pakistani leaders during his visit to Pakistan. Do you have more information to share with us?

A: Maybe you have seen reports on Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou's visit to Pakistan. Vice Foreign Minister Kong paid the visit at the invitation of the Pakistani government and had in-depth communication and exchange of views with Pakistan on the current Pakistan-India situation. During the visit, Vice Foreign Minister Kong met with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief of the Army General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshiand and held deep talks with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua.

During the talks, Vice Foreign Minister Kong emphasized that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners. China appreciates that Pakistan has exercised restraint, remained calm and insisted on bringing down tensions through dialogue with India. He explicitly reiterated that China believes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected and that we would not like to see any action that violates the basic norms of international law. China repeats its call on India and Pakistan to refrain from actions that might aggravate the current situation, demonstrate goodwill and flexibility, and start dialogue at an early date for the sake of regional peace and stability. China will continue to play a constructive role toward this end.

Pakistan expressed appreciation to China for its objective and impartial stand on the Pakistan-India situation and thanked China for its efforts to facilitate the easing of tensions. The Pakistani side reiterated clearly that it does not want to see an escalation and stands ready to resolve differences and disputes with India peacefully through dialogue. Pakistan welcomes the international community including China to play constructive roles to this end.

Q: The Chinese technology company Huawei officially sued the American government, arguing it had been unfairly banned from operating in the United States on the grounds of security threats. Does the Chinese government support the Huawei lawsuit? Are there any plans in the effort of the Chinese government to join Huawei in the court of law in the United States?

A: Huawei has filed a lawsuit arguing that the relevant section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 passed in the US Congress is unconstitutional. In fact, when the Act was adopted, the Chinese government already made serious representations to the US side to oppose the China-related negative contents in it. As for our comment on Huawei's lawsuit filed in the US against the US government, we believe it is totally legitimate and understandable for a company to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests in a lawful way.

As for your question on whether the Chinese government will join the company in such lawsuits, I haven't got relevant information so far.

Q: Media reports say that President Xi Jinping will visit Italy in March. Can you confirm this?

A: The relationship between China and Italy has been developing well and bilateral cooperation in various fields has been moving ahead steadily. I believe that both China and Italy want to further advance bilateral relations and elevate our comprehensive strategic partnership through high-level exchanges.

As for the Chinese leader's travel plans, we will let you know timely when we have relevant information to offer.

Q: I was just wondering whether the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, during his visit to Pakistan, had raised the question of terrorism originating from Pakistani soil and the need to eradicate the breeding ground of terrorism?

A: As I said earlier, during his visit to Pakistan, Vice Foreign Minister Kong had deep exchange of views on the current India-Pakistan situation with leaders of the Pakistani government and military. A major concern shared by the relevant parties is regional security situation. Indeed, a lot have happened in that region and many issues are involved. China has explicitly expressed its principled position that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected and upheld. China is against any behavior that violates the basic norms of international law.

We hope Pakistan and India will take positive measures to enhance mutual trust, accumulate consensus and meet each other half way so as to ease tensions and keep the region peaceful and stable. Vice Foreign Minister Kong has had broad and deep discussions on the relevant issues with leaders of Pakistan's government and military.

**********************************************

The Press Center for the Second Session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) will invite State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to hold a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations at the Media Center at 10:00 am on Friday on March 8. The regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be adjourned on Friday, March 8 and resumed on Monday, March 11.
news, latest-news

For ACT Wildlife volunteers, work is often brutal and around-the-clock. Denise Kay sits with Marg Peachey in the backyard of her home in Kambah. There's ducklings behind a short fence, an Eastern Koel in the aviary, and bats on the balcony and in the main bedroom. Just minutes earlier, Ms Kay and Ms Peachey were scaling trees to free grey-headed flying foxes, which are a type of bat vulnerable for their declining numbers, from cheap tree netting. Since September, the organisation has rescued 60 of the animals from netting. Several have died, choked by the netting, and numbers are rapidly rising as babies leave the colony to forage for themselves. Nine grey-headed flying foxes had been rescued one day alone recently. "I was called to a house in Palmerston that had this netting, and when I climbed the ladder there were two grey-headed flying foxes, a mother and a baby. They were both dead," flying fox coordinator, Ms Kay, said. "They'd obviously been there since the day before and they'd spent so much time trying to get out. The [mother's] whole face was mangled, the netting was all around the baby. It's pure torture." This year, there are more than 5000 flying foxes in the ACT - some of the highest numbers the territory has had since they began migrating here en masse in about 2003. As trees begin to fruit, locals have sought to protect them from animals. But an increase in the popularity of cheap, low-grade netting, purchased online, is achieving just the opposite, Ms Peachey said. "It's a real problem with people using the wrong nets, and even if they're the right nets they're not being put on properly. They need to be put on a frame and stretched, or stretched around the tree and tied in tight," she said. Nets should be white rather than black so they were more visible to wildlife and rescuers, Ms Peachey said. Holes should be no bigger than five millimetres - too small for your finger, or anything else, to get through. However, no netting was the best option to protect wildlife. "I say just take the netting off and share [with the animals]," Ms Kay said. Some Canberrans refused to opt for white, tightly-woven netting because it looked more obvious on trees. But the results of using the opposite could be devastating, particularly when residents tried to free animals themselves. Anyone who comes into contact with bats should immediately seek medical attention as they can get the Australian bat lyssavirus, which is related to rabies. "It's unreasonable for volunteers to come out to the same place three times because the owner doesn't like the look of [safer] tree netting," Ms Peachey said. "It's dangerous for us, it's dangerous for them, and it's dangerous for the animal." The ACT government has no regulations about tree netting, including in the 110-page ACT Tree Protection Act 2005. It is understood there are no plans to introduce formal regulations. "I would like to see the product banned but that is almost impossible. We might be able to convince [bricks and mortar retailers] to limit the sale of the nets but how can you police it online?" Ms Kay said.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/d2c5a17e-6a7c-4cea-a9f3-8277c1a5572e/r0_295_5568_3441_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
comment

It appears that our 12 Barracuda submarines, replacements for the existing Collins-class submarines, are going to cost us $50 billion, but by the time they are deployed, estimated about 2035, they may well be prey to drone subs which are currently being developed ("Sinking billions", Public Sector Informant, March 5, p3). If they survive, the new submarines are expected to provide our defence until the 2070s, when it is expected they will be out of date and possibly replaced by craft not yet on the drawing board. Most of those alive today have never known a time when there was no arms race, an open-ended search for the latest weapon that would be invulnerable and sufficiently deadly to deter invaders. Yet there was a time, after the end of the Second World War, when a different way to international security was proposed. When the shock of the first use of a weapon of mass destruction was still fresh, in 1946 the United States offered an alternative to an international arms race. At the time, the world stock of nuclear weapons was probably two atom bombs, and the US offered to destroy these if other nations promised to remain nuke-free  a reasonable stipulation, which would involve the establishment of an atomic energy authority with investigative powers to check compliance. The offer was called the Baruch Plan, and it was vetoed by one nation. The Soviet Union was controlled at the time by a morbidly suspicious psychopath, who decided his country needed this excellent weapon. The failure of that post-war generation of leaders has committed the world to a never-ending search for the perfect new weapon, one that will deter all tyrants. It seems now that there is no way back. Harry Davis, Campbell In the looming Senate election, ACT voters will essentially have to choose between the Liberal/National Coalition's incumbent (Senator Zed Seselja) or the Labor/Green (informal) coalition's challenger, since no other candidate is likely to gain the second quota ("Unions target Seselja with $100k election-campaign war chest", March 5, p6). However whoever wins the second Senate position is unlikely to have much influence, regardless of which side forms government. If the Coalition and Zed are returned, the ACT will continue to be ignored (except as a source of jobs to move to Coalition-voting seats). If voters toss out Zed but the Coalition clings to power, Canberra is even more likely to be pillaged. If Labor/Greens form government and a Green senator is elected, Canberra will probably be taken for granted since they would hold seven/seven local representatives. Even if Canberra is not taken for granted, there will be other newly won areas where extravagant promises have been made. If Zed hangs on, the incoming Labor/Green government would be tempted to ignore Canberra since the second position would appear to be unwinnable. The lack of influence makes it less likely the ACT will get a fair go, and of us having an appropriate influence on the big issues facing Australia. Bruce Paine, Red Hill I write re: Dr Shroot's letter on e-cigarettes (Letters, February 28). There have been thousands of cases, including death, of toddlers ingesting the nicotine from one cartridge. An ABC report in 2014 stated "one lick would be a dangerous dose for a toddler" and states refills are available with containers from 6ml to 1litre, without safety caps. The British Medical Journal in April 2016 reported on "the real risk of explosion" and published a report on patients suffering burns from explosions of commonly available devices purchased from high-street shops. There have also been reports of a vaper having a hole burnt through his lung when the device shot hot nicotine through his throat. Reuters has reported "parents should know the highly concentrated nicotine used in e-cigarettes is a new deadly poison". There were 113 dogs reported poisoned in the UK by ingesting the refills, the smell of which is appealing to cats and dogs. Do yourself, your family and friends, your health and your wallet a favour and quit cigs and e-cigs. T. Henderson, Holder It is very encouraging to read about the proposed School Kids Climate Strike on March15, and to hear them calling all politicians to account for their half-hearted climate change policies. More than many of the older generations, these kids are well aware that the climate is changing inexorably. In fact, it is changing so fast that the stable climate that humans and other species have experienced for thousands of years is changing to a catastrophic climate, largely within one lifetime. They are entitled to be furious, because it is their generation that will have to pick up the pieces of extreme weather events, sea-level rises, destruction of much of the biosphere, loss of farmland, water wars, food wars and untold millions of distraught and dislocated people. We have reached a crisis situation, yet we still hear parliamentarians advocating more mining of coal than finding ways to stop emissions getting into the atmosphere. I hope every schoolkid in Canberra will be there, making their voice heard. Catherine Rossiter, Fadden If John Bromhead of Rivett (Letters, March 5) is upset about the feed-in tariff awarded to the SolarShare community solar farm in the Majura Valley, he could recoup his perceived costs by investing. The project provides a modest investment opportunity to ACT residents, particularly for those who do not own their roofs or whose roofs might be limited or unsuitable for solar generation. Peter Campbell, Cook My letter about SolarShare published on March 5 contained an error that inflated costs by a factor of 10. John Bromhead, Rivett I read recently that Henry Ford, having proved the success of his car assembly line, wondered how to increase sales. After doing some sums, he increased his workers' wages so they could afford his cars. Worker happiness went up, productivity went up, and crucially so did sales. Then he reduced worker hours (same pay) so they had more time to enjoy his cars. The same thing happened again. Meanwhile, back in Australia, worker wages stagnate and discontent and inequality abound, although profits slowly increase. Is somebody not joining up the dots? Peter Cooper, Greenway The Prime Minister is to be congratulated for his economic management. No recession since 2005  until late 2018. Yes, folks, our financial wizards have "managed to manage" the economy into a technical recession. So much for "the Coalition are better financial managers than the ALP". Of course the upcoming budget will be "in surplus"  but only if you do not look for the smoke and mirrors used to massage the numbers to deliver  surprise, surprise  a budget "surplus" just in time for the federal election. They must have contracted budget preparation to the "Big Four" banks. After all, the 2018 royal commission lifted the lid on the rubbery-figures management style of the banks. No wonder Morrison worked so hard to avoid such a commission. Rod Olsen, Flynn I refer to Graham MacAfee's letter (Letters, March 5) questioning why federal LNP politicians are "retiring". They tell us it is for family and other reasons. But has anyone calculated their over-generous pollie pensions (for life and accessible immediately) while they are sitting in government compared to their pollie pensions if they lose the next election and then retire in opposition? Family, lifestyle or simply filthy lucre? P. R. Temple, Macquarie In 2014 the Holy See reported on its ability to comply with the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the UN committee on that subject. It copped a right serve. Amongst other things, the committee said that the Holy See should: (a) "[That it will] ensure that ... it will independently investigate all cases of child sexual abuse as well as the conduct of the Catholic hierarchy in dealing with them ...; (b) Immediately remove all known and suspected child sexual abusers from service and refer the matter to the relevant law enforcement authorities...; (c) Ensure transparent sharing of all archives which can be used to hold accountable child sexual abusers ...; (d) Amend the Canon Law in order for child sexual abuse to be considered a crime ... and repeal all provisions which may impose an obligation of silence on the victims and on all those that become aware of such crimes; (e) Establish clear rules, mechanisms and procedures for the mandatory reporting of all suspected cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation to law-enforcement authorities; (f) Ensure that all priests, religious personnel and individuals working under the authority of the Holy See are made aware of their reporting obligations and of the fact that, in case of conflict, these obligations prevail over Canon Law provisions. Not much has changed. Religious freedom has its limits. Charles Woodhouse, Civic Australia and other Western nations are supplying weapons to Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Yemeni civil war because there's a particular Middle East nation involved on the other side in the fight bent on developing a regional empire modelled on its past glories. It is feverishly developing and testing missiles, and already has influence in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Gaza Strip. For example, a leader of this nation has previously said there are no homosexuals in his country, and has said that his nation will destroy Israel. Many there regularly chant "death to America" and "death to Israel". There is a suspicion that this same nation harbours a goal of eventually developing nuclear weapons to put on its missiles. Rod Matthews, Fairfield, Vic Scott Morrison, wasting money on a trip to Christmas Island for a photo opportunity, clearly demonstrates that, despite the slogan, he's not getting on with the job. Jeff Bradley, Isaacs On Monday, March 4, my husband and I drove from Newcastle to Canberra. In that distance, almost 440 kilometres, we saw only two police vehicles. Given the Australian road toll, I would have expected a greater police presence on our busiest motorways and highways. I understand the difficulties police encounter in terms of personnel, resources and the stresses of the job itself. However, I suspect but have no figures to prove it, that more attention is given to terrorism than to our road toll. I did manage to obtain some numbers for 2016. In that year there were nine terrorism "incidents", with no deaths and one injury. For that same period there were 1293 road fatalities Australia-wide, or 5.34 road deaths per 100,000 people. Surely this demonstrates a need for more road patrols more often. V. Saunders, Weetangera John L Smith ("Confessional defended", Letters, March 4) seems to elevate Catholic doctrine above "any civil law" and suggests that the required reporting of knowledge of paedophilia will be a bad law because, he says, it will lead to exemptions. What can be "bad" of a law requiring universal reporting of abhorrent criminal acts? Exemptions are not warranted. But he is correct that  in its post-biblical, man-made codifying of the doctrine of secrecy of the confession  the church has claimed that it was "from the beginning". This has as much credibility as, and less biblical "authority" than, the ridiculous religious notions of seven-day creation and the incestuous descent of the human race from Adam and his divinely re-engineered rib. The successors to those who asserted that historic falsehood are equally well able to now proclaim that "it is no longer so". They should do so. Mike Hutchinson, Reid Warwick Bradley (Letters, March 5) wonders why the Catholic Church is allowed to continue to operate schools (Letters March 5). Part of the answer is that no government wants to make the investment in additional public schools that would be required if the Catholic schools were closed. Jack Monaghan, Lyneham FREE SPEECH TAKES A HIT Has the Coalition really lost the plot? It espouses free speech, but prevents conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos from entering the country. At the same time it allows Muslim hate preachers to disseminate their odious ideology. If only there was a viable alternative at the next election. Owen Reid, Dunlop SPREAD THE NOISE How about drone trials being visited upon the inner south and inner north suburbs in ACT and not just the outer suburbs? Gail Allen, Pearce. EDITORIAL NAILS IT Many thanks for your thoughtful and well-enunciated editorial of March 5, 2019. We Fluffies can only hope that it will bear fruit and ultimately lead to a board of inquiry. Sadly, I think it will take a great deal more than quality editorials to prod the conscience of ACT politicians. Kathleen Read, Gundaroo, NSW ABBOTT'S MEMORY ISSUE So Tony Abbott doesn't recall if George Pell asked him for a character reference. If his memory is that bad god help us if he is re-elected to Parliament. Phil Nicolls, Monash TWISTED JUSTICE Another government confused. So blow the whistle on wrongdoers and you go to jail? Unless of course you blow a whistle in confession and then it's good work Godot. At least we gave the lawmakers an above-par pay increase. M. Leslie, Bega, NSW HANSON SPOT ON Jeremy Hanson's item on pill testing and pill taking is accurate  and long overdue. We have a libertarian and amoral element among our ACT Barr leadership. Barrie Smillie, Duffy HERE'S A QUESTION Question: Is there anyone, on radio or on television, who asks anything other than "a great question"? Answer: That's a great question. Annie Lang, Kambah PUBLIC SERVANTS STEP UP Three cheers for public servants, they must be running the country because the LNP government isn't. Too busy pork-barrelling the electorate or giving well-paid postings to their mates. Remind people of this when public servants are given a hard time by those living outside Canberra. Jan Gulliver, Lyneham LEAVING IT A LITTLE LATE Apparently, now, in Canberra, when a driver wishes to turn or change lanes, they are obliged to not use their indicators until after they have begun the move. Although this now seems to be the new way of doing things, I preferred the old way, of giving other motorists a warning of a driver's intent. Gordon Fyfe, Kambah Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message eld, not as an attached le. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610. Keep your letter to 250 or fewer words. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/b5687bba-3d24-42c1-8f93-0befd295c0c7/r0_229_4502_2773_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
news, latest-news

When incoming Chief Defence Scientist Tanya Monro was juggling a toddler, newborn twins and a physics research team, there weren't any other women in that environment she could look to for an example of how it could be done. On the other hand, when Astro-3D director Lisa Kewley, who studies the origins of the universe, saw another scientist taking her two young children on trips to conferences as part of her work, it showed her it was possible to have a career and a family. Their experiences and paths might have been different but despite the challenges, women are taking the lead in science and engineering, in particular in space initiatives, in Australia. The Australian National University's Institute of Space is headed up by director Anna Moore and executive director Milica Symul. The institute is 75 per cent female. The Australian Space Agency is led by Megan Clark, and the agency has five executive directors, three of whom are female. Among others, CSIRO has appointed a woman as chief scientist in Cathy Foley, and the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology is an engineer - and a woman - Karen Andrews. Lisa Kewley is trying to understand how galaxies have formed and evolved from the early days of the universe. She's the director of the $40 million Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in All Sky Astrophysics, known as Astro-3D, and manages about 200 people across Australia and internationally. And she's a mum of two children, aged seven and 10. The Centre of Excellence was formed in 2017, is based at Mount Stromlo, and was Professor Kewley's vision. "I wrote the proposal, this is my baby," she says. "It's basically all the science and astronomy that I think Australia has really got a fantastic opportunity to lead into the future over the next decade, or two decades. "We're really great at building 3D technology, we're doing it for telescopes overseas and in Australia, and we're contracted to build it for the next generation of telescopes." Professor Kewley says as a female in what is a male-dominated field, there are challenges. But she believes her passion and her people skills got her to where she is today. "I think in some ways, you need to have a lot of people skills and I think that sometimes it comes very naturally to the women that I know that are in Australia in the field at the moment. We're good at engaging people." When she speaks to school children about galaxies colliding, she reminds them women can be scientists. She also tells them she doesn't wear a lab coat or glasses, and she has hobbies outside of work. "One of the main challenges that I've experienced was when I had children, and coming to find the right amount of time working and with my family that I'm comfortable with." "I'm really happy with how we do it now. I usually take the holidays off to spend with them, and I do school pick-up three days a week. I really enjoy having a good family life as well as my research." Professor Kewley says she tries to model behaviour she hopes to foster in the organisation. "I think it's really important for young people to see you can have a family and a successful career as well." Incoming chief defence scientist Tanya Monro says a lack of role models was a huge challenge for her, particularly when trying to juggle children and her career. But the recent surge in women being appointed to leadership positions in science and engineering is fantastic to see. "I think that whats happened is that the notion of merit is starting to become less gendered, which is fabulous," Professor Monro says. "In the role Im taking on as Australias Chief Defence Scientist, we have an organisation [the Defence Science Technology group] that has had male leadership for over 100 years." She says she never pictured herself in the position she's in today. "At age 15 I decided I wanted to be a physicist, and once a physicist always a physicist. "Im still an active researcher, however Ive discovered along the way that I have a real affinity for leadership. The greatest privilege of all is being able to shape culture and create teams that tackle significant challenges, and if we can do this in a way that supports talent from a diverse range of people we get better outcomes." According to the 2016 Chief Scientist's report on the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce, about 16 per cent of the STEM-qualified workforce was female. Of those, representation in higher-paid roles was low. Just 12 per cent of women fell into the top income bracket - above $104,000 - while 32 per cent of men were employed in that bracket. Maybe it's timing, maybe it is pure luck that at this point in time, weve all converged and we have this great representation of women in our centre and around Australia, Milica Symul says. Shes the executive director of ANU's InSpace, which is led by director Anna Moore. It wasnt planned that way, but since it launched in October three-quarters of its workforce has been female. I think having a female head of agency is probably quite prominent because it's so unusual," Dr Symul says. I think we are setting a pretty good example." Theres no legacy for us in our centre because we founded the centre, but in the space industry there is a big legacy of dominant male leadership. Its not natural actually, and I wont say it is not accepted but it's rare to see female leaders in the space industry internationally. Dr Symul says while there is an increasing number of women in leadership positions across the sector, they still have problems attracting women to join. We are certainly feeling it in an engineering space that if you just do a blanket advertisement for a job you will not get many females, sometimes you might not get any females applying. But specific job advertisements pitched to women have a better reply rate, and colleagues at another university have gone even further and asked for female-only applicants. Institute director Professor Moore says she initially thought this was a bad idea, and not something she'd want to be part of  a view that completely changed when she saw how the process worked. "An Australian university did this and they realised that the calibre of applications they got was so good, objectively so amazing, they actually gave two appointments. That opened the eyes of many people like myself, that the way we do hiring is just not really geared to a fully diverse population," she says. Professor Moore says the top people in their field are very busy, and it takes time and effort to complete a job application. She says if you add a family to that, it becomes an even greater task. You need to think that you have a chance, she says. Anntonette Dailey never dreamed she'd be where she is today. When she was in high school, she was bullied heavily for being a space enthusiast. Now, she's an executive director of the Australian Space Agency. "That just spurred me on," she says of the bullying. "Space and science has turned from being a nerdy, weird subject to being actually a real opportunity for the world, and if you're not in it you're probably being left behind." Ms Dailey is proud to be executive director of operations and communications for the Australian Space Agency. "One of the great things about being part of [a] new government body is there are no glass ceilings," she says. "The agency doesn't have a legacy. It's not an old organisation where you have to try and change the culture. "We're developing it now in the 21st century of what should be an absolutely normal way of establishing an organisation. "We can demonstrate from the start what 'normal' looks like. And normal means that there are no glass ceilings installed." Ms Dailey says she hopes when her three-year-old daughter Skye grows up there won't be a term like "glass ceiling". "I hope that female leadership is just normal, that businesses mimic what's in society. I'm hoping for her that it's just a reality rather than a discussion point." In the Australian Space Agency alone, three of the five executive director positions are held by women. Alexandra Seneta is executive director of regulation and international obligations. She's been involved in space for 16 years and it's a career that has taken her all over the world. "It is so important to be part of something bigger than ourselves, making a positive contribution, and working in the national interest," she says. "For me personally, it shows that if you work hard, and are passionate about what you do, you can find your niche. I'm lucky to have found mine." Aude Vignelles is executive director of program and capability for the agency. She left the European Space Agency to move to Australia 18 years ago. She says she spent 17 of those years frustrated about Australia not having such an agency. "I grew up with the creation of the European Space Agency and the Ariane project. I was lucky enough to witness Ariane's first launch in French Guyana in 1979 and anyone who has attended a launch will tell you that you tend to catch the space bug forever." Ms Vignelles says working in an organisation with so many women is a big change for her. "Being a female space and aeronautical engineer does not really give you much opportunity to work with women, so I am delighted because I am loving it," she says. "At the end of the day it should not matter which gender you are, but I can testify that diversity brings a lot in a team and we certainly have that in the agency. We aim to inspire all, and if having so many women helps to show all of the girls out there that yes, they can work in space if they want, then that is extraordinary." Mount Stromlo Observatory will host an International Women's Day event with talks from Anna Moore, Anntonette Dailey and Lisa Kewley on Friday, March 8 from 6pm. Find out more on its Facebook page.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/dc60ab91-3116-45c5-b146-acf2d8671f84/r0_271_5000_3096_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
news, federal-politics

Cabinet minister Karen Andrews recently caught up with an old friend. During their conversation, the two women spoke about a strange phenomenon they have observed: the more senior women become in their careers, the less respect they get. "When we were at university ... we never felt that we were discriminated [against] or treated differently," Ms Andrews told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. "Nor in our first jobs, nor as we started to build our careers. But what we're noticing now is that there is a lack of respect for women at senior levels within an organisation." Ms Andrews was one of the first two women to graduate from mechanical engineering at the Queensland University of Technology in 1983. She worked as an engineer, human resources manager and industrial relations consultant before she was elected to Parliament in 2010. The Industry, Science and Technology Minister, who was promoted to the frontbench in 2014 and to cabinet last year, said there seems to be a "fundamental problem" when it comes to the way senior women are treated. "I think that as women get into the very senior ranks, they become a target. They are clearly a minority," she explained ahead of International Women's Day on Friday. "There's criticism, 'well did you get there because you needed to hit some sort of a target? Why are you there? How did you get there? Do you really have the skills to be to do that job?'" Ms Andrews described specific examples where stakeholders have treated her badly since she was appointed to cabinet six months ago. In one case, she had to leave a meeting, after becoming uncomfortable about the behaviour of a male stakeholder. She later received a written apology. "I actually shut a meeting down ... it was actually just inappropriate conduct." In another case, Andrews said there was an attempt to "verbally and physically intimidate me". Within the Liberal Party itself, Ms Andrews said there have been "some particular instances where I've thought it could have been better handled". But overall, she is full of praise for the culture under Prime Minister Scott Morrison. "There has been, in my view, a significant positive shift in women being engaged and treated well." While former Liberal MP Julia Banks says she was bullied during the Liberal leadership spill last year, Ms Andrews said she was "not bullied at all". "I did get phone calls from other people [lobbying for support]," she said. "I am capable of making up my own mind about things." Ms Andrews' comments come as the Liberal Party grapples with a so-called "women problem". While Mr Morrison has just appointed a record seventh female member of cabinet with the elevation of Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds, only 23 per cent of the Liberals' federal representatives are women. Ms Andrews, who is a staunch advocate for more women to join the Liberal Party and contest winnable seats, concedes politics can be an unappealing career path for women. "Politics is very adversarial, let's be honest, it's very testosterone-laden," she said. "I hear much more from women, 'we don't want to be involved in that,' than what I ever do from men." She also says parliamentary travel commitments - which can take MPs away from home for about six months a year - also make balancing work and family lives difficult. "There must be ways that as a Parliament we can deal with the amount of time that is spent in Canberra. Reducing that to the minimum I think would be a very positive step forward."

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/d0c197c2-ba48-485b-a86a-50dbb2750bb1/r0_236_4645_2860_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
UPDATED

Three Republican senators have introduced legislation that would create education savings accounts for families connected to the military.

The Education Savings Accounts for Military Families Act of 2019, introduced Thursday, would create the accounts for military families to use on a variety of education services. Families would opt in to using these accounts. The accounts would be worth up to $6,000 annually, according to a summary of the bill released by its main backers: Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Tim Scott of South Carolina.



It is imperative that we do everything we can to ensure that the children of our service members are taken care of and have the opportunities to receive a quality education, Scott said in a statement announcing the bill. As a kid who lived on an Air Force base, I know how important it is for parents to have options for their childrens education. Scott is the co-chairman, along with GOP Rep. Paul Mitchell of Michigan, of the Congressional Caucus on Education Innovation and Opportunity, formerly known as the School Choice Caucus.

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., also introduced the legislation in the House.

Education savings accounts differ from school choice programs like vouchers and tax-credit scholarships because typically, they allow parents to spend the money on things like tutoring, transportation, and online courses, in addition to private school tuition. They can also support parents who want to home-school their child. (Click here to read more about the difference between ESAs, vouchers, and scholarships .) The Cotton-Sasse-Scott proposal would roll over from year to year, and the statement says it could also go toward therapy and vocational training. Any money in the account left over after a student graduates high school could pay for expenses in higher education and industry certification, according to the statement.

The bill from the trio of GOP lawmakers comes on the heels of last weeks proposals to create federal tax-credit scholarships from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos supports the Byrne legislation, which would allow $5 billion in tax credits; Cruzs bill has a $10 billion cap. Theres also a proposal to expand school choice for military families using Coverdell accounts from Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.

Creating more choice for military families has been a top priority for conservative lawmakers and education wonks for some time. Last year, a Republican effort in Congress to create military ESAs fell short, despite support from groups like the Heritage Foundation. However, the Trump administration was ultimately not a fan of how that proposal would have paid for the accounts by taking money from the federal Impact Aid program, which supports districts that are significantly impacted by federal activities (think military bases). The Thursday statement from the GOP senators about the new bill did not identify a funding source; weve asked for more information about this, and will update this post if we hear back.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Andrew Ujifusa half of Politics K-12 @AndrewUjifusa .
The Charles County Commissioners wish to announce that applications to participate in Maryland's Agricultural Land Preservation Program for Charles County landowners are now being accepted. Complete applications must be filed with the Department of Planning and Growth Management by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 31.The Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) was created in 1977 by the Maryland General Assembly as an agency of the Maryland Department of Agriculture and is governed by the Agriculture Article, Sections 2-501 through 2-515 of the Annotated Code of Maryland. MALPF partners with county governments to purchase agricultural land preservation easements that forever restrict development on prime farmland and woodland. The foundation's statutory mission is to preserve productive farmland and woodland for continued production of food and fiber for the present and future citizens of the state.For more information on the program, landowners may visit the foundation's website at www.MDA.Maryland.gov/malpf . Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Charles Rice at 301-645-0651 or e-mail RiceC@CharlesCountyMD.gov to obtain an application and to receive assistance with completing the application. Citizens with special needs may contact the Maryland Relay Service at 711, or Relay Service TDD: 866-269-9006.The Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism fiscal 2020 tourism grant application is now available. 501c3 compliant organizations may request funding up to $9,000 for eligible projects. Applications are due by Tuesday, April 3, 2019, at 4:30 p.m.Desired project qualities include: Enhancing county tourism objectives through events, exhibits, education programs, or recreational opportunities. Fostering or strengthening partnerships with other county organizations, attractions, or initiatives that extend single day events into collaborative, event weekends. Enhancing county, state, and National Park Service trail and by-way experiences in Charles County through matching grant programs for interpretive signage.For more information or a copy of the grant guidelines and application e-mail your request to HinkleK@CharlesCountyMD.gov or HerbertC@CharlesCountyMD.gov or call the Tourism Division at 301-396-5839 or 301-396-5819. Citizens with special needs may contact the Maryland Relay Service at 711, or Relay Service TDD: 800-735-2258.The Charles County Commissioners invite the public to attend the March public meetings as scheduled below. The purpose of the meetings is to take questions from those in attendance and to discuss items of importance to the citizens and the community.Gilbert "BJ" Bowling, Commissioner (District 1)Wednesday, March 27 at 7 p.m.Hughesville Volunteer Fire Department (15245 Prince Frederick Rd, Hughesville)Thomasina O. Coates, M.S. Commissioner (District 2)Thursday, March 28 at 7 p.m.Bryans Road Volunteer Fire Department (3099 Livingston Road, Bryans Road)Future meeting dates are available at www.CharlesCountyMD.gov For more information, contact the Citizen Response Office at CitizenResponse@CharlesCountyMD.gov or call 301-645-0550. Citizens with special needs may contact the Maryland Relay Service at 711, or Relay Service TDD: 866-269-9006.
COLUMBIA, Md. (March 7, 2019)Out-of-state drivers have racked up $102 million in unpaid video tolls and fines in Maryland, and lawmakers pushing a bill through the General Assembly want them to pay up.



HB105, debated in the House of Delegates Wednesday, would enable the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) to hire an outside debt collection agency to collect the unpaid bills and associated penalties. The agency requested the bill, which would take effect June 1.



The change could mean a $20 million increase in revenue in fiscal 2020.



"These are people coming into Maryland and using our roads and not paying for them," said the bill's floor leader Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo, D-Montgomery, who chairs the Motor Vehicles and Transportation Subcommittee.



Fraser-Hidalgo said he was "shocked" when he learned the amount of toll debt owed to Maryland by out-of-state drivers.



According to the bill's analysis, MDTA estimates that about 576,000 out-of-state drivers owe MDTA outstanding tolls and civil penalties totaling $102 million.



"Some violators have $20,000" in unpaid tolls and fines, said Fraser-Hidalgo. He said the largest group of offenders are from Virginia.



Currently, the state's Central Collection Unit (CCU) under the Department of Budget and Management is responsible for going after that money, but on average, the CCU is only able to collect about $1.3 million in tolls and penalties annually from out-of-state drivers.



"Their ability to collect this debt is very, very limited," said Fraser-Hidalgo in the floor debate. For in-state drivers, MDTA has tools such as not renewing or suspending vehicle registration, but Maryland can't do that with a driver from Pennsylvania, for example.



Concerns about Beltway tolls



Del. Alfred Carr Jr., also a Democrat from Montgomery County, tried Wednesday to "special order" or hold over the bill for another day, but his motion, as well as his amendment to "sunset" the bill after seven months, failed.



Carr said he was concerned that outsourcing the debt collection from the CCU to a private company would be "taking work away from Marylanders."



In an interview afterward, Carr said that money collected from the unpaid tolls and fines would be a "piggybank" for the controversial managed toll lanes project, a public-private partnership under study that would add toll lanes on the Maryland side of the Capital Beltway, which runs through his district. High occupancy toll lanes have already been added to the Virginia side of the beltway.



"My constituents hate the (managed lanes) project," he said. "I don't want them (MDTA) to take a shortcut and get this windfall."



He said adding private toll lanes on the beltway in Montgomery County would take land away from people's backyards, schools, parks and hospitals.



"There's not enough room to add lanes to the beltway," Carr said.



Instead of passing the bill, he said Maryland should establish reciprocity agreements with neighboring states to collect unpaid tolls and fines.



"What they're seeking with this bill conflicts with that," he said.



Reciprocity



Fraser-Hidalgo said with reciprocity, Marylanders who fail to pay their tolls in neighboring states would be subject to the laws of Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware, which are sometimes harsher than Maryland's.



"Some of those states imprison people" for toll violations, he said.



Currently in Maryland, a motor vehicle incurs a video toll when the vehicle passes through an MDTA toll facility, such as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge or the all-electronic Intercounty Connector, but does not pay the toll using cash or an E-ZPass. The registered owner has 30 days to pay the toll or face a $50 fine. The owner may pay the citation and penalty or contest the citation in District Court.



Under the bill's fiscal summary, state revenue is estimated to increase by at least $18.5 million in fiscal year 2020 if the bill passes and, while no firm figures are listed, revenues are expected to "increase significantly in future fiscal years," depending on the collection rate of the chosen debt collection company.



The bill analysis notes that MDTA is seeking a contract with a private collection company that



would essentially buy the state's outstanding tolls up front, which would amount to about $20 million. The state would also get a percentage of the fines collected.



A final vote on the bill is expected later this week.
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.
Photo: The Canadian Press The SNC-Lavalin headquarters is seen in Montreal on February 12, 2019.

SNC-Lavalin, facing a 10-year ban from federal business over corruption charges, urged the Liberal government in 2017 to water down the penalty scheme for corporate misconduct to the point a guilty company could completely dodge a ban on receiving public contracts.

In essence, the engineering and construction giant recommended the Liberals leave wiggle room for a "zero debarment" time period under the government's integrity regime.

The regime's current rules disqualify offenders from receiving federal contracts for a decade, though in certain cases the period can be trimmed down to five years.

The request was part of SNC-Lavalin's submission to public consultations that explored the merits of changing Ottawa's tools to deter and punish unethical corporate behaviour. The document was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

A forthcoming proposal to update the integrity regime  which Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough has said will be finalized in about a month  might have major consequences for SNC-Lavalin. It could help the embattled firm avoid a lengthy, economically punishing ban on federal contracts.

The Montreal-based company finds itself at the centre of a national political storm amid allegations prime ministerial aides leaned on former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to help the engineering firm avoid criminal prosecution.

The company was charged in 2015 with corruption and fraud over allegations it resorted to bribery while pursuing business in Libya.

Wilson-Raybould recently told the House of Commons justice committee she came under relentless pressure from the Prime Minister's Office and other federal officials to ensure the company was invited to negotiate a remediation agreement, a sort of plea bargain that could allow it to continue doing business with the government.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his former principal secretary, Gerald Butts, have disputed the notion any inappropriate arm-twisting of Wilson-Raybould took place.

Following public consultations in 2017, the Liberal government ushered in legislation last year to establish the remediation agreement regime.

SNC-Lavalin lobbied the government for the creation of a remediation agreement tool  but the federal director of public prosecutions ruled late last year that its case was ill-suited for such an agreement. Wilson-Raybould agreed with the director's decision and declined to overturn it, though she had the power to do so.

However, the company could still escape severe punishment through an update to the integrity regime, which is aimed at fostering ethical business practices by shunning companies guilty of offences such as bid-rigging, bribery, fraud and money-laundering.
Cecil's Country Store as seen in Dec. 2005. (somd.com File Photo)

CALIFORNIA, Md.

(March 7, 2019)For the past 23 years, Dawna Wible has run a popular antique and gift shop in the historic Cecil's Country Store building located in Cecil's Historic District on Indian Bridge Road, just off Route 5 near Great Mills. This April, Wible will be handing the keys over to Misty Knott, owner of Knotted Mercantile, LLC as Cecil's Country Store begins a new chapter in its history.Dedicated to preserving the delightful shopping experience that is the hallmark of Cecil's Country Store, Knott says she will continue to offer authentically Southern Maryland products produced by local vendors  including the artwork of Mary Lou Troutman, hand-painted signs by Donnie Poe, Old Line Candles, Apple Mill glassware, plus lots of Maryland-themed products and gift ideas. She also plans to introduce new product lines, an expanded collection of antique & vintage items, an extensive inventory of scrapbooking and stamping supplies, and even DIY craft classes.Across the street at Cecil's Old Mill, Rob Seltzer, master furniture builder for over 20 years and owner of Herring Creek Furniture will soon be opening a new retail store showcasing his unique handcrafted furniture collection. Rob is well-known both locally and throughout the region as a talented artist in furniture design. Each piece is built to showcase the unique natural beauty of the selected wood, and materials may include reclaimed windows, doors, old porch posts and other pieces of wood weathered by nature.Some improvements to the interior retail space at Cecil's Old Mill are underway which will allow visitors a better view of the existing antique mill equipment. Seltzer said they plan on holding events and will continue to improve the customer experience at Cecil's Old Mill."Everyone involved is excited with the new direction of Cecil's Historic District," said Wible. "It's such a special location with all its history and it's nice to know that its future will be in good hands with Misty and Rob."Herring Creek Furniture at Cecil's Old Mill will open in April with a grand opening date to be announced soon. For any additional questions about Cecil's Old Mill, call Rob Seltzer at 301-904-9900 or email rnswoodworks@gmail.com.Cecil Country Store is located at 20853 Indian Bridge Road, California, directly across from Cecil's Old Mill. Cecil's Mill was originally built as a cotton/textile factory in the 1800's. Later, it was transformed into a grist mill and saw mill. After restoration, Cecil's Old Mill has become a National Landmark in Historic St. Mary's County and is home to some of the finest local arts and crafts around.For more photographs of Cecil's Old Mill, visit forums.somd.com/media/albums/cecils-mill-dec-2005.250/
In Cori McCarthy and Amy Rose Capettas upcoming book Once & Future  available March 26  the forty-second incarnation of King Arthur is traversing planets controlled by a ruthless monopoly organization with the young wizard Merlin, a nontraditional band of knights, and the magic sword Excalibur by her side.

For the first time in the King Arthur cycle, the hero of the story is a female named Ari. The story includes plenty of same-sex romance and gender non-conforming characters, but this is far from the stories of LGBT marginalization that we are used to.

This is a massive magic-woven space odyssey. This is not a gay story, its just filled with gay, bisexual and nonbinary characters who are unapologetically themselves.

We wanted to write a commercial book starring all queer characters, not a niche book, co-author Cori McCarthy said.

McCarthy and Capetta wanted to write a story with queer teen heroes that didnt fall prey to the tropes of traditional queer media  they didnt want to write another gay teen sob story.

It is good that we have the fun romp elements because unfortunately what queer teenagers do not get a lot of is fun, Capetta said.

Much of Capetta and McCarthys inspiration for writing Young Adult fiction came from their time with a secret Gay Straight Alliance. The authors live in rural Michigan  a space largely unaccepting of the LGBT community especially following the 2016 presidential election. They would leave the house to participate in a teen writing group that also doubled as an underground Gay Straight Alliance.

These kids loved fantasy they loved Sci-Fi and loved these big genre books, and it was so rare that they could bring in characters who were like them, McCarthy said. These were the stories they loved, and they did not have them in them in that way.

McCarthy continued, We need queer teen heroes to show queer teen kids that they can be the hero of the story  but I feel like they already are that in a lot of ways. I felt like we had an opportunity to show that. To show that these kids already show up and are so brave and are doing so much. We wanted to honor that, and have that impact be a big splash.

Community is not only a significant element in crafting a story such as Once & Future, but the impacts that the story and its characters have on readers develops a much more profound sense of community beyond the pages of the book.

There is something so significant there, not only seeing yourself in the pages of a book but also seeing yourself out there in the world, Capetta said.

The community is only growing as more authors contribute to queer fiction  and more publishers support them.

Now we are finally starting to see publishers taking big leaps and showing up with excitement  in terms of just having a more general approach to putting a book out there, Capetta said. Not hiding that they have queer characters but exploring all of the reasons why the book is exciting.

Audiences are meeting the increasing queer fiction with excitement  and it isnt just teenagers and young adults who are reading these books, but older people as well.

McCarthy said that they have had a surprising number of older people come up to them saying that they resonated with the characters in their books  not only in their sexuality and gender identities, but in the coming of age narrative that so many in the LGBT community experience so much later in life than their heterosexual peers.

There are times in the cishet world where theres an idea that at some point you are grown up and you are done and you are finished, this is what youre going to be for the rest of your life and thats that, Capetta said. For me at least, and a lot of the queer people I know, I dont think theres quite as much expectation to be static  theres a lot more interest in evolution and paying attention to how your life is changing and how you are changing along with it.

In other words, we never stop growing and changing  and this is something that the queer community is actively aware of. McCarthy and Capetta along with many other queer authors are telling the stories of growth, evolution and of coming of age in as many ways as they can.

The more authors there are contributing their experiences through story, the more opportunity readers will have to find themselves in the pages of a book, and the more normalized these narratives will become.

You can put yourself in anything, McCarthy said. I dont identify as a girl, but I wrote Ari, our girl King Arthur. You can put yourself into a variety of characters and enjoy that space because it gives you a chance to investigate who you are.
LafargeHolcim Algeria ships first white cement exports to South Africa

ICR Newsroom By 07 March 2019

LafargeHolcim Algerie has carried out its first exports of white cement from Oran, Algeria, to South Africa. A consignment of 10,000t of Super White cement, produced in the companys Oggaz plant, was shipped to Cape Town.

The shipment is part of the companys export programme, launched in 2018. In the run-up to 2021, LafargeHolcim expects to export 10Mt of grey cement clinker to west Africa.

Published under
Dangote Cameroon cement sales stable at 1.2Mt in 2018

ICR Newsroom By 07 March 2019

Dangote Cement sold 1.2Mt of cement in Cameroon in 2018, reflecting stable sales when compared with the previous years, according to the Nigeria-based company.



Dangote Cameroon said the stagnation of its performance can be explained partly by the arrival of a new competitor in the market, Cameroonian company Egin SA, which produced around 100,000t in 2018.



In addition, following price cuts by competitors earlier in the year, the average cement price in Cameroon reached US$107/t at the end of the year.



These factors reduced Dangotes market share in the country from 47 to 41 per cent YoY. However, the company retains its market leadership in front of LafargeHolcim-owned Cimencam.



For 2019 Dangote announced it will improve its logistics to expand its market presence and compete more effectively with other suppliers. In addition, it will supply clinker from its Nigerian and Republic of Congo cement works. At present the 1.5Mta Cameroonian plant relies mainly on clinker from other African countries.



Total domestic cement production in Cameroon edged up to 2.9Mt in 2018 from 2.8Mt in 2017. Both Cimencam and Dangote run 1.5Mta of capacity with an additional 0.5Mta by Cimaf and 0.2Mta by Medcem. According to the countrys Ministry of Economy market shares are: Dangote  45 per cent, Cimencam  30 per cent, Cimaf  22 per cent and Medcem  three per cent.

Published under
Compass is teaming up with The Box Gallery of Palm Beach to celebrate South Floridas diverse LGBT community with a portrait gallery.

The exhibition, named Spectrum: Portraits of the South Florida LGBT Community, will feature portraits of LGBT members in Broward and Palm Beach counties and more.

Compass, the LGBT community center of the Palm Beaches, will feature the portraits in their Community Hall throughout the month. To be featured, you can nominate yourself or someone else.

Box Gallery curator and owner Rolando Chang Barrero had a very clear goal when it came to curating the exhibition.

[I wanted] to create unity within South Florida by allowing people to celebrate each other and stand proudly together, he said. We make a positive impact in so many meaningful ways  to so many people, its a way to showcase that love and respect we have for each other.

Barrero also said that the concept of the exhibition spotlights the LGBT communitys impact as seen through the eyes of the general public and allies in South Florida. The exhibition will cover the broad spectrum of color, race, politics and religion within the LGBT community and its participants.

The Box Gallery was founded in 2016. Located in West Palm Beach, it showcases rising artists work within the community and strives to create an inspiring space where all feel welcome. The gallery and Barrero have collaborated with Compass in the past with its TransCuba exhibit,which documented the lives of transgender Cubans.

With Compass annual pride events and the addition of the Spectrum exhibition, they are continuing to recognize LGBT diversity.

The exhibition will be located at the Compass Community Center during their pride event on March 30 and 31. The event is family-friendly and all are welcome to attend.

If you wish to visit The Box Gallery, you can find it on 811 Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach, Tuesday-Saturday 12-6 p.m.

For more information about the exhibit and how to be include email Rolando Chang Barrero at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Nearly 30,000 men in the U.S. were diagnosed each year with HIV/AIDS from 2012-2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But in those years, 6,000 women per year were also affected. Because more men than women are typically impacted by HIV, the female population gets overlooked.

Compass will give the female minority visibility during its fifth annual Red Hat Brunch on March 8, which is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD).

This years event theme is Nothing About Us Without Us, which is a call for women with HIV to voice their concerns to those creating health legislation, said Compass Health Services Director Neka MacKay.

The voices of those living with HIV/AIDS and their loved ones should be the voices driving the decisions on HIV/AIDS services, MacKay said.

CAN Community Health and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation are sponsoring the brunch at Compass from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Attendees will have the chance to network, grab a gift tote, and watch a documentary called Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS. The film features female activists from across the globe, namely the U.S. and Africa.

According to the films website, it explores the unaddressed dynamics that keep women around the world at risk of HIV, while introducing the remarkable women who have the answers to ending this 30-year old pandemic.

Big Mamas House of Sweets, a custom cheesecake bakery in Lake Worth, will be providing free brunch for attendees.

Along with food and drinks, attendees will also be able learn about local health resources. There will be several exhibiting at Compass throughout the day, including Planned Parenthood, Florida Department of Health, PBC HIV CARE Council, and more.

NWGHAAD is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Healths Office on Womens Health, with this year being the 14th anniversary. Like Compass, the Office of Womens Health also declared a theme for every years NWGHAAD. This years national theme that Compass is taking a different spin on is HIV Prevention Starts With Me, which emphasizes individuals roles in ensuring a healthy community, according to the website.

Compass, the LGBT community center of Palm Beach County, recognizes that the minority of women with HIV definitely tends to get overlooked, MacKay said, which is why they deliberately make the Red Hat Brunch a big event every year.

For this event, she said, we highlight the voices of women, which have often been unheard or written out of history in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

The event is free, but registration on Compass website is required.
Chattanooga firefighters responded to fire at Marina Point apartments on Lake Resort Drive shortly before 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Battalion Chief Chris Warren said heavy smoke was showing from an apartment on the second floor when the first firefighters arrived on the scene. When firefighters were told that someone might still be inside the structure, Chief Warren called for a second alarm response to bring in additional firefighters and equipment. Fortunately, no one was found inside.





Chief Warren said the fire damage was contained to the apartment unit where it started. However, the apartment below did have some water damage. Chief Warren said the firefighters attacked the fire aggressively and had it extinguished in roughly 10 minutes. No fire-related injuries were reported.Chief Warren said the fire damage was contained to the apartment unit where it started. However, the apartment below did have some water damage.





The fire displaced four people. Apartment management told firefighters that they will provide the fire victims with another place to stay on site. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
STULZ Air Technology Systems Inc. will establish manufacturing operations in Dayton, officials announced Wednesday.

STULZ, a leading manufacturer of precision HVAC equipment and solutions, will invest $2 million and create 250 jobs in Rhea County. STULZ will establish its operations in the former International Automotive Components building at 311 Greenway Blvd.

in Dayton.

STULZs decision to create hundreds of jobs in Rhea County is tremendous news for Southeast Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee said. Were committed to supporting job growth in rural Tennessee, and an investment like this from STULZ will spark terrific economic activity in Rhea County and the area.

Rhea County has a long, rich history as a leader in the HVAC industry, and Id like to thank STULZ for its decision to establish operations in Dayton, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe said. Tennessees Tier-4 communities like Rhea County have our utmost attention when it comes to attracting new jobs and industry. By creating 250 jobs in Dayton, STULZ promises to provide steady incomes for hundreds of families in Rhea County.

With its global headquarters in Hamburg, Germany, STULZ operates 10 other production facilities across the globe, employing more than 7,200 people. STULZ has more than 450 employees at its North American headquarters in Frederick, Md.

STULZ chose to open a manufacturing facility in Dayton because of the outstanding and highly skilled workforce along with the great business-friendly climate of Dayton, Rhea County, and the state of Tennessee, Andy Tuthill, STULZs vice president of manufacturing operations, said.



Elected officials and the Tennessee Valley Authority praised STULZ for its investment in Dayton.

"We are always excited to recruit new, high paying jobs to Rhea County, Dayton Mayor Gary Louallen said. Our skilled workforce combined with our business-friendly environment helped to make this opportunity a reality. We're thrilled to have this significant investment from STULZ here in Dayton."

We are very proud to have STULZ choose Rhea County and the city of Dayton for its next manufacturing operation, Rhea County Executive George Thacker said. Our community is experiencing unprecedented growth and were proud that STULZ will be a huge part of that continued momentum.



TVA and city of Dayton Electric congratulate STULZ on its decision to locate and create new job opportunities in Rhea County, TVA Senior Vice President of Economic Development John Bradley said. Helping to foster new job opportunities is fundamental to TVAs core mission of service and we are proud to partner with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and Rhea County Economic and Tourism Council to help further that mission.

These 250 jobs will be a tremendous boost to our local economy, State Senator Ken Yager (R-Kingston) said. Our people have an incredible work ethic and our state is committed to developing the best trained workforce in the nation. I could not be more pleased with this investment and look forward to seeing how these new jobs will provide many citizens of Rhea and neighboring counties with new and better opportunities for the future.

I am grateful to Gov. Lee, TNECD, and STULZ for investing in our community, State Rep. Ron Travis (R-Dayton) said. Todays announcement will have a tremendous economic impact on District 31 and our region, and I am proud to partner with our local leaders to fulfill the employment desires of our citizens.
Rep. Colton Moore, of Dade County, has asked new Governor Brian Kemp to veto a bill that would name the new state Supreme Court building for former Governor Nathan Deal.

He said:

"SUBJECT: Veto HR1 Our States Highest Courts Must Remain Neutral and Impartial

"Dear Governor Kemp, House Resolution 1, which has passed the House and Senate, seeks to rename one of the most important and expensive government buildings in Georgia history. The new $127 million State of Georgia Appellate Courthouse will hold the highest, most precious courts of justice in Georgia. Should this Resolution obtain your approval, the building would be renamed the Nathan Deal Judicial Center.

"Respectfully, such a designation would be highly inappropriate for a building where the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals will be housed. Former Governor Deal continues to be extremely active in Georgia politics. He owns and operates a lobbying firm which already represents clients, such as Pruitt Health, that have significant cases before these State appellate courts on matters ranging from wrongful death to fraud against state agencies.

Should you approve HR1, these clients and their critical court cases will be heard in the very building named after the lobbying firm they have hired. This is a serious conflict of interest that eternally jeopardizes the crown jewel of justice in Georgia. Furthermore, potential challenges to executive actions taken by former Governor Deals administration, and appeals of such challenges, would be made to a court housed in a building named in his honor. In light of this, I request you veto any Resolution that names a living person to a building equal to the reach and influence of our State Capitol. If such an honor is ever appropriate for a courthouse, I believe it is only appropriate to recognize someone in this fashion once our State has had the opportunity to process the entire body of ones contributions to our society, freedoms, and way of life.

"I submit to you the example set by one of the first and greatest symbols of justice in our country, President George Washington. After leading our nation to freedom, presiding over the Constitutional Convention and later serving as our first President, he declined the honor of being featured on the first U.S. silver dollar, symbolizing his humble nature of service. Congress later cemented President Washingtons tradition of humility in public service by passing 31 US Code  5112 (n)(2)(e): No coin issued under this subsection may bear the image of a living former or current President, or of any deceased former President during the 2-year period following the date of the death of that President.

"If you allow our States highest courts to conduct the business of Georgias citizens in a courthouse named after a living person, who continues to be actively involved in the public policy and business of the State, we will sacrifice the neutrality and impartiality so critical to the administration of justice. Even the appearance of impropriety damages public trust in Georgias judicial branch, impairing the ability to uphold the Constitution and laws of our State.

"Our Founding Fathers created a nation of laws, not of men. The citizens of Georgia must be able to trust that our States highest courts are operating free of political influence or bias, beyond even the smallest doubt. House Resolution 1 is a clear conflict of interest. It should be vetoed."
Lee Universitys Cultural Diversity Committee will host a series of events during the week of March 11-14 to celebrate International Womens Day. Activities will include lectures, a panel discussion, chapel services, and a poster competition.

Lee began honoring International Womens Day in 2008, recognizing this day as an opportunity to mark the economic, political, and social achievements of women.

I love the fact that Lee University takes a whole week to celebrate International Womens Day with a series of events designed to remember, affirm, and honor what God Himself says about women, said Dr. Ana Alves Shippey, assistant professor of political science at Lee. Women, along with men, are created in Gods own image, and together and simultaneously both man and woman are blessed (Genesis 1: 27-28).

Activities begin Tuesday at 10:40 a.m. with a special liturgical service held in Lees Chapel. Catherine Mantooth, senior lecturer in theatre and theatre technical director, will speak about the way she experienced Gods provision after going through a series of difficult years. The service will be officiated by Associate Professor of Christian Formation Dr. Lisa Long, and music will be provided by Dr. Lenena Brezna, assistant professor of voice, and Ladies of Lee.



Events continue Wednesday with the fifth annual student poster session from 1-3:45 p.m. in the Great Room of the Science and Math Complex. This event includes poster presentations from students of any major who present on various topics pertaining to womens issues. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three student presenters.

Katelyn Beaty will speak in chapel Thursday, March 14, at 10:40 a.m. in the Conn Center. She is the author of A Womans Place and contributor to Christianity Today, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. Beaty will address questions regarding females in church leadership.

IWD will conclude Thursday, March 14, at 6 p.m. with a School of Religion panel titled, Women and Social Change. The roundtable will feature panelists Dr. Lisa Stephenson, Dr. Mary McCampbell, and Sara Keel, and will take place in the SOR Jones Lecture Hall.

Other events will take place during the week for students and staff. Latte in the Library, with Dr. Suzanne Holt, will provide an opportunity for students to hear her story and meet with faculty members for advice on navigating college, life experiences, or lifes plans. A faculty and staff reception will also be held during the week to honor women on staff.

All events are free, non-ticketed, and open to the public.

For more information about Lees International Womens Day events, contact Dr. Shippey at aalves@leeuniversity.edu or visit the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LeeU.IWW/.
After having not recorded a charted mile since last falls TVG Free For All Trot at the Meadowlands Racetrack, Will Take Charge, who was voted as Canadas 2018 Older Trotting Horse of the Year, surfaced this morning (Thursday, March 7) during Woodbine Mohawk Parks qualifying session.

Bob McClure was up behind the six-year-old Kadabra gelding for his co-owning trainer, Jeff Gillis. The winner of 21 of 76 starts and $1.05-million in purses started from the outside Post 5 in the last of the sessions qualifying dashes (Race 6).

McClure and his charge were quickest from the start, as the duo had sprung out to a three-length lead by the time they clicked off the quarter pole in :29.3 (the race was contested over a fast track that was rated one second slow).

Will Take Charge continued to lead the field down to the half-mile indicator, as the OBrien Award winner trotted down to the marker in :58.3.

McClure and the millionaire were in cruise control on the turn, as they made their way to the three-quarters pole in 1:28.1 and still led by one and three-quarter lengths.

Their lead had expanded to three and a half lengths by the time they hit the head of the lane. Will Take Charge capped off his comfortable mile by sealing the deal with a :29.4 final quarter. His margin of victory was two and a quarter lengths and he cruised under the wire in 1:58.

Will Take Charge won nine races and more than $492,000 in 2018. He eclipsed the $1 million plateau in career earnings last season and scored victories in the Maxie Lee Memorial Invitation and the Crawford Farms Open Trot. He etched his name into the world record books after his Maxie Lee effort, as he sped to a 1:50.3 win and joined Sevruga and Homicide Hunter as the worlds fastest aged geldings over a five-eighths-mile course.

Gillis co-owns Will Take Charge along with fellow Ontario resident Mac Nicol.

To view the harness racing results for the Thursday qualifying session at Mohawk, click the following link: Thursday Results  Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).
65 Sisters team, Moving for Mk, has begun its fundraising efforts for the Lee University Great Strides Walk, which will take place on Saturday, March 30, to raise awareness and money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

65 Sister, an initiative founded by Jade Goss, held a Galentines event to raise money and awareness for CF, where participants were taught modern calligraphy. Ms. Goss started 65 Sister in spring 2017 in honor of her sister Marykate, who lived with CF, a chronic disease affecting the lungs and digestive system, for 18 years.

The team will continue to fundraise with a floral wreath-making and lettering workshop on Saturday, March 16.

We believe small efforts can produce great impact, said Ms. Goss. To me CF is personal, but I believe as a community this story matters to us all. Together we can make a difference in the lives of each person living with CF.

The Great Strides event will rally hundreds of community participants and Lee University students to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Great Strides is one of my favorite events of the year, said Ms. Goss. It creates a space to locally focus on sharing the CF story and raise funds to find a cure.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a nonprofit donor-supported organization dedicated to attacking cystic fibrosis from every angle. Its focus is to support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF, and ultimately find a cure.

Tickets for 65 Sisters March event are available on its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/65sister/.

For more information about the Cleveland Great Strides or to register, visit http://webpages.leeu.edu/cf/.

For more information about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, visit https://www.cff.org/.






Congressman Chuck Fleischmann praised the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Cyber Crimes Center after he received a tour.

He said, I have always said that there are many aspects to the border security debate and my trip yesterday to the ICE Cyber Crimes Center reinforced this belief.

Americans know there is an ongoing humanitarian crisis at the southern border, but there is also a much more silent, and equally as dangerous world of cyber threats that pose a serious risk to our national security.

"The ICE Cyber Crimes Center acts as the hub for cyber related investigations  from economic crimes, to child exploitation, and the investigation of the dark webs role in facilitating illicit drugs  all of which present direct threats to our nation. The expertise housed at this facility is top-notch, and I am thankful for the work done there to protect our nations sovereignty against the bad actors of the cyber realm.
Looking into our silverware drawer the other day, I noticed something: The spoons, forks and knives werent lying in their respective sections asking, What is my purpose? Am I of any use? Whats the meaning of being a utensil?

There are two reasons for that. First, of course, theyre inanimate; inanimate things dont talk  or think. (Unless theyre performing in a Beauty and the Beast movie where the cups, saucers and candlesticks all prance around and talk with abandon.) Secondly, its because the person who picks them up is the one who determines their purpose, use, and meaning.

For example, someone decides the immediate use of a spoon is for eating a bowl of cereal or ice cream, or for stirring creamer into a cup of coffee. The user determines the purpose, not the spoon. The same could be said about forks, knives, spatulas, ladles, etc.

It seems we spend an inordinate amount of time wondering such things of ourselves. We tend to ponder imponderables like: Why am I here? Whats the meaning of life? Or the penetrating question a cinematic theme song of decades ago asked, Whats it all about, Alfie?

Not that theres anything wrong with thinking about these deep matters. Wed all like to believe were here for a good reason, that were not cosmic accidents lacking purpose or plan. But if our trust is in God, His wisdom and sovereignty, maybe its not healthy getting into a mental tangle over this.

Reading recently from my favorite devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest, author Oswald Chambers suggested, We should quit asking ourselves, Am I of any use? and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to [God]. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.

When we first read this, it can sound somewhat demeaning. What does Chambers mean, we really are not of much use to God? But the Lords work proceeded quite well for countless years before we arrived on the scene, and His work will continue long after were gone. So as much as it pains us to admit, were not indispensable.

At the same time, we are privileged to know that God can and will use us. In Jeremiah 29:11, He declares, For I know the plans I have for youplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

Earlier in the same book God says, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). Its amazing to consider that even before he became a gleam in his mothers eyes, the prophet Jeremiah had been chosen by God for a very special work.

Most of us havent been selected to serve as prophets, or preachers, or foreign missionaries, but as followers of Jesus Christ we can have the assurance that He does have a very special role for us  a calling we each have been created uniquely to fulfill.

As the apostle Pauls first letter to the Corinthians asserts, But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed [people with different gifts]. (1 Corinthians 12:24-28).

Just as each fork, spoon and knife in our kitchen drawer can provide very useful service according to our wishes, each of us can rejoice that when and as needed, God will work through us all the time, as Chambers wrote. So with joy, as Paul exhorted believers in ancient Rome, we can offer [ourselves] to Godand offer the parts of [our] body to him as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:11-13).

- - - -

Robert J. Tamasy is a veteran journalist, former newspaper editor and magazine editor. Bob has written hundreds of magazine articles, and authored, co-authored and edited more than 15 books. These include the newly re-published, Business At Its Best, Tufting Legacies, The Heart of Mentoring, and Pursuing Life With a Shepherds Heart. He edits a weekly business meditation, Monday Manna, which is translated into more than 20 languages and distributed via email around the world by CBMC International. To read more of Bob Tamasys writings, you can visit his blog, www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com, or his website (now being completed), www.bobtamasy-readywriterink.com. He can be emailed at btamasy@comcast.net.
The BlueCross Technology Academy at Red Bank High school will add another major community business to the list of participants in the community helping to prepare high school graduates for success after graduation. Hamilton County Schools and BlueCross announced the partnership on Tuesday, March 5, at the Chattanooga offices of BlueCross BlueShield. Students in the Red Bank High program, Hamilton County Schools administrators, community leaders, and BlueCross BlueShield representatives gathered for the announcement.

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation will provide $250,000 in support of the Future Ready Institute program at Red Bank. The BlueCross technology team will also collaborate with school instructors in tailoring the curriculum in the program to provide high school students with the skills necessary for success after graduation. BlueCross will also share business expertise and experience with the students in the program.

The BlueCross Technology Academy at Red Bank High will combine engaging classroom learning with professional mentors from BlueCross to prepare graduates for technology careers. The BlueCross sponsored Future Ready Institute will officially begin with the start of the 2019 school year in the fall. The program will combine 40 incoming freshmen with the current class that will be sophomores. The program will continue to add classes over the next two years until a full four-year curriculum for students. Like all Future Ready Institutes, the BlueCross Technology Academy will be open to all students in Hamilton County Schools. Applications for the program will be open until March 15.

We started Future Ready Institutes at the beginning of this school year so that our students would have every opportunity possible for future success and we knew that we could not do it alone, said Dr.

Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools. Through partnerships with community leaders like BlueCross, Future Ready Institutes are expanding opportunities for our graduates and their families for success after graduation.

BlueCross representatives opened the facility for the students to tour. The current students in the program at Red Bank were able to see the technology used in the operation of BlueCross and talk with the employees that make the technology work for the people served by the company.

I think it is great that we will have the opportunity for an internship at BlueCross BlueShield now that they are part of our institute, said Skyy Hill, a student at Red Bank High School. This is a big opportunity for our school and our Future Ready Institute.

I am just excited to see what happens here at BlueCross and what people do on a day-to-day basis, added Josiah Tillett, another student in the Red Bank program. I think this is going to be a big help and provide new opportunities for us.

I am excited about the mentorship possibilities with the new partnership, said Lily Akins, a student at Red Bank. We will get exposed to technology used in the real world.

Future Ready Institutes challenge the traditional approach to education in high schools by developing career-themed small learning communities. Themes include medicine, robotics, forensic science, engineering, hospitality, technology, business, marketing and more. Teachers of all content areas including English, math, science and social studies work closely with the career theme teacher to provide classroom instruction through the lens of a career. The goal is for students to clearly understand why a lesson is important and how they will use the information in the future.

We know how important public education is to the health of our community and were excited to continue supporting innovative programs for students, said Scott Neal Wilson, director of community relations and health foundation for BlueCross. The BlueCross Technology Academy will help develop talent right here in our hometown, improving the lives of students and supporting the whole community.
Last week, the City of Chattanooga hosted an Arbor Day celebration on Friday, and a tree planting event on Saturday.

Arbor Day encourages the planting of both forest and shade trees, flowers and wildlife habitats with the intention to improve the attractiveness of the streets, livability of the area, and the act of planting of trees with local volunteers works to build strong neighborhoods through teamwork.

On Arbor Day on Friday, remarks were made by Gene Hyde, City Forester, and Grace Wooten, Tennessee Division of Forestry, presented the City of Chattanooga an award for being a Tree City for 29 years. Mayor Andy Berke proclaimed the day, Arbor Day, in Chattanooga, and City Councilman Anthony Byrd dedicated a tree to Mr. John Henry, a leader in the Park Central neighborhood and in Chattanooga.

On Saturday, an additional 43 trees were planted for a total of 44 new trees along Central Avenue. On Saturday 20 volunteers from the neighborhood, UTC students, and Volkswagen employees all worked together to plant the trees. Jon Nessle, a Board Certified Master Arborist, instructed the group on proper tree planting.





The Tree City USA program has been greening up cities and towns across America since 1976. It is a nationwide movement that provides the framework necessary for communities to manage and expand their public trees. More than 3,400 communities have made a commitment to becoming a Tree City USA. Chattanooga has achieved Tree City USA status by meeting four core standards of sound urban forestry management; maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2.00 per capita on urban forestry, and celebrating Arbor Day. Find out more about the Tree City USA program at www.arborday.org.
The Occupational Therapy Assistant program, made available at Chattanooga State Community College through a partnership with Roane State Community College, is composed of three semesters of academic readiness followed by one semester of full-time experience in the field. Every OTA student that is admitted will use distance education technologies to engage with the instructor, course content and peers. Every student is required to travel weekly to the Oak Ridge Branch Campus of Roane State for face-to-face labs.



Occupational therapy assistants use intentional activities to help a person retain or reestablish their independence at the highest degree possible in pursuits that are personally worthwhile to them. Occupational therapy assistants are employed in a multitude of areas such as hospitals, outpatient centers, school systems, skilled nursing facilities, community programs, home health agencies and mental health agencies, officials said.



Students seeking admission through the East Tennessee Alliance must be a current or former student at Chattanooga State who have completed a minimum of least 12 hours at Chattanooga State before applying to the OTA program. Each year, up to 10 applicants will be granted admission to the program. All applications must be submitted by no later than March 31.



For further inquiries and information about the programs admissions policies, visit Chattanooga State Nursing and Allied Health OTA webpage or contact Jerri Kiser, Distance Education Academic Fieldwork coordinator, OTA East Alliance Program at jerri.kiser@chattanoogastate.edu.



The next available OTA Information Session will be held at noon on Monday, March 11 in the Health Science Center, room HSC-2088. No reservations are needed.



The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education.
Amanda Forbes, a student at Cleveland State Community College, has received two of the nations top scholarships recognizing outstanding academic achievement among college students.Ms. Forbes is one of 20 students to be named to the All-USA Academic Team and will receive a $5,000 scholarship. The All-USA program is widely recognized as the most prestigious academic honor for students attending associate degree-granting institutions. All-USA Academic Team members were selected for their outstanding intellectual achievement, leadership, and community and campus engagement.Ms. Forbes has also been named a 2019 New Century Transfer Pathway Scholar and will receive an additional $2,250 scholarship.New Century Transfer Pathway Scholars are selected based on their academic accomplishments, leadership activities and how well they extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom. Over 2,000 students were nominated from more than 1,200 college campuses across the country. Only one New Century Transfer Pathway Scholar is selected from each state.We congratulate Forbes for receiving these prestigious and highly competitive scholarships that recognize outstanding achievements both inside and outside the classroom, said Phi Theta Kappas President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner. Scholarship programs like these not only recognize student achievement, but also create meaningful pathways for college students to succeed by putting completion within financial reach.This is the second year in a row that Cleveland State has had a student receive the top All-Academic Team score in the state of Tennessee, stated PTK Adviser Karen Dale. Amanda has served as the president for Phi Theta Kappa this year, and was instrumental in organizing a successful voter registration event, as well as serving as a mentor to Tennessee Valley Early College Students and turning her passion for special needs/hearing impaired into a successful Honors in Action Project.I was so shocked when Dr. Seymour called to tell me, stated Ms. Forbes. I dont know what to say, other than I am so thrilled. This scholarship helps me continue my education and for that, I'm so grateful.The All-USA Academic Team is sponsored by Follett Higher Education Group, with additional support provided by Phi Theta Kappa and the American Association of Community Colleges.The New Century Program is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, Phi Theta Kappa, and AACC. The New Century Transfer Pathway Scholars and All-USA Academic Team will be recognized at Phi Theta Kappas Presidents Breakfast in Orlando, Florida, on April 15 during the AACC Convention.
The Austin Hatcher Foundation welcomes three new board members to their growing leadership team.

The first member being added is Wanda Phipatanakul, MD, MS. She received a B.S. in pre-medicine from Union College and furthered her education at both Loma Linda University and Harvard School of Public Health to receive her MD and MS respectively. She has been on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for nearly 19 years. Dr. Phipatanakul is currently a senior physician and director of the Asthma Clinical Research Center at Boston Childrens Hospital and a Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Her vast experience in the medical field and clinical research will make her an invaluable asset to board.

The second newest addition is Angie Burton, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate who is currently a producer and project manager at Tombras Group Advertising, based out of Knoxville. Prior to joining Tombras Group Advertising, Ms. Burtons career included 14 years as a producer and production manager with The Johnson Group in Chattanooga. Her extensive experience in marketing and advertising makes her a valuable addition to the board.

Chattanooga native Clay Watson is the third addition to the foundations board. Mr. Watson is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and currently serves as the president and dealer principal at Mtn. View Ford Lincoln. Watson brings his expertise in business administration and the automotive industry.

The Austin Hatcher Foundation would also like to extend their thanks and gratitude to the three outgoing board members Debbie Westbrook who served on the board from 2010 to 2018 and Nina Coppinger and David Tsurusaki who both served from 2015 to 2018. Their hard work and service is appreciated, and the foundation looks forward to continuing the accomplishments they completed during their time on the board.

While its sad to say goodbye to three of our outstanding board members, were thrilled to have Wanda, Angie, and Clay joining our leadership team, said foundation president Amy Jo Osborn. As we continue to expand our organization and offer more no-cost services to children and families throughout the country, these new board members will play major roles in shaping our growth strategies.
The Humanities and Fine Arts Division of Chattanooga State Community College will host the fifth installment of its 5th annual Chautauqua Lecture Series on Thursday, March 21 at 2 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre, 4501 Amnicola Hwy., on Chattanooga States main campus, with a dessert reception to follow. The event is free to all members of the public.



In 1874, people gathered on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in New York State to enjoy speakers, teachers, musicians and specialists who entertained and educated members of the community, thus catalyzing an adult education movement that subsequently spread throughout rural America. Since 2014, Chattanooga State has hosted its own monthly Chautauqua to unite faculty, students, staff and the larger Chattanooga community in exploring a wide array of topics within the Humanities. This year, Chattanooga States Chautauqua Series features the informative and unique research of seven Humanities & Fine Arts faculty, as well as the series finale with Writers@Work 2018-2019 visiting authors Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin.



This months lecture features Assistant Professor Eric Niemi, who will present Playing with Rituals: How Board Games Impact Culture. Niemis focus stems from the notion that we are currently in the golden age of board games. His talk invites audience members to analyze the rituals contained within these popular types of play, as he explores a brief history of board games, reveals how procedural rhetoric is embedded in this form of play and then discusses how these games impact culture.



Niemi attributes his interest in the topic to his life-long passion for games and reveals that he grew up trying to get his family to play Risk and Monopoly with him. He goes on to say that as a student, he was fascinated by how games can tell stories and bring people together. His research includes examining how these games affect our culture and what people learn playing them and playing with others.



Following Niemis March lecture, the final installment in the 2018-2019 Chautauqua Lecture Series will be a special event offered in partnership with the Humanities Departments Writers@Work program, entitled Writers@Work: The Art and Craft of Writing. During this session, the 2018-19 Writers@Work visiting authors, Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin, will discuss their writing process, their collaboration on the novel The Tilted World, and the art and craft of writing.



For more information, see Facebook: Chattanooga States Chautauqua Series; Instagram: chautauqua_series; Twitter: @ChautauquaSeries; Email: keri.lamb@chattanoogastate.edu.
School boards serve any community in a variety of ways and the hiring of a superintendent describes just one. The school board serves as the fiscal referee as well on all finance matters - building services and all the many requirements running the individual schools. State rules and regulations must be followed. The budget that comprises all the expenditures is overseen by the ... (click for more)

It has long been said the two biggest days in a football coachs life are the day he gets hired, and the day he gets fired. Being a college coach has never been as lucrative, with the nations elite universities paying around $10 million a year, but getting fired has an upside too. Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated notes, We are one more big firing away from eclipsing $100 million ... (click for more)
Ohio-based trainer Barry W. Langley passed away suddenly at his home on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at the age of 33 due to heart issues.

Born August 19, 1985, Barry was a member of the American Indian Coushatta Tribe in Louisiana. Prior to graduation at Lebanon High School, he was on the wrestling and tennis teams.

Preceded in death by his grandfathers, Doug Stovall of Lebanon, OH and Chief Alvin Langley of Kinder, LA, and a great grandmother, Vivian White.

He is survived by his father Barry (Ethel) Freeze, his mother Lois Stovall (Marilyn Langley), his beloved daughter, Lucy Jean Langley. Also his life partner Jessica Duval. Brothers, Jeremy Langley (Katie Walker), Dylan Pittman, Heather Garza and Daniel Battise. Step brothers and sisters, Rachelle Doss, Jimmy Coomer and Crystal Lowerty. His uncle William (Mariane) Freeze and his Aunt Margie (Gene) Bustle. His nieces Allison, Jesse, and Myra Langley and many more cousins.

Barry was a well-known harness horse trainer in the states of Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and New Jersey for the last 15 years. He made many friends throughout his travels, but his Ohio friends especially, Aaron Merriman and Josh Sutton, were closest to him. Most remember him as the kindest and most caring friend. He was also known as The Chief and the Gentle Giant, who stood 65. Barry started more than 2,200 horses over his training career, which began in 2004, with 324 winners and $1,899,823 in purse earnings. He was a member of the United States Trotting Association and the Ohio Harness Horse Association.

His family will receive friends on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Shorten & Ryan Funeral Home, 400 Reading Rd., Mason, OH. Funeral Services will be at the funeral home Wednesday at 11 a.m. If desired, please make donations to the Barry Langley Fund on behalf of Lucy Jean Langley at any Lebanon Citizens National Bank or at 50 North Broadway, Lebanon, OH 45036.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Barry Langley.
The Southeast Tennessee Veterans Coalition, Friends of the Festival and City of Chattanooga have teamed up with Aspen Dentals MouthMobile to provide free dental care to veterans. The MouthMobile will arrive in Chattanooga at Rosss Landing on Tuesday, April 2. Chattanooga is one of 30 stops that the MouthMobile is making across the country. Appointment times are required; veterans may call Barbara Agee at 423-756-2212 or email barbara@riverbendfestival.com.



"The MouthMobile is Aspen Dentals 42-foot long dental office on wheels. It travels state to state giving veterans the dental care they need for a healthy mouth at no cost," officials said. "Since 2014, Aspen Dental practices across the country have donated over $13 million in dentistry services and helped more than 21,000 veterans as part of the Healthy Mouth Movement, which includes both the MouthMobile and a nationwide day of service when Aspen Dental practices across the country open their doors to provide free care to veterans."



I am honored to be a part of this program, and I look forward to serving as many veterans as possible on the MouthMobile. Aspen Dental is meeting a real need many veterans have, and Im grateful for the Aspen Dental teams who are volunteering their time, said Laura Sage of Aspen Dental, who is helping coordinate the MouthMobile tour that will be coming to Chattanooga.



After working to end veteran homelessness in the City of Chattanooga, we are grateful to our community partners who are stepping up to continue to provide services for these men and women, said Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke.



As a veteran and some 120 days before the fourth anniversary of July 16, 2015, with Chattanooga emotions so patriotic, the Veterans Coalition is most pleased to be a part of providing a service so needed by veterans, said retired U. S. Navy Captain Mickey McCamish, Coalition chairman.

What an honor for Friends of the Festival at the site that we produced Chattanooga Unite, brought LST 325 and the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Wall to now host the Aspen Dental MouthMobile for veterans, said Chip Baker, executive director, and Friends of the Festival.
Chattanooga will go green for St. Patricks Day with celebrations of the Irish holiday throughout the community on Saturday, March 16.



Beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, The Shamrock Society, whose members include local and area business and community leaders, will present the 6th Annual St. Chattys Day Parade. "The parade is a family-friendly event that will bring the best out in our community to celebrate the tradition of St. Patricks Day in Chattanooga," organizers said.

The parade will be followed by St. Paddys Day Party on the Parkway, held on Patten Parkway beginning at 2 p.m. with a Kids Zone until 6 p.m., live music and food.The parade will step off at 1 p.m. from Architectural Surfaces, take a right onto Market Street, make a slight right onto Georgia Avenue and end at Miller Park.The parade will close or partially close the streets used in the parade route from noon-2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Street closures include: Main Street, Market Street and Georgia Ave ending at Miller Park.This years parade will feature local high school marching bands, Alhambra Shrine Units including the Highlanders Pipe and Drum Band and several businesses and organizations in the community. All proceeds from the event will benefit Chattanoogas Kids on the Block and the communitys youth.During the parade, the Shamrock Society will be hosting a VIP watch party on the rail yard patio at the Moxy Hotel, with a limited number of tickets on sale now. The event will feature complimentary beer and snacks. along with parade commentary and parade award ceremony.Limited number of tickets are on sale now for the VIP Watch Party at the Moxy. Tickets are $15 in advance for the two-hour event (noon-2 p.m.) At the door, if tickets are available, the cost is $20Tickets can be purchased online by visiting kidsontheblock.net Following the 6th Annual St. Chattys Day Parade, the celebration of St. Patricks Day will continue with the 6th Annual St. Paddys Day Party on the Parkway, hosted by Honest Pint. The event, beginning at 2 p.m. on Patten Parkway, is an allages street party designed to showcase and promote local and regional musicians and celebrate the tradition of St. Patricks Day. The Party on the Parkway festival uses the entire length of Patten Parkway to celebrate with live music all day on three stages, food and beer vendors and, again this year, will feature a large Kids Zone with interactive games and crafts from 2-6 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now with pre-purchase discounts: General admission tickets, $15 in advance/$20 at the gate; VIP ticket, $45 in advance/$55 at the gate, if available.

Tickets can be purchased online by visiting evenbrite.com  key word St. Paddys Party on the Parkway.



Party on the Parkway will benefit Chattanoogas Kids on the Block and SoundCorps.



For more information on the parade or to become a sponsor, contact Kelly Lowry at 423-757-5259, kellyl@kidsontheblock.net, like us on FaceBook @ St. Chattys Day Parade and Twitter @St_Chatty.
As those whove seen Captain Marvel know, Larsons heroine spends a lot of the film with SHIELD agent Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson. The two actors obviously grew very close during filming, as can be easily seen in their on-screen interactions. But recently, they showed us just how close they are during an episode of James Cordons Carpool Karaoke segment.



Samuel L. Jackson and Brie Larson | Gareth Cattermole/Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney

Are Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackon friends in real life?



On the night of the Captain Marvel world premiere in Hollywood, Larson appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The actress spoke about the film and her role, as well as her relationship with her co-star. Doing press for the film, the two have had to travel a lot, which Larson said is the best, noting that he is without a doubt the person [shes] traveled with of any person in [her] life.



Kimmel inquired about their friendship, to which Larson said, our love is real. She also noted that the two text a lot and have code words, which deal mostly with people that we hate. However, theres one part of Jacksons life that she has yet to infiltrate: his yearly trips to Italy with Magic Johnson. Larson and Kimmel commiserated over how both of them have tried to get Jackson to invite them over the years, but to no avail.



What movies have they been in together?



As Larson said to Kimmel, she and Jackson have worked on three movies together. Captain Marvel is the latest, which came right on the heels of Kong: Skull Island, another big-budget film that included a lengthy international press tour. So whats the third movie?



In fact, the film Larson is referring to is an indie flick that she directed, Unicorn Store. Because the time from casting to production to actual release is generally a few years when it comes to these major films, Larson likely asked Jackson to be a part of her project during the filming of Kong: Skull Island. So the two have spent a lot of time together over the past four or five years. Unicorn Store is scheduled for an April 5, 2019 release on Netflix.



Theyve been doing a lot of press for Captain Marvel



As previously stated, theres a lot of time spent together for co-stars of films of this magnitude. Prior to its release, Larson and Jackson have been doing a lot of press for Captain Marvel, including appearing on late night talk shows, like The Late Late Show With James Cordon.



One of the most popular segments on Cordons show is Carpool Karaoke, in which the celebrity or celebrities who are guests drive around (often with Cordon) while singing songs that come on. In a teaser released prior to the episode, Larson and Jackson sing along to Ariana Grandes hit single 7 Rings, which has earned itself some controversy since the music video dropped. Jackson and Larson appear to know all of the words to the pop tune, miming actions and singing to one another.



Captain Marvel is poised to make this much on its opening weekend



Presale numbers for Captain Marvel show that the film is projected to make more than $125 million in the U.S. and Canada and $350 million worldwide in its opening weekend, according to Variety. This would put it higher than the last Marvel film to hit theaters, Ant-Man and the Wasp. Though next months Avengers: Endgame will definitely top this number, this is still a very solid opening weekend.



But aside from box office numbers, the big question on everyones mind is whether or not Jackson and Larson will reprise their roles in Avengers: Endgame. A Captain Marvel appearance is almost guaranteed at this point, and IMDb confirms this. Jackson, however, is not on the cast list, as is the case for the rest of the heroes who vanished with Thanos snap in Infinity War. But dont worry  that doesnt mean he wont make a surprise appearance, so there is a chance that this will mark the best friends fourth on-screen collaboration.



Check out the Cheat Sheet on Facebook!


Derick Dillard is going to be a lawyer. Duggar daughter Jill Dillards husband started his first semester at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville in August. Since then, hes been sharing updates about his life as a student on his social media, including news about his classes, photos of himself dressed up like a character from Riverdale for spirit week, and highlights from his familys visits to campus.

Dillard is only in his second semester of law school. Earning his J.D. will take three years, so it will be some time before hes able to take the bar and hopefully start practicing law. But he already has a plan for what he wants to do once he finishes law school, according to his wife.

Dillard wants to practice public interest law

Jill Duggar Dillard and husband Derick Dillard in 2014. | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra)

In a post on the Dillard Family blog, Jill Dillard offered some insight into her husbands future career plans. The update  which Inquisitr spotted in the comments section  came into a response to a fans question.

Jill, how is Derick enjoying law school? Does he know what branch of law he wants to pursue? someone named Becky asked.

Its going well! Jill replied. Hes in full swing with exams, briefs, oral arguments, and summer job applications. Hes hoping to practice some kind of public interest law (voice for the voiceless).

She didnt elaborate any more on her husbands plans. But some posts on her husbands social media give a little insight into the issues hes interested in. On March 4, he tweeted about an interesting Constitutional Law class today on Roe v. Wade. (Roe v. Wade is the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the U.S.)

Grateful for the evolution of science over the past 46 yrs, to better determine and communicate when life begins, so that we can be sure everyones rights are protected, he added.

Dillard has been vocal about his pro-life views. Given his interest in being a voice for the voiceless, (a phrase sometimes used by pro-life advocates) its possible hes interested in a career as an anti-abortion lawyer. Or he could be planning to pursue another area of public interest law.

What is his law school like?

Whatever direction Dillard decides to take his career, he can be sure hes getting a good education. The University of Arkansas is one of the top 100 law schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report. Its also one of the best values in legal education and one of the best schools for public service, according to National Jurist. Per-semester tuition and fees are $8,094, or about $16,000 a year.

More than 300 students are enrolled at the school. Alumni include former U.S. senator Mark Pryor, former Arkansas governor and U.S. senator David Pryor, and former Arkansas governor Mike Beebe.

President Bill Clinton was even once a professor at the law school. Back in September, Dillard shared a photo of himself and his wife posing in front of his former office, which is marked by a plaque. Though the couple likely doesnt share many of Clintons political beliefs, they seemed excited by the connection nonetheless.

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!


Hollywood and the military have a long history together. The film industry has created both critiques and propaganda about politics and global conflicts. And many actors and directors are veterans. So which popular celebrities served in the U.S. military? Here are their experiences, from lying to enlist to being discharged.

You wont believe which Golden Girls star served in the Marines during World War II (page 10).

1. Clint Eastwood

Military Technical Advisor Sgt. Major James Dever and D irector Clint Eastwood | Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Clint Eastwood survived a forced water-landing in a Navy plane.

He later directed Sully, the true story of a plane landing on the Hudson River.

Drafted into the Korean war, the actor went to Californias Fort Ord for basic training, reports Military.com. After visiting Eastwoods Seattle home, his plane had engine trouble and was forced to land on water off of San Francisco. The website claims he swam over a mile to get to shore.

Eastwood later directed Sully, the true story of Chesley Sullenberger saving his passengers and crew by landing his plane on the Hudson River. Sullys star, Tom Hanks, discussed Eastwoods experience with directing the movie. He almost froze in the water! I mean, no one else but Clint could have or should have made this movie. Eastwood also discussed his experience:

We went down at about 4 oclock in the afternoon. I could see the Marin County coast from a distance. I dont know how far it was  it seemed like 50 miles, but it was probably a mile or two. Then it got dark. It was quite a way into nightfall before we reached it.

Next: This Star Wars star joined the Marines after 9/11.



2. Adam Driver

Staff Sergeant, US Army Michael Kacer and Actor Adam Driver attend as the 10th Annual Stand Up for Heroes event | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Adam Driver was discharged for a bike injury.

The actor joined the Marines after 9/11 and completed two years of basic training before getting discharged after a mountain bike injury. Later, Driver became a star as Kylo Ren in Star Wars. He told The Guardian. Theres something about going into the military and having all of your identity and possessions stripped away  When you get your freedom back, theres stuff you want to do.

Next: This rapper got punished for stealing while serving in the Army.



3. Ice-T

Ice-T | Brad Barket/Getty Images for CBGB

The rapper, along with other soldiers, reportedly stole a rug.

The actor joined the Army after high school. Military.com reports he was involved with a group who stole an infantry rug and deserted. A month later, the rug was found and Ice-T finished training with non-judicial punishment. He began his rap career after serving four years in the Army.

Next: This music icon was sent to Germany to fulfill military duties.



4. Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley receives his first bundle of mail at the Friedberg US Army base in Germany | Keystone/Getty Images

The King of Rock and Roll served two years in the military.

Before he became a music icon, Elvis Presley served in the military and was a member of two battalions. He served in Germany from 1958 to 1960 before leaving active duty and getting discharged.

Next: This actor lied about his age to join the Army.



5. Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll | Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The Academy Award-winner lied to join but quickly changed his mind.

According to CNN, Sidney Poitier lied about his age and joined the Army at 16 years old. Then, he pretended to be insane to leave nine months later. The Lilies of the Field actor went on to become the first black performer to win an Oscar.

Next: This mustached TV star served during the Vietnam War.



6. Tom Selleck

Actor Tom Selleck | Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Tom Selleck was drafted and is proud of his service.

The Blue Bloods star was drafted during the Vietnam War then joined the California National Guard. He served from 1967 to 1973. I am a veteran, Selleck said. Im proud of it. I was a sergeant in the U.S. Army infantry, National Guard, Vietnam era. Were all brothers and sisters in that sense.

Next: This martial-arts actor started learning the craft in the military.



7. Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris poses with U.S. military members. | Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Chuck Norris began martial arts training while serving.

The actor was in the Air Force. While stationed in Korea, he started learning Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwan Do, according to Military.com. He was eventually discharged in 1962.

Next: A military beginning for this scandalous magazine editor



8. Hugh Hefner

Hugh Hefner | Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy

The Army wasnt really a fan of Hugh Hefners work even though he served for two years.

During World War II, Hefner served in the Army for two years during World War II. Later, anti-porn lobbyists allegedly pressured the Pentagon to keep Playboy magazine away from troops, reports The Washington Post.

Next: This producer joked about his high-pressure job in the service.



9. Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Mel Brooks had one of the most intense Army jobs: diffusing bombs.

The Oscar winner was drafted into the Army during World War II. He was a combat engineer and had to defuse landmines. Isnt that ridiculous? The two things I hate most in the world are combat and engineering, Mel Brooks said according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Next: This Golden Girl was a Marine during World War II.



10. Bea Arthur

Actress Bea Arthur accepts the Non-Traditional Classic Family award in 2003. | Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Bea Arthur joined the Marines when it wasnt common for women.

The Golden Girls star served as a Marine in World War II. I was supposed to start work yesterday but heard last week that enlistments for women in the Marines were open, so [I] decided the only thing to do was to join, the actress explained, according to Mental Floss. She went from a private to staff sergeant before getting discharged.

Next: This difficult actor also didnt take direction well as a Marine.

11. Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman | Lucy Nicholson /AFP/Getty Images

Gene Hackman admitted he was not a good Marine.

The Oscar winner discussed joining the military with Larry King. I went in the Marines when I was 16. I spent four and a half years in the Marines and then came right to New York to be an actor, Hackman said.

Known to be difficult, he admitted he was the same as a Marine. I have trouble with authority. I was not a good Marine  I made Corporal once and was promptly busted. And I just have always had trouble with authority.

Next: This fellow actor and veteran worked with Tom Selleck.



12. Isaiah Washington

Isaiah Washington | Alberto E. Rodriguez/ Getty Images

Tom Selleck invited the actor to stay on his show.

The actor served in the Air Force for four years, bonding with Tom Selleck over the experience while on Blue Bloods. [Selleck] was very excited to have me there because Im former military; he fell in love with the idea that I could really salute, Isaiah Washington told the New York Post. He said, Can you please just stay on the show so you can consult the other actors coming in and teach them how to salute?'

Next: This actor was discharged for injuries.



13. Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas made his Broadway debut in 1941, served in the US Navy, and embarked on a screen career in 1946. | AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Kirk Douglas was medically discharged from the Navy.

The Spartacus star served in the Navy from 1942 to 1944. He enlisted and worked as a gunnery and a communications officer in anti-submarine warfare, according to Together We Served. He was medically discharged for war injuries.

Next: This actor chopped down this many trees as a punishment.



14. Mr. T

Mr. T. | Brad Barket/Getty Images

The person who punished Mr. T reportedly didnt tell him how many trees to chop down.

The actor enlisted in the Army and served in the Military Police Corps and was promoted to Squad Leader. According to Military.com, he was given the punishment of chopping down trees and ended up chopping down over 70. He was later discharged.

Next: This iconic musician was discharged for behavioral problems.



15. Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix | Evening Standard/Getty Images

Hendrixs service reportedly started and ended with scandal.

The iconic guitarist enlisted to the 101st Airborne Division to avoid prison for riding in stolen cars, according to Complex. He was later discharged for behavioral problems which was reportedly masturbating in platoon areas.

Follow Nicole Weaver on Twitter @nikkibernice.

Read more: 15 Actors Who Always Play the Villain

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!
ABC appears to have another hit show on its hands. Whiskey Cavalier, the new comedy-drama about an FBI agent and his CIA agent partner who lead a team of spies, pulled in 6.77 million viewers for its second episode, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Thats good news for stars Lauren Cohan, who gave up her role as Maggie on The Walking Dead to play Frankie Trowbridge, and Scott Foley, who portrays Will Chase (code name: Whiskey Cavalier).

Foley is worth $5 million

Scott Foley | Image Group LA via Getty Images

Kansas native Foley has been acting since the late 1990s. The 46-year-old made his debut back in 1995 in an episode of Sweet Valley High. He followed that up with a more substantial role in Dawsons Creek before landing his breakout role as Noel Crane in Felicity. Hes also starred in The Unit and Scandal and appeared on Scrubs, Cougar Town, Greys Anatomy, and True Blood, among other shows.

A decades-long career in Hollywood has allowed Foley to amass a net worth of $5 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Foley is married with three kids

Foley is married to Greys Anatomy actress Marika Dominczyk. The pair have three kids, daughter Malina and sons Konrad and Keller. The entire family recently relocated from Los Angeles to Prague, Czech Republic, where Whiskey Cavalier is filmed.

The show got picked up, so Im moving my whole family to Prague, Foley told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest on Live! with Kelly and Ryan last May. Im excited. Im excited for the adventure. Theres something great about picking up and trying something new, at least for a year or two.

Foleys wife is originally from Poland and speaks fluent Polish. He said the language is similar to Czech, which should make the transition easier for the family. Dominczyk will also appear in the show, playing a mercenary who clashes with the team during a mission in Eastern Europe, according to Deadline.

Dominczyk has also been chronicling her familys time abroad on Instagram with the hashtag #foleysinprague. Her husband has also been sharing tidbits about his new expat life, writing in a recent Instagram post, Anywhere with my kids is my happy place. Im so proud of all of them for adjusting to our Prague move so well.

What are people saying about Whiskey Cavalier?

So far, reviews for Whiskey Cavalier have been largely positive. The show has an 84% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Paste described it as Alias, but with SkyMiles and an ooey , gooey romantic comedy core. Variety called the show a fun spy drama that refuses to take itself too seriously, and said that it was cheesy, but its hard to hold that against the show too much when its also half the point.

So we're all on the same page, right? #WhiskeyCavalier is the new show we should all be watching. Also, we ship this already. Y/Y? @WhiskeyCav pic.twitter.com/6t6A9mQQjh  Lizzie (@lizziethat) February 25, 2019

Early fans are also singing the shows praises on Twitter, saying theyre hooked on the show and calling it hilarious.

Whiskey Cavalier airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on ABC.

Read more: What Will Riverdale Be Like Without Luke Perrys Character Fred Andrews?

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!


Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is famously dealing with unnecessary drama from her father, brother, and especially from her sister, Samantha Grant. It seems they get their jabs in whenever they can, either through staged paparazzi photographs, interviews, or social media posts.

Meghan and Harry have graciously been handling the situation in private, making no public comments regarding their feelings. There are pictures from a few years ago of Meghan acting close to her father and her sister, so it wasnt always this way. Many fans have been wondering when exactly, did Meghans family drama begin?

Meghan Markle takes the drama in stride | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

What kind of drama is the Markle family causing for Meghan?

Any kind they possibly can! Samantha Grant, Meghans half-sister who currently lives in Ocala, Florida, has given several interviews to the news media. She has said that her famous younger sister is heartless, selfish, and fake, among other things. Before the royal wedding, Meghans half-brother, who lives in Oregon, even wrote Prince Harry a letter, advising him not to marry Meghan.

Why are Meghans family members doing this?

Fans seem to think they are doing it for several reasons. First, they are looking for attention. Second, they may be trying to cash in on Meghans new role as the wife of Prince Harry. Samantha has not been quiet about the fact that she is being paid a substantial amount of money to give interviews, and she supposedly is even in the process of writing a tell-all book about her little sister. According to some sources, Samantha has already earned over 100,000 euros from causing drama.

How does Prince Harry feel?

Chances are Prince Harry is angry, as he is extremely protective of his wife. He has not commented publicly on the situation, and it is unknown whether he has reached out to any of Meghans family. One of the most difficult parts for fans to comprehend is that Meghans father, sister, and brother have never even met the Duke of Sussex! Yet, Samantha has made negative comments about him as well.

When did the drama begin?

Harry and Meghan | DOMINIC LIPINSKI/AFP/Getty Images

It seems the drama began shortly after Meghan and Harry announced their engagement. Samantha began to criticize Meghans every move, commenting negatively on her engagement photos as well as her close relationship with the royal family. She even accused Meghan of not being a good daughter to their father. The drama continued when Meghan and Harry chose not to invite her half-brother and sister to their wedding and even escalated when the couple announced they were expecting their first child.

Samantha made a trip to London

After the wedding, Samantha was spotted in London trying to gain entrance to Kensington Palace to speak with her sister. She was photographed being turned away by palace security, a sure sign that Meghan and Harry do not wish to reconcile with her at this time. Although Meghan recently wrote a letter to her father, she has made no effort to contact her half-brother or half-sister since all of the drama began.

Is the damage already done?
In almost every instance that involves a royal or anyone closely associated with the family, Queen Elizabeth II is the first person notified. Whether its about the birth of a child or a controversy that could cause a public relations nightmare Her Majesty is usually told about it before anyone else. However, the queen was not the first to know the night Princess Diana was in that terrible car crash in Paris.

Heres more on who was told about the accident before the qu een and why the royal family was heavily criticized after the Princess of Wales passed away.

Princess Diana | Pierre Verdy/ AFP/ Getty Images

What happened the night of the crash

Around midnight on Aug. 31, 1997, Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, left the Ritz in Paris after dinner and headed to his apartment. They exited the rear of the hotel to escape the paparazzi and got into a Mercedes S-280 limousine. Some reports have said the vehicle they were originally supposed to travel in would not start, while others claim that they changed cars at the last minute to throw off the paps.

They ended up leaving in the Mercedes driven by Henri Paul, who was traveling at a high rate of speed. The vehicle eventually crashed into a pillar in a tunnel under the Alma bridge. They were less than two miles from the hotel.

Paul and Fayed were killed instantly but Diana was still alive and suffering from multiple injuries including a severed pulmonary vein. She was transported to the La Pitie Salpetriere Hospital.

Who was the first person told about the accident?

Readers Digest noted that one of the very first people to learn that the princess was involved in an accident was Britains ambassador to France, Michael Jay. He was awoken at 1:45 in the morning and alerted about the terrible crash. Upon hearing the news, he and his wife rushed to the hospital. At the time, he was unaware of how bad Dianas injuries were.

Right after Jay was notified he phoned Queen Elizabeths private secretary, Robin Janvrin, to let her know what had happened.

Prince Charles and Dianas sister, Lady Sarah Spencer | Martin Hayhow/Getty Images

At 4 a.m., the princess was pronounced dead.

The royals were criticized after Dianas death

After Diana passed away, the public was expecting a statement from Buckingham Palace or the queen herself but instead, there was silence. In fact, the royals werent even in London they were in Scotland at the Balmoral Castle and their silence was deafening.

While members of the British public were furious that they werent in England where the princess body had been brought back to, the family remained in the Highlands with Dianas two sons in an effort to allow the boys to grieve privately. But the business-as-usual approach including the news that William and Harry attended mass with their grandmother the morning after Diana died was viewed as cold and rubbed many people the wrong way.

In front of Buckingham Palace, a Londoner reads the headlines of a national newspaper criticizing the British Queens silence Princess Dianas death. | Dave Gaywood/ AFP/ Getty Images

Prince William offered this explanation about his grandmoms behavior after the tragedy, She felt very torn between being the grandmother and her queen role. And I think sheeveryonewas surprised and taken aback by the scale of what happened and the nature of how quickly it all happened.

The family finally returned to London on Sept. 5, and the queen spoke to the nation in a live broadcast in which she paid tribute to her former daughter-in-law.

Read more: Why Prince Charles Blames Prince Philip For His Unhappy Marriage to Princess Diana

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister and defense minister, signed a declaration this week that calls a Hamas TV channel a terrorist organization.

The Israel Security Apparatus and the Defense Ministry said the Hamas TV channel, Al Aqsa, was using the station to recruit militants to its ranks.

The ISA said Palestinian broadcasters and journalists were using cues on the air to try to recruit Palestinians with Israeli ID cards to carry out attacks from inside Israel.

"Declaring Al-Asqa TV a terror organization is a precise labeling," said Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), a media watchdog group.

"Al-Asqa TV promotes all the components of Palestinian terror, including murder of Jews, suicide bombings, kidnapping of soldiers, bombing our cities and destruction of Israel.

In one recording of the station, a Hamas music video aired on the channel and said, Strap on an explosive belt  O Martyrdom-seeker, respond to Al-Aqsa's call... send them to Hell... Let fire burn them, turn them into body parts, roast them."

In another broadcast, the station featured an Arabic song that said, Expel the thieving occupier from the enraged land of Jerusalem. Rid your house of that one, that Zionist in his humiliation. Write 'death, death, death to Israel' with flowing blood. And with the bleeding body cause death, death, death to Israel.

The TV station was bombed by IDF military in November, but the station reportedly began broadcasting from a new location soon after, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Photo courtesy: Sven Scheuermeier/Unsplash

Did you know you can get Christian Headlines flash briefings on Amazon Alexa?
A Minnesota Christian college canceled a scheduled speaking engagement with a pro-life speaker noting that her views were sensationalized.

According to CBN News, The University of Northwestern at St. Pauls Young Americans for Freedom chapter (YAF) invited popular pro-life speaker Star Parker to come to campus for an open event.

Parker is a conservative social and political advocate, the founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE) and a born again-Christian.

Despite months of planning, after college administrators looked into Parker, they decided to cancel the event. The administration told the University of Northwestern YAF members in an email that their main concern is that it is an open event." Administrators indicated that if the event was closed to club members only, "it would be different.

Speakers open to all UNW students would have more strictness, they added

The administration also informed the YAF members that they found Stars views to be radical. In an email to the group they wrote, "Our staff has been very adamant about bringing speakers to campus who educate and expand worldviews, but we really don't bring speakers who radically hold beliefs that UNW as a whole would not agree with.

The email continued, "In the past UNW has stayed away from sensationalized speakers. I foresee us continuing to do this. After reviewing some of Star's material online we didn't feel she was a good fit for our community."

Following the announcement of their decision, Haley Tschetter, the founding YAF Chair at UNW voiced her disappointment in a press release. Tschetter said, I was excited to embark on this new adventure and thrilled that Star Parker agreed to come and speak to my campus."

I thought she could address some relevant topics to our campus. However, many are too fearful of 'controversy' to allow her lecture to take place.

Tschetter then encouraged people to want to talk openly and civilly about difficult issues so that we can start to heal our increasingly divided nation.

According to The College Fix, UNW has not specified which of Parkers views the administration found sensational but the UNW YAF is asking the administration to reverse their decision.

Photo courtesy: Changbok Ko/Unsplash

Did you know you can get Christian Headlines flash briefings on Amazon Alexa?
By Arianna Prothero and Alex Harwin

In one quarter of charter high schools, fewer than half of students graduate on time, according to a recent analysis of federal data by the Education Week Research Center. Thats compared to just 3 percent of all other public schools.

Those percentages do not include alternative schools, which Ed Week removed from the analysis.

But in running those numbers, we found that there are not only significant differences in the number of charter schools with low graduation rates from state to state, but also big variations in the number of alternative schools that states report to the federal government.

Why does this matter? It can drastically affect the number of charter schools with low graduation rates in some states.

See also: In Many Charter High Schools, Graduation Odds Are Slim

Texas and Indiana are good examples. In Texas, a majority of the charter high school class of 2017 attended a school labeled as alternative in the federal data.

When EdWeek removed all alternative schools from its original analysis, Texas had 1 percent of its charter high schools&just one schoolgraduating less than 50 percent of its senior class.

But when the alternative schools were added back into the analysis, the number of Texas charter high schools graduating less than half their students jumped to 23 percent. You can see the shift in the maps below.

In Indiana, the opposite was true. None of the states charter schools with graduation rates below 50 percent are labeled as alternative in the federal data, even though half of its charters with low graduation rates are specialized adult charter schools that exclusively serve students who have aged out of the traditional public school system and want to earn a high school diploma.



Texas isnt the only state that shows a significant shift in the overall graduation picture for charter high schools when alternative schools are included or excluded.

You can see in the maps above that Colorado, Florida, and Michigan also have a lot of alternative charter schools with low graduation rates.

The general definition for alternative schools is squishy at bestbut generally speaking, alternative schools serve students at risk of falling behind in a traditional school.

And while the federal data collection gives a definition for alternative schools, the data is self-reported and states have a lot of leeway in how they use that label. This could explain why, at least in part, some states have such large concentrations of alternative charter schools and others dont.

Related stories:
In Deuteronomy 25, Moses commanded that if a man dies childless, his brother should marry the widow and that the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

The practice, called Levirate marriage was the backdrop for the Sadducees trick question for Jesus about the woman who married the seven brothers (Matthew 22).

If the surviving brother refused to fulfill his duty and marry the widow, she had options. One was to pull off the deadbeat brothers sandal, spit in his face, and say, So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brothers house.

Another possibility was for another kinsman to volunteer to marry the widow. In that case, the sandal would still be removed but would be handed to the willing kinsman without any spitting or cursing. This is what happened with Boaz and Ruth.

Today, Levirate marriage is rarely if ever practiced, even among the most traditional Jews. Instead, an increasing number of Israelis have found a new way to achieve the goal of Moses command.

As described in a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly, all Israeli women under the age of 45 have a right to IVF treatments for up to two children.

Now, IVF, as weve discussed a few times on BreakPoint, is a procedure laden with ethical challenges, at least from a Christian perspective. Even so, the Jewish state has added a new ethical dilemma by fully subsidizing IVF procedures using genetic material from deceased spouses. That is, retrieving sperm from a deceased husband, and using IVF to create and implant an embryo.

If the idea of creating a child from a deceased husband sounds strange, hold on. It gets even stranger: this procedure isnt limited to widows.

As the Atlantic tells readers, Israel is learning that the parents of deceased childless sons are increasingly looking to reproductive technology to provide them with a posthumously-conceived grandchild.

The article tells of an unmarried woman whose biological clock is ticking more loudly. She wants to have a child using IVF but is concerned about that child not knowing its fathers family.

Her problem is solved when she comes across a grieving family looking for a woman to bear their dead sons child. To make a long story short, the procedure I described earlier worked, and a child was born from a dead biological dad, but with two sets of grandparents. And everyone lived happily ever after

Or did they?

Were talking here of the phenomenon of ghost dads, and it raises a host of ethical questions.

First and foremost is that the child is not the fruit of a union whose purpose was to produce her. Instead, she was conceived to meet someones elses emotional needs. As a social worker at Hebrew University asked: Is it ethical to create a child as the means for fulfilling the wishes of an adult, in any way possible, and at any cost?

Another expert quoted in the article raised questions about the impact of what he called planned orphanhood. We have no idea how a child will feel knowing that he is not an individual, but a copy of someone else . . . a living monument to the dead.

By the way, the ghost dad phenomenon isnt limited to Israel. While some European countries explicitly forbid it, the United States doesnt. Whats more, the rates of children reproduced posthumously vary from state to state, furthering reinforcing their status as means rather than ends.

Even though, as I mentioned recently, Israel treasures children in ways that few nations do, you cant say the same of the U.S. Too often here, having kids is something you get around to and the thing we worry most about is having the freedom to live as we please. If kids get in the way, we eliminate them. If they serve our purposes, we accept them. We might even use our technologies to make them.

Either way, in any country and everywhere, its wrong. The point of having children should never be us. It should be them.
Students at Rider University in New Jersey recently voted to bring Chick-fil-A to their campus.

However, administrators rejected the proposal because of the companys perceived opposition to the LGBTQ+ community. Cynthia Newman, the dean of the College of Business, felt like I had been punched in the stomach when I read that statement.

As a very committed Christian, she notes that Chick-fil-As corporate purpose mirrors my personal beliefs perfectly. She asked university officials privately if they would issue an apology. They doubled down on their ban instead, even sending out another campus-wide email emphasizing inclusion.

So Dean Newman felt she had to resign. She has received great support from faculty and staff agreeing that we should be able to respectfully disagree with other values.

A former Marines experience at Yale

Hers is not the only story of discrimination against Christians in todays news.

A former Marine and graduate of the Naval Academy and the University of Cambridge has published an article titled I Thought I Could Be A Christian And Constitutionalist At Yale Law School. I Was Wrong. He describes the vociferous opposition he and other Christians have faced at Yale for their conservative views.

Unsurprisingly, David French has documented the degree to which progressives drive religious conservatives off campusall in the name of fighting extremism.'

To be sure, Christians in America are not facing the persecution our brothers and sisters are enduring in North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, and other nations that imprison, torture, and execute followers of Jesus. But we are witnessing an escalating tide of opposition to biblical morality in our culture.

As I noted yesterday, many who support same-sex marriage see my commitment to biblical marriage as a horrendous assault on the civil rights of LGBTQ persons. They see my commitment to the rights of the unborn as an attack on women.

In short, they are convinced that tolerance should be our societys highest valueexcept when Christians like me are perceived to be intolerant. They believe that such people should be opposed in every legal way.

A four-year-old superhero

From bad news, lets consider some good news in the news.

Austin Perine has been giving meals to the homeless in Birmingham, Alabama. He wears a Superman cape and a T-shirt with the catchphrase #ShowLove emblazoned in bold red letters. His older brother struggles with autism, which has helped Austin develop compassion for others.

Austin is making a difference in Birmingham. And hes only four years old.

In Arkansas, Ruby Chitsey has been working to improve the lives of nursing home residents by helping them with extras they cannot afford on their fixed incomes. She provides shoes, electric razors, haircuts, and grocery items. She has even started a charity to raise funds for more people in need.

Ruby is changing lives in Arkansas. Shes eleven years old.

One more story: Brandon Qualls needed an electric wheelchair to help him navigate high school in Norman, Arkansas. His friend, Tanner Wilson, spent two years of savings from his part-time job at a local car mechanic shop to buy Brandon a new wheelchair.

Its been my dream to just have one of these, Brandon said. And my dream came true.

How to make a difference that matters

These local stories each made national headlines. As they demonstrate, our culture cannot ignore acts of kindness.

Here we find a vital lesson for Christians responding to the escalating discrimination of these days: we may not win those who oppose biblical morality using logic, but we can impress them with love.

We may not win those who oppose biblical morality using logic, but we can impress them with love.

Job said of his servants, Did not he who made me in the womb make him? (Job 31:15). He testified that he never rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me (v. 29).

Just as people sin against us, so we have sinned against people. God loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8) and now calls us to love those who sin against us.

Jesus taught us to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44), an imperative founded on the fact that God loves us both equally. Our Savior could ask his Father to forgive those who crucified him (Luke 23:34) because he knew his Father loved them as much as he loved his own Son (John 17:23, 26).

Earn a hearing for the truth of Scripture.

As a result, those who oppose biblical truth and morality are not our enemies. Rather, they are deceived by the true enemy (2 Corinthians 4:4). If we love them as God loves them and serve them as Jesus serves us, we will demonstrate the reality of Gods presence in our compassion. We will earn a hearing for the truth of Scripture.

And we will make a difference that matters.

The surprising result of a church fire

On March 3, a fire raged through a church in Grandview, West Virginia. When firefighters arrived, they were shocked by what they found. As they went through the charred wreckage, they discovered something extraordinary: Not a single Bible was burned and not a single cross was harmed.

No firefighters were injured in the operation. Though the odds were against us, God was not, they stated. Their Facebook post went viral, showing photos of a pile of intact Bibles surrounded by the rubble.

God reigns over the nations;

God sits on his holy throne. Psalm 47:8

This is just one reminder that God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne (Psalm 47:8). Every person who opposes his word and will is someone we need to serve with compassion, intercession, and grace.

Samuel Johnson was right: Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

For more from the Denison Forum, please visit www.denisonforum.org.

The Daily Article Podcast is Here!

Click to Listen

Publication Date: March 7, 2019

Photo Courtesy: Getty Images/Alex Wong/Staff
An Alabama judge has let a wrongful death lawsuit proceed in which a father is suing an abortion clinic on behalf of his aborted unborn child.

Madison County probate court Judge Frank Barger recognized last month the father, Ryan Magers, as the legal representative of Baby Roe in the lawsuit.

Magers attorney, Brent Helms, said it was the first ruling of its kind anywhere in the United States.

We have already had a victory, Helms told WAAY television. ... This is the first estate that I'm aware of that has ever been opened for an aborted baby.

The suit names as the plaintiff: Ryan Magers, individually and on behalf of his deceased child, Baby Roe.

The lawsuit says Magers became aware his girlfriend was pregnant in early 2017 and made it known that he wanted to keep Baby Roe, but the Mother wanted to abort. The suit further says the father repeatedly pleaded with the Mother not to kill Baby Roe.

The mother made an appointment for an abortion with the Alabama Womens Center, which guided her through a chemical abortion. She was approximately six weeks into her pregnancy, according to the suit.

Alabama Womens Center is named in the suit. The mother is not.

Defendants  wrongfully caused Baby Roes death, the suit says.

The lawsuit references a constitutional amendment passed by Alabama voters last year statingit is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children.

Baby Roes innocent life was taken by the profiteering of the Alabama Womens Center, Helms said, and while no court will be able to bring Baby Roe back to life, we will seek the fullest extent of justice on behalf of Baby Roe and Baby Roe's father. The time is ripe for consistency in Alabamas jurisprudence: either we fully acknowledge the personhood of the unborn or we cherry pick which innocents we protect and which ones we trash for profit.

Hannah Ford, spokeswoman for Personhood Alabama, said the lawsuit stands in stark contrast to a new New York law and a proposed Virginia law that support abortion up to the moment of birth.

Just during the past few weeks," Ford said, "the nations conscience was stunned with chilling assaults on the unborn coming out of New York and Virginia. Alabamas Baby Roe comes as a timely reminder that every single abortion committed is a chilling assault on a precious and innocent human life -- an intolerable violation of the most basic, God-given human right, the right to life.

Adrienne Kimmell, vice president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, told AL.com that the lawsuit could have major consequences.

The case in Alabama is chilling because it represents the real-life consequences of anti-choice personhood policies, which, by design, seek to demote the fundamental rights of women, and are a stepping stone in the anti-choice movements ultimate goal of criminalizing abortion and punishing women, Kimmell said. To see it playing out in this case in Alabama should serve as a grave warning sign.

Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com.

Photo courtesy: Picsea/Unsplash

Did you know you can get Christian Headlines flash briefings on Amazon Alexa?
Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.
This article was adapted from episode three of The Way to Glory.

Each week on The Way to Glory, we take a fresh look at a character from The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan's 300-year-old masterwork. Subscribe now in iTunes, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.

Has anyone else noticed that The Pilgrims Progress can feel a bit...on the nose?

Christian.

Hopeful.

The Celestial City.

At first glance, subtle nuance doesnt seem to be Bunyans strong suit. In fact, its easy to read his story the same way we often read the Bibleunder the impression that a literal, instructive interpretation is all the pages hold for us. But, both with Scripture and with The Pilgrims Progress, layers of depth await our exploration, ready to reveal their riches to those patient few who will stay and ponder awhile.

We welcomed Dr. Karen Swallow Prioresteemed author and English professor at Liberty University who specializes in British and Christian literature from the seventeenth centuryto this weeks episode of The Way to Glory.

I have a love-hate relationship with Pilgrims Progress, Prior admits. It can be difficult to teach because it's easy to only look at the surface.

The levels of complexity, Prior argues, run deep, a fact that can be clearly seen in Christian and Hopefuls encounter with Giant Despair.

Giant Despair...caught Christian and Hopeful asleep in his grounds. Then, with a grim and surly voice, he bade them awake; and asked them whence they were, and what they did in his grounds. They told him they were pilgrims; and that they had lost their way.



Giant Despair: "You have this night trespassed on me, by trampling in and lying on my grounds; and therefore you must go along with me." The giant, therefore, drove them before him, and put them into his castle, into a very dark dungeon, nasty and stinking to the spirit of these two men.

So, Christian and Hopeful find themselves trapped in the dungeon of Doubting Castleimprisoned by Giant Despair and his wife, Diffidence (diffidence here meaning distrustful). This setting also parallels the captives experience, as despair is responsible for carrying the pilgrims into fits of doubt.

Today we tend to see it as the opposite, Prior says. As modern Christians, we would say, If we doubt, that can carry us to despair. But Bunyan's insight is very provocative because it's actually despair that leads us to doubt. That's an intriguing part of the story, psychologically and spiritually.

Then the Giant falls upon them and beats them fearfully in such sort that they were not able to help themselves or to turn them upon the floor. This done, he withdraws and leaves them there to condole their misery, and to mourn under their distress: so all that day they spent the time in nothing but sighs and bitter lamentations. For why, said the Giant, should you choose to live, seeing it is attended with so much bitterness? But they desired him to let them go. With that he looked ugly upon them, and rushing to them, had doubtless made an end of them, but that he fell into one of his fits. Then did the prisoners consult between themselves whether it was best to take his counsel [to end their lives]: Christian: The life that we now live is miserable. I know not whether it is best to live thus, or to die out of hand. My soul chooseth strangling rather than life, and the grave is more easy for me than this dungeon. Job. 7:15. Shall we be ruled by the Giant?

Hopeful: Indeed, our present condition is dreadful, and death would be far more welcome to me than thus forever to abide

Even when read literally, Bunyans depictions of Despair and Doubt present pictures of utter darkness. Giant Despair, upon advisement from his wife, beats the men and encourages them to commit suicide, and through this scene Bunyan courageously and artistically exposes existential nerves, reminding us that the battle with profound despair is not bound to any century this side of eternity.

What a fool!

As the two captives discuss the merits of the giants offer, its clear that this moment of pain and sadness is an opportunity for Christian to rediscover the gospel of Jesus Christ. The pilgrims pray through the night, and when morning comes Christian suddenly remembers he has a key to the dungeon.

What a fool! I have a key in my bosom called Promise; that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle." Then said Hopeful, "That's good news; good brother, pluck it out of thy bosom, and try."



Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom and began to try at the dungeon door; whose bolt (as he turned the key) gave back, and the door flew open with ease: and Christian and Hopeful both came out.

If youre feeling like this is too easy, a Hallmark solution unavailable to us modern world-weary pilgrims, youre not alone. Is Bunyan suggesting that dark nights of the soul, clinical depression, or grief can simply be left behind if we pray and remember the Bibles promises?

No, hes not.

For The Pilgrims Progress, its moments like these that we have to be careful to not read twentieth and twenty-first century ideas onto the seventeenth-century text, Prior says. Despair is not the same thing as clinical depression. Today we might use those terms interchangeably, but I think here Bunyan is talking about despair that is spiritual. Despair in the classical tradition, that Bunyan would have been familiar with, is having little hope for salvation, which can make one sad and sorrowful, but it's not the same thing as clinical depression.

Prior goes on to address a critical reading of doubt in the text. Is it ever okay to doubt? Is there a line we shouldnt cross?

It's not just that Christian and Hopeful encounter doubt, Prior says. Its that they are locked in the dungeon of doubt. They are picked up and locked in this dungeon. That is a powerful spiritual truth for us.

At some point, Prior says, we can lose control of our doubt.

We can toy with it. We can ask questions. We have to be honest, she says. But if we get locked into doubt? We might as well be in a dungeon.

Unromantic Diligence

Christian and Hopefuls creaking footsteps cause Giant Despair to awaken. This is a brilliant insight on Bunyans part, Prior says. How true is it that whenever we're on any kind of a journeywhether it's a trip or some sort of spiritual journeythat last leg can be the hardest?

Those last few feet of a treadmill sprint. The concluding paragraphs of an assignment. The final task of the workday. The struggle to endure in lifes mundanity often reflects the spiritual difficulties we face in trying to remain faithful, especially when our choices seem small or insignificant, just like Christian trading his path for one that seemed just as good.

Prior notes that in her many readings of The Pilgrims Progress, one virtue always seems to rise to the top: diligence. That is the thing that strikes me the most, she says. Not so much the drama of all of the obstacles and encounters that Christian hasalthough that's certainly a significant part of the storybut the undramatic, unromantic, unexciting diligence he displays in keeping on. Ultimately, it's that [diligence] that brings him to the Celestial City, not any one particular obstacle that he overcomes.

Christians steadfastness is also seen in his escape. Rather than simply starting the next leg of their journey, or taking a break, Christian and Hopeful construct a warning to the travelers who may come after them.

So they consented to erect there a pillar, and to engrave upon the side thereof this sentence: "Over this stile is the way to Doubting Castle; which is kept by Giant Despair, who despises the King of the Celestial Country, and seeks to destroy his holy pilgrims." Many, therefore, that followed after, read what was written, and escaped the danger.

Bunyan had met doubt and despair just like Christian and Hopeful hadjust like you and I have. He wrote the description of Doubting Castle from a cell where he had been imprisoned for his faith. For Bunyan these were characters, but they were also memories. As we sit in a neighboring cell, chained by our own darkness and abandonment, Bunyan reminds us that we too have a key. Its not a key that solves all of our problems or makes all the bad things go away (Christian, after all, still had to avoid Giant Despair and Doubting Castle after that, not to mention the many other obstacles remaining in his journey). But it is a key that reminds us Whose we arewho we are.

Despair, active and roaming, will seek to drag us away. Doubt, tall and looming, will threaten to encircle us. But the gospel of Jesus Christ opens our hearts to the truth: because of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection, we have been plucked out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light. Our way of escape is enough just as it was when Bunyan wrote this in 1678.

The Way to Glory is produced by CT Creative Studio in partnership with our sponsor Revelation Media and their upcoming movie, The Pilgrims Progress, in theaters Easter weekend.
Christian dean at NJ university resigns over Chick-fil-A ban: 'I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ'

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A Christian dean at a New Jersey university resigned from her position over the school's decision to not allow a Chick-fil-A restaurant on campus.

Rider University in Lawrenceville sent out two surveys asking students to vote on their top choices for campus restaurants. Chick-fil-A ranked as one of the top choices in the first survey but it was removed from the list on the second survey because its "corporate values have not sufficiently progressed enough" on LGBT issues, the school said.

Cynthia Newman, the dean of the College of Business at the university, said In an interview with Campus Reform that she "felt as though I had been punched in the stomach," when she learned the university's reasons for rejecting the popular fast food chain.

On Feb. 14, Newman handed in her letter of resignation notifying faculty that she decided to leave her position because of the university's hostility toward Chick-fil-As Christian values.

Newman's resignation as a dean will go into effect on Aug. 31, however she will stay on at Rider as a professor starting in September.

"As some of you already know, I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ," Newman wrote in the letter. "As such, I endeavor every day to do exactly what Chick-fil-A puts forward as its overarching corporate value: to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to me and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with me."

Chick-fil-As corporate values first came under fire in 2012, when its President Dan Cathy affirmed his stance in support of traditional marriage. In 2014, however, Cathy expressed regret for wading into the marriage debate.

Newman said she had advised school administrators to apologize for their blatant discrimination of religious values, but they refused. Instead, she said, staff was "given a set of talking points about the Chick-fil-A decision that we were to use to respond to those who were critical of the decision."

"I could not, in good conscience as a committed Christian, adhere to those talking points," she maintained.

Newman told Campus Reform the university leadership is "sorry to see me go," but she believes that seeing her stand up for Christian values will give others the courage to also stand up for their beliefs.

"Don't be afraid. Stand up for what you believe in. Do it in a respectful manner so that you, at the end of the day, can still respect yourself for how you expressed your views and how you stood up for your views," Newman told Campus Reform. "And understand that. I mean, you're the one who has to live in the world that's around you, and so if you feel something is not right in that world, you have an obligation to stand up and to say what your perspective is on that."
Christians who dont have a passed-down faith have stronger theological convictions, Barna finds Wrestling with faith is a 'catalyst' for faith development

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Christians who grew up in homes where Christianity was incorrectly modeled and those who didnt have their faith formed by relatives in their home are more likely to have stronger theological convictions than Christians who say their faith was passed down to them, new research has found.

On Tuesday, the evangelical polling firm The Barna Group released the results of a study conducted in partnership with the Lutheran Hour Ministries that aims to inform Christian families about what it means to live in a spiritually vibrant household.

Titled Households of Faith, the new report is based on an extensive survey conducted last April of as many as 2,400 practicing Christian adults and teens in the United States. The term practicing Christian is defined as people who attend church at least once per month, call themselves Christian and say their faith is very important in their life.

While Barna is known for researching trends within churches and congregations, the new study is different in the sense that it focuses on the conversations, relationships and rituals occurring inside the home.

This is a cool study because you might think about who influenced you in terms of your spiritual development, in terms of your faith, Barna President David Kinnaman said during a launch event for the study held at Concordia Lutheran Church in San Antonio, Texas.

This project is one of the first of its kind that I know of. And actually, I have been at Barna now for almost 25 years. The company is 35 years old and we have done a lot of research in that time.

The survey asked the question: Would you say you are a Christian as a result of a person you grew up with in your household?

Of the 1,116 practicing Christian adults who responded to that question, 59 percent said that someone passed their faith down to me.

Meanwhile, 23 percent said they are a Christian despite the sort of Christianity I saw in my household growing up, and 15 percent said they are Christians as an adult not because of a person in their childhood household.

What is interesting is that those who answered the second two options ... actually showed stronger theological convictions than those who did not, Kinnaman said during his presentation. It was interesting because having a passed-down faith is almost as though they hadnt really evaluated some of the orthodoxy, some of the beliefs.

So, those who have struggled with their faith actually had a richer orthodoxy, he continued. At the same time, those who had a passed-down faith  part of that 59 percent  were more likely to prioritize traditions.

Although those with a passed-down faith were less likely to have stronger theological convictions, Barna found that they did have more emotional connections to Christianity and had a warmer emotional climate within their home than other respondents.

There was this interesting balance, Kinnaman said. There were some positives and negatives on each side of the ledger and there are some important implications for us.

One of the implications the data show, according to Kinnaman, is that wrestling [with] faith is a catalyst for peoples faith development.

These folks who I mentioned, the 23 percent who struggled despite growing in a Christian household that maybe wasnt a good model or the 15 percent who said they werent a Christian growing up but kind of came to faith, for them  [faith] is not an heirloom, Kinnaman, the son of a pastor, argued. It is an anchor to them. That is a really cool part of our church and recognizing some of the contributions some of those individuals can make.

The study also found that there are benefits to growing up in what is considered a spiritually vibrant home.

Spiritually vibrant homes are defined by Barna as households that engage in spiritual practices (praying every one to two days and reading the Bible weekly together), spiritual conversations (talking about God and faith together at least once per week) and hospitality (welcoming non-family guests into the home several times a month.)

Through the study, Barna discovered that faith formation is deeply connected to and increases with hospitality, that spiritually vibrant households are characterized by fun and quality time, and that faith heritage impacts Christians' beliefs and practices in the long run.

Of a sample of 2,347 practicing Christians and teens, 25 percent said they live in spiritually vibrant households while 33 percent said they live in devotional households (engage in spiritual practices and conversations but not hospitality) and 14 percent said they are living hospitable households (engage in hospitality but not spiritual practices or conversations).

Twenty-eight percent of practicing Christians say they live in spiritually dormant households that dont engage in any of those three requirements.

When we looked at spiritually vibrant households, the differences across a whole range of factors were really, really clear and it is the kind of households that we want to be a part of, Kinnaman said. It is the kind of lives, as Christians, that we all aspire to. This is the vision that we want to show you today.

People who live in spiritually vibrant households are more likely than people living in devotional and hospitable households to have someone in the home who shares their faith by either setting an example, encouraging others to go to church, talking about Gods forgiveness, teaching about traditions or teaching about the Bible.

Imagine if we had more spiritually vibrant households in our churches, Kinnaman wondered. Imagine if there were more spiritually vibrant households in your neighborhood. Imagine if you became even more spiritually vibrant in what God is calling you to do.

Barnas study comes as the landscape of American households is rapidly changing with households today taking many diverse shapes and forms.

Additionally, Americans are increasingly falling into a post-Christian culture, according to Barna Senior Vice President of Research Brooke Hempell.

For our team at Barna, we have been studying Gen Z, the next generation, for the last few years. And as a parent of a 12 and 8-year-old, I was looking at this going, The world they are growing up in is really different from the world I experienced in my childhood, Hempell explained. We are going to have to be really intentional in our home to shape their faith so they will thrive in that world.

Along with the decline in church attendance, Hempell said that Americans are less reliant on the church to form their faiths. People are becoming more reliant on DIY faith formation through the internet and other forms of media like podcasts.

For those who say they are investing in their faith, more of it is happening on their own in this kind of curated way and less of it is happening in the church, like going to worship every Sunday, Hempell stressed. The importance of the household in that faith formation in shaping and growing us as Christians has really increased in this context.

Maina Mwaura, an Atlanta-based pastor and author, played the role of emcee during the launch event in San Antonio. He walked away encouraged by the report.

I walked away going, Man, here are some opportunities for us to grow in the body of Christ, Mwaura told the audience. And I believe that when we are done with all this, you are going to walk away and go, This has been something that I needed.
Evangelical university blocks lecture by pro-life activist Star Parker

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

An evangelical university in Minnesota has blocked a conservative student group from hosting a lecture by African-American pro-life activist Star Parker because of her radically held beliefs.

The University of Northwestern  St. Paul informed its chapter of Young Americas Foundation, a conservative student group, last month that it could not hold an open event featuring the 62-year-old conservative activist.

Parker is the founder of the 800-pastor network Center for Urban Renewal and Education and has long argued that the conservative agenda of traditional values, limited government and free markets are the greatest benefit to low-income Americans, especially African-Americans, in inner cities.

She has also long spoken about the negative impact that abortion and Planned Parenthood has had on the African-American community. Since 2017, Parker has served as part of the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative to share ideas on how to best fix our nations most distressed zip codes. She is also an appointee to the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission.

YAFs chapter at the University of Northwestern had been working for months to host a prominent conservative to address their peers, according to a news release published March 5. But those plans were struck down by university officials.

I accepted UNW YAFs gracious invitation to defend life and traditional Christian principles, Parker said in a statement. Abortion has devastated the black community and is the moral crisis of our time. Christian universities are precisely where this urgent discussion should be happening.

On Feb. 20, school administrators informed UNW YAF Chair Hayley Tschetter that the group would not be allowed to host Parker and listed a number of concerns.

The administrations email said that the first concern was over the fact that the group was planning an open event.

[I]t would be different if you were having a speaker just come speak to your club, the letter explained. Speakers open to all UNW students would have more strictness and then like I said we dont typically do truly open events.

The letter continued by explaining that there are other concerns about Parker.

Our staff has been very adamant about bringing speakers to campus who educate and expand worldviews, but we really dont bring speakers who radically hold beliefs that UNW as a whole would not agree with, the email reads. In the past UNW has stayed away from sensationalized speakers. I foresee us continuing to do this. After reviewing some of Stars material online we didnt feel she was a good fit for our community.

The school recommended that YAF plan its future speaking events far in advance so that appropriate speakers can be discussed with administrators.

The schools YAF chapter requested a meeting with the university's President Alan Cureton in hopes of getting a reversal of the decision. That meeting came on Feb. 27. According to YAF, Cureton was found to be as resistant as the rest of the administrators.

Cureton reportedly told the student leaders of the group that he didnt want to be divisive and that its better to provide a balanced view from different outlooks. One example would be a panel discussion.

Tschetter asked Cureton what opposing viewpoint the school would want to have elevated.

He didnt really have an answer, Tschetter explained.

Cureton told the student activists that they would be better off scheduling a meeting with the schools vice president of student life Nina Barnes. As of Tuesday, Barnes has not responded to the groups meeting request.

I was excited to embark on this new adventure and thrilled that Star Parker agreed to come and speak to my campus, Tschetter said in a statement. After doing a little reading on several YAF speakers, I thought she could address some relevant topics to our campus. However, many are too fearful of controversy to allow her lecture to take place. Issues already divide campuses, Christians, and people nationwide  speaking about them will not cause a divide, it will bring the underlying issues to light and provide an opportunity for them to be discussed openly and civilly.

YAF spokesperson Spencer Brown, who took courses through UNW as a high school student, argued that the decision to prevent Parker from speaking is a shocking departure from a school I once considered attending.

UNW has chosen to abandon their core principles as a Christian university  set above and apart  in favor of avoiding any potential discomfort brought about by an insightful lecture from one of Americas leading conservative women on critical issues UNWs students will soon [face] with in the world, Brown stressed.

The Christian Post reached out to UNW for comment and received an emailed response on Friday from April Moreton, vice president for Institutional Advancement.

"University of Northwestern did not ban Ms. Parker from speaking on campus," Moreton said. "Ms. Parker has spoken on our campus twice before to share her testimony. The student club responsible for inviting her, Young Americas Foundation, did not follow policies and procedures that are put in place for student club events. Therefore, because proper approval was not obtained, the student club was told they could not host the event.

"In addition, university administration had significant concerns regarding Ms. Parkers contract which contained certain requirements the university could not accommodate.

"Furthermore, our statement on social media in response to information circulating sought to protect the students involved and Ms. Parker, but the lack of details caused more confusion," Moreton added. "For this, we sincerely apologize. Due to these misunderstandings, our stance on certain issues was not accurately represented. Northwestern is unwavering in our biblical foundation, therefore, we are passionately against abortion and take a pro-life stance."
India: Evangelical network reports increase of Christian persecution in 2019

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Reported cases of persecution and hate crimes against Christians in India have steadily increased by about 57 percent in the first two months of 2019, an advocacy group has warned.

The Evangelical Fellowship of India, the national alliance of evangelical Christians with over 65,000 associated churches, has sounded the alarm about the increasing frequency of attacks against Christians in India, the persecution watchdog outlet Morning Star News reports.

Although 2018 was a year filled with rampant violence and discrimination against Christians in certain parts of India, the EFI Religious Liberty Commission reports an increase in documented incidents of hate and targeted violence against Christians that occurred in January and February.

In the first two months of 2019, the EFIRCL documented 77 incidents of hate and targeted violence against Christians. By comparison, only 49 similar incidents were documented by EFIRLC in January and February 2018.

Among the incidents documented this year are the killings of two Christians, one in Odisha state and another in Chhattisgarh state.

Sixteen of the 77 documented incidents in 2019 occurred in Tamil Nadu state, while 12 occurred in Uttar Pradesh. Six took place in Maharashtra and five in Chhattisgarh. Four cases each were documented in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala states.

One incident that took place in Uttar Pradesh was described by eyewitnesses who say that police officers disrupted a Sunday church service and arrested four women and two men. Among those arrested was a female pastor named Sindhu Bharti who was physically assaulted at the police station.

Boiling tea was forcibly thrust in her mouth because the police thought that she was feigning her unconsciousness, An eyewitness told Morning Star New. When that did not work, they poured two jugs of cold water on her face, not caring that it was already severely cold due to winter.

As for the men who were killed in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, EFI General Secretary, the Rev. Vijayesh Lal, told Morning Star News that both men were killed by members of the India communist party because of their faith.

One of the men killed was 40-year-old Anant Ram Gand of Odisha, who was reportedly abducted from his home by three men who left his decapitated body in the street. Gand had just converted to Christianity last year. It is believed that Hindu militants in Gand's village contracted Naxal, an Indian Maoist guerrilla group, to kill Gand.

We have recorded cases where Christians have been facing social boycott and have been excommunicated from their villages, and in a few instances have had to flee to save their lives, Lal said.

It should be noted that the EFIRLC data are by no means an exhaustive compilation of incidents of persecution in India because it is based on voluntary reporting and civil society investigations.

Most cases go unreported either because the victim and witnesses are terrified, or the police, especially in the northern states, just turn a blind eye and refuse to record the mandatory First Information Report of the crime, EFI states in its 2018 report.

In 2018, EFIRLC documented 325 incidents of violence and hate crimes against Christians in India. Last year, EFI voiced concern about the eruption in violence taking place in a few districts in Uttar Pradesh, the countrys most populated province.

The EFIRLC reports that 40 percent of documented incidents in 2018 occurred in Uttar Pradesh where Christians make up a very small minority of the population.

The EFIRLC report notes that with India general elections expected to be held in April and May, attempts at religious polarization have been at an all-time high.

Hate speeches, sometimes even by Union Ministers, have acted as a catalyst in the dividing of people along religious, ethnic and even linguistic lines, the report reads.

The menace of cow vigilantism has not been subdued but has grown with impunity. Targeting of Minorities, Dalits and Women have visibly increased. The small Christian community, 2.3 percent of the 1.30 billion population, which seems to be targeted on issues of conversion, is also [a] collateral victim of the hate crimes against the much larger Muslim community, which is about 15 percent.

Over the last several years, India has placed higher and higher on Open Doors USAs World Watch List of countries where Christians are most persecuted. In 2019, India was ranked as the 10th-worst country in the world for Christian persecution.

Since the ruling [BJP] party took power in 2014, attacks have increased, and Hindu radicals believe they can attack Christians with no consequences, an Open Doors fact sheet reads. As a result, Christians have been targeted by Hindu nationalist extremists more and more each year. The view of the nationalists is that to be Indian is to be Hindu, so any other faith  including Christianity  is considered non-Indian.
Jerry Falwell Jr. invites Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to speak at Liberty after alleged threat controversy

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. has invited Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to speak at the evangelical Christian school after quashing claims that he threatened her in comments he made about the Green New Deal and his herd of cattle at a Conservative Political Action Conference event last week.

A Twitter spat ensued after Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat congresswoman from New York, retweeted an incendiary clip posted by Bishop Talbert Swan of Spring of Hope Church of God in Christ in Springfield, Massachusetts, that shows Falwell speaking about concealed carry permits in 2015 following a terror attack at an office Christmas party in San Bernardino, California, where 14 people were killed and 21 others were injured.

I always thought that if more good people had concealed carry permits, then we could end those Muslims [unintelligible] ... Ocasio-Cortez wrote alongside the retweeted video where she falsely claimed: This was just this weekend at CPAC, the conference attended by the President and members, to 1000s. Wheres the resolution against Islamophobia?

The clip, however, was from December 2015 following the San Bernardino terror attack, not last week's CPAC event.

And Falwell shot back a response.

She claims this was @CPAC last week when it was actually in 2015 the day after the deadly CA attacks by radical Muslims (those Muslims I referenced) She also deleted the last part of my quote before they walk in and kill us, he tweeted.

The dispute heated up when Ocasio-Cortez shared another video on Twitter by Vic Berger IV, who claimed that it showed Falwell threatening to shoot @AOC at @CPAC this past weekend.

The clip, however, was shown without context.

During CPAC last week  held at National Harbor, Maryland, and three other locations including Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, last week  Falwell was among a number of speakers who poked fun at the targeting of cows in Ocasio-Cortezs Green New Deal.

A Green New Deal fact sheet released by Ocasio-Cortezs office last month mentioned the need to "fully get rid of farting cows.

An actual phrase in the proposal reads: "We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we arent sure that well be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast."

While apparently joking about his family always being armed, Falwell suggested that Ocasio-Cortez would have a hard time if she tried to seize his 100 head of cattle.

My boys always had guns in their hand," Falwell is heard saying in a clip that was retweeted by Ocasio-Cortez without an explanation that the discussion was about the movement to raise children gender neutral and gender fluid, and the tendency of girls to gravitate toward playing with dolls and their boys' interest in toy guns. "Thats not something you teach them, thats something theyre born with.  As far as those cows you mentioned, Ive got 100 cows  you just let Alexandria Cortez show up at my house and try to take my cows away, Falwell said during a panel discussion with Donald Trump Jr. at Liberty University last Friday.

I love cows, Jerry  theyre delicious, Trump Jr. responded.

CPAC speakers have said a lot of wild stuff about Democrats wanting to ban cows. Heres a supercut. pic.twitter.com/HfmBnlRGyo  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 2, 2019

Last Thursday, North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows also quipped at the conference: You know, with this Green New Deal, theyre trying to get rid of all the cows. But Ive got good news: Chick-fil-A stock will go way up because we are gonna be eating more chicken!

A short time later, Sebastian Gorka, a former official in President Trumps administration, accused Democrats of wanting to take away your hamburgers and said burger-banning is what Stalin dreamt about but never achieved.

On Friday, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also quipped that he hopes to see PETA supporting the Republican Party, now that the Democrats want to kill all the cows.

Despite the disagreement, Falwell shot down the mischaracterization of his comments and invited Ocasio-Cortez to share her views at Liberty.

@AOC Although we disagree on most of our politics, I would love to offer you the invite to come present your ideas at Liberty Convocation. Unlike most schools we welcome free speech and hearing from those who differ from our political views, he tweeted.

Without speaking directly to the issue of farting cows, Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview on Showtimes "Desus & Mero" that climate policy should examine reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.

In the deal, what we talk about is ... that we need to take a look at factory farming, period. Its wild, she told the hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero.

And so its not to say you get rid of agriculture. Its not to say were going to force everybody to go vegan or anything crazy like that. But its to say, listen, weve got to address factory farming. Maybe we shouldnt be eating a hamburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Like, lets keep it real, she continued. We have to take a look at everything.

A report in The Hill noted that while cow flatulence is frequently noted as a source of methane, it is the cows' belches that produce the danger from their enteric fermentation. The Environmental Protection Agency says livestock, especially cows, generate nearly one third of the methane produced from agriculture and it is on the rise.

Livestock, especially ruminants such as cattle, produce methane (CH4) as part of their normal digestive processes. This process is called enteric fermentation, and it represents almost one third of the emissions from the agriculture economic sector, the agency notes.

But agriculture only accounts for 9 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to data from the EPA. Emissions from electricity and transportation sectors collectively account for 56 percent of the total while industry accounts for 22 percent. Commercial and residential activity produces 11 percent of the emissions.
Joe Eskenazi, who will turn 104 on Jan. 30, shared haunting memories from eight decades ago with an audience as he was honored by the South Bay Quilters Guild, Sunday at the American Legion in Redondo Beach.
NJ firefighter-pastor sues fire department for making him shave beard he grew for religious reasons

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A born-again Christian firefighter and pastor in New Jersey has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Atlantic City as well as the fire departments chief and deputy chief for threatening to suspend him without pay unless he shaved a beard he claims he grew for religious reasons.

In the lawsuit which was filed last week, according to NJ.com, the 15-year veteran firefighter Alexander Smith, who also leads the Community Harvesters Church in Atlantic City, is suing the city and his superiors, Chief Scott Evans and Deputy Chief Thomas Culleny Jr. for violating his religious freedoms under the First Amendment and for violating the New Jersey Civil Rights Act, NJ.com said.

He is also seeking an injunction to prevent any adverse employment actions against him as well as an award of compensatory and punitive damage.

Smith, who works as an air mask technician at an annual salary of $115,000, said he began growing out his beard last December as an expression of his faith.

He tried to get special accommodation for his 3-inch beard from the city on Jan. 3 since beards are prohibited by the fire departments guidelines. The city, however, denied his request on Feb. 15, due to overwhelming safety concerns for Smith, as well as other firefighters, the lawsuit said. Facial hair can affect the seal of the breathing apparatus mask firefighters wear when they face fires, the report said.

Smith argued that as an air mask technician, when he responds to fires it is solely for the purpose of refilling SCBA air bottles," according to the lawsuit.

His job responsibilities do not include participation in extinguishing fires or search and rescue, it adds.

Due to the denial of his religious accommodation he is now required to show up for work clean shaven. Smiths attorney, Luna Droubi, has filed a request seeking a temporary restraining order against the shaving requirement until his lawsuit is resolved, allowing him to keep his beard for now.

Smith must prove he would face irreparable injuries and that his constitutional rights would be violated in order for a temporary restraining order to be granted.

The lawsuit states that the bylaws of Smiths church say that growing a beard is a scriptural practice that is encouraged because many of the prophets in the Bible wore beards.

Photos from the Community Harvesters Church website as well as the churchs Facebook page do not show Smith, who turns 43 next month, with a beard. The married father of three who has been a born-again Pentecostal believer since age 10 appears to freely sport a clean-shaved head and face.

When contacted through his church by The Christian Post for comment Thursday, Smith did not immediately respond.

Born and raised in Atlantic City as a Pentecostal believer, he developed a love and sense of compassion for others. Alexander was baptized in water and filled with the Holy Ghost at the age 10, the churchs website says of Smith. In the year of 2000 Pastor Smith accepted his calling and was ordained a minister under the leadership of Bishop John R. Gandy. In March 2009 we purchased a church building in Atlantic City and started The Way of Holiness Temple which was changed to Community Harvesters Church in 2013. Alexander was ordained pastor by The Universal Life Church in Modesto California, in 2011, and PA of W in 2017, it adds.

The churchs website which was last updated on Aug. 31, 2018, further noted that Smith is pursuing a Masters of Divinity from Rockbridge Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri, and serves as a Police and Firemens Chaplain for the city of Atlantic City.

In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that Arkansas must allow a Muslim prisoner to grow a beard that he says his religion requires.

In that opinion, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., said Arkansas prison officials had violated a federal law passed to protect religious practices from policies set by state and local officials.

While the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act does not require a prison to grant religious exemptions simply because a prisoner asks or because other prisons do, Alito said Arkansas officials offered no evidence that a short beard posed security risks or could serve as a hiding place for contraband, as the officials once argued.

Smiths lawsuit referenced a 1999 Third Court of Appeals opinion written by Alito that says a Newark police department policy to discipline two Islamic officers who refused to shave their beards was unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment.

Droubi also argued that the U.S. armed forces have revised their grooming policies to provide for religious accommodations in these circumstances.
Pastor tells how surrendering to God led to 40,000 praying for all Nashville residents by name

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Correction appended

A Tennessee pastor who specializes in church planting shared how he was able to coordinate about 40,000 Christians from more than 400 Nashville area churches to pray for every single resident of the city by name.

Dave Clayton, founder of Ethos Church in Nashville and leader of the group Onward Church Planting, spoke at the Exponential Conference Wednesday at First Baptist Orlando in Florida.

Clayton talked about how a decade ago he and some friends planted a church. By its fifth birthday, the church had grown and had planted churches of its own.

Despite this major success, Clayton told the Exponential crowd that following a major gathering of the congregations, he recalled God calling him to do more.

And He said, Dave, I didnt call you to gather a crowd. I called you to penetrate a crowd and then transform a crowd and then release a crowd not just for the city but for the nation and the nations, said Clayton.

Clayton talked about how he and his family had a crazy journey of surrender as he and the other leaders reassessed how Ethos was organized and how they made decisions.

All of the people except our closest friends thought we were losing our minds. Daves having a mental breakdown. Theyre burning out, theyre leaving the church. Whats going on? explained Clayton.

And I go, No, for the first time youre seeing a leader who is under the authority of a true Senior Pastor and Hes calling the shots.

From there, Clayton was inspired to coordinate a massive prayer effort to get as many local churches as possible to pray and fast for every single citizen of Nashville by name.

Some churches protested the idea, noting that churches were competitive with one another. But he responded that he was just walking in obedience. Eventually, more than 400 churches across the Nashville area signed on.

Forty-thousand leaders, 30 straight days of praying and fasting for every person in the city, explained Clayton amid loud applause. Every denomination, young and old, black and white, a hundred different languages represented in that group of churches.

Right now, those 40,000 leaders are literally writing hand-written notes to everybody in the city saying you matter to Jesus and were saying God, you do unprecedented things because were surrendering to Him and were doing it together.

Claytons effort, known as Awaken Nashville, garnered mainstream media attention, with the Tennessean recently reporting about the event which began on Jan. 27 and concluded Feb. 24.

Each person involved had a list of 15 people to pray for during the time period and addresses to send cards to, drawn primarily from publicly listed phone records, according to the Tennessean.

Clayton also told those gathered that God is not looking for the most strategic or most skilled, but rather the most surrendered.

The way to more is not strategy and skills and speeches and systems, declared Clayton. The way to more is on the downward path of surrender.

If we want our churches to do more, its time that we, as senior leaders, get really committed to becoming less.

Clayton drew inspiration from the New Testament book of Ephesians, written by Paul of Tarsus, which noted that the city learned about Christianity because of this little church of nobodies.

Paul says, listen Ephesian church, you didnt get here because of your strategy, or your intelligence, or your systems. You got here because of your surrender, Clayton added.

Claytons talk about the value of surrendering to God and how it created a large ecumenical prayer event was part of the multiday Exponential Conference.

Scheduled for March 4-7, the theme for this Exponential Conference is Made for More: Mobilizing Gods People, Gods Way.

Francis Chan, a notable pastor and best-selling author, gave remarks Tuesday at the conference, stressing the importance of pastors always remembering that Jesus Christ, rather than themselves, is the head of their church.

He is our head right now. So in light of that truth, how should I act? We all believe that Hes our head, right? What if He wasnt the head of the Church? How would you do things differently? Think about that, said Chan to those gathered.

I realize that a lot of times I dont act like Hes the head of the Church. I dont act like Im just like an arm. And I dont really humble myself, Lord, Youre the head of the Church. What do You want me to do? The arm doesnt do anything unless the head tells him to do it.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Dave Clayton left Ethos. He currently still serves at the church.
Would-be father whose unborn baby was aborted can sue clinic, Alabama judge says

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Ryan Magers, a would-be father whose girlfriend aborted their 6-week-old unborn baby two years ago, was granted permission to sue the clinic that provided the abortion after an Alabama probate judge recognized the fetus as a person with legal rights.

Magers attorney, Brent Helms, told news station WAAY 31 that the recognition of the unborn child as a person with legal rights, is the first decision of its kind in the nation. Probate Judge Frank Barger signed off on a letter of petition allowing Magers to represent Baby Roes estate, WHNT 19 said.

We have already had a victory, and it was the first one of its kind, ever," Helms told WAAY 31. "This is the first estate that I'm aware of that has ever been opened for an aborted baby.

Helms is now suing Alabama Womens Center for Reproductive Alternatives on behalf of Magers and "Baby Roe" for providing a chemical abortion to his girlfriend even though he begged her not to end her pregnancy.

"I'm here for the men who actually want to have their baby," Magers said after he filed a lawsuit last month in Madison County against the abortion clinic, their employees and the pharmaceutical company that makes the medication used to abort of his child.

Magers said he pleaded with his girlfriend not to end the life of his unborn child because he believes every child from conception is a baby and deserves to live.

"I just tried to plead with her and plead with her and just talk to her about it and see what I could do. But in the end, there was nothing I could do to change her mind," Magers said.

He says he is now fight to help other would-be fathers who might find themselves in the same situation.

"Even though there's nothing I can do for the situation I was in, there is something I can do for the future situations for other people," he said.

Helms said Magers was seeking legal counsel at the time of the abortion in February 2017. He said he petitioned to represent the estate of Baby Roe because with estate, the fetus has the right to sue under probate law in Alabama.

Personhood Alliance, the pro-life organization that helped Magers sue on behalf of his unborn child, explained that the suit was brought to prevent profiting from abortion.

In most states, wrongful death lawsuits can take into consideration medical bills, lost earning capacity, and other factors, but in Alabama, wrongful death lawsuits are meant exclusively to punish the defendant for their wrongful behavior and to deter similar conduct by others. This means that, if this case is successful, Alabama law could punish abortion clinics and pharmaceutical companies under the wrongful death law to prevent them from continuing to profit from the killing of pre-born children, the organization explained.

The decision recognizing the legal rights of unborn children in Alabama, sparked a rounded rebuke from abortion rights groups.

Yesterday, an Alabama court asserted that a pregnant persons rights are third in line  AFTER the person who impregnated them and AFTER the fetus. This is the reality of the anti-choice movement's goal of punishing women, NARAL wrote in a tweet Wednesday.

A day earlier, the organizations President Ilyse Hogue called the decision scary.

Alabama allows a suit from man AND fetus against abortion clinic where his girlfriend terminated her pregnancy. First under Alabama's new personhood law, asserting woman's rights third in line. Very scary case, Hogue wrote in a tweet.

Alabama voters decided last November that unborn babies should have the same rights as individuals born alive under state law.
Ben Carson to step down from Trump's cabinet, says president isnt racist

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson announced Monday his plans to step down from the administration and said he has witnessed nothing to suggest that the president is racist.

Speaking with Newsmax's John Gizzi Monday, Carson said, "I will certainly finish out this term, and I will always be interested in America being successful," when asked how long he plans on remaining on the job.

Asked directly if he was interested in serving a second term with the president, Carson said, "I would be interested in returning to the private sector, because I think you have just as much influence, maybe more, there."

Carson, who was also asked about his relationship with Trump and how often he speaks with the president, said he spoke with him as often as he needed to.

It depends on what's going on ... basically, every time I need him, he's very available," he said.

When asked about recent testimony on the Hill made by the presidents former lawyer, Michael Cohen, branding the president as a racist, Carson said he had not witnessed anything remotely racist about Trump.

"I think Cohen is trying to ingratiate himself to the people who hate Trump, and he figured if he says these kinds of things, that will accomplish that," Carson said.

"I've never seen anything even remotely [from Trump] that would remind me of racist. And believe me, I recognize a racist when I see them," he added.

HUD, which was established in 1965, provides mortgage insurance, public and Section 8 housing, and block grants. It also assists with recovery plans for natural disasters. Data provided by the agency, shows HUD has insured more than 30 million single family homes and provides affordable housing to more than 4.3 million low-income families.

"Last year, HUD leaders floated changing the [agency's] mission statement to omit references to discrimination and inclusivity, provoking an outcry among housing advocates on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act," Politico reported.

A critic of Carson's told The Washington Post that his time at HUD has done more harm to low-income families than good. He reportedly dialed back Obama-era policies at the agency aimed at desegregating low and middle-income neighborhoods and made changes to how the agency handles discrimination complaints.

In his first two years as HUD Secretary, Carson has unfortunately focused either on trivial and ill-conceived initiatives like EnVision Centers, or on attempting large-scale harm to low-income residents by proposing budget cuts, rent hikes, [implementing more strict] work requirements, and suspending important fair housing initiatives, Diane Yentel, president and chief executive of the National Low Income Housing Coalition told The Washington Post.

In the agency's defense, HUD spokesman Jereon Brown told WaPo that HUD "is prioritizing a backlog of 600 individual complaints of discrimination instead of initiating broad-based actions." And assured that the agency "is not retreating from the agencys civil rights mission." WaPo added.

Nearly 500 people had their cases resolved since 2017, Brown said, versus focusing our resources on larger secretary-initiated cases.

Over half of the discrimination complaints were based on disability, and one fourth were based on race, according to HUD.

Responding to reactions to his announcement late Monday night, Carson said in a statement that he is doing the job the president hired him to do.

President Donald J. Trump hired me to do a job as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and we are making tremendous progress ensuring our most vulnerable citizens are empowered with a path to self-sufficiency, he said. I always stand ready to serve this great president and the United States of America."
Justice Kavanaugh raises concern over NJ Supreme Court decision excluding churches from preservation grants

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh argued in an opinion Monday that a decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court last year that barred churches from participating in grant programs for historic preservation is in serious tension with this Courts religious equality precedents.

The petitioners here argue that the States exclusion of religious buildingsbecause they are religiousfrom Morris Countys historic preservation program constitutes unconstitutional discrimination against religion in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, Kavanaugh wrote.

The New Jersey Supreme Court concluded that the States discrimination did not violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments. In my view, the decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court is in serious tension with this Courts religious equality precedents, he argued. At some point, this Court will need to decide whether governments that distribute historic preservation funds may deny funds to religious organizations simply because the organizations are religious.

Kavanaughs opinion, which was joined by Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch, came even as he sided with his colleagues on the bench to not hear the case on whether Morris County in New Jersey could allow churches to participate in grant programs for historic preservation.

He argued that the Supreme Courts decision not to hear the case was appropriate because the factual details of the Morris County program are not entirely clear. He also noted that the law still needs development on the question of whether governments may exclude religious organizations from general historic preservation grants programs.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled last April that the use of taxpayer dollars to fund church repair projects that support religious activities is unconstitutional, even for historic preservation.

The decision came after a longstanding legal battle between the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Wisconsin-based atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Through its taxpayer-funded historic preservation trust fund, Morris County had granted $4.6 million to a dozen churches, the oldest of which dates back to 1740, that used the money to repair stained glass windows with religious imagery, slate roofs, building towers and ventilation systems, according to NJ.com.

Since at least 2015, the FFRF has sued to stop Morris County freeholders from awarding grants to historic churches for restoration or repairs by arguing that it violates Article I, paragraph three of the state constitution that reads, in part: "Nor shall any person be obliged to pay tithes, taxes or other rates for building or repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right or has deliberately and voluntarily engaged to perform."

In a statement Monday, the FFRF celebrated the Supreme Courts decision to not hear the case.

This is a big triumph for the rights of hardworking New Jersey folks, FFRF Co-President Dan Barker said. The Supreme Court made the right call in refusing to jettison the basic tenets of our Constitution.

The organization pushed back against the two reasons offered in the opinion by Kavanaugh, Alito and Gorsuch for turning down the case by arguing that they mischaracterized it.

First, they stated that the courts refusal to hear the case was appropriate because the factual details of the Morris County program are not entirely clear. However, the facts of this case are actually clear and have never been in dispute, the FFRF said.

The organization also argued that the New Jersey Supreme Courts decision did not require discrimination against religious organizations.

In fact, Morris County provides funds to church-owned secular historic buildings  and even to historic churches that are not in use as houses of worship. Such funding was neither challenged by FFRF nor prohibited by the New Jersey Supreme Court, the group said. The U.S. Supreme Court decision will save New Jersey taxpayers many millions of dollars and protects the religious liberty of all New Jersey residents.

Becket, a religious liberty law firm which represented Morris County, has argued that historic preservation serves a secular purpose.

Time does not discriminate, said Diana Verm, legal counsel at Becket, earlier. It takes its toll on all our historic structures, secular and religious alike. "The county should not be forced to discriminate by favoring secular sites in its preservation efforts.
Firefighters praise God after not 1 Bible is burned in fire that destroyed church

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Members of the Coal City Fire Department in West Virginia acknowledged Gods power Sunday after a devastating fire burned down a local church but failed to destroy any of the Bibles inside.

Picture this, a building so hot that at one point in time, firefighters had to back out. In your mind, everything should be burned, ashes. Not a single Bible was burned and not a single cross was harmed!! Not a single firefighter was hurt! Prayers for the pastor and the congregation today, the fire department wrote in a post on Facebook about the fire that destroyed the Freedom Ministries Church early Sunday morning.

Firefighters say they were dispatched to the scene of the fire in Grandview, West Virginia at about 12:58 a.m. on Sunday to assist the Beaver Volunteer Fire Department.

Though odds were against us, God was not, the department said.

The Christian Post reached out to Freedom Ministries for comment on the fire Tuesday but officials did not immediately respond.

In a statement on Facebook, shared along with a photo of what appears to be smoke billowing from the burning church, the ministry vowed to rebuild.

We have a heavy heart this morning, our church had a fire last night. We will have to rebuild but we will be OK. We will fight the enemy and not let him hold us down. We are coming back from Shabbach be at the church at 6-6:15 p.m. Please join us in prayer. We want to rally together and pray for Pastor Phil and Candice, the statement said. in the midst of the smoke you can see Jesus. He was there with us! FREEDOM MINISTRIES IS UNDONE WE ARE NOT FINISH!!!

The post from the Coal City Fire Department has since gone viral prompting more than 3,000 comments and nearly 40,000 shares on Facebook.

Out of every structure fire I have responded to in the past 20 years, not one Bible has burned, they might have smoke damage or charred around the edges but you could still read every page. We gave the owners back a lot of Bibles over the years. It just goes to show that God's word is more powerful than the devil's fire and fury no matter how hot it gets. God was watching over all you guys last night, and every fire call yall go on, wrote Dean Vandall in the most popular comment on the post which had attracted nearly 7,000 reactions as of Tuesday morning.

Erin Hoover, who has worked as a volunteer firefighter, said she, too, has had a similar experience with a Bible in a major fire.

I was a responding vol. firefighter on 9/11 to Flight 93 in Shanksville, Somerset County. We were walking in the woods yelling for survivors, and looking for the wreckage, when we got on scene. We found wallets and papers, blowing in the wind that were charred and burnt. Unreadable. We did, however, find a Bible. Untouched. Completely readable. I dont talk much about responding that day, but felt compelled to share my story too. I have PTSD from that call. But youre right. God is with us on those bad calls, those bad days. You just have to look up, she noted in the second most popular comment on the post.
Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

This is not a leading question. It is not meant as a setup or trap. To the contrary, Im asking the question because I have not yet formed an opinion. Why, then, is it that so many millennials are drawn to socialism?

I posted this on Twitter and got a robust response, with lots of insightful answers: Can someone explain this to me? The younger generation in America has grown up during a time of virtually unapparelled national prosperity and ease (generally speaking), yet so many are advocating socialism. Why do you think that is? (Honest question.)

A CNN headline dated June 28, 2018 declared, Millennials are much more open to socialism.

A February 14, 2019 article in the Economist focused on, The resurgent left. Millennial socialism.

And a March 4, 2019 headline in the Washington Times announced, Millennials agree: Calling yourself a socialist sounds sexier.

The question is why.

Why would so many young people who have been so materially blessed by capitalism be so fascinated by socialism?

Is it because they dont understand it?

Is it because they are all about fairness and equality?

Is it a protest against the rich?

Is it because theyre reacting against materialism and consumerism?

Is it because they feel entitled to a free handout?

On August 7, 2017, Prof. Jay Richards penned an important article for the Stream titled, On Communism and Socialism, Many Americans Are Still Clueless.

Every American should read this article, both young and old, since it lays out clearly what socialism really is and why it is so dangerous.

Richards wrote, Heres a brief primer: Marx and his disciples claimed that capitalism must give way to socialism, where private property would be abolished and an all-powerful state would own everything on behalf of the people. Thats what Marx meant by the word socialism, and thats the main dictionary definition.

I wonder how many millennials (or their elders) understand this?

He continued, This was only supposed to be a stage, though, not the end of all our strivings. At some point, under socialism, people would lose their silly fondness for property, family, religion, and other evils. A new socialist man would emerge and then the state would wither away. Everyone would enjoy peace, prosperity, and the brotherhood of man. Marx and his acolytes called that final, stateless paradise communism.

And what, exactly, does this look like?

Richards put it like this: Heres the point: Those regimes led by mass murderers with their gulags, death camps, man-made famines and killing fields were socialist. Thats not slander. Its what these countries called themselves. USSR stood for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Practically speaking, You gotta break millions of eggs with socialism to make the communist omelet. Socialism, you might say, was the necessary evil to reach the bliss where no state would be necessary.

That was sort of the theory anyway. In practice, socialism has just been evil. Unremitting evil, wherever its tried.

I wonder how millennials would respond to this?

Whats your take? Please share your thoughts here, and if you dont mind, for the sake of perspective, share your age (roughly or exactly) as you respond.

As I said, Im looking to form an educated opinion, so your insights will be very helpful.

Thanks for your sharing your thoughts!
Canada sees exponential rise in trans-identified kids, referrals to gender clinics

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Gender clinics in Canada are reporting an exponential growth in the number of children being referred for gender transitions.

According to The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, some childrens hospitals in Canada are reporting at least a doubling, if not more, in the number of children and teenagers seeking gender transitions.

The outlet reports that British Columbia Childrens Hospital reported receiving 240 referrals of trans-identified children in 2018. In 2013, only 20 children were referred to the hospital for gender identity issues.

The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto reports that the number of referrals they're receiving also has doubled since 2013, when about 100 were referred for gender dysphoria.

Stephen Feder, who co-directs the gender diversity clinic at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, explained that it's getting hard to keep up with the increasing demand his clinic is seeing.

About a decade ago, Feder said his hospital would maybe see about one or two patients each year struggling with their gender dysphoria. But in 2018, over 189 patients were referred to the CHEO gender clinic. The hospital serves patients living in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

Children and teens struggling with gender dysphoria are sometimes injected with hormone-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones and undergo extreme surgical procedures in an effort to look like the opposite sex.

Lupron  a hormonal agent that's employed to fight prostate cancer in men and is sometimes used to treat sex offenders  is now being injected into children who suffer from gender dysphoria, The Christian Post reported last December.

The drug has never been green-lighted by the FDA for that purpose, nor have there been any peer-reviewed studies done on the drug's long-term physical and psychological side effects on children.

A national research study involving 10 clinics from across Canada called Trans Youth Can! also found that the number of children being referred to gender clinics has increased significantly.

The rise in referrals in Canada is on par with the exponential rise in teens identifying as transgender or nonbinary in places like the United States and the United Kingdom.

In fact, the U.K. is investigating an increase of 4,000 percent over the last 10 years in the number of kids referred for gender dysphoria.

Dr. Margaret Lawson, an endocrinologist at CHEO who is involved in the study could not explain the growth when asked by CBC.

"We really don't know. I think there's much more knowledge, much more awareness in the community in general about gender diversity, and that gender diversity is different than sexual orientation," Lawson said.

Although Lawson claims that putting children on hormone blockers is reversible, other health experts have warned of dangers associated with putting children on hormone-blocking drugs like Lupron.

Critics also say that the puberty stunted as a result of hormone blockers is not reversible and that patients can be sterilized.

Children with [gender dysphoria] do not have a disordered body  even though they feel as if they do, reads a November 2018 policy statement on gender dysphoria from the conservative network American College of Pediatricians. Similarly, a childs distress over developing secondary sex characteristics does not mean that puberty should be treated as a disease to be halted, because puberty is not, in fact, a disease.

ACP warns that there are about 40 gender clinics across the U.S. that promote the use of pubertal suppression and cross-sex hormone therapy for children.

The rationale for suppression is to allow the gender-dysphoric child time to explore gender identity free from the emotional distress triggered by the onset of secondary sex characteristics, the policy statement reads. The standards followed in these clinics are based on expert opinion. There is not a single large, randomized, controlled study that documents the alleged benefits and potential harms to gender-dysphoric children from pubertal suppression and decades of cross-sex hormone use.

The ACP adds that there is no single long-term study that compares the outcomes of various psychotherapeutic interventions for childhood gender dysphoria with the outcomes of pubertal suppression.

In todays age of evidence-based medicine, this should give everyone pause, ACP argues. Of greater concern is that pubertal suppression at [usually 11 years of age] followed by the use of cross-sex hormones will leave these children sterile and without gonadal tissue or gametes available for cryopreservation.

Parents are increasingly finding that they have no parental rights over whether their children are injected with puberty blockers and cross sex hormones.

Last week, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that the father of a 14-year-old girl could not prevent his daughter from being injected with testosterone as part of a medical transition, a process the mother supports.

Last year, Christian parents in Ohio lost custody of their 17-year-old daughter because they objected to her desire to undergo hormone therapy.
UK opens first transgender-only prison unit for men in women's prison

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A womens prison near London will open what has been referred to as Europes first prison unit exclusively for men who identify as women.

Three trans-identified prisoners who've legally changed their gender will be the first residents of the new wing at Downview womens prison in Surrey, where they will not have access to any other inmates.

The unit will have 15 single cells and one cell with two beds. The new unit is big enough to house about 20 prisoners.

The new unit comes in light of reported sexual assaults in womens prisons at the hands of men which has forced the government to review its policies allowing trans-identified inmates to serve in womens prisons.

Prisoner safety is our biggest concern and any decisions we take will seek to best manage the risks posed by each offender, a British Ministry of Justice spokesperson said in a statement.

According to The Sunday Times, the new unit will be housed inside a building that was previously named after Victorian-era feminist Josephine Butler.

"The wider management of transgender offenders is a highly sensitive issue which poses unique and complex challenges and we are determined to get it right, the Ministry of Justice spokesperson added.

Andrea Albutt, the president of the Prison Governors Association, told the newspaper that the unit's success depends on how effectively female prisoners can be protected.

The outlet reports that about 50 percent of the British trans-identified prison population are sex offenders.

'They're going to have to have some kinds of safeguards to make sure that a Karen White event doesn't happen again, Albutt is quoted as saying. That is the number one priority.

White is a 52-year-old trans-identified biological male who was imprisoned for raping women. Born to the name Stephen Wood, White was moved to a womens prison after identifying as a woman.

Within a week of being moved to a womens prison, White sexually assaulted female inmates. White is accused of using a transgender persona to get access to vulnerable women. White was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes.

Whites actions sparked a review of the prison guidelines that called for trans-identified prisoners to experience the system in the gender in which they identify.

New guidelines will be published shortly to ensure that [the policy] continues to strike the right balance between ensuring that all female prisoners are kept safe [and] that transgender prisoners have their rights respected, Justice Minister Ed Argar said earlier this month.

Last year, the Ministry of Justice stated that at least one-third of prisons in England and Wales housed at least one transgender inmate. According to the data, 15 jails had at least one transgender prisoner, 18 had at least two to four, and 11 had at least five.

The Prison and Probation Ombudsman reports that about one-fifth of women who died in prison over the last two years were actually men who identified as women. As Yahoo reports, six people who self-identified as women died in custody between 2016 and 2018.

Male inmates who identify as a female can be at risk inside mens prisons.

In the United States, one trans-identified prisoner claimed to have been sexually and physically attacked inside four Illinois mens prisons. The inmate was eventually moved to a womens prison as a result.

In 2016, a trans-identified inmate in Doncaster, England, committed suicide inside a mens prison following complaints of bullying.

According to reports, transgender-only units are not expected to become a trend in prisons across the U.K. because the Downview was created to deal with the unique risks that the three inmates who will live there have to deal with.

The U.K. government has also reviewed transgender policies in other areas.

On Monday, it was announced that the U.K. National Health Service is reviewing policies that would allow transgender patients to be cared for in womens wards so long as they have legally changed their gender.

The British government also launched an investigation into why there has been a 4,000 percent increase in children seeking to transition to the opposite sex in the last 10 years.
UK school program promoting LGBT lifestyle to 4-y-o kids shut down after Muslim parents protest

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A primary school that taught students as young as 4 about LGBT lifestyles has stopped the lessons after hundreds of children were kept home by their parents to protest what they described as the aggressive promotion of homosexuality.

The Guardian reports that Parkfield community school in Saltley, Birmingham, U.K., organized a program aimed at children aged 4-11 titled No Outsiders which taught that families look different, in an effort to teach young students about homosexuality. In the program, students read books with titles such as Mommy, Mama and Me and King & King  stories about same-sex relationships and marriages.

But after 600 children were taken out of classes at the school, where the majority of its students follow Islam, the school announced it had decided to suspend the program.

In a letter to parents, the school said: Up to the end of this term, we will not be delivering any No Outsiders lessons in our long-term year curriculum plan, as this half term has already been blocked for religious education. Equality assemblies will continue as normal and our welcoming No Outsiders ethos will be there for all.

The program was created by assistant headteacher Andrew Moffat, who said the pro-tolerance plan was essential to preparing children for modern Britain. Moffat, who is gay, was awarded an MBE for his work in equality education and is also in the running for a major international teaching award, according to The Guardian.

He resigned from a previous teaching post at another school after Christian parents complained about his LGBT-affirming curriculum, the Daily Mail reports.

Last month, Parkfield community school received a letter with over 400 signatures from parents, mostly Muslim, calling for the program to be pulled. When the school refused to comply, parents protested outside the building and eventually pulled their children from classes.

The Alum Rock Community Forum, representing parents in the majority Muslim suburb, said children were being kept home as a result of the school undermining parental rights and aggressively promoting homosexuality.

Dialogue, petitioning and protests by parents have been repeated and arrogantly ignored. Our children, our choice  work with parents not against them, the forum told Birmingham Live.

Father Abdul Ma told the Sun newspaper: This is a brainwash. We bring our children here so they can later work as a solicitor or a teacher, not to be taught about being gay or a lesbian.

Fatima Shah, a mother of students at the school, told the BBC that what was being taught is not age-appropriate, as promoting homosexuality in the classroom was confusing children.

Children are coming home, girls are asking whether it is true they can be boys, boys as young as 4 asking whether it is true we can be girls. There is no need for it, she said.

We are not a bunch of homophobic mothers, she told The Guardian. We just feel that some of these lessons are inappropriate. Some of the themes being discussed are very adult and complex and the children are getting confused.

They need to be allowed to be children rather than having to constantly think about equalities and rights.

The classes will reportedly be postponed until at least the Easter break is over and after parents have been consulted.

The decision didnt sit well with everyone: Humanists UK, which promotes sex education in schools, called the schools decision to pull the program deeply worrying, arguing that it is vital that all young people, some of whom will be LGBT themselves, grow up with age-appropriate information as to the facts of life and the virtue of tolerance.

Recently, the U.K. Department of Education announced all state schools will be required to teach children about relationships and sex education, including LGBT issues, from September 2020. Under the new guidelines, head teachers can overrule parents who want to opt their children out of sex education classes.

The guidance also tells teachers to encourage students to question their religious beliefs about homosexuality. Questions to ask children include: Can people of the same sex love one another? Is this OK? What are the different kinds of families and partnerships? What do the words lesbian and gay mean?

In a statement, Colin Hart, chairman of the Coalition for Marriage, called the lessons completely unacceptable.

No one objects to the government trying to make children safer online by teaching them about internet trolls and about the dangers of social media, however, the plan to downgrade marriage  and sideline parents whilst doing it is completely unacceptable, he said.

The Department for Education is sidelining traditional marriage, the most stable form of relationship for raising children and forcing them to learn about every other form of relationship under the sun, even when it is not age-appropriate. The law should encourage traditional marriage, not undermine it.
As knife crime soars, who's got young people's backs?

Yesterday morning I got to enjoy one of my most beautiful moments of the year. I shared communion with 200 young people as part of their journey of leaving high school. We took moments to own and reflect on our regrets, to commit ourselves to living as reconciled people, to ask God to feed us in bread and wine, or grant us his blessing or protection. I am sure you can imagine that among such a group of teenagers there is a variety of responses.

Having done this for five years now, what I noticed this morning was the sense of connection. More young people than ever made eye contact, smiled, and revealed, in the light of their eyes, their earnest desire for God's blessing. I confess that it was incredibly moving and humbling for me.

It was made more so as, on my journey to the service, I had been listening to commentary on the wave of knife crime that is besetting the UK. I am sure that across the country many of us are heartbroken at the numbers of young lives that have been cut short. Our communities too often feature those wayside shrines to those who have had their lives ended early in what feels like an unstoppable cycle of violence.

Many will have their theories on how to stop the wave. Politicians posture, casting blame at any who will listen. Police and voluntary groups suggest that money will help, the press say whatever reassures their readers. And in the midst one can't help but feel that young people are once again left to their own devices.

The only model we have for how God might envisage a society is teased out of the Old Testament. Communities that resolve dispute through judges who were known in their land. Communities where the possibility of generational poverty was removed in cycles of Sabbath and Jubilee. Communities that (in context) frown on behaviours that will not advance the strength of the community as a whole. Perhaps most poignantly, communities where there was special provision to make sure that the widow, the alien and the child were particularly mentioned and provided for. In short, people would look out for the most vulnerable in society and would make sure that someone had their backs.

I am not sure that our young people in 21st century Britain enjoy that privilege. In the last 10 years it seems to me that twin pressures have left young people isolated and alone, with no sense that anyone has got their back. Supportive services have been drastically reduced in austerity: EMA (the Education Maintenance Allowance that provided support for young people continuing in education) was one of the first benefits to be cancelled. Stretched police services have little capacity to convey a message of support for young people as police are left simply chasing offenders rather than protecting potential victims.

In turning a blind eye to abuse for a generation, many of our traditional institutions have lost any credibility in protection they might once have had. Young people are portrayed as threatening, while simultaneously receiving messages that they must do more, achieve more, be more. Aggressive educational drive, social media, parental anxiety  it all adds to pressure that most law makers and church goers never had.

I'm not sure that some young people feel that anyone has got their backs.

We all know that if we don't feel anyone else will protect us, we will try to look after ourselves. That is a normal reaction and for significant numbers of young people, that means carrying a knife.

I do not have a quick fix for knife crime. However, I do believe that we can begin to work for a society where young people know that there is a community that has got their back and will protect them. That is a high ideal, but I wonder of it starts with the simplest of things.

A smile? Asking if a young person is OK? Refusing to being intimated into crossing the road when you see a group of teenagers (they are probably not trying to be intimidating)? Stopping buying that paper that insists it's all their fault? Supporting your church youth worker? There are many tiny things you can do to start letting young people know that you have their back.

Yesterday morning I didn't use that ancient Ash Wednesday reminder, 'Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return.' The young people who looked into my eyes know that all too well. This Lent let us pray, and let us act in such a way that when we do return to dust, as we all shall, it will be after a full and safe life for all of us.

Rev Jude Smith is the team rector of Moor Allerton and Shadwell in North Leeds. Follow her on Twitter @gingervicar
Former Archbishop of York John Habgood dies aged 81

The former Archbishop of York, John Habgood, has died at the age of 81.

He served as the Church of England's second most senior archbishop from 1983-1995, having formerly served as Bishop of Durham.

His successor at York, Most Rev John Sentamu, paid tribute to him saying: 'The sad news of the death yesterday of former Archbishop of York, John Stapylton Habgood, comes as northern bishops gather for a Diocesan mission in Liverpool.

'As a hugely distinguished scientist, theologian and philosopher, Archbishop Habgood's faith in Christ gave him a particular perspective and a persuasive witness both to church and nation for his time. His many books simplified big and complex questions, revealing an incredibly perceptive intellect. I'm very glad to have confirmed his grandchildren and dedicated a room in his honour at Bishopthorpe Palace.

'His towering presence, physical, intellectual, and spiritual, was a gift to all who knew him. My prayers are with his family at this time. May he Rest in Peace, and rise in glory.'

A former principle of the ecumenical Queen's College in Birmingham, he was a strong supporter of women's ordination. He wrote widely on science and religion, warning of the 'Protestant extremism' that has led to the rise of creationism and arguing that accounts of supernatural events in the Bible should be seen in the context of the cultural beliefs of the time.
French cardinal found guilty of failing to act on sex abuse allegations

A French court convicted the Roman Catholic archbishop of Lyon on Thursday of failing to act on historic allegations of sexual abuse of boy scouts in his diocese, handing Cardinal Philippe Barbarin a six-month suspended jail sentence.

Barbarin is the highest-profile cleric to be caught up in the child sex abuse scandal inside the Catholic Church in France. He was found guilty of failing to report allegations of sexual abuse in the 1980s and early 1990s by Father Bernard Preynat, who is due to go on trial later this year.

Barbarin, who moved to the Lyon diocese in 2002, visited the priest in his parish the same year but said he had not checked Preynat's file, where mail from parents denouncing the abuse was recorded, before doing so.

After being officially informed of Preynat's actions in 2014, Barbarin said he convinced one of the alleged victims, Alexandre Hezez, to write a letter describing the facts, which he passed on to Church hierarchy in Rome.

He removed the priest from his post in 2015, six months after being told to do so by the Vatican. 'It was to avoid public scandal, just as Rome had suggested,' he told the court.

He said he had 'never sought to conceal or cover up the facts' and that he 'didn't think it was up to me to file a complaint, especially since the victim was told it was too late to act'," he said on the first day of his trial in January, adding: 'I can't see what I am guilty of.'

Lyon prosecutors had previously investigated Barbarin but dropped the probe in the summer of 2016 without a detailed explanation. However, an association of alleged victims called Parole Liberee used a provision of French law to compel the cardinal to stand trial.

Additional reporting by Reuters.
UN religious freedom expert seeks visit to China's Xinjiang

The United Nations investigator on religious freedom said on Tuesday he has asked China to let him visit its Xinjiang region where some 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims are in facilities activists call mass detention camps.

Facing growing international opprobrium for what it calls re-education and training centres, China has stepped up diplomatic efforts to fend off censure.

Defending its de-radicalisation programme in the remote western region, China told diplomats recently that 'absurd preachings' from Islamist extremists there had turned some people into 'murderous devils'.

'I have requested for a visit to go there, because this a priority for me in terms of looking at what is happening there. There is reason to be seriously concerned about reports coming out of the Xinjiang region,' UN special rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed told a news briefing in response to a Reuters query.

China has not yet replied to his February request, he said.

Shaheed, a former Maldives minister, disclosed he was among several UN rights experts to write to China last November voicing anxiety at its anti-extremism programme.

The letter is also signed by UN investigators on arbitrary detention, disappearances, freedom of expression, minority issues, and protecting rights while countering terrorism.

'I wrote to China along with a couple of other rapporteurs on the "de-extremification" law that they are implementing which has resulted in, by some reports, millions being interned,' Shaheed said.

'The concerns we raised were first of all that the laws were overly broadly worded and were targeting essentially protected activities of communities, in terms of their right to thought, conscience and belief. So a whole range of violations occurring in these communities,' he said.

'Deaths in custody'

The UN letter voices concern that China's regulation 'targets Turkic Muslim ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities as well as Kazakh nationals' within a context of a 'crackdown on the exercise of fundamental rights in Xinjiang'.

It calls on Beijing to repeal the measure.

'There have been allegations of deaths in custody, physical and psychological abuse and torture as well as lack of access to medical care,' it said.

The Chinese regulation defines extremification as the 'spreading of religious fanaticism through irregular beards or name selection', the letter said. The law's stated aim to make 'religion more Chinese' was unlawful, it added.

Xie Zhangwei, a first secretary at China's mission in Geneva, told the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday that China opposes extremism, discrimination, violence or intolerance.

'The various religious groups, believers and non-believers, respect each other mutually and live in harmony,' she added, without mentioning Xinjiang.

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers complained to the Trump administration on Monday that its response to abuses against China's Muslim minority was inadequate months after it said it was looking into imposing sanctions.
More than 300 people packed the ballroom at the River Oaks Country Club to pay tribute to the 2019 class of Good Brick Award winners, an honor bestowed on people who save old buildings and other slices of Houston History, courtesy of the Preservation Houston nonprofit.

Preservation Houston executive director David Bush and board president Deborah Keyser emceed the March 1 event that honored people who restored homes dating back to 1895, as well as midcentury public art, a former grain silo and a beautiful chandelier made in 1934 for the Beth Israel Cemetery.

Harris Countys restoration of The Rebirth of Our Nationality mural in the East End earned the groups Martha Peterson Award, an award that considers efforts for the broader community. The mural was created in 1973 using spare house paint but time caused it to fade and chip away. Harris County engineer John Blount and graffiti artist Mario Figueroa Jr. (aka GONZO247) were on hand to receive that award.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: When you become so good at flipping houses you launch a design firm

An entire ceremony likely could have been devoted to Harriet and Truett Latimer, who received the Presidents award for their contributions to historic preservation in Houston and elsewhere in the state. Truett Latimer became a member of the Texas House of Representatives when he was just 23 and served for 10 years. Later he served as the executive director of the Texas Historical Commission for 16 years, spearheading an aggressive and successful effort to restore county courthouses.

Harriet Latimer is a founding chair of the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission and was lauded for her tireless work raising money for many groups, including Houstons Heritage Society.

She joked that as a fifth-generation Texan her family has been involved in historic preservation all over the state because her relatives have bought homes, stayed in them and took care of them until they were old enough to be called historic.

Accepting awards were:

Carol Desenberg of Congregation Beth Israel for restoring the original chandelier in the Temple of Rest mausoleum (1934) at Beth Israel Cemetery.

Nancy Butler for restoring the Jack R. Tenison House (1935) in River Oaks.

Developers Jon Deal and Todd Johnson for rehabilitating and repurposing the Riviana Rice silos (1960) in First Ward as SITE Gallery Houston at The Silos.

FW Heritage owners Dominic Yap and Lin Chong, and architect David Jefferis, for rescuing and restoring the Frederick C. Bammel House (c. 1895) in the High First Ward Historic District.

FASHION: How 800 scarves, fitness, charity and family bring joy to Leisa Holland-Nelson

Nicole and Mark Hochglaube for restoring the Maria Boswell Flake Home (1912) in Midtown.

Sid Sanders and Judge Ewing Werlein for for relocating and restoring the Extending Arms of Christ mosaic (1963) at Houston Methodist in the Texas Medical Center.

Architect Michael Fernandes, interior designer Sandy Lucas of Lucas Eilers Design Associates and homeowner Jay Hurt for restoring the Joseph C. Brown House (1929) in the Shadow Lawn Historic District.

STAY IN THE KNOW: Get caught up on what's going on around Houston. From sports to news and entertainment, check out the newsletters we're offering.
Whenever there was cause for a celebration in Conroe from the 1960s through the early 2000s, Chester B. Kelley was at the center of it.

Kelley, a baker and caterer, helped celebrate weddings, receptions, birthdays, grand openings, business functions and more in the community.

And Kelley was never without his camera to snap some photographs of those celebrating.

Although Kelley is now gone, those memories of a bygone era in Conroe live on through his collection of photographs now housed at the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County.

Robin Bartholet, Emery Heuermann and Merry Wise have volunteered their time on Friday mornings over the past few years to catalog the photos and identify the people in the photos.

So far, three albums have been organized and are available for the public to view at the museum.

Kelleys early life

Kelley was born in June 1918.

In a Courier article from July 2000, Kelley said hed always been interested in cooking when he was growing up.

He got his start as a baker in Alexandria, Louisiana.

That devotion eventually helped him work his way up to assistant superintendent at Cotton Bros. Bakery in Alexandria.

Eventually, Kelley made his way to Houston in search of work and landed at Pollys Cafe in Conroe in the early 1960s.

When the chance came for Kelley to own his own cafe, he jumped at it.

The cafe came up for sale and I had managed at different places, Kelley said in the July 2000 Courier article. But this time I wanted to have a place of my own.

With that sentiment, Chesters Cafe was established in 1964.

Located on Frazier St. in Conroe, the cafe became a gathering place for residents to visit over their morning coffee.

Old-timers would come in and sit for what seemed like hours drinking their coffee, Kelley was quoted in 2000.

After the cafe closed, Kelley opened a bakery and catering service out of his home.

Being the only caterer in town in early 1970s, Kelley made a name for himself providing service for every and any event in Montgomery County.

Kelley said of all the different types of events he catered, weddings were his favorite.

Its estimated that he made cakes for at least 500 weddings all over the county. One of his biggest jobs was the construction of a large cake for the Walden Country Club.

Frankie Alexander, who at one time did public relations work for Conroes First National Bank, enlisted the help of Kelley for all of the banks events.

His service was always excellent, Alexander said in the 2000 article. He also had a wonderful sense of humor and was a caring person.

Sally Copley, the Executive Director of the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County, also attended many of the events where Kelley was the caterer during her banking career.

He was always moving around checking the tables to make sure enough food was displayed for the attendees. He was so pleased when people ate his food and he made sure there was plenty, Copley said. I remember Chester as a small-framed man who always wore his shirts with the sleeves rolled up. He was a very nice man of small stature who loved his life-long vocation of being a chef and baker.

And she recalls he always had his camera in hand at these events and she is so pleased that these photographs are a part of the museums collection today.

Capturing the moment

Kelley took pictures of people at the events he catered, capturing the variety of faces that made up Montgomery County.

His photo collection includes snapshots of businessmen, city council members, lawyers, doctors, politicians and anyone else Kelley happened to see on a particular day. There are even some photos of Houston TV personalities when they visited Conroe.

Heuermann estimates the photos range in time from about 1966 to 2002.

The last time Robin Bartholet saw Kelley was in 2000.

He and his caretaker Ralph Bradford came into our furniture store (Southwestern Furniture), Bartholet said. He carried several photo albums with him. He put them on the sales counter in front of me and asked if I would help him organize the pictures, as they were in total disarray.

She agreed to help him, but he was eager to get started then and there. She told him it would have to wait for another time as there were customers in the store and she had to attend to the customers first.

He was very disappointed by the fact that we could not start at once, Bartholet said. I felt bad about turning him down, but I had no choice. In the retail world, customers come first.

Kelley passed away in 2004 and his family donated his photo collection to the Heritage Museum.

An opportunity coming around again

Once Bartholet retired, she wanted to do some volunteer work.

She asked Heritage Museum Executive Director Sally Copley what she could do to help.

Copley led her into the vault and gestured to several boxes on a shelf labeled Chester Kelleys Photos.

Chester finally got his wish, Bartholet said. I have been working on them ever since and am excited for the completion of the book.

She started trying to identify the people in the photos in 2015 or 2016, then fellow history enthusiasts Emery Heuermann and Merry Wise joined in the project on Friday mornings at the museum. They enjoyed so many memories and little stories as they worked to identify and organize the photos.

We have had so much fun and so many great memories putting these together, Wise said.

As a part of the project, they held a photo day at the museum inviting longtime residents to come look at the photos and try to identify people in the photos. That day resulted in much laughter and storytelling as well.

The collection has about 2,000 photos total. Approximately 800 have been identified and filed in three large photo albums.

There are still hundreds of photos left to identify in what Heuermann calls Phase II of the project.

At some point this committee will host another photo day inviting those with a long history in Conroe to come and identify people in the photos.

The albums are available for viewing at the museum and the committee along with Accessioning Committee Chairman Keith Cartwright are working to determine what else can be done so that the public has access to these photographic treasures.

There are quite a few people in here who are now deceased, Heuermann said. These pictures represent an era of Conroe from 1966 to 2002, that has now disappeared as well. This leaves a pictorial history for our descendants 50 or more years from now. Well be gone, but this work will still be here and representative of this era of Conroe history.

For more information about the project, call the Heritage Museum at 936-539-6873, visit heritagemuseum.us or visit the museum at 1506 I-45 North inside Candy Cane Park.
It started in Poland. Well, Eva Sek, and her authentic Polish recipes started in Poland, and after a move to Chicago and then to Texas, she and her husband opened Pierogi Queen in League City in 2016.

Since then, the couple has been serving the eastern European comfort food to die-hard fans and diners looking for something different.

I knew it would eventually be successful, but we didnt know how it would go in the beginning, Eva Sek said over a phone call while she was on a recent trip in Poland. "Up north, everyone likes Polish food and it is very common, but it is not very common here."

In fact, in the Houston area, where people can find cuisine from places like Ethiopia, the Mediterranean, Jamaica, South Africa, Morocco, Peru and Germany fairly readily, theres only one other strictly Polish restaurant in the region, located about an hours drive from Pierogi Queen.

I had faith that people would like the food if they tried it, Sek said. Its comfort food  whats not to like? It was hard at first because people know the barbecue and seafood, but once they started trying our food, they liked it. That makes me happy.

It was very important to me to open the restaurant here, Sek said. I wanted to share my culture and heritage with people who might not know about it, and I wanted to share the food. Polish food is family food  I cook to show people I care about them, and these recipes are all family recipes; so I wanted to share that family relationship with people here. I also wanted to open a place for other people who might be Polish to come and feel at home.

The cozy restaurant is nestled between a cake shop and a space that used to sell vinyl in a strip center on West Main in League City, but a small shop, said Sek, doesnt mean small flavor.

All of my food is fresh, she said. Nothing is ever canned. If people do not know what Polish food tastes like, I will compare it to German food. There is a lot of cabbage, kraut, pork, sausage  the only difference in my recipes and some recipes from Poland is I like a little more vegetables; so I add more vegetables. It is not expensive food.

Of course. the most popular item on Pierogi Queens menu are Seks pierogis  potato-based dumplings that are pan-fried, boiled or deep-fried, stuffed with the filling of choice (potato and cheese, mushroom and kraut, or meat) and served with sour cream  but other traditional Polish fare on the menu is just as popular.

Our stuffed cabbage, we call them galumpki, is very popular, she said. Also the Polish sausage is very popular. We make sandwiches out of the sausage that people like a lot, and we make what we call street pizza. This is like Italian pizza, but served on a baguette - my father used to make this at home.

More Information Pierogi Queen What: A Polish restaurant in League City Where: 2047 W. Main St., League City Dishes: Sek's pierogis, galumpki (stuffed cabbage), Polish sausage, "street pizza" Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Closed on Sunday and Monday. Contact: 713-244-4644; pierogiqueentx@gmail.com See More Collapse

Prices include $5.50 for four pierogis served with coleslaw, $10.99 for bigos (hunter stew) and $7.50 for blintzes, which are crepes with sweet Polish farmers cheese served with strawberry sauce.

Showing people what Poland is like, even if its a small glimpse, is important to Sek.

We play the Polish music, we have pictures of Poland, we have Polish words so people can see what they look like  I just want to share that piece of my family with our customers, she said. A lot of people here dont know anything about Poland, and I thought maybe sharing the food was a good way to show them what its like.
League City actors play a charming drifter and the spinster who doubts his promise to end a West Texas drought  for a price  in The Rainmaker, a romance by N. Richard Nash that plays March 8-31 at Bay Area Harbour Playhouse in Dickinson.

This has been one of my dream roles, said Brandi Kiekel, who first encountered the part of Lizzie Curry when she performed a scene from the play at Clear Creek High School, where she graduated in 2002.

Meanwhile, Edward Waddell, who plays Bill Starbuck, steps into a role that director Mike Fabian played at Harbour in 2005.

He is a fine talent and fits the part, said Fabian, who is an attorney in Friendswood. I think he can do just as good if not better than I did it. Its a good character part, one an actor can really sink his teeth into.

The show is set around 1930, during the Great Depression on a ranch where the cattle are dying of thirst.

Starbuck convinces Lizzies father that if he pays him $100, Starbuck will make it rain.

The Rainmaker Where: Bay Area Harbour Playhouse, 3803 Texas 3 in Dickinson When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, through March 31 Admission: $6 children, $12-$17 adults Information: 281-337-SHOW (7469), www.harbourtheater.com See More Collapse

The drought is not only in the weather, but also in the lives of the characters, Fabian said.

Starbuck encourages Lizzie to unleash her dreams and ambitions.

Dream youre somebody  be somebody! he tells her.

How all this works together toward the ending is, to me, fascinating, said Fabian. Its always been one of my favorite shows. The author is a poet.

The Rainmaker debuted on Broadway in 1954.

Its 1956 film version starred Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn.

In both the Broadway and movie versions, the story was in a small town in Kansas.

We are setting it in West Texas, said Kiekel, a Kansas native who moved to Texas when she was in second grade.

After high school, she returned to The Sunflower State for college, graduating with a bachelor of arts in theater from Kansas State University.

I was married for a while and had two children, she said, before returning to Texas as a single mother.

Kiekel earned a teaching certificate at the University of St. Thomas and teaches theater at Austin Middle School in Galveston.

She said her students have noted that she is always experimenting with new stuff.

For example, Kiekel recently sang and danced in four performances of Banned Broadway, a revue of risque tunes from edgy musicals, at Upstage Arts in Webster.

The Rainmaker is more appropriate for a family audience, said Kiekel.

I am doing this (role) for my kids, she said, referring to her students at school. Especially the eighth-graders. They started when I started teaching. They were fifth-graders, and now they are eighth-graders.

Fabian also acts in the play, portraying the sheriff.

The sheriff and Starbuck dont meet in the script. However, Starbuck is wanted by the law, the director said. Ive played cops, sheriffs and authority figures a lot in my time, so I know this character.

Rounding out the cast are Sam Kee, C.T. Gomez, Jon Barajas and Daniel Partida.

They are some of our old hands around Harbour, with lots of experience, Fabian said. I think the audiences are in for a real treat with this caliber of a cast.

Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be reached at donmaines@att.net.
The powerful Texas Medical Association has come out swinging in its opposition of proposed bipartisan legislation that seeks to end surprise emergency room billing in the state.

The lobbying group that represents 53,000 doctors in the state began blanketing lawmaker's offices with a flier this week demanding legislators instead "hold health insurers accountable for the products the sell to Texans."

On Feb. 28 state Sen. Kelly Hancock, a Republican from suburban Fort Worth, introduced sweeping legislation that would treat all emergency room visits as in-network and bar doctors from billing patients for any portion of a charge that insurance does not pay. In addition it would protect unsuspecting patients who go to an in-network facility, such as a hospital or surgical center, and later discover they were treated by an out-of-network provider.

A companion bill is sponsored by state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio in the House.

RELATED: New proposed law could curb surprise medical billing in Texas

Texas Medical Association has contended surprise billing is not the fault of doctors, but rather insurers who severely limit networks and refuse to allow willing physicians into networks. The group also accuses the insurance companies of under-paying them and arbitrarily denying legitimate claims.

"Some of the most frequent, and most irritating intrusions into physician's daily lives come from health insurance companies," the flier said. It further stated that "we strongly oppose" Hancock's proposed legislation, calling it mere "window dressing" to protect patients.

The medical group said the law would allow health plans to "determine unilaterally what they pay for care provided out of network" and lets insurers "skirt responsibility for the products they sell."

Hancock, who for the past decade has battled against surprise billing, said in a statement: "It's a shame the association chose to take a staunch position against patient protections instead of working with us on the bill."

Texas has one of the worst records of surprise medical billing in the nation. Internal claims data from the three largest insurers in the state shows that two of three emergency physician claims in 2017 occurred at in-network facilities.

RELATED: New proposed law could curb surprise medical billing in Texas

The measures introduced by Hancock and Martinez Fischer would also remove patients from the middle of billing disputes between doctors and insurers under the state's mediation process. Patients would only pay in-network rates for such things as deductibles and co-pays. If doctors believe they have been wronged by insurers it will be up to them to start mediation, not the patients.

While many Texans remain ineligible for the mediation process, the proposed legislation would allow some to opt-in.

Previously, the Texas Medical Association has said it opposes removing removing patients from the mediation process because they can help influence insurers to pay more.

The medical group, in its flier, said it does support other legislation introduced this year that takes aim at health maintenance organization (HMO) plans that require prior authorizations for certain treatments. Other legislation the group supports would require insurance directories for in-network doctors to be updated every two business days and force the Texas Department of Insurance to review network adequacy requirements at least every two years.

There is little doubt a fight over patient billing is building in Texas. After Hancock's bill was unveiled last week, Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted: "Sweeping legislation takes aim at shock emergency room bills in Texas. This issue must be resolved this session."
Sometimes, things just work out for RodeoHouston.

Kacey Musgraves made her debut right after winning four Grammys and appearing on the Oscars. Panic! At the Disco took the stage in the wake of its biggest career hit, "High Hopes." Luke Bryan was here just days before returning as a judge to "American Idol."

Luke Combs arrives as arguably the biggest country star of the moment. He drew an impressive 72,384 paid attendance for his Wednesday night debut at NRG Stadium.

RECORD-SETTER: Cardi B draws all-time largest crowd to RodeoHouston

This week, Combs tops Billboard's five main country charts: Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales. It's happened only once before to Kane Brown, who performs Saturday.

Combs, who just turned 29, has earned five No. 1 country singles, which he frequently mentioned onstage. He was bearded, ball capped and brandished his signature red Solo cup.

"To go from playing at a chicken wing restaurant with 10 people in it to playing NRG Stadium at the rodeo for 75,000 people is pretty unbelievable," Combs said. (Close enough.)

His songs  "Out There," "When it Rains it Pours," "Must've Never Met You"  are designed for radio play, and he ably switches from rowdy to romantic. He introduced current chart-topper "Beautiful Crazy" as a song he wrote for fiance Nicole Hocking before they were engaged.

POWER POP: Camila Cabello brings star power and Selena to RodeoHouston

Luke Combs RodeoHouston setlist "Honky Tonk Highway" "Out There" "When it Rains it Pours" "Must've Never Met You" "Beautiful Crazy" "This One's for You" "Can I Get An Outlaw?" "Beer Can" "Houston, We Got a Problem" "One Number Away" "One Too Many" "Hurricane" "Beer Never Broke My Heart" "Brand New Man" "She Got the Best of Me" See More Collapse

"I knew she was going to think that I was really weird or really sweet," Combs joked. It was the first of many singalongs.

Hocking, who was in attendance, came up again during "Houston, We Got a Problem," which name checks the Astrodome. Combs wrote the song during his first visit to Houston while missing his then-girlfriend.

He hit a nice stride, and his voice took on a deeper growl, during the final stretch of songs. Unreleased tunes "One Too Many" and "Beer Never Broke My Heart" were particularly good and suggested a promising direction for one of the genre's most successful new voices.

Joey Guerra writes about music and pop culture for the Houston Chronicle. He will be writing about every single RodeoHouston concert. Follow him on Twitter. Send him news tips at joey.guerra@chron.com.

EDITOR'S PICKS: See photos below from Day 10 of RodeoHouston
This weekend marks the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, the annual time when most U.S. residents move their clocks an hour forward until returning to standard time on Nov. 3.

The annual spring forward is not observed in Arizona or Hawaii.

In Texas, State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) filed Senate Joint Resolution 59 which would allow Texans to vote on eliminating Daylight Saving Time.

When you think of hot button public policy issues what usually comes to mind are things such as property tax relief and school finance and pension reform, Bettencourt said. However, the issue of Daylight Saving Time has roused passions on both sides of the debate for over 100 years. Giving Texans the opportunity to vote on the issue will settle the debate once and for all in the Lone Star State!

NEED TO KNOW: The 17 biggest issues in the Texas Legislature 2019

According to Bettencourt, SJR 59 would apply to all portions of Texas using Central Standard Time as well as Mountain Standard Time. While most of Texas is on Central Time, far west Texas  including El Paso  are on Mountain Time.

If the resolution passes, the bill would require a vote on the Nov. 5, 2019, general election where Texas voters would decide whether or not to abolish Daylight Saving Time. If approved by the voters, the change would take effect in 2020.

In 2016, State Sen. Jose Menendez of San Antonio filed a bill to remove the need for Texan to adjust their clock for daylight saving. The bill was benched and moved to the State Affairs committee for further discussion.

Benjamin Franklin first proposed a form of daylight time in 1784 in his essay An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light, written to the editor of The Journal of Paris.

TEACHER RAISES: State Senate unanimously passes bill giving teachers $5,000 pay hike

Daylight Saving Time was first enacted in the U.S. during World War I but was repealed in 1919. It was restarted during World War II but again repealed three weeks after the end of the war. Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966, which allows states to remain on standard time if they wish.

Brighter evenings may save on electric lighting, said Stanton Hadley, a senior researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who helped prepare a report to Congress on extended daylight saving time in 2007, LiveScience.com reported. But lights have become increasingly efficient, Hadley said, so lighting is responsible for a smaller chunk of total energy consumption than it was a few decades ago. Heating and cooling probably matter more, and some places may need air-conditioning for the longer, hotter evenings of summer daylight saving time.

As for Texas, Bettencourt simply wants state voters to have a say.

I have advocated for a public policy of let the people vote when it comes to pension obligation bonds and rollback elections regarding their property tax bills, Bettencourt said. The issue of Daylight Saving Time is no different. Let the people vote and trust their vote.

rkent@hcnonline.com
Americas oil and gas boom is responsible for lowering the trade deficit by about $250 billion over the last decade, according to a new report from research firm IHS Markit.

Unfortunately, this economic success story might not last much longer. President Trumps Section 232 tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are already threatening our energy exports.

The president has long promised to close Americas trade gap. If thats truly his goal, he needs to call off his trade war before it does real damage to our most globally competitive industries.

Americas surging oil and gas exports are the direct result of a historic domestic energy renaissance. New technologies have enabled the energy industry to extract previously inaccessible stores of fuel from shale rock formations through hydraulic fracturing, better-known as fracking.

Thanks to these breakthroughs, domestic oil and gas production has increased by nearly 60 percent since 2008  making the United States the worlds leading producer of petroleum and natural gas for the last five consecutive years.

Not surprisingly, this glut of in-demand energy resources has spurred our export economy, as the IHS report makes clear. Between 2007 and 2017  a period in which trade deficits for other goods exploded  the deficit for petroleum products actually plummeted by more than 75 percent, the report concluded.

Over the next five years, the report projects the trade imbalance for petroleum exports will fall by another $50 billion.

The Trump administrations tariff policies threaten this progress. This is especially true of his import duties on steel and aluminum. In imposing these tariffs, the president claims he is exercising powers granted to him under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which authorizes the executive to levy import duties in the interest of national security.

In reality, these tariffs run directly counter to our national interest by weakening some of Americas most competitive industries, including the energy sector.

Its often impossible for energy firms to buy American. Many pipeline projects require pipes so large and wide that not a single American steel firm can produce them. All told, over three-quarters of the steel used in oil and gas pipelines is imported.

Thanks to 232 tariffs, most oil and gas pipeline construction projects would be delayed or stalled, according to global consulting firm ICF.

The administrations protectionist tariff polices are also harming U.S. trade relations with some of our biggest petroleum customers  like China.

In June, China threatened to impose a 25 percent retaliatory tariff on American crude oil. Although the country has yet to make good on that threat, it did suspend purchases of U.S. crude this August.

China is buying less U.S. LNG and diverting shipments to other countries. Between January and April, 14 U.S. LNG vessels reached China. May and June saw just one.

President Trumps tariffs are also already jeopardizing energy investment in the United States. Worried it wont be able to secure enough Chinese buyers, an Australian company is delaying its decision to invest in an LNG terminal project near Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Instead of closing the trade deficit, Trumps policies are weakening one of the few industries where net exports are on the rise.

For now, the best way to bolster domestic industries, including energy, is to roll back the 232 tariffs and let the global market for U.S. goods continue to thrive.

Drew Johnson is a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research. This piece originally ran in FoxBusiness.com.
A 47-year-old former Texas A&M Forest Service firefighter on Wednesday received a maximum 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to sexual assault and abuse of a child.

Jeffrey Sean Pittman, of Porter, received two sentences, 30 years for continuous sexual abuse of a child and 20 years for sexual assault of a child. Both sentences run concurrently and Pittman will serve no less than 30 years before release as sentenced by visiting Judge Paul DAmico in the 359th district court, according to a Montgomery County District Attorneys Office press release.
The WOW (Women of Waterford) Book Club Girls were at it again this week when we met at our usual place (El Bosque Restaurant located on Texas 105 just across the street from Waterford Estates) to dine, drink and discuss our book for the month (which quite honestly no one could remember what it was!) But forgetting the book didn't stop us from having a great time! Enjoying the un-book discussion were KAREN DWYER, CORINNE DUNN, LINDA BLANKE, EVELYN BOWDEN and MARIE UNDERDOWN. Evelyn shared some great news: She and hubby Mike just became grandparents of precious baby girl! Evelyn proudly showed us her picture. What a cutie! Congratulations you two!

Next month we will discuss (maybe!) "Crazy Rich Asians" by Kevin Kwan. Any gal who would like to join an extremely casual book club, or who justs want to have fun with a great group of gals, come on over to El Bosque at 6 p.m. on the first Monday of the month. We would be so glad to have you!
Members of Montgomery County law enforcement gathered at the Lee G. Alworth Building in downtown Conroe on Wednesday afternoon to honor their efforts at cracking down on drunken drivers.

The vehicular crimes division at the District Attorneys Office held its ninth annual awards ceremony naming the recipients of 2018s officer, agency and investigator of the year. District Attorney Brett Ligon addressed the crowd, most of whom were officers in uniform, and reminded them of the importance of what they do.

Unfortunately this type of work is never done, Ligon said.

Montgomery County Sheriffs Office Deputy Jacob Rodgers received the DWI Officer of the Year award. Rodgers, a Montgomery County native, was recognized for mounting strong cases in addition to the many DWI arrests he nets, Ligon said. Rodgers was also commended for the amount of research he did in the first case he worked as it headed to trial.

He is polite and professional with suspects which often results in (them) consenting to provide blood specimens, Ligon said. His level of preparation paid off as the trial resulted in a guilty verdict.

As he accepted a sturdy-looking Texas-shaped wooden plaque, Rodgers deferred recognition to others.

The work on behalf of DWI enforcement is not only a reflection of myself, but my shift, Rodgers said. Its a team effort.

The Texas Department of Public Safetys New Caney office was signaled out as DWI Agency of the Year for its 14 troopers averaging 30 DWI arrests and for the majority of the cases they work yielding blood samples, Ligon explained.

Ligon noted the growth of east Montgomery County required a lot of effort to police the area, but that New Caney DPS officers accomplished the task.

I want to thank you, he told the troopers present.

He lauded the whole of DPS, saying the agency was the tip of the spear and sharp edge of the sword for the suppression, detection and prosecution of DWI offenses.

The distinction for DWI Investigator of the Year went to Kenneth Chapman of the Texas DPS. Ligon said Chapman has been working out of The Woodlands since 2014 where he has averaged 130 crash investigations and 50 DWI arrests per year.

Chapman has consistently shown top-notch work in DWI enforcement and investigation, Ligon said.

His thoroughness was instrumental to convicting Starlan Herbert Smith Jr. in the Interstate 45 vehicle crash in April that claimed Karla Tapias life, Ligon said. He attributed Chapmans hard work for Smith pleading guilty in February in the manslaughter case for which he received a 20-year sentence.

Ligon lauded Chapman for collecting valuable evidence from the hospital staff and from a belligerent and highly intoxicated Smith. He also managed to obtain information that allowed for the retrieval of video footage and receipts from the bar where Smith was drinking, helping build a rock solid case, Ligon added.

He also pointed to stats he said show Montgomery County has higher rates of intoxication than other parts of Texas, reiterating the value of enforcement on DWI offenses.

Those of us who live here want to keep our roads safe, Ligon said. We all share that risk factor of just driving.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

twitter.com/jrgzztx
Montgomery County law enforcement is boosting DWI enforcement during spring break to halt impaired driving-related crashes and deaths.

Through execution of its no refusal enforcement program Friday through March 17, medical personnel and law enforcement can obtain a suspected drunken drivers blood sample if they refuse to provide it.

During last years spring break period, March 10-19, there were 88 DWI arrests made in the county, according to information provided by the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office.

These included 24 second and third DWI offenses and one DWI offense involving a child. There was also at least one intoxicated assault offense, meaning the driver was charged with causing serious bodily injury to someone else.

The sheriffs office wants our citizens and guests to have a safe spring break, so please plan ahead and think before drinking and driving. Get a designated driver, use a car share service and be responsible, the press release stated.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

twitter.com/jrgzztx
It was a packed house at Safari Texas on Thursday afternoon as community leaders and residents turned out to learn about the state of the city of Rosenberg.

Rosenberg Mayor William (Bill) Benton his address began by honoring and recognizing city employees and dignitaries, including Fort Bend County Judge KP George and Precinct 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales Jr.

Ongoing construction in and around Rosenberg is often an issue for area residents, which Benton approached with a bit of humor.

I saw some of the construction guys on the side of the freeway and I stopped and asked them when this construction and they said 2050, Benton said. Thats not true.

According to Benton, since the year 2000, Rosenberg has grown from a city of about 24,000 to one of about 40,000 today. From 2008 to 2018, the net taxable value has increased about 200 percent.

He said the taxable value has increased from about a billion to $3 billion. We need to applaud that.

With the increase in taxable value, the cost for services gets spread out across a wider swath of residents.

That figure has given us the opportunity to cost share, Benton said. We have more people paying less taxes than less people paying more taxes.

Benton lauded new commercial developments in the area, including a new Aldi distribution center. Since 2013, the mayor said 4,000 new homes have been built in the city. He added that home values have increased from $114,000 to $180,000.

In 2018, the city for the first time eclipsed S20 million in sales tax, Benton said. Thats a big deal when it comes time to fund things. We have to have the resources to do it. Were always looking for ways to reduce property taxes.

The expansion of the property tax base has resulted in the city reducing its tax rate in recent years. In 2017, the tax rate stood at 46.2 cents per $100 valuation. Today, the rate is 43 cents per $100 valuation which represents nearly a 7 percent drop in the property tax rate for area residents. The tax rate was 47 cents per $100 valuation in 2016.

It was the largest single year tax reduction in 30 years in Rosenberg, Benton said of the most recent decrease. I can assure you that was not easy to achieve. Weve done all this while maintaining or increasing all city municipal services.

Benton went on to laud the work done on road expansions  including Bryan and Spacek roads, and Bamore Road at I-69  and the Public Works Departments work on reconstruction, repaving, striping and work on alleys around the city.

Because the rain has wreaked havoc on our alleys, we are behind, Benton said. As soon as we get the opportunity were going to get in and repair those alleys.

The mayor also spoke of the Brazos water project, which includes 38 miles of pipe to bring water from Angleton to Rosenberg.

Weve had to spend a lot for water, Benton said.

Other highlights of Bentons presentation included in the last year that the:

Police Department added Police Chief Johnathan White. Benton added that violent crime fell 4 percent over the last year. So were a little bit safer.

Fire Department got a new fire engine, six new personnel and obtained a new rescue boat.

Finance Department has earned transparency stars and honored for excellence for financial reporting for the 32nd consecutive year.

Planning and Code Enforcement has approved 2,000 new lots in the city and ETJ. We had to reinstate the dangerous building abatement program.

Rosenberg is growing and the growth is good as long as it is managed properly, Benton said. I believe that should be the goal of every city.

For more information on the city of Rosenberg, go to https://rosenbergtx.gov.

rkent@hcnonline.com
A week after an appeals court ruling undercut a provision of the Texas Open Meetings Act, the 185th District Court has dismissed charges against six current and former members of Pasadenas economic development corporation who had been accused of trying to skirt that portion of the law.

Jimmy Ardoin, a Houston attorney representing one of the six, EDC board member Emilio Carmona, lauded Tuesdays indictment dismissals, saying the walking quorum rule on which the charges had been based were too vague and so broad that it encompasses political speech.

There was no violation of the statute anyway, Ardoin said.

Others who had been indicted for holding two private meetings with a contractor in November 2016 were corporation board member Ernesto Paredes, former board President Roy Mease and ex-board members Brad Hance, Jackie Welch and Jim Harris. They were accused of violating the law by intentionally dividing the board into two groups to meet separately with the contractor to avoid having a quorum that would trigger public meeting requirements.

NEW RULING: Texas court blows a hole in state's Open Meetings Act

In the meantime, state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and state Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, are working to restore the provision of the Open Meetings Act that was struck down by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, saying they will reword the walking quorum provision to be more precise.

As written, the act makes it illegal for members of a government body to knowingly conspire to circumvent this chapter by meeting in numbers less than a quorum for the purpose of secret deliberations.

On Nov. 28, 2016, the six who were indicted, who were then all on the Pasadena board, met twice with engineering firm Civil Concepts about potential designs for a new civic center.

Said Meases attorney Stanley Schneider: Roy Mease and the others did nothing wrong. They shouldnt have been prosecuted. It was just information being gathered. The open meetings law is to prevent secret meetings and secret votes. Its not to prevent (government officials) from getting information.

They were looking at presentations, Ardoin said. There was no vote and no intention to violate the Texas Open Meetings Act.

DEVELOPMENT: Legislators file bill to restore Open Meetings Act after court ruling

Why are we criminalizing the first amendment? he said of the former indictments.

The appeals court felt the same way about the walking quorum prohibition, saying it was unconstitutionally vague on its face.

But in a press release, Watson said, Without some kind of walking quorum prohibition, theres nothing to stop government actors from meeting in smaller groups to avoid the spirit and intent of the Open Meetings Act.

Phelan echoed Watson, saying if we do not act this session to address this ruling, we deny (Texans) the open government they deserve.

We respectfully disagree with the Court of Criminal Appeals ruling, said Joe Larsen, a board member on the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

This is a case that could be taken to the U.S. Supreme Court, he said.
Grecia Solano of Channelview said she was shocked when she returned home from work Tuesday afternoon and found her bedroom window busted in. Anyone would expect a home break-in to lead to missing electronics or jewelry, but Solano's most precious valuable was stolen instead: her 3-month-old miniature poodle, Watson.

"He only took my dog. They can take anything else I own, I don't understand why they would take my dog. I am sick to my stomach [and] devastated. I just want my puppy back."
Pearland police recently reported seizing controlled substances and some drug test falsification devices during several narcotics arrests.

Narcotics

A Katy man, 19, was arrested for marijuana possession Feb. 25 in the 6600 block of Broadway Street, police said.

A 17-year-old Pearland man was arrested for marijuana possession Feb. 25 in the 3000 block of Eagle Lake Drive, police said.

Police arrested a Houston woman, 51, for possession of drug paraphernalia Feb. 25 in the 4900 block of Main Street.

A Pasadena woman, 18, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia Feb. 26 in the 1500 block of Cullen Parkway, police said.

A Houston woman, 27, received a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia Feb. 26 in the 11200 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Police took a 17-year-old Pearland man into custody for marijuana possession in a drug-free zone Feb. 28 in the 2500 block of Cullen Parkway.

Police arrested a Houston man, 36, for marijuana possession and a Sugar Land warrant Feb. 28 in the 10700 block of Broadway Street. A Houston woman, 31, received a citation for fictitious or altered license plate, police said.

A Pearland man, 22, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia Feb. 28 in the 4500 block of Main Street, police said.

Police took a Houston woman, 25, into custody for marijuana possession Feb. 28 in the 11200 block of Broadway Street.

Police arrested a Pearland man, 55, for marijuana possession March 1 in the 3900 block of Broadway Street.

Police arrested a Lake Jackson man, 37, for marijuana possession and a Harris County warrant March 1 in the 2700 block of Old Chocolate Bayou Road. An 18-year-old Pearland woman received a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.

A 20-year-old Pearland man, was taken into custody for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia March 2 in the 2200 block of Cullen Parkway, police said.

Police arrested a Galena Park man, 38, for possession of marijuana, a controlled substance and a drug test falsification device March 2 in the 3000 block of Pearland Parkway.

A Kemah man, 42, was taken into custody for marijuana possession and a warrant March 2 in the 3800 block of Main Street, police said.

Police took a Pearland man, 23, into custody for possession of a controlled substance March 3 in the 2500 block of Cullen Parkway.

A Pearland woman, 23, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and a drug test falsification device March 3 in the 1900 block of Main Street, police said.

Burglary

Police arrested a Houston man, 48, for burglary of a building and possession of drug paraphernalia Feb. 25 in the 1800 block of Main Street.

Theft

A Missouri City man, 19, was arrested for shoplifting and an Alvin warrant Feb. 25 in the 2800 block of Business Center Drive, police said.

Police took a Pearland man, 19, into custody for theft Feb. 27 in the 2300 block of North Pearland Avenue.

A Pearland woman, 37, was taken into custody for theft and a Missouri City warrant Feb. 28 in the 7000 block of Fite Road, police said.

Police arrested a Houston woman, 31, and a Missouri City man, 34, for theft Feb. 28 in the 11200 block of Broadway Street.

A 17-year-old Pearland man was arrested for shoplifting March 2 in the 1900 block of Main Street, police said.

Police issued a citation to a Pearland woman, 38, for shoplifting March 3 in the 1900 block of Main Street.

A Houston man, 20, received a citation for shoplifting March 3 in the 1700 block of Broadway Street, police said.

Fraud

Police arrested an Alvin man, 26, for prescription fraud Feb. 26 in the 1800 block of Broadway Street.

Assault

A Pearland woman, 37, was arrested for assault Feb. 28 in the 400 block of Anacacho Lane, police said.

A Pearland man, 44, received a citation for assault March 1 in the 2200 block of Kingston Canyon Trail, police said.

Police arrested a Pearland man, 54, for assault March 3 in the 2700 block of Arrowhead Creek Lane.

Threat

Police arrested an Alvin man, 31, for terroristic threat, unlawfully carrying a weapon and abandoning or endangering a child March 2 in the 3700 block of Main Street. An Alvin woman, 32, was taken into custody on a warrant, police said.

Driving while intoxicated

Police arrested a 25-year-old Pearland woman for DWI Feb. 27 in the 2300 block of Main Street.

A League City woman, 23, was arrested for DWI March 1 in the 5200 block of Main Street, police said.

Police took a Pearland man, 49, into custody for DWI March 2 in the 1800 block of Broadway Street.

Police arrested an Alvin woman, 46, for DWI March 3 in the 4900 block of Main Street.

Indecent exposure

Police took a Pearland man, 17, into custody for indecent exposure March 1 in the 3700 block of Main Street.

Evading arrest

Police took a Pearland man, 25, into custody for evading arrest or detention with a vehicle March 1 in the 1400 block of Paul Drive.

Traffic

Police arrested a Pearland woman, 27, for driving while license invalid March 1 in the 4000 block of West Orange Street.

A Houston man, 26, was taken into custody for driving while license invalid March 1 in the 14800 block of Texas 288, police said.

Police arrested a Houston man, 30, for fictitious or altered license plate March 3 in the 2700 block of Pearland Parkway.
There are people all over with outstanding arrest warrants. Oftentimes, they are discovered by law enforcement during routine events like traffic stops.

However, law enforcement agencies across Texas are currently actively searching for people with outstanding warrants and making arrests.
More than two tons of Louisianas fattest, juciest, tastiest crawfish are making their way to The Woodlands for a good old-fashioned crawfish boil.

The ninth annual Woodlands CrawPHish Festival is set to take over Town Green Park on March 23. Proceeds will benefit non-profit Pulmonary Hypertension Research, Inc., a resource center focused on raising awareness of and raising money to research pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary Hypertension Research, Inc. Director Jack Stibbs, a New Orleans native, founded the festival almost a decade ago to combine his two passions  crawfish and finding a cure for PH  which is the acronym widely used in place of pulmonary hypertension.

I couldnt believe The Woodlands didnt have its own festival, Stibbs said.

The 2018 festival drew almost 4,000 mudbug lovers and in the almost nine years since the inaugural festival, community members have raised more than $2.5 million in funds for Pulmonary Hypertension Research, Inc.

CRAVING CRAWFISH? Check out these 25 highly rated Houston spots

In reflecting the demographic and community of The Woodlands, the CrawPHish Festival is focused on catering to all members of the family, Stibbs said. Guests will be welcomed by an alligator slide, magicians and balloon artists for the kids; mom and dad can enjoy three live bands, craft beer and barbecue.

The Woodlands is all about family, Stibbs said. Its gotten to where the kids drag the parents out.

For Stibbs, the family theme runs deeper.

His daughter was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension at age five and given three years to live. The incurable condition, which affects almost 200,000 Americans every year, manifests as high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs.

CAJUN CUISINE: Cajun/Creole restaurants around Houston worth the try

That was 21 years ago  in the years since, Stibbs said, the number of treatment options has soared, and the prognosis given to newly-diagnosed patients is increasing dramatically.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, click here.

mrincon@chron.com
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will speak at the Education Writers Association at its national seminar in May, the first time she has agreed to appear before a crowd of hundreds of probing education journalists.

EWA announced Thursday that the secretary will appear at its May 6-8 meeting in Baltimore. She will deliver remarks and then sit down with Erica Green, an education reporter with The New York Times, for a conversation and questions from the associations members. (The day and time of DeVoss appearance was not yet set but will be soon, EWA said.)

Every previous U.S. education secretary has come to EWAs National Seminar and taken questions, and were so glad that Secretary DeVos is following in their footsteps, Caroline W. Hendrie, the executive director of EWA said via email. In my view, its vitally important for government agencies to make their leaders accessible to members of the media.

DeVos had declined invitations to the two previous EWA national seminars since she became secretary under President Donald Trumps administration. Hendrie expressed disappointment in 2017 when DeVos declined an invitation to attend that years session, which was held in Washington. (Some EWA members went to an unrelated event at a Washington, D.C., charter school on the last day of the seminar, where DeVos was making an appearance and took a few questions from reporters.)

Hendrie said at the time that she heard from the secretarys staff that DeVos had considered the invite but could not make it work on her schedule. DeVos dealt with a number of public relations challenges during her first months in office, and she has spoken often to ideologically friendly audiences.

As Hendrie said, every U.S. secretary of education has addressed EWA at least once, and four recent secretaries prior to DeVos spoke to the group during their first years in office.

This years EWA seminar is at Johns Hopkins Unversitys School of Education in Baltimore, with a theme of student success, safety, and well-being. EWA members work for outlets large and small in various media, and the seminar typically offers discussions with educators and expert sources as well as celebrates education journalism of the past year.
Houston Councilman Dwight Boykins forced City Council to delay voting on nearly its entire agenda Wednesday, blocking all but six items with a parliamentary maneuver that he invoked because Mayor Sylvester Turner is not promoting trained fire cadets.

Boykins, who represents District D, tagged 33 of the agendas 39 items and promised to continue doing so at future meetings as long as the 68 cadets remain in limbo. City council is not meeting next week, so the move delays Wednesdays items by at least two weeks.

Turner has declined to promote the fire cadets amid a citywide hiring freeze, arguing that it would be unwise to hire or promote employees only to lay them off to fund firefighters pay raises granted by the Proposition B pay parity measure. Boykins noted that Turner nonetheless authorized the promotion of more than 60 police cadets Tuesday, and questioned why its always a budgetary issue when it comes to fire.

Though voters passed Prop. B in November, the city has yet to increase firefighters salaries. Turner repeatedly has said the city cannot afford the cost, estimated by his administration at more than $100 million a year, though the mayor and the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association have sought to negotiate a way of phasing in the raises over time. Absent an agreement, Turner has said layoffs will be necessary to fund the raises.

Boykins maneuver did not appear to persuade Turner to swear in the cadets, as the mayor doubled down on his contention that the city needs to hire hundreds more police officers but not firefighters. If Boykins continues to halt council items, Turner said, other members should decide whether to overrule him, which they could do with a two-thirds vote.

"I'll leave it up to the council members. It's their right to tag, Turner said. The question is, is it a responsible thing to do?"

Tagging items is one of the few powers council members hold under Houstons strong-mayor form of government, in which Turner has authority over council agendas, committees and the city budget. The move allows any council member to delay a vote on an item until the following meeting, and though it is used routinely, members rarely employ tags so sweepingly.

Boykins move is not without precedent. In 1995, then-Councilman Ben Reyes tagged 98 of 109 items on a city council agenda because then-Mayor Bob Lanier had not informed council members about a proposed moratorium on permits for storing hazardous materials. Former councilwoman Helena Brown in 2012 tagged a third of the council agenda one week over city spending. In another case, former councilwoman Martha Wong tagged a dozen consecutive public works items during a 1999 meeting in hopes of getting a commitment from then-Mayor Lee Brown to rebuild a stretch of Chimney Rock. He offered no promises.

Before Boykins tagged nearly the whole agenda Wednesday, city council was scheduled to consider several notable items, including a proposed increase in ambulance fees and the addition of new fees for certain emergency responses. Boykins let through an after-school jobs training program, items related to city employees health care, funding for Turners summer jobs program and a pair of appointments to a local management district.

At-Large Councilman Michael Kubosh weighed in to support Boykins and said the cadets were being held in a hostage situation. Other council members were sharply critical of Boykins move, however, with Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Cohen offering the strongest rebuke.

Tagging all these items is an insult to the public, Cohen said. This is not how you run the city of Houston.

District G Councilman Greg Travis, who has traded words with Boykins at recent meetings, said his colleague was abusing his right to tag items by not using the maneuver for its intended purpose, which generally is to halt items if members need more information to inform their votes.

The fact is, were going to do this next week and the next week and the next week, Travis said to Boykins. Go for it. But its just going to sit there and backfire, and I dont think its going to achieve the goal you want to achieve.

Boykins maneuver came on the same day Turner launched his re-election campaign for mayor. Though political observers generally have cast the election as Turners to lose, the mayor has accumulated a growing collection of electoral thorns in his side, including Prop. B, issues with trash pickup and opponents attempts to limit the influence of political donors. Continued city council dysfunction would add another item to that list, Rice Unversity political scientist Mark Jones said.

One scenario could be that this is just a firefighter-related blip and it disappears, and relations with council improve, Jones said. The more negative scenario is that this is just the beginning of a more aggressive and proactive council that is willing to push back against the mayor on other issues.

If voters perceive city council as a dysfunctional body, not unlike the U.S. Congress, Jones said Turner likely would shoulder the blame, not individual council members who are comparatively unknown.

Meanwhile, the fire union on Wednesday lauded Boykins and Kubosh, while calling other council members complicit and staff sycophants of the mayor.

Unlike most of the rest of city council, their support of firefighters goes beyond simply appearing with us at parades and line-of-duty-death memorial services, President Marty Lancton said in a statement. Council Members Boykins and Kubosh clearly understand the hypocrisy of hiring and swearing in hundreds of police and civilian employees during a so-called city hiring freeze that apparently only affects HFD.

Turner, arguing Wednesday that the city needs more police officers, cited the results of a city-commissioned report that also recommended reducing the number of city firefighters. The fire union has vociferously denied the validity of the reports findings, with Lancton pointing to a separate city report that advised the city to expand the fire departments medical vehicle fleet and add fire stations in certain areas.

A third study, issued on behalf of the union, seeks to rebut the city reports conclusions about cutting firefighters; for instance, it notes that the city report cites the Houston Fire Departments high rate of full-time employees per capita, a metric that ignores other factors such as historic demand and the citys road network, the study said.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

twitter.com/jaspscherer
Bellaire Police Departments chase policies came under scrutiny this week during a trial over the 2016 death of a police officer whose motorcycle crashed while pursuing alleged shoplifters.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are seeking to prove whether Dante Moore, then 27, directly caused the death of officer Anthony Marco Zarate.

While the facts leading up to the crash went mostly undisputed, defense attorney Danny Easterling focused much of his questioning on whether department policy allowed Zarate to continue chasing Moore past a certain period of time. Other testimony focused on whether a lengthy chase was proper since there were reports one of the two suspects was armed with a boxcutter.

LONG DELAY: Dashcam video released from 2012 shooting that killed Bellaire officer, bystander

Prosecutors said they clearly disagreed on Easterlings interpretation of the policy but would leave that to the jury.

"It's certainly a tragedy, I think on that point we can all agree," said Sean Teare, chief of the Harris County District Attorney's Office Vehicular Crimes Division. "Everything else, we're just going to let the jury decide."

Moore wore a black suit during court sessions Tuesday and Wednesday and exhibited little emotion during testimony.

Easterling said that Moore is responsible for fleeing and evading arrest, but not causing the death of the 52-year-old officer Zarate. Moore is standing trial on the charge of evading arrest, leading to death.

"We're disputing that my client caused the death," Easterling said Tuesday. "There was a concurrent cause. The officer was speeding at a very high rate of speed through the residential area, and he hit a big dip in the road."

Zarate, 52, lost control of his motorcycle in the 8500 block of Ferris and slammed into the trailer of a landscaping crew as he chased a car driven by Moore in July 2016 in the Meyerland area. The officer was rushed to Memorial Hermann-The Texas Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Moore surrendered to authorities a day after the wreck. He faces 2 to 20 years of confinement if he is convicted of the evasion offense, Teare said.

Several Bellaire police officers, including the police chief, watched the trial unfold. Chief Byron Holloway declined to comment out of respect for Zarates family, he said.

Surveillance cameras from the Meyerland Plaza Target showed Moore and his brother defeating the security package of a FitBit exercise tracker and leaving without paying, Target employee Malachi Strong said.

Strong said he didnt apprehend them at the time, because store policy is to call the police if employees see a knife or weapon.

Strong followed the men outside that day and approached Zarate, who was on his motorcycle. He told him there was a shoplifter in the area and pointed out the vehicle, but didnt say there was a weapon involved, Strong told the defense attorneys.

A Target video showed Zarate pulling Moores car over. Zarate pulled his gun out of his holster, his finger not on the trigger, and the men fled, another video showed. Separately, Strongs partner had already called 911 and reported a theft in progress. He said the men had a boxcutter, and the call was relayed to Houston police officers as a robbery.

Meanwhile, Bellaire Cpl. Karen Kramer heard over the radio that Zarate was on a chase. Kramer said she and at least four other units were trying to catch up with Zarate, as motorcycles arent the optimal vehicles to lead pursuits. Zarate radioed that hed lost sight of the vehicle, but saw them again and re-started the chase, Kramer said.

Easterling focused much of his questioning on whether Zarate followed department policy by continuing the motorcycle chase past three minutes, when the departments general rules state that under no circumstances should officers exceed that limit. Zarate chase lasted about four minutes, according to dashcam video.

Kramer told Easterling that Bellaire motorcycle officers are trained to know that chases can continue past the three-minute time frame if a felony, such as robbery, was the cause. And if an officer loses sight of a chase suspect, then the time clock on the pursuit stops and picks back up when they regain sight.

Prosecutors argued that because Zarate lost sight of Moores car, the pursuit was technically on pause and lasted under three minutes.

Easterling said that the Bellaire chase rules dont specifically outline how the time is calculated, and asked Kramer whether she was interpreting the rules in favor of her friend, Zarate.

There is nothing I can do at this point to help, Kramer said. Hes already gone.

Testimony is expected to continue this week in the trial before visiting State District Judge Reagan Clark.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com

Twitter.com/sam_kett

NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.
The Harris County Flood Control District on Thursday canceled a meeting with commissioners and community groups to discuss the order in which more than 100 flood control projects should be completed.

The district also pulled its proposal from the Commissioners Court agenda for Tuesday, when court members hoped to approve it.

Matt Zeve, the districts deputy executive director, said the meeting was canceled Thursday because the number of community members who expressed interest in attending far exceeded the number of seats available at the TranStar headquarters conference room where it was to be held.

MORNING UPDATES: Get all the news you need to know to start your day

We had a larger-than-expected desire to attend by more folks than we have room for at this facility, Zeve said. In order to accommodate such a large crowd, we couldnt do it on such short notice  and secure a larger venue.

Zeve, who briefed reporters for about 20 minutes in a TranStar conference room, said the flood control district has yet to determine when to reschedule the meeting.

The 10-year bond program, which voters overwhelmingly approved last summer, includes 237 projects. Zeve said engineers have begun work on 134, though most are in the planning stages. Since the district is operating at full capacity, Zeve said the district must determine the order in which to complete the remaining 103 projects.

RELATED: In light of Harvey, Texas Senate considers tougher flood disclosure rules for home sellers

Thursdays meeting was supposed to be the final of three in which the flood control district accepted suggestions from neighborhood groups, business associations and other non-governmental organizations about how projects should be evaluated.

Of particular contention is how to ensure wealthy and poor neighborhoods are served with the same urgency. Commissioners Court last year, led by then-County Judge Ed Emmett, unanimously agreed to include language in the bond order requiring flood project funds to be spent equitably, a recognition that in some cases, money from the federal government must be used in affluent neighborhoods.

The current proposed criteria for ranking projects are: existing drainage conditions at a site, the number of residents a project could remove from the floodplain, the suitability of a site to also serve as a park or other recreational purpose, the efficiency of a project expressed as its cost divided by the number of structures protected, long-term maintenance costs, environmental concerns, whether a site has been served by a flood protection project in the past decade, and whether a project can be funded by partnerships.

Zeve said the flood control district engineers hope to complete projects that help the greatest number of residents first, though the countys flood control policy ultimately is set by Commissioners Court.

He outlined the challenge facing engineers and court members: Each watershed has urgent needs exposed by Hurricane Harvey or earlier storms, but the county lacks the resources to complete each project simultaneously.

The discussion has left residents across Harris Countys 23 watersheds nervous. Though the flood control district has pledged to complete each of the 237 projects, no neighborhood wants its improvements placed at the end of the list.

The wariness extends to commissioners. On Wednesday afternoon, an aide to Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle sent an email to constituents stating the office had been informed of Thursdays meeting only hours earlier, and that several community groups in the precinct had been left off the invite list. Zeve acknowledged commissioners were given notice about the meeting on Wednesday.

The email urged residents to submit feedback to County Judge Lina Hidalgos office, which organized the meeting.

Longtime Bear Creek resident Bill Book wrote a letter to Hidalgo, urging the county to postpone the meeting since groups with an interest in attending, such as Barker Flood Protection, were omitted from the circulated list of suggested stakeholders. He said Thursday afternoon he was pleased the county had reversed course.

I think this was the right thing for them to do, Cook said.

zach.despart@chron.com

www.twitter.com/zachdespart

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.
A Harris County jury spent more than three hours Thursday deliberating the fate of a fleeing motorist in the case of a Bellaire police officer who crashed and died during a motorcycle chase of suspected shoplifters in 2016.

Dante Moore, 30, was behind the wheel when he led Bellaire Officer Anthony Marco Zarate on a chase through the Meyerland area on July 12, 2016, police said. Jurors deliberated until about 6 p.m. Thursday and will meet again Friday morning to wrap up the case.

Prosecutors alleged during closing arguments that Moores evasion directly caused the 52-year-old motorcycle officers death.

Marco Zarate is dead because of that man, make no mistake, said Sean Teare, chief of the Harris County District Attorneys Office Vehicular Crimes Division. Marco Zarate would never have been on that street but for Dante Moore.

Defense attorney Danny Easterling said that Moore is responsible for fleeing, but not the death itself. He poked holes in Bellaire Police Departments chase policy , questioning whether Zarate was allowed to continue chasing Moore past a certain period of time.

Officer Zarate shouldnt have been that deep into the pursuit, Easterling said. His adrenaline took over, and you know the tragic result.

Prosecutors disagreed with Easterlings interpretation of policy that motorcycle chases cant exceed three minutes, and denied that the pursuit even lasted that long. Teare also argued that it wasnt for the jury to decide whether Zarate followed the rules.

Several police officers who testified during the trial said that the chase was less than three minutes, even though four minutes passed between the time Zarate hopped on his motorcycle and the time he crashed. Thats because he lost sight of Moores car, effectively stopping the clock for a period, they said.

Other testimony called the length of the chase into question since there were reports that one of the two suspects had a boxcutter. Moore and his twin brother were the subject of the pursuit after allegedly stealing a FitBit exercise measuring device at the Target in Meyerland Plaza.

Zarate took off after the duo, and body camera footage showed a bumpy ride through a residential area. He hit a dip in the road  which Easterling cited as a concurrent cause in the death  and lost control of his motorcycle in the 8500 block of Ferris. He slammed into the trailer of a landscaping crew and was rushed to the hospital, where he died.

Moore surrendered to authorities a day after the wreck, escorted to the police station by community activist Quanell X.

The charge carries 2 to 20 years of confinement, which could increase under certain conditions.

A jury could decide that Moore is only guilty of evading arrest, and not causing death. In either charge, Moores sentence could increase to 25 years to life because hes been in prison twice before, Teare said.

Twitter.com/sam_kett

samantha.ketterer@chron.com
A Houston narcotics officer under an internal police investigation following a botched January drug raid is retiring, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

Steven O. Bryant put in his paperwork this week while under investigation following the shooting deaths of two residents in an unannounced raid of a Pecan Park residence in south Houston on Jan. 28. The Harris County District Attorneys Office is reviewing more than 800 criminal cases brought by Bryant during his 23-year career. Sources said his last day is Friday.

HPD officials relieved Bryant of duty as questions mounted about his actions leading up to the drug raid, in which a team of officers burst into a house at 7815 Harding St. after obtaining a no-knock search warrant. A gun battle ensued, and police killed homeowners Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Four officers were hit by gunfire, and a fifth officer was injured.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: FBI opens civil rights investigation into botched Houston drug bust, police chief says

The Pecan Park bust  and the officers' actions  have drawn close scrutiny because police did not find any heroin, only a small quantity of cocaine and marijuana. Investigators later failed to find the confidential informant police relied on to obtain a search warrant.

The case agent, Gerald Goines, was shot in the neck as he entered the private home, but he has also been relieved of duty after Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the veteran officer appeared to have lied about the undercover drug buy that served as justification for the search warrant used by the squad to raid the house.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to you

Two other narcotics officers, including a longtime partner of Goines, have quietly retired from the department in recent weeks, including one who is under investigation for an unrelated matter, according to police documents and sources. Each officer had more than 20 years experience with the department.

In a search warrant for Bryant's phone data, an investigator with HPD's Special Investigations Unit wrote that Bryant told investigators he had retrieved two bags of heroin from the center console of Goines' police car at the instruction of another officer.

That, however, was not consistent with the affidavit used to obtain the warrant for the Jan. 28 raid, in which Goines wrote that Bryant identified heroin brought out of the house.

Though he took the two bags of drugs for testing to determine that they were heroin, Bryant eventually told investigators he had never seen the narcotics in question before retrieving them from the car.

Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed Bryant put in his retirement paperwork this week. An ongoing investigation would not affect his compensation benefits.

READ MORE: Houston police officer Gerald Goines had previous allegations against him

Bryants retirement is the latest fallout from the deadly raid, and comes as Acevedo has launched a wide-ranging probe into the division and its operations following the raid. The FBI has launched a rare civil rights investigation into the operation.

The Harris County District Attorneys Office has announced it is investigating 2,200 of the former criminal cases of Goines and Bryant. Acevedo has dramatically curtailed no-knock raids, and said he will equip raid teams with body cameras to record the operations. At the time of the raid, none of the members of the raid team was wearing cameras.

Houston Police Officers Union President Joe Gamaldi declined to comment on Bryants departure, citing the fact that it is a personnel matter and the ongoing investigation.

Acevedo did not respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon. Bryant could not be reached and union attorneys representing Bryant did not respond to a request for comment.

st.john.smith@chron.com

keri.blakinger@chron.com

NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.
UPDATE:

Bryan Jeter was a 35-year-old black man who died March 6 from multiple gunshot wounds at 8713 Martin Luther King Blvd, Houston.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The man behind Mike's Liquor has been shot in an armed robbery before.

A man shot Mike Hamad in the arm while he was closing up his southeast Houston shop one night in 1995. Hamad wasn't going to let it happen again when he came face-to-face with at least two more robbers inside his business in the 8600 block of Martin Luther King Drive at Overdale Street.

One of the suspects was already inside as he rang up his last customers when another burst into the southeast Houston business and ordered everyone to get down. Hamad reached for his own weapon.

"I went to go get my shotgun," said Hamad, who is a licensed to carry a handgun. "He (the masked man) jumped behind the counter and started shooting."

Several customers were still inside the liquor store around 8:30 p.m. when Hamad traded gunfire with 17-year-old Akeivyon McMillan. A bullet narrowly missed Hamad's shoulder, he said. One of his shots hit McMillan in the torso but the teen escaped empty handed. He was later apprehended in Baytown and charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, police said.

IN COURT: Chase policy in question during trial of Bellaire police officers death

"He didn't (take) money, no liquor, nothing," Hamad said. "But bullets everywhere, 'tak, tak, tak, tak, tak'."

An employee at Hamad's store also opened fire on the suspects and killed one man during his break. The 35-year-old suspect died at the scene. He was not identified.

The clerk declined to comment. He too had a concealed handgun permit, according to police.

"I feel good," Hamad said of the shooting. "We expect this to happen around Christmas, not these days."

The gun fight left the store cluttered with broken glass, liquor bottles and bullet casings. Residents who live near the store later stopped by to help Hamad clean up the mess.

"He's a good community guy. I can guarantee you that," said Alfred Webster, 60, who volunteered to help repair the door. "Mike helps everyone around him that he can."

Hamad immigrated to the U.S. in 1990 from Iraq and opened his store in the southeast Houston strip mall three years later. He lives in Sugar Land.

Webster and other Mike's Liquor regulars attested that if someone needed financial help, Hamad was there for them. He is a frequest attendee of funerals in the South Park neighborhood.

"I'm just glad that he's all right," said Sam Smith, 54, who knew Hamad and has lived in the area his entire life. "They violated our neighborhood."

The store owner and clerk were not charged pending the outcome of a grand jury, according to authorities.

Nicole Hensely contributed to this report
Beginning in May, Harris County voters will be allowed to cast ballots at any polling place in the county, rather than their assigned precincts under a system that gained state approval Thursday.

Texas Secretary of State David Whitley on Thursday accepted Harris Countys application to participate in the states countywide polling program, giving County Clerk Diane Trautman the green light to put it in place for the May 4 school board elections.

Trautman, a Democrat, was elected last November after pitching the program during her campaign. She has sought to implement the system since taking office in January, holding public meetings to discuss the proposal and gaining approval from Commissioners Court last month to apply to Whitleys office.

The voters of Harris County have made it clear that a countywide polling place program would have a positive impact on elections and I am confident that the transition to a countywide polling place program will be successful, Trautman said in a statement.

Harris County, with more than 2 million registered voters, will be the largest county in the country to implement the program, according to Trautmans office.

During previous elections, Harris County residents could cast ballots at any one of dozens of locations during early voting, but were required to visit polls in their home precincts on Election Day.

In the November midterms, Harris County operated 46 early voting locations, each with far more poll workers and voting machines than the hundreds of traditional Election Day precinct polling sites.

Proponents of the countywide system tout it as a way to boost voter participation. Supporters also say it eventually could cut election costs because counties can replace smaller precinct sites with larger voting centers. More than 50 Texas counties successfully have implemented the countywide program, including neighboring Fort Bend and Brazoria, and some have seen an uptick in voter participation.

Trautman has said she would start by using the countys 46 early voting locations as Election Day voting centers, in addition to traditional precinct polling sites, which she would not close before first seeking the approval of residents.

Jay Aiyer, a Texas Southern University political analyst, said Trautman should wait at least a few election cycles before removing any precinct sites to avoid disenfranchising voters.

Harris County is basically a state, Aiyer said. So, what were talking about is a pretty fundamental change of an electoral process for an area, or at least a population base, thats larger than 25 states.

Some concerns, Aiyer said, include the vast length of Harris Countys ballot and the lack of straight-ticket voting in 2020, the first time Texas voters will be without that option. The change likely will create longer lines at the polls, Aiyer noted.

Harris County Republican Party Chair Paul Simpson decried the move, contending that Trautman, in a rush to revamp Harris County voting, is using unreliable technology that would actually depress turnout.

Trumpeting her new system as voter-approved, Ms. Trautman, in fact, hand-picked groups to support her voting center scheme despite the risk it poses to all Harris County voters, Simpson said in a statement. Her unproven voting center scheme might work in a smaller county. But in the large and diverse community of Harris County, it risks vote dilution and discouraging, confusing, and disenfranchising countless voters on election day."

Lubbock County became the first in Texas to run a countywide polling operation in 2006, under what was then a pilot program enacted by the Legislature. Since then, state lawmakers have made the program permanent, and Travis County, with about 788,000 registered voters as of the November midterms, is the largest Texas county to use the voting centers.

Trautman deliberately sought state approval before the May elections so she could roll out the program during a low-turnout election, instead of during the November 2019 city election or 2020 presidential election when turnout runs much higher. Harris County must secure approval from the secretary of states office after the May 4 election to continue using the countywide polling program.

Still, Simpson said he worried that voting centers would be unable to communicate electronically on Election Day to ensure no one votes more than once. County officials have said otherwise, and the states elections director, Keith Ingram, wrote in a letter to County Judge Lina Hidalgo Thursday that documentation provided by the county reflects that its polling devices can update the master voter database even upon losing cellular connection.

Former Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart, a Republican whom Trautman defeated, said during the campaign he was open to countywide polling sites. The option is only available, Stanart said, because the county began using electronic poll books, or modified iPads, that communicate with each other to prevent people from voting more than once.

In a statement, Hidalgo called the move a huge win for voters across Harris County.

Im committed to working with our county clerk to help implement a successful program, she said. Instituting voting centers will increase participation, making our democracy more inclusive and stronger.

Reporter Zach Despart contributed to this story.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

twitter.com/jaspscherer
Three House Democrats have requested documents that may shed light on a decision by state and federal officials to decline an offer from NASA to monitor air pollution in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Despite early signs hinting at the storm's toxic impact, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and Texas' Commission on Environmental Quality declined NASA's offer to fly a plane with advanced air quality monitoring sensors over Houston, the Los Angeles Times has found.

In separate letters sent to the three agencies Wednesday, U.S. Reps. Lizzie Fletcher, Eddie Bernice Johnson and Mikie Sherrill requested all documents related to that decision, which they called "deeply troubling."

"Instead of gathering the most accurate air quality data possible, state and federal officials apparently decided they would rather not know about potential toxic chemical releases that could have been impacting our communities and first responders," they wrote. "If this is true, it is not only an embarrassment, it is unacceptable."

Fletcher, a Houston Democrat elected in November, chairs the environmental subcommittee of the House Science Space and Technology Committee, which oversees NASA. Johnson, D-Dallas, chairs the committee, while Sherrill, D-N.J., chairs the investigations and oversight subcommittee.

EARLIER: State official defends decision to rebuff NASAs Harvey help

Last year, a Houston Chronicle and Associated Press investigation identified more than 100 toxic releases related to the storm that were not made public or were vastly understated, including one that was highly carcinogenic. Officials, citing available air measurements, previously had said post-Harvey air pollution did not pose a health threat.

One of the three congressional letters was addressed to Michael Honeycutt, the director of TCEQ's toxicology division and chair of the EPA's Science Advisory Board. Honeycutt on Tuesday defended the decision not to use NASA's plane, telling the Chronicle his agency's analysis, which involved low-flying helicopters equipped with infrared cameras, was the best approach.

Information gleaned from the plane would have been used "for research purposes," said Honeycutt, who has espoused views on pollutants and human health that advocates have said are "totally inconsistent with mainstream thinking."

"I do this for a living. I know what data we need," Honeycutt said Tuesday. "Getting data we don't need doesn't really help. Flying from that far up you can't pinpoint exactly where pollution is coming from."

In a statement, EPA spokesman John Konkus said the agency did not decline NASA's offer to fly its plane over the Houston area, noting that the EPA deployed its own chemical-detecting technology to monitor post-Harvey air quality.

However, the Times obtained emails showing that an EPA deputy regional administrator told NASA and Texas officials days after the storm that he was "hesitant" to have the jet "collect additional information that overlaps our existing efforts" until he learned more about NASA's mission.

The EPA official wrote to Honeycutt and other agency officials: "EPA concurs with your assessment and we will not plan to ask NASA to conduct this mission."

Rock Owens, an environmental lawyer for the Harris County Attorney's office, said the EPA's excuses for not using the plane "do not make sense to me."

"In the face of a serious lack of data, additional data from a more accurate set of instruments would have meant a better scientific analysis," Owens said. "The excuses given by EPA do not make sense to me."

Reporters Mike Morris, Kevin Diaz and Lise Olsen contributed to this story.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

twitter.com/jaspscherer



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.
Mayor Sylvester Turner made it official Wednesday, launching his re-election campaign for Houston's top elected office.

Turner announced the news in a 96-second video that appeared on a revamped campaign website, where the mayor also posted notice of a formal kickoff event March 30 at Minute Maid Park.

Election Day is Nov. 5.

Though observers say Turner is the odds-on favorite to win, several politically challenging issues have emerged that could hinder his re-election chances.

Early opponents Bill King, a businessman who narrowly lost to Turner in 2015, and Tony Buzbee, a millionaire attorney, have each taken aim at the mayor over his long-running wage dispute with firefighters. They also have criticized Turner for the city's recent problems with trash pickup, and levied charges that political donors hold too much sway over City Hall, a notion the mayor denies.

CHALLENGER: King officially launches second campaign for mayor with back to basics theme

Recently, Turner lost the support of Houston's largest teachers' union over the firefighter compensation issue, which now revolves around the city's slow implementation of Proposition B, a voter-approved charter amendment that grants firefighters the same pay as police officers of corresponding status.

Still, Turner heads into re-election with a multi-million-dollar war chest, according to a January campaign finance report, and a tangible record that he can cite on the campaign trail. That includes a landmark overhaul of Houston's pension systems, a topic Turner highlighted in his announcement video.

"If you want to know what kind of mayor I will be, just take a look at what kind of mayor I have been  a mayor for all of Houston," Turner said in the video, which carried a unifying tone similar to that of his December 2015 victory speech.

Four years later, voters also will judge Turner's performance in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, in which the mayor appeared to avoid any major missteps that could have doomed his re-election chances.

Following the political strategy of some elected officials during the 2018 midterms, Turner in his kickoff video cited Houston's "resilience, grit and grace" during the storm and in its aftermath.

Win or lose, the campaign will mark Turner's last run for any office, the mayor confirmed at an invite-only event in February, according to defendernetwork.com.

IN THE RUNNING: Houston attorney Buzbee announces mayoral bid

Turner, 64, has served in public office since 1989, with his first 27 years coming in the Texas House. Following unsuccessful bids in 1991 and 2003, he was elected mayor on his third try  by about 4,000 votes out of more than 200,000.

With his campaign underway, Turner is waiting for the Democratic National Committee to decide whether it will host its 2020 national convention in Houston, Miami or Milwaukee. If held in Houston, the convention could impact the mayoral race by raising Turner's profile and boosting excitement among Democrats. hough the office is nonpartisan, Turner is a Democrat.

Meanwhile, the mayor is considering how to shore up a massive budget deficit by the end of June. Other political challenges include an ongoing investigation into a botched drug raid by the police department, and arguments from King in particular that Turner has overseen worsening street conditions. Crews have filled about 109,000 potholes in the last two years, according to unconfirmed totals, which Turner has cited as evidence that he is addressing the problem.
National Democrats intend to follow through with a plan to zero in on Texas in 2020 congressional elections by dispatching staff to suburbs of Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this morning spelled out the Texas component of a plan that will install 60 grassroots organizers in key districts around the country.

At least one and maybe more organizers will be assigned to each of the Texas suburban areas in the near future, according to a DCCC aide.

Speaking in Austin this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., declared that Texas is ground zero in her partys strategy. Earlier, the DCCC identified five Texas Republicans on the party's initial takedown list of 33 nationwide.

Related: Speaker Nancy Pelosi riles Texas conservatives with ground zero comment

Texas targets include Reps. Will Hurd, of San Antonio, and Michael McCaul and Chip Roy of Austin.

Democrats were emboldened by unseating two Texas Republicans last year, John Culberson of Houston and Pete Sessions of Dallas. Those victories came about in part due to defections by suburban Republicans, particularly women, exit polls showed.

Democrats could be challenged in maintaining the fragile House majority they secured in the midterms. The two dozen first-term Democrats elected last year by five percentage points or less offer inviting targets for Republicans. And recent disarray in the Democratic caucus triggered by rebellious new members could aid the GOP's task.

The DCCC, House Democrats political arm, is chaired by Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, who defied trends by twice winning by 20 percent or more in a district captured by President Donald Trump in 2016.

Bustos said the staff in Texas and elsewhere would be the DCCCs first major investment in the 2020 cycle and referred to the new hires as March Forward Field Managers.
H1-B crackdown in U.S. leading many Indian students to apply to Canadian schools instead

Students from India now outnumber those from China at Canadian schools

Students from India now outnumber those from China at Canadian schools H1-B crackdown in U.S. leading many Indian students to apply to Canadian schools instead

Students from India now outnumber those from China at Canadian schools H1-B crackdown in U.S. leading many Indian students to apply to Canadian schools instead

Students from India now outnumber those from China at Canadian schools H1-B crackdown in U.S. leading many Indian students to apply to Canadian schools instead CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

Sans Font Size A

A

Canadian universities are experiencing a surge in the number of international students from India, who now outnumber Chinese students.

Statistics provided to the Globe and Mail newspaper by the Canadian High Commission in India show that 172,000 Indian citizens held a Canadian study permit in 2018 compared to 142,000 from China.

The Globe and Mail reports that 107,795 Indian citizens arrived in Canada on a student visa in 2018 alone  a more than 300 per cent increase over 2015. New students arriving from China in 2018 totalled 85,825.

A key factor driving Indian students to Canadian universities is the ability to access an open work permit once they graduate and Canadas simplified pathways to both permanent residence and citizenship.

Such policies stand in stark contrast to efforts by the United States government to limit H1-B work visas for foreign workers, which have largely benefitted Indian nationals.

With the H1-B scare, everyone is flocking to Canada, one Indian graduate working as an investment banker told the Globe and Mail.

Other drivers that were mentioned included the quality of Canadas universities, its multicultural, diverse population and the fact an international education is cheaper in Canada than the U.S. thanks to the weaker Canadian dollar.

Work permit, immigration options for international students

International students are prized as immigration candidates given their education, competency in English or French and the fact they are already integrated to a large degree into Canadian society.

To encourage them to stay, international graduates of eligible Canadian universities and colleges can apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) upon graduating, which does not require a job offer and is valid for up to three years.

As an open work permit, international graduates with a PGWP can work in any occupation anywhere in Canada and can change employers at any time.

Canadas main economic immigration gateway, the Express Entry system, also awards additional points for Canadian education and many Canadian provinces have pathways to permanent residence for eligible international graduates of their universities.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

For any questions about the Post-Graduation Work Permit, and to learn how you can stay and work in Canada once your studies are complete, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 2019 CICNews All Rights
Charter schools, critics have long maintained, exist to the detriment of traditional public schools. As the argument goes, charterspublic schools, independently run (often by nonprofit organizations) and operating free of central district control but subject to government-accountability systemssiphon resources and the best students from local traditional public schools, degrading these schools for the students who remain in them. And charters harm the traditional public school system further by tossing back low-performing students.

Both charters and vouchers drain away resources from the public schools, even as they leave the neediest, most expensive students to the public schools to educate, Diane Ravitch writes in The New York Review of Books, in a representative formulation. Competition from charters and vouchers does not improve public schools, which still enroll 94 percent of all students; it weakens them. The pattern persists, Ravitch and other critics say, until it creates a death spiral for vulnerable, low-performing public schools.

Many charter opponents and others with an interest in perpetuating the current public school system find these arguments compelling. Theres one problem: empirical evidence points the other way.

Several extensive studies have measured the extent to which charter school expansion affects traditional public schools. Overall, the body of research suggests that competition from charters has a small positive effect on the performance of students remaining in traditional public schools. Choice helps many kids attend better schools, but it doesnt seem to push traditional public schools to make dramatic improvements. At least so far, the results are not strong enough to support charter school proponents predictions that competition would force traditional public schools to improve substantially. And at least one study, by Scott Imberman of Michigan State University, found a negative impact from charter school competition. Imbermans work is well designed and should be taken seriously, but even if hes right, the magnitude of the negative effect is minimal and doesnt justify the argument that charter school expansion destroys the ability of traditional public schools to educate their students.

Charter schools arent dumping their most difficult-to-educate kids on the traditional public school system, either, despite the prevalence of anecdotes to this effect. Analysis of enrollment data suggests that low-performing students are either as likely or slightly less likely to leave their school if it is a charter than if it is a traditional public school. Students with disabilities and those learning English as a second language are much less likely to exit charters than they are to depart traditional public schools. And prior academic achievement plays, at best, a trivial role in the probability that a student will enroll in a charter. The academic research, then, shows little reason to suspect that charter school expansion is harming, or will harm, students in traditional public schools.

There are less specialized ways of looking at the issue. The charter sector has reached critical mass, making some reasonable assessment of its impact possible. While only about 6 percent of students enroll in charter schools nationwide, charters have attained significant market share in many localities. In seven school districtsincluding those serving Detroit, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.one-third or more of students attend charters, according to a 2015 report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. In 45 districts, at least 20 percent of students attended charters, and in 165 districts, charters had reached at least a 10 percent share of enrollment. So if critics are right, we should see evidence of negative impact on the performance of traditional public schools.

We dont. Student performance in many cities with strong charter competition is either holding steady or rising. The accompanying charts display changes in five cities share of charter school enrollment, along with citywide public school scores on the federally administered National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) fourth-grade math and reading tests. All five citiesWashington, D.C., Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, and Los Angeleshave seen substantial increases in charter enrollment in recent years. (Only a few cities administer the NAEP tests.) Performance varies across districts, with some substantial gains and some dips, but academic outcomes have not plummeted in any of these districts, and, in most cases, NAEP scores are improving. No death spirals are taking place.

We cant say from these figures that charter school expansion is what caused the improved test scores in the cities where scores are rising. In Washington, for example, we know that other reforms, such as the introduction of a new teacher contract and performance-assessment system, have led to substantial improvements. But we can say this: if rapid charter school expansion truly represents an existential threat to local public schools ability to educate their students and if charters were really swallowing up the high-performing students and dumping the low-performers on public schools, then these charts would look different. We wouldnt see traditional public school test scores go up, for instance, in Los Angeleswhere charter schools share of enrollment has nearly tripled since 2009, from 8 percent to 23 percent.

New York City offers another example. The growth of charters in New York overall hasnt been as rapid as in some other cities, but charter expansion has been substantial in certain neighborhoods with historically low-performing public schools. Today, about half of kids in New York Citys Community School District 5 (Central Harlem) attend a charter. Between 2012 and 2017, the proportion of New York public school kids scoring proficient or above on the state ELA exam increased from 13.4 percent to 24.1 percent. The proportion of students scoring in the bottom tier decreased from 52.3 percent to 39.3 percent. In math, the proportion scoring proficient or above grew from 13.1 percent to 17.3 percent; the proportion scoring in the bottom tier declined from 57 percent to 55 percent. In a recent study, Temple Universitys Sarah Cordes found that these positive results are directly related to the increased competition that traditional public schools in the city face from charters. How do critics explain such improvements by local traditional public schools in districts where charters have attained significant presence?

Focusing evaluations on students in traditional public schools is shortsighted in a crucial respect: it fails to acknowledge that charters are public schools, tooone of many public-schooling alternatives offered to local residents. Charters are taxpayer-funded and open to all students (though subject to waiting lists, in many cases, due to excess demand). No one is forced to attend them; parents choose to apply, and enrolling in a charter takes time and effort. When a traditional public school system loses market share to charter schools, it means that a substantial proportion of parents believe that its in their childrens interest to seek alternative schooling options. Those who complain that charters take enrollments away from traditional public schools are saying, in effect, that parents should have to enroll their kids in what they see as less desirable schools.

Its about time that charter critics offer something more than anecdotes and theory to support their claims.

Seen in this light, charters have made public schooling in Harlem and many other neighborhoods much better. Students attending Central Harlem charter schools, on average, are thriving. Harlem hosts many of New Yorks, and the nations, best charter schools, including Success Academy Charter Schools, Democracy Prep, Harlem Childrens Zone, Harlem Village Academies, and the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) charter schools. Research suggests that students attending these and other New York City charters are making enormous academic gains relative to how they would have performed had they remained in a traditional public school. Among the one-half of students in Central Harlem attending charter schools in 2016, 48 percent scored at or above proficiency, and only 15 percent scored in the lowest tier on the state ELA test.

Charter schools arent draining public education. They are revitalizing it.

If the vast majority of parents in a district were so dissatisfied with the regular public schools that they sought an alternative, and if enough space existed in those alternative schools to accommodate the students, then charters would, in their critics worst nightmare, take over the district. Were a long way from something like that happening. Up to now, the only force proved capable of overthrowing a bad urban public school system and replacing it with charters is a Category 5 hurricane.

The New Orleans Parish public school system ranked among the nations worst as the new century dawned. In 2005, only 35 percent of students in New Orleans scored proficient or above on statewide tests (which set low proficiency standards), compared with 58 percent of students across Louisiana. New Orleans ranked 67th among the states 68 districts on state accountability measures.

Then came Katrina. The school system was as damaged as the rest of the city. Buildings crumbled, and in the aftermath, teachers and students were dispersed. Louisiana essentially shut down the school district.

What followed was a real-world example of what could be possible if policymakers start public education from scratch. Working from a blank slate, Louisiana decided not to reinstitute the entrenched administrative practices of public education. Rather, it opted for a more open approach, one that provided oversight but let schools determine their own best path to success. Instead of assigning students to schools based on their neighborhood, the new system allowed parents to enroll their children in the wschool of their choice. The result? Today, about 93 percent of public school students in New Orleans go to a charter school.

For those who imagine (whether happily or unhappily) a day when charter schools dominate urban public education, the New Orleans experience is instructive. Research from Tulane Universitys Douglas Harris has found that New Orleanss charter schools are having an enormous positive effect on student achievement. Today, 62 percent of New Orleans schoolchildren score proficient or above, a figure approaching the statewide average of 68 percent.

For a generation now, charter school opponents have warned that these alternative public schools will spell doom for the American ideal of public education. Its about time that they offer something more than anecdotes and theory to support their claims. More than two decades into the charter school experience, its clear that charters are not proving harmful to traditional public schoolsand, if anything, are helping them do better. And the overall performance of American public education is improving, too, because a growing proportion of public schools are high-performing charters.

Photo by Rafael Infante (Courtesy of Success Academy)
Major Silicon Valley companies and their supporters are outraged that the FCC is poised to repeal the Obama administrations so-called net neutrality regulationsbut if anyone should be subject to regulation in the name of preserving a free Internet, its them. As FCC chairman Ajit Pai put it, Silicon Valley social-media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are a much bigger actual threat to an open Internet than broadband providers, especially when it comes to discrimination on the basis of viewpoint.

In 1996, Congress passed the Telecom Act to establish regulations for the dawning Internet era. Rather than treating Internet service providers, or ISPscompanies, like Verizon or Comcast, that provide the web service in your home or officeas it had treated the telephone company, Congress decided that ISPs should be exempt from the regulatory morass. An ISP was classified as an information service. Under the Obama administration, the FCC, looking to ensure net neutrality, reclassified ISPs as telecom providers.

The basic idea of net neutrality makes sense. When I get a phone, the phone company cant decide whom I can call, or how good the call quality should be depending on who is on the other end of the line. Similarly, when I pay for my cable modem, I should be able to use the bandwidth I paid for to surf any website, not get a better or worse connection depending on whether my cable company cut some side deal to make Netflix perform better than Hulu.

The problem for net neutrality advocates is that the ISPs arent actually doing any of this; they really are providing an open Internet, as promised. The same is not true of the companies pushing net neutrality, however. As Pai suggests, the real threat to an open Internet doesnt come from your cable company but from Google/YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and others. All these firms have aggressively censored.

For example, Google recently kicked would-be Twitter competitor Gab out of its app store, not for anything Gab did but for what it refused to docensor content. Twitter is famous for censoring, as Pai observes. I love Twitter, and I use it all the time, he said. But lets not kid ourselves; when it comes to an open Internet, Twitter is part of the problem. The company has a viewpoint and uses that viewpoint to discriminate. (Twitters censors have not gotten around to removing the abuse, some of it racist, being hurled at Pai, including messages like Die faggot die and Hey go fuck yourself you Taliban-looking fuck.)

Googles YouTube unit also censors, setting the channel for Prager University to restricted mode, which limits access; Prager U. is suing Google and YouTube. YouTube has also demonetized videos from independent content creators, making these videos ineligible for advertising, their main source of revenue. Much of the complaining about censorship has come from political conservatives, but theyre not the only victims. The problem is broad-based.

Yet sometimes Silicon Valley giants have adopted a see-no-evil approach to certain kinds of content. Facebook, for instance, has banned legitimate content but failed to stop Russian bots from going wild during last years presidential election, planting voluminous fake news stories. Advertisers recently started fleeing YouTube when reports surfaced that large numbers of child-exploitation videos were showing up on supposedly kid-friendly channels. One account, ToyFreaks, had 8 million subscribersmaking it the 68th most-viewed YouTube channelbefore the company shut it down. Its not credible that YouTube didnt know what was happening on a channel with millions of viewers. Other channels and videos featured content from pedophiles. More problems turned up within the last week. A search for How do I . . .  on YouTube returned numerous auto-complete suggestions involving sex with children. Others have found a whole genre of guess her age videos, with preview images, printed in giant fonts, saying things like, Shes only 9! The videos may or may not have involved minorsI didnt watch thembut at minimum, they trade on pedophilic language to generate views.

And yet, these are the same companiescensoring anodyne political channels like Prager University, while letting their sites be used for child exploitation and Russian propagandathat want to lecture the FCC on net neutrality. Silicon Valley companies want to regulate ISPs even as they continue to benefit from their own special legislative exemptions from regulation and liabilityincluding Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects companies like YouTube from liability for the content posted on their sites.

It should come as no surprise that another key net neutrality backer is the porn industry. Pornographic videos at tube sites like PornHub generate massive traffic and eat up tons of bandwidth. It would be entirely appropriate for ISPs to put these sites at the bottom of the priority list for network traffic, or make them pay up. Valid reasons exist to prioritize one kind of traffic over another.

Net neutrality is a ploy from Silicon Valley companies to hobble the only entitiesthe ISPs powerful enough to push back against their Internet hegemony, by tangling up those ISPs in federal red tape. To date, theres been little to no abuse by ISPs that net neutrality would have addressed; Pai is right that it should be repealed. Further, Congress and the FCC should immediately launch investigations into the censoring practices of Silicon Valley social media giants, which cut off the publics access to content that they find politically objectionable.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
On September 24, 2015, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha stood before a bank of TV cameras to deliver alarming findings from her study of the drinking water in Flint, Michigan: more than 1,700 children had elevated levels of lead in their blood. For a few years, Flint had been controlled by state-appointed emergency managers and, in April 2014, one of them had decided to change the water supply to save money.

Dr. Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician working at Flints Hurley Medical Center, produced the first hard data to publicly challenge government officials who insisted that the water met state quality standards. A few months later, the Obama administration declared a state of emergency in her town.

CJR asked Dr. Hanna-Attisha to revisit an article on the water from The Flint Journal, published four times per week and part of MLive.com, the largest media organization in Michigan.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

The Editors are the staffers of the Columbia Journalism Review.
On Wednesday, in what seemed like a major shift, Mark Zuckerberg wrote that he wants to reorient Facebook around private, encrypted, and ephemeral messaging, rather than public sharing. This could have significant implications not just for regulators, who have been trying to get Facebook to crack down on offensive and violent content, but also for the future of news and informationincluding misinformation.

In the past, Zuckerberg has said that his aim was to connect people and make it easier for them to share. And in part because of how Facebooks advertising engine works, the focus has been on making as much of that sharing as public as possible. But Zuckerberg seems to have changed his views. As I think about the future of the internet, I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than todays open platforms, Zuckerberg wrote. The future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content wont stick around forever.

More than ever before, Zuckerberg seemed to admit that there have been downsides to Facebooks emphasis on public sharing, including child exploitation, terrorism and extortion. He may have been pushed to this realization by the ongoing firestorm of criticism Facebook has receivednot just because of the 2016 elections, but also owing to its role in promoting violence in Myanmar, India, and elsewhere. This new commitment to privacy, however, comes with tradeoffs, since a more private Facebook is less subject to public scrutinyand that could make misinformation more difficult to track.

In focusing on the private and ephemeral, Zuckerberg appears to be embracing the model he borrowed (or stole) from Snapchat, which pioneered self-destructing posts in 2011 and turned down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook two years later. Since then, Facebook has implemented Snapchat-like features in WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.

Is Facebook making changes because they are better for users, or because they make life easier for Facebook? If hateful or violent content will soon appear in private rather than public messages, does that mean the company is no longer liable for the spread of that content? The latter question has already come up in India, where much of the violence driven by WhatsApp has been fueled by messages posted in private groups.

When it comes to journalism, Facebooks reorientation seems to take it even further away from being the kind of public distribution outlet many media companies have come to rely on. Although the fruit Facebook offered to publishers may have been poisoned, the reachand, in some cases, ad revenueit provided has become a staple of many media business models. Will private sharing mark the end of Facebooks supposed commitment to helping journalism? If you feel like discussing these and other questions, weve got a thread on CJRs Galley forum about it.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

Heres more on Facebooks announcement and the reaction to it:

Soiled culture : Recode founder Kara Swisher wrote on Twitter that its a bit rich for Zuckerberg to suddenly get religion about privacy. I love that he declares this privacy thing might matter after being a big part of the soiling of online culture with sloppy public sharing tools, says Swisher. New York Times writer Jon Herrman made a related point , noting that Zuckerberg is now arguing against the very norms of behavioropen, transparent, publicthat he promoted for the past decade or so.

Judo move : The former head of security for Facebook, Alex Stamos, said the shift to private sharing is a judo move for Zuckerberg that will help avoid future scrutiny of how the network handles offensive content. In a world where everything is encrypted and doesnt last long, entire classes of scandal are invisible to the media, he wrote.

Regulatory end run : Ashkan Soltani, the former chief technology officer for the Federal Trade Commission and advisor to the Obama administration, said the change may in part be designed to make it easier for Facebook to merge user data across all its platforms, which could further cement its market dominance. Guardian reporter Carole Cadwalladr, who broke the Cambridge Analytica story, agreed .

Bad for business? The Intercepts Sam Biddle said we are being played , since a real commitment to encryption would destroy Facebook overnight by ruining its ad model. But Casey Newton at The Verge observed that there could be a payoff even with fewer ads, since Zuckerberg foresees offering services such as e-commerce, and the Facebook CEO told Wireds Nicholas Thompson that the changes shouldnt have much impact on ads.

Your move, Apple: In his blog post, Zuckerberg wrote that he plans to focus not just on encryption but also on secure storage of user data. Upholding this principle may mean that our services will get blocked in some countries, [but] thats a tradeoff were willing to make. This seems like an obvious dig at Apple, which has been criticized for storing iCloud data where the Chinese government can easily get its hands on it.

Other notable stories:

BuzzFeed may be a digital-only outlet, but on Wednesday senior staff including editor-in-chief Ben Smith handed out physical copies of a print newspaper version of the website that was available at several locations throughout New York City. The company said the effort, which carried the tagline Social. Mobile. Recyclable, was a one-off stunt intended for marketing purposes, and not the start of a new venture.

The Democratic National Committee announced that it wont allow Fox News to broadcast any of its candidate debates during the 2019-2020 election cycle. The committee said the decision was made as a result of revelations in a New Yorker story by Jane Mayer about the close ties between the network and the Trump administration, but some observers wondered whether that wasnt just a convenient excuse for something the DNC likely wanted to do anyway.

The Venezuelan government has released a US journalist who was detained on Wednesday and ordered him to leave the country. Cody Weddle was taken into custody along with his assistant, local journalist Carlos Camacho, after soldiers raided Weddles home. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has been trying to retain his grip on the government as a number of countries including the US have recognized Juan Guaido as the rightful leader.

Media historian and Columbia Journalism School professor Michael Schudson writes for CJR about the complicated relationship between the media and the public, and the question of whether the media is more or less trusted than it has been in the pastand if it is less trusted, what could be done to increase that trust.

NBC San Diego says documents it was given by a source with Homeland Security show that the US government created a secret database of journalists, attorneys, and immigration advocates who were involved with the migrant caravan, and that it also placed alerts on their passports that in some cases prevented them from entering Mexico to work.

The Wall Street Journal says it is creating more than 35 new jobs and several new departments in the newsroom, including teams that will work on audience growth, community and news innovation. The newspaper said the new staff will create original content, stories and news features and be a resource for change across all our bureaus and areas of coverage.

Spirited Media, a local-news startup founded by former Washington Post editor Jim Brady, said it has sold its Denver operation to Colorado Public Radio, and is in talks to sell its Philadelphia and Pittsburgh sites as well. Spirited Media merged in 2017 with a company run by former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz and Business Insider co-founder Kevin Ryan.

In a Wired magazine piece, Renee DiResta looks at how Amazons recommendation algorithms have created a treasure trove of dubious anti-vaccination books . Once relegated to tabloids and web forums, health misinformation and conspiracies have found a new megaphone in the curation engines that power massive platforms like Amazon, she writes.

Slate has named former New York magazine editor Jared Hohlt as its new editor-in-chief, replacing former EIC Julia Turner, who left the site in October to become a deputy managing editor at The Los Angeles Times. Hohlt spent 18 years at New York magazine in a number of roles, including editorial director and senior editor of the print version.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Mathew Ingram is CJRs chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that a statute of repose barring many construction-related personal injury claims after a time limit of six years also applies to claims involving diseases with extended latency periods, such as asbestos-related illnesses.

The ruling follows the death of Wayne Oliver in 2016 due to mesothelioma after he was exposed to asbestos during construction of two nuclear power plants in the 1970s.

Previously, defendant General Electric Company (GE) had designed, manufactured and sold steam turbine generators for installation at each of the plants and supervised the installations. GEs installation specifications called for the use of asbestos-containing insulation materials, and Oliver  who worked as a pipe inspector for a non-party  was present while the insulation was cut, mixed and applied to piping systems and equipment in the turbine halls of both plants, exposing him to the asbestos particles, according to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court document.

Oliver came into contact with the insulation between 1971 and 1978, received his malignant mesothelioma diagnosis in April 2015 and brought the underlying action in the Superior Court in August 2015, the court document stated.

He alleged, among other things, that GE had negligently exposed him to asbestos during construction of the two power plants and caused him to contract mesothelioma.

The case was later removed to the Federal District Court and, when Oliver passed away in July 2016, that court allowed the plaintiffs to submit an amended complaint and continue the litigation as co-executors of Olivers estate.

Court Proceedings

After the case was removed to the Federal District Court, GE moved for summary judgment. It contended that the plaintiffs claims were barred by a Massachusetts statute of repose, which sets a six-year time limit for tort actions resulting from deficiency or neglect in the design, planning, construction or administration of an improvement to real property, the court document stated.

The plaintiffs argued that the statute was not intended to apply to cases involving diseases with extended latency periods, alleging that this would eliminate claims before they even arose.

The judge in the Federal District Court found that GEs turbine generators, including their insulation materials, were improvements to real property under the statute. However, she denied GEs motion regarding Olivers claims, stating it was not clear the statute was designed to bar claims involving diseases known to have a latency period of at least 20 years.

Additionally, she found that because GE had control of the site and conducted regular on-site maintenance and inspections for at least two decades after construction was complete, it does not fall under the category of defendants typically protected by the statute.

GE then moved for the judge either to reconsider her decision or certify the ruling for an interlocutory appeal to the United States Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs opposed interlocutory appeal but, in the event of an appeal, moved for certification to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

The Federal District Court judge denied GEs motion and certified to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to answer the question of whether the Massachusetts statute of repose could be applied in this case.

SJC Ruling

In its decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court concluded that by establishing the six-year time limit, the Massachusetts Legislature struck what it considered to be a reasonable balance between the publics right to a remedy and the need to place an outer limit on the tort liability of those involved in construction, the court document stated.

Although the plaintiffs contended the statute of repose does not protect a defendant that was in control of the improvement to real property at the time of the incident and does not apply to claims involving diseases with extended latency periods, the SJC disagreed, stating the language of the statute is unequivocal.

As a result, the SJC concluded the states statute of repose eliminates all tort claims as a result of any neglect in the design, planning, construction or administration of an improvement to real property after the established time period has run out, even if the claims involve a disease with an extended latency period and the defendant had control of the instruments causing injury.

In so doing, we recognize that, considering the latency period for asbestos-related illnesses, this will have the regrettable effect of barring all or nearly all tort claims arising from negligence in the use or handling of asbestos in construction-related suits, the court added in its decision. Nonetheless, the appropriate recourse is in the Legislature, not this court.
Recorded conversations by pilots on a cargo jet carrying packages for Amazon.com Inc. that crashed last month near Houston reveal they began losing control of the aircraft about 18 seconds before it slammed into a shallow bay, investigators said Tuesday.

The communications captured on the cockpit sound recorder were consistent with a loss of control of the aircraft, according to a press release issued by the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB recovered the crash-proof cockpit recorder and another black box storing flight data in recent days and brought them to its lab in Washington for analysis.

The press release, offering a first glimpse of what happened on the Boeing Co. 767-300 as it was preparing to land at Houstons George Bush Intercontinental Airport Feb. 23, still doesnt explain its mysterious, abrupt dive. The second recorder contained detailed data from the accident flight as well as 16 previous ones, but none of its contents were revealed in the NTSB statement.

Atlas Air Flight 3591 dove roughly 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) and plunged into a shallow bay as it was descending and preparing to move around a line of storms ahead. The impact shattered the plane and killed all three aboard: two Atlas pilots and one from a regional airline who was catching a ride. There was no emergency radio call from the cockpit.

Atlas was one of three cargo carriers flying a fleet of 50 aircraft for Amazon, according to a press release from the online retailer in December. Atlas is owned by Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc.

A video recorded from a jail about a mile from the crash showed the planes final five seconds before it smashed into the water, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a briefing Feb. 24. The plane was in a steep descent, steep nose-down attitude and there was no evidence the pilots tried to turn or pull up at the last moments, Sumwalt said.

A separate video from a nearby school showed the plane apparently diving until it disappeared in a cloud bank, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The cockpit recorder is about two hours long, but the audio quality is poor, the NTSB said. There are times during the recording when the content of crew discussion is difficult to determine, the press release said. At other times the content can be determined using advanced audio filtering.

The NTSB is convening a group of experts to evaluate the recorders contents and to produce a transcript, the agency said in its release. It will be a time-consuming process to complete the transcript, the agency said.

The plane was at an altitude of about 6,200 feet at the time pilots first discussed the unspecified control issue, according to a flight plot provided by tracker FlightRadar24. Around that time, it climbed slightly for a few seconds, then began to drop, according to the website.

It went from 5,850 to 1,325 feet, the last position captured by the website, in about nine seconds, which is many times faster than a normal descent rate.

Pilots were talking to air-traffic controllers and were being guided to the airport, the NTSB said. The normal route to the airport was being altered so they could fly around thunderstorms, according to a recording released by the website LiveATC.net.

The planes data recorder captured about 350 parameters, which typically include information on the health of the engines and other aircraft systems, details of the route and speed, and indications of levers and switches activated in the cockpit. Investigators are in the process of validating the data and plan to release more information in a few days.

The 767 family of jetliners, which were introduced in 1982, has a solid safety record. There had been only two fatal crashes on the plane through 2017, according to Boeings annual aircraft safety summary.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.
Sean Enrique OKeefe said he started out as a humanistic attorney, but he became a mercenary and then a criminal who netted $700,000 a year by sending San Diego workers compensation claimants to dirty medical providers.

OKeefe on Wednesday morning apologized to an audience of fraud investigators and claims administrators at the Combined Claims Conference. Then he gave an eyewitness account of life inside an organized crime syndicate that started with an offer in 2011 by hospital owner Michael D. Drobot to pay him $15,000 for each patient he referred for spinal surgery at the Pacific Hospital of Long Beach.

OKeefe said insurers paid bills from Drobots hospital for years thinking they were getting a discount.

You all approved the surgeries and when Mr. Dorbots office called you to pay the bills, his bills were 15 percent to 20 percent less at his shoe box hospital than they would have cost you if they had been done at U.C. Irvine, he said.

OKeefe was brought down as part of Operation Backlash, an investigation in Southern California capping schemes led by the U.S. Justice Department that had yielded 30 convictions so far. He was also involved in a separate referral scheme with Drobot, who pleaded guilty in 2014 to bribing former state Sen. Ron Calderon in order to preserve an odd California rule, since repealed, that allowed hospitals to bill insurers for the full cost of hardware used in spinal surgeries.

Drobot and Calderon are now both serving time in federal penitentiaries. The Justice Department said the spinal surgery scam cost insurers $500 million over a 15-year period.

Ex-California Hospital Owner Sentenced for $500M Workers Comp Fraud

OKeefe said crooked doctors and lawyers get the most attention, but 85 percent of the people involved in capping schemes are not licensed professionals. The real action is done by marketers, what OKeefe called the sign-up guys.

To the syndicates, doctors and lawyers are just high wage earners, he said.

OKeefes first sign-up guy was Carlos Arguello, who went to work at his San Diego law practice at the tender age of 19. He said he had to let Arguello go about a year later because 80 percent of the clients he brought to his office could not even articulate an industrial injury. That was bad for his practice because doctors who treat injured workers dont get paid if a claim is denied. They would quickly stop treating his clients, he said.

But OKeefe said what he failed to understand at the time was that Arguello wasnt concerned about the doctors getting paid. He went on to operate another scheme that bilked carriers by billing for unnecessary copy services.

Arguello had his hand in bogus medical bills as well. He was the founder of Centro Legal Internacional, a mill that the Orange County District Attorneys Office says had worked with 20 to 30 workers comp and personal injury attorneys to gin up medical bills.

OKeefe was among them. He said the scheme was designed to generate bills in as many ways as possible. The medical provider that he worked with mostly, San Diego chiropractor Steve Rigler, would enter a patients information into a computer program that automatically generated referrals for diagnostic testing, durable medical equipment and pharmaceutical services. Rigler was also arrested and pleaded guilty as part of Operation Backlash.

As it happens, Arguello on Wednesday was testifying as a cooperating witness five miles away at the Orange County courthouse. There, the trail of the first of 10 attorneys and six others involved in the alleged billing scam, which the Orange County District Attorneys Office said defrauded insurers out of $300 million. Prosecutors say the network generated 33,000 fraudulent workers compensation claims.

OKeefe said after he was confronted by investigators, it took him about 10 seconds to decide to cooperate.

My cooperation began like most cooperators: I was afraid of going to jail, he said. But along the way, I met people with extraordinary integrity who showed me exactly how far I had fallen afield.

He will soon pay his price. OKeefe was sentenced in February to serve 13 months in prison and must report to U.S. marshals on May 29. He also owes $300,000 in restitution and $200,000 in taxes, which I dont have.

Teena Barton, a senior investigator with ICW Groups special investigations unit, persuaded OKeefe to tell his story. She said Wednesdays presentation at the Combined Claims Conference was his sixth or seventh in a mea culpa tour, of sorts. OKeefe said he isnt paid any speaking fees. He wants to make amends.

Barton said carriers need to understand that the medical mills are relentless and quickly replace any fraudsters who are caught.

This is a Cali thing, you might say. They are moving east and we know where they are right now, she said.
HUDSON, Ohio -- Nineteen people were brought to area hospitals or treated at the scene of a massive pileup Tuesday afternoon on Ohio 8 north in Hudson, police reported Wednesday.

Police estimate more than 100 vehicles were involved, but are still working to determine the exact number, according to a city spokeswoman. About 60 vehicles were towed.

Icy roads contributed to the crash, which closed the northbound lanes of Ohio 8 between Seasons and West Streetsboro roads for about three hours, police said.

Someone called 911 just after 2:50 p.m. to report one car had spun out on Ohio 8 north either in Hudson or Boston Heights, according to Hudson police.

A Hudson police officer responded and called firefighters and paramedics around 3 p.m. to report about 30 cars were involved in the crash, police said.

Multiple vehicles crashed Tuesday afternoon on Ohio 8 northbound in Hudson, according to police.

No one appeared to suffer life-threatening injuries, police said.

Mutual aid from Aurora, Boston Heights, Brecksville, Cuyahoga Falls, Kent, Macedonia, Northfield Village, Peninsula, Richfield, Stow, Streetsboro, Twinsburg and the Valley Fire District were at the scene. Hudson police also thanked the Ohio Department of Transportation, Christ Community Chapel and the various tow truck companies.
AKRON, Ohio -- A 12-year-old male North American river otter has joined the Akron Zoos river otter habitat.

Odie came to Akron on Feb. 7 from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Akron Zoo announced Thursday. After about a month of being quarantined for the health and safety of all the animals, Odie is ready to spend some time in the river otter exhibit, which visitors can experience from the inside by going down the otter slide.

Odie and the zoos female river otter, Molly, will alternate days in their habitat while animal-care staff help them get familiar with each other. Odie and Molly will soon share the habitat each day, the zoo said.

Odies exact birth date is unknown, since he was found in 2007 abandoned in his native habitat as a pup before his eyes opened, the zoo said. He was rescued and raised by animal-care staff at the Texas State Aquarium.

The news comes less than two months after the zoos 8-year-old male river otter, Porthos, died unexpectedly during a Jan. 17 routine exam. After reviewing the results of the necropsy, an animal autopsy, the zoo said Porthos died of a congenital condition.

Odie came to the Akron Zoo based on breeding recommendations from the River Otter Species Survival Plan (SSP), the zoo said.

As an accredited facility through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Akron Zoo participates in the SSP, which is a scientifically-managed breeding program that works to ensure a genetically-diverse population of river otters in zoos and aquariums, the zoo said.

Thanks to local conservation efforts to clean up pollution in rivers and streams, North American river otters are listed as least concern in Ohio as the population has rebounded in the past two decades, the zoo said.

Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.coms Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.
SOLON, Ohio -- The Solon High School Speech and Debate team will be sending nine students to the national tournament in Dallas this June.

Now ranked in the top 100 teams in the country, Solon High recently won the OLeary Excellence in Speech award at a national qualifying event.

Those individual national qualifiers are:

-- Seniors Abaan Saini and Zilong Huang in Congressional Debate

-- Seniors Neha Gupta and Kayla Arenschield in World Schools Debate

-- Junior Megan Wiser in Program Oral Interpretation

-- Seniors Brendan Wang, Colton Wang and Anna Vradi, along with sophomore Nandana Ahuja, in Duo Debate

At its Feb. 25 meeting, the Solon school board also congratulated the Comet alternates selected for the nationals: Madison Bolden, Seth Rendon, Orimilio Oresanya, Rachel Wilson, Carly Stewart, Anushree Jakate and Jack Williams.

Solon team adviser Dan Ceci was also honored by the National Speech and Debate Association with the Distinguished Gold Key Award in recognition for his tireless service helping students explore their passion for oratory, elocution and all forms of public speaking.

Each team member must attend a minimum of seven regional tournaments and the state qualifying tournament. Schools host tournaments every Saturday from November through January to help students hone their skills.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A federal judge on Wednesday tossed a lawsuit filed by a fired Warrensville Heights police officer who gained notoriety when she posted a Facebook video decrying the use of force by police officers.

Nakia Jones, who worked at the department from 2002 to 2017, said in a lawsuit that officials for the east side suburb fired her as retaliation for the seven-minute video she posted that showed her passionately talking about how she believed racist white police officers have no business being in uniform. The video has been viewed more than 8.3 million times.

Chief U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan, however, wrote that Jones did not show a correlation between the video, which she posted in February 2016, and her firing in October 2017.

(You can read the full opinion here or at the bottom of this story.)

Jones  who sued the city, Mayor Brad Sellers and police Chief Wesley Haynes in May  was instead fired for misusing her sick time, the judge noted in a 22-page opinion. Officials became suspicious that Jones was doing public speaking engagements, and was as traveling and attending weddings, while receiving workers compensation in the months after she was involved in a May 2017 car crash while on duty, Gaughan wrote.

Jones was scheduled to return to work Oct. 9, 2017, but she called in sick that day and the next one due to a headache.

Sellers decided to conduct surveillance on Jones for her next scheduled work day on Oct. 13. Jones again called in sick for the next three days, again claiming a headache and a flare-up of lupus. But the personnel assigned to conduct surveillance on Jones saw her board a plane to Philadelphia, where she spoke at a conference, Gaughan wrote in the opinion.

Gaughan, in ruling against Jones on a summary judgment motion, wrote that there is no causal connection between plaintiffs protected speech and her termination, and defendants have demonstrated that there was a legitimate reason for the decision.

The judge also threw out claims alleging infliction of emotional distress and a hostile work environment.

Jones video shows her decrying violence and saying black men and children need to stop picking up guns and start following better paths. But her words became more pointed and fervent as she addressed the 2016 death of Alton Sterling, a black man shot during a struggle with two white police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Jones said in the video that white police officers should not be on the job if they are racist.

Posted by Nakia Jones on Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Soon thereafter, ABC News invited Jones to sit on a panel with President Barack Obama for a town hall on race. She continues to do speaking engagements.

Her assistant Jocelyn Hurt said Wednesday that her boss had no comment, and that Jones would let her attorneys address the ruling.

Sellers said in a statement issued through a city spokeswoman that Warrensville Heights officials are pleased with Gaughans decision.

Weve always felt that once all the facts of the case were presented, the citys position would be vindicated and the claim made against the city would be proven frivolous, Sellers said in the statement. We will continue to serve Warrensville Heights and its citizens to the best of our abilities.

Officials with the Ohio Patrolmens Benevolent Association, which represents rank-and-file Warrensville Heights police officers, said in September that they filed a grievance against the department the day Jones was terminated. The status of that grievance was not immediately clear Wednesday.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Wednesdays crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A Cleveland man affiliated with the Rack Gang, a group the FBI said was responsible for a rash of robberies in 2017 and 2018, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in federal prison for holding up a bank and stealing a car at gunpoint.

Lashawn Davis, 19, pleaded guilty in October to carjacking, armed bank robbery and two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence. He and a juvenile committed a carjacking in Cleveland Heights Coventry neighborhood on Feb. 4, 2018 and an armed robbery two weeks later at a Dollar Bank on Wilson Road in Richmond Heights.

The carjacking victim was dragged from her car at gunpoint, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Zarzycki said.

Davis committed the robberies as part of the "Rack Gang, which law enforcement said is a subset of the Heartless Felons. The group gave itself the name following the shooting death of 19-year-old Charles Rackman Southern III in June 2016 and has its origins in the area around St. Clair Avenue and East 140th Street in the citys Collinwood neighborhood.

Law enforcement tied the group to a series of carjackings and armed robberies of banks and businesses that took place roughly between February 2017 and March 2018, according to the FBI. Authorities have charged fourteen members on robbery and other criminal charges, seven of whom were juveniles.

The carjacking victim, who was visiting the United States from Uruguay at the time, told Chief U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan through a translator Wednesday that the robbery was the most terrifying experience of my life. She said she just wanted the ordeal to be finished.

Federal public defender Ed Bryan called Davis crimes about as bad as they can be. He also emphasized Davis rough childhood, which included living in poverty and surrounded by violence. This included witnessing the fatal stabbing of his father Latwon Moore in 2007, when Davis was just 8 years old, Bryan said.

The attorney also said Davis received his GED while in the Cuyahoga County Jail.

Davis, with siblings, aunts and his grandmother watching in the viewing gallery, read a letter to the court and apologized, later turning and apologizing directly to the victim. He characterized his crimes as mistakes I made when I was young-minded and dumb.

When Davis pleaded guilty, federal law required Gaughan to hand down a sentence for the robbery and carjacking, plus an additional 32 years for his use of a gun during the crimes. The First Step Act, signed by President Donald Trump in December, altered the guidelines for crimes in which guns are brandished, and Davis instead faced 14 years plus a sentence for his other crimes.

The judge ultimately gave Davis a sentence lower than the one recommended by the U.S. Probation Office. She noted his crimes and his gang activity, but also his rough upbringing.

No child should witness the murder of his or her father, Gaughan said.

Members of the Rack Gang focused much of its attention in the citys eastern suburbs in Cuyahoga and Lake counties, officials said. The U.S. Attorneys Office said Wednesday that it charged seven suspected members in several robberies. State prosecutors have charged an additional seven juveniles, some of whom were charged as adults, federal the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Federal authorities said Davis and his cohort obtained their guns through Tyla Spencer, who went to Cleveland Armory in Valley View and made straw purchases of two semi-automatic Glock pistols in January 2018 .

Spencer pleaded guilty in November to making false statements to acquire a firearm. Her sentencing is scheduled for March 14.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Wednesdays crime and courts comments section.
OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio -- Police are investigating after a 26-year-old man was found shot to death at an Olmsted Falls condominium Wednesday night.

No arrests have been made in the incident that happened about 7:45 p.m. at Lake of the Falls at Sprague Road near Fernwood Drive, Olmsted Falls Police Chief Odis Rogers said.

Police initially received a call about a possible assault at the condo, Rogers said.

Officers spoke to a witness who found the man dead with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, Rogers said.

Police and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner have not released the victims identity.

The suspect drove away from the scene in a white Nissan, Olmsted Falls Mayor James Graven said. Police believe residents are not in any harm, he added.

Police say the shooter knows the victim and do not know if the victim lives at the condominium complex or is a guest, Rogers said. They also could not disclose what went on before the shooting.

Police have an idea of who the suspect is based on conversations with witnesses, but would not disclose who it may be so as the case would not be tampered.

The shooting is believed to be an isolated incident, Graven said.

This isnt something that normally occurs in Olmsted Falls and I can understand why residents of this condo complex would feel uneasy, he said.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Olmsted Township Police and the Lorain County Sheriffs Office assisted in the investigation.

If youd like to comment on this story, visit Thursdays crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A Euclid woman accused of trying to steal a car with a 4-year-old girl inside claimed the child was hers when witnesses stopped her Wednesday outside a Cleveland convenience store, police reports say.

Candance A. Hunter also told witnesses she owned the 2006 Chevrolet Impala she is accused of trying to steal just before 7 p.m. outside the Convenient Food Mart on St. Clair Avenue near East 156th Street, police reports say.

The 4-year-old girls mother screamed as Hunter started to drive away, then grabbed onto the car. Hunter dragged the mother through the parking lot before the witnesses intervened to stop the car, police reports say.

Neither the mother nor the 4-year-old girl were hurt in the incident. The mother declined medical treatment.

Hunter, 35, is charged with kidnapping in connection with the incident, according to court records. She remains in custody at the Cuyahoga County Jail while awaiting her arraignment in Cleveland Municipal Court.

The mother told investigators that she stopped at the convenience store to buy a juice box for her daughter. She left the car running with the keys in the ignition, and her daughter in the back seat.

She was walking out of the store when she saw the car driving away. The mother could hear her daughter scream as she ran after the car, so she grabbed onto the Impala, police reports say.

Several witnesses got in front of the vehicle to block it from leaving. They asked the driver  later identified as Hunter  if she owned the car, and she said yes, police reports say.

Hunter also told the witnesses the child was hers, police reports say. The witnesses took the girl out of the car before Cleveland police officers arrived at the scene.

Officers took Hunter into custody without incident.

Hunter is currently facing drug-related charges stemming from an Oct. 11 incident in Cleveland, according to Cuyahoga County court records. Details of that case were not immediately available Thursday afternoon.

In that case, she was indicted Jan. 25 on charges of trafficking, drug possession, tampering with evidence and complicity. She pleaded not guilty and was scheduled to appear at her next pretrial hearing March 13, court records say.

To comment on this story, visit Thursdays crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When I first posted this cartoon last Friday, President Trump had said during his summit press conference that he walked out of talks with Kim Jong Un because they had reached an impasse over lifting sanctions. Now, according to a Trump tweet, the cartoon was closer to the truth.

In a tweet this week, President Trump wrote that the Cohen hearing was a factor in his walk.

For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the walk. Never done when a president is overseas. Shame!" tweeted Trump.

It should be noted that the hearing had actually been delayed more than once. Why was it delayed? Cohen was concerned for the safety of himself and his family. Why should he be concerned? Because Trump himself made threatening remarks about Cohens father-in-laws business dealings.

Trump is right that it was an important summit meeting. But since it was so important, how come Trump and his administration didnt do all the important pre-summit prep work in terms of negotiations?

Since Trumps good friend Kim didnt abide to any of the first summit agreements, it shouldnt be a surprise that satellite photos indicate North Korea now appears to be rebuilding its missile-testing facilities.

I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, Trump said, if the satellite indications are confirmed. I dont think I will be, but well see what happens.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mark your calendars, Jedi. The opening dates for Star Wars-themed lands at Disneyland and Walt Disney World are no longer far, far away.

Star Wars: Galaxys Edge will open at Disneys park in California on May 31, while Florida park goers can visit the attraction starting August 29. Both dates, announced Thursday, are earlier than expected.

To avoid the huge crowds and extremely long waits that visitors faced when Pandora: The World of Avatar opened at Disneys Animal Kingdom in 2017, Galaxys Edge will open in two phases. Starting with opening day, fans will be able to ride Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, putting them in the cockpit at the controls of Han Solos famous ship, you know, the one that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.

Restaurants serving blue milk and shops where you can build your own lightsaber or droid will also be open for business as guests are transported to the remote planet Batuu on the outer rim of the galaxy. Disney employees in full character, dressed as the scoundrels, rebels and aliens of the Star Wars world complete the immersive experience.

Reservations will be required for Disneyland visitors who plan to visit the Star Wars-themed land from May 31 to June 23.

In phase two, coming later this year, a second thrill ride, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, opens to visitors. Set during the events of the current trilogy, the ride will put guests aboard a transport ship that gets caught in a First Order Star Destroyers tractor beam during a climactic battle, the Orange County Register reported. Billed by Disney as its most ambitious and advanced" attraction ever, Rise of the Resistance will feature apperances by Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and BB-8.

A Star Wars-themed hotel is also in the works at Disneys Hollywood Studios in Florida, though it wont be ready for the opening of Galaxys Edge.
I am getting a little tired of seeing all the garbage about North Korea. As a former Air Force intelligence noncommissioned officer who served right after the Korean War and into Vietnam, I am reminded of the one huge mistake made by President Harry S. Truman, when he fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1951. Gen. Mac wanted to finish off North Korea once and for all, but Truman was afraid of a war with Red China. Of course, there were 300,000 Chinese already fighting us in Korea, so that argument doesnt wash. I only know that if Gen. Mac had gotten the green light, there wouldnt be a North Korea now to give us any guff. Of course, politics in Washington screwed up other times by not handling the Russians at the end of World War II, and doing the same to the communist forces in Vietnam.

I remember during our combat training, one instructors told us, to win a war, you take out your enemy totally! I never forgot that advice, but apparently our political and military leaders have.

Alan F. Ross,

Cleveland
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A suspect wanted for aggravated robbery struck a U.S. marshal with a vehicle as officials attempted to arrest him Wednesday night, authorities say.

The marshal is expected to be OK and the suspect, Kevin Walker, 33, was taken into custody, according to the U.S. Marshals Northern District of Ohio office.

It was one of two arrests made by marshals Wednesday night, the other suspect, Ernest Phillips, 45, wanted in connection with the shooting death of a man at a gas station in Cleveland in November.

Officers with the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force were attempting to take Phillips into custody near the intersection of West 140th Street and San Diego Avenue, just south of Lorain Avenue, when he tried to escape in his vehicle, hitting the marshal. A law-enforcement vehicle stopped Walker by striking his vehicle, officials say.

Walker and a passenger in his car were treated at the hospital for minor injuries. Officers recovered a firearm from Walkers waistband during his arrest, officials say.

Walker was wanted by the Cuyahoga County Sheriffs Department for aggravated robbery, felonious assault, and a weapons offense.

Later Wednesday night, marshals were told Phillips was at a residence on the 9100 block of Parmalee Avenue in the Glenville neighborhood on Clevelands East Side. Officers went to the home and found Phillips hiding in the attic.

Phillips is wanted by police in East Cleveland in connection with the shooting death of Roger Ashley, who was found shot outside the Gas USA on Euclid Avenue at Shaw Avenue in November.

Marshals arrested Phillips and took him to East Cleveland police.

To comment on this story, visit Wednesdays crime and courts comments page.
Samuel H. Miller learned to spot deals at a young age.

As a child, the son of a junk peddler would ride along in a rented, horse-drawn wagon that clomped down Cleveland streets as his father looked to buy paper and rags.

Miller grew up to become one of the countrys most savvy businessmen  a plucky, crackerjack real estate developer who hobnobbed with prime ministers, Pavarotti and a pope.

He emerged as a political powerbroker, a reputation bolstered when his backing propelled longshot candidate Michael R. White to three terms as Clevelands mayor. His fundraising skills also helped causes close to his Jewish faith and the Catholic Church.

His literal rags to riches life ended Thursday. He was 97.

Miller was longtime co-chairman and treasurer of Clevelands Forest City Enterprises Inc., the real estate development company he helped build into a national giant. Late last year, The Plain Dealer reported that Forest City was acquired by Brookfield Properties, a commercial real estate empire controlled by a Toronto-based asset manager.

Colleagues and family members marveled at Millers tenacious work ethic, even in his later years, when Miller, craggy-faced, hunchbacked but ever lively, continued to pilot major deals from his desk.

One thing that always endeared me to him was, heres a man whos rich beyond most peoples dreams, powerful beyond most peoples dreams, but he never lost the human touch, White said in a June 2008 interview. Hes the last of a breed Ill never see again.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine told cleveland.com on Thursday that he got to know Miller during his successful 1994 campaign for the U.S. Senate. The two remained in touch over the years, and DeWine said he would make a point to visit Miller in his office in Terminal Tower when he was in Cleveland.

DeWine said Miller was a straight shooter and a voracious reader who would regularly mail articles to him and many others.

It would be some magazine or newspaper that sometimes Id never even heard of, but he was clearly a subscriber to it, and he pulled out a story that he thought Id be interested in, DeWine said. But he was Cleveland. He was Ohio. And certainly for a period of time, if you listed the top five or 10 people in Ohio that if you were going to run for office, youd want to go see, Sam would certainly be on that list.

Brent Larkin, retired editorial director for The Plain Dealer, in an interview Thursday said Miller had stopped coming to the office about a year and a half ago. Miller had various ailments, but remained sharp, he said.

One of the smartest people Ive ever known, Larkin said. He could see around corners.

Heres a typical anecdote, one I remember like it happened yesterday. Called me the morning of the 2016 election to say, Kid, youre not going like this, but Trumps going to win. I laughed at him. Called me one morning at work to say,Kid, the Browns are going to cut Bernie Kosar. Laughed again. A few hours later, Belichick cut Kosar.

For all the influence Miller held in business and political circles, he was both revered and reviled. Away from the public glare, friends say, he strived for empathy with average people.

For years he rose early on Sunday mornings to deliver bagels to nuns and firefighters. In 1992, he rode with White to keep peace on Cleveland streets as race riots raged in Los Angeles.

Miller was the type of man who, according to legend, paid for strangers funerals. Once, he stunned his waiter at lunch by offering him $6,600 so he could afford to go back to college.

Businessman Umberto Fedeli told cleveland.com on Thursday that he talked to Miller several times a week before Miller became ill. He could talk to the man on street as well as the person in the boardroom, Fedeli recalled.

Fedeli said Miller loved to discuss politics, religion and business. But Miller's real focus, Fedeli said, was on helping people and Cleveland.

He knew how to bring people together around an issue, Fedeli said. He had an incredible network in town.

Fedeli said that Miller often talked about his poor upbringing, which gave him that common touch.

Sam told me that when he went to Harvard, he would hide his suitcase because it was so beat up compared to those of his peers," Fedeli said. "It was the suitcase his parents used when they immigrated to this country.

Former Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, whose campaigns received strong financial support from Miller, in an interview several years ago recalled a 2004 cab ride that he and Miller shared.

Sam sat up front and was talking to the driver, asking him what he thought about downtown, Cimperman said. At the end of the ride, I swore the two guys were going to go and grab a corned beef sandwich at Slymans, a popular St. Clair Avenue deli. 

Under the leadership of Miller and his former brother-in-law, Albert Ratner, Forest City became in its day perhaps the most politically connected real estate developer in the country. The companys campaign contributions stretched well past Ohio, into California, Colorado, New Mexico, New York and other states where Forest City has pursued major projects.

Critics often bellyached that Millers interest in Cleveland was conditional on whatever sweetheart deal he could pry from the elected officials whose campaigns he supported.

In 2005, after Mayor Jane L. Campbell declined to back a Forest City site for a new Cleveland convention center, Miller and the Ratners shifted their considerable political muscle to her most formidable challenger, City Council President Frank Jackson.

Some political observers believed Campbells snub sunk her bid for a second term and sealed the election for Jackson. Miller, after all, had cemented his reputation as a political kingmaker 16 years earlier with his support for Whites longshot candidacy.

Millers childhood was hardly as charmed.

Born June 26, 1921, he grew up poor, and spoke only Russian and Yiddish  the native languages of his parents  as a schoolboy at Woolridge Elementary on the East Side.

Millers father emigrated from Russia, and the Miller name was bestowed upon him by an Irish immigrant at Ellis Island who was taking names of those passing into the United States. Millers mother emigrated from Poland. The couple married in 1918 and settled in Cleveland.

Sam Miller said he never knew his fathers birth-given surname. I wouldnt be able to pronounce it, he shrugged in a 2007 interview. You wouldnt be able to spell it.

A language barrier made growing up a challenge.

Of Woolridge, near his childhood home on Beaver Avenue, Miller said: I learned my most valuable lessons there. The most important was how to survive.

He attended Clevelands Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University). He excelled in business and history and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1941. From there, he went on to Harvard University, on full scholarship, and graduated in 1943 with a masters degree in industrial administration, a war-time equivalent of an MBA.

He joined the Navy in 1942. During World War II, Miller was a lieutenant in a Seabee unit in the Pacific Theater. He finished his tour with the Navy in 1946.

That same year, upon returning to Cleveland, Miller married Ruth Ratner, daughter of Forest City co-founder Leonard Ratner and sister of Albert Ratner. In 1947, Miller joined Forest City Material Co., the precursor to Forest City Enterprises, and quickly rose the corporate ranks.

The two had met at the Ratner familys summer cottage in Wickliffe. Beyond that, Miller often was guarded when asked about his first marriage, which in 1982 ended in divorce.

I would rather not get into that, Miller said in 2007. It would be too painful.

The couple had four children  Aaron, Richard, Gabrielle and Abraham. After the divorce, Sam Miller stayed on with Forest City and married Maria Shanley in 1983. Shanley was a Catholic who converted to Judaism upon marrying Miller.

Ruth Ratner Miller also remarried. She died of cancer in 1996.

All the while, Sam Miller kept a solid stake in Forest City. He is credited with taking the company from lumber supplier to land developer, starting in Parma.

In the 1950s, Miller spearheaded Forest Citys purchase of thousands of lots in the southwest Cleveland suburb, commencing the companys foray into residential real estate.

We sold the lots as an inducement to sell lumber, Miller told Crains Cleveland Business for a 1995 article that documented Forest Citys role in suburban sprawl.

Miller reflected on his early work in Parma as his most memorable deal. Housing development opened doors to the mixed-use development, such as office and retail projects anchored by Parmatown Mall, for which Forest City is best known.

Parma also brought Miller his first taste of political controversy. Around Christmas in 1963, a mild scandal arose when he sent $25 and $50 gift certificates to Parma officials, including four councilmen, at a time when Forest City had numerous interests there.

It was a legal but eyebrow-raising tactic, one that often fuels perception of quid pro quo between property owners and politicians. It was a game Miller mastered in the future.

Miller helped coordinate the extended Ratner familys political contributions, often to candidates running for the same office.

I like to help people, is how Miller explained his donations in a 1994 interview. If they werent running for office, Id give them money anyway.

In the 1990s, Millers relationship with Michael R. White thrust him even more into the political spotlight. White, who staged an upset victory in the 1989 Cleveland mayoral election, often referred to Miller as his mentor and godfather.

Miller, in a 2007 interview with The Plain Dealer said he became active with White, and by extension more visible in politics, only because of my love for the underdog.

Few gave the relatively unknown White a chance against George Forbes, the larger-than-life City Council president, or even Cleveland Clerk of Courts Benny Bonanno.

After White won, Miller stayed close and helped raise money for causes such as the 1993 school board and City Council elections. The money helped White-supported candidates win, including four school board members. For an encore, in 1996, Miller joined White to help raise $500,000 to persuade Clevelanders to pass an operating school levy.

Miller also was chief fundraiser for Whites re-election bids. His ability to raise money earned him the mayors ear  and loyalty  on a variety of subjects, including those in which Forest City had an economic interest. Early in his first term, for example, White tapped Miller to head a committee to study new home construction.

It was a very rare day when I was mayor that I didnt talk to him at least once a day, even when I was on vacation, White said of Miller in a 2008 interview.

In 1994, White dedicated Sam Miller Park, formerly Andrews Park, at 750 East 88th St., characterizing the honor as a reward for his confidants civic contributions.

The cozy relationship became fodder for critics in Whites third and final term. The mayors political opponents and Millers competitors, including other powerful businessmen, complained about a perceived favoritism toward Forest City.

If they looked at Mike White with a cool eye, without bias or political interests, they would see that he has done more for this city in 10 years than any other mayor since 1796, Miller said in 2000, leaping to the mayors defense.

Outside of politics, Miller donated and helped raise millions of dollars for other causes.

A famous, enduring story is how then-Bishop Anthony Pilla of the Cleveland Diocese recruited Miller in 1988 to save 15 inner-city Catholic schools from closing.

Youre the last person in Cleveland Im coming to, Pilla told Miller.

Were going to do this, Miller responded. But were going to do it my way.

That required an aggressive  and to Pilla, somewhat uncomfortable  full-court press to solicit donations from Clevelands elite business leaders. Miller joined with Robert M. Ginn of Centerior Energy Corp. and Frank Mosier of BP America to raise money.

Wherever there were Catholic schools, the neighborhoods were intact, Miller said in 2007. The nuns would go out every morning and get rid of the drug dealers.

Millers crew raised $5 million. The rest is history, he said. We saved the schools.

In 1993, his efforts on behalf of the diocese made him the first Jew to receive an Archbishop Edward F. Hoban Award for service to the Catholic Church.

Less known were Millers efforts in the 1940s and 50s on behalf of Israel. Miller was a strong proponent of statehood and helped raise money for the fledgling country.

They had just finished burning up 6 million Jews because no country would take them, Miller said in a 2008 interview with The Plain Dealer about Israels 60th birthday. Had there been an Israel, there would not have been a Holocaust.

Miller, in his trademark colorful way, described some of his fundraising efforts in a 2008 documentary shown exclusively as part of a Maltz Museum of Jewish History Exhibit.

A small group of us had decided to go across the country and get whatever funds we possibly could  legitimate or illegitimate, Miller said in the film by Steven Hacker.

One of the biggest helpers I had, believe it or not  Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, he added.

Miller recalled a meeting in Las Vegas with Sinatra and two other famous Rat Pack entertainers, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. Sinatra said: We Dagos and we Jews have a lot in common, and we have to do something for this tiny country.

Over the years, Miller urged cooperation between the Jewish and Christian communities.

In 1987, Miller and 200 other Jewish leaders sat down with Pope John Paul II in Miami. Miller said of the meeting: It was almost breathtaking, it was historic. For a Catholic pope to stand up and call us his Jewish brothers and sisters, I tell you, I was touched.

Visiting New York in 1995, the pope summoned Miller for another meeting, this time as a reward for his support of Catholic education in Cleveland and, later, Baltimore.

I always thought his dual dedication to both faiths was a living lesson to everybody about religious tolerance, White said. Sam was the first to build a bridge in Cleveland.

A master fundraiser, Miller also donated generously.

In the summer of 2002, Miller and his wife, Maria, donated $8 million to the Cleveland Clinic, which named its emergency services building for the couple.

Later that year, Miller had surgery to treat bladder cancer.

A couple of weeks after the procedure, Miller said: The funeral directors can quit mailing circulars to my wife. Im A-1 and cancer-free, and it aint coming back.

Following his recovery, Miller talked about getting people to move back to Cleveland by building more houses. Miller believed the city could find room for new developments by identifying foreclosed homes, homes that needed to be demolished and vacant land.

In more recent years, Miller had sharpened his political criticism and called on regional leaders to save money  and Greater Cleveland  by forging a more unified government.

We are confused, leaderless and apathetic, Miller said at a March 2007 awards banquet where Northeast Ohio businesses were honored. But worse, we are in a gloomy contemplation of our future and have forgotten what made this city great. We have become the Tower of Babel.

His remarks drew some quick buzz. In interviews he gave in the days and weeks following the speech, Miller stressed the need to eliminate what he felt were overlapping elected offices and other government jobs. But few, if any, of his power-player peers rallied around the cause.

The type of government we need means we dont need 500 councilmen, Miller said.

Chris Ronayne, president of University Circle Inc., on Thursday recalled his interactions with Miller more than 12 years ago while serving as chief of staff to then-Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell.

"When Sam didn't agree with you, he let you know it," Ronayne said. "But he never shut down conversation. He always kept communication lines open no matter the issue. That lesson about coming back to the table is all too often lost these days. Sam never let us forget that we were all partners even when we disagreed."

As for the personal side of Miller, Roynane said: "Sam might have been the first to say of himself that he was no angel, but the reality was he was the behind-the-scenes angel in so many ways for Cleveland - supporting a family in distress when they needed it, or a student who needed tuition support, and he was always there for Cleveland police and fire.

Ever humble, Miller kept his resume current and handy for reporters with questions about his life. He listed only one employer, Forest City, but two pages were filled with awards and activities.

Among his many honors: the Cuyahoga County Veteran of the Year Award in 1974, the Ohio Governors Award and the Harry S. Truman Award in 1977, the American Red Cross National Humanitarian Award in 1993 and honorary doctorates from several local schools.

Miller served as the national chairman of United Jewish Appeal, was a lifetime honorary trustee of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, a past chairman of the Cleveland Jewish Welfare Fund and Israel Bonds and a trustee for the Jewish National Fund.

He also was chairman of the Board for Medical Mutual.

Rick Chiricosta, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Medical Mutual, on Thursday recalled visiting an ailing Miller in 2017 to present him with a plaque commemorating a boardroom co-named in his honor.

Chiricosta said he told Miller that the "greatest part of dedicating the boardroom to him and fellow board member David J. Young is that their names would remain on the room for years because Medical Mutual had just completed the purchase of its downtown headquarters building -- the Rose Building at corner Prospect Avenue and East Ninth Street.

Chiricosta said he was unsure how well Miller was paying attention because he appeared a bit drowsy. Then, Chiricosta said, Miller suddenly piped up and threw a question at him.

What did you pay per square foot, Miller asked.

Chiricosta also noted the impact Miller had on the insurer when he joined the board during a tumultuous time for the company and industry.

He gave us major credibility and stability when he joined, Chiricosta said. He had strong opinions but he gave me what I needed in terms of support and let me do what I had to as CEO.

Twice  in 1974 and 1987  he served as foreman of the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury.

He also was a member of the Cleveland Clinics board of directors, a trustee of Baldwin-Wallace College, and an honorary trustee of Case Western Reserve University.

Millers office inside Forest Citys corporate headquarters at downtown Clevelands Terminal Tower was a packrats den permeating with decades of productivity. Piles of books and papers cluttered the floor. Countless trinkets lined shelves and his desktop.

Photos of Miller with celebrities from all corners of the world plastered the walls.

Sam Miller with Bishop Anthony Pilla. With Israeli Prime Ministers Menachem Begin, Golda Meir and Ariel Sharon. With longtime Plain Dealer Publisher Alex Machaskee.

The office had a way of swallowing up its guests. But Miller refused to let visitors leave his lair empty-handed, often shoving at them a necktie, collectible coin or some other small token.

Gestures like that defined Miller, said Cimperman, the former city councilman.

Here youre dealing with one of the most powerful men in Cleveland, Cimperman said.

He never forgot where he came from.

Henry J. Gomez is a former cleveland.com politics writer who now works for BuzzFeed News. Cleveand.com columnist Mark Naymik and reporter Andrew Tobias contributed to this story.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Sam Miller, the co-founder of Forest City Enterprises and longtime Cleveland civic leader and political kingmaker, died Thursday at the age of 97.

Here is a collection of quotes about Miller from some of the business and political leaders from Cleveland. Unless otherwise noted, they were issued on Thursday after Millers death.

Mike DeWine, Ohio governor

DeWine said Miller was a straight shooter and a voracious reader who would regularly mail articles to him and many others.

It would be some magazine or newspaper that sometimes Id never even heard of, but he was clearly a subscriber to it, and he pulled out a story that he thought Id be interested in, DeWine said. But he was Cleveland. He was Ohio. And certainly for a period of time, if you listed the top five or 10 people in Ohio that if you were going to run for office, youd want to go see, Sam would certainly be on that list.

DeWine also remembered that Millers office wall was covered with pictures of himself with religious leaders, foreign dignitaries, presidents and and other notable people.

It was just a feast for anybody who loves politics.

Rob Portman, U.S. Senator

Jane and I mourn the loss of Sam Miller, a remarkable man who touched the lives of so many in Cleveland and around the world. Sam was a friend who always offered a wise word on how to make the world a better place. His leadership in the Jewish community was legendary and a source of inspiration. After an extraordinary life of nearly a century, Sam will live on through the legacy of all he accomplished in business, philanthropy, and for his community.

Frank Jackson, Cleveland mayor

Sam Miller was one of those unique people and part of his uniqueness is that he knew business, politics and people. It is those attributes that allowed him to be that person, who you could look at and say that Cleveland is what it is today because of what this man did.

He is someone who became a friend over a period of time. Sam was a humanitarian, a veteran, a philanthropist and he will be missed by Cleveland and me.

Jon Husted, Ohio lieutenant governor

Sam Miller was one of the first Cleveland business leaders I met. He explained how Cleveland works in one hour and it was great advice. Just yesterday I was at Case Western Reserve and walked through the Sam Miller plaza; there are so many places you go in Cleveland and you see how he made it better. I will miss Sam and so will Cleveland.

Dennis Kucinich, the former Cleveland mayor and congressman:

I knew Sam for almost 50 years, he was a force of nature; a genius businessman, a fierce competitor, and a loyal friend. He was Clevelands Rebbe, our teacher, a master, a visit to his office a pilgrimage. He possessed what Wordsworth called "the philosophic mind." He brought to the world of entrepreneurship the gravitas of a Promethean figure, the commanding magic of Shakespeares Prospero; a magician, he could convert thoughts into wealth, make buildings appear on empty land, create political tempests, even make politicians vanish in elections. His influence was total. His generosity legendary. His reach global. When you walked into his office you would see pictures of Sam with every world leader, and you could imagine on display in the office of those world leaders that very same picture with Sam; Presidents, Popes, Prime Ministers greeting their own important visitors to their Capital and pointing to that picture: and there I am with Sam Miller. He was respected and he was loved world-wide.

Rick Chiricosta, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Medical Mutual of Ohio (Miller was a longtime board member):

He gave us major credibility and stability when he joined, Chiricosta said. He had strong opinions but he gave me what I needed in terms of support and let me do what I had to as CEO.

Brent Larkin, retired editorial director for The Plain Dealer

Heres a typical anecdote, one I remember like it happened yesterday. Called me the morning of the 2016 election to say, Kid, youre not going like this, but Trumps going to win. I laughed at him. Called me one morning at work to say,Kid, the Browns are going to cut Bernie Kosar. Laughed again. A few hours later, Belichick cut Kosar.

Armond Budish, Cuyahoga County executive:

Sam Miller was one of the most important local leaders of our time. He worked across political, religious and racial lines by finding common ground while working on many major projects in our community. Sam was a key to the success of countless efforts that have made this county a better place to live.

Sam was one of the most supportive individuals I have ever worked with. He always looked for the best in people.

Dominic Ozanne, president and CEO of Ozanne Construction Co.

"Sam, with Ruth, was a transformative and legendary man who with the Ratner family helped move Cleveland forward in so many ways. His direct manner was very much appreciated in the business community. He was like a brother to Bishop Pilla and Congressman Stokes and sage advisor to all who sought his counsel. We will miss him dearly. "

Francis Lally, president of Local 93 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, the Cleveland firefighters union:

"We are saddened to hear of the passing of Mr. Sam Miller. We would like to extend our condolences to the Miller Family for their loss."

"Mr. Miller has been a longtime friend of Cleveland Fire Fighters. We will forever be grateful for the support he gave to the Cleveland Fire Fighters, Fire Fighters Museum and to our Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial. Because of his generosity, our fallen fire fighters and their sacrifices will be forever memorialized. Mr. Miller was truly one of a kind. May he rest in peace."

Umberto Fideli, businessman

He knew how to bring people together around an issue. He had an incredible network in town.

Michael B. White, former Cleveland mayor

One thing that always endeared me to him was, heres a man whos rich beyond most peoples dreams, powerful beyond most peoples dreams, but he never lost the human touch, White said in a June 2008 interview. Hes the last of a breed Ill never see again.

Chris Ronayne, president of University Circle, Inc.

When Sam didnt agree with you, he let you know it, Ronayne said. But he never shut down conversation. He always kept communication lines open no matter the issue. That lesson about coming back to the table is all too often lost these days. Sam never let us forget that we were all partners even when we disagreed.

Cleveland.com reporter Seth Richardson and columnist Mark Naymik contributed to this story.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Cuyahoga County Council is considering legislation that would allow county departments to aware more contracts without competitive bidding and to buy more items without secondary approval.

Read the full story here.

The legislation would raise the threshold from $25,000 to $50,000 for contracts requiring the county to seek competitive bids. The measure also would raise the threshold from $1,000 to $5,000 for purchases that can be made without approval from the countys Board of Control.

Councilman Michael Gallagher, who sponsored the legislation, said the changes would save the county time and money.
KENT, Ohio -- President Beverly Warren will be Kent State Universitys commencement speaker before she steps down from her role this summer.

Warren announced last year she would step down July 1 to shift her focus to family and personal considerations. Former presidents Carol Cartwright and Michael Schwartz also served as commencement speakers at the end of their terms.

Last years speaker was actor and Kent State alumnus Michael Keaton, who caught national attention when he ended his speech by saying Im Batman. The year before was actress Octavia Spencer. Both were paid $100,000 to speak, according to the Kent Stater.

The Board of Trustees confirmed Warren as speaker at a Wednesday board meeting.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Is Mike DeWine a conservative?

In a political vacuum, the question might be on the minds of anyone who watched DeWine give his State of the State address in Columbus on Tuesday, his first as Ohios governor.

In an hour-long speech, DeWine argued for hiking gas taxes to pay for state roads and bridges, and called for other investments  a term Democrats often use to describe increased government spending  in things like public-health programs, early-childhood education and lead-paint abatement. Since becoming governor last month, DeWine also has extended discrimination protection for state employees based on gender identity and seemingly cast doubt on the death penalty.

The right thing to do is often not the easy thing to do, DeWine said during his Tuesday speech of his proposal to create a fund to protect Lake Erie and other Ohio waterways. And this will not be easy. Nor will it be inexpensive. But the cost of doing this now  the right way  will be far lower than the cost of not doing it at all.

Democrats in Columbus were a little gobsmacked, remarking how much of a change it was from former Republican Gov. John Kasich and the Republicans who have controlled the state legislature in recent years. Rather than arguing for government to be fundamentally transformed, DeWine said it needs to work better.

Were used to hearing Were going to reduce the size of government, and government needs to get out of the way, said Janetta King, a former Democratic aide who now runs Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank in Columbus. You dont hear that Ohioans need to be invested in. And thats the bet that DeWine is making.

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat who attended Tuesdays speech, said DeWine seems to hold much more respect for local communities than his predecessor ever did.

I think were all just punch drunk cause Kasich is gone," Whaley said.

But Republicans who know DeWine and who have followed his career say his speech was no surprise. DeWine, a former county prosecutor, is an old-school, compassionate conservative Republican who has developed a reputation as a moderate over his 40-plus years in public office. Hes a socially conservative Catholic, they say, but his belief in the role government can play in protecting families and children can express itself in a way that can seem in todays Republican Party, or even kind of liberal.

The dynamic is especially striking given the widespread criticism from within the Republican Party levied at former Kasich for his relative moderation on some issues like climate change or immigration. Kasich, who left office in January, at times defended his right to define conservatism even before he emerged as a prominent Republican critic of President Donald Trump.

Ryan Stubenrauch, who served as communications director for DeWines campaign for governor during the Republican primary last year, said DeWine is a conservative whose idea of what that means hasnt changed as the party has changed in recent years.

Nationally speaking, recently, some people would say the definition of conservatism isnt Do you have these ideas, but rather, Do you support these [Republican] people? Stubenrauch said. But for a conservative like Mike, its government exists to protect the most vulnerable in society, and thats true for him with being pro-life, and thats true for him when it comes to lead paint.

Mike Hartley, a Republican strategist in Columbus, said DeWine is as pro-life as it gets, but also a pragmatist.

Is he a conservative? Yes, in a broad sense. But is he more conservative on some things than others? Yes. He believes in governing, Hartley said.

I think theres still a conservative core to his principles and what he sees as governments role, said Tom Sutton, a political scientist at Baldwin Wallace University. I think one way to characterize it, and there are elements of his [U.S. Senate] record, that he really does see a responsibility for government to look out for those who cant look out for themselves.

After DeWine gave his speech Tuesday, some of the most prominent fiscally conservative voices in Columbus were complimentary, but somewhat muted. The Buckeye Institute, a conservative think tank in Columbus that advocates for reductions in state government spending, expressed its healthy concern with how DeWine planned to pay for his proposals.

The governor has positioned himself as a compassionate conservative and comes into office with ideas accumulated over the span of a life in public service, said Micah Derry, executive director of Americans for Prosperity in Ohio, an organized founded by the Koch Brothers. What we heard this week is the beginning of a process that will require the buy-in of a relatively conservative legislature and a constituency that is still lagging the nation in economic recovery. The bottom line question of most conservatives that Governor DeWine will have to answer is: how do we pay for all this?

Democrats remain concerned about how DeWine plans to pay for his proposals, and whether he will be able to persuade Republican legislators to support funding them. They also expect that DeWine will govern from the right when it comes to social issues like abortion  DeWine repeatedly has said he will sign a bill that will outlaw abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy  or guns.

But for now, theyre enjoying this version of DeWine while it lasts.

We were sitting watching his State of the State with a bunch of other progressives, and we got to the end and we were like, What are we gonna say about this? said one Democrat in Columbus. Pretty much the laundry list of things that he named were all progressive priorities.

DeWine was not available to comment for this story. But he telegraphed leading up to Tuesdays speech that observers should know what to expect, given that he campaigned on launching programs focusing on early-childhood education, fighting the opioid crisis and other public-health issues.

I dont think youll find any great surprises, DeWine told reporters last week, when asked what to expect during his speech. "Were going to talk about the things weve been talking about: Early childhood development. Were going to talk about lead-paint problems. Were going to talk about health issues. Were going to talk about early childhood education, the drug problem.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Columbus attorney Chad Readler to be a judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals over objections from Democrats including U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who portrayed Readler as a right-wing idealogue who has actively worked to strip Ohioans of their rights.

The Senate voted 52 to 47 to approve Readlers nomination to fill a vacancy created when Judge Deborah Cook took senior status. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican who opposed Readler.

Readler has held several high profile roles in the U.S. Justice Departments civil division, where he led a team of more than 1,400 career Justice Department employees, including over 1,000 lawyers. He has also been a partner with Jones Day in Columbus, and clerked on the Sixth Circuit with Judge Alan Norris.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell described Readler as a consummate legal professional, and Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman called him highly experienced," said he has impressive qualifications," and noted that hes highly ranked by the American Bar Association.

Brown and Senators including Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York objected to Readlers past role as a Justice Department attorney who filed legal briefs that argued for striking down the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions.

Chad Readler defended the Trump Administrations discriminatory transgender military ban. https://t.co/B70JLoQ7Fq  Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) February 6, 2019

Chad Readler is a clear and immediate threat to the health coverage of millions and millions of Americans who have preexisting conditions, Brown said at a Tuesday press conference to decry Readlers confirmation.

Brown also said he also objected to Readlers past job as chair of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and his efforts to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He said Readler also defended the Trump Administrations policy of separating immigrant parents from their children at the border and argued that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is unlawful.

At his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, Readler said the legal briefs he filed about the Affordable Care Act set out the policy of the administration, whom he represented as an attorney.

Ive had the benefit of now working against the government and working for the government, working on prosecution teams and also representing criminal defendants, working for multinational corporations, small nonprofits and individuals facing challenging circumstances, and I think that has rounded out my career and it would serve me well if confirmed, Readler told the committee. Ive never been a policy maker and dont have a desire to do so.
COLUMBUS, OhioGov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday that he has delayed three more upcoming executions as the state works to find a new method of lethal injection.

In a release, DeWine stated that he is pushing back the execution dates of convicted killers Cleveland Jackson, Kareem Jackson, and Gregory Lott by about six months each.

Cleveland Jacksons execution has been postponed from May 29 until Nov. 13, according to the release. Kareem Jacksons July 10 execution date has been rescheduled for Jan. 16, 2020. Lotts execution date of Aug. 14 is now set for March 12, 2020.

In January, DeWine postponed the execution of murderer Warren Henness from February until September following a recent judicial ruling that Ohios lethal-injection cocktail will very likely cause him severe pain and needless suffering. The Republican governor at the time ordered the states prisons agency to assess its current options for execution drugs and examine possible alternative drugs.

The release stated that DeWine delayed the additional three executions because it is highly unlikely that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction will develop a new execution protocol  and go through inevitable legal challenges to it  by the time of their original execution dates.

Governor DeWine is also mindful of the emotional trauma experienced by victims families, prosecutors, law enforcement, and DRC employees when an execution is prepared for and then rescheduled, the release stated.

Last week, state prisons director Annette Chambers-Smith told cleveland.com that her agency wont rush to come up a new lethal-injection protocol.

I dont feel a need to try to come up with a protocol in an expeditious manner, she said. This is a dignified process  this is human life were talking about. So, the department will take the time that we need to do a good job.

On Jan. 15, federal magistrate judge Michael Merz ruled that the three drugs Ohio has used since last year for executions  midazolam (as a sedative), a paralytic drug, and potassium chloride (to stop the heart)  are likely unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. Merz cited testimony from medical witnesses that high doses of midazolam and other drugs cause pulmonary edema, causing a painful drowning sensation comparable to the torture tactic of waterboarding.

However, Merz allowed Henness execution to proceed because, under a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, death row inmates challenging how they will be put to death must show that an alternative means of execution is available, feasible, and can be readily implemented.

Cleveland Jackson was convicted of murdering 17-year-old Leneshia Williams and 3-year-old Jayla Grant in Lima during a 2002 apartment robbery.

Kareem Jackson was sentenced to death for murdering two people execution-style during a 1997 drug robbery in Columbus.

Lott killed John McGrath, an 82-year-old East Cleveland man, in 1986 after robbing him, beating him, tying him up, then setting him on fire.
The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option.
COLUMBUS, OhioOhio state senators are moving ahead with legislation that would reduce penalties for possession of illegal drugs but toughen punishments for drug trafficking.

Senate Bill 3, which was revamped by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, seeks some criminal-justice reforms that resemble those proposed last year in Issue 1, which Ohio voters rejected. Senate Republicans, who control the chamber, hope to pass the bill by this summer.

The legislation incorporates a number of proposals made by the Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee, as well as a plan developed by the Columbus and Franklin County prosecutors.

Heres more on what the bill would do.

Overhaul drug crime classifications

The latest version of SB3 would create five levels of offenses based on the amount of drugs a person is caught with.

People found with only trace amounts of drugs (less than 1/40th of a gram) would not be charged at all.

Those accused of having a small amount of illegal drugs (that is, enough for just themselves), would be charged with a misdemeanor, rather than a felony under current law. Issue 1 contained a similar proposal, though it sought to add the measure to the Ohio Constitution instead of state law (as SB3 would do).

People found with large amounts of drugs would be charged with one of three trafficking offenses (aggravated trafficking, major trafficking, or trafficking), based on the quantity they were found with.

As we go through this, we are trying constantly to draw that distinction between the people who are most culpable..,and the people, largely people in addiction [who] need help more than they need time in prison or jail, said state Sen. John Eklund, a Geauga County Republican co-sponsoring the bill.

However, penalties would also be toughened for those caught trafficking or possessing drugs near a school.

Rehab over jail

Under SB3, those convicted of misdemeanor possession would generally be sentenced to enter a drug-treatment program instead of facing jail time.

The proposed changes are intentionally designed to handle people who enter rehab but fail, said state Sen. Sean OBrien, a Trumbull County Democrat also co-sponsoring SB3.

We have seen that people fail many times before they succeed in these programs," OBrien said.

If a first-time offender completes a treatment program, the judge would have the option of dropping the case altogether without putting a conviction on the defendants record.

Thats important, Eklund said, because a conviction can forever haunt people, even those who get their criminal records sealed.

Once one is convicted, you can seal that record all you want  its already out there on the Internet someplace, and it becomes a real impediment to people getting on with their lives, Eklund said.

What happens now?

Senate President Larry Obhof, a Medina Republican who has signed on as a sponsor to SB3, told reporters Wednesday that he expects the bill will pass the Senate before lawmakers break for the summer. The bill would then have to clear the Ohio House and be signed by Gov. Mike DeWine.

But the bill could still be altered before it clears the Senate. Eklund said he will continue to meet with various groups involved with criminal-justice issues.

Eklund said some lawmakers may seek to change parts of the bill, such as the amount of drugs needed to charge someone with major trafficking instead of just trafficking. But, he added, state lawmakers agree that some sort of changes are needed.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown announced Thursday he would not enter the race for president to challenge Republican Donald Trump in 2020.

As youve heard me say many times, when you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work. I fight best when I bring joy to the battle, Brown said during a call with Ohio media. And I find that joy fighting for Ohio in the Senate. So thats where I can be most effective.

Browns decision comes as something of a surprise. He recently finished his tour of the early-primary states  Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina  and as recently as the weekend hinted that he was going to jump in.

His star had been rising as a possible contender, viewed as the kind of candidate who could bring voters in Midwestern states back to the Democratic Party.

However, Brown, 66, of Cleveland, would have started out with some disadvantages. While hes garnered headlines as of late, hes still mostly unknown to the majority of voters. A costly 2018 Senate re-election campaign left his funds depleted compared with other candidates. And other hopefuls have effectively been running for the spot for three years now, gobbling up supporters  and key staff  in the pivotal early states.

And there were always comparisons between Brown and former Vice President Joe Biden, who is seriously considering jumping into the fold.

Its not fear of any specific opponent. It wasnt process. It wasnt money, Brown said. I wrestled with this since talking with my family about it at Christmas.

The fact that Democrats would have lost his Senate seat had he won  Republican Gov. Mike DeWine would name his replacement  was a nonfactor, he said.

Brown said he did not have a preference for any particular candidate in the presidential race and didnt foresee offering an endorsement.

My commitment now is to win the presidency  help us win the presidency  and I will be committed to, as I have always been, to helping colleagues be re-elected in the Senate and winning seats in (states) like Colorado and North Carolina and Georgia and Arizona, he said.

BREAKING: U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is not running for President in 2020. Chat with reporters Seth Richardson and Hannah Drown on the news and implications. Were you hoping he would be in the race? Let us know why or why not in the comments. Posted by cleveland.com on Thursday, March 7, 2019

Arguably the only Democratic powerhouse left in the state, Brown has consistently outperformed expectations in Ohio during his four-decade political career that started in 1974 when he won an Ohio House seat at only 21 years old. In 1982, he was elected secretary of state, serving two terms before losing a bid for a third in 1990  his only electoral loss to date.

Brown joined the federal delegation in 1992 as a congressman from Lorain. He successfully challenged DeWine, then a Republican senator, in 2006.

Browns first brush with presidential politics came in 2016 when he was on the short list of running mates for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton eventually chose Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, but Brown postulated that had he been on the ticket, he may have been able to woo voters in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, delivering the presidency to the Democrats.

Once Trump won, Brown started being mentioned as a possible dark horse presidential candidate. After Browns victory in 2018 over Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci  the only statewide Democratic victory in Ohio  he openly expressed an interest in running for president.

While he wont make a run to be commander-in-chief, Brown did leave open the possibility that he would accept a spot as one of the other Democrats vice-presidential candidates.

I dont have any idea. I mean Im not thinking about that, Brown said. This is a discussion far away from that. Its just not a concern of mine now. I want to stay in the arena and fight and I dont aspire to be vice president. I dont think a presidential candidate would want to give up a Senate seat to choose me anyway.

Brown said he planned to still have an effect on the race by pushing his dignity of work message. Hes already been somewhat successful, with presidential candidates Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris using the term verbatim in some of their stump speeches.

I dont bet on elections, but I would bet that more candidates will do that and they will talk about it more in depth, Brown said.
Mandy Manning has not been shy about advocating for her immigrant and refugee students. When she was recognized as the 2018 National Teacher of the Year and met President Donald Trump, she presented him with letters from her students, in which they explained what coming to the U.S. meant to them and how his negative rhetoric about immigrants empowers their classmates to say hateful things.

Along with several state teachers of the year, Manning recently organized a teach-in in El Paso, Texas , to protest family separations at the border and the detainment of undocumented children.

In an interview, Manning told me about some of her early experiences teaching in Armenia and Japan, and how feeling like an outsider informs her teaching. She also addressed how students are feeling more empowered (and why thats not always a good thing), and why she continues to fight for immigrant youth.
Health records giant Epic temporarily halts additions to its app store because of privacy concerns

Epic Systems is the largest medical record software vendor in the United States.

The company has its own equivalent of the Apple App Store, called App Orchard.

The store halted enrollments to third-party health developers in December, citing concerns about the privacy and security of patient data.

Christina Farr

Epic Systems, the giant medical records software vendor, created an app store two years ago so that companies including Apple, Oscar Health and other providers of health apps could sync their services with patient data from large hospitals and clinics.

The Store, called App Orchard, became the major way for dozens of developers of health software to reach patients who visited some of the largest medical centers like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as the doctors that work there.

But in December, Epic froze enrollment in App Orchard, according to three people familiar with matter who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. In an email to CNBC, Epic confirmed the move and indicated that it was temporary and related to security and privacy concerns with some third-party developers.

"Over the last few months we updated our App Orchard policies to help assure that apps operate in ways that keep patient data safe, private, and secure," an Epic spokesperson said in the statement. "During that time, the App Orchard remained open, registrations were received, but new enrollments had to wait until our policies were completed. New applications are currently being reviewed and approved."

Epic, along with rivals Cerner, McKesson and AthenaHealth, are critical partners for outside developers because health data is so heavily protected and those companies own the keys to that valuable information. AthenaHealth and Cerner both offer their own app stores.

App Orchard is "the only easy way to get access to their (health) systems in a somewhat above-board and consistent way," said Jon Pearce, CEO of digital health company Zipnosis.

There are 119 apps currently enrolled in App Orchard, according to its website. They include Apple Health, which helps Apple Watch and iPhone users pull together health information from all their clinics and hospitals, as well as the appointment booking apps from Zocdoc and Oscar Health. Others are building apps for medication reminders, and hundreds more are currently in the process of developing apps for App Orchard, said a person familiar with the matter.

Epic charges fees for health developers that integrate with App Orchard, though it recently lowered the price for start-ups. One sources said the reduction opened the floodgates to smaller developers, prompting Epic to take steps to better police health apps on concern that some would take privacy and security less seriously than others.

More companies are seeking access to Epic's app store as start-up funding increases. According to Rock Health, a research and early-stage venture firm, investors poured $8.1 billion into health-tech companies in 2018. Big tech companies like Apple and Alphabet are also working more closely than ever with the top medical record vendors, as they look to access clinical data.

"Think of it as a safe sandbox for developers to build without breaking anything," said Yumin Choi, a health-tech investor at Bain Capital Ventures.

Epic was recently proposed by CNBC's Jim Cramer as a potential acquisition target for Apple. CEO Judy Faulkner later said she had no intention of selling.

About CNBC:

With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and CNBC World, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information 410 million homes worldwide, including more than 90 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.

CNBC Digital delivers more than 52 million multi-platform unique visitors each month. CNBC.com provides real-time financial market news and information to CNBC's investor audience. CNBC Make It is a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money by zeroing in on careers, leadership, entrepreneurship and personal finance.

CNBC has a vast portfolio of digital products, offering CNBC content to a variety of platforms such as: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, a premium service that provides in-depth access to Wall Street; a suite of CNBC mobile apps for iOS and Android devices; Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri voice interfaces; and streaming services including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Samsung Smart TVs. To learn more, visit https://www.cnbc.com/digital-products/.

Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.
Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Giovanni Caforio defended his company's $74 billion bid for cancer drug maker Celgene in an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday. The move is facing opposition from the Wellington Management, Bristol-Myers' largest stakeholder, and Starboard Value hedge funds. The acquisition, which will be voted on by shareholders next week, would add a large load of debt to the company's balance sheet.

Giovanni Caforio, CEO, Brystol Myers Squibb Scott Mlyn | CNBC

The rationale of the merger is a strategic one, Caforio said. "It creates the number one company in oncology, number one cardiovascular franchise, very strong presence in autoimmune diseases," he said on "Mad Money." "It generates value for shareholders from day one and it provides a path to sustainable long-term growth for Bristol-Myers Squibb." If the deal gets approved, the chief expects to launch six new medicines within 24 months. Listen to Caforio explain why this deal is important for the company here

FOBS is the new FOMO

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Stockholders have been hit with a new syndrome and it's causing U.S. major markets to descend after a strong start to 2019, Cramer said. And the new phenomenon has taken the place of FOMO or fear of missing out on stocks going higher, he added. "Boy, those were the days. We sure don't have FOMO anymore, do we? Instead, after another ugly session ... we've got FOBS, fear of big sellers," the host said. "And that FOBS is putting pressure on the whole market." In Wednesday's session the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost about 133 points, the declined 0.65 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell less than 1 percent. The Dow Jones and S&P recorded their sixth negative closes in seven, while the Nasdaq had its fourth in five. Click here to find out what's triggering fund managers to dump stocks

Investing in the family

Gary Philbin, CEO, Dollar Tree Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Dollar Tree's turnaround plan is producing results as more customers are choosing to shop in its stores, CEO Gary Philbin told CNBC Wednesday. The company met earnings and revenue expectations, and beat on same-store sales with 2.4 percent compared to the 1.4 percent gain that Wall Street was looking for. The stock added more than 5 percent in the session and is up about 11 percent this year. The company has invested $1 billion to renovate its Family Dollar stores to give it a "wow" factor and the entire enterprise was able to generate about $2 billion of cash flow, Philbin said in an interview with Cramer. Find out how Dollar Tree is giving stores a "wow" factor here

Don't let Amazon scare you

Shopper loads purchases at a Kroger store. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Every time Amazon seeks to enter a new industry, stocks in that particular sector drop dramatically, Cramer said. "This drives me nuts because, more often than not, these pullbacks turn out to be buying opportunities once we learn Amazon's buildout will take longer than expected, or the market's big enough for multiple winners, or the damage to the competition simply isn't as bad as we thought," he said. The e-commerce giant announced last week that it plans to launch another grocery concept separate from Whole Foods, and a number of grocery stocks tumbled. But Cramer said investors are probably "kicking" themselves for not buying the weakness as names like Target soared after reporting a strong quarter. Kroger and Costco both deliver their latest earnings report on Thursday. Cramer suggests making a wise move. Listen to Cramer's assessment of grocery stocks against Amazon's plans here

A new kind of return policy

A shopper approaches the Target store in Mount Kisco, New York. Scott Mlyn | CNBC

A number of retailers bought back stocks aggressively during the December sell-off to take advantage of weakened prices, Cramer said. These retailers are still buying stocks and shareholders that are selling their stakes are likely returning it right back to the company, and it's been going on for years, he said. Cramer pointed out that Home Depot bought about $4.5 billion worth of stocks in the fourth quarter, Target cut its outstanding shares from 635 million to 519 million over the last five years, and Ross Stores shrank its share count by about 15 percent over the same time frame. Target, he said, is also investing billions into its digital landscape and adding small-format stores in major cities. Home Depot has also been putting money into its locations, he said. Are they concerned about the future? Click here to hear Cramer's take on these and other retail buyback programs

Cramer's lightning round: This stock has doubters, but it's pretty good
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 Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas is taking the concept of luxe travel to a whole different level. Its new Damien-Hirst-designed Empathy Suite costs $100,000 a night.

The room is the most expensive in America, beating out one at The Mark hotel, which previously held the accolade at $75,000 a night. And Empathy is also one of the world's most expensive hotel accommodations, according to The Palms. (In fact, it's potentially the most expensive: The Royal Penthouse Suite at the President Wilson Hotel in Geneva  at about $80,000 a night  was the world's most expensive suite in 2018, according to Lonely Planet.)

The 9,000-square-foot, two-story sky villa atop the Palms features amenities including a trendy salt relaxation room, an infinity-style Jacuzzi overlooking the Las Vegas Strip and 24-hour butler service.
However, he's never used the nickname "Tim Apple," and it appears as if it was a slip of the tongue, similar to when he called Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Lockheed last year . Her name is Marillyn Hewson.

President Trump uses nicknames for many people  mostly adversaries like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders. His use of "Jeff Bozo" in referring to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is due largely to the billionaire's ownership of the Washington Post, which has reported critically on the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook have had some tense moments in the past, but none quite like this. In a meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the importance of technology in education, Trump referred to the head of the iPhone maker as "Tim Apple."

Trump has criticized Apple in the past, even calling for a boycott of the company's products in 2016 because Apple said it couldn't unlock a user's iPhone for the FBI. Well before he became a presidential candidate, Trump would tweet critically about Apple not making a bigger phone, and said he sold his Apple stock because of it.

tweet

In early 2018, Apple said it would have a $350 billion contribution to the U.S. economy over the next five years. Later in the year, Cook attended President Trump's first state dinner, and the two had another dinner a few months after that.

On Wednesday, Cook was talking about teaching kids programming in high school.

"We believe strongly that it should be a requirement in the United States for every kid to have coding before they graduate from K-12" and "to become somewhat proficient at it," Cook said . Cook pointed out that his company was founded by a college dropout.

Trump responded:

"We have so many companies coming in. People like Tim, you're expanding all over and doing things that I really wanted you to right from the beginning. I used to say, 'Tim, you've got to start doing it over here,' and you really have. I mean, you've really put a big investment in our country. We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple."

(The comment appears at the 27:28 mark in the video above.)

Apple had a market cap of $828.2 billion at market close on Wednesday, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Foote, in a separate "Closing Bell" interview, said, "Obviously there's a lot of confusion and noise on a political level and elsewhere that cause people some concerns, but overall we're still expecting  this year to be relatively good."

"We do see a lot of negativity being discussed that might scare consumers," Fritz said in an interview with " Closing Bell ." "But broadly speaking, the job market still looks pretty good to us. Unemployment looks good. Wages look good. Overall wealth for consumers looks pretty good. They seem to still be purchasing. The industrial economy still looks pretty healthy. "

Their comments come on the heels of a drop in what many view as an indicator of the country's economic health  the Dow Transports . The sector fell half a percent to post its ninth straight decline on Wednesday, its longest losing streak since 2009. It also closed in correction level, more than 11 percent below its intraday high on Sept. 14.

Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz and CSX CEO Jim Foote said they think things still look pretty good, despite some concerns on the part of consumers or customers.

The CEOs of two major railroad companies told CNBC on Wednesday they aren't necessarily worried about the U.S. economy.

The latest U.S. jobs report comes out on Friday, but monthly nonfarm payroll gains have averaged 240,000 over the past three months. That's the fastest pace since mid-2016.

When it comes to job creation at private companies, things have cooled a bit, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody's Analytics. There was an addition of 183,000 workers in February, compared with 300,000 in January. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said the decline could indicate the jobs market has peaked.

While Fritz and Foote remain positive, they said there is still the unknown of the U.S.-China trade war.

"The place that we have the biggest question mark is in trade and making sure we navigate this dispute with China and then not pick other disputes that disrupt the marketplace," Fritz said.

President Donald Trump initially set March 1 as a deadline to resolve the dispute  and had threatened to more than double tariffs on about $200 billion in Chinese products. However, he pushed the deadline back and now the U.S. and China are in the "final stages" of trade talks that could end this month, sources told CNBC on Monday.

Among those hardest hit by the ongoing dispute are American farmers, particularly those who grow soybeans.

Fritz said this has disrupted Union Pacific's agriculture products business and will continue to do so until the trade war is resolved. Once that happens, he hopes business will return to normal  but he's "a little" concerned about whether it will come back entirely.

"Once the supply chain has been disrupted, a lot of times that supply chain doesn't recover entirely because the buyers get used to their new source or they adjust their overall supply chain logistics around it and they are little bit hesitant to go all the way back," he said.

 CNBC's Kayla Tausche, Fred Imbert and Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
Stock buybacks are under attack  but they really may just be misunderstood, Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz suggested on Wednesday.

"I worry that the general public doesn't understand what happens to cash when it's generated by a large corporation like us," he said in an interview with CNBC's "Closing Bell."

A number of things happen with that money  and the most important is to make sure that the business is healthy, Fritz said. "The first thing we do with it is pay wages. We buy stuff. We make sure we've got the right capital structure in place. We make sure we are investing in the railroad. That's the vast majority of the use of our cash."

It's only after those things are met that Union Pacific gives money back to shareholders  first in the form of dividends.

"When there is cash left over, we buy shares because our shareholders also like the tax-efficient method of returning dollars to them," Fritz said. "We do all of that, and we'll continue to do all of that."

The practice of companies buying back their shares has come under fire recently. The latest salvo came on Wednesday when Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said he wants to look into barring corporate insiders from selling stock within a certain time period.

But he's certainly not the only one. Earlier this year, Sens. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who is running for president on the Democratic ticket, unveiled a proposal that would force companies engaging in buybacks to pay a living wage and provide health-care benefits. Shortly after, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said he wanted to change tax laws that reward buybacks.

 CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
Divided in debate but mostly united in a final vote, the House passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other bigotry Thursday, with Democrats trying to push past a dispute that has overwhelmed their agenda and exposed fault lines that could dog them through elections next year.

The one-sided 407-23 vote belied the emotional infighting over how to respond to freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar's recent comments suggesting House supporters of Israel have dual allegiances. For days, Democrats wrestled with whether or how to punish the lawmaker, arguing over whether Omar, one of two Muslim-American women in Congress, should be singled out, what other types of bias should be decried and whether the party would tolerate dissenting views on Israel.

Republicans generally joined in the favorable vote, though nearly two-dozen opposed the measure.

Generational as well as ideological, the upheaval was fueled in part by young, liberal lawmakers  and voters  who have become a face of the newly empowered Democratic majority in the House. This group is critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, rejecting the conservative leader's approach to Palestinians and other issues.

The group split sharply from Democratic leaders who seemed caught off guard by the support for Omar and unprepared for the debate.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hate after an upheaval that split Democrats and clouded their agenda. But Pelosi said the measure won't name Ilhan Omar.



The resolution passed Thursday condemns anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against minorities "as hateful expressions of intolerance."

Some Democrats complained that Omar's comments had ignited the action after years of President Donald Trump's racially charged rhetoric led to no similar congressional action.

The seven-page document details a history of recent attacks not only against Jews in the United States but also Muslims, as it condemns all such discrimination as contradictory to "the values and aspirations" of the people of the United States. The vote was delayed for a time on Thursday to include mention of Latinos to address concerns of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

The addition came under a section that stated in the end, "Whereas white supremacists in the United States have exploited and continue to exploit bigotry and weaponize hate for political gain, targeting traditionally persecuted peoples, including African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders and other people of color, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and others with verbal attacks, incitement, and violence."

An earlier version focused more narrowly on anti-Semitism.

Speaking before the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she does not believe that Omar understood the "weight of her words" or that they would be perceived by some as anti-Semitic. The resolution does not mention Omar by name.

"It's not about her. It's about these forms of hatred," Pelosi said. Asked whether the resolution was intended to "police" lawmakers' words, Pelosi replied: "We are not policing the speech of our members. We are condemning anti-Semitism," Islamophobia and white supremacy.
Asia is already the world's top region for billionaires. It's set to extend that lead even more in coming years.

A report released on Wednesday found that the number of billionaires in Asia is set to rise above 1,000 in the next five years. By 2023, the world's billionaire population is expected to reach 2,696  with Asia accounting for a third of that figure.

Last year, according to the 2019 Wealth Report by London-based real estate agency and consultancy Knight Frank, Asia had 787 billionaires. That easily exceeded the 452 in Europe and 631 in North America, according to the data.

The report outlined how wealth growth will play out globally over the next five years amid such headwinds as the U.S.-China trade war and Brexit.

"Despite a darkening economic outlook, wealth creation will remain a constant in 2019," Liam Bailey, Knight Frank's global head of research, said in the report.

Asia, in particular, was highlighted to outperform  even as wealth growth slows globally. Of the 59 countries analyzed by Knight Frank, eight of the top 10 fastest-growing wealthy populations reside in Asian nations.

Countries in the region will see the biggest growth in "ultra-high-net-worth individuals" (UHNWI)  those valued at more than $30 million. India takes the lead with a projected 39 percent growth, followed by the Philippines and China. Romania and Ukraine were the only two non-Asian countries to rank in Knight Frank's top 10 for the growth of their wealthy populations.

"India and the Philippines, both coming from a lower base  developing markets  (have) huge possibilities for entrepreneurial growth," Nicholas Holt, Knight Frank's Asia-Pacific head of research, said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday.

"Huge drivers of urbanization, industrialization, et cetera, in some of these markets are going to drive the prospects for wealth creation," he added.

While a host of factors is spurring the growth of high-net-worth populations around the world, real estate is playing a large factor in Asia, according to Oliver Williams, head of GlobalData WealthInsight, a wealth research firm that provided data for the Knight Frank report.

"Growth in non-financial assets  that is, real estate  is one of the leading factors driving UHNWI growth," Williams is quoted as saying in the report.

However, the growing cost of real estate has spurred concerns globally about inequality and deepening wealth divides. So, Holt said, finding solutions to the housing affordability gap will remain a key priority for policymakers.

"(The gap is) certainly being addressed by cooling measures, home purchase restrictions in places like China, additional taxes  whether buying, holding or selling  or even stopping foreign buyers in New Zealand," Holt explained. "This challenge will be a very important one for policymakers in the coming year."
For many women in venture capital, there's no question the industry has a gender disparity problem.

Venture capital, or VC, partnerships "have historically been built by men," investor Ophelia Brown tells CNBC.

VC companies consist of general partners, who manage funds and advise on investment decisions, and limited partners, who give them the capital to work with.

That trend of male-dominated funds hasn't budged much. Female partners are still a minority  9 percent, to be exact  and most of the VC dollars are going into male-founded start-ups.

In Europe, for example, research by tech investment firm Atomico shows that 93 percent of venture money went to start-ups with all-male founding teams last year.

"The challenge is, building a partnership is an incredibly delicate thing," Brown, formerly of Index Ventures, says. For context, Index Ventures has made a number of notable Silicon Valley exits  from Facebook to, more recently, Dropbox.

Brown now manages a fund called Blossom Capital, which is focused on Europe's start-up scene. Blossom, founded in 2016, recently closed an $85 million fund dedicated to pouring cash into proven early-stage start-ups.

When it comes to gender equality, one main hurdle for the industry to overcome, Brown says, is finding the limited partners necessary to back female-founded venture teams.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, participates in the press conference on the nomination of Chad Readler, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, on Tuesday, March 5, 2019.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, a noted Wall Street critic seen as a supporter of blue collar workers, will not run for president next year, he announced Thursday.

The Ohio lawmaker said he will instead focus on labor issues as he tries to help a Democratic presidential candidate defeat President Donald Trump. Brown, who has recently traveled around the country on a "Dignity of Work" tour, added that he will push 2020 Democratic candidates to focus on boosting workers.

"I will keep calling out Donald Trump and his phony populism. I will keep fighting for all workers across the country," the senator said in a written statement. "And I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate in 2020. The best place for me to make that fight is in the United States Senate."

Brown's decision takes one potentially viable candidate from the race to challenge Trump next year. The senator, 66, has long catered to some of the blue-collar voters Trump appealed to in 2016. He could have challenged the president in Ohio, a state every presidential election winner has carried since 1964.

Brown has slammed free-trade deals for sapping Americans jobs and criticized U.S. manufacturers for moving operations overseas. He has called for tighter regulation of Wall Street and stronger consumer protections.

The senator is seen as a progressive on numerous economic issues, but more centrist than many Democratic presidential candidates on other policies. For instance, he has not backed "Medicare-for-all" or a Green New Deal, recent liberal policy priorities.

It is unclear exactly how Brown's absence from the race will affect other primary contenders, both declared and undecided. He could have conceivably sapped support from former Vice President Joe Biden or Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who have occupied a more centrist lane and will try to appeal to Midwestern voters. Brown also could have competed for supporters of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., or Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who have drilled into labor issues and keeping big banks in check.

Widely followed elections forecaster Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight tweeted that Brown's decision probably most helps candidates vying for support in the Midwest. He pointed to Klobuchar and potentially Biden, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (who has not decided whether to enter the race).

He also said Brown's absence could give Sanders less competition in trying to gather support from organized labor.

Nate Silver Sherrod Brown tweets

Various early 2020 Democratic primary polls have showed Biden, Sanders, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. and Warren near the front of the pack. Biden has not yet declared whether he will launch a campaign.

Brown's "Dignity of Work" tour took him to several early primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. His ability to challenge Trump in his home state was seen as a key selling point in 2020.

In November, Brown comfortably won his third Senate term, even as Republicans kept control of the governor's office.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
Deutsche Post said operating profit should rise to between 3.9 billion and 4.3 billion euros in 2019 and confirmed its guidance for the metric to reach at least 5 billion by 2020.

The German postal and logistics group reported fourth-quarter sales rose 5.1 percent to 16.9 billion euros ($19.11 billion), above the average analyst forecast for 16.65 billion, while operating profit was in line at 1.1 billion euros.

Deutsche Post DHL Group said a restructuring program in its German post-and-parcel division will help boost profits this year and it sees no sign that global trade is slowing despite rising geopolitical tensions.

Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL, in one of his company's carbon-neutral mail delivery vehicles

"We are happy that we have delivered our adjusted guidance (and) we are confident that we have laid the right foundation going forward," Deutsche Post CEO Frank Appel told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

"Yes, the economic environment is a little more uncertain, but we still believe that we will see solid growth this year globally, and also a continuation of that next year."

The firm is trying to push through a proposal in Germany to raise stamp prices, with it's main argument being that the country's letter post is still cheap compared to other European countries.

A report in January said the German communications watchdog, the Federal Network Agency, had approved the company's proposed letter price hike.

Speaking on the progress in getting towards a decision, Appel said: "We expect that we will get a more defined decision in the second quarter... and then we can implement some stamp price increase this year."
Honorary chair and co-founder of Level Forward, Abigail E. Disney speaks onstage during attends the New York Women's Foundation's 2018 'Celebrating Women' breakfast on May 10, 2018 in New York City.

The granddaughter of Roy Disney, co-founder of The Walt Disney Co. with brother Walt Disney, said Thursday on CNBC's " Squawk Box " that she thinks "CEOs in general are paid far too much."

Disney refused to comment on whether she thinks Disney CEO Bob Iger is paid too much. But she did say, "If your CEO salary is at the 700, 600, 500 times your median workers' pay, there is nobody on Earth, Jesus Christ himself isn't worth 500 times his median workers' pay."

On Monday, Iger agreed to a new compensation contract that cut his maximum potential annual pay by $13.5 million.

He was awarded $65.6 million for his performance last fiscal year, the result of a pay bump for extending his tenure at Disney through 2021 and stock awards in excess of $35 million.

This year, however, the company eliminated a $500,000 boost to his base salary, keeping it at $3 million. It also cut his potential cash bonus from $20 million to $12 million and reduced his long-term incentive pay from $25 million to $20 million, the company said in a securities filing Monday.

The heiress, 59, has long been a proponent of lowering executive paychecks and taxing the rich more.

"The problem is that there's a systematic favoring of people who have accumulated an enormous amount of wealth," she said.

WATCH: Tax the rich: Tax the rich: What Democrats' plans could mean for growth, spending and inequality
Handout image provided by Disney Parks, Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced at D23 EXPO 2015 that Star Wars-themed lands will be coming to Disneyland park in Anaheim, California and Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida.

Fans of "Star Wars" will be able to visit the planet Batuu a bit earlier than expected.

The Walt Disney Company announced Thursday that its new "Star Wars" lands Galaxy's Edge will open on May 31 at its California park and on Aug. 29 in Florida.

Disney had previously slated Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge to open in Anaheim in summer 2019 and in the fall in Orlando.

Batuu is a new planet not yet seen on film. It's a thriving port filled with rogue traders, droids and unique alien species. Disney park guests will be able to explore the planet's Black Spire Outpost and shops as well as pilot the Millennium Falcon and take part in an epic battle between the First Order and the Resistance in two state-of-the-art rides.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk recently filed paperwork with the U.S. Department of Defense to request his security clearance be reinstated, a person with firsthand knowledge of the situation told CNBC.

Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, refiled security form SF-86, the person said, following his apparent use of pot on comedian Joe Rogan's podcast last year, which the U.S. Air Force began looking into in September.

As the Pentagon's investigation of Musk's security clearance continues, the person described the process as "normal."

"Anyone with a security clearance would go through this investigation process in the same way," the person said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
European shares closed lower Thursday after the European Central Bank cut its forecast for growth in the euro zone. The central bank also announced it was to start a fresh set of loans to banks. The TLTRO program, which will be launched in September this year and end in March 2021, is seen as a bid by the central bank to prop up Europe's flagging economy. European banking stocks shed 2 percent by the end of the session, despite hitting a session high straight after the announcement. Meanwhile the euro dipped 0.7 percent against the U.S. dollar. TLTRO III (Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations) is the third injection of stimulus from the ECB. If commercial banks lend the ECB money on to the real economy, they receive cash back rather than pay interest on the loan.

At the closing bell, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was down almost 0.6 percent with almost every sector in the red. Autos and basic resources both shed more than 2 percent. Investors are also taking a cautious approach as they wait for further details on a possible trade agreement between China and the U.S. Looking at individual stocks, British satellite operator Inmarsat jumped to the top of the index, gaining 8 percent after it reported a 15 percent rise in fourth-quarter earnings. JC Decaux was up 1.2 percent after the company reported a net profit increase in 2018 and decided to pay a higher dividend. At the other end of the scale, Hugo Boss fell 6.5 percent. The retailer said Thursday that it expects its operating profit to increase faster than sales in 2019, Reuters reported. European digital publisher Axel Springer tanked nearly 7 percent, hitting a two-year low. The firm forecast flat-to-slightly weaker earnings per share in 2019.

ECB slashes growth forecast
Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney of President Donald Trump, departs the U.S. Capitol after testifying before a closed House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 28, 2019.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, told his attorney to "explore" a potential pardon last year with Trump's legal team, according to Lanny Davis, one of Cohen's current lawyers.

The development, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, appears to contradict public statements Cohen gave to the House Oversight Committee last week. "I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from President Trump," he said during his testimony.

Davis, however, said he and Cohen stand by the testimony because it was referring to the time period after Cohen left his joint defense agreement with Trump.

"We stand by his public testimony before Oversight Comm as referring to post-JDA time frame statement," Davis said. "He authorized me after July 2 to say he would never accept a pardon if offered and I did." Cohen's lawyer at the time of the joint defense agreement was Stephen Ryan.

Davis added that "Trump and his legal advisors had dangled the possibility of a pardon for a while."

The Journal had previously reported that an attorney for Cohen raised the possibility of a pardon in the aftermath of federal agents' raids on his residence and office last April. He eventually hired Davis to become the public face of his defense and to break with Trump.

Cohen later pleaded guilty to several federal crimes, including lying to Congress and campaign-finance violations. He is scheduled to report to prison May 6 for a three-year sentence.

Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's lawyers, seized on the latest development, accusing Cohen of lying before Congress yet again.

RUDY TWEET

Giuliani told The New York Times that lawyers for people under investigation in the various probes into the Trump campaign and his administration had reached out to him to gauge whether the president would give pardons.

Giuliani told NBC News that "several lawyers and reporters" have asked him over the past eight to 10 months about whether Trump would pardon people who have come up during the course of the investigations.

"I can't tell you exactly what I said to the lawyers because it's privileged," Giuliani told NBC. "I can tell you I said to them the president will not consider a pardon now nor will the president give a pardon now."
Gottlieb told lawmakers last week he heard them "loud and clear" when Congress legalized hemp-derived CBD late last year. He said he's putting together a working group of senior officials to write the regulations. He said the FDA would hold its first public hearings in April and outlined some possibilities for what the regulations might look like.

While the federal government in December legalized CBD that's derived from hemp, a close cousin of marijuana, the FDA's rules still prohibit companies and restaurants from adding it to food or drinks. Cannabis start-ups, food companies and restaurants have pushed forward anyway , introducing CBD-infused seltzers and lattes in anticipation that the FDA would eventually tweak its rules.

Just a week ago, it looked like the Food and Drug Administration was ready to revisit its policies around CBD-infused food and drinks. That may have changed this week, when FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced his resignation.

Then on Tuesday, Gottlieb surprised executives with his announcement that he's stepping down in about a month, possibly before the hearing and certainly before any policy could be written and implemented.

When asked whether Gottlieb's resignation was good or bad for the CBD industry, one cannabis investor said that's the "billion-dollar question." He said it could go either way, while asking not to be named because he's not allowed to speak publicly.

Gottlieb's successor hasn't been named. Whoever it is may have strong feelings on the issue or may decide to ignore it. The farm bill that legalized hemp-derived CBD also preserves the FDA's authority to regulate products containing CBD.

"In times of transition, issues like this that are not of highest priority could get delayed," said Jonathan Havens, co-chair of the cannabis law practice at Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr. For the industry, he said, the worst scenario is the FDA decides not to care about the issue.

Either way, the next commissioner will determine what happens with the industry.

In the meantime, it remains unlawful to add CBD to any food or drink.
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo  perhaps best known for his Apple supply chain insights  said in a recent note to investors that he's upping his 2019 shipment estimates for Samsung's new Galaxy S10 phone by as much as 30 percent from 30 million to 35 million units to 40 million to 45 million units. Kuo said pre-order demand for the new Samsung phones, which includes the Galaxy S10e, the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+, is "better than expected."

Samsung and Apple saw decreased shipments in 2018, which were largely blamed on expensive phones and changing wireless carrier subsidy models. People are also using their old phones for longer than ever before. Kuo explained why the S10 may work in Samsung's favor.
Huawei is suing the U.S. over a law that bans government agencies from buying the Chinese technology giant's equipment, claiming the legislation is unconstitutional, as the company goes on the front foot following months of political pressure. The lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday local time, focuses on a provision in a law known as the National Defense Authorization Act. Section 889 of that legislation prohibits executive government agencies from procuring telecommunications hardware made by Huawei and another Chinese firm, ZTE. Both companies are explicitly named in the act. But lawyers for the world's largest network equipment maker by revenue, argued that the provision in the NDAA is against the U.S. Constitution. Huawei has faced intense pressure from President Donald Trump's administration, which claims the company's equipment could be used for espionage by the Chinese government. The tech giant is also facing criminal charges from the Justice Department, which has accused it of stealing trade secrets and skirting U.S. sanctions on Iran. The U.S. government has also tried to persuade allies against using Huawei gear. Top executives, including the company's founder, have repeatedly denied the allegations that Huawei is a security risk, while the company has also been carrying out a major public relations push to change its image. The Chinese firm is now going on the legal offensive.

Huawei argues that the provision in the NDAA in which it is explicitly named is really a "bill of attainder"  wherein a legislative act pronounces a specific individual or group guilty of some offense and punishes them without due process. That's forbidden by the U.S. Constitution. The company's lawyers also argued that Section 889 is unlawful because it violates Huawei's right to due process, meaning the firm cannot hear the evidence against it and fight that in court. Huawei's legal team is essentially arguing that, by including the provision in the legislation and banning the company's sales to federal agencies in law, Congress is unconstitutionally acting as a judiciary. The federal district court where the lawsuit is filed will make a decision on whether Huawei's lawsuit will hold. Either side  Huawei or the U.S. government  can appeal that decision. A court has the power to invalidate a part of legislation without ripping apart the entire law. So, in theory, Huawei could get Section 889 thrown out. Huawei will be hoping that by getting Section 889 of the NDAA scrapped, it could open the door for conversations with the U.S. government. Glen Nager, lead counsel for Huawei and partner at Jones Day, claimed Thursday to CNBC that the American law is "hurting Huawei's customers in the United States."

Visitors pass in front of Huawei's display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Lluis Gene | AFP | Getty Images

"It's damaging Huawei's reputation and it's limiting the ability of Huawei to provide its innovative products, including 5G, to consumers in the United States," he added. "Huawei hopes that it can engage in a constructive conversation with the president and his administration over how to bring these innovative technologies and Huawei competition to the United States while providing full assurance of security for the United States of America." Huawei has long argued that its absence from the U.S. market will hamper competition in the next generation of mobile networking technology  a claim that experts have contested. The technology firm is also fighting fires on other fronts. Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada in December and was accused of breaking U.S. sanctions against Iran. She faces extradition to the U.S. But the CFO's lawyers are now suing Canadian authorities, alleging they arrested, detained and searched her in violation of her constitutional rights.
German fashion house Hugo Boss said it expected its operating profit to rise faster than sales in 2019, predicting strong momentum in its online business and Asia.

Known for its smart men's suits, Hugo Boss has introduced more casual and sportswear styles to appeal to a younger audience and invested heavily in its online offer after a bid to go upmarket backfired a few years ago.

The company said it expected a high single-digit percentage increase in operating profit for 2019 and a mid single-digit percentage rise in currency-adjusted sales.

"We are ensuring profitable growth in 2019 and beyond. Strong momentum in our own online business and in Asia will make a significant contribution this year," Chief Executive Mark Langer said in a statement.

Investors are worried about slowing demand for luxury goods as the economy stalls in China, but Hugo Boss forecast "overproportionate growth" in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company said it expected strong double-digit growth to continue in its online business, after it reached sales of more than 100 million euros in 2018 for the first time.

British rival Burberry reported a 1 percent rise in same-store sales in the 13 weeks ending Dec. 29, missing a 2 percent growth forecast.
The company's profit slumped 39.6 percent to $24.8 million during the three months ended Jan. 26, compared with $41.1 million during the same period a year earlier, the company said in releasing its fiscal third-quarter results after the market closed Thursday. Its revenue fell 2.9 percent to $220.9 million during the quarter, compared with $227.5 million last year.

Caporella apologized for the company's poor performance, assuring investors it wasn't due to "mismanagement nor woeful acts of God." Instead, he said the falloff in sales and profit were caused by "injustice."

"Managing a brand is not so different from caring for someone who becomes handicapped," Caporella said. "Brands do not see or hear, so they are at the mercy of their owners or care providers who must preserve the dignity and special character that the brand exemplifies."

A lawsuit filed in October accused the popular sparkling water company of mislabeling its products as all-natural, sending National Beverage Shares lower that day. The suit claimed that LaCroix included non-natural and synthetic compounds in its seltzer.

In January, National Beverage said an independent, accredited lab found that LaCroix did not contain traces of artificial or synthetic additives. At the time, Caporella said in a statement that the "professional liars" used social media to attack the brand's integrity.

The shares continued their slide Friday. Investment firm Guggenheim also cut its rating on the stock to a rare "sell," citing increased competition as well as a drop in popularity and lost market share partly due to the allegations.

Read the company's release below:

"We are truly sorry for these results stated above. Negligence nor mismanagement nor woeful acts of God were not the reasons  much of this was the result of injustice! Managing a brand is not so different from caring for someone who becomes handicapped. Brands do not see or hear, so they are at the mercy of their owners or care providers who must preserve the dignity and special character that the brand exemplifies. It is important that LaCroix's true character is not devalued intentionally  in any way. National Beverage Corp. is and will remain the preeminent innovator that adds zest and authenticity to the 'sparkling water' phenomenon in North America," stated Nick A. Caporella, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Additionally, gross margins were impacted by volume declines. Comparisons were further skewed by the adoption of the new tax act in the third quarter of the prior year, which included credits and rate reduction adjustments aggregating $11.3 million. Nothing herein mentioned has detracted from the ultimate value and future of our dynamic company. There is no greater passion than the kind that creates the wonderful refreshment and contentment described as unique! No doubt, the sound and personality of the word LaCroix, coupled with the awesome experience of its essence and taste . . . is unique. One can be induced to purchase by cheapening price or giving away a product, but falling in love with a feeling of joy is the result of contentment. Just ask any LaCroix consumer . . . Would you trade away that LaLa feeling? 'No way, they shout  We just love our LaCroix!' I am positive they respond this way each and every time," Caporella concluded.

WATCH: Here's where your OJ really comes from
Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's civil lawsuit against Canada could give her defense team a potential advantage to fight her extradition to the United States, a lawyer told CNBC on Thursday.

Last week, Meng's lawyers said they were suing the Canadian government, its border agency and the country's federal police for their role in arresting her at the request of the U.S., Reuters said. The CFO was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1.

Meng's "defense got creative last week," Richard Kurland, a policy analyst and lawyer from Kurland Tobe immigration law firm, told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"There's a multiplicity of litigation in this Huawei affair," he said, explaining that the civil proceedings could be used to pry documents and information from senior government officials from both the U.S. and Canada that may ultimately aid Meng's side in the extradition case.

Meng's lawyers argue she was detained, searched and interrogated for three hours in Vancouver before her arrest in violation of her constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent or the right to counsel.

Kurland pointed out the defense could argue evidence gathered prior to the arrest is inadmissible in court. They can further state "the conduct at the airport, on arrival, by Canadian government officials brings the administration of justice into disrepute. And the entire extradition case falls on that," he said.
Microsoft has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement for the energy produced by a 74-megawatt solar power facility in North Carolina.



The Wilkinson Solar Energy Center will be built, owned and operated by Invenergy, the companies said in a joint announcement Wednesday.



The deal means that Microsoft's renewable energy portfolio will stand at more than 1.3 gigawatts, the statement added.

The new facility is due to commence commercial operations in 2019, while it's estimated that more than 500 jobs are set to be created during its construction.



"When we invest in renewable energy, we are investing in the future  enabling sustainable growth of our business, of the clean energy sector and the local communities that benefit economically from Microsoft's commitment to sustainability," Brian Janous, general manager of Energy and Sustainability at Microsoft, said Wednesday.



Microsoft is one of many big tech companies turning to renewable sources of energy.



In October 2017, for instance, Amazon announced that its Amazon Wind Farm Texas was operational. At the time, the business said the facility would add over 1 million megawatt hours of clean energy to the grid annually.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Lean Daval Jr. | Reuters

The Philippines' new central bank governor was sworn in Wednesday. But the appointment of Benjamin Diokno, a former member of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's administration, has some people worried. Political and financial watchers, both within the country and outside, were surprised when Duterte appointed his former budget secretary as head of the Philippine central bank  or Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Some analysts saw the decision as politically motivated and fear it may threaten the independence of yet another public institution in the country. The fell after his appointment. When the top job at the central bank became vacant, analysts and the financial industry widely expected Duterte to pick one of the three deputy governors  or at least someone within the institution  to fill the position. The previous governor, Nestor Espenilla, died in February after a battle with cancer. It caught the public by surprise too. Diokno was not among the front-runners when Filipinos were discussing potential candidates who did not work in the central bank.

The former budget secretary is the first person to move directly from the cabinet to the top job at the central bank, according to The Wall Street Journal. Despite his lack of experience working in a central bank, Diokno appeared qualified for the position: He holds a doctorate in economics and taught that subject for 40 years in a university in the Philippines. He's also served several administrations in roles that shaped the country's economic policies. Duterte's office did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. In a Tuesday statement, chief presidential legal counsel and presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Diokno stood out among the names submitted for Duterte's consideration. The spokesman added that Diokno is "a man of integrity, competence, and expertise  traits which fit best the position." The new central bank governor also defended his own appointment, saying that he's not a politician and his background in economics provides him the know-how of monetary policy regulation, according to the Philippine News Agency, the official newswire of the government. Even so, "there were likely political motives" behind Diokno's appointment, according to Peter Mumford, practice head for Southeast and South Asia at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

"Recent events do not provide the ideal backdrop for Diokno to assume the governorship," Momford wrote in a Monday note. As central bank head, Diokno will also chair the government's Anti-Money Laundering Council at a time when his own credibility in handling national finances has come under scrutiny. Members in the Philippine House of Representatives have in recent months raised questions about the country's 2019 budget prepared under Diokno's watch, and accused him of favoring his relatives in government contracts. An investigation into the accusations was launched and remains unresolved, according to recent local media reports. The central bank governor denied those allegations, and the incident caused a rift between members in Duterte's cabinet and the House. Moving Diokno to the central bank could be Duterte's way of soothing relations between both sides, while still keeping the former budget secretary in the president's economic team, said Mumford.

Duterte politics

Whatever his intentions, the Philippine president's decision regarding Diokno is seen by some analysts as another example of Duterte politicizing an institution that's supposed to be independent and neutral. "The move raises questions about the politicisation" of the central bank, Alex Holmes, Emerging Asia economist at consultancy Capital Economics, wrote in a Tuesday report. "The news does add to the catalogue of evidence that Duterte is willing to break norms and politicise ... institutions." Holmes noted that previous governors were usually promoted from the ranks of deputy governors who have served in the central bank for many years. Under Duterte, who's no stranger to controversies, checks and balances within several public institutions in the Philippines have weakened partly due to the president's "disdain" for people who oppose his policies, according to a January report by David Timberman, an independent analyst focusing on political and development issues in Asia. Timberman's report, posted by think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on their website, cited an example of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was ousted after speaking out against Duterte's deadly drug war.

Investor worries

Investors have shown their concerns: The weakened by nearly 1 percent against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, following the Monday evening announcement of Diokno's appointment. The currency's slide against the greenback continued on Wednesday. Diokno is not known to be politically aligned, having worked under several presidents before Duterte came to power in 2016, Holmes noted. Nevertheless, his appointment could still threaten the impartiality of the central bank which  according to Nikkei Asian Review  is often seen as one of the Philippines' best-run institutions. A central bank plays a role in maintaining a country's financial and economic stability through tools such as interest rates and buying or selling bonds. Its independence is crucial in assuring investors that it would do the right thing for the economy, especially during difficult times, regardless of political pressure.
Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch, speaking at the 2019 WEF in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 23rd, 2019.

RBC Capital Markets lowered its rating on shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev to sector perform from top pick on Thursday, saying "we're not convinced that positive rating is still justified" after the stock's recent rally.

"AB InBev's margins were so high so early in its career as a European quoted company," RBC analyst James Edwardes Jones said in a note to investors titled "Too Much Too Young."

"We also refer to the rapidity of its rehabilitation from being an over-leveraged pariah."

Jones praised the maker of Budweiser as "the best acquirer and integrator of businesses that we know," but added that RBC no longer expects steady growth in Ab InBev's margins.

"With little prospect of margin growth and valuation approaching our price target we downgrade to Sector Perform," Jones said. "We remove AB InBev from the European Best Ideas list."

RBC has a 75 euro ($84.81) price target on Anheuser-Busch shares, implying only modest upside from the current price.
Rent the Runway is expanding beyond just renting designer dresses, denim and handbags, and now will rent you throw blankets and decorative pillows.

The rental platform, with more than 10 million members today, has grown more popular as a greater number of women find it appealing to swap out their clothes and accessories each month  or even as frequently as each week. They can try new brands and avoid repeating outfits under monthly plans for $159 and $89, depending on the frequency of exchanging items.

Now, Rent the Runway is giving shoppers the ability to swap decorations for their homes as much as they want. To make this happen, Rent the Runway will be partnering with furniture retailer West Elm, starting Thursday.

Members will now be able to select from more than two dozen so-called bundles, each with three to four items, curated by West Elm. The items  meant to decorate bedrooms and living rooms  consist mostly of soft goods like quilts, shams and coverlets. Selecting one bundle of items to rent will be just like renting one piece of clothing, according to the company.

Just like the clothes that go in your closet, "what we put in our homes is a reflection of personal style," COO Maureen Sullivan said. "West Elm resonates with our customers, too." She said existing shoppers had been asking Rent the Runway for home goods.

In venturing into the home decor category, Rent the Runway aims to appeal to even more people across the U.S., growing its membership base while maintaining existing customers. To expand its clothing business, it has partnered with more than 600 brands, including Kate Spade, Levi's and Diane von Furstenberg.

As a company, Rent the Runway "understands the shift in consumer behavior and is embracing it," Sullivan said. The shift is largely being driven by millennials, who more often than not don't want to make purchases for things they'll likely grow tired of.

Sullivan said consumers might want to rent home furnishings for special events like house parties, or when guests come to visit. But a lot of this collaboration with West Elm will also be a learning experience for Rent the Runway to see what types of "use cases" come up, she added.

Just as they do with the clothing currently via Rent the Runway, members will also have the option to eventually buy any of the West Elm items they rent at a discounted price.

This weekend, at the annual SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, Rent the Runway will be operating a mini pop-up shop for its clothes inside one of West Elm's Texas stores, to mark the foray into the home category. This is the first time the company has expanded beyond clothing and accessories, but Sullivan said Rent the Runway is thinking about getting into other categories.
By Trend





An investment decision is planned to be made on the Azeri Central East project In the second quarter of 2019, Gary Jones, BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said at a meeting on the results of 2018 and plans for 2019, Trend reports.

As noted by Jones, there are initial proposals for the cost, which are presented to shareholders and discussed with the Azerbaijani government and SOCAR.

According to him, discussions on the cost of the project are currently underway, and there is enough time for a decision to be made.

It is expected that the Azeri Central East project will include a residential unit and a platform for extraction and drilling, as well as placing 3 new underwater gas, oil and water lines (along with related underwater infrastructure) between the Central Azeri and East Azeri platforms at a depth of approximately 137 meters, and integrated underwater energy (spare) and telecommunication cables connecting the East Azeri and Azeri Central East platforms.

The contract for developing the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field was signed in 1994. A new contract on the development of the ACG block until 2050 was signed in Baku on September 14, 2017.

The share participation in the project is as follows: BP (operator)  30.37 percent; AzACG (SOCAR)  25 percent; Chevron  9.57 percent; INPEX  9.31 percent; Equinor  7.27 percent; ExxonMobil  6.79 percent; TP  5.73 percent; ITOCHU  3.65 percent; ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL)  2.31 percent.








By Trend





By wordplay, the Armenian government cannot evade overwhelming responsibility, Hikmet Hajiyev, head of the foreign policy department of the presidential administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan, said in the article on EURACTIV.

Hajiyev made the remarks in response to the interview by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to EURACTIV.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans interview on March 4 with EURACTIV, particularly his claims on Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is diametrically opposite to the essence and format of negotiation process mediated by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, he said.

Since the Dushanbe meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan in September last year, Azerbaijan has taken constructive and courageous steps to create conducive environment to move the negotiation process forward, Hajiyev added. In the margins of CIS informal summit in St. Petersburg and in Davos two more meetings took place between leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, Armenian prime minister even avoids calling them meetings and prefers metaphorical illustration as informal contacts.

This hopeful dynamism has also been accompanied by four meetings of foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the mediation of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, he said.

But instead of positively responding to the optimism of co-chairs and international community at large to continue substantive and intensive result-oriented dialogue between the two countries, Armenian prime minister started to make unrealistic assertions to involve illegal puppet regime established in the seized lands of Azerbaijan into negotiations, Hajiyev said.

By such thinking Armenian side deliberately blocks and paralyzes the entire talks, he added. Armenian prime minister says that he cannot speak on behalf of Armenians of Karabakh but fails to answer the basic question: What are Armenian armed forces doing in the sovereign lands of Azerbaijan?

It is very well known that Armenia, in blatant violation of the UN Charter by illegal use of force, occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, Hajiyev added. Bloody ethnic cleansing has been perpetrated by Armenia against million more Azerbaijani civilians, who still continue to live as IDPs and refugees.

The direct involvement of the Armenian armed forces in the military hostilities against Azerbaijan and the presence of these forces in the occupied territories attest legal, political and moral responsibility of Armenia as the party to the conflict, he added.

Simply, by play of words Armenian government cannot evade this overwhelming responsibility, Hajiyev said. The occupiers often disguise their own role in the forcible seizure of the territory of another state by setting up puppet regimes in the occupied territories. The so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a vivid illustration of this policy and practice.

The European Court of Human Rights with regard to the case Chiragov vs Armenia put an effective end to Armenias persistent denial of responsibility, he said. ECHR ruled that the NKR and its administration survives by virtue of the military, political, financial and other support given to it by Armenia which, consequently, exercises effective control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories.
Executives from Equifax and Marriott will appear on Thursday at a Senate hearing that will focus closely on criticisms and lessons learned from two of the biggest data breaches in history.

The hearing is being conducted by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations.

The subcommittee also released a report that strongly criticizes Equifax's handling of data security leading up to the stunning loss of the consumer credit data of 143 million people, announced on Sept. 7, 2017.

As CNBC previously reported, the data have never been found and the consensus among top cybersecurity and intelligence professionals is that the information was stolen by a foreign government to be used for spying.

The report is especially critical about how Equifax operated its technology and cybersecurity functions, and how employees talked about possible security flaws with top executives. In one passage, the report describes how executives allegedly shrugged off meetings in March 2017, the time a critical flaw in open-source software called Apache Struts was causing havoc at many financial organizations. The flaw in Apache Struts, a ubiquitous software platform across the corporate world, went unpatched in one Equifax department and was ultimately the point of entry for the landmark cyberattack.

"The Subcommittee interviewed the leadership of the Equifax IT and security staffs and learned that none of them regularly attended these monthly meetings or specifically recalled attending the March 2017 meeting," the subcommittee's report says. "In addition, the Chief Information Officer who oversaw the IT department during 2017, referred to patching as a 'lower level responsibility that was six levels down' from him."

The CIO, Jun Ying, was fired soon after the incident, and Equifax CEO Richard Smith later stepped down. Yung has been charged with insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which alleges that "before Equifax's public disclosure of the data breach, Ying exercised all of his vested Equifax stock options and then sold the shares, reaping proceeds of nearly $1 million."

"Equifax has cooperated with the Subcommittee in its investigation and, while we do not agree with a number of findings and characterizations in the report, we remain committed to being transparent and cooperative, while sharing important learnings from the 2017 incident with the cybersecurity community," said Equifax spokesman Jacob Hawkins in a statement.

The credit-rating company has taken steps to improve its security practices, including hiring a new chief technology officer and chief information security officer and increasing technology and security spending incrementally by $1.25 billion between 2018 and 2020. Hawkins said it has also hired "nearly 1,000" new full-time technology and security professionals.

The report also criticizes Equifax for improperly saving records of internal conversations about the breach. Employees used an internal chat service called Microsoft Lync, which was set to not preserve conversations. Although this is a typical data retention practice, companies often adopt different standards surrounding events that may lead to legal action, specifically enacting a "legal hold" on any employee conversations about the incident.

"During its investigation, the Subcommittee learned that Equifax employees conducted substantive discussions of the discovery and mitigation of the data breach using Microsoft Lync, an instant messaging product," the report says. "After discovering the data breach on July 29, 2017, Equifax did not issue a legal hold for related documents until August 22, 2017. Despite the legal hold, Equifax did not change the default setting on the Lync platform and begin archiving chats until September 15, 2017."

As for Marriott, the hearing will focus on last year's breach that affected as many as 383 million guest records.

Marriott reported its breach on Nov. 30. The company said the guest records were stolen in what has also been widely attributed to a nation-state attack. Marriott's breach did not include as much sensitive information as Equifax's did, but it did include a limited number of customers' passport and credit card data.

The hearing will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, and will be available for streaming here.

Correction: This story was revised to correct the first name of former Equifax CEO Richard Smith.
Companies are under mounting pressure from politicians, regulators and activists to report and narrow gender pay gaps. Business leaders have responded by emphasizing their equity initiatives  from hiring and promoting more women at every level, to less-quantifiable efforts, such as shifting workplace culture. But the firms that vow to narrow pay disparities aren't being held truly accountable, according to Shelley Zalis, founder of The Female Quotient, a company that works to advance workplace equality. "Part of why we have this issue is there's no accountability," she said. "Inequality has been going on for so many years and adjustments need to be made." In an interview with CNBC Make It, Zalis broke down two key ways she thinks companies can tackle workplace inequality:

No more salary secrecy

If companies continue to discourage employees from talking openly about pay and measure current compensation based on an employee's past salary, then firms will never close the wage gap, Zalis said. "Salaries shouldn't be a secret," Zalis said, citing a Glassdoor study that shows 61 percent of women want employers to reveal salary, while only 38 percent of men want employers to disclose. "The study tells the whole story. It shouldn't be the employee's issue to resolve, but the corporation's responsibility." It's illegal for private companies to prohibit employees from talking openly about compensation. But there are still obstacles that discourage employees from talking about pay. Companies can implicitly discourage or even punish employees from discussing money. Research shows that employees are not only more productive when they talk openly about pay, but that wage transparency makes it much easier to target and combat pay discrimination. Disclosing compensation also makes it more difficult for companies to hide structural inequities that help the wage gap to persist. "How great would it be if men supported women, and if everyone revealed their salaries? If salaries were visible, it would be a leadership issue a Fortune 500 company would be accountable for," Zalis said. Some states have passed laws outlawing wage secrecy, and a few states have even banned employers from asking job candidates to disclose salary history, a question that often puts women and minorities at a disadvantage. In 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that prohibited contractors from "retaliating" against employees who talk openly about pay. These laws alone won't solve pay inequity, but it's a solid starting point for holding companies accountable for pay disparities, Zalis said.

Men should take parental leave
Tesla boss Elon Musk (L) walks with Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong during the ground-breaking ceremony for a Tesla factory in Shanghai on January 7, 2019. - Musk presided over the ground-breaking for a Shanghai factory that will allow the electric-car manufacturer to dodge the China-US tariff crossfire and sell directly to the world's biggest market for 'green' vehicles.

Tesla said on Thursday it signed an agreement with lenders in China for a 12-month facility of up to 3.5 billion yuan ($521 million) for the electric carmaker's Gigafactory in Shanghai.

The company broke ground on the factory in January, and a Shanghai city government official said on Wednesday that the facility is expected to be completed in May.

Tesla has said that the Gigafactory will cost around $2 billion.

Producing cars locally is likely to help the company minimize the impact of the U.S.-China trade war, which has forced Tesla to adjust prices of its U.S.-made cars in China.

Keeping prices in check will also help Tesla fend off competition from a swathe of domestic electric vehicle startups such as Nio Inc, Byton and XPeng Motors.

WATCH: How taxpayers have boosted Elon Musk and Tesla
Queen Elizabeth II posted on Instagram for the first time ever on Thursday, documenting an ancestral discovery she made on a visit to London's Science Museum.

The U.K. monarch shared a photo of a letter written to her great-great grandfather Prince Albert  husband of Queen Victoria  in 1843.

"It seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post at the Science Museum which has long championed technology," the queen wrote alongside the image, which was posted via the Royal Family's Instagram account.

She then signed off as "Elizabeth R."

The letter featured in the post was sent to Prince Albert by Charles Babbage, a mathematician and early computer pioneer.
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May is facing a crunch series of votes this week that will determine the immediate course of Brexit and the U.K.'s relationship with the EU. On Tuesday, lawmakers will vote for a second time on May's Brexit deal after initially rejecting it in January. If a simple majority of them don't approve the deal, they will then vote on whether they want to leave the 28-member bloc without a deal.

If they vote against a "no-deal" Brexit, they'll then have a vote on whether to extend Article 50 (which sets out the departure process) and delay Britain's departure which is currently set to take place on March 29. May's deal initially failed to win enough approval in Parliament because of widespread opposition to a key part of the deal known as the "Irish backstop," an insurance policy designed to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland if the EU and U.K. fail to strike a trade deal in a 21-month transition period post-Brexit. Many lawmakers didn't like the fact that Northern Ireland could remain closely-aligned to the EU due to the backstop and that it had an indefinite nature. The U.K. would also need the EU's agreement to leave the backstop. WATCH: Brexit explained: What you need to know

May and other Brexit officials have returned to Brussels to try to get concessions from EU leaders in the deal to allay the concerns of U.K. lawmakers but they refused, offering only reassurances that the backstop is seen by European officials as a last resort. Now, the Brexit deal is to be put to MPs again on Tuesday March 12, although little appears to have changed.

Deal or no deal?
Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort departs from U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., February 28, 2018.

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will be sentenced by a U.S. judge in Virginia on Thursday for bank and tax fraud uncovered during Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis could deliver effectively a life sentence to Manafort, 69, if he follows federal sentencing guidelines cited by prosecutors that call for 19-1/2 to 24 years in prison for the eight charges the veteran Republican political consultant was convicted of by a jury in Alexandria last August.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.

Manafort was convicted after prosecutors accused him of hiding from the U.S. government millions of dollars he earned as a consultant for Ukraine's former pro-Russia government. After pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster, prosecutors said, Manafort lied to banks to secure loans and maintain an opulent lifestyle with luxurious homes, designer suits and even a $15,000 ostrich-skin jacket.

Manafort faces sentencing in a separate case in Washington on March 13 on two conspiracy charges to which he pleaded guilty last September. While he faces a statutory maximum of 10 years in the Washington case, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson potentially could stack that on top of whatever prison time Ellis imposes in Virginia, rather than allowing the sentences to run concurrently.

Jackson on Feb. 13 ruled that Manafort had breached his agreement to cooperate with Mueller's office by lying to prosecutors about three matters pertinent to the Russia probe including his interactions with a business partner they have said has ties to Russian intelligence. Jackson's ruling could impact the severity of his sentence in both cases.

Mueller is preparing to submit to U.S. Attorney General William Barr a report on his investigation into whether Trump's campaign conspired with Russia and whether Trump has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe. Trump has denied collusion and obstruction. Russia has denied election interference.

Manafort is the only one of the 34 people and three companies charged by Mueller to have gone to trial. Several others including former campaign aides Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen have pleaded guilty, while longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone has pleaded not guilty.

Gates, a key witness against Manafort, has yet to be sentenced due to his ongoing cooperation with prosecutors.
Manafort was convicted last year in Virginia on eight counts, including tax fraud, bank fraud and failing to file a foreign bank account report. The charges, lodged by Mueller as part of his probe of Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, mostly related to work Manafort did years earlier as a consultant for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine.

Manafort's sentencing dates, scheduled for Thursday at 3:30 p.m.ET in Virginia and Wednesday in Washington, mark the end of a long, steep and very public fall for the formerly high-powered political operative.

A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, could give the 69-year-old Manafort a sentence of 19 to 24 years in prison, along with millions of dollars in fines, as federal guidelines suggest. In a separate case in federal court in Washington, Manafort could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

On the eve of his second trial in Washington, Manafort cut a plea agreement to cooperate with Mueller's team. But that deal fell apart months later when Manafort was accused of lying to the prosecutors.

Attorneys for Manafort argued Friday that their client deserved a much lighter sentence than the one calculated by federal sentencing guidelines. Manafort is a first-time offender, they said, and "the Special Counsel's attempt to vilify Mr. Manafort as a lifelong and irredeemable felon is beyond the pale and grossly overstates the facts."

Mueller pushed back in a Tuesday night filing in the Virginia court, laying out a multipronged argument for why the request for leniency from the former political operative's attorneys should be ignored at his sentencing.

The special counsel accused Manafort of failing to take responsibility for his crimes, and for the additional wrongdoing he is alleged to have done since his initial indictment. Mueller said in that filing that Manafort tampered with witnesses while on bail  a charge that landed him in jail pending trial  and lied to the government and Mueller's grand jury on a variety of subjects after agreeing to cooperate with its investigations.

Based on this, Mueller, argued, "there is no reason to believe" that Manafort does not pose a risk of committing more crimes in the future.

"Manafort's effort to shift the blame to others  as he did at trial  is not consistent with acceptance of responsibility or a mitigating factor. Manafort has failed to accept that he is responsible for the criminal choices that bring him to this Court for sentencing," Mueller wrote.
The U.S. and China are reaching greater consensus on trade issues, a former official at the Chinese commerce ministry told CNBC on Thursday.

"Within the last nine months, we had three rounds of consultations; I think we have more and more consensus about it," said Jin Xu, a former senior commerce ministry official. Jin was also previously a diplomat to the U.S., U.K. and Turkey.

According to sources who spoke to CNBC, Washington and Beijing are approaching the finish line on trade negotiations that could end later this month.

"Both countries agree to have more and more mutual understanding and also want to build much better relations for business people for the two countries," Jin told CNBC's Martin Soong in Beijing.

"If we have more and more consensus, the world will benefit from it," said Jin, emphasizing that China is the world's largest developing country and the U.S. is the world's largest developed country.

Jin, who is now the chairman of China International Trade Association, said he was hopeful for a positive outcome from the talks and that China will make policy adjustments accordingly.

China is currently in the midst of a two-week long annual parliamentary meeting, the National People's Congress, which kicked off on Tuesday and ends next Friday (Mar. 5-15).

At the opening of that meeting this week, Premier Li Keqiang said the Chinese economy will likely slow this year, and revealed that the official economic growth target for 2019 will be 6.0 to 6.5 percent. That compares to an expansion of 6.6 percent in 2018  its slowest growth since 1990.

Li also said the country's months-long tariff war with the U.S. has hurt business activities  but he reiterated Beijing's commitment to "safeguarding economic globalization" and pledged to promote China-U.S. trade negotiations while advancing negotiations on other trade agreements.
By Trend





Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, head of the inter-parliamentary Russia-Azerbaijan friendship group Dmitry Saveliev regards the actions of State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin as an attempt to drive a wedge into relations between Moscow and Baku, Trend reports.

This is indicated by Savelyevs statement addressed to Zatulin, regarding the participation of Russian parliamentarians in the events in Baku dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Khojaly genocide.

"I would like to ask Mr. Zatulin questions in connection with some very strange events. I mean the second meeting of the Lazarev Club held in Moscow, with the participation of Mr. Zatulin, where a certain someone from the separatist entity in the occupied territory of Azerbaijan was also present, someone who was introduced as the "Minister of Economy and Industrial Infrastructure", said Saveliev.

According to the head of the inter-parliamentary friendship group, such actions hardly correspond to Russia's mediating mission in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

How can this correlate with the repeated statements of our state on its recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan? And aren't such actions an attempt to drive a wedge in relations between Russia and Azerbaijan under the cover of slogans about Russian-Armenian cooperation? Saveliev asks.

Regarding participation in the event as part of the anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, Dmitry Saveliev said that, as part of the Russian delegation, he took part in the annual conference titled "Building a common future, searching for a common past and developing a common present" dedicated to strengthening Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation.

A nationwide march took place in memory of the 27th anniversary of the Khojaly genocide, the Russian MP said. This is an official state event, and I am proud that in the mourning procession I walked alongside with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who makes every effort to expand and strengthen fraternal relations between our countries.

Savelyev noted that the Russian delegation laid flowers at the monument Mothers Cry, symbolizing the tragedy in Khojaly.

The procession participants were carrying banners with inscriptions Dont forget Khojaly! and Justice for Khojaly!, he said. Does Zatulin consider these slogans to be anti-Armenian?

The MP noted that he and his colleagues consider the Khojaly tragedy to be a terrible crime, because with each child who died in Khojaly, a part of Azerbaijans future was destroyed.

Savelyev said that he, just like many experts, believes that the Khojaly tragedy has all signs of genocide, and he repeatedly expressed such an opinion both in the media and in the State Duma (lower house of the Russian parliament).

Earlier, Savelyev stated about the need for Russia to recognize the Khojaly tragedy as genocide perpetrated against the Azerbaijani people.

Russia needs to work on this in order to recognize this slaughter, this tragedy as genocide, he said. We all perceive this tragedy as personal. We all need to work on its recognition.
The Trump administration is considering a rule that would require hospitals to publicize the prices they negotiate with insurers.

The policy is part of a broader proposed rule the Health and Human Services Department is pursing on patient data. The public comment period closes May 3 and the administration could publish a final rule after that.

The Wall Street Journal first reported news of the proposed rule.

As of Jan. 1, the Trump administration requires hospitals to post sticker prices for services online. Critics say those aren't accurate because insurers negotiate those prices down. Forcing hospitals to publish the actual prices would show just how much hospitals are actually charging and how much insurers are paying for health care.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal is garnering significant support, but the head of Exxon Mobil says people's views may change as the plan becomes more detailed and Americans begin to comprehend how it could affect their daily lives.

Ocasio-Cortez updated her blueprint for the Green New Deal last month, but has yet to suggest policies to achieve the plan's ambitious goals. Among other things, the freshman congresswoman calls for generating 100 percent of U.S. power from renewable sources, swapping gas-powered cars for electric vehicles and slashing carbon emissions  all in just 10 years.

Several Democratic presidential candidates have backed the plan, and the broad idea drew support across the political spectrum in a poll conducted last fall by public opinion researchers at Yale and George Mason University.

But eventually those big ideas will require action, says Exxon Chairman and CEO Darren Woods, and that's when the tide of public opinion could begin to turn against the Green New Deal.

"Energy is such an important part of people's daily lives and their standards of living that as you think about these big ideas and translate them down to smaller practical steps you take, people become very cognizant of what the impacts are for individuals," Woods said in an interview Wednesday with CNBC's Becky Quick. The interview aired Thursday on "Squawk Box."

"And as that starts to happen, I think people's view change as to how far they can go and how quickly they can go."

To be sure, as the world's largest publicly traded oil company, Exxon is not a disinterested party. The Green New Deal would almost certainly disrupt its business if it were successfully implemented.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday made a major proclamation: The future of Facebook is one focused on private communication.

Zuckerberg's new stance was delivered in a 3,000-word note titled "A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking." The note outlines the framework with which the company will integrate the private messaging features of its Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp apps, and it comes after a grueling 2018 in which the company was plagued by multiple scandals related to user privacy.

"I believe we should be working towards a world where people can speak privately and live freely knowing that their information will only be seen by who they want to see it and won't all stick around forever," Zuckerberg wrote.

It's a nice vision, but if history is any indicator, there's no reason to believe Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg has done his best to emulate Steve Jobs through his penmanship in notes like the one we saw this week or his showmanship on stage at events like the company's annual F8 conference, yet his company's actions rarely deliver on his words. And there are plenty of examples of this.

When it comes to privacy, there are numerous examples throughout Facebook's history where Zuckerberg has made bold claims about Facebook privacy only to be proven wrong over and over.

But it's not just privacy issues. There are plenty of other examples where Zuckerberg has promised bold new products  like he did in his essay Wednesday  and failed to deliver.

The first time Zuckerberg hyped a Facebook announcement only to let everyone down over a long period of waiting was back in 2013. Zuckerberg got up before a crowd of journalists to announce "graph search." This was supposed to be a new breakthrough in search engines. It was a search engine you could ask hyper-specific questions to and receive personalized results. You could ask it questions like "music listened to by my friends who listen to Beyonce" or "my friends who live in Houston" and get exactly what you asked for. That's what Zuckerberg promised, but it never came to be. Just try to ask Facebook's search these questions. Search has improved since this announcement, but the results are not what he promised.

Something similar happened later in 2013 when the company announced Facebook Home, a custom version of Android that would launch on the HTC First smartphone. Zuckerberg got on stage to announce both products to much fanfare. This was Facebook's grand entry into the mobile market. Instead, the phone and the software were instant flops, and Facebook didn't take long to abandon the project, with AT&T slashing the price of the HTC First from $99 to just 99 cents within weeks of its launch.

In more recent years, Zuckerberg's words have rung hollow when it comes to his promises for improving the way people talk and connect on the service.

If you thought Zuckerberg's note this week was long, just look at the mammoth manifesto he wrote in 2017. In that 6,000-word essay, Zuckerberg made multiple promises about improving Facebook after the company came under fire for its failure to address fake news ahead of the 2016 U.S. election. In that note, Zuckerberg made one particular promises that stands out.

He wrote about using artificial intelligence to keep Facebook a community free from bullying and harassment. This promise has failed on two counts. For starters, Facebook is still littered with issues of bullying and harassment, and it's especially a problem for younger users on Instagram. Secondly, Facebook is not yet at a point where it can rely on AI to remove content that shouldn't be allowed on the service. The company uses AI for much of its content moderation, but it still relies on thousands of low-paid contractors working in subpar conditions and exposing themselves to content that scars them, as Casey Newton of The Verge demonstrated in his excellent profile of Facebook's content moderators.

And then there was Zuckerberg's News Feed algorithm change of 2018. At the time, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would make "a major change" to how Facebook was built so that the company prioritized "meaningful social interactions" over "relevant content." In layman's terms, this meant showing users more content about their friends and less content from publishers. The change certainly had a major impact  just look at the recent layoffs at digital news outlets like Mic and BuzzFeed, two publishers whose business models had relied on traffic from Facebook. And yet, does it really feel like News Feed has improved or been filled with meaningful social interactions? Mine certainly hasn't. One quick look at my feed and my top posts are a news article, an ad, a news article, a news article and some "friend" I can't remember who changed his profile picture.

At least year's F8 conference, Zuckerberg took the stage and promised the company would release a feature called Clear History that would give users more control over the data Facebook has on them. The feature was thought up just prior to F8, according to a BuzzFeed report, and nearly one year later, it has yet to be released. The company said recently that Clear History will arrive sometime in 2019, but no set date has been given.

This is why I don't expect much from Zuckerberg's latest promise. The note itself is laced with caveats that should temper expectations. For starters, Zuckerberg says this more private version of Facebook is a work in process that will take a few years to come to fruition. And Zuckerberg himself addresses doubt in his note.

I understand that many people don't think Facebook can or would even want to build this kind of privacy-focused platform  because frankly we don't currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services, and we've historically focused on tools for more open sharing. But we've repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services that people really want, including in private messaging and stories.

And although Facebook may be expanding its focus on private communication, the company has no plans to get rid of its existing public products like News Feed and Instagram, according to an interview Zuckerberg gave to Wired.

Asked in that interview what he will do to guarantee this privacy-focused vision is carried out, Zuckerberg sidestepped the question and gave no guarantees.

Here's what he said:

You have no idea how hard it is. Yes, there's a lot of work that goes into getting the teams aligned and getting the right leaders in place who believe in these priorities, and being able to execute on that. And even the process of writing something like this is really helpful, because you can talk about a lot of things in the abstract. But it's not until you actually put it down on paper and say, "Yeah, here are the trade-offs. We're going to focus on reducing the permanence of how much data we have around, and that's going to make these things harder." Then you get all these teams inside the company that come out of the woodwork with all the issues that that's going to cause for other things that we really care about. You know, whether that's research that was surfaced about how much people care and value making a record of their lives over time, so making it so that more of the content would be archived automatically would be problematic for them, or different kinds of things. But that whole process has been really helpful for figuring out and distilling the vision of where we want to get. And it basically got us to this point where we feel like we're ready to put a flag in the ground and say, "This is where we want to go." This isn't a product announcement, it's a statement of the principles that we think are necessary to build this privacy-focused social platform. But now I think we're going to really start the harder process, over the next year or so, of flushing out what all these things mean as the aspects of this start to get rolled out in the different products.

Perhaps this will be the time Zuckerberg finally delivers on a promise, but don't get your hopes up.

WATCH: Here's how to see which apps have access to your Facebook data  and cut them off
Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

Bazaar Corporate Radar

Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar.
 REFINITIV 15   
How do you get your news?

Fill out our survey to share how you engage with the news.
You must be logged in to participate in the Show Me the Errors contest.
By Trend





A trade delegation comprising 20 economic agents from Iran's Tehran and Alborz provinces visited Turkey, with Raheem Banamullahi, head of the Alborz Province Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines & Agriculture and head the trade delegation, informing IRNA about the visit in advance, Trend reports.

According to Banamullahi, the purpose of the visit is to attend the Food-Tech Eurasia 2019  14th International Food and Beverage Technologies Fair held in Istanbul, Turkey.

Banamullahi said that the visit took place on the official invitation of the exhibition organizers.

Banamullahi added that Iranian food product exports to Turkey will also be discussed during the visit.

The Food-Tech Eurasia 2019  14th International Food and Beverage Technologies Fair will be held in Istanbul between March 7-10, 2019.
Windows 10 powered to its third anniversary this year, but one branch, identified by the initials L-T-S-B, remained an enigma to most corporate users.

LTSB, which stands for "Long-term Servicing Branch," was among the pillars of Windows 10 in the months leading up to, and for months after, the mid-2015 roll-out of the operating system. For a time, it seemed that it had a shot at becoming the Windows 10 for enterprise because it was seen as a calm port in a storm of radical change.

That hasn't happened, in part because Microsoft has steered customers away from LTSB.

Just what is LTSB? And what has Microsoft done to make it an afterthought?

We have answers.

So what is Windows 10 LTSB?

Officially, LTSB is a specialized edition of Windows 10 Enterprise that promises the longest intervals between feature upgrades of any version of the operating system.

Where other Windows 10 servicing models push feature upgrades to customers every six months, LTSB does so only every two or three years. That means fewer changes during a set timeline, a less-involved upgrade effort, and fewer disruptions as well as fewer possibilities for applications breaking because of a modification of the OS.

If LTSB stands for 'Long-term Servicing Branch,' what's this 'LTSC' acronym I've seen?

When Microsoft dropped multiple labels for Windows 10's release tracks  those now retired included "Current Branch" and the unwieldy "Current Branch for Business"  for the single "Semi-Annual Channel" (SAC) it also debuted "Long-term Servicing Channel" (LTSC) to match.

Although LTSC could be viewed as the mechanism that updated and upgraded the actual operating system, which went by the LTSB moniker, Microsoft has shifted to using the former exclusively and ditching the latter. Yes, it's confusing. But then, it is Microsoft we're talking about.

(Note: Computerworld intends to continue using LTSB, at least in the short run, as it, not LTSC, is the better-known acronym.)

How often does the LTSC update Windows 10 LTSB?

That's a question so good it comes with more than one answer.

Windows 10 LTSB does receive the usual monthly security updates. The twice-annual feature upgrades delivered to other channels will not be offered to LTSB systems. Microsoft upgrades the LTSB "build" every two to three years. Those upgrades, however, are optional, or at least optional to some degree (more on that later). Each LTSB build is supported with security updates for a decade, the same 10-year lifespan Microsoft has designated and maintained for ages. The decade is split into two equal halves: "Mainstream" support for the first five years, "Extended" for the second. For Windows 10 Enterprise 2016 LTSB, Mainstream support ends in October 2021 and Extended stops in October 2026.

What's the current Windows 10 LTSB? When is the next one supposed to show up?

This question's a tough one.

The current LTSB should be Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019, which was introduced Oct. 2. But it's not.

That's because just four days later, on Oct. 6, Microsoft pulled all versions of Windows 10 1809  the moniker in Microsoft's yymm naming convention  and has not yet restored access to what it also calls "Windows 10 October 2018 Update." (Microsoft yanked 1809 due to a very nasty bug that deleted user files on some customers' PCs during the upgrade.)

Microsoft bases LTSB on a specific Windows 10 build, in the case of LTSC 2019, the 1809 code. Essentially, Microsoft picks a feature upgrade and labels it LTSB. So when the Redmond, Wash. developer withdrew Windows 10 1809 from the Windows Update service and manual download websites, it also revoked access to LTSC 2019. The firm has given users no new information about progress in re-releasing 1809 in more than a month.

For the time being, then, Windows 10 Enterprise 2016 LTSB, which was based on the mid-2016 Windows 10 1607, remains the latest available version. The even earlier Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB  based on the July 2015 debut version of the operating system  still receives security updates, of course.

Note: Although Microsoft said in May 2017 that the next LTSB would ship sometime in 2019, it changed its mind in early 2018, saying in February that a LTSB would launch in the fall.

What's missing from LTSB?

A lot that makes Windows 10, well, Windows 10. Eschewing the regular feature upgrades means that LTSB does not include Edge nor any Microsoft Store (Universal Windows Platform, or UWP) apps, whether Redmond-made or third-part, because the browser and those apps constantly change and need updating. Also AWOL: the Cortana voice-activated digital assistant and access to the Microsoft Store.

That said, LTSB looks and runs just like any other Windows 10 edition. No one will be fooled into thinking it's Windows 7.

Can we defer security updates if we're on LTSB?

Yes.

Servicing tools such as Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) let administrators delay the monthly security updates - which Microsoft calls quality updates - just as they can postpone those same patches reaching machines running other versions of Window 10.

Why does Microsoft make LTSB available to customers?

Plainly put, it was a sop to the criticism very early on about Windows 10's accelerated development and release tempo.

Customers had become accustomed to upgrading Windows every three or more years, with the emphasis on more in the enterprise. The announcement that that would change to multiple releases each year - initially, three annually - was a shock.

Microsoft tried to soften the blow by offering a schedule very similar to the slower cadence familiar to IT: Upgrades that appeared every three years or so, with little or no feature changes in between, and an update model that provided only security fixes. In a nutshell, that's how Microsoft described Windows 10 LTSB at the start.

Although Microsoft always opined that LTSB was suitable only as a minority choice - one for special situations, such as machines that simply should not be frequently touched, like those that control industrial systems or ATMs - early in Windows 10, there was significant talk among IT administrators about choosing LTSB for broad swaths of their PC inventory.

Why? Because they weren't convinced they could, or even should, snap to and adapt to Microsoft's pitch of "Windows as a service" (WaaS).

Okay, so which PCs should be running LTSB?

Here's what Microsoft says on that:

"Specialized systems - such as PCs that control medical equipment, point-of-sale systems, and ATMs - often require a longer servicing option because of their purpose," the company's primary Windows-as-a-service documentation states. "These devices typically perform a single important task and ... [i]t's more important that these devices be kept as stable and secure as possible than up to date with user interface changes."

and...

"As a general guideline, a PC with Microsoft Office installed is a general-purpose device, typically used by an information worker, and therefore it is better suited for the [non-LTSB servicing channels]."

Has Microsoft changed the support rules for LTSB since Windows 10's debut?

Yes, and in a way that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to widely deploy the edition.

Over a year and a half ago, Microsoft added another law to the Windows 10 support scene, one that analysts contended invalidated LTSB's advantages over the shifting features that mark the other versions.

Originally, Microsoft promised to support each LTSB edition for a full decade. But in early 2017, the company ruled that "LTSBs will support the currently released silicon at the time of release of the LTSB [emphasis added]," and that as new processors appeared from the likes of Intel and AMD, "support will be created through future Windows 10 LTSB releases that customers can deploy for those systems."

The bland language disguised a huge change. Rather than be able to stick with a single LTSB edition for five, even 10, years, enterprises will need to adopt virtually every LTSB version as they buy new PCs powered by newser processors.

Can we upgrade one LTSB to another LTSB?

Yes. But there are conditions and stipulations. No surprise, really, what with Microsoft's overall attitude toward the long-term build.

"Long-term Servicing Branch can be upgraded, one to another," said Todd Furst, a Microsoft technical architect, in a presentation last year at his firm's Ignite conference. "You can upgrade it in place, but there's some caveats. You basically have to do a full OS deployment. There's no special tools that say, 'Just do the upgrade for me.' You have to push the whole OS down. If you want to do the servicing rings inside of Config Manager or Windows Update for Business, that's only for Current Branch."

In other words, LTSB/LTSC requires full-size media to upgrade and new versions of the build are not published to Windows Update or available through WSUS (Windows Server Update Services).

Where do you get the next LTSC then? At the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).

What's one of the least-understood aspects of LTSB?

We couldn't stop at just one, so we highlighted a pair of points about LTSB.

First, although IT admins can switch PCs from LTSB to plain Windows 10 Enterprise  so those machines can receive feature upgrades, for instance  such a change is only supported when moving to the same or later SAC. If an enterprise has been running Windows 10 Enterprise 2016 LTSB, for example, it can shift only to Windows 10 Enterprise 1607 or later (meaning 1703, 1709 or 1803).

(And you'd better hurry if you plan to switch from 2016 LTSB to SAC 1607, since that version's support expires in April 2019.)

Second, starting Jan. 14, 2020, the locally-installed applications included with an Office 365 subscription  they're called "Office 365 ProPlus"  will not be supported on any version of Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB. Instead, LTSB systems must run Office 2016 or 2019, the perpetual license counterparts to ProPlus. (Office 2019 is supported on Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 only, not earlier versions.)

How long is LTSB supported?

Ten years is usually the answer you see to that one. But it would be, if not wrong, then misleading.

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB is guaranteed only five years of support - from the time of its release, not its installation - if the underlying license does not have SA attached. With SA, a specific LTSB edition is supported for the full 10 years.

We run Windows 10 Enterprise and pay for Software Assurance, but we may drop SA. Anything we should know?

Yes, indeed.

When a company drops SA at the end of a contract period, it is entitled to roll out only the current Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB. It cannot later upgrade that version to a newer LTSB when one is released. Customers have a 90-day window to switch the current operating system from Windows 10 Enterprise to Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB. Note: To do that, Windows 10 Enterprise must be uninstalled before deploying LTSB.
Sorry, this page isn't available

The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed.
Andrew Lewer is Member of Parliament for Northampton South, and previously served as MEP for the East Midlands and leader of Derbyshire County Council.

I am unique in serving at various times as an MP, MEP, and council leader. Since 2011, I have been Deputy Chairman and then Vice-President of the Local Government Association.

So, I have a track record as a campaigner, and I do feel equipped to express an opinion with regard to the Conservative Partys electoral prospects.

I am extremely concerned about this years local elections. Conservative councillors work extremely hard to deliver crucial public services and amenities at efficient cost to the local tax payer. It would be very sad indeed to see hard and dedicated work at local level undermined by the Governments Brexit negotiations.

If a proper Brexit is not delivered on time (i.e. March 29) I fear a bewildered and angry reaction from the public. They have been promised on many occasions that Brexit will be delivered on time and that the UK will take back control over borders, laws, and money. This honours the record public vote to leave the EU in the 2016 Referendum.

We should therefore leave the EU on March 29. To not do so will leave many feeling we have betrayed the referendum, our manifesto commitment, and our bond with the British people. Any delay runs a severe risk of us staying in the EU. That was not how the people voted.

I implore the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and my colleagues at Westminster to ensure we honour our commitments and leave the EU in an orderly fashion and on time. This is about trust.

This is not a call to support Theresa Mays Deal unchanged, however. I voted against that deal on January 15 and will do so again unless the Backstop  the most humiliating proposed handover of sovereignty in modern British history  is altered. Even without the Backstop, her deal is a poor one and the question is whether to swallow it, not welcome or celebrate it.

To many the Backstop seems technical. It is not. However, to non-politicos what is key will be leaving on March 29. Blame if we do not should attach only to those who seek to deny democracy by voting against leaving simply to kick the can down the road  yet again  or (and there are a lot more Conservative MPs in this camp than might be supposed) to seek to thwart Brexit altogether.

The fear, of course, is that blame will not be so fairly apportioned and that the blameless  our local government colleagues  will instead pay the price

We all stand under the same Conservative banner. What happens at national level has implications for all of us. Local councillors have delivered on their promises, and stayed true to their Conservative beliefs. If our Conservative Government and MPs do not deliver an independent, self-governing UK on March 29 2019 then they will have broken their promises and potentially split our party. It will have implications for all of us.

I urge all council leaders, group leaders, councillors, and candidates to do everything within their power to convey the concerns of grassroots Conservatives to the Party Chairman, the Prime Minister, and Government.

Some Associations will have received guidance from CCHQ on whether a motion passed at the National Convention can be properly replicated at Association AGMs. The answer of course is yes, as we seek at grassroots level to support the Prime Minister and Cabinet in delivering our General Election manifesto pledges.

Parliament has shown that it rejects the Governments proposed Withdrawal Agreement, but it also shows a clear majority for a new approach that respects the Union, takes back control for the UK, and honours the result of the referendum.

Let us hope that Geoffrey Cox can seize the opportunity to negotiate a better deal which will unite our Party, our MPs, and the country. But let us also be clear that it will take the endorsement of the lawyer MPs the ERG has asked to look at this, including Nigel Dodds of the DUP, to ensure anything Cox has achieved has credibility.

It is no exaggeration at all to say the future of our party is at stake. If we extend Article 50 and delay Brexit further then we are likely to see our local government candidates massively punished in the May local elections. None of us want that.

So please stand up and make the views of the Conservative grassroots crystal clear to CCHQ and those Conservative MPs at severe risk of not being in tune with our Members and voters. Enough is enough. Now is the time to deliver the Brexit the British people voted for.
This years edition of the annual SME Beyond Borders Dubai brought together 10 leading global experts to throw spotlight on enterprise owners in preparing for the future; exploring the key factors that will influence the future of business.



The event, which took place yesterday (March 6) at the JW Marriot Marquis, Dubai was organized by SME Advisor.



Themed SME 10X  The Future of Business, 10 Years from Now, the conference SME Beyond Borders 2019 was graced by presence of futurists, policymakers and industry leaders to assess trends shaping the future of business; covering a wide-range of topics from technology-revamping industries of the future to the UAEs space exploration ambitions.



The agenda included multiple interactions throughout the day for the exchange of futuristic ideas: Re-building trust in a paranoid future by Ian Khan; Peter Hinssenns The day after tomorrow, Musthafa PCs The future of retail, Dr. Majid Sultan Al Qassimis The future of food security and social impact, Mohamed Hamdys The future of enterprise, Mustafa Kheribas The future of funding and SME investment; Rami Harsinghanis The future of VR, Jenk OZs The future generation, Charlie Angs The future of industry 4.0  and how to survive it; and Reyhan Jamalovas The future of sustainable energy were all highlights of the exchanges between prominent industry professionals.



Dubai South's Business Park participated at this years edition of SME Beyond Borders as a testament to our commitment to cultivate the culture of entrepreneurship and to become part of the pillars that chart the course of SMEs into the future. During the event, Shoaib Al Rahimi, VP Business Park talked about the importance of SMEs to the industry, considering their significant role as key drivers of the economy, especially in Dubai which comprises 60 per cent of all enterprises, Dubai South has carefully designed its business solutions for SMEs.



Ramit Harisinghani, VP and head of Middle East & Africa at HTC Vive, one of the companys participating speaker commented: The SME community contributes significantly to the regions economic landscape while often being early adopters of new ideas, tool and technologies. In particular, todays virtual reality (VR) systems are enabling these organizations to collaborate, test, design, and even market products in entirely new ways. We remain committed to developing the VR ecosystem and are keen to be collaborating with SMEs across the region to unlock this potential.



Reyhan Jamalova, CEO, Rainergy and Forbes 30 Under 30, said: I am very happy to be a part of the 2019 edition of SME Beyond Borders, which presents the perfect opportunity to embrace and discuss the latest challenges and explore innovative avenues to achieve sustainability. Significant recent changes to the environment, economy and technology have resulted in SME Beyond Borders being the ideal place where world leaders can openly discuss and work together.



Aligned with the UAEs vision of the future, the annual SME Beyond Borders conference provides a venue for stakeholders from the government and private sectors to present their key strategies as they strive to build a better future for all. It takes on subjects of national and global importance, including technological innovations that will greatly impact the small and medium enterprise sector.  TradeArabia News Service
Nick de Bois is the former MP for Enfield North. He was a member of the Governments Serious Crime Task Force until his appointment as Chief of Staff to Dominic Raab at DExEU. He is the author of Confessions of a Recovering MP.

Until yesterday, it appeared that there was only one person who believed that reducing police numbers had no link to increasing knife crime. That Number 10 rowed back on the suggestion was no surprise after the Metropolitan Police Commissioner corrected the Prime Minister on LBC on Monday morning. Cressida Dick said there was some link between violent crime on the streets and police numbers.

In fact, whilst Downing Street would be able to legitimately point to falling crime in general alongside falling police numbers, the fact remains more people are carrying knives, more people are prosecuted for carrying knives, and, tragically, more people are dying from knives. To protest that police numbers have no direct bearing on increase in knife crime assaults and deaths is for the public, at best, stubbornly optimistic, and at worst irresponsible. I think personally it is a huge distraction to what should be talked about and what action should be taken.

First and crucially, the Government must address why, after introducing mandatory jail terms for conviction of carrying a knife on a second offence, only 63 per cent of such offenders are receiving immediate custodial offences. The law is clear  and I should know, having helped steer it through Parliament along with David Burrowes in 2014 with considerable cross-party support. In fact, there is a strong case that we should now increase the minimum term from the six months parliament approved to at least one year.

However, I have never argued that tougher sentencing for carrying knives is a solution to knife crime on its own. Across the country we have pockets of excellence where, sometimes on a large scale but more often on a small scale, both the state and the third sector have shown how we can reduce knife crime by a more holistic approach . Not only do their efforts save lives, they turn around the lives of those who may otherwise choose a life of gangs, of violence and of crime. In short, the Government has at its disposal not just the evidence but the means to halt this appalling scourge of knife crime across the UK.

In Strathclyde, for example, the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) was set up to stop the tide of knife crime which saw Glasgow become for a time Europes murder capital. From its start in 2005, the new unit introduced a radical approach to tackling the problem. Its key message was that stabbings (and gang-related stabbings in particular) were not just a matter for the police but a wider public health issue.

In 2005 there were 137 homicides in Scotland  40 cases alone in Glasgow, double the national rate. By 2016/17 that number had more than halved. That success is put down to working closely with partners in the NHS, education, social work and, crucially, with family intervention, recognising the toxic environment many youngsters are growing up in. Finally, the program stressed the importance of positive role models and its implementation projects have been evidence-based and informed by statistics.

Whats extraordinary, though, is that as far back as 2012 Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa May pointed to this programme as a way forward in their joint Government report in response to the the riots. That seven years later we have not nationally embraced this, and indeed other effective locally-developed interventions, is frankly reprehensible.

Strathclyde rightly attracts considerable attention, not least because of the scale of the intervention which shows local government at its (unusual) best. Meanwhile, the third sector across the UK is quietly getting on with delivering early intervention programs on often a smaller and far less well-funded scale. Their emphasis is on prevention, and we can learn so much from many of these organisations regardless of scale.

The Government is now making money available to support proven organisations where intervention initiatives work, and this is to be applauded. But money aside, there is much more we can harness from such organisations as the Ben Kinsella Trust, the Godwin Lawson Foundation and others which, often born from personal tragedies, have accumulated huge intellectual capital on what works and what does not. Government can and should harness this life-changing, indeed life-saving, experience and roll it out across the country, not just where there is already a problem, but where we can prevent future violence.

The political leadership parents are crying out for, and the opportunities so many youngsters will welcome to escape an existence few of us can really recognise or appreciate, must be supported by a clearly defined commitment from the Government. Warm words and promises of money will not be enough. We need a national action plan, backed up by an executive organisation that will both scope and implement proven solutions on the ground, and have authority to both advocate and drive the changes that have been shown to work.

Out of the recent tragic murders in Manchester and London let us at least hope they have sparked the impetus to drive a permanent change for the better.
Alex Morton: The left want to make it illegitimate to be right-wing, and the state is helping them to do it

Alex Morton is Director of Policy at the Centre for Policy Studies, and was a member of David Camerons Downing Street Policy Unit.

We all know that people on the left tend to think that justice and righteousness are on their side. But increasingly they also seem to feel that right-wing views are simply illegitimate to hold.

The panels on the BBCs flagship political shows, as were all aware, are massively biased in favour of Remain. But if goes beyond that. The ERG are consistently described in the press as hardliners, whereas if you are trying overturn the largest democratic mandate in British history by supporting a second referendum before implementing the result of the first, in defiance of the manifesto upon which you were elected, you are portrayed as a principled objector.

Or consider the media response if 15,000 children had played truant to call for balanced immigration policies (which the vast majority of voters would support), rather than to protest against a doomsday version of climate change. I suspect the papers would be full of the reports on the threat of indoctrination by politically motivated teachers  if the organisers were not already being investigated for thought-crime.

It is not just the media. Holding right-wing views, being right-wing, or even just departing from the politically correct orthodoxy, is an increasingly risky business.

More recently, the CEO of the charity Womens Aid  the impeccably progressive Katie Ghose  was forced to step down because (in her previous role as head of the Electoral Reform Society) she had paid UKIP some pro forma compliments while speaking on a panel at its conference.

Even the state is attacking right-wingers and right-wing views

The problem is not just that a culture war is raging. It is that the state  even under a Conservative Government  is often leading the charge.

A 74-year-old from Suffolk was contacted by police after writing about gender issues  despite not committing any crime, and despite there apparently not being enough officers on the streets to deal with knife crime. Miranda Yardley, a transsexual who dissents from the new orthodoxy on gender identity, was charged with hate crime after getting into a Twitter spat. After ten months of hell, the case collapsed on its first day, with the judge ruling that there is no case and never was a case.

A few years back, we had the loving foster parents who had three children removed from their care because they had committed the crime of supporting UKIP. (Ironically, by the same left-wing council in Rotherham that was later found to have covered up sexual abuse by racist grooming gangs.)

If you are an advertiser whose campaigns support sexist stereotypes you can have them pulled from the public gaze without compensation. And God help you if you try to show Londoners a picture of butter.

If you are a free market think tank, you can be told off by the Government quango the Charity Commission for being too political, while big charities continue to push a left-wing agenda of more state spending. The British state itself will often donate large sums to these charities, which then lobby for more state spending and state intervention. Meanwhile, vast numbers of quangos constantly pump out calls for more intervention and banning and restricting (a recent favourite being banning gas hobs).

Universities, meanwhile, which are massively supported by the state, are not just 9:1 in favour of Remain but have become a place where we need to decolonise the curriculum but simultaneously where no-platforming is on the rise. If I were at university, I would genuinely fear that my grades would be affected by my views.

The police, the BBC, that local authority in Rotherham, the Charity Commission, the Advertising Standards Agency, universities, charities like Womens Aid  all these are at least partially funded, supported, or even fully operated by the state. Yet have been used to prosecute a war on right-wing people and right-wing views. No wonder conservative and small-l classical liberal views are in full retreat.

The goal is to shut down debate  especially in the case of the fake liberals

This is not just a case of a few left-wing authoritarians. The self-declared moderate centre also contains many people who are prepared to shut down right-wing points of view.

The whole point of a liberal society is you do not tell people what to do, or think or say  other than, for example, banning direct hate speech that incites violence, or stopping direct discrimination against individuals. Yet many people who use the term liberal today are anything but.

The goal of much of this is to make people afraid to express right-wing views in public and delegitimise them as a very concept  something which has become more important in the social media era. I have lost track of the number of people who have told me they are afraid of saying things or supporting right-wing causes publicly.

Bias in the media will always be with us  which requires robust, free debate to counter, rather than echoing left-wing calls for censorship. But the state, and all its agencies, should make sure that it is not endorsing, let alone waging, a war on right-wing opinions. That means refusing to fund charities which will not tolerate genuine diversity of views. Trying to ensure more balance within universities and the education system. Punishing regulators, police officers and councils when they clearly overstep the mark.

Conservatives must protect conservatism

Coming out as a gay man at school, I learnt that the more you apologise for yourself, the worse it gets. Conservatives have been told that they should sit down and shut up. Instead, they need to fight back. At the very least, a Conservative government should on basic liberal principles oppose this war on anyone who deviates from the new orthodoxy.
Bradley faces calls to resign over Troubles comments as Williamson seeks to protect troops

Karen Bradley has come under renewed pressure to resign after she appeared to claim that no deaths caused by the security services during the Troubles should be considered crimes, according to the Times.

Although she later clarified that there should always be investigations where there are allegations of wrongdoing, the latest faux pas has sparked fresh questions about whether or not she is fit to serve as Northern Irish Secretary. Her remarks were:

Over 90 per cent of the killings during the Troubles were at the hands of terrorists, every single one of those was a crime. The fewer than 10 per cent that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes. They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duty in a dignified and appropriate way.

Whilst it seems clear that Bradley meant to say that the most of the killings committed by the Armed Forces and Royal Ulster Constabulary were done in the lawful course of their duties, it is an unfortunate way to set the scene for Gavin Williamsons bid to introduce new legal protections for soldiers and ex-servicemen.

Under proposals outlined in the Sunday Times, the Defence Secretary would introduce a ten-year limit for prosecutions over alleged historical offences. This comes after reports that four former soldiers are expected to face murder charges for their involvement in Bloody Sunday in 1972.

The plans will apparently entail a statutory presumption against prosecution for historical cases, the need for sign-off from the Attorney General, and new guidance from the same about both the evidence threshold needed to pursue a prosecution and a public-interest test.

In related news the News Letter reports that Jim Allister, the leader of the hard-line Traditional Unionist Voice party, has accused the head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland of playing politics by talking up the threat of terrorist activity related to Brexit.

Ministers clash with SNP over towns fund as Scottish Government bails on welfare devolution

The Government is gearing up for a furious row with the Scottish Government over the fate of almost 100 million in public funding from Theresa Mays Stronger Towns Fund, according to the Sun.

According to sources James Brokenshire, the Communities Secretary, is insisting that his department must have a say on how the money is disbursed, rather than simply handing it over to the SNP to treat as a devolved matter. The paper reports one insider claiming that the Nationalists have already failed to properly pass on 40 million earmarked for the police to help with no-deal preparations.

Such a move would undercut the SNPs efforts to centralise as much control of public spending as possible in Edinburgh, as well as to make the Scottish Parliament a gate-keeper between Westminster and Scotland. Expect much wailing about the spirit of devolution.

But that spirit has not had a good week, it appears, after it emerged that the Scottish Government is furiously backpedalling on a push to devolve welfare powers to Holyrood.

Last week the Scotsman reported that the Nationalists were being accused of betraying Scots over a decision to delay the full devolution of welfare powers until 2024. This was compounded yesterday when they further reported that plans for the Scottish Government to assume control of one particular benefit  the Severe Disablement Allowance  have been postponed indefinitely.

That all of this chaos and delay should result from proposals to devolve just 15 per cent of social security spending  totalling some 3 million  may be what finally prompted one senior Scottish Tory MP to voice, albeit anonymously, the ultimate heresy: that there may need to be a review into certain aspects of devolution. As the Times reports:

It cannot continue to be a one-way street, the MP said. This latest debacle, coming on top of the British Transport Police fiasco, demonstrates that there are areas where devolution may not be in the best interests of the Scottish people and that returning powers to Westminster could be contemplated.

Wise words.

And if that werent enough, elsewhere this week the SNPs new proposals for a post-Brexit Scottish currency were dismissed as a desperate act. The party is trying to disentangle itself from the political problems posed by keeping the pound without admitting that an independent Scotland would need to sign up to the Euro.

Dugdale accuses Scottish Labour of trying to hide support for second Brexit vote

Kezia Dugdale, the former leader of Scottish Labour, has accused her successor of censoring the partys conference programme in order to stifle expressions of support for a second EU referendum, according to the Daily Telegraph.

In a letter to Richard Leonard she alleges that a statement penned by two of the partys MEPs had been doctored to tone down criticism of Brexit and remove a section stating support for a re-run of the 2016 vote  despite such a re-run being official party policy.

The attack exposes the depths of the divisions within Scottish Labour, where Leonards left-wing leadership is being criticised for failing to turn around the remarkable slump in the partys fortunes north of the border.

Meanwhile, in other Brexit news, the FT reports that Bombardier, a major employer in Northern Ireland, are pressuring the Democratic Unionists to abandon their opposition to the backstop.
Its inherently hard to predict who will make it to the final two the next time the Conservative Party holds a leadership election  the fast-changing nature of events, the complexities of the Parliamentary Conservative Party, the risks of walking a media tightrope, there are numerous unpredictable elements to the whittling down process.

It is possible to see some of the possible dividing lines in such a race starting to form, however.

One is Brexit, of course  its clear that a major reason why Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab sit at first and second in the Next Tory Leader question on our survey is that they both took a stand in protest at the Prime Ministers handling of the process. The contest to be seen as the Brexiteer candidate could easily become as intense as the main battle for the leadership.

But another emerging divide is between political generations. Its becoming a familiar refrain, the idea of moving the leadership on to a new generation, or even skipping a generation. Most recently, todays Sun reports Johnny Mercer will speak to the think tank Onward along these lines, making a case that those currently at the top are becoming outdated and outpaced:

Its like a runaway horse. Dont watch it go, or let others be the ones to tame it. The current lot are still in the stable, events have overtaken them and they cannot catch that horse nowWe must tame it  our generation. Its time for a new generation to take over and govern differently.

Its interesting to see this argument develop, and a receptive audience for it growing at the same time. In previous decades, such ideas were easily batted away by the counter-argument that it would be unimaginable to make someone Leader of the Opposition or Prime Minister without Cabinet experience.

The wipe-outs of 1997, followed by the wilderness years, established the conditions for David Cameron to breach that supposed rule in 2005. His teams rebuttal line at the time, that he had Shadow Cabinet experience, neutralised the criticism sufficiently to allow him to win, and inadvertently allowed the expectation of top table experience to linger on.

Now, after almost nine years in Government, you might imagine that the old convention of requiring Cabinet experience would have reasserted itself. It is certainly still seen as an advantage  hence people still seek promotion to the Cabinet even in a deeply troubled government  and it holds some sway as a concept, but it isnt as universal or dominant as it once was.

Indeed, its not unreasonable to consider Cabinet experience might be a de-merit in some ways. The Prime Ministers approach to Brexit  and particularly her concessions at Chequers and since  is deeply unpopular, particularly among the Conservative grassroots and the wider Leave electorate. One can easily imagine how too close association with May herself might be a negative thing in a leadership contest and a subsequent election.

At the same time, there are opportunities for clean-skin candidates to tap into themes which simply wouldnt be so accessible for an existing Secretary of State, such as greater freedom to criticise government policy. A major challenge for the Conservative Party at the next election will be the need to address voters desire for change. After nine years in power, the next leader cannot simply offer more of the same. They will need to offer a new vision for what comes next, after Brexit, after austerity and so on. That will be easier for a new generation candidate to do, with less baggage from years in office.

Of course, the value of ministerial experience hasnt gone away. And serving at the top for longer does imbue a candidate with skills, contacts and loyal supporters which can be hard for a fresh-faced insurgent to acquire.

You can expect that if someone without much ministerial experience does become a serious threat, the fact will be heavily emphasised by their rivals. In response, that candidate will try to make it their selling point, while arguing that real-world experience is as or more valuable than time served in Westminster. Both arguments would find receptive audiences in different parts of the Tory grassroots.

And there is the emergent dividing line: political experience and baggage versus political inexperience and a fresh start. I expect there are several would-be Conservative leaders already working out which side of that contest they wish to stand on, and how best to make the most of their choice.
Theres quite a lot on chancellor Philip Hammonds plate in the run-up to the Spring Statement 2019, but he cant afford to ignore the mounting problems with the Apprenticeship Levy, writes Jordan Marshall, policy development manager at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE).

Mr Hammond should note that many businesses have complained about the levys complexity and inflexibility, arguing that it does not do enough to support their training needs.

Figures, tweaks and worries

This criticism does seem to be borne out by the cold hard data. At the end of 2018, the government confirmed that more than 80% of firms paying the levy had not taken on an apprentice, with the number of people starting an apprenticeship actually falling a year after the levy was introduced.



Tweaks to the policy have been made, most notably by allowing companies to transfer levy funds to smaller companies in their supply chain. This is a sensible move, but government needs to go further to allow contractors and the self-employed as a whole to upskill too.



Training can be a particular problem for self-employed people if they are struggling with low incomes. Being able to invest the time and resources to learn a new skill is extremely tricky for one-person businesses who may be worriedly struggling to keep their operation afloat. Even for those single-person traders in a more comfortable position, making time to train is difficult because there is the worry that the hours or days on training should really be spent on finding the next client, at the same time as saving enough money to tide them over in difficult times.

Where the government should act on training

One way the government can address this is by giving recruitment agencies more flexibility to subsidise training courses for contractors and the self-employed. The issue at the moment is that many agencies are large enough to have to pay the levy, but predominantly have self-employed people working through them, so the Apprenticeship Levy does not allow them to support upskilling these individuals.

We believe that the government should continue to hone the policy by enabling greater flexibility. Giving agencies the ability to use levy funds to subsidise training for the self-employed makes sense -- allowing firms to provide training in a way that works for them, while also making training more accessible for the self-employed.



But there are other steps the government can take to also improve the picture. The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) has proven successful in helping people out of unemployment to start businesses. The scheme needs to be expanded, though, to allow low-earning self-employed people to access support under the NEA. Awareness of the programme needs to be improved, as does the mentoring support available to participants.

How Hammond can help business soloists further

At this Spring Statement or the very first opportunity if not, the government should also re-examine the case for making training for new skills tax-deductible for the self-employed, as it is for employees. The current system both unfairly disadvantages the self-employed and runs counter to the governments goal of creating a flexible labour market that can adapt to rapid technological change.



More innovative ideas like Adult Education Vouchers need to be explored too. Popular in a number of European countries, these vouchers can be redeemed at accredited providers and create a simple route to lifelong learning.



Furthermore, we need to take a long hard look at the UKs construction sector. At one million, there are more self-employed people in it than in any other industry, and upkskilling the sector is crucial to improving productivity and realising the governments ambitious programmes in both infrastructure and housing. But the way training is delivered in the sector urgently needs reform. Research shows that the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has little or no impact on encouraging the provision of training: 71 per cent say the possibility of a CITB grant to cover training does not influence decisions to send workers on a training course.

Final thoughts

As self-employment continues to grow and becomes a more important part of the labour market, it is absolutely crucial that we get our professional development, training and upskilling infrastructure right. If we want to not only ensure freelancers, contractors and the self-employed are able to progress in their careers, but also boost productivity across the economy at a time of Brexit and other challenges, it is vital that more is done to improve access to training. Although there are many quarters calling for his attention at this time, the chancellor should know that getting the governments flagship Apprenticeship Levy policy on a more sustainable, flexible footing would be a very good start.
Kuwait is working on a major plan to establish 'border towns' and is also in talks with the Iraqi authorities for developing a free zone between the two countries, according to a report.



First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah stated that planned construction of border towns was currently "the preoccupation and focal task" of the government and the Supreme Planning Council, reported Kuna.



He was speaking during a follow-up session of the National Assembly, during which the MPs debated housing affairs namely the blueprint to erect a new central and integrated city.



"We are currently working on establishing border towns and we have discussed with the Iraq establishment of a free zone between Kuwait and Iraq," remarked Sheikh Nasser.



Kuwait's planned Madinat Al Harir (Silk City) will be built in a border region neighbouring Iran and Iraq, he added.



The minister indicated that the plan to develop Madinat Al Harir had been merged into the scheme to develop the five islands as well as the free trade zone. The new Silk City is likely to attract investments to the tune of a whopping $650 billion in the coming 25 years, he added.
100%

Website bressmanlaw.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 150 bytes (0.15 kb uncompressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-01-05, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
100%

Website deal360.net uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of .

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-04-01, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
60%

Website immo2vacances.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of .

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-04-01, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
RTHK: Cohen sues Trump Organisation for US$2 million

President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has filed a lawsuit claiming the Trump Organisation broke a promise to pay his legal bills and owes at least US$1.9 million to cover the cost of his defence.

The lawsuit, filed in New York state court, claims the Trump Organisation stopped paying Cohen's mounting legal fees after he began co-operating with federal prosecutors in their investigations related to Trump's business dealings in Russia and attempts to silence women with embarrassing stories about his personal life. It alleges breach of contract and seeks damages on Cohen's behalf.

The lawsuit says the company stopped paying for his legal defence about two months after the FBI raided Cohen's home and office last year. It says that was around the time Cohen began discussing privately with friends and family that he was considering cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in New York.

Cohen pleaded guilty in August to tax crimes, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations. He is expected to begin serving a three-year prison term in May.

The lawsuit said that as part of his work for Trump, the company agreed to indemnify him for his company-related work. It said the Trump Organisation initially lived up to that promise, footing the bill for more than $1.7 million in Cohen's legal fees. (AP)

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Virgin Hyperloop One is likely to reveal details of its plan to link Saudi Arabia's $500-billion futuristic city, Neom, the mega Red Sea tourism project, and Qiddiya gigaprojects together at the upcoming The Big 5 Saudi show in Riyadh.



A leading construction industry event, The Big 5 is expected to attract 15,000 visitors, hosting over 300 manufacturers of construction products from around the world.



Nearly 80 experts and opinion leaders from across the globe ill be taking part in the record-breaking education platform for construction professionals hosted by The Big 5 Saudi 2019.



Running for March 10 to 13 at the Jeddah Centre for Forums & Events, the event will see more than 100 top Saudi construction players highlight their expertise besides displaying the latest products and technologies and building solutions across eight dedicated product sectors.



During the event, Virgin Hyperloop One VP (Arabian Gulf) Colin Rhys is expected to explain how hyperloop technology can support Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 program, stated the organisers.



A graphic published alongside details of Rhyss speech depicts a GCC alignment route, showcasing stops at Neom, the Red Sea Project, Jeddah, Makkah, Riyadh, Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Muscat.



The leading Saudi construction event, this year, has registered a 48 per cent increase in the number of free and CPD-certified workshops on offer, all dedicated to Educating and empowering construction professionals to achieve Saudi Vision 2030.



Besides Rhys, the impressive lineup of speakers includes Bentley Systems Digital Advancement Academy Manager, Craig Garrett, and the Strategic Planning & Engineering Director at Saudi Customs, Abdurahman Medallah, among many others.



The Big 5 Saudis education agenda is expected to spur debate and provide a substantial push for the development of the construction and infrastructure sectors in Saudi Arabia, which currently host active projects worth $800 billion.



On the upcoming event, Rhys said: "Hyperloop Ones presence in the kingdom will provide a significant GDP uplift. Saudi Arabia is poised to become the worlds first national customer of Hyperloop Ones breakthrough technology and be the first country to develop a national hyperloop network."



"Hyperloop One is consistent with the bold transformative ambitions of Vision 2030 and can act as a high-tech catalyzer through its requirements for software, artificial intelligence and computer-based operating systems," he stated.



Beyond General Construction, Architecture & Design, HVAC-R, Solar, Technology, Smart Cities, and Women in Construction, The Big 5 Saudi agenda will offer a wide range of workshops dedicated to the topic of Project Management.



Samih Elsadig Ahmed, General Electric's Project Planning & Cost Controls Professional, who will deliver a presentation on "Project Control Applications in Saudi Arabia: Problems and Solutions", said: "The increase in population and investments in Saudi Arabia has led to the presence of a lot of projects, either provided by the government or individuals."



"Such growth requires wise management and both experienced and highly qualified staff to deliver these projects on time and within the estimated budget," he noted.



Ahmed said his workshop session at The Big 5 Saudi 2019 will discuss the current state of the projects in Saudi Arabia, and take a closer look at some of the challenges the industry is facing in the kingdom today.



"I will analyze the reasons behind certain failures or delays in project deliverance, for example insufficient rigor in applying project management principles, including cost control, risk assessment and project planning," he noted.



Sustainability will also be on focus at The Big 5 Saudi 2019s education agenda.



According to Anita Nouri, the CEO and Business Development Director of Green Energy Solutions & Sustainability (GESS): "Saudi Arabia generates more than 15 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Bold steps need to be taken and legislation needs to be put into place. We need to disrupt the normal to create the innovation required to make the changes."



At The Big 5 Saudi I will address the topic Harnessing Waste Energy  Renewable Energy and explore how we can bring value to the mountains of waste buried in our landfills.



The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), the Saudi Building Code National Committee (SBCNC), and the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) will provide crucial intelligence to local and international participants, paving the way for the future development of the Saudi construction industry.



Roni El Haddad, the event director of The Big 5 Saudi, said: "We are extremely proud to host 80 of the most innovative and influential thought leaders and decision makers at The Big 5 Saudi. Our education agenda this year is all geared towards the empowerment of construction professionals and the achievement of the Saudi Vision 2030 goals."



"We look forward to welcoming the Saudi construction community for an unprecedented learning, training and networking opportunity at the event," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
In order to reach IMOs 2050 goal of 50 percent CO2 reduction in emissions from shipping, Tomas Tronstad, managing director at Hyon, said he sees two solutions: Batteries for ferries and short-sea operators; fuel cells and hydrogen for larger powerplant installations, like cruise ships.

Hydrogen is increasingly regarded as a credible option for zero-emission ships if it is produced from decarbonized energy, according to Pierre-Etienne Franc, vice president of Air Liquids hydrogen energy world business unit.

He added that alternative options like batteries, LNG, or NH3 (ammonia) are limited and have either significant autonomy limitations (batteries), emit more emissions (LNG) or are more costly (NH3).

Ferries First

Based in Norway, Tronstad said there are many hydrogen-fueled ferry projects as the Norwegian authorities have begun to stipulate zero emission vessels in certain areas, and are requiring hydrogen as a way of stimulating the development of the hydrogen industry in the country.

Hydrogen-run fuel cells are common on buses and trucks, he said, with the hydrogen in pressurized tanks.

Since hydrogen is very light, the tanks are pressurized at 700 bar containing 5 kilos of gas giving an average car a range of some 500 km. He said the tank size was comparable to a standard gas tank.

Hyon is a joint venture between Nel Hydrogen, Hexagon Composites and Powercell of Sweden, thus claiming a one-stop hydrogen and fuel cell solution, targeting marine industries, including cruise lines.

Green Potential

There are generally two ways to produce hydrogen today, with water (HO2) or natural gas (CH4) being the raw materials.

According to Franc, most hydrogen today is produced from fossil fuels, converting natural gas into hydrogen. He said that even that will reduce ship emissions from what it is. But there are roadmaps, he said, to shift the production in coming years to low carbon pathways.

Franc added that Air Liquide, for instance, started a plant in Denmark in early 2018, using wind power to generate hydrogen.

While using natural gas will mean CO2 emissions from the production; using power from renewable sources to split water in an electrolysis process means no CO2 and the resulting hydrogen can be considered renewable as well, according to Tronstad.

Nel only participates in projects based on renewable energy sources, he noted.

Tronstad said hydrogen can be considered a difficult gas, as it is very light and has very small molecules, but taking that into account, it is not difficult to design safe systems. He said that hydrogen is a very predictable gas and does not pose any greater risks than gasoline or diesel fuel.

Thus, Hyon has received approval-in-principle from DNV-GL for its module-based fuel cell solutions, adapted for maritime use. The approval builds on the MS-100 hydrogen PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell system from PowerCell for general application in ships.

The approval covers smaller modules of just a few hundred kilowatts to multi-megawatt units.

PEM Fuel Cells

Tronstad explained that PEM fuel cells are the standard already used in motor vehicles. He described them as very dynamic, operating effectively at different loads.

At PowerCell/Hyon we have developed the worlds lightest and most compact marine fuel cell solutions, he said. So fuel cells should not be a showstopper for large hydrogen cruise vessels.

What needs to be done next is to provide bunkering opportunities and to bring down costs.

Explained Tronstad: When you pay for power, you are also paying for the grid, for the infrastructure. We will produce hydrogen using renewable energy, but not from the grid. We will produce the hydrogen where the power is being generated, and then transport the hydrogen to where it will be used. This will reduce costs significantly.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Nikola Motor Company is rolling out infrastructure for hydrogen production and filling stations (from Nel) for trucks. Maritime bunkering stations may be next.

Produced as a gas, hydrogen can either be compressed or liquefied, said Franc, and as liquid hydrogen is very dense it lends itself for storage in large quantities aboard ships.

Hydrogen in transport applications based on fuel cells is very efficient and also benefits from the high efficiency of electrical motors, he said, but without the drawbacks of battery storage (weight, volume and safety).

The next step for hydrogen use does not require any change in ship design, only shifting hydrogen to low carbon production pathways.

Added Tronstad: Future ships may be larger because they will need bigger tanks to accommodate new fuels, such as hydrogen, methanol and perhaps ammonia, NH3, which has no carbon content.
St. Lucia is expecting a monster month of March when it comes to cruise traffic as the island is expecting over 140,000 passengers on 12 calls. There was also a maiden visit by the small 62-guest Crystal Esprit yacht earlier in the month.

We are doing everything possible to ensure that Saint Lucians benefit more from these impressive numbers. A revenue committee has been established at the Tourism Council to yield greater economic penetration for our people. said Tourism Minister, Dominic Fedee. "Therefore, the tremendous growth we are experiencing is a great beginning and we are committed to making this count by training our vendors and other stakeholders to focus on revenue.

With Saint Lucias capacity to welcome big ships, cruise guest numbers increased by 13.6 percent in 2018.

In the near future cruise travelers will have much more to see and do, as Saint Lucia is moving towards community-based tourism strategies, according to a statement.

The Department of Tourism has earmarked eight communities nationally for the development of the Village Tourism program with the aim of promoting linkages between onshore businesses and other sectors of the economy.

The idea is to convert each of the communities into a tourism destination, highlighting its unique culture, cuisine, heritage and history, thereby creating an experience for visitors unlike any other destination.
Contributed photo

TORRINGTON  The Northwest Connecticut Arts Council is introducing an new thank-you program for donors who support the efforts of the non-profit organization in the region.

Donors of $250 or more will be designated as Patrons of the Arts and sent a card that offers special discounts to important cultural organizations such as the Warner Theatre, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, TheatreWorks New Milford, and other venues in the area.
Adnoc Drilling, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), a global diversified energy and petrochemicals group, recently celebrated the graduation of 110 Emiratis from the companys Drilling Training Center.



The ceremony was held the Al Dhafra Region of Abu Dhabi.



During their training, the graduates acquired advanced knowledge, skills and practical experience in drilling methods and techniques. This will enable them to take up positions in Adnoc in a variety of roles essential for efficient and safe onshore and offshore well-drilling operations.



Abdulmunim Saif Al Kindy, executive director of Adnocs Upstream Directorate and chairman of Adnoc Drillings Board of Directors, said: Adnoc is committed to developing a world-class workforce across the entire value chain and to providing skilled opportunities for Emiratis, in line with the directives of the UAEs Leadership, to fulfil their potential and to contribute to the development, success and economic growth of their country.



With every group of new Emirati graduates, we add highly trained individuals to our talent pool, equipped with advanced industry technical expertise, the latest knowledge of processes, and HSE best practices. The high-quality training the graduates have received will enable them to play an important role in Adnocs continued long-term success by ensuring efficient, profitable and safe drilling operations."



The trainees join more than 1,000 Emiratis who have graduated from the Drilling Training Center in the last three years and who have taken up jobs at Adnocs onshore and offshore rigs, as well as other operational locations, in technical and semi-technical positions across all departments.



Abdalla Saeed Al Suwaidi, CEO of Adnoc Drilling, said: "The success of Adnoc Drilling is driven by our people. We aim to be the best in our field and, for this reason, we allocate significant resources to training, enabling the company to play a key role in supporting Adnocs strategic objective to deliver a more profitable upstream business and achieve gas self-sufficiency, as we create greater value from our offshore and onshore resources.



As Adnoc ramps up crude oil capacity to 4 million barrels per day by the end of 2020 and then 5 million barrels per day by 2030, it is critical we have a highly trained workforce who can conduct drilling operations efficiently, while reducing well-drilling times and costs and maintaining the highest levels of HSE and asset integrity.



For this reason, we are insistent upon sourcing the worlds best training equipment and methods. Investing in our workforce and developing young Emirati talent to enable them to excel professionally benefits Adnoc Drilling and the entire Adnoc Group, as well as the society at large, Al Suwaidi added.



Established in 2014, the Drilling Training Center is equipped with advanced simulation technology, which replicates drilling, well-control and various other situations for the trainee using virtual-reality screens. The simulator familiarizes trainees with the drilling and well-control operations of a rig, and gradually introduces them to the work environment of the drilling locations in a safe and controlled manner.



Adnoc Drilling is the largest drilling company in the Middle East, with a fleet of 91 onshore and offshore rigs. It is the sole provider of drilling rigs and associated services to Adnoc Group companies and possesses decades of market experience and detailed knowledge of the UAEs subsurface, enabling reduced risk in drilling activities.  TradeArabia News Service
BRIDGEPORT  Most people have heard of flash mobs.

In Room C-210 at Central High School on Wednesday, there was a flash course in engineering, presented with the help of two Central alumni who work for Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, now part of Lockheed Martin.

The pair, along with an entourage that included volunteers from Discovery Education, a provider of digital curriculum resources, took over a 10th-grade biology class, transforming it into a facsimile of one of Lockheeds top-secret Skunk Works innovation labs.

For a day, biology was replaced by the challenge to work in teams to come up with an aircraft capable of performing humanitarian aid missions.

This doesnt happen every day, said Alex Torres, a biology and forensic science teacher at Central. Its the learning they might catch in a normal curriculum but puts it all together in one class.

Central was the first of five schools that will be surprised with the one-day program that organizers hope will inspire more students to enter science, technology, engineering and math  STEM  fields.

The sooner students get a passion around science, the better, said Michael Ambrose, a vice president of engineering and technology at Sikorsky, who walked the halls of Central as a student in the late 1970s. Back then, he said, he wanted to make a career of running track.

Not until later did he discover engineering.

Lockheed Martins Generation Beyond STEM curriculum is about speeding up the discovery process by showing how exciting an engineering career can be.

On Wednesday, Central students were asked to draw prototypes, then build 3D models using clay  and as it turns out, a new 3D printer hiding behind a white curtain strung up in the made over classroom.

Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz also stopped by the lesson. Earlier in the morning, Bysiewicz had put in an appearance at Bassick High School, where her spokesman, Juliemar Ortiz, a 2011 Bassick alumna, was picking up an award.

At Central, she said she and the governor are counting on more young people to choose engineering, aerospace or advanced manufacturing as careers.

These are jobs of the future and these are jobs available right now, Bysiewicz said.

Kelsey Tonacati-Cuatzo, a Central sophomore, said she liked that the lesson was hands-on and fun.

Math is interesting to me, she said. Science, too.

Miguel Lopez, a Sikorsky program manager who also graduated from Central, remembers liking math so much in high school he thought of becoming a math teacher. His math teacher suggested instead he consider engineering.

Natalie Liberty Murray, a Central science teacher, said she liked that the assignment asked students to solve a problem that focused on empathy. The students had to design a rescue helicopter to aid in disasters.

A lot of times, science is separated from any type of feeling, she said. In this project, students had to put it at the forefront.

The class went so well, Sikorskys Advanced Technology Engineering team plans to return to mentor and help students learn to operate the printer, they said.

The crew will also be bringing the one-day engineering class to high schools in Florida, Texas, California and Colorado.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck
HARTFORD  The legislatures expanded Democratic majority had advocates in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour buzzing with excitement Thursday.

This has been a long time coming, Rep. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven, a staunch advocate for raising the minimum wage said at a press conference before the start of the Labor and Public Employees Committees public hearing. Im so excited.

Porter is the co-sponsor of a bill that would raise the minimum wage from its current $10.10 to $15 an hour by January of 2022.

Gov. Ned Lamont has his own bill to increase the minimum wage to $15  but his bill would take a year longer than to get to that goal, not hitting the $15 mark until January 2023.

At the press conference, Porter and Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, who co-chair the committee, were joined by workers currently earning minimum wage, labor leaders and economists to make the case that Connecticuts time has come.

It was five years ago this month that Connecticut passed a $10.10 hourly minimum wage to take effect by 2017, Kushner said. At that time, that was great, that was the highest in the nation. Now Connecticut badly lags behind our neighbors: Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont all have higher minimum wages than Connecticut.

The committees bill seeks to raise Connecticuts hourly minimum wage to $12 an hour by Jan. 1, 2020; $13.50 in 2021; and $15 in 2022, with future increases automatically tied to any rise in the consumer price index.

Lamonts bill seeks to increase the wage to $11.25 by Jan. 1, 2020; $12.50 in 2021; $13.75 in 2022; $15 an hour by 2023, and ties increases to the employment cost index. His bill mirrors Massachusetts schedule.

This legislation is long overdue and will help bring much-needed revenue back into the state economy by putting more disposable income into the pocket of workers  money that goes back into our communities and produces more revenue for the state, Porter said.

A higher minimum wage also will bring more dignity into the workplace, Porter said. The cost of everything  rent, utilities, food, clothes  has risen and minimum-wage workers, some whom are supporting families, are fighting and barely making ends meet.

Kyra Franklin of East Hartford lives on the minimum wage working at Wendys. Franklin wants to go to college to become a teacher. But its hard to pay the bills making the current minimum wage.

The problem is I have tons of bills and loan debt trying to put myself through school, Franklin said.

Connecticut AFL-CIO President Sal Luciano said the $10.10 minimum wage is almost criminal and that anyone making that wage is destined to live in poverty. He said getting to $15 an hour was a key first step but only the beginning of fighting for better pay for workers.

Speaking to the often repeated statement that raising the minimum wage significantly would hurt businesses, Economic Policy Institute economist David Cooper played down that mantra.

The minimum wage has been raised hundreds of times over the years and the sky has not fallen, Cooper said.

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo submitted written testimony backing all the minimum-wage proposals.

Recent studies by the University of California at Berkley have found that cities that have begun to increase their minimum wage toward $15 an hour have not experienced job losses in the food and hospitality sector, the largest economic center impacted by the minimum wage hike, Lembo said.

The studies Lembo cited also found that increased wages increase spending in the local economy and the higher wages will increase market participation, making it easier for employers to fill open positions and expanding the states total labor force, Lembo said.

But the bills have opposition.

Connecticut Business and Industry Association Vice President Eric Gjede said in written testimony that the annual hike in the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 or 2023 is too much for business to bear.

The proposed rate of increases are significant new costs for businesses to bear, Gjede said. These increases, $1.90 in the first year and $1.50 in each the two years thereafter, are far higher than the average $0.30 increases to the minimum wage routinely implemented in the past.

Gjede asked the committee to oppose the bill, but asked that if members decide to hike the minimum wage, that they spread the increases over six or seven years, instead of three.

Gjede told the committee that the best way to help individuals in entry-level and low-skilled jobs is to stop adding costs to employers.

The Connecticut Food Association also weighed in in opposition, saying the bills try to do too much, too fast.

The accelerated rate at which this proposed bill increases wages to $15 does not allow for retailers to absorb these costs efficiently, President Wayne Pesce testified. We do support a six-year implementation of the states minimum wage with no CPI indexing.

Rep. David Rutigliano, R-Trumbull, said one issue he had with a $15-an-hour minimum wage is that it might take away some workers ambition to progress.

How difficult is it to get to the third rung of the ladder if were going to sit there and take the first two rungs out? Rutigliano said.

Committee co-chairs Porter and Kushner were asked if they were concerned about the time difference reaching $15 an hour a year earlier than the governors proposal.

We are in discussions with the governors office, Porter said. There is plenty of room for negotiation.

The committees deadline to act on the bill is March 26.
ANSONIA  A heated dispute over who will pay for the massive sewer pipe collapse on Pershing Drive ended Wednesday night with the chairman of the WPCA apparently resigning after his commissioners authorized paying the bill.

Municipalities do not want people who do a good job, said Nunzio Parente, who announced Im done before he stormed out of the meeting. They want people who say Yes. 

Mayor David Cassetti said the WPCA has the money in its accounts to pay the bill. If the agency didnt pay, the city would have to.

If the WPCA had not voted to pay this bill, the residents would be looking at least a half-mill tax increase, Cassetti said. With this vote, well be able to keep taxes stable or lower them a little.

On Feb. 21, a nearly century-old underground pipe collapsed, sending raw sewage into the nearby Lemko Social Clubs basement.

The city set up a portable pump with a backup to bypass the break and send sewage from Clifton and Howard avenues to the treatment plant.

The damaged pipe is not far from the entrance to the Riverwalk; another backup could threaten several businesses and restaurants along Pershing Drive.

On Wednesday, a crew from Brennan Construction began building a retaining wall to allow a crew to go underground and repair the pipe.

City officials have been debating who will pay the bill, estimated at $760,000. Additional work, including a recommendation to reline the trunk line, could up the cost to $1 million or more.

For nearly two hours Wednesday night, Charles Stowe, a Water Pollution Control Authority member and a first ward alderman, held the floor. He urged his fellow members to pass several motions, including requiring a WPCA employee to review a daily log of the construction work kept by Public Works and the city engineer.

Im going to ask for a copy, said Stowe. Im going to review it and Ill put my name on anything. We got stores and stuff up there that can get flooded out this weekend.

WPCA does not have an on-call contractor, although Public Works does  Frank Pepe Construction. When the pipe collapsed, Pepe was called out.

Stowe also recommended that a list of contractors who can do sewer work be kept by WPCA.

So that the next time something like that happens, all the contractors are brought to the crisis site and theyre all competing against each other instead of somebody thinking they got us by the, he said.

Earlier Parente indicated WPCA would pay a portion of the final bill.

Were not gonna pay the whole bill  I can tell you that right now, he said. We intend to work with the city.

But the discussion grew heated when Stowe suggested and eventually moved  that WPCA be responsible for the entire bill.

Where do you get the idea were paying the bill? Parente asked.

Well, its never been cleared up who is responsible for paying these things, Stowe said.

Thats your interpretation, Parente said. It has been cleared up.

While many municipalities require the sewer authority to be responsible for maintaining the underground pipes, Parente said the WPCAs lawyer advised the group that the underground pipes are the citys responsibility. He said WPCA is only responsible for the plant.

If we were to maintain the lines under the city, our budget would be as big as Public Works... (and) wed have more than four employees, Parente said.

Stowe then moved that when this job is finished and we go over the bill, that the WPCA is going to pay for this break because its so big.

Not a chance in hell, Parente said.

However by a 3-2 vote with one abstention, the Authority voted to pay the whole bill.

Thats when Parente apparently had enough.

Charley, heres your seat. Come over and sit down  take over (the chairmanship). Im done, Parente said, as he grabbed his coat and walked out. Next January, youll have seven aldermen on this board and you can do whatever you want.

Afterward, Stowe complimented Parente on the job he has done as chairman, saying, Hes done wonders with the WPCA.

Cassetti said if Parente is serious and submits his resignation, he will accept it, thank him for his service and replace him.

But Sheila OMalley, the citys economic development director, said she will reach out to Parente, who she said has a lot of institutional knowledge.
3 1 of 3 Submitted photo / Danbury Public Schools Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Submitted photo / Danbury Public Schools Show More Show Less 3 of 3





DANBURY  A pair of fifth-grade students in Danbury are taking their spelling and geography talents to state competitions this month.

Western Connecticut Academy of International Studies student Sandya Sudarsanam will compete in the Connecticut Spelling Bee on Saturday for the opportunity to go to this years Scripps National Spelling Bee.
What prompted the Office of Internal Affairs investigation into members of the Bridgeport Police Department?

Police Chief Armando Perez sent a letter to the Officer in Charge at the Office of Internal Affairs requesting an investigation on Oct. 24, 2017.

I am directing you to open an internal investigation concerning the possible use of excessive force and any other department violations stemming form the incident on Colorado Avenue this past weekend and the subsequent actions in the booking area, Perez said in the later.

Perez said the investigations initial specific focus should be the actions of Sgt. Paul Scillia and Officer Thomas Lattanzio.

What was the incident that police responded to?

On Oct. 21, 2017, Bridgeport police responded to a house on Colorado Avenue for a noise complaint. When officers arrived, they found a house party underway and the scene quickly became chaotic, according to the report.

A 10-32 call went out over the Bridgeport police radio waves  which is the call made for officer in need of help. When that call comes over, every available police officer in the city will respond to the location to assist.

More than 40 cops responded to the incident. Eight partygoers were arrested.

How many members of the Bridgeport Police Department were cited in the report?

There were 13 police officers, two police sergeants, one detectives, one lieutenant and two civilian detention officers cited in the Office of Internal Affairs report.

When was the OIA report finished?

The officer in charge at the OIA completed the report on Nov. 13, 2018. He sent the completed report to Perez, Mayor Joe Ganim the president of the Police Commission.

When was the OIA report released to the public?

The 405-page report by the citys Office of Internal Affairs was released to Hearst Connecticut Media on March 6, 2019 after a Freedom of Information request was submitted in January and a reporter repeatedly asked for the report to be released.

What was the conclusion of the OIA report?

The OIA report said it focused on the reports provided by all the officers that responded, video footage taken by partygoers and video footage from police headquarters  specifically in booking.

The Officer in Charge of OIA said the 17 officers and two civilian detention officers were found to have violated various police department policies and procedures, the most common ones being unjustified excessive force, lack of truthfulness and inaccurate reporting.

A few officers also were cited for failing to get an injured arrested party medical attention, public contact, failure to protect property, use of a racial slur and failure to supervise.

All 19 cited in the report were referred to the Police Commission.

What happens to those cited in the OIA report now?

The Police Commission has yet to schedule any hearings for the officers involved.

The large number of officers means several defense attorneys will get involved in the hearings, which mimic a court trail with witnesses and cross-examinations.

Union President Chuck Paris estimated the disciplinary hearings could take at least six months, on top of the year the officers have already waited for the investigation to be completed by OIA. He said his concern now is ensuring the officers involved get a fair hearing.

Paris said most of the officers cited are still working at the police department pending these hearings.

What about the two officers involved who committed suicide?

Officer Thomas Lattanzio, one of the people cited in the report, killed himself on Dec. 4, 2017. Sgt. Mark Belinkie killed himself on March 2.

There has been no link established between their suicides and the Internal Affairs investigation.

What else should I read to understand this story?

Cops removed from duty following weekend clashes

Two Bridgeport cops commit suicide amid Internal Affairs probe

Senator calls on city to release cop investigation report

Read Bridgeport police Internal Affairs report of Halloween incident

Internal Affairs report cites 17 cops for misconduct

Breakdown of violations of Bridgeport cops cited in internal report

Photos: Internal Affairs report cites 17 Bridgeport cops for misconduct in 2017 Halloween party

Bridgeport police misconduct findings resurface communitys deep-rooted distrust

Bridgeport police failed to properly defuse party, chief says

Bridgeport cop investigator transferred to less stressful job

Bridgeport cop implicated by police probe retires after promotion

Who is covering this story?

Daniel Tepfer, who can be reached via email at dtepfer@ctpost.com.

Brian Lockhart, who can be reached via email at blockhart@scni.com.
Middle Eastern airlines freight volumes contracted 4.5 per cent in January 2019 compared to the same period last year, and the capacity increased by 4.1 per cent, according to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (Iata).



The Middle Easts seasonally-adjusted international air cargo demand, which trended upwards for the previous three months helped by stronger trade to/from Europe and Asia, has started to decline, added the report.



The global air freight markets showed that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs), decreased 1.8 per cent in January 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. This was the worst performance in the last three years, it said.



Freight capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometers (AFTKs), rose by 4.0 per cent year-on-year in January 2019. This was the eleventh month in a row that capacity growth outstripped demand growth.



Demand for air cargo continues to face significant headwinds. Global economic activity and consumer confidence have weakened. And the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturing and export orders has indicated falling global export orders since September 2018.



Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive officer, Iata, said: Air cargo markets contracted in January. This is a worsening of a weakening trend that started in mid-2018. Unless protectionist measures and trade tensions diminish there is little prospect of a quick re-bound.



Only two of six regions reported year-on-year demand growth in January 2019  North America and Africa. Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East all contracted, while Latin America was flat.



Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for air freight shrink by 3.6 per cent in January 2019, compared to the same period in 2018.



Weaker manufacturing conditions for exporters in the region, ongoing trade tensions and a slowing of the Chinese economy impacted the market. Capacity increased by 4.1 per cent.



North American airlines posted the fastest growth of any region for the eighth consecutive month in January 2019, with an increase in demand of 3.3 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier.



Capacity increased by 5.0 per cent. The strength of the US economy and consumer spending have helped support the demand for air cargo over the past year, benefiting US carriers.



European airlines experienced a contraction in freight demand of 3.1 per cent in January 2019 compared to a year ago. Capacity increased by 2.8 per cent year-on-year. Weaker manufacturing conditions for exporters, and shorter supplier delivery times particularly in Germany, one of Europes key export markets, impacted demand. Trade tensions and uncertainty over Brexit also contributed to a weakening in demand.



Latin American airlines freight demand was flat (0.0 per cent) in January 2019 versus last year. Despite the economic uncertainty in the region, a number of key markets are performing strongly. Freight traffic within South America and between Central and South America grew at a double-digit rate in January. And demand on routes between North and South America also performed well. Capacity decreased by 0.7 per cent.



African carriers saw freight demand increase by 1.0 per cent in January 2019, compared to the same month in 2018. Capacity grew 8.2 per cent year-on-year. Seasonally-adjusted air cargo demand has now trended upwards for six months. And while seasonally-adjusted international freight volumes are lower than their peak in mid-2017, they are still 35 per cent higher than their most recent trough in late-2015.



The challenges and opportunities facing the air cargo industry will be discussed at the 13th World Cargo Symposium which will gather the air cargo industry in Singapore, to be held on March 12 to 14.  TradeArabia News Service
Universal Rolling (Unirol), Bahrains leading producer of high-quality reinforcement steel bars, has officially opened its newly upgraded and fully automated manufacturing facility in Bahrain.

On behalf of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism for Industry Affairs Osama Mohammed Al Arrayedh opened the new plant in Salman Industrial City in the presence of Maher Abu Ghazaleh, chairman/CEO, Unirol; Ali Der, operations director, Unirol, and other executives.

Im delighted to celebrate the new upgrade of the existing facility in addition to the effort made into transforming it into an efficient, environment-friendly and automated state-of-the-art facility, said Al Arrayedh.

Unirols new investment in the facility and subsequent increased capacity of the furnace as well as new burners, will reinforce its position as the largest steel reinforced manufacturer in Bahrain, he added.

One of the largest steel plants in the kingdom, Unirol has invested $30 million in upgrading the existing facility and transforming it into a new state-of-the art automated mill using the latest technology.

With the upgrade, Unirol has increased its production capacity from 175,000 tonnes per annum to 275,000 tonnes per annum and now seeks to be the first production of high-quality reinforcing steel rods serving the Bahraini market.

The company has begun to source its raw materials locally and is now launching officially labelled `Made in Bahrain steel bars, said Maher Abu Ghazaleh, chairman/CEO, Unirol.

With a total investment of over $30 million till date, Unirol became a leader for rebar supply in Bahrain market and a stronger player in GCC countries. Our focus on quality and customer satisfaction is the key to the success of our organization, Abu Ghazaleh added.

Made in Bahrain

With the increased capacity, the company now plans to reduce the dependency on imports of steel bars and thereby contribute to the economic and infrastructure development in the kingdom. From procuring its raw material from Bahrain-based Sulb Steel to manufacturing the end product, Unirols focus will be on the Bahrain market.

"The project is the first of its kind in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and its presence is absolutely necessary to bridge the gap in demand levels in the construction supply chain of local rebar production, significantly reduce dependence on imports, Al Arrayedh said.

Up to now, we have procured our raw materials from GCC but after the upgrade, we now have the possibility of procuring raw materials from a local manufacturer in Bahrain namely our neighbour Sulb Steel, Abu Ghazaleh said.

Our products are now officially labelled Made in Bahrain from raw materials to the end product and this is exactly why we need the support of the different ministries to protect us against dumping from neighbouring countries as well as giving priority to Bahraini steel manufacturing sector for all the public sector projects in conformity with the other GCC countries, he said.

According to Abu Ghazaleh, the presence of Made in Bahrain high-quality products reduces the need for imported materials and creates a big contribution to the local economy.

Until we started the production, Bahrain was importing around 250,000 tonnes of rebars annually with a value of approximately $150 million. With the increased capacity, Unirol is offering to keep this $150 million within Bahrain economy, he said.

With our 40 years of experience in steel trading, we decided to invest in steel manufacturing field three years ago. We put our trust in the stable economy and potential future of Bahrain among the GCC countries, he said.

World economies are mostly driven by manufacturing sectors which create jobs. Construction is the main indicator of the health of the economy in any developing market and steel production is the prerequisite for the construction sector.

With that in mind, we decided to invest in Bahrain because of its robust economy and a flourishing construction sector, he added.

Flameless technology

According to Abu Ghazaleh, the company has invested in the latest technology used in steel manufacturing, which is not only environment-friendly but also leads to energy savings and emission reduction.

In our furnace, we have used `flameless burners which is the latest technology in steel manufacturing. Flameless technology provides significantly lower nitrogen oxide, emissions and better thermal uniformity, he explained.

We have also adopted a fully automated system in our furnace to make the best oxygen natural gas mixture for the highest efficiency enabling us to consume less energy. Harmful nitrogen oxide has been decreased by 70 per cent with this technology, he added.

The company has fully renewed the automation system in its production line to maximise its efficiency and minimise the risk for its safety of its workers, he said.

I am proud to say that our factory is working with zero accident record for the last two years, he said.

To summarise, I can say that we have renovated and changed almost 50 per cent of our line with new equipment within the last two years as per the latest technology in the steel sector, Abu Ghazaleh said. - TradeArabia News Service
OK, lets see if we can check the usual boxes on new efforts to reform sexual harassment regulations in the Connecticut workplace:

Strong Democratic support. Check.

Republican opposition. Check.

Backed by the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. Check.

Opposed by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA). Check.

Yup, this is why Gov. Ned Lamont fears the budget process looking like cutting room floor excerpts from Groundhog Day.

His predecessor, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, led the charge by calling on lawmakers to tackle workplace harassment in his 2018 State of the State Address.

Even with the winds of the #MeToo movement at its back, the General Assembly was unable to pass a tepid version of the so-called Times Up Act, as it passed the Senate but failed in the House.

There are 19 names on the 2019 Edition, S.B. No. 3 An act combatting sexual assault and sexual harassment. All of those names have Ds behind them. Some Republicans, notably state Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, supported last years efforts, but they should have more company on their side of the aisle.

If you doubt workplace harassment is a modern issue  and some business leaders have expressed such thoughts  read the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions 2016 report.

If you dont have time to peruse those 88 pages, consider this: A survey last fall indicated 20 percent of state Capitol staffers in Hartford have experienced sexual harassment.

Lawmakers are trying to address a few issues, notably to prevent employers from using a sexual harassment policy to shield complaints. It would also mandate that a victim would have the right to approve a change in conditions of employment.

Rep. Liz Linehan, D-Chesire, translated the realities of the second issue, recounting that after being sexually assaulted by a co-worker two decades ago, she was placed on paid leave while the abuser continued working.

The CBIA countered that increasing liability would discourage employers.

(It) removes a powerful incentive for employers to be responsible and proactive in responding to incidents of harassment, said Eric Gjede, vice president of government affairs for the CBIA.

Its a shallow argument. Employers should make every effort to combat workplace harassment because its immoral. No one should need an incentive to do the right thing.

For too long, women have blamed themselves or believed harassment is just something to be tolerated, said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, one of the bills sponsors.

Friday is International Womens Day. March is Womens History Month. Connecticut has a shaky history on harassment issues. If Bill Cosby had assaulted his victims in Connecticut, he could not have been prosecuted under the states outdated statute of limitations laws, which have a five-year expiration date.
January saw the arrival of new faces in Washington on both sides of the aisle following last years highly contentious midterm elections. While credit unions still have support in both parties, new members of Congress may or may not be informed about the importance of credit unions in the community, making now a critical time for credit union awareness and advocacy.

Indications are that Reps. Maxine Waters and Richard Neal, respectively the chairs of the House Financial Services and Ways and Means committees, plan to prioritize the following initiatives: data breach legislation, regulatory reform, charter enhancements and preserving the tax status. By marshaling the power and voices of the national trade associations and state leagues, addressing public policy issues and blanketing Capitol Hill with the credit union message, credit unions can earn a spot on the legislative agenda.

One of the most visible ways credit unions throughout the U.S. bring awareness to the important role credit unions play in their communities is through the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, which takes place each April in the nations capital. The annual event is instrumental in showcasing the value of the credit union community and the credit union movement at a local level. Credit unions throughout the U.S. proudly join together as the title sponsor of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, which benefits the Childrens Miracle Network. Credit union support for the event is two-fold: volunteers provide the manpower behind the event itself, while financial donations go directly to the millions of children who enter a Childrens Hospital annually for treatment.

The race puts credit union community involvement on center stage for members of Congress and other D.C.-area influencers. It also complements the active lobbying efforts of the CUNA and NAFCU trade associations. Many of the races 15,000 runners each year are Capitol Hill staffers, all of whom get the chance to witness firsthand the community service and volunteer efforts of this countrys credit unions. All of these groups and participants come together to help ensure elected officials  especially newly elected ones  have a clearer understanding of their role in the industrys future success and the importance of credit unions in their communities.

The Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run is also an opportunity to put the credit union philosophy of people helping people into practice. For credit unions and the CUSOs that serve them, the commitment to helping children is a natural extension of that philosophy. Since 2002, the event has raised more than $9 million to aid children suffering from illness.

For the 12th year, PSCU is underwriting the title sponsorship expenses for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run along with CUNA Mutual Group. The sponsorship helps ensure donations raised by participating credit unions and runners go directly to local Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals. PSCUs employees and their families hold the cause of childrens healthcare very close to their hearts. Many of them apply for the chance to participate in the race, and the CUSO proudly sends runners to the event each year. This years team will be competing as the PSCU Possibilities Delivered race team.

In addition to its support of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, PSCU provides the national trade associations with payments-related data as needed for specific lobbying initiatives, and PSCU representatives serve on various financial services advocacy committees and boards, bringing an industry perspective to important initiatives impacting the entire industry. In todays political environment, a proactive advocacy campaign is more important than ever. Whether it is behind the scenes or on the frontlines, credit unions everywhere should look for ways to lend their voices to growing the credit union movement.

For more information about the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, the flagship event in the Credit Union Miracle Day Family of Races, visit MiracleDay.org.


Philadelphia Solar company said its consortium with Ahmed Badawi Electromechanical Contracting Company has been awarded a contract to develop a 4.6 MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Jordan.



The project, being implemented by the University of Jordan, is the largest of its kind in Jordan and one of the fifth largest solar PV car-park projects in the world, said a statement from the Amman-based company.



The signing ceremony was held in the presence of Prof Abdulkarim Al Qudah, president of the University of Jordan, Adnan Badran, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Jordan, Abdulrahman Shehadeh, chairman of Philadelphia Solar Company and a number of industry leaders.-TradeArabia News Service


It's not a goat or calf, but a white deer, also known as a rare piebald
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.
Samsung Gulf Electronics has launched the Galaxy S10 range in Bahrain with three premium smartphones engineered to meet the distinct needs of todays smartphone market.



Samsung is celebrating 10 years of excellence by writing the next chapter in mobile innovation history. Our next generation devices deliver breakthrough display, camera, and performance in three cutting-edge smartphones that herald a new era of smartphone technology, said Tarek Sabbagh, head of IT and Mobile (IM) Division at Samsung Gulf Electronics. It will offer Bahrain consumers an incredible experience and expands the possibilities of what they can accomplish.



Galaxy S10e is built for those who want all the premium essentials in a compact package on a flat screen. Featuring the all-new Dynamic AMOLED display, next-generation camera, and intelligent performance, the Galaxy S10 line offers consumers more choices and sets a new standard for the smartphone.



Galaxy S10 is made with Samsungs best screen yet, the worlds first Dynamic AMOLED display. As the first HDR10+-certified smartphone, the display delivers vivid digital content, and with dynamic tone mapping, youll see a wider range of colour for a brilliant, realistic picture. Galaxy S10s Dynamic AMOLED display is also VDE-certified for vibrant bright colours and extraordinary contrast ratio for even deeper blacks and brighter whites.



Verified by DisplayMate, youll also enjoy exceptionally accurate colours on your mobile device  even in harsh sunlight. Whats more, the Dynamic AMOLED display also reduces blue light through its TUV Rheinland-certified Eye Comfort display without compromising picture quality or adding a filter.



The result of a groundbreaking engineering process, Galaxy S10s unique Infinity-O Displaypacks an array of sensors and camera technology into a hole-in display  so you can maximize your screen real estate without any distractions.



Galaxy S10s Dynamic AMOLED display also includes the first-ever in-display Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanner that reads the 3D contours of your physical thumbprint  not a 2D image of it  for improved anti-spoofing. With the worlds first FIDO Alliance Biometric Component certification, this next generation biometrics authentication offers vault-like security to keep your device safe.



The Galaxy S10 line offers everything you have come to expect from the Galaxy S series and moreincluding Fast Wireless Charging 2.0, IP68 water and dust resistance, a next-generation processor and Samsung services like Bixby, Samsung Health, Samsung Pay and Samsung DeX. You will get the largest storage capacity available on a Galaxy device  the S10+ even comes with 1TB of built-in storage  and the ability to add an additional 512GB microSD card for up to 1.5TB.



The Samsung Members app is designed to help users unlock the full potential of their Galaxy device through unrivalled exclusive lifestyle and service rewards available and regularly updated throughout the year, from exclusive event invitations to discounts on services, and specialized customer care services, all of which make the Samsung experience a fuller and richer one.



According to a company statement, consumers who purchase the Galaxy S10 smartphones will also receive great offers from Samsungs partners that will further enhance their mobile experience, these include:



 Enjoy 20% off at participating restaurants and lounges from the Marriott Internationals portfolio in the Middle East & Africa.



 Enjoy a complementary 3-month subscription to WAVO by OSN. Stream all the latest shows and movies from the biggest studios in the world  uncut and in HD.



 Enjoy discounts from Apparel Groups 18 international fashion and lifestyle brands like Aldo, Charles & Keith, Tommy Hilfiger, nine west and many more.





Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10e will be available in Prism White and Prism Black. Galaxy S10+ will also be available in Prism Green and, all-new, premium Ceramic models: Ceramic Black and Ceramic White.



The Galaxy S10 ($908 for the 128GB model), Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10e will be available across major stores in Bahrain and online starting March 15.  TradeArabia News Service
Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the emirates dedicated entity for culture, arts and heritage, is preparing to launch its Traditional Handicrafts Strategy.



The announcement predates the Safeguarding Emirati Cultural Heritage Forum, which will be held on March 5 and 6 at Etihad Museum under the Patronage of HH Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice chairman of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.



This launch aligns with Dubai Cultures five-year 2021 Sectoral Strategy, as it lays the foundation for strengthening the social fabric in the UAE, by preserving traditional handicrafts and ensuring their sustainability. The strategy builds on a comprehensive vision to establish Dubai as a leader in creativity, innovation, and happiness, in line with the five-year sectoral plan, while developing the traditional handicraft sector and encouraging young people to get involved in it. For this, Dubai Culture has made tireless efforts to promote the handicraft sector and highlight the importance of preserving cultural heritage, by working in unison with government and non-government entities, at local and federal levels, and effectively transferring knowledge to further grow and develop the handicraft sector, both culturally, socially and economically.



Saeed Al Nabouda, acting director general at Dubai Culture, said: Dubais leadership gives special attention to cultural heritage, particularly traditional handicrafts, by providing the needed resources and legislative infrastructure for these creative sectors to flourish. The establishment of Dubai Culture was the first step towards achieving this objective. To develop the legislative infrastructure and bolster the traditional handicraft industry, relevant laws and regulations were put in place. These regulations have helped in activating cultural and heritage assets and developing public policies, plans, and programmes. It has also enabled coordination of roles within relevant entities, thereby promoting heritage events and fueling younger generations interest in heritage.



Al Nabouda added: Dubai Culture is proud to be helping UAE maintain a leading position as the member of leading international organisations, as we seek to employ best practices and international standards to safeguard, protect, and document Emirati cultural heritage.



We are striving to preserve the UAE's cultural heritage for future generations by partnering with sister countries and helping submit joint nomination applications in order to preserve and document heritage elements and assets. As per our mandate, we are conscious of the significance of Emirati cultural heritage as an integral part of our personal and national identities and the civilized mindsets, he said.



Furthermore, Dubai Culture has worked to align these strategic objectives with its sectoral strategy and the Dubai Plan 2021 objectives, in order to build a diverse and multi-cultural community in Dubai, making it a source of inspiration and pride. Furthering Dubai Cultures efforts to promote a cohesive society proud of its identity, the Strategy works towards realising the objectives of the National Agenda of the UAE Vision 2021 which is to make the UAE among the best countries in the world by the Golden Jubilee of the Union. - TradeArabia News Service
WEST CHESTER  The father of a 4-month-old boy who authorities say died of blunt impact trauma, or so-called shaken baby syndrome, entered a no contest plea in Chester County Court, but will not be sentenced until later.

Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Sommer accepted the nolo contendere plea of defendant William Taeshaw Gardner over the objections of the prosecution in the case, and just weeks before Gardner was set to go to trial on the charges of third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and endangering the welfare of children.

According to Assistant District Attorney Erin OBrien of the D.A.s Child Abuse Unit, the no contest plea means that Gardner is not taking responsibility or showing remorse for the death of his son, Ayden Gardner, who died in December 2016 while in his fathers care.

Assistant Public Defender Meredith Copeland, who represents Gardner, did not explain to Sommer why her client wanted to plead no contest rather than guilty or proceed to trial, only that he understood what he was doing.

But under questioning about his decision to waive his right to trial and proceed toward sentencing, Gardner told Sommer that he agreed that the prosecution could present sufficient evidence to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the murder of his son.

A tall man dressed in a black suit and white dress shirt, Gardner, 28, who was living in West Brandywine with the mother of the deceased child, her mother, and other family members, said little during the 30-minute proceeding besides answering Sommers questions about his plea either yes or no.

When sentenced by Sommer sometime later this spring, Gardner faces the possibility of getting a maximum prison term of 331/2 to 67 years  20 to 40 years for third-degree murder, 10 to 20 years for aggravated assault, and 31/2 to seven years for endangering the welfare of children.

Copeland said that she wanted to defer sentencing until Gardner could undergo a pre-sentencing investigation by the Chester County Office of Adult Probation that would lay out his life history and his version of events surrounding his sons death. She also said that various family members and friends would likely appear at sentencing on his behalf; several were in the courtroom for Wednesdays plea.

Likewise, OBrien said she wanted to have time to assemble the childs family, including her mother and grandmother, to address the court on the impact of the young boys death.

Gardner, an unemployed high school drop out who lived with the mothers family at a home on Navajo Lane in West Brandywine while having a home address on Foundry Street in Coatesville, was arrested on Dec. 7, 2017, a year to the day after the death of Ayden.

According to the events that OBrien laid out for Sommer, West Brandywine police were called to the home around 3:50 p.m. that day by Aydens mother, Felicity Nelson, after she returned home from a day or work with her mother and aunt to find the child in a bedroom, unresponsive and cool to the touch. Attempts to revive him by emergency responders and medical personnel at Brandywine Hospital were unsuccessful. He was declared dead at 4:32 p.m.

Gardner was interviewed by Chester County Detectives at the time. He said he had been caring for the boy all by himself 24/7. He said that earlier that day he had noticed that the child was pale and throwing up, and that he called Nelson to tell her. He said he gave the boy a bath, and held him until Nelson arrived home  just as the boy took his last breath, according to the criminal complaint by Detectives Oscar Rosado and Joseph Walton.

But an examination by doctors with the county coroners office, the Nemours/A.I. Dupont Hospital in Wilmington, Del., and the University of Pennsylvania, said the child had multiple injuries that indicated that he had been traumatized over a period of weeks since his birth in August 2016.

They found as many as 15 rib fractures, bleeding of his eyes, and subdural bleeding, as well as a brain bruise. One doctor told investigator that those injuries could not have been sustained by anything as simple as a roll off of a bed, as Gardner attempted to claim in a subsequent interview with detectives.

OBrien said that Dr. Stephanie Deutsch, a child abuse pediatrician at the Dupont hospital, would testify that the cause of death was blunt impact trauma, and not a result of an accident. The manner of death, she said, was homicide.

Gardner was returned to Chester County Prison after the proceeding, where he has been held without bail since his arrest.
Mexican movie chain Cinepolis has revealed plans to expand across the GCC this year, with new cinemas set to open in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman.



In an exclusive interview with TradeArabia, Ashish Shukla, CEO for Cinepolis Gulf, revealed that it is currently fitting out its first cinema in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. No opening dates were announced.



The expansion plans come hot on the heels of the opening of the GCC's first Cinepolis in Bahrain at the end of January.



Located at Atrium Mall, Saar, on the left of the King Fahd Causeway when entering into the country from the Saudi Arabian city of Al Khobar, the Cinepolis cinema is ideally placed for Saudi visitors as well.



Featuring 13-screens, including Bahrains first Junior theatre and 4D E-motion viewing experience, as well as two large-format screens, MacroXE with Dolby Atmos, Cinepolis promises a unique cinema offering.



Since its opening, it has enjoyed favourable response from residents and visitors. "We're quite pleased with the response to our cinema experience in Bahrain. Our Junior theatre, 4D E-motion and MacroXE screens have become top favourites among visitors," Shukla said.



"We're also seeing a rise in visitors from Saudi Arabia, who constitute about 25 per cent of our visitors so far," he said.



To further boost the number of its cinemagoers, Cinepolis is offering 'flat 50 per cent off' when booking tickets using the Cinepolis Bahrain app. The special offer will run for the next three weeks, Shukla noted.



Shukla, who has been in the cinema industry for the last 30 years, is proud of Cinepolis impact on the cinema business in Bahrain.



"At Cinepolis, our aim is to ensure viewers enjoy a well-rounded experience. From exceptional seating and premium F&B options to the latest projection and sound technology, we aim to give our guests the best sound and picture for their money," Shukla noted.



When asked about the future of cinema following the rise of online streaming services, Shukla noted that such services "have not negatively impacted cinema attendance".



"Man is a social being. He/she enjoys being with people and experiencing moments together. Although there has been a rise in the number of online streaming service viewers [such as Amazon Prime and Netflix] across the region and the world, it has done nothing but take over the regular TV watching experience at home. Cinema, on the other hand, has always been, and will always be, a part of man's social activity."

Adding to the movie experience, Cinepolis held an exclusive screening of the much-anticipated Captain Marvel on March 5 for media personnel and lucky Instagram contest winners. - TradeArabia News Service
CALN  Residents came together to peacefully protest their desires to have a historical farmhouse saved from being razed.

Regal Builders, Wild Meadows, purchased the Lloyd Farm property located behind St. Joes Parish from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and has plans to build two apartment buildings with parking underneath the building and about 120 single family homes for people aged 55 and older. Additionally, developers are proposing to build commercial uses on the property on Route 322 (Manor Avenue) in Caln Township.

The developer recently held a meet and greet where residents asked what will happen to the historical farmhouse on the property. They hoped the developer would keep the building and they could use the building as the clubhouse, for example, instead of building the proposed clubhouse. However, the developer said he did not believe the farmhouse could be reused. The developer recently obtained a demolition permit that is valid for less than 180 days.

We came together to save a major piece of Caln Township history, to honor the legacy of the Underground Railroad, and to make the announcement that our land is not up for grabs, said resident Mark Evans, who participated in the peaceful march on Saturday.

Regal Builders/Wild Meadows LLC purchased the Lloyd Farm property in the spring of 2018, unbeknownst to some area residents who drive past the for sale signs that still remain on the property at the intersection of Manor and Lloyd Avenues. Some residents learned about the matter when their neighbors urged them to attend a Caln Township meeting in December 2018 and others learned about it when invited to a meet the developer question and answer session on Feb. 12.

Residents had asked the developer at the Q&A session if he had plans to save the farmhouse and repurpose that historical building, but the developer said he did not believe the building could be salvaged. He did however say that he hopes to reuse some parts of the barn that were not damaged by a fire years ago.

According to a resident, during the march on Saturday, they noticed a crew working and taking out the windows to the farmhouse and possibly removing other items.

The farm itself is one of the last remaining parcels from William Penns 17th century land grant, Evans said.

He explained that upon it stands a mid-18th century farmhouse that has been confirmed to have been an important part of the Underground Railroad, its 1910 addition was designed by noted Philadelphia architect Gilbert McIlvaine, whose Chester County Ostheimer Estate is listed on the National Historic Register. Circa 1982, a Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey completed by the Chester County Historical Society deemed the Lloyd Farm properties Eligible for Preservation under the National Historic Register.

Residents said they learned during the Feb. 14 Caln Township meeting that because the farmhouse does not sit in the Caln Historical Overlay, there was nothing we could do.

After hearing that, the residents generated an online petition to save the farm and they had 1,042 signatures in less than a week. They presented the petition to the commissioners at their Feb. 28 Township meeting. They planned a peaceful march on Saturday on the property, but the inclement weather kept most of the crowd from participating. A large crowd has been attending the recent meetings.

A small group of us participated in a march around the farmhouse, followed by a protest along Lloyd Avenue, Evans said. We had hoped for a larger group, but snow can be a great deterrent.

It is unknown how long the buildings will remain on the property. Regal Builders did not respond to a media inquiry.

According to township officials, the developer has been working on securing the site by putting a fence around the farmhouse because people have reportedly been breaking into the house. Additionally, the developer is building an access road for the crews working at the site.

Caln Township Manger Kristen Denne said that Regal has not presented a subdivision or land development plan, and the developer had only submitted a zoning amendment. However, following that public meeting in December 2018 which was cancelled, the developer has not resubmitted the zoning amendment and therefore the meeting has not been rescheduled.

The Commissioners have nothing to vote on involving the Lloyd Farm Development at this time, Denne said. The board didnt wish to pursue the proposed zoning amendment any further. They heard the public concerns that night and (the commissioners) determined they didnt want to act on the overlay.

In that matter, the developer would need approval from the majority of the commissioners regarding the zoning text amendment for the age qualified overlay district.
COATESVILLE  Were coming back.

SEPTA General Manager Jeff Knueppel announced to a gathered crowd of community members and local officials that Regional Rail service from SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) is set to return to Coatesville in the near future.

The Chester County Commissioners joined Knueppel for the announcement, on Thursday afternoon, which is a part of major investments planned to boost public transportation, economic development and community services in the city.

At a briefing held at the location of Coatesvilles proposed new train station, at Third Avenue and Fleetwood Street, Commissioners Michelle Kichline, Kathi Cozzone and Terence Farrell noted the many city, county and state initiatives and efforts that have been coming together  and will continue to come together  to strengthen Coatesvilles neighborhoods and its downtown.

Partnerships are paramount for the growth and development of Coatesville, and we are pleased to be part of that, Kichline said. What I see is a movement where we are all working together in a direction that is revitalizing Coatesville, and that importantly, is enabling the residents and businesses of the city to take advantage of the revitalization.

Headlining the list of the commissioners announcements was Chester Countys agreement with SEPTA to bring back the Regional Rail services to the City of Coatesville that ceased operation in 1996. The proposed new service will extend SEPTA train operations beyond the current terminus in Thorndale to a new station in Coatesville. Service will begin when construction of the new train station is completed by PennDOT.

Coatesvilles population has grown 20 percent since just 2000, and Chester Countys as a whole has nearly doubled since 1970, Kneuppel said. Given this growth, we believe the time is right to take a fresh look at SEPTA service here.

Cozzone noted: We cannot stress enough how important the SEPTA regional train service will be to the people of Coatesville.

Each train coming into the new station will bring with it developments and businesses offering more jobs and more opportunities. And each train leaving the new station will give access to regional jobs and greater economic opportunities for those living in Coatesville. A restored Regional Rail service will go a long way in restoring Coatesvilles strength.

The design for the new Coatesville Train Station is well underway and PennDOT is anticipating that the station project will be completed within three years of the start of construction.

As a major gesture of confidence in the return on investment in Coatesville, the county commissioners also announced funding of $1 million in community revitalization funds for the city, to be used to kick-start the parking garage project that is part of the train station development.

SEPTAs commitment to restore the regional train service is exciting, but hinges on the completion of the new train station complex, Farrell said. This check for $1 million shows that we are very serious about getting this project started, and we now turn to other partners, including PennDOT, for a firm date for completion of the train station. Its what the Coatesville community deserves.

The county commissioners also noted further commitments that confirm their desire to remain fully engaged in the success of Coatesvile, including funding for infrastructure improvements, affordable housing projects, education, training and job creation opportunities, and access to community programs and services.

Work on the First Avenue and Lincoln Highway intersection is just beginning through $1.7 million in Chester County Community Revitalization Program funds, and $750,000 was provided late last year by the county to purchase the new Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) offices and to make major renovations to the Coatesville Library.

Beginning later this month, a Coatesville Community Connections service will set up shop in the Coatesville Library with a community connector who can help all individuals and families to find crucial services such as food, rental and utility assistance; housing; child care; jobs; transportation; health and dental programs; and CHIP information. The service is administered by the Maternal & Child Health Consortium and funded by the Chester County Department of Human Services.

Coatesville City Council President Linda Lavender-Norris praised the partnerships that were able to make these projects happen.

Successful redevelopment is about more than buildings, its more about relationships, cooperation and partnerships, so I just want to take the opportunity to thank you all for partnering with us, establishing our relationships and building and moving our city forward.

Its our pleasure to accept SEPTA back in town again; its been a long time.
In a recent interview, uber-confident millennial bartender-cum-U.S. House newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) charmingly declared herself the boss, because Im trying, and that anyone, experts included, who disagrees is just shouting from the cheap seats.

Ocasio-Cortezs peoples business affectation clearly assumes boss to be a business or executive responsibility. She has neither.

Like Ocasio-Cortez, most politicians are not businesspeople. Nonetheless, many adopt the language of business to conflate their public functions with familiar private-sector business practices, and misleadingly apply it to governance while presenting themselves as management.

Officeholders would have us believe that, like seasoned businesspeople, theyre competent to manage government enterprises. They tell us that government, like successful businesses, creates jobs and adds value to peoples lives when, often, government is the greatest impediment to private-sector success.

Much of government adds only tax and regulatory compliance pass-through costs that burden consumers and depress businesses ability to compete and prosper.

Winners in commercial product and services markets are determined by price, performance and quality. Applying those standards to national government, most of its nonmilitary activities and investment choices are money losers: Amtrak, the Postal Service, alternative-energy failures and numerous other politically-favored money pits bleed taxpayer assets.

In reality, little is shared by government and business. The only commodities elected officials have to sell are the favors, influence and deals many hawk relentlessly to special interests in return for campaign cash and other considerations.

In business, labor reports to management. But many public officials  management, as they would have it  effectively report to labor. Big Labor, especially its public employee union component, constitutes Americas most generous, most powerful political lobby.

In many places, public union employees have received levels of pay and, especially, unsustainable benefits that have impoverished states and municipalities. Governments are failing in jurisdictions where enough of the right elected officials are union-bought, including in Pennsylvania where labor has long called the shots on education, liquor privatization, prevailing wage and right-to-work rules.

Business investments are made to yield positive returns. In government, investment is code for spending, too often done without concern for value, any expectation of intrinsic return or even productivity improvements.

Competitive businesses must sell more products or services to boost revenues, but, in government, revenue enhancement is code for tax increase. In business, spending cut means exactly that. In government, spending cut means only freezing or marginally reducing the rate of increase in public spending.

While deceptively adopting the language of business, public officials ignore the rules and regulations they impose on the businesses they mimic. Few governments and no federal agency could withstand the same audit the government requires of corporations. While businesspeople have done prison time for audit irregularities, offending politicians get reelected and bureaucrats receive bonuses and promotions.

Clearly, governments arent businesses, House members arent bosses, and, until elected public servants treat citizens, especially taxpayers, like shareholders, government has no legitimate claim to being even business-like. Absent such government, responsible stewardship of the public trust and treasure will remain out of reach.

Contact columnist Jerry Shenk: jshenk2010@gmail.com
David Lammy is not happy about Stacey Dooleys Comic Relief trip to Africa. Bad enough, his argument goes, that she swanned out there in the first place, trying to make a charity documentary and put some good in the world. Who does she think she is? A worthy person? Bah.

The Labour politician is enraged about something he calls white saviour complex and has accused Dooley of using her Instagram account to make herself look like a heroine trying to save victim black children. While I dont agree with his bigger argument about celebrities propounding what he calls hateful colonial imagery  privileged whites indulging themselves by tossing a crumb to oppressed blacks  hasnt he got a point about her social media posts?

Dooleys Instagram photographs from the Ugandan village where she was reporting on neonatal clinics and malaria have a queasy air about them.

Im sorry, but they do.

Here is the 31-year-old television reporter and Strictly Come Dancing star clutching a cute black baby, who looks none too pleased with the encounter

Here is the 31-year-old television reporter and Strictly Come Dancing star clutching a cute black baby, who looks none too pleased with the encounter.

Here she is again with the same toddler, head thrown back, laughing: hers, not his. He still looks a bit fed-up.

And has she applied a post-production vanity filter to make her eyes so blue, her skin so clear and her teeth so bright?

Since that would be so ghastly and inappropriate, such a glutinous splotch of first-world narcissism in the middle of this dusty safari of poverty, Im going to give her the benefit of the doubt and presume she hasnt.

Her other snaps include one of a little shack, presumably where the locals live or work.

And look here, another picture of indigenous women dancing and laughing, wearing colourful traditional robes.

Arent they just darling?

David Lammy is preposterous in a thousand ways and Stacey Dooley is terrific in a hundred ways more, but to be honest, some of this unseemly row is her own doing.

Although she is not to blame for the social media self-obsession that currently engulfs society, perhaps she could have done more to encourage her 669,000 Instagram followers to understand and appreciate the gravity of her African trip.

Beside her photograph of the humble shack, a fan called Jackie has joked that it is the Strictly dressing room, followed by a thumbs-up emoji.

David Lammy (pictured) is not happy about Stacey Dooleys Comic Relief trip to Africa

Next to the photograph of the random child  whom she never gives the dignity of a name  Dooley herself has written OB.SESSSSSSSSSSED.

Isnt that peculiar? It suggests that this poor unfortunate boy, born into grinding hardship in one of the poorest countries in the world, is something desirable to obsess over, like a puppy or a new handbag or covetable pair of shoes.

That is before she sets him back down in the sub-Saharan dust and returns home to her glamorous life in the UK, of course. To make matters worse, Dooleys African images were sandwiched between the cheery clatter of her usual Instagram feed.

Stacey posing for magazine photoshoots, Stacey drinking pink cocktails with her friends, Stacey pausing by a mirror to admire her matching accessories.

It insinuated that her Ugandan trip had been just one more pit stop on the carousel of her lovely life.

A heroine? Well as anyone on Instagram will tell you, it is all about me, me, me.

Anyone like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Clarkson and Nigella. To be honest, I regularly check into their Instagram to find out what they and everyone else are doing  and am never disappointed.

Gwyneth has just helped actress Drew Barrymore celebrate her birthday, and takes time to praises her immense brain.

Jeremy is on holiday with his girlfriend in Vietnam and spent the morning picking up litter from the beach. Nigella has just finished a trip to Australia, where she ate a lot of gingered tuna.

Although she is not to blame for the social media self-obsession that currently engulfs society, perhaps she could have done more to encourage her 669,000 Instagram followers to understand and appreciate the gravity of her African trip

Meanwhile, are any of my enemies with Insta accounts in trouble or in pain? Lets hope it is nothing trivial. These are the questions I ask myself while pouring a glass of rose and happily scrolling through the not-so-secret lives of others, patrolling the very depths of their shallows.

I dont post myself because Im too busy wondering when and why everyone become so OB.SESSED with putting the minutiae of their lives out there, for nosy parkers like me to consume as if they were episodes in a soap opera.

Even though a great number of celebrities are slyly marketing themselves rather than guilelessly sharing their lives, the concept of privacy and a real sense of self are beginning to be washed away in this ongoing sea of conceit.

And of course all this filters down into the civilian population. Even children now film themselves doing many everyday things  for if you dont record it and post about it, how can it possibly exist?

Of course, the weird culture of Instagram and other social media platforms is not unique to Stacey Dooley.

Millions use these sites to post the significant alongside the trivial, the profound together with the profane.

Perhaps she meant well, posing in the wretched village with the unknown little boy in her arms. Perhaps she thought there would be some benefit to posting the image online.

Yet it is hard to see what that benefit could be, except to burnish the halo and image of one Stacey Dooley.

And unfortunately, David Lammy agrees with me.

Thats not very charitable, Mr Lammy

He may have made a fair point about white celebrities such as Stacey Dooley posing with what David Lammy calls victim black babies. Yet when it comes to the wider implications of charitable donations from this country to Africa, he is way off beam.

Being charitable to those who are less well off than we are is something inculcated in British schoolchildren from an early age.

From infant school onwards, we collected milk bottle tops and did good deeds for the starving children in African countries where famine, poverty and lack of medical resources were endemic. We were taught that we were the lucky ones  and we were.

Then we grew up and saw terrible films and images of even more starving babies in Africa and once more we gave generously. Over and over again.

Comic Relief has its faults, but it has raised more than a billion pounds, most of it donated by ordinary British people of every colour, people with only goodness in their hearts. Where the excitable member for Tottenham sees white privilege in any of this is hard to fathom. The biggest problem is not our unstinting generosity, but the widespread corruption and lack of will by some African governments to improve the lot of their citizens.

We all know that millions of pounds ends up in the wrong places. If Mr Lammy would care to address that issue, instead of admonishing those who are only trying to help, we might have a little more respect for him.

That's one hell of a date, Elle

Elle MacPherson and Richard Lugner attending the Vienna Opera Ball

Kim Kardashian did it, so did Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton and of course Sarah, Duchess of York, along with Goldie Hawn, Geri Halliwell, Ivana Trump and Joan Collins. Now this year it is Elle Macphersons turn.

What is it, I hear you cry? Some fantastic treatment involving yak afterbirth and hot needles to improve the ageing or heavily freckled complexion?

No, silly. These ladies have all accepted the cheque and signed up for the dubious honour of attending the Vienna Opera Ball on the arm of construction billionaire Richard Lugner. Every year the old toad pays a celebrity to accompany him to the social event of the year in downtown Vienna. And while it might be for charity, it is still rather creepy.

A few years ago, Lugner paid 376,000 plus expenses to have Miss Kardashian by his side, but they fell out even before the goulash got cold. She was very hard to please, moaned Mr Lugner.

Perhaps he is not sordid, just lonely? Maybe! In 2014, the 85-year-old married his fifth wife, a Playboy model called Cathy who is 57 years younger than him.

It was a whirlwind romance, he said. At his age, it would have to be. Elles bells, what has she let herself in for?

I know who Id pour a bucket of dirty water on

Toby Sawyer (pictured) is the homeless man who was filmed having a bucket of dirty water poured around him by a railway worker

Toby Sawyer is the homeless man who was filmed having a bucket of dirty water poured around him by a railway worker.

Southern Rail has apologised and suspended three members of staff over the ugly incident at Sutton station in Surrey. Now it has emerged that Sawyer is a convicted killer with a long criminal record, a man who has spent much of his life behind bars.

Is this supposed to make the transgression against him more or less reprehensible? Sawyer has done terrible things, and he is probably a right pest, especially if he was hanging around your home or your business.

Yet he has been punished for his crime and paid his debt to society. Today, he is sleeping on the ground. He has nothing and no prospects; a life ruined and a brain pickled by alcohol. The railway workers he annoys every day probably have little sympathy with his plight, yet nothing excuses them swilling him with dirty water, trying to wash him away like dog mess.

I hope I still live in a country where that will never be acceptable. Or excusable.

Horror. Ocado has ditched Waitrose in favour of M&S and for millions of middle-class shoppers, life will never be the same. Waitrose fans will have to use waitrose.com to have their olive breads delivered  or get used to the expensive treats at Marks. Not that it bothers me. Im a Tesco girl all the way.

The BBC is losing viewers to streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Hardly surprising as the terrestrial channels are often so dull, with only the occasional nugget of joy Killing Eve, The Night Manager  to distract us.

Making an appointment with yourself to sit down at an allocated time and stay there until you have watched the scheduled programme until the very end? Well, it all feels so last century, as old-fashioned as gathering around the steam radio to listen to the Kings Abdication speech, or enjoying music with an ear trumpet.

Now the BBC is preparing, along with ITV, to launch is own streaming service called Britbox. The Beeb plans to keep shows on its free iPlayer service for a year before they move onto the paying service.

This means those of us who have already paid 150 for a licence fee are going to have to pay again to watch something we have already seen. Fantastic! Where do I not sign up?

Oh so very disappointed with the Beebs new This Time With Alan Partridge. Yes, it was a clever idea to have Alan filling in on a One Show-style programme, it just wasnt very funny. In a world where big beasts such as Richard Madeley and Piers Morgan roam free over the schedules, there is just no room for an Alan. Our eyeballs have been so scorched by the reality, we have nothing left for the parody.

Steve Coogans comic creation is a joy, but semi-successful Alan is just not as amusing as aspirational Alan. There was nothing as funny as the big plate he kept in his briefcase for the Linton Travel Tavern buffet, or the bottomless desperation of his Radio Norwich show. Back of the net? Not yet.
A mother who recently gave birth to a set of quadruplets has revealed how she was asked during the difficult pregnancy to choose which two of her four babies she wanted to save.

Kendall MacDonald, 27, from Timaru in New Zealand, and her husband Josh are Fpcosproud parents to six-month-old quads and a three-year-old son named Brooklyn.

It is the first set of quads born in New Zealand in 20 years.

Mrs MacDonald still remembers the moment she was told by doctors of the very real chance her babies may not survive.

'I was 12 weeks pregnant and it was suggested for the sake of my health and my babies' health that I reduce my pregnancy by one set of twins,' she told FEMAIL.

Kendall MacDonald (pictured right) with her four quadruplets and her three-year-old son Brooklyn (Brooklyn pictured second left)

Mrs MacDonald's much-hoped for pregnancy with the quads came after three years of trying to conceive.

The couple had desperately wanted a sibling for their boy and had started trying two months after Brooklyn was born.

'I suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis which made it difficult for me to conceive as I wasn't ovulating regularly. Even getting pregnant with Brooklyn came as a big surprise.'

PCOS is a hormonal condition that causes problems with menstrual cycles and fertility.

As well as having medical conditions which made falling pregnant hard, Mrs MacDonald also suffered from toxic shock syndrome following the birth of her first child when part of the placenta was left in her body.

This left her with scarring on her uterus, which doctors told her would make it difficult for her to fall pregnant as well as carry a baby to term.

The MacDonald quads are the first set of quadruplets to be born in New Zealand in 20 years

Over the period the couple were trying to conceive, there would also be a miscarriage.

Eventually, Mrs MacDonald would seek help to get pregnant using a drug known as Clomifene.

'Clomifene helps the body to ovulate and that was my problem. It seemed obvious that we would try that first,' she explained.

Mrs MacDonald's first round of treatment revealed she hadn't ovulated. However, after the dose was increased in her second month, she fell pregnant.

'It usually doesn't happen that fast for people but obviously, that upped dosage created a lot of eggs,' she said.

Mrs MacDonald reveals her growing baby bump when she was 20 weeks pregnant

While an early scan would confirm the heartbeat of just one child, the day of her nine-week scan would reveal the presence of another. Then a third scan that same day would reveal the heartbeats of two more.

'We'd gone from one baby, two two, then three then four. It was a huge shock,' she said.

'It was very surreal and we couldn't understand how these babies just kept multiplying.

'And we were almost in disbelief because multiples of anything don't run in either of our families. I never expected it.'

The MacDonald quads are now six months old (from left Indie, Molly, Hudson and Quinn)

Specialists concerned for the health of Mrs Kendall and her babies suggested she reduce her pregnancy by one set of twins (pictured Quinn, right and Indie, left)

What is a multifetal reduction? * A surgery called multifetal reduction lowers the number of fetuses and improves chances for a healthy pregnancy. * It is also called fetal reduction or selective pregnancy reduction. Source: WebMD Advertisement

Although this was a celebratory moment for the young couple, at 12 weeks the expectant mum was told she may need to make a heartbreaking choice.

'It was suggested for the sake of my health and my babies health that I reduce my pregnancy by one set of twins,' she said.

The family were given two weeks to make their decision and during this time they decided to seek out the opinion of two other specialists.

One agreed with her obstetrician's advice, however, another specialist said she wasn't so sure: 'This obstetrician said "if you are having no issues and you want to go ahead, then why don't you?"'

All four of the MacDonald quads would need to spend weeks in NICU to get help with their breathing, (Molly and her brother Hudson, pictured left and right) would stay 12 weeks in total

That day the couple went home with the advice if Mrs MacDonald could make it to 28 weeks without going into labour, the quads would be in with a fighting chance.

'I was told that if I went into labour before 28 weeks, the babies wouldn't survive. So the first goal was to get to 25 weeks, with an ultimate goal of 28 weeks,' she said.

This would mean the couple would need to spend the next three months hoping their babies continued to grow and that nothing went wrong.

'We were told not to buy any baby items or get ahead of ourselves because there were just so many risks,' she added.

When Mrs MacDonald reached 25 weeks, it was suggested she and her husband move into Ronald McDonald house to be closer to the hospital.

When Mrs MacDonald reached 25 weeks she and her husband Josh (pictured right) moved into Ronald McDonald House to be closer to the hospital

How much did each of the MacDonald quads weigh when born? * Quinn - 1.1kg * Indie - 1.1kg * Hudson - 1.2kg * Molly - 1.3kg Advertisement

At 28 weeks, she'd went into labour, which went for three days although oddly came with no pain.

'I was in denial I was even going into labour at first. I remember seeing my stomach tense and contract and then instead of a big bump, I saw the outline of four babies.

'After a few seconds, my stomach returned to normal. A minute later the same thing happened again.'

Once doctors confirmed she was in labour, Mrs MacDonald was taken straight to theatre where she had a Cesarean section to deliver her babies.

With help of surgeons she first delivered Quinn and Indie. Next was her son, Hudson. Then her daughter Molly followed.

'I was told that if I went into labour before 28 weeks, the babies wouldn't survive. So the first goal was to get to 25 weeks, with an ultimate goal of 28 weeks,' Mrs MacDonald said

Mrs MacDonald said although her babies were tiny, they were also much bigger than doctors had expected.

'Single babies born at that gestation are generally 900 grams but our smallest was 1100. And they were very tall.'

All this time, I'd been so terrified of losing my precious babies I hadn't allowed myself to get excited

Because they were born so early, they'd need to spend time in NICU connected to breathing tubes because they weren't able to breathe on their own

It would be seven weeks before they'd be able to be hugged, and another three before they'd be given the all clear to go home.

Baby Molly would need to spend a further two weeks in the hospital because she wasn't feeding well. Her twin Hudson would stay with her to keep her company.

Life for the family is made easier through the donation of nappies and formula which is supplied to them from the New Zealand Government

At 12 weeks, with all her children at finally at home, Mrs MacDonald said she finally 'felt like a mum of five'.

'All this time, I'd been so terrified of losing my precious babies I hadn't allowed myself to get excited.'

Making the event even more memorable was a photoshoot arranged by celebrated baby photographer Cassandra English.

Well-known baby photographer Cassandra English shot the babies when they were 12 weeks old

The photographer said she'd been dreaming of the photoshoot ever since finding out Mrs MacDonald was carrying quads

'The MacDonald babies may be the only set of quads I'll ever get to meet in my career, so it really was an incredible experience,' said Ms English previously.

To bring her stunning vision to life, the photographer explained she needed four babies, four assistants, three baby shushers, 27 bunches of fresh flowers, a handmade wreath and a wooden bed made by her dad.

'I'd been dreaming up this session since I found out about Kendall carrying these four tiny miracles,' Ms English said.

What does a day in the life of the MacDonald household look like? * The babies are fed a minimum 24 bottles a day, this doesn't include multiple top up feeds. * They are formula-fed which and go through a 900g can of formula every day and a half. * Over the course of a day, the babies will use at least 30 nappies * Their strict routine sees them wake up at 7am. They take naps from from 9-10am, 12-2pm and 4-5pm. * They are put to bed for the night by 7pm. Advertisement

The quads have just reached their six-month milestone and Mrs MacDonald reports her family are all happy and healthy.

Help comes in the form of free formula and free nappies, thanks to the New Zealand Government but life is still very much a juggling act.

'It's not easy but it's easier than we expected it to be.

'I can't believe we are on the other side of it and four healthy babies and they are all miracles.'

Mrs MacDonald has started a GiveALittle page to raise funds to support her growing family.
A woman who found herself homeless after falling pregnant at 15 has gone on to launch a successful beauty business loved by the stars - and is on track to make 700k in her first year.

Rebecca Crawforth, 33, from Doncaster, who lives with her two children, Hettie, three, Harry, 12, and her husband Curtis, 33, left school at 13 and found herself sofa surfing in her early twenties.

Fast forward five years and the mother-of-two, who thought of her business venture whilst in hospital battling a rare brain condition, has successfully launched Navy Pro  a bespoke beauty tool brand providing quality nail and beauty tools.

'The idea of our tools being used on the likes of the Kardashian's, JLo, Rihanna, is just madness,' she explained.

'I wanted to leave a legacy for my children and I have a feeling this may just happen. Who would have thought a Yorkshire girl would have created something with so much demand.'

Mother-of-two Rebecca Crawforth, 33, from Doncaster, launched Navy Pro  a bespoke beauty tool brand providing quality nail and beauty tools back in October 2018

The mumpreneur won funding from the Prince's trust which allowed her to set up and run two beauty salons. She used the capital from this to invest into her new venture, which has been a huge success

After her experience of working in a salon, Rebecca saw a gap in the market when it came to tool hygiene. Before her range launched, there was primarily the traditional blue disinfectants which caused rusting to the tools. Above, an item from the Navy Pro range

But running a successful business is quite the juggling act for the supermum - especially when it comes to her children.

'Its always eventful and never a dull moment,' said Rebecca. 'When the kids arent at nursery or school they are with me helping pack parcels and getting organised.'

'Its important that my son learns about money and business and I love him taking interest in what it is mum does.'

'My daughter knows mummy works lots but she loves to be with me in the office. My Mum and Nan even get involved too  it really is a family affair. I must admit its a struggle but my husband and close family help with child-care when possible.'

The busy mum was determined to give her son Harry (pictured), now 12, a quality start in life and after being made redundant from her job, opted to be self-employed

Rebecca, who hand-picked each innovative tool for the 'Navy' range, launched the venture in October 2018 - two years after having her daughter Hettie (above)

But while the mumtrepreneur has revolutionised the beauty industry with new tools that even the Kardashian's nail technician can't live without, it hasn't all been plain sailing.

'I left school at 13 with next to no education or qualifications,' she said. 'I travelled loads and was never without work, I always talked my way into new jobs and opportunities.'

'Not knowing what direction to go in, I was made redundant from a large department store. I lost not only my job but my home and resorted to staying on my grandmas sofa while carrying my first baby.'

Desperate for a quality start in life for her son Harry, she channelled all her energy into launching her own business.

Winning funding from The Princes Trust, Rebecca was soon at the top of her game after launching two beauty salons.

Rebecca thought of the idea to launch a pioneering beauty tool brand when she was sat in her hospital bed recovering from major brain surgery (above)

'I met a Princes Trust executive after returning to the UK and falling pregnant with my son whilst staying with my grandma,' she explained. 'I wanted to build a life for us and had heard of the incredible opportunities the Trust was renowned for.'

'I had an idea of what I wanted to do and from meeting them I never looked back. They gave me the wings I needed.'

The mumtrepreneur has revolutionised the beauty industry with new tools (above) that even the Kardashian's nail technician can't live without

But the tide of success wasn't to last, as Rebecca's bad luck returned when in early 2015, she was diagnosed with a rare brain condition which lead to lifelong autonomic dysfunction.

Sat in her hospital bed recovering from major brain surgery, Rebecca then dreamed of kick-starting her dream business model  a pioneering beauty tool brand.

'Ive always been entrepreneurial and the success of my first business allowed me to go down the consultant route to raise capital to start Navy Pro,' said Rebecca.

'When I owned salons, I was always very thorough with cleanliness and hygiene but felt restricted in what I could do.'

'The tool hygiene available in the UK is primarily the traditional blue disinfectants and to clean as often as required would cause rusting to the tools, meaning they would need replacing.'

She added: 'I could never understand why beauty professionals didnt have the same resources and tooling as other professions. It just had to change.'

After her illness stopped her from doing what she loved, Rebecca, who sold her salons to concentrate on her recovery, took a risk and invested everything into the new concept.

The supermum (above) is on target to make an impressive annual turnover of 700k from the pioneering range - which has been available for five months

Pictured above, Rebecca was introduced to David Cameron at a Prince's Trust event. He was meeting with young entrepreneurs to find out their needs and if they felt there was enough support from the government

The former beautician convinced a local manufacturer based in Sheffield, the home of steel, to take a punt and help her explore the visible gap in the market.

Items in the range Betty Nips - Perfect for cutting nails, strong durable and will remove crystals with a simple pinch - 54 Martha Nail Paddle - A small paddle which will clear debris and dead skin from on and around the nail plate - 32 Beryl Basic Nips - a staple pedicure tool - 28 Helen Cuticle Nips - A perfectly precise nipper that will trim away non-living tissue with ease - 46 Ethel Cuticle Pusher - The fastest selling tool to date, with over 5000 sold across the world. Ethel clears the nail plate of non-living tissue and ensures products do not lift from the nail plate - 34 Professional Lash Kit - Perfect for all professional Lash Artists and includes seven tools - 210 Professional Brow Kit - The perfect kit for any professional Brow Artist including 5 tools - 130 Advertisement

She then hand-picked and perfected each innovative tool for the 'Navy' range and her business launched in October 2018 - two years after having her daughter Hattie.

'I knew it was important to get influencers talking too,' she explained.

'So I allocated a small batch of stock to known salons and influencers and just hoped they would talk about the product and they did.'

Now, its been five months since she launched the next generation of tooling and Rebecca has already made waves in the beauty industry - with a number of well-known fans - including nail technicians to the Kardashian's and Oprah - already endorsing the products.

'When I received lovely messages from them I was so shocked I rang my husband almost immediately and started hyperventilating,' she explained.

'I had never expected to receive such a great response and from their posts Ive had many celebrity manicurists contact us and make orders.'

'Weve been told Navy Pro are now their go to tools with a permanent space in their kit  the love for our ranges is overwhelming. They have also had to wait long periods of time to receive as we havent been able to make the tools quick enough. We have now got stock in production constantly just to keep up with the demand.'

Rebecca has since worked closely with Liz Earle to create a bespoke product which sold-out and raised over 100k for the Prince's Trust

The beautician (above) convinced a local manufacturer based in Sheffield to work with her on designing and developing the pioneering tools

The exclusive range includes high standard, vegan and cruelty free, and professional tools for brow, lash and nail technicians.

The titanium coating gives each tool added strength and durability, with the added benefit that bacteria is unable to adhere to it.

'We began with three ranges of tools covering the three most popular areas of beauty; nails, brows and lashes,' explained the supermum.

'Our most popular range has been our nail tools with one particular tool taking lead sales, the tool is called Ethel and clears the nail plate of non-living tissue skin.'

From there, Rebecca went on to design a hygiene kit which has been just as successful and fun extras such as a Navy Pro candle with our signature scent and a Navy Apron.

While Rebecca's most popular range are the nail tools (right), she then went on to extend her range to include a hygiene kit (left) and even a signature scent candle

Dishing advice out to anyone who may be keen to follow in her entrepreneurial footsteps, Rebecca said 'accept any advice that is given to you'

Now, Rebecca is on target to make an impressive annual turnover of 700k from the range.

'Its a little surreal to think the business has been accepted so well across the globe in just a few months of trading,' said the mother-of-two. 'I am now in a position where I can support The Princes Trust and Navy Pro is lucky enough to act as an ambassador for them.

'I worked closely with Liz Earle in creating a bespoke product which was a sell out and raised over 100k for the trust.'

And Rebecca has advice for other mumtrepreneurs who may be looking to follow a similar career path.

'Stay consistent, accept any help that may be offered and take on any opportunities as you never know who you may meet or what doors may open,' she explained.

'Try and take some time out at least once a week so you can recharge your mind. Sometimes things are intense and you cannot make good decisions when youre in this frame of mind.'

She added: 'My ultimate goal is for Navy Pro to be stocked in a high-end retailer such as Space NK.'

The mother-of-two finds it a struggle juggling her own business with her children - but is delighted that they are keen to give her a helping hand

Since launching her beauty tool range, Rebecca has been inundated with praise. One delighted customer even wrote: 'OK beautiful packaging and the smell is amazing'
A blind man shows comedian Sara Pascoe how to use her other senses to experience the world in new BBC2 show 'Travelling Blind,' which airs tonight.

Amar Latif, 44, has been blind since the age of 18, but he hasn't let that stop him from going out and exploring the world.

As he heads to Istanbul and also into the Black Mountains, he quickly realises that him and Sara experience life very differently.

While the famous comedian likes to hide under the radar and quickly get to her destination, he loves to soak up the experiences around them - talking to locals and using his other senses to get a feel for the areas.

'When you're blind and you arrive somewhere like this and there's hustle and bustle, it really heightens my curiosity  this is where life is happening and I just want to experience it,' says Amar.

Amar Latif, 44 (left) has been blind since the age of 18, but his lack of sight hasnt prevented him from experiencing the world. Pictured with comedian Sara Pascoe

As they continue on their adventures, he shows Sara how to experience life using her other senses.

The adventurous duo start their travels in Istanbul - navigating the citys Grand Bazaar to get to their hotel.

Sara is keen to guide them straight there but Amar just wants to smell, listen and touch every item he comes across first.

But as he touches the silk scarves and talks to the locals, Sara seems on edge, revealing that shes quite shy at talking to strangers.

Amar and Sara start their travels in Istanbul and navigate the citys Grand Bazaar until they reach their hotel

Heading to a food market the next day in Istanbul Amar, who has travelled extensively, quickly makes friends, dancing with them in the streets and making a point of trying all the local foods.

Blind people cant just snap pictures and move on,' he says. 'For me its meeting people that really bring places to life. While my memories are also made by smells and sounds.

After three days in Istanbul, Amar and Sara head east to the Pontic mountains along the Black Sea, where they both get to experience men wrestling in oil, and witness a bee hive.

As Sara becomes more confident with new experiences as the show continues, she wants to know how she can help Amar see the world like she does.

As the sun comes up over the mountains, he confides in the comedian, telling her that he hasn't seen a sunrise since he was 18.

Sara Pascoe experienced travelling in a new way while she headed off on her adventures with Amar, who is blind

'Im beginning to forget what things look, it's so harder to build a picture in my mind. What does a cloud look like? What does someone smiling with their eyes look like?' he says.

'I've nearly forgotten what my mum or Dad look like, they are fading from my mind, its hard to keep the picture of them alive.'

Sara finds his words heartwarming saying: 'I had the presumption that if youd spent all of your childhood being able to see then youd be able to remember stuff.'

'The fact that it can disappear must be terrifying  it makes me want to try a lot with explaining what things look like.'

So when they head to Cappadocia, a unique landscape of volcanic rock formations, Sara describes the scene in forensic detail to help Amar 'see' again.

They also headed to Cappadocia, a unique landscape formed from volcanic mud thats been eroded to create staggering rock formations

Ending their trip with a hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia, she explains the amazing view of other hot air balloons positioned in the sky and the volcanic rocks beneath them.

'Your descriptions of this experience have really bought it to life for me,' explains Amar. 'It's as though I could see and that hasnt happened in a long long time.'

Bringing Sara to tears she said travelling with Amar made her realise she was 'shutting herself off from new experiences'.

Travelling Blind is on BBC 2 at 8pm on Thursday
Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) recently celebrated the 57th anniversary of the kingdoms joining the Chicago Convention, becoming the first of 52 countries that met to formulate the convention, whereby establishing the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).



This international event reflects the kingdoms position and its impact on civil aviation around the globe. This day marks a major milestone in the history of the ICAO, which laid down the foundation of the various process in the field of civil aviation. Furthermore, it defined the safety and security standards and developed the joint action and the international resolutions in the air transport industry.



Since the kingdoms accession to this prestigious organisation (affiliated with the United Nations), it has played an important role in the activity of the ICAO. The kingdom was elected to the organisation in 1986 for the first time as a member of the Organisation Council and has been re-elected at each session ever since.



Furthermore, the kingdom plays a vital role in bringing the air transport industry to the best international standards. It has contributed to the establishment of the cooperation between countries around the world in the field of civil aviation. It has helped in the development of joint action, and the formulation of regulations of international air traffic. It has also contributed to the formulation of international resolutions in the various field in the air transport industry.



Saudi Arabia has strengthened the march of the ICAO in several important events that marked a turning point throughout its history. One of these prominent points is the invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during a meeting with the president of the ICAO and stressing the importance of the Arabic language as a main language for the ICAO on its website. The kingdom has supported the Arabic version to become one of the official languages adopted by its site.



Moreover, in September of 2016, the president of GACA inaugurated the ICAO website Arabic version, which allowed all Arabic speakers to familiarise themselves with the organisation, as well as its decisions and recommendations.



Furthermore, as a confirmation of the kingdoms presence in the ICAO, the kingdom has won the election of the Air Navigation Commission (ANC) a subsidiary of the ICAO in the position of (vice-president of the ANC for the application of technical procedures). The kingdom has also become a member of the Regional Commission for Human Resources of the International Council of Airports for Asia and the Pacific. It also holds membership in most of the 31 ICAO committees.



The kingdom has provided financial support for ICAO projects, for example, the kingdom announced in August of 2016, the provision of financial support amounting to $1 million to the ICAO program which it sponsored No Country left behind (NCLB). The program has provided assistance to countries that are not in a position to apply safety standards relating to aviation safety and security. Moreover, in 2010, the kingdom provided the ICAO with $152,508, which amounted to the Saudi contribution to the Aviation Security Audit Program. Also in 2008, the kingdom provided $250,000 for the ICAO program for the enhancement of aviation safety on the African Continent (AFIPLAN).



Moreover, as a fair example of the kingdom's interest in the development of the air transport system, it was chosen to be the permanent host for the headquarters of the Regional Organisation for Safety Oversight for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA-RSOO), a subsidiary of the ICAO. The kingdom has also hosted and financed the permeant headquarters of the ICAOs Cooperative Aviation Security Program for the Middle East (CASP-MID).

Furthermore, the kingdom is actively involved in ICAOs efforts to protect the environment from the adverse effect of aircraft operation, and this is done through numerous initiatives and studies at conferences and symposium which the ICAO hold and supervised.



Saudi Arabia offered numerous training opportunities at the Saudi Civil Aviation Academy to benefit specialists in developing countries. The kingdoms international airports are members of the International Airport Council (ACI), and most airlines in the kingdom are members of the International Air Transport Association (Iata). The kingdom also enjoys membership in the international air navigation organisation CANSO and actively participates in its activities, and achievements.



In May of 2013, the kingdom organised the International Conference for Airport Security and its accompanying exhibit which lasted for two days. Many Arab and international organisations, in addition to civil aviation organisations, attended the event. Also, in the same year, the kingdom hosted the Second Meeting of Civil Aviation Directors in the Middle East, which was organised by the ICAO; the conference lasted for the period of three days and discussed a number of issues related to the development of the civil aviation sector.



In 2012, the kingdom hosted the ICAO Conference on Air Service Navigation, in which more than 350 negotiators from 62 countries from all over the world participated. The conference lasted for five days, with more than 350 meetings, resulting in 130 agreements. The ICAO also hosted a workshop (The ICAO New Flight Plan), which is the international plan for the required air navigation techniques.

The kingdom has also contributed to supporting the ICAO publications, particularly the ones dealing with aviation safety and security.



The kingdom is continuously and efficiently passing ICAO Global Civil Aviation Safety Audit Program, which is a reflection of its commitment to the international approach in the realization and application of safety systems.



With this in mind GACA, will continue its efforts with the utmost determination and perseverance, and in cooperation with civil aviation authorities of other friendly nations, that believe in the role and mission of the ICAO to explore all prospects for success and overcome all obstacles and difficulties. - TradeArabia News Service


Advertisement

A property that was previously dubbed 'Australia's worst house' is now back on the market after receiving a complete 'Hampton's-inspired' makeover.

The home at 50 Deighton Road in Dutton Park, Queensland, has transformed from a dilapidated three bedroom shack to a modern five bedroom, three bathroom home.

The house was originally bought in 2015 at the shock price of $668,000 - over $150,000 more than the asking price.

Now it is expected to almost double that when it goes for auction March 30 2019, with the median house price for Dutton Park sitting at $1million.

A property that was previously dubbed 'Australia's worst house' (pictured in 2015) is now back on the market after receiving a complete 'Hampton's-inspired' makeover

The home at 50 Deighton Road in Dutton Park, Queensland, has transformed from a dilapidated three bedroom shack to a modern five bedroom, three bathroom home

Although the house originally had crumbling walls, broken support structures, holes in the floor, broken windows and was deemed 'structurally unsafe to enter', it has always been in a prime location.

According to Ray White Stones Corner new houses are rarely available so close to the city, with this one being two and a half kilometres away from Brisbane's CBD.

Because the property the owners originally bought was so rundown they had no option but to completely bulldoze the home and start again.

The gamble paid off and now they have a beautiful family home in a highly sought-after location.

Although originally the house had crumbling walls, broken support structures and was deemed 'structurally unsafe' it has always been in a prime location

Now with the median suburb price of $1 million it is expected to almost double that when it goes for auction March 30 2019

Their new spacious property is also the only new home on the street, something which should help them beat the median price.

The atmosphere, the people, the buzz of the tourists around Southbank and the fact it's only a 15 minute walk from the city was incredibly appealing to the original family that bought it.

'My son and I were stood outside this completely un-liveable shack, with all its collapsed ceilings and termite infestation, but all we could see was our vision of a beautiful family home in its place,' house owners Rina and Ryan Zlatkin told Domain.

According to Ray White Stones Corner new houses are rarely available so close to the city, with this one being two kilometres away from Brisbane's CBD

Because the property the owners originally bought was so rundown they had no option but to completely bulldoze the home and start again

What are the features of the house? Downstairs  Open plan kitchen, lounge, dining with adjoining covered entertaining deck  Luxurious kitchen with butler's pantry, Euro Milan freestanding chef's stove/oven, Smeg Dishwasher, statement island bench, stone bench tops, plumbed water for refrigerator  Guest bedroom, built-in-robe, fully tiled ensuite  Laundry with plenty of storage, stone bench top, powder room  Rich oak flooring, feature pendent lights, LCD down-lights and air con Upstairs  Private master bedroom retreat with covered patio, fully tiled ensuite, walk-in robe with cabinetry, air con  Three additional bedrooms with built-in-robes and ceiling fans  Balcony access to two front bedrooms  Main bathroom fully tiled, over-sized shower, free standing bath, vanity with stone bench top  Generous media room and open plan sitting room with view of the city  The comfort of carpet throughout Advertisement

'We spent hours and hours with the architect coming up with a Hamptons style home that had a family in mind, that felt comfortable, but also allowed for enough room for both privacy and social time.

'We designed it ourselves from scratch. We deliberately put the master bedroom on the other side to where our kids would be to give us that virtual barrier, but we also ensured the flow of the house was smooth, with cupboard space aplenty and lots of natural light.'

The family were originally from Melbourne so they wanted to create a home that was stylish, yet complemented the character of the street, offering warmth, style and quality.

The atmosphere, the people, the buzz of the tourists around Southbank and the fact it's only a 15 minute walk from the city was incredibly appealing to the original family that bought it

'We spent hours and hours with the architect coming up with a Hamptons style home that had a family in mind, that felt comfortable, but also allowed for enough room for both privacy and social time,' said house owner and designers Rina Zlatkin and Ryan Zlatkin

Mr and Ms Zlatkin said the Hamptons style home fit the bill perfectly as it blends the old with the new.

'We believe we have designed the perfect home for a family to enjoy and be proud of, just like we are,' they said.

'We put blood, sweat and tears in to building something that makes us feel genuinely warm and happy on the inside. It was worth every minute we spent on it.'

'My son and I were stood outside this completely unliveable shack, with all its collapsed ceilings and termite infestation, but all we could see was our vision of a beautiful family home in its place,' said house owners and designers Rina Zlatkin and Ryan Zlatkin

The family were originally from Melbourne so they wanted to create a home that was stylish, yet complemented the character of the street, offering warmth, style and quality

Mr and Ms Zlatkin said the Hamptons style home fit the bill perfectly as it blends the old with the new

It comes as open-plan, with multiple living indoor and outdoor areas and has a luxurious kitchen with butler's pantry, quality appliances and statement island bench.

The 427 square metre property features a pool in the backyard and there's also a parent's retreat with a private patio, a media room and a sitting room with view of the city.

The design flows easily over the two levels delivering lots of space for the family to come together as well as ensuring privacy with rooms and entertaining areas spread out on the property.

'We believe we have designed the perfect home for a family to enjoy and be proud of, just like we are,' they said

'We put blood, sweat and tears in to building something that makes us feel genuinely warm and happy on the inside. It was worth every minute we spent on it,' they added

The design flows easily over the two levels delivering lots of space for the family to come together as well as ensuring privacy with rooms and entertaining areas spread out on the property

Their youngest son has now been accepted to a university in Melbourne so they're on the move again, unfortunately meaning they never got to live in this beautiful home.

'But I'll always have fond memories of the journey we've been on together as a family and I'll have a special memory of what was meant to be my kitchen and the gorgeous island bench that sits within it,' Ms Zlatkin said.

'It gives me great comfort that the home we designed will house a family and we hope it brings them great happiness.'

It comes as open-plan, with multiple living indoor and outdoor areas and has a luxurious kitchen with butler's pantry, quality appliances and statement island bench

Their youngest son has now been accepted to a university in Melbourne so they're on the move again, unfortunately meaning they never got to live in this beautiful home

Ray White Stones Corner sales and market agent Gunther Behrendt said the transformation from 'Australia's worst home' to the Hamptons-inspired character home was incredible.

'It's been an amazing journey for the owners and what they've been able to create is something to be very proud of,' he said.

When the home originally went to auction in 2015 more than 120 people spilt on to the street as 25 registered bidders contested for the pre-1946 timber home, which had fallen into disrepair.

It sold for more than $100,000 less than the median price for properties in Dutton Park, which sat at $785,000 on August 17.
With devoted readers in more than 60 countries, Sophie Kinsella is one of Britains bestselling novelists. Her beloved Shopaholic series became a global phenomenon and was made into a 2009 movie starring Isla Fisher.

Sophie lives in Dorset with her husband Henry and five children. Here, she turns to a more personal form of writing, with a witty and loving open letter to her seven-year-old daughter Sybella, sharing the lessons shes learned over the years.

Dearest Sybella,

As I watch you grow up, heading off to school and making friends, I want to help you to become a strong, happy and fulfilled woman.

Being a writer and a mother often seem like overlapping roles. When Im writing a book, I think: What should my heroine do now? What should she aim for? What are the pitfalls? In the same way, I look ahead and want so badly to smooth lifes path for you.

Bestselling novelist Sophie Kinsella (pictured) shares a series of life lessons in an open letter addressed to her seven-year-old daughter Sybella

I want good to triumph over bad, for your story to have a happy ending. But, in the real world, I cant make that happen. All I can do is pass on the lessons Ive learned and hope you will find them useful. So here they are . . .

Take a break

This lesson took me years to learn. Sometimes, you just have to think: I have the flu, I need to rest. Once, while working on a novel, I developed terrible repetitive strain injury. My hands lost all power and, for six weeks, I had to give up writing. I couldnt bear to break off  but it was my body saying: Enough. Ever since then, Ive aimed for balance.

Life doesnt have to be perfect

In fact, it wont be perfect. Trains will be cancelled, ovens will break and you wont get that job you desperately wanted. That boy you like will go out with someone else. Oh, and that night when you wanted to look especially good, you wont.

But you know what? It doesnt matter. Disappointment happens to everyone. I was devastated when I wasnt accepted  or, lets face it, even shortlisted  for the BBC graduate scheme. I was in my final year at university and, when I received that letter of rejection, I felt as though a door had slammed shut.

But now I think, if Id got that job, maybe I would never have written novels. Enjoy what does go right.

Dont believe the hype

Its so easy to buy into other peoples boasting, whether its on Instagram or in the school playground. I was mesmerised by a girl I met on a music course when I was ten. She told me she was allowed to wear lipstick at weekends and smoke and drive her brothers car. And did I realise my jumper was really uncool? I fell for it all  and instantly hated my jumper.

Sophie says if at first you don't succeed you might just need the right equipment, she recalls struggling to make meringues in her twenties

But people lie. And they exaggerate. (My jumper was no worse than any other hideous Eighties jumper.) And even if its all true, why share it in order to make someone else feel small?

Remember, you have more enjoyable things to do with your life than compare and contrast. You could be eating rhubarb crumble or hanging out with nice friends who dont need to boast.

If at first you dont succeed . . .

...you might just need the right equipment. I have a history with meringues. I tried to make them in my 20s and it was the biggest disaster. The eggs wouldnt stiffen and the mixture was runny.

I put the whole scene into a book and gave it up as a bad deal. But then, five years ago, I decided: I will not be beaten! I will master meringues! Perhaps it was my fresh resolve  or my new freestanding mixer. I whisked those wretched eggs until they didnt dare not stiffen  and guess what? Fluffy meringues!

Surprises can backfire

If youre planning to surprise your new boyfriend with a pair of beautiful, reduced price, non-returnable Italian designer shoes, check his shoe size first.

Sophie (pictured) revealed her biggest mistakes include buying unflattering Armani trousers because they were 90 per cent off, she says it's not a bargain if you don't need it

Its not a bargain if you dont need it

Its taken me years to realise that saving money isnt always saving money.

My biggest mistakes include Armani trousers with an irresistible 90 per cent off. They were an unflattering shade of grey and a terrible shape for me, and each of the (two) times I wore them, I felt obliged to tell everyone they were Armani, because why else would I have bought them?

Always have a question ready

I learned this one the hard way at a grand charity dinner. After his speech, the host asked the table: Does anyone have a question? Then he caught my eye and added: Sophie, do you have a question? There was an expectant silence.

I was mortified and mumbled: Er . . . not really.

Ever since then, Ive always tried to have a question ready, even if its just: Where do you see things in ten years time? or Where did you get your shoes?

Banish wishful thinking

Its the source of so many problems in life. If those boots dont feel right when you are trying them on in the shop, they will give you blisters. If that friend spends half her time ignoring you, shes not a friend. If you hide your credit card bills under the bed, they will not magically pay themselves.

Sophie (pictured) advises keeping your life goals flexible, she wanted to work in music and applied to be an accountant before working as a journalist

At difficult times, try to smile

One of my most embarrassing experiences happened when I was doing a television interview in Germany and my earpiece failed. There I was, listening to the presenters questions in German, not understanding a word, with no interpreter in my ear. Live on TV.

All I could do was smile and answer what I thought might be the question. Yes, I love writing! I said, brightly. Im very happy to be here in Germany! My favourite author is Jane Austen! I was dying inside.

Unsurprisingly, they cut the interview short. But I do laugh about it now.

Keep your life plan flexible

Everyone has life goals, but keep them flexible. I wanted to work in music or TV. Then I applied to be an accountant. Then I worked as a journalist and wrote about pensions before stumbling into fiction.

Decide where your keys will live

I constantly aspire to be the type of person who knows where they leave things. Im actually more likely to end up looking for my keys in the fruit bowl or the microwave. However, I live in hope that you will grow up with far better habits  and then maybe teach me.

Sophie (pictured) says it's important to learn how to say no and it's impossible to please everyone even if you want to be helpful

Dont share everything

People plaster their whole lives over the internet. Sometimes, it can be fun to share . . . but only if you want to.

You dont ever have to tell anyone about your private life. Its yours. Which brings me to . . .

Learn to say no

You want to be helpful and you want to be a good friend, colleague and neighbour. But you cannot please everyone. People wont be crushed if you say: No, I cant do that. Theyll say OK and call someone else.

Some friends last forever . . .

. . . And some dont. Cherish the good ones.

You can always have a coffee

By which I mean: dont be late. Of course, we all have days when the train and the bus fail  but, I mean, dont be habitually late.

People who turn up saying: Im always late, ha ha! are really saying: I dont care about other peoples time, ha ha! If youre early, just find a cafe, have a coffee, look out of the window and daydream.

Sophie's latest books include the novel I Owe You One (pictured right) and Mummy Fairy And Me: Unicorn Wishes (pictured left)

Turn off your phone when on a film set

Youd think this was obvious. You would think that only a complete and utter idiot would get it wrong. In my defence, I only did this once.

On the set of Confessions Of A Shopaholic, Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy were filming a scene and, when a faint bleeping was heard, everybody tutted disapprovingly, including me.

I thought my phone was safely silent in my pocket.

Until a production assistant came up and said: Actually, that was your phone, in your bag. I thought I might die of shame . . .

Make space for your flamboyant gestures

I once had a new shearling coat I was really proud of and, as I was leaving a restaurant, I put it on with a flourish.

Unfortunately, I knocked over a pile of drinks on a neighbouring table. Dont do this.

Well always be there for you

I hope you know this instinctively, but its worth saying that your family will always be there for you, no matter what.

Lastly, always have Marmite in the house

This doesnt need saying, really, but just to make sure.

Sophies latest childrens book, Mummy Fairy And Me: Unicorn Wishes, and novel, I Owe You One, are out now.
For sleek, lustrous locks or voluminous curls, hair straighteners are the go-to weapon for women everywhere.

And now, a $210 hot brush has been taking the beauty world by storm after selling out fast around the world, including at most leading retailer stores in Australia.

The GHD Glide promises to eliminate frizz instantly - allowing women to 'spend more time in bed' as it tames hair quickly and effortlessly in just a 'few quick strokes'.

But many young women have taken to social media to reveal they are struggling to get their hands on the now sold-out two-in-one ceramic technology.

Scroll down for video

Australian beauty blogger Erin Scott (pictured) swears by the GHD Glide - insisting the hot brush is the best hair tool she's ever used

The GHD Glide promises to eliminate frizz instantly - allowing women to 'spend more time in bed' as it tames hair quickly and effortlessly in just a 'few quick strokes'

What is the GHD Glide? GHD glide is the first professional hot brush from the brand which tames and smooths dry hair quickly and effortlessly. Perfect for second day hair, the ceramic technology with ioniser heats up the brush consistently to the optimum styling temperature of 185C for guaranteed healthier looking hair. Advertisement

One commented: 'My current obsession is trying to track down a GHD Glide and I'm not getting anywhere.'

Another asked: 'Has anyone see the GHD Glide Brush in stock anywhere even in store? I can't find it.'

One asked: 'When do you plan on restocking this product? It's out of stock.'

'They are all sold out,' one said.

Another woman commented: 'Is the Glide ever coming back into stock? Gutted I missed out.'

One wrote: 'Please bring them back. They're amazing.'

Another posted: 'When will the glide be available again? I tried ordering last Monday, got one in the basket and then it's out of stock before I can complete the order :( so annoyin.'

One woman added: 'The fact that the GHD Glide sold out and I can't get one makes me want one even more. Will just have to wait for them to release it again.'

However, there's still some stock available via the Australian online store - Sydney Salon Supplies with free delivery nationwide for orders over $100.

Sydney's fashion blogger Elle Ferguson (pictured) told her 654,000 Instagram followers: 'It's the perfect partner for when I'm second-day styling

Australian Instagram influencer Yaz Tunchy (pictured) described the hot brush as a 'game changer' and a 'big yes from me. Giving me more time in bed and less flyaways'

And it's not hard to see why this hot brush has become the must-have staple.

One Gold Coast woman said: 'The glide hot brush has made doing my hair faster and more simple. No fumbling around holding my brush and my straightener in the other hand, it's just made the whole process easier. It really gets into difficult spaces as well, at first I thought it was only going to straighten most of my hair, but that I would still have to get into the harder parts with my straightener, this isn't the case.'

Another said: 'Absolutely love this hot brush! I have very thick hair and it works really well to tidy and straighten, even without sectioning. It's very easy to use and super quick as well to give a nice blow dry type result. It's not as straight as using an iron but I love the finish. Has really changed my hair routine! A little pricey but it's worth it for me.'

One Canberra woman commented: 'I suffer from frizz attack in spite of my best efforts. Your Glide hot brush is now my saviour. I can brush it through for a smooth wave on day two, then wear it up day three. It is so easy to use and has reduced my hair washing from every day to every three days. I love that I can still have a wave without too much effort. Though I don't like frizz, I am not really a straight hair person so this product gives me a perfect solution.'

And Australian beauty blogger Erin Scott also agreed.

'I can literally roll out of bed 15 minutes later than usual thanks to my GHD glide. I've tried so many forms of the hot brushes, and this one is by far the most impressive piece of technology to date. If you guys are super lazy with your hair like me, you're going to love it! 15 minutes extra sleep, or 15 minutes of extra time to eat Krispy Kreme. Either way, I'm happy about it.'

Australian Instagram influencer Yaz Tunchy described the hot brush as a 'game changer' and a 'big yes from me. Giving me more time in bed and less flyaways'.

And Sydney's fashion blogger Elle Ferguson told her 654,000 Instagram followers: 'It's the perfect partner for when I'm second-day styling'.
Prince Charles vowed to visit all of Ireland's 32 counties before he died during a speech at the Irish embassy in London.

The Prince of Wales attended the event at the Embassy of Ireland in London with wife Camilla, and restated his faith in the friendship between the two nations ahead of crunch Brexit talks between the two nations.

In a speech, which featured a few words in the Irish language, Charles said he hoped to get round to visiting the other 17 Irish counties he had not yet visited before he 'dropped dead' or 'loses his marbles'.

The Prince of Wales attended the event at the Embassy of Ireland in London with wife Camilla

Along with the Duchess of Cornwall, Charles sat down for dinner with the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, Dara O Briain, Fiona Shaw, Sir Kenneth Branagh and Adrian Dunbar.

The Prince's remarks are likely to be interpreted as a way of reiterating the relationship between Britain and Ireland ahead of key crunch Brexit negotiations.

Charles, who has toured Ireland every year since 2014, said: 'Above all we are friends, we are partners and we are the closest of near neighbours, bound together by everything that we have in common - and by just how far we have come together.

'If I may say so ladies and gentlemen, this is precisely why it has been of such importance to both my wife and myself that we too should visit Ireland so often over these past few years - to experience and celebrate as best we can the unparalleled bonds between our two countries and to highlight just what a fundamental difference they make to us all.

Camilla attended the event in a green kaftan given to her by the King of Morocco (left), as Charles gave a toast reiterating the relationship between Ireland and Britain

'And I must say I'm slightly amazed to find that we've managed to visit 15 counties already.

'I am quite determined before I drop dead and finally lose my marbles that I should get around to the remaining 17.'

Charles added: 'And so, as our relationship evolves over the coming months and years, I have both the faith and the hope that the essential friendship between the people of Ireland and the people of the United Kingdom will not only endure but will renew itself for generations to come.'

Charles finished his toast by wishing everyone a happy Saint Patrick's Day in Irish: 'La Fheile Padraig sona daoibh.'

Connemara cured ham and organic Irish salmon were on the menu for guests at the early St Patrick's day celebration.

Camilla wore a green Kaftan, which was given to her as a gift from the King of Morocco when they visited the country in 2011.

In a speech, Mr Coveney said it was a privilege to be at the event to celebrate the British-Irish relationship approaching Saint Patrick's Day 'at a pretty serious time for everybody'.

He added: 'All of us here this evening understand that it's not a time of entirely plain sailing in this relationship. There are some big issues at stake.'

O Briain joked that he would like Brexit chaos to carry on until June when comedy panel show Mock The Week is back, saying: 'Frankly I don't want to be doing Mock The Week in a post-Brexit landscape.'
Advertisement

The first day of competition at the world's most famous dog show has got under way, with some of the world's glossiest canine coats strutting their stuff at the 128th annual Crufts competition.

The annual event, founded by Charles Cruft in the late 19th century and now held at the Birmingham NEC, brings thousands of dogs to the Midlands city, with many vying for the coveted Best in Show rosette.

The canine catwalk began in earnest - at a bleary-eyed 5am - with competitors and their owners trotting into the arena sporting a variety of eye-catching dog onesies, fleeces and even colourful snoods to keep their fur-covered ears extra warm - and their pristine coats in tip-top condition.

The first prizes of the four-day event, which runs until Sunday, have already been presented and owners have been spotted preening and primping their pooches - including fluffy Old English Sheepdogs, glitzy collared-Chihuahuas and super-cute toy poodles.

Let the competition begin! A very fluffy Old English Sheepdog, named Jagger, is groomed during the first day of judging at the annual Crufts Dog Show at Birmingham's NEC. Some 170,000 visitors will arrive in the Midlands City for the annual event

Don't cross me! An owner puts a warning sign for others up next to her Pointers as they wait patiently in their pen

We did it! A pet owner embraces her golden retriever dog - and enjoys a proper hug back - after it is awarded a prize on the first day of the world-famous dog show

Run like the wind! The first day of competition, dedicated to gundogs, saw this Afghan Hound making an impressive entrance

Hair goes! Two beautiful dogs, an American Cocker Spaniel, and a cream-coloured Afghan Hound bound over the green baize as the competition gets underway

Oscars, eat your heart out! A very tiny Chihuahu dog sits among some very glittery dog collars in the shopping portion of the arena

Last minute preening: An American Cocker Spaniel gets a final brush before facing the judges. Its immaculate honey-brown fur is perfectly trimmed around its paws

Best paw forward: Many of the pooches were dressed in eye-catching onesies, waterproofs and even bibs documenting their previous achievements

Surf's up! This frizzy-haired cock-a-poo makes a big impression as it wanders through the entrance wearing what looks like a wetsuit - with neon pink sleeves

Well, we are animals! Two toy poodles wear super-cute leopard and tiger print onesies as they pad through the grass

Clearly their owner is a fan on animal print too, co-ordinating perfectly with her pets for the prestigious event

Pow-wow! The first competitors for this year's Crufts competition, dog owners and their pets make their way into the Birmingham NEC where some 170,000 visitors are expected to attend over the next four days

No walkies today! A cute white-haired dog feels the wind its fur as it arrives at the competition in a plush-looking dog buggy

Many of the animals were carried into the venue on special adapted cage trolleys, including this Spaniel, who was sporting a spangly purple number

Pop star and mental healthy campaigner Professor Green visits the Benyfit Natural premium raw dog food stand and gets to grips with a dog offering a very knowing look

The rapper looked to be having fun on the first day of the event with two canine companions

Early start! A chow chow dog named Mr Raffles was one of the first canine attendees arriving for the first day of Crufts, with doors opening at 5am at Birmingham NEC, which hosts the world's biggest dog show until Sunday

When the Spaniels met the zebra: Two warmly-clad competitors make their way safely across the pedestrian crossing. Meanwhile, a sleek-looking brown weimaraner steps off a red bus

Spring chill! Many of the prized pooches, which have come from across the globe to compete, wrapped up warm with fleecey dog onesies. Right: This gorgeous white and chocolate brown breed goes for a racing green onesie

Keeping their perfectly groomed coats under wraps until competition day, a trio of King Charles Spaniels waddle into the NE

The first day of competition is dedicated to gundogs and will see the animals put through their paces with points awarded for agility, flyball, heelwork and displays.

The packed programme runs from 8:45am in the morning until 20:40 this evening with categories including: YKC Agility Dog of the Year, Vulnerable Breeds Competition and Gamekeepers Competition.

The event, which runs from Thursday, March 7th to Sunday, March 10th, has courted controversy in recent years with protesters calling the competition 'cruel', although the UK Kennel Club, who are behind the event, say they're 'committed to ensuring that all dogs have the opportunity to lead healthy, happy lives, with responsible owners'.

The pooch-filled pow-wow was established by Charles Cruft in 1891 as a much smaller event held at the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington, and has grown to become the world's biggest dog show.

A woman sits in the pet pens - where dogs rest inbetween competing - as she cuddles her Hungarian wire-haired Vizsla

Co-ordinated! An Angel Great Dane, left, and Bobbi, a Yorkshire Terrier Cross sit side by side as they await their moment in the spotlight

Final prep! A golden retriever prepares to be shown in the ring on the first day, which sees gundogs take to the floor

Sitting pretty: Bobbi, a Yorkshire Terrier cross takes a seat on a dappled armchair. Right: Peaking through: a sombre-looking Irish setter pokes its head through a green painted bench

It's been a tough morning: a golden retriever takes a well earned snooze on the opening day of the famous dog competition

Chocolate locks! This trio of gorgeous Irish setters show off their pristine show-ready locks

An Irish Red and White Setter bounds into Birmingham. Right, a trio of high-groomed small dogs make an entrance

Check us out! Tartan seems to be on trend in the canine fashion world, with several dogs turning up in stylish checked onesies. Right: This King Charles Spaniel makes a nod to Scotland in a bright red traditional tartan

Love Island star - and current squeeze of Little Mix's Jesy Nelson - Chris Hughes made an appearance at the Birmingham show while actress Jorgie Porter struck a pose with her dog Lady

In the pink: this fleece all-in-one protected the very shiny coat of this brightly-attired pooch

Elegance: An elegant-looking pointer strides in, flanked by two black-and-white dogs of the same breed

There was a sprinkling of celebrities at the event today, with rapper Professor Green and Love Island star Chris Hughes showing their affection for four-legged friends. Former Hollyoaks actress Jorgie Portas was also in attendance on the first day with her dog Lady.

Every year bookmakers see dog fans placing bets on breeds likely to scoop the top prize. Last year's overall winner was Tease, a whippet from Scotland but Bookies Betway has revealed that this year's favourite to walk away with the rosette is the gundog category, which last won the category in 2017. Odds are currently at 11/8 with terriers nipping at the heels with odds of 7/4.

As well as 'Best in Show', this year five pets are in contention for Crufts dog hero competition, proving that some pups go above and beyond in being mankinds best friend.

The Kennel Clubs Friends for Life competition looks to showcase the animals across five categories including working dogs, assistance dogs, pets and rescue dogs.

A touch of luxe: These little long-haired scamps dash in wearing nifty green and gold satin overcoats

And some more hardy animals - including this adorable husky, left, didn't need any extra layers. Right: A very shaggy dog makes its way into the competition arena

In the past the world-famous dog show has been hit accusations of cruelty...but the UK Kennel Club which organises the event maintains that it has the canines' best interests firmly in focus

Doggy ice-cream? It's enough to make a cat laugh... Billy and owner Margot slurp up some refreshing treats on day one

This handsome long-eared pooch kept its coat immaculate by dressing neck to foot in a red fleeced onesie

Among them is Finn the German shepherd who saved owner Pc David Wardells life while working as a police dog, receiving life-threatening injuries in the process.

The pair were chasing a robbery suspect in October 2016 who turned and attacked with a knife, stabbing Finn in the head and chest as he leapt to protect David.

This year's show will be aired on Channel 4 with a daily hour-long show until Sunday. More4 will offer additional live coverage every day.
The Countess of Wessex has joined forces with Angelina Jolie in urging world leaders to 'end the silence' around sexual violence against women in conflict.

Writing in the Telegraph ahead of International Women's Day, Sophie called on those in power to help end rape and sexual violence in war zones and to follow the UK's lead by 'putting more women and girls at the centre of conflict resolution'.

The wife of Prince Edward, 54, is working alongside the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI), launched by actress Angelina Jolie and former foreign secretary William Hague.

Sophie met with Jolie, a UNHCR special envoy, in November at the Fighting Stigma Through Film festival in London.

Scroll down for video

Sophie Wessex has teamed up with Angelina Jolie (pictured together in London in November 2018) in urging world leaders to 'end the silence' around sexual violence in war zones

Sophie (pictured in Cumbria last month) has called on those in power to help end rape and sexual violence in war zones and to follow the UK's lead by 'putting more women and girls at the centre of conflict resolution'

Around the same time, she met with Nobel Peace laureate Denis Mukwege, a , Congolese gynaecologist nicknamed 'Doctor Miracle' for his surgical skill and dedication in helping women overcome the injuries and trauma of sexual abuse and rape.

Sophie recalled a conversation at the roundtable discussion in which Dr. Mukwege said the biggest obstacle in tackling the problem is the 'silence' around discussing issue.

Dr. Mukwege's Panzi hospital has treated tens of thousands of victims of sexual violence in his war-weary native province of South Kivu, part of an eastern region riven by a conflict involving government forces and countless rebel groups.

His work, which focuses on 'atrocities on women's bodies', was the subject of an acclaimed 2015 film titled The Man Who Mends Women.

Sophie (pictured during a visit to the Isle of Wight in September 2018) was told that the biggest obstacle in tackling the problem is the 'silence' around discussing issue

Angelina Jolie (pictured with Jeremy Hunt at a PSVI meeting in November 2018) co-founded the organisation to help women affected by sexual violence in countries like South Sudan and the Democratic Republic Of Congo

Sophie recalled a conversation at the roundtable discussion in which Nobel Laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege, pictured, said the biggest obstacle in tackling the problem is the 'silence'

Jolie's initiative, the PSVI, has worked tirelessly to help women affected by sexual violence in war-torn countries like South Sudan and the Democratic Republic Of Congo.

Writing in the Telegraph today, Sophie praised the work of the organisation as well as that of Women, Peace and Security (WPS) which aims to reduce the devastating impact of war on women and girls.

Speaking about the problems faced by women in conflict zones, she said: 'The consequences of conflict do not go away when the guns are laid down.'

The Countess of Wessex has made women's issues a cornerstone of her humanitarian work and founded the Women's Network Forum in 2014.
A terminal cancer sufferer has created an online 'fashonistas guide to cancer' featuring the best beauty tips and clothes to wear after operations.

Lollie Todd, 40, from Altrincham, Manchester, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer after seeking help to get pregnant and has endured a hysterectomy, chemotherapy and drug trials.

But the fashion devotee was determined to add a touch of glamour to her ordeal and started an online guide revealing how her adoration of clothes has helped her through.

She offers tips on how to make your own hair pieces and how the 'sunglasses indoors look' is perfectly acceptable mid chemotherapy.

And she has

Lollie Todd, 40, from Manchester showing off her 'living with cancer fashion.' Her blog is followed by 100,000 people. She gives advice on how to remain fashionable while battling the disease

Lollie on her way to chemotherapy. Her funny blog talks about how important it is to get dressed in clothes that make her feel great during appointments

Lollie Todd, 40, suffers from terminal ovarian cancer. Lollie writes a fashion blog read by 100,000 people. She says her love of fashion helped her through her cancer treatment

Her advice includes wearing checked men's shirts instead of pyjamas and how dungarees are the 'best invention' for colostomy wearers.

She advocates buying four pairs of boots at a time if that's what it takes to get through the week, and ordering something off Asos to look forward during treatment.

Her guide gives followers the perfect concoction of make-up to cover chemo-damaged skin and the best clothes to wear during hospital stays.

Her blog and Instagram - both called a Fashion Buyers Guide to Cancer - has reached 100,000 readers, many of them cancer sufferers determined to look good.

Lollie in hospital after an ileostomy reversal operation in 2016. Lollie's been through countless operations, chemo treatments and drug trials since her diagnosis in 2015

Lollie, whose cancer returned and is now incurable, said: 'I used my love for fashion to get my through. Fashion was my armour.

'It was like getting ready for battle. I made sure that I always put my make up on.

'Before an appointment or treatment I would pick my outfit out - a bit like you do when you have a big event you are going to.

'If I had a bad day, I would get up and put make up on, and do befores and after photos of my look.

Lollie with her husband Dale Herbert, 36. Lollie was diagnosed with low grade ovarian cancer after experiencing difficulties conceiving with Dale

'To me it was a way of showing myself 'see you look fine'. I know it's not the way for everyone, but it was my way.

'When I found out the cancer had come back I really, really wanted these boots from Asos.

'I thought 'what's the point in buying the boots?' because I didn't know what the future held.

'But I thought, if I'm going to die next week, my answer to myself would be 'buy the bloody boots'.

'And if I'm going to die in three years the answer would be the same - 'buy the bloody boots'. So I did. I went home and bought four pairs of boots.

Lollie during a trip to the shopping mall. The blogger gives light hearted tips on how to live your life when you have cancer. 'If I'm going to die next week, my answer to myself would be "buy the bloody boots",' she said

'If I lose the feeling that I want to shop, that's when I know I'm not ok.'

Lollie was diagnosed with low grade ovarian cancer after early tests to explore difficulties falling pregnant, with husband Dale Herbert, 36, in August 2015.

She went on to have a hysterectomy, and her bowel removed and temporarily replaced with an iliostomy bag, before four months of chemotherapy in 2016.

She went into remission and - even went back to work as a fashion buyer because she 'missed getting dressed up' - before a CT scan revealed the cancer had returned.

It came back as 'lumps and bumps' in her abdomen and doctors said it was treatable but incurable in August 2017.

Lollie showing off her style (left) and a picture of her in the hospital (right). The blogger said her fashion made it feel brave and give her protection

Lollie started her blog three weeks after she found out she had cancer in 2015.

Her first post explained to readers about her diagnosis and all the appointments, tests and scans she had been through.

It then added: 'I could tell you all of the above in different way; how when I went to the hospital to hear the second diagnosis, I wore my new leopard coat from Topshop as it made me feel brave, or how on my sister's wedding day I wore my vintage fur coat as I felt it gave me protection.

'Each day that I get up and make an effort I feel stronger.

'Everyone deals with life differently, and I have always dealt with everything through clothing, so what makes this any different? Now it is more important than ever.'

Her blog after her hysterectomy features top tips on dressing to cope with treatment symptoms.

She wrote: 'Found that my snakeprint suede effect leggings from Bloomingdales in New York don't hurt to wear, and my check shirt from Topman is baggy enough to disguise the stoma bag I have to wear for the forseeable future.

'Leopard coat just because it cheers me up. Hat because in between hot flushes from surgical menopause my ears get cold.'

Super-stylish Lollie also features hosts of photos of how she dealt with hair loss - including funky half-shaved mohalks, ultra short crops and lilac wigs.

Her funny blog talks about how important it is to get dressed in clothes that make her feel great during appointments.

One post said: 'Dealing with cancer is heart-breakingly sad and incredibly scary, but it doesn't make me any less of a person than anyone else.

'I stand on an equal footing to anyone else in the room, the only different being I always habe a fabulous pair of shoes on.

'So feel sad for me, be there for me, but don't pity me. And sort your shoes out.'

She discussed the pros of hair loss in one post - 'fringe won't need cutting all the time and no curling needed' - and revealed the best make up to give tired skin a fresh sheen.

Lollie had to have another 17 weeks of chemotherapy last year.

She added: 'I feel there is a lot of stigma attached to having cancer and being told you have cancer - especially ovarian. I have lived with it for three and a half years now.'

To read Lollie's blog, go here.
Prince William appears to have taken a swipe at the army for failing to look after soldiers' mental health.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent yesterday in Blackpool visiting a series of innovative projects focused on investment and regeneration, as well as learning how the resort is tackling some of the social and mental health problems faced by people in Britain today.

The Telegraph reports that the Duke, 36, who will one day be head of the Armed Forces, told members of the emergency services that he has 'never really understood' why the Army had not always matched its physical training with mental health provision.

William appeared animated as he spoke during a community meeting during a visit to Blackpool Tower with Kate on Wednesday

He added that more needs to be done to support their mental health as historically the armed forces and the 'blue lights' have been slow to act.

He said: 'It's totally understandable that those who work in the emergency services would at some point [have] mental health issues build-up, because of the stuff that you see, the stuff you have to deal with and sort out.

'If we can get the blue light community, the army and others to kind of be able to say 'this is essential'.

'Because I never really understood why the army, for instance, only recently started putting mental health training in.

The Duke and Duchess were pictured greeting local members of the community projects along with a soldier as they kicked off a busy day in the seaside town

'It's taking time to catch up but we are getting it right but I think we still have a way to go yet.

'But if the blue light community can really grapple with this and set a very good example, it will come across through to society much quicker than it has.'

'They talk about being the best the whole time. You're physically trained to do all the stuff you do, but never once in the process was the mental aspect of what you were going to see at war time or war fighting... never was that actually processed through 'how do we actually train people physically and mentally be the best soldier?'

An Army spokesperson said: 'We take the mental health of our personnel extremely seriously, and resilience training is an important part of our duty of care.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge waved at onlookers as they visited the northern town

'The MOD has increased spending on mental health to 22million a year, and we are working hard to tackle the stigma around coming forward and asking for help.'

Kate, 37, looked elegant as she kicked off the visit to the iconic seaside town alongside William with a visit to the iconic Blackpool Tower.

The royal couple took part in a briefing about the town's recent history, the challenges, and the investment and regeneration efforts that are currently underway.

Kate cut an elegant figure in the rain, opting for an olive 940 Sportsmax coat, a 225 Michael Kors patterned peacock dress, and accessorised with a recycled 435 green Manu Atelier bag and black knee-high boots.

Kate wore a 225 Michael Kors peacock button-up shirt dress which featured a classic collar and semi-sheer sleeves, falling just below the knees and making for a stylish appearance. The Duke and Duchess are seen at a roundtable discussing the various local projects

The pair, sheltering under large black umbrellas, were greeted at the landmark amid the downpours with cheers from a crowd of several hundred well-wishers gathered outside on the promenade, including youngsters who charmed Kate with bunches of flowers.

As one little girl shouted 'Hello princess', Kate waved and smiled, and she also promised locals she would bring her three children George, Charlotte and Louis along on her next visit.

The Duke also vowed to take a stand against slum landlords yesterday.

The royal couple were said to have been 'deeply affected' as they were given a tour of mould-ridden houses left in a dangerous state in Blackpool.

Pictured, Prince William and the Duchess walk with Lee Burrell, development director at Blackpool Housing Company

They were highlighting troubling issues surrounding multiple occupancy homes unfit for habitation that litter the once prosperous resort.

William tackled the subject head-on in a speech, saying: 'Blackpool has always been one of the UK's most loved seaside towns. It is famous for its beaches, its promenade, its iconic venues and its stunning illuminations.

'But there obviously is a sadder side to Blackpool that we will see a bit of today  and we shouldn't attempt to skirt around this issue. Dispiritingly, those challenges are felt very strongly today and they are more pressing than ever.

The home was one of many houses bought by private landlords and used for multiple occupancy homes to take advantage of housing benefit

'Unemployment remains quite high, skilled professionals continue to leave faster than they arrive and Blackpool has become a transitory town for many without the right employment opportunities. Against this backdrop, mental health issues and social problems have risen.

'And a unique problem has also arisen as a result of falling demand for tourist accommodation, which has created an over-supply of what the council now perceive to be extremely low-quality private-rented accommodation.'

William and Kate toured homes where children had lived in squalor at the mercy of unscrupulous private landlords.

They visited Kirby Road, where 16-year-old Sasha Marsden was stabbed by her killer 58 times and dumped in an alleyway in 2013.
A woman has hilariously hit back at a retailer's miniscule size 8 outfit by getting her terrier to model it.

Callie Conway ordered the 30 lacy outfit for Ibiza from Depop, an online marketplace popular with teenagers where shoppers buy and sell clothes.

However, she soon discovered it was far too small to wear comfortably.

Making the most of the situation, Callie instead put the outfit on her dog, a Bedlington Terrier, which won the praise from thousands of Twitter users when she shared it online.

Callie Conway, 19, from Newcastle, shared this picture of her dog Charlotte, 12, in the outfit she ordered from an unnamed online retailer. When it arrive she discovered it was far too small for her size eight frame

Callie had hoped to wear the outfit on an coming trip to Ibiza, but it was 'tiny' and didn't fit

Taking the online shopping fail in good humour, Callie asked her dog if she 'fancied a hol'

Posting four pictures of her 12-year-old, dog, she wrote: 'So I bought a UK SIZE 8 outfit for Ibiza and this arrived... fits my dog better than me. Fancy a hol Charlotte??'

In a follow up tweet she wrote: 'Before anymore petty comments.

'1. The dogs not in pain/fear... she loves getting dressed up however always looks miserable!

'2. This is not animal cruelty... pet shops sell clothing/accessories for dogs

'3. Yes I named her Charlotte'.

Making the most of the situation, Callie instead put the outfit on her dog, a Bedlington Terrier

Callie (pictured) said that her dog 'loves dressing up' after people online said she was cruel

After the tweet went viral, Callie clarified Charlotte's name and said she 'always look miserable'

Speaking about the hilarious situation, Callie said: 'I ordered an outfit and when it arrived we were so shocked at how tiny it was.

'I measured it up against my dog and it looked as if it would fit so I thought why not.'

Callie added: 'She loves dressing up and has a full wardrobe.'

'I'm going to Ibiza this summer and wanted some funky outfits.

Callie said she wanted some 'funky outfits' for Ibiza, but was sorely disappointed when it arrived

'I ordered this online and it was so tiny it arrived in an envelope.

'My family were laughing and joking and sizing it against my Bedlington Terrier, Charlotte so of course I tried it on her.

'I couldn't believe it fits my dog better than me'

'She loves being dressed up, and it fit her perfectly - she's already got a full wardrobe of clothes, birthday dresses and accessories.'

On further inspection of the outfit, Callie soon realised that her 30 glam attire was not at all what it seemed.

Callie's tweet has caught the attention of people online, racking up more than 32,000 retweets

Callie added. 'It is stretchy so it does fit me just, however it's so tight and uncomfortable.

'I paid 30 and I think it was handmade, it has no label, it's literally a pair of fishnets cut up.

'Seems like Charlotte is ready to embrace her disco dancer vibe - we've even got her a hat and sunglasses ready for Ibiza.'

Callie's tweet has caught the attention of people online, racking up more than 32,000 retweets.

Thousands have people have also commented on Charlotte's party outfit.

Thousands have people have also commented on Charlotte's party outfit, saying she looks 'so good'

One wrote: 'Literally the best thing I've ever seen in my life'.

Another said: 'She looks so good'.

A third wrote: 'Mam, she look fab'.

'Well she looks stunning' was another comment.

People were keen to share that Charlotte was adorable and 'so cute'

Many got excited at the appearance of a Beddington, with others sharing pictures f their own dogs dresses up.

One person wrote 'OMG A BEDDY!!! hello baby bedlington!!!

Another shared a sweet photo of their dog in a wig, while someone else posted a picture of an adorable pooch in glasses saying 'we need to unite our belingtons'.
The Duchess of Sussex sported an eclectic collection of jewellery when she made her surprise appearance in London yesterday.

Mother-to-be Meghan, 37, piled on the bracelets and rings for the outing to the SSE Arena, Wembley, where she delighted fans by joining Prince Harry, 34, on stage after he delivered an empowering speech.

From her charity bracelet to the touching wording on her personalised necklace, each piece carried a meaning significant to the Duchess.

But the look didn't come cheap, with the total cost coming in at 3,350 - and that's without her stunning diamond engagement ring and gold wedding band.

Meghan, 37, piled on the bracelets and rings for the outing to the SSE Arena, Wembley, where she delighted fans by joining Prince Harry, 34, on stage after he delivered an empowering speech. Pictured: 1. Pippa Small Wajiha Bangle, 360 ($470) and Pippa Small Omeen Bangle, 160 ($210); 2. Ralph Lauren link bracelet, price unknown; 3. ME to WE Semiprecious Tamaa Bracelet, 21 ($28); 4. Pippa Small Rock Crystal Ring, 1,400 ($1,840); 5. Pippa Small Diamond Ring, 695 ($912); 6. Catbird NYC Threadbare Ring, 33.50 ($44); 7. WE Amazon Minga Bracelet, 15 ($20)

Arguably the most personal piece of jewellery on show was the 645 ($800) gold 'mummy' necklace Meghan wore, pictured, which is believed to be a gift from her baby shower

The Duchess of Sussex is a fan of wearing several pieces of jewellery at once, bucking the royal trend for keeping accessories to a minimum.

She is often seen wearing several rings, including the delicate 33.50 ($44) Catbird NYC Threadbare Ring which she wore on her thumb yesterday.

Meghan added two more rings on her other hand, both from London-based ethical jewellery label Pippa Small, one of her go-to accessory designers.

The 1,400 Rock Crystal Gold Greek Ring and the 18ct 695 Herkimer Diamond Cup Ring caught the light as Meghan joined her husband in the spotlight.

The Duchess also chose two bangles from the designer, both of which she wore during her unannounced outing to the British Fashion Awards in London in December last year.

The Duchess of Sussex, pictured in London on Wednesday, is a fan of wearing several pieces of jewellery at once, bucking the royal trend for keeping accessories to a minimum

Meghan's meaningful jewellery collection Pippa Small Wajiha Bangle, 360 ($470) and Omeen Bangle, 160 ($210) Ralph Lauren link bracelet, unknown E to WE Semiprecious Tamaa Bracelet, 21 ($28) Pippa Small Rock Crystal Ring, 1,400 ($1,840) Pippa Small Diamond Ring, 695 ($912) Catbird NYC Threadbare Ring, 33.50 ($44) WE Amazon Minga Bracelet, 15 ($20) Jennifer Meyer 'Mummy' necklace, 650 ($800) Advertisement

The 360 Wajiha Bangle and the 160 Omeen Bangle were both handmade in Kabul by artisans trained by the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, which creates jobs for young people who 'need hope and a sense of purpose in a beautiful country tragically caught up in violence and conflict'.

Her decision to wear the jewellery was a touching nod to her father-in-law, who founded the non-profit NGO in 2006 with the former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai.

Another chain link bracelet was spotted on her wrist and is believed to be the Lauren Ralph Lauren Chain Link Slider Bracelet, although this has not been confirmed.

The brand also designed the navy blazer worn by the Duchess yesterday.

On her other wrist Meghan showed further support for the WE Day event by choosing the 15 ($20) Amazon Minga Bracelet - Education from the ME to WE gift collection.

Meghan wore two bangles from London-based ethical jewellery label Pippa Small, one of her go-to accessory designers. She previously wore the 360 Wajiha Bangle and the 160 Omeen Bangle to the British Fashion Awards in London in December last year, pictured

Meghan's 'mummy' necklace was first spotted on the royal as she left her New York baby shower last month, pictured, prompting speculation that it might have been a gift

The proceeds made from bracelet go towards supporting water initiatives.

She also sported the ME to WE Semiprecious Tamaa Bracelet  Rose Quartz, which supports WE charity health initiatives.

The final, and arguably most personal, piece of jewellery on show was the 645 ($800) gold 'mummy' necklace Meghan wore.

The 18ct creation by celebrity-favourite designer Jennifer Meyer was first spotted on the royal as she left her New York baby shower last month, prompting speculation that it might have been a gift.

The handcrafted necklace was presented to the royal with the British spelling of 'mummy', a touching nod to the impending arrival of Baby Sussex - and her adopted home.
TCN News

Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood, Convener, Watan ki Fikr & President, Zakat Foundation of India has issued a press statement yesterday 6th March wherein he has proposed 9 points which, if the Government of India accepts and implements, Indian Muslims might agree for the construction of a Ram mandir at Ayodhya.

Dr Zafar proposed points are:

Support TwoCircles



1 De-reserve the constituencies of Lok Sabha and state assemblies where the Scheduled Caste percentage is not the highest in the state. Instead, reserve those constituencies where SC percentage is the highest, as recommended by Justice Sachar Committee. Thus end the widespread violation of section 9(1)(c) of the Delimitation Act.

2 The Alternative Admission Criteria (apportioning 60% for merit + 40% for backwardness) for undergraduate level admission into all universities and colleges of India should be accepted, approved and implemented as recommended by Justice Sachar Committee.

3 To fill the posts of CEO of state waqf boards the central government should accept, approve and implement the launching of Indian Waqf Service as recommended by the Justice Sachar Committee.

4 The earlier RBI proposal of allowing the banks to have a window for interest less banking should be accepted, approved and implemented by the central government.

5 The minority character of Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia and all other educational institutions established by the minorities should be accepted, approved and implemented by the central government.

6 Any person who is charged of terror activity and is, after several years of multi-dimensional sufferance, is exonerated by the court as innocent should be given Rs fifty lakh as compensation by the government. Later on, this money should be at least partly deducted from the salary/pension/provident fund/retirement benefits of the officer(s) who wrongly implicated him.

7 Through a simple majority vote of parliament, amend the definition of Scheduled Caste as given in para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and make this definition religion-neutral. That is to say, delete the conditionality of religion, as recommended by Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission.

8 Give proportionate share to Muslims in central and state council of ministers and in all nominated posts and appointments under the state & central governments.

9 Appoint Equal Opportunity Commission at the centre and in the states as recommended by Justice Sachar Committee.
The Queen composed her first ever Instagram post this morning to share an image of a letter sent to her great-great grandfather, Prince Albert, by computing pioneer Charles Babbage.

She was met by dozens of cheering children who enthusiastically waved Union Jack flags as she arrived at the Science Museum in London's South Kensington today.

The monarch visited the museum to unveil its summer exhibition, 'Top Secret' and formally open the new Smith Centre.

To mark the occasion, she wrote her first ever post on Instagram for the official Royal Family's social media page, and signed it off 'Eilzabeth R'.

The Queen was all smiles today as she arrived at an exhibition opening at London's Science Museum - before composing her first ever Instagram post to mark the occasion

The Queen wrote her first ever Instagram caption (pictured) to mark the visit to the museum

Using an iPad, she shared an image on the official royal family account of a letter from 19th century inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage to Prince Albert.

Known as a pioneer of the computer, Babbage wrote to Albert in 1843 about his Analytical Engine, a machine which could perform calculations using punched cards and had a memory unit to store numbers.

Standing in the Science Museum's new Smith Centre, the Queen was applauded after she shared the post on the royal Instagram account which was launched in 2013 and now has 4.6 million followers.

Using an iPad, she shared an image on the official royal family account of a letter from 19th century inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage to Prince Albert

She was met by dozens of cheering children who enthusiastically waved Union Jack flags as she arrived at the Science Museum in London's South Kensington this morning

She wrote: 'Today, as I visit the Science Museum I was interested to discover a letter from the Royal Archives, written in 1843 to my great-great-grandfather Prince Albert.

'Charles Babbage, credited as the world's first computer pioneer, designed the 'Difference Engine', of which Prince Albert had the opportunity to see a prototype in July 1843.

'In the letter, Babbage told Queen Victoria and Prince Albert about his invention the 'Analytical Engine' upon which the first computer programmes were created by Ada Lovelace, a daughter of Lord Byron.

The royal wore a distinctly spring-like tangerine orange coat and hat over a green flowered dress. She accessorised with black gloves, her trademark low black heels and a black handbag

The Queen also sported a large brooch, a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. Her makeup was kept light and natural, with a rose-coloured lipstick setting the look off

'Today, I had the pleasure of learning about children's computer coding initiatives and it seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post, at the Science Museum which has long championed technology, innovation and inspired the next generation of inventors. Elizabeth R.'

The @theRoyalFamily's Instagram account was set up in 2013 to share images and content of The Royal Family, their work, family celebrations and anniversaries and to invite interaction from followers across the world. To date, the account currently has 4.5 million followers.

As part of the visit to the Science Museum, the Queen also viewed iconic communications objects from throughout history, including an enigma machine and the computer on which the World Wide Web was created.

The Queen posted her first ever Tweet during a previous visit to the Science Museum

The monarch visited the museum to unveil its currently under wraps summer exhibition, 'Top Secret' and formally open the new Smith Centre

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'The Queen has long been a supporter of digital communications tools, and she sent her first tweet during her last visit to the Science Museum in 2014.

'In a similar act, The Queen launched the first British Monarchy web site in 1997. Her Majesty sent her first e-mail in 1976, during an engagement at a military base.

WHO WAS MATHEMATICIAN AND COMPUTER PIONEER CHARLES BABBAGE? Charles Babbage was a mathematician, inventor and mechanical engineer who is credited as the first person to propose a programmable computing device. He invented the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex electronic designs, though all the essential ideas of modern computers are to be found in Babbage's original analytical engine. Born in London in 1781 and raised in Devon, Babbage became interested in mathematics as a child and went on to study at Cambridge. After graduation, he was invited to lecture to the Royal Institution on calculus and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1816. Between 1813 and 1868 he published six full-length works and nearly ninety papers. In 1823 Babbage obtained government support to design of what he called the Difference Engine, a digital computing machine for the automatic production of mathematical tables. He never completed the full-scale machine and his government funding was stopped. Babbage went on to propose an even more complex computing machine which he called the Analytical Engine, intended to be able to perform any arithmetical calculation; it is on this creation that his reputation as 'the father of computers' was built. Babbage worked closely on the Analytical Engine with Ada Lovelace, daughter of the poet Lord Byron. Lovelace was the first to see that the machine had the potential computation beyond the numeric. The modern computer programming language ADA is named after her. A large model of the Analytical Engine was under construction at the time of Babbage's death in 1871 but a full-scale version was never built. Researchers are currently trying to fund the construction of the full-sized machine in time for the 150th anniversary of his death in 2021. Sources: Encyclopedia, Brittanica, BT Tech. Advertisement

'There is a long association between The Queen and the Royal Family and Technology.'

The royal wore a distinctly spring-like tangerine orange coat and hat over a green flowered dress for the visit. She accessorised with black gloves, her trademark low black heels and a black handbag.

The Queen also sported a large brooch, a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. Her makeup was kept light and natural, with a rose-coloured lipstick setting the look off.

Pupils from St Osmund's School in Richmond were among those outside to greet the Queen as she arrived.

During her reign the Queen has encountered a rapidly-changing world of technology, from the advent of colour television to mobile phones and the internet.

Television cameras were allowed inside Westminster Abbey in 1953 to film her Coronation and more than half a million extra TV sets were sold in the weeks running up to the historic event.

Queen Elizabeth II leaves after announcing the summer exhibition, Top Secret

The Queen leaves the Science Museum after announcing its latest exhibition

During her reign the Queen has encountered a rapidly-changing world of technology, from the advent of colour television to mobile phones and the internet

Five years later, she made the first trunk call in the UK and, when email technology was in its infancy, she became the first monarch to send one of the electronic messages  during a visit to an Army base in 1976.

The concept of video-sharing website YouTube was explained to her by Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie before she launched her own channel on the site in 2007 to promote the British monarchy.

Her own website, www.royal.gov.uk, was launched in 1997 during a visit to Kingsbury High School in Brent, north-west London.

Other technological milestones for the Queen include personally uploading a video on to YouTube during a visit to the Google offices in London in 2008, and in 2014 she posted her first tweet under her own name to declare the opening of the new Information Age Galleries.
This Morning has been branded 'a disgrace' after it used a fake ITV news bulletin to help the show reveal the gender of a couple's twins live on air.

Holly Willoughby showed off some very convincing acting skills as she appeared to interrupt the show's light-hearted section for a 'breaking news story'.

Running the dramatic ITV news bulletin intro music, the show handed over to news presenter Nina Hossain who began reading what appeared to be a genuine report, leaving many who saw it fearing there had been a terrorist attack or the 'Queen had died'.

Scroll down for video

'A disgrace': This Morning viewers weren't impressed with Holly Willoughby's convincing acting skills on the show. The star interrupted the programme to go to an urgent ITV news bulletin but it was later revealed it was all part of a gender reveal feature on the show

Serious: ITV news presenter Nina Hossain dramatically announced there had been some breaking news, leaving viewers at home thinking there had been a terrorist attack or the 'Queen had died'

The programme even used the official ITV news opening - including the dramatic music - to make the fake 'breaking news' appear more realistic

The section, co-hosted by This Morning's Dr Ranj Singh, saw couple Chelsea Austin and Jack Fythian, who are 21 weeks pregnant with twins, anxiously awaiting the news on the gender of their children. They were joined by two other couples who were also awaiting their own gender reveals.

However, for many viewers, using what appeared to be an actual bulletin to break the news to Jack and Chelsea was in 'bad taste'.

@TellyBritish penned: 'This morning just faked a breaking news as part of a gender reveal. Literally everyone watching immediately thought the queen died.'

@StefanWentz called for an apology, saying: '@thismorning u are a disgrace!! I will be putting a complaint in about that stupid and irresponsible breaking news with the terror stuff yesterday and the talk that war could happen, also news of the queen and her bruised hand u do this! #ThisMorning no tweet of apology?'

One viewer called for the show to issue an apology for alarming viewers with what appeared to be a serious interruption to the programme

Eventually, Hossain broke into a less serious tone and revealed the gender of the twin babies currently being expected by couple Chelsea Austin and Jack Fythian

Double trouble! The couple were told they are expecting twin boys in July

Finally, a smile from Hossain let viewers know that this was actually a more light-hearted affair

Good news! Holly was joined by Dr Ranj Singh, who helped her tell three couples the gender of the babies they're expecting

Couple Vicky and Alice, far right, who got engaged last week in New York were tricked by ITV producers, who showed how they'd revealed the gender of their baby - a girl - several times just out of their sight during the show

@Sal_Lydia1 wrote: 'Really @thismorning ??!! Totally irresponsible using a 'Breaking News Flash' for a gender reveal!! Congrats to the couples & all that, but how many people just thought something seriously bad had happened!! Ridiculous!'

@MooseDobby added: 'Just FYI #ThisMorning I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant and your breaking news almost scared me into labour!'

@Huxleypiguk raged: '#ThisMorning stupid irresponsible breaking news stunt, thought at least the Duke of Edinburgh had died. Go find a dictionary and look up the word 'responsibility' and then fire the intern who thought this was a good idea.'

And @amethystrosaa was equally as angry, saying: 'How is it ok that #ThisMorning did a realistic "breaking news" just for a gender reveal?? Genuinely thought something bad had happened I was so scared.'

MailOnline has contacted This Morning for comment.
The Prince of Wales made a royal visit to a laboratory that is attempting to create biodegradable plastics today, on his continued crusade to save the planet.

Prince Charles, who has long been passionate about highlighting climate change and living sustainably, took a tour of Polymateria Ltd at Imperial College in London.

He was seen laughing and joking with students, as he unveiled a plaque at the college and toured the lab.

The Prince of Wales looked in good spirits as he toured Polymateria Ltd at Imperial College London today, a lab that creates biodegradable plastics

The royal was snapped smiling and laughing with staff as he greeted them during a reception

The royal looked engaged on his tour of the lab and animated while chatting to staff during his visit.

The Polymateria lab aims to create biodegradable and compostable plastics.

Prince Charles unveiled a plaque at the lab in honour of his visit, before he was shown around the building by students.

He looked smart for his visit, wearing a navy pinstriped suit, with a blue and white striped shirt.

Prince Charles seemed in good spirits on his visit to Imperial College London today, and wore a classic pinstriped suit, blue and white striped shirt and a blue tie that featured little white elephants

He was photographed laughing and joking with students after his visit to the Polymateria lab in London

He finished off his outfit with a light blue tie, which had a pattern of white elephants across it.

He looked riveted as he toured the lab and spoke to scientists about the mission to build biodegradable and compostable plastics.

And after his tour, he seemed optimistic, smiling and joking as he met students of the college.

The Prince has long been vocal about his desire to combat climate change, and takes a personal interest in causes which hope to do the same.

Prince Charles has long been vocal about his desire for more sustainability and passion for combating climate change

The Prince of Wales seemed riveted by the scientists in the lab, who hope to create biodegradable and compostable plastics

The royal wore a classic pinstripe suit, and blue and white shirt, but finished his outfit with a charming light blue tie with small white elephants

He has spoken before about the importance of sustainability, saying at an event in November: 'If we do not act our children and grandchildren will not be able to sort out the mess.

'We are the first generation to understand, in full and terrifying scientific detail, that we are destroying our world. And we are the last to be able to do something about it.'

In a documentary in the same month, son Prince Harry revealed his father can't help 'banging the drum' even when he sits down with his sons to dinner.

He told Prince William : 'You know how frustrated he gets. But he's done an amazing job, and without telling us what he should be doing or the direction that we should go in, he's just let us learn from the nature of the job, learning from him, learning from Mummy.

The programme Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70, which aired on the BBC, the princes also revealed that their father took them litter picking as children, and was a stickler for turning off the lights.

To commemorate the visit, Prince Charles also unveiled a blue plaque for Polymateria Ltd
Cole Sprouse opened up about how he and his Riverdale cast members are doing after the death of co-star Luke Perry this week.

The 26-year-old actor was interviewing ahead of the release of his movie Five Feet Apart when he was asked how the Riverdale cast was handling the news of Luke Perry, 52, dying on Monday after he suffered a stroke a few days prior.

'We're recovering, yeah,' Cole said to TV host Andrew Freund while appearing hesitant to say much more on the subject.

Heartbreaking: Cole Spouse, 26, was speaking with TV host Andrew Freund regarding his new movie Five Feet Apart out on March 15 when he was asked about Luke Perry

Sad: During the interview, Cole admitted he and his cast members are still 'recovering' over the news about Luke's death

Revealed: 'It's obviously not the easiest thing to talk about, but he was well-loved,' Cole said about his Riverdale co-star

Well-loved: Luke, 52, died on Monday after being rushed to the hospital days earlier from a stroke. Fans, families and colleagues were left reeling over his death

He continued: 'It's obviously not the easiest thing to talk about, but he was well-loved, and there's been an outpouring of emotional support from people around the world, which just goes to show what a wonderful person he was and how much he impacted people's lives, and impacted our lives.

'But I know that his family has requested a sort of privacy during this period and I respect that quite a bit.'

Cole gave a similar statement to Extra on Wednesday after being asked how he was handling the news.

'We are all recovering,' he said before adding, 'Everyone says great things about him because he is a great guy.' Cole is reportedly heading back to the Riverdale set on Friday.

The death of 90210 and Riverdale star shocked the world this week as the actor was only 52 years old. Messages flooded in from co-stars and former colleagues who were all left reeling over the news.

Cole, himself, posted a picture he took of Luke on his Instagram account on the day it was announced he was taken to the hospital after suffering a stroke.

'Love you bud,' Cole wrote in the caption at the time.

Other cast members also posted pictures of Luke on their own Instagram pages while reiterating that their thoughts and prayers were with the co-star and his family.

Days after the posts, it was revealed Luke had passed away.

Love: Cole shared a picture of Luke on his Instagram page after news broke that the Riverdale star was in the hospital

Sending all the love: The actor included a simple caption with the picture of Luke

Devastated: Riverdale filming was suspended this week as the cast dealt with the news of Luke's death. Pictured is the cast together with Luke in May 2016

Lost: Lili Reinhart, 22, admitted to followers on Twitter she was having a hard time handling the recent news of Luke's passing

Lili Reinhart, 22, admitted to her Twitter followers on Monday that she was finding it hard to deal with the news of her co-star's passing.

'Im finding it hard to grasp that he will no longer be around to give long hugs and share his wisdom and kindness with all of us,' the actress wrote in an emotional tweet.

She continued: 'Im thinking of his family. His children. I pray for them to heal and find peace in this devastating loss.'

Riverdale shut down production this week to give cast members time to mourn.

In a statement released on Monday, the company said: '"We are deeply saddened to learn today about the passing of Luke Perry. A beloved member of the Riverdale, Warner Bros. and CW family, Luke was everything you would hope he would be: an incredibly caring, consummate professional with a giant heart, and a true friend to all.

'A father figure and mentor to the shows young cast, Luke was incredibly generous, and he infused the set with love and kindness. Our thoughts are with Lukes family during this most difficult time.'

Wednesday's episode of Riverdale, and all others in the future, were announced to be dedicated to Luke and his memory.

This week was also emotional time for fans as they watched the beloved actor appear on screen as Archie's dad during the most recent Riverdale episode. It remains unclear how the CW show will handle Luke's character's story line for future episodes.
A nurse who never thought she would have a child after multiple failed attempts with IVF found her 'missing piece' after adopting a baby from a mother with a heroin addiction.

Liz Smith, 45, accomplished her dream of being nurse for 22 years and currently works as the Director of Nursing at Franciscan Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. But another dream the woman said she wanted to accomplish was having a child, which proved to be difficult for her.

'Becoming a nurse was easy, but becoming a mom was not,' Liz told Today.

Difficult: Liz Smith, 45, was a nurse for 22 years and had recently moved back to Boston, Massachusetts, as the Director of Nursing. But what she really wanted was a child

Love: At Franciscan Children's Hospital, she met Gisele (pictured) who was born at 29 weeks and weighed only 2lbs

Fighter: Gisele was born premature with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome because her birth mom used heroin and cocaine while pregnant

Adorable: Liz was allowed to take Gisele home as her foster child because of her nursing experience. Gisele had to be fed with a feeding tube because of her condition

When she was approaching her 40th birthday, Liz was newly single and was attempting to have a child using alternative methods including IVF with no luck.

Liz had recently moved back to her hometown of Boston to join Franciscan Children's Hospital, which is when she discovered baby who needed a foster parent.

'I came out of the medical unit one day and in the stroller was this beautiful little girl,' Liz told the news site. 'I said to the nurse, "Who is this beautiful little angel"'' to which the nurse replied, "This is Gisele."'

It is unclear whether the child's mother was being treated at the hospital.

Liz described the moment as 'love at first sight' as it was the first time she met who would later become her daughter.

Gisele was in the hospital for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome after being born at just 29 weeks and weighing only 2lbs. Her early birth was due, in part, to her birth mom's abuse with drugs while pregnant.

It was allowed for Liz to take Gisele home and be her foster parent since her nursing license would provide adequate care for the child.

The young girl had to be fed through a feeding tube for 16 hours a day in order to help with her condition.

Strong: Gisele's parents' rights were revoked after the child had lived with Liz for nine months, which opened the door for her to be adopted

Family time: 'The day I got the phone call with the adoption date was the day that I was jumping and down,' Liz said

Heartwarming: The now-two-year-old is doing better than ever with Liz as her official mom

Making progress: Although Gisele still has to eat with a feeding tube, Liz revealed her appetite has gotten better

'She was losing weight quickly. Being born at one pound, 14 ounces, you can imagine you have to catch up,' Liz explained.

The nurse was able to help Gisele slowly gain weight and recover from her early birth, and when the baby girl was nine months old, the state officially terminated the parental rights of Gisele's birth parents.

Liz then realized quickly after that she had a chance to permanently adopt Gisele as the parents did not petition the termination of rights.

'The day I got the phone call with the adoption date was the day that I was jumping and down,' Liz told Today. 'They said "October 18th." And it's my grandmother's birthday and I just started crying.'

The now-two-year-old is doing better than ever with Liz as her official mom. Although Gisele still has to eat with a feeding tube, Liz revealed her appetite has gotten better.

'If you told me a year ago she would be asking for pizza, I would not have believed you,' Liz said. 'It's just slow progression, but in the right direction.'
Helen McGinn (pictured) gave her verdict on Fleurie AOC Beaujolais Henry Fessy paired with spicy pork

BARGAIN OF THE WEEK

Taste The Difference Fairtrade Carmenere 2018, 7 (normally 9), Sainsburys

Get involved with Fairtrade Fortnight with this brilliant berry-fruit packed red from Chile. The money from Fairtrade sales has helped support children of the vineyard workers to go to university.

WHITE WINE

Landscape Grenache Blanc 2017, 8.99, Ocado

Grenache is a red grape but it comes in white too. Here, its the star performer in a new range of wines from the Western Cape in South Africa, full of bright white peach and pear fruit flavours.

Food pairing: Vegetable tagine.

RED WINE

Fleurie AOC Beaujolais Henry Fessy, 13.49, Waitrose

There was a time when Beaujolais meant Nouveau to most of us but producers of the smarter Cru Beaujolais are now on a roll. This ones from Fleurie with juicy red fruits and soft velvety tannins.

Food pairing: Spicy pork.

SPARKLING WINE

Lot Folletto DOro Prosecco, 9.99, Aldi

This Prosecco from Aldis Lot series of wines is worth a try. Made from vineyards in the hilly Valdobbiadene region of Italy, its frothy bubbles have a floral character.

Food pairing: Crab linguine.

Homemade Cocktails by Helen McGinn (10.99, Robinson) is available now.
Rising waiting times and staff shortages have seen public satisfaction with the NHS fall to its lowest level in more than a decade.

The British Social Attitudes survey for 2018 revealed just over half of people - 53 per cent - were 'very or quite satisfied' with the NHS last year - a drop of three per cent in 12 months.

Patient satisfaction with GP services are at a record low with difficulties getting appointments and rushed consultations blamed for the worst ratings in 35 years.

The survey, which polled almost 3,000 people in England, Wales and Scotland, showed difficulties in accessing GP or hospital appointments topped the list of concerns, followed by workforce and funding issues.

The British Social Attitudes survey for 2018 revealed just over half of people - 53 per cent - were 'very or quite satisfied' with the NHS last year - a drop of three per cent in 12 months

Most were satisfied with the standard of care once they could access treatment, according to the report compiled by the King's Fund and Nuffield Trust think-tanks.

Despite the Government's announcement of an additional 20bn a year for the NHS, almost half of those asked a month later did not feel it was sufficiently resourced.

The findings represent the worst satisfaction levels since 2007, with a ten per cent drop in just two years from 63 per cent in 2016.

The survey was carried out between July and October, after the funding announcement.

Ruth Robertson, of The King's Fund, said the slumping satisfaction levels were surprising at a time the health service was celebrating a major milestone.

She said: 'The NHS was celebrating its 70th birthday so there was quite a lot of affectionate coverage of the health service on TV and in the newspapers.

'Despite all that, we didn't see this birthday bounce that you might have expected in satisfaction.

Not impressed: Patient satisfaction with GP services are at a record low with difficulties getting appointments and rushed consultations blamed for the worst ratings in 35 years

SATISFACTION FROM PREVIOUS YEARS 1993 = 44% 1994 = 44% 1995 = 37% 1996 = 36% 1997 = 34% 1998 = 42% 1999 = 46% 2000 = 42% 2001 = 38% 2002 = 40% 2003 = 44% 2004 = 43% 2005 = 48% 2006 = 49% 2007 = 51% 2008 = 58% 2009 = 64% 2010 = 70% 2011 = 58% 2012 = 60% 2013 = 60% 2014 = 65% 2015 = 60% 2016 = 63% 2017 = 57% 2018 = 53% SOURCE: King's Fund Advertisement

'Two of the factors that people are telling us are big drivers of their dissatisfaction - waiting times and a lack of staff - are things that aren't actually addressed in the long-term plan.

'We are waiting for the workforce strategy to come out to deal with the crisis we've got around workforce, and a review of waiting times as well. In the short term at least, the promise of more money doesn't appear to buy satisfaction.

The annual snapshot showed almost 1 in 3 people (30 per cent) felt dissatisfied with the NHS.

The main reasons people gave for being dissatisfied with the NHS overall were long waits for GP and hospital appointments (53 per cent), not enough staff (52 per cent), a lack of funding (49 per cent) and money being wasted (33 per cent).

Yet rising numbers of people also said quality of care was good (71 per cent), with scores higher among those who had recently undergone treatment.

A record seven in ten (70 per cent) were satisfied with outpatient services and almost two-thirds (63 per cent) for inpatient care, the highest since 1993.

Just over half of people (53 per cent) were satisfied with A&E performance, similar to in previous years.

Grave concern: Despite the Government's announcement of an additional 20bn a year for the NHS, almost half of those asked a month later did not feel it was sufficiently resourced

Overall satisfaction was higher in people aged 65 and over at 61 per cent - 10 per cent higher than compared to those under 65, while 58 per cent of Tory supporters reported being satisfied with NHS services, compared to 51 per cent of Labour.

Only 26 per cent of those asked were satisfied with social care provision, although 40 per cent were either indifferent or 'didn't know'.

HOW BAD IS THE NURSING CRISIS? The shortage of NHS staff in England is continuing to worsen, official figures show. Figures published by the regulator, NHS Improvement, for the April to June period showed that 11.8% of nurse posts were not filled - a shortage of nearly 42,000. According to Health Education England, around 33,000 of these positions are filled temporarily by agency staff  an unwelcome extra expense for local NHS trusts. A report by three leading health sector think-tanks estimates that if demand rises as predicted, the NHS will need 250,000 additional staff by 2030. But if skilled workers cannot be attracted from abroad the shortage could reach 350,000  roughly a quarter of the 1.2million workforce. Experts say low pay and long hours are two of the main factors which make finding nursing staff difficult. This, paired with student debt, makes the profession unappealing for young people. Of those quitting, more than half are under 40, with many citing stress and rising workloads for being behind their decision to leave. In January the Royal College of Nursing warned the NHS was 'haemorrhaging nurses', as around 3,000 more nurses quit their jobs than started new ones in 2017. Advertisement

The worsening picture for primary care continued with almost a quarter of respondents (24 per cent) reporting they were dissatisfied with their GP service - double the level in 2009.

Professor John Appleby, chief economist at The Nuffield Trust, said: 'Satisfaction with general practice - historically the service people were most satisfied with - has been falling for the past decade and is now at its lowest since the BSA survey began over 30 years ago.

'This may reflect continued strain on general practice, with mounting workloads and staff shortages and the evidence shows that people are finding it harder to get appointments than before. The NHS long-term plan expects even more of general practice - these problems will need to be addressed quickly if that vision is to be made possible.' The Royal College of GPs said 'intense resource and workforce pressures' meant many people were waiting too long to see their GP.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the RCGP said: 'The NHS long-term plan has aspirations that will be good for patients - but we will need the workforce to deliver it. There is some great work ongoing to increase recruitment into general practice, and we now have more GPs in training than ever before - but when more family doctors are leaving the profession than entering it we are fighting a losing battle.'

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the health sector, said: 'These findings show the inevitable consequence of starving the NHS of funding for the best part of a decade.

'We should be under no illusions about the scale of the task we face to restore public confidence in the health service.'
A drug company locked in a price war with the NHS has not paid any corporation tax in the UK for five years.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) is losing money despite its London and Oxford-based firm recording a 5.3billion turnover during that time.

The multi-national company is currently locking horns with the NHS over its cystic fibrosis 'wonder drug', Orkambi, which the health service says it can't afford.

And now the firm is accused of escaping paying tax by paying its parent company in the US to manufacture drugs, meaning the UK company is loss-making.

The UK Government has reportedly even paid Vertex 7million in tax credits over the same period because of its investment in research and development.

Vertex told MailOnline the company doesn't pay federal tax in the US or corporation tax in the UK because it is operating at a global loss, but is paying 44million in employment taxes in Britain. It denies shifting money to avoid paying tax.

Orkambi can slow the decline of cystic fibrosis sufferers' lungs by 42 per cent, but it is not widely available on the NHS because manufacturer, Vertex, has turned down a 100million-per-year offer from the health service

The allegations were made in The Guardian today and have been called 'ethically unacceptable' by the father of a child desperate for Orkambi.

Orkambi is a medication which can slow the progress of cystic fibrosis, a lung disease which kills around half of all sufferers before their mid-30s.

It could benefit more than 4,000 people in the UK, experts believe, but Vertex has rejected the NHS's 500million offer for a five-year supply of the medication.

The Government's Health Secretary Matt Hancock even posted on Twitter yesterday saying: 'Critical that Vertex accepts our offer so we can get vital Orkambi to those who desperately need it'.

Now, it has been alleged the British section of the company is losing money because it's paying so much to its US arm, Vertex Inc.

Companies only have to pay corporation tax on profits they make.

Accounts on Companies House show the London-based company, despite a $2.45billion (1.86bn) turnover in 2017, made a loss of $235million (178m).

It spent more than $1.9billion (1.45bn) on cost of sales which, The Guardian reported, typically takes up between 10 and 30 per cent of a company's revenue  rather than 78 per cent.

The US firm made a net profit of $263m (200m) in 2017.

The father of a girl who would be eligible for Orkambi but cannot get it because NHS England says it's unaffordable, said Vertex was acting unethically.

Robert Finlay (not his real name) told The Guardian: 'Im sure what they are doing must be legally acceptable under the tax rules, but it seems to me it is completely ethically unacceptable.

'It seems to me it is more proof, if it is needed, that this companys moral compass has fallen off.'

Orkambi has a market price of 105,000 per patient per year, which the NHS's drug regulator, NICE, has said is not good enough value for the health service to pay.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday tweeted saying it is 'critical that Vertex accepts our offer so we can get vital Orkambi to those who desperately need it'

As a result, although the drug is licensed for use in the UK, it is rarely prescribed in England. Patients in Scotland can get the drug.

It works by targeting the faulty genes at the heart of cystic fibrosis in order to maintain a health balance of salt and water in the lungs  it can slow patients' lung damage by 42 per cent.

CF causes sticky mucous to build up in the lungs which, over time, makes it increasingly difficult to breathe, raises the risk of infections and stops the organs working properly.

It can also affect the digestive system, and most patients die before they reach their mid-30s.

Rebecca Hunt, vice-president of international corporate affairs at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, said in a statement: 'Vertex continues to grow its headcount and infrastructure in the UK, relocating our international headquarters from Geneva to London in 2015 and employing hundreds of skilled researchers, and other staff, in Oxford and London.

'We have also moved IP registrations from elsewhere in the world to the UK.

'While we are currently operating at a net loss globally, we expect that as we reach profitability in the future, this will result in enhanced future corporate tax payments by Vertex to the UK government.

'More specifically, Vertexs current cumulative net loss stands at approximately $3billion [2.2bn].

'Vertex has only made a profit in 2011, 2017 and 2018, which has not yet offset the net loss. Even before we reach profitability, we are already paying 44 million in employment taxes in the UK alone.

'We will continue to pay all taxes due in full, including on future profits.

'The incentive schemes established by the British Government, designed specifically to encourage biotech firms like ours to come to the UK, have encouraged Vertex to invest significantly in the UK.

'The value of tax credits and other incentives we receive is dwarfed by the value of the medicines we gave away for free in the UK last year alone.'
Heart attack rates are rising in Americans under the age of 40, alarming new data reveal.

Experts attribute the shift to traditional factors - such as high cholesterol and diabetes - but also to abuse of substances like marijuana and cocaine, which is increasingly common among younger heart attack sufferers.

The overall rate of cardiovascular events has dropped thanks to fewer people of all ages smoking cigarettes and more older people taking statins.

However, research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's annual conference next week shows this progress has overshadowed an ominous shift.

Between 2000 and 2016, the rate of under-40s having heart attacks rose 2 percent a year.

What's more, to the researchers' surprise, younger sufferers were no more likely to survive the attack than older sufferers.

The overall rate of cardiovascular events has dropped thanks to fewer people smoking cigarettes and more older people taking statins. But data show the rate is rising in younger Americans

'It used to be incredibly rare to see anyone under age 40 come in with a heart attack--and some of these people are now in their 20s and early 30s,' said senior author Ron Blankstein, MD, a preventive cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

'Based on what we are seeing, it seems that we are moving in the wrong direction.

'It's really important for us to understand why people are actually having heart attacks at a younger age, when there is even more productive life lost.'

The study included 2,097 young patients under the age of 50 who had been admitted to one of two large hospitals after suffering a heart attack.

UNDER-40s WITH DIABETES ARE LESS LIKELY TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK Young heart attack victims who also have diabetes fare much worse In a related study, Dr Blankstein and his team found that one in five patients who suffer a heart attack at a young age overall (under 50) also have diabetes. Data show that if someone has diabetes they are more likely to die and have repeat events than heart attack survivors without diabetes. Not only is diabetes one of the strongest risk factors for having a heart attack, it also predicts future events in young people who have previously had a heart attack. These patients need to be aggressively treated and clinicians should pay very close attention to all other modifiable risk factors. The good news, Dr Blankstein said, is that there are now two classes of diabetes medications that have also been shown in clinical trials to significantly reduce the likelihood of cardiovascular events, including heart attack or stroke, or dying from one. Advertisement

They were split into two groups - those under 40 (20 percent of them), and those between 40 and 50.

Using patient angiograms (an X-ray to see the heart's blood vessels and arteries), researchers could see that the younger heart attack sufferers were more likely to have disease in only one vessel, suggesting that their heart disease was fairly under control and in its early stages.

They were also more likely to have a tear in the vessel wall, which is typically more common in women, and pregnant women in particular.

Blankstein was concerned that younger patients were often discharged without statins or aspirin to prevent future events.

'Even if you're in your 20s or 30s, once you've had a heart attack, you're at risk for more cardiovascular events and you have just as much risk as someone who may be older than you,' Blankstein said.

'It all comes back to prevention.

'Many people think that a heart attack is destined to happen, but the vast majority could be prevented with earlier detection of the disease and aggressive lifestyle changes and management of other risk factors.'

Blankstein recommends avoiding tobacco, exercising regularly, eating well, managing blood pressure and cholesterol, and avoid diabetes.

He adds: 'Stay away from cocaine and marijuana because they're not necessarily good for your heart.'
A third HIV-positive patient in Germany may be free of the virus after undergoing revolutionary treatment, it has emerged.

The unidentified 'Dusseldorf patient' underwent a stem cell transplant to treat his cancer four months ago. He has no signs of being infectious.

His case was announced at the same conference as that of the 'London patient', who became the second ever person to be declared in remission from HIV.

Experts hailed the news of the UK patient, who has been free of HIV for 18 months, as a 'milestone' in the fight against the virus, which causes AIDS.

But they warned that it does not change the reality much for the 37million people living with HIV across the world.

The only other person to have survived the life-threatening stem cell transplant, and come out of it HIV-free, was so-called 'Berlin patient' Timothy Ray Brown.

Two other HIV-positive patients have undergone the same stem cell transplants but have yet to stop taking daily pills to halt the virus, so researchers cannot conclude if they are free of the virus.

'Berlin Patient' Timothy Ray Brown was successfully cured of the HIV virus 12 years ago

Dr Bjorn Jensen from Dusseldorf University made the announcement of the third patient at a medical conference in Seattle.

Biopsies from the patient's gut and lymph nodes showed no infectious HIV, doctors at University Medical Center Utrecht, involved in the case, revealed.

They added that he has had no yet to have a 'rebound' - the term for when HIV becomes detectable again.

Aside from HIV, the Dusseldorf patient also had cancer - just like the London and Berlin patients. It is currently unclear which form.

For the Berlin, London and Dusseldorf patients, a life-threatening and complex stem cell transplant was a last-ditch attempt at survival.

For most others, that is an unnecessarily dangerous compared to taking a daily pill that suppresses their virus so that it is untransmittable, and allowing them to live a long and healthy life.

Doctors who treated the Dusseldorf patient are still tracking him, they revealed at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infection.

They implied the man hasn't shown signs of being free from the virus for long enough to be declared in long-term remission, unlike the London and Berlin patients.

Usually, HIV patients expect to stay on daily pills for life to suppress the virus. When drugs are stopped, the virus roars back, usually in two to three weeks

HOW A STEM CELL TRANSPLANT CURED THE BERLIN PATIENT AND THE LONDON PATIENT The vast majority of humans carry the gene CCR5. In many ways, it is incredibly unhelpful. It affects our odds of surviving and recovering from a stroke, according to recent research. And it is the main access point for HIV to overtake our immune systems. But some people carry a mutations that prevents CCR5 from expressing itself, effectively blocking or eliminating the gene. Those few people in the world are called 'elite controllers' by HIV experts. They are naturally resistant to HIV. If the virus ever entered their body, they would naturally 'control' the virus as if they were taking the virus-suppressing drugs that HIV patients require. Both the Berlin patient and the London patient received stem cells donated from people with that crucial mutation. WHY HAS IT NEVER WORKED BEFORE? 'There are many reasons this hasn't worked,' Dr Janet Siliciano, a leading HIV researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told DailyMail.com. 1. FINDING DONORS 'It's incredibly difficult to find HLA-matched bone marrow [i.e. someone with the same proteins in their blood as you],' Dr Siliciano said. 'It's even more difficult to find the CCR5 mutation.' 2. INEFFECTIVE TRANSPLANT LEADS TO CANCER RELAPSE Second, there is always a risk that the bone marrow won't 'take'. 'Sometimes you don't become fully "chimeric", meaning you still have a lot of your own cells.' That is one of the two most common reasons for previous attempts failing: their immune system is not fully replaced, then the cancer comes back and they can't survive it. 3. GRAFT-VERSUS-HOST DISEASE: THE OLD IMMUNE SYSTEM ATTACKS THE NEW ONE The other most common reason this approach has failed is graft-versus-host disease. That is when the patient's immune system tries to attack the incoming, replacement immune system, causing a fatal reaction in most. 4. UNKNOWN QUANTITIES Interestingly, both the Berlin patient and the London patient experienced complications that are normally lethal in most other cases. And experts believe that those complications helped their cases. Timothy Ray Brown, the Berlin patient, had both - his cancer returned and he developed graft-versus-host disease, putting him in a coma and requiring a second bone marrow transplant. The London patient had one: he suffered graft-versus-host disease. Against the odds, they both survived, HIV-free. Some believe that, ironically, graft-versus-host disease might have helped both of them to further obliterate their HIV. But there is no way to control or replicate that safely. Advertisement

Javier Martinez-Picado of the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute in Barcelona made the revelation that there are two other HIV-positive patients who have undergone the stem cell transplant but remain on antiretroviral pills, New Scientist reported.

Experts behind an international project to assess the impact of stem cell transplants in treating HIV said currently 39 patients have received transplants. It is unsure whether any of them are free of the virus or when they received the donor stem cells.

Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the HIV/AIDS division at the National Institutes of Health, told DailyMail.com the report of the London patient was 'elegant, important work' that 'fortifies the proof of concept' shown in the Berlin patient - that donor cells from someone who is HIV-resistant can wipe out a recipient's HIV if they survive the transplant.

'But it's completely non-practical from the standpoint for the broad array of people who want to get cured,' Dr Fauci added.

'If I have Hodgkin's disease or myeloid leukemia that's going to kill me anyway, and I need to have a stem cell transplant, and I also happen to have HIV, then this is very interesting.

'But this is not applicable to the millions of people who don't need a stem cell transplant.'

Dr Janet Siliciano, of Johns Hopkins, one of the leading researchers in how HIV hides in the body, agreed that the findings have limited impact in a real-world sense.

But it shows that the first time wasn't a fluke, as so many feared when attempts to replicate the Berlin patient's treatment failed time and time again.

'I think it's very exciting,' Dr Siliciano told DailyMail.com.

'Now we know that it's not just the Berlin patient. Now we know that n=2.'

The case of the London patient was also published by the journal Nature, as well as the Dusseldorf patient, and involved researchers at four UK universities: UCL, Imperial, Oxford and Cambridge.

The patient was diagnosed with HIV in 2003. He started taking anti-retroviral therapy (or, ART, which are virus-suppressing drugs) to control the infection in 2012. Ever since 1996, when ART was discovered, it has been recommended as immediate treatment post-diagnosis. The researchers do not elaborate on why the London patient went nine years before starting on ART.

He developed Hodgkin lymphoma that year. In 2016, he agreed to a stem cell transplant to treat the cancer.

As with any other patient in his rather unique situation, his doctors hoped they could strike the perfect balance: find a donor with HIV-resistant genes that could wipe out his cancer and virus in one fell swoop.

Most of us carry the gene CCR5. It is very unhelpful in many ways. It hampers our ability to survive strokes and recover from them, according to research. It is also the gene that HIV targets and uses as its access point to enter the immune system.

A minority of people in the world carry a mutation of CCR5, which prevents it from expressing, essentially blocking the gene altogether.

As a result, they are naturally resistant to HIV, earning them the name 'elite controllers' - because they naturally 'control' the virus as if they were on virus-suppressing medication.

As with the Berlin patient, the London patient's doctors found a donor with a CCR5 mutation.

About one per cent of people descended from northern Europeans have inherited the mutation from both parents and are immune to most HIV. The donor had this double copy of the mutation.

That was 'an improbable event,' said lead researcher Ravindra Gupta of University College London. 'That's why this has not been observed more frequently.'

The transplant changed the London patient's immune system, giving him the donor's mutation and HIV resistance.

The patient voluntarily stopped taking HIV drugs to see if the virus would come back - something doctors do not typically recommend because it hasn't worked since the Berlin patient.

What's more, the Berlin patient's case was slightly different: he stopped taking his anti-retroviral therapy before his transplant. Out of caution, the London patient's doctors kept him on his drugs throughout.

ART, taken daily, suppresses the virus to prevent a resurgence. After six months of daily medication, patients' viral loads are undetectable, and therefore untransmittable to anyone else.

The London patient case 'shows the cure of Timothy Brown (pictured) was not a fluke and can be recreated,' said Dr Keith Jerome

A few weeks off ART and most patients see their viral load skyrocket. But that was not the case for the London patient.

Tests not only found no trace of R5 virus (the type associated with CCR5), but also no trace of X4 virus, a type of HIV associated with another gene entirely.

Eighteen months later without drugs, he remains HIV-free.

The authors were cautiously optimistic that the London patient's case was slightly less arduous than the Berlin patient's, and that that may be a sign of progress.

Compared to Brown, the London patient had a less punishing form of chemotherapy to get ready for the transplant, didn't have radiation and had only a mild reaction to the transplant.

Brown had to have a second stem cell transplant when his leukemia returned, along with extensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Dr Fauci wasn't sure - he saw the Berlin patient's relapse as unique to the cancer, rather than anything to do with HIV.

As for those hailing the case evidence of a 'cure', Dr Fauci urged caution.

He dubbed it 'remission' and said that we need to wait more time before declaring that this man is HIV-free.

Others have gone this long without medication only to see it resurge. For example, the Mississippi child: a baby who contracted HIV from her mother, was on ART for 18 months, then went medication-free for two years and saw no resurgence of the virus, leading many to think she was cured.

But the virus came back. There is also the Visconti cohort in France: 14 men who received ART very early on, and then stopped within three years, and even though the virus is still detectable in their cells, it is naturally controlled.

WHY HIV IS SO HARD TO CURE In 1995, researchers discovered why HIV manages to come back even when it seems to have been defeated. The virus buries part of itself in latent reservoirs of the body, lying dormant as 'back-up'. In 1996, it was discovered that anti-retroviral therapy (ART) could suppress the virus, and prevent it from resurging, if the medication was taken religiously. But once that blanket is lifted, the virus swiftly rebuilds itself. Despite decades of attempts, we still don't know how to get at those hidden parts of the virus. The most promising approach may well be a 'shock and kill' technique - awakening the virus out of its hiding place then blitzing it. But we don't yet know how to wake it up without harming the patient. Advertisement

The London and Berlin patients are different, because their entire immune systems were replaced by another.

Dr Siliciano sees it as the latest in a series of developments in the last couple of years - both lauded and controversial - that show there may be more breakthroughs yet.

Indeed, CCR5 was the gene at the center of last year's controversy over the Chinese scientist who gene-edited twin girls to make them resistant to HIV. Dr He Jiankui used CRISPR gene-editing to eliminate CCR5, so that the girls, Lulu and Nana, were born CCR5-free, and did not inherit their father's HIV.

'All these studies of "cure" of "near-cure" cases have been very, very informative. Every single one of them has guided the field in how we think about approaches to eliminating the latent reservoir,' Dr Siliciano said.

Brown said he would like to meet the London patient and would encourage him to go public because 'it's been very useful for science and for giving hope to HIV-positive people, to people living with HIV,' he told The Associated Press Monday.

Dr Gero Hutter, the German doctor who treated Brown, called the new case 'great news' and 'one piece in the HIV cure puzzle.'

British infectious diseases experts welcomed the news. Professor Aine McKnight, of the Queen Mary University of London, said: 'This is a highly significant study.

'After a ten year gap it provides important confirmation that the Berlin patient was not simply an anomaly.'

Professor Graham Cooke, of Imperial College London, said: 'This second "London patient", whose HIV has been controlled following bone marrow transplantation, is encouraging.

'Other patients treated in a similar way since the "Berlin patient" have not seen similar results.

'This should encourage HIV patients needing bone marrow transplantation to consider a CCR5 negative donor if possible.

'If we can understand better why the procedure works in some patients and not others, we will be closer to our ultimate goal of curing HIV.

'At the moment the procedure still carries too much risk to be used in patients who are otherwise well, as daily tablet treatment for HIV is able to usually able to maintain patient's long-term health.
A woman who lived as a recluse after her nose doubled in size due to a rare condition is finally leading a normal life - after having the skin burned off.

Adrianna Ely, 39, from Texas, was concerned when the tip of her nose turned red and bulbous in 2013.

It continued to grow so big that she had to open her nostrils with a finger in order to breathe freely, she claims.

The problem destroyed her confidence and she began to avoid any situation where she would have to meet new people, fearing they would stare.

Three years later she was diagnosed with rhinophyma, a skin condition in which the sebaceous glands overgrow, causing the nose to appear enlarged, red and nodular.

Drastic measures: Adrianna Ely, from Texas, pictured recovering after literally having 3mm of skin from her nose burned off with a CO2 laser

Ta-dah! The 39-year-old is much happier after successfully resolving her case of rhinophyma

She then underwent a procedure to burn off 3mm of skin from her nose with a laser, and says the treatment has changed her life.

Ms Ely, a HR manager, who lives in Seabrook, said: 'It's [rhinophyma] a condition which causes the skin on the nose to morph and grow.

'I started to notice significant changes in 2013. The tip of my nose began to thicken and bulge.

'Before this happened, my nose was so drastically different. It got to a point where it didn't even feel like a nose anymore. It felt like a blob without structure.

'My nose was changing so much that I didn't even recognise myself. I was really conscious and worried about it but it was difficult to get an official diagnosis.

'I thought it might be linked to a rhinoplasty I had in 2008, so I flew to California where I was eventually diagnosed.

'At night I started to struggle with breathing and I would put my finger under the tip of my nose just so I could hold my nostril open.'

Feeling disfigured: Adrianna Ely (left) is seen here when her nose was at its most bulbous

Ouch: 'My skin was charred and oozing. It was black, green and raw. I had just put blind faith in someone to burn my skin off. I just prayed and prayed that it would grow back,' she said

Naturally, she felt hugely self-conscious and even likened herself to a freak.

'I felt like that guy in the documentary Elephant Man. I felt like this growth was just taking over my whole face,' she added.

'The condition completely changed how I felt about myself. It made me a recluse. I avoided any situation where I might have to meet new people.

'No one I knew was ever unkind to me, but I worried about stares or having to meet new people who didn't know my story.'

Ms Ely said doctors offered little guidance for treatment of the condition, which rarely affects women or people under the age of 60.

It wasn't until she saw a segment about rhinophyma on daytime TV in 2017 that she was finally offered hope.

Healing process: Slowly, the skin began to heal and she started to feel more like herself

Looking good: Once a recluse because of her medical condition, Ms Ely's confidence has been fully restored - although doctors offered little guidance for treatment of the condition, which rarely affects women or people under the age of 60

She then approached Dr Daniel Friedmann, of Westlake Dermatology Clinical Research Center in Austin, Texas, who devised a treatment plan that involved resurfacing her skin with a CO2 laser.

Ms Ely had 3mm of skin lasered off the surface of her nose in May 2017, which left it blackened and sore.

'The procedure took two hours because my doctor said he had to remove double the amount of skin he anticipated.

'It smelled awful, basically he burned my skin off with an aggressive laser. My doctor prepared me for how it would look when it was done but I when I took off my mask and looked in the mirror at home I was shocked.

'My skin was charred and oozing. It was black, green and raw. I had just put blind faith in someone to burn my skin off. I just prayed and prayed that it would grow back.'

Thankfully, her nose's function quickly improved.

As she is today: She will have her last treatment in May and says the experience has completely changed her outlook on life and self-image

'After he did the initial procedure, I felt like I could breathe again for the first time in years. When I went back to work I wore a mask for a few weeks,' she said.

'There was a risk of infection but also I worried it was offensive because it was burned flesh and an exposed wound at the end of the day.'

Ms Ely returned to the clinic every week to undergo laser resurfacing treatments which have reshaped her nose and helped regulate pigment.

The treatment plan also used fillers to help add definition and shape to Adrianna's nose.

She will have her last treatment in May and says the experience has completely changed her outlook on life and self-image.

'There's been a drastic and incredible difference from that first day until now. I think the whole experience has been a life changer for me. I can hardly even put it into words.

'I didn't know I could go through that disfiguring and deforming experience and come out the other side.

'While I was going through it I was angry at myself for being so impacted by my looks. I asked myself constantly 'Am I vain?' But of course it wasn't. I was being very hard on myself.

'I think this experience opened me up to what others go through and made me more sensitive and compassionate towards to other people.'
A German cancer clinic has been accused of using a British mother it failed to cure as 'marketing material'.

The Hallwang Private Oncology Clinic, near the town of Freudenstadt, was discussed on BBC Two's Victoria Derbyshire programme this morning.

The clinic has a video of British woman, Gemma Nuttall, in the ovarian cancer testimonials section of its website, despite the fact she died last year.

Ms Nuttall hit headlines when Hollywood actress Kate Winslet helped her to raise 300,000 for last-ditch treatment for her illness at the German clinic.

After treatment at the Hallwang, Ms Nuttall's cancer returned in her spine and she died in October last year, but the website still has her story on its website.

Gemma Nuttall, 29, left behind her four-year-old daughter, Penelope, when she died in October  she had turned down NHS chemotherapy while she was pregnant so she could give birth to the healthy girl

The Hallwang Private Oncology Clinic has Gemma Nuttall's story under its ovarian cancer testimonials section online, despite the fact the mother died in October last year

Ms Nuttall's mother, Helen Sproates, told the Victoria Derbyshire programme: 'When people do pass away they should be taken down and not used as marketing material.

'To use them in a positive manner, which is the only way it can be described as, to promote their story and get more people to go is absolutely wrong.'

This morning the website had two videos of Ms Nuttall but no mention of her death.

Instead there is an outdated section saying: 'Please take a look at this video reporting on one of our young patients, Gemma! She has also started a petition for life-saving treatment on the NHS. She is still missing votes!'

Ms Nuttall found out she had cancer while pregnant with her daughter in 2013, Penelope, but turned down chemotherapy to avoid harming her child.

Penelope, who was four when her mother died, was born healthy in 2014 and Ms Nuttall started treatment after her birth.

Surgeons cut out the ovarian tumour at the same time as they delivered Penelope by caeserean section.

Six weeks later Ms Nuttall returned to the hospital for a check-up but was told she had cervical cancer, so had to endure chemotherapy and radiotherapy for that.

Then, in a killer blow, Ms Nuttall was told after her cervical cancer had gone that she had stage four, incurable tumours in her brain and lungs.

She and her family managed to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to try last-ditch experimental treatment at the Hallwang and, although her condition improved for a while, the cancer returned and proved fatal.

When Ms Nuttall died five months ago, Kate Winslet said she was heartbroken and attended the funeral in Accrington, Lancashire.

After Ms Nuttall's death, Winslet told MailOnline: 'Gemma was such a beacon of strength and fought this battle so incredibly hard, with grace and dignity throughout.

'It was a privilege for me to be let into her life for a brief time and to try and help.

'The most heartbreaking part is that the immunotherapy truly worked, but very sadly only for a brief while, in Gemmas case.

'Of course we all believed the cancer had gone forever. My heart breaks for her mum Helen and her daughter Penelope. They have lost a wonderful mother and daughter.'

Kate Winslet leaves the crematorium in Accrington, Lancashire, while her husband Ned Rocknroll holds her hand after a service for Gemma Nuttall, whose cancer treatment the Hollywood actress helped to pay for

Ms Nuttall had, with the support of Hollywood actress Kate Winslet, raised more than 300,000 to be treated at the clinic, but her cancer returned in her spine and killed her

Gemma Nuttall's mother, Helen Sproates, spoke on the Victoria Derbyshire programme and said it is 'absolutely wrong' to use her dead daughter's story as 'marketing material'

The Victoria Derbyshire programme also raised scepticism about the clinic's treatments and results.

Most patients who go to the clinic have received a terminal diagnosis, and it has been described as looking 'more like a spa resort than a cancer clinic'.

The BBC said specialists in the UK have criticised doctors there for using words like 'cure' and 'beat' when talking about treating patients' cancers.

This is irresponsible, British doctors claim, although the Hallwang says it is responsible when managing patients' expectations.

There are also concerns over the clinic, which can charge tens of thousands of pounds for a single stay, using experimental drugs.

Ms Nuttall received immunotherapy while she was there  a treatment which empowers the body's own immune system to fight cancer.

One man, Stephen Powell, revealed how he took his teenage son there for brain cancer treatment, but the boy  Jayden  died when he was 17.

Jayden had been treated with some drugs not licensed for use on the NHS because scientists aren't sure how well they work for brain tumours.

One of them, Avastin, is believed to lead to a small improvement in life expectancy but there is still debate over its success.

MailOnline has contacted the Hallwang clinic for comment.
Using e-cigarettes raises the risk of heart attacks by a third, researchers have warned.

Concerns are growing around the world about the long-term health impact of vaping, amidst booming popularity of the devices.

Yet e-cigarettes remain at the heart of public health policy, with officials repeatedly insisting the benefits far outweigh any potential harms.

The study, to be presented at the American College of Cardiology conference in New Orleans later this month, is one of the largest ever conducted on the impact of vaping.

Scientists found vaping boosts the risk of a heart attack and a stroke by 56 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively

Experts from the University of Kansas examined data from more than 90,000 e-cigarette users.

They found people who vaped every day were 34 per cent more likely than non-e-cigarette users to suffer a heart attack, and those who used the devices more sporadically had a 29 per cent increased risk.

Study leader Dr Mohinder Vindhyal said: 'Until now, little has been known about cardiovascular events relative to e-cigarette use.

'These data are a real wake-up call and should prompt more action and awareness about the dangers of e-cigarettes.'

He admitted the study was not perfect  most of the e-cigarette users were ex-smokers so the heart problems could be due to their lifetime of tobacco use.

But he stressed that his team had tried as far as possible to take smoking into account, adding: 'I wouldn't want any of my patients nor my family members to vape.'

Roughly a third of the 90,000 e-cigarette users were also smokers.

The team's initial analysis suggested e-cigarette users had a 56 per cent increased risk of heart attack than those who did not vape.

But taking into account the fact that people who were also regularly smoking tobacco had a 165 per cent increased heart attack risk, they calculated the increased isk of vaping alone dropped to about 34 per cent.

They found e-cigarette users were also 55 per cent more likely to suffer from depression or anxiety.

Dr Vindhyal, however, admitted his team could not completely eradicate the impact of previous tobacco use, because virtually all e-cigarette users in the study had smoked tobacco in the past.

Debate over how harmful vaping is leads to confusion E-cigarettes have the potential to benefit some people, by helping them quit smoking. But scientists still have a lot to learn about whether e-cigarettes are truly effective for quitting smoking and what the long-term risks are. Nicotine is already known to be highly addictive and harm adolescent brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s. E-cigarettes produce an aerosol by heating a liquid that usually contains nicotine. Aerosol is inhaled into the lungs and can contain potentially harmful substances, including heavy metals like lead, volatile organic compounds, and cancer-causing agents. US health officials, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are investigating an outbreak of e-cigarette or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI). The mystery illness has swept across the states. Officials have identified Vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern. THC is present in most of the fluid samples collected from the lungs of ill people, and most patients report a history of using THC-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, products. 'Popcorn lung' is the nickname for bronchiolitis obliterans, a condition which damages the smallest airways in the lungs and has been linked to people with vaping-related breathing problems. However, theres no good evidence that e-cigarettes could cause the lung condition, according to Cancer Research UK. The flavourings in electronic cigarettes may damage blood vessels in the same way as heart disease, according to research published in June 2018. The chemicals used to give the vapour flavours, such as cinnamon, strawberry and banana, can cause inflammation in cells in the arteries, veins and heart. They cause the body to react in a way that mimics the early signs of heart disease, heart attacks or strokes, the study by Boston University found. Other recent studies have also suggested smoking e-cigarettes could cause DNA mutations which lead to cancer, and enable pneumonia-causing bacteria to stick to the lungs easier. Researchers at New York University subjected human bladder and lung cells to e-cigarette vapor, which is marketed as being healthier than tobacco. They found the cells mutated and became cancerous much faster than expected and mice exposed to the vapour also suffered significant DNA damage. In another study, scientists at Queen Mary University, London, found vaping makes users more likely to catch pneumonia  just like smoking tobacco or breathing in traffic fumes. The vapour from e-cigarettes helps bacteria which cause the condition to stick to the cells that line the airways, they said. The effect occurs with traditional cigarette smoke and those who are exposed to air pollution high in particulates from vehicle exhausts. An April 20202 study found vaping damages the arteries and blood vessel function much like smoking traditional cigarettes. The team studied measures of blood vessel function in e-cigarette and dual users who had been using e-cigarettes for at least three months. All e-cigarette users were former cigarette smokers. Advertisement

Regardless of these caveats, he insisted the findings are concerning and far more research is needed into the risks of e-cigarettes.

'We found that regardless of how frequently someone uses e-cigarettes, daily or just on some days, they are still more likely to have a heart attack or coronary artery disease,' he said.

E-cigarettes contain a liquid form of nicotine that is heated into vapour to be inhaled, avoiding the harm caused by tobacco smoke.

Around 3million adults in Britain have used e-cigarettes in the decade or so that they have been on the market.

Public Health England, along with many other health experts in the UK, view e-cigarettes as a crucial tool in the fight against tobacco.

E-cigarettes form the core of Public Health England's stop-smoking strategy, with TV adverts, health campaigns, and researchers championing the technology.

But other experts - particularly cardiologists - are concerned about unresolved safety concerns and are particularly worried about their use among young people.

Critics have repeatedly warned that the UK is 'way out of step with the rest of the world' in its approach to the devices.

The World Health Organisation is concerned about cancer-causing chemicals in the devices and the EU believes e-cigarettes may act as a 'gateway' to tobacco.

Last month the then-head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Scott Gottlieb, said he was so concerned about teenage use of the devices that he is considering the radical step of banning them completely.

An editorial in the respected New England Journal of Medicine research last month warned about the concerns among health professionals in the US.

It warned: 'While e-cigarettes are 'safer' than traditional cigarettes, they are not without risks.

'Evidence of effectiveness must be balanced against the short-term and long-term safety of e-cigarettes.

'E-cigarette vapour contains many toxins and exerts potentially adverse biologic effects on human cells... although toxin levels and biologic effects are generally lower than those of tobacco smoke.'

Martin Dockrell, in charge of tobacco policy at Public Health England, said last night: 'This confirms what PHE has been saying for several years: vaping isn't risk free but it is far less harmful than smoking. It's a no brainer  switching to vaping will always be far less harmful than smoking.

'If you don't smoke, don't start and don't vape. If you do smoke, quit now and consider using an e-cigarette to help you.'
When Joshua Nerius came down with a rash and a high fever in May 2016, his doctors assumed it was a simple infection and prescribed him antibiotics.

But his condition didn't improve and he went to the emergency room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.

The doctor who saw Nerius told him that it seemed like he had measles and asked if he had ever been vaccinated.

Nerius, 30, said that when he texted his mother the question, she replied with thumbs-down emoji, reported CNN.

The software product manager eventually recovered and says he's sharing his story as a warning that today's parents have 'no excuse' to not vaccinate their children.

Joshua Nerius, 30 (left and right), from Chicago, Illinois, was infected with measles in May 2016 at his sister's graduation. He learned at the hospital that he hadn't been vaccinated as a child

Nerius told CNN that he caught measles when he attended his sister's graduation at the Northern Illinois University College of Business.

According to the Illinois Department of Health, a guest from outside the US was at the ceremony with the disease.

'I didn't interact with anyone at that graduation besides my own family, so it was literally just me walking by someone,' Nerius told CNN.

When someone with measles coughs, sneezes or talks, infected droplets are sprayed into the air, where other people can inhale them and are then infected.

Symptoms present themselves between 10 to 14 days after infection and include fever, cough, runny nose, and a total-body skin rash.

Nerius said that before he knew he had contracted measles, he was at a technology convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

'I was shaking hands with hundreds of people a day. I wasn't contagious yet, but it's sobering to think if the timing had been just slightly different, how many people I could have infected,' he said.

He spent a week isolated at Northwestern Memorial and said he became so weak that he had trouble walking. His recovery was a months-long process.

'I felt horrible,' he told CNN. 'It took a serious toll.'

Once common, the disease is now rare due to the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends children receive the first dose at 12 to 15 months old and the second dose at four to six years old.

Before the measles vaccine was available, more than 500,000 cases were diagnosed in the US every year, with about 500 annual deaths.

However, during a congressional hearing last week, heads of federal health agencies revealed the US has counted more measles cases in the first two months of this year than in all of 2017.

So far, 206 cases have been confirmed in 11 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Nerius told CNN that he's not angry that his parents, who believed in alternative medicine, didn't vaccine him.

He also adds that during his childhood in the 1980s, his parents couldn't go online to visit accredited sources.

Nerius (left and right) spent a week in isolation and became so weak at one point that he had trouble walking on his own. He said his parents in the 1980s didn't have the Internet to check accredited sources but that today's parents have 'no excuse'

So far this year, 206 measles have been confirmed in 11 states - more than were counted in all of 2017 (file image)

However, he argues that today there are so many sources a parent could visit that would confirm the safety of vaccines.

'The science on this has been settled. It's been solved,' Nerius told CNN.

'When I look at where we are today, with people who are willfully deciding to ignore the facts, it really frustrates me. I just don't understand the mindset of people who want to spread fear.'

Experts say that, as diseases have become less common, people don't remember a time from before vaccines were commonplace.

'Because we don't frequently see these diseases anymore, we don't perceive the risk of not getting vaccinated,' Julie Bettinger, a vaccine safety scientist at BC Children's Hospital, told Today's Parent.

'But the diseases we developed vaccines for - like polio, which killed or crippled thousands of children - were selected precisely because they're so severe.'

Public health officials warn that inoculations not only protect individuals, but also the community as a whole in what is known as 'herd immunity'.

This occurs when the vast majority of a community - between 80 and 95 percent - becomes immune so that, if a disease is introduced, it is unable to spread.

Therefore, those who are unable to be vaccinated, including the ill, very young and very old, are protected.

Nerius said he gets angry when he thinks about the measles outbreak, particularly in Washington, which has been fueled by anti-vaxxers.

'It makes me so angry. My parents thought they were doing the right thing. They were persuaded by the anti-vaxxers,' he said.
THE ENIGMA OF KIDSON by Jamie Blackett (Quiller 16.95, 344pp)

THE ENIGMA OF KIDSON

by Jamie Blackett (Quiller 16.95, 344pp)

David Camerons top grade at history A-level was among the most inexplicable events in modern history according to his former tutor, the Eton beak Michael Kidson.

For generations of Eton schoolboys, Kidson was a formidable but beloved mentor, and this affectionate memoir draws together the reminiscences of his former pupils to give a vivid account of an irascible, pedantic, deeply kind but lonely, man.

The roll-call of contributors reads like an abridged Whos Who: Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent, the Archbishop of Canterbury, actor Dominic West, financier Nat Rothschild and politicians including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Sir Oliver Letwin.

PROPERTY by Lionel Shriver (Borough 8.99, 336pp)

PROPERTY

by Lionel Shriver (Borough 8.99, 336pp)

New fiction from Lionel Shriver is always something to look forward to, and this collection of short stories and a novella shows the sharp observation and mordant humour that her readers have come to expect.

The title refers to the way our lives are shaped by the places in which we live, and to the ways we attempt to own each other.

The opening novella, The Standing Chandelier, is a tragi-comic account of an uneasy three-cornered relationship between two old college friends (and occasional lovers), website designer Weston Babansky and flamboyant artist Jillian Frisk, and Westons new partner, Paige.

Domestic terrorism will strike a chord with parents whose adult children refuse to leave the comfort of the family home, while Vermin charts the inexorable decline of a marriage as a couple make improvements to their rickety house.

NOT THE WHOLE STORY by Angela Huth (Constable 20, 320pp)

NOT THE WHOLE STORY

by Angela Huth (Constable 20, 320pp)

At the age of five, I began my serious writing, recalls journalist and novelist Huth, author of the best-selling novel Land Girls.

Her sparkling memoir recalls an idiosyncratic childhood with her beloved father, the director Harold Huth, and resolutely unmaternal mother, Bridget, who had a penchant for gin, and left Angela to be looked after by a nanny.

Angela studied art in Paris and Italy before returning to face the dotty business of becoming a debutante.

Working at Queen magazine, she met her first husband, the brilliant, acerbic Quentin Crewe, with whom she had an intensely glamorous Bohemian social life: their friends included David Frost, John Betjeman and Princess Margaret.

Deliciously gossipy and amusingly trenchant, this is an entertaining collection of stories from a mostly happy life . . . going much too fast.
BOOK OF THE WEEK

CLEAN

by Michele Kirsch (Short Books 12.99, 256 pp)

Michele was six when her father was killed in a train crash. There were two casualties: my father, and a nun . . . All I hoped was that he was asleep, and that the nun was, too.

Thus begins Michele Kirschs extraordinary memoir of drug addiction, alcoholism and domestic cleaning. Rarely can a dark memoir have been so comic, or a comic memoir so dark.

The other casualty of the crash was Kirsch herself. From that day in 1967, bile rose each morning in her throat. She found she had no appetite for food, or for life itself. All I believed in was death: the power of it to destroy not only the life of the dead person but of all the people who knew and loved them.

Her three decades of drug addiction began at 15, when her doctor in Queens, New York, prescribed pills to help her combat the permanent nausea of grief.

Mother-of-two Michele Kirsch (pictured) recounts her years of drug addiction and trying to stay clean in a gripping new memoir

The more pills she took, the more she needed to get through the day. Her favourite words on any prescription sheet were Take as needed.

That seemed a licence to treat them like sweets. By the time she went to college in Boston (she soon dropped out), she had pill bottles lined up around her electric typewriter.

The taking as needed enabled her to keep her panic attacks at a level that made her seem just about normal. But her life was spinning out of control. Though pharmaceutically functioning, she was a nervous, shaking, insomniac wreck.

She admits, with startling honesty, that grief was a useful Get Out Of Life Free card. It is hard to be the prettiest, or the cleverest, or the funniest, but it is dead easy to be the saddest. That I could do.

When the U.S. authorities pursued her, after shed forged a prescription for a large consignment of Valium, she decided to leave the U.S. for England (her father had been English).

She rented damp bedsits and married an alcoholic: that didnt last long. Later she married the nice friend of her ex-boyfriends best friend, with whom she had two children.

The years of early motherhood were the happiest of her life. She tried to be normal and non-addicted, but when someone on their Stoke Newington estate called her daughter a white b****, she had a relapse.

All too soon she was more addicted than ever to Valium, ordering it online in bulk from Romania. She was knocking back neat spirits while cooking the childrens supper, too.

Everyone suffered. A counsellor said to her later: You stole a mother from your children.

She ended up in a drug rehabilitation centre in Bournemouth: Emaciated, covered in sores, with broken ribs, stumbling about in a drug-withdrawal haze, punctuated by moments of sheer terror, I am broken.

Michele became a cleaner in London for an agency between 2015 and 2016, she discovered porn magazines hidden in a house where the wife had a degenerative illness (file image)

Just another depressing memoir of drug and alcohol addiction? Well, no. This one is enhanced, made strangely hilarious and given a refreshingly different kind of poignancy, with its 26 cleaning interludes. These appear between most chapters, in a different font, and I found myself savouring each one.

When Michele was clean and sober, and trying to stay clean and sober, in London between 2015 and 2016, she became a cleaner for a cleaning agency.

The goal for the cleaners was to be Cleaner of the Month, but you know Michele is never going to be. Shes too busy being nosy.

She has a Nora Ephron-ish eye for the small poignancies of other peoples domestic lives (as well as her own).

In these 26 vignettes about cleaning the houses, flats and offices of total strangers, she puts her finger on the varieties of human pathos she encounters. With her own inner sadness, she has a nose for the sadness of others.

She finds porn mags down by the mans side of a marital bed, in a house where the wife has a degenerative illness.

Cleaning the flat of an ultra-tidy control-freak who collects shoes  and makes Michele put on special hygienic slippers and never shouts, just does it again, himself, the right way, talking through his method as one would talk to an idiot  she spots a photo of him as a young boy, jumping up in the air beside the sea, his feet covered in sand. What was it, she wonders, that turned that carefree boy into an obsessive-compulsive maniac whose favourite item is his anti-viral hand gel?

Michele revealed at times cleaning made her sad as the world seemed to be racing by as she watched other families live happy lives (file image)

In the filthy flat of a recently separated man, she hears a message being spoken into his answerphone: Grow up. Get a lawyer. Lets do this nicely.

I suppose all women know that strange connection between feeling a bit out of control of our lives and the urge to clean. Theres nothing like a good polish of our kitchen surfaces to make us feel we have control over one small corner of the world, at least.

In Micheles case it seems her urge to clean peoples houses was an extreme example of this syndrome.

Cleaning gave me a feeling that if I started from the outside in, then the messed-up things inside me would also take some sort of shape or order, by osmosis.

Cleaning also makes her sad because she glimpses other families happy lives. She sees one mother taking her children breakfast in bed. There I am, the old drug addict, cleaning the toilet, watching the world race by.

Cleaning for a radio producer, she writes: He is doing a job I would love to do myself. He is in his little office with the dog, while I am in the bathroom next door, removing mushrooms from the floor tiles with a knife and some bleach.

Apart from anything else, this book is a paean to the unsung heroism of the agency cleaner, who lives so near yet so far from the comfortable worlds of the people he or she cleans for.

CLEAN by Michele Kirsch (Short Books 12.99, 256 pp)

The dry, black humour of the book makes it a pleasure to read. I wont forget the meeting for agoraphobics Michele attends, where only two people turn up because the others cant face leaving the house. Apologies from Francis, Danita, Georgia, Ellen . . .

Theres a poignant moment in 2011, when Michele is out of rehab and back in the real world. At first she tries too unsubtly to make friends with her estranged children, endlessly visiting and baking cookies for them, which does not impress them one bit.

A favourite song comes on the radio and Michele shouts up to her daughter: Its on the radio now! If you come down you can still catch it. Her daughter patiently explains to her that you can now listen to any song at any time, via the internet.

Shes missed so much while shes been in the depths of addiction.

Slowly but surely, though, she does rebuild her relationships with her son and daughter.

I am back in the land of the living, Michele writes. Though no longer in the family home, she visits often.

Most days I talk with my kids, or even hang out with them.

This is my greatest pleasure and gratitude in life.

What a journey! And what a lot of bleach and spray polish she has got through, to get herself to this point of calm in her mid-50s.
CRIME

THE MASTERMIND

by Evan Ratliff (Bantam 20, 480 pp)

The name of Zimbabwean-born Paul Le Roux will probably be unfamiliar to even the most ardent fan of true crime. But thanks to this book on one of the most prodigious criminal masterminds of recent times, that is about to change.

Award-winning investigative journalist Evan Ratliff spent four years piecing together the intricate and highly fragmented puzzle of Le Rouxs vast digital empire.

It straddled continents and exploited both the criminal underworld and the man on the street, all of them attracted by the prospect of unimaginable wealth. The result is a book that is compelling, if at times a tad relentless.

Award-winning investigative journalist Evan Ratliff documents the life of Paul Le Roux who built a digital empire laundering millions of dollars a year in a new true crime book (file image)

Despite Le Rouxs murderous sensibilities and odious personal traits, its hard not to feel a sneaking admiration for this modern Moriarty. He was no mere gangster, but a gifted computer programmer who cut his teeth playing computer games during a troubled childhood.

By his early 20s he had used these skills to set up a network of call centres for the sale of prescription painkillers to online customers. Using FedEx as his unknowing courier, the business was soon drowning in cash.

The eye-watering profits Le Roux made from this scheme only fuelled his greed and ambition.

Within a few years hed become the centre of a vast, highly secretive criminal cartel, always one step ahead of the U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Soon Le Roux was laundering hundreds of millions of dollars a year, as he extended his criminal interests into mining, logging and gun-running.

Ratliffs breathless narrative chronicles a life of luxury yachts, houses full of gold bars, weapons-dealing with Iran, and even an attempt by Le Roux to set up his own personal mini-state in the lawless badlands of Somalia (he briefly contemplated a paramilitary coup to overrun the Seychelles).

As one associate observed: He wanted to make roomfuls of money, to be king of his country, the big man, sitting behind a giant desk in his palace.

His personal life reflected his grandiose ego. Driven by greed, impatience and a sense of superiority, he paid scores of women to become pregnant by him, with the aim of creating a dynasty of loyal offspring he could one day rely upon to carry on his business interests. And everywhere there was violence and murder. Opponents were despatched without qualms, while any subordinate suspected of disloyalty was punished without hesitation.

THE MASTERMIND by Evan Ratliff (Bantam 20, 480 pp)

There is no such thing as done, he once told an employee. You work for me until I fire you, or something else . . .  (One unfortunate employee was dumped off a yacht into the sea, with Le Rouxs henchmen firing at him as he struggled in the water.)

When Le Roux was finally arrested in a hotel in Liberia by U.S. agents, he announced mildly: I apologise, but I do not want to get on your plane, before going limp and having to be carried on board like a sack of potatoes.

Faced with the prospect of serving life in an American prison, he immediately agreed to give evidence against his subordinates in an attempt to reduce his own sentence  a sickening prospect for those whod spent years of their lives bringing him to justice. But as one federal agent put it, At least hes in jail, not killing people.

Ratliffs book is meticulously researched and written with feverish intensity. And while, at nearly 400 pages, it would have benefited from editing, The Mastermind is a masterwork of investigative journalism.
Dressed in overalls and wearing a mask and a cap, ousted Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn was released on bail after 108 days in a Tokyo jail.

The father-of-four, once one of the most powerful men in the car industry, faces trial over allegations he misused company funds and understated his earnings.

But his application for bail, at a cost of 6.8million, means he will be out for his 65th birthday on Saturday.

Downfall: Ghosn, centre, on his release on 6.8m bail after 108 days in a Tokyo jail

In a statement, he said: I am innocent and totally committed to vigorously defending myself in a fair trial against meritless and unsubstantiated accusations.

No date has been set for Ghosn's trial.

Only after he agreed to install a surveillance camera at his door and not use the internet, and of course not flee Japan, was he able to win release on bail, on his third attempt.

Ghosn with wife Carole. The father-of-four, once one of the most powerful men in the car industry, faces trial over allegations he misused company funds and understated his earnings

Ghosn proved his mettle at tire company Michelin before he was recruited to help restore profitability at Renault AG, which is 15 percent owned by the French government.

Dispatched by Renault in 1999 to help turn around its alliance partner Nissan, he delivered.

Ghosn bet early on that emissions crackdowns would eventually bring an end to the era of gasoline and diesel engines, so he has championed bringing electric and autonomous cars to the masses, fighting resistance within both companies.
Turnaround group Melrose Industries has started the break up of GKN with the sale of one of its business units.

The FTSE 100 company, which acquired GKN in an 8.1billion hostile takeover last March, said it expects to complete the sale of Walterscheid Powertrain Group to US private firm One Equity Partners by the summer.

The unit, previously known as GKN Off-Highway Powertrain, makes gearboxes and driveshafts for mining and farming vehicles.

Melrose said it expects to complete the sale of GKN Off-Highway Powertrain, which makes gearboxes and driveshafts for mining and farming vehicles by the summer

Previous reports suggested Melrose had put a price tag of 350million on the unit, but it did not disclose the sale price.

Melrose subsidiary Fokker Aerospace, which makes aircraft parts, has sold its 44 per centinterest in Societe Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aeronautiques to majority shareholder, Dassault Belgique Aviation.

Melrose, whose four bosses were each paid more than 42million each in 2017, hopes to raise a combined 200million from the stake and unit sales.

The company won its bitter hostile takeover battle for GKN after investors with 52 per cent of the shares backed the deal. It pledged to streamline the business and make it more efficient.

Late last year Melrose fired the starting gun on GKNs break-up by planning a sale of its powder metallurgy business, which makes car and industrial components from powdered metal, for 1.6billion.

Analysts are hoping for an update on this sale in Melroses 2018 annual results today.
Barclays has ditched three board directors in a shake-up under new chairman Nigel Higgins.

Reuben Jeffery, Dambisa Moyo and Mike Turner will stand down at the bank's annual meeting in May.

It comes as Barclays fights off corporate raider Ed Bramson, who is trying to win a board seat.

Shake-up: Reuben Jeffery, Dambisa Moyo and Mike Turner will stand down at Barclay's annual meeting in May

Higgins, a former investment banker at Rothschild, is thought to want a smaller board, and more directors with banking experience.

Jeffery and Moyo are leaving due to guidelines which require non-executives to go after nine years.

Turner is former chief executive of defence firm BAE Systems and has not worked in finance. He is resigning after less than 18 months.

Barclays said in February that fellow non-executive director Sir Gerry Grimstone was also leaving.

It means there are now four vacancies, although Higgins could cut the board's size after he takes over from John McFarlane in May.

Higgins will take charge on the same day that investors vote on whether Bramson should get a boardroom job.

The raider controls a 5.51 per cent stake in Barclays and has been scathing about performance at its prized investment bank.

He is thought to favour huge cutbacks to the division, which is key to the strategy pursued by current management. Investors have so far proved sceptical about Bramson.

Last month Aviva, which owns stakes in Barclays and Bramson's fund, Sherborne Investors, said it would not back his bid for a job.

David Cumming, Aviva's chief investment officer for equities, said: 'We expect the incoming chairman of Barclays to provide appropriate oversight of the group's strategy and lead the required changes to the board.'

Higgins became the first person to run Rothschild from outside the blue-blooded family which owns it when he took charge in 2010.

He had spent his whole career with the firm, joining as a graduate trainee from Oxford.

The banker lives in north London with his wife, an architect, and their three teenage children.

He is a jazz fan who is chairman of performing arts venue Sadler's Wells, and has spoken of the need for finance to become more ethical.

In an interview last year with IE Business School, the 58-year-old said the impact of Brexit on the economy is unlikely to be catastrophic.

In a break with City warnings about the departure from the European Union, he said it could mean a more balanced economy.
Redrow boss Steve Morgan has transferred shares in the company worth 27million to one of his children.

The 66-year-old handed over 4.2m shares, around 1.1 per cent of the housebuilder.

Last year he gave 16.8m shares to his children. Those shares are worth nearly 108million and the father-of-five has now handed 21m shares, worth 135million, to his children in total.

Redrow boss Steve Morgan has transferred shares in the company worth 27m to one of his children

Together his children control 5.7 per cent of Redrow, giving them more clout than top-three shareholder Neil Woodford with 5.1 per cent.

Morgan founded Redrow in 1974, transforming it from a small outfit in North Wales into one of Britains biggest housebuilders.

He still has more than 73m shares, or 19.9 per cent, worth 470million.

The transfers come after Redrow revealed record half-year profits of 185million last month.

In 2017 Morgan made a donation of shares worth 270million to his charitable foundation.

He is retiring this month to focus on its work.

Last night Morgan declined to comment.
Legal and General has become the first British investment manager to look after more than 1trillion of savers' money.

Total assets rose 32.2billion last year, taking them above 1trillion for the first time.

L&G unveiled profits of 2.1billionn for 2018, up 2 per cent on the previous 12 months.

Legal and General's total assets rose 32.2bn last year, taking them above 1trillion for the first time. Shareholders will get a total annual dividend of 16.42p per share

Shareholders will get a total annual dividend of 16.42p per share, up 7 per cent on a year earlier.

The firm has showered investors with cash in the past five years, turning 10,000 into 15,818 for those who reinvested dividends, according Hargreaves Lansdown.

It puts the company ahead of rivals such as Aviva, where a 10,000 investment would have turned into 11,740 over the same period.

L&G chief executive Nigel Wilson said his firm is now focused on putting its money to work in the British regions by supporting science and technology projects.

He said that he is hugely optimistic about the opportunities for growth outside London.

It is working on schemes in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds.

And in Newcastle it is ploughing 65million into a scheme creating more than 4,000 jobs, office and research space, and 450 homes.

Wilson is particularly keen to work with universities, saying: 'There's amazing science going on in our universities, and we've never commercialised that.

'We were a nation of shopkeepers but it's just not true any more, and industry has moved on because of technology and science.

'In universities, in science and in certain areas of technology, we can be world leaders.'

L&G profits were boosted by taking control of a string of company pension funds.

It did 9.1billion of pension deals in 2018, up from 3.9billion for the previous year. Another 20billion of deals are under discussion.
The boss of shopping centre firm Hammerson has been given 1.3million of shares.

David Atkins, 52, was given 345,152 shares on Tuesday as part of a long-term incentive plan which will vest in four years.

It follows a disastrous year for Hammerson, which saw Atkins abandon a 3.4billion bid to buy smaller rival Intu.

Atkins was paid just under 2million last year. Hammerson plunged into the red last year amid a slump in rental income and a rise in empty stores at its shopping centres.
Shares in estate agent group Countrywide have fallen over 8 per cent after the group revealed it slumped to a 218.2million loss last year, against a loss of just over 207million a year earlier.

The group said ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit continued to affect 'both our sector and consumer confidence as a whole.'

Countrywide's income for the year also slipped by 7 per cent to 627.1million and earlier this week the embattled firm was slapped with a 215,000 fine by HM Revenue & Customs for anti-money laundering procedures failures.

In the red: Shares in estate agent group Countrywide have fallen over 8 per cent this morning

The company's share price is currently down 8.67 per cent or 0.91p to 9.59p. This time a year ago, the company's share price was hovering at around the 87p mark.

Chairman Peter Long said: '2018 was undoubtedly one of the most challenging years that the Group has faced.'

He added: 'We encountered market weakness in quarter four due to the further uncertainties surrounding Brexit which is affecting both our sector and consumer confidence as a whole. These headwinds have continued into 2019.

'As a result, we are experiencing further slow-down in residential and commercial property transactions particularly in London and the South, which will affect our half one earnings by some 3-5 million.'

While the group expects full-year earnings for 2019 to be in line with 2018, much will depend on recovering the first-half shortfall in the final six months of the year.

In its latest results, Countrywide, which has Hamptons International and Gascoigne-Pees in its portfolio, revealed that its adjusted earnings came in 50 per cent lower than a year earlier, at 32.7million.

On a statutory basis, pre-tax losses came in at 252.7million as the firm was hit by 245.4million worth of charges linked to goodwill, intangible and other asset impairments.

In the last year, Countrywide used a 140million placing to raise cash from its shareholders 'to reduce the balance on the revolving credit facility and reduce leverage.'

Earlier this month, Countrywide was hit with a 215,000 fine by HMRC for money-laundering failures.

The company was fined for failing to ensure that its money-laundering procedures and record-keeping were in line with regulations.

HMRC also made surprise visits to 50 estate agents in a week to crack down on money-laundering in the industry.

Looking ahead, Mr Long said: 'We have been encouraged by the progress made in 2018 in resetting the business as part of our return to growth strategy.

'The principles within 'back to basics' in sales and lettings resulted in growth in the register and the sales pipeline in the UK, coupled with an increase in market share of listings.'

Emma-Lou Montgomery, associate director from Fidelity Personal Investing, said: 'Embattled UK estate agent group Countrywide has referred to last year as 'one of the most challenging' and after seeing earnings halve and the group plunged into losses you can see why.

'However, its 215,000 HM Revenue & Customs fine for failing to comply with money laundering prevention rules, imposed this week suggests things may be about to get worse yet.

'Brexit uncertainty is one big external issue, as is the fee on tenant fees, and both will affect Countrywide.

'But it clearly also still has internal problems to tackle too and we'll have to see whether investors are convinced that having pressed the 'reset' button things really will improve.

'A three year turnaround plan is on the table, but three years is a long time in the estate agency business. Especially so in uncertain times.'
Hyped-up publicity surrounding the launch of a vegan sausage roll helped Greggs achieve annual sales of over 1billion for the first time last year.

The company's boss, Roger Whiteside, said the group had spent 'millions of pounds' transforming the way people view the brand.

The bakery has been ploughing cash into store re-fits, healthier food options and is now looking to move into the evening food market, Mr Whiteside told BBC Today.

Bumper sales: Sales at Greggs reached over 1billion for the first time last year

Chairman Ian Durant said the company's vegan sausage roll enjoyed an 'extraordinary level of social and general media coverage'.

In the seven weeks to 16 February, the group's managed shop like-for-like sales rose by 9.6 per cent.

Summing up the chain's performance, chief executive, Robert Whiteside, said: '2018 was a year that tested the resilience of Greggs' business model and demonstrated the benefits of our strategic investment programme.'

He added: 'Whilst there are significant uncertainties in the months ahead, Greggs has started 2019 in great form, helped in part by the publicity surrounding the launch of our vegan-friendly sausage roll.'

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: 'There is no doubt that Greggs is on a roll and it is giving customers what they want  something that many retailers often overlook.

Transformation: Roger Whiteside said the group had spent 'millions of pounds' transforming the way people view Greggs

'Yet where does it go from here? The vegan sausage roll has the hallmarks of being a fad and its huge publicity success could prompt management to focus on more product innovation to try and repeat this trick.

'That could easily backfire if new products aren't a hit and could also be a distraction to management who should be focused on the day-to-day business.'

Plans: The bakery has been ploughing cash into store re-fits, healthier food options and is now looking to move into the evening food market

Weather woes: Greggs said that while the first half of 2018 was hit by 'extreme weather'

The group's pre-tax profit rose 15 per cent last year to 82.6million, marking the fifth year in a row that profits have increased.

The firms's FTSE-250 listed shares have almost doubled in value since July last year. This morning, shares in Greggs are down 0.33 per cent or 6.00p to 1,805.00p. This time a year ago, the firm's share price was 1,210p, but rose sharply from around November.

Greggs said that while the first half of 2018 was hit by 'extreme weather', it was able to bounce back and perform ahead of expectations.

Sales: In the seven weeks to 16 February, the group's managed shop like-for-like sales rose by 9.6 per cent

Share price: This morning, shares in Greggs are down 0.33 per cent or 6.00p to 1,805.00p

Emma-Lou Montgomery, associate director from Fidelity Personal Investing, said: 'Could this be the world's first billion pound sausage roll?

'Because Greggs is on a roll and in most part thanks to that now famous non-meat sausage roll that has prompted an uplift in sales of both the vegan and the traditional meaty variety. So much so that group total sales topped a billion pounds in 2018.

'They grew 7.2% to 1,029.3 million, the first time in its history that the business has generated turnover of more than a billion pounds in a year.

'Greggs initially launched the vegan sausage roll in 950 stores to cash in on the 'Veganuary' trend. Following what it described as an 'overwhelming response from the public' and not forgetting the lively social media debate that ensued, it began rolling it out to a further 250 stores a week. It now sells the product in all of its 1,950 outlets.

'The task at hand now is for Greggs to cook up something equally spectacular to whet customers' appetites and keep momentum going in 2019.'

Greggs has 1,953 stores across the UK, and Mr Whiteside said it planned to have 2,000 stores by the end of the year.
Huawei claims the National Defence Authorisation Act is unconstitutional and amounts to a 'corporate death penalty'

Huawei accused the US of acting as judge, jury and executioner as it launched a legal fight back against bans on its equipment.

The Chinese telecoms group has filed a lawsuit urging a federal court to overturn parts of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), which bars American government departments from using Chinese kit.

Huawei claims the act, signed by President Trump in August, is unconstitutional and amounts to a corporate death penalty.

The firms move comes as US officials are pressuring allies around the world to shun its equipment over spying fears. Huawei rejects accusations its kit poses a risk.

Huaweis lawsuit seeks a temporary injunction against parts of the defence act and an eventual ruling to strike them down entirely.

The US Justice Department declined to comment on the legal action.
My wife and I have saved 100 a month into a junior stocks and shares Isa for our four-year-old daughter since she was born.

I now wish to start a self invested personal pension for her but Im struggling to find a fund for my needs.

I want to pay 50 a month into the Sipp and wish to follow Warren Buffet's advice to his wife and invest in a tracker fund for reasonable returns with low fees.

Do you have any thoughts?

James, via email

The taxman applies a sweetener in the form of a 20 per cent tax-relief on contributions to a junior Sipp

Myron Jobson of This is Money, says: Thinking about how your child is going to finance life at retirement is usually a long way down the list of priorities for most parents.

Saving to fund university fees and a house deposit are more pressing concerns, but there are many reasons why investing in a Sipp for your child makes sense.

Up to 2,880 a year can be paid into the pension of someone under 18. The taxman applies a sweetener in the form of a 20 per cent tax-relief on contributions - even though the child is unlikely to have paid any income tax before they're 18.

So if you max out the contribution limit - currently 2,880 - the Government pays a 720 top up, turning the sum into 3,600 in total.

An added bonus is that you can potentially limit your future inheritance tax liability as gifts to a childs pension are often covered by one of the tax's exemptions.

The downside is that cash held in a Sipp can't be accessed until age 55 (57 from 2028, so you are investing for your child's long-term future.

This investment horizon provides ample time to ride out stock market storms along the way.

Saving to fund university fees and a house deposit are more pressing concerns for parents than saving for when their child retires

What's more, the benefit of compound returns - returns building up on returns - and the tax advantages over the long-term can make even modest regular contributions well worthwhile.

We've asked two investment experts to give you a steer on possible returns and where to invest.

Freddie Cleworth, chartered wealth manager at EQ Investors, replies: If you stick by your word and make a monthly contribution of 50 (600 a year) into a junior Sipp from now until your daughter turns 18, the Sipp could be worth 16,000 by her 18th birthday.

This calculation is based on the assumption that the portfolio will grow by 5 per cent a year and the figure is inclusive of the Government top-up.

If the fund continues to grow at this rate, even with no further contributions, it could be worth over 108,000 by the time she is 57 and can access her pension fund.

The compounding effect over time is considerable.

As a further example, if you invested the full junior Sipp allowance from age four to 18 (plus tax-relief) and achieving growth of 5 per cent a year after fees, the fund would be worth 77,600 by the time your daughter turns 18.

With no further contributions, by 57 the pension could be worth an eye-watering 520,000.

Freddie Cleworth, chartered wealth manager at EQ Investors

Where to invest

You specifically mentions you want to invest in a tracker fund. These funds are designed to replicate the performance of a specified index, like the FTSE 100.

Given the long-term investment time horizon, an adventurous approach would seem appropriate.

Here are three tracker funds worth considering.

Ongoing charges: 0.19 per cent

The fund aims to track the FTSE World Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index, which is composed of mid and large-sized companies in the Pacific region, including Australasia but excluding Japan.

We like the tracker as it provides exposure to a diverse portfolio of Pacific rim stocks and it has tracked the benchmark well historically.

Ongoing charges: 0.10 per cent

The fund aims to track the performance of the S&P US Total Market Index, which represents the performance of all listed companies in the United States.

The tracker adopts the sampling methodology by investing in some but not all of the companies listed in the market index it tracks. This reduces transaction costs and avoids liquidity issues given the index has around 4,000 stocks, including companies of a very small size. We like the tracker as it gives exposure to companies of all sizes in the US.

Ongoing charges: 0.10 per cent

The fund aims to track the performance of the FTSE World Europe ex-UK Index, which represents the performance of large and mid cap companies in Europe excluding UK.

The tracker uses the physical replication method which means it will hold all the companies comprising the index.

We like the tracker as it gives exposure to both large and mid cap companies within Europe and it has tracked the benchmark well historically.

Consider active funds

Id say its also worth considering investing in actively-managed funds, those managed by a fund manager who researches and selects from a wide range of investment.

These funds aim to beat the performance of a specified benchmark market index.

There are also investment trusts which are funds that are publicly listed as companies on the London Stock Exchange, and so are traded like shares.

Here are three active funds worth considering.

Tracker funds are designed to replicate the performance of a specified index, like the FTSE 100

Ongoing charges: 1.24 per cent

The trust offers steady dividends and growth via renewable energy, providing exposure to an alternative asset classes uncorrelated to traditional equities.

Ongoing charges: 0.53 per cent

The fund focuses on global earlier stage companies developing innovative services shaking up their industries, and is balanced by holding a more defensive bucket of stocks that are less economically sensitive.

Ongoing charges: 0.90 per cent

The fund invests in companies globally addressing unmet societal needs, through development of products and services making a clear and measurable impact on society and the environment.
Zaharie Ahmad Shah (pictured) was the pilot of the doomed flight

DID THE PILOT HIJACK HIS OWN PLANE?

Pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah planned mass murder because of personal problems, locking his co-pilot out of the cockpit, closing down all communications, depressurising the main cabin and then disabling the aircraft so that it continued flying on auto-pilot until it ran out of fuel.

That was the popular theory in the weeks after the plane's disappearance.

His personal problems, rumours in Kuala Lumpur said, included a split with his wife Fizah Khan, and his fury that a relative, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, had been given a five-year jail sentence for sodomy shortly before he boarded the plane for the flight to Beijing.

But the pilot's wife angrily denied any personal problems and other family members and his friends said he was a devoted family man and loved his job.

This theory was also the conclusion of the first independent study into the disaster by the New Zealand-based air accident investigator, Ewan Wilson.

Wilson, the founder of Kiwi Airlines and a commercial pilot himself, arrived at the shocking conclusion after considering 'every conceivable alternative scenario'.

However, he has not been able to provide any conclusive evidence to support his theory.

The claims are made in the book 'Goodnight Malaysian 370', which Wilson co-wrote with the New Zealand broadsheet journalist, Geoff Taylor.

It's also been rumoured that Zaharie used a flight simulator at his home to plot a path to a remote island.

However, officials in Kuala Lumpur declared that Malaysian police and the FBI's technical experts had found nothing to suggest he was planning to hijack the flight after closely examining his flight simulator.

And there are also theories that t he tragic disappearance may have been a heroic act of sacrifice by the pilot.

Australian aviation enthusiast Michael Gilbert believes the doomed plane caught fire mid-flight, forcing the pilot to plot a course away from heavily populated areas.

IF NOT THE PILOT, WAS THE CO-PILOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MYSTERY?

Co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, again for personal problems, was suspected by rumour-spreaders to have overpowered the pilot and disabled the aircraft, flying it to its doom with crew and passengers unable to get through the locked cockpit door.

Theorists have put forward the suggestion that he was having relationship problems and this was his dramatic way of taking his own life.

But he was engaged to be married to Captain Nadira Ramli, 26, a fellow pilot from another airline, and loved his job. There are no known reasons for him to have taken any fatal action.

There have been a series of outlandish theories about the disappearance of the plane

Others have suggested that because he was known to have occasionally invited young women into the cockpit during a flight, he had done so this time and something had gone wrong.

Young Jonti Roos said in March that she spent an entire flight in 2011 in the cockpit being entertained by Hamid, who was smoking.

Interest in the co-pilot was renewed when it was revealed he was the last person to communicate from the cockpit after the communication system was cut off.

DID THE RUSSIANS STEAL MH370 AND FLY THE JET TO KAZAKHSTAN

An expert has claimed the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 was hijacked on the orders of Vladimir Putin and secretly landed in Kazakhstan.

Jeff Wise, a U.S. science writer who spearheaded CNN's coverage of the Boeing 777-200E, has based his outlandish theory on pings that the plane gave off for seven hours after it went missing, that were recorded by British telecommunications company Inmarsat.

Wise believes that hijackers 'spoofed' the plane's navigation data to make it seem like it went in another direction, but flew it to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is leased from Kazakhstan by Russia.

However, Wise admits in New York Magazine that he does not know why Vladimir Putin would want to steal a plane full of people and that his idea is somewhat 'crazy'.

Wise also noted there were three Russian men onboard the flight, two of them Ukrainian passport holders.

Aviation disaster experts analysed satellite data and discovered - like the data recorded by Inmarsat - that the plane flew on for hours after losing contact.

Careful examination of the evidence has revealed that MH370 made three turns after the last radio call, first a turn to the left, then two more, taking the plane west, then south towards Antarctica.

MH370 WAS USED BY TERRORISTS FOR A SUICIDE ATTACK ON THE CHINESE NAVY

This extraordinary claim came from 41-year-old British yachtsman Katherine Tee, from Liverpool, whose initial account of seeing what she thought was a burning plane in the night sky made headlines around the world.

On arrival in Thailand's Phuket after sailing across the Indian Ocean from Cochin, southern India with her husband, she said: 'I could see the outline of the plane - it looked longer than planes usually do.There was what appeared to be black smoke streaming from behind.'

Ms Tee's general description of the time and place was vague and she lost all credibility when she later stated on her blog that she believed MH370 was a kamikaze plane that was aimed at a flotilla of Chinese ships and it was shot down before it could smash into the vessels.

Without solid proof of the satellite data, she wrote on her blog, Saucy Sailoress, the plane she saw was flying at low altitude towards the military convoy she and her husband had seen on recent nights. She added that internet research showed a Chinese flotilla was in the area at the time.

While the debris proved the plane went down in the Indian Ocean, the location of the main underwater wreckage  and its crucial black box data recorders  remains stubbornly elusive.

THE JET LANDED ON THE WATER AND WAS SEEN FLOATING ON THE ANDAMAN SEA

On a flight from Jeddah to Kuala Lumpur that crossed over the Andaman Sea on March 8, Malaysian woman Raja Dalelah, 53, saw what she believed was a plane sitting on the water's surface.

She didn't know about the search that had been started for MH370. She alerted a stewardess who told her to go back to sleep.

'I was shocked to see what looked like the tail and wing of an aircraft on the water,' she said.

It was only when she told her friends on landing in Kuala Lumpur what she had seen that she learned of the missing jet. She had seen the object at about 2.30pm Malaysian time.

She said she had been able to identify several ships and islands before noticing the silver object that she said was a plane.

But her story was laughed off by pilots who said it would have been impossible to have seen part of an aircraft in the water from 35,000ft or seven miles.

Ms Raja filed an official report with police the same day and has kept to her story.

'I know what I saw,' she said.

THE AIRCRAFT SUFFERED A CATASTROPHIC SYSTEMS FAILURE AND CRASH-LANDED ON THE OCEAN

A catastrophic event such as a fire disabling much of the equipment resulted in the pilots turning the plane back towards the Malaysian peninsula in the hope of landing at the nearest airport.

Satellite data, believable or not, suggests the aircraft did make a turn and theorists say there would be no reason for the pilots to change course unless confronted with an emergency.

A fire in a similar Boeing 777 jet parked at Cairo airport in 2011 was found to have been caused by a problem with the first officer's oxygen mask supply tubing.

Stewarts Law, which has litigated in a series of recent air disasters, believes the plane crashed after a fire - similar to the blaze on the Cairo airport runway - broke out in the cockpit.

After an investigation into the Cairo blaze, Egypt's Aircraft Accident Investigation Central Directorate (EAAICD) released their final report which revealed that the fire originated near the first officer's oxygen mask supply tubing.

The cause of the fire could not be conclusively determined, but investigators pinpointed a problem with the cockpit hose used to provide oxygen for the crew in the event of decompression.

Following the 2011 fire, US aircraft owners were instructed to replace the system - it was estimated to cost $2,596 (1,573) per aircraft. It was not known whether Malaysia Airlines had carried out the change.

If either pilot wanted to crash the plane, why turn it around? So the turn-around suggests they were trying to land as soon as possible because of an emergency.

THE US SHOT DOWN THE AIRCRAFT FEARING A TERROR ATTACK ON DIEGO GARCIA

The Boeing 777 was shot down by the Americans who feared the aircraft had been hijacked and was about to be used to attack the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia atoll in the Indian Ocean. So conspiracy theorists claim.

And former French airline director Marc Dugain said he had been warned by British intelligence that he was taking risks by investigating this angle.

There is no way of checking whether Dugain received such a warning or why he believes the Americans shot down the plane.

But adding to the theory that the aircraft was flown to Diego Garcia, either by the pilot Zaharie or a hijacker, was the claim that on the pilot's home flight simulator was a 'practice' flight to the island.

Professor Glees said: 'The Americans would have no interest in doing anything of the kind and not telling the world.

'In theory, they might wish to shoot down a plane they thought was attacking them but they wouldn't just fire missiles, they'd investigate it first with fighters and would quickly realise that even if it had to be shot down, the world would need to know.'
Michael Jackson's musical legacy has been undergoing a critical reappraisal after a new documentary rekindled allegations of child sexual abuse.

But while DJs, radio stations and fans are dropping his hits from their playlists, at least two music museums in Detroit and Tennessee aren't scrubbing the King of Pop from their exhibits.

The National Museum of African American Music says some Michael Jackson artifacts will be still go on display in a planned exhibit called 'One Nation Under A Groove,' when the museum opens in downtown Nashville in early 2020.

A hat and sequined glove once belonging to Michael Jackson displayed at the Motown Historical Museum at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit. The King of Pop's musical legacy has been under reconsideration since an HBO documentary revisited allegations of child sex abuse

The museum has previously released renderings of the building's design, featuring an image of Jackson on the exterior.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, the chairwoman and CEO of Motown Museum said its mission is to share the stories and artifacts of the history of Motown.

'Michael Jackson's musical contributions remain part of the Motown story,' Robin Terry said.

Motown Records was the first major label to record The Jackson 5, in which Michael debuted as a young star alongside his siblings, and the company released their hits 'I Want You Back' and 'ABC.'

Some fans may be removing Michael Jackson's music from their playlists after a new documentary rekindles allegations of child sexual abuse, but at least two music museums in Detroit and Tennessee aren't scrubbing the King of Pop from their exhibits

The recent HBO documentary 'Leaving Neverland' featured detailed and disturbing stories from two men who say Jackson groomed them for sex and molested them when they were young boys.

Allegations of sexual abuse shadowed Jackson throughout much of his adult life, but he was acquitted on child molestation charges in 2005 and died four years later.

There's been no evidence of major damage to Jackson's estate or his music because of the new documentary.

'The importance of Michael Jackson's music to the African American culture, and to the American soundtrack, is unrivalled,' said H. Beecher Hicks III, president and CEO of the National Museum of African American Music in a statement.

Lina Stephens, chief curator at the Motown Historical Museum adjusts costumes from the Jackson 5 exhibit at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit

'As a part of our One Nation Under a Groove gallery, Jackson will be defined by his music, his importance to pop culture, music videos and his impact on changing the course of popular music in our country.

'NMAAM has collected some artifacts which will be on display in this gallery, each of which will help highlight these aspects of his contributions to African American music.

'We understand that, like music itself, legacies are constantly evolving, and that we must be able to evolve and shift as needed.'

A publicist for NMAAM said the design of the structure is still preliminary, and they have planned on having a rotating display of artist images on the building's exterior signs.
Pregnant women have been urged to get vaccinated as experts warn of another record-breaking super flu season following a bizarre summer epidemic.

A record 25,000 Australians were were struck by the flu over the last four months, which may spark calls for a second free flu jab.

Pregnant women are deemed particularly at risk as their immune systems are compromised while their bodies focus on creating a foetus.

The bizarre summer outbreak has sparked concerns that this year's flu season could be severe (stock image)

There were 58,824 reported flu cases last year while there were 250,000 reported cases in 2017.

Immunisation Coalition chairman Professor Paul Van Buynder is concerned that 2018's mild flu season will lead to people skipping flu shots this year.

'There's a real risk of complacency because people remember a relatively mild year,' Professor Van Buynder said.

'Part of the reason last year was more successful is because people remembered how bad the flu was in 2017.'

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy announced this year's flu vaccine will be available from April.

'It important to get the flu shot each year, as the virus changes each year,' he said.

'We know that the protection provided by the previous years vaccine diminishes over time.'

There is not yet enough evidence to support double yearly vaccination but people with lung conditions should get two shots per year, Professor Van Buynder said (stock image)

There is not yet enough evidence to support double yearly vaccination but people with lung conditions should get two shots per year, Professor Van Buynder said.

He said second yearly shots should be considered on a patient-by-patient basis, especially for chronically ill patients.

One free flu shot is given to pregnant women, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders, babies and people over 65 years old.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said a record 11 million Australians got a flu shot last year.

'Last year the government's immunisation program saw an over 90 per cent drop in lives lost to flu, down from 1150 to 102,' she said.

'This year we hope to continue both trends.'
Chance the Rapper, Meek Mill and 21 Savage are just a few leading rappers who have urged the Supreme Court to hear a fellow artist's First Amendment challenge to his conviction for threatening police officers in a song.

The stars of the hip hop industry are rallying around Pittsburgh rapper Mayhem Mal, real name Jamal Knox, who created a song called 'F**k the Police' in 2012,

Knox along with his friend Soulja Beaz, real name Rashee Beasley, rapped 'let's kill these cops 'cause they don't do us no good' after Knox was arrested on drug and gun charges earlier that year.

The song named two officers who had arrested Knox in the incident and the men were set to testify against Knox at his criminal trial.

Knox, who was 19 at the time, was convicted of witness intimidation and terroristic threats in 2014 and sentenced to two years behind bars.

Now, lawyers for 24-year-old Knox are trying to persuade the Supreme Court to hear his case, citing the First Amendment, and other A-List rappers are backing his fight.

Knox created a song called 'F**k the Police' in 2012, where he rapped 'let's kill these cops 'cause they don't do us no good'. At 19 years old, Knox was convicted of witness intimidation and terroristic threats in 2014 and sentenced to two years behind bars

Rappers including Killer Mike, a Grammy-winning rapper and community activist, Chance the Rapper, Meek Mill, Yo Gotti, Fat Joe, Mad Skillz, 21 Savage, Jasiri X, Styles P, as well as music industry veterans and scholars, all signed their names in a brief filed on Wednesday in support of Knox's case.

'We are optimistic the court will take this important and timely case and ensure that the First Amendment offers the same protections to the artists who create rap music as to other artists', partner Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan told DailyMail.com.

Speaking to the New York Times on the day of the filing, Killer Mike, real name Michael Santiago Render, compared Knox's case to the controversial 'stop and frisk' policy, saying it was simply 'another form of racial profiling'.

He said: 'Outlaw country music is given much more poetic license than gangster rap, and I listen to both.

'And I can tell you that the lyrics are dark and brutal when Johnny Cash describes shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die and when Ice Cube rapped about a drive-by shooting early in his career.'

Lawyers say the many rappers who are supporting Knox 'seek to put rap which is a heavily stigmatized form of expression associated with negative stereotypes and often subject to misinterpretation, in the context of the history and conventions of the genre.

'The poetic nature of rap lyrics requires analysis of the multilayered meanings attributable to such lyrics, viewed through the lens of the intended audience.'

Now, lawyers for 24-year-old Knox are trying to persuade the Supreme Court to hear his case, citing the First Amendment, and other A-List rappers including Chance the Rapper (left) and 21 Savage (right) are backing his fight

Rappers including Meek Mill (pictured), Killer Mike,Yo Gotti, Fat Joe, Mad Skillz, Jasiri X, Styles P, as well as music industry veterans and scholars, all signed their names in a brief filed on Wednesday in support of Knox's case

LYRICS IN JAMAL KNOX'S SONG F**K THE POLICE THAT LED TO HIS CONVICTION If y'all want beef we can beef/I got artillery to shake the mother f**kin' streets You dirty b***hes won't keep knockin' my riches/This Ghetto Superstar Committee ain't wit it This first verse is for Officer Zeltner and all you fed force b***hes/And Mr. Kosko, you can suck my d**k you keep on knocking my riches/You want beef, well cracker I'm wit it That whole department can get it/All these soldiers in my committee gonna f**k over you b***hes F*k the, f*k the police, b***h, I said it loud. The f**kin' city can't stop me We makin' prank calls, as soon as you b***hes come we bustin' heavy metal So now they gonna chase me through these streets/And I'ma jam this rusty knife all in his guts and chop his feet You taking money away from Beaz and all my s**t away from me/Well your shift over at three and I'm gonna f**k up where you sleep I keep a forty on my waist, that'll wet you like a mop n***a Clip filled to the tippy top wit some cop killas/F**k the police, they bring us no peace That's why I keep my heat when I'm roamin' through these streets. Cause if you jump out it's gonna be a dump ou And I'm hittin' ya chest, don't tell me stop cuz I'm resisting arrest. I ain't really a rapper dog, but I spit wit the best I ain't carry no 38 dog, I spit with a tec/That like fifty shots n***a, that's enough to hit one cop on 50 blocks n***a/I said f**k the cops n***a Let's kill these cops cuz they don't do us no good/Pullin' your Glock out cause I live in the hood/You dirty b***hes, b***h! Advertisement

The backers 'urge the Court to view rap music, through which the alleged threats in this case were purportedly communicated, as not only a form of artistic expression but as political expression that falls well within the scope of activity protected by the First Amendment', the brief states.

Knox's team claim his song, although violent in rhetoric, is a work of poetry, 'told from the perspective of two invented characters in the style of rap music.'

At his sentencing in 2014, Knox claimed that he had to 'put on an image' as a rapper.

The brief adds: 'It is not intended to be taken literally, something that a reasonable listener with even a casual knowledge of rap would understand.'

Knox said he fell in love with poetry which then evolved to rap music as a child, turning towards the works of Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes and Tupac Shakur, instead of a stress ball his anger management instructor had given him.

The brief notes that Knox 'found that writing poetry of his own was a far more effective and enduring form of therapy.'

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld Knox's conviction in 2017, stating the lyrics were 'sufficient to place the rap song within the true-threat category' and it did 'primarily portray violence toward the police'.

The judges ruled: 'If this Court were to rule that Appellants decision to use a stage persona and couch his threatening speech as gangsta rap categorically prevented the song from being construed as an expression of a genuine intent to inflict harm, we would in effect be interpreting the Constitution to provide blanket protection for threats, however severe, so long as they are expressed within that musical style.'

For decades, the Supreme Court has said that 'true threats' to harm another person are not protected speech under the First Amendment. But the court has been careful to distinguish threats from protected speech such as 'political hyperbole' or 'unpleasantly sharp attacks.'

In 2014, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Anthony Elonis, who argued the First Amendment protected his right to free speech after he was jailed for four years after he penned a rap about killing his ex wife.

However, the high court said it was not necessary to reach First Amendment issues in reversing Elonis' conviction.
A major campaign has been launched to encourage more Chinese tourists to come to Australia amid concerns they believe the Outback is too dangerous.

The $5million campaign, of which $3.28 will be funded by the taxpayer, will see adverts erected on billboards in major Chinese cities and on metro stations.

It is hoped that the stunning photos depicting some of Australia's most beautiful regions will entice 'free and independent travellers'.

The campaign comes after a report showed that many Chinese tourists believe their 'personal safety would be compromised in regional Australia'.

The report, conducted by Tourism Research Australia, found the lack of transport options and free WiFi were also among complaints from Chinese tourists.

The billboard images feature swimmers diving with an enormous crocodile with the Chinese words meaning 'so' added over the top

The striking images appearing around China's major cities are aiming to lure Chinese tourists to travelling to the Australian Outback

'Lack of free WiFi in regional Australia is a significant barrier and limits opportunities to post real-time experiences,' the report said.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said Australia must find new ways to appeal to the Chinese market.

'This presents a great opportunity for Australia's regional tourism offerings given the strong correlation between length of stay and likelihood to travel beyond Australia's gateways and iconic attractions,' he said in a statement.

Mr Birmingham said that he hoped the 'Too Australian for Words' campaign encourage more adventurous young Chinese travellers to stay longer and see more than just Australia's 'iconic attractions'.

In this billboard from the ad campaign, quote marks are placed around the scenery, and the Chinese word 'super' has been added in

Tourism Australia is set to pay $3.28 million and tourism operators such as Qantas will foot the $1.78 million advertising bill.

The number of young Chinese tourists travelling to Australia grew 18.8 per cent last year, as the overall number of Chinese visitors grew 5.5 per cent to reach a record 1.42 million.

Mr Birmingham said that while Australia had long been successful in attracting tour groups from China, the younger traveller was fast becoming a new priority.

The breathtaking photos show a different side to regional Australia and hopes to lure in young Chinese tourists
An outback KFC will now close two hours earlier each day because it has turned into a 'safe house' for victims seeking refuge from violent criminals.

The Alice Springs fast food franchise has said it will now be closing its doors at 10pm everyday instead of its regular 12am or 1am closing time to protect staff.

'We have had people taking refuge from others in our restaurant that has resulted in almost $8000 worth of damage,' Sam Edelman shared on Facebook.

KFC Alice Springs (pictured) will be closing earlier as it has become a 'safe house' for victims of violent crimes

The franchise has said they will resume normal trading hours when crime rates have dropped, ABC reported.

A KFC spokesperson said: 'Were concerned about the escalating violence occurring in and around our KFC Alice Springs restaurant late at night.

To ensure the safety of our people and customers weve decided to close our dining area at 10pm but our customers can continue to be served via the drive thru which will still trade until 12am Monday to Friday, and until 1am on weekends. Well continue to work with the police to assess safety and assist in whatever way possible.'

The announcement was made after a tourist in Alice Springs was punched in the face by an attacker on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old woman was walking across a bridge just before 12pm when she was approached.

The woman refused to give the man her money and was struck in the face. She had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

Police are still looking for the man who they describe as Indigenous with a sturdy build.

Local resident Bill Davis had his house broken into recently and had his belongings and camper van stolen.

Mr Davis said a lack of education and engagement is the reason behind these rise in youth crime.

Crime statistics show that there has been a 83 per cent increase in house break-ins and 14 per cent increase in property break-ins in Alice Springs in the last year.
Detectives have launched a forensic search of bushland in regional New South Wales after the 'suspicious disappearance' of a Sydney woman who vanished two months ago.

Samah Baker, 30, was last seen in the early hours of January 4, when her friend dropped her off at her home in Early Street, Parramatta, in Sydney's western suburbs.

Relatives reported her missing after they were unable to get in contact with her later that day and she has not been heard from since.

Following inquiries, detectives began searching bushland at Yarra, 16km south-west of Goulburn, from about 9am on Wednesday.

Samah Baker, 30, was last seen in the early hours of January 4, when her friend dropped her off at her Parramatta home

Following inquiries, detectives began searching bushland at Yarra, 16km south-west of Goulburn, from about 9am on Wednesday (pictured)

Several items which may be relevant to the investigation have been seized by officers and will be forensically examined.

Strike Force Boutcher, the detectives investigating Ms Baker's disappearance, are appealing for anyone with relevant dashcam footage to assist with their investigation.

Police ask anyone who was driving on the Hume Highway near the French VC rest stop at Yarra between 9pm and midnight on Friday 4 January, to come forward.

Parramatta Police Area Commander, Superintendent Julie Boon, said the search was expected to continue on Thursday.

'We've had great community support following an appeal earlier this week, but we are continuing to call on those who can provide us with details of Samah Baker's movements in early January,' Supt Boon said.

Supt Boon asked the public to empathise with Ms Baker's family amid the ongoing investigation.

Several items which may be relevant to the investigation have been seized by officers and will be forensically examined

Relatives reported Ms Baker (pictured) missing after they were unable to get in contact with her later that day and she has not been heard from since

Strike Force Boutcher, the detectives investigating Ms Baker's disappearance, are appealing for anyone with relevant dashcam footage to assist with their investigation

'We believe there are people out there who may know where Samah is but are fearful or reluctant to come forward,' she said.

'To them I say, please put yourselves in the shoes of the Baker family. They want to find their beloved daughter and sister and bring her home.

'It could just be that small detail or dashcam vision that could help investigators find Samah.'

Police have also released drone footage of their current operation in the regional bushland.

The forensic search comes days after police released CCTV footage of Ms Baker inside the Vibe Hotel, North Sydney, two days before her disappearance.

Parramatta Police Area Commander, Superintendent Julie Boon, said the search was expected to continue on Thursday

The forensic search comes days after police released CCTV footage of Ms Baker inside the Vibe Hotel, North Sydney, two days before her disappearance (pictured)

The footage shows her entering a elevator at the hotel wearing a black and white spotted top with denim shorts.

She exits a short time later before walking in the opposite direction to the male who was also in the lift.

Posts have been made on Ms Baker's social media accounts since she was reported missing but police are investigating whether they were made by someone else with access to her account.

'Despite her social media account being updated since she was reported missing, investigators are examining the possibility she may have met with foul play,' Supt Boon said.

The male friend who dropped Ms Baker off in the early hours of January 4 said he watched her walk inside her home before leaving, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Ms Baker's housemates said they did not see her come home.

The Ultimo TAFE receptionist has not turned on her phone or used her bank cards since her disappearance.

Police have also released drone footage of their current operation in the regional bushland

Ms Baker is described as having green eyes, long dark hair, approximately 160cm tall, with a medium build and has the word hope tattooed on her left wrist

Ms Baker is described as having green eyes, long dark hair, approximately 160cm tall, with a medium build and has the word hope tattooed on her left wrist.

The Baker family have released a statement which says: 'Our family is devastated that we still have not seen or heard from our beloved Samah.

'Samah is a very outgoing, vivacious, and kind-hearted person and could make friends with everyone she met. Every day without our much-loved sister and daughter is filled with unimaginable grief.

'We want to find her and bring her home, back where she belongs. Please, if you know where she is, we are begging you to call police.'
The names of the 23 victims, including 10 from the same family, killed when a devastating tornado ripped through Alabama and Georgia on Sunday have been released by authorities.

Cousins Cordarrly Jones and Demetria Jones say they're still struggling to process the reality of the devastation, as they prepare to organize funerals for two of their grandparents, their uncle, and seven of their cousins.

The family's loss could be even greater as a number of relatives remain in hospital with serious injuries.

'It really hasn't fully hit me yet. I'm still trying to process it,' Cordarrly, 29, said.

'Everybody in this area was just about related,' added Demetria, 28. 'It's devastating.'

Demetria Jones (right) and his cousin Cordarrly Jones, walk through the damaged neighborhood where they lost 10 relatives

Maggie Robinson (above), 57, was one of 10 relatives lost by the Jones cousins on Sunday

Richard Tate (pictured) was at home with his wife when suddenly the structure crumbled around him

Richard Tate (left) and his wife Cynthia retrieve personal items from what's left of their home. Richard Tate lost a sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and uncle in the storm, all who lived nearby. 'I'm lucky to be alive,' he said

He insisted the force of the freak tornado could've wiped out his entire family

Debris litters the neighborhood where Bernard Reese (right) found half-a-dozen victims on Sunday, after he raced to the area once the twister had passed

Reese stands next to the rubble of his aunt's home in which she survived

With winds reaching up to 170 mph, the freak tornado became the deadliest in the US for six years.

A tornado warning gave local residents just 12 minutes to brace themselves before the racing winds began bulldozing mobile homes and reducing bricks and mortar to rubble.

The cousins stood among the rubble of a row of dilapidated homes in Beauregard, Georgia, attempting to salvage some of their family member's possessions while simultaneously mourning their deaths.

Their grandparents, 89-year-old Jimmy Jones and 83-year-old Mary Louise Jones, were killed in their home on a two-lane road where most everyone shares family ties.

The couples son Emmanuel Jones, a 53-year-old uncle to the cousins, is gone too. Also dead, they said, were seven cousins by both blood and marriage: Eric Jamal Stenson, 38; Florel Tate Stenson; 63; Henry Lewis Stenson; 65; James Henry Tate, 86; Tresia Robinson, 62; Raymond Robinson Jr., 63; and Maggie Delight Robinson, 57.

Dexter Norwood, left, and Bernard Reese both said they are haunted by the memories of seeing the bodies they helped find

Cindy Sanford sifts through the debris while retrieving personal items from the wreckage that was once her home

The F4 twister blew her home completely off of its foundations. She managed to escape its midst with her grandson and took shelter in a near-by church

Cindy sifts through the debris with help from her brother, Tim Lancaster, left, and stepfather, Michael Boutwell, while retrieving personal on March 5

Other families returned to the site to salvage whatever is left of their belongings

Machinery and constructions workers have been called to the area to assist the likes of Kayla Causey (pictured)

Debris litters much of the area after the 170 mph winds bulldozed mobile homes and reduced bricks and mortar to rubble

The mammoth clean-up will likely take weeks to complete, with additional workers being drafted in to help

So far, 13 others have been confirmed dead. Among them include six-year-old Armando Hernandez and 10-year-old Taylor Thornton.

Armando Hernandez, known as AJ, became separated from his mother in Beauregard when the tornado struck and was later found dead.

His mother, Kayla Melton, had earlier appealed for information on his whereabouts on Facebook, writing: 'Please look for my baby he's 6 years old his name is Armando Hernandez he goes by AJ last seen on lee road 38. Anyone in the area please help me find him please!!!!!'

His death was later confirmed by friends and family on social media.

Relative Tina Melton wrote on Facebook: 'Little AJ didn't make it. He was found but he didn't survive... He was always eager to give hugs and loved his family. They are headed to the children's hospital with his brother. They also lost their home in the tornado with all belongings. Fly high AJ. You have your wings!'

Taylor Thornton, a fourth grader, was also found dead among the rubble, a GoFundMe page set up by friends of her parents, David and Taylor, revealed.

'[Taylor] brought so much joy to all that knew her. She was loved dearly and will forever be missed.

'Our hearts are mourning with you Ashley and David. You raised an amazing daughter that fulfilled her purpose on this earth and it now with her creator. This community loves you both, and baby McCrae so much and will continue to walk through this by your side.'

Two anonymous corporations have pledged to pay for the funerals of the 23 victims, according to USA Today.

'What a wonderful blessing this will be for the families who have lost loved ones!' the county sheriff's office said in a Facebook post. 'To these corporations we thank you!'

Six-year-old Armando Hernandez (left) and ten-year-old Taylor Thornton have been identified as two of the 23 people who were killed by the tornadoes that hit Alabama and Georgia on Sunday. Both youngsters were from Beauregard, a small community in Lee County, Alabama, where the worst tornado damage was reported

A tornado is seen in Dothan, Alabama, on Sunday. At least 23 people have been killed by the tornadoes that hit the state

This aerial photo shows the extensive damage caused by the Beauregard tornado

A tattered American flag waves in the wind near the most damaged area in Beauregard

Sunday's tornado became the deadliest to hit the US since May 2015, when an EF5 twister killed 24 people in Oklahoma.

National Weather Service spokesman Chris Darden announced that the tornado had been upgraded from an F3 to an F4 on the Fujita scale.

Full list of victims killed in the tornado Armondo (AJ) Hernandez, 6 Charlotte Ann Miller, 59 David Dean, 53 Emmanuiel Jones, 53 Eric Jamal Stenson, 38 Felicia Woodall, 22 Florel Tate Stenson, 63 Henry Lewis Stenson, 65 Irma Gomez-Moran, 41 James Henry Tate, 86 Jimmy Lee Jones, 89 Jonathan Marquez Bowen, 9 Maggie Delight Robinson, 57 Mamie Roberts Koon, 68 Marshall Lynn Grimes, 59 Mary Louise Jones, 83 Mykala Waldon, 8 Raymond Robinson Jr., 63 Ryan Pence, 22 Sheila Creech, 59 Taylor Thornton, 10 Tresia Robinson, 62 Vicki Braswell, 69 Advertisement

On Wednesday, the search for bodies, pets and belongings continued for the bereaved.

Heavy machinery and construction workers have been hailed to the area to aid the clean-up, which could take several weeks.

Authorities now say that all of those once listed as missing have been accounted for or confirmed as dead.

Richard Tate, who is part of the same family as the Jones cousins, said he was lucky to be alive. 'It could have taken all of us the way it was moving,' said Tate, who was inside his home with his wife when the structure crumbled.

Another relative, Bernard Reese, said he found more than a half-dozen bodies or fatally injured along Lee County 39, in the tornado's wake.

'It bothers me, but it had to be done,' Reese said, who lives two miles away from the scene.

Reese said he jumped into his truck immediately after the twister passed and rushed to assist those affected.

The Jones cousins, who credit their survival to living on a different road to the majority of their relatives, said they had to talk their way past police barricades to get to the scene.

Officers, they said, kept asking for something to prove they were related to the victims.

'I just had to tell them that everything that proves who I am is out on that road,' Cordarrly Jones said.
President Trump flubbed the name of Apple CEO Tim Cook as he used a workforce roundtable, led by his daughter, to warn of an 'invasion' at the southern border on Wednesday afternoon.

He segued into the topic after he went around the room and allowed CEOs - including Cook, who he accidentally called Tim Apple at one point - to say a few words about the White House initiative that's the brainchild of Ivanka Trump.

'We want to have a very strong border, but we want to have a lot of people coming in,' the president said toward the end of the event. 'A lot of people dont understand that. They think were shutting it down. Were not shutting it down.'

Scroll down for video

President Trump used a workforce roundtable, led by his daughter, to warn of an 'invasion' at the southern border on Wednesday afternoon

Trump grabs the hand of White House senior advisor and his daughter Ivanka Trump as they participate in an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting in the White House

He segued into the topic after he went around the room and allowed CEOs - including Apple's Tim Cook

Trump said of his policy, 'We want people to come in, but they have to come in through a process.'

He warned of human traffickers and drugs and called it 'somewhat of an invasion' of illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Cook was seated to Trump's immediate right during the late afternoon event.

The Apple CEO has the president's ear and has been able to shape his policies on trade. He has broken with the billionaire publicly, however, on family separations at the border and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that Trump sought to terminate.

He said his company employs immigrants who are part of the DACA program and workers in the country on H-1Bs visas and has a right, therefore, to speak his mind about the president's policies on immigration.

That doesn't mean he'll stay away from the White House, though, he told the Irish Times in the summer of 2018.

'I'm personally a big believer in the way to be a good citizen is to participate, is to try to advocate your point of view, not to just sit on the sideline and yell or complain,' he explained.

At the beginning of the event, Ivanka Trump praised her father for directing resources to the initiative that she co-chairs

Ivanka shared snaps of the meeting on her Instagram story, including a group selfie shot

Cook has visited the White House on several occasions, attending Trump's first and only state dinner, in honor of France's Emmanuel Macron, at the White House in April of 2018.

They also dined in August of 2018 during the president's extended stay at his Bedminister property in New Jersey.

He came back the following day for a private meeting with Trump, where the two men discussed the president's trade agenda.

The Apple executive was at the White House on Wednesday for the first meeting of Ivanka's advisory board comprised of business leaders interested in being a part of a White House initiative to expand the American workforce.

President Trump told the CEOs he is seeking to make changes to the immigration system to make it easier for companies to hire high-skilled workers from other countries.

'Were going to let a lot of people come in because we need workers. They have to have workers,' he said. 'You need the people, and you need really great people.'

But those aren't the people who are crossing the border illegally, he said, tying his comments on legal and illegal immigration together.

'You are having other people come into the country,' he said.

The First Daughter looked feminine and stylish in a pink suit, nipped at the waist with a burgundy sash

Mother-of-three Ivanka smiled happily throughout the meeting, and later went on to share several candid photos on her Instagram account

The former businessman said that he 'would like to have the companies grow' and 'give them the workers' they need to expand after he was asked to clarify his immigration comments.

At the beginning of the event, Ivanka Trump praised her father for directing resources to the initiative that she co-chairs.

'Id like to thank you, Mr. President, for being here and for your steadfast commitment to a pro-growth economic agenda that is creating tremendous opportunity for all Americans,' she told him.

Taking the floor, Donald Trump commented on the 'formal' tone she used to address him.

He grabbed her hand fondly, eliciting a smile, from his daughter, and said, 'Special person. Shes worked so hard as you all know.'

Cook thanked the Trumps, saying it was 'an honor to serve on this council' and be at the White House.

'For our company, as you know, founded by a college dropout, so we've never really thought that a college degree thing you had to have to do well,' he said. 'We've always tried to expand our horizons.'

He said he is proud of the fact that half of Apple's workers don't have college degrees. Cook said it is Apple's belief that every child should have a coding education before they graduate high school and working with government to bring the need within the workforce for workers who can code into alignment with schools' curriculum.

The president told him that Apple is expanding in ways that he wanted to see 'right from the beginning' and have put a 'big investment' into the America's economy.

'We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple,' the president told him.
A map showing the predicted result of 100 different oil spills at once has been hijacked by environmental activists in a bid to shut down a new drilling which could bring billions of dollars and thousands of jobs to Australia.

Last month Norwegian oil company Equinor publicly released its plans for exploratory oil drilling 370 kilometres off the South Australian coast.

The company calculated which areas could be affected in 100 different scenarios of an oil spill left unattended for 129 days.

A map in the plans shows the amalgamation of all areas that may be affected by an oil spill. The affected region can be anywhere along the length of the south coast and up the east coast as far as Sydney. Pictured is an edited version of the map shared by Greenpeace

This is the actual map in the plans. It comes with a note saying that the area does not show the result from one spill but the amalgamation of 100 different scenarios

A map in the plans details the amalgamation of all these areas, showing that anywhere along the length of the south coast and up the east coast as far as Sydney may be affected by a spill.

The map was shared by Greenpeace and other environmental activists in a bid to drum up support for stopping the project.

The group tweeted the map with the caption: 'BREAKING: Oil giant Equinor has released its so-called 'Environmental Plan' for oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight.

'This map from Equinor's own prior modelling shows a spill could hit anywhere from SA to NSW.'

This week a think-tank slammed the protesters, insisting they are misleading the public by sharing the map.

An exhausted oil-covered brown pelican tries to climb over an oil containment boom along after a catastrophic oil spill in 2010

Fred Pawle of the Menzies Research Centre wrote an article in the Spectator calling the map an 'illusion'.

He said: 'The response from the perpetually outraged has been to misinterpret a map of the area that would be affected by a spill, share it extensively on social media and invite people to send their objections.

'The illustration looks scary but thankfully it is an illusion,' he added, pointing out that the map did not show one spill but 'areas that could be affected by any one of 100 scenarios.'

Pawle went on to back the drilling project, citing research that oil in the Bight could produce up to six billion barrels by 2060 and create up to 5,000 jobs in Australia.

He said this activity would 'increase Australia's GDP by $6billion to $19billion per year.'

Equinor, which has two permits for exploratory drilling in the Bight, outlined plans to start a large testing operation as early as late 2019.

Drilling the Bight is not new - 13 wells have been drilled since 1972, the most recent in 2006.

The Bight's waters hold 36 species of whales and dolphins, including the world's most important southern right whale nursery, and many humpback, sperm, blue and beak whales (stock image)

But activists are outraged about the prospect of a new project, especially after the Deep Water Horizon disaster (pictured) in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010

But activists are outraged about the prospect of a new project, especially after the Deep Water Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 which pumped 3.19 million barrels of oil into the ocean, killing 10 people and thousands of animals in the world's worst oil spill which had a clean up bill of $25billion.

Greenpeace released a statement outlining which animals could be under threat from an oil spill in the region.

It read: 'The bight's waters hold 36 species of whales and dolphins, including the world's most important southern right whale nursery, and many humpback, sperm, blue and beak whales.

'Australian sea lions swim freely throughout the Bight, one of the only places in the world they can be found in large communities Imagine a place so unique that over three-quarters of the species living there existed nowhere else on the planet. That's the Bight.'

It encouraged activists to send objections to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, which is assessing Equinor's application.

Several other groups have also been protesting against the plan, including a group of surfers headed by Aussie legend Mick Fanning who wrote an open letter.

Big oil does not belong in the Great Australian Bight. The proposed Stromlo well is 327km out in the Southern Ocean. Help prevent by commenting directly to NOPSEMA at https://t.co/hXg4GVmrGN.

.

Video by Dallas Singer

.#WSLPURE #fightforthebight pic.twitter.com/tGucbavowq  World Surf League (@wsl) March 1, 2019

It read: 'Formal plans have been lodged to turn the Great Australian Bight into a deep water oil field. The drilling, planned by Norwegian oil giant Equinor for later this year, would be deep, remote and risky. If it failed, Equinor's own spill modelling shows the potential for oil on beaches across thousands of kilometres.

'An oil spill in the Bight would be catastrophic, and the southern coastline of Australia would never be the same. The Bight is wild and pristine and should remain that way.

'The surfers below stand with the coastal communities of the Bight and beyond and call for the Great Australian Bight to be kept free from all deep water oil drilling.'

Equinor has insisted that 'drilling can be done safely'.

But opponents point out that the 2km depth of the ocean - 750m deeper than the Gulf of Mexico - and notoriously stormy conditions make the project potentially extremely dangerous.

These factors, as well as 'economic reasons' led BP to abandon plans to drill in the Bight in 2013.

A dead dolphin on the shore of Elmer's Island, Louisiana after an disastrous spill in 2010
Rape and kidnapping charges have been dropped against two former New York City police officers who admitted to having sex with a teenager while she says she was handcuffed in the back of their police van.

Former NYPD narcotics detectives Eddie Martins and Richard Hall quit their jobs two months after the incident in Brooklyn on September 15, 2017 when the officers arrested Anna Chambers, then 18, for marijuana charges.

Authorities said the pair told the teenager they would let her go if she had sex with them.

The two men later confessed to having intercourse with Chambers while on duty, but have argued the sex was consensual, according to investigators.

Prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York officially dropped rape and kidnapping charges against NYPD narcotics detectives Richard Hall (left) and Eddie Martins (right) on Wednesday

Chambers has said she was forcibly raped while in handcuffs, but declined to testify against her alleged attackers during trial, according to the New York Post.

Prosecutors originally charged both officers with felony rape and kidnapping, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.

On Wednesday, however, only felony bribery and official misconduct charges were presented in Brooklyn Supreme Court. The officers now face just two-and-a-half to seven years behind bars if convicted.

Anna Chambers (pictured), now 20, did not attend her alleged attackers hearing in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday

Chambers was 18 when she said she was raped while handcuffed in the back of a police van

The district attorney's office argued that rape would not have been an appropriate charge and that securing a conviction would have been too challenging.

'We believe  as a newly-created statute recognizes  that any sexual contact between police officers and a person in their custody should constitute a crime,' a spokesperson from the Brooklyn DAs office said Wednesday.

'However that was not the law at the time of the incident. Because of this and because of unforeseen and serious credibility issues that arose over the past year and our ethical obligations under the rules of professional conduct, we are precluded from proceeding with the rape charges.'

The 'credibility issues' prosecutors referenced were raised by Martins and Hall's defense attorneys who previously requested Chambers be charged with perjury for allegedly lying under oath about the details of her encounter.

Hall (pictured) and Martins were charged with felony bribery and official misconduct

Martins (right) and Hall now face two-and-a-half to seven years behind bars if convicted

Chambers claimed the attack took place during a long drive from where she was arrested to her home, but GPS data collected from the officers' cell phone didn't support her version of events, the New York Times reported.

During her previous testimony before a grand jury, Chambers also said one of the officers commanded her to expose her breast.

That claim, defense attorneys argued, didn't match the story Chambers told during a deposition hearing when she mentioned she had hidden cocaine in her bra.

Martins lawyer, Mark Bederow, was pleased with the DA's decision.

'Its a good day for us,' he said. 'They dismissed the indictment because they dont believe her. Its not personal. Cases have to be brought with credible evidence. This wasnt. The DA agreed.'

Chambers and her attorney Michael David were disappointed.

'She's fed up,' David said of Chambers who did not attend the hearing Wednesday.

Hall (left) and Martins (right) were seen leaving Brooklyn Supreme Court after their hearing on Wedneday

'Its just outrageous. It was a clear-cut case. She was kidnapped. There was DNA evidence... You cant have consent, when you have two cops on duty. These are two cops over six feet, over two hundred pounds. She is 5-foot-2, 90 pounds. They have guns, they have handcuffs. You cant have consent under those circumstances.'

Despite the reduced charges, Halls attorney Peter Guadagnino said the two ex-cops aren't happy with the way their criminal cases have progressed.

'They were dedicated police officers,' Guadagnino said. 'They still feel hurt by them having to leave their position now a year and a half later.'

Chambers and her attorney Michael David, pictured in September 2018, were disappointed

Martins and Hall resigned from their positions with the NYPD three days before they were scheduled to face a disciplinary trial in November of 2017.

NYPD Commissioner James P. O'Neil said: 'When a member of the N.Y.P.D. is indicted on serious charges like these, it tarnishes all of the admirable things accomplished by other, good officers every day in neighborhoods across New York City,' later adding that had the charges against the officers been affirmed at the internal trial, he 'would have fired them immediately.'
The last compact car has rolled off the line at General Motors' massive assembly plant in Ohio as the automaker began moving toward its future while workers wondered about theirs.

Workers posted photos of the final Chevrolet Cruze making its way down the assembly line near Youngstown on Wednesday.

A GM spokesman said the last Cruze came off the line in Lordstown at about 3pm.

There was a somber mood inside the plant, where more than 50 years of car manufacturing came to an end.

Scroll down for video

There was a somber mood inside the General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio on Wednesday as the final Chevrolet Cruze rolled off the assembly line

The Cruze, which as been made at the plant since 2011, will still be made in Mexico for markets outside the U.S. The Cruze was the only vehicle made at the plant and will no longer be sold in the U.S. for now.

GM is eliminating all 1,700 hourly positions, perhaps for good, at the factory, which is the first of five North American auto plants that it intends to shut down by early next year.

The plant closings are part of a major restructuring for GM, which plans to shed as many as 14,000 workers and shift its focus to making trucks, SUVs and electric and autonomous vehicles.

Signs with sayings such as 'Save this Plant' were scattered outside the plant where about 100 workers gathered to say goodbye in the cold.

'It's frustrating,' said Jeff Nance, who has worked at Lordstown for 17 years. 'I'm angry and bitter. Watching that last car go by was a kick in the gut.'

Like many workers, Shaun Winkler said he's still considering whether to transfer to another GM plant where there are openings.

Amy Drennen, right, of Lordstown, Ohio, an employee at General Motors for 12 years, receives a hug from Pam Clark, as people gather in front of the General Motors assembly plant

GM Lordstown workers rally outside the GM Lordstown plant on Wednesday. The sprawling facility was idled after more than 50 years producing cars and other vehicles

GM Lordstown workers comfort one another after their last day of work at a rally outside the GM Lordstown plant on Wednesday

Chevrolet Cruzes are loaded for shipping at the GM Lordstown plant on Wednesday after last vehicle rolled down the assembly line

'It started out as a normal day, but when that last car came into our area, and there was nothing but empty racks behind it, then it got sad,' he said.

UAW 1112 President Dave Green said he took an emotional walk around the factory floor during the final shift.

'It's gut-wrenching. People were crying, they're frustrated and they feel like they've done everything right,' Green said.

The UAW claimed in a recent federal lawsuit that its existing contract prohibits GM from idling plants.

Green has urged workers to remain hopeful, saying their fate will ultimately be decided at the bargaining table. The UAW's national contract with GM expires in mid-September.

President Donald Trump and a coalition of Ohio lawmakers have been pressuring the automaker to find a way to bring new work to the plant, which employed 4,500 people just two years ago but has been down to one shift since last summer.

Trump has shown a particular interest in the Lordstown plant, singling it out as one he wants to stay open. It's in area of the state that will be important to him in the 2020 election, and it's where he told supporters at a rally last year that manufacturing jobs are coming back.

Amy Drennen, center, of Lordstown, Ohio, an employee at General Motors for 12 years, gathers with other supporters and laid off workers outside General Motors assembly plant

Chuck Rodriguez, a 19-year employee, (left) protests outside the plant on Wednesday with Barry Brown, a 25-year employee (right)

GM Lordstown workers comfort one another after their last day of work at a rally outside the GM Lordstown plant on Wednesday

Company President Mark Reuss said in January that GM is looking at a lot of different options for the plant, but it hasn't decided whether Lordstown could get a new vehicle.

GM can't operate a plant with a slow-selling vehicle like the Cruze, and have enough money to invest in the future, he said. It also doesn't want to get caught like it did in 2008 with too many factories and workers, a problem that helped push the company into bankruptcy protection.

'We've got some history of that, to be honest,' Reuss said. 'We don't want that history to repeat.'

Lordstown's history dates back to 1966. More than 16 million vehicles have come off its assembly line since then, including nearly 1.9 million Cruzes.

The automaker has said most of its blue-collar workers whose jobs are eliminated in the U.S. will be able to transfer to plants in the Midwest and South.

The other plants slated to close this year are assembly plants in Detroit and Oshawa, Ontario, and transmission plants in Warren, Michigan, and near Baltimore.
Sydney and Melbourne have plummeted down the rankings of price growth for luxury homes in global cities, while another surprising city is on the rise.

Details from the latest Knight Frank annual Wealth Report this week revealed the five-year housing boom for Australia's two biggest cities has officially come to an end.

Sydney's luxury homes price growth slowed from 10.7 per cent to 3.1 per cent last year, which saw it drop from ninth place to 30th on the scale for price growth for luxury homes.

Sydney (pictured) and Melbourne have plummeted down the rankings of price growth for luxury homes in global cities, while another surprising city is on the rise

In the report, Melbourne (pictured) plunged down the rankings of price growth for luxury homes from 14th to 41st place

What's worse, Melbourne plunged from 14th to 41st place on the global rank.

But surprisingly, Perth and the Gold Coast were prime movers in this year's report, with each capital city seeing an improvement of 2.1 per cent in luxury home prices.

Frank Knight's head of residential research for Australia, Michelle Ciesielski told The Sydney Morning Herald the pace of growth among global cities was converging.

'The performance in 2018 saw all five Australian prime cities ... within one percentage point, when three years ago the range was closer to 19 percentage points,' she said.

In the report, Ms Ciesielski said the early signs of business recovery and a strengthening office market clearly had a positive impact in Perth.

'Properties along the waterfront have remained popular with the downsizing generation, and the city still offers good value relative to other major Australian cities,' she wrote.

'The spotlight in 2019 will remain on the pace of recovery as the Western Australian resources sector continues to build.'

Other the other global cities, usually regarded for their top-end prices, that equally plummeted on the scale were New York, London and Geneva.

Sydney's luxury homes price growth slowed from 10.7 per cent to 3.1 per cent last year, which saw it drop from ninth place to 30th on the scale for price growth for luxury homes

Perth and the Gold Coast (pictured) were prime movers in this year's report, with each capital city seeing an improvement of 2.1 per cent in luxury home prices

However, the top performers in this year's report were European cities Edinburgh, Berlin and Munich, which all broke the 10 per cent growth barrier.

What's more, the report provided a snapshot of Australia's super rich population, which has risen by 4 per cent year-on-year to 3,062.

Cashed up Aussies with net assets of more than 30million were also predicted to increase in numbers by as much as 20 per cent within the next five years.

Sydney was also listed as the nation's wealthiest city, which placed it eighth in the top ten global cities, which included London, New York and Hong Kong.
Former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has been appointed as new political secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party. This decision was made at a meeting of the partys political council, chaired by leader of the party Bidzina Ivanishvili. Billionaire's decision to return Garibashvili to politics became another evidence that shows that the ruling team is in a crisis.

Collapse of the ruling party, which will be in power for at least another year (until parliamentary elections of 2020), is an unprecedented event for Georgia. Eduard Shevardnadze's Union of Citizens disappeared into oblivion right after victory of the rose revolution, led by Mikheil Saakashvili. Later, Aslan Abashidze's Revival party also ceased to exist. The United National Movement (UNM) of Mikheil Saakashvili split into the National Movement and the European Georgia just a few years after defeat in the 2012 parliamentary elections.

What's happening today with the ruling party, which defeated all rivals at 2016 elections and gained majority in the parliament, may seem pretty strange at first glance. After secession of group of deputies from the Georgian Dream, this party lost its constitutional majority. But the process of its collapse obviously hasn't finished yet with departure of the opportunists, including former head of the parliament's legal committee, Eka Beselia, a pretty famous figure, who was considered one of the founders of the Georgian Dream.

Another statement on deputies leaving the Georgian Dream was made by Social Democrats. They plan to unite with the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia, which has a reputation as pro-Russian party. And that's not all. A few more deputies are preparing to leave the ranks of the ruling party.

The main reason for this split is the fact that even though coalition has almost no political competition in the parliament, personal ambitions of certain politicians finally became obvious.

Categorical rejection of candidates for life-long positions as judges of the Supreme Court became the final straw. However, not only some of the leaving deputies are against these questionable candidates, but also the entire opposition, part of the civil sector and Georgian society. Some say that despite obviously difficult situation, which is getting even worse, Ivanishvili was somehow forced to stand by presented list of candidates.

Ivanishvili himself, who formally has nothing to do with what was happening, didn't comment on this situation. Chairman of the parliament Irakli Kobakhidze gave explanation, but it only made situation worse. Agreeing that some candidates for position of judges of the Supreme Court didn't have a good reputation, he noted that their reputation was ruined during the rule of Saakashvilis National Movement, but now everything will be different. In other words, these judges are the best, but they were forced to make unfair decisions under pressure from the former authorities, and now, when authorities are good, they won't be pressured and will be able to work under normal conditions and make objective decisions.

While this scandal hasn't been resolved yet, another one appeared. Under pressure from prosecutor's office, and then at the request of the National Bank of Georgia, Mamuka Khazaradze resigned from the post of chairman of the supervisory board of the country's largest TBC bank. The reason was this resignation, according to prosecutor's office, is the fact that after an audit, it was found out 10 years ago Khazaradze was involved in suspicious transaction, which showed "signs of money laundering."

Today Khazaradze accuses Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia of pressuring him, saying that he allegedly received a threatening letter. He also hints at Ivanishvilis involvement in what's happening right now. At the same time, during parliamentary hearings, Khazaradze refused to show this letter and didn't provide additional details. Gakharia gave a short comment: every person should take responsibility for things he says.

A lot has already been said about this scandal. Some even say that Moscow is behind all of this, since it's against the construction of the Anaklia seaport, in which TBC bank participated. However, the "Russian version", presented by the opposition, has nothing to do with reality. For inexperienced man from the street, this situation only hurts position of the Georgian Dream and its chairman, making it seem like the nationalist style of Saakashvili.

In such difficult conditions of constant external pressure from opposition and society, as well as internal pressure, which was tearing the ruling party apart, Ivanishvili decided to return his longtime favorite Garibashvili to politics, appointing him as political secretary of the Georgian Dream. Garibashvili's main task is to stop further collapse of the ruling team. In addition, he was given the task to win upcoming parliamentary elections in one of the majoritarian districts - Tbilisi. He took the place of Salome Zurabishvili, who won presidential elections and gave up her deputy mandate.

Experts call Irakli Garibashvilis return to politics a public recognition of existence of serious problems and personnel shortage by Bidzina Ivanishvili. In addition, Garibashvili, whom Ivanishvili made his successor as prime minister in 2013, resigned two years later, and there was no criticizm following that. Ivanishvili negatively commented on all other notable resignations.
A Labor candidate has been forced to apologise for comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler and describing Sydney radio broadcaster Alan Jones as an 'old dog'.

Katie Gompertz, who is running in the state seat of Hornsby on Sydney's Upper North Shore, issued a statement after being caught on Twitter likening the American President to the Holocaust, which killed six million Jews.

'I am sorry for posting offensive material and deeply regret doing so,' she said on Thursday morning.

Scroll down for video

Labor candidate Katie Gompertz (right with Opposition Leader Michael Daley) has been forced to apologise for comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler and describing Sydney radio broadcaster Alan Jones as an 'old dog'

'I am particularly sorry for offending survivors of the Holocaust.'

She added the Hebrew term for the Holocaust to admit her wrongdoing.

'No one should use comparisons to the Shoah. I was wrong,' she said.

In 2016, Ms Gompertz tweeted images of Time magazine covers of Hitler and President Trump, using the hashtag '#HindsightShould Work'.

That year, she told her Facebook followers Jones, 2GB's top-rating breakfast radio broadcaster, was an 'old dog' who 'should have been put down years ago'.

As Labor's federal candidate for Bradfield in 2016, Ms Gompertz criticised her own party's immigration policies, which favour offshore detention for asylum seekers who arrive by boat.

The left-faction candidate described Labor leader Bill Shorten, in a Facebook post, as the head of a 'weakened right-wing' Opposition.

In 2016, Ms Gompertz (pictured) tweeted images of Time magazine covers of Hitler and President Trump, using the hashtag '#HindsightShould Work'

Despite her apology Chris Haviland, Labor's federal candidate for Bradfield who is also secretary of Labor's Hornsby branch, described the The Daily Telegraph story as a 'total beat up'.

'I don't think it's a major controversy,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

'I don't think she's the only person who has compared Donald Trump to Hitler or lots of other people. I don't think it's novel.'

Mr Haviland, a former federal Labor MP, in November angrily grabbed a Daily Mail Australia reporter's camera phone after being asked how to prevent Islamic terror, as two Labor Party branch members dressed as Bananas in Pyjamas looked on.

Dvir Abramovich, the chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, a Jewish group, acknowledged Ms Gompertz's apology but described her likening of President Trump to Hitler as 'wrong and reckless'.

Gompertz, who is running in the state seat of Hornsby, issued a statement after being caught on Facebook likening the American President to the Holocaust, which killed six million Jews

'Such repugnant comparisons are not only misguided and historically wrong, and are insulting to the victims and survivors, but they trivialise the slaughter of millions,' Dr Abramovich told Daily Mail Australia.

'It also dishonours the enormous sacrifices made by those diggers who fought to defeat the Nazis.

'People are of course entitled to criticise Trump, his policies and the troubling things that he has said, but they should not compare him with the Fuhrer to score political points or to make their case.'

As a Labor candidate, Ms Gompertz has little chance on March 23 of winning the safe state Liberal seat of Hornsby, which Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean held in 2015 with an 18.9 per cent margin.
Jailed Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue has been banned from calling an interstate associate who has been running the killer's Twitter account.

Minogue, who got a PhD from prison, has been tweeting for almost a year via proxy, and leaked the jail stabbing of drug lord Tony Mokbel in February.

The prisoner also managed to broadcast about the stabbing via a podcast which used the recording of a phone call he made from prison.

'This phone call has originated from an inmate of the Barwon prison... it is unlawful for this call to be redirected,' said an automated message at the start of the podcast.

Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue has been banned from calling an interstate associate who tweeted and podcasted on his behalf. Minogue also got a PhD from behind bars

The news of Tony Mokbel's stabbing was broken on twitter by Minogue who was tweeting via an associate

A series of tweets from Minogue's twitter account following Mokbel's stabbing

Corrections Minister Ben Carroll said Minogue's contact was no longer on the approved callers list, and other prisoners trying the same thing would face similar bans.

'Prisoners do not have direct access to the internet, but we have found a loophole where they can use their telephone rights to then ask an independent third party to upload information to the world wide web,' Mr Carroll told reporters.

'Right now we're updating our corrections regulations to insert a new offence, where prisoners using third parties independently to access social media will have certain privileges taken away, whether it be phone access or their outside prison time in the general yard.'

Mr Carroll has also written to federal Attorney-General Christian Porter and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who oversee the national criminal code, asking to create an offence targeting those third parties assisting prisoners from interstate.

Prisoners will still be able to phone and write to people but the problem with social media is publishing on the internet.

In February, opposition corrections spokesman David Southwick tweeted, and since deleted, a screenshot of Minogue's Mokbel tweet: 'That in Daniel Andrews' Victoria, we are relying on convicted killer Craig Minogue to tell us what is going on in our prisons, speaks volumes.'

On Thursday, he said the Liberals had for months been calling for action.

'A violent prisoner like Craig Minogue should not be able to tweet out on a regular occurrence, like some sort of Hollywood movie actor,' he told reporters.

'This is something that goes beyond belief.'

A tweet from opposition corrections spokesman David Southwick that has been deleted

Minogue killed 21-year-old Constable Angela Taylor and injured 22 others when he bombed the Russell Street Police Headquarters March 27, 1986.

The bomber was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years on July 22, 1988 and killed fellow inmate Alex Tsakmakis two weeks later in prison.

He was denied parole in 2016 after laws were introduced that banned parole for anyone convicted of killing a police officer.
A mother-of-six whose four-year-old son was filmed on top of her car as she hit speeds of nearly 100km/h is appealing against her three-month driving ban.

Erica Shadforth drove with her son on the roof of her vehicle for 13km between Camillo and Piara Waters through Perth's eastern suburbs in January.

Appearing at Armadale Magistrates Court on Wednesday, the 36-year-old pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and failing to ensure a child was properly restrained.

Erica Shadforth (pictured) made headlines in January after shocking footage emerged showing her son on her car's roof wearing just a nappy as she drove through Perth's eastern suburbs

Despite there being no requirement to ban her from driving, Magistrate Steven Malley restricted her for three months.

Shadforth's lawyer Andy Matthews, plans on appealing the sentence stating 'unnecessary hardship on her family as she needs to get her kids to school', he told Nine News.

The mother-of-six told the publication she pleaded guilty because it was the right thing to do.

However, Shadforth did not expect the outcome and said it has left her and her family traumatised.

Shadforth made headlines in January after shocking footage emerged showing her son on her car's roof (pictured) wearing just a nappy as she drove through Perth's eastern suburbs

The court heard Shadforth placed the child in the driver's seat before going back inside her home, ABC News reported.

But when she returned, the four-year-old had moved and she presumed he was in the back seat, the court heard.

But in fact he had climbed out of the car and onto the roof.

The mother, who the court heard was under 'significant stress' at the time of the incident, had not noticed other motorists trying to alert her to what was unfolding.

Witnesses said they saw the boy lose his grip, before the mother stopped at a junction and put the boy back inside the car.

She was pulled over by police at a petrol station in Harrisdale.

Magistrate Steven Malley said Ms Shadforth's offences were 'just mind-boggling' and said the severity of the penalty was a necessary deterrent to others

Mr Matthews said the mother was looking after her six children alone because her husband was working in Broome.

He said his client had now tried to prevent such an occurrence happening again, by putting him in the back of the vehicle where he could not escape.

Magistrate Malley said Shadforth's offences were 'just mind-boggling' and said the severity of the penalty was a necessary deterrent to others.

'Seeing something like a four-year-old sitting on top of a vehicle is probably something that will stick in you memory for a long time,' the magistrate said.

'When you leave children in the car, you come back and count heads,' he told the mother.
A U.S. soldier who was shot in the head with a machine gun in Afghanistan has now been given the military helmet that blocked the bullets and saved his life.

Army Staff Sergeant Steven 'Bryan' McQueen came within inches of death last September when terrorists posing as Afghani police officers opened fire with machine guns.

McQueen was struck in the back of the head with a round from the truck-mounted machine gun, which threw him forward and caused him to land flat on his face.

The father-of-three likened the force to that of a horse kick to the back of his head.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Steven 'Bryan' McQueen came within inches of death last September in Afghanistan when his protective helmet (above) was struck by machine gun rounds

The bullets completely shredded the outside material of his helmet but failed to penetrate the sheets of metal in the protective gear's shell.

He suffered a minor brain bleed due to the sheer force but doctors said there was no permanent damage.

The military has been studying McQueen's helmet since the attack so researchers can help develop more advanced protective equipment.

McQueen was reunited with the helmet on Monday at a ceremony at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

It has since been mounted on a plaque with McQueen's name engraved on it.

McQueen was reunited with the helmet on Monday at a ceremony at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. It has since been mounted on a plaque with McQueen's name engraved on it

The bullets completely shredded the outside material of his helmet but failed to penetrate the sheets of metal in the protective gear's shell

McQueen, pictured with his wife and three children on Monday, suffered a minor brain bleed due to the sheer force but doctors said there was no permanent damage

McQueen said initially he complained about the helmet because of its weight and bulkiness, but that immediately stopped after he came within inches of death.

'Before this incident, I thought the helmet... was cumbersome and overkill,' he said on Monday.

'I was sorely mistaken. This helmet works and I am a living testament to it.'

The Enhanced Combat Helmet was created by PEO Soldier.

'There is no doubt that Staff Sgt McQueen would not have survived that impact had he not been wearing that helmet,' Lt. Col. Ginger Whitehead, a product manager for Soldier Protective Systems, said.
An angry father lashed out at a real estate agent in a series of emails and wished cancer would eat away at them in front of their crying children.

Michael John Townsend acted out after previous tenants trashed the home he had rented at Mount Warren Park in Logan City, south of Brisbane in May 2017.

The father of two sent 32 emails in the space of 18 days to Warren's Realty.

'I hope cancer eats your worthless mind and you are forced to watch your childrens tears fall upon you,' one of the emails read.

In another email, Townsend wished the real estate agent a 'horrid death', The Courier Mail reported.

Michael John Townsend acted out after previous tenants trashed the home he had rented at Mount Warren Park in Logan City, south of Brisbane in May 2017 (stock image)

Townsend represented himself at Southport District Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence.

In court he admitted he became angry on discovering the state of the house. He claimed beer cans were found on the lawn, holes were made in the walls and a vacuum cleaner had been emptied at the front door.

Townsend pointed out at the time of his outburst he was suffering from depression.

He said he has since been visiting a counsellor every second week.

On that score, Judge Catherine Muir said she was 'comforted' to see he had taken steps to seek ongoing treatment.

She also took comfort in the references Townsend provided to her.

Townsend was convicted and placed on a $500 good behaviour bond for 12 months.

'The language you used was unnecessary and demeaning,' Judge Muir said to Townsend.

'I dont expect to see you in this court again.'
Two Minnesota teenagers will become the first boys in the state to compete on their high schools' dance teams after a federal appeals court ruled in their favor.

Juniors Dmitri Moua and Zachary Greenwald wanted to try out for their school teams but the Minnesota State High School League's bylaws say the teams are for girls only.

The boys sued in July and asked for an injunction, saying that the unconstitutional rules violate Title IX, the federal law that bars sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funds.

Juniors Dmitri Moua (pictured) and Zachary Greenwald wanted to try out for their school teams but the Minnesota State High School League's bylaws say the teams are for girls only

A federal judge denied the request, but the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the judge's ruling and remanded the case to the lower court to issue the boys' injunction.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson initially denied the boys' injunction, saying while the boys were harmed by the ban, the damage caused to the MSHSL would be 'extensive, if not irreparable' in part because the league could fall out of Title IX compliance if they let the boys dance.

But the appeals court cited the 14th Amendment requirement of equal protection under the law.

Judge Michael Melloy wrote that if the injunction is granted, the boys may try out for their schools' competitive dance teams.

'The negative public consequences of such an allowance, if any, will be slight,' Melloy wrote.

The boys' attorney, Erick Kaardal (pictured), said the competitive dance season is over this year, but the boys will be able to enter next year as seniors

The boys' attorney, Erick Kaardal, told the Star Tribune the competitive dance season is over this year, but the boys will be able to enter next year as seniors.

The boys filed their lawsuit with help from their parents and the Pacific Legal Foundation, which has worked on similar cases with students in other states.

In a statement, Joshua Thompson, senior attorney for the California-based foundation, said the organization is pleased with the appeals court decision.

'Hopefully the League rescinds its discriminatory rule now, and all boys in Minnesota are allowed to dance competitively. If not, we'll continue the fight in court,' Thompson said.

A spokesman for the MSHSL said the league is referring inquiries to its attorney, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.
Lawyers representing Mark Geyer's daughter believe they know who is responsible for the Facebook page which incorrectly linked her to the NRL sex tape scandal.

NRL Memes was taken down by Facebook on Wednesday after Geyer announced he was taking legal action about the false accusations.

The page which, had over 300,000 supporters, leaked lewd sex tapes of player Dylan Napa who has since been handed a fine.

The lawyers representing Mark Geyer's (right) daughter Montanna (left) believe they know who's responsible for notorious Facebook page which incorrectly linked her to the NRL sex tape scandal

Geyer sought legal action after the NRL Memes page linked his daughter Montanna (pictured) to the Penrith Panthers sex tape drama

The administrator of NRL Memes is understood to believe they are safe from legal prosecution because authorities don't know who they are, the Daily Telegraph reported.

But lawyers from Brydens Lawyers, who Geyer employed on Monday, believe the administrator is a man from North Parramatta, in western Sydney.

'There appears little doubt,' principal Lee Hagipantelis said.

'Nobody is saying anything defamatory about him ... We just want him to confirm whether or not he is the administrator of this site.'

Mr Hagipantelis said the man would receive communication from the law firm on Thursday to confirm the matters and advise him about the engagement by Montanna Geyer.

NRL Memes was taken down by Facebook on Wednesday after it became centre to a tumultuous off-season

Lawyers from Brydens Lawyers, who Geyer (left with Montanna) employed on Monday, believe the administrator is a man from North Parramatta, in western Sydney

On Tuesday, Panthers player Tyrone May was charged with allegedly filming and disseminating two graphic videos without consent.

May, 22, has been stood down under the NRL's new no-fault policy announced last week, which was implemented after a raft of players were accused of serious criminal offences including assault and sexual assault.

The NRL is also yet to decide the fate of the other two players who appear in the leaked videos.

The father of the man understood to administrate the now-deleted NRL Memes page said his son was not connected.

The page which, had over 300,000 supporters, infamously leaked lewd sex tapes of player Dylan Napa who has since been handed a fine

'It's all hearsay, there's not one bit of proof my son has anything to do with it  people throw names out there,' the father told the Daily Telegraph.

The father was asked about Geyer's reaction and he said the matter should be left to the lawyers which have been engaged.

The family was becoming 'annoyed' about the attention of the alleged online involvement, despite his son finding the allegations 'quite funny' to begin with.

Geyer said he wanted to clear his daughters name, as any father would, and that the allegations she was in one of the videos was 'bulls**t'.
Oh dear. That was my reaction on reading the extraordinary speech that issued from Prince Harrys lips yesterday. And then: please, not another royal debacle in the making!

For Prince Harry had become, at any rate until his marriage to Meghan Markle, possibly the most popular member of the Royal Family. People have seen him change from a tortured soul sowing wild oats on an epic scale into a thoughtful, measured, mature young man.

He has won universal plaudits for launching the Invictus Games, which has given wounded service personnel and veterans the opportunity to compete in sports. His rousing speech at the 2018 games last October will have brought a tear to many eyes.

Prince Harry, supported by Meghan, told an audience of cheering young people that older generations were judgmental, lacked positivity and were incapable of thinking outside the box.

The Press has warmed to him, and the public, excepting a few curmudgeonly republicans, has grown to respect him. He has unquestionably carved out a creative and useful role for himself.

Of course, one spectacularly ill-judged speech does not undo all the good he has done, or call into question his many fine qualities. But I confess it has made me worry about the future.

What he said was part New Age gibberish that might have been spouted by any self-obsessed Hollywood starlet, seasoned with dollops of anti-Press vitriol. In the process he managed to insult  Im sure inadvertently  great swathes of the nation.

I accept that any speech is partly shaped by those one is speaking to  in this instance the WE Movement, which describes itself somewhat vaguely on its website as a movement that brings people together and gives them the tools to change the world.

All the same, whenever a major Royal opens his or her mouth in an outspoken manner, the whole country will naturally assume that it is being addressed.

Probably the most objectionable thing Prince Harry said was to inform his young audience that they are the most engaged generation in history who care about values [and] doing the right thing. In contrast to those who have gone before, they are progressive, open-minded change-makers.

Unlike those silly fuddy-duddies who fought for their country or those superannuated oldies who worked 50 hours a week to care for their children or pensioners forced to stack supermarket shelves to supplement their meagre incomes.

He was speaking to 12,000 schoolchildren and students, and he said they needed to have less screen time, and more face-to-face time'

You may find yourself frustrated with the older generation when it seems they dont care, Harry warned, before adding, in a belated attempt to damp down the inter-generational conflagration he had ignited, that doesnt mean they dont care.

Perhaps one should not get too exercised about the hippy nonsense in his speech  for example, his contention that every blade of grass, every ray of sun and every rain drop is crucial to our survival.

However, I expostulated when he tried to persuade his young audience that they were daily inundated with an overexposure by mainstream and social media, which are guilty of distorting the truth, and trying to manipulate the power of positive thinking.

Well, Im not going to go out of my way to champion social media, though we shouldnt forget that Meghan Markle was for several years editor of a lifestyle website called The Tig, and a highly successful (and well-remunerated) practitioner on Instagram and Twitter.

But his suggestion that the most noteworthy role of the mainstream media is to tell lies and manipulate impressionable minds  well, this really was dangerous and offensive nonsense. Im not sure even Jeremy Corbyn believes that.

Its not the first time Harry has expressed a dislike of the media, particularly of newspapers, which doubtless has its origins in a conviction that his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was hounded to her death by speeding paparazzi.

Thats strictly true, though the reckless driver of her car on that dreadful night in Paris was severely inebriated. Nor should it be forgotten that Diana was a genius at marketing herself, and expert at bending some journalists to her will.

Pregnant Meghan, who was not scheduled to be part of the event, smiled as her husband led her from her seat

Needless to say, Im not going to pretend the media are perfect. But to convict them of distortion and manipulation, while not even mentioning the vital role they play in exposing wrong-doing, is absurdly one-sided.

Moreover, does it ever occur to Harry and Meghan that their worldwide fame and superstardom are utterly dependent on the mainstream media, amplified by social media? If newspapers and magazines ever grew tired of them, they would languish in obscurity.

I suspect that, like most rich and powerful people, they absolutely adore favourable coverage, but would far prefer it if there were no negative articles at all.

So the medias enormous interest in the Invictus Games is encouraged while criticism of Meghans recent dash to New York to attend a baby shower (estimated cost 330,000) was much less welcome.

More grown-up members of the Royal Family  except for the Queen, who is above such things  recognise that you cant have the plaudits without the brickbats, though if you are wise youll do your best to attract more of the former than the latter.

And I cant recall any of them, even when they have been on the receiving end of harsh words in the media, publicly suggesting that the whole system is rotten, and that newspapers are in the business of purveying untruths.

The fascinating question is how Harrys wild and destructive thoughts were ever allowed to see the light of day. Isnt there a Press secretary with a red pencil who could have sensibly intervened?

I fear that the answer is No. Obviously there are such people, who are presumably anxious to advise Harry against making a fool of himself. But it seems he is more interested in listening to his own voice  or his wifes.

One may justifiably speculate that many of Meghans politically correct and right-on views found their way into the Princes mishmash of a speech. She was even cited by him as often reminding me of one of her favourite quotes by Martin Luther King.

It is certainly very hard to imagine Harry banging on in such an ill-considered way before his marriage. But, in the end, this was his address. He should listen politely to his wifes views, but he doesnt have to incorporate them.

Thoughts of the duke... and words of a King On YOUTH You are the most engaged generation in history. You dont judge someone on how they look, where theyre from, or how they identify. In this room, you see the world for what it is  vibrant, colourful, mixed and full of promise. That is what makes me feel proud to stand in your presence as you tackle the worlds greatest issues. And you guys know as well as I do, weve still got so much to do. THE ENVIRONMENT Climate change is a humanitarian issue, not a political one. We now have the facts, the science, the technology and the ability to save not just our planet, but ourselves. I know you dont sit back and wait for solutions, you take action and create them. SOCIAL MEDIA Every day you are inundated with an over-exposure of advertising and mainstream media, social media and endless comparisons, distorting the truth and trying to manipulate the power of positive thinking. But you dont let them sway you. You confidently voice your opinions because you can embrace them proudly. QUOTING MARTIN LUTHER KING As my wife often reminds me with one of her favourite quotes by Martin Luther King Jr, Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. THE OLDER GENERATION You may find yourselves frustrated with the older generation when it seems like they dont care. Try to remember that not everyone sees the world the way you do, but that doesnt mean they dont care. You have the incredible opportunity to help reshape mindsets, to empower those around you to think outside the box and to work with you, not against you, to find solutions. You know that if you dont stand for something youll fall for anything. So let that be your true north, let that be your call to action  to inspire those who stand for nothing to stand for something  and to stand with you. HIS TO-DO LIST Be braver. Be stronger. Be kind to each other. Be kind to yourselves. Have less screen time and more face-to-face time. Exceed expectations. Eliminate plastics. Conserve water. Protect wildlife and their unique habitat. Keep empathy alive. Ask your friends how they are doing and listen to the answer. Be honest. Take risks. Change your thoughts and change the world. Dare to be the greatest generation of all time. Advertisement

He should also take a look at Prince Charles and Prince Philip. Both men in their time have expatiated on all manner of subjects, sometimes controversially so, and almost always out of knowledge and expertise.

There was practically no knowledge or expertise in Harrys utterings, but an awful lot of empty preaching. Be braver, be stronger, be kind to each other . . . change your thoughts and change the world.

Maybe aficionados of the WE Movement like to be told what to do with their lives by a royal prince, but I dont believe the British public does. And members of the Royal Family are usually wise enough not to hector us, though the Queen will offer an occasional word of helpful advice.

Who will help Harry now that he is married to the evidently strong-willed and obviously intelligent and indisputably highly opinionated Meghan Markle?

I dont know the answer to that question  which is why I am worried. A pleasant, popular Prince who locks horns with the Press, and promulgates views at odds with most British people, could be riding for a fall.
Six-figure payoffs for public-sector fat cats are to be banned as ministers finally enforce a 95,000 cap on severance payments.

Redundancy packages for council executives, civil servants, NHS bosses, prison governors, headteachers and police chiefs will be limited  but only after years of delay.

The crackdown follows a Daily Mail campaign demanding an end to the scandal of obscene golden goodbyes of up to 473,000 paid for by taxpayers.

The Tories promised in their 2015 election manifesto to halt the culture by capping redundancy payments in the public sector at 95,000. The policy was passed into law in the 2016 Enterprise Act  but the legislation necessary to put it into practice has yet to go through Parliament.

Ahead of the Chancellors Spring Statement next week, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss has written to ministers seeking clearance to finally implement the cap.

Six-figure payoffs for public-sector fat cats are to be banned as ministers finally enforce a 95,000 cap on severance payments. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, pictured, has written to ministers seeking clearance to finally implement the cap

In a letter to Cabinet colleagues, she said it was unfair to expect taxpayers to keep shouldering the burden for very high payoffs.

Miss Truss wrote: I am pleased the Government was able to announce the biggest public-sector pay rise in ten years this summer, with most going to the lowest-paid nurses, teachers and police officers.

However, the way we reward public servants must be proportionate and fair to tax- payers. The very high exit payments we have seen granted to some highly paid public sector employees in recent years clearly breach these principles.

Huge sums Mail campaigned against Jane Portman, of Bournemouth Borough Council, and Debbie Ward, of Dorset County Council, will each receive a package of 473,000 when their councils merge with seven others next month

Chris West, executive director of resources for Coventry Council, was given 448,230 when he took early retirement in 2015

NHS managers and married couple Karen Straughair and Chris Reed, pictured, received a total of almost 1 million in 2013

Katherine Kerswell received 420,000 in 2012 after just 20 months at Kent County Council. In 2013, she was handed a 140,000-a-year job by the Cabinet Office to help reform the Civil Service Advertisement

It is right that the Government takes action on this to give taxpayers the confidence their money is being spent properly. Miss Truss, who vowed to ensure that the vast majority of exit payments in the public sector are [capped] as soon as possible, will consult on the changes before laying the necessary regulations in Parliament.

The cap will first be implemented for workers in the Civil Service, HM Prison and Probation Service, the NHS in England and Wales, schools, local councils and police forces.

It will eventually apply to the whole public sector with some proposed exemptions, including the Armed Forces and the security services.

Earlier this year, it emerged that two local executives at the centre of council mergers will get redundancy deals totalling almost 1million.

Nine local authorities in Dorset will combine to form just two next month. Jane Portman, of Bournemouth Borough Council, is to receive a pay and pension redundancy package of 473,000. Debbie Ward, of Dorset County Council, has been awarded the same amount after leaving her post in November.

In the year to March 2017, the highest payoff was to Chris West, the executive director, resources for Coventry Council, who got 448,230 compensation for loss of office. He took early retirement from his 150,000-a-year role after 34 years. The next highest was 359,781 for the director, customer and leisure services for Hambleton in North Yorkshire, followed by 296,738 for the director of public health for Cheshire East. Neither was named.

David Flory, an NHS chief executive placed in charge of struggling hospitals, received a payoff of 410,000 in 2015 on top of his 210,000 salary as he stepped down from the NHS Trust Development Authority.

Married NHS managers Chris Reed and Karen Straughair received a total of almost 1 million in 2013. The couple went on to earn 120,000 for four months hospital work shortly afterwards.
The glamorous female prison officer who is accused of having 'inappropriate relations' with a male inmate has applied for her charges to be dropped on mental health grounds.

Tara Brooks was sacked from her role at Parklea Correction Centre in Sydney last month after prison officials became aware of her alleged relationship with Hassan Zreika, a 41-year-old male inmate.

The 33-year-old part-time model, whose bail conditions include not go within 50metres of any prison in NSW, did not appear at Blacktown Local Court on Thursday.

Daily Mail Australia understands management at Parklea Prison began investigating Ms Brooks (pictured) when a Valentine's Day card sent by her arrived for the 41-year-old inmate this week

Tara Brooks, was sacked from her role as a prison officer at Parklea Correction Centre in Sydney last month

Ms Brooks was charged by police with engaging in a relationship with an inmate and causing a safety risk to a correctional centre (Pictured is Parklea Correction Centre)

One of Brooks' lawyers representing her on her charge of engage in a relationship with inmate and cause safety risk to a correctional centre told the court she would apply for a Section 32 - a dismissal on mental health grounds.

Court documents allege Brooks 'did engage in an intimate relationship with inmate Hassan Zreika', while working as a correctional officer.

Zreika was last year jailed for two years and five months after pleading guilty to drug supply and possession charges dating back to November 2016.

During their investigations prison management discovered Ms Brooks' mobile phone number written on a piece of paper in Zreika's cell.

It is alleged the pair had been involved in regular phone conversations, while letters from the prison officer to the inmate were also found.

Zreika also reportedly had a photograph of Ms Brooks on his prison cell wall.

Court documents allege Brooks 'did engage in an intimate relationship with inmate Hassan Zreika', while working as a correctional officer

Court documents also revealed that Brooks has also made 'full admissions' with the items exchanged between to be used to support the prosecution case

Court documents also revealed that Brooks has also made 'full admissions' with the items exchanged between to be used to support the prosecution case.

Brooks - who began working at the prison in August 2016 - was charged by police with engaging in a relationship with an inmate and causing a safety risk to the correctional centre.

She is the first person to be charged under the new laws which were introduced last November following the intimate relationship of cop killer Sione Penisini and prison officer Amy Connors at Kempsey Jail, on the New South Wales mid north coast.

Brooks has a number of modelling profiles online and previously entered Maxim magazine's cover girl competition, placing 17th.

She describes herself online as: 'A very independent and strong minded woman. Life is always better in a bikini.'

The swimwear model boasted 63,000 followers on Instagram, but has deleted her account since her arrest.

Brooks has a number of modelling profiles online and previously entered Maxim magazine's cover girl competition, placing 17th

A spokesperson for NSW Corrective Services confirmed to Daily Mail Australia they had sacked Brooks on last month.

'A 33-year-old correctional officer at Parklea Correctional Centre has been charged with having an inappropriate relationship with an inmate,' the spokesperson said.

'The operator of the facility has since terminated the woman's employment.'

Zreika has been placed in segregation and is due to be transferred from Parklea to another prison.

Parklea Prison operator GEO Group has moved to dismiss earlier claims that inmates inside the jail had photos of Ms Brooks on their cell walls.

'GEO can confirm that there is no evidence of any inmates having access to images of the dismissed staff member,' a spokesperson said.

The saga is just the latest in a long history of controversies for the privately run jail and its operators GEO.

Previously another female prisoner was allegedly caught smuggling tobacco into the jail, while inmates were caught boasting on Facebook about having knives inside the prison.

GEO is due to hand over control of the prison to MTC Broadspectrum on April 1.

Daily Mail Australia revealed last month that some 343 claims of alleged misconduct were referred to investigators examining 'inappropriate' relationships in the New South Wales prison system.
Late 2018 to early 2019 was marked by a number of positive developments as peace talks intensified between Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the Karabakh conflict. Last December, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev tweeted that the year 2019 will give a new impetus to the conflict settlement process (Twitter.com/presidentaz, December 14, 2018). The Jamestown Foundation reports in its article Karabakh Peace Talks Break Down as Azerbaijan and Armenia Operate at Cross-Purposes that this optimism was echoed by Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who expressed hope for certain progress on the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijans occupied territories in 2019. He assured of Bakus readiness to grant security guarantees and the highest degree of self-governance possible for Armenians in Karabakh within Azerbaijans borders (Mfa.gov.az, December 25, 2018).

In their last meeting, the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers agreed to prepare their populations for peace (Mid.ru, December 6, 2018; Osce.org, January 16, 2019). And meanwhile, the Azerbaijani community of Karabakh repeatedly conveyed messages to the regions Armenian community calling for peaceful reconciliationalthough, those dispatches were not met with a constructive response (Azertag.az, December 26, 2018; Trend, February 13, 2019). Moreover, the relatively stable frontier posts along the Azerbaijani-Armenian (northern) state border were handed over to Azerbaijans State Border Service, while the opposite side of the border is reportedly being guarded by an Armenian police detachment. The partial deployment of non-military security forces to the border by both states was seen as a reciprocal confidence-building measure designed to try to reduce ceasefire violations along this section of the frontier (Janes.com, December 20, 2018; Azertag.az, December 15, 2018).

The process also received attention from the co-chairing states (Russia, France, the United States) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europes (OSCE) Minsk Group. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the willingness [of Azerbaijan] to search for solutions deserves support and we hope Armenia will reciprocate (Mid.ru, January 16). During his last visit to Armenia, US National Security Advisor John Bolton urged the new Armenian government to take decisive steps on the conflict (Azatutyun.am, October 25, 2018). This came following a statement by thenUS ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills, who declared, [A]ny settlement is going to require the return of some portion of [Azerbaijans] occupied territories (Evnreport.com, October 15, 2018).

However, in recent weeks, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan blunted the building diplomatic optimism by stressing that the territory-in-exchange-for-peace formula (transferring areas around Karabakh to Azerbaijan in exchange for a peace treaty) cannot be discussed (Rusarminfo.ru, January 30). Azerbaijans Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that the cornerstone of the negotiations is precisely the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories and questioned whether Pashinyans statement implied a refusal to negotiate. (Azertag.az, January 31). Another controversial proclamation followed from Armenias National Security Director Arthur Vanetsian: [N]o one will surrender even an inch of land (Armeniasputnik.am, March 1). The Azerbaijani foreign ministry later characterized Vanetsians comments as an attempt to undermine negotiations and as clear evidence of Armenias direct participation in the occupation and annexation of Azerbaijans territories (Mfa.gov.az, March 1).

Azerbaijans principal goal is to achieve a conflict resolution outcome that preserves the countrys territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders (President.az, February 12). Armenias tactics, however, habitually attempt to change the negotiations format, which escalates tension (Trend, February 13). Moreover, Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan recently declared that the Armenian military will be shifting its strategy from a defensive posture to an offensive one, thus leaving open the possibility of attacking beyond Armenias borders in case of heightened hostilities (Lragir.am, February 26). In mid-February, Azerbaijani forces neutralized an Armenian reconnaissance drone flying over Azerbaijani positions during a visit by the OSCEs monitoring mission (Mod.gov.az, February 21).

Apart from diplomacy, Azerbaijan is also actively working to guarantee its supremacy on the potential battlefield. In response to Armenias military buildup and provocations, Azerbaijan has been raising its military readiness via repeated budget increases, large-scale military procurements and continual training (see EDM, January 21). Azerbaijans commitment to a peaceful settlement does not imply neglecting its security considerations. Indeed, the government in Baku perceives military power as playing a special role in conflict resolution. President Aliyev reemphasized recently that today, the might is right principle prevails in the world and Azerbaijan, by building up its military power, is prepared for the current situation. Indeed, the successful April 2016 counter-offensive (the so-called Four Day Warsee EDM, April 6, 2016) and 2018 Nakhchivan operation (which was tactically differentsee EDM, June 4, 12, 2018) empowered the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to step forward from their unfavorable military positions up toward the strategic high ground. Today, the Azerbaijani military has much greater capability to, in case of open hostilities, take control of key Armenian lines of communication (President.az, February 12).

Another motivation behind Azerbaijans military buildup is its skepticism that Armenia will voluntarily de-occupy Azerbaijani territory as a result of diplomatic negotiations alone (see EDM, July 25, 2018). Notably, during the first Nagorno-Karabakh War, the authorities in Yerevan distracted Baku with diplomatic negotiations while Armenian troops advanced on Azerbaijani territory.

Given the contrasting priorities of Azerbaijan (de-occupation) and Armenia (preserving the status quo on the ground), a sudden breakthrough is currently unlikely. Azerbaijans Turan media agency recently conducted a series of interviews with a number of political figures in Armenia, and many of its interviewees opposed de-occupation, instead expressing preference that these territories be fully incorporated into Armenia (Turan.az, February 12, 13, 14).

In the pre-election period, Pashinyan did not focus on Karabakh as it could have triggered some delicate issues within Armenia. Now it seems his government is unwilling to change Armenias traditional stance on the conflict. Yet, the previous governments propensity to play the Karabakh card ultimately did not prevent it from losing power. And while Yerevans options for maneuver on Karabakh are arguably shrinking, Baku is advancing its strategic communication on the conflict on multiple levels (diplomatic, military, economic, political, international). Thus, for Armenia, the famous remarks of its former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan are likely still relevant: what we reject today, we will have to ask for again in the future, but will not receive (Newsarmru.com, December 26, 2018).
Several universities are in such financial difficulties that they are close to the wall, a former government adviser warned last night.

Some are experiencing the worst financial issues in living memory and it was not beyond the realms of possibility that one could face bankruptcy, Nick Hillman said.

Experts have told how many universities are struggling to recruit enough students amid a surplus of places caused by the expansion of popular institutions. Every empty seat means a loss of up to 9,250 a year in tuition fee income.

Mr Hillman, who worked for David Willetts when he was Tory universities minister, revealed insiders had told him that a number were in grave trouble. It is unlikely students would be told of any problems unless closure became imminent, he said.

Mr Hillman added: The rumours of a small number of universities being in financial difficulty are too persistent to ignore. No UK university has ever gone bust, so it would be a major scandal if it were to happen. Talking privately to people who advise universities, they will tell you ... there are some that are much, much closer to the wall than theyve probably been at any point in living memory.

Several universities are in such financial difficulties that they are close to the wall, former government adviser Nick Hillman warned last night

However, he said that while ministers have said there will be no bailouts, it is implausible that any large university would just be allowed to shut up shop.

Possible solutions could be mergers or takeovers by stronger institutions.

Mr Hillman is head of the Higher Education Policy Institute think-tank, which publishes research today on students thoughts about universities finances.

The poll of 1,000 undergraduates found 83 per cent thought their institution was strong financially  but 97 per cent would want to know if it hit financial problems.

All universities must submit proof to the Office for Students (OfS) regulator that they are financially viable for three years and financially sustainable for five.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the OfS, said: We do not have significant or widespread concerns about the financial viability or sustainability of the sector.
Almost a third of British billionaires have moved to tax havens or are in the process of relocating, research has found.

Those living offshore must obey local tax laws, but avoid paying HMRC 38.1 per cent on dividends or 20 per cent on the sale of shares.

Analysis by The Times found that of 93 British billionaires, 28 had either relocated or were in the process of moving.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is among British billionaires who are planning to move to tax havens outside of the UK

HMRC said it did not have official figures on how much this costs, but previous estimates have suggested the UK misses out on 1billion of tax a year from those living in Monaco alone. The principality was the most popular destination for British billionaires, followed by the Channel Islands, Switzerland and the Isle of Man.

Among those moving to Monaco is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britains richest man. Reports have suggested the taxman could miss out on up to 4billion as a result.

Experts blamed the billionaires exodus on the income tax hike for top earners introduced by Labour in 2010. It was reversed three years later by George Osborne.
Sydney's iconic harbour is overrun with deadly sharks leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, an experienced fishing guide has told Daily Mail Australia.

Craig McGill, a respected guide and owner of fishing company Fishabout, said there are more sharks in the harbour than he has even seen before.

And the recent influx is having a devastating result with gory pictures showing half-eaten fish and even a shark severed in two found in the harbour's waters.

This image posted online showed a fisherman holding half a whaler shark with its entrails hanging out in Middle Harbour

Experts say reports of increased sightings are due to warmer waters allowing the sharks to come close to shore as they follow fish to eat.

Talking about the recent increase, Sydney-based Mr McGill told Daily Mail Australia: 'There's been a huge influx of sharks seen this year.

'Yesterday I saw a hammerhead and then spotted a shark attacking a fish in the harbour.

'I also recently saw a terrified kayaker being harassed by shark in the harbour,' he added.

Mr McGill showed Daily Mail a picture of one his customers holding a half eaten Yellowtail Kingfish which had been attacked by a shark near Mosman.

Mr McGill showed Daily Mail a picture of one his customers (pictured) holding a half-eaten Yellowtail Kingfish which had been attacked by a shark near Mosman

The experienced guide is not the only person to notice an increased number of sharks in the harbour (pictured)

Another image posted online showed a fisherman holding half a whaler shark with its entrails hanging out in Middle Harbour 'right in front of waterfront houses and a popular kids' wake-boarding location'.

He said finding severed fish in the harbour has become regular, especially after sharks feed at dawn and dusk.

'I've been fishing guiding on Sydney Harbour for 28 years and this is the worst I've ever seen it,' he said.

Explaining the phenomenon, Mr McGill said 'it's just the food chain - kingfish are in the harbour this year and the sharks are following.'

The experienced guide is not the only person to notice an increased number of sharks.

One fisherman told Daily Mail Australia: 'I've never seen so many - they keep biting my line. Last week my line was bitten clean in two by a shark near the harbour.'

A government spokesman said: 'Formal estimates of the numbers of sharks in Sydney Harbour are unavailable.

'Bull shark tagging research currently being undertaken by DPI Fisheries scientists has not indicated any greater numbers present this year than in previous years. '
An alpaca facing the death penalty deserves one last chance to prove he does not have tuberculosis, the High Court heard yesterday.

Officials say a blood test proves six-year-old Geronimo has the deadly disease, and ordered that he be put down. However, owner Helen MacDonald, 47, is adamant her pedigree alpaca is perfectly healthy. She has been fighting his death sentence for 18 months.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was accused in court yesterday of relying doggedly on two flawed tests. Catherine McGahey, representing Miss MacDonald, urged the court to order a full range of tests so an informed decision can be made.

Defra believes Geronimo contracted bovine TB in New Zealand before he was imported. Ned Westaway, defending Defra, said claims that it had been irrational were overstated.

A ruling will be made later.
A children's health expert has called for energy drinks to be made banned for anyone under the age of 18.

Telethon Kids Institute executive director Jonathan Carapetis echoed calls from the Australian Medical Association to stop children from buying energy drinks.

A study carried out by his organisation which surveyed 3688 children found a quarter of them who consumed an energy drink had experienced heart palpitations.

A children's health expert has called for energy drinks to be made banned for anyone under the age of 18 (stock image)

'We are currently advocating for a ban on the sale of energy drinks to children due to the significant negative impact these drinks have on children's health,' he told the West Australian.

Telethon Kids researcher Gina Trapp said politicians should intervene in stopping the selling of energy drinks to children.

'We have local evidence to suggest the high volume of use and risk of adverse events is a public health concern... our findings, combined with international evidence, indicate that legislative and policy changes addressing young people's access to energy drinks are warranted,' she said.

A quarter of the children surveyed also had trouble sleeping, headaches and upset stomachs.

A study carried out by his organisation which surveyed 3688 children found a quarter of them who consumed an energy drink had experienced heart palpitations (stock image)

Australian Beverages Council chief executive Geoff Parker said a ban was not needed, and pointed out energy drinks contain the same amount of caffeine as a similar-sized cup of coffee.

'Australian energy drink manufacturers have committed to a voluntary code that doesn't supply or sell into schools, market or advertise to children... parents should be arming themselves with as much information as they can,' he said.

Full results from the Telethon Kids Institute study are due to be published later in 2019.
Abdul Wakil, 33, could finally be reunited with his sons Mustafa and Muzzammel (pictured)

Afghan interpreters given sanctuary in Britain without their families will be reunited with their wives and children.

In a major victory for the Daily Mail, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said their loved ones will be able to join them without having to apply under normal immigration rules.

The decision could affect as many as 30 interpreters who helped British troops fight the Taliban during the 13-year war and have wives or partners back in Afghanistan.

Campaigners said the policy change was life saving because some interpreters had been left feeling suicidal with grief after being separated from family.

Mr Javid said: Afghan interpreters who served alongside British soldiers played a vital part in our fight against the Taliban. We owe these unsung heroes a huge debt of gratitude for their service. That is why we are making it even easier for them to build their future here in the UK with their loved ones.

This newspapers Betrayal of the Brave campaign has exposed countless scandals in which Afghan interpreters have been abandoned.

Among the cases was that of Abdul Wakil, 33, who came to the UK in December 2015 with eldest son Shakeel, 13, under a Ministry of Defence relocation scheme.

Former British Army captain Ed Aitken and Mohammad Hares, who served with UK troops for five years and lead the Sulha Network group representing the interpreters, welcomed the changes.

They said: This news will be life saving for those who were suicidal with the grief of being separated from their families.

There were countless good reasons why wives could not immigrate with their husbands which made the old policy extremely unfair.

Our faith in the Home Office has been restored. The immigration minister Caroline Nokes promised the Sulha Network last October to rectify this injustice. She has been good to her word.

Abdul came to the UK in December 2015 with eldest son Shakeel, 13, under a Ministry of Defence relocation scheme

The Sulha Network looks forward to reuniting these families and working to integrate them into British society. Under current rules, interpreters and their families were required to travel to the UK at the same time for the family members to qualify for relocation. But many of them did not bring their wives and children at the time for any number of reasons.

In some cases their wives had to look after relatives in Afghanistan or the interpreters wanted to sort out a job and a home for their children before they came to the UK.

The changes, which take effect on April 6, remove this requirement so wives and children, or fiancees, or long-term partners who were part of the family before the interpreter relocated, will be able to travel separately. More than 430 interpreters along with their family members have already been relocated in the UK  over 1,200 people in total.

The new rules exclude those who found partners in Afghanistan only after they had moved to the UK.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the loved ones of Afghan interpreters given sanctuary in Britain will be reunited with them

In May last year the Home Secretary announced that interpreters would no longer have to pay large fees to continue living in the UK in one of his first acts in the new role.

Around 1,100 Afghans  mostly translators and their families  faced being kicked out because their five-year visas were due to expire.

The Daily Mails three-year fight for the interpreters scooped the prestigious Campaign of the Year accolade at the British Journalism Awards in December.

Judges at the event, organised by Press Gazette, the journalists trade paper, said: The campaign to provide sanctuary in Britain for Afghan interpreters was a classic example of the Daily Mails relentless campaigning strength.
All I wanted was a coffee  no more than a simple cup of coffee. Last weekend, strolling with my children through Coal Drops Yard, a new shopping-and-restaurant development around the back of Kings Cross, London, I spotted a cafe.

Even better, it had the name of the celebrated French chef Alain Ducasse above the door: his restaurants have 20 Michelin stars, more than anyone else in the world.

I bet he serves a decent cup of coffee, I thought. In I popped.

A cup of Yemeni coffee from Le Cafe Alain Ducasse cafe in Coal Drops Yard, a new shopping-and-restaurant development near Kings Cross, costs a whopping 15. Harry Wallop said the prices were enough to give him palpitations considerably stronger than you get from caffeine

The cafe is tiny: about eight foot wide and 12 foot long. The staff, dressed in stylish leather and denim aprons, prepare the coffee with ceremony: turning on Brewista kettles that rest on temperature-controlled electronic pads. Customers sit on skinny, uncomfortable stools.

Then I saw the prices. They were enough to give me palpitations considerably stronger than you get from caffeine.

A cappuccino was 5, and a cup of single-origin filter coffee from Kenya or Costa Rica 6.

But that was only the bottom half of the menu. At the top was a coffee from France (the Reunion Islands, French overseas territories, grow coffee). It cost 13.

Even more shockingly, a Yemeni coffee was 15. Thats correct: I havent missed a decimal point. 15 for a filter coffee.

I had just eaten steak, chips and salad at a nearby restaurant. That lunch cost less than 15. According to Allegra, the market research company that monitors the coffee shop market, the average price of a high-street cappuccino in the UK is 2.67. Visit McDonalds and you can get a surprisingly drinkable espresso for 89p.

A cappuccino was 5, and a cup of single-origin filter coffee from Kenya or Costa Rica 6

I made my excuses and slunk out.

But not before slyly taking a picture of the menu and tweeting it with the caption: A single cup of coffee at the tiny, cramped Alain Ducasse cafe in Coal Drops Yard, Kings Cross . . . 15. I mean theres taking the p***, and then theres inviting revolution.

It was meant as a light-hearted dig at both Ducasse and the Coal Drops Yard development, which is  as the name suggests  the former dumping-ground for all the coal from the north-east of England that, before the Second World War, would arrive by train into Kings Cross.

It is now full of achingly cool fashion boutiques and neon art installations. When I first moved to the area in the Nineties, these (by then) derelict Victorian warehouses were the site of an edgy nightclub, prostitutes and drug-dealing.

Alain Ducasse poses with a cup of coffee. His London cafe has described the coffee as 'one of the best in the world'

It made me smile to think that, 20 years later, theyve become the site of another form of extortion. But on Twitter, where nuance and humour go to die, people decided that it was worth waging a culture war over 15 coffee.

I was accused of being an outrage hunter and a prat trying to stir up trouble. Others screamed daylight robbery, and that anyone willing to spend that sort of money on a coffee was clearly a muppet.

Then Ducasses general manager Olivier Fellous took to the press to defend his prices: Were offering an expensive coffee for sure and we know not everyone can afford it, he told the London evening paper.

But, he insisted, this was one of the finest coffees in the world.

Its certainly true that exporting coffee from war-torn Yemen is a more complex business than from, say, Brazil or Kenya. Ducasses coffee has to go through 60 checkpoints before it gets to the port, according to the chefs HQ.

This tiny cup of Yemeni coffee cost a whopping 15, with the cheapest item on the menu at the cafe near Kings Cross a hefty 5

But even the experts think that 15 for a 250ml cup of coffee, or 59 for a 100g packet of beans  which the cafe also sells  is eye-watering.

Bloody hell, thats expensive, said Nigel Green, a master coffee roaster for Dorset Coffee Co., which imports Yemeni coffee and roasts it at its base in Dorchester. (Their Yemeni beans cost 28 for 500g, a tenth of the price on a per-gram basis.) Is any cup of coffee worth 15? No. I dont think its right. Im sorry, but I dont like elitism in this business. Coffee should be available for everyone to afford.

Others were not surprised at the prices. Ben McCormack, the restaurant reviewer and editor of the Square Meal restaurant guide, said: In France, Alain Ducasse is like the Sun King . . . the god of French cuisine.

People who dine at his three-star restaurants dont bat an eyelid at paying hundreds of euros for a meal; they are off-the-scale expensive.

At Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee, the flagship in Paris, the cheapest starter, a plate of root vegetables with preserved wax cherries and artichoke yoghurt, will set you back 80 (68). Main courses go up to 195 (167): for that you get refreshed Brittany langoustines and golden caviar.

Speaking to me yesterday from Paris, Fellous implored me to try the coffee, assuring me that Ducasse had Michelin stars in his DNA and this was no ordinary brew.

So thats what I did. I returned to the cafe and ordered the 15 Yemeni coffee.

I was served by Ian, who like the other staff, calls himself a cafelier, rather than a barista. Its like a sommelier for coffee, he said, explaining the coffee was brewed using water heated to exactly 91c; any hotter would scald the drink.

The water is slowly dripped through a metal filter for three minutes. Strangely, the filter coffee favoured in American sitcoms is now the hipster brew of choice. How the circle turns.

The drink was served to me in a miniature glass flask. Let it cool a little, implored Ian. The flavour then opens up, the acidity becomes more gentle, going from milk chocolate to honeysuckle sweetness.

It was certainly a different cup of coffee  very delicate, with none of that harsh, dark, roasted flavour you get in many filter coffees. It tasted fresh, almost lemony and it slipped down easily.

For some of the clientele, the price was very reasonable. By chance, at the counter was Phil Wain, a regular customer and editor of Caffeine Magazine, dedicated to chronicling Britains addiction to coffee, which now runs to 19.5 million cups a week, according to Allegra.

But Phil Wain, editor of Caffeine Magazine, said of that the 15 price covers more than the coffee. 'Its all about the experience,' he said. This is a beautiful space, you get to chat with the cafelier and see the whole process'

These guys are buying their Yemeni coffee from Qima, an importer that has set up a profit share with the farmer. This is better than Fair Trade.

I tell him that I think the coffee is delicious, but Im struggling to think its worth 15 for a cup.

Its not just about the coffee, though, is it? . . . Its all about the experience. This is a beautiful space, you get to chat with the cafelier and see the whole process. My understanding of the whole experience here at Alain Ducasse is that it is very, very reasonable.

Would you rather queue up at Starbucks and pay only slightly less, or sit here and enjoy the atmosphere? This is a luxurious experience, which for many people is worth the money.

Well, the fuss caused by my tweet has certainly helped sales of Yemeni coffee. Ian says that theyve sold considerably more in the past 48 hours than usual.

But if I had 15 to spend on a coffee, or even 8 for that matter, I could go to Claridges hotel and sit in a comfortable armchair, enjoy a free newspaper and watch the worlds A-listers go by.

The Yemeni coffee was certainly tasty, but just not 15 tasty. And certainly not when drunk while siting on an uncomfortable, if trendy, stool.
A third of Britain's electricity could be generated by offshore wind farms by 2030, the Government said yesterday.

They currently meet around 7 per cent of our power needs but that should increase to more than 30 per cent within a decade. Whitehall officials said that by then 70 per cent of our electricity could be from low-carbon sources.

Announcing a plan to help the industry, energy minister Claire Perry said: 'This new sector deal will drive a surge in the clean, green offshore wind revolution.'

Greenpeace said the 30 per cent target was too low, especially with problems in the nuclear industry.

A third of Britain's electricity could be generated by offshore wind farms by 2030, the Government said yesterday.

If wind farms do meet a third of our power needs it would mean that, for the first time in UK history, more electricity is generated by renewables than fossil fuels.

It is hoped the green power 'revolution' will be helped by a new deal between the Government and industry to develop the supply chain and boost global exports.

The deal will increase the sector's target for the share of UK-based production for offshore wind projects to 60 per cent, to ensure the 557 million pledged by the Government for future clean power auctions benefit local communities around the country.

The industry will invest 250 million in measures including making sure British companies are competitive and world-leaders in new innovation in areas such as robotics and floating wind and larger turbines.

A partnership between Government and industry will support smaller supply chain companies to export for the first time, to help boost global exports to areas including Europe, Japan, and the United States five-fold to 2.6 billion a year by 2030.

Alongside the deal, the Government will provide more than 4 million for British businesses to share expertise globally and open new markets through a programme to help countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan avoid coal power and develop their own offshore wind projects.

And there will be more efforts to reduce the cost of offshore wind projects, which have already seen costs halve in just two years, in the 2020s to help move to a subsidy-free system.

The Crown Estate will also be releasing new seabed land from 2019 for future offshore wind projects.

Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry said: 'This new sector deal will drive a surge in the clean, green offshore wind revolution that is powering homes and businesses across the UK, bringing investment into coastal communities and ensuring we maintain our position as global leaders in this growing sector.

'By 2030 a third of our electricity will come from offshore wind, generating thousands of high-quality jobs across the UK, a strong UK supply chain and a five-fold increase in exports.'

Energy UK's chief executive, Lawrence Slade, said: 'Today's sector deal, and continued investment from industry, will create a global offshore wind market set to be worth 30 billion a year by 2030 and further cement the UK's position as a world-leader in offshore wind.

'The offshore wind industry has been a great success story for the UK, bringing thousands of skilled jobs and billions in investment while delivering clean energy at an ever-falling cost to customers.'

It is hoped the green power 'revolution' will be helped by a new deal between the Government and industry to develop the supply chain and boost global exports.

But Greenpeace said that renewables needed to be scaled up even more.

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: 'The Government's plans for a fleet of new nuclear reactors has collapsed. This leaves Britain with a big energy gap in the future. It means the Government's latest offshore wind target of 30 gigawatts by 2030 is woefully inadequate.

'Renewable power now presents the best opportunity for cheaper, cleaner and faster decarbonisation.

'Wind and solar must be tripled between now and 2030, with offshore wind the future backbone of the UK's energy system.'

Scottish Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: 'Offshore wind has a key role to play in achieving our ambitious energy targets and delivering a low-carbon energy system.

'Scotland has massive offshore wind potential with a large share of Europe's offshore wind resources and the commitment that the sector deal represents from government, academia and industry will help ensure that our world-leading offshore wind sector develops successfully and sustainably.'
A young man brazenly grabbed a woman during peak hour at one of Australia's busiest train stations, police say.

He was caught on CCTV leaving Melbourne's Flinders Street Station after allegedly ambushing a woman from behind during their afternoon commute.

Victoria Police have released footage of two men as they loitered outside the busy city centre station on January 19, shortly after 6pm.

Victoria Police have released footage of two men as they loitered outside the busy city centre station on January 19, shortly after 6pm

The 20-something, approximately 168cm tall, was seen wearing a blue jacket and a white cap, laughing with his accomplice as he moved among the crowd,

Police hope witnesses will be able to identify the man in the CCTV footage.

To give information, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or give confidential information at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is accusing the United States of hacking into its servers and stealing its source code while denying American claims that it is an espionage front for Beijing.

Huawei on Thursday opened a legal front in its counter-offensive against U.S. warnings that it could aid Chinese intelligence services, filing suit to overturn a U.S. law that bars federal agencies from buying its products.

Huawei said the case was filed in a U.S. District Court in Plano, Texas, challenging a 2019 defense bill that prevents government agencies from buying its equipment, services, or working with third parties that are Huawei customers.

The move may send a global signal that Huawei is willing to use all means, including national courts, to prevent attempts to exclude it from a race to the 5G market - the future of high-speed telecommunications.

'The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort,' Huawei's rotating chairman Guo Ping said.

'If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks.'

Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant, has accused the United States of hacking into its servers

Guo said the company was seeking unspecified damages.

'The U.S. government is sparing no effort to smear the company,' he said at a news conference at the tech giant's corporate headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Guo even countered that the U.S. government 'has hacked our servers and stolen our emails and source code', without providing details.

Washington has long considered Huawei a potential threat, fears originally centring on the background of founder Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese army engineer.

The concerns have escalated as Huawei has risen to become the world leader in telecom networking equipment that connects much of the world, and one of the top smartphone manufacturers alongside Samsung and Apple.

The lawsuit says the legislation is an 'unconstitutional exercise of executive and/or judicial power' and deprived Huawei of a 'fair hearing' to rebut the allegations against it.

A law recently enacted by Beijing that obliges Chinese companies to aid the government on national security has added to the concerns about Huawei.

The U.S. has warned that Huawei's equipment could be manipulated by China's Communist government to spy on other countries and disrupt critical communications, and is urging nations to shun the company.

This comes just as the world readies for the roll-out of ultra-fast 5G telecommunications, an advancement in which Huawei will play a key role and which will allow widespread adoption of next-generation technologies like artificial intelligence.

Huawei has responded to the pressure with an aggressive PR campaign in recent months, with its reclusive founder Ren Zhengfei emerging to deny the claims in foreign media interviews.

This week the company gave news organisations a tightly guarded tour of its massive production lines and R&D facilities in southern Guangdong province.

The clash is heightened by ongoing U.S.-China trade talks and the December arrest of Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, Ren's daughter.

Huawei has been making headlines in recent weeks after the December arrest of its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who is wanted in the United States for allegedly violating sanctions against Iran

A Canadian court on Wednesday set a May 8 date for the start of Meng's hearing into a U.S. extradition request over charges that she and Huawei circumvented U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Two affiliates also have been charged with stealing trade secrets from telecommunications group T-Mobile.

Two Canadians were subsequently detained in China in suspected retaliation over Meng's arrest.

Huawei officials said the company, which operates in 170 countries, had never been party to any major security breaches and never received any request from the Chinese government to install security 'backdoors' in its equipment or to gather intelligence.

Chief legal officer Song Liuping acknowledged, however, that Chinese laws may require Huawei to respond to government requests for assistance but said it would only do so in matters such as terrorism or criminal activity.

'But if this went beyond express stipulations of the law, we would reject such a request,' Song said, adding that installing backdoors would be commercial 'suicide' if such things were revealed.

Huawei officials denied that the privately held company was 'owned or influenced' by China's government.

Some China-watchers, however, say it is highly unlikely that Ren could have steered his company to such heights in such a strategic sector without the support of Beijing, which has clearly stated its goal of becoming the world's high-tech leader.

Much of the U.S. concern is rooted in fears that China, through Huawei, may export the high-tech security state that is accelerating under President Xi Jinping.

Guo suggested the U.S. campaign to contain Huawei was prompted in part by the US's belated realisation that the company had become a rival to American tech leaders.

Huawei's equipment is seen as considerably more advanced than that of competitors such as Sweden's Ericsson or Finland's Nokia.

'Is it afraid that other countries may catch up to and overtake its use of advanced 5G technologies?' Guo asked.
The visit of the Armenian Prime Minister to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which took place on February 27-28, left ambiguous impressions behind. If we talk about the practical results of the visit, then the bottom line is only two memorandums of understanding. These are two documents: on promoting cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments of Armenia and the Iranian Institute of Standards and Industrial Research, as well as between the same ministry and the Supreme Council for Trade, Industry and Special Economic Zones of Iran.

Note that a memorandum of understanding is a type of agreement between two or more parties that does not imply legal obligations. It is usually concluded in situations where the parties are unable for some reason to create a legally binding agreement. In diplomatic practice, memoranda are presented as a result of a meeting in its absence.

Iranian and Armenian officials voiced in general terms the possibility of increasing the supply of Iranian gas to Armenia and even the possibility of the transit of Iranian gas through Armenia to Georgia. The available capacities allow doubling the volume of Iranian gas supplies and turning Armenia into a transit country, Minister of Economic Development and Investments Tigran Khachatryan said. Talks on the transition of Armenia to Iranian gas to varying degrees are regularly held in the Armenian expert community. They became more active after 2007 when the gas pipeline between Armenia and Iran was put into operation. But the problem is that Tehran, according to the statements of Armenian politicians and officials, does not offer favorable prices (maybe to avoid the emergence of competition with Russia, in which Teheran is currently the least interested). Talking about the transit of Iranian gas to Georgia, in general, seems far from reality, at least considering the clear transatlantic orientation of Georgia and the international situation around Iran.

It is obvious that the absence of tangible results of Nikol Pashinyans visit to the IRI could not help but worry the head of the Armenian government, who is increasingly being reproached at home in the absence of real success in both domestic and foreign policy. Being a politician who entered the imperious cabinet from the street, and a master in populist rallies, Pashinyan launched into the information space of the region a provocative selfie with representatives of the Armenian diaspora in Iran holding a banner with the separatist NKR flag and the inscription Karabakh - Armenian Land.

Thus, the head of the Armenian government achieved several goals at once. First, he played on the national feelings of Armenian citizens and sent them a vivid message that his position on the Karabakh issue remains tough and he will not betray the Karabakh Armenians. Secondly, he distracted his citizens from the fact that there was nothing to show except a selfie as a result of the visit. The third, in Azerbaijan, an expected wave of indignation arose in connection with a similar outburst in Iran, especially in the days when the whole country commemorated the victims of the Khojaly tragedy. The Iranian embassy in Azerbaijan hastened to disown the actions of the Armenian prime minister, condemning them as a bratty step.

For all the hype around the scandalous selfie, the main thing should not be overlooked: the action was a deliberate attempt by the Armenian prime minister to transfer the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict to Iran. There is no other explanation for the appearance of such a photograph in the account of the Prime Minister of Armenia during his official visit to Iran. Moreover, Pashinyans trick has already provoked protests in the places of residence of ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran. Is official Yerevan ready to openly ignore the interests of Iran on the issue of Irans Azerbaijan, which is so sensitive, in favor of its short-term political instincts, provoking the emergence of the inter-ethnic tensions on Irans territory? Are we dealing with the mistake of "inexperienced" populist Pashinyan, or is it about working out the anti-Iranian agenda in a more global geopolitical context? Taking into account the well-known close ties of the members of the Prime Ministers team with Soros structures and the timid, but regular and persistent attempts of Pashinyan to find common ground and formats of interaction with NATO, this probability cannot be ruled out.
A Los Angeles Police Detective claims she was raped and beaten by a fellow officer she had an affair with who threatened to distribute nude photographs of her if she ended the relationship - and her supervisors did nothing to help her.

Det. Ysabel Villegas filed her lawsuit on Wednesday against the LAPD for failing to act and defend her when Officer Daniel Reedy turned their once-consensual relationship into an abusive one and blackmailed her.

He threatened to distribute her sexually explicit pictures to her kids and husband if she ended the relationship, and eventually shared those pictures with the LAPD, the lawsuit says.

Villegas, who worked with the LAPD for 30 years, alleged Reedy assaulted, abused and extorted her, created a hostile work environment, and the police department failed to protect her from him, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Detective Ysabel Villegas, who worked for the LAPD for 30 years, filed a lawsuit against the agency on Wednesday for failing to protect her or report Officer Daniel Reedy after he allegedly became abusive in their relationship

On Wednesday at a press conference she said: 'One of the things that hurt so much is that my LAPD family has turned its back against me'

The lawsuit also accuses Reedy of sexually assaulting Villegas in a Pomona motel room back in July 2017.

In January of this year, she was granted a restraining order against Officer Reedy. He was banned from contacting her or owning firearms and the order stands for the next five years.

Villegas and Reedy began dating in 2013, while she was still married to her husband former Assistant Chief Jorge Villegas.

The couple had filed for divorce in 2009 but stayed together due to family obligations but mutually agreed to pursue their own romantic relationships, according to the lawsuit.

At first Villegas and Reedy got along until he became jealous and abusive in 2016, she alleges in the lawsuit.

She claims that the LAPD refused to act upon her complaints on Reedy and instead she was transferred out of the Robbery-Homicide Division

She claims that Reedy physically assaulted her at least three times and once raped her in a motel. When she tried to cut off the relationship, he threatened to send her explicit nude photos to her kids and husband

She accuses Reedy of physically assaulting her at least three times from 2016 to 2018, according to the court documents. In one instance he allegedly punched at while they were at diner and another he assaulted her in a motel room.

'Detective Villegas told Officer Reedy at the motel that she did not want to have sex with him. Nevertheless, Officer Reedy proceeded to rape her,' the lawsuit says on the motel incident on July 2017.

She also claims Reedy took explicit photos of her without her consent.

When she tried to end the relationship in 2017, he allegedly threatened to send her explicit pictures to her children and husband. Those pictures eventually circulated the LAPD, according to the lawsuit.

Villegas is married to former Assistant Chief Jorge Villegas who resigned in October 2018 following claims he had his own affairs with subordinates. The two were married but pursued other romantic relationships

He also allegedly sent her profanity-laced text messages and she was coerced into having sex due to the threat of sharing her nude pictures.

Jorge Villegas received one of those explicit pictures in a text from Reedy and the pictures later circulated throughout the police department, the lawsuit states.

Villegas' attorney Lisa Bloom says that Reedy's alleged distribution of her nude photos violates California's revenge porn law which was created in 2013 and incriminates those who intentionally disseminate explicit photos without the other person's consent and to cause emotional distress.

'With these photos, he emotionally terrorized me. He controlled and manipulated me,' Villegas said.

Villegas complained within the LAPD reporting his behavior to 'senior officers', including her husband and the supervisor of the Robbery-Homicide Division.

Pictures of their text messages show how he allegedly threatened her and extorted her with her nude photos

He also allegedly sent her profanity-laced text messages and she was coerced into having sex due to the threat of sharing her nude pictures

In January she was granted a restraining order against Officer Reedy. He was barred from contacting her or owning firearms and the order stands for the next five years

She says they then 'violated the law and LAPD policy by failing to report Officer Reedy.'

'LAPD officers are required to report known misconduct among their ranks and they failed to do that in this case,' attorney Bloom said.

Not only did they not do anything about Reedy, but Villegas was transferred out of the Robbery-Homicide division.

'One of the things that hurt so much is that my LAPD family has turned its back against me. To this day, I have not been contacted by phone, email or text by any LAPD manager to offer me anything,' she said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Villegas' husband Jorge later resigned in late 2018 after an undercover surveillance unit caught him in sexual activity with a subordinate female officer in a parking lot.

The LAPD says it will not comment on the pending litigation.

An anonymous law enforcement officer said that a search warrant for Reedy's home and his electronics was served in January.

Reedy was placed on administrative leave by the LAPD as he's the subject of an investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.

The case is just one of several sexual harassment allegations plaguing the LAPD over the past couple of years.




An ice-addict father who abandoned his toddler son in a Queensland park and lied about it for a decade has been jailed for 12 years.

Shane Arthur Simpson pleaded guilty on Monday to the manslaughter of his son Baden Bond, who was left to die near the Logan River in May 2007.

When handing down his sentence on Thursday, Justice Peter Applegarth said the offending was a 'gross negligence of an extreme kind,' ABC News reported.

Scroll down for video

Shane Arthur Simpson has been jailed for 12 years after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter after abandoning his son Baden (pictured) in a park

Simpson told police he had sat and talked to the baby at the park (pictured) for 15-30 minutes before apologising and leaving his son on a bench without ever turning back

He said Simpson, who is a long-term drug addict, simply left the child at the boat ramp, south of Brisbane, before going home and getting on with his life.

'You practically invited a tragic end to his life,' Justice Applegarth said.

The judge said there was no suggestion Simpson was high at the time, and added the offending wasn't a 'spur of the moment' decision.

He also suggested Simpson planned to leave the child at the waterside location.

'You had ample time to reflect on your actions and the high risk that Baden would die before anyone found him,' he said.

Justice Applegarth concluded by describing how the final moments of Baden's life would have been 'full of fear'.

The sentence comes after Baden's mother, Dina Colleen Bond, pleaded guilty to two counts of being an accessory to his manslaughter in Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday.

She was sentenced to three years imprisonment but with time served will be eligible for parole immediately.

Baden Bond's body has never been found and no one knows what happened to him after he was abandoned on the banks of the Logan River, south of Brisbane.

The grandmother of 22-month-old boy Baden Bond (front, right) and other relatives leave the Supreme in Brisbane

Simpson previously told the court on Monday he abandoned the child at the boat ramp near the Logan River because he was 'tired of caring for him'.

In his final moments with the child, Simpson said he sat with his son on a park bench for 15-30 minutes and said sorry.

Then, without turning back once, he drove away.

The court heard Simpson had told police before he left, his son had looked at him 'like he knew what was going to happen', The Courier Mail reported.

The 22-month-old (pictured) was found in a dirty cot before he disappeared in 2007, and Simpson admitted he was 'fried' on drugs when he abandoned him

'Just his face, if anything, I just went though with it then and drove away,' he had said after his arrest.

'I didn't even look back in the rear-vision mirror I've had to live with this for 10 years the look in his eyes I still see, you know.'

Bond was charged with accessory to manslaughter for her efforts in helping to conceal the child's death.

Baby Baden and his siblings were taken into government care after he was born with methamphetamine in his system.

Simpson (pictured) and Bond were not arrested until 2017 over the death of their son

BADEN BOND'S LIFE 2005: Baby Baden is born with methamphetamine in his system. He and his siblings are taken into state care. October 2006: The children are returned to their parents, who blame 'difficult' Baden for the loss of their family. March 2007: Baden is last seen May 2007: His father, Shane Simpson, takes Baden to a boat ramp near the Logan River in Eagleby and speaks with him for about half an hour before leaving. He does not turn back to look at the child he abandoned. August 2007: Simpson and Baden's mother, Dina Bond, and their family move out of their Woodridge, QLD, home to NSW in the middle of the night. They do not contact family again for about a year. June 2015: Baden is reported missing after community services in NSW begin to look for him. March 2017: Simpson and Bond are charged over Baden's death after an extensive investigation found no record of the boy attending any school or medical centre in the past 10 years. March 2019: Simpson is jailed for 12 years after he pleads guilty to manslaughter, while Bond pleads guilty to being an accessory to her son's death Advertisement

During the course of the trial, the court heard how Simpson and Bond called their son 'the devil's child', and would leave him in a locked bedroom with windows that were painted black.

His nappies were reportedly often left unchanged and visitors were discouraged from going into his room.

His mother and father are believed to have blamed the infant for their troubles with their other children, all of whom returned to the family home a year later.

Simpson had called him a 'little c***', a 'dog f*****' and was 'nothing but trouble'.

In 2016, when Simpson finally admitted to police he'd abandoned the toddler, he said Baden was difficult and 'everything just got too much'.

He said he was 'fried off my head' at the time from taking ice.

In a devastating twist, the parents did not face any criminal charges for 10 years.

Baby Baden was last seen in March 2007, but not reported missing until June 2015.

His parents were charged in March 2017 after an extensive investigation found no record of Baden attending any school or medical centre in the past 10 years.

The parents had continually lied about baby Baden's whereabouts, claiming he was either in foster care, or staying with his relatives.

In the middle of the night, about three months after Simpson left Baden on the bench, the couple moved out of their home on Wagawn Street in Woodridge, south of Brisbane.

They told nobody, and did not contact their family again for a year.
Cyber terrorism and spying fears forced the Australian government to ban Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from being allowed to install next generation 5G mobile networks.

Huawei, the world's biggest telecommunications equipment company, was barred in 2012 from installing the National Broadband Network.

In August last year, the Australian government announced Huawei would also be banned from installing 5G mobile, annoying Australia's biggest trading partner China.

Huawei has this week launched legal action against the United States government, after a law was passed last year banning federal agencies from buying its equipment.

Cyber terrorism and spying fears forced the Australian government to ban Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from being allowed to install next generation 5G mobile networks (stock image)

Scott Morrison announced Australia's decision to ban Huawei the day before he replaced Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's senior analyst on international cyber policy Tom Uren said Huawei would have posed a national security risk.

'There's risk of Huawei being used to enable either espionage or sabotage,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei was a member of the People's Liberation Army before founding his technology company in 1987.

His ties to the Chinese Communist Party have made governments nervous, from Australia to India.

'The Chinese Communist Party has great control over enterprises,' Mr Uren said.

Huawei, the world's biggest telecommunications equipment company, was barred in 2012 from installing the National Broadband Network. In August last year, the Australian government announced Huawei would also be banned from installing 5G mobile

'They prioritise their own security over anything else.

'Mostly it's the way China operates writ large.'

The United Kingdom and Germany are yet to formally ban Huawei from installing essential telecommunications, but Mr Uren said Australia was right to be wary.

Tom Uren: 'There's risk of Huawei being used to enable either espionage or sabotage.'

He said Huawei, if allowed to install the 5G network, could have been directed by the Chinese government to spy on Australian government agencies and cabinet ministers.

'They have basically a great ability to reach into that network and do stuff,' he said.

In February, Mr Morrison told Parliament foreign government hackers had spied on the Labor, Liberal and National parties, without accusing China.

'Our cyber experts believe that a sophisticated state actor is responsible for this malicious activity,' Mr Morrison told the House of Representatives.

'Let me be clear, there is no evidence of any electoral interference.

'We have put in place a number of measures to ensure the integrity of our electoral system.'

Three days later, Australian coal was banned from entering China's Dalian port in the country' north, causing the Australian dollar to plunge by a percentage point.

Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei was a member of the People's Liberation Army (stock image)

China bought $13billion worth of Australian coal in the 2017/18 financial year.

Chinese international students also spend $10billion a year on education, or roughly a third of the value of Australia's major export.

Despite its economic clout, Mr Uren said it was unlikely the Huawei ban was behind Chinese ports banning Australian coal.

'Personally, I don't think so. There are bigger issues at play,' he said.

But the Canberra-based analyst added it was in China's interests for Australia to worry about the Huawei ban.

'It's kind of useful for it to be tied to that narrative,' he said.

'It supports pressure on Australia if people talk about it being a Huawei-related issue.'

On Thursday, Huawei launched legal proceedings against the U.S. government arguing the National Defence Authorisation Act, signed by President Donald Trump in August, unfairly punished it without outlining how it posed an espionage threat.

Huawei said it had no plans to sue the Australian government over a similar ban.
Could President Trumps longtime personal secretary be a crucial witness in the ongoing investigations into his campaign and business dealings?

Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman believes that Rhona Graff holds the key to information that Democrats could use to end Trumps political career.

One name: Rhona Graff, Newman told MSNBC on Tuesday.

She knows everyone. She knows the role they play. She knows who said what and when. She set up the meetings.

If she is called to testify, that will be the end of Donald Trump.

In his testimony before Congress last week, Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, said Graff could corroborate his allegations of financial wrongdoing by his ex-boss.

Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman (left) believes that Rhona Graff (right), the president's longtime personal secretary, has information that Democrats could use to end Trumps political career

Graff is a senior vice president at the Trump Organization. She worked at Trump Tower for nearly thirty years before Trump was elected president in November 2016.

Since Trump entered the White House, Graff has continued to manage the affairs of the business.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is completing an investigation into whether Trumps campaign conspired with Russia and whether the president has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe.

Trump has denied collusion and obstruction, Russia has denied election interference.

Federal investigators are also looking into possible financial irregularities by the Trump Organization.

Democrats in the U.S. Congress unleashed an unexpectedly sweeping series of demands in their investigations of Trump on Monday, seeking information about his communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin and documents from 81 sources, including Graff, in an obstruction probe.

Newman said that even if Graff is called to testify by Congress, theres no guarantee she would cooperate.

I wouldnt be surprised if she pled the Fifth, she said.

It wouldnt surprise me at all, because shes been fiercely loyal to the president of the United States.

Since Trump (seen left with daughter Ivanka Trump on Wednesday) entered the White House, Graff has continued to manage the affairs of the business. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is completing an investigation into whether Trumps campaign conspired with Russia

Newman was once loyal to Trump - until she was fired from her job at the White House.

Omarosa, 44, first met Trump when she appeared on The Apprentice.

She supported Trump on the campaign trail and then joined his administration, working in the public liaison office.

Omarosa was supposedly fired on December 13, 2017 following reports of an altercation with then-Chief of Staff John Kelly.

Her controversial termination made headlines after it was reported that security had to carry her out of the White House.

She later denied those claims and insisted she had resigned from her post.

In a book she wrote after her White House exit, she questioned Trump's mental fitness while watching an interview he did with NBC News in May 2017.

'While watching the interview I realized that something real and serious was going on in Donald's brain. His mental decline could not be denied,' she writes in Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House.

'Many didn't notice it as keenly as I did because I knew him way back when. They thought Trump was being Trump, off the cuff.

'But I knew something wasn't right.'

In his testimony before Congress last week, Michael Cohen (seen above at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday), Trump's former personal attorney, said Graff could corroborate his allegations of financial wrongdoing by his ex-boss

During her publicity tour to promote her book, Trump angrily dismissed Omarosa as a 'dog.'

Speculation over individuals in Trump's inner circle who may have incriminating information about the president has intensified in recent days.

Cohen provided the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee with new documents and may hand over more, the panels chairman said after a day-long hearing behind closed doors.

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff told reporters that Cohen was cooperative and the eight-hour hearing was 'very productive.'

He did not say what the new documents related to and declined to comment on the substance of Cohens testimony.

'We had requested documents of Mr. Cohen. He has provided additional documents to the committee. There may be additional documents that he still has to offer and his cooperation with our committee continues,' Schiff said.

Cohen shared documents with lawmakers showing edits made to written testimony he provided to Congress in 2017, saying that an unsuccessful plan by Trump to build a tower in Moscow ended in January 2016, a congressional source said, confirming reports by CNN and the New York Times.

Cohen subsequently pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in the testimony.

He has since said pursuit of the Moscow project continued until June 2016, after Trump had clinched the Republican presidential nomination.

During testimony last week, Cohen said Jay Sekulow, one of Trumps lawyers, was among those who edited the 2017 document.

Sekulow has called Cohens assertion 'completely false.'

During the 2016 presidential campaign Trump denied he had any business dealings with Russia but has since defended the proposed tower project.

Cohen in public testimony last week before a different House committee, called Trump, his employer for more than 10 years, a 'racist,' 'conman' and 'cheat.'

Cohen is due to report to prison on May 6 to begin a three-year sentence after pleading guilty in a separate case last year to criminal charges including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.
Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren have defended fellow Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar as she faces a wave of criticism following her controversial remarks about Israel.

Omar, who is one of the first Muslim women in Congress, came under fire for suggesting last Friday that supporters of Israel were urging lawmakers to have 'allegiance to a foreign country'.

The first-term Minnesota Congresswoman's repeated criticisms of Israel and a powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington have been widely condemned as anti-Semitic.

Ilhan Omar, who is one of the first Muslim women in Congress, came under fire for suggesting last Friday that supporters of Israel were urging lawmakers to have 'allegiance to a foreign country'

House Democrats on Wednesday postponed indefinitely a vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism after a contentious meeting in which some new members confronted leaders over their push to rebuke Omar.

Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, was among those to defend Omar on Wednesday when he issued a statement saying criticism of Omar was an effort to stop discussions about U.S. support for Israel.

'Anti-Semitism is a hateful and dangerous ideology which must be vigorously opposed in the United States and around the world,' Sanders said.

'We must not, however, equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel. Rather, we must develop an even-handed Middle East policy which brings Israelis and Palestinians together for a lasting peace.

'What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate. That's wrong.'

In a separate statement, Kamala Harris said the current criticism directed at Omar was potentially putting her at risk of violence.

Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren have defended fellow Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday as she faces a wave of criticism following her controversial remarks about Israel

'We all have a responsibility to speak out against anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, racism, and all forms of hatred and bigotry,' the California Senator said.

'But like some of my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, I am concerned that the spotlight being put on Congresswoman Omar may put her at risk.'

'We should be having a sound, respectful discussion about policy. You can both support Israel and be loyal to our country. I also believe there is a difference between criticism of policy or political leaders, and anti-Semitism.

'At the end of the day, we need a two-state solution and a commitment to peace, human rights, and democracy by all leaders in the region - and a commitment by our country to help achieve that.'

Elizabeth Warren also issued a statement saying criticizing Israel was not anti-Semitic.

'We have a moral duty to combat hateful ideologies in our own country and around the world and that includes both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. In a democracy, we can and should have an open, respectful debate about the Middle East that focuses on policy,' Warren said.

'Branding criticism of Israel as automatically anti-Semitic has a chilling effect on our public discourse and makes it harder to achieve a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Threats of violence - like those made against Rep. Omar - are never acceptable.'

Omar, a former Somali refugee, was assailed by Democrats and Republicans alike for suggesting last Friday that supporters of the Jewish state are urging lawmakers to have 'allegiance to a foreign country.'

Several lawmakers expressed outrage, warning that Omar was peddling in age-old anti-Semitic tropes about Jews having dual allegiances.

President Donald Trump landed a Twitter punch on House Democrats with a complaint on Wednesday that they were dithering on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism

Trump, who has himself been accused of anti-Jewish commentary in the past, said anti-Semitism 'has fueled atrocities throughout history'

The Democratic-led US House had been expected to vote as early as Wednesday on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism.

But on Wednesday in a closed-door meeting of Democrats, the debate appeared to morph into a discussion over broader efforts to address hateful rhetoric, with some lawmakers pushing to include resolution language that decries anti-Muslim bias.

President Donald Trump weighed in tweeting that it was 'shameful' that Democrats have not taken a tougher stance on anti-Semitism.

'It is shameful that House Democrats won't take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference,' Trump said. 'Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it's inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!'

Number two House Democrat Steny Hoyer said the language of the resolution was still being worked out, and that a vote date had yet to be set.

Hoyer also offered a defense of sorts of Omar, saying he did not believe she is anti-Semitic.

A small group of activists gathered outside the Capitol Wednesday in support of Omar, including Council on American-Islamic Relations head Nihad Awad who warned that House leaders were seeking to 'intimidate' the embattled congresswoman.

'The fact that the Democratic leadership was forced to change the resolution' showed it was 'unbalanced and it ignored Islamophobia and the suffering of Muslims here and abroad,' Awad said.
A California family was left 'heartbroken' after shocking security footage showed their postman routinely dousing their rescue dog with pepper spray.

Owner Alfonso Galindo installed security cameras on the exterior of his San Diego home after he was left baffled by strange stain pattern that kept emerging on the ground of his front-yard for months.

However, the father-of-two was left 'heartbroken' when he reviewed footage from last Tuesday and saw his family's beloved seven-year-old rescue dog, Pupa, writhing around in pain as a postman approaches his San Diego home.

On closer inspection, Galindo noticed the postman appeared to spray something from a canister at the poodle-mix's face, as he barks excitably from behind a secure gate.

Pupa is first seen barking excitably at the gate, as the postman approaches the San Diego home

Suddenly Pupa turns away and begins rubbing her face on the ground

The seven-year-old rescue writhes around on the floor for several moments, clearly in a great deal of pain

Alfonso Galindo (left) says the footage left him absolutely heartbroken, calling the postman's actions 'criminal' and a breach of trust

Inspecting the footage from multiple angles, Galindo spotted the postman carrying a canister in his hand, believed to be pepper-spray

A helpless Pupa then turns away and begins desperately rubbing her face into the pavement.

Galindo said he reviewed security footage from the past month and found at least nine other incidents where pupa 'convulses in some sort of ritual pain' as the postman passes the gate.

'Never did I suspect the mailman. Never did I suspect somebody that you trust with your mail, with your packages,' Galindo said to KNSD. 'It was heartbreaking, it was really heartbreaking.'

'I'm at a loss for words,' he added. 'It makes me sick to my stomach.'

In hindsight, Galindo said he noticed on a number of occasions that Pupa had blood-shot eyes but it always went away soon after.

He also says that his two children, Alfonso Jr., three, and Regina, one - who both regularly interact with Pupa - have both developed serious respiratory issues in the last six-months, which he now believes has been triggered by chemicals from the pepper spray in the dog's fur.

'I get livid thinking about it. This is the health of my children' Galindo told WDSU. 'I believe what he's done to my family is criminal.'

Galindo first grew suspicious something strange was happening at the home when he noticed a stain pattern emerging on the floor of his driveway - he said he never expected the postman

As a result of the chemicals on Pupa's fur, Galindo said both of his children - Alfonso Jr. (left), three, and Regina (right), one - have developed serious respiratory issues over the past six months, as they regularly interact with the dog

After Galindo complained to USPS last week, the delivery company issued a statement on Tuesday following an internal investigation.

'On behalf of the United States Postal Service, we want to apologize to the Galindo family and Pupa,' the statement read.

'We do not condone our employees behaving in a manner which is not professional and courteous. The appropriate personnel and corrective action will be taken as well as training given to all local letter carriers.'

The postman in question hasn't been named. It's not yet clear if he will face any charges in relation to the attacks.

San Diego police have asked anyone in the area who believes their dog may have also been pepper-sprayed to call them on (619)-531-2000.
Territorians have been warned to be alert for measles and get vaccinated if needed, after a holidaymaker returned to the Top End with the virus.

Health authorities issued a measles alert on Thursday after an Australian contracted the highly contagious disease while holidaying in Vietnam.

The second case was acquired from the first.

Acting Director of the Centre for Disease Control, Dr Peter Markey, said the two recently diagnosed people were in their 20s, one of whom had travelled abroad.

Territorians have been warned to be alert for measles and get vaccinated if needed after two cases of measles were confirmed

'The first case was in a Darwin resident who caught the illness while holidaying in Vietnam, while the second case was acquired from the first.

'This means there is likely to be people with symptoms of measles in Darwin from today for the next three weeks,' Dr Markey said.

He said the first person visited Palmerston Regional Hospital on 15 and 17 February, so anyone exposed who might be at risk may notice symptoms in the next few days.

The second person visited Top End Medical Centre in Stuart Park on Sunday 3 March and Tuesday 5 March and then Palmerston Regional Hospital on 5 March, which means exposed people may notice symptoms from March 10.

According to the World Health Organisation, the first sign of measles is usually a high fever, which begins about 10 to 12 days after exposure to the virus.

Other symptoms that can develop during the initial stage, include a runny nose, a cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots inside the cheeks.

After several days, the telltale rash (pictured) appears on the face and upper neck and eventually spreads to the hands and feet - lasting about 5 to 6 days, and then fades

The first infected person visited Palmerston Regional Hospital (pictured) on 15 and 17 February, so anyone exposed who might be at risk may notice symptoms in the next few days

After several days, the telltale rash appears on the face and upper neck and eventually spreads to the hands and feet - lasting about 5 to 6 days, and then fades.

Measles is a very contagious disease, which can be caught in public places such as shopping centres and waiting rooms.

The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has urged anyone who believes they may have been in contact with these people to notify health authorities.

Dr Markey said the best way for people to protect themselves against infection is to stay up to date with their vaccinations.

WHO IS MOST AT RISK OF MEASLES? Everyone has a slight risk of developing measles because being vaccinated does not guarantee full immunity. However, unvaccinated young children are particularly at risk, as well as pregnant women who have not had the jab. Measles is common in many developing countries, particularly parts of Africa and Asia. More than 95 percent of measles deaths occur in countries with low average incomes. Outbreaks can be particularly life-threatening in countries experiencing or recovering from natural disasters or conflict. Damage to health services disrupts routine immunization, while overcrowding greatly increases the risk of infection. Source: World Health Organization Advertisement

'To be immune to measles you need to have had measles previously or have had two doses of the measles-containing vaccine, known as the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.

'The vaccine is given as part of the routine national vaccination schedule at 12 months and at 18 months, but people born between 1966 and 1996 may have only had one dose as a child and should check their record,' he said.

Dr Markey said for anyone who is uncertain about whether they have had both doses, an extra vaccine is recommended.

He said it's reassuring that Australia has a well-vaccinated population, however the recent cases are a timely reminder to review immunisation.

According to WHO, most measles-related deaths are caused by complications associated with the disease. including, blindness, brain swelling, severe diarrhoea and related dehydration, ear infections, and severe respiratory infections.

While serious infections are more common in children under the age of five, those with a weakened immunity can also develop severe measles.

Dr Markey said it's very important to call the medical practice first if you think you might have measles, so staff can take precautions to avoid spreading it to others.
St George Illawarra star Jack de Belin has not yet been suspended by the NRL despite widespread public statements to the contrary, a judge has been told.

Alan Sullivan QC, for the NRL and the Australian Rugby League Commission, said the proposed new rule and policy to stand down players charged with a serious criminal offence had not yet been enacted.

'There's nothing to stop him playing rugby league from (between) now and the time the rule is enacted,' he said on Thursday.

St George Illawarra star Jack de Belin (left) has not yet been suspended by the NRL despite widespread public statements to the contrary, a judge has been told

De Belin is suing the NRL and ARLC in the Federal Court in Sydney over their representations that on February 28 he was suspended on full pay, having previously pleaded not guilty to raping a 19-year-old woman in Wollongong, south of Sydney.

The NSW State of Origin lock claims they did not have the power to suspend him and that they engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.

De Belin wants the court to permanently restrain the NRL and commission from inserting the new rule into the NRL Rules

Mr Sullivan said de Belin was not presently suspended although the new rule was expected to be brought in before the start of the 2019 NRL competition next week.

Justice Stephen Rares said NRL material had suggested de Belin had been stood down when in fact he had not.

Alan Sullivan QC said the proposed new rule and policy to stand down players charged with a serious criminal offence had not yet been enacted (pictured: de Belin)

'There is no entitlement to stand him down from what you have told me,' he said.

'The truth is, nothing is in place at the moment. It is damaging to him as a professional and as an individual.'

The case was adjourned to March 12 by which time the new rule may be in place.
An energy company was forced to pull its 'demeaning and culturally insensitive' TV advertisement and issued a grovelling apology to Mexico.

Momentum Energy, an Australian energy company owned by Hydro Tasmania, released its 'Less Hassle More Hustle' TV commercial in January.

The ad ran across multiple digital platforms and cinemas in February and received widespread backlash from viewers on the company's Facebook page.

The company was forced to pull the ad which shows a group of people enjoying dinner when one of the dinner guests starts talking in Spanish halfway with Jarabe Tapatio, a Mexican folk tune, playing in the background.

The ad ran across multiple digital platforms and cinemas in February and received a wide backlash from viewers on the company's Facebook page (pictured ad)

Momentum received a complaint on their Facebook page from the Ambassador of Mexico to Australia Eduardo Pena Haller (pictured ad)

Momentum received a complaint on their Facebook page from the Ambassador of Mexico to Australia Eduardo Pena Haller, who expressed his disappointment at the ad, requesting it be taken down.

Poll Do you think the ad is 'demeaning and culturally insensitive'? Yes No Unsure Do you think the ad is 'demeaning and culturally insensitive'? Yes 22 votes

No 139 votes

Unsure 17 votes Now share your opinion





'As Ambassador of Mexico to Australia, I write to express my deep disappointment in regard to your recently launched campaign ''Less Hassle More Hustle'', specifically its TV ad,' he wrote.

'While we do understand the appeal of humour in advertisement, we find the association of a Mexican traditional folk tune (Jarabe Tapatio) with negative connotations demeaning and culturally insensitive.

'Over seven thousand Mexican-born nationals currently reside in Australia, according to the latest census, a vibrant and mostly young community formed by very hard-working and well-qualified people. Some of them have written to us to express their concern regarding your publicity, which they find personally offensive.

'We kindly ask for this campaign to be rescinded and for an apology to be issued to the members of the Mexican community in Australia.'

Momentum's managing director Amy Child's apologised to Mr Haller and to the Mexican community (pictured ad)

Momentum's managing director Amy Child's apologised to Mr Haller and to the Mexican community.

'Your Excellency, it was never our intention to upset or disrespect any member of the community and I'm very sorry that we have done so,' Ms Childs wrote.

'I offer my sincere and unreserved apology to the entire Mexican community of Australia, and personally to you as the representative of your government in Australia.'

Ms Childs also apologised personally to all individuals who complained.
Ryan Magers, 19, filed a lawsuit against an abortion clinic on behalf of an unborn child he's calling 'Baby Roe' in addition to himself

An Alabama teenager is suing doctors who provided his girlfriend with an abortion, listing the unborn child as a plaintiff in the case in a first-of-its kind measure.

Ryan Magers, 19, of Madison County, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Alabama Women's Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville, Alabama.

The would-be dad convinced a judge to let him list the terminated fetus he's calling 'Baby Roe' as a co-plaintiff along with himself.

Madison County Probate Judge Frank Barger ruled that 'Baby Roe' approved the legal maneuver because of the passage of a November ballot initiative, known as Amendment 2, that added a clause to the state's constitution recognizing that life begins at conception.

In his complaint, Magers argues the women center's doctors violated his developing child's right to life recognized under the state's unique amendment.

According Magers' complaint, which was obtained by WAAY-TV, the unborn child was seven weeks old on February 10, 2017 when three unidentified providers at the women's center gave his unnamed girlfriend a pill to terminate her pregnancy.

'Under Alabama law, an unborn child is a legal person,' the complaint reads. 'As a result of the Defendants actions, Plaintiffs child, Baby Roe, was killed.'

Magers' attorney Brent Helms said this case is the first one he's aware of that has been brought on behalf of an unborn child, which could open the door for more lawsuits to be brought by would-be fathers.

Video courtesy WHNT

According Magers' complaint, the unborn child was seven weeks old on February 10, 2017 when three unidentified providers at the Alabama Women's Center in Huntsville, Alabama gave his unnamed girlfriend a pill to terminate her pregnancy

Magers' attorney Brent Helms (pictured) said this case is the first one he's aware of that has been brought on behalf of an unborn child

'The only thing that [Ryan Magers] has is the right to sue, and so that is what Ryan is doing, suing on behalf of Baby Roe's estate,' Helms said. 'We are confident, and this is a step in the right direction.'

Ilyse Hogue, president of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws Pro-Choice America, tweeted Tuesday afternoon that the lawsuit is a 'very scary case' that is 'asserting [a] woman's rights [are] third in line.'

The women's center has until April 1 to respond to the suit, according to Fox News.
A court in Uzbekistan has ordered Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the late Uzbek president, to serve the remainder of a criminal sentence in prison for having allegedly violated the terms of her house arrest, the prosecutor generals office said. Reuters reports in its article Uzbekistan ex-president's daughter sent to prison: prosecutors that Karimova, a businesswoman who also recorded pop songs, has not been seen in public for several years after an apparent falling-out with her father Islam Karimov, who ran the Central Asian nation for 27 years before his death in 2016.

In the early hours of Wednesday, prosecutors said that Karimova was being sent to prison for having systematically violated the obligations related to a previous five-year sentence on charges of embezzlement and extortion.

Those terms included not leaving her home and not using the internet or phones.

Her Swiss lawyer Gregoire Mangeat wrote on Twitter that she was forcibly removed from the apartment where she lived in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent on Tuesday. The authorities said she was taken to a prison.

Uzbek authorities have been seeking to freeze Karimovas assets, including in Switzerland, Britain, France and a string of other countries.

She was taken to an unknown place, Mangeat wrote. The Uzbek authorities continue to exert psychological and physical pressure on her to force her to withdraw her appeals and abandon all her rights and property in Switzerland.

Karimova disappeared from public view in 2014. The first official word of her fate was in 2017, when the prosecutor generals office said she had been convicted and sentenced in 2015 to five years probation, the equivalent of house arrest in Uzbekistan, for acquiring stakes in a number of companies through extortion or embezzlement, and for tax evasion.

The prosecutors said at the time she was still under investigation for other crimes.

Islam Karimov led Uzbekistan first as the head of the local Communist Party and then as president of the newly independent republic.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the countrys long-serving prime minister, was elected as president in late 2016.
A three-week-old puppy stolen during a weekend burglary in Brisbane is yet to be found with police fearing it might not survive without its mother.

Two Maltese-Shitzu puppies were taken from a Mitchelton home in Brisbane's north on Sunday night by three people who also took various household items.

A male pup was returned to its owners after being spotted at a fish and chip shop in Virginia on Tuesday, and its new owners told police it had been given to them by a man they knew.

But the other, a female, is still missing.

The female puppy (pictured) is still missing and is police hold grave concerns as she is so young and cannot be away from her mother for too long

Police are asking anyone who has seen the pup to help them return it to its owner, saying it might have been given or sold to someone unaware of its vulnerable age.

The recovered puppy was reunited with its owners and immediately taken to the vet.

The occupants claim they were unaware the puppy had been stolen and say they were told that the puppy was 8 weeks old by the man who had given it to them.



It is possible the pup has been given or sold to someone unaware of its origin or young age.

The recovered male puppy (pictured) was reunited with its owners after it was spotted with a person at a fish and chip shop in the nearby suburb of Virginia

The male was then recovered by the police (pictured) and reunited with the owners on Tuesday

The heartbroken young couple were robbed in the middle of night as they slept.

Lewis Davies claims thieves broke into his home in the the early hours of Monday morning as he, his fiancee Sophie Kennedy and their two young children slept upstairs.

Ms Kennedy posted a public appeal for their dogs on the Lost and Found Pets In North Brisbane Facebook page, which has since garnered more than 8,500 shares.

The post on her own Facebook page attracted an additional 3,000 shares.

'Several items have been taken the main concern is they have taken two small white and black spotty Maltese shih tzu puppies out of a litter of five,' Ms Kennedy posted.

'These puppies are only three weeks old, they need their mum! We are not concerned about the material things we need those dogs back safe so they can survive.'

Sophie Kennedy's public appeal (pictured) sparked more than 8,500 Facebook shares

'Please if this person is reading this please for the love of God bring the dogs back they need their mum! I feel so sick to my stomach knowing people were in our house while we slept. We need this person dealt with,' Ms Kennedy posted.

The puppies were too young to be separated from their mother Moet, who's been left distraught over their disappearance, her fiance added.

They added that the dogs weren't even walking yet and could barely open their eyes.

More than $4000 worth of electronic equipment, including a laptop and games consoles, passports and other forms of identification were also taken from the home.
North Korea's state TV has aired a lengthy documentary on Kim Jong-un's diplomatic bromance with President Donald Trump in Vietnam but it failed to mention that the nuclear negotiations ended without a deal.

The footage's release Wednesday night came amid reports that North Korea is restoring some facilities at its long-range rocket launch site that it dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps.

The talks between Trump and Kim last week finished abruptly after the pair failed to reach an agreement on walking back North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

North Korea's state TV has aired a lengthy documentary (above) Wednesday on Kim Jong-un's diplomatic bromance with President Donald Trump in Vietnam but it failed to mention that the nuclear negotiations ended without a deal

In the aftermath, each sought to blame the other's intransigence, with Trump insisting that Pyongyang demanded an end to all sanctions while the North claimed it had only wanted some of the measures eased.

The documentary, which makes no mention of the failed negotiations, shows a smiling Kim talking with Trump while walking together inside a Hanoi hotel last week.

It shows Kim waving from a black limousine when it passed through a Hanoi street lined with residents waving North Korean and Vietnamese flags.

The footage also shows Kim visiting the North Korean Embassy where some embassy officials and their family members skipped and wept with emotions before they took a group photo with the backdrop of a huge picture of Kim's late father and grandfather.

The documentary showed Kim Jong Un waving as he visited the North Korean Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam during his trip last week

The footage also shows Kim visiting the North Korean Embassy where some embassy officials and their family members skipped and wept with emotions

The documentary called the Kim-Trump summit 'yet another meaningful incident on the issue of world peace.'

It cited Kim as saying North Korea and the U.S. must put an end to their decades-long animosity and confrontation.

North Korean documentaries are typically propaganda venerating Kim, the subject of a strong personality cult among the North's 25 million people.

Some observers say omitting the status of the nuclear talks also shows the North hopes to continue negotiations, while also not letting North Korean people know of any diplomatic failures that could damage Kim's leadership.

Earlier Tuesday, two U.S.-based websites specializing in North Korea studies cited commercial satellite imagery as indicating that North Korea is rebuilding some structures at its northwestern rocket launch facility.

The talks between Trump and Kim last week finished abruptly after the pair failed to reach an agreement on walking back North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief

Earlier Tuesday, two U.S.-based websites specializing in North Korea studies cited commercial satellite imagery as indicating that North Korea is rebuilding some structures at its northwestern rocket launch facility

The footage's release Wednesday night came amid reports that North Korea is restoring some facilities at its long-range rocket launch site that it dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps

South Korea's spy service gave a similar assessment to lawmakers in Seoul in a closed-door briefing on Tuesday.

'I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim,' Trump said when reporters asked him about reports of new work at the North's launch site. 'I don't think I will be' disappointed, Trump said, 'but we'll see what happens.'

Meanwhile, U.S. military commander Admiral Phil Davidson said he was keeping a close watch on North Korea following the reported activity at a rocket launch site there.

Davidson said he is working with countries including South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and France to enforce sanctions against North Korea at sea.

He said maritime patrol aircraft and ships are watching for any sanctions breaches via methods like ship-to-ship transfers.

Davidson took command of around 380,000 civilian and military personnel in the region last April.
Allen Weisselberg is seemingly everything his longtime boss, Donald Trump, isn't.

The modest money man has always been content to work behind the scenes, with no hint of flash, braggadocio or ostentatious spending.

He lived in the same three-bedroom ranch house in suburban Long Island with the same woman - his wife Hilary - for decades, shows up for work at Trump Tower every day and almost always goes to the same spot down the block for lunch.

The bald, bespectacled, 71-year-old chief financial officer of the Trump Organization is known for being loyal, unobtrusive and, well, somewhat dull.

But Weisselberg also has his name on all manner of checks and documents of the company going back decades, is familiar with its tax returns, its lenders and investors, and is said to track every penny going in and out.

And given what he knows, the prospect of him testifying in federal probes and congressional investigations of Trump's business empire could pose a new danger to the president from one of his longest-serving confidants.

'He was like from central casting, a green-eyeshaded accountant,' said Gwenda Blair, who interviewed Weisselberg for her book, 'The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a President.'

'He was not even remotely colorful, eyes cast down on the spreadsheet and the calculator - click, click, click,' she said. 'He's been in the inner, inner circle, but he is so colorless that he faded into the woodwork. That was his job, not to be noticed.'

Out of the shadows: The rarely-seen Allen Weisselberg was present with the Trumps in January 2017 at Trump Tower during the presidential campaign

Named: Allen Weisselberg is the second signatory on this check paid to Michael Cohen while Trump was in office and also signed by his son Don Jr. which was produced by Cohen as part of his testimony to Congress as evidence

'Inner-inner circle': Allen Weisselberg, who posed in front of pictures of two Trump properties - the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York, in Manhattan, left, and the Trump Tower Las Vegas, right - has been at his boss's side for every step of his business career

Family: Allen Weisselberg is married to Hilary, 68, and the couple have lived in the same Long Island ranch home for decades

Weisselberg, who through the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for an interview, may not be able to keep that up much longer.

At least one of the Democratic-led House committees investigating Trump's finances, hush-money payments and taxes is seeking to question Weisselberg following Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's explosive testimony last week in which he dropped Weisselberg's name nearly 20 times.

Weisselberg also spoke to federal prosecutors last year as part of the investigation in which Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations for payments to buy the silence of two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump - porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy centerfold Karen McDougal.

Weisselberg has not been charged in that case, but Cohen has said he was deeply involved and ultimately the one who decided how to secretly reimburse Cohen for a $130,000 payment to Daniels.

For his grand jury testimony in the Cohen case, Weisselberg received limited immunity, which would preclude any truthful statements from being used against him in a criminal case. Federal prosecutors in New York have declined to say whether they are investigating Weisselberg himself.

Weisselberg started working for the Trump family in Brooklyn in 1973 under Fred Trump, Donald's father, and was there for all the son's big successes and flops.

He was overseeing the books when Donald built Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, bought up several casinos in Atlantic City, and then drove them into bankruptcy.

And he was there when Trump rose again as a reality-TV businessman and began slapping his name on hotels and residential towers owned by others.

It was during that era that Weisselberg made a rare, if quiet, public appearance - as a guest judge on a 2004 episode of 'The Apprentice.'

He was so trusted by Trump that he was named as the only non-family member to help Trump sons Eric and Don Jr. manage the trust the president set up to hold his business assets while he is in office.

Weisselberg's family is deeply entwined in the company. His son Barry has managed the Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Naming names: Michael Cohen mentioned Allen Weisselberg 20 times in his bombshell public testimony

Another son, Jack, is an executive director at Ladder Capital, the biggest lender to the Trump Organization behind Deutsche Bank. Ladder had more than $100 million lent out to Trump's company last year, according to the president's financial disclosure report.

Weisselberg and his wife Hilary, 68, are doting grandparents to their sons' four children.

As is the case with his boss, Weisselberg was registered as a Democrat for years, according to the research service Nexis.

He gave money to campaigns by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and New York Gov. Mario Cuomo before switching to the Republican Party for the 2016 election.

But that is pretty much where the similarities to his boss end.

Weisselberg has no Twitter or Facebook account, though he does maintain a LinkedIn page with one 'connection' listed - Matthew Calamari, a former bodyguard turned Trump Organization's chief operating officer.

He has bought a few properties over the years besides a home in Wantagh, New York. He has a vacation home in Boynton Beach, Florida, that he purchased 17 years ago for $282,000.

He bought two condominiums at Trump-branded buildings in Manhattan but sold them.

Weisselberg barely merits a mention in the many Trump biographies, nor in the many written by the man himself. He doesn't appear in 'The Art of the Deal,' for instance.

Heart of operations: Allen Weisselberg stood between Donald Trump and Don Jr. at a 2017 press conference in Trump Tower, a sign of how close he is to the family

In the family: Allen Weisselberg's sons Barry (left) and Jack (right) ave both had ties to the Trump business. Barry, 43, previously managed Trump's Central Park, New York, ice rink, while Jack is an executive director at Ladder Capital, the biggest lender to the Trump Organization behind Deutsche Bank

Family time: Allen Weisselberg and his wife Hilary are doting grandparents to sons Jack (pictured with wife Erica) and Barry's children

Trump's daughter, Ivanka, told The Wall Street Journal in a profile before the 2016 election that Weisselberg 'is deeply passionate, fiercely loyal and has stood alongside my father and our family' for decades.

Weisselberg has also been tied to several Trump ventures tarnished by scandal. He reviewed the finances at the now-defunct Trump University , the real estate school hit by a fraud lawsuit that the president settled for $25 million. He was a director of the shuttered Trump Foundation , which is being sued by New York's attorney general for allegedly tapping charitable donations for political and business purposes.

And in testimony before the House Oversight Committee last week, Cohen said Weisselberg knew about what Cohen said were falsified financial statements that Trump used to dupe insurers and investors.

Cohen also said that it was Weisselberg who decided that the hush money that Cohen paid out of his own pocket to the porn star should be reimbursed in installments spread out over 12 months to 'hide what the payment was.'

And Weisselberg is likely to know the answer to the biggest question since his boss pulled off his surprise election to the presidency: Just how much is Trump worth?

Trump testified in a 2007 deposition that Weisselberg was the one who valued his properties and other assets.

'My numbers are pretty in line with what he says,' Trump testified.
An Arizona woman has been arrested while dressed as a nun for allegedly trafficking $90,000 worth of fentanyl with her husband.

Esther Gomez De Aguilar and her husband Jose Aguilar Diaz were arrested in Pinal County on Monday after they were stopped by police on Interstate 10 for suspected equipment and moving violations, cops say.

Cops found Aguilar 'dressed like a nun, with a Bible placed in her lap' when a Pinal County Sheriff's Office K-9 deputy approached their car.

Arizona woman Esther Gomez De Aguilar was arrested on Monday after cops found her dressed in a nun costume with a Bible in her lap and later discovered 8.5pounds of suspected fentanyl pills and powder in her purse and under her clothes

Esther and her husband Jose Aguilar Diaz were arrested Monday after cops found the stash of drugs in their car, worth up to $90,000

After a search of the vehicle deputies found four bundles of suspected fentanyl pills in Aguilar's purse and an additional two bundles of suspected fentanyl powder on her body, hidden under her clothes.

Cops seized a shocking amount of 8.5 pounds of suspected fentanyl from the car.

The amount is worth up to $90,000.

'You can see they will use any means to try to conceal what they are doing,' Sheriff Mark Lamb said in a statement.

'Fentanyl is extremely dangerous. All it takes is the equivalent of four to five grains the size of sand to kill you. This is another win for the K-9 deputies and we thank them for their efforts in keeping our community and Arizona safe,' he added.

The couple, from Yuma, Arizona, were booked into Pinal County Adult Detention Center on suspicion of possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics for sale, and transportation of narcotics for sale.

The Sheriff's office shared images of the loot showing the tightly wrapped bundles of the suspected drugs weighing 8.5 pounds.

Pinal County Sheriff's Office shared these pictures of the seized drugs. Four bundles of suspected fentanyl pills were found in Aguilar's purse

The couple, from Yuma, Arizona, were booked into Pinal County Adult Detention Center on suspicion of possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics for sale, and transportation of narcotics for sale
Saddle River council's new legislation is causing controversy among local residents

A town in New Jersey is looking to put an end to excessive dog barking with new legislation carrying serious jail time.

The Saddle River council are looking to pass a new law stating that dog owners can not allow their beloved pets to bark, howl or yelp for more than 20 minutes between 7 am and 10 pm, or for 15 minutes from 10 pm on-wards.

Failure to comply with the new ruling could land residents of the town with hefty fines of $1,000 or even prison sentences of up to 90 days, the council's ordinance details.

90 days of community service is also listed as a possible punishment in the document.

Failure to comply with the new ruling could land residents of the town with hefty fines of $1,000 or even prison sentences of up to 90 days

Other towns in New Jersey have similar laws regarding noise-polluting pets, but the extreme consequences listed in Saddle River's has sent the phone of the borough's Administrator, Jerry Giaimis, into overdrive.

'By and large prohibit excessive barking for more than a specific period, I believe is 20 minutes at one time,' Giaimis said to CBS NY, describing what the process would entail.

'People would report to us, that there is an incident, and the police department would go out and determine if there is a summons that needs to be issued.'

Saddle River officials say that persistent barking causes a nuisance and unreasonable discomfort to anyone in the immediate vicinity.

Council Administrator, Jerry Giaimis, insists the chance of someone going to jail is very unlikely

Appropriate Sentencing would be down to the discretion of a judge, according to the new law

A judge in each case would ultimately determine the severity of the penalty.

'I can say with 100 percent certainty that no one is going to jail over a barking dog,' Giaimis said, according to NJ.com.

Giaimis defended the law change, saying that the violations listed in the document are the same across other towns in the state, unless otherwise detailed.

He also added there isn't an 'epidemic' of dog barking in the area, insisting Saddle River gets less than many of the surrounding towns.
Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has reflected on her time as foreign minister, but she remains tight-lipped on her life after politics.

Ms Bishop's appearance at an event for International Women's Day came after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk lauded the Liberal MP the day before for her achievements.

Speaking at the lunchtime event on Thursday, she played down rumours she may take on an ambassadorial role for the government.

Former foreign minister Julie Bishop (pictured right with partner David Panton) has reflected on her time as foreign minister, but remains tight-lipped on her life after politics

Ms Bishop, who has returned to life as a West Australian backbencher since resigning from her cabinet position, said she already was occupied with similar responsibilities.

The 62-year-old has been an ambassador for Ocean Respect Racing advocating for woman in sport since November.

She also conducts ambassadorial responsibilities for charity Witchery's White Shirt as part of their 2019 campaign to develop earlier tests for ovarian cancer.

Reflecting on her time in Canberra's inner circle, she described her appearance as an 'absolute honour'.

'It was the most challenging five years of my life but I wouldn't change any of it,' she said according to The Daily Telegraph.

She also revealed at the event she had always harboured ambitions to be foreign minister, but kept them under wraps.

Ms Bishop's (pictured centre at meeting in Perth last month) appearance at an event for International Women's Day came after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk lauded the Liberal MP the day before for her achievements

'In politics, it's frowned upon to wear your ambition on your sleeve,' she said.

Her appearance at the VIP event follows Premier Palaszczuk's criticism of the public's focus on Ms Bishop's outfits, rather than her accomplishments.

Ms Palaszczuk referred to a comment by Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the time of Ms Bishop's resignation in which he said 'her successor will have big shoes to fill, but we all know that Julie had the best shoes in parliament'.

'Let me say to each and every one of you here today: It's not the shoes that you stand in, it's what you as an individual stand for,' Ms Palaszczuk said to rousing applause at the event in Brisbane.
Whitefriars College was sent into lockdown as as police searched the area

Police were called to a verbal dispute at heads Road in Donvale in city's east

Melbourne school in lockdown after reports armed man entered the grounds

A Melbourne all-boys private high school went into lockdown after reports an armed man had entered the school grounds.

Police were called to a verbal dispute at Heads Road in Donvale, 19km east of the CBD, about 1.25pm on Thursday as there were unconfirmed reports a man was armed.

Whitefriars College was sent into lockdown as a precaution while police searched the surrounding area, the Herald Sun reported.

Whitefriars College (pictured) was sent into lockdown as a precaution as police searched the surrounding area

Police searched the school grounds for the man, who is known to police, but were unable to locate him.

A woman whose son attends the school told 3AW her son sent her a text message explaining students were told to 'run and take cover'.

After police searched the grounds, students were deemed safe but a large police presence remained at the school, with a helicopter flying overhead.
An animal smuggling syndicate has been uncovered in Melbourne after border force officers discovered more than 100 rare lizards stuffed into snack boxes, Milo tins and toy boxes.

The lizards were discovered during Australian Border Force raids in Clayton, Oakleigh and Narre Warren on Thursday with the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy after a 10 month joint investigation.

'We intercepted and prevented 150 live reptiles from being sent to China and Hong Kong as part of a 10-month investigation,' an ABF statement read.

Scroll down for video

An animal smuggling syndicate has been uncovered in Melbourne after border force officers discovered more than 100 rare lizards stuffed into snack boxes, Milo tins and toy boxes (pictured)

The lizards were discovered when the Australian Border Force launched raids in Clayton, Oakleigh and Narre Warren on Thursday with the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy after a 10 month investigation

The rare lizards were concealed inside a variety of products, including toy boxes, with footage showing two tucked inside a mini pool table wrapped in what looks to be stockings.

Other rare lizards were discovered in Milo tins, deep-fryers and rice cookers, causing them great distress.

'Some were even bound with tape and stuffed inside socks leading to a few animals suffocating to death and others so traumatised they required euthanasia,' the statement continued.

Australia's native reptiles are considered highly valuable overseas and the illegal trafficking of wildlife is a lucrative industry, worth between US $50-150 billion per year.

Australian Border Force Superintendent Nicholas Walker told The Herald Sun the raids would only be the 'tip of the iceberg' when it came to the illegal animal trade.

'These results today demonstrate our common commitment to preventing illegal importing and exporting of wildlife in Australia,' he said.

'Wildlife smuggling can be lucrative and there is no doubt criminal groups are more brazen and have no regard for animal suffering.

'There are also people out there who are prepared to pay large sums of money for exotic and rare animals.'

The rare lizards were concealed inside a variety of products, including toy boxes, with footage showing two tucked inside a mini pool table wrapped in what looks to be stockings

Other rare lizards were discovered in Milo tins, deep-fryers and rice cookers, causing them great distress

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 authorises the AFP and Customs officers to seize animals, plants and products that may have been smuggled into or out of Australia illegally.

'There are severe penalties for wildlife trafficking including fines and imprisonment,' the government website states.

The maximum penalty for importing or exporting a regulated specimen without an authorisation is 10 years imprisonment, a $210,000 fine or both combined.

Possessing an illegally imported animal carries a maximum penalties of 5 years imprisonment, a $210,000 fine or both combined.
Advertisement

The devastating power of the tornado which ripped through Alabama and Georgia at the weekend killing 23 has been laid bare in satellite images tracking the storm's path.

The before and after images show how homes were flattened and trees stripped bare by winds of up to 170mph as the tornado wound its way across the states.

A tornado warning gave locals just 12 minutes to prepare before the storm came barreling down on top of them, bulldozing mobile homes and reducing bricks and mortar to rubble.

 Slide me  Twenty three people were killed when America's deadliest tornado in six years hit Alabama on Sunday. Satellite images of County Road 38, in Lee County, Alabama show how the area looked before the storm hit (left) and afterwards (right)

 Slide me  Another view of County Road 38 shows a clear path that the storm took, cutting from left to right across the screen. Homes and trees in the tornado's path are completely destroyed, while those just a few meters away (bottom right) seem untouched

 Slide me  The power of the tornado is revealed when comparing these two images of a single home, which show that the property and outbuildings have been completely destroyed. A pile of debris lays about 120ft away from the exposed foundations

Homes along County Road 39 have been completely flattened by the tornado, with debris scattered into the nearby trees which have been thrown to the ground

Demetria Jones (right) and his cousin Cordarrly Jones, walk through the damaged neighborhood where they lost 10 relatives

Richard Tate (pictured) was at home with his wife when suddenly the structure crumbled around him

Richard Tate (left) and his wife Cynthia retrieve personal items from what's left of their home. Richard Tate lost a sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and uncle in the storm, all who lived nearby. 'I'm lucky to be alive,' he said

He insisted the force of the freak tornado could've wiped out his entire family

Debris litters the neighborhood where Bernard Reese (right) found half-a-dozen victims on Sunday, after he raced to the area once the twister had passed

Reese stands next to the rubble of his aunt's home in which she survived

All of the dead have now been identified and include four children ranging in age from six to ten, and ten members of the same family.

Cousins Cordarrly Jones and Demetria Jones say they're still struggling to process the reality of the devastation, as they prepare to organize funerals for two of their grandparents, their uncle, and seven of their cousins.

The family's loss could be even greater as a number of relatives remain in hospital with serious injuries.

'It really hasn't fully hit me yet. I'm still trying to process it,' Cordarrly, 29, said.

'Everybody in this area was just about related,' added Demetria, 28. 'It's devastating.'

With winds reaching up to 170 mph, the freak tornado became the deadliest in the US for six years.

The cousins stood among the rubble of a row of dilapidated homes in Beauregard, Georgia, attempting to salvage some of their family member's possessions while simultaneously mourning their deaths.

Their grandparents, 89-year-old Jimmy Jones and 83-year-old Mary Louise Jones, were killed in their home on a two-lane road where most everyone shares family ties.

The couples son Emmanuel Jones, a 53-year-old uncle to the cousins, is gone too. Also dead, they said, were seven cousins by both blood and marriage: Eric Jamal Stenson, 38; Florel Tate Stenson; 63; Henry Lewis Stenson; 65; James Henry Tate, 86; Tresia Robinson, 62; Raymond Robinson Jr., 63; and Maggie Delight Robinson, 57.

Dexter Norwood, left, and Bernard Reese both said they are haunted by the memories of seeing the bodies they helped find

Cindy Sanford sifts through the debris while retrieving personal items from the wreckage that was once her home

The F4 twister blew her home completely off of its foundations. She managed to escape its midst with her grandson and took shelter in a near-by church

Cindy sifts through the debris with help from her brother, Tim Lancaster, left, and stepfather, Michael Boutwell, while retrieving personal on March 5

Other families returned to the site to salvage whatever is left of their belongings

Machinery and constructions workers have been called to the area to assist the likes of Kayla Causey (pictured)

Debris litters much of the area after the 170 mph winds bulldozed mobile homes and reduced bricks and mortar to rubble

The mammoth clean-up will likely take weeks to complete, with additional workers being drafted in to help

So far, 13 others have been confirmed dead. Among them include six-year-old Armando Hernandez and 10-year-old Taylor Thornton.

Armando Hernandez, known as AJ, became separated from his mother in Beauregard when the tornado struck and was later found dead.

His mother, Kayla Melton, had earlier appealed for information on his whereabouts on Facebook, writing: 'Please look for my baby he's 6 years old his name is Armando Hernandez he goes by AJ last seen on lee road 38. Anyone in the area please help me find him please!!!!!'

His death was later confirmed by friends and family on social media.

Relative Tina Melton wrote on Facebook: 'Little AJ didn't make it. He was found but he didn't survive... He was always eager to give hugs and loved his family. They are headed to the children's hospital with his brother. They also lost their home in the tornado with all belongings. Fly high AJ. You have your wings!'

Taylor Thornton, a fourth grader, was also found dead among the rubble, a GoFundMe page set up by friends of her parents, David and Taylor, revealed.

'[Taylor] brought so much joy to all that knew her. She was loved dearly and will forever be missed.

Six-year-old Armando Hernandez (left) and ten-year-old Taylor Thornton have been identified as two of the 23 people who were killed by the tornadoes that hit Alabama and Georgia on Sunday. Both youngsters were from Beauregard, a small community in Lee County, Alabama, where the worst tornado damage was reported

A tornado is seen in Dothan, Alabama, on Sunday. At least 23 people have been killed by the tornadoes that hit the state

This aerial photo shows the extensive damage caused by the Beauregard tornado

A tattered American flag waves in the wind near the most damaged area in Beauregard

'Our hearts are mourning with you Ashley and David. You raised an amazing daughter that fulfilled her purpose on this earth and it now with her creator. This community loves you both, and baby McCrae so much and will continue to walk through this by your side.'

Two anonymous corporations have pledged to pay for the funerals of the 23 victims, according to USA Today.

Full list of victims killed in the tornado Armondo (AJ) Hernandez, 6 Charlotte Ann Miller, 59 David Dean, 53 Emmanuiel Jones, 53 Eric Jamal Stenson, 38 Felicia Woodall, 22 Florel Tate Stenson, 63 Henry Lewis Stenson, 65 Irma Gomez-Moran, 41 James Henry Tate, 86 Jimmy Lee Jones, 89 Jonathan Marquez Bowen, 9 Maggie Delight Robinson, 57 Mamie Roberts Koon, 68 Marshall Lynn Grimes, 59 Mary Louise Jones, 83 Mykala Waldon, 8 Raymond Robinson Jr., 63 Ryan Pence, 22 Sheila Creech, 59 Taylor Thornton, 10 Tresia Robinson, 62 Vicki Braswell, 69 Advertisement

'What a wonderful blessing this will be for the families who have lost loved ones!' the county sheriff's office said in a Facebook post. 'To these corporations we thank you!'

Sunday's tornado became the deadliest to hit the US since May 2015, when an EF5 twister killed 24 people in Oklahoma.

National Weather Service spokesman Chris Darden announced that the tornado had been upgraded from an F3 to an F4 on the Fujita scale.

On Wednesday, the search for bodies, pets and belongings continued for the bereaved.

Heavy machinery and construction workers have been hailed to the area to aid the clean-up, which could take several weeks.

Authorities now say that all of those once listed as missing have been accounted for or confirmed as dead.

Richard Tate, who is part of the same family as the Jones cousins, said he was lucky to be alive. 'It could have taken all of us the way it was moving,' said Tate, who was inside his home with his wife when the structure crumbled.

Another relative, Bernard Reese, said he found more than a half-dozen bodies or fatally injured along Lee County 39, in the tornado's wake.

'It bothers me, but it had to be done,' Reese said, who lives two miles away from the scene.

Reese said he jumped into his truck immediately after the twister passed and rushed to assist those affected.

The Jones cousins, who credit their survival to living on a different road to the majority of their relatives, said they had to talk their way past police barricades to get to the scene.

Officers, they said, kept asking for something to prove they were related to the victims.

'I just had to tell them that everything that proves who I am is out on that road,' Cordarrly Jones said.
Three men have been jailed after they stole more than 50,000 worth of mobile phones from seven stores in two weeks.

Troy Adolfess, 24, George Ventham, 23, and Reece Raymond Roy Buttery, 23, were caught by police while raiding the EE Store, Rye Lane, in Peckham, London.

CCTV footage reveals the three criminals trying to escape on their mopeds after a police car races down the road at 1.20am on Wednesday, 29 August.

Reece Buttery, 23, stands outside the EE Store in Peckham, London, with the two mopeds while Troy Adolfess, 24, George Ventham, 23, are inside

Two mopeds can be seen parked outside the phone store as Buttery stands outside talking to another one of the gang who is inside the shop.

Suddenly a police car with its flashing lights on appears and Buttery races to his moped as Ventham and Adolfess quickly crawl out from the store.

As the officers approach, Ventham manages to get onto the back of the moped ridden by Buttery and both drive off.

Adolfess then comes out of the shop and tries to run from officers. One of the officers follows him and manages to get him on the ground.

He is Tasered, detained and arrested and his mobile phone is also seized by police.

Ventham and Buttery are seen coming back up the road to try and help Adolfess escape on the CCTV, but quickly flee.

The police car stops outside the store and one officer starts to chase Buttery and Ventham who have jumped onto their moped and started to drive away

The officer cannot stop the pair on the bike but does manage to grab a black bag before going to assist another policeman who is arresting Adolfess further up the street

The police officer who chased them is then seen running back up the road towards the other officer who is detaining Adolfess while holding a large black bag.

Officers from Operation Venice, which tackles moped enabled crime, connected the defendants to a linked series of similar offences.

The team searched premises across south London and found CCTV footage and phone evidence which linked Adolfess to six other incidents.

Analysis of his phone linked Ventham to all of the offences and Buttery to the last incident.

Troy Adolfess, 24, left and Reece Raymond Roy Buttery, 23, right, were both jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary

On 11 September, Ventham was arrested outside his home where he attempted to flee but was caught and detained. A large quantity of drugs were found at his home and he was further arrested.

On 13 September, Buttery was arrested by Operation Venice officers outside his home address.

All three men appeared at London Inner Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary between 14 August and 29 August 2018.

George Ventham, 23, pictured, was jailed for two-and-a-half years and also given an eight month consecutive sentence for possession with intent to supply cannabis

Adolfess, Ventham and Buttery were each sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail. Ventham was also given a further eight months for possession with intent to supply cannabis which he had pleaded guilty to. These sentences will run consecutively.

The court heard that Adolfess, Ventham and an unidentified suspect also raised the O2 store on High Street, Sutton on 14 August.

The other stores robbed included an EE Store, High Street, Sutton on 16 August, between 01:40 and 01:56hrs by Adolfess, Ventham and an as yet identified suspect.

The EE Store, Balham High Road, SW12 on 17 August, between 03:33 and 03:36hrs by Adolfess, Ventham and an as yet identified suspect.

The EE Store, North End, Croydon, CR0 on 17 August, between 03:56 and 03:57hrs by Adolfess, Ventham and an as yet identified suspect.

The EE Store, Powis Street, Woolwich, on 24 August, between 02:38 and 02:40hrs by Adolfess, Ventham and an as yet identified suspect.

Adolfess, Ventham and Buttery raided the EE Store, High Street, Bromley on 26 August, between 03:40 and 03:45hrs together.
Georgia's government has taken on responsibility to provide unprecedented support for education in the country and invest one-fourth of the state budget for educational goals, Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze stated during the presentation of the government initiative: Education - Way to Freedom.

"Through investing one-fourth of the budget in education, Georgia will become one of the most educated nations worldwide and this will happen soon," Agenda.ge cited him as saying.

Bakhtadze said that increasing funds for education will start this year and reach its maximum in 2022.

The PM claimed that the governments efforts to provide for high-quality education will also encourage the private sector to invest money in the field, which will result in new schools and kindergartens, high-educational institutions and new campuses.

Bakhtadze said that Georgia faces two major challenges for now - occupation and poverty, and both of them will be defeated by educated generations.
An animal rights group is holding 'vigils' for passing trucks full of pigs headed for the slaughterhouse to offer them water and massages before they die.

Every Wednesday and Sunday night around 100 people gather at the Farmer John pork processing plant in Vernon, California, to give the animals a loving send-off.

Demonstrators push water bottles through grates on the side of the trucks and stick their hands through the holes to gently massage the 250lbs Yorkshire hogs.

Animal rights activists spray water between the grates of a truck carrying pigs to the slaughter to let the animals get one last drink before they're killed

A protester pushes a bottle of water through one of the holes of a truck as it arrives at the Farmer John pork processing plant in Vernon, California

A woman strokes the snout of one of the animals and tries to calm it down before it is taken to the slaughterhouse

The activists line electric tea candles on the sidewalk and play soothing music through big speakers during their peaceful protests.

Ellen Dent, who leads the Wednesday night vigils for the Animal Alliance Network group, told the LA Times: Theyve never experienced love. They were raised in warehouses and probably didnt even get nursed.

'That little bit of water we give them  thats probably the only love theyll ever experience.

Fellow protester Maya Benperlas tells attendees to be 'nice' and 'calm' around the pigs during the two minutes they spend with each truck.

The activists line electric tea candles on the sidewalk and play soothing music through big speakers during their peaceful protests. Here, a woman takes her child to pet the animals one last time

The Animal Alliance Network group (pictured flagging down one of the lorries), say they set up the vigils because the animals 'have never been loved'

Campaigners spray water as the thirsty animals poke their snouts between the gaps of the truck

She tells them the animals 'feel your energy' and will be able to detect if you are sad in front of them. 'So be kind and show love,' she advises.

Amy Jean Davis, from LA Animal Save, told the newspaper seeing 7,000-plus pigs sent to their death by Farmer John butchers every day was a stark contrast to growing up on a farm in Indiana.

She said: I was around farm animals growing up. But I never saw them on a transport truck all crammed up like that.

Protester Maya Benperlas tells attendees to be 'nice' and 'calm' around the pigs as they can 'feel human energy'

The activists have carried out their protests twice a week since the beginning of 2017

They get to spend 2 minutes with each truck before the vehicles move on toward the slaughterhouse

'It was a surreal moment of me going to a car to get lunch afterward, and they were going to get gassed.

The vigils, which have been going since early 2017, have attracted celebrities including Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara.

Demonstrators claim police officers have been so touched by them that they've turned vegan themselves.
Queensland Police have released an image of a man they believe will be able to help with inquiries (pictured)

A mother and her two children were carjacked at knifepoint on a suburban street in Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon.

CCTV captured the terrifying moment a 24-year-old man wielding a knife and 'sword' approached the mum and kids in broad daylight in Chermside West, 10km from the CBD, around 4.30pm.

The man, dressed in all black, is seen pulling up next to the woman and her car in a stolen vehicle, before exiting and ordering her to open the door.

The shocked mum quickly obliges, removing her two children, who were still inside the parked 2008 white Ford Focus.

CCTV captured the terrifying moment the knife and sword-wielding man approached the mum and kids in broad daylight in Chermside West, 10km from the CBD, on Wednesday

The woman removed her two children from the car before the carjacker hops in and takes off

The man then loads three black canvas bags into the vehicle before taking off, leaving the family and his car on the street.

Police are now searching for the suspect, who is also accused of threatening two cops with a knife earlier that day when he was allegedly caught stealing from a Loganholme shopping centre.

He is also said to have brandished the weapon on an elderly couple in Sherwood on Monday while demanding money.

A neighbour who witnessed the incident described the scene as something out of a 'Hollywood' film.

'A guy screamed up the street, opened the door and started screaming at her. He had a sword in one hand and a knife in the other,' the Courier Mail reported.

The suspect took off in the white Ford Focus, leaving the mum and kids on the street, and the other vehicle on the lawn

The woman said the culprit appeared to be on an 'ice bender' and described him as being 'high as a kite.'

She said the mother seemed like she was 'in shock' but remained calm during the ordeal, which she said lasted 30 seconds.

The woman's car with Queensland registration 775 YNH has still not been found.

The carjacker's orange vehicle is believed to have been stolen from Hillcrest last week.
A grieving mother who is demanding a change in the law to prevent her daughter's killer from being released from jail unless he reveals the location of her body has spoken of the 'daily torment' she has suffered for more than 30 years.

Marie McCourt's daughter Helen, 22, vanished on her way home from work in February 1988 after being attacked by pub landlord Ian Simms, 62, in Billinge, Merseyside. Despite searches, the insurance clerk's remains have never been found.

Mrs McCourt told today's Good Morning Britain: 'It's horrific to know a loved one has been murdered, but then not to be able to give that victim a proper burial is a torment - one that I've had for 31 years.'

Helen McCourt at the age of 19 who was murdered 30 years ago, her killer never confessed and is now due to be released from prison

Married father-of-two Simms attacked Helen in the pub, and calmly returned to his marital home nearby before returning to the pub. In the middle of the night, he drove off with Helen's body in his car and it has never been found.

Mrs McCourt, 74, is bidding to have new legislation  dubbed Helen's Law  introduced to prevent the release on parole of murderers who refuse to reveal the location of their victim's body.

But time is running out. Mrs McCourt has been told that Simms, who is in an open prison and has always maintained his innocence, could soon be eligible for release.

She said: 'I wake up of a morning after a two-hour sleep and all I think about is how I can get this law changed.

Ian Simms leaves The George and Dragon pub in Billinge under police guard after Helen's disappearance in February 1988

'Whereas Helen was only the third conviction of murder without a body since the Second World War, with developments in DNA killers are now determined their victims' bodies won't be found.

'All I want is for Helen's killer to say were her body is then they can release him where he wants. He doesn't own her body, why does the law let him keep it.'

Mrs McCourt, who has been to all of Simms's parole hearings over the past 14 years, said freedom ought to be automatically denied to murderers who refused to reveal where the body of their victim lies.

'Everyone voted for it in Parliament but then it's got delayed and delayed because of Brexit.

'When there is no body, and the proof is there that they are guilty, they have to have that control taken away from them.

'There's a big problem here, as when people say they are innocent they don't go to rehabilitation classes in prison, so how can they release them without those.'

Almost half a million people have signed her online petition calling for Helen's Law to be introduced.

Helen McCourt (right) at the age of 18 with her mother Marie and brother Michael

Marie McCourt with a picture of her murdered daughter. She wants a new law that would prevent murders from being released unless they reveal the locations of their victims' bodies

A version of the law is in effect in several states in Australia and the House of Commons unanimously backed the proposal during a vote on a private member's bill introduced by Mrs McCourt's MP, Conor McGinn, in the last parliament. But it has not had a second reading.

Mrs McCourt has written to Simms to beg him to reveal the location of Helen's body, but he has refused.

That is an experience familiar to Linda Jones, whose murdered daughter Danielle's body has also not been found since she was murdered by her uncle Stuart Campbell in 2001.

She told GMB: 'I think the killer wants to remain in control. If he loved her as much as he says he loved her then why wouldn't he want to see her safe.'

Like Simms, Campbell has always claimed he is innocent.
Young backpackers are snubbing the US as the country is seen as 'uncool' in what travel experts are calling the 'Trump slump'.

The US was once among the hottest destinations for teenagers and gap year students. However, travel agents have claimed 'highly conscious and socially aware' holidaymakers no longer wish to visit.

Travel bookings by millennial holidaymakers are down 23 per cent since the start of the year, it has been claimed.

STA Travel, the world's largest student and youth travel company has seen a dramatic shift for people born from the mid-1990s to early 2000s dubbed millennials and Generation Z travellers.

Backpackers are avoiding the US and choosing destinations in Asia. Those who do travel to the country are choosing national parks over big cities

'The USA has had a really challenging two years,' said Tim Fryer, the UK country manager at STA Travel told The Times.

'When you are looking at a demographic that is very much driven by causes, and in particular political causes, [Trump] is always going to have an impact on bookings.'

Chicago based company 'Tour Through a Lens' said the cost is to 'jobs and small businesses' despite Trump vowing to 'Make America Great Again'.

According to reports it is not just the UK, but many Europeans who are shunning the nation.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization announced in January that Spain had overtaken the United States as the second-most visited destination in the world.

While in 2018 there were 72.9 million foreign visitors, that was down overall by four per cent.

According to the New York Times, Europeans 'overwhelmingly cited the Trump administration and its policies as reasons for avoiding or canceling trips to the United States'.

Phoebe Fawcett, 20, a student at Warwick University, told The Times: 'With Trump in power, it seems at there is a surge of nationalist pride and that acts as a huge deterrent for a liberal person like myself.'

Backpackers are 'socially aware' and are choosing to avoid the US in what has been dubbed the 'Trump slump'

Those who are choosing to travel to the US, STA travel said, are opting for camper trips to national parks - rather than big cities such as New York.

Mr Fryer said: 'Previously it was all about the off-the-shelf round-theworld trip. Now people are going on gap years or extended trips thinking 'how can I develop my life skills and bring them back to help me in my career?'.'

Asian destinations have risen in popularity with many backpackers also choosing Australia for travel.

The STA findings were revealed in the inaugural travel trends report Youth Travel: Past, Present and Future.

Mr Fryer, added: 'This report demonstrates how our customers travel for a variety of reasons from opening their eyes to other cultures, building self-confidence, mental wellbeing and general life experience. The hedonistic approach of travel from 20 years ago is less important now.

'The other big keyword for this generation is culture  whether that's through food, language or beliefs  it's all about getting off the beaten track to really understand the essence of a place.'
Adam Scott, 56, pictured outside London's High Court, is claiming his father, Richard Scott, was not in his right mind when he signed his final two wills

The son of a multimillionaire car boot king who was not left a penny in his father's 5million will is fighting his stepmother over the family fortune.

Richard Scott - who died aged 81 last June - ran the UK's second biggest boot fair from his 'vast' Cheshire farm, where ITV's 'Car Boot Challenge' was filmed.

Mr Scott's eldest son Adam Scott, 56, says he worked on the farm side-by-side with his father from the age of nine, and was promised it would be his one day.

But after Richard Scott remarried in 2016 to Jennifer Scott - a woman 28 years his junior - he wrote his son out of any share of his estate.

Instead, he left Jennifer in control of his millions.

Now Adam is fighting his stepmother, who is two years younger than him, claiming his father was not in his right mind when he signed his two final wills.

But lawyers for Jennifer claim that Richard knew what he was doing when he disinherited his first born and that Adam's relationship with his father 'completely broke down' after he tried to get his father sectioned.

Judge Nicholas Caddick QC at London's High Court was told by Mr Scott's lawyers that the Scott family have been farming in Cheshire for around 300 years and 'traditionally passed the family's farmland and business down the generations'.

Mr Richard Scott's first wife, Adam's mother Janet, died in 1976.

In 1994, Mr Scott began his 24-year-long relationship with Jennifer, finally marrying her in 2016, around two years before his death.

Richard Scott (pictured) - who died aged 81 last June - ran the UK's second biggest boot fair from his 'vast' Cheshire farm, where ITV's 'Car Boot Challenge' was filmed

A part of the vast farm and land that was owned by Richard Scott in Marthall, Cheshire

By the time he died of cancer last June, he owned 'a huge quantity of land' around Chelford, Cheshire, which made up the bulk of the 5million which passed into his estate.

Adam's lawyers told the judge that he spent over 40 years helping his father run the 'vast, sprawling' farm and managing the car boot sales he held on part of it.

But in 2016, just months after his second marriage, Richard signed the two wills which disinherited Adam and left Jennifer in control of his wealth, as executor and a major beneficiary.

Jennifer's two sons, Gordon and William Redgrave-Scott, and Adam's sister Rebecca Horley were also made beneficiaries of the last wills.

Jennifer Scott, pictured outside London's High Court, married Richard Scott in 2016

Adam is now challenging the validity of those two final wills on the basis that his father lacked mental capacity at the time they were made.

He is also bringing an alternative claim for the farm, saying he relied on his father's promises that he would inherit it and sacrificed his chance to make a life for himself elsewhere as a result.

His barrister William East said: 'Adam began working on the farm aged nine, when he learned how to use the potato harvester.

'Throughout his childhood, Richard encouraged Adam to involve himself as fully as possible on the farm.

'Adam would help out on the farm whenever his assistance was required...he assured Adam he would one day take over the farm and the family farm business.'

Adam Scott worked on the farm throughout his life for little or no pay, often 100 to 130 hours per week and without holidays, the barrister said.

And he gave up a more lucrative career as a kitchen designer to work side-by-side with his father at his request, he claimed.

'He continued to work with his father under these conditions because of his understanding that the business and the farm would one day be his own,' Mr East said.

Mr Adam Scott insists his father 'lacked capacity' to write him out of his will by 2016, because of an increasingly severe degenerative brain disorder which was causing him to 'act strangely', he continued.

But Rory Brown, for Mrs Scott, told the judge that Richard had fallen out with Adam on reasonable grounds.

'Adam was excluded by his father from the farm in the context of their falling out after he tried to have his father committed on the basis that he lacked capacity,' he said.

'There is very good evidence that there had been a total breakdown of their relationship, and that was a situation which continued up to Richard's death.

'At the end of Richard's life, there were difficulties between him and Adam. Adam was told not to trespass.'

A car boot sale being held on part of the vast property owned by Richard Scott, who died in June last year

He added: 'Jennifer is the widow of the deceased and was his partner for 25 years and was appointed the executor of the estate. There are lots of beneficiaries with an interest.

'The farm is in the estate and Adam was excluded during his father's lifetime. Jennifer is in possession of the deceased's parts of the farm and is farming them as executor.

'The farm is sprawling. It's vast. It's a huge quantity of land up in Cheshire. This is an estate which, on an interim account, is worth 5m.

'This is a family disagreement over the farm which has got out of hand.'

Mr East, in response, accepted that medics went to the farm to assess Richard's mental state after 'Adam contacted Richard's doctor and the authorities to discuss the risk Richard was beginning to pose to others'.

But he insisted that Adam did so only after Jennifer had 'called Adam for help'.

The family appeared in court for a preliminary hearing, after which the judge granted Mr Scott an interim injunction, barring Jennifer, Gordon and William from 'trespassing' on parts of the farm which are in the estate, but over which Mr Scott still holds tenancies.

The alleged breakdown of Mr Scott's relationship with his father 'is in dispute', the judge commented, adding: 'Adam says he was farming his father's land up to his death.'

The full trial is now set to go ahead later this year.

The judge concluded: 'I'm very keen that we should have a speedy trial. This needs to be resolved as soon as possible.'

Last year Mrs Scott was charged under dangerous dog laws after her pet savaged a policeman called to the farm near Knutsford by her estranged stepson.

At the hearing her lawyer said: It is my thinking he wants some part of the inheritance. He lives across the road from the family and is constantly calling the police trying to report them.

She was ordered to pay damages to the officer  who suffered puncture wounds to his leg  and was given a full community order and curfew.
A teenage partygoer was stabbed to death with a 12-inch 'Pirates of the Caribbean' knife in a row over a girl outside a birthday bash at the Royal British Legion, a court heard.

Eddie O'Rourke, 18, bled to death after he was found with a blade cut deep in to his abdomen at a party on September 7 last year.

And a jury was told that a 17-year-old boy, who had allegedly previously sent threatening knife emoji texts, killed Eddie in an argument about a young woman the defendant was 'obsessed' with.

Eddie O'Rourke, 18, bled to death after he was found with a blade cut deep in to his abdomen at a party on September 7 last year

This 17-year-old and another 15-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, both pleaded not guilty to the murder of Eddie, from Runcorn, Cheshire.

Yesterday Liverpool Crown Court heard that the alleged killers arrived uninvited to a young woman's 18th birthday party three minutes after Eddie, who was also not welcome.

Eddie and the 17-year-old had previously clashed over a girl, though she was not at the party, and the youth had 'perhaps become obsessed' with her, said Nigel Power, QC, prosecuting.

He claimed that Eddie gestured to the 17-year-old as if to say 'I'll see you outside' and the youth went out but returned with his 15-year-old co-accused 25 seconds later who passed him the 12-inch long blade.

Eddie (pictured with his mum Jane White) was allegedly stabbed with a 12-inch 'Pirates of the Caribbean' knife

People have laid flowers outside Halton Royal British Legion on Main Street in Halton Village, Runcorn, where Eddie was stabbed

Mr Power said: 'Very soon after he stabbed Eddie O'Rourke once to the abdomen.

'The stab wound track cut through one of the main arteries in the lower abdomen which supplies blood to the lower limbs. That caused severe and fatal internal bleeding.'

A witness described the knife as 'being like something you would see in Pirates of the Caribbean', said Mr Power.

Paramedics arrived and found Eddie unconscious and unresponsive and attempts to resuscitate him failed.

The knife, which a friend of Eddie's had thrown into a nearby bush, was later recovered by the Legion's bowling green by family and friend's of the victim.

Putting the confrontation in context, the prosecution told the court that there was bad blood between Eddie and the older defendant who allegedly slashed the now-dead teenager on the forearm in August 2017.

And in the months prior to the fatal stabbing, it was claimed the 17-year-old sent a text to another boy saying 'am coming for him' with a picture of a knife emoji, in reference to Eddie.

The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues.
Russia has banned 'disrespecting the government' on websites and social media, with offenders facing 15 days in jail and fines of 1,000.

The Soviet-style law targets online slander with penalties for those who 'blatantly disrespect Russian society, the state, official state symbols, the Russian Constitution, and law enforcement agencies.'

Vladimir Putin's critics say the move is no more than blatant censorship.

Russia's lower house of parliament, which is overwhelmingly dominated by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, voted in favour of the bill in the key second of three readings.

Vladimir Putin's backers in the lower house of parliament voted through a bill which they claim is to tackle 'fake news'

The law would allow prosecutors to decide what amounts to 'fake news' and gives a media watchdog the power to demand an outlet delete the information.

Websites that fail to comply would be blocked.

An online post which demonstrates 'blatant disrespect for society' is punishable with fines of more than 1,000.

Those who repeat offend will see their fine double and could be subject to 15 days in jail, the Guardian reported.

Fines could be more than 17,000 if the infraction leads to grave consequences like death or rioting.

Fake news disseminated via the internet can 'lead to mass unrest' and undermine state security, the bill's authors say.

Russian opposition figures Vladimir Ryzhkov (right) and Mikhail Kasyanov - Ryzhkov said: 'Authorities will now block websites and (social media) accounts without trial'

Lawmakers in Russia first began to speak of the need for such a law after a blast on New Year's Eve killed dozens in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk.

Several versions of the story appeared, with officials saying it was a gas explosion but some independent media suggesting it was a terror attack.

ISIS claimed the alleged attack two weeks after it occurred, leading to public confusion.

Critics say the bill is vaguely worded and would have large scope for abuse, further complicating the difficult and sometimes deadly work of opposition journalists in Russia.

'Even more censorship!', the Reporters Without Borders media rights organisation wrote on its Russian-language Twitter.

The bill was drafted by Andrei Klishas and states it will be illegal to 'blatantly disrespect Russian society, the state, official state symbols, the Russian Constitution, and law enforcement agencies'

'Authorities will now block websites and (social media) accounts without trial,' wrote opposition politician Vladimir Ryzhkov.

In another controversial bill, the Duma backed punishment for 'offending state symbols'.

This would allow the media watchdog to block content that 'expresses overt disrespect' to Russian authorities.

Both measures are likely to pass their third reading later this week before being sent to the senate and signed off by President Vladimir Putin.
Geoffrey Cox claimed the Irish border backstop would breach the human rights of people in Northern Ireland in a scramble for new concessions, the EU said tonight.

Sources said the Attorney General made the move in Tuesday night's fractious negotiating session with Michel Barnier, the Guardian reported.

He is said to have warned a permanent backstop would breach the rights of people in Northern Ireland to choose their politicians because it means imposing EU rules.

The EU source said it was one of several 'surprising' things said by Mr Cox amid claims from Brussels Britain has not offered reasonable proposals.

Mr Cox slapped down the EU claims in Parliament today - insisting the British demands were 'clear as day'.

Downing Street insisted today MPs still needed 'legally binding' guarantees the Irish border backstop would not be permanent to pass the deal on Tuesday night.

There are just five days until a showdown vote in Parliament on the deal - which Mrs May faces losing by up to 100 even if Mr Cox secures some kind of concession.

Acrimonious talks between Mr Cox and Mr Barnier ended in deadlock on Tuesday night with both sides admitting the 'robust' and 'difficult'.

Chancellor Philip Hammond today warned Brexiteers to back the deal anyway insisting it is the 'last chance' to leave the EU on time today.

The Chancellor said a second loss for the Prime Minister would leave the fate of Brexit 'highly uncertain' as he predicted MPs would then vote to rule out no deal and delay Brexit.

If the PM's deal is defeated on Tuesday night, MPs will vote on whether to rule out no deal on Wednesday before deciding whether to delay Brexit on Thursday.

The EU has warned Theresa May (pictured leaving No 10 tomorrow) she must offer 'acceptable' new ideas within 48 hours if she wants to salvage talks on the Brexit deal

With just five days until a showdown vote in Parliament on the deal, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (pictured in the Commons today) insisted his proposals were 'clear as day'

The EU Commission has told the UK Government to come up with its new ideas by tomorrow night if they want Michel Barnier (pictured yesterday in Brussels) and his officials to work on them through the weekend

With just five days until the crunch vote on May's Brexit deal, estimates suggest Mrs May is well short of the votes needed to win on Tuesday

As the stand off continued today, Theresa May's official spokesman said: 'Talks are ongoing. The EU continues to state it wants Britain to leave with a deal.

EU chief dubbed 'The Monster' gloats negotiator Michel Barnier is showing Britain Brexit is 'not very attractive' A top EU bureaucrat has boasted that Brussels' chief negotiator is teaching Britain a lesson over Brexit, boasting that he was 'our very best divorce lawyer'. Martin Selmayr, the European Commission's German secretary-general, praised the work of Michel Barnier in his hardline approach to negotiations with Theresa May's team. Mr Selmayr - nicknamed 'The Monter' in Brussels - told an event in Washington DC: 'Barnier, our very best divorce lawyer, has shown that it is not very attractive to get divorced from the European Union.' Mr Selmayr is an arch federalist who was promoted a year ago from deputy to Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. Advertisement

'Parliament requires us to get legally binding changes to the backstop.'

Mr Cox rejected EU claims Britain has not offered clear proposals today, telling MPs: 'We have been engaging in focused, detailed and careful discussions with the Union and we continue to seek legally-binding changes to the backstop which ensure that it cannot be indefinite.

'These discussions will be resumed shortly.'

He added: 'We are discussing text with the European Union. I am surprised to hear the comments that have emerged over the last 48 hours the proposals are not clear. They are as clear as day and we are continuing to discuss them.'

The European Commission's chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas insisted: 'There are technical meetings ongoing, happening, and then of course all remains to be confirmed if and when, when and if, we have something to be presented, as always you will be the first to know.'

He added: 'President Juncker is available 24/7 as all our Article 50 teams and everyone involved - we are in permanent contact.'

Mr Hammond told broadcasters: 'If we don't pass the meaningful vote on Tuesday we'll go into a parliamentary process that very likely will lead to an extension of time and an uncertain outcome, more uncertainty for the British economy, more uncertainty for people across the country.

'It's very important that my colleagues think about the consequences of not agreeing this deal.

Peers demand the UK stays in a customs union after Brexit The House of Lords has demanded Britain stays in a Customs union with the EU after Brexit. Last night, peers defied Government pleas to amend the Trade Bill to make a customs union an 'objective' of the trade talks phase of Brexit negotiations. The rebel amendment carried 207-141 - setting up a new showdown when the legislation returns to the Commons. MPs have to agree any changes made by the Lords and the Government would try to strip it from the Bill. But PM Theresa May has only a feeble grip of the Commons and could be defeated by a handful of soft Brexit Tory rebels. Advertisement

'This is now the last chance to be confident that we can get this deal done and we can leave the EU on schedule.'

Mr Hammond refused to be drawn on how he would vote if Mrs May's deal is defeated and MPs are asked whether they want to delay Britain's exit from the EU.

'I'm not going to speculate about something that hasn't happened and I don't think will happen because I think the Government is very clear where the will of Parliament is on this,' he told Today.

'Parliament will vote not to leave the European Union without a deal next Wednesday, I have a high degree of confidence about that.

'But we do need to have clear confirmation. It's right that Parliament should make that decision and then we'll put the question about extending Article 50 and how we try to break this impasse by finding a consensus.'

Following Tuesday's meeting, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, gave a gloomy assessment of the talks but said afterwards that he was 'still determined'.

EU officials are preparing to work round the clock this weekend, saying it is 'unlikely' an agreement will be reached before then and that talks will go down to the wire.

And in a warning there will be no significant concessions from the EU, French Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau today said the deal cannot be reopened.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the deal was the 'best possible solution', and said: 'We cannot reopen this negotiation on the Withdrawal Agreement because it is balanced...

'We don't like the backstop, we don't want to have to implement it, and if we have to, we don't want to stay in the backstop.

'We all agree that it should be temporary, and that it's a last resort solution.'

Philip Hammond (pictured in Downing Street yesterday) warned Brexiteers voting for Theresa May's deal on Tuesday is the 'last chance' to leave the EU on time today

The latest row over the backstop  designed to prevent a hard border emerging in Ireland  centres around disagreements over language which could either form a new document to be added to the Withdrawal Treaty or sit alongside it, said to be taken from a letter written by European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker (pictured)

How frosty EU sent Britain back 'with nothing' in fiery talks between Geoffrey Cox and Brussels' Michel Barnier The EU sent Attorney General Geoffrey Cox packing as 'difficult' and 'negative' 11th hour talks failed again leaving Theresa May with 'nothing' that could win her make-or-break Brexit vote, it was revealed today. Mr Cox has openly admitted he had 'robust' conversations with his counterpart Michel Barnier - diplomatic code for a bust-up - as he returned from Brussels empty handed last night with one source claiming: 'There is no light at the end of the tunnel'. Without a breakthrough the Prime Minister's Brexit deal faces another catastrophic Commons defeat with a senior Tory admitting: 'Everything is going to be s***' if they lose again next week. Mr Barnier, who has led negotiations, reportedly would not budge and 'did not want to engage' as he knocked back all the British proposals to break the Irish backstop deadlock demanding Britain 're-drafts' its plans again. EU sources hit back by claiming Mr Cox had produced 'nothing new' and was offering 'a legal solution to a political problem' with his mini-backstop proposals, adding: 'The two sides are still far from each other'. Sabine Weyand, Mr Barnier's deputy, has spoken to the remaining EU27 member state ambassadors on the negotiations with Mr Cox with a briefing note describing the crunch talks as 'negative'. One diplomat said: 'There's no light at the end of the tunnel. It was gloomy'. Another said: 'We're still far from an agreement. There's no text on the table. If there's some progress. The point is always the same: how to phrase the backstop in a way that could be acceptable for the UK.' Advertisement

'There's no sign of a breakthrough and there will need to be some tough work in the days ahead if there's going to be deal,' one EU official said, adding that it was still possible negotiators could seal a deal by the end of the weekend.

But that would leave Mrs May just 24 hours to travel to Brussels to endorse the deal on Monday before taking it back to be voted on by MPs the next day.

Tory Brexiteers have already warned the Prime Minister they want at least two days to scrutinise any new offer and will not be 'bounced' into an early vote.

Mr Cox, who met Mr Barnier with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay, described Tuesday's late-night talks as 'robust' as he returned to London yesterday.

He said: 'We are into the meat of the matter now. We've put forward some proposals, very reasonable proposals, and we're now really into the detail of the discussions.

'Both sides have exchanged robust, strong views and we are now facing the real discussions. Talks will be resuming soon.'

Last night it emerged that Mr Cox is trying to secure an 'arbitration panel' that would determine if the two sides were acting in good faith in trying to find alternatives to the backstop.

But according to a report on the BuzzFeed website, the idea was rejected by Mr Barnier.

Sources say Mr Cox and Mr Barclay could be back in Brussels as early as tomorrow to help push a deal over the line in time for next week's vote.

Technical discussions, led by Mrs May's chief Brexit adviser Olly Robbins, will continue in Brussels. Neither side is said to have presented any new formal text.

The latest row over the backstop  designed to prevent a hard border emerging in Ireland  centres around disagreements over language which could either form a new document to be added to the Withdrawal Treaty or sit alongside it.

According to EU sources, 'inspiration' for the text has been drawn from a joint letter sent to Mrs May by EU Commission and Council chiefs Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk in January.

Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, gave a gloomy assessment of the talks but said afterwards that he was 'still determined'

This included a pledge to reach a future trade agreement 'speedily' and talked of a 'firm determination' to have an alternative to the backstop ready so it would either never have to be used or only triggered 'temporarily'.

Negotiators are struggling with the 'semantic' challenge of agreeing a form of words which will please both sides.

Downing Street acknowledged the talks were deadlocked, but insisted they would continue.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: 'The EU continues to say they want this resolved and they want the UK to leave with a deal. Parliament has been clear we need legally-binding changes to ensure the UK cannot be stuck in the backstop indefinitely.'

An EU Commission spokesman said: 'While the talks were held under a constructive atmosphere, discussions have been difficult and we have not yet been able to identify any solution.'

Meanwhile, EU boats will be banned from fishing in UK waters if Britain leaves without a deal under a new law to be laid before Parliament today.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove will say boats which want to fish off the UK coast will need a licence from the Government.

MPs were warned last night they may lose their Easter holiday to push through Brexit legislation. It was the clearest hint yet that Brexit is set to be delayed.

Mr Gove warned MPs that votes on vital Brexit legislation could be held during Easter.

Chances of a super-soft Brexit deal increase as Labour bid to woo Tories with Norway-style EU agreement

Jeremy Corbyn discussed the idea with a cross-party group of MPs last night

Norway's arrangement with EU forces it to accept free movement of people

Comes after House of Lords voted for plans forcing permanent customs union

The prospect of a super-soft Brexit increased last night after Jeremy Corbyn held talks with Tory supporters of a Norway-style deal with the EU.

Norway's arrangement with the EU forces it to accept the free movement of people ruled out by Labour's 2017 manifesto.

But in a surprise move, the Labour leader discussed the idea with a cross-party group of MPs calling for the softest possible Brexit.

In a separate development last night, the House of Lords voted for plans that would force Theresa May to seek a permanent customs union with the EU after Brexit.

The moves underline fears at the top of Government that Parliament will seize control of the Brexit process if Mrs May's deal is rejected for a second time on March 12.

Jeremy Corbyn discussed the idea of a Norway-style deal with the EU with a cross-party group of MPs

Chief Whip Julian Smith warned the Cabinet on Tuesday that Parliament would 'try to force the Government into a customs union' if the deal is defeated next week. Mrs May is considering a public warning on the issue tomorrow in the hope of pressuring MPs into supporting her proposals.

A Whitehall source said the PM could make a major speech 'framing next week as the moment of decision for the country'.

What is the Common Market 2.0 plan? MPs from across parties have been mooting the idea of a plan based on an enhanced version of the relationship Norway has with the EU. It would effectively keep the UK in the single market, with a customs bolt-on to avoid a hard Irish border, and backers say it would keep Britain close to the EU while cutting contributions to Brussels. However, critics say it has the drawbacks of keeping free movement, - and tightly limiting the possibilities for doing trade deals elsewhere. The EU is also thought to have concerns about a country the UK's size joining the EEA, while other states in the group might be resistant. Advertisement

Yesterday's talks involved Mr Corbyn, Tory ex-ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Nick Boles and Labour backers of the Norway plan, Stephen Kinnock and Lucy Powell.

Mr Kinnock said the meeting involved talks about a Norway-style deal, adding: 'There is a strong cross-party consensus for a pragmatic, bridge-building Brexit.'

Sir Oliver, working with Labour's Yvette Cooper, is leading a push for Parliament to take control of the Brexit process.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said last night it was 'astonishing' that senior Conservatives were willing to work with Labour's hard-Left leader on plans that would undermine Government policy.

Last night, peers backed an amendment to the Customs Bill by a majority of 66 that would require Mrs May to seek a permanent customs union with the EU after Brexit. An alliance of Labour, Lib Dem, cross bench and some Tory peers defeated the Government by 207 votes to 141.

Labour's trade spokesman in the Lords, Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, said: 'Ministers must drop their red lines on Brexit and embark on a fresh approach to the negotiations with the EU based around a Customs Union that protects jobs, secures opportunities for our industries, and removes the need for a hard border in Ireland.'

Ministers had been resigned to losing last night's vote, but No10 indicated it would seek to overturn the demand in the Commons, where MPs have already voted twice to reject a permanent customs union.

Mrs May's spokesman said: 'The PM has been clear about the importance of the UK being able to have its own trade policy.'

Norway is not in the customs union but is a member of the EU's single market, and has to accept free movement, pay into the EU budget and accept EU laws. Senior Tories warn that making the UK a rule-taker undermines the idea that the UK is taking back control from the EU.
A major independent inquiry into 'institutional anti-Semitism' in the Labour party has been announced.

The independent investigation by the respected Equalities and Human Rights Commission will examine how the party deals with anti-Semitism.

Party bosses will be forced to hand over a raft of private emails and text messages as part of the investigation.

It will place Jeremy Corbyn in the spotlight and force him to explain the barrage of allegations of anti-Semitism against him.

As part of the process, Labour could be forced to take on new disciplinary procedures or risk being dragged through the courts.

The major move by the Commission  an independent body set up by the government under the Equality Act 2006  is a humiliation for the party, which has been torn apart by the crisis since Mr Corbyn became leader.

It means Labour is now one of only two political parties to be the subject of legal action by the Equalities watchdog, the other being The BNP.

The new inquiry is set to question the Chakrabarti inquiry, which was slammed by Jewish groups as a whitewash in 2016.

Pre-enforcement proceedings will be announced today, meaning the leadership will be quizzed on a list of incidents before a statutory investigation begins.

If found guilty, the party could be forced to comply with a range of new guidelines or face being dragged through the courts.

A Labour spokesman said: 'We completely reject any suggestion the party has acted unlawfully and will be co-operating fully with the EHRC.

'Labour is fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisations.'

A major inquiry will be launched this week into 'institutional anti-Semitism' in the Labour party, MailOnline can reveal. Party bosses including leader Jeremy Corbyn will be forced to hand over a raft of private emails and text messages as part of the investigation

Jewish comedian and writer David Baddiel was among those who attacked the image that was shared by Labour activist kayla Bibby, who avoided a suspension from the party over it

A Commission spokesman said: 'Having received a number of complaints regarding antisemitism in the Labour Party, we believe Labour may have unlawfully discriminated against people because of their ethnicity and religious beliefs.

'Our concerns are sufficient for us to consider using our statutory enforcement powers.

'As set out in our enforcement policy, we are now engaging with the Labour Party to give them an opportunity to respond.'

The announcement came after Mr Corbyn was warned he has a month to sort Labour's spiralling anti-Semitism crisis or face a mass exodus of Jewish members.

The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) voted last night to remain affiliated to the beleaguered opposition party but its leader warned that its support could not be taken for granted.

Barking MP Dame Margaret had accused the Labour leader of being soft on anti-Semitism cases if they involved his 'mates'

It wants to see concrete improvements by the time it meets next in April or it will sever ties going back almost 100 years.

After Wednesday might's JLM vote its national secretary Peter Mason said members had backed retaining their affiliation with Labour, which dates back to 1920.

'We had an indicative vote this evening that we will stay, we will stand and we will fight against anti-Semitism in the Labour Party,' he said.

'The message from the Jewish Labour Movement this evening was absolutely clear.

'If the Labour Party fails to show solidarity to us, we will not show solidarity to it.

'That counts for MPs who do not sign their names to letters showing solidarity with us, that counts for members of the Scottish Parliament, that counts for councillors.'

John Mann MP, Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism said on the EHRC probe into anti-Semitism in the Labour party: 'Obviously there will be resignations from those in power as this fully unfolds.'

It came as leaked emails revealed that an ally of the Labour leader tried to intervene in anti-Semitism cases to block moves to suspend activists.

In one case head of compliance Thomas Gardiner concluded a picture of an alien bearing the Star of David choking the Statue of Liberty was not anti-Semitic.

He also sought to delay the suspension of a member who shared a post accusing Jewish people of 'eating the organs of their enemies'. He said there should be no suspension until it was found whether his disability had left him vulnerable.

And he tried to block the immediate suspension of a member who accused Jewish MPs of 'not reining in their killers in the Middle East'. The member wrote that Blairites opposing Mr Corbyn were assisted by the 'Jewish brigade'.

Of the announcement, Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: 'It is a sad indictment that the once great anti-racist Labour Party is now being investigated by the equality and human rights regulator it established just two decades ago.'

The Labour spokesman added: 'Anti-Semitism complaints received since April 2018 relate to about 0.1% of our membership, but one anti-Semite in our party is one too many. We are determined to tackle anti-Semitism and root it out of our party.'

It is understood that Labour has not yet been given details of the allegations received by the Commission.

Once the EHRC's formal letter is delivered, the party will have 14 days to respond to the concerns raised.
This is the shocking moment a teenager is repeatedly kicked and battered with pool cues in a violent attack at a cinema.

During the footage, which was shared on Snapchat, a gang of at least six youths take it in turns to beat the boy while at Cineworld Cinema in Cardiff.

The teenager tries to run away from the group and sprints around tables in the lounge area before falling to the ground and cradling his head.

The gang hit the boy with pool cues, left, and stamp on him as he lays, right, on the floor at Cineworld Cinema in Cardiff during the violent attack which was shared on Snapchat

In the short video, one boy can be heard shouting 'hold him bruv, f*****g hold him' while others rain down kicks and blows.

In a second clip the group of attackers can be seen standing around the boy as they talk to the camera and hold pool cues.

Suddenly he starts to run and the gang follow him, even jumping on the sofas to keep up and try to get him to the ground.

The group then start stamping on the teenager's legs and he is seen squirming around on the red carpet, trying to escape them.

Cineworld said it is 'appalled by the incident' and is assisting police with their enquiries.

It is unknown what triggered the violence. South Wales Police said the assault took place at about 5.45pm on Monday evening.

One of the group stamps on the teenager, left, before another boy kicks at his legs, left, as well. Two 15-year-old boys were arrested on suspicion of affray

A South Wales Police spokeswoman confirmed the incident has been reported to them. She added: 'It has been reported to us and the matter is under investigation.'

Two teenagers aged 15 have been arrested on suspicion of affray.

A Cineworld spokesman said: 'We are appalled by the incident at Cineworld Cardiff and are assisting South Wales Police with their investigation.

'Please be assured that the safety and security of everyone at our cinemas is our absolute priority and we have robust processes and procedures in place to keep customers safe.'
BP plans to drill six wells in Azerbaijan within the next two years, BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Gary Jones said at a meeting on the results of 2018 and plans 2019.

According to him, BP has signed four exploration contracts, and the drilling will be carried out on the basis of these contracts.

He also noted that expectations from the block D-230 are high. Jones stressed that if the work at this exploration block is successful, BP will discover a field similar to the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field in volume.

In addition, BP Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey said that BP exceeded its forecasts in 2018. He noted that the work carried out in Azerbaijan has a special place in the BP portfolio and in terms of volume is similar to the work carried out in Brazil.
Two gay men said they were left 'hurt' after a Florida spa refused them a couple's massage because it was reserved for 'a man and a woman'.

Michael Garcia and his boyfriend Arnaldo had booked the treatment at the Joy Feet Spa in Naples on Monday and prepaid $109.

But when they arrived the spa's manager Jerry Liu said the service was only for heterosexual couples.

Scroll down for video

Michael Garcia (left) and his boyfriend Arnaldo said they were left 'hurt' after being denied a couple's massage in Florida which the spa manager said was for a 'man and a woman'

In a video posted to Facebook by Garcia, one of the men is heard saying 'I can't believe we're actually being discriminated against,' before asking: 'It has to be a man and woman?' to which Liu replies 'Yes'.

The pair then ask whether they are being discriminated against because they are gay, but Liu emphatically says 'no' several times and waves away the suggestion.

'I didn't say that, you said it. I said the couple's massage is [for] a man and a woman. Two men is a different price,' Liu tells them.

He then says the spa will provide a service to the pair but 'at a different price.'

But when the couple decline this on the grounds that they had already paid for the couple's massage, Liu suggests they get a refund by calling Groupon's customer service hotline.

'It hurt,' Garcia told NBC2. 'It sucks because we're just like everybody else.'

Later that day, Liu apologized on Facebook - saying he had not lived in the U.S. very long and the incident was a cultural misunderstanding.

'I am sorry! I think I am miss understanding about the couple meaning... in my county (sic), a couple means a man and a woman as couple,' he wrote.

'I never see a couple have same sex. So I am sorry, I didnt mean discriminate any gay or lesbian. I respect any one find the true love and also I hope they will love each other forever whatever they are both men or woman.'

Manager Jerry Liu first told the couple they would have to pay a 'different price' from the advertised 'couple's massage', but later apologized and called the incident a cultural misunderstanding

'I NEVER EVER discriminate ANY gay or lesbian! So please do not miss understanding me!'

'I am sorry for what happens, but please dont ruin my job. I am only a guy move to American for a few years, I think American people will forgive the small mistake by the culture. Thank you!'

Liu also offered to provide the couple with a free one-hour massage 'to say sorry.'

Garcia told NBC that while he accepted Liu's apology, he and his boyfriend had declined the free massage.

The Joy Feet Spa in Naples, Florida where two gay men were refused a couple's massage on Monday despite having prepaid $109

Although polls have shown that around 75% of Floridians support legally protecting LGBT people from discrimination, this is not addressed in state law.

In practice, many cities and counties do outlaw such discrimination using local ordinances.

But countrywide there still are only 20 states where discrimination against LGBTQ people in public places is explicitly prohibited.

Garcia expressed his sadness at the incident on Facebook, writing: 'Never in my my life have I experienced that... but just because you dont see it or go through it doesnt mean its not there this world can be so crazy sometimes!'

'A change needs to happen,' he added.
Advertisement

Volunteers with the Country Fire Authority who put their lives at risk and battled raging bushfires in Victoria's south-east have hit back after residents complained they didn't do a good enough job at saving their properties.

More than 2,000 firefighters from across Victoria worked during the week to battle the out-of-control wildfires that obliterated the entire town of Tonimbuk, 70km south-east of Melbourne.

Furious residents have slammed fire authorities and claim they didn't do enough to protect their homes after at least 11 properties were destroyed - nine in Bunyip and two in Yinnar - with many more expected as residents are slowly allowed back into some parts of the fire-affected areas.

Volunteers with the Country Fire Authority who put their lives at risk and battled raging bushfires in Victoria's south-east have hit back after residents complained they didn't do a good enough job at saving their properties

More than 2,000 firefighters were fielded across Victoria during the week to battle the out-of-control wildfires that obliterated the entire town of Tonimbuk, 70km south-east of Melbourne

Furious residents have slammed fire authorities and claim they didn't do enough to protect their homes after at least 11 properties were destroyed

Those that were there fighting the horrific blazes over the weekend have started speaking up in defence, saying they risked their lives to help and were trapped by fires for 14 hours

Rex Newtown, 70, who lost his Bunyip home in the blaze, claims there were no firefighters around to help him defend his property.

'I got to the corner and the fire brigade [were] all sitting up on the corner - not one truck attended,' Mr Newton told 9News.

'There was trucks sitting 450 metres away from my place doing nothing. That was all they did, was nothing.'

Now, those who were there fighting the horrific blazes over the weekend have started speaking up in defence, saying they risked their lives and had been trapped by fires for 14 hours.

Leader of Strike team 0825, Lee Bostock, said his team worked as hard as they could to save seven properties, and was extremely apologetic they couldn't save more.

'We were deployed to go up and around the winery that was burnt to the ground when we got to the corner of Tonimbuk and Jolley Ed part of the fire front had jumped the road so it was too dangerous for us to continue,' Mr Bostock posted to Facebook.

'In all we did save seven properties, lost 10 sheds. One property was worth $1.7 million they also had three antique cars which were brought out of the sheds and put near the trucks for protection.'

He explained he and his crew had fought the out-of-control blaze for 14 hours as they were closed off from the rest of the world.

'We were shut off from the rest of the world, we were encircled by fire for 14 hours. They fought this fire and numerous outbreaks without rest,' Mr Bostock said.

Leader of Strike team 0825, Lee Bostock, said his team worked as hard as they could to save seven properties, and was extremely apologetic they couldn't save more

Lee explained that he and his crew fought the out-of-control blaze for 14 hours as they were closed off from the rest of the world

Mr Bostock and his team had to wait until Forest Management were able to get bulldozers through the fallen trees before they could be escorted away from the area

Incredible images from inside the enclosing fire show what thousands of firefighters had to endure

'They went above and beyond to save these people's properties and that's what we did. We were unable to get out of here until midnight as trees littered Tonimbuk road and were still coming down.'

The team requested back-up from two other strike teams but as the fire was so intense, they couldn't find their way through to Mr Bostock.

'The fire was that intense they could not get up the road so we were left to our own devices for 17 hours,' he said.

Mr Bostock and his team had to wait until Forest Management were able to get bulldozers through the fallen trees before they could be escorted away from the area.

Scott de Little was on strike team 0825 and says the fire surrounded the group in less than five minutes.

'I was the crew leader of the Warneet/Blind Bight tanker and we were tasked to this property because it was under immediate threat and the owners decided to stay and defend their property,' Mr de Little wrote on Facebook.

The crew had to drive through the fire to reach the house and its owners, and says their work saved the lives of the owners and their home.

Scott de Little was on strike team 0825 and says the fire surrounded the group in less than five minutes

The crew had to drive through the fire to reach a house and its owners, and says their work saved the lives of the owners and their home

'We were shut off from the rest of the world, we were encircled by fire for 14 hours. They fought this fire and numerous outbreaks without rest,' Lee Bostock said

'To say this was one of the proudest moments of my career in the CFA is a understatement. But for the media to broadcast only one side of the story is so unfair!' Mr de Little said.

Andrew Harro Harris wasn't on the same team but witnessed the fires close in on strike team 0825 as he withdrew back away from the circle of flames.

'For ST0825 it's too late - the fire is upon them and they prepare to make a stand around the defendable houses they can manage. There they remain for the next 12+hrs,' Mr Harris wrote in an account of the day.

He and his team noticed a large spot fire two farmers were attempting to put out themselves and go to aid them, before they too became blocked in by the enclosing wildfires.

'The fire has now crossed Ellis Rd at various locations including within 50 metres of the assets we are protecting we too are now blocked in with no way out,' Mr Harris said.

'When the fire came through the crews did an amazing job protecting the properties and especially the hay shed.'

Despite losing homes and live stock during the fires, Mr Harris praised all the firefighters he worked with as the out-of-control bushfires ravaged the state.

The out-of-control wildfires have been ravaging south-eastern Victoria since they were sparked by lightning on Friday night

More than 2,000 firefighters have been working tirelessly over the weekend and throughout the week to save homes and lives

'I have nothing but praise for the crews I managed and worked along side, the professionalism, compassion and support they provided both me and the local community was second to none,' Mr Harris wrote.

'It's very heart breaking seeing property and live stock losses which unfortunately comes with the role as a firefighter.

'I am proud to be a CFA volunteer and proud of all the crews and their dedication.

'We all answered the call in a time of need, we worked our arses off in extremely trying and dangerous times to save a strangers life, property or live stock and we all went home safe.'

Pete Ryan was a firefighter on strike team 1334 in Yinnar and also came to the defence of the CFA online, saying the accusations that they were responsible for the loss of houses was a 'massive kick in the guts'.

'I participated in one of the most massive efforts I've seen in over 20yrs of firefighting,' Mr Ryan said.

'This fire is tricky, make no mistake of that. The terrain is over 30 degrees steep and the fire at the bottom of a valley over 200m down. If you fell over it would not be good for you.

'This finger of the fire threatens about 5 houses in the immediate area (within 200m) and potentially, if it got away the township of Yinnar.'

Along with Forest Management crew, Mr Ryan and his team worked for two days on the section of fire and managed to round it up and contain it.

This monstrous task required his team to cut up and put out a hollow and burning dead tree, which was highly difficult and extremely dangerous.

While it's confirmed 11 properties have been destroyed, more damage is expected to be discovered as residents are slowly allowed back in to some parts of the fire-affected areas

Pete Ryan was a firefighter on strike team 1334 in Yinnar and also came to the defence of the CFA online, saying the accusations that they were responsible for the loss of houses was a 'massive kick in the guts'

Along with Forest Management crew, Mr Ryan and his team worked for two days on the section of fire and managed to round it up and contain it

'I participated in one of the most massive efforts I've seen in over 20yrs of firefighting,' Pete Ryan said

Volunteers with Country Fire Authority who battled raging bushfires have hit back after residents complained they didn't do anything to save their homes

'The 60-year-old Forestry management bloke was one month from his retirement!,' Mr Ryan said.

'Falling rocks, slipping hazzard, falling trees were all real during our efforts. Groups of four at a time going over the edge and coming back to the top completely exhausted.

'We succeeded in knocking it down and achieving the task. Everyone of us knew the meaning for the residents.

'So I'll let you be the judge of the efforts of the CFA?'

Mark Kennedy was also directly involved in the Bunyip fire and says he is 'bitterly disappointed the events were being used for political purposes'.

While he's proud of the efforts that were made by thousands of firefighters, he's also devastated some people don't have a home to go back to.

'There are some incredible stories about what our crews did and the frustration they dealt with when unable to get to some places due to the fire activity,' Mr Kennedy said.

'For anyone to suggest our crews did not do their best is disgusting.

Incredible images from inside the raging wildfire show what thousands of firefighters battled over the weekend and through the week

Mark Kennedy was also directly involved in the Bunyip fire and says he is 'bitterly disappointed the events were being used for political purposes'

While Mark Kennedy is proud of the efforts that were made by thousands of firefighters, he's also devastated some people don't have a home to go back to

The monstrous task required a team to cut up and put out a hollow and burning dead tree, which was highly difficult and extremely dangerous

'Whilst I completely feel for the impacted residents, complaining that they didn't get a fire truck this time when they did in 2009 is not helpful. [That] was a completely different scenario. The fire moved in a different direction and impacted different parts of the community. Things were different because it was a different fire.'

While some residents have been able to return to their homes and assess the damage, many firefighters are still battling active fires in Bunyip state park.

As of Thursday evening, a Watch and Act warning remained in place for Beenak, Gentle Annie, Whites Corner, Bunyip North, Cornucopia, Garfield North, Labertouche, Tonimbuk.

'There is a bushfire at the Bunyip State Park that is not yet under control. Conditions may change and get worse very quickly,' a warning on Vic Emergency read.

Already tens of thousands of hectares of land have been destroyed and scores of houses razed to the ground as at least 12 active fires continue to burn.

While it's confirmed 11 properties have been destroyed, more damage is expected to be discovered as residents are slowly allowed back in to some parts of the fire-affected areas.

As of Thursday evening, a Watch and Act warning remained in place for Beenak, Gentle Annie, Whites Corner, Bunyip North, Cornucopia, Garfield North, Labertouche, Tonimbuk

While some residents have been able to return to their homes and assess the damage, many firefighters are still battling active fires in Bunyip state park
A judge has been blasted by a police force after a thug avoided jail for carrying a knife despite a wave of violence on Britain's streets.

A Tweet from the Metropolitan Police based in Barnet, north London said 'perhaps the court needs to catch up on current affairs' after Devante Omer, 18, walked free.

Omer, of no fixed abode, admitted possession of what police described as a 'fearsome' weapon but was handed a six month suspended sentence.

Police in nearby Enfield posted an image on their official account of Omer and the knife.

Devante Omer (left) of no fixed abode, admitted possession of what police described as a 'fearsome' weapon but was handed a six month suspended sentence

It was then re-tweeted by officers in Barnet, who said: 'Suspended sentence! Seriously!

'Perhaps the courts need to catch up on current affairs!'

Colin Sutton, a former murder detective who led the probe into Levi Bellfield, also slammed the sentence.

He said: 'I am sure there are some who share my view - what is the point?'

He said officers do their very best, but find 'the system beyond them just doesn't want to assist'.

Rachel Webb, the mother of a 22-year-old man who was murdered in Derby city centre in 2016, has branded the sentence an 'absolute disgrace'.

The tweets posted by the Metropolitan Police in Barnet, north London, saying: 'perhaps the court needs to catch up on current affairs'

Tom Webb was stabbed by Haris Mohammed, then 16, who is now serving a 14-year prison sentence.

She said: 'That's an appalling sentence. He's an adult - he's 18. It makes me really, really angry that he has been allowed to walk free and is not in prison. It's disgusting.

'It's a massive shock that with everything happening with knife crime in society right now that decision has been made. What sort of message does it send out to other people?

'This issue is not being taken seriously enough by the courts.

'It's pathetic. It's like saying 'that's OK - just don't do it again'.

'The person that made that decision should come with me and visit my son in the cemetery. They should spend a day in my shoes.

Murder map: The shocking scale of knife deaths in Britain so far in 2019

'We need more police officers on the streets and in communities. We need a greater use of stop and search and the barriers around it taken away. There is so much hard work that needs to be done to stop this problem.

'Then when a case goes get to court - this happens.'

Patrick Green, the chief executive of The Ben Kinsella Trust, which was set up following the death of Ben Kinsella in London in 2008, has also spoken about the sentence.

He said: 'An important message needs to be sent to anybody who is carrying a knife that it's unacceptable. At the age of 18 he is an adult.

'We need sentences that reflect the concern that everybody has about knife crime. If people insist on carrying knives then them and the knife needs to be removed from society.

'This sends out a message to young people that carrying a knife is not a serious issue.'

The decision to keep Omer out of jail comes as the government comes under intense pressure to tackle Britain's out of control knife crime epidemic.

Prime Minister Theresa May has been blasted for her refusal to link the surge in incidents to police cuts.

A man in his 20s last night become the 14th stabbing fatality in 16 days as police struggle to contain the wave of violence.

Witnesses say the man, named locally as David Rodriguez, was chased barefoot down a road in Leyton, east London, by three men who stabbed him six times - including once in the neck - as bystanders screamed.

Within hours of his death, the 22-year-old victim of an attack in Oxford on February 27 died in the John Radcliffe hospital. He had been run over and repeatedly stabbed, police said.

His death follows a string of high-profile stabbings in recent days, including 17-year-olds Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, who were killed in separate incidents in London and Greater Manchester over the weekend.

In Coventry, a 14-year-old schoolgirl was chased by up to 15 other teenagers before being attacked with what one witness described as scissors. The victim's injuries are not life-threatening an a 16-year-old girl was arrested.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid is calling for more money to tackle knife crime, while Theresa May and Met Commissioner Cressida Dick recently clashed over whether a reduction in officer numbers had fuelled the problem.

Theresa May (seen in the Commons yesterday) has insisted the rise in stabbings was not directly linked to a reduction in police numbers

On Tuesday, police announced they had arrested a man in Leicester in connection with the murder of Jodie Chesney.

The 17-year-old Explorer Scout was murdered in a random and unprovoked attack as she sat with her boyfriend and three other friends in a park in Harold Hill.

The arrest came after police received a tip-off the suspects travelled to the east Midlands - nearly 115 miles away - following the brutal stabbing.

The man, whose age has not been given, has been taken back to London for interview.

A boy, 17, has appeared in court charged with the murder of Manchester Grammar schoolboy Yousef Makki in the Cheshire village of Hale Barns.

The youngster's mother broke down in tears as he walked into Manchester's Youth Court for the two-minute hearing.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of the murder of 17-year-old Yousef Makki in the wealthy Cheshire village of Hale Barns on Saturday evening.

In Oxford, police are now investigating an attack on a 22-year-old man on February 27 as murder.

The victim was hit by a vehicle and stabbed several times. He died at John Radcliffe Hospital on Wednesday evening.

The killings have prompted warnings of a 'national emergency' and sparked intense scrutiny of reductions in the size of the police workforce.

The number of officers in the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales has fallen by more than 20,000 since 2009.

Mrs May, who was home secretary from 2010 to 2016, argued earlier this week that there was 'no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers'.

But a string of senior figures in policing have lined up to dispute her assertion.

At the weekend two 17-year-olds, Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, were killed in separate stabbings in London and Greater Manchester

Lord Stevens, a former Metropolitan Police commissioner, told the BBC that he believed the PM had not been listening to police forces' concerns.

'I don't think she listens, quite frankly, to what she's being told,' she said.

On Wednesday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid acknowledged that police resources were important in tackling knife violence after holding emergency talks with chief constables.

Speaking after the meeting, he said: 'I think police resources are very important to deal with this. We've got to do everything we can.

'I'm absolutely committed to working with the police in doing this. We have to listen to them when they talk about resources.'

Senior Labour politicians, including police and crime commissioners, have written to the Prime Minister urging her to put 10,000 police officers back on the streets.

The joint letter, also signed by London mayor Sadiq Khan, said: 'There is not a town or city across the UK which hasn't been touched by the outbreak of serious youth violence.'

It said nationwide there had been a 93% rise in children under 16 being stabbed since 2013, taking knife crime to 'the highest level since records began'.

'This is a national crisis and it requires leadership from the top of government,' the letter added.

It called on the Prime Minister to 'drop this dangerous delusion' that police cuts were not correlated with certain crimes.

Mrs May announced she would host a summit on knife crime and said the Government was putting more resources into policing.

The full list of 20 murders in London so far this year - including five in just the last week Here is a list of of the 20 murders in London so far in 2019: January 1: Charlotte Huggins, 33, is believed to have been the first homicide victim in London in 2019. She was stabbed in Camberwell, south-east London, in the early hours of New Year's Day. January 1: Later that day, security guard Tudor Simionov, also 33, was stabbed to death at about 5.30am as he tried to prevent gatecrashers storming a private party in Park Lane, central London. January 4: Simbiso Aretha Moula, 39, was found murdered in her home in Rainham, east London. Her husband, Garikayi Moula, was found hanged. Police were not seeking anyone else in connection with the murder. January 5: Sarah Ashraf, 35, was found dead in a home in the Isle of Dogs, east London. A 32-year-old man was charged with murder. January 8: Just 14 years old, Jaden Moodie was knocked off a moped and stabbed to death in Leyton, east London. January 11: Asma Begum, 31, was found with a neck injury in a property City Island Way, Tower Hamlets. A 46-year-old man was charged with murder. January 27: Kamil Malysz, 34, was found stabbed to death in a shared house in Acton, west London. January 29: Nedim Bilgin, 17, was the victim of a knife attack in Caledonian Road, Islington, north London. February 3: A 46-year-old man was found dead at a medical facility in Highgate, north London. A 21-year-old was charged with murder. February 5: Lejean Richards, 19, was fatally stabbed in Battersea, south-west London. February 10: A man, believed to be in his 30s, was found fatally stabbed in East Dulwich, south-east London. February 18: Bright Akinleye dies after walking into a hotel reception in Camden, north London, with stab wounds. February 19: Brian Wieland, 69, found dead with multiple head injuries at his home in Chingford, east London. February 21: Glendon Spence, 23, was killed outside a youth club in Brixton, south London. Police have charged two 17-year-olds with murder. February 22: Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, 19, was murdered in Wood Green, Haringey. Police said that he and a another man, aged 20, were both found with stab wounds. February 25: Spaniard David Lopez-Fernandez, 38, was pronounced dead after being found with stab wounds at an address in Globe Road in Tower Hamlets, east London. A 36-year-old man was charged with murder. February 26: Che Morrison, 20, died after being stabbed to death outside Ilford station in east London. March 1: Jodie Chesney, 17, was stabbed to death in an east London park. March 2: A 50-year-old was found dead with fatal knife injuries at a property in Hendon, north-west London. A 54-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion murder. March 2: A baby girl, aged three months, was found dead at a residential address in Croydon. A 40-year-old woman has been charged with murder. Advertisement

But Mr Khan said 'having a one-off knife summit by itself won't solve this issue'.

He told ITV's Peston: 'Of course I welcome any movement by the Prime Minister to address the issues that cause knife crime but I think a one-off summit may make great pictures, and may lead to one or two good soundbites, but by itself won't be enough.'

He said the reasons for the increase in violent crime were 'quite complex' and added: 'What I'd like to see is a joined-up public health approach in dealing with this very serious issue.'

At Prime Minister's Questions, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed the Prime Minister was trying to keep communities safe 'on the cheap'.

He said: 'Does the Prime Minister now regret cuts in police numbers and will she undertake that under this review they will be restored to the level they were formerly at?'

A proposed cash boost could see total police funding rise by nearly 1 billion in 2019/20, including money raised through council tax.

Asked whether the PM still believed there was no direct link between police numbers and violent crime, her official spokesman said: 'Clearly resources and powers are important.

'We have just given the police more resources and more powers and we always listen to what the police are saying.

'But it's hugely important that we don't just treat this as a policing issue, that we do look across society at things such as changes in the drugs market and address issues like gang culture with children being groomed into this lifestyle and carrying knives, and we look at public health.'

Later this week, police chiefs will present ministers with details of the resources they need for a 'surge' in capacity to combat the rise in violent crime.
An impatient woman pulled a gun on a worker at a Wendy's drive-thru window when her order took too long to arrive.

Surveillance footage shows the angry mom sitting in her black Nissan Altima and pointing the pistol at the fast food store in McDonough, Georgia.

The incident happened at around 11.15pm on Saturday March 2 and the woman had children in the backseat at the time, reports Fox5 Atlanta.

The woman leans out of her black Nissan Altima car and grabs her debit card from the machine at the Wendy's drive-thru in McDonough, Georgia

Before pulling the gun, the woman reaches out of the car and grabs her debit card back from the machine.

She then gestures at the Wendy's clerk with one hand and points the gun with the other before driving away from the restaurant.

Officials said she had ordered a junior meal for the children in the car and was not happy with the order or wait time.

Henry County Police Department Sgt John Davis told Fox5 the Wendy's worker did the right thing by not engaging with the angry customer.

Seconds later she points the gun at the clerk before driving away from the Georgia restaurant

He said: 'Any young passengers, underaged passengers in the vehicle could have become victims as well.'

A Be On The Lookout poster has been released by the police department asking anyone with information about the woman to contact them.

However, because the woman took her debit card from the machine officers are not sure whether they'll be able to track her through the financial transaction.
Hundreds of migrant parents separated from their children at the border were deported without the chance to reunite, the Trump administration has admitted.

The administration said it has identified 471 adult migrants who were removed from the country without being offered the chance to take their children with them.

The figures were revealed just hours after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testified under oath before Congress that she did not know of the existence of any such families.

The Trump administration said it has identified 471 parents who were kicked out of the country without being given the opportunity to take their children with them (file image)

Grilled by the House Homeland Security Committee, Nielsen said: 'There was no parent who has been deported to my knowledge without multiple opportunities to take their children with them.'

That prompted calls for her resignation which were led by Senator Dick Durbin and backed by Democrats Salud Carbajal of California and Kathleen Rice of New York.

Kamala Harris, who is running for president, also vented her fury the Nielsen, calling her testimony 'extremely troubling'.

Mr Durbin wrote on Twitter: 'Secretary Nielsen helped create the ongoing humanitarian crisis at our border.

'Under her leadership, families have been torn apart, and the facts hidden from the American people. She must resign.'

The admission came hours after Kirstjen Nielsen testified under oath before Congress that she didn't know of the existence of any such parents, prompting calls for her to resign

Mr Carbajal added: 'More than 2,700 children were separated from their parents & detained by CBP last year. They were kept in chain-link cages.

'Some were sexually assaulted. Three children died in custody. Given these facts, and Secretary Nielsens lies under oath today, she should resign.'

In total, 3,000 migrant families were separated at the border under Trump's 'zero tolerance' approach to illegal immigration which demanded that all adult arrivals be criminally prosecuted.

This meant the adults had to be transferred to jail, and since children cannot legally be held in an adult jail, the families were separated.

This is different to the migrant policy which also drew protests against the Obama administration, where children who arrived at the border alone were detained.

Trump eventually cancelled the 'zero tolerance' policy after facing a wave of protest.
The woman who died on an easyJet flight from Gatwick to Malaga has been named as a grandmother-of-two.

Ann Rudkin, 63, told passengers she had a bad chest infection when she boarded the plane on Monday afternoon.

People sitting beside the expat English teacher, from Weymouth, Dorset, reported her 'having trouble breathing' and said easyJet failed to spot the severity of her condition.

They revealed their horror after discovering she'd died when her head jerked forward and became lodged between the seat and the window as the aircraft came into land at the port city on Spain's Costa del Sol.

EasyJet has been accused of negligence after 63-year-old Ann Rudkin died on a flight from Gatwick to Malaga while suffering from a 'severe chest infection' on Monday

The expat English teacher (pictured with her grandsons) had been on a Caribbean cruise and fell ill before boarding the flight to the port city on Spain's Costa del Sol

But family of the expat today defended the budget airline and revealed the post-mortem showed she suffered a heart attack.

Mrs Rudkin, who lived in the Costa del Sol holiday resort of Fuengirola, was pronounced dead after her packed Monday afternoon flight landed at Malaga Airport on Monday evening.

Passenger Jacob Rodgers said he had been concerned about the grandmother before she died having met her in the airport prior to flying.

He told MailOnline she had a severe chest infection she had picked up on a boat in the Caribbean where she had been on a cruise.

'She was very wheezy and made a lot of noise from her chest. Due to her condition I was thinking of telling her not to fly myself but who am I to say that.

'We don't know if the death was avoidable or not but the lack of care for the lady from both Gatwick and easyjet was worrying to say the least.'

They told of being 'traumatised' after discovering she had died when her head jerked forward and became lodged between the seat and the window as the aircraft came into land at the port city on Spain's Costa del Sol.

But Mrs Rudkin absolved easyJet of any blame in her death as they revealed she had succumbed to a heart attack.

Her Son Scott posted a tribute picture of her with grandsons Joshua and Cameron on social media. Friend Rita Brennan said: 'Ann so loved her grandsons. She'll be watching over them.'

Passengers said the grandmother (pictured with her son Scott and his wife) appeared to pass away as the plane prepared to land in Malaga on Monday evening

Mrs Rudkin took this photo in Pointe De Bout on the Caribbean island of Martinique while on her cruise holiday

Jacob Rodgers, 28, and his girlfriend Jessica (together) were left 'traumatised' when Ann's arm went limp and they 'couldn't feel her pulse'. They didn't want to shout she was dead in case it scared children on the flight

News of her death emerged after passengers on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Barbados were quarantined for four hours at Gatwick on Wednesday morning after a sickness outbreak onboard.

Around 30 people were treated, with three taken to hospital for further tests. They had also been returning from a Caribbean cruise holiday, though there is no suggestion at this stage that the two incidents are linked.

Passengers on the easyJet plane, which left Gatwick around 5pm on Monday, said she had seemed to be alive until the aircraft landed in Malaga.

A court in Malaga has been tasked with a routine investigation into Ann's death. Ann was well-known in Fuengirola where she lived.

Costa del Sol-based English-language newspaper Euro Weekly News, where the former Weymouth and Portland Borough Council worker used to be an accounts manager, said: 'We would like to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Ann Rudkin, who has passed away suddenly.

'Ann, whose warm character and lively personality made her an extremely popular member of the Euro Weekly News family, worked with us in our previous offices in Arroyo de la Miel.

'In recent years Ann carved out a career teaching English as a foreign language, and was well known around Fuengirola amongst the expat community.'

Her funeral is due to be held on Monday afternoon.

News of her death emerged after passengers on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Barbados were quarantined for four hours at Gatwick this morning after a sickness outbreak onboard (pictured qeueing in the London airport on Wednesday morning)

The expat's loved ones also paid tribute to the grandmother in a statement and said nothing could've been done to prevent her death.

It said: 'Our experience of easyJet has been very comforting. They have treated us with respect and dignity. They met Ann's son Scott at Malaga airport and were very helpful to him and other relatives, to the point of rearranging flights they already had booked from the UK so they could reach Spain quicker without asking for anything in return.

'We want to make sure that easyJet's name is not blackened in all of this. They have been really helpful and superb to Ann's son.

'We have been told after the post-mortem that Ann died from a heart attack, not a chest infection as has been reported, and there is nothing easyJet could have done to change things.

'We are upset about the reports they behaved badly. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The family statement added: 'Ann was a very private person and she would have been mortified about all of this coming out the way it has.

A large emergency services presence waited on the runway at Gatwick on the Virgin plane being evacuated before screening everyone on board. Three people were taken to hospital

'We know she was unwell on the Saturday night when she was still on the ship and she may have thought she had a chest infection.

'The ship doctor decided to put her on a drip for an hour because he felt she was dehydrated. She experienced pains in her neck while she was on the ship but she never mentioned that to the doctor because she didn't think anything of it.

'She had experienced difficulties breathing but she was a smoker and smokers sometimes have problems catching their breath which may have been why she thought she had a chest infection.

'I am sure the passengers on the plane who reported all this told the truth about what Ann told them.

'But a heart attack is not something easyJet could have saved Ann from.

'It must have been a challenging incident for them and the assumptions that have been made about have been very upsetting in what is already a difficult time for the family.'

Mrs Rudkin's relatives also confirmed Mrs Rudkin had flown back to the UK from the Caribbean on Monday morning and was not on a separate flight from Barbados where passengers were quarantined after a sickness outbreak onboard.

They said she was on a TUI cruise and not the MSC Preziosa cruise which has been linked to the sickness outbreak.

Mrs Rudkin had joked while on holiday in the Caribbean about feeling like she was in Spain.

She posted on Facebook from a beach in Martinique: 'Wifi and they take euros. Just like being in Spain.'

Four days earlier she wrote from Jacks Bar on the island of Bequia: 'Lovely beach and bar but a nightmare trek to get to it so water taxi back to where we pick the tender up.

'Anyway, having a wonderful time and ship is superb. Back to Barbados tomorrow and more Caribbean islands next week.'

An easyJet spokesperson said: 'easyJet can confirm a passenger was taken ill onboard flight EZY8609 from London Gatwick to Malaga on 4 March 2019 after landing in Malaga.

'The cabin crew assisted by doctors onboard provided first aid and on arrival emergency services attended to provide medical care however the passenger sadly passed away.

'Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the passenger and we have offered support and assistance at this difficult time.

'The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority.

'The cabin crew did a seatbelt check which is noted in the witness report by Jacob Henry Rodgers which we have read. It says the passenger was sleeping at this time.

'An onboard doctor performed CPR alongside the crew whilst the aircraft was taxi-ing to its stand.

'The aircraft was met by paramedics and CPR continued but unfortunately the passenger sadly passed away.

'Our ground staff and crew will not allow any passenger to travel should they believe they are unwell and unfit to travel.'

The airline added the dead woman presented no symptoms which 'would warrant concern or any action prior to prevent them from travelling at that time.'
A leopard cub who got lost in a sugar cane plantation could be reunited with its mother after being recovered by local farmers in western India.

The tiny cub, estimated to be around nine weeks old, had become separated from its mother after being left in the dense vegetation of a field in a village in Pune, south of Mumbai in Maharashtra state.

It was found by a group of farmers, who raised the alarm with local forestry officials, who in turn arranged for a rescue operation to be organised by charity Wildlife SOS.

Video footage captured on a night-vision camera shows the heart-warming moment mother and cub meet once more.

The tiny cub, estimated to be around nine weeks old, was separated from its mother after being left in the dense vegetation of a sugar cane field in Nagapur village, India

Free at last: The leopard mother nudged the clear plastic box over to release her cub and carry it off into the jungle

The leopard picked up her cub by the neck and ran off after knocking over the plastic box

The young leopard was placed inside a clear plastic box, and placed in the same field where it had gotten lost, and soon its cries attracted its mother.

Video shows her cautiously sniffing the plastic box, which had been secured with a stone on the lid, before eventually nudging it onto its side and releasing the cub to freedom.

Initially scared by the falling device, the mother is seen creeping nervously over to the cub in the box.

As the little leopard emerged, she is begins to lick it all over, before picking it up by the neck and disappearing with it back into the jungle.

The operation took place where farming and man-made activities are increasingly encroaching on the territory of the leopards.

The leopard could her the cries of her cub coming from inside the box wildlife rescuers left it inside after it was found in a sugar cane field

Wildlife SOS rescuers checked over the cub after farmers found it and raised the alarm. Villagers were wary of reuniting the mother and cub over fears of being attacked

The operation was a double success because terrified villagers worried about being attacked by the mother looking for her youngster wanted the cub taken far away to prevent any aggression.

Villagers argued that the stressed mother leopard had been a threat to their lives.

But the team managed to persuade them that they could reunite mother and cub and were delighted when the operation was a success.

Wildlife SOS veterinarian Ajay Deshmukh said: 'The leopard mother emerged from the jungle at around 9.30pm and looked very relaxed at finding her cub apparently unharmed.

'It underlines why we make every effort to ensure cubs are reunited with their mothers when possible.'

After grabbing her offspring in her mouth the leopard carried her cub off back into the jungle

He said it was the 52nd successful rescue operation in reuniting cubs with their mothers where they would be raised in a natural way in the jungle rather than ending up in captivity.

Local forestry officer Prayjot Palve said: 'The Forest Department is aware of the past successful leopard cub reunions conducted by Wildlife SOS.

'On learning about the leopard cub, we instantly reached out to the NGO for assistance.

'We are extremely grateful for their support in our efforts to mitigate man-leopard conflict situations in the state and spreading awareness on such issues.'

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder & CEO of Wildlife SOS, told Asia Wire that the number of leopard sightings and conflicts increase during the pre-harvest and harvest season because the dense and tall vegetation makes for a convenient shelter for the leopards to breed in and nurture their cubs.
A French cardinal once tipped as a future Pope has quit after receiving a six-month suspended sentence for covering up child sex abuse by one of his priests.

Philippe Barbarin, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Lyon, was convicted of failing to act on historic allegations of abuse of boy scouts in his diocese.

The 68-year-old, who has is the highest-profile cleric to be caught up in the child sex abuse scandal inside the Catholic Church in France.

He has now said he will submit his resignation to Pope Francis after being found guilty of failing to report allegations of abuse in the 1980s and early 1990s by Reverand Bernard Preynat who is due to go on trial later this year.

'The responsibility and guilt of the cardinal have been confirmed by this judgement. It's an extraordinary symbol, a moment of huge emotion,' a lawyer for the victims, Yves Sauvayre, told reporters afterwards.

Barbarin, who was not in court for the verdict, would contest the decision, his lawyers said. 'We'll see you here in a few months time for an appeal,' defence lawyer Jean-Felix Luciani told reporters outside the courtroom.

French cardinal Philippe Barbarin (pictured) who covered up child sex abuse by one of his priests has walked from from court after receiving a six-month suspended sentence

Barbarin said today that the victims and their family were in his prayers.

He and five former aides went on trial in Lyon at a time when the Catholic Church has been hit by abuse scandals in countries as far afield as Australia, Chile and the United States.

The outcome of the trial, which began in January, had been long awaited in France.

Earlier, he had said: 'I cannot see what I am guilty of. I never tried to hide, let alone cover up these horrible facts.'

But Francois Devaux, who leads a victims' group in Lyon and was one of up to 85 victims of Preynat, called Thursday's verdict a 'major victory for child protection.'

The case broke three years ago and lawyers for nine adult plaintiffs - former boy scouts allegedly abused by priest Preynat - took legal action.

Since the abuse relates to acts committed before 1991, prosecutors had declined to press charges because of the statute of limitations.

The trial went ahead only because the plaintiffs bypassed the prosecutor's office and insisted, as they are entitled, on putting their case before a court.

Under French law, the court can still convict and even jail the suspect, regardless of the prosecutor's position.

Philippe Barbarin (pictured), the Roman Catholic archbishop of Lyon, was convicted of failing to act on historic allegations of abuse of boy scouts in his diocese

Barbarin and his co-defendants have denied covering up the scandal, with the archbishop saying he found out the full story about the priest only after it became public.

Preynat, who was charged with sexual abuse in 2016, is expected to be tried later this year.

He was first interviewed by church leaders in 1991, but Barbarin only suspended him and stopped him from working with children in September 2015.

Plaintiffs point to an exchange in 2015 between Barbarin and the Vatican, which advised him to dismiss the offending priest 'while avoiding public scandal'.

Jean Boudot, lawyer for the victims, accused Barbarin of being a 'liar' when he said he had only learned of the breadth of the damage in 2014.

Barbarin said he confronted Preynat, about the abuse 'rumours' in 2010 but let the matter drop after Preynat insisted he had changed.

In 2014, after meeting with one of the priest's victims, Barbarin contacted the Vatican about the affair, but he only removed the priest from his post a few months later.

Two other French religious figures have been convicted of failing to report child abuse in the past: the archbishop of Bayeux-Lisieux, Pierre Rican, in 2001, and the former bishop of Orleans, Andre Fort, last year.

Pope Francis last month promised an 'all-out battle' to tackle every single case of sexual abuse by priests, comparing paedophilia to 'human sacrifice', but drew an angry response from victims.
The daughter of a Brisbane man who was detained in Egypt for a year has told of her anguish after his attempt to return to Australia was blocked by Egyptian authorities.

Hazem Hamouda, 55, was released from prison last month after being detained at the notorious Taro prison - despite never being charged with any offences.

His nightmare began when he was arrested at the airport in January of last year and accused by Egyptian authorities of being a supporter of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

The daughter of a Brisbane man (pictured) who was detained in Egypt for a year has told of her anguish after his attempt to return to Australia was blocked by Egyptian authorities

Following a spell in police custody after his release from prison, Mr Hamouda tried to board a plane back to Australia on Wednesday.

But he was turned back with his daughter Saja by authorities citing a lack of documentation.

Speaking to The Project, his daughter Lamisse said the problem at the airport arose when her father was unable to present his Egyptian identification - because it was not given back to him following his release from prison.

'We were hoping to have to have him home by Saturday but now we're really not sure,' she said.

His daughter Lamisse (pictured) said the problem at the airport arose when her father was unable to present his Egyptian identification - because it was not given back to him following his release from prison

'We're absolutely exhausted and sick of it.'

Lamisse said it was unlikely her father would have needed to bribe staff at the airport to be let through, as there was a consular official with him at the time.

The devoted father of six was whisked away by Egyptian security minutes after touching down last year.

Egyptian authorities accused him of being associated with the organisation and spreading false information.

Lamisse said her dad, who was an IT consultant with Queensland Health before flying to Egypt, has nothing to do with the blacklisted organisation.

'Spreading false news covers everything from social media activity to being a television presenter to being a comedian or university student who might have handed out a flyer - it's a very broad accusation,' she told AAP.

Mr Hamouda (pictured with his wife) landed in Egypt on the anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, and was arrested on the same day

Little information has been provided to Mr Hamouda's family, who speculate the accusations may be linked to Facebook posts he made during the Arab Spring in 2011.

'There's no formal evidence and we've been trying to rack our brains why they took dad, that's the only possibility we can come up with, but even then it's not really a reason to arrest someone,' Lamisse said.

'Dad hasn't lived in Egypt for 30 years. He's putting on a brave face but he's broken down quite a few times when we visit.'

Australian journalist Peter Greste has also echoed the family's concerns.

Greste spent 400 days in Tora prison following similar accusations - broadcasting false news and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

'It's pretty grim, there's very little time spent outside the cell... [and] when you've been locked up with no clear charges and no clear end to it all - it's very, very tough,' he told AAP.

'The Australian government certainly needs to be much more publicly involved.'

He spent his days in a 9 x 3 cell that he shares with 13 other men, and the group have only one squat toilet between them
A drug dealer who was caught with more than 120 pills of MDMA at the Defqon. 1 music festival in Sydney has been sentenced to nine months in prison.

David Lefu, 26, from Alfords Point, pleaded guilty to prohibited drug supply after he was arrested at the hardcore festival in Penrith last September.

Police found a total of 126 pills, including 74 capsules with a 'yellowish crystal-like substance', 46 grey triangle tablets, two red-coloured tablets with the Defqon 1 logo stamped on them, and four round white pills, the Daily Telegraph reported.

David Lefu, 26, (pictured) from Alfords Point, was caught with more than 120 pills of MDMA at the Defqon. 1 music festival in Sydney in September

The drug dealer (not pictured) was selling the pills at the hardcore festival for $35 each

'The bag showed a weight of 13.4g and contained 13 smaller, clear resealable bags with purple strips across the top,' according to the agreed police facts.

Lefu was caught in the middle of a drug deal by a security guard and later told police: 'I'm in a lot of trouble, they are mine.'

He said he stocked up on the drugs months ago and admitted to taking three pills that day himself.

Lefu had been selling the pills for $35 each.

The recent spate in drug overdose deaths at Australian music festivals have prompted calls for pill testing to be legalised.

Police found a total of 126 pills, including 74 capsules with a 'yellowish crystal-like substance, 46 grey triangle tablets, two red-coloured tablets with the Defqon 1 logo stamped on them, and four round white pills (stock photo)

Joseph Pham (left) 23, and Diana Nguyen (right) 21, died at Defqon 1 last year after overdosing on drugs.

Revellers Joseph Pham, 23, and Diana Nguyen, 21, died at Defqon 1 last year after overdosing on drugs.

In January, 19-year-old Alex Ross-King, died after she collapsed at the FOMO music festival.

Her death brought the number of fatal overdoses to six - five in NSW and one in Victoria - in the last four months.

The New South Wales government previously rejected pill testing but Premier Gladys Berejiklian indicated earlier this month that she would consider it if the government was shown evidence it could save lives.
A group of bus divers went on labor strike in Yerevan this morning to protest the installation of video surveillance cameras in public transport.

Residents in the capitals Avan district complained about inability to get to work and school since buses serving 41 and 20 Routes had refused to take to the road.

Yerevan Municipality spokesperson Hakob Karapetyan said they are dealing with the issue at the moment.

Recently surveillance cameras have been installed in two buses of the Yerevan Bus CJSC, the operator of Yerevans public transport, in an effort to improve the service quality. This has sparked discontent among the companys drivers, with some of them refusing to operate the routes this morning," Panorama cited Karapetyan as saying.
A gym owner, former high school chaplain and father from Bundaberg has escaped jail time after pleading guilty to violently attacking his wife in front of their child.

The Bundaberg District Court heard how Tyson Karapa Hepi Tehuia, 39, dragged his wife's out of bed by her hair before grabbing her by the throat and smashing her head into a wall in July 2017.

After she fell to the floor from the blow to her head the court heard how Tehuia picked her up and threw her back into the bed.

Gym owner, former high school chaplain and father Tyson Karapa Hepi Tehuia (pictured) escaped jail after pleading guilty to violently attacking his former partner in front of their child

The attack was so severe the woman said she had trouble breathing and her vision became blurred before she started to fear for her life, 7 News reported.

The court heard Tehuia had then threatened to kill his former partner of 17 years.

As a result of the attack the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said she was left with several bruises and now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

Tehuia plead guilty to the charge of assault occasioning bodily harm.

The former chaplain now runs a CrossFit gym in Bundaberg and spent two years as the Bundaberg State High School chaplain, the News Mail reported.

The former Bundaberg State High School chaplain (pictured) dragged his former partner out of bed by her hair before grabbing her by the throat and smashing her head into a wall

Defence barrister Steven Kissick argued his client's time as a high school chaplain and now as a gym owner was a sign of his 'worthwhile contribution to the community'.

Meanwhile the crown prosecutor argued the relationship between Tehuia was a 'volatile' one.

'The complainant could not breathe at the time,' Judge Moynihan said.

'You threatened to kill your partner and you smashed her head against the wall a number of times before she fell to the ground.

'You then picked her up and threw her on the bed... she felt pins and needles in her face, suffered blurred vision, and she thought she was going to die.'

Judge Tony Moynihan sentenced Tehuia to 18 months jail but released him immediately on parole.

A 7 News reporter confronted Tehuia outside the court and asked him how he felt about the sentence but he refused to comment.
Boris Becker is pictured today heading into court for the final stage of his divorce battle with his estranged wife Lilly who was spotted in a south London police station.

Becker, 51, announced he and Dutch-born Sharley, known as Lilly, had separated after 13 years together in May this year.

They featured in a behind-closed-doors hearing at the Central Family Court in London on today, overseen by Judge Christopher Butler.

The 51-year-old ex-tennis star arrived at the family court this morning wrapped up warm in a scarf and coat, while his ex-partner was seen in a south London police station. It is now known why she was there.

Boris Becker seen arriving at the Family court in London this morning for what is reported to be the final part for the divorce with estranged wife Lilly

Dutch born Sharley, known as Lilly, on the phone. A hearing in October heard both had accused the other of 'unreasonable behaviour' and both issued divorce petitions

Lilly Becker, circled in red, pictured at a police station. It is not known why she was attending the station in Kingston

Neither spoke to waiting journalists as they arrived at court and reporters were told that they could not attend the hearing.

Detail of the dispute emerged at earlier hearings which journalists were allowed to attend.

A hearing in October heard both had accused the other of 'unreasonable behaviour' and both issued divorce petitions.

It was Lilly who put in the first petition on May 9 and Boris put his petition in nearly three weeks later on May 29.

At the previous hearing Judge Sarah Gibbons said today the pair have now agreed not to make any argument opposing each other's divorce petitions.

Judge Gibbons previously said: 'Insofar as the main suit is concerned that has been compromised.

'One of the issues that could be reported by the press was the fact both parties issued petitions citing unreasonable behaviour. It can now be reported that they have agreed.'

Three-time Wimbledon champ Becker was declared bankrupt in 2017 - which led to a bid by his legal team claiming he had diplomatic immunity from the financial proceedings.

Boris Becker seen arriving at the family court in London this morning for what is reported to be the final part for the divorce with Lilly

He was appointed attache to the European Union on sporting, cultural and humanitarian affairs by the Central African Republic in April.

His lawyers said in June that the position was covered by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and meant he could not be subjected to any legal proceedings - without the consent of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and his counterpart in Bangui.

But the application to discharge the bankruptcy was put on hold so the matter could be investigated further.

Becker had to pay his previous wife, actress and designer Barbara Feltus, 11million when they divorced in 2001 after an eight-year marriage. He also had to give Barbara their Florida apartment.

At 17-years-old, Becker became the youngest ever men's singles champion at Wimbledon in 1985. He won it again in 1986 and 1989.

He collected 49 singles titles including six Grand Slam trophies in a career spanning more than two decades, retiring in 1999.
Horror footage of a man repeatedly stabbing another man on the ground as a woman stands by and laughs has emerged as a knife crime epidemic grips Britain.

The disturbing scene was filmed outside a pub in Tipton, West Midlands last weekend - as police and politicians struggle to contain the wave of violence sweeping Britain.

In the shocking video, a female bystander giggle as she films a man get repeatedly stabbed in the chest as he lays on the ground during the violent fight.

The terrifying incident took place outside the Royal Oak Pub in Dudley Port on Saturday March 2 after a fight broke out at around 2am.

The clip begins with a group of men fighting and hurling punches at each other by some parked cars outside the pub.

However the fight takes an even more sinister turn when one of the man pulls out a sharp object and starts stabbing another male with it as he lies on the ground.

Eventually another male manages to tear the knifeman off the victim.

The brawl continues but eventually dies down. As the clip ends, someone can be heard shouting 'Call the ambulance fam! Call the ambulance fam!' for the victim.

The horrifying footage has been circulating across social media as shocking figures reveal the scale of knife crime in Britain this year

One of the men can be seen with a blade in his hand on the street

The victim was rushed to hospital by medics with stab wounds after the incident. He remains in a stable condition.

Following the fight, police launched a hunt for the knifeman and yesterday, a 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and suspicion of affray. He has now been released pending further investigations.

One said: 'Best solution to stopping knife crime is to ram a 20 year stretch up the next c*nt caught with one and make an example of them. Guaranteed to work. Far too many young life's taken far too early, life's too cheap.'

Other users condemned the individual who filmed the clip one said: 'How can anyone film this and think it's funny. Madness. Potentially filming a murder'

The brawl involved at least a dozen men and took place outside a pub in Tipton

Detective Inspector Jackie Nicholson of West Midlands Police said 'We are still trying to identify all of those involved in the disorder, and have examined footage relating to this incident that has been circulated on social media.

'We would appeal for anyone who has images or video from the night, or who has other information, to get in touch with us via Live Chat.'

Anyone with information should contact police via Web Chat from 8am to midnight at www.west-midlands.police.uk, call 101 or ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Please quote reference number 298 of 2/3.
Philip Hammond (pictured yesterday outside Downing Street) said a smooth exit from the European Union would help free more money for public services

Philip Hammond has turned down demands by police forces and Sajid Javid for emergency funding to deal with knife crime, but said more cash could be available if Brexit goes smoothly.

Mr Hammond insisted that police budgets were going up, saying forces had 460 million more available to them this year, and would have nearly 1 billion more available to them next year.

The Chancellor said a smooth exit from the European Union would help free more money for public services.

He said: 'If we get the right Brexit deal done, and a smooth exit from the European Union so that we can release the money that we've set aside to deal with the possible disruption of a no-deal exit, then that will give us more money still that we can put into public services over the next three years.'

Rather than relying on emergency funding, Mr Hammond told police forces to move resources to deal with knife crime.

'What we need to see now is a surging of resources from other areas of policing activity into dealing with this spike in knife crime,' he said.

'And that's what you do in any organisation when you get a specific problem occurring in one area of the operation - you move resources to deal with that.

'And what the public will want to know is that this Friday night and this Saturday night there are going to be more police officers focused on dealing with knife crime, and that means necessarily fewer police officers that will be dealing with other lower priority areas of activity.'

He suggested it would not be possible to solve the problem in the short term only by recruiting more officers.

'If you've got an immediate problem, and this is an immediate problem, you cannot solve it by recruiting and training more officers - that takes time,' he said.

'What you have to do is redirect your resources, change your priorities, to deal with the immediate priority issue.'

His comments on police resources were labelled 'monstrous' by Labour, and an 'insult to grieving families'.

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott asked Home Office minister Victoria Atkins: 'Does she accept that many people will find the fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is suggesting that all the police have to do is move resources from other areas to fight knife crime is monstrous, and an insult to grieving families?'

Ms Atkins did not directly address the question in her response, but pointed to the Government decision to 'increase police resources by nearly a billion pounds' last month.

Murder map: The shocking scale of knife deaths in Britain so far in 2019

Mrs May also faced mounting pressure from Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured yesterday) and senior officers, who went public with demands for increased funding

Theresa May (pictured yesterday) could launch a crackdown within months in which would-be knife thugs will be treated in the same way as potential jihadists

Mr Hammond's intervention came as a man in his 20s became the 14th stabbing fatality in 16 days as police and politicians struggle to contain the wave of violence.

The man, named locally as David Rodriguez, was stabbed six times inside a house in Leyton, east London, before being chased barefoot down the street, reportedly by three men, before collapsing and dying.

Within hours of his death, the 22-year-old victim of an attack in Oxford on February 27 died in the John Radcliffe hospital. He had been run over and repeatedly stabbed, police said.

His death follows a string of high-profile stabbings in recent days, including 17-year-olds Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, who were killed in separate incidents in London and Greater Manchester over the weekend.

In Coventry, a 14-year-old schoolgirl was chased by up to 15 other teenagers before being attacked with what one witness described as scissors. The victim's injuries are not life-threatening a 16-year-old girl was arrested.

The rash of killings has sparked a heated political debate about what policies would best deal with the issue.

Downing Street plans to treat would-be knife thugs in the same way as potential jihadists as part of a new crackdown.

Under the new regime, councils, schools and agencies would be required to report children considered to be at risk of being dragged into knife and gang crime.

They would then be offered support to help turn them away from violence.

Sadiq Khan rolls his eyes when probed on knife crime funding Major of London Sadiq Khan today rolled his eyes when he faced questions from a Sky News reporter about funding for the fight against knife crime. Mr Khan claimed he had done 'as much as I am allowed to do under the law' by setting up a 45million youth fund and raising council taxes. But the Major insisted cuts in funding from central government had left him hamstrung. Sadiq Khan during today's interview on knife crime 'I've raised council tax three years in a row, but also used the money from business rates to invest in policing and youth services,' he told Sky. 'The investment we are putting in doesn't fill the massive hole left by the Government.' At this point Sky's Sarah-Jane Mee interrupted, saying: 'You keep shifting it onto central government.' Mr Khan then rolled his eyes in frustration, before the presenter asked why he wasn't 'taking personal responsibility' for the issue. Advertisement

The system, which could be launched by Theresa May within months, mirrors the Prevent programme used to identify children at risk of being sucked into extremism.

Details of the plans emerged as the Prime Minister tried to get on the front foot after days of damaging headlines over crime.

She fought off a barrage of attacks in the Commons over law and order yesterday. At Prime Minister's Questions, Jeremy Corbyn tried to make political capital out of the issue as he demanded more money for policing.

Mrs May also faced mounting pressure from Home Secretary Sajid Javid and senior officers, including Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick, who went public with demands for increased funding.

And in an unprecedented broadside, former Scotland Yard chief Lord Stevens questioned whether Mrs May understood policing and criticised her decision as home secretary to make stop and search more bureaucratic.

He called for less political correctness in forces and a return to 'proper, hard-edged policing' to strip thugs of their confidence.

Lord Stevens told Radio 4's World at One: '[Mrs May] hasn't listened to what's been going on and it's not good enough.'

.Mr Javid hosted a knife crime summit with senior police officers at the Home Office yesterday. Before the meeting, Sara Thornton, chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council, called for 'emergency funding'.

'Look at the facts  there are fewer police officers doing less policing and there's more crime,' she told the BBC.

The Home Secretary agreed, saying: 'Police resources are very important to deal with this. We've got to do everything we can.

'I'm absolutely committed to working with the police in doing this. We have to listen to them when they talk about resources.'

At Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, Mrs May and Mr Javid clashed on how to handle knife crime as he demanded changes to stop and search powers. Senior sources said the Prime Minister is expected to agree to his request to make it easier for forces to use Section 60 powers that allow them to search individuals without suspicion, but it will be limited to use in some knife-crime hotspots.

On funding, Mrs May pointed out that the police were handed 460million more in the current financial year and will receive nearly 1billion extra next year.

Composite picture of some of the people who have lost their lives to knife crime this year. Top row, from left: Tudor Simionov, Jaden Moodie, Nedim Bilgin, Lejean Richards, Dennis Anderson. Middle row, from left: Patrick Hill, Sidali Mohamed, Bright Akinleye, Abdullah Muhammad, Glendon Spence. Bottom row, from left: Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, Hazrat Umar, Che Morrison, Jodie Chesney, Yousef Ghaleb Makki

Flowers at the scene in Leyton (left) and a blood smear near to where the body was found

An officer mans a cordon today on North Birkbeck Road in Leyton, east London, where a man was stabbed to death last night

Money for forces will be considered again in the spending review later this year, but Treasury sources said there will be no new cash in Chancellor Philip Hammond's Spring Statement next week. The 'Prevent-style' powers will form part of a major set of policy proposals expected within weeks. They are likely to mirror the approach taken in Glasgow in the mid-2000s to combat spiralling knife violence.

Over a decade, the approach is credited with halving deaths from stabbings in a city once dubbed the 'knife crime capital of Britain'.

Mrs May told MPs a consultation would address knife crime as a 'public health issue' and praised the work of Strathclyde Police in Glasgow. She also pledged to meet victims' families in the coming days and announced a further summit involving police and other agencies to be held within weeks.

She said: 'The death of anyone through an act of violence is an appalling tragedy. A growing number of young people have lost their lives in a cycle of mindless violence that has shocked us all.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of all the victims.

'The responsibility for these crimes lies with the perpetrators of them, but we must all do more to ensure that justice is served and to tackle the root causes of this violence so that we can bring it to an end and ensure the safety of our young people.'

The spate of recent killings has sparked intense scrutiny of cuts to officer numbers, which in England and Wales have fallen by more than 20,000 since 2009.

At the weekend two 17-year-olds, Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, were killed in separate stabbings in London and Greater Manchester

Mr Corbyn accused the Prime Minister of attempting to police 'on the cheap'.

But Tory sources pointed out that Labour had voted against more funds for the police, and against tough sentencing powers for carrying a knife.

Earlier this week Mrs May, who was home secretary from 2010 to 2016, argued there was 'no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers'.

Her spokesman accepted that 'resources and powers are important', but said: 'It's hugely important that we don't just treat this as a policing issue, that we do look across society at things such as changes in the drugs market and address issues like gang culture with children being groomed into this lifestyle and carrying knives.'

Asked yesterday whether the Prime Minister is up to dealing with the knife crime crisis, Lord Stevens said: 'I doubt it.' He later accused the Government of 'taking their eye off the ball' because of Brexit.
Maddie Corman, 49, of Harlem, New York, remains married to Jace Alexander (pictured together in 2014)

An actress whose husband pleaded guilty to child pornography charges has created a one-woman play about her ordeal - revealing the couple are still married nearly four years later.

Maddie Corman, 49, of Harlem, New York, explained how after rehab, couples therapy and much agonizing over ethics and forgiveness, she still remains with her director husband Jace Alexander, best known for his work on Law & Order.

Yet speaking to The New York Times, Ms Corman expressed her fears that by staying with her husband she is undermining the #MeToo movement, having been one of nine women who last year spoke out against the playwright Israel Horovitz.

In 2016, Alexander pleaded guilty to two felony counts related to possessing and sharing illegal and obscene performances of sexual conduct by a child under 17.

The director was sentenced to ten years probation and had to register as a sex offender.

Ms Corman, the star and writer of Accidentally Brave, which opens this month at the DR2 Theater in the city, discovered Alexanders sordid crimes after the father of her three children was arrested three and a half years ago.

She recalled how at first she thought there had been a terrible mistake: [This was a man who] listens to NPR and makes bad jokes and sings songs at the piano and reads The New Yorker and plans for the future and who doesnt flirt with my friends.

However, when her husband of 21-years confirmed it was true, she picked him up in Brooklyn following his release on bail and claims to have punched him.

During the saga, Ms Corman started writing down her experience, and her friend Kristin Hanggi - who directs Accidentally Brave - encouraged her to turn it into a play.

In 2016, Alexander pleaded guilty to two felony counts related to possessing and sharing illegal and obscene performances of sexual conduct by a child under 17. The director was sentenced to ten years probation and had to register as a sex offender

And while the actress admitted she fears what people will say and whether it could hurt her children even more, Ms Corman told the publication that she often reminds herself that doing the performance wont be as scary as living it was.

The actress, who revealed she still suffers flashbacks, added: I wouldnt wish what happened to me or my kids on anyone.

Ms Corman and her husband, whose mother is the actress Jane Alexander (pictured together), had to sell their family home

'But the way that I feel, and honestly the way that my husband feels, is that when we keep things in the dark, thats when shame and pain actually grows.

Ms Corman and her husband, whose mother is the actress Jane Alexander, had to sell their family home in Dobbs Ferry, New York, as everyone knew in the small town, while their children switched schools.

Now the breadwinner, her husband is currently producing a documentary - working title Tsunami - about pornography and how destructive it can be.

According to a police report at the time, Alexander published a short film on the file-sharing site Torrent showing a 12-year-old girl performing sex acts in June 2016. Another video found on his computer showed a six-year-old girl masturbating.
Singapore has banned a Swedish metal band with Satanic beliefs from performing just hours before the group's concert today.

Regulators had initially granted permission for the show by Watain, a group of black-clad, tattooed rockers, as long as they removed songs deemed religiously offensive from their performance.

But they decided to cancel the concert at EBX Live Space shortly before its scheduled start after advice from the conservative city-state's home affairs ministry.

Regulators had initially granted permission for the show by Watain (pictured), a group of black-clad, tattooed rockers, as long as they removed songs deemed religiously offensive from their performance

Watain has gained an avid following thanks to its nightmarish live shows, which have included performing Satanic ceremonies on stage and dousing their fans with pig's blood.

The Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) said it cancelled the concert following an assessment submitted to it by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

'MHA has expressed serious concerns about the concert, given the bands history of denigrating religions and promoting violence, which has potential to cause enmity and disrupt Singapores social harmony,' the IMDA said in a statement.

'Watain is known for its Satanist views and some of their previous controversial performances involved animal carcasses and throwing pig's blood on its audience,' the statement added.

Erik Danielsson of Watain performs on stage at Electric Ballroom on December 8, 2013 in London

It said the band also 'espouses anti-Christian views and advocates Satanism through their songs and endorses violence'.

The statement continued: 'MHA has therefore asked IMDA to consider cancelling the concert for reasons of public order, and IMDA has agreed.'

Ahead of the event, an online petition was posted on the website change.org calling on the government to ban Watain as they 'do not represent the culture which we want in our youths'.

The petition said that 'subliminal messages in their songs include death and suicide'.

Watain frontman Erik Danilsson slammed the cancellation.

He described the decision as 'self-righteous attempts to govern other people's lives and decisions, as if our supporters in Singapore were incapable of deciding for themselves'.

Regulators had initially granted permission for the concert in Singapore (pictured) by Watain as long as they removed songs deemed religiously offensive from their performance

Some online commentators were angered by the ban, saying that people should be allowed to make up their own minds about the group, but the decision was welcomed by others.

'Just looking at the stage is enough to tell this is a Satanic performance,' wrote Wilkie Ong Keng Soon on the Facebook page of Singaporean broadcaster Channel News Asia, adding the ban was the 'right thing to do'.

Singapore keeps a tight rein on public speech and the media - especially when it comes to matters related to race and religion - but bans are fairly rare.

Future Music Festival Asia was cancelled by the Singapore government in 2015 due to worries it might encourage drug use, with drug trafficking being punishable by death in Singapore.
Sadiq Khan today rolled his eyes and said 'I've done all I can' as he was grilled over his failure to tackle London's knife crime epidemic - four years after promising to do 'everything in my power' to cut stop and search.

The Mayor of London made the vow in 2015 while still on the campaign trail, claiming the tactic was 'overused' and undermined public confidence in the police.

In his Sky News interview today, Mr Khan said he had done 'as much as I am allowed to do under the law' to curb knife crime by raising council tax three years in a row and using money from business rates to invest in policing and youth services.

Instead, he insisted cuts in central government funding had left him hamstrung. 'The investment we are putting in doesn't fill the massive hole left by the Government,' he said in an interview with Sky News. Around 75 percent of his police budget comes from central government, with the rest coming from council tax and business rates.

At this point Sky's Sarah-Jane Mee interrupted, saying: 'You keep shifting it onto central government.' Mr Khan then rolled his eyes in frustration, before the presenter asked why he was not 'taking personal responsibility' for the issue.

Asked what he was doing to combat the epidemic, Mr Khan said: 'We are doing a number of things, City Hall is funding a violent crime task force; 300 officers who are targeting high knife crime areas.

Mr Khan today claimed on Sky News that he had done 'as much as I am allowed to do under the law' to tackle knife crime by setting up a 45million youth fund and raising council taxes

'Over the course of the first eight months, theyve made over 3,000 arrests leading to charges and taken more than 1,000 knifes and offensive weapons off the streets.

'The point I make is the causes of the increase in violent crime are complex, deep-seated problems.

'Im not excusing criminality, poverty, social alienation, inequality, mental health issues, but these are made far worse by the massive cuts weve had in police numbers and preventative services.

'That is why we are lobbying the Prime Minister to step up and take a lead on this issue.'

The interview came after a fatal stabbing yesterday in Leyton, east London, bought the number of murders in the capital this year to 21.

Mr Khan also faced criticism for jetting off on holiday with his wife to Marrakech on Saturday, hours after the unprovoked murder of 17-year-old girl scout Jodie Chesney - and fatal stabbing of A* student Yousef Makki - shocked Britain.

It sparked a huge debate on how to tackle the knife crisis gripping the UK's streets, with Theresa May, Sajid Javid and police chiefs all weighing in on the 'national emergency'.

And today Chancellor Philip Hammond faced a backlash after he rejected a plea for more cash to curb the problem - then suggested officers may get money if Brexit goes smoothly.

The Mayor's actions during the interview sparked anger on Twitter, with one person accusing him of being 'out of his depth'

The comments by Sadiq Khan sparked anger, with Susan Hall, a Tory member of the Greater London Assembly, telling MailOnline: 'The fact that Sadiq Khan rolled his eyes when an interviewer dared to question him about London's crime epidemic really does sum up this Mayor's complacent attitude towards violent crime.

'Throughout his mayoralty Khan has consistently failed to get a grip on crime, focusing instead on obsessing about Brexit and rushing out gimmicky policies like his TfL food ad ban.'

Others vented their fury on Twitter, where one user accused Mr Khan of being 'out of his depth'.

Chris Wade said: 'He's done bugger all. More plod watching internet than in murder squad. #priorities.'

Freddie Shepherd tweeted: '@SadiqKhan have some humility man. It's not all Governments fault. You have a budget.

'You are putting it towards gender neutral loos, banning bikini ads and PR. You have failed on housing you have failed on knife crime.'

And Adam Goldie added: 'What a terrible human to roll his eyes whilst talking about a knife epidemic that he is too inept to control. What an awful awful human.'

Mr Khan's previous comments criticising stop and search could prove controversial amid the recent wave of stabbings.

Richard Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, has called for emergency powers bolstering officers' stop-and-search abilities to be extended across the country.

He backs the use of an order known as section 60, which allows police officers to search suspects without needing 'reasonable grounds'.

The controversial powers have been introduced by West Midlands Police after three teenagers died in just 11 days. Officers say they have taken dozens of blades off the streets since the order was enforced last week.

Mr Khan said today stop and search was a vital tool 'when used properly' and backed up by prior intelligence.

Bring back stop-and-search to stop bloodshed across Britain, demands police leader Stop-and-search powers must be reintroduced in Britain to combat the country's stabbing crisis, a senior police officer has claimed. Richard Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, has called for emergency section 60 powers to be rolled out across the country. He said that the use of the temporary order, which allows police officers to search suspects without needing 'reasonable grounds', would help stem the bloodshed. The controversial powers have been introduced by West Midlands Police after three teenagers died in just 11 days. The force says that it has taken dozens of blades off the streets since the order was enforced last week. Advertisement

The Mayor found himself on the back foot again today in an interview on LBC, when presenter James O'Brien said it did not look like 'he cared enough' about the impact of knife crime.

He responded: 'I hope you can see from my face the impact it has on my well-being and my health in relation to my concerns about safety.

'I meet bereaved families all the time. I can't believe anybody who meets a bereaved family doesn't have an effect on them. I've been to too many funerals. I've met too many bereaved and grieving siblings.

'I'm not making excuses for my imperfections.'

Asked for what he would have done differently, Mr Khan said: 'I wish I'd been more effective in getting the Prime Minister to meet me.'

The interview came after 14 fatal stabbings in the UK over 16 days, including that of a man in his 20s who shouted 'help, they're after me' as he fled barefoot from his house after being stabbed six times before bleeding to death in the street.

The man, named locally as David Rodriguez, was helped by onlookers who tried to stem his wounds and give him CPR as a suspect fled the scene yesterday in Leyton, east London, according to a witness.

Other victims include 17-year-olds Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, who were killed in separate incidents in London and Greater Manchester over the weekend.

In Coventry, a 14-year-old schoolgirl was chased by up to 15 other teenagers before being attacked with what one witness described as scissors. The victim's injuries are not life-threatening a 16-year-old girl was arrested.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid is calling for more money to tackle knife crime, while Theresa May and Met Commissioner Cressida Dick recently clashed over whether a reduction in officer numbers had fuelled the problem.

Murder map: The shocking scale of knife deaths in Britain so far in 2019

Mrs May also faced mounting pressure from Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured yesterday) and senior officers, who went public with demands for increased funding

Meanwhile, Chancellor Philip Hammond has resisted calls for more funding by saying police should divert the resources they already had to the issue.

Philip Hammond (pictured yesterday outside Downing Street) said a smooth exit from the European Union would help free more money for public services

Mr Hammond said police forces need to move officers off 'lower priority' crime and onto knife violence.

He also suggested there would be more money for public services if MPs voted for the Prime Minister's Brexit deal.

'What we need to see now is a surging of resources from other areas of policing activity into dealing with this spike in knife crime,' he told the Today programme.

'And that's what you do in any organisation when you get a specific problem occurring in one area of the operation - you move resources to deal with that.

'And what the public will want to know is that this Friday night and this Saturday night there are going to be more police officers focused on dealing with knife crime, and that means necessarily fewer police officers that will be dealing with other lower priority areas of activity.'

Bloodshed Britain: The 21 murders in London so far this year January 1: Charlotte Huggins, 33, is believed to have been the first homicide victim in London in 2019. She was stabbed in Camberwell, south-east London, in the early hours of New Year's Day. January 1: Later that day, security guard Tudor Simionov, also 33, was stabbed to death at about 5.30am as he tried to prevent gatecrashers storming a private party in Park Lane, central London. January 4: Simbiso Aretha Moula, 39, was found murdered in her home in Rainham, east London. Her husband, Garikayi Moula, was found hanged. Police were not seeking anyone else in connection with the murder. January 5: Sarah Ashraf, 35, was found dead in a home in the Isle of Dogs, east London. A 32-year-old man was charged with murder. January 8: Just 14 years old, Jaden Moodie was knocked off a moped and stabbed to death in Leyton, east London. January 11: Asma Begum, 31, was found with a neck injury in a property City Island Way, Tower Hamlets. A 46-year-old man was charged with murder. January 27: Kamil Malysz, 34, was found stabbed to death in a shared house in Acton, west London. January 29: Nedim Bilgin, 17, was the victim of a knife attack in Caledonian Road, Islington, north London. February 3: A 46-year-old man was found dead at a medical facility in Highgate, north London. A 21-year-old was charged with murder. February 5: Lejean Richards, 19, was fatally stabbed in Battersea, south-west London. February 10: A man, believed to be in his 30s, was found fatally stabbed in East Dulwich, south-east London. February 18: Bright Akinleye dies after walking into a hotel reception in Camden, north London, with stab wounds. February 19: Brian Wieland, 69, found dead with multiple head injuries at his home in Chingford, east London. February 21: Glendon Spence, 23, was killed outside a youth club in Brixton, south London. Police have charged two 17-year-olds with murder. February 22: Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, 19, was murdered in Wood Green, Haringey. Police said that he and a another man, aged 20, were both found with stab wounds. February 25: Spaniard David Lopez-Fernandez, 38, was pronounced dead after being found with stab wounds at an address in Globe Road in Tower Hamlets, east London. A 36-year-old man was charged with murder. February 26: Che Morrison, 20, died after being stabbed to death outside Ilford station in east London. March 1: Jodie Chesney, 17, was stabbed to death in an east London park. March 2: A 50-year-old was found dead with fatal knife injuries at a property in Hendon, north-west London. A 54-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion murder. March 2: A baby girl, aged three months, was found dead at a residential address in Croydon. A 40-year-old woman has been charged with murder. March 6: A man, named locally as David Rodriguez, is stabbed to death in Leyton. Advertisement

He added: 'If we get the right Brexit deal done, and a smooth exit from the European Union so that we can release the money that we've set aside to deal with the possible disruption of a no-deal exit, then that will give us more money still that we can put into public services over the next three years.'

Mr Hammond's comments on police resources were labelled 'monstrous' by Labour, and an 'insult to grieving families'.

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott asked Home Office minister Victoria Atkins: 'Does she accept that many people will find the fact that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is suggesting that all the police have to do is move resources from other areas to fight knife crime is monstrous, and an insult to grieving families?'

Ms Atkins did not directly address the question in her response, but pointed to the Government decision to 'increase police resources by nearly a billion pounds' last month.

Today, police chiefs wrote to Mrs May to warn that a 'broken' school exclusion system is linked to the surge in knife crime. Mr Khan co-signed the letter, which calls for an end to unofficial 'off-rolling' exclusions.

'Clearly, the way the education system deals with excluded young people is broken,' the letter said.

'It cannot be right that so many of those who have committed offences have been excluded from school or were outside of mainstream education.

'That is why the time has come to act urgently. In the first instance, local authorities need powers and responsibilities over all school exclusions.

'Time and again we are hearing how the fragmentation of the education system, and the breaking of the link between schools and local authorities, has led to a lack of accountability, co-ordination and action.'

The letter, signed by six Police and Crime Commissioners in England and one in Wales, follows a sharp rise in exclusions in London and the West Midlands - two areas worst-hit by knife violence.

Figures show permanent exclusions in England increased by 56% between 2013-14 and 2016-17.

There was a 40% rise in London and 62% rise in the West Midlands during that period, according to Department for Education data.

The letter adds: 'There is significant variation by schools as to what will result in exclusion, with many excluded pupils moving between local authority areas and also out of their cities.

'The practice of off-rolling must be outlawed.'

Some schools have been accused of off-rolling - removing difficult-to-teach pupils from registers - to boost their average exam results.

In December last year Ofsted found thousands of children 'disappearing' from school rolls around GCSE exam times between January 2016 and January 2017.

The Government is also urged to increase funding for schools to improve early intervention for children at risk of exclusion.

'Our schools are facing significant funding pressures and many interventions for our most vulnerable children are being cut. This cannot be right and schools must have the necessary resources to deliver good interventions and support to those at risk of exclusion,' the letter says.

An officer mans a cordon today on North Birkbeck Road in Leyton, east London, where a man was stabbed to death last night

Flowers at the scene in Leyton (left) and a blood smear near to where the body was found

Composite picture of some of the people who have lost their lives to knife crime this year. Top row, from left: Tudor Simionov, Jaden Moodie, Nedim Bilgin, Lejean Richards, Dennis Anderson. Middle row, from left: Patrick Hill, Sidali Mohamed, Bright Akinleye, Abdullah Muhammad, Glendon Spence. Bottom row, from left: Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, Hazrat Umar, Che Morrison, Jodie Chesney, Yousef Ghaleb Makki

At the weekend two 17-year-olds, Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, were killed in separate stabbings in London and Greater Manchester

There was more knife-related bloodshed overnight on Wednesday as a man was stabbed to death in Leyton, east London, while a 22-year-old man attacked in Oxford on February 27 died in hospital.

Jodie Chesney's father calls for 'justice' Jodie Chesney's heartbroken father has described his daughter as 'the nicest person ever' and that she 'wouldn't have done anything to deserve this - no way.' The 17-year-old Explorer Scout was murdered in a random and unprovoked attack as she sat with her boyfriend and three other friends in a park in Harold Hill. A man has been arrested in Leicester in connection with the murder. Her distraught father Peter Chesney, told Sky News today: 'She was the nicest person any of us know or knew, everything about being kind and good and thoughtful. 'There's just no way you could do this to a nicer person. I mean, everybody is going to say that about their own kids obviously, but really, look what everyone is saying in other interviews and stuff, she really was just the nicest person ever. 'She would not have done anything to deserve this.' Advertisement

West Midlands Police are also investigating whether knives were used in an incident at Matthew Boulton College in Birmingham on Wednesday afternoon, which left two teenagers in hospital.

Sadiq Khan and seven police and crime commissioners sent a letter to the Prime Minister on Thursday warning that a 'broken' school exclusion system is exacerbating the surge.

'It cannot be right that so many of those who have committed offences have been excluded from school or were outside of mainstream education,' it said.

The letter also urged an end to 'off-rolling' - removing pupils from school registers - to increase average exam results.

On Wednesday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said after an emergency meeting with chief constables that 'police resources are very important to deal with this'.

He said the Government must 'listen' to police 'when they talk about resources'.

The Chancellor insisted police budgets were rising, and said knife crime is 'an immediate problem, you cannot solve it by recruiting and training more officers - that takes time'.

The number of police officers across the 43 forces in England and Wales has fallen by more than 20,000 since 2009 but Prime Minister Theresa May has said there was no correlation between the decline and 'certain crimes'.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused her of trying to protect the public 'on the cheap'.

'Help, they're after me': Horrified witnesses reveal how man in his 20s was 'stabbed six times in his own home before he was chased barefoot before bleeding to death in London street'

Horrified witnesses have described how a man in his 20s shouted 'help, they're after me' as he fled barefoot from his house after being stabbed six times before bleeding to death in the street.

The man, named locally as David Rodriguez, was helped by onlookers who tried to stem his wounds and give him CPR as a suspect fled the scene in Leyton, east London, according to a witness.

The woman, who did not want to be named, told MailOnline: 'He got stabbed at the flats over there - he came running for life. He was screaming for help and crying, he just kept repeating 'help, help, help, they are after me'.'

A police tent set up behind the police cordon is covering the crime scene as forensic officers conduct their enquiries

Forensic officers remove items from the scene of yesterday's stabbing in Leyton, east London

Police officers fought in vain to save Britain's latest stabbing victim, pleading with the dying man 'My friend. Can you hear me? Talk to me'.

The unnamed female witness said: 'He ran towards here and then collapsed on the ground. I was inside and my husband who saw it came running in and said call an ambulance.

'We went outside and a woman was giving him CPR, so many people were trying to help him. He tried to get up but collapsed again, he was asking for water. He was bleeding so much he was turning blue.

'I was on the phone to ambulance telling them needed to come straight away - people were getting towels so soak up the blood - a girl had blood all over her hands. We were all in shock.'

She said a woman was asking the victim what his name was but 'all he could say was that he was Spanish'.

'When the paramedics arrived they took off his shirt and trousers - he had stab wounds all over his body, about six, in his chest, in his legs - there was one in the back of his head,' the witness continued.

'The paramedics opened his chest to tried and save him - you could see his ribs and his heart. They did everything they could but it was too late.

'I asked if he was gone and they said yes - my husband is all over of the place because he looked him in the eye and said he would be ok. It's terrible.

'I was talking to people last night that saw a man running from the scene - they think he was involved.'

Despite frantic efforts by police, and witnesses who rushed to bring blankets to the injured man and gave him a cushion to rest his head, the man died at the scene in East Leyton at around 5.10pm.

An officer mans a cordon today on North Birkbeck Road in Leyton, where a man was stabbed to death last night

A police officer inspects one of the floral tributes left for the stabbing victim in Leyton today

Officers cut away his clothes and attempted to stem the flow of blood before paramedics arrived. One was heard to say as he cut away the trousers: 'He's been stabbed in the leg too.'

As blood poured out of the victim's body a bystander screamed: 'Oh my god.' The officer begged the victim to stay awake at one stage pleading: 'My friend. Mate, mate, mate, talk to me. Can you hear me.'

Another officer says: 'Are you with me? No, he's going.'

Within minutes paramedics arrived and took over giving him oxygen and attempted to save his life. The officer could be heard desperately urging the victim to 'stay with me' as the ambulance arrived and paramedics took over.

Security worker Waqas Sadiq, 33, told MailOnline: 'When I came outside I saw a guy lying on the ground - he was a white guy between 20 and 25, he was lying down on his back.

'There were officers and paramedics trying to save him, I saw he had two stab wounds on the right side of his chest.

'He was breathing at the time and the paramedics were giving him injections near the stab wounds.

'Then at about 5pm or 5.10pm he took his last breath - he put his hands in the air and that was it, the paramedic took out the breathing device. That was his last moment.'

Mr Sadiq said there were 'about 15 people' surrounding the man when he died.

'People said he was chased down the street from his home and he just collapsed in the street,' he said.

'He wasn't wearing trousers or shoes, just a shirt. When the paramedics lifted him on his side I could see a lot of stab wounds in his back. There was a lot of blood.'

Police at the scene of the Leyton stabbing today as the victim was named locally as David Rodriguez

One resident of North Birkbeck Road told how she saw the victim's body being covered by a sheet. 'It was terrible. The body was face-down and he was dead,' she said.

'It is so sad that a young life has been taken. Yet another stabbing! What is going on? Who is going to do something?'

Another resident said: 'My thoughts are with that poor man who is been killed and his family.'

Police say the victim knew the suspect and they do not believe the incident was gang related. No arrests have been made.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said: 'Police are in the process of informing his next of kin. No arrests have been made. A crime scene remains in place. Enquiries continue. A post-mortem examination will take place in due course. Formal identification awaits. Enquiries continue at the scene.

'The Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating and appealing for witnesses to come forward. Anyone with information concerning this incident is urge to call police via 101 quoting CAD 5145/6 March or Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111.'

On Tuesday, police announced they had arrested a man in Leicester in connection with the murder of Jodie Chesney.
A Thai father who promised 240,000 to the man who marries his daughter has scrapped plans for a tournament where suitors would compete for her hand - after too many applied.

Multi-millionaire farm owner Anont Rotthong, from Chumphon province, southern Thailand, took the matter of his daughter Karnsita's future into his own hands with his 'offer'.

But since then, 10,000 men have come forward hoping to marry the 26-year-old heiress. Mr Rotthong, 58, who owns a prosperous durian fruit farm, instantly dismissed one of the candidates as being 'too handsome', fearing that he would end up breaking his daughter's heart.

At first he planned to stage a three-month tournament at his farm in the hope of narrowing down the search.

But after saying he was 'dying because my phone has been ringing off the hook', Mr Rotthong decided he would scrap the idea, Channel News Asia reports.

Comes with a dowry: Karnsita Rotthong, 26, is being offered up to prospective husbands by her own father

Anont Rotthong (left), 58, promises ten million Thai baht (240,000) and his prosperous durian fruit farm in southern Thailand to the man who marries his daughter (right)

However, he has vowed to honour his 'offer' to hand the successful suitor the equivalent of 240,000.

He said: 'Interested sons-in-law, please stop calling me. I'm dying because my phone has been ringing off the hook. Let me rest.'

Among them was Premyosapon Khongsai, 28, whose pitch gained 14,000 likes on Facebook.

'I'm interested. I am 28 years old. My family also grows durian in Trat province. We have over 300 trees  I can weather the sun and the rain. I can drive a 10-wheel truck and tractor. Please consider me, father Anont. Thank you,' he wrote.

But Mr Rotthong is said to have written him off as being 'too handsome' and could end up breaking Karnsita's heart.

The farmer had earlier highlighted that his daughter, who helps him run the family business, speaks fluent English and Chinese and is a virgin.

In some parts of Thailand, custom dictates that a man should pay a dowry for his future wife, but Mr Rotthong says he would waive this 'fee'.

Instead he'll give his future son-in-law ten million Thai baht (240,000), as well as his sprawling durian farm, valued at several million pounds.

Mr Rotthong says there are no restrictions on what nationality the successful 'husband' should be - as long as they 'work hard and make Karnsita happy'.

He said: 'I want someone to take care of my business and make it last. I don't want a person with a bachelor's, or master's or philosopher's degree.

'I want a diligent man. I just want someone with a hard-working attitude. That's all.'

Despite having several other children of his own, including sons who would traditionally inherit the business, he adds: 'As soon as I have an in-law, I will give up all my assets to him.'

Mr Rotthong describes his daughter as a multilingual graduate - speaking Thai, Chinese and English - but also highlights her 'virginity'

Show me the money: The 58-year-old millionaire farmer poses with wads of cash

Heiress: The 26-year-old helps her father on the family's multi-million pound durian farm

Mr Rotthong's durian farm processes some 50 tonnes of the fruit every day, and is the biggest in the region.

The wealthy Buddhist - who loves gold amulets - also owns property and land across the region.

Miss Rotthong said that she was overwhelmed with the attention from her father's post and confirmed that she is 'still single'.

But she hinted that her future boyfriend might have a struggle pocketing the money from her father, because she would 'like to use it herself for plastic surgery in Korea'.

She added: 'I first found out about my father's post when my friend's showed me. I was surprised but I can see the funny side to it, too.

'It is true that I am still single. If I have to get married with someone, I only want him to be a diligent and good person who loves his family.'
Jihadi brides fleeing the last remnants of the ISIS 'caliphate' say they have left behind a 'catastrophic' hell, as the evacuation of civilians will be halted today ahead of a final battle.

One woman described how the town of Baghouz in eastern Syria was subjected to constant bombings and fires, saying: 'you would wake up and everything was destroyed.'

More than 7,000 - mostly women and children, as well as some suspected ISIS fighters - have been packed out of the town in the last two days.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) say they will resume their ferocious siege on the last few hundred jihadists today after helping people to surrender.

A woman evacuated from Baghouz pulls a bag with a youngster on board as her other children trail behind on Wednesday

Children believed to be Yazidis - who were trafficked around Islamic State as slaves - are pictured after their evacuation

An SDF fighter is seen letting off rounds from the back of a pick-up truck at IS targets inside Baghouz

A map of the last remaining ISIS territory in Syria in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, where US-backed coalition forces have held a brutal siege

'The last days were horrible,' said Sana, a 47-year-old Finnish woman among the thousands who fled the bastion on Tuesday.

'Bombing, shooting, burning all the tents... you would wake up and everything was destroyed.'

The operation to smash the last remnant of the 'caliphate' that IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed in 2014 resumed Friday after a long humanitarian pause.

Veiled from head to toe, Sana mixed milk powder with water to feed her children.

The mother of four said she came to Syria with her Moroccan husband four years ago for the sake of Islam.

'In the beginning yes, everything was normal,' she said, beneath a face veil.

'Without bombings, everything was nice, we were happy.'

She lost her husband to a car accident and has followed jihadists across Syria's east and northeast, not settling in one place for longer than 16 months.

A veiled woman drags her baggage through the dirt as she arrives to be screened by SDF men

A small boy holding a bag walks in the holding area a safe distance away from the embattled town of Baghouz

A queue of veiled ISIS brides are loaded onto the back of trucks for transportation to holding camps

An SDF fighter in a balaclava stands guard as sand whips across the desert landscape outside Baghouz

She said she wished she could reverse her decision to join IS.

'But I can't change history, I can't change my past, that is my destiny now.'

Rudimentary tents and a small cluster of battered buildings, nestled in a palm-lined bend of the Euphrates, are all that remains of the IS proto-state.

Its last survivors seek shelter in underground tunnels and inside tents and cars to hide from the shelling.

'We dig tunnels underground, and we cover them with blankets, that's the tents,' said Abu Maryam, a 28-year-old Syrian man from the coastal province of Tartus.

Jihadists allowed women, children and the wounded to quit the bombed-out bastion in recent weeks, but it has prevented men of fighting age from fleeing, according to survivors.

But jihadists are now allowing men to leave as death and destruction take hold.

Abdul Jasem said conditions inside the jihadist encampment were 'catastrophic'.

A frail woman is hauled onto the back of a lorry by an SDF soldier to be evacuated from the last scrap of IS territory

A woman carries food supplies after she was liberated from the ISIS stronghold on Wednesday

A female SDF fighter with an AK-47 slung over her shoulder surveys a crowd of ISIS brides

Men - many suspected former IS fighters - kneel on the dirt as they pray while waiting to be screened

But the Iraqi woman waited until jihadists released her 20-year-old son before escaping, with him and her two daughters.

'Men under 40 who wanted to go out were imprisoned in a guarded tent,' she said. 'But only two days ago they let them go'.

Jihadists themselves are among those who have left.

Some 400 IS fighters were captured on Tuesday night as they attempted to slip out of Baghouz.

The SDF said the escape was organised by a network that had planned to smuggle them to remote hideouts.

A militia commander said the evacuation of people wishing to leave Islamic State's last enclave in eastern Syria will be completed on Thursday.

The SDF has said it wants to ensure all civilians have been evacuated from the besieged enclave of Baghouz before launching a final assault.

Baghouz is the last shred of populated territory held by the Islamic State, which once controlled almost a third of both Iraq and Syria.

An injured woman sits in a wheelchair with her four children close by after they fled the 'catastrophic' town

Civilians crowd the desert as they wait to be loaded onto the back of trucks for transportation to holding camps

An injured man suspected of being a member of the Islamic State lies at a screening area

Children believed to be from the Yazidi community, who were captured by Islamic State, are examined by SDF personnel

'The evacuation operations will continue today too and we hope they will be completed today,' SDF commander Adnan Afrin said.

Islamic State suffered its major military defeats in 2017 when it was driven from the Iraqi city of Mosul and its Syrian headquarters at Raqqa by local forces supported by a U.S.-led international coalition.

Even with its defeat at Baghouz looming large, the group is still widely assessed to represent a security threat with a foothold in patches of remote territory and the capacity to mount guerrilla attacks.
Antonio Boparan faces a second jail term after he was prosecuted for killing a little girl in a car crash following her death nine years after the incident

The father of a little girl who died nine years after she was left severely brain damaged by a speeding Range Rover driver has branded an 18-month jail term for her killer 'a complete insult'.

Little Cerys Edwards was horrifically injured when Antonio Boparan smashed his 2.5-ton Range Rover into her family's Jeep when overtaking on a suburban street in 2006.

She had just turned one at the time of the crash and had to spend the rest of her life on a ventilator before tragically dying in 2015.

After the crash, Boparan  the heir to an 800million food manufacturing fortune  was originally convicted of dangerous driving and jailed for 21 months, but only served six months.

Following Cerys's death, Boparan was brought back before court and was today jailed for 18 months for causing death by dangerous driving.

He will serve nine months of that term behind bars before being released.

Cery's father, Gareth Edwards, slammed the sentence.

He said: 'In reality Boparan will only serve around 15 months behind bars in total for killing a child and destroying several lives, which is a complete insult.

'We have been left with a life sentence without our beautiful little girl whose precious life was stolen from us. We miss Cerys desperately and will always love her.'

The court heard that before the accident on 30mph Streetly Lane in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, Boparan had been travelling at speeds up to 80mph.

Cerys, who had just turned one at the time of the crash, was horrifically injured during the road collision and had to spend the rest of her life on a ventilator before dying in 2015

Edwards was left paralysed, unable to breathe unaided and needing 24-hour specialist care

Boparan overtook two cars, before wobbling from side to side as if losing control.

He then smashed into the Edwards' Jeep Cherokee, which was driven by Cerys's mother Tracey, with husband Mr Edwards a passenger, and their little girl securely fastened in a rear car seat.

Cerys's father added: 'Despite suffering horrendous, unimaginable injuries Cerys never gave up and never stopped smiling. She was an absolute inspiration to so many and her smile always melted our hearts.

'Boparan has never really apologised and never shown genuine remorse to us for his flagrant disregard for road safety and for the devastating injuries he caused Cerys that ultimately cost her her life.

'The police have told us they have never experienced a dangerous driving case as extreme as this. Despite that Boparan was caught speeding again a few weeks later.

'Boparan is a child killer. He has broken our hearts. We now hope we can move on and try and live our lives as best we can while always cherishing our memories of Cerys.'

Cerys, pictured with her mother Tracey when she was three, lived for nine years on a ventilator after the crash, before dying when she contracted a virus in 2015

Simon Davis, prosecuting, said: 'He has pleaded guilty to one charge. The offence was committed on November 11, 2006 but her untimely death was on October 17, 2015.

'Seriously and life-threatening injuries were caused to Cerys and for a number of years she was dependent on medical care.

'Cerys was never able to breath independently following the crash and there were increasingly frequent admissions to hospital.

'On September 9, 2015, she was admitted to Birmingham Children's Hospital - she died just over a month later.'

Cerys died in October 2015, a month before her tenth birthday, from complications related to the traumatic head and spinal injuries she suffered in the 2006 head-on crash.

Boparan was 19 when he caused Cerys's injuries while overtaking in his mother's powerful 57,000 Range Rover - just six months after passing his test. He is now 32.

The Edwards family were returning home from delivering Christmas presents when Boparan crashed into them on the wrong side of the road on the evening of November 11, 2006.

The force of the impact shunted the Jeep more than 40ft down the road, where it collided with another vehicle.

Boparan ploughed his Range Rover Sport into the family's Jeep while speeding at 70mph in a 30mph zone

Case led to changes in death crash jail terms Outrage at Boparan's original short sentence sparked a nationwide campaign, led by Mr and Mrs Edwards, which resulted in a change in the law to ensure anyone convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving could be jailed for up to five years. The new legislation became known as Ceryss Law. The maximum jail term for death by dangerous driving, which Boparan admitted today, is 14 years. The term offenders get is determined by; the harm caused, the responsibility of the driver, the history of the offender, whether they admitted the offence. In this case, Boparan's previous jail time and the long period of time between the crime and the sentencing further reduced the length of his prison stretch. Advertisement

The crash in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, left Cerys unable to speak and in need of round-the-clock care.

She was awarded 5million compensation to pay for her care in 2012 but died in October 2015 at Birmingham Children's Hospital after contracting a virus.

Just weeks after the crash, in January 2007, while awaiting trial for what was then a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, Boparan was clocked doing 95mph in a 50mph limit. He also has a conviction for assault and violent disorder in 2015.

Boparan's father, Ranjit Boparan Singh, is a food manufacturing tycoon known as the 'Chicken King' in the West Midlands. The businessman donated 200,000 toward Cerys's care.

Speaking after Cerys' death in 2015, her father Gareth Edwards, 51, said of Boparan: 'He is a child killer, simple as that. He killed my daughter.

'I cannot turn the clock back - my daughter is gone and is six feet under - all I can do is fight for justice for that little girl.

'Almost 10 years on things have got worse, not better. I live and breathe this every single day. I just want justice for that little girl.

'Cerys is the victim of this. She could not talk, she could not walk, but I will stand up and fight for justice for her. He needs to serve a proper sentence for what he did. He is scum.'

Mr Edwards, of Lichfield, Staffordshire, said despite the short sentence, he hoped the latest case would encourage drivers to act responsibly.

In December the Daily Mail revealed Boparan, also jailed for a year in 2015 over a bar assault, had been summoned to court again after the Attorney General said it was in the public interest to level fresh charges.

James Sturman, defending Boparan, said his client had genuine remorse and that it would be unjust to put him back in prison.

However, Judge Melbourne Inman QC handed Boparan a new 18-month jail term and said: The quality of her [Ceryss] short life was destroyed finally she yielded to her injuries and disabilities and your criminal actions took her life away from her.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkeys allies should not interfere in Ankaras purchase of defense systems from non-NATO countries.

He recalled that Ankara wanted to purchase air defence systems from the U.S., but Washington made obstacles even for purchasing simple equipment.

"If we are NATO allies and Turkey needs something, you must sell that to us. And if you do not want to sell, do not interfere when Turkey is purchasing something it needs from other country," Anadolu Agency cited Cavusoglu as saying.

On Monday, the U.S. Trade Representatives Office said it intends to end Turkeys preferential trade treatment under a program that allowed some exports to enter the United States duty free.
The EU sent Attorney General Geoffrey Cox packing after 'difficult' and 'negative' 11th hour talks failed again leaving Theresa May with 'nothing' that could win her make-or-break Brexit vote, it was revealed today.

Mr Cox has openly admitted he had 'robust' conversations with his counterpart Michel Barnier - diplomatic code for a bust-up - as he returned from Brussels empty handed last night with one source claiming: 'There is no light at the end of the tunnel'.

Without a breakthrough the Prime Minister's Brexit deal faces another catastrophic Commons defeat with a senior Tory admitting: 'Everything is going to be s***' if they lose again next week.

Mr Barnier, who has led negotiations, reportedly would not budge and 'did not want to engage' as he knocked back all the British proposals to break the Irish backstop deadlock demanding Britain 're-drafts' its plans again.

EU sources hit back by claiming Mr Cox had produced 'nothing new' and was offering 'a legal solution to a political problem' with his mini-backstop proposals, adding: 'The two sides are still far from each other'.

Michel Barnier sent Geoffrey Cox back with nothing again with the UK's Attorney General confirming talks have been robust - diplomatic code for a major row

Sabine Weyand, Mr Barnier's deputy, has spoken to the remaining EU27 member state ambassadors on the negotiations with Mr Cox with a briefing note describing the crunch talks as 'negative'.

One diplomat said: 'There's no light at the end of the tunnel. It was gloomy'.

Another said: 'We're still far from an agreement. There's no text on the table. If there's some progress. The point is always the same: how to phrase the backstop in a way that could be acceptable for the UK.'

The EU has warned Theresa May (pictured leaving No 10 tomorrow) she must offer 'acceptable' new ideas within 48 hours if she wants to salvage talks on the Brexit deal

Brussels has now told Theresa May she has 48 hours to save her Brexit deal, which faces a catastrophic defeat in the Commons next week.

There are growing rumours that the Prime Minister could fly to Brussels to meet Jean-Claude Juncker before Monday to force a breakthrough - but is unlikely to travel unless she is sure of a positive result.

Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois told ITV's Peston show last night: 'The rumors today are that Cox has got nothing. It looks like they haven't asked for an end date. It looks like they're talking about some extremely convoluted arbitration procedure, which is probably going to be unconvincing. If it is unconvincing, then I believe that the ERG overwhelmingly will vote against it, because it means we wouldn't leave the EU'.

Senior Tories are said to have told the Prime Minister and Mr Cox they need to bring something new to the table to win over Brexiteers and Labour rebels.

But Mrs May is still expected to lose by up 100 votes without any kind breakthrough.

One source told The Sun: 'If we lose on Tuesday, absolutely everything is going to be s***. I cannot see how we go forward with whatever softer Brexit that gets imposed on us without the party splitting in two. It will be a complete disaster.'

Another told the FT: 'If we lose the vote on March 12, we lose control'.

Labour has already promised to back a second referendum and last night Jeremy Corbyn met with Tory remainers who are campaigning for the softest possible Brexit.

With just five days until the crunch vote on May's Brexit deal, estimates suggest Mrs May is well short of the votes needed to win on Tuesday

Tory sources have said that a Norway-style Brexit would cause such turmoil in the party that it could split in two.

This ramps up even more pressure on the Prime Minister and the Attorney General to secure some kind of legally binding change to her Brexit deal from the EU.

But insiders on both sides have given inside contrasting accounts as talks floundered.

British sources have said that Michel Barnier would not be flexible as talks entered the 11th hour.

A No 10 source told The Sun: 'We made what we thought were some pretty reasonable proposals on Tuesday night. Barnier just didn't want to engage.

The EU has privately pushed back and said the UK is still yet to offer 'anything new' and said: 'What Britain is asking for goes way beyond where Barnier can go. It doesn't look we're going to bridge the gap any time soon'.

Britain has been given until the end of Friday to come forward with fresh proposals to break the Brexit deadlock.

EU officials have said they are ready to work through the weekend if the UK comes forward with an 'acceptable' plan to resolve the impasse over the Northern Ireland backstop, the BBC reported.

Theresa May is facing a crunch Commons vote on Tuesday when she takes her Brexit deal back to MPs following its overwhelming rejection in January by a majority of 230.

The latest row over the backstop  designed to prevent a hard border emerging in Ireland  centres around disagreements over language which could either form a new document to be added to the Withdrawal Treaty or sit alongside it, said to be taken from a letter written by European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker (pictured)

The Prime Minister has staked her hopes of getting through the 'meaningful vote' this time on securing concessions from the EU on the backstop - which has proved the main stumbling block to an agreement.

Tory Brexiteers have been demanding legally-binding assurances the UK cannot be tied indefinitely to EU rules through the backstop, intended to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

However, talks in Brussels on Tuesday between the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay broke up without agreement.

Both sides acknowledged that the meeting had been 'difficult', with reports Mr Barnier complained that Mr Cox had brought forward 'a legal solution to a political problem'.

Answering MPs' questions in the Commons, Mr Cox said discussions with the EU would now 'almost certainly' carry on over the weekend and he dismissed suggestions the Government had failed to come forward with clear proposals.

'We are discussing text with the European Union. I am surprised to hear the comments that have emerged over the last 48 hours the proposals are not clear. They are as clear as day and we are continuing to discuss them,' he said.

Chancellor Philip Hammond warned Tory Brexiteers against voting down Mrs May's deal next week, saying rejecting it would lead to a delay to Brexit.

'If the Prime Minister's deal does not get approved on Tuesday then it is likely that the House of Commons will vote to extend the Article 50 procedure, to not leave the European Union without a deal, and where we go thereafter is highly uncertain,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'For those people who are passionate about ensuring that we leave the European Union on time it surely must be something that they need to think very, very carefully about now because they run the risk of us moving away from their preferred course of action if we don't get this deal through on Tuesday.'

The Chancellor said he believed MPs would not support leaving the EU without a deal, but refused to be drawn on how he would vote if MPs are asked whether they want to delay Britain's withdrawal.

'I'm not going to speculate about something that hasn't happened and I don't think will happen because I think the Government is very clear where the will of Parliament is on this,' he said.

'Parliament will vote not to leave the European Union without a deal next Wednesday, I have a high degree of confidence about that.'

Meanwhile, French Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau said the Withdrawal Agreement could not be reopened, and that it represented 'best possible solution'.
A teenager has been killed and at least 32 people were injured by a grenade blast at a bus station in Indian-controlled Kashmir today.

The grenade was hurled at the main bus station in Jammu city and rolled beneath a bus, where it exploded, police said.

The injured were taken to a hospital, including at least four who were in critical a condition.

Initially authorities said at least 18 were wounded, but local media has reported as many as 32 people suffered shrapnel and bomb blast injuries.

A teenager was one of four critical patients rushed for treatment, but later died in hospital, reports the Times of India.

Police said they are investigating who was responsible for the attack.

In the past, Indian authorities have blamed rebels fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region for similar grenade attacks, often without producing any evidence.

An injured man being carried on a stretcher for treatment at the Government Medical College hospital in Jammu City after the grenade attack

A Jammu and Kashmir police officer sitting inside a damaged bus near a grenade blast site, at a general bus stand

Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard near a grenade blast site at the bus station in Jammu City where at least 18 people were injured

Rebels have in turn accused government agents of carrying out the attacks to defame their movement.

Authorities rushed police reinforcements to the area and sealed off the road to try to apprehend the grenade-thrower.

This is the third grenade attack by terrorists at the bus station since May last year.

The latest grenade attack has come three weeks after Indian and Pakistan were nearly dragged into a war by a suicide bombing in the Indian-controlled region that killed 40 Indian troops.

Jammu police chief M.K. Sinha told reporters at the site of the blast: 'I request everybody to maintain calm. We are chasing all leads.'

The reason for the blast was unknown, but was labelled an 'attack' by a senior government minister.

Indian people gather as Jammu and Kashmir police officers stand guard today. The area was sealed off by authorities as police tried to apprehend the attacker

A man carries an injured civilian on a stretcher for treatment after a grenade attack that left four people in a critical condition in the Indian-controlled region

A Kashmir police officer inspecting a bus damaged during a grenade attack on the main station in Jammu City today

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Twitter: 'The grenade attack in Jammu is condemnable [sic]. I wish the injured a speedy recovery.'

Jammu, a Hindu-majority city, experienced days of protests following a February 14 bombing, the deadliest attack against Indian forces since the start of an armed rebellion in 1989 by mostly Muslim residents in the disputed Himalayan region.

Hundreds of Hindu nationalists attacked Muslim neighbourhoods in the city, burning vehicles and hurling rocks at homes. Authorities imposed a curfew for several days in the city.

Air raids took place after jihadist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed dozens of troops in Indian Kashmir three weeks ago.

The strike raised the risk of conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours, although Pakistan officials denied there had been casualties.

In an ensuing dogfight, at least one Indian aircraft was shot down and the pilot captured by Pakistan. India claimed it had also shot down a Pakistani fighter.

As fears rose that the two nuclear-armed nations might enter their fourth war, Pakistan released the pilot in what it called a 'gesture of peace'.

Yesterday doubt was cast on Indian government statements suggesting a 'terror camp' targeted with airstrikes was destroyed.

People carrying an injured civilian on a stretcher for treatment at the Government Medical College hospital where the injured were taken

The latest grenade attack at a bus station (pictured) came three weeks after a suicide bombing in the Indian-controlled region killed 40 Indian troops

A religious school thought to have been run by the extremist group in northeastern Pakistan was still standing, according to satellite photos, despite India claiming that its warplanes had ravaged the site on February 26.

High-resolution photos taken by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based satellite operator, show at least six buildings on the site of the school, known as a madrasa.

The photos were taken on March 4, six days after the airstrike that Indian authorities claimed they killed around 300 militants.

They cast further doubt on statements from the Indian government that the raids, early on February 26, had hit all intended targets at the site near Jaba village and the town of Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Pakistan disputes its neighbour's statement, claiming that nobody was actually killed in the airstrike and no buildings were hit.

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the region in its entirety.

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.

About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian crackdown since 1989.

Until now, no high-resolution satellite images of the madrasa's site were publicly available.

Indian paramilitary personnel were rushed to the site of the grenade attack as authorities hunted for the bomber. No group has yet claimed responsibility

Policemen and onlookers stand at the site of a grenade blast at a bus station in Jammu City

But the photos from Planet Labs, which show details as small as 72 cm, have revealed the structures the Indian government said it had attacked.

The image is virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the same facility.

The buildings appear undamaged and there are no signs of scorching, blown-out walls or even displaced trees around the area.

According to Reuters, India's foreign and defence ministries have yet to comment on the satellite images which raise fresh doubts about the attack.

The air strike near Balakot, a town 30 miles (50km) from the frontier, was the deepest cross-border raid launched by India since the last of its three wars with Pakistan in 1971.

India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said at the time that 'a very large number' of militants were killed in the strikes in northeast Pakistan.

'The existence of such training facilities, capable of training hundreds of jihadis, could not have functioned without the knowledge of the Pakistani authorities,' Gokhale said. Pakistan denies harbouring JeM.

Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by the Pakistani Air Force after they retaliated to India's attack

The high-resolution satellite photos show a close-up of the madrasa site in northeastern Pakistan and were taken on March 4

Pakistani officials dismissed the claims, saying the Indian aircraft had dropped their bombs in a wooded area, causing no damage or casualties.

Villagers near the town of Balakot were shaken from their sleep by the air strikes.

They said only one person was wounded in the attack and they knew of no fatalities.

In response, Pakistan launched its own raid across the Line of Control which sparked a dogfight that ended in the capture of an Indian pilot.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was later returned to India by Pakistan as a peace gesture.

Pakistan intensified its crackdown against Islamist militants today, with the government announcing it had taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as part of its push against banned groups.

The move represents Pakistan's biggest move against banned organisations in years and appears to be targeting Islamic welfare organisations that the United States says are a front for militant activities.
Advertisement

A derelict 180-year-old Methodist church has been converted into a quirky 2million home featuring a woodburner modelled on Marilyn Monroe's lips.

Unusual features in St John's Hall include a cocktail cabinet made from a 100-year-old reclaimed piano and a ship's porthole that allows the owner to call down to the kitchen from their bedroom.

The Grade II listed building in Canterbury, Kent, had been boarded up for years when husband and wife design team Deborah and John Hebel bought it in 2015.

It was essentially a blank canvas and they created a their modern home within the listed shell. The property is now on the market with estate agents Strutt & Parker.

St John's Hall was built as a Methodist church in 1839 and became a school in 1876. When the couple bought it, it had been boarded up for a decade and had rotten windows and school desks left languishing.

St John's Hall pictured above) has been described by the selling agent as 'Canterbury's most exciting new home'

One of the most striking features of the property is a woodburner which has been designed to look like Marilyn Monroe's lips

The property is flooded with light from the nine original Georgian arched windows (one pictured above) and offers versatile and spacious accommodation arranged over three floors

Some of the more modern features of the property include this room with leopard wallpaper and a wooden archway

The library has a bespoke barrel-vaulted solid walnut ceiling and a cocktail cabinet (right) which was once a piano. The walnut flooring was also ordered to match the rest of the interior from Luxury Flooring

The Hebels, who have been developing property for almost two decades and were nominated for a RIBA prize in 2012, have completely renovated it with new foundations, floors, ceilings and an internal steel structure.

It is effectively a new home and has a ten-year building warranty.

The house is also heated by a ground source heat pump, which makes it cheaper to run and may mean the buyer can qualify for a renewable heat incentive - currently estimated at 27,000 over seven years.

The house has 4,426 sq ft of accommodation over three floors with a kitchen/breakfast room, dining room, living room, library, study and five bedrooms all with en suite bathrooms.

When the couple first bought the property graffiti was plastered on the doors and some of the windows were boarded up.

However, now it couldn't look more different as it has been restored to its full glory and mixes new contemporary designs with traditional.

A planning document for the property which shows the scale of the property which includes a reception and a study area

An exterior shot of the property after the completion of the renovation. The home now has 4,426 sq ft of accommodation

The 1909 kitchen is at the heart of the house with a massive central island topped in Brazilian quartz, and an adjacent utility room

The solid walnut staircase has a curved solid walnut handrail. It was commissioned from Oxford firm Zigzag Design Studio

Deborah said: 'The place was derelict when we bought it, it had been boarded up for ten years. It was just a shell really, but all the basic brick and mortars were in good condition and the location was perfect - just 200 metres from the cathedral.

'It was such a grand building, for me it was easy to envisage what to do.

'I wanted to add personality to the property. I'm not sure where the idea for the lips came from. I'd worked with James Clegg before on a traditional hanging fireplace and I just thought wouldn't it be fun if it was shaped like a pair of lips.'

She said the library ceiling had been made from walnut at the beginning of the renovations but the piano bar was a last-minute addition.

In homage to its past as a school the property features fun decor including this sign which reads: 'The Shop is open for fifteen minutes before commencement of class'

Before the renovations the property sat empty and the area next to it had been cordoned off by fencing (pictured above)

The former chapel and school had been heavily vandalised with graffiti around the entrance, and windows were boarded up

A scaffold tower stands in the middle of the property with old chairs stacked against the walls as renovation work begins

One of the windows of the property before renovation. It was boarded up, with peeling paint and weeds growing in the cracks

'I'd bought the piano for something silly like 25 but it was beyond any form of salvage as a piano, so we thought what could we do with it that's constructive.

'We came up with the cocktail bar and used the cast iron workings to create a coffee table.

'We also used old art boards left from the school to create a worktop for the sink in the downstairs toilet.

'The porthole was from a boatyard in Exeter and it means the person in that bedroom can look down to the kitchen, you can call down and ask what time's dinner.'

The restored property mixes contemporary designs with traditional and is just over 200 yards from Canterbury Cathedral

Walnut-coloured wood features throughout the property and contrasts well with the modern tiling and woodburner

She said they designed the top floor like a Swiss chalet and used wood that was 150 years old, to match the age of the building.

'We created four bunk beds which have charging points and peep holes so children can peer through and talk to each other. It's great fun for sleepovers.

'It has been a difficult project and taken longer than expected but there's nothing I would change.

'I think it would appeal to someone who wants a practical and usable family home and also someone who likes entertaining.

'It's like buying a brand new house in a listed shell.'

Come on in! The swanky gate opens on to a small walkway with two steps up to the property's smart front door

Mixing the old with the new: Logs are piled up next to the Marilyn Monroe style woodburner, while old books are lined up next to a quirky cocktail bar made out of a piano
A professional sword swallower, who can fit up to three swords at once in her neck, has learnt how to put sharp objects up her nose.

Gigi DeLuxe, 38, from New Orleans, has been swallowing swords for five years to the delight of her social media followers.

Her Instagram followers, of which she has 14,000, said her unusual act is 'incredible' and 'super cool and gross at the same time'.

Gigi DeLuxe, 38, from New Orleans has learnt how to put sharp objects up her nose in a move known as the 'The Human Blockhead'

Gigi removes a letteropener from her nose that she got as a present in the video, to the delight of her fans

Followers of her Instagram page described her sword swallowing as 'incredible' and 'super cool and gross at the same time'

In the footage Gigi, who has bright pink hair and several tattoos, pulls a sword-shaped letter opener out of her nose, that she was given as a present.

Then, in a separate clip where her hair is blonde, she takes a pair of scissors and cuts a heart out of a sheet of paper, and then sticks one of the scissor blades up her nose.

In the third clip she slides a long sword down her throat and pulls it back out before licking her lips.

Fan so_said_me wrote on Instagram, 'That was super cool and gross at the same time'.

dezfairchild said online: 'You're such an incredible badass!'

Gigi first started swallowing swords five years ago and now tries to swallow at least one a day, and two swords at once a few times a week

In the video Gigi is also shown putting a pair of scissors up her nose to achieve 'The Human BlockHead'

Instagram-user c_langlais, responding to a post about the number of sword swallowers, said: 'That's incredible! One sword swallower for every 250 million people means that there are only 28 sword swallowers in the world. You are definitely unique!'

Gigi tries to put a sword down her throat at least once a day, and two swords a few times a week. She also practises 'The Human Blockhead', a move that involves putting any sharp object up your nose including a drill, scissors and nails.

'People are always amazed and shocked when they see me sword swallowing,' she said.

Gigi also posted a video of herself swallowing a sword which she quickly pulls out after it goes down her throat

What is 'The Human Blockhead'? Someone has done the move when they manage to put a long object up their nose. Nails, scissors and even corkscrews can all be used. A performer is able to do this without damaging their brain because of the space within the head called the nasal cavity. Melvin Burkhart performing 'The Human Blockhead' in 1978 The trick, regardless of what is used, often draws a strong response from the crowd. People either watch captivated or look away in surprise. Advertisement

'Most of the comments and reactions are positive overall. People are either quite fascinated by it or they think its fake or a trick.

'In the beginning it was extremely difficult to do, and it took me several years to get to where I am now.

'At first I was fearful of doing it, but I had it all backwards.

'My thinking was all wrong because I was only thinking and worrying about what could go wrong, instead of focusing on how to do it properly.

'The first year I started sword swallowing I ended up in the ICU because I had ripped my oesophagus in three places, and they had to open my throat to stitch it all back together.

'I went back to training once I had healed fully. I have the scar as a reminder of how close I was to dying that day though.

'Sword swallowing is basically learning to overcome fear and retraining the body to not do what its naturally supposed to do.

'Once you swallow swords, everything else in life is a piece of cake.'

People first began swallowing swords almost 4,000 years ago in India.

Fakirs and shaman priests developed the practice, along with eating burning coals, swallowing snakes and stopping their own pulse to raise their body temperature.

Gigi has a large instagram following that praise her and her amazing sword swallowing

Sword swallowing spread from there to China and the Roman Empire, where it could be seen during festivals. They are also mentioned in 410AD during the Teutonic fight for Rome.

The practice was then spread and maintained in Europe by medieval street performers, and later adopted by circuses and modern-day performers.
A collection of jewellery that belonged to Elvis Presley in the 1970s before he gave most of it away to fans has gone up for sale.

The three pieces include an X-shaped ring embedded with 49 diamonds, a gold band set with six diamonds and two rubies, and a 14 carat gold bracelet.

All three items were previously on display at the Elvis-a-Rama Museum in Las Vegas but have now arrived in the UK where they will be sold at auction.

A 14-carat gold ring embedded on the face with 49 diamonds and once owned by Elvis Presley will be auctioned off on Merseyside, in the UK

The ring was owned by The King during the height of his fame in the 1970s. Elvis was a well-known lover of ostentatious jewellery to match his big personality

They have been consigned with Omega Auctions of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, who are expecting each to fetch up to 10,000.

The first ring, a 14 carat yellow gold band, features an enormous clover-shaped design that is filled with an incredible 49 diamonds.

The bold item has been with the UK-based collector since 1999 and remains in pristine condition.

The second, which is also 14 carat gold, has six diamonds and two rubies set on the face.

Elvis owned it in 1975 but gave it away to one of his fans after a gig in Texas that year.

The bracelet, also 14 carat, was a favourite of Elvis's and a candid family photograph of him wearing it is being sold as part of the lot.

Another item in the collection is a 14 carat gold ring set with six diamonds and two rubies which Elvis gave away to a fan following a gig in Texas

The third item is 14 carat gold bracelet which Elvis owned for years until he gifted it to Sam Thompson, his head of security who kept it for two decades

The gold chain was eventually gifted by the Suspicious Minds star to his head of security, Sam Thompson, who kept it for more than 20 years.

All three lots are being sold alongside certificates of authenticity and the auctioneers are expecting a huge amount of interest in the collection.

They also all spent time on display at the world famous Elvis-a-Rama Museum in Las Vegas before falling into their current ownership.

Dan Hampson, assistant auction manager at Omega, said: 'The pieces are coming from a private UK collector and all have good provenance.

'They were at the Elvis-a-Rama Museum in Las Vegas and sold to the vendor by the owner of the museum, Chris Davidson.

'They are all in fantastic condition he just felt it was time to let them go.

'The market for Elvis memorabilia does fluctuate but when items as rare as these come on the market, the collectors are still there.

'We recently sold a Bible owned by Elvis for 10,000 so we're confident the collectors will be excited to have a chance to bid on these pieces.'

The sale takes place on March 12.
Advertisement

Hundreds of wellwishers marched through Romford town centre tonight in support of Jodie Chesney, who was brutally stabbed to death in a children's playground while with friends.

The 17-year-old's heartbroken family have made a heartfelt plea for anyone with information about her death to come forward, as her father urged people to 'do the right thing'.

She was sitting with friends in a children's playground in Harold Hill, east London, when she was brutally knifed in the back in a seemingly motiveless attack last Friday.

People carry purple balloons through Romford town centre, near to where Jodie was brutally killed on Friday in a children's play park

Hundreds of people took part in the march through east London tonight to denounce knife crime in the capital

Protesters looked visibly moved as they made their way through Romford tonight carrying purple balloons in honour of Jodie

Men, women and children all took part in the march through east London on Thursday evening, carrying their own placards. One sign read 'lives not knives RIP Jodie'

Huge banners were brought out onto the march with read 'RIP Jodie', along with love hearts drawn onto the sign

People march through Romford town centre to protest the fatal stabbing of Jodie Chesney

A young boy ties a purple ribbon in Romford town centre to protest the fatal stabbing of Jodie Chesney

Tonight, people carrying purple balloons and placards denouncing knife crime marched near Jodie's home, as the capital struggles to get to grips with escalating knife crime.

Earlier on Thursday, Jodie's heartbroken father, Peter, has described his daughter as 'the nicest person ever' and that she 'wouldn't have done anything to deserve this - no way.'

In a direct message to the killer, he said: 'Youll never know the pain youve caused and the beauty youve taken away.'

The 17-year-old Explorer Scout was murdered in a random and unprovoked attack as she sat with her boyfriend and three other friends in a park in Harold Hill.

A man has been arrested in Leicester in connection with the murder.

Her distraught father Peter Chesney, told Sky News today: 'She was the nicest person any of us know or knew, everything about being kind and good and thoughtful.

A man has been arrested in Leicester in connection with the murder of Jodie Chesney (pictured), who was stabbed in a park in east London last week. Image undated

The heartbroken family of Jodie Chesney have spoken out today. Peter, stepmother Joanne and sister Lucy

'There's just no way you could do this to a nicer person. I mean, everybody is going to say that about their own kids obviously, but really, look what everyone is saying in other interviews and stuff, she really was just the nicest person ever.

'She would not have done anything to deserve this.'

The arrest came after police received a tip-off the suspects travelled to the east Midlands - nearly 115 miles away - following the brutal stabbing.

Mr Chesney has issued a plea for those with information about the attack to come forward.

He added: 'The message is just do the right thing. Someone knows who did this... the person needs to be caught. Jodie needs justice.

'We need for Jodie to have justice. No one thinks this is OK. Surely nobody who knows the guy who did this thinks it is OK.

'You can't get kudos for stabbing a 17-year-old in the back. So, just dob them in, grass them up, this is not alright.

'It was obviously a murder as well, it wasn't accident... it was so ferocious the attack. She lost so much blood. This was on purpose, someone meant to murder her.'

Peter Chesney alongside his daughter Lucy and partner Joanne. The heartbroken family said Jodie was the 'nicest person any of us know'

A man arrested in Leicester is thought to have travelled more than 100 miles away from London to Leicester

Mr Chesney said Jodie's death has torn the family apart and that they are 'a mess', adding: 'We don't know how to deal with it.

'Everyone is suffering because she was so good... everyone just can't believe - why her? It is not one life deserves to be killed over another, but specifically her, she was so kind.'

Asked what Jodie was like, he said she was a 'proud geek', who was a 'great girl', and added: 'The fibre of her being was just about being good, kind... there was nothing bad in her body.'

Her stepmother Joanne said Jodie, who did not realise how popular she was, was 'very dry' and 'did not have a filter', who said exactly what she thought whether someone wanted to hear it or not.

Family members of murdered teenager Jodie Chesney. Devastated stepmother Joanne and sister Lucy hold each other

'Infectious personality, easy to get along with, no pretension at all. She wouldn't have hurt anybody,' Mr Chesney added.

Jodie's stepmother Joanne said: 'Even now it is still going on days later, the next day someone was killed. And then now a few days after that another person. Tomorrow someone else probably, Saturday someone else probably.

'When, where do you stop? How many more families are going to have to sit here and go through this?'

Asked for their thoughts on the calls for tougher sentences for those who carry and use knives, Mr Chesney said 'that would do it - 100%'.

Mr Chesney, who was wearing a purple ribbon pinned to his chest that was made by Jodie's friends, said many of her peers are dying their hair purple in her honour.

The colour was her favourite, her family said.

'There is purple everywhere in the area, I like that. But people who know Jodie, she will be remembered for being kind,' Mr Chesney said.

'It is nice to know she is being remembered by so many people. It is good, I love it.'

Her family said she loved animals - particularly dogs - and had once wanted to be a vet.

Asked what message the family have for those who carry knives or are thinking about it, Mr Chesney said: 'I don't know when this happened, when this was OK to carry knives and use them, it wasn't like that when I was at school.'

He added: 'The message is, just think about what you are going to do with your life. If you are going to carry a knife and if you're going use a knife, you are going to ruin your life, and others - and why?'

Police said the killer and an accomplice were spotted watching the five friends, who were socialising on Friday evening in a playground in Harold Hill.

Composite picture of some of the people who have lost their lives to knife crime this year. Top row, from left: Tudor Simionov, Jaden Moodie, Nedim Bilgin, Lejean Richards, Dennis Anderson. Middle row, from left: Patrick Hill, Sidali Mohamed, Bright Akinleye, Abdullah Muhammad, Glendon Spence. Bottom row, from left: Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, Hazrat Umar, Che Morrison, Jodie Chesney, Yousef Ghaleb Makki

Sadiq Khan rolls his eyes when probed on knife crime funding Major of London Sadiq Khan today rolled his eyes when he faced questions from a Sky News reporter about funding for the fight against knife crime. Mr Khan claimed he had done 'as much as I am allowed to do under the law' by setting up a 45million youth fund and raising council taxes. But the Major insisted cuts in funding from central government had left him hamstrung. Sadiq Khan during today's interview on knife crime 'I've raised council tax three years in a row, but also used the money from business rates to invest in policing and youth services,' he told Sky. 'The investment we are putting in doesn't fill the massive hole left by the Government.' At this point Sky's Sarah-Jane Mee interrupted, saying: 'You keep shifting it onto central government.' Mr Khan then rolled his eyes in frustration, before the presenter asked why he wasn't 'taking personal responsibility' for the issue. Advertisement

The duo left but returned at 9.30pm wearing balaclavas and one of them, described by the Metropolitan Police as a young black male, stabbed Jodie once in the back, all without saying a word. The pair then ran off in the direction of Romford Road.

Friends from Havering Sixth Form College said Jodie had no enemies and suggested she could be the victim of mistaken identity.

Eddie Coyle, her 18-year-old boyfriend, screamed for help as his girlfriend lay bleeding with the knife lodged in her back. She was pronounced dead an hour later.

Detective Chief Superintendent Shabnam Chaudhri, who is leading the police response to the murder in the local community, said on Monday afternoon: 'We still don't have any idea (why Jodie was attacked).'

She said investigators were 'focusing totally' on a witness appeal to try and track down the suspects. Police have asked anyone who may have CCTV or dash cam footage between 7pm and 11pm on March 1.

Ms Chaudhri refused to speculate on whether the attack could have been some form of gang initiation.

She said the Met's Violent Crime Taskforce had been deployed in the Havering area as well as on additional patrols in the boroughs of Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham and Havering.

A post-mortem carried out on Sunday established that the cause of Jodie's death was trauma and haemorrhage, and police released a photograph of the teenager on the same day.

Jodie was a Girl Scout and school friends said students at Havering College would be wearing purple next Friday in honour of Jodie and her Barking & Dagenham scout troop colours.

She posted a photograph on Instagram with fellow scouts at 10 Downing Street on Remembrance Day last year, with the caption: 'I'm basically famous now  this was such a good opportunity and so much fun.'

It came as two teenagers were charged over a fatal stabbing attack on Yousef Makki in Hale Barns in Trafford on Saturday night.

Last night Greater Manchester Police said a 17-year-old boy had been charged with Yousef's murder.

He has also been charged with possession of a bladed article. A second 17-year-old boy has been charged with assisting an offender and possession of a bladed article.

The boys, neither of whom can be named due to their age, were kept in custody overnight to appear before youth court in Manchester this morning.

The scene of the crime in Romford on Sunday where Jodie Chesney was knifed to death. Forensic police officers search the park as flowers and lanterns are left nearby

The family of Ms Chesney are among those to back tougher sentences to tackle the knife crime crisis.

Relative Karen Chesney appealed on Facebook for support for a petition calling for a 10-year jail term for knife possession and 25 years for using a knife.

It comes as a man in his 20s has become the 14th stabbing fatality in 16 days as police and politicians struggle to contain the wave of violence.

The Spanish national, named by police locally as David Martinez, was stabbed six times inside a house in Leyton, east London, before being chased barefoot down the street, reportedly by three men, before collapsing and dying.

Within hours of his death, the 22-year-old victim of an attack in Oxford on February 27 died in the John Radcliffe hospital. He had been run over and repeatedly stabbed, police said.

Police officers fought in vain to save Britain's latest stabbing victim, pleading with the dying man 'My friend. Can you hear me? Talk to me' as he lay on the street in Leyton, east London.

Another witness described seeing the victim running down the street with no shoes on after first being attacked in his home. After being pursued he collapsed on the pavement.

Despite frantic efforts by police, and witnesses who rushed to bring blankets to the injured man and gave him a cushion to rest his head, the man died at the scene in East Leyton at around 5.10pm.

Officers cut away his clothes and attempted to stem the flow of blood before paramedics arrived. One was heard to say as he cut away the trousers: 'He's been stabbed in the leg too.'

As blood poured out of the victim's body a bystander screamed: 'Oh my god.' The officer begged the victim to stay awake at one stage pleading: 'My friend. Mate, mate, mate, talk to me. Can you hear me.'

Another officer says: 'Are you with me? No, he's going.'

Within minutes paramedics arrived and took over giving him oxygen and attempted to save his life. The officer could be heard desperately urging the victim to 'stay with me' as the ambulance arrived and paramedics took over.

In Coventry a 14-year-old schoolgirl was chased by up to 15 other teenagers before being attacked with what one witness described as scissors. The victim's injuries are not life-threatening an a 16-year-old girl was arrested.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Parliament petition had been signed more than 33,000 times. A total of 100,000 signatures are required before a petition can be considered for debate by MPs.

Britain's most senior police officer, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, clashed with the Prime Minister on the issue, insisting there is 'obviously' a connection between reductions in officer numbers and street violence. She also refused to rule out calling in the Army to help.

Police officer numbers in England and Wales have dropped by more than 20,000 since 2010, while levels of violent crime have risen in recent years, and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the military would be 'ready to help' play a part in tackling knife crime.

Ms Dick told LBC: 'If you went back in history, you would see examples of when police officer numbers have gone down and crime has not necessarily risen at the same rate and in the same way.

'But I think that what we all agree on is that, in the last few years, police officer numbers have gone down a lot, there's been a lot of other cuts in public services, there has been more demand for policing and therefore there must be something, and I have consistently said that.

'I'm basically famous now': The innocent caption Jodie Chesney posted on the day she visited 10 Downing Street months before she was brutally stabbed in the back in a park in Romford

'I agree that there is some link between violent crime on the streets obviously and police numbers, of course there is and everybody would see that.'

Asked if he thought the British military could help play a part in tackling knife crime, Mr Williamson told the Press Association the armed forces and Ministry of Defence 'always stands ready to help any government department'.

Mr Williamson said they have had no requests for assistance but 'would always be ready to respond'.

'As we look at all of this, obviously our thoughts and prayers are with those family and friends of those who have lost someone,' he said.

'I know that the Home Secretary is looking very closely at how he can ensure that everything is done to tackle this problem at the moment.'

At a Cabinet meeting on the issue of knife crime on Tuesday, Mrs May said the killings of Jodie and Yousef last week were 'absolutely appalling' and told ministers her thoughts and sympathies were with the teenagers' families.

Her official spokesman said she had tasked the Home Office with co-ordinating an urgent series of Cabinet-level ministerial meetings and engagements to accelerate the work Government is doing to support local councils and police.

Mrs May said the problem would require 'a whole-of-Government effort, in conjunction with the police, the wider public sector and local communities'.

Meetings will take place 'as soon as possible' and were being treated as 'a priority' by the PM, said her spokesman.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Tuesday evening: 'Since 2010, we've seen 21,000 police officers taken off our streets and 760 youth centres closed.

'We've experienced the tearing of the social fabric of our communities.

'The Prime Minister says there is no link between cuts to our police and soaring levels of violent crime.

'She needs to listen to grieving families, police chiefs across the country and her own Home Secretary, and the communities decimated by cuts.

'Young people shouldn't pay the price for austerity with their lives.'

Jodie's grandmother Debbie Chesney wrote on Facebook on Monday: 'This is a nightmare as you can imagine. I just hope that they catch the boy who did it'

Police figures show violent crime rose by nearly a fifth in the year to September 2018, intensifying the debate over whether the increase is linked to falling officer numbers.

Chairwoman of the National Police Chiefs' Council Sara Thornton, who will attend Wednesday's meeting, and Labour former minister Vernon Coaker called for the issue to be treated as 'a national emergency'.

Several MPs, including a former Home Office minister, have called for the Government to convene a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid will today meet police chiefs amid claims of a national knife crime emergency.

Senior officers from seven of the forces most affected by violent crime - the Metropolitan Police, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, South Wales, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire - will attend Wednesday's meeting.

Mr Javid is reported to have demanded the Treasury for more money to tackle the issue.
More than 100,000 people have signed a petition begging animal workers not to euthanize two dogs which bit off and ate a four-year-old's arm.

In total, 151,000 people had put their names to paper by Thursday morning and were adding signatures at a rate of several hundred every hour.

The dogs, a pair of huskies named Polar and Bear, are at risk of being put down by city officials in Utah after one of them bit off and ate a child's arm on Sunday.

A petition is calling for people to help save Bear (left) and Polar (right) who are responsible for biting off a four-year-old Utah boy's hand after he stuck his arm through a fence

The initial target of the petition was 100,000 signatures but this has now been increased to 1million after hitting the lower number within just a few days

Animal lover Jessica Nusz (pictured) started the petition to save her best friend's Siberian huskies from euthanization. Nusz said both dogs are in quarantine at animal control and 'there are fears that Bear might be put down and he doesn't deserve to be put down'

Jessica Nusz, who is best friends with the owner of the huskies, started the petition after learning that both dogs are in quarantine at Davis County Animal Control.

Her initial target was 100,000 signatures, but she has now increased this to 1million after hitting the lower figure within just a few days.

She wrote: 'There are fears that Bear might be put down and he doesn't deserve to be put down for this freak accident'.

She explained that the injured boy was wearing a sock on his right hand when he reached through the chain-link fence from his family's backyard toward the two dogs who live next door.

One of the dogs bit down, severing the child's limb from his body, about 2-3 inches above his wrist.

Nusz said she believes the dog mistook the sock-covered hand for a chew toy, and would never normally hurt a person.

Authorities said the boy's family tried to limit the bleeding until emergency workers arrived.

He was then airlifted to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, where he was declared to be in serious but stable condition.

But he lost his entire hand, as well as a portion of the lower part of his arm, below the elbow.

She explained on the petition that the boy was wearing a sock on his right hand when he reached through the chain-link fence from his family's backyard toward the two dogs who live next door. One of the dogs (Bear, right) bit down, severing the child's limb from his body

The child's hand has not been found and 'may have been ingested by the dog,' Cook said.

According to the owner and Nusz the dogs were not known to be aggressive.

Nusz explained that Bear probably thought he was playing with a toy when he 'bit down too hard and didn't see that there was a child on the other side of the fence'.

'With him being a dog he thought it was a game of tug of war and he bit down too hard and took a lower portion of his arm,' she said.

So far, Nusz's petition has more than 90,000 signatures out of the 100,000 goal.

Nusz also started a GoFundMe page to raise money to help get the two pups back.

The page raised the goal amount of $400 and is no longer accepting donations.

Nusz explained that Bear probably thought he was playing with a toy when he 'bit down too hard and didn't see that there was a child on the other side of the fence'. A firefighter is shown demonstrating how much of the child's arm was lost in the bite, along with his hand

The child's family tried to limit the bleeding until emergency workers arrived. The child was then taken by air from his home (shown) to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, where he was declared to be in serious but stable condition

The dogs are in the custody of animal control officers, and have been quarantined pending an investigation. The owners of the dogs said neither animal had an aggressive history. A Davis County Animal Care and Control vehicle is pictured outside of the neighbors' home

Neighbors have set up a charitable account to help cover the child's medical fees.

The charitable account is called 'Superman's Army' at Golden West Credit Union: #3660062, according to Fox 13.

'There is a long road to recovery ahead for this family and they will need all the help they can get,' the account reads.

A PayPal account has also been set up for the child.

Neighbor Stacey Taft expressed her sadness for both families involved.

'No parent wants to go through that,' Taft said. 'They dont want to see that kind of stuff happen and to not be able to stop it.'

The breed is generally thought to be friendly, alert and gentle, and are not typically possessive or suspicious of strangers, according to the American Kennel Club.
A 'drunk' Russian captain involved in a shocking waterway crash in South Korea could be hear shouting 'No problem!' at the coast guard as he smashed into a yacht before slamming into a bridge.

The 6,000 ton Seagrand collided with the side of the Gwangan Bridge in Busan, in the southeast of South Korea, last week.

The captain is heard responding to the officers, telling them there was 'no collision' and 'no problem' after hitting a moored yacht, before heading towards the bridge.

Officials can be heard yelling over the radio for the ship to stop its engine as it attempts to turn and vacate the area.

The dramatic footage from the bridge of the huge freighter shows the moment the cranes on top of the cargo ship hit the colossal road bridge in Busan, South Korea

Footage shows the moment the boat begins to make contact with the Gwangan road bridge

Last week incredible footage emerged of the freighter ploughing into the the bridge in Busan, South Korea

But the captain was apprehended by the coast guard.

Korean officials determined the captain's blood alcohol level was 0.086 per cent - almost three times the legal limit of 0.03 per cent.

Authorities said they spoke to the cargo ship's crew and were still determining whether the captain, whose identity has not been released, was at the helm at the time of the crash.

In the moments after the cargo ship makes contact with the catamaran, the coast guard can be heard asking if he needs tug boats to get out of the harbour.

The captain declines the two boats offered and says he will take one tug boat, but before the help arrives he begins heading out to sea.

Drinking alcohol on-board is perfectly legal so as long as the person is not steering, the KCG said.

Officials are also looking into why the vessel was in the waters near the 500 billion Gwangan Bridge - South Korea's second longest - when it should have been heading in the opposite direction.

The captain can be heard yelling in Russian before he denies there is any problem when the coast guard ask if he needs assistance

The Russian ship appears to collide with a moored yacht as it tries to leave the harbour in Busand, south Korea last week

The accident caused some superficial damage to the lower level of the bridge, but no injuries were reported

The Russian cargo ship Seagrand bumped into the side of the Gwangan Bridge in Busan, South Korea last Thursday with a 'drunk' captain on-board

According to the KCG, the Seagrand arrived in Busan around 9am on Wednesday morning to unload 1,495 tons of iron pipes.

It departed for Vladivostok, Russia on Thursday with 1,415 tons of steel coils.

No injuries were reported, but a section of the bridge was closed off for a safety inspection.

Photographs show some superficial damage to the lower level of the two-tiered structure.
A man arrested in Utah for drug trafficking has been linked to an Indiana murder case after a picture of the victim was found on his phone.

Christopher Michael Goff, 38, of Indianapolis, was pulled over for a minor traffic violation when a Utah Highway Patrol officer discovered 22 pounds of vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana in his car.

He was arrested at the scene on January 30 and as is typical for drug offenses, investigators conducted a forensics search of Goff's cell phone.

Christopher Michael Goff, 38, of Indianapolis, was charged on February 22 in the 3rd District Court with drug distribution, a third-degree felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor

Officers found a picture of 'what appeared to be a deceased female seated in the driver seat of a vehicle with the front driver side window broken inward', a search warrant affidavit states, according to Deseret News.

In the picture 'the female appeared deceased with a gunshot wound' and there were no signs of emergency services being at the scene.

Investigators concluded that 'the quality and clarity of the photograph indicate the individual who took the photograph was at the scene prior to the response of emergency personnel, and standing near the presumed deceased individual.'

A text message discovered on the phone from later that same day said: 'Indy's third homicide victim of the year has been identified as 19-year-old Svitlana Novotney.'

Detectives discovered the teenager had been shot to death on January 9 in Indianapolis.

The picture on Goff's phone shows a timestamp of 4.22am that day - the same time the woman was thought to have been shot.

He was pulled over for a minor traffic violation when a Utah Highway Patrol officer discovered 22 pounds of vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana in his car (file photo)

'I discovered the address where Ms. Novotney's body was located was a 2 minute walk from the address where Goff lives,' an investigator said in the warrant.

Other pictures on the cell phone included 'large quantities of cash and a photograph of a handgun'.

The Utah Department of Public Safety said Indianapolis police were contacted.

It was is currently not known as to whether Goff is considered a suspect in the woman's death.

Goff was charged on February 22 in the 3rd District Court with drug distribution, a third-degree felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
Robin Williams at 'The Crazy Ones' Press Conference at the Four Seasons Hotel on October 8, 2013. Dave Itzkoff's book Robin shares new details about the comic genius's final days

Robin Williams' heartbreaking final months as he struggled with an undiagnosed degenerative brain disease have been revealed in a new biography.

Dave Itzkoff's book Robin, which is released this month, shares new details about the comic genius's confusion and terror as, unbeknownst to him, he lost his mind to Lewy body dementia.

The Oscar-winning actor, who took his own life in 2014 at the age of 63, became a household name for his portrayal of Mork from Ork on the hit sitcom Happy Days and its spin-off Mork & Mindy.

He went on to star in countless critically-acclaimed films including, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Mrs Doubtfire and Goodwill Hunting.

His comedic talent, described as 'electric' by Billy Crystal and 'immeasurable' by Barack Obama, earned him a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and a legendary 'National Treasure' status among the American public.

Chris Columbus, who directed Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, described watching him work as 'a magical and special privilege. His performances were unlike anything any of us had ever seen, they came from some spiritual and otherworldly place.'

So when his performance in CBS's The Crazy Ones, which premiered in September 2013, earned only lackluster reviews, it was the first sign that something was wrong.

Robin Williams and Pam Dawber star as Mork & Mindy in 1981. Dawber told Itzkoff that she used to tell her husband that Williams had 'lost the spark' towards the end of his life

Over the next year, Williams would suffer from a whole host of aggressive symptoms including weight loss, insomnia, tremors, indigestion and loss of his sense of smell.

New symptoms would crop up so often that Williams' wife Susan Schneider compared dealing with them to playing a game of 'whack-a-mole'.

Pam Dawber, Williams's co-star from Mork & Mindy and The Crazy Ones, says in Itzkoff's book that the comedian's persona had become unrecognizable in the time between the two shows.

'I would come home and say to my husband, "Something is wrong. He's flat. He's lost the spark. I don't know what it is",' Dawber told Itzkoff.

The book also recounts Williams' despair on the set of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb in 2014 - when he struggled with his lines and his confidence plummeted.

'He was sobbing in my arms at the end of every day. It was horrible. Horrible,' said makeup artist Cheri Minns.

Robin Williams (left) won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of psychologist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting alongside Matt Damon

'I said to his people, "Im a makeup artist. I dont have the capacity to deal with whats happening to him".'

After Minns suggested Williams return to stand-up, she said he 'just cried and said, "I cant, Cheri. I dont know how anymore. I dont know how to be funny." '

Williams also suffered a panic attack on set and was prescribed antipyschotic drugs.

The Crazy Ones was cancelled after one season on May 10, 2014, and just over two weeks later Williams was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease - a degenerative disorder that attacks nerve cells in the brain and impairs movement.

His friends understandably believed that these two huge blows triggered Williams' depression.

A minature Oscars statue and an 'I will miss you' note is seen at Robin Williams' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is seen in Hollywood, California

But although the actor checked himself into the Dan Anderson Renewal Center - a rehab facility in Minnesota - there was no amount of yoga or meditation that could help him.

On August 11, 2014, just two months after he checked into the facility, Williams took his own life at home in Paradise Cay, California.

He had seemed calm, even offering Scheider a foot massage and saying 'Good night, my love', his wife recalled.

By that point, Williams was sleeping in his own room because he would thrash around in the night and was suffering from insomnia.

The door to his room was still closed when Schneider woke the next morning, and she told Itzkoff at first she was relieved that he was finally getting some much-needed rest.

But when he still hadn't surfaced by 11am, Williams' 20-year-old assistant Rebecca Erwin Spencer felt uneasy.

She opened his locked bedroom door using a paper clip to find Williams had hanged himself with a belt.

The autopsy results showed that Williams' earlier Parkinson's diagnosis was false. In fact, the neuropathologist discovered that the actor had something even worse - 'diffuse Lewy body dementia.'

National Treasure Williams starred in countless critically-acclaimed films including, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Mrs Doubtfire (pictured) and Goodwill Hunting

The incurable and terminal brain disease is the the second-most common progressive dementia after Alzheimer's, and occurs when proteins build up in the brain's nerve cells, gradually shutting down the body and mind.

The disease can lead to fluctuations in mental status, memory problems, personality changes, psychiatric symptoms and hallucinations.

Scheider has said Williams knew something was gravely wrong from the start, and that suicide was his way of regaining some control over his body.

'He was aware of it. He was keeping it together as best as he could, but the last month he could not. It was like the dam broke,' she said.

'I think he was just saying no and I don't blame him one bit.'
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke his silence over a U.S. threat to punish Turkey with sanctions should it buy an advanced Russian S-400 missile-defense system, saying the purchase is a "done deal.'

Erdogan said "no one should attempt to tame Turkey" with threats on trade and that his country wouldnt agree to a U.S. proposal to sell its own Patriot missile-defense system unless it shares the technology.

"It is out of the question for us to revoke the S-400 deal," the Turkish leader said during an interview with TV24 television broadcast late Wednesday.

"Such an immoral act would not suit us," Bloomberg cited him as saying.

On March 5, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he plans to end key trade preferences for India and Turkey.
Two previously unknown drawings by famed English artist John Constable that were bought for just 3 each have sold for a combined 115,000.

The small sketches of a woodland glade belonged to the late playwright Christopher Fry, who hung them on his bedroom wall after buying them at a fair in 1951.

After his death at the age of 97 in 2005, his son Tam removed the drawings while clearing out his father's home but left them in a cardboard box under the bed.

It was not until his daughter spotted the name 'John Constable RA' inscribed on the mounts last year that they realised they might be of significant value.

Mr Fry took them to an auction house which had them authenticated by Anne Lyles, a leading Constable expert and former curator for Tate Britain.

This drawing by English artist John Constable sold for 75,000, after it was bought for just 3 by playwright Christopher Fry in 1951

A similar drawing by the artist sold for 40,000. The small sketches of a woodland glade hung in the bedroom of Mr Fry until his death in 2005

She described them as 'exciting discoveries'.

The sketches were produced by the English landscape master in about 1830, towards the end of his career.

They depict a woodland glade and are thought to be his preparatory sketches for a commissioned work.

One of them sold for a hammer price of 60,000 at auction but with fees added on the total paid by the buyer was 75,000.

The second drawing sold to the same private collector for 40,000, including fees.

Another pencil drawing on writing paper depicting a gated entrance to a park, attributed to Constable, sold for 2,250.

The works, bought for 3 each by Mr Fry in 1951 at a country house show in Wales, were sold by Chiswick Auctions of west London.

Suzanne Zack, head of British and European art at Chiswick Auctions, said: 'It's been so exciting uncovering previously unpublished works by the great British artist John Constable and we are delighted with such an incredible result.

After Mr Fry's death at the age of 97 in 2005, his son Tam (pictured) removed the drawings while clearing out his father's home but left them in a cardboard box under the bed

The small sketches of a woodland glade belonged to the late playwright Christopher Fry (pictured), who hung them on his bedroom wall after buying them at a fair in 1951

'These works were fresh to the market and were in exceptional condition, due to having been stored under a bed.

'We are very grateful to Anne Lyles as well as Peter Bower, who worked alongside us to research these wonderful, historical works.

'There was huge demand for them on the day with spirited bidding on several telephones and on the internet.

Britain's art romantic: The life and times of John Constable John Constable Born in Suffolk in 1776, John Constable is considered one of the foremost British artists. He is most known for his landscape paintings in Dedham Vale, the area in which he grew up. His most famous painting, The Hay Wain, is now exhibited at the National Gallery. The Hay Wain was one of six large canvases depicting the area around Flatford Mill in Suffolk. Another in the series, The Lock, became one of the most expensive British paintings ever sold when it fetched 22.4million at auction in 2012 Despite his works now attracting huge fees, Constable was not financially successful in life. He also struggled to gain recognition from his peers and was not elected into the Royal Academy until the age of 52. He died in March 1837, aged 60, of apparent heart failure, and was buried with his wife. His children John and Charles are also buried in the tomb. Advertisement

'A private collector on the telephone finally won out. We hope they will treasure them, now that we are all aware of their importance to John Constable's oeuvre.'

Mr Fry, 89, said: 'My father lived in a large house near Goodwood in West Sussex from 1956 to 2005 when he died.

'He was such a connoisseur of art and when he wasn't writing plays he indulged himself of sitting in his house with these wonderful things around him.

'These two pen and ink pictures were on his bedroom wall I remember he had them hung up either side of his bed.

'I never thought anything about them and it was my daughter who kicked me in the shins and pointed out they could be by Constable and we should get them valued.

'I have no idea when or where he acquired them but during his lifetime he lived in Wales and went to an awful lot of house auctions, going through bric-a-brac and would pick up all sorts of things that he liked.'

Ms Zack added: 'The pen and ink drawings come from his late period. We know that because they relate to other works in the same technique and relate to illustrations he did for Shakespeare's As You Like It.

'There is a watercolour by Constable of this subject and these two sketches maybe his working out for the composition of that finished watercolour in 1832.

'The exciting thing is that they are unpublished and unknown sketches.

'Constable is one of the most published and catalogued and researched artists so to find hitherto unpublished works by him is an exciting discovery.

'It adds to our appreciation of Constable and his working methods and his brilliance.'
Yousef (pictured) was killed on Saturday and today a teenager accused of his murder faced court

A privately educated 17-year-old accused of murdering teenager Yousef Makki in a knife attack in Hale Barns has been granted bail by a judge.

The boy appeared for a preliminary hearing at Manchester Crown Court today.

Yousef, from Burnage, Manchester, was killed on Saturday in the leafy village while he was visiting friends.

The son of a Lebanese immigrant, he won a scholarship to attend the 12,000-a-year independent Manchester Grammar School.

The A-star pupil dreamed of becoming a heart surgeon before his life was cut short.

His alleged killer, who is from a wealthy family and cannot be identified as he is aged under 18, appeared in the dock as his mother and father sat in the public gallery. The youth is charged with both murder and possession of a blade in a public place.

Unusually, the bail application made by barrister Kate Blackwell QC was held in chambers, that is press and public were excluded from the 90-minute hearing.

Pictured: Flowers, photographs and tributes lie outside Manchester Grammar School after Yousef's death

Yousef poses in Lebanese colours. He wanted to study medicine and become a heart surgeon

After the bail application was heard press were allowed back into court while other preliminary legal matters were dealt with ahead of a trial, scheduled for June 18. The bail conditions have not been made public.

When the court was eventually opened to the public the boy appeared emotionless in the dock, wearing grey jumper and dark blue jeans.

Prosecutor Miss Charlotte Crangle said: 'A trial date is set for 18 June and has been identified by the court at this stage. I estimate it will last for five to seven days. The home office pathologist is available to give evidence that week. A PTPH date is set for 29 April.'

Judge David Stockdale QC initially made no mention of whether he had bailed the boy bail but said: 'Following the decision taken earlier this morning, I understand prosecution do not appeal the decision.

Pictured: A police van carrying another 17-year-old suspect out side Manchester Crown Court yesterday

'The trial is fixed for June 18 and listed for a five to seven day estimate. The stages are set. The PTPH will be before the trial judge or before me on 29 April. I make no further direction.'

Afterwards when asked by the press for clarification, the judge then came back into court and said: 'The factual basis for the defendant being bailed is not for public knowledge.

'The terms of conditions under which I cannot avail due to the course of hearing in chambers, and I don't suppose to say anything for reasoning. The bail applications was heard in chambers and I have granted bail.

'The conditions which I have granted bail are not a matter of public knowledge nor are the reasons why. I have nothing more to say about that.'

Yesterday another youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced court accused of murdering Yousef in the south Greater Manchester village, which is a wealthy area popular with top footballers and celebrities.

He is also accused of possession of a silver lock-knife, while another 17-year-old boy, who has been bailed, is accused of trying to help him dispose of the weapon.

Police were alerted at around 6.40pm on Saturday to reports that a teenager had been stabbed in Hale Barns.

Officers attended the scene and Yousef was taken to hospital, where he died a short time later. Floral tributes have been left on the tree-lined street where Yousef was found.

A two-minute silence was held on Monday by pupils and staff at his school, which described him as 'a dearly loved young man and incredibly bright pupil' who was studying four A-levels and had aspirations to pursue a career in medicine.
California is wasting trillions of gallons of rainwater each month during its wettest season in 40 years following a deadly six-year drought.

Experts say the state is missing a major opportunity to collect the storm runoff and turn it into usable water for the next dry spell.

In February alone, around 18 trillion gallons of water fell on the state but just 20 per cent of that was collected and recycled.

Currently, 80 per cent of rainwater flows wastefully into the ocean through concrete channels in urban areas and coastal towns (such as the Los Angeles River, pictured)

Currently, 80 per cent of rainwater flows wastefully into the ocean through concrete channels in urban areas and coastal towns.

It comes after a six-year drought - one of the worst on records - which saw millions of crops and trees die and put thousands of farmers out of business.

Last year 85 people were killed as the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the California's history swept across the state. The fires caused more than $3.5 billion in damages.

'We will never capture it all, but we need to do a better job of capturing what we can,' Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute told Fox News.

'The challenge is: How do we capture more of that water to use it so we can use it during dry parts of the year? And cities in California have not historically done a good job of capturing what we call stormwater,' Mr Gleick added.

In the past, the state used a network of dams and reservoirs to pump collected water into the Central Valley. From there it would serve cities until the drought ended.

Parched grasslands at Malibu Creek State Park near Calabasas, following a dry winter and several years of drought

That process worked during droughts in 1976 and 1988, but the state's population has since surged, meaning that system no longer provides enough water for residents.

Last summer, the state made a move in the right direction when it announced that $3billion would be put into new water storage projects.

But the first of those is still five years away from completion - and most won't be finished for another decade.
A new challenge that claims to test how fit a person is has taken Chinese social media by storm.

The internet craze has seen thousands of users posting pictures to show whether they can form a circle with their hands around their thigh, with both thumbs and both middle fingers touching.

While the 'thigh-holding challenge' isn't new, it was recently picked up in China, where it went viral on microblogging site Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.

The craze has seen thousands of users posting pictures to show whether they can form a circle with their hands around their thigh, with both thumbs and middle fingers touching

While the 'thigh-holding challenge' isn't new, it was recently picked up in China, where it went viral on microblogging site Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter

On Thursday, the trending topic page titled 'Can you wrap your hands around your leg?' received more than 140 million views.

Thousands of people, including Chinese celebrities Wang Junkai and Hai Ling have taken on the challenge to prove they fit enough.

The test purportedly shows how skinny a person is, and if he or she can't overlap their thumbs and middle fingers around their thigh, they might need to lose weight.

However, some users are quick to point out that it all comes down to the size of the person's hands.

Thousands of people, including Chinese celebrities Wang Junkai (pictured) and Hai Ling have taken on the challenge to prove they fit enough

'I can't do it - but it's not because my thigh is fat, it's because I have small hands!' one user said, posting a picture showing her friend successfully wrapping her hands around her thigh and another image showing her failing the challenge when she tried it herself

'I can't reach my fingers! Does this mean I'm fat?' a worried user asked on Weibo.

'I can't do it - but it's not because my thigh is fat, it's because I have small hands!' one user said, posting a picture showing her friend successfully wrapping her hands around her thigh and another image showing her failing the challenge when she tried it herself.

In 2015, another bizarre so-called fitness challenge went viral in China, where participants try to touch their belly buttons by twisting their arms around their backs.

The original 'belly button challenge' post that went viral on Weibo claimed that if a person can complete the challenge, it proves that he/she has a good body figure.

In 2015, another bizarre so-called fitness challenge went viral in China, where participants try to touch their belly buttons by twisting their arms around their backs

Xie Wei, a fitness instructor from Nanjing, eastern China, who failed the challenge himself, noted the test does not necessarily prove that the person has a super-fit body, but that he/she is either very flexible or has long arms.

Such trends can emphasise unhealthy body image, other experts previously commenting on the challenge said.

'Quirky poses and pictures can be fun, but sometimes they also become expressions of competitiveness or insecurity,' Jolene Tan, programs and communications senior manager at a Singapore NGO focused on women's rights, told the BBC.

'We need to do more to promote acceptance of diversity in women's bodies,' she added.
The last words of a daughter who was 'drowned by her mother after she became paranoid that her husband was having an affair' have been revealed.

Bethan Colebourn told her mother Claire Colebourn: 'I don't want a bath mummy' before being 'drowned', a court heard today.

Colebourn today sobbed in the dock at Winchester Crown Court as the prosecutor told how she wrongly thought her husband Michael, a company director, was having an affair with a work colleague.

The 36-year-old searched suicide methods shortly before allegedly drowning little Bethan in the early hours of the morning at their 400,000 family home in Hampshire.

Prosecutor Kerry Maylin told jurors the three-year-old's harrowing final words were revealed by Claire Colebourn as she was interviewed by police.

Bethan (pictured above) was described as a 'fun-loving' little girl by her family

Claire Colebourn believed that her husband Michael Colebourn (pictured above) was having an affair

Police at the scene in Fordingbridge after Claire Colebourn 'drowned her daughter Bethan'

Winchester Crown Court, also heard Colebourn told police her daughter 'sadly had complete trust' in her and did not fight back.

It was heard she told police she held her daughter's head face down under the water with her left hand while Bethan's body 'jumped'.

Crying could be heard from the public gallery, where family members were sat, as the heartbreaking details of Colebourn's final police interview, which took place on April 18 last year, were revealed.

Mr Colebourn said that after their separation, his wife put a post on Facebook and sent an email to his work accusing him of having an affair with a colleague.

He said she admitted the claim was not true and agreed to take the post down.

Ms Maylin told the court: 'Claire Colebourn said 'I did it because I did not want her to go anywhere near her father'.

Tributes which were left outside of the property in Hampshire after the death of Bethan

'She told officers Bethan said 'I don't want a bath mummy, I don't want a bath'.

'Claire added, 'I drowned my own daughter. She did not fight. Her hands and arms were tucked under her body. I think, sadly, she had complete trust in me'. Claire told the officers 'I did what I did for Bethan'.'

The prosecutor continued: 'She said she held her hand to hold her under the water, she said she did it because 'I didn't want her to go anywhere near her father'.

'She confirmed when Bethan came out of the water she was already dead. She said she took her to the downstairs bedroom, wrapped her under her arm and then injected herself with insulin.' She continued that Colebourn said 'her only aim was to keep Bethan safe'.

Miss Maylin added that Colebourn claimed 'a phone call saying she was harassing Michael tipped her over the edge and Bethan was upset about Thursday's visit'.

She told the court the defendant said: 'I knew how she slept and I didn't want her to be in any pain.'

Three-year-old Bethan's family said she would be 'dearly missed'. Pictured above police outside the family home

Describing the incident, Colebourn added: 'She kept coming back to me, she put her hand on my cheeks, told me she loved me and said, 'I do not want a bath, I do not want a bath'.

'I waited for the bath to fill, I have never been so stressed in my life. I drowned my own daughter, I drowned my own daughter.'

Miss Maylin added that Colebourn said her daughter did not struggle and she added: 'She didn't fight against my hand. I think, very sadly, she had complete trust in me.'

Michael Colebourn today fought back tears as he the court the last time he had seen his three year old daughter she had been 'happy' and kissed him goodbye.

The 38-year-old told jurors that just days later he went to the house he used to share with wife Claire in Fordingbridge to take Bethan out but got no answer after knocking on the door.

Tragically, unbeknown to him, Bethan was already lying dead inside. Simply thinking he had misunderstood arrangements on October 19, 2017, he left and returned to work.

Holding back tears as he took to the witness stand today, Mr Colebourn said: 'Claire was not happy I was seeing Bethan on October 15, but eventually she allowed me to have her for the day.

'It was the first time I was to have Bethan on my own [after splitting up].

'Claire was not very keen to give Bethan to me and started again to ask why I was doing this and trying to prevent me from taking Bethan, which also upset Bethan.

'I dropped Bethan home about 5pm. Bethan kissed and hugged me, then went into the house. She was happy, she was pleased to see the dog. She was fine.

'I was due to see Bethan on October 19. I could see the dog in the kitchen when I went to the house, but he was shut in the kitchen. I thought maybe I had made a mistake and I went back to work in the end.'

Police parked outside of the 400,000 converted bungalow in Hampshire, where tributes were also left

The court heard hours later at 5pm police tried to call Mr Colebourn on his mobile, but he ignored it as it was an unknown number.

He was woken late that night when police came to his home to tell him the devastating news that his daughter had died.

Bethan was rushed to Salisbury District Hospital, Wiltshire, on October 19 last year, after emergency services were called to the converted bungalow in Fordingbridge.

However, the 'fun-loving, adventurous' little girl was tragically pronounced dead at hospital.

The court heard that Colebourn had endured a painful divorce from her husband Michael, after she became convinced he was having an affair with a woman named Kelly, a financial director at their company, Ms Justice Johannah Cutts heard.

She filed for divorce on the grounds that he worked long hours, was away on business, controlled the household finances and was not interested in bringing up Bethan. He said he 'was not happy' with the final claim.

He said that after Bethan was born his wife became 'obsessed' by finding out about his previous partner, also called Claire, from before they had met 16 years previously at university.

Mr Colebourn said his wife had not liked him being friends on Facebook with this ex and had attempted to arrange to visit places where she might be.

In the weeks following their separation in September 2017, the mother sent emotionally charged emails to Mr Colebourn's work colleagues, accusing him of cheating and controlling the family's finances.

Ms Maylin told the jury that on October 10 Mrs Colebourn had a new IT system installed in her home, following her husband's departure, after she became paranoid he was continuing to snoop and monitor her through the previous set up.

The jury was told that in the week approaching her daughter's death she began to search increasingly disturbing and morbid websites, while her daughter remained at pre-school, the prosecutor said.

Mrs Colebourn sobbed in the dock as the prosecutor listed websites which discussed suicide and depression.

Ms Maylin told the court how she was searching for dating websites, relationship counselling and her previous husband on the day before her daughter's death.

Ms Justice Cutts heard how Colebourn even drove to her husband's colleague, Kelly and Mr Colebourn's house in an effort to track him down, but was unaware he had since moved into a new flat - and had instructed his solicitor to keep his new address from his ex-wife.

Shortly before her daughter's death Colebourn was chillingly searching for euthanasia, the jury heard and on October 15, just days before her death, three-year-old Bethan enjoyed a day out with her father, having lunch together and kissing and hugging goodbye.

For Mr Colebourn, it would be the last time he saw his daughter alive, Ms Maylin said.

The jury of six men and six women at Winchester Crown Court heard that a post mortem examination later appeared to confirm the cause of Bethan's death as drowning by submersion in water.

The trial is being heard at Winchester Crown Court (pictured above) where Claire Colebourn has denied the single charge of murder

Ms Justice Cutts heard that Colebourn wrote a brief suicide note to her mother, sent a rambling and disturbing letter to police and requested changes to her will to her solicitor - before she drowned her daughter during the early hours in October 19.

Prosecutor Ms Maylin said that Colebourn, a diabetic, self-administered a large amount of insulin in a suicide attempt while her daughter lay dead in a downstairs bedroom - followed by another similar dose the following morning.

The jury was told she had taken a potentially fatal measure of medication and Colebourn later confessed to officers she attempted to hang herself and stab herself before passing in and out of consciousness in the upstairs bedroom.

A postal worker, an IT specialist and Mr Colebourn himself attended the address during the day but Colebourn only answered the door to the postwoman to accept a package. The post woman noticed she was disheveled and still in her nightwear.

However, the prosecutor described the tragic moment Colebourn's mother, Janet Fildew, finally discovered her three-year-old granddaughter lying cold, damp and unresponsive in the afternoon following her death.

Ms Maylin said: 'Janet had a key and entered the house. It was quiet and she went into the downstairs bedroom and found her granddaughter 'asleep' on the bed. She also went to find Claire and found her in the bedroom upstairs. She described her daughter as being in a diabetic hypo.

'She went to get some jam and rubbed it around her mouth and went to find some glucose. She knew she was making lots of noise but was aware Bethan was downstairs.

'She went to check on Bethan and entered to check her... and found that she was cold and completely unresponsive. She made a call at 18:40 to the ambulance service and requested their assistance - and was really distressed.

'She made efforts for a resuscitation following instructions she was provided with because of what had been reported. The police were dispatched and arrived and took over resuscitation attempts. They could not find a pulse in Bethan and her body was rigid as if rigor mortis had already set in.'

Colebourn, whose husband Michael works as chief executive officer of luxury marine interior company Trimline, had previously broken down in tears at her hearing in July 2018.

At the time of Bethan's death heartbroken Mr Colebourn paid tribute to his daughter.

In a tribute, released by the family, they said: 'Family and friends are devastated at our tragic loss.

'Bethan brought so much happiness and joy to so many people's lives.

'Bethan was a fun loving, adventurous and caring young girl who will be dearly missed.

'She will be in our hearts and minds forever.'

On 26 July 2018 Judge Keith Cutler remanded Coleburn in custody. The court heard the trial, which will be heard by a high court judge, will last up to three weeks.

Judge Cutler said: 'This is the case of Claire Colebourn, who faces the charge of murder of Bethan Colebourn, her three-year-old daughter.

'She has pleaded not guilty.

'This is a terrible and tragic case, which needs full investigation and I completely support the work being done to contact a number of experts.

'It has been decided that this case should be tried before a high court judge, but the availability is very limited.

'In the circumstances, we have a full slot for this trial beginning March 5, 2019.'

The former science teacher denies the single charge of murder.
A per capita recession has hit the Australian economy and is going to hinder wage growth and slash house prices.

Falling house prices over the last year and six years of stagnant wages have caused the situation, which has left Australians with a lower net worth than they had before.

While wages were already slow and housing prices dropping, the per capita recession will exacerbate the situation, where Australia's economic growth can't keep up with population growth.

As a result, the cost of living will increase.

Mortgage repayments could also increase, despite falling house prices, as banks phase out interest-only loans.

For the first time in 13 years, the country is experiencing a per capita recession, where Australia's economic growth can't keep up with population growth (stock image)

Comes after the property market saw a record fall in house prices in the last year and six years of low to no wage growth (stock image)

Australia's gross for every individual diminished in the second half of last year, shrinking by 0.1 per cent in the September quarter and by 0.2 per cent in the December quarter, Australian Bureau of Statistics national accounts data showed.

While Australia has avoided a technical recession for 28 years, this was the first per capita recession since 2006.

Richard Holden, a Professor of Economics at the University of New South Wales Business School said the per capita recession was 'a reflection of what's already hurting Australians'.

'Unless somethings done to address those, we shouldnt expect things to rebound,' he told news.com.au.

Australia's GDP growth level shrank in the second half of last year, shrinking by 0.1 per cent in the September quarter and 0.2 per cent in the December quarter (stock image)

What is a per capita recession? A per capita recession is when economic output, or wealth generated, by every person in a country shrinks. Population growth is removed from the equation to give a truer picture of economic activity. Per capita output per person fell by 0.1 per cent in the September quarter and by 0.2 per cent in the December quarter. This was the first per capita recession since 2006. This has followed a record fall in Sydney and Melbourne house prices and flat wages. A per capita recession, however, is different to a technical recession, defined as the economy shrinking for two consecutive quarters. This hasn't happened since the first half of 1991. Overall economic growth is based on the expansion in gross domestic product. This rose by 2.3 per cent in 2018, which was much lower than the Reserve Bank's forecast of a 2.8 per cent growth pace. GDP grew by 0.2 per cent in the December quarter. Advertisement

Mr Holden said more than half of Australia's GDP was from consumer spending, so a drop in retail sales would have, and has had, a major effect on the country.

He said the low consumer confidence was further impacted by the country's stagnant wage growth.

Commsec Chief Economist Craig James said Australia took a large blow last year when global trade slowed down and the drought affected farming.

'You've got to remember we had very strong growth in the first half of the year. This was reflected in the company profit report,' he said.

Despite it affecting everyday Australians, economists agree the future of the country's economy isn't all doom and gloom.

Mr James said consumers and businesses should remain positive as they have a lot to look forward to in the future.

Senior economist Stephen Koukalas said while it's a sign things aren't progressing the way they should be, it's not 'catastrophic'.

He said despite being in a current per capita recession, Australia would not be seeing a full-on recession anytime soon.

Australia hasn't seen a technical recession since June of 1991, when the economy contracted for two consecutive quarters.
A western Pennsylvania father whose infant son was suffocated when he fell asleep on the man's chest is now facing involuntary manslaughter charges.

Owen Labrenn Copney, 26, is also charged with child endangerment in the death last year of his month-old son, Isiah.

Authorities say Copney fell asleep with Isiah lying face down on his chest at a Colombia Avenue home in Vandergrift on September 17, 2018.

Owen Labrenn Copney, 26, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the death last year of his month-old son, Isiah

The child's mother had left the father alone while she visited a friend.

When Copney woke up, the child was face down in the crook of his arm and wasn't breathing.

The mother told authorities that when she returned to the child's father's home she knew the baby was dead.

Valley News Dispatch reports she told cops she was hysterical and screamed at Copney: 'I should never have left him with you!'

The child was taken to Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh for treatment but he died two days later on September 19.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiners Office said Isiah died of Sudden Unexplained Infant Death. The Medical Examiners Office said Isiah lived in Leechburg.

The child's mother told police he had been warned about the dangers of falling asleep with a newborn on his body.

Copney had allegedly made the same mistake in the past and the the mother believed attempts to scare him would make him more careful.

The mother told law enforcement she'd shared horror stories with the father about incidents where other babies had died.

Authorities say Copney admitted he had been warned that falling asleep with his son on his chest could be dangerous for the child.

Lawyer Samir Sarna declined to comment. But a woman claiming to be Copney's ex defended him on Facebook.

The child was taken to Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh for treatment but he died two days later on September 19

Allegheny County Medical Examiners Office said Isiah died of Sudden Unexplained Infant Death at the Colombia Avenue home in Vandergrift

Jalyn Booker claimed in a post: 'This is my ex and he loved his son! He did nothing wrong!!!! His mother left him while she knew he was sleeping.

'After working a double shift so she could go party!!!!! The truth will come out!!! She endangered her child!!!!!! Hes effected greatly by this. Prayers needed to my family.'

Another friend commented in the same thread that 'he would not purposely harm a child of any age'.

'I know Owen personally. This was a very horrible accident...' Maggie Fountain wrote. 'Yes with him working a double shift, the baby should have been in a crib or bassinet. The mom knowing that he worked a double shift should have made other arrangements for someone to have watched the baby.

'No matter his side, or her side, there are two families who are suffering a loss. We need to keep both sides lifted up in prayer.'

A woman claiming to be Copney's ex defended him on Facebook. Jalyn Booker claimed in a post: 'This is my ex and he loved his son! He did nothing wrong!!!! His mother left him while she knew he was sleeping'
Advertisement

Theresa May's beleaguered Brexit deal faces a second humiliating defeat as negotiations with the EU hit a brick wall again, MailOnline analysis of the House of Commons suggests today.

The Prime Minister looks unlikely to persuade all the 118 Tory rebels and 10 DUP MPs who voted against the deal in January to change their minds - even if she secures concessions from Brussels.

MailOnline's bad news for the Prime Minister came as Britain and Brussels were locked in yet another frosty stand-off over Brexit today.

The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier knocked back the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox's two proposals to solve the Irish backstop yesterday and told Britain it has 48 hours to come back with new cogent plans or talks could be over.

But Mr Cox hit back today and said: 'We are discussing detailed, coherent, careful proposals. I am surprised to hear the comments that have emerged over the last 48 hours that the proposals are not clear. They are as clear as day and we are continuing to discuss them'.

At home the Prime Minister also faces an uphill battle because it appears she has only won back the support of around 62 Tory rebels - but around 54 from the Brexiteer-led ERG group will not change their minds without a breakthrough in Brussels.

ERG member Mark Francois told ITV's Peston show last night: 'The rumours today are that Cox has got nothing. It looks like they haven't asked for an end date. It looks like they're talking about some extremely convoluted arbitration procedure, which is probably going to be unconvincing. If it is unconvincing, then I believe that the ERG overwhelmingly will vote against it, because it means we wouldn't leave the EU'.

Attempts to buy off Labour votes by promising 1billion over six years for struggling towns and reinforcing workers' rights also appear to have failed with only ten rebels likely to defy Jeremy Corbyn and back the PM.

The EU has warned Theresa May (pictured leaving No 10 tomorrow) she must offer 'acceptable' new ideas within 48 hours if she wants to salvage talks on the Brexit deal, which faces a potentially fatal defeat

Acrimonious talks between Mr Cox and the EU's negotiator Michel Barnier ended in deadlock on Tuesday night with both sides admitting the 'robust' and 'difficult'.

How the numbers stack up against the PM's deal AYE VOTES 273 Government payroll vote and the Tory Loyalists on January 15: 198 (unchanged) The Ministers and Tory MPs who voted for the deal last time are expected to vote Yes again. George Eustice and Alberto Costa resigned from the Government but both will vote for the deal. Returning Brexiteers: 61 (up 61) Everything turns on how many Tory rebels return to vote for the deal. Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, has led the charge saying he is ready to return with changes to the backstop. Labour rebels: 10 (up seven) The effort to convert Labour MPs to save the deal looks to have mostly failed. Just three backed it last time and a package of money for struggling towns and workers rights has convinced few. Independents: 4 (up one) A handful of Eurosceptic independent MPs voted for the deal last time and will do so again. Ian Austin has left the Labour party and is now in the independent  but not the TIG  column. NO VOTES: 365 Tory Brexit Rebels: 46 (down 61) Many hardcore Brexiteers who hate the deal will not be persuaded to return. This is the battleground: if the European Research Group says no, the rebels will consign May to a second painful defeat. Tory Remain Rebels: 8 (down 3) Pro-EU Tory MPs who voted against the deal last time are likely to do so again. They include former ministers such as Jo Johnson and Sam Gyimah. Most back a second referendum. Three of the group went to TIG. DUP: 10 (unchanged) Mays DUP allies are waiting to see what Geoffrey Cox agrees in Brussels. They loath the border backstop and without legally binding changes will vote against the deal for a second time. Labour: 233 (down 13) Labour has vowed to vote against the Brexit deal for a second time  both to pursue its own plans and in theory now to get a second referendum on the deal. Most Labour MPs will follow orders. The Independent Group: 11 (up 11) The defectors from the Labour and Tory ranks all voted against the deal last time and they will do so again. All of them want a new referendum on leaving the EU. SNP: 35 (unchanged) The SNP is deeply opposed to Brexit and will continue to vote against the deal. It wants Brexit stopped and sees political advantage in a new referendum to boost its independence hopes. Others: 22 (unchanged) An assortment of Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, Green and Independent MPs who are broadly anti-Brexit. They voted no last time and will do so again. Advertisement

Downing Street insisted today MPs still needed 'legally binding' guarantees the Irish border backstop would not be permanent to pass the deal on Tuesday night.

EU officials have said they are prepared to work through the weekend on the problem but only if Britain offers new suggestions.

Chancellor Philip Hammond today warned Brexiteers to back the deal anyway insisting it is the 'last chance' to leave the EU on time today.

The Chancellor said a second loss for the Prime Minister would leave the fate of Brexit 'highly uncertain' as he predicted MPs would then vote to rule out no deal and delay Brexit.

If the PM's deal is defeated on Tuesday night, MPs will vote on whether to rule out no deal on Wednesday before deciding whether to delay Brexit on Thursday.

As the stand off continued today, Theresa May's official spokesman said: 'Talks are ongoing. The EU continues to state it wants Britain to leave with a deal.

'Parliament requires us to get legally binding changes to the backstop.'

Mr Cox rejected EU claims Britain has not offered clear proposals today, telling MPs: 'We have been engaging in focused, detailed and careful discussions with the Union and we continue to seek legally-binding changes to the backstop which ensure that it cannot be indefinite.

'These discussions will be resumed shortly.'

He added: 'We are discussing text with the European Union. I am surprised to hear the comments that have emerged over the last 48 hours the proposals are not clear. They are as clear as day and we are continuing to discuss them.'

The European Commission's chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas insisted: 'There are technical meetings ongoing, happening, and then of course all remains to be confirmed if and when, when and if, we have something to be presented, as always you will be the first to know.'

He added: 'President Juncker is available 24/7 as all our Article 50 teams and everyone involved - we are in permanent contact.'

Mr Hammond told broadcasters: 'If we don't pass the meaningful vote on Tuesday we'll go into a parliamentary process that very likely will lead to an extension of time and an uncertain outcome, more uncertainty for the British economy, more uncertainty for people across the country.

'It's very important that my colleagues think about the consequences of not agreeing this deal.

'This is now the last chance to be confident that we can get this deal done and we can leave the EU on schedule.'

Mr Hammond refused to be drawn on how he would vote if Mrs May's deal is defeated and MPs are asked whether they want to delay Britain's exit from the EU.

'I'm not going to speculate about something that hasn't happened and I don't think will happen because I think the Government is very clear where the will of Parliament is on this,' he told Today.

'Parliament will vote not to leave the European Union without a deal next Wednesday, I have a high degree of confidence about that.

'But we do need to have clear confirmation.

'It's right that Parliament should make that decision and then we'll put the question about extending Article 50 and how we try to break this impasse by finding a consensus.'

With just five days until a showdown vote in Parliament on the deal, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (pictured in the Commons today) insisted his proposals were 'clear as day' - but the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier knocked back every one

Following Tuesday's meeting, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, gave a gloomy assessment of the talks but said afterwards that he was 'still determined'.

How frosty EU sent Britain back 'with nothing' in fiery talks between Geoffrey Cox and Brussels' Michel Barnier The EU sent Attorney General Geoffrey Cox packing as 'difficult' and 'negative' 11th hour talks failed again leaving Theresa May with 'nothing' that could win her make-or-break Brexit vote, it was revealed today. Mr Cox has openly admitted he had 'robust' conversations with his counterpart Michel Barnier - diplomatic code for a bust-up - as he returned from Brussels empty handed last night with one source claiming: 'There is no light at the end of the tunnel'. Without a breakthrough the Prime Minister's Brexit deal faces another catastrophic Commons defeat with a senior Tory admitting: 'Everything is going to be s***' if they lose again next week. Mr Barnier, who has led negotiations, reportedly would not budge and 'did not want to engage' as he knocked back all the British proposals to break the Irish backstop deadlock demanding Britain 're-drafts' its plans again. EU sources hit back by claiming Mr Cox had produced 'nothing new' and was offering 'a legal solution to a political problem' with his mini-backstop proposals, adding: 'The two sides are still far from each other'. Sabine Weyand, Mr Barnier's deputy, has spoken to the remaining EU27 member state ambassadors on the negotiations with Mr Cox with a briefing note describing the crunch talks as 'negative'. One diplomat said: 'There's no light at the end of the tunnel. It was gloomy'. Another said: 'We're still far from an agreement. There's no text on the table. If there's some progress. The point is always the same: how to phrase the backstop in a way that could be acceptable for the UK.' Advertisement

EU officials are preparing to work round the clock this weekend, saying it is 'unlikely' an agreement will be reached before then and that talks will go down to the wire.

And in a warning there will be no significant concessions from the EU, French Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau today said the deal cannot be reopened.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the deal was the 'best possible solution', and said: 'We cannot reopen this negotiation on the Withdrawal Agreement because it is balanced...

'We don't like the backstop, we don't want to have to implement it, and if we have to, we don't want to stay in the backstop.

'We all agree that it should be temporary, and that it's a last resort solution.'

'There's no sign of a breakthrough and there will need to be some tough work in the days ahead if there's going to be deal,' one EU official said, adding that it was still possible negotiators could seal a deal by the end of the weekend.

But that would leave Mrs May just 24 hours to travel to Brussels to endorse the deal on Monday before taking it back to be voted on by MPs the next day.

Tory Brexiteers have already warned the Prime Minister they want at least two days to scrutinise any new offer and will not be 'bounced' into an early vote.

Mr Cox, who met Mr Barnier with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay, described Tuesday's late-night talks as 'robust' as he returned to London yesterday.

He said: 'We are into the meat of the matter now. We've put forward some proposals, very reasonable proposals, and we're now really into the detail of the discussions.

'Both sides have exchanged robust, strong views and we are now facing the real discussions. Talks will be resuming soon.'

Philip Hammond (pictured in Downing Street yesterday) warned Brexiteers voting for Theresa May's deal on Tuesday is the 'last chance' to leave the EU on time today

The latest row over the backstop  designed to prevent a hard border emerging in Ireland  centres around disagreements over language which could either form a new document to be added to the Withdrawal Treaty or sit alongside it, said to be taken from a letter written by European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker (pictured)

Last night it emerged that Mr Cox is trying to secure an 'arbitration panel' that would determine if the two sides were acting in good faith in trying to find alternatives to the backstop.

But according to a report on the BuzzFeed website, the idea was rejected by Mr Barnier.

Sources say Mr Cox and Mr Barclay could be back in Brussels as early as tomorrow to help push a deal over the line in time for next week's vote.

Technical discussions, led by Mrs May's chief Brexit adviser Olly Robbins, will continue in Brussels. Neither side is said to have presented any new formal text.

The latest row over the backstop  designed to prevent a hard border emerging in Ireland  centres around disagreements over language which could either form a new document to be added to the Withdrawal Treaty or sit alongside it.

According to EU sources, 'inspiration' for the text has been drawn from a joint letter sent to Mrs May by EU Commission and Council chiefs Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk in January.

Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, gave a gloomy assessment of the talks but said afterwards that he was 'still determined'

This included a pledge to reach a future trade agreement 'speedily' and talked of a 'firm determination' to have an alternative to the backstop ready so it would either never have to be used or only triggered 'temporarily'.

Negotiators are struggling with the 'semantic' challenge of agreeing a form of words which will please both sides.

Peers demand the UK stays in a customs union after Brexit The House of Lords has demanded Britain stays in a Customs union with the EU after Brexit. Last night, peers defied Government pleas to amend the Trade Bill to make a customs union an 'objective' of the trade talks phase of Brexit negotiations. The rebel amendment carried 207-141 - setting up a new showdown when the legislation returns to the Commons. MPs have to agree any changes made by the Lords and the Government would try to strip it from the Bill. But PM Theresa May has only a feeble grip of the Commons and could be defeated by a handful of soft Brexit Tory rebels. Advertisement

Downing Street acknowledged the talks were deadlocked, but insisted they would continue.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: 'The EU continues to say they want this resolved and they want the UK to leave with a deal. Parliament has been clear we need legally-binding changes to ensure the UK cannot be stuck in the backstop indefinitely.'

An EU Commission spokesman said: 'While the talks were held under a constructive atmosphere, discussions have been difficult and we have not yet been able to identify any solution.'

Meanwhile, EU boats will be banned from fishing in UK waters if Britain leaves without a deal under a new law to be laid before Parliament today.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove will say boats which want to fish off the UK coast will need a licence from the Government.

MPs were warned last night they may lose their Easter holiday to push through Brexit legislation. It was the clearest hint yet that Brexit is set to be delayed.

Mr Gove warned MPs that votes on vital Brexit legislation could be held during Easter.

How the numbers stack up against the PM's ailing deal...

Ahead of the vote at 7pm on Tuesday, this is how MailOnline estimates the Commons will split:

There is one vacant seat in Newport West following the death of Paul Flynn. The seven Sinn Fein MPs and four Speakers do not vote.

AYE VOTES 272

Government payroll vote and the Tory Loyalists on January 15: 196 (unchanged)

The Ministers and Tory MPs who voted for the deal last time are expected to vote Yes again. George Eustice and Alberto Costa resigned from the Government but both will vote for the deal.

Returning Brexiteers: 62 (up 62)

Everything turns on how many Tory rebels return to vote for the deal. Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, has led the charge saying he is ready to return with changes to the backstop.

Labour rebels: 10 (up seven)

The effort to convert Labour MPs to save the deal looks to have mostly failed. Just three backed it last time and a package of money for struggling towns and workers rights has convinced few.

Independents: 4 (up one)

A handful of Eurosceptic independent MPs voted for the deal last time and will do so again. Ian Austin has left the Labour party and is now in the independent  but not the TIG  column.

NO VOTES: 366

Tory Rebels: 54 (down 64)

Many hardcore Brexiteers who hate the deal will not be persuaded to return. This is the battleground: if the European Research Group says no, the rebels will consign May to a second painful defeat.

DUP: 10 (unchanged)

Mays DUP allies are waiting to see what Geoffrey Cox agrees in Brussels. They loath the border backstop and without legally binding changes will vote against the deal for a second time.

Labour: 235 (down 13)

Labour has vowed to vote against the Brexit deal for a second time  both to pursue its own plans and in theory now to get a second referendum on the deal. Most Labour MPs will follow orders.

The Independent Group: 11 (up 11)

The defectors from the Labour and Tory ranks all voted against the deal last time and they will do so again. All of them want a new referendum on leaving the EU.

SNP: 35 (unchanged)

The SNP is deeply opposed to Brexit and will continue to vote against the deal. It wants Brexit stopped and sees political advantage in a new referendum to boost its independence hopes.

Others: 21 (unchanged)

An assortment of Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, Green and Independent MPs who are broadly anti-Brexit. They voted no last time and will do so again.

Labour fury at Jeremy Corbyn for cosying up to Tory Remainers who want a Norway Plus-style soft Brexit as it emerges allies warned him he will NEVER be PM if he backs a 'second referendum' in fiery showdown

Jeremy Corbyn was today accused of betraying his second referendum promise by 'plotting' with Tories who want a super-soft Brexit that would tie the UK to Brussels.

The Labour leader has discussed the Norway-style deal being proposed by senior Conservatives including Nick Boles and Oliver Letwin who want Britain to be in permanent customs union with the EU.

The meeting, which was also attended by Labour remainers, was meant to last around 15 minutes but went on for over an hour.

24 hours earlier Corbyn loyalist Ian Lavery reportedly ripped into Labour MPs now pushing Mr Corbyn towards a new EU vote and told Mr Corbyn: 'If we back a 2nd referendum you will never be Prime Minister', according to The Sun.

And hinting that he could back a softer Brexit deal Mr Corbyn said last night: 'I left both meetings more certain than ever that we can find a way to work across Parliament to force the Government to back a sensible Brexit plan that protects jobs and more determined to achieve it'.

But his response has caused a backlash among second referendum supporters with one critic saying: 'The party leader is undermining the party's second referendum stance by plotting with the Tories' - another Labour supporter said: 'It's a betrayal'.

Norways arrangement with the EU forces it to accept the free movement of people - ruled out by Labours 2017 manifesto.

Jeremy Corbyn discussed the idea of a Norway-style deal with the EU with a cross-party group of MPs - but was accused of betrayal by those who want a second referendum

Mr Boles was in an upbeat mood following yesterday's meeting with Jeremy Corbyn, which is likely to annoy supporters of a second referendum

But in a surprise move, the Labour leader discussed the idea with a cross-party group of MPs calling for the softest possible Brexit as an alternative to a second referendum.

What is the Norway-plus Brexit senior remainers are pushing for? MPs from across parties have been mooting the idea of a Norway model keeping Britain in the customs union like the Scandinavian country. It would effectively keep the UK in the single market, with a customs bolt-on to avoid a hard Irish border, and backers say it would keep Britain close to the EU while cutting contributions to Brussels. However, critics say it has the drawbacks of keeping free movement, - and tightly limiting the possibilities for doing trade deals elsewhere. The EU is also thought to have concerns about a country the UK's size joining the EEA, while other states in the group might be resistant. Advertisement

Tories last the meeting were joined by Labour MPs, Lucy Powell and Stephen Kinnock.

Nick Boles said he was 'happy' after the talks about the so-called 'Common Market 2.0 proposal' and tweeted last night: 'For months now we have been meeting with senior MPs from all parties in search of a cross party Brexit compromise'.

In a separate development last night, the House of Lords voted for plans that would force Theresa May to seek a permanent customs union with the EU after Brexit.

The moves underline fears at the top of Government that Parliament will seize control of the Brexit process if Mrs Mays deal is rejected for a second time on March 12.

Chief Whip Julian Smith warned the Cabinet on Tuesday that Parliament would try to force the Government into a customs union if the deal is defeated next week. Mrs May is considering a public warning on the issue tomorrow in the hope of pressuring MPs into supporting her proposals.

A Whitehall source said the PM could make a major speech framing next week as the moment of decision for the country.

Yesterdays talks involved Mr Corbyn, Tory ex-ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Nick Boles and Labour backers of the Norway plan, Stephen Kinnock and Lucy Powell.

Mr Kinnock said the meeting involved talks about a Norway-style deal, adding: There is a strong cross-party consensus for a pragmatic, bridge-building Brexit.

Sir Oliver, working with Labours Yvette Cooper, is leading a push for Parliament to take control of the Brexit process.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said last night it was astonishing that senior Conservatives were willing to work with Labours hard-Left leader on plans that would undermine Government policy.

In a separate development last night, the House of Lords voted for plans that would force Theresa May to seek a permanent customs union with the EU after Brexit

Last night, peers backed an amendment to the Customs Bill by a majority of 66 that would require Mrs May to seek a permanent customs union with the EU after Brexit. An alliance of Labour, Lib Dem, cross bench and some Tory peers defeated the Government by 207 votes to 141.

Labours trade spokesman in the Lords, Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, said: Ministers must drop their red lines on Brexit and embark on a fresh approach to the negotiations with the EU based around a Customs Union that protects jobs, secures opportunities for our industries, and removes the need for a hard border in Ireland.

Ministers had been resigned to losing last nights vote, but No10 indicated it would seek to overturn the demand in the Commons, where MPs have already voted twice to reject a permanent customs union.

Mrs Mays spokesman said: The PM has been clear about the importance of the UK being able to have its own trade policy.

Norway is not in the customs union but is a member of the EUs single market, and has to accept free movement, pay into the EU budget and accept EU laws. Senior Tories warn that making the UK a rule-taker undermines the idea that the UK is taking back control from the EU.
Donald Trump's personal attorney on Thursday accused the president's disgraced former lawyer of lying to Congress last week when he said he 'never' asked the White House for a pardon.

Cohen told the House Oversight Committee last week: 'I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from Mr. Trump.'

That appears to be untrue: Cohen's current lawyer, former longtime Bill Clinton confidant Lanny Davis, told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that Cohen 'directed' his then-attorney to seek presidential clemency after FBI agents raided his home, office and hotel room and arrested him.

And Rudy Giuliani, who represents Trump's personal legal interests, was in the room when Cohen's first lawyer, Stephen Ryan, made his pitch.

Davis said that Cohen isn't currently seeking a pardon to erase the eight guilty pleas that led to his impending three-year prison sentence, and insisted that has been the case since Cohen retained him on July 2, 2018.

Giuliani tweeted Thursday that Davis's statement left a gaping hole in Cohen's timeline: the nearly eight weeks after the April 9, 2018 raids.

'The defense now to Cohen saying under oath he NEVER asked for a pardon is a familiar one; Whats The Meaning of Never,' Giuliani tweeted. 'Serial liars often try the same deception too often. Lets hope Congress and DOJ are outraged at Cohens disrespecting them by perjuring himself repeatedly.'

Giuliani's reference to a 'familiar' dodge was a jab at Davis's former longtime client, the 42nd president, who once famously covered up a lie about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky by dissembling about 'the meaning of the word "is".'

Disgraced former Trump attorney Michael Cohen is going to prison for three years in May and claimed last week in sworn testimony that he 'never' asked President Trump for a pardon  but his lawyer Lanny Davis now concedes that Cohen's first attorney asked White House legal counsels about a pardon last year

President Trump has almost certainly dismissed the idea of pardoning Cohen, who turned on him and accused him of committing crimes while in office

Cohen is pictured Wednesday with attorney Lanny Davis at the U.S. Capitol after giving closed-door testimony to the House Intelligence Committee; Davis, a former attorney for President Bill Clinton, confirmed that Cohen 'directed' his first criminal lawyer to seek a pardon

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now Trump's personal lawyer, was one person Cohen's first attorney pitched on a pardon last year; he blasted Cohen on Thursday in a demand for a new perjury probe

Clinton's evasive moment, captured in Special Prosecutor Ken Starr's report, came during grand jury testimony when he described telling curious aides that 'Theres nothing going on between us.'

'It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is,' he told the grand jury. 'If the  if he  if "is" means is and never has been, that is not  that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement,' he testified.

'If someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true.'

Davis had told The Wall Street Journal that '[a]fter July 2, 2018, Mr. Cohen authorized me as a new lawyer to say publicly Mr. Cohen would never accept a pardon from President Trump even if offered. That continues to be the case.'

Giuliani vented on Twitter: 'Never means never ever[,] not after July 2,2018 which is the latest deception. Another perjury and more prison.'

Cohen pleaded guilty to tax and bank fraud, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress.

Giuliani tweeted a fusillade at Cohen and Davis on Thursday, including a thinly veiled reference to Bill Clinton's famous dodge in grand jury testimony about what the word 'is' meant

Clinton famously said that the question of whether he lied to White House aides about his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky hinged on 'what the meaning of the word "is" is'  and Giuliani seemed to suggest Thursday that Lanny Davis, Clinton's lawyer at the time, picked up the smae thread by parsing the word 'never' for Cohen, now his client

Giuliani said the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives should 'demand' new criminal charges over Cohen's claim he never sought a pardon.

'Im still waiting for the House Dems to demand a perjury prosecution for the man who made fools out of them by lying under oath. Do they care about the truth? Or is it get Trump at any cost, even to their own integrity?' he asked.

Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows have already referred five of Cohen's statements during his open congressional hearing to the Justice Department in a referral that asks for a new perjury probe.

Lanny Davis's acknowledgment that Cohen did seek a presidential pardon could result in a new perjury charge for his client

Cohen worked for President Trump and his real estate company for more than a decade but turned on him last year, cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and a New York federal prosecutor.

The FBI's April 9, 2018 search warrants upended Cohen's charmed life and sent a public signal that the special counsel's Russia probe could be circling close to the White House.

'During that time period, he directed his attorney to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump,' Davis said Wednesday.

He described the discussions as amounting to an 'ongoing "dangling" of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media.'

Facing criminal charges and hostile media, Cohen hired Davis to represent him and changed his public position on pardons.

Now Davis, an established Washington-insider attorney, is claiming Cohen's statement last week 'was true  and consistent with his post-joint defense agreement commitment to tell the truth.'

At the time Cohen's first lawyer, Stephen Ryan, asked about a pardon, several White House lawyers dismissed the idea  but not Giuliani.

Stephen Ryan (left) is the attorney who asked White House lawyers about clemency for his client Cohen last year while they were all sifting through Cohen's documents to see what might be subject to attorney-client privilege

Trump's free-wheeling personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani left the door open last year to a possible future pardon, even as White House lawyers ruled it out

Jay Sekulow and Joanna Hendon said they wouldn't consider it; the famously free-wheeling Giuliani, however, said the concept could win the president's support in the future.

The topic came up while Ryan and attorneys for the president were working side-by-side to determine which of the documents in the FBI's possession would be subject to attorney-client privilege.

Ryan left the impression in separate discussions with Trump Organization attorneys Alan Futerfas and Alan Garten that promise of a pardon would keep Cohen from cooperating with New York-based federal prosecutors.

Cohen has appeared on Capitol Hill four times since last week: once for the public hearing where he testified that he never asked for a presidnetial pardon, and three more times behind closed doors.
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley was forced to apologise today after claiming none of the deaths caused by soldiers and police during the Troubles were crimes.

Ms Bradley is under pressure to resign after yesterday's comments, which came just a week before soldiers of the Parachute Regiment will find out if they will be prosecuted over Bloody Sunday in 1972.

Ms Bradley provoked fury when she told MPs on Wednesday that deaths at the hands of the military and police in Northern Ireland were not crimes because 'they were people acting under orders - fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way.'

But today she said she was 'profoundly sorry' today for the 'offence and hurt' caused after an explosion of anger from families who lost loved ones in the conflict and nationalist political leaders.

Support for Ms Bradley appears to be in the minority with former soldiers opposed to prosecuting troops who served in Northern Ireland even slamming the minister's choice of words, and timing.

Ex-head of the Army Lord Dannatt - who has campaigned against a 'witch hunt' of Northern Ireland veterans - branded the remarks 'extraordinarily embarrassing and naive'.

David Cameron issued an historic apology over the actions of British troops on Bloody Sunday in 2010, admitting the killings were 'unjustified and unjustifiable'.

Despite the apology there have years of dispute over whether soldiers should be pursued by prosecutions 40 years later and decades after the peace accords.

Ms Bradley was humiliated last year after she admitted to not understanding the province's politics, which are split on sectarian lines, when she took on the job of Northern Ireland Secretary.

Karen Bradley (pictured yesterday in the Commons) said she is 'profoundly sorry' today for the 'offence and hurt' caused after she suggested deaths caused by soldiers and police during the Troubles were not crimes

Next week, prosecutors will announce whether soldiers will face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings of 14 innocent civilians in Londonderry (image of tear gas explosions on Bloody Sunday in 1972)

Her latest intervention ahead of a sensitive prosecution decision also sparked a diplomatic spat with Dublin with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar calling her comments 'insensitive and wrong' - but he refused to call on her to quit.

Prosecutors to decide on Bloody Sunday charges next week Prosecutors will announce next week whether soldiers will face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings of 14 innocent civilians in Londonderry. The Mail has long campaigned against a witch-hunt of British troops. Their treatment stands in stark contrast to members of the IRA who, under the Good Friday Agreement of 1999, face a maximum of two years in prison for atrocities during the Troubles Seventeen ex-soldiers, the oldest of whom is 77, remain under investigation over the shootings in Londonderry 47 years ago. One soldier facing two charges of attempted murder, who can only be identified as Sergeant O, is accused of firing into the air and hitting brickwork which may have fallen and injured civilians. The criminal investigation began following the 12-year inquiry led by Lord Saville, which ended in 2010. Costing 200million, it concluded troops lost control on January 30, 1972 when troops from the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment opened fire on protesters, killing 14 and injuring another 14. The former soldiers at the greatest risk of murder charges were highlighted in Lord Savilles report as Lance Corporal F, Corporal P, Soldier R and Soldier U. Under the rules of the inquiry, the soldiers involved have been granted anonymity. However, they fear they could be identified if the cases end up in court. Advertisement

In her apology, Ms Bradley said her language was 'wrong' and 'deeply insensitive' to many of those who lost loved ones - particularly on Bloody Sunday in 1972, where soldiers of the Parachute Regiment killed 13 civilians.

Today the Prime Ministers deputy official spokeswoman said: She has issued a fulsome apology. She accepts that her language was wrong.

That was the right thing to do.

The Mail has long campaigned against a witch-hunt of British troops. Their treatment stands in stark contrast to members of the IRA who, under the Good Friday Agreement of 1999, face a maximum of two years in prison for atrocities during the Troubles.

She said: 'Yesterday I made comments regarding the actions of soldiers during the Troubles. I want to apologise. I am profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt that my words have caused.

'The language was wrong and even though this was not my intention, it was deeply insensitive to many of those who lost loved ones.

'I know from those families that I have met personally just how raw their pain is and I completely understand why they want to see justice properly delivered.

'I share that aim and that is why I launched the public consultation on addressing the legacy of the Troubles.'

Ms Bradley insisted her and the Government had a 'clear' position in favour of the rule of law.

She said: 'Where there is any evidence of wrongdoing this should be pursued without fear or favour, whoever the perpetrators might be.

'That is a principle that underpins our approach to dealing with legacy issues and it is one from which we will not depart.'

Mickey McKinney, whose brother William was shot by a Parachute Regiment soldier, said: 'It's very hurtful.

'She should resign right away, is she not aware that there was an inquiry that found our people completely innocent, was she not aware of David Cameron's apology to the people for the behaviour of the army?

'For her to come out with ridiculous comments, that is completely outrageous.'

Asked if Ms Bradley should resign, Irish Premier Leo Varadkar said: 'Not gonna go there.

'It's not for me to determine the composition of any other government, that's something for the Prime Minister and Karen herself to decide.'

Mickey McKinney, whose brother William was killed in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday, has slammed Ms Bradley's comments (he is pictured at the Bloody Sunday memorial)

Even former soldiers opposed to prosecuting troops who served in Northern Ireland slammed the minister. Former head of the Army Lord Dannatt (file) branded the remarks 'extraordinarily embarrassing and naive'

Northern Ireland's former police ombudsman Baroness Nuala O'Loan urged the Prime Minister to seek Ms Bradley's resignation.

Ahead of the apology, Baroness O'Loan said: 'Those comments show a complete disregard for the operation of the rule of law.

'Moreover, they also demonstrate a total lack of understanding about Northern Ireland and utter contempt for those who suffered the loss of loved ones.'

Asked if Ms Bradley should resign, Irish Premier Leo Varadkar (file) said 'not gonna go there' but his government did demand an explanation

Lord Dannatt told Nolan Live: 'In 1972 when I was a platoon commander on the streets of Northern Ireland I knew who was at the top of the wanted list in Belfast and Londonderry.

'I became head of the British Army, others became head of the political institutions in Northern Ireland.

'Life moves on.

'As far as Bloody Sunday was concerned bad things happened.'

Of prosecutions, he said: 'If you want life to move on you have got to think about the bigger issues and think about what kind of community and society do people want to live in, in the future.'

Ms Bradley returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to clarify to MPs that alleged wrongdoing should always be investigated.

Next week, prosecutors will announce whether soldiers will face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings of 14 innocent civilians in Londonderry.

Seventeen ex-soldiers, the oldest of whom is 77, remain under investigation over the shootings in Londonderry 47 years ago.

One soldier facing two charges of attempted murder, who can only be identified as Sergeant O, is accused of firing into the air and hitting brickwork which may have fallen and injured civilians.

The criminal investigation began following the 12-year inquiry led by Lord Saville, which ended in 2010. Costing 200million, it concluded troops lost control on January 30, 1972 when troops from the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment opened fire on protesters, killing 14 and injuring another 14.

The former soldiers at the greatest risk of murder charges were highlighted in Lord Savilles report as Lance Corporal F, Corporal P, Soldier R and Soldier U.

Under the rules of the inquiry, the soldiers involved have been granted anonymity. However, they fear they could be identified if the cases end up in court.

She later returned to the Commons to say: 'The point I was seeking to convey was that the overwhelming majority of those who served carried out their duties with courage, professionalism and integrity and within the law.

'I was not referring to any specific cases but expressing a general view.

'Of course, where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated - whoever is responsible.

'These are of course matters for the police and prosecuting authorities, who are independent of Government.'
Armenia's ex-deputy health minister Vahan Poghosyan was detained on suspicion of being involved in a series of abuses at the National Center for Combating Tuberculosis.

Investigation revealed numerous incidents of abuses at the Center and also the identity of the people who committed obvious financial abuses. These abuses were committed in 2014-2018.

"V. Poghosyan, who served as deputy health minister from December 2011 to November 2016 and coordinated a project for prevention of HIV / AIDS and organization of medical assistance to infected people implemented with funding from the Global Fund for HIV / AIDS Prevention and Tuberculosis Control, abused his official powers. He was detained on March 7, 2019 on suspicion of committing this crime," ARKA cited the investigators as saying.

Preliminary investigation is underway.
Three members of the US Navy have been accused of raping an 18-year-old girl in Georgia.

Johnathan Augustus, Michael Billington and Teddy Diake, all 24 years old and from Fort Gordon, were arrested and charged with rape and aggravated sodomy on Tuesday, according to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.

An 18-year-old woman was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries on Sunday following an alleged assault by three men during a party held at a home in Richmond County.

Billington, Diake and Augustus were identified as the assailants by other party guests and brought in for questioning.

Johnathan Augustus, Michael Billington and Teddy Diake, all 24 and from Fort Gordon, were arrested Tuesday for allegedly raping and sodomizing an 18-year-old girl at a house party in Richmond County, Georgia, on Sunday. The men are pictured left to right in their mugshots

The men are being held at the Richmond County Jail in Augusta pending arraignment, according to jail records.

Navy spokesman Ben Tisdale told DailyMail.com: 'The Richmond County Sheriff's Office, with the assistance of Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is investigating allegations of a sexual assault that took place March 3 involving three service members.

'We take allegations of this nature very seriously, and the investigation is ongoing.'

According to their Facebook pages, Billington and Diake started working for the Navy in 2014 and 2017, respectively. It is unclear when Augustus joined.

Fort Gordon is located just outside Augusta and about 144 miles east of Atlanta.
Brazil's agency for indigenous peoples has sent off a rare and high-risk expedition hoping to contact a small, isolated group in the Amazon and reunite its members with some of their relatives, saying the move is necessary to avoid bloodshed in an area near the border with Peru.

A team of nearly two dozen sponsored by the FUNAI agency headed up the Coari River over the weekend looking for the group of at least 22 people who are members of the widespread Korubo indigenous community and live in the Javari valley, in the northern state of Amazonas. Brazil's army, federal police and health ministry are backing the initiative, which could take weeks.

The last time FUNAI organized such a big expedition was in 1996, also in that region. The Javari valley, an area of more than 8 million hectares (nearly 31,000 square miles), or bigger than Hungary, is home to the biggest concentration of isolated indigenous peoples in Brazil, amounting to at least 11 groups.

A FUNAI agency team is headed up the Coari River looking for the group of at least 22 people who are members of the Korubo indigenous community

The tribe is said to live in the Javari valley, in the northern state of Amazonas

The initiative is the agency's first major operation during the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who pledged to stop demarcation of indigenous lands and allow miners to operate in their lands.

Brazilian law says that contact with isolated tribes can be used only as a last resort to preserve their lives. Bruno Pereira, FUNAI's coordinator for isolated indigenous peoples who is leading the expedition, said the objective is to ease tensions between the isolated group of Korubos and a group of indigenous Matis who live about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away.

The Matis contacted the Korubos in 2013, initially in a friendly manner, but in the following year there was a deadly clash between the two groups, FUNAI said. After that incident, some of the Korubos migrated from the area, and reported that those who stayed mistakenly believed their relatives had been killed by the Matis. Some of the Korubos who left are in FUNAI's expedition.

Pereira said the Matis have repeatedly requested an intervention of Brazil's government because they believe the isolated Korubos will want revenge soon.

Objective is to ease tensions between the isolated group of Korubos and a group of indigenous Matis who live about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away

This map shows the Javari Valley in Brazil where the indigenous tribes live

'There has already been conflict and death,' Pereira told The Associated Press and three other media organizations at the FUNAI office in Brazil's capital. 'This proximity of 20 kilometers between them is a catastrophic scenario. If there is a new confrontation with the Matis, the Korubos will respond in their traditional way: violence.'

Plans call for the FUNAI team to go up the Coari and find a place to set up a camp. Members will then wait while the Korubos on the expedition try to persuade the isolated group to stay out of Matis territory. FUNAI analysts say there are no assurances the isolated group will believe that the Korubos in the expedition are in fact their relatives, which heightens the danger.

This picture shows the roof of a maloca hut of the isolated Indian tribe

Members of the Brazil's indigenous affairs agency FUNAI contact a group of Korubo Indigenous people in the Javari Valley reservation, Brazil in October 2015

Pereira said the worst case scenario is that the Korubos fight, while the top hope is that the group accepts the visit of their relatives and decides to stop approaching the Matis area. The FUNAI team also includes doctors in case the uncontacted Korubos need support.

Matis have had contact with FUNAI since the 1970s. The Korubo community is in voluntary isolation, although some of its small tribal groups have been in contact with Brazilian authorities since the 1990s.
The builder behind the Miami pedestrian bridge which collapsed and killed six last March has filed for bankruptcy.

Magnum Construction Management LLC - known as MCM - built the walkover at Florida International University, which was supposed to be able to withstand Category 5 hurricanes.

But the $14.2 million structure failed shortly after it was installed, falling on to eight lanes of traffic below.

Now The Miami Herald reports lawyers told Judge A. Jay Cristol on Wednesday that the company was more than $8 million in debt even before the bridge collapse.

Attorney Jordi Guso said a series of events led the company to file for bankruptcy, including 18 lawsuits, the termination of a lucrative Texas project and limited access to new funding.

The judge said he will allow MCM to restructure its financial obligations under Chapter 11 bankruptcy rules.

Scroll down for video.

The FIU-Sweetwater University City Bridge collapsed five days after it was installed

Workers, law enforcement and members of the National Transportation Safety Board investigate the scene where a pedestrian bridge collapsed a few days after it was built

Magnum Construction Management LLC - known as MCM - built the walkover at Florida International University. MCM's headquarters are pictured

Guso said MCM is asking four insurance companies to cover up to $54 million in damages.

Stuart Grossman, one of the victims attorneys, said the $54 million cap is 'the maximum we can get from MCM because they're going bankrupt'.

Victims are still seeking damages from others, including the bridge designer, FIGG Bridge Group.

Attorney David Rosendorf, who is also representing victims during bankruptcy proceedings, added: 'The bankruptcy process should facilitate rather than interfere. Nothing about the bankruptcy process should let the insurers off the hook.'

The National Transportation Safety Board has not released its final report but has said design defects were likely a factor in its collapse. The bridge was behind schedule and over budget at the time it fell.

Five bodies were pulled from crushed cars and one man died at the hospital following the incident.

Navarro Brown was working with VSL Structural Technologies on the pedestrian bridge. FIU student Alexa Duran, 18 (right), was giving her a friend a ride to his doctor's office to pick up some medication when the bridge collapsed, killing her

Oswald Gonzalez, 57 (left), and Alberto Arias, 53 (right), friends and business partners, were on a drive to a travel agency to pick up airline tickets for their annual visit to their beloved homeland of Cuba

Rolando Fraga Hernandez's body was found when his vehicle was removed from the debris

Married father-of-three Brandon Brownfield (pictured, right, with his wife) was the final victim named following the pedestrian bridge collapse in Miami

Married father-of-three Brandon Brownfield was the final victim named. He was driving home from work when the bridge collapsed.

The other five victims were named as Rolando Fraga Hernandez, 57-year-old Oswald Gonzalez, 53-year-old Alberto Arias, 37-year-old Navarro Brown, and FIU student Alexa Duran, 18.

Gonzalez and Arias, friends and business partners, had just finished lunch and were on a drive to a travel agency to pick up airline tickets for their annual visit to their beloved homeland of Cuba.

Alexa was giving a friend a ride to his doctor's office to pick up some medication.

Hernandez's body was found when his gold Jeep Cherokee was removed from the debris.

Brown was working with VSL Structural Technologies on the pedestrian bridge tightening cables when it collapsed.
A generous McDonald's worker offered to pay for a customer's meal when she realized she forgot her wallet.

Aundrea Duncan told how Jeremiah McDonald-Hemphill made her day by paying for her food in a Facebook post which has gone viral.

'I ordered my food but realized as I got to the window to pay, I had left my wallet at work,' Duncan wrote.

Aundrea Duncan (left) told how McDonald's worker Jeremiah McDonald-Hemphill (right) made her day by paying for her food in a Facebook post which has gone viral

Aundrea, who works with horses, had asked the 'handsome young man' at the counter to please cancel her order.

But Jeremiah McDonald-Hemphill declined that offer and stumped up the cash himself.

'His response was Its OK, mam, I got you,' Duncan wrote. 'He then took his wallet out and paid for my meal.'

The photo accompanying Duncans post shows McDonald-Hemphill smiling outside the McDonald's outlet in Reading, Pennsylvania.

'What an amazing young man! We hear so much about whats wrong with the world. I had to share a little of what is right.'

'I asked him if I could hug him and told him to keep being who he is because he is an amazing person,' she wrote.

The photo accompanying Duncans post shows McDonald-Hemphill smiling outside the McDonald's outlet in Reading, Pennsylvania

'He didnt know how tired I was or that I hadnt eaten or even if he would be repaid, but he didnt even bat an eye and just acted.'

McDonald-Hemphills mother also commented on the viral post, thanking people for their kind words.

'Thank each and everyone of you for the kind words in regards to my son,' wrote Donna McDonald, his mother. 'To God be the glory.'

The boy's aunt couldn't help but comment, saying: ' Very proud of my nephew!!! Love you,' Marina Sanford Dozier wrote.

Aundrea Duncan (pictured) said she hoped that McDonald's might give Jeremiah recognition

Duncan told Yahoo Lifestyle she went back to McDonalds on Saturday to pay McDonald-Hemphill back and to hug him for his act of kindness.

'I told him that he is one in a million and to keep being him.

'And that if he hadnt done that I probably would have just gone home and went to bed without eating. Before I left he gave me another hug!.'

She said he contacted her too when he found out about the viral Facebook post.

Duncan said she shared the post publicly because she was overwhelmed by the act, with hundreds of people leaving comments.

She also hoped that his employer might give him some sort of recognition.

She added: 'His mom also reached out thanking me which was nice because as a mom of two young men I wanted her to know what he did for me and that she is doing something right. As moms we all need to hear that.'
A feral cat that tested positive for rabies attacked two people and a police officer on Sunday in a small Florida town.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office were called to the Leesburg home at approximately 9.30pm and found that the stray brown tabby had attacked a family when it tried to enter their Westside Drive home.

'We opened the door, and it just ran inside,' a man, who lives in the home, explained to Click Orlando.

Scroll down for video

A man and a Leesburg police officer had to be rushed to the emergency room, where they were given injections to ward off the rabies

'It scratched him on the leg and in the stomach, and it bit one of my friends on the wrist,' a man at the house said about his brother, who was also attacked

The man shared that his brother screamed as soon as the cat ran inside the home.

'It scratched him on the leg and in the stomach, and it bit one of my friends on the wrist,' the man added.

Both the friend and a Leesburg police officer were transported to a local emergency room. There, they underwent multiple painful injections to fight off rabies.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office were called to the Leesburg home at around 9.30pm and found that the stray brown tabby had attacked a family

The feral cat was taken to the Lake County Animal Shelter, where it was euthanized. After it was sent off, authorities learned that it had rabies.

'I was shocked. I didn't know it was a cat,' said neighbor, Kasey Crist.

Crist described that the area has had an increase presence of roaming and stray cats. She hopes that the local Animal Services handles the growing problem.

The Florida Department of Health issued a health alert, stating that it is best to stay up to date with rabies vaccinations for pets.

They also said people need to supervise their pets and make sure they don't come in contact with wild animals.

Other helpful tips include spaying or neutering pets, staying away from wild animals that are near garbage cans or litter, teaching children about wild animals and not adopting wild animals.
Xuan Wu (pictured above) has won a three-year legal dispute against the parents of her late husband

A high-flying academic's widow has beaten her dead husband's parents in a bitter court fight over the 430,000 home he left her in his will.

Dr Kun Liu died aged 31 in 2015, leaving everything to his bride of just three weeks, Xuan Wu, who he had first met in in Manchester whilst studying at university.

The Kings College London medical statistician's death sparked a bitter legal dispute between his widow and his Chinese parents, who said they had ploughed much of their retirement savings into getting him on the property ladder.

The widow and her in-laws faced off in a three-year tug of war over the 430,000 house in South Croydon, which was Dr Liu and his bride's marital home.

However, Judge Nicholas Parfitt decided to hand the wife victory and said that Dr Liu considered his 'moral obligation' was to his young widow, not to his elderly parents.

Central London County Court heard the young couple had swapped marriage vows in hospital on November 27 2015, just three weeks before he died.

Shortly before his death, the frail doctor had made his last will 'by marking a cross on a document prepared by a solicitor,' naming his 34-year-old widow as his sole heir.

But his parents, Weidong Liu and Kali Kang, later challenged their dead son's move and claimed the house the widow had inherited belonged to them in reality.

Yali Kang (left), Dr Liu's mother and his father Weidong Liu (right) insisted the property was a soft loan and that one day they would move to the UK to retire

They said the purchase was 'funded from some of the more than 300,000 which they provided to their son between 2012 and 2014'.

The parents insisted the cash was meant as a 'soft loan' which created a legal 'trust' making them the 'beneficial owners of the property'.

They said they had been happy to spend cash on Dr Liu over the years, describing him as a good son and an 'excellent student'.

'We had pleasure in giving him the best opportunity to succeed in life,' his father, Weidong Liu, explained.

Dr Kun Liu (pictured above) died in 2015, three weeks after marrying Xuan Wu who he met when studying in Manchester

They handed over part of their retirement pot because 'it was for the good of their family to enhance his prospects as much as possible', they claimed.

And they hoped that one day they might move to the UK after retiring and live with their son in his home.

But Xuan Wu said she doubted whether his parents would ever have come to the UK - or even obtained a visa.

On top of everything, Dr Liu may have been reluctant to have his mother living close at hand due to potential friction with his wife, she claimed.

Dr Liu's parents jetted to the UK to give evidence in support of their case - but their claim was rejected by Judge Parfitt after a five-day hearing.

The widow had told the judge Dr Liu's parents 'exaggerated the amount of money provided by them', and that her own parents also contributed about half the cash.

The judge accepted that Dr Liu, as a 'dutiful son', might well have thought that his parents would eventually retire to England.

But such retirement plans were separate from the house-buying project, he found, and there was no fixed intention that he should repay the cash from his parents.

Although he felt 'filial gratitude and obligation' towards his parents, they were ultimately excluded in his will, the judge ruled.

'This is harsh for them, but of itself suggests that at least by the time of the property's purchase and thereafter Dr Liu did not regard himself as under any financial obligation to his parents,' he said.

'He considered his moral obligations were toward his wife more than them.

'For all these reasons, I do not consider it would be right to fashion a remedy to provide some success to them arising out of the difficult and painful facts of this particular case.'

Dr Liu had carved out a successful academic career in the UK after coming to study here in 2003.

He gained his PhD from the University of Manchester, where he and Xuan Wu first met before going on to Kings College London.

They started living together in 2005 and were together until his dying day, the court heard.

His father told the judge he had no idea of the strength of his son's relationship with Ms Wu until 2013.

He explained that he and his son had an understanding that the young man should not take up with a serious girlfriend until after his studies.

Dr Liu was diagnosed with cancer in April 2015, although his parents said they only learnt about his terminal illness the day after the hospital wedding ceremony.

They then flew in to see him for the last time.
Retired Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority officer Dorston Bartlett, 65, has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and violating a person's civil rights

A retired Boston transit police officer has been charged with beating a homeless man, and two sergeants have been charged with attempting to cover up the excessive use of force.

Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins and MBTA Police Chief Kenneth Green announced the indictments on Wednesday.

Officer Dorston Bartlett, 65, of Lynn, is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and violating a persons civil rights for allegedly using his baton to strike a 32-year-old homeless man multiple times at Ashmont station in the early morning hours of last July 27, 2018.

Sgt. David Finnerty, 43, and Sgt. Kenny Orcel, 55, are charged with making a false report and being an accessory after the fact.

'The conduct alleged in these indictments is unacceptable at every level,' Rollins said in a statement. 'The charges reflect an unprovoked armed assault by a uniformed officer on a vulnerable member of our community, followed by a joint venture with supervising officers to cover up that crime.

Bartlett is accused of repeatedly hitting a 32-year-old homeless man with a baton at the Ashmont train station (pictured) in July 2018

'Actions like these undermine the hard work of countless honest, professional police officers and seriously erode trust in law enforcement. Crimes against public integrity are some of the most important that my office can bring on behalf of victims and our community, and I take them extremely seriously.'

According to a press release from the district attorney's office, evidence gathered in the course of a months-long investigation suggests that Bartlett struck the homeless man several times with his baton at the train station in the early hours of July 27, and then tried to charge him with assault and battery on a police officer.

The indictments also charge Bartlett with misleading a police officer for allegedly giving false statements to two Boston Police officers who responded to the scene, as well as assault and battery for allegedly grabbing and pushing the victim during the booking process.

At the time of the incident, Finnerty was the shift officer in charge and Orcel was the shift patrol supervisor.

Cover-up collusion: Sgt. David Finnerty, 43 (left), and Sgt. Kenny Orcel, 55 (right), have been charged with making a false report and being an accessory after the fact

Finnerty allegedly drafted a report that was submitted by Bartlett and ultimately approved by Orcel.

Later the same morning, a member of the Transit Police command staff learned of Bartletts use of force and reviewed both a preliminary draft of that report and video from public safety cameras at Ashmont station.

Based on his observations, he ordered the victim released from jail without any charges.

'Words cannot express the extreme disappointment I have in the officers who violated the victims and the publics trust in such an egregious manner,' MBTA Transit Police Chief Kenneth Green stated.

Both supervisors were placed on leave and Bartlett retired last year. All three are scheduled to appear in court for their arraignments on March 27.
The grandson of one of President Donald Trump's billionaire business partners is in custody for allegedly firing shots at an elementary school when children were playing outside, and residents worry he may be released.

Dylan Ruffin, 26, is being held on a $500,000 bond after he was taken into custody at his Mission home on Friday after a standoff with police.

Immediately before he was arrested, video obtained by KCTV-5 showed him exiting his home with a gun pointed at officers as police fired back.

Bullets believed to have been fired by Dylan, who is the grandson of Phil Ruffin, hit the Highlands Elementary School building, located across the street.

Residents now worry that Phil, 83, who is half owner of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, will pay Dylan's bond allowing him to be freed as the case against him moves forward.

Scroll down for video

Dylan Ruffin, 26 (left), the grandson of one of President Donald Trump's billionaire business partners, Phil Ruffin, 83 (right), is in custody for allegedly firing shots at an elementary school in Mission, Kansas when children were playing outside, and residents worry he may be released on a $500,000 bond paid for by his incredibly wealthy grandfather

Police were called to Dylan's home at around 3pm Central on Friday by his mother, who said he was armed and inside the home.

During the shootout on Friday, Dylan was struck by officer fire at 3.15pm.

About an hour and a half before that, bullets believed to have been fired by Dylan struck the school building during a time when children were outside, Fox News reported.

Police were called to Dylan's home at around 3pm Central on Friday by his mother, who said he was armed and inside the home. During the shootout on Friday, Dylan (pictured) was struck by officer fire at 3.15pm. About an hour and a half before that, bullets believed to have been fired by Dylan struck the school building during a time when children were outside

Footage captured from a helicopter showed authorities on the roof at the school, searching for bullet casings

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

KCTV5 Privacy Policy

Dylan's home in Mission, Kansas, across from the school that was shot, is shown

At least one bullet shattered a third grade classroom window.

Footage captured from a helicopter showed authorities on the roof at the school, searching for bullet casings.

Phil confirmed that Dylan is his grandson, but would not comment on his charges.

Phil is not only a business partner of Trump, but also a longtime friend.

Phil (right) confirmed that Dylan is his grandson, but would not comment on his charges. Phil is not only a business partner of Donald Trump (left), but also a longtime friend. The two are pictured at a groundbreaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas, which the pair co-own, in 2005

The president served as his best man when Phil married his wife, Oleksandra, who is a former Miss Ukraine, in 2008. The wedding was held at Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida. Phil (left), Oleksandra (center) and Trump (right) are pictured arriving at the 2008 Miss USA Competition at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on April 11, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada

The president served as his best man when Phil married his wife, Oleksandra, who is a former Miss Ukraine, in 2008. The wedding was held at Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida.

During Michael Cohen's testimony before Congress about his dealing with Trump in February, a businessperson in Kansas was mentioned, and Phil said that was him.

The reference was made while Cohen was being questioned about who paid a class action lawsuit settlement of $25 million in favor students of the now defunct Trump University.

Phil and Trump are co-owners of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas in Nevada (pictured)

Phil said he believed he may have come up because around the time the settlement was paid, Trump International Hotel Las Vegas paid Trump $28 million in back fees that he was owed.

'The hotel paid him [what] was owed to him,' Ruffin told McClatchy DC in February. 'I dont know what he did It was his money.'

Ruffin is number 838 on Forbes' 2019 list of the richest people in the world, and residents worry he may use some of that money to buy his grandson's freedom, at least for the time being.

Dylan faces counts three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and criminal discharge of a firearm at a building.
A three-year-old Georgia girl has died after her mother left her in the bathtub to go and fold laundry, according to police.

Eve Blankenfeld died on Tuesday just days after she was rushed to the emergency room at Wise Regional Medical Center.

Wise County police said the child's mother left to fold some laundry and when she came back, the child was face down in the bathtub on Friday.

Eve Blankenfeld (pictured), three, died on Tuesday. She was rushed to the hospital on Friday after she was found face down in a bathtub. The girl's mother said she left her alone briefly to fold laundry

Eve died on Tuesday just days after she was rushed to the emergency room at Wise Regional Medical Center. Wise County police said the child's mother (pictured, with Eve's dad) left to fold some laundry and when she came back, the child was face down in the bathtub on Friday

The mother began CPR and was still doing CPR when first responders arrived.

According to Eve's father, Tanner, the family immediately called 911 and paramedics took her to the hospital where she was intubated.

The child was then airlifted to the Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth where she remained unconscious and in critical condition until Tuesday evening when she passed away.

According to Fox 4, the mother had put the little girl in the bath because she was running a high fever and had just thrown up.

'My sweet little Eve Blankenfeld passed yesterday at 5.28pm. We know she is with Heavenly Father and our savior Jesus Christ. We miss her and are thankful for all our earthly angels who have served us during this tough time,' her father said on Facebook.

The Blankenfeld family also set up a GoFundMe account to help with their expenses.

According to the account, Eve has four brothers and one big sister. Eve was described as having 'such a big personality and heart'.

No charges have been filed and police believe it was a 'tragic accident'.
Former White House chief of staff John Kelly used his first public comments since his exit to distance himself from the Trump administration's stances on immigration and the border wall  and says he would have worked for Hillary Clinton if asked.

Kelly, a former Marine general who Trump brought into his administration as Homeland Security chief and later as his top aide, called his former position 'the least enjoyable job Ive ever had.'

But he told a crowd at Duke University he took it out of a sense of duty after consulting with his wife.

'If Hillary Clinton had called me, I would have done it, NBC News reported.

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly has lashed out of some of the Trump administration's immigration policies in his first public comments since his departure

CONSIDER FLEEING: Mulvaney says his advice to successor Mick Mulvaney would be 'run for it!'

Kelly, a retired Marine General, said he would have worked for Hillary Clinton had she asked him

Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly made the comments at Duke University, where he took issue with a border wall that would run the length of the country

He also took on the president's signature issue  a border wall  and questioned Trump's election eve decision to dispatch thousands of U.S. military troops to the border.

'We dont need a wall from sea to shining sea,' said Kelly. On dispatching the guard, who were photographed stringing razor wire as Trump inveighed about a migrant caravan approaching the border: 'Generally speaking I would always look for another way to do it,' said Kelly.

He blamed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his 'zero tolerance' policy for leading to the child separation crisis at the border.

Kelly wouldn't comment on reports Trump intervened over his objection to grant a top level security clearance to Jared Kushner

Kelly made the comments at Duke University

And he held out understanding words for immigrants  who his former boss has targeted as potential 'rapists, 'routinely singling out violent crimes committed by border-jumpers to try to fire up opposition to illegal immigration.

'And by the way, theyre overwhelmingly not criminals. Theyre people coming up here for economic purposes. I dont blame them for that,' said Kelly.

Kelly refused to get into the latest scandal roiling Washington  reports that Trump personally intervened and overruled him in order to secure high level security clearances for daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

'I couldnt  and Im not dodging  I couldnt comment on that for a couple of reasons, he told the crowd. He said his conversations with the president on the topic would be covered by executive privilege,' the New York Times reported.

He was diplomatic about the travel ban, pushed out before he was chief of staff. It got a chaotic role out and faced an immediate court fight, after Trump had called for a Muslim ban on the 2016 campaign trail, but a modified reversion remains.

The White House staff 'got a little bit maybe out in front if their skis,' said Kelly.

Trump announced in December 2018 that Kelly would be leaving, only to spend weeks trying to find a new chief of staff, finally installing former budget chief Mulvaney in an acting capacity.

Kelly says his advice for Mulvaney would be 'run for it!'

ABC News ran audio of Kelly's comments about Clinton, who enjoyed positive relations with many senior military members when she was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
A working meeting between Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee Alexey Miller and Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV Rainer Seele took place in Moscow yesterday.

The parties paid particular attention to the ongoing implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project, noting that the work is going as planned. As of now, 818 kilometers of pipes  precisely one-third of the gas pipelines total length  have been laid in the Baltic Sea, according to Gazprom's press service.

The parties also reviewed current issues related to their cooperation, including the growth in gas exports to Austria. Between January 1 and March 5, 2019, the Companys gas supplies to the country amounted to an estimated 3.3 billion cubic meters, an increase of 32.9% from the same period of last year.

In addition, Miller and Seele touched upon the prospects for further sci-tech cooperation and collaboration in the area of culture.
Labor's plans to almost double Australia's refugee intake will cost more than $6billion over the next decade.

The Opposition aims to increase the government-funded humanitarian intake from 17,750 to 27,000 a year in 2025-2026, a number expanded to 32,000 under a revised policy announced at Labor's 2018 national conference.

The plans would also include an increase in the community refugee program from 1,000 to 5,000 spots a year.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the policy as a 'betrayal', and said the current program was already the best in the world.

Labor plans to almost double Australia's refugee intake will cost more than $6billion over the next decade (stock image)

'The great risk here is that it will cost taxpayers $6bn and put at risk the services already experiencing pressure under the current program,' he told The Australian.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann also slammed the plan for diverting funds away from drought-affected farmers.

Senator Cormann said Australia was already one of the most generous countries on earth in terms of welcoming genuine refugees.

The minister accused Bill Shorten's party of standing in the way of the government's drought relief fund - which will provide grants totalling $100 million a year from 2020.

'Our Drought Future Fund would grow to $5 billion over that same period Bill Shorten wants to spend more than $6 billion on further increasing our refugee program,' he said.

Senator Mathias Cormann accused Bill Shorten's (pictured) party of standing in the way of the government's drought relief fund - which will provide grants totalling $100 million a year from 2020

'He (Bill Shorten) is standing in the way of $100 million a year in additional funding to drought proof communities across Australia.

'Labor has got its priorities wrong.'

Australia's Humanitarian Program had already increased to 18,750 for 2018-19 - it's largest in 30 years, he added.

The first five years of a Labor government would also see funding to the United Nations' refugee agency increase 20-fold from $25million to $500million.

Figures from 2015-16 show that of those asylum seekers accepted into Australia, about 6,730 were refugees, 5,032 were special humanitarian entrants and 1,227 were women deemed to be at risk.

Australia settles more refugees per capita than other first-world countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand.
A South Carolina man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl days after he murdered his girlfriend has been sentenced to three life terms in prison.

US District Court Judge David Norton imposed the harsh sentence on 38-year-old Thomas Lawton Evans Jr on Wednesday in Charleston, saying that the defendant's crimes were the worst he'd seen in 30 years on the bench.

'This was random, brutal and senseless,' Norton said.

'He's a sorry excuse for a human being, get him out of here,' he told the bailiff.

Evans pleaded guilty last September to kidnapping involving a person under the age of 18, transportation of a minor to engage in sexual activity and aggravated sexual abuse of a person under the age of 12.

A twist came in court when prosecutors revealed that Evans had confessed to killing his 39-year-old girlfriend, Sharon Nannette Hayden, days before the February 2018 kidnapping.

Evans told FBI agents he stabbed Hayden in a fight in her Spartanburg County home and then chased her as she ran into the woods and collapsed, according to prosecutors.

Evans assumed that she had died, but a body was never recovered and he hasn't been charged in her death.

He now faces three consecutive life prison sentences for his crimes days later.

Scroll down for video

Thomas Lawton Evans Jr, a 38-year-old South Carolina man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl just days after he murdered his girlfriend, has been ordered to serve three consecutive life prison sentences. US District Court Judge David Norton imposed the harsh sentence on Wednesday in Charleston, saying that the Evans' crimes were the worst he'd seen in 30 years on the bench and calling him 'a sorry excuse for a human being'

During Evans' sentencing on Wednesday, the four-year-old victim's mother, Brittany Todd, who was attacked by him moments before he kidnapped her daughter, faced him in court.

'Nothing in my life runs the same in my family like before February 13,' Brittany said.

Prosecutors said Evans followed Brittany into her home in Johns Island and proceeded to 'brutally assault' her, leaving her with severe injuries and tied to a bed.

During the attack, Brittany's daughter Heidi and two-year-old son hid in an upstairs bedroom, where Evans found them and took the young girl.

He placed her in the trunk of his car and drove through South Carolina and Georgia to Alabama, where police apprehended him in Riverside County.

By the time they separated him from Heidi, she had already been sexually assaulted.

Evans allegedly confessed to killing his 39-year-old girlfriend Sharon Nannette Hayden (above) days before the February 2018 kidnapping. Evans told FBI agents he stabbed Hayden in a fight in her Spartanburg County home and then chased her as she ran into the woods and collapsed, according to prosecutors. Evans assumed that she had died, but a body was never recovered and he hasn't been charged in her death

Brittany had to undergo three surgeries to repair facial fractures and brain bleeding sustained during the assault, resulting in some $361,000 in medical bills.

'I couldn't care for my kids for four months,' Brittany told her attacker, according to WBTW.

'You planned evil against me, but I truly believe God spared your life and my life. I will never get back what I lost, but I'm moving forward.'

Brittany's husband Kevin Todd - a member of the Coast Guard who left for duty two days before the attack and kidnapping - also faced Evans in court.

He said in the wake of the attack he felt more hatred than he ever had in his life.

'I mentally went into an evil space and wanted to do terrible things to Thomas Evans,' Kevin said.

He also claimed that he hasn't been able to deploy for special assignments because he's afraid to leave his family.

However, Kevin told him: 'Mr Evans, you did not win,' describing how their family has been able to overcome the horrific events and come out stronger than ever.

'My ultimate goal is to forgive you,' he said as he looked Evans in the eye.

An attorney spoke on Evans' behalf, saying that he felt 'stunned and overwhelmed' by the victim statements.

She said the defendant was speechless and unable to find the words to make the family feel better.

After the hearing, Brittany spoke at a press conference, thanking Charleston law enforcement, the FBI and the Medical University of South Carolina for helping her family.

She said Heidi is ready to enjoy kindergarten and taking dance classes.

'We can move forward and I'm excited about where "forward" is going to take us,' Brittany said.

Evans pleaded guilty to kidnapping involving a person under the age of 18, transportation of a minor to engage in sexual activity and aggravated sexual abuse of a person under the age of 12 in federal court last September (above). Prosecutors said Evans kidnapped four-year-old Heidi Todd after brutally assaulting her mother Brittany Todd. He placed Heidi in the trunk of his car and drove through South Carolina and Georgia to Alabama, where police apprehended him

Solicitor Scarlett Wilson also spoke at the conference, saying everyone was pleased with the outcome of the case.

'From the beginning, since the child was missing, everyone pulled together to search and find her, including from around the country,' she said.

'Things could've ended much differently had the people who saw her not made a call.'

Wilson said she was inspired by the Todd family to 'dig deep and move forward' and eventually forgive.

She also praised Judge Norton for his handling of the case.

When imposing the sentence, Norton took into account the fact that the crime was committed only two weeks after Evans serving nine years in prison.

He said it is clear Evans does not have respect for the law.

He was arrested in 2000 and charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. Police said he assaulted a 15-year-old girl when he was 19.

At the time he wasn't required to register as a sex offender because he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

In 2002, Evans was accused of robbery when he and another man grabbed a woman in downtown Charleston and attempted to snatch her purse.

He was convicted of strong armed robbery and served two years probation.
A pet cat has become an internet star without it realising, quite literally.

Li Bu, a two-year-old British Shorthair living in China, has shot to fame after his owner posted a video of him waking up during a recent surgical operation.

At least 15 million people have watched the minute-long clip on Chinese video platform Douyin and many more have done so on Twitter-like Weibo.

The male cat is owned by Wu Mingjun, a 32-year-old businessman from the city of Xingyi in southern China's Guizhou Province.

The two-year-old British Shorthair is completely unconscious at the beginning of the clip

The vet helps the cat come out of the drug's effect by flicking his ear and shaking his body

Mr Wu told MailOnline that he took the moggy to the vet for neuter surgery on Tuesday and the video was filmed at the end of the medical procedure.

The feline had been put under general anaesthesia.

The owner, who runs a fitness business, likes taking pictures and videos for his pets, which include three other cats, one dog and two parrots.

He started to film Li Bu waking up because he found the looks on the pet's face 'ridiculously funny'.

The adorable pet, named Li Bu, slowly opens his eyes and begins to move his head around

He then starts to move his limbs a bit until becoming total conscious after the neuter surgery

At least 15 million people have watched the minute-long clip on Chinese platform Douyin

'I couldn't stop laughing when I took the video,' he said.

'His tongue was poking at one side of his mouth because the vet had had to pull it out like that for the purpose of the operation.'

The owner then added: 'The vet had to shake the cat a few times to help him wake up.'

It took Li Bu about 10 minutes to become conscious. Mr Wu filmed the entire process before uploaded a short, edited version onto the internet.

The footage has attracted throngs of fans on the Chinese social media platform. Viewers are fascinated by the cat's changing facial expression in the video.

Li Bu the cat is owned by Wu Mingjun, a 32-year-old businessman from China's Xingyi city

Animal-loving Wu has a total of four cats (pictured), one dog and two parrots at home

One typical comment on Douyin reads: 'This is too funny. I can't bear it.'

While another one says: 'The cat was thinking: "Don't try to wake me up, let me sleep."'

Some net users say they feel bad for the cat for having to undergo surgery.

Neutering is a common operation for cats which involve the removal of their sexual organs.

During the procedure, the animals are normally given an anaesthetic to prevent them feeling any pain.

The process of the cats coming out of the drug's effect is always closely monitored by the vet to ensure they wouldn't experience any complication.

Mr Wu said Li Bu was recovering from the operation very well, but was yet to be informed of his new found fame.

However, he said he had been overwhelmed by people's reaction towards his cat.
Advertisement

The Kremlin has been criticised for sending a 'propaganda train' loaded with 'war trophies' from Syria on a tour of some 17,500 miles around Russia.

On display are weapons and armaments captured from rebels during Moscow's controversial campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The train has three platforms to display the Russian engineer troops' Syrian trophies, including over 40 defused homemade explosive devices and military hardware, some with Arabic writing down the sides.

During its epic 'victory tour' the 20-carriage train will touch the Pacific after the journey through Siberia and the Arctic as it visits more than 60 cities.

After eight days on the rails, the train is now in Crimea - the Black Sea province captured by Vladimir Putin's forces from Ukraine in 2014.

Scrawled down the side of the huge train is 'Siriysky Perelom' which means 'Syrian breaking point' in English.

A patriotic themed train titled 'Siriysky Perelom' which means 'Syrian breaking point' in English arriving from Moscow at Volgograd's railway station today

The train has three platforms to display the Russian engineer troops' war trophies from Syria, including over 40 defused homemade explosive devices and military hardware

A T-55 tank on display on the 20-carriage train. Nine carriages feature a T-55 tank supplied from Georgia, various armoured vehicles, AK-47 assault rifles, and a Chinese drilling machine

A HMMWV M998 multi-purpose vehicle on-board the train as it was departing from Moscow's Kazansky railway station on February 23

Uniformed member's of Putin's 'young army' - comprising schoolchildren cadets - have been on hand in many locations to greet the train.

The show of strength saw armoured jeeps, tanks and mine-clearing vehicles pull into stations, with onlookers recording the weaponry on their phones.

Colonel Dmitry Serobaba said when the train departed from Moscow on February 23: 'The aim is to show a maximum amount of people in our country the success of the Russian army in the fight with international terrorism.'

But the train has been hit by unfriendly fire from Russians on the Internet.

Denis Trishin said: 'Sick and tired with this clown show by [defence minister Sergei] Shoigu.'

'Will the train carry all Russian soldiers wounded in Syria?' asked commenter Volodymyr Melnychyc.

Mikhail Yarovoy complained the stunt was 'total madness' asking: 'So how much money have you spent on this PR?'

'They would have better giving this cash to pensioners', argued Vitaly Golikov.

The train is due back in Moscow on April 27 after its round-Russia odyssey taking in key military cities Sevastopol, Vladivostok and Murmansk in times for Victory Day, which is celebrated in Russia on May 9..

Nine carriages feature a T-55 tank supplied from Georgia, various armoured vehicles, AK-47 assault rifles, and a Chinese drilling machine - all captured.

Crowds gather by freight cars of a train displaying military vehicles captured from Syrian rebels and jihadists at a railway station in Sevastopol, Crimea, on March 3

The Syrian trophies train in Tula. The huge train bound for Vladivostok was carrying war trophies and left Moscow on February 23 on its long journey

A Toyota Land Cruiser which had been upgraded by terrorists to be used as a self-propelled mine, on display on the train titled 'Siriysky Perelom'

A serviceman by military train. Uniformed member's of Putin's 'young army' - comprising schoolchildren cadets - have also been on hand in many locations to greet the train

An ACV-15 amphibious armoured combat vehicle leaving Moscow's Kazansky railway station as it headed to its next stop on the 60-city journey

There are also displays of rocket and artillery weapons, drones, and chemical weapons seized form rebels.

In all there are 500 exhibits as Russian servicemen with combat experience in Syria are the guides, reported news agency TASS.

Many of the weapons on show in the train's carriages were made in the U.S., France, Israel and Italy.

A tweet from Vitaly S said that in his Trans-Baikal region there are no funds to repair the local hospital.

Instead, 'citizens will enjoy the Defence Ministry special train with trophies from Syria.

'The USSR liked to publicise trophies from Nazi Germany, but kept silent about the art, gold and furniture looted by Soviet generals.'

Lyudmila Bespalova complained: 'Explain please, what is this about? 'Who is interested in these army trophies from Syria?

'How much money was invested in it? And I have lost my pension as a cancer patient at the age of 74 - it was 1,500 roubles (16.70) a month. Are we all idiots?'

One more hostile comment from Burevestnik branded the train a 'disgraceful show' amounting to 'war propaganda'.

A Russia made tank T-55 aboard a train that has begun a journey throughout Russia to display war trophies taken by military engineers in Syria, including defused explosives, in Moscow before it set off on its 60-city tour of the county on February 23

The military armaments train arriving in Kursk where visitors gathered to look at the various takes and armoured vehicles on display at the mobile exhibit

Crowds gathered to take selfies and climb on-board the 20-carriage train after it pulled into Sevastopol station in Crimea on March 3

A map of the Syrian weapons 'propaganda train' tour of Russian as it took in more than 60 cities and covered around 17,500-miles

He told defence chiefs: 'You ought to load the parts of downed Russian planes onto this train too, along with portraits of those killed, and explain about the cost of these "trophies".'

In Krasnodar a lawyer even lodged a formal complaint that the train was 'intimidating people' with children especially at risk.

He claimed the war trophy rail show broke a Russian law protecting young people 'from information damaging their health and development'.

Another tweet stated: 'Putin is not thinking any more, he is just doing what the Communists did in the past.'

One critic asked sarcastically how there were any trophies when 'officially' Russian was not involved in any ground operations in Syria.

Others though, were supportive of the train.

Russian honour guard soldiers march next to the train with 'Syrian turning point' exhibition pieces organised by Russian Defence Ministry, as it waits to depart from Kazansky railway station ahead of its departure from Moscow on February 23

A woman taking a selfie at the displaying of military equipment, vehicles and weapons, which according to Russia's Defence Ministry were captured during its Syrian campaigns, upon its arrival at a railway station in Rostov-on Don

A railway worker said: 'I am really proud that they (the Russian army) are winning in this far away region.'

And Mikhail Godisov posted: 'Good stuff. Necessary thing to do.'

The exhibition is supposed to convince Russians how vital it was to help Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad during the civil war, whom many in the West view as a war criminal.

Russia's warplanes are reported to have killed many civilians in Syria, as have Syrian warplanes.

And the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has repeatedly accused Russia of killing civilians in airstrikes.
A teacher who beat a pupil to death while trying to get him to confess to stealing a handbag has been sentenced to death by hanging in Tanzania.

Respicius Patrick Mutazangira, 51, was found guilty of murder on Wednesday for killing 14-year-old student Sperius Eradius in August last year.

Sperius was beaten with firewood for three hours until he died from 'neurogenic shock' which is typically caused by traumatic brain or spine injuries, the court heard.

Respicius Patrick Mutazangira, 51, beat Sperius Eradius, 14, with a piece of firewood for three hours in an attempt to get him to confess to stealing a colleague's handbag, before he died

A second teacher, 47-year-old Helieth Gerald whose handbag was stolen, was cleared of any involvement in the killing.

After Mutazangira's sentence was read out he collapsed in the dock and had to be carried off to prison by guards, Tanzania Daily News reports.

A judge ruled that Mutazangira had breached rules on corporal punishment - which is illegal in school in Tanzania - when he launched the attack at a school in Bukoba, in the far north of the country.

The teacher had also acted 'with malice aforethought' when he began the beating, the judge concluded.

'Clearly, there was no other killer, but Mutazangira,' he said.

Mutazangira will now be given the opportunity to appeal the sentence, though his lawyers have not yet announced their intentions.

Capital punishment is legal in Tanzania, but the country has not carried out an execution since 1994.
A Sri Lankan job advert for hangmen has attracted more than 100 people after the previous executioner quit once he saw the gallows for the first time, a prison service spokesman revealed.

It comes as the country pushes ahead with a plan to reintroduce the death penalty for drug offences.

The government began advertising in February, after President Maithripala Sirisena announced last year he wanted to resume hangings after a decades-long hiatus.

A Sri Lankan job advert for hangmen (pictured) has attracted more than 100 people, a prison service spokesman revealed

The hardline policy is in part inspired by the Philippines' war on drugs, where thousands have died in encounters with police.

Thushara Upuldeniya, a spokesman for the prison service, said 102 people applied for the position of executioner - including an American.

The newspaper ad called for applicants with 'excellent moral character' and 'mental strength'.

The American's application was rejected as foreigners are not eligible for the role, as candidates should be Sri Lankan, male, and aged between 18 and 45.

Drug trafficking is a capital offence in Sri Lanka although no one has been executed for any crime in the country since 1976 when all death penalties were commuted to life in prison.

The government began advertising last month, after President Maithripala Sirisena announced last year he wanted to resume hangings after a decades-long hiatus

Sri Lanka's last hangman quit in 2014 without ever having to execute anyone, citing stress after seeing the gallows for the first time.

Another hired last year never turned up for work.

Thushara Upuldeniy previously said: 'We never know if the government will resume the death penalty, but we want to hire two hangmen to fill vacancies and be ready if the government wants to execute drug traffickers.'

The advertisement published put the monthly pay at 36,310 rupees (158), which is more than the average for a government job.
This is the horrifying moment a man is executed in broad daylight by gun-totting thugs.

A female motorist filmed the shocking incident as she pulled up to a parking spot behind two motorcycles on a Mexico City street on Wednesday.

The cell phone video footage shows at least four men ganging up on a man, identified by Mexican media outlets as Israel Juarez, who was in his 20s.

Juarez, a father-of-two who also owned a street food stand, can be seen in the video struggling with the assailants before he was murdered.

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES

A still from the video shows a man (right) with a weapon drawn before Israel Juarez

Israel Juarez is left lying on the ground while the assailants flee in a Chevrolet Suburban

One of the four suspects, shown on the video wearing a red jacket, is carrying a gun with what appears to be a silencer attached to it.

Within seconds a single shot is fired at Juarez, who drops to the ground as cars and people passed by.

'Man, this is crazy,' the woman filming said.

'Stop playing around. He did kill him,' she confirmed.

The suspects made a quick getaway in a Chevrolet Suburban while the victim bled to death.

Police officers investigating the murder in the Mexican capital have not announce any arrests.

The suspects made a quick getaway in a Chevrolet Suburban while the victim bled to death




A Mexican politician has said that parents should hire nannies like in the movie Roma as the government phases out publicly funded childcare.

Congressman Manuel Huerta Ladron de Guevera said that parents should employ help similar to the nanny portrayed by Yalitza Aparicio in Oscar-winning Roma.

'Remember that it can be in a childcare facility or you can opt for a family member or a person like a Cuaron-type, who cared for a girl and who even won an Oscar, so they can see that Yalitzas do work out,' de Guevera, the Guerrero state representative, said on Wednesday.

Mexican Congressman Manuel Huerta Ladron de Guevera (pictured) says that families should consider hiring a worker, like the one that Mexican indigenous actress Yalitza Aparicio portrays in Roma

Yalitza Aparicio (pictured) received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role in Roma

'Roma', which was directed by Alfonso Cuaron, tells the story of a domestic worker looking after a family in Mexico city and the daily challenges she faces.

Aparicio starred as a maid named Cleo who becomes pregnant as she looks after the family's four children just as the parents' marriage is breaking up.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently announced that the publicly funded daycare program, which assisted working mothers, would be phased out.

The government will now provide financial assistance directly to parents, who can then decide what childcare options suit them best.

Although the Netflix Oscar-winning film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, and took home three gold-plated bronze statuettes for Foreign Language, Best Cinematography and Best Director, Aparicio has been at the receiving end of racist attacks online and by her own countrymen.

The original poster for the Netlflix movie 'Roma' which won three Oscars last month

The indigenous Mexican actress was recently the subject of a parody on a comedy show that airs on Mexican-based network Televisa.

A Mexican actress also dressed up in 'brownface' and wore a prosthetic nose to mock Aparacio, who was nominated for Best Actress at last month's Oscars.

A week before Aparicio and her castmates took over the Hollywood stage, fellow Mexican actor Sergio Goyri went off on the actress' Oscar nomination, saying she was a 'f****** Indian who says, Yes, maam, no, maam.

DailyMail reached out to Aparicio's representatives for comment.
Efforts to control Congo's Ebola outbreak are being hampered by a 'toxic' security situation including a series of attacks on treatment centres, medical chiefs working in the country have said.

There have been '30 different incidents and attacks against elements of the response' to the outbreak, according to Doctors Without Borders.

The medical aid group has temporarily suspended its operations at two of its centres in Congo after arsonists set fire to them.

Efforts to control Congo's Ebola outbreak are being hampered by a 'toxic' security situation including a series of attacks on treatment centres. Pictured: A Medecins Sans Frontieres facility destroyed by fire in February

Torched cars after attackers set fire to an Ebola treatment centre run by Medecins Sans Frontieres in the east Congolese town of Katwa

Doctors Without Borders president Joanne Liu said: 'The existing atmosphere can only be described as toxic. It shows how the response has failed to listen and act on the needs of those most affected.'

As a result, people are still reluctant to bring the sick to treatment centres. More than 40% of Ebola deaths are still taking place in communities rather than at treatment centres, according to the group.

The use of security forces in the area is also complicating efforts, Ms Liu said.

'Using police to force people into complying with health measures is not only unethical it's totally counter-productive,' she said.

Congo has seen periodic outbreaks of the Ebola virus since it was first identified in 1976, though its latest epidemic has now become the second most deadly in history worldwide.

Congo has seen periodic outbreaks of the Ebola virus since it was first identified in 1976, though its latest epidemic has now become the second most deadly in history worldwide (file picture)

Detailed map reveals how Ebola has spread through the Democratic Republic of Congo

At least 569 people have died among the 907 confirmed and probable cases, according to the World Health Organisation.

The epidemic is taking place in a region of the world wracked by armed conflict for decades. A myriad of armed groups operate in eastern Congo, complicating efforts for the teams that go out into the communities to identify suspected cases of the disease.

Health workers treating patients in the current epidemic have had far more tools at their disposal than they did back in 2014-2016 when more than 11,000 people died of Ebola in West Africa.

This time around, more than 80,000 people have been vaccinated against the disease.
Vladimir Putin today joined a group of female mounted police officers for a display in horsemanship to mark the upcoming International Women's Day - but unlike his now-famous calendar shoot, he opted to keep his top on.

The President was spotted on a gorgeous chestnut steed surrounded by women in uniform atop white horses at the training facility in Moscow on Thursday.

Putin was famously photographed riding topless through Siberia on holiday in 2009 - snaps which have since been turned into calendars for supporters idolizing the strongman leader.

Today however, possibly due to the freezing Moscow temperatures, Putin layered up in a grey zip-up jumper and a fur-lined jacket.

Scroll down for video

President Vladimir Putin rides through the training facility in Moscow flanked by women of the 1st Operational Police Regiment on Thursday

The President had famously ridden a horse topless through Siberia in 2009 as he looked to cultivate his strong-man persona

The President holds a placard featuring a horse shoe - he gifted the regiment a horse called Golden Ray

The 66-year-old is known for his love of the majestic beasts, having been photographed on horseback many times, notably while shirtless in Siberia in 2009

Although he appeared at ease his horsemanship went awry when his mount -Wonderwaltz - suddenly started riding him backwards. Putin had an expression of helpless surprise.

As he prepared to take the salute, a policewoman walked out to rescue the Russian president, grabbing the horse's reigns before guiding it back into line.

Undeterred, the Kremlin head of state had some risque advice for the female police officers ahead of 8 March - International Women's Day.

He told them: 'We have a joke. What does a girl need to keep herself fit?

'A training apparatus, a massager and an admirer' (the words in Russian rhyme - trenzher, massazher and ukhazher.

'But you have such cool guys here, that they can easily perform all these three functions. At least the last two.'

Putin examines the horses and riders of the 1st Operational Regiment on Thursday at the training ground in Moscow

Putin leads the column as he rides with officers of the 1st Operational Regiment in Moscow

Putin gently canters with the regiment across the sand of the training ground

Putin has carefully cultivated a macho image during his 19 years in power with photo-ops depicting him riding a horse bare-chested in Siberia, taking a dip in icy water and piloting a firefighting plane.

Footage showed Putin leading the column in a gentle canter around the circuit before the group dismounted to speak with the President.

The 66-year-old, whose ratings have slipped in recent months, was shown on state television in jeans and a jacket with a raised collar, riding a brown horse flanked by female police officers on white horses.

They performed a number of formations and various types of canters as they trotted around the sand circuit.

Putin afterwards gave the police officers a horse named Golden Ray, Russian news agencies reported.

Putin stands with women of the regiment after his riding display at the Moscow facility

Putin talks to a senior officer as he meets with members of the regiment to congratulate them ahead of Interntional Women's Day

Ahead of International Women's Day on Friday, Putin said women were increasingly taking an interest in working in law enforcement agencies and that just over a quarter of employees at the Interior Ministry were now women.

Pollsters say Putin's ratings have dipped recently due to years of falling real incomes and an unpopular move by the government last year to raise the retirement age.

However, he remains broadly popular and a state pollster this month put his approval rating at almost 65 per cent.
A grenade explosion at a bus stand in the Indian city of Jammu has injured at least 18 people, police said.

Authorities called for calm following the explosion this morning, which comes weeks after a Pakistan-based militant group killed 40 paramilitary police in disputed Kashmir in an attack which almost sparked a war.

"I request everybody to maintain calm. We are chasing all leads," Reuters cited the city's police chief M.K. Sinha as saying.

Police said the grenade had rolled under bus after being hurled at the station.
A group of five New Jersey high school seniors woke up at 4.30am to shovel snow from their neighbor's drive in order to stop the forecast eight inches preventing her from getting her dialysis treatment.

Brian Lanigan had cleared his neighbor Natalie Blair's driveway during the last snowstorm, but knew he would be on shift as a local EMT when this one struck on Sunday evening.

So it fell to his younger brother Patrick to take care of the Blair's driveway and make sure Natalie was able to leave the house, CNN reports.

Five Parsippany High School seniors volunteered to wake up at 4.30am to clear snow from the driveway of Natalie Blair, who often needs leave her house for vital dialysis treatments

Patrick reached out to his fellow Parsippany High School seniors for help and four of his friends - Justin, Chris, Tyler and Amon - volunteered to sleep at the Lanigan house before waking up at 4.30am to start shoveling.

Patrick's father Peter Lanigan tweeted out two photos of the group holding rakes and shovels in the freezing darkness.

'Snow Angels disguised as PHS Srs, Justin, Pat, Chris, Tyler & Amon got up super early 4:30 (really never slept) to shovel a driveway for a neighbor who needed to get to dialysis,' Peter wrote.

The proud father also told CNN that the kind gesture was typical of his son, who he describes as a 'small kid with a big heart.'

Patrick Lanigan's proud father Peter tweeted two photos of the group holding rakes and shovels on the freezing morning of March 4, calling them 'snow angels'

Patrick, who serves as a 'peer buddy' at school by mentoring students on the autism spectrum, was humbled by all the attention the tweet generated, his father told CNN.

With five students on hand, clearing the Blair driveway only took the boys around 30 minutes - but it made all the difference to Patrick's neighbor, for whom a snowstorm can easily turn into a potentially life-threatening situation.

Although the boys did not get the snow day they had hoped for, the storm did delay the school's opening by two-hours, meaning they could get a few hours of well-earned rest before class.
Hundreds of Muslim parents along with children dressed as superheroes demonstrated outside a primary school today to protest against lessons on gay lifestyles.

Parents have spent weeks protesting over the Birmingham school after they heard 'No Outsiders' lessons, featuring stories about same-sex relationships and marriages, would be held in school.

Despite an earlier report the lessons had been scrapped the school has insisted the 470-pupils at Parkfield Community School will be introduced to books including 'Mommy, Mama and Me' and 'King & King' after Easter.

The school said 'equalities education' will continue at the school and that staff will be working in consultation with parents.

However, more than 200 people turned up waving placards and shouting through loudspeakers outside the gates in Birmingham, on Thursday.

They accused gay assistant head Andrew Moffatt of promoting homosexuality and LGBT issues without their consent.

Parents at the school, where 99 per cent of pupils are Muslim, want the lessons scrapped because homosexuality is banned in Islam. They also said their children are 'too young' for the content while one mother complained her child told her 'it's ok to be gay'.

Placards can be seen outside the school where parents and their children are protesting

Parents and pupils stage protest outside Parkfield community school Saltley, Birmingham, demanding LGBT lessons are banned

Parents and pupils stage protest outside Parkfield community school today despite earlier claims the lessons were stopped

A podium was set up for speakers to address the crowds outside the school in Birmingham

The school has been accused of 'exploiting innocence' of the children. Pictured: protests last week

Parents have insisted they are not homophobic but that they are not happy with the things their children are learning because of their age

Today children and parents protested outside the gates waving banners saying the school is 'Exploiting Children's Innocence'.

Bizarrely, many of the children were dressed as fictional characters such as Captain America, Mary Poppins, and the Incredible Hulk, for World Book Day.

Placards being waved by the youngsters read: 'Say no to sexualising children' and 'Respect and be respected.'

Parents also created a podium in which they voiced their concerns from a microphone and speaker mounted on the back of a truck.

Seven police officers also attended the 45-minute protest which passed off peacefully.

Father-of-three Abdul Muhammad, 46, who has a two-year-old at the school said: 'We are here today to protest for our children's rights.

'The school is denying our right as a parent, the equality act of 1994 states it's the parents right, when it comes to education you cannot teach anything that the parents are not ok with.

Children held up banners during the protest outside the school in Birmingham

'This school has made some kind of experiment thinking, they can do this behind the parents.

'The school has not provided us with any consultation.

'We are against this programme, we are not homophobic, we are not against anybody.

'We are saying this is not age appropriate for the children.'

Mariam Ahmed, 30, full-time mum-of-two, was one of the first mothers to protest 'No Outsiders' said: 'When I first saw it I had a few concerns.

'As I started speaking to other parents about it, they started coming forward saying that their children are coming out with saying 'it's ok to be gay.'

'Mr Moffat was telling them it was ok to gay and Muslim, you can be whatever you want to be.

'It just gradually got worse, it has been taught in lessons continuously, they are saying it's only five times a term but it's not.

'They're doing weekly assemblies and role plays.

'Mr Moffat even tells the children about his own personal life, I'm sorry but you shouldn't be doing that.

'My child is coming home to me saying 'I can swap clothes with opposite gender and change my name too.'

'Why is my four-year-old coming home and saying things like this?

'She should be concentrating on things like Maths and English and not homosexuality.

'It's way too young for children of this age.'

Selma Khalil, 35, full-time mum of three, said: 'The main issue I have with 'No Outsiders' programme is that it is not age appropriate.

'Every parent here lives with different sexualities and we've got no problem with that but teaching our children it's not appropriate.

Parents insisted lessons which include books on same sex couples should be scrapped

'As far as I remember I was never taught at school about homosexuality, living in society you just come to know of it.

'That's the best way in my opinion, our children will be able to see for themselves.

'Just let the children be children and go out and play.

'We will continue with our protest and hopefully get a good outcome.'

In January school bosses started a consultation process with parents about the LGBT section of the course with some taster lessons taught in school.

Earlier this week the school denied making a U-turn after reports the classes had been shelved following pressure from parents.

Hazel Pulley, Chief Executive of Excelsior Multi Academy Trust which runs the school, said: 'The lessons are there for after Easter.

'Equalities education will continue.'

Parents say they will continue to hold protests outside the school every week until the 'No Outsiders' programme is scrapped.
A couple accused of drugging and locking up elderly foreigners in a 'House of Horrors' so they could steal their savings have been arrested in Spain.

The pair, said to be of German-Cuban origin, were caught after 101-year-old German woman Maria Babes died suddenly after being left in the couple's care.

Police then discovered that another four people had died while the couple had supposedly been looking after them, including one person suspected to be British.

The couple were caught after Maria Babes, 101, went missing from her home in Tenerife and police found her in their care. While in their care, police say her life savings disappeared from her bank account before she suddenly died

All of the elderly people had seen their savings dwindle while being 'cared for', and officers believe the couple may have conned more than 1.5million out of them.

Officers did manage to save two OAPs, one Dutch and one German, who had been held prisoner for months in a second villa near the main house while they were drugged and fed with drips.

Another four people have been arrested and nine placed under investigation, accused of playing a part in the scheme.

Investigators believe the perpetrators planned to launder the money into a tourist complex in Novo Santi Petri, where they were caught.

The scheme was uncovered after German investigators asked their Spanish counterparts for help in tracking down Mrs Babes, who had gone missing.

Their search led Spanish police to a retirement home in Chiclana de la Frontera near Cadiz where they interviewed Mrs Babes.

A Civil Guard spokesman said: 'During interviews with her, she told officers she had been locked up for several months in a rented villa and during that time had been shackled.

'During that time, and to the surprise of investigators, she supposedly gave her 'carers' power of attorney and then named them as her heirs.

'The German woman denied agreeing to this, and it happened while she was seriously ill in hospital.

'After the appearance of this couple in her life in October, her bank balance went from 140,000 to just 260 by December.

'Her house in Tenerife was also sold during that time and she never received a penny.'

Officers say the couple ran a 'House of Horrors' care home in Novo Santi Petri (pictured), in southern Spain, where OAPs were kept shackled to bed and at least five people died

Officers immediately removed Mrs Babes from her carers and took her to a retirement home.

But before they could arrest the couple, they arrived and took Mrs Babes away, and she died just five hours later.

The couple also managed to have her body cremated before officers caught up with them, without carrying out an autopsy.

That means it will now be impossible to establish a cause of death.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Cadiz confirmed: 'Six people have been arrested and nine placed under investigation as the suspected authors of a series of crimes ranging from fraud to forgery, misappropriation and money laundering.

'The operation led to officers tracking down an elderly German woman and removing her from the control of her 'carers', who had stripped her of her assets.

'Tragically, after removing her from the control of this couple, they managed to get her out of the retirement home she had been placed in and five hours later she died suddenly.

'The Civil Guard operation led to the rescue of another two elderly people the detainees were 'looking after' and who were being kept prisoner, drugged, and fed using drips.

'The investigation has revealed another four people who were supposedly being looked after by this couple, had died suddenly after they got their hands on their assets.

'In four years this couple had managed to accumulate assets worth more than 1.54million.'

Police added that Maria was taken from her retirement home at 11am on Thursday, after being caught on CCTV playing a tambourine and in good health.

Her death was recorded at 4pm with no witnesses present and she was cremated shortly afterwards.

A funeral parlour manager later today officers that the 'carers' had rushed to have the remains cremated and said they didn't want an urn for them, despite expressing their utmost affection for the dead.

'During the arrest of the couple and in a search of the villa, police found two airplane tickets to Cuba with a reservation for the Hotel Melia Veradero, which would have made it difficult for them to look after Maria if she had still been alive,' police said.
Chilling new details have been revealed about the night a white supremacist allegedly bound a teen couple, slit their throats, and threw their bodies down a mine shaft.

Morgan Henderson, 35, took the stand on Wednesday to testify against her ex-boyfriend Jerrod Baum, who has been charged with aggravated murder.

Henderson said she watched in horror as Baum, 41, allegedly murdered Riley Powell, 18, and his girlfriend Brelynne 'Breezy' Otteson, 17, in December 2017.

Their bodies were discovered in March 2018.

Scroll down for video

Chilling new details have been revealed about the horrific night white supremacist Jerrod Baum (pictured in court with his swastika tattoo on display in April 2018) allegedly bound a teen couple, slit their throats, and threw their bodies down a mine shaft

Morgan Henderson, 35, took the stand on Wednesday (pictured) to testify against Baum, her ex-boyfriend. Henderson said she watched Baum kill the two teenagers

Henderson said Baum became enraged when he found the teens smoking marijuana with her at their home in Mammoth, Utah.

'I told you you couldn't have guy friends,' Henderson recalled Baum telling her on the night of December 30.

Henderson thought the couple had left, and was surprised when Baum calmed down and pulled a fleece jacket and thin black gloves from her wardrobe.

'His anger completely turned off, and he was charming,' Henderson recalled.

But then Baum led her outside, where she saw the two teens tied up in the back of Riley's Jeep.

'Jerrod told me to get in the car, and I felt I was scared,' Henderson said, according to Fox 13 Now.

'And, I listened to him. I knew that something bad was happening. It wasn't a normal situation.'

Baum drove the couple and Henderson to an abandoned mine shaft known as Tintic Standard No. 2, near Eureka.

Baum, 41, allegedly killed Riley Powell, 18, (right) and his girlfriend Brelynne 'Breezy' Otteson (left), 17, in December 2017. Their bodies were discovered in March

'I thought I was going to die,' Henderson told the Provo 4th District Court, according to Desert News.

Henderson said Braum led the group through snow and sagebrush. She recalled Otteson telling Braum she was pregnant and allergic to the sagebrush.

The teen asked if he could untie her hands, which were going numb.

'No,' Baum replied. 'We're almost there.'

Baum then stopped the group in front of the 1,800-foot open mine shaft.

'I realized even if we listened, it wasn't going to end well,' Henderson told the court.

Henderson said Baum then forced her and Otteson to their knees in an 'execution style' pose and made Powell stand in front of them.

'I thought I was going to die,' Henderson told the Provo 4th District Court on Wednesday as she recounted the horrific night

'It felt like we were an audience,' Henderson recalled, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Otteson began to whimper and cry and Powell asked Baum if he could kiss her. Baum refused.

Henderson thought Baum then began hitting the teen. It was only when she heard Powell cry out 'I'm dying!' that she realized Baum was actually stabbing the teen over and over again.

After Powell fell to the ground, Henderson said Baum waved at the teen and said 'Goodbye Riley, you piece of s**t'.

Powell had been stabbed several times and his throat had been cut, an autopsy report later found.

Henderson said Otteson continued to cry and promised Baum she wouldn't tell anyone about what she had witnessed.

Baum held Otteson in his arms and told her 'It's okay, darling', Henderson recalled.

Henderson then felt something warm on her leg and realized it was Otteson's blood - Baum had slit the young girl's throat, she said.

Baum appeared in court on Wednesday (pictured) for Henderson's testimony during his preliminary hearing

Powell and Otteson's bodies were discovered 100-feet down abandoned mine shaft known as Tintic Standard No 2 (pictured), near Eureka

'There was so much blood,' she added.

Henderson testified that Baum then dumped Powell's body down the open mine before throwing Otteson's body over as well. They both fell onto a ledge 100 feet down the shaft.

'Like lambs to the slaughter, they didn't even fight,' Henderson said Baum told her.

Baum then began trying to cover up the blood with dirt and told Henderson to stop crying.

'He looked manic. He looked high. He looked overjoyed,' she continued. 'He said the next time I start crying about stupid Riley, I need to think about my little boy and whether I want him to grow up.'

Henderson said Baum bleached and burned their clothes, hid the knife he used in an oil barrel, and put Powell's keys in random piles of dirt. He also hid the teen's Jeep.

Authorities questioned the couple after discovering a Facebook message in which Powell agreed to come to Henderson's home with Otteson the night before the couple disappeared.

Henderson said she witnessed Baum first kill Powell, repeatedly stabbing him, before he slit Otteson's throat and dumped both of their bodies in the shaft

Henderson told police the teens had visited her, but that she didn't know what happened to them afterwards.

Meanwhile, she became consumed with guilt over the murders as the months went on and Otteson and Powell's families continued to search for them.

Fearing that Baum would hurt her son if she confessed, Henderson said she decided to get high on psychedelic mushrooms and kill herself in the mountains.

'I had tremendous guilt, I felt responsible,' Henderson said.

Authorities stopped her for speeding on the way and discovered an ax, rifle, and knives in her car. That's when Henderson decided to confess.

'I wanted those families to have closure,' she said. 'I wanted them to know what happened.'

She led police to the teen's bodies and, hours later, Baum was arrested.

He was charged with aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, desecration of a dead human body, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice.

It would be months before Henderson told police what happened. She first concocted a plan to kill herself because she was consumed by guilt over what she had witnessed, she said

Henderson was also charged with felony obstruction of justice and testified against Baum as part of her plea deal.

She will be released from jail after Baum's case is resolved.

Baum appeared in court on Wednesday. He has not yet entered a plea but his defense team fought hard against Henderson's testimony.

They brought up Henderson's schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and depression, questioning whether she could tell the difference from what was a hallucination and what was reality.

Baum's attorneys also questioned if Henderson's memory could be affected by the shock therapy she has received for depression, as well as her use of psychoactive mushrooms.

They noted that Henderson had claimed Otteson and Powell's hands were tied in the front. The teens hands were both bound behind their backs, according to the autopsies.

Following testimony, a judge will determine if there is enough evidence for Baum to stand trial.

If he is convicted, Baum could face the death penalty.
An endangered baby giraffe has been born for the first time in two years at Chester zoo.

The as yet unnamed bull giraffe came into the world at 11.20am on Tuesday to 12-year-old mother Dagmar and eight-year-old father Meru, following a 15-month pregnancy.

The youngster is a Rothschild's giraffe, a group that has seen a 90 per cent decline in its population in recent decades leaving fewer than 2,650 individuals in the wild.

The bull Rothschild's giraffe was born after three-and-a-half hours of labour at the zoo

The calf tumbled six foot out of its mother onto the straw below when it was born. The giraffe is child to 12-year-old mother Dagmar and eight-year-old father Meru

The young Rothschild's giraffe was standing up and suckling an hour after it was born. (Pictured) The young calf and his mother Dagmar

The baby giraffe was born head and front legs first at the zoo after three-and-a-half hours of labour.

CCTV, watched by keepers to ensure everything went well, showed the newborn tumble six feet from its mothers belly onto a pile of straw as it was born.

The baby giraffe then lies on the floor covered in slime, seemingly in shock, as its mother licks it clean. The giraffe in the enclosure next door also tries to help out with the new addition to the herd.

The baby was licked clean by its mother after she gave birth to it

Sarah Roffe, who leads the zoo's giraffe team, said that Dagmar has been a 'model' mother so far. 'She's staying close to her calf and letting him suckle, which of course is vital in these early few days,' she said

An hour later the youngster gets onto all four legs and begins suckling.

Sarah Roffe, Giraffe Team Manager at the zoo, said: 'When a giraffe mum drops her calf to the floor it can look a little dramatic  but its not such a long drop when the baby is six foot tall.

WHAT IS A ROTHSCHILD'S GIRAFFE? Rothschild's giraffes are distinct because they have no markings below the knee The giraffe group, or subspecies, was first named by Lord Walter Rothschild for their distinctive markings. Unlike other giraffes, they had broader dividing white lines on their bodies and no spots beneath their knees. The group originally ranged across Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, but the pressures of farming, conflict and poaching have pushed them into a few small, isolated areas. In 2002 this meant they numbered just nine individuals in Kidepo Valley Conservation Area, Uganda. Although their population is now increasing, according to the IUCN, it had previously fallen from 90 per cent. There are estimated to be less than 2,650 individuals left in the wild. Giraffes were hunted for their tails, which were used as good luck charms, sewing threads and even fly swats. They are hunted by hyenas, lions, crocodiles and leopards. Advertisement

'Nevertheless, to see the birth and the very first steps of an animal as rare of the Rothschilds giraffe is an incredibly special thing.

'Dagmar is so far being the model mum. Shes staying close to her calf and letting him suckle, which of course is vital in these early few days.

'The milk is filled with important nutrients like colostrum, which will help the little one to grow and reinforce an inseparable bond between mum and baby.

'This new arrival is a special addition to the international breeding programme for this endangered species, which is working to boost numbers in zoos and safeguard its future.'

The young bull is the third child to his mother, who has also given birth to Kanzi and Sanyu.

Rothschild's giraffes have seen a steep decline in their wild population, but their population has recently started to increase.

They were classed as 'near threatened' by the IUCN last year, who said livestock farming, logging, and hunting still threaten the species recovery.

Chester zoo works with the Uganda Wildlife Foundation and Giraffe Conservation Foundation to protect the last populations of this iconic giraffe in the country, including in the Kidepo valley, where at one time only nine individuals were left.

The Rothschild's giraffes forms a distinct group as their markings stop halfway down their legs.

They tend to live in small herds, with males and females living in separate groups until the breeding season starts.

The IUCN said Rothschild's giraffes were 'near threatened' at the beginning of last year

Their population has slowly started to climb to below 2,650 individuals since it dropped by 90 per cent. (Pictured) The unnamed calf suckles from its mother

Mike Jordan, Collections Director at the zoo, said: 'Our teams have been working to support The Giraffe Conservation Foundation and Uganda Wildlife Authority for a number of years, helping to monitor, track and protect the giraffe population in Kidepo and were very happy to report that numbers are slowly increasing.

'Its an incredible effort by all involved to help prevent extinction.'

Work by the zoo currently involves tagging the giraffes in order to find out where they range to, so that conservationists can better understand how they use the area.

Sarah Roffe said the birth of this giraffe at the zoo is an 'incredibly special thing'

The zoo is involved in efforts to save the Rothschild giraffe after its population dropped sharply in its natural habitat. In the Kidepo Valley there were as few as nine giraffes in 2002
President Trump insisted Thursday morning that he could not be complicit in alleged crimes related to the hush money pay off his former attorney made to Stormy Daniels, because the secret payment didn't break any laws.

In private testimony to lawmakers and public testimony last week, ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen said the president ordered him to silence women threatening to go public with affair allegations.

A payoff to Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 election was intended to protect Trump's electoral possibilities, Cohen told prosecutors in New York, which is tantamount to a campaign finance violation. He's due to serve prison time beginning in May, as a result.

Trump furiously denied after Cohen's latest appearance on Capitol Hill that the payment was a violation of the law.

'It was not a campaign contribution, and there were no violations of the campaign finance laws by me. Fake News!' the president tweeted.

President Trump insisted Thursday morning that he could not be complicit in alleged crimes related to the hush money pay off his former attorney made to Stormy Daniels, because the secret payment didn't break any laws

Trump furiously denied after Cohen's latest appearance on Capitol Hill that the payment was a violation of the law

Trump and his lawyers have long argued that the October 2016 payment that came from Cohen's checking account was not related to the campaign, despite the timing of the payoff to the porn star.

After Cohen wrapped up his fourth appearance on Capitol Hill Wednesday, claiming members of the House Intelligence Committee were 'satisfied' with his answers, the president personal attorney claimed that he committed perjury at least three times in his congressional testimony.

'This includes the payments Cohen has lied about which are not campaign contributions if they had any personal purpose,' he said. 'Cohen may not remember it but he slipped in his perjury laden testimony and supplied ample evidence that they had a personal purpose. So do his tapes.'

The longtime fixer who turned over damaging documentary evidence at a bombshell hearing last week spent hours behind closed doors on Wednesday with House Intel, now run by Democrats. The committee is probing Russian election interference and examining Trump's personal finances.

CNN reported that Cohen turned over documents showing edits on his testimony before the same panel last year  where he has now admitted he lied in violation of the law.

Cohen testified last week that he discussed his testimony before the Intelligence Committee last year, and identified the lawyers he spoke with, including Trump personal attorney Jay Sekulow.

He said Abbe Lowell, who represents Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, also reviewed it.

The appearance on Wednesday was expected to be his last before he reports to prison.

'I believe that all of the members were satisfied with the statements and the responses that I gave to them,' Cohen told reporters at the end of a long day of classified testimony. 'I told them that any additional information that they would want, they should feel comfortable to reach out to my counsel and I would continue to cooperate to the fullest extent of my capabilities.'

Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney of U.S. President Donald Trump, testified before Congress for the fourth time, this time behind closed doors

House Intelligence chair Adam Schiff says Cohen provided additional documents

Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff of California said following Cohen's appearance that it was an 'enormously productive' session.

'He answered every question that was put to him by members of both parties. He was fully cooperative,' Schiff said.

The Democratic congressman said Cohen 'provided additional documents' and would furnish more. 'His cooperation with our committee continues,' he added.

Lanny Davis, an attorney for Cohen, said his client cooperated and would continue to do so.

'Mr. Cohen has now spent 16 hours with the HPSCI answering many questions from both Republicans and Democrats. Mr. Cohen responded to all questions truthfully and has agreed at the request of chairman Schiff to provide additional information in the future, if needed.

Davis said, 'He also offered to answer additional questions from Republican members. He remains committed to telling the truth and cooperating with authorities.'

Cohen last week testified that his talks with other lawyers were about a critical subject  negotiations over a potential Trump tower project in Moscow.

He admitted in federal court that he lied about the Moscow tower project during his prepared testimony to Congress.

He testified last week: 'There were changes made, additions  Jay Sekulow, for one,' identifying one of Trump's personal lawyers.

'There were several changes that were made including how we were going to handle that message ... the length of time that the Trump Tower Moscow project stayed and remained alive.'

Former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen thanks a Capitol Police officer as he departs after testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 6, 2019

BAGS PACKED: Cohen is to report to jail in May

ALL DONE: Michael Cohen, right, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, departs after testifying before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee accompanied by his lawyer Lanny Davis left, of Washington, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Throughout the process, the president's allies in Congress have demanded that Cohen's testimony be taken with a grain of salt. After all, he is an admitted liar.

Republican Senator Mike Rounds also defended President Trump's decision to conceal payments to Daniels during the 2016 campaign, calling it a 'personal matter' that the now-president didn't want to discuss with his family.

Rounds, a former two-term governor from South Dakota with four children of his own, said Trump loves his family and didn't want them 'to go through this.'

Cohen said that he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own funds weeks before the election, because Trump didn't want to sign then himself and have Daniels go to the press with the checks. He worried his wife Melania would find out about the accusations.

Other checks were signed by Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is a top Trump Organization executive, as well as company CEO Allen Weisselberg.

'I think most of us are have a concern any time you have a president who is trying to work through some very personal matters,' Rounds told CNN on Wednesday, justifying the unusual arrangement.

Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, said Trump concealed payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in order to protect his family. 'I think he loves his family and I don't think he wanted his family to go through this,' said Rounds

'I honestly think this president loves his family and think it has as much to do with trying not to have public discussions about something that is, for him, a private matter that he didn't want to have discussed with his family. And I think that's a lot of it,' Rounds continued.

'You know, I think that every time I think about this I think about that particular issue, because I  I think he really does care about his family, I think he loves his family and I don't think he wanted his family to go through this,' said Rounds.

I think he really does care about his family, I think he loves his family and I don't think he wanted his family to go through this - Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

Interviewer John Berman referenced testimony that the payments were to influence the election. Cohen in his guilty plea signed a statement saying he was directed by 'Individual 1' to make the payments, and that they were in violation of campaign finance law, which establishes reporting requirements.

Rounds would not wade into a legal discussion of whether the payments were illegal.

'I think they'll have to take a hard look at what that is,' Rounds responded. 'Right now we talked about what are considered campaign expenses, legitimate campaign expenses. I'm not going to try to litigate that today,' he said.

Rounds defended the president after Republican members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee trained their fire on Cohen, blasting his credibility and past lies to undermine his testimony.

One of the most determined defenders of the president was first-term Florida Rep. Greg Steube.

Steube tore into Cohen at the hearing, and apparently discounted statements by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani that the payments to Cohen were to reimburse him for the Stormy Daniels payments.

'There's absolutely no proof that these specific payments were for those specific purposes,' said Steube, as the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported at the time.

He told Cohen: 'There's nothing in the evidence that shows, or the exhibits that you provided today, that show that Trump directed you to make those payments.

'I don't believe there's anybody out there that believes that I just decided to pay $130,000 dollars on his behalf,' Trump's longtime fixer countered.

Steube noted Cohen was Trump's lawyer for ten years.

'That doesn't mean that I'd pay $130,000 dollars,' Cohen responded.

The public defense of Trump comes as more documentary evidence emerges to round out what prosecutors say was a scheme to pay off Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump.

A month after taking office, Trump furnished a Valentine's Day reimbursement to his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen constituting the first payment for the 'hush' agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels, Cohen's lawyer says.

The check constitutes two months' worth of payments for what Cohen testified was reimbursement for his own $130,000 payment to Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump.

Cohen provided two checks last week to the House Oversight Committee as part of his bombshell testimony. The latest check, which lawyer Cohen lawyer Michael Monico revealed to MSNBC, was the first time Trump paid his fixer, who negotiated a non-disclosure agreement with the porn star, for the unusual arrangement.

A $75,000 check from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust was made out to Michael Cohen and dated 2/14/17

New claims: Trump - who signed an executive order creating a new taskforce on suicide among veterans Tuesday - did not sign the $70,000 check revealed by Michael Cohen's legal team

The check is from the Donald J. Trust Revocable Trust, the entity Trump set up following his election as a way to separate himself from his business empire.

Of the two checks Cohen provided last week, one was made out from Trump's personal checking account, another from the trust. According to Cohen, it was signed by the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., and Trump Organization Allen Weisselberg.

Cohen testified that at Trump's direction, he and Wiesselberg made an arrangement for reimbursement for the funds, which Cohen paid weeks before the election.

Monaco told MSNBC's Ari Melber, 'When Michael Cohen went to see the president for the first time in the White House in February of 2017 and the president, as you may recall his testimony, that he looked at all the lovely art. And the president was proud of the whole scene and it was very awesome as Mr. Cohen said. The president said to Michael at that time, 'You will be getting the two checks soon.'

He continued: 'The two checks meaning the two $35,000 checks. Because as you may recall, Allen Weisselberg said that instead of paying the entire [money] in one lump sum, he wanted to pay it over the course of a year, $35,000 even each month..

'And so, this check, the $70,000 check, which is signed, according to my client, signed by Allen Weisselberg and Donald Trump, Jr., that this check was the first check.'

His lawyer Michael Monico has produced an additional check from a Trump trust to Cohen

The Donald Trump Jr.-signed check was dated in March 2017, and was drawn on a family Trust; A Trump Organization official told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Trump Jr. was unaware when he signed it that it was part of a repayment plan for Cohen's hush-money outlay

Cohen has provided members of Congress with two checks, one signed by the president and the other by his son Donald Jr, which he says was reimbursement for payments meant to keep Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal quiet; President Trump's check was written after he had been president for more than a half-year

During an explosive hearing last week, Cohen produced a pair of $35,000 checks he cashed as partial reimbursement of the 'hush money' he paid to Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford.

Dated in March and August of 2017, each was made out for $35,000. One, which bears Trump's signature, comes from what Cohen said was his personal checking account. Another bears signatures that resemble those Cohen's lawyer say are Weisselberg and Donald Trump Jr.

The two men are among 81 individuals and entities that the House Judiciary hit with document requests Monday.

During Cohen's hearing, California Rep. Ro Khanna called the checks the 'smoking gun,' and asked whether they were part of a 'criminal conspiracy.'

He asked Cohen whether Trump directed his son and Weisselberg to make payments to him 'as part of a criminal conspiracy of financial fraud,' asking: 'Is that your testimony today?'

Cohen responded: 'Yes.'

Valentine's Day 2017 may have been an awkward time in the White House, with new details of the Stormy Daniels saga still emerging. First Lady Melania Trump exchanged cards that day with children at the National Institutes of Health, wearing a $2,995 Calvin Klein coat.

It wasn't clear if she had plans with Trump that day, who had lunch with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
A 26-year-old Texas man has been arrested after he allegedly admitted raping a three-year-old and infecting her with STDs, court documents show.

The toddler contracted chlamydia and gonorrhea after being attacked by Drevon Alexander Perkins in Houston in January, prosecutors say.

The victim's mother took her to a hospital after noticing discharge in her diaper, according to court records, seen by the Houston Chronicle.

Drevon Alexander Perkins, 26, allegedly infected the three-year-old girl with chlamydia and gonorrhea

A doctor diagnosed the child with two sexually transmitted diseases, which sparked a police investigation.

During a polygraph test, Perkins allegedly admitted to raping the girl while high on drugs.

He reportedly said he attacked the child while her mother was at work. Records also show that Perkins has the same STDs the girl contracted.

Perkins is facing a charge of super aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a $100,000 bail.
President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security is apprehending people on the U.S.-Mexico border at a pace that would reach 1 million by the end of 2019.

'We are on track to APPREHEND more than one million people coming across the Southern Border this year,' he said in a tweet.

'Great job by Border Patrol (and others) who are working in a Broken System. Can be fixed by Congress so easily and quickly if only the Democrats would get on board!'

President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that the U.S. is on a pace to apprehend more than 1 million immigrants this year who cross the southern border without legal permission

Some of the people government agencies 'apprhend' are asylum-seekers; others are narcotis traffickers and people who cross the border for work or other purposes

A group of Central American migrants is picturedclimb the border fence between Mexico and the United States, near El Chaparral border crossing, in Tijuana

U.S. border patrol agents rescue migrants crossing the Rio Bravo towards the United States as part of a caravan; processing them as asylum-seekers makes them part of the CBP total

Trump's number includes people who cross into the U.S. for illegal purposes and those who come with the intention of turning themselves in and making asylum claims, according to Jessica Vaughn, policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies..

'Officially apprehensions means anyone arrested by the Border Patrol,' Vaughn said Thursday.

'That includes both those who were trying to sneak in and those who wanted to be caught in order to claim a fear of return and be released into the country (asylum seekers).'

U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday published statistics for February, showing a marked increase in border apprehensions.

The agency reported a 30 per cent increase in apprehensions from January to February. If Trump's claim of 1 million is based on a projection for the 2019 calendar year, the growth rate would have to continue unabated for the total to reach 1 million.

These CBP statistics show fiscal 2019 (beginning Octobetre 2018) border apprehensions in red; in order to reach 1 million, the numbers would have to continue climbing at the same rate of increase seen between January and February

Trump also renewed his attacks on congressional Democrats, claiming they could hvae a significant impact on the surge of border-crossers if they embraced his funding priorities.

Republicans controlled both houses of Congress during Trump's first two years in office, but they made little headway on his immigration reform priorities including his long-promised border wall.

Now with Democrats in charge of the House of Representatives, Trump has little chance of persuading them.

The president declared a national emergency last month, assuming the authority to repurpose billions of dollars  mostly in the Defense Department  that hadn't been earmarked for specific projects.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi cleared Rep. Ilhan Omar of intentional anti-Semitism in her controversial remarks that sparked outrage among Democrats and said the resolution the House will vote on Thursday condemning hate speech is not about the freshman lawmaker.

'It's not about her, it's about these forms of hatred,' Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday.

'I don't think the congresswoman perhaps doesn't appreciate how it was heard by other people although I don't believe it was intended as anti-Semitic although that's how it was interpreted,' the speaker said.

The House will vote Thursday on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and white supremacy after internecine war developed among Democrats over comments from Omar.

Democrats in the House of Representatives will vote Thursday on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other hateful speech following anti-Israel comments by Ilhan Omar, who is seen Thursday at a House Foreign Affairs Committee

Speaker Nancy Pelosi cleared Rep. Ilhan Omar of intentional anti-Semitism, saying the freshman lawmaker didn't appreciate how her comments were interpreted by others

'We're not policing the speech of our members,' Pelosi said, but argued the measure about condemning hate speech.

Nor will Omar's name be specifically mentioned, which some Democrats had argued for while the congresswoman's defenders countered that would require a resolution any time a lawmaker said or tweeted something offensive.

'One resolution is not mentioning her name because it's not about her,' Pelosi noted.

Democrats had battled over the wording of the resolution - should it directly refer to Omar and anti-semitism or should it be broadened to condemn all hate speech.

The text will be released later Thursday and be a broad measure to condemn all forms of hateful language, Pelosi confirmed.

A battle broke out between the older, powerful Jewish members of Congress who accused Omar of anti-Semitism and the younger, progressive members who have stormed the House floor after the 2018 election and defended Omar's right to speak.

Leadership is pushing the vote in the hopes the party can move past the controversy that has engulfed Democrats and brought about the wrath of Republicans.

Omar, who is one of the first Muslim women in Congress, came under fire for suggesting last Friday that supporters of Israel were urging lawmakers to have 'allegiance to a foreign country.'

Rep. Ilhan Omar's Controversial Tweets 'Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman! I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee. The people of the 5th elected me to serve their interest. I am sure we agree on that!' - her March 3 tweet in response to Rep. Nita Lowey's criticism of her 'It's all about the Benjamins baby' - her February 10 tweet interpreted to mean lawmakers defended Israel because of financial donations 'AIPAC!' - Omar's tweeted the name of the powerful Jewish group in response to a tweet asking her who she meant when she said 'it's all about the benjamins' 'Israel has hypnotized the world. May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel' - a tweet from 2012 now deleted Advertisement

Her words have split Democrats down the middle and left Pelosi in a bind: too harsh a resolution would alienate the liberal lawmakers - led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - who have rallied to Omar's side but not harsh enough will anger powerful Jewish lawmakers and their supporters, who vote Democratic and contribute heavily to the party.

The vote, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed among the outrage and as Pelosi tried to unsettle her ruffled lawmakers.

The controversy has tried leadership patience and overshadowed their top legislation priority: an election and ethics reform bill scheduled for a Friday vote.

Several Democratic lawmakers confronted Pelosi at a contentious meeting Wednesday evening that ended with Pelosi dropping the mic and walking out.

The tension came after freshman Rep. Jahana Hayes confronted Pelosi about wanting more input into the process of writing the resolution.

Pelosi responded the text was not final yet.

And when Hayes turned to talk to another member, Pelosi left.

'Well if you're not going to listen to me, I'm done talking,' she said, then set down the microphone and walked out of the room, sources told Politico.

Hayes said she did not hear Pelosi speaking to her.

'My comments were about the process we are using when concerns arise,' Hayes said in a statement. 'As a member of Congress I should not get important information from cable news.'

Rep. Rashida Tlaib

Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, who is Jewish, called on the House to condemn anti-semitism

President Donald Trump, who has himself drawn accusations of anti-Semitism on several occasions, denounced Democrats on Twitter.

'It is shameful that House Democrats won't take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference,' the president tweeted. 'Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it's inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!'

It's at least the third time Omar has forced older, pro-Israel Democrats who run the House into awkward territory over U.S.-Israeli policy. The first was her claim, later retracted, that moneyed Jews buy the support of U.S. lawmakers with a strategy that's 'all about the Benjamins baby.'

'When a colleague invokes anti-semitic lies three times, then this body must condemn antisemitism. Antisemitism is worthy of being condemned on its own,' Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, who is Jewish, said on the House floor on Thursday.

Omar has not apologized for her latest comments.

New York Rep Nita Lowey, a senior Democrat who chairs the powerful Appropriations Committee, blasted Omar over the weekend as the pressure for an apology increased.

'Lawmakers must be able to debate w/o prejudice or bigotry. I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel. I urge her to retract this statement and engage in further dialogue with the Jewish community on why these comments are so hurtful,' she tweeted Saturday.

President Donald Trump landed a Twitter punch on House Democrats with a complaint on Wednesday that they were dithering on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism

Trump, who has himself been accused of anti-Jewish commentary in the past, said anti-Semitism 'has fueled atrocities throughout history'

Pelosi would not be drug into the debate over whether or not Omar should apologize.

'It's up to her to explain but I don't believe she understood the weight of her words,' the speaker said on Thursday.

Omar got a boost Tuesday from allies who point out that she, too, has been the target of threats and bigotry.

'I am so honored to serve with @IlhanMN, an incredible courageous woman,' tweeted Rep. Rashid Tlaib, a fellow Muslim whose arrival in Washington was marred by her boast that anti-Trump lawmakers planned 'to impeach the motherf***er.'

'Every time I worry about her and the ugly attacks, I remember what she said to me two months ago: 'I survived war, I can survive this',' Tlaib wrote of Omar.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested in a tweet that her fellow freshman was being treated unfairly.

'No one seeks this level of reprimand when members make statements about Latinx + other communities,' the New York Democrat wrote.
A man was removed from a flight to Dubai after he started 'praying for the plane to crash' before take-off in Pakistan, it has been claimed.

The passenger, named only as Khalil, is said to have started to pray for a disaster as soon as he sat down in his seat at Islamabad International Airport.

His actions sparked 'fear and panic' among passengers and cabin crew on the aircraft, according to local media.

A man was removed from a flight to Dubai after he started 'praying for the plane to crash' before take-off in Pakistan, it has been claimed. File picture shows Pakistani police officers

Khalil was due to fly to Australia via Dubai and had just boarded the flight in Islamabad.

But the pilot is said to have raised the alarm with airport security teams when the passenger's disturbing prayers were heard. Officials arrived and he was taken off the flight.

Sources who spoke to local media did not reveal the man's full identity or the name of the airline involved.

In November last year, an an irate passenger set his luggage on fire after his flight was cancelled at the same airport.

The man had reportedly become enraged when his Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane was grounded due to bad weather.

The passenger was filmed igniting his clothes in the middle of the lounge at Islamabad Airport before being confronted by security.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, first lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the Shamakhi district today.

They have viewed new houses constructed for the quake-affected families in Shamakhi, the Azerbaijani presidential press service reported.

Afterwards, the President and the First Vice President have attended the inauguration of the newly-built orphanage-kindergarten No 4 in Shahriyar settlement, which was built as part of the Preschool Institutions Development Program implemented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. They viewed conditions created here.

Ilham Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva attended the groundbreaking ceremony of a new four-storey residential building for the quake-affected families in 20 January street. They also met with local residents.
Billionaire Harry Macklowe celebrates his wedding day with a 42-foot-tall portrait of him and new bride Patricia Landeau, on the 432 Park Avenue building that he got to keep in his December divorce settlement with ex wife of 58 years Linda Macklowe

Billionaire Harry Macklowe is celebrating his wedding day with a 42-foot-tall message to everyone in Manhattan, which includes his ex wife, Linda Macklowe, that he's in love with Patricia Landeau, and he got to keep the condo.

Harry, 82, installed portraits of himself and Patricia on the side of the building at 432 Park Avenue, which includes a floor of luxury living space that was hotly contested in his split with Linda.

In the end, Harry got to keep the multi-unit located on the 78th floor at the corner of Park Avenue and East 56th Street and is now decorating it the building as he sees fit.

'Our smiling faces will be on a building that I built  and I am proud of my wife, my life, my friends and colleagues,' Harry told the New York Post. 'It gives me a great thrill [to] share this moment of joy and happiness.'

Harry and Patricia will have their reception in the space after marrying on Thursday in Brooklyn, less than three months after the property settlement was reached.

Linda, 80, filed for divorce in 2016, after learning that Harry had been putting Patricia, who is in her early 60s, up for at least two years in another property, not far from the conspicuous display.

Harry and Patricia will have their reception in the space after marrying on Thursday in Brooklyn, less than three months after the property settlement was reached

The black and white portraits (shown) at the corner of Park Avenue and East 56th Street were created by Parisian firm Studio Harcourt, are printed on polyester-mesh and span 24 feet wide

The black and white portraits which were created by Parisian firm Studio Harcourt are printed on polyester-mesh and span 24 feet wide.

They went up over Tuesday and Wednesday, in preparation for Harry's big day with the new Mrs. Macklowe, who is president of the French Friends of the Israel Museum, located in Jerusalem.

The two were set to marry on Thursday at Brooklyn's Weylin, which is an event venue located inside the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank, in a ceremony officiated by presiding New York Supreme Court Justice Alan Scheinkman.

They went up over Tuesday and Wednesday, in preparation for Harry's big day with the new Mrs. Macklowe, who is president of the French Friends of the Israel Museum, located in Jerusalem. Harry and Patricia are pictured at the 2017 Hot Pink Party 'Super Nova' presented by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation at Park Avenue Armory on May 12, 2017 in New York City

Linda Macklowe, 80, filed for divorce from Harry in 2016, after learning that Harry had been putting Patricia, who is in her early 60s, up for at least two years in another property, not far uptown from the conspicuous display. Harry and Linda are pictured attending the AFIM Photography Gala at Waldorf Astoria on October 29, 2007 in New York City

Following the ceremony, guests are invited to Le Coucou, a French restaurant in SoHo, before being welcomed to the property adorned with Harry and Patricia's faces for a lavish reception, decked out in all white by celebrity event planner David Monn.

The 78th floor at what has been dubbed the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere has been transformed into a 'massive ballroom' for the occassion.

Linda, who is a Guggenheim Foundation trustee, lives at The Plaza, which is just a short walk from the exhibition of Harry's love for Patricia, but she's not on the guest list for the celebration.

Linda, who is a Guggenheim Foundation trustee, lives at The Plaza, which is just a short walk from the exhibition of Harry's love for Patricia, but she's not on the guest list for the celebration. Harry is said to have housed Patricia at a property located slightly more uptown, at 737 Park Avenue, for at least two years before Linda filed for divorce after Harry abruptly told her he was leaving her for Patricia, and immediately moved in with her

Harry is said to have housed Patricia at a property located slightly more uptown, at 737 Park Avenue, for at least two years before Linda filed for divorce after Harry abruptly told her he was leaving her for Patricia, and immediately moved in with her.

Harry and Linda reportedly did not have a prenuptial agreement, and at one point Harry is said to have offered her $1 billion to walk away.

The final settlement was reached in mid-December, according to The Real Deal, less than three months ahead of Thursday's nuptials.

Harry and Linda were married for 58 years.
A man in east China has lost his left eye after he tripped at home and didn't realise his eyeball had fallen out.

The 26-year-old man was in a very drunken state when he slipped and fell at home in Lixia district in Jinan, Shandong province late at night on Monday, according to Chinese reports.

Horrified family members rushed him to hospital the next morning after they discovered him lying in a pool of blood. However, doctors said the man's eye was beyond repair as it had been detached for too long.

A man in east China has lost an eye after he tripped at home and and didn't realise his eyeball had fallen out. Surgeons could only stitch up the wound to prevent further damage (file photo)

Horrified family members rushed the man to hospital on Tuesday morning after they discovered him lying in a pool of blood. However, doctors said the man's left eye (pictured) was beyond repair as it had been detached for too long

The man's family rushed him to a local clinic for treatment without realising his eyeball had fallen out, according to Qilu Evening News.

They then transferred the man to Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital, a provincial hospital with better surgical equipment.

Doctors examining the man was shocked to find that the patient's eyeball was missing.

The man's family rushed him to a local clinic for treatment without realising his eyeball had fallen out. They then transferred him to Shandong Qianfoshan Hospital (pictured)

'The patient's family in hospital then received a phone call from home, saying someone had found his eyeball,' Dr Ma Baofeng at the Department of Ophthalmology told reporters.

'The eyeball had been detached for at least six hours before the patient arrived at our hospital for treatment,' Dr Ma said.

'That is far too long for an eyeball to be outside of the socket and is definitely contaminated,' he added.

'The patient's family in hospital then received a phone call from home, saying someone had found his eyeball,' Dr Ma Baofeng at the Department of Ophthalmology told reporters

The doctor also said that the eye's extraocular muscles and optic nerves were completely torn. Surgeons could only stitch up the wound to prevent further damage.

Due to muscle contraction around the eye after the injury, the patient is not likely able to fit an artificial eye, Dr Ma said. He could opt for a false eye to cover the empty socket instead.

Following surgery, the man told medical staff that he was 'too drunk' to remember anything about the accident.
A woman who lost 10 family members when a deadly tornado ripped through a small town in Alabama is speaking out to reveal the full horror of the disaster.

Cora Jones, 52, fought back tears as she spoke of the crushing grief that's followed losing her parents, brother, cousin, niece and a second cousin of her mother's in the EF-4 tornado that devastated Beauregard on Sunday afternoon.

'I ain't getting through it good at all,' she told NBC News on Thursday.

"I just got so many questions, but you know, you don't question the Lord.

'Just why, why, you know, why? Why this had to happen like this? To everybody that you know and love? At one time? Why?'

Scroll down for video

Cora Jones, 52, has spoken out about the grief of losing 10 family members - including her parents and her brother - when a devastating tornado ripped through Beauregard, Alabama, on Sunday. 'I ain't getting through it good at all,' she told NBC News on Thursday

Jones' parents, 89-year-old Jimmy Lee Jones (left) and 83-year-old Mary Louise Jones (right) were among the 23 people killed in the F-4 tornado. After the storm passed, Jones rushed to her parents house and found her father's body. She also had to identify her mother's body

Jones said she had been looking forward cooking up a special meal for her parents on Sunday to thank them for supporting her over the past few months after she lost her job and was diagnosed with breast cancer.

What was supposed to be a fun day with family turned into a nightmare as the twister packing 170mph winds tore through the unincorporated town of 10,000 people, razing countless houses to the ground.

Among them was the home of Mary Louise Jones, 83, and Jimmy Lee Jones, 89, who were killed just after returning home from church.

After the tornado passed, Jones, whose home was undamaged, rushed to her parents' place a few roads away to check on them.

'When I got up that hill, I see no houses. Everything was gone,' she said.

'I just couldn't believe it. It looked like someone took a chainsaw and went "swoop",' she said, making a wide sweeping motion with her hand.

Jones found her father's body, and was then asked by emergency personnel to identify her mother.

'Just the image  I will never get out of my head. They really didnt want me to see the picture, but I had to identify the body,' she said.

Jones later learned that her brother, 53-year-old Emmanuel Jones (left) and her cousin, 57-year-old Maggie Delight Robinson (right) were also killed, along with her relatives Raymond Robinson, Jr., 63; Tresia Robinson, 62; Eric Jamal Stenson, 38; Florel Tate Stenson; 63; Henry Lewis Stenson, 65, and James Tate, 86

Jones said of the destruction: 'I just couldn't believe it. It looked like someone took a chainsaw and went "swoop".' Her own home was undamaged by the twister

She later learned that eight other members of her extended family were among the 23 people killed in a two-mile-area that experienced the tornado's worst destruction.

Besides her parents, Jones' brother, Emmanuel Jones, 53, was killed, along with her relatives Maggie Delight Robinson, 57; Raymond Robinson, Jr., 63; Tresia Robinson, 62; Eric Jamal Stenson, 38; Florel Tate Stenson; 63; Henry Lewis Stenson, 65, and James Tate, 86.

The first of the funerals for her family will be held on Saturday.

I had no idea I was seeing my mama for the last time.

Jones said that she hasn't allowed herself to really cry yet, telling NBC: 'When I break down, I'm going to break down. I might need two or three days to myself.'

Losing her mother has hit Jones especially hard. She said their last conversation was about the Sunday dinner they had planned, which included her mom's favorite: sweet potatoes.

'I had no idea I was seeing my mama for the last time, and I would have so many things to tell her,' Jones said.

She added: 'Tell somebody you love them every day. You might not mean it, but just tell them, because you don't know  you might not even come back.'

United States Sen Doug Jones toured the tornado damage in Beauregard on Thursday

Family members can be seen consoling each other outside their damaged mobile home in Beauregard on Monday

This aerial photo shows the extensive damage caused by the Beauregard tornado. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said rescue crews have canvassed areas with the worst damage, but the search is ongoing and the death toll could rise

At least a dozen tornadoes were reported in the Deep South on Sunday afternoon as a massive storm system tore across parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, leaving more than 40,000 people without power.

The Beauregard tornado - the deadliest in the US since 2013 - carved a path 24 miles long and nearly a mile wide through Lee County.

President Donald Trump is expected to visit the damage-stricken area Friday.

Twenty-three people were killed, including four children aged six, eight, nine and ten.

Jones' father Jimmy Lee was the oldest of the victims.

Lee County Coroner Brian Harris revealed the names of the victims on Tuesday. He said all but two of them were found outside their homes, with some of the bodies found two to three lots away from where they were when the storm hit.

All of them died from multiple blunt force injuries, both internal and external. Some had to be identified using family photos.

The full list of victims is seen below:
A judge in Germany has found a mechanic guilty of poisoning his co-workers' sandwiches with heavy metals and sentenced him to life in prison.

The district court at Bielefeld in northwest Germany found 57-year-old Klaus O. guilty of multiple counts of causing bodily injury and attempted murder on Thursday.

O. used small amounts of toxic metals such as mercury and lead acetate to make his colleagues gradually ill with organ failure, putting one into a coma with brain damage.

The victims are baffled at the murderous intent shown by an otherwise unassuming mechanic who was considered technically proficient and helpful to others.

Klaus O., 57, enters the court concealing his identity with a dossier as he appeared in court on Thursday in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bielefeld

O. stands with his legal team as he awaits sentence, his only words uttered throughout proceedings were, 'I fully endorse the remarks of my attorneys'

One of his workmates became suspicious when he noticed a white powder in his sandwiches.

At the behest of the concerned colleague, management installed surveillance cameras in May 2018 to catch O. red-handed, DW reported.

Police investigators later found a home laboratory filled with the heavy metals his colleagues had been ingesting.

O. laced their lunches between 2015 and 2018. One is in a coma with irreparable brain damage. Two more have serious kidney damage.

There are potential explanations for O.'s behaviour from conversations he subsequently had with a psychologist at a correctional facility.

The psychologist described how O. was like a 'scientist who was testing substances on a guinea pig.'

O. spoke for the first time publicly at the conclusion of his trial to say: 'I fully endorse the remarks of my attorneys.'

Life sentences in Germany usually can be reduced after 15 years. But the judge in Bielefeld ordered O. ineligible for such a reduction, saying he was inclined to commit more crimes.
The leader of an infamous gang of moped robbers dubbed the Easy Cash Gang has been jailed for 12 years for a series of terrifying smash-and-grab raids.

Miguel St Martin, 21, was jailed alongside accomplices Alfie Warry, also 21, and Harry Doyle, 18, after they attacked high-end jewellery and clothing shops in a two-month reign of terror in central London last year.

Shocking footage showed the robbers trying to ram a Land Rover into the front of Boodles jewellery store in Sloane Street, Knightsbridge, armed with axes, samurai swords and sledgehammers on March 26.

St Martin, Doyle and four others fled empty handed after they set off a burglar alarm which emits a smoke cloud.

One month later St Martin and Warry, broke into the Yves Saint Laurent shop on Sloane Street, and stole 100,000 worth of handbags before speeding off on mopeds.

Petar Dimov, a 48-year-old builder, working at a site opposite Boodles, was slashed across the knees with an axe and stabbed in the back after he ran across the road to intervene.

Miguel St Martin, 21 of Kings Cross pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery

Mr Dimov moved to Britain from Bulgaria 15 years ago and saw the gang slowly approach the shop on mopeds with covered number plates, before the Land Rover ploughed into the building on a busy Monday morning.

He grappled with one gang member before the others piled in, slashing him with a sword and an axe.

Mr Dimov was left with a permanent limp and a lung infection, Blackfriars Crown Court was told.

CCTV footage identified St Martin, 22-year-old Reece Salmon, two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old.

Recovered mobile phone footage showed the suspects stealing a moped in broad daylight and threatening a security guard with a large zombie knife.

St Martin, Doyle, 18-year-old Henry Histon, a 16-year-old boy and two other as yet unidentified people, tried to rob Boodles jewellery store armed with weapons including axes and samurai swords, the court heard.

Two of St Martin's accomplices admitted to conspiracy to commit robbery (Reece Salmon, centre and Harry Doyle right) while a third man (Alfie Warry, left) was found guilty of the same offence over raids in London

This CCTV footage shows the moment a moped gang used a stolen car to attempt to smash into the luxury jewellery store Boodles

The gang rammed a stolen car into a luxury jewellery store before stabbing a have-a-go hero who tried to stop them

Miguel St Martin was the 'mastermind' behind the raids which took place at Boodles on March 26 last year

Pictured: Terrified staff fleeing as the car crashes into the Boodles jewellery store

Footage from inside Boodles shows shoppers flee in panic as the car crashes into the side

One month later St Martin, described as the gangs mastermind, targeted the Yves Saint Laurent shop in Sloane Street along with Warry, Histon, and an unidentified fourth person.

Later the same day officers tracked St Martin to a hotel in Kings Cross, where he was arrested on suspicion conspiracy to commit robbery.

In his room a zombie Knife, four stolen mobile phones, and two Saint Laurent handbags worth a total of 10,000 were seized.

The discovery of the handbags led officers to investigate the Saint Laurent burglary.

Jailing St Martin for 12 years judge Ian Darling said: The gangs name, however it came about, could not be more apt.

It has achieved significantly easy cash with the greatest of ease.

Had Boodles been successful one could only speculate of its gains.

I am satisfied that that without any doubt in essence you are not a bad person.

You are someone who allowed himself for whatever reason to get an undeservedly comfortable path and today you have to face the consequences.

They stripped the Yves Saint Laurent store of about 85,000 of handbags

CCTV from inside the store shows the gang looting Yves Saint Laurent in London's West End

But I recognise that you are still a young man, a very young man.

You may be the oldest of this bunch but you are still a young man, he added.

All of that leaves me with some optimism that you may yet turn your life around.

St Martin had to be handcuffed to a guard in the dock for the safety of court staff, after he lashed out in the cells when he was earlier convicted.

He didnt react to his sentencing but his supporters wept in the public gallery.

Michael Shaw, prosecuting, said: Mr St Miguel is to be sentenced today for his part for what I am going to call the garage conspiracy - a conspiracy to rob members on the public between 17 August 2017 and 18 February 2018.

He also falls to sentenced for his conviction for an offence a conspiracy I will refer to as the Boodles Job.

He also falls to be convicted for a conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary at the premises of Yves Saint Laurent.

Part of the modus operandi of the gangs was played on mobile phone footage.

There were witnesses of a robbery of a moped who filmed it on their phones, he added.

Mr Shaw said: We say that Mr St Martin played a leading role in those three conspiracies.

He was the eldest, he played an organisational, leading role in those conspiracies.

St Martin, from Kings Cross, admitted conspiracy to commit robbery - relating to the Camden, Islington, Westminster, and City of London incidents - and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary at Saint Laurent.

He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery at Boodles jewellery store after a trial at Blackfriars Crown Court.

St Martin was sentenced to 12 years for conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, eight years and 10 months for aggravated burglary, four years for conspiracy to rob and two years each for the street robberies, to be served concurrently.

Pictured: One of the swords used during the attack on the Boodles store last year

Pictured: An axe taken to the scene of the Boodles raid in Sloane Street in Knightsbridge

A helmet and axe which were used in the raid on the jewellery store in west London

He was also ordered to pay 170 victim surcharge

Detective Sergeant Danny Watts of Operation Vocare said: These gang members were big operators in north and central London.

However, we secured a number of significant convictions and sentences against them and they have been taken off the streets.

Henry Histon previously admitted his involvement in the Boodles and Yves Saint Laurent raids

Detective Constable Phelim Redmond, of the Flying Squad, said: This was a brazen attempt to rob Boodles jewellery store and a cowardly, vicious attack on an unarmed member of the public who bravely intervened.

Three teenagers, two aged 17 and one aged 16, admitted conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.

Warry, from Camden, was convicted of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary at Saint Laurent.

Doyle, of Islington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery at Boodles jewellery store. He was also found guilty of grievous bodily harm in relation to the assault of Mr Dimov.

Salmon, of Islington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery relating to the Camden, Islington, Westminster, and City of London incidents.

He was accused of conspiracy to commit robbery at Boodles jewellery store but was found not guilty by the jury.

Histon, of Camden, previously admitted his involvement in the Boodles and Yves Saint Laurent raids.

The sentencing of other gang members continues.
The bodies of a man, woman and teenage girl have been found in a Northern Ireland flat, with one line of police inquiry being a possible double-murder suicide.

Detectives are investigating after the bodies were found in Newry, County Down, at around 11am on Thursday morning.

All three people are understood to have been known each other and local police have since cordoned off the area.

Police in Northern Ireland sealed off the scene in County Down after three bodies were found in a flat

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy said: 'The circumstances of the deaths will now be subject to investigation and post-mortem examinations will take place in due course.

'At this stage it would not be appropriate to elaborate further on the circumstances as our inquiries are at an extremely early stage.'

Officers were pictured at Glin Ree Court (above) where forensic investigators are expected to attend

Officers are at the scene at Glin Ree Court, and police tape marked the area preserved for forensic investigation in front of some whitewashed flats.

Newry is close to Northern Ireland's border with the Irish Republic.

SDLP politician Justin McNulty said: 'Terrible news breaking.

'This community is in shock and a dark cloud hangs over Newry this afternoon.

'My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased.'
An Ohio teenager has been killed after allegedly being knocked down by his friend who had moved their car to trick him.

Police responded to the parking lot of Wickliffe Lanes Bowling Alley, Euclid Avenue, to a report of a pedestrian being hit by a car on Saturday.

Police said that Wickliffe High School Senior Anthony Noch, 17, was leaving the bowling alley with his two friends when he was struck by a car driven by his friend Gary Reba, 18, from Willowick.

Gary Reba, 18, (left), was arrested and charged after he allegedly knocked his friend Anthony Noch, (right), down in a parking lot during a 'horseplay' incident

The incident happened during 'horseplay' between friends, according to a news release posted by Wickliffe Police Department on Facebook.

Reba and a second man left the bowling alley before Noch, who was finishing up paying inside the alley.

Police said Reba moved the car from its original parking spot, so that Noch would come outside and have to search for his car.

Reba allegedly drove towards Noch to startle him as Noch was looking for the vehicle.

Reba then struck Noch with the front drivers side corner of his car. As a result he fell to the ground and suffered a serious head injury.

He was subsequently taken to Lake West Hospital and was then transferred to University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.

But Noch died on Sunday morning, according to the statement.

Reba was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle and aggravated vehicular homicide, according to the release. He is set to appear in court on March 13.

The tragic incident happened at the parking lot of Wickliffe Lanes Bowling Alley, 30315 Euclid Avenue (pictured)

Reba drove towards Noch to startle him in the parking lot (pictured). In doing so, he struck Noch with the front driver's side corner of his car

There is currently no evidence that alcohol or drugs were involved, according to police.

The police claimed members of the police department have been in contact with Wickliffe School District officials regarding the incident, which remains under investigation.

The statement added: 'We ask that you keep Anthony Noch and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

'This was a senseless incident that has devastated two families.'

Wickliffe Police Force offered its sympathy and support to Anthonys family and friends

The Wickliffe City School District community is 'heartbroken' by the young man's death, Superintendent Joe Spiccia said in a statement.

'Anthony was a good student, a good friend, and a fine young man. We are all saddened by his untimely and tragic death.

'As a school district, we are providing support to students and staff in need. Our counseling staff and the community crisis team is on hand to provide assistance to all in need.

'Our sympathy and support is extended to Anthonys family, friends, and all of those affected by his loss.'

An online obituary described the deceased youngster as 'a hard worker holding a part time job attending his senior year in high school and attending Early College Early Career classes.

It added: 'He had a love for life, loved to make people laugh and have fun. Anthony will be dearly missed.'
Advertisement

The world's deepest swimming pool is set to open in Poland, with a depth of 148 feet and a water volume equivalent to 27 Olympic-size swimming pools.

DeepSpot will open its doors to the public in autumn of this year in the central Polish town of Mszczonow, about 40 kilometres from the capital Warsaw.

It will be accessible to everyone, not only scuba divers, and will include an underwater tunnel, hotel rooms overlooking the pool, as well as restaurants and conference rooms.

The new swimming pool is called DeepSpot and at 148 feet deep will break the world record for the deepest pool by 16 feet

The pool, seen here in an artist's impression, is to open in Poland in the autumn with a water volume equivalent to 27 normal swimming pools

DeepSpot is reportedly being constructed by the same company who built the popular indoor skydiving simulator FlySpot in Poland's Warsaw West County.

According to local media, 8,000 cubic metres of water will be required to fill the pool - or the equivalent of 27 82-foot swimming pools.

However, the impressive pool will only hold the record as the world's deepest for about six months until the Blue Abyss, currently under construction in Colchester in the UK, opens with a 164-foot-deep pool.

The Blue Abyss is intended to be a deep sea and space research, training and test facility, whose primary function is to enable extreme environment development - both human and robotic.

According to local media, DeepSpot will be 16 feet deeper than the present record holder - Y-40 Deep Joy in the northern Italian town of Montegrotto Terme.

The design (pictured) includes an underwater tunnel, restaurants, conference rooms and hotel rooms overlooking the pool

The centre will be located in the central Polish town of Mszczonow, about 40 kilometres from the Polish capital Warsaw

That incredible swim centre, designed by renowned architect Emanuele Boaretto, is located within the four-star Hotel Terme Millepini.

Visitors, enjoying a regular temperature of between 32-34C, are able to use the facilities for free diving and scuba diving, with underwater caves for cave diving beginners.

There is also a unique suspended underwater tunnel which is entirely transparent, so non-swimmers can experience the pool without getting wet.

Before Y-40 Deep Joy's completion on June 5, 2014, the record was held by the Nemo 33 facility in Brussels, Belgium.

Famous for its deep pit, the Nemo 33 pool measured 113 feet - 35 feet less than DeepSpot.

A diver swims into the pool at Nemo33 diving centre in Brussels, which held the record for the deepest pool until 2014
Anthony Sobecki, 37, was revived by cops and arrested in Ohio on Sunday. His neck tattoo reads 'Ambition'

This is the moment that police and firefighters had to use 10 doses of Narcan to save the life of a man who passed out from a drug overdose while driving in five lanes of traffic.

Anthony Sobecki, 37, was found unresponsive in the driver's seat of a black Ford F350 pickup truck at 10pm on Sunday in Willoughby, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

Officers acting on a tip from a citizen found Sobecki slumped over the steering wheel with his foot on the brake and the truck in drive southbound on SR 91 south of Euclid Avenue.

One officer quickly reached inside and placed the truck in park and took out the ignition key. The second officer tried to wake up Sobecki.

Police found a black pickup truck with its brake lights on stopped in the middle of five lanes of traffic on Sunday night in Willoughby, Ohio

Sobecki was slumped over the steering wheel and snoring with the truck in drive

The officers then administered two doses of Narcan, but the opioid overdose counter-agent had no effect.

'Wake up! Come on Anthony,' the cops are heard shouting on bodycam footage released by the department.

Police and firefighters went on to administer another eight doses of Narcan before Sobecki regained consciousness.

Sobecki was transported to Lake West Medical Center for treatment.

Cops quickly pulled the keys from the ignition and began administering Narcan doses

Sobecki was charged with driving under the influence, driving under suspension, and driving in marked lanes

'Those lifesaving measures don't stop from the beginning to the end. It's just, this is getting so prevalent,' Detective Lieutenant James Schultz told Fox affiliate WJW.

After leaving the hospital, Sobecki was charged with driving under the influence, driving under suspension, and driving in marked lanes. Police say other criminal charges could be forthcoming.

A mugshot of Sobecki reveals that he has the word 'Ambition' tattooed on his neck.

Sobecki was due for an initial appearance at the Willoughby Municipal Court on Thursday morning.

In 2017, more than 70,200 people died of drug overdoses in the U.S., an average of 192 deaths a day.
This is the heartwarming moment a grateful dog leaps up to hug a policeman after the officer rescued the entangled hound.

The officer was called to the house in San Felipe de Aconcagua in Chile after the dog became entangled in a covering used to provide shade to the patio.

In the footage posted to social media by Chilean police and viewed 400,000 times, the rescuing cop is seen scaling the property's fence to get into the patio.

He then approaches the yelping dog as it struggles with the material wrapped around its midriff.

The grateful pooch leapt into the police officer's arms after he was cut free (left) and the policeman gave the dog a hug back after he was called to the house in Chile (right)

As the poor pooch tries to gnaw at the covering to free itself, the officer takes out a knife and begins to cut the material.

At one point, the howling dog appears to nip at the helpful police officer before falling to the ground in panic.

The officer eventually manages to cut the rope around the dog's waist and it immediately springs to its feet and lovingly gives the beaming policeman a huge hug.

The officer bends down to give the big hound a hug after he freed him from the fabric

Officer Guiovanni Donke patted the dog after he pulled out a blade and cut the dog free from the patio covering

According to local media, Officer Guiovanni Donke was called to the house after neighbours reported the incident.

The home owner is said to have given permission for the officer to enter the patio.

Donke told local media: 'I managed to climb into the patio to help the dog although I did not know how it was going to react.'
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar.

Toivo Klaar stressed that the European Union is interested to positively contribute to the resolution of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Azerbaijani presidential press service reported.

Ilham Aliyev expressed his satisfaction and support on the public statements made by the EU Commission and some European Commissioners demanding to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of international law, to change status quo in the conflict and to continue negotiations based on existing format.

The head of state also said that conflict should be resolved only in accordance with international law and within the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council, and the format of the negotiation process cannot be changed.

The President stressed that Azerbaijan is the most interested party in the earliest negotiated settlement of the conflict, and liberating occupied territories is always an important component of the negotiation process. He noted that Armenia's contradictory official statements are unacceptable and hinder the negotiation process. In this regard, the head of state emphasized the importance of the international community taking it into account and conveying targeted statements to Armenia.

In addition, a wide exchange of views on the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union in various fields and Azerbaijan's participation in the Eastern Partnership program was held at the meeting.
A brazen criminal robbed a restaurant on his hands and knees in a bid to avoid being seen by the security camera.

The man, who was wearing a hooded coat, shorts, and trainers, crawled through O'Hares restaurant and bar kitchen area in Stockport, Greater Manchester, at 1.20am on Wednesday to steal a charity box and other items.

Social media users said the man could be the same robber that has targeted other restaurants in the area.

The footage was uploaded by restaurant owner Suzi O'Hare, who said he'd cut through iron bars at the back of the restaurant to get in.

The criminal stares directly at the security camera before ducking to the ground

'Let's catch the thieving scumbag,' she said online.

The video shows the robber enter the kitchen and flash a torchlight. He then stares straight at the security camera before ducking under one of the kitchen cabinets.

The robber broke in to O'Hare's restaurant and bar in Greater Manchester, owned by Suzi O'Hare

The man then crawls around the restaurant on his hands and knees, still looking up at the camera, and enters the main restaurant.

The video shows the man climbing down from a window and scanning the room.

He spots a security camera and flinches, shortly afterwards ducking behind a counter.

The crook is temporarily out of sight as he crawls around furniture but then pops his head out and looks directly at the camera.

After seeing the footage, Katie Fisher wrote: 'Hes not really disguised himself well so hope he gets caught.'

Julie Dyer said: 'Looks like the guy who tried breaking into shops in Dorchester Parade - similar trainers'.

The brazen robber crawls on the kitchen floor in a bid to avoid being seen by the security camera

Ms O'Hare said, 'Let's catch the thieving scumbag' when she posted the video on Facebook

Tori Richards said: 'Looks like same guy that did Topaki.'

Hassan Mehmet wrote: 'Thats the same guy that broke into two places in Hazel Grove two weeks ago.'

Debbie Healey wrote: 'Enough is enough innocent businesses being robbed! People working hard trying to pay their taxes and get by. Why are these people who are robbing getting away with it?'

MailOnline has contacted Greater Manchester Police for comment.
A senior minister has sparked a new Tory Islamophobia row by suggesting that a debate about the issue should be handled by the Foreign Office.

Commons leader Andrea Leadsom made the gaffe today following days in which the Tories have been faced with accusations of Muslim hatred within their ranks.

She spoke after Labour's Naz Shah asked about having a debate on a definition of Islamophobia in Parliament.

It prompted Tory Muslim peer Baroness Warsi to say: 'British Muslims are errrrr British. What is wrong with some of my colleagues?

'We are in a hole .....stop digging!'

The comments by Mrs Leadsom in the Commons prompted a furious response from senior Tory peer Baroness Warsi today

It prompted a furious response from Naz Shah who posted the exchange online and asked: 'When did attacks on BRITISH Muslims become a foreign issue?'

Ms Shah, the MP for Bradford West, demanded a probe into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party

The exchange in the Commons came at the end of a week in which it emerged 14 Conservative Party members were suspended after posting Islamophobic or racist comments on social media.

The remarks were found on a pro-Jacob Rees-Mogg Facebook group, including calls for Muslims to be 'turfed out of public office', for the Government to 'get rid of all mosques' and calling Muslim Home Secretary Sajid Javid a 'Trojan horse'.

Theresa May was accused of 'burying her head in the sand' over 'institutional Islamophobia' in the party by Baroness Warsi, the former Tory chairman.

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom and Labour MP Naz Shah both spoke about Islamophobia in the Commons today

In Thursday's exchange Ms Shah tried to take advantage of this, asking Mrs Leadsom: 'Given the crisis the (Tory) party finds itself in with Islamophobia, would she agree with me that it is right that we should have a debate in the house on Islamophobia?'

Mr Leadsom replied: 'I'm sure that she will be pleased to see that the Conservative party is taking very strong action in any cases that we identify of Islamophobia.

'We have been extremely robust and urgent in our response to that.

'She raises a very important point about whether we should seek a definition of I and I would perhaps urge her to seek an adjournment debate in the first instance so she can discuss with Foreign Office ministers whether that would be a useful way forward.'

Ms Shah blasted the comment, later saying on Twitter: 'When did attacks on BRITISH Muslims become a foreign issue?'

A Cabinet Office spokesman later said Mrs Leadsom thought Ms Shah was referring to an international definition of Islamophobia.

The spokesman said: 'Islamophobia is unacceptable wherever it takes place.

'It was thought the MP for Bradford West was referring to a global definition of Islamophobia.

'International efforts to combat Islamophobia (and all forms of religious persecution and prejudice) are lead by the PM's special envoy on freedom of religion or belief, Lord Ahmad, at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

'Of course, any form of Islamophobia in the UK would be dealt with swiftly by the Home Office or Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government as appropriate.'
Romance novel cover hunk Jason Baca has decided to put his shirt back on and retire from modeling for the genre, DailyMail.com has learned.

Baca is a familiar face in the romance book aisle, racking up more than 540 covers in the span of 10 years - surpassing the amount of book covers Italian heartthrob and iconic romance figure Fabio had at 462 covers.

But now the 45-year-old, who resides in Saratoga, California, has decided to leave swathes of lusty readers behind.

Jason Baca, who has more than 540 romance book covers under his belt, is retiring from modeling for the genre, DailyMail.com can reveal

The 45-year-old has been a vampire, Roman gladiator, gargoyle, superhero, Marine sniper, bounty hunter and a cowboy countless times. Baca says he has several favorite covers but his most memorable is from his first shoot - gracing Lisa Renee Jones' The Legend of Michael (left)

Baca never intended to become a sex symbol for the romance genre, originally wanting to become an actor. But Baca claims he soon realized he was terrible at it and began modeling clothing in the late 1990s.

Speaking to The Mercury News in 2017, he said: 'Fast-forward to 2007, when I was walking through a bookstore and saw a romance book. I thought, ''I can do that,'' and set my sights on book covers.'

Baca surpassed the amount of book covers Italian heartthrob and iconic romance figure Fabio (pictured) had at 462 covers

Although Baca used to work as a fitness model, he said it wasn't as easy of a transition he thought it would be, facing rejection from more than 100 authors.

Finally one gave him a chance, but advised him to start working out more.

'They wanted me at my best. I'd previously worked as a fitness model, so they wanted that, but even better. Ripped, tan, with a look that cuts through anyone with confidence. But at the same time, a look or eyes that say, "I love you always,"' Baca said.

He began working out every day for at least 90 minutes, gaining chiseled abs and a defined 'V' line that make him a fixture of readers' steamy fantasies.

Baca added in another interview, 'I wanted it to be so when a person would pick up this book with me on it, they would get hot flashes and feel like they would pass out at the sight of me on there. I wanted to blow their minds with my body!'

The model admitted that he does read romance books, but only the ones he's on the cover for in order to get an idea of the book's main character.

Baca told EW: 'I want to know what Im doing in the books. You get 10, 15 pages into it and you realize, ''Oh my god, what a hero. This is me. The hero, the highlander, over here, heres me as the duke, heres me as the big heartthrob.'''

But despite racking up more than 540 covers, modeling for romance books was just a side job for Baca and he still keeps an office job

Each cover is different for Baca depending on the book's story line.

He's been a vampire, Roman gladiator, gargoyle, superhero, Marine sniper, bounty hunter and a cowboy countless times.

Baca says he has about 40 favorite covers but his most memorable is from his first shoot - gracing Lisa Renee Jones' The Legend of Michael, where a shirtless Baca stands gripping a knife and his Photoshopped blue eyes are staring intently at the reader. Next to him, the tagline reads: 'He is sin and satisfaction, lust and damnation.'

Baca said he's sure Fabio is 'very aware' of him and thinks he 'definitely helped him out in later years now that he doesnt do the covers anymore with him getting a lot of the publicity stuff traced back into the limelight.'

He added: 'I wouldnt say I admire him, but I definitely have a lot of respect for him. I think hes done well with the tools that hes been given.

'If it wasnt for him, I think that half of the people that are out there wouldnt even know what a romance book is.'

But despite posing for more than 540 covers, modeling for romance books was just a side job for Baca and he still keeps an office job.
The family of a North Carolina mother who was beheaded by her mentally ill teenage son is suing the psychiatrist who let him out of the hospital six days before her death despite him showing visible signs of psychosis.

Yesenia Funez was decapitated by her teenage son Oliver Funez Muchada at their home in Zebulon in March 2017 in front of her two youngest children.

Oliver, who was 18 at the time, was seen walking around with her head in one of his hands afterwards and told investigators he carried out the killing because voices in his head told him that if he did it, he would become an angel.

Oliver was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity and will spend the rest of his life in a state psychiatric facility.

Oliver Funez Machada (left) decapitated his mother Yesenia (right) at their home in Franklin, North Carolina, in March 2017 six days after being discharged from a mental health facility where he had spent the last month being treated

Now, Yesenia's widower Walter and her three other children who are aged five, seven and 17, are suing Dr. Brian V. Robbins, a psychiatrist and medical director at UNC WakeBrook, who released him from care on February 26, 2017.

Oliver attacked his mother on March 6, six days after being discharged from the UNC Health Care Addiction Treatment Center at WakeBrook.

The teenager and his family moved from Honduras to the United States in 2000. Oliver does not have legal status nor do his siblings but their father does.

In their lawsuit, the family describes how the teenager started exhibiting mental health problems in September 2016.

Dr. Brian V. Robbins is the doctor who discharged Oliver despite him showing visible signs of psychosis, according to his family

His mother, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia herself earlier in life, told doctors that he had not slept for three days and was behaving strangely.

She told the doctor that he had recently become angry and shouted at his aunt while standing in front of her naked.

Doctors noted that he was laughing at inappropriate times and appeared to be responding to what they call 'inner stimuli' - voices in his head.

The emergency room doctor recommended that he be committed to seek further treatment and he was put in a facility for a month before he was discharged with a prescription for antidepressants and other medication.

During his first month in care, he exposed himself to other patients, laughed and lied frequently about his medication and mood.

Over the next three months, he lived at home with his family but in January 2017, his mother and father brought him to UNC WakeBrook, saying his condition had deteriorated.

He was voluntarily admitted on January 24.

Over the course of the next month, he was analyzed by doctors who noted that he was 'clearly psychotic' and at 'acute risk of suicide or harming others'.

One worrying report by Dr. Robbins on January 27 describes how Oliver avoided taking showers during the day then would shower alone in the dark.

He also played with belts by dragging them along the floor and engaged in other 'bizarre' behaviors like 'staring at his fingers above his head, pacing back and forth, laughing to himself.'

Robbins decided that he needed further treatment. At the time, Oliver was taking Prozac and Zyprexa.

Oliver is shown during one of his court appearances in 2017. He was found not guilty of murder by way of insanity and will spend the rest of his life in a state psychiatric facility

On January 3, Yesenia was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment but no further details of her condition are given in the lawsuit.

Over the course of the next several weeks, Dr. Robbins gradually increased the teenager's medication, noting that there had been no significant change in his behavior.

On February 4, Oliver punched another patient in the facility. It was decided that he was to be kept 'within staff eye-sight while out of his room due to repeated physically aggressive and sexually suggestive behaviors.'

The behavior included Oliver hitting another patient and forcing another's head onto his crotch.

He also attempted to grab another patient's body and exposed himself to his roommate.

Oliver spent a month at UNC WakeBrook (pictured) in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was treated for what doctors called listening to 'inner stimuli' - voices in his head. During his time there, he exposed himself to other patients and made 'aggressive' and 'sexually suggestive' gestures which made him a danger, according to his medical records

Five days before he was released, Dr. Robbins increased his Prozac prescription from 30mg to 40mg daily. The lawsuit alleges that the antidepressant can trigger 'manic episodes' in 'a patient like Oliver'.

The same day, Oliver told the doctor he did not feel 'safe' returning home, according to his medical records.

Despite that and the fact that his parents were never spoken to about the possibility of him being discharged, he was released on February 28.

He attacked his mother the following week.

The family is now seeking unspecified damages in excess of $25,000. Oliver's father works but it is not clear what his job is.

Oliver will not see any of the money they may win as a result of the fact that he is being cared for by the state.

North Carolina also has a legal statute in place which prevents anyone benefiting from the estate of a dead person if they are the reason that person is dead.

A spokesman for UNC Healthcare confirmed that Dr. Robbins still works for the company but told DailyMail.com in a statement: 'We cannot comment on specific patients or pending litigation.

'However, we are confident in the excellent care provided to all patients at our WakeBrook campus.'
A former US Postal Service mail carrier who stole nearly 10,000 pieces of mail intended for residents in Boston in her search for gift cards and cash has been spared jail.

Federal prosecutors say 29-year-old Megan Hawes was sentenced on Wednesday to two years of probation and 80 hours of community service after pleading guilty in December to theft of mail matter by a USPS employee.

According to prosecutors, Hawes stole the mail between March 2017 and last May meant for residents along her route in the Roslindale section of Boston.

Former USPS letter carrier Megan Hawes, 29, was sentenced to two years of probation for stealing nearly 10,000 pieces of mail (stock image)

She was caught after she was pulled over in late March 2018 for having an expired inspection sticker on her personal car.

The SUV, which was registered to Hawes' 41-year-old boyfriend, was impounded and taken to the Central Towing lot in Weymouth, reported WCVB.

A month later, the owner of the towing company, Bruce Hanson, called the police after discovering thousands of undelivered bills, jury duty summonses and magazines in the SUV's trunk.

Hanson said he was rummaging through the trove of paper inside the SUV in search of clues that would help him track down the owner of the vehicle when he found several USPS pay stubs, a Postal Service employee placard and multiple opened greeting cards addressed to various people.

Hawes' SUV containing the stolen mail was found in this tow lot in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in May 2018)

'The true victims in this case are the approximately 1,095 individuals who did not receive their mail because of the defendants criminal action,' prosecutors said in a sentencing memo cited by The Patriot Ledger.

Hawes' public defender blamed her actions on substance abuse, for which she is now undergoing treatment.
Immigrants held in U.S. custody have been dying at a similar rate over the past two presidential administrations, government documents reveal, amid an ongoing uproar over the issue.

The statistics reveal that the deaths of would-be migrants are a persistent problem that have continued at a similar rate for years, across administrations of both parties.

Government documents obtained by the Washington Examiner through an information request reveal that 12 immigrants died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2016, President Barack Obama's final year in office.

That is on par with the number of deaths in the first two years of the Trump administration, when a combined 22 immigrants died in ICE custody.

Ten died in 2017, Trump's first year in office, and 12 died in 2018, according to information from the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

12 immigrants died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2016, the same number that died last year, government statistics reveal

When Obama first took office in 2009 (and was still securing control of nation's policy apparatus), 10 people died in ICE custody. Five died in 2012, according to the data. Obama's tenure saw a spike in child immigrant crossings from Central America, just as President Trump has had to contend with migrant caravans that have made their way through Mexico.

The information on the longstanding and largely consistent death rates of those in ICE's care come as the Trump administration continues to take fire for the consequences of its child-separation policy, as well as the deaths in custody.

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly distanced himself from the administration's immigration policy in a speech at Duke University Wednesday night.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is sworn-in prior to testifying before a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on border security in the US Capitol in Washington, on March 6, 2019

In this Dec. 11, 2018 file photo, an asylum-seeking boy from Central America runs down a hallway after arriving from an immigration detention center to a shelter in San Diego

This Dec, 12, 2018 photo provided by Catarina Gomez on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018, shows her half-brother Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, near her home in Yalambojoch, Guatemala. The 8-year-old boy died in U.S. custody at a New Mexico hospital on Christmas Eve after suffering a cough, vomiting and fever, authorities said

He blamed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his 'zero tolerance' policy for leading to the child separation crisis at the border. 'We dont need a wall from sea to shining sea,' said Kelly.

The issue of deaths in U.S. custody became a flashpoint late last year when two children died while in the care of the U.S. government.

Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, a New Mexico Democrat representing a border district, pressed Homeland Security Secretary Kistjen Nielsen on the matter at a Wednesday hearing.

She asked about the deaths of Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7, and Felipe Alonzo-Gomez, 8, two children who perished in U.S. custody in December.

'Madam Secretary, do you know how many children have died in [Customs and Border Protection] custody under your tenure as secretary?' she asked Nielsen. 'Can you give me the numbers and how many children have died?'

Nielsen was unable at that time.

'I was pleased to hear that she is working to get the investigation resolved as soon as possible and will continue to seek updates on that investigation,' Small said, CBS reported.

President Trump tweeted about the tragedies in December and attacked Democrats, resuming his call for a border wall that he promised in his 2016 campaign.

'Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. They can't. If we had a Wall, they wouldn't even try!' he wrote.
Dozens of online videos have revealed that schoolchildren are using TikTok in lessons - despite the social media app being branded a 'magnet for paedophiles'.

Fears have been raised about TikTok, which has 500 million users globally and sees teenagers making 15-second clips that often include them miming along to songs.

The app has banned under-13s and introduced ID checks in the US, but there are currently no plans to introduce these safety measures in the UK.

Now teachers and psychologists have said they have worries about the app and how often clips are being made on school property.

This week, dozens of British TikTok users appear to have filmed short videos in their classrooms.

Dozens of clips on TikTok show British schoolchildren filming inside their classrooms (pictured), raising fears about child safety

Others show teenagers dancing in school bathrooms. The NSPCC have raised concerns about live streaming apps being used by paedophiles to groom and abuse youngsters

One group of male dancers and acrobats film all their content on school property, using playground furniture as props.

Other clips show a row of girls in school uniform dancing together in what appears to be a main hall while others have been filmed on desks, in school toilets and surrounded by books in libraries.

One girl even admitted that her teacher caught her filming half way through her video.

Another used the hashtag #bannedfromschool as she danced in her uniform in the girls' bathroom with three friends.

Meanwhile, one teen's film has clearly been shot in a lesson, while two others feature a school library and others show teachers standing by white boards.

One pupil caught filming in the library admits: 'Teacher saw me and now I'm embarrassed help.'

The app has banned under-13s and introduced ID checks in the US, but there are currently no plans to introduce these safety measures in the UK

Andy Burrows, the NSPCC's Associate Head of Child Safety Online, said: 'We know that a disturbing amount of children are being contacted via live streaming apps by abusers using them as a hunting ground'

The NSPCC have raised concerns about schoolchildren being groomed by paedophiles on live streaming apps.

TikTok's creators were forced to introduce age verification after they were fined 4.3million for gathering data on US children, including their names, locations and email addresses.

Andy Burrows, the NSPCC's Associate Head of Child Safety Online, said: 'We know that a disturbing amount of children are being contacted via live streaming apps by abusers using them as a hunting ground.

'It's alarming how little progress has been made by social networks to combat this.

'Shockingly, a quarter of 40,000 children in our research had live streamed with someone they have never met, and one in 20 children had been asked to take their clothes off.'

Child behavioural specialist, Lorrine Marer, said that although Tik Tok was not comparable to games like Fortnite, social media apps were still affecting how youngsters relate to those around them.

She said schools and parents should do more to make sure phones were not available in time that should be set aside for learning.

Ms Marer added: 'It's the school's responsibility to have a policy that says if you bring your phone to school, you hand it in and you get it back at lunchtime and you hand it in after lunch and get it back at the end of the day.

'Whether we like it or not it, this is the way the world is going. I can see in future that people will never even leave their houses. There are kids that don't even socialise now.

'As parents we have to introduce the word 'no' to our children and we have to make them responsible for their behaviour. Parents need to put rules and boundaries in place.'

TikTok has 500 million users globally and sees teenagers making 15-second clips that often include them miming along to songs.

A spokesman for the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which represents more than 28,500 members, said schools could always ban mobile phones to combat the use of apps like TikTok.

He said: 'The schools' minister believes phones should just be banned. What we say is that it should be down to individual schools to decide how to handle mobile phones.

'They are a reality of modern life and what schools try to do is teach pupils to be informed users of the technology that they have got. Prohibition is not the same as protection.

'A blanket ban might well work in one school but it might be entirely the wrong thing to do in another.'

He continued: 'A school leader's first concern is the safeguarding of the pupils while they are in school.

'Something like Tok Tok comes along every few months - there is always something.

'Our members would always want to take a decision that was appropriate for their school because a ban may not necessarily be the thing that would keep pupils safe.'

Tik Tok - first introduced in 2017- is currently one of the most popular apps in the world, and was downloaded 104 million times on Apple's App store during the first half of 2018.

A Tik Tok spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Promoting a safe and positive app experience is our top priority and we have a number of protective measures in place to protect against misuse. We provide more info to assist parents and users in our Safety Center.'
David Hockney's 'double portrait' of renowned art curator Henry Geldzahler together with his partner has sold for 37.7 million at auction.

His 1969 portrait of Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott was the most expensive artwork sold during Christie's 20th Century Week auctions in London.

The sale of the portrait comes after Hockney broke the record for the most expensive piece of art sold at auction by a living artist last November.

His Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), painted in 1972, sold at Christie's New York for 62 million.

Painted by David Hockney in 1969, the painting shows famous art curator Henry Geldzahler and his partner Christopher Scott

Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott depicts Geldzahler, who was best known for his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

He is stood next to Christopher Scott, his partner at the time.

It was painted at the time that Geldzahler put together the New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970 exhibition, his most famous.

It was on show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was the museum's first exhibition of contemporary American art.

Hockney and Geldzahler were close friends and met in New York at Andy Warhols Factory in 1963, the year after the British artist graduated from the Royal College of Art.

Speaking of his friend, Hockney once said: 'Henry and I got on along instantly. We shared a love of music, opera in particular... and there was painting of course, and we became friends very quickly.

David Hockney was close friends with Geldzahler and they met a year after the British artist graduated from the Royal College of Art

They also bonded over their shared birthday  9 July  and a love of Cuban cigars.

Over the course of their long friendship they visited England, Italy, Spain and France together.

The two remained close throughout Geldzahlers 18-year tenure at The Met and his stint as New Yorks Commissioner of Cultural Affairs.

Geldzahler died of cancer in 1994 at the age of 59.

The Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) painting, which belongs to billionaire Spurs owner Joe Lewis, broke all records for a living artist

Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), smashed the record for the highest price ever paid at auction for a work by a living artist in November.

It surpassed Christie's pre-sale estimate following a bidding war between two determined would-be buyers.

The previous record for a work by a living artist was held by Jeff Koons' sculpture Balloon Dog, which sold for $58.4million (44.5m) in 2013.
Police in Philadelphia are searching for a man who was caught on camera stabbing an Uber driver in the chest last month.

The Philadelphia Police Department said in a news release that the brutal attack occurred on the 3500 block of Joyce Street on February 15.

In the shocking video, the driver - a 55-year-old man - is seen sitting in his car waiting for his next passenger while the suspect talks with a woman.

In the shocking video, the driver - a 55-year-old man - is seen sitting in his car waiting for his next passenger while the suspect talks with a woman

The two appear to be in an argument before the woman starts walking to the passenger side to get in.

The man - described as a black man who is missing a front tooth - walks up to the driver's side of the car and motions for the driver to roll down his window.

In the next moment, the suspect repeatedly stabs the driver as the woman looks to try to help.

The driver attempts to crawl out the passenger door but manages to get out on his side and flee.

When the women approaches the passenger door, the suspects heads to the driver's side and starts stabbing the man in the chest

The man is described as a black man who is missing a front tooth

Police share that the driver managed to flee and went toward 3300 Kensington Avenue, where he was finally able to alert authorities.

'The victim was transported to Temple hospital where he was treated and listed in stable condition,' the police stated in the release.

'By the grace of God it didn't turn out worse than it absolutely could have. You see the strike points are right in the vital areas of the victim's body; chest, neck and head,' Captain Sekou Kinebrew explained to WPVI-TV.

Authorities are asking anyone with tips to dial 215.686.TIPS (8477) or text a tip to PPD TIP or 773847.

The driver attempts to crawl out the passenger door but manages to get out on his side and flee
Richard Grattige (pictured), 48, who is also known as Vicky Green, has been jailed after attempting to meet a 14-year-old girl

A cross-dressing pervert who was tricked into travelling more than 400 miles across the UK in a vigilante sting has been jailed for two years.

Richard Grattige, 48, who is also known as Vicky Green, believed he was in contact with a 14-year-old girl after talking to her on WhatsApp.

He travelled from Maidstone, Kent, to Glasgow after arranging to meet but he was confronted by vigilantes who recorded him confessing his plans before handing him over to police.

A video uploaded to the internet shows Green admitting he planned to meet an underage girl and pleading to be allowed to return home in September last year.

Grattige, who is undergoing hormone treatment for a sex change, appeared at Airdrie Sheriff Court and admitted communicating indecently and intending to have sex with an underage girl.

He has been jailed by Sheriff Frank Pieri who also placed him under supervision for a year after he is released.

Prosecuting, Depute fiscal Agnes Meek said Grattige was confronted by members of a group called Wolf Pack Hunters at Glasgow's Buchanan Street bus station in September last year.

She said: 'A false profile was created on an online chat service under the name of Taylor who was 14 but because of restrictions on age she marked Taylor as being 18.

Grattige believed he was in contact with a child after talking to her on WhatsApp, but was being tricked by vigilante group Wolf Pack Hunters

He travelled from his home in Maidstone, Kent, by bus to Glasgow after arranging to meet the fake girl. He was confronted by the vigilante group at a bus station where he was filmed admitting to his plans before pleading to be let

'She received a message from Jack with a photo of a male aged 47 who is now the accused.

'The accused sent sexual messages to Taylor before he was advised she was 14 to which he replied 'you are not old enough, I will have to find a new girl to meet but I can't have any fun with you because you are aged 14'.

'They continued chatting and WhatsApp was brought up.

'The accused then stated he was on WhatsApp and provided her with a mobile number and an email address and communications became sexual.

'He asked if she had a boyfriend and asked if she wanted to have sex when she was a bit older and said "I hope you come to me because I hope to have a baby with you, I think you would make a good mother".

Grattige appeared from custody at Airdrie Sheriff Court (pictured) and admitted communicating indecently and intending to have sex with an underage girl

'They then discussed meeting and he asked if he should bring condoms up with him in case they needed them.

'He told her that if she didn't want that they would just cuddle and stated "it's not about the sex I just love you so much".

'He then arranged to travel to Glasgow when he was approached by Wolf Pack members who recorded and uploaded the meeting to Facebook.'

Alan Cox, defending, said: 'I think that it is relevant to say that before this he was in the course of transitioning to become a female but he has stopped taking the hormone tablets while he has been in Barlinnie.

'He says that he will resume that once able to do so.'

Sheriff Pieri placed Grattige on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.


Iran and the group of five international mediators (Russia, China, the United Kingdom, Germany and France) have agreed to convene a joint commission on the implementation of a nuclear deal at the level of ministers, the commissions co-chairs said following a meeting in Vienna at the level of deputy foreign ministers and political directors.

"Participants stressed their determination to support practical solutions concerning sanctions lifting and agreed to keep progress under close review and to convene the Joint Commission, including at ministerial level, as appropriate in order to advance common efforts," a joint statement reads.

The document says that Iran and the group of five mediators "will also continue to intensify efforts to preserve the JCPOA including as regards sanctions lifting through specialised and focused expert discussions including, as appropriate, sub-groups within the framework of the Sanctions Working Group," TASS reported.
A bizarre government-funded art project will pay one worker a salary for life - with their only responsibility clocking in and out of 'work' every day.

Starting in 2026, the employee will only have to turn on the lights at the Korsvagen train station, which is currently under construction in Gothenburg, Sweden. When they sign in, it will turn on a fluorescent light over the platform, which will illuminate the platform for the day.

The employee is free to do what they want for the rest of the day, returning to finish their shift and turn the lights out at the station.

A train at Gothenburg Central Station, currently the main pipeline for transportation in the city

Applications for the job will open in 2025, closer to the opening date of the station, and the person selected will receive a salary of $2,320 US dollars a month, plus annual wage increase, holiday days and a pension.

In the terms of the contract, the worker is not obliged to stay at the station. They can quit or retire and be replaced -but are otherwise guaranteed a job for life.

No specific qualifications are needed for the role, and the artists overseeing the project have said anyone in the world can apply.

Atlas Obscura, who are overseeing the project, wrote in the job description: 'Whatever the employee chooses to do constitutes the work.'

The 'Eternal Employment' project is a social and political experiment announced in early 2017.

It was one of the entries into the Public Art Agency Sweden and the Swedish Transport Administration for artists contributing to the station's new design, where the winner would win 7 million Swedish krona, the equivalent of around $750,000.

An artisits impression of the Korsvagen train station, which is expected to open in mid 2020s

A job advertisement has been posted online for the job, however the position will not open until 2026

Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby entered the competition, saying they would give the prize money to pay a worker's salary.

Their proposal said: 'In the face of mass automation and artificial intelligence, the impending threat/promise is that we will all become productively superfluous. We will all be "employed at Korsvagen," as it were.'

Based on French economist Thomas Piketty's work, accumulated wealth typically outgrows increase in workers' wages. By ensuring the money was untaxable, they have invested and ensured they are able to pay a worker's wages for 'eternity' - or roughly 120 years.

The project is also a critique of the way the Swedish city has changed in recent decades, with the project's founders believing the working class in the city has been marginalised. Goldin and Senneby said the job will give total control to the worker as an act of economic imagination.

The project has been critised by some politicians in the country, with Lars Hjalmered, a centre-right politician in Gothenburg, labelling the project 'stupid'.
A driver lost control of his car and backed into a gas pump in Massachusetts, sparking a fire.

Shocking video shows the moment the 57-year-old man's silver car rammed the pump at the Prime Gas located at 570 North Montello Street.

Brockton firefighters said they responded to the incident shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

In the video, the car starts to back up slowly, but then speeds up and smashes into the pump

The car knocks the pump completely over, sparking the fire (pictured). No injuries were reported in the incident

The department released footage of the incident on Twitter.

In the video, the car starts to back up slowly, but then speeds up and smashes into the pump.

The car knocks the pump completely over, sparking the fire.

Seconds later, the driver attempts to pull off but realizes he's stuck.

A few more moments pass and the driver eventually frees the vehicle as the fire grows.

The man then drove to a parking lot across the street where he called 911.

Seconds later, the driver attempts to pull off but realizes he's stuck. A few more moments pass and the driver eventually frees the vehicle as the fire grows. The man then drove to a parking lot across the street where he called 911

The incident took place at the Prime Gas (pictured), which remained closed Thursday

Authorities said the man had attempted to get closer to the pump but lost control of his 2005 Subaru Impreza.

Mayor Bill Carpenter praised the Brockton Fire Department in a tweet shortly after the fire was extinguished.

'Rapid response by @Brockton_Fire prevented this gas pump fire from being much worse,' the mayor wrote.

'Firefighters put out the fire quickly w/extinguishers before the gas station system was activated,' he added.

No injuries were reported during the incident.

The gas station remained closed on Thursday.
A U.S. Senator has called for a criminal fraud investigation of private landlords who operate housing on U.S. military bases.

Richard Blumenthal spoke out after it was revealed military families have been subjected to rampant mold, lead poisoning risks and pests.

He was speaking at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee called to discuss how to hold the military and contractors accountable for substandard living conditions on some bases.

The U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines unveiled a proposed tenant bill of rights on Wednesday that would hand more power to military families facing housing hazards.

They also apologized to Congress on Thursday for allowing substandard living conditions in military family housing. They acknowledged failing to have fully understood the problem earlier and promised to fix it.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal called on Thursday for a criminal fraud investigation of private landlords who operate housing on U.S. military bases

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the civilian and uniformed leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps laid blame largely on the private contractors who built the homes and are obliged to keep them in good repair.

The officials vowed to renegotiate the long-term, multibillion-dollar contracts to ensure more accountability.

'I want to start by first apologizing personally on behalf of the Department of the Navy to any sailor, Marine, soldier, airman, Coast Guardsman that was affected by the housing malady,' said Navy Secretary Richard Spencer.

The issues include lead poisoning hazards, mold and pest infestations in some military housing across the country.

The problems have been raised before by government auditors and others but have come to a head in recent weeks amid increased news coverage and congressional testimony last month by military family advocacy organizations.

Mold is shown on the top of a refrigerator inside the on-base home from which mold-infestation forced a military family to move in the Del Mar housing district at Camp Pendleton, California, U.S. September 26, 2018

Toys lie scattered in the sparsely furnished room of the new home of a military family who have had to move out of their mold-infested military housing at Camp Pendleton to off-base housing in Carlsbad, California, U.S. September 26, 2018

'What's happened here is criminal,' said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. He urged the service leaders to ask the Justice Department to consider opening criminal or civil investigations of conduct by the housing contractors, whose arrangements with the military housing authorities, Blumenthal said, are 'a risk-free cash cow.'

Army Secretary Mark Esper told the committee his service had failed to properly supervise the housing issues.

'In too many cases, it is clear the private housing companies failed to uphold their end of the bargain, a failure that was enabled by the Army's insufficient oversight,' Esper said.

He added: 'We are determined to investigate these problems and to hold our housing contractors and chains of command accountable.'

And Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said the three military departments are drafting a 'tenant's bill of rights' to make the contractors and military commanders more accountable and to give military families more leverage in dealing with housing problems that affect their health and safety.

Sen. James Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican chairman of the committee, took aim at the military leaders sitting at the witness table in front of him.

'The chain of command failed to take care of its own and lost their trust,' he said.

The new measures could usher in a major overhaul of the military's two-decade old housing privatization program.

Among other steps, it will require the military to renegotiate contracts  worth billions of dollars  with the real estate companies and bondholders who back the deals, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer said in an interview.
Ohio senator Sherrod Brown said Thursday he will not run for president in 2020, becoming the latest Democrat to bow out of the White House race.

His decision comes after recent visits to several early-voting states to highlight his worker-friendly policy agenda. Brown said he believed his 'dignity of work' tour succeeded in putting the struggles of average Americans on Democrats' 2020 radar and that he 'can be most effective' by remaining in the Senate.

'I fight best when I bring joy to the battle,' he told home-state reporters. 'And I find that joy fighting for Ohio in the Senate.'

Several other Democrats, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and former Attorney General Eric Holder, announced this week that they would not join a presidential primary already packed with a dozen candidates.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has decided not to run for president, despite touring early primary states

Democrats are awaiting word from former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke about whether they will undertake highly anticipated campaigns that could reshape the race.

Brown said he will continue to call out President Donald Trump's 'phony populism' from his perch in the Senate and will 'do everything I can to elect a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate in 2020.'

The 66-year-old had emerged as a potentially strong challenger to Trump after winning re-election in November in a state that Trump carried by nearly 11 percentage points in 2016. Brown's victory was powered by strong support in many blue-collar areas of the state where Trump had prevailed.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also bowed out of the race this week

Brown was positioned to try to challenge Trump on the 'America First' trade policies he has promoted

Well-known for his progressive populism, Brown had pledged to be the most 'pro-union, pro-worker' candidate in the Democratic field if he ran. But he would have faced a steep climb to the upper tier of the 2020 field.

Brown's comfort in relating to Midwestern, working-class voters is a key element in the political appeal of Biden, who is seen as leaning heavily toward running. Also, Brown's political brand has some similarities to the anti-corporate liberalism of two high-profile senators already in the race, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Even so, Brown proved himself less willing than those possible rivals to embrace the litmus-test politics of the left: He declined to sign onto Sanders' 'Medicare for all' single-payer health care plan or the Green New Deal , an ambitious framework to fight climate change.

Brown said he was not deterred from running by the large number of Democratic candidates, money concerns or his status as a white male in a party that prizes diversity. He said has never aspired to be president and, in the end, decided he could do the most good in the Senate.

Citing his record on worker issues, Brown said, 'I think my message has been strong enough that other candidates are picking it up.'
Eevette MacDonald, a 20-year-old accused of helping her ex-boyfriend cover up the shooting death and mutilation of his childhood friend in 2016, was sentenced to one year in prison and three years probation on Thursday in Mount Clemens, Michigan. She is pictured in an undated mugshot

A Michigan woman has been sentenced to one year in prison for helping her ex-boyfriend cover up the shooting death and mutilation of his childhood friend.

Eevette MacDonald, 20, appeared in court for sentencing on Thursday in Mount Clemens.

She was originally charged with accessory after the fact to a felony, disinterment and mutilation of a dead body and lying to a police officer, but she struck a deal with prosecutors in December and pleaded guilty to the first two charges in exchange for the dismissal of the third charge.

MacDonald faced up to 10 years in prison but was handed a sentence of one year and three years probation.

Her ex-boyfriend, 21-year-old Andrew Fiacco, was convicted of second-degree murder last month in the killing of 19-year-old Stephen McAfee - which he claimed was self-defense.

Prosecutors say Fiacco shot McAfee twice in the head in a remote Bruce Township field in March 2016 then dismembered his body and buried some of the remains on family property in Ray Township and others in neighboring Bruce Township.

For months McAfee's family held onto hope that he was alive, until his bones were discovered in April 2017.

Scroll down for video

During her sentencing hearing on Thursday (above), MacDonald apologized for not coming forward with what she knew about McAfee's murder

Andrew Fiacco, 21, was convicted of second-degree murder last month in the killing of 19-year-old Stephen McAfee (right) in March 2016. Prosecutors say Fiacco (left) admitted to shooting McAfee in the face but claimed it was self defense

McAfee's father, mother, older sister and older brother all gave emotional victim impact statements at MacDonald's sentencing, describing the accomplice as a 'monster'.

His brother and sister both described watching their parents endure months of agony as the search for their younger brother dragged on.

MacDonald fought back tears as she listened to their statements and finally broke down as she offered her own.

'I want to apologize for being cowardly and not coming forward with the information that I had,' she said.

McAfee (above) was missing for a year before his remains were discovered in two different burial sites in April 2017

'I will never understand the pain that they're living through. And I am so sorry for what happened to Stephen, and if I could go back and try and maybe do something differently I would. I would come forward sooner.

'I am sorry that they had false hope for all those months. I would take it back in a heartbeat if I could.'

After her statement, Judge Jennifer Faunce addressed MacDonald, saying: 'It's not just what you did, which was horrible, it's the fact that you had so many opportunities to rectify it, and you didn't.

'And at the end, it still wasn't you who came forward.'

MacDonald's involvement in the case came to light one year after the murder, long after the missing persons case had gone cold.

In March 2017, MacDonald allegedly told her friend that she knew what had happened to McAfee.

She revealed that Fiacco had shot him in a wooded area in Bruce Township, and that she had helped him dispose of the body one month later.

MacDonald's friend reported what she'd been told to authorities on April 26, 2017, and MacDonald and Fiacco were arrested the same day.

McAfee's father, mother, older sister and older brother all gave emotional victim impact statements at MacDonald's sentencing, describing the accomplice as a 'monster'. MacDonald fought back tears as she listened to their statements and broke down as she offered her own

Fiacco then led investigators to both burial sites, and eventually admitted to shooting McAfee in the face when the victim allegedly attacked him.

His confession came after he'd denied having any knowledge of McAfee's disappearance for an entire year.

During her victim impact statement in court, McAfee's mother Susanne said when she was told her son had been murdered, she immediately knew Fiacco was the killer.

'[The detective] asked me: "Who do you think did it," and I then responded: "Andrew Fiacco." The detective said: "Yes, you are right,"' she told the court.

Fiacco could face decades in prison when he is sentenced on March 21.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio could be the next in a long line of Democrats to launch a presidential bid.

Now that longtime, Big Apple mayor Mike Bloomberg has said he won't run, de Blasio, 57, says he'll spend the weekend at campaign-style events in South Carolina with his wife.

South Carolina is one of four states that probable candidates use as a barometer when testing the presidential waters. It votes early in the nomination process, giving it more weight, in terms of momentum, than other states.

Candidates who fail to finish at the top of their class in The Palmetto State's contest, often drop out of the race altogether.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio could be the next in a long line of Democrats to launch a presidential bid

In a email to press on Wednesday evening, the term-limited New York City mayor announced that he and his wife, first lady Chirlane McCray, would visit South Carolina over the weekend together.

They're attending three events on Saturday and Sunday: a Democratic breakfast, a roundtable hosted by the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, and a church service at Victory Tabernacle Deliverance Temple.

The release noted that more events could be added to the schedule.

Two weeks ago, de Blasio made a solo trip to Iowa  his fourth trip to the state since 2014.

He talked about his campaign to end homelessness, paid family leave and health care at a Democratic gathering, the New York Times reported from Iowa.

The big city mayor also pushed a message of unity as he took a read-between-the-lines jab at the sitting president.

'If you look at the everyday discourse, you might think this is a country mired in division and that conservative forces are dominant. I think its quite the opposite,' he said. 'I think this is a country waiting to be unified.'

NYC Mayor de Blasio says he'll spend the weekend at campaign-style events in South Carolina with his wife

He declined to attack Trump personally, in a preview of how he would campaign if he announces.

'Were not going to win by talking about Donald Trump. I have deep respect for our previous nominee. I know her very well, but I think that was one of the mistakes,' de Blasio said.

He was referring to former New York senator and 2016 nominee for president Hillary Clinton. She is a favorite target of President Trump's to this day on social media.

Should de Blasio decide to run, he wouldn't be the only New Yorker trying to get out from under Clinton's shadow in the race. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New Yorker who took Clinton's seat in the upper chamber, has a fully-fledged presidential exploratory committee.

Gillibrand signaled this week in a CBS News interview that she's putting the final pieces in place to make an official presidential announcement.

De Blasio remains undecided on even a committee, despite trips to early-voting states like South Carolina and Iowa.

His wife seemingly ruled out a 2020 bid for the White House for her husband at the end of January, only to to be overruled in a formal statement from his office.

Chirlane McCray said in a 'Women Rule' podcast that her husband would 'be a great president'  but the demands of his current job make it difficult for his to compete nationally.

Her husband's office said in a statement to Politico afterward that the mayor remains undecided about a bid, however.

'As the First Lady said, the mayor is focused on his job,' de Blasio's communications director told the publication in a Feb. 25 email. 'But theyre not ruling anything out at this point.'

McCray had said the 'timing is not exactly right' for a presidential campaign.

'But look at what hes done,' she said. 'The safest big city in the country. Pre-K for alland let me tell you, looking at 70,000 pre-K students  if New York can do it, anybody can do it, right? And guaranteed health care for all. Those are huge accomplishments.'

She said those are the issues that she'd like to see a Democratic presidential candidate take on.

'Im looking for someone like that. Im looking for someone who could take on those kinds of tough battles and make that happen for everyone. Wouldnt that be wonderful?' she said.

In Iowa, the day before his office broke with McCray on the topic, the mayor said he would decide on a campaign after he discussed it with his family. He said the decision is a 'personal' one they will make together.

The decision may have become easier when Bloomberg said he will not run for president in 2020, ending a guessing game about his political future.

The 77-year-old former New York City mayor, one of the richest men in the world, announced his decision not to join the crowded Democratic field in a Bloomberg News editorial on Tuesday.

Bloomberg flirted with a presidential run before, but as an independent. He re-registered as a Democrat last fall after six years as a Republicans and 11 as an independent.

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that he won't run for president next year, ending a political guessing game whose outcome could have shaped the race

And he spent recent months courting primary voters as a political centrist.

But as an older white man with strong ties to Wall Street, he likely would have struggled to win over the Democratic Party's energized liberal base that's increasingly embracing diversity.

Bloomberg is expected to play a similarly active role in the 2020 election from the outside. His team has been preparing a massive data-driven effort to help defeat President Trump.

He said Tuesday that he would launch a 'grassroots effort' to move America 'as quickly as possible away from oil and gas and toward a 100 percent clean energy economy.'
Melania Trump celebrated the record number of women in Congress at an International Women's Day celebration even though it was Democrats who propelled the House of Representatives to that record.

'We now have more women in Congress than any other time in our nation's history,' the first lady told the audience at the State Department during the 2019 Annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Awards.

'Women's unemployment in the United States has reached its lowest level in 65 years,' she said, adding 'this is something to celebrate.'

Melania Trump celebrated the record number of women in Congress at an International Women's Day celebration

The first lady joined Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in honoring 10 women from around the world for their courage

There are 127 in the House of Representatives this year - a new record - thanks to the 35 new Democratic freshman that came in after the 2018 election. Only one new Republican female joined the House this year.

Melania Trump joined Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday for the awards ceremony that honored 10 women from around the world for their humanitarian work.

The women come from from Bangladesh, Djibouti, Egypt, Ireland, Jordan, Montenegro, Myanmar, Peru, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.

Melania Trump saluted their courage.

'The women we are honoring today are symbols are courage,' the first lady said at the event, which takes place the day before International Women's Day.

'They are human rights advocates in some of the most dangerous parts of our world and they have pushed through gender-based stereotypes to serve the greater good. These courageous women nurture and serve the lives of the vulnerable and forgotten within their communities.'

Melania Trump, in a green dress designed by British personality Alexa Chung, personally handed out the awards to the women, offering handshakes and posing for photos.

The State Department has honored more than 120 women from around the world since it created the International Women of Courage Award in 2007.

She later joined the president in welcoming Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his wife to the White House.

'You did a great job this morning,' President Trump told her of her State Department event.

Melania Trump praised the courage of the women honored at the International Women of Courage Awards

Melania Trump joined Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in presenting the awards, as she did her to Marini de Livera of Sri Lanka

The Democratic women in the House, who have made waves in the three months since they took office, wore white and gave President Donald Trump an unexpected standing ovation during his annual State of the Union address last month.

They clapped joyously as Trump spoke about the economic gains that have been enjoyed in the United States by women since he took office.

'No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women who have filled 58 percent of the newly created jobs last year,' Trump said, prompting loud cheering from the section of women.

Taken aback, he laughed and told them: 'You weren't supposed to do that!'

President Trump praised women in Congress during his State of the Union speech

Democratic women unexpectedly applauded the president during his annual address

As they started to take their seats, the president suggested they stay standing, because he had another line they'd like tee'd up.

'Wait a minute. Don't sit down. You are really going to like this next one,' he told them. 'We also have more women serving in Congress than at any time before.'

The second applause line garnered an enthusiastic response from the women who chanted 'U.S.A' with their colleagues.
This is the stunning moment a passenger on a plane saw a storm forming in the clouds as he passed.

The man took the video on his iPhone when returning from a holiday.

He saw the storm forming next to the plane above Mozambique.

Clouds appear to erupt beside a plane as it flies over Mozambique on the way to Doha

The passenger was en route to Doha from South Africa when he saw the amazing spectacle.

As the plane flies past, it appears the clouds are erupting due to the thunderstorm.

The clouds rise and seemingly explode in the sky.

The air with moisture from the storm condenses as it rises and makes it unstable.

The stunning natural phenomenon was caught on a passenger's iPhone as he flew from South Africa

The man who shot the video used his iPhone 7 plus rested on the plane's window to capture the amazing natural sight.

Mozambique has a tropical climate with a wet season and a dry season.

Rainfall is often heavy in the country's coastal regions.
This is the tragic moment a man jumps to his death from a crane in Argentina because he was wanted by police for attempting to kill a former friend.

Witnesses said Julio Alfonso Doniacuo, 74, climbed atop a crane in the Buenos Aires waterfront district of Puerto Madero on Wednesday at about 9am local time.

Rescuers tried to reason with the suicidal man before he made a sign of the holy cross and stretched his arms out.

Cell phone video footage captured the moment Doniacuo then leaps off the crane and crashed to the ground.

Doniacuo was pronounced dead at the scene.

Julio Alfonso Doniacuo (pictured inside red circle), 74, climbed atop a crane in the Buenos Aires waterfront district of Puerto Madero on Wednesday

Doniacuo jumped to his death almost seven months after he almost killed a former friend

Doniacuo (pictured inside red circle) reportedly blessed himself by making a sign of a cross before committing suicide in Argentina

According to Argentine news outlet Cronica, Doniacuo addressed a suicide note to a court judge after a warrant had been issued in January for his arrest stemming from an attempted homicide charge.

'I have made the determination to commit suicide to free my wife and family of suffering... for the charges that have been filed against myself,' he wrote.

Doniacuo had allegedly beaten a former friend in August 2018 because he claimed the victim has betrayed him and was talking behind his back, according Argentine news site Debe Leer.

Julio Alfonso Doniacuo addressed a letter to a judge in Argentina prior to committing suicide Wednesday, referencing to an arrest warrant that had been issued. The Spanish written note reads: 'I have made the determination to commit suicide to free my wife and family of suffering... for the charges that have been filed against myself'

A team of first responders investigate the scene near where the 74-year-old man landed

Cell phone image shows the terrible moment Julio Alfonso Doniacuo (pictured inside the red circle) jumps to his death

Rescuers were in shock moments before Doniacuo (pictured near light pole) leaped off a crane

A witness told investigators that Doniacuo shouted, 'I am going to kill you; I am going to take your life,' while he attacked the man with a metal pole before a stranger broke up the fight.

The victim, who suffered a fractured arm, pressed charges.

A warrant dated February 5 ordered the Argentine Federal Police to arrest Doniacuo.

It's unknown if the cops attempted to arrest Doniacuo, who was sharing an apartment with his son.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. See www.samaritans.org for details.
Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation sought a judge's approval to pay $235 million in bonuses to thousands of employees despite the California utility's bankruptcy.

The utility scrapped its plan to pay $130 million in bonuses for 2018, determining the payments were inappropriate given the wildfires that year and the company's deteriorating financial situation.

The bonus money now sought to be approved is intended to provide incentives to workers and will not be distributed if the company doesn't meet safety and financial goals, PG&E said in a court filing on Wednesday.

PG&E said the bonus program has been restructured with its Chapter 11 case in mind and puts a greater emphasis on safety performance.

Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation sought a judge's approval on Wednesday to pay $235m in bonuses to thousands of employees despite the California utility's bankruptcy, after foregoing payouts in 2018 following the deadliest wildfire in US history in Paradise. This November 15 aerial file photo shows the remains of residences leveled by the Camp wildfire in Paradise, which killed 86 people

'In deliberately designing the plan this way, the debtors are sending a clear message to their workforce that the safety of the communities the debtors serve and of their employees is of paramount concern during the restructuring process and into the future,' attorneys for the utility said in court documents.

PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January in the face of billions of dollars in potential liability from huge wildfires in California in 2017 and 2018, including the deadliest US wildfire in a century.

That blaze in November killed 86 people and destroyed most of the town of Paradise.

PG&E did not pay $130 million in bonuses for 2018 after attorneys for wildfire victims objected to the payouts. PG&E determined the payments were inappropriate in that context, along with the company's deteriorating financial situation. This December 3 file photo shows a vehicle at rest in front of a home leveled by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California

Following the wildfires, attorneys for victims had objected to 2018 bonus awards, and PG&E did not pay them out.

An employee union argued that the decision was unfair to workers. The new bonus figure is specifically for work in 2019, and does not take into account earlier foregone bonus checks.

PG&E said bonuses have historically constituted 6 to 20 percent of employees' pay and brought their total compensation 'in line with the market and their peers in the utility space.'

Roughly 10,000 employees are eligible for a bonus this year.

They include people with titles such as manager or vice president, but not top level executives who control company policy or report to the board of directors, PG&E said in its court filing.
The Japanese government has gifted two modern fire-engines to the Emergency Management Service of the Georgian Interior Ministry to timely extinguish fires in the most difficult areas of one of the largest parks in Europe-Borjomi-Kharagauli, located on the territories of Samtskhe-Javakheti, Imereti and Shida Kartli regions.

The engines will help Georgia preserve and protect the unique park, members of the Japanese Embassy to Georgia have stated today in the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tbilisi.

Georgian Deputy Interior Minister Levan Kakava thanked the Japanese government for the support. "The contribution will play its big role for further strengthening of the Georgian emergency management system," Agenda.ge cited him as saying.
Facebook has taken down more than 130 British accounts, groups and pages that it claims were part of a UK-based 'fake news' network.

The pages posed as both far-right and anti-fascist outlets in a co-ordinated attempt to 'manipulate' the political debate in Britain, said Facebook head of cybersecurity Nathaniel Gleicher.

He said the 137 accounts, which had more than 180,000 followers, deliberately used hate speech and misinformation in a bid to spread division on social networks.



Two of the pages detailed in the investigation, the right-leaning Politicalised and another called Anti Far Right Extremists, had more than 20,000 and over 12,000 followers respectively.

Making the announcement in a blog post, Mr Gleicher wrote: 'Despite their misrepresentation of their identities, we found that these Pages, Groups and accounts were connected.

The supposed 'Anti Far Right Extremists' account was among the 137 blocked by Facebook

The removed pages named in the blog post include Halal Speech, Politicalised, Anti Far Right Extremists, Atheists Research Centre, British Pakistani and XeeshanX (above)

'They frequently posted about local and political news including topics like immigration, free speech, racism, LGBT issues, far-right politics, issues between India and Pakistan, and religious beliefs including Islam and Christianity.'

The accounts, followed by around 175,000 people on Facebook and 4,500 on Instagram, were removed for their behaviour, rather than the content, Mr Gleicher stressed, 'because we don't want our services to be used to manipulate people'.

'In each of these cases, the people behind this activity coordinated with one another and used fake accounts to misrepresent themselves, and that was the basis for our action,' he added.

Deputy Labour leader and shadow culture secretary Tom Watson said: 'Misinformation and abuse online, often spread by co-ordinated networks of accounts, is polluting our public sphere and undermining democracy.

The accounts, including 'Halal Speech', pictured, targeted UK politics with 'co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour', the Facebook report concluded

'This move by Facebook is welcome but we also need Government to tackle this issue head on in their overdue white paper on online harms.'

Conservative MP Damian Collins, who chairs the select committee which recently authored a report into disinformation and fake news in the UK, said the network was likely to be the 'tip of the iceberg'.

He tweeted: 'When Facebook looks for fake accounts spreading disinformation and other harmful content it finds them.

'The trouble is that it doesn't look often enough. This is probably only the tip of the iceberg - Facebook finds UK-based "fake news" network.'

Facebook concluded the accounts were engaging in hate speech and spreading division across the spectrum of political debate

Some of the removed pages named in the blog post include Halal Speech, Politicalised, Anti Far Right Extremists, Atheists Research Centre, British Pakistani and XeeshanX.

The accounts were identified through an internal investigation and information from British police, Mr Gleicher said, and the findings have been shared with police, politicians and 'industry partners'.

The blog post also revealed similar but unconnected activity on a smaller scale in Romania.

The announcement is the latest in a string of headaches for Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg in recent years, including rampant misinformation spread on the network, breaches of user data and allegations of political manipulation.

He turned down multiple requests to give evidence to the parliamentary inquiry into disinformation and fake news but claimed he would work to improve privacy on the network in a post on Wednesday.
A gay couple's marriage has been officially recognized 48 years after they exchanged vows.

In 1970, Jack Baker applied for a marriage license with Michael McConnell in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

They were turned down and their claim was eventually dismissed by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

The same-sex marriage of Michael McConnell (left) and Jack Baker (right) has been officially recognized 48 years after they first exchanged vows in a small ceremony in Minnesota

The couple reapplied in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, and successfully received a license, prior to the Minnesota ruling. Pat took the last name McConnell following the ceremony.

They were married by a Methodist minister in a small and intimate ceremony in a friend's house on September 3, 1971.

Before the marriage took place, Jack McConnell changed his first name to the name 'Pat Lyn' and he went to Blue Earth County to apply for a license alone.

However when it emerged that 'Pat Lyn' was male, the couple claimed that the county attorney instructed the clerk not to officially record their union.

Once the certificate arrived back to the state, the countys attorney instructed the clerk to not record it.

However no one ever asked that the marriage be dissolved and the state acted as if the union was invalid.

The McConnells said they could not collect Social Security spousal benefits because they had no proof of marriage.

This was even after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.

But now the couple received a letter from the Social Security Administration on February 16 officially validating their 1971 marriage.

Jack Baker and Michael McConnell (seen facing the camera) applied for a marriage license in Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The clerk, not realizing one of the individuals listed on the application was male, issued the license though stopped short of officially recording it

The couple recounted their story in the memoir: 'The Wedding Heard Round the World: Americas First Gay Marriage' and are long-time LGBTQ activists

The couple take part in a protest campaigning for better LGBTQ rights in the seventies

It is thought that they are the longest married same-sex couple in the world and possibly in the United States.

The ruling was the result of a long legal battle and a Minnesota district court judge ruled the marriage valid.

Jack McConnell told NBC News: 'This just simply proves that the first same-sex marriage ever recorded in the public files of any civil government anywhere in the world happened in Minnesota.

'The bullies with power have been bullying us for all this time, and we won,' he added.

The couple met in graduate school at the University of Oklahoma in the late 1960s, and have been together ever since.

The couple received a letter from the Social Security Administration on February 16 officially validating their 1971 marriage

Jack worked as a lawyer and engineer before his retirement and Michael is a Librarian.

They said they have been been extremely proud of their relationship and have seen a lot of momentous events throughout the years.

Jack McConnell told LGBTQ Nation: 'The ruling was a long time coming, but I knew the courts would eventually rule in our favor.

'Over the years, many legal scholars have reviewed our case and concluded that the law was on our side.'

Michael McConnell added: 'That doesnt matter what color your skin is, what your ethnic background is, what gender you are, how you identify yourself or anything. It means full and absolute equality for all people.'

The couple will celebrate 50 years of marriage next September.
A Utah elementary school teacher may face disciplinary action after she made a fourth-grade boy wipe off the Ash Wednesday cross on his forehead.

William McLeod arrived for class at Valley View Elementary School in Bountiful on Wednesday with the traditional Ash cross to commemorate the Christian holy day.

But William said he was the only student in his class with the cross on his forehead and that his teacher quickly came up and asked him what it was.

'I was like, "It's Ash Wednesday and I'm Catholic. It's the first day of Lent,'" William told KSTU. 'She was like, "No, it's inappropriate, go take it off."'

Scroll down for video

A Utah elementary school teacher could face disciplinary action after she made a fourth-grader William McLeod wipe off the cross he had on his forehead for Ash Wednesday

William arrived for class at Valley View Elementary School in Bountiful on Wednesday with the traditional Ash cross to commemorate the Christian holy day

William said he tried to explain the meaning of the cross to his teacher, but that she once again told him he had to take it off.

'She gave me a disinfection wipe and she made me wipe it off,' William said.

William said his teacher made him remove the cross in front of the class and 'all of my friends'.

'I felt like, really bad,' he added.

But William said he was the only student in his class with the cross on his forehead and that his teacher quickly came up to him and told him it was 'inappropriate'

Earlier that morning, William said his classmates had been asking about the cross.

'A lot of students asked me what it is, I said "I'm Catholic. It's the first day of Lent. It's Ash Wednesday. They put it on your forehead to show holiness,'" he said.

The incident was reported to the principal, who immediately called William's grandmother. His teacher later called her as well.

'I was pretty upset,' Karen Fisher, his grandmother, said. 'I asked her if she read the Constitution with the First Amendment and she said "No" and "Ohhh."'

The Davis School District has since called the incident unacceptable and said it wants students of all faiths to feel at home.

The incident was reported to the principal, who immediately called William's grandmother Karen Fisher (pictured). His teacher later called her as well

'Why that even came up, I have no idea,' said Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams.

'When a student comes in to school with ashes on their foreheads, it's not something we say please take off.'

William said he received candy and a handwritten note from his teacher that read: 'William, I am so sorry. I hope we can move things from here'.

Fisher said she hopes the experience will 'help somebody' and that it 'never happens again'.

William said he received candy and a handwritten note (pictured) from his teacher that read: 'William, I am so sorry. I hope we can move things from here'

The Davis School District is currently conducting an investigation and said the Valley View Elementary School teacher, whose name has not been released, could face consequences

'And I don't think it will,' she added.

The Davis School District is currently conducting an investigation and said the teacher, whose name has not been released, could face consequences.

Ash Wednesday falls on the first day of Lent and is known as the holy day of prayer, fasting, and repentance.

Among the Christians who observe the day are Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Lutherans.

The ashes used to make the cross are prepared from the burning of palm leaves used in the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations.

A cross is placed on a person's forehead with the words 'Repent, and believe in the Gospel' or 'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return'.
A teenager who was part of a gang that pelted a vulnerable woman with flour and eggs before posing for a sickening photo, has said that he wants to apologise to her.

The shame-faced 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he was full of remorse when appearing for sentencing today.

His solicitor claimed that the teenager would be living with the guilt of the attack for the rest of his life until 'he goes into the ground in a box'.

He was aged 16 at the time of the horrifying attack and claimed that he did not throw anything over Janice Morris, 49, as she was sitting on a park bench in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in July last year.

An image (pictured) showing the teenagers posing behind the mentally-ill victim following the attack, sparked an online witch hunt after being posted on Snapchat and Facebook

However, he admitted to laughing as he went over to pose for the photo, alongside three others.

As they posed, their mentally ill victim cowered in front of them.

The photo sparked national outrage when it spread on social media after the attack.

The teenager gave himself up at a police station with his father when he heard that police were investigating the picture.

He denied a public order offence, but was found guilty at a trial last month at Ipswich youth court.

The teenager was today given a three month reparation order requiring him to do 24 hours of unpaid work.

Chris Casey, defending, said the teen admitted he had been 'immature' and that he now realised his actions had caused the victim to be 'distressed and upset', although he did not appreciate it at the time.

Mr Casey added: 'He was not part of the initial group, but his conduct was totally unacceptable.

A 17-year-old has now admitted to posing for the photo, though he claims he did not throw anything at Janice Morris

'He says he would like to meet the lady to apologise to her face to face, and say to her that what he did was wrong.

'He accepts his presence there was encouraging people in their behaviour. He wants to see her and say, ''I am very sorry. I was wrong''.

'He has recognised the consequences of his behaviour. At the time, he was aged 16. I have told him that until the day he goes into the ground in a box, this will live with him for the rest of his life.'

Mr Casey said the teenager was now at college and working 15 hours a week in a part time job, and felt that he had 'embarrassed' himself and his family.

The teenager told the court: 'I just feel like I have matured a lot and I know I won't be back here again.

'My parents look at me a bit differently now and ask where I am going, and checking that I am not with the same people.'

The teenager was also ordered to pay 150 compensation to Miss Morris and 620 costs with a 20 victim surcharge.

Presiding magistrate David Broughton said the money would have to be paid within 14 days by the his father who accompanied him to court, but he expected him to pay his parents back.

Mr Broughton added: 'We have recognised your remorse. We recognise that you realise the actions you did were wrong.

'Get on with your life. We do not want to see you any more again.'

Four others who admitted using threatening words or behaviour in connection with the attack were each given a 12 month referral orders last November and ordered to pay 100 compensation to their victim, as well as a 20 victim surcharge and 85 prosecution costs.

Miss Morris who is schizophrenic and alcohol dependent gave evidence in a video interview played at the trial last month, saying the attack had left her 'a bit shell-shocked, a bit raw'.

She said: 'I don't know what I did to antagonise them. I wasn't anticipating it to happen. They got quite aggressive quite quickly. I was more shocked and surprised, I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to say.'
This is the shocking moment a suspected Bloods gang member opened fire on one of his own in the middle of a crowded IHOP restaurant on Long Island.

Surveillance footage from the pancake chain in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, shows two men approaching a booth when a man sitting there suddenly fires several shots.

Chaos erupts as fellow patrons and the shooter sprint out of the restaurant in a panic. One of the gangsters crashes into a toddler in a high chair as he flees.

Surveillance video shows the shocking moment a suspected Bloods gang member opened fire on one of his own inside a crowded IHOP restaurant in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, on Monday. The gun can be seen circled in red in the image at right

Chaos erupted after shots were fired as fellow patrons and the shooter sprinted out of the restaurant in a panic. Suffolk County Police said the shooting stemmed from an 'internal dispute' between rival members of the Bloods street gang

Deontrae Green, 19, was arrested following the incident during lunchtime on Monday.

He has been charged with first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree criminal use of a firearm and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

The alleged shooter, 19-year-old Deontrae Green (above) was arrested and booked on assault and weapons charges

In a Tuesday press release, Suffolk County Police said the shooting stemmed from an 'internal dispute' between Green and rival Bloods street gang member 20-year-old Tyriek Corbin.

Corbin was shot in the torso and injured.

'Detectives are investigating whether the incident is related to two shootings that took place in Coram [Monday] afternoon,' the press release said.

Green was arraigned Tuesday on an unrelated November 2018 charge of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument related to a $1,967 forged check.

He is being held on $800,000 cash bail or $1.6 million bond.

Outside the court in Central Islip, Green's attorney Anthony Scheller said: 'He is presumed innocent at this point, but there is a lot of investigation yet to do.

'We have to review the surveillance and talk to the witnesses.'

The surveillance video was posted on Facebook early Thursday.
Apple CEO Tim Cook quietly changed his Twitter handle to 'Tim (Apple logo)' after Donald Trump called him 'Tim Apple' during a Thursday workforce rountable.

The subtle mockery occurred just a day after the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting in the White House on Wednesday.

Cook was seated to Trump's immediate right when Trump said 'Thanks very much Tim Apple' during the late afternoon event. The moment quickly became viral.

Scroll down for video

Apple CEO Tim Cook quietly changed his Twitter handle to 'Tim (Apple logo)'

But the only way to see his new name is if you have a Apple product. It comes out as a rectangle or as a 'failed to render' on other devices.

The Apple CEO has the president's ear and has been able to shape his policies on trade.

He has broken with the billionaire publicly, however, on family separations at the border and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that Trump sought to terminate.

He said his company employs immigrants who are part of the DACA program and workers in the country on H-1Bs visas and has a right, therefore, to speak his mind about the president's policies on immigration.

The subtle mockery occurred just a day after the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting in the White House on Wednesday

Cook has visited the White House on several occasions, attending Trump's first and only state dinner, in honor of France's Emmanuel Macron, at the White House in April of 2018.

They also dined in August of 2018 during the president's extended stay at his Bedminister property in New Jersey.

He came back the following day for a private meeting with Trump, where the two men discussed the president's trade agenda.

The Apple executive was at the White House on Wednesday for the first meeting of Ivanka's advisory board comprised of business leaders interested in being a part of a White House initiative to expand the American workforce.
An accused bikie is alleged to have been involved in the same telemarketing scam as Married At First Sight star Dan Webb.

Jason Trouchet is alleged to have been a low-level player in the $20 million scam that saw a total of 600 people cold called and asked to invest money in a 'software trial'.

Trouchet had been out of jail for less than a week when he was arrested last Saturday over his alleged involvement in the scam.

Police allege Trouchet - who was at the centre of the famous Broadbeach Bikie Brawl in September 2013 - pocketed close to $35,000 from the scam.

Scroll down for video

Accused drug dealing bikie Jason Trouchet (pictured) is alleged to have been a low-level player in a telemarketing scam that 'cold called' people asking them to invest in a software trial

He fronted in the Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday on five charges, among them fraud, money laundering and drug trafficking, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

Magistrate Joan White granted Trouchet bail in court and admitted the case against him was 'not particularly strong'.

'It may well be that the prosecution case will strengthen as time goes on but having regard to the Objection to Bail Affidavit, it is not a particularly strong case,' she said.

Webb and six others were charged in 2016 over allegations the group manipulated people into investing in the software trial.

Records obtained by Daily Mail Australia have revealed the reality star was declared bankrupt in the same year he was charged.

Webb was declared bankrupt on August 25, 2016, and remains so to this day, an Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) search revealed.

Married at First Sight star Daniel Webb (pictured) was charged in 2016 over his involvement in the $20 million telemarketing scam

Trouchet had been out of jail for less than a week when he was arrested last Saturday over his alleged involvement in the scam

Records suggested he could not pay off undisclosed debts and voluntarily declared bankruptcy himself.

Webb, 35, made a belated debut to the top rating Nine Network program, with the show's experts hooking him up with brunette Tamara Joy.

But the self-confessed flirt's search for love has been unfolding at the same time as he faces serious criminal proceedings.

AFSA records said Webb was an 'undischarged' bankrupt - meaning his bankruptcy continues to this day, likely until later this year.

That has consequences, including that Webb may have to make ongoing payments to a trustee, and has to seek permission to travel overseas.

The revelation comes as a Brisbane court heard previously undisclosed detail about the alleged scam.

Dan Webb with his 'bride' Tamara Joy in wedding photos shortly after their pretend matrimony

Webb remains on bail while the Nine Network show is aired

One of Webb's co-accused, Zoei Keong (pictured), was found dead in her home last Christmas

Prosecutors said on Friday that it allegedly involved eight 'boiler rooms', or call centres which sell questionable investments over the phone.

Police allege the scam was allegedly masterminded by Gold Coast police officer Michael Featherstone.

Featherstone's lawyer has said he will be defending the charges. His wife, Zoie Charissa Chong, was also charged but died last year.

Webb is on bail. His lawyer Damien Gates today declined to comment on whether Webb's bankruptcy was related to his fraud charge.

Lawyers today agreed for an amended statement of facts to be handed to the group's lawyers later this year.
Billionaire Harry Macklowe has married Patricia Landeau on Thursday in Brooklyn, after erecting a a 42-foot-tall message to everyone in Manhattan, which includes his ex wife, Linda Macklowe, that he's in love with a new woman and he got to keep the condo.

Harry, 82, installed portraits of himself and Patricia on the side of the building at 432 Park Avenue, which includes a floor of luxury living space that was hotly contested in his split with Linda.

In the end, Harry got to keep the multi-unit located on the 78th floor at the corner of Park Avenue and East 56th Street and is now decorating it the building as he sees fit.

'Our smiling faces will be on a building that I built  and I am proud of my wife, my life, my friends and colleagues,' Harry told the New York Post. 'It gives me a great thrill [to] share this moment of joy and happiness.'

Patricia's ex-husband Marc Landeau gave her away at the ceremony Harry and Patricia will have their reception in the space where the massive photo is featured on Thursday night, less than three months after the property settlement was reached.

Linda, 80, filed for divorce in 2016, after learning that Harry had been putting Patricia, who is in her early 60s, up for at least two years in another property, not far from the conspicuous display.

Billionaire Harry Macklowe has married Patricia Landeau on Thursday. Patricia wore a $8,150 tweed Chanel dress for the wedding on Thursday in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and Harry coordinated with a matching pink tie and a classic, simple suit by Brioni

The wedding came hours after the billionaire erected a 42-foot-tall message to everyone in Manhattan that he's in love with a new woman and he got to keep the condo

Patricia wore a long-sleeve pink and orange tweed number by Chanel for the ceremony on Thursday, from the brand's 2019 resort collection.

The dress alone costs $8,150. Patricia accessorized the above-the-knee look with dangling earrings, and donned a matching pink scarf while outdoors.

The clutch she carried was by Edie Parker, customized with an 'HMP' monogram for the newlyweds. That pieced carried a price tag of least $1,795.

Harry was outfitted in a matching pink tie, with a crisp, white dress shirt and simple suit by Brioni. His sock also matched the pink on his blushing bride.

Once the couple emerged from their small ceremony for about 100 guests, they were all smiles, happy to greet the world as the new Mr. and Mrs. Macklowe.

Patricia's pink and orange tweed number by Chanel is from the brand's 2019 resort collection

atricia accessorized the above-the-knee look with dangling earrings, and donned a matching pink scarf while outdoors. The clutch she carried was by Edie Parker, customized with an 'HMP' monogram for the newlyweds. That pieced carried a price tag of least $1,795

Patricia's ex-husband Marc Landeau (right, on the left with Harry) gave her away at the ceremony. Harry and Patricia are shown at their wedding ceremony in Brooklyn on Thursday

The wedding took place at Brooklyn's Weylin, which is an event venue located inside the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank, in a ceremony officiated by presiding New York Supreme Court Justice Alan Scheinkman.

Video captured of the intimate event by Talitha Landeau and shared to social media showed the newlyweds embracing after saying, 'I do,' and Harry kisding Patricia on the head, as their guests cheered the new couple.

Talitha posted an image after the wedding was complete that was captioned, 'Meet the Macklowe's.'



Video captured of the intimate event by Talitha Landeau and shared to social media showed Harry in a matching pink tie, with a crisp, white dress shirt and black suit. The two embraced after saying, 'I do,' and then Harry kissed Patricia on the head, as their guests cheered the new couple

Talitha posted an image after the wedding was complete that was captioned, 'Meet the Macklowe's'

The couple and their guests then moved on to Le Coucou, a French restaurant in SoHo, where Leonor Landeau spoke.

Talitha then shared a seflie with Patricia, captioning the photo, 'My bride.'

Another image showed their wedding cake, with a topper with the couples' monogram-style initials, and caption that read, 'Now let's eat cake.'

Marc Landeau is pictured ahead of Patricia's wedding to Harry Macklowe, with a caption revealing he is gave his ex-wife away

The couple and their guests then moved on to Le Coucou, a French restaurant in SoHo. The wedding cake is shown at left, and March Landeau is shown at right

At Le Coucou, a French restaurant in SoHo, Leonor Landeau spoke. Talitha then shared a seflie with Patricia, captioning the photo, 'My bride'

Guests will later be welcomed to the property adorned with Harry and Patricia's faces for a lavish reception, decked out in all white by celebrity event planner David Monn.

The 78th floor at what has been dubbed the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere has been transformed into a 'massive ballroom' for the occasion.

When friends and loved ones arrive, they will be met with the large art installation on the outside of the building.

The black and white portraits of Harry and Patricia which were created by Parisian firm Studio Harcourt are printed on polyester-mesh and span 24 feet wide.

The black and white portraits (shown) at the corner of Park Avenue and East 56th Street were created by Parisian firm Studio Harcourt, are printed on polyester-mesh and span 24 feet wide

Harry and Patricia will have their reception in the space after marrying on Thursday in Brooklyn, less than three months after the property settlement was reached

They went up over Tuesday and Wednesday, in preparation for Harry's big day with the new Mrs. Macklowe, who is president of the French Friends of the Israel Museum, located in Jerusalem. Harry and Patricia are pictured at the 2017 Hot Pink Party 'Super Nova' presented by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation at Park Avenue Armory on May 12, 2017 in New York City

Linda Macklowe, 80, filed for divorce from Harry in 2016, after learning that Harry had been putting Patricia, who is in her early 60s, up for at least two years in another property, not far uptown from the conspicuous display. Harry and Linda are pictured attending the AFIM Photography Gala at Waldorf Astoria on October 29, 2007 in New York City

They went up over Tuesday and Wednesday, in preparation for Harry's big day with the new Mrs. Macklowe, who is president of the French Friends of the Israel Museum, located in Jerusalem.

Linda, who is a Guggenheim Foundation trustee, lives at The Plaza, which is just a short walk from the exhibition of Harry's love for Patricia, but she's not on the guest list for the celebration.

Harry is said to have housed Patricia at a property located slightly more uptown, at 737 Park Avenue, for at least two years before Linda filed for divorce after Harry abruptly told her he was leaving her for Patricia, and immediately moved in with her.

Linda, who is a Guggenheim Foundation trustee, lives at The Plaza, which is just a short walk from the exhibition of Harry's love for Patricia, but she's not on the guest list for the celebration. Harry is said to have housed Patricia at a property located slightly more uptown, at 737 Park Avenue, for at least two years before Linda filed for divorce after Harry abruptly told her he was leaving her for Patricia, and immediately moved in with her

Harry and Linda reportedly did not have a prenuptial agreement, and at one point Harry is said to have offered her $1 billion to walk away.

The final settlement was reached in mid-December, according to The Real Deal, less than three months ahead of Thursday's nuptials.

Harry and Linda were married for 58 years.
President Trump met his match in the Oval Office on Wednesday in the prime minister of the Czech Republic.

The nation's leader told Trump that he listened to his State of the Union address in January and supports his agenda.

'I perfectly understand your plan, how to make America great again. I have a similar plan to make the Czech Republic great again,' visiting leader Andrej Babis said. 'So I look forward to our discussion about international trade, and safety and threats like cyber attacks and illegal immigration and of course the international terrorists.'

President Trump met his match in the Oval Office on Wednesday in the prime minister of the Czech Republic

Babis has demanded that roughly 700,000 'illegal migrants' who resettled in Europe leave the continent. He suggested after his election that he could deploy police to the Czech Republic's borders to keep them out.

He has directed migrants to stay in Syria and other parts of Africa, saying they have a different 'culture' and 'values' that the Czechs, and holds the position that migrants without a work visa shouldn't be allowed into Europe.

Trump has similarly worked to expel illegal immigrants living in America. He declared a national emergency so that he could build a border wall, over the objection of the U.S. Congress.

He claims that migrants are bringing drugs and crime over the border from Central America. The U.S. president has also claimed that Central American countries are organizing caravans of criminals to send to the United States.

Last year, Trump asked in a private meeting with the U.S. has to accept refugees from s***hole nations in Africa under Temporary Protected Status orders.

The commonalities between the two leaders go beyond their positions on the flood of immigrants coming to their respective continents.

Babis, like Trump, is also a wealthy businessman. He may be richer than the U.S. president who has a Forbes-determined net worth of $3.1 billion.

The foreign leader has also been implicated in his fair share of personal and financial scandals during his short tenure in office. In the most unusual circumstance, the leader's son, Andrej Babis Jr., claimed his father had him abducted so that he couldn't provide damaging testimony to investigators.

The prime minister says his son has schizophrenia, a condition he says he was diagnosed with in 2015. Babis called reporters who approached his son in Switzerland 'hyenas' who took advantage of a mentally ill person.

'I perfectly understand your plan, how to make America great again. I have a similar plan to make the Czech Republic great again,' visiting leader Andrej Babis said

A Slovakian by birth, Babis is not only a political outsider, he is not technically a native to his own country. He was born in the area of Czechoslovakia that broke off in 1993 to become Slovakia when the nation dissolved and became two separate states, including the Czech Republic.

Babis based his campaign for office in the Czech Republic on a claim that as the second richest man in the nation - he has a current net worth of $3.8 billion is U.S. dollars - he couldn't be tempted by the kind of corruption that lines other politicians' pockets.

He made his billions off company Agrofer, which has come under scrutiny for creating a subsidiary that the businessman created with his family to develop a property, allegedly to take advantage of European Union funding. As such, he has been accused of financial crimes.

While Babis competed for the country's top job, the Czech police brought fraud charges against Babis and two of his children. They also claimed he was holding his missing son against his will in Crimea so that he couldn't talk.

Babis said the son, who currently lives in Switzerland, left for his health.

'Have all those who think I would kidnap my own son gone crazy? Children are the most precious things to a man. Certainly they are for me,' Babis declared amid the episode.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pose for photographs with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his wife Monika Babisova outside the Oval Office of the White House

A strong economy in his country has buoyed Babis's approval ratings up and helped keep him office since he was elected in 2017, in spite of the swirling accusations of personal and financial treachery.

On two occasions lawmakers have tried to remove him with a vote of no confidence, but the efforts have so far failed, including one in November related to the kidnapping accusations involving his son.

Trump is under investigation by Congress and criminal prosecutors for his alleged involvement in a scheme to throw the 2016 presidential election his way.

No evidence has emerged that he had personal knowledge of the Russian-led effort, but lawmakers from the opposing party on Capitol Hill remain unconvinced of his innocence.

He is also being probed for alleged obstruction of justice and campaign finance violations.

Following testimony on Capitol Hill of his former fixer, Michael Cohen, a Quinnipiac University poll determined that most Americans believe Trump committed crimes before he took office.

Asked about Cohen as he met with Babis in the Oval Office on Thursday, the president ordered press to leave.

Prior to the question the leaders had jovially spoken to cameras about the common bonds between the United States and the Czech Republic.

'It's a great pleasure for me and my wife to be here. Our countries have been allies since the United States helped establish our first republic 100 years ago,' Babis told him.

The leader noted that the visit coincides with the birthday of the republic's first president, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, as well.

'He by the way was happily married to an American,' Babis added.

Trump commented that the Czech Republic, which has its capital in Prague, has 'always been a very safe country' with a 'strong military' and a 'strong people.'

Babis proudly told him the nation is the sixth safest in the world.

'We are allies in NATO, soldiers fighting alongside U.S. soldiers against terrorists,' he pointed out.

The presidents' wives joined them in the Oval for the first part of the meet and greet, which came immediately after the foreign leader's arrival.

First lady Melania Trump had already participated in a program at the State Department on Thursday morning, which the U.S. president highlighted before the press departed.

'You did a great job this morning, I understand at the State Department,' he told his wife. 'Melania was very well received this morning by a lot of people,' he asserted.

Trump's first wife, Ivanka, is a former Czech model. She claims to have been a part of the nation's Olympic ski team, although her participation has been disputed by the country. The president's son, Don Jr., claims to be fluent in the Czech language. It is similar to, but not the same ask, Slovakian.
The hilarious moment a mother had a vomiting mishap while partying with her daughter and her friend on Spring Break has been caught on camera.

A college student shared a video of what was an embarrassing moment for her parent but absolutely hilarious for her and her friend.

And now the rest of the world is getting to enjoy the moment captured on film.

Horrified: This is the moment Sheyanne was shocked to learn her friend's mother was about to projectile vomit on the floor

The woman recording the March 5 clip from their Florida vacation spot explained that her mother was joking around and trying to spit water at her friend.

'Me, my friend (Sheyanne) and my mom were on college spring break in Siesta Key,' she told ViralHog. 'One night, my mom decided to spit water on Sheyanne and started coughing and choking on the water.'

Footage shows the moment Sheyanne sits with her jaw dropped as she realizes what's about the happen.

Laughs: The mother accompanied her daughter and her college friend on Spring Break

'Wait, is she pu-,' Sheyenne begins to ask as she gets an indication the mother is about to throw up.

Viewers see the woman laugh then make a break for the kitchen area. But she stops short of the sink as the contents of her stomach come up and spill onto the floor ahead of her.

'She then began to projectile vomit and proceeded to slip and fall in her own puke,' her daughter explained.

But after spitting water she started coughing and choking then threw up on the wooden floor

Her slippery backwards tumble is accelerated by the fact the woman is running barefoot across the wooden floor.

With only a short denim skirt on, she slides across the accommodation.

It leads to her hooded top being soiled in the vomit and a nasty thud can be heard as he head hits the ground.

An item falls off the counter when she crashes to the floor.
NATO allies have increased their practical support to Ukraine in light of the security situation in the Black Sea, according to the statement following the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting held at NATO Headquarters on March 6.

"NATO continues to call on Russia to immediately release the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized in November near the Kerch Strait. Allies have increased their practical support to Ukraine in light of the security situation in the Black Sea," the statement reads.

The current situation in Crimea was also discussed at the meeting. Allies reaffirmed NATOs unwavering support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity.
A Texas driver's dashboard camera captured the heart-stopping moment a truck clipped an unsuspecting utility worker repairing a traffic light along a highway last month.

Sugar Land-based photographer Andrew Wolf was driving along US 90 in Fort Bend County on February 25 when a white box truck in front of him doing about 50mph hit a utility bucket suspended over the road, as KTRK reported.

The impact caused the bucket to overturn, tipping out the worker who was inside working on traffic lights at Pitts Road.

Truck driver apparently did not notice a bucket with a worker inside

On impact, the bucket overturned and the worker fixing a traffic light was left suspended in mid-air

The worker's safety harness prevented him from plummeting to his death and he walked away unharmed

The unnamed worker survived thanks to his helmet and his safety harness, which prevented him from plummeting to his death onto the busy road.

After hanging in mid-air for about 30 seconds, the man's colleague lowered the crane.

The truck responsible for the accident pulled over, and Wolf also stopped on the side of the road t call 911.

The worker appeared shaken by his near-death experience, but Wolf said he did not seem to have been physically harmed and was able to walk away.
Two U.S. Army soldiers who were killed in a vehicle collision in Kuwait have been identified by the Department of Defense.

Spc. Jackson D. Johnson, 20, of Hillsboro, Missouri and Sgt. Holli R. Bolinski, 37, of Pinckneyville, Illinois died in the noncombat incident on Tuesday while supporting Operation Spartan Shield.

A third soldier, who has not been publicly identified, was injured in the crash.

The soldiers were traveling in North Kuwait when their vehicle collided with a civilian commercial truck, the DoD said in a press release on Thursday.

Spc. Jackson D. Johnson, 20, of Hillsboro, Missouri and Sgt. Holli R. Bolinski, 37, of Pinckneyville, Illinois died in the noncombat incident on Tuesday

All three soldiers were flown by U.S. Army medical evacuation helicopter to the U.S. Military Hospital  Kuwait at Camp Arifjan.

Bolinski was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, officials said.

Johnson died as a result of his injuries. The third injured soldier is pending medical evacuation from Kuwait.

Bolinski was a married mother of five who was 'dedicated to the Army,' her husband said

All three soldiers were assigned to the 657th Transportation Company, 419th Transportation Battalion, 103d Sustainment Command, Mount Vernon, Illinois.

Bolinski's husband, Robert Bolinski, told Military.com that she 'was a loving wife, my best friend, mother of five. Dedicated to the Army.'

The incident is under investigation. A memorial service is planned for 0900 on Friday at the Zone 1 Chapel in Camp Arifjan.
Jussie Smollett's case may have led to dozens of nurses being fired for looking at his medical records without having proper access to them.

One nurse from Northwestern Memorial Hospital told CBS Chicago that they and others were fired by bosses for looking at Smollett's medical records after he was treated in the emergency room on January 29.

The nurse did not give their name but said in their case, they were merely scrolling past Smollett's record to get to another patient's file.

Dozens of employees from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago have been fired for looking at Jussie Smollett's medical records after he walked into the emergency room (shown) on January 29 claiming to have been assaulted

They said hospital bosses still fired them and that others received similar treatment.

The hospital did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's inquiries on Thursday afternoon.

It remains unclear how many employees were allegedly terminated as a result of the case.

Smollett, who will return to court March 14 to face a felony disorderly conduct charge for allegedly making the entire story up, went to the hospital in the early hours of the morning on January 29 after speaking to police.

He had some scratches and bruising on his face and also claimed to have bruises on his ribs.

Police say that brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo punched him during the allegedly staged attack but that he cut himself on the face to make it look more believable.

The Empire actor vehemently denies staging the attack and maintains he is the victim of a hate crime.

Smollett is shown left in his mugshot and right in the emergency room FaceTiming with Empire creator Lee Daniels on the night of the attack

When they charged him last month, prosecutors and police abhorred Smollett for what they said was a waste of police time and resources.

The Chicago Police Department spent weeks combing through security footage and interviewing witnesses as part of the probe while Smollett performed to sold out audiences and went on Good Morning America.

If he is convicted, he may have to repay some of the money that was spent in the investigation.

His lawyers maintain that he is innocent and that the police department has 'trampled' his presumption of innocence by leaking details of their investigation throughout.

The department's officers and investigators say they treated Smollett as a victim until the two brothers who he identified as his attackers confessed that the entire attack was a hoax.

They said Smollett orchestrated the hoax because he wanted a higher salary.
A mother jailed for rorting more than $50,000 from Centrelink will only have to pay back $5,600.

Maria Alimic - from Corio, a suburb in Geelong - only has to pay back a fraction of the price because of a bureaucratic bungle, Geelong Magistrates Court heard on Thursday

For three years, the 52-year-old mother of two lied about her employment income, and continued to rake in tens of thousands of dollars in disability support pension payments, The Geelong Advertiser reported.

The Geelong Magistrates Court heard on Thursday that Maria Alimic (pictured) - from Corio, a suburb in Geelong, southeast of Melbourne - would only have to pay back a fraction of the price because of a bureaucratic bungle

David Sagnelli - who prosecuted for the Department of Human Services - said Alimic had worked as an administrative support officer for a lending company.

She moved on to become a sole trader, but failed to update the agency of the almost $240,000 she had earned from her jobs between 2011 and 2014.

Mr Sagnelli said authorities only became aware of the goings-on until a tip-off in December 2015.

Alimic is estimated to have defrauded Centrelink of more than $56,000.

For three years, the 52-year-old mother of two lied to Centrelink about her employment income, and continued to rake in tens of thousands of dollars in disability support pension payments (stock image)

For that reason, there was insufficient evidence to apply for $51,000 worth of restitution - instead, Alimic will only have to pay $5,600.

Alimic pleaded guilty to four dishonesty offences and was slapped with a six month jail term on top of the repayment.

Defence lawyer Nancy Grunwald noted her client had struggled with mental health issues in the past and was still coping with the loss of two children who were delivered stillborn in the 1990s.

The court heard Alimic was on remand for a separate matter - and she was in protection because of threats made to her while she was in custody.
Advertisement

Nationwide, 4.5 percent of Americans identify as LGBTQ+  but the population density of queer people varies dramatically from one state to the next, according to new survey data.

The national figure is higher than previous estimates, which put the U.S. LGBTQ+ population (which includes people who are gay, lesbian, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual) at roughly 10 million adults, or 4.1 percent of the population.

The findings are based on a survey conducted from 2012-2017 by Gallup Daily Tracking, which polled around 350,000 different people over the age of 18 each year. The data was compiled by The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

Oregon was the state with the highest concentration of queer people, at 5.6 percent, followed by Nevada (5.5 percent), Massachusetts (5.4 percent), California (5.3 percent) and Vermont and Washington (5.2 percent each).

This map illustrates the proportion of the population in each state that identifies as LGBTQ+. The darker the shade, the higher the population in each state. Source: Gallup Daily Tracking and The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law

At 5.1 percent, New York was the final state with 5 percent or more of its population identifying as LGBTQ+.

North Dakota had the smallest population of queer Americans (2.7 percent), followed by Idaho (2.8 percent), Montana (2.9 percent), South Dakota (3 percent) and Alabama (3.1 percent).

The trends show larger concentrations of LGBTQ+ Americans in coastal states and Hawaii, with Indiana (4.5 percent) a Midwest outlier.

The survey also broke down demographic data on the queer population, looking at factors such as race, sex and socio-economic circumstances.

White people were the least likely to identify as LGBTQ+, with 3.9 percent of all white people identifying that way. Asians were next (4.4 percent), followed by African Americans (4.6 percent) and Hispanics (6 percent).

Women were significantly more likely to identify as LGBTQ+, at 5.1 percent, compared to 3.9 percent of men. The survey did not offer a non-binary gender option, which could have affected those results.

Notably, members of the LGBTQ+ people were more likely to be unemployed (9 percent compared to 5 percent of straight Americans.

This chart illustrates what proportion of the LGBTQ+ population faces different socio-economic challenges, compared to the population of straight U.S. adults

They were also more likely to go without health insurance (15 percent compared to 12 percent) and struggle with food security (27 percent compared to 15 percent).

They also tended to have lower incomes than straight Americans, with a quarter reporting making less than $24,000 a year, compared to 18 percent of the straight population.

Those socio-economic disparities were consistent across all races. For example, white people who identify as queer were more likely to be low-income than white people who identify as straight.

The disparity in incomes can't be explained by educational attainment: LGBTQ+ people had college graduation rates similar to their straight counterparts.

'We know that LGBTQ people face pervasive discrimination in many areas of life - so it's unsurprising to see lower incomes, more unemployment, lack of insurance, and heightened food insecurity in this data,' said Liam Miranda, senior research manager for the Human Rights Coalition.

'It's so important that we have such accessible information about these experiences, as this will allow countless activists, researchers, organizations, leaders, and community members to better advocate on behalf of our community to create programs and policies that address this discrimination and resulting negative outcomes,' Miranda told DailyMail.com.

White LGBTQ+ people were the least likely to have children younger than 18 (21 percent), followed by Asians (25 percent), African Americans (34 percent) and Hispanics (39 percent).

Women were more likely than their male counterparts in the LGBTQ+ community to have young children (39 percent and 17 percent, respectively).
Two sisters are wanted for attacking a naked woman in her apartment because she was sleeping with one of their ex-boyfriends then trashing the woman's car with a shovel.

Amber and Lyasia Jennings, aged 21 and 18, are wanted by police over the incident in Cleveland, Ohio, on February 28.

According to police, the pair drove to the 20-year-old unidentified victim's house at 8pm and banged on the door.

The woman was inside with her boyfriend and told him to answer it.

The attack took place at the 20-year-old woman's home in Cleveland, Ohio, on February 28. She lives in an apartment on this street (shown). The sisters kicked the door in then charged through the apartment and dragged the victim, naked, from the bathroom

He refused to let the sisters in but they busted the door, damaging the door frame, and charged through the house.

It is not clear which one of the sisters the boyfriend dated before the victim.

Once inside, the Jennings sisters allegedly broke into a bathroom where the victim was hiding and dragged her out to beat her.

She was left with bruises on her but no serious injuries.

The victim was not wearing any clothes and lay on the ground as the two sisters kicked and punched her, according to a police report obtained by Cleveland.com.

Eventually, someone else in the house broke up the fight and the sisters fled.

Before getting in their car and leaving the scene, they took a shovel to the victim's Ford Fusion.

They also pierced its tires and keyed the car's body, according to the report.

They then sped off in a silver Jeep.

Cleveland PD has issued an arrest warrant for aggravated burglary for the pair.
Queensland Police released this image of a man they believed would be able to help with inquiries before the arrest was made

A man has been arrested after allegedly threatening a mother and her two children with an axe in a terrifying carjacking.

Dramatic CCTV footage captured the moment a 24-year-old man drove a stolen car on to a patch of grass outside a woman's home in Chermside West, north Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon.

He got out of the car and approached a White Ford Focus while wielding an axe and demanded the woman inside open the door.

The shocked mother quickly obliged and removed her two children.

The man then loaded three black canvas bags into the vehicle before taking off, leaving the family and the stolen car on the street.

Police launched a manhunt before they caught him using tyre spikes about 4km away and arrested him at around 2am.

CCTV captured the terrifying moment the knife and sword-wielding man approached the mum and kids in broad daylight in Chermside West, 10km from the CBD, on Wednesday

The man is also accused of threatening two policemen with a knife earlier that day when he was allegedly caught stealing from a Loganholme shopping centre.

He is also said to have brandished the weapon on an elderly couple in Sherwood on Monday while demanding money.

A neighbour who witnessed the incident described the carjacking as something out of a 'Hollywood' film.

'A guy screamed up the street, opened the door and started screaming at her. He had a sword in one hand and a knife in the other,' the Courier Mail reported.

The woman removed her two children from the car before the carjacker hops in and takes off

The woman said the culprit appeared to be on an 'ice bender' and described him as being 'high as a kite.'

She said the mother seemed like she was 'in shock' but remained calm during the ordeal, which she said lasted 30 seconds.

The carjacker's orange vehicle is believed to have been stolen from Hillcrest last week.
South Carolina middle school principal Elizabeth Foster (above) is being sued by a fourth-grade student and her mother after the administrator allegedly rejected the girl's essay about pro-LGBT rights because the topic was 'not appropriate'

A South Carolina fourth-grader who wrote an essay on LGBT rights for a class assignment was forced by her principal to redo it because the topic 'would create an undesirable situation at the school', a lawsuit claims.

The suit filed in federal court this week by the girl's family has accused the Spartanburg County School District No 6, Anderson Mill Elementary School and Principal Elizabeth Foster of violating her First Amendment right to free speech and causing both her and her mother emotional distress.

The girl, who was not named in the court filing, had been tasked with writing an essay 'to society', and chose to write about LGBT rights because her family members are activists in the community.

According to the lawsuit, Foster forced the 10-year-old girl to change her essay to be about bullying because it was meant to be combined with other students' essays in a booklet, and the original would 'make other parents upset'.

In one portion of the essay, included in the lawsuit, the girl wrote: 'I dont know if you know this but peoples view on Tran's genders is an issue. People think that men should not dress like a women, and saying mean things. They think that they are choosing the wrong thing in life. In the world people can choose who they want.'

The unnamed fourth-grader at Anderson Mill Elementary School (above) in Spartanburg was assigned to write an essay 'to society' and chose to write about LGBT rights because her family members are activists

The principal allegedly told the girl's mom, Hannah Robinson, that the topic was 'not acceptable' because it was 'not age-appropriate to discuss transgenders, lesbians and drag queens outside of the home',' the suit obtained by The Charlotte Observer says.

The family has accused Foster of harassing Robinson and telling her: 'Due to the type of school this is, the people that work here and the students and families of the students that go here, the topic would be disagreeable.'

The fourth grader is now afraid of her principal, the suit claims.

It seeks to 'recover compensatory damages for emotional pain and suffering'.

School district spokeswoman Cynthia Robinson addressed the lawsuit in a statement to McClatchy, writing: 'Based on the fact that this is a legal matter we are limited with the amount of information we can release. However, we do consider the claims in this lawsuit to be inaccurate.

'We are serious about treating every child with kindness, respect, and without discrimination.'
Police in County Armagh have uncovered a significant amount of terrorism-related equipment and ammunition in a forest.

Component parts for mortars, including six mortar tubes, were found in a forested area at the Carewamean Road area of Forkhill following a search on Wednesday.

Detective Inspector Graham Orr, from the PSNI's Terrorist Investigation Unit, says early indications point to dissident republican activity.

The explosives were found in a forested area off of Carewamean Road just outside of the village of Forkhill, which is close to the Irish border

'Police were made aware of suspicious items and following a search earlier today, we discovered the items buried in the ground in a wooded area in a constructed hide,' he said.

'Our inquiries are progressing and a detailed forensic examination of all these items will take some time.

'At this stage, it is too early to attribute ownership of these materials to any particular grouping or individual.

'It is vital that people remain vigilant, wherever they are and whatever they are doing.'

The discovery follows a series of bomb scares across the United Kingdom this week.

Parts of Waterloo station and Heathrow and London City airports had to be sealed off on Tuesday after suspicious packages were delivered to the transport hubs, with one grey postal bag catching fire.

It is believed the 'unsophisticated' bombs were meant to 'alarm' rather than hurt anyone.

One of three suspicious packages, this one delivered to Heathrow Airport, went up in flames and caused a part of the large transport hub to be sealed off

All the packages were A4-sized white postal bags containing yellow Jiffy bags and appeared capable of igniting a small fire when opened, police said.

Another package, delivered to the University of Glasgow yesterday, appears to be linked to the London bombs, with another parcel at Essex University being investigated.

The possible link to Ireland comes just weeks before a 'hard border' between the Republic and Northern Ireland could come into force in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has recently refused to make further concessions to solve the backstop issue, saying it is up to the UK to solve the deadlock.

The IED bombs, aimed at major transport hubs across London including Waterloo station (pictured) are being investigated but have sparked fears of a resurgence in a 'New IRA' group

There are concerns that leaving the EU without an agreement on the Irish border could lead to conflict.

Components for a pipe bomb were found in Co. Louth, Ireland late last year, which required a Bomb Disposal Unit to be brought in.

Police later confirmed no explosive elements were found at the scene, which was believed to be gang related.

'There is no place for this type of activity and the vast majority of people in our communities want to live in a peaceful society,' said Detective Inspector Orr.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that Ireland will not move on the question of the Irish border and that PM Theresa May must come forward with concessions to broker an agreement

'Due to the location of the find and the items located in it, I believe vehicles or machinery may have been used to transport the items and access the site.

'The investigation is in the early stages and we are still working to establish the time frame but initial observations suggest that this is a more recent hide linked to dissident republican activity.

'I would appeal to anyone who has noticed any suspicious activity or vehicles in the Carewamean Road area to contact detectives on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 846.'
A California man has been caught on video punching a woman, who tried to intervene while he was arguing with his fiancee.

The unidentified man was heard in the video publicly berating his partner at the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego on Monday.

While it's unclear what the 50-year-old man was saying to his fiancee, it seemed to upset a woman who is seen walking over to the couple.

'Sir! We are now calling 911 because you are frightening women,' the woman is heard yelling.

The unidentified man was heard in the video publicly berating his partner at the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego on Monday. While it's unclear what the 50-year-old man was saying to his fiancee, it seemed to upset a woman (in grey) who is seen walking over to the couple

'Sir! We are now calling 911 because you are frightening women,' the woman is heard yelling

The man then turns around and tells the woman: 'You know what? You don't know me.'

Standing face-to-face with the man, the woman is heard yelling at him as his fiancee tries to pull him away.

But it was too late. The man then punches the woman in the face as she tries to fight back.

He hit her a second time, sending her crashing to the ground.

Bystanders are heard screaming and yelling for him to stop.

The man then punches the woman in the face as she tries to fight back. He hit her a second time, sending her crashing to the ground. The man fled the scene before police arrived, but his fiancee stayed. However, she's reportedly refusing to cooperate with investigators

The San Diego Police Department released the surveillance video in an attempt to find the man.

Authorities said the disturbing incident occurred around 8.30pm on Monday near the intersection of 6th Avenue and E Street.

The man fled the scene before police arrived, but his fiancee stayed.

However, she's reportedly refusing to cooperate with investigators.

Anyone with information on this incident is urged to call SDPD Det Sgt. Dan Brinkerhoff at 619-744-9510.
Israels navy could take action against Iranian oil smuggling, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, urging world powers to foil any effort by Iran to evade U.S. sanctions.

He said naval officers that Iran was still resorting to clandestine measures to ship fuel that it first used prior to a 2015 nuclear deal easing Western sanctions on its oil sector.

According to the Israeli leader, Tehran is trying to circumvent the sanctions through covert oil smuggling over maritime routes, "and to the extent that these attempts widen, the navy will have a more important role in blocking these Iranian actions."

"I call on the entire international community to stop Irans attempts to circumvent the sanctions by sea, and of course, by any (other) means," Reuters cited Netanyahu as saying.
Flash flooding has turned the streets of a California town into raging rivers of rain runoff.

Shocking images show the extent of flooding in Sonora, California on Wednesday and Thursday, when residents of the town near Yosemite National Park fled to higher ground.

'With the torrential rains today, there are many roads in the county and the city that are flooded,' the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office warned on Wednesday.

Flash flooding turned roads in Sonora, California into torrential rivers on Wednesday

Water flooded the streets with little warning after heavy rains hit the California town

The sheriff said that flooding knocked out call service to its dispatch center for several hours on Wednesday night.

During that time, emergency 911 calls were being routed to Calaveras County Sheriff's Office and CHP Merced Office. Service was restored by Thursday morning.

Others have lost power as a result of the flooding.

There are no reports of injuries yet, but many people have experienced property damage.

Officials warned residents not to attempt driving through flooded streets

Floodwaters rage around a business in Sonora on Wednesday after torrential rains

Resident Joe Marshall was shocked to find that his home in the small mountain town had turned into a waterfront property overnight.

'I cannot believe the water that was going into my basement, I could not believe it, it looked like a river,' he told KRON-TV.

'It's like walking into a snow globe. My washer and dryer's had been moved, tables and stuff moved from the water that was going into my basement.'

Photos and video show the floodwaters raging into a Save Mart grocery store.

A flood watch is in effect for the areas shaded in green through Thursday evening

The National Weather Service office in Sacramento said on Thursday that a Flood Watch remains in effect for portions of the Motherlode and the Northern San Joaquin Valley through the evening.

'Showers and thunderstorms could cause additional flooding on already saturated areas,' the agency warned.

Sonora has a population of 4,900, and as the closest city to Yosemite, it is a popular stop with tourists visiting the park.

California has seen record-breaking rain and snowfall so far this year.
The House passed a resolution condemning hate language on Thursday after alleged anti-semitic comments from Rep. Ilhan Omar consumed lawmakers' attention this week, caused an internecine war among Democrats, and brought the wrath of Republicans.

The final vote was 407 to 23 with one lawmaker voting present. All the no votes were Republicans.

As the gavel slammed down to close the vote, it carried with it the hopes of Democratic leaders that the issue can be put to rest and the party can move forward to their signature legislation - a sweeping anti-corruption in bill, which will be voting on Friday.

The House passed a resolution condemning hate language 407 to 23

Democrats in the House of Representatives will vote Thursday on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other hateful speech following anti-Israel comments by Ilhan Omar, who is seen Thursday at a House Foreign Affairs Committee

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert took to the House floor before the vote on the anti-hate resolution to announce his opposition to it, arguing the original measure 'should never be watered down.

'There's never been a persecution of people like the Jewish people,' he said.

Republican Rep. Steve King, who has been accused of supporting white supremacists, was the present vote.

Some Democrats agreed with him but supported the legislation.

Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, who is Jewish, said he would vote for the resolution but was disappointed there wasn't a separate resolution just condemning Omar's comments.

Democratic leaders had hoped to dispatch with the issue quickly through a hastily written resolution condemning anti-semitism.

But they broadened the text to include condemn Islamophobia and white supremacism after Omar's defenders said one form of hate should not be singled out.

Minutes before the scheduled vote Thursday Democrats pulled it again, to add several groups not included in the original measure, including Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQ community.

Lawmakers held a contentious debate on the House floor for nearly an hour before the vote occurred with Republicans questioning why such a resolution was necessary.

'We shouldn't have had to go through the number of versions we have had to,' GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said, adding: 'I will pledge to you this: from this side of the aisle  and I hope you understand this clearly, any hatred, we take action.'

And Republican Rep. Doug Collins pointed out lawmakers were 'debating a resolution we should have learned in kindergarten. Be nice.'

He also criticized the measure as so 'thrown together at the last minute' that 'we left out disabled people.'

The chaos surrounding the vote reflects the disarray among the Democrats after Omar made comments that were alleged to be anti-Semitism.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi cleared Rep. Ilhan Omar of intentional anti-Semitism, saying the freshman lawmaker didn't appreciate how her comments were interpreted by others

Speaker Nancy Pelosi cleared Omar of intentional anti-Semitism in her controversial remarks that sparked outrage among Democrats and said the resolution the House will vote on Thursday condemning hate speech is not about the freshman lawmaker.

'It's not about her, it's about these forms of hatred,' Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday.

'I don't think the congresswoman perhaps doesn't appreciate how it was heard by other people although I don't believe it was intended as anti-Semitic although that's how it was interpreted,' the speaker said.

'We're not policing the speech of our members,' Pelosi said, but argued the measure about condemning hate speech.

Nor was Omar's name be specifically mentioned in the 1,400 word text, which some Democrats had argued for while the congresswoman's defenders countered that would require a resolution any time a lawmaker said or tweeted something offensive.

'One resolution is not mentioning her name because it's not about her,' Pelosi noted.

Democrats had battled over the wording of the resolution - should it directly refer to Omar and anti-semitism or should it be broadened to condemn all hate speech.

A battle broke out between the older, powerful Jewish members of Congress who accused Omar of anti-Semitism and the younger, progressive members who have stormed the House floor after the 2018 election and defended Omar's right to speak.

Leadership is pushing the vote in the hopes the party can move past the controversy that has engulfed Democrats and brought about the wrath of Republicans.

Omar, who is one of the first Muslim women in Congress, came under fire for suggesting last Friday that supporters of Israel were urging lawmakers to have 'allegiance to a foreign country.'

Rep. Ilhan Omar's Controversial Tweets 'Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman! I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee. The people of the 5th elected me to serve their interest. I am sure we agree on that!' - her March 3 tweet in response to Rep. Nita Lowey's criticism of her 'It's all about the Benjamins baby' - her February 10 tweet interpreted to mean lawmakers defended Israel because of financial donations 'AIPAC!' - Omar's tweeted the name of the powerful Jewish group in response to a tweet asking her who she meant when she said 'it's all about the benjamins' 'Israel has hypnotized the world. May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel' - a tweet from 2012 now deleted Advertisement

Her words have split Democrats down the middle and left Pelosi in a bind: too harsh a resolution would alienate the liberal lawmakers - led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - who have rallied to Omar's side but not harsh enough will anger powerful Jewish lawmakers and their supporters, who vote Democratic and contribute heavily to the party.

The vote, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed among the outrage and as Pelosi tried to unsettle her ruffled lawmakers.

The controversy has tried leadership patience and overshadowed their top legislation priority: an election and ethics reform bill scheduled for a Friday vote.

Several Democratic lawmakers confronted Pelosi at a contentious meeting Wednesday evening that ended with Pelosi dropping the mic and walking out.

The tension came after freshman Rep. Jahana Hayes confronted Pelosi about wanting more input into the process of writing the resolution.

Pelosi responded the text was not final yet.

And when Hayes turned to talk to another member, Pelosi left.

'Well if you're not going to listen to me, I'm done talking,' she said, then set down the microphone and walked out of the room, sources told Politico.

Hayes said she did not hear Pelosi speaking to her.

'My comments were about the process we are using when concerns arise,' Hayes said in a statement. 'As a member of Congress I should not get important information from cable news.'

Rep. Rashida Tlaib

Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, who is Jewish, called on the House to condemn anti-semitism

House Democrats updated their resolution on condemning hate language, changing the original version (left) to include Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQ community (right)

President Donald Trump, who has himself drawn accusations of anti-Semitism on several occasions, denounced Democrats on Twitter.

'It is shameful that House Democrats won't take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference,' the president tweeted. 'Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it's inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!'

It's at least the third time Omar has forced older, pro-Israel Democrats who run the House into awkward territory over U.S.-Israeli policy. The first was her claim, later retracted, that moneyed Jews buy the support of U.S. lawmakers with a strategy that's 'all about the Benjamins baby.'

'When a colleague invokes anti-semitic lies three times, then this body must condemn antisemitism. Antisemitism is worthy of being condemned on its own,' Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, who is Jewish, said on the House floor on Thursday.

Omar has not apologized for her latest comments.

New York Rep Nita Lowey, a senior Democrat who chairs the powerful Appropriations Committee, blasted Omar over the weekend as the pressure for an apology increased.

'Lawmakers must be able to debate w/o prejudice or bigotry. I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel. I urge her to retract this statement and engage in further dialogue with the Jewish community on why these comments are so hurtful,' she tweeted Saturday.

President Donald Trump landed a Twitter punch on House Democrats with a complaint on Wednesday that they were dithering on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism

Trump, who has himself been accused of anti-Jewish commentary in the past, said anti-Semitism 'has fueled atrocities throughout history'

Pelosi would not be drug into the debate over whether or not Omar should apologize.

'It's up to her to explain but I don't believe she understood the weight of her words,' the speaker said on Thursday.

Omar got a boost Tuesday from allies who point out that she, too, has been the target of threats and bigotry.

'I am so honored to serve with @IlhanMN, an incredible courageous woman,' tweeted Rep. Rashid Tlaib, a fellow Muslim whose arrival in Washington was marred by her boast that anti-Trump lawmakers planned 'to impeach the motherf***er.'

'Every time I worry about her and the ugly attacks, I remember what she said to me two months ago: 'I survived war, I can survive this',' Tlaib wrote of Omar.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested in a tweet that her fellow freshman was being treated unfairly.

'No one seeks this level of reprimand when members make statements about Latinx + other communities,' the New York Democrat wrote.
A cyclist has been left fighting for life after crashing into a street sweeper and being trapped under its brushes.

The 30-year-old man was run over by the sweeper on Victoria Street at Abbotsford, in Melbourne inner-east, just after midnight.

He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition with life-threatening injuries.

A cyclist has been left fighting for life after crashing into a street sweeper and being trapped under its brushes (pictured)

The 30-year-old man was run over by the sweeper at Abbotsford, in Melbourne inner-east, just after midnight and was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries

The driver of the street sweeper, who was unhurt, stopped at the scene to assist.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Hilarious video (top-left) captured the moment two women desperately cling onto a trampoline while winds try to carry it away, as Storm Barra continues to leave a trail of destruction across the British Isles. The UK was pounded by strong wind and heavy rain overnight as the storm swept through from the west, felling trees (inset) and leaving some areas without power. Counties in the south-west of England and in Wales remain under a yellow weather warning until 6pm tonight, meaning residents face delays to transport and the risk of power outages. Around 1,000 homes are still without power as a result of the 'weather bomb', with the Met Office warning of potential floods (bottom-middle, crashing waves on the Isle of Wight) and other hazards on the roads up and down the country (bottom-left). In one viral clip in County Cork, Ireland, a trampoline - turned magic carpet by fierce gusts - was seen leaning against a fence while two women grabbed it. A strong surge of wind saw the pair tumble forward, with of the women - wearing a dressing gown and a towel on her head - left dangling in the air by the strength of the gale. Meanwhile, in Wales, one school was forced to shut temporarily after gusts of more than 70mph ripped part of its roof off on Tuesday evening. No-one was injured as most people had left the premises, the school said, although Dyfed-Powys Police were called to the scene to deal with debris that had been blown onto a nearby road (top-right). Elsewhere, Mountain Rescue Teams spent 16 hours helping a walker in difficulty in snowy conditions (bottom-right).
Australian girls' schools have called in an American specialist to help them advise pupils on how to support transgender students.

The Alliance of Girls Schools of Australasia announced this week it will be hosting international psychotherapist and transgender specialist Julie Mencher next week.

The not-for-profit organisation, which represents 175 schools, enlisted Ms Mencher to help their female students better understand the changing gender landscape.

The Alliance of Girls Schools of Australasia announced this week it will be hosting international psychotherapist and transgender specialist Julie Mencher (pictured) next week

Ms Mencher is regarded as pioneer for LGBT issues and was also commissioned to conduct Australian and New Zealand research, which will be available later this year.

Alliance executive officer Loren Bridge told The Daily Telegraph the study came about because it is a topical issue and of concern to all schools.

She will be presenting her 'Single-sex schools in a multi-gender world: How can girls schools be better equipped?' class in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland.

Transgender Victoria executive director Sally Goldner has welcomed the alliances' decision to enlist the help of the international expert.

Ms Goldener told Daily Mail Australia: 'Anything that promotes respect is a good thing.'

She said promoting healthy conversations and education about gender diversity has the ability to not only change lives but also save lives.

Ms Mencher has worked with students at 100 girls' schools in several countries and in 2017 published a study of 33 girls' schools in the US and Canada.

Alliance executive officer Loren Bridge (pictured) told The Daily Telegraph the study came about because it is a topical issue and of concern to all schools

Ms Goldner said open and frank conversations about gender diversity can lead to happier and healthier students, who will perform better at school

The workshops are pitched at students and school staff and will focus on current gender diversity vocabulary and concepts, and identify challenges of inclusion.

According to the last Australian Bureau of Statistics census, 1,260 people identified as being a sex or gender other than male or female - but this is unlikely to be an accurate number of all people.

Ms Goldner said open and frank conversations about gender diversity can lead to happier and healthier students, who will perform better at school.

For those doubtful parents, she said young people are generally relaxed around the issue and are more often thoughtful around dealing with transgender friends.

'Some adults need to stop dumping their ideas on kids because it's patronising to suggest they won't know about transgender issues,' she said.

Ms Goldner said it's time to stop underestimating kids and start understanding and working towards a sense of fairness.
Qantas will allow up carry on luggage weighing up to 10kg after passengers complained the 7kg limit was not enough.

The Australian airline conducted a trial over the summer which involved weighing customers' luggage at the gate.

They found that passengers said they were happy with the total 14kg limit but not with the 7kg limit on one piece of luggage.

Currently, passengers are allowed two pieces of luggage weighing 7kg each.

From March 25, passengers will be allowed to carry an item weighing up to 10kg, with a second item up to 4kg.

The Australian airline conducted a trial over the summer and announced that travellers will be allowed to carry baggage exceeding the current weight limit (stock)

Currently, passengers are allowed two pieces of luggage weighing 7kg each (stock)

Qantas's trial was issued when passengers were checking in and being interviewed by staff about carry-on bags.

'We found that 90 per cent of customers travelled with 10 kgs or less of cabin baggage and of that around 40 per cent travelled with a bag weighing between 7kg and 10 kgs,' a Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'Only one in 10 customers had bags that exceeded 10kgs.'

Qantas Domestic chief executive officer Andrew David said baggage compartments will continue to be monitored by staff (stock)

Qantas Domestic CEO Andrew David said they wanted to take on board the feedback from their frequent flyers to accommodate their travels.

'Qantas offers the most generous amount of cabin baggage of any Australian airline and we know a lot of customers like the convenience of not having to check in luggage,' he said.

'Most customers on short business trips and weekends away only travel with one carry-on bag plus a small personal item.

'Weve had feedback from our frequent flyers who said they can easily keep within the 14kg limit but would like flexibility in how they use their cabin baggage allowance.

'Customers will now have more choice how they use their 14kg carry on allowance, by having one bag that weighs up to 10kg.'

Qantas staff will continue monitoring baggage compartments to ensure passengers adhere to the rules.
Victim: Former swimming teacher Rose Aguis who was bashed in her own home

A man allegedly broke into a 74-year-old swimming teacher's bedroom and savagely punched and kicked her until she passed out before leaving her unconscious and alone during a violent robbery.

The 34-year-old invader allegedly bashed former swimming teacher Rose Aguis in her home in Lugarno, south Sydney at 5pm on Wednesday.

She was found at 9am on Thursday and rushed to hospital with head injuries.

Later that day officers arrested a man who used to be employed by Ms Aguis.

Oatley MP Mark Coure told Seven News the alleged attacker had known her 'for years' since she taught him and his brothers how to swim.

He said: 'She's a local champion in our local community. This attack is just disgusting.'

Police said a large amount of money was taken and the motive appeared to be robbery.

The man was charged with with aggravated break and enter and commit serious indictable offence inflicting actual bodily harm.

The man was held in custody overnight and will appear in Sutherland Local Court today.

Footage showed the pensioner being taken from her home in a stretcher on Thursday morning

A police statement read: 'Officers from St George Police Area Command have been told the woman was allegedly assaulted after she found a man in her bedroom about 5pm Wednesday.

'Police will allege the man punched her to the ground before kicking her until she lost consciousness. Its believed she lay injured for 16 hours before being found.

Detectives initiated inquiries and about midday arrested a 34-year-old man on Forest Road at Peakhurst.

'He was taken to Kogarah Police Station where he was charged with aggravated break and enter and commit serious indictable offence inflicting actual bodily harm.

'He has been bail refused to appear in Sutherland Local Court on Friday.

'Officers have executed a search warrant at a Peakhurst home and have seized a number of items for forensic examination. Inquiries are continuing.'
A British-Iranian mother has been given diplomatic protection after being jailed in Iran for three years on false spy charges.

The move by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt means the UK can raise the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe at the UN.

Iran does not recognise dual nationals and so regards the charity worker as an Iranian citizen the UK has no claim over.

However, diplomatic protection means Iran will be forced to meet its obligations to her under international law. It is the first time the UK has used the diplomatic tool  one of the strongest available  in recent memory.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been given diplomatic protection by Britain in a bid to secure her release from an Iranian prison (with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their daughter Gabriella)

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested by members of the Revolutionary Guard at Tehrans Imam Khomeini airport in April 2016 as she and 22-month-old daughter Gabriella were due to board a flight back to London.

She was sentenced to five years in jail for plotting to topple the Iranian government, allegations she denies. Last night her husband Richard Ratcliffe said he was pleased she had been given diplomatic protection.

He said: I think the Foreign Secretarys decision is a good thing for Nazanin  something for which we have been lobbying for a while and I am glad he has decided that it is now time.

Were expecting the reaction in Iran might be a bit bumpy, but they shouldnt be too surprised. You cant use innocent people in this way.

Mr Ratcliffe said he hoped it would allow British diplomats to visit Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe for the first time and that she will receive medical attention.

It comes after she went on hunger strike earlier this year to demand access to doctors. Mr Hunt said his decision was extremely unusual but sent a signal to Tehran that its behaviour was totally wrong.

The move by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt means that Iran could now be forced to release Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella. She is serving a five-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2016 of spying charges, which she denies

He added: It demonstrates to the whole world that Nazanin is innocent and the UK will not stand by when one of its citizens is treated so unjustly.

Though largely symbolic, the declaration represents a significant diplomatic escalation, and the UK hopes other countries will back its stance.

It is a formal recognition her treatment has failed to meet Irans obligations under international law and means the case can be taken to the UN and brought before the International Court of Justice.

The decision could also potentially open the door for the UK to take legal action.

The Iranian regime will now face increasing international pressure as it upgrades the issue from a consulate issue to a state-on-state issue.

Mr Ratcliffe has called for the Government to introduce the measure and it has been under discussion for several months.
Advertisement

A stunning series of images released this week has captured the moment two supersonic planes break the speed of sound to produce simultaneous sonic booms with interacting shockwaves.

The breathtaking photos mark the first time this effect has ever been imaged, according to NASA.

It comes more than 10 years in the making, relying on an advanced air-to-air photographic technology that could help the space agency collect the data it needs to develop its quiet supersonic plane.

Scroll down for video

A stunning series of images released this week has captured the moment two supersonic planes break the speed of sound to produce simultaneous sonic booms with interacting shockwaves. The tests used a pair of T-38 aircraft from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base flying just 30 feet apart, with an altitude difference of just 10 feet

We never dreamt that it would be this clear, this beautiful, said Physical Scientist J.T. Heineck of NASAs Ames Research Center in Mountain View.

I am ecstatic about how these images turned out, Heineck said.

With this upgraded system, we have, by an order of magnitude, improved both the speed and quality of our imagery from previous research.

The team captured the incredible images during the fourth phase of Air-to-Air Background Oriented Schlieren flights, or AirBOS, at NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

With the upgraded imaging system, scientists were able to document the moment shockwaves ripple out from each of the two planes as they exceed the speed of sound.

The tests used a pair of T-38 aircraft from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base flying just 30 feet apart, with an altitude difference of just 10 feet.

Getting the shot wasnt easy. The King Air flying a pattern around 30,000 feet had to be in the exact right spot as the two T-38s passed supersonic speeds roughly 2,000 feet below, according to NASA

In the images, the shockwaves can be seen eventually merging together as they ripple through the atmosphere.

Were looking at a supersonic flow, which is why were getting these shockwaves, said Neal Smith, a research engineer with AerospaceComputing Inc. at NASA Ames fluid mechanics laboratory.

Whats interesting is, if you look at the rear T-38, you see these shocks kind of interact in a curve.

This is because the trailing T-38 is flying in the wake of the leading aircraft, so the shocks are going to be shaped differently.

This data is really going to help us advance our understanding of how these shocks interact.

NASA has been working to develop its own supersonic craft with a quieter sonic boom, with hopes to enable supersonic flights over land.

The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology X-plane, or X-59 QueSST, will produce more of a sonic rumble.

HOW WILL NASA REDUCE THE SOUND OF SONIC BOOMS? In a conventional supersonic aircraft, shockwaves from the nose, cockpit, inlets, wings and other features come together as they move through the atmosphere into strong shocks emanating from the nose and tail. These are known as bow and tail shocks, respectively. As these shockwaves pass over the ground, air pressure rises sharply, declines, then rises rapidly again. It's this that produces the classic 'double-bang' sonic boom. In a conventional supersonic aircraft, shockwaves from the nose, cockpit, inlets, wings and other features come together as they move through the atmosphere into strong shocks emanating from the nose and tail Reshaping the aircraft to produce a longer, more slender shape is the best way to generate shockwaves of lower, more equal strength that do not form into such strong bow and tail shocks. Nasa and other organisations are working on creating shapes to reduce sonic booms. Stretching the nose to break the bow shock into a series of weaker shockwaves is particularly effective. This lowers and spreads that initial pressure peak and softens the first bang of the sonic boom. Advertisement

With the new imaging system, NASA will be able to capture crucial data for the design of its craft, enabling shockwaves that dont give off the characteristic boom.

Were seeing a level of physical detail here that I dont think anybody has ever seen before, said Dan Banks, senior research engineer at NASA Armstrong.

Just looking at the data for the first time, I think things worked out better than wed imagined. This is a very big step.

The new images were captured from a NASA B-200 King Air using an upgraded camera system.

The team also developed a new installation system to slash the time it takes to fit the aircraft with the upgraded cameras.

With the upgraded imaging system, scientists were able to document the moment shockwaves ripple out from each of the two planes as they exceed the speed of sound. In the images, the shockwaves can be seen eventually merging together as they ripple through the atmosphere

NASA has been working to develop its own supersonic craft with a quieter sonic boom, with hopes to enable supersonic flights over land. The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology X-plane, or X-59 QueSST, will produce more of a sonic rumble

But, getting the shot wasnt easy.

The King Air flying a pattern around 30,000 feet had to be in the exact right spot as the two T-38s passed supersonic speeds roughly 2,000 feet below.

The biggest challenge was trying to get the timing correct to make sure we could get these images, said Heather Maliska, AirBOS sub-project manager.

Im absolutely happy with how the team was able to pull this off. Our operations team has done this type of maneuver before.

They know how to get the maneuver lined up, and our NASA pilots and the Air Force pilots did a great job being where they needed to be. They were rock stars.
An anchor thought to be from the 'most valuable shipwreck ever' has been found off the coast of the UK.

The Merchant Royal, a vessel lost at sea during rough winds off Land's End in Cornwall, had been carrying over 1.1 billion ($1.5 bn) in treasure in today's money.

On board at the time of its sinking was a trove 100,000 lbs of gold, 400 bars of Mexican silver and almost 500,000 'pieces of eight', or Spanish dollars.

Scroll down for video

An anchor from a shipwreck which was carrying over 1.1 billion ($1.5 bn) has been found off the coast of the UK. The anchor is believed to be from the Merchant Royal, a vessel which was lost at sea in 1641 because of rough weather off Land's End in Cornwall

Experts say the anchor, which was brought up in a fishing vessel's net 20 miles (32km) off the coast, matches the one used on the Merchant Royal.

Dubbed 'the El Dorado of the seas,' the Merchant Royal was carrying and other coins when she sank.

The loss of the treasure made headlines at the time, with its value back estimated to be equivalent to one-third of the government's revenue from taxes in 1641.

Several salvage teams have sought to recover the wreck over the years but have so far been unsuccessful.

The anchor was found by a crew aboard a fishing vessel called the Spirited Lady.

Mark Milburn, co-founder of Cornwall Maritime Archaeology, told MailOnline that he agrees the anchor's design matches one that the Merchant Royal would have used.

'It's an admiralty patterned long shank anchor, the right type for the Merchant Royal.' he said.

'From what I see in the pictures it is the same design as ones used in the 17th century and there is no stock - a marking etched into an anchor.

'If it did have a stock then its not the Merchant Royal because they didn't have those until a hundred years after it sank.'

The Cornwall Maritime Archaeology team is seeking to find a place to store the anchor to protect it from damage and study it further to determine its exact age.

The Merchant Royal was known as 'the El Dorado of the seas', and traded with Spanish colonies between 1637 to 1640. As well as its golden and silver, the vessel sank while carrying nearly 500,000 pieces of eight and other coins  making it one of the most valuable wrecks of all time

Here, the fishing crew who netted the anchor. On board at the time of the Merchant Royal's sinking was a trove of treasure worth over a billion pounds in today's money, making it the most valuable shipwreck of all time

The discovery is expected to launch a bid for divers to find the ship's riches that may lurk on the sea bed.

Mr Milburn says that he will dive down to take a 'close look' but he warned that the location where the ship sank is notoriously treacherous.

'The spot where it was found is about 300ft (91mt) deep  there are very few people that are qualified to dive that deep.

As an experienced and qualified diver, Mr Milburn said specialist equipment is needed to dive down that deep onto the sea bed.

'It's a serious dive. It takes a lot of the right equipment and most divers know that,' he said.

'You need to be an experienced diver and there isn't even one per cent of divers who could undertake it.'

The anchor is currently on the quayside but he wants to move it to a freshwater quarry to stop it from decaying further.

If treasure is found, the person who discovers it will need to notify their local coroner within 14 days, under the Treasure Act 1996.

Experts say the anchor, which was brought up in a fishing vessel's net 20 miles (32km) off the coast, matches the one used on the Merchant Royal. The discovery is expected to launch a bid for divers to find the ship's riches that may lurk on the sea bed
Russia's Energy Ministry is confident that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be built within the previously designated time frame - by the end of 2019, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said after a meeting with chairman of the Executive Board of OMV Rainer Seele.

"I am confident that our joint efforts and the work being done to promote Nord Stream 2 will not be in vain, and the project will be successfully implemented on time, TASS cited him as saying.

In the framework of the talks, Novak and Seele also discussed current issues of bilateral cooperation and OMV projects in cooperation with Russian partners. In particular, the progress in the development of the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil, gas and condensate field, which gas production was about 25.1 billion cubic meters in 2018, the Ministry of Energy added.
More than 17 million young Americans have quit Facebook in the last two years amid a number of data privacy scandals hit the social network.

Former fans of the site, aged between 12 and 34, have abandoned it in the wake of damaging reports, including the Cambridge Analytica debacle.

US users are the most lucrative market for the social media network and it is alienating the highly coveted youth as teens and millennials shun the app.

A report from market research firm Edison Research found they are flocking instead to Facebook's sister site - Instagram.

Scroll down for video

Former fans of the site, aged between 12 and 34, have abandoned it in the wake of damaging reports, including the Cambridge Analytica debacle

The data revealed 79 per cent of US people aged between 12 and 34 were on Facebook but this has plummeted to 67 per cent in 2018 and 62 per cent in 2019

The report found that in 2017, 67 per cent of the total US population over the age of 12 used Facebook.

This has dropped to 62 per cent and 61 per cent in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

These average figures equate to approximately 172 million current users, according to Edison Research.

However, a breakdown of those ditching the beleaguered site found the drop off has been much larger in youngsters.

The data revealed 79 per cent of US people aged between 12 and 34 were on Facebook but this has plummeted to 67 per cent in 2018 and 62 per cent in 2019.

This reveals 17 million people in this age group have deactivated their accounts.

This has been marginally offset by an increase in people aged 55 and up. Facebook use for this older group increased from 49 per cent in 2017 and 2018 to 53 percent in 2019.

The report, which interviewed 1,500 users over the age of 12 via telephone, reveals the overall decrease in Facebook's user numbers is approximately 15 million.

Data from the report found that Twitter's numbers are dropping (36 per cent in 2017 to 29 per cent in 2019) and Snapchat's user base is stable at 62 per cent of all young Americans over the past two years.

17 million people between 12 and 34 have deactivated their accounts. This has been marginally offset by an increase in people aged 55 and up. Facebook use for this older group increased from 49 per cent in 2017 and 2018 to 53 percent in 2019 (pictured)

Facebook's usage equates to approximately 172 million current users, according to Edison Research (pictured). However, a breakdown of those ditching the beleaguered site found the drop off has been much larger in youngsters

Facebook yesterday announced it is shifting toward a 'privacy-focused' future. In lengthy blog post on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) detailed a plan to bring end-to-end encryption to Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram

It did find that while Facebook, and to some extent Twitter, is haemorrhaging users - they are instead logging on to Instagram.

The picture oriented platform has seen a surge in users from 64 per cent in 2017 to 66 per cent in 2019.

Facebook remains the most used social media site overall and among young people despite the decrease in popularity.

It is also the most used platform for the youngest demographic in the US with 29 per cent saying it is the site they use most often.

HOW DOES ZUCK PLAN TO IMPROVE PRIVACY? In a March 6 blog post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to rebuild based on six 'privacy-focused' principles: Private interactions

Encryption

Reducing permanence

Safety

Interoperability

Secure data storage Zuckerberg promised end-to-end encryption for all of its messaging services, which will be combined in a way that allows users to communicate across WhatsApp, Instagram Direct, and Facebook Messenger. This he refers to as 'interoperability.' He also said moving forward, the firm won't hold onto messages or stories for 'longer than necessary' or 'longer than people want them.' This could mean, for example, that users set messages to auto-delete after a month or even a few minutes. 'Interoperability' will ensure messages remain encrypted even when jumping from one messaging service, such as WhatsApp, to another, like Instagram, Zuckerberg says. Facebook also hopes to improve users' trust in how it stores their data. Zuckerberg promised the site 'won't store sensitive data in countries with weak records on human rights like privacy and freedom of expression in order to protect data from being improperly accessed.' Advertisement

The result from the survey directly contradict the official figures from Facebook, who declined to comment on the findings.

Monthly and daily active users, Facebook's figures reveal, have increased globally.

In the US and Canada alone, Facebook says it has 186 active daily users at the end of 2018 - up marginally from 182 million at the start of 2017.

Over the same time span monthly active users have increased from 234 million to 242 million, its official figures say.

A monthly active user is defined as a user who logs on at least once a month and a daily active user is someone who uses the site every day.

Data is not available for the younger demographic.

Facebook yesterday announced it is shifting toward a 'privacy-focused' future.

In lengthy blog post on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg detailed a plan to bring end-to-end encryption to Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram messaging services  confirming previous reports that the firm planned to stitch the three together.

The Facebook boss acknowledged the site's reputation, which has been tarnished in recent years as a result of its lax-approach to the protection of its users' information, and promised to rebuild its services on the principle of privacy.

Zuckerberg also said he's working to ensure your online activity won't come back to haunt you later in life.

Ultimately, the CEO says the firm is striving to make interactions across Facebook 'a fundamentally more private experience.'

'I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won't stick around forever,' Zuckerberg wrote in the March 6 post.

'This is the future I hope we will help bring about.'
A leak of around 364 million online records in a Chinese database, including private messages and ID numbers, has again highlighted the size and scope of Beijing's mass surveillance system.

The files show a wealth of information linked to online accounts, including GPS locations, file transfers, and chat logs, according to the database discovered by Victor Gevers, a security researcher at Dutch non-profit GDI Foundation.

The data collection appears indiscriminate -- some conversations are simply banter between teenagers, like one commenting on someone's weight and clothing size.

Chinese law requires internet cafes to record the identities and 'relevant' online activity of users, and provide them to the public security bureau on request

'They know exactly who, when, where and what,' Gevers told AFP, explaining that thousands of records were piped daily to different databases for local law enforcement to review.

Government procurement documents and database records shared by Gevers show that the database is linked to an 'internet cafe management system' developed by HeadBond.com, a tech firm based in eastern Shandong province.

In 2017, the public security bureau in Yancheng city, eastern Jiangsu province -- where at least one internet cafe named in the database is based -- contracted HeadBond for a system that monitors online activity at internet cafes.

On its website, the company calls its internet cafe management system 'the best solution' for identifying online users for police on its website.

HeadBond declined to comment, and the Yancheng city government and public security bureau did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

Over the past decade, the Chinese government has cracked down on internet cafes -- especially underground venues that serve minors -- over concerns of game addiction and crime.

Chinese law requires internet cafes to record the identities and 'relevant' online activity of users, and provide them to the public security bureau on request -- which has resulted in an entire market of internet cafe monitoring systems like those offered by HeadBond.

'This also explains why data leaks that involve personal information are more prevalent in China,' said Lokman Tsui, an expert on internet policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

'Beijing requires most network services to register their users with real names,' he told AFP.

CHINA'S SOCIAL CREDIT SCORE China launched a pilot version of the scheme in 2010 in a province just north of Shanghai. Details as to how it works and the algorithm it uses are thin on the ground but certain behaviours have been found to be beneficial to boosting the score. Completing community service and buying Chinese products is thought to improve it whereas fraud, tax evasion and smoking in non-smoking areas can drop it. Companies that pay their takes on time and any bills also receive favour from the system, improving their social credit standing. In the pilot system, incentives are provided for those with a high social credit score. Benefits include priority access to public housing, travel visas and job promotions. Advertisement

'This means that every single mobile phone operator, internet cafe, social media website, and so on, are legally required to have databases filled with personal information, and all these databases are potentially vulnerable to attacks and leaks.'

The capture of extensive user data, such as chat logs, also extends well beyond the stated purpose of catching minors surfing the web or playing games.

A government procurement notice posted last month by Liaoyuan city in northeastern Jilin province, for instance, outlines specifications for another 'internet cafe management system' for local police, with explicit requirements for features that support querying and analysis of content on QQ, a popular messaging app in China.

'It's shocking the amount of personal data that is being collected on Chinese people,' said Bob Diachenko, a security researcher who has reported on exposed databases in the US and Europe for the past few years, and is now looking at cases in China.

In particular, it is surprising to see the amount of additional data that is linked with a user's login data, Diachenko told AFP, such as their IP address, name, and even information about their family members.

'Sometimes it's just big data and it doesn't even make sense to collect that from a user perspective,' he said.

Last month, Gevers had found another publicly accessible database containing personal information such as ethnicity and GPS tracking data of 2.6 million people in Xinjiang. Access to the database has since been closed.

The restive northwestern region is home to most of China's Uighur ethnic minority, which has been under heavy police surveillance in recent years after violent inter-ethnic tensions.

'I would argue that good personal data protection is neither in the interest of the companies who gather the data for profit, nor the government who can (ab)use that data for power and surveillance,' Tsui wrote in an email.

'It is the people in China and their basic human rights, in this case privacy, who end up drawing the short stick.'
A 'giant' hornet has been discovered on the border between China and Myanmar that experts say is from a new speices.

Experts from the Huaxi Insect Museum in Chengdu city, south China, say the find represents the largest Asian giant hornet found to date.

The discovery was made on an expedition to Yunnan in southern China, where locals led an insect specialist to a giant hive.

Scroll down for video

A 'giant' hornet has been discovered on the border between China and Myanmar that experts say is from a new speices. Experts from the Huaxi Insect Museum in Chengdu city, south China, say the find represents the largest Asian giant hornet found to date

The Asian giant hornet is a wasp that is native to forests and mountains in temperate and tropical environments in East Asia.

The newly found hornets have an body length measuring up to 2.4inches (6cm) and a wing span of 3.5inches (9.35cm), making them a significantly larger population than the largest recorded.

Asian killer hornets grow up to two inches long (45mm) and have a three-inch wingspan (75mm), are an aggressive predator of honey bees and other pollinating insects.

Mr Zhao Li was on an expedition to the city of Pu'er in Yunnan province and was astounded by the 'mega hive' he was shown in a photo on a local's mobile phone.

The hive had a diameter seemingly greater than 79inches (2m), and the man in the photo could only wrap his arm two-thirds of the way round it, something which Mr Zhao says was enough to pique his curiosity.

But Mr Zhao was not able to identify the same population until he searched 'far and wide', eventually finding the hive in a local market, where fresh honey was being sold.

Eventually following the seller he was able to trace the wasps to the border with Myanmar.

After studying hundreds of samples from the hives, the scientists concluded that the new wasp population were indeed larger than all those that had previously been studied.

The newly found 'mega' Giant hornet (pictured) have an body length measuring up to 2.4inches (6cm) and a wing span of 3.5inches (9.35cm), making them a significantly larger than the largest ever recorded

Asian killer hornets grow up to two inches long (45mm) and have a three-inch wingspan (75mm), are an aggressive predator of honey bees and other pollinating insects.

But as an immigrant species in Europe, the hornets have caused a lot of concern for local agriculture.

They prey on honeybees, hovering like attack helicopters outside their hives and grabbing them on the wing.

Dr Gavin Gavin Broad, a wasp expert at the Natural History Museum in London previously explained why British beekeepers in are so worried about the Asian hornet.

Mr Zhao Li was on an expedition to the city of Pu'er in Yunnan province, south China when he was astounded by the 'mega hive' a local showed him on his mobile phone

He said: 'The non-native Asian or yellow-legged hornet is an invasive species in Britain as their spread could negatively affect the wildlife already living here.

'The issue is that they eat honeybees. They are specialised honeybee predators and beekeepers are concerned.

'The hornets raid honeybee hives by sitting outside them and capturing workers as they go in and out. They chop them up and feed the thorax to their young.'

The 'Asian hornet', scientific name Vespa velutina, is an invasive non-native species from Asia that arrived in France in 2014, and has since been spreading rapidly in Europe, threatening local bee species and agriculture as they prey on honey bees

Mr Zhao Li from the Chengdu Xihua Insect Museum was in the city of Pu'er in Yunnan province in south China when he was shown a picture of a 'mega hive'. To hunt the same population of hornets down, Mr Li said he had to search 'far and wide', eventually finding it in a local market

The photo of the hive that astounded the insect expert had a diameter greater than 79inches (2m), and the man (pictured) in the could only wrap his arm two-thirds of the way round it

After taking hundreds of samples from the hives discovered, the scientists concluded that the new wasp population were indeed larger than all those that had previously been studied

An immigrant species in Europe, however, the hornets caused a lot of concern for local farmers and bee growers. They prey on honeybees, hovering like attack helicopters outside their hives and grabbing them on the wing
Europe's leading particle physics research centre has severed ties with a guest lecturer who suggested women are inferior to men in the world of science.

Professor Alessandro Strumia from the University of Pisa will no longer deliver talks at the CERN institute.

Professor Strumia gave a presentation claiming men face discrimination in the field of physics.

He also suggested work conducted by female scientists was of a lesser quality than that of their male peers.

The scientist was suspended following his presentation in September 2018 and CERN has confirmed he will no longer work for the institution.

Professor Strumia stands by his claims and has also been reprimanded by the University of Pisa, where he works permanently.

Scroll down for video

Europe's leading particle physics research centre, CERN, has severed ties with a guest lecturer who suggested women are inferior to men in the world of scientific research. Professor Alessandro Strumia (pictured) will no longer deliver talks at the institute

Professor Strumia told a congregation of mainly female physicists at a talk on workshop in Geneva on gender and high energy physics that he had conducted research and conclusive 'proof' to support his theory.

The disgraced researcher said at the time: 'Physics is not sexist against women. However the truth does not matter, because it is part of a political battle coming from outside.'

'Physics invented and built by men, it's not by invitation,' one slide said.

Professor Strumia also produced a series of graphs that he said showed women got jobs over men despite being cited less often.

Cartoons mocking the movement campaigning for parity and equality for all genders in STEM subjects were also displayed.

CERN suspended him after the controversial talk and has now issued a statement cutting all ties with him.

'As a result of its own investigation... CERN decided not to extend Professor Strumia's status of Guest Professor,' the lab said in a statement.

Profesor Strumia told BBC News that he stands by his remarks despite the widespread condemnation.

'Some people hated hearing about higher male variance: this idea comes from Darwin, like other offensive ideas that got observational support.

'Science is not about being offended when facts challenge ideas held as sacred'.

He also claims to have been unjustly treated throughout his investigation.

Cartoons mocking the movement campaigning for parity and equality for all genders in STEM subjects were also displayed (pictured)

Professor Strumia suggested work conducted by female scientists was of a lesser quality than that of their male peers. The scientist was suspended following his presentation in September 2018 and CERN has confirmed he will no longer work for the institution

'For months, CERN kept 'investigating' if my 30-minute talk might have violated CERN rules [requiring an] 'obligation to exercise reserve and tact in expressing personal opinions and communication to the public',' Professor Strumia said.

Reaction to the decision among the scientific community has been mixed, with some parties claiming he demonstrated scientific fact and lost his job as a result.

Others have heralded it as a courageous step from CERN in the ongoing quest for sexual equality.

Dr Sam Gregson, a physicist working at the University of Cambridge said he was 'disappointed' by the decision from CERN despite disgareeing the majority of his opinions.

He said on Twitter: 'Science shouldn't be a discipline where certain topics of discussion are 'off limits'.

'I disagree with a lot of what Strumia said, but hearing and then dismissing/validating controversial ideas is vital. Disappointed by this emotional reaction.'

The decision from CERN to distance itself from Professor Strumia comes one day before International Women's Day.

It also comes one day after Anne McClain and Christina Koch were announced by NASA as the astronauts set to break the celestial glass ceiling when they embark on the first ever all-female space walk on March 29.

Sexism in science propagates throughout the community and several movements have been started to reduce discrimination.

Hashtags such as #WomenInSTEM, #WomenInTech and #STEMWomen have gained long overdue momentum within the community as female academics continue to find themselves marginalised by science's patriarchy.

The Instagram account 'women doing science' has accrued more than 35,000 followers.

James Watson, a Nobel prize winner and co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA, has recently come under huge amounts of scrutiny following comments about ethnic minorities, women and people with disabilities.

The 90-year-old scientist was forced to sell his Nobel medal after described those who aided him with the discovery as 'losers' and 'autistic'.

He also described those who aided him with the discovery as 'losers' and 'autistic'.

While Crick and Watson shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery in 1962, but Rosalind Franklin's contributions remained largely unrecognised for decades.
Advertisement

If you want to get the flavour of a place before you go, one of these punchy drinks might help!

Top London cocktail bar Mr Fogg's - which has six venues around the city inspired by the protagonist in Jules Verne's 1873 novel Around the World in 80 days - has shared a selection of its top secret recipes with MailOnline Travel.

Explorers such as Levison Wood and Sir David Attenborough have been spotted plotting their next adventures with a beverage down at Mr Fogg's. So, scroll down to see which travel-inspired tipple whets your appetite...

Rapa Nui

Rapa Nui is inspired by the ingredients found on Easter Island, with fruity mix of Grand Marnier orange liqueur and banana

Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, inspired this namesake cocktail served at Mr Fogg's Society of Exploration - a bar described as 'a sanctuary for those more curious than most'. The ingredients used are intended to transport drinkers to the remote volcanic island, where ripe fruits and lemony herbs are rife.

Instead of a glass, the drink comes in a small earthenware pot, complete with a lid and sprig of flowers.

Ingredients: 40ml Bacardi Cuatro Anejo rum, 20ml Grand Marnier orange liqueur, fresh grapefruit, 30ml banana lemon shrub (the shrub is pre-made by fermenting banana skin and lemon thyme in water and sugar with wine yeast). Shake and pour the ingredients over ice.

Cresting the Summit

Cresting The Summit is a drink inspired by ingredients used by locals in the Himalayas, including butter-infused tea

Created to evoke the feeling of being close Mount Everest, Cresting The Summit served at Mr Fogg's Society of Exploration features a range of ingredients inspired by those used by locals in the Himalayas, one being butter-infused tea.

Instead of yak milk however, butter from cows is used to make this concoction. This drink - served at Mr Fogg's Society of Exploration - was actually taken to Mount Everest by MailOnline last year and drunk at 7,100m, while setting the world record for the highest dinner party.

Ingredients: 45ml Metaxa 12 Star aged amber spirit, 20ml spiced-butter-infused English breakfast tea - shake to combine and pour into vessel, and garnish with yoghurt powder. Best served out of a Thermos flask-style vessel.

Valley of Silence

The Valley of Silence was named after the Western Cwm on Mount Everest. The glacial valley basin is nicknamed the Valley of Silence because when the wind stops, it is eerily quiet

The Valley of Silence is also part of the Mount Everest section of the Mr Fogg's Society of Exploration menu.

It was named after the Western Cwm, which is a a broad, flat, glacial valley basin on the mountain. It is nicknamed the Valley of Silence because when the wind stops, it is eerily quiet. The drink is served in a traditional Tibetan singing bowl.

Ingredients: 60ml Bombay Sapphire gin, 25ml sake, 40ml of mirin (a Japanese sweet rice wine), 5ml milk and vanilla syrup, a splash of lime and one egg white. Shake all of the ingredients to combine and until the egg white is foamy. Strain into a vessel.

Goan Lass

The Goan Lass features on the menu at Mrs Fogg's, which is located in the heart of London and inspired by Mr Fogg's better half  his Indian wife, Aouda

This fruity drink was inspired by the sandy shores of Goa in India.

It features on the menu at Mrs Fogg's, which is located in the heart of the City and inspired by Mr Fogg's better half  his Indian wife, Aouda.

Ingredients: 40ml Bacardi Anejo Cuatro Rum, 20ml Martini Riserva Speciale Ambrato vermouth, eight leaves of mint, 20ml fresh lime, 30ml mango juice, one spoon of yoghurt powder, 15ml of cinnamon syrup, topped with around 70ml of beer. Garnish with mint springs, a cinnamon stick, a straw and a sprinkle of icing sugar on top.

Mombai Mule

The Mombai Mule is on the menu at Mrs Fogg's which is an eccentric bar modelled on a Rangoon steamer ship

The aromatic Mombai Mule is another concoction that makes an appearance on the leather-bound drinks list at Mrs Fogg's.

All of the drinks at the eccentric City spot - which is modelled on a Rangoon steamer ship - pay homage to India.

Ingredients: 50ml Cardamom-infused Russian Standard Original vodka (allow 20 green cardamom seeds to infuse 70cl Russian Standard Original for five hours, then remove the seeds from the bottle), 25ml pear puree, 50ml apple juice, 15ml fresh lime juice and 10ml cinnamon syrup, topped with around 80ml of ginger beer. Build the cocktail directly in a floral metal mug if you can, with plenty of ice. Garnish with curly parsley, dried apple and a dash of icing sugar.

The Inca Trail

A photo of the Inca Trail cocktail which features ingredients inspired by those found in the wilds of Peru, such as vanilla, coffee and cherries

The Inca Trail appears on the Machu Picchu section of the Mr Fogg's Society of Exploration menu.

The mixologists went for ingredients inspired by those found in the wilds of Peru, such as vanilla, coffee and cherries, which can be growing in the mountainous regions of the country.

Ingredients: 40ml Patron silver tequila, 60ml signature cold brew coffee, 5ml morello cherry syrup and 5ml vanilla syrup. Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake to combine and pour into vessel with one large ice cube.

The Lagoon Reef

The Lagoon Reef promises to transport drinkers to the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia

The extensive menu at Mr Fogg's Society of Exploration includes a section dedicated to the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia.

The Lagoon Reef promises to transport drinkers to the land of crystal clear waters and balmy weather, with a blend of coconut and nut essence, with chestnut trees growing in abundance back on land.

Ingredients: 45ml VII Hills gin, 10ml Frangelico, 10ml coconut water, mint and chestnut essence. Shake all of the ingredients and strain into a blue-coloured vessel with a large piece of ice.

The Rosey Rooster

The Rosey Rooster cocktail is inspired by Cuba, where the strutting rooster is one of the most common animals

The Rosey Rooster - served at Mr Fogg's Gin Parlour - was inspired by Mr Fogg's fictional travels to Cuba. The rooster is one of the most common creatures on the island and found strutting around most homes and farms.

The team at Mr Fogg's suggest serving this tipple in a miniature rub barrel to further the Cuban theme, but a standard highball will also suffice!

Ingredients: 35ml Dictador Colombian Treasure Aged gin, 20ml Roots Tentura liqueur, 30ml Aspall Draught Cyder, guava jam, peanut butter, pink grapefruit juice and fresh lemon juice. Build all of the ingredients into the vessel and stir.

Bad Luck Bunraku

The Bad Luck Bunraku comes served in a sake-style china cup, placed inside a wooden box, with some edible flowers reminiscent of the Japanese cherry blossom to finish

The Bad Luck Bunraku, served at Mr Fogg's Gin Parlour, takes drinkers on a ride to Edo - better known as Tokyo today after being renamed in 1868 - in Japan.

The floral and citrus concoction comes served in a sake-style china cup, placed inside a wooden box, with some edible flowers reminiscent of the Japanese cherry blossom to finish.

Ingredients: 25ml Hendrick's Orbium gin, 20ml plum liqueur, 15ml fresh orange Juice, 5ml fresh lemon juice and 15ml sage and lavender honey. Mix and strain the ingredients into a glass. Spray ylang ylang essence around the glass, which is commonly used in Japan, season with edible flowers and a bamboo leaf.

Man of Stone

The Man of Stone drink was inspired by the mysterious stone Moai monoliths which are scattered around Easter Island

The Man of Stone is another libation at Mr Fogg's Society of Exploration inspired by Easter Island, and named after the mysterious stone Moai monoliths which are scattered around the remote outcrop.

The bar team picked a smokey mezcal as one of the ingredients, to reflect the area's volcanic past. There are also some other unusual elements to the drink, with the team explaining: 'We prepare a low Abv aperitif from rose grenache wine using graviola leaves and pau d'arco tea plus some chamomile. If you chew graviola and these tea leaves you get a kind of high which might enable you to talk with the moai faces.'

Ingredients: 35ml Alipus San Juan mezcal, 20ml Drambuie Scotch whisky liqueur and 60ml infused aperitif wine. Stir the ingredients together and serve in a stone man-shaped vessel - if available!
Advertisement

A stunning spaceship-like airport has landed in Israel.

The Ilan and Asaf Ramon International Airport, located 11 miles from the coastal resort city of Eilat, cost more than 332 million ($436 million) to build, with construction starting in 2013.

Renderings of the cutting-edge transport hub show it blending into the desert landscape with a slick minimalist design.

The Ilan and Asaf Ramon International Airport, located 11 miles from the coastal resort city of Eilat, cost more than 332 million ($436 million) to build, with construction starting in 2013

Renderings of the cutting-edge transport hub show it blending into the desert landscape with a slick minimalist design

The terminal building features giant glass panels that allow natural light to flood in

The terminal building, designed by two of Israel's leading firms, Amir Mann-Ami Shinar Architects and Moshe Zur Architects, was constructed out of a steel and concrete frame and clad with insulating aluminum triangular panels.

There are also giant glass panels that allow natural light to flood into the sprawling building.

According to local news reports, the airport - which is spread across 1,250 acres - has the world's tallest anti-missile fence at 85 feet high to protect from potential terrorist attacks.

The airport was built to replace the two existing airports in Eilat - Eilat City Airport and Ovda Airport - and to create a new international gateway to Southern Israel and the Red Sea.

The terminal building, designed by two of Israel's leading firms, was constructed out of a steel and concrete frame and clad with insulating aluminum triangular panels

According to local news reports, the airport - which is spread across 1,250 acres - has the world's tallest anti-missile fence at 85 feet high to protect from potential terrorist attacks

The Ramon Airport is expected to handle up to two million passengers a year with a planned expansion allowing capacity of up to 4.2 million passengers by the year 2030

All domestic flights to the old Eilat City Airport from Tel Aviv and Haifa will now move to the new Eilat Ramon Airport, while the airport will also begin handling low-cost and charter flights from Europe which currently land in Ovda Airport, including flights from Ryanair, WizzAir, easyJet, Transavia, SAS, Finnair, Edelweiss and Ural Airlines.

The new airport, which opened on January 21, is named after Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut who was killed in the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, and his son, Assaf Ramon, who was killed in a training accident at the Israel Air Force Flight Academy in 2009.

The Ramon Airport is expected to handle up to two million passengers a year with a planned expansion allowing capacity of up to 4.2 million passengers by the year 2030.

Commenting on the airport's design, project design manager, Amir Mann said: 'Our objective was how not to compete with the overwhelming emptiness of the site, while creating a place that welcomes passengers through the departure and arrival processes, reflecting through that experience the uniqueness of the desert environment, as a functioning international southern gate to Israel.'
She was said to be close to late iconic Chanel designer, Karl Lagerfeld.

And Australian model Catherine McNeil couldn't contain her emotion as she stormed a snow-covered runway to honour Karl's last collection on Tuesday during Paris Fashion Week.

The brunette model first showed off a steely demeanour at the beginning of the show, before breaking down into tears at the end of the spectacular.

A show to remember! Model Catherine McNeil, 29, walked in Karl Lagerfeld's final alpine-themed show for Chanel on Tuesday

She was joined by many of Karl's other high-glam muses, including Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, Kaia Gerber, and UK model Cara Delevingne.

The 29-year-old statuesque beauty looked incredibly chic in a black-and-white checkered vest and matching trousers for the extravaganza, which saw Paris' Grand Palais transformed into a Swiss alpine town.

Cat's two-piece ensemble was teamed with a matching checked overcoat and fedora hat.

Tears: The brunette model first showed off a steely demeanour at the beginning of the show, before being overcome with emotion and breaking down into tears at the end of the spectacular. Pictured with Cara Delevingne (centre, left)

Her look was accessorised with chic 80s style pearl earrings, a black leather belt and pair of wedge sandals.

Catherine and Karl were known to be close, and the Aussie beauty was a favourite of the German-born designer.

Karl famously allowed the her to walk in the fashion house's Haute Couture show after an accident left Cat with stitches above her eye in 2016.

A highly-appreciative Cat took to her Instagram account soon after to thank Karl and the prestigious fashion house for allowing her to walk 'stitches and all.'

Bid Adieu: The 29-year-old statuesque beauty looked incredibly chic in a black-and-white checkered vest and matching trousers for the show, which saw Paris' Grand Palais transformed into a Swiss alpine town

Runway ready: Cat's two-piece ensemble was teamed with a matching checked overcoat and fedora hat

Soon after Karl's death, the model took to Instagram to post a picture of her backstage with Karl at Chanel's Spring Ready To Wear Show in 2014.

'I will forever be grateful to you and my family at Chanel,' she wrote in her tribute.

'It was always an honour and an absolute pleasure. You were and always will be loved and missed by all.'
Peter Thomas is expected to be released from custody in Florida in the wake of his arrest last week for bouncing a $4,000 check.

The 58-year-old reality star on Friday was arrested in connection with writing fraudulent checks after he deboarded a plane at Miami International Airport, and was subsequently held without bond at a Miami facility.

'This appears to have been a very big misunderstanding on several people's part,' his lawyer Keith A. Doley told TMZ, adding that 'It was not a malicious intent on Mr. Thomas end.'

Almost out: Reality star Peter Thomas, 58, is expected to be released from custody in Florida in the wake of his arrest last week for bouncing a $4,000 check. He was pictured in a mug shot on Friday

The Real Housewives of Atlanta personality, who was formerly married to Cynthia Bailey, had a fugitive warrant in Louisiana over the check; he's since made good on the $4,000 debt through Doley, officials with St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney's Office told TMZ Wednesday.

With the financial dispute settled, the district attorney was set to inform the Sheriff's Office they are dropping the case, paving the way for Thomas's release, according to the outlet.

Peter, who owns a bar and club in Charlotte, North Carolina, initially said in a statement that he was going to be 'acquitted from any wrongdoing,' as the allegations against him were false.

Peter exchanged vows with Cynthia in a 2010 ceremony that was shown on the Bravo show's third season. The two separated in 2016, with their divorce finalized the following year.

Luxe life: Peter posed with former wife Cynthia at a 2016 event in NYC

Feted: The businessman last year received a Made Man Award from the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C.

The businessman - who last year received a Made Man Award from the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C. - was seen on a RHOA episode earlier in the show's current 11th season as he visited friends NeNe and Gregg Leakes.

NeNe was shocked - and supportive - of her longtime friend when Andy Cohen told her about Peter's arrest when she appeared Sunday on Watch What Happens Live

'Now that you are telling me, my reaction is "Wow" - amazing,' she said, later adding, 'I love Peter.'

The two made for one of the more memorable moments in the RHOA annals during the show's sixth season in 2014, when NeNe stepped in as Peter and Gregg were in a heated argument in front of the rest of the cast over an incident that happened at an earlier event thrown by then-castmate Kenya Moore.

'Let me just say this, you need to stay out of women's business - you are causing f***ing problems,' NeNe told Peter. 'You are the only husband/boyfriend/finance that gets involved in women's business ... what we do as women is between us ... you stop trying to be a damn b***h!'
Handsome astrophysicist Matthew Agnew, 31, is set to become the seventh Australian Bachelor this year.

And on Thursday, women around the country were praising producers at Channel 10 for selecting the hunky scientist for the coveted role.

The official announcement on Instagram was flooded with positive comments, and those keen to take a swipe at past Bachelors.

'Someone who doesn't look like a complete tool!' Women go wild for new 'cute and smart' scientist Bachelor Matt Agnew (left)... after fans slammed rugby star Nick Cummins (right) for brutally dumping two hopefuls in dating show finale

'Thank God! Someone we don't actually know and doesn't look like a complete tool like the past few have been,' one fan wrote.

'Cute and smart! Winning combo,' another mused, as others labelled the suitor 'good looking', 'hot', 'smart' and 'a little sweetheart'.

The consensus of the thread appeared to be in favour of casting someone who wasn't already 'famous' like last year's Bachelor, Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins, with one fan writing, 'Thank goodness he's not a previous season recycle!!'

One social media user referenced Nine's controversial dating series, writing, 'Nice to see someone intelligent on TV, unlike MAFS.'

'I'm really excited for this season but hope they've got the right girls for him, seems like a nice, smart guy,' one concerned viewer expressed.

'So glad he's not already famous!' Fans were overjoyed that the new Bachelor wasn't 'a previous season recycle' or already known in the public domain

'Nice to see someone intelligent on TV, unlike MAFS': One fan took a stab at other reality TV stars from other shows and expressed excitement in seeing the scientist on screen

'Those bimbos are gunna (sic) look even dumber than usual!' Fans hoped the scientist would be given 'the right girls' in his search for love

Others were happy he looked 'genuine and normal' and claimed he would no doubt be better than 2018's Nick.

Former Wallaby Nick received a tidal-wave of public backlash last year when he became the first Australian Bachelor to leave the show single.

The 31-year-old sportsman brutally dumped both finalists - Sophie Tieman and Brittany Hockley - during the finale episode.

'That's a good start!' Others were happy he looked 'genuine and normal' and claimed he would no doubt be better than 2018's Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins (pictured)

Fans still haven't forgiven! The sportsman brutally dumped both finalists - Sophie Tieman and Brittany Hockley - during the finale episode in 2018

New Bachelor Matt has admitted that going on the show is an 'unorthodox way' of meeting his future wife, but says he is nonetheless up for the challenge.

'I'm genuinely interested in meeting someone and this is definitely an exciting way to do that,' Matt told Daily Telegraph on Thursday.

'Being The Bachelor is certainly an unorthodox way to meet someone, but I would never shy away from exploring an opportunity just because it's a little out of left-field,' he said.



The Bachelor is likely to return in July on Channel Ten
She's set to storm the runway at Virgin Australia's Melbourne Fashion Festival on Thursday night.

And hours before her highly-anticipated Aussie catwalk debut, US supermodel Ashley Graham was spotted enjoying the sights and surrounds of the city.

The 31-year-old supermodel showed off her famous curves in a figure-hugging ensemble, moments after she enjoyed a scenic helicopter ride on Wednesday.

Nice view! Supermodel Ashley Graham showed off her famous curves in figure-hugging jeans and a crop top as she enjoyed a scenic helicopter ride over Melbourne on Wednesday

Ashley, who is visiting Australia for the first time, stepped out of the chopper in style.

She flashed a glimpse of her midriff in a cropped emerald wool jumper teamed with a pair of distressed black jeans.

The brunette bombshell opted for safe albeit comfortable footwear for the joy flight, donning white sneakers.

High-flying style: She flashed a glimpse of her midriff in a cropped emerald wool jumper teamed with a pair of distressed black jeans

Taut-al babe: The brunette bombshell opted for safe albeit comfortable footwear for the joy flight, donning white sneakers

Touch down! Ashley touched down in Melbourne after enjoying a scenic helicopter ride

Gig: She's set to storm the runway at Virgin Australia's Melbourne Fashion Festival on Thursday night

Friendly! Ashley (pictured) waved goodbye to the flight crew

Ashley lit up her dark ensemble with a touch of bling, adorning her decolletage with layers of gold chains, including a personalised namesake necklace.

She also slipped a Prada $2,750 light frame black leather bag over her shoulder.

The fresh-faced beauty opted for a minimal makeup palette and styled her chestnut locks into tousled beach waves.

It's Ashley's first time visiting Australia, and she's set to appear at Virgin Australia's Melbourne Fashion Festival in a matter of hours.

All smiles: It is Ashley's first time in Australia and she looked thrilled to be here

Gold bling: Ashley lit up her dark ensemble with a touch of bling, adorning her decolletage with layers of gold chains, including a personalised namesake necklace

Natural beauty: The fresh-faced beauty opted for a minimal makeup palette and styled her chestnut locks into tousled beach waves

According to the VAMFF website, Ashley will model in 'Runway 4' at the festival and will also appear as a keynote speaker at the Australian Fashion Summit.

The theme of this year's festival is 'Power to the Dreamers', and in a statement to VAMFF last month, Ashley said it resonated with her.

The model admitted her lucrative career has been a dream come true in itself.

'Every opportunity where I can talk about how my career has helped evolve the fashion industry, or every time I walk a runway, I'm proving that there is a "new normal",' she said at the time.

'We need to continue having these conversations and representation until fashion truly reflects the diverse world that we live in. I'm looking forward to sharing my vision and insights at the Festival in March.'

Aussie catwalk debut! According to the VAMFF website, Ashley will model in 'Runway 4' at the festival and will also appear as a keynote speaker at the Australian Fashion Summit
Turkish fighter jets destroyed ammunition depots and shelters of the PKK terror group in northern Iraq, the country's Defense Ministry said.

The airstrikes destroyed PKK targets in the Metina, Hakurk, Avasin-Basyan and Zap regions, Anadolu Agency reported.

According to the ministry statement, the strikes obliterated several PKK arms depots and hideouts.
This Is Us actress Janet Montgomery has welcomed her first child with boyfriend Joe Fox.

The British star announced the news that daughter Sunday Juno arrived on Friday at New York Presbyterian hospital after a grueling 22 hour labor and emergency Caesarian section.

The 33-year-old actress revealed that both she and her daughter 'got sick,' as she detailed her medical struggle, while thanking the doctors for their work.

Motherhood: New Amsterdam actress Janet Montgomery, 33, welcomed daughter Sunday Juno with boyfriend Joe Fox last weekend

Her pride and joy: The star welcomed Sunday at New York Presbyterian hospital, after a 'grueling 22 hours of laboring'

'...My incredible doctors called that our beautiful baby girl was in distress and I had contracted a uterus infection. Dr Raymond Wong who has been on this journey with me from the beginning of my pregnancy kept me and my baby safe and calm in one of the scariest most precious moments of my life.

'Sunday was delivered via emergency Caesarian at 8.59pm and from every single doctor, nurse, PA I encountered in my four days in hospital I felt nothing but confidence from.

'Not only are they all great at their jobs but they go the extra mile with love for their patients. So thank you all of you. Most people get excited to leave hospital but I am a little sad because I love you all so much!

'The first photo was taken 2 days after my delivery and the second photo was taken one day after. I wanted to share both so you can see the real real. I was incredibly swollen after surgery and my feet and legs still are! C section recovery is no joke,' she concluded, along with several hashtags.

The downside: The UK-born actress revealed that both she and her daughter 'got sick,' as she detailed her medical struggle. She shared a photo of her swollen face after the surgery

Safe and sound in the end: Sunday was delivered via emergency Caesarian at 8.59pm

Janet shared her pregnancy news last November.

The British beauty was expecting her child with boyfriend Joe Fox, whom she had been with for nearly a year.

'We are absolutely thrilled to be able to finally share the news and I couldn't be more excited for this next chapter in my life,' she told People at the time.

Her love: Janet shared her pregnancy news last November. The British beauty was expecting her child with boyfriend Joe Fox, whom she had been with for nearly a year

Janet currently plays Dr. Lauren Bloom on the NBC drama, New Amsterdam. She previously starred as Olivia Maine in This is Us.

Later this year, she'll act alongside Chase Crawford in the dramatic thriller, Night Hawks.

She'll also witness a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen reunion when she appears alongside Meghan Fox and Josh Duhamel in the family-friendly film, Think Like a Dog.
She is a former reality star and presenter, known for her edgy style.

And Scarlett Moffatt didn't disappoint as she made a trendy entrance to the launch party for Emily Atack's clothing range with In The Style in London on Wednesday.

The former Gogglebox star, 29, took a walk on the wild side with her wardrobe choices, as she slipped her toned curves into zebra-print co-ords.

On trend: Scarlett Moffatt didn't disappoint as she made a trendy entrance to the launch party for Emily Atack's clothing range with In The Style in London on Wednesday

A collarless jacket adorned with the monochrome print made for a chic look on the star, while a silver studded belt cinched in at her slender waist.

She paired this with matching culottes and a black studded handbag.

The Saturday Night Takeaway star boosted her height with black strappy stiletto sandals.

Her caramel flecked brunette tresses were styled sleek and straight while her pretty features were enhanced with smoky shadow, fluttery lashes and a slick of rose lipstick.

Animal print: The former Gogglebox star, 29, took a walk on the wild side with her wardrobe choices, as she slipped her toned curves into zebra-print co-ords

The outing comes after Scarlett revealed she's ready for love again after finally embracing her figure.

Speaking at the National Television Awards last month, the star told The Sun: 'I'm looking for a new man, but I haven't found one yet. I'm working on it.'

Touching on her newfound confidence, the I'm A Celeb star added: 'I've learned to embrace my curves, this is me. I was going to hide away under a suit and I thought, no, why should I, so I wore this dress instead that shows off everything.

Pals: A collarless jacket adorned with the monochrome print made for a chic look on the star, while a silver studded belt cinched in at her slender waist

'I've accepted my body and I'm happy with curves, and I love my boobs. I'm representing the curvy girls and that's great.'

Scarlett's interview proves the TV personality has come a long way with her body confidence, after admitting she hated being thin after losing three stone last year.

Speaking at the Glamour Beauty Festival in March, the brunette shared: 'When I first came out of the [I'm A Celebrity] jungle I went through a stage where I felt like I had to try and look a certain way.

'I wanted to try and get out of the stereotypical Geordie girl so I stopped wearing fake tan and wore WAG dresses.'

'I was really miserable,' she continued. 'I like being orange and having eyelashes that go up to my forehead.'
Karl Stefanovic hosting the Today show drunk the morning after the 2009 Logies is considered a landmark moment in Australian cultural history.

And a decade later, Lisa Wilkinson - who had been sitting alongside Karl as he slurred his way through the broadcast - referenced Karl's most infamous moment in a particularly savage tweet.

In a thinly-veiled swipe at her former colleague on Wednesday, the 59-year-old joked that the best way to win a Gold Logie (which Karl eventually did two years later) is to get drunk and make a fool of yourself on television.

'If you really want a Gold Logie, just drink a lot and tell me how beautiful I am!' Lisa Wilkinson took a brutal swipe at her former Today co-host Karl Stefanovic on Wednesday. Pictured: A drunk Karl (left) slurring at Lisa (right) on the Today show of May 4, 2009

Lisa made the comment in a Twitter thread involving the likes of Shaun Micallef, Peter Helliar and Rove McManus about the most effective way to win a Gold Logie.

'You're missing the point, the lot of you,' she tweeted. 'If you really want the Gold, just drink A LOT, then come on air with me, tell me how beautiful I am, and Ill nurse you through it all. Its worked before'.

While Lisa did not mention Karl by name, the details matched what had occurred on the episode of Today which aired on the morning of May 4, 2009.

Ouch! Lisa made the comment (above) in a Twitter thread involving the likes of Shaun Micallef, Peter Helliar and Rove McManus about the most effective way to win a Gold Logie

Hmm! While Lisa did not mention Karl by name, the details matched what had occurred on the episode of Today which aired the morning after the 2009 Logie Awards

It's not the first time Lisa has brought up Karl's most memorable TV moment, as she also referenced it while hosting The Project in May last year.

A clip of Karl's brother Peter getting tongue tied on Weekend Today was played during a segment, prompting panellist Tommy Little to ask: 'Drunk or not drunk?'

'I can usually recognise a drunk Stefanovic!' Lisa replied, laughing. 'I've got years and years of practice!'

'I can usually recognise a drunk Stefanovic!' It's not the first time Lisa has brought up Karl's memorable TV moment, as she also referenced it while hosting The Project in May last year

It wasn't until 2014 that Karl himself admitted that he had been drunk on air the morning after the Logies.

'It wasn't any different to any other year  we all get smashed at the Logies and go to work the next day,' he said.

'We'd done it for years and years. But this was the first Logies when stuff really started working on the Internet.

'I remember seeing it on Today Tonight and going "Oh god". I really was drunk, or at least I certainly looked and sounded drunk.'
She was one of the breakout stars of The Bachelor in 2016.

And Noni Janur was turning heads once again on Wednesday when she arrived at the opening of the Sash Japanese restaurant in Surry Hills, Sydney.

The 28-year-old swimwear designer put on an eye-popping display in a nude mini dress featuring a plunging neckline.

Taking the plunge: Noni Janur turned heads on Wednesday when she arrived at the opening of the Sash Japanese restaurant in Surry Hills, Sydney

Noni left little to the imagination in the skintight dress, which she paired with matching strappy heels.

She enhanced her flawless complexion with a high-gloss makeup look, which she contrasted with dark-hued eyeshadow.

Noni completed her look with statement earrings and styled her long blonde hair loosely.

Thigh's the limit! Noni left little to the imagination in the skintight dress, which she paired with matching strappy heels

She was joined at the restaurant opening by Love Island winner Tayla Damir.

The 22-year-old looked effortlessly chic in a white mini-dress, which highlighted her toned and tanned legs.

Tayla accessorised with a Louis Vuitton clutch and strappy tan wedges.

White on the mark! She was joined at the restaurant opening by Love Island winner Tayla Damir

She styled her hair in a tight high ponytail, similar to Ariana Grande's famous 'do.

Her makeup was flawlessly applied and consisted of glossy foundation and dark eyeliner.

During the event, Tayla posed with her boyfriend and Love Island co-star Dom Thomas as well as beauty queen Olivia Molly Rogers.

Three's company: During the event, Tayla posed with her boyfriend and Love Island co-star Dom Thomas as well as beauty queen Olivia Molly Rogers

Leading the male arrivals was Cameron Robbie, the brother of Hollywood actress Margot Robbie.

The model wore a quirky short-sleeved shirt featuring a penny-farthing print, as well a pair of stylish navy blue chinos.

Handsome Cameron completed his look with a black-and-silver belt and shiny dress shoes.

Model material: Leading the male arrivals was Cameron Robbie, the brother of Hollywood actress Margot Robbie

Christian Wilkins and his boyfriend Andrew Kelly also made appearances.

The son of Today Extra's Richard Wilkins paired a sleeveless woman's blouse with semi-sheer pants and black combat boots.

For accessories, he opted for cat-eye sunglasses and a designer fanny pack, which he wore over one shoulder instead of around his waist.

Red carpet regulars: Christian Wilkins and his boyfriend Andrew Kelly also made appearances

Meanwhile, Andrew rocked a longsleeve pink shirt featuring glitter panels.

He teamed this with a pair of oversized blue pants, and accessorised with a black harness, belt and boots.

The celebrity couple appeared to be in their element as they preened for the camera and mingled with other guests.
She recently spoke about her disappointment that a third Sex And The City film will likely never happen.

But Sarah Jessica Parker, 53, at least got to film in the iconic setting of that show on Wednesday, when the actress was seen taping her HBO series Divorce in West Harlem, Manhattan.

The actress showcased her always chic sense of style during the scene, which she filmed with co-stars Thomas Hayden Church, Charlie Kilgore and Sterling Jerins.

Fashion forward: Sarah Jessica Parker showcased her always chic sense of style during the scene, which she filmed with co-stars Thomas Hayden Church, Charlie Kilgore [pictured] and Sterling Jerins

The star of The Family Stone showed off her varied color palette for the scene, pairing purple pants with a teal blouse.

She color coordinated her gloves to the trousers and her boots were knee highs in brown suede.

Over the top, SJP slipped a plaid coat to insulate herself against the brink New York City day.

Her wavy blonde tresses were worn loose and cascaded down the Ohio native's shoulders.

Bright on! The star of The Family Stone showed off her varied color palette for the scene, pairing purple pants with a teal blouse. Seen here with co-star Sterling Jerins

Hug it out: Sarah was joined in the scene by her on-screen husband and the young actors who play their children

Sarah was joined in the scene by her on-screen husband and the young actors who play their children.

Sarah hugged each of her co-stars in turn before hurrying off at the scene's conclusion.

Season 3 of the HBO dramedy is set to air later this year.

Family: Sarah hugged each of her co-stars in turn before hurrying off at the scene's conclusion. Here she's cuddling Thomas Hayden Church

Coming soon: Season 3 of the HBO dramedy is set to air later this year

Parker revealed details about the axed third Sex and the City film in an interview with iNews last month.

Discussing the filming schedule for the planned third instalment in the franchise, she said: 'We were in the process of boarding Sex and the City 3, right when I finished this movie, and I kept telling my producing partners on that film

'They said, 'We're fighting for those 53 [shooting] days.' I said, 'We don't need 53 days! We don't need 48 days! We only need 35 days.'

When questioned on whether a third Sex and the City movie was happening after all? SJP responded: 'No, this was before the studio pulled the plug, because of what happened with Kim.'

Warm feelings: Sarah could be spotted at one point sharing a hug with Charlie, who plays the son of her and Thomas' characters

Run Carrie run! Her wavy blonde tresses were worn loose and cascaded down the Ohio native's shoulders

Dailymail.com exclusively reported in September 2017 that Kim was the reason Sex And The City 3 had been 'torpedoed' due to her 'diva demands', while the rest of the cast; Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis had all signed on eager to move on with production.

'It's over we're not doing it, I'm disappointed,' Sarah told Extra days later.

'We had this beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, joyful, very relatable script and story. It's not just disappointing that we dont get to tell the story and have that experience, but more so for that audience that has been so vocal in wanting another movie.'

Fashion icon: She color coordinated her gloves to the trousers and her boots were knee highs in brown suede

The next month Cattrall sat down with Piers Morgan and revealed she had a 'toxic relationship' with the other stars, denied she had ever wanted to do a third movie and said Parker 'could have been nicer' about the situation.

In recent months however it seems the feud between the duo has reached a point of no return as Cattrall lifted the lid on just how strained the relationship is between the two women.

Taking to Instagram Cattrall shocked fans by calling out Parker directly, calling her 'cruel' and a 'hypocrite' in response to a message she sent offering condolences after the death of Cattrall's brother.
Kate Mara glowed while covering up her baby bump Wednesday upon arrival at LAX after attending Paris Fashion Week.

The 36-year-old actress arrived in top maternity style with a long green double-breasted coat over a black sweater and matching black trousers.

The Fantastic Four star completed her outfit with black sneakers and carried a large studded black purse that she strategically held over her burgeoning belly.

Maternity style: Kate Mara showed her maternity style Wednesday as she arrived at Los Angeles International Airport

Kate accesorized with black sunglasses and had her brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail.

The House Of Cards star showed her flawless complexion sans makeup while adding a bit of color with glistening lipstick.

Kate was spotted attending the Lacoste show Monday as part of Paris Fashion Week.

The actress has been married to English actor Jamie Bell, 32, since 2017.

Green coat: The 36-year-old actress wore a long green coat upon arrival at LAX

Fashion fan: The Fantastic Four star returned to Los Angeles after attending Paris Fashion Week

Studded purse: Kate carried a large studded black purse that she held in front of her baby bump

Kate confirmed her pregnancy last month on Instagram while sharing a snap of her and Jamie at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Acadmey Awards Viewing Party in West Hollywood, California.

'Went on a date with our bun in the oven,' she wrote in the caption for her roughly 301,000 followers.

Kate and Jamie co-starred in the 2015 superhero movie Fantastic Four and started dating in late 2015.

She's glowing: The Chappaquiddick star showed her flawless complexion without makeup

They got engaged in January 2017 and announced in July 2017 that they had secretly married.

Kate starred in the 2018 drama Chappaquiddick as Mary Jo Kopechne.

Jamie can next be seen in the musical drama Rocketman based on the life of Sir Elton John, 71. Welsh actor Taron Egerton, 29, will portray Elton while Jamie will play his longtime songwriter Bernie Taupin.

Rocketman also starring Richard Madden as Elton's manager John Reid and Bryce Dallas Howard as his mother Sheila Eleen is scheduled for release on May 24 in the UK and May 31 in the US.
She's often spotted out and about at red carpet events in London.

And, Lizzie Cundy, 50, was one of many stars in attendance for the Women's Aid x Skylon Charity Gala Dinner in London's Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday.

The former WAG oozed sartorial chic as she attended the bash, donning a dramatic black and white gown with a quirky collared jacket and coordinating cuffs.

Making an appearance: Lizzie Cundy, 50, was one of many stars in attendance for the Women's Aid x Skylon Charity Gala Dinner in London 's Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday

The sweeping frock featured 3D flowers embroidered atop its elongated skirt and delicate pearls scattered throughout.

As she slipped into a second ensemble, Lizzie was difficult to miss as she stepped out in a geometric art-deco style dress.

The black-and-white fishtail gown clung to her slim figure as she paraded through the room during the fashion show segment of the evening.

The brunette beauty looked delighted as she posed for a photograph with fellow-attendee Dame Julie Walters.

Wow! The former WAG oozed sartorial chic as she attended the bash, donning a dramatic black and white gown with a quirky collared jacket and coordinating cuffs

Stunning: The sweeping frock featured 3D flowers embroidered atop its elongated skirt and delicate pearls scattered throughout

Glamorous: As she slipped into a second ensemble, Lizzie was difficult to miss as she stepped out in a geometric art-deco style dress

Lizzie has good cause to let her hair down as she prepares for the upcoming release of her tell-all book, Tales From The Red Carpet.

The one-time WAG, whose ex-husband is former Chelsea player Jason Cundy, will be spilling the beans on Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Kim Kardashian as well as Al Pacino.

And she plans to leave celebrities quaking in their boots with her no-holds barred revelations about them.

Good times: The brunette beauty looked delighted as she posed for a photograph with fellow-attendee Dame Julie Walters

Delighted: Lizzie shared a photograph of the moment on her Instagram page

Of Mickey Rourke, she said: 'I locked 9 and a half weeks Hollywood hell-raiser Mickey Rourke into the boot of my car, checked my makeup in the wing mirror, hot-wired the car and drove off into the rainy dark London night.'

Lizzie also told MailOnline: 'I want to help others with my book because I've really seen it all over the years and I've been through a lot.

'I've had dark times but I've come out of the other side, with a little help from my friends.'

Lizzie's book is currently number one on Amazon's pre-orders.
It was supposed to inspire viewers and set the stage for upcoming story lines.

But disgruntled Emmerdale fans are threatening to boycott the International Women's Day Special, with some branding it 'sexist' that the episode will feature an all-female cast.

The episode - set to air on Friday 8th March - will see various secrets revealed to set the stage for upcoming spring storylines, with an all-female crew also at work on the episode behind-the-scenes.

Controversy: Emmerdale fans have threatened to boycott the International Women's Day Special, as they claim the episode is 'sexist'

Plot-wise very little has been revealed about the episode so far, although producer Kate Brookes recently revealed that it would be a first in the soap's history.

Speaking last year she said: 'We're doing something rather special on March 8, International Women's Day, now we've got two female producers and a female executive producer  which is the first time a soap has had an all-female team.

'We are going to have an episode that is produced by a female, directed by a female and written by a female. The entire cast will be female including all the background artists and we will have almost an entire female crew.'

She joked: 'What they don't realise is that we'll be giving some of the men the traditional female roles for the day so we'll all be bringing our kids in for them to look after. We're really excited to be doing it, to be recognising IWD and do our bit for it.'

Important: The episode will feature both an all-female cast and crew, and will also set the stage for future spring storylines

However fans haven't held back from sharing their distaste towards the special, particularly after it was discussed on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain.

Taking to Twitter one fan wrote: 'I watch Emmerdale all the time but I won't be watching the all female one in protest.'

Another added: 'Emmerdale having an all-female cast and crew, how stupid and sexist. Women have always played a big part in soaps. I hate women who see themselves as victims. I have never viewed myself that way, so neither has anyone else. Reverse sexism or racism is wrong.'

A third also tweeted: 'Soaps are supposed to reflect real life, it's not realistic to have no men on the show. Or are men supposed to lock themselves indoors on Friday? This world is getting ridiculous.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Emmerdale for comment.

Annoyed: However fans haven't held back from sharing their distaste towards the special, particularly after it was discussed on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain

Piers Morgan also shared his own view on the special during Good Morning Britain, and insisted that it would only be fair to have an all-male special as well.

He said: 'Women need men as much as men need women. And the best Emmerdale is where you have, as we have now, great story lines involving men, women, great producers and directors who are male and female, as well as the camera crew.'

'I'm having a male only Coronation Street campaign, a male only Good Morning Britain campaign. Watch the feminazi go berserk. You watch it erupt.'

Emmerdale's International Women's Day Special airs on Friday 8th March at 7pm on ITV.
When Hollywood stars stoop to do telly, it cant just be any old thing. You dont see Meryl Streep on EastEnders.

They expect special treatment, like Nicole Kidman with the delicious Big Little Lies (Meryl herself has joined the cast for season two this year).

But sometimes special treatment turns toxic: Carey Mulligan got landed with the prestigious but awful thriller Collateral, while Toni Collettes Wanderlust was hideous.

Richard Geres first major foray into TV, MotherFatherSon (BBC2), is in a different league of terrible. It looks glossily smooth but the title alone betrays that this is pretentious claptrap. What you couldnt guess till you watch is how belly-laugh bad the dialogue is.

Richard Geres (left) first major foray into TV, MotherFatherSon (BBC2), is in a different league of terrible

Helen McCrory is Kathryn, the mother of the title, divorced from media mogul Gere, who takes their son Caden (a witless newspaper editor) to lunch and starts to reminisce about his childhood.

She remembers how he ran away on the beach, and when I found you, you were on the sands . . . holding a dying seal.

I honked with laughter. Scriptwriter Tom Rob Smith has obviously never had a seaside holiday in his life. But it got better: Kathryn recalls how her darling boy sang to the stricken marine mammal, and she serenades him with the song in the restaurant  a sad Irish folk air, naturally, just the sort of thing any little boy would choose.

I was so proud of you, she weeps. I was weeping too, but for the wrong reasons.

Gere, whose workaholic billionaire looks surprisingly tanned and relaxed for a man with an evil global empire to run, patently believes he is making Great And Serious Television. Actually, hes in a big-budget family soap with atrocious dialogue, and we all know the official name for that: Dynasty.

Lets not even think about that peculiar sex scene, with Caden standing there full frontal like a National Service recruit required to cough twice for the Army medic.

Tom Rob Smith, who inflicted the Bond-and-bondage drama London Spy on us in 2015, writes erotica about as convincingly as Jilly Cooper does sci-fi.

After Caden overdoses on cocaine, hes dashed in for brain surgery, where doctors saw off the top of his skull in an operating theatre that features a giant glass viewing gallery. You dont get those on 24 Hours In A&E, but I suppose the super-rich like to watch their loved ones being dissected.

Gere rushes in, sees his ex-wife, gazes down at his sons exposed brain and says, Hell survive  because he was born fighting.

High drama on a miniature scale was the focus of Big Trouble In Model Britain (BBC4)

Dynastys Blake Carrington would have been proud to deliver a line like that.

High drama on a miniature scale was the focus of Big Trouble In Model Britain (BBC4), which sent James May and his magnifying glass to discover why Hornby and Airfix have suffered dire financial difficulties.

I lost all sympathy with the companys woes at the start when the bosses explained that the manufacturing of their double-O gauge railways and 1/72nd scale aircraft was now done in China.

If I want to build a Hawker Hurricane replica, Ill choose one that creates jobs in Britain, thanks.

The modellers were entertaining characters, though. Retired local government officer Jim, who spent hundreds of hours building and painting a U.S. Navy Hellcat from World War II, had 17 boxes of unmade kits in his garage  many more than hed ever have time to complete.

Theres an acronym to describe this problem, Jim revealed: SABLE. It stands for Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy. Thats the human condition, in miniature.
As the celebrity face of Miu Miu,she was certain to score an invite to their show.

And Elle Fanning returned to LAX on Wednesday, following a trip to Paris for New York Fashion Week.

The Maleficent Mistress of Evil actress sat front row at the Miu Miu show, and attended the dinner and after party.

Home: Elle Fanning, 20, returned to LAX on Wednesday, following a trip to Paris for New York Fashion Week

The 20-year-old made a bold arrival at the busy airport, clad in a yellow puffer with a pin vest.

Elle layered a light cream sweater underneath her outerwear, and added a pair of light wash jeans, white boots, a Louis Vuitton luggage and Miu Miu shades to her look.

The blonde beauty showed off what looked to be a glossy, fresh blowout, and sported little to no-make-up.

The beauty made a bold arrival at the busy airport, clad in a yellow puffer with a pink vest

The rest of it: Elle layered a light cream sweater underneath her outerwear, and added a pair of light wash jeans, white boots, a Louis Vuitton luggage and Miu Miu shades to her look

The actress sat front row at the Miu Miu show at Paris Fashion Week. Elle stood out in a soft yellow, long sleeve dress complete with a dandelion print.

Following the runway event, the younger sister of Dakota attended the brand's after party, and switched up her dress in favor of black-and-white striped, one shoulder one.

According to Vogue, Elle began her work with Miu Miu in spring 2014, opened and closed their fall show last year, and is now the face of their fragrance, Twist.

Guest of honor: On Tuesday, the actress sat front row at the Miu Miu show at PFW

Working with them: She is currently the face of the brand's perfume, Twist

Lovely: At the Miu Miu show, Elle stood out in a soft yellow, long sleeve dress complete with a dandelion print

At just 20, Elle is one of the most in-demand acting talents.

The star has five projects up until 2020, including her return to her role as Princess Aurora in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

She'll also star in Molly, All the Bright Places, A Rainy Day in New York, and the TV series, The Great.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 tactical unmanned aerial vehicle systems are already in Ukraine.

"I can disclose the information that there will be the testing of the new powerful tactical unmanned aerial vehicle complex Bayraktar, which I was able to negotiate with the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan," Interfax cited the head of state as saying.

"I can even say that these complexes are already in Ukraine," Poroshenko said at the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine in Kiev.

On January 12, 2019, Ukrainian company Ukrspecexport and the Turkish company Baykar Makina signed an agreement on the purchase of Bayraktar TB2 drone systems for the Ukrainian army.
Married At First Sight cast members rushed to defend Jessika Power on Wednesday after an Instagram troll left a cruel comment about her appearance.

The social media bully said Jessika had 'foul, disgusting cellulite' in pictures from her holiday in Queensland last month with her boyfriend Daniel Webb.

The anonymous user said they 'loved' the photos 'that show the foul disgusting cellulite on [Jessika's] a** and thighs. It is so revolting and dimply. She is so gross.'

Scroll down for video

Married At First Sight stars have defended Jessika Power after she was 'shamefully' criticised on social media over this photo. Pictured: Jessika with Dan Webb on the Gold Coast last month

The photos in question were taken on February 17 and published by Daily Mail Australia earlier this week without any negative reference to Jessika's appearance.

The Instagram troll tagged nine MAFS cast members in the shocking post, including Jessika's boyfriend Dan.

Contestant Mike Gunner was the first to respond to the comment, writing: 'That's really uncalled for and very hurtful!'

Troll: An Instagram bully (above) said Jessika had 'foul disgusting cellulite' and tagged several MAFS cast members. Her co-star Mike Gunner was the first to defend her against the attack

Taking a stand: Mike (pictured) wrote, 'That's really uncalled for and very hurtful!'

Jules Robinson described the troll's comment as 'shamefully wrong', sparking a heated debate about Jessika's behaviour on Married At First Sight

Pictured: Jessika's MAFS co-star Jules Robinson

Jules Robinson later added: 'Shamefully wrong, this comment.'

The troll doubled down, however, responding: 'Not as shamefully wrong as Jessika's disgusting disrespectful... behaviour on the show and total desperation.'

Jules replied: 'I understand that, but judge people on their behaviour as a viewer that's your right. I totally get that, but not start insulting her on her appearance.'

Secret romance: Jessika has found herself at the centre of controversy on MAFS, after embarking on an affair with Dan Webb (right) behind her husband's back

Photos taken last month showed Jessika and Dan - who were both matched with other people on MAFS - passionately kissing on a Gold Coast beach.

The couple looked completely smitten on what appeared to be a romantic holiday.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
She's a busy mother-of-three, soon to be four.

And Kim Kardashian couldn't resist the chance to take daughter North West, five, along for some of her lavish traveling.

Sharing a set of photos of the duo cuddling and playing around while on a private jet, the reality bombshell captioned the collection: 'I miss my babies! I took North with me to Montreal last week.'

Traveling in style: Kim Kardashian shared some sweet photos of her and daughter North on their way to Montreal on Instagram Wednesday

The mother-daughter duo looked adorable in the series of pictures.

Both were cozied up in their pajamas, with Kim donning a chic brown set while North opted for a girly animal-emblazoned sleep ensemble.

While her outfit was laid back, the wife of Kanye West was in full glam.

She had her eyes done up with a smokey bronze while her lips were a shiny nude.

Flying high! The reality beauty shared a set of photos of the duo cuddling and playing around while on a private jet

All dolled up: While her outfit was laid back, the wife of Kanye West was in full glam. She had her eyes done up with a smokey bronze while her lips were a shiny nude

Sleepover! Both were cozied up in their pajamas, with Kim donning a chic brown set while North opted for a girly animal-emblazoned sleep ensemble

Kim's hair was twisted into two dueling coils, secured high on top of her head.

North put her own spin on her mom's hairstyle, donning tiny tufts of twists.

Making it clear they traveled in style, you could see rainbow Louis Vuitton luggage and a teal croc-skin Hermes bag sitting near the duo.

Kim was missing her little ones while she was away in Paris for the City Of Lights' bi-annual fashion week festivities.

Goofy: Kim stuck her tongue out at North while the pair goofed around together

Luxury living: Making it clear they traveled in style, you could see rainbow Louis Vuitton luggage and a teal croc-skin Hermes bag sitting near the duo

Wow: Kim Kardashian left nothing to the imagination as she slipped into a racy semi-sheer bodysuit for an evening stroll in Paris on Wednesday

Earlier in the day the star left nothing to the imagination as she slipped into a racy semi-sheer bodysuit for an evening stroll through the French capital.

The reality star, 38, exposed her braless chest and her scanty underwear in the eye-popping golden garment, which was decorated with leopard print markings.

The transparent top revealed the mother-of-three's ample cleavage, with her modesty just preserved by black velvet panels.

The brunette beauty also revealed her honed midriff in the scanty garment.

Oozing confidence as she strolled along, the star also flashed her high-cut underwear and lean legs as she strutted along in vertiginous heels.

The reality star, 38, exposed her braless cleavage and her scanty underwear in the eye-popping golden garment, which was decorated with leopard print markings

Beret: The transparent top revealed the mother-of-three's ample cleavage, with her modesty just preserved by black velvet panels

Toned: The star flashed her honed curves in the revealing garment

Scanty: Oozing confidence as she strolled along, the star also flashed her high-cut underwear and lean legs as she strutted along in vertiginous heels

Revealing: The star showed off her honed legs in the revealing bodysuit

Glamour: Kim looked sensational in her incredible ensemble

Her raven tresses were styled in soft waves and the glamourpuss opted for a rich palette of make-up to complete her ensemble.

Providing some coverage from the chilly temperatures, the star slipped on a black velvet coat which gaped open to reveal the full jaw-dropping look as she walked along.

Kim's outing was not the first time she has returned to Paris after her horrific ordeal in late 2016, when she was robbed at gunpoint by a gang of thieves.

The star was robbed by five armed men wearing ski masks and clothes with police markings. At around 3am, the robbers entered the building after the concierge let them in.

Stylish: Kim looked ready for the catwalk as she walked along

Centre of attention: All eyes were on Mrs Kanye West as she strolled out in the transparent outfit

Leggy: Oozing confidence as she strolled along, the star also flashed her high-cut underwear and lean legs as she strutted along in vertiginous heels

Her own catwalk: The star oozed confidence as she strutted into the street

Glamour: Her raven tresses were styled in soft waves and the glamourpuss opted for a rich palette of make-up to complete her ensemble

Handcuffed and at gunpoint, he then led them to the starlet's flat. Kim reportedly 'begged for her life' and told the gunmen she had children at home when two of them entered her room and held the gun to her head.

The men stole a jewellery box worth 6 million ($6.7 million/ 5.24 million) and a ring worth 4 million ($4.5 million/ 3.5 million), prompting fears that the valuables were personal ones, and not just jewellery Kim was borrowing for fashion week.

Following the ordeal Kim immediately flew back to the US by private jet, and did not return to France in June 2018, to attend Paris Fashion Week's Spring/Summer 2018 Louis Vuitton Show.

Flesh-flashing: Providing some coverage from the chilly temperatures, the star slipped on a black velvet coat which gaped open to reveal the full jaw-dropping look as she walked along

Toned: The star was at risk of a wardrobe malfunction as she got out of a car

On Keeping Up With The Kardashians Kim spoke candidly about her decision to return to the city, saying: 'I have so many special memories in Paris. I hope that this trip will just be so good that I can start to remember all the magical things about Paris and why Kanye and I fell in love with it.'

The fashion icon also said that she was nervous upon first arriving at the Fashion Show, but upon completing her trip said she would head back to France for a longer visit.
Fam star Nina Dobrev flew back home to Los Angeles on Wednesday after enjoying the festivities of Paris Fashion Week.

The Bulgarian-born, Toronto-raised 30-year-old made her way out of LAX clad in leopard-print pants, black heels, a matching Louis Vuitton purse, and a cozy brown sweater.

'Au revoir Paris!' the Then Came You actress - who boasts 30.5M social media followers - Insta-storied.

Home sweet home! Fam star Nina Dobrev flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday after enjoying the festivities of Paris Fashion Week

'I don't want to leave! Thank you for having me Louis Vuitton and [designer] Nicolas Ghesquiere!'

Dobrev confessed she was feeling like a 'Carb-dashian' for indulging in a pancake breakfast smothered in chocolate after eating spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner.

This, after Nina (born Nikolina Dobreva) defended her eating habits in the comments of her February 19 Instagram post after a follower called her anorexic.

'I eat burgers and fries and all kinds of yummy things,' the Drake video vixen wrote - according to People.

Chic: The Bulgarian-born, Toronto-raised 30-year-old made her way out of LAX clad in leopard-print pants, black heels, a matching Louis Vuitton purse, and a cozy brown sweater

Bye! The Then Came You actress Insta-storied: 'Au revoir Paris! I don't want to leave! Thank you for having me Louis Vuitton and [designer] Nicolas Ghesquiere!'

Feast! Dobrev confessed she was feeling like a 'Carb-dashian' for indulging in a pancake breakfast smothered in chocolate after eating spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner

'I eat burgers and fries and all kinds of yummy things! Eating everything and working out (which I do) is the healthy solution': This, after Nina defended her eating habits in the comments of her February 19 Instagram post after a follower called her anorexic

'You should do the same. Eating everything and working out (which I do) is the healthy solution for people who have problems.'

While in France, the Dog Days stunner also Insta-storied a make-up free snap during her luxurious spa day with gal pal, American Horror Story actress Emma Roberts.

Dobrev will soon fly to Texas to attend the March 9 premiere of Run This Town, in which she plays Ashley opposite Ben Platt, at South by Southwest in Austin.

The Ricky Tollman drama about interns and assistants - debuting at the Stateside Theatre - also features Mena Massoud, Jennifer Ehle, Damian Lewis, and Scott Speedman.

'Spa sistaz!' While in France, the Drake video vixen also Insta-storied a make-up free snap during her luxurious spa day with gal pal, American Horror Story actress Emma Roberts (R)

Deep in the heart of Texas! The Dog Days stunner will soon fly to South by Southwest in Austin to attend the March 9 world premiere of Run This Town, in which she plays Ashley opposite Ben Platt (L, pictured April 27)

On set snap: The Ricky Tollman drama about interns and assistants also features Mena Massoud (L), Jennifer Ehle, Damian Lewis, and Scott Speedman (pictured April 26)

Nina currently portrays newly-engaged Metropolitan Museum of Art event planner Clem in Corinne Kingsbury's 13-episode sitcom Fam, which airs Thursdays on CBS.

'I was not looking to return to TV,' the Vampire Diaries alum told THR in January.

'It was not on my radar at the moment, but the opportunity came up and I loved the character, I loved Tone Bell, and the medium was different. I had never done a sitcom before and I love comedy, I love doing things that scare me. This is in front of an audience of 300-plus people, so it's one of those things where it was scary and exciting and it got my heart rate up, so I knew I had to try it...It definitely makes me want to try theatre now.'

On the personal front, E! News reported last month that the Ryerson University drop-out was secretly dating Wharton School of Business grad, Grant Mellon.
The mother of Married At First Sight's groom Daniel Webb, 35, claimed his 'wife' Tamara Joy, 29, wasn't 'right for him' during Tuesday's homestays.

But it appears fellow MAFS bride Jessika Power, 26, may have received the Webb family seal of approval after beginning an 'affair' with Dan on the show.

On Wednesday, the blonde bombshell was caught affectionately calling Dan's mother 'mumma' in an Instagram comment about his homestay.

Scroll down for video

Has she got the family's seal of approval? MAFS bride Jessika Power (above) affectionately calls Dan Webb's mother 'mumma' after starting 'secret affair' with the groom on the show

'Mumma looks radiant!' Jessika commented, adding a love heart emoji face.

Jessika and Dan cheated on their oblivious TV spouses during Wednesday's dinner party as they shared their first on-screen kiss away from prying eyes.

The co-stars have been seen out-and-about together since filming ended on the show, with speculation they leave the experiment together.

'Mumma looks radiant': Jessika commented on Dan's post about his home stay chat with his mother with a love heart emoji face

Is she a fan of Jess? It comes after the Webb family grilled Tamara about her relationship with Dan on Tuesday night's episode. The mother interrogated Dan's 'wife' Tamara on the show and told Dan privately that she didn't think the brunette was the right fit for him

It comes after the Webb family grilled Tamara about her relationship with Dan on Tuesday night's episode.

The HR manager was asked if she was 'falling in love' with Dan, if there 'was a spark' between them and if she was 'sexually attracted to him'.

Dan's mother eventually told the Gold Coast single father that she didn't think Tamara was the perfect match for him.

'I don't think she's right for you. As a human being though, she's a beautiful human being. The warmth is not there and you need that affection, but she just hasn't got it.'

Secret romance: Jessika and Dan cheated on their oblivious TV spouses during Wednesday's dinner party as they shared their first on-screen kiss away from prying eyes

Dan said: 'I've dated in the past before where my mum and my girlfriend didn't see eye to eye but that never stopped me from seeing the person! I always go with my own opinion no matter what.'

It's unclear if Dan will leave 'wife' Tamara to begin a new 'marriage' with Jessika on the controversial experiment, but all signs point that way.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
His 'marriage' with 'wife,' Heidi Latcham, 38, has hit the skids in recent weeks on Married At First Sight.

Now MAFS star Mike Gunner appears to have all but confirmed his split from his TV 'bride', as he was busted not wearing his wedding band in Sydney on Thursday.

The Gold Coast-based electrician continued to fuel break-up rumours when he was then seen hastily slipping his wedding band on behind his back after he spied a photographer in the street.

Scroll down for video

Is this proof his 'marriage' with Heidi is a SCAM? MAFS' Mike Gunner, 44, was busted hastily slipping his wedding band on behind his back after being spotting in Sydney without the ring. Mike pictured without his wedding ring (left). Mike pictured wearing his wedding band (right)

Mike was snapped without the band as he arrived at Nova 96.9's radio station in Pyrmont for an interview with breakfast hosts Fitzy & Wippa in the early hours of morning.

The handsome sparkie, who was casually clad for the outing, looked confident and upbeat as he showcased a ring-free hand while striding towards the building.

However hours later, when Mike departed the radio station, he was seemingly struck with the stark realisation that he was missing something.

No ring! Mike was snapped without the band as he arrived at Nova 96.9's radio station in Pyrmont for an interview with breakfast hosts Fitzy & Wippa in the early hours of morning

Act quick! However hours later, when Mike departed the radio station, he was seemingly struck with the stark realisation that he was missing something

Busted! Soon after, the reality television star was seen rather indiscreetly holding his hands behind his back while he fitted the ring back on his finger

Mike came to a complete halt in the middle of the road while he figured out a plan of attack.

Soon after, the reality television star was seen rather indiscreetly holding his hands behind his back while he fitted the ring back on his finger.

At first, Mike could have fooled fans into thinking he was tucking his blue shirt into his jeans while he pulled the strange manoeuvre on the street.

Operation ring-finger: At first, Mike could have fooled fans into thinking he was tucking his blue shirt into his jeans while he pulled the strange manoeuvre on the street

Magic Mike! But just like that, Mike was seen wearing his wedding ring moments later as he continued his journey across the road

But just like that, Mike was seen wearing his wedding ring moments later as he continued his journey across the road.

Mike's marriage to Heidi has encountered a few bumps in the road over the past few weeks on MAFS.

He recently opened up about why their relationship continues to remain difficult despite his strenuous efforts.

'I felt as though no matter what I'd done or who I was or what I'd said, no man stood a chance,' he candidly said during an interview with Nine Now on Wednesday,

'No man stood a chance!' Mike's marriage to Heidi has encountered a few bumps in the road over the past few weeks on MAFS. He recently opened up about why their relationship continues to remain difficult despite his strenuous efforts

Mike explained that Heidi's attention to detail would often mean she misconstrued what he would say.

'The devil is in the detail with her...I think there were many occasions where I was misunderstood as saying one thing when I meant another,' he said.

'It was far more difficult than what it should have been... I'm falling for this amazing woman and there were just endless distractions that stopped us from really getting that flow.'
Married At First Sight fans have spotted another editing fail, after a new promo clip accidentally revealed Billy Vincent's decision to leave wife Susie Bradley at the next commitment ceremony.

On Wednesday, a teaser for Sunday's explosive commitment ceremony showed the 28-year-old holding a 'leave' sign after complaining about his home stay in Byron Bay to the experts.

Billy is seen wearing a blue and white floral shirt and he tells the experts that single mum Susie failed to treat him with any respect during their time together.

Scroll down for video

Spoiler alert! Eagled-eyed fans have spotted another MAFS editing fail as a teaser accidentally revealed Billy Vincent chooses to leave 'wife' Susie Bradley at the next commitment ceremony

Eagle-eye viewers noticed that the same shirt worn by Billy previously appeared in last week's commitment ceremony trailer.

Fans saw four 'leave' signs held up as red filter masked minor details that could identify each person.

One of the minor details that was immediately noticed was the uniquely patterned blue and white shirt worn by Billy in the upcoming commitment ceremony.

Oops! Eagle-eye viewers noticed that the same shirt worn by Billy previously appeared in last week's commitment ceremony trailer

The editing inconsistencies expose the barista's decision to leave his marriage this Sunday.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Nine for comment.

So far, season six of Married At First Sight has been marred with a series of editing fails.

Inconsistent: The editing inconsistencies expose the barista's decision to leave his marriage this Sunday

On Monday's episode, Susie was the victim of poor editing.

After a fight with 'husband' Billy Vincent, the blonde was filmed going to bed alone in a fitted grey pajama vest top and shorts.

However, the following morning the beauty was filmed waking up in a baggy white branded singlet top.

Did you notice the editing fails? Married At First Sight's 'home stay' episode on Monday suffered more major editing fails as Susie went to bed in grey pajamas, but woke up in a white singlet

As the controversial star was then filmed getting out of bed and walking to the lounge for a confrontation with Billy, her clothing had changed again.

Interestingly, Susie was now wearing a black bikini with vest top - the same outfit she had wore the day before, suggesting the scene was faked.

Married At First Sight continues on Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
Some scary moments for Aquaman star Jason Momoa and his crew of friends.

Their plane had to make an emergency landing Wednesday morning after the aircraft monitoring system reported an engine fire.

'We got ourselves a slight delay,' the actor said from the tarmac in a selfie video he shared on his Instagram Story.

'A half-hour out of Palm Springs, the plane wanted to start a fire.'

High drama: A private plane carrying Jason Momoa and his friends had to make an emergency landing in Palm Springs, California Wednesday morning

Turning the camera towards the emergency workers he added: 'Good old fire department, gotta love them. Looks like were driving.'

In the following clip, Momoa took another selfie video with his friends following close behind.

'All right round two. We got the pack. My friends came to pick me up,' he declared as their plane was being shuttled back into service.

Unscheduled stop: 'We got ourselves a slight delay. A half-hour out of Palm Springs, the plane wanted to start a fire,' the Aquaman star explained in an Instagram video

The skinny: The private plane's monitoring system reported an engine fire, which turned out to be a false alarm after an inverstigation

All systems a go! 'All right round two. We got the pack. My friends came to pick me up,' the actor declared as their plane was being shuttled back into service

The Cessna Citation 560 XL was en route from Los Angeles to Phoenix, when it had to make the unscheduled stop in Palm Springs.

In the end, the Palm Springs Fire Department determined that the engine fire was a false alarm.

Afterwards, the 39-year old star posed with one of the firefighters, which was shared on the department's Instagram page.

Fan friendly: Momoa stopped to pose with one of the firefighters at the scene on the tarmac

'Had an Aircraft emergency today. Reported engine fire with @prideofgypsies (Momoa) onboard,' the caption read.

'ARFF Engineer Andy Meza told his crew, Not on my watch boys...not on my watch. Turned out to be a false alarm but the ARFF Lads were on the ready. It's always nice to meet cool people.'

He added the hashtags: '#aquaman #palmsprings #firefighters #bestjobintheworld #ARFF #visitpalmsprings #local3601 #engine #truck #chiefmiller'

The good news: Momoa and his crew boarded the private plane and arrived at their destination in Phoenix, Arizona without further incident.
It was a rainy day in LA Wednesday.

But Halle Berry was all smiles where she stepped out for a business meeting at United Talent Agency in Beverly Hills.

The Extant actress, 52, was stylish yet understated as she walked into the building holding a polka dot umbrella while wearing camouflage trousers teamed with suede boots.

She means business! Halle Berry braced the rain wearing camo pants and heeled boots while making a stop by her agent's office in Beverly Hills on Wednesday

She covered up from the cop with a double zip jacket with generously sized pockets.

Even without makeup, Halle was absolutely radiant.

And she continued her natural look by keeping her highlighted locks down loose.

Halle looked like her meeting had gone great as she sauntered out of the building smiling just a little while after.

True beauty: Even without makeup, Halle was absolutely radiant

It's unclear who Halle was meeting with at UTA.

The Hollywood A-lister reportedly signed a contract with rival agency WME last year, according to Deadline.

Since Berry hasn't appeared in a projects since 2017, she is making up for lost time in 2019 and beyond.

Back in action: Halle is set to appear in the highly anticipated Keanu Reeves title John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum come May 17

She's set to appear in the highly anticipated Keanu Reeves title John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum come May 17.

Beyond that Halle is slated to make her directorial debut with Bruised, a mixed martial arts action drama that she will also star in, per a report by Deadline.

She is also attached to a remake of the 1985 thriller Jagged Edge, which is being written by newcomer Melissa London Hilfers.
He's been in the news more for his love life than his movies of late.

But on Wednesday, Chris Pratt was once again walking the red carpet at the premiere for a new film. The actor, 39, stars in the western The Kid which had a special screening in Los Angeles.

He looked sharp in a light grey ISAIA suit and dark tie with leather lace-up shoes by Tod's.

Back in action: He's been in the news more for his love life than his movies of late. But on Wednesday, Chris Pratt walked the red carpet at the premiere for his new film The Kid in LA

Pratt was solo at the premiere despite his recent high-profile engagement to Katherine Schwarzenegger.

He started dating the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver last year, proposing to the 29-year-old after a whirlwind romance.

He was previously married to actress Anna Faris with whom he shares a six-year-old son Jack. He and Anna split in 2017 and finalized their divorce this past October.

A-lister: Pratt was solo at the premiere despite his recent high-profile engagement to Katherine Schwarzenegger. He looked sharp in a light grey suit and dark tie with leather lace-up shoes by Tod's

Sharp dresser: The bearded actor, 39, looked natty in a pale gray two-piece suit. He wore it with a white shirt and gray patterned silk tie along with a black kerchief int he breast pocket

The Kid tells the story of a teen boy called Rio who murders his abusive father and injures his lawbreaking uncle before running away with his sister.

As the pair travel to Santa Fe, New Mexico, they come across legendary lawman Pat Garrett and his captive, the infamous bandit Billy The Kid.

The showdown between Garrett and Billy The Kid becomes a metaphor for Rio having to decide what kind of man he is going to be and what side of the law he is going to take.

The western drama is directed by Vincent D'Onofrio.

Helmer: Vincent D'Onofrio directs The Kid which tells the story of a teen boy Rio who murders his abusive father and injures his lawbreaking uncle before running away with his sister

Co-star: D'Onofrio's actress daughter Leila George, 26, plays Rio's sister Sara in the movie. She looked stylish in a black blazer and black leggings tucked into thigh-high black boots

Two generations: Leila is 59-year-old D'Onofrio's daughter with actress Greta Scacchi, with whom he starred in the films Fires Within in 1991 and The Player in 1992

Big break: Newcomer Jake Schur, second from left, stars as Rio. His father Jordan Schur is one of the producers of the movie

Ethan Hawke stars as Garrett with Dane DeHaan as Billy and newcomer Jake Schur, whose father Jordan Schur is a producer on the film, stars as Rio.

Pratt plays the boy's violent uncle Grant Cutler, while D'Onofrio's daughter Leila George plays Rio's sister Sara.

The movie opens in theatres on Friday.

Western icons: Ethan Hawke stars as legendary lawman Pat Garrett and Dane DeHaan as the infamous bandit Billy The Kid. Rio comes across the pair as he travels through New Mexico

Night out: Australian actor Jai Courtney, 32, was on the VIP guest list for the screening, looking casual in an all- black ensemble

Posed: The Bachelor alum Corinne Olympios, 27, flashed her midriff in a long-sleeved black crop top and white and silver patterned skintight pants

Flashed flesh: Model Kara Del Toro put on an eye-popping display in a very revealing black dress. The outfit was slashed to the navel and slit to the thigh
He's come a long way from his bespectacled Harry Potter days.

In fact, Daniel Radcliffe was looking more like his real-life dad from the 1970s in Adelaide on Wednesday.

The actor, 29, was spotted on the set of his new movie, Escape From Pretoria, dressed in a striped beige-coloured polo shirt, blue and white check flared trousers and a navy trucker cap.

EXCLUSIVE Daniel Radcliffe (pictured) was spotted on the set of his new film 'Escape From Pretoria' in Adelaide on Wednesday. The Harry Potter star wore 1970s garb and displayed slightly longer locks

His trademark glasses were firmly in place, albeit slightly different in style to his round Harry Potter spectacles.

The actor looked barely recognisable with his shaggy brown beard and long brown hair.

Daniel plays white South African activist Tim Jenkin who was imprisoned in Pretoria's Maximum Security prison in the late 1970s.

Time warp! Daniel, 29, was spotted on the set of his new movie, Escape From Pretoria, dressed in a striped beige-coloured polo shirt, blue and white check flares and a navy trucker cap

Escape From Pretoria is inspired by a real-life escape from the brutal Pretoria Maximum Security prison in South Africa 1979.

Filming began for the highly anticipated movie at Mitcham train station, in the suburb of Lower Mitcham, Adelaide, two weeks ago.

The set was a fog of dust, smoke and car fumes as Daniel paced back and forth.

Transformation! The actor (pictured left on set) looked barely recognisable with his shaggy brown beard and long brown hair. Also pictured (right) with shorter locks last month

At one point he was seen approaching an early model Valiant station wagon taxi parked outside a set piece signposted 'Pretoria'.

The film is written and directed by Francis Annan and based on Tim Jenkin's autobiography, Inside Out: Escape From Pretoria Prison.

Daniel's character Tim and his friend Stephen Lee were two white South Africans branded as 'terrorists' and thrown in jail in 1978.

Jail bird: Daniel plays white South African activist Tim Jenkin who was imprisoned in Pretoria's Maximum Security prison in the late 1970s

In the zone: Daniel looked focused as he filmed scenes outdoors

They had been involved in covert anti-apartheid operations for the African National Congress.

Escape from Pretoria is an Australian/UK co-production, financed with the assistance of the South Australia Film Corporation.

Jurassic Park star Sam Neill, 71, plays South African social campaigner and activist Denis Goldberg.

Wild ride! Escape From Pretoria is inspired by a real-life escape from the brutal Pretoria Maximum Security prison in South Africa in 1979

As reported by Screendaily.com, Goldberg was imprisoned with other key members of the anti-apartheid movement.

Goldberg received four life terms in 1964 and was released in 1986 having served 22 years in Pretoria's Maximum Security prison.

Local gig: Filming began for the highly anticipated movie at Mitcham train station, in the suburb of Lower Mitcham, Adelaide, two weeks ago
Oscar winner Anna Paquin looked beautiful in a blue mini-dress while recently pre-taping this Thursday's episode of The IMDb Show with host Tim Kash in Studio City.

The 36-year-old mother-of-two paired her Sea New York 'RS19 Lennox' puff-sleeved creation with matching metallic stilettos selected by stylist Anita Patrickson.

The Canadian-born, Kiwi-raised actress flashed her famous gap-toothed smile while discussing her Pop TV series Flack as well as future film projects.

True blue: Oscar winner Anna Paquin looked beautiful in a blue mini-dress while recently pre-taping this Thursday's episode of The IMDb Show with host Tim Kash (R) in Studio City

Anna wore her wavy, shoulder-length blonde locks down and she sported peachy blush and a pink pout for her promotional appearance.

Paquin recently revealed the secret to her eight-year marriage to her former True Blood leading man, Stephen Moyer.

'We're each others best friends,' the Furlough stunner told Us Weekly.

'We're incredibly lucky that we found each other. We want nothing but good things for each other. His successes are my successes and vice versa and we're just really lucky.'

Sitting pretty: The 36-year-old mother-of-two paired her Sea New York 'RS19 Lennox' puff-sleeved creation with matching metallic stilettos selected by stylist Anita Patrickson

Having a laugh: The Canadian-born, Kiwi-raised actress flashed her famous gap-toothed smile

Chit chat: Anna wore her wavy, shoulder-length blonde locks down and she sported peachy blush and a pink pout for her promotional appearance

The acting couple - who met on the 2007 set of HBO series - are raising six-year-old fraternal twins Charlie & Poppy at their homes in Venice Beach and London.

The 49-year-old Englishman is also father to 17-year-old daughter Lilac with LA journalist Lorien Haynes and 19-year-old son Billy from his mysterious first marriage in the UK.

This Sunday, Anna participates in the Michael J. Fox Foundation's third annual Fox Trot 5K race for Parkinson's Research in LA's Griffith Park.

'We're each others best friends': Paquin recently revealed the secret to her eight-year marriage to her former True Blood leading man, Stephen Moyer (pictured February 24)

The Furlough stunner told Us Weekly: 'We're incredibly lucky that we found each other. We want nothing but good things for each other. His successes are my successes and vice versa and we're just really lucky'

'Amazing cause!' This Sunday, Anna participates in the Michael J. Fox Foundation's third annual Fox Trot 5K race for Parkinson's Research in LA's Griffith Park

'Donate': And while her Team Ross has raised $17K total in pledges, Paquin - who boasts 520K Instagram/Twitter followers - has only raised $270 of her $5K fundraising goal

And while her Team Ross has raised $17K total in pledges, Paquin - who boasts 520K Instagram/Twitter followers - has only raised $270 of her $5K fundraising goal.

The Golden Globe winner currently executive produces and stars as publicist Robyn in the London-set, six-episode dramedy Flack, which airs Thursdays on Pop TV/W.

The CrossFit enthusiast will also play Dr. Jean Markham in Annabel Jankel's 1950s Britain-set lesbian romantic-drama Tell It to the Bees, which finally hits US theaters May 3 and UK theaters June 7.

Airing Thursdays on Pop TV/W! The Golden Globe winner currently executive produces and stars as publicist Robyn in the London-set, six-episode dramedy Flack
She's in a relationship with Hollywood action star Jason Statham with whom she shares a young son.

And on Wednesday, British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley found time in her busy schedule to lend support to an event for supplement company Vital Proteins.

The 31-year-old looked stylish as always in blue and white striped pajama-style pant suit.

On trend: British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looked stylish in a blue and white striped pajama-style pant suit at an event in LA Wednesday night

Her choice of outfit accentuated her slender frame as she posed for photos.

The long top coat was belted with a sash at the waist and fell to mid-calk over wide-legged trousers.

She wore her blonde hair tucked behind her ears to show off her earrings and carried a white box purse.

Dreamy: The 31-year-old, who is in a relationship with actor Jason Statham, wore her blonde hair tucked behind her ears to show off her earrings and carried a white box purse

Stylish: Her choice of outfit accentuated her slender frame as she posed for photos. The long top coat was belted with a sash at the waist and fell to mid-calk over wide-legged trousers

Rose was joined at the event by sisters Erin and Sara Foster, daughters of prolific music producer David Foster and his second wife Rebecca.

Erin, 36, opted for a patterned pale pink sweater paired with black leather trousers and black heels.

She added a brown wool coat jacket that she wore draped over her shoulders.

Sara, 38, chose a beige dress worn off the shoulders and with large buttons down the front.

She completed her look with black tights and heels.

Night out: Sisters Erin and Sara Foster, daughters of prolific music producer David Foster and his second wife Rebecca, also attended the promotional bash

Pals: Sara, 38, left, wore a beige dress worn off the shoulders and with large buttons down the front. Erin, 36, right, opted for a patterned pale pink sweater with black leather trousers

January marked three years since Rosie got engaged to Statham, 51.

They've been together since 2010 and welcomed their son in 2017.

The model recently spoke about how 'magical' motherhood is.

She told Harper's Bazaar: 'It sounds so cliched, but its just been the most magical experience. Everything feels so special and sweet and wholesome and loving and then at the same time its been life-changing, and my focus is now this person; this is what I want to do.'
They have been inseparable since going public with their romance earlier this year.

And Dr Alex George and his girlfriend Amelia Bath looked in the throes of love as they headed on a date night to watch School Of Rock The Musical in London on Wednesday.

The Love Island star, 28 and the former Ibiza Weekender star, 24, walked hand-in-hand to the Gillian Lynne Theatre for the special gala evening.

Besotted: Dr Alex George and his girlfriend Amelia Bath looked in the throes of love as they headed on a date night to watch School Of Rock The Musical in London on Wednesday

The A&E doctor cut a dapper figure in a camel wool-blend coat, which he teamed with a black hoodie and jeans.

Amelia, meanwhile cut a chic figure in white cropped trousers and black trench coat, which sheathed her slender frame.

The Bournemouth beauty tied her brown hair back in a loose ponytail and accentuated her sun-kissed tan with a bronzed make-up look.

Smitten: The Love Island star, 28 and the former Ibiza Weekender star, 24, walked hand-in-hand to the Gillian Lynne Theatre for the special gala evening

Handsome: The A&E doctor cut a dapper figure in a camel wool-blend coat, which he teamed with a black hoodie and jeans

After arriving at the theatre, Amelia let Alex take centre stage on the red carpet before heading in together to watch the spin-off of Jack Black's much-loved film.

Alex and Amelia first went public with their blossoming romance back in January, and have since been unable to hide their relationship with a slew of loved-up social media snaps.

Alex took to social media to share an adorable snap of a surprise cake and decorations Amelia had put together for his birthday.

Sharing a picture on Instagram of himself giving Amelia a huge hug in front of blue balloons spelling out 'Happy Birthday', a loved-up Alex wrote: 'Had such a good birthday yesterday. Thanks to Amelia for my surprises and especially for my 7 minute video of birthday wishes from friends and family. Have a great weekend everyone.'

Loving the limelight: After arriving at the theatre, Amelia let Alex take centre stage on the red carpet before heading in together to watch the spin-off of Jack Black's much-loved film

Love at last: Their adorable romance comes following unlucky-in-love Alex's disastrous stint in the villa, where he failed in his attempts to find love

Theatre-lovers: Julian Fellows (L) and Laurence Connor (R) also attended the special gala evening

Strike a pose! The pair posed with JoAnn M. Hunter

Chic: Angela Griffin cut a stylish figure as she hit the red carpet in a red leopard print dress

The medic also took to Instagram stories to share clips of his surprise bash, with the delighted doctor gushing to the camera: 'Just come home and it's my birthday...look!'

Alex then panned around to his kitchen where a group of his friends were dancing around, ready to mark his big day.

Alex and Amelia first went public with their relationship on New Year's Day this year, after he previously dropped a hint about a new girlfriend during Love Island's Christmas reunion show.

The NHS doctor shared an adorable snap of the pair on Instagram, with his caption fittingly saying: 'The person I would like to couple up with is...'

Since then, the duo have shared a series of loved-up snaps, with their blossoming relationship going from strength-to-strength.

Their adorable romance comes following unlucky-in-love Alex's disastrous stint in the villa, where he failed in his attempts to find love.
MAFS' Martha Kalifatidis hit the headlines on Wednesday for 'flirting' with Jessika Power's 'hot brother' Rhyce at the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF).

And a very unimpressed Martha took to Instagram on Thursday to 'clarify' just who her date was to VAMFF on Tuesday night.

The brunette beauty, 30, posted a photo of her standing alongside her hairstylist Gabrielle Occuzzo at the event, with the caption: 'Just in case anyone was confused about who my date was to @vamff @_hairbygabrielle.'

'Just in case anyone was confused about who my date was to VAMFF': MAFS' Martha Kalifatidis (left) hit back at rumours she was romancing Jessika Power's 'hot brother' Rhyce Power at the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF) on Thursday. She is pictured with friend and hairstylist Gabrielle Occuzzo

Fans interpreted the post as a clear rebuttal to suggestions she was in any way romantically linked to the handsome Rhyce.

Interestingly, Martha's fellow MAFS star Ines Basic, 28, commented on her post, writing, 'Oh hey hotties', which Martha responded to with a wave emoji.

People had good reason to suspect that there was more to Martha's encounter with Rhyce at VAMFF, however.

The brunette beauty, 30, posted a photo of her standing alongside her hairstylist Gabrielle Occuzzo at the event, with the caption: 'Just in case anyone was confused about who my date was to @vamff @_hairbygabrielle.' Pictured: Rhyce Power

She may still be coupled up with Michael Brunelli on MAFS, but that didn't stop Martha from flirting outrageously with Rhyce at the event in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Sitting front row alongside the tattooed model, 30-year-old makeup artist Martha looked completely smitten and couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

Their tactile display, which included giggling and exchanging secret glances, raised more than a few eyebrows considering she is, technically, still a 'married' woman.

Nothing to see here! Fans interpreted the post as a clear rebuttal to suggestions she was in any way romantically linked to the handsome Rhyce. Pictured: Martha (left) with Gabrielle Occuzzo

At one point during the runway performance, Rhyce touched Martha's hand as the pair laughed together.

And while the other attendees focused on the models strutting down the catwalk, the reality TV stars couldn't take their eyes off each other.

They were seen whispering to each other throughout the show, with Rhyce even placing a hand on Martha's shoulder.

No love here? People had good reason to suspect that there was more to Martha's encounter with Rhyce at VAMFF, however - the brunette beauty was seen flirting outrageously with the handsome Rhyce (pictured) at the event in Melbourne on Tuesday

Their flirtatious interlude didn't stop with the fashion show, as Martha and Rhyce were seen posing for photos together ahead of the event.

Rhyce even leaned in to plant a kiss on Martha's cheek, and the chemistry between them was quite obvious.

One onlooker described the chemistry between the pair in a post shared to a Facebook fan page on Tuesday night.

One onlooker described the chemistry between the pair in a post shared to a Facebook fan page on Tuesday night: 'They were taking photos together and being cuddled up, with Michael [Brunelli, her MAFS 'husband'] nowhere to be seen.' Pictured: Martha on MAFS

'They were taking photos together and being cuddled up, with Michael [Brunelli, her husband] nowhere to be seen,' claimed the source.

'I overheard someone ask if they're together and [Martha] said, "We're not allowed to say anything".'

Despite their flirty behaviour, however, Martha still appears to still be in a relationship with primary school teacher Michael, 27.
She reached movie star status after starring in one of the biggest films of 2018.

And Gemma Chan looked every inch the Hollywood icon as she arrived at the Jimmy Kimmel Live TV studios in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Crazy Rich Asians actress, 36, cut an elegant figure as she prepared for an interview with the chat show host.

Glamour: Gemma Chan, 36, looked every inch the film star as she arrived at the Jimmy Kimmel Live TV studios in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Gemma wored a black, knee-length coat and cinched her waist with a matching belt.

The Captain Marvel star paired the garment with a simple black top and matching leather trousers with a tassel finish.

Styling her brunette locks into loose curls, Gemma completed her look with black heels and an eye-catching red lip.

The actress recently starred as Elizabeth Hardwick, better known as Bess of Hardwick, in Mary Queen of Scots opposite Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie.

Style: The British actress cut an elegant figure as she prepared for an interview with the chat show host

Fashion: Gemma wore a black, knee-length woolly coat and cinched her waist with a matching belt

Asked whether she looks for a female presence in her films, Gemma replied: 'It doesn't have to be a female director or a female writer, but just looking for that balance and making sure that female characters are fully drawn and fully realised, that's the most important thing for me.'

Gemma added that the tale of women pitted against one another by the men around them was 'resonant' with current times.

She added: 'Elizabeth and Mary, they weren't mortal enemies for the most part. They really tried to coexist.

'There was a lot of love between them, and it was the men around them that tried to pit them against each other.

Ensemble: The Captain Marvel star paired the garment with a simple black top and matching leather trousers with a tassel finish

'I found that kind of sad, but also it feels very resonant for our times.'

Gemma confirmed her relationship with actor Dominic Cooper, 40, in September 2018 when they were spotted looking cosy during a romantic getaway.

Later that month, the actress was spotted moving some of her belongings into the Preacher star's London home.

The duo starred together in the film Stratton in 2017, in which Dominic took on the titular tole of John Stratton.

Prior to her relationship with Dominic, Gemma dated British comedian Jack Whitehall, 30, from 2011 to 2017 after meeting on the set of Fresh Meat.
She's one of the most polarising participants on this year's season of Married At First Sight.

But on Thursday's episode of A Current Affair, Jessika Power offered a backhanded apology to her 'groom', Mick Gould.

After admitting she's made a string of mistakes on the hit reality series, the 26-year-old bride made a half-hearted apology to her 31-year-old partner on the show.

Scroll down for video

Sorry not sorry: Married At First Sight's Jessika Power (left) offered a backhanded apology to her groom, Mick Gould, on A Current Affair on Thursday

Speaking to the news program, Jessika admitted even she was shocked by her own 'disgusting' behaviour on the show.

And while she did eventually offer Mick an apology, she couldn't resist throwing in a few cutting remarks first.

'I definitely think Mick's perfect date is going out the back and having a can of VB,' she told A Current Affair.

The kiss of death: Jessika couldn't resist comparing her down-to-earth partner to fellow groom Daniel Webb (right), who she secretly kissed during Wednesday night's dinner party

Backhanded: While Jessika did eventually offer Mick Gould an apology, she couldn't resist throwing in a few cutting remarks first

'He's happy to get around with coffee stains on his shirt and food everywhere. How am I supposed to be attracted to that?'

Jessika even compared down-to-earth Mick to fellow groom Daniel Webb, who she secretly kissed during Wednesday night's dinner party.

The pair snuck away to share a passionate embrace behind their assigned partners' backs.

No chemistry: 'He's happy to get around with coffee stains on his shirt and food everywhere. How am I supposed to be attracted to that?' Jessika said of her 'husband' Mick (pictured)

'Yeah, I do want a guy next to me that looks good. I do want a guy that I can take out and feel confident, and like people are looking at us. I like that,' she continued.

'I prefer a guy that looks after himself and not wear work boots to dinner parties.'

Despite her remarks though, Jessika said she was 'sorry' for upsetting Mick, and insisted she regrets not being honest with him.

Cheers: 'I definitely think Mick's perfect date is going out the back and having a can of VB,' she told A Current Affair

She said she regrets the ways things turned out with the sheep farmer.

'I'm definitely sorry for what I've done to Mick. I'm definitely sorry for hurting him,' she said.

'He was embarrassed to be with me, and I hate that I've made him feel like that, because he has so many amazing qualities as a person.'
Montana Brown appeared on Good Morning Britain on Thursday morning to argue that Barbie dolls are bad role models, and that they project an unrealistic body image.

But hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard were having none of it from her, as they were quick to point out the fact that she is only famous after appearing on Love Island - a show that only features attractive, toned people, mostly spending their time half-dressed.

'Its interesting that you argue that it's an unrealistic portrayal of women's bodies because a lot of people thought that about Love Island. That actually young girls watching Love Island only realistically saw one type of body looking fabulous in a bikini,' Susanna said.

Montana replied: 'I would completely agree with that as well, we should be seeing more of a body diversity on Love Island as well.'

Ben then added: 'Weren't you compounding the problem by going on it and being seen in that space?'

Unimpressed, Montana replied: 'Is it my fault that they didnt cast a broad range of women? Probably not.'

She also added: 'I didnt have any Barbies because she was blonde with big boobs and was skinny and Im not blonde and I didnt relate to it. So I didnt want one.'

Siding with Ben and Susanna were GMB viewers, who flocked to Twitter to slam the reality starlet, 23, leaving her 'digging a hole' for herself.

Hypocrite? Love Island's Montana Brown appeared on Good Morning Britain on Thursday morning to argue that Barbie dolls are bad role models, and that they project an unrealistic body image

Body talk: Montana [R] rose to fame on Love Island - a show that only features attractive, toned people, mostly spending their time half-dressed. [L is Barbie]

Pot, kettle, black? 'Its quite a statement for you to argue against Barbie when people say the same thing about Love Island,' Susanna said to Montana

Unrealistic? This is the kind of image Montana posts to her own Instagram page

Tweets appeared online, to the tune of: 'Whats that smell? Hypocrisy!'

One person tweeted: 'Montana's defense of appearing on Love Island is laughable in this context. Of course she knew they weren't gonna cast the fatties and geeks. Anything for another 5 seconds of fame!'

Someone else posted: 'Does Montana even know what shes talking about?'

Another typed: 'looool at Montana from love Island on GMB sat preaching that Barbie sets unrealistic beauty standards for young girls yet her face is filled with filler and her Insta pics are edited to the max. Hypocrite hun!'

Whatever! Hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard were having none of it

Tweets appeared online, to the tune of: 'Whats that smell? Hypocrisy!'

Unimpressed: Montana argued - 'Is it my fault that they didnt cast a broad range of women on Love Island?'

Tagging the show, someone else wrote: '@GMB with all due respect Montana Brown, youre sat arguing the fact that Barbie isnt a good role model because she looks unnatural... yet your face is filled to the brim & your veneers are gleaaaaaming!'

Others were quick to turn on Ashley James instead - who was on the show sticking up for Barbie, arguing that the brand try to develop the products to reflect diversity.

'Arrrrrrgh, its a toy Ashley James you dont look like Barbie love - its a completely unnatural body/face shape,' someone typed, seemingly missing the point.

'Absolutely creased at Ashley James saying Barbie the doll is a feminist icon,' ranted someone else.

Darned if you do, darned if you don't: Others were quick to turn on Ashley James instead - who was on the show sticking up for Barbie, arguing that the brand try to develop the products to reflect diversity

Tagging the show, someone else wrote: '@GMB with all due respect Montana Brown, youre sat arguing the fact that Barbie isnt a good role model because she looks unnatural... yet your face is filled to the brim & your veneers are gleaaaaaming!'
They regularly flaunt their romance on the red carpet.

And the Today show's Richard Wilkins looked smitten as he enjoyed yet another outing with his girlfriend Virginia Burmeister in Sydney on Thursday.

The 64-year-old and his ladylove dressed in elegant black ensembles as lead the celebrity arrivals at The 2019 Silver Party.

Power couple! Richard Wilkins (L) and his girlfriend Virginia Burmeister (R) looked smitten in these elegant black ensembles as they lead star arrivals at the 2019 Silver Party in Sydney on Thursday

Flashing his pearly whites for a smile, Richard looked dapper in a classic black suit.

Featuring a tailored blazer and matching suit pants, Richard also wore a white button-shirt, fastened with a black tie.

He teamed the stylish ensemble with a pair of black dress shoes.

Dressed the part! Flashing his pearly whites for a smile, Richard looked dapper in this classic black suit

Meanwhile, Virginia looked simply sensational in a sophisticated black gown.

Featuring a one-shoulder design, the quirky number also sported chiffon ruffles that cascaded down past her knees.

She teamed up the maxi gown with a black choker, accessorised with dainty silver hoops and pulled back her blonde locks in a low bun.

She's a goddess! Meanwhile, Virginia looked simply sensational in this sophisticated black gown that featured a one-shoulder design and chiffon ruffles

And actress Nadia Fairfax made a stellar appearance at the event in a white princess gown with a modern twist.

Adorned with billowing sleeves and an eccentric train, the 29-year-old also flaunted a glimpse of her toned back.

She wore her hair in a simple up-do while opting for a natural makeup look.

Ethereal beauty: Meanwhile, actress Nadia Fairfax made a stellar appearance at the event in this white princess gown with a modern twist

Peek-a-boo! Adorned with billowing sleeves and an eccentric train, the 29-year-old also flaunted a glimpse of her toned back

Simply stunning: She wore her hair in a simple up-do while opting for a natural makeup look

Another familiar face at the event was none other than Deborah Symond O'Neil, daughter of 'Aussie John' Symond.

The bombshell wore a Victorian-inspired frock that featured white balloon sleeves and a black corset at the waist.

Flaunting her slender stems with its thigh-skimming design, Deborah teamed the ensemble with a diamond clutch and glitzy jewellery.

Gorgeous: Another familiar face at the event was none other than Deborah Symond O'Neil, daughter of 'Aussie John' Symond

Wow! The bombshell wore a Victorian-inspired frock that featured white balloon sleeves and a black corset at the waist

Meanwhile, Australian bookmaker Tom Waterhouse looked dapper in a white blazer, black bow tie and dress pants.

The 36-year-old flashed a smile beside his wife Hoda, who stunned in a deep cherry-coloured dress.

The princess-style gown had a strapless bust and ruffle detailing all-over.

They look good! Meanwhile, Australian bookmaker Tom Waterhouse (L) looked dapper in a white blazer, black bow tie and dress pants. Pictured with wife Hoda (R)
She launched a shocking attack on her unborn child's father last month as she accused him of a slew of violent and abusive acts.

Yet Jemma Lucy proved that she had a good support network around her as she headed to Thailand with her friends for a fun getaway.

The pregnant reality star, 30, took to Instagram to share snaps from her lively holiday where she relaxed on the beach alongside the likes of Helen Briggs.

Bumping along: Jemma Lucy shared a bikini-snap of her blossoming baby bump on holiday in Thailand on Thursday. The reality star, 30, is currently seven months pregnant

Jemma - who is currently seven months pregnant - showed off her blossoming bump in a palm print bikini as she posed side on to a mirror.

The Ex On The Beach star's Thailand holiday came just days after she enjoyed a trip to Australia, where she also shared a plethora of snaps.

Jemma also showed fans a look at her back tattoo, which is in the process of being done but looks set to depict a giant snarling tiger.

Fun in the sun: The Ex On The Beach star's Thailand holiday came just days after she enjoyed a trip to Australia, where she also shared a plethora of snaps

Starlets: The pregnant reality star, 30, took to Instagram to share snaps from her lively holiday where she relaxed on the beach alongside the likes of Helen Briggs

Jemma's holidays have no doubt been helping the star clear her head after she made shocking allegations about her ex-partner - who she has thus far refused to name - detailing how she had been treated with repeated mental and physical abuse.

In her initial pregnancy announcement, she vowed to never reveal the father's identity after a secret two-year romance yet later divulged details of their 'toxic' relationship which included a kidnap attempt and bids to abort her child.

She penned: 'So I'm a reality star right? Here's my reality. I've kept my love life out of the public eye for the past two years for various reasons...

Wild thing: Jemma also showed fans a look at her back tattoo, which is in the process of being done but looks set to depict a giant snarling tiger

'I have been involved with the most toxic vile man I have ever met and it's finally come to an end today. Unfortunately he is the father of my child...

'The mental abuse and occasional physical abuse has been killing me inside especially for the past six months of my pregnancy...

'He has emotionally broke me down and physically hurt me for no reason! Today I find out he has been lying to me yet again and been seeing his ex behind my back...

'Lying to me constantly and being the cause of so much pain, leaving me in a bad state whilst I'm pregnant. The start of my pregnancy he was threatening me trying to make me get rid of my child...

Blooming: Jemma's holiday came after she made shocking allegations about her ex-partner detailing how she had been treated with repeated mental and physical abuse

'Then four moths later comes to terms with it and promises me a family. Only for me to find that he's still sleeping with his ex and lying to us both. Oh and I forgot to mention I found him messaging a girl on Insta too. Which he says is just 'banter'...

'I'm absolutely heartbroken. That's the truth. How many chances are you supposed to give someone? How many times do you let someone batter you emotionally? How many times do you let someone slap you up whilst they try to crash your car?...

'I gave my heart to this man for two years, he lied and cheated, I made mistakes too but never to this level! Then when he promises me a family I welcome him back into my new house and he abuses me yet again mentally...

'Abuses my trust. Lies. Cheats. All whilst I'm pregnant. I haven't named him yet because I'm scared to hear what else he's been doing. That's been my love life for the past two years. Now you all know. Waste man. What a c***.'

The next explosive claim came when she shared a screenshot of a message from another woman, who made the kidnap allegation.

Shocking: In her pregnancy announcement she vowed to never reveal the father's identity after a secret two-year romance yet has now divulged details of their 'toxic' relationship

Jemma soared to fame on the third season of MTV dating show Ex On The Beach in 2016, where she struck up a romance with Kirk Norcross, and later became a regular fixture on the party scene before returning to EOTB in the explosive fifth season in 2017.

The star, real name Jemma Henley, got her first taste of TV fame on Channel 4s Brat Camp in 2005, where she was sent to a US correctional centre following a string of offences including shoplifting and being expelled from three schools.

Following this, she competed on Signed by Katie Price, a reality show hoping to find a protege for the model, before she launched herself into the reality world on EOTB.

Ejected: The inked-up star has gained her bad girl reputation during her stints on MTV after she frequently became embroiled in furious rows with co-stars




She's one of the world's most recognisable supermodels.

And Ashley Graham made a stellar appearance in a racy ensemble at Virgin Australia's Melbourne Fashion Festival on Thursday night.

The American model, 31, flashed her underwear in a transparent frock for the star-studded evening.

Scroll down for video

Sheer delight! Ashley Graham flashes her underwear in a black lace frock at Melbourne Fashion Festival... as she urges the modelling industry to drop 'plus size' label

Sporting a fresh bronzed glow all-over, Ashley showed off her trim pins and incredible figure in the attire.

The brunette beauty wore a head-to-toe see through dress that was adorned with a black lace print.

Flaunting a glimpse of her undergarments, Ashley opted for a skintight black bodysuit underneath.

Hot! The American model, 31, flashed her underwear in a transparent frock for the star-studded evening

She's a goddess! Sporting a fresh bronzed glow all-over, Ashley showed off her trim pins and incredible figure in the attire

That's different! Flaunting a glimpse of her undergarments, Ashley opted for this skintight black bodysuit underneath

Legs for days! She teamed up the look with these towering heels that featured a stylish cross strap across the ankle

She teamed up the look with a pair of towering heels that featured a stylish cross strap across the ankle.

Her silky brunette tresses were styled straight, with the addition of a few loose waves to frame her face.

Following the red carpet appearance, Ashley stormed the runway in a gorgeous teal ensemble.

Locks: Her silky brunette tresses were styled straight, with the addition of a few loose waves to frame her face

Beauty in blue! Following the red carpet appearance, Ashley stormed the runway in this gorgeous teal ensemble

Curves in all the right places! Showing off her famous curves, Ashley's gown enhanced her waist with the addition of this golden buckle belt

Just a peep! Putting on a leggy display, the thigh skimming number also sported this keyhole opening at the bust, showing a glimpse of Ashley's cleavage

Accessories: Ashley's hair was slicked back behind her ears to reveal a pair of stunning silver hooped earrings

Showing off her famous curves, Ashley's gown enhanced her waist with the addition of a golden buckle belt.

Putting on a leggy display, the thigh skimming number also sported a keyhole opening at the bust, showing a glimpse of Ashley's cleavage.

Ashley's hair was slicked back behind her ears to reveal a pair of stunning silver hooped earrings.

Picture perfect: She then swapped the turquoise attire for this sophisticated black dress while walking down the runway

She then swapped the turquoise attire for a sophisticated black dress.

Embellished with golden studs, the gown featured a mesh panel at the sleeves and a diaphanous chiffon skirt.

And the glamorous event comes after Ashley urged the modeling industry to drop the 'plus size' label on clothing.

That's different! Embellished with golden studs, the gown featured a mesh panel at the sleeves and this diaphanous chiffon skirt

The glamorous event comes after Ashley urged the modeling industry to drop the 'plus size' label on clothing

Making an appearance on The Project, Ashley said: 'To have an industry say, ''Oh, this is the plus size model,'' - why do we have to describe a woman because of a number inside of her pants?'

'Why can't we just say her name, or her occupation and that be it? Men don't do that. They don't say my ''plus size friend whoever'',' she added.

Ashley then said she's looking forward to the day where she doesn't have to speak about her size in interviews.

'To have an industry say, ''Oh, this is the plus size model,'' - why do we have to describe a woman because of a number inside of her pants?' she said on The Project on Thursday

'I'm looking forward to that day. Because I am the first of so many things, I'm going to have to talk about this for the rest of my career and that's okay because I didn't have a role model growing up that looked like me,' she said.

The brunette added that the conversation needs to shift away from just discussing the topic, but rather showing action.

'The call to action is to just do it and not talk about it.'
They were reunited the other day, after Comic Relief's Mount Kilimanjaro climb kept them apart for a couple of weeks.

And 'mountaineer' Dani Dyer and her Love Island beau Jack Fincham were seen out and about for the first time on Thursday, stepping out to run errands in their native Essex.

Dani, 22, boasted a sly grin as she strolled along with Jack, both casually-clad.

Back to normality: Dani Dyer and her Love Island beau Jack Fincham were seen out and about to run errands in their native Essex on Thursday

She wore a black bomber jacket and grey tracksuit bottoms, adding a little flair to the ensemble with a colourful handbag and a fur-lined collar.

The reality personality swept her russet locks loosely behind her shoulders and went without much make-up for the jaunt, which saw Jack in a navy and white Nike tracksuit.

He tucked a black document holder under his arm as he marched on, Dani trailing behind.

Dani completed the seven-day hike up Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, and seemed relieved to be back with her boyfriend when she shared a loved-up photograph on Instagram on Wednesday evening.

Pleased with herself: Dani, 22, boasted a sly grin as she strolled along, casually-clad

Errands: She wore a black bomber jacket and grey tracksuit bottoms

Colour pop: Dani added a little flair to the ensemble with a colourful handbag and a fur-lined collar

Marching along: Jack was seen in a navy and white Nike tracksuit, a black document holder under his arm, Dani trailing behind

The Essex beauty posted a sweet couple's selfie, taken by her beau, which showed Jack puckering up as she planted a kiss on his cheek, with her arms wrapped around him.

Dani captioned the romantic snap, simply: 'I [heart] you.'

The pair reuniting comes days after she celebrated the remarkable endeavour with a glass of champagne after returning from reaching the summit of the famous mountain.

Posting an image of herself in her hiking ensemble and carrying her rucksack, the exhausted looking reality star toasted the experience and penned a heartfelt message on Instagram.

She wrote: 'The end of Kilimanjaro. Ive cried Ive laughed Ive met friends for life. What an experience and such a good reason to do it.

Reunited: Dani looked besotted as she celebrated reuniting with boyfriend Jack

Charitable: Dani has been on a seven day trek to reach the summit of the mountain alongside other celebrities, and posted a sweet couple's selfie to mark her return to Jack's side

Cheers to that! Dani Dyer, 22, celebrated her return from reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro on Saturday with a glass of champagne and shared a heartfelt message

'Dont get me wrong I wouldnt want it as a birthday present but its a story I can tell my grandkids one day bring on the shower and a Nandos because this girl needs it.

'Thankyou for all the love and support whilst Ive been away Ive seriously needed it x'.

Hours before Dani's social media offering, her boyfriend Jack Fincham, 27, shared on social media how he longs to be reunited with his girlfriend.

Gushing over his other half, the pen salesman posted a loving tribute to Dani alongside a throwback snap of them both taken from their holiday in Dubai in January.

Love-sick: Jack Fincham, 27, shared on Instagram how he longs to be reunited with his girlfriend with a throwback image

Charitable: Dani went on a seven day trek to reach the summit of the mountain alongside a host of other celebrities

Jack captioned the selfie: 'Hurry home please! The bed is lonely @danidyerxx love you xxx.'

Dani joined a whole host of famous faces to endure the climb for the charity including Little Mix's Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall.

The team hiked through the Alpine desert to Pofu Camp where they were hoping to acclimatise after a tough few days of altitude sickness.

Suffering from migraines and sickness, Dani said: 'It is tiring, but I know I can do it. I won't let the altitude affect me. I'm going to try and overcome it as much as I can but all your donations mean so, so much to all of us.'

Hiking team: Dani joined a whole host of famous faces to endure the climb for the charity including Little Mix's Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall

All the drama will be followed up close and personal, with highs, lows, twists and turns and moments of delirium captured on camera by Shine TV, who are making a one-hour special documentary of the challenge, Kilimanjaro: The Bigger Red Nose Climb.

The full story of how the group adjust to their basic camping conditions, new climbing companions, extreme temperatures and debilitating altitude sickness will be revealed on BBC One in the run up to Red Nose Day, which is on Friday 15th March.

All money raised will help Comic Relief fund projects in the UK and internationally.
He prefers to keep a low-profile when he's away from the movie sets.

And Leonardo DiCaprio cut a casual figure as he went for dinner with his friend and fellow actor Lukas Haas at Japanese restaurant Tempura Endo in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.

Ever the gentleman, Leo, 44, who was reportedly joined by girlfriend Camila Morrone, 21, (not pictured), tipped his valet with a crisp $100 bill for his car.

Out and about: Leonardo DiCaprio, 44, cut a casual figure as he went for dinner at Japanese restaurant Tempura Endo in Beverly Hills on Wednesday

The Wolf Of Wall Street star donned a black bomber jacket and purple hoodie for the evening, pairing it with slim-fitting jeans and white trainers.

Lukas sported a black jacket, a plaid shirt and olive trousers as he caught up with his friend.

Leo's next film will be Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, his first on-camera acting role since The Revenant in 2015.

Set in Los Angeles during the Manson Family murders, the film tells the story of television actor Rick Dalton and his stunt double Cliff Booth as they try to get involved in the film industry.

Manners: Leo, who was also joined by actor Lukas Haas for the evening, tipped his valet with a crisp $100 bill for his car

Director Quentin Tarantino last year described the forthcoming motion picture as 'a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood,' with DiCaprio playing past-his-prime TV actor Rick Dalton, and Pitt as his stunt double, Cliff Booth.

'I couldn't be happier about the dynamic teaming of DiCaprio and Pitt as Rick and Cliff,' Tarantino said in a statement.

'Both are struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don't recognize anymore. But Rick has a very famous next-door neighborSharon Tate.'

Style: The Wolf Of Wall Street star donned a black bomber jacket and purple hoodie for the evening, pairing it with slim-fitting jeans and white trainers

Back in action: Leo's next film will be Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, his first on-camera acting role since The Revenant in 2015, (film still)

The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 26, 2019.

Meanwhile, Leo was one of thousands of tributes pouring in following the death of the veteran actor Luke Perry, who shot to fame in the early nineties playing heartthrob Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills, 90210.

Luke, 52, died Monday following a stroke on March 4 with his publicist Arnold Robinson revealing that Luke's family and friends were by his side when he passed away.
They have repeatedly clashed since meeting for the first time at their wedding, on Married At First Sight last month.

And Billy Vincent, 28, has lashed out at his 'wife' Susie Bradley, 25, after the single mum was busted kissing NRL star Todd Carney, 32, in Brisbane on the morning after Valentine's Day.

'What can I say? That's a really hard one for me, I have mixed feelings about that,' he told The Daily Telegraph on Friday.

Furious: MAFS' Billy Vincent (left) has hit out at photos of his 'wife' Susie Bradley (right) kissing another man, Todd Carney. Susie and Todd are pictured the morning after Valentine's Day at the Stamford Plaza in Brisbane

'You can really see Susie's judge of character by the people that she hangs out with.

'I don't know the guy but, look, those two go together like...' Billy trailed off before abruptly being cut off by a Channel Nine MAFS publicist.

Meanwhile, Billy said he was frustrated watching himself on the show as he questioned why he was such a 'gentleman' to his fiery 'bride', who blasted him this week as being 'not manly enough'.

'I treated her with respect... I look at the TV and go, ''Why were you such a gentleman to her'',' he candidly confessed.

'I don't know the guy but, look, those two go together like...' Billy (R) trailed off before being cut off by a Channel Nine MAFS publicist midway through his remark. Pictured left: Susie

'I treated her with respect... I look at the TV and go, ''Why were you such a gentleman to her'',' he candidly confessed

Last month, Susie landed herself in trouble with Channel Nine producers after she was caught kissing Todd outside a Brisbane hotel.

While the sharp-tongued blonde has downplayed their romance in recent media interviews, she and Todd appeared to be very much an item while holidaying in Byron Bay on Sunday.

Several onlookers spotted Susie and Todd sitting down for lunch at The Beach Hotel, with her on-screen 'husband' Billy Vincent nowhere to be seen.

She likes the bad boys! While the sharp-tongued blonde has downplayed their romance in recent media interviews, she and Todd appeared to be very much an item while holidaying in Byron Bay on Sunday

In a rather telling display of affection, Todd draped his arm around Susie's shoulders at one stage.

An eyewitness told Daily Mail Australia that Todd and Susie entered the venue separately before discreetly joining each other at a table.

The sportsman was also joined by an older male friend, according to other patrons.

Are they an item? An eyewitness told Daily Mail Australia that Todd and Susie entered the venue separately before discreetly joining each other at a table

Low-key date: Several onlookers spotted Susie and Todd sitting down for lunch together

Todd, whose NRL career was derailed in 2014 when a photo surfaced online of him urinating in his own mouth, also sported a black eye.

The sighting came hours before Sunday's episode of MAFS aired on television.

During that night's commitment ceremony, Susie almost reduced her 'husband' Billy to tears with her relentless insults.

Confusing: As Susie's tumultuous marriage to Billy Vincent plays out on Married At First Sight, her new relationship with Todd (right) is being documented in the tabloids

During an extraordinary tirade, the single mother complained that Billy's constant compliments made her feel 'uncomfortable and awkward'.

She also listed all the things she disliked about the personal trainer, including the fact he is 'not manly enough'.

As Susie's tumultuous marriage to Billy plays out on Married At First Sight, her new relationship with Todd is being documented in the tabloids.

Speaking to the Courier Mail after photos surfaced of her and Todd outside a hotel on Valentine's Day, Susie said fans 'misunderstood' the situation.

Newlywed bliss? The Byron Bay sighting came hours before Sunday's episode of MAFS aired on television. During that night's commitment ceremony, Susie almost reduced Billy (right) to tears with her relentless insults

She also said 'the hardest thing about those photos' is that viewers watching MAFS don't understand that her scenes with Billy were actually filmed months ago.

While she refused to confirm if she was dating Todd, Susie added: 'People think I'm married [to Billy] and seeing Todd Carney at the same time and that's not the case.'

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7:00pm on Channel Nine
They rose to fame together as the stars of Beverly Hills, 90210.

And Jason Priestley spoke out for the first time to honor his longtime friend Luke Perry following his sudden death on Monday at the age of 52.

Priestley took to Instagram with an image of the guys from their '90s heyday, shared below a more current photo where he admitted he was 'in so much pain' with the loss of Perry.

Friends: Jason Priestley took to Instagram with an image of the guys from their '90s heyday, shared below a more current photo where he admitted he was 'in so much pain' following the death of Luke Perry

'It's taken me a couple of days to figure out how to write this,' he wrote. 'My dear friend of 29 years, Luke Perry, was one of those truly special people who really cared.

'Luke was not only a star, he was an incredibly bright light that was extinguished far too soon and that is why I, and so many others, are in so much pain today.'

Jason portrayed Brandon Walsh on the hit Aaron Spelling drama Beverly Hills, 90210, while Luke played his best friend, Dylan McKay.

Sad: Jason Priestley spoke out for the first time to honor his longtime friend Luke Perry following his sudden death on Monday at the age of 52; seen in June

Kids: Jason portrayed Brandon Walsh on the hit Aaron Spelling drama Beverly Hills, 90210, while Luke played his best friend, Dylan McKay; the cast pictured in 1995

'If you had the good fortune to know Luke, or to have ever crossed his path, I know you are sad today as well,' Priestley wrote in the caption.

'The candle that burns twice as bright only burns for half as long you burned oh, so brightly Luke Goodnight Sweet Prince.'

Perry suffered a stroke at his Sherman Oaks, California home less than one week ago and was rushed to the hospital, where he remained until his death on Monday.

'If you had the good fortune to know Luke, or to have ever crossed his path, I know you are sad today as well,' Priestley wrote in the caption; seen together in 2013

Former cast members shared sweet sentiments and kind words about their friend, who starred on the coming-of-age show for six seasons before returning as a special guest for the final two seasons.

'My heart is broken,' Jennie Garth told People.

'He meant so much to so many. Such a very special person. I share my deep sadness with his family and all who loved him. Such a terrible loss.'

Sad times: On Thursday Ian Ziering wrote, 'My inbox continues to overflow with notes of sorrow from around the world. I share the same feelings of shock and loss with you all. My heart breaks for his kids, Jack and Sofie. #riplukeperry #sw Heaven 3/4/19'

So much love: And he shared a photo of Luke hugging someone with the caption, 'He was this guy'

Ian Ziering, who portrayed Steve Sanders, wrote: 'Dearest Luke, I will forever bask in the loving memories weve shared over the last thirty years.

'May your journey forward be enriched by the magnificent souls who have passed before you, just like you have done here, for those you leave behind.'

He also took to Instagram on Thursday to say, 'My inbox continues to overflow with notes of sorrow from around the world. I share the same feelings of shock and loss with you all. My heart breaks for his kids, Jack and Sofie. #riplukeperry #sw Heaven 3/4/19.'

And he shared a photo of Luke hugging someone with the caption, 'He was this guy.'

A revival of the show was confirmed just one week ago with Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling confirmed to return for six episodes ordered by Fox.
Coronation Street's Peter Barlow is set to land himself in big trouble with the police as they arrest him following a raid a squat.

In upcoming scenes, the character - played by Chris Gascoyne - will be hauled away by officers after he breaks into a derelict house as he tries to rescue former love Carla Connor.

New images from the ITV1 soap show the former bookmaker at the door of the decrepit house as three police officers close in, while Carla (Alison King) is nowhere to be seen.

Big trouble: Coronation Street's Peter Barlow (Chis Gascoyne) is set to land himself in big trouble with the police as they arrest him following a raid a squat

While Peter is thwarted by the police, it appears as though the men believed to have kidnapped Carla have made their escape.

The explosive new storyline is linked to upcoming episodes which will see the Underworld factory roof collapse, leaving one Weatherfield resident dead.

Carla will get the blame after cutting corners in fixing the roof, following builder Gary Windass' quote of 60,000 for the repairs.

With everyone turning against Carla, she's set to spiral out of control, with her mental health taking a downward turn.

Arrest: New images from the ITV1 soap show the former bookmaker at the door of the decrepit house as three police officers close in, while Carla (Alison King) is nowhere to be seen

Where's Carla? While Peter is thwarted by the police, the men believed to have kidnapped Carla have made their escape

But little does she know, Carla is not to blame for the incident.

As Carla's life falls apart, it appears that she ends up in the squat with as yet unknown newcomers, which subsequently leads to Peter breaking into the squat to bring her home.

Previous filming pictures showed Peter and Carla's father Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley) approaching the home, with Peter then attempting to kick the door down before climbing through the window.

But with Carla having been taken away by the mysterious squatters, it looks as though Peter's run-in with the police is the least of his worries.

Dramatic: Actor Chris Gascoyne was spotted on location filming scenes as he broke into a derelict house in pursuit of a squatter

Danger? Alison King's character Carla could be in serious danger after she disappears with mystery squatters

Series producer Iain MacLeod previously revealed that Carla is set to battle her mental health in a one-off episode airing later this year.

He said: 'Carlas life is all about work and the factory but after the factory collapse she spirals.

'The factory collapse will impact massively on Carlas mental health. Were doing something stylised on this.'

Will Peter's shock arrest lead to serious danger for Carla?

Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV.

Rescue: Previous filming shots showed Peter and Carla's father Johnny Connor (Richard Hawley) approaching the home in a bid to find Carla
Tristan Thompson appears to have already moved on from Khloe Kardashian and now it seems the reality mogul is ready to do the same.

The 34-year-old extolled the virtues of positivity on social media with a new selfie on Thursday morning.

A source familiar with the situation spoke out and claimed that Khloe wants to get on with the rest of her life after being humiliated by her cheating boyfriend for the second time.

Moving on: Khloe Kardashian shared a new selfie and told fans that she was focusing on the positive as a source told Us Weekly that she was moving on 'for the sake of her mental health'

The insider said that 'for the sake of her mental health, True and the sake of her family,' Khloe is trying to move on from Tristan, reported Us Weekly.

As part of that process it appears that the Good American mogul is trying to focus on her blessings.

Early Thursday morning she shared a sultry selfie while wearing a pink silk robe with full glam.

The star seductively chewed one of her freshly painted pale pink talon nails as she gazed at the camera.

It's over: An insider said that 'for the sake of her mental health, True and the sake of her family,' Khloe is trying to move on from Tristan after he cheated on her for the second time

'I believe in you, your abilities and you heart! Stay positive about everything,' she captioned the image. 'Each one of us, is simply trying to figure it all out.'

The mother of one has been regularly sharing inspirational quotes, mantras and affirmations with fans since she began going through her recent baby-daddy drama.

The couple split last week after it emerged Tristan had once more cheated on the mother of his child - this time with her little sister Kylie Jenner's best friend, Jordyn Woods.

He was also spotted taking two other women into a bedroom at a party the same weekend.

Trouble: The couple split last week after it emerged Tristan had once more cheated on the mother of his child - this time with her little sister Kylie Jenner's best friend, Jordyn Woods

After the fallout from the scandal, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star is reportedly trying to grapple with how to include Tristan in their daughter True's first birthday April 12.

A source tells People magazine that while Khloe is keen her child's father be present at the celebration, it is going to be very awkward.

'Khloe is figuring out how to get Tristan involved. She can't see how he can be around her family at a party, though. Everyone is just too upset with him.'

Support: Kim Kardashian is one of Khloe's camp who is the angriest with Tristan and his wanton behavior

Among those furious with their sister's ex, is Kim, who is said to be 'livid'.

Khloe recently took to social media to blame the cheating scandal on Tristan after previously blaming Jordyn.

She wrote: 'This has been an awful week & I know everyone is sick of hearing about it all (as am I). I'm a rollercoaster of emotions & have said things I shouldn't have.

For his part, Tristan appeared to be showing no signs of remorse as he was spotted this week heading into a hotel with a woman.
The tragic real life story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard sent shockwaves across the world in 2015 after she murdered her mother who convinced her she was ill her entire life.

And actress Joey King, 19, has now brought Blanchard's devastating plight, involving an extreme case of Munchausen by proxy, to life, as is evident in the chilling new trailer for Hulu's The Act - which is set to premiere on March 20.

Four years ago, Dee Dee Blanchard (played by Patricia Arquette) was found dead after being stabbed by daughter Gypsy and her new beau Nick Godejohn - a sequence of events that has all been captured in the 'tough to watch' trailer.

Sad: Joey King, 19, has now brought Gypsy Roise Blanchard's plight, involving an extreme case of Munchausen by proxy, to life, as is evident in the new trailer for The Act

The two minute trailer for the anthology series, which has been created by Nick Antosca and Michelle Dean, shows various snippets of Gypsy's life, in which she used a wheelchair for most of her life.

Friends and attorneys revealed Dee Dee had essentially kept her daughter prisoner in their home, which was provided by Habitat for Humanity, after convincing her she had muscular dystrophy, cancer and other ailments.

Blanchard for years forced her daughter to use a wheelchair and to undergo unnecessary medical tests, which is shown in the trailer.

The clip also shows Gypsy forming a relationship with new boyfriend Nick (played by Calum Worthy) on a Christian dating website in 2015.

True: The tragic real life story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard sent shockwaves across the world in 2015 after she murdered her mother Dee Dee who convinced her she was ill her entire life

Tragic: Four years ago, Dee Dee Blanchard (played by Patricia Arquette- pictured) was found dead after being stabbed by daughter Gypsy and her new beau Nick Godejohn

Bringing it to life: The two minute trailer for the anthology series shows various snippets of Gypsy's life, in which she used a wheelchair for most of her life

In text messages presented earlier in the trial, Godejohn and Gypsy generally discussed love, sex and planning a life together - until June 2015, when they began discussing needing duct tape and knives in the days before Clauddine Blanchard was killed.

Gypsy has since been sentenced to ten years in prison for second degree murder, while Nick was convicted of first-degree, and in February 2019, was sentenced to life in prison.

Four years after the case caused distress worldwide, potential viewers have rushed to Twitter to offer their opinions on the 'messed up' trailer:

Victim: Friends and attorneys revealed Dee Dee had essentially kept her daughter prisoner in their home after convincing her she had muscular dystrophy, cancer and other ailments

Love: The clip also shows Gypsy forming a relationship with new boyfriend Nick (played by Calum Worthy) on a Christian dating website in 2015

Plot: In text messages presented earlier in the trial, Godejohn and Gypsy generally discussed love, sex and planning a life together - until June 2015, when they began discussing needing duct tape and knives in the days before Clauddine Blanchard was killed

'I wonder if she had any input/ part in the making of this movie.. I do feel bad for her, I felt like it was also unfair she was locked up, maybe therapy and mental health care would of been better for her. Since birth she was made to believe this was how life is supposed to be.'

'Ill be honest I literally know nothing about this and will probably try to not know anything until after watching it! Looks really interesting though.'

'That one looks tough to watch. I hear its pretty messed up though.'

Outcome: Joey's trial is also brought to life in the new series

'Breaks my heart': Gypsy's shocking life has been captured in the 'tough to watch' trailer - which has already stunned social media users

Shocking: Gypsy's case is one of the most disturbing, and well known cases, of Munchausen by proxy in the world

MUNCHAUSEN BY PROXY Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a mental health problem in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under his or her care, such as a child, an elderly adult, or a person who has a disability. Because vulnerable people are the victims, MSBP is a form of child abuse or elder abuse. The caregiver with MSBP may: Victims are most often small children. They may get painful medical tests they don't need. They may even become seriously ill or injured or may die because of the actions of the caregiver. Children who are victims of MSBP can have lifelong physical and emotional problems and may have Munchausen syndrome as adults. This is a disorder in which a person causes or falsely reports his or her own symptoms. Doctors aren't sure what causes it, but it may be linked to problems during the abuser's childhood. Abusers often feel like their life is out of control. They often have poor self-esteem and can't deal with stress or anxiety. The attention that caregivers get from having a sick child may encourage their behavior. Caregivers may get attention not only from doctors and nurses but also from others in their community. For example, neighbors may try to help the family in many ways-such as by doing chores, bringing meals, or giving money. SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Advertisement

'The Act looks so good. Gypsy Rose shouldn't be in prison at all. She didn't do anything wrong. I would have done the same thing. Lots of people would. It breaks my heart that she said that she prefers being in prison than what she dealt with in the past.'

'Nothing is scarier than real life. #theact' and 'This excites me tremendously. This is one of my favorite true crime stories!!!'

'#TheAct @ATWWDpodcast and @xtineschiefer told the story first!!! Gypsy was charged for second degree murder...even though her Munchausen by Proxy ridden mom was basically torturing her. Smh.'

'Tbh, I hope Gypsy Blanchard gets out of prison early once #hulu releases their movie about the murder. She deserves justice. She was a victim. #TheAct She has done her time.'

'Tough to watch': Four years after the case caused distress worldwide, potential viewers have rushed to Twitter to offer their opinions on the 'messed up' trailer

'It's like but iirc it could never be confirmed. All they know is that she was sick enough to abuse her child and then pretend to be a struggling mother.'

Meanwhile, speaking recently about her transformation for the role with Allure, Joey said that she wasn't at all nervous about shaving her head - something that she has now done three times in the name of playing a part for TV or film.

'I've never really had an attachment to my hair. I couldn't care less what happens to it. No part of me was nervous or was second-guessing it,' she told the publication.
She recently discussed feelings of isolation at being a single mum, following her split from Josh Patterson.

But Binky Felstead showed no signs of heartache as she arrived in Dublin for the launch of the Irish Jenny Glow Perfume at the Devlin Hotel on Thursday.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 28, showed off her fashion prowess in a chic pair of blush pink peg leg trousers, which highlighted her gym-honed physique.

Break: Binky Felstead arrived in Dublin for the launch of the Irish Jenny Glow Perfume at the Devlin Hotel on Thursday, after admitting she felt isolated as a single mother

Binky teased a hint of her enviably-toned abs in her black long-sleeved crop top and oozed confidence as she strutted into the brunch.

The reality starlet added a boost to her height with a pair of snakeskin print kitten heels and looked effortlessly glamorous as she posed with her pal James Butler.

She wore her brunette tresses in soft curls and accentuated her sun-kissed tan with fluttery eyelashes, heavy strokes of blush and a slick of pink lipstick.

Gorgeous: The former Made In Chelsea star, 28, showed off her fashion prowess in a chic pair of blush pink peg leg trousers, which highlighted her gym-honed physique

Glam: She wore her brunette tresses in soft curls and accentuated her sun-kissed tan with fluttery eyelashes, heavy strokes of blush and a slick of pink lipstick

Stylish display: The reality starlet added a boost to her height with a pair of snakeskin print kitten heels and looked effortlessly glamorous as she posed with her pal James Butler

The fitness guru took a rare break from looking after her one-year-old daughter India to jet across to Ireland for the bash, leaving Josh, 29, to take care of their tot in London.

Binky recently opened up about life as a single mother, moving on from Josh and critics of her post-baby weight-loss in a candid new interview with the April issue of Women's Health magazine.

The reality star spoke openly discussing her feelings of 'isolation' as she ventures into new territory as a solo parent.

Letting her hair down: The fitness guru took a rare break from looking after her one-year-old daughter India to jet across to Ireland for the bash

Tough few months: Binky recently opened up about life as a single mother, moving on from ex-boyfriend Josh Patterson and critics of her post-baby weight-loss

Doting dad: Josh looked thoroughly exhausted as he looked after India while Binky jetted to Ireland

She said: 'I was home with India and I would see on Instagram that everyone was out and about and I just felt really isolated.

'I can get quite low scrolling through Instagram and seeing all these happy  or what looks like happy families  mums and dads and babies.'

She added: 'Of course, there are times where I think, "F**k, I'm on my own and I've got a baby".

'But I've always been a believer in what's meant to be is meant to be and that things happen for a reason and that's how I've just kind of led my life.'

Hard: The reality star spoke openly discussing her feelings of 'isolation' as she ventures into new territory as a solo parent

Her time to shine: Binky appeared to be thoroughly enjoying her time in Ireland after confessing seeing other people having fun on Instagram left her feeling down

Binky conceded 'it's going to throw a spanner in the works' when either she or Josh eventually move on with a new partner, but said she hopes they will be 'adult enough to be kind of fine'.

'I just think its going to be quite weird at the beginning. It's little things like, I can still go to his parents' house for the weekend with him and India. We want to keep that, we want India to see us together.'

Binky and Josh dated on and off from the summer of 2015, when they got together during the Made In Chelsea spin-off season in Los Angeles, to September 2018 when they confirmed their split.
She's candidly spoke about her mental health in the past.

And Georgia May Foote exclusively spoke to MailOnline about her anxiety battle and revealed that learning to talk to her friends about how she's feeling has been a 'saviour'.

The former Coronation Street star, 28, was speaking as part of Kellogg's new Snap, Crackle and Pop-up cafe in the centre of Manchester for National Cereal Day as she helped with the official opening.

Candid: Georgia May Foote exclusively spoke to MailOnline about her anxiety battle as part of Kellogg's new Snap, Crackle and Pop-up cafe in Manchester for National Cereal Day

Georgia also spoke about her new romance with rapper Kris Evans after they enjoyed a romantic holiday in Bali in December, revealing it is 'all great' and 'going good'.

She said: 'Yeah, thats all great, thank you, all going good!'

Speaking about her anxiety battle, Georgia said: 'I think thats the thing, you do feel very lonely when you suffer with anxiety and depression, even though you might be surrounded by the most incredible people... you feel like you're the only person going through it at times.

'So even though you're not obviously, that's the place it puts your head in, so it has been nice to be able to know that people aren't alone and other people are going through it as well.'

Sweet: Georgia also spoke about her new romance with rapper Kris Evans after they enjoyed a romantic holiday in Bali in December, revealing it is 'all great' and 'going good'

Georgia went on to reveal that learning to talk to her friends about how she's feeling, which she calls 'brew crew' where they put the world to rights over a cup of tea, has been a 'saviour' and the 'best thing that happened to her last year'.

She said: 'Mental health and anxiety, it doesn't ever really go away, you just learn how to deal with it and that's the hardest part at first. When it's happening and you dont really understand what it is, it's so overwhelming.

'When you do find ways to cope with it, don't get me wrong, I have days where I'm not OK, I have days where I'm absolutely on top of the world, that's how it is. It's learning to distract yourself, learning to talk to people and be open about it.

'You dont feel as lonely, it doesn't feel as hard, I ring my friends as soon as Im having a wobble and they calm me down now. Its great, at first I felt silly you have just got to be open with people and get help when you need it.

Support: Speaking about her anxiety battle, Georgia said: 'I think thats the thing, you do feel very lonely when you suffer with anxiety and depression, even though you might be surrounded by the most incredible people.'

'I do this amazing thing with my friends, at least once a week we call it 'brew crew' we all sit down and have a brew and we just talk, we put the world to rights, that has been a saviour that was the best thing that happened to me last year. We all come together at least once a week. Its really good, we call it family tea as well.'

She continued: 'I think Ive always been quite an anxious person and being in the career I'm in and industry I'm in, I think it does enhance it a little bit, you are on show all the time. So many people who have it, it is something that has always been there, the more adult life it gets, the more struggles you have.'

Georgia revealed that she has worked with the mental health charity, Mind, with their Mind Media Awards, celebrating people who have highlighted mental health through their work, documentaries or podcasts.

The star rose to fame as Alison Simmons in Grange Hill from 2005 to 2008 and Katy Armstrong in Coronation Street from 2010 to 2015.

Supportive pals: Georgia went on to reveal that learning to talk to her friends about how she's feeling, which she calls 'brew crew' where they put the world to rights over a cup of tea, has been a 'saviour'

Talking about her new acting roles, Georgia revealed that she has just finished filming a short film called the Queen of Diamonds, which was 'amazing' and will go on to tour around the UK in May performing as Vita in play Napoli, Brooklyn.

The actress also admitted that she's happy to be trying new things after a long stint in soaps, she said: 'I've got nothing against the Street [Coronation Street] at all, it's nice to finish one chapter and try another one, move on to new things. I've done the soap thing for a long time, it's nice to do a new thing at the moment.'

And talking about her dream role, Georgia revealed she would love to star in a Marvel film, she said: 'I've always said since I've been dead little, its a funny thing between me and my dad, Ive always been like: "I'll be in a Marvel film one day, dad." Thats always been my thing, I think I want to do that I'm a big action fan, I would love that!'

As part of Kellogg's new Snap, Crackle and Pop-up cafe in the centre of Manchester for National Cereal Day, created with Cereal Killer Cafe brothers Alan and Gary Keery, fans can immerse themselves in the brand.

Talented: Talking about her new acting roles, Georgia revealed she has just finished filming a short film called the Queen of Diamonds and will go on to tour around the UK in May performing as Vita in play Napoli, Brooklyn

With a menu including fun cereal remixes such as Buzzin Bee Krunch and This Charming Bran, the event will also have new cereal box designs showcasing artwork.

Georgia, whose favourite cereal is Coco Pops, helped with the official opening in the centre of Manchester on Thursday, with the event running until Sunday.

She said: 'Its such a great brand as I've obviously grown up with them since I was a child and they're Manchester-based as well. Its been a great team to work with.

'They opened up a pop-up cafe in Manchester, opposite the Town Hall for four days, where people can go in and get a free bowl of cereal and a coffee. Which is great fun and obviously everyone needs that before they go to work, dont they!

'Oh my gosh, it was so busy, I couldnt believe how many people were coming in, I was like: "Woah!" Its really good and like I said, they had all the classics there as well so it was really nice to see people enjoying them.'

If you've been affected by this article, you can call mental healthy charity Mind on 0300 123 3393 or text 86463.
Wine Wednesday just got a lot better thanks to Reese Witherspoon, who enjoyed a glass while hanging out with woman's best friend in a cute post she shared on Instagram.

The 42-year-old Big Little Lies actress kicked back with some white wine as she relaxed with her furry pal, Pepper.

The French Bulldog tilted its head to look into the camera along with his famous owner.

Woman's best friend: Reese Witherspoon celebrated Wine Wednesday with her French Bulldog

Witherspoon looked effortlessly chic in her reading glasses while wearing a solid tan sweater. She sat on her couch in a pair of jeans as she let off some steam.

The actress captioned the funny picture, 'Friends dont let friends drink alone. Right, Pepper??'



Adding to the humor of the post, the award-winning star hash tagged the picture joking about how the puppy prefers red wine.

Reese looked not a day over 30 with her light hair falling in layers down her back.

And, she spiced up the look with some pink lipstick on her otherwise natural face.

Lazy days: Reese and Pepper cuddled up on a brown leather couch to read one of Reese's book club picks

Threes a crowd: Reese let her fans see her three dogs, Pepper, Nash and Hank as they sat nicely for a picture

Any Reese fans know just how obsessed the Legally Blonde star is with her pets.

She's one proud dog mom who's always posting about them on her Instagram.

For love your pet day, Reese shared a sweet picture of her dogs, Pepper, Nash and Hank sitting on the front step waiting for their mom to return.

Reese captioned the picture saying, 'So glad I get to come home to these faces every single day!'

Big happy family: Reese looked overjoyed as she stood next to her three kids and husband for a family Christmas card photo

Reese is always bragging about her beautiful family on social media too.

In a picture with her entire clan, Reese wished the world a Merry Christmas from her kids, Ava Elizabeth Phillippe, 19, Deacon Reese Phillippe, 15, and Tennessee James Toth, 6.

Also by her side was her second husband, Jim Toth, 49.
She's admitted she can see no future for her and husband Joe, should he be deported following his release from prison.

And it seems Teresa Giudice is already preparing for that eventuality, with the former Real Housewives Of New Jersey star going without her wedding and engagement ring as she left a restaurant with a friend in New Jersey on Thursday.

The 46-year-old mother-of-four's bare hand was on show as she walked to her car, after breakfasting with her pal.

Moving on already? Teresa Giudice ditches her wedding ring at breakfast in New Jersey on Thrusday... after admitting she will split from husband Joe if he is deported

Ring free: Teresa's bare hand

While it could potentially be a sign of Teresa's growing acceptance that her husband of 20 years may not have a future in the U.S., it could also simply be an indication of an earlier workout - with Teresa dressed in leggings and gym gear.

This week Teresa admitted to Andy Cohen during the Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion that she may soon be splitting from her husband Joe if he is deported following his release from prison.

Joe was born in Italy but brought to the U.S. as a baby, and does not speak Italian. However he never pursued his U.S. citizenship.

'I'm not doing a long distance relationship. I'm not doing it,' Teresa told Andy. 'I want somebody with me every day.'

Joe reported to Fort Dix Correctional Institution in March 2016 to serve a 41 month sentence after the couple pleaded guilty to 39 counts of conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud.

Working out? While it could potentially be a sign of Teresa's growing acceptance that her husband of 20 years may not have a future in the U.S., it could also simply be an indication of an earlier workout - with Teresa dressed in leggings and gym gear

Acceptance: This week Teresa admitted to Andy Cohen during the Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion that she may soon be splitting from her husband Joe

His sentence was shorted by five months and he's expected to be released from the federal institution this month, but Teresa is making sure she's mentally prepared for what could happen once he is free.

'Unless my kids say, "Mommy, we want to move to Italy," [we] are not going],' she said. 'Gia's going to college next year; I haven't spoken to Milania or Audriana about it, we haven't gotten there yet; and Gabriella already voiced her opinion to me. She was like, "That would be so hard for me, Mommy." She doesn't speak the language. She's like, "That would kill me even more."'

Difficult: This week Teresa admitted to Andy Cohen during the Real Housewives Of New Jersey reunion that she may soon be splitting from her husband Joe if he is deported following his release from prison

Trouble: The 46-year-old said that 'it's not going to work' if her husband of 20 years is sent back to his home country

'I'm not doing a long distance relationship. I'm not doing it,' Teresa told Andy. 'I want somebody with me every day'

And if the family is split a part between two countries, Teresa believes the marriage just wouldn't succeed.

'I know exactly what happens  I'm sure he'll be with other women. It happens,' she said. 'You do the long-distance thing, it's not going to work. I'd be like, "Bye bye."'

Their family attorney, James J. Leonard, told DailyMail.com in February that 'The only lawyers Teresa is talking to are her husbands immigration lawyers and those conversations are about bringing Joe home where he belongs. Nobody is talking about getting divorced.'

He added that 'Joe Giudice is a fighter and he wants to come home. His lawyers are putting up a hell of a fight in an effort to make that happen.'

Sad: Their family of six has been through a difficult few years with Teresa serving 11 months in prison herself just before Joe's sentence began; seen in 2016

Their family of six has been through a difficult few years with Teresa serving 11 months in prison herself just before Joe's sentence began.

'It's like starting a whole new life,' Teresa says. 'and they've been through so much already.'

While Joe and Teresa were married in 1999, rumors have been swirling that she's already left her husband for a much younger man as she was spotted holding hands with Blake Schreck in Miami last month.

Leonard told People that 'there is no cheating, no divorce' and sister-in-law Melissa Gorga also claimed, 'if it were true, Id know something.'
She recently confirmed her return to the Square three years after she quit her role as Lola Pearce.

And Danielle Harold was joined by newcomer Max Bowden, who is set to play the new Ben Mitchell, as they took a break from filming further scenes for EastEnders on Thursday.

Danielle, whose return to the soap was confirmed in December, cut a stylish figure in printed monochrome skinny trousers as she joined Max, who is taking on the role of Phil Mitchell's son.

Work: Danielle Harold was joined by newcomer Max Bowden, who is set to play the new Ben Mitchell, as they took a break from filming further scenes for EastEnders on Thursday

Danielle completed her trendy look with a red turtleneck top and biker jacket as she strolled along.

Max kept it cool in a thin grey top and black jeans as he enjoyed some downtime with his co-star.

Ben's first explosive storyline will see him meeting up with dad Phil and Keanu Taylor at a cafe, after he returns from living abroad.

He will be returning to Albert Square with ex Lola and daughter Lexi, after actress Danielle Harold reprised her role.

Casually cool: Danielle, whose return to the soap was confirmed in December, cut a stylish figure as she joined Max, who is taking on the role of Phil Mitchell's son

His comeback comes over a year after he fled Walford after stealing the New Year's heist money, which Phil and his pals stole from Ciara Maguire.

However, the loot was secretly switched at the last minute by Ben's step-mum Sharon Mitchell, with the character only leaving with a small proportion of the cash.

The character hadn't been seen on screens since, although he's often referred to by his onscreen family.

Looking good: Danielle completed her trendy look with a red turtleneck top and biker jacket as she strolled along

Long-running role: Meanwhile, Max is the sixth actor to play the role of Ben, taking from the helm of Joshua Pascoe (pictured) and Harry Reid

Meanwhile, Max is the sixth actor to play the role of Ben, after taking the helm from previous star Harry Reid.

Speaking about his role after it was announced earlier this year, Max said: 'Im so excited to be joining the cast of EastEnders and taking on the role of Ben Mitchell.'

The actor, who played Justin Fitzgerald in Waterloo Road until 2015, added: 'Ive always been a fan of the show so to be joining one of the most iconic families in soap is beyond exciting. I cant wait to get started and see whats in store for Ben.'
Chris Pratt is leaving the hard work up to his lady he confessed in an interview published on Thursday that he hasn't helped much when it comes to wedding planning for his big day with Katherine Schwarzenegger.

When talking to US Weekly, the Guardians of the Galaxy star said his tireless schedule has prevented him from lending a hand.

According to the actor, 39, him and Katherine, 29, plan to throw their celebration sometime in the fall or winter.

So chatty: Chris Pratt, 39, held nothing back when talking with Us Weekly about wedding planning with his fiance, Katherine Schwarzenegger, 29, at The Kid premiere on Wednesday

With the nuptials coming up - Chris earlier told the same outlet the nuptials would take place by the end of the year - the couple better get to work.

Because Chris told the outlet he's 'barely' done any wedding planning.

While at The Kid premiere in Hollywood on Wednesday, the ex of Anna Faris, 42, let everyone know that picking out napkin colors and delivering save the dates is not his forte.

An unusual date: Chris and Katherine headed to a farm for a couple's day out as they cozied up with some baby lambs

But jokes aside, Chris knows there's a lot that will go into the beautiful ceremony.

He talked about the upcoming wedding saying him and Katherine have, 'Got a lot to get done.'

Luckily for Chris, he has a powerful woman by his side who will get the job done.

Wedding bells: Chris hugged his fiance in a photo announcing their wedding on Instagram which Chris now says he's been no help in planning

Katherine said yes to the actor's proposal in January, which the duo announced via Instagram.

Chris shared the life changing moment with a picture of him and the author embracing one another, as the eldest of the Schwarzenegger crew's ring sparkled into the camera.

The ring is estimated to cost a whopping $400,000.

Rain rain go away: The soon to be husband and wife tried to stay dry as they left Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday

Pratt captioned it saying, 'Sweet Katherine, so happy you said yes! Im thrilled to be marrying you. Proud to live boldly in faith with you. Here we go!'

On Wednesday the fiances were seen out at a Jimmy Kimmel Live! taping in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Jurrasic World actor and his bride dashed to the car with an umbrella covering them from the rain after the show.
Hollywood is still mourning the loss of Luke Perry.

Actress Tiffani Thiessen has broken her silence about the death of her former Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star in a touching social media tribute on Thursday.

Luke Perry died Monday after suffering a stroke days prior at the age of 52.

Tragic: Tiffani Thiessen took to Instagram with a touching tribute to her former 90210 co-star Luke Perry on Thursday following news of his death at the age of 52 earlier this week

'My heart has been weighing heavy,' the cookbook author wrote. 'The loss of a man who started as my co-star but quickly became my friend.'

Thiessen replaced Shannen Doherty on the series as Valerie Malone, the new love interest for Perry's bad boy heartthrob Dylan McKay.

'He welcomed me on my very first day of #90210 with open arms. A day that was not an easy one for me,' the 45-year-old wrote.

Tiffani joined the cast of the iconic series in season five which she explained was a nerve wracking prospect.

Tribute: Tiffani wrote about Luke's welcoming spirit and big heart in her moving post on social media

On screen: Thiessen replaced Shannen Doherty on the series as Valerie Malone, the new love interest for Perry's bad boy heartthrob Dylan McKay

'I was coming in to a show, a family really, that had been together for over 4 years. But this man took me under his wing and made me feel at home,' she explained. 'Made me feel like I belonged in his TV family.'

Continuing, Tiffani penned: 'He was sincere, sweet, warm, kind, professional and funny as all heck. And most of all, the definition of a gentleman.'

'Luke, our world has a hole in it now that you arent here. But heaven definitely gained you as an angel. #RIP #LukePerry #gonetoosoon'

Shocking: Luke Perry died suddenly on Monday after suffering a stroke days prior at the age of 52

Several former cast members have taken took social media and shared sweet sentiments and kind words about their friend.

'My heart is broken,' Jennie Garth told People. 'He meant so much to so many. Such a very special person. I share my deep sadness with his family and all who loved him. Such a terrible loss.'

Ian Ziering, who portrayed Steve Sanders, wrote: 'Dearest Luke, I will forever bask in the loving memories weve shared over the last thirty years. May your journey forward be enriched by the magnificent souls who have passed before you, just like you have done here, for those you leave behind.'

Such a loss: Several former cast members have taken took social media and shared sweet sentiments and kind words about their friend

Earlier on Thursday, actor Jason Priestley spoke out for the first time to honor his longtime friend.

Priestley took to Instagram with an image of the guys from their '90s heyday, shared below a more current photo where he admitted he was 'in so much pain' with the loss of Perry

A revival of 90210 was confirmed just one week ago with Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling confirmed to return for six episodes ordered by Fox.
He was released from a Florida jail on Wednesday night after being arrested for writing a bogus $4,000 check.

And Real Housewives of Atlanta's Peter Thomas took to Instagram to share his happiness in being back home after six days in jail.

The 58-year-old reality star said that despite not being able to get some rest, he felt 'so blessed' to be in his own bed after a difficult few days and a few hours later, shared a video of the sunrise from his Miami condo.

Relief: Real Housewives of Atlanta's Peter Thomas took to Instagram to share his happiness in being back home after six days in jail

'I cannot sleep because im still f***ed up over the last six days,' he said in a video shared Wednesday night. 'But you know what, it feels so blessed to be in my bed tonight.'

Peter wore a white shirt as he tried to turn down for the night, with his arm propped up against a pillow.

He continued, 'That I can get up and go to the shower, the restroom, the refrigerator, the balcony to go look outside and I don't have to ask permission to.'

Thomas ended the video saying that more information would become available soon, only to reveal a gorgeous sunrise the next morning and saying, 'it's a beautiful world, yes it is.'

New day: The 58-year-old reality star said that despite not being able to get some rest, he felt 'so blessed' to be in his own bed after a difficult few days and a few hours later, shared a video of the sunrise from his Miami condo

'I cannot sleep because im still f***ed up over the last six days,' he said in a video shared Wednesday night. 'But you know what, it feels so blessed to be in my bed tonight'

Peter was released from custody on Wednesday in the wake of his arrest last week for bouncing a $4,000 check.

He was arrested on Friday in connection with writing fraudulent checks after he deboarded a plane at Miami International Airport, and was subsequently held without bond at a Miami facility.

'This appears to have been a very big misunderstanding on several people's part,' his lawyer Keith A. Doley told TMZ, adding that 'It was not a malicious intent on Mr. Thomas end.'

Difficult: He was arrested on Friday in connection with writing fraudulent checks after he deboarded a plane at Miami International Airport, and was subsequently held without bond at a Miami facility

Peter, who was formerly married to Cynthia Bailey, had a fugitive warrant in Louisiana over the check, but has since made good on the $4,000 debt through Doley, officials with St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney's Office told TMZ Wednesday.

With the financial dispute settled, the district attorney was set to inform the Sheriff's Office they are dropping the case, paving the way for Thomas's release, according to the outlet.

Peter, who owns a bar and club in Charlotte, North Carolina, initially said in a statement that he was going to be 'acquitted from any wrongdoing,' as the allegations against him were false.

He exchanged vows with Cynthia in a 2010 ceremony that was shown on the Bravo show's third season but the pair separated in 2016 and their divorce was finalized the following year.

Luxe life: Peter posed with former wife Cynthia at a 2016 event in NYC

Feted: The businessman last year received a Made Man Award from the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C.

The businessman - who last year received a Made Man Award from the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C. - was seen on a RHOA episode earlier in the show's current 11th season as he visited friends NeNe and Gregg Leakes.

NeNe was shocked - and supportive - of her longtime friend when Andy Cohen told her about Peter's arrest when she appeared Sunday on Watch What Happens Live

'Now that you are telling me, my reaction is "Wow" - amazing,' she said, later adding, 'I love Peter.'

The two made for one of the more memorable moments in the RHOA annals during the show's sixth season in 2014, when NeNe stepped in as Peter and Gregg were in a heated argument in front of the rest of the cast over an incident that happened at an earlier event thrown by then-castmate Kenya Moore.

'Let me just say this, you need to stay out of women's business - you are causing f***ing problems,' NeNe told Peter. 'You are the only husband/boyfriend/finance that gets involved in women's business ... what we do as women is between us ... you stop trying to be a damn b***h!'
Law and Order star Stephanie March stepped behind the camera for her new all-women created flick.

The blonde beauty sat down with DailyMailTV host Jesse Palmer to talk about The Social Ones, a mockumentary style film that pokes fun at the beast that is social media.

Serving as the executive producer for the movie, the 44-year-old laughed about spoofing the current over-the-top influencer culture.

Too funny! Stephanie March is executive producing and starring in a new mockumentary called The Social Ones and she joined DailyMailTV to talk about the funny flick that spoofs social media influencer culture

'I would describe it as if we are completely flattering ourselves, a mockumentary a la Christopher Guest, of social media influencers,' Stephanie said.

A laugh-inducing clip of the film shows social trolls hard at work in a dark room ... dressed as actual trolls.

The film stars comedy vets Richard Kid, Jackie Hoffman, Debra Jo Rupp and Peter Scolari, as well as March, who pulls double duty both behind the camera and in front.

March marveled at the talent she had amassed for the film.

'I would describe it as if we are completely flattering ourselves, a mockumentary a la Christopher Guest, of social media influencers,' Stephanie said.

'I couldn't believe I was technically the boss of those people,' she explained, 'That's just ridiculous.'

'Some of the most professional and talented people in our industry. It was, I mean it was an honor.'

The Social Ones centers around characters Ava and Mia Archer who are the founders of The National Influencer which pulls back the curtain on the lives of quirky social icons and hilarity ensues.

The Social Ones: The film stars comedy vets Richard Kid, Jackie Hoffman, Debra Jo Rupp and Peter Scolari who join March in front of the camera

Social sass! A laugh-inducing clip of the film shows social trolls hard at work in a dark room ... dressed as actual trolls

Aside from providing a social commentary on the cultural reliance and obsession with likes, shares and selfies, March's all-female production is a cultural statement in and of itself.

'It's entirely written, directed and produced by females,' the actress proudly told Jesse Palmer.

Adding: 'Our crew was largely female, not entirely, not entirely but largely.'

Honored! March told DailyMailTV host Jesse Palmer that she was 'honored' to be the boss of such an amazing cast

Watch! Tickets are available to see The Social Ones, which is showing at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in Silicon Valley this week

The male dominated industry of film and television is starting to see a marked shift in the last few years, particularly in a post Time's Up and #MeToo world.

'A lot of people commented that a female run set runs very smoothly,' Stephanie shared with a smile.

'We started at eight, wrapped at four every day on time, no drama, smooth and clean.'

Proud! Aside from social commentary on social media, March's all-female production is a cultural statement in and of itself

'It's entirely written, directed and produced by females,' the actress proudly told Jesse Palmer.

'A lot of people commented that a female run set runs very smoothly,' Stephanie shared with a smile.

The Dallas born star rose to fame as Assistant District Attorney Alex Cabot on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

March was part of the cast of the long-running NBC drama from 2000-2003.

She later returned for several episodes in season 10 and came back full time in season 11.

Stephanie went on to reprise her role again as a guest star in seasons 13 and 19.

Iconic! Stephanie played Assistant District Attorney Alex Cabot on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit for several seasons and went on to reprise her role in guest spots

SVU is currently in it's 20th season and March teased that Alex Cabot might make an appearance in the future.

'I always say, The SVU gods are good,' she quipped. 'They're unpredictable but they're quite good. So, we shall see.'

Tickets are available to see The Social Ones, which is showing at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in Silicon Valley this week.
She is regular on the showbiz scene, often frequenting London's hottest haunts.

And Donna Air looked effortlessly chic as she arrived at the launch of Juvederm Beauty Decoded Live at One Marylebone in London on Thursday night.

The socialite, 39, put on a fierce display as she paired a crisp white shirt with flared black trousers which accentuated her slender figure.

Fierce: Donna Air looked effortlessly chic in a shirt and flared black trousers as she attended Juvederm Beauty launch party at One Marylebone in London on Thursday night

Her blonde locks were pulled back into a tight bun, and the beauty wore light touches of make-up for a natural look.

Boosting her height in chic black heels, Donna completed her look by keeping her personal items in a blue velvet handbag.

Donna joined Katie Piper, who looked happy and healthy as she attended her first event since undergoing painful facial surgery in Pakistan last month

Chic: Boosting her height in chic black heels, Donna completed her look by keeping her personal items in a blue velvet handbag

Stylish: Her blonde locks were pulled back into a tight bun, and the beauty wore light touches of make-up for a natural look

Charity campaigner Katie is recovering after the surgery, which left her covered in bruises. with a spokesman for the star exclusively telling MailOnline: ' Katie is feeling much better after travelling home from Pakistan last week.

'The operation went really well but she has been in a lot of pain. Katie is very much still in recovery mode and taking it easy.

'She is bandaged on one side of her neck and has bad bruising but after nearly 300 operations is keeping her spirits up. She is so excited to have her new book out for Mothers Day in a few weeks time.'

Recovery: Donna attended the event alongside Katie Piper, who looked happy and healthy as she attended her first event since undergoing painful facial surgery in Pakistan last month

Post-op: Charity campaigner Katie is recovering from surgery, which left her covered in bruises with a spokesman exclusively telling MailOnline: ' Katie is feeling much better'

Donna began a budding romance with property developer boyfriend Ben Carrington last March, a few weeks after confirming the end of her five-year romance with James Middleton.

The former flames dated on and off for four years but Donna maintains the exes would always stay the 'best of friends'.

She told The Mail On Sunday: 'James and I are no longer an item. We parted ways in December but remain the very best of friends and always will be.'

Donna is mum to daughter Freya Aspinall, 15, who she raises with her former partner of six years, multi-millionaire businessman and conservationist Damian Aspinall, 58.

Freya is tipped to be the next big thing in the fashion industry and is the youngest model on the books of Storm, the agency that launched the career Kate Moss.
Katie Piper looked happy and healthy as she attended her first event since undergoing painful facial surgery in Pakistan last month.

The presenter, 35, cut a chic figure as she attended the launch of Juvederm Beauty Decoded Live, at One Marylebone, London on Thursday.

The star, has undergone almost 300 operations, looked chic in a white t-shirt paired with a dove grey trousersuit, adorned with floral motif.

Recovery: Katie Piper looked happy and healthy as she attended her first event since undergoing painful facial surgery in Pakistan last month

She added an extra splash of colour with lavender stilettos.

Charity campaigner Katie is recovering after the surgery, which left her covered in bruises. with a spokesman for the star exclusively telling MailOnline: ' Katie is feeling much better after travelling home from Pakistan last week.

'The operation went really well but she has been in a lot of pain.

'Katie is very much still in recovery mode and taking it easy. She is bandaged on one side of her neck and has bad bruising but after nearly 300 operations is keeping her spirits up.

Post-op: The presenter, 35, cut a chic figure as she attended the launch of Juvederm Beauty Decoded Live, at One Marylebone, London on Thursday

Floral finesse: The star, has undergone almost 300 operations, looked chic in a white t-shirt paired with a dove grey trousersuit, adorned with floral motif

Pals: Katie posed up with presenter pal Rylan Clark-Neal

Trio: The star joined forces with a couple of stylish pals for the evening

'She is so excited to have her new book out for Mothers Day in a few weeks time.'

The star joined a host of celebrities at the event including Rylan Clark-Neal, Jodie Kidd and Donna Air.

Last month Katie has revealed she was recovering well after undergoing treatment in a hospital in Pakistan.

Brave: Charity campaigner Katie is recovering after the surgery, which left her covered in bruises. with a spokesman for the star exclusively telling MailOnline: ' Katie is feeling much better after travelling home from Pakistan last week

Chic: Jodie Kidd wowed as she arrived at the bash

Dynamic duo: Jodie and Rylan posed up for a stylish snap

The star flew out to the country to have an operation with her surgeon, Dr Muhammad Ali Jawad.

Katie's devoted husband Richard Sutton is staying at her hospital bedside while she recovers from her facial surgery.

A spokesperson for Katie told MailOnline: 'Katie has travelled to Pakistan to have an operation by her long-standing surgeon who is now based there.

Brave: Last month Katie has revealed she was recovering well after undergoing treatment in a hospital in Pakistan

'Katie is currently recovering in hospital and Richie her husband is by her side.

'She sends her love and thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery.'

On Tuesday, the mother-of-two posted a video to her followers explaining she was receiving treatment abroad which was why she had been absent from social media.

Candid: The star also shared a photo from her hospital room, showing her wearing surgical stockings and a tracksuit while her husband Richard Sutton posed in the background

Friend: Katie's doctor, Mohammed Jawad, was in charge of the star's reconstruction surgery after she was attacked with sulphuric acid in 2008

She said: 'Hi guys, I'm currently in hospital in Pakistan in Mr Jawad's clinic hence why I've been quiet on the story but I'm recovering now.'

Referring to her recent television appearance on Famous and Fighting Crime, she said: 'Thanks for all your messages that you've sent me about famous and fighting crime obviously haven't been on her a lot.'

'It's great to read your feedback and response. Sorry I can't reply to everybody individually but it's really good to hear your feedback.'

The star also shared a photo from her hospital room, showing her wearing surgical stockings and a tracksuit while Richard posed in the background.

Treatment: The charity campaigner and presenter, 35, posted a video to her followers explaining she was receiving treatment abroad

Latest surgery: The charity campaigner and presenter, 35, flew out to the country to have an operation with her surgeon, Dr Muhammad Ali Jawad

Fighting crime: Katie explained why she was absent from social media as she returned to promote to her show; Famous and Fighting Crime (pictured L-R with Marcus Brigstocke, Sandi Bogle, Jamie Laing and Penny Lancaster)

She wrote: 'First day in my clothes. Gotta keep these stockings on!'

The pair share two children, Belle, four, and Penelope, one.

Katie's doctor, Mohammad Jawad, was in charge of the star's reconstruction surgery after she was attacked with sulphuric acid in 2008.

The acid, some of which Piper had swallowed, blinded her in her left eye, and caused partial thickness and full thickness burns.

Dr Jawad and his team of surgeons completely removed the skin of Katie's face, and replaced it with a skin substitute, Matriderm, to build the foundations for a skin graft.

This pioneering procedure was the first of its kind to be done in a single operation.

Dr Jawad previously told The Guardian: 'When I first saw Katie, I was deeply concerned, her face was swollen and an orange-brown colour from the acid.

'Her eyes were welded shut, at first we didn't know whether she had been hit with an acid or an alkali substance  the latter can actually have more devastating results  so we used litmus paper to determine which it was.

'Then we put her through an eight-hour extensive washing programme, with her eyes being particularly irrigated.'

Sylvester (left) was given a minimum six-year life term in 2009 after attacking Katie in Golders Green, North London, on the orders of her obsessive ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch (right)

After the operation, Katie was put into an induced coma for 12 days. She has since been through more than 200 surgical operations to treat her injuries.

Writing in the National Geographic last year, she said: 'Its been a decade since I survived a sulfuric acid attack that left me with severe burns across my face, in the following years, Ive worked to redefine my sense of identity.

'With injuries such as mine, your face can be so damaged that your expressions may not convey how you feel, and you may even lose your ability to smile.

'It can be an isolating experience, you feel one way on the inside but look completely different on the outside, after more than 200 surgeries since my attack, Ive accepted that my old face is gone.'

Katie's ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch organised Stefan Sylvestre to carry out the acid attack in London in March 2008.

Daniel, an obsessed fan who had a brief relationship with Piper, raped the aspiring model and presenter and ordered Sylvestre to attack her with acid.

After a trial the following year, Lynch was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years at the age of 33. Sylvestre, then 20, received life with a minimum of six years.

Sylvestre has been walking free since he was released from behind bars last year in October when Katie was competing on Strictly Come Dancing.
Their relationship ended in disaster on Married At First Sight.

And it looks like things are getting messy between exes Matthew Bennett and Lauren Huntriss.

Earlier this week, the 'MAFS Funny' Instagram fan account noticed Lauren, 31, had been 'liking' comments falsely suggesting Matthew, 30, is gay.

'I don't think being gay is an insult': Married At First Sight's Matthew Bennett (right) has hit back at his ex Lauren Huntriss after she 'liked' Instagram comments questioning his sexuality

Busted! Earlier this week, the 'MAFS Funny' Instagram fan account noticed that Lauren, 31, had been 'liking' comments falsely suggesting Matthew, 30, is gay

Two of the comments Lauren later admitted to 'liking' included: 'This guy is gay' and 'Matt... just admit your gay and get on with your life'.

In a private message exchange with the mystery 'MAFS Funny' administrator, which was later shared publicly, Matthew hit back at his 'ex-wife'.

'She can say whatever she wants about me but I think it's abhorrent,' said the Queensland-based videographer.

'I'm aware of the gay rumours and I haven't refuted them, because although I am heterosexual, frankly I don't think that being gay is an insult,' he added.

His response: In a private message exchange with the mystery 'MAFS Funny' administrator, which was later shared publicly, Matthew hit back at his 'ex-wife'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Lauren Huntriss for comment.

It's not the first time the makeup artist has taken a swipe at Matt, who recently debuted his new relationship with a woman named Annabel Jameson.

Just last week, she appeared to reference her ex in an Instagram post which read: 'Never been so happy to be single.'

Bitter break-up: It's not the first time Lauren (right) has taken a swipe at Matt (left), who recently debuted his new relationship with a woman named Annabel Jameson

Fellow MAFS star Melissa Lucarelli recently told Yahoo Lifestyle that Lauren is 'pretty hurt' that Matthew moved on so quickly after the show.

She also remarked that their break-up was 'getting really messy', after they became the first couple to leave the social experiment.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday from 7pm on Channel Nine
Channel 10 is reportedly holding 'two-day crisis talks' in response to disappointing ratings and a series of flops.

The CBS-owned broadcaster is now Australia's fourth most-watched free-to-air network after falling behind the ABC.

Company executives are said to be gathering soon at a location in Sydney's Northern Beaches to 'get the creative juices flowing'.

Channel 10 executives are reportedly holding 'two-day crisis talks' over the network's disappointing ratings. Pictured: Richard Reid on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

The two-day meeting has been described as a 'creative think tank' by industry website TV Blackbox.

Another purpose of the gathering is supposedly to 'build trust' between employees after a series of embarrassing leaks.

Channel 10 CEO Paul Anderson allegedly sent out a staff email recently warning them against sharing confidential information.

'We have a talented team. We market and promote our shows and cast in order to get the biggest audience we can,' he wrote.

'Some of this stuff is kept secret... for good reason. If we do establish "the leak"  and we are looking hard  then there will be serious consequences. So let's keep our stuff to ourselves.'

Oh dear! It comes after Channel 10's flagship reality show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! was smashed in the ratings Married At First Sight. Pictured: MAFS' Mick and Jessika

Daily Mail Australia has contacted a Channel 10 spokesperson for comment.

It comes after a spate of disappointing ratings for the embattled network, with its flagship reality show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! being smashed in the ratings Nine's Married At First Sight and Seven's My Kitchen Rules.

The Foxtel-produced Gogglebox is currently Channel 10's biggest hit, while Dancing with the Stars is only attracting middling figures in the 600,000s.

Rivals: My Kitchen Rules (judges pictured) also delivered better ratings than I'm A Celebrity

Channel 10's share of the available audience has taken such a nosedive that it's now behind the ABC in both primary channel and network share.

Due to its pre-planned schedule, the network will continue to suffer until its next slew of programs - including MasterChef and Have You Been Paying Attention? - are launched in Easter.

Other recent flops for the network include Changing Rooms and Chris & Julia's Sunday Night Takeaway.
Lisa Vanderpump is opening up about Puppy Gate following Tuesday's episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills where the issue was still dominating all the drama.

The 58-year-old reality star wrote a lengthy blog post on the Bravo site explaining her side of the situation and expressing disbelief that throughout everything, nobody seems to care about the abandoned puppy at the center of the drama.

Lisa has been ostracized by her castmates, who still accuse her of trying to make Dorit Kemsley look bad after it came to light that a dog Dorit adopted from Vanderpump Dogs had ended up at a kill shelter.

Just looking out for the dog: Lisa Vanderpump has written a lengthy blog about her side of Puppy Gate after this week's episode showed the women of RHOBH still turning against her

Lisa continues to insist that she was not responsible for leaking the story and has never blamed Dorit for abandoning the puppy, named Lucy Lucy Apple Juice.

Dorit has claimed, but didn't tell Lisa at the time, that Lucy bit one of her children and so she gave the puppy to a woman who had 'fallen in love with her', breaking the Vanderpump Dogs adoption agreement she signed requiring dogs to be returned to the center if it doesn't work out.

'It's ironic and beggar's belief that not once has anyone enquired after the welfare of the puppy  the beloved puppy.' Lisa wrote.

'How is she? Is she at the center? Well, she lived at the center and went home with one of our devoted employees for some time, and now she has found a loving home.' she revealed.

Lisa explained that it was difficult to 'placate' Vanderpump Dogs executive director Dr. John Sessa after he was left horrified on finding out Lucy was discovered at a kill shelter.

Rescue dog: Lucy Lucy Apple Juice was rescued by Dorit and then discovered at a kill shelter without Lisa's knowledge

Tough time: The British restaurateur was accused by the women of making Dorit Kemsley look bad without getting her hands dirty

'If our rescue staff are emphatic in their opinion of a woman that carelessly rejected the second dog we had placed with her  a puppy that was birthed in our center, a puppy that was bottle fed by Dr. John  I understand that,' Lisa wrote.

'Lucy was not a traumatized rescue dog who had a history of biting and was unsuitable for children as often stated. She started her life in a loving environment provided by our foundation.'

Lisa said that Dorit failed to mention there being an issue of biting and simply said that a woman had fallen in love with Lucy and so she was going to a new home for a 'much better life'.

Dorit was breaking the agreement she made with Vanderpump Dogs but Lisa said she felt no urgency to get a home check done and transfer of ownership signed because Dorit was a close friend.

'I wasn't angry with her, but I couldn't understand why she didn't return Lucy'.

The restaurateur reveals that it was the following weekend that Vanderpump Dogs received the notification, thanks to Lucy's microchip, that the pup had been dropped off at a shelter with euthanasia facilities.

Victim: Dorit was also upset that she had become the topic of gossip despite being the one to abandon the dog she adopted from Lisa and breaking the adoption agreement

Tough talk: Teddi confronted Vanderpump after feeling set up to spread the news by her but failed to get an apology

Text messages: Lisa was given text messages that apparently showed Teddi was being set up to leak the scandal

'The notification came through by email on police headed note paper. All of the employees were aghast at how this had transpired. The note was stating that a reality star didn't want the dog anymore.'

Lisa wrote that she and husband Ken tried to convince John Sessa not to make the issue public but he was 'enraged' and 'wanted accountability'.

'We did call and state in no uncertain terms to the staff at the rescue center that we didn't want this to gather momentum. Dr. John Sessa replied that John Blizzard had already told Teddi [Mellencamp]'.

Blizzard is an event coordinator that Lisa works with but she says she 'rarely' interacts with him on a personal level.

'He was often in contact with her and a gossipy text had been sent, which I witnessed later.' Lisa added of Teddi being the first to find out about the abandoned puppy.

Upsetting: The 58-year-old star explained that the toughest part was seeing her rescue staff so distressed after finding out Lucy, who was born at center, had been abandoned

Full story? Lisa said that Dorit failed to mention there being an issue of biting with Lucy and simply said that a woman had fallen in love with Lucy and so she was going to a new home for a 'much better life'

'John Blizzard has since expressed deep regret that he has perpetuated and engaged in salacious gossip which ignited a maelstrom of negativity,' she continued. 'He is twenty-three years old, though. Hopefully one lives and learns.'

'I sent Dorit a text urging her to get in front this issue. I would have thought that would have included Dorit going down to the center and calming an already emotional young staff, reassuring them that her intentions, albeit careless, had no malintent.

'I don't believe for one minute that Dorit would've knowingly left the puppy in a shelter, but she was guilty of a careless choice.

Lisa wrote that she doesn't believe Dorit knew the name of the woman who took Lucy from her.

'When I alerted her to the fact that Lucy was in a shelter and asked if she could please give me the name of the woman who had taken Lucy, she asked to call me back  she wanted to be sure of the name.

'I don't believe she knew the name of the woman, but maybe her assistant did.'

'Frankly, the synopsis is that I have always endeavored to protect Dorit and I was accused of it once more. But, I don't give a damn at this point. As all of the women focus on who is to blame for exposing Puppy Gate, I choose to focus on the excellent work my foundation does on a daily basis.'

Tense: Lisa has always insisted she never tried to make Dorit look bad

'Frankly, the synopsis is that I have always endeavored to protect Dorit and I was accused of it once more. But, I don't give a damn at this point.' Lisa concluded her blog post

On Tuesday's episode the women took a trip to the Bahamas, which Lisa recalls as an 'emotional nightmare'.

She had to deal with an angry Teddi, who believes she was used by Lisa, deliberately getting told about Lucy's arrival at the shelter so that she could be blamed for spreading the news, leaving Lisa's hands clean.

Even Kyle Richards, the only one showing some support for Lisa, told Teddi: 'She f***d Dorit and she f***ed you.'

Dorit started the episode by explaining she tried to rescue Lucy Lucy Apple Juice from Vanderpump Dogs but had to get rid of her after she bit her kids and as well as husband PK.

'I tried to give the dog to a woman who fell in love with her. And it turned out it wasn't the right fit,' she explained.

'I get a phone call from Lisa that Lucy had ended up in a shelter.

'And to top it all off, I find out that people have been gossiping about me.'

She did it twice: Dorit first adopted pet pooch Madison from the foundation before returning the animal, Vanderpump Dogs boss John Sessa revealed in a podcast last month

It came to light last month that Lucy was the second dog Dorit gave up after adopting from Vanderpump Dogs.

Sessa explained on the On The Rocks podcast: 'So Dorit adopted the dog. She loved the dog, Madison. And a week later, two weeks later, she says, "I'm sorry, it's just not gonna work out with the family. The dog is biting my family." Similar to what she said the second time around. I'm not sure what happened. I did see there was a photo with bite marks on PK's nose. So the first dog, we take back.'

Sessa then detailed how Dorit was guided through a second dog adoption with the help of coordinator Hannah Bortz who 'spent three weeks training Dorit on how to take care of the dog.'

After weeks of attempted check-ins on the dog with no response, the rescue center then discovered Lucy had been dumped at a shelter.

Part of the adoption stipulates a $5,000 fine on the contract signed by adoptees to protect the animal from being placed with another family, a document Dorit signed but has yet to pay up.

'This is what upsets me,' he said. 'Everyone thinks Lisa planted this, but ... This is reality meeting real world.'
Presley Gerber was charged with a DUI by the Los Angeles District Attorney's office on Thursday.

According to TMZ, the fashion model was hit with one count of DUI and another of driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 in early January in Beverly Hills. They are both misdemeanors.

The son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber could face up to six months in jail, be fined $1,000 and lose his driver's license for one year if convicted.

Tough times: Presley Gerber was charged with a DUI by the Los Angeles District Attorney's office on Thursday. Seen at the Sies Marjan show in NYC in September

His ride: The 19-year-old was pulled over in Beverly Hills in early January while driving a Tesla

Judges tend to be more lenient on first time offenders, though.

Presley - who has worked for Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana - was pulled over at around 4am on a Sunday night just after New Year's.

He had been speeding in a Tesla, according to the site, which usually cost around $100,000 for the higher end versions.

The website reports that after noticing the smell of alcohol they had the teen do a field sobriety test, which he failed.

Legal trouble: Gerber has left school to pursue modeling; here he is seen in a stock photo

Model family: The model, far right, with mom Cindy Crawford, dad Rande Gerber and sister Kaia, who is a top model, in 2018

Presley was booked for DUI and released without charge.

Presley's lawyer, Scott Spindel, told DailyMail.com: 'Presley Gerber takes this very seriously and is taking the necessary steps to address the allegations.'

He added that the teen had no criminal record and had never been previously arrested, was released on his own recognizance and no bail was posted.

Supermodel Cindy previously revealed she worked hard to instill moral values in her children, Presley and his model sister Kaia.

Serious: Presley's lawyer, Scott Spindel, told DailyMail.com: 'Presley Gerber takes this very seriously and is taking the necessary steps to address the allegations.'

Speaking to Town & Country last year, she said: 'I didn't find that hard to do at all, actually. Kids don't always listen, but they are always watching what you do.

'If you're polite to people, they learn to be polite. If you make family time a priority, they don't even question spending time together. You lead by example.'

Presley followed his mother into the fashion industry. He is signed to IMG and considered one of the top male models in the world.

However he previously admitted his mother is hoping he goes back to college at some point after he postponed his studies when his modelling career started to take off.

He said: 'It's not looking like I'm going to be heading there any time soon but it is definitely still in the back of my mind somewhere.

'I wanted to go for a minute and then I just started working. And now I'm having so much fun, it's like: Don't fix it if it's not broken.'
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

But the compliment may not be returned from Naomi Campbell after Kim Kardashian copied her look this week while in Paris for Fashion Week.

The 38-year-old reality star modeled a sheer Azzedine Alaia bodysuit - just like the one the British supermodel rocked on the catwalk in 1991.

Loving the look: Kim Kardashian copied Naomi Campbell's 1991 look from the Azzedine Alaia catwalk as she posed in Paris this week

Kim wore the revealing look, which featured a leopard print design and velour patches to protect her modesty, out on the streets of Paris after posing up a storm for some Instagram snaps.

She added a black beret for some Parisian flair as well as some Yeezy PVC heels.

Meanwhile, Naomi, 48, strut her stuff in the sexy one-piece on the Alaia Ready to Wear catwalk in 1991 and added some feather trim gloves.

The fashion icon was good friends with Alaia until he passed away in 2017.

Sitting pretty: Kim wore the revealing look, which featured a leopard print design and velour patches to protect her modesty, for some Instagram snaps

Bonjour! Kim, 38, added a black beret for some Parisian flair

Icon: Naomi, 48, strut her stuff in the sexy one-piece on the Alaia Ready to Wear catwalk in 1991 and added some feather trim gloves

The London born star may not be too pleased with the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star borrowing her look as she once hinted that she didn't think Kim hadn't earned her 2014 Vogue cover.

In an interview that year with Australia's The Morning Show, Naomi made her feelings clear about Kim and Kanye's famous cover when she was asked about it.

'I do not want to comment,' the model icon said, laughing.

Not a fan: Naomi has previously hinted at her feelings towards the Kardashians generally saying 'no comment' when asked about their ventures into fashion

When asked why, Naomi responded, 'Because I'm a fashion model and I've been working for 28 years, and when you get a Vogue cover, it's a build in your career. It's a stepping-stone to achieve that. And I'm a fashion model, what more can I say?'

'So you think that Kim and Kanye haven't earned the right to be on the cover of Vogue?' one of hosts asked.

'Those are your words,' Naomi said, trying to be polite. 'I'm being politically correct. That's Anna Wintour's choice to put them on the cover of her magazine, who's to question it?'
Paris Jackson has defended her late father Michael Jackson, after he was accused of child abuse in the new Leaving Neverland documentary.

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, she referred to his 'good heart' and said she was thinking about 'the bigger picture'.

Having previously tweeted advising her fans to be 'calm', she returned to the social media site to share her thoughts more fully.

Paris says late father Michael Jackson had a 'good heart' and she's thinking about 'the bigger picture' after Leaving Neverland documentary airs; she is seen in

The 20-year-old wrote: 'I didn't mean to offend by expressing that t***ies should be calm, i know injustices are frustrating and it's easy to get worked up. but reacting with a calm mind usually is more logical than acting out of rage and also.... it feels better to mellow out.

'Smoke some weed n think about the bigger picture. chillax my dudes.'

An angered Michael Jackson fan replied: 'The bigger picture is your father's legacy ruined and his name smeared forever but whatever though.

'They want to tear his name down and stop playing his music but it's cool like who cares that he died for this.'

'It's not possible to tear his name down': Paris engaged with fans on social media where she defended her father's name

Paris then penned: 'Yeah they do that to everyone with a good heart and tries to make a difference but do you really think that it's possible to tear his name down? like do you truly believe they stand a chance ? relax and have peace.'

The day before, Paris responded to reports that she's worried about the film and allegations affecting her fledgling career.

'I actually haven't made any statements yet, especially regarding how it affects my work life. you guys are reaching a bit.

'At least this wasn't a disgusting and attacking article though,' Paris said in a now-deleted tweet.

Parent and child: The two on a trip to London in 2005; Paris was just 11 when she lost her father

She then added a tweet that read, 'ya'll take my life more seriously than I do.'

Sources have said that Paris firmly believes her father never abused children but has not watched the new documentary in which two of his accusers speak out.

She was just 11 when her father passed away in 2009 aged 50, following acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication.

Leaving Neverland features emotional testimony from Wade Robson and James Safechuck who allege Michael raped them for years as children. It has caused bitter reaction from both critics and fans of Michael.

Paris's extended family have claimed Michael Jackson was 'naive' about children but wasn't an abuser.

Model beauty: Paris is seen at the Versave show during New York Fashion Week in December

The late King of Pop's siblings, Tito, Marlon and Jackie Jackson, and his nephew Taj spoke out on CBS This Morning.

Tito's son Taj, 45, claimed that the family do not wish to 'put more energy' into the claims against their late relative - who died in 2009 - because they don't want to draw any more attention to the documentary.

Taj said: 'There's a fear to put more energy to it and more eyeballs to it. 'That's why Janet (his aunt) hasn't said anything, because she doesn't want to make it any bigger.'

The siblings stated that they know the Thriller hitmaker was not a sexual predator and accused the documentary of spinning lies.
Yemeni pro-government forces walk through a war-battered district of the port city of Hodeida, where the United Nations is pushing for a pullback of forces

Yemen's government and its Saudi and Emirati backers are accusing Huthi rebels of refusing to abide by a deal agreed two weeks ago on redeploying forces away from Red Sea ports in the war-battered country, according to a letter seen by AFP on Tuesday.

The rebels agreed to pull back their forces from the rebel-held ports of Saleef and Ras Issa during talks held on February 17 that marked the first concrete step towards de-escalation in the nearly four-year war.

The Yemeni government, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates urged the Security Council to demand that the Huthis uphold their commitments, according to the letter sent Monday to the council and to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"Last week's sudden and unexplained refusal by the Huthis to withdraw from the ports of Saleef and Ras Issa comes as no surprise after months of stalling tactics from their side," said the letter signed by the three UN ambassadors.

Since a ceasefire was agreed in Sweden in December, the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government and the Huthis have accused each other of violations, but the United Nations has refused to apportion blame.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said discussions were continuing with both sides to try to get them to deliver on their commitments and pull back their forces from the ports.

"Obviously the devil is in the details," he said. "The parties have committed themselves to that and we are trying to make sure that translates into actual facts on the ground."

The Security Council is due to discuss Yemen on March 19 amid concerns that the fragile truce agreement may be unraveling.

The pullbacks from Saleef and Ras Issa were agreed as the first phase of redeployment to be followed by withdrawals from the main port of Hodeida and other areas in the city that could be used as humanitarian corridors.

The United Nations is hoping that a de-escalation in Hodeida will allow desperately-needed food and medical aid to reach millions in need in Yemen.

Hodeida is the entry point for the bulk of imported goods and relief aid to Yemen, which the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Coalition forces have documented 1,754 Huthi ceasefire violations since the ceasefire went into force on December 18, said the letter, adding that 125 pro-government troops had been killed during that time.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir who declared a year-long state of emergency on February 22 after nationwide protests against his administration

Scores of protesters, many of them women, rallied in Sudan's capital Thursday, condemning a slew of tough measures imposed by President Omar al-Bashir to end weeks-long demonstrations against his rule.

Bashir declared a year-long state of emergency on February 22 after an initial crackdown failed to suppress nationwide protests that have threatened his administration stretching back three decades.

Bashir has also banned unauthorised rallies and ordered the setting up of special emergency courts to prosecute those violating the state of emergency.

But on Thursday, crowds of protesters led by women chanting slogans against Bashir took to the streets of some districts of Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, witnesses said.

"Women are leading the rallies today, but security agents are arresting protesters in big numbers," a witness told AFP.

Protest organisers had called Thursday's rallies in support of women on the eve of International Women's Day.

"We are calling on our people to participate in rallies on Thursday to honour those mothers who lost their sons in our struggle," said the Alliance for Freedom and Change, an umbrella group that is leading the movement against Bashir's rule.

Witnesses said those arrested were expected to appear later in front of emergency courts.

More than 900 protesters were taken to emergency courts last week after similar rallies, state media said, with several handed jail terms ranging from two weeks to five years.

Protests initially erupted on December 19 after a government decision to triple the price of bread.

But they swiftly escalated into demonstrations against Bashir's rule, with protesters accusing the veteran leader of mismanaging the economy and calling on him to step down.

Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence, while Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at least 51.

Bashir, who swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, has remained defiant in face of the protests.

The 75-year-old leader has dissolved Sudan's federal and provincial governments and ordered top level changes to his administration to quell the protests.

The scale and intensity of the protests have shrunk in recent days, especially after the state of emergency came into effect.

The near-daily demonstrations have now turned into weekly rallies, with demonstrators taking to the streets mainly on Thursdays and mostly in Khartoum.
The military believe the latest attack was orchestrated by the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB), which also claimed responsibility for a December attack on construction workers at a remote jungle camp

Three Indonesian soldiers were killed in a gun battle with armed separatist rebels in restive Papua province, where over a dozen construction workers were massacred last year, the military said Thursday.

The soldiers had just arrived in Yigi village in Nduga district on Thursday morning to guard the construction of a bridge when they were attacked by the separatists.

"They were suddenly attacked by a large group, between 50 to 70 people," the military spokesman for Papua region Muhammad Aidi told AFP Thursday.

"Three of our members died in the attack after getting shot in their chest and back," Aidi said.

The military managed to take control of the situation and forced the rebels to flee.

The body of one separatist rebel was found at the scene.

"We believe between seven to 10 people from their side have also been killed but their bodies had been taken away," Aidi said.

The bodies of the soldiers were flown to a hospital in Timika city, Aidi said.

The military believe the attack was orchestrated by the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB), which claimed responsibility for the December attack on construction workers at a remote jungle camp, he added.

At least 19 employees of state-owned contractor Istaka Karya were massacred by the rebels when they were building bridges and roads as part of efforts to boost infrastructure in the impoverished region, the military has said.

Indonesia routinely blames separatists for violence in Papua and conflicting accounts are common.

Indonesian security forces have for years been dogged by allegations of widespread rights abuses against Papua's ethnic Melanesian population including extrajudicial killings of activists and peaceful protestors.

Papua shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea (PNG), just north of Australia.

A former Dutch colony, Papua declared itself independent in 1961, but neighbouring Indonesia took control of the resource-rich region two years later on the condition it hold an independence referendum.

The subsequent vote to stay part of Indonesia was widely considered a sham.

Jakarta keeps a tight grip on the resource-rich region, which experienced several spasms of violence this summer including the killing of three local people, allegedly by rebels.
Chelsea Manning, who was imprisoned for leaking US secrets to WikiLeaks, faces possible contempt charges in a new probe of the anti-secrecy group

WikiLeaks leaker Chelsea Manning said Thursday she could return to prison on contempt charges after she refused to testify to a secret grand jury believed to be investigating the anti-secrecy group's founder Julian Assange.

Manning said she asserted her consitutional rights to refuse to answer questions on Wednesday -- even as she was offered immunity -- and that a federal judge will review whether her actions amounted to contempt, which could send her back to jail.

"On Friday I will return to federal court in Alexandria, Virginia for a closed contempt hearing," she said in a statement.

"A judge will consider the legal grounds for my refusal to answer questions in front of a grand jury. The court may find me in contempt, and order me to jail."

Manning confirmed that the investigation concerned WikiLeaks' publication of the more than 700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that she gave the group for publication in 2010.

The transgender Manning, who was a US Army intelligence analyst known as Bradley Manning at the time, was eventually arrested and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the leak.

President Barack Obama later commuted her sentence, leading to her release in May 2017.

She became a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy activists and her actions helped make WikiLeaks a force in the global anti-secrecy movement.

The Alexandria court, just outside washington, has not confirmed that WikiLeaks and Assange are targets of the grand jury probe.

But Manning said the questions she was asked on Wednesday "pertained to my disclosures of information to the public in 2010."

US media has also confirmed the probe is focused on Assange, who has been living in Ecuador's embassy in London to avoid arrest.

Assange says the United States wants him extradited to stand trial over WikiLeaks' activities, which he says are no different than what journalists do.
CAIRO (AP) - The U.N.'s migration agency is condemning violence against protesting migrants in a detention center in Libya's capital.

Tuesday's statement by the International Organization for Migration calls for urgent access to individuals who have been removed from the Trig al-Sikka detention center in Tripoli.

The statement said migrants were protesting against their detention late in February.

The U.N. refugee agency says around 50 people were reportedly injured when police moved in to end the protest.

IOM says "no matter the circumstances that led to this particular incident, violence against migrants cannot be justified."

Libya has emerged as a major transit point to Europe for those fleeing poverty and civil war elsewhere in Africa. Traffickers have exploited Libya's chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The conviction of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin for failing to report a known pedophile priest to police deepens the crisis confronting an already discredited Catholic Church hierarchy. The verdict handed down by magistrates Thursday shows the church's once-untouchable "princes" increasingly are judged accountable for priests who abuse children and the superiors who allowed the abuse to continue.

After centuries of impunity, cardinals from Chile to Australia and points in between are facing justice in both the Vatican and government courts for their own sexual misdeeds or for having shielded abusers under their watch..

Here is a look at cases implicating Catholic cardinals, members of the exclusive club of prelates that advises the pope and eventually elects his successor.

___

AUSTRALIA - CARDINAL GEORGE PELL

In December, the Vatican's former finance minister was convicted in his native Australia of sexually abusing two boys in the 1990s.

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2019 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin waits for the start of his trial at the Lyon courthouse, central France. Pope. A French court on Thursday March 7, 2019 is expected to acquit a cardinal and five other defendants accused of protecting a pedophile priest, but alleged victims say France's most important church sex abuse trial has at least allowed them to bring the affair into the open. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)

Pell was convicted of orally raping a 13-year-old choirboy and indecently dealing with the boy and his 13-year-old friend in 1996 and 1997, months after the 77-year-old cardinal became archbishop of Melbourne.

Pell has denied wrongdoing and planned to appeal. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week.

Each of his five convictions carries a potential 10-year maximum sentence.

After his conviction, the Vatican said its sex crimes office had opened an investigation and confirmed the Sydney archbishop restricted Pell's ministry after the cardinal returned to Australia to face trial.

___

UNITED STATES - EX-CARDINAL THEODORE McCARRICK

Francis last month defrocked the onetime leader of the American church after an internal investigation determined McCarrick sexually molested children and adult men; some of the molestation took place during confession. It was the first time a cardinal had been defrocked over the scandal.

One of McCarrick's victims has filed a police report and spoken to prosecutors in New York City, but it is unclear if any criminal charges can be brought given so much time has passed since the abuse occurred.

The McCarrick scandal has implicated high-ranking churchmen in both the United States and at the Vatican since it was apparently an open secret he slept with adult seminarians.

___

CHILE - CARDINALS JAVIER ERRAZURIZ AND RICCARDO EZZATI

The current and former archbishops of Santiago are under investigation by Chilean prosecutors for allegedly covering up for abusive priests.

Errazuriz, who retired as Santiago archbishop in 2010, was recently forced to resign from Francis' kitchen cabinet after the depth of his cover-up was exposed last year.

His successor, Ezzati, was sued this week by a man who accused him of protecting a priest who allegedly drugged and raped him in the Santiago cathedral. The victim first filed a complaint with Ezzati in 2015. Ezzati issued a church sentence against the priest last year.

Prosecutors have overseen raids of church offices around the country. Ezzati and Errazuriz have so far refused to answer questions in the investigation.

Francis secured offers of resignation from every active Chilean bishop last year as part of Vatican efforts to clean up the Chilean church.

___

SCOTLAND - CARDINAL KEITH O'BRIEN

O'Brien, once the highest-ranking Catholic leader in Britain, recused himself from the 2013 conclave that elected Francis pope after unidentified priests alleged in British newspaper reports that he acted inappropriately toward them.

The priests said they had complained to church authorities about O'Brien's conduct but never received a response. None of the men were thought to have been minors when the alleged inappropriate behavior took place.

In 2015, Francis accepted O'Brien's resignation after he relinquished the rights and privileges of being a cardinal. The decision was reached after the Vatican sent its top sex crimes investigator to Scotland to look into the allegations.

O'Brien was allowed to retain the title of cardinal and he died a cardinal in 2018.

___

BELGIUM - CARDINAL GODFRIED DANNEELS

The retired head of Belgium's Catholic Church has been under fire since 2010, when he was caught on tape suggesting that a victim of a serial predator bishop keep quiet until the man retired.

Two weeks after Danneels met with the victim, Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Bruges resigned and expressed sorrow for having long abused his nephew, both as a priest and after becoming a bishop.

Danneels had told the victim it would do him no good going public, and he urged him to forgive his uncle.

Francis has been criticized for having included Danneels, considered a key supporter in his 2013 election, in important church meetings since the scandal.

___

UNITED STATES - CARDINAL BERNARD LAW

Law resigned in disgrace as archbishop of Boston in 2002 following revelations he hid clergy abuse involving dozens of priests who raped and sexually molested children, the scandal chronicled by the Boston Globe that led to the reckoning in the U.S. church.

More than any other prelate, he epitomized the Catholic Church's failure to protect children from pedophile priests and its arrogance in safeguarding its own reputation at all costs.

St. John Paul II's decision to promote Law to head St. Mary Major basilica in 2004 reinforced the impression the Vatican still hadn't grasped the scale of the child abuse problem, the trauma it caused its victims, and the moral credibility the church had lost as a result.

At Law's Vatican funeral last year, Francis prayed for a merciful final judgment.

___

AUSTRIA - CARDINAL HANS HERMANN GROER

Groer was allowed to retire on schedule as archbishop of Vienna in 1995 despite multiple allegations he sexually abused young boys at a seminary. He died in 2003 without ever facing civil or canonical justice.

His successor as Vienna archbishop, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, in 2010 accused the Vatican secretary of state at the time of the scandal, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, of being behind a cover-up and blocking a Vatican investigation of Groer's crimes.

The same year, the Vatican gave Schoenborn a rare dressing down for his comments about Sodano, reminding him that only the pope can level accusations against a cardinal.

___

VATICAN - CARDINAL ANGELO SODANO

As the powerful Vatican secretary of state under John Paul, Sodano has long been held in part responsible for the Vatican's refusal to take action against pedophile priests.

More than anyone, he has been blamed for blocking a church investigation into the 20th century Catholic Church's most notorious predator, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ religious order.

Francis recently referred to how then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - the future Pope Benedict XVI - initially failed to secure a sanction against Maciel, a veiled reference to the weight Cardinal Sodano wielded on the decisions of Ratzinger's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

"He (Ratzinger) went with all his files. And when he returned he told his secretary, 'Put them in the archive. The other side won,'" Francis said. "But then, once he became pope, the first thing he said was 'Bring me the files from the archive,' and he started."

Eventually, the Vatican under Benedict sanctioned Maciel to a lifetime of penance and prayer for his crimes.

FILE - In this Friday, March 8, 2013 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin rides his bicycle in St. Peter's Square after a meeting at the Vatican. A French court has found top Catholic official Cardinal Philippe Barbarin guilty for failing to report to justice accusations against a pedophile priest. In a surprise decision Thursday, March 7, 2019 in France's most important church sex abuse trial, the Lyon court handed Barbarin a six-month suspended prison sentence for not reporting the facts in the period between July 2014 and June 2015. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File )

French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, right, arrives for a press conference in Lyon, central France, Thursday, March 7, 2019. Barbarin offers his resignation to the Pope after a court on Thursday found him guilty of failing to report to authorities allegations of sexual abuse of minors by a priest. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

FILE - In this March 1, 2013 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin arrives for a meeting at the Vatican. A French court has found top Catholic official Cardinal Philippe Barbarin guilty for failing to report to justice accusations against a pedophile priest. In a surprise decision Thursday, March 7, 2019 in France's most important church sex abuse trial, the Lyon court handed Barbarin a six-month suspended prison sentence for not reporting the facts in the period between July 2014 and June 2015. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Some chimpanzee groups are stone-throwers. Some use rocks to crack open tree nuts to eat. Others use sticks to fish for algae.

As researchers learn more about Homo sapiens' closest living genetic relatives, they are also discovering more about the diversity of behaviors within chimpanzee groups - activities learned, at least in part socially, and passed from generation to generation.

These patterns are referred to as "traditions" - or even animal "culture." In a new study , scientists argue that this diversity of behaviors should be protected as species themselves are safeguarded, and that they are now under threat from human disturbance.

"What we mean by 'culture' is something you learn socially from your group members that you may not learn if you were born into a different chimpanzee group," said Ammie Kalan, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

"As chimpanzee populations decline and their habitats become fragmented, we can see a stark decline in chimpanzee behavioral diversity," said Kalan, co-author of the sweeping new study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The 10-year study, led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute and the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research, examines data on 144 chimpanzee communities in Africa and the occurrence of 31 specific behaviors, such as tool usage or rock throwing.

In this undated photo provided by Liran Samuni, chimpanzees in the Tai National Park in the Ivory Coast vocalize with another group nearby. A study released on Thursday, March 6, 2019 highlights the diversity of chimp behaviors within groups _ traditions that are at least in part learned socially, and transmitted from generation to generation. (Liran Samuni/Tai Chimpanzee Project via AP)

The regions with the least human impact showed the greatest variety in chimp behaviors. But areas greatly altered by logging, road-building, climate change and other human activities showed markedly less behavioral diversity - an 88 percent lower probability of exhibiting all behaviors.

Multiple factors drive the loss, the authors say.

"With the increase of human disturbance, chimps may not be able to live in such large groups anymore - and it has been shown that group size is connected with social learning," said Hjalmar Kuhl, also a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute and a co-author.

For example, researchers studying chimpanzee groups in parts of West Africa encountered mysterious piles of stones alongside battered tree trunks.

The rocks had been thrown against the trees by chimpanzees for reasons still unclear to the scientists who first documented the behavior in 2016. Perhaps the purpose was to mark territory, or proclaim dominance within a group, or start a game, or something else, the biologists surmised.

But not all chimpanzees are stone-throwers.

Some groups use stones to crack open tree nuts. Researchers recently discovered an archaeological site in West Africa that showed chimpanzees had used stones there for nut-cracking for more than 4,000 years.

Elsewhere in West Africa, sticks were the tools of choice, with young chimps in Guinea learning from their elders to use them to "fish" in lakes for long strands of algae to eat. Or, in Nigeria, to poke termite mounds to gather the insects for food.

Sixty years ago, scientists had limited knowledge of chimpanzees in the wild, until researcher Jane Goodall first recorded behaviors like tool usage, which previously were associated only with humans.

In 1999, Goodall and other scientists popularized the phrase "chimpanzee cultures" in an article in the journal Science. The use of the term has ignited debate ever since - including resistance from some anthropologists- but also launched further research.

Most likely genetics and socially learned behavior interact to form animal "culture" in chimpanzees and other species, said Carl Safina, an ecologist and author of several books on animal behavior who was not involved in the study.

This has implications for conservation.

"We have come to understand that behavioral diversity matters for protecting species," said Andrew Whiten, an evolutionary psychologist and zoologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, who was not involved in the study.

"The greater the diversity of behavior, the more likely a species will be able to deal with future changes and challenges in their environment," he said. "It's not good news when their options are limited."

Last month, Whiten co-authored a "Policy Forum" article in Science, entitled "Animal cultures matter for conservation," arguing that policy-makers should include behavioral diversity alongside other measures of biodiversity.

"Culture is not the tip of the iceberg for these great apes - some kind of nice luxury - but an intrinsic and essential part of their local adaptation," Carel van Schaik, an anthropologist at the University of Zurich who was not involved in the new study, wrote in an email.

Lydia Luncz, a primatologist at the University of Oxford, agrees.

"We are far from understanding yet what is the cultural repertoire of chimps," said Luncz, who also was not involved in the study. "It would be a tragedy to lose more of the cultural heritage of our closest living relatives."

___

Follow Christina Larson on Twitter at @larsonchristina

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all conten
Job opportunities seldom diverge as greatly as they do for the former special forces operatives of J.C. Chandor's "Triple Frontier." There is selling condos or taking contract work in an African warzone. There's stocking shelves at Walmart or taking down a South African drug lord. And you thought your LinkedIn profile had inconsistencies.

Yet those are exactly the kinds of choices facing a quartet of ex-military veterans who are rounded up, "Blues Brothers"-style, by Santiago "Pope" Garcia (Oscar Isaac), their former brother in arms who now works for a mysterious company contracted vaguely by "a foreign government."

With the promise of that old temptation - "one last job" - and the potential for a major payday, Garcia gathers each old pal - Tom "Redfly" Davis (Ben Affleck), William "Ironhead" Miller (Charlie Hunnam), Ben Miller (Garrett Hedlund) and Francisco "Catfish" Morales (Pedro Pascal) - with little trouble. Once at the pinnacle of their profession, they're all struggling to adapt to civilian life. Davis is a divorced, heavy-drinking real estate broker with little talent for it. Miller is getting his face kicked in as a cage fighter.

"I say we deserve better," Garcia tells Davis. "You've been shot five times for your country and you can't pay off your truck."

"Triple Frontier," a Netflix release playing in theaters for a week before streaming, was first scripted by Mark Boal with plans for Kathryn Bigelow to direct. Both remain executive producers and Boal is a co-writer alongside Chandor.

That "Triple Frontier" originated from the team behind "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty" isn't surprising. It's similarly attuned to the under-rewarded sacrifice of elite American soldiers. But it's also a larger leap into genre. Bountiful in dudes, guns and action scenes, "Triple Frontier" is the kind of proudly macho movie that's perhaps too familiar to moviegoers - though such a starry, big-budget thriller is more novel for Netflix.

This image released by Netflix, shows Oscar Isaac, left and Ben Affleck in a scene from the film, "Triple Frontier." (Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix via AP)

"Triple Frontier" is both more and less than what it seems. The crew heads south to an unspecified country in South America (the title refers to the junction of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay) where they plot, with the help of an insider (Adria Arjona), to take down a long-elusive drug lord named Lorea at his jungle hideaway and make off with millions.

But "Triple Frontier" is only part heist movie. Its second half, a militaristic riff on "The Treasure of Sierra Madre," tailspins into a existential, survivalist thriller about greed and combat addiction. For many of the guys, especially Affleck's Redfly, being drawn back into the field is like relapsing. Trigger fingers again get itchy, to tragic ends.

Almost as soon as the mission - more ragtag than what they signed up for - gets started, regret begins to creep in. Launched with a mix of altruistic and capitalistic intentions, the expedition begins to mirror other American international overreaches, and, not unlike in Afghanistan or Iraq, the former soldiers find themselves leaving stacks of cash to compensate for the deaths of villagers. Things turn dark and in a frantic escape over the Andes, the value of money plummets.

Allegories of capitalism have proven a passion for Chandor, who has made money an ever-present subtext in crime dramas ("A Most Violent Year," with Isaac as an ambitious heating-oil businessman) and survival tales ("All Is Lost"). His debut, "Margin Call," was about a Wall Street investment bank in the tumult of a financial crisis.

With each film, Chandor's scale has expanded, and part of the thrill of "Triple Frontier" is the finely staged set pieces (including Garcia's opening siege of a discoteca) and the lush, wide-screen cinematography (via Roman Vasyanov). The balance of pulp and parable feels tenuously close to syncing, but never quite does.

Part of the problem is that the five guys (probably a few too many dudes, if we're counting) - and every one of the Spanish-speaking locals - are too thinly sketched. Affleck draws the Bogart card from the "Sierra Madre" types, but the rest - talented as they are - don't come through clearly. Only Isaac, with remorse creeping over his face, leaves a mark.

"Triple Frontier" has the good sense to take a macho, "Expendables"-like set-up and turn it inward. It just doesn't go far enough.

"Triple Frontier," a Netflix release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "violence and language throughout." Running time: 125 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

___

MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

___

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

This image released by Netflix shows Ben Affleck, from left, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Pedro Pascal in a scene from the film, "Triple Frontier." (Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Ben Affleck in a scene from the film, "Triple Frontier." (Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix, shows Garrett Hedlund in a scene from the film, "Triple Frontier." (Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Garrett Hedlund, from left, Oscar Isaac, Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, and Pedro Pascal in a scene from the film, "Triple Frontier." (Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix via AP)
The Prince of Wales has said he has faith the friendship between Ireland and the UK will endure for generations as he vowed to visit all 32 counties on the island.

Charles made the remarks in a speech, which featured a few words of the Irish language, in front of stars including Sir Kenneth Branagh at the Embassy of Ireland in London.

Along with the Duchess of Cornwall, Charles sat down for an early St Patricks Day dinner with guests such as the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, comedian Dara O Briain and actors Fiona Shaw and Adrian Dunbar.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall met stars including Sir Kenneth Branagh, Adrian Dunbar, Fiona Shaw and Dara OBriain tonight at the @IrelandEmbGB in London. pic.twitter.com/5fbgwnpqaf  Catherine Wylie (@wyliecatherine) March 6, 2019

The princes words at the celebration of UK and Irish relations are likely to be interpreted by commentators as partly referring to the importance of the relationship between the two countries amid the challenges presented by Brexit.

Charles, who has toured Ireland every year since 2014, said: Above all we are friends, we are partners and we are the closest of near neighbours, bound together by everything that we have in common  and by just how far we have come together.

If I may say so ladies and gentlemen, this is precisely why it has been of such importance to both my wife and myself that we too should visit Ireland so often over these past few years  to experience and celebrate as best we can the unparalleled bonds between our two countries and to highlight just what a fundamental difference they make to us all.

And I must say Im slightly amazed to find that weve managed to visit 15 counties already.

At tonights reception, Their Royal Highnesses met guests from across the UK and Irish communities  including Sir Kenneth Branagh, Fiona Shaw & Dara OBriain. pic.twitter.com/Hf2UPw8Sg6  The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 6, 2019

I am quite determined before I drop dead and finally lose my marbles that I should get around to the remaining 17.

Charles added: And so, as our relationship evolves over the coming months and years, I have both the faith and the hope that the essential friendship between the people of Ireland and the people of the United Kingdom will not only endure but will renew itself for generations to come.

Charles finished his toast by wishing everyone a happy Saint Patricks Day in Irish: La Fheile Padraig sona daoibh.

Guests at Wednesday nights dinner feasted on Connemara cured ham and organic Irish salmon.

Camilla wore a green Kaftan, which was a gift from the King of Morocco when the couple visited in 2011.

Camilla wore green (Jeff Spicer/PA)

In a speech, Mr Coveney said it was a privilege to be at the event to celebrate the British-Irish relationship approaching Saint Patricks Day at a pretty serious time for everybody.

He added: All of us here this evening understand that its not a time of entirely plain sailing in this relationship. There are some big issues at stake.

Mr Coveney said it was important to celebrate the extraordinarily vibrant and overwhelmingly positive connections enjoyed by the UK and Ireland.

Before the dinner, Charles and Camilla were shown a new portrait of poet Seamus Heaney by artist Mark Baker.

The Nobel laureates widow Marie Heaney joined the royal couple in viewing the painting, and told Camilla she thought it was terrific, adding: Im very touched. Its lovely.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall were shown a newly-installed painting of poet Seamus Heaney - in the Embassy of Irelands Heaney Room. pic.twitter.com/Un8P7OtJnF  The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 6, 2019

Meanwhile, Sir Kenneth said he discussed his upcoming film Artemis Fowl with Charles, and said: I think hes interested in all things Irish.

Commenting on the importance of celebrating relations between Ireland and the UK, Sir Kenneth said: Always better to talk than not talk.

Harry Potter star Shaw said she meets the royal couple regularly, and said events like the one on Wednesday night were important in order to save the ties between the two countries.

On the issue of Brexit, she said: What is stupendous is that Europe is protecting that border.

Asked how optimistic he is about the border issue being resolved, Line Of Duty star Dunbar said: No idea. Nobody knows whats happening. Nobody knows whats going on.

O Briain joked that he would like Brexit chaos to carry on until June when comedy panel show Mock The Week is back, saying: Frankly I dont want to be doing Mock The Week in a post-Brexit landscape.
The Foreign Secretary has said a gaffe where he described Slovenia as a Soviet vassal state was an attempt at an expression of friendship.

Jeremy Hunt made the statement while visiting the country  which was part of the former Yugoslavia and not the USSR  last week.

The SNPs Stephen Gethins described his comments in the House of Commons as an example of how the UK was losing friends in the EU just at the point it needed them to renegotiate the Brexit deal.

Mr Hunt said on Thursday: What I was saying to Slovenia when I was there was how impressed I was with the transformation of Slovenia, since they were part of the former Yugoslavia.

It was an expression of friendship, from the UK to Slovenia.

The Foreign Secretary spoke while visiting Heriot-Watt Universitys Scottish Borders campus in Galashiels, where he had a go at making his own print T-shirt.

He said the UK could conquer the world with its creativity after leaving the EU.

Mr Hunt puts on rubber gloves before making a T-shirt screen print (Jane Barlow/PA)

Mr Hunt added: Brexit is an opportunity for us as a country to ask ourselves how are we going to be successful in the 21st century?

The key quality we have in Scotland, in the whole of the UK, is creativity.

This creativity that can conquer the world in the 21st century means being open to  not just big European markets  but markets all over the world.

Brexit will be a springboard to that.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has agreed Britain will accord diplomatic protection to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian mother held in Iran where she is accused of spying.

Mr Hunt said he had decided to invoke the rarely used diplomatic device in recognition of Irans failure to meet its obligations under international law in its treatment of the 41-year-old dual national.

While he acknowledged the move was unlikely to be a magic wand that secures her immediate release, he said it elevated the dispute over her detention to a formal state-to-state issue.

The announcement was welcomed by her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who has been lobbying ministers to take the step for some time.

It is a very clear statement and so hopefully the Iranian authorities will realise this has gone on too long. They cannot play games like this with ordinary peoples lives, he said.

In reaching his decision, Mr Hunt said he had taken into account Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes unacceptable treatment by Iran since she was detained in 2016, including the denial of medical treatment and the lack of due process in the proceedings against her.

The Foreign Secretary said Tehrans actions had been totally wrong and that no state was entitled to use innocent individuals as pawns for diplomatic leverage.

This represents formal recognition by the British Government that her treatment fails to meet Irans obligations under international law and elevates it to a formal state-to-state issue, he said in a statement.

My decision is an important diplomatic step which signals to Tehran that its behaviour is totally wrong.

It is unlikely to be a magic wand that leads to an overnight result. But it demonstrates to the whole world that Nazanin is innocent and the UK will not stand by when one of its citizens is treated so unjustly.

I know there are many in Iran who understand the unjustness of this situation. No government should use innocent individuals as pawns for diplomatic leverage so I call on Iran to release this innocent woman so she can be reunited with her family.

Richard Ratcliffe has welcomed the decision to grant his wife diplomatic protection (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Diplomatic protection is a mechanism in international law through which a state may seek reparation for injury to one of its nationals from an internationally wrongful act by another state.

Effectively it represents the right of states to raise the treatment of their nationals by other states and to call on them to account for their actions on the international stage.

It is distinct from diplomatic immunity which covers the status of accredited diplomats.

While it does not automatically dictate any particular course of action, the Foreign Office has indicated it will take the steps it believes are most likely to secure the goal of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes release.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in April 2016 at Tehran airport as she was returning home to London with her then 22-month-old daughter, Gabriella, following a family visit.

She was subsequently sentenced to five years imprisonment, despite strenuously denying the charges against her, while Gabriella remains in the country cared for by family.

Repeated calls for her release by the British Government  including a direct appeal by Theresa May to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani during last years UN general assembly in New York  have failed to produce results.

Mr Ratcliffe has previously said his wife was told by judges in court that her case related to an unpaid 400 million debt the UK owes to Iran in relation to purchase of Chieftain tanks in the 1970s.

In January, she went on hunger strike for three days saying the Iranian prison authorities had refused her treatment for a series of medical conditions including lumps in her breasts, severe neck pain, and numbness in her arms and legs.
Ever since the Modi government came to power in May 2014, there has been a debate in the policy and academic community about its foreign policy. While some argued that Narendra Modi is fundamentally altering the trajectory of Indian foreign policy, most disagreed. They said the governments shift is only in style, not substance. Yes, Modi may be a more energetic and visible Prime Minister on the foreign policy front, but he has only tinkered with Indias long-held foreign and national security assumptions. The Modi government may not have uttered the word 'non-alignment' but, in practice, it is balancing between the US and China. It may have ignored Pakistan but, in practice, it has tried to find a modus vivendi with Islamabad.

It's not easy to change foreign policy in four years. But Modi has changed it. (Photo: PTI)

Calling Pakistans bluff

Modi may have changed the nomenclature from Look East to Act East but, in practice, Indias engagement with East and Southeast Asia is a continuation of the past.

It may want to be a big player on the global stage, but it lacks the ability to project its aspirations adequately.

Modis strong response to the terror strikes in Pulwama at the very end of his first term made it clear that despite his critics, he has managed to change the fundamentals of Indian foreign and security policy during his tenure.

The use of air power to target terror camps deep inside Pakistani territory was the first such act after the 1972 war.

It shattered the myth of Pakistani nuclear capability and has opened the possibility of India fighting a limited conventional war if need be.

It has put the onus back on Pakistan for escalation.

For the first time, the Organisation of Islamic Corporation invited India as guest of honour. (Photo: ANI)

Modis message to Pakistan has been heard around the world and will have serious ramifications for Indias global engagement.

India has not only defined these air strikes as non-military pre-emptive action but has also taken Pakistan to the International Court of Justice and worked with the Financial Action Task Force to turn the screws on Pakistan, underlining the central difference between a responsible India and a rogue Pakistan.

Indias Pakistan policy has been altered, perhaps unequivocally.

Modi has also deftly handled major power relations at a time when they are increasingly in contestation. Modi challenged his senior diplomats to help India position itself in a leading role, rather than [as] just a balancing force, globally.

This was reflected in the Indian foreign policy bureaucracys evolving discourse. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale asserted earlier this year in Delhi that India has moved on from its non-aligned past. India is today an aligned state  but based on issues.

Underscoring that its time India became part of the rule-making process, Gokhale argued: In the rules-based order, India would have a stronger position in multilateral institutions.

This is as much an assertion of Indias desire to play a larger global role as it is about India changing its approach to global engagement. While some Indian political intellectuals retain a somewhat reflexive anti-Americanism, Modi has used his decisive mandate to carve a new partnership with the US to harness its capital and technology for his domestic development agenda. He is not ambivalent about positioning India as a challenger to Chinas growing regional might and assertiveness.

Under him, India agreed to be part of the resurrected quadrilateral involving the US, Japan and Australia. (Photo: Reuters)

Strategic alignment

He signed the bilateral Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement with the US in 2016 to facilitate logistical support, supplies and services between the US and Indian militaries on a reimbursable basis and to provide a framework to govern such exchanges.

This was followed by the signing of Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement in 2018 to help access advanced defence systems and enable India to optimally utilise its existing US-origin platforms.

Modi has pursued strong partnerships with US allies  Japan, Australia and Vietnam  even as he stood up to Chinas intransigence on Doklam. Under him, India agreed to be part of the resurrected quadrilateral involving the US, Japan and Australia.

Risk Pays

Discarding the ideological baggage of the past, Modi has anchored Indian foreign policy on its civilisational ethos and values.

Act East is as much imbued with a distinct soft power push as with a realistic appraisal of the need to expand Indian footprint in East and Southeast Asia.

In the Middle East, India has asserted itself like never before and was invited to the inaugural address of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for the first time in its 50-year history.

Modi has redefined strategic autonomy as an objective that is attainable through strengthened partnerships instead of avoiding partnerships.

When India engages in the so-called Quad, it enhances its strategic autonomy vis-a-vis China. When it sits with Russia and China for a trilateral, it enhances its strategic autonomy vis-a-vis a Trump administration intent on challenging the fundamentals of the global economic order.

Foreign policies of nations dont alter radically with changes in governments but Modi has ensured that some of the assumptions which had governed Indias foreign policy engagements have been fundamentally challenged. He has imbued Indian foreign policy with a certain amount of risk-taking, unlike the risk aversion of the past. India, from perpetually being a cautious power, is seemingly ready to take on a larger global role by being more nimble than ever in playing the great power game.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also Read: Modis foreign policy: Look beyond travel bills, the PM did some excellent work
Promoters of Bharti Airtel along with Singapore government's investment arm GIC Private Ltd will subscribe to over half of the proposed Rs 32,000 crore rights issue in a bid to infuse funds in the company.

"The entire rights entitlement of promoter and promoter group of approximately Rs 167,857 million (Rs 16,785.7 crore) will be subscribed by them and GIC," Bharti Airtel said in a statement Thursday.

The statement further added that the promoter and promoter group will subscribe to Rs 117,857 million (Rs 11,785.7 crore) and GIC will subscribe to Rs 50,000 million (or Rs 5,000 crore) by way of renouncement in their favour.

One of the promoters Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel) said it will infuse Rs 3,750 crore in Bharti Airtel by subscribing to the proposed Rs 25,000 crore rights issue of the company.

Singtel announced that "it will subscribe to 170 million new shares in the Rs 250 billion rights issue by regional associate Bharti Airtel (Airtel) at an issue price of Rs 220 per share, for a total consideration of Rs 37.5 billion (approximately USD 525 million), representing the rights entitlement for its direct stake of 15 per cent".

With this rights issue subscription, Singtel's effective interest in Airtel will be 35.2 per cent and the company will continue to be the single largest shareholder in Airtel.

The board of Bharti Airtel approved the rights issue to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through the issuance of fully paid up shares at a price of Rs 220 per share and to raise an additional Rs 7,000 crore via the foreign currency perpetual bond issue.

GIC has confirmed to subscribe to this renounced entitlement on behalf of Government of Singapore and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

"The promoter and promoter group also reserves the right to subscribe either itself or through investors for additional shares in the Issue, including in the event of under-subscription by public, in accordance with the applicable laws," the statement said.

Airtel is in the process of appointing banks to execute this.

"The rights issue reiterates the confidence of our shareholders in the competitive strength and sound business strategy of Airtel. It shall further strengthen our balance sheet with desired financial flexibility so as to meet future opportunities, particularly in the rapidly transforming Indian mobile market," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India & South Asia) - Bharti Airtel said.

He said the fresh capital infusion will help the company to continue investments in future rollouts to build large network capacity and create content and technology partnerships to ensure the best customer experience.
India will reconstruct 72 education facilities in Nepal that were damaged during the devastating April 2015 earthquake that saw the death of over 9,000 people and colossal damage to many of its infrastructures.

The decision is part of an agreement signed between Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Rourkee that will see the reconstruction of schools in the Himalayan nation's seven districts, including Gorkha, Nuwakot, Dhading, Dolakha and Sindhpalchowk.

The central library of Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu and the National Library in Patan in Lalitpur will also be reconstructed as part of the project.

Under the pact, the Indian Government has pledged to provide design and consultancy services to Nepal for the reconstruction of the schools.

The Agreement was signed by Ajay Kumar, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, on behalf of the Government of India, and by Dr Purnima Parida, Group Leader, Planning & Business Development Group, CBRI, Roorkee.

"The CBRI will work with the Central Level Project Implementation Unit (CLPIU) of the Ministry of Education, Nepal to reconstruct/retrofit educational facilities as per the Government of Nepal's guidelines on disaster-resilient reconstruction,"my Republica reported.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Nepal in April 2015 is also known as the Gorkha earthquake. About 9,000 people lost their lives while nearly 22,000 were injured in the tremor.
nThe indecisiveness of film star-turned politician Vijayakanth in selecting the front with which he should align for the Lok Sabha election has come as an embarrassment to the BJP, which was counting on his inclusion in the AIADMK-led front. The charter of demands submitted by PMK founder S Ramadoss to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for staying in the front too has shocked the BJP.

Ramadoss has asked the Centre to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET and also the immediate release of the seven assassins of Rajiv Gandhi serving life sentence in a Tamil Nadu prison.

Vijayakanth's intransigence not to accept the number of seats allocated by the AIADMK to the DMDK and the absence of his party leaders and cadre in the election rally addressed by the Prime Minister on Wednesday at Kanchipuram has embarrassed the BJP more than the AIADMK.

Vijayakanth is insisting that his party should be allocated seven Lok Sabha seats and a Rajya Sabha seat which was the package given by the AIADMK to the PMK. DMDK general secretary LK Sudhish told reporters on Thursday that in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, their party had been allocated 14 seats by the BJP.

It is a different matter that the DMDK had failed to win a single seat and finished fourth in most of the constituencies.

This has brought to light the chaos, confusion and lack of cohesion in the NDA's Tamil Nadu unit, said a BJP leader in the State. It was Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal who held discussions with L K Sudhish on Wednesday.

"There was no need for the BJP to intervene in the seat allocation discussion with the DMDK. The AIADMK should have sorted out the issue," a senior BJP leader told The Pioneer on Thursday.

Though the Prime Minister flew down to Chennai on Wednesday to launch the campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the schedule of which would be announced in couple of days, the AIADMK let him down by failing to parade the DMDK and the Tamil Manila Congress for the public rally addressed by the former.

Even as the Prime Minister was addressing the rally, the DMDK was busy holding discussions with the DMK bargaining for more seats. Sudhish, brother-in-law of Vijayakanth, who represented the party in its talks with the BJP was holding parallel talks with DMK treasurer Durai Murugan with a plea to accommodate their party in the UPA. Murugn told reporters that he had told Sudhish it was too late as there was no more space in the UPA.

The absence of G K Vasan also belied the claim by the AIADMK that the Tamil Manila Congress would join the NDA. It is said that Vasan, who was not considered by the DMK for inclusion in the UPA was struggling to salvage his party by anchoring it in any of the fronts. "He is having reservations against sharing a platform with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he is still hoping that he would get a call from the Congress High Command," said a source close to him.

But what had embarrassed the BJP cadre was the presence of John Pandian, leader of a caste outfit from southern Tamil Nadu in the stage with the Prime Minister. According to many BJP activists, Pandian is an accused in more than 15 criminal cases registered by the Police. "We were left awestruck as Pandian and U Thaniyarasu, another local leader, who had declared his hatred for Modi and described the BJP as a fascist organisation on Wednesday morning were gven seats near to that of the Prime Minister," said the BJP leader.

M K Stalin, the DMK president announced on Thursday that the doors of his party have been shut and no more outfits would be allowed in the DMK-led front. The DMDK later announced that the party would come out with its decision of joining the AIADMK front in the next two days.
Hizbul terrorist lobs bomb at bus stand, arrested; 4 victims critical

A seventeen-year-old youth hailing from Haridwar was killed while 32 others received injuries in a grenade attack at crowded bus stand in Jammu on Thursday around 11.45 am.

Addressing a Press conference in the evening, IGP Jammu MK Sinha said Yasin Javid Bhat was nabbed by a police party at toll plaza in Nagrota of Jammu for the terror attack. Bhat was in contact with Farooq Ahmad Bhat, district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kulgam, said Sinha, adding he was arrested on basis of CCTV footage and testimony by eyewitnesses.

During questioning Bhat said he had procured the grenade from Farooq in Kulgam and reached Jammu on Thursday morning.

The condition of four injured people is critical and two of them were operated upon by doctors. The injured included 11 residents of Kashmir, two from Bihar, and one each from Chattisgarh and Haryana, officials said.

Eyewitness said the terrorist lobbed a grenade while passing through the general bus stand area where several buses were parked. Due to impact of the blast, window panes of several parked buses and shops were shattered. Majority of injured received splinter injuries in their abdomen and chest, said police, adding that the deceased has been identified as Mohammad Sharik.

He was among 33 people brought to the hospital. He succumbed to splinter injuries in the chest, police said.

A high alert was sounded in Jammu immediately after the grenade strike, which is believed to be aimed at disturbing the communal harmony in the region. This is the third attack on Jammu bus stand since May 2018.

Obviously the intention is always to disturb the communal harmony and peace, the IGP said and requested the people to maintain calm.

The blast site along BC Road was sealed off by police and a massive hunt was launched to nab the attacker, the IGP who rushed to the spot. Earlier, a police post on the bus stand premises was targeted by suspected terrorists on December 29, 2018.

Three people, including two policemen, were injured in a similar grenade attack on May 24, 2018.

Senior State Government officers, including Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, Advisor to the Governor K Vijay Kumar, visited the grenade attack location at bus stand. Several political parties in the State condemned the grenade strike at Jammu bus stand and urged the Government to ensure foolproof security arrangements.
Pakistans former President Pervez Musharraf has admitted Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out attacks in India during his tenure on the instructions of the intelligence agencies, including Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

This is a good move. I have always said the JeM is a terrorist organisation. Action should be taken against them. I am happy, said Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008.

When asked why he had not taken action against Jaish when he was in power, Musharraf said, Those were different times. Our intelligence men were involved in a tit-for-tat with India...This was continuing at that time and amid all of this, no major action was taken against the Jaish. And I also did not insist.

Musharraf has been living in Dubai since March 2016. He is facing the treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007, for which he was indicted in 2014.
Blitzkrieg beneficiaries

The daring air strikes by the gallant warriors of Indian Air Force on the terror camps deep inside the Pakistani territory has not only gladdened the hearts of the countrymen as they see these strikes as a perfect retribution to the Pulwama attack on CRPF convoy which caused martyrdom of 40 personnel but has also given a reason to cheer for the foot soldiers of BJP. With elections round the corner, the now euphoric leaders of the saffron party, the faces of whom looked sullen only some days ago while gearing up for the gruelling season of campaign ahead, are now looking relaxed with an ear to ear wide grin on their faces. The task of the ruling party has also been made easier by some Congress leaders who in their desperation are seeking proof of these strikes. One senior functionary of BJP confided that prior to these unprecedented pre-emptive strikes, the party was facing the heat in at least three out of the five parliamentary seats in Uttarakhand. Now we are sweeping all five, quipped the leader with a confidence befitting a top army general who after outwitting his counterpart is about to annihilate enemy ranks.

Hanuman MLA

An overzealous legislature of BJP representing one of the assembly constituencies of Dehradun was cut to size by none other Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently during a programme organised by the MLA to honour the war widows and proud mothers of martyrs. When the minister arrived at the venue, the organisers announced that the Defence minister would be felicitated by the mother of a martyr on which she expressed her displeasure and said that she has come to Dehradun to honour these brave women and not be get felicitated. Everyone watched in appreciation as the humble minister honoured the surprised elderly lady and won hearts by touching the feet of the martyrs mother. Smiles however appeared on faces of almost everyone when during the programme, the brawny MLA was referred to as Hanuman for his ever enthusiastic approach to serve the ex servicemen by a retired General sahab as memories of this Hanuman causing injury to  Shaktiman the police stallion during a demonstration outside Vidhan Sabha and thus attaining instant worldwide notoriety apart from attracting wrath of animal lovers came to everyones mind like a flash.

Scholarship Scam

Facing heat of the SIT investigation on multi crore scholarship scam many influential people having business interests in education industry are having sleepless nights with some of them even having gone underground. The SIT has already made some arrests while unravelling the scam in which the owners of some colleges siphoned off the government money by showing fake enrollments of the students belonging to reserved categories to guzzle their scholarships. The arrested include brother of a prominent Congress MLA and the SIT is said to the closing on to another person who is brother of a former BJP MLA. Apart from influential owners of the educational institutes, the investigation is also zeroing on to investigate dubious role played by some of the officials of the social welfare department as without their active support and patronage the scam of this proportion could not have been perpetuated.
Candidates contesting upcoming general elections will have to declare their criminal records through affidavits in newspapers before filling their nomination papers. The five judge bench of Supreme Court last year stated that if a candidate had a criminal background, it must be given the widest possible publicity including in the print and electronic media.

The office of chief electoral officer will implement the Apex Court directives so that candidates contesting the upcoming general election declares their criminal records through affidavits.

Sources said that the Supreme Court directives are to provide more information to people about the candidates they are going to choose.

Manish Ranjan, the additional chief electoral officer said, As per the Supreme Court directive given last year , a candidate is required to declare criminal antecedents and cases which he or she is facing. The candidates have to get the affidavits publish in newspapers or electronic media thrice before the election.

As per the Supreme Court directives, the Election Commission of India has issued directives under which each candidate will have all entries in the prescribed format given by the Election Commission. The format also includes columns where the candidates have to mention pending criminal cases in bold letters.

Also if the candidate is contesting the election on the ticket of a political party, the candidate has to inform the political party regarding his or her criminal cases. The political party after receiving the information about the criminal cases from concerned candidates has to declare the information in their party website. Also, candidate and concerned political party will make a declaration in this regard which they will have to publish, broadcast in newspapers and electronic media thrice before the elections.

The people have welcomed the Supreme Court directives. Ankita Sinha, a college student and first time voter welcoming the SC directive said, earlier candidates and political parties used to declare their manifesto or promises which many a times turn out to be false.

The election manifesto or promises of candidates was such rosy that many unaware voter used to vote in support of candidate without knowing his or her background. But now as candidates will have to declare their criminal record it will provide full information about the candidate record. Even the SC directive has political parties in tightrope in selecting candidates. A senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity said, As political parties and candidates would have to declare criminal records, various political parties will be more cautious in selecting candidates for general elections. While selecting candidates political parties will go for searching such candidates who are not tainted.
Nodal officers deputed in Chhattisgarh for issuing postal ballots to security forces, police jawans and home guards were imparted training on Thursday to ensure cent percent polling among them.

The first of its kind one-day training was held at New Circuit House auditorium, Raipur.

Addressing the training, Chhattisgarh Chief Electoral Officer Subrat Sahoo said, Its the responsibility of the nodal officer to ensure cent percent polling among the security forces, police jawans and home guards deployed on election duty. Their right to vote has to be protected.

The nodal officers will have to ensure availability of postal ballot papers to security force personnel deployed in remote and Naxal affected districts and collect the ballots after polling. Even Kotwars and forest guards should also be included, Sahoo said.

Two police officers nominated by superintendent of police of each district, two officers each from armed forces, state home guard and all district postal ballot nodal officers participated in the training.

It was informed that in all the districts, postal ballot polling facilitation centres will be established for police personnel. The participants were also provided information on how to search name from electoral roll through NVSP portal.
In order to take farmers suggestions and their views on the policies of the ruling BJP, the party today held an interactive session with farmers here.

The programme christened as Kisan Ki Maan Ki Baat, Modiji Ke Saath was an interactive session through which the BJP Kisan Morcha collected feedback from farmers. The feedback collected from the farmers will be incorporated in the Sankalp Patra (vision document) of the party ahead of upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Around 250 progressive and innovative farmers had gathered at the one-day session, which was addressed by BJP Kishan Morcha national president and party Bhadohi (Uttar Pradesh), Virendra Singh Mast.

Mast said, The focus of the function was to seek feedback of farmers in connection with agriculture. We highlighted the various schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government for the benefits of farmers at the same time we collected feedback from farmers what further steps can be taken for the benefits of farmers.

Mast said, The agriculturalists who participated at the function were happy with the various schemes launched by Modi Government. The launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme which is income supports of `6,000 per year (in three equal installments) to farmers was hailed by participating farmers.

The farmers welcome the scheme claiming that it will be much supportive to marginal and small farmers and appreciated the effort that first installment of `2,000 has been credited in the farmers accounts, added Mast.

Mast claimed that on the instructions of BJP national president, Amit Shah this is for the first time any political party in country is seeking feedback from various section of society farmers, labourers, students and youth for preparing their vision document which is party Sankalp Patra. The party will go to polls in upcoming general elections with the said vision documents.

The BJP Kishan Morcha president equated Amit Shahs initiative with Netaji Subhas Chandra Boses vision. Mast said, During Independence movement Netaji gave the call Tum Mujhe Khoon Do, Main Tumhe Azadi Doonga which was an attempt by Bose to larger inclusion of people in freedom movement. Amit Shah with the vision has invited people to give their feedback in making Sankalp Patra for better governance.

On February 3, BJP national president Amit Shah launched the drive to seek suggestions directly from people to prepare its Sankalp Patra which is party vision document or election manifesto for the 2019 election through a month-long campaign across the country.

Party sources said that the party new exercise is aimed at democratising the process of preparing the manifesto and would involve the common people in deciding the framework of New India they want. Jyotishwar Singh, State BJP Kishan Morcha president said, The interactive session with farmers was very much fruitful as many farmers gave valuable suggestions.

Some farmers from Palamu district gave suggestions for inclusion of Lah (a type of plant grown in Palamu region) in list of agriculture products. Jyotishwar Singh said that many farmers also suggested for inclusion of work being carried out in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MGNREGA) in agriculture activities for benefits of farmers.
A joint team of State Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Thursday gunned down three Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) rebels and recovered an AK-47 and two Automated Machine Guns during a gun battle at Bundu Village in Hazaribagh.

Acting upon a tip off from intelligence sources, the 190 battalion of the CRPF and Chatra Police conducted the encounter under Keredari Police Station of the district, around 85 kilometer North West of State Capital.

The neutralized rebels were not identified by the time this report was filed. However, CRPF sources said that they most likely held senior positions in the rebel outfit since the arms and ammunitions recovered from their hideout were modern and expensive.

Sources said that as the security forces entered the Tara forest, where the rebels were hiding, the TPC ultras opened fire at them. The three ultras were killed in retaliatory firing by security forces.

Acting upon a tip off from our sources, the 190 battalion of the CRPF planned and executed the operation. We are still in the process of identifying the gunned down rebels, said Prakash Badal, spokesperson, CRPF Jharkhand.

According to figures with the Ministry of Home Affairs, at least 18 of 24 districts in Jharkhand are Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected. Apart from the CPI (Maoists), there are at least 17 splinter outfits active in the tribal state.

The TPC was formed in 2002 after some cadres of the CPI (Maoists) decided to quit the banned rebel group and form their own outfit. The TPC in Jharkhand has been at war with the CPI (Maoists) over ideological differences since its formation.

Additional Director General of Police (Operations), ML Meena said that Chatra police played a crucial role in the anti-insurgency operation.

All the rebels gunned down in the operation are members of the Azad Dasta of TPC, said Meena.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Thursday met the family members of martyr Naib Subedar Sombir in Bhiwani and assured full support from the State Government.

He was accompanied by Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu.

The Chief Minister said that the State is proud of our brave soldiers who attained martyrdom for the country and Naib Subedar Sombir is one of them.

The martyr had sacrificed his life while fighting with the terrorists in Turigam area of Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir on February 24. His cremation was done with full state honour at his native village Mithi on February 26.

Manohar LAl said that the State Government would provide ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh to the family of martyr Sombir besides giving Government job to Suman, the wife of Sombir according to her eligibility.

Apart from this, as per the demand of gram panchayat Mithi, any Government institution or park would be named after martyr Sombir, Manohar Lal said.
NUSRL gets new VC

Prof (Dr) Kesava Rao Vurrakula presently adjunct Professor at National Law University Cuttack has been offered the post of Vice Chancellor, NUSRL Ranchi. He is likely to join new assignment on March 9. Prof Rao is B.Com, L.L.B. (Gold Medalist), M.L.( Gold Medalist), Ph.D. in Law ( Gold medalist and Best Researcher). Born in 1953, Prof Rao is a renowned academician. He has taught in Andhra University, National Law University, Patna, National Law University, Bangalore and National Law University, Cuttack. He has also worked as Vice Chancellor (In-charge) National Law University Vishakhapatnam and as Registrar at National Law University Patna.

Workshop at BIT Mesra

The one week workshop on emerging techniques in mechanical engineering and its applications started at department of mechanical engineering of BIT Mesra entered third day. On the third day of the workshop, Dr. Kaushal A Desai, head of the department, mechanical engineering, IIT Jodhpur gave a lecture on Rapid Prototyping and product development", where he focused on the applications of rapid prototyping which can be used to meet various demands in eradicating problematic situations of mankind. Dr. Desai also presented a case study on "Medical Applications of Rapid Prototyping" where he shared his experience of working in collaboration with AIIMS Jodhpur and IIT Jodhpur. He presented his study on "Design of Neck Chamber device for Evaluation of Baroreflex Sensitivity".

Akhtar appointed AMU court member

Shahid Akhtar, vice president of National Urdu Language Development Council has been appointed a court member of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Akhtar appointment has been made by President Ramnath Kovind who is visitor of AMU. Indresh Kumar of Muslim Rashtriya Manch which is affiliated to the RSS has welcomed the appointment of Akhtar as court member of AMU.

2 cyber criminals arrested

Giridih Cyber police on Thursday busted an inter-state racket involved in different cyber criminal activities in other states and Jharkhand and its nearby areas and arrested two persons. The prompt intervention of Cyber Dy SP police resulted in the arrest of two of the gang members from Jodasimar village of Ahilyapur in Giridih here on Thursday afternoon identified as Suraj Mandal and Uma Shankar Mandal. During interrogation, Suraj Mandal accepted his involvement in a number of cases related to cyber crime and use to call several customers as bank officials and ask their pin number in other state like Telangana and Jharkhand if they failed to disclose their pin number and posing as a bank manager he would be closed their bank account. Umari Shankar Mandal used to provide the information of bank account and ATM and pin numbers to other men of his gang for easy transfer in his account.
Committee to Draft New Sand Mining Policy

Bhopal: Chief Minister Kamal Nath has constituted a sub-committee of the Council of Ministers to prepare draft of the 'New Sand Mining Policy'. The committee will submit its recommendation in a month. Chairman of the sub-committee will be Finance Minister Tarun Bhanot. Committee members include Minister for Commercial Taxes Brijendra Singh Rathore, Minister for Mineral Resources Pradeep Jaiswal, Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Tulsiram Silawat, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Kamleshwar Patel and Narmada Valley Development and Tourism Minister Surendra Singh Honey Baghel.

Step to help EWS for education

Bhopal: The state government has formed a cabinet committee to decide the process of implementation as regard to the provision made under the 103rd Constitutional Amendment to provide 10 per cent reservation to the economically weaker sections in educational institutions and government jobs. The Minister for Co-operatives, Parliamentary Affairs and General Administration Dr. Govind Singh has been made Chairman of the committee. The Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Tulsiram Silawat, Finance, Planning, Economics and Statistics Minister Tarun Bhanot and Minister for Narmada Valley Development and Tourism Minister Surendra Singh Baghel have been made members of the committee.

Committee constituted for investment

Bhopal: A Cabinet Committee has been constituted for investment promotion under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Kamal Nath. Chief Secretary has been made as Member Secretary of the committee. Minister for Commercial Taxes Brijendra Singh Rathore, Energy Minister Priyavrat singh and Finance Minister Tarun Bhanot have been nominated as members of the committee. Ministers of the concerned departments will take part as special members in a meeting of the committee with regard to the under consideration issues of their respective departments.

Min extends wishes on Intl Women's Day

Bhopal: Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Kamleshwar Patel congratulated and extended best wishes to the women Panchayat representatives and members of self-help groups on International Women's Day on March 8. Patel said that the MP government will celebrate this day as Sabla Diwas. Patel said that the state government is committed for the economic empowerment of women. In addition, it is providing a favourable environment for the participation of women in development works. Patel said that women should participate in development of villages also; this is also the state government's endeavour.

Min performs bhoomi poojan of bridge

Bhopal: Minister for Public relations PC Sharma has performed bhoomi poojan of high standard bridge over Kaliasot river and approach road in Kolar on Thursday. The Local Member of Legislative Assembly Rameshwar Sharma was also present. The bridge and approach road costing Rs 5 crore will be constructed by the Capital Project. Residents of the area have expressed happiness over the construction of the bridge and approach road.

CM gives greetings on Intl Woman's Day

Bhopal: Chief Minister Kamal Nath has extended greetings to women on the occasion of International Woman's Day saying that it is a celebration of the spirit of womanhood. The Chief Minister said that the state government is striving for socio-economic, educational and political empowerment of woman and is taking all possible steps for this. The Chief Minister said that the process of development will remain incomplete until fullest participation of women is ensured. The government is trying to provide an enabling environment in which they can use their rights fearlessly and take decisions independently.

VC of Baba Saheb University appointed

Bhopal: Governor and Chancellor Anandiben Patel has appointed Vice-Chancellor of Baba Saheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) Pankaj Lakshman Jani as Vice-Chancellor of Maharishi Panini Sanskrit and Vedic University, Ujjain. Pankaj Lakshman Janis appointment for Maharishi Panini Sanskrit and Vedic University, Ujjain has been made for a period of four years from the date of his taking charge.

BHEL presents Rs 1.53L scholarship to 51

Bhopal: Under the aegis of Corporate Social Responsibility DK Thakur Executive Director BHEL Bhopal presented Rs 1.53 lakh scholarship to 51 meritorious students in a programme held at Kshitij Bhawan, Piplani BHEL Bhopal. The scholarship was given to orphan, physically handicapped students studying in government run school of BHEL adopted villages and BLEW Computer as well as students who have lost their father. On this occasion RK Arya General Manager (PC, PMG, CMG, EC & CMS), HK Nigam General Manager (EM) and MS Kinra General Manager (Quality) were present. Anant Toppo AGM (TAD), SB Singh AGM (TAD-Planning), Alok Verma DGM (TAD), Avinash Raj Sr Executive (HR) and other officials of TAD were also present in the programme.
Ranchi police on Thursday recovered bodies of two brothers from the abandoned office of a private news channel in Ashok Nagar hours after their family lodged a missing complaint with the Lalpur Police Station in Ranchi.

Mahendra Agarwal and Hemant Agarwal, who worked with a cargo company, left their residence in Shivam Apartment on Wednesday night. Their family lodged a complaint with the Lalpur Police Station fearing that the two may have been abducted by one Laukesh Choudhary, the franchise owner of a private news channel.

When the police visited the news channels office on Thursday morning, they found the main door locked and learned that the channel has been shut.

Inside the premises of the locked office, police found bodies of Hemant and Mahendra lying in a pool of blood. The two were shot dead and the police suspect that there were at least four more persons present at the spot at the time of the incident.

Superintendent of Police (City), Sujata Veenapani said that initial investigation indicates that Choudhary played a role in the double murder. However, Choudhary is absconding and the police have launched a manhunt to nab him.

Prima facie, it seems that the franchise owner of the news channel is behind the murder. He is absconding, said Veenapani.

Family of Mahendra and Hemant claim that there was some financial dispute between Choudhary and the two brothers. Choudhary may have first abducted them and then executed the murder, they told the police.

Om Prakash Agarwal, father of the deceased brothers, said that the two had left home in hurry on Wednesday evening and their phones became unreachable in the night.
Claiming that the face of Uttar Pradesh was changing fast, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh dedicated to the people and laid foundation stones of national highway projects worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore across Uttar Pradesh.

Projects worth Rs 1,969.57 crore were also either dedicated or their foundation stones were laid under Namami Gange programme. Foundation stone of Lucknow-Kanpur elevated greenfield expressway was also laid.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also present on the occasion.

Praising Rajnath Singh, who represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha, Gadkari said the utilisation of MP Local Area Development Fund had changed the face of the state capital.

There has been holistic development in Uttar Pradesh. During the previous regimes, we faced hurdles as the successive governments did not take initiatives in land acquisition. Things changed as Yogi Adityanath came to power and now roads are being constructed at a faster speed in UP, Gadkari said while addressing the gathering at Jhulelal Park on the banks of Gomti river in Lucknow on Thursday.

He said that infrastructure-wise, Lucknow had witnessed positive changes and credit should goes to Rajnathji.

On his (Rajnaths) advise, we have included Gomti river under the Namami Gange scheme and Rs 300 crore have been allotted for it, Gadkari said.

Elaborating the achievements of his department, Gadkari said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government had doubled the speed of construction of roads while Rs 12,000 crore work was underway for waterways.

He also congratulated the UP government for the successful Kumbh Mela, which recently conclude in Prayagraj.

In his address, Rajnath Singh said several Lucknow-based projects had been completed in record time. He thanked Gadkari and UP government for supporting the Centre in speeding up development schemes in the state.

Showering praises on Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Rajnath Singh said, Nitin Gadkari is a person who can extract oil from water and get work done without funds. Singhs statement drew loud applause from the audience.

Rajnath Singh urged Gadkari to introduce seaplane in Gomti Nagar and a flying bus as well, to which Gadkari gave his nod.

Atalji had once said that he does not want to compare Lucknow with any city in the world. He wanted Lucknow to become an incredible (atulya) city, a khushaal (prosperous) city and a bemisaal (unparallel) city. Today, Atalji is not among us, but I want to make his soul believe that the people of Lucknow will fulfil your dreams, Atalji. This will be appropriate tributes to you from our side, Singh said.

Yogi Adityanath said that development projects and Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj had given a new identity to the state.

We have created a record of sorts as over 24 crore people attended the mega religious event in Prayagraj and there were no complaints, he said.

UPs Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma also addressed the gathering on the occasion. Maurya said that PWD was laying link roads worth Rs 22,000 crore for connecting all the villages of the state.

Sharma said better coordination between the Centre and the state had given impetus to development in the state.

Projects that were dedicated included four-laning of Lucknow-Sultanpur section on NH-56, four-laning of Kursi RoadAyodhya road section of Lucknow ring road, four-laning of Ghaghra Bridge to Budhanpur section on NH-233, widening of Sonoli-Gorakhpur, Barabanki-Jarwal road junction, Rudauli-Basti , Pilibhit-Puranpur, Puranpur-Khutar section of roads and reconstruction and upgradation of Sisiya-Nanpara section on NH-730.

Projects whose foundation stones was laid included Lucknow-Kanpur expressway, flyover at IIM crossing, Ghazipur-Phephna-Majhighat road, four lane Mathura-Hathras-Badaun road among others.

The ministers laid foundation stones of several projects under Namami Gange programme, including of 214.88-km sewerage network in Prayagraj, sewerage networks in Garh Mukteshwar, Kannauj and 21.03-km sewerage network and 4 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) in Bulandshahr. In all these projects, sewage will be collected from households and lifted to STPs directly.

Foundation stones were laid for many projects for river Ganga, Yamuna, Gomti, Ramganga and Kali.

For Gomti river, 30 MLD STPs have been proposed in Jaunpur, 7 MLD STP in Sultanpur and 40 MLD STP as well as rehabilitation of 42 MLD STP in Lucknow with total STP capacity of 87 MLD.. The project cost is Rs 568.93 crore.

Apart from these 63 MLD STP in Bareli along river Ramganga and 15 MLD STP in Kasganj along river Kali have been proposed .
Acacia Mining plc, together with its subsidiaries, mines, processes, and sells gold in Africa. The company has three gold mines in north-west Tanzania, including Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi, and North Mara; and a portfolio of exploration projects at various stages of development in Tanzania, Kenya, Burkina Faso, and Mali. It also produces co-products, such as copper and silver. The company was formerly known as African Barrick Gold plc and changed its name to Acacia Mining plc in November 2014. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Acacia Mining plc is a subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corporation.

Read More
Navistar International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells commercial trucks, diesel engines, school and commercial buses, and service parts for trucks and diesel engines worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Truck, Parts, Global Operations, and Financial Services. It manufactures and distributes Class 4 through 8 trucks and buses in the common carrier, private carrier, government, leasing, construction, energy/petroleum, and student and commercial transportation markets under the International and IC brands; and designs, engineers, and produces sheet metal components, including truck cabs and engines. The company also provides customers with proprietary products needed to support the International commercial truck, IC bus, and engine lines, as well as other product lines; and a selection of other standard truck, trailer, and engine aftermarket parts. In addition, it manufactures and distributes mid-range diesel engines, as well as provides customers with additional engine offerings in the agriculture, marine, genset, and light truck markets; sells engines to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for various on-and-off-road applications; and offers contract manufacturing services under the MWM brand to OEMs for the assembly of their engines. Further, the company provides retail, wholesale, and lease financing of products of its trucks and parts, as well as financing for wholesale and retail accounts receivable. Additionally, it exports trucks, buses, and engines. The company markets its commercial products through an independent dealer network, as well as through retail outlets; and its reconditioned used trucks to owner-operators and fleet buyers through its network of used truck dealers. It operates approximately 1,052 outlets in the United States and Canada, and 89 outlets in Mexico. Navistar International Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.

Read More
5 hours ago

The Short-Squeeze In Dave & Busters Is On

Dave & Busters Returns To Growth Weve had our eye on Dave & Busters (NASDAQ: PLAY) as a recovery play for some time and that thesis is playing out nicely. While the price action has been volatile short-selling and tax-loss selling are mostly to blame because the results have been fantastic.

Read Article
The following companies are subsidiares of Vodafone Group: 360 Connect S.A., [email protected] Telecom, A-ccelerator B.V., A-ccelerator Holding B.V, AAA (Euro) Limited, AAA (MCR) Limited, AAA (UK) Limited, Acorn Communications Limited, Africonnect (Zambia) Limited, Ag Mercantile Company Private Limited, Al-Amin Investments Limited, Amsterdamse Beheer- en Consultingmaatschappij B.V., Apollo Submarine Cable System Limited, Array Holdings Limited, Asian Telecommunication Investments (Mauritius) Limited, Aspective Limited, Astec Communications Limited, Autoconnex Limited, Aztec Limited, BelCompany BV, Bluefish Apac Communications Pte. Ltd, Bluefish Communications, Bluefish Communications Limited, Business Serve Limited, C&W Worldwide Nigeria Limited, C.S.P. Solutions Limited, CCII (Mauritius) Inc., CGP India Investments Ltd., CGP Investments (Holdings) Limited, COOP Mobil s.r.o, CT Networks Limited, CWGNL S.A., CWW Operations Limited, Cable & Wireless Access Limited, Cable & Wireless Americas Systems Inc., Cable & Wireless Aspac Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Services Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Svyaz LLC, Cable & Wireless Capital Limited , Cable & Wireless Communications Data Network Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Starclass Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Technical Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd (Beijing Branch), Cable & Wireless Europe Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless GN Limited, Cable & Wireless Global (India) Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Business Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Holding Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Telecommunication Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Holdco Limited, Cable & Wireless Networks India Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Trade Mark Management Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Waterside Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Pension Trustee Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Voice Messaging Limited, Cable & Wireless a-Services Inc, Cable & Wireless a-Services Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited Indian Branch Office, Cable and Wireless Nominee Limited, Cable and Wireless Worldwide South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cavalry Holdings Ltd, Celfocus  Solucoes Informaticas Para Telecomunicacoes S.A, Cellops Limited, Cellular Operations Limited, Central Communications Group Limited, Central Telecom (Northern) Limited, Centurion GSM Limited, Chelys Limited, City Cable (Holdings) Limited, Cobra do Brasil Servicos de Telematica ltda., Commnet Cellular Inc., Complete Network Technology, Connect (India) Mobile Technologies Private Limited, Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited, Dataroam Limited , Device Insight, Digital Island (UK) Ltd, Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, East Africa Investment (Mauritius) Limited, Emtel Europe Limited, Energis (Ireland) Limited, Energis Communications Limited, Energis Holdings Limited, Energis Local Access Limited, Energis Management Limited, Energis Squared Limited, Erudite Systems Limited, Esprit Telecom B.V., Eudokia Limited, Euro Pacific Securities Ltd., Eurocall Holdings Limited, Europolitan Holdings AB (now Europolitan Vodafone AB), FB Holdings Limited, FM Associates (UK) Limited, FinCo Partner 1 B.V., FireFly Networks Limited, Flexphone Limited, GS Telecom (Pty) Limited, Gateway Communications Africa (UK) Limited, Gateway Communications Tanzania Limited, General Mobile Corporation, Generation Telecom Limited, Ghana Telecommunications, Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited, Global Cellular Rental Limited, Globe Limited, GrandCentrix GmbH, Grupo Corporativo ONO S.A.U., H3ga Properties (No 3) Pty Limited, HBO Nederland Cooperatief U.A., HBO Netherlands Channels sro, HBO Netherlands Distribution B.V., Hellas Online, How2 Telecom Limited, Hutchison Essar Ltd, Indus Towers Limited, Intercell Communications Limited, Internet Network Services Limited, Invitation Digital Limited, Ipergy Communications NV, Isis Telecommunications Management Limited, Jaguar Communications Limited, Jaykay Finholding (India) Private Limited, Jupicol (Proprietary) Limited, KABELCOM Braunschweig Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, KABELCOM Wolfsburg Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, Kabel Deutschland, Kabel Deutschland Holding, Kabel Deutschland Holding Erste Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Holding Zweite Beteilgungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Neunte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Siebte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabelfernsehen Munchen Servicenter GmbH & Co. KG, LG Financing Partnership, LGE HoldCo V B.V., LGE HoldCo VI B.V., LGE HoldCo VIII B.V., LGE Holdco VII B.V., LLC Vodafone Enterprise Ukraine, Le Bunt Holdings Limited, Legend Communications Limited, Liberty Global, Liberty Global Content Netherlands B.V., London Hydraulic Power Company, M-PESA Foundation, M-PESA Holding Co. Limited, ML Integration Group Limited, ML Integration Limited, ML Integration Services Limited, MV Healthcare Services Private Limited, Mannesmann AG, MetroHoldings Limited, Mezzanine Ware Proprietary Limited (RF), Mirambo Limited, Misrfone Trading Company LLC, MobiFon S.A., Mobile Commerce Solutions Limited, Mobile Phone Centre Limited, Mobile Wallet VM1, Mobile Wallet VM2, Mobile by Sainsburys Limited, Mobiles 4 Business.com Limited, Mobileworld Communications Pty Limited, Mobileworld Operating Pty Ltd, Mobilvest, Motifpros 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Multi Risk Indemnity Company Limited, Multi Risk Limited, ND Callus Info Services Private Limited, Nadal Trading Company Private Limited, Nat Comm Air Limited, National Communications Backbone Company Limited, Navtrak Ltd, Netforce Group Limited, Netgrid Telecom SRL, Number Portability Company (Proprietary) Limited, ONO, Omega Telecom Holdings Private Limited, Oni Way  Infocomunicacoes S.A, Oskar Mobil S.R.O., Oxygen Solutions Limited, P.C.P. (North West) Limited, PPL Pty Limited, PT Network Services Limited, PTI Telecom Limited, Peoples Phone Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Group Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Limited, Plex Limited, Plustech Mercantile Company Private Limited, Prime Metals Ltd., Project Telecom Holdings Limited, Quickcomm Software Solutions, Radio Opt GmbH, Rian Mobile Limited, SBC SMART CITY 1517 B.V., SMMS Investments Pvt Limited, Safaricom Limited, Safenet N.P A., Sarmady Communications, Scarlet Ibis Investments 23 (Pty) Limited, Scorpios Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Silver Stream Investments Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Ltd., Singlepoint Payment Services Limited, Siro Limited, Spar Aerospace (Nigeria) Limited, Sport TV Portugal S.A, Starnet, Stentor Communications Limited, Stentor Limited, Storage Technology Services (Pty) Limited, T.W. Telecom Limited, T3 Telecommunications Limited, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern Beteiligungs GmbH, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern GmbH & Co. KG, TNAS Limited, TSM NZ Limited, Talkland Airtime Services Limited, Talkland Australia Pty Limited, Talkland Communications Limited, Talkland International Limited, Talkland Midlands Limited, Talkmobile Limited, Tele2 Italia SPA, Tele2 Spain, Telecom Investments India Private Limited, Telecommunications Europe Limited, Ternhill Communications Limited, The Cobra Group, The Eastern Leasing Company Limited, The Old Telecom Sales Co. Limited, Thus Group Holdings Limited, Thus Group Limited, Thus Limited, Thus Profit Sharing Trustees Limited, TnT Expense Management LLC, Tomorrow Street GP S.a r.l., Tomorrow Street SCA, Torenspits II B.V., Townley Communications Limited, Trans Crystal Ltd., UMT Investments Limited, UPC Nederland Holding I B.V., UPC Nederland Holding II B.V., UPC Nederland Holding III B.V., Unified Communications, Uniqueair Limited, Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH & Co.KG, Usha Martin Telematics Limited, VAPL No. 2 Pty Limited, VBA (Mauritius) Limited, VBA Holdings Limited, VBA International (SL) Limited, VBA International Limited, VEI S.r.l., VM SA, VND S.p.A, VSSB Vodafone Shared Services Budapest Private Limited Company, Verwaltung Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH, Victus Networks S.A., Vizzavi Finance Limited, Vizzavi Limited, Voda Limited, Vodacall Limited, Vodacash s.p.r.l., Vodacom (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business (Angola) Limitada, Vodacom Business (Ghana) Limited, Vodacom Business (Kenya) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa (Nigeria) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group Services Limited, Vodacom Business Cameroon SA, Vodacom Business Cote Divoire S.A.R.L., Vodacom Congo (RDC) SA, Vodacom Financial Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Group Limited, Vodacom Insurance Administration Company (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Insurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom International Holdings (Pty) Limited, Vodacom International Limited, Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Life Assurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom Payment Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No.2 (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Tanzania Limited Zanzibar, Vodacom Tanzania Public Limited Company, Vodacom UK Limited, Vodafone (NI) Limited, Vodafone (New Zealand) Hedging Limited, Vodafone (Scotland) Limited, Vodafone 2, Vodafone 4 UK, Vodafone 5 Limited, Vodafone 5 UK, Vodafone 6 UK, Vodafone Albania Sh.A, Vodafone Alternatif Telekom Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Americas 4, Vodafone Americas Virginia Inc., Vodafone And Qatar Foundation L.L.C, Vodafone Asset Management Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Automotive Electronic Systems S.r.L, Vodafone Automotive France S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Iberia S.L, Vodafone Automotive Italia S.p.A, Vodafone Automotive Japan K.K, Vodafone Automotive Korea Limited, Vodafone Automotive SpA, Vodafone Automotive Technologies (Beijing) Co Ltd, Vodafone Automotive Telematics Development S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Telematics S.A, Vodafone Automotive UK Limited, Vodafone Belgium SA/NV, Vodafone Benelux Limited, Vodafone Bilgi Ve Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, Vodafone Business Services Limited, Vodafone Business Solutions Limited, Vodafone Canada Inc, Vodafone Cellular Limited, Vodafone Central Services Limited, Vodafone China Limited (China), Vodafone China Limited (Hong Kong), Vodafone Connect 2 Limited, Vodafone Connect Limited, Vodafone Consolidated Holdings Limited, Vodafone Corporate Limited, Vodafone Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Czech Republic A.S., Vodafone DC Pension Trustee Company Limited, Vodafone Dagitim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Data, Vodafone Distribution Holdings Limited, Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications S.A.E., Vodafone Elektronik Para Ve Odeme Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Empresa Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda, Vodafone Empresa Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., Vodafone Enabler Espana S.L., Vodafone Enterprise Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Austria GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Bahrain W.L.L., Vodafone Enterprise Bulgaria EOOD, Vodafone Enterprise Chile SA, Vodafone Enterprise Communications Technical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Denmark A/S, Vodafone Enterprise Equipment Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited  Czech Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited  DubaiI Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Finland OY, Vodafone Enterprise France SAS, Vodafone Enterprise Germany GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Global Businesses S.a r.l., Vodafone Enterprise Global Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network HK Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network Pte. Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Hong Kong Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Italy S.r.L, Vodafone Enterprise Korea Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Luxembourg S.A., Vodafone Enterprise Netherlands BV, Vodafone Enterprise Norway AS, Vodafone Enterprise Regional Business Singapore Pte.Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Singapore Pte.Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Spain S.L.U.  Portugal Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Spain SLU, Vodafone Enterprise Sweden AB, Vodafone Enterprise Switzerland AG, Vodafone Erste Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Vodafone Espana S.A.U., Vodafone Euro Hedging Limited, Vodafone Euro Hedging Two, Vodafone Europe B.V., Vodafone Europe UK, Vodafone European Investments, Vodafone European Portal Limited, Vodafone Finance Limited, Vodafone Finance Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Finance Sweden, Vodafone Finance UK Limited, Vodafone Financial Operations, Vodafone Financial Services B.V., Vodafone Fixed Ltd, Vodafone Foundation, Vodafone Foundation Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Gestioni S.p.A, Vodafone Ghana Mobile Financial Services Limited, Vodafone Global Content Services Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Hong Kong) Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Italy) S.R.L., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Japan) K.K., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Vodafone Global Enterprise Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Russia LLC, Vodafone Global Enterprise Taiwan Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Telecommunications (Hellas) A.E., Vodafone Global Network Limited, Vodafone Global Network Limited  Slovakia Branch, Vodafone Global Services Private Limited, Vodafone GmbH, Vodafone Group (Directors) Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Pension Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Services GmbH, Vodafone Group Services Ireland Limited, Vodafone Group Services Limited, Vodafone Group Services No.2 Limited, Vodafone Group Share Trustee Limited, Vodafone Hire Limited, Vodafone Holding A.S., Vodafone Holdings (Jersey) Limited, Vodafone Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Holdings Europe S.L.U., Vodafone Holdings Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Finance Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Receivables Pty Limited, Vodafone IP Licensing Limited, Vodafone India Digital Limited, Vodafone India Limited, Vodafone India Services Private Limited, Vodafone India Ventures Limited, Vodafone Institut fur Gesellschaft und Kommunikation GmbH, Vodafone Intermediate Enterprises Limited, Vodafone International 1 S.a.r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone International 1 S.a r.l., Vodafone International 2 Limited, Vodafone International Holdings B.V., Vodafone International Holdings Limited, Vodafone International M S.a r.l., Vodafone International Operations Limited, Vodafone International Services LLC, Vodafone Investment UK, Vodafone Investments (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Investments Australia Limited, Vodafone Investments Limited, Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Ireland Distribution Limited, Vodafone Ireland Ltd., Vodafone Ireland Marketing Limited, Vodafone Ireland Property Holdings Limited, Vodafone Ireland Retail Limited, Vodafone Italia S.p.A., Vodafone Jersey Dollar Holdings Limited, Vodafone Jersey Finance, Vodafone Jersey Yen Holdings Unlimited, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Field Services GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Kundenbetreuung GmbH, Vodafone Kenya Limited, Vodafone Leasing Limited, Vodafone Libertel B.V., Vodafone Limited, Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone M-PESA SH.P.K., Vodafone M-Pesa S.A, Vodafone M.C. Mobile Services Limited , Vodafone Magyarorszag Mobile Tavkozlesi Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Vodafone Malta Limited, Vodafone Marketing UK , Vodafone Maroc SARL, Vodafone Mauritius Ltd., Vodafone Mobile Commerce Limited, Vodafone Mobile Communications Limited, Vodafone Mobile Enterprises Limited, Vodafone Mobile NZ Limited, Vodafone Mobile Network Limited, Vodafone Mobile Operations Limited, Vodafone Mobile Services Limited, Vodafone Multimedia Limited, Vodafone Nederland Holding I B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding II B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding III B.V., Vodafone Net Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Network Pty Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Foundation Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Limited, Vodafone Next Generation Services Limited, Vodafone Nominees Limited1, Vodafone ONO S.A.U., Vodafone Oceania Limited, Vodafone Old Show Ground Site Management Limited, Vodafone Overseas Finance Limited, Vodafone Overseas Holdings Limited, Vodafone Panafon International Holdings B.V., Vodafone Panafon UK, Vodafone Partner Services Limited, Vodafone Payment Solutions S.a r.l., Vodafone Portugal  Comunicacoes Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Procurement Company S.a r.l., Vodafone Property Investments Limited, Vodafone Pty Limited, Vodafone Qatar Q.S.C., Vodafone Retail (Holdings) Limited , Vodafone Retail Limited, Vodafone Roaming Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Romania S.A, Vodafone Romania M - Payments SRL, Vodafone Romania Technologies SRL, Vodafone Sales & Services Limited, Vodafone Satellite Services Limited, Vodafone Servicios SL.U, Vodafone Servizi E Tecnologie S.R.L, Vodafone Servicos Empresariais Brasil Ltda., Vodafone Shared Services Romania SRL, Vodafone Specialist Communications Limited, Vodafone Stiftung Deutschland Gemeinnutzige GmbH, Vodafone Technology Solutions Limited, Vodafone Teknoloji Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Tele-Services (India) Holdings Limited, Vodafone Telecel-Comunicates Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Telecommunications (India) Limited, Vodafone Telekomunikasyon A.S, Vodafone Towers Limited, Vodafone UK Content Services Limited, Vodafone UK Investments Limited , Vodafone UK Limited1 , Vodafone US Inc, Vodafone Ventures Limited1 , Vodafone Vierte Verwaltungs AG, Vodafone Worldwide Holdings Limited, Vodafone Yen Finance Limited , Vodafone m-pesa Limited, Vodafone-Central Limited Vodaphone Limited, Vodafone-Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications Company S.A., VodafoneZiggo Group Holding B.V, Vodata Limited , Vouchercloud SA (Pty) Ltd, Wataneya Telecommunications S.A.E, Waterberg Lodge (Proprietary) Limited, Wayfinder, Wheatfields Investments 276 (Proprietary) Limited, Wireless Interactions & NFC Accelerator 2013 B.V., Woodend Cellular Limited, Woodend Communications Limited, Woodend Group Limited, Woodend Holdings Limited, XB Facilities B.V, XLink Communications (Proprietary) Limited, Your Communications Group Limited, ZUM B.V., ZYB, Zelitron S.A., Zesko B.V., Ziggo B.V., Ziggo Bond Company B.V., Ziggo Deelnemingen B.V., Ziggo Finance 2 B.V., Ziggo Financing Partnership, Ziggo Holding B.V., Ziggo Netwerk B.V., Ziggo Netwerk II B.V., Ziggo Services B.V., Ziggo Services Employment B.V., Ziggo Services Netwerk 2 B.V., Ziggo Zakelijk Services B.V., and Zoranet Connectivity Services B.V..
EVRAZ Plc is a holding company, which engages in the production and distribution of steel, vanadium, and coal products. It operates through the following segments: Steel, Steel North America, Coal, and Other Operations. The Steel segment offers steel and related products; vanadium products; extraction of vanadium ore; and iron ore mining. The Steel North America segment produces steel and related products in the US and Canada. The Coal segment covers coal mining and enrichment. The Other Operations segment consists of energy-generating, shipping, and railway transportation firms. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read More
Following on from our article on February 22, we can now report that the Yankee Air Museum has been able to secure the addition of an eleventh Corsair to their air show line up for this years Thunder Over Michigan air show in Ypsilanti, Michigan during the weekend of August 3/4. The latest bent wing bird scheduled to attend is the Mid America Flight Museums Goodyear-built FG-1D Corsair Bu.92471. If all of these Corsairs are able to attend, it will surely be the biggest gathering of airworthy Corsairs in one location since the days when they were still flying with the French Navy (Aeronavale) during the early 1960s. Thunder Over Michigan is clearly going to be a Must-See air show this year, as the chances of such a gathering happening again anywhere else are pretty slim.

In summary, the lineup now stands as below

F4U-7 Bu.133722  Erickson Aircraft Collection

F4U-7 Bu.133710  John OConnor

F4U-5N Bu.123168  Fighters & Legends

F4U-4 Bu.97143  Jim Tobul

FG-1D Bu.92508  Military Aviation Museum

F4U-4 Bu.97388  Wings Of The North

FG-1D Bu.92468  Commemorative Air Force  Dixie Wing

F4U-5NL Bu.122179  Collings Foundation

FG-1D Bu.88090/NZ5612  Louis Horschel

FG-1D Bu.67089  Elenville, LLC



FG-1D Corsair Bu.92471  Mid America Flight Museum

 but dont be surprised if one or two more Corsairs join in on the fun!

Buy your ticket below.
11 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Hugo Boss in the last year. There are currently 6 hold ratings and 5 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "hold" Hugo Boss stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in BOSS, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for Hugo Boss or view top-rated stocks.
The following companies are subsidiares of Avery Dennison: ADC PHILIPPINES INC., ADESPAN S.R.L., ADHIPRESS BANGLADESH LTD., AVERY CORP., AVERY DE MEXICO SRL DE CV, AVERY DENNISON (ASIA) HOLDINGS LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (CHANGZHOU) FILMS TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD, AVERY DENNISON (CHINA) COMPANY LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (FUZHOU) CONVERTED PRODUCTS LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (GUANGZHOU) CO. LTD., AVERY DENNISON (GUANGZHOU) CONVERTED PRODUCTS LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (GUANGZHOU) INTELLIGENT LABELS CO. LTD., AVERY DENNISON (HONG KONG) LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (IRELAND) LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (KENYA) PRIVATE LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (KUNSHAN) COMPANY LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (MALAYSIA) SDN. BHD., AVERY DENNISON (QINGDAO) CONVERTED PRODUCTS LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (SUZHOU) CO. LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON (THAILAND) LTD., AVERY DENNISON (VIETNAM) LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON AUSTRALIA GROUP HOLDINGS PTY LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON AUSTRALIA INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS PTY LTD., AVERY DENNISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD., AVERY DENNISON BELGIE BVBA, AVERY DENNISON BELGIUM MANAGEMENT SERVICES SPRL, AVERY DENNISON BENELUX BVBA, AVERY DENNISON BV, AVERY DENNISON C.A., AVERY DENNISON CANADA CORPORATION, AVERY DENNISON CENTRAL EUROPE GMBH, AVERY DENNISON CHILE S.A., AVERY DENNISON COLOMBIA S. A. S., AVERY DENNISON COMMERCIAL EL SALVADOR S.A. DE C.V., AVERY DENNISON CONVERTED PRODUCTS DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., AVERY DENNISON CONVERTED PRODUCTS EL SALVADOR S. A. DE C. V., AVERY DENNISON DE ARGENTINA S.R.L., AVERY DENNISON DO BRASIL LTDA., AVERY DENNISON DOMINICAN REPUBLIC S.R.L., AVERY DENNISON EGYPT LLC, AVERY DENNISON ETIKET TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI, AVERY DENNISON EUROPE HOLDING (DEUTSCHLAND) GMBH & CO KG, AVERY DENNISON FINANCE GERMANY GMBH, AVERY DENNISON G HOLDINGS I LLC, AVERY DENNISON G HOLDINGS III LLC, AVERY DENNISON G INVESTMENTS III LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON G INVESTMENTS V LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON GROUP DANMARK APS, AVERY DENNISON GROUP SINGAPORE PTE LTD, AVERY DENNISON GULF FZCO, AVERY DENNISON HOLDING & FINANCE THE NETHERLANDS BV, AVERY DENNISON HOLDING FRANCE, AVERY DENNISON HOLDING GMBH, AVERY DENNISON HOLDING LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON HOLDING LUXEMBOURG S. A. R. L., AVERY DENNISON HOLDINGS LLC, AVERY DENNISON HONG KONG B.V., AVERY DENNISON HONG KONG HOLDING I B.V., AVERY DENNISON IBERICA S.A., AVERY DENNISON INNOVATIONS LLC, AVERY DENNISON INTELLIGENT HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS LLC, AVERY DENNISON INTELLIGENT LABELS EUROPE S.R.L., AVERY DENNISON INTELLIGENT LABELS HK LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON INVESTMENT LUXEMBOURG II SARL, AVERY DENNISON INVESTMENTS LUXEMBOURG III SARL, AVERY DENNISON INVESTMENTS LUXEMBOURG IV SARL, AVERY DENNISON ISRAEL LTD., AVERY DENNISON ITALIA S.R.L., AVERY DENNISON JAPAN KK, AVERY DENNISON JAPAN MATERIALS COMPANY LTD., AVERY DENNISON KOREA LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON LABEL LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON LANKA (PRIVATE) LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON LUXEMBOURG S.A.R.L., AVERY DENNISON LUXEMBOURG SALES SARL, AVERY DENNISON MANAGEMENT GMBH, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS BELGIUM SPRL, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS EUROPE B.V., AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS EUROPE GMBH, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS FRANCE S.A.R.L., AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS GMBH, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS IRELAND LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS NEDERLAND BV, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS NEW ZEALAND LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS PTY LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS ROM SRL, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS RUSSIA LLC, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS SALES BELGIUM SPRL, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS SALES FRANCE S. A. S., AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS SALES GERMANY GMBH, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS SDN BHD, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS U.K. LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON MATERIALS UKRAINE LLC, AVERY DENNISON MAURITIUS LTD., AVERY DENNISON MEDICAL LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON MOROCCO SARL, AVERY DENNISON NETHERLANDS INVESTMENT I BV, AVERY DENNISON NETHERLANDS INVESTMENT II B. V., AVERY DENNISON NETHERLANDS INVESTMENT III BV, AVERY DENNISON NETHERLANDS INVESTMENT VII B.V., AVERY DENNISON NETHERLANDS INVESTMENT VIII BV, AVERY DENNISON NETHERLANDS INVESTMENT X BV, AVERY DENNISON NETHERLANDS INVESTMENT XI COOPERATIEF U.A., AVERY DENNISON NETHERLANDS INVESTMENT XII BV, AVERY DENNISON NORDIC APS, AVERY DENNISON NTP A. S., AVERY DENNISON OFFICE PRODUCTS COMPANY, AVERY DENNISON OFFICE PRODUCTS HOLDINGS COMPANY, AVERY DENNISON OFFICE PRODUCTS MANUFACTURING U.K. LTD., AVERY DENNISON OVERSEAS CORPORATION, AVERY DENNISON PENSION TRUSTEE LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON PERU S. R. L., AVERY DENNISON POLSKA SP. Z O.O., AVERY DENNISON PRAHA SPOL. S R. O., AVERY DENNISON R.I.S. FRANCE S. A. S., AVERY DENNISON R.I.S. IBERIA S.L., AVERY DENNISON R.I.S. ITALIA S.R.L., AVERY DENNISON RBIS (CAMBODIA) CO. LTD, AVERY DENNISON RBIS (CAMBODIA) TRADING CO. LTD, AVERY DENNISON RBIS PTY LTD, AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES (PTY) LTD, AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES COLOMBIA S. A. S., AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES DE MEXICO S. A. DE C.V., AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES EL SALVADOR LTDA. DE C. V., AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES GUATEMALA S. A., AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES HONDURAS S. DE R.L., AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES LLC, AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES PERU SAC, AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES UK LTD., AVERY DENNISON RFID COMPANY, AVERY DENNISON RIS KOREA LTD., AVERY DENNISON RIS TAIWAN LTD., AVERY DENNISON RIS VIETNAM CO. LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON S.A. DE C.V., AVERY DENNISON S.R.L., AVERY DENNISON SCANDINAVIA AB, AVERY DENNISON SCANDINAVIA APS, AVERY DENNISON SECURITY PRINTING EUROPE APS, AVERY DENNISON SHARED SERVICES INC., AVERY DENNISON SINGAPORE (PTE) LTD., AVERY DENNISON SOUTH AFRICA (PROPRIETARY) LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON SUPPORT SERVICES, AVERY DENNISON SYSTEMES D'ETIQUETAGE FRANCE S.A.S., AVERY DENNISON TEKSTIL URUNLERI SANAYI VE TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI, AVERY DENNISON TRADING COMPANY LTD, AVERY DENNISON TREASURY MANAGEMENT BV, AVERY DENNISON U.K. II LIMITED, AVERY DENNISON U.K. LIMITED, AVERY GRAPHIC SYSTEMS INC., AVERY LLC, AVERY OFFICE PRODUCTS PUERTO RICO L.L.C., AVERY PACIFIC LLC, AVERY PROPERTIES PTY. LIMITED, AWESOME PROFITS LTD, BEST COURAGE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, CHOICE CLEVER PROFITS LTD, CREATERO GMBH, DENNISON INTERNATIONAL COMPANY, DENNISON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, DM Label Group, Dunsirn Industries, EUSTON FINANCIAL LIMITED, EVERGREEN HOLDING SARL, EVERGREEN HOLDINGS V LLC, Finesse Medical, HANITA COATINGS (KUNSHAN) CO. LTD, HANITA COATINGS EUROPE B.V., HANITA COATINGS USA LLC, HANITA EUROPA GMBH, HEBEI YONGLE TAPE CO. LTD., Hanita Coatings, INK MILL LLC, JAC ASIA PACIFIC SDN BHD, JAC CARIBE C.S.Z., JAC DO BRASIL - LOCACAO DE EQUIPAMENTOS INDUSTRIAIS LTDA, JACKSTADT FRANCE S.N.C., JDC Solutions, JINTEX LIMITED, Jackstadt GmbH, L&E AMERICAS SERVICIOS S. A. DE C.V., L&E Packaging, MACTAC ASIA-PACIFIC SELF-ADHESIVE PRODUCTS PTE LTD, MACtac Europe S.A., MARKSTAR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, MODERN MARK INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, NINGBO AVERY DENNISON SHENZHOU EMBELLISHMENT CO. LTD., P. T. PACIFIC LABEL INDONESIA, P. T. PAXAR INDONESIA, PAXAR (CHINA) LTD., PAXAR B.V., PAXAR BANGLADESH LIMITED, PAXAR CANADA CORPORATION, PAXAR CORPORATION, PAXAR DE EL SALVADOR S. A. DE C. V., PAXAR DE GUATEMALA S. A., PAXAR DE MEXICO S. A. DE C. V., PAXAR DO BRASIL LTDA, PAXAR FAR EAST LIMITED, PAXAR PACKAGING (GUANGZHOU) LTD., PAXAR PAKISTAN (PRIVATE) LIMITED, PLYMOUTH YONGLE TAPE (SHANGHAI) CO. LTD, PT AVERY DENNISON INDONESIA, PT AVERY DENNISON PACKAGING INDONESIA, RVL AMERICAS S DE R.L. DE C.V., RVL CENTRAL AMERICA S. A., RVL PACKAGING FAR EAST LIMITED, RVL Packaging Inc., RVL SERVICE S. DE R. L. DE C. V., Rinke Etiketten GmbH, SECURITY PRINTING DIVISION INC., SKILLFIELD INVESTMENTS LIMITED, Stimsonite Corp, TIGER EIGHT GROUP LIMITED, WORLDWIDE RISK INSURANCE INC., YONGLE TAPE LTD, and Yongle Tape Co.
iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF's stock was trading at $25.60 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EWU stock has increased by 29.6% and is now trading at $33.19.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
There is not enough analysis data for Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund.

4.8 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund has received 72 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund has received 29 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund has received 71.29% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe MGU will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe MGU will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

Next
The Planes of Fame Air Museum, one of the oldest, largest and finest aviation museums in the world is set to hold their annual air show over the weekend of May 4th/5th at their base in Chino, California. The event will feature fifty or so historic aircraft, a number of which will come from their own collection, not to mention modern military hardware as well. The theme for this years event will in part be to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings and include a display by the paratrooper re-enactors from the WWII Airborne Demo Team.

Some of the vintage military types expected to fly at the show will feature the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 Lightning along with a number of P-51 Mustangs, including the worlds fastest piston-engined aircraft, the P-51D known as Voodoo! The museums uniquely airworthy Northrop N9M Flying Wing will also be flying at the event as well. There will be demonstration flights concentrating on elements of WWII, such as the Pacific and European Theaters of Operations, on the Korean and Vietnam Wars as well. Greg Wired Colyer will put on an aerobatics display in his Lockheed T-33, while Eric Tucker will demonstrate the unique handling characteristics of the Piper Cub, while Rob Harrison will thrill the crowds with his dynamic performance in the Tumbling Bear.

The U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper Demo team will also be on hand to roar through the sky, and of course, a U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight will take place with some of the F-16s predecessors in military service.

For families with young children, kids 11 and under will get in free. There will also be a Kids Zone for the younger ones perhaps less focused on flying machines. There will of course be plenty of food available for purchase and other types of vendors on hand as well.

In addition to many other fantastic airplanes that will be performing and on static display, there will be a special panel discussion with veterans. To get the schedule or for last minute updates, please do follow the Planes of Fame Air Show Facebook page to make sure you have all the details you need. As the Planes of Fame Air Museum wants everyone to know, We invite you to join us in honoring the history, contributions, and sacrifices of our Veterans. The doors will open at 8:00am each day, so be sure to get there early to witness the Remembering D-Day Opening Ceremony and National Anthem Commemoration!

Without doubt, this is going to be a fantastic air show, so be sure to make your plans to attend! For a limited time, you can buy tickets early online and save $5!
Royal Dutch Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company worldwide. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Oil Products, Chemicals segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver gas to market. The company also markets and trades natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, electricity, carbon-emission rights; and markets and sells LNG as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles and marine vessels. In addition, it trades in and refines crude oil and other feed stocks, such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, aviation fuel, marine fuel, biofuel, lubricants, bitumen, and sulphur; produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use; and manages oil sands activities. Further, the company produces base chemicals comprising ethylene, propylene, and aromatics, as well as intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Royal Dutch Shell plc was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Read More
Stantec Inc. provides professional consulting services in the area of infrastructure and facilities in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company provides consulting services in engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics. It also offers water, transportation, and public works; transportation planning and traffic engineering; and resource assessment, mine development, reclamation, hydrology, and geotechnical and infrastructure engineering services, as well as urban planning, traffic assessments and optimization, environmental impact assessments, and public consultation services. In addition, the company provides structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and hydraulics engineering services. It serves urban regeneration, infrastructure, education, public and private sector, tourism and leisure, and waste and water sectors, as well as office and commercial, residential, and retail and town centers. The company was formerly known as Stanley Technology Group Inc. and changed its name to Stantec Inc. in October 1998. Stantec Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

Read More
Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund's stock was trading at $57.58 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, XLP stock has increased by 26.3% and is now trading at $72.70.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
iShares China Large-Cap ETF's stock was trading at $38.80 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, FXI stock has increased by 0.2% and is now trading at $38.86.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.
Yext, Inc. is an emerging growth company engages in software development. It offers a cloud-based digital knowledge platform, which allows businesses manage their digital knowledge in the cloud such as financial information, resources and performance of these resources on a consolidated basis and sync it to other application such as Apple Maps, Bing, Cortana, Facebook, Google, Google Maps, Instagram, Siri and Yelp. It offers the Yext Knowledge Engine package on subscription basis, which has an access to Listings, Pages, Reviews and other features. The Listing feature provides customers with control over their digital presence, including their location and other related attributes published on the used third-party applications. The Pages feature allows customers to establish landing pages on their own websites and to manage digital content on those sites, including calls to action. The Reviews presence enables customers to encourage and facilitate reviews from end consumers. The company was founded by Howard Lerman, Brent Metz, and Brian Distelburger in 2006 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Read More
The following companies are subsidiares of Continental Aktiengesellschaft: A-Z Formen- und Maschinenbau GmbH, ADC Automotive Distance Control Systems GmbH, ALPHALOR 3 EURL, AZ-CZECH s.r.o., Adam Touring GmbH, Advance Tyre Company Ltd., Advanced Imaging Technologies, Advanced Imaging Technologies (Pty) Ltd, Advanced Scientific Concepts, AlMutlak Continental Company Limited Liability Company, Application Solutions (Electronics and Vision) Ltd., Argus Cyber Security Ltd, BENECKE-KALIKO S.A., BENECKE-KALIKO S.A., BEST DRIVE CTM S.A. de C.V., BV Environmental Limited, BV F1rst Limited, Bandvulc Tyres Limited, Belt Concepts of America Inc., BeltTrade Inc., Benecke Changshun Auto Trim (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., Benecke Changshun Eco Trim (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Benecke-Kaliko AG, BestDrive LLC, BestDrive Sverige AB, Bestdrive Benelux B.V.B.A., CAC Philippines Inc., CAS Munchen GmbH, CAS UK Holding Ltd., CAS-One Holdinggesellschaft mbH, CGH Holding B.V., CGT Referral Resources Inc., CONTINENTAL CPM S. DE R.L. DE C.V., CONTINENTAL ENGINEERING SERVICES PORTUGAL UNIPESSOAL LDA, CONTINENTAL IBERIA SALES AND SERVICES S.A.U., CONTINENTAL INDUSTRIAL SERVICES S A (Pty.) Ltd., CONTINENTAL SURFACE SOLUTIONS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, CONTITECH Chile S.A., CPT Automotive Changchun Co. Ltd., CPT GUADALAJARA S. de. R. L. de C.V., CPT MANUFACTURING MEXICO S. de R. L. de C.V., CPT MAQUILA MEXICO S. de R. L. de C.V., Carrel Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH Co. Vermietungs KG, Changshu ContiTech Trading Ltd., Conseo GmbH, Conti Automotive Servicios S.A. de C.V., Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH, Conti Trade Australia Pty. Ltd., Conti Trade Italia S.r.l., Conti Versicherungsdienst Versicherungsvermittlungsges. mbH, Conti-Gummi Finance B.V., ContiTech (Shandong) Engineered Rubber Products Co. Ltd., ContiTech AG, ContiTech AVS France, ContiTech Africa (Pty.) Ltd., ContiTech Anoflex SAS, ContiTech Antriebssysteme GmbH, ContiTech Australia Pty Ltd, ContiTech Belgium BVBA, ContiTech Canada Inc., ContiTech China Rubber & Plastics Technology Ltd., ContiTech Consulting Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Dae Won Airspring Systems Ltd., ContiTech Elastomer-Beschichtungen GmbH, ContiTech Finland Oy, ContiTech Fluid Automotive CZ s.r.o., ContiTech Fluid Automotive Hungaria Kft., ContiTech Fluid Automotive Maroc SARL, ContiTech Fluid Distribuidora S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Korea Ltd., ContiTech Fluid Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Mexicana Servicios S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Monterrey Servicios S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Oil & Marine Middle East FZE, ContiTech Fluid Serbia D.O.O., ContiTech Fluid Shanghai Co. Ltd., ContiTech Fluid Technology (Changchun) Co. Ltd., ContiTech France SNC, ContiTech Global Holding Netherlands B.V., ContiTech Holding (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ContiTech Holding Netherlands B.V., ContiTech IMAS A.E., ContiTech India Pvt. Ltd., ContiTech Japan Co. Ltd., ContiTech Kautschuk- und Kunststoffvertriebsges. mbH, ContiTech Kuhner Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, ContiTech Kuhner GmbH & Cie. KG, ContiTech Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, ContiTech Luftfedersysteme GmbH, ContiTech MGW GmbH, ContiTech Magyarorszag Kft., ContiTech Maroc SARL, ContiTech Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ContiTech North America Inc., ContiTech Oil & Marine Corp., ContiTech Power Transmission (Ninghai) Ltd., ContiTech Power Transmission (Sanmen) Ltd., ContiTech Power Transmission Korea Co. Ltd., ContiTech Print Service (S) Pte. Ltd., ContiTech Printing Blanket Shanghai Ltd., ContiTech Roulunds Rubber A/S, ContiTech Rubber Industrial Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, ContiTech Scandinavia AB, ContiTech Schlauch GmbH, ContiTech Services (Pty.) Ltd., ContiTech Shanghai Rubber & Plastics Technology Ltd., ContiTech Singapore Pte. Ltd., ContiTech Slovenija druzba za proizvodnjo gumenih tehnicnih izdelkov d.o.o., ContiTech South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., ContiTech Techno-Chemie GmbH, ContiTech Thermopol LLC, ContiTech Thermopol Romania S.R.L., ContiTech Tianjin Conveyor Belt Ltd., ContiTech Transportbandsysteme GmbH, ContiTech USA Inc., ContiTech United Kingdom Ltd., ContiTech Vibration Control France SAS, ContiTech Vibration Control GmbH, ContiTech Vibration Control Slovakia s.r.o., ContiTech Vibration Control s.r.o., ContiTech-Universe Verwaltungs-GmbH, ContiTrade (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ContiTrade Africa (Pty) Ltd, ContiTrade France Rechapage, ContiTrade Services s.r.o., ContiTrade Slovakia s.r.o., Conticlub SAS, Continental - Industria Textil do Ave S.A., Continental Adria pnevmatike d.o.o., Continental Advanced Antenna Automotiva LTDA, Continental Advanced Antenna GmbH, Continental Advanced Lidar Solutions US LLC, Continental Aftermarket & Services GmbH, Continental Aftermarket GmbH, Continental Automotive AB, Continental Automotive Aguascalientes S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Austria GmbH, Continental Automotive Bajio S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Bangkok Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Benelux BVBA, Continental Automotive Brake Systems (I) Private Limited, Continental Automotive Changchun Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Components (India) Private Ltd., Continental Automotive Components Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Automotive Corporation, Continental Automotive Corporation (Lianyungang) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Czech Republic s.r.o., Continental Automotive Electronics LLC, Continental Automotive Engineering (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive France SAS, Continental Automotive Funding Corp., Continental Automotive GmbH, Continental Automotive Grundstucksges. mbH, Continental Automotive Guadalajara Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Automotive Holding Netherlands B.V., Continental Automotive Holding Spain S.L., Continental Automotive Holdings UK Ltd., Continental Automotive Hungary Kft., Continental Automotive Inc., Continental Automotive Instruments Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Automotive Interior Wuhu Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Italy S.p.A., Continental Automotive Japan K.K., Continental Automotive Jinan Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Korea Ltd., Continental Automotive Lithuania UAB, Continental Automotive Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Automotive Maquila Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Automotive Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Automotive Occidente S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Parts (Suzhou) Co. Ltd, Continental Automotive Rambouillet France SAS, Continental Automotive Romania SRL, Continental Automotive SLP S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Singapore Pte. Ltd., Continental Automotive Spain S.A., Continental Automotive Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems Changsha Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems Changshu Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems Costa Rica S.A., Continental Automotive Systems Inc., Continental Automotive Systems SRL, Continental Automotive Systems Slovakia s.r.o., Continental Automotive Trading France SAS, Continental Automotive Trading Italia S.r.l., Continental Automotive Trading Nederland B.V., Continental Automotive Trading UK Ltd., Continental Automotive Trading Osterreich GmbH, Continental Automotive UK Ltd., Continental Automotive Wuhu Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive d.o.o. Novi Sad, Continental Automotive do Brasil Ltda., Continental Barum s.r.o., Continental Benelux SPRL, Continental Bicycle Systems GmbH & Co. KG, Continental Bicycle Systems Verwaltungs GmbH, Continental Brake Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Brakes Italy S.p.A., Continental Brasil Industria Automotiva Ltda., Continental Caoutchouc-Export-GmbH, Continental ContiTech de Chihuahua S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental ContiTech de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Daek Danmark A/S, Continental Dekk Norge A/S, Continental Digital Services France SAS, Continental Dack Sverige AB, Continental Engineering Services & Products GmbH, Continental Engineering Services GmbH, Continental Engineering Services Ltd., Continental Finance GmbH, Continental France SNC, Continental Global Business Services Manila Inc., Continental Global Holding Netherlands B.V., Continental HT Tyres s.r.o., Continental Holding China Co. Ltd., Continental Holding France SAS, Continental Hungaria Kft., Continental India Private Limited, Continental Industrias del Caucho S.A., Continental Industria e Comercio Automotivos Ltda., Continental Industria e Comercio de Pecas de Reposicao Automotivas Ltda., Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems LLC, Continental Investment Ltd., Continental Italia S.p.A., Continental Lemmerz (Portugal)-Componentes para Automoveis Lda., Continental Llantera Potosina S.A. de C.V., Continental Mabor Industria de Pneus S.A., Continental Matador Rubber s.r.o., Continental Matador Truck Tires s.r.o., Continental Middle East DMCC, Continental Opony Polska Sp. z o.o., Continental Pneus (Portugal) S.A., Continental Pty Ltd, Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH, Continental Rengas Oy, Continental Rubber of America Corp., Continental Safety Engineering International GmbH, Continental Secure Data Germany GmbH, Continental Secure Data Headquarter B.V., Continental Secure Data USA LLC, Continental Servicos de Vulcanizacao do Brasil Ltda., Continental Suisse S.A., Continental Temic Electronics (Phils.) Inc., Continental Teves AG & Co. OHG, Continental Teves Portugal - Sistemas de Travagem Lda., Continental Teves UK Ltd., Continental Tire Andina S.A., Continental Tire Canada Inc., Continental Tire Chile SpA, Continental Tire Colombia S.A.S., Continental Tire Corporativo S.A. de C.V., Continental Tire Holding US LLC, Continental Tire Japan Co. Ltd., Continental Tire Korea Co. Ltd., Continental Tire Sumter LLC, Continental Tire West Africa Limited, Continental Tire de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Continental Tire the Americas LLC, Continental Tires (China) Co. Ltd., Continental Tires (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Tires Espana S.L., Continental Tires Holding Singapore Pte. Ltd., Continental Trebbin GmbH & Co. KG Sondermaschinenbau, Continental Trebbin Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, Continental Tyre AS Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Group Ltd., Continental Tyre Investment UK Ltd., Continental Tyre Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Management Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Marketing Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre North Africa SARL, Continental Tyre PJ Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Services Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Continental Tyre Technology Centre Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyres (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Continental Tyres Ltd., Continental Tyres of Australia Pty Ltd, Continental UK Group Holdings Ltd., Continental VUK s.r.o., Continental do Brasil Produtos Automotivos Ltda., Continental of Taiwan Co. Ltd., Continental vyroba pneumatik s.r.o., Contitech Argentina S.R.L., Contitech Botswana (Pty) Ltd, Contitech do Brasil Produtos Automotivos e Industriais Ltda., Contitrade Espana S.A.U., Contitrade Holding, Contitread Renovado Morelia S.A. de C.V., Correx Handelsgesellschaft fur Kautschukprodukte mbH, Custom Machining Services Inc., DRUST, Dekkmann A/S, Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd., DynaGen Inc., EPD Holdings Inc., Eddelbuttel + Schneider GmbH, Elektrobit, Elektrobit Austria GmbH, Elektrobit Automotive Americas Inc., Elektrobit Automotive Finland Oy, Elektrobit Automotive GmbH, Elektrobit Automotive Korea Limited, Elektrobit Automotive Romania SRL, Elektrobit Automotive Software (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Elektrobit France SAS, Elektrobit India Private Ltd., Elektrobit Nippon K.K., Emitec Denmark A/S, Emitec France SAS, Eu-Retec (Private) Ltd., FSC Franchising Service Company S.p.A., Formpolster GmbH, General Tire International Company, Granite Investments Limited, Holding ContiTech SAS, Hoosier Racing Tire Corp., Hornschuch (Shanghai) Surface Technology Co. Ltd., Hornschuch Consulting GmbH, Hornschuch Group GmbH, Hornschuch Italia S.r.l., Hornschuch Stolzenau GmbH, Hornschuch UK Ltd., Hornschuch-Markt GmbH, INTECH Thuringen GmbH, Kathrein Automotive, Kathrein Automotive Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Kathrein Automotive North America Inc., Kathrein Automotive Portugal Sociedade Unipessoal Lda., Kim Holdings Scotland Limited, Kolubara-Univerzal D.O.O., Konrad Hornschuch AG, Konrad Hornschuch International GmbH, Legg Company Inc., Libra Associates (Properties) Limited, MISA GmbH & Co. KG, MISA-Beteiligungs GmbH, Merlett Belgie B.V.B.A, Merlett Benelux B.V., Merlett Deutschland GmbH, Merlett France SAS, Merlett Group, Merlett Iberica 2016 S.L., Merlett Norway As, Merlett Plastics UK Ltd., Merlett Polska Sp. Z o.o., Merlett RUS LLC, Merlett Tecnoplastic S.p.a., Noviteck SA, O'Sullivan Films Inc., OOO "ContiTech Rus", OOO "Continental Automotive RUS", OOO "Continental Automotive Systems RUS", OOO "Continental Kaluga", OOO "Continental Tires RUS", OOO Hornschuch RUS, OTA Grundstucks- und Beteiligungsverwaltung GmbH, OTA keys, OTA keys S.A., Omitec Group, Otomotiv Lastikleri Tevzi AS (OLTAS), POWERTRAIN MAQUILA MEXICO S. DE R.L. DE C.V., PT Continental Tyre Indonesia, PT Quantum Inventions Indonesia, Parkpocket, Phoenix Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Phoenix Compounding Technology GmbH, Phoenix Conveyor Belt India Private Ltd., Phoenix Conveyor Belt Solutions Inc., Phoenix Conveyor Belt Systems GmbH, Phoenix Fluid Handling Industry GmbH, Phoenix Oil & Marine Ltd., Phoenix Service GmbH & Co. KG, Phoenix Shanxi Conveyor Belt Co. Ltd., Phoenix Vermogensverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Pneu Egger AG, Profi Reifen- und Autoservice Gesellschaft mbH, Prazisionstechnik Geithain GmbH, QUANTUM INVENTIONS SDN. BHD., Quantum Inventions, Quantum Inventions Private Limited, R & J Strang Tyre Services Limited, REG Reifen-Entsorgungsgesellschaft mbH, REPARATION PNEUMATIQUES DU SUD EST (REPNEU) SAS, ROSEA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Hannover-Stocken KG, Reifen Apel GmbH, Reifen Kauffmann GmbH, Reifen-John GmbH & Co KG, Reifen-Service Clemens & Hegel GmbH, Rengasmaailma Oy, Road-Broad Automotive Electronics (Qufu) Co. Ltd., Rundpneu Beteiligungsges. mbH, S.C. ContiTech Fluid Automotive Romania S.R.L., S.C. ContiTech Romania S.R.L., S.C. Continental Automotive Products SRL, SAS CONTITRADE FRANCE, STEINEBRONN BETEILIGUNGS-GMBH, Semperit (Ireland) Ltd., Semperit (UK) Ltd., Semperit Reifen Gesellschaft mbH, Senior Experts Services GmbH, Siemens VDO Automotive S.p.A., Specialised Belting Supplies Ltd., Specialty Fabrics & Converting Inc., Specialty Yarn & Converting Inc., Stable One Insurance Company LLC, Synerject Taiwan Co. Ltd., Syrma A.E., TON Tyres Over Night Trading GmbH, TOO "Continental Matador KZ", Temic Automotive (Phils.) Inc., Tikka Spikes Oy, Tyre Maintenance Limited, Tyre Reinsurance (Ireland) DAC, Tyre and Auto Pty Ltd, UMG Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Union-Mittelland-Gummi-GmbH & Co. Grundbesitz KG, Unterstutzungskasse mbH der Goppinger Kaliko- und Kunstleder-Werke GmbH, VIVAX Trading GmbH, Vanvulc Tyres Limited, Vaysse SAS, Vergolst GmbH, Veyance Distribuidora de Produtos de Engenharia Ltda., Veyance Hong Kong Co. Ltd., Veyance Industrial Services Inc., Veyance Qingdao Engineered Elastomers Company Ltd., Veyance Technologies, Veyance Technologies Australia Pty. Ltd., Veyance Technologies Canada (NS) ULC, Veyance Technologies Hong Kong Co. Ltd., Veyance Technologies Zambia Ltd., Viking Tyres (UK) Ltd., Vitesco Technologies (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Vitesco Technologies 1. Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Vitesco Technologies 1. Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies 2. Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Vitesco Technologies 2. Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Automotive Cuautla S.A. de C.V., Vitesco Technologies Canada ULC, Vitesco Technologies Czech Republic s.r.o., Vitesco Technologies Delavan LLC, Vitesco Technologies Eisenach Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Emitec GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Engineering Romania SRL, Vitesco Technologies France S.A.S., Vitesco Technologies GDL S. de R.L. de C.V., Vitesco Technologies Germany GmbH, Vitesco Technologies GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Group Aktiengesellschaft, Vitesco Technologies Holding 1 Canada Inc., Vitesco Technologies Holding 2 Canada Inc., Vitesco Technologies Holding China Co. Ltd., Vitesco Technologies Holding Netherlands B.V., Vitesco Technologies Hungary Kft., Vitesco Technologies India Private Limited, Vitesco Technologies Italy S.R.L., Vitesco Technologies Japan K.K., Vitesco Technologies Korea, Vitesco Technologies Lohmar Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Vitesco Technologies Roding GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Romania SRL, Vitesco Technologies Singapore Pte. Ltd., Vitesco Technologies UK Ltd., Vitesco Technologies USA LLC, Vitesco Tecnologia Brasil Automotiva Ltda., Vogtlandische Reifenwerke Sitz Bad Nauheim GmbH, Vulcanite Holdings Pty Ltd, Vulcanite Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Vulcanite Pty Ltd, Wohlfahrtseinrichtung fur die Arbeiter und Angestellten der Semperit Reifen AG GmbH, Zonar, Zonar Systems Inc., Zytek Automotive, Zytek Automotive Ltd., Zytek Group Ltd., balance GmbH Handel und Beratungsservice im Gesundheitswesen, co-pace GmbH, inotec Innovative Technologie GmbH, and kek-Kaschierungen GmbH.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 02, 2019 | 12:43 PM | GRAVES COUNTY

Following is Sheriff Hayden's message:





To all Graves County citizens,



I want to take this opportunity first of all introduce myself to those of you that do not know me personally, and to thank Graves County Judge Executive Jesse Perry for his confidence in me to help lead the Graves County Sheriffs Office.



I was born and raised in Graves County, graduating from Fancy Farm High School. Most of my family, parents, brother, and sister are lifelong residents of Graves County, including my wifes family.



My law enforcement career began with the Princeton Ky Police Department where I served beginning in 1990. I then worked in a drug enforcement position for the Paducah Police Department for a short period of time before starting my career with the McCracken County Sheriffs Department in 1993. The vast majority of my time there, I was in charge of the departments drug enforcement division. I ran for McCracken County Sheriff and was elected in 2006. I ran for re-election two additional times unopposed and served a total of three (3) four (4) year terms.



I decided to retire from that position July 1st of last year in 2018. We had a very good man (Sheriff Matt Carter) ready to take over and continue to move the agency forward and into the future.



My wife and I decided to move back home where we were both born and raised.



Back in November 2018, I was offered a position with the McCracken County Sheriffs Department to be assigned to work with and to be sworn in as a Task Force Officer with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations new Paducah Office, covering counties in Kentucky west of the Bowling Green area. I have been working in that position since.



As all of you are aware, there had been some terrible and unfortunate chain of events that occurred with a man that I will always call my friend, Sheriff Dewayne Redmon. I believe that his 33 year long and dedicated career took a toll on him, and affected his health that contributed to his death. His dedication to our county and its citizens is known by many and will never be forgotten by myself nor our community.



I was approached by Judge Executive Jesse Perry a few days ago and asked to consider being appointed as the Graves County Sheriff.



Knowing that entering back into an elected office, will undoubtedly bring my stress level back to the point that led to my retirement last year as the McCracken County Sheriff, I feel a duty and obligation to help my home county in any way I can.



After some soul searching, consultation with family, friends, and prayer, I told him that I would do my very best to help stabilize the department, restore any concerns the public may have, and to bring our Graves County community together.



I am a straight shooter, and my promise to you Judge Executive Perry, and to all of you, that I will not ever mislead you and will always do what is in the best interest of you and everyone in all of our Graves County communities.



Job #1 for me is to speak with the employees, other community leaders and to citizens. We need to understand their concerns, and then implement changes that are needed to bring the Graves County Sheriffs Office to a level of professionalism that you will be proud to call your own.



We all want the same thing, a safe and prosperous community, and a county law enforcement agency that we all have confidence in, to always do what is right, no exceptions.



We will work with all local, state, and federal law enforcement officials in an effort to make all of you feel safe and secure in your homes, and while traveling across our wonderful county.



Lastly, I would simply ask our community to pray for and support not only me, but all of the employees and staff at the Graves County Sheriffs Office. There are some good people there whose hearts are in it for all of the right reasons.



Facebook is a loved by many, and others not so much. It does provide an efficient way for us to reach out to the community, and a way to keep you informed. For those that use Facebook, we will do our best to provide you with information about occurrences in our community that are of concern or of interest to each of you.



Thank you,



Jon Hayden, Graves Co. Sheriff





Sheriff Hayden was appointed Thursday by Graves County Judge-Executive Jesse Perry, to serve until a special election can be held.



Newly appointed Graves County Sheriff, Jon Hayden, has released a message to the citizens of Graves County, via Facebook.
Rogers Communications Inc. operates as a communications and media company in Canada. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Cable, and Media. The company offers mobile Internet access, wireless voice and enhanced voice, device and accessory financing, wireless home phone, device protection, text messaging, e-mail, global voice and data roaming, bridging landline, machine-to-machine and Internet of Things solutions, and advanced wireless solutions for businesses, as well as device delivery services; and postpaid and prepaid services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands to approximately 10.9 million subscribers. It also provides Internet and WiFi services; smart home monitoring services, such as monitoring, security, automation, energy efficiency, and smart control through a smartphone app. In addition, the company offers local and network TV; on-demand television; cloud-based digital video recorders; voice-activated remote controls, and integrated apps; personal video recorders; linear and time-shifted programming; digital specialty channels; 4K television programming; and televised content on smartphones, tablets, and personal computers, as well as operates Ignite TV and Ignite TV app. Further, it provides residential and small business local telephony services; calling features, such as voicemail, call waiting, and long distance; voice, data networking, Internet protocol, and Ethernet services; private networking, Internet, IP voice, and cloud solutions; optical wave and multi-protocol label switching services; IT and network technologies; and cable access network services. The company also owns Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre event venue; and operates Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet World, Citytv, OMNI, FX (Canada), FXX (Canada), and OLN television networks, as well as 55 AM and FM radio stations. Rogers Communications Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read More
Ibstock plc manufactures and sells clay and concrete building products and solutions primarily in the United Kingdom. Its principal products include clay bricks, brick components, concrete roof tiles, concrete stone masonry substitutes, concrete fencing, pre-stressed concrete, and concrete rail products. The company provides facing bricks, walling stones, architectural masonry products, cast stones, facade systems, and retaining walls, as well as lintels, sills, and arches; and cladding solutions; roof tiles, chimneys, soffits, and roofing accessories; and fencings, caps and copings, bollards, balustrades, path edgings, and urban landscaping products. It also offers floor beams, door steps, gully surrounds, screed rails, insulated floorings, and hollowcore products; and rail and infrastructure products, such as troughing, cable theft protection, boards, blocks, bases, catchpits, and inspection chambers. In addition, the company offers engraving, cutting, and bonding services; floor beam and block design, supply, and fitting solutions; bespoke concrete products; and staircases and lift shafts services. Its products are used in new build housing; repair, maintenance, and improvement; and infrastructure markets. The company sells its products under the Forticrete, Supreme, Anderton, and Longley brands to customers in the construction industry. Ibstock plc was founded in 1825 and is headquartered in Ibstock, the United Kingdom.

Read More
1 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Premier Oil in the last year. There are currently 1 hold rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "hold" Premier Oil stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in PMO, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for Premier Oil or view top-rated stocks.
There is not enough analysis data for PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund.

4.3 Community Rank

Outperform Votes PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund has received 109 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund has received 60 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund has received 64.50% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe PCQ will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe PCQ will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

Next
By The Associated Press Mar. 05, 2019 | 10:20 PM | FRANKFORT

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin says he will sign a bill letting people carry a concealed handgun without a permit or training.

The Republican governor told reporters on Tuesday that the measure is supported by a vast majority of Kentuckians. The measure won final approval from state lawmakers last week. Its supporters include the National Rifle Association.

Under the legislation, Kentuckians able to lawfully possess a firearm could conceal their weapons without a license. A gun-carrying permit in the state now carries a fee and a gun safety training requirement. Among other things, the bill's opponents objected to dropping the training requirement as a condition for carrying concealed weapons.

Supporters said the measure makes no changes regarding where and when people can possess concealed weapons.

___

The legislation is Senate Bill 150.
Advertisement

By Kentucky Senator Danny Carroll

Mar. 04, 2019 | FRANKFORT

By Kentucky Senator Danny Carroll Mar. 04, 2019 | 08:40 AM | FRANKFORT

As we approach the latter days of the 2019 Regular Session, the Capitol remains as busy as ever. Countless visitors from across Kentucky advocated important issues in a week that had no shortage of legislative activity.



Significant bills are heading to Governor Bevin's desk with the hope that they will soon be signed into law. As the result of months of discussion and collaboration, Senate Bill 1, the School Safety and Resiliency Act, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House. SB 1, sponsored by Senator Max Wise and one I co-sponsored, would boost school safety by improving the type of personnel, systems and structures, and student culture in Kentucky's schools. While in the House, improvements were added to the language such as creating the position of the state school safety marshal, whose role would be similar to that of a state fire marshal. We are hopeful that this pivotal school safety bill will soon be signed into law.



Senate Bill 4 is also awaiting a signature from the Governor. SB 4, sponsored by Senator Damon Thayer, would require all candidates running for a public office in Kentucky to electronically file their campaign finance reports starting in 2020. This bill eliminates the option of filing a paper report with the exception of candidates whose campaigns raise less than $3,000. As more filing measures move to digital platforms, SB 4 establishes an organized and efficient way to report campaign finances.



The Senate passed two substantial bills this week, which were sponsored by Senate President Robert Stivers. Senate Bill 6 addresses executive branch ethics by requiring the disclosure of executive agency lobbyist compensation. Senate Bill 2 would allow a broader representation of elected judges to hear cases which affect the entire Commonwealth and its constituency rather than two circuit judges who are elected by only the residents of Franklin County.



I sponsored several bills that passed out of the Senate this week. Senate Bill 29 would allow cities with a population of less than 20,000 and counties that do not have a city with a population greater than 20,000 to impose a license fee of no more than 5% on the sale of alcoholic beverages. Senate Bill 162 would create the Kentucky State Police School Resource Office (KSPSRO) program and allow KSP officers to contract with schools districts. The bill would also allow school districts to hire retired sworn law enforcement officers as school security officers without the burden of benefit contributions. Senate Bill 246 makes important changes to three incentive programs utilized by the Economic Development Cabinet to assist in attracting business and industry to our state. And, Senate Bill 128 would make conditions safer in our Assisted Living facilities across the state.



Additionally, we passed a pro-life bill commonly known as the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. Senate Bill 227, sponsored by Senator Whitney Westerfield, requires that medical professionals take all appropriate steps necessary to preserve the life and health of an infant who is born alive after a failed abortion. This commonsense bill is another legislative stride to protect life here in Kentucky.



I want to thank Mr. Jack Lawrence, a 6th grader from Carlisle County, for doing such a great job paging for me on Thursday. Jack was accompanied to Frankfort by his mom, Holly. I was also very excited to welcome several Sunny Pages from various counties across the state this week. This page program for students with special needs continues to grow!! Finally, I want to thank Miss Constance Lents, a student at the U.K. College of Medicine from Benton, for coming to speak with me about legislation of concern to her, Captain Nathan Torian, with the Paducah Fire Department, who represented the Kentucky Firefighters Association and teachers Chad Davidson (McCracken County) and Clay Tilford (Carlisle Co.) who stopped by to discuss issues related to education.



Thank you for your continued feedback and support. It is an honor to represent you in Frankfort, and I look forward to continued discussion on a number of issues facing our district and the Commonwealth.



If you have any questions or comments about these issues or any other public policy issue, please call me toll-free at 1-800-372-7181 or email me at danny.carroll@lrc.ky.gov. You can also review the Legislature's work online at www.legislature.ky.gov.



Senator Danny Carroll (R-Paducah) represents the 2nd District encompassing Ballard, Carlisle, Marshall and McCracken counties. Senator Carroll is the chairman of the Senate Economic Development, Tourism, and Labor Committee, as well as the co-chairman of the Program Review and Investigations Committee. He also serves as a member of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Education; the Budget Review Subcommittee on General Government; the Health and Welfare Committee, the Judiciary Committee; the Medicaid Oversight Committee, and the School Safety Working Group.
I recently returned from a twelve day birding tour of Costa Rica with Lifer Tours guided by an incredible birder, David Rodriquez. I began the trip with a rather long drive from the airport hotel in San Jose to Punta Uva on the southern Caribbean coast for a couple of free days before joining the actual tour. One of the obvious sights on the way down were large pendulous nests hanging from several tall trees.

You can see the bright yellow tail feathers of the occupants  Montezuma Oropendola (Psarocolius montezuma). To give you an idea of the size of those nests, the Oropendola is a 20 inch bird!

Continuing down highway 32, before reaching the Caribbean Coast, we were stuck in traffic caused by several big rigs approaching the container yards just short of the port in Limon. Of course my main objective for this entire trip was to locate and photograph the birds of Costa Rica. To my surprise and delight, a species I had been trying to get decent photos of for quite awhile was hovering right above the car as we were stopped in traffic. I was able to snap some decent shots of this White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) before continuing south.

I spent the first couple of days in the upper room of a quaint country hotel with individual bungalows called Olguitas Place in Punta Uva. This is the view from my deck.

The next morning I woke to birds singing in the trees and a whole new world of lifers, starting with the a Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) twittering in the tree next to the deck.

There are many warblers that migrate through Costa Rica. Olguitas property showed me a migrating Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) on my first day in Costa Rica.

Of course we have the little Brown Creeper here in the US, but in Costa Rica they have several Woodcreepers, most are twice the size of our Brown Creeper. This Northern Barred-Woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptes sanctithomae) was climbing a nearby tree gleaning insects as it went.

Of course we all know that Costa Rica is loaded with hummingbirds. A bit of drizzle on the second morning allowed a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) to perch and preen for several minutes in the trees.

The uncommon hummer at the top of this post is a male Black-crested Coquette (Lophornis helenae). Unfortunately I accidentally deleted the good close-ups I took of this bird; however, our excellent guide and master digiscoper, took this incredible shot of this gem.

Stay tuned for future posts from Costa Rica. We did spot 220 species 
Mar 7, 2019 | By Thomas

Engineers from the Technical University of Ostrava (VSB -TUO) in the Czech Republic have created the first 3D printed scooter with a stainless steel bionic frame in collaboration with the UK-based manufacturer Renishaw.

The scooter was designed in Protolab, an additive manufacturing centre based at the university, VSB, and partly funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic within PRE SEED VSB-Technical University of Ostrava Fund project. According to the leader of Protolab team Marek Pagac, their prototype is about a quarter of a lighter than if it was made by the traditional method. The scooter weighs 3.5 pounds and has a hollow frame consisting of four parts. "Besides saving the material we have made the parts lightweight and hollow. W put the greatest emphasis on the attractive scooter design and its distinctive sporty look," Pagac added.

The university has been working on this project with 3D printer company Renishaw which lent a 3D printer to them last year. The frame was designed in four segments and then 3D printed in metal. The parts were then welded together using traditional methods.

"We wanted to go by something that has not yet been realized," says Petr Stefek of Protolab, who worked as a team mentor. "In addition, scooters are currently experiencing revival, many people are driving on them, which was attractive to us."

Currently the VSB -TUO team is working on a second-generation scooter in which a 3D printed frame can be produced in one piece, reducing welding costs and production time. They hope to unveil it at the International Engineering Fair in Brno this October.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

Maybe you also like:









Adam wrote at 3/8/2019 4:22:07 AM:What part of this is bionic?






Photo courtesy of ISI

On March 4, Israels geospatial and geo-intelligence solutions provider ImageSat International (ISI) uploaded several satellite images taken on March 1 via a social media platform, declaring that for the first time in few years, four Chinese H-6 strategic bombers were detected in Xinning airbase in east China's Guangdong Province. ISI also revealed that the airbase is about 450 kilometers from Taiwan.

Unsurprisingly, several Taiwanese media outlets including United Daily News published articles on March 5 to make a fuss on the news, and tried to make conjectures and interpretations.

Taiwans pro-green Liberty Times published an article with the headline Mainlands four bombers deployed in Xinning, Guangdong for the first time, which conveyed a connotation different from the statement of ISI's four H-6 strategic bombers were detected in Xinning Airbase, for the first time in few years.

United Daily News analyzed that when performing offshore training of its H-6 bombers, the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) usually transfers such bombers from an inland airbase to a coastal one, where they are reorganized and resupplied before conducting long-distance missions. Recently, several H-6 bombers' flight missions to the ocean to the east of the Philippines via the Bashi Channel were likely to set out from Xingning Airbase.

The Taiwanese media conjectured that H-6 bombers would not be deployed permanently at Xingning airbase given that the airbase is stationed by other PLA Air Force units.

The newspaper also revealed that Taiwan's "defense authorities" published news about PLAs H-6 bombers on February 27, saying that "a fleet of H-6 bombers conducted regular long-distance flight training on the afternoon of that day, setting out from a coastal airbase in Guangdong Province of the Chinese mainland and patrolling the South China Sea before returning to the airbase." It conjectured that the Guangdong coastal airbase is probably the Xingning airbase.

Taiwan's "defense authorities" has yet to make an official commentary on the news released by ISI. Several Taiwanese media outlets stressed that the airbase is "only 450 kilometers from Taiwan" in their reports, with some even using the word "Shocked" in their headlines.

Although the news aroused a wide sensation among the Taiwanese media, the deployment of the H-6 bomber, whose range reaches as many as 9,000 kilometers, in the coastal airbase just implies that it doesnt target at Taiwan, but aims at long-distance patrol on the South China Sea. Otherwise, the bombers would be deployed in an inland airbase. This only indicates that some Taiwanese media outlets have persecutory delusion, so they misdeem any PLA deployment might target at Taiwan.

Disclaimer: The article is extracted from an article on ifeng.com and translated from Chinese into English by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Chinamil.com.cn does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday that the United States would continue to have conversations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks to reporters at the White House on March 6, 2019 in Washington, DC. [Photo: IC/Oliver Contreras]

"We are continuing to have conversations, as the president has said, we'll see what happens," Sanders said to the press.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said Tuesday in an interview with FOX Business Network that the United States would see whether the DPRK was still serious about negotiations and was committed to giving up its "nuclear weapons program and everything associated with it."

"If they're not willing to do it... they're not going to get relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them and we'll look at ramping those sanctions up in fact," he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un held their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam on Feb. 27-28, without reaching an agreement.

Nevertheless, the White House said the two leaders had "very good and constructive meetings" and discussed various ways to "advance denuclearization and economic driven concepts."

Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also expressed the willingness that Washington would continue the conversation with Pyongyang.




Mission complete  almost.



Four months ago all seemed lost, literally, for the Dalhousie SeaLeon. But last week, the tiny sailboat washed ashore off the coast of western Ireland, approximately 250 nautical miles of its original destination.



A team of researchers in the Faculty of Engineering deployed the 1.8 metre vessel out to sea last summer as part of the Microtransat Challenge  a unique transatlantic race that challenges participants to design and build an autonomous sailboat capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

Read also: Solo crossing: Dal Engineering sends autonomous sailboat across the Atlantic (August 2018)



The SeaLeon, named after the Facultys former dean, Josh Leon, launched off the coast of Cape Breton in late July. Researchers predicted it would take 100 days for the sailboat to complete its journey across the ocean to Brest, France.



After the first month, the SeaLeon was behaving very well, says Faculty of Engineering professor Jean-Francois Bousquet. It was staying on course, and powering through the different weather conditions. We could monitor its route and although she did make a few detours, she usually got back on track.





Then, on October 22, 76 days into its journey, the vessel stopped transmitting data and disappeared.



There was still the odd chance that it would reach Europe, but to be honest, I didnt think we would ever see her again, says Bousquet.



An unexpected discovery



To everyones surprise, last week, the SeaLeon made landfall.



It got washed up on a beach in Castletownbere which is on the south-western coast of Ireland, says Bousquet. A family of tourists emailed us to let us know. We had written our contact email and phone on the SeaLeon, with instructions to contact us if they found it.



Bousquet says strong winds quickly washed the boat back out to sea before the family had a chance to pick it up. A local fisherman later ventured out to retrieve the vessel and then stored it in his boathouse.



Although we havent been able to see the SeaLeon ourselves, the ORegan family sent us some pictures of the sailboat. The mechanisms, rigging and hull all look like they are in pretty good shape, although it is covered in fowl, says Bousquet. Of course, the sail has been mainly torn to shreds.





Bousquet says the team is planning to travel to Ireland in May to retrieve their sailboat. From there theyll have a chance to better examine the vessels sensors and motors.



We may also be able to download some data from the radio and micro-controller memory to figure out which path the boat took, he says. The fact that we were able to retrieve her only 250 knots from our intended destination is amazing, given the size of the ocean.



Sailing into the future



This years journey marked Dalhousies second entry in the Microtransat Challenge since 2015. To date, no competitor in the autonomous wind-power class has ever reached the finish line, though Dalhousie has done impressively well each time.



Plans are already underway to construct a new vessel. The project will be partially funded by the Ocean Frontier Institute, and Bousquet says some major changes are on the way.



We want to power the vessel with solar energy, he says The SeaLeon was powered with 120 D-cell batteries, and we knew that when we run out of battery, the electronics would no longer respond. We also want to equip the new vessel with an automatic identification system (AIS) receiver, so that we can monitor the ships and buoys in the area.



Bousquet says his team is planning to launch the sailboat in the 2021 Microtransat challenge, and as they like to say, hope that the third time is a charm.


On March 13, ten of Dalhousies brightest and boldest graduate students will square off in the final round of the 2019 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Whittled from a field of 110 during preliminary heats, the contenders will vie for $4,000 in cash prizes and a chance to win an expense paid trip to Montreal for the regional competition at McGill University. The finals take place Wednesday, March 13 from 6:30-8 p.m. in the McInnes Room of Dal's Student Union Building (6136 University Ave.) Dalhousie graduate students do ground-breaking research. They explore cures for disease, solutions for social and environmental ills, and the art that illuminates our lives. 3MT is the publics chance to learn about their discoveries  before they change the world. With the timer set to just 180 seconds, the researchers will take the stage to present their ideas to a panel of judges and a live audience in the most engaging way possible. Its an exhilarating blaze of brilliance and the best communicators come out on top. Last year more than 200 people turned out for the finals and more than 10,000 watched the presentations via social media. Dont miss your chance to be part of the excitement this year. Admission is free and a reception follows. (Let us know youre coming on Facebook.) To whet your appetite, we randomly selected five contenders to provide a taste of the talent vying for this years title. MEET THE CONTENDERS



Seeing a better world through Kendrick Lamar Dilshan The Hip Hop Harmonizer Weerasinghe



Describe your research

Im studying how hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar considers race, class and gender in his album To Pimp a Butterfly, and how he represents these issues through lyrics, musical language, jazz rhetoric and performance. By looking at the work of Kendrick Lamar, arguably the face of contemporary hip-hop, Im studying how this individual, who grew up surrounded by poverty, police brutality, discrimination and gang violence, is able to transform thinking about race and social justice through art.



What is the one thing you want the audience to remember?

Hip-hop is a dominant cultural force. At some point in your day its likely you will experience hip-hop culture through music, fashion or slang, so it has the potential to be a great positive influence to provoke discussion around issues of race, class and gender.



Having the guts to determine between friends and foe Emma The Microbe Magnifier Finlayson-Trick



Describe your research

Among the twists and turns of the gut are millions of bacteria. My research is focused on understanding how these microbes found in people who have Crohns disease are different from those of healthy people. In particular, Im studying how a specific kind of bacterial protein is associated with gut inflammation. I want to understand how different bacterial populations might be important in helping someone stay in a non-diseased state or get to a point of healthy status.



What is the one thing you want the audience to remember?

We have these bacteria living in our gut that we cant live without. While bacteria usually have a bad reputation as being our foe and causing diseases, there is actually a lot of bacteria that are good. We need to understand what they do.



Driven to make electric vehicles drive farther Alex The Battery Booster Louli



Describe your research

Lithium ion batteries have been made better over the last 25 years, but were up to the limit of how much we can improve them with incremental change. The goal of our research is to introduce a major design improvement for lithium batteries that power electric vehicles that will increase their energy density by 50 per cent. If we increase energy density by 50 per cent, a car with a range of 300KM could drive 450KM and cost much less.



What is the one thing you want the audience to remember?

The new type of battery that were working on is a game-changer in that its a significant evolution in design. Range anxiety and cost are two major obstacles against the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. So, this is really important for developing a sustainable future.



In pursuit of the perfect grape Prabahar The Wine Wizard Ravichandran



Describe your research

My research uses robotics, hyperspectral imaging and artificial intelligence to predict the phenolic levels in grapes that make the best wine. We are building an autonomous robot to go through vineyards and take images of grape clusters using a special camera that can capture extremely specific visual information. We feed this information into a computerized deep learning neural network. We show the network hundreds of pictures of a grapes, indicating the phenolic level of each of them. Based on that information the computer learns how to make accurate predictions of phenolic levels and therefore the best grapes.



What is the one thing you want the audience to remember?

If you want the perfect tasting wine, then you need our technology. We are harnessing AI that has only become available in the last five years. It has created breakthroughs in areas like language processing with programs like Siri and with self-driving cars. We are taking this technology and bringing it to wine growing and will take the industry to a whole new level.


The Continuous Mortality Investigation released its latest Mortality Projections Model, CMI_2018, today. Compared to the last model (CMI_2017), CMI_2018 adds data on deaths from across the UK population up to the end of 2018 and places more weight on lower mortality improvements in recent years. Both changes will decrease projected life expectancies and therefore scheme liabilities  meaning projected life expectancy at age 65 will fall by almost half a year. The updated model also introduces a new way to allow for higher or lower improvements in sub-populations (for example pension scheme members) compared to the population as a whole, which should provide a more intuitive way of reflecting such differences. Matthew Fletcher, senior longevity consultant at Aon, said: While the pensions industry still expects mortality rates to improve, by increasing the weight placed on recent mortality improvements, the new model reflects the growing evidence that these improvements are likely to be slower in the near term than the historically high rates seen in the years up to 2011. The CMI model is based on mortality data across the whole population, but we are often trying to estimate life expectancies for a sub-population  for example members of defined benefit pension schemes where evidence suggests that mortality improvements may have been higher than across the broader population. With previous versions of the model, the only easy way to reflect this was to reduce the weight put on recent low improvements. Matthew Fletcher continued: Were therefore really pleased to see that CMI has added the facility to increase or decrease initial rates of improvement more easily. This should allow actuaries a more straightforward way to explain any adjustments they are making to the model to reflect improvements for sub-populations. Martin Bird, senior partner & head of Risk Settlement, said: The insurers and reinsurers have continued to evolve their pricing models in light of emerging data and we expect these updates to the CMIs model to be routinely adopted, reflecting the now strong evidence that underlying longevity improvements are materially lower than seen in the first decade of this century.
The Jeep Compass Plug-in Hybrid can do 0-100kmph in around 7 seconds!

Has an all-electric range of 50km and a top speed of 130kmph in EV mode.

Gets an e-AWD system instead of a conventional AWD system.

Electric and hybrid cars have been the talk of the town since the last few years and this years Geneva Motor Show was no different. A majority of carmakers, including Jeep, have showcased at least one electrified vehicle at their pavilion The American carmaker showcased the PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid) variant of its most popular SUV in India, the Compass.

The Compass PHEV is powered by a new 1.3-litre turbocharged petrol engine, which along with an electric motor, makes a total of 240PS. This 1.3-litre turbocharged petrol engine that produces 180PS of power and 270Nm of torque was first introduced in the refreshed version of the Renegade and is expected to make its way to the India-spec Compass too. It may replace the less powerful 1.4-litre MultiAir II (163PS and 250Nm) motor in the near future.

Jeep claims that the Compass PHEV can go from 0-100kmph in around 7 seconds. It has an all-electric range of up to 50km and can hit a top speed of up to 130kmph in pure electric mode. With the introduction of an electric motor, Jeep has also replaced its conventical AWD system with an e-AWD. Here, the rear wheels are powered by an electric motor instead of a conventional propeller shaft setup.

In June 2018, when FCA announced its five-year business plan, the conglomerate had confirmed that the Jeep Compass will soon feature a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model and an all-electric version by 2022. Even though Jeep has showcased the PHEV version at the Swiss auto show, it is yet to reveal when it will hit the production line. That said, expect the model to be introduced globally next year.

Since Jeep manufactures the right-hand-drive Compass in India and Europe, theres a possibility that the PHEV and EV versions of the compact SUV will also be assembled here at FCAs facility in Ranjangaon. If that happens, FCA might as well introduce it in the domestic market since by 2022, stricter emission norms in the form of CAFE (corporate average fuel efficiency) are expected to be implemented in India. The implementation of new norms will require automakers to take strict measures to improve the fuel efficiency of its entire fleet and curb CO2 emissions. In such a scenario, we expect carmakers to have multiple mild- and fully hybrid products in their portfolio soon.

Also Read: Jeep Compass Gets Extended Warranty Packages From Mopar

Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho.
The Volkswagen Group in India has been accused of using emission cheating devices in its range of cars in India by the NGT.

Pune: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday ordered the Dieselgate-hit German car giant Volkswagen to pay Rs 500 crore as fine for intentionally programming its diesel engines with cheat devices.

The Volkswagen Group in India has been accused of using emission cheating devices in its range of cars in India by the NGT.

The Pune-headquartered Indian arm of the Volkswagen Group, which has invested in excess of Rs 4,000 crore at its factory in Pune, responded in a statement, saying that it would challenge the order in the Supreme Court.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the carmaker to deposit the amount within two months.

The tribunal had increased the compensation amount of Rs 171.34 crore in January 2019, which was recommended by an NGT-appointed committee, as a means of "creating deterrence".

However, Volkswagen had argued that it did not violate the BS-IV fuel emission norms and that the test results were based on 'on road testings' for which there were no prescribed standards.

In response to the NGT order, the carmaker has said it will challenge the ruling and claimed its vehicles meet the law of the land.

"The Volkswagen Group in India reiterates that all cars from the group are compliant with the emission norms defined in India. The Group awaits the copy of the order of Honourable NGT. The Volkswagen Group will challenge the order of the Honourable NGT before the Honourable Supreme Court, said a Volkswagen statement.

Earlier, a four-member expert panel constituted by the NGT had first passed the official indictment against Volkswagen Group.

It had recommended that the German global auto giant pay at least Rs 171.34 crore as a conservative fine for damage to health caused in India.

The NGT panel was formed in November 2018 in the wake of the 2015 global emission scandal, or Dieselgate, when the company was found to be guilty of intentionally programming its diesel engines with cheat devices to meet US regulatory standards but actually emitted up to 40 times more nitrous oxides (NOx) in real-road conditions. The expert panel report had estimated that Volkswagen cars released about 48.678 tonnes of NOx in 2016.

This panel, which used Delhi as the base city to calculate the damages, had estimated cost of health damage due to additional NOx from the Volkswagen group vehicles is approximately Rs 171.34 crore.

The penalty was determined on the basis of the 3.27 lakh Volkswagen cars that had deceit software installed in India.
New Delhi: The union cabinet of India in a meeting on Thursday took up major decisions, which can be seen as a move to woo voters, before the reigning National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government goes out. The initiave taken by the Modi government can also be seen as an initiative, which terms India as Naya Bharat (New India), and a developing country, which would someday leave the leading economies like the United States, Germany, France, and other countries behind.

The cabinet approved several major projects before the general election takes place between April and May 2019.

Here are some of the projects that the government had approved:-

Cabinet approves three corridors of Delhi Metro Phase IV

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved three out of six corridors of the Delhi Metro's proposed Phase IV, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said.

According to the government, corridors of Mukundpur-Maujpur, RK Ashram-Janakpuri West and Aero City-Tughlakabad have been approved by the Cabinet. There will be 17 underground and 29 elevated stations in the three corridors whose total length will be 61.679 km.

Cabinet clears ordinance on reservation roster for faculty positions in varsities

The Cabinet on Thursday cleared an ordinance on reservation mechanism for appointment of faculties in universities, Union minister Arun Jaitley said.

Earlier this week, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Centre was committed to restoring the reservation roster in educational institutions following a series of protests over the issue by various students' and teachers' organisations. They had been urging the government to bring an ordinance to restore the 200-point roster taking college or university as a unit for reservation in teaching posts.

The University Grants Commission had announced in March last year that an individual department should be considered as the base unit to calculate the number of teaching posts to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates, following an order by the Allahabad High Court in April 2017.

The Supreme Court had last month dismissed a review petition filed by the HRD Ministry after its special leave petition against the court order was rejected by the apex court. Javadekar had said in the Lok Sabha on February 11 that the government can "bring an ordinance if its review petition filed in the top court is rejected".

Green Signal to GoM related to stressed projects

The Union Cabinet on Thursday also gave green signal to recommendations of a group of ministers (GoM) relating to stressed power projects including grant of coal linkage for short-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).

The decision was taken by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). Briefing reporters, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the recommendations approved include grant of coal linkage for short-term PPAs, allowing existing coal linkage to be used in case of termination of PPAs due to payment default by distribution companies and procurement of bulk power by a modal agency against pre-declared linkages. Central/state generation companies may act as aggregator of power.

Cabinet permits Alternative Mechanism to decide on price, timing of CPSE strategic sale

To fast-track strategic sale of CPSEs, the Cabinet Thursday allowed Alternative Mechanism to decide on the timing, price and quantum of shares of a state-run company to be put on the block for outright sale.

"The CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) has approved delegation of the following Alternative Mechanism in all the cases of strategic disinvestment of CPSEs where CCEA has given 'in principle' approval for strategic disinvestment," an official statement said.

The Alternative Mechanism (AM) on strategic disinvestment consists of the Finance Minister, Minister for Road Transport and Highways and minister representing respective administrative department, to decide on the matters relating to terms and conditions of the sale.

The CCEA, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday decided to allow the Alternative Mechanism to decide on the quantum of shares to be transacted, mode of sale and final pricing of the transaction or lay down the principles/guidelines for such pricing, and the selection of strategic partner/buyer, terms and condtions of sale.

The AM will also decide on the proposals of the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment with regard to the timing, price, the terms and conditions of sale and any other related issue to the transaction.

"This will facilitate quick decision-making and obviate the need for multiple instances of approval by CCEA for the same CPSE," the statement said.

The government on Thursday approved a proposal for state-run hydro power giant NHPC to take over debt-laden Lanco's 500 MW Teesta hydro-electric power project in Sikkim.

Cabinet clears third railway line for busy section between Bengal and Odisha

"Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gives approval for the investment sanction for acquisition of LancoTeesta Hydro Power Ltd (LTHPL) and execution of balance work of the Teesta Stage-Vl Hydro Electric Project by the NHPC Ltd in Sikkim," according to an official statement.

Earlier, briefing reporters on the decision taken by the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that NHPC has also been allowed to spend Rs 574.04 crore to complete the balance work at the project. The project would be implemented with an estimated cost of Rs 5,748.04 crore (at July 2018 price level).

The project would generate 2,400 million units of power in 90 per cent dependable year with installed capacity of 500 MW (125 MWX4). Teesta Stage-VI hydro-electric project is a run of river (RoR) scheme in Sirwani Village of Sikkim to utilise the power potential of Teesta river basin in cascade manner. The project shall help in meeting peaking demand of energy, balancing and ramping requirement of the grid.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the construction of a third railway line between Narayangarh in West Bengal and Bhadrak in Odisha. Addressing the media, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the new 155-km railway line will ease congestion on the route.

"The third line will help generate additional optimum capacity to cope with the existing as well as additional traffic," he said.

According to government estimates, the project would cost Rs 1,866.31 crore and would be completed by 2023-24. It is expected to generate direct employment for around 37.2 lakh man days.

CCEA accepts Rs 2,790 cr interest subvention on loans to sugar mills

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved Rs 2,790 crore interest subvention for extending loans by banks to sugar mills, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

This is in addition to Rs 1,332 crore already approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in June 2018. The interest subvention is for extending loans of Rs 12,900 crore by banks to sugar mills under the scheme for extending financial assistance to sugar mills for enhancement and augmentation of ethanol production capacity, he said.

Cabinet sanctions Rs 4,500 cr to revive 'un-served, under-served' airports

In a bid to boost regional air connectivity, the Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to "revive and develop" a number of "un-served and under-served airports" across the country at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore.

"Cabinet approves revival and development of un-served and under-served air strips of state governments, Airports Authority of India (AAI), civil enclaves, Central Public Sector Units (CPSU), helipads and water aerodromes," a government statement read.

According to the statement, the government would spend Rs 4,500 crore on the entire exercise.

"As an outcome, small cities/towns shall be connected on commencement of operation of flights to under-served/un-served airports," the statement said.

The government said the move will further boost economic development in these cities or towns as well as surrounding areas in terms of job creation and related infrastructure development.

The regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying affordable. The revival of airports under UDAN is demand driven, depending on firm commitment from airlines and state governments for providing various concessions.

"Under UDAN phase 1 and phase 2, 56 unserved airports are to be operationalised. Out of these 56 airports, 23 airports have been operationalised. Under UDAN 3, routes connecting 13 unique unserved airports have been awarded on January 25, 2019," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha had told the Rajya Sabha on February 13.
TOT is a model for monetising operational national highway projects where investors make a lump sum payment in return for long-term toll collection rights backed by a sound tolling system. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: The success of the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model will be very significant for funding the government's ambitious highway development programme Bharatmala, rating agency ICRA said Thursday.

"The timely monetisation of mature road assets will be a critical determining factor in plugging the shortfall in budgetary allocations and fetch requisite funding to support ambitious execution targets set for the Bharatmala programme, failing which the shortfall will have to be met through additional borrowings, thereby further increasing the debt with the NHAI," ICRA said. "In this context, the success of the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) will be very significant," it added.

TOT is a model for monetising operational national highway projects where investors make a lump sum payment in return for long-term toll collection rights backed by a sound tolling system.

The overall funding requirement for the new highway development programme is estimated at Rs 6.92 lakh crore, which is proposed to be funded through budgetary allocations of Rs 3.43 lakh crore over 2018-19 to 2021-22, market borrowing of Rs 2.09 crore, and Rs 34,000 crore proceeds of monetisation through the TOT route. The remaining Rs 1.06 lakh crore is expected to come through private sector participation.

"A majority of the Bharatmala programme is expected to be undertaken through the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). While the NHAI borrowing programme is on track, the budgetary allocation in the last two Budgets was lower than required (Rs 72,010 crore for 2019-20, around 21 per cent lower than what is required), thereby necessitating dependence on other funding avenues," said Rajeshwar Burla, AVP and associate head, corporate ratings, ICRA.

The Cabinet had earlier approved the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I along with other programmes involving around 83,000 km of national highway development by 2021-22.
The Indian tech industry representatives are drawn from a wide range of sectors, such as FinTech, cyber security, Internet of Things, AI and e-commerce, from cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kerala and Delhi will visit Bahrain from Tuesday, 5 March until Thursday 7 March.

StartUp Bahrain Week is a Community-led festival expected to bring together around 2,500 people, including entrepreneurs, company founders and venture capital investors from the Gulf and beyond.

37 delegates from across India, representing diverse sectors such as AI, e-commerce, cyber-security and FinTech, will attend.

A delegation of 37 Indian entrepreneurs representing 25 startups will attend StartUp Bahrain Week, a festival for startups in Bahrain, the Gulf and beyond.

StartUp Bahrain Week

The Indian tech industry representatives are drawn from a wide range of sectors, such as FinTech, cyber security, Internet of Things, AI and e-commerce, from cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kerala and Delhi will visit Bahrain from Tuesday, 5 March until Thursday 7 March.

StartUp Bahrain Week is expected to welcome 2,500 delegates in total, and includes a diverse programme of workshops, seminars, and networking events, including:

Amazon Web Services Immersion Day Workshops

The first Amazon data centre Region in the Middle East and Africa opens in Bahrain in 2019. Here, AWS will share how global organisations such as McDonalds, Airbnb, Expedia, Snapchat, Netflix, and others use its services before diving deep into the services themselves through hands-on workshops.

Unbound Bahrain

Unbound brings its award-winning innovation festival to Bahrain, celebrating the Kingdoms commitment to fuelling a digital future.

StartUp Bahrain Ecosystem Tour

International startups are invited to meet the StartUp Bahrain ecosystem, including the Bahrain Economic Development Board, Tamkeen, and many more.

A number of delegates from the southern Indian state of Kerala will also be participating at the event. They will be supported by the Kerala StartUp Mission and will have a separate pavilion at Unbound Bahrain, the anchor event of StartUp Bahrain Week.

The visit is being facilitated by the EDB India office. The teams in Mumbai & New Delhi have worked extensively with these entrepreneurs to understand their business interest in the region, to facilitate relevant connects with the start-up ecosystem and stakeholders in Bahrain for various sectors. The EDB has two offices in India located in Mumbai and New Delhi that offer support to Indian businesses looking to learn about the regional investment opportunities and set up a business in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Delegates will have an opportunity meet with industry, investors, potential business partners and fund-raising opportunities during the two days. Startups who are considering a potentially setting up in the region will be appropriately guided on various aspects of doing business in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

There are already strong links between India and Bahrain. The population of Bahrain (c. 1.5m) is just 1/1000th the size of Indias, but a large proportion of Bahraini residents  roughly a third  are Indian. This has helped to create a Bahrain-India Business Corridor which accounts for bilateral trade worth more than $ 1bn per year.

There are more than 20 branches of prominent Indian banks and companies in Bahrain, in addition to more than 3,000 Indian joint-venture companies registered in the country. In addition, Bahrain is host to Indian startups in the grocery delivery, crypto platforms, IOT & Open-Source Low-Code Rapid Application development & delivery platforms.

It is hoped that links between India and Bahrain will be strengthened further during StartUp Bahrain Week.

About Bahrain Economic Development Board

The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) is an investment promotion agency with overall responsibility for attracting investment into the Kingdom and supporting initiatives that enhance the investment climate.

The EDB works with the government and both current and prospective investors, in order to ensure that Bahrains investment climate is attractive, to communicate the key strengths, and to identify where opportunities exist for further economic growth through investment.

The EDB focuses on several economic sectors that capitalise on Bahrains competitive advantages and provide significant investment opportunities. These sectors include financial services, manufacturing, ICT, tourism, logistics and transport.

For more information on the Bahrain EDB, please visit www.bahrainedb.com.

For information about Bahrain, please visit www.bahrain.com.

Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: NewsVoir.
Exports to UAE during January 2019 fell sharply to 1.51 million kilograms from 3.19 million kilograms in January 2018, the data said. (Representational Image)

Kolkata: Tea exports fell marginally from 23.85 million kilograms in January 2018 to 22.27 million kilograms in the same month of 2019, according to Tea Board provisional data. Value of tea exports in January 2019, however, increased to Rs 480.77 crore as compared to Rs 470.83 crore owing to a rise in unit price per kilogram to Rs 215.88 from Rs 197.42 in January 2018.

Destination-wise, exports to CIS countries fell to 4.96 million kilograms in January 2019 as compared to 6.06 million kilograms in the same month of last year. Exports to UAE during January 2019 fell sharply to 1.51 million kilograms from 3.19 million kilograms in January 2018, the data said.

Offtake by Iran saw a rise in January 2019 at 5.90 million kilograms from 2.82 million kilograms in the same period of 2018. Exports to Pakistan also saw a rise to 1.31 million kilograms from 1.14 million kilograms in January 2018, according to the Tea Board data.
Since its introduction in 2012, over 10 million people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension**. Upon launch, the total minimum contribution level was set at 2% remaining at this level until April 2018 when it was increased to 5%. From 6th April, this will rise further to a level of 8%, incorporating a 4% employee contribution, 3% employer contribution and government tax relief topping this up by 1%. However, although employees will benefit from an increase in free money in the form of higher employers contribution and government bonus, there are still some employees who will choose to opt-out out of their workplace pension. Government figures show around 9% of employees opted-out of their workplace pension for the financial year 2016/2017*** and whilst the rises in minimum contributions levels have not led to significant increases in opt out rates, those who do choose to withdraw stand to lose out considerably over the course of their working life. A 22 year old joining a workplace pension scheme in April will currently receive their state pension at the age of 68 in 2065. Aegon analysis finds that this employee, joining the scheme on UK average earnings, will lose out on a fund of 542k by 2065 if they opt out of the scheme. As well as personal contributions, this fund would include their employers contributions, government bonus and investment returns. Kate Smith, Head of Pensions at Aegon, comments: Whilst retirement may seem distant for many young workers and is often pushed to the back of minds, choosing to opt out of a workplace pension can be a costly mistake. Immediate priorities such as saving for a house deposit will inevitably be the focus for those starting on the career ladder. However, young employees should not choose to forgo their pension contributions as they could stand to lose out on a significant pension pot if they fail to rejoin. From April 6th, an individual contributing 40 a month from take-home pay into their pension will receive a 10 bonus from the government, assuming 20% tax relief, and 30 from their employer. This brings the total amount going into their pension to 80 and the decision to opt out effectively means throwing away these benefits. Workplace pensions are beginning to turn around the UKs savings habits. For many employees, it is their main means of savings for retirement and we should applaud the role that auto-enrolment has played in this. However, for people to achieve the level of retirement income they aspire to they need to save more. The rise in minimum contribution levels for auto-enrolment is another step in the right direction for increasing long-term savings, but individuals need to understand that contributing just the minimum amount is likely to leave them with a shortfall in retirement.
Mumbai: Actor-producer-director-teacher Anupam Kher, who turned 64 on March 7, spent his birthday away from home. I am in the US shooting for the American serial New Amsterdam. Ive been here for two months now and have another month to go. Of course, I miss home. I miss my mother the most, says Anupam who is working round-the-clock to finish his series in the US  and intermittently dining with his Hollywood buddies Robert de Niro, Armie Hammer, etc  before he returns home.

Theres a whole avalanche of commitments waiting for my attention. And, no, it doesnt make me weary, just more charged-up to do more work. I believe 24 hours in a day is not enough for what I want to do but I also believe anything and everything can be done in those 24 hours. Saying there isnt enough time is just an excuse. You can make time for anything that you want to do, says Anupam who has several film projects on the anvil.

When asked about his favourite role, Anupam immediately picks his debut movie. Saaransh, of course. 35 years ago, I played the age that I am now. I am grateful to the great Sanjeev Kumar for opting out of that project. Because of him, I got to do one of the most brilliantly written characters at the beginning of my career. There are many favourites. I love all the roles that Ive played including those that got me flak. I am what I am today because of all the risks that Ive taken. I am grateful for the mistakes that Ive made. Theyve helped me better myself.

The actor further adds, I am first and foremost an actor. But I am a responsible actor. I dont believe my work is over once I finish my shot. No! I have a voice and I must use it to make a difference to society. You cannot be empowered and not use that power to help those who are not empowered.

At some point, the actor also wants to write more motivational books. Whats his formula for a good living? Stay fit, eat well and sleep for enough hours and lead a disciplined life. That doesnt mean you have to be a saint. Do everything you want to, but in moderation. I feel more energised and enthusiastic about life at 64 than I did at 24.
DNA maintenance process is not efficient enough during the online wakefulness period and requires an offline sleep period with reduced input to the brain in order to occur. (Photo: Representational/Pixabay)

Washington: In a new study researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel reveal an unexpected function of sleep that they believe could explain how sleep and sleep disturbances affect brain performance, aging and various brain disorders.

Researchers used 3D time-lapse imaging techniques in live zebrafish and were able to define sleep in a single chromosome resolution and show, for the first time, that single neurons require sleep in order to perform nuclear maintenance. According to the current work, during wakefulness, when chromosome dynamics are low, DNA damage consistently accumulates and can reach unsafe levels.

The study experts say that the role of sleep is to increase chromosome dynamics, and normalise the levels of DNA damage in each single neuron. Apparently, this DNA maintenance process is not efficient enough during the online wakefulness period and requires an offline sleep period with reduced input to the brain in order to occur.

"It's like potholes in the road," said lead author Professor Lior Appelbaum, adding, "Roads accumulate wear and tear, especially during daytime rush hours, and it is most convenient and efficient to fix them at night, when there is light traffic."

Appelbaum calls the accumulation of DNA damage the "price of wakefulness". He and his doctoral student David Zada, first author of the study, as well as co-authors, Dr. Tali Lerer-Goldshtein, Dr. Irina Bronshtein, and Prof. Yuval Garini, hypothesised that sleep consolidates and synchronises nuclear maintenance within individual neurons, and set out to confirm this theory.

The scientists made the discovery thanks to the zebrafish model. With their absolute transparency, and a brain similar to humans, zebrafish are a perfect organism in which to study single cell within a live animal under physiological conditions.

Using a high resolution microscope, the movement of DNA and nuclear proteins within the cell, inside the fish, can be observed while the fish are awake and asleep. The researchers were particularly surprised to find that chromosomes are more active at night, when the body rests, but this increased activity enables the efficiency of the repair to DNA damage.

The results establish chromosome dynamics as a potential marker for defining single sleeping cells and propose that the restorative function of sleep is nuclear maintenance.

"We've found a causal link between sleep, chromosome dynamics, neuronal activity, and DNA damage and repair with direct physiological relevance to the entire organism," said Professor Appelbaum adding that sleep gives people an opportunity to reduce DNA damage accumulated in the brain during wakefulness.

"Despite the risk of reduced awareness to the environment, animals, ranging from jellyfish to zebrafish to humans, have to sleep to allow their neurons to perform efficient DNA maintenance, and this is possibly the reason why sleep has evolved and is so conserved in the animal kingdom," he concluded.
In what can be termed as an unprecedented time in the history of US politics, as many as three Indian-American women have announced their interest in contesting the 2020 US Presidential elections, blurring the lines of race and gender.

California Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat Congresswoman from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard and the skillful Nikki Haley, who managed to stay away from Trumps ire and resigned gracefully, are all bracing up for political campaigns and fundraising activities at a time when stark divides around gender are shaping the US midterm campaigns. Interestingly, all three Indian-American politicians have emerged as frontrunners in the 2020 US Presidential elections, and may prove to be formidable opponents to incumbent Donald Trump.

Nikki Haley

Lauded as one of the most powerful and influential woman leaders in the US, Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian parents, says she was raised by her Sikh parents to be strong.

Nikki Haley

My parents always said dont complain about things, do something about it. Born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa, Haley is only the second Indian-American to be elected Governor in the United States.

Tulsi gabbard

When most Democrats running for the US President in 2020 are focussed on domestic issues, Tulsi Gabbards focus is war and peace along with other issues like health care access, criminal justice reform, and climate change.

An environmentalist and a proponent of womens reproductive rights, Tulsi started her political career at the age of 21. Gabbard was a member of the Hawaii House of Representa tives from 2002 until 2004.

The first practising Hindu in Congress, Tulsi is proud of her multi-faith household. My mom was a practicing Hindu and my dad was a Catholic who practiced yoga meditation and karma yoga. My siblings and I grew up studying from both the Bhagavad-Gita and the Bible, she says, adding that she takes her spiritual practice seriously.

It is ultimately a deeply personal relationship for me. The message of love that we hear from Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita and Jesus Christ in the New Testament, is exactly what we should be speaking out about to defeat hate. After 2012 election, she made a personal decision to take congressional oath of office on the Bhagavad-Gita.

During my 2012 and 2014 elections, my Republican opponent publicly stated that a Hindu should not be allowed to serve in the US Congress, and that Hinduism is incompatible with the US Constitution. The Republican Party in Hawaii endorsed my opponent and didnt criticise or denounce his bigoted comments at any time, states Tulsi.

But our nation was founded by people fleeing religious persecution, risking everything for the freedoms that form our foundation. The freedom to worship or not is enshrined in our Constitution, and every member of Congress takes an oath to protect that. Nothing is more important to our democracy than this, she adds.

Interestingly, the United States is today home to more than five million Jews, three million Muslims and three million Hindus, yet nearly 23 percent of Americans dont identify with any spiritual path or religion. At a time when some Americans are fueling extreme divisions of us vs. them, hate-filled rhetoric, bigotry, and even violence, we cannot afford to stay silent. We must push back against those who perpetrate such bigotry and embrace the freedom and diversity that makes our country great, states Tulsi.

Kamala harris

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris credits her confidence to being the daughter of immigrants. While Harris identifies herself as an African-American in the political context, she is very much Indian in her personal life, and is close to her extended Indian family as well.

In her book The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, Harris details what she inherited from her mother and her upbringing. Though I miss her every day, I carry her with me wherever I go. I think of the battles she fought, the values she taught me There is no title or honour on earth Ill treasure more than to say I am Shyamala Gopalan Harris' daughter," she writes.

Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris and her father, Donald Harris, an economics student met as activists during the Civil Rights movement. As children, Kamala and her sister, Maya, followed them to marches. It was the 60s and 70s, a charged time where everyone in my life was very actively involved, says Harris, adding, One of the soundtracks of my childhood is Young, gifted and black. It was about being told you can do anything you want to do and youre accountable.

After her parents divorced, her mother reinforced that idea. Harris remembers coming home and once complaining about some mishap at school. My mother looked at me and asked, Well, what did you do? she narrates. I realised she was teaching us that youve got to identify your position of power in a dynamic and not let things just happen to you, she adds.

It took five more years for Harris, who was raised by her Tamilian mother, Shyamala (who was by then separated from her Jamaican-origin father Donald Harris), to get some national face time.

Based on her campaign video and campaign promise For the People, it is likely that Harris' campaign will focus on domestic policy over foreign policy. The core of my campaign is the people. It is about the people and understanding that we all have lives that are complex, she states.

Although raised in a Sikh household, she later converted to Christianity. Haley has embraced her Indian roots, and speaks often and publicly about her heritage as the daughter of Sikhs from the state of Punjab.

An Indian American Republican, Haleys name was proposed as a potential Vice Presidential candidate during more than one election season, and theres tremendous media speculation that she could one day be the countrys first female President. However, Haley insists that she is taking a break after more than a decade of public life.

Amidst speculation around the 2020 elections, Haley said in an interview, Everyone else likes to talk about it. What Im really focused on is doing my job. My parents always said: Whatever you do, be great at it and make sure people remember you for it. Thats what Im focused on. I dont think about the Presidency. I dont think about 2020 or about 2024.

Even though Nikki Haley has denied running for presidential candidate 2020, shes getting a lot of attention and money, as a rising Republican Party presidential challenge in 2024. But if Trump is pushed out or opts out of his re-election bid, Haley could join a 2020 ticket led by Vice President Mike Pence, an ally from when they were both governors.
She had been quite ill and severely depressed past couple of months and was later euthanised so that her life of loneliness could be over peacefully. (Photo: Representational/Pixabay)

Washington: The "saddest elephant in the world" has died of depression and loneliness in Spain. Cordoba Zoo mourned her death and posted a tribute to their long-term resident on their Facebook page.

Flavia, the Indian elephant who was taken from her home at the age of three and kept at the Corboda Zoo in Spain had lived in solitary confinement for 43 years without interacting with her species despite various animal groups trying otherwise, reported People magazine.

The solitary confinement of over 43 years is what earned her the title of "the saddest elephant in the world" from animal rights group in the country; People cited a Euro Weekly report.

As per local reports Flavia collapsed in her exhibit on March 1 and was unable to get up. She had been quite ill and severely depressed past couple of months and was later euthanised so that her life of loneliness could be over peacefully.

While she was alive, many animal rights group tried to lobby for her to be moved to a zoo, sanctuary, or safari park where she could actually meet others of her species. In recent months an animal rights group called Pacma was trying for Flavia to be moved to a safari park in another part of Europe to help with her health. Sadly, that day never came.
Muthu, who is from a dominant upper caste community, began hurling casteist abuses after which he assaulted and raped her, police sources said.

Chennai: A woman was raped and accosted with a knife by a man after he hurled casteist slurs at her in Ariyalur district.

Rani*, 26, was on her way to a ration shop to buy groceries for her family on February 27 when Muthu intercepted her and began arguing with her. Sources say that Rani had gone to submit the required form for groceries under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme, under which eligible families can purchase 35 kg of rice at Rs 2 per kilo.

Muthu, who is from a dominant upper caste community, began hurling casteist abuses after which he assaulted and raped her, police sources said. Rani belongs to a scheduled caste. She, however, lodged a complaint with the Ariyalur all-women police station and a case has been registered.

"I've known Muthu for the past three years. He works with a tractor. My mother-in-law and I have gone to his house to work and that is all I know of him. After that, he used to look at me in the wrong way and show gestures regularly which I used to ignore. On Wednesday, when I was coming back from the ration shop, he intercepted me and forced me to go with him. When I refused and moved forward, he grabbed me from behind by my hair," Rani wrote in the FIR. "He held a knife close to my neck, raped me for an hour and escaped from the spot. I somehow struggled to get up and then went home and narrated the incident to my mother-in-law." As Rani's husband was out of town, she took her father-in-law and rushed to the police station and filed a complaint.

(Victims name has been changed)
The area was immediately cordoned off by the security personnel. (Photo: Twitter/ ANI)

Jammu: A 17-year-old boy succumbed to his injuries in a grenade blast at Jammu Bus Stand that took place on Thursday at 12 pm, said police. DGP Dilbagh Singh claimed that the person who threw the grenade at the Jammu bus stand has been arrested.

IGP Jammu, Manish K Sinha said, "Yasir Bhatt was tasked to throw this grenade by District Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kulgam, Farooq Ahmed Bhatt alias Omar. Teams were constituted to work on leads, CCTV camera footage was examined, based on oral testimony of witnesses we were able to identify a suspect. He was soon detained and confessed to the crime himself."

Mohammad Sharik, a resident of Uttarakhand's Haridwar, died due to splinter injuries in the chest, PTI reported.

"Sad to inform that Md Sharik s/o Intijar R/o Toda, Kalyanpur, Ahatmal, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, age 17 y succumbed to the injuries that he suffered in the grenade blast at Jammu Bus Stand on 7.3.19," tweeted Inspector General of Police, Jammu.

Sad to inform that Md Sharik (in pic) s/o Intijar R/o Toda, Kalyanpur, Ahatmal, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, age 17 y succumbed to the injuries that he suffered in the grenade blast at Jammu Bus Stand on 7.3.19. pic.twitter.com/AM7CNWyYUr  IGP Jammu (@igpjmu) March 7, 2019

At least 28 people were injured in the grenade explosion that took place at the bus station in Jammu at 12 pm. The area was immediately cordoned off by the security personnel.

"The scene of the blast along the B C Road was sealed off by police and a massive hunt has been launched to nab the grenade thrower," Inspector General of Police (IGP) M K Sinha added.

As per police reports, a grenade was placed under a bus. It is yet unclear whether there were people inside the bus.

MoS Defence Subhash Bhamre said, "Local investigation has been initiated into the incident. The government has already given complete liberty to the forces to take all necessary steps."

"I thought it was a tyre burst, it was a big blast. The locals took the injured to the hospital in an ambulance," an eyewitness told news agency ANI.

Windscreens of a parked state road transport corporation (SRTC) bus were damaged in the blast, a police official said, adding the condition of one of the injured was stated to be "critical".

Amid an increase in tension with Pakistan, the explosion occurred in Jammu - which is not far from the International Border.

However, it comes across as this is the third grenade blast in the vicinity in the past 10 months.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asks Attorney General to inform within 10 days, the meeting dates for the selection committee which will appointment Lokpal members and the Chairperson. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Attorney General K K Venugopal to inform within 10 days, the meeting dates for the selection committee which will appointment Lokpal members and the Chairperson.

The Attorney General told to the bench that Lokpal Search Committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai had recommended three panels of names for appointing Chairperson, judicial members and non-judicial members to the Selection Committee.

The AG told the bench, also comprising Justices S A Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, that he will ask the Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training to ensure that the meeting of the prime minister-headed selection committee is convened as early as possible.

The bench headed by CJI Gogoi turned down Prashant Bhushan's plea seeking direction to disclose the proposed names of Chairperson and members of the Lokpal selection committee.
Jammu: Mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday condemned the grenade attack at a crowded bus stand here that left a teenager dead and 32 others injured, with the BJP pledging to wipe out terrorism and the Congress expressing concern over security preparedness.

Condemning the attack, Governor Satya Pal Malik directed the administration to provide best medical assistance to the injured. He asked all agencies to ensure that those responsible for the attack are brought to justice. The governor announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs 20,000 each to those injured, his spokesperson said. The J&K Congress unit said the lapses that led to the attack should be looked into as it showed the "total failure" of the Centre and the state administration in dealing with security situation. In a statement, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina called the attack an "utter cowardice act" and pledged to wipe out terrorists and their supporters from the state. He said unnerved by the crackdown on separatists and terrorists, Pakistan and its sponsored terrorists are trying to show their existence by carrying out these ghastly acts. "Pakistan's nefarious designs have failed till now and it will be taught lesson for all misdeeds," he said adding Pakistan and its sponsored terrorists have tried to vitiate the atmosphere of Jammu and "this is not acceptable to us." "All those responsible for the act will be hunted down by our forces," Raina said, adding Jammu is a "Dogra heartland", which has never succumbed to these tactics and always responded in a befitting way. "Terrorists cannot succeed in demoralizing the brave Dogras and those who dream to create fear and tension among communities in the region will be dealt with iron hand," he said, expressing sympathies with the victims and assured them BJP stands with them in this hour of distress. Condemning the blast, Pradesh Congress Committee chief G A Mir said, "This kind of incident in the heart of the city is a matter of great concern when the security agencies are on high alert in the state". "This raises a question mark over the alertness of security apparatus and indicates that the anti-national elements have shown their strength to strike in the busiest area which is highly guarded," he said. The Congress leader expressed sympathies with injured and prayed for their early recovery, a party release said. National Conference also condemned the attack and prayed for speedy recovery of the injured. "Such cowardice acts were a challenge to the civilized society, which are needed to be fought unitedly," NC provincial president Devender Singh Rana said. Rana, along with former minister Surjeet Singh Slathia, state secretary Rattan Lal Gupta, former MLC Trilochan Singh Wazir and Provincial Secretary Pradeep Bali visited the bus stand and interacted with people. Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also condemned the attack. "Saddened by the news of death of a civilian and the injury to scores of others in a blast in #Jammu at a bus stand and strongly condemn it," the Mirwaiz tweeted.
New Delhi: Ratcheting up his attack on the BJP government over the Rafale roq, Congress President Rahul Gandhi asked on Thursday why a probe cannot be ordered against Mr Narendra Modi for a Rs 30,000-crore scam when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents on fighter jet deal.

Gayab ho gaya is the new tagline of the Modi government, he said, adding the Rafale files had disappeared like jobs for youths, right prices for farmers produce, and the promises of Rs 15 lakh to everyone, black money after demonetisation.

An interesting thing happened yesterday... The government said the media will be investigated, but there is no probe against those involved in the Rs 30,000-crore scam. The government is protecting Narendra Modi, the 'chowkidaar', at any cost, he told the press conference.

The prime minister delayed the Rafale deal... The parallel negotiations retarded the delivery of Rafale. The aircraft could not come early because you wanted to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore, he alleged.

The government has constantly rejected the allegations levelled by the Congress with the BJP accusing Gandhi of spreading lies to torpedo the Rafale deal due to his vested interests. Ambani has also rejected corruption allegations.

You do whatever you want to do legally, but justice should be for all. If files have been stolen, then you are accepting that the stories based on those documents are true...Why should not there be a criminal investigation? When a probe can be ordered against anyone who opposes the prime minister, then why not against Narendra Modi? he asked.

Hitting back at Modi for calling the Congress a poster boy of Pakistan for questioning the air strike on terror camps in Balakot, Gandhi said it is he who is Pakistan's poster boy, not us.

He recalled that the Modi government had invited Pakistan's spy agency ISI to India to probe the Pathankot terror attack and then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif to attend his swearing in.
The accused identified as Mohammed Jabbar of Moghalpura was working at a hotel at Sultan Shahi.

Hyderabad: The Moghalpura police is looking for a 70-year-old man who attempted to rape a two-and-a-half-year-old girl child at the under-construction area of the hotel on Wednesday.

The accused identified as Mohammed Jabbar of Moghalpura was working at a hotel at Sultan Shahi. On Wednesday evening, he saw the toddler, whose family stays in the neighbourhood of the hotel playing near the hotel.

Jabbar took the girl to the first floor of the hotel, which is under construction and allegedly tried to sexually assault her. The girls parents noticed that the child was missing and alerted the locals who went searching for the girl.

They found Jabbar in a very objectionable position with the girl. Moghalpura inspector A. Ravi Kumar said The accused was seen attempting to sexually abuse the girl child. On seeing the locals and the girls parents, he managed to escape from there.

The police has registered a case against Jabbar under the POCSO Act, and a search is on to nab the septuagenarian.

The girl was sent for medical examination and later handed over to her parents, Mr Kumar said.

Balala Hakkula Sangham, a child rights organisation from the city, demanded that the police take immediate action against the accused and ensure speedy investigation and trial in the case.
Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) that began probing the IT Grids India Pvt Ltd for alleged possession of sensitive data of AP voters said that the company has data pertaining to the people in Telangana state too.

IT Grids India Pvt Ltd has sensitive data belonging to the citizens of Telangana state. It is found that the data of AP citizens was misused. What the company did with the TS data is to be probed, said SIT chief Stephen Raveendra, the inspector-general of police (in-charge of West Zone).

Nobody involved in the case will be spared and everyone is equal before the law, the IG said.

The SIT began investigating the data breach case on Thursday, collecting the outcome of investigations done by the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police, who have registered cases into the complaints that IT Grids India, located at Madhapur, is possession of data of AP voters.

SIT personnel collected files from the SR Nagar and Madhapur police, and interacted with the investigators.

Prima facie, the Cyberabad police has seized some material from IT Grids office, which on verification turned out to be personal information of AP citizens. Some sort of data with the company was available in the public domain, but much of it was private. We will find how the data landed with the company, who gave it and what was the purpose, Mr Raveendra said.

He said a complaint was received on February 22, about the unauthorised possession and misuse of the data AP. citizens. Cyberabad police teams went to the IT Grids office the next day, only to find out the functioning of the Sevamitra application but did not to seize any material.

During the course of investigation, it was been found that the app was updated and some features were deleted. Features like colour photographs of voters, geographic address and some others were disabled in the app after its update on February 27, after the initial complaint. The reason for the sudden removal of the features has to be found, Mr Ravindra said.

He said that if any people of TS or AP found their voter details deleted or personal information was misused, they can lodge a complaint with the Special Investigation Team.

Meanwhile, the AP government has formed a SIT to investigate the alleged case of data theft by the Telangana state police and the YSRC, which was registered at the Thullur police station, Guntur district, on Thursday. The TS police had formed the SIT on Wednesday.

The AP government issued the order on Thursday night for investigation of Cr.No.48/2019 filed under IPC Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 418 (cheating with knowledge of causing loss), 420 (cheating), 380 (theft), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 167 (framing incorrect document to to cause injury), 177 (furnishing false information) and 182 (false information to mislead public servant).
Chennai: Pointing out that remaining mute witness to such monstrous action initiated by the management dismissing 294 workmen at one stroke will only lead to destitution of constitutional principles on one hand and on the other, abdication of constitutional responsibility, the Madras high court has stayed the order of Pricol Limited, Coimbatore, dismissing 294 workmen en-masse.

Allowing the petition filed by Kovai Mavatta Pricol Thozhilalar Otrumai Sangam, Justice V.Parthiban said, This court has no hesitation in entertaining the petition and consequence of such conclusion would be that there shall be an interim stay of order dated February 11, 2019, dismissing 294 workmen till a final decision is taken by the Labour and Employment department and the Commissioner of Labour under section 10 (1) and 10 (B) of the Industrial Disputes Act.

Originally, following several disputes between the Union and the Management of Pricol, there was a strained relationship between them for some years. After conciliation talk, a settlement was arrived at and the workers resumed their work. While so, to their shock, the management had transferred 302 workers to Sricity-Andra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttarakand. Against the en masse transfer, the Union approached the authorities for referring the Industrial Disputes for adjudication. While it was pending, the management had passed an order dismissing 294 workmen. Aggrieved, the union filed the present petition.

The judge said in order to maintain industrial peace, the decision to dismiss as many as 294 workmen, cannot by any stretch of legal standards be held as a private dispute concerning only management and the union. Such monstrous dispute transcends beyond a private relationship between the labour and management and assumes public interest and as a consequence of which, invites discharge of public duty cast on the management. Therefore, the argument that the writ will not lie against such dispute appear to be too emaciated proposition for its acceptance by this court, the judge added.

The judge said this court has to necessarily live up to the fundamental expectation of citizens and extend its arms to protect certain sections of citizenry from being victimized even before initiation of adjudicatory process. In any event, only in industrial adjudication, the dispute between the union and management could be resolved and this court cannot come to any conclusion in regard to the same as the scope of the present litigation was narrow and transient. It is the bounden duty of the constitutional courts to become alive to the cries of the workmen in order to protect their interest as temporary measure at least till the dispute is referred for adjudication under the Industrial Disputes Act, the judge added.

Directing the Pricol to treat 294 workmen as employees of their Coimbatore unit as before, the judge said the parties shall be bound by further orders to be passed by the government in regard to the dispute raised by the union.

The judge directed the conciliation officer to complete the process of conciliation and on completion of such conciliation, in case of failure, the authorities were directed to refer the dispute for adjudication under the Industrial Disputes Act.
Hyderabad: TRS youth wing leader P. Jagan on Thursday lodged a complaint against the Telugu Desam IT wing, alleging defamation of the Telangana state government and Telangana Rrashtra Samiti leadership through the circulation of fake Twitter trends.

The complainant alleged that the Telugu Desam has hired some agencies to trend certain hashtags on Twitter to defame the TS government.

Mr Jagan in his complaint alleged that the TD IT cell had resorted to unethical means to trend the hashtags such as #TSGovtStealsData and #KTRFakeTears.

He said the hashtags were trended by people in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and other places. This was done with an aim to defame the TRS and its government.

An official from the Cyberabad commissionerate confirmed that they had received a petition against the TD IT wing, but the case would be registered only after reviewing the content of the petition.
Chennai: The old adage 'neither a lender nor a borrower be' would have helped save a life if it had been adhered to. In a bizarre incident, a man who lent an acquaintance money and threatened to commit suicide if the money was not repaid instantly, drank the poison himself after the borrower had grabbed the bottle of poison and drunk some it. Both men were rushed to hospital where one of them was declared dead on arrival.

According to sources, Manoj (45) ran a private finance company in Irulappan Street in Sowcarpet. His family came from Rajasthan and had settled here generations ago.Police said that Siddique, a resident of Triplicane and an acquaintance of Manoj,had reportedly lent Manoj around Rs 1 crore to help his finance company. He had asked for the money to be repaid on several occasions but to no avail.

On Wednesday, Siddique visited Manoj at his office after office hours. He took a bottle of poison with him, and police believe he whipped it out and threatened to commit suicide right there in the office if Manoj didn't pay up.

Manoj is thought to have grappled with Siddique and told him he had no money. He then drank the poison himself. Siddique panicked, thinking he will get arrested for usury, and promptly downed the rest of the poison. The two were found by a man who visited the office later. The Elephant Gate police were informed and the two unconscious men were taken to the Rajiv Gandhi government hospital. Manoj was declared brought dead and Siddique was taken to intensive care, where his condition is said to be critical.

Manoj's body has been sent for a post-mortem and a case has been registered at the Elephant Gate police station. The police are waiting to take Siddique's statement.
Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not very popular in Tamil Nadu. During his visit to the State capital Chennai on Wednesday, Twitter was seen to buzz with hyperactivity in asking the Prime Minister to go back. The hashtag #GoBackSadistModi was captured on Twitter as many as 68,543 times according to the French security researcher and twitter user Elliot Alderson.

Presenting a detailed analysis, Anderson listed the various hashtags opposing the Modi visit and the Tamils most using their twitter handles to pour scorn on the BJP leader. The thread attracted by his statistical tweet showing a clear anti-Modi feeling in Dravidian Tamil Nadu attracted various comments cutting both ways, but it did help establish the fact that Modis visits to the State have provoked such sentiments of hate.

Twitterati have been hounding the Prime Minister ever since he came to the Defence Expo last year when political opposition to his visit created a stir with black balloons and flags greeting him in Chennai. The fact that he did not visit Tamil Nadu after Cyclone Gaja swept through the southern districts and destroyed livelihoods more than lives may have led to more users protesting his visits on the social networking service.

There were murmurs of protest saying the #WelcomeModi tweet traffic should also be analysed but other users rebutted this by saying that the bakhts were behind this. The analysis also busted any theory that Pakistani twitter users may be spreading venom against the Indian PM. To conclude, sorry to break your dreams, but no, there is no indication that Pakistan is pushing this hashtag, Elliot tweets.

Most of the tweets emanated from Chennai and Coimbatore although many are tweets by the same users building up traffic volumes on the topic. The analysis by the researcher does prove that these are real people driving such a campaign and not bots as the Anderson analysis captured the tweets when they were at their maximum volumes - at around 250 tweets per minute to around 12,000 tweets per hour.
New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed the media on Thursday on the Rafale controversy.

Taking a dig at Modi government, Gandhi said, Gayab ho gaya is the new tag line for the government on Rafale deal.

On one hand you are saying the documents are missing, so this means the documents are genuine and it is clearly written in them that PMO was carrying out parallel negotiations, he added.

Yes of course take action on those involved in this missing documents case but also initiate an inquiry on PMO making parallel negotiations, Gandhi said.

Sharpening his attack moments later, he asked: Why doesnt the PM get a probe ordered if he isnt guilty.

He said investigate everyone but probe Modi as well.

Targeting PM Modi, Gandhi said, "These days everything seems to be disappearing. Jobs for two crore youth - disappeared, promise of Rs. 15 lakh for all citizens - disappeared, promises of right price for farm produce - disappeared, economic growth - disappeared. And now, even the Rafale files - disappeared."

"PM Modi performed bypass surgery in Rafale deal. The purchase was delayed to benefit Anil Ambani," Gandhi said, addressing a press conference in Delhi.

Talking about the alliance in Delhi for the upcoming elections, Gandhi said that overall our alliances are on track, in Delhi the party unit unanimously said no to a tie-up.

Speaking on Indo-Pak relations, Rahul Gandhi said, PM got ISI to Pathankot, went to meet Nawaz Sharif, he is the poster boy of Pakistan .

Speaking about the IAF strikes on terror camp in Pakistan, Rahul said, I wont talk much about it (evidence of IAF strikes), but yes I read that families of some of the CRPF personnel who were martyred have raised this issue, they are saying we were hurt so please show us what happened.

The Congress presidents fresh attack comes a day after the governments top law officer told the Supreme Court that the documents cited by lawyer Prashant Bhushan were stolen.
Bengaluru: In an apparent effort to placate three Congress legislators, who turned rebels along with Dr Umesh Jadhav, and ward off any threat to longevity of the coalition government headed by himself, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy met former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, B Nagendra and Mahesh Kumatalli and assured them of copious flow of funds to their constituencies on Wednesday.

Sources close to Mr Kumaraswamy said the Chief Minister took the initiative to invite these MLAs for discussions in the wake of Dr Jadhav's decision to quit the Assembly and Congress and join the BJP at a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kalaburagi on Wednesday. He felt the need to prevent more desertions as such moves would rock his government ahead of forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

These legislators, along with Dr Jadhav, were incommunicado for a couple of weeks, prompting CLP leader Siddaramaiah to issue notices to them and later submit a complaint for disqualification to Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar.

These legislators skipped almost the entire budget session of legislature to vent their ire against top Congress leaders and triggered speculation as well that they could jump ship ahead of Lok Sabha polls to join the BJP.

Soon after the meeting, Mr Jarkiholi told the media that he had established a very good rapport with all JD (S) leaders, and met the CM to discuss about developmental projects in his constituency. He also ruled out joining the BJP.

The CM reportedly promised to release funds for development of constituencies represented by these legislators and advised them not to take any decision in haste.

Mr Nagendra said he did not have plans of joining the BJP and his meeting with Mr Kumaraswamy pertained to development of Ballari district.
'He is likely to contest the election from Jamnagar constituency,' sources said. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Patidar community leader Hardik Patel will reportedly join the Congress party ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Top sources in the Congress have told news agency Press Trust of India that Hardik Patel will likely join the party on March 12. "He is likely to contest the election from Jamnagar constituency," they said.

Speaking to news agency PTI, the top Congress sources said: "Hardik Patel, who led the agitation demanding reservation for the Patidar community in Gujarat is likely to join the Congress on March 12 in the presence of party chief Rahul Gandhi."

The Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by Poonamben Maadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP.

Hardik Patel's joining will coincide with the Congress Working Committee or CWC meeting in Ahmedabad, following which top party leaders will address a public rally in the city.

The Congress is focusing on Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It had given a tough fight to the ruling BJP in the last assembly elections in the state.
Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari expressed his displeasure on Wednesday over some people raising slogans at a public meeting in Nagpur over their support for a separate Vidarbha state. (Photo: File)

Nagpur: Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari expressed his displeasure on Wednesday over some people raising slogans at a public meeting in Nagpur over their support for a separate Vidarbha state. He warned that he will get them "thrown out" from the event if they continue.

Gadkari lost his cool when some people raised slogans during his speech at the meeting, which was also attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and other senior leaders.

When Gadkari started speaking, some pro-Vidarbha activists sitting in the crowd began raising slogans, demanding separate statehood for the region in eastern Maharashtra. The activists also threw pamphlets in the media enclosure.

Irked over the constant shouting of slogans for a separate Vidarbha state, Gadkari first asked them to keep quiet. Thereafter, the Union minister said: "If they continue to make noise again, spank them, and throw them out. Take them all out."

Nagpur should be developed as the second capital and "we want to take Nagpur and Vidarbha region forward together and put them prominently on the world map," Gadkari told the gathering.

The senior BJP leader said he is happy that under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Nagpur and Vidarbha are witnessing all-around development.

Both Gadkari and Fadnavis belong to Nagpur, considered the second capital of the state and the region's biggest city.

The cotton-growing region, which comprises nearly a dozen districts, has been witnessing a movement for separate statehood for decades.

The BJP supports the demand for separate statehood for Vidarbha citing better and more efficient administration, but its ally - the Shiv Sena - is vehemently opposed to any division of Maharashtra.
Chennai: People will teach a lesson to the opposition DMK in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, for attempting to scuttle the implementation of the people-friendly initiatives of the State government, said revenue minister R.B. Udayakumar.

Launching the Amma Maternity Nutrition Kit worth Rs. 4,000, for pregnant women, at the PHC in T. Kallupatti near Tirumangalam in Madurai on Thursday the minister questioned the DMKs rationale in opposing the one-time financial aid of Rs 2,000 being distributed to the below the poverty line (BPL) families across Tamil Nadu.

Let them (DMK) first clarify whether assistance should be provided to the poor or not. They should not stop the schemes meant for the poor families. Definitely the people will teach the DMK a lesson in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, he told reporters.

The minister claimed that his AIADMK had formed a formidable alliance to face the LS polls and the combine cannot be defeated.

Meanwhile, cooperation minister Sellur K. Raju lashed out at the DMK saying the opposition party lacked principles and was only opportunistic. The DMK has no principles. It is opportunistic. They are only after power for personal gains and not to serve the people, he claimed.
Spiraling development costs for self-driving cars have forced BMW and Daimler to team up to share the financial and engineering burden, executives explained at a press conference in Geneva.

Daimler and BMW are teaming up to develop autonomous driving technology to cut costs and set an industry standard that can help to shape future regulation for self-driving cars, senior executives said on Wednesday.

It is a chicken and egg situation. Somebody has to standardize the technology and regulation will follow, Klaus Froehlich, BMWs board member responsible for development, said.

Spiraling development costs for self-driving cars have forced BMW and Daimler to team up to share the financial and engineering burden, executives explained at a press conference in Geneva.

With fully autonomous cars that lack drivers, manufacturers take on potential liability risks arising from accidents, pressuring the industry to clarify technological standards so that regulators can draw up rules.

It is to push technology forward and to set standards already in generation two vehicles, and not just in generation four. We do not want to waste resources, Froehlich said to explain the collaboration between the German automakers.

We should not invent this complicated wheel twice. On the path to setting these standards, it makes sense to share some of these investments, Daimler board member Ola Kaellenius said.

BMW and Daimler will form committees to pick potential suppliers of advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving technology in the coming four months, executives said.

Daimler started earlier working on autonomous driving; they have invested in fields of computer vision where the cooperation will benefit from this experience, BMWs Froehlich said.

Kaellenius said BMW and Daimler would develop next generation advanced driver assistance systems for compact and larger cars.

The collaboration is designed to set standards and at a later stage other partners will be invited to join, the executives said.

FiatChrysler is already a partner (with BMW). We want this partner in the future, Froehlich said.

FiatChrysler Chief Executive Mike Manley said he would welcome an opportunity to continue collaborating with BMW on its next generation autonomous driving technology.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
The surprise arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer in December quickly turned the executive, Meng Wanzhou, into a central figure in a trade war between two economic superpowers.

US President Donald Trump told Reuters he would consider intervening in her case - a potential action he alluded to again two weeks ago - if it would help close a trade deal with China.

Mengs lawyer on Wednesday told a Canadian court that he has concerns the allegations against her have a political character, noting Trumps comments on the case.

But US probes of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for allegedly evading US sanctions on Iran were not rooted in Trumps trade aspirations. Long before Trump initiated a bitter trade war with China, Huawei activities were under scrutiny by US authorities, according to interviews with ten people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.

The US focus on Huawei intensified after years of investigation into smaller Chinese rival ZTE Corp, and relied in part on information collected from devices of company employees traveling through airports.

Two of the sources said a critical point took place in August 2017, when deputy US Attorney General Rod Rosenstein - best known for his oversight of special counsel Robert Muellers probe of Russian interference in the US election  handed a lead role to Brooklyn prosecutors to pursue possible bank fraud charges against Huawei.

Fifteen months later, that strategy would help land Meng in a Canadian jail.

The US investigations of Chinas top telecom companies were spurred by reports by Reuters over six years ago, detailing possible Iran sanctions violations by both ZTE and Huawei, as well as close ties between Huawei and Skycom Tech Co Ltd - a suspected front company doing business in Iran.

A spokesman for Huawei, the worlds largest telecommunications equipment maker, has denied the charges in the sanctions case, and did not provide further comment to Reuters. Meng has said she is innocent of the charges. ZTE, which pleaded guilty in 2017 for illegally shipping US goods to Iran, did not respond to requests for comment.

US Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said the government pursues cases free of any political interference and follows the evidence and rule of law in pursuing criminal charges.

AIRPORT EVIDENCE GRAB

On December 1, 2018, Meng was stopped at Vancouver International Airport as she walked up the jetway after her flight, according to a lawsuit she filed on Friday accusing the Canadian government of violating her rights. Border officers examined her passport and escorted her to an area for secondary screenings.

While there, she was instructed to surrender her two mobile phones, an iPad and a personal computer, along with their passwords, the suit alleges, and the officers viewed the devices contents.

Reuters has not been able to determine what information was found on Mengs devices, but it is not the first time she and other Chinese telecom executives have turned over such property to border patrol agents.

In the years leading up to the Huawei indictment, US officials had been capturing information that would influence the investigation when telecom executives passed through US airports, according to a number of sources familiar with the Huawei and ZTE investigations and the Meng indictment.

For example, Meng arrived in the United States via John F. Kennedy International Airport in early 2014. The indictment says investigators found suggested talking points on one of her electronic devices, stating among other things that Huaweis relationship with Skycom was normal business cooperation.

Meng had been pulled into a secondary screening at the airport that time as well, and her electronic devices were taken, according to one person familiar with the stop. After a couple of hours, the devices were returned and she was freed to go, the person said.

Another border search, this time on September 12, 2014, of executives from rival ZTE also supported US investigators long-held suspicions of how Huawei might have been doing illicit business in countries subject to US sanctions, one of the sources told Reuters.

ZTEs CFO at the time was stopped at Bostons Logan Airport after flying in from London with an assistant, the person said.

The assistant was carrying a Lenovo laptop containing a confidential ZTE document, dated August 25, 2011 and signed by four top executives, about the need to establish front companies to supply US procured items needed for projects in embargoed countries.

The airport stop provided key evidence against ZTE in its legal battle with the United States, according to US officials. But it also identified a company as F7 and how it used a front company to serve as its agent for contracts in sanctioned countries. F7 was Huawei, according to the individuals familiar with the ZTE and Huawei investigations.

The document was posted on the US Commerce Department website in March 2016 when ZTE was placed on a list of companies that were restricted from buying parts and components from US suppliers. Shortly after the public posting, the New York Times reported that the description of F7 offered by ZTE matched Huawei.

A month later, the Commerce Department sent a subpoena to Huawei in the United States demanding information on the companys exporting American technology to Iran, according to a court document and one of the people familiar with the Huawei probe.

FROM ZTE TO HUAWEI

With the case against ZTE wrapping up, more than a dozen people from Departments of Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security and Justice, gathered in Washington on February 14, 2017 and talked about how they were moving forward against Huawei, according to a person familiar with matter.

Brooklyn prosecutors discussed the relationship between Huawei and HSBC, a bank that was required to cooperate with US prosecutors in any investigation until the end of 2017 for violating US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, the person added.

In late 2016, HSBC began to conduct an internal bank probe of Huawei. In the weeks and months following the meeting, HSBC helped authorities obtain evidence of links between Skycom and Huawei, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The probe found Meng met in 2013 with a HSBC banker. She later gave him a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, which the US indictment says misrepresented Huaweis control of Skycom.

HSBC told Reuters that it provided information in response to demands from the Justice Department.

The US Attorneys office in Washington, D.C., meanwhile, pursued a more traditional export control investigation against Huawei, which included the accusations of attempted illegal shipments of computers to Iran disclosed in the Reuters 2012 story.

A grand jury subpoena was issued to the U.S subsidiary of the company in April 2017, the first clear sign to Huawei that the probe had turned criminal.

Armed with that knowledge, the company moved US-based Chinese employees who knew about its Iranian dealings out of the country and otherwise concealed and destroyed evidence, the prosecutors allege. Meng and other Huawei executives also began to avoid travel to the United States, prosecutors say.

In the late summer of 2017, according to two of the sources close to the Huawei investigation, Rosenstein chose Brooklyn as the venue to file charges and the Washington US Attorneys office dropped out of the case. Brooklyn was already working with a money laundering unit at the Justice Department. The national security division also merged with the Brooklyn prosecution team.

Legal experts said since most evidence of any illegal US goods in Iran presumably existed outside the jurisdiction of US authorities, the bank fraud route presented a potentially quicker path to indictment. They added that bank fraud charges are more likely to lead to arrest by other countries for extradition to the United States than export controls or sanctions violations, and have a longer statute of limitations.

Meng and the company were charged with bank and wire fraud. The PowerPoint presentations numerous misrepresentations were central to the charges brought against Meng herself, the indictment shows.

Twelve months after Brooklyn got the case, prosecutors secretly obtained a warrant for Mengs arrest.

Less than four months later they learned she was stopping in Vancouver en route to Mexico on December 1, and asked the Canadians to detain her at the airport.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
In July 2018, an attack on Singapores largest public health organization, SingHealth, resulted in a reported 1.5 million patient records being stolen. Until now, nothing was known about who was responsible for this attack. Symantec researchers have discovered that this attack group, which we call Whitefly, has been operating since at least 2017, has targeted organizations based mostly in Singapore across a wide variety of sectors, and is primarily interested in stealing large amounts of sensitive information.

Whitefly compromises its victims using custom malware alongside open-source hacking tools and living off the land tactics, such as malicious PowerShell scripts.

Whiteflys targets

From mid-2017 to mid-2018, Whitefly launched targeted attacks against multiple organizations. While most of these organizations were based in Singapore, some were multinational organizations with a presence in Singapore.

To date, Whitefly has attacked organizations in the healthcare, media, telecommunications, and engineering sectors.

How Whitefly compromises its victims

Whitefly first infects its victims using a dropper in the form of a malicious .exe or .dll file that is disguised as a document or image. These files frequently purport to offer information on job openings or appear to be documents sent from another organization operating in the same industry as the victim. Given the nature of disguise, its highly likely that they are sent to the victim using spear-phishing emails.

If opened, the dropper runs a loader known as Trojan.Vcrodat on the computer. Whitefly has consistently used a technique known as search order hijacking to run Vcrodat. This technique takes advantage of the fact that Windows does not require an application to provide a specific path for a DLL that it wishes to load. If no path is provided, Windows searches for the DLL in specific locations on the computer in a pre-defined order. Attackers can therefore give a malicious DLL the same name as a legitimate DLL, but place it ahead of the legitimate version in the search order so that it will be loaded when Windows searches for it. Whitefly frequently delivers Vcrodat as a malicious DLL that has the same the same name as DLLs belonging to legitimate software from various security vendors. The group leverages search order hijacking to assure that their malicious DLLs will be executed. Targeting security applications could allow the attackers to gain higher privileges for the malware, since the vendors component may be run with elevated privileges.

Once executed, Vcrodat loads an encrypted payload on to the victims computer. The payload contacts a command and control (C&C) domain. Whitefly configures multiple C&C domains for each target. The payload sends system information about the infected computer to the C&C server and downloads additional tools.

Once the initial computer on the targeted organizations network is infected with Vcrodat, Whitefly begins mapping the network and infecting further computers. In order to carry out this operation, it uses publicly available tools, including Mimikatz (Hacktool.Mimikatz) and an open-source tool (SHA2: 263dc5a8121d20403beeeea452b6f33d51d41c6842d9d19919def1f1cb13226c) that exploits a known Windows privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2016-0051) on unpatched computers. The attackers rely heavily on tools such as Mimikatz to obtain credentials. Using these credentials the attackers are able to compromise more machines on the network and, from those machines, again obtain more credentials. They perform this tactic repeatedly until they gain access to the desired data.

Whitefly usually attempts to remain within a targeted organization for long periods of timeoften monthsin order to steal large volumes of information. It keeps the compromise alive by deploying a number of tools that facilitate communication between the attackers and infected computers. These tools include a simple remote shell tool that will call back to the C&C server and wait for commands, and an open-source hacking tool called Termite (Hacktool.Rootkit), which allows Whitefly to perform more complex actions such as controlling multiple compromised machines at a time.

Additional malware used in selected attacks

In some attacks, Whitefly has used a second piece of custom malware, Trojan.Nibatad. Like Vcrodat, Nibatad is also a loader that leverages search order hijacking, and downloads an encrypted payload to the infected computer. And similar to Vcrodat, the Nibatad payload is designed to facilitate information theft from an infected computer.

While Vcrodat is delivered via the malicious dropper, we have yet to discover how Nibatad is delivered to the infected computer. Why Whitefly uses these two different loaders in some of its attacks remains unknown. And while we have found both Vcrodat and Nibatad inside individual victim organizations, we have not found any evidence of them being used simultaneously on a single computer.

Links to other attacks

Some of the tools that Whitefly has used in its attacks have also been deployed in other targeted attacks outside Singapore.

Between May 2017 and December 2018, a multi-purpose command tool (SHA2: 7de8b8b314f2d2fb54f8f8ad4bba435e8fc58b894b1680e5028c90c0a524ccd9) that has been used by Whitefly was also used in attacks against defense, telecoms, and energy targets in Southeast Asia and Russia. The tool appears to be custom-built and, aside from its use by Whitefly, these were the only other attacks where Symantec has observed its use.

In another case, Vcrodat was also used in an attack on a UK-based organization in the hospitality sector.

It's possible Whitefly itself performed these attacks but its more likely that they were carried out by one or more other groups with access to the same tools.

Adept attackers with a large toolset

It now appears that the SingHealth breach was not a one-off attack and was instead part of a wider pattern of attacks against organizations in the region. Whitefly is a highly adept group with a large arsenal of tools at its disposal, capable of penetrating targeted organizations and maintaining a long-term presence on their networks. Links with attacks in other regions also present the possibility that it may be part of a broader intelligence gathering operation.

Protection/Mitigation

Symantec has the following protection in place to protect customers against these attacks:

File-based protection

Trojan.Vcrodat

Trojan.Nibatad

Hacktool.Rootkit

Hacktool.Mimikatz

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Lawmakers have been strongly critical of Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful Saudi crown prince. Some blame him for Khashoggi's killing and other human rights abuses. (Photo: File)

Washington: Retired Army General John Abizaid, US President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Saudi Arabia, defended the US-Saudi relationship on Wednesday as lawmakers accused the kingdom of a litany of misdeeds and criticized its crown prince as going "full gangster."

Senators at Abizaid's confirmation hearing, Trump's fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, condemned the kingdom's conduct in the civil war in Yemen, heavy-handed diplomacy and rights abuses including torturing women's rights activists and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Abizaid called for accountability for the murder of Khashoggi, a US resident, and support for human rights, but repeatedly stressed the importance of Washington-Riyadh ties.

Despite increasing tension between the two countries, the United States has not had an ambassador there since Trump became president in January 2017.

"In the long run, we need a strong and mature partnership with Saudi Arabia," Abizaid told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "It is in our interests to make sure that the relationship is sound."

Abizaid, a retired four-star Army general, led US Central Command during the Iraq war. Expected to easily win Senate confirmation, he was praised by senators from both parties at the hearing.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the Riyadh government, was killed at a Saudi consulate in Turkey in October. His death fuelled simmering discontent in Washington over Saudi Arabia's human rights record and heavy civilian casualties in Yemen's civil war, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The House of Representatives has passed a war powers resolution that would end all US support for the Saudi-led coalition, but Abizaid said the Trump administration believes strongly that US support should continue.

"Doing so bolsters the self-defence capabilities of our partners and reduces the risk of harm to civilians," Abizaid said.

'FULL GANGSTER'

The measure passed the Senate last year, but must go through the chamber again this year to be sent to the White House, where Trump is expected to issue a veto. However, its support in Congress is considered a strong rebuke of Riyadh.

Lawmakers have been strongly critical of Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful Saudi crown prince. Some blame him for Khashoggi's killing and other human rights abuses.

Eleven suspects have been indicted in Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi's murder, and last month a top Saudi official rejected accusations that the crown prince ordered the killing.

Republican Senator Jim Risch, the committee's chairman, said Washington needed to send a strong message to Saudi Arabia about actions that he said are complicating the relationship.

"It's going to have to be addressed by the Saudis and by the Crown Prince," Risch said.

"The Crown Prince has launched Saudi Arabia into a devastating war in Yemen, isolated Qatar, threatening Gulf cooperation and coordination against threats from Iran and regional terrorist groups, detained and tortured members of his own family and effectively hoodwinked and intimidated the Lebanese prime minister," said Senator Bob Menendez, the committee's top Democrat.

As Abizaid's hearing continued, at least two Republicans said bin Salman had gone "full gangster."

One, Republican Marco Rubio, cited a long list of actions including the imprisonment of women's rights activists and the 2017 detention of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.

Abizaid said in prepared remarks that the ISIS has been "nearly vanquished on the ground," but remains a "potent threat" to the United States and its allies.

While contradicted by some US military and intelligence officials, Trump has declared that ISIS has been driven out of all its territory since announcing in December that he would withdraw US forces from Syria. He claimed that US-led forces had succeeded in their mission to defeat the terror group.

Since then, Trump has decided to leave hundreds of US troops in the country over the longer run.
McSally, 52, an Arizona Republican who served two terms in the US House of Representatives, was appointed in December by the state's governor to take over the Senate seat once held by the late John McCain. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: US Senator Martha McSally, the first female combat pilot in the US Air Force, said on Wednesday she had been raped by a superior officer but did not report it because she blamed herself and did not trust the system.

"The perpetrators abuse their position of power in profound ways, and in one case I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer," McSally said during a Senate hearing on sexual assault in the military.

"But unlike so many brave survivors, I didn't report being sexually assaulted," she added. "Like so many women and men, I didn't trust the system. I blamed myself. I was ashamed and confused. I thought I was strong but felt powerless."

McSally did not identify her attacker.

Sexual assault and harassment in the US military is largely under-reported and came under renewed scrutiny two years ago after a scandal involving Marines sharing nude photos of women online came to light.

"I stayed silent for many years, but later in my career as the military grappled with scandals and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know: I too was a survivor," McSally said at the Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing.

"I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences were handled," she said, adding that she came close to leaving the Air Force after 18 years.

"Like many victims, I felt the system was raping me all over again."

Air Force spokeswoman Captain Carrie Volpe said in a statement: "We are appalled and deeply sorry for what Senator McSally experienced and we stand behind her and all victims of sexual assault. We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behaviour and breach of trust in our ranks."

Another member of the subcommittee, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who lost both legs in combat in the Iraq war, said at the hearing that the military "has utterly failed at handling sexual assault."

McSally's disclosure came less than two months after Senator Joni Ernst, an Army veteran, said publicly that she had been raped in college by someone she knew and that her ex-husband had physically abused her. An attorney for her former husband declined to comment at the time.

Ernst, a Republican, has in the past worked with Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to combat sexual assault in the military.

McSally, 52, an Arizona Republican who served two terms in the US House of Representatives, was appointed in December by the state's governor to take over the Senate seat once held by the late John McCain. A special election will be held in 2020 to fill the remaining two years of McCain's six-year term.

In November's congressional elections, McSally lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in the contest for Arizona's other US Senate seat, formerly held by Republican Jeff Flake.
Azhar started his speech with his fake death story and said he is alive and doing well. He asked his followers to start a jihad against India for oppressing Kashmiris. (Photo: File)

New Delhi/Islamabad: Days after reports of his death, the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has reportedly released an audio clip in which he rejected rumours of his death and warned the Pakistan government to stop persecuting mosques and true Muslims.

In the 11-minute audio clip released on Wednesday evening and uploaded on JeM chat platforms in which Azhar talked about India, Pulwama attack and liberals in Pakistan.

Azhar started his speech with his fake death story and said he is alive and doing well. He asked his followers to start a jihad against India for oppressing Kashmiris.

There are reports about my death. But only God decides how long you live and when you die, the clip said.

He narrated incidents of alleged torture during his prison time in India and stated that Pakistan was currently acting under pressure. Slamming India for putting pressure from all corners, Azhar said that the political leadership in the country has failed to understand Indias ploy.

Fear God, Azhar said in the speech. And stop persecuting the mosques, madrassas, and mujahideen. Remember, that when a Muslim flees the battle against the hypocrites, the wrath of Allah is upon him.

In one part of the speech he referred to liberals like Malala and said that Pakistan being an Islamic country should not allow them to take over the country.

These liberals couldnt tolerate the Islamisation of Pakistan under Zia-ul-Haq so just imagine what will happen if people like us rise against them, said Azhar.

Taking a dig at Pakistans foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Azhar said officials were in touch with Jaish and added that the government will have to accept Jaish as it was.

The audio, as stated in the clip, was recorded on March 4.

Qureshi had last week acknowledged that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, the masterminded behind several terror attacks in India, is in Pakistan. Qureshi further said that Azhar is really unwell and not in a position to even leave his house.
TINICUM  A pair of state lawmakers got a healthy start to their day Wednesday morning by promoting National School Breakfast Week at Tinicum School.

State Sen. Tim Kearney, D-26 of Swarthmore, and state Rep. Dave Delloso, D-162 of Ridley Township, met with school leaders, educators, and education and healthy eating advocates for an event called Hear the Pennsylvania Crunch! in honor of the week dedicated to providing students that crucial first meal of the school day.

Were here today because we all care about our children and we want to do everything we can to ensure that they achieve their full potential, said Kearney. Weve seen it proven time and time again that starting the day at school with a healthy, nutritious breakfast prepares students for the day ahead, leading to improved school performance, fewer nurse visits, and even a lower probability of childhood obesity.

According to the School Nutrition Association, National School Breakfast Week celebrates the National School Breakfast Program started in 1975 by Congress and serves more than 14 million children every school day. Having a breakfast of sustenance helps students reach higher levels of achievement in reading and math, score higher on standardized tests and have better concentration and memory according to the SNA.

A 2015 survey by the association reported an increase in breakfast participation during National School Breakfast Week in 96 percent of its member schools.

As a veteran teacher, I have seen the difference a healthy breakfast makes in preparing kids to learn. I want to thank all our partners in this project and our superintendent, who partnered with our association from the beginning to ensure a successful event, said Interboro Education Association President Judith Tilles. As we enter the final months of the school year, we hope that our district will continue to have the funding it needs to operate our school breakfast program and all the other wonderful things we do within the Interboro community.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association helped coordinate the event with Feeding Pennsylvania.
To the Times:

Pennsylvania can join 13 other states that have passed extreme risk protection order laws that save lives. Sen. Tom Killion, R-9, a Republican from Delaware and Chester counties, has introduced an ERPO bill with bipartisan support. SB 90 enables a person to seek a court order to temporarily remove firearms from a family member whom evidence shows is a danger to himself or others.

ERPOs address a serious public health crisis. Nearly 66 percent of gun deaths in America are suicide. According to a 2018 CDC report, Pennsylvanias average firearm suicide rate over five years exceeded the national average. Approximately 1,000 Pennsylvanians are lost to suicide each year. Because suicide can be an impulsive decision in a moment of deep crisis, the means matters  85 percent of firearm suicide attempts are successful.

Sen. Killions bill provides strong due process protections, and preserves the gun owners right to recover his firearms once the crisis passes. Other states are already seeing the impact of similar laws: Connecticut and Indiana saw 14 percent and 7.5 percent reductions respectively in firearm suicide rates following the adoption of ERPO.

Families can feel helpless watching a loved one struggle through a difficult time, and ill-equipped to intervene when firearms are involved. ERPOs give families a way to address the most lethal means of suicide during a critical window of time. Ask your state senator to support SB 90.
SALT LAKE CITY  If theres one thing you need to know about Captain Marvel, its that the character's back story is off-the-wall bonkers.

It also might be the best thing I've ever read.

The history of Captain Marvel is complicated. The Marvel superhero first appeared in comic book form in the late 1960s and is very different than the character well see in theaters when the new Captain Marvel film opens on Friday, March 8.

In the 2019 film, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) takes on the superhero mantel, interjecting herself in the middle of an intergalactic war between the Skrull and Kree, two alien races from the Marvel Universe.

But in the comics, Captain Marvel was originally a male Kree character named Mar-Vell, who was sent to Earth to observe its technological growth as it worked to transition to space. After hes branded a traitor to the Kree, he decides to stay on Earth.

But he's not the only Captain Marvel. In all, three males (including Mar-Vell's son) and three female (including Mar-Vell's son's alternate timeline sister) tried to take on the mantle, creating a complicated and long-running history for the character.

With Captain Marvel right around the corner, weve decided to do a deep dive into the Captain Marvel characters history, giving you a proper look at the superhero before the movie hits theaters.

All of this character information comes from Marvel.com character bios.

The original Captain Marvel died of cancer

The journey of Captain Marvel begins with Mar-Vell, who was "a white-skinned minority" among the blue Kree alien empire. He was an important soldier and hero among his people.

Yon-Rogg, his commander, sent him to Earth to monitor the planet and pay particular attention to humans' advancements in space travel. When Mar-Vell arrived on Earth, he was almost killed by the villainous Yon-Rogg and a robot called the Sentry. But Mar-Vell publicly defeated the robot and soon took on the name Captain Marvel.

From there, Mar-Vell observed humanity and watched over Earth, engaging in many adventures and some pretty weird things, but ultimately he discovered he had cancer due to his earlier exposure to nerve gas during a confrontation with a bad guy named Nitro. He traveled back to the planet Titan, where he spent his last days surrounded by fellow superheroes before passing away.

Source: Mar-Vell character bio.

Captain Marvel once led the Avengers

After Mar-Vells death, the media in the Marvel Universe soon dubbed Monica Rambeau (who will reportedly appear in the new movie) with the name Captain Marvel. She had previously worked as a harbor patrol lieutenant in New Orleans before she was hit with extra-dimensional powers that gave her the ability to morph into energy and back again at will.

She quickly sought out the Avengers to help her understand and use her new powers, eventually becoming a full member, the first African-American female to do so. But, as these things go, Monica found that she had memories of the first Captain Marvel, the heroic Mar-Vell, and felt unworthy of assuming his title. Thanks to her abilities and character, though, Monica won the approval of one of Mar-Vells close friends, Starfox, and decide to keep the name.

Monica went on to defeat several different enemies, including the Skrull alien race (who have been in an ongoing war with the Kree), a space pirate named Nebula and dozens of others. When the Wasp stepped down as Avengers' president, Monica took up the position and led the Avengers for some time. In an epic battle, she was seriously injured by a creature called Leviathan, which ended her run as leader and put a dent in her superhero career.

When Mar-Vells offspring, Genis, came into the picture, Monica handed the name of Captain Marvel to him as a way to honor Mar-Vells legacy. Over the next several years, Monica assumed the names Pulsar and Spectrum and still exists in the Marvel Universe today, albeit not as a main member of the Avengers.

Source: Monica Rambeau character bio.

Captain Marvel was once an insane villain that altered timelines (hold onto your seats for this one)

Captain Marvel wasn't always a hero. The character went a little mad when Genis-Vell took on the name.

Genis was 13 years old when he was born. (Yes, you read that correctly.) His mother, Elysius, used DNA from the original Captain Marvel, our old friend Mar-Vell, to conceive a child. Then she implanted false memories of his childhood into Genis mind, telling him that his father was actually Starfox, that good friend of Mar-Vell's who also knew Monica Rambeau.

However, his mother later revealed the truth to him, and Genis decided to become an explorer like his father.

When he arrived on Earth, he met Monica, who was using the Captain Marvel title, and the two teamed up to defeat a villain named the Controller. Monica offered Genis the Captain Marvel title, but Genis didnt want to accept the name because he felt Monica had earned it, although, as we learned earlier, Monica passed it off to him, anyway.

Genis felt he had finally earned the title after defeating Una-Rogg and Zey-Rogg  the children of Mar-Vells biggest enemy, Yon-Rogg  and at that point, took on the name Captain Marvel.

However, Genis wasn't exactly the Captain Marvel that Mar-Vell or Monica had been, and his reputation sort of fell apart. He clashed with Mar-Vells good friend Rick Jones  the two constantly quarreled  and then things really took a turn.

In the Destiny War, a conflict with the Time-Keepers, Jones assembled the Avengers from multiple timelines  including a more mature and older version of Genis. Jones suffered multiple injuries during the cosmic war and, to save his life, the future version of Genis merged his form and life force with Jones. (Don't forget, we're in comic book world.)

After the merge, the present day version of Genis felt the new powers that came from his future self and Jones melding together. Conflicted about the union, thanks to his problems with Jones in the present day, he went mad after contemplating his role in the universe. Genis fell into a catatonic state, and when he woke up, the former Captain Marvel experienced a bout of insanity.

From here, Genis has some wacky adventures, eventually teaming up with the cosmic entity Entropy, who was the offspring of Eternity, a villain who said he was creating Genis madness.

Entropy and Genis destroyed Eternity and then decided to recreate reality (Genis wanted to make sure the world was one where he hadnt developed madness).

But with the redesign of the universe came the creation of his new sister, Phyla-Vell, who attempted to take on the role of Captian Marvel next.

Source: Genis-Vell (son of Marv-Ell) character bio.

Captain Marvels sons sister (but not daughter  seriously) almost became Captain Marvel

The alternate and new universe Genis created led to Elysius, the woman who created Genis, coming back to life. She underwent another artificial pregnancy and gave birth to a daughter  Phyla-Vell, who was aged into adulthood as was Genis when he was born. This was essentially Genis' sister, although she bore no connection to Genis' father, Mar-Vell.

Phyla, Elysius and Starfox all confronted Genis on the planet Titan, where Phyla demanded Genis give her the role of Captain Marvel. Her brother refused to give it up, however, and she joins up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and in time, calls herself Martyr.

Source: Phyla-Vell (youngst sister of Genis-Vell) character bio.

Captain Marvel was once a Skrull pretending to be Mar-Vell

In the 2007 comic Civil War, Mar-Vell made an apparent return to the Marvel Universe as Captain Marvel. But it turned out to be Khnnr, a Skrull posing as Captain Marvel. After Khn'nr's mental programming gave out, the original Captain, Mar-Vell took over for a short time, but handed the title over to a new hero.

Source: Khnnr (takes on Marv-Ells form) character bio.

Captain Marvel was once originally Ms. Marvel

That new hero was Noh-Varr, a Kree alien who joined the 18th Kree Diplomatic Gestalt to help keep peace across the galaxy. Long story short, he met up with Khnnr, who was actually Mar-Vell, who appoints Noh-Varr as Captain Marvel.

Noh-Varr, who had been unsure about fighting for the Kree or the Skrulls, decided to wear the Captain Marvel powers and become the hero. He did so and joined the Dark Avengers, led by Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin from the "Spider-Man" comics). Noh-Varr assumed the role for a few years until Carol Danvers took over.

Danvers, though, was well-known for another role  Ms. Marvel

Carol Danvers was an Air Force pilot and intelligence agent who worked with NASA to help explore space. But then her life changed when she became a human-Kree hybrid with new powers. She spent several years as Ms. Marvel.

During a war between the Avengers and the X-Men, Carol went on a mission to space where she ran into the recently resurrected Mar-Vell, who had been brought back to life by the Kree. Mar-Vell sacrificed his life and gave the Captain Marvel powers to Danvers, who took it as a tribute.

The powers impacted her body over time, threatening to form a brain lesion to destroy her memories. Yon-Rogg came back to Earth at the same time and threatened to create a Kree city over New York City. Danvers is able to stop Kree, but the effort costs her all of her personal memories.

Source: Noh-Varr_,_ Carol Danvers character bios.

Captain Marvel was once a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy

\

In 2013, Marvel announced that Carol Danvers would join the Guardians of the Galaxy. Since then, she became a member of A-Force (the planet Battleworld's all-female team of Avengers), the leader of S.W.O.R.D. (the military agency designed to protect Earth from intergalactic enemies) and part of the Ultimates (an elite team developed to handle potential threats to Earth).

Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel continues to fight for Earth and has become one of the most popular heroes in the Marvel Universe.

Source: Carol Danvers (originally Ms. Marvel) character bio.

Correction: This article previously said Captain Marvel was once a Kree pretending to be Mar-Vell. That version of Captain Marvel was actually a Skrull.
SALT LAKE CITY  Star Wars: The Last Jedi saw the death of Luke Skywalker, and it appears Mark Hamill still has strong feelings about it.

What happened: In a recent interview with Den of Geek, Hamill weighed in about the deaths of his character Luke Skywalker, Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and the death of Carrie Fisher. Hamill said he told directors to push Lukes death to the last film, but thats not how it transpired.

Thats what I was hoping when I came back: no cameos and a run-of-the-trilogy contract. Did I get any of those things? Because as far as Im concerned, the end of VII is really the beginning of VIII, Hamill told Den of Geeks. I got one movie! They totally hornswoggled (tricked) me.

Hamill said that though he felt tricked by the outcome, he has largely made peace with the decision to kill his character. Its not something that worries me, because its all about the new generation, as it should be.

Thoughts on Han Solos death: Hamill revealed that he is still bothered by Han Solos death. You might recall that Han died at the hands of his son Ben Kylo Ren Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Hamill told Den of Geeks he thought the decision to kill Han was a big mistake.

I just thought, Lukes never going to see his best friend again. You look at it in a self-centered way. I said that it was a big mistake that those three people would never reunite in any way, Hamill said. I guess I was wrong, because nobody seems to care!

Hamill went on to say that Hans death did not seem to affect the larger audience in the long run, though he is still affected by it.

Luke, Han and Leia will never be together again, and Ill probably never get to work with Harrison again, Hamill said.

Thoughts on Carrie Fisher: Hamill said that the latest Star Wars trilogy was planned to feature each member of the prequels trio in their own film. Star Wars: Episode IX was meant to be Fishers film before she passed away in 2016.

Harrison was more prominent in the first of the sequels, then I was more prominent, and Carrie was meant to be more prominent in the third, Hamill said.

Star Wars: Episode IX will reportedly feature repurposed footage of Fisher from earlier films, according to Den of Geeks.

Im glad they found a way to do that, and something tells me that shed get a real kick out of the fact that she had a hit movie years after she left us, because that was just her, Hamill said. I like to think that would please her, but nothing would be better than having her here.

Star Wars: Episode IX will hit theaters Dec. 20.

Hamill will star in the upcoming second season of Knightfall, according to ComicBook.com.
A few years ago, after meeting with a deputy executive director of UNICEF, I couldnt help noticing the irony.

He was excited about how the widespread availability of vaccines was providing hope to parents in developing nations. Meanwhile, many privileged, educated Americans were refusing to vaccinate their children  voluntarily accepting the risk of returning the mayhem impoverished countries are so anxious to escape.

Today, measles is on the rise again, with cases having been reported in 11 states and with outbreaks in Washington state, Oregon, New York, Texas and elsewhere. Utah is just a short airplane ride and a sneeze away from its own troubles. The state health department said only 90.9 percent of public kindergarten students and 92.4 percent of 7th-grade students here are adequately immunized, KSL recently reported. Health officials say it takes about 95 percent to provide whats known as herd immunity, or enough protection to keep people who cant be vaccinated, for various health reasons, from becoming infected.

And yet on Tuesday, an anti-vaccine group went to the state Capitol to protest a Senate hearing in Washington concerning how vaccines save lives and what can be done to prevent outbreaks of serious diseases. Its as if people had never heard what life was like 50 or 60 years ago.

In many developing countries, its still the 1950s  a time when, in this country, parents lived in mortal fear of their children contracting diseases, such as polio or measles, that could cripple or kill them.

The measles vaccine first was made available in 1963. Before then, the disease claimed as many as 500 deaths each year in the United States and made another 48,000 so sick they had to be hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control. About 4,000 people developed encephalitis, a swelling of the brain.

How quickly we forget.

The Annals of Internal Medicine just published a massive study out of Denmark, where researchers tracked 657,461 children born between 1999 and 2010. The conclusion strongly supports that MMR vaccination does not increase the risk for autism, does not trigger autism in susceptible children, and is not associated with clustering of autism cases after vaccination.

It is not the first such study to reach this conclusion, thoroughly debunking the claims by British doctor Andrew Wakefield, who in 1998 claimed to have found such a link. He later was found to have faked some of the data, and he subsequently lost his medical license. But his claims gained a foothold among a portion of the population.

Yes, the CDC reports, some people react badly to vaccinations. While it wont cause autism, in extremely rare instances the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine can result in deafness, seizure, coma or brain damage. Rich Lakin, immunization program manager at the Utah Department of Health, recently told the Deseret News the risk of developing any sort complication is about one in 1 million.

But the risks involved with losing herd immunity would be far more severe. After years of refilling Pandoras box and getting the lid closed, we cant afford to start fiddling with the latch again.

Meanwhile, in poor countries today, diseases such as rotavirus, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines, are killing children. Four years ago, I met with a man who directs pediatric hematology at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He told me with enthusiasm how a newly acquired rotavirus vaccine had virtually emptied his childrens ward, which had been filled with three or four dying children per bed before 2013.

The vaccine alliance known as GAVIhad, through 2017, immunized 127 million children in low-income countries, with a goal of vaccinating 300 million by 2020. This would, according to the GAVI website, save 5 to 6 million lives and reduce child mortality rates in those countries by 10 percent.

Economically advanced nations such as the United States should understand this and be grateful they paved the way. The CDC estimates vaccines prevented 732,000 deaths among people born in the United States between 1994 and 2013, as well as 322 million illnesses.

What a shame if we chose to relearn the lessons of previous generations the hard way.
SALT LAKE CITY  Tina Sipp, manager of the African Childrens Choir, has seen hundreds of students pass through the choir, but one student's story is still fresh in her mind.

The student, a young woman from Rwanda, was nowhere close to the best student in the class, Sipp remembered in a recent phone interview.

I remember she said to me, You know, Auntie, I knew they wanted us to go to school, but I didnt know what I was doing there,' Sipp said about the student. But when they came back from (the choir) tour, there was a teacher that really excited her about education."

Following the early death of her mom, the student threw herself into her education, realizing, Sipp recalled, that, "Ive got to be the one to take care of the family.'" She graduated as the top female student in all of Rwanda, going on to receive a full scholarship to American University in Washington D.C. her sophomore year  "And this is a little girl who came out on tour who didn't know up from down in terms of education, Sipp said.

The young woman, who is now studying neuroscience to better understand the mind, aims to apply her knowledge in education to help improve the academic process for students around the world.

It's a remarkable tale for a remarkable young woman, and one of the many success stories the African Children's Choir has seen in its 35-year history.

The African Children's Choir, which started in 1984 thanks to the vision and efforts of founder Ray Barnett, is a music and education program that has sponsored thousands of choir graduates to go on to higher education and obtain leadership positions in their chosen fields. The choir members are drawn from African Children's Choirs 35 nonprofit education programs and selected based on need. Once the tour ends, the children are then funded all the way through their post-secondary education, Sipp said.

The African Childrens Choir is currently touring North America's West, introducing the group  children whose lives formerly existed in a two- to five-miles radius, Sipp said  to Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota and three Canadian provinces. The African Childrens Choir will perform on March 8 at Calvary Baptist Church, and on March 10 in Sandy and Murray.

These are all children, age 7-10, who have been left in poverty, Sipp said. Theyre from very vulnerable, impoverished backgrounds, mostly because their families arent educated, theres a lot of single-parent homes and they cannot afford even a government education for their children, Sipp said. So education is really out of the realm of possibility for them. That means, the potential that is in each of these children can never be tapped.

While the program brings vibrant, African-influenced dancing and choral music to Western audiences, the choirs ultimate purpose is to fund the secondary education of several hundred children throughout Africa.

A lot of people  think that we're raising money only for the children that are in the choir, but they're actually a very small percentage of the children that are being helped by the work of the choir, Sipp said.

Beyond financial limitations, Ugandas educational infrastructure itself further prevents children from advancing in school. Because the country is part of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ugandas national standardized tests  three exams per year, to be exact  are given in English. Children who are not proficient in English, Sipp said, will therefore not do very well on the exams.

Across the board, one thing that I didn't understand until I had a chance to go and visit Africa a few times was just how important English is for them  all of the (Ugandan) educational system is in English and all of the national testing  is in English, Sipp said. So if you don't know English, you can never move forward in your education. The immersion in English is huge for the children.

In addition to the language benefits, the choir's travel experiences, too, expand the childrens horizons.

The other thing I really saw and experienced was the limited vision that these children have before tour.  Their world is very, very small, and it's pretty hard to dream beyond that. So, the vision that is cast, and the confidence that is instilled in them, and the training, and the discipleship and mentorship  were building character, Sipp said.

Susan, a 10-year-old Ugandan girl currently touring with the choir, sat down for a short phone interview about the tour. Her favorite subject is math, she wants to be a doctor, what she enjoys most about the tour is performing and traveling  and she misses home so, so much.

For Sipp, it's students like Susan who make the choir's performances memorable for their audiences  and it's not always about their singing.

I think our performances connect with Western audiences because there's something in us that longs for the deeper things, the non-tangibles  joy and resiliency  and I think the children (in our choir) touch that chord," she said. Honestly, I think the program is good, but at the end of the night what people have been magnetized by is the spirit of the children.

If you go 

What: African Childrens Choir Just As I Am tour

When: Friday, March 8, 7 p.m.

Where: Calvary Baptist Church, 1090 S. State Street

How much: Free

Web: africanchildrenschoir.com

Also 

When: Sunday, March 10, 10 a.m.

Where: Mountain View Assembly, 300 E. 8000 South, Sandy

Also 

When: March 10, 7 p.m.

Where: Cottonwood Presbyterian Church, 1580 E. Vine Street, Murray

Notes: The choir is currently looking for volunteer bus drivers. If interested, email: info@africanchildrenschoir.com
FRUITLAND, Duchesne County  Two people were killed Wednesday afternoon when their SUV slid into a snow plow in Duchesne County, troopers said.

The crash occurred about 3:15 p.m. on U.S. 40 near Strawberry Reservoir, the Utah Highway Patrol said. A Ford Expedition was traveling east when the driver lost control of the car and slid into westbound lanes.

Conditions were snowy and icy at the time, troopers said. The Expedition hit the front plow portion of the westbound Utah Department of Transportation snow plow.

The driver of the Expedition and a passenger in the back seat were killed on impact, the UHP said. Their names and ages weren't immediately released.

Two other passengers in the Expedition were taken to a hospital with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening.

The snow plow driver was also taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

"It appears that speed on the snowy roads and equipment issues were contributing factors. The front tires of the Expedition were sufficient; however the rear tires were largely bald and in an unsafe condition," according to the UHP.

The road remained closed in the area to traffic as troopers investigated the crash.

One lane remained open to westbound traffic but was expected to close "intermittently," troopers said, cautioning drivers to expect delays in the area.
WOODS CROSS  A man who police said was in life-threatening condition after being punched outside a Woods Cross motel has died.

Tilman Bitsoie, 45, of Arizona, was taken to a local hospital late Monday after police say he was punched by Ross Alan Letham, 31, at the InTown Suites Extended Stay Motel, 635 S. 700 West. Bitsoie died from his injuries Tuesday night, according to Woods Cross police.

Letham, who was originally booked into the Davis County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, was being held on Wednesday for investigation of manslaughter.

Late Monday night, Letham confronted Bitsoie in the hallway of the motel and told him to "keep it down," according to a jail booking report.

Later, while Bitsoie was outside smoking, Letham "again confronted him and was threatening to fight him. At some point the suspect punched the victim who went down and went unconscious," the report states.

Bitsoie was punched in the head, and his head then hit the ground when he fell, according to police.

"We have now been told the victim is most likely not going to survive," police wrote in the report.

Police say Bitsoie was in Utah for work. Letham has a lengthy criminal history of mainly drug-related crimes, according to court records.
SALT LAKE CITY  Over 76,000 undocumented immigrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in February, more than double the number that crossed during the same time period last year, according to data released by Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday.

The system is well beyond capacity, and remains at the breaking point, Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, told reporters at a press conference Tuesday.

The last time the month of February saw so many border crossings was in 2007. This month also had the highest total of border crossings of any month during President Donald Trumps presidency, NBC News reported.

So far in fiscal year 2019  which began in October  237,327 migrants have been apprehended by U.S. officials along the border, a 97 percent increase from the previous year.

Lets take a closer look at the data to understand who is crossing the southwest border and why, and how the U.S. is handling this surge in migration.

Who is crossing the border?

More than 90 percent of recent migrants are from Guatemala, The New York Times reported. While in the past undocumented immigrants were primarily single men from Mexico, the number of Mexicans crossing the border illegally has plummeted by over 300,000 in the last decade, the Deseret News previously reported.

At the same time, the number of undocumented immigrants from Central American countries  El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala  shot up by over 375,000 between 2007 and 2016, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center study.

Central American families have become the new face of undocumented immigration, Miriam Jordan wrote in The New York Times.

Indeed, 65 percent of the migrants who crossed the border in February were either children traveling alone or children with families.

The number of migrant families illegally entering the U.S. at the southwest border has increased dramatically over the last year. In the first five months of fiscal year 2019, U.S. officials detained 136,150 people traveling in families with children. This compares to 107,212 people traveling in families that were detained throughout all of fiscal year 2018, the Times reported.

Why are families crossing the border?

Central American families are primarily traveling to the U.S. to escape danger and poverty in their home countries. According to the Times, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala have some of the highest homicide rates in the world, including widespread gang activity that can target civilians.

Traveling as a family unit can also make it easier to evade deportation or detention.

U.S. border officials told reporters that some of the strongest pull factors bringing families to cross the border have to do with federal laws that prevent the government from holding families in standard detention facilities for more than 72 hours. By law, officials are required to transfer families to a facility suitable for children or let them go free while their cases are pending, the Times reported.

Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement currently has only three residential family centers that can hold up to 3,326 parents and children combined, it has been forced to release thousands of migrants each week because there isnt enough space to detain all of them  nor enough judges to hear all of their cases.

More than 40,000 family members crossed the border in February alone, according to government data.

Why the increase?

In 2017, the number of migrants intercepted at the border was the smallest in decades, with 310,531 arrests, the Deseret News previously reported. The last time there were so few border arrests was in 1971.

The recent sudden increase in migrants may be partially due to President Trumps goal to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and his promise to crack down on illegal immigration.

Previous spikes in border traffic have often preceded crackdowns. ... The announcement of a government spending deal to build a border wall on Feb. 15 may have precipitated a similar rush, as numbers had been steadily declining over December and January, NBC News reported.

In addition, new policies instituted by the Trump administration have led to long waiting lines at legal points of entry at which migrants can claim asylum. This frustrated some migrants, resulting in more deciding to cross the border illegally.

The problem has also been exacerbated by a dearth of immigration courts, judges and lawyers and an increasingly high volume of cases. As the Times reported, many migrants come to the U.S. to seek asylum, and the number of asylum cases has shot up in recent years. In 2008, around 5,000 migrants said they had a credible fear of persecution, which is the first legal step to request asylum. In 2018, that number rose to nearly 100,000.

The system, which already faces a backlog of over 700,000 cases, became even more pressurized when more than 40,000 immigration hearings were canceled during the government shutdown in January, pushing many immigrants' hearings back by years.

The Times reported that the number of migrant families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is predicted to keep growing in upcoming months.

How to handle the migration surge?

Officials and citizens along the border say they have been overwhelmed by the sudden influx in migrants.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement not only lacks adequate space for migrant families, it has also run out of detention space for single adults who cross the border illegally, according to the Times. As a result, it is releasing adults before their immigration court cases or asylum requests have been finalized.

More than 50,000 migrant adults are currently being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement  the highest number ever, officials told the Times.

The lack of space for detainees has led volunteers, church leaders and other community members to find creative solutions. The Times and the Deseret News reported that churches, nursing homes and hotel rooms funded by donations have been hastily made available in towns along the border so that migrants to have a place to go.

Customs and Border Protection is also increasing the medical care it makes available for migrants, after two children died in a detention facility in December 2018. Now all migrant children will receive comprehensive health screenings, and a new center will be set up in El Paso to provide improved shelter and medical care for families.

These solutions are temporary and this situation is not sustainable, McAleenan said. This is clearly both a border security and a humanitarian crisis.

McAleenan identified several ways for the involved parties to move forward, calling for Central American governments to improve economic security and opportunity in their countries and for the U.S. to cooperate with the Mexican government to invest in border security.

"We also face the acute need for legislative action to address the gaps in the legal framework" of immigration law, he said.
SALT LAKE CITY  A bill making a slew of tweaks to the sweeping transportation bill the Utah Legislature approved last year is nearing final approval.

The Utah House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to approve a new version of SB72, a bill that includes a variety of changes to last year's bill, including the official removal of last year's failed proposal to rename Utah Transit Authority to the Transit District of Utah.

The bill would also make changes to the nomination process to UTA's new three-member commission. The proposed changes come after Utah County, Tooele County and Gov. Gary Herbert clashed over an appointee to the new board last year.

Eventually the dispute was resolved, but not until after Utah County and Tooele County disagreed over the names Utah County sent forward, which the governor rejected.

A new version of SB72 proposed and passed in the House would change the nomination process so each county puts forward nominations rather than some smaller counties consulting with larger counties to arrive at a shared nomination. The bill also puts a time limit of 60 days on the governor to choose from those nominations an appointee.

The bill would also make changes for people who own electric or hybrid vehicles, who currently don't pay the gasoline tax that fund Utah highways.

Last year, the Utah Legislature enacted higher registration fees on those cars to help offset the lost gasoline tax revenue, but SB72 changes that, giving owners of electric or hybrid cars an option to participate in a "road user charge" pilot program starting Jan. 1 next year.

Drivers who participate in the program would report their mileage driven  and the mileage will determine how much of a tax the driver will pay. The maximum charge is the same as the higher registration fees passed last year.

The bill now goes to the Senate for final consideration.
Cookie banner

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019.

By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.
STANSBURY PARK, Tooele County  Authorities have identified a 37-year-old woman killed last week when a large boulder rolled on top of her while hiking at Stansbury Island.

Sarah Knight, from the Salt Lake area, was hiking down a trail Saturday afternoon and was on the boulder when it moved and trapped her. The woman then fell forward and the boulder somehow rolled on top of her, said Tooele County Sheriff's Lt. Travis Scharmann.

Knight was with her husband and friend when the accident occurred.

The slick conditions made the steep terrain more dangerous, Scharmann said. "With as slick as it is, I wouldn't be up here hiking."

But he said police have not seen an accident of this kind happen before in the area.

"This is a normal area for people to come up hiking so this is just an unfortunate accident," Scharmann said.

Officials recovered Knight's body later Saturday night.
SALT LAKE CITY  Local sales taxes won't be added to services in the latest version of Republican leadership-backed tax reform legislation expected to surface on the House floor Thursday.

"There were too many hurdles," the sponsor of HB441, Rep. Tim Quinn, R-Heber City, told the Deseret News, so at least for now, local governments would continue to collect sales taxes at the same rate only on the existing tax base.

HB441, already targeted by a number of businesses as well as education and health care advocates, is intended to stabilize the state's shrinking tax base by expanding it to include a wide range of services.

At the same time, the bill drops the state sales tax rate for the current 4.7 percent to what Quinn said will be 3 percent with a $75 million cut in the rate announced Tuesday by House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville.

Originally, the bill was also supposed to lower local option sales tax rates to reflect a much broader sales tax base that includes Uber rides, haircuts, lawyers and other professionals, but not most health care or housing rentals.

But trying to figure out how to ensure the reductions in local option taxes did not hurt Utah's 248 cities and towns or 29 counties, or affect bonds issued by the Utah Transit Authority and other entities, turned out to be too tricky to tackle right away.

Quinn said the solution was to strip local option sales taxes from HB441.

"Their current base is their base going forward. They're not in this bill," he said, noting a restricted account intended to be used to hold local governments harmless put a $250 million price tag on the legislation.

Before the tax cut, HB441 was intended to be revenue neutral, meaning tax rates would be adjusted so the same amount of revenues would be collected despite the larger tax base.

Besides sales taxes, the bill also cuts the state's 4.95 percent income tax rate to 4.75 percent and includes a trio of income tax changes to help families, as well as the poor and elderly, reduce the taxes they owe.

Quinn and Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, who is expected to be the Senate sponsor of HB411, both said the issue of subjecting services to local sales taxes will be revisited once its clear how the new tax base is working.

In the meantime, services will only be subject to the state sales tax rate, easing worries that businesses operating in multiple jurisdictions would have to scramble to determine the specific taxes for each customer.

The revised version of HB441, which was still being drafted Wednesday, will call for reducing the state sales tax rate over three years, starting in 2020, with the tax on goods starting higher than the new tax on services.

Cameron Diehl, executive director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, said the organization's legislative policy committee voted Monday to support expanding the sales tax base.

"If the state moves forward with base expansion, now or in the future, we want to be part of that solution," Diehl said. "We prefer to be in the bill now, but we recognize where the states coming from, trying to collect data first."

He said local governments have the same concerns as the state about the impact on their budgets from a shift in consumer purchases over the years from goods that are taxed to services that mostly aren't.

"The concept of sustainable revenue is what is important," Diehl said, especially in the long term. "In the short term, we get to keep what we have. Thats important because budgets have been built around that."

Lobbying efforts from a variety of groups are ramping up against the bill, which includes a 1 percent tax on health insurance policies and a 0.075 percent tax on real estate transactions.

Even Gov. Gary Herbert, who called for broadening the sales tax base while lowering the rate in his proposed budget released last year, is said by some lawmakers to be pushing hard for a larger tax cut than the $75 million now on the table.

The governor's deputy chief of staff, Paul Edwards, repeated a previous statement about the "many moving parts to this monumental effort to make are tax system fairer and sustainable" that said "it would be unfair to comment on specific pieces of the package in isolation."

During an early evening news conference at the Capitol, a group of small business owners assisted by the Utah Eagle Forum said the bill was being rushed through the Legislature with little opportunity for them to express their concerns.

Maryann Christensen, Utah Eagle Forum executive director, called HB441 "a terrible bill and we need to make sure we put enough pressure on our legislators" that it won't pass before the session ends March 14.

David Saltsman, CEO of Whipple Service Champions, said he'd just heard about lawmakers considering taxing services and had "no clue it was coming." He said it would be an "appalling, horrible change."

Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, said in a statement that the bill "is a monumental step forward in ensuring Utah continues to lead the nation in economic growth."

Miller said that while the chamber supports the effort to broaden the tax base and lower income and sales tax rates, "we recognize the current version of HB441 is neither perfect nor final. We welcome input from the business community to address concerns and refine the bill.

The Utah Health Policy Project focused on the insurance premium tax in the bill.

UHPP will always speak for the consumer and feels it is necessary to point out the flaw in implementing a burdensome tax that will be passed on to consumers in such an already unstable part of the market," Courtney Bullard, UHPP education and collaborations director, said.

For the Utah Education Association, the issue is reducing the income tax rate. Under the Utah Constitution, all income tax revenues must be used to pay for public schools and higher education.

Backers of the tax overhaul say it will end up providing more money for public schools by allowing the state to revert back to using more sales tax money for higher education.

"Utah's broken tax structure is nothing new," UEA President Heidi Matthews, however, said in a statement. "We believe legislators can devise a way to repair the broken sales tax structure without drastically cutting funding for education."

Matthews called the tax reform proposal "a gamble. Our kids education must not be used as a political device just to make needed sales tax changes palatable."
DRAPER  The Utah National Guard is preparing for an upcoming training event with a 900-mile convoy involving at least a dozen military vehicles traveling around the state Friday through Sunday.

The Utah Highway Patrol, which is helping coordinate the convoy along with the Utah Department of Transportation, is asking motorists to be alert and drive safely around the convoy, as the vehicles are large, slow moving and have significant blind spots. In addition, the vehicles may not signal lane change intentions in a traditional manner.

Motorists are also being asked to avoid entering the convoy between vehicles and use extreme caution when passing. According to the UDOT, a passenger vehicle should allow at least one car length for every 10 miles per hour before passing a truck.
SALT LAKE CITY  It's been a year and a half since a Price photographer was arrested for investigation of forcible sexual abuse, but no criminal charges have been filed.

Levan W. Hall, 63, now says the Carbon County Attorney's Office has declined to prosecute the case. The attorney's office, however, said Wednesday it could still formally file charges in the future but would not comment directly on whether the case has been declined.

In June 2017, Hall, who runs Levan Hall's Creations, was arrested for investigation of forcible sexual abuse, stalking, lewdness and electronic communication harassment. A few days later, a stalking injunction was filed against him in 7th District Court by the woman who police said was the victim in the sex abuse investigation. The temporary stalking injunction was dismissed in February 2018, according to court records.

Hall, who opened a private photography business after being a teacher in the Carbon School District for 34 years, told the Deseret News that he "became involved with a model" who later fabricated her version of events to investigators.

"She lied to the police, nothing she said was proved," he said.

Hall further stated that the officer who arrested him "was way aggressive thinking he had something without any other proof than one person."

He believes charges were not filed due to a lack of evidence.

The woman claimed Hall had been stalking her for several months, according to a prepared statement from the Price Police Department in 2017.

"It was learned that after a legitimate business contact with the alleged suspects photography business, inappropriate criminal behavior began occurring," police stated in 2017.

Price Police Chief Kevin Drolc defended his department's investigation on Thursday.

"We had a credible victim make a complaint against him. As a result he was arrested," he said. "I think based on the information we received from both the victim and Mr. Hall, there was enough to forward (the case) to the county attorney for their final determination."

The police report obtained by the Deseret News states that the woman initially contacted Hall about doing a photo shoot so she could give pictures to her husband. But police felt, based on the woman's statements and Facebook messages Hall sent her, that he was "grooming" her to do more provocative pictures, according to the report.

Hall then started showing up at the woman's place of employment, police say. One day, he waited for her in the parking lot of her work and exposed himself to her when she walked out, according to the report.

When interviewed by police, Hall said the contact was consensual but also said, "I push the limits," the report states.

"It was not even going to go that far  but it did," Hall told police, according to the report. "I was pushing buttons. And she was pushing my buttons."

Drolc said it's the prerogative of the county attorney's office to decide whether to proceed to trial after a case has been reviewed.
CEDAR HILLS, Utah County  A former Cedar Hills resident now living in Tennessee was charged Thursday with sexually abusing a boy a decade ago.

Robert McDaniel Christian, 50, is charged in 4th District Court with four counts of sodomy on a child, a first-degree felony, 10 counts of sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony, and lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor.

In August, a man contacted police to report that he was sexually abused by Christian between 2008 and 2010 when he was between 11 and 13 years old, according to charging documents. The man said when he was in fifth grade, his neighbor, Christian, would talk to him as he walked home from school.

One day, Christian invited the victim into his house, at which time he made him wear women's underwear and spanked him, according to charging documents. The man said the abuse happened about 20 times over the next two years, progressing into more sexual acts, the charges state.

"He said Christian always dressed him in women's clothing and spanked him  and saying he was really a girl," according to charging documents.

The man said he told his parents about the alleged abuse when he was preparing to go on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"(He) first disclosed the abuse both to his parents and to his ecclesiastical leader when he was 17, but the decision was made at that time by that group not to involve law enforcement. (He) subsequently sought therapy to address the psychological issues associated with the abuse," the charges state.

But while on his mission, he had to "return home due to the trauma that he had endured," according to a police affidavit filed in 4th District Court. "It is then that he decided to report the abuse to law enforcement."

Investigators determined Christian had moved to Athens, Tennessee. "Social media accounts for Christian include several photos in which Christian has adopted the appearance of a woman," the charges state.

An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for Christian.
WEST JORDAN  A woman who police say has a history of substance abuse was arrested Tuesday after allegedly breaking into several homes in her neighborhood and attempting to kidnap a child out of a car, police say.

Officers booked Charity Ann Smith, 45, of West Jordan, into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of kidnapping, assault, burglary, three counts of trespassing and interrupting a communication device.

Tuesday afternoon, Smith was in the area of 1100 West 7000 South, near her home, when she allegedly opened the rear door of a car "and attempted to remove the victim's child from the back seat. The victim had to force her child out of the suspect's hands, and keep her from continuing to take the child," according to a Salt Lake County Jail booking report.

When she was later arrested by police, Smith "mentioned (Division of Child and Family Services) and needing a child," the report states.

Smith also allegedly entered a home in the neighborhood at random and took the homeowner's cellphone when the homeowner attempted to call 911, according to the report.

"The suspect pushed the victim at least twice while she was inside the home, to keep the victim from using her phone," the report states.

Smith then "forced her way into three other homes," according to the report. Homeowners described her as "going crazy" inside their residences, the report states.

West Jordan police noted that all of these crimes occurred less than 24 hours after she was released from jail that morning for investigation of another incident.

Police Sgt. JC Holt said officers have dealt with Smith in the past wandering around the neighborhood while intoxicated, but she has never attempted to abduct a child before, he said. Investigators suspect drugs were fueling her actions on Tuesday to the point she was "out of her mind," he said.

Smith also has a history of assault and interfering with arresting officers, according to court records.
PROVO  Detectives on Thursday detailed the clues that strengthened their suspicion that a Utah man killed a young couple and dumped their bodies in an abandoned mineshaft in 2017.

On the second day of a preliminary hearing for Jerrod Baum, the law enforcement officers recalled finding keys belonging to Riley Powell, 18, and Brelynne "Breezy" Otteson, 17, scattered around a gravel pit near Baum's home in the tiny community of Mammoth in Juab County. They also described how they found the couple's bodies using a camera designed for probing sewer systems.

Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan did not immediately rule Thursday whether there is enough evidence for Baum to stand trial on two charges of aggravated murder. A conviction carries a possible death sentence.

Video footage played in court showed Baum's former girlfriend, Morgan Henderson, 35, pointing out where the teens' keys might be hidden around Baum's Juab County home. She also led officers to a barrel where detectives said they later found the couple's smashed phones, among other items. Sanpete County sheriff's detective Chad Nielson recounted Henderson becoming emotional one day almost a year ago when the road narrowed and they approached the mine, one of several she visited with investigators after agreeing to help them.

"As we were going to that mine, she'd become visibly upset," Nielson testified, but "she was being vague  she never identified this mine as 'This is the one.'"

Josh Chappell, a Utah County Sheriff's deputy, said investigators searched the Tintic Standard No. 2 because a road leading to the mine made it more accessible than others in the area that could only be reached on foot or ATV.

"If you were going to get rid of a body, it would be a more easy place to do that," Chappell testified.

Officers watched on a large monitor as a cable with a camera  on loan from sewer managers in Spanish Fork  was lowered partway down the 1,800-foot drop to the mine floor on March 27, 2017, he said. They spotted a male body on a ledge about 100 feet down and a female body another 20 feet below, Chappell said. They were later identified as Otteson and Powell.

On Wednesday, Henderson, who agreed to testify against Baum in exchange for resolving several of her own criminal charges, recounted in vivid detail how her onetime boyfriend drove her and the teens to the foot of a cliff and led them to a mine shaft, where he made Henderson and the teen girl watch as he killed Powell before he took Otteson's life.

Defense attorneys questioned Henderson's credibility, focusing on her mental illness that causes her to hallucinate and her memory issues from a history of shock therapy for depression, in addition to her sometime use of psychedelic mushrooms.

Prosecutors said Thursday that despite the questions, they believe the evidence is strong. Henderson likely could not have carried out the killings by herself, and her memory of where the teen's belongings were hidden matched what officers found, said Randy Kennard, deputy Utah County attorney.

"The circumstance of any case is people are who they are, and we realize that," he said. "We're not trying to hide anything."

After the hearing, family members of the slain teens said they'd learned details they hadn't known before Henderson's testimony, but it did little to console them.

"We won't have the kids back, so we'll never have closure," said Bill Powell, Riley Powell's dad.

Amanda Hunt, the girl's aunt, and Powell still had questions about the chain of events and how Baum may have managed to subdue the pair, they said Thursday. Hunt said it was "debatable" whether Henderson was telling the truth and believes she may have downplayed her own role in the deaths. Powell agreed, saying he believed her testimony "to a point."

As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Henderson, told investigators her version of what happened. She admitted to initially lying to authorities and will be released from jail once Baum's case is resolved, court documents show.

Baum, who did not testify, faces eight felony charges in connection with the deaths.

Correction: A photo caption in an earlier version incorrectly identified Amanda Hunt as Morgan Henderson.
SALT LAKE CITY  A bill that strengthens Utah's current code for self-defense passed the Senate today with a 18-8 vote.

The bill already passed the House and will be sent to the governor.

HB114 states an individual doesn't have an obligation to retreat from an aggressor and failure to retreat is not relevent to whether or not they acted reasonably.

The floor sponsor of the bill, Sen. David Hinkins, R-Orangeville, said the bill has received support from law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.

Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, spoke in opposition to the bill, saying it would create a "wild, wild, West" scenario.

"I think this will bring about a lot of shootings, and justify shootings when they shouldn't be," Davis said.
Munich, Germany  March 7, 2019  Codasip GmbH, the leading supplier of configurable RISC-V embedded processor IP, will address the topics of RISC-V C compiler optimizations and frameworks for ISA compliance in two presentations at the upcoming RISC-V Workshop in Taiwan.

In the first presentation, Codasip CTO Zdenek Prikryl will demonstrate how Codasip generates and optimizes the latest LLVM version 7.0.1 toolchain to make use of custom instructions, including debugging and profiling. The LLVM project continues to expand rapidly as industry leaders have chosen to adopt LLVM compiler due to its excellent quality of results. While many employ various components of the LLVM toolchain, Codasip has announced availability of LLVM for compilation, code generation, and debugging for its family of RISC-V processors. Full support for LLDB in command-line mode or as part of an Eclipse-based graphical debug is now part of its latest generation of licensable software development tools.

In the second presentation, Codasip engineer Milan Skala will discuss requirements for a RISC-V compliance test framework that could be employed for any valid implementation of the RISC-V standard. He will show Codasips methodology as an example. Based on Python's pytest, it provides golden reference model configuration, including test suite builds along with test suite parametrization, compilation, run control with results evaluation, and compliance test reports.

Karel Masarik, Codasips founder and CEO, said: By addressing the topics of compiler optimizations and ISA compliance testing, Codasip is emphasizing its commitment to open standards for embedded processors. We are dedicated to making meaningful contributions to the RISC-V community to ensure that the ecosystem grows and benefits the entire industry. At the same time, we will of course continue to innovate with our own Codasip Studio which allows for rapid development of optimized and differentiated processor IP.

The RISC-V Workshop Taiwan takes place on 1213th March 2019 in the Ambassador Hotel, Hsinchu City, Taiwan. More information about registration and agenda can be found at the event webpage: https://tmt.knect365.com/risc-v-workshop-taiwan/

About Codasip

Codasip delivers leading-edge processor IP and high-level design tools, providing ASIC designers with all the advantages of the RISC-V open ISA, along with the unique ability to automatically optimize the processor IP. As a founding member of the RISC-V Foundation and a long-term supplier of LLVM and

GNU-based processor solutions, Codasip is committed to open standards for embedded processors. Formed in 2006 and headquartered in Brno, Czech Republic, Codasip currently has offices in the US and Europe, with representatives in Asia and Israel. For more information about Codasips products and services, visit www.codasip.com.

About RISC-V

RISC-V (pronounced risk-five) is an open, free ISA enabling a new era of processor innovation through open standard collaboration. Born in academia and research, RISC-V ISA delivers a new level of free, extensible software and hardware freedom on architecture, paving the way for the next 50 years of computing design and innovation. For more information about RISC-V, visit www.riscv.org.






When addressing the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, the US President, Donald trump called Tim Cook, Tim Apple.

Highlights:

US President Donald Trump addressed the Apple CEO as Tim Apple

His name is Tim Cook and he was sitting right next to Trump.

It isnt the first time Trump has made such a mistake.

Update: Apple CEO, Tim Cook changed his name to 'Tim Apple' on his official Twitter account. His account now reads Tim, followed by the Apple logo. The funny thing is that only those with an Apple device will be able to see the change. Those on Windows or Android won't be able to see the Apple logo rendered on their device.

Did you know that the CEO of Apple is named Tim Cook? You did?! Well congratulations as you may know more that the current President of the United States, Donald Trump. When addressing the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, the US President called Tim Cook, Tim Apple.

We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple, Trump said while sitting right next to the Apple CEO. Cook made no comment, but only nodded his head politely. Although, everyone (including us) would love to know what was going on inside his head at that time.

Of course, it could very well be a mistake or a slip of tongue. After all, we all make mistakes. However, this isnt the first time this has happened. Almost exactly a year ago, Trump called Lockheed Martins CEO Marillyn Hewson, Marillyn Lockheed. On top of this, the US President has a tendency to flub words. A few weeks ago, it was reported that he mispronounced Nepal and Bhutan as Nipple and Button. Then of course, was the infamous Covfefe tweet from a couple of years ago. Most recently, Trump called the Californian town of Paradise - Pleasure. This, while he was standing in the very town of Paradise, next to the Governor of California.

Of course, there are a lot of questions that arise here? Does Donald Trump really think that company names are always derived from the last names of their CEOs? After all, Trump himself is a businessman and tends to use his own name when it comes to naming his businesses like Trump Tower, Trump Plaza, Trump University and so forth. Regardless, its not yet known if Russia had anything to do with this.
Huawei says that it seeks a declaratory judgement that the restrictions targeting the company are unconstitutional as well as a permanent injunction against the restrictions.

Highlights:

Huawei sues US government over product ban in the North American country

The company is seeking a declaratory judgment that the restrictions targeting Huawei are unconstitutional.

It is also seeking a permanent injunction against these restrictions



Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has filed a complaint against the US government in a federal court against the ban on the sales of company products imposed by the Congress. The case is filed challenging the constitutionality of Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which gives power to the government to impose prohibition on certain telecommunications and video surveillance services or equipment it deems is putting national security on risk.

The US government has banned Huawei from selling networking equipment, alleging the company for spying on US citizens on behalf of China. Through this action, Huawei seeks a declaratory judgment that the restrictions targeting Huawei are unconstitutional, and a permanent injunction against these restrictions.

The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort. This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers. We look forward to the court's verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people, Guo Ping, Huawei Rotating Chairman, said in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed in a US District Court in Plano, Texas. According to the complaint, Section 889 of the 2019 NDAA not only bars all US Government agencies from buying Huawei equipment and services, but also bars them from contracting with or awarding grants or loans to third parties who buy Huawei equipment or services, without any executive or judicial process.

Huawei says that this violates the Bill of Attainder Clause and the Due Process Clause as well as the Separation-of-Powers principles enshrined in the US Constitution, because Congress is both making the law, and attempting to adjudicate and execute it. Song Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer, stressed that Section 889 is based on numerous false, unproven, and untested propositions.

Contrary to the statute's premise, Huawei is not owned, controlled, or influenced by the Chinese government. Moreover, Huawei has an excellent security record and program. No contrary evidence has been offered, Song added. John Suffolk, Huaweis Global Cyber Security & Privacy Officer said that the company is proud because its the most open, transparent, and scrutinised company in the world.

If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks. Huawei is willing to address the US Government's security concerns. Lifting the NDAA ban will give the US Government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues, Guo Ping added.

Interestingly, the case comes a month after US charged the Chinese tech company with bank fraud, Iran sanctions violations and stolen trade secrets. A 13-count indictment was filed in New York where the Justice Department claimed Huawei had misled a global bank as well as the US authorities about its relationship with two subsidiaries, Skycom Tech and Huawei Device USA Inc to conduct business in Iran. The company was also charged with ten counts of stealing trade secrets and obstructing justice in a separate case.

Related Read:

Huawei says it shipped over 200 million smartphones in 2018 globally

Photo Caption: (From Left to Right) Guo Ping, Rotating Chairman of Huawei, Dr.Song Liuping,Senior Vice President and the Chief Legal Officer for Huawei, John Suffolk, Senior Vice President and Global Cyber Security & Privacy Officer (GSPO) for Huawei, Glen D. Nager, Partner at Jones Day, Lead Counsel of this action, Dr.Yang Chaobin, President of Huaweis 5G Product Line, Li Dafeng, Executive Member of the Supervisory Board, Director of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board Office. (Source: Huawei)
The Facebook CEO also took a subtle dig at Apple in China, saying it wont store any user data at places [countries] where [data] wont be secure.

Highlights:

Mark Zuckerberg says he wants to build more secure Facebook

He laid down principles that privacy-focused social networking would follow.

The CEO also took subtle dig at Apple and China accusing them of dishonouring users privacy.

The year 2018 brought a lot of bad news for Facebook. The company was mired in several user data privacy related controversies, but now the company seems to be looking forward to building a secure social networking platform across all its apps, or atleast that is the message in Mark Zuckerberg's 3200-word letter addressed to people questioning the companys ability to provide a secure way of communication. The letter is Zuckerberg's "Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking.

My focus for the last couple of years has been understanding and addressing the biggest challenges facing Facebook. This means taking positions on important issues concerning the future of the internet. In this note, Ill outline our vision and principles around building a privacy-focused messaging and social networking platform. Theres a lot to do here, and were committed to working openly and consulting with experts across society as we develop this, Zuckerberg said in his letter.

Zuckerberg wants readers of the letter to know that he believes that a privacy-focused communications platform will become more important than todays open platforms because privacy gives people the freedom to connect more naturally. In his letter, the executive also laid out the steps taken by the company to provide a secure atmosphere for people to communicate with each other.

He laid out some principles that Facebook would follow while designing and implementing a secure platform where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content wont stick around forever. This is the future I hope we will help bring about, he said. He also recognised that he may not have peoples support in what he plans to do.

I understand that many people dont think Facebook can or would even want to build this kind of privacy-focused platform  because frankly we dont currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services, and weve historically focused on tools for more open sharing. But weve repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services that people really want, including in private messaging and stories, Zuckerberg said.

On the relevance of public social networks, the CEO said that these will continue to play an important part in peoples lives, that is, for connecting with everyone they know, discovering new people, ideas and content, and giving people a voice more broadly. He noted that since people also want to interact privately, Facebook sees this as an opportunity to build a simpler platform thats focused on privacy first.

We plan to build this the way weve developed WhatsApp: focus on the most fundamental and private use case  messaging  make it as secure as possible, and then build more ways for people to interact on top of that, including calls, video chats, groups, stories, businesses, payments, commerce, and ultimately a platform for many other kinds of private services, he explained.

On end-to-end encryption, Zuckerberg said that the need is imperative, however, the company also has a responsibility towards the society. ...there are real safety concerns to address before we can implement end-to-end encryption across all of our messaging services. Encryption is a powerful tool for privacy, but that includes the privacy of people doing bad things. When billions of people use a service to connect, some of them are going to misuse it for truly terrible things like child exploitation, terrorism, and extortion, the CEO highlighted.

He vowed to work with the governments, but shared an instance where the encryption had his employee sent to jail. Highlighting the need for encryption to safeguard users data and misuse, Zuckerberg said that governments often make unlawful demands for data. ...and while we push back and fight these requests in court, theres always a risk well lose a case  and if the information isnt encrypted wed either have to turn over the data or risk our employees being arrested if we failed to comply, he added.

Finally, putting emphasis on secure data storage, Zuckerberg said the company is willing to be banned in countries that object to its new focus on privacy. Although he did not directly take the name of any country or company, but the part of his letter that focused on data storage had an undertone targeting China and rival Apple. Facebook and Apple have been at loggerheads over privacy and the top executives of both Apple and Facebook have traded barbs over the issue.

In the letter, Zuckerberg subtly took a dig at China as well as Apple. By doing this, he may lose a good chance of expanding business in the South Asian country where Facebook has been trying hard to make inroads. For those who dont know, Apples Chinese iCloud partner, Guizhou-Cloud Big Data (GCBD), cut a deal with the state-run China Telecom last year, according to which all user data was moved to the latters servers. This raised privacy concerns as people thought of a possibility that the Chinese government could gain access to it.

People want to know their data is stored securely in places they trust. Theres an important difference between providing a service in a country and storing peoples data there. As we build our infrastructure around the world, weve chosen not to build data centers in countries that have a track record of violating human rights like privacy or freedom of expression, Zuckerberg said.

If we build data centers and store sensitive data in these countries, rather than just caching non-sensitive data, it could make it easier for those governments to take peoples information, he added. He says that the best way to protect the most sensitive data is not to store it at all, which is why WhatsApp doesnt store any encryption keys and we plan to do the same with our other services going forward.

Related Read:

Facebook lobbied in India, US, UK and multiple other countries against data privacy laws: Report
Researchers were able to transfer data at speeds of up to 26.2 terabits per second, which is 20 percent more than what the cables developer thought possible.

Highlights:

Researchers set a new internet speed record with the Marea undersea cable.

They used 16QAM modulation toolkit to modulate the lasers being sent.

This enabled bumping up data transfer speed up to 26.2 terabits per second.



The internet, as we know it, might seem intangible since its a digital domain but it is actually enabled via cables. To be specific, long and heavy undersea cables allow users around the world to access the internet. These cables connect different countries, and continents, together to facilitate data transfer. One of these cables called Marea runs from Virgin Beach in the US to Balboa, Spain and it has apparently set a new internet speed record by transferring data at an unprecedented rate. As per a media release, Infinera, a transport network solutions company, employed its new experimental tool-kit called 16QAM modulation toolkit to modulate the lasers being sent via the cable. These generated signals were transferred at speeds of up to 26.2 terabits per second, which is said to be over 20 percent of what the cable was expected to be capable of.

The new method will be presented at the upcoming Optical Fiber Conference and Exposition in March, in the USA. The transatlantic cable Marea is funded in part by Microsoft Telxius, and Facebook, and holds the record for the highest-capacity cable crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It became operational last year and consists of eight pair of optic fibers, each pair of which can carry 20 terabytes of data per second, which, in layman terms converts to the capability of streaming over 4 million HD videos at once. In an optical fiber, its desirable to carry more data per second, which we call the fiber capacity, and also to be able to send the signal over longer distances, which we call the optical reach, says Dr Pierre Mertz, an author on the study. In simple terms, if you try to push the limits of fiber capacity you will reduce the reach. 

As per the media release, the challenging part was bumping up the data transfer speed to such an extent that they were operating close to the Shannon Limit. The Shannon limit is the theoretical data transfer rate for a communication channel.

Via

Related Reads: ISRO chairman says India to soon get more than 100 Gbps internet speeds with the launch of three new satellites
Smartphones are finally changing form factors. Its been years of the same rectangular, candybar slabs that mimic each other, so much so that consumers find it difficult to tell them apart. Yes, some companies have indeed tried to differentiate their phones from the rest by curving the edges, machining textures onto the body or simply slapping huge logos on the back of their devices, but if this years MWC was any indication of where things are going as far as smartphone design is concerned, we are looking forward to the future.

Its just March and weve seen foldable phones from Samsung and Huawei, a smartwatch/smartphone hybrid from Nubia, a phone with a detachable display from LG, TCLs Dragon Hinge prototype and even a fat 18,000mAh battery phone from Energizer. There was also a dual-display phone by Vivo that was quite interesting to use. Clearly, smartphone makers want to lure customers with phones that catch the eye as well as the imagination.

At MWC, smartphone designs weren't just limited to things that bend and flex. Nokia too managed to grab eyeballs with its five-camera Nokia 9 Pureview( 13999 at Tatacliq), a phone that took the company a long time to develop as compared to HMD Globals usual smartphone development cycle of 6-9 months. The way the cameras of the Nokia 9 PureView sit flush with the body is truly impressive and the company had to make many of its hardware choices for the Nokia 9 based on those cameras.

First of all, getting the architecture running, in terms of working with Light, to integrate their silicon solution, their chipset, and to adapt their algorithms to our specific camera was an interesting, technical thing to do. We did design around the camera, in the sense we made selections that allowed us to do the camera system seamlessly. But then you start looking at things like  You need to have a big enough battery, do heat dissipation and all that, its a complete system design, Juho Sarvikas, Chief Product Officer at HMD Global said answering a question from Digit.in at the sidelines of MWC 2019.

There's weight to what Sarvikas said. The Nokia 9 Pureview's camera is indeed something that was never before seen in a smartphone before. All the five cameras on the back fire at once to capture more data than any other smartphone camera system. It then relies on the Snapdragon 845, along with Light's custom silicon, to fuse all the data together to bring unprecedented amount of detail in the photo.

While HMD Global has kept up a fairly good design profile since the resurrection of the Nokia brand, it hasn't taken the leap of faith in completely overhauling the form factor of its smartphones, something that the Nokia of olden days was known for. Remember devices like the Nokia N95 with the slide-up display, or the foldable Nokia Communicator, or even the twisting Nokia 3250? Nokia had a great design language back in the day and while touchscreen technology has been restrictive in terms of what OEMs can do with smartphone design, HMD Global is uniquely positioned to build on the Nokia legacy.

However, there has been no talk of a Nokia phone with a radically different form factor off late and the company does not seem to be looking to jump onto the foldable bandwagon anytime soon. Speaking to Digit.in about foldable phones and if the company is thinking on those lines, Sarvikas said, I am not concerned about announcing something just to get an article. That kind of technology planning is not something we believe in. But, I do believe that foldable is really interesting in the promise of more display. I think Nokia is also always been about planning for different form factors like weve done here for the Nokia 9 PureView. Theres a lot of rich legacy there.

From Juhos comments, one can discern that foldable Nokia phones are still a while away, possibly until the technology becomes more mainstream. Perhaps Nokia will hold out to see how the market reacts to foldable devices, but since the product chief did not rule them out completely, hope is still alive. For now, Nokia seems to be recording a steady growth in the smartphone market. The company shipped 17.5 million smartphones in 2018 according to Counterpoint Research and posted a year-over-year growth of 126%. It was also the third biggest brand in the feature phone segment in Q3 2018, but 9th in the smartphone race. Given that Nokia currently owns only 1 percent of the smartphone market share, theres a lot of room for the company to innovate and grow in a market where it faces tough competition from the likes of Xiaomi, Oppo, Huawei and others.

Will innovation in design and form factor be that differentiating factor for Nokia? The company believes Nokia 9 PureView is a step in that direction.
The upcoming chipset could integrate the company's M70 5G Modem and use Cortex-A76 cores for better performance.

Highlights:

MediaTek is working on a 5G chip made on a 7nm process, due to release in 2019.

The chipset will be more powerful than the Helio P90 and will be targeted towards the higher end of the market.

MediaTek is expected to integrate its M70 5G modem in the chip.

MediaTeks approach to chipsets may not be the same as Qualcomm, but the Taiwanese company has been doing quite well in designing budget chipsets that offer higher value for the buck. The company has now confirmed that it is working on a 5G-enabled chip which will be manufactured on a 7nm process. The chip is slated to be unveiled this year.

While the companys present flagship, the Helio P90 SoC is made on a 12nm process, Finbarr Moynihan, MediaTeks Vice President of corporate sales and business development in America and Europe told Android Authority that the 5G chip will be made on a 7nm process. To recall, the 7nm process is the most advanced manufacturing process available right now, and the Snapdragon 855, Kirin 980 and the Apple A12 Bionic are all manufactured on the same process.

The 5G-enabled chip will also come with a host of machine-learning based hardware and will be positioned towards the higher end of the market. The report states the upcoming chip will be more powerful than the present Helio P90.

The Taiwanese company also has its own M70 5G modem which was unveiled last year. At the launch, MediaTek had announced the chip will go into mass production in 2019 and the first phones touting the modem will be out by 2020.

Furthermore, during the Helio P90 launch, MediaTek had claimed the successor will be powered by the latest ARM Cortex-A76 cores, which is also used by Huawei in its flagship, while Qualcomm uses a custom design of the cores for the Snapdragon 855 and even the mid-range Snapdragon 675 thats on the Redmi Note 7 Pro. At this point, it may be unclear whether the 7nm chip will use the Cortex-A76 cores, but it all seems very likely.

Considering MediaTeks DNA of offering chipsets at a lower cost than Qualcomm, the company could make 5G phones more affordable. Currently, the 5G phones revealed by LG, Samsung and the likes are all prohibitively expensive. Hopefully, MediaTeks upcoming chipset might bring the cost of owning a 5G phone down.

Related Reads:

MediaTek Helio P90 SoC with APU 2.0 AI architecture, up to 48MP camera support announced

Upcoming 5G mobile phones in India: Here are all 5G-ready smartphones expected to launch in 2019
Israel's first lunar spacecraft Beresheet sends a selfie 37,600 kilometres from Earth.

Highlights:

Israel's first lunar spacecraft Beresheet is on its way to the Moon

Beresheet shares a selfie with us

It will touch down on lunar surface only by April 11

A collaborative mission executed by the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries and Israeli NGO SpaceIL saw Israel's first lunar spacecraft 'Beresheet' take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 22. Nearly two weeks and 37,600 kilometres later, the spacecraft has sent back an image of its feet and lunar plaque, along with the Earth in the background. Beresheet is currently on its way to the Moon. When the lander touches down on the lunar surface, it will perform a number of experiments including measuring the local magnetic field.

SpaceIL posted the selfie sent back by Beresheet on its Twitter account. The plaque seen in the image reads, "Am Yisrael Chai", which is Hebrew for "The nation of Israel lives", and "Small Country, Big Dreams." Beresheet, whose name translates to Genesis, took off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will make Israel the fourth nation (and the first non-superpower nation) to land on the Moon after the US, Russia, and China. With the lunar landing, SpaceIL is hoping to create an Israeli "Apollo Effect" in an effort to inspire future generations of scientists in the nation to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Along with the measuring equipment, the Beresheet lander carries memories from Israel, says an earlier Space.com report. It carries a digital "time capsule", which contains over thirty million pages of data about the Earth, including a full copy of Wikipedia in English, the Bible, drawings by children, memories of a Holocaust survivor, Israel's national anthem, songs in Hebrew, the Wayfarer's Prayer (a Jewish prayer for a safe journey), the Israeli flag, and a copy of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.

Israel's 585-kilogramme Beresheet lander is expected to touch down autonomously on the lunar surface by April 11. The spacecraft is currently orbiting the Earth in elliptical orbits and will travel 6.5 million kilometres in total, which is the longest distance travelled before to get to the Moon. Being the smallest spacecraft ever made for its weight, Beresheet will touch a maximum speed of 10 kilometres per second (36,000 kilometres per hour). Beresheet was developed and constructed at a relatively low cost of $100 million.

Cover image courtesy: SpaceIL

Related Read: NASA recreates ingredients for life on ocean floor
Apple is working on a fix but there is no information on when the patch will be available to Mac users.

Highlights:

Googles Project Zero has revealed a flaw in the macOS.

The flaw is called BuggyCow.

Apple is working with Project Zero on a fix for the bug.

Googles Project Zero team has publicly disclosed a high severity flaw in the macOS kernel. Apple was made aware of the flaw back in November 2018. Googles Project Zero team has a 90-days disclosure policy. Even if the company (Apple in this case) hasnt issued a fix for the problem, Project Zero will publicly reveal the security vulnerability. There are special cases where a grace period is allowed.

In the case of the macOS, the flaw is called BuggyCow. According to 9to5 Google, security researchers have discovered that if a modification is made to a user-owned mounted filesystem image, the virtual management system isnt notified of those changes. Thus, an attacker can potentially be granted access to perform malicious actions on that mounted filesystem without the end user ever knowing about it until its too late. On the other hand, Wired notes that the for the vulnerability to be exploited, the victim needs to have some kind of malware present on his/her computer.

Apple has reportedly acknowledged the BuggyCow flaw and is working with Google's Project Zero on a fix for the same. However, there is no timeline available as to when the fix will be made available to consumers.

Thomas Reed, a Mac focussed researcher at security firm MalwareBytes told Wired, "They've (Apple) had a lot of very-high-profile security-related bugs and some have been really, really stupid. It makes you wonder whats going on with the QA process at Apple. Are they adequately testing? Lately, it seems like theyre not."

Apples iOS and Macs were affected with a FaceTime bug last month. The bug allowed users to initiate a group FaceTime call to eavesdrop. The bug was found by a 14-year-old who wanted to chat with his friends while playing Fortnite. You can read more about the FaceTime bug here.

Also read:

Password exposing macOS bug found by German teenage hacker who refuses to disclose details to Apple

Researchers discover a new 'Spoiler' flaw in Intel CPU's
Subscriber content preview

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  Rocks as big as trucks buried miners when an unlicensed Indonesian gold mine collapsed last week, a search and rescue official said Tuesday, as the effort to find victims recovered more bodies, body parts and belongings.

The director of operations at the national search and rescue agency, Budi Purnama, said three intact bodies, body parts and backpacks and shoes were recovered Tuesday. He said one body and part of a leg were recovered Monday.





. . .
Subscriber content preview

BREMERTON (AP)  Health officials are advising people to avoid contact with water after 4,000 gallons of sewage spilled at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Saturday and Sunday.

KING-TV reports a seven-day no-contact advisory was issued Tuesday by the Kitsap Public Health District.





. . .
Subscriber content preview

SEATTLE  The Roanoke Terrace Apartments, at 2600 Eastlake Ave. E., sold for just under $6.8 million, according to King County records.

The seller was a family group that owned the property for decades.





. . .
Since the platforms founding in 2015, each year 25 participants have been gathered via an open call for emerging creatives who work on transformative projects and ideas for the future of architecture. It sounded kind of stupid to me! Ideas for the future, its a bit naive as a call, says Bika Rebek, an assistant professor at Columbia University, a former participant of the platform and now a member of its advisory board. Yet this naivety is arguably part of its success. In the face of myriad open calls requiring often lengthy unpaid work, fees and clunky forms, the FAP offers a refreshingly simple process.

During the 2019 open call, from November 2018 to January 2019, there were 357 applications from 60 countries. Once closed, the proposals are uploaded to the platforms website where they can be viewed by the public. Of these, 25 are selected  18 by the platforms members, three by platform alumni and one by a public vote (the remaining three are winners of the Young Talent Architecture Award, an offshoot of the Mies van der Rohe Award)  and invited to a Renaissance castle on the outskirts of Ljubljana, Slovenia, better known as the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO).

This is the Future Architecture HQ and office of its founder and museum director, Matevz Celik, a quietly driven former-architect whose shy public demeanour gives him the appearance of a reluctant shepherd leading an unruly mob of architectural sheep. Faced with cuts to cultural budgets under austerity measures in Slovenia in 2015, Celik applied to a European Union open call for platforms across different cultural fields to bring new initiatives into the museum. In applying, he sought to change the perception of what a Slovenian institution could achieve. The culture of Slovenia is very inward looking, it stops at the borders, he explains. We wanted to showcase that we dont need to be followers, but we can also lead. In a way it was about building self-confidence, not only for us but for the rest of the cultural scenes in Slovenia.
Known as one of the worlds most creative conferences, Design Indaba returns to Cape Town this month, with over 35 speakers presenting for three days. We highlight five names to look forward to.
The death has taken place of Brigid Butler (nee Cunningham) from Kilcar who has passed away at the age of 102.

Brigid was born in Shannagh, Kilcar in 1916 to Anne Gallagher and John Cunningham, who was known as Johnny Frank.

She was the fifth of 13 children and went to Coguish National School.

After school, she left to work in Fanad and from there she went to Colaiste Moibhi, the Protestant training college for national school teachers in Dublin, where she worked on the domestic staff.

While she was there she met Douglas Hyde who was a regular visitor to the college. When he became the President he asked Brigid would she come and work with him.

While she declined the offer two of her sisters, Maura and Sheila, did go to work in Aras an Uachtarain.

Another two sisters, Peg and Kitty, followed Brigid to work in Colaiste Moibhi.

Brigid married Mick Butler from Chapelizod, Dublin, who worked on the railways. While she had no children of her own she became the first play leader in the new Ballyfermot playground.

When her husband died in the late 1960s she returned to Donegal and looked after her mother. Brigid worked in Rodgers Hotel in Killybegs and was known for travelling on a scooter.

Amazing memory

She had an amazing memory and could recite every Gaelic poem that she learned in school and added to the repertoire continuously throughout her life.

After returning home, Brigid loved to attend cultural events in Kilcar such as music sessions and book launches.

She was interviewed by Raidio na Gaeltachta and her great memory provedof great assistance to students collecting oral history.

She kept fit and alert and only moved to Killybegs Community Hospital at the age of 98 where she enjoyed the wonderful and loving care of the staff there.

Brigid always extended a warm welcome to nieces, nephews, great-grandnieces, and great-grandnephews. They were reminded of her pride and love of family and Shannagh, her love of poetry, the Gaelic language, and her love of learning.

Brigid is survived by two brothers, James in the US and John in Glencolmcille, and a large extended family. She passed away on Thursday, February 28 at Killybegs Community Hospital. She was laid to rest in Kilcar last Saturday after Requiem Mass celebrated by Fr Eddie Gallagher at St Carthas Church in Kilcar.
Irish Water say the company is working to end what it says is the unacceptable practice of discharging untreated wastewater into Tawny Bay by developing a new wastewater treatment plant as part of the Kilcar Sewerage Scheme.

In a statement, Irish Water said the practice of discharging untreated wastewater into Tawny Bay is unsustainable.

Despite consultations with landowners on the proposed scheme, Irish Water say they have been unable to acquire all of the required wayleaves and lands on a voluntary basis. They now intend to acquire the wayleaves and lands for the scheme by way of Compulsory Purchase Order.

The new wastewater treatment plant will bring benefits to Kilcar in terms of health, integrity of the environment and improved water quality for all, a company spokesperson said.

Cleaner water will enhance Kilcars amenity value and act as a platform for social and economic development.

The new pipes, pumping station and wastewater treatment plant have all been sized to accommodate an increase in the local population and will facilitate future growth in the area. The project will also ensure that the water quality standards set down by regulatory bodies will be achieved.

Consultations have been on-going with all landowners identified on the proposed scheme. Irish Water was unable to acquire all of the required wayleaves and lands on a voluntary basis.

Given the importance of the project to the waste water infrastructure, Irish Water will now endeavour to acquire the wayleaves and lands by way of Compulsory Purchase Order pursuant to the provisions of the Water Services Act, 2007 (as amended). Irish Water will now be submitting the Compulsory Purchase Order to An Bord Pleanala.

In addition to the land acquisition process Irish Water will be seeking planning permission for the Kilcar Sewerage Scheme from Donegal County Council. The timeline for the commencement of works is subject to the Planning and CPO statutory approvals.
A trade delegation from the East Coast of the USA led by Senator Nick Collins from Boston today took the opportunity to visit Hanna Hats in Donegal.

And it was very much a case of "If the hat fits, let's wear it" with most of the guests departing looking like the cast of Peaky Blinders!

The delegation is part of the Donegal Connect initiative and they are visiting the county with the objective of forming much stronger trade links.

Ava Hanna serves up the fresh scones to the American visitors led by Senator Nick Collins, her grandfather John and Garry Martin of Donegal County Council. PICTURE: MATT BRITTON

Donegal Connect is a collaborative project between the private and public sector in Donegal aimed at creating job opportunities for the county.

Those behind the project want to engage with our Diaspora, both overseas and within Ireland, and anyone considering coming to Ireland, to entice them to make the journey to Donegal to explore the county and to find out why it is a wonderful county to visit, to invest in, to live in and be educated in.

Staying in Lough Eske Castle, the US delegation received a homely welcome at Hanna Hats where they were treated to the very freshest of tea and scones and a true Donegal welcome.
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.
These figures are an outrage", said Cllr Ruairi O Murchu in response to the latest homeless figures for Louth released last week.

The Dundalk Democrat spoke to local representatives, Declan Breathnach TD, Cllr Ruairi O Murchu and Cllr Emma Coffey, who were all scathing of the Government's response to the housing crisis in Louth and nationwide.

Figures released last week by the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government, show that 156 homeless adults accessed local authority managed emergency accommodation in Louth during the week of 21  27 January 2019, an increase of over 25% in one month.

Declan Breathnach TD

Homelessness has reached unprecedented levels, surging rents are at historic heights, home building numbers are tens of thousands behind where they need to be and over 130,000 people in need of a permanent social home, says Fianna Fail TD Declan Breathnach.

Cllr Ruairi O Murchu

Januarys homelessness statistics are further proof, if such were needed, that the Minister for Housing, and the governments housing strategy, is a failure, says Sinn Fein councillor Ruairi O Murchu in response to the increase.

Cllr Emma Coffey

Fianna Fail cllr Emma Coffey says, this Government has failed in every single target it has set in its housing policy but in particular the homeless crisis. Homelessness is the sharpest edge people have to suffer, but every single element of housing policy is in crisis.

Cllr Ruairi O Murchu, said that these figures are an outrage. Under Minister Murphys watch the number of citizens who suffering homelessness has increased by a massive 26%.

The Minister is failing and he should resign. The Government must scrap Rebuilding Ireland and put in place a real plan to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis.

According to Deputy Breathnach, in Louth, there are over 1,746 people on the social housing waiting list with a further 2,644 on HAP who are also awaiting a social housing allocation. This makes a total of 4,390 waiting on social housing in Louth, said Deputy Breathnach.

In terms of social housing provision, it was announced last Friday that in a planned 1100 home development in Dundoogan, Haynestown, 112 of the homes has been acquired by Tuath Housing for social housing, in collaboration with the Department of Housing, Louth County Council and developer, Cannon Kirk Ltd.

Cllr O Murchu said that although he welcomes the construction of 1100 homes at Haynestown, the scale of homelessness and housing need in Louth demands a much greater government response.

Also referring to the 112 homes acquired by Tuath in Dundoogan, Cllr Coffey said, actually only 12 units will be completed in 2 to 3 weeks with the remainder being completed by may 2020. So in fact in all likelihood the housing list will have increased by the time all of these 112 units have families housed in them.

Deputy Breathnach, moving onto the wider housing issue, said that Ireland is in the midst of a national housing emergency that threatens home ownership levels for an entire generation locked into unsustainable rent levels.

He added: Dundalk is nearly as bad as Dublin with rising rents. With the HAP scheme the problem is that a lot of landlords will not accept tenants on HAP which is very unfair as most of those on HAP are decent people who are working but just cant afford to even contemplate trying to buy a house.

Cllr Coffey, summing up the current housing policy said: whether it's young people trying to find a decent place to rent at an affordable price, a new family looking for a home they can afford, or older people trying to move to a more suitable house, Ireland's housing policy is falling way short.
Louth Fianna Fail TD, Declan Breathnach has called on the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Karen Bradley MP, to withdraw the hurtful comments she made in the House of Commons. Ms Bradley said deaths in Northern Ireland during the troubles that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes.

Deputy Breathnach explained, While Ms. Bradley has apologised and said she did not intend to cause any offence or upset to anybody, the fact of the matter is she has caused great distress to many people. She added further insult to injury by saying military and police officers were acting under orders and in a dignified and appropriate way.

The inquiry into the Ballymurphy massacre is still ongoing in the courts and she has indirectly commented on this, which is reckless.

"Political voices have repeatedly requested an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane.

"It is widely accepted that the British State forces colluded with the Glenanne gang during the Troubles. There are numerous other legacy issues just like these ongoing all the time and her comments are ignorant to the sensitivities in Northern Ireland.

She completely ignored due process and spoke against the rule of law.

"Her remarks are in contrast to the former British Prime Minister David Cameron, who in 2010 issued a full apology to the people and families who have suffered so much due to the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry.

Ms Bradley needs to add the Saville report to the long list of Northern Irish history which she needs to brush up on.

The Secretary of State should immediately withdraw her remarks and apologise directly to the families on whom she has inflicted further hurt on, concluded Deputy Breathnach.
Passionate womens rights advocate and journalist Tracey Spicer AM has been named 2019 NSW Premiers Woman of the Year  the top honour at the NSW Women of the Year awards.

Ms Spicer accepted the award from Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Women Tanya Davies at the WOTY Awards ceremony in Sydney today.

Tracey has worked tirelessly against sexual harassment in the workplace. Tracey is a true inspiration who is using her personal experience and platform to drive change for women in our workplaces, Ms Berejiklian said.

A further six outstanding women from across NSW took out the top spot in their nominated category, ranging from community heroes to lifetime achievers.

I would like to congratulate all the incredible women who have deservedly been recognised as winners and finalists. Your achievements are paving the way generations of women to come, Ms Berejiklian said.

Mrs Davies said this years awards program attracted an unprecedented number of nominations and more than 9000 votes.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is working hard to progress gender equity for women across the State and we are so pleased the momentum of the Awards has grown year on year, Mrs Davies said

The Awards give women and girls everywhere the chance to be inspired, hear from women who are driving progress in their chosen field or communities, and remind us of what is possible.

2019 award winners include:

NSW Premiers Woman of the Year  Tracey Spicer AM

NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year  Associate Professor Faye McMillan

First State Super Lifetime Achievement Award  Shirley Smith

Harvey Norman Young Woman of the Year  Dr Angelica Merlot

Rex Airlines Regional Woman of the Year  Dr Louise Bake

Community Hero Award  Dr Leng Tan NSW Business

Woman of the Year  Leanne Heywood

The NSW Women of the Year Awards were held as part of the first NSW Womens Week.

For more information or biographies for winners and finalists, please visit www.women.nsw.gov.au.

Image source: women.nsw.gov.au.


B2B Lead Generation Service

Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more.

The social media model has come under increased scrutiny following revelations of data misuse and news of executives reneging on some security commitments. People expecting to change the situation will need to address how social media works.

This means changing not just the business model, which describes how a social media business makes money, but the fundamental technology model too.

The Business Model

You can trace some of social's troubles to the free use and advertising business model. Leveraging it, the social media companies have developed businesses dependent on easily collecting, dredging through, and analyzing user data. They then sell their insights to vendors eager to approach the public with enticing offers.

Users more or less sign away rights to their data stored on social media systems in return for free use. However, promises made by some social media companies to maintain data privacy have been blithely ignored, even by the businesses that first made the promises.

Free use and advertising are a potent combination that gives social vendors ample amounts of data to leverage. Much has been written about how social applications were used as designed to stir up strong passions during elections, and how unscrupulous parties used social platforms to target specific voter groups.

Social media's troubles were baked in at conception, both in the business and technology models. It's doubtful that the situation will improve until social vendors change approaches, starting with these models. That will be difficult, because the current business and technology models are very lucrative.

Still, what would new models actually look like if they're not based on selling insights into huge numbers of users' data, like the current ones? The most likely models, which also have some issues to address, likely would be some form of subscription coupled with a more targeted approach to the way users communicate, which I'll call a "notification model" (see below).

Subscriptions: Back to the Future

We're all accustomed to subscriptions, and some articles refer to the "Subscription Economy" when dealing with car leases, cellphones, shaving supplies and pet food, plus a lot more. However, moving from a model that's free to the user -- whatever you call it -- to one that requires even a modest payment would require a heavy lift by the vendor community. Luckily, the history of the software industry shows that instituting a payment model, while challenging, can be done.

Back in the 1980s, PC software was considered a separate thing from software that ran on mainframe computers produced by big companies. PC developers were considered hobbyists, and their claims to copyrights were ignored consistently.

On the other hand, many felt they were releasing applications to community members with similar interests who might, over time, help to improve their products and release those improvements back to the community.

That model was unsustainable, though. As more people joined the PC revolution, fewer of them knew how to code. They needed help with bugs or just to understand how a given app worked. With little revenue for the developer, there was little or no documentation, and virtually no one to call for help.

Bill Gates, cofounder and CEO of Microsoft, had a different vision. He promoted the idea of PC software licensing. Gates was right, but early. He could charge for a diskette containing his operating system, MS-DOS, but initially he couldn't do much about someone copying the diskette and simply distributing it to friends. The same was true for PC applications, though it was at least possible to ration service to users who had unique serial numbers.

It would take years for software to reach a point where developers could be certain that they were receiving what was due. Eventually, key codes, cloud computing, and other approaches made it virtually impossible to steal access to applications. So, over time and with changes in business and technology models, software became secure and profitable.

If this worked with PC software, something similar could work to make social media safer and more profitable, beyond using the free use and advertising model. For instance, schemes are already available to support different user types.

Family plans first deployed in the cellphone industry could cover kids and others not able to pay for use. Why not in social media? A free service could still exist, though its functionality might be limited -- such as the number of connections a free user could make. Many downloadable apps for mobile devices operate this way.

While we're at it, wouldn't it be good if you knew for sure who was posting what? Requiring people and organizations to use their real names and to identify themselves would be a great place to start. Denying access to people trolling and otherwise abusing the systems ought not be hard. It's not too much to ask who is riling up the populace.

So, changing the business model to subscriptions and implementing a modicum of identification enforcement are the first things that social media companies could do to reduce or even eliminate data theft, bullying, and other abuses common in social media today. Another necessary change we can contemplate is replacing the use model.

Notifications and Dunbar's Number

The current social media use model celebrates generating large or even huge bases of followers. For instance, celebrities easily can have millions of followers, and while that's nice for personal gratification, it falls short of the original intent of social networking, which was maintaining real relationships through bidirectional communication with friends.

In the 1990s, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar researched the issue of maximum human relationships and made an intriguing finding. Dunbar suggested that an average human being could maintain relationships with about 150 people. In colloquial terms, Dunbar described what would become known as the "Dunbar Number" or "Dunbar's Number" as "the number of people you would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a drink if you happened to bump into them in a bar."

Social media made reaching the Dunbar Number easy, but it also made pushing beyond that number trivial -- hence, the celebrities with millions of followers. Of course, even with good technology, there's no way to keep up a relationship with a million or even a thousand followers, and using social media for this purpose merely moves the goalposts and applies the technology unrealistically.

Having an exaggerated following reduces social networking's use from two-way communication to one-way broadcasting. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but if what you really want is to foster a relationship through information exchange, it means that social communication is degraded.

Therefore, if keeping a dialog going with your Dunbar buddies is a purpose for using social media, then there might be other approaches that can do the job better. One such alternative is notification apps. No matter what, you'll need to get more realistic about how many "friends" you keep.

Think of notifications as similar to a post on Twitter or Facebook -- but with the difference being that your message is not limited to 280 characters, and only the people you target get to see your message. They're expected to respond, too.

Notifications apps are used by individuals who want to keep a few people "in the loop" about an issue, a project, or a discussion thread. This could include business people engaged in a project, lawyers working on a case, a medical team working 24/7 on a specific patient, your softball team, or the people attending a wedding.

You can do all that with email, Twitter or Facebook, but they have inherent limitations, such as privacy, content length, and something I'll call "asynchronicity." Social media, email and many other communications media all benefit from enabling individuals to interact in their own time, or asynchronously. However, without extra effort, none is a good channel for letting the rest of the group know that a message has been received.

In all the examples above and many others, it's critical to know your message got through. While we're at it, let's add the idea of history -- as in keeping an easy-to-read message thread along with comments from other members of the group. So for reasons of privacy, group coherence, history and making asynchronicity work, subscribing to notifications apps might be a better approach than conventional social media.

Combining Business and Technology Models

Let's review.

Free is never really free, and with social media we discovered that in exchange for free use of the medium, we became the product that vendors served up to advertisers. There's no judgment here -- advertising to the "right" demographic has been an art form for many decades. Still, the current technology and business model have made it far too easy for bad actors to target unsuspecting people.

Communications needs have changed too. Social showed us what's possible, and intuitive users have been pushing the envelope. Other business and technology models already exist, and it's our job to select ones that better address our needs for things like privacy and security. Converting some of the market to those models will be the work of many years. In the end, multiple business and technology models will coexist, with users selecting the ones most appropriate for their needs.

The subscription and notification models offer great promise in situations where it's less important to broadcast to thousands or millions of followers. Where individuals really want to manage relationships with groups that are more Dunbar-like, notifications might make more sense. These situations never were envisioned clearly by social media's pioneers.

My Two Bits

The story of technology for 50 years has been about enhancing a core idea that resulted in products for ever-more-refined uses as those uses are discovered. You can't deny that a modern mobile phone is a computer able to access the telephone system and the Internet. Further, it can make and receive content in a variety of file types like photos and music.

Today's pocket-size mobile phone is a long way from the room full of gear that once was used just to manage the general ledger. Many of us now have multiple computers in our lives designed for discrete purposes. That's just the nature of a product lifecycle.

The same evolution currently is taking place with social media. With social media, we once had a single technology model capable of doing many things, but we've learned that this model is better at some things than others. As a result, continuous innovation has spawned more product types (like notifications) and more refined ways to use them.

Don't think that the current crop of social media products will disappear anytime soon. They've established an important niche. It's just that it is no longer the only viable niche.

It's reasonable to believe that we're entering a new social communications era. We've solved the problem of communicating with the whole world, more or less. It's now time to turn our attention to communicating with just the changing list of special individuals who matter to us in a particular moment.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network.

Denis Pombriant is a well-known CRM industry analyst, strategist, writer and speaker. His new book, You Can't Buy Customer Loyalty, But You Can Earn It, is now available on Amazon. His 2015 book, Solve for the Customer, is also available there. Email Denis.




B2B Lead Generation Service

Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more.

Google wants to become your digital shopping catalog through shoppable ads.

The company on Tuesday said it is testing a new format on a small percentage of traffic with select retailers. Merchants can highlight multiple products available for sale within a sponsored ad among Google Images results.

Google is testing this approach on broad queries surfacing on searches like "home office ideas," "shower tile designs" and "abstract art." The approach is similar to strategies used on Instagram and Pinterest to encourage more shopping in response to search results.

Consumers will see a price tag icon on certain ads. The display shows details such as the price, the brand and other information. Consumers can tap on the price tag to check the websites and place an order directly.

There's no word on when the feature is supposed to roll out generally. However, it will roll out to more categories and retailers in the coming months, according to Google.

The new shopping feature arrived nearly a year after Google introduced Shopping Actions, which linked search results to its retail partners. The shoppable images feature is Google's latest effort to give advertisers more benefits from Showcase Shopping ads.

It offers shoppers a richer and more inspirational visual experience, according to Surojit Chatterjee, Google's vice president for product management and shopping.

The introduction of shoppable ads will have a strong impact on e-commerce competition overall, said Ruba Aramouny, strategic director of Solid Marketing. Currently, social media and Google serve as discovery platforms.

"In the next few years, product discovery, selection and purchase will all happen on the same platform. While this means that retailers will have less control over the buyer shopping experience, they have to adjust to this change," she told the E-Commerce Times.

Pros for Google

The big winners for this new shoppable image feature are Google and retailers, Aramouny added. It gives Google an additional way of selling ad placements to their advertisers.

"This means that the giant can now monetize all of the traffic that used to go to Google image search without seeing any ads," she said. "The retailers who will benefit from this most are the ones who have the know-how to use the full capabilities of Google ads and merchant center."

Ultimately, shoppable ads make search experiences more relevant and satisfying for Google, its advertisers and consumers. However, their introduction represents a big change, said Apu Gupta, CEO of Curalate. At the heart of this new format is a content type not typically seen on Google -- lifestyle content.

"Google's traditional Product Listing Ads are optimized for a person who has a specific item in mind. As a result, the images in those ads were just of individual products on dull backgrounds, so you could quickly verify that you had found the product you intended to find," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Shopping is not solely about intent. It is also about discovery. By bringing inspirational lifestyle content into search results and making that content shoppable, Google can help you stumble across things you never knew you needed in your life, Gupta said.

Dueling Strategies

Both Google and Instagram aim to make it easy to upload a merchant's entire catalog to their respective platforms so control ads are merchandised within each platform, according to BJ Cook, CEO of Digital Operative. They both do it through a merchant center via a product feed.

"While Google is in step one in the right direction, Pinterest has already been testing shoppable images and is now going to let you shop by brand, really setting a brand up with a mini-storefront, e-commerce popup shop in their platform. It's really a step two for Pinterest," he told the E-Commerce Times.

However, Google and Instagram have a very different approach to discovery, noted Curalate's Gupta. Instagram is still primarily a feed-driven discovery experience. Google is more question-based.

Consumers on Instagram scroll through things without specific intent and stumble across things that capture your attention, explained Gupta. With Google, your starting point is essentially a question for which consumers are seeking an answer.

"In some cases, it is a really specific question, and in other cases, it is broader. While both platforms will now make use of shoppable lifestyle content and cause other ad tech companies to follow suit, what triggers that content to appear is very different," Gupta said.

Impact on E-commerce Strategy

The retailer's challenge will be to generate repeat purchases and build brand loyalty after a customer has made that initial purchase from social media or Google, said Aramouny. That is the only way they will be able to set themselves apart from competing stores that offer similar products.

A bigger challenge for e-commerce merchants will be figuring out how to introduce consumers to things they never knew existed. That is critical for the continued growth of e-commerce, added Gupta.

"Virtually every company that sells online today has repositories of great lifestyle content. The problem is the vast majority of these companies don't think about how to leverage this content for sales. They've primarily used this content for branding," he said.

"Companies who understand that content can do more will take advantage of these new formats and will win as they place a higher focus on content's role in driving sales," Gupta predicted.

Google, Pinterest and Instagram all have huge user bases to test shoppable ads in image searches, but Google's user base is by far the biggest and most diverse, Apptimize CTO Nancy Hua said about Google's potential for influencing e-commerce in general.

"Google's dominance allows them to test and target more effectively across different demographics and use cases to learn more about how different users will behave in different contexts," she told the E-Commerce Times. "This is going to be a profitable channel for them, but they have to test to figure out if it's profitable enough to be worth the effort."

It Depends

How successful the shoppable ads will be for Google depends on several variables. The fact that other social media outlets may be a step or two ahead of Google is no guarantee of a better implementation.

Google's shoppable ads open up a great opportunity for new and unknown brands and retailers to get their inventory in front of new shoppers, said Marcel Hollerbach, CMO of Productsup.

"We have seen success on Pinterest Shopping and Instagram Shopping, so I'm excited to see how brands and retailers will adapt to Google's new product," he told the E-Commerce Times.

It will be compelling to see how Instagram and Google will stack up, as Google excels in search optimization while Instagram users tend to have a tight-knit relationship with the brands with which they follow and engage, Hollerbach said.

Advertising Makeover

The challenge for Google will be whether it can make a user interface that is not annoying to users, and has accurate enough recognition of objects in images so that users trust it before giving up on the feature altogether, suggested Eli Finkelshteyn, CEO of Constructor.io.

"Google's dominance in general image search and users' lack of other image searching options give the company a big advantage and the ability to try things," he told the E-Commerce Times, "but they will still have to be careful about not leaving an initial bad taste in their users' mouths that will be hard to wash out, even if the technology improves in the future."

What Google is doing is interesting, inevitable, and fits tightly with commerce's general march toward contextual commerce, he said.

The future of advertising will focus on when consumer attention is on something of value, like a product image, added Darin Archer, CMO of Elastic Path.

"By bringing the ad to a Google image search, brands can reach consumers at the beginning of their purchase journey," he told the E-Commerce Times. "By then decreasing friction between viewing an ad and making a purchase, Google is allowing brands to streamline the commerce experience outside of owned channels."

Jack M. Germain has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His main areas of focus are enterprise IT, Linux and open source technologies. He has written numerous reviews of Linux distros and other open source software. Email Jack.


Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5)
BARCELONA  The leaders of the worlds largest textile chemical and dyestuff producers will together take part in a unique panel discussion on harmonisation and transparency within textile chemical management at the forthcoming Planet Textiles sustainability summit which is being held in June at ITMA.

Taking the stage together for the first time at the event will be Xander Wessels the CEO of Archroma, Eric Hopmann, CEO of DyStar and Rohit Aggarwal, President of Huntsman Textile Effects who will provide delegates with a unique insight into the challenges and potential solutions for effective, transparent chemical management.



The session will be moderated by John Mowbray, the founder and editor of Ecotextile News.

Over the past 12 months there has been intense discussion and concern within the textile dyes and chemicals supply chain about the proliferation of new standards, increased supply chain complexity and a duplication of efforts in the environmental management of textile chemistry.

Eric Hopmann, CEO of DyStar told us that his company has an: Explicit intention to work towards a greater harmonisation of an industry standard and challenge the proliferation of standards and approaches, which he claims the textile industry is now facing.

Our aim is to reduce complexity, duplication and misunderstanding provoked by this proliferation of standards which ultimately does not help the final consumer, Hopmann says, With this we also aim at accelerate the elimination of hazardous chemicals within the supply chain.

Its a view shared by Rohit Aggarwal, President, Huntsman Textile Effects who will emphasise the changes his company is making to address these issues at Planet Textiles. He told us: Huntsman Textile Effects is a strong advocate of initiatives to eliminate hazardous chemicals from the textile supply chain. Were also a firm believer that a transparent, harmonised approach is what our industry needs to become more sustainable, noting that Huntsman, is actively engaged in driving innovation, greater harmonisation and elimination of hazardous chemistry.

Register to attend Planet Textiles 2019.

Timescales?

But Xander Wessels, CEO, Archroma, will question whether the industry is actually going at the right speed to achieve these goals. When we as an industry discuss harmonisation and transparency, the question is: are we driving changes fast enough and far enough? he noted. Brands, retailers and manufacturers  together and with an integrative approach across the whole value chain  we must be the transformation leaders that our world urgently needs!

The panel discussion will also centre around transparency in supply chains and the preferred method (of the big chemical suppliers) to deliver this. An holistic approach of systems being based upon input stream management in combination with chemical manufacturing competence auditing is the preferred industry platform to assess consistent compliance of branded commercial dye/chemical formulation to a standard, he explained. This gives the highest degree of confidence to the stakeholders of the textile value chain.

Obviously, there are other alternatives out there, which the panel will also discuss, and the three industry leaders will also offer examples of key innovations and breakthroughs which they believe can make real-world, workable and demonstrative changes to reduce the impact of the textile dyeing sector on the environment.

Held at the forthcoming ITMA exhibition in June, this C-suite panel discussion is already being highly anticipated by delegates that have signed up.

Planet Textiles takes place June 22nd in Barcelona and already looks set to sell out even quicker than last years event, with only 420 tickets available in total.

Register now to avoid disappointment.
England's High Court ruled Wednesday that the government's planning policy on fracking was unlawful, in a major victory for anti-fracking group Talk Fracking.

In part of his ruling, Mr. Justice Dove found that the government had not taken up-to-date information on climate change into account when drafting its policy. This could make it easier for campaigners to challenge new fracking sites in the future on the basis of their climate impacts, The Guardian explained.

"The acknowledgement from the Judge, that climate change is a valid concern for campaigners and councils facing fracking planning applications, is a big win," Claire Stephenson, who was the claimant in the case on behalf of Talk Fracking, said in a press release.

Talk Fracking had challenged a particular paragraph in the government's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on two grounds, Leigh Day, the law firm that represented the group in court, explained.



It did not take into account new scientific information that cast doubt on fracking's status as a relatively low-carbon fuel. It did not conduct a "lawful public consultation" before revising the policy.

Talk Fracking explained the first point in detail:

Talk Fracking argued that the government had acted unlawfully by adopting Paragraph 209a of the 2015 Written Ministerial Statement into a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published in July 2018, without first reviewing new scientific data in a transparent manner.



New evidence published since 2015 completely debunks the government's claim that fracking has a lower carbon footprint than imported liquid natural gas (LNG). Instead, scientific evidence has suggested that fracking exacerbates climate change.

Justice Dove ruled in favor of Talk Fracking on both grounds, stating that the consultation "was so flawed in its design and processes as to be unlawful."

The government will now have to make arguments to the court about what changes it needs to make in the policy, which sets up guidelines according to which local authorities can make decisions about fracking, The Guardian explained.

"We note the judgment in the case brought by Talk Fracking, and will now consider our next steps," a spokeswoman from the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government said, as BBC News reported. "Environmental protections are at the heart of our new planning rulebook, setting clear expectations for future development."

Fracking restarted in the UK after a seven year hiatus in 2018, though work has been paused numerous times by tremors since then.

Jonathan Marshall, head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, told The Guardian that the government was wrong to consider fracking a low-carbon fuel source.

"With the UK's electricity system almost free of coal, natural gas is now effectively the most carbon-intensive major source of power," he said. "Official advice from the Committee on Climate Change concluded that fracking was only compatible with national decarbonisation targets if the gas produced replaced higher carbon sources of energy."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will attempt to strip Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves in the lower 48 states, Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced Wednesday.

Bernhardt, who took over from former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in January, has been a key force behind efforts by the Trump administration's Department of Interior(DOI) to weaken the landmark conservation act.

"For over a hundred years, wolves have been needlessly persecuted. This is just one more example of the Trump Administration's attacks on the Endangered Species Act and the vulnerable wildlife it protects," Bonnie Rice of Sierra Club's Our Wild America campaign said in a statement. "Wolves have barely started to recover in some areas, and still occupy only five percent of their historic range. Now is not the time to remove vital protections."

Bernhardt made the announcement at a meeting of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Denver, but an official proposal will be published in the Federal Register in the next few days, after which a public comment period will follow.



This is not the first time that the FWS has attempted to delist gray wolves in recent years. An earlier attempt was made during the Obama administration in 2013, but was struck down by federal courts, The New York Times reported.

The debate over gray wolf protections reveals a tension between farmers, ranchers and environmentalists when it comes to managing wolf populations.

Gray wolves were hunted nearly to extinction in the contiguous U.S. and there were only around 1,000 left in Minnesota when they were first granted protection in 1975. Now there are more than 5,000 living mostly in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rockies regions, as well as Washington, Oregon and California, according to the Associated Press. Some conservation groups say they now cover five percent of their historic range while some analysts put the number at 15 percent.

The population has recovered enough that ranchers and hunters say they are a threat to livestock and game.

National Cattlemen's Beef Association President Jennifer Houston and Public Lands Council President Bob Skinner released a joint statement in support of the proposal to delist the species, The New York Times reported. They argued the act didn't work as intended because "radical environmental activists use an endless cycle of lawsuits and procedural tricks."

Wildlife advocates, on the other hand, say the species should be federally protected until it covers more of its historic range, which once extended across most of the lower 48 states, the Associated Press reported.

They also argue that wolves are in fact helpful for ecosystems, managing grazers like elk and protecting vegetation, according to The New York Times.

"This attempt to eliminate crucial protections for gray wolves demonstrates an anti-predator bias that continues to influence wolf management decisions," Animal Welfare Institute President Cathy Liss said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. "The undeserved hostility toward wolves is not based on principles of sound scientific management. These apex predators play a vital role in ecosystems, contribute to a multibillion-dollar outdoor tourism industry, and are an iconic symbol of our beloved native wildlife."

Gray wolves have been delisted in the Northern Rockies region, including Montana, Idaho, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and northern Utah, as of 2011.



Michigan Technological University wildlife biologist John Vucetich told the Associated Press that the survival of the species would not be immediately threatened by delisting, but that he was concerned what state management of their populations would entail.

"I do worry that some of the states could be overly aggressive and that wolves could fare worse than their current condition," he said.

Jamie Clark of Defenders of Wildlife was even more alarmed about what state management could mean.

"We don't have any confidence that wolves will be managed like other wildlife," she told the Associated Press. "We're going to fight this in any way possible."
Senate Democrats sparred with Republicans on the floor Wednesday over the Green New Deal, interrogating GOP lawmakers bashing the proposal over their plans to combat climate change.

"Maybe a lot of members think they can get away without having to answer the question [about what to do about climate change]," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told collected lawmakers. "They won't." Majority Leader McConnell said earlier this week that he plans to bring a vote on the Green New Deal over the next few weeks, and some leading Democrats told Politico that they plan to vote "present" on the politically tricky legislation while taking Republicans to task on their climate denial. "This is the first time Democrats have decided to go on offense on climate change," Schumer told the New York Times in an interview earlier this week, but added that "it's going to take us a little while to come up with a consensus that works."

For a deeper dive:

News: Politico, ABC, Bloomberg, New York Times

Commentary: NYT The Daily, Dave Roberts column

For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.
By Andrea Germanos

President Donald Trump's U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Texas state officials rejected an offer from NASA scientists in 2017 to use their state-of-the-art flying laboratory to evaluate air quality in Houston after Hurricane Harvey, new reporting by the Los Angeles Times reveals.

"This is disturbing," said Lina Hidalgo, judge for Texas's Harris County.

Harvey brought historic rainfall, catastrophic flooding and triggered potentially dangerous environmental and public health impacts: Houston's many refineries and petrochemical released pollutants into the air and waters, and area residents began to complain of worrisome smells and toxic sights near the facilities, as well as symptoms including headaches. The EPA asserted that the air quality posed no threat.

NASA, it turned out, was in a good position to gather data on air quality in the area with its DC-8. The jet, whose ability to ability to gather data dwarfs that of the EPA's air pollution plane or the hand-held devices used by Texas state officials, was already set up for testing because of a scheduled six-hour test flight to Lamont, Oklahoma on Sept. 14.

The response to NASA's offer? Thanks but no thanks.

Susanne Rust and Louis Sahagun reported for the Times:

On Sept. 9, David Gray, the EPA's deputy regional administrator in Texas and leader of the agency's emergency response, wrote to NASA and Texas officials that he was "hesitant" to have the jet "collect additional information that overlaps our existing efforts" until he learned more about the mission. He noted that media and nongovernmental organizations were releasing data that was "conflicting" with the state and EPA's.

The NASA scientists offered assurances that their fact-finding would not get in the way, but noted that the data would eventually be seen by the public. Texas and the EPA were unmoved.

The state-level response came from director of toxicology Michael Honeycutt, who now heads EPA's Science Advisory Board and is known for expressing views well out of the reach of mainstream science, such as the idea that lowering ozone would be bad for public health.

On Sept. 11, Honeycutt wrote in an email to NASA and EPA officials that state data showed no sign for concern, and "we don't think your data would be useful for source identification while industry continues to restart their operations."

Gray agreed with Honeycutt: "EPA concurs with your assessment and we will not plan to ask NASA to conduct this mission."

Associated Press reporter Frank Bajak noted that the new investigation adds weight to his own news agency's previous reporting showing that "Texas environmental regulators had little interest in exposing most post-Harvey industrial contamination."

Reacting to the reporting on Twitter, Dr. Chelsea Thompson, a research scientist in atmospheric chemistry, wrote, "It's worth noting that, over a year later now, all of us involved are still stunned by how this played out."

Another scientist, air pollution expert Nick Vizenor, who said he was part of lab team preparing for the potential mission over Houston, said the new investigation shows the "EPA and the state of Texas did not want to have all the information it could to try and help and protect the citizens of Houston."



"This is yet another story that shows how little the current administration cares about [its] citizens and the environment," he said.





"EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality knew air pollution was one of the unseen dangers of Hurricane Harvey, but according to news reports they deliberately chose not to use every available tool to discover it," added Elena Craft, senior health scientist with Environmental Defense Fund. "Their rejection of NASA's plan to fly a pollution-spotting plane over Houston after the storm is an abdication of responsibility and part of a disturbing trend of willful ignorance."



"Their action," she continued, "caused unnecessary risk to the health and safety of Texas families."

Reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams.


New York's Roman Catholic bishops don't want the state to go to pot.

(Photo: REUTERS / Jason Redmond) T-shirts and other merchandise are pictured at the Seattle Hempfest 4/20 event in Seattle, Washington April 20, 2014. Thousands of marijuana enthusiasts gathered in Colorado and Washington state over the weekend for an annual celebration of cannabis culture with rallies, concerts and trade shows in the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana.

The New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the state's 28 bishops, has issued a powerful statement opposing plans to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.

In a March 6 statement, the bishops said legalization would be disastrous, and accused the state of "encouraging destructive behavior" to raise tax revenue, Catholic News Agency reported.

Legalizing marijuana for recreational use would be akin to opening a "Pandora's Box that will have multiple deleterious effects on individuals, families, and all of society," said the statement.

"Vice is not an appropriate economic development engine for a state that prides itself as a national progressive leader," said the bishops. "Our state motto is Excelsior (ever upward), but policies that exploit addiction instead lead us ever downward."

New York state's Democratic Party Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in late 2018 that he intended to make the legalization of marijuana for recreational use a legislative priority for the coming year, a departure from his past views on the issue.

Counter to this New York's recreational marijuana battle sits on the front line of a generational war over American cannabis laws.

As debate heats up, USA Today New York reported it is compiling answers to key questions about legalized cannabis.

It said powerful black-market forces are threatening New York's efforts to tax and regulate recreational marijuana, experts said.

They cited reams of marijuana smuggled through the mail, bushels of cannabis secretly grown on rugged public land and international drug traffickers targeting New York's insatiable appetite for pot as examples.

"Yet the true scope of cannabis criminality is tough to grasp as authorities bust marijuana grows ranging from home-based operations in sleepy suburbs to backwoods cannabis patches in New York and across the country," said the newspaper.

CNA for its part reported that marijuana for medicinal use has been legal in New York since 2014, and the state legislature may consider a bill soon. Legalization efforts are opposed by not only the state's bishops, but also its law enforcement, medical, and educational communities.

USING DRUGS FOR STATE INCOME

The bishops expressed deep concern that efforts to use the drug to raise state income could have dire consequences for society, and particularly for young marijuana users.

"Of particular concern regarding the movement toward legalization is the impact on children," they said.

"Proponents argue that usage will be restricted to age 21 and older but, as we have seen in the alcohol and tobacco industries, producers of harmful products always find a way to market their products to children."

The bishops said that no increase in revenue would be worth the "increased teenage and childhood usage, harmful effects on developing brains, addiction, natural progression to harder drug use, increased impairment-related transportation accidents and deaths, and other potential public health and safety issues."

The bishops acknowledged racial disparities among those arrested for marijuana use and possession.

These disparities, which show a disproportionate effect on minority communities, have been advanced by legalization supporters as a benefit of decriminalization.

"We take this issue seriously," the bishops wrote.

"The state can and should take appropriate measures to ensure that skin color or zip code do not result in different outcomes for the same offense, including re-evaluating the justice of current criminal penalties for low-level possession."

"We must not simply throw up our hands and legalize a harmful substance in order to declare the problem of discrimination solved."
(Photo: PIO /Matt Magno)Archbishop Socrates E. Villegas (right) officiates at the holy mass during the inaugurals of newly elected officials of Pangasinan province led by Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. (C), Vice Gov. Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim, Jr. and members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (not in photo) on June 28, 2013 at the Sison Auditorium in Lingayen.

MANILA - Philippine bishops say they approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes, noting that they support any move to allow the use of cannabis for terminally ill patients.

At a press briefing on Monday, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas explained that after a thorough discussion with lawyers about the issue, church leaders arrived at their resolution.

"[If] It's to manage pain especially, in the last stage of their ailment ... Catholic medical ethics allows it," said Villegas, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

"We can't issue a blanket rejection of the use of marijuana for medical purposes."

The bishops issued the statement as growing calls to legalize cannabis have mounted in the Philippines Congress, urging lawmakers to pass draft legislation on the matter.

DRUGS FOR MEDICAL PATIENTS

A congressman authored the "Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act," a bill that seeks to regulate the use of prohibited drugs for medical patients.

In his exploratory note, Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, the bill's author, pointed out that cannabis had been used for medicinal purposes in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine.

"Modern research has confirmed the beneficial uses of cannabis in treating and alleviating the pain, nausea and other symptoms associated with a variety of debilitating medical conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, and HIV-AIDS as found by the National Institute of Medicine of the U.S. in March 1999," he wrote.

But for Villegas, he said there was no need to craft a new law relaxing the rules on medical cannabis because existing law allows the use of such drugs in exceptional cases.

"Our lawyers advised us that the present law allows the Dangerous Drugs Board to issue impending rules and regulations so that these prohibited drugs may be used in very extreme exceptional cases," the archbishop said. "All we need to do is to identify which of them may be used."

He maintained that the use of cannabis must only be allowed for patients suffering terminal illnesses to alleviate the pain.

"We are not advocating the use of marijuana for recreational purposes.

"We are only referring to terminally-ill patients who are in severe pain and the best assistance we could give to them is to minimize their pain, especially as they prepare for their death," Villegas said.
Havana, Mar 7 (epa-efe).- Her first intention was to break stereotypes and demonstrate that the Cuban woman is much more than a sexual object, and adhering to that principle Zenaida Romeu, the first orchestra conductor to finish her training on the island, has found a sound of her own that has inserted a feminine voice into music from the Americas.

Born in 1952 in Havana into a family with a century-long musical tradition, Romeu's vocation is something that came to her naturally, but choosing a path for her career and a purpose was a very personal decision.

"I'm the first woman to graduate as a orchestra conductor in Cuba, so I've always - in some way or other - had the idea of creating new spaces for my gender based on knowledge of a profession that has been historically dominated by men," she said during an interview with EFE.

At a very young age, Romeu, who has become used to carrying the weight of her surname on her shoulders, stepped into the demanding Cuban cultural scene with her first project: a chamber choir that broke molds at the time.

The intense economic crisis the country experienced after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s resulted in an exodus of talent that also affected music, especially chamber music, where "there were few gray heads but even fewer young people," she said.

With her years of experience as a teacher in Spain and as a conductor in Italy, Romeu followed the opposite route taken by many of her countrymen in the '90s and returned to the island to found the Camerata Romeu, a chamber orchestra made up exclusively of women that revolutionized the Cuban classical music scene.

One of the first aims for the new project was "to change the poor image of Cuban women that existed in many places at that time," she said.

However, a female orchestra in Cuba was nothing new. In the 1930s, coinciding with the legalization of women's right to vote in Cuba, several exclusively female musical ensembles emerged, but they always focused on the popular dance genre and "never on classical music."

"We got rid of the music stands and decided to play by memory. So we've played things ranging from a work by (Pyotr Ilyich) Tchaikovsky to Guido Lopez-Gavilan's 'Camerata en guaganco.' It's part of the orchestra's image, which helps to produce a certain involvement by the public," Romeu said.

The Camerata got started in 1993 thanks to the Pablo Milanes Foundation. Its proposal for change began with "a fresh image" that was first inspired by the jacket and skirt ensembles popularized by France's Coco Chanel, ultimately evolving into the outfits they wear today.

Musically, Romeu decided to start with an extremely varied repertoire, which - although it includes pieces by European classical composers - also favors the work of Cubans and Latin Americans, which is the "orchestra's true aim," she said.

Although the Camerata Romeu has declared itself to be a feminist organization, Romeu said that "We are not fighting against men. We just want to make clear that women can do the same job men have done throughout history. Twenty-five years ago we filled a space that was empty."
Palestinian dies of wounds sustained during Gaza rallies

More than 250 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured.

A Palestinian child succumbed to injuries sustained Wednesday while taking part in anti-occupation rallies east of Gaza. Seyfeddin Abu Zeid, 15, has died of injuries suffered Wednesday at the hands of Israeli occupation forces, Gazas Health Ministry said in a statement.

MORE THAN 250 PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN MARTYRED

More than 250 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire and thousands more injured since Gazans began staging weekly protests at points along the border between Gaza and Israel in March of last year.

Demonstrators demand the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israels 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclaves economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.
Turkey buying Russian S-400s a done deal

President Erdogans comments come amid US suggestions Ankara should reconsider buying Russian missile defense system.

Turkeys president said Wednesday that Ankara has finalized an agreement on purchasing Russias S-400 missile defense system.

"WE MAY WORK WITH S-500S"

"We concluded the S-400 issue, signed a deal with the Russians and will start co-production, said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking in a televised interview. "Later, we may work with S-500s, the next generation system," Erdogan said.

US officials have suggested that Turkey should buy US Patriot missiles rather than the Russian system, arguing the S-400 is incompatible with NATO systems. But Turkish officials have said that Turkey will not go back on its agreement with Russia, even if it were to also buy Patriots.

Speaking on the countering terrorism, Erdogan said that Turkey would continue its counter-terror operations until the last terror threat against the country is eliminated. "There has been a tremendous increase in the number of terrorists who surrendered. Participation in the PKK is at its lowest level," Erdogan said, vowing to conduct new operations to destroy the roots of terrorism.
Turkey: Machinery exports reach $2.7B in first 2 months

Exports of machinery products rise over 8 percent year-on-year in January-February, says association.

Turkey's machinery exports rose to $2.7 billion in the first two months of 2019, an exporters' association said Thursday. The sector's exports soared 8.1 percent in the two-month period versus the same period in 2018, the Machinery Exporters' Association (MAIB) said in a press release.

EXPORTS TO US REACHED OVER 15 PERCENT

The machinery sector's share of Turkey's exports to the US reached over 15 percent, the press release read.The sector's exports to the US, UK, France and Spain jumped over 20 percent in January-February versus the same period last year.

Kutlu Karavelioglu, head of the association, said machinery exports are rising in line with targets. "This March we will welcome 75 firms from 23 countries with two exhibitions," he added.

Turkey's machinery exports were $17.1 billion in 2018, while the export-to-import ratio in the machinery sector was 64 percent. Overall Turkey earned $168.02 billion from exports in 2018, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.
Turkish police arrest 3 PKK suspects in anti-drug raids

Suspects are accused of drug trafficking, having links to PKK terror group.

Turkish police on Thursday arrested three PKK terror suspects during an anti-drug operation in the southern Mersin province. The provincial police said in a statement that two operations were conducted in the Akdeniz district, and the suspects were caught red-handed.

PKK RELATED DOCUMENTS WERE SEIZED

Over the police inspection, the suspects were revealed to have links to the PKK terrorist organization. They were also found to have attended terrorist activities of the group. Many PKK related documents and some drug were seized during the police search in the suspects' home.

The PKK listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years and has been responsible for the death of nearly 40,000 people.
US senator says she was raped while in military

'The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways,' says Senator Martha McSally.

US Senator Martha McSally said Wednesday she was raped by an officer while serving in the Air Force but chose not to report the assault because she did not have trust in the military's system.

"I WAS ABUSED MORE THAN ONCE"

"I blame myself. I was ashamed and confused, and I thought I was strong but felt powerless," McSally said during a hearing on sexual assault in the military in which other victims came forward with their stories. "The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways, and in one case, I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer," the freshman Republican senator said. "Like many victims, I felt the system was raping me all over again."





Her use of the word "perpetrators" in addition to "superior officer" appears to denote that she was abused more than once, but she did not name any offenders or specify when the assaults took place.

McSally rose to the rank of colonel during her over the 20-year term of Air Force service, during which time she was deployed to Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. She called for the Pentagon to further educate its commanders and "ensure that all commanders are trained and empowered to take legal action".

'ME TOO' MOVEMENT

McSally is at least the second senator to come forward this year with her story of sexual assault. Senator Joni Ernst said in January that she was raped in college and was abused by her ex-husband.

The testimonies come in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which has encouraged women and men to come forward with their stories of sexual assault.

Dozens of high-profile celebrities and moguls have been felled over the allegations.
The Future of Intellectual Property - Challenges and Perspectives

7 March 2019

EPO President Antonio Campinos has spoken about the importance of cooperation at an IP conference in Bucharest, Romania. "The future of Intellectual Property (IP) in Europe - challenges and perspectives" was held on Tuesday by Romania's State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM) under the auspices of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and with the support of the EPO, the EUIPO and the WIPO.

Almost 100 national, European and international IP stakeholders attended, including representatives of national patent offices from 20 European countries.

In his welcome address, President Campinos underlined the significant contribution of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)-intensive industries to the creation of employment and economic value in Europe, stating that "IP has a direct effect on the health of our economy and on our prosperity. With effective patent protection, both foreign and domestic companies can safely invest."

The EPO President also emphasised that "a strong partnership and results-oriented co-operation" with all EPO member states within a globally relevant European Patent Network is key for the future development of the European patent system.

Niculae Badalau, Romania's Minister of Economy, said: "Industrial property rights are of crucial importance for supporting innovation and encouraging creativity, being essential to maintaining and strengthening the competitiveness of European companies at the global market. There are common challenges that we need to find common solutions and responses for."

Ionut Barbu, Director General of OSIM, said: "It is an honour for OSIM to host such a conference in the field of industrial property. The protection of intellectual property in Romania deserves needs to be supported and I am convinced that, together with the Ministry of Economy, we will succeed in achieving this strategic objective for our country."

Cooperation is currently being targeted as an essential tool for supporting innovation. The EPO Strategic Plan 2023, which is presently being developed in an open consultative process with users and stakeholders of the European patent system, will build on actions that strengthen the patent system and help meet future challenges, particularly in the area of patent applications related to digital transformation and the integration of such technologies in key office processes.

The President also used the opportunity to meet the Romanian Minister of Economy, Mr Niculae Badalau, for an exchange relating to the promotion of IP and the strengthening of key industries in the country through a greater use of the patent system, as patents encourage businesses to further innovate.

Romania has been a member state of the European Patent Organisation since 2003. The EPO and OSIM closely co-operate to build awareness of the economic value of patents among Romanian businesses, researchers and the general public, as well as on the development of shared IT tools and services.
Washington, D.C. - Yaron Fuchs is the 2018 grand prize winner of the Sartorius & Science Prize for Regenerative Medicine & Cell Therapy, for work that reveals a role for programmed stem cell death in wound healing and tissue regeneration. The findings, described in his prize-winning essay, "The therapeutic promise of apoptosis," could potentially pave the way to novel regenerative medicine and tumor therapies that target stem cells undergoing apoptosis - a type of programmed cell death.

Adult stem cells are characterized by their ability to self-renew and transform into distinct cell types, positioning them as critical drivers of tissue replenishment and repair. While great strides have been made in researchers' understanding of the many molecular pathways that control the fate and function of stem cells, very little is known regarding the specific processes underlying their elimination.

To address such unknowns, Fuchs, who now heads the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, further investigated how seemingly "immortal" stem cells committed cellular suicide. He closely examined the proteins involved in apoptosis using a model system known to be dependent on stem cells: the hair follicle.

Fuchs discovered that loss of ARTS in mice, a protein involved in promoting apoptosis, resulted in hair follicle stem cell expansion and lead to a dramatic improvement in skin repair. Mice lacking ARTS were able to regenerate hair follicles and formed smaller scars following wound infliction. What's more, inactivation of the protein XIAP, which is targeted by ARTS, reversed these observations and impaired wound healing.

Fuchs verified that ARTS and XIAP exerted similar effects in the intestinal epithelium, a system rapidly replenished by actively dividing stem cells. In this context, loss of ARTS function also protected intestinal stem cells against apoptosis, increased their numbers and enhanced intestinal regeneration.

"These studies demonstrate the importance of apoptosis in restricting stem cell expansion and enabling proper repair, suggesting that it serves as a defense mechanism against irreparably damaged stem cells and the emergence of cancer. The findings also suggest that transiently targeting pathways that encourage apoptosis in hair follicle or intestinal stem cells may offer therapeutic benefits to promote wound healing and regeneration," said Fuchs.

In Fuchs' award-winning essay, which will be published in the 8 March issue of Science, he highlights his quest to understand how epidermal stem cells use apoptosis-promoting proteins. Fuchs observed that a large number of proliferating cells within the sebaceous gland (a mini-organ that releases oily secretions) expressed an active form of caspase-3, a protein that triggers programmed cell death. Interestingly, these cells did not show any of the hallmark morphological characteristics of an apoptotic cell.

To Fuchs' surprise, deletion of caspase-3 caused reduced proliferation and cell number, decreased organ size, and impaired sebaceous gland regeneration. Intrigued by this result, Fuchs found that caspase-3 controls the activity of YAP, a fundamental regulator of tissue regeneration and organ size.

"This discovery is particularly important, as it sheds light on standard-of-care cancer treatments like radiation and chemotherapy, which intentionally accelerate caspase-3 activity to execute tumor cell apoptosis. It also may hold promise in other applications, such as promoting wound healing by manipulating caspase-3," said Fuchs.

"Stem cells are well known to promote tissue regeneration, but it's less clear how stem cell elimination could impact disease," said Science biomedicine editor Dr. Priscilla Kelly, who chaired the prize jury. "Dr. Fuchs revealed the unexpected connection between cell death pathways and the ability of stem cells to govern wound healing, skin repair and tumor growth. This is an excellent example of how state-of-the-art research can advance regenerative medicine and model new therapeutic interventions."

Fuchs noted that he is currently in the process of developing specific inhibitors and activators of apoptotic proteins to improve stem cell-dependent skin and intestinal regeneration. Ongoing work indicates that the interplay between caspase-3 and YAP contributes to both skin wound healing and tumorigenesis. As such, his team is currently developing novel strategies for targeting caspase-3 activation in different tumor settings and regenerative models.

Next steps will include zeroing in on the myriad of molecular signals emanating from apoptotic cells, to better understand the effect they have on their surrounding environment. Fuchs hopes to harness such processes to drive tissue regeneration and block tumor development. Taking a different research direction, too, he seeks to uncover new stem cell populations, pinpointing the role they play in tissue homeostasis, repair, and tumor formation.

Established in 2017, the Sartorius & Science Prize for Regenerative Medicine & Cell Therapy - now in its second year - is an annual prize geared toward researchers focused on basic or translational research that advances regenerative medicine and cell therapy (including cell-, gene-, or immunotherapy, tissue engineering, and materials engineering). The winner is awarded $25,000 and publication of his or her essay in Science. The award is announced and presented at a ceremony for which Sartorius will provide financial support to help enable the grand prize winner to attend the ceremony.

Fuchs, along with all finalists, will be recognized during an award ceremony for invited guests only the evening of 25 April at AAAS Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

2018 Grand Prize Winner

Yaron Fuchs, for his essay "The therapeutic promise of apoptosis." Yaron Fuchs received his undergraduate degree from Haifa University and pursued a direct Ph.D. track at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. He next carried out his postdoctoral research at Rockefeller University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Upon completion, he returned to the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, where he now heads the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. His research is focused on different modes of cell death and how they regulate diverse aspects of stem cell biology and stem cell-dependent processes.

Finalist Daniele Tauriello, for his essay "From poor prognosis to promising treatment." Daniele Tauriello studied at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, and did his Ph.D. at the University Medical Centre Utrecht. Dr. Tauriello has been a postdoctoral fellow at IRB Barcelona, Spain, working on the role of TGF- in the tumor immune micro-environment in colorectal cancer metastasis. This year, he will set up his lab at the Radboudumc, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Finalist Ritu Raman, for her essay "Modeling muscle." Ritu Raman received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Raman is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she is developing and integrating novel responsive biohybrid materials into implantable devices.

Finalist Florian Bentzinger, for his essay "Best supporting actors." Florian Bentzinger received his undergraduate degree and Ph.D. from the University of Basel in Switzerland. Following his post-doctoral studies at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada, Dr. Bentzinger moved back to Switzerland and joined the Nestle Institute of Health Sciences. In 2016 he was appointed as an assistant professor at the Universite de Sherbrooke in Canada where he is conducting research on the skeletal muscle stem cell niche in health and disease.

###

For the full text of finalist essays and for information about applying for next year's awards, see the Science Web site at http://www.sciencemag.org/prizes/sartorius-science-prize-regenerative-medicine-cell-therapy.

About Sartorius

Sartorius Lab Instruments is a subsidiary of Sartorius AG that supplies high-quality laboratory instruments, high-grade consumables and excellent services. Customers are from research and quality assurance laboratories of the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries as well as from the academic sector. The product portfolio focuses on high-value laboratory instruments, such as lab balances, pipettes and laboratory water purification systems. Moreover, a wide range of consumables, such as laboratory filters and pipette tips is offered. In laboratory weighing technology, Sartorius ranks as the world's second largest equipment supplier, and enjoys a strong position among the leading global suppliers for consumables, pipettes and laboratory water purification systems.

About AAAS

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science as well as Science Translational Medicine, Science Signaling, a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances, Science Immunology, and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes nearly 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS. See http://www.aaas.org.
Innovation in physics is the foundation of modern technology and contributes to the US economy in several key ways according to APS report

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 7, 2019 -- Industrial physics plays a significant role in driving the U.S. economy, according to a new report by the American Physical Society, which will be described this week at the 2019 APS March Meeting in Boston.

The report, "The Impact of Industrial Physics on the U.S. Economy," found that industrial physics contributed an estimated $2.3 trillion in 2016, which was 12.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

A press conference on the report will take place during the APS meeting. Information for logging on to watch and ask questions remotely is included at the end of this news release. The report was produced by APS with financial support from the American Institute of Physics Venture Partnership Fund. It is available at https://www.aps.org/industry.

What Exactly is Industrial Physics?

"Industrial physics is the application of physics knowledge and principles to the design and manufacturing of products and services," said Steven Lambert, APS Industrial Physics Program Manager. "The success of modern technology is built upon a foundation of innovations in physics. Sometimes that's done directly or indirectly, but industrial physicists are the catalysts for making this happen."

Industrial physics contributes to the U.S. economy in several key ways, according to the report. This includes not only physicists with degrees who are working in industry as researchers, product designers, managers, research directors and entrepreneurs, but also engineers, chemists, materials scientists, technicians and other scientists and technologists who use experimental or theoretical physical principles within their professions.

Another way industrial physics contributes is through the use of fundamental physical principles -- the laws governing the electronic, nuclear, mechanical, electrical, magnetic, acoustic, heat and radiation behavior of physical substances -- to conceptualize, design and manufacture physical products and systems, including understanding their use and impact.

"We expected to find that industrial physics is important to the U.S. economy, but we were surprised at the size of the contribution: 12.6 percent of the U.S. GDP and 6 percent of direct employment," said John Rumble, of R&R Data Services and a member of the APS Industrial Physics Advisory Board. "This reflects the increasingly technological basis of our economy and is one reason that the U.S. continues to be the leading economy in the world."

Among the report's other key findings about the industry's impact on the U.S. economy:

11.5 million people were employed in physics-based industries in 2016.

Approximately 70,000 degreed physicists joined industry from 2003-2016, more than 58 percent of the total number of U.S. physics graduates.

U.S. exports by physics-based sectors accounted for about $1.1 trillion in 2016.

U.S. physics-based companies invested $150 billion in internal R&D in 2015.

More than 340,000 physics patents were granted to U.S. companies from 2010-2016.

One highlight from the report: "Since the end of World War II, physics discoveries of the 20th century have been transformed by industrial physicists into incredible products and services. Examples include consumer electronics, personal computers, cell phones, GPS, MRI scanners, digital everything, and the Information Revolution that makes life today virtually unrecognizable to someone who lived 70 years ago. The flow of physics into industry is neither stopping, nor even slowing down, as new disruptive products and services continue to emerge."

The report concludes that for industrial physics to continue to thrive, it needs support from the entire physics community -- industry, academia, government, and physics societies -- to continue to support industrial physics so that it can continue to thrive. It cautions that the 21st-century industry will need new physics and a better understanding of our physical world, a goal that requires the U.S. to maintain its leadership in physics R&D.

"U.S. industry needs the creativity and knowledge of industrial physicists to continue the pace of technology development that we've seen during the past 50 years," said Bob Doering of Texas Instruments and chair of the APS Industrial Physics Advisory Board. "Physics training fosters the creativity and technical skills that are essential for this pursuit."

###

The 2019 APS March Meeting presentation "The Economic Impact of Industrial Physics on the U.S. Economy: What value we physicists bring to economic activity," by John Rumble, will take place Thursday, March 7, at 3:42 p.m. in room 205A of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. ABSTRACT: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR19/Session/V34.3

MORE MEETING INFORMATION

The American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting is a major international conference and the largest physics meeting of the year. In 2019, the APS March Meeting will convene March 4-8 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

USEFUL LINKS

Register as Press: https://goo.gl/forms/ur9dE24zCO1IVsLu2

Press Site: https://www.aps.org/meetings/march/press.cfm

Meeting Abstracts: http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR19/APS_epitome

Main Meeting Page: https://www.aps.org/meetings/march/

Hotel and Travel: https://www.aps.org/meetings/march/hotel-travel.cfm

PRESS REGISTRATION

APS will provide free registration to all staff journalists representing media organizations, professional freelance journalists on assignment, and student journalists who are attending the meeting for the express purpose of gathering and reporting news and information. Press registration grants full access to all scientific sessions, to the press room, and to the press conferences. We will also provide complimentary press registration to university press officers, PIOs and other professional media relations staff. For press related questions about the APS March Meeting, email media@aps.org.

PRESS CONFERENCES

A series of press conferences on newsworthy research will be webcast live from the conference on Monday, March 4 through Thursday, March 7. A schedule will be released the week before the conference. Members of the media should register in advance at https://webcast.apswebcasting.com/go/aps-march-19.

ABOUT APS

The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. APS represents over 55,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world. Society offices are located in College Park, Maryland (Headquarters), Ridge, New York, and Washington, D.C. Read more: https://www.aps.org/
Compared to other animals, chimpanzees show tremendous variation across groups in their behavior - from the types of tools they use in their feeding behavior to the specific gestures they use in communication. Research in captivity suggests that chimpanzees acquire information socially, learning to do things in a certain way based on how it is done by other members of their group. Thus, much of the variation in the behavior among wild chimpanzee groups may be akin to "cultural" variation in humans.

As part of an international team led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Arizona State University researchers Kevin Langergraber and Kevin Lee were coauthors in a study examining the relationship between human impact and behavioral diversity in chimpanzees. This paper will be published online by the journal Science on Thursday, March 7, 2019.

Unfortunately, chimpanzee populations are declining across their range in equatorial Africa due to deforestation, hunting and diseases, many of which originate in humans. Much of the empirical work and debate surrounding the loss of biodiversity has focused on declines in genetic diversity or population size.

However, behavioral diversity is also a facet of biodiversity, but has not been considered as an additional concern until recently. Several international conservation organizations, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity or the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, of the United Nations Environment Programme, now call for the protection of biological diversity in its entirety, including behavioral diversity of culturally rich wildlife.

Due to limited empirical data, until now it had been unclear whether behavioral diversity would similarly be negatively affected by human impact.

"Chimpanzees are highly intelligent and adaptable creatures," says Lee, "and there have been various reports of chimpanzees, both in captivity and in free-living conditions, that have relatively more frequent contact with humans exhibiting some 'novel' behaviors not observed in more remote populations, but it was not clear how overall behavioral diversity would be affected."

The international research team compiled an unprecedented dataset on 31 chimpanzee behaviors across 144 social groups or communities, located throughout the entire geographic range of wild chimpanzees. Though part of this information was already available in the scientific literature, the team also conducted extensive field work at 46 locations, including on a group near Langergraber's long-term research site in Kibale National Park, Uganda, while Lee led a separate team in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. The particular set of behaviors considered in this study included the extraction and consumption of termites, ants, algae, nuts and honey; the use of tools for hunting or digging for tubers; and the use of stones, pools and caves among several others.

The occurrence of behaviors at a given site was investigated with respect to an aggregate measure of human impact.

"We measured multiple levels of human impact, including human population density, roads, rivers and forest cover," says Langergraber. "The analysis revealed a strong and robust pattern - chimpanzee behavioral diversity was reduced by 88 percent when human impact was highest compared to locations with the least human impact."

There are a number of potential mechanisms that may explain the loss of behaviors observed. As is known for humans, population size plays a major role in maintaining cultural traits and a similar mechanism may function in chimpanzees. Chimpanzees may also avoid conspicuous behaviors that inform hunters about their presence, such as nut cracking. Habitat degradation and resource depletion may also reduce opportunities for social learning and thus prevent the transfer of local traditions from one generation to the next. Lastly, climate change may also be important, as it may influence the production of important food resources and make their availability unpredictable. Very likely a combination of these potential mechanisms has caused the observed reduction in chimpanzee behavioral diversity.

###
The study brought together researchers from Bielefeld University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot (Israel). It is being published today (07.03.2019) in the 'Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters'.

'We are studying how special, naturally occurring proteins influence the smallest of ice crystals - the crystal embryos,' says Professor Dr Thomas Koop. The chemist heads Bielefeld University's 'Atmospheric and Physical Chemistry' research group. 'Normally, such proteins ensure that crystal embryos are neutralized and do not grow into large ice crystals.' That, for example, is essential for the survival of the larvae of the mealworm beetle. They use a protein to protect their skin and body fluids from being damaged by ice crystals. When the outside temperature drops, the larvae secrete an antifreeze protein into their body fluids. The protein molecules cover the surface of the crystal embryos, thereby preventing them from growing large enough to damage the cells.

'There are many other organisms in contrast, that can benefit from making water turn into ice,' says Koop. This is the case with, for example, bacteria that trigger the formation of ice. They secrete proteins on which crystal embryos can form, or nucleate from the cold liquid water, and thereafter grow into large ice crystals. Bacteria can use this, for example, to split open the skin of a tomato.

Until now, science has viewed ice-promoting and ice-inhibiting proteins as two different types of protein. That is also indicated by their different sizes: ice-inhibiting proteins are made up of small molecules; ice-promoting proteins, of large long molecules.

However, the new experiments show that, 'an antifreeze molecule cannot just inhibit the growth of ice, it can also trigger its growth,' says Koop.

The scientists have tested two naturally occurring antifreeze proteins: the protein of the larvae of the mealworm beetle and the protein of an artic fish, the ocean pout. They observed the effect of the proteins on thin microfluidic chips, developed at the Weizmann Institute, that are permeated with microscopically small channels with droplet traps. They took pure distilled water and added a set concentration of the specific protein. Then they injected this protein solution into the chip. In the chip, minute drops of water were collected in the droplet traps. Then they placed the chips in a temperature-controlled cooling chamber that cooled them down to minus 40 degrees.

'The pure drops in our chip should actually first freeze at minus 38.4 degrees,' says Koop. However, the opposite occurred. 'When the drops contained the purportedly ice-inhibiting antifreeze proteins, the ice crystal embryos already began to form and grow at warmer temperatures.' Hence, in the case of the protein of the larvae of the mealworm beetle, one-half of all the drops already started to freeze at minus 33.9 degrees. 'This enabled us to show that whether the antifreeze proteins have ice-inhibiting or ice-promoting properties depends on temperature. There has been speculation over the ambivalence of such proteins for many years, but we are the first to confirm this experimentally,' says Professor Dr. Ido Braslavsky from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Professor Dr. Yinon Rudich from the Weizmann Institute adds, 'It was only having the chip that enabled us to study the formation of ice through antifreeze proteins experimentally.'

Some of the experiments for the study were carried out at Bielefeld University. Complementary freezing experiments and the chips used to study the water as well as the protein solutions came from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. The antifreeze proteins of the larvae of the mealworm beetle and the artic fish were produced at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at the Rehovot campus. Ice inhibition of the same protein solutions was also demonstrated there.

Ice-inhibiting and ice-promoting proteins are not just common in nature. Nowadays, they are also used as technical aids. For example, antifreeze proteins in varnish can help protect the varnished surfaces from frost. The proteins can also be added to ice cream to help keep it creamy. Ice-forming proteins are used in, for example, ski resorts so that artificial snow can already be produced at a temperature of minus 3 degrees without having to wait for temperatures to drop further.

###

Original publication:

Lukas Eickhoff, Katharina Dreischmeier, Assaf Zipori, Vera Sirotinskaya, Chen Adar, Naama Reicher Ido Braslavsky, Yinon Rudich, Thomas Koop: Contrasting Behavior of Antifreeze Proteins: Ice Growth Inhibitors and Ice Nucleation Promoters. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. http://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03719, published in the printed edition on 7 March 2019.
This year, ten researchers - three women and seven men - will receive the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize, the most important award for early career researchers in Germany. The recipients were chosen by a selection committee in Bonn appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The prizewinners will each be presented with the 20,000 prize on 28 May in Berlin.

The 2019 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes are being awarded to:

Stefan Cihan Aykut, Sociology, Universitat Hamburg

Karl Bringmann, Theoretical Computer Science, Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrucken

Fabian Dielmann, Inorganic Molecular Chemistry, University of Munster

Jonathan F. Donges, Statistical Physics and Climate Science, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

Knut Drescher, Microbiology and Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg

Stefanie Ganger, Modern and Contemporary History, University of Cologne

Nicolas Perkowski, Probability Theory, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, and Humboldt University of Berlin

Uta Reinohl, General Linguistics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Thimoteus Speer, Nephrology, Saarland University

Nina Henriette Uhlenhaut, Experimental Endocrinology, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen - German Research Center for Environmental Health

The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize has been awarded annually since 1977 to outstanding researchers at an early stage of their academic careers who do not yet have a permanent professorship. The prize serves as both recognition and an incentive to continue pursuing a path of academic excellence. Since 1980 it has been named after the atomic physicist and former DFG President Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, during whose period in office (1973-1979) it was first awarded. The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize is regarded as the most important award for the promotion of early career researchers in Germany.

A total of 129 researchers from all fields of research were nominated for this year's prize. The winners were selected by the responsible committee chaired by DFG Vice President and mathematician Prof. Dr. Marlis Hochbruck.

The recipients:

Stefan Cihan Aykut (38), Sociology, Universitat Hamburg

Stefan Cihan Aykut's research focuses on the sociological study of climate discourse and climate policy. He is particularly interested in the comparison of Germany and France. Aykut has studied and researched in both countries, publishing in German, English and French. He has placed national discourses and policies in their European and global context, which gave rise to his dissertation "How to Govern a Global Risk? The Construction of Climate Change as a Public Problem at the Global and European Levels, in France and Germany" (in French in the original). In his research, Aykut innovatively brings together research approaches and methods from political science, sociology, and science and technology studies. He combines empirical observation with hermeneutics and discourse analysis, with historical depth of focus. Aykut's analyses also have impact in a political and social context.

Karl Bringmann (32), Theoretical Computer Science, Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrucken

Karl Bringmann has written two master's dissertations, in computer science and mathematics, and published nine conference papers while he was still a student. As a doctoral and postdoctoral researcher, he presented his work on algorithms and complexity theory at many leading international congresses on theoretical computer science, where he was also invited on several occasions to serve on the programme committee. Bringmann has made extremely important contributions to his two fields of research, also addressing questions in many areas which are distantly related to one another. One of his most significant findings is the calculation of new fundamental 'lower limits' for important problems such as the Frechet distance of curves.

Fabian Dielmann (38), Inorganic Molecular Chemistry, University of Munster

Having held posts in Regensburg and California, Fabian Dielmann has led a DFG-funded Emmy Noether independent junior research group at the University of Munster since 2013. There, he investigates questions relating to molecular chemistry and catalysis, in particular the development of methods to activate very inert small molecules such as carbon dioxide and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). These molecules are of fundamental economic and social importance, being the starting materials for various industrial processes but also pollutants, particularly carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. As well as closing the gap between academic research and application, Dielmann has moved beyond standard paradigms and thought models in his discipline, for example in the activation of SF6 with nucleophilic phosphanes he himself developed. His research has been published in internationally relevant journals and is respected worldwide.

Jonathan F. Donges (35), Statistical Physics and Climate Science, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

By introducing innovative methods from statistical physics into climate and Earth system research, Jonathan F. Donges has significantly advanced this field. He has also carried out pioneering work in the analysis of recurring events, establishing it as an analytical method for climate data before big data methods became common practice. More recently, he has used additional network-based approaches and methods drawn from complexity theory for the purposes of climate research. An article which he co-authored, "Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene", is expected to influence debate in climate science for several years to come. In this paper, the authors identify in the transitions between more stable and more variable climate conditions a trigger for human development in Africa, providing evidence of a reciprocal relationship between climate development and human development. Donges studied and earned his doctorate in Bonn, San Diego, Potsdam and Berlin. Since 2013, among other roles he has served as one of two leaders of a flagship project (COPAN) at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Knut Drescher (35), Microbiology and Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg

Knut Drescher, who works at the intersection of physics, biochemistry, materials science and biotechnology, has made important contributions to the study of cellular processes during the formation of bacterial biofilms. His findings are being used to develop measures to intervene in the growth and proliferation of these multicellular collectives. This brings closer the goal of reducing the mortality risk from infections triggered by certain pathogens. Drescher's work also provides important insights that improve our understanding of how self-organised patterns of interaction that differ from individual behaviours arise within cellular collectives. In 2014, after spending periods working at the universities in Oxford, Cambridge and Princeton, Drescher was appointed head of a Max Planck research group and since 2015 he has also been Professor of Biophysics at Philipps-Universitat Marburg. In 2016, he was awarded an ERC Starting Grant and was selected to lead a project within a DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre.

Stefanie Ganger (36), Modern and Contemporary History, University of Cologne

Since 2013, Stefanie Ganger has been Junior Professor of Iberian and Latin American History at the University of Cologne. Prior to this she studied and researched in Augsburg, Seville, Cambridge and Berlin, as well as in Konstanz as part of the Leibniz Prize research team "Global Processes" led by Jurgen Osterhammel. Ganger, whose main interests lie in the history of science and medicine from the 18th to the early 20th century, has broken new ground with her consistent integration of Latin America into global historical frameworks. Her first monograph dealt with the collection and generation of knowledge of and about Pre-Hispanic objects and the development of archaeology in Peru and Chile. Her second book discusses the history of the worldwide use of, and global trade in, medicinal plants from South America. Here too, Ganger - who is internationally well networked with researchers in the history of science and global history - adopts a genuinely global historical approach. Her use of sources from many parts of the world in different languages is remarkable in its own right.

Nicolas Perkowski (34), Probability Theory, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, and Humboldt University of Berlin

Perkowski has been Junior Professor of Stochastic Analysis at the Humboldt University of Berlin since 2015, and since 2018 he has also been based at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig, funded through the DFG's Heisenberg Programme. His research focuses on singular stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs), questions relating to applied stochastic analysis, and robust methods in financial mathematics. Together with co-authors, he developed a highly regarded alternative approach to the solution of singular SPDEs, such as the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation, and was able for the first time to prove that the energy solutions to these are unique. Since 2016 Perkowski has been a project leader in a DFG Research Unit as well as participating in a DFG-funded International Research Training Group.

Uta Reinohl (32), General Linguistics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Uta Reinohl's field of research is historical linguistics, and specifically the development of individual languages. She also carries out research into grammaticalization, an area that demands familiarity with many different languages and current theories as well as a capacity for generalisation. Reinohl therefore brings together two academic traditions that have largely existed in parallel. Her main focus is on questions of syntax, or the structure of sentences. In her dissertation she shed new light on one of the most important developments in sentence structure in the Indo-Germanic languages, namely the emergence of hierarchical structures in the nominal phrase. Her linking of data from very different areas is unusual: for instance, she has opened up new insights through a detailed comparison of Vedic Sanskrit and various Australian languages. Since 2019 Reinohl has been the leader of a DFG-funded Emmy Noether independent junior research group at the University of Mainz. Since 2017 she has been a project leader in a Collaborative Research Centre at the University of Cologne and co-applicant in a DFG project to develop a research environment for Vedic and Sanskrit texts.

Thimoteus Speer (37), Nephrology, Saarland University

Lipid metabolism disorders are one of the key risk factors for arteriosclerotic changes to the arteries, which can cause strokes and heart attacks. However, not all blood lipids are harmful. Thimoteus Speer has demonstrated that only certain modified lipids have a damaging effect on arteries in people with kidney disease. Crucially, he linked these findings with newly discovered processes of chronic inflammation and was able to explain certain mechanistic details of this fatal interaction. He therefore made an important link between these two common damage processes. Speer's findings have made it possible to establish diagnostic precision medicine and, in the medium term, the development of new treatment strategies. The importance of his work is therefore due to its strong translational research approach. Working from the basis of a joint doctorate in human medicine and biology, he has conducted outstanding basic and translational research. This is reflected in his roles as senior physician, laboratory director for experimental and translational nephrology, and project leader in a DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre.

Nina Henriette Uhlenhaut (41), Experimental Endocrinology, Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen - German Research Center for Environmental Health

The field of endocrinology is concerned with disorders of hormone-producing glands, such as the thyroid gland, and disorders caused by an excess, deficit or other imbalances of hormones. Nina Henriette Uhlenhaut investigates the signal transmission of glucocorticoid hormones at a molecular level and its physiological effects on the immune system and metabolism. Uhlenhaut's work has significantly contributed to proving that these hormones can mediate both stimulating and inhibiting effects, and to explaining this mechanism. Since 2018 she has been Professor of Metabolic Biochemistry and Genetics at the Gene Center at LMU Munich and the leader of a junior research group at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen. Since 2017 she has been a project leader in a DFG-funded Transregio and a Collaborative Research Centre. In 2014 she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant and between 2013 and 2018 she led a DFG-funded Emmy Noether independent junior research group.

###

Further Information

The presentation of the 2019 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes will take place on 28 May at 4pm, in the Lecture Hall Ruin of the former Rudolf Virchow Lecture Hall, Berlin Museum of Medical History at the Charite, Chariteplatz 1, 10117 Berlin.

Representatives from the media are cordially invited to attend the award ceremony. Please register in advance with the DFG Press and Public Relations Office, Tel. +49 228 885-2109, presse@dfg.de.

More information about the prize and previous winners is available at: http://www.dfg.de/en/funded_projects/prizewinners/maier_leibnitz_prize

DFG Head Office contact: Annette Lessenich, Scientific Prizes Team, Tel. +49 228 885-2835, annette.lessenich@dfg.de
For geoscientists, looking at how minerals react in different conditions can provide a great deal of information about the characteristics of the materials that make up our world. In some cases, merely exposing minerals to water-based environments can yield interesting properties and results.

In a new study from the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, scientists placed small iron oxide particles in an acidic solution, causing the oxidation of iron atoms on the surface of the particles. As the reaction progressed, the researchers observed strain that built up and penetrated inside the mineral particle.

Whats really novel about this work is that were doing it with geological minerals that can have irregular morphologies, as opposed to idealized particles with well-defined shapes. Its a new application of these tools to understand how [oxidation] happens in nano-sized minerals.  Paul Fenter, Argonne physicist

The shape of the particles controlled the degree and type of strain, said Argonne physicist Paul Fenter. When we look at how things react, we are not typically worrying so much about the shape or morphology of the material. In this case, we have a result in which the spatial distribution of reactivity within the particle is not uniform, which we think is ultimately controlled by its size and shape, he said.

In looking at the iron oxide particles, also known as magnetite, Fenter and his colleagues observed the formation of hematite, a reaction that begins at the particle surface. Essentially, whats happening is that were changing from one kind of rust into a different kind of rust, said postdoctoral researcher Ke Yuan, the first author of the study.

When the researchers observed the changes in the particle caused by the oxidation, they observed strain that penetrated inside the material, as well as the appearance of isolated defects. Were moving away from an understanding of these reactions as happening uniformly in one big clump of material toward a more sophisticated understanding of how the particle shape and morphology can alter and influence how a reaction proceeds, Fenter said.

Even though these particles are all magnetite, they all react in somewhat different ways, and so this is a challenge for understanding how reactions proceed in systems where you have different micro- and nanostructures of the particles, Yuan added.

To identify the strain distributions in the material, the researchers used a technique called coherent diffraction imaging (CDI), which allowed them to peer into the atomic lattice of the material. Using CDI at Argonnes Advanced Photon Source (APS), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, the scientists were able to detect a small reduction in the lattice spacing  less than one percent  as a result of the oxidation of the iron. This small differentiation in the lattice spacing was spread unevenly throughout the iron oxide particles; the researchers believe it to be responsible for creating the defects that the scientists observed.

The APSs ability to provide brilliant coherent X-rays makes it unique for this kind of experiment, said APS beamline scientist Wonsuk Cha. By generating highly penetrating X-rays with substantial coherent flux, and then combining them with dedicated X-ray imaging instrumentation, we can map the internal structure and strain in materials in 3D with nanoscale spatial resolution and atomic sensitivity.

According to Fenter, applying CDI to real, geochemically relevant materials represents a leap forward for the technique. Whats really novel about this work is that were doing it with geological minerals that can have irregular morphologies, as opposed to idealized particles with well-defined shapes, he said. Its a new application of these tools to understand how this behavior happens in nano-sized minerals.

Its a good model system for natural systems, Yuan added. It gives us a good way to understand the reactivity of complex natural systems.

Fenter explained that the findings could have relevance more broadly for the geoscience community. Future studies that look at how ions bind to a minerals surface could be affected by strain, even when that strain originates from the inside of the material, he said.

###

An article based on the study, Oxidation induced strain and defects in magnetite crystals, appeared in the February 11 issue of Nature Communications. Other Argonne authors include Sang Soo Lee and Andrew Ulvestad. Hyunjung Kim of Sogang University in South Korea and Bektur Abdilla and Neil Sturchio of the University of Delaware also contributed.

The work was funded by the DOEs Office of Science.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nations first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance Americas scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energys Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energys Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the Office of Science website.
In a striking example of multi-mission astronomy, measurements from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the ESA Gaia mission have been combined to improve the estimate of the mass of our home galaxy the Milky Way: 1.5 trillion solar masses.

The mass of the Milky Way is one of the most fundamental measurements astronomers can make about our galactic home. However, despite decades of intense effort, even the best available estimates of the Milky Way's mass disagree wildly. Now, by combining new data from the European Space Agency (ESA) Gaia mission with observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have found that the Milky Way weighs in at about 1.5 trillion solar masses within a radius of 129 000 light-years from the galactic centre.

Previous estimates of the mass of the Milky way ranged from 500 billion to 3 trillion times the mass of the Sun. This huge uncertainty arose primarily from the different methods used for measuring the distribution of dark matter -- which makes up about 90% of the mass of the galaxy.

"We just can't detect dark matter directly," explains Laura Watkins (European Southern Observatory, Germany), who led the team performing the analysis. "That's what leads to the present uncertainty in the Milky Way's mass -- you can't measure accurately what you can't see!"

Given the elusive nature of the dark matter, the team had to use a clever method to weigh the Milky Way, which relied on measuring the velocities of globular clusters -- dense star clusters that orbit the spiral disc of the galaxy at great distances [1].

"The more massive a galaxy, the faster its clusters move under the pull of its gravity" explains N. Wyn Evans (University of Cambridge, UK). "Most previous measurements have found the speed at which a cluster is approaching or receding from Earth, that is the velocity along our line of sight. However, we were able to also measure the sideways motion of the clusters, from which the total velocity, and consequently the galactic mass, can be calculated." [2]

The group used Gaia's second data release as a basis for their study. Gaia was designed to create a precise three-dimensional map of astronomical objects throughout the Milky Way and to track their motions. Its second data release includes measurements of globular clusters as far as 65 000 light-years from Earth.

"Global clusters extend out to a great distance, so they are considered the best tracers astronomers use to measure the mass of our galaxy" said Tony Sohn (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA), who led the Hubble measurements.

The team combined these data with Hubble's unparalleled sensitivity and observational legacy. Observations from Hubble allowed faint and distant globular clusters, as far as 130 000 light-years from Earth, to be added to the study. As Hubble has been observing some of these objects for a decade, it was possible to accurately track the velocities of these clusters as well.

"We were lucky to have such a great combination of data," explained Roeland P. van der Marel (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA). "By combining Gaia's measurements of 34 globular clusters with measurements of 12 more distant clusters from Hubble, we could pin down the Milky Way's mass in a way that would be impossible without these two space telescopes."

Until now, not knowing the precise mass of the Milky Way has presented a problem for attempts to answer a lot of cosmological questions. The dark matter content of a galaxy and its distribution are intrinsically linked to the formation and growth of structures in the Universe. Accurately determining the mass for the Milky Way gives us a clearer understanding of where our galaxy sits in a cosmological context.

###

Notes

[1] Globular clusters formed prior to the construction of the Milky Way's spiral disk, where our Sun and the Solar System later formed. Because of their great distances, globular star clusters allow astronomers to trace the mass of the vast envelope of dark matter surrounding our galaxy far beyond the spiral disk.

[2] The total velocity of an object is made up of three motions -- a radial motion plus two defining the sideway motions. However, in astronomy most often only line-of-sight velocities are available. With only one component of the velocity available, the estimated masses depend very strongly on the assumptions for the sideway motions. Therefore measuring the sideway motions directly significantly reduces the size of the error bars for the mass.

More information

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

ESA's Gaia satellite was launched in 2013 to create the most precise three-dimensional map of more than one billion stars in the Milky Way. The mission has release two lots of data thus far: Gaia Data Release 1 in 2016 and Gaia Data Release 2 in 2018. More releases will follow in the coming years.

The study was presented in the paper "Evidence for an Intermediate-Mass Milky Way from Gaia DR2 Halo Globular Cluster Motions", which will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

The international team of astronomers in this study consists of Laura L. Watkins (European Southern Observatory, Germany), Roeland P. van der Marel (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA, and Johns Hopkins University Center for Astrophysical Sciences, USA), Sangmo T. Sohn (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA), and N. Wyn Evans (University of Cambridge, UK).

Image credit: ESA/Hubble, L. Watkins, L. Calcada

Links

Hubblesite release - http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2019-16

Science paper - https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2018arXiv180411348W

Gaia mission page - http://sci.esa.int/gaia/

Contacts

Laura Watkins

European Southern Observatory

Garching, Germany

Tel: +49 89 3200 6257

Email: lwatkins@eso.org

N. Wyn Evans

University of Cambridge

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Tel: +44-01223-765847

Email: nwe@ast.cam.ac.uk

Roeland P. van der Marel

Space Telescope Science Institute

Baltimore, USA

Tel: +1-410-338-4931

Email: marel@stsci.edu

Bethany Downer

ESA/Hubble, Public Information Officer

Garching, Germany

Email: bethany.downer@partner.eso.org
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Disturbances in coral reefs can trigger significant ecosystem shifts, but ecologists and local fishing populations may perceive those shifts in fundamentally different ways, according to a study from Florida State University researchers.

This apparent disconnect between data-driven scientists and experience-driven fishing communities could have major implications for the management and resilience of coral reefs and other sensitive marine ecosystems.

Study author Andrew Rassweiler, an assistant professor in FSU's Department of Biological Science, worked with collaborators from University of California, Santa Barbara and San Diego State University to administer a suite of surveys and fish population assessments on the French Polynesian island of Moorea

"Our study emphasizes that different groups have different perceptions of change and ecosystem health," Rassweiler said.

The findings were published in the journal Ambio.

--Ecological Distress--

Coral reefs around the world are experiencing considerable pressure from human activity. As ecosystems succumb to these pressures, biodiversity declines and coastal communities -- which depend on the vitality of coral reefs -- become less economically and culturally secure.

In Moorea, this process has historically taken on a patchwork quality, with some areas of the island's lagoons supporting robust coral communities and other areas giving way to overgrowth by seaweed. But after an outbreak of coral-devouring crown-of-thorns sea stars in 2009 and a destructive cyclone in 2010, live coral cover in many locations around the island was reduced by upward of 95 percent.

These destabilizing events threw the ecosystem into disarray. In addition to widespread coral loss, fish abundances changed abruptly, with herbivorous fish swarming the area to graze on seaweed growing on the skeletons of dead coral.

This influx of seaweed-feeding fish wasn't necessarily a surprise. Long-term ecological research on the island had identified the role of herbivorous fish in keeping seaweed forests in check. But less was known about how Moorea's local fishing communities, where more than three-quarters of households contain a member who actively fishes the reef, reacted to this rapid and radical shift in fish abundances.

"Everyone around the island is fishing, but we know very little about how fishers decide where to fish and what fish to target," Rassweiler said. "This paper was a first step in looking at how people's fishing behavior changed following a big change in the fish community."

--Local Perceptions--

By comparing the fish caught and sold around the island to the fish observed by researchers on the reef, Rassweiler's team determined that the shifting abundances of reef-dwelling fish communities were reflected in shifting compositions of the fish people caught. Most notable was a decrease in Naso, or unicornfish, which islanders would eat multiple times a week before the 2009 and 2010 disturbances, and an increase in algae-eating parrotfish, which began to appear in higher concentrations on the reef after the mass coral die-off.

These changes, however, were not perceived by the locals to be especially significant. Surveys indicated that while residents of the island were aware of shifts in the reef, the disturbances did not prompt appreciable changes in fishing behavior. Even more puzzling, the islanders did not report changes in the composition of fish they caught, sold and ate, despite the scientific evidence.

"Fish consumers can have very different perceptions than scientists and resource managers, even in a place where locals are closely connected to reefs," said Dan Thornhill, a program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the study along with NSF's Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems program. "That will be an important consideration going forward in the sustainable management of reefs and the fisheries they support."

As both unicornfish and parrotfish were prized by fishers before the ecological disturbances, researchers said that the shifting abundances of the two types of fish may not have registered to Moorea's fishing communities as a particularly important event.

"Moorea's fishers view the environment as naturally variable, and the changes in the abundances of fishes on the reef resulting from the environmental disturbances are a normal occurrence for them," said study co-author and U.C. Santa Barbara ecologist Sally Holbrook.

--Scientific Perspective--

These changes were, however, of major concern to scientists, for whom seemingly small changes in population abundances could be portents of deeper ecological dysfunction.

"Scientists have demonstrated that these shifts are ecologically very important, but for fishers they were not as significant," Rassweiler said. "This is part of a bigger project where we're working with the fishers to think about reef health and management. It's been enlightening because they have unique insight about the status of different species."

Added San Diego State anthropologist Matthew Lauer: "It's fascinating that scientists and Polynesian fishers, both of whom spend a huge amount of time on these reefs, have such radically differing standpoints about ecosystem change. Getting a handle on their differing views about marine health and change will not only help us learn more about these reefs but can also contribute to more effective and collaborative resource management."

###

FSU researcher Sarah Lester also contributed to this study, as well as University of California, Santa Barbara researchers Russell Schmitt, Katrina Munsterman, Hunter Lenihan and Andrew Brooks; and Laboratoire d'Excellence CORAIL scientists Rakamaly Madi Moussa and Joachim Claudet. Along with the NSF, this study was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche.
An ultra-low power hybrid chip inspired by the brain could help give palm-sized robots the ability to collaborate and learn from their experiences. Combined with new generations of low-power motors and sensors, the new application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) - which operates on milliwatts of power - could help intelligent swarm robots operate for hours instead of minutes.

To conserve power, the chips use a hybrid digital-analog time-domain processor in which the pulse-width of signals encodes information. The neural network IC accommodates both model-based programming and collaborative reinforcement learning, potentially providing the small robots larger capabilities for reconnaissance, search-and-rescue and other missions.

Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology demonstrated robotic cars driven by the unique ASICs at the 2019 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). The research was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) through the Center for Brain-inspired Computing Enabling Autonomous Intelligence (CBRIC).

"We are trying to bring intelligence to these very small robots so they can learn about their environment and move around autonomously, without infrastructure," said Arijit Raychowdhury, associate professor in Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "To accomplish that, we want to bring low-power circuit concepts to these very small devices so they can make decisions on their own. There is a huge demand for very small, but capable robots that do not require infrastructure."

The cars demonstrated by Raychowdhury and graduate students Ningyuan Cao, Muya Chang and Anupam Golder navigate through an arena floored by rubber pads and surrounded by cardboard block walls. As they search for a target, the robots must avoid traffic cones and each other, learning from the environment as they go and continuously communicating with each other.

The cars use inertial and ultrasound sensors to determine their location and detect objects around them. Information from the sensors goes to the hybrid ASIC, which serves as the "brain" of the vehicles. Instructions then go to a Raspberry Pi controller, which sends instructions to the electric motors.

In palm-sized robots, three major systems consume power: the motors and controllers used to drive and steer the wheels, the processor, and the sensing system. In the cars built by Raychowdhury's team, the low-power ASIC means that the motors consume the bulk of the power. "We have been able to push the compute power down to a level where the budget is dominated by the needs of the motors," he said.

The team is working with collaborators on motors that use micro-electromechanical (MEMS) technology able to operate with much less power than conventional motors.

"We would want to build a system in which sensing power, communications and computer power, and actuation are at about the same level, on the order of hundreds of milliwatts," said Raychowdhury, who is the ON Semiconductor Associate Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "If we can build these palm-sized robots with efficient motors and controllers, we should be able to provide runtimes of several hours on a couple of AA batteries. We now have a good idea what kind of computing platforms we need to deliver this, but we still need the other components to catch up."

In time domain computing, information is carried on two different voltages, encoded in the width of the pulses. That gives the circuits the energy-efficiency advantages of analog circuits with the robustness of digital devices.

"The size of the chip is reduced by half, and the power consumption is one-third what a traditional digital chip would need," said Raychowdhury. "We used several techniques in both logic and memory designs for reducing power consumption to the milliwatt range while meeting target performance."

With each pulse-width representing a different value, the system is slower than digital or analog devices, but Raychowdhury says the speed is sufficient for the small robots. (A milliwatt is a thousandth of a watt).

"For these control systems, we don't need circuits that operate at multiple gigahertz because the devices aren't moving that quickly," he said. "We are sacrificing a little performance to get extreme power efficiencies. Even if the compute operates at 10 or 100 megahertz, that will be enough for our target applications."

The 65-nanometer CMOS chips accommodate both kinds of learning appropriate for a robot. The system can be programmed to follow model-based algorithms, and it can learn from its environment using a reinforcement system that encourages better and better performance over time - much like a child who learns to walk by bumping into things.

"You start the system out with a predetermined set of weights in the neural network so the robot can start from a good place and not crash immediately or give erroneous information," Raychowdhury said. "When you deploy it in a new location, the environment will have some structures that it will recognize and some that the system will have to learn. The system will then make decisions on its own, and it will gauge the effectiveness of each decision to optimize its motion."

Communication between the robots allow them to collaborate to seek a target.

"In a collaborative environment, the robot not only needs to understand what it is doing, but also what others in the same group are doing," he said. "They will be working to maximize the total reward of the group as opposed to the reward of the individual."

With their ISSCC demonstration providing a proof-of-concept, the team is continuing to optimize designs and is working on a system-on-chip to integrate the computation and control circuitry.

"We want to enable more and more functionality in these small robots," Raychowdhury added. "We have shown what is possible, and what we have done will now need to be augmented by other innovations."

###

This project was supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation under grant JUMP CBRIC task ID 2777.006.

CITATION: Ningyuan Cao, Muya Chang, Arijit Raychowdhury, "A 65 nm 1.1-to-9.1 TOPS/W Hybrid-Digital-Mixed-Signal Computing Platform for Accelerating Model-Based and Model Free Swarm Robotics." (2019 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference).
Bruce Weir, PhD, of the University of Washington in Seattle is the recipient of the 2019 Genetics Society of America (GSA) Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education, in recognition of his work training thousands of researchers in the rigorous use of statistical analysis methods for genetic and genomic data.

The Jones Award recognizes individuals or groups that have had significant, sustained impact on genetics education at any level.

"Bruce has made outstanding contributions to the training of basic and applied population and quantitative geneticists from across the globe for more than 40 years," says Trudy Mackay, a professor of biological sciences at North Carolina State University and one of the scientists who nominated Weir for the award.

His contributions fall into three categories: the acclaimed Summer Institute in Statistical Genetics (SISG), which has been held continuously for 23 years and has trained more than 10,000 researchers worldwide; the popular graduate-level textbook Genetic Data Analysis; and the training of a growing number of forensic geneticists during the rise of DNA evidence in courts around the world.

Weir grew up and attended college in New Zealand, majoring in mathematics. He credits his discovery of statistical genetics to a summer internship with researcher Brian Hayman, who recommended the PhD program at North Carolina State University for pursuing Weir's newly found interest. In Raleigh, he trained with C. Clark Cockerham and then completed his postdoctoral studies with plant geneticist Robert W. Allard at the University of California, Davis.

From Davis, Weir returned to New Zealand to teach at Massey University before Cockerham lured him back to North Carolina State University in 1976. Weir spent the next three decades of his career in Raleigh. He became the William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Statistics and Genetics in 1992.

Inspired by a 1995 summer course for animal geneticists at the University of Guelph in Canada, Weir decided to hold the first SISG in Raleigh in 1996. With limited advertising and funding, the inaugural Institute drew about 100 attendants. Weir quickly realized that the SISG filled an important niche. While technological advances were rapidly increasing the amount of genetic and genomic data requiring statistical analysis, graduate programs in the biological sciences rarely offered statistics courses that were tailored to the problems students were addressing in their dissertation projects.

In 1997, the SISG began receiving funding from the National Science Foundation, and in 1999 the National Institutes of Health added its support, with most of the funds over the past two decades supporting the attendance of US graduate students. The SISG moved from Raleigh to Seattle when Weir was appointed Chair of the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Washington in 2006. To reach a global audience, the Institute has also been held in 15 (and counting) countries outside the United States.

Weir's interest in authoring a textbook started even earlier in his career. The 1990 edition of Genetic Data Analysis helped plant the seed for the first SISG in 1996, and the two efforts have been synergistic ever since. By inviting active researchers with a record of excellent teaching as SISG guest instructors, Weir stays abreast of the larger field, which helps update the book's content over time. The 3rd edition, co-authored with Jerome Goudet at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, is expected to be published in 2020. It will continue to cover the theoretical underpinnings of population genetics. The book's statistical code, written in the R programming language, will add to its appeal for applied researchers with a wide range of data management and analysis needs.

A new area of application for Weir's research interests emerged in 1989: forensic genetics. After the FBI introduced DNA genotyping in courts, it soon sought Weir's expertise in matched-pair probability calculations for the defendant's DNA and a crime scene sample. Weir continues to work with FBI researchers today and serves on national committees to help develop legal guidelines for interpreting DNA evidence in court. He says this work is both rewarding and challenging, as the worlds of science (seeking the truth) and law (seeking justice) don't always coincide. He co-authored the textbook Interpreting DNA Evidence, published in 1998, with forensic scientist Ian Evett.

Weir's applied projects extend beyond forensic investigations of human samples. In 2018, he co-authored a high-impact paper about ivory poaching, the fourth-largest transnational crime that frequently funds drug trafficking and other criminal activities.

The study was based on an elephant DNA database that UW biology professor Samuel Wasser assembled from ivory and scat samples collected throughout Africa. Using 16 markers with geography-specific allele frequencies, the researchers were able to trace ivory shipments seized at different ports to the same origin. This combats a strategy commonly used by large ivory smuggling cartels: separating the two tusks of one elephant to make it more difficult to identify their shared origin.

Together, the SISG, the textbook, and the training of the forensic community are a powerful testament to Weir's commitment to education. "Any of these three contributions would clearly make Bruce a very strong candidate," says Bruce Walsh, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and of public health, at the University of Arizona and one of the scientists who nominated Weir for the award. "The combination of all three is unbeatable."

Based in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Washington, which he chaired from 2006 to 2014, Weir also serves as Director of the Genetics Analysis Center, the Institute of Public Health Genetics, and the Graduate Program in Public Health Genetics. He is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Statistical Association, and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. In addition to his classroom teaching, Weir has trained and mentored 33 doctoral students and 19 postdoctoral fellows. Many of them work as faculty members and scientists at leading universities, government agencies, and private companies around the world.

Weir joined the GSA a graduate student. He served as an Associate Editor for the GSA journal GENETICS from 1977 to 1997 and as the GSA Treasurer from 2002 to 2005. The Elizabeth W. Jones Award will be presented at The Allied Genetics Conference, which will be held April 22-26, 2020, in the Metro Washington, DC region.

###

The award was named posthumously for Elizabeth W. Jones (1939-2008), who was the recipient of the first GSA Excellence in Education Award in 2007. She was a renowned geneticist and educator who served as GSA president (1987) and as Editor in Chief of GENETICS for nearly 12 years.
Diesel engines are widely used in agricultural machinery, vehicles, and ships because of their high thermal efficiency. The sulfur contained in the diesel fuel is oxidized to sulfur dioxide by combustion. This sulfur dioxide not only harms human health but also causes deactivation of the catalysts used to treat NO x in the exhaust stream.

This problem can be overcome by using sulfur-free fuels based on biomass or clean coal technology or by installing a desulfurizing filter to remove sulfur oxides upstream of the NO x catalyst. Researchers at Kanazawa university have developed a plasma-assisted MnO 2 filter that produces exhaust free of NO x and SO x . This technology augments the desulfurization properties of MnO 2 with the activity of ozone from an atmospheric-pressure non-equilibrium plasma (Figure 1). Activated chemical species (O 3 , OH radicals, etc.) present in the plasma promote desulfurization and denitration reactions.

[Results]

MnO 2 reacts with sulfur and nitrogen oxides to produce sulfates and nitrates, respectively. The interaction between SO 2 and NO 2 degrades the performance of MnO 2 catalysts in eliminating both species. Prof Huang of the Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion analyzed the MnO2 catalyst material after exposure to simulated exhaust gas containing both SO 2 and NO 2 and found that both manganese nitrate and manganese sulfate were produced.

We evaluated the impact of ozone on the performance of the catalyst for SO 2 and NO 2 removal (Figure 2). An atmospheric-pressure non-equilibrium plasma was generated by the dielectric barrier discharge method. The performance of the catalyst in eliminating both SO 2 and NO 2 was improved by the introduction of ozone at a low concentration of about 50 ppm. The enhancement in NO 2 elimination was particularly notable. The introduction of ozone seems to give a reaction to reduce nitrogen oxides to nitrogen. At the initial stage of the reaction, over 99% of SO 2 and NO 2 were removed from the exhaust stream. The Kanazawa University researchers, led by Yugo Osaka, demonstrated for the first time that zero emissions of NO x can be achieved even in the presence of sulfur oxides by using a plasma-assisted MnO 2 filter. The plasma-assisted filter seems to augment the elimination of SO 2 because of SO 3 generation and also reduce nitrogen oxides to nitrogen.

[Future prospects]

These findings are expected to be widely applicable in the purification of exhaust from diesel engines using sulfur-containing fuels. We have clarified the mechanism by which the induction of the non-equilibrium plasma augments the performance of the MnO 2 filter. We hope to spur further development of plasma-assisted MnO 2 filters and thus allow for a greater diversity of fuels to be used without adversely impacting air quality.

###
New Rochelle, NY, March 7, 2019--Researchers are analyzing brain connectomes to understand how normal and abnormal interactions between functional brain networks affect healthy brain development and contribute to disorders such as epilepsy. The Brain Connectome is the focus of a two-part Special Issue of Brain Connectivity, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text articles free on the Brain Connectivity website through April 7, 2019.

The Special Issues were led by Guest Editors Brent Munsell, PhD, College of Charleston (SC), Guofong Wu, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Leonardo Bonilha, MD, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston), and Paul Laurienti, MD, PhD, Wake Forest School of Medicine (Winston-Salem, NC)

Featured in Part 1 is the article entitled "Asymmetric Insular Connectomics Revealed by Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis of Healthy Brain Development." In this article, Jacob Levman and coauthors from Boston Children's Hospital (MA), Massachusetts General Hospital (Charlestown), Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA), and St. Francis Xavier University (Antigonish, Canada) focus on a part of the brain called the insula. The researchers present an analysis of structural connectivity between the insula and the rest of the brain across 642 examinations. This research demonstrates the feasibility of performing connectomics (mapping out the many connections in the human brain) with real world clinical data in a pediatric population, supported by high quality data acquisition from Boston Children's Hospital. The study demonstrates the ability to clinically detect neural fiber pathway lateralization in the brain, mapping out hemispheric asymmetries that may help in better understanding how brain structure supports functions such as language tasks and awareness. This study also advances the field of connectomics by demonstrating the remarkable potential from its inclusion in large-scale routine clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Sourabh Palande and a team of researchers from University of Utah (Salt Lake City) analyze an approach to visualize brain networks based on how similar the gray matter properties in brain regions are across subjects in the article entitled "Revisiting Abnormalities in Brain Network Architecture Underlying Autism Using Topology-Inspired Statistical Inference." This approach provides a way to visualize brain networks based on how similar the gray matter properties in brain regions are across subjects. Using methods from topological data analysis, the researchers identify abnormalities in a specific network in subjects with autism, the salience network. This network is responsible for processing new or unexpected information in the brain. These results add to growing evidence of statistically significant abnormalities in gray matter structure underlying the salience network in autism.

###

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers R21MH118739, R03NS091587, R01HD078561, R03NS091587, U01NS093650, R01EB022876, K08MH100609, and R01MH080826. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

About the Journal

Brain Connectivity is the essential peer-reviewed journal covering groundbreaking findings in the rapidly advancing field of connectivity research at the systems and network levels. Published 10 times per year in print and online, the Journal is under the leadership of Founding and Co-Editors-in-Chief Christopher Pawela, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Bharat Biswal, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology. It includes original peer-reviewed papers, review articles, point-counterpoint discussions on controversies in the field, and a product/technology review section. To ensure that scientific findings are rapidly disseminated, articles are published Instant Online within 72 hours of acceptance, with fully typeset, fast-track publication within 4 weeks. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Brain Connectivity website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative medical and biomedical peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Neurotrauma and Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.
Not one size fits all, and nowhere does that show up more than in the recruitment of racial and ethnic minorities into clinical trials, says Hollings Cancer Center researcher Marvella Ford, Ph.D. This is critically important since this population has a high prevalence of certain cancers.

Ford, who is associate director of population sciences and cancer disparities at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, was part of a study involving eight cancer centers that was published on March 4 in the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Journal of Oncology Practice. A guide looking at best practices across all the different sites, the study provides recommendations of how these populations can best be engaged in clinical trials, she says.

"This is a major focus of the National Cancer Institute the National Institutes of Health, and it's very important because we need to make sure that at the end of the day the research results can be generalized across multiple population groups," she says. "We can't use a one-size-fits-all approach and use the same recruitment strategies in every single group and expect to get positive results. We really have to tailor the recruitment strategies to the needs of the group."

The study summarizes the need for the development of innovative strategies to address the issue. African American patients comprise 5 percent of patients enrolled in clinical trials that support U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of new drugs, but they represent 13 percent of the general US population. Cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian Americans, yet this population comprises 3 percent of cancer clinical trial participants, and Hispanics also are similarly underrepresented.

Ford says researchers and cancer centers have to take a different tack with racial and ethnic minority groups. "We can't recruit all groups the same because different groups have different relationships with the healthcare system, they have different histories, and they have different histories of past abuses with the healthcare system and with the federal government."

Though minority enrollment in clinical trials tends to be low in general, it's particularly an issue in cancer, where advances in research are driving a paradigm shift in precision medicine. It's important that the development of personalized medicines that account for biologic factors, such as genetics, gender, race, and ethnicity have a diverse pool of participants. It's also important that these populations have access to the latest advances in promising novel therapies, from immunotherapy to recently discovered genetic therapies.

Ford says the exchange of information among major thought leaders helps move the needle forward. What she found surprising was that all centers, regardless of resources, expressed difficulty in recruiting racial and ethnic minority groups.

The care delivery study found centers achieving sustainable high recruitment of racial and ethnic minority groups did so by excelling in:

- Strategic engagement with providers, as they are the most important influence on whether the patient is recruited and participates in clinical trials - Community leader engagement as a core center function which results in trust and engagement with racial and ethnic minority groups and their care partners - Seeking dedicated input into cancer clinical research programs, such as feasibility of implementation, from racial and ethnic minority group patients and caregivers. - Establishing clear, cross-cancer center leadership commitment to quality and hiring practices to ensure the composition of research staff represents the population served, allied with a corresponding development and training culture

A key component in increased inclusion is the development of trust in the community. One tactic Hollings Cancer Center uses is its MOVENUP Program that takes a train-the-trainer approach in rural communities that are medically underserved. This training covers cancer prevention, screening and treatment options and includes a module focused on clinical trials and their vital role in developing new, more effective approaches to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

That program now is being expanded in a new partnership with the Seventh Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, with monthly programs planned to reach its more than 400 churches spread across the state. The four-hour cancer education training program includes a module on clinical trials.

This helps develop relationships and build trust. Ford says it takes a shift in perspective in designing trials that are tailored to communities.

"We can't just allow three months of recruitment time for a population that has historically been disassociated or disenfranchised from the health care system. Because in that three-month period, we can't build trust and develop those relationships. We can't do all of the things that have to be done to successfully recruit in three months."

Though research is about data, the core of it is about people, Ford says.

"We want to bring in community members and talk to them and bring in key people from the community who can advocate for the trials that we're conducting. All that takes time because from the community's perspective, it's all about relationships. They want a relationship with the people who are conducting the trial. They don't want a nameless, faceless entity. That doesn't mean anything to them. It won't be successful," she says.

###

About Hollings Cancer Center

The Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and the largest academic-based cancer research program in South Carolina. The cancer center is comprised of more than 120 faculty cancer scientists with a research funding portfolio of $44 million and a dedication to reducing the cancer burden in South Carolina. Hollings offers state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities, therapies and surgical techniques within multidisciplinary clinics that include surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation therapists, radiologists, pathologists, psychologists and other specialists equipped for the full range of cancer care, including more than 200 clinical trials. For more information, please visit http://www.hollingscancercenter.org.
New research suggests two-thirds (67%) of pregnant women in London aged between 16 and 24 years have mental health problems including depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder, according to new research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Anxiety disorders, in particular social phobia, are especially high.

By comparison, the research suggests roughly one in five (21%) pregnant women in London aged 25 years and over have mental health problems.

Researchers from Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London recruited 575 women through their first antenatal appointment with an inner-city London maternity service. Of this group, 57 women were aged between 16 and 24.

All women were interviewed using a psychiatric gold standard diagnostic interview to determine if they met the criteria for one or more mental health condition. The researchers also recorded information about their socio-demographic background, such as ethnicity, educational level and employment status.

According to the research, published today in BJPsych Open, pregnant women under 25 were also more likely to be non-white, single, living in poverty, homeless or living in emergency accommodation, unemployed, or have an unplanned pregnancy.

The rate of lifetime abuse was high (38.9%), with rates of sexual abuse at 20.6% and partner abuse at 19.5%. The researchers note that this is probably an under-estimate, as abuse is often under-reported. Experience of abuse and living alone were both risk factors for mental health problems in this group.

Lead author Dr Georgia Lockwood Estrin, Senior Research Associate at King's College London, said: "We've shown a shockingly high prevalence of mental disorders in young pregnant women aged 16 to 24 years in London compared with women aged 25 years or older. We found that, in comparison to previous research has focused primarily on postnatal depression, young women experience a broad range of mental disorders during early pregnancy, with anxiety disorders being particularly prevalent."

The researchers particularly highlight that the high risk for mental disorders is not limited to pregnant teenagers, as may have been suggested by previous research, but remains high for women in their early 20s.

The research suggests that more could be done to target perinatal mental health services at women aged under 25. This aligns with the recent NHS Long Term Plan and NHS Five Year Plan* to ensure that by 2023/24 at least 54,000 more women each year can access evidence-based specialist mental health care during the perinatal period.

Prof Louise Howard, senior author on the paper and NIHR Research Professor in maternal mental health at King's College London, said: "We were alarmed to see such high rates of mental illness in pregnant women under 25. The recent National Well-Being Survey and other studies have highlighted that around one in four women under 25 have self-harmed and/or have mental illness, higher than in previous surveys, but our study suggests that pregnant women under 25 are at even higher risk of mental disorders.

"This study needs to be repeated as it is based on relatively small numbers of women in a particular area of London, but our findings highlight the need for maternity services to ensure pregnant women under 25 are comprehensively assessed for mental health problems and domestic or sexual abuse so they can receive appropriate treatment and help."

###

*NHS Long Term Plan: https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/ and NHS Five Year Forward View: https://www.england.nhs.uk/five-year-forward-view/

Notes to editors

About the National Institute for Health Research

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR:

Funds, supports and delivers high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care

Engages and involves patients, carers and the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research

Attracts, trains and supports the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future

Invests in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services

Partners with other public funders, charities and industry to maximise the value of research to patients and the economy

The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR commissions applied health research to benefit the poorest people in low- and middle-income countries, using Official Development Assistance funding.

This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support and would not have been possible without access to this data. The NIHR recognises and values the role of patient data, securely accessed and stored, both in underpinning and leading to improvements in research and care. http://www.nihr.ac.uk/patientdata

About King's College London and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience

King's College London is one of the top 10 UK universities in the world (QS World University Rankings, 2018/19) and is among the oldest universities in England. King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. Since our foundation, King's students and staff have dedicated themselves in the service of society. King's will continue to focus on world-leading education, research and service, and will have an increasingly proactive role to play in a more interconnected, complex world. http://www.kcl.ac.uk

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London is the premier centre for mental health and related neurosciences research in Europe. It produces more highly cited publications in psychiatry and mental health than any other university in the world (Scopus, 2016), with 12 of the most highly cited scientists in this field. World-leading research from the IoPPN has made, and continues to make, an impact on how we understand, prevent and treat mental illness and other conditions that affect the brain. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn
The Indonesian island of Sulawesi has been long known for its enigmatic fauna, including the deer-pig (babirusa) and the midget buffalo. However, small insects inhabiting the tropical forests have remained largely unexplored.

Such is the case for the tiny weevils of the genus Trigonopterus of which only a single species had been known from the island since 1885. Nevertheless, a recent study conducted by a team of German and Indonesian scientists resulted in the discovery of a total of 103 new to science species, all identified as Trigonopterus. The beetles are described in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

"We had found hundreds of species on the neighboring islands of New Guinea, Borneo and Java - why should Sulawesi with its lush habitats remain an empty space?" asked entomologist and lead author of the study Dr Alexander Riedel, Natural History Museum Karlsruhe (Germany).

In fact, Riedel knew better. Back in 1990, during a survey of the fauna living on rainforest foliage in Central Sulawesi, he encountered the first specimens that would become the subject of the present study. Over the next years, a series of additional fieldwork, carried out in collaboration with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), managed to successfully complete the picture.

"Our survey is not yet complete and possibly we have just scratched the surface. Sulawesi is geologically complex and many areas have never been searched for these small beetles," said Raden Pramesa Narakusumo, curator of beetles at the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB), Indonesian Research Center for Biology.

Why have all these beetles remained overlooked for so long?

Unlike the all-time favourite stag beetles or jewel beetles, tiny beetles that measure no more than 2-3 millimeters seem to have been attracting little interest from entomologists. Their superficial resemblance does not help identification either.

In fact, the modern taxonomic approach of DNA sequencing seems to be the only efficient method to diagnose these beetles. However, the capacity for this kind of work in Indonesia is very limited. While substantial evidence points to thousands of undescribed species roaming the forests in the region, there is only one full-time position for a beetle researcher at the only Indonesian Zoological Museum near Jakarta. Therefore, international collaboration is crucial.

103 beetle names

Coming up with as many as 103 novel names for the newly described species was not a particularly easy task for the researchers either. While some of the weevils were best associated with their localities or characteristic morphology, others received quite curious names.

A small greenish and forest-dwelling species was aptly named after the Star Wars character Yoda, while a group of three species were named after Asterix, Obelix and Idefix - the main characters in the French comics series The Adventures of Asterix. Naturally, Trigonopterus obelix is larger and more roundish than his two 'friends'.

Other curious names include T. artemis and T. satyrus, named after two Greek mythological characters: Artemis, the goddess of hunting and nature and Satyr, a male nature spirit inhabiting remote localities.

Additionally, the names of four of the newly described beetles pay tribute to renowned biologists, including Charles Darwin (father of the Theory of Evolution), Paul D. N. Hebert (implementer of DNA barcoding as a tool in species identification) and Francis H. C. Crick and James D. Watson (discoverers of the structure of DNA).

Six-legged deja vu

Back in 2016, in another weevil discovery, Dr Alexander Riedel and colleagues described four new species from New Britain (Papua New Guinea), which were also placed in the genus Trigonopterus. Similarly, no weevils of the group had been known from the island prior to that study. Interestingly, one of the novel species was given the name of Star Wars' Chewbacca in reference to the insect's characteristically dense scales reminiscent of Chewie's hairiness. Again, T. chewbacca and its three relatives were described in ZooKeys.

On the origin of Trigonopterus weevils

Sulawesi is at the heart of Wallacea, a biogeographic transition zone between the Australian and Asian regions. The researchers assume that Trigonopterus weevils originated in Australia and New Guinea and later reached Sulawesi. In fact, it was found that only a few populations would one day diversify into more than a hundred species. A more detailed study on the rapid evolution of Sulawesi Trigonopterus is currently in preparation.

Future research

To help future taxonomists in their work, in addition to their monograph paper in ZooKeys, the authors have uploaded high-resolution photographs of each species along with a short scientific description to the website Species ID.

"This provides a face to the species name, and this is an important prerequisite for future studies on their evolution," explained the researchers.

"Studies investigating such evolutionary processes depend on names and clear diagnoses of the species. These are now available, at least for the fauna of Sulawesi."

###

Original Source:

Riedel A, Narakusumo RP (2019) One hundred and three new species of Trigonopterus weevils from Sulawesi. ZooKeys 828: 1-153. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.828.32200
A classic scenario plays out in action films ranging from Baby Driver to The Italian Job: criminals evade aerial pursuit from the authorities by seamlessly blending in with other vehicles and their surroundings. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has Rochester Institute of Technology researchers utilizing hyperspectral video imaging systems that make sure it does not happen in real life.

While the human eye is limited to seeing light in three bands--perceived as red, green and blue--hyperspectral imaging detects bands across the electromagnetic spectrum far beyond what the eye can detect. This high-resolution color information can help us better identify individual objects from afar. The AFOSR awarded a team of researchers led by principal investigator Matthew Hoffman, an associate professor and director of the applied and computational mathematics MS program, a nearly $600,000 grant to explore if hyperspectral imaging systems can do a better job at tracking vehicles and pedestrians than current methods.

"It is very challenging to track vehicles from an aerial platform through cluttered environments because you cannot really see a vehicle's shape as well, and a lot of machine learning computer algorithms are based on shapes," said Hoffman. "Buildings, trees, other cars, and a lot of things can potentially confuse the system. As hyperspectral video technology has improved, we believe we can use color information to more persistently track targets."

The project will require a multidisciplinary approach and Hoffman will work closely with researchers from RIT's Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science. Co-PIs include Professor Anthony Vodacek, Distinguished Researcher Donald McKeown and Assistant Professor Christopher Kanan. The project will use a hyperspectral video system developed by Associate Professor and Frederick and Anna B. Wiedman Chair Charles Bachmann. Senior Research Scientist Adam Goodenough and several Ph.D. students will also collaborate on the project.

The challenge with using hyperspectral imaging is that it produces massive amounts of data that can't all be processed at once, so Hoffman and his team are also tasked with creating a process to efficiently use the information on demand. The team will use the Digital Image and Remote Sensing Image Generation model developed by RIT's Digital and Remote Sensing Laboratory to develop a new dynamic, online scene building capability that helps re-track targets after they have passed by obstacles. Hoffman said he is excited by the prospect of creating such a unique product.

"This would be a dataset that just doesn't exist today, so it would be a really novel solution," he said.

The three-year project got officially underway in December. The goal this year is to develop the system's infrastructure and the team hopes to mount the system on a plane at the start of year two to begin testing.

This material is based upon work supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under award number FA9550-19-1-0021. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Air Force.

###
Rice University scientists find differentiating cells do not all respond the same when told to change

Rice University scientists have found significant differences between the methods signaling pathways use to prompt cells to differentiate - that is, whether to become organs, bone, blood vessels, nerves or skin.

Rice bioscientist Aryeh Warmflash and alumnus Idse Heemskerk led a team that discovered stem cells are sensitive not only to the signals that form the "instructions" to create the pattern of the organism, but to how rapidly those signals are delivered.

The lab set out to see if the amount of the signaling molecule was the primary cue for instructing the cells what to become.

The answer was clearly "no" for one of the highly related pathways they studied - and, surprisingly, "yes" for the other.

The open-access paper in eLife details the activities of two signaling pathways, Nodal and BMP4, in experimental models of early mammalian embryos.

Both pathways are integral to the process known as gastrulation, when the body plan of the embryo is created. BMP4 triggers the process and defines the "ventral" or belly side of the embryo, where skin will form. On the opposite side, where BMP is low, the nervous system develops. When cells are exposed to BMP, it sustains change for as long as its triggering ligand is present.

In contrast, the Nodal pathway, which causes cells to become muscle, the heart and other organs, is controlled by how its target cells sense and adapt to changes in the environment, especially to changing levels of its ligand.

The researchers concluded interactions between these ligands, called morphogens, and cells are far more dynamic than previously thought, and not merely dependent on ligand concentration.

The Rice lab employs a unique experimental system mimicking growth in confined spaces that allows human embryonic stem cells to divide and differentiate, but in a controlled shape similar to that of the embryo. It lets researchers perturb a colony with proteins that trigger specific pathways to see how they interact with differentiating cells and with each other.

Recently, the lab determined the WNT signaling pathway that carries signals across a cell membrane depends upon context for its actions. Nodal and BMP4 are part of the TGFb superfamily of proteins. The researchers found they alter how cells respond to WNT.

"What's true for WNT is even more so for the TGFb pathways we looked at this time," said Warmflash, an assistant professor of biosciences. "For WNT, we highlighted how the same pathway can be deployed in different ways depending on context. This paper highlights how different pathways that function in parallel, almost in the same context, get used differently."

Nodal and BMP4 are triggered by their matching ligands during gastrulation. In the process, both access a protein known as Smad4, which moves into the cell's nucleus when activated and can be tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP). That allowed them to monitor the pathways' activities.

"These pluripotent cells decide between different germ layers - the ectoderm, which goes on to become the nervous system and skin; the mesoderm, which forms bone, blood and muscle, and the endoderm, which forms the digestive tract and other organs," Warmflash said. "Over three days, cells make these decisions at the same time they're undergoing morphogenesis, which puts all those layers in the right place."

Researchers once thought high signal in one area of the embryo and low signal in another determined differentiation, but the Rice lab's experiments showed otherwise. "We don't think cells are sensing high versus low," Warmflash said. "They're sensing whether the pathways, triggered by the presence of ligands, are turning on fast versus turning on slow."

The Nodal pathway was most interesting. "Essentially, it's always transient," Warmflash said. "In the naive picture, you might think of this pathway as a switch. But why does the signal turn off when the switch is on? Well, that's what it does.

"It's important because it means the cells sense when the levels in the pathway change. They don't sense, 'It's here, I turn on.' They sense, 'OK, it's changing, so I turn on.' That gives them sensitivity to the dynamics."

In experiments, the cells produced their own Nodal ligand as part of recreating the early embryo-like patterns. The researchers saw a wave of Nodal signaling sweep through the colonies at a rate of about one cell width per hour, Warmflash said. "Right after a wave comes through is when we see the differentiation markers that determine cell fates," he said.

The researchers gained a measure of control over differentiation by pulsing the colony's exposure to the ligand for one hour and removing it for six hours over three cycles.

"We showed those three hours of exposure, timed properly, drives differentiation of the cells better than 20 hours of exposure," Warmflash said. "We think that by understanding the dynamics, we will have a way to drive cells to particular fates and also to understand how those pathways work as cells make patterns during development."

###

Former technician Kari Burt, undergraduate Matthew Miller, graduate student Sapna Chhabra and research technician M. Cecilia Guerra, all of Rice, are co-authors of the paper. Heemskerk is now an assistant professor of cell and developmental biology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

The work was funded by grants from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, the National Science Foundation and the Gillson Longenbaugh Foundation. Heemskerk was supported by a Branco Weiss Society in Science fellowship.

Read the paper at https://elifesciences.org/articles/40526.

This news release can be found online at https://news.rice.edu/2019/03/07/embryos-signals-take-multiple-paths/

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Related materials:

Embryos' signaling proteins go with the flow: http://news.rice.edu/2019/02/28/embryos-signaling-proteins-go-with-the-flow-2/

Warmflash Lab: https://stemcell.rice.edu

Heemskerk Lab: http://idseheemskerk.com

Rice Department of BioSciences: https://biosciences.rice.edu/faculty/tenure-track

Wiess School of Natural Sciences: https://naturalsciences.rice.edu

Video:

https://youtu.be/fLC5GRtn0fo

A video shows the Nodal wave moving inwards as cells differentiate en route to their ultimate fates in an organism. The image shows the activated SMAD4 proteins in the nuclei of cells, tagged with green fluorescent proteins that allowed Rice University bioscientists to monitor them. The right image shows the same cells, color-coded by the strength of their signals. (Credit: Warmflash Lab/Rice University)

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
Judicious use of proton pump inhibitors and antibiotics may help reduce C. difficile infections

NEW YORK (March 7, 2019) -- Prior antibiotic exposure and use of acid suppressing medications known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may increase the risk for hospitalized children to contract dangerous Clostridioides difficile infections, according to a study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

"In pediatric patients, hospital-acquired infections due to C. difficile have increased over the last 20 years. However, few studies have looked at risk factors for these infections in children," said Charles Foster, MD, a co-author and pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Cleveland Clinic Children's. "We found that antibiotic exposure and use of proton-pump inhibitors may be risk factors. Clinicians should continue to utilize antibiotics judiciously in hospitalized children to minimize the risk of C. difficile infection."

The incidence and healthcare burden of C. difficile infection in hospitalized children has increased in the past two decades, mostly attributed to the emergence of a new, hypervirulent strain of the bacteria. While the risk factors are well understood in adult patients, current understanding of pediatric C. difficile is complicated. Many infants and toddlers under the age of 2 are colonized with the bacteria, but do not develop clinical illness.

Researchers performed a meta-analysis and systematic review of 14 studies, including 10.5 million children, 22,320 of whom developed C. difficile infection. Based on this meta-analysis, previous antibiotic exposure and PPI use appear to be the most important risk factors associated with C. difficile infection in children. Children with prior antibiotic exposure may have approximately twice the risk of developing C. difficile infection, compared to patients without a recent history of antibiotic exposure, but the association was not statistically significant after pooling studies with only adjusted data. Researchers said that PPIs are suspected risk factors for CDI because they suppress gastric acid, which may disrupt the normal gastrointestinal microbial diversity in children.

"Physicians should remain vigilant and continue judicious use of antibiotics and PPIs in hospitalized pediatric patients to minimize the risk of C. difficile infections," said Abhishek Deshpande, MD, PhD, a co-author and assistant professor of medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. Dr. Deshpande has received research support from 3M, Clorox Company, and STERIS unrelated to this study.

The researchers note the limitation of this research, including use of unadjusted data. Additional high-quality epidemiologic studies are needed to better evaluate the risk factors for C. difficile in children.

###

Scott Anjewierden, Zheyi Han, Charles B. Foster, Chaitanya Pant, Abhishek Deshpande. "Risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection in pediatric inpatients: A meta-analysis and systematic review." Web (March 7, 2019).

About ICHE

Published through a partnership between the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and Cambridge University Press, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology provides original, peer-reviewed scientific articles for anyone involved with an infection control or epidemiology program in a hospital or healthcare facility. ICHE is ranked 19th out of 83 Infectious Disease Journals in the latest Web of Knowledge Journal Citation Reports from Thomson Reuters.

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) is a professional society representing more than 2,000 physicians and other healthcare professionals around the world who possess expertise and passion for healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship. The society's work improves public health by establishing infection-prevention measures and supporting antibiotic stewardship among healthcare providers, hospitals, and health systems. This is accomplished by leading research studies, translating research into clinical practice, developing evidence-based policies, optimizing antibiotic stewardship, and advancing the field of healthcare epidemiology. SHEA and its members strive to improve patient outcomes and create a safer, healthier future for all. Visit SHEA online at http://www.shea-online.org, http://www.facebook.com/SHEApreventingHAIs and @SHEA_Epi.

About Cambridge Journals

Cambridge University Press publishes over 350 peer-reviewed academic journals across a wide spread of subject areas, in print and online. Many of these journals are leading academic publications in their fields and together form one of the most valuable and comprehensive bodies of research available today.

For further information about Cambridge Journals, visit journals.cambridge.org

About Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University's mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

Its extensive peer-reviewed publishing lists comprise 45,000 titles covering academic research, professional development, over 350 research journals, school-level education, English language teaching and bible publishing.

Playing a leading role in today's international market place, Cambridge University Press has more than 50 offices around the globe, and it distributes its products to nearly every country in the world.

For further information about Cambridge University Press, visit cambridge.org.
PHILADELPHIA - Children with the severe skin disease, recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), also known as butterfly disease, often develop an aggressive and fatal skin cancer by early adulthood. Now an international team of scientists have identified a potential drug treatment for the lethal complication. The discovery paves the way for a clinical trial set to begin this year.

"We hope that the drug will be a cure for the cancer," says Andrew South, PhD, an associate professor in the department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology, and researcher with the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center - Jefferson Health. The findings published March 7th in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

Patients with RDEB do not make enough of a protein that helps to hold layers of the skin together, making it incredibly delicate.. The smallest touch can cause damage and lead to persistent blisters. In previous research, Dr. South and colleagues found chronic inflammation and scarring from these wounds spurs the development of a formidable cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma. Although many people develop this kind of skin cancer from sun exposure, when caught early, the disease is highly curable. In RDEB patients, however, the cancer is deadly, with a five-year survival rate close to zero.

"If we can reduce the cancer, or even reduce the spread of the cancer, that is going to improve patients' quality of life and extend their lifespan," says Dr. South.

In previous research, Dr. South and colleagues identified an enzyme involved in cell division called Polo-like Kinase 1 (PLK1) as a potential drug target for squamous cell carcinoma. As PLK1 is implicated in a number of cancers, many drugs that block the enzyme already exist. In the preclinical study, the researchers tested how well six anti-PLK1 compounds attacked the RDEB patients' cancer. A drug called rigosertib stood out from the rest.

"Rigosertib was, by far, the best option," says Dr. South. "It's very good at killing cancer cells in models of the disease."

The researchers isolated healthy and cancerous cells from 10 patients during routine diagnostic and surgical procedures. When the team treated the cancer cells with rigosertib, the cells died in all 10 cases.

"Sixty percent efficacy is something one might think about taking to the clinic, but 100 percent of the cells being responsive to the drug is something I've never seen before," says Dr. South.

The drug also specifically targets the cancer cells, but leaves normal cells unharmed. "That was key to rigosertib becoming the lead molecule of the six we tested," says Dr. South. Rigosertib was only capable of slowing the growth of healthy cells at much higher doses than required to kill the cancer cells, the scientists report, suggesting the drug might have lower risk of side effects for patients.

The researchers went on to show that rigosertib was very effective at treating the cancer in preclinical mouse models of the disease. Systemic delivery of the drug stopped the cancer's growth and the tumor cells died. The finding is encouraging for the upcoming clinical trial.

"Epidermolysis bullosa patients' cancers metastasize very rapidly, so a systemic drug should target all the cancer cells in the patient," says Dr. South.

Still, Dr. South cautions that laboratory results do not always indicate a drug will work in people. "One goal of the upcoming trial is to figure out whether rigosertib can reduce the tumor burden in epidermolysis bullosa patients with cancer," he says. "Any drug that can do that will improve the current standard of care."

The clinical trial with rigosertib is on track to open this spring or summer. RDEB patients will be under the care of Bahar Dasgeb, MD, the principal investigator of the trial and an assistant professor of Dermatology, at Jefferson's Adult EB clinic, one of the only clinics for this population in the US.

"Dr. South's discovery brings promise treating aggressive cancers resulting from butterfly disease. This breakthrough exemplifies the commitment of SKCC to advance the pace of translating scientific advances into new clinical options", says Dr. Karen E. Knudsen, Executive Vice President of Oncology Services and Enterprise Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson.

If it works as the data in the lab suggest, rigosertib will attack RDEB patients' cancers without damaging healthy cells, even when administered systemically.

"Ultimately, that's what you hope for with cancer therapies," says Dr. South.

###

This work was supported by DEBRA International - funded by DEBRA UK and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and the Defense Health Agency J9, Research and Development Directorate, through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program under Award No. (W81XWH-18-1-0382). Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense. Investigators were also supported by the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, Orion Research Foundation, and the Finnish Society of Dermatology. We would like to thank all the patients who contributed to this study and the Shared Resource at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center - Jefferson Health, supported by the NCI, grant 5P30CA056036-17. The author have no conflicts of interest to report.

Article reference: Velina S. Atanasova, Celine Pourreyron, Mehdi Farshchian, Michael Lawler, Christian A. Brown IV, Stephen A. Watt, Sheila Wright, Michael Warkala, Christina Guttmann-Gruber, Josefina Pinon Hofbauer, Ignacia Fuentes, Marco Prisco, Elham Rashidghamat, Cristina Has, Julio C. Salas-Alanis, Francis Palisson, Alain Hovnanian, John A. McGrath, Jemima E. Mellerio, Johann W. Bauer, Andrew P. South, "Identification of rigosertib for the treatment of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa-associated squamous cell carcinoma," Clinical Cancer Research, doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-2661, 2019.

Media Contact: Edyta Zielinska, 215-955-7359, edyta.zielinska@jefferson.edu.
(CNN)  Embattled Chinese tech giant Huawei is suing the US government in its most aggressive move yet to fight back against accusations that its technology poses a global security threat.

Huawei, the worlds biggest maker of telecommunications equipment, said Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit in Texas challenging a recent US law that bans federal agencies from buying its products.

"This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers," Huawei Deputy Chairman Guo Ping said at a news conference at the company's headquarters in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. He accused Congress of acting as "judge, jury and executioner" by imposing the ban.

The Chinese company, which is also a top smartphone maker, is asking a US federal court to overturn part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump in August. Huawei alleges that a portion of the law  which specifically forbids government agencies from using technology from Huawei and its smaller Chinese rival, ZTE  violates the US Constitution by singling out an individual or group for punishment without trial.

"The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products," Guo said. "We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort."

US government officials weren't immediately available to comment on the lawsuit outside of regular office hours.

'Huawei is showing that it will not roll over'

Huawei's court challenge takes its heated standoff with the US government to a new level.

The company is one of China's biggest tech firms and a key player in the global rollout of super-fast 5G wireless networks. Its smartphones compete globally with those of Apple and Samsung.

But Washington has for years been suspicious that the Chinese government could use Huawei equipment to spy on other nations, without providing specific evidence. Huawei describes itself as an employee-owned company and denies any of its products pose a security risk.

Huawei's lawsuit, which was filed in Texas, where the company's American headquarters are located, could force the US government to present a public case against the Chinese tech company as it ramps up its pressure campaign.

The Trump administration has been urging allies to ban or restrict Huawei products from their 5G networks, citing spying concerns but without providing clear evidence. That has complicated Huawei's ambitious plans for growth and prompted complaints from wireless carriers that the US campaign is disrupting their plans to build the networks.

"Huawei is showing that it will not roll over on the US full court press," said Paul Triolo, an expert on global tech issues at consulting firm Eurasia Group.

"It is not likely to result in Huawei gaining new access to the US market," he added. "But it is a symbolic marker that could influence other players around the world considering potential limitations or bans against the firm."

Governments in countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom are deciding what kinds of restrictions to impose on Huawei equipment. Australia banned the company from providing technology for its 5G networks last year.

The US 'hacked our source code'

At the news conference Thursday, Guo accused American officials of hypocrisy.

Even as the US government has branded Huawei as a cybersecurity threat, he said, it "has hacked our servers and stolen our emails and the source code."

The claim appeared to be a reference to reports from 2014, citing documents provided by Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency contractor who leaked huge volumes of information on American intelligence and surveillance operations to the media.

The US government says Huawei is a threat because it's unable to say no to the Chinese government.

"Chinese law requires them to provide Beijing's vast security apparatus with access to any data that touches their networks or equipment," Vice President Mike Pence said last month.

The company pushed back against those allegations on Thursday, reiterating that it would refuse any Chinese government requests to gain access to the technology it sells to telecom operators.

"Huawei has not and will never implant 'back doors,'" Guo said. "We will never allow others to install any in our equipment."

Adding to the complexity, US prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Huawei in Washington state and New York.

Huawei pleaded not guilty in Seattle last week to charges that it tried to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile.

The company's arraignment in Brooklyn on charges that it worked to skirt US sanctions on Iran is scheduled for later this month. Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, has also been charged in that case. She was arrested in Canada in December and faces extradition to the United States.

Meng and Huawei have denied the charges.
Too often non-health-related policies leave migrants facing worse health situations, and governments must honor their humanitarian obligations to provide health for all

Restrictive entry and integration policies are having an adverse effect on the health of migrants in high-income countries, according to the most comprehensive assessment of the impact of general migration policies on migrant health, published in The Lancet Global Health journal.

The systematic review and meta-analysis, synthesising all the available evidence from the scientific literature, finds that international migrants facing restrictive policies such as temporary visa status, detention, and reduced access to welfare are less likely to use general health services (hindering individual and public health), and are at greater risk of poor mental health and dying prematurely from any cause compared with native populations.

The authors say that efforts to improve the health of migrants would benefit from adopting a 'Health in All Policies' perspective, which considers the health effects of all migrant-orientated policies, and embracing a human-rights framework that emphasises the rights of migrants under international law. [1]

"The steady rise in international migration from an estimated 155 million people in 2000 to 258 million in 2017 has been met with increasingly hostile policy responses across the world--putting migrants at risk of ill-health and psychological damage, and profoundly undermining their human rights," says Dr Sol Pia Juarez, Stockholm University, Sweden, who co-led the research. [2]

Co-author Dr Andrea Dunlavy, University College London, UK adds: "More inclusive approaches to support the integration of migrants into their host societies is likely to have a positive effect on migrants' health and life opportunities, as well as benefiting local populations. While international law supports improving the health of migrants, its enforcement is weak, and countries must be held to account. Without sustained and strong political action, healthy migration policies will not be achieved, to the detriment of all." [2]

Contrary to widespread belief, migrants to industrialised nations are generally healthier than people in both the country they leave and their destination country [3]. Concerns that unfounded myths about migration and health have enabled governments to introduce hostile and restrictive policies in many countries was the focus of a recent Lancet Commission on Migration and Health [4].

In the UK, hostile policy responses have been highlighted by the Windrush scandal of 2018, with long-term migrants being deported midway through medical treatment, whilst attempts to withdraw legal protection to undocumented migrants in the USA has resulted in migrants being jailed and children separated from their parents.

Previous research on migrant health has largely focused on mental health, infectious diseases, or health inequalities between migrant groups, rather than looking at the effects of migration policies targeting social determinants of health such as access to labour markets, education, housing, and welfare services.

In this study, the researchers took the novel approach of isolating the effects of different public policy types (i.e., whether access to health-promoting resources and opportunities was generous, restrictive, or inclusive) at multiple stages of the migration process (i.e., entry, integration, exit) on health outcomes among international migrants.

They conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all quantitative studies examining the impact of non-health-related public policies on migrant health compared with other populations who had not been exposed to these policies between January 2000 and September 2017. Data were analysed for 46 articles conducted in high-income countries that focused on the health-related impact of integration (37 articles) and entry policies (nine articles; table 1). Pooled estimates from 19 articles were included in the meta-analysis.

Results suggested that more restrictive entry policies including temporary visa status and detention were associated with increased levels of poor mental health among migrants including psychological distress, depression, and anxiety.

Compared to groups exposed to less restrictive integration policies (particularly those related to welfare eligibility and documentation requirements), international migrants were more likely to report poor general health, and faced greater risk of poor mental health and adverse birth outcomes (e.g., infant mortality), and were at higher risk of premature death.

The mortality disadvantage was particularly striking in 'exclusionist' settings, such as Denmark, where some groups of migrants were twice as likely to die prematurely, compared to comparable groups of migrants in 'inclusive' settings, like the Netherlands (see figure 3B).

Welfare restrictions (as in the USA) were shown to limit migrants' use of general health-care services, but did not appear to markedly reduce public health insurance coverage or the number of uninsured (figure 4).

"Migration policies contribute to health inequalities and are key social determinants of health--impacting health directly through access to care, and indirectly via social and economic policies. Future research on how these policies impact medium- and long-term health, as well as whether the effects differ by gender, age, socioeconomic position, and reason for migration will be equally important for informing healthy migration policies," says co-author Ms Helena Honkaniemi, Stockholm University, Sweden. [2]

The authors note several limitations, including that the effects of migration policies have yet to be studied in low- and middle-income countries and across other dimensions of migration policy, such as housing and educational opportunities, and deportation and exit procedures. They also highlight some methodological limitations such as potential confounding (eg, differences in unmeasured factors which may have affected the health outcomes of the study), and a lack of natural experimental studies to isolate policy effects--which limit the conclusions that can be drawn.

Commenting on the implications of the findings, Prof Kayvan Bozorgmehr from Bielefeld University and University Hospital Heidelberg in Germany says: "The study represents a timely, innovative, and highly needed contribution to migrant health research... It forges a pioneering evidence base for the impact of non-health-related policies on migrants' health; especially in areas where the population already suffers remarkable vulnerabilities such as poor mental health and reduced access to obstetric care. This evidence-base is required to address harmful migration policies under the right-to-health framework, and to hold nations accountable for their obligation to respect the right to health in a non-discriminatory way."

However, he cautions, several questions remain to be answered: "How is the effect of non-health-related migration policies mediated, what are the mechanisms at work, and how can adverse effects be mitigated? What is the economic cost to society of restrictive policies? What are entry points for change, and which actors and tools can be leveraged to promote the human right to health, given that policymaking processes are often messy and the adoption of restrictive policies is driven by antimigrant ideology and power-acquisition motives?"

###

Peer-reviewed / Systematic Review and Meta-analysis / People

NOTES TO EDITORS

This study was funded by Swedish Council for Health, Working Life, and Social Research; UK Medical Research Council; Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office. It was conducted by researchers from Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; University College London, London, UK; Centre for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (CIDACS), Salvador, Brazil; University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.

The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE.pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com

[1] WHO's 'Health in All Policies' approach is particularly relevant for the health of migrant populations, who are affected by both general and migrant-specific policies in the destination country, including those pertaining to entry (visa and entry criteria), resettlement (dispersal policies), short-term integration (language classes), long-term integration (anti-discriminatory policies in the labour market, democratic participation, and citizenship policies), and forced and voluntary return migration (deportation procedures). https://www.who.int/healthpromotion/frameworkforcountryaction/en/

[2] Quotes direct from authors and cannot be found in text of Article.

[3] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32781-8/fulltext

[4] https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/migration-health

IF YOU WISH TO PROVIDE A LINK FOR YOUR READERS, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WILL GO LIVE AT THE TIME THE EMBARGO LIFTS: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30560-6/fulltext
While spectroscopic measurements are normally averaged over myriad molecules, a new method developed by researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) provides precise information about the interaction of individual molecules with their environment. This will accelerate the identification of efficient molecules for future photovoltaic technologies, for example.

An international team led by the TUM chemist Professor Jurgen Hauer has now succeeded in determining the spectral properties of individual molecules. The researchers acquired the absorption and emission spectra of the investigated molecules over a broad spectral range in a single measurement to accurately determine how the molecules interact with their environment, capturing and releasing energy.

Normally, these kinds of measurements are averaged over thousands, even millions, of molecules, sacrificing important detail information. "Previously, emission spectra could be routinely acquired, but absorption measurements on individual molecules were extremely expensive," explains Hauer. "We have now attained the ultimate limit of detectability."

Compact apparatus, quick measurement

The new method is based on a compact, merely DIN-A4-sized instrument that the Munich chemists developed in collaboration with colleagues at the Politecnico di Milano.

The key: It generates a double laser pulse with a controlled delay in between. The second pulse modulates the emission spectrum in a specific manner, which in turn provides information about the absorption spectrum. This information is then evaluated using a Fourier transformation.

"The primary advantage is that we can, with little effort, transform a conventional measurement setup for acquiring emission spectra into a device for measuring emission and absorption spectra," says Hauer. The measurement itself is relatively easy. "At nine o'clock in the morning, we installed the apparatus into the setup at the University of Copenhagen," says Hauer. "At half past eleven, already, we had our first useful measurement data."

On the tracks of photosynthesis

Using the new spectroscopy method, chemists hope to now study individual molecules, to understand phenomena such as the energy flow in metal-organic compounds and physical effects in molecules when they come into contact with water and other solvents.

The influence of solvents at the single molecule level is still poorly understood. The chemists also want to display the flow of energy in a time-resolved manner to understand why energy flows faster and more efficiently in certain molecules than in others. "Specifically, we are interested in the transfer of energy in biological systems in which photosynthesis takes place," says Hauer.

The goal: organic solar cells

The researchers have cast their view on the light collection complex LH2 for future applications. "Once we understand the natural light-harvesting complexes, we can start thinking about artificial systems for deployment in photovoltaics," says Hauer. The findings could form the basis for future technologies in photovoltaics. The goal is the development of a novel organic solar cell.

###

The research was supported by the European Research Council (ERC), the European Initiative Laserlab-Europe, the Austrian Fund for the Promotion of Scientific Research (FWF) and the Danish Council of Independent Research (DFF). The publication resulted from a cooperation between the Politecnico di Milano, the University of Copenhagen and the TU Munich.

Publication:

Single-molecule excitation-emission spectroscopy

Erling Thyrhaug, Stefan Krause, Antonio Perri, Giulio Cerullo, Dario Polli, Tom Vosch, and Jurgen Hauer

PNAS, 15.02.2019 - DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1808290116
NEW YORK -- Columbia engineers and neuroscientists have joined forces to create 3D videos of individual nerve cells moving, stretching and switching on inside fruit fly larvae as they move. Data gleaned from these videos reveals how nerve cells called proprioceptive neurons work together to help the body sense where it is in space. To accomplish this feat, the researchers harnessed SCAPE, a cutting-edge microscope developed at Columbia that images neurons at lightning-fast speeds.

These findings, published today in Current Biology, illustrate SCAPE's ability to reveal the inner workings of the nervous system in unprecedented detail. By creating 3D, live action images of nerve cells in larvae as the animals crawled, SCAPE allowed the researchers to see exactly how those cells along the body wall reported movements back to the brain.

"We know that the brain receives sensory signals though electrical pulses passed along neurons, but we didn't understand why some kinds of neurons are located in specific positions, or how particular signaling patterns represented different movements," said Wesley Grueber, PhD, a principal investigator at Columbia's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and the paper's co-senior author. "To understand this process, we needed to know what signals the neurons are sending while the larva crawled around unconstrained."

"Although we could make larvae whose neurons were labeled with fluorescence flash as they fired, we had great difficulty imaging them," said Rebecca Vaadia, a doctoral candidate in the Grueber lab and the paper's co-first author. "Even our fastest microscopes required the specimen to be constrained to move unnaturally slowly, so we could never truly capture neural activity that reflected the animal's natural, unencumbered movements until we began using SCAPE."

"We developed SCAPE to image things in 3D really, really fast," said Elizabeth Hillman, PhD, also a principal investigator at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute and the paper's co-senior author. "Working together, we quickly found that we could record nerve cells flashing inside fruit fly larvae as they crawled. Our high speeds allowed us to both measure the complex, 3D motions of the body and the neurons' activity during those movements. And we could do so in real time."

This imaging generated a massive amount of data. To make sense of it, the team developed algorithms that tracked each proprioceptive cell, and determined exactly when it was active as the body compressed and extended during crawling.

"We saw that the position of each cell made it sensitive to specific changes to the body's overall shape, and when we lined up all of the neurons' signals, we saw that they generated a detailed sequence of signals that reflected each body part's movement," said Wenze Li, PhD, the paper's co-first author, who recently earned his doctorate in electrical engineering in the Hillman lab at Columbia. "It was like a beautiful machine."

"Our experiments consistently showed that each of the proprioceptor neurons reacted differently as the larvae crawled along, an observation that could not have been made if the larvae had been constrained," said Dr. Grueber, who is also an associate professor of physiology and cellular biophysics and of neuroscience at Columbia's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. "We saw, in real time, how some neurons fired when the animal's body stretched, while others fired when it compressed."

Scientists had long hypothesized that proprioception came with redundancy because switching off one -- or even some -- of these neurons only made the larva crawl more slowly. However, today's study found that each neuron has its own slightly different role to play, and is positioned precisely to sense specific aspects of the animals' movement. The team demonstrated that this rule did not just hold for crawling, but was important for encoding more complicated movements.

"We've made a lot of progress in deciphering the code of these cells," said Vaadia.

First described by Dr. Hillman and colleagues in 2015, SCAPE (swept confocally aligned planar excitation) microscopy forms 3D images of living samples by scanning them with a sheet of laser light. SCAPE's ingenuity lies in being able to both project and detect this moving light sheet through a single, stationary objective lens. SCAPE delivers 3D-imaging speeds that are up to 500 times faster than conventional microscopes that scan objects point by point.

SCAPE is especially well-suited to imaging small organisms such as the fruit fly, since they can be quite transparent and are small enough to image their entire brains or bodies -- and individual cells inside them.

"Flies, worms and fish have much simpler brains than humans, but this gives us a chance to learn how a complete nervous system actually works, cell by cell," said Dr. Hillman, who is also a professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering and a professor of radiology at Columbia's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. "We have good reason to believe that if we can understand these simple systems better, the lessons learned will scale up to more complex systems, including mammals."

SCAPE's ability to capture the brain in action comes at the perfect time as efforts such as the Fly and Human Connectome Projects are aiming to establish detailed maps of the structure and connections of the nervous system. A major goal of the BRAIN Initiative, which has funded the development of SCAPE and supported Drs. Hillman and Grueber's collaboration, is to decipher this structure-function relationship. The ultimate goal is to leverage new tools such as SCAPE to understand exactly how the billions of connections between cells in the brain, in parallel with their complex activity, are able to generate the repertoire of complex behaviors that our brain can.

"We've demonstrated that SCAPE can track and map the proprioceptive neurons in a crawling fruit fly larva, and it is just the first of many studies that can now explore the fly and nervous systems of other animals," said Dr. Li. "We can now literally label any type of cell and find out what it is doing when the animal is moving, eating or even forming a memory; the possibilities are endless."

###

This paper is titled "Characterization of proprioceptive system dynamics in behaving Drosophila larvae using high-speed volumetric microscopy." Additional contributors include Venkatakaushik Voleti and Aditi Singhania.

This research was supported by the BRAIN Initiative (5U01NS094296, UF1NS108213), the National Institutes of Health (5R01NS061908, 5T32HD00740-18), the McKnight Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives Program of the Office of Naval Research (W911NF-12-1-0594), the Simons Foundation Collaboration on Global Brain and the National Science Foundation.

Elizabeth Hillman, Venkatakaushik Voleti and Wenze Li declare a financial interest in SCAPE microscopy via consulting activity and a license agreement in place between Columbia University and Leica Microsystems for commercial development of SCAPE.

Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute brings together an extraordinary group of world-class scientists and scholars to pursue the most urgent and exciting challenge of our time: understanding the brain and mind. A deeper understanding of the brain promises to transform human health and society. From effective treatments for disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, depression and autism to advances in fields as fundamental as computer science, economics, law, the arts and social policy, the potential for humanity is staggering. To learn more, visit: zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu
A simple and inexpensive test to measure the body's insulin levels is helping clinicians to determine what type of diabetes a patient has, meaning many people with diabetes can change treatment. This test has meant many more patients with diabetes are getting the right diagnosis of the type of diabetes they have, and is the focus of sessions at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference in Liverpool on Thursday, March 7.

Researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School have developed simple and inexpensive ways to measure C-peptide and have demonstrated that this test can show what treatment will be most effective for people with diabetes. Clinicians at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh have used the new test on every person thought to have type 1 diabetes for over three years in their clinic and shown that some actually have other types of diabetes and can stop insulin treatment.

C-peptide is produced at the same time and in the same quantities as the insulin that regulates our blood sugar. By measuring C-peptide levels, doctors can now tell how much insulin a person is producing themselves, even if they are taking insulin injections as treatment.

The Exeter team has developed a new urine test for C-peptide, and shown that a simple blood test when a person is seen in clinic can also accurately measure C-peptide, replacing previous methods which were expensive and time-consuming. These tests are now available in nearly every hospital in the UK, and cost as little as 10.

The team demonstrated how urine and blood C-peptide can be used to robustly identify what type of diabetes a person has, and help identify what treatment will work for them. This is crucial to getting the right treatment, education and follow-up care. By offering this test to people thought to have Type 1 diabetes in their clinic, the Edinburgh researchers have shown that many have high C-peptide, raising the possibility of other types of diabetes. Some of these patients have been able to stop insulin and switch to tablet treatment. This testing also revealed that in some of these patients, the diabetes had a genetic cause, which is important both for treatment and for other people in their families.

The new test is already in available in most NHS trusts, and is now offered to everyone diagnosed as Type 1 diabetes for at least 3 years in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Professor Mark Strachan, from Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, said: "We have now measured C-peptide in over 750 people with a clinician-diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, attending our clinic at the Westen General Hospital. So far, we have made a new diagnosis of genetic diabetes in eight people, and changed the diagnosis to Type 2 diabetes in 28 other people. This has allowed us to make changes to treatment in many of these individuals and in 12 people we have actually been able to stop insulin therapy."

Dr Tim McDonald, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said: "Getting the right diagnosis in diabetes is absolutely key to achieving the best treatment outcomes and avoiding complications. We've shown that C-peptide is cheaper, more accurate and easier to use than previous methods. It's really gratifying to see this making a difference to improving patient health already. My lab alone has received 7,000 test samples in the past 12 months."

Dr Angus Jones, from the University of Exeter Medical School, said: "It can be highly challenging for clinicians to differentiate between type 1 and type 2, and a number of genetic sub-types of diabetes. Up to 15 per cent of insulin treated patients are misdiagnosed. This figure soars to 40 per cent of people developing type 1 diabetes after age 30, as identifying type 1 diabetes at this age is very difficult. Treatment for these is very different, which is why being able to confirm if a person has the right diagnosis is so important. For example people with type 1 diabetes need lifelong insulin injections and become very unwell without this treatment, but most people with type 2 and genetic subtypes of diabetes can be effectively treated with tablets. By measuring C-peptide in a person receiving insulin treatment we can make sure they have the right diagnosis, and therefore the best treatment for them."

Dr. Emily Burns is Head of Research Communications at Diabetes UK. She said: "Getting the right diagnosis of diabetes is so important, it means people will receive the right treatment for them and could avoid serious complications. But different forms of diabetes can be difficult to accurately diagnose. Researchers at the University of Exeter are leading the way in improving how we diagnose diabetes, and in making tests more widely available, to make sure as many people as possible can benefit."

The team's research also shows that C peptide testing is practical in clinics. They identified optimal storage conditions for the samples, which were previously thought to be unstable, so sample collection is now much easier. They showed that using a specific preservative means that blood C-peptide is stable for more than 24 hours. For the first time, this means it is viable to conduct a test to be measured in primary care and outpatient clinics. This evidence together removed crucial barriers to implementation that had previously blocked widespread adoption of this test in routine clinical care.

The group also demonstrated how urine and blood C-peptide can be used to robustly identify the correct sub type of diabetes, which is crucial to getting the right treatment and follow-up care. They have shown that C-peptide can be used as a cheap and convenient test to identify children and young adults with a genetic form of diabetes that requires expensive genetic testing to confirm the diagnosis.

The team has undertaken clinical studies to show that C-peptide is an important predictor of how well a drug works in individual patients to specific diabetes drugs. C-peptide is able to stratify response to an expensive therapy in insulin-treated diabetes meaning the test can identify individuals who will not benefit from this drug.

The research also demonstrated that low C-peptide is associated with higher glucose variability, meaning a greater risk of hypoglycaemia in patients with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes.

###
The project "Quantum Science and Technologies at the European Campus" (QUSTEC) has been selected by the European Commission as a joint international and interdisciplinary doctoral program in quantum sciences and technologies. Led by Eucor - The European Campus, it will bring together the Universities of Basel, Freiburg and Strasbourg, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and IBM Research Zurich. Together, they provide 39 doctoral candidates a training experience in this key emerging area. The program is funded for a five-year period with a total amount of 9.1 million euros. In addition to 4.2 million euros from the European Union, there is co-financing from the participating partner organisations as well as from Santander through its own Santander Universities division, the world's largest private sponsor of higher education, according to a UNESCO study. The QUSTEC project has been launched with the support of the Franco-German University.

QUSTEC aims to address some of the grand challenges in Quantum Science today: The principles of quantum mechanics, which govern physics, chemistry, material science and computing at the atomic scale have already led to a wave of new technologies. In new applications, quantum technologies provide a massive leap that can be a decisive factor for many European industries and markets in the 21st century. The program QUSTEC contributes to this through a highly international structured four-years doctoral training program and research initiative that traverses all main domains of Quantum Science. The young researchers can choose between the participating locations and collaborate with industrial partners from the Upper Rhine and surrounding regions. The project strengthens the focus of Eucor - The European Campus in its strategic priority area "Quantum Science and Technologies."

"Quantum science is an interdisciplinary field that can lead to new technologies precisely because of the multitude of perspectives", says Prof. Dr. Guido Pupillo of the University of Strasbourg, scientific director of the program. "We would like to bring young researchers from all over the world to the Upper Rhine in order to perform fundamental research and to work on applications, such as new, secure communication networks, more precise sensors, the development of new quantum materials and prototype quantum computers."

QUSTEC is co-financed by the Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie "COFUND" program. This is the first time that a project submitted by the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) Eucor - The European Campus has been approved by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 research program. In 2015, the five universities in the Upper Rhine region founded the first EGTC, which is supported solely by universities. "The approval confirms our strategy and our concept. The universities of the European Campus are strong, where they complement each other in terms of content, and where they can act more strongly together on an European and global level," says Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer, President of Eucor - The European Campus and rector at the University of Freiburg. "I am very pleased about the success of the scientists involved, which simultaneously proves that we can open up new opportunities for cross-border research activities through our common legal personality."

###
A team led by a conservation biologist from the University of Kent has successfully relocated threatened Seychelles paradise flycatchers (Terpsiphone corvina) to a different island to help prevent their extinction

A team led by a conservation biologist from the University of Kent has successfully re-located threatened Seychelles paradise flycatchers (Terpsiphone corvina) to a different island to help prevent their extinction.

Four females and two males were caught on Denis Island and taken to Curieuse Island, where they joined 11 males and nine females who were moved there from La Digue Island at the end of last year. Four weeks after that release, the first birds had nested, with the first chick recently fledged.

The project was led by Jim Groombridge, Professor of Biodiversity Conservation and Head of Kent's School of Anthropology and Conservation (SAC). Dr Rachel Bristol, who completed her PhD at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) in SAC managed the project in partnership with the Seychelles National Parks Authority. The project was financed by the UK Government's Darwin Initiative.

The move required the team to:

catch the birds using mist nets

delicately mark their tails so they are individually identifiable until their next moult

take blood samples

put them in transfer boxes (recycled cardboard boxes- modified to ensure air and with a branch placed inside for the birds to perch on)

transfer them by plane to Praslin, then by boat trip to Curieuse

give them rehydration and energy fluid

before releasing them from the hand

The Seychelles paradise flycatcher is currently 'Critically Endangered' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN red list of endangered species and conservationists hope that successfully establishing this additional population on Curieuse Island could mean they are down-listed to a less endangered category.

The first ever conservation introduction of the Seychelles paradise flycatcher, from La Digue to Denis Island, was undertaken by the team in 2008. It was so successful that the population there has grown considerably from the 23 translocated individuals to the current estimate of over 85 birds. It is from this population that the conservation team were then able to source some of the birds for this second transfer to Curieuse Island, the rest coming from the relict population on La Digue Island.

Professor Groombridge said: 'This is such a positive start for this new population. The translocation is a crucial milestone in the successful recovery of this critically endangered bird, and represents a highly successful long-term international collaboration between the Government of Seychelles, local conservation partners and DICE at the University of Kent, and will hopefully lead to a more secure future for this beautiful bird. Successes like this are part of what I teach to our Wildlife Conservation BSc students as these cases require a real understanding of how to bring species back from the brink of extinction.'

###

Kent's Wildlife Conservation BSc aims to find innovations to address the multiple causes of animal and plant extinction whether through habitat loss, over-exploitation, pollution, disease, invasive species or global climate change.

Images by kind permission of Rachel Bristol: https://www.flickr.com/photos/universityofkent/sets/72157690159358553

For further information and interview or image requests contact Sandy Fleming at the University of Kent Press Office.

Tel: +44 (0)1227 823581

Email: S.Fleming@kent.ac.uk

News releases can also be found at http://www.kent.ac.uk/news

University of Kent on Twitter: http://twitter.com/UniKent

Established in 1965, the University of Kent - the UK's European university - now has almost 20,000 students across campuses or study centres at Canterbury, Medway, Tonbridge, Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome.

It was ranked 22nd in the Guardian University Guide 2018 and in June 2017 was awarded a gold rating, the highest, in the UK Government's Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).

In 2018 it was also ranked in the top 500 of Shanghai Ranking's Academic Ranking of World Universities and 47th in the Times Higher Education's (THE) new European Teaching Rankings.

Kent is ranked 17th in the UK for research intensity (REF 2014). It has world-leading research in all subjects and 97% of its research is deemed by the REF to be of international quality.

Along with the universities of East Anglia and Essex, Kent is a member of the Eastern Arc Research Consortium (http://www.kent.ac.uk/about/partnerships/eastern-arc.html).

The University is worth 0.7 billion to the economy of the south east and supports more than 7,800 jobs in the region. Student off-campus spend contributes 293.3m and 2,532 full-time-equivalent jobs to those totals.

Kent has received two Queen's Anniversary prizes for Higher and Further Education.
Too much time in front of the bedroom TV deprives the child of more enriching developmental activities and may explain, in part, less optimal body mass, poor eating habits and socio-emotional difficulties as a teenager, says the study, published Dec. 26 in Pediatric Research.

"The early years are a critical period in a child's development," said study author Linda Pagani, a professor at UdeM's School of Psycho-Education, who will be discussing her study today at the International Convention of Psychological Science, in Paris.

"Intuitively, parents know that how their children spend their leisure time will impact their well-being over the long term," said Pagani. "And with TV being their most common pastime, it's clear that the many hours they spend in front of the screen is having an effect on their growth and development, especially if the TV is in a private place like the bedroom."

With their attention diverted, children risk not having enough physical and social interactions to promote proper physical and socio-emotional development, Pagani said. "To test that hypothesis, we longitudinally followed a birth cohort to examine whether there was a link between having a bedroom TV at age 4, during the neurodevelopmentally critical preschool period, and later physical, mental, and social problems in early adolescence. Our goal was to eliminate any pre-existing conditions the children or families had that could bias our results."

Pagani and her team analyzed Canadian birth cohort data of 1,859 Quebec children born between the spring of 1997 and the spring of 1998, part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development coordinated by the Institut de la statistique du Quebec.

Spending too much time watching TV in their room can harm preschoolers' development, an Universite de Montreal study finds.

To assess their health at age 13, independent examiners measured the childrens' body mass index; adolescents also reported their intake of unhealthy foods. To measure psychological problems, teachers rated how much emotional stress the children faced; the teens also completed a short version of the Children's Depression Inventory. For social problems, teachers reported on how the kids got along with their peers and whether they were bullied. All these measures are good predictors of later physical and mental health in adulthood. Significantly higher body mass index

The study's results were clear: having a TV in the bedroom at age 4 made it more likely the child would later have a significantly higher body mass index, more unhealthy eating habits, lower levels of sociability, and higher levels of emotional distress, depressive symptoms, victimization and physical aggression, regardless of individual and family factors that would have predisposed them to such problems.

"The location of the TV seems to matter," Pagani said. "Having private access to screen time in the bedroom during the preschool years does not bode well for long-term health. The children in our study were born at a time when television was the only screen in the bedroom. Today, given the portability of digital devices and the constant switching from one device to another, the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics clearly have reason to encourage screen-free zones and screen-free locations at home, especially given the implications for the growth and development of children. Our research supports a strong stance for parental guidelines on the availability and accessibility of TVs and other devices."

###

About the study

"Prospective associations between television in the preschool bedroom and later bio-psycho-social risks," by Linda Pagani, Marie-Josee Harbec and Tracie A. Barnett, was published Dec. 26, 2018 in Pediatric Research. Pagani is a professor at Universite de Montreal's School of Psychoeducation, and a senior researcher at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Centre and the Research Group on Learning Environments of the Fonds de recherche du Quebec - Societe et culture. Harbec studies under Pagani's supervision. Barnett is a professor at the INRS-IAF, a research institute affiliated with the Universite du Quebec a Montreal.

The Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development is funded by the Fondation Lucie et Andre Chagnon, the Institut de la Statistique du Quebec, the Ministere de l'Education et de l'Enseignement superieur, the Ministere de la Famille, the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauve en sante et en securite du travail, the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine, and the Ministere de la Sante et des Services sociaux du Quebec.

About the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre

CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre is a leading mother-child research institution affiliated with Universite de Montreal. It brings together more than 200 research investigators, including over 90 clinicians, as well as 350 graduate and post-graduate students focused on finding innovative means of prevention, faster and less invasive treatments, and personalized approaches to medicine. The Centre is part of CHU Sainte-Justine, which is the largest mother-child hospital in Canada and second most important pediatric hospital in North America.
People with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) could benefit from a moderate increase in water intake, according to new research.

A study from The Westmead Institute for Medical Research found that a moderate increase in water intake in rats with PKD led to a long-term reduction in kidney cyst growth and fibrosis.

This latest findings add to the growing body of evidence that supports water as a safe and effective treatment for PKD.

Polycystic kidney disease is the most common inherited cause of end-stage kidney disease. It is a chronic condition, in which fluid-filled cysts damage healthy tissue and kidney function.

Left untreated, it can cause complications, including high blood pressure, heart problems and, in severe cases, kidney failure.

More than 2,000 Australians with PKD currently receive dialysis or need a kidney transplant.

Lead researcher Dr Priyanka Sagar said that water may be a potential treatment for PKD, because it stops the hormone responsible for cyst growth.

"Previous studies in animals haven't shown whether this benefit continues over time, and there is presently no evidence in humans," Dr Sagar said.

"Our research in rats showed that increased water intake reduces the long-term progression of cyst growth and kidney fibrosis when administered during the early stages of kidney disease.

"Significantly, we identified that only a moderate increase in water was needed to have this sustained benefit in rats."

The research also showed that increased water intake had secondary benefits for some complications associated with PKD.

"Interestingly, we found that increased water intake also reduced hypertension," Dr Sagar said.

"PKD is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, so this is an important protective effect."

Currently, treatment options for PKD in humans are limited. Dr Sagar said that further studies are needed in humans to prove that water is an effective treatment for kidney cysts.

"We're finding more evidence to support water as a viable treatment for PKD," she said.

"However, further studies are needed to determine its effectiveness.

"Water is cheap and accessible, so the idea that it could be used as a treatment for PKD in the future is very exciting," she concluded.

###

Drs. Annette Wong and Gopi Rangan (a kidney specialist) from Westmead Hospital and the Westmead Institute for Medical Research are currently leading a NHMRC-funded multi-centre clinical trial in Australia that will determine the effectiveness of increasing water intake in people with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), and the final results of this study are expected in 2021.

The research paper was published in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/authors?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0209186

Dr Sagar is affiliated with The Westmead Institute, Westmead Hospital and the University of Sydney.
Researchers have created a huge resource for investigating the biological mechanisms that cause cancer. The scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators identified which patterns of DNA damage - mutational fingerprints that represent the origins of cancer - were present in over a thousand human cancer cell lines. They also revealed that a major mutation pattern found in human cancer, previously linked to a virus-fighting immune response, occurred in bursts in cancer cell lines with long periods of silence in between, but the cause of these mutational bursts remains mysterious.

Published today (7th March) in Cell, the resource will enable scientists to study what causes mutations that lead to the development of cancer, directly in human cancer cells. Further understanding into these mutational processes could help researchers find novel avenues for research towards cancer prevention and treatment.

All cancers are caused by DNA mutations, and these mutations form molecular fingerprints in the DNA called mutational signatures. More than 50 different signatures have been found, many of which are caused by external factors, for example ultraviolet light exposure or tobacco smoking. Others are due to factors inside the cell such as the failure of DNA repair mechanisms. However, the causes of many mutational signatures are unknown and they are extremely challenging to study experimentally.

The researchers studied the genome sequences of 1,001 human cancer cell lines and 577 grafts of human cancers*, including the most widely used models in cancer research and therapeutics testing. They used all the known mutational signatures and catalogued which signature is present in each cancer model. This resource then allowed the scientists to choose specific cell lines and study how each mutational pattern changed over time in cancer cells.

They found that mutational signatures from known external factors like smoking or UV light stopped being created in cell lines, whereas most signatures associated with factors inside the cell continued to be generated, and at a steady rate. Surprisingly however, they discovered that two common mutational signatures associated with a DNA editing protein known as APOBEC, actually switched on and off over time in cell lines, a phenomenon they called "episodic mutagenesis".

APOBEC DNA editing enzymes are part of the innate immune system, protecting us from infections by causing mutations in viruses such as HIV, leaving APOBEC mutational signatures in the viral genomes. APOBEC-like signatures are a major mutation pattern in cancers, found in more than 70 per cent of cancer types. A theory for this is that viruses or inflammation could activate the enzymes to mutate the human genome instead of the virus. However, cell lines are not subject to inflammation and no viruses were found, suggesting other factors are involved. Importantly, cell lines found to generate these and other signatures over time can now be used by researchers to investigate the underlying causes of mutations in cancer.

Dr Mia Petljak, the first author on the paper from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "Mutational signatures in human DNA represent traces of the mutational processes that happened in the past. In the first systematic study of mutational signatures in cell lines over time, we found that the signatures previously associated with APOBEC enzymes were the only mutations that came in bursts of activity. Cell lines that continue to generate APOBEC-associated, and other, signatures over time now provide us and other groups with a set of powerful tools to study root causes of human cancer - the origins of mutations."

Dr Peter Campbell, an author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "By annotating over a thousand publically available cancer cell lines with information on mutational signatures, we have provided the largest ever resource for experimentally investigating the biological mechanisms underlying these signatures. Now, researchers will be able to choose the right cell line to work with and systematically knock-out individual genes to study how this affects the generation of any mutational signature over time."

Dr David Scott, Cancer Research UK's director of discovery research, said: "This international team has created a giant library of the genetic codes that underpin cancer. Scientists anywhere at any time can 'check out' cancer cells from the library with this genetic information, to study the specific causes of these diseases, and the mechanisms we can exploit to prevent or treat them in future. Cancer is a global problem and requires a global solution."

"This research, which supports Cancer Research UK's Grand Challenge initiative, shows the value of drawing on the expertise of researchers from around the world to understand the root causes of cancer."

Prof Sir Mike Stratton, lead author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "Human cancer cell lines carry the signatures of the mutational processes that led to the cancer. Our work investigating what causes these signatures will lead to a better understanding of the origins of cancers. If we can determine exactly what triggers these mutational processes, it could be possible to avoid or limit that exposure, and thus help towards prevention of that cancer."

###

Contact:

Dr Samantha Wynne, Media Officer

Wellcome Sanger Institute

Wellcome Genome Campus

Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK

Phone: +44 (0)1223 492368

Email: press.office@sanger.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

* The cancer models are publicly available, including 1,001 immortal human cell lines (COSMIC Cell Line Project) and 577 patient-derived xenografts (PDXs; NCI PatientDerived Models Repository) derived from a broad spectrum of cancer types. These are used by researchers worldwide as in-vitro lineages of cancer.

Selected websites:

Wellcome Sanger Institute

The Wellcome Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres.Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease.Find out more at http://www.sanger.ac.uk or follow @sangerinstitute on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and on our Blog

Wellcome

Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. We support researchers, we take on big health challenges, we campaign for better science, and we help everyone get involved with science and health research. We are a politically and financially independent foundation. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
With little over three weeks left until the UK is scheduled to set to leave the European Union and just days until UK politicians vote on the Prime Ministers Brexit deal and potentially on whether the UK and EU split without a negotiated deal or defer the March 29th deadline, the Pound Sterling (GBP) was muted against peers in anticipation of the outcome.

The next key milestone for the Brexit process will be next weeks critical voted which determine the course the UK government takes with respect to Brexit over the coming weeks and potentially months.

March 12th will see MPs take part in a second meaningful vote on the Prime Ministers Brexit deal. While efforts continue to secure legally-enforceable addendums to the deal in order to placate anti-EU elements within the Conservative Party, progress on this front has been lacking with talks between UK and EU officials thus far failing to find common ground.

March 13th: Should MPs reject the PMs deal, MPs will be afforded a second vote on whether or not the UK should metaphorically throw in the towel and resign the UK to exiting without any form of negotiated deal.

March 14th: If UK lawmakers reject the no-deal vote, as is widely expected, they will then vote on whether or not seek a formal deferral of the UKs March 29th exit date, to buy time to seek alternative softer options.

Last week saw the Pound Sterling (GBP) skyrocket against a basket of peers with various Brexit-related political drivers substantially allaying fears of a no-deal Brexit outcome.

Commenting on the renewed wave of Brexit optimism, Nordea analysts Morten Lund and Andreas Larsen outlined the multiple drivers of the latest GBP rally.

For one, the European Research Group (ERG)  a band of hard-line anti-EU Brexiteers within the Conservative Party  softened their stance with regards to the Irish backstop component of the EU withdrawal agreement, retracting their request the provisions be scrapped entirely or replaced with alternative arrangements.

Lund and Larsen wrote the ERG could now accept an appendix that includes i) a legally binding clause that unambiguously overrides the text of the withdrawal agreement, ii) an exit route, and iii) a stronger language about the Irish backstop only being temporary.

The softening of the ERGs hard-line demands is thought to have stemmed, at least partially, from a shift in strategy by Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, who officialy announced his endorsement of a second EU referendum.

Nordea analysts wrote Ironically, the ERGs more reconciliatory rhetoric has to a large extent been triggered by Labour, as Jeremy Corbyn has officially announced his support to a second referendum (although still keeping a range of options on the table). This has clearly scared some Brexiteers. Furthermore, it has paved the way for Theresa May to present herself as the only leader committed to defending Brexit.

Finally, the Prime Ministers pledge to allow MPs a vote on whether to pursue a Brexit extension was interpreted by markets as significantly positive for the Sterling given a majority of parliamentarians are known to be averse to a no-deal outcome, with a potential extension a route to avoiding such a scenario.

Mays pledge to have a contingent vote on an extension of the 29 March deadline, and the following overwhelming support in the House of Commons (Cooper-amendment: 502 MPs voting for and 20 against), sent a statement to the ERG that a no-deal is unlikely, Nordea analysts wrote, adding Some Brexiteers therefore feel the pressure of facing a binary choice between Mays deal and no-Brexit.

Indeed, it appears the government have now directed their project fear internally, with Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, warning that a failure to back the PMs deal next week could open the door to an outcome which retains closer ties to the EU.

Speaking to the BBC, Hammond said that should MPs reject the PMs deal in favour of an extension We will then be in unknown territory where a consensus will have to be forged across the House of Commons and that will inevitably mean compromises being made, adding The way for my colleagues to avoid that is to vote for the deal.

Mays Deal Attributed 25% Probability of Passing

Based on the above factors, suggesting a degree of optimism regarding a Brexit extension beyond March 29th, Nordea analysts maintain a base case scenario that MPs will reject the deal with the probability of the deal passing pegged at 25%.

For one, Larsen and Lund cite a distinct lack of progress in continued EU-UK negotiations, This week has not brought any signals that Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay have been able to get any concessions from the EU on the Irish Backstop. This seems to be a deal-breaker for both the majority of the ERG and the DUP.

Commentary from EU officials in the area has been overwhelmingly pessimistic, with one source close to the negotiations describing proposals made by Mr Cox as unintelligible.

Secondly, Nordea analysts expect that anti-EU elements are more likely to back a short and limited deferral of the UKs exit over the Prime Ministers deal  given an anticipated lack of legally-binding assurances over the temporary nature of the Irish backstop arrangements  with a short extension keeping no-deal technically on the table.

Finally, a lack of support from across the house is expected to limit the prpospects for the PMs deal. As Nordea analysts explain Labour MPs are necessary to pass the deal, but most sources indicate that possible rebels are not ready to risk their own career internally in the party, unless they see a clear chance of the deal passing through.

Overall therefore it seems unlikely the Prime Ministers deal will pass the March 12th test, with Nordea analysts predicting Mays deal to be rejected by a majority of around 40-70 MPs.

MPs Tipped to Reject No-Deal and Opt for Brexit Extension

Following the anticipated rejection of the Prime Ministers EU withdrawal agreement, MPs are widely expected to reject the March 13th no-deal vote and instead back the March 14th vote to delay the Brexit deadline.

Above: Brexit Roadmap & Scenario Probabilities (Nordea)

While speculation abounds on whether or not UK lawmakers will push for a Brexit delay, its worth noting that such a request from the UK government needs to see unanimous approval from EU member states in order to be approved. In this respect, Nordea analysts anticipate the EU will accept such a move, given the alternative no-deal by default scenario, is likely to negatively impact already flagging Eurozone economic activity.

Lund and Larsen wrote, We thereafter expect the new Brexit deadline to be in mid-June. This is based both on Mays words that an extension would be short and limited and the requirement of new British MEPs to assemble in the European Parliament by July 2 at latest, in case the UK is still a EU member.

Overall, Nordea analysts anticipate that such a delay will eventually yield a Brexit under a negotiated deal, A no-deal is not in the interest of the vast majority of the UK Parliament nor the EU, while a second referendum faces a lot of obstacles with the biggest one being Mays opinion that it would be a democratic betrayal although they added that at some point, something clearly has to give. We think it will be ideology, so pragmatism can win.

Euro-to-Pound (EURGBP) and Pound-to-Dollar (GBPUSD) Exchange Rate Forecasts

Should Nordea analysts base case scenario unfold, i.e., MPs reject the PMs deal and push for an extension, they anticipate the Pound Sterling Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate to gain 0.5-1% over the coming weeks while in the less likely event the PMs deal passes they  judge that both the GBP and the FTSE 100 would rally 3-4%.

While less bullish than median projections according to the latest Bloomberg survey of banks, Nordeas outlookbroadly aligned with the consensus both in terms of the most/least probable outcomes and the implications of the best and worst-case scenarios for the Pound Sterling.

Above: Median Brexit and GBP Reaction Bank Forecasts

UK Economic Growth Tipped to Rebound On Brexit Clarity

Highlighted by the latest PMI figures, Brexit-blight has clearly hampered UK economic growth leading to an expectation of meagre Q1 gross domestic product (GDP) growth of around 0-0.1% following a sluggish 0.2% for Q4 2018.

However, Nordea analysts anticipate a strong rebound for the UK economy should Brexit clarity emerge, however the Brexit hangover is expected to weigh on overall growth for 2019, Once there is clarity about Brexit, we expect an immediate jump in growth in Q3. Growth should also be supported by a looser fiscal policy (as announced in the recent budget) by roughly 0.3% of GDP. This will, however, probably not be enough to prevent GDP from staying below potential at around 1.0% y/y for 2019.

In terms of monetary policy, commentary from Bank of England (Boe) officials has indicated the central bank intends to stay on the side-lines until Brexit is resolved one way or another. Based on the assumption that a short Brexit extension yields a managed Brexit by mid-June, Nordea analysts expect the BoE to pursue a gradual tightening of monetary policy shortly thereafter.

Larsen and Lund wrote The MPC members are, however, wage hawks and would be in hiking mode if not for Brexit We have currently pencilled in a rate hike in August on the assumption that a deal is reached in mid-June, but the risk is clearly tilted towards a move later, with the BoE expected to await clear confirmation of a rebound in growth before committing to any adjustment in rates.
A company affiliated with local developer GrayStreet Partners this week filed a lawsuit challenging San Antonios tree preservation ordinance, but the action may be short-lived.

GrayStreet Stumberg filed suit in state district court in Bexar County Tuesday, six days after the company received an ordinance violation notice from the city. The company is accused of removing trees without a permit from property across from the Paul Elizondo Tower along Nueva between Main and Flores.

Attorney Kyle Dingman, who represents plaintiff GrayStreet Stumberg, said Wednesday a resolution may be near.

I cant make a comment about that because we dont want to interfere with getting it resolved, he said.

Deborah Klein, assistant city attorney, said in an emailed statement that city is working with the property developer toward an agreement that will allow the demolition to proceed in a safe manner while still assuring compliance with City codes.

The developer bought the 1.2-acre property and a cluster of buildings Sept. 20 from members of the Stumberg family, its longtime owners. The purchase price was not disclosed but the Bexar Appraisal District assessed the property at nearly $3.9 million last year.

GrayStreet was in the process of demolishing buildings on the property when it received the violation notice, which carries a $2,000 penalty, the suit says.

The citys Development Services Department also issued a stop work order that required GrayStreet to halt the demolition.

GrayStreet, in its lawsuit, says that no part of the demolition work led to the removal of any trees. Any tree removal was done before the demolition work, it adds.

GrayStreet, though, argues the city acted without any legal or statutory authority to stop the company from completing the demolition.

Nothing in the tree preservation ordinance, or any other law, authorized the Code Official defendants to stop otherwise valid work in order to force (GrayStreet to) pay the fine before conviction, the company says in its suit.

GrayStreet intends to seek a court judgment declaring the ordinance unenforceable.

GrayStreet says that by forbidding it from removing personal property and restricting what it can do with the real estate, the city took, damaged or applied to public use both types of property without compensation.

Because the San Antonio tree preservation ordinance contains no provision to compensate the tree owner, it is unenforceable, the suit says. In the alternative, GrayStreet says, it is entitled to money damages for its losses flowing from the taking, damaging or application of its property to public use.

The company seeks less than $1 million in damages.

In the meantime, if the suit is not settled, the two sides are scheduled to head to court Friday.

GrayStreet wants a judge to issue a temporary restraining order against the city so the demolition can proceed.

In addition, the company seeks an order that prevents the city from requiring the company to pay  pre-conviction  any civil or criminal penalty as a condition of performing any more work on the properties.

In the suit, GrayStreet says it was told by the city that it would have to pay a $2,000 penalty and a $300 tree permit application fee before the company could resume demolition.

GrayStreet calls that a violation of (its) right to due process before punishment.

Just what GrayStreet has planned for the property couldnt immediately be determined. A company official did not return a phone call and Dingman declined to comment.

A GrayStreet spokeswoman told the Express-News in September that the company was exploring options for the site, as well as a 1.7-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Nueva and Flores, across from City Hall, that it also acquired.

GrayStreet burst onto the downtown development scene in 2015 when it bought nine properties on Houston Street, including several historic building that it has since rehabilitated into office space.

Last month, the San Antonio Express-News reported that luxury boutique hotel chain W Hotels wants to open in a 20-story building being developed by GrayStreet at 1603 Broadway, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD
An elderly couple in San Antonio unknowingly wired more than $1 million to foreign scammers while trying to buy a house last year, federal law enforcement officials said Thursday.

The San Antonio couple was among more than 2 million victims aged 60 or older targeted by elder fraud schemes in 2018. More than 260 defendants were charged last year in what the Justice Department and Secret Service said was the nations largest sweep against fraudsters preying on the elderly.

The cases involved more than 2 million victims who were allegedly scammed out of more than $750 million.

This is a particularly despicable crime, and it's a massive and growing problem, Attorney General William Barr said at a news conference with other law enforcement officials. It's despicable because the people involved are vulnerable and because of their stage in life, they don't have the opportunity frequently to recover. And so these losses are devastating to them.

Related: Ex-pharmacy rep from San Antonio pleads guilty in $8.8 million fraud scheme

The San Antonio couple attempted in February 2018 to wire more than $1.3 million to a title company while buying a home here, officials said Thursday.

Unbeknownst to them, alleged foreign perpetrators had hacked the title company, created a fake email address and sent instructions to the couple that resulted in the funds being routed to another bank account, officials said.

Secret Service agents were able to seize the funds and return the entire amount to the San Antonio couple.

Secret Service officials declined to identify the couple, citing an ongoing investigation.

The Secret Services asset forfeiture unit in its San Antonio field office  which covers San Antonio and South Texas  has opened 66 investigations into allegations of financial fraud targeting elderly citizens, seized $3.2 million in assets from alleged perpetrators and returned 95 percent of the assets to victims.

Related: Ex-Retama Park operator loses appeal of securities fraud case

Perpetrators of elder fraud cases tend to originate in foreign countries in West Africa or Eastern Europe, San Antonio-based Secret Service officials said.

Instances of elder fraud often go unreported because the victims are ashamed to have been defrauded, especially when perpetrators pose as online romantic partners, said Paul Duran, special agent in charge in the agencys San Antonio office.

A lot of times, theyre embarrassed, Duran said of victims. They wont come forward until its too late.

Joshua Fechter is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering real estate, economic development and philanthropy. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFReports
More than 20 years after its founding, Rackspace is getting a new look and doubling down on its cloud business as more companies move to the technology.

Rackspace, based in Windcrest, rolled out its new branding Wednesday as it looks to find its footing in a fast-changing industry. Last week, the company cut nearly 200 jobs.

What's new about Rackspace is this hyper-focus on accelerating the value of the cloud, Chief Marketing Officer Mark Bunting said. Its making it simple, easy and painless for people.

The company unveiled a new logo with new colors: the r goes from red, an homage to Rackspaces origins as a hosting company, to blue. The color spectrum is intended to reflect the companys changing customer base, Bunting said. The company also changed its signature tagline from fanatical support to fanatical experience.

Rackspace was founded in 1998 and became a leader in cloud computing, which lets businesses access their data, storage and other materials online.

The company went public in 2008. But it struggled with competition from deep-pocketed heavyweights such as Amazon and Microsoft, and pivoted to offering services for those platforms.

Apollo Global Management took Rackspace private in 2016. Earlier that year, the publication TheStreet.com had dubbed the company The Worst Stock in the World.

Last year, however, Bloomberg News reported the private equity firm was looking at an initial public offering for the company.

On ExpressNews.com: Report: Rackspace may be going public again

While Rackspaces legacy businesses have slowed, Bunting said, its cloud work is expanding.

The company is working with more mid-size and large businesses than in the past, and many are taking a mixed approach, or a hybrid cloud strategy, he said. They might use the services of providers such as Amazon or Microsoft while also managing their own private data centers.

How you orchestrate all of those infrastructures  it's just a lot of complexity, Bunting said. We've had to go through our own transformation.

Rackspace sees an opportunity in offering unbiased professional services to help companies navigate these complications, especially with businesses becoming more concerned about costs associated with the cloud, he said.

Employees will advise clients on set-ups. Rackspace is not handcuffed to pushing a specific vendor, Bunting said.

In the past, the companys sales group handled clients day-to-day products and sold services from the professional services team. Rackspace since has realized that consulting has to be at the tip of the spear, Bunting said.

Last week, the company eliminated positions that impact about 3% of our total global workforce of more than 6,600 employees, Rackspace officials said in a statement Thursday.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonios Rackspace axing workers

Bunting said this week that Rackspace still is hiring and expanding, but must look at where the market and customers are headed. The company is committed to San Antonio, he added.

Our businesses are going through transformations, and we can't afford to be static, he said. We'll always have to re-balance and make investments in those areas that serve our customers.

madison.iszler@express-news.net
When an opening for an associate curator for the Latin American collection at the San Antonio Museum of Art popped up in Lucia Abramovichs recent job search, she immediately applied.

Its one of the best in the country, said Abramovich, who  spoiler alert!  got the position. And its very rare to have a complete collection that goes all the way to modern and contemporary art. Normally theyre split up. This is a really special collection, so I feel so lucky to get to be its custodian.

That feeling of good fortune is mutual.

The search committee, which is our senior management team and the curators, were so impressed by her, said museum director Katie Luber. Her background is fantastic, but we loved her spirit and her deep commitment to community engagement, which is such a rare thing in our world.

On ExpressNews.com: SAMA photo show features iconic images, artists

Abramovich, who is completing her Ph.D. at Tulane University in New Orleans, will begin her new job in June.

Its been a long road to finish my Ph.D., she said. Im so, so happy that this opportunity is waiting at the end of that road.

She brings with her experience gained at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of the American Indian and Harvard Universitys Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.

Abramovich, 32, was born in Argentina, emigrating to the United States with her family as a toddler. After her father returned to Argentina when she was 9, she spent the rest of her childhood traveling back and forth between the two countries. That experience helped fire her interest in Latin American art and culture.

Its really rooted in my identity, she said.

Her background will serve her well in her new post, said Marion Oettinger, the museums curator emeritus of Latin American art.

I think were fortunate to have someone who, first of all, is a Spanish speaker and whos been able to spend time and has lived off and on in different parts of Latin America, and someone whos had such a great formal education, Oettinger said. I think weve got a winner here.

Deborah Martin is an arts writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
When it comes to the key musical acts of 1969, you will rarely hear about Zager and Evans.

Mind you, this was a year that saw the Beatles limping along on the verge of collapse, Led Zeppelin emerging in the U.K., Sly & the Family Stone asserting their place in funk, The Who introducing us to Tommy and the enigmatic David Bowie preparing to take the worlds of music and fashion by storm.

Somehow, in the midst of all this, Nebraskans Denny Zager and Rick Evans managed to top the Billboard pop charts for six weeks during the summer of 1969 with their single In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus) and its profound chronophobia (the fear of the passage of time).

It was a busy 12 months to say the least, and a little song recorded down a dusty road in Odessa would help provide the soundtrack to one of the most momentous events of that year  or any year for that matter.

As NASA sent men to walk on the moon, the ramshackle folk-rock duo morosely looked ahead to the next centuries of mankinds technological evolution.

The sense of foreboding in the tune (In the year 2525, if man is still alive ) stood in stark contrast to The 5th Dimensions take on the hit from Hair, Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures), which had topped the charts just before Zager and Evans. The 5th Dimension, with their clean-cut looks and smiles, were the saccharine kings and queens of 1969.

Coming to Texas

The songs roots go back to 1964, but it didnt get laid down onto tape until four years later, during a recording session in West Texas.

After Dave Trupp, who played drums on the hit, died in late 2015, his former bandmate and bassist Mark Dalton told a Lincoln, Neb., outlet that he and Trupp were asked by Zager and Evans to record in Odessa in 1968. It was during those sessions that In the Year 2525 was finally recorded at Tommy Allsups studio down a dusty road on the citys northside.

Allsup, who died in 2017, had been sideman for Buddy Holly and Bob Wills, among many others. He famously lost a coin toss with Ritchie Valens for a seat on the plane that would crash, killing Valens, Holly and J.P. The Big Bopper Richardson.

It might have been one take. Wed rehearsed it a lot in Lincoln before we went down, Dalton said. The singing part of it took hours and hours to get the vocal harmonies right.

Allsup told an outlet in 2011 that students from nearby Permian High School were used to get the orchestral sound just right.

Pop premonitions

Reading back on the lyrics, mankind might actually be ahead of the schedule Denny and Rick plotted out.

Everything you think, do and say / Is in the pill you took today  Psychotropic drugs, anyone?

Your arms hangin limp at your sides / Your legs got nothin to do / Some machines doin that for you  Uber Eats, Favor, Amazon and other grocery apps mean that you dont need leave home.

You wont need no husband, wont need no wife / Youll pick your son, pick your daughter too / From the bottom of a long glass tube.  Genetic engineering is looking cuddlier by the day.

Later, 1,000 copies of the 45 rpm single were pressed and sold out of the trunks of band members cars. Those first 5,000 copies sold out. Soon after, major record labels came calling, looking for more from Zager and Evans. RCA Records signed them to a recording deal.

The song became a hit in the summer of 1969 but sadly the career path ahead of Zager and Evans would be a short one. A car accident involving Evans scuttled plans for the group to play Woodstock and appear on American Bandstand. That likely cemented them as one-hit wonders. It would have been a coup for any band to be included in the cultural tornado that was Woodstock.

A tour opening for Engelbert Humperdinck was probably not the best idea either.

The single soon stalled out on the charts but remained popular in the following decades on 60s compilation albums and one-hit wonder collections. For a brief period, though, those with chronophobia had an anthem.

By late August, the Rolling Stones would dethrone Zager and Evans at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart with Honky Tonk Women only to later be bested by The Archies and their syrupy Sugar, Sugar concoction. Bubblegum always wins.

We couldnt follow the song  that was why we were your classic one-hit wonders, Evans told People magazine in 1996 in a special issue profiling fellow one-hit wonders The Vapors, Al Stewart and Tiny Tim.

In 2010, during the sixth season of the animated comedy Futurama, with the characters Fry, Bender and Farnsworth experienced life in the year 252525 but their version of the future included rusty swords, deceptive mermen and despotic giraffes.

Welcome to the future.

Craig Hlavaty is a Houston-based writer.
Tech Sgt. Anthony Lizana, convicted of sexual assault and given three months confinement and another month of hard labor two years ago after a lengthy trial at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, was back in court this week  along with two of his accusers.

A judge here weighed evidence in a resentencing hearing on lesser charges after a military appeals court threw out the sexual assault conviction. The judge reduced Lizana to the rank of an Air Force recruit, Airman Basic, and handed him a bad conduct discharge.

Convicted of a number of charges in February 2017 steming from accusations involving eight women, three of whom said he sexually assaulted them, he could have been sent to prison for 37 years. Instead, Lizana got the 90 days and hard labor, plus a dishonorable discharge.

OnExpressNews.com: NCO who faced nearly 38 years in sexual misconduct case gets 4 months

Sexual assault victims advocates were outraged, condemning the three-month term as far too light.

A look at the Lizana case Tech Sgt. Anthony Lizana was convicted of two Article 92 specifications and one lesser included offense of a third Article 92 violation; one Article 120 specification for sexual assault; a number of Article 134 specifications for adultery and providing alcohol to minors; and one additional charge and specification for Article 128, Assault Consummated by a Battery. He was originally sentenced to three months' confinement, one month hard labor without confinement, reduction to the rank of airman first class, dishonorable discharge and ordered to forfeit $450 for one month. Lizana appealed to the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, which found there was insufficient evidence to convict him of aggravated sexual assault and threw out the charge. The appeals court remanded the case to the 502nd Air Base Wing for resentencing. A military judge Wednesday sentenced him to reduction to the Air Force's lowest rank, airman basic, and a bad conduct discharge. Source: U.S. Air Force See More Collapse

Lizana appealed. The Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals found there was insufficient evidence to sustain his aggravated sexual assault conviction and threw out the charge.

The court, called AFCCA, affirmed convictions for the lesser-included offense of abusive sexual contact as well as other charges, but sent the case back to Lackland for resentencing.

Lizanas new sentence came Wednesday, on the same day that U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, a former Air Force A-10 pilot, told a Senate panel she had been sexually assaulted by a superior officer but did not report it out of shame, confusion and her distrust that the Air Force would investigate or prosecute him.

On ExpressNews.com: Air Force tech sergeant could face decades of prison in sex cases

McSally said she stayed silent for many years, but later in my career, as the military grappled with the scandals, and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know I, too, was a survivor.

She said she was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled, and felt like the system was raping me all over again.

Her comments echo those of other assault victims who testified at Lackland after a scandal there erupted in 2011, centered on abusive training instructors.

The Air Force has said that 35 instructors were investigated for misconduct with 69 recruits and technical school students. The scandal led to a makeover of Air Force basic and technical training at Lackland and helped push Congress to rewrite military law, including a requirement that troops convicted of sexual assault receive a dishonorable discharge.

More than two dozen trials were held. Lizanas was among the last and saw multiple accusers testify, echoing some of the worst cases. Critics of Lizanas sentence complained that the few months he received was a bait and switch of sorts, given the potential maximum time in prison that he had faced before being ordered to jail on a Saturday night in 2017.

One of the eight women the Air Force considered victims in the case was a staff sergeant when Lizana held the same rank, but the others were younger enlistees  an issue that arose repeatedly in the Lackland scandal.

In most cases, older, higher-ranking men  often instructors  became involved with younger, lower-ranking women. Many of those relationships were considered consensual because no force was used, but they violated an Air Force instruction forbidding them.

On ExpressNews.com: Lackland NCO sentenced in sexual misconduct case

While one airman went to her first sergeant to discuss a problem with Lizana, the others remained silent about their encounters with him until approached by investigators. That, too, was a familiar pattern throughout the scandal.

Some may be wondering why I did not come forward immediately, one of Lizanas victims said in a written statement to the court for his resentencing. The reason is I was scared. He outranked me and had power over my life. I honestly, strongly thought I wouldn't be believed. That if I came forward, unwanted rumors would spread making things worse and that I would be stuck working under him even longer.

I suffer from issues whenever someone touches me even in small ways. such as hugs and holding hands, she wrote. This incident made me more anxious, more paranoid, gave me trust issues, bouts of isolation, panic attacks, gave me constant nightmares, and made me feel a deep sadness with no end in sight.

Lizana, who was 35 when originally sentenced, worked in a medical supply warehouse in the 59th Medical Logistics and Readiness Squadron at Wilford Hall Medical Center. His accusers testified he gave them shoulder massages and hugged and kissed them. Three of them said he sexually assaulted them.

Two women said they had affairs in 2004 with Lizana, and were initially unaware he was married and a father.

He's a terrible husband, his wife, Angela Lizana, told the jury. He's an amazing dad.

In a statement to the jury, Lizana recounted an upbringing by alcoholic parents, referred to an older brother who was in his 17th year in prison for murder, and his own time as a heavy drinker.

He asked for mercy.

The person I was 16 months ago, he said, is not the person who stands before you today.
Andreen McDonald had a frayed relationship with her husband, Andre, during some of their 10-year marriage, and the couple argued Feb. 28, the last day she was seen alive, one of her employees says.

Some of the disputes may have involved control of her business, Starlight Homes Assisted Living, which she started when she was 22, court records show.

Andre McDonald, 40, an Air Force Reserve major, is in jail in lieu of posting $2 million bail, charged with tampering with evidence.

Andreen, 29, was reported missing March 1, and Bexar County investigators fear shes dead. They say Andre has declined to cooperate while sheriffs deputies investigate her whereabouts.

Hundreds of volunteers have aided in searches for her on the far North Side.

Weng Flores, who manages one of three homes that are part of Andreen McDonalds assisted living business, told the San Antonio Express-News on Wednesday that the McDonalds relationship was on the rocks.

We knew Andreen was not happy with the relationship with the husband anymore, she said.

She heard Andre arguing with Andreen and glass breaking when the couple lived in a house that was partly used for the business in the Eden neighborhood on Northeast Side.

Police were called to the Eden home at least twice for family violence in 2017, records show. The specifics of the calls were not immediately known. At the time, the family lived on the second floor; assisted living clients lived on the first floor.

The couple, their young daughter and Andreens mother moved to a larger home the McDonalds bought in July 2017 in the Timberwood Park area on the far North Side. It was there that deputies found traces of blood on Friday and other evidence that makes them think Andreen is dead.

They also claim Andre tore up receipts  the reason for the tampering charge  for a shovel, ax, heavy duty garbage bags, gasoline cans and other items they believe he bought and was going to use to dispose of her body.

On ExpressNews.com: Missing businesswoman remembered by her friends

Flores has worked for Andreen since 2014 and began as a day worker at the Eden home.

Every day Im seeing them, so I can see when there are fights, Flores said.

Generally, the arguing went on upstairs in the home, and Flores said she never knew of it getting physical.

I encountered twice when police were involved and she would ask me not to let her husband enter the house, Flores said.

Once, police allowed Andre to enter the house to get some belongings and go elsewhere, she said.

Andreen also gave Flores a spare key to Andreens SUV because her husband hold her keys so she dont go anywhere, Flores said.

Andreen also twice gave Flores stacks of personal and business documents for safekeeping  to keep them away from Andre, Flores said.

She told me to keep them where she didnt know where they were until she needed them, said Flores, who put some of them in a storage shed.

Flores also said her husband, whos a chef at the main business office on Bryn Mawr Street, also witnessed the McDonalds arguing there.

Conflict of personalities

Flores said the pair had different personalities: Andreen was a driven businesswoman but bubbly and friendly and treated her staff as friends or family.

Andre didnt appear to want to be involved in the work of the business and seemed aloof or distant, treating the staff as nothing more than employees. Flores also said Andreen was a strong woman, and he knows Andreen is not the type of housewife he can control.

On ExpressNews.com: Husband arrested, charged with evidence tampering

In February 2017, Andre McDonald filed for divorce and cited in his petition discord or conflict of personalities.

Among the property to be fought over was the house in the Eden neighborhood. He also sought to restore his name on the records of Starlight Homes Assisted Living.

Petitioner should be added to all relevant bank accounts with the business, the divorce petition states.

But Andre withdrew the petition in May 2017, records show. The McDonalds bought the larger home on Solitude Cove in the gated subdivision The Summit at Canyon Springs in July of that year, Flores recalled.

Arguments continued periodically, though the McDonalds appeared happy at Andres 40th birthday party in mid-February. Most of the guests were members of his family, said Flores, who helped organize it with her husband, the chef.

Andre and Andreen, however, appeared not to talk to each other much, despite pictures that show them smiling and Andre kissing her, Flores said.

On Feb. 28, the day Andreen last was seen, Flores said she told Andreen she was sick, so Andreens mother, Hyacinth Maureen Smith, went to the Eden home to tend to the residents and stayed there overnight.

On Friday, Andreen did not show up for her usual 5 a.m. workout at Iron Tribe Fitness in Stone Oak. Neither she nor Andre was answering phone calls from staff members, Flores recalled.

Another staffer and a friend went to the Solitude Cove home Friday to check on Andreen and found no one there.

They entered through an unlocked back door and found the bed in the master bedroom in disarray. The smell of bleach was strong in a bathroom, and it appeared someone had cleaned up.

They also saw blood on a light switch, Flores recounted.

At some point, they picked up the McDonalds 7-year-old daughter at school and asked whether she knew what happened.

Flores said the girl told the staffer: Daddy hurt Mommy and that Andreen fell on the floor. Flores mimicked the sound the child reportedly made, indicating that Andreen was gasping for air.

The Express-News attempted to speak with the staffer and friend, but they either declined to comment or did not return phone calls.

Continued fighting

Flores said Smith had told her that her daughter and son-in-law had continued to fight after they moved into the Solitude Cove home.

She said they still have fights in the house, Flores said. They had been having arguments that day.

On Sunday, sheriffs deputies allowed Smith and the child, who had been staying at the Eden house, to return to the familys home.

Flores said she was told that before the child left, she had asked a friend of Andreens, Did you clean up the blood in the house?

Smith, who is caring for the child, declined to comment Wednesday.

Messages seeking comment were left with relatives of Andre McDonald, but the calls were not returned.

The Bexar County Sheriffs Office will resume the search for Andreen today. Volunteers will congregate with search-and-rescue coordinators between 8 and 9 a.m. at Eisenhower Park before heading to Camp Bullis.

Were still hoping shes still alive, Flores said. Even if shes hurt, that shes hanging on. Of course, thats everybodys hope.

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
The girlfriend of a man who was killed and his body stuffed in a barrel testified Wednesday that she called hospitals all over San Antonio looking for the man, and determined he was dead while talking to a medical examiner.

Baby Vasquez, 21, testified at the opening of the murder trial of Jesse Ray Castilla, 38. He is accused of killing Joseph Camarena, 26, on Nov. 17, 2017, after Camarena went to see Castilla about money.

Vasquez, who has a daughter with Camarena, said she saw Castilla with a gun the night of the killing when she went to Castillas home looking for her boyfriend.

OnExpressNews.com: Trial begins in killing of San Antonio man found stuffed in barrell in 2017

I was scared, she told the jury.

Vasquez said Castilla told her he had taken Camarena to a hospital because he could have been having a seizure. Castilla told her he was foaming at the mouth, and his eyes were rolling back, she testified, so she called hospitals around the city to find him.

She also went to a downtown hospital to find him, but could not.

I didnt know what else to do, Vasquez said.

She decided to call the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office to see if they had anyone resembling him there.

They kept asking me about tattoos, she said. So I already knew he was dead.

Camarena died from a gunshot wound.

San Antonio police initially received a call about a body around 9 p.m. Nov. 17, 2017. When they arrived near Morsund Boulevard and Loop 410, they found a barrel that contained Camarenas remains.

Authorities believe Castilla shot Camarena in the 300 block of Lovett Avenue on the Southwest Side. According to reports, the night Camarena died, he went to Castillas to collect money owed to him by the defendant.

An arrest affidavit indicated the night Camarena died, Castilla offered a bag of methamphetamine to a couple in exchange for dropping off the barrel at a river.

When the pair went to remove the barrel, it fell from a pickup and the top came off, exposing two feet, according to the document.

OnExpressNews.com: Court documents reveal details in case of body that was found in barrel in S.A.

Prosecutors Kristina Escalona and Stephanie Paulissen introduced into evidence photographs of the barrel that showed the mans feet, legs, and a closeup of Camarenas face, which prompted gasps and cries from family members in the gallery.

In the afternoon, the barrel that contained Camarenas body was brought into the courtroom and placed in front of the bench of Judge Jennifer Pena, who was presiding over her first murder trial as the judge of the 290th state District Court.

The barrel, which contained blood and bugs, was sealed and wrapped because of its odor, and courtroom officials felt it could be a biohazard. Two other barrels were brought into court to use for demonstrations to the jury.

Defense attorneys Suzanne Kramer and Sharon Thorn are representing Castilla.

If convicted, Castilla faces up to life in prison.
A measles case diagnosed in San Antonio last week originated with an adult foreign traveler who was visiting the area, state health officials said Wednesday.

The case marks the first confirmed instance of measles in Bexar County for more than a decade. The infected person was visiting Guadalupe County from the Philippines, where there is an active outbreak of the highly contagious virus, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

State officials do not believe the individual visited public areas in Guadalupe County while infectious. An investigation is ongoing and will include the persons movements in San Antonio as well, said Chris Van Deusen, spokesman for DSHS. According to University Health System, the diagnosis was made in one of its laboratories after the person was treated as an outpatient sometime last week.

Related: First measles case diagnosed in San Antonio

Until then, the San Antonio area had not officially identified a person with measles since 2007, when three people in the county were found to be infected, according to state data.

Although the person was diagnosed in San Antonio, infectious cases like measles are investigated based on where the person resides or is staying, as opposed to where they are treated. The case is being handled by DSHS Public Health Region 8, which encompasses 28 counties in South and Central Texas. Most of those counties, including Guadalupe, lack their own local health departments.

The latest patient brought the total number of measles cases diagnosed in Texas so far this year to 10, including another case recently confirmed in Jefferson County. The majority are in the Houston area, including four in Harris County and one each in Montgomery and Galveston counties. Cases have also been identified in Bell and Denton counties.

In the first three months of 2019, the state has already outpaced the total number of measles cases confirmed during the course of 2018, when it reported nine cases. There was one case in Texas in 2017.

On ExpressNews.com: Lack of vaccinations linked to measles outbreak

Unlike previous measles outbreaks, Van Deusen said the cases in Texas this year do not appear to be connected to anti-vaccination sentiment and appear unrelated to each other. Nonetheless, he said, the state is monitoring for outbreaks that begin to perpetuate themselves.

Where we get the most concern where if we see some sort of sustained transmission within Texas. You see multiple generations being infected within the state, Van Deusen said. It spreads very easily in a community. Its just a reminder for people to protect themselves, and the simplest way to do that is the measles vaccine.

A diagnosis of measles in the San Antonio area comes as 11 states, including Texas, grapple with outbreaks or isolated reports of the virus, which can be prevented by the two-dose MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella. The vaccine is about 97 percent effective if both doses are administered and 93 percent effective after the first dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A small percentage of people who get the measles vaccine still are not protected, said Cherise Rohr-Allegrini, San Antonio program director for the Immunization Partnership, a Houston-based nonprofit that seeks to eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases across the state. The vaccine does not work for some people, she said, leaving them vulnerable to the disease.

Such individuals, as well as unvaccinated people, those who cannot get the vaccine for medical reasons and children under the age of 1, are all susceptible to measles. Infants, who cannot receive the first dose until they are 12 to 15 months old, are more likely to suffer serious and sometimes fatal complications.

Rohr-Allegrini said it was a matter of time before a major metropolitan area like San Antonio saw a confirmed case of measles, considering its presence in other areas of the state this year.

While the public may not consider one case on its own that big a deal, she said, its a huge deal for a disease that should have been eradicated by now, because we have such an effective vaccine.

Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba
Less than a week after the departure of its longtime city manager, San Antonio could lose another top executive soon to a nearby Texas community.

Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb named Deputy City Manager Peter Zanoni as one of six finalists to become its city manager during a special session Wednesday.

The ultimate goal in our business is to become a city manager, Zanoni told the Express-News, adding he had not been notified of the decision. Corpus provides a good opportunity to advance my career.

OnExpressNews.com: Mexican Consulate in San Antonio losing its top official

The city has been using a private consultant to conduct the search, keeping it out of public eye until Wednesday. McComb said he would reveal the names because of that criticism.

We got the list as result of the articles and news reports demanding that we release all of the information, McComb said. One candidate did in fact withdraw because their job would have been in jeopardy under the circumstances where they are, so well honor that. So that person is not a candidate any more.

The announcement comes roughly one week after Sheryl Sculley officially stepped down as San Antonios city manager, capping a 13-year tenure in which she is credited with stabilizing city finances and stewarding the citys three largest bond programs in history.

Zanoni, long one of Sculleys top two deputies, was among eight finalists for the San Antonio job. That position ultimately went to her other top deputy, Erik Walsh, who assumed office March 1. Zanoni said he applied for the Corpus Christi job at around the same time San Antonio was going through its process.

I didnt apply (in Corpus) because I didnt get the job here, he said. If I dont get the job down there, then Im still looking forward to working here.

Zanoni said he told Sculley and Walsh that he was applying for the job and they were supportive. Walsh confirmed that Wednesday night.

Hes a huge member of our team; certainly, I think it would be a loss to our organization, Walsh said. But at the same time, its a professional opportunity for him.

City managers oversee the day-to-day operations of municipal government. In San Antonio, Walsh oversees a budget of $2.8 billion and a staff of 13,000 employees, working to implement the policies of the mayor and City Council.

OnExpressNews.com: San Antonio firefighters union, city negotiators tangle over health care trusts

Zanoni has been deputy city manager for more than six years and has worked in San Antonios government for nearly two decades. He currently oversees the citys $850-million, 2017-2022 bond program and several departments, including Pre-K 4 SA, transportation and capital improvements, neighborhood and housing services, and planning departments. He oversaw the citys budget for nine years.

I think it would be a good opportunity to use the talents I have, especially the ones I have learned here, Zanoni said.

According to Zanoni, the recruiter said the Corpus Christi council will likely proceed quickly.

Former City Manager Margie Rose resigned in May, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Keith Selman, also a finalist, has been interim city manager since then.
After months of wrangling about what to do with the deteriorating Beacon Hill Elementary School building, the City Council unanimously approved a deal Thursday that allows San Antonio Independent School District to raze the structure if it implements a preservation curriculum for students.

The deal marked the end of an escalating showdown between the city and SAISD, which has long wanted to demolish the building. The tension from that standoff bubbled up in council chambers before the vote was approved to cheers from parents.

Last November, the citys Historic and Design Review Commission recommended a historic landmark designation for the West Ashby Place building, which was constructed in 1915 and designed by prominent local architect Leo M.J. Dielmann. But SAISD said the crumbling structure endangered students and would cost millions of dollars to restore. The district also argued that the next-door Beacon Hill Academy needed more outside space.

On ExpressNews.com: HDRC recommends historic designation for Beacon Hill Elementary

On Thursday, SAISD got its wish. In exchange for a demolition permit, the district will pay for and complete a visual documentation of the old school and inventory its buildings to identify historic resources. It will also design and implement a preservation curriculum for students at several schools.

The deal was struck by Councilman Roberto Trevino, an architect who had supported restoring the building; SAISD; and the Office of Historic Preservation.

Everyone on this issue has stood their ground for whatever it is they felt they needed to protect, said Patti Radle, president of the SAISD board of trustees. Im very, very grateful for everyone who was involved in this process.

On ExpressNews.com: City Council to mull deal that would allow Beacon Hill school demolition

While the vote was unanimous, the sentiment among the council was not.

Councilman Manny Pelaez had harsh words for the district, declaring that he does not believe its argument that the deteriorating structure posed a danger to children. He accused SAISD Superintendent Pedro Martinez of peddling exaggerations and hyperbole and called it intellectually dishonest, arguing that the district never should have let the building fall into disrepair.

Please dont come back with another story about a building that needs to be saved because you didnt do anything about it, Pelaez said.

Martinez was not at the hearing. Radle said Pelaez has a right to his opinion but that she hopes they can build a more trusting relationship in the future.

Councilman Greg Brockhouse said the comments disturbed him, and he encouraged the district and its parents to use every tool in their arsenal in the future.

Dont ever think you cant come here in the (muck) of politics, trying to get things done, he said.

On ExpressNews.com: Showdown over San Antonios Beacon Hill Elementary coming

For several council members, the required curriculum was a source of trepidation. Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales said she thought it was an unnecessary added layer that set a bad precedent for the city dictating curricular decisions.

Councilman Clayton Perry argued that the city was essentially threatening SAISD by forcing it to implement a curriculum. Perry unsuccessfully tried to amend the deal so the city would simply deny the historic designation without the compromise.

Radle said she appreciated that sentiment but that she thought the curriculum presented a good educational opportunity.

Dylan McGuiness covers San Antonio city government and politics. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dylan.mcguinness@express-news.net | Twitter: @DylMcGuinness
The spike in illegal immigration reported this week is, at least in part, the result of keeping asylum seekers at bay in Mexican border cities in what critics argue is an unexamined Trump administration policy that didnt go through the normal administrative hoops.

Its also not working, though some asylum seekers apparently have decided to turn back, while others have opted to stay in Mexico.

Statistics released Tuesday on illegal crossings in February, called all-time highs, didnt surprise humanitarian aid leaders like Antonio Fernandez, CEO and president of Catholic Charities of San Antonio.

OnExpressNews.com: 'Arbol' public art project will coax visitors to Mission Espada

They expected a surge since a new test protocol was established at some port of entry to make asylum seekers wait in Mexico for up to 45 days. We knew it was going to backfire, Fernandez said.

While CBP officials characterized the border as at a breaking point, the reality is illegal immigration is still down overall. It has been low for a long time in comparison with 2000, when a high of 1.6 million illegal entrants were apprehended. Last year, it was 396,600.

Februarys record of 76,103 apprehensions was the highest total since 2007 for the shortest month of the year; and it occurred the same month President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the border. In 2000, monthly crossings hit 200,000.

What is striking is the number of Central American families being apprehended, fathers or mothers with children and infants. Their numbers reached a record level for the fourth time in five months, amounting to about 43,000 families and children in February.

In the El Paso and Big Bend sectors alone, families increased by 266 percent from July to December of last year, according to news reports.

The administrations border policies have been aggressive. Some would argue theyre just as draconian as those under President Barack Obama, famously dubbed deporter in chief. Obamas aim was to get Republicans to the table to discuss comprehensive immigration reform, which never happened.

OnExpressNews.com: After more than 30 years in prison, Ramsey Muniz remains an enigma

Trumps end game, on the other hand, has been a border wall. He declared a national emergency to tap defense funds and circumvent Congress, which had refused the money hed requested for the wall. The U.S. House passed a resolution opposing the emergency declaration as unconstitutional, and it may get similar treatment in the Senate next week. At least sixteen states and various civil rights groups have sued to block the declaration.

Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a bipartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., calls the latest figures significant but far below those of 12 years ago.

Heres the other reality: Asylum seekers are legally asserting their rights under long-established U.S. and international law. Selee said some would argue theyre illegally being held at bay in Mexico, whose border cities pose security concerns for them. Selee says the federal law is so badly written, its hard to tell.

For Central American families seeking asylum, getting to the United States under the administrations new metered system, the journey will be excruciating slow.

In Brownsville, only 10 asylum applicants are allowed in each day; two daily in Laredo; and a couple of dozen in El Paso. Then theyll face backlogged immigration courts that have received little relief and were set back farther by the recent federal government shutdown.

The administration will have to adjust quickly as medical and humanitarian needs mount on the border. Selee believes the Trump administration should adjust the asylum system to allow for more adjudication of cases.

Mexico could be helpful, too, Selee said. It wants a labor mobility program, in which it can issue Central Americans temporary visas allowing them to work in Mexico and then return to their countries. Longer term, Mexico can work on its own asylum system, he said.

Next week Fernandez of Catholic Charities will lead a contingent of San Antonio volunteers to take aid to its sister agency in Laredo. Theyll help out simply because migrants havent been deterred by everything the administration has put before them  harsh processing facilities that are ice cold; detention centers that are akin to prisons; family separations.

As cold as it is now, the summer will be worse as migrants get more desperate, humanitarian aid workers more strained, border agents more frustrated while lawsuits mount as protesters take to the streets.
As a husband and a father of three, watching my family face the trials of rapidly expanding technology while trying to ensure the safety of our children is difficult and alarming. As a lawmaker, protecting and maintaining the privacy of Texans is essential to the safety of our community.

Therefore, it is vital for the Texas Legislature to address the challenges of internet privacy as they arise, especially when it comes to sexual material of people who have not consented to its creation or use.

In 2015, we passed Senate Bill 1317, which addressed invasive visual recording of nonconsenting parties. By explicitly creating a statute to label and clarify the parameters of invasive visual recording, we made it easier for the courts to address and prosecute those who violate the privacy of any individual.

While typically these issues may seem limited to adults, children are also potential targets for nonconsensual visual recording. The handling of such graphic and invasive material now has a clear, more appropriate procedure to protect families and victims from such life-altering crimes.

The remaining cracks in our statutes have made me more determined to protect the rights of Texans. More recently, the 12th District Court of Appeals filed an ex parte opinion regarding the issues of legislating exposure of intimate material and the unintentional consequences created by SB 1135 in 2015 with the First Amendment. The bill served to address revenge porn and to preserve relationship privacy between individuals in cases where intimate images are disclosed by a former spouse or partner who is seeking revenge.

These images cause irreversible harm as they often contain identifying information about the victims, such as name, contact information and links to their social media profiles. Victims have been threatened with sexual assault, fired from jobs and forced to change schools, and some have committed suicide.

While the intentions of the bill succeeded in limiting the exposure of nonconsensual, intimate images, the Texas 12th District Court of Appeals found the language too broad. The court made the determination that third parties who were not aware of the nonconsensual nature of the images or video recordings were included in the liable parties. I filed SB 97 in November to correct this issue and create parameters for the offending party.

This legislation is imperative to prosecute those responsible for such abhorrent behavior, and it ensures that victims who are unwitting participants are given appropriate legal recourse.

Please join me in the pursuit to better address the privacy and safety of our community.

Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, represents Texas Senate District 26.
I am excited that Texans are demanding meaningful pay raises for teachers. Teachers deserve to earn pay commensurate with the all-encompassing work they do.

I do feel, however, that Texas retired teachers are being overlooked. I spent over 30 years serving the students of Texas, and I loved it! When I retired in 1994, I expected to receive a livable retirement. I have not. I have not ever received a cost-of-living raise. I did receive a one-time limited extra check.

Starting in 2018, my insurance payment doubled. My deductible doubled. Our new pharmacy provider refused to cover an auto-immune medication I must take. The uninsured price of the drug is $700 per month. Before the change, I paid $5 a month for the same drug. I researched GoodRx and now pay $50 per month.

Texans, please do not exclude retired teachers, most of whom worked two jobs throughout their careers to make ends meet. We are depending on you to act on our behalf. Contact your state representative to demand retirement pay with cost-of-living increases for us. Thank you.

Ellen Carter Braun

Lagging in rail

Re: Conspicuous lack of rail in S.A., Another View, Friday:

For too many years, San Antonio and Bexar County residents and their political leaders have been pummeled with distortions and misinformation about both light rail and commuter rail.

The result is that we are decades behind where we should be when it comes to developing regionwide passenger rail systems. Future travel in this area will be much more difficult and massively expensive to correct when it becomes obvious to everyone that well-thought-out rail systems are essential and must be built.

The excellent commentary by professor Bill Barker, a professional transportation engineer and urban planner, should be the first of a series of accurate articles by him and other urban planners to counter the distortions, which have been presented repeatedly by a few who apparently do not have the communitys best interest at heart, but have their own reasons for blocking rail development.

John W. Worsham, Ph.D.

Rail alternative

Re: Conspicuous lack of rail in S.A., Another View, Friday:

Forget light rail; visualize wider streets and highways.

Larry Peabody

Queso Picoso

Re: the recipe for Puro San Antonio Spicy Pimento Cheese, Taste, Sunday:

I loved Features and Food Editor Emily Spicers San Antonio version of the beloved pimento cheese, which, by the way, contains no pimentos. They are replaced with cilantro, chipotle chile and red jalapenos. Therefore, I think her version should be called, Puro San Antonio Queso Picoso instead of Puro San Antonio Spicy Pimento Cheese.

I think its great and worthy enough to have an identity of its own.

Jose C. Rodriguez Jr.
Belgrade was the eleventh busiest unserved route from Shanghai and the seventh busiest European market currently without flights to China's second largest city. According to the airline network and analysis portal "Anna Aero", some 35.390 passengers flew indirectly between Shanghai's Pudong Airport and Belgrade during the scrutinised period, from October 2017 until September 2018. Overall, Dusseldorf was the busiest unserved route from the Chinese city, followed by Manchester, Cairo, Penang, Sao Paulo, Venice, Athens, Hamburg, Berlin and Johannesburg. Behind the Serbian capital were the likes of Stuttgart, Santiago, Las Vegas and Casablanca. Despite efforts by the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade to lobby for the introduction of flights between Belgrade and Shanghai, the long haul service was never launched.





According to Sabre Airline Solutions, most of the traffic flow between China and Serbia over the past few years has originated from Shanghai. This is in part because the largest portion of Chinese nationals residing in Serbia have their origins in two provinces south of the Shanghai region. The majority of passengers on this route are currently handled by Aeroflot via Moscow, as well as Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways through their respective hubs. During 2018, a total of 102.351 Chinese nationals visited Serbia, representing an increase of 98% on the year before. Numbers are projected to further grow in 2019, with January figures rising 19%.





Air Serbia has shown interest in launching operations to China. The Serbian carrier previously said, "China is not only important to the continued expansion of Air Serbia, but is also important to the development of Serbia and the Balkan region. We will reintroduce Belgrade as an affordable and convenient gateway to Europe, and build greater awareness of Air Serbia as the airline of choice to the Balkan Peninsula and Southeastern Europe for Chinese travellers". Hainan Airlines, which maintained flights from Beijing to Belgrade via Prague suspended the service last November after a little over a year of operations. In late 2016, China Eastern Airlines, which boasts a hub in Shanghai, held talks with the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and the Serbian government over potential services to Belgrade, alongside Air China and Hainan Airlines.





Among Asia's top ten airports, which include Beijing, Tokyo Haneda, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jakarta, Guangzhou, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok and Delhi, no city from the former Yugoslavia made it into the top fifteen busiest unserved routes, with exception to the abovementioned Shanghai - Belgrade line.
STAMFORD  Cable-and-internet giant Charter Communications has received another extension, until May 3, for submitting a state-mandated plan to leave New York state as it works toward a settlement with regulators that could allow it to keep operating there.

The Stamford-based firm was ordered to file a proposal to exit the state within six months, after a July 2018 decision by the New York Public Service Commission to revoke its approval of Charters 2016 merger agreement with Time Warner Cable. The PSC has accused Charter of failing to meet its service obligations to customers and making misleading statements about its offerings, but it has since granted several requests by the company to push back the filing date.

The February extension order had anticipated that Charter and the (public service) department would continue to work toward a term sheet and a full written agreement, Charter said Tuesday, in its latest application for an extended deadline. Additional time will allow the parties an opportunity to fully review the information exchanged, as well as to convert the term sheet into a fuller written agreement.

Charter  which markets it services under the Spectrum brand name  became New York states largest internet service provider after its $55 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable.

It does not surprise me that Charter is trying to remain active in New York state, said David Souder, associate dean of graduate programs in the University of Connecticuts business school. Although cable TV subscriptions are declining nationwide, providing internet service remains an important service with strong profit potential. Charter already has the infrastructure in place, and it makes sense to keep it in use.

But the company has grappled with controversies in the state since it completed the TWC takeover.

Separate from the Public Service Commission case, Charter agreed last December to pay about $174 million to settle a lawsuit from the states attorney general that accused it of failing to deliver the fast and reliable connections it had promised.

Among its allegations, the lawsuit said Charter leased deficient modems and wireless routers and aggressively marketed, and charged more for, headline download speeds, while failing to maintain enough network capacity to consistently deliver them.

Charters direct restitution of $62.5 million, for more than 700,000 active subscribers, equaled rebates of $75 to $150 for each customer.

In addition, Charter agreed to provide free streaming services to its New York internet subscribers. All customers receiving internet and cable from the company could choose between three free months of HBO or six free months of Showtime.

During the past two years, the company has also grappled with a strike of several hundred New York technicians.

Nationwide, Charter now serves 26.2 million residences and 1.8 million small and medium-size businesses. In the past quarter, its total customer base grew about 3 percent from a year ago.

In Stamford, the company is building a new headquarters at 406 Washington Blvd. The company is now based a few blocks away at 400 Atlantic St.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott
Contributed Photo / Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo

COLCHESTER  Connecticut State Police are hoping the public can help them solve a homicide from last May.

In a post on social media Wednesday, state police said detectives from the Eastern District Major Crime Squad have been working on the homicide and are hoping for additional help from the public.
GREENWICH  One certain sign of spring is when the fish begin swimming upstream to spawn, a natural phenomenon that can be observed at the Mianus Pond Fishway.

And now, the town of Greenwichs Conservation Commission is looking for more volunteers to help monitor the progress of fish at the fishway. A workshop/informational meeting will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. March 13 in the Town Halls Gisborne Room on the third floor.

All interested residents are invited to attend the meeting. Participants will learn about the history of the fishway, the fish that use it, how it is operated, and the duties volunteers are expected to perform. No prior knowledge of fish passage is needed to attend.

Local residents, fishing groups, watershed associations, and town employees are encouraged to attend.

The fish ladder observations are done from April until June as volunteers monitor the fishway, which is in Cos Cob along East Putnam Avenue near the David N. Theis Memorial Bridge leading into Riverside. Access is available through the River House Adult Day Center parking lot at 125 River Road Extension.

Avid fishermen know that open season for alewives and blueback herring begins in April, and by mid-March, thousands of alewives will be going up the fish ladder daily to get over the dam.

The fish go up the dam in order to head to freshwater to breed. Constructed in 1993, the fishway allows diadromous fish such as alewives and blueback herring  better known as river herring  to gain access to important spawning and nursery habitat in the Mianus River.

The meeting is free, but preregistration is required to have enough handouts.

To register or for more information, contact Sarah Coccaro, conservation resource manager, at 203-622-6461 or sarah.coccaro@greenwichct.org
FAIRFIELD  For a number of police officers in Fairfield, a routine traffic stop can become an unexpected language barrier.

Such was the case for Sgt. Mike Paris of the Fairfield police in February.

Its tough. I use whatever Spanish I know from school or use translating applications, Paris said. Sometimes its hard to communicate. Also when people are not cooperative, we try to do everything we can.

Though it may not be a common occurrence, police in town are bound to come across a situation that involves a non-English speaker, and knowing additional languages can be an immense aid.

Fewer than 15 officers out of the 105-strong Fairfield force speak another language, according to Capt. Robert Kalamaras.

Those who can speak other languages like Spanish, French and Italian have what Kalamaras describes as another tool at their disposal.

It has yet to be a problem, Kalamaras said of the language barrier. At times we have someone who speaks Mandarin and we use translating apps in those cases.

Officer Gregory Carroll, from previous work, picked up Spanish from his coworkers and can get by, though he recognized the speaking part is the most difficult.

Inevitably, there are also situations where there is a more pressing need for an officer that can translate and interpret other languages. That leads Fairfield police to seek help from other departments like Norwalk and Bridgeport.

In times where we have victims of crime and a translator is necessary to elicit information, we use mutual aid from a department that has a higher second-language speaking population, Kalamaras said.

While there is no explicit requirement or law that says police departments must hire a certain amount of multilingual officers, these types of officers are invaluable assets according to Police Chiefs Connecticut Association President James Cetran.

When were hiring somebody, if I have a choice between hiring somebody who knows another language and one who doesnt, Ill choose the first officer because itll be beneficial to us in the future, Cetran said.

Across Fairfield County, police departments vary on how they consider or approach a possible language barrier.

Darien and Norwalk police departments, for example, have contracts that financially incentivize officers to validate their language skills.

A Norwalk police officer can get a $600 stipend a year if they are fluent in another language. There is no double dipping  a hyperpolyglot would still only get $600 a year.

According to Lt. Terry Blake of Norwalk, 36 out of the 179 sworn officers receive the yearly stipend. The most common second language among the Norwalk force is Spanish  spoken by 22 officers  followed by Greek, French, Italian and others.

Officers have to pass a fluency test conducted by a third-party agency, Blake said. The stipend was negotiated and is part of our collective bargaining agreement.

Darien cops also have their language skills tested through a third party in order to qualify for a stipend.

As far as helping, with the always-increasing number of people for whom English is a second or non-language, having officers that can communicate effectively is a necessity, Detective James Palmieri of Darien added.

New Canaan and Greenwich police, like Fairfield, currently dont provide stipends in their contracts for officers who speak additional languages.

When dealing with individuals that dont speak English, we would utilize our own officers first if available to translate, Lt. Jason Ferraro of New Canaan said.

When no officer is immediately available, New Canaan police use Voiance, a translation service where an interpreter can be reached via phone or other types of communication.

Police departments can also rely on other forces officers for help with language issues, something officers call mutual aid.

Cetran, who has been police chief of Wethersfield for 16 years, said one of their officers, Peter McGee, is in high demand due to the fact that he knows sign language.

Its invaluable and we kind of share resources, Cetran said.

humberto.juarez@hearstmediact.com
WESTPORT  The story of the Charles Chapman House, an antique colonial farmhouse at 39 Cross Highway, is woven into the fabric of the story of Westport and this nation.

In the early history of the town, the Chapmans were a prominent family of farmers, many of whom took up arms against the British in the Revolutionary War.

The earliest section of the house, which features wide-planked floorboards with hand-wrought floor nails, dates back to the mid-18th century. It was built by Phineas Chapman, son of the Rev. Daniel Chapman, the first pastor of the Greens Farms Congregational Church, according to the book The Chapman Family: Or The Descendants of Robert Chapman, published in 1854.

Phineas Chapman, who distinguished himself during the French and Indian War, was a captain in the Revolutionary War, and was taken prisoner at his own house, while loading up his effects in his ox-cart to flee with his family from the enemy, the book says. Phineas survived the incarceration in a New York sugar house but his health was irreparably impaired by the experience and he died five years later in 1782.

The current owner of this historic house, which may at one time have also served as an inn, has extensively researched the Chapmans and this structure.

I feel as though I know the Chapmans whose lives unfolded in the house for four generations, said owner, Deborah Howland-Murray. At the corner of Cross Highway and Weston Road there stands a large boulder with a plaque in loving memory of Laura E.A. Chapman, founder of the Neighborhood Nature Club in 1930.

Not only did British troops trample across the Chapman property on Cross Highway near the intersection of Compo Road South, but George Washington frequently passed by as he traveled back and forth from Boston.

A rumor, passed through the Chapman generations, held that George Washington had personally honored the family by spending the night at their house during a visit to Westport, according to Howland-Murray.

Whether that rumor is true will not be revealed here. Rather, lovers of local history, advocates of preserving vintage houses, and prospective buyers of this house have an opportunity to learn about Washingtons connection and other detailed history of this house at an upcoming special presentation.

On March 30, the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation will sponsor two House Talk presentations between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The event is open to the public.

ABOUT THIS HOUSE STYLE: Antique Colonial ADDRESS: 39 Cross Highway PRICE: $995,000 ROOMS: 11 FEATURES: 1.02-acre largely level and gently sloping property, Gunite in-ground swimming pool with solar cover, easy access to the Merritt Parkway, minutes to downtown Westport, exterior lighting, red brick patio, wrap-around covered porch, cable - available, open floor plan, front and rear staircases, dry bar, two fireplaces, wood stove, tank-less hot water, storm doors and windows, natural gas heat, walk-up attic, attic fan, full partially finished walk-out basement, shed, stone wall, attached two-car garage, four bedrooms, two full and two half baths SCHOOLS: Coleytown Elementary, Coleytown Middle, Staples High School ASSESSMENT: $884,100 MILL RATE: 16.86 mills TAXES: $14,906 See More Collapse

According to the Historic Resources Inventory on the towns website, this house is a bracketed Italianate in style, and the date of construction is listed as 1855. Other documents claim that part of the original house burned around 1878 and was rebuilt in 1880.

The house today maintains its historic charm while it has also enjoyed some modernization and an expansion in 2007 to its current 3,876 square feet of living space. Howland-Murray, a professional portrait artist, also added an artist studio and a laundry room that same year.

Despite its vintage, this house features high ceilings, large windows, generously proportioned rooms, and an open flow from room to room. It also features a flexible floor plan. Howland-Murray said it is a comfortable house for entertaining, which extends to the backyard where there is a Gunite in-ground swimming pool with solar cover and a red brick patio.

The taupe-colored house is set back from the road atop a knoll on a property of just over one acre and features a large, welcoming wrap-around porch. The front and back parlors have pocket doors.

The front-to-back formal living and dining room leads to the cozy, yet spacious family room, which has a fireplace. The family room opens to the updated cooks kitchen, which features custom cabinets, a copper farm sink, large center island, a large open pantry, and breakfast area. Stairs lead to the open studio loft.

Front and rear staircases leads to the second floor, which has four bedrooms plus a nursery or sitting room, which could serve as an office. The master bedroom suite has a cathedral ceiling, wood-burning stove, walk-in closet and a bath with a copper claw-foot tub.

The unfinished lower level offers the potential to expand the living space further.

The home has been dearly loved and has withstood the test of time, and awaits your personal touches to bring out its full potential, according to Howland-Murray, who adds that living in a historic home makes history really come alive.

There will be a public open house on March 10, 1 to 4 p.m., weather permitting. If the weather does not cooperate look for another open house in the near future.

For more information or to set up an appointment to see the house contact Sandy Ruta and Marina Leo of Higgins Group Bedford Square at 203-291-7675 or rutaleo@higginsgroup.com.
There is not enough analysis data for Ener-Core.

4.5 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Ener-Core has received 70 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Ener-Core has received 34 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Ener-Core has received 67.31% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Ener-Core and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe ENCR will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe ENCR will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

Next
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. High 48F. Winds WSW at 25 to 35 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Gusty winds during the evening. Low near 20F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
by Geordi Gustafson | Knicks Correspondent | Wed, Mar 6th 11:35pm EST

Derrick Rose finished with 8 points on 4-of-9 shooting (0-of-1 from deep), and grabbed two assists and one rebound while logging 19 minutes in Minnesota's 114-131 loss to Detroit on Wednesday.
During most of the 19th-century industrial revolution in this country, the laboring men who made the revolution possible were more or less throw away items  like a file or a piece of sandpaper.

They were used by the factory or mine owner, who grew wealthy from their labor, then when too old, worn out, or crippled to work any longer were terminated from the payroll and left to live as best they could with no income.

The first nongovernment pension plan in the United States was created by the American Express Co. in 1875, and by 1910, 20 or more large corporations had pension plans in operation and others were contemplating introduction.

International Harvester

One of these companies was the mighty International Harvester Corporation (IHC) who had established a pension system Sept. 1, 1908.

Cyrus McCormick Jr. wrote in his memoirs, Many employers have come to realize that they owe more than wages and that their employees are entitled to compensation when disabled, and to provision for old age. McCormick referred to this largesse on the part of IHC as Welfare work, so-called, and writes that Good welfare work, like good business, pays.

In the October 1909 issue of Harvester World, the first years results of the new pension plan were discussed. This company inaugurated a pension system on Sept. 1, 1908, and already 41 employees have retired on pensions.

At the time the pensions were granted, the average age of the pensioners was 68. The average term of service was 30 years and six months, and the average pension granted was $243 a year. William Whitty, of Springfield, Ohio, has the distinction of being the oldest pensioner at 78 years and four months and with more than 46 years of active service.

George Reynolds, also of Springfield, has served the company and its predecessors for over 50 years and was 75 years and 10 months at the time his pension was granted.

The combined length of service of these 41 faithful employees was 1,251 years, and it would require the combined labor of an army of 375,515 men for one full working day to accomplish the work done by the 41 pensioners during their term of service.

It is the desire of the officials that each employee should feel that after he has worked long and faithfully he will not be forgotten in his old age when physical infirmities make it impossible for him to compete with younger and more energetic men.

It seems that IHC may have provided compensation under the plan for on-duty accident or death, but not if these occurred off-duty or from illness.

Benefits

Therefore, also in 1908, the company established what was known as an Employees Benefit Association. This was a voluntary mutual aid organization in each of the firms different factories which an employee could join and contribute a small portion of his pay to the common good.

IHC bore the administrative costs and to each unit where membership exceeded 50 percent, donated $25,000, or $50,000 if more than 75 percent.

Each benefit association unit was overseen by elected representatives of the employees themselves, as well as from management.

The 1909 Harvester World magazine tells us that at that point nearly 20,000 employees have become members. Approximately 75 percent of the works have joined and 71 percent of the office forces.

The Weber Wagon Works led in membership with 96.9 percent; Deering Works boasted 93.2 percent while the Milwaukee Works had 81.8 percent.

The article said, All works lower than this (Milwaukee) should start in and hustle for new members.

I find it interesting that the former McCormick factories were reluctant to join the association  a lack of trust in management, I wonder?

This was not much more than 20 years after a bitter strike at the McCormick Works during which several workers were killed.

Anyway, the article gives some figures for the benefits paid by the association during September 1909.

A 51-year-old engineer at the Champion Works died in an accident and his heirs were paid two years wage. A heater at the same works died of illness and got one years wages, while a pensioner, 75, died and was awarded $530. (A note after this entry states, Member contributed for death benefit only.)

A 29-year-old trackman at the mines died in an accident and his wife got two years wages, while a foreman, 30, and a shaper, 39, at other factories died of illness and qualified for one years wages.

A 31-year-old at McCormick Works lost an eye and was awarded one-half of a years wages. Its not clear whether or not some of the reported accidents may have occurred on the job, as a remark at the end of the report states, Amounts shown for accident benefits include accidents occurring outside of factories or off duty.

So although the benefits werent much, International Harvester deserves credit for being one of the earliest companies in the United States to provide help for its employees beyond just wages paid for work performed.
ADA, Ohio As public scrutiny and the threat of litigation over water quality mount, grain farmers at this years Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference were reminded of the importance of being proactive and keeping good records.

The annual event was held March 5-6, one week after Toledo voters gave Lake Erie its own bill of rights, a loosely defined set of legal protections that farmers worry could result in lawsuits and legal battles over commonly accepted farming practices.

One of the most fundamental things a farmer can do is develop a nutrient management plan, said Kip Studer, a nutrient management specialist with the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Tracking nutrients

A good nutrient management plan helps the farmer track the rate, source, timing and placement of each nutrient applied to the farm, and provides some validity for the farmer to protect his or herself if arguments arise.

Some farmers are required to have nutrient management plans, because of the size and type of their operation, or if its located within a distressed watershed. But there is a growing consensus across the state that nutrient plans should be more widely adopted.

Last year, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and his administration pushed to have eight watersheds in northwestern Ohio declared in distress, and requiring those same farmers to have nutrient management plans. Farmers and conservation leaders said that plan was too costly and cumbersome to implement as the governor prescribed, but many agreed that nutrient management plans, when written and followed, can make a significant improvement in water quality.

According to Studer, a plan should contain about 13 different things, mostly related to what farmers call the 4Rs, or the right rate, source, timing and placement. The plans are usually developed with a conservation specialist, and rely on record keeping and action by the farmer.

Records are going to be integral to your defense, if you ever get a complaint, Studer said.

Right to farm

In a separate talk, Leah Curtis, policy counsel with Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, said farmers should keep an eye on the livestock-related lawsuits in North Carolina, where about 500 plaintiffs have sued Smithfield Foods division Murphy-Brown, over nuisance issues related to swine farms.

Curtis said the lawsuits are against the corporate entity, but in effect, hurt the family-owned farms that produce for Smithfield.

North Carolina has its own right to farm language, intended to protect farmers against nuisance lawsuits, but Curtis said the federal judge who decided the cases determined that many of the people suing had been living in the area for as long as the swine farms existed, and were not newly moving into farm country  as is often the case when nuisance claims arise.

Jurors awarded $473.5 million in the largest of the three cases already decided, but a state law capped payment on that case at $94 million.

Still, the numbers were large, and Curtis reminded farmers that Ohio and other states should take a closer look at what theyre doing to protect farmers, and how their own state law might hold up.

It is a big concern for all of agriculture and I think we in Ohio and every other state need to be taking a hard look at what does our law look like, she said.

Ohios right to farm is protected in something known as Agricultural Districts  in which the farmer enrolls his acreage at the county level, in exchange for certain protections, and the opportunity to defer costs related to the extension of water, sewer and electric lines.

Learn more about Ag Districts in Ohio at the Ohio Dept. of Ag.

The qualifications for enrolling in an Ag District are the same as with CAUV ground, Curtis said, and farmers must enroll if they want nuisance protection.

Its probably one of our best and under-utilized tools that we have here in the state of Ohio, she said.

Practical research

In a talk called Practical On-Farm Research, Purdue University Agronomist Bob Nielson talked about the importance of meaningful, on-farm research.

Nielson said farm research is easier and better than ever, thanks to improvements in precision technology, but farmers still need to pay close attention to details and form a good working relationship with the partnering researcher.

Nielson said todays trials are almost seamless for the grower, and allow for easy changes in cropping pattern, or nutrient variability, thanks to computer software.

Theres no question that its easy to do it, but it requires attention to detail and to work with researchers on the details, he said.

Nielson said he prefers to work in field that are at least 30 acres, and finds that larger fields usually yield better results  contrary to past thinking that championed smaller fields and plots. Part of the reason bigger fields are better, he explained, is the opportunity to incorporate more variables, and because the width of the equipment often dictates a larger plot.

He said farmers should participate in on-farm research not only for themselves, but for the benefit of their industry. Often, the most meaningful data come from a lot of different farms  not just the host farm.

The power of on-farm research lies when we can aggregate results from a number of trials. That allows us to develop more reliable recommendations for that broader geographic area, he said.
TROY, Ohio  Ohio State University Extension is offering a two-session webinar focused on helping farmers become better grain marketers.

The courses will be offered March 12 and 19. For specific times and program registration instructions, visit go.osu.edu/grainwebinar. Cost for the program is $30. For more information, contact Amanda Bennett at 937-440-3945 or bennett.709@osu.edu.
CANTON, Ohio  The KIKO Co., a leading group of Ohio auctioneers, realtors and asset advisers, has teamed up with Akron-based Youngs Auction Service to grow its real estate and auction services in all of northeast Ohio.

Founded in 2007 by Bob Young and his wife, Tina, Youngs Auction Service is the Akron areas prominent full-service auction company specializing in real estate, antiques/collectibles, firearms and weekly consignment auctions.

At KIKO, we believe our role is to provide advice and options to sellers with a commitment to integrity, collaboration and caring, said Dick Kiko Jr., CEO of KIKO Co. Bob Young and his team at Youngs Auction Service exemplify this mission.

Akron area

Young will be a licensed auctioneer and realtor with KIKO, serving the Akron Metro area, including west to Medina/Wadsworth, south to Green/Barberton and north to Hudson/Cuyahoga Falls. He will focus on residential real estate, farms and land, commercial properties and quality collectibles.

Young is also a Federal Firearms Licensee, helping clients liquidate firearms safely, legally and effectively. Young and his team will continue to operate Youngs Auction Center, a facility located in Akron, that hosts consignment auctions every Friday at 6 p.m.

Starting out

The KIKO Co. was founded in 1945 by Russell T. Kiko, Sr. Russ began in the auction business, conducting sales on the family farm with help from his wife, Coletta, and their 13 children.

Seeing himself as a pioneer in the auction industry, Russ selected a covered wagon as the company logo, and now the KIKO wagon is a well-recognized brand representing auction excellence in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Today, KIKO specializes in selling real estate, land, farms, commercial properties, firearms, ag equipment, livestock and high-end antiques like gold and coins. They conduct on-site, online and simulcast auctions as well as traditional real estate sales.

In 2018, KIKO sold more than $140 million in real estate and over $20 million in personal property. The companys websites, including the popular www.kikoauctions.com, average 1 million monthly pages views.
Calls to remain vigilant have been issued after a farmer fell for a telephone scam which saw his bank account stripped of a five-figure sum.

While wishing to remain anonymous, the farmer, based in Orkney, has shared his story with NFU Scotland in the hope that others will not fall for similar scams.

The call, made on Monday 4 March, purported to come from the the farmer's bank.

The scammer had manipulated the caller ID displayed on the receiving phone to make it look like the call was coming from the bank.

The scammer called seeking confirmation that a large payment made electronically to HMRC was genuine.

It obviously wasn't a genuine payment and the fraudster then offered to help stop the payment going through.

The scammer went on to use the information he had gleaned during the call to move significant funds out of the farmer's account.

NFU Scotland has now urged farmers to remain 'vigilant' over scams and to never give out bank details over the phone or online.

The union's Orkney secretary, Kenny Slater said: We have had two members call this week advising us that they have been subject to scam phone calls.

The most serious was from a member who was scammed out of a five-figure sum of money on Monday evening (4 March).

Although he doesn't want to be identified, the member is keen to share his terrible experience; making others aware of the types of calls being made to hopefully prevent others becoming victim to ever more sophisticated scams, he said.

Farmers are more likely to be targeted given the availability of a landline number, with older people particularly at risk.

According to rural accountant Old Mill, some are even being threatened with legal action unless they pay the supposed fine or tax arrears.

Advice from the police

 Dont give out any personal information unless you are the one who made the call and you are certain of the identity of the person you are speaking to.

 Dont give out your credit card or bank card details to strangers on the telephone.

 NEVER tell somebody your bank PIN number, even if they claim to be the bank or police. If the caller is genuine, they will never ask for this information.

 Dont give out information which may infer that you live alone, are older or vulnerable.

 Never send money to anyone who claims to have a prize for you.

 If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Rural communities have been told to report any suspicious activity following a spate of illegal butchery across the UK.

On February 28, police officers were called to an incident in near Daventry, Nottinghamshire where five sheep were found to have been killed and professionally butchered in their field.

In Lincolnshire, three lambs bought for a local primary school were discovered 'skinned and slaughtered' in a field opposite a farm on March 2.

And in the early hours of Wednesday, March 6, a farmer in Harpole, Northampton, discovered five pregnant ewes had been killed and partially butchered before the suspects were disturbed and fled.

Meat sold by criminals who slaughter sheep illegally often ends up on the black market, with no knowing of the processes gone behind making the product safe to consume.

To help protect livestock and catch those responsible, rural crime officersare urging people who live and work in rural locations to report anything suspicious they see.

PC Abbey Anstead, from Nottinghamshire Police said: To find animals have been killed and butchered like this is not only very upsetting for farmers but also has financial repercussions.

If you see something that strikes you as unusual, out of the ordinary or just a bit off please let us know by calling 101 or making a report online.

Please dont worry that its a silly or trivial detail, as even a small piece of information may be a vital key that allows us to link other reports and bring those responsible for illegal activity to book.

She added: We also want farmers to be aware that this has been happening. If you suspect someone has attempted to target your animals, or find that youve lost livestock in this way, please report it to the police immediately.
Farmers are now able to employ up to 2,500 non-EU migrant workers for work under the newly opened seasonal workers pilot.

The pilot, announced by Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Defra Secretary Michael Gove in September 2018, will mean farms are able to employ migrant workers for up to six months.

Two scheme operators  Concordia and Pro-Force  have been licenced to manage the pilot and will be responsible for identifying suitable workers and matching them to farmers.

They will also be required to ensure the welfare of the workers whilst the migrants are in the UK.

The first workers will arrive on farms this spring, subject to recruitment and visa application processes.

This pilot will be monitored and reviewed to help inform future government policy as it looks at how best to support the longer-term needs of the farming industry outside the EU.

It will also test the effectiveness of the UK's immigration system at helping to alleviate seasonal labour shortages during peak production periods, whilst maintaining immigration control.

Soft fruit production in the UK has grown dramatically, by 130% in the last 20 years.

The UK requires approximately 80,000 seasonal agricultural workers every year and the Office for National Statistics has stated that 99% of these workers come from countries within the EU.

But farmers have seen a sharp decline in the number of seasonal workers since the UK voted to leave the bloc.

Nick Marston, Chairman of British Summer Fruits, said farms are reporting staff shortages of 10-20% already, and to have any effect in terms of supporting the industry, around 10,000 are needed now  not 2,500.

The proposal represents a 4% increase in a shrinking workforce, the UK berry industry grows by at least 8% per annum and this will not sustain a standstill, let alone growth, he said.

Last year, the severity of the crisis led the leader of the NFU to highlight how 'food is rotting in the fields', yet the industry sees 'no action' to help alleviate concern.

The pilot will run until the end of December 2020. The pilot will be reviewed before any decisions are taken on running a future scheme.
McDonalds UK has invested over 270,000 pounds to support British dairy farmers in the latest round of its capital grant scheme.

The investment is part of a scheme launched in March 2018 which is part of Farm Forward, McDonalds programme of support for the farming industry.

It aims to support the future of the industry and fund applications that are focused on raising animal welfare standards, providing economic benefits to the farmers' business or making environmental improvements.

In its latest round of investment, the restaurant giant has announced 273,243 will go to 33 of Arlas UK farmer owners.

One farmer, Mark Hornbuckle, who runs an 460 cow organic farm in Nottinghamshire, has received 8,010 in the latest grant allocations and will be using this to invest in ventilation systems and in additional calf jackets this winter, plus some rubber matting and water troughs.

Alice Willett, Agriculture Consultant at McDonalds UK, said the company is 'impressed' with how 'ambitious' the dairy cooperative's farmers are in 'driving forward standards'.

Whilst Arla supplies organic milk to McDonalds, we recognise that as a supplier working with a farmer owned co-operative we have an opportunity to help the wider group farmers continually invest in their businesses and this scheme is a reflection of that.

Graham Wilkinson, Agriculture Director at Arla UK added: In making funding available to our farmer owners in key areas such as animal welfare, economic benefit and environmental improvements, it shows that a collaborative supply chain drives forward industry leading standards for UK dairy farming.
Measures to help new entrants, more flexible working and managing exits from farming are some of the plans outlined in the Scottish Conservative's new document setting out their future farming policy.

The party has published A New Approach to Scottish Farming which forms the basis of their future agriculture policy.

It focuses on productivity, regional differentiation, environmental protection, research, education and securing the future of farming careers.

It also highlights the opportunity of designing and implementing a new support system that is 'better suited' to the needs of Scottish agriculture than the 'outdated' Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

There would be a focus in providing support to farmers who set out key environmental outcomes, combining financial stability with environmental measures.

The rest of the UK remains the biggest market for Scottish farm produce, with the Scots Tories saying it is 'crucial' that any new system does not create any friction with this internal market.

The document promises to maintain funding to farmers facing remoteness, harsh climate, and poor soil quality.

The party also urges Scotland's education system to 'adapt' to support a new generation of land managers through Rural Skills Level 4 and increased vocational training.

STEM subjects 'must be a priority' in order to allow farmers to harness technology, and implement future focused environmental strategies.

Scottish Conservative rural economy shadow secretary, Donald Cameron said the SNP-led government 'continue to let farmers and crofters down by being preoccupied with promoting Scottish independence'.

The SNP seems content to wage constitutional warfare rather than address the serious, practical issues facing farmers today, he said.

Our focus is on practical, simple support that farmers can access easily and quickly. The Scottish Conservatives want government to support environmental measures, new technologies, new entrants to farmers, and flexibility for those in farming as well as those who wish to exit with dignity.
Cheffins to host major auction on behalf of agri contracting firm

The sale will consist of over 150 lots
Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-Category
Janhvi Looks Like A Diva When Stepping Into Gym

Janhvi Kapoor is known for the different fashionista avatars she appears in and she makes even hitting the gym look stylish. On Thursday, Janhvi stepped into her gym looking like a total diva in a camouflage t-shirt which read social anxiety, and teamed it with grey gym shorts. On the work front, Janhvi will next be seen in Karan Johar's Kalank which just released its first look today. She is also prepping for the role of Gunjan Saxena, an IAF combat pilot, for a biopic on the latter.

Mira Rajput Spotted At A Store

Mira Rajput went shopping with a friend on Thursday and was snapped by the paps at the store. Mira smiled for the cameras looking stylish in a white top and high waist denims, with her hair tied up in a sleek ponytail. She sported a snazzy pair of sunglasses and carried a white handbag.

Shraddha Kapoor Snapped At The Airport

At the airport today, Shraddha Kapoor looked cool in a coordinated outfit. She wore a gleaming pastel green button down shirt with matching pants. Shraddha Kapoor has been busy filming for Remo D'Souza's dance film, Street Dancer 3, in which she will be starring opposite Varun Dhawan. The shooting schedule of the movie had first taken her to Amritsar, and later London.

Jim Sarbh Snapped At A Popular Club

Jim Sarbh of the Padmaavat fame was spotted outside a popular club in Juhu on Thursday. He made a dashing appearance, dressed in a summery navy blue shirt teamed with ripped denims and a pair of black converse sneakers. Jim Sarbh will be seen in Zoya Akhtar's web series Made In Heaven, which will premiere tomorrow, March 8th.
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - March 6, 2019) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Russian telecommunications provider Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (MTS) will pay $100 million to resolve SEC charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to win business in Uzbekistan.

According to the SEC's order, MTS bribed an Uzbek official who was related to the former President of Uzbekistan and had influence over the Uzbek telecommunications regulatory authority. During the course of the scheme, MTS made at least $420 million in illicit payments for the purpose of obtaining and retaining business. The payments enabled MTS to enter the telecommunications market in Uzbekistan and operate there for eight years, during which it generated more than $2.4 billion in revenues. In 2012, the Uzbek government expropriated MTS's Uzbek operations. As further described in the SEC's order, the bribes were funneled to front companies controlled by the Uzbek official and were disguised in MTS's books as acquisition costs, option payments, purchases of regulatory assets, and charitable donations.

"The company engaged in egregious misconduct for nearly a decade, secretly funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to a corrupt official. Building business on a foundation of bribery leaves the business and American investor interests at the mercy of corrupt officials," said Charles E. Cain, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division's FCPA Unit.

MTS consented to the SEC's order finding that it violated the anti-bribery, books and records and internal accounting control provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and requiring it to pay a $100 million penalty. In a related matter, MTS has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and its subsidiary has pleaded guilty in federal court, and has agreed to pay a criminal fine and forfeiture in the amount of $850 million. The Department is crediting the $100 million penalty that MTS is paying to the SEC. The company must also retain an independent compliance monitor for at least three years.

This is the third case brought by the SEC and the Department of Justice involving public companies operating in the Uzbek telecommunications market. Taken as a whole, these actions have led to the recovery by U.S. and foreign authorities of $2.6 billion.

The Commission greatly appreciates the cooperation and assistance of the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud and Asset Forfeiture Money Laundering Sections, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the Prosecution Authority of the Netherlands, the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway (KOKRIM), the Swedish Prosecution Authority, the Office of the Attorney General in Switzerland, and the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau in Latvia. Valuable assistance was also provided by regulatory and law enforcement colleagues in the United Kingdom, France, and Ireland, including the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the Bermuda Monetary Authority, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Paris Court of Appeals, the Serious Fraud Office, and the Financial Control Authority.
NEW YORK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Snap, Inc. ("Snap" or the "Company") (NYSE: SNAP). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.

The investigation concerns whether Snap and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here to join a class action]

On March 6, 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2018, Snap "paid settlements to at least three female employees who were let go in layoffs that they alleged disproportionately targeted women." Citing "people familiar with the matter," the article reported that "[t]he layoffs came months after an engineer at the company raised concerns in an email to colleagues about what she said was a sexist culture." Following the article's publication, Snap's stock price fell $0.21 per share, or 2.08%, to close at $9.87 per share on March 6, 2019.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
LILLE, France, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Openbravo, the global omnichannel platform vendor for agile and innovative retailing, today announced that it has been awarded a new contract by Groupe Rand. The contract covers the deployment of Openbravo software using Openbravo Cloud and implementation services at the company's headquarters and across 43 stores in France, Spain and Italy belonging to its well-known brands, Lollipops and Balabooste.

This strategic project will enable Groupe Rand to move forward in the digital transformation of its businesses in fashion jewelry and accessories. The company will strengthen its innovation strategy with new features that will modernize its retail operations, improving its customer experience in all stores with mobile POS and accelerating its omnichannel strategy.

"We are delighted to have signed this contract with Openbravo to accelerate our digital transformation in our retail business," said Marc Aimonino, CIO of Groupe Rand. "We were particularly impressed by the functional coverage of Openbravo and the flexibility of its cloud and mobile technology platform, which will enable our business to gain agility and realize significant IT cost savings."

"We are very pleased over this new project with a recognized leader in French fashion, Groupe Rand. This confirms the value our cloud-based omnichannel solution brings, compared to other historical retail software players on the French market," says Bruno Menteaux, General Manager for France & Northern Europe at Openbravo. "The flexibility offered by Openbravo will allow the current system to be replaced very quickly, so the company can quickly focus on its new growth strategy. "

About Groupe Rand

As the Parisian leader in the market of the fancy jewel and accessories of fashion for five generations, Groupe Rand passionately continues to promote the link between innovation and traditional know-how.

Based in the heart of Paris for more than 80 years at the same address, Groupe Rand is now present in more than 11,000 points of sale in 12 countries worldwide. More than 700 employees are dedicated to developing the company around its founding values: passion, loyalty, respect and innovation.

About Openbravo

Openbravo is a global omnichannel platform vendor for agile and innovative retailing. The Openbravo Commerce Cloud is a cloud-based omnichannel platform providing comprehensive omnichannel capabilities. It is built on a highly flexible, mobile-enabled technology platform, which allows retailers to innovate more and faster, and to manage change more efficiently.

With customers in more than 60 countries and over 16,000 back-office users and 25,000 points of sale currently using its solutions, Openbravo offers the most flexible omnichannel platform on the market. Openbravo has offices in France, Dubai, India, Mexico, and Spain.

Visit www.openbravo.com to learn more.

Contact:

Xavier Places (Marketing Director)

+34607676568,

xavier.places@openbravo.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/703504/Openbravo_Logo.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/831716/Groupe_Rand_Logo.jpg
Lonza Publishes Invitation to the 2019 Annual General Meeting, Online Annual Report 2018 and Sustainability Report 2018

Annual General Meeting to take place on 18 April 2019 in Basel

Albert M. Baehny proposed for re-election as Chairperson of the Board of Directors

Stable dividend of CHF 2.75 per share proposed

2018 Online Annual Report and Sustainability Report published

Basel, Switzerland, 7 March2019 - Lonza today announced that it has published its Online Annual Report and Sustainability Report 2018, as well as its invitation to the Annual General Meeting 2019. The event will take place on Thursday, 18 April 2019, at 10:00 a.m. CEST, at the Congress Center Messe Basel, Messeplatz 21, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) invitation can be accessed on Lonza's Investor Relations website: Annual General Meeting 2019 (https://www.lonza.com/about-lonza/investor-relations/investor-information/annual-general-meeting.aspx)

The Board of Directors proposes the re-election of Albert M. Baehny as Chairperson of the Board of Directors.

Antonio Trius, member of the Board and the Audit and Compliance Committee, has decided not to stand for re-election. The Board would like to thank him for his contribution during his years of service on the Board.

The Board is further proposing to the AGM the re-election of all other Board members. Further motions include the election of the Nominations and Compensation Committee and the approval of the compensation of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.

Lonza's Board of Directors is proposing a stable dividend for shareholders of CHF 2.75 per share for 2018. The proposed dividend for 2018 presents a payout ratio of 31% of Lonza's (Continuing Business) profit for the period 2018. Subject to approval at the upcoming AGM, the dividend of CHF 2.75 per share for 2018 will be paid out of the reserve capital contribution and will be free from Swiss withholding tax.

All details on the motions can be found in the invitation to the Annual General Meeting 2019.

2018 Online Annual Report and Sustainability Report

Lonza published today its 2018 Online Annual Report and its first stand-alone Sustainability Report following Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. The Online Annual Report and the downloadable PDFs for the Annual Report and the Sustainability Report can be accessed through the following website: http://annualreport.lonza.com/2018 (http://annualreport.lonza.com/2018) .

Lonza has improved usability and interactive features of its Online Annual Report 2018. The report is separated into five sections:

Company Overview (https://annualreport.lonza.com/2018/company) including Strategy, Value Creation and Sustainability Insights

Segments (https://annualreport.lonza.com/2018/segments)

Financial Statements and Notes (https://annualreport.lonza.com/2018/financial-statements)

Remuneration Report (https://annualreport.lonza.com/2018/remuneration)

Corporate Governance Report (https://annualreport.lonza.com/2018/corporate-governance)

Today, sustainability is a critical part of Lonza's success, and Lonza takes its governance-related, social and environmental responsibilities seriously. With the 2018 Sustainability Report (https://annualreport.lonza.com/2018/servicepages/downloads/files/lonza_sustainability_report_2018.pdf), Lonza aims to provide increased transparency on its approach and achievements.

About Lonza

Lonza is an integrated solutions provider that creates value along the Healthcare Continuum. Through our Pharma Biotech & Nutrition segment and our Specialty Ingredients segment businesses, we harness science and technology to serve markets along this continuum. We focus on creating a healthy environment, promoting a healthier lifestyle and preventing illness through consumers' preventive healthcare, as well as improving patient healthcare by supporting our customers to deliver innovative medicines that help treat or even cure severe diseases.

Patients and consumers benefit from our ability to transfer our pharma know-how to the healthcare, hygiene and fast-moving consumer goods environment and to the preservation and protection of the world where we live.

Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, Lonza today is a well-respected global company with more than 100 sites and offices and approximately 15,500 full-time employees worldwide at the end of 2018. The company generated sales of CHF 5.5 billion in 2018 with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 1.5 billion. Further information can be found at www.lonza.com (https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.lonza.com&d=DwMFAw&c=qQy84HidZKks1AzH1tNzCKFxsPy43_OhvfM1avj4FME&r=SNaTECIuD9tOlQUW74Q-UT3xhRFOeyBjJ1YgJdLkpa8&m=KwEYyycEwSWc8hv3BbIqkok5RFTlcrFDAimWkA_RH_4&s=Gfoym-CxuWLpDMU9x3X7Y0Nwtwutk8OMCAINl0lzUyY&e=).

Lonza Contact Details

Dirk Oehlers

Investor Relations Officer Lonza Group Ltd Tel +41 61 316 8540 dirk.oehlers@lonza.com Dr Kristin Kohler

Senior Manager Investor Relations Lonza Group Ltd Tel +41 61 316 8782 kristin.koehler@lonza.com Constance Ward

Head External Communications Lonza Group Ltd Tel +41 61 316 8840 constance.ward@lonza.com

Additional Information and Disclaimer

Lonza Group Ltd has its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It has a secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited ("SGX-ST"). Lonza Group Ltd is not subject to the SGX-ST's continuing listing requirements but remains subject to Rules 217 and 751 of the SGX-ST Listing Manual.

Certain matters discussed in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and estimates of Lonza Group Ltd, although Lonza Group Ltd can give no assurance that these expectations and estimates will be achieved. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty and are qualified in their entirety. The actual results may differ materially in the future from the forward-looking statements included in this news release due to various factors. Furthermore, except as otherwise required by law, Lonza Group Ltd disclaims any intention or obligation to update the statements contained in this news release.
Discover how a digital operations command centre can help manage a hybrid, multi-cloud environment at booth C1740

LONDON, March 07, 2019, the service-centric AIOps platform for the modern hybrid enterprise, today announced it's a silver sponsor of the Cloud Expo Europe in ExCeL, London from March 12th-13th. The company will demonstrate how enterprises can accelerate business transformation through a digital operations command centre powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. The OpsRamp platform is currently used by over 1,800 organisations worldwide to monitor, manage and optimise any workload or service, whether on-premises or in the public or private cloud.

"Cloud Expo Europe is the UK's biggest event showcasing the latest strategies for cloud monitoring, management, and migration," said Steve Randall, head of UK and EMEA sales for OpsRamp. "We're excited to showcase the power of our multi-tenant SaaS solution and how it helps IT organisations deliver IT operations as a service from one digital operations command center."

Eric Cook, EMEA Director of Solutions Consulting, will also be speaking at the event. His topic, entitled "From the Sysadmin to the C-Suite: Structuring your Hybrid Infrastructure Monitoring to Serve the Business," will be at the Multi-Cloud Strategy & Management Theatre on March 13th, from 13:40-14:05.

Join us at the Cloud Expo Europe at booth C1740. To schedule meetings with the OpsRamp team, visit https://info.opsramp.com/cloud-expo-europe .

About OpsRamp

OpsRamp enables IT to control the chaos of managing their hybrid IT operations and act like a service provider back to the business. Built in the cloud, the OpsRamp service-centric AIOps platform drives total visibility across hybrid infrastructures, offers complete multi-cloud infrastructure monitoring and management of business-critical services, and optimizes services through automation and integration with ITSM and DevOps tools. Now enterprise IT can deliver IT operations as a service and power a digital operations command center that's built for the challenges of modern, hybrid infrastructure.

Hundreds of enterprises like Dolby, Epsilon, KAR Auction Services and Bio-Rad and managed service providers like NetEnrich, GreenPages, and NTT Data use OpsRamp to unify service availability information, transform contextual insight into action, and replace routine tasks with intelligent automation.

Additional Resources

Follow OpsRamp on Twitter

Find OpsRamp on LinkedIn

Bookmark Our Blog

Visit the OpsRamp Newsroom

Media contact:

Kevin Wolf

TGPR
BERLIN, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- "We're thrilled to be one of the first crypto funds licensed by an EU Financial Services Authority, with explicit investor protection. Our thorough approach to building a team with over 100 years of investment research and portfolio management experience has paid off. Kintaro Capital is uniquely placed to service the investment needs of long term future thinking investors."

Dr. Mervyn Maistry. CEO & Founder, Konfidio and Kintaro Capital

Kintaro Capital , a venture of the Konfidio blockchain studio , obtained formal approval of its PIF license from the MFSA. Making it one of the first regulated crypto funds for qualifying investors under Maltese law. The licence allows Kintaro clients to invest in strategic alternatives to fiat based instruments. Malta complies with all EU financial and regulatory laws governing investor protection and financial instruments.

Kintaro Capital leverages three years of crypto-economic experience. Through their token research and data analytics expertise, the fund targets high yields in the blockchain sector. The fund is administered by SGGG Fexserv Fund Services (Malta) Ltd ., responsible for the administration of over 220 alternative strategy funds, together with Fexserv Financial Services, a leading company in the financial services industry.

Kintaro's investment committee consists of arguably the most experienced team in the space; a mix of traditional hedge fund managers, FX and fixed income managers, experienced VCs and early blockchain adopters.

Dr. Mervyn G. Maistry , MD, MBA, DEcon. Chairman of the fund, brings extensive experience in strategy, consulting and investment banking. As Founder and CEO of Konfidio, Berlin's blockchain venture studio, he gives the fund its direction. As well as being a veteran investor, he was previously a Deutsche Bank Group COO, and led the Digital Innovation operations at Accenture and then EY.

Brendan Robertson, MBA, CFA Mfin is a prominent Board Member, and sits on Kintaro's Investment Committee. He lends the fund his impressive background as Head of Portfolio Solutions at Kieger AG. With 20 years experience in asset management, Brendan has a proven track record of sound investment practice and strategy.

As part of the Konfidio family, Kintaro utilises the venture studio's unique position within the Berlin ecosystem. Konfidio's work for governments and Fortune 500 companies adds to the blockchain knowledge base of the fund. Their Token Advisory LLC practice provides additional insight into regulated crypto fundraising.

Customized research is available to those commissioning one-off reports into selected assets. The Kintaro researchers undertake detailed analyses of requested tokens in the provision of independent reports. Startups fundraising with tokens can also request valuation reports.

Facts & Figures

Kintaro's 'Digital Innovation Fund' will invest in a portfolio of selective crypto-assets and exchange-listed equities.

The fund can accept up to 100,000,000, and is targeting 10,000,000 in 2019.

It's open to Qualified Investors under the MFSA PIF regime.

The minimum investment threshold is 100,000 or equivalent.

Contact:

Kintaro Capital

Alpine House

34 Naxxar Road

San Gwann SGN 9032

Malta

Dr. Mervyn G. Maistry

+49-1517-2125871

talktous@kintaro.capital

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/831766/Kintaro_Capital_Logo.jpg )
LOS ANGELES, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Weekend Unlimited USA Inc. ("Weekend" or the "Company") (CSE: POT) (FSE: 0OS1) (OTCQB: WKULF) announces that recent acquisition, VBC Brands, under the CHAMP Energy brand, will sponsor "The South by Southwest (SXSW) conference & festival," taking place on March 12-13th in Austin, Texas.

SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries. An essential destination for global professionals, the event features sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions, and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together.

The highlights of the activation at SXSW include:

Champ will be able to sample and place product throughout the entire venue (general admission, VIP, Green Room) as well as behind the bar for bartenders and staff in addition to inclusion in "Swag" bags

Champ / Weekend will have branding throughout the venue as VIP sponsor. The VIP area will be co-branded with Champ/Weekend, Cannabis Now and HEMP

Champ will be announced as the official energy drink sponsor for SXSW across all marketing platforms throughout the event

Champ's online store will officially launch on March 12th 2019 this activation will be utilizing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube social platforms to spread awareness about its product line

"The SXSW Cannabis Now Activation will give Champ access to some of the largest dispensaries in the country for their Hemp/CBD line of products and beverages," said Mr. Brad Robb, President, Verve Beverage Company. "This unique event provides an amazing opportunity for both B2B and B2C relationships to be developed for Weekend Unlimited and its portfolio of brands in the USA, with distributors for dispensaries, big box, and local on-premise retail stores in attendance," added Mr. Robb.

During the two-day Hemp/CBD educational activation, HEMP TODAY attendees will experience panel discussions with professional athletes & leading industry experts, film screenings, live musical performances, interactive experiences, exclusive lounges, giveaways, charging stations, product launches and terpene education.

About Weekend Unlimited Inc.

Weekend Unlimited is capitalizing on its vast industry relationships to establish a lifestyle brand featuring premium products and delivering life's highest moments. The company aggregates and scales small to medium brands, primarily in the categories of flower, extracts and edibles. Weekend Unlimited brands have best of class operations, distribution and strong revenue trajectories, making them ideal candidates for the deployment of capital and expertise through access to technologies, infrastructure and centralized systems. Learn more at www.weekendunlimited.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

For further information, please contact:
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / GGX Gold Corp. (TSX-v: GGX), (OTCQB: GGXXF), (FRA: 3SR2) (the "Company" or "GGX") is pleased to announce it has requested tellurium re-analysis of select drill core samples from the Fall 2018 diamond drill program at the Gold Drop Property, located in southern British Columbia. The Fall 2018 drill program was conducted at the C.O.D. Vein, located in the Gold Drop Southwest Zone. Multiple drill core samples from drill holes COD18-67 and COD18-70 exceeded the upper 500 grams per tonne (g/t) analytical limit for tellurium. These samples returned high grade values for gold and silver. These samples will be re-analyzed to determine tellurium grades. Highlights from the Fall 2018 drill program include (News Releases of January 11 and 18, 2019):

COD18-67: 129 g/t gold & 1154 g/t silver over 7.28-meter core length

COD18-70: 107 g/t gold & 880 g/t silver over 6.90-meter core length



(To view the full-size image, please click here)

The 2018 Fall diamond drill program tested the COD vein. The program followed up on results from previous 2018 diamond drilling at the southern extension of the COD vein. The highlights of the 2018 Fall drill program are drill hole COD18-67 which intersected 129 g/t gold and 1,154 g/t silver over 7.28 meters core length and drill hole COD18-70 which intersected 107.5 g/t gold and 880 g/t silver over 6.90 meters core length (News Releases of January 11 and 18, 2019). Intersections for 2017 and 2018 diamond drill holes at the C.O.D. vein include the following (please refer to the Company's website for News Releases announcing these results):

Hole ID Interval Length Gold (gpt) Silver (gpt) Te (gpt) COD17-14 16.03 4.59 38.64 COD18-3 2.1 14.62 150.2 102 COD18-26 1.4 10.3 1.09 0.24 COD18-32 1.51 3.67 67.2 30.4 COD18-33 2.98 8.65 47.6 37.3 COD18-34 3.41 6.16 72.4 31 COD18-37 3.95 8.23 67.36 38.53 COD18-45 2.05 50.15 375 COD18-46 1.47 54.9 379 COD18-49 1.47 9.52 118 72.2 COD18-54 1.66 7.6 60.2 34.1 COD18-61 1.38 5.29 32.4 31.4 COD18-63 1.17 28 424.7 150.4 COD18-67 7.28 129.11 1,154.90 COD18-68 2.76 8.77 85.4 56.3 COD18-69 7.46 5.76 67.9 61.2 COD18-70 6.9 107.5 880

Fourteen drill core samples from the high-grade gold and silver intersections of drill holes COD-18-67 and COD-18-70 returned greater than the upper analytical limit of 500 g/t for tellurium during initial analysis (four acid ICP-MS analysis by ALS Canada Ltd. in North Vancouver). As a result, the tellurium weighted average grade for these intersections could not be determined. The Company has requested ALS Canada Ltd. to re-analyze these samples for tellurium.



(To view the full-size image, please click here)



(To view the full-size image, please click here)

Tellurium (Te) remains as one of the rarest elements on earth. Tellurium production has been a by-product of copper and gold mining. The production is limited, estimated to being on the order of 800 metric tonnes per year. According to the USGS total production for 2007 was 107 Mtonnes.

Up to recently, the sole use of tellurium has been alloying of other metals to increase the machinability of copper or to decrease the corrosive action of sulfuric acid on lead.

The most significant modern use of tellurium is the Cadmium-telluride (Cd-Te) photovoltaic solar cells. These solar cells are the forefront of solar power. One gigawatt (GW) of Cd-Te, at current efficiencies, would require approximately 93 metric tons of tellurium. These cells have the smallest carbon footprint and the shortest energy payback time of all solar cells. The efficiency of technology is constantly improving and the Cd-Te now takes up 5.1% of worldwide PV production.



PHOTOVOLTAICS REPORT, Freiburg, 27 August 2018 (To view the full-size image, please click here)



In the C.O.D vein system the tellurium occurs as a soft silver-grey telluride mineral. The telluride mineral is a Silver-Tellurium-Gold alloy speculated to be sylvanite. Whenever this mineral is observed in the drill core the interval has elevated silver, gold and tellurium values.

David Martin, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, is responsible for the technical information contained in this News Release.

To view the Original News release with pictures please go to the website or contact the Company.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

Barry Brown, Director

604-488-3900

Office@GGXGold.com

Investor Relations:



Mr. Jack Singh, 604-488-3900 ir@GGXgold.com

" We don't have to do this, we get to do this "

The Crew

Forward Looking Information

This news release includes certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, the Company's information and statements regarding or inferring the future business, operations, financial performance, prospects, and other plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company. Such statements include statements regarding the completion of the proposed transactions. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved), and variations of such words, and similar expressions are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statement are necessarily based upon several factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements express or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of gold and other metals, anticipated costs and the ability to achieve goals, and the Company will be able to obtain required licenses and permits. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks including that resource exploration and development is a speculative business; that environmental laws and regulations may become more onerous; that the Company may not be able to raise additional funds when necessary; fluctuating prices of metals; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; operating hazards and risks; and competition. There can be no assurance that economic resources will be discovered or developed at the Gold Drop Property. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, the loss of key directors, employees, advisors or consultants, equipment failures, litigation, competition, fees charged by service providers and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: GGX Gold Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538263/GGX-Gold-Requests-Tellurium-Re-Analysis-of-Select-2018-High-Grade-Drill-Core-Samples-at-the-COD-Vein--Southern-British-Columbia
PHILADELPHIA, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- VSBLTY Groupe Technologies Corp. (the "Company" or "VSBLTY") (CSE: VSBY) (Frankfurt: 5VS), a leading retail software and technology company that provides audience measurement using the power of machine learning through computer vision, today named Jeffrey S. Muller, Jim DiOrio and C. Patrick Kroc to the company's new Advisory Board according to Jay Hutton, Co-Founder & CEO.

Muller is President/CEO of Muller Group International, DiOrio is President/CEO of J3 Global, Inc. and Kroc is the former Executive Vice President of News America Marketing (NAM), a division of News Corporation.

"We are excited to have these three uniquely experienced executives serve in an advisory capacity to our firm as we steadily advance the merging of marketing and security," Hutton said. "Patrick Kroc had an 18-year career with NAM and is a retail media and marketing expert, while Jeff Muller and Jim DiOrio, both former FBI special agents with long experience in strategic risk assessment consulting for government agencies and companies, strengthen our security expertise," he added.

Operating in 25 countries, Muller's company is uniquely able to assist all levels of government as well as national and international corporations and organizations as they face newly emerging challenges in an increasingly complex international security environment. Muller is a seasoned professional with a unique blend of over 30 years of military leadership (Navy), federal law enforcement operations (FBI) and national security/counterterrorism/weapons of mass destruction program development and implementation (White House). At the FBI he managed all national and international countermeasures and prevention activities for the Bureau's National Security Branch, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Directorate and developed customized integrated technology programs to secure the 18 sectors of U.S. Critical Infrastructure. Muller developed and led the INTERPOL WMD program serving the 190-member countries and has broad domestic and international experience with military forces, police services, national security agencies and intelligence organizations. Muller also serves as the Executive Director of his Geneva-based NGO, The CBRNE Global Alliance.

DiOrio's global security consulting firm provides complete security and investigative solutions to individuals and corporations. A retired Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent manager, he has an extensive background in high-risk, complex, military and government environments. While at the Bureau, DiOrio managed several cases in collaboration with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). DiOrio is experienced in all levels of event security, risk assessments, complex litigation support, head-on crisis management/mitigation training and "Golden Hour/Catalytic event consulting." Service Academy-educated and combat-tested, he is considered to be a visionary leader with exceptional interpersonal skills.

At NAM, Kroc managed all U.S. and Canadian retail relationships and led a 3000+ employee Retail Merchandising Field Force. He developed a Shopper Marketing Sales initiative that grew from $3M to more than $200M in annual sales. Kroc also managed all channels of trade including the nation's major retailers. He now uses his strong management, leadership and analytical skills to provide consulting services to emerging companies.

Investor Relations

Erin Ostrom, 604-219-6648

investor@vsblty.net

CONTACT: Linda Rosanio, 609-472-0877

lrosanio@vsblty.net

About VSBLTY (www.vsblty.net)

Headquartered in Philadelphia, VSBLTY (CSE: VSBY) (Frankfurt: 5VS) is the world leader in Proactive Digital Display, which transforms retail and public spaces as well as place-based media networks with SaaS-based audience measurement and security software that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/817114/VSBLTY_Logo.jpg
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCCESSWIRE / March 7th, 2019 / Ximen Mining Corp. (TSX.v: XIM) (OTCQB:XXMMF) (the "Company" or "Ximen") is pleased to announce its option partner GGX Gold Corp. (TSX.v:GGX) has requested tellurium re-analysis of select drill core samples from the Fall 2018 diamond drill program at the Gold Drop Property, located in southern British Columbia. The Fall 2018 drill program was conducted at the C.O.D. Vein, located in the Gold Drop Southwest Zone. Multiple drill core samples from drill holes COD18-67 and COD18-70 exceeded the upper 500 grams per tonne (g/t) analytical limit for tellurium. These samples returned high grade values for gold and silver. These samples will be re-analyzed to determine tellurium grades. Highlights from the Fall 2018 drill program include (News Releases of January 11 and 18, 2019):

COD18-67: 129 g/t gold & 1154 g/t silver over 7.28-meter core length

COD18-70: 107 g/t gold & 880 g/t silver over 6.90-meter core length

" Due to the multiple industry inquiries and spiked interest with regards to the Tellurium grades as well as the fact that the Te grades have exceeded upper analytical limits at the Lab ( ie 500 G/T Te ) the decision was made to re-assay these drill core samples with a focus on obtaining the actual Tellurium grades." States Anderson CEO Ximen Mining Corp

The 2018 Fall diamond drill program tested the COD vein. The program followed up on results from previous 2018 diamond drilling at the southern extension of the COD vein. The highlights of the 2018 Fall drill program are drill hole COD18-67 which intersected 129 g/t gold and 1,154 g/t silver over 7.28 meters core length and drill hole COD18-70 which intersected 107.5 g/t gold and 880 g/t silver over 6.90 meters core length (News Releases of January 11and 18, 2019). Intersections for 2017 and 2018 diamond drill holes at the C.O.D. vein include the following (please refer to the Company's website for News Releases announcing these results):

Hole ID Interval Length Gold (gpt) Silver (gpt) Te (gpt) COD17-14

COD18-3

COD18-26

COD18-32

COD18-33

COD18-34

COD18-37

COD18-45

COD18-46

COD18-49

COD18-54

COD18-61

COD18-63

COD18-67

COD18-68

COD18-69

COD18-70 16.03

2.1

1.4

1.51

2.98

3.41

3.95

2.05

1.47

1.47

1.66

1.38

1.17

7.28

2.76

7.46

6.9 4.59

14.62

10.3

3.67

8.65

6.16

8.23

50.15

54.9

9.52

7.6

5.29

28

129.11

8.77

5.76

107.5 38.64

150.2

1.09

67.2

47.6

72.4

67.36

375

379

118

60.2

32.4

424.7

1,154.90

85.4

67.9

880



102

0.24

30.4

37.3

31

38.53





72.2

34.1

31.4

150.4



56.3

61.2





Fourteen drill core samples from the high-grade gold and silver intersections of drill holes COD-18-67 and COD-18-70 returned greater than the upper analytical limit of 500 g/t for tellurium during initial analysis (four acid ICP-MS analysis by ALS Canada Ltd. in North Vancouver). As a result, the tellurium weighted average grade for these intersections could not be determined. The Company has requested ALS Canada Ltd. to re-analyze these samples for tellurium.

Tellurium (Te) remains as one of the rarest elements on earth. Tellurium production has been a by-product of copper and gold mining. The production is limited, estimated to being on the order of 800 metric tonnes per year. According to the USGS total production for 2007 was 107 Mtonnes.

Up until recently, the sole use of tellurium has been the alloying of other metals to increase the machinability of copper or to decrease the corrosive action of sulfuric acid on lead.

The most significant modern use of tellurium is the Cadmium-telluride (Cd-Te) photovoltaic solar cells. These solar cells are at the forefront of solar power. One gigawatt (GW) of Cd-Te, at current efficiencies, would require approximately 93 metric tons of tellurium. These cells have the smallest carbon footprint and the shortest energy payback time of all solar cells. The efficiency of technology is constantly improving and the Cd-Te now takes up 5.1% of worldwide PV production.





PHOTOVOLTAICS REPORT, Freiburg, 27 August 2018

In the C.O.D vein system the tellurium occurs as a soft silver-grey telluride mineral. The telluride mineral is a Silver-Tellurium-Gold alloy speculated to be sylvanite. Whenever this mineral is observed in the drill core the interval has elevated silver, gold and tellurium values.

Details of the analytical procedures and QA/QC methods used are given in previous news releases from which these highlights are drawn.

Allan Beaton, P.Eng., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and member of the Advisory Board, is responsible for and approved the technical information contained in this News Release.

To view the Original News release with pictures please go to the website or contact the Company.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Christopher R. Anderson"

Christopher R. Anderson,

President, CEO and Director

Ximen Mining Corp. 604 488-3900

About Ximen Mining Corp.

Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100 percent interest in all three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC. Ximen's two Gold projects are The Gold Drop Project and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past-producing Huldra Silver Mine. Currently both the Gold Drop Project and the Treasure Mountain Silver Project are under option agreements. The option partners are making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of these projects.

Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Ximen Mining Corp

888 Dunsmuir Street - Suite 888,

Vancouver, B.C., V6C 3K4

SOURCE: Ximen Mining Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538281/Ximen-Option-Partner-Requests-Tellurium-Re-Analysis-of-Select-2018-High-Grade-Drill-Core-Samples-at-the-COD-Vein--Southern-British-Columbia














INSEAD Showcases Innovation as a Force for Good

Largest INSEAD Middle East event advances the school's vision and its biggest fundraising campaign

Fontainebleau (France), Singapore, Abu Dhabi, 7 March 2019 - INSEAD, the business school for the world, hosted the Global Business Leaders Conference (GBLC) on 24 February at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. The flagship INSEAD event in the region convened leaders of business, government and academia to discuss non-disruptive innovation and business as a force for good.

Despite the indisputable benefits of technology and innovation, disruption has come to define the behaviour of many business ventures today. This has created a zero-sum fight for survival, especially for established companies and industries. But digitisation and the evolving roles of public and private sector actors are opening a path to growth that creates new market space and increases the economic pie, according to speakers at the recent GBLC , the largest annual INSEAD event in the Middle East.



H.E. Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General, Smart Dubai Office, and Peter Zemsky, INSEAD Deputy Dean and Dean of Innovation

At the GBLC, H.E. Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General, Smart Dubai Office, shared that Dubai is moving to the smart city concept today. In this model, digitisation is not only the sole responsibility of the government but also of the private sector and academia. The government focuses on incentivizing innovation and improving the happiness and well-being of people, which benefits business and society.

"We have to balance implementing new technologies and putting smart infrastructure in the city. We want our people to be happy. Today - after three years - I believe we've managed to strike a balance between these two agendas. We launched the happiness side in 2015, even before launching technological strategies like blockchain or AI. This sets the scene that what we are doing must focus on improving people's happiness," said H.E. Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr.

INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Strategy Renee Mauborgne , co-author of The New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller Blue Ocean Shift, pointed out that while disruption is an important concept today, it comes with social adjustment costs.).

"Dubai reconstructed the boundary between modern and traditional Arabian culture, and between the East and West. Doing that created a city unlike any other in the world. That is how Dubai expanded their economic base and unleashed creative growth - enabling it to become a diversified, $105 billion economy. And it is how Dubai went from 30% of its GDP relying on oil revenue to less than 1% today."

"When we think of INSEAD as a force for good, it reveals the other half of the strategy universe - from compete to create an innovation space, from disrupt to non-disrupt. It also puts people smack dab in the center of strategy.Because you can have the best strategy in the world, but without people it goes nowhere," she said.



Renee Mauborgne, INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Strategy

William Doucas, CEO of Elutions, a market-leading provider of artificial intelligence solutions for infrastructure intensive operations, shared two successful cases where Elutions has deployed AI at scale to deliver quantifiable benefits while being sustainable. He commented, "When you think about sustainability, we see that profits should drive sustainability. The more we can help these entities, such as water and wastewater services or an electric utility, there is less burden on governments. The reduced costs can get invested back into society and help make society better."

"All of us can do well by doing good if we look beyond purely shareholder value, and think about value for good, value in the world," said Paul Kewene-Hite , INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, when he opened the Tech for Good: Entrepreneurship and Innovation panel.



From left to right: Leila Hoteit, Partner & Managing Director Boston Consulting Group, R. Todd Ruppert, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ruppert International Inc., Paul Kewene-Hite, Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, INSEAD, Karl Magnus Olsson, Chief Xperience Officer and Co-Founder, Careem, and Chirag Shah, Serial Entrepreneur, Chairman, Simfoni

Karl Magnus Olsson, Founder and Managing Director of Careem, an Uber competitor in the Middle East, shared how the company is creating new market space in developing countries, "We are rolling out dynamic buses in Cairo right now, but we're not disrupting an existing bus system because it doesn't exist. 90% of our customers in Saudi Arabia did not use taxis before Careem came about because of reasons of safety and liability." Within six years, the company has hired over one million 'captains', their term for drivers, creating meaningful employment across the greater MENA region and meeting mobility needs of more than 30 million customers.

Dr. Leila Hoteit, Partner & Managing Director of The Boston Consulting Group, pointed out that while technology can open doors and facilitate success, a key challenge lies in scaling up. "To enable technology to innovate and scale up, the public sector has to play an important role. From legislation to funding and coordination with the private sector and third sector, the public sector must be active in building human capital across the ecosystem," she said.

Peter Zemsky , INSEAD Deputy Dean and Dean of Innovation, said that the school's vision of business as a force for good enables constant reinvention and innovation. "As the business school for the world, we constantly ask ourselves, are we rising up to the challenge of the moment and what can we do to prepare leaders who are going to manage a fundamentally different environment than what we saw just five years ago. What we'd like to do in this space is to create and lead the key conversations around the world that can touch the lives of thousands of current and future leaders, as well as offer transformative business education in line with our vision and values."



The Campaign for INSEAD Middle East Launch

The GBLC ended with the Middle East launch of The Campaign for INSEAD: A Force for Good, the school's most ambitious capital campaign to date. INSEAD will continue to spearhead a dialogue around the world about business as force for good. This will build on strong momentum from recent Campaign launch events and forums in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. To participate in this critical conversation, visit the Campaign website and follow us on social media to see how you can get involved.

###

About INSEAD, The Business School for the World

As one of the world's leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society. A global perspective and cultural diversity are reflected in all aspects of its research and teaching.

With campuses in Europemembers from 40 countries inspire more than 1,400 degree participants annually in its MBA, Executive MBA, Executive Master in Finance, Executive Master in Changeand PhDprogrammes. In addition, more than 11,000 executives participate in INSEAD's executive educationprogrammes each year.

In addition to INSEAD's programmes on its three campuses, INSEAD participates in academic partnershipswith the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvaniain Beijing, and China Europe International Business Schoolcreated in 2012, and also partners with Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil.

INSEAD became a pioneer of international business education with the graduation of the first MBA class on the Fontainebleau campus in Europe in 1960. In 2000, INSEAD opened its Asia campus in Singapore. In 2007, the school inaugurated a Centre for Research and Executive Education in the United Arab Emirates and officially opened the Middle East Campus in Abu Dhabi in 2010.

Around the world and over the decades, INSEAD continues to conduct cutting edge research and to innovate across all its programmes to provide business leaders with the knowledge and sensitivity to operate anywhere. These core values have enabled INSEAD to become truly "The Business School for the World".

More information about INSEAD can be found at www.insead.edu.



INSEAD Press Contact

communications@insead.edu

Attachments
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / A few days ago, Lockin China, a global career development platform for young talents, launched a press conference. Lockin has made a massive transformation over the past three years, emerging from a small specific market of Chinese overseas students to setting off for the vast high sea of the world human resource market. At the very beginning of the company's development, it only served hundreds of thousands of Chinese students studying abroad, helping them find jobs back home. However, it has now become a transnational job recruitment platform, accumulating a large volume of student data from thousands of universities worldwide and connecting them with companies from all over the world.

Lockin's development. The first step to be - targeting Chinese returnees students, assisting them with finding jobs in China (the annual average number of Chinese student returnees is between 400,000 to 500,000, this group of students is increasing significantly).

Second step - by solving the employment problems of Chinese overseas students, integrating talent data of thousands of universities in the world, becoming a partner with global universities, providing an exclusive entrance for the overseas student (the total number of Chinese students studying abroad is between 4 million to 5 million).

The final step, through the integration of students' data, it helped them match jobs on a global scale (not only Chinese overseas students but also students from universities all over the world including alumni and will be matched with jobs worldwide).

Reports have shown, from 2015, Lockin has developed rapidly---the number of active users has increased tenfold as it took each step forward. As the search engine industry, job recruitment is a mature market. A company would not win a head-to-head competition with the industry giants. It should approach the market from a different angle, providing various services, absorbing all the resources and becoming a new platform. Online job recruitment is only a branch of the traditional job recruitment industry, subject to the monopoly of the industry giants. However, Lockin jumps out of the monopoly game, survives and thrives.

Looking back at the development of Lockin, Lockin was initially used as a recruitment platform for Chinese students wanting to return to China to find jobs. Provide jobs extremely accurate to 400,000 to 500,000 returnees every year. This has become the starting point for Lockin to integrate resources of global universities.

From 2000, China has become the country that sends the most students overseas. Majority of world-leading universities have been facing difficulties to help Chinese students find jobs back home. Finally, they discovered Lockin, which specifically solves the employment problem of Chinese students.

Many universities' career service centre has invited Lockin to run on-campus recruitment events and workshops, as well as connecting Lockin's website to their career services webpage.

This includes the majority of world top 100 universities, e.g. Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, Imperial College London, Boston University, University of Manchester, University of Chicago, University of Edinburgh, University of Sydney and University of Adelaide etc. Meanwhile, Lockin has established a Global University China Career Union (GUCCU), with more than 200 university career service centres registered.

By launching the "80 Days Event for Global Young Talents", Lockin has managed to integrate resources from world leading universities. In 2018, Lockin have held series of events in 110+ cities worldwide and brought a number of Chinese employers to students on-campus, including Baidu, Didi, OPPO, NIO etc.

Through the years of negotiation and integration, Lockin has earned the trust of world leading universities. It is true that higher institutes overseas have their own talents database. They are now sharing their talents resources with Lockin and connecting their database portal with the company's platform.

Now, Lockin has built the most extensive database of university talents---the Global Talent Map Database (GTMD) and made it a job recruitment platform bridging the world talents and enterprises. It will serve not only Chinese overseas students, but also international and local students from India, Japan, US, France, Korea and many other countries to help them apply for jobs.

In a globalised world, companies are now hunting talents on a global scale. However, no matter in Chinese or overseas market, there is no platform for recruiting global talents online. There is also a massive cost for world companies to build recruitment teams and manage recruitment projects for overseas talents and many employers are facing a narrow range of choices. The emergence of Lockin has succeeded in solving the problem and achieved an integration of the global talents data.

Today, the traditional recruitment giants in the market are now approaching to cooperate with Lockin to access Lockin's global student data and overseas university talent data, because they found that Lockin has comprehensive overseas talent data.

It has been few months since the launch of GTMD. Up to now, the monthly cash income of the product hits more than 1 million CNY. Given to this trend, according to Crystal, it is expected that the company would have a total revenue of 50 million CNY next year. Apart from the Chinese version of Lockin---Lockin China, the company will launch an international version ---LockinU, targeting global companies and global graduates. LockinU app will also be published. Based on the global talents data, the competence of job applicants will be evaluated after they fill in their CVs; suitable jobs and companies will be selected and delivered to candidates, reducing the mismatch between them significantly.

In May 2018, Lockin received a multi-million-dollar, A round of investment from Wuyue Capital, with Banghua Finance as an investment advisor. This round of financing is used to further expanding the channels with overseas universities, opening up overseas user markets, and at the same time building up the R&D team and improving its capabilities.

Wei.Ge@lockinchina.com

SOURCE: Lockin China

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538325/Three-Years-of-Development-The-Growth-of-Lockin--Global-Career-Development-Platform-for-Young-Talents
TURKU, Finland, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Forendo Pharma, a clinical stage drug development company focusing on novel treatments in women's health, today announces that it has successfully completed Phase 1a study of FOR-6219, an HSD17B1 inhibitor for the treatment of endometriosis.

The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigated the safety, tolerability, food effect and pharmacokinetics of single and multiple ascending oral doses of FOR-6219 in 36 healthy postmenopausal women.

In this first-in-human study, single doses of FOR-6219 from 2 mg up to 175 mg and multiple doses up to 150 mg twice daily for 10 days were found to be safe and well tolerated. Only grade 1 (mild) adverse events (AEs) were reported and none of the AEs led to study discontinuation. The pharmacokinetic results showed a dose proportionate exposure and no significant food effect.

The safety and pharmacokinetic profile support the initiation of Phase 1b clinical trial in healthy premenopausal women with the aim to demonstrate Proof of Mechanism. The selective ability of FOR-6219 to inhibit local estrogen production in the endometrium and endometriotic lesions without suppressing women's systemic estrogen levels is expected to be the key differentiation against competing endometriosis therapies. Phase 1b study is planned to be initiated in the summer this year.

Endometriosis is a chronic condition that affects up to 10% of women in reproductive age and causes repeated pain symptoms, infertility and impaired quality of life. Currently available treatments for endometriosis have limitations in efficacy or cause harmful side effects, due to estrogen depletion.

Risto Lammintausta, CEO of Forendo Pharma, said: "We are encouraged by the positive results of this first clinical study. It is an important milestone to Forendo. This data gives a good basis to progress the development of FOR-6219 towards a truly differentiated, next generation treatment for endometriosis patients."

About Forendo Pharma

Forendo Pharma is a privately held drug development company, with core competences in modulating tissue specific hormone mechanisms. The company was founded in 2013 by leading academic endocrinology experts and Finnish drug development pioneers. Forendo is supported by strong international investors: Novo Seeds, Karolinska Development, Novartis Venture Fund, Vesalius Biocapital, M Ventures and Innovestor. The company's pipeline includes FOR-6219, an HSD17B1 inhibitor for the treatment of endometriosis (phase I); inhibitor of another enzyme from the HSD17B family for the treatment of undisclosed gynecological condition (discovery); and Fispemifene, a novel SERM for the treatment of male urological conditions (phase 2). Further information is available at www.forendo.com.
ALBANY, New York, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As per analysis by Transparency Market Research (TMR) the global biostimulants market has a highly competitive vendor landscape. Key players such as Biolchim S.P.A., Koppert Biological Systems, Kelpgrow, Valagro, Syngenta, Italpollina spa, Premier Tech Ltd., and Agriculture Solutions Inc. are operating in the global biostimulants market. Experienced companies are focusing on facilitating partnerships with several players to widen their global presence. Further, the emergence of the new players in the market is leading to fragment the biostimulants market due to the presence of small and mid-sized organizations globally.

According to the report by Transparency Market Research, the biostimulants market is projected to reach a value of US$20.05 bn by 2025 end from the value US$ 5.93 bn in 2016. The market is likely to expand with a stellar CAGR of 12.8% over the forecast period from 2017 and 2025.

Request a Sample of Biostimulants Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=11099

On the basis of products, the seaweed segment dominated the global biostimulants market owing to growing healthcare investment. Based on the region, Europe dominated the biostimulants market by accounting 40% of the total shares in 2016. However, Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a CAGR of 13.9% over the forecast period. This growth is attributable to a growing demand for biostimulants for improving the yield of crops like rice, corn, wheat, and soybeans.

Request For Multiple Chapters: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=MC&rep_id=11099

Growing Adoption of the Profitable Agriculture to Reflect Positively on Market Growth

The biostimulants market is gaining traction due to the growing focus on profitability and quality. In order to achieve this, the crop producers are trying to use the biostimulants or biofertilizers, which is boosting the biostimulants market. Additionally, factors such as acceptance of the profitable horticulture for protecting soil from hazardous chemicals mainly in the developed regions such as Europe and North America is reflecting positively on growth of the global biostimulants market.

Furthermore, growing accessibility of the restricted land, which is mainly used for agricultural businesses and crop cultivation, is likely to propel growth of the global biostimulants market. Additionally, factors such as growing disposable incomes are changing the way of life along with improving the expenditure power, which is extensively driving growth of the global biostimulants market.

Request For Discount On This Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=11099

Government Support to Boost Biostimulants Market's Growth

One of the important factor influencing positively on the growth of the global biostimulants market is the government support for the adoption of biostimulants. Numerous governments are supporting the use of biostimulants for maintaining the balance of environment and soil. This factor too is supporting growth of the biostimulants market. Additionally, governments are also offering numerous subsidies on the use of biostimulants, which is reflecting positively on growth of market.

Despite these factors, lack of knowledge about the presence of these biostimulants especially in the developing countries is likely to hamper adoption of the biostimulants. This is a key factor restraining growth of the global biostimulants market. Nonetheless, swiftly changing the environment and growing penetration of the atmospheric changes, which influences the crop yield. Growing knowledge about the presence of the biostimulants is expected to offer opportunities for growth over the forecast period.

Browse Press Release: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/biostimulants-market.htm

This information is encompassed in the report by TMR, titled, "Biostimulants Market (Product - Humic Acid, Fulvic Acid, Amino Acids, Microbial Stimulant, Seaweed, Vitamins, and Biorationals; Application - Oilseeds and Pulses, Cereals and Grains, and Fruits and Vegetables) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025."

For the study, the biostimulants market has been segmented as follows:

Product

Humic Acid

Fulvic Acid

Amino acids

Microbial stimulant

Seaweed

Vitamins

Biorationals

Application

Oilseeds & Pulses

Cereals & grains

Fruits & vegetables

Others

Browse Chemical and Materials Market Research Reports

Popular Research Reports by TMR:

Nanocrystalline Cellulose Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/nanocrystalline-cellulose-market.html

Insulation Materials Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/insulation-materials-market.html

Nanocellulose Technology Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/nanocellulose-technology-market.html

Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/microcrystalline-cellulose-market.html

About Us

Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

Contact

Mr. Rohit Bhisey

Transparency Market Research

State Tower,

90 State Street,

Suite 700,

Albany NY - 12207

United States

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com

Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Research Blog:https://cmfenews.com/

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/664869/Transparency_Market_Research_Logo.jpg
The European Investment Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

The European Investment Trust plc ("the Company")

The Company announces that on 6 March 2019 it purchased the following number of its ordinary shares of 25 pence each on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

Ordinary Shares:

Date of purchase: 6 March 2019 Number of ordinary shares purchased: 30,000 Lowest price per share 805p Highest price per share 805p

The Company intends to cancel the purchased shares.

Following the above transaction, the Company has 40,736,769 ordinary shares in issue. Each of the Company's shares carries one vote. Accordingly, the total number of voting rights of the Company is 40,736,769.

7 March 2019

LEI: 213800QNN9EHZ4SC1R12

Enquiries:

Kenneth J Greig

Edinburgh Partners AIFM Limited

Tel: 0131 270 3800

The Company's registered office address is:

Beaufort House

51 New North Road

Exeter

EX4 4EP
ALBANY, New York, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The vendor landscape of the global essential oil market is highly fragmented in nature owing to the presence of numerous players. This is mainly because of the factors like low entry barriers, efficient manufacturing, and low capital investments associated with the oil products. These factors make the essential oil market easily accessible to local vendors. Key players are anticipated adopt a strategic approach to expand their market shares. Product proliferation, and acquisitions and mergers are a couple of such strategies implemented. Some of the key players operating in the global essential oils market are The Lebermuth Co. Inc., DoTERRA International LLC, Young Living Essential Oils, and Enio Bonchev Production Ltd.

According to Transparency Market Research, the global essential oil market is expected to rise at a splendid CAGR of 9.60% from 2017 to 2022. The market was valued at 17.36 bn in 2017 and it is projected to touch a valuation of US$27.49 bn by the end of 2022.

Request a Sample of Global Essential Oil Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=31019

On the basis of geography, Europe is anticipated to lead the global essential oils market during the forecast period. This is mainly because of the presence of key players in the region and high awareness among people regarding different applications of essential oils. Based on product, the demand for citrus oils is projected to remain highest owing their fragrance and health benefits.

Increasing Use of Essential Oils in Cosmetic and Skincare Products to Boost Growth

The global essential oil market is forecast to expand at a steady pace throughout the forecast period. This is mainly because of the increasing application of essential oil in different industries. Foods and beverage, cosmetic and skincare, and pharmaceuticals are major end users of the essential oils. The increasing demand from this industries is expected to fuel the growth of the global essential oil market. The increasing inclination of the consumers towards natural product is expected to fuel growth of the global essential oil market. Apart from this, rising concerns with regards to pollution and health hazards triggered by exposure to certain chemicals pose a positive impact for the growth of the essential oil market. In addition to this, increasing use of essential oil in aromatherapy is poised to surge the global essential oil market in the near future. The rise in disposable income will augur well for the global market. A rising use of essential oil in pharmaceuticals is also expected to create attractive opportunities for growth.

Request For Multiple Chapters: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=MC&rep_id=31019

Lack of Awareness Could Restrain Growth Opportunities

Despite several driving factors, growth in the global essential oil market may suffer in the near future. High prices of essential oils and lack of awareness among consumers regarding their key benefits prime factors hampering growth in the global essential oil market.

Nonetheless, key manufacturers are working to increase the awareness of essential oils in various natural therapies and home remedies through rigorous advertisement. This could improve growth prospects for the market in the forthcoming years. Furthermore, introduction of novel techniques for manufacturing of essential oil is predicted to create lucrative growth prospects for the essential oil market in the forecast.

Request For Discount On This Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=31019

This review is based on a TMR report, titled "Essential Oil Market (Product Type - Spice Oil, Spice Seed Oil, Citrus Oil, Herb Oil, and Perfumery Oil; Extraction Method - Distillation, Solvent, and Cold Pressing; Application - Personal care and cosmetic, Food and beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Aromatherapy, and Industrial; Sales Channel - Specialty store, Modern Trade, Drug Stores, and Online Store) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2022."

The report segments the global essential oil market as:

Product

Spice Oil

Spice Seed Oil

Citrus Oil

Herb Oil

Perfumery Oil

Extraction Method

Distillation

Solvent Extraction

Cold Pressing

Application

Personal Care and Cosmetic

Food and Beverage

Pharmaceutical

Aromatherapy

Industrial

Sales Channel

Specialty Store

Modern Trade

Drug Store

Online Store

Region

North America

o U.S

oCanada

Latin America

oBrazil

oMexico

oArgentina

Europe

oGermany

o U.K

oFrance

oSpain

oItaly

o Nordic

Japan

Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ)

oChina

oIndia

oMalaysia

oThailand

oSingapore

oAustralia

Middle East and Africa (MEA)

o GCC

oSouth Africa

oNigeria

oIsrael

Browse Food & Beverages Market Research Reports

Popular Research Reports by TMR:

Precooked Flour Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/precooked-flour-market.html

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/precooked-flour-market.html Milk Fat Replacers Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/milk-fat-replacers-market.html

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/milk-fat-replacers-market.html Haitian Vetiver Oil Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/haitian-vetiver-oil-market.html

About Us

Transparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals.

Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories.

TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision."

Contact

Mr. Rohit Bhisey

Transparency Market Research

State Tower,

90 State Street,

Suite 700,

Albany NY - 12207

United States

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com

Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Research Blog: https://cmfenews.com
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2019) -Leucrotta Exploration Inc. (TSXV: LXE) ("Leucrotta" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its 2018 year-end reserves as independently evaluated by GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. ("GLJ") effective December 31, 2018 (the "GLJ Report"), in accordance with National Instrument 51-101 ("NI 51-101") and Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation ("COGE") Handbook. All dollar figures are Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

2018 Highlights

Increased proved plus probable reserves by 60% to 59.2 million boe.

Increased proved reserves by 38% to 20.8 million boe.

Reserve replacement of 1,805% on a proved plus probable basis and 546% on a proved basis.

Achieved finding and development costs including changes in future development capital ("FDC") on a proved plus probable basis of $8.38 per boe.

Lower Montney cumulative booked reserves on only 13 net sections of approximately 220 net sections in the Doe/Mica/Two Rivers Montney Core area.

Upper Montney cumulative booked reserves on only 4.5 net sections of approximately 220 net sections in the Doe/Mica/Two Rivers Montney Core area.

Increased Net Asset Value to $1.66 per share exclusive of land value ($2.23 per share including land at cost).

Strategic Focus

Since inception, Leucrotta's focus has been on defining and quantifying its large Montney resource by moving the various Montney zones from exploration through the appraisal and delineation phases and ultimately to the development ready phase. Leucrotta has identified 3 potential Montney zones on its lands that it is moving through the various phases.

Lower Montney Turbidite

The Lower Montney Turbidite is the most pervasive zone on Leucrotta's land base and characterized as being predominantly in the volatile light oil window. Leucrotta has internally estimated that there are potentially over 5 billion barrels of light oil originally in place in addition to potentially over 5 TCF of original gas in place on its lands in the Lower Montney Turbidite.

To date, Leucrotta estimates that it has moved the project from exploration phase through to development ready phase on 140 of the approximately 220 net sections of land. On the 140 sections, Leucrotta has completed the following:

Collecting data to support the estimated resource in place including mapping the extent of such resource.

Delineating a large portion of the lands with vertical and horizontal wells.

Increased the frac intensity to successfully increase productivity and estimated recoveries.

Of note for 2018, the 5-19 well at north Mica not only proved a material extension of the productive area of the zone but added additional evidence that increased frac intensity has a positive effect on productivity and estimated recoveries.

The current reserve report reflects the development ready phase for the project but still has only 13 of the total approximately 220 net sections booked. When moving to full development, certain areas of focus to improve economics and enhance the values in the reserve report include:

Reducing capital and operating costs through pad development and economies of scale.

Increasing liquids yields through installation of deep cut plant (25% of booked reserves are currently oil and NGLs and deep cut plant could increase this to as much as an estimated 36%).

Increasing recoveries and improving economics through extended length wells and further frac design enhancements.

The remaining 80 sections are in the appraisal phase. Leucrotta intends to drill a horizontal multi-frac well on the block in late 2019 or early 2020 to assess productivity.

Upper Montney

The Upper Montney is also pervasive on Leucrotta's land base but less delineated than the Lower Montney Turbidite. The Upper Montney lands straddle the volatile light oil window and the condensate-rich gas window, however, lack of delineation to this point leaves the line between the two somewhat interpretative. Leucrotta has internally estimated that there are potentially over 1.5 billion barrels of light oil originally in place in addition to potentially over 2.5 TCF of original gas in place on its lands in the Upper Montney.

To date, approximately 8 net sections of Leucrotta's lands that are located at Doe are considered development ready while the remaining lands are either in delineation or appraisal phases. The successful A10-08 well at Two Rivers (previously announced test rate (June 18, 2018) of 1,842 boepd including 685 boepd of light oil) will move a significant area surrounding this well to the delineation phase. Based on the success of the A10-08 well, Leucrotta intends to drill additional appraisal wells on the land base.

The current reserve base reflects the development ready phase of the Upper Montney at Doe with only 4.5 of the total approximately 220 net sections booked. Given the complementary effect of stacked zones, the Upper Montney would benefit in a similar nature from the commercial development of the Lower Montney Turbidite as described above.

Below Lower Montney ("BLM")

The BLM is the lowest portion of the Montney and has been successfully tested by other operators from Pouce Coupe to Kakwa. Leucrotta has gathered various geological information through drilling other wells on its lands and believes the lands are primarily located within the volatile light oil window. Leucrotta has internally estimated that there are potentially over 4 billion barrels of light oil originally in place in addition to potentially over 4 TCF of original gas in place on its lands in the Below Lower Montney. No reserves have been booked in this zone.

For 2019, Leucrotta intends to drill one horizontal multi-frac appraisal well to test the productivity of this zone.

Outlook for 2019

Leucrotta estimates as at March 31, 2019 it will have approximately $5 million net working capital and no debt in addition to an undrawn bank line of $25 million.

Leucrotta intends to remain conservative and debt-free during 2019 while executing on its most impactful capital projects from a value and future growth perspective. Projects would include building infrastructure to tie in existing wells to increase production and cash flow, drilling an appraisal well in the BLM and delineation wells in the Upper Montney to prove stacked zones for future development.

Expansion of infrastructure and moving to pad development is expected to start in mid-2020.

Overview of 2018 Reserve Bookings

Leucrotta had several positives in the 2018 GLJ Report which include:

Positive technical revisions of 2,024 mboe (Proved plus probable).

Increase of $84 million in overall value of reserves (proved plus probable 10% NPV) despite an estimated $20 million reduction due to change in pricing from 2017 to 2018.

Leucrotta has maintained a conservative philosophy to booking reserves and has only booked locations immediately offsetting previously drilled wells that cover a large geographic area. A total of 4 new wells and 21 new locations were booked. Positive reserve revisions were material at 2.0 million boe due primarily to well performance and higher liquid recoveries.

New locations booked within the Lower Montney Turbidite oil window averaged 872 mboe per well on a proved plus probable basis, which is consistent with the 2017 average booking of 855 mboe.

On a cumulative basis, Leucrotta has booked 17 horizontal Montney wells and 53 horizontal Montney locations of which 13 wells and 39 locations are in the Lower Montney Turbidite.

Leucrotta has estimated, based on mapping and other technical data, that it has over 1,000 potential Montney drilling locations (predominantly in the Lower Montney Turbidite). Leucrotta has initially estimated locations based on 3 to 4 wells per section per zone.

Leucrotta estimates that it has the current financial capability (assuming pricing and performance are comparable to the GLJ Report) to execute on the $330 million of FDC (first five year average of $60 million) included in the GLJ Report and therefore realize on the values presented. Should Leucrotta be able to obtain similar drilling results on future wells, there is a large potential value to be booked and subsequently realized given Leucrotta's large unbooked drilling inventory.

For additional information on reserves assigned to these drilling locations please see "Forward Looking Information - Potential Drilling Locations" at the end of this news release.

Capital Expenditures

Leucrotta's capital expenditures were focused predominantly in the Doe/Mica area to expand its land base, improve and expand infrastructure, and delineate its large Montney land base. Capital allocation by category is as follows:

Unaudited (1) ($000s) 2018 2017 Property acquisition - 35,550 Undeveloped land 2,642 1,812 Equipment disposition - (1,100)

Sub-total acquisitions/dispositions 2,642 36,262 Drilling and completion 26,737 34,831 Facilities and related infrastructure 6,806 20,438 Geological, geophysical and other 496 883 Sub-total capital expenditures 34,039 56,152 Total all-in capital 36,681 92,414

Note: (1) Numbers are unaudited. See "Unaudited Financial Information" section

Reserves Summary

Leucrotta's December 31, 2018 reserves as prepared by GLJ effective December 31, 2018 and based on the GLJ (2019-01) future price forecast are as follows (1,4):



Working Interest Reserves (2) Light/

Medium Oil

(Mbbl)

Tight Oil

(Mbbl) Conventional

Natural Gas

(Mmcf) Shale

Natural Gas

(Mmcf)

NGLs

(Mbbl) Total Oil

Equivalent

(Mboe) (3) Proved











Producing 43 392 9 18,677 704 4,254 Developed non-producing 0 68 0 6,032 112 1,186 Undeveloped 0 965 0 70,443 2,685 15,390 Total proved 43 1,425 9 95,152 3,502 20,830 Probable 21 3,281 4 171,062 6,511 38,324 Total proved & probable 63 4,706 13 266,214 10,013 59,154

Notes: (1) Numbers may not add due to rounding. (2) "Working Interest" or "Gross" reserves means Leucrotta's working interest (operating and non-operating) share before deduction of royalties and without including any royalty interest of Leucrotta. (3) Oil equivalent amounts have been calculated using a conversion rate of six thousand cubic feet of natural gas to one barrel of oil. (4) Disclosure of Net reserves will be included in Company's AIF to be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com on or before April 30, 2019. "Net" reserves means Leucrotta's working interest (operated and non-operated) share after deduction of royalties, plus Leucrotta's royalty interest in reserves.

Reserves Values

The estimated future net revenues before taxes associated with Leucrotta's reserves effective December 31, 2018 and based on the GLJ (2019-01) future price forecast are summarized in the following table (1,2,3,4):



Discount factor per year ($000s) 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% Proved









Producing 58,324 49,935 43,549 38,630 34,769 Developed Non-producing 12,965 8,929 6,654 5,244 4,300 Undeveloped 160,837 94,832 56,764 33,471 18,511 Total proved 232,126 153,696 106,966 77,345 57,580 Probable 665,206 366,238 223,388 145,644 99,027 Total proved & probable 897,333 519,933 330,354 222,989 156,607

Notes: (1) Numbers may not add due to rounding. (2) The estimated future net revenues are stated prior to provision for interest, debt service charges or general administrative expenses and after deduction of royalties, operating costs, estimated well abandonment and reclamation costs and estimated future capital expenditures. (3) The estimated future net revenue contained in the table does not necessarily represent the fair market value of the reserves. There is no assurance that the forecast price and cost assumptions contained in the GLJ Report will be attained and variations could be material. The recovery and reserve estimates described herein are estimates only. Actual reserves may be greater or less than those calculated. (4) The after-tax present values of future net revenue attributed to Leucrotta's reserves will be included in Company's AIF to be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com on or before April 30, 2019.

Price Forecast

The GLJ (2019-01) price forecast is as follows:

Year WTI Oil @ Cushing

($US / Bbl) Edmonton Light Oil

($Cdn / Bbl) AECO Natural Gas

($Cdn / Mmbtu) Foreign Exchange

(US$/Cdn$) 2019 56.25 63.33 1.85 0.750 2020 63.00 75.32 2.29 0.770 2021 67.00 79.75 2.67 0.790 2022 70.00 81.48 2.90 0.810 2023 72.50 83.54 3.14 0.820 2024 75.00 86.06 3.23 0.825 2025 77.50 89.09 3.34 0.825 2026 80.41 92.62 3.41 0.825 2027 82.02 94.57 3.48 0.825 2028 83.66 96.56 3.54 0.825 Escalate thereafter (1) 2.0% per year 2.0% per year 2.0% per year



Note: (1) Escalated at two per cent per year starting in 2029 in the January 1, 2019 GLJ price forecast with the exception of foreign exchange, which remains flat.

Net Asset Value ("NAV")

Leucrotta's NAV as at December 31, 2018 and based on the GLJ (2019-01) future price forecast is as follows:

($000s, except per share amounts) Pre-tax net present value ("NPV") of proved & probable reserves discounted at 10% 330,354 Undeveloped land (1) 115,400 Working capital 2,102 Net asset value 447,856



Shares outstanding (basic) 200,526 Net asset value per share $2.23





Note: (1) Undeveloped land is included at cost of approximately $770 per acre



Reserve Life Index ("RLI")

Leucrotta's RLI presented below is based on estimated Q4 2018 average production of 3,202 boe per day.

Reserve Category RLI Proved plus Probable Reserves 50.6 Proved 17.8

Reserves Reconciliation

The following summary reconciliation of Leucrotta's working interest reserves compares changes in the Company's reserves as at December 31, 2018 to the reserves as at December 31, 2017 based on the based on the GLJ (2019-01) future price forecast (1,2) :

Total Proved Conventional Shale Natural Total Oil Light/Medium Oil Tight Oil Natural Gas Gas NGLs Equivalent (Mbbl) (Mbbl) (Mmcf) (Mmcf) (Mbbl) (Mboe) (3) Opening balance 33 1,165 27 70,813 2,049 15,054 Discoveries - - - - - - Extensions and improved recovery - 368 - 28,353 901 5,994 Technical revisions 17 27 (10 ) 2,644 750 1,233 Acquisitions - - - - - - Dispositions - - - - - - Economic factors 8 - - (981 ) - (156 ) Production (15 ) (136 ) (8 ) (5,676 ) (198 ) (1,296 ) Closing balance 43 1,425 9 95,152 3,502 20,830

Proved plus Probable Conventional Shale Natural Total Oil Light/Medium Oil Tight Oil Natural Gas Gas NGLs Equivalent (Mbbl) (Mbbl) (Mmcf) (Mmcf) (Mbbl) (Mboe) (3) Opening balance 52 3,347 44 171,303 5,097 37,054 Discoveries - - - - - - Extensions and improved recovery - 1,710 - 98,700 3,473 21,632 Technical revisions 19 (215 ) (22 ) 3,495 1,641 2,024 Acquisitions - - - - - - Dispositions - - - - - - Economic factors 7 - - (1,607 ) - (260 ) Production (15 ) (136 ) (8 ) (5,676 ) (198 ) (1,296 ) Closing balance 63 4,706 13 266,214 10,013 59,154

Notes: (1) Numbers may not add due to rounding. (2) "Working Interest" or "Gross" reserves means Leucrotta's working interest (operating and non-operating) share before deduction of royalties and without including any royalty interest of Leucrotta. (3) Oil equivalent amounts have been calculated using a conversion rate of six thousand cubic feet of natural gas to one barrel of oil.

Finding and Development Costs ("F&D") and Finding, Development and Acquisition Costs ("FD&A")

F&D costs exclude net property acquisitions/dispositions, undeveloped land acquisitions, and gas plant equipment which was not in use. F&D costs, including FDC, were $13.19 per boe on a proved basis and $8.38 per boe on a proved plus probable basis.

FD&A costs, including FDC, were $13.56 per boe on a proved basis and $8.49 per boe on a proved plus probable basis. The three-year cumulative which normalizes the period costs was $15.79 per boe on a proved basis and $9.13 per boe on a proved plus probable basis.

FD&A costs were significantly affected by the large amount expended for land during 2016 to 2018 with no direct reserve additions during these periods for these expenditures. Certain infrastructure costs were also incurred during the period that affects all future projects as well as current projects. Long-term FD&A will normalize both these cost areas but 2016 to 2018 were negatively affected.

Leucrotta has presented FD&A and F&D costs below:

2018 2017 3 Year Cumulative Proved & Proved & Proved & ($000's, except where noted) Proved Probable Proved Probable Proved Probable F&D costs (excluding net acquisitions/dispositions)(1) Exploration and development expenditures 34,039 34,039 56,152 56,152 105,099 105,099 Change in FDC (2) 59,233 162,020 22,546 71,910 95,048 260,572 F&D costs excluding net acquisitions/dispositions (Including FDC) 93,272 196,059 78,698 128,062 200,147 365,671 FD&A costs (including net acquisitions/dispositions) Exploration and development expenditures 34,039 34,039 56,152 56,152 105,099 105,099 Net acquisitions (dispositions) 2,642 2,642 36,262 36,262 42,570 42,570 FD&A costs including net acquisitions/dispositions 36,681 36,681 92,414 92,414 147,669 147,669 Change in FDC 59,233 162,020 22,546 71,910 95,048 260,572 FD&A costs including net acquisitions/dispositions (Including FDC) 95,914 198,701 114,960 164,324 242,717 408,241 Reserve Additions (Mboe) (3) Exploration and development 7,072 23,396 5,862 15,108 15,374 44,437 Net acquisitions/dispositions - - - 298 - 298 Total Reserve Additions 7,072 23,396 5,862 15,406 15,374 44,735 F&D costs excluding net acquisitions/dispositions ($/boe) Excluding FDC 4.81 1.45 9.58 3.72 6.84 2.37 Including FDC 13.19 8.38 13.43 8.48 13.02 8.23 FD&A costs ($/boe) Excluding FDC 5.19 1.57 15.76 6.00 9.61 3.30 Including FDC 13.56 8.49 19.61 10.67 15.79 9.13

Notes: (1) F&D and FD&A costs are unaudited. See "Unaudited Financial Information" section. (2) Future development capital ("FDC") expenditures required to recover reserves estimated by GLJ. The aggregate of the exploration and development costs incurred in the most recent financial period and the change during that period in estimated future development costs generally may not reflect total finding and development costs related to reserve additions for that period. (3) Sum of drilling extensions, technical revisions and economic factors in the reserves reconciliation included above.

For Leucrotta's full NI 51-101 disclosure related to its 2018 year-end reserves please refer to the Company's AIF to be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com on or before April 30, 2019.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "believe", "intends", "forecast", "plans", "guidance" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements or information.

More particularly and without limitation, this document contains forward-looking statements and information relating to the Company's oil, NGLs and natural gas production and reserves and reserves values, capital programs, and oil, NGLs, and natural gas commodity prices. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including expectations and assumptions relating to prevailing commodity prices and exchange rates, applicable royalty rates and tax laws, future well production rates, the performance of existing wells, the success of drilling new wells, the availability of capital to undertake planned activities and the availability and cost of labour and services.

Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general such as operational risks in development, exploration and production, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures, the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production rates, costs and expenses, commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, marketing and transportation, environmental risks, competition, the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources and changes in tax, royalty and environmental legislation. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this document are made as of the date hereof for the purpose of providing the readers with the Company's expectations for the coming year. The forward-looking statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

Reserves Data

There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of light and medium oil, tight oil, shale gas, conventional natural gas and NGLs reserves and the future cash flows attributed to such reserves. The reserve and associated cash flow information set forth above are estimates only. In general, estimates of economically recoverable light and medium oil, tight oil, shale gas, conventional natural gas and NGLs reserves and the future net cash flows therefrom are based upon a number of variable factors and assumptions, such as historical production from the properties, production rates, ultimate reserve recovery, timing and amount of capital expenditures, marketability of oil and natural gas, royalty rates, the assumed effects of regulation by governmental agencies and future operating costs, all of which may vary materially.

Individual properties may not reflect the same confidence level as estimates of reserves for all properties due to the effects of aggregation.

This news release contains estimates of the net present value of the Company's future net revenue from its reserves. Such amounts do not represent the fair market value of the Company's reserves.

The reserves data contained in this news release has been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 51-101 ("NI 51-101"). The reserve data provided in this news release presents only a portion of the disclosure required under NI 51-101. All of the required information will be contained in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2018, to be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com on or before April 30, 2019.

Reserves are estimated remaining quantities of oil and natural gas and related substance anticipated to be recoverable from known accumulations, as of a given date, based on the analysis of drilling, geological, geophysical and engineering data; the use of established technology, and specified economic conditions, which are generally accepted as being reasonable. Reserves are classified according to the degree of certainty associated with the estimates as follows:

Proved Reserves are those reserves that can be estimated with a high degree of certainty to be recoverable. It is likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will exceed the estimated proved reserves.

Probable Reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than proved reserves. It is equally likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will be greater or less than the sum of the estimated proved plus probable reserves.

Potential Drilling Locations

This news release discloses drilling locations in four categories: (i) proved undeveloped locations; (ii) probable undeveloped locations; (iii) unbooked locations; and (iv) an aggregate total of (i), (ii) and (iii).

Of the 1,000 total potential/possible Montney locations referenced in page 2 of this news release, only the following have been assigned reserves at December 31, 2018 as independently evaluated by GLJ, in accordance with NI 51-101:

19 Proved Undeveloped

34 Probable Undeveloped

The remaining 947 potential/possible locations are unbooked.

Unbooked locations are based on the Company's prospective acreage and internal estimates as to the number of wells that can be drilled per section. Unbooked locations do not have attributed reserves or resources (including contingent and prospective). Unbooked locations have been identified by management as an estimation of the Company's multi-year drilling activities based on evaluation of applicable geologic, seismic, engineering, production and reserves information and performed by a Qualified Reserves Evaluator (QRE). There is no certainty that the Company will drill all unbooked drilling locations and if drilled there is no certainty that such locations will result in additional oil and gas reserves, resources or production. The drilling locations on which the Company will actually drill wells, including the number and timing thereof is ultimately dependent upon the availability of funding, regulatory approvals, seasonal restrictions, oil and natural gas prices, costs, actual drilling results, additional reservoir information that is obtained and other factors. While certain of the unbooked drilling locations have been de-risked by drilling existing wells in relative close proximity to such unbooked drilling locations, the majority of other unbooked drilling locations are farther away from existing wells where management has less information about the characteristics of the reservoir and therefore there is more uncertainty whether wells will be drilled in such locations and if drilled there is more uncertainty that such wells will result in additional oil and gas reserves, resources or production.

Original Oil in Place (OOIP) and Original Gas in Place (OGIP)

OGIP (Original Gas in Place) and OOIP (Original Oil in Place) are equivalent to Total Petroleum Initially In Place ("TPIIP").

TPIIP - as defined in the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluations Handbook ("COGEH"), is that quantity of petroleum that is estimated to exist originally in naturally occurring accumulations and is potentially producible. It includes that quantity of petroleum that is estimated, as of a given date, to be contained in known accumulations, prior to production, plus those estimated quantities in accumulations yet to be discovered (equivalent to "total resources"). There is no certainty that any portion of the resources will be discovered. If discovered, there is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the resources.

The OGIP and OOIP estimates quoted in this press release are unaudited internal estimates effective December 31, 2018 prepared by a qualified reserves evaluator in accordance with the COGE Handbook. Product type for the OOIP number is "tight oil" and product type for the OGIP number is "shale gas". The location of the resource is the Montney formation in the Doe, Mica and Two Rivers areas of Northeast British Columbia, North of the Town of Dawson Creek and East of Fort St. John. Leucrotta owns 222 net sections (234 gross) of Montney rights in that area with an average working interest of 94%. The resource estimates quoted in this release represent Leucrotta's net working interest share.The key variables relevant to the evaluation are porosity, reservoir thickness, pressure, water saturation and gas composition which have increasing uncertainty, both positive and negative, with distance from existing wells.

Test Rates

The A10-08-83-16W6 well was production tested for 6 days after the original cleanup and produced at an average rate of 1,100 boe/d (48% gas, 52% Oil and Condensate) over that period, excluding load fluid and energizing fluid. At the end of the test, flowing wellhead pressure and production rates were stable. As noted earlier, this well had a flow rate on the last day of the test of 1,842 boepd.

A pressure transient analysis or well-test interpretation has not been carried out on this well and thus certain of the test results provided herein should be considered preliminary until such analysis or interpretation has been completed. Test results and initial production rates disclosed herein may not necessarily be indicative of long term performance or of ultimate recovery.

BOE Conversions

BOE's may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of 6 Mcf: 1 Bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.

Unaudited Financial Information

Certain financial and operating results included in this news release such as FD&A costs, F&D costs, capital expenditures, working capital and production information are based on unaudited estimated results. These estimated results are subject to change upon completion of the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018, and changes could be material. The Company anticipates filing its audited financial statements and related management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2018 on SEDAR at www.sedar.com on or before April 30, 2019.

Industry Metrics

This news release contains metrics commonly used in the oil and natural gas industry. Each of these metrics is determined by the Company as set out below or elsewhere in this news release. These metrics are "reserve replacement", "F&D costs", "FD&A costs", "net asset value", and "reserve-life index". These metrics do not have standardized meanings and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. As such, they should not be used to make comparisons.

Management uses these oil and gas metrics for its own performance measurements and to provide shareholders with measures to compare the Company's performance over time, however, such measures are not reliable indicators of the Company's future performance and future performance may not compare to the performance in previous periods.

"F&D costs" are calculated by dividing the sum of the total capital expenditures for the year (in dollars) by the change in reserves within the applicable reserves category (in boe). F&D costs, including FDC, includes all capital expenditures in the year as well as the change in FDC required to bring the reserves within the specified reserves category on production.

"FD&A costs" are calculated by dividing the sum of the total capital expenditures for the year inclusive of the net acquisition costs and disposition proceeds (in dollars) by the change in reserves within the applicable reserves category inclusive of changes due to acquisitions and dispositions (in boe). FD&A costs, including FDC, includes all capital expenditures in the year inclusive of the net acquisition costs and disposition proceeds as well as the change in FDC required to bring the reserves within the specified reserves category on production.

The Company uses F&D and FD&A as a measure of the efficiency of its overall capital program including the effect of acquisitions and dispositions. The aggregate of the exploration and development costs incurred in the most recent financial year and the change during that year in estimated future development costs generally will not reflect total finding and development costs related to reserves additions for that year.

"Net Asset Value" or "NAV" is calculated based on Leucrotta's estimated future net revenues before taxes associated with Leucrotta's reserves plus the value of undeveloped land and working capital, divided by the number of common shares outstanding. The term NAV does not have any standardized meaning according to IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Management believes that NAV can provide information useful to its shareholders in understanding its performance and may assist in the evaluation of its business relative to its peers.

"Reserve replacement" is calculated by dividing the annual proved plus probable reserve adds (in boe) by the Company's annual production (in boe). The Company uses this measure to determine the relative change of its reserves base over a period of time by measuring the amount of proved reserves and proved plus probable reserves added to a company's reserve base during the year relative to the amount of oil and gas produced.

"Reserve life index" or "RLI" is calculated by dividing the reserves (in boe) in the referenced category by the latest quarter of production (in boe) annualized. The Company uses this measure to determine how long the booked reserves will last at current production rates if no further reserves were added.

Abbreviations

Bbl barrel Mbbl thousands of barrels MMbtu millions of British thermal units Mcf thousand cubic feet MMcf million cubic feet Tcf trillion cubic feet NGLs natural gas liquids BOE barrel of oil equivalent MBOE thousands of barrels of oil equivalent WTI West Texas Intermediate at Cushing Oklahoma

For further information, please contact:

LEUCROTTA EXPLORATION INC.

700, 639 -5th Ave SW

Calgary, Alberta T2P 0M9

www.leucrotta.ca

Phone: (403) 705-4525

Fax: (403) 705-4526

Robert Zakresky

President and Chief Executive Officer

Phone: (403) 705-4525

Nolan Chicoine

Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Phone: (403) 705-4525

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43276
ROCKVILLE, Maryland, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- With the higher requirement to fulfill energy needs, the market for power generation pumps is on a rise. This growth is experienced primarily in the developing regions and is expected to further intensify in the coming years. Fact.MR has carefully assessed the global power generation pumps market through its recently published report titled "Power Generation Pumps Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking - Global Market Insights 2018 to 2028". The purpose of this assessment is to highlight the key variations experienced across the concerned market during the period until 2028. Readers can access vital statistics associated to market size, regional market share and competitive analysis through this intelligent study.

According to this Fact.MR investigation, the power generation pumps market is expected to witness stable growth, as well as demand for power generation pumps is projected to touch 3.7% CAGR in terms of volume during the forecast period, 2018-2028. The chief objective of the report focusing on the power generation pumps market is to deliver select information from within the sector, thereby permitting the key players along with new entrants to design business strategies. In addition, information concerning growth opportunities across the power generation pumps market is also enclosed in this study.

Request For Sample Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2430

Rising Energy Requirements Set to Drive the Power Generation Pumps Market

Based on the statistics gathered by the International Energy Agency, the global energy needs swelled by 2.1% in 2017; twice as compared to its preceding year. The contribution of oil, natural gas, and coal led to the fulfillment of 70% of worldwide energy demand, whereas renewable energy acquired the remaining share. The development of new power plants to fulfill the ever-increasing need for energy has sternly shifted the focus on energy efficiency. Considering the process optimization in order to lessen energy consumption, the demand for power generation pumps presenting efficiency is likely to advance.

The involvement of manufacturers around the globe to deploy cost-effective solutions through the delivery of new pump design, together with research and development is successfully contributing towards the growth of the target market.

Browse Full Report on Power Generation Pumps Market with in-depth TOC- https://www.factmr.com/report/2430/power-generation-pumps-market

Increased Preference for Smart Monitoring Technologies Influencing Market Growth

It has been noticed that older motors as well as power generation pumps have led to increased risk associated to unplanned outage and higher maintenance cost. For ensuring safe power plant operations, the adoption of progressive monitoring technologies is gaining pace. It is anticipated that demand for pumps equipped with sensors is likely to rise in the near future.

The incorporation of sensor technologies that support automatic monitoring of the power generation pumps is gaining traction. These pumps are equipped with multiple sensors for measuring voltage, vibration, pressure, current and temperature.

Request Methodology of this Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RM&rep_id=2430

APAC Region to Govern Power Generation Pumps Market

According to this researched study, the APAC region is witnessing a rise in demand for power and electricity. After the implementation of new government regulations along with emission standards, several countries in APAC region are transferring to cleaner source of energy.

Furthermore, the increasing demand for power emerging from various industries has directly influenced the demand for power generation pumps across the APAC region. Based on the report, various nations in the target region have promoted policy framework as well as increased regional co-operation to enhance investments for supporting upgraded power generation pumps.

Popular Industrial Goods Market Reports from Fact.MR

Oil and Gas Pumps Market- Growing oil supply from Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the U.S. is likely to create sustained opportunities for oil & gas pumps market players.

Hydraulic Gear Pump Market- Hydraulic gear pumps find extensive adoption in the building & construction industry. Flourishing building & construction activities, across both developed and developing economies, are foreseen to generate substantial demand for high-quality equipment. This, in turn, is creating prime opportunities for the manufacturers of hydraulic gear pumps in terms of volume sales.

Air Flow Sensors Market- The global Air flow sensors market is estimated to be valued at US$ 1,942.5 Mn by 2018 end and is expected to reach US$ 2,577.1 Mn by the end of 2026 while expanding at a CAGR of 3.6% over the forecast period. The global Air flow sensors market is anticipated to represent incremental opportunity of US$ 634.6 Mn between 2018 and 2026.

About Fact.MR

Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/713666/FactMR_Logo.jpg

Contact Us

Rohit Bhisey

Fact.MR

11140 Rockville Pike

Suite 400

Rockville, MD 20852

United States

Email: sales@factmr.com

Web: https://www.factmr.com/
HONG KONG, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / Digital Economy Industry Innovation Summit was grandly held in Hong Kong, China. This summit gathered more than 800 investors and shared the latest trends of blockchain technology. Showed to everyone how to know different innovative projects and explore it.

Co-founder of MSS, Executive director of GDA Digital Assets Research Institute Mr. TKM TENGKU MING attended the event as a speaker, He explained the latest application trend and prospect of blockchain in finance and other related industries.





Mr. TENGKU MING speaked from the development trend of the Internet ecology, and reviewed the reform of the Internet from the mail in the 1990s to the mobile Internet technology like Alibaba,Taobao and Wechat payment with the smart terminal in the 21st century. It completely changed our traditional way of life and business.

With the birth of Bitcoin in the last decade, Blockchain technology and applications are becoming the next wave of Internet and the power of a new round of change within a few years!





Then Mr. TKM TENGKU MING analyzed the application trend of blockchain in the future,and combined the cross-border payment transactions difficulties with blockchain finance and other scenarios.

For example, He said "If you read newspapers and news information, you will know that many people are losing their wealth and property. Nearly 2,000 different digital coins in the exchange and market. What is the market situation? How can we find out ?"

"Therefore, the regulatory policies will be very important and issued by our government in the next two years,in the future,We all have not seen and can't imagine that in the blockchain finance market."





At the end of the speech, Mr. TKM TENGKU MING introduced the overall situation of the blockchain market in Asia, especially in ASEAN. And pointed out again, "If your business model is based on an individual then your company will be in danger. Because the blockchain technology is decentralized."

The development of the blockchain is still in early time, and we need to take a strategic perspective.

For more information, please contact them at rock@bimgnews.com

SOURCE: BLOCKCHAIN(M)SDN BHD Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538332/Co-founder-of-MSS-MrTKM-TENGKU-MING-attended-2019-Digital-Economy-Industry-Innovation-Summit-and-made-the-speech-of-the-application-prospect-of-blockchain
Vernon, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2019) - True Leaf Medicine International Ltd. (CSE: MJ) (OTCQX: TRLFF) (FSE: TLA) ("True Leaf" or the "Company"), a leading global cannabis and hemp wellness brand for pets, announced today that it has retained Hillcrest Merchant Partners, a respected Toronto-based merchant bank firm, as the Company's Canadian capital markets advisor.

Co-founded by Donato Sferra and Mark Attanasio, Hillcrest Merchant Partners advises companies with considerable growth potential that seek additional capital and/or strategic acquisitions. Hillcrest Merchant Partners provides capital markets advisory services, including introducing its clients to prospective investors, capital structuring, investor presentation and financial modelling preparation, strategic financing alternatives and positioning, and merger and acquisition advisory.

"2019 represents the year of high growth for True Leaf," said Darcy Bomford, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of True Leaf. "We are excited to be working with Hillcrest Merchant Partners to reach our goals with capital markets. With their track record of success in the cannabis industry, we're confident that Hillcrest is the right partner to help us pierce the cannabis clutter as we work with them to secure capital and review potential accretive acquisitions."

The founders of Hillcrest Merchant Partners have worked with many well-known cannabis brands, including Canopy Growth, Cronos Group, Khiron Life Sciences, Organigram, WeedMD, Emerald Health, and Bedrocan Canada. Before he co-founded the firm, Mr. Sferra served as Managing Director of Investment Banking at Eight Capital, formerly known as Dundee Capital Markets, where he led the firm's cannabis investment banking team.

"True Leaf has all the ingredients of a strong brand: a unique niche focus, an impressive leadership team, and a well-established global retail distribution network," said Donato Sferra, Managing Partner of Hillcrest Merchant Partners. "True Leaf sits at the intersection of two high growth industries - cannabis and pets - and is one to watch based on my network and experience. There are many cannabis companies, but few are like True Leaf."

About True Leaf

True Leaf is a leading global cannabis and hemp wellness brand for pets. Inspired by the unconditional love our pets give us every day, we return that love through our wellness pet products which help maintain and protect the natural vitality of our pet companions. "Return the Love" is the purpose that drives our business and is at the heart of our values to bring happiness to pets and their owners.

www.trueleaf.com

Media Contact:

Paul Sullivan

Director, Public Relations

Paul@trueleaf.com

O: 604-685-4742

M: 604-603-7358

Investor Contact:

Kevin Bottomley (Canada)

Director and Corporate Relations

Kevin@trueleaf.com

M: 778-389-9933

Joe Green (US)

Edison Advisors

jgreen@edisongroup.com

O: 646-653-7030

M: 917-575-7089

Follow True Leaf

Twitter: @trueleafmed

Facebook: trueleafmed

Instagram: @trueleafpet

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. Such written and oral disclosures are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and True Leaf hereby claims such safe harbour protection for all forward-looking statements. True Leaf believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions; however, True Leaf's actual results and performance and the value of its securities could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements due to the impact of many factors summarized in the "Risk Factors" section of True Leaf's Offering Circular Form 1-A filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities and other discussions of risk factors contained in True Leaf's periodic filings or supplements to the offering circular. True Leaf's Offering Circular Form 1-A can be found at ir.trueleaf.com. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. True Leaf undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such information for any reason after the date of this presentation unless required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43288
SpendEdge, a global procurement market intelligence firm, has announced the release of their Global Tax Advisory Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005242/en/

Global Tax Advisory Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The emergence of newer business models is resulting in the imposition of taxation regulations to obtain the accountability of all the business sectors to the tax structure. On the other hand, the taxation policies are undergoing reforms regularly to accommodate various aspects of taxation such as indirect taxes, direct taxes, and taxes for transfer pricing for these new business models. One of such instances is the global tax reset project undertaken by international organizations such as G20 and OECD to generate fresh international tax reforms to improve transparency, consistency, and sharing of information between tax authorities across nations. Such dynamism will play as one of the critical cost drivers for the tax advisory services market. Read the Free Sample of this tax advisory services market research report!

The corporate tax structure in the US is poised to undergo significant reforms following the implementation of the TCJA and the BEAT act. This is expected to propel the category demand as the companies will seek tax advisory services to ensure compliance with the reformed tax regulations. The popularity of cryptocurrency as a transaction medium in the US is driving the regulatory authorities to enact a new set of taxation guidelines and laws pertaining to these transactions.

Considering the nature of this market, it is imperative that buyers and suppliers stay informed with the latest changes that are reversing the category pricing dynamics. To help buyers devise a tangible procurement strategy for tax advisory services, insights into strategic sourcing, category management, and risk management objectives are offered in this report.

Want personalized information? Request free customization of the tax advisory services market research report!

"Buyers can achieve optimal category spend by partnering with suppliers that agree to provide services based on pricing models suitable for specific requirements," says SpendEdge procurement expert Anil Seth.

This tax advisory services market research report has estimated that the following cost drivers will influence the category growth in the following years:

Engaging with technology-driven suppliers will help buyers reduce category spend

Demand from APAC is likely to grow significantly during the forecast period

Buy the full tax advisory services market research report here!

SpendEdge is now offering limited-time discounts on report purchases. Buy two reports and get the third one for free

SpendEdge's procurement market intelligence reports for the financial services category provide detailed supply market forecasts and information on cost drivers that impact category pricing dynamics. Such information will help procurement managers as well as the suppliers to determine the total cost of ownership and change their procurement strategies accordingly. Additionally, SpendEdge's reports provide category management insights and information on the risk management strategies for the category.

Report scope snapshot: Tax advisory services

US market insights

Supplier cost structure in the US

Margins of suppliers in the US

Category pricing dynamics

Interested to know more about the scope of our market research reports? Download a FREE sample

Best practices

Procurement excellence best practices

Procurement best practices

Sustainability practices

Want customized information from the tax advisory services market research report? Get in touch

Category ecosystem

Competitiveness index for suppliers

Risk management insights

Supplier power score

To view the table of contents of this market research report, Download a FREE sample

Do you purchase multiple reports in a year? Our subscription platform, SpendEdge Insights, provides ready-to-use procurement research reports for various categories. Now access the latest supplier news, innovation landscape, markets insights, pricing dynamics, supplier tracking, risk management insights, and much more at the click of a button. Start your 7-day FREE trial now

Related Reports:

Global Network Payment Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report

Global Insurance Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more, https://www.spendedge.com/request-free-proposal

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005242/en/

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

US: +1 630 984 7340

UK: +44 148 459 9299

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us
MIDLAND, VA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / Smith-Midland Corporation (OTCQX: SMID) project update.

JBG Investment Fund IX, L.L.C and Berwyn, PA-based LCOR are co-developing a unique mixed-use project located in NE Washington, DC called Eckington Yards. The four 11-story multi-family buildings will add a mixture of 681 condominium, townhome and rental units, plus 70,000 square feet of retail space to the dynamic Eckington community.

The complex is organized around a woonerf, a Dutch term for a pedestrian thoroughfare that can also accommodate slow-moving vehicular traffic. This will create a dense urban streetscape that is rare in DC. Setbacks at upper levels of the buildings ensure abundant natural light even at ground level, while a widely varied but complementary mix of facade expressions will break down the complex's apparent scale.

Smith-Midland has been tasked by LCOR and contractor CBG Building Company to manufacture 19,837 square feet of uniquely designed architectural precast concrete cladding panels. The 247 panels will be fabricated utilizing (3) unique finishes. To create some of the varied design elements envisioned by architect Eric Colbert & Associates , one finish will be achieved using plywood molds with the intent for the natural pattern of the wood to show on the face of the exterior concrete surface. The other two finishes will consist of a smooth acid-etch treatment and two different colors of penetrating stain.

"We always appreciate having the chance to use our creative skills and craftsmanship to provide clients with the solution that meets their vision," said Smith-Midland Business Development Manager Chris Grogan, PE.





Photo Copyright: Eric Colbert & Associates

About Smith-Midland Corporation

Smith-Midland Corporation is a publicly traded company (OTCQX: SMID). Smith-Midland develops, manufactures, and sells a broad array of precast concrete products for use primarily in the construction, transportation, and utilities industries. Smith-Midland Corporation has three manufacturing facilities located in Midland, VA, Reidsville, NC, and Columbia, SC. Easi-Set Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smith-Midland Corporation, licenses the production and sale of Easi-Set products, including J-J Hooks, and provides diversification opportunities to the precast industry worldwide. For more information, please call (540) 439-3266 or visit www.smithmidland.com .

This announcement contains forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors which might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, product demand, the impact of competitive products and pricing, capacity and supply constraints or difficulties, general business and economic conditions, the effect of the Company's accounting policies and other risks detailed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Media Inquiries: media@smithmidland.com

Sales Inquiries: (540) 439-3266, info@smithmidland.com

SOURCE: Smith-Midland Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538270/Smith-Midland-Participates-in-Innovative-DC-Mixed-Use-Project
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / EVITRADE Health Systems Corp. (CSE: EVA, OTCQB: EVAHF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company's subsidiary, Western Agri Supply Solutions Corp. ("WASS") has entered into a joint venture with Belt Energy and Biomass, a Nevada hemp focused operator.

Belt Energy and Biomass ("BEB") is focused on the accumulation of relationships with farm bill compliant hemp producers and processors in the United States. Recently, BEB had applied to the State for a Hemp Handlers License to receive and extract hemp for resale. The Hemp Handlers Certificate enables BEB the authority to buy and process industrial hemp in the state of Nevada.

The acquisition of the Hemp Handlers License in Nevada would be the start of the commercial hemp processing strategy for Nevada. With BEB as partners, the Company will have source and processing elements of its CBD strategy completed. This is an opportunity to supply Farm Bill compliant hemp based products for the burgeoning market in the state of Nevada.

EviTrade continues to fulfill its commitment to elevate the human condition through advanced medical solutions and effective health and wellness research and products.

Contact:

EVITRADE Health Systems Corp.

(formerly Auxellence Health Corporation)

Email info@evahealthsystems.com or ceo@auxellence.com

Website http://www.evahealthsystems.com

CSE Micro-site: http://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/evitrade-health-systems-corp

US OTC Markets (OTCQB): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/EVAHF/news

About EVITRADE Health (CSE: EVA, OTCQB: EVAHF)

EVITRADE Health Systems Corp. (formerly, Auxellence Health Corporation), is a technology company specializing in the Health and Life Sciences sector looking to deliver effective personalized health solutions with a higher degree of predictability and consistency.

The Company is focused on the following areas to help improve health: personalized medical care (including CBD usage monitoring and effects on the cardiovascular system), molecular biology, nutraceutical solutions and genetic tailoring.

Through its subsidiaries' focus on technologies involved in extracting and purifying CBD extracts for its personalized healthcare system, the Company may be the first to offer a complete quality assured vertically integrated "CBD Health System" for monitoring and recording the effects of CBD on your cardiovascular system.

Disclaimers

This news release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators and on the OTC Markets website which is posted on www.sedar.com , http://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/evitrade-health-systems-corp , and http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/EVAHF/filings .This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE or CNSX Markets), nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the CSE), or any other regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Company does not undertake to update this news release unless required by applicable law.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities law and may not be offered or sold in the "United States", as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

SOURCE: EVITRADE Health Systems Corp

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538324/Evitrade-Subsidiary-Closes-Joint-Venture-With-Hemp-Industry-Target-In-Nevada
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2019) - New Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: ENRG) (OTC Pink: NEMCF) ("New Energy Metals" or the "Company") announces that, subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V"), its board of directors has approved the consolidation of its issued and outstanding common shares on the basis (1) post-consolidation share for every eight (8) pre-consolidation shares (the "Consolidation").

The Consolidation will result in the number of issued and outstanding common shares without par value of the Company being reduced from 45,016,001 common shares to approximately 5,627,000 common shares on a non-diluted basis, and each shareholder will hold the same percentage of common shares outstanding immediately after the Consolidation as such shareholder held immediately prior to the Consolidation. The exercise price and number of common shares of the Company issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options, warrants or other convertible securities will be proportionately adjusted to reflect the Consolidation in accordance with the terms of such securities.

No fractional shares will be issued as a result of the Consolidation. Any fractional shares resulting from the Consolidation will be (i) rounded up to the next whole share if such fractional share is equal to or greater than one-half of a share; and (ii) rounded down to the next whole share if such fractional share is less than one-half of a share, and no cash consideration will be paid in respect of fractional shares. The Company's name and trading symbol will remain unchanged and the Company will issue a further news release confirming the effective date for the Consolidation when such information is available.

The Company's board of directors believes that the Consolidation will provide the Company with greater flexibility for the continued development of its business and the growth of the Company, including possible financing arrangements.

The Company also announces the previously announced non-brokered private placement (see news release dated February 6, 2019) has been postponed.

About the Company

New Energy Metals is focused on the exploration and development of energy metals in Chile. The Company's assets include the Cristal copper project located in northern Chile and several prospective cobalt projects in Chile's past producing San Juan cobalt district.

On behalf of New Energy Metals Corp.

Cesar Lopez, President & CEO

T: 604.484-1232

E: info@newenergymetals.ca

W: www.newenergymetals.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, the expected completion of the Consolidation and the expected outstanding common shares after the completion of the Consolidation, the expected completion of the private placement and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, actual results of exploration activities, the fact that the Company's interests in its mineral properties are only options and there is no guarantee that the interests, if earned, will be certain, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, copper and cobalt, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, other risks of the mining industry, the inability to obtain any necessary governmental and regulatory approvals (including TSX-V approval of the Consolidation and the private placement), changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, hedging practices and currency fluctuations, as well as those factors discussed under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent management's discussion and analysis and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking information in this news release or incorporated by reference herein.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43283
NORWICH, England, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovative Norwich-based digital media company BizClik Media has published its latest edition of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) Magazine.

This month's cover star is energy giant Uniper. Embarking on a root-and-branch digital transformation journey, Rene Greiner, VP of Data Integration, and Stephan Van Aaken, VP of Data Integration, describes how the company is gearing up to become a more data-driven firm.

"From the first moment, it became clear we needed one fundamental thing: a 'single point of truth'," explains Greiner.

"A major driver of the profitability of your portfolio is, of course, how you manage your assets," adds Van Aaken, highlighting how data analytics can be a valuable tool.

Elsewhere in the magazine, CSO sits down with Inmarsat's Director of Energy Innovation, Gary Bray, to discuss how the global satellite communications giant is supporting energy companies with their sustainability goals.

Meanwhile, Candace Saffery Neufeld of Alpha Energy outlines the company's plans to bring affordable, green electricity to 2.7bn people around the world.

On top of this, Dr James Robey, Head of Environmental Sustainability at Capgemini, discusses the firm's latest goal to help its clients save 10mn carbon tonnes through leveraging technology.

For this month's top 10 ranking the magazine looks at the top renewable energy companies - as well as rounding up this month's must-attend events.

The magazine can be read here.

About CSO Magazine

The world is undergoing dramatic change and sustainability is at the forefront of this global shift as it influences and defines business operations across virtually every industrial sector. As a result, the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) is taking on an even greater prominence, as companies strive to find greener energy solutions, more ethical business practices and increased engagement with local communities.

Packed with exclusive insights from those at the centre of this dramatically changing landscape, CSO Magazine is an innovative digital platform that keeps industry leaders and key decision makers right up-to-date with all the cutting-edge insight and trends affecting sustainability in all its forms.

CSO is a digital platform comprising of a website and magazine experience that arms our audience with the most comprehensive insights, updates and analysis regarding sustainability in all its forms from those who are shaping and harnessing its ability to change the world we live in, and the lives we lead.

About BizClik Media

BizClik Media Ltd is a diverse, multi-platform digital media company focusing on the global B2B marketplace.

We have a passion for great content and we collaborate with the world's most inspiring and innovative business leaders to deliver only the best, most engaging and relevant content to you.

With a trusted and recognised publishing portfolio that is home to over 16 brands, including e-magazines and web platforms, combined with our social media marketing and data marketing tools, we have the experience, approach and know-how, to deliver your brand in front of the people that matter.

www.bizclikmedia.com

Media Contact:

Olivia Minnock

Editorial Director

BizClik Media

+44-(0)-1603-215-070

oliva.minnock@bizclikmedia.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- MYM Nutraceuticals Inc., (CSE: MYM) (CSE: MYM.CN) (OTCBB: MYMMF) ("MYM" or "The Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement with Elite Ventures Group ("Elite") to grow 120 acres of CBD-rich hemp in Nevada, USA.

Under the agreement, MYM will fund Elite with $500,000 USD in exchange for the rights to 50% of CBD rich hemp grown on a 120 acre parcel of land in Nevada. In consideration for the investment, Elite will provide all the necessary capital and consumable supplies, plant, grow and harvest the hemp. If requested, Elite will also arrange for the processing and sale of the biomass at no less favourable terms than those found in the Elite supply agreements.

Based on Elite's previous success in cultivating 120 acres of similarly situated land in August 2018, the estimated production of hemp from the MYM parcel of land is 120,000 pounds per harvest with a CBD level of 10%-19%. This represents potential revenue of over $26 million, of which MYM is entitled to 50% less processing and sales fees.

"We are delighted to have entered into this agreement with Elite Ventures," said Howard Steinberg, CEO of MYM. "This agreement signals an important step forward in our plan to be a significant cultivator of hemp to satisfy the increasing demand of biomass and CBD worldwide."

About MYM Nutraceuticals Inc.

MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. is an innovative company focused on the global growth of cannabis and hemp. To ensure a strong presence and growth potential within the industry, MYM is actively looking to acquire complementary businesses and assets in the technology, nutraceuticals and CBD sectors. MYM shares trade in Canada, Germany and the USA under the following symbols: (CSE:MYM) (OTC:MYMMF) (FRA:0MY) (DEU:0MY) (MUN:0MY) (STU:0MY).

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Howard Steinberg, CEO

MYM Nutraceuticals Inc.

www.mym.ca

Keep up to date with MYM on our social media channels:

Twitter: @mymnutra

Facebook: @mymnutra

Instagram: @mymnutra

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedar.com.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE or CNSX Markets), nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the CSE), accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities law and may not be offered or sold in the "United States", as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

Investor Relations

Billy Casselman

+1-778-522-2261

investors@mym.ca
CHICAGO, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Genomics Market by Product and Service (Systems & Software, Consumables, Services), Technology (Sequencing, Microarray, PCR), Application (Diagnostic Application, and Precision Medicine), End User (Research Institute) - Global Forecast to 2024", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Genomics Market is projected to reach USD 35.7 billion by 2024 from USD 18.9 billion in 2019, at a CAGR of 13.5% during the forecast period.

Don't miss out on business opportunities in Genomics Market

Factors such as the rising government funding and growth in the number of genomics projects, decreasing sequencing costs, growing application areas of genomics, and the entry of new players and start-ups in the genomics field are driving the growth of the Genomics Market during the forecast period.

The consumables segment accounted for the largest share of the Genomics Market, by product & service

Based on product & service, the Genomics Market is segmented into consumables, systems & software, and services. In 2018, the consumables segment accounted for the largest share of this market majorly due to the repeated use of consumables for genomic experiments and the increasing number of research programs by academic institutes and non-profit organizations.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Genomics Market"

95 - Tables

38 - Figures

194 - Pages

Get 10% Free Customization on this Report:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=613

The PCR segment dominated the Genomics Market, by technology, in 2018

By technology, the Genomics Market is segmented into sequencing, microarray, PCR (polymerase chain reaction), nucleic acid extraction and purification, and other technologies (such as branched DNA analysis, single-cell genomic analysis, and flow cytometry). The PCR segment accounted for the largest share of the Genomics Market in 2018. Technological advancements, increasing research in the field of genomics, and the lower cost of DNA amplification using PCR are the key factors driving the growth of this market.

The diagnostics segment dominated the Genomics Market, by application, in 2018

Based on application, the Genomics Market is segmented into diagnostics, drug discovery and development, personalized medicine, agriculture and animal research, and other applications (such as forensics and biofuel research). Diagnostics is the largest and the fastest-growing application segment of the Genomics Market primarily due to the increasing research on diseases such as cancer and genetic disorders and the decreasing cost of sequencing.

Inquiry Before Buying:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=613

North America dominated the Genomics Market in 2018

In 2018, North America was the largest regional market for genomics. The large share of North America in the global Genomics Market can be attributed to the increasing research funding and government initiatives for promoting precision medicine and the use of GM crops in the US. The Asia Pacific market, on the other hand, is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (US), Illumina, Inc. (US), QIAGEN N.V. (Netherlands), Agilent Technologies, Inc. (US), Eurofins Scientific (Germany), BGI (China), GE Healthcare (US), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (US), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland), and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (UK) are the key players operating in the Genomics Market.

Browse Adjacent Markets: Biotechnology Market Research Reports & Consulting

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Shelly Singh

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com

Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/genomics-market.asp

Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg
Halifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2019) - Sona Nanotech Inc. (CSE: SONA) today announced a collaboration with global diagnostics solutions provider Romer Labs to improve performance in their RapidChek SELECT pathogen test kits.

With over 30 years of experience in this field, and labs in Austria, UK, US and Singapore, Romer Labs is a leading provider of diagnostic solutions for the agricultural, food and feed industry.

Romer Labs uses lateral flow assay technology across multiple product lines including its RapidChek SELECT and AgraStrip test strips that detect foodborne pathogens, mycotoxins, food allergens, GMOs and meat and bone meal (MBM) in animal feed.

The companies are positive Sona's unique gold nanorods will increase the performance of Romer's RapidChek SELECT product lines and have agreed to work collaboratively to achieve this goal.

Sona CEO Darren Rowles said: "We are excited to be collaborating with Romer Labs, which shows our continued ambition of working with market-leading, high-growth, innovative companies in their sector. Romer Labs is a pioneering business at the forefront of diagnostic technology that produces millions of lateral flow strips annually, has laboratories across the world and continues to build a growing and diverse portfolio of high-quality products for the food and agricultural sectors. With our combined technologies I am certain we can produce tests that improve on the sensitivity and performance of those currently on the market and increases Sona's reach into valuable new markets related to the food and agriculture industries."

Michael Prinster, CEO of Romer Labs said: "We are excited about the potential of this collaboration. Our key objective at Romer Labs is to provide scientifically sound, high-quality products and an exceptional service. We are constantly expanding our product and service portfolio to meet the continuously evolving needs of our customers. We are confident Sona Nanotech's unique gold nanotechnology will help increase the performance of our RapidChek SELECT products, improving our offering to new and existing customers."



Mark Muldoon (L), Director, R&D for Romer Labs and Darren Rowles (R), CEO of Sona Nanotech



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5500/43274_romer1.jpeg

Unsafe food causes serious global health threats as well as placing a huge burden on public health systems across the world. In 2015 a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated the burden of foodborne diseases caused by 31 agents - bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins and chemicals. It found that each year as many as 600 million people, or almost 1 in 10 people in the world, fall ill after consuming contaminated food. Of these, 420,000 people die, including 125,000 children under the age of five. [1]

Consumers are becoming more aware of the risks of foodborne pathogens and are increasingly demanding better quality and safety in the food they eat, and so the demand for foodborne pathogen testing is increasing. In 2017 the global food safety testing market was valued at $13.14 billion, and is estimated to reach $23.20 billion by 2025, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3% from 2018 to 2025. [2]

[1] https://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/foodborne-diseases/ferg/en/

[2] https://www.foodsafetystrategies.com/articles/453-study-pathogen-testing-to-lead-global-food-safety-testing-market-by-2025

About Sona Nanotech Inc.

Sona Nanotech Inc. is a nanotechnology life sciences firm that has developed two proprietary methods for the manufacture of rod-shaped gold nanoparticles. The principal business carried out and intended to be continued by Sona is the development and application of its proprietary technology for use in multiplex diagnostic testing platforms that will improve performance over existing tests in the market.

Sona's gold nanorod particles are CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium) free, eliminating the toxicity risks associated with the use of other gold nanorod technologies in medical applications. It is expected that Sona's gold nanotechnologies may be adapted for use in applications, as a safe and effective delivery system for multiple medical treatments, pending the approval of various regulatory boards including Health Canada and the FDA.

Sona is a publicly listed company on the Canadian Securities Exchange existing under the laws of Nova Scotia, with its operations in Nova Scotia.

About Romer Labs

Founded in Washington, MO, in 1982, Romer Labs has become a leading provider of diagnostic solutions for the agricultural, food and feed industry.

Today, Romer Labs offers a broad range of innovative diagnostic solutions covering mycotoxins, food pathogens, food allergens, gluten, GMO, veterinary drug residues, and other food contaminants.

It operates four accredited, full-service laboratories in Austria, UK, US and Singapore. Using cutting-edge technology in the fields of chromatography and immunological analysis, its labs offer services for the analysis of mycotoxins, food allergens, meat speciation, VDR and GMO.

Romer Labs is at the forefront of diagnostic technology. Its mission statement is: "Making the World's Food Safer"

For More Information



For more information about Sona, please contact:



Darren Rowles

President and Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: (902) 442-7192

Email: Darren Rowles darren@sonanano.com

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on the beliefs of management and reflect the Company's current expectations. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release includes information relating to the Amalgamation (including the structure of the Amalgamation), the Amalgamation (including shareholder approval, shareholder support, and other terms), the Private Placement (including its completion and the use of proceeds from the Private Placement), the directors and management of the resulting issuer upon completion of the Amalgamation, and the implementation of Sona's business plan. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company with respect to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.



By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: risks associated with the completion of the Amalgamation and matters relating thereto; and risks associated with the marketing and sale of securities, the need for additional financing, reliance on key personnel, the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers or directors, and the volatility of the Company's common share price and volume. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to Sona's proposed business, such as failure of the business strategy and government regulation; risks related to Sona's operations, such as additional financing requirements and access to capital, reliance on key and qualified personnel, insurance, competition, intellectual property and reliable supply chains; risks related to Sona and its business generally, such as infringement of intellectual property rights and conflicts of interest. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. The Company has assumed a certain progression, which may not be realized. It has also assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. While the Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time.

THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMPANY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE THE COMPANY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES

OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43274
SUNNYVALE, California and GENEVA, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

Search continues for innovators in the tech and vaping industry

Plug and Play, a global leader in technology incubators, has partnered with JTI to run Vapetech, a program aimed at bringing together innovators and data experts to develop technology that improves the experience and health benefits of vaping. This global program will operate from Silicon Valley and launch with a first batch of selected start-ups on March 11, 2019.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/692561/JT_International_SA_Logo.jpg )



(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/832334/Plug_and_Play_Logo.jpg )



"At Plug and Play we are always interested to support innovation in new industries. We believe vaping has the potential to reduce the health risks from smoking. Our goal is to identify the next generation of products and services, and by connecting them with JTI and others, we will continue to push forward innovation in this industry," said Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play.

Through a global application and sourcing process, Plug and Play, supported by JTI, will each year select about 20 start-ups who will develop ideas and solutions for a more enhanced vaping experience. Start-ups with new devices or technology applicable to IoT (Internet of Things), Biometrics, Data, and Lifestyle will enter a three-month program to develop their product and services and have access to investment and corporate partnerships.

"With the rapid rise of vaping products, the dynamics of innovation in our industry have changed drastically. In addition to our own R&D, Vapetech will allow us to explore and develop consumer relevant features for the next generation of products and services. It will also extend our network to new sets of entrepreneurs offering disruptive ideas to empower a future of choice in the vaping sector," said Daniel Torras, JTI's Senior Vice President, Reduced-Risk Products.

JTI has been in the vaping business since 2011. With the e-cigarettes brand Logic and the heated tobacco brand Ploom, it is currently present in 14 countries. The vaping business is evolving fast, with strong growth rates in both categories. This growth is fueled by the increasing consumer demand for cigarette alternatives and the launch of more satisfying products.

About Plug and Play

Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 10,000 startups and 280 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club and PayPal. For more information, visit http://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com.

About JTI

JTI is a leading international tobacco company with operations in more than 130 countries. It is the global owner of both Winston, the number two cigarette brand in the world, and Camel, outside the USA and has the largest share in sales for both brands. Other global brands include Mevius and LD. With its internationally recognized brand Logic, JTI is also a major player in the e-cigarette market and has, since 2011, been present in the heated tobacco category with Ploom. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, JTI employs over 45,000 people and was awarded Global Top Employer for five consecutive years. JTI is a member of the Japan Tobacco Group of Companies. For more information, visit http://www.jti.com.
PALM BEACH, Florida, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Brightfield Group has gotten quite a lot of ink lately for their projections that the hemp derived CBD market will outpace the "Rest of the cannabis market COMBINED". FORBES too took a look back at 2018 and saw 2019 as another one to break the records, with an article titled: "For Baby Boomers, 2018 Was The Year Of CBD. Get Ready For 2019" saying: "2018 was the year CBD was on everyone's lips, thanks to plenty of media buzz and the suddenly-ubiquitous presence of an array of CBD-infused beverages, lotions and self-care products. It was also the year "CBD gummies" reached No. 3 on Google's most popular search terms. And I'm willing to go out on a limb that a significant portion of those searches were made by Baby Boomers. With the availability of new hemp strains specially bred for high CBD content, American farmers, processors and many others along the revenue stream are eager to produce and distribute as much of this lucrative substance as the fast-growing market can accommodate. And with CBD sales in the US expected to reach $22 billion by 2022, as projected by the cannabis market research company, the Brightfield Group, Congress' re-regulation of hemp has presented a good reason for many to celebrate." Active Companies from around the market with current developments this week include:MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. (CSE: MYM) (OTC: MYMMF), Terra Tech Corp. (OTC: TRTC), Choom Holdings Inc. (CSE: CHOO) (OTC: CHOOF), InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX: IN.) (OTC: IMLFF), CannTrust Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CTST) (TSX: TRST).

Brightfield added: "All of a sudden, CBD is everywhere - it is both a trendy, new ingredient in drinks, face creams and pet treats and an answer to the prayers of so many people suffering from medical conditions ranging from epilepsy to anxiety and chronic pain. It rides the waves of so many global food and health trends, as a substitute for opioids, towards more natural health alternatives and functional ingredients. CBD is the next healthcare phenomenon. It is so effective for so many conditions, is natural, non-psychoactive and has no known serious side effects. It is the next hot, functional ingredient beauty ingredient, like collagen, shea butter or aloe."

MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. (CSE: MYM) (OTCQB: MYMMF) BREAKING NEWS:MYM Nutraceuticals is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement with Elite Ventures Group ("Elite") to grow 120 acres of CBD-rich hemp in Nevada, USA.

Under the agreement, MYM will fund Elite with $500,000 USD in exchange for the rights to 50% of CBD rich hemp grown on a 120 acre parcel of land in Nevada. In consideration for the investment, Elite will provide all the necessary capital and consumable supplies, plant, grow and harvest the hemp. If requested, Elite will also arrange for the processing and sale of the biomass at no less favourable terms than those found in the Elite supply agreements.

Based on Elite's previous success in cultivating 120 acres of similarly situated land in August 2018, the estimated production of hemp from the MYM parcel of land is 120,000 pounds per harvest with a CBD level of 10%-19%. This represents potential revenue of over $26 million, of which MYM is entitled to 50% less processing and sales fees.

"We are delighted to have entered into this agreement with Elite Ventures," said Howard Steinberg, CEO of MYM. "This agreement signals an important step forward in our plan to be a significant cultivator of hemp to satisfy the increasing demand of biomass and CBD worldwide."Read this and more news for MYM Nutraceuticals at:https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-mym/

In the industry developments and happenings in the market this week include:

Terra Tech Corp. (OTCQX: TRTC), a vertically integrated cannabis-focused agriculture company, announced it has completed the renovation of its cultivation facility located on West Grand Avenue, Oakland, in California. One of the goals of the facility will be to research and develop various cultivation techniques to optimize efficiencies and crop yields. Planting of new crops is expected to commence later this week and all cannabis cultivated at the facility will be sold under the Company's premium IVXX brand to California's medical and adult-use markets.

The newly renovated facility features an upgraded power capacity to allow for more output and a larger vegetation room to support the cultivation of a greater variety of cannabis strains. The rooms are redesigned to incorporate better environmental controls, therefore improving the Company's ability to cool and dehumidify the rooms and minimize the risk of mold growth. The facility is equipped with a total of 112 high pressure sodium light bulbs (28 bulbs per room) capable of flowering 1,120 pounds of cannabis a year. It also has 18 LED flowering lights that allow for more efficient and environmentally sustainable cultivation. After perfecting the LED lights growing style, Terra Tech aims to convert the facility to 100% LED flowering lights.

Choom Holdings Inc. (CSE: CHOO.CN) (OTCQB: CHOOF) recently announced it has entered a definitive agreement ("Purchase Agreement") with Clarity Cannabis MD Holdings ("Clarity") and its shareholders, to acquire 30 retail locations, three of which are licensed with the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission ("AGLC"). Clarity has successfully progressed through AGLC licensing and is operating the following three stores in the legal adult use cannabis market in Alberta and is awaiting licences for the following seven cannabis retail stores.

In addition to the three licensed cannabis retail stores, the acquisition includes all 30 leases secured and applications submitted to the AGLC by Clarity. Clarity currently has 11 development permits awaiting construction, with 6 stores to commence construction, and 9 stores completed construction.

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX: IN.TO) (OTCQX: IMLFF), a cannabinoid-based biopharmaceutical company that leverages its proprietary platform technologies to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with high unmet medical needs, announced the addition of Dr. Steven M. Dinh to its Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Dinh brings more than 30 years of pharmaceutical and biotech executive leadership to InMed, with proven success in developing and commercializing dermal pharmaceutical products by applying innovative drug delivery technologies. His accomplishments in pharmaceutical product development and drug delivery technology innovations have resulted in over 22 issued U.S. patents, 44 published patent applications, 6 NDA approvals and the successful commercialization of 9 products to serve the unmet needs of patients. Dr. Dinh currently serves on the Editorial Board of Therapeutic Delivery . In addition, Dr. Dinh is a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He received his doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.



CannTrust Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CTST) (TSX: TRST) On March 4, the company announced that on March 1, 2019, it filed and received a receipt for a preliminary short form base shelf prospectus (the "Shelf Prospectus") with the securities commissions in each of the provinces of Canada , except Quebec, and a corresponding shelf registration statement on Form F-10 (the "Registration Statement") with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") under the U.S./Canada Multijurisdictional Disclosure System ("MJDS").



The Shelf Prospectus and Registration Statement, when made final or effective, will allow the Company to offer up to C$700,000,000 of debt securities, warrants, subscription receipts, units or common shares, or any combination thereof, from time to time during the 25-month period that the (final) Shelf Prospectus is effective (subject to MJDS eligibility). The Company filed this Shelf Prospectus in order to maintain financial strength and flexibility going forward but has not entered into any agreements or arrangements to authorize or offer any securities at this time. The specific terms of any future offering of securities, including the use of proceeds from any offering, will be established in a prospectus supplement to the Shelf Prospectus, which supplement will be filed with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the SEC.

DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates Financialnewsmedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM was compensated forty six hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press release issued by MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. by a non-affiliated third party. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

Contact Information:

Media Contact email:

editor@financialnewsmedia.com

+1(561)325-8757
SpendEdge, a global procurement market intelligence firm, has announced the release of their Global QA QC Certification Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005243/en/

Global QA QC Certification Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Business sectors like the construction firms are intensifying their focus on providing their customers with better quality products and services which is creating a substantial requirement for QA QC certification services. Constant changes in product and services standardization are compelling buyers from end-user sectors such as the manufacturing sector to leverage these services to achieve certification that can testify the quality of the products. Request a Free Sample of this QA QC certification services market intelligence report here!

The technology industry in the US is witnessing innovation in the form of new systems and software regularly. These systems must mandatorily undergo testing and acquire the certifications to ensure user safety. This is driving the demand for QA QC certification services market in the US. Revision of the EU General Safety Regulation and Pedestrian Safety Regulation will primarily drive the category growth in Europe.

Insights offered in this QA QC certification services sourcing and procurement report include supplier selection criteria, major cost drivers impacting pricing strategies, and category management insights. Such insights are relevant for both the buyers and the suppliers who seek a risk-free and a cost-effective procurement strategy. The category spend analysis done in this market intelligence report will guide the investors in identifying the best investment areas as well as help them in identifying cost-saving opportunities in the market. Get free customization of this QA QC certification services sourcing and procurement report to get information tailored to your every requirement.

"Buyers are advised to collaborate with service providers to undertake a shared audit approach that can reduce cost incurred by buyers while enabling them to run a larger number of audits," says SpendEdge procurement expert Sumit Yadav.

This QA QC certification services market intelligence report has estimated the following cost drivers to influence the category growth in the coming years:

Shortage of qualified auditors and inspectors will increase category prices

Counterfeiting and lawsuits pose significant risks to the category

Purchase the full QA QC certification services market intelligence report here!

SpendEdge is now offering limited-time discounts on report purchases. Buy two reports and get the third one for free

SpendEdge's procurement market intelligence reports for the professional services category provide detailed supply market forecasts that include supplier selection criteria, regional and global spend analysis, and cost drivers that impact category growth. Such information will help procurement managers as well as the suppliers to determine the total cost of ownership and change their pricing strategies accordingly. Additionally, SpendEdge's reports provide category management insights and information on the procurement best practices for the category.

Report scope snapshot: QA QC certification services

Category pricing insights

Pricing strategies

Total cost of ownership analysis

Supplier cost structure

Interested to know more about the scope of our market intelligence reports? Download a FREE sample

Cost-Saving Opportunities

Supplier-side levers

Regional and global spend analysis

Quantifying cost savings by negotiation strategies

Want customized information from the QA QC certification services market intelligence report? Get in touch

Category ecosystem

Competitiveness index for suppliers

Buyer power

Supplier selection criteria

To view the table of contents of this market intelligence report, Download a FREE sample

Do you purchase multiple reports in a year? Our subscription platform, SpendEdge Insights, provides ready-to-use procurement research reports for various categories. Now access the latest supplier news, innovation landscape, markets insights, spend analysis, pricing strategies, supplier tracking, and much more at the click of a button. Start your 7-day FREE trial now

Related Reports:

Global Management Consulting Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report

Global Business Process Outsourcing Services Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more, https://www.spendedge.com/request-free-proposal

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005243/en/

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

US: +1 630 984 7340

UK: +44 148 459 9299

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us
PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / Uptick Newswire Stock Day Podcast welcomed WhereverTV Broadcasting Corporation (OTCQB: TVTV) ('the Company'), the next generation subscription television service providing consumers with live-streaming, genre-specific, and in-language viewing choices from around the world, delivered to anywhere in the world, and through any internet enabled device. Chief Executive Officer, Edward D. Ciofani, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

To begin the interview, Jolly asked Ciofani to provide some background information on the Company, as well as their goals going forward. Ciofani explained that it's been a long road for the Company as a developer of new technology. However, they are just days away from launching a new website which allow the Company to offer content around the world and currency transactions, as well as videos on demand.

Jolly then asked about the music industry and how it ties into the goals of the Company. Ciofani explained that distribution and exposure in the music industry is extremely limited. This presents a great opportunity for the Company to provide increased exposure for the industry and has already signed several Nashville artists which will be featured in episodes on WhereverTV.

Ciofani then brought listeners up-to-speed on the Company's patent infringement case with Comcast. 'In the process of developing our platform, we got to the point where we felt like we needed to defend the patent,' stated Ciofani. He then explained that the patent infringement case is costly but winning the case could lead to massive opportunities for the Company.

Ciofani added that Comcast responded by following a motion to dismiss the case, as well as a motion to have the venue moved to Philadelphia. Both motions have since been denied, which represents the strength of the Company's case against Comcast. However, there is still much that needs to occur.

To close the interview Ciofani shared that the Company is continuing to strive for growth and has an excellent team behind it. Ciofani encouraged listeners to follow WhereverTV Broadcasting Corporation to gain more confidence in the Company as they continue to grow.

To hear Edward Ciofani's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://upticknewswire.com/featured-interview-ceo-edward-ciofani-of-wherevertv-broadcasting-corp-otcqb-tvtv-4/

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Uptick Newswire encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/

About WhereverTV Broadcasting Corporation (TVTV)

Founded in 2007, WhereverTV is the next generation subscription television service providing consumers with live- streaming, genre-specific, and in-language viewing choices from around the world, delivered to anywhere in the world, and through any internet enabled device. WhereverTV provides an economically beneficial and completely versatile alternative to traditional cable and satellite services, with the added benefits of personalization and portability. Also, known as Internet TV, WhereverTV delivers content, shows and events to SmartTVs and digital media receivers including iPhone, iPad, Android Smartphone and TabletPCs. The WhereverTV patented IPG platform enables subscribers to access licensed content from content providers from around the world. The customer viewing experiences are based on customer location (geo-targeting) and content/digital-rights management contracts. Apps are presently available for free with in app purchases for Apple TV, iOS phones and IPADs in the Apple Store. WhereverTV is currently available for Android Phones and tablets in the Google Play Store. WhereverTV is also available on Amazon Fire TV Stick. Samsung & LG Smart TV's, Roku and DVR functionality to record your shows and view later are presently in the works. Please visit: www.Wherever.TV , for more info.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which may not be based on historical facts. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments.

WhereverTV Contact:

Phone: 239-319-2692

Email: IR@Wherever.TV

About Uptick Newswire and the 'Stock Day' Podcast

Founded in 2013, Uptick Newswire is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Uptick provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. Uptick is the sole producer of its 'Stock Day' Podcast, which is the number one radio show of its kind in America. The Uptick Network 'Stock Day' Podcast is an extension of Uptick Newswire, which recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona.

Uptick Newswire

602-441-3474

https://upticknewswire.com/

SOURCE: Uptick Newswire

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538319/Uptick-Newswire-Hosts-WhereverTV-Broadcasting-Corp-on-the-Stock-Day-Podcast-to-Share-Exciting-Developments-for-2019
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / Viridium Pacific Group Ltd. ("Viridium" or the "Company") (TSXV: VIR) (OTCPink: VIRFF) is pleased to announce its wholly owned subsidiary, Experion Biotechnologies Inc. ("Experion"), a licensed cultivation and processor under the Cannabis Act, has commenced clone sales as starting materials. Its first sale of clones to another licensed Standard Cultivator headquartered in British Columbia happened in January of this year, with several more sales including a 1,200-clone shipment to Alberta recently.

The buyers of Experion's clones are newly licensed Standard Cultivators looking for quality genetics to launch their cultivation process. The sales expand Experion's product line with clones exhibiting the desired specifications and attributes for both the medical and adult-use market. Under the Cannabis Act, a cultivation license can sell product to other licensed facilities fostering new business to business relationships and the ability to create quick strategic partnerships as the market becomes established. All starting materials sold as clones to other cultivators have a flower buy back program with Experion. As well, Experion can also sell clones for medical purposes to qualified individuals as a licensed medical supplier.

Mr. Jarrett Malnarich, Viridium COO, commented, "We are very excited launching our clone business and looking forward to future sales with new and established cultivators across Canada. By supplying genetics, further conversations leading to partnerships and buy back programs often evolve and we look forward to developing more of these relationships through our starter materials sales program."

About Viridium

Viridium Pacific Group Ltd. is the parent company of operating subsidiaries involved in horticultural production (Experion Biotechologies Inc.), medical products production (EFX Labs), property development (Fish Trap Ventures Ltd.), and human resource management (Stave Lake Services Ltd.). Experion Biotechnologies Inc. is a Health Canada licensed producer of cannabis, which operates outside of Mission, BC.

More information about Viridium can be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

For further information:

Viridium Pacific Group Ltd.

Jarrett Malnarich

Tel: (604) 837-8688

info@viridiumpacific.com

www.viridiumpacific.com

Disclosure

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Although the Company believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

Forward looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, forecast, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities; recent market volatility; the Company's ability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; the risks identified in the Filing Statement, and other risks and factors that the Company is unaware of at this time. The reader is referred to the Filing Statement dated September 25, 2017 and/or the most recent annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through the Company page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE: Viridium Pacific Group Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538307/Experion-Selling-Starter-Materials
SILICON VALLEY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / Jeremy Wright, the UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, is holding this week high-level meetings with Silicon Valley executives to discuss the digital sector, future trends, and his country's plans to introduce legislation that promotes online safety. Accompanied by Margot James, the UK Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, he intends to meet with representatives of technology giants such as Facebook, Apple, Google, and Twitter to address the need for greater responsibility on their part in preventing online harms. On February 19, 2019, Jeremy Wright hosted an event for executives from venture capital and digital media companies, with discussions centering on policy and future industry trends. Garry McGuire, a highly regarded C-suite strategist known for his work in automotive, media, and advertising, was in attendance and advised the minister.

Stricter oversight of the technology sector has become one of the most pressing issues in recent years due to the proliferation of fake news, the growing number of data privacy breaches, and the expanding volume of harmful or offensive content, as noted by Garry McGuire. So far, digital media companies - most notably social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube - have operated under voluntary guidelines, but governments around the world now deem self-regulation to be insufficient. Shortly before departing for his visit to Silicon Valley, Jeremy Wright wrote in an op-ed for the Telegraph, 'I remain a firm believer that technology has the power to do good. But it is clear that things need to change. With power comes responsibility and the time has come for the tech companies to be properly accountable.'

The meetings in Silicon Valley are taking place as the UK government prepares to publish its Internet Safety White Paper, which contains 'legislative measures to ensure platforms protect their users from a range of online harms.' However, Jeremy Wright has been eager to stress that the proposals should not infringe on the freedom of expression or suppress innovation. In an interview for the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, he noted, 'I think what's important is that we have a system in place that sets out clearly what the responsibilities of online companies are, sets out how we expect them to meet those responsibilities and sets out what will happen if they fail to do so, and the White Paper will do that.' His talks with US technology sector leaders are intended to provide input that would help the UK government introduce 'effective' legislation and point the way for other countries in their efforts to establish a safe and thriving digital environment.

An auto industry consultant, corporate advisor, and former automotive executive, Garry McGuire has held leadership positions at multiple companies and assisted them in overcoming the challenges of disruption. Highly experienced in automotive, retail, and advertising, he has established a reputation as a thought leader in digital strategy, digital transformation, and business turnarounds. He is also a technology investor with unique insight into the sector as a result of having served as the CEO of several Silicon Valley companies.

Garry McGuire - Expert Strategic Planner and Digital Transformation Leader: http://garrymcguirenews.com

Garry McGuire Named Senior Adviser at BlackRock Advisors as Company Expands its Automotive and Digital Transformation Expertise: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/garry-mcguire-named-senior-adviser-203000780.html

Garry McGuire Offers Predictions for Marketing and Advertising Industry in 2019: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/garry-mcguire-offers-predictions-marketing-142500947.html

Contact Information:

GarryMcGuireNews.com

http://garrymcguirenews.com

contact@garrymcguirenews.com

SOURCE: Garry McGuire

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538347/Garry-McGuire-and-Other-Silicon-Valley-Captains-Meet-with-UK-Governments-Digital-Leaders-to-Discuss-Internet-Safety
Eleventh Annual Wildix Convention will convene partners from around the world to the states for the first time in company history

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / Wildix, a multinational telecommunications provider specializing in VoIP, WebRTC Browser-Based Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) solutions, today announced they will bring their annual partner convention stateside for the first ever US Convention, to be held March 21 - 22, 2019 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.

Now in its eleventh year, this prestigious conference convenes Wildix partners from around the world to share insights, discuss best practices, and learn about the latest innovations in the unified communications space.

According to Gartner, global end-user spending on unified communications will grow to an approximately $45.7 billion industry by 2022, proving more and more that companies are inserting UC as a strategic technological asset to develop business.

'We are thrilled to host the Wildix Convention in the U.S. for the first time ever,' said Robert Cooper, Wildix. 'Our channel partners' success shows strong, escalating demand from businesses for web-based communications. In 2018, the number of U.S. Wildix partners nearly quadrupled, making the decision to host this year's event in the Nation's Capital, Washington, DC.'

In addition, Wildix has recently been recognized as HIPAA-compliant and HITECH-compliant. With this distinction, Wildix's ever-increasing partner community is now empowered with a key differentiator for increasing marketshare across the healthcare ecosystem.

'Achieving HIPAA-compliance and HITECH-compliance is not only a milestone achievement for Wildix,' added Cooper, 'but also a valuable asset for our partners.'

Senior Compliance Consultant, Brian L. Tuttle continues, 'With HIPAA/HITECH compliance comes the certification that risks relating to the administrative, physical, and technical implementation specifications for securing electronic protected health information (EPHI) are mitigated to reasonable and appropriate levels through current controls and procedural changes enforced by policy.'

More than 350 partners from 12 countries across Europe, North America and the Middle East attended the 2018 Convention in Venice. Wildix expects the same global representation at the 2019 Convention to join its growing number of U.S.-based partners.

The convention also comes on the heels of the first ever UCC Summit held last month in Barcelona, attended by more than 500 Wildix partners from around the world.

The event will also include a dinner and awards ceremony on March 21, 2019. Awards will be given out to partners who have been exceptional in categories such as top Gold Partners for 2018, top partners for overall revenues for 2018, and top partners for overall recurring revenue.

For more information visit https://www.wildixconvention.com/.

ABOUT WILDIX

Wildix is a multinational company that develops browser-based Unified Communications solutions and VoIP products. The company relies on a network of Certified Business Partners that install Wildix systems in Europe and in the United States. In 2005, Wildix founded its Research and Development center in Ukraine. Headquartered in Italy, Wildix operates sales offices in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, the UK and the USA.

Contacts

Mostafa Razzak

Work: 1-202-904-2048

m.razzak@jmrconnect.net

https://www.wildix.com/US

Links

https://www.wildixconvention.com/.

SOURCE: Wildix

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538293/Wildix-to-Host-Globally-Renowned-Partner-Convention-in-United-States
DENVER, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Spinnaker Support, a leading global provider of Oracle and SAP third-party services, today announced performance highlights for its full fiscal year ending December 31, 2018.

"In 2018, we celebrated 10 years of serving Oracle and SAP users who sought a better way to obtain support for their critical enterprise software," said Matt Stava, CEO, Spinnaker Support. "Revenues, bookings, gross margins, net new customers, and customer satisfaction all reached record highs. Global demand continues to increase at a steady rate for our unique blend of services. As cloud roadmaps continue to progress, IT leaders are realizing they can successfully innovate under our third-party support model while funding the transition with dramatic cost savings."

Company Growth and Geographic Expansion

Net new sales bookings increased by 31.9% compared to FY 2017.

Customer count rose to 1,078. Now supporting customers on six continents.

The company has remained profitable for 40 consecutive quarters.

Employee count grew by 26.4% compared to FY 2017, with resources added in all nine global support centers.

Expanded service offerings, including SAP Sybase support and Oracle License Compliance and Audit Defense.

Appointment of Jae Sam Lee as Vice President of Asia-Pacific Support Operations.

as Vice President of Asia-Pacific Support Operations. Continued enhancement of already strong application security and vulnerability protection capabilities

Customer Satisfaction and Testimonials

Customer satisfaction rose to a record 98.7%, with high marks for support quality, responsiveness, technical and functional knowledge, understanding of customer's unique environment, and issue resolution.

Customer willingness-to-recommend exceeded 90% again.

"We tried hard to make our relationship with Oracle work and to locate resources to help implement new technology in 9.1 tools such as Orchestrator. Oracle only wanted to discuss migration to their own cloud solutions, which were of no value to us. Our IT team was receiving only cursory responses from Oracle support regarding open service requests. Bug fix issues we reported would go months with no response or progress from Oracle. Layne had to continue to hire contractors to develop their own fixes or enhancements to existing functionality. Our current JD Edwards support provided by Spinnaker Support is far superior, and we love our dedicated team that we can always rely on." - Sherry Hunyadi, Vice President of IT, Layne Christensen

"Spinnaker Support's service is significantly above Oracle's. We are particularly delighted with the speed a subject matter expert is available to assist. That could take hours with Oracle support and just minutes with Spinnaker Support." - Edinburgh Airport

"It just works." - Tytti Erkama, Head of Solution Development at Vaisala, speaking about Spinnaker Support's E-Business Suite Support at the 2018 Gartner Sourcing, Procurement, Vendor & Asset Management Summit in London. During the Question & Answer session, Ms. Erkama was asked to compare the software vendor-provided support model vs. the third-party support model, on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high). She rated Spinnaker Support a 9 out of 10, citing she doesn't give perfect scores "because her Finnish culture doesn't allow perfection."

Certifications and Awards

New and Ongoing Certifications - ISO 9001:2015, ISO/IEC 27001: 2013, Cyber Essentials, Privacy Shield - while following ISO 31000 Risk Management Standards.

Just completed ISO 9001:2015 audit with zero non-compliances

Awards:

Top 25 SAP Solution Providers in APAC



Two Stevie Awards for Customer Department of the Year, Customer Service Leader of the Year



CIOReview Top Most Promising SAP Solution Providers, Top 20 Most Promising Oracle Solution Providers

About Spinnaker Support

Spinnaker Support is a leading and trusted global provider of Oracle and SAP third-party support. Spinnaker Support customers get more comprehensive and responsive service, save an average of 62% on their annual maintenance fees, and can remain on their current software releases indefinitely. A rising number of our third-party support customers are utilizing incremental services we provide. We remain the only third-party support vendor to deliver application managed services, technology managed services and consulting when customers prefer to consolidate with a single vendor. They trust Spinnaker Support to keep their enterprise applications running at peak performance, while helping them navigate from on-premise to hybrid to cloud.

Spinnaker Support's award-winning blend of services span SAP, BusinessObjects, Oracle E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, Siebel, Oracle Database, Oracle Technology and Middleware products, Hyperion, Demantra, Agile PLM, ATG/Endeca, and more. For more information, visit our website.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/538443/Spinnaker_Support.jpg
BOTHELL, WA, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BTG plc (LSE: BTG), the global healthcare company, exhibited the BTG Crossing Devices portfolio at the Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) Summit in New York City from February 28 to March 1. Dr. Alexandre Avran of the Arnault Tzanck Institute in Nice, France, headlined the BTG exhibition at the summit this year, discussing his experience with the devices at a lunch symposium.

"The BTG Crossing Devices are easy to use compared to other techniques. These devices give me more options to cross an otherwise impenetrable proximal cap and facilitate the crossing of a microcatheter through the hard-proximal cap," Dr. Avran explained during the event. Dr. Avran expounded on how he has managed to cross a myriad of complex lesions using the BTG CenterCross, MultiCross and MicroCross devices.

"It's really exciting to see the interest and engagement in the BTG Crossing Device portfolio as we present it at this premier summit. These are very unique anchoring catheters that help solve a challenge commonly faced by physicians - trying to get across difficult coronary and peripheral lesions in order to treat their patients," said Anastasia Mironova, Vice President of Marketing for BTG Vascular.

BTG Crossing Devices anchoring catheters (CenterCross, CenterCross Ultra, MultiCross) and microcatheters (MicroCross) offer options for physicians in the crossing of complex lesions in the peripheral and coronary vasculature. By incorporating a self-expanding scaffold that anchors the catheter near the proximal cap, BTG's catheters are designed to provide positioning accuracy to maximize the chance of successful intraluminal crossing. Following successful guidewire placement, treatments such as angioplasty, stenting or atherectomy may be used to provide therapeutic benefit.

About BTG

BTG is a global healthcare company focused on Interventional Medicine. Our innovative medical technology helps physicians treat their patients through minimally invasive procedures. We have a growing portfolio of products that advance the treatment of cancer and vascular conditions. BTG's Pharmaceuticals business provides products that help patients overexposed to certain medications or toxins. To learn more about BTG, please visit: btgplc.com.

For further information contact:

BTG

Andy Burrows

VP Corporate & Investor Relations

+44-(0)-20-7575-1741

Mobile: +44-(0)-7990-530-605

Chris Sampson

Corporate Communications Director

+44-(0)-20-7575-1595

Mobile: +44-(0)-7773-251-178
By adding conveyors on top of autonomous mobile robots, ROEQ completes the automation of internal logistics, eliminating the manual loading and unloading of the robots at departure and delivery stations. At the Automate 2019 show in Chicago, the Danish company launches a unique new conveyor top module for MiR500, the largest model from Mobile Industrial Robots.

Real efficiency in logistics automation is achieved when the entire workflow is handled by robotics solutions that communicate smoothly with each other. That's the vision behind ROEQ's new TR500 Top Roller that automates load and unload operations of the MiR500, the largest and most powerful autonomous mobile robot from Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR). The TR500 is launching at ROEQ's booth 8459 at the Automate 2019 show held in Chicago April 8-11. First day of the show, ROEQ will also debut another new module.

"A mobile robot without a conveyor or top module is like a robot arm without a gripper," says Peder Grejsen, technical sales manager for ROEQ. "Production throughput can be greatly improved when mobile robots are outfitted with intelligent top modules that self-load and unload." The TR500 accommodates U.S. pallets and can be delivered with a fully automated lifter functionality for pick-up and delivery of goods in heights ranging from 23.6 inches (600mm) to 29.5 inches (750mm). The Top Roller integrates seamlessly in MiR's own user interface where all control functions are embedded; when the robot is called to deliver or pick up goods, the conveyor communicates with the pick-up and delivery stations and will automatically activate the loading or unloading upon arrival.

"By targeting the loading and unloading of mobile robots, we are addressing that missing link in the automated logistics cycle that today is handled either by fork or pallet lifters or manually by employees," says Grejsen. "Adding the conveyor capability strengthens the employees' work environment by taking over ergonomically unfavorable tasks or by reducing truck traffic and noise."

Chief Strategy Officer at MiR, Niels Jul Jacobsen, welcomes the TR500 into the company's partner ecosystem. "With the TR500, ROEQ is offering a valuable new product that greatly enhances the MiR500's capabilities," he says. "Addressing U.S. pallet sizes while also offering adjustable height functionality are unique new features that differentiates ROEQ's new top modules from existing solutions. We're excited to see this launch in North America."

ROEQ is rapidly expanding its North American distributor network, representing ROEQ in the mid-Atlantic region is the Knotts Company where sales manager, Mark Howe sees a huge potential in outfitting MiR500s with conveyor functions. "Being able to handle 500 kg payload on mobile conveyors opens doors into new types of customers," he says, mentioning material handling industries and distribution centers. "We can now also focus on customers that handle large bulk material that needs transport between warehouse and manufacturing floors. We're already seeing a significant demand for ROEQ's smaller top modules and we expect the TR500 to be equally well received."

The TR500 also eliminates the need for dedicated pallet stands adds Cale Harbour, vice president of product marketing at Advanced Control Solutions, ROEQ's distribution partner in the Southeastern U.S. "For customers with space restraints, this can make a big difference," he says. "In our region we see this product as a perfect fit for automotive and carpet manufacturing industries with many internal logistics tasks that can now be automated. It's a new emerging technology that has really taken off in the last year and a half."

ROEQ recently launched the TR125 Top Roller that is designed for the MiR200 robot. The TR125 is an ideal solution for carrying products packed in cardboard boxes, plastics containers, etc. The company has also launched a host of other add-ons for MiR, including docking stations, lifts, and the highly flexible solution ROEQ C300 cart. By using the ROEQ C300 Cart solution the robot can collect loaded carts, deliver it to the designated docking station and leave it there to be emptied or prepared for the next mission. This solution ensures that the MiR robot is only stationary for a short amount of time, effectively streamlining the workflow between different divisions of the facility. "Whenever we sell a MiR robot, adding ROEQ modules is always key to that conversation," says Howe. "The value-add is tremendous, we're always impressed with how well the products integrate with the MiR platform on both the hardware and software side."

Download high res images, brochures and data sheets here.

About ROEQ

ROEQ is short for "Robotic Equipment" and evolved from the Danish company Produkt Innovation (PI) founded in 2002, an R&D consulting business with clients such as Novo Nordisk and Leica Geosystems. In the spring of 2017 PI had a consulting assignment working with Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), which spawned the idea of developing the products being sold today. In the spring of 2017, three employees were developing and testing the applications with the first sale of ROEQ equipment happening in early 2018. ROEQ has since grown to establish a global network of devoted distributors and continues to develop and engineer new and exciting products to enhance and streamline facilities in many industries around the world. The company is part of the thriving Danish robotics cluster located on the island of Funen, Denmark.

www.ROEQ.dk

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005457/en/

Contacts:

Company Contact:

Peder Grejsen

Technical Sales Manager

pg@roeq.dk

+45 61 26 33 29

Media Contact:

Mette McCall

McCall Media

mette@mccallmedia.net

+1 415 847 8649
Ververica (formerly data Artisans), founded by the original creators of Apache Flink, revealed the program for the third annual Flink Forward San Francisco conference taking place April 1-2, 2019, at Hotel Nikko in San Francisco.

With more than 30 sessions, Flink Forward brings together hundreds of Flink community members to learn from the largest production deployments of Apache Flink. Best practices and future developments will be shared from experts and industry influencers over the course of two days.

Attendees can join discussions about Flink deployment and operations with companies across multiple industries such as technology behemoths Yelp, Uber, Alibaba, Lyft, or Comcast. The sessions will cover what makes Flink a first-class stream processor and dive into the technical details behind how to best use and deploy Flink at scale.

For those who wish to learn more about the framework, the program also includes a full-day training on April 1, 2019 covering Flink topics such as: Introduction to Streaming with Apache Flink, Analyzing Streaming Data with Flink SQL and more.

"We look forward to welcoming the community and sharing Flink's future directions, best practices and learnings from some of the most innovative companies in the world!", said Apache Flink PMC and Ververica CEO Kostas Tzoumas. "Flink Forward San Francisco is the event to get immersed in all the latest buzz and learn more about Flink from industry experts as they adopt stream processing to build scalable streaming applications for the masses."

Talks Include:

Luca Giovagnoli, Yelp: Realtime Store Visit Predictions at Scale

Realtime Store Visit Predictions at Scale Elliot Chow, Netflix: Real-time Processing with Flink for Machine Learning at Netflix

Real-time Processing with Flink for Machine Learning at Netflix Shaoxuan Wang, Alibaba: When Table meets AI: Build Flink AI Ecosystem on Table API

When Table meets AI: Build Flink AI Ecosystem on Table API Dave Torok, Comcast: Adventures in Scaling from Zero to 5 Billion Data Points per Day

Join the discussion on Twitter @FlinkForward.

About Ververica (formerly data Artisans)

Ververica was founded by the creators of open source Apache Flink to bring real-time data applications to the enterprise. The company provides Ververica Platform, enabling businesses to manage and deploy live data applications, so they can react to data instantaneously.

"Apache", "Apache Flink", and their logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of The Apache Software Foundation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005458/en/

Contacts:

Dan Walsh,

MUSTARD PR,

dan@mustardpr.com
CHICAGO, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Market by Type (Electronic Intelligence (Elint) & Communications Intelligence (Comint)), Application (Airborne, Naval, Ground (Vehicle-Mounted, Soldiers, & Base Station), Space, & Cyber), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global SIGINT market size is expected to grow from USD 12.8 billion in 2018 to USD 15.6 billion by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.1% during the forecast period.

The major driving factors for the SIGINT market are the increasing terrorism, growing defense budget of major countries across the globe, and modernization or replacement of an aging defense system.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Market"

48 - Tables

41 - Figures

116 - Pages

Inquiry Before Buying:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=192913423

Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) type segment is expected to account for a higher market share during the forecast period.

The ELINT type is expected to be the largest SIGINT market, owing to its increasing need across air, naval, and ground. ELINT is the information gathered by the use of electronic sensors. It involves gathering data about the enemy's electronic defense network, particularly electronic devices such as radars, surface-to-air missile systems, aircraft, and electronic transmitters. The increasing complexity of threats across the globe is driving the ELINT market as the ELINT technology assists in detecting, recognizing, and countering the threats.

Airborne application is expected to account for the highest market share during the forecast period.

SIGINT solutions provide actionable real-time information and enable universal situational awareness, in-depth collaborative mission planning, and management to air forces. The solutions ease the routine operations of air forces as regular information transmission plays a vital role in real-time decision-making. The solutions provide the right information at the right time and are responsible for collecting information related to any unwanted movements and activities to offer authorities the information for quick decision-making.

Get 10% Free Customization on this Report:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=192913423

North America is expected to account for the highest market share during the forecast period.

North America is expected to dominate the global SIGINT market as its defense forces are investing a lot in developing more technologically-advanced SIGINT systems. The increase in military support to other countries and increasing terrorism are the major factors driving the North American SIGINT market. The region comprises the US and Canada. The US accounts for the highest share of the SIGINT market.

Major vendors in the global Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Market include BAE systems (UK), Lockheed Martin (US), Northrop Grumman (US), Thales (France), Raytheon (US), Elbit Systems (Israel), General Dynamics (US), Israel Aerospace Industries (Israel), Saab (Sweden), Mercury Systems (US), Rolta India (India), Rheintmetall (Germany), Systematic (Denmark), Harris (US), and Cobham (UK).

Browse Adjacent Markets: Software and Services Market Research Reports & Consulting

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Shelly Singh

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com

Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/signals-intelligence-market.asp

Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg
(CNN)  When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, many residents lost power for months -- and some neighborhoods are still struggling to get electricity back up and running.

Puerto Rico had solar panel fields generating power before the hurricane, but much of it was inaccessible when the grid (or the network that delivers electricity to people) went down.

That's one of the biggest challenges with solar energy, which provides an alternative way to power homes and businesses. The technology is still limited, not only because sunlight collection can be inconsistent on cloudy days and unavailable at night, but also because rural or remote areas often lack proper infrastructure.

Some companies are working on solutions to make solar energy technology more resilient and efficient.

"Solar, in the old sense, is where the system shuts off with the grid," Yotta Solar co-founder Omeed Badkoobeh told CNN Business. "The future of solar is where systems are independent of the grid."

After 10 years in the solar industry, Badkoobeh teamed up with researcher and co-founder Vikram Iyengar in 2016 to build a device that stores energy more effectively. The device, which holds batteries, can be placed under photovoltaic solar panels and is able to self-regulate the battery's temperature.

The device, SolarLEAF, can be kept outside on its own, which is typically difficult to do to batteries without shortening their lifespan, especially in regions with extreme temperature fluctuations. The storing method can help cut down on costs by 40%, according to the company, because placing the device under solar panels means it's not taking up additional space. The ability to self-regulate temperature means it doesn't need expensive extras like an HVAC system to stay cool.

It regulates the temperature of the battery case by working like a well-insulated ice chest. It has an inner layer that uses very little energy to protect the battery, which can last over 20 years in the device, the company said.

The SolarLEAF also helps to create a microgrid system that works with or without the electrical grid.

In the wake of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is installing microgrids to minimize the effect of future storms. Yotta Solar is in early talks with a Puerto Rican company to pilot its technology there. The company is also working with Translight Solar, which provides affordable solar power in Ghana, and 10Power, a company that's investing in renewable energy projects in Haiti that can be paid back over time.

"We're trying to create a durable infrastructure unit and work with markets where there are huge pain points," Badkoobeh said.

Renewable energy, like solar, is expected to be the fastest-growing source of electricity generation in the next couple of years, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Solar energy also doesn't produce air pollutants or carbon dioxide  and systems placed on buildings have few negative effects on the environment  and it's expected to be cheaper than fossil fuels by 2020, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Companies such as Tesla and the German tech company Sonnen, owned by Royal Dutch Shell, are also creating batteries that store energy and can be paired with solar panels.

Dan Whitten, vice president of public affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association, said energy storage is key to transitioning toward a clean energy economy.

"Storage demand is booming for both distributed and large-scale solar projects, and costs for solar and storage applications continue to fall," Whitten told CNN Business. "The price of solar has dropped by 70% over the last decade, making it the most affordable option now in many parts of the country."

Storage innovations are a growing area within the solar energy industry, according to Brett Simon, senior energy storage analyst with Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. He said state programs, such as NY-SUN in New York, offer incentives for developing solar energy systems that include storage but there's still room for improvement.

"Cost continues to be a barrier for energy storage," Simon said. "Any innovation that can lower balance of system costs is a boon to the market."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "This company wants to help remote areas stay connected even during natural disasters."
NEWTOWN, Pennsylvania, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Micro Interventional Devices, Inc. (MID) Chairman, President and CEO, Michael Whitman, and OSCOR, Inc. President and CEO, Thomas Osypka, are pleased to announce a strategic alliance that leverages each company's unique strengths and capabilities to further develop and commercialize innovative solutions to structural heart disease, specifically, MID's MIA, Minimally Invasive Annuloplasty, technology.

MID designs, develops and commercializes proprietary, percutaneous technologies solving unmet needs in structural heart disease. OSCOR Inc. serving the medical device industry for over 37 years, designs, develops, manufactures and markets a variety of highly specialized implantable devices for neuromodulation, cardiac rhythm management and structural heart disease, as well as ancillary delivery systems and accessories. OSCOR offers its extensive portfolio of intellectual property to its customers under Contract Manufacturing or OEM branding.

Under the terms of this agreement, MID acquires a non-exclusive worldwide license to OSCOR's patented catheter technology and in turn, OSCOR receives exclusive manufacturing rights to MID's MIA devices. The synergy accelerates MID's corporate development and provides access to a world-class backend organization with an established regulatory and distribution network.

In conjunction with the strategic alliance, MID is closing a $20 million series D round of financing led by OSCOR. Also participating are Originate Ventures, LLC, LifeSciences Greenhouse of PA, Ben Franklin Venture Partners of Northeastern PA, and other existing MID shareholders. In this transaction, MID's debt will convert to Series D preferred stock. OSCOR's CEO, Thomas Osypka will join Micro Interventional Devices' Board of Directors effective March 2019.

MID will use the proceeds to complete its ongoing STTAR Clinical Trial. STTAR, the Study of Transcatheter Tricuspid Annular Repair, is studying MIA's safety and efficacy in the percutaneous (less invasive) treatment of tricuspid and mitral regurgitation. Tricuspid and mitral regurgitation affects an estimated 12 million people worldwide. Eight patients have already been enrolled in the STTAR trial to date with encouraging results.

"We are excited to be entering into this agreement with OSCOR. Under Thomas' guidance, OSCOR has been designing, developing and manufacturing sophisticated catheter technologies for over twenty years," said Michael Whitman. "Partnering with OSCOR will enable MID to rapidly and thoroughly complete MIA's technical dossier, which is a requirement for CE Mark approval. Additionally, we now have the ability to ramp up production to serve this very large patient population who currently has no real treatment options."

Thomas Osypka added, "We are pleased to partner with MID on this important technology for the minimally invasive treatment of tricuspid and mitral regurgitation. The heart of OSCOR's philosophy is to help the industry identify and refine non-invasive solutions that simplify challenging procedures for the benefit of our patients and clinicians. We see this as a perfect fit between our capabilities and MID's novel approach to treating patients suffering from these diseases."

About Micro Interventional Devices, Inc. (MID):

MID is a leader in percutaneous structural heart repair. Presently, MID is conducting the STTAR clinical trial studying its MIA, minimally invasive annuloplasty, tricuspid repair technology in Europe.

Company Contact:

Micro Interventional Devices, Inc.

Katherine Whitman

Director of Marketing

215 600 1270

info@microinterventional.com

www.microinterventional.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/451210/micro_interventional_devices_logo.jpg
Powerful AI & Machine Learning Capabilities have enabled VATBox to achieve this Success

SAN DIEGO, California, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- VATBox, the Pinoeer and leader in automated VAT compliance and VAT recovery, announced today the release of the 6th generation of its AI platform, which has reached a new level of success with VAT analysis on invoices thanks to its continued technological growth and focus on artificial intelligence.

David Guedalia, VATBox's new Chief Technology Officer, has taken a leading role as the company continues to innovate in the VAT recovery and compliance space, supporting the continued development of the company's AI capabilities. He says, "VATBox's latest release integrates both expert system rule-based processes with statistical-based processes, increasing our capacity and enabling our speed and efficiency to offer near real-time results."

According to Moshe Koppel, AI Professor at the Department of Computer Science at Bar Ilan University, "David Guedalia's expertise in semantic analytics will likely enable VATBox to achieve unprecedented levels of compliance by understanding invoices and cross-checking them with authorities' data."

"VATBox joined the Citi Accelerator in 2013, and we have been following their progress since. They have grown by leaps and bounds, signing on Tier 1 clients and growing their product with AI and automation." Ornit Shinar, Head of Citi Venture Investing Israel.

Guedalia most recently researched autonomous vehicle mapping at Intel. Prior to that, Guedalia was VP of Technology at Qualcomm's Innovation Centre. He was a Co-Founder of Happy Cloud, LLC and served as the CTO and Vice President of Research & Development at iSkoot Technologies Inc. His PhD work in neural computation from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specialized in in one-shot learning, is at the forefront of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

VATBox is an automated, enterprise-wide, cloud-based VAT recovery and compliance solution that has successfully disrupted the global VAT recovery process. Sophisticated AI tools provide VATBox customers with 360-degree VAT visibility insights, maximizing VAT returns with an unprecedented 98.7% on average VAT recovery. Deep learning algorithms help companies achieve the highest levels of compliance - 99% on average - and easily detect incidents of fraud within its T&E expenditures.

Active in 72 countries worldwide and supporting more languages than any other solution in the market, VATBox leverages the latest word embedding technology to analyze invoices. The platform utilizes natural language processing (NLP) to process Big Data that enable interactions between computers and human languages. VATBox's NLP capabilities encompass text mining, live dynamic text analysis, computational linguistics, machine learning on text, deep learning approaches for text data and natural language understanding. The integration of these advanced AI capabilities has played an integral role in driving further VAT automation.

For more information please contact:

Liat Arbesman - VP Marketing

liata@vatbox.com
Parrish Healthcare has Adopted athenahealth Population Health, a National Population Health Management Technology Solution, to Enhance its Certified Integrated Care System

TITUSVILLE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / Parrish Healthcare is proud to announce its strategic partnership with athenahealth, a leading provider of network-enabled services for hospital and ambulatory customers nationwide.

Population health management means being responsible for managing the overall health and well-being of a defined population, and being accountable for the health and well-being outcomes of that defined population.

With the powerful and patient-friendly technology of athenahealth, patients choosing to receive their care within Parrish Healthcare's nationally integrated care certified system will experience seamless connectivity to their physicians, other care partners, and to their health information.

As an industry-leader in interoperability, athenahealth connects Parrish Healthcare with its national network of more than 100,000 healthcare providers. The collective knowledge and information shared among this network achieves the best possible health outcomes for the people, families and populations served.

The technology also makes it possible for Parrish Healthcare to follow care seamlessly across settings - doctor's office, diagnostics, or hospital - with all of the relevant information needed to manage health outcomes in easy reach.

"athenahealth is another example of the kinds of strategic partnerships that have contributed to Parrish Healthcare being the nation's only certified integrated care system," said George Mikitarian, president and chief executive officer, Parrish Medical Center | Parrish Healthcare.

"Other strategic partnerships, of which we are proud, that benefit the health and wellness of the people (and populations) we serve include the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Nemours Children's Health System, DaVita Dialysis, OMNI Healthcare, among others," said Mikitarian.

About Parrish Healthcare:

Parrish Healthcare is a collaborative, population health system created by Parrish Medical Center. Parrish Healthcare, America's first Joint Commission Integrated Care Certified system, includes Parrish Medical Center, a Mayo Clinic Care Network member and one of the nation's most recognized hospitals for clinical quality, patient safety, and healing environments; Parrish Medical Group, NCQA certified patient-centered medical homes; Parrish Home Health, and Parrish Health Network, a network of healthcare providers, insurers and others working together to improve quality and safety and lower healthcare costs on behalf of individuals, families and businesses.

CONTACTS:

Natalie Sellers, MS, APR, SSC, FACHE

Vice President, Communications, Community & Corporate Services

Email: communityservices@parrishmed.com

SOURCE: Parrish Healthcare

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538243/Parrish-Healthcare-has-Adopted-athenahealth-Population-Health
Significant Progress with Novel Diabetic Eye Disease Portfolio

Positive Topline Results from Phase 1/2 evaluating THR-317 for treatment of DME

Multiple Clinical Readouts Expected towards the end of H2 2019

Total Cash & Investments at 85.1 million on 31 December 2018

Highlights

Pipeline

In April 2018, Oxurion reported positive Day90 (30 days after last injection) data from its Phase 1/2 clinical study evaluating THR-317 (anti-PlGF) for the treatment of DME: results showed safety and tolerability of THR-317 for intra-ocular use, and 30% of anti-VEGF treatment naive patients showed >15 letter vision gain in BCVA (Best Corrected Visual Acuity)



In April 2018, the first patient was enrolled in a Phase 2 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of THR-317 in combination with ranibizumab (Lucentis), for the treatment of DME



In May 2018, the first patient was enrolled in a Phase 1 open-label, multicenter, dose escalation study evaluating the safety of THR-149 for treatment of DME



In July 2018, Oxurion reported positive Day150 data from its Phase 1/2 clinical study evaluating THR-317 for treatment of DME: the data confirmed the safety and tolerability of THR-317 for intra-ocular use, and that it could improve visual acuity for up to Day 90 after the last injection



In September 2018, the first patient was enrolled in Phase 1 clinical study evaluating THR-687, a novel pan-RGD integrin antagonist, for treatment of DME



In September 2018, the first patient was enrolled in Phase 2 clinical study evaluating THR-317 for treatment of Idiopathic Macular Telangiectasia Type 1 (MacTel 1)



The on-going clinical studies of all 4 drug candidates are expected to read out data towards the end of the second half of 2019



In November 2018, Oxurion signed a strategic research collaboration with Beta Therapeutics to develop new heparanase inhibitors for the treatment of retinal disorders such as dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

Corporate developments and Appointments

In September 2018, the Company rebranded as Oxurion NV. As a result, the Company's stock ticker is OXUR.BR (EURONEXT Brussels)



In October 2018, Oxurion announced the appointment (co-opting) of Adrienne Graves to its Board of Directors, replacing Paul Howes

Financial

Oxurion generated Jetrea sales of 5.2 million in 2018, compared to 4.6 million in 2017



Total revenue amounted to 5.3 million in 2018 compared to 9.1 million in 2017. The variance is due to a 3.2 million one-off positive settlement for cost of goods in 2017 and a reduction in Jetrea royalty income of 1.2 million



At the end of December 2018, Oxurion had 85.1 million in cash and investments, compared to 115.7 million (including restricted cash) as of the end of December 2017

Leuven, Belgium, 7 March 2019 - Oxurion NV (Euronext Brussels: OXUR), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative treatments to preserve vision in patients with diabetic eye disease, today issues a business update and its financial update for the year ending December 31, 2018.

Oxurion is developing a highly competitive pipeline of disease modifying drug candidates for diabetic eye disease, particularly diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME), two key areas of unmet medical need.

The Oxurion clinical development pipeline consists of distinct products with different modes of action, and includes:

THR-317 - PIGF (human placental growth factor) neutralizing monoclonal antibody, is in a Phase 2 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of intravitreal THR-317 when administered in combination with ranibizumab (Lucentis), for the treatment of DME. Results from this Phase 2 study are expected towards the end of 2019.

In addition, THR-317 is being evaluated in a Phase 2 study for the treatment of Idiopathic Macular Telangiectasia Type 1 (MacTel 1). MacTel 1 is a rare disease that affects the macula and can lead to vision loss. First data from this study is expected towards the end of 2019.

THR-149 - is a potent plasma kallikrein inhibitor being developed for the treatment of DME. THR-149 is in a Phase 1 open-label, multicenter, dose escalation study. Results from this study are anticipated towards the end of 2019.

THR-687 - is a small molecule pan-RGD integrin antagonist being developed to treat a broad range of patients with diabetic eye disease. THR-687 entered the clinic in September 2018. Results from this Phase 1 study are expected towards the end of 2019.

Patrik De Haes, MD, CEO of Oxurion nv, commented: "We are very pleased with the progress that we have made with our innovative clinical pipeline of novel drug candidates targeting diabetic eye disease. Diabetic eye disease is a growing global healthcare problem where there is a clear need for improved treatment options. 2019 is an important year for Oxurion as we expect to announce clinical data from 3 key on-going studies: a Phase 2 trial with THR-317, in combination with Lucentis in patients with DME, as well as two Phase 1 studies evaluating THR-687 and THR-149 respectively. We are confident these data will demonstrate the potential of our candidates, provide the information we need to plan the next stages of their clinical development and deliver significant value to our shareholders."

Pioneering New Therapies for Diabetic Eye Disease

Diabetes is a major global healthcare problem with an estimated 425 million adults living with diabetes worldwide. This number is expected to increase to over 625 million by 2045, according to the International Diabetes Federation.

Diabetic eye disease is caused by hyperglycemia (high blood glucose levels) associated with diabetes. If left unchecked hyperglycemia causes damage to the capillaries in the back of the eye (retina), which can result in vision loss and subsequently blindness.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a serious sight-threatening disease and the leading cause of vision loss among working-age adults, affecting over a third of all people with diabetes. DR progresses from mild, non-proliferative to more severe or even proliferative stages.

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a severe complication of DR. DME is an accumulation of fluid in the macula - the part of the retina that controls detailed vision - due to leaking blood vessels. DME represents an area of unmet medical need as the current standard of care treatment with anti-VEGFs has been shown to deliver suboptimal results in a significant number of patients.

Oxurion Clinical and Pre-clinical Development Update

THR-317 - a Humanized mAb Against Human PlGF for treatment of DME

THR-317 (anti-PlGF) is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the receptor-binding site of human placental growth factor (PlGF) being developed for the treatment of DME. In pre-clinical models, anti-PlGF has been shown, in addition to anti-angiogenic and anti-edema properties, to be anti-inflammatory.

Positive Topline Day90 and Day150 data reported from a Phase 1/2 study evaluating THR-317 for treatment of DME

In April 2018, Oxurion announced positive Day 90 topline clinical data from its Phase 1/2 clinical study evaluating THR-317 for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema (DME).

The results of the study, which was primarily a safety study, clearly demonstrated the safety and tolerability of THR-317 for intra-ocular use. Moreover, the reported Day90 data from the study also indicated that 30% of anti-VEGF treatment naive patients (n=90) had a 3 line or more ( > 15 letters) gain in Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) after 3 monthly injections with THR-317 (8mg)

These positive data were further reinforced by the Day 150 topline clinical data that were announced in July. The Day 150 study results (3 months after the last injection) not only confirmed the safety and tolerability of THR-317 for intra-ocular use, they also showed that 30% of the 8mg anti-VEGF treatment naive group still showed > 10 letters vision gain, and 10% showed a > 15 letters vision gain, indicating a durability of effect.

A Phase 2 Clinical study evaluating THR-317 in combination with ranibizumab (Lucentis), an anti-VEGF

Encouraged by the positive Day 90 topline study results, Oxurion initiated a Phase 2 study evaluating THR-317 in combination with an anti-VEGF.

In April 2018, the first patient was recruited in a Phase 2 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of intravitreal THR-317 administered in combination with ranibizumab (Lucentis) a VEGF inhibitor, for the treatment of DME. Initial results from this Phase 2 clinical study are anticipated towards the end of 2019.

It is believed that simultaneously inhibiting VEGF (ranibizumab) and PlGF (THR-317) could deliver better efficacy than either treatment alone. Non-clinical experiments indicate that anti-PlGF in the presence of an anti-VEGF antibody has an additive effect inhibiting the growth of new blood vessels (Van de Veire et al.,2010), a disease hallmark of DME.

In addition, THR-317 could bring the advantage of reduced inflammation associated with a reduced level of PIGF activity (van Bergen et al., 2017).

Results from this Phase 2 trial will provide the clinical data to inform the next stages of THR-317's clinical development.

At the Euretina International Congress in Vienna (Austria) in September, Oxurion gave a presentation on Anti-inflammatory effects of the PlGF neutralizing antibody THR-317 in patients with diabetic macular edema, providing further scientific findings supporting therapeutic potential of THR-317 as a promising new therapy for Diabetic Eye Disease.

A Phase 2 clinical study evaluating THR-317 for treatment of MacTel1

In September, Oxurion started a Phase 2 open-label multi-center study evaluating the efficacy and safety of intravitreal THR-317 for the treatment of Macular Telangiectasia Type 1 (MacTel 1). MacTel 1 is a rare disease that affects the macula and can lead to vision loss. There is currently no cure or effective treatment for MacTel 1.

This Phase 2 study plans to enroll 10 patients with macular edema caused by MacTel 1, who will each receive three 8mg intravitreal THR-317 injections over a period of 2 months. Efficacy and safety of the therapy will be assessed via functional and anatomic endpoints.

Oxurion is undertaking this study as part of its mission to enhance vision and fight blindness, alongside the development of its diabetic eye disease pipeline.

Initial results from this clinical study are anticipated towards the end of 2019.

A Phase 1 study evaluating THR-149, a Potent Plasma Kallikrein inhibitor, for the treatment of DME

THR-149 is a novel plasma kallikrein inhibitor, generated using Bicycle Therapeutics' Bicycles technology platform, that is being developed for the treatment of DME.

THR-149 acts through inhibition of the Plasma Kallikrein-Kinin (PKaI-kinin) system, which is considered a validated target for DME.

This is because activation of the PKal-kinin system has been shown to induce retinal vascular permeability, inflammation and angiogenesis. Based on literature data, patients with DME have elevated levels of plasma kallikrein, and therefore a plasma kallikrein inhibitor may be appropriate for the treatment of these patients.

Preclinical studies involving THR-149 were published in The Journal of Medicinal Chemistry in March 2018 and presented by Oxurion's senior scientist Dr Tine Van Bergen at the Annual Meeting 2018 of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Eye Complications Study Group (EASDec). The data demonstrate the potency and efficacy of bicyclic peptide inhibitors of pKal, such as THR-149, via a VEGF-independent pathway.

In May 2018, Oxurion initiated a Phase 1 clinical study evaluating the safety of a single intravitreal injection of escalating dose levels of THR-149 in patients with DME.

A maximum of 15 patients will be enrolled, with initial results anticipated around the end of the second half of 2019.

A Phase 1 study evaluating THR-687, a novel pan-RGD integrin antagonist for the treatment of DME

Oxurion is developing THR-687, a novel pan-RGD integrin antagonist (inhibitor), to preserve vision of a broad range of patients with diabetic eye disease. This broad potential is based on the hypothesis that integrin inhibition can target multiple processes involved in pathological angiogenesis and vascular leakage in patients with eye disease. Oxurion is initially developing THR-687 for DME.

In September 2018, THR-687 entered the clinic in a Phase 1 open-label, multicenter, dose escalation study evaluating the safety of a single intravitreal injection of THR-687 for the treatment of patients with DME. A maximum of 15 patients will be enrolled, with initial results anticipated by the end of 2019.

During the Euretina International Congress in Vienna (Austria) in September 2018, preclinical data were presented supporting the therapeutic potential of THR-687 as a novel treatment for sight-threatening DR.

Strategic Collaboration with Beta Therapeutics to develop new heparanase inhibitors for the treatment of retinal disorders

On November 5th 2018, Oxurion signed a strategic research collaboration with Beta Therapeutics to develop new heparanase inhibitors for the treatment of retinal disorders such as dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Heparanase is an endoglycosidase playing an important role in modifying the extracellular matrix and in inflammatory processes. In the retina, heparanase has been associated with DR and potentially with AMD pathogenesis.

Under the terms of the agreement Oxurion has an exclusive option to license in the heparanase inhibitor program.

Oncurious - developing next generation immuno-oncology therapies

Oncurious is developing next-generation immuno-oncology drugs targeting a broad spectrum of cancers. Oncurious is a majority owned subsidiary of Oxurion. The remainder of the shares in the company are owned by VIB, a leading life sciences research institute, based in Flanders, Belgium.

Recruitment is on-going in a US Phase 1/2a study with Oncurious' lead program TB-403, a humanized monoclonal antibody against placental growth factor (PlGF). The study aims to recruit 27 patients with Relapsed or Refractory Medulloblastoma. For recruiting patients, Oncurious is partnering with Beat Childhood Cancer, an international group of researchers and hospitals dedicated to finding a way to stop childhood cancers.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of TB-403 at the maximum tolerated dose in pediatric subjects with relapsed or refractory Medulloblastoma. TB-403 is being developed by Oncurious in conjunction with BioInvent International.

The study is currently enrolling the 4th and last cohort of patients. Initial data from this study are anticipated towards the end of 2019.

JETREA - a first-in-class drug for symptomatic VMA treatment

Oxurion has demonstrated its ability to discover, develop and bring to market innovative ophthalmology therapies, with its product JETREA. This first-in-class therapeutic for the treatment for symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion and traction, has been used to treat over 30,000 patients worldwide since it was first launched in 2013.

On 15 September 2018, the return of ex-US commercialization rights to Oxurion NV (from Novartis AG) was finalized. Global ownership and product responsibility of JETREA is currently with Oxurion NV. The JETREA commercial activities, with continued direct or indirect distribution of JETREA in selected markets, are operated from Leuven, Belgium.

New Board Member

In October 2018, Oxurion appointed (co-opted) Adrienne Graves, Ph.D., to its board of directors. Dr. Graves replaced Paul Howes.

Dr. Graves is a board member of multiple companies and organizations including Akorn Inc., Nicox, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the Glaucoma Research Foundation, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. She was the president and chief executive officer of Santen Inc., the U.S. arm of Japan's largest ophthalmic pharmaceutical company, Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Dr. Graves was the director of international ophthalmology at Alcon Laboratories, Inc.

Rebranding

In September 2018, the Company rebranded as Oxurion NV.

The name Oxurion better reflects the Company's ambition to deliver best in class therapies for back of the eye disorders. The decision to rebrand reflected the significant progress the Company has made in progressing its competitive pipeline on novel drug candidates targeting diabetic eye disease.

Financial Update

Oxurion generated Jetrea sales of 5.2 million in 2018, compared to 4.6 million in 2017.

Total revenue amounted to 5.3 million in 2018 compared to 9.1 million in 2017. The variance is due to the receipt of a 3.2 million one-off positive settlement for cost of goods in 2017 and a reduction in Jetrea royalties income of 1.2 million.

As a consequence, the Group reported a gross profit of 2.0 million in 2018. This compares with a gross profit of 6.5 million in 2017.

In 2018, Oxurion's R&D expenses were 29.5 million. This compares to 23.2 million in 2017. This increase is due to the start of clinical trials. These new studies are in addition to the ongoing studies that were initiated in 2017. Both years include a 3.2 million amortization of the intangible assets related to Jetrea (VMA/VMT indication).

Selling and marketing expenses were 6.2 million in 2018. This compares to 4.2 million in 2017. This higher spend is due to the Company regaining of the global commercialization rights of Jetrea.

General and administrative expenses amounted to 6.3 million in 2018 compared to 6.2 million in 2017.

The reported net loss for 2018 was 38.7 million resulting in negative diluted earnings per share of 1.01. In 2017, as a result of other operating income of 50.5 million, the Company reported a net profit of 22.6 million resulting in 0.62 diluted earnings per share.

Oxurion's cash position (including investments) at the end of 2018 amounted to 85.1 million. This compares to 115.7 million (including investments and restricted cash) at the end of 2017.

END

For further information please contact:

Oxurion NV

Wouter Piepers

Global Head of Investor Relations & Corp Coms

+32 16 75 13 10 / +32 478 33 56 32

wouter.piepers@oxurion.com



EU - Citigate Dewe Rogerson

David Dible / Sylvie Berrebi

+44 20 7638 9571

oxurion@citigatedewerogerson.com (mailto:oxurion@citigatedewerogerson.com) US - LifeSci Public Relations

Alison Chen

+1 646 876 4932

achen@lifescipublicrelations.com (mailto:achen@lifescipublicrelations.com)





About Oxurion

Oxurion (Euronext Brussels: OXUR) is a biopharmaceutical company currently developing a competitive pipeline of disease-modifying drug candidates for diabetic eye disease, a leading cause of blindness in people of working age worldwide.

Oxurion's most advanced drug candidate is THR-317, a PlGF inhibitor for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME), which is currently in a Phase 2 study in combination with Lucentis. THR-317 is also being evaluated in a Phase 2 study for the treatment of Idiopathic Macular Telangiectasia Type 1 (MacTel 1), a rare retinal disease that affects the macula and can lead to vision loss.

Oxurion has two further pipeline candidates, THR-149, a plasma kallikrein inhibitor being developed for the treatment of DME; and THR-687, a pan-RGD integrin antagonist in development for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy and DME. Both THR-149 and THR-687 are in Phase 1 clinical studies.

Oxurion is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and is listed on the Euronext Brussels exchange under the symbol OXUR.

More information is available at www.oxurion.com (http://www.oxurion.com/).

Important information about forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this press release may be considered "forward-looking". Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, and, accordingly, entail and are influenced by various risks and uncertainties. The Company therefore cannot provide any assurance that such forward-looking statements will materialize and does not assume an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties affecting the business and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement is contained in the Company's Annual Report. This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities or assets of Oxurion in any jurisdiction. No securities of Oxurion may be offered or sold within the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or in compliance with an exemption therefrom, and in accordance with any applicable U.S. state securities laws.

Financial information 2018



Consolidated statement of profit and loss In '000 euro (for the year ended 31 December) 2018 2017 Income 5,320 9,055 Sales 5,221 4,552 Income from royalties 99 1,258 Settlement on previous years COGS 0 3,245 Cost of sales -3,355 -2,579 Gross profit 1,965 6,476 Research and development expenses -29,523 -23,186 General and administrative expenses -6,349 -6,226 Selling expenses -6,217 -4,247 Other operating income 883 50,449 Operating result -39,241 23,266 Finance income 796 392 Finance expense -324 -1,029 Result before income tax -38,769 22,629 Taxes -10 -14 Result of the year -38,779 22,615 Attributable to: Equity holders of the company -38,474 22,788 Non-controlling interest -305 -173 Result per share Basic earnings / loss (-) per share (euro) -1.01 0.63 Diluted earnings / loss (-) per share (euro) -1.01 0.62 In '000 euro (as at 31 December) 2018 2017 Result of the year -38,779 22,615 Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations 62 -150 Other comprehensive income, net of income tax 62 -150 Other comprehensive income that will not be reclassified to profit or loss 62 -150 Total comprehensive loss (-) / income for the year -38,717 22,465 Attributable to: Equity holders of the company -38,412 22,638 Non-controlling interest -305 -173























Consolidated statement of financial position In '000 euro (as at 31 December) 2018 2017 ASSETS Property, plant and equipment 614 991 Intangible assets 20,450 23,603 Other non-current assets 127 126 Non-current tax credit 2,584 1,434 Non-current assets 23,775 26,154 Inventories 1,036 2,204 Trade and other receivables 4,219 4,295 Current tax receivable 707 2,054 Investments 20,475 49,555 Cash and cash equivalents 64,652 56,175 Restricted cash 0 10,000 Current assets 91,089 124,283 Total assets 114,864 150,437 EQUITY AND LIABILITIES Share capital 137,564 151,991 Share premium 13 157,661 Cumulative translation differences -273 -335 Other reserves -12,563 -13,141 Retained earnings -19,853 -163,546 Equity attributable to equity holders of the company 104,888 132,630 Non-controlling interest 422 727 Total equity 105,310 133,357 Trade payables 5,054 3,298 Other short-term liabilities 4,500 13,782 Current liabilities 9,554 17,080 Total equity and liabilities 114,864 150,437



















































5.3. Consolidated statement of cash flows In '000 euro (for the year ended 31 December) 2018 2017 Cash flows from operating activities Profit (loss) for the period -38,779 22,615 Finance expense 324 1,029 Finance income -796 -392 Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 474 674 Amortization of intangible fixed assets 3,153 3,156 Equity settled share-based payment transactions 592 176 Decrease in trade and other receivables including tax receivables and inventories 1,441 3,734 Increase / decrease (-) in short-term liabilities 2,474 -4,697 Net cash flows generated / used (-) in operating activities -31,116 26,295 Cash flows from investing activities Disposal of property, plant and equipment (following a sale) 98 323 Decrease / Increase (-) in investments 29,066 -27,738 Interest received and similar income 141 22 Purchase of property, plant and equipment -195 -246 Purchase / divestment (-) of other non-current assets -1 76 Net cash flows generated / used (-) in investing activities 29,109 -27,562 Cash flows from financing activities Restricted cash reserved for issue of share capital 0 10,000 Proceeds from capital and share premium increases from exercise of warrants 92 0 Paid interests -8 -11 Net cash flows generated in financing activities 84 9,989 Net change in cash and cash equivalents -1,924 8,722 Net cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at the beginning of the period 66,175 58,251 Effect of exchange rate fluctuations 401 -798 Net cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period 64,652 66,175

Consolidated statement of changes in equity Share capital Share premium Cumulative translation differences Other reserves Retained earnings Attributable to equity holders of the company Non-controlling interest Total Balance as at 1 January 2017 151,991 157,661 -185 -13,317 -186,334 109,816 43 109,859 Profit of the year 2017 0 0 0 0 22,788 22,788 -173 22,615 Change to foreign currency translation difference and revaluation reserve 0 0 -150 0 0 -150 0 -150 Issue of ordinary shares 0 0 0 0 0 0 857 857 Share-based payment transactions 0 0 0 176 0 176 0 176 Balance as at 31 December 2017 151,991 157,661 -335 -13,141 -163,546 132,630 727 133,357 Balance as at 1 January 2018 151,991 157,661 -335 -13,141 -163,546 132,630 727 133,357 Result of the year 2018 0 0 0 0 -38,474 -38,474 -305 -38,779 Change to foreign currency translation difference and revaluation reserve 0 0 62 0 0 62 0 62 Net change in fair value of investments 0 0 0 -14 0 -14 0 -14 Issue of ordinary shares 9,875 217 0 0 0 10,092 0 10,092 Capital decrease -24,302 -157,865 0 0 182,167 0 0 0 Share-based payment transactions 0 0 0 592 0 592 0 592 Balance as at 31 December 2018 137,564 13 -273 -12,563 -19,853 104,888 422 105,310

The statutory auditor, BDO Bedrijfsrevisoren represented by Gert Claes, has confirmed that the audit procedures, which have been substantially completed, have not revealed any material adjustments which would have to be made to the accounting data included in the Company's annual announcement, and intends to issue an unqualified opinion.

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: Oxurion NV via Globenewswire


LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / When is a car dealership owner much more than a car dealership owner? When he engages in incredible levels of charitable and philanthropic work for the community in which he does business.

Don Forman, of Don Forman United Nissan and also known best for his Don Forman Las Vegas dealership, is one of the auto industry's biggest proponents of giving back to communities.

Las Vegas Blood Drive

One of the most recent efforts by Forman and his team from Don Forman United Nissan was a blood drive for the city of Las Vegas. The dealership's unique method of helping was ingenious: he and his employees, along with other Nissan workers in the city, arranged to give free rides to blood donation sites for anyone who needed one. Considering that blood donors often mention "lack of transportation" as a reason for not giving blood more often, the solution was exactly the right thing at the right time.

Forman's Help for Students and Needy Families

When he and his group aren't busy helping blood donors with a lift to the donation venue, the Don Forman Las Vegas philanthropy superstars are assisting needy local families and students who lack school supplies. The list of actions by Forman and company is impressive, and includes such things as providing scholarship funds for students who have no other way of attending school, giving free new cars to parents who are in desperate need of transportation but are financially strapped, to name but a few of Forman's charitable activities.

Community Efforts Make the Difference

The clever twist to the way the Don Forman United Nissan organization works, with Forman as initiator and ringleader, is the enlistment of other local groups to pitch in and do their part. This is what community action and effective philanthropy is all about: using your network of friends, coworkers, and even business competitors to rally to a cause. Whether that cause is a blood drive, a scholarship program or an educational effort for needy students, the Don Forman Las Vegas team is always at the ready.

Why It Matters

Mr. Forman strongly believes in the power of positive action. One recent example involved a group of high school girls who had qualified to attend UNLV but had absolutely no way of covering the tuition and other associated expenses. Forman saw to it that the seven young women had all their tuition and expenses taken care of. He even threw in new cars for each of the new college students, making sure they understood exactly why he felt compelled to help them.

Forman sometimes faces obstacles from those who think his approach is not "good for business" and that his time-intensive charitable efforts take away from his responsibility as a dealership owner. His answer to that line of thinking is to simply dismiss it altogether. That's because Forman understands something that most entrepreneurs don't: being a good citizen, good neighbor and helpful community member is the first priority. Running a car dealership is important too, mainly because his success in that area allows him to support his neighbors and friends when they need it most.

Info@unitednissan.com

SOURCE: Don Forman

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/538357/Don-Forman-Las-Vegas-Philanthropy-Knows-No-Bounds
Strengthened intellectual property portfolio for 13 patent families

Novel utilization of ultrasound in surgical robotic platforms with less dependence on X-Ray

Regulatory News:

SpineGuard (Paris:ALSGD) (FR0011464452 ALSGD), an innovative company that deploys its DSG real time digital technology for surgical guidance intended to secure and streamline skeletal implant placement, announced today the grant of a patent for the mapping of bony structures by ultrasound, in France and Japan.

The patent discloses a novel manner to use ultrasound in order to map bony structures, in particular the spine, through soft tissues. In association with systems such as robots, navigation platforms or PediGuard devices, the technology has the potential to reduce the need for X-Ray for percutaneous guidance of instruments and implants.. After a grant in France, this patent was granted in Japan the 3rd largest spinal device market globally and an important market with manufacturers of ultrasound imaging platforms. Patent application has been submitted in the USA where it is currently under review by the US Patent Office.

Stephane Bette, CEO and co-founder of SpineGuard says: "This key patent grant in Japan is a major step for SpineGuard in its mission to secure and streamline the guidance of skeletal implants. Current guidance platforms require patients to undergo one or several CT scans, equivalent to several hundred X-Ray exposures with the potential for harmful effect. That is a major area for improvement for these platforms and our patent has the potential to decrease that risk while enhancing overall accuracy.

Maurice Bourlion, main inventor of the patent, co-inventor of the DSG technology and Director of SpineGuard adds: "Multiple studies over time have demonstrated that the DSG technology secures and streamlines the placement of implants in bone. These studies have also shown that beyond the accuracy it offers, DSG allows for a drastic decrease of X-Ray imaging in particular for pedicle screw placement in the spine. Unfortunately during minimally invasive surgeries, X-Ray images are still of major importance for the determination of the entry point to the vertebral pedicle. This patent, fruit of the close collaboration with reputable physicians, is a key piece in our broader vision for strategic innovation that aims at providing a complete platform for implant positioning in bone. This platform encompassing imaging, navigation and "smart" implant solutions will allow next generation robotic platforms to position implants safely in an autonomous manner.

Thirteen patent families form a solid portfolio of intellectual property

Ever since its inception, SpineGuard has developed and maintained a significant portfolio of 13 patent families comprised of 60 individual patents in key geographies worldwide. Thanks to a tight collaboration with world-renown scientists and surgeons, these patents cover neurophysiology, electrical conductivity monitoring during drillings in bone (DSG), "smart" implants, bone quality measurement, ultrasound mapping of bone and DSG integration in robotics. All these patents are aligned with our mission of securing implant placement in bone and carry a strong strategic value.

Next financial press release: 2018 annual results on March 14, 2019.

About SpineGuard

Founded in 2009 in France and the USA by Pierre Jerome and Stephane Bette, SpineGuard is an innovative company deploying its proprietary real-time digital technology DSG (Dynamic Surgical Guidance) to secure and streamline the placement of implants in the skeleton. SpineGuard designs, develops and markets medical devices that have been used in over 70,000 surgical procedures worldwide. Fourteen studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals have demonstrated the multiple benefits DSG offers to patients, surgeons, surgical staff and hospitals. Building on these solid fundamentals and several strategic partnerships, SpineGuard has expanded its technology platform in a disruptive innovation: the smart pedicle screw launched late 2017 and is broadening the scope of applications in dental implantology and surgical robotics. DSG was co-invented by Maurice Bourlion, Ph.D., Ciaran Bolger, M.D., Ph.D., and Alain Vanquaethem, Biomedical Engineer.

For further information, visit www.spineguard.com

Disclaimer

The SpineGuard securities may not be offered or sold in the United States as they have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or any United States state securities laws, and SpineGuard does not intend to make a public offer of its securities in the United States. This is an announcement and not a prospectus, and the information contained herein does and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or exemption from registration.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005030/en/

Contacts:

SpineGuard

Stephane Bette

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +33 (0) 1 45 18 45 19

s.bette@spineguard.com

Manuel Lanfossi

Chief Financial Officer

Tel: +33 (0)1 45 18 45 19

m.lanfossi@spineguard.com

NewCap

Investor Relations Financial Communication

Mathilde Bohin Pierre Laurent

Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

spineguard@newcap.eu
At the 2019 World Immunotherapy Congress

Regulatory News:

OSE Immunotherapeutics (Paris:OSE) (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnemo: OSE), announces that it has disclosed its novel bispecific checkpoint inhibitor (BiCKI) platform in a plenary session at the World Immunotherapy Congress held in San Diego.

"BiCKI represents a new proprietary multi-specific technology that has the potential to transform the current anti-PD-1 standard of care for hard to treat cancers," said Nicolas Poirier, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics. "Adding to our already strong immuno-oncology pipeline, our new anti-PD-1 bispecifics have the potential to extend the benefits of immunotherapy beyond inflamed tumors in a number of indications by reinstating sustained adaptive and innate immune responses that are naturally inhibited in the tumor microenvironment."

The oral presentation, entitled, "Inactivating Treg cells in tumor microenvironment to improve efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors," given by Dr. Poirier described a bispecific fusion protein platform built on the key backbone component anti-PD-1 (OSE-279) and targeting innovative targets. The BiCKI platform strives to inhibit key immune checkpoints while simultaneously delivering intratumoral cytokines with Treg modulating function and/or increasing exhausted T cell responses. The BiCKI platform can also modify the tumor microenvironment by delivering costimulatory signals to rewire anti-tumoral T cell activities or other modalities re-instating, among others, macrophage polarization and phagocytic functions.

Based on an engineered anti-PD-1 bifunctional antibody platform technology, BiCKI is designed to extend the spectrum of patients responding to immunotherapies. BiCKI represents the second generation of PD-(L)1 inhibitors that have been used to increase antitumor efficacy in hard to treat cancers by addressing untapped immune evasion mechanisms.

About the World Immunotherapy Congress

The vision of the World Immunotherapy Congress is to bring together the full community and provide a single meeting point for the whole value chain. It is where science meets business to make immunotherapy the cornerstone of the fight against cancer. The Festival of Biologics San Diego was born out of our successful European event, the Festival Of Biologics Basel, which consists of 5 world leading events: The European Antibody Congress, the World Immunotherapy Congress, Clinical Trials 2018, The World Biosimilar Congress and HPAPI World Congress. Having run very successfully in Basel, Switzerland for the past three years, and across other European countries for the past 13 years, it was time to bring the event across the pond to the U.S., where biologics research and development is fast growing and innovative. With high level, global speakers from big pharma, biotech, academia and industry, the Festival of Biologics San Diego will address the strategic and commercial aspects of discovering, developing, and bringing new biologics to patients. The conference brings you two days packed full of top level science, data and case studies, workshops, roundtables and networking opportunities. With 200+ speakers, 80 sponsors and exhibitors and hundreds of companies in attendance, this is not an event to be missed.

ABOUT OSE Immunotherapeutics

OSE Immunotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and partnering therapies to control the immune system for immuno-oncology and autoimmmune diseases. The company has a diversified first-in-class clinical portfolio consisting of several scientific and technological platforms including neoepitopes and agonist or antagonist monoclonal antibodies, all ideally positioned to fight cancer and autoimmune diseases. The most advanced therapeutic-candidate, Tedopi, is a proprietary combination of 10 neo-epitopes aimed at stimulating T-lymphocytes and is currently in Phase 3 development in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after checkpoint inhibitor failure (anti PD-1 and anti PD-L1) and in Phase 2 testing in pancreatic cancer in combination with checkpoint inhibitor Opdivo. FR104 (an anti-CD28 mAb) has successfully completed Phase 1 testing and has potential to treat autoimmune diseases. BI 765063 (OSE-172) (anti-SIRPa monoclonal antibody) is under a license and collaboration agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim; this checkpoint inhibitor has received CTA from French and Belgian health authorities for a Phase 1 clinical trial in multiple cancer indications. OSE-127 (monoclonal antibody targeting the CD127 receptor, the alpha chain of the interleukin-7 receptor) is partnered with Servier under an option agreement up to the completion of a Phase 2 clinical trial planned in autoimmune bowel diseases; in parallel, Servier plans a development in the Sjogren syndrome. OSE-127 is currently under Phase 1 clinical trial.

Click and follow us on Twitter and Linkedln

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics' management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate.

These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "target", "plan", or "estimate", their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import.

Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics' shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.

This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Reference Document filed with the AMF on 26 April 2018, including the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2017, available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics' website.

Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005402/en/

Contacts:

OSE Immunotherapeutics

Sylvie Detry

Sylvie.detry@ose-immuno.com

+33 143 297 857

French Media: FP2COM

Florence Portejoie

fportejoie@fp2com.fr

+33 607 768 283

U.S. Media: LifeSci Public Relations

Darren Opland, Ph.D.

Darren@lifescipublicrelations.com

+1 646 627 8387

U.S. and European Investors

Chris Maggos

chris@lifesciadvisors.com

+41 79 367 6254
LAKELAND, FL, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Global University Systems (GUS) has partnered with Florida Polytechnic University (Florida Poly) to expand the university's presence internationally and broaden their mission to serve students.

Florida Poly is the newest of the twelve institutions in the prestigious State University System of Florida. It is the state's only public polytechnic university and focuses exclusively on STEM education in areas such as engineering and computing.

Florida Poly collaborates with more than 80 high-tech corporate, government and non-government organizations that provide guidance on curriculum development, assist with research, and offer internship opportunities that stress real-world experience. Amongst many others, Florida Poly's list of industry partners includes Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Mosaic, Cisco, and Harris Corporation.

Chris Fisher CEO GUS services, said: "Global University Systems is thrilled to partner with Florida Poly, particularly so early in its development as a leading institution. In this partnership, GUS will be able to offer international students world leading STEM provision at Florida Poly's new state of the art campus.

"In addition, by using GUS' leading position as a global education provider, Florida Poly can reach out to the world and offer its industry focused programmes and give students real world employment outcomes in vital subject areas."

Dr. Randy K. Avent, founding president of Florida Polytechnic University, said: "Florida Polytechnic University is proud to partner with GUS as part of our efforts to be a premier science, technology, engineering and math university. Broadening our reach to international students via GUS' expertise in the field shows our continued commitment to producing highly desirable graduates entering the workforce of crucial modern industry sectors worldwide."

About Florida Polytechnic University

Florida Polytechnic University is an accredited member of the State University System of Florida, dedicated exclusively to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The University is a powerful economic engine within the state of Florida, blending applied research with industry partnerships to give students an academically rigorous education with real-world relevance. The campus is located in Lakeland, Florida along the I-4 High Tech Corridor.

Connect with Florida Poly.

About Global University Systems

Global University Systems (GUS) owns and operates one of the world's most diverse networks of higher education institutions, with over 60,000 students in six countries and a global presence online. Leading UK-based institutions such as The University of Law, London School of Business and Finance (LSBF), Arden University, University Canada West, the University of Applied Sciences Europe, and the Berlin-based GISMA Business School are part of the group, which owns four universities and a wide network of language, business, and professional schools. As well as the UK and Germany, the group operates institutions in Canada, Ireland, Israel, and Singapore.
A software company providing cyber-security solutions, WALLIX Group is proud to be included in the FT 1000 listing for the second year running.

The FT 1000 is an annual ranking compiled by the Financial Times that lists the European businesses that achieved the highest revenue growth rate over a 3-year period.

WALLIX's growth rate of 191% between 2014 and 2017, entailing an average annual rate of 43%, places the Group in 867th position in the overall ranking.

Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/238174d2-3139-11e9-8744-e7016697f225

ABOUT WALLIX

A software company providing cyber security solutions, WALLIX Group is a European specialist in privileged account governance.

In response to recent regulatory change (NIS/GDPR in Europe and OVIs in France) and the cyber security threats affecting all companies today, Bastion helps users protect their critical IT assets: data, servers, terminals and connected objects. It is the first market solution to have been awarded first-level security certification (CSPN) by France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) and thus meet all of the criteria for regulatory compliance

WALLIX accompanies more than 770 companies and organizations on a day-to-day basis. Its solutions are marketed through a network of more than 160 resellers and trained and accredited integrators. Listed on Euronext under the code ALLIX, WALLIX Group is a leader on the PAM market with a strong presence throughout Europe and EMEA. Alain Afflelou, Dassault Aviation, Gulf Air, Maroc Telecom, McDonald's, Michelin, and PSA Peugeot-Citroen trust WALLIX to secure their information systems.

WALLIX Bastion was a winner at the 2016 Computing Security Awards and has been rated Best Buy by SC Magazine, as well as being named among the PAM leaders in the Product and Innovation categories of the KuppingerCole 2017 Leadership Compass report. The company is a member of Bpifrance Excellence, a champion of the Pole Systematic Paris Region cluster and a founding member of the Hexatrust grouping of cyber security companies. In 2017, WALLIX Group was included in Forbes France's Futur40 ranking of fastest-growing listed companies.

For more information, visit the WALLIX website at: www.wallix.com

A PROPOS DE WALLIX



ACTUS finance & communication

Investor Relations

Theo Martin

Tel. +33 (0)1 53 67 36 75 / wallix@actus.fr



Financial Press Relations

Nicolas Bouchez

Tel. +33 (0)1 53 67 36 74 / nbouchez@actus.fr

WALLIX

Edwige BROSSARD

Tel. +33 (0)1 81 70 16 03 / ebrossard@walllix.com





------------------------



 Copyright Actusnews Wire

Recevez gratuitement par email les prochains communiques de la societe en vous inscrivant sur www.actusnews.com

Communique integral et original au format PDF:Telecharger le PDF
-- Beauty Decoded Live aims to build consumer confidence and increase knowledge when considering a medical aesthetic treatment --

-- Beauty Decoded Live aims to demystify the consultation process --

-- Beauty Decoded Live will tackle concerns around unnatural looking results and long-term safety in an experiential environment, and provide a forum for consumers to have their questions answered --

-- An immersive experience for attendees includes one-to-one consultations with highly qualified and trained health care practitioners, live injection demonstration and interactive JUVEDERM facial filler area --

-- 2019 series kicks off in London, to coincide with Allergan's latest campaign launch -- JUVEDERM IT and will visit over 15 countries across the world in the next 10 months --

LONDON, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Allergan launches Beauty Decoded Live - the first in a series of global events designed to educate consumers on facial fillers, the importance of having a proper consultation with a trained aesthetic practitioner prior to treatment and how to achieve the look that they want. At a time when demand is growing, Beauty Decoded Live aims to shine a light on good practice in a rapidly expanding sector of the beauty industry and empower those who are contemplating treatment to book a proper consultation, secure in the knowledge that they know what to do, what to ask, and what to expect.

Allergan is encouraging consumers to take ownership of their consultation, to ensure they receive the appropriate treatment, from an appropriately trained healthcare professional by asking four simple questions:

Check IT: Can you tell me about your training and experience? See IT: Can I see examples of your work? Know IT: Which brand of filler do you use? Understand IT: What treatment do I need to get the look I want?

Allergan have recently conducted a global beauty survey, to understand the motivations and desires of consumers considering aesthetic treatment.1 The survey showed:

80% of women care about their facial appearance

63% would consider it worthwhile spending money to improve its appearance

82% of consumers believe that facial fillers are more acceptable than they were 5 years ago

19% of people are considering having facial fillers in the next year 1

59% still lack the confidence to book a consultation with a professional to discuss their options. 2

Consumer concerns are varied, with 32% afraid of unnatural looking result and 30% worried about long-term safety.

Beauty Decoded Live aims to address these concerns and help patients to feel empowered to choose the look they want and be informed enough to know how to achieve it. Presented by renowned plastic surgeon Mauricio de Maio, creator of the MD Codes, the events aim to dispel the myths surrounding medical aesthetic procedures and break down or 'decode' the barriers that cause consumer uncertainty.

With presentations by world-renowned medical aesthetic experts, mini one-to-one consultations with leading practitioners, high-tech skin analysis, a live injection demonstration, JUVEDERM product area and more, Beauty Decoded Live gives consumers the tools to make an informed decision about whether a treatment is right for them.

Together, the JUVEDERMIT campaign and Beauty Decoded Live not only encourages attendees to become the most aspirational version of themselves - it arms them with the knowledge to: Uncover it. Discover it. Decode it and get the look they want.

All of the components of medical aesthetics and beauty will be DECODED for event attendees:

Science decoded : Understand the science behind JUVEDERM facial fillers

: Understand the science behind JUVEDERM facial fillers Facial fillers decoded : Learn about the different clinically-approved JUVEDERM facial fillers that will help attendees to enhance their features, reduce the signs of ageing or improve skin quality

: Learn about the different clinically-approved JUVEDERM facial fillers that will help attendees to enhance their features, reduce the signs of ageing or improve skin quality Consultations decoded : Gain an awareness of the qualifications they should look for in their practitioner and how the consultation should be tailored to suit their individual needs

: Gain an awareness of the qualifications they should look for in their practitioner and how the consultation should be tailored to suit their individual needs Treatment decoded: Recognise the importance of establishing a treatment plan with their practitioner

Dr. Mauricio de Maio, worldwide innovator in medical aesthetics and education, one of the world's leading plastic surgeons, and developer of the MD Codes says, "It is of paramount importance for consumers to have a thorough consultation to both address their questions about medical aesthetics, and to enable them to achieve the look they desire. A good aesthetic practitioner needs to be more than just an injector - they need to be a consultant to the patient, as well as an expert with the products. This consumer campaign is focused on directly addressing the most common questions we hear from patients, so that we can advance the discussion towards a consultation - focusing on what the patient wants to achieve with their JUVEDERM treatment. The Beauty Decoded Live series will help demystify medical aesthetics for many patients who have questions about treatment."

Allergan's long-standing commitment to quality and innovation means that event attendees can be assured of receiving the most robust and reliable information, in an environment that is both supportive and unintimidating.

Nancy Ghattas Associate Vice President UK and Ireland Country Manager at Allergan says, "As consumers in the UK are devoting more attention to their appearance, they are demanding faster innovation as well as higher quality techniques and diligence from healthcare practitioners - so that quality of care is not compromised. As a medical aesthetics leader, it is our responsibility to educate and empower consumers to make informed decisions that are right for them. This process starts with the right consultation; by tackling the toughest uncertainties and helping patients to gain a better understanding about JUVEDERM, we believe they can take ownership of their treatments and it will lead to better outcomes overall."

All ticketing profits for Beauty Decoded Live London will be matched by Allergan and donated to Beauty Banks, a non-profit organisation that seeks to galvanise the beauty community set up by Sali Hughes and Jo Jones. The charity collects personal care & beauty items and provides them to people living in poverty.

The global Beauty Decoded Live series will launch in the UK and reach 15 countries across the world in 2019, including China, Germany, Canada, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Turkey and France.

About JUVEDERM IT

Allergan International have announced the launch of a new JUVEDERM advertising campaign, which will be rolling out internationally from Spring 2019. It follows soon after the acclaimed launch of the campaign in the US, it has been reproduced for international markets to reflect the diversity of working across over 100 countries. The campaign has been created to empower consumers and marks the first globally consistent advertising campaign, for the world's leading brand of hyaluronic acid filler.14

The JUVEDERM collection of fillers is specifically designed for different patient needs, rather than taking a 'one size fits all' approach.3-11 The advanced VYCROSS technology demonstrates thorough tissue integration, providing a smooth, natural look and feel.12,13

The JUVEDERM IT campaign has a bright poppy colour scheme, involves refreshed talent, imagery and an edgy soundtrack. The shoot took place at landmark venues around London, including Tate Modern art museum. Staying true to Allergan's internal policy on ethical advertising of aesthetic products, all the models used in the shoot have received JUVEDERM treatment, and the imagery is not retouched in the areas of treatment.

Consumers can find an MD Codes trained aesthetic practitioner via the clinic locator on www.juvederm.co.uk

About JUVEDERM

JUVEDERM is the world's leading brand of hyaluronic acid facial filler.14 Using a quality manufacturing process, it is delivered by Allergan, a global market leader in medical aesthetics. JUVEDERM has been used by millions of people worldwide to enhance the way they look and feel.14JUVEDERM is made from hyaluronic acid (HA), a natural substance in the skin that can shape and contour specific facial features. Its patented technology allows it to blend with the tissue under the skin to help maintain a natural look.12-13 It is administered by a medial aesthetics practitioner and can last up to 24 months depending on the product used. 6, 12 Allergan strongly advocate that people interested in injectable procedures do the appropriate research and make sure the practitioner they are consulting has the necessary qualifications. They can find a trained practitioner via the clinic locator on www.juvederm.co.uk.

About MD Codes

The MD Codes were created in 2015 by world-renowned Brazilian plastic surgeon Dr Mauricio de Maio. In 2010, Dr de Maio introduced a revolutionary new concept into the field of aesthetic medicine - the 8-Point Lift, an injectable alternative to a surgical facelift. This was the first time a precise sequence and pattern of injection points had been used to achieve a specific result. The success of this new approach led to the development of the MD Codes.

About Allergan plc

Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model - Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercialising branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine products for patients around the world.

Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women's health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.

Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, a model of research and development, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. With this approach, Allergan has built one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry.

Allergan's success is powered by our global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right.

With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective on existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; the impact of uncertainty around timing of generic entry related to key products, including RESTASIS, on our financial results; uncertainty associated with financial projections, projected cost reductions, projected synergies, restructurings, increased costs, and adverse tax consequences; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

References

Unpublished data. Allergan Consumer & MD Beauty Image Global - Barriers/Motivations About Treatment. Feb 2019 . Survey across 14,584 people in 18 countries. (In the gallery) Allergan. Unpublished data. INT/0626/2018(1). Allergan patient funnels global report - facial (combined). Oct 2018 . Juvederm VOLIFT DFU (72383JR12); Revision: 2016-05-03. Juvederm ULTRA 4 DFU (72488JR12); Revision: 2016-05-03. Juvederm VOLBELLA DFU (72525JR11); Revision: 2016-05-03. Juvederm VOLUMA DFU (72475JR12); Revision: 2016-05-03. Juvederm ULTRA 2 DFU (72345JR14); Revision: 2016-05-03. Juvederm ULTRA 3 DFU (72490JR12); Revision: 2016-05-03. Juvederm ULTRA Smile DFU (72349JR13); Revision: 2016-05-03. Juvederm ULTRA XC DFU (72360EC11); Revision: 2012-10-10. Juvederm ULTRA PLUS XC DFU (72361EC11C); Revision: 2013-04-11. Allergan DOF INT/0108/2015. Juvederm Properties. OR Raspaldo H. J Cos Laser Ther. 2008; 10:134-142. Hee CK et al. Dermatol Surg. 2015; 41:373-381. INT/0771/2016(2)

CONTACTS:

Victoria@blackandwhitecomms.com

Hayley@blackandwhitecomms.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/222796/allergan_plc_logo.jpg
Road Town, British Virgin Islands--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2019) - Talon Metals Corp. (TSX: TLO) ("Talon" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has raised a total of C$9.825 million. The Company expects to close an additional tranche in the amount of C$350,000 which in aggregate will result in the Company raising a total of C$10.175 million. These funds will be used to, among other things, make the initial payment under its existing joint venture agreement in respect of the Tamarack Project (the "JV Agreement"). The Company has also entered into a series of conversion transactions with Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. ("RCF"), which has eliminated approximately C$32 million in debt.

"Today's announcement represents a major milestone for Talon," said Sean Werger, President of the Company. "We have raised the money required to make the upfront payment to lock-in our option to earn up to a 60% interest in the Tamarack Project; we have become a debt-free Company, with RCF converting 95% of its debt at C$0.156 per common share, representing nearly a 100% premium to the price at which the Company has just raised capital; and we now have excellent investors in both Triple Flag and RCF."

Financing Arrangements

The Company is pleased to announce that it has completed a private placement offering of 39,375,000 common shares at a price of C$0.08 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of C$3.15 million. The Company expects to close a second tranche for additional gross proceeds of C$350,000.

In addition, Talon Nickel (USA) LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Talon, has agreed to grant a net smelter returns royalty to 10782343 Canada Limited (the "Holder"), a subsidiary of Triple Flag Mining Finance Bermuda Ltd., in consideration of the payment of US$5.0 million. The Company, together with its subsidiaries, Cloudmine Holdings Limited and Talon Metals (USA) Inc., have agreed to guarantee the payment and performance obligations under the royalty agreement. The royalty is 3.5% of net smelter returns and will be paid out of Talon's participating interest in the Tamarack Project. The royalty agreement contains a put right pursuant to which the Holder has in certain instances an option to cause Talon to repurchase the entire royalty for a cash payment of US$8.6 million. If the Holder does not exercise the put right, Talon has a one-time option to reduce the percentage of the royalty to 1.85% in exchange for cash in the amount of US$4.5 million in cash. Talon and its related entities have provided security to the Holder to support the payment and performance obligations related to the royalty and the guarantees. In connection the royalty agreement, Talon has issued the Holder 5,000,000 warrants exercisable to acquire one common share for a period of 36 months following the closing date at an exercise price of $0.0826 per share.

Finder's fees of 6% cash and 6% broker warrants ("Broker Warrants") are payable in connection with certain orders under the Offering and in respect of the royalty agreement. Each Broker Warrant is exercisable to acquire one common share for a period of 36 months following the closing date at an exercise price of $0.0826 per share.

The proceeds received by the Company from the royalty agreement and some of the proceeds from the Offering will be used by the Company to make the initial US$6 million cash payment due under the JV Agreement. In addition, the Company has issued 25,031,250 common shares to its joint venture partner in satisfaction of Talon's requirement to issue US$1.5 million in shares under the terms of the JV Agreement. This issuance assumes an agreed foreign exchange rate of C$1.3350 = US$1 and a deemed issuance price of $0.08 per share. The remaining proceeds of the Offering will be used by the Company for working capital purposes.

Debt Conversion

The Company is pleased to announce that it has renegotiated the terms of the amending agreements with RCF in respect of its outstanding convertible loan and promissory note previously announced on November 8, 2018.

RCF has agreed to convert the outstanding principal and interest under the Company's existing US$16 million convertible loan facility (the "Convertible Loan") at the previously approved conversion price of C$0.156 per share (the "Convertible Loan Conversion"). In connection therewith, RCF will be issued 196,776,515 common shares (which assumes an exchange rate of C$1.3350 = US$1 and accrued interest to March 6, 2019). The Convertible Loan was previously approved by shareholders in December 2015 and then again, as amended in January 2017.

In respect of the outstanding US$1 million unsecured promissory note (the "Promissory Note"), the parties have agreed to repay the Promissory Note by delivering common shares of Talon at a conversion price of equal to C$0.0826 (the "Promissory Note Conversion"). In connection with the Promissory Note Conversion, RCF will be issued 18,043,542 common shares in the capital of Talon (which uses an agreed exchange rate of C$1.3350 = US$1 and accrued interest to March 6, 2019).

RCF is a "related party" of the Company pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101") as RCF, assuming the exercise of the conversion rights under the existing Convertible Loan, has beneficial ownership of, and control or direction over, directly or indirectly securities of the Company carrying more than 10% of the voting rights attached to all of the Company's outstanding voting securities. The Promissory Note Conversion is a "related party transaction" under MI 61-101 as such transaction can be considered either a material amendment of the terms of an outstanding debt or liability owed to a related party and/or contemplates a security which is being issued to a related party. In connection with the Promissory Note Conversion, the Company is exempt from seeking "minority approval" (as defined in MI 61-101) and from the requirement to obtain a "formal valuation" pursuant to section 5.5 and 5.7 of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the transaction is not more than 25% of the market capitalization of Talon.

As a result of the Convertible Loan Conversion and the Promissory Note Conversion, the C$3.15 million private placement and the issuance of shares to its joint venture partner, RCF will hold approximately 55.6% of the issued and outstanding shares of Talon.

The transactions discussed herein are subject to the final approval of the TSX.

About Talon

Talon is a TSX-listed company focused on the exploration and development of the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project in Minnesota, USA (which comprises the Tamarack North Project and the Tamarack South Project). The Company has a well-qualified exploration and mine management team with extensive experience in project management.

For additional information on Talon, please visit the Company's website at www.talonmetals.com or contact:

Sean Werger

President

Talon Metals Corp.

Tel: (416) 500-9891

Email: werger@talonmetals.com

About Triple Flag

Triple Flag Mining Finance Bermuda Ltd. and its subsidiaries together constitute Triple Flag. Triple Flag primarily targets streaming and royalty investments in the mining sector with backing by funds advised by Elliott Management Corporation, an experienced global investment firm with approximately $34 billion of assets under management. Triple Flag's focus is on being a leading sought-after long-term funding partner to mining companies throughout the commodity cycle. In less than 3 years, Triple Flag has committed over US$840 million to the mining sector, with a primary focus on precious metal streaming and royalty investments. For more information, visit http://www.tripleflagmining.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical fact that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Such forward-looking statements include statements relating to the use of proceeds and final approval of the TSX. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43296
It is dubbed as angel tax due to its impact on investments made by angel investors in startup

New Delhi: The Income Tax (I-T) Department has notified the modified norms for startups to enable them to seek 'angel tax' exemption for investments of up to Rs 25 crore.

The modified norms, which are aimed at encouraging budding entrepreneurs, will be effective retrospectively from 19 February, when the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) relaxed the norms for startups.

The DPIIT, under the commerce and industry ministry, on 19 February raised the investment limit for 'angel tax' exemption to Rs 25 crore and extended the period of availing benefits to 10 years for start-ups.

Earlier, the investment limit for a startup to seek exemption under Section 56(2)(viib) of Income Tax Act, 1961, was Rs 10 crore and they were permitted to avail the benefits only for seven years.

The notification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) "shall be deemed to have come into force retrospectively from February 19, 2019", the I-T department said.

Nangia Advisors (Andersen Global) Managing Partner Rakesh Nangia said this is just a procedural notification which the CBDT was required to issue to put in place the mechanism for claiming benefit given to startups vide DPIIT notification dated 19 February, 2019.

To avail the exemption, a startup will be required to submit a self-declaration about the use of the raised amount to the DPIIT, which will be forwarded to the CBDT.

The decision by the DPIIT came after several startups said they have received angel tax notices, impacting their businesses. Such notices, sent under Section 56(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act, demanded taxes on angel funds received by startups.

With regard to cases where tax demands have been raised, the CBDT has already asked the field formations to expeditiously clear them.

Section 56(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act provides that the amount raised by a start-up in excess of its fair market value would be deemed as income from other sources and would be taxed at 30 per cent.

Touted as an anti-abuse measure, this section was introduced in 2012. It is dubbed as angel tax due to its impact on investments made by angel investors in startup ventures.
By Jennifer Hiller NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp plans to boost capital spending for several years, CEO Darren Woods said on Wednesday, and the largest U.S. oil company's shares fell after he laid out a strategy to 'lean in' while the rest of the industry cuts back. Exxon shares fell more than 1 percent after the company told analysts attending its annual investor meeting that it plans to lift spending by 10 percent or more for the next several years as rivals are sidelining equipment and capping spending to boost shareholder returns.

By Jennifer Hiller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp plans to boost capital spending for several years, CEO Darren Woods said on Wednesday, and the largest U.S. oil company's shares fell after he laid out a strategy to "lean in" while the rest of the industry cuts back.

Exxon shares fell more than 1 percent after the company told analysts attending its annual investor meeting that it plans to lift spending by 10 percent or more for the next several years as rivals are sidelining equipment and capping spending to boost shareholder returns.

Woods defended the strategy of "leaning in as our competitors are leaning back," saying the best time to buy into projects is not when everyone else is active. "You do it when everybody else is at home," Woods said.

Exxon's plans include a big bet on U.S. shale, where output has surged in recent years, making the United States the world's largest oil producer.

Exxon shares finished down 91 cents at $79.28 on Wednesday. The stock has underperformed rivals for years and Woods faces challenges to boost investor confidence. He took over as chief executive in 2017, with a mission to boost sagging production and repair missteps made under former CEO Rex Tillerson, including expensive bets on natural gas and Russia.

Capital spending will rise to $33 billion to $35 billion next year from $30 billion this year and from $23.1 billion in Woods' first year as CEO.

"With investors increasingly pressuring energy companies to return cash to shareholders, it is no surprise that the higher capital budget was not positively received by the market," said Muhammed Ghulam, energy analyst with Raymond James.

Over the last five years, Exxon shares have posted a total return of negative 0.16 percent, lagging total returns of 32 percent at Chevron Corp and 54 percent at BP PLC over the same period, while the benchmark S&P 500 index has gained 48 percent, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

BIG BETS ON SHALE

Exxon's output has declined in nine of the last 10 quarters, but the company now forecasts continued production gains. It has placed one of its biggest bets on drilling in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, the largest U.S. shale field.

The independent oil companies that launched the Permian boom are reducing drilling rigs and cutting spending in response to investor demands to rein in expenses while Exxon and other majors are cranking up investments in the oilfield.

Woods argued that more investment was justified because global demand is rising for oil and gas, and that the declining output of existing wells must be replaced.

This is a compelling case for industry as a whole, Woods said.

This week, Exxon and rival Chevron released duelling Permian output projections. Exxon said its Permian production could hit 1 million barrels of oil and gas per day as early as 2024, up from its previous estimate of 600,000 by 2025.

Both companies have boasted of superior technology to overcome one of shale's biggest hurdles: rapid declines in production rates. New well production in the Permian was about 600 bpd per rig as of February, down from nearly 760 bpd in mid-2016, according to U.S. Energy Department data.

Woods said Exxon can earn a double-digit return in the Permian even at $35-per-barrel oil. It expects annual cash flow from overall operations to reach $60 billion in 2025, on assumption of $60 per barrel international oil prices.

For a graphic on Exxon returns lag Big Oil peers, see - https://tmsnrt.rs/2C2CuvZ

Other major investments for Exxon include offshore projects in Brazil and Guyana, and from global investments in liquefied natural gas.

Exxon, which faces investor pressure to trim its assets, said it would divest $15 billion in holdings over the next three years.

Exxon needs to "convince the market that higher spending today translates to higher returns to shareholders over time," which could be helped by increased asset sales, said Biraj Borkhataria, analyst with RBC Europe Limited, in a note to clients.

Analysts and investors have pressured Exxon to be more open and transparent. Woods opened Wednesdays analyst meeting by saying he had spent quite a bit of time engaging with our shareholders, in the last year. Last month, for the first time, he joined the quarterly earnings call to discuss results.

(Additional reporting by John Benny and Debroop Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio and Sonya Hepinstall)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The interest subvention is for extending loans of Rs 12,900 crore by banks to sugar mills under the scheme for extending financial aid to sugar mills for enhancement and augmentation of ethanol production capacity, he said.

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved Rs 2,790-crore interest subvention for extending loans by banks to sugar mills, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

This is in addition to Rs 1,332 crore already approved by the CCEA in June 2018.

The interest subvention is for extending loans of Rs 12,900 crore by banks to sugar mills under the scheme for extending financial assistance to sugar mills for enhancement and augmentation of ethanol production capacity, he said.

The Cabinet also approved state-owned NHPC taking over debt-laden Lanco's 500 MW Teesta hydro-electric power project in Sikkim, Jaitley said.

He said the NHPC has also been allowed to spend Rs 574.04 crore to complete balance work at the project. The project would generate 2,400 million units.

Teesta Stage-VI hydro-electric project is a run of river (RoR) scheme in Sirwani Village of Sikkim to utilise the power potential of Teesta river basin in cascade manner.

The project shall help in meeting peaking demand of energy, balancing and ramping requirement of the grid.

The CCEA has approved the construction of a third railway line between Narayangarh in West Bengal and Bhadrak in Odisha.

Jaitley said the new 155-km railway line will ease congestion on the route.

"The third line will help generate additional optimum capacity to cope with the existing as well as additional traffic," he said.

According to government estimates, the project would cost Rs 1,866.31 crore and would be completed by 2023-24. It is expected to generate direct employment for around 37.2 lakh man days.
The revival of airports under UDAN is demand driven, depending on firm commitment from airlines and state governments for providing various concessions.

New Delhi: In a bid to boost regional air connectivity, the Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to "revive and develop" a number of "unserved and under-served airports" across the country at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore.

"Cabinet approves revival and development of unserved and under-served air strips of state governments, Airports Authority of India (AAI), civil enclaves, Central Public Sector Units (CPSU), helipads and water aerodromes," a government statement read.

According to the statement, the government would spend Rs 4,500 crore on the entire exercise.

"As an outcome, small cities and towns shall be connected on commencement of operation of flights to under-served and unserved airports," the statement said.

The government said the move will further boost economic development in these cities or towns as well as surrounding areas in terms of job creation and related infrastructure development.

The regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying affordable.

The revival of airports under UDAN is demand driven, depending on firm commitment from airlines and state governments for providing various concessions.

"Under UDAN phase 1 and phase 2, 56 unserved airports are to be operationalised. Out of these 56 airports, 23 airports have been operationalised. Under UDAN 3, routes connecting 13 unique unserved airports have been awarded on 25 January, 2019," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha had told the Rajya Sabha on 13 February.
On 5 March, the US decided to withdraw import duty benefits, which was in the range of 1-6 percent, under its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme

New Delhi: India is exploring various options, including approaching the WTO dispute body, to deal with the US decision to withdraw import incentives for about 2,000 domestic goods under the trade preference scheme, sources said.

Providing fiscal support to domestic exporters of those sectors hit by the US decision and imposing retaliatory duties are also among the options considered by India, they said.

On 5 March, the US decided to withdraw import duty benefits, which was in the range of 1-6 percent, under its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

The GSP programme provides non-reciprocal, duty-free imports of certain products from certain developing countries. Currently, about 121 developing countries including India, Brazil, Afghanistan and Botswana are availing these benefits.

The decision could impact India's exports worth $5.6 billion under this scheme. Removal of the benefits would result in imposition of duties by the US on these 2,000 products, making them uncompetitive in the American market in terms of pricing.

However, another source said that it might be a long drawn process in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the better option would be to resolve the issues through bilateral dialogues, as India has trade surplus with the US.

India approaching the Geneva-based WTO's dispute settlement body would depend whether the US is differentiating among the developing countries by excluding India based on WTO's non-compatibility criteria.

In 2003, India had won a case in the WTO against the European Commission following its denial of GSP incentives for textiles and drugs exporters.

Besides, India has an option to impose retaliatory tariffs on the 29 US products, deadline for which has been extended until April 1. India has extended the deadline to impose these duties for six times.

Trade experts said that India has the option to drag the US in the WTO dispute over the GSP issue and impose retaliatory tariffs.

"India can file a complaint to the WTO's dispute settlement body. But I think bilateral negotiations are the best options to find a solution to the issue," Professor Biswajit Dhar of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said.

Another source said that GSP benefits are provided to developing countries and LDCs by developed countries on an MFN basis. No discrimination can be made by the US on developing countries on biased criteria. The US has to remove GSP benefits for all developing countries. It cannot cherry pick as per their whims and fancies. If they do so then India can file a dispute at WTO, the source said.

According to Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Kumar Gupta has said that the US decision to withdraw duty benefits will have an impact on few domestic sectors such as processed food, leather, plastic, and engineering goods.

The other sectors that were enjoying the duty benefits include building material and tiles; hand tools (spanners, wrenches, drilling equipments); engineering goods such as spark ignition, turbines and pipes, parts of generators, cycles; made-ups (pillow and cushion covers); and women's woven dresses, he has said.

India has said that the US government's move to withdraw duty concessions will not have a significant impact on exports to America as the benefits amount to only about $190 million annually.

The bilateral trade between the countries has increased to $74.5 billion in 2017-18 from $64.5 billion in 2016-17. The US is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus, which stood $21 billion in 2017-18.
The government in 2010 prohibited FDI in cigarette manufacturing, saying the measure would enhance its efforts to curb smoking

New Delhi: Philip Morris International Inc has for years paid manufacturing costs to its Indian partner to make its Marlboro cigarettes, circumventing a nine-year-old government ban on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the industry, internal company documents reviewed by Reuters showed.

The Indian government in 2010 prohibited foreign direct investment in cigarette manufacturing, saying the measure would enhance its efforts to curb smoking.

Restricting foreign investment leaves cigarette manufacturing largely in the hands of domestic players, and is supposed to prevent any foreign-funded expansion. A year after the governments decision, Japan Tobacco exited India, citing an unsustainable business model.

Philip Morris, though, stayed in India and used another route, according to company documents dated between May 2009 and January 2018.

A year before the FDI ban, it struck an exclusive deal with Indias Godfrey Phillips to locally manufacture the world-famous Marlboro cigarettes.

Ever since then, Godfrey has publicly acted as a contract manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes in India, while Philip Morriss majority-owned local unit acts as a wholesale trading company and promotes the brand.

But dozens of internal company documentsincluding invoice bills, legal agreements, e-mails and accounting statementsshow Philip Morris has for years indirectly paid costs related to Marlboro cigarette manufacturing in India.

Some former Indian enforcement officials said the practice of indirectly paying for manufacturing-related costs violates regulatory rules. However, some lawyers such as Pratibha Jain, a partner at Nishith Desai Associates, disagreed, pointing out that the federal rules did not explicitly prohibit such payments.

Philip Morris director for corporate affairs in India, R Venkatesh, in an e-mail, said the companys business arrangements with Godfrey Phillips India comply with Indian Foreign Direct Investment Rules. He did not elaborate.

The company did not answer detailed questions for this article and did not offer any executive for interview, despite repeated requests from Reuters over the past month.

Manufacturing charges

Six invoices issued by Godfrey showed billing of 45.5 million Indian rupees ($644,200) to Philip Morris between December 2013 and January 2018 for manufacturing-related charges. Philip Morris paid for items ranging from large cigarette-making machines to costs of smaller equipment such as barcode scanners and printers deployed in Godfreys factories.

One invoice from January 2018 sent from Godfrey to Philip Morris showed the Indian company had spent 206 million rupees ($3 million) on capital expenditure for Marlboro-related manufacturing activities since 2009, though it was not clear how much of that was paid by Philip Morris.
The US had initiated the review on the basis of representations by the US medical devices and dairy industries

New Delhi: United States of America has given a 60-day withdrawal notice to India on the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits extended by US.

Since the review initiated by the US in April 2018 on India's GSP benefits, India and US have been discussing various trade issues of bilateral interest for a suitable resolution on mutually acceptable terms. GSP benefits are envisaged to be non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory benefits extended by developed countries to developing countries. In India's case the GSP concessions extended by the US amounted to duty reduction of only $190 million per annum, according to a press release by Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The US had initiated the review on the basis of representations by the US medical devices and dairy industries, but subsequently included numerous other issues on a self-initiated basis. These included issues related to market access for various agriculture and animal husbandry products, relaxation/easing of procedures related to issues like telecom testing/conformity assessment and tariff reduction on ICT products.

The Department of Commerce engaged with various Government of India departments concerned with these issues, and India was able to offer a very meaningful way forward on almost all the US requests, the statement said. In a few instances, specific US requests were not found reasonable and doable at this time by the departments concerned, in light of public welfare concerns reflective of India's developing country status and its national interest, the press release said.

India was ready to address US concerns regarding medical devices in principle, by putting in place a suitable trade margin approach in a reasonable time frame to balance concerns about fair pricing for the consumers and adequate remuneration for the suppliers.

On the issue of dairy market access, India has clarified that while our certification requirement, that the source animal had never been fed animal derived blood meal, is non-negotiable given the cultural and religious sentiment, the requested simplified dairy certification procedure, without diluting this requirement, could be considered. Acceptability of US market access requests related to products like alfalfa hay, cherries and pork was conveyed.

On reduction of India's IT duties, our duties are moderate and not import stopping, the statement said. Any MFN duty reduction would almost entirely benefit third countries. Accordingly, India conveyed willingness to extend duty concessions on specific items in which there is a clear US interest. On telecom testing, India was willing to consider discussions for a Mutual Recognition Agreement.

Due to various initiatives resulting in enhanced purchase of US goods like oil and natural gas and coal the US trade deficit with India has substantially reduced in calendar years 2017 and 2018. The reduction is estimated to be over $4 billion in 2018, with further reduction expected in future years on account of factors like the growing demand for energy and civilian aircraft in India. This reduction has happened in the face of a rising overall US trade deficit, including with some other major economies.

India is also a thriving market for US services and e-commerce companies like Amazon, Uber, Google and Facebook with billions of dollars of revenue.

The issue of Indian tariffs being high has been raised from time to time. It is pertinent that Indias tariffs are within its bound rates under WTO commitments, and are on the average well below these bound rates. Indias trade weighted average tariffs are 7.6 percent, which is comparable with the most open developing economies, and some developed economies. On developmental considerations there may be a few tariff peaks, which is true for almost all economies, the statement said.

India was agreeable to a very meaningful mutually acceptable package on the above lines to be agreed to at this time, while keeping remaining issues under discussion in the future, it said.
India represents a great opportunity for the retailing major, Walmart Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said.

The world's largest retailer Walmart said it was disappointed with the changes in FDI policy for e-commerce in India but it has made "adjustments" and is moving forward. Despite such changes, India represents a great opportunity for the Bentonville-based retailing major, Walmart Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said in a conference call.

"It's disappointing that you have a law like that changed that quickly, but we have made the adjustments and we are moving forward," Briggs said, according to a PTI report.

"When you make investment in India, note things are going to change. They did the first time we were in India and they will again, we know that. We knew that going into an investment and you have just got to work their way through. And so, we are going to have real changes, we know that," he added.

Tightening norms for e-commerce firms having foreign investment, the government last month barred online marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon from selling products of companies where they hold stakes and banned exclusive marketing arrangements that could influence product prices.

"We'll have legislation changes, we know that and you work your way through it. But long-term, this is a great opportunity for Walmart," Briggs said.

The revised policy on FDI in online retail, issued by the commerce and industry ministry, also said these firms have to offer equal services or facilities to all its vendors without discrimination.

A recent report by global consultancy firm Morgan Stanley had hinted that Walmart may quit Flipkart as the new foreign direct investment (FDI) policy came into effect, which would lower its profitability in the long run.

Morgan Stanley, in a report titled 'Assessing Flipkart Risk to Walmart EPS' dated 4 February, claimed that "an exit is likely, not completely out of the question, with the Indian e-commerce market becoming more complicated."

Walmart's and Flipkart's commitment to India is deep and long-term. Despite the recent changes in regulations, we remain optimistic about the country, said Dirk Van den Berghe, Executive Vice President and Regional CEO Walmart Asia and Canada, a PTI report said.

He further added, "We will continue to focus on serving customers, creating sustained economic growth and bringing sustainable benefits to the country, including employment generation, supporting small businesses and farmers, and growing Indian exports to Walmart's global markets."

Last year on 18 August, Walmart had completed acquisition of 77 percent stake in Flipkart for about $16 billion (Rs 1.05 lakh crore), a deal which gave the US retailer access to the Indian e-commerce market.

--With PTI inputs
Emerging and developing economies are less vulnerable than advanced economies from technological changes

New Delhi: Youth inactivity is the highest in India among emerging and developing economies, IMF senior economist John Bluedorn said on Wednesday. Bluedorn was speaking on labour market in emerging and developing economies at an event organised by Brookings India.

"Youth inactivity is the highest in India compare to emerging and developing economies and it is about in 30 per cent," he said.

Bluedorn noted that the key challenges facing youth in emerging economies labour markets include gender gaps, technological change, poor job quality in employment.

He also pointed out that emerging and developing economies are less vulnerable than advanced economies from technological changes and automation challenges.

A recent data compiled by Mumbai-based CMIE reportedly claimed that the unemployment rate in India rose to 7.2 percent in February 2019.

The unemployment rate in India rose to 7.2 percent in February 2019, the highest since September 2016, and up from 5.9 percent in February 2018, according to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) that was released on 5th February.

The unemployment rate has climbed despite a fall in the number of job seekers, Mahesh Vyas, head of the Mumbai-based think tank told Reuters, citing an estimated fall in the labour force participation rate. The number of employed persons in India was estimated at 400 million in February compared with 406 million a year ago, he said, a PTI report said.

The CMIE numbers are based on a survey of tens of thousands of households across India. The figures are regarded by many economists as more credible than the jobless data produced by the government.

When the government has released official data for the jobless rate in the past it has tended to be out-of-date. But recently it withheld a batch of data because officials said they needed to check its veracity.

The figures that were withheld in December were leaked to a local newspaper a few weeks ago, and showed that Indias unemployment rate rose to its highest level in at least 45 years in 2017/18.

A CMIE report released in January said nearly 11 million people lost jobs in 2018 after the demonetisation of high-value notes in late 2016 and the chaotic launch of a new goods and services tax in 2017, hit millions of small businesses.

The government told Parliament last month that it did not have data on the impact of demonetisation on jobs in small businesses.

Earlier, an NSSO's draft report showed that India's unemployment rate hit a 45-year high of 6.1 percent in 2017.

--With PTI inputs
Between 2014 and 2018, a total of 339 security personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir, a 176% jump from the Manmohan Singh regime, according to figures released by the Ministry of Home Affairs this month

No one has borne the brunt of insurgency and the increasing spiral of ceasefire violations along the India-Pakistan border more than the widows of armed personnel. Between 2014 and 2018, a total of 339 security personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir, a 176 percent jump from the Manmohan Singh regime, according to figures released by the Ministry of Home Affairs this month. The figures of security personnel killed by Maoist extremists has also shown a rise.

It should therefore come as no surprise that India has the largest number of widows of armed personnel in the world. Most of these women are widowed before they turn 30.

While 90 percent of these widows live in rural and semi-rural areas and have minimal levels of education, their husbands' abrupt deaths leave them with a huge emotional gap and few employment opportunities. The majority, following the death of their husbands, spend the next three to four decades of their lives struggling to make ends meet and to the raise their children with little support from either their own or their husbands' families.

Baby Singh, wife of Gajinder Singh, who was in the CRPF and who died in 2011 battling Naxals in Jharkhand, epitomises this struggle. Gajinder Singh, who had put in 18 years of service and received a gallantry award posthumously in 2013 had, also served several for years in Kashmir and the North East.

Baby had two young boys at the time of his death and felt some of her problems would have been eased over if she could have got a job in the CRPF. "I applied for the post of a havildar and although I cleared the written test, I did not pass the typing exam. I then applied for the post of a peon but again, I failed to make it because I could not provide an original high school certificate," she said.

After receiving all the emoluments and insurance dues that amounted to around Rs 30 lakh following Gajinder's death, the first thing she did was have a statue erected in his village in Bachlota in Hapur zilla. "It cost me nearly Rs three lakh and it was made in Jaipur, but I wanted it there so that there was a symbol of my husband and so I went ahead and ordered it. At the prodding of my brother-in-law, I invested in some land in my village which is being looked after by him. I had no one to give me advice and I was completely at a loss. The result was that most of that money got spent," Baby said.

Following her husband's death, she decided to move to Delhi. "I was living in Hapur at my parents-in-law's house. My father-in-law had died many years ago and my mother-in-law was very old. I had no father or brother to turn to and I decided it was best I move to Delhi in 2012 and bring up my children. The CRPF has acquired some Janata flats in Dwarka and I was given accommodation in one such two-room flat. My sons are studying in a CRPF school in Rohini."

"I am surviving on a pension of Rs 25,000 per month. My boys are now in Class 11 and 9, and all I can say is that life without my husband has been one huge struggle," she added.

Dr Shubha Tripathi, wife of late Colonel Sarvesh Tripathi of the Signals Corps, lost her husband on 21 October, 2001 during shelling in the Rajouri sector. "I was emotionally and physically shattered and even today, so many years after his death, I continue to feel his absence at every step of my life," said Tripathi.

Tripathi was fortunate that she had extremely supportive parents-in-law and lived with them in Kanpur for some time following his death. She also decided to bring up her children in Delhi and lived in a house in Delhi Cantonment for four years before shifting to a flat in Dwarka that has been allotted to her by the Central government.

"My daughter and son were pretty young when my husband died. After his death, my daughter became extremely protective towards me. She became very closed and in some ways, unusually alert. My son was younger and did not understand the consequences. At the time of Diwali, I remember him saying, 'I am not going to pray to God because he has cheated us and taken my father away'."

Tripathi believes that every war widow faces tremendous financial setbacks despite the emoluments she will go on to receive. "Being a homeopathic doctor, I had my own clinic that I shut down for some years. I fond myself fearful about the future. It took me a lot of time to come to terms with everything. I'm still grieving. No one can share in that grief," she said.

Binu Jha lost her husband Deputy Commandant Hira Kumar Jha while he was fighting the Maoist insurgency. He was in the CRPF and died in an encounter on 4 July, 2014.

"He was hit by a bullet below his eye. He was wearing no helmet. He had no bulletproof jacket. Even today, the CRPF men have no bulletproof jackets. They have been given no helmets. There are no helicopters to fly out the wounded. That is the least the State should do for them," said Jha.

Jha was offered a job as a constable. "I declined it. I was a BEd and BSc graduate and I did not want a transferable job. Today, I have to look after the needs of my son and daughter and be both a mother and father to them. I wanted a job as a teacher in a CRPF school but today, a teacher has to clear a Central Teacher Eligibility Test before she can get a job," said Jha.

One of the biggest problems she has faced is that despite her husband having died four years ago, she has not received the insurance money due to him. `He died in an encounter in Bihar but the insurance company wants him to receive the reimbursement on the basis on him being posted to Giridih which is in Jharkhand because then they have to give less money. I hope this issue gets sorted out soon, she said.

Jha also decided to move to Delhi to take care of her children and is living in CRPF accommodation. "My husband's colleagues have been very helpful. I do however feel there should be a uniform policy of reimbursement across all states. The Jharkhand government gave me Rs 2.5 lakh after my husband's death, but there are other state governments that give much more in compensation," she said.

Meera Singh's husband Satveer Singh was also from the CRPF and he died in a Maoist encounter in Dantewada on 3 May, 2011. Earlier, he too had served in Tripura, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir. Like others, she too had two small children who found it difficult to come to terms with losing a father. Like the others, she too decided to shift to Delhi and get her children admitted to a Kendriya Vidyalaya.

"A large chunk of my pension was spent on the children's education and on paying rent for my quarter given to me by the CRPF. This lease is renewed on an annual basis," Meera pointed out.

A number of organisations have come forward to help these widows. Sixteen-year-old Mumbai student Gauhrishi Narang started Mission Widows Empowerment initiative to help widows with funding and training on how they too can become self-sufficient.

Others have found support with Subhashini Vasanth who founded the Vasanthratna Foundation for Arts to use art to mitigate the grief of losing their husbands. Vasanth, the recipient of the Neerja Bhanot Award in 2016, lost her husband Colonel Vasanth Venugopal, who laid down his life while fighting insurgents in Jammu and Kashmir in 2007.

The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government decided, following the Kargil War, to increase the pensions of war widows. Earlier they were getting as little as Rs 30 per month. After Pulwama, the widows of the 40 jawans who died are much more vocal and are not afraid to speak out against the present dispensation.

Mita Santra, wife of Bablu Santra  one of the 40 victims in the suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama on 14 February, made a strong pitch for peace insisting that war should be avoided at all costs as it would result in even more widowed women, mothers without sons and children without father. Her remarks saw her face a deluge of criticism over the social media but Mita, who has a postgraduate degree in history, pointed out, "It is easy for people who do not have family members in the armed forces to say so many things. It is only when one loses a family member that one realises the heavy cost of war."

Other Pulwama widows have even asked the government to provide them with details about the exact number of casualties in the IAF air strike on the JeM terror camp in Balakot. Two widows, Geeta Devi, widow of Ram Vakeel and Sarmishtha Devi, wife of the CRPF jawan Pradeep Kumar from Shaml, both of whom lost their husbands in the Pulwama attack believe it is incumbent on the government to provide the public with greater details.

Neither of them are exponents of war. They also feel the government should provide them with jobs so that they and their children can enjoy a sense of both emotional and financial security. The problem is that following their husbands' deaths, states and Central government make a large number of promises which, as time passes, are not kept. Tripathi was promised a petrol pump. Others were promised land which too has not materialised. The government needs to come up with a uniform policy for all such widows.
An ailing Pakistani prisoner, Mohammad Anin Chaudhary from Karachi, died at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital during treatment, said police

Bhuj: An ailing Pakistani prisoner died at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Thursday during treatment, said police.

The prisoner, Mohammad Anin Chaudhary, a resident of Karachi, was lodged at Palara jail near Bhuj town of Kutch district since 2017.

The 66-year-old was arrested by the Jakhau police of Kutch district on charges of illegally crossing the India-Pakistan border in the creek area for fishing, said officials.

According to civil superintendent MM Prabhakar, the patient referred to the hospital was a "stroke patient" and he died during treatment.

"In March last year, he was sentenced to three years in jail by a local court. He was lodged at Palara jail near Bhuj. When his condition deteriorated on 20 February, he was first referred to a hospital in Bhuj and later shifted to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital," said a senior official.

The official added Chaudhary could not recover and eventually died Thursday in the hospital.
A look at Sonkar's Facebook profile indicates that his account is still active as there have regular posts by him even after the news of the incident broke out. In one his latest posts, written just a few hours ago, Sonkar hinting at justifying his group  Vishwa Hindu Dal's  act, has written that he and his men are fighting for the Hindus and the army and asked people to join in or support them.

Lucknow Police SSP Kalanidhi Naithani on Thursday said in a press conference that the culprit in the case of assault on a Kashmiri vendor in Lucknow, Bajrang Sonkar, has been arrested.

Sonkar was a part of the mob which attacked the Kashmiri citizen in Uttar Pradesh's capital and the police are on the lookout for the other accused. According to the police, Sonkar has a criminal background and has 12 cases including a murder case pending against him.

A look at Sonkar's Facebook profile indicates that his account is still active as there have regular posts by him even after the news of the incident broke out. In one his latest posts, written just a few hours ago, Sonkar hinting at justifying his group  Vishwa Hindu Dal's  act, has written that he and his men are fighting for the Hindus and the army and asked people to join in or support them.

A close look at the activities in his profile indicates that another member of the group Himanshu Awasthi is his close accomplice. Sonkar has posted a photo along with Awasthi and captioned it as: "We know how to kill the talented with our talent; we are lions, we know how to rule."

Sonkar has previously also shared posts demanding the removal of Article 35A in Jammu and Kashmir.

In another post, Sonkar had threatened that if "India takes over Pakistan in a war" then he would "capture" Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's "wife" (ex-wife) Reham Khan and that no one would then "stake a claim on her" otherwise he would "open fire". In the same post, he has referred to himself as a "mafia" (don) and the metropolis head of the 'Vishwa Hindu Dal'.

Sonkar joins the list of right-wing extremists in Uttar Pradesh who have been detained for being rogue and threatening or abusing people in the name of religion and "saffron unity".
The Opposition is clamouring for proof of the Balakot precision air strikes. This pressure on the government is likely to increase as the poll dates draw near and campaign begins in earnest

The Opposition is clamouring for proof of the Balakot precision air strikes. This pressure on the government is likely to increase as the poll dates draw near and campaign begins in earnest. Pakistan has launched its psywar by denial and obfuscation mechanism. International media has added one more dimension to the story, with claims and counter-claims dominating the media space. This has created some confusion. Politicians from both camps are adding more spice to the mix and dubious narratives have rushed to fill in the space.

This has prompted many independent analysts to urge the government to reveal the facts on the ground. Yet, this isn't a wise decision at this juncture. The government would be well advised to release evidence of the strikes, if at all, at an appropriate time unaffected by political pressure.

Before we elaborate why, it is worth looking at the impact of the cross-border air strikes carried out by India  the first time it has done so since 1971 war  deep inside Pakistan airspace. At one level, it has changed the India-Pakistan dynamic. Pakistans nuclear bluff has been exposed and the country can no longer use nuclear weapons as an umbrella to carry out its hybrid war against India without risking retribution. The strikes have handed the onus of retaliation to India and created space for a sub-conventional kinetic action below the nuclear threshold. This impact is far-reaching and will develop over time.

At another level, the strike has changed the domestic political narrative bang in the middle of election season. Very few people apart from rival politicians, media and analysts will be interested in knowing how many terrorists have been killed in the airstrikes. Even less will be interested in the procedure and accuracy of the munition involved. Did Israeli Spice-2000 laser-guided bombs demolish the Jaish-e-Mohammed training facility, did the missile penetrate the roof and kill all residents, or were the missiles a dud and created no impact except burning a few trees?

The emerging narrative is that Narendra Modi government has lived up to its promise and has shown Pakistan that it cannot get away with its terror tactics any more. While previous governments  such as UPA  could only wring its hands after 26/11 Mumbai attacks  this New India under Modi enters the home of terrorists and kills them. Easy to see why the Opposition has been gripped by panic. It leaves them very little space to maneuver and leaves them between a rock and a hard place. If they raise questions about the accuracy of the mission, BJP will go to town claiming that the Opposition is denigrating our armed forces: a sensitive topic among Indians. Yet, not raising any questions would mean tacit approval of the governments action and reinforce Modis image as a tough, strong leader.

Faced with this predicament, the Opposition has latched on to reports in international media that raised questions against the efficacy of the precision strikes. One such widely quoted recent report by news agency Reuters has claimed  based ostensibly on images from commercial satellites  that the JeM facility appears intact and Indian claims of many casualties seem dubious. The report quoted satellite imagery analysts to buttress the claim and reinforced Pakistans claim that no damage to any infrastructure or human life took place and none but a few trees and a crow died in the attack.

The Opposition used this opening to question the government and has hinted that Modi government has suppressed facts on ground and forced the armed forces to remain quiet because the prime minister wants a war to help him win the election. The BJP, in turn, has accused the Opposition of aiding Pakistan by parroting their narrative. Amid this trading of barbs, which is to be expected before elections, let us take a quick look at the information in public domain.

The key question is whether Indias precision airstrikes had any real impact. Did it demolish the structure? If so, is the demolition evident? If the structure isnt demolished (as purported satellite images show) how may India claim to have killed a large number of terrorists?

In NDTV, Vishnu Som pointed out that pre-and-post Balakot strikes appear to show bomb impact points on a large structure in addition to significant damage on the ground at the site. The article claimed the IAF used penetrator version of the Spice 2000 glided bombs that are designed to perforate the roof and detonate inside, killing all inhabitants.

Two analysts confirmed this development. Colonel Vinayak Bhat (retired) who studies satellite imagery, wrote in The Print that exclusive images accessed by him show four black spots on the CGI or corrugated galvanised iron sheet roofs of Jaish facilities, which raises the possibility that S-2000 may have penetrated the roofs that have since been patched with fresh CGI sheets and repainted. But he added that damage to buildings and walls from the air strikes may not have been as extensive.

Military aviation expert Angad Singh pointed out on Twitter that penetrative variation of S-2000 munition will not leave extensive damage.

The BLU-116, with twice the penetrating ability of the 109/B uses around half the mass of explosives in its warhead (110 kg). A penetrating gravity bomb is NOT the same as a regular Mk80-series bomb, which use about 50% of mass for the explosive filling.  Angad Singh (@zone5aviation) March 6, 2019

Finally, if India's SPICE munitions are all-up rounds (not kits), it stands to reason they would be earmarked for high value targets, and therefore would be built around penetrating bombs, not generic HE. That all but guarantees they have low-mass warheads.  Angad Singh (@zone5aviation) March 6, 2019

We therefore, get a picture that the IAF hit the target, but while claims of 300-350 terrorists killed may have been an exaggeration (nowhere did India release a figure), there is high possibility that a large number of terrorists have been eliminated.

This is corroborated by Italian journalist Francesca Marino who wrote an article for Firstpost quoting eyewitnesses that up to 35 bodies (were) transported out of the site by ambulance hours after the attack. The dead, they recounted, included 12 men who were said to have been sleeping in a single temporary shack, and several individuals who had earlier served in Pakistans military.

Interestingly, the article quoted one witness who claimed the Pakistan Army quickly took charge right after the strikes, cordoned off the area and prevented even the local police from entering. They seized mobile phones of the medical staff. If this is true, this would be an important piece of evidence of how Pakistan conducts its psywar and uses the openness of Indian democracy against it.

Meanwhile, the IAF has reportedly provided a dossier to the Modi government containing 12 pages of high-resolution satellite images and synthetic aperture radar imagery collected from an intelligence aircraft platform flying in Indian airspace that conclusively prove that Balakot airstrike was successful, according to India Today. The report confirmed that penetration warheads were used for maximum internal effect.

If these bits of information in public domain paint a picture of a successful strike, why shouldnt the Modi government release proof in public domain and clear all confusion? Let us take a look at a precision strike carried out on the night of 1 May, 2011, when US Navy Seals in an operation code-named Operation Neptune Spear took out Osama bin Laden by raiding a safe house in the Pakistan garrison city of Abbottabad.

An article written four years later in The New York Times entitled What Do We Really Know About Osama bin Ladens Death? mentioned journalist and author Mark Bowden who was interested in writing the script for a movie on this subject: There was virtually no paper trail for Bowden to follow; the government had classified all the documents relating to the raid, including the record of the CIAs search for bin Laden. Bowden had to request interviews through official administration channels and hope for the best.

Two years before that article was published, a US federal appeals court dismissed a request by a watchdog group to order the US government in releasing more than 50 images of Bin Laden taken after his death. The court ruled US governments decision to classify as top secret is correct and the government did not need to release them.

There are many reasons why details and proofs of sensitive operations such as the Balakot air strikes need to be kept away from public domain. These may relate to information gathering abilities of Indian agencies or the fear of exposing or compromising covert assets on the ground. It is entirely the governments decision when to release it  it at all  and how much should be kept as classified.

Release of proof is not just a political call, but equally a decision that impacts national security. In so far as the strikes have been confirmed and a behavioral change injected into the India-Pakistan dynamic, calls for proof should be ignored. Let the politics play out on the ground.
However, what the incident brought to the fore is that how a shoe has been making unexpected appearance in public domain and has been used both as a means of protest and as a rude insult to make a political point

When two elected representatives of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh came to blows while on camera  with an MP hitting another MLA with his shoe  during the district planning committee meeting, other participants of the meeting were left stunned and the party red-faced.

The incident was from Wednesday when Sant Kabir Nagar MP Sharad Tripathi and Mehdawal MLA Rakesh Baghel got into an argument at the meeting over taking credit for a newly laid road. After a brief exchange of words, the MP got up from his seat and began thrashing the MLA with his shoe, as tv cameras recorded the episode. The MLA reacted and returned a few blows.

However, what the incident brought to the fore is that how a shoe has been making unexpected appearance in public domain and has been used both as a means of protest and as a rude insult to make a political point. Or sometimes its appearance is simply the result of a diplomatic blunder.

Dessert in a shoe

An Israeli chef managed to offend Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Aki during their state visit to Israel in May 2018. After the meal, celebrity chef Segev Moshe  who often cooks for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara when they are entertaining visiting dignitaries  dished up a gourmet spread which was rounded off with chocolate pralines served in two pairs of mens black brogues. Only, the trouble was that culturally, the Japanese are particularly repulsed by the placing of a shoe in living spaces, let alone the dining table, and the move counted as one of the most hilarious diplomatic faux pas in recent times.

Obviously, the dessert did not go down well with both Israeli and Japanese officials. "There is nothing more despicable in Japanese culture than a shoe," senior Israel diplomat was quoted by the report as saying. "Not only do they not enter their homes in shoes, you wont find any shoes in their bureaus. Even the prime minister, ministers, and members of Parliament, host in their bureaus without shoes. This is a failure and a diplomatic mockery. A disrespect of the highest order." "It is like giving a Jewish guest chocolate inside a vessel in the shape of a pig, he said.

When George W Bush dodged a shoe while Iraqi PM tried to catch it

George W Bush II's last official visit to Iraq as President of the United States was sullied when an Iraqi reporter called him a dog and threw his shoes at him during a press conference in Baghdad.

The trip was meant to be a farewell visit to Baghdad, seeking to mark greater security in Iraq after years of bloodshed. However, it was mostly remembered for the unscripted moment when the journalist Muntader al-Zaidi hurled his shoes at Bush's head and shouted in Arabic: This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!

That shoe also narrowly missed Bush as Israeli prime minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki stuck a hand in front of the presidents face to help shield him. The image is still plastered on in people's memory who were watching the key joint presser live across the world.

Flying footwear in Pervez Musharraf's face

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf came under a shoe attack thrice. The first such attack came in February 2011, when a man threw a shoe at Musharraf when he was addressing a gathering in Britain.

In November 2011, another man tried to hurl his shoe at Musharraf when he was addressing a gathering of Kashmiris in London.

Then, in March 2013, a Karachi lawyer named Tajammul Lodhi flung his shoe at him because he "hated Musharraf for trying to destroy democracy in Pakistan." Musharraf who came to power on the back of military coup in 1999 was in court to deal with one of three cases against him, one of which involves the 2007 assassination of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Former Taiwan premier Ma Ying-jeou faced shoe attack nine times

Perhaps nobody has had it more than former Taiwanese (also known as the Republic of China) president Ma Ying-jeou who has faced such attacks at least nine times. In fact, as BBC reported that so many protesters used to hurl shoes at him during his public appearances in his second and final term as president that police put up protective nets around him whenever he spoke in public. He faced protests over Taiwan's economic performance and a controversial services trade agreement with China.

Garland of shoes

A BJP candidate was faced with people's wrath in Madhya Pradesh's Dharmod when people garlanded him with shoes to mark their protests. The BJP candidate for Dhamnod civic election, Dinesh Sharma was campaigning door-to-door to seek votes for his party in January 2018 when a bunch of angry voters put a garland of shoes around his neck. The man who made him wear the garland says he wanted to highlight the acute water problem in the region.

When a sitting chief minister was assaulted with a shoe

Ink, slaps, eggs, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has frequently been the target of attacks ever since he entered politics. A shoe was also hurled at him while he was addressing a press conference inside the Secretariat in April 2016. The man alleged something about a sting operation on a CNG scam before he hurled the shoe which fell on the table in front of Kejriwal. The attacker was whisked away by Secretariat officials before being detained by police. The man, identified as Ved Sharma, claimed he was from Aam Aadmi Sena, a breakaway faction of AAP. In the aftermath of these attacks, Kejriwal was granted Z plus security and the Delhi Secretariat made it mandatory for only Delhi Information Bureau accredited journalists to be allowed inside the Secretariat premises.

Even sitting PM's security not shoe proof

Manmohan Singh, generally appreciated as an upright and soft-spoken politician even amid his opponents, also faced a shoe attack during the 2009 general election campaign in Ahmedabad. A computer engineering student hurled a sneaker at him but it fell short of the dais from where he was addressing his first poll rally in Gujarat in April 2009. The incident had the Special Protection Group (SPG) and other security personnel in a tizzy, however, Singh maintained his usual composure and asked the police not to register any case against the shoe thrower identified as Hitesh Chauhan, a 21-year-old resident of Bapunagar.
Adnan alleged that the BJP workers in Muzaffarnagar called him a 'terrorist' for criticising the ruling party over claims of job and development.

In yet another incident of hate crime in Uttar Pradesh, a local youth was thrashed by a group of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers during a shoot of a television news channel's talk show on Wednesday for allegedly using "foul" language against the government.

The video of the incident that has gone viral on social media, shows a mob in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar thrashing the youth and calling him a "terrorist".

According to News18, the youth who has been identified as Adnan was in Muzaffarnagar to write his board exams.

#WATCH  Group of BJP workers thrash a student during the shoot of a TV channel's talkshow for speaking against the government. The incident took place in Uttar Pradeshs Muzaffarnagar. @AkhileshPSingh of @INCIndia and @AnilaSingh2 of @BJP4India react. pic.twitter.com/olbSnqKbgw  News18 (@CNNnews18) March 7, 2019

The incident took place when a television debate organised by a private news channel was going on. Journalist Narendra Pratap was anchoring an election talk show for the Hindi news channel Bharat Samachar, The Quint reported.

During the debate, Adnan tried making a point that jobs have not been created in a manner in which the government has been claiming. This triggered an argument with the BJP supporters and later on, the youth was beaten mercilessly.

Adnan alleged that the party workers called him a "terrorist" for criticising the BJP over claims of job and development.

"I was passing by. I saw there was a show going on so I participated. I said there was no work happening. They started saying things like I am a terrorist. Then they started beating me up. They were BJP people. The police hasn't taken any action yet. I want them to be punished. I spoke against the BJP. That is why they beat me," Adnan said.

However, the party workers counter Adnan's statement, claiming that the youth used "foul" language against senior BJP leaders and the party while making his argument.

When contacted, the Additional Superintendent of City (Muzaffarnagar) Satpal was quoted by The Indian Express as saying: "We have not received any complaint from the youth. There are many unverified videos that are circulated on the internet. If more things come to light, action will be taken."
According to an eye witness, the exam board's flying squad conducted the strip-search to check whether the students were involved in cheating. The search was carried out after the students were allegedly taken to separate rooms and asked to take their clothes off. Subsequently, a student was rusticated for carrying chits in the examination hall.

Jashpur: A Class 10 girl committed suicide after being allegedly strip-searched during her board exam by the inspecting officials in Chhattisgarh.

The 16-year-old tribal girl, hailing from Jashpur district of the state, was frisked on suspicion of carrying written chits in an examination hall.

According to an eye witness, the exam conducting board's flying search squad reached the school on 1 March to check whether the students were involved in cheating. The search was carried out after the students were allegedly taken to separate rooms and asked to take their clothes off. Subsequently, a student was rusticated for carrying chits in the examination hall.

The victims brother claimed, "When I asked how her exam went, she said that she couldnt attempt the paper properly due to a search operation that took place in the school. The officials, who came to check, took students to separate rooms and asked to take their clothes off to check whether we were carrying chits. With a smile, she said that shell die and I didnt take her seriously."

According to a student, who was rusticated for allegedly carrying written answers inside the exam hall, there were 3-4 girls and boys. "All of them were taken to separate room. Post the search, they sent me back to class and later I was rusticated," he said.

The strip-search incident came to light when the girl allegedly committed suicide on 4 March.

As it sparked panic among other students, Sub-Divisional Magistrate of the district, Ravi Mittal, on Thursday while condemning the incident said that "an investigation will be carried out in the matter and the students need not to worry.

The school authorities told ANI that the move by the inspection squad has also been objected by the schools teachers as it wasted their time.
Trans people not only face discrimination based on their caste location but also by the dominant genders of male and female.

If we look at our country's politics, there has been no one from the scheduled castes who has become the Prime Minister of India till date, let alone a scheduled caste woman. Political engagement of Dalits is necessary, but more importantly, it has to include Dalit women leadership in political spaces. The panel on "Dalit Women in Politics: Past, Present and Future" organised by The Blue Club, a collective for providing mentorship and support to women filmmakers, and All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM)  was put together with the above vision in mind. More than 60 Dalit women leaders from across India participated in the conference. Firstpost will be publishing some of the important speeches from this panel.

This is the second of the series of speeches.

***

Jai Bhim all...

Trans people not only face discrimination based on their caste location but also by the dominant genders of male and female.

I am generally a bit hesitant to talk to cis people. But I have always expressed my views openly.

There was a mention of the third gender. I do not agree with the idea of trans people referred to as such. Because by doing so, we tend to agree that there is a first and a second gender. I do not consider myself as being of the third gender. This invalidates the fact that trans men identify as men and trans women as women. That's it. The rest of the labels are given to me by society. I do not like these labels. I want to live with an identity that I identify with. Personally, I am a woman. A woman like my mother, like my sister. To live as a woman is my wish.

But there will discrimination against me as a woman because society is patriarchal. Patriarchal. In this society, a woman can always wear clothes designated for men to an extent, but it will be considered lowly for a man to wear a dress designated for women. To have markers of a woman is ridiculed. In such a society, I am so happy that I have been included as a woman in this conference for women.

Now going into the topic, I was asked to speak about five women who inspired me.

The first one is Martyr Kuyili, a warrior who is said to be the worlds first suicide attacker. But you wont be able to find her mentioned anywhere. Not even a Wikipedia page. She was a Dalit woman and this is how badly society records the history of a woman warrior who fought against the British.

The second woman I want to talk about is Savitribai Phule. Coming from a backward community, She drove the idea of how important education is for women, especially Dalit women. We cannot talk about womens rights without talking about how she fought for the right to education.

Next, I want to talk about Ilamma who was from Andhra Pradesh who led an armed struggle against feudalism.

Thinking about the present day, the first woman who comes to my mind is Sengodi who self-immolated to call attention (to genocide in Sri Lanka). Her sacrifice should also be talked about.

Finally, Anitha, my sister, who gave her life to the struggle for rights to education of non-brahmins against NEET. Her sacrifice, like others, have all been to fetch us our rights. We have to keep all of them in mind as we talk about womens politics. Babasaheb has said how important such rights for women like education and property are important.

We definitely need education and property rights but also political power. Because it has been difficult to access power. At the present time, when I see things as a person working in the tech domain... we see that the present patriarchal oppressive society has managed to wield its power by occupying technology. A lot of youngsters today are very active in platforms like Facebook, Instagram, now TikTok, all day. So we need to work on social media and digital platforms in addition to working on the field with people because I see them as an opportunity to educate people, especially youngsters, in the space they are active at. I think it is our responsibility to do so. Our people are not aware of such platforms but at the end of the day what reaches everyone is a post that someone puts. While Modi travels everywhere, it is on social media where he was faced with #GoBackModi which trended worldwide when he visited Tamil Nadu. We see that oppressive forces have the power of social media and they have occupied it. By doing this, they make sure that atrocities and discrimination that is meted against us is not known to the outer world. For instance, as I had said earlier, there is no Wikipedia page for Kuyili in English, while there is one in Tamil. This is how our histories and our issues are invisibilised. So my first suggestion from me would be for us to engage with such platforms.

Secondly, We have a lot to learn from our senior activists. But to implement such learnings to organise at the current context is something youngsters are good at. The seniors must guide us but also engage with us to learn about how the current realities we are faced with and how we work.

The knowledge that the seniors have is like a library. We are not asking seniors to not be involved but to walk with us and guide us towards an equal society.

Most Dalit trans people are struggling. I agree that the majority of trans people are involved in begging or sex work. But it is the trans-Dalits who are in the lowest rung who beg and give. That's why demand for our reservation is important. Women and trans people have to work in tandem to fight for such rights and in that journey, I feel that this (conference) is the latest addition.

(Speech translated from Tamil by Krishna Kala Bhaskaran)

Grace Banu is a technologist and the founder of Trans Rights Now Collective.
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will launch more than 18,000 housing units in the lower, middle and high income group categories this week, in a decision thought widely to be a pre-Lok Sabha election move.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will launch more than 18,000 housing units in the lower, middle and high-income group categories this week, in a decision thought widely to be a pre-Lok Sabha election move.

This may not be the last housing draw as there are over 6,000 flats still under construction across Delhi, sources in the DDA told Moneycontrol. The advertisement for the 2019 housing lottery is expected to be out on 7 March at the DDA's official website, dda.org.

Interested home owners can apply for participation in the lottery by logging in here.

Eligible allottees can avail themselves of the benefits under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. For this, they need to refer to pages 1 to 4 of the brochure of the 2017 DDA Awas Yojana, which can also be found at the website.

Follow the steps below to begin the home ownership process:

1. Go to the official website.

2. Select locality of your choice from a drop down menu. You will have options to choose from Lok Nayak Puram, Narela, Ramgarh, Sector 4 Rohini and Siraspur.

3. Once you select your sector and its relevant pocket, click on "Continue".

4. You can make a detailed examination of the available details by viewing layout plans, remaining number of vacant flats in the DDA Housing Scheme and the exact location of the flat.

5. Select the block you are interested in making your purchase in.

6. Click on the "available flats" button.

7. Choose a flat and click on the "hold flat" button.

8. Fill up the form with required details.

9. Make the payment to hold the chosen flat.

On 25 February, the DDA had passed a proposal to put 10,370 flats in Narela and Vasant Kunj on sale in the DDA housing scheme 2019, reported Hindustan Times. Of the 10,370 flats, 8,383 were in the lower-income group category, 570 in the middle-income group, 448 in the high-income group category and 960 were earmarked for the economically weaker sections.

The newspaper report highlights that after the failure of two successive housing schemes in 2014 and 2017, the DDA has decided to do away with a major clause that had earlier prohibited lakhs of Delhiites from applying in the scheme.

In the previous scheme, existing DDA flat owners could not apply. While people who owned DDA plots measuring up to 67 square metres in size could apply, flat owners could not. People who own a DDA flat can also apply now, provided that the size of the flat does not exceed 67 square metres.
The Delhi Police has booked AAP MLA Mohinder Goyal for allegedly raping a woman. The case was registered at the Prashant Vihar Police Station in Delhi after the woman lodged a complaint against the Rithala MLA.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has booked AAP MLA Mohinder Goyal for allegedly raping a woman.

The case was registered at the Prashant Vihar Police Station in Delhi after the woman lodged a complaint against the Rithala MLA.

According to police officials, an FIR under sections 376 (rape), 506 (threatening) and 509 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code was registered on 28 February.

The case is being investigated by the Crime Against Women Cell of Delhi Police.

The woman has alleged that in December last year, when she approached the MLA in connection with a pension issue, he raped her. According to the police, the woman has alleged in her complaint that she was again raped at the MLA's office a month later.

Further investigation is underway.
(The Valley, Anguilla)  Officers from the Dutch St Maarten Coast Guard headed by Captain Robelto Levenstone on Saturday 2nd March 2019 paid a courtesy call on Captain Charles Richards and officers from the Royal Anguilla Police Force Marine Department. The purpose of the visit was to showcase their brand new marine asset which comprises of four 41ft vessels, built to specification for the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard. The vessels are fitted with 2 inboard engines and can maintain speed up to 35 knots, and is equipped to be operated for 300 miles continuous. Each vessel is manned by a 6 men crew in sitting position.

The officers from the RAPF Marine Department got a firsthand experience of the vessel capabilities which included navigational equipment and special capabilities when out at sea. Each vessel is large enough in size for sea support, but is also small enough to be trailered and launch from anywhere. The Dutch St Maarten Coast Guard and the RAPF has been sharing support services with each other over the years especially in areas of search and rescue, border patrol and narcotics interdiction.

Commissioner of Police Mr. Paul Morrison and Deputy Commissioner Mr. Elliott Forbes we also on hand to witness the exercise.
An FIR was registered in the CGO Complex fire under sections 436 and 304 A of the Indian Penal code, the Delhi Police said on Wednesday.

New Delhi: An FIR was registered in the CGO Complex fire under sections 436 and 304 A of the Indian Penal code, police said on Wednesday.

The body of a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel who died in the fire that broke out at the office of the Ministry of Social Justice in Delhi has been sent to his native village in Rajasthan after completion of the autopsy.

"A PCR call was received regarding fire at the fifth floor of Antyodaya Bhawan of the Ministry of Social Justice's Divyaangjan Shashktikaran Department. The fire apparently was due to short circuit. Around 20 fire tenders were pressed in action and the fire was completely doused after 3 hours," police said in a statement.

CISF shift commander MP Godara, a 57-year-old from Rajasthan, was deployed in the fifth floor of the complex. He went upstairs with the team and was caught amid thick smoke. Godara was shifted to AIIMS where he succumbed to his injuries.

"Post-mortem examination has already been conducted and his body has been sent to his native village in Rajasthan," police said.
Betwa river enters Uttar Pradesh through Jhansi where the pollution level goes even more up due to other problems.

Editor's Note: Non-stop sand mining, development projects near rivers, deforestation in the catchment areas and unplanned dams are killing the major rivers of Madhya Pradesh. The state is now facing an acute deficit of water. Tapti and Shipra have almost died while the Narmada river is also facing dry spells. In this three-part series, Firstpost explores factors responsible for the condition of these rivers which are the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. This is the second part of the series.

***

Bundelkhand/Bhopal: Already under pressure from the river linking project, the lungs of two rivers of Madhya Pradesh  Ken and Betwa  are now about to get choked due to excessive sand mining.

"Sand is like the lungs of a river and just like us the river also cannot survive without its lungs. Small rivers like Ken and Betwa have been battling for life due to excessive and unscientific sand mining, says conservationist Rajendra Singh, popularly known as the waterman of India.

Despite their smaller size, Ken (427 km) and Betwa (590 km) play an important role in the survival of many important cities and villages of water-deficient Bundelkhand region that is divided between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Although almost all the small rivers of Madhya Pradesh are suffering from water deficiency and pollution, these two are suffering the most from sand mining and rapid deforestation.

From its origin to its end point at the Yamuna, these rivers have been exploited by the sand mafia of both the states.

According to the latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board, three rivers  Chambal, Khan and Shipra (Kshipra)  are the most polluted in the state and need to be cleaned on a priority basis.

From Mandideep to Vidisha, Betwas biological oxygen demand (BOD) was found to be varying between 3.3 mg/l and 20mg/l while anything above 8mg/l is considered as severely polluted.

Chambals BOD was recorded to be in between 12 mg/l and 12mg/l from Nagda to Rampura stretch.

Khan river that originates from Indore and drains into Khispra at Ujjain was found to be the most polluted river of Madhya Pradesh.

Khans BOD from Kabit Khedi to Kahjrana varied from 30.8 mg/l to 80mg/l.

Betwa river, which originates from near Bhopal, is a tributary of the Yamuna. It crosses through Jhansi, a prominent city in Bundelkhand and provides potable water, helps in irrigation and electricity generation in Bundelkhand. Industries situated near Mandideep and Raisen, industrial cities near Bhopal, pollute the river the most at the point of origin.

According to a research report, the water quality in the stretch of the Betwa river extending from its origin near Mandideep industrial area up to Bhojpur remains poor because of the regular inflow of domestic waste of Bhopal through Kaliyasot river and industrial/domestic waters from Mandideep.

The river enters Uttar Pradesh through Jhansi where the pollution level goes even more up due to other problems. According to research conducted by scientists Vaish Deepti, RK Singh and Avinash Bajpai, the water quality analysis indicates that nutrient loading takes place at the stations situated near farmlands. Higher values of nitrates and phosphates were recorded in the water near the agriculture fields.

Another study by Bundelkhand University scientists blames human activities, mining, urbanisation and human encroachment for the water quality of Betwa river.

After the investigation, it has been concluded that Betwa is unpolluted upstream. The pollution in downstream comes from sewage disposal and agricultural run-off from the catchments areas and needs proper treatment before discharge.

Besides pollution, the lack of flow of the river is also a concern for Betwa. Last year, the river had dried up in February in Vidisha district.

According to a report by a local newspaper, the river dried near Ganesh Mandir in the city and one can now cross the river on foot.

There are two hydroelectric projects Matatila Hydroelectric Project in Lalitpur Jhansi and Rajghat Hydroelectric Project in Guna  on the river.

According to a report by Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Company, the generation of power through hydro energy has fallen down rapidly to 1,485 MU in 2017-18 from 3,052 MU in 2006-07.

"The rivers of Madhya Pradesh are dying and some of them have already died. The natural water flow of some rivers have vanished due to sand mining, deforestation and encroachment in the catchment area, says renowned activist Medha Patkar.

Slamming the various river linking projects, she says that the government is killing water-laden rivers by linking them with water-deficit rivers. At last, they would get nothing but lose rivers like the Narmada, she warns.

Water conservationist Rajendra Singh is hopeful that the rivers can be revived even now if the government brings a dedicated mission for scientific sand mining.

We are not against mining because it is a need for development purposes but there is a scientific way to excavate sand. Similarly, we need to work on the catchment area of the river to revive its natural flow. If we save the river it would be beneficial for the state in both the ways  economically and environmentally, he said.

According to him, the Ken-Betwa river linking project will kill both the rivers.

The Ken originates near Ahirgawan on the north-west slopes of Kaimur Range in Jabalpur district and travels a distance of 427 km before merging with the Yamuna at Chilla village, near Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh. Like Betwa, Ken is also under similar threats.

Ashish Sagar Dixit, an activist who has been working on various issues of Bundelkhand, says, "The river Ken is a lifeline for major cities of Bundelkhand and this project will ruin the environment as well as water of the river."

Dixit has been protesting against sand mining on the bank of Ken for several years. He says, "There are 11 nullahs dumping tons of polluted water daily in Ken in Banda city only. Apart from this, illegal mining is also destroying the ecology of the river."

He alleges that the sand mining mafias are so powerful that the forest department officials and administration have become their tool for excessive excavation of the sand.

The author is Bhopal - based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com.
The Editors Guild said it was perturbed over such threats and that these would intimidate the media in general and curb its freedom to report and comment on the Rafale deal in particular.

The Editors Guild on Thursday condemned Attorney General KK Venugopal's statement at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, on how documents on the Rafale deal were acquired by The Hindu and on how the government was planning legal action against the paper.

After an intense round of arguments and counterarguments over allegations of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal, the Attorney General had alleged that the documents based on which the newspaper had run successive reports were "stolen from the defence ministry".

The Supreme Court was hearing arguments related to the admissibility of this new evidence that came to fore in form of reports by The Hindu, to review its 14 February judgment giving a clean chit to the government on the deal.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, one of the petitioners against the government in the case, accused the Centre of submitting false documents to the apex court when Venugopal made the statement.

He further said that the government is contemplating "launching legal action" against the paper and the Opposition under the Official Secrets Act.

Venugopal also told the court that the government intends to name the petitioners, including Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Bhushan in the FIR.

The attorney-general later clarified that the investigation and contemplated action would not be initiated against journalists or lawyers who used these documents.

"The Guild is perturbed over such threats. These will intimidate the media in general and curb its freedom to report and comment on the Rafale deal in particular," the statement, co-signed by the Guild's president Shekhar Gupta, general secretary AK Bhattacharya and treasurer Sheela Bhatt read.

It also stressed that any attempt being made to use the Official Secrets Act against the media is "reprehensible."
The announcement of dates for the elections, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his bid to return to power amid hectic parleys by several political parties to put a united fight against the ruling BJP, would be followed by a meeting of election observers next week for the first and second phase of polling.

New Delhi: The Election Commission will soon announce its schedule for the high-voltage Lok Sabha elections, which is likely to be spread over 7-8 phases in April-May, sources said on Thursday.

Sources said the poll panel is in final stages of completing its logistical preparations to hold elections for the 17th Lok Sabha and a detailed polling schedule could be announced as early this weekend or by early next week.

The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on 3 June.

The announcement of dates for the elections, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his bid to return to power amid hectic parleys by several political parties to put a united fight against the ruling BJP, would be followed by a meeting of election observers next week for the first and second phase of polling.

A senior Election Commission functionary said the poll panel is now prepared to announce the dates "any day" and it could happen over the weekend or at most by Tuesday.

Notification for the first phase could be issued by the end of March for voting some time in early April, sources suggested.

There is a strong possibility that the Election Commission may go by the precedent and hold Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh along with the Lok Sabha polls.

Since the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has been dissolved, the Election Commission is bound to hold fresh polls there as well within a six-month period, which will end in May.

While there is a view that the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections can be held along with the Lok Sabha polls, a lot depends on the complex security situation in the state given the heightened tension along the India-Pakistan border.

While the Centre and the state administration, being managed by the Centre-appointed governor, are against holding the two elections together, all political parties there favoured simultaneous polls during a meeting with the Election Commission earlier this week.

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly's six-year term was to end on 16 March, 2021, but it got dissolved after a ruling coalition between the PDP and the BJP fell apart. The other state assemblies and Lok Sabha have five-year terms.

While the term of the Sikkim Assembly ends on 27 May, 2019, the terms of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh assemblies end on 18, 11 and 1 June respectively.

The Commission has held several review meetings across the country in last few weeks to gear up its machinery.

The required electronic voting machines and paper trail machines are in place to be deployed in nearly 10 lakh poling stations across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.

This is a high probability of the elections being spread across 7-8 phases this time.

In 2004, the Commission had announced four-phase Lok Sabha polls on February 29. While the first date of polling was April 20 and the last date was May 10.

In 2009, the Election Commission had announced Lok Sabha poll scheduled on 2 March. The five-phase polls began on 16 April and ended on 13 May.

In 2014, the Election Commission had announced the election schedule on 5 March and the nine-phase electoral exercise was spread across April and May.

While the first phase polling was on 7 April, the last phase was on 12 May.
I used to help clean houses and maintain lawns, anything to earn a little bit of money and feed myself, Gudiya relates. And finding acceptance in mainstream society has never been easy, My Muslim community think of Hijras as untouchables, she remarks, They cant feed us one roti but they can beat the living daylights out of us.

I spent my childhood with girls, and I never thought of myself as a boy, I always thought I was a girl, said Abdul Hakim, aka Gudiya, a weaver from Varanasi. Today she identifies herself as a Kinnar.

Kinnar, like Hijra, is one of the many colloquial terms used to refer to the third gender  people who do not identify with the gender binaries assigned at birth. It is almost exclusively used by biological males who identify as women or identify as neither men nor women.

People in my home were the first to start talking this way about me, saying I was this or that, she explained, So Gudiya left her house when she was 17 years old to live with her guru, an authority figure whom the Kinnars report to. Kinnars often organise themselves into their own societal structures; gurus, often older Kinnars, help new initiates called chelas (students) navigate society as Kinnars. Gurus and chelas in turn have their own social systems, codes of conduct, rules and even languages.

Despite their respected presence in Hindu mythology and in histories of Hindu and Muslim kingdoms in India, Hijras today are met with societal rejection. One of the few roles assigned to them is dancing at celebrations, like weddings, to bless the event. For many, it becomes the singular source of income. Gurus are responsible for teaching this song-and-dance routine, as well as assigning territories for Hijras to perform. Gudiya, too, used to dance. Whatever money I earned, it was taken by my guru, said Gudiya. Hijras exploitation at the hands of their gurus has been a common occurrence  from having to give them all their earnings to being pushed into sex work.

Gudiya soon had a revelation: I realised that I have survived till now because I am healthy and able to dance, but what would I do in the future when I couldnt dance anymore? Despite the fact that Hijras existed on the fringe of society, and were only accepted in certain roles  such as dancers, sex workers and beggars  she decided that she would leave her gurus house and try to stand on her own feet.

It was not easy. I used to help clean houses and maintain lawns, anything to earn a little bit of money and feed myself, she relates. And finding acceptance in mainstream society has never been easy, My Muslim community think of Hijras as untouchables, she remarks, They cant feed us one roti but they can beat the living daylights out of us.

She knew the cost of presenting herself as a woman, dressing up in salwar-kameez with long hair and touches of make-up. If I dont dress in these womanly clothes, then I can get work from them, she explained bluntly, But if I continue to dress like this, I wont get anything.

Slowly but surely, with strong determination, Gudiya learnt how to weave  her guru had initiated her into the craft. Today, she is a professional weaver. But her identity as a Kinnar often makes it difficult for her to get consistent get work. If in a week I get Rs 500, for the same work next week, I might get Rs 1000 or could also get nothing, she said matter-of-factly. It is perhaps this fact that she grew up hiding herself that she is now defiant about changing anything to fit societal norm: For many days, I tried to hide from my true self. But it became too much, she said defiantly, and with a hint of disbelief still lingering in her voice, I never thought that I would be able to present myself in a feminine manner in public.

But there are problems still. The machine in Gudiyas workshop hasnt been working for the last six months and electricity is erratic at best. But people continue to assume the worst of her, They have a poor perception of me. They worry that if they give me work, I wont give it back to them, she revealed, but added, with the frustration evident in her voice, But this is how I earn my daily living. What I will get out of taking something from someone? Its just Gods grace that I am able to still put food on the table.

Gudiyas responsibilities extend beyond her own self. She has been in a live-in relationship with her partner who identifies as a cisgender male, for the last nine years. Together, they have adopted two daughters, aged 15 and 4.

Her partner, Khurshid Ahmed, spoke about how theyve been going through a tough time. There was a lot of disapproval from my family, he said, Everybody was against this relationship. But at the end of the day, We are part of a family, he left his home for me, said Gudiya, When I die, I know he will be there to do my last rites.

In the historic 2014 judgement, the Supreme Court, recognising the legal validity of the third gender, asked the government to consider treating people identifying as the third gender in line with other minority communities, there was hope that it would result in social and economic upliftment. However, Gudiya has no faith in the government, I filled the forms that now have a third gender option, but it's all limited to the paperwork. I havent been able to get any bank loans to date.

I will only count on my own two hands and legs, nothing and nobody else. I will fight against the world to survive, said Gudiya defiantly, and spoke of her real need and what really lacks, Money, I can earn. But it is the only thing I earn. I also want respect.

Khabar Lahariya is a women-only network of rural reporters from Bundelkhand.
'They accepted that there is a need for corrective measures. They are ready for them. They have said that they will be in touch with the Election Commission and work on the information provided by the concerned ministries,' Thakur told ANI after meeting with officials of Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram.

New Delhi: The Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology, Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday that social media giants Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram have accepted that there is a need for corrective measures to keep a check on posts that lead to communal tensions, incite violence or pose threat to national security.

"They accepted that there is a need for corrective measures. They are ready for them. They have said that they will be in touch with the Election Commission and work on the information provided by the concerned ministries," Thakur told ANI after meeting with officials of Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram. "We asked them to ensure their platforms are not used to create division in society, incite violence, pose threat to India's security or let foreign powers meddle in Indian elections," he added.

CPI leader D Raja also emphasised on the need to keep a check on the posts that lead to communal tension. "Social media, especially Facebook posting should not lead to communal tension, he said. Facebook on Wednesday apologised to a Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur over insensitive comments made by some of its employees in the wake of Pulwama attack, according to exclusive information available with ANI.

The Parliamentary Committee had questioned Facebook Vice President, Facebook Global Public Policy, Joel David Kaplan over insensitive comments made by some of its employees. "Mr Joel expressed his deep regret and apologised to the committee for remarks made by Facebook employees on terrorism and Pulwama attack," a source told ANI. The committee also raised questions regarding Facebooks ability to prevent its platform from being misused during the elections and in helping national security agencies. Joel, who appeared before the committee, reportedly, assured the members that Facebook is focussed on those concerns.

We are trying to learn from each election. I give you my commitment that we are focused on these concerns. Our systems are getting smarter and I can commit we will try to keep improving, he told the committee members according to the source. Facebook reportedly refused to comment on NATO experiment that used Facebook accounts to trick serving members of armed forces to get sensitive information.

According to the source, the Parliamentary Committee members expressed doubt that Facebooks systems are continuously being allowed to be gamed and the platforms continue to focus on monetary aspects of the business. Anurag Thakur-led committee further asked Facebook if its platform is serving the society or being used to divide communities? The committee said that Indian elections, national security, protecting citizens data are its top priority. It directed Facebook to send clear written replies in 10 days on the same.

"Facebook said they are a `hybrid company and failed to clearly answer which regulatory framework apply to their content, advertising and marketing operations in India, the source added. Two committee members from different parties expressed their disgust at being banned and their profiles being cloned on Facebook. The tech giant allegedly failed to address this despite the issue being flagged months back.

Earlier, the Committee had allowed Colin Crowell, Vice President and Global Policy Head of Twitter to appear before it on 25 February and directed the micro-blogging site to ensure no interference of foreign entities in Indian elections.
Much like the state of Gujarat with a prohibition law for decades, Bihar, too, has slipped into clandestine liquor trade with several jobless youths joining in to make money

Editor's note: This is part of a multi-article series on the jobs crisis in the three states crucial to Lok Sabha election 2019: Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

***

At an empty electronic store in a small town in the outskirts of Patna, a conspicuously out of place mirror is mounted on one of the walls. Except it is not just a mirror. It is a door, where a good old-fashioned knock is not sufficient. "Kaun hai be (Who is this)?" a curious voice snaps back. Hum hain yaar (It's me, friend), responds the man this reporter has accompanied.

The door opens into a dingy rectangular room with dampened green walls where six gentlemen sitting on imbalanced chairs are smoking cigarettes. No ventilation means the room is hazy, and their faces are blurred to an extent. With the festival of Holi only two weeks away, they are busy discussing how it would affect their trade amidst the noise of a broken table fan and a flickering tube light in the background. They are all bootleggers, part of the proliferating illicit alcohol trade in Bihar.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar banned the consumption and sale of alcohol in April 2016. However, much like the state of Gujarat with a prohibition law for decades, Bihar, too, has slipped into clandestine liquor trade with several jobless youths joining in to make money. When Centre for Monitoring India Economy did a nationwide survey between September and December 2018, it found that the unemployment rate among Bihars youth who have passed Class 12 or more is an alarming 19.4 percent.

Ajit (name changed), 26, a political science graduate, says he has been on a job hunt since 2013. There is lack of vacancies in the government sector and not enough opportunities in the private sector either, he says. Five of his friends nod in agreement.

After Nitish Kumar banned alcohol, a man who earlier ran a licensed liquor shop asked me to join him. I initially worked for him as he sold alcohol illegally. Shortly, I became a distributor myself. That is the journey for everybody sitting here, he adds.

Immediately after the liquor ban, Ajit says, the margin in one quarter of whiskey would be Rs 400 at least. In 2017, it came down to 200, he goes on. Today, we make Rs 50 behind a quarter. The competition is increasing because it has become a safe trade now. We are selling more and more bottles with each month. Every lane has a distributor and he has his 10-15 designated customers. We deliver the bottles at their doorstep."

The liquor is usually smuggled in from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in eight-wheel trucks, or 8-chakka as they call it here. Some of the liquor is made domestically in Bihar as well. A distributor with 10-15 customers normally orders 6-8 trucks a month. One truck contains 500-600 boxes, which are worth Rs 35-40 lakhs. One box either has 48 quarters, or 24 half bottles, or 12 full bottles of whiskey. A full bottle of whiskey costs Rs 600, half sells at Rs 300, and a quarter at Rs 150.

You will get any kind of whiskey you want, but Imperial Blue and Royal Stag sell the most, says Ajit, asking if he can offer something right now. After a polite no, he laughs and says, There is no shortage of alcohol in Bihar.

In a month, Ajit makes more than Rs 50,000. If I had landed a government job, my starting salary would have been around Rs 20,000, he says. Joining the conversation, Nitin (name changed), who was initially reticent to engage, sheepishly says Ajit has just built a one-storeyed house.

Nitin used to work as a labourer in Delhi, where he earned Rs 4,500 per month. Today, his income is 10 times more. "My wife and kids still live in Delhi," he says, adding, "My kids attend school over there. I send money from here. Those who could not own a bicycle have bought cars. Credit where it is due. Nitish Kumar has helped the jobless in this regard. Liquor trucks are a source of employment for us."

The trucks arrive late in the night. Between 11 pm and 2 am. The point of the exchange is usually deep into a farmland where the boxes of liquor are transferred from the truck into small pick-up tempos.

Our customers know in advance about the delivery, says Ajit.

After the exchange in late hours, we distribute the demanded quantity to our customers before sunrise, he adds.

What about the police?

They themselves buy from us, says Ajit, bursting into laughter that soon turns into coughing.

Doctors and policemen are our most prolific customers. Police get their hafta.

Immediately after the liquor ban, Nitin says, the network of bootleggers was extremely careful.

"We dealt in code words," he says, adding, "And a new customer had to come through an old one.

The code words included chavanni (25 paise) for a quarter, athanni (50 paise) for a half bottle and so on.

We also used half a kilo ghee for half bottle of liquor. Nobody used the word liquor. We said samaan. Not anymore, though. The police, administration, everyone knows what happens on the ground, adds Nitin.

Nonetheless, the police force is under pressure to show arrests, for alcohol consumption has not stopped and it is an open secret. Since the 2016 liquor ban, 16 lakh litres of India Made Foreign Liquor and nine lakh litres of country-made liquor had been seized and more than 1.4 lakh police cases registered by October 2018, according to excise and prohibition department officials.

That, the bootleggers say, is a tip of the iceberg. Sanjay (name changed), who earlier ran a licensed liquor store chain and now sells illegally, says if the police catch a truck with 500 boxes, they only show 200 on paper. They either consume or sell the remaining boxes, he says.

In October 2018, two police officers were arrested in Gopalganj district for selling alcohol. One of them was no less than a SHO.

When they have to show arrests, they catch poor farmers or labourers consuming liquor, but hardly touch the distributors," says Sanjay, adding, And even when a distributor is arrested, it would be because he did not pay his hafta on time. Most of the times, the distributors manage things.

The chief minister had banned liquor in Bihar primarily to curb domestic violence because men often abuse women after getting drunk. Those caught drinking could earlier be imprisoned for 5-7 years or fined up to Rs 7 lakh. That punishment has been watered down.

"If someone is caught drinking, he will be fined Rs 50000 or sentenced to three months in jail. If caught the second time, he will be fined Rs 1 lakh and sentenced to 5 years in jail. Now, the house where liquor was recovered will not be seized and mass penalty provision has also been removed," the chief minister had clarified in July 2018.

Nonetheless, a prospective punishment from 10 years to life imprisonment for making or distributing alcohol has not proved to be a deterrent.

Sanjay says the liquor ban, in fact, has been profitable. I used to run a chain of liquor stores, he says. I made Rs 2 lakh profit per month. Now, I don't have to pay excise duty or taxes. I make around Rs 5 lakh per month.

Before the liquor ban, the state of Bihar earned revenue of over Rs 4,000 crores from liquor sales. The money is still part of the economy, but the state is not getting it," says Sanjay.

"An increase of black money is not the only downside of the liquor ban. Several school kids now work for various distributors as delivery boys. They carry it in their school bags, just like you saw in Shah Rukh Khans movie Raees, he adds.

Speaking of downsides, the liquor ban has also paved the way for spurious alcohol in Bihar. Ajit says the quality of alcohol would be checked when it was legal. Now it is only about quantity, he says, adding, Duplicate labels have entered the market. People know it, but they still buy because they are addicted or they do not have options. In any case, it is not my concern. I have never been a drinker.

Never? I ask with a tinge of surprise in the tone. A halwai need not have a sweet tooth, he replies.
Jaish-e-Muhammed which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack does not exist in Pakistan, the military's spokesperson has said, days after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi admitted that the terror outfit's chief is present in the country

Islamabad: Jaish-e-Mohammed which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack does not exist in Pakistan, the military's spokesperson has said, days after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi admitted that the terror outfit's chief is present in the country.

The already sour relations between India and Pakistan have worsened after Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for the 14 February Pulwama attack that left 40 CRPF personnel dead.

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor when asked if the two countries were close to war after the attack told CNN, "We were I would say close to war because when they [India] violated the airspace under token aggression, we went for response."

"Along the Line of Control (LoC) we were eyeball-to-eyeball. There is presence of troops at the LoC for decades. But post the Indian aggression and our response, the safeguards have been taken by both side," Ghafoor said on the situation along the LoC.

He said that troops had been increased because it is natural as part of military planning. When the situation gets hot there are safeguards. Those safeguards are in place on both sides."

After the Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was a JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on 26 February.

The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was handed over to India on Friday.

When asked about Indian claims regarding the Balakot air strike, Ghafoor said that not even a single brick had been found there nor were there any causalities. "Their [Indian] claims are false," he said.

He further said that the JeM claim of responsibility for the Pulwama attack had not been made from inside Pakistan.

"Jaish-e-Mohammed does not exist in Pakistan. It has been proscribed by the United Nations and Pakistan also. Secondly, we are not doing anything under anybody's pressure," he claimed.

Last month Qureshi during an interview with CNN said that JeM chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan, but said the government can act against him only if India presents "solid" and "inalienable" evidence that can stand in a court of law.

Ghafoor said instead of blaming Pakistan, it is time for the world to assist and facilitate Pakistan in getting rid of such organisations.

On Pakistan's release of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman as a gesture of peace, Major General Ghafoor stated, "Now it is up to India whether they take that peace gesture and move forward towards de-escalation or continue the agenda that they have."

"We feel that now the ball is in the Indian court. Should they decide to escalate more, the situation will go bad," Ghafoor said.
On Wednesday, during the farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association in the apex court lawns, Justice Sikri said every judge should possess 'some element of femininity' to do complete justice. He got emotional and thanked the judiciary and lawyers for their help throughout his career.

New Delhi: Justice AK Sikri, who was part of a high-powered committee headed by the prime minister which decided to oust senior IPS officer Alok Kumar Verma as CBI director in January, on Wednesday retired as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Three days after his vote on 10 January, as a representative of CJI Ranjan Gogoi on the panel also, helped decide Verma's removal, a controversy had broken out over his nomination for president/member in the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal. Stung by the controversy, Justice Sikri withdrew his consent to the government offer. He later said he wants the controversy to "die".

On Wednesday, during the farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association in the apex court lawns, Justice Sikri said every judge should possess "some element of femininity" to do complete justice. He got emotional and thanked the judiciary and lawyers for their help throughout his career.

His eyes were moist earlier in the day too when he sat on the bench along with Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SA Bobde as lawyers thanked him and wished him. "Thank you all," he told the lawyers, wiping his tears before rising from the dais.

During the function in the evening, Justice Sikri said, "By nature, a part of me is feminine. Going by the quality this gender possesses, I am of the opinion that every judge, in order to do complete justice, should possess some element of femininity." "After all, symbol of justice is a goddess. No doubt she is shown blindfolded, but however, her heart is not shut from where emanates the qualities of impartial justice," he said. CJI Gogoi said the conduct and sensitivity displayed by Justice Sikri as a judge will continue to inspire the young. He said judiciary, as an institution, grows on the faith reposed in it by people.

"Judiciary, as an institution is among a few that have direct interface with the citizenry and judges and lawyers, are like the face of the institution. As an institution grows along with other instrumentalities of our young nation, the need for goodness by the people, for the people and among the people is being felt more than any time in the past," the CJI said. "In an era where the reckless and rash narrative of a few threaten to slow down the journey and the progress of institutions, Justice Sikri has endeared himself to all of us around him by his benign demeanour and warmth," Justice Gogoi said. Justice Sikri said even at the age of 65, there was a child in him.

"That kept the innocence alive and ensured that there is no malice, which helps in fair judging," said Justice Sikri. Talking about whether a judge should smile, he said it was not about how many times a judge smiles but how many times the judge has brought a smile to helpless people. Attorney General KK Venugopal, who was present at the function, was described by Justice Sikri as "Bhishma Pitamaha" of the legal profession.

Justice Sikri was appointed as a judge of the Delhi High Court on 7 July, 1999 and became its acting chief justice on 10 October, 2011. He was elevated as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on 23 September, 2012, and to the Supreme Court as a judge on 12 April, 2013.
The Kerala High Court recently observed that that a liberal approach needs to be adopted by courts while dealing with divorce applications based on mutual consent

The Kerala High Court recently observed that that a liberal approach needs to be adopted by courts while dealing with divorce applications based on mutual consent. The court held that the six-month cooling off period, or waiting period, as stipulated, is merely directory in nature, and not mandatory. The court opined that When it is convinced to the court that the marital tie has been broken irretrievably and that there is only nil chances of rethinking and reunion of the spouses; and when the conditions enumerated in the ruling in Amardeep Singh stand satisfied, there is absolutely no justification for compelling the parties to wait further, in a manner prolonging their agony."

While the judgment pertains to mutual consent divorce petitions, the reasoning adopted by the Kerala High Court begs a very important question, that has engaged the attention of many lawyers and social scientists  namely, whether divorce should be based on matrimonial fault, or the breakdown of marriage. The former pertains to the fault theory of divorce, under which a marriage can be dissolved only when one of parties has committed some matrimonial fault.

The latter, however, pertains to the 'no fault theory' of divorce, under which a marriage can be dissolved without any fault of any spouse, and what needs to be shown to the court is that the marriage has irretrievably broken down, and that either or both parties are not interested in staying together anymore. This ground, known as irretrievable breakdown, does not find place in the legal framework of India. However, it has been in consideration for quite some time.

The question was first considered by the Law Commission of India in its 71st Law Commission Report, which dealt with the concept of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, and the extent and conditions under which it could be included as a distinct and separate ground for divorce in India. The report observed that the practice of restricting the grounds for divorce to matrimonial faults and disabilities resulted in grave injustice, in matters where neither spouse was a fault and yet, the marital relationship had ceased to exist. It therefore defined irretrievable breakdown as a situation wherein the very foundation of the marriage, which is built on a deep love, affection and an emotional bond and respect for another, has broken down, and the marriage merely exists on paper.

The Law Commission concluded by saying that when a marriage had broken down completely, then the divorce proceedings, instead of being concerned with whose fault it is, should be focussed on bringing the spouses and other parties involved, including the children, to terms with the new situation.

This proposition was put forth by the Supreme Court, in the case of Naveen Kohli versus Neelu Kohli, wherein the Court recommended that the Union of India should seriously consider bringing in an amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and incorporate irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground for divorce. Subsequently, the 217th report of the Law Commission of India, in 2009, made similar recommendations. Taking heed of the same, the Marriage Law Amendment Bill of 2013 was introduced in Parliament, which made provisions for irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a separate ground for divorce. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 26 August, 2013, but failed to be taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha due to the change in Central government in 2014.

The bill faced stiff opposition, and it was contended that the passing of the bill would lead to increased unwarranted litigation, and destroy the institution of marriage and family values. Perhaps what the Opposition failed to realise was that when there is no attachment, respect, or willingness left to continue the relationship, no family values can save the marriage. Another misconception that many opponents hold against the inclusion of irretrievable breakdown as a ground for divorce is that "divorce by mutual consent" already covers the situation.

However, it should be understood that mutual consent by definition requires the consent of both the parties, and fails if either party doesnt cooperate. Irretrievable breakdown, on the other hand, is a ground under which the court can come to the conclusion that the marriage can not be saved, based on the facts and the evidence, and divorce can be granted. It is not dependent on the will of the parties but on the facts presenting that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.

Given the recent Kerala High Court judgment, perhaps it is time the debate was revisited, and "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" was included as a distinct ground for divorce, as recommended by numerous Law Commission Report and Supreme Court judgments.

Raghav Pandey is an assistant professor of Law at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai and Neelabh Bist is a Fourth Year student of Law at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Outgoing Chairman of the CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government, Hon. Andrew Holness, is encouraging his fellow leaders to deliver on the bold steps and strong joint recommitment to the regional process that they made during his tenure.

Mr. Holness, who is also Prime Minister of Jamaica, was speaking on Tuesday morning at the opening of the 30th Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, which is being held in St. Kitts and Nevis, 2627 February 2019.

He gave a quick overview of some of the achievements and commitments made during his time as Chairman of the Conference, speaking first of hosting the 39th Regular Meeting of the Conference which was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in July 2018. Mr. Holness said that during the Conference, a giant leap forward was made in response to the concerns of CARICOM Member States with regard to being treated with fairness, respect and dignity. He explained that Procedures on the Refusal of Entry were adopted with an agreement to implement them by August 2018.

He further outlined that during the same meeting, Member States demonstrated their commitment to ensure that the free movement of skills provisions in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) Regime not only worked for the principal beneficiaries, but also for their families, through the signature of the Protocol on Contingent Rights.

Following the 39th Conference, the Heads of Government met in September in a Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee chaired by Prime Minister of Barbados, Hon. Mia Mottley, and again in a Special Session in December 2018, where they had further discussions regarding the Report of the Commission to Review Jamaicas Relations within the CARICOM and CARIFORUM Frameworks (CRCC) and implementation of the CSME.

The meeting was graciously hosted by Prime Minister Rowley in Port-of-Spain and delivered the St. Anns Declaration, which cemented our resolve that we must give impetus to the CSME. Among other decisions accordingly, we reclaimed the objective of economic growth and development and emphasized the central role of the private sector and labour in assisting the Region on this path, the Outgoing Chairman said.

Other achievements outlined by PM Holness included a decision to add Agricultural Workers and Security Guards to the agreed categories of skilled nationals who will be entitled to move freely and seek employment within the Community. He also confirmed that Beauty Service Practitioners and Barbers can move and work as artistes. Strategic engagement with external partners was another area of focus, and, according to Mr. Holness, that was the reason much of his attention was geared towards strengthening relations with bilateral, regional and international development partners. This, he said, included engagements with the Presidents of Chile and Cuba during the 39th Heads of Government Meeting, as well as representing the Community at the BRICS Plus Summit in Johannesburg, and at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, both of which he described as fruitful engagements.

In concluding, he said that Jamaica was honoured to have been entrusted to serve as Chair and gave his commitment to continue working to deliver prosperity for the Region.
A Muslim cleric, absconding after an alleged sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl near Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested in Madurai in Tamil Nadu Thursday

Thiruvananthapuram: A Muslim cleric, absconding after an alleged sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl near Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested in Madurai in Tamil Nadu Thursday, police said.

Shafeeq Al Qasimi, who was removed as imam of a nearby mosque after the assault came to light, was nabbed from a lodge in the temple city, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar told PTI here.

Qasimi had been on the run for the last one month and shifted his place of stay with the help of a relative, who was also arrested and their car seized, a deputy superintendent of police Ashok Kumar told PTI.

A case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act had been registered against him based on the mosque committee's statement.

Qasimi had allegedly lured the girl to an isolated forest area at Vithura, near here, and sexually assaulted her.

The abuse came to light after a group of local women confronted the cleric on seeing him with the school-going girl in the forest.
Education Minister Vinod Tawde on Thursday held a meeting with various education institutions in Maharashtra having in-house quota to sort out the reservation issue.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government decided on Thursday to reduce the in-house quota for FYJC (first year junior college), or Class XI, admissions after SSC exams, a move that will help open category students.

Education Minister Vinod Tawde said SSC pass students will now get 7 percent seats in the open category, after reducing the in-house quota from 20 percent to 10 percent in FYJC admissions.

Tawde on Thursday held a meeting with various education institutions having in-house quota to sort out the issue.

It was decided to slash in-house admission quota from 20 percent to 10 percent, resulting in 7 percent seats for students from the open category after implementation of the new 16 percent Maratha reservation and 10 percent quota for the economically weaker sections in admissions.

The state also issued a government resolution (GR) in this regard, providing relief to students from the open category, as they can now apply for 7 percent seats in junior colleges attached to schools.

After the meeting, Tawde appealed to parents and students not to panic as far as FYJC admission was concerned.

"It was an unnecessary assumption that the new 16 percent reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) and 10 percent for economically weaker section (EWS) quota would result in no seats for open category as the share of quota would go up to 103 percent," said Tawde.

There are about 1,887 colleges in Mumbai of various streams and 639 of them have an in-house quota. Of these, 306 are of minority status and have 50 percent reservation while 333 junior colleges are attached to higher secondary schools.

"For all colleges that have 20 percent in-house quota other than those colleges having minority status and following the 16 percent Maratha and 10 per cent EWS quota, we have decided to reduce the 20 per cent in-house quota to 10 percent to clear the way for 7 per cent seats for the open category," said Tawde.
Two cadres of the proscribed militant outfit People's Liberation Army (PLA) were arrested by security forces in Manipur's Imphal East district

Imphal: Two cadres of the proscribed militant outfit People's Liberation Army (PLA) were arrested by security forces in Manipur's Imphal East district, police said Thursday.

A team of Manipur police commandoes, while conducting frisking and checking at Hatta area in Imphal East district on Wednesday, arrested the two PLA cadres, a press release issued by PRO Manipur police said.

A case has been registered at Porompat police station for further investigation, the release added.
A day after two Kashmiri youth were attacked by saffron-clad men in Lucknow, the main accused Bajrang Sonkar was arrested by the local police after a video of the incident went viral on social media

A day after two Kashmiri youths were attacked by saffron-clad men in Lucknow, the main accused Bajrang Sonkar was arrested by the local police after a video of the incident went viral on social media.

Sonkar, who claims to be the president of the Vishwa Hindu Dal (VHD), and other members of the fringe outfit attacked the two youths who were selling dry fruits in Lucknow's Daliganj area. The youths were saved by a passer-by, who insisted that the VHD members not take law into their hands.

The incident was a reminder of various incidents of harassment of Kashmiris all over India after the 14 February Pulwama attack.

The incident invited the ire of many, with former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah blaming incidents like these for making Kashmiris feel like they dont belong to this country, calling it an attempt to communalise the atmosphere before polls.

Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in J&K than videos like these. Keep thrashing Kashmiris like this on the streets at the hands of RSS/Bajrang Dal goons & then try to sell the idea of atoot ang, it simply wont fly. https://t.co/MYkuEuDLjj  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 7, 2019

You humiliate & assault Kashmiris. Make them feel like criminals & that they dont belong to this country. Why are you surprised then when young pliable men are taken under the wings of terror groups & indoctrinated? https://t.co/0hLydjRP0Q  Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) March 7, 2019

Kashmiris are being hounded & punished. The culprits here were clad in saffron kurtas & are from VHD. They have no fear & in fact uploaded the video on SM. GoIs conspicuous silence is actually a political tactic to encourage such elements & communalise the atmosphere until polls. https://t.co/PuSZsZyiyY  Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) March 7, 2019

The gentleman in the red jacket who came to the rescue of this Kashmiri vendor is India. These frustrated goons in saffron kurtas who are beating him up because he's "Kaashmiri" are the antithesis of India. This abomination has taken India over and is destroying it bit by bit. https://t.co/8srBFj6bMV  Shehla Rashid   (@Shehla_Rashid) March 7, 2019

The gentleman in the red jacket who came to the rescue of this Kashmiri vendor is India. These frustrated goons in saffron kurtas who are beating him up because he's "Kaashmiri" are the antithesis of India. This abomination has taken India over and is destroying it bit by bit. https://t.co/8srBFj6bMV  Shehla Rashid   (@Shehla_Rashid) March 7, 2019

Sir @PMOIndia @CMOfficeUP will you walk the talk and arrest these bloody goons https://t.co/12cLKYNSJi  Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) March 6, 2019

The fire from Pulwama is not only singeing innocent Kashmiris elsewhere in India. An old friend from Kanpur said his daughter in prep school was told she is a Muslim and a terrorist. She came back and asked: Abba, what is a Muslim! This thuggery must stop immediately. https://t.co/koT6leEzAv  Rahul Pandita (@rahulpandita) March 7, 2019

Extremely deplorable. These fringe groups have destroyed the secular fabric of the country. Kashmiris are their latest target. I request @PMOIndia to ban VHP, Bajrang Dal and other extremist organisations. @UN @StateDept should also designate these as terrorist orgs. https://t.co/3CHe9JTmPH  Shah Faesal (@shahfaesal) March 7, 2019

The arrest of the VHD members invited some relief on social media, with many even praising the man who defended the Kashmiri youths when they were being attacked.

SSP @ipsnaithani is my batchmate and I am very happy that he has cracked whip on the goons who thrashed Kashmiri street-vendor in Lucknow.

Welldone cop. https://t.co/Hq8pDufkry  Shah Faesal (@shahfaesal) March 7, 2019

Arrests by @Uppolice of the thugs who thrashed the Kashmiri vendor.. Good.. Keep them there for a long long time. https://t.co/Kww873N56m  barkha dutt (@BDUTT) March 7, 2019

Any thug who attacks a Kashmiri in another part of their own country is acting as a Pakistani agent - by implying that Kashmir isnt part of India. Anyone who stops the thugs is a true patriot. Im sure the patriots vastly outnumber the thugs. https://t.co/1zNEhA6wFr  Vikram Chandra (@vikramchandra) March 7, 2019
Speaking at the launch of the first ever dictionary on those killed during the Indian freedom struggle, Modi, whose party has often been accused by the Opposition of distorting history, said only if history is accepted as it is, will it inspire generations.

New Delhi: Those who fail to create history try to distort it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday as he stressed on the need for accepting history as it is and not allowing it to be distorted by any ideology.

Speaking at the launch of the first ever dictionary on those killed during the Indian freedom struggle, Modi, whose party BJP has often been accused by the Opposition of distorting history, said only if history is accepted as it is, will it inspire generations.

"There are efforts to weigh history on the scale of ideology and these efforts many a time lead to distortion of history. I believe history should be accepted as history... It should not be bound by your ideology or mine and we should not make changes in it... The debate will go on..." he said.

He alleged that only those who fail to create history make attempts to distort it to suit them.

"Those who cannot create history sometimes want to paint history in their own colours because they do not have the capacity to create history. Instead of painting history in these colours, we should accept history as it is and then we will be of great service to the country," he said.

He further said that while history can be interpreted in various ways, the facts cannot change.

The five-volume dictionary contains an account of the deceased freedom fighters from India's First War of Independence in 1857, to India's Independence in 1947. He said that this includes those killed in Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the noncooperation movement, the Quit India Movement, and those soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj, who attained martyrdom, among many others.

He also suggested that universities encourage students to offer these books as case studies.

"Say for example they can do a study to find out in which age group have people become revolutionaries in the past 90 years, another study on how many of them have an agriculture background, another on how many are women... So, students can be encouraged to engage in doing research on a variety of issues around this subject," he said.

He urged the culture ministry to engage with state governments to identify birthplaces of deceased freedom fighters and immortalise them in local schools so that they are remembered.

The project for compilation of "Dictionary of Martyrs" of India's freedom struggle was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of uprising of 1857.

In this dictionary, a "martyr" has been defined as a person who died or who was killed in action or in detention, or was awarded capital punishment while participating in the national movement for emancipation of India.
The Supreme Court has granted bail to Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, the key accused in the 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre, on medical grounds.

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, the key accused in the 2002 massacre in the Naroda Patiya area of Ahmedabad, in which 97 people were killed in broad daylight. The bench granted him bail on medical grounds as it noted that Bajrangi is blind, bedridden and deaf, CNN-News18 reported.

Bajrangi had been serving a life sentence in the case, which occurred during the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

The development comes weeks after the Gujarat government informed the Supreme Court, in reply to a bail plea that Bajrangi had filed last year, that he was "in bad shape". The state told the top court that Bajrangi has suffered complete vision loss, besides various other ailments.

Senior advocate R Basant, appearing for Bajrangi, had also cited the same medical reasons while filing his bail application. The top court had sought the Gujarat government's response to his bail plea on 8 October, 2018.

On 23 January, the Supreme Court had granted regular bail to four convicts in the Naroda Patiya massacre case  Umeshbhai Surabhai Bharwad, Rajkumar, Padmendrasinh Jaswantsinh Rajput and Harshad alias Mungda Jila Govind Chhara Parmar.

On 20 April, 2018, the Gujarat High Court upheld the conviction of 12 out of the 29 accused who were pronounced guilty on various charges by the trial court and had acquitted 17 others, including former BJP minister Maya Kodnani.

The rioting occurred on 28 February, 2002, in the Naroda Patiaya area of Ahmedabad, where a mob had killed 97 people, most of them from a minority community.

The massacre followed the torching of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra, which killed 59 people and triggering statewide riots.
A Nashik court last week acquitted eleven people who were facing terror charges in a 25-year-old case under the now repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA Act).

A Nashik court last week acquitted eleven people who were facing terror charges in a 25-year-old case under the now repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA Act).

Sharif Sheikh, the lawyer for the accused, said that this may have been the last case that was decided under the Act. The legislation itself was repealed over 20 years ago, in 1995, after widespread allegations of abuse.

The accused had spent over four months behind bars in 1994, after which they were released on bail. While nine of them were from the town of Bhusaval in Maharashtras Jalgaon district, two others were from Mumbai.

Found out about my daughters birth through the media

Speaking to Firstpost, Ashfaque Mir, one of the accused, said, After the judge pronounced the verdict on 27 February, all of us had tears of joy for at least an hour. When the case was filed 25 years ago, I was a young man. Now, I have children who are married.

Mir recalled, When I was arrested, my son was one-and-a-half years old, and my wife was pregnant with our second child. After my daughter was born, some newspapers had carried entirely baseless reports that I was unhappy because it was a girl, and not a boy. It was through those reports that I found out about her birth.

Mir is a doctor by profession and runs a clinic in south Mumbai. He had been accused of having financed a trip of some other accused to Kashmir for acquiring terror training. The police had alleged that the eleven persons had conspired to avenge the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, and some of them had acquired training for terrorist activities.

Socio-religious NGO Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had arranged for legal representation for the accused in the case, including Mir.

The accused, out of their total period of incarceration, spent 24 days in police custody. Mir said, During that time, we faced a lot of physical and mental torture. The police personnel would repeatedly ask where we had received training, or where we had concealed the bombs. What answer could we give them? We had done nothing of the sort. They had also written our confessional statements and wanted us to sign them, which we refused to do.

Among the more contentious provisions of the TADA Act, 1987, was one which stated that confessional statements made by accused persons to the police were admissible as evidence, provided they were made to an officer not lower in rank than a Superintendent of Police. Ordinarily, only confessions made before magistrates are admissible as evidence, not those made before police officers.

Mir remarked, Often, people become much more serious about life after spending time in prison. Some who were not religious earlier become so after a jail term. I, too, was a carefree lad before I went to jail. After I got out, I was a changed man  I became sincere about my work, and about life in general.

Recalling the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai, he said, The situation was very tense at that time. Our house is on the border between the Hindu and Muslim-dominated parts of our locality. It had become something of a refugee camp, as many people seeking protection from angry mobs would stay in our house for some time till things would become calmer.

He added, However, in my social circle, there were no feelings of animosity between communities. In fact, most of my friends are Hindus.

Blot has been erased

Jameel Ahmed Khan, another man accused in the case, said, Due to the allegations made by the police, there was a public perception that we were traitors, and wanted to disturb the peace in the country. The things that the police accused of doing  carrying out bomb blasts at the railway station and other public places in Bhusaval  were such that we could not have even imagined them. Through the courts verdict, this blot has now been wiped off.

Khan said, My arrest caused a lot of hardship in particular to my mother, who suffered from paralysis. I used to run a poultry farm earlier, but my business was destroyed because of the time I spent in jail.

After his incarceration, Khan was unable to restart his business, and he now works as a labourer. He said, Even getting work as a labourer was very difficult. People did not want to employ me because of the allegations I faced. After all, they also had the fear of the police. Thankfully, there were some people who ensured that I got a job.

He added, I appeal to parties who claim to speak for the rights of minorities to take some steps so that people who are jailed on false charges in this manner get justice.

Recalling the situation in the aftermath of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, Khan said, The town of Bhusaval remained peaceful at that time, as it had always been since independence. However, we read about riots in Mumbai and elsewhere. In Bhusaval, while there was no violence, some sections of the media played a part in stoking hatred among different communities.

Filing of chargesheet, judges' transfers caused delay.

The chargesheet in this case was filed six years after the FIR was registered, leading to the case dragging on. Further, the accused had also contended that the TADA Act was not applicable in the case, and the resolution of this issue added to the delay.

Lawyer Sharif Sheikh further said, "For designating a particular judge as a TADA judge, a notification was required. On several occasions, the notification would get delayed, by which time the judge would get transferred. It was only after the Supreme Court in 2016 gave a time frame for the matter to be completed that the case was heard and decided."
NCP chief spokesperson DP Tripathi also said the government must put pressure on Pakistan to stop and ban all terrorist organisations operating from its soil.

New Delhi: Accusing the government of politicising the IAF's strike on a JeM camp in Pakistan's Balakot, the NCP Thursday took a swipe at BJP president Amit Shah, saying he could count the number of terrorists killed in the action as he has special powers of a "nocturnal bird". In a pinpointed and swift air strike that lasted less than two minutes, India pounded Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Balakot on 26 February. The BJP chief had recently claimed that over 250 terrorists had been killed in the air strike.

NCP's general secretary and chief spokesperson DP Tripathi said after the air strike, Opposition parties stood firmly behind the government and it was a common understanding that the counter-terrorist operation will not be politicised. "But unfortunately, Prime minister Narendra Modi, his government and the BJP leadership started politicising the issue. By doing so, they have insulted and made a mockery of the patriotic commitment of our armed forces," he told reporters.

The prime minister has been levelling baseless allegations against all opposition parties in his rallies across the country and he uses "very foul" and "indecent" language against them, Tripathi alleged. While Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale have refused to talk about the number of casualties in the air strike, Shah has stated the figure as 250, Tripathi said.

"Perhaps, he is endowed with special powers of one nocturnal bird to see in the dark. The contradictory statements made by the different sections of the central government demonstrates utter confusion...," he said. The NCP leader claimed that any question regarding the air strike is perceived as "anti-national". Tripathi said a pertinent question that the government has to answer is about the breach of security by terrorists that led to the Pulwama attack.

On 14 February, a suicide bomber from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, killing at least 40 personnel. Tripathi also said the government must put pressure on Pakistan to stop and ban all terrorist organisations operating from its soil.
Security forces gunned down a militant during an encounter that broke out in Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on Thursday morning.

Security forces gunned down a militant during an encounter that broke out in Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on Thursday morning. They also recovered arms and ammunition from the site in Handwara's Kralgund area.

Jammu and Kashmir: One terrorist has been gunned down by security forces in Handwara. Operation continues (visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/UOPILlUn90  ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019

Troops of the Indian Army's Rashtriya Rifles, Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police and the CRPF had launched a cordon and search operation late on Wednesday after receiving information about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said. He added that the cordon was maintained during the night, and the forces zeroed in on the location of the militants in the morning.

There was a brief exchange of fire between the two sides, the official said, and a search operation is on in the area. The area has been cordoned off by additional troops of the Rashtriya Rifles (RR), SOG and CRPF from nearby camps.

Internet services have been suspended in Kupwara as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of rumours.

This encounter comes two days after a gunfight in Tral, in which two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in South Kashmirs Pulwama district.

With inputs from PTI
The JeM took responsibility for the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on 14 February, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said it will "soon" respond to a dossier handed over to it by India on "specific details" of involvement of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in the deadly Pulwama terror attack as also the presence of camps of the UN-proscribed terror outfit in the country. "It's being evaluated and a response would be given soon," Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal told reporters.

The JeM took responsibility for the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on 14 February in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after the attack. India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on 26 February. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on 1 March.

Responding to questions during his weekly media briefing, Faisal claimed Pakistan "defeated India militarily, diplomatically and politically in the ongoing border row, which has de-escalated over the past few days." "Our desire is peace but when we talk it is considered weakness," he added. On the Kartarpur corridor, Faisal said it was a project initiated by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, for which a Pakistani delegation will be visiting India on 14 March.

He said India first suggested that meeting be held in New Delhi, which Pakistan accepted, however, the venue was later changed to Attari. "Pakistan again agreed with Indian suggestion and if circumstances are not changed until March 14, then the Pakistani delegation will visit India," he said. India and Pakistan agreed to open up a special border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur: the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free visit of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Kartarpur.
(ANSA) - Rome, March 7 - A night-time five-hour summit on the Turin-Lyon high-speed rail (TAV) link failed to break the stalemate between government partners the 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the League - as France upped the pressure on Italy to go through with the project, respecting a treaty it had signed.

Both party leaders said the government was not in danger of crisis, however.

"It's tough but there will ne government crisis," said M5S leader Luigi Di Maio.

"Will the government last? Absolutely yes," said League leader Matteo Salvini.

The League wants to complete the project while the M5S is against it.

M5S sources said ahead of a meeting with MPs Thursday night that their "no" to the controversial link would remain "a firm one".

Sources said some in government are now thinking of talking to France, at a possible bilateral summit, on the criteria for funding the work.

As it is, Italy stands to lose 800 million euros in EU funding for the project.

The M5S's opposition to the TAV was reinforced by a government-sponsored costs/benefit analysis which said the project would bring a net loss of 7-8 billion euros, sources have said.

But Salvini says it will cost more not to complete the project than to complete it.

Premier Giuseppe Conte has said the government partners will have until Friday night to iron out their differences and come to an agreement.

Most observers think there will be some kind of deal, perhaps on a scaled back and cheaper version of the original project, sources said.

The League has proposed putting the completion of the project to a parliamentary vote to to a referendum, wither in the Piedmont region or nationally. Pollsters currently think there would be a narrow victory for the Yes vote if such a referendum were to take place, sources have said.

Conte said Thursday "I too am doubtful" about the TAV.

He said he would call a press conference later Thursday.

Conte said "it is a very complicated affair, and we have been working on it for some time, we are studying it and turning it inside out".

Conte on Thursday summoned to a meeting later in the day Mario Virano, the director-general of TELT, the Italo-French company that is building the TAV.

The two men will discuss the tenders for the work that have to be issued by Monday, sources said. French Ambassador Christian Masset went to Premier Conte's office Thursday morning but it is not known whether the two discussed the TAV.

French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne said Thursday that Italy had signed a treaty to dig the TAV tunnel and "tomorrow I hope the Italians will tell us they will realise the tunnel with us".

Speaking to Jean-Pierre Elkabach on Cnews, Borne said "we won't dig a tunnel on our own, and I hope that tomorrow they will say Yes".

She said "I trust that the Italians will confirm their commitment".

Borne said the EU was ready to raise its funding to 50% of the expenditure on the project.


Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday said the country's intelligence had used the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror outfit to carry out attacks in India during his tenure. He made the statement in an interview over the phone to Pakistani journalist Nadeem Malik of Hum News for his talk show.

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday said the country's intelligence had used the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror outfit to carry out attacks in India during his tenure. He made the statement in an interview over the phone to Pakistani journalist Nadeem Malik of Hum News for his talk show, according to CNN-News18.

"Jaish is a terrorist organisation. Tough action by the government is a welcome move," Musharraf said during the interview.

Musharraf also claimed that the JeM had tried to assassinate him twice in December 2003, but he had not taken action against the group during his time as president between 1999 and 2008 as "those times were different".

"At that time, India and Pakistan were bombing each other's territory and even I didn't insist on action against the terrorist organisation," Musharraf said, adding that the Pakistan intelligence was engaged in the attacks, India Today reported.

JeM and its chief Masood Azhar have been at the centre of the tension between India and Pakistan since the 14 February attack in Pulwama that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers dead. The issue further heated up after the Indian Air Force carried out retaliatory air strikes on a JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on 26 February. The next day, Pakistan retaliated with its own air strikes, violating Indian airspace.

The Government of India has also shared a dossier with Pakistan with evidence related to JeM's involvement in the Pulwama suicide attack, in addition to citing a statement by the group claiming responsibility for the attack. Pakistan, however, continues to maintain that JeM was not responsible for the bombing.

Azhar is accused of orchestrating various attacks in India, including the 2001 attack on Parliament.

Musharraf's remarks come a day after spokesperson for the Pakistani military Major General Asif Ghafoor said JeM does not exist in Pakistan. Before Musharraf, Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had also admitted that the terror outfit's chief was in Pakistan.
On Wednesday, after the top court asked the contesting parties in Ayodhya dispute case to suggest the name of a mediator or panel of mediators, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha suggested three names for mediators.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce order on Friday on whether to refer Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for mediation for amicable settlement.

A five-judge Supreme Court Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday had reserved the order after hearing various contesting parties.

Hindu bodies except Nirmohi Akhara have opposed the suggestion of the apex court to refer the issue for mediation, while Muslim bodies have supported it.

On Wednesday, after the top court asked the contesting parties in title dispute case to suggest the name of a mediator or panel of mediators, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (ABHP) suggested three names for mediators former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, former CJI Jagdish Singh Khehar and former SC Judge AK Patnaik.

After the hearing, Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer of Hindu Mahasabha, said, "The Supreme Court reserved the order on mediation. The Hindu Mahasabha has taken a clear stand on that mediation cannot happen since it is Lord Ram's land and public notice has to be issued. While (advocate) Rajeev Dhavan and Nirmohi Akhada agreed on mediation, other Hindu parties, including Hindu Mahasabha and Ram Lalla Virajmaan, clearly stated that mediation should not be attempted."
National security issue will be the top agenda in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) general body meeting.

In the backdrop of Pulwama terror attack and the air strike by the Indian Air Force thereafter, which has led to a raging political debate in the country, the national security issue will be the top agenda in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) general body meeting, which will begin in Madhya Pradesh from 8 March.

The three-day meeting of the Sanghs highest decision-making body  Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS)  assumes significance given the escalating tension between India and Pakistan after the terror attack at Pulwama by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed and the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.

This will be the first time that Madhya Pradesh will be hosting the ABPS meet in Gwalior, which will be inaugurated by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at 8.30 am on Friday.

Ahead of the three-day meeting, the national executive members of the RSS met on Thursday to give a final touch to the ABPS agenda. The ABPS meeting will evaluate the organisational works of the Sangh in the last one year, and chalk out organisation strategy for the next one year," said RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar pramukh (national publicity in-charge) Arun Kumar.

The meet will see participation by 1,400 members  of which nearly 850 are elected ones from shakha (local branch of RSS) level to prant-level (zones) in a state. Rest will be the office bearers, ex-officio members and representatives of 39 organisations of Sangh Parivar, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), etc.

The meeting will also witness the participation of top BJP leaders like party president Amit Shah, Ramlal, etc. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wont participate, sources said.

According to a Sangh source, discussions will be held on the preparedness of Lok Sabha elections. RSS never asks anyone to support and vote any particular political party. In fact, the swayamsevaks at ground level will encourage voters to participate in the democratic process and protect the national interest, and ensure maximum polling, the source told Firstpost.

The RSS chief in recent past had remarked that keeping national interest in mind, the NOTA (None of the above) option shouldnt be used while casting vote.

RSS  the ideological fountainhead of the BJP  holds three top-level meetings every year: ABPS, Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Baithak (national executive) and meeting of the Sangh pracharaks.

This meeting will also be important for Madhya Pradesh and act as a booster, as the state recently changed hands from 15-year BJP rule to Congress. The state BJP, which has been facing internal dissensions, would make all efforts to retain its 26 seats (out of 29) won in 2014 Lok Sabha election.

At the end of the meeting, a few resolutions will be passed. Issues likely to be discussed in the ABPS meeting are national security and terrorism, India-Pakistan diplomatic relationship, Jammu and Kashmir and Article 370 of the Constitution, Ram Mandir, agriculture and farmer distress, and economic issues.

Though Ram Mandir issue will be discussed, it wont be pushed beyond a point, keeping the present circumstances in mind, a source said.
Satya Pal Malik expressed concern that innocent youngsters are being led to believe that sacrificing their lives will lead to paradise which they are gullibly believing.

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik Thursday said any party supporting the separatists is anti-national, in an apparent reference to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference who criticised the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI).

Without naming the two, the Governor said, "The political parties which are coming out in support of banned organizations are making their position clear and are siding with separatists."

Referring to the ban on the JeI, NC vice-president Omar Abdullah Thursday said the crackdown on the organization would not help in improving the situation in the Valley.

Last Friday, the PDP and NC had also criticised the Centre's decision to ban JeI, saying it is against the essence of democracy which allows space to opposing political thoughts.

"Any party or person supporting separatists is anti-national and is playing into the hands of terrorists and Pakistan," Malik said at a high level meeting convened here to review the law and order situation in the aftermath of the grenade attack on a bus stand in the heart of the city in which a teenager was killed and 32 others were injured.

The meeting was attended by K Vijay Kumar, advisor to Governor, Chief Secretary BVR Subramanyam, Principal Secretary Home Shaleen Kabra, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh and other senior police and civil officers, an official spokesman said.

Malik said the war against terrorism and militancy is not going to be stopped at any cost and "this is a battle that we will win and government will ensure that militancy is eradicated from the state."

The Governor lauded police for swift action in apprehending the culprit involved in the grenade attack.

"This is an act of terrorism which is a reaction of anti-national and terrorist elements in the state who are losing their grip fast," Malik said.

He said his government has come down hard on separatists since the Pulwama terrorist attack and has withdrawn security for the Hurriyat and 170 persons, banned Jamaat-e-Islami and has arrested all its leaders for engaging in "unlawful activities".

"Facing imminent defeat, these anti-national elements are targeting civilians and soft targets," he said and described the act of throwing grenade on unsuspecting bus passengers as a cowardly attack by someone who cannot challenge the security forces.

The Governor expressed concern that innocent youngsters are being led to believe that sacrificing their lives will lead to paradise which they are gullibly believing.

Malik appealed to the people in the state to maintain peace, harmony and brotherhood.

"The people of the state are known since times immemorial for upholding the values of mutual brotherhood and communal harmony," he said.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was informed by Venugopal that the Lokpal search committee has recommended three panels of names to the selection committee for appointment of chairperson, judicial and non-judicial members.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Attorney General KK Venugopal to inform it within 10 days about a possible date for a meeting of the selection committee to appoint the Lokpal and its members.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was informed by Venugopal that the search committee headed by former apex court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai has recommended three panels of names to the selection committee for appointment of chairperson, judicial and non-judicial members.

The AG told the bench, also comprising Justices SA Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, that he will ask the Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training to ensure that the meeting of the prime minister-headed selection committee is convened as early as possible.

The top court also refused to pass directions to disclose names in the three panels.

It had earlier requested the search committee on Lokpal to recommend by February end a panel of names for appointing the country's first anti-graft ombudsman. The top court had asked the Centre to make available requisite infrastructure, manpower, secretarial assistance and others to enable the committee, headed by Desai, to commence its work immediately and conclude it within the time frame.

It was hearing a contempt petition filed by NGO Common Cause which has raised the issue of non-appointment of Lokpal despite the apex court's judgement of 27 April, 2017.

The search committee will forward the names to the selection committee comprising the prime minister, the Chief Justice of India or his nominee, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the leader of the largest opposition party and an eminent jurist.

The other members of the search committee are former chief of State Bank of India Arundhati Bhattacharya, Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash, Indian Space Research Organisation head A S Kiran Kumar, former judge of Allahabad High Court Sakha Ram Singh Yadav, former Gujarat Police head Shabbirhusein S Khandwawala, retired IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre Lalit K Panwar, and former Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar.

On 4 January, the apex court had directed the Centre to place on affidavit the steps for Lokpal's appointment and had expressed its displeasure over the tardy progress made in this regard. It had asked the attorney general to file an affidavit explaining in detail the various steps, including setting up of a search committee by the competent authority for recommending names for the appointment.

The top court on 24 July, 2018 had rejected as "wholly unsatisfactory" the Centre's submission on the issue of setting up of a search committee for Lokpal and demanded a "better affidavit".It was also told that the selection committee had met on July 19 last year to deliberate names for members of the search committee.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is the leader of the largest opposition party, has been giving a go by to the meetings of the selection panel.

The top court was earlier told that the selection panel also took note that the search committee is to comprise a minimum of seven people, including the chairperson, with experience in anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, policy making, finance including insurance and banking, law and management, etc.
Police have cordoned off the forested locality near Vythiri in Kerala's Wayanad district and combing operation is underway to capture the rest of the members of the armed group of Maoists.

Wayanad: A suspected Maoist has been killed in a lengthy exchange of fire with police in Kerala's Wayanad, officials said on Thursday.

The gunfight started Wednesday night and went on till early Thursday morning. Police were yet to reveal the identity of the suspected Maoist.

A group of Maoists allegedly reached a private resort on Wednesday night and demanded food for 10 members of the team and money, sources said.

The resort staff informed police about the presence of the extremist group and a specialised 'Thunderbolt' squad of the Kerala Police rushed in.

"One person was killed during the exchange of fire on Wednesday. No officer was injured in the fire fight," a police official told PTI.

Police have cordoned off the forested locality near Vythiri in Wayanad district and combing operation is underway to capture the rest of the members of the armed group.

A high-level meeting of police and district officials has been convened by the Inspector General of Police, Kannur Range.

Kerala Thunderbolts is an elite command force of the Kerala Police under the India Reserve Battalion.

On 24 February, three Maoists were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Jharkhand's Gumla district. The security personnel have seized two AK-47 pistols, two .315mm rifle and a pistol from the encounter site.
The Official Secrets Act, 1923 is India's anti-espionage act held over from the British colonial period which states that actions which involve helping an enemy state against India are strongly condemned. It mentions that one cannot approach, inspect, or even pass over a prohibited government site or area.

On Wednesday, as the Supreme Court was hearing arguments on the Rafale deal case, Attorney-General KK Venugopal told the three-judge bench that the government could invoke the Official Secrets Act against The Hindu, for publishing papers related to official communication about the deal.

Amidst the controversy, the report's author and chairman of The Hindu Publishing Group N Ram asserted that all the reports on Rafale that have been published in the newspaper are "absolutely legitimate and justified", adding that nobody is going to make them reveal their sources. Ram told Bloomberg Quint, "Theres been a longstanding discussion on the obnoxious legislation statute called the Official Secrets Act, 1923. Many demands have been made to do away with this obnoxious legacy of the British Raj in India... Whatever criminal action they are willing to take (against us), we are perfectly willing to face it. This kind of talk is an attempt to put pressure on the press to create a climate of fear."

The Editors Guild of India also condemned the remarks made by the attorney-general and said that any attempt to use the Official Secrets Act against journalists would be reprehensible.

What is The Official Secrets Act?

The Official Secrets Act, 1923 is India's anti-espionage act held over from the British colonial period which states that actions which involve helping an enemy State against India are strongly condemned. It mentions that one cannot approach, inspect, or even pass over a prohibited government site or area. According to the Act, helping the enemy State can be in the form of communicating a sketch, plan, a model of an official secret, or passing of/transfer of official codes or passwords, to the enemy.

Punishments under the Act range from three to fourteen years of imprisonment, and a person prosecuted under this Act can be charged with the crime even if the action was unintentional and not intended to endanger the security of the state. The Act empowers only persons in positions of authority to handle official secrets, and others who handle it in prohibited areas or outside them are liable for punishment.

When a company is seen as the offender under this Act, everyone involved with the management of the company, including the board of directors, are liable for punishment. In the case of a newspaper, everyone  including the editor, publisher and the proprietor  can be imprisoned for the offence.

Conflict with RTI Act

In Clause 6 of the OSA, information from any governmental office is to be considered official information, hence it can be used to override the Right to Information Act, 2005 requests. This has been widely debated and contested, specially by the media.

However, Section 22 of the RTI Act states that the provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than this Act.

The Iftikhar Gilani case

In June 2002, Jammu and Kashmir journalist Iftikhar Gilani was, arrested for violating the OSA. He was charged with a case relating to releasing information which was a "secret". However, later investigations revealed that the information he was accused of holding was no "official secret".

In Gilani's defence, the military reported that "the information contained in the document is easily available" and "the documents carry no security classified information and the information seems to have been gathered from open sources".

Thereafter, on 13 January 2004, the government withdrew its case against Gilani and he was released the same month.

Reforms sought by MHA

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs, in July 2017, submitted a report to the Cabinet Secretariat to amend the Act to make it more transparent and in line with the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Aiming to amend the 94-year-old Act, the home ministry reviewed the provisions of the colonial-era law so that it can be made compatible with the present democratic set-up. After a detailed review, the ministry submitted a report to the Cabinet secretariat with various suggestions on how to go about with the Act at a time when the country has embraced a transparency law.

The exercise was aimed at amending the OSA to make a seamless transition from the secrecy period of the 20th century to a modern and democratic transparency regime, PTI reported.

A review of the OSA has been on the cards since 2006, when the first report of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) on the Right to Information sought repeal of the Act.

At that time, a core group on administrative reforms studied the ARC recommendations, which were then forwarded to a GoM for a decision. The GoM in 2008 accepted 62 recommendations but rejected the suggestion for repeal of OSA. It instead sought amendments to OSA to do away with ambiguity in punishments.

Previous cases where OSA was invoked

A Delhi court in a 2009 judgement, in a case involving the publication of excerpts of a cabinet note in The Financial Express ten years by journalist Santanu Saikia, greatly reduced the powers of the act by ruling that the publication of a document merely labelled "secret" shall not render the journalist liable under the law.

Saikia was arrested in February 2015 in another case that the police said involved the writing of stories and analyses from documents allegedly stolen from the government. He was released on bail in May after spending 80 days in jail.

Additional sessions judge Inder Jeet Singh who had discharged Saikia relied on a 1996 Supreme Court verdict in the case of Sama Alana Abdulla versus the State of Gujarat, Singh said that the test of whether a certain disclosure compromised a secret depended on whether an "official code'' or "password'' had been divulged in terms of Section 5 of the Act, The Times of India had reported.

The report stated that the court's liberal interpretation lessened the scope for misuse of the OSA by official machinery as it made a sharp distinction between a secret document or report dealing with day-to-day routine affairs and one containing information on the sensitive issue of national security.

"The qualifying word secret has to be read in respect of an official code or password'' ASJ Singh clarified, for OSA to be applicable and not just because it says "secret''.

On his part, Saikia, who argued the case himself in court, pointed out how an archaic Act was being used to harass a journalist, the report said.

The Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir had said that fifty cases of violation of the Act were registered in the country since 2014. Of these 50 cases, 30 were registered in 2016, nine in 2015 and 11 in 2014. And of the 30 cases registered in 2016, eight were lodged in Tamil Nadu, followed by five each in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Interestingly, there were also reports of a case under OSA being filed against former army chief and now BJP MLA General VK Singh after he published a book titled - Indias External Intelligence: Secrets of RAW, in 2007, two years after he retired from service. Following which, his home was raided and a case was registered against him for violating the OSA, though nothing much was heard of the case since then, The Hindu reported.

Later, VK Singh wrote an article detailing the "troubled legacy" of the Act. In the article published on the website of 'The United Service Institution of India', Singh writes: "The Official Secrets Act, 1923 is one of the most draconian laws still in force in India. A legacy of the British Raj, it had often resulted in grave miscarriages that have blotted the record books of the judiciary and sullied our reputation among democratic nations. Eminent jurists and civil rights activists have unequivocally voiced the opinion that the infamous statute should be scrapped. After the enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2005, it has no right to exist, a fact that has been pointed out by Veerappa Moily, heading the Second Administrative Reforms Commission that has

already recommended its repeal.

Unfortunately, the proposal was shot down by the bureaucrats in the home ministry, based on objections from the intelligence agencies. The arguments advanced for its survival are based on the hypothesis that this will hamper the prosecution of spies. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. It is necessary to go back into the history of the law to understand why it was enacted and whether it is still relevant today."

Another angle: The Whistleblower Protection Act

During the hearing of the 2G and the Coalgate scams, petitioner, Arun Shourie had told the court that he had taken documents from a whistleblower. The Whistleblower Protection Act protects whistleblowers making disclosures in public interest related to an act of corruption, misuse of power, criminal offence by a public servant. The petitioners also cited a 2013 judgment of the Supreme Court in which it was held that the identity of a whistleblower can never be revealed to the accused facing prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

N Ram for his part has stated that all his reports on Rafale were published in public interest", thus leaving room for protection under the above law.
Farmers in Bahraich find themselves face to face with a new predicament  hordes of stray cattle have been invading their fields and gobbling up their crops.

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, Elections on the Go, over a course of 100 days.

Read more articles from the series here

***

Bahraich: The woes of Uttar Pradesh farmers show no signs of ending  for years, they have been battling non-payment or delayed payment for sugarcane, fall in prices of potato crop, supply of adulterated pesticides, inadequate supply of water for irrigation, erratic power supply and the dubious role of middlemen pocketing a large share of the support prices for wheat and paddy.

Despite government concessions, Mandi Parishads allegedly prevent farmers from transporting their produce to other districts, and the money-lending mafia squeeze them by charging hefty amounts as interest on loans, pushing many farmers over the edge to kill themselves.

But now, they find themselves face to face with a new, politically-rooted predicament  hordes of stray cattle have been invading their fields and gobbling up their crops. This has forced them to maintain a round-the-clock vigil in their fields.

Where do the cattle come from?

The increase in the number of stray cattle is being seen as an offshoot of the closure of illegal slaughterhouses, which was implemented by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, six months after he came to power in 2017. The initial perception was that the number of bulls in the state had increased; it was only later that people realised that many of the animals they had been seen wreaking havoc in the fields, were, in fact, cows roaming free since the closure of illegal slaughterhouses. But, as farmers from the area hesitatingly say, several of those bovines included those abandoned by their owners too.

Mann Prasad, a Dalit farmer who also works as a washerman and lives in Lucknows Chinhat area, owns five cows  two give milk, three dont. And he says it is very difficult to bear the cost of fodder for the latter. Everyone abandons a cow when she stops giving milk. I had too, but a neighbour complained to the police; so, I had to take them back. Milk from the two cows doesnt earn me much and I have to borrow money and cut my expenses to feed the other three. I even approached two gaushalas to take the trio, but they said there is no space, adds Prasad, saying hes helpless and doesnt know what to do with those three cows.

Bahraich Mandi Parishads secretary Subhash Singh, however, warns that there has been a drop of 15 percent in the quantity of crops coming to the market and the reason is stray cows. Its crucial to spread awareness among farmers to not abandon their cattle once they stop producing milk, he says.

But Prasad is deaf to these warnings; he is miffed with the BJP. He says he voted for the party because it talked about cows, but who knew the revered animal would become such a problem for everyone. There are cows everywhere, and no one has the place and money to keep them. If this continues, we wont vote for the BJP again.

Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi says the matter of cow is related to faith and should not be politicised. The government has issued directives to every district magistrate on housing stray cows and providing them food at the shelters. The magistrates have also been allotted money for this purpose, he adds.

But the most important thing to keep in mind is that the number of cows being slaughtered under the previous government was very high and our government put a stop to it. Within a few days, everything will be in place.

How are farmers trying to chase them away?

In a bid to tackle this menace, farmers have started herding stray cattle from their fields into school and hospital compounds, and even local government offices.

When asked how students will study with cattle on the premises, Govind, a farmer from Bahraich, retorts, Of what use is education when we wont have anything for sustenance? All our time is spent in protecting our fields and crops. The cattle come in such large numbers that on two occasions, my entire crop has been destroyed.

Recently, in the absence of cow shelters, farmers in Payagpur herded a large number of stray cattle and locked them inside Dhikalpurwa primary school. But even they know that cant be a permanent solution.

Another farmer, Jaiprasad Nishad, says, No matter what we do to protect our crops, the cattle are unmanageable. If we are standing guard in the fields, the animals enter our homes and eat up stored produce. In one case, they even attacked a child.

Farmers explain that the menace is gradually assuming gigantic proportions and what makes it worse is that the cattle travel in large packs, making it difficult for a single person to chase them.

Sometimes, if a farmer is alone, the animals even attack him. This has forced them to form groups and take turns to protect their fields, be it in the freezing winds of a harsh winter, scorching heat of summer or heavy downpours during monsoons.

Life-or-death implications of the menace

Farmers struggle the most with stray cattle during the sprouting phase  the crop is soft, and especially if it is wheat, peas, paddy, lentils, and vegetables, the animals eat it up easily.

In an effort to curb that, more and more farmers in the state are switching to mint farming, as cattle do not eat mint.

But that, too, cant be a long-term solution, because then, soon, there will be a glut of mint in the market and its cascading effect would, obviously, lead to a drop in prices. Hence, a stage will come when mint farming will no longer be economically feasible.

Political observers feel that the stray cattle issue will certainly be a big one in the forthcoming general elections.

If the government does not initiate concrete measures to tackle the issue, experts add, the situation might spin out of control, because, in areas where this menace is most rampant, the cost of land is decreasing fast. This becomes a problem for farmers if they have to sell or mortgage their land. Farmers in these areas are being compelled to look for alternative sources of earning.

A farmer leader from Bahraich, Hanuman Prasad Sharma, who had raised the issue of stray cattle, says farmers thought the government would take care of cows abandoned by their owners. After the ban on illegal slaughterhouses in the state, the number of stray cows has increased. The reason is that people do not want to incur expenses for bovines that dont give milk. Hence, the cattle are roaming on the streets and entering fields. Not only are they destroying crops, they are also causing road accidents and other mishaps. If the government does not find a timely solution for this problem, its going to cost the party in the elections, he warns.

So whats the governments plan of action?

Deputy Director of the Uttar Pradesh Animal Husbandry Department Dr GC Pandey admits to the problem and says the government has released a fund of Rs 1.5 crore for seven districts of Jhansi division and Rs 1 crore for the other districts to build temporary shelters for the cows.

When asked about reports of lax administration officials and lack of adequate resources making the plan a white elephant for the treasury department, he reiterates, District magistrates will be given the amount to set up the shelters and maintain them. A sum of Rs 30 per day per cow will also be given for fodder. We are planning to make 5,668 temporary shelters.

(The author is a Bahraich-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters)
The Union Cabinet in its last meeting before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls approved a proposal by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development for ordinance for the restoration of a 200-point roster when it comes to faculty quota in higher education.

The Union Cabinet has approved an Ordinance to restore the '200-point roster system' for reservation in faculty jobs at higher education institutes. This was the last meeting of the Cabinet before the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Reservation for teachers will now be implemented, taking each university as a unit to calculate the number of teaching posts to be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates, reports say.

The Ordinance, in effect, reverses the Allahabad High Court order of 2017, based on which the University Grants Commission (UGC) had announced last March that an individual department should be considered as the base unit.

Days after the Supreme Court dismissed a special leave petition filed by the HRD ministry against the imposition of what is popularly known as the "13-point roster system"  a new method of appointing teaching faculty  the government, on Tuesday, had announced its decision to come out with an Ordinance to go back to the earlier system, which apparently ensured greater number of faculty seats were reserved for SC/ST communities in colleges.

Under the 13-point system, the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth teaching posts were unreserved in a particular department, while the fourth vacancy was reserved for OBCs, the seventh for SCs, the 14th post for STs and the eighth and 12th for OBCs. The ninth, 10th and 11th were unreserved.

However, the members of the SC/ST community objected to this system citing the disparity in number of reserved seats in various departments. They said that a problem arises when the size of departments are small. In departments with fewer than four available positions, no reserved seat will be created at all. On the other hand, when thenumber of seats are more than 14 in any department, it becomes difficult to ensure reservation to all SC/ST/OBC posts.

In the now restored, 200-point roster system, 99 posts will be reserved for SC, ST and OBC communities uniformly. The remaining 101 posts will be kept for the unreserved. In case of a deficit in reserved seats in one department, more people from reserved communities could be employed in other departments at the university under this system.

Find a detailed explainer on the arguments for and against the 200-point roster here

However, the government's move hardly comes as a surprise as the Union minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar had earlier hinted that the Centre was in "favour of the 200-point roster". The Ordinance will come in effect after the presidential nod, however, it will only be valid till the Lok Sabha is dissolved at the end of the NDA government's five-year-term. A new government, following the Lok Sabha elections 2019, will have to make a permanent law in this regard to ensure that the status quo is maintained.
To call joint families the only solution and medicine to all issues of the mind is overenthusiastic at best, and wilfully ignorant at worst.

In a pronouncement that would fill Sooraj Hum Saath-Saath Hain Barjatyas heart with incalculable joy, a couple of days ago celebrated producer-director-writer Shoojit Sircar tweeted, All may not agree, but we must move back to our old way of living like joint families.. This may be the only solution/Medicine to curb all mental insecurities, loneliness and most important depression. Family umbrella secures our Mind. (sic)

Everybody certainly doesnt have to agree with that sentiment  and many, many people on Twitter clearly didnt  but there is nothing wrong with supporting a particular way of life, or extolling the virtues of a certain family structure over others. Except when youre making a medically inaccurate claim.

Depression, as mental health practitioners and activists have gone hoarse trying to tell us, is not caused by loneliness or insecurities. Especially the more severe forms of depression such as depressive disorder or clinical depression. Which is not to say that loneliness, insecurities, anxieties and low self-esteem cannot trigger, exacerbate or precede depression, but when youre a public figure talking about stigmatised and widely misunderstood mental health problems, its worth taking a minute to weigh your words and vet them for scientific accuracy. The causes for depression can be anything from a biological difference in the physical makeup of the brain, neurotransmitters, hormones, and even hereditary traits. Traumatic experiences such as physical or sexual abuse, death, chronic illnesses, etc. can increase the risk, but not necessarily cause depression.

But lets assume that Sircar, like most well-meaning people, only meant to speak about lifestyle-enabled risks of depression. But to call joint families the only solution and medicine to all issues of the mind is overenthusiastic at best, and wilfully ignorant at worst.

Well-intentioned as it might be, its not surprising for a man to have this opinion, and for the women who hear it to dismiss it scornfully, and with a healthy measure of disgust. Sircar  like most Indian men who grow up relishing the fruits of their mothers, sisters, female cousins and aunts unpaid labour  has a rose-coloured view of what life looks like in a typical joint family middle class household.

Which is mildly surprising, because last year, Sircar himself directed a digital ad for a mosquito repellent where several generations of a large joint family sit around a table in anticipation of dinner while two women  ostensibly the daughters-in-law  hurry around the table, serving the battalion. One of the two women is also having her parenting decisions savagely ripped apart by the elders of the family while ladling steaming dal, rice, rotis and whatnot onto their plates. Her son has stolen money from his grandfathers wallet and she, for having the temerity to decide that her spawn must be punished for the transgression, gets told by her brilliant husband  at the dinner table, within full earshot of his family, no less  that it was his money not her fathers that the child has stolen. Among other things, the mother also has to woodenly stand by as her husbands family pillories her mothers upbringing and mocks her fathers chota ghar financial status. How the woman keeps herself from dumping the pot of dal on her moron husbands head, we will never know, but one can only imagine that she must have been sorely, and understandably, been tempted to. The family finally shuts up only when the patriarch of the house supports his daughter-in-laws tough love approach to parenting.

The ad went viral, and within days garnered millions of views on Facebook and Youtube. The familys obnoxious treatment of the daughter-in-law was hotly debated and widely criticised. The ad is also over-dramatised because why make a point with subtlety and finesse when you can bludgeon it into the audiences head? But it undeniably touched a raw nerve. But hey, ours is a country where a years-long successful ad campaign revolves around the 'revolutionary' concept of men doing laundry so they can be baseline decent spouses to their overburdened wives.

Theatrics aside, Sircars portrayal of the stifling nature of most joint families got so many tongues wagging because anyone who has lived in a joint family will tell you this  weve all seen a variation of this scene play out in our homes, many times over.

Most of my growing up years were spent in a joint family. I spent years watching my mother and aunts waking up at dawn, cooking, cleaning and doing laundry before the men and the kids woke up so they could be free to assist them in their gargantuan tasks of getting dressed to go to office and school. The women in my house had routinely put in half of what we call a work day before any of us had even woken up. I also watched as the men in the house came home and immediately proceeded to collapse on the bed or sofa in an exhausted pile, while their wives struggled to help the kids with their homework while also cooking dinner and responding to requests for one more cup of chai. In 16 years of schooling, I can count on one hand the number of times my father attended a PTA meeting, open house, or annual day. He never once bought my books or uniforms. He was also often confused about which grade I was in, a joke that is still elicits laughs at family gatherings.

I bet my father has yearned for a return to the joint family system many times in the 14 years since each family moved into separate houses; particularly when hes had to cook, clean, or manage the house when my mother is unwell or otherwise indisposed. Anyone would, no?

It would be disingenuous of me to gloss over all the ways in which my neurotic, messy, filmi joint family shaped my personality and taught me valuable life lessons. It taught me the skill of negotiation and compromise. I learned how to adjust and engage with viewpoints and beliefs that didnt necessarily reflect my own. And it taught me how to dig my heels and stand my ground when I had to. Growing up in a family where some cousins were old enough to be my parents younger siblings, and some uncles and aunts were young enough to pass off as mine taught me the invaluable art of being able to make conversation with anyone  from shrieking septuagenarian to babbling toddlers. There was never a dull moment, and yes, I was never lonely  there was always a cousin to squabble with.

But all of it came at the cost of my mothers freedom, who spent the best years of her life making sure that her husbands often thankless family could live their best lives. As a child, I couldnt appreciate exactly how much my mother gave up to give us the rosy joint family experience; as a grown woman, the thought of idealising such a claustrophobic life as some gold standard of living fills me with horror.

There is a line in the cloyingly sentimental Hum Saath-Saath Hain. An uncle announces that a family where the gents and elders of the house eat together while the bahus and betis serve them lovingly, wahi ghar ghar hai, amid loud cheering and clapping. I bet the bahus and betis whose fate he was so enthusiastically sealing would beg to differ.
(ANSAMed) - ATHENS, 07 MAR - A man and two children died on Thursday when a boat they were travelling on sank just off the coast of the Aegean island of Samos in Greece.



According to Hellenic Coast Guard, a boat identified and rescued 11 migrants in the sea, including three children, while one man was still missing after a search operation involving three vessels and a Greek navy helicopter.



Unfortunately, two of the children perished during their transportation back to land, while later the body of the missing man was recovered from the sea.



The remaining rescued migrants were taken to Samos port for identification and registration processes.



The warm Spring-like temperatures have seen an increase in attempts by migrants in boats crossing over from the Turkish coast, with a spike in activity in the North East Aegean region in recent days.

Only last week Greece's Minister for Migration Policy Dimitris Vitsas said that the number of refugees and migrants on the Aegean islands has increased significantly.

There were a total of 1,485 new arrivals in February compared to 1,139 during the same period last year, while Vitsas said that Samos is "under particular pressure."

Overall, it is estimated that Greece's population of asylum seekers will surpass the 90,000 mark by the end of 2019 at current rates - this is up from approximately 75,000 at the moment.

With its current systems and infrastructure, Vitsas commented that Greece has the capacity to process only 20,000 asylum applications every year, whereas the number of applications received in 2018 were a massive 67,000.

As has been well documented, the Eastern Aegean islands of Samos, Lesvos, and Chios are bearing the brunt of the ongoing crisis, with limited facilities and overcrowded camps a common feature now since 2015.

Human rights groups and NGO's are a source of constant criticism for the Greek government, with the latest report from the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) last month lamenting the "inhuman and degrading conditions" at the country's migrant camps. (ANSAmed).
Ambika Vishwanath and Hoshner Reporter of The reDiscovery Project write about exploring the palaces, lakes, streets and sunsets of Udaipur in Rajasthan

Editors note: You may have heard the saying the journey is the destination, but some travellers actually put that philosophy into practice. Presenting, #FTravellers  on-the-road (or air/sea) dispatches from travel enthusiasts on long journeys.

The travellers we're now featuring are Ambika Vishwanath and Hoshner Reporter of The reDiscovery Project. Ambika and Hoshner are doing an in-depth journey through Rajasthan, and will be sharing their travel journals on Firstpost.

***

Dispatch 1

Text by Ambika Vishwanath | Photos by Hoshner Reporter

Welcome, please, only to have a look, not to buy, you want a room, only 500 rupees familiar refrains of any backpacker town across India surrounded us as we heaved our backpacks up the marginal slope to our guest house. Bikes hurtled past us down the narrow alley lined with slightly dusty stores selling paintings, antiques and bright red and yellow mirror work clothing and wall hangings. There might have been elements of a familiar backpacker zone but we were definitely in Rajasthan. A few metres down the road we reached our guest house and room up on the fourth floor with a stunning view of the iconic Pichola lake and beautiful City Palace on the opposite bank. Dusk was upon us and lights were beginning to appear on the palace and the many havelis around in the old city of Udaipur, as the faint outlines of the Aravalis faded into the darkness. As we sat on the terrace of the guest house, check by jowl with other houses and connected rooftops, breathing in the cold clear winter air, our Rajasthan adventure had begun.

Over the next few weeks as we traverse parts of this vast colourful state past massive forts and through Rabari and Bishnoi villages to Jodhpur and beyond to Bikaner at the edge of the Thar and the museum-like havelis of Shekhavati, we will bring you tales of our travels, but for now we begin in the lake city of Udaipur. Founded by Maharana Udai Singh II, who shifted the capital here, Udaipur is well known as the city of lakes and has also been given the strange moniker of Venice of the East. I am not quite sure of that tag, which might be better suited to a place like Sunderbans or the backwaters of Kerala, but it has served to boost tourism. We spend our first couple of days simply walking the old streets and alleyways, with the typical Rajasthani style of lattice windows and tiny balconies jutting out of the few remaining old havelis. Our guide during the walking tour we opt for, run by the friendly chaps at Go Stops hostel, points out the differences between the many balconies and windows, the ones within the walls of the old city have a larger one for men and smaller one for women with a sun and moon carved above signifying a Rajput household. Outside the walls of the old city, once guarded by nine gates, lattice windows are similar but without the sun and moon. We also hung out at the Udaipur World Music Festival which had some funky acts from Cuba, Israel, parts of Africa and India. Set against the backdrop of the Fateh Sagar lake, its worth a visit next year if they do it again.

Its a cool old city with small ghats around the lake where bathing and washing of clothes is expressly forbidden, a decree once put in place by the royal family. Its a good decree, we have seen many ghat areas and rivers across the country destroyed. The Maharana, who comes from an unbroken line of the Mewar dynasty, though now without the power, seems to hold quite a bit of sway in the city and is well respected. Many of the old havelis around the lake, that once belonged to members of the royal court have been spruced up and become boutique hotels, cute little cafes have sprung up serving everything from banana Nutella pancakes, pasta, typical Indian fare to Rajasthani thalis. Food is great, though a bit pricey if you are on a budget like us and we become regulars at Millets of Mewar, that offers wholesome organic food with produce only sourced locally. Touts and guides are everywhere offering their services, but none as pushy, a polite no is met with a smile, something rather rare in such a popular tourist destination, and its one more reason I really like this town. A tiny walking bridge connect one side of the lake to the other at its narrowest point with the floating Lake Palace in the far distance. Now an exclusive Taj hotel, the palace was the summer residence of the kings, and purportedly a space for young princes to frolic with their consorts away from prying eyes of the court and public. The hotel is now unfortunately closed to non-resident guests following the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but one can contend gazing out at the floating white beauty from the many ghats around the lake, the Ambrai being one of our favourite spots especially at sunset.

With brilliant graffiti on the walls of an old temple, Ambrai ghat is possibly one of the best spots to view the sunset over the City Palace, Pichola and the Lake Palace, apart from the Monsoon Palace perched high up a hill above the city. We found ourselves there most evenings, with local kids playing the guitar and singing, a few tourists and the cute but rather amusing pre-wedding shoot groups. A somewhat well-known wedding destination for folks in north India, Udaipur has eclipsed into fame after a recent spate of famous weddings and it seemed like everyone wanted a pre-wedding photograph with the City Palace glowing in the sunset.

Read more from the series here.
Kejriwal reiterated his demand on full statehood for Delhi. He said, 'All agencies serving the city should come under the Delhi government. '

New Delhi: Carrying Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's letter addressed to Delhi people on full statehood demand, one thousand teams of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will launch the Lok Sabha campaign of the party across the city on Sunday.

In his letter to Delhiites, the AAP supremo has charged the Congress and BJP of betraying people on full statehood. He has urged them to vote for the AAP in Lok Sabha polls so that full statehood could be achieved.

"AAP's 1000 teams will take out morning processions and evening marches to tell people how their rights are being denied due to lack of full statehood," said Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai.

"Kejriwal's letter addressed to the people attached with a list of benefits of full statehood to Delhi will be distributed during the campaign," said Rai.

"Despite being the national capital, why is Delhi not clean? Why are Delhi's women not safe? Even after securing 90% marks, why are students unable to get admission in Delhi colleges? Why is the youth unemployed? Why are many colonies still unauthorised? Why are thriving markets being sealed?," Kejriwal asks people in his letter. There is only one reason - Delhi is not a full state, " Kejriwal replies in the letter.

"Before starting any work, the Delhi government has to take prior approval from the central government. And the central government creates barriers and hurdles in our work," he charges.

"Many agencies dealing with everyday problems of the citizen like MCD, Delhi Police are under the direct control of the central government. The citizen of Delhi have no say in these matters," he claims in his letter.

"There's only one solution to these problems - just like every other state, Delhi should also get full statehood. All agencies serving the city should come under the Delhi government. "

The letter also promises that once Delhi becomes a full state, the dreams and aspirations of the citizen of Delhi will be fulfilled.

"Women will be safe and secure as law and order will improve. Our youth will get jobs. Students securing 60% and above will also get admission in Delhi colleges. Sealing will come to an end. Each citizen will have their own house in Delhi. Delhi will become clean and beautiful. Delhi will grow and develop at a faster pace," the letter said.

"Both the BJP and Congress promised that Delhi will become a full state. Before becoming the prime minister, Narendra Modi had also promised to give full statehood to Delhi," it says.

"Last time, you voted to elect the prime minister of the country. But this time, vote for full statehood of Delhi. Destiny and God give us only one chance. This time let's make it count. This time vote for Aam Aadmi Party so that Delhi gets a full statehood," Kejriwal signed off his letter.
BJP chief Amit Shah said that the people will give Congress president Rahul Gandhi a reply during the Lok Sabha election for asking for proof of IAF strikes in Pakistan.

Sagar: BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday said Congress chief Rahul Gandhi should feel ashamed of asking for proof of India's air strike on a terror camp in Pakistan.

People will give Rahul a reply for (saying) it during the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leader said.

Addressing the party's booth-level workers at Bamora near Sagar town in Madhya Pradesh, Shah said that an IAF official at a press conference had asserted that the IAF had hit terror targets.

Even after this conclusive statement, Rahul is insulting thousands of "martyrs" of India by asking for evidence of the air strike, Shah said.

The IAF conducted air strike in February on a camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan, in retaliation to the terror outfit's attack at Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

Shah lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "work and untiring attitude."

Earlier "only two countries" were known for avenging attack on their forces. "Modiji has now ensured India's name is also counted among such countries," he said.

In the last 25 years, Modi has not taken a single vacation, Shah said. He targetted Rahul for "going on vacations frequently."

The country has got a prime minister who works for 18 out of 24 hours a day and is very dedicated towards the nation, the BJP chief said.

"What the Modi government has done in 55 months of rule, the Congress was unable to do in 55 years with Rahul family's four generations ruling the country," he said.

The Modi government brought a major change in the country by implementing 135 welfare schemes, including Ayushman Bharat, Rs 6,000 per annum for small and marginal farmers and Rs 3,000 pension for labourers, Shah said.

People of the country are with the BJP and would again vote for the party in the ensuing polls, he said, asking BJP workers to work hard in the next two months.
Hardik, who in 2015 led a section of Patidars in a struggle for OBC status that saw him land up in jail, is likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jamnagar.

On 5 March 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a Rs 1,000-crore socio-religious complex being built for and by the Patidar community in Gujarat, the Kadva Patidars in particular.

The Kadva Patel community is the one to which Hardik Patel, who had led a vociferous agitation against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), belongs. With Hardik set to join the Congress soon, the battle lines have clearly been drawn out as far as Patidar votes in Gujarat are concerned.

Hardik, who in 2015 led a section of Patidars in a struggle for Other Backward Classes (OBC) status that saw him land up in jail, is likely to contest in the Lok Sabha election from the Jamnagar constituency in Gujarat, sources in the Congress told PTI on Wednesday.

The Patidars are a community to be dealt with sensitively. They have traditionally been aligned with the BJP, but are now a fractured vote bank. The community has two broad divisions in the form of the Leuvas and the Kadvas.

If the balance to be struck to impress Patidars needs to be a fine one, then Modi, in his recent trip to Gujarat, can be credited with concentrating all effort on this. Before laying the stone for the complex, the prime minister, on 4 March, first participated in a function to consecrate the idol of Goddess Annapurna at a newly-built temple at Adalaj in Gandhinagar.

The Sri Annapurnadham Trust, which maintains the temple, is run by the Leuva Patels. Modi also laid the foundation stone of a Rs 15-crore training centre-cum-hostel for economically weak students to be housed in the temple complex, reported News18.

While on stage in the 5 March programme, Modi spoke to the audience like a friend would to another, exhorting the Patidars to give up the habit of female foeticide, saying he was angry with them for their skewed gender ratio, but repeatedly stressed that he was speaking to the very people he "grew up among".

Even though the BJP won the Gujarat Assembly election 2017, the fact that a nation's head felt the need to specifically reach out to each sub-group of a numerically dominant caste is telling.

For over 22 years, the Patel community in Gujarat has supported the BJP. The community's political inclinations did not change despite prominent leader and Modi's political guru Keshubhai Patel rebelling against the party and starting his own outfit. noted The Hindu.

That Modi chose to touch the feet of the same Keshubhai whom he had earlier systematically discredited, reflects the need of the BJP for a consolidated Patidar vote. Which is exactly what may be divided if Hardik joins the Congress, the party he had a tumultuous falling out and reconciliation with in the run-up to the 2017 Gujarat election.

Hardik still draws large cheering crowds and addresses programmes of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, which runs under him. Whether the Congress can capitalise on the Patidar agitation remains to be seen.

As recently as 5 December, 2018, Hardik had urged the Congress to move a private member's bill in the next session of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly for reservation to his community.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Congress' Paresh Dhanani, had then told him that his party had already moved a private member's bill seeking 20 percent reservation for economically weaker sections among the unreserved category, reported Times Now.

Hardik had been buoyed by the grant of quota to the Marathas in Maharashtra. Even as the Maharashtra government has announced reservations for the Marathas, the Gujarat government has not yet announced quotas specifically for Patels. In recent times, Hardik has frequently pointed out to this fact.

However, the Congress is known to have neglected the Patidars in the past. In the 1980s, Congress leader and then chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki had nurtured the KHAM vote bank of Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adivasis and Muslims. This grouping excluded the Patidars, who lost faith in the Congress.

The Indian Express has pointed out that the 2019 Lok Sabha election could be more about disgruntled farmers than about community and caste lines. For instance, in the Assembly, the BJP suffered a shock defeat in Amreli, where cotton farmers have been facing difficulties in recent times.

However, the 10 percent quota for economically weaker sections may have taken the edge off the Patidars' agitation, as their chief demand has ostensibly been addressed, leaving Hardik to follow a new political and mainstream-adhering path.
Addressing a convention of the BJP's booth-level workers said, BJP chief Amit Shah said, 'When Naxalism took birth in West Bengal, Congress was in power there. Similarly, when Naxalism flourished in Andhra Pradesh, Congress was in power and the same party was ruling, when the menace entered Chhattisgarh.'

Raipur: BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday said Naxalism flourishes whenever Congress comes to power, but the menace weakens whenever the party does not rule.

Shah, while addressing a convention of the BJP's booth-level workers in Raipur, also said that the air strike by Indian armed forces has sent out a message to the world that no one can violate India's borders.

"When Naxalism took birth in West Bengal, Congress was in power there. Similarly, when Naxalism flourished in Andhra Pradesh, Congress was in power and the same party was ruling, when the menace entered Chhattisgarh," Shah said.

In these states, Naxalism weakened after the Congress moved out of power, he said.

"In Chhattisgarh, after the Raman Singh government came to power, Naxalism vanished...Whenever the Congress comes to power, Naxalism flourishes and whenever it goes out of power, the menace weakens...What is the relation the Congress has with Naxals?" he asked.

"When anti-national slogans were raised at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Congress president Rahul Gandhi had stood in their support which shows his commitment," he added.

"Rahul used to ask what Narendra Modi government has done. What the Congress did not do in 55 years of its rule in the country, we did in 55 months. The biggest work our government has done is to safeguard our borders.

"In the 10 years of Sonia-Manmohan rule, anybody infiltrated Indian borders from Pakistan and chopped off heads of our soldiers and insulted them, but there was nobody to give a reply," he said.

"We conducted a surgical strike after Uri (attack). After Pulwama, India conducted the air strike and demolished terror camps in Pakistan. It is the Narendra Modi government which has done this. After the air strike, a message was sent to the world that no one can violate the India's borders. The BJP has shown to the world how a strong nation can be built," he said.

"Before the surgical strike and the air strike, only two nations were there in the world which had avenged the death of their soldiers. But Modi added India to the list as the third such nation, he said. Shah added that BJP was committed to construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

"BJP is not going to leave its core ideology. We are the people who live along with ideology. People should not have any confusion. BJP is committed to construction of a grand Ram temple at the same place (Ram Janmabhoomi) in Ayodhya at the earliest. But Congress lawyers in Supreme Court seek to postpone this case," he said.

He asked the Opposition 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) leaders to clarify before the Lok Sabha elections if they agreed to the construction of Ram temple or not.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday asked the BJP whether it was pursuing a 'jhoot and boot' campaign, a day after the party was embarrassed by its two legislators who attacked each other with one of them using his shoe.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday asked the BJP whether it was pursuing a "jhoot and boot" campaign, a day after the party was embarrassed by its two legislators who attacked each other with one of them using his shoe.

By "jhoot" (lies), Yadav appeared to be referring to the multi-crore Rafale aircraft deal, which the Opposition has alleged involved corruption.

His comments came a day after the BJP-led government at the Centre told the Supreme Court that documents related to the agreement had been stolen from the defence ministry.

"First there were parallel negotiations. Then the (Rafale) files were stolen. Meanwhile in Uttar Pradesh, MP-MLA used shoes for dispute resolution at a meeting to discuss development. Now BJP workers are asking their leaders as to what their campaign is on? The 'jhoot' and the 'boot' or the youth and the booth?" Yadav said in Lucknow.

His "boot" dig was aimed at the fracas in Sant Kabir Nagar, where two elected representatives of the BJP hit each other during a meeting in presence of minister of in-charge of the district, Ashutosh Tandon, son of Bihar governor Lalji Tandon.

One of the legislators involved in the fight, caught on tape, used his shoe to hit the other. On Thursday, Yadav's ally in Uttar Pradesh for the general election, BSP chief Mayawati, too, had a dig at the Centre's disclosure about "stolen" Rafale jet deal documents.

Mayawati said in a tweet it was a "very strange and irresponsible chowkidari" that the documents were "stolen".

"The Modi government made a sensational disclosure in the Supreme Court that secret documents pertaining to Rafale fighter deal were stolen from the defence ministry."

'Very strange and irresponsible chowkidari. Is national security and interest in the safe hands? Think long and loud," she tweeted.
Forecasting no majority for either the BJP or Congress in coming Lok Sabha elections, TRS Working President KT Rama Rao on Wednesday asserted that his party will play a crucial role in formation of a coalition government at the Centre after the polls.

Hyderabad: Forecasting no majority for either the BJP or Congress in coming Lok Sabha elections, TRS working president KT Rama Rao on Wednesday asserted that his party will play a crucial role in formation of a coalition government at the Centre after the polls.

Rao, son of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, accused the Centre of always "ignoring" Telangana and said more TRS MPs were needed for development of the youngest state in the country.

He alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi never responded to the requests of the Telangana government for according national project status to Kaleshwaram irrigation project.

He also accused the Centre of ignoring recommendations of NITI Aayog to sanction Rs 23,000 crore for Mission Bhagiratha, a flagship project of Telangana government aimed at providing piped drinking water to every household.

"To develop Telangana, we need more of TRS MPs in Delhi who can strongly fight for the development of the state, he told party cadre while launching the TRS campaign for the parliamentary elections at Karimnagar.

He ridiculed Congress leaders for stating that the upcoming election is between Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

The time has come for the people to decide who they want to elect. Who would be your next leader? TRS leaders (Telangana gulabilu) who fight for the welfare of Telangana or Congress leaders (Delhi gulaamlu) who never cared for Telangana?, he asked.

He claimed people of Telangana witnessed rapid development in the past four-and-half years and because of which they re-elected Chandrasekhar Rao in the assembly polls.

Talking about the development of the district, he said, Karimnagar district will become a water junction as the Kaleshwaram project and proposed barrages such as Medigadda, Annaram and Ellampally will lead to development of the entire region.

Rama Rao emphasised how special Karimnagar had been to his father and the TRS, recalling that the entire country looked at the town when KCR started his agitation for separate Telangana from it.

KTR asked the party cadre to take the coming elections as a challenge and work for the victory of the party.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Thursday ruled out the possibility of holding Assembly polls in the state along with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections

Nagpur: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Thursday ruled out the possibility of holding Assembly polls in the state along with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He said the Assembly will not be dissolved ahead of its schedule, indicating there will be no early polls.

Assembly polls in the state are due in the second half of 2019. The 2014 Assembly polls were held in mid-October.

Asked by reporters if the state Assembly will be dissolved ahead of its term, Fadnavis replied in the negative.

"This is not going to happen in Maharashtra. You write it down," said the chief minister, who was here for the inauguration of the first phase of Nagpur metro.

Fadnavis's assertion came in the backdrop of speculation in political circles about advancing the Assembly polls and holding them along with the parliamentary elections.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said there was talk of advancing the Assembly polls and his party is ready to face them.

"Devendra Fadnavis is not sure of getting elected again on the basis of his own strength. He wants to get political mileage out of the events in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

"Whatever the issue, we are ready for simultaneous polls," the former chief minister said.
The Congress and the NCP on Thursday cornered the Narendra Modi government over the 'stolen' Rafale documents and sought answers from it.

Mumbai: The Congress and the NCP on Thursday cornered the Narendra Modi government over the "stolen" Rafale documents and sought answers from it on the sensitive matter.

While the Congress in Maharashtra said the Modi government is sinking deeper by the day in the Rafale deal, NCP Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule sought answers from defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the theft of papers. Congress vice-president and spokesman Ratnakar Mahajan said the government has a lot to "hide" in the mega defence deal.

He castigated the Centre over Attorney General KK Venugopal's statement calling for action against a leading English daily for publishing the "stolen" Rafale documents. He said despite lawyer Prashant Bhushan, one of the petitioners in the case, informing the Supreme Court that the Rafale papers were accessed through Right to Information (RTI) query, Venugopal claimed the documents were stolen from the defence ministry and the court should not consider them.

"Venugopal said 'The Hindu' newspaper had published the same documents and action should be taken against the media house under the Official Secrets Act," Mahajan said.

Such a demand proves the Modi government is sinking deeper by the day in the Rafale case, he said.

"Isn't Venugopal aware that as per a Supreme Court order, a journalist is not supposed to disclose the source of his information?," the Congress leader asked.

"The government has a lot to hide and Prime Minister Modi harbours vengeance against those who are exposing him," he alleged.

Addressing a press conference, Sule described the government's statement in the Supreme Court that confidential documents related to the Rafale deal were stolen as "shocking" and "worrisome". The MP from Baramati said confidential documents being stolen from the defence ministry was a matter of shame and every Indian feels cheated.

"I feel cheated...as an Indian, everyone feels cheated ...it's shocking that documents are stolen from the defence ministry," Sule said.

The NCP leader said the nation needs answers on this sensitive issue.

"The government must answer...Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman must respond. The prime minister does not answer anything, so no point in requesting him," she said.

Sule said her father, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, a former defence minister, has observed that there is no instance in the past of documents of national importance being stolen. "If documents from the defence ministry can be stolen what will happen to the common man," she quoted her father as saying.

"I don't want to politicise the issue as it concerns national security. But something is fishy. Documents cannot be stolen from my office. What has happened is a complete breach of security," Sule said.

Speaking on the Pulwama terror attack, she said, "I would like to ask what was National Security Advisor Ajit Doval doing?"

Meanwhile, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said the confidential papers may have been burnt to destroy evidence regarding the alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal. "How is it possible that a confidential file is stolen from the defence ministry," the former Maharashtra minister asked in a tweet.
Rahul said that it is clear from the documents, that the prime minister conducted 'parallel negotiations' and yet there is no investigation against him even as the government has suggested filing a criminal case against 'The Hindu' newspaper for publishing the 'leaked' documents.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, once again, for alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, a day after the government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court claiming that documents related to the fighter aircraft deal with France were "stolen" and that they came under the Official Secrets Act.

Rahul said these documents clearly showed that Modi carried out "parallel negotiations" to get the Rafale deal, and yet there is no investigation against him. The government is also mulling over filing a criminal case against The Hindu for publishing the "leaked" documents.

"Jo chowkidar hai usko bacha ke rakhna hai (it's the government's priority to save the watchman)," Rahul said, adding that Modi did a "bypass surgery" on the fighter jet deal, and thus everyone should get justice.

"Kaagazon pe karwai keejiye, but inpe bhi toh keejiye jinka naam kaagaz mein aa raha hai (investigate the missing documents, but also investigate Narendra Modi for his actions mentioned in those missing documents)," Rahul remarked at a press conference in Delhi.

He also said it was interesting that on Wednesday, the government said it would examine the media because files on the Rafael deal had disappeared, Rahul said taking a dig at the government counsel's argument in the Supreme Court.

"Criminal investigation in India can be on everyone who opposes the prime minister, but when his name comes up, it can't be done. Why?" Rahul asked, adding that the media has been warned of an investigation if it releases documents related to the Rafale deal, but no inquiry is initiated against those involved in the "scam".

"The government is manipulating institutions to save Narendra Modi," the Congress chief alleged.

Everyone is equal under the law, Rahul asserted. "On one hand, the government is saying that documents are missing, which implies these are authentic documents. The documents clearly state that Narendra Modi conducted parallel negotiations... The file clearly states that the PMO conducted 'parallel talks' of the deal."

The Congress president then attacked Modi for "filling the pockets of his friends", saying that the deal was hijacked by him to give "Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani". "The prime minister delayed the delivery of the Rafale jets to put Rs 30,000 crore in his friend's pocket. He also benefitted himself in the process," Rahul claimed.

Talking about the "stolen papers", Rahul said: "Two crore jobs are missing, fair MSPs for farmers are missing, businesses are missing due to GST... And today, Rafale files are missing. The job of this government is only to disappear."

He further alleged that due to the prime minister's "negotiations", Rafale's delivery schedule got delayed, and that even the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar had "blackmailed" the government, saying he had files related to the case. "Why were those files with him," Rahul asked.

He also said that the PMO mentioned in the defence documents doesn't mean Prime Minister's Office but the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi himself.

Reiterating his earlier stand of talking to French officials over the deal, Rahul claimed that the "French prime minister had said Narendra Modi had told him straight up that the deal should be given to Anil Ambani". He even said he had spoken to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to conduct a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation in the case, but nothing happened after their conversation.

"Why doesn't the prime minister say 'I am the country's chowkidar, I haven't done a robbery, carry out an investigation,'" Rahul questioned.

When asked questions on Modi's stand on diplomacy with Pakistan and BJP calling Congress Pakistan's ally, Rahul said Modi is the "poster boy" of Pakistan, not the Opposition.

"Modi called Nawaz Sharif (the then Pakistan prime minister) on his swearing-in ceremony, hugged him, staged a big drama... went to his marriage, called ISI to investigate the Pathankot attack... He is the poster boy of Pakistan," Rahul charged.

In the end, while answering a reporter from The Hindu, Rahul said: "You are being punished because you are brave. I am very proud that you have the guts to stand up to Modi."
ISTANBUL - Hundreds of people early on Thursday attended the first ever prayer service held at a new major mosque built on Istanbul's Camlica hill, the largest in the country. The construction of Turkey's largest mosque was staunchly promoted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It can hold up to 60,000 worshippers.



The first prayer service was also attended by ex-premier Binali Yildirim, who is running for mayor in Istanbul in local elections scheduled on March 31 with Erdogan's AKP party. ''It is a magnificent construction that will add beauty to Istanbul's grandeur'', he told reporters.



Construction work began in August 2013 and cost over 40 million dollars, according to some estimates. The mosque, which is visible from all of the city's districts, is the only one to have six minarets apart from the grand 'Blue Mosque' of Sultan Ahment.



The minarets reach a height of 107,1 meters, in homage to the 1071 battle of Malazgirt that marked the victory of Seljuk Turks against a Byzantine army in Anatolia. (ANSAmed)
The Congress, which had bagged ten seats in the 2013 Assembly election in Tripura, drew a blank in last year's state elections.

Agartala: Congress president Rahul Gandhi is set to visit Tripura on 20 March to kick off the party's Lok Sabha election campaign with a public rally.

A senior leader in the party said preparations were afoot to welcome the Gandhi scion. "Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Pradyot Kishore Debburman has recently convened a meeting to discuss the preparations being made for Gandhi's visit. He will be meeting leaders in Delhi to finalise the programme," Tapas Dey, the party's state unit vice president, told PTI.

The Congress, which had bagged ten seats in the 2013 Assembly election, drew a blank in last year's state elections.

Sources said the party hopes to make structural changes in the wake of last year's debacle before selecting candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Debabaraman, after his appointment last month, requested all defected leaders to return to the party.

The newly appointed TPCC chief said everyone in the party would be given due respect and, in return, they would have to work with honesty and integrity. "It would be my endeavour to build a strong organisation with the participation of youth, women, educated and honest people," he told reporters Sunday.
Reuters

Facebook Inc has rejected an Australian regulators recommendation for greater scrutiny over the social networks advertising market power and the ranking of news articles in customers feeds.

The proposal by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in December, along with a new regulator to police technology giants, is being watched closely in other countries as governments seek to check their power.

People, not regulators, should decide what they see in their news feeds, Facebook said in a 76-page submission in reply dated March 3 and emailed to Reuters on Wednesday.

Creating a news ranking regulator for Facebook is not a proportionate regulatory solution that will be effective to address the longstanding monetization challenges facing some Australian publishers, Facebook said.

It said the commission underestimated the level of competition in online advertising markets in Australia, and was mistaken in its belief that Facebooks aggregation and analysis of users data made it powerful.

Facebooks response follows a similar rebuttal from Alphabet Incs Google as the companies seek to head off a crackdown that could form a template for curtailing their growing influence in public life around the world.

The ACCC had said the enormous market power of firms such as Google, which has a 94 percent share of web searches in Australia, and their opaque methods for ranking advertisements, gave them the ability and incentive to favor their businesses over advertisers.

In its preliminary recommendations that are subject to change, the ACCC said the new regulator should have powers to investigate how the companies rank advertisements and news articles.

That was welcomed by NewsMediaWorks, a group representing Australian news publishers, which said that online platforms unfairly profit from distributing their stories. Facebook suggested its opponents feared competition.

The preliminary reports near-exclusive focus on protecting certain publishers from disruption and competition is at odds with the ACCCs mandate to promote competition, Facebook said.

Australia, which has passed laws forcing technology companies to help police access user data amid growing concerns about the distribution of so-called fake news, ordered the ACCC inquiry as part of wider media reforms in 2017.
Reuters

Fitbit Inc launched its cheapest smartwatch on 6 March to defend its position as the second-largest seller of smartwatches after Apple Inc.

San Francisco-based Fitbit said the Versa Lite smartwatch will cost $160, down from $200 for the full version. While still tracking workouts and heart rate, it will lack some features such as the ability to store music directly on the watch.

In 2018, Fitbit sold 5.5 million smartwatches, behind the biggest seller Apple Incs 22.5 million units, but just ahead of Samsungs 5.3 million units, according to data firm Strategy Analytics.

But Samsung overtook Fitbit on a quarterly basis in the last three months of 2018.

Indeed, rivalry for a greater share of the market has heated up as Apple and Samsung have added features for health tracking, Fitbits core focus. The Apple Watch included an electrocardiogram feature last year, and Samsung this year added a blood pressure sensor to its Galaxy Active Watch.

Fitbit also announced new versions of its cheaper trackers in a bid to lure more casual users who might not be ready to fork out for the pricier devices of its rivals: The $100 Fitbit HR, capable of tracking heart rate, and the $70 Ace 2, which tracks activity in children as young as 6 years old.

Apple does not make a cheaper tracker and its watches start at $279, while Samsungs tracker and watches start at $200.

Fitbit is trying to persuade investors that it can hang on to users and sell them future devices if it gets them onto its tracking platform, which can store and share health and activity data. Chief Executive James Park said at a press event ahead of the product release that the company has nearly 28 million active users.

Last month, Fitbit forecast first-quarter revenue of between $250 million and $268 million. That was lower than analysts average sales expectation of $272.3 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Reuters

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies on Thursday confirmed it is suing the US government over a section of a defence bill passed into law last year that restricted its business in the United States.

Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging the constitutionality of Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a section signed into law by the U.S. president in August that banned federal agencies and their contractors from procuring its equipment and services.

The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort, Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said in a statement.

This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers. We look forward to the courts verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people.

While Huawei had very little market share in the U.S. telecoms market before the bill, it is the worlds biggest producer of telecoms equipment and is seeking to be at the forefront of a global roll-out of fifth generation (5G) mobile networks and services.

Lifting the NDAA ban will give the U.S. Government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues, Guo said.

In its lawsuit, Huawei said its equipment and services are subject to advanced security procedures, and no backdoors, implants, or other intentional security vulnerabilities have been documented in any of the more than 170 countries in the world where Huawei equipment and services are used.

The privately owned firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive as Washington lobbies allies to abandon Huawei when building 5G mobile networks, centring on a 2017 Chinese law requiring companies cooperate with national intelligence work.

Founder and Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei has said Huawei, the worlds biggest telecoms gear maker, has never and will never share data with Chinas government.

No Proof

The NDDA bans the U.S. government from doing business with Huawei or compatriot peer ZTE Corp or from doing business with any company that has equipment from the two firms as a substantial or essential component of their system.

In its lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Huawei argues that the section of the law is illegal because it could sharply limit the companys ability to do business in the United States despite no proof of wrongdoing.

Separately, the lawsuit also alleges that Huawei has been denied due process and that Congress, by stripping Huawei of US commercial opportunities, has violated the separation of powers portion of the constitution by doing the work of the courts.

Uphill Battle

Some legal experts, however, said Huaweis lawsuit is likely to be dismissed because US courts are reluctant to second-guess national security determinations by other branches of government.

The lawsuit will be an uphill battle because Congress has broad authority to protect us from perceived national security threats, said Franklin Turner, a government contracts lawyer at McCarter & English.

In November 2018, a federal appeals court rejected a similar lawsuit filed by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, which was challenging a ban on the use of the companys software in U.S. government networks.

The Texas court hearing Huaweis case will not be bound by that decision, but will likely adopt its reasoning because of the similarities in the two disputes, said Steven Schwinn, a professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

I dont see how (Huawei) can really escape that result, said Schwinn.

If a judge decides Huawei has a plausible claim the case will proceed to the discovery phase, in which internal documents are shared and U.S. government officials could be forced to provide testimony and lay out their national security concerns.

Retributions

The legal action and public relations outreach compare with a more restrained response in December emphasising trust in justice when its chief financial officer, Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Vancouver at U.S. request.

The United States has accused Meng  Rens daughter  of bank and wire fraud related to breaches of trade sanctions against Iran.

Meng appeared in court on Wednesday during which her lawyer expressed concern that the allegations have a political character, raising U.S. President Donald Trumps comments on the case.

Separately, Meng, who is fighting extradition, is suing Canadas government for procedural wrongs in her arrest.

The case had strained relations with China, which this week accused two arrested Canadians of stealing state secrets in a move widely seen as retribution for Mengs arrest.

While Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver, it is unclear where the two Canadians are being detained in China. Sources previously told Reuters that at least one of the Canadians did not have access to legal representation.

Change of Tune

Ren met international media for the first time in several years in mid-January, calling U.S. President Donald Trump great and refraining from commenting directly on Mengs case. Shifting tone, Ren in mid-February said Mengs arrest was politically motivated and not acceptable.

Long before Trump initiated a trade war with China, Huaweis activities were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, according to interviews with 10 people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.
Reuters

The surprise arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer in December quickly turned the executive, Meng Wanzhou, into a central figure in a trade war between two economic superpowers.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters he would consider intervening in her case  a potential action he alluded to again two weeks ago  if it would help close a trade deal with China.

Mengs lawyer on Wednesday told a Canadian court that he has concerns the allegations against her have a political character, noting Trumps comments on the case.

But U.S. probes of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for allegedly evading U.S. sanctions on Iran were not rooted in Trumps trade aspirations. Long before Trump initiated a bitter trade war with China, Huawei activities were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, according to interviews with ten people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.

The U.S. focus on Huawei intensified after years of investigation into smaller Chinese rival ZTE Corp, and relied in part on information collected from devices of company employees traveling through airports.

Two of the sources said a critical point took place in August 2017, when deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein - best known for his oversight of special counsel Robert Muellers probe of Russian interference in the U.S. election  handed a lead role to Brooklyn prosecutors to pursue possible bank fraud charges against Huawei.

Fifteen months later, that strategy would help land Meng in a Canadian jail.

The U.S. investigations of Chinas top telecom companies were spurred by reports by Reuters over six years ago, detailing possible Iran sanctions violations by both ZTE and Huawei, as well as close ties between Huawei and Skycom Tech Co Ltd - a suspected front company doing business in Iran.

A spokesman for Huawei, the worlds largest telecommunications equipment maker, has denied the charges in the sanctions case and did not provide further comment to Reuters. Meng has said she is innocent of the charges. ZTE, which pleaded guilty in 2017 for illegally shipping U.S. goods to Iran, did not respond to requests for comment.

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said the government pursues cases free of any political interference and follows the evidence and rule of law in pursuing criminal charges.

Airport Evidence Grab

On December 1, 2018, Meng was stopped at Vancouver International Airport as she walked up the jetway after her flight, according to a lawsuit she filed on Friday accusing the Canadian government of violating her rights. Border officers examined her passport and escorted her to an area for secondary screenings.

While there, she was instructed to surrender her two mobile phones, an iPad and a personal computer, along with their passwords, the suit alleges, and the officers viewed the devices contents.

Reuters has not been able to determine what information was found on Mengs devices, but it is not the first time she and other Chinese telecom executives have turned over such property to border patrol agents.

In the years leading up to the Huawei indictment, U.S. officials had been capturing information that would influence the investigation when telecom executives passed through U.S. airports, according to a number of sources familiar with the Huawei and ZTE investigations and the Meng indictment.

For example, Meng arrived in the United States via John F. Kennedy International Airport in early 2014. The indictment says investigators found suggested talking points on one of her electronic devices, stating among other things that Huaweis relationship with Skycom was normal business cooperation.

Meng had been pulled into a secondary screening at the airport that time as well, and her electronic devices were taken, according to one person familiar with the stop. After a couple of hours, the devices were returned and she was freed to go, the person said.

Another border search, this time on September 12, 2014, of executives from rival ZTE also supported U.S. investigators long-held suspicions of how Huawei might have been doing illicit business in countries subject to U.S. sanctions, one of the sources told Reuters.

ZTEs CFO at the time was stopped at Bostons Logan Airport after flying in from London with an assistant, the person said.

The assistant was carrying a Lenovo laptop containing a confidential ZTE document, dated August 25, 2011 and signed by four top executives, about the need to establish front companies to supply U.S. procured items needed for projects in embargoed countries.

The airport stop provided key evidence against ZTE in its legal battle with the United States, according to U.S. officials. But it also identified a company as F7 and how it used a front company to serve as its agent for contracts in sanctioned countries. F7 was Huawei, according to the individuals familiar with the ZTE and Huawei investigations.

The document was posted on the U.S. Commerce Department website in March 2016 when ZTE was placed on a list of companies that were restricted from buying parts and components from U.S. suppliers. Shortly after the public posting, the New York Times reported that the description of F7 offered by ZTE matched Huawei.

A month later, the Commerce Department sent a subpoena to Huawei in the United States demanding information on the companys exporting American technology to Iran, according to a court document and one of the people familiar with the Huawei probe.

From ZTE To Huawei

With the case against ZTE wrapping up, more than a dozen people from Departments of Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security and Justice, gathered in Washington on February 14, 2017 and talked about how they were moving forward against Huawei, according to a person familiar with matter.

Brooklyn prosecutors discussed the relationship between Huawei and HSBC, a bank that was required to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors in any investigation until the end of 2017 for violating U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, the person added.

In late 2016, HSBC began to conduct an internal bank probe of Huawei. In the weeks and months following the meeting, HSBC helped authorities obtain evidence of links between Skycom and Huawei, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The probe found Meng met in 2013 with a HSBC banker. She later gave him a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, which the U.S. indictment says misrepresented Huaweis control of Skycom.

HSBC told Reuters that it provided information in response to demands from the Justice Department.

The U.S. Attorneys office in Washington, D.C., meanwhile, pursued a more traditional export control investigation against Huawei, which included the accusations of attempted illegal shipments of computers to Iran disclosed in the Reuters 2012 story.

A grand jury subpoena was issued to the U.S subsidiary of the company in April 2017, the first clear sign to Huawei that the probe had turned criminal.

Armed with that knowledge, the company moved U.S.-based Chinese employees who knew about its Iranian dealings out of the country and otherwise concealed and destroyed evidence, the prosecutors allege. Meng and other Huawei executives also began to avoid travel to the United States, prosecutors say.

In the late summer of 2017, according to two of the sources close to the Huawei investigation, Rosenstein chose Brooklyn as the venue to file charges and the Washington U.S. Attorneys office dropped out of the case. Brooklyn was already working with a money laundering unit at the Justice Department. The national security division also merged with the Brooklyn prosecution team.

Legal experts said since most evidence of any illegal U.S. goods in Iran presumably existed outside the jurisdiction of U.S. authorities, the bank fraud route presented a potentially quicker path to indictment. They added that bank fraud charges are more likely to lead to arrest by other countries for extradition to the United States than export controls or sanctions violations, and have a longer statute of limitations.

Meng and the company were charged with bank and wire fraud. The PowerPoint presentations numerous misrepresentations were central to the charges brought against Meng herself, the indictment shows.

Twelve months after Brooklyn got the case, prosecutors secretly obtained a warrant for Mengs arrest.

Less than four months later they learned she was stopping in Vancouver en route to Mexico on December 1, and asked the Canadians to detain her at the airport.
Nimish Sawant

Mark Zuckerberg is back with another detailed outline of what he wants to do in the coming years.

Post the 2016 US Presidential elections, Zuckerberg and the company he founded have been under constant scrutiny. This reached its peak post the Cambridge Analytica data breach which had exposed the data of around 87 million Facebook users. Since then, it has been one PR disaster after another and Zuckerberg and team have tried to do damage control  till the next privacy faux pas was brought to light.

While Zuckerberg has made it amply clear that under no circumstances will he be stepping down, he has been trying to use his personal Facebook page to present lofty ambitions regarding Facebooks future.

In the most recent post, Zuckerberg has presented a vision for a privacy-focused messaging and social networking platform. He hasnt given a timeline as to when this new platform will go live but has said that it will be done openly and after consulting with experts as it goes about developing this platform.

Principles of this new privacy-focussed platform

A quick run through the operating principles of this new privacy-focused social networking and messaging platform bring home the point that those talks about the integration of WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Direct are indeed true.

We plan to start by making it possible for you to send messages to your contacts using any of our services and then to extend that interoperability to SMS too. Of course, this would be opt-in and you will be able to keep your accounts separate if you'd like, said Zuckerberg. He also tried to justify using Messenger for sending SMSes (which would mean you share your contact book with Facebook) would ensure SMSes are end-to-end encrypted as SMS protocol doesnt allow for that. Well, I wonder who in 2019 uses SMS for private communication in the first place? This argument of encrypting SMSes to get access to your phone book seems weak. While you can do this on Android today, Apple does not allow any SMS interoperability.

Zuckerberg said he would be focussing on aspects such as private interactions which will be end to end encrypted, there will be an effort to reduce the permanence of these messages so that something you may have said in the past may not be used against you.

Sensitive data would not be stored in countries where the human rights records are weak and freedom of expression is under threat.

Zuckerberg also stressed on the fact that these principles will be core to the services being offered on the new platform, the development of which will happen in an open manner with consultations from experts and different stakeholders from the society who may be affected by it.

Facebook and Instagrams public nature lets these platforms collect immense data on you, which can then be used to target you with ads. This has been Facebooks business model and one which has helped it grow year on year. With a privacy-focussed social media platform, getting private user data would not be that easy. Zuckerberg acknowledges that fact and is ready to sacrifice revenues and profits on that front  so long as users feel secure communicating on Facebooks platforms. Does this mean the public Facebook and Instagram platforms are to be abandoned by users?

Not really, Facebook and Instagram are going nowhere

Zuckerbergs announcement of the new platform naturally put question marks over Instagram and Facebook, which are more public in nature. These wont be going anywhere.

In an interaction with Wired, Zuckerberg said that Facebook and Instagram, which are the digital equivalents of a town square, would continue to grow in importance and will remain. At the same time though, the things that we see growing the fastest, in terms of what people want to do, are private messaging, stories that are ephemeral and dont stick around.

When talking about broader social networks, Zuckerberg said that accumulating friends and followers, to an extent that the service feels more public, is great for many use cases such as broadcasting information to your friends, finding communities of like-minded people, organising fundraisers and much more. While all that is good, we have seen how these "good" aspects can be used against users on these public platforms. The Cambridge Analytica scandals origins lay in a simple personality quiz  something one would consider harmless while taking it.

That argument of there being a public town square  a term that both Facebook and Twitter use often  comes with its own set of sticky areas. Abuse is rampant on both these platforms and they are still struggling to keep it under control. So while its great to acknowledge the finer aspects of the whole digital town hall, Zuckerberg would do good to acknowledge its pitfalls as well.

Zuckerberg stated an example of how when building WhatsApp, the team was focussed on creating an intimate environment and when WhatsApp Groups was built, they put in a size limit to ensure every interaction felt private. And yet, WhatsApp Groups are far from being the private online islands one would hope for.

On encryption

End-to-end encryption is an important tool for user data privacy and one thing thats good about WhatsApp is that it is end-to-end encrypted (though we have to take Facebook's word for this). There has been speculation about how Facebooks increased interference in making the $19 bn WhatsApp acquisition profitable has led to the departure of its founding members Brian Acton and Jan Koum. The WhatsApp co-founders had both promised that even after the acquisition by Facebook, they would protect user data. WhatsApp added end-to-end encryption in 2016 to further cement its resolve.

But over the years, we have been seeing how Facebook wants to get WhatsApp user data and use it to its advantage. There were changes made to WhatsApp's terms of services in 2016, to allow sharing of user data between WhatsApp and Facebook, including user phone numbers, devices they are using, operating systems on which the app is running and so on. Naturally, not many users were too kicked about this, leading to courts in France, Germany and Britain ordering and fining Facebook for going ahead with this.

It's not just WhatsApp founders, but even founders of Instagram who left the company last year following increased interference from Facebook.

With this backdrop, when Zuckerberg speaks about the importance of end-to-end encryption, one is bound to view it with a sceptical eye.

Zuckerberg, in his blog post, spoke about how encryption is helping dissidents to communicate in countries where freedom of expression is frowned upon.

This may seem extreme, but we've had a case where one of our employees was actually jailed for not providing access to someone's private information even though we couldn't access it since it was encrypted, said Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg also touched upon how end-to-end encryption also lets people doing bad things, stay untraceable. We have a responsibility to work with law enforcement and to help prevent these wherever we can. We are working to improve our ability to identify and stop bad actors across our apps by detecting patterns of activity or through other means, even when we can't see the content of the messages, and we will continue to invest in this work, said Zuckerberg acknowledging that this will be a tricky issue to tackle and it will still be difficult for us to know the full extent of the harm that can be caused by such actors using encrypted platforms.

The one good thing that Zuckerberg followed this up with was the fact that it wont just be Menlo Park engineers working to resolve this issue. Facebook will be consulting with experts, law enforcement, government agencies and many other stakeholders on how best to tackle this issue. WhatsApp will be the take-off point for a lot of these safety systems as it already is an end-to-end encrypted platform.

Not just stopping there, Zuckerberg also mentioned about working with other platforms to ensure the entire industry is on the same page. The only other privacy focussed messaging apps that come to mind include Telegram, Signal and Apples Messages. Will these platforms work together? Its difficult to say at the moment.

On reducing permanence

One of the reasons why Snapchat took off after launch was the idea of ephemeral messaging it offered. Of course, it has been a while since and Facebook has pretty much copied all of Snapchats Stories' philosophy to bake it into Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. The Stories, which disappear after 24 hours, enables a lot of us to share our lives without the fear of any embarrassing moments being used against us in the future  something that is not offered on our Facebook albums. A drunken night out during your college days, may have been shared on some public Facebook album which you may have forgotten about and it may come back to haunt you in your current professional job. The only way around is currently to make those albums private or delete them manually.

Zuckerberg, in his thoughts on reducing permanency of messages or photos or videos, is hinting at having a system-level self-destruction module which will let you decide the expiry date of a message or a photo.

..You'd have the ability to change the timeframe or turn off auto-deletion for your threads if you wanted. And we could also provide an option for you to set individual messages to expire after a few seconds or minutes if you wanted, said Zuckerberg. He also goes on to mention limiting collecting messaging metadata beyond a certain timeframe. This may have more to do with strict regulations such as GDPR and possibly future privacy laws that may mandate this. So its good of Zuckerberg to pre-empt this as he works towards the goal of collecting less personal data on the user in the first place.

Securing data centres

Looking at the future of the internet and privacy, I believe one of the most important decisions we'll make is where we'll build data centres and store people's sensitive data, said Zuckerberg.

Countries which have a track record of violating human rights and freedom of expression will not be considered as locations for Facebooks data servers for the new platform. Zuckerberg did not mention any specific countries, but we can all take educated guesses on that front.

Upholding this principle may mean that our services will get blocked in some countries, or that we won't be able to enter others anytime soon. That's a tradeoff we're willing to make. We do not believe storing people's data in some countries is a secure enough foundation to build such important internet infrastructure on, said Zuckerberg. One can then safely say that China wont be getting this new privacy focussed service unless there are drastic rule changes there regarding its Great Firewall.

Zuckerberg, who can speak Mandarin, has always been on the fence about Facebooks China plans. With around 1.4 bn internet users in China, who can only access Facebook and its services via VPN, one cant blame Zuckerberg for looking at making some inroads into that market. In fact, till 2016, Facebook was even willing to build a special censorship tool to suppress posts to get into the good books of Chinese authorities.

We have seen Zuckerberg visit China and courting Chinese officials to try and get the ban on Facebook lifted, but nothing has happened so far. A Buzzfeed News report states that a senior source inside Facebook has claimed that the company doesnt see any point in pursuing its Chinese ambitions for its upcoming privacy-focussed platform.

Another country that comes to mind is Russia, which just yesterday announced plans to propose a Sovereign Bill which would let officials control the flow of information being circulated within Russia. A sort of 'Great Firewall of Russia', if you will. While the official version of the bill is to counter a cyber strategy the US adopted last year against the Kremlin, it is believed that the bill could be used to stifle political and civil unrest in the country.

But if this privacy focussed platform also plans to have marketplaces which will involve payments, it could run into issues even in India considering the governments insistence on data localisation. Zuckerberg has said that building this privacy focussed platform is just the first step and he has plans to build many services on top of it  such as financial transactions, payments services and so on. The vision seems akin to having a super secure version of a Super App such as Tencents WeChat.

In conclusion

Zuckerberg has been questioned by regulators in the past about its competitors or whether it's a monopoly. Zuckerberg had no strong response there as, lets face it, Facebook, as an ecosystem, has no parallel. Regulators have also called for splitting up Facebook into different products so that data is not concentrated in one place. While Zuckerberg has also agreed to some level of regulation, it looks like this idea of a privacy-focused platform, separate from its current public platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, could be a step in that direction.

Zuckerberg has, more than twice in his 3,200-word manifesto, mentioned how Facebook will be having open consultations with multiple stakeholders before creating this platform. This should definitely win him some brownie points from regulators who have always called out Facebook for being this private (Evil?) entity, taking unilateral decisions in its Menlo Park headquarters which affect the public discourse globally.

Zuckerberg, through his manifesto, has also hinted to investors that they should be prepared for not-so-exponential growth on the platform, as it tries to get things around privacy in place.

How effectively Zuckerberg has allayed the fears of its core user-base is open for debate. He has mentioned the word people in his post around 66 times, as though he is addressing an election rally more than presenting the vision for a future social media platform. Thats how critical it has become for the platform to put the people and their wellbeing front and centre. As this analysis in The Atlantic notes, replace people should with Facebook wants and you will understand how Zuckerberg has deftly presented his companys ambitions as something altruistic he is doing for the people.

One acknowledgement from Zuckerberg, which he has oft-repeated, has been, I understand that many people dont think Facebook can or would even want to build this kind of privacy-focused platform  because frankly we dont currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services, and weve historically focused on tools for more open sharing. But then, he goes on to say that Facebook has evolved to build services that people really want. Well, reactive measures will not cut it any longer.

In the last couple of years, Facebook has consistently let its users down. So even if you, like me, are sceptical of Facebooks grand vision around this privacy-focussed platform, its perfectly fine. Facebook has lost its trust among users, to an extent that they're leaving the platform by the millions, and it will have to work doubly hard to earn back that trust.
tech2 News Staff

Today's Google Doodle is celebrating the 97th birth anniversary of Russian mathematician Olga Ladyzhenskaya, who has been known for her work in differential equations and fluid dynamics. Apart from just the doodle, Google has also put out a YouTube video which details her life's work and achievements.

The shape of the doodle is in an elliptical form with her quasi-linear equation written underneath it. Olga was born during a time of civil unrest in the Soviet Union and her father, a mathematician who inspired Olga's love for maths was labeled as "enemy of the people" by the government.

He was arrested and subsequently killed leaving her family name tainted in the eyes of the Soviets. She was denied admission into one of Russia's oldest educational institutions which was Leningrad University.

However, after the death of Josef Stalin in 1952, Olga got her chance to be in Leningrad and presented her doctoral thesis to receive a PhD in Mathematics. Her famous works include the first definitive proofs of the convergence of a finite difference method for the Navier-Stokes equations. She has 250 papers to her name and also became the president of St Petersburg Mathematical Society in 1990.

For her contributions to the world of mathematics, Olga was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal by the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2002. Ladyzhenskaya died on January 12, 2004, at the age of 81.
tech2 News Staff

Gender equality in the workplace has continued to be the subject of contention over the past few years. Although leading companies made attempts to tackle the gender wage gap, the progress has been painfully slow.

Google recently disclosing its internal pay audit report found that men are being paid less than women for the same role. And in the latest turn of events, Snap now is said to have reached a settlement with three female employees who accused the company of discrimination after they were laid off last year. While Snap was earlier accused of having a sexist workplace culture, according to a Wall Street Journal report, the new allegations now say that women were given equal opportunity to rise up in the company ranks.

The report citing multiple sources familiar with the matter said that the layoffs were alleged to have disproportionately targeted women. Multiple women who worked on growth and design teams were paid additional cash and stock shares after concerns about discrimination were raised, the report noted.

While the two-cost cutting rounds of layoffs affected hundreds of employees at Snap last year, the company reportedly said that the layoffs impacted both men and women and the decisions made while determining the people impacted had nothing to do with gender.

Variety back in March reported that Snaps restructuring efforts laid off 220 employees in a move to save $34 million per year in salaries and taxes. Apparently, of the 218 employees that were laid off in the first half of last year, around 70 percent were men, a spokesperson for Snap said.

The company defines the growth and design teams more broadly. Under those definitions, there were nine total layoffs on those teams: six women and three men. The company also said it negotiated additional severance benefits for some male employees, reports quoting the spokesperson said.

As per the WSJ report, Snap also took issue with the characterisation of only women being laid off from the growth and design teams and some employees were given new roles because the team was being disbanded.

Snaps alleged sexist workplace culture came in to spotlight after Cheddar revealed an email from the companys software engineer Shannon Lubetich who highlighted instances and accused Snap of having a toxic workplace with a pervasive sexist vibe.

As per the report, female employees claim to have not received annual performance reviews for years and said that leadership were given to less experience male employees. However, Snap is said to have implemented several changes since the layoffs last year including a mentorship program for female employees, new training for managers as per reports.
Reuters

Teslas upcoming vehicle assembly facility in Shanghai is expected to be completed in May this year, a Shanghai city government official said on Wednesday.

Chen Mingbo made the comments on the sidelines of an annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing, adding that part of the facilitys production line would be put into operation by the end of the year.

Chen, who heads the citys economic and information technology commission, did not provide any further details.

The US electric carmaker broke ground on the Shanghai factory in January and its CEO Elon Musk has said the firm aims to finish initial construction this summer and start production of the Model 3 toward the end of the year.

A full-fledged auto assembly factory can take about two years to build but the Shanghai government has thrown its support behind the Tesla project, which would be Chinas first wholly foreign-owned car plant and a reflection of the governments broader shift to open up its car market.

Tesla has been pushing forward its plans for the 500,000-vehicle-capacity plant after it secured a site in October, hiring staff, starting procurement for building materials and setting up a local financial leasing company.

Producing cars locally is also likely to help Tesla minimize the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war, which has forced the carmaker to lower prices of its US-made cars in China - which has becoming increasingly important as the company seeks to offset softening demand in the United States.

On Tuesday, Teslas shares fell more than 5 percent in early trade after Chinese media reported Shanghai customs had suspended clearance for a batch of Teslas cars.

The company said that authorities have accepted its plan to resolve the clearance problem.

Chinese customs confirmed in a statement on its official WeChat account on Wednesday that it had stopped the Tesla Model 3 imports and was now monitoring the firm rectifications.

It said the Model 3 cars were stopped because they did not have Chinese language-warning signs and had missing or incorrect nameplate labels. It added, however, that the nameplates could be replaced at the port.
Asheeta Regidi

The arrival of streaming platform Spotify in India has immediately captured the attention of the online content industry. This is firstly in terms of the competition it presents to established music streaming players, having acquired over 1 million users within a week of its launch. Secondly, this is in terms of the crucial legal dispute between Spotify and Warner/Chappell Music (MCM) that has accompanied Spotifys launch, a dispute which involves Spotifys attempt to obtain a statutory license to stream Warners music, after negotiations for a voluntary license failed.

The dispute involves many pertinent questions of law, of which an important one is whether the rights of a copyright owner can be circumvented to obtain such a license under the law, to thereby allow the on-demand access of copyrighted content online. The question will impact not just Spotify but the online distribution of content in any form today, be it via music streaming services like Saavn or iTunes, a video streaming service like Netflix, or any others.

What does a statutory license allow?

To delve into the questions of law that arise, the first is with the statutory license being sought. This a license that is granted under Section 31D of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, which allows a broadcasting organization to communicate an already published work to the public. For this, instead of obtaining a normal license from the copyright owner, the broadcasting organization is required to give a notice that it intends to broadcast the work, and must pay a royalty that is determined by the Appellate Board under the Act. The royalty is determined based on suggestions of the copyright owners backed with adequate evidence as to the rates to be charged (Rule 31, The Copyright Rules, 2013). This may be an issue for copyright holders since such evidence would require a transparent disclosure of the royalties earned.

Right to communicate vs Right to reproduction

The dispute in Spotifys case is in relation to this right to communicate the work. Warner, as per reports, is arguing that a statutory license grants only the right to communicate the work, and not the right to reproduce the work, or make copies of it. One can consider the difference between watching a movie on a television set and purchasing a DVD with the movie from a store. This line, however, is not so clear-cut in the digital world, since every single form of communication will involve the transmission of data in some form or the other, even in a temporary form. Consider some forms of transmission below:

S.No. Communication Download (Reproduction) Interactive/ Non-interactive Examples 1 On-Demand Streaming without Download Yes, temporary download of data such as caching Interactive Watching a movie on Netflix 2 On-Demand Streaming with Download Yes, permanent/ long-term download of data to the device, access to which is encrypted and restricted to the app and the device Interactive Downloading a song to your device from iTunes 3 On-Demand Streaming from the Cloud Yes, temporary download of data such as caching Interactive Listening to a song from Spotify without download 4 Online Radio Yes, temporary download of data such as caching Non-Interactive Picking a radio station on Apple Radio and listening 5 Live Streaming Yes temporary download of data such as caching may involve permanent download depending on use Non-Interactive Watching content livestreamed on YouTube 6 Recommended Content Yes, either temporary or permanent based on the app Partially interactive Recommended or customized playlists 7 Local Download Yes, permanent/ long-term download of data to the device Interactive Downloading content onto your device

As can be seen, every form of this content distribution involves a download of data. A reading of Section 31D and the relevant rules demonstrate that the original intent of the lawmakers was to restrict the applicability of the section primarily to television or radio broadcasting. However, in the absence of a specific restriction of this nature, in 2016, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion issued an Office Memorandum clarified that even internet broadcasters could obtain a statutory license. The Memorandum, however, did not define internet broadcasting or clarify the scope of what would be permissible.

Are permanent downloads permitted?

Since it is clear that internet broadcasting is permitted, and that any communication of content on the internet will involve the transmission of data, it can be assumed that the reproduction of data will be allowed via statutory licensing. The question then is to what extent- whether this is restricted to temporary download such as caching, or even of downloads of a long-term nature (downloads for offline viewing).

If restricted to temporary downloads, then, going by the table, on-demand streaming without download or from the cloud, online radio and livestreaming would be permitted. If permanent or long-term downloads are included, then any form of online streaming would be included.

Is interactive broadcasting permitted?

A second question is on whether the reference in relation to statutory licensing is to interactive or non-interactive broadcasting. The former is similar to broadcasting on a TV or radio, where the consumers of the content do not get to select the content that is aired, while the latter is similar to, say, viewing content on Netflix, where the consumer does make this choice. The former, arguably, draws a closer relationship with the original intentions of the lawmakers, since such non-interactive broadcasting would be similar to that done on TV or radio.

Going into the definitions under the law, broadcasting is defined under Section 2(dd) of the Copyright Act as a communication to the public, either by means of wireless diffusion or by wire. Communication to the public is defined under Section 2(ff) of the same law as making a work (say a musical work), available to be seen/ heard by the public, by any means of display or diffusion. Particularly, the section goes on to specify that such display or diffusion may be done simultaneously, or at places and times chosen individually. The wording of this section indicates that the broadcasting includes individual selection of consuming the content, thus indicating that interactive broadcasting is also included here.

Can interactive services be the subject of a statutory license?

To what extent such an argument is tenable in relation to statutory licensing will have to be seen. Importantly, this would allow just about any content that can be viewed online to be considered to be broadcasting and to be the subject of statutory licensing. Reference may be made to the table above, which demonstrates that online content today is dominated by interactive services. Permitting licensing of this nature would thus allow almost any streaming service, say Netflix, to stream content online via a statutory license instead of obtaining a proper license from the copyright owner.

Such a practice may be harmful since thereby a copyright owner will lose the right to negotiate and set his terms of royalty. The royalty payable, as mentioned earlier, will be determined by the Appellate Board based on evidence as to rates that are provided by the copyright owner. As is argued here, such a system may work well as a protection against anti-competitive behaviour or against unreasonable behaviour on the part of the copyright owner. Section 31D, however, at present does not make any such pre-requisites of evidence of anti-competitive or unreasonable behaviour, but instead leaves this as an alternative form of licensing for a broadcaster.

What was the rationale behind Section 31D?

Looking into the law, a Madras High Court judgment in dealing with Section 31D pointed out that this section was introduced as a mechanism to deal with the public interest (of the public to consume content that has been published) vis-a-vis the private interest (of the copyright holders to their royalties).

Speaking to an industry expert on this issue, however, it was pointed out that the section was originally introduced with the aim of providing some impetus to the radio industry, which at the time (2012) was struggling, and was a public service. Today, as per this report, the radio industry stands at around Rs.3000-4000 crores, while the music industry stands at around Rs. 850 crores. The justification of continuing this support, possibly at the expense of the copyright holders, and in fact to extend it to a billion-dollar enterprise of the nature of Spotify (and the like), is a factor that needs to be considered.

How do international regulations fare?

The constitutionality of Section 31D, however, is an issue that has come up before Indian courts several times, and the section has been upheld. Specific issues such as whether Section 31D needs to be repurposed to deal with issues like anti-competitive behaviour, however, still need to be addressed.

Additionally, so far there hasnt been a proper discussion of the specific issues pertaining to the digital age in Indian courts, as discussed here. These issues, however, have been dealt with to some extent in foreign jurisdictions, which, however, present contradictory positions.

In the US, for instance, a rather complicated stance is taken in relation to sound recordings under the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act, which was later modified by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. These can be considered as a three-fold rule- where interactive services, including on-demand services and services created for the user (such as recommendations), require a license from the copyright owner; non-interactive subscription services could be accessed via a compulsory license; and, lastly, non-interactive, non-subscription services did not require a license.

In the EU, on the other hand, the EC Information Society Directive clarifies in Recital 25 in relation to the rights of a copyright owner, that this includes the right to make their works available via interactive on-demand transmissions. It further clarifies that this is characterized by the fact that the public can access the works from a place and at a time as individually chosen by them. Considering that the Indian definition of communication to the public also allows an individual to choose a time and place, it is possible that such an interpretation be taken to allow statutory licensing for interactive services as well, as argued above. At the same time, since this interpretation is not specific to statutory licensing but to the owners rights, it is possible that the US interpretation be adopted to restrict such licensing to non-interactive services.

Present status of the Spotify-Warner dispute

The Spotify-Warner dispute thus throws up interesting questions of the law of copyright as applied to the digital age. Subject to the parties manage to settle their differences prior to the conclusion of the case, this is a case likely to have far-reaching implications for online content streaming.

At present, Spotify has issued a notice for the statutory license. Warner has applied for an injunction before the Bombay High Court seeking to restrain Spotifys use of their works before the grant of any license, whether contractual or statutory. The Court directed Spotify on 26 February to refrain from pursuing its application for a statutory license for a period of one month and required it to deposit a sum of Rs 6.5 crores. Spotify is also required to keep records of any use made and revenues earned from Warners music. At the parties agreement, the Court did not specify the reasons for this arrangement. Thereafter the Court will continue hearing the case on whether Spotify has a statutory license on 25 March.

The author is a lawyer specializing in technology, privacy and cyber laws.
Israel: Knesset committee disqualifies Arab list Communist lawmaker also excluded. Supreme Court appeal

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MARCH 7 - The majority of the Knesset's Central Elections Committee has voted to disqualify Arab list 'Balad-Raam' from running in upcoming national elections scheduled on April 9.



The committee on Wednesday also voted to disqualify Communist lawmaker Ofer Kasif.



According to press reports, in both cases lawmakers reached the decision to disqualify the list and MP because they said their political platforms went against the definition of Israel as a Jewish State.



The Supreme Court, however, will have the final say on both decisions and a ruling is expected on Sunday.



The members of the committee instead authorized the candidature of the leader of far-right movement Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), Michael Ben Ari.



Ben Ari is a follower of xenophobic rabbi Meir Kahane whose movement Kach was banned in 1994.



Two left-wing lists have appealed to the Supreme court, requesting a ban on the candidature of two representatives of Otzma Yehudit, Ben Ari and Itamar Ben Gvir.(ANSAmed).




Reuters

Democrats in Congress unveiled a bill on Wednesday to reinstate net neutrality rules repealed by the Federal Communications Commission under U.S. President Donald Trump, the latest salvo in a more than decade-long battle over how to regulate internet traffic.

The bill mirrors an effort last year to reverse the FCCs December 2017 order repealing landmark rules approved in 2015 that barred internet providers from blocking or slowing content or offering paid fast lanes.

It is a fight that we can win, said Senator Ed Markey, a bill sponsor, at a Capitol Hill news conference. We are on the right side of history. We will not give up.

He said the bill, dubbed the Save the Internet Act, will protect consumers from higher prices, blocked websites or slower internet speeds.

The reversal of net neutrality rules was a win for internet providers like Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, but opposed by content and social media companies like Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc.

The bill would repeal the order introduced by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, bar the FCC from reinstating it or a substantially similar order and reinstate the 2015 net neutrality order, a fact sheet said.

Pai said in a statement that the 2017 rule has proven wrong the many hysterical predictions of doom ... most notably the fantasy that market-based regulation would bring about the end of the Internet as we know it.

He suggested that the main thing the internet needs to be saved from is heavy-handed regulation from the 1930s that would treat it as a public utility.

Markey said the bill has the support of nearly all Democrats, and a companion bill will be introduced in the House of Representatives on Friday. Democrats say they expect the House will vote on the bill in the next few months.

Republicans oppose reinstating the 2015 rules that grant the FCC sweeping authority to oversee the conduct of internet providers.

House Republicans Greg Walden, Bob Latta and Cathy McMorris Rodgers said in a statement that both parties believe a free and open internet is fundamental to our society.

All sides want a permanent solution, they said.

Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee, said the FCC ignored the will of the American people in repealing the rules.

The Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, voted in May 2018 to reinstate the rules, but the House did not take up the issue before Congress adjourned last year.

A U.S. federal appeals court last month held lengthy oral arguments in a legal challenge to the FCCs decision. That court upheld the Obama internet rules in 2016.

In its 2017 decision, the Republican-led FCC voted 3-2 along party lines. The agency gave providers sweeping power to recast how users access the internet but said they must disclose changes in internet access.
Agence France-Presse

An Albert Einstein "puzzle" has been solved thanks to a missing page of manuscript emerging in a collection of his writings acquired by Jerusalem's Hebrew University, officials announced Wednesday.

The handwritten page, part of an appendix to a 1930 paper on the Nobel winner's efforts towards a unified field theory, was discovered among the 110-page trove the university's Albert Einstein archives received some two weeks ago.

Most of the documents constitute handwritten mathematical calculations behind Einstein's scientific writings in the late 1940s.

There are also letters that Einstein, born in Germany in 1879, wrote to collaborators which deal with a range of scientific and personal issues, including one to his son, Hans Albert.

The 1935 letter to his son expresses concern about the rise of the Nazi party in Germany.

Nearly all the documents had been known to researchers and available in the form of copies  "sometimes better copies, sometimes very poor copies", said Hanoch Gutfreund, scientific advisor to the university's Einstein archives.

Gutfreund, a physics professor and former president of the university, said the eight-page appendix of the 1930 unified theory paper had never been published, though researchers had copies of it.

"But in the copies we had, one page was missing, and that was a problem. That was a puzzle," Gutfreund told AFP.

"And to our surprise, to our delight, that page is now here. It came with the new material," he said.

Hebrew University said: "This article was one of many in Einsteins attempts to unify the forces of nature into one, single theory and he devoted the last 30 years of his life to this effort."

The collection, acquired through a donation from the Crown-Goodman foundation in Chicago, was bought from Gary Berger, a North Carolina doctor who had a private collection of Einstein writings.

Gutfreund refused to divulge the sum paid for the 110 papers.

Einstein was one of a founding father of the Hebrew University and served as a non-resident governor of the Jerusalem institution.

When the German-born physicist died in 1955, he bequeathed the university his archives, with curator Roni Grosz saying its 82,000 items make it the world's most extensive collection of Einstein documents.
The attack claimed by the Islamic State group in Kabul represents a major security breach and marks a resumption of violence in the capital after weeks of calm amid ongoing peace talks between the US and Taliban in Doha.

Kabul: A mortar attack on a large ceremony attended by Afghanistan's chief executive and other leading government figures in Kabul on Thursday killed three people and injured 22 others, officials said.

The attack claimed by the Islamic State group represents a major security breach and marks a resumption of violence in the capital after weeks of calm amid ongoing peace talks between the US and Taliban in Doha.

"Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us," said former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni from the stage during a live broadcast of the outdoor event. But moments after the announcement, another explosion and gunfire could be heard that sent people running.

A second unidentified voice then addressed the screaming crowd, saying: "I request my countrymen to stay calm. The mortar attack is far from the gathering."

The blasts took place during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shiite Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country's political elite, including Afghanistan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai.

IS later claimed the barrage saying its fighters targeted the ceremony with mortar fire, according to a statement published by the group's propaganda agency Amaq.

"Today around 12 noon ... mortars were fired on the gathering of Abdul Ali Mazari," Nasrat Rahimi, the acting interior ministry spokesman, said in a statement sent to journalists. "The main suspect behind the attack has been arrested by the police and some others who were behind the attack were identified... and will be detained," he added, saying the mortars landed outside the actual event.

"Twenty-two wounded  three children and one woman  and three victims have been taken to hospitals," tweeted Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the health ministry.

Presidential candidate Abdul Latif Pedram was among the injured, according to his official Facebook page, which said he was in "stable condition".

Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani  who was also at the scene  later added that "terrorists launched rocket attacks on commemoration ceremony", and said he had escaped safely. Mortar fire is commonly referred to as "rockets" by Afghan officials.

'Unforgivable attack'

IS have claimed responsibility for a string of bloody attacks on Shiite gatherings and mosques across the country over the years. The group, however, has been relatively quiet in recent months as the Taliban, Afghan security forces, and the US all target IS's shrinking stronghold in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.

"This was the most horrid and unforgivable attack on civilians by a merciless enemy," tweeted presidential candidate and former national security adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar. He added that eight of his security guards were injured in the attack.

"How these attackers managed to get into this Shiite neighbourhood, pass through all the security cordons, and then attack such an important gathering is indicative of a major security and intelligence failure on the part of the Afghan government," security analyst Atiqullah Amarkhail told AFP.

The incident comes as US and Taliban negotiations hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict. The last major attack in Kabul occurred in January when the Taliban claimed responsibility for a car bomb that struck the heavily fortified Green Village foreign compound.

Heavy snowfall across large swathes of Afghanistan has led to a reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country's south will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of the spring fighting season. Analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in the coming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield and leverage at the negotiating table.

On Wednesday at least 16 people were killed in a suicide attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan's Jalalabad city. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Islamic State group and the Taliban are active near the city, in Nangarhar province.

Afghanistan has been stuck in nearly constant conflict since the Soviet invasion of 1979, which was followed by civil war, the Taliban regime, and the US invasion in late 2001.
Releasing proof of anti-terror operations, however, does not have much precedent across countries worldwide

Ever since the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) training camp at Balakot in Pakistan's Kyber Pakhtunkhwa province on 26 February, Opposition legislators and some of the kin of the Central Reserve Police Force personnel killed in the 14 February attack have demanded proof.

The demand grew more vociferous after BJP chief Amit Shah claimed as many as 300 terrorists had been killed in the strike.

While the government said that it would not share numbers, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale asserted that a "very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders, and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated."

Indian Air Force chief BS Dhanoa also refused to discuss how many terrorists were killed, but said: "If we plan to hit the target, we hit the target." Matters escalated after a foreign agency, based on satellite photographs, recently suggested that no significant damage took place on the JeM camp in Balakot.

On Thursday the IAF submitted a dossier to the government containing high resolution satellite images to prove that 80 percent of the bombs deployed during the airstrike hit their intended targets. The force, however, said it was up to the government to release these images.

There isn't much precedent for releasing 'proof' of anti-terror operations. Some in the establishment argue that releasing such documents threaten national security. Others claim it can disturb diplomatic, cultural and socio-economic relations between countries and people.

Even Israel, which has a long history of fighting terrorists, puts out very little information about its operations. Israeli-based research group Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, which has close ties to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has a list of attacks by terrorists and adequate response by Israeli forces, without going into details.

For example, the research group mentions how a terrorist squad of five Hamas operatives were apprehended on 5 October, 2015, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated forces for the successful operation. But no "evidence" relating to the operation was released by authorities. In another instance, details of "hunted" terrorists were listed by the government, but no documents backing up this assertion were provided.

In 2018, Israel said it blocked tunnels dug into its territory by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon that were used to take Israeli citizens hostage, reported BBC. The IDF also announced the start of this operation, dubbed Northern Shield, on Twitter.

BREAKING: We have just launched Operation Northern Shield to expose and neutralize cross-border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah from #Lebanon to #Israel. #NorthernShield pic.twitter.com/HKgnbhn23I  Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 4, 2018

Similarly, little evidence of the covert raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALs on his Abbottabad compound in Pakistan on 2 May, 2011 has been made available with many stories questioning the story put out by the authorities regarding the operation.

All that was released a year later by the US was a 175-page document that Laden and other key Al-Qaeda figures, including the American Adam Gadahn and Abu Yahya al-Libi, compiled and which were seized during the raid.
By Rodrigo Viga Gaier RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's far-right president on Thursday described the country's armed forces, which led the country under a military dictatorship for over two decades, as the ultimate arbiters of democracy.

By Rodrigo Viga Gaier

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's far-right president on Thursday described the country's armed forces, which led the country under a military dictatorship for over two decades, as the ultimate arbiters of democracy.

Speaking at a naval event in Rio de Janeiro alongside some of the former generals who sit in his cabinet, Jair Bolsonaro praised Brazil's military.

"Democracy and liberty only exist when your armed forces want them to," said Bolsonaro, himself a former army captain.

Critics of Bolsonaro, a longtime advocate of Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship, have expressed concern over the growing role of high-ranking former soldiers in his government.

Speaking with reporters in Brasilia, Vice President Hamilton Mourao defended Bolsonaro's comments, which he said were not meant as a threat.

"The president said that if the armed forces are not committed to democracy and freedom, those values die. That is what has happened in Venezuela, where the Venezuelan armed forces tore those values up," Mourao said.

Bolsonaro was joined at the event by his national security adviser, former General Augusto Heleno, and his Defense Minister, former General Fernando Azevedo e Silva. Other former generals in his cabinet include Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Freitas and Government Minister Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, a retired general. Vice President Mourao is also a former general.

One of Bolsonaro's immediate legislative priorities is to win approval for a much-needed pension reform to prop up the country's rickety public finances. The former generals have been advocating for the military, which enjoys sizeable benefits under the current system, to be excluded or protected from the new measures.

However, Bolsonaro reiterated in his speech that the military will not escape the reforms.

"What I want from you is a sacrifice," he said, noting that the new system "will affect the military." He gave no further details.

Bolsonaro's proposal to address a widening pension deficit by raising taxes, delaying retirements and creating individual savings accounts is the cornerstone of his economic agenda.

Last month, he delivered his proposal to Congress, aiming to save over 1 trillion reais ($266 billion) in the next decade. Most economists agree the system must be overhauled to shore up public finances and foster growth.

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Susan Thomas and Alistair Bell)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Chinese vice foreign minister Kong Xuanyou said China and Pakistan were all-weather strategic partners and that they always supported each other, Chinas foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Beijing: China has praised Pakistans "restraint" and willingness to talk with India to ease tensions between the two countries after a deadly terror attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir's Pulwama district on 14 February.

Pakistan is facing pressure from global powers to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least 40 CRPF jawans.

The incident led to the most serious conflict in years between the nuclear-armed neighbours, with cross-border air strikes and a dogfight over the skies of Kashmir. The crisis eased after Pakistan returned a downed IAF pilot named Abhinandan Varthaman on Friday. Visiting Pakistan on Wednesday, Chinese vice foreign minister Kong Xuanyou said Beijing and Islamabad were all-weather strategic partners and that they always supported each other, Chinas foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"China has paid close attention to the present situation between Pakistan and India, and appreciates Pakistans remaining calm and exercising restraint from the beginning, and persisting in pushing to lower the temperature with India via dialogue," the ministry paraphrased Kong as saying.

China maintains that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected and does not want to see "acts that violate the norms of international relations", Kong added. "China calls on Pakistan and India to refrain from taking actions that aggravate the situation, show goodwill and flexibility, launch dialogue as soon as possible, and work together to maintain regional peace and stability," he said.

China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in this regard, Kong said.

The ministry said Kong had met Prime Minister Imran Khan, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday revoked an Obama-era requirement for reporting civilian casualties that resulted from US intelligence operations in non-combat areas across the globe

Washington: President Donald Trump on Wednesday revoked an Obama-era requirement for reporting civilian casualties that resulted from US intelligence operations in non-combat areas across the globe.

Trump struck a section of an executive order issued by former President Barack Obama that required both the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies to report on civilian casualties that occurred during their operations. There are other provisions that still require the Pentagon to report on civilian casualties caused by military operations outside of combat areas.

"I don't know why they're being coy," said Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy expert at the private Federation of American Scientists. "They are not saying, 'We don't want to report CIA operation casualties,' but that's what they're doing. They are eliminating reporting of casualties arising from CIA operations."

In a statement, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said the US government is fully committed to "minimising  to the greatest extent possible  civilian causalities and acknowledging responsibility when they unfortunately occur during military operations."

The spokesperson, who spoke only on condition of anonymity to elaborate on the president's written order, said Trump's action eliminates "superfluous" reporting requirements that don't "improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission".

Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's national security project, said Trump's action increased secrecy about the United States' killing of people abroad and was "deeply wrong and dangerous for public accountability".

"This decision will hide from the public the government's own tally of the total number of deaths it causes every year in its lethal force program," Shamsi said.

Republican Adam Schiff, D-California, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, said there was no justification for Trump to no longer require the national intelligence director to produce an annual report on civilian casualties that result from the US government's use of targeted legal force abroad.

Schiff called the move a "troubling retreat from transparency" and pledged to make the reporting by the intelligence agencies mandatory again by including it in this year's intelligence authorisation bill.
Kim had agreed to shutter the Sohae missile-testing site at a summit with the South's President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, as part of confidence-building measures, and satellite pictures in August had suggested workers were already dismantling an engine test stand at the facility.

Washington: President Donald Trump said Wednesday he'd be "very, very disappointed" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if reports that work is underway to rebuild a long-range rocket site are confirmed.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said "it's too early to see" if the information about work at the North Korean site is true. Warning he'd be disappointed, he added: "I don't think I will be, but we'll see what happens." Trump and Kim met last week in Vietnam to negotiate on getting rid of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, but the summit broke up early with no progress. Researchers say that rebuilding of the facility in question has been underway since the summit and may have started before the Vietnam meeting.

"This facility had been dormant since August 2018, indicating the current activity is deliberate and purposeful," said researchers at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Researchers said that the activity may be intended to "demonstrate resolve in the face of US rejection" of the North's request for an easing of sanctions in return for some dismantlement of nuclear weapons infrastructure.

Kim had agreed to shutter the Sohae missile-testing site at a summit with the South's President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, as part of confidence-building measures, and satellite pictures in August had suggested workers were already dismantling an engine test stand at the facility. But CSIS said building activity is now "evident" at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, from where Pyongyang launched satellites in 2012 and 2016.

North Korea was later banned by the UN security council from carrying out the space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs. The respected Washington-based 38 North project, another independent research website specializing in North Korea, also reported building work at the Sohae facility, based on commercial satellite imagery. According to 38 North, the efforts to rebuild structures at the Sohae facility started sometime between 16 February and 2 March. The pictures show a moving structure that had been used to carry launch vehicles to a launch pad on rails has been restored, it said.

"Two support cranes are observed at the building, the walls have been erected and a new roof added. At the engine test stand, it appears that the engine support structure is being reassembled," the 38 North reported. In a briefing to parliamentarians this week, Seoul's spy agency said it had detected signs of work at the site.

Joel Wit, the director of the 38 North project, cautioned that the evidence was not necessarily "consistent with preparations for an ICBM test." "Aside from the fact that (North Korea) has never tested an ICBM from Sohae -- it's a space vehicle launch site -- preparation for any launch would require a wide range of activities not observed in the imagery," Wit said. However, a rocket engine test could be performed there and that would send "a really strong signal" to Washington, Wit said. "A lot depends on how the US reacts to what's going on," Wit said. "The danger here is that we could start spiralling downward as each side takes steps and undermine the process that's been in place since last spring."

Impoverished and isolated North Korea conducted its first successful nuclear test in 2006 followed by a string of increasingly successful ICBM launches. In 2017, it claimed it had become capable of fitting a viable nuclear weapon on an ICBM that could reach as far as the United States' eastern seaboard.

In response, the UN Security Council later banned the North's main exports  coal and other mineral resources, fisheries and textile products  to cut off its access to hard currency. At their groundbreaking first summit in Singapore last year, Kim and Trump produced a vague statement on the "denuclearization of the Korean peninsula." There were high expectations for Kim and Trump's second meeting in Hanoi, but no agreement was reached. Despite the stalemate, both sides said they were open to further talks.

John Bolton, the US national security adviser, however, said on Tuesday that the US would look at "ramping those sanctions up" if Pyongyang did not give up its nuclear weapons program.
It was the first rebuke of Saudi Arabia at the UN Human Rights Council since it was set up in 2006 and came amid growing international concern about Saudi violations of basic freedoms such as freedom of expression

Geneva: Three dozen countries, including all 28 EU members, called on Saudi Arabia on Thursday to release 10 activists and cooperate with a UN-led investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its Istanbul consulate.

It was the first rebuke of the kingdom at the UN Human Rights Council since it was set up in 2006 and came amid growing international concern about Saudi violations of basic freedoms such as freedom of expression.

"It is a success for Europe to be united on this," an envoy of an EU country told Reuters.

The joint statement, also backed by Canada and Australia but not the United States, was read out by Harald Aspelund, Icelands ambassador to the UN in Geneva. There was no immediate Saudi reaction.

"We are particularly concerned about the use of the counter-terrorism law and other national security provisions against individuals peacefully exercising their rights and freedoms," Aspelund said, reading the text. Activists can and should play "a vital role in the process of reform which the Kingdom is pursuing."

The joint statement called for the release of Loujain Al-Hathloul, Eman Al-Nafjan, Aziza Al-Yousef, Nassima Al-Sadah, Samar Badawi, Nouf Abdelaziz, Hatoon Al-Fassi, Mohammed Al-Bajadi, Amal Al-Harbi and Shadan al-Anezi.

Activists allege that jailed women activists, including those who campaigned for the right to drive, have been subjected to electric shocks, flogging, sexual assault and other forms of torture.

The EU and other sponsoring countries said they "condemn in the strongest possible terms" Khashoggi's murder, noting that Saudi Arabia has confirmed it took place at its Istanbul consulate on 2 October.

"The circumstances of Khashoggis death reaffirm the need to protect journalists and to uphold the right to freedom of expression around the world," the text said. "Investigations into the killing must be independent, impartial and transparent," it added, specifically calling for cooperation with a probe led by Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions.

Neither Turkey, non-EU Switzerland, nor Israel were among the signers.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called on Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to release women activists allegedly tortured in detention after authorities accused them of harming the countrys interests.

"These women human rights defenders are detained only because they fought for their right to exist equally as men, in their country," Salma El Hosseiny of the International Service for Human Rights said in a statement on Thursday.

The Saudi deputy public prosecutor told Saudi-owned newspaper Alsharq Alawsat last week that his office had looked into media reports that the women were tortured and found no evidence, calling the reports "false".
By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen provided the U.S. House Intelligence Committee with new documents and may hand over more, the panel's chairman said after a day-long hearing behind closed doors. Democratic Representative Adam Schiff told reporters that Cohen was cooperative and the eight-hour hearing was 'very productive.' He did not say what the new documents related to and declined to comment on the substance of Cohen's testimony

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen provided the U.S. House Intelligence Committee with new documents and may hand over more, the panel's chairman said after a day-long hearing behind closed doors.

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff told reporters that Cohen was cooperative and the eight-hour hearing was "very productive." He did not say what the new documents related to and declined to comment on the substance of Cohen's testimony.

"We had requested documents of Mr. Cohen. He has provided additional documents to the committee. There may be additional documents that he still has to offer and his cooperation with our committee continues," Schiff said.

Cohen, who in public testimony last week before a different House committee, called Trump a "racist," "conman" and "cheat," arrived for his testimony before Schiff's committee carrying a brown file folder and wheeling a black suitcase.

Two congressional sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Cohen was due to face questions from lawmakers on the issue of a pardon from his former boss. The sources added that Trump's representatives maintain that Cohen's team first raised the issue of receiving a pardon while the former lawyer's representatives have said the opposite.

Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said in a statement that Cohen has now spent 16 hours testifying before the intelligence committee.

"Mr. Cohen responded to all questions truthfully and has agreed at the request of chairman Schiff to provide additional information in the future, if needed. He also offered to answer additional questions from Republican members. He remains committed to telling the truth and cooperating with authorities," Davis added.

The sources said Cohen also likely would be questioned about the extent of Trump's personal involvement in pursuing a tower project in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump at the time had denied any links to Russia but has since defended the proposed tower project, which never materialized.

CNN and the New York Times reported that Cohen shared documents with the committee showing edits made to written testimony he provided to Congress in 2017, saying that the Moscow projected ended in January 2016.

Cohen subsequently pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in the testimony. He has since said pursuit of the Moscow project continued until June 2016, after Trump had clinched the Republican presidential nomination.

During testimony last week, Cohen said Jay Sekulow, one of Trump's lawyers, was among those who edited the 2017 document. Sekulow has called Cohen's assertion "completely false."

Patrick Boland, a spokesman for Schiff, declined to comment on the reports.

Cohen's testimony on Wednesday was the latest in a series of appearances before congressional panels, most of them private. His televised Feb. 27 testimony before the House Oversight Committee was followed by a rapid expansion of Democratic investigations focusing on Trump.

Intelligence panel members also were expected to question Cohen on Wednesday about Trump's discussions with advisers in 2017 about how to respond when news reports first surfaced revealing that senior campaign figures including his son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chairman Paul Manafort met in June 2016 with Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, one of the sources said.

Trump's son arranged the meeting after being promised "dirt" on Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. When news of the meeting broke, Trump Jr. issued a statement saying it was set up to discuss adoption policy, not politics. He later admitted he had been expecting intelligence on Clinton.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is completing an investigation into whether Trump's campaign conspired with Russia and whether the president has unlawfully sought to obstruct the probe. Trump has denied collusion and obstruction, Russia has denied election interference.

Cohen is due to report to prison on May 6 to begin a three-year sentence after pleading guilty in a separate case last year to criminal charges including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Will Dunham and Lisa Shumaker)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Paul Manafort, who turns 70 in April, faces potentially spending the rest of his life behind bars

Washington: US president Donald Trump's former campaign chief Paul Manafort is to be sentenced for tax crimes and bank fraud on Thursday in a high-profile case stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Manafort, who turns 70 in April, faces potentially spending the rest of his life behind bars when he comes before Judge TS Ellis at 3:30 pm (2030 GMT) in an Alexandria, Virginia, courtroom.

Manafort was convicted in August of five counts of filing false income tax returns, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to report a foreign bank account. The jury deadlocked on 10 other charges. Manafort is one of a half dozen former Trump associates and senior aides charged by Mueller, who has been investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

The charges against Manafort were not connected to his role in the Trump campaign, which he headed for two months in 2016, but were related to lucrative consulting work he did for Ukrainian politicians from 2004 to 2014. The sentencing guidelines for Manafort's crimes call for between 19 and 24 years in prison but his defense attorneys have urged Judge Ellis to impose a "substantially" lower jail term.

In a filing with the judge, they said the Republican political powerbroker is "truly remorseful" and is in poor health after spending the past nine months in prison. Manafort, who suffers from gout, is a first-time offender and the sentencing guidelines are "clearly disproportionate" for the crimes he committed, his attorneys said. Mueller's team issued a scathing rebuttal, stating that Manafort had breached a plea agreement reached with the government and lied repeatedly to the FBI and the Special Counsel's office.

Manafort is accused of lying about various matters including his contacts with a suspected Russian operative, Konstantin Kilimnik, with whom he reportedly shared polling data about the 2016 election. "The defendant blames everyone from the Special Counsel's Office to his Ukrainian clients for his own criminal choices," prosecutors said. Manafort was accused of hiding tens of millions of dollars from the US tax authorities which were paid as consulting fees for the work he did over the years for Russian-backed Ukrainian politicians.

In arguing for a lighter sentence, Manafort's attorneys said he has been "devastated personally, professionally and financially." Mueller's office countered that it was "Manafort's own criminal actions that have led to these consequences." Trump has repeatedly denied any election collusion with Moscow and denounced the probe by Mueller, a former FBI director, as a "political witch hunt."

Trump has also dangled the possibility of pardons for some of those indicted: including Manafort, whom he has praised as a "good man" who has been treated unfairly. Manafort has also been charged in Washington with money laundering, witness tampering and other offenses and faces separate sentencing in that case on 13 March. It was his work for Viktor Yanukovych, who served as president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014, when he fled to Russia amid corruption allegations, which got Manafort in trouble.

Prosecutors alleged that Manafort used offshore bank accounts in Cyprus to hide more than $55 million from Ukrainian politicians from the tax authorities. The money was used to support a lavish lifestyle which included purchases of luxury homes and cars, antique rugs, and expensive clothes, including an $18,500 python jacket. During Manafort's trial, much of the damaging testimony against him was provided by his former deputy Rick Gates, who is awaiting sentencing after reaching a plea agreement with the Special Counsel's office.

Besides Manafort and Gates, four other former Trump associates face charges or have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the Mueller investigation. Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials and is awaiting sentencing. Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen is to begin serving a three-year prison sentence on 6 May for fraud, tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions and lying to Congress.

George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and was sentenced to two weeks in prison. Another Trump advisor, Roger Stone, awaits trial.
By Gergely Szakacs BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's ruling Fidesz party will replace its anti-Brussels billboards after the European Parliament's main centre-right group threatened to expel it from its ranks, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday. On Tuesday European People's Party (EPP) group leader Manfred Weber demanded that Orban's Fidesz party take down billboards attacking European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker which were part of its campaign ahead of the European Parliament elections in May. Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said the posters would be replaced next week by others touting Orban's plans to increase the birth rate and that Fidesz wanted to stay in the EPP.

By Gergely Szakacs

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's ruling Fidesz party will replace its anti-Brussels billboards after the European Parliament's main centre-right group threatened to expel it from its ranks, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday.

On Tuesday European People's Party (EPP) group leader Manfred Weber demanded that Orban's Fidesz party take down billboards attacking European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker which were part of its campaign ahead of the European Parliament elections in May.

Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said the posters would be replaced next week by others touting Orban's plans to increase the birth rate and that Fidesz wanted to stay in the EPP.

"The government has approved the plan about the protection of families, so from next week, these billboards will be on display," Gulyas said.

He declined to respond to repeated questions about later stages of the campaign, saying "I can only inform you about next week".

Weber told Bild newspaper he expected an apology to EPP member parties, an immediate and permanent end to Orban's anti-EU campaigns and renewed government support for Central European University (CEU) to stay in Budapest.

"It is a good signal, taking down the posters there, that was one of the requests I made this week," Weber said, adding however that "criteria are criteria" when asked whether all three of his requests would have to be met.

Gulyas did not say whether Orban planned to apologise but did add that Budapest considered the matter of the CEU closed. The university has accused Orban of trying to kick it out of Hungary. He said Fidesz wanted to stay in the EPP.

Fidesz has made its anti-immigration stance the main plank of its campaign for the European elections in May, putting up billboards accusing Juncker and U.S. billionaire George Soros of plotting to destroy European civilisation through immigration.

Hungary's main pro-government Magyar Nemzet daily has urged Orban's Fidesz to quit the EPP, saying it had abandoned its formative values and "could not be differentiated from the socialists or liberals".

"The time has come for Fidesz to stop the humiliating haggling with the European People's Party," the paper said in an editorial titled 'A new alliance!' on Thursday, suggesting Fidesz should join forces with European nationalists instead.

Orban himself was quoted by the government's kormany.hu website as saying that the debate about immigration might even lead to a breakup of the EU if one part of it forces other parts to accept pro-immigration policies.

The website quoted a December interview given by Orban published in a new book by French politician Philippe de Villiers.

"If we are let alone and they do not force islamisation on us, Europe can continue to live as the club of free nations," Orban said.

"But if they force us to accept the UN migration pact or the European Commission's decisions so as to make us fit their own Western policies, a breakup (of the EU) cannot be ruled out," he added.

(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Sandor Peto; Additional reporting by Alan Charlish in Warsaw; Editing by Catherine Evans and Raissa Kasolowsky)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
'It was because of timely and correct decisions that war was averted,' Khan said at a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf meeting on Wednesday, according to Geo News

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said tensions with India had eased, adding that war was averted because of "timely and correct decisions." "It was because of timely and correct decisions that war was averted," Khan said at a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) meeting on Wednesday, according to Geo News.

Meanwhile, speaking at the National Assembly today, Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi talked about Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's release. "It was discussed and we did it in Pakistan's interest. We thought by doing that, we would be sending a message of de-escalation and that message went loud and clear," Qureshi said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs had earlier claimed that tensions "appear to be de-escalating" between India and Pakistan as well.

Tensions have been soaring between the two neighbours following the Pulwama terror attack, the responsibility of which has been taken by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). India lost over 40 CRPF personnel when a JeM operative targetted their convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on 14 February.

There has been intense global pressure against Pakistan to stop supporting terrorists and terror outfits after India mounted a diplomatic campaign in this regard. Notwithstanding the heightened tensions, India and Pakistan will be holding the first meeting to discuss and finalise modalities for the Kartarpur Corridor at the Attari-Wagah on 14 March. Following this, the Indian delegation is due to visit Islamabad on 28 March, according to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
President Donald Trump's advisers dangled the possibility of a pardon for his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen last year, Cohen's attorney said Thursday, as congressional investigators zero in on the president's pardon power.

Washington: President Donald Trump's advisers dangled the possibility of a pardon for his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen last year, Cohen's attorney said Thursday, as congressional investigators zero in on the president's pardon power. The issue of pardons has emerged as a key line of inquiry as Democrats launch a series of sweeping investigations into Trump's political and personal dealings.

Lanny Davis, Cohen's lawyer, said in a written statement Thursday that his client was "open to the ongoing 'dangling' of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media" in the months after the FBI raided Cohen's home, office and hotel room in April 2018.

Davis, who was not Cohen's lawyer at the time, said Cohen "directed his attorney" to explore a possible pardon with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others on Trump's legal team. The statement appears to contradict Cohen's sworn testimony last week at a House Oversight Committee hearing that he had never asked for, and would not accept, a pardon from Trump.

Davis' comment raises questions about whether Cohen  who is slated to begin a three-year prison sentence in May for crimes including lying to Congress  lied to Congress again last week.

Cohen's legal team argued that his statement was correct because Cohen never asked the president himself for a pardon.

In a statement, Giuliani called Cohen a "serial liar."

"Let's hope Congress and DOJ are outraged at Cohen's disrespecting them by perjuring himself repeatedly," Giuliani said.

There is nothing inherently improper about a subject in a criminal investigation seeking a pardon from a president given the president's wide latitude in granting them. But investigators want to know if the prospects of presidential pardons were somehow offered or used inappropriately.

It is hard to untangle the conflicting narratives given the unreliability of some of the central characters. Cohen, for instance, has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and saw his credibility attacked last week by Republican lawmakers. Davis has had to walk back at least one bombshell assertion over the last year  that his client could tell investigators that Trump had advance knowledge of a Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign  and Giuliani has fumbled facts and repeatedly moved the goalposts about what sort of behavior by the president would constitute collusion or a crime.

Congressional investigators, meanwhile, appear to be focusing on presidential powers as a significant line of questioning in their probes.

The House Judiciary Committee, which is conducting a probe into possible obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power, sent letters to the FBI, the Justice Department and others for documents related to possible pardons for Cohen, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. All three have been charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign.

Congressional investigators are also looking into whether anyone on Trump's legal team tried quietly to reach out to Cohen last year before he turned on the president and as his legal problems mounted.

According to a person familiar with the matter, two New York attorneys who claimed to be in contact with Giuliani reached out to Cohen after the raids on his office and hotel room. The attorneys said they could join his legal team in order to be a conduit to Trump's lawyers, the person said.

The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The attorneys did not explicitly discuss a potential pardon, but investigators are looking into whether it was an implicit communication that Cohen's chances of a pardon could be increased if he hired the attorneys, the person said. The lawyers later sent Cohen a bill for their legal service, which he didn't pay, according to the person.

Giuliani, who did not immediately return a call for comment, has raised the prospect of pardons in the past.

In June, he said the president might pardon Manafort and others who were ensnared in the Russia investigation if he believed they were treated "unfairly." But, he said, that would happen only after Mueller's work wraps up.

"The president is not going to issue pardons in this investigation," Giuliani said. "Because you just cloud what is becoming now a very clear picture of an extremely unfair investigation with no criminality involved in it of any kind."

But, he added, "When it's over, hey, he's the president of the United States. He retains his pardon power. Nobody is taking that away from him. He can pardon, in his judgment."

Cohen has become a key figure in congressional investigations since turning on his former boss and cooperating with the special counsel. During last week's public testimony, he called Trump a con man, a cheat and a racist.

Trump, in turn, has said Cohen "did bad things unrelated to Trump" and "is lying in order to reduce his prison time."

In his statement on Thursday, Davis tried to downplay the contradiction between his statement and Cohen's testimony. He said when he was brought on to Cohen's legal team in June, his client "authorized me as a new lawyer to say publicly Mr. Cohen would never accept a pardon from President Trump even if offered."

"That continues to be the case," Davis said. "And his statement at the Oversight Hearing was true  and consistent with his post joint defense agreement commitment to tell the truth."

Davis did not immediately respond Thursday to text messages and emails seeking additional information.

Separately on Thursday, Cohen filed a lawsuit in New York City claiming the Trump Organization broke a promise to pay his legal bills and owes at least $1.9 million to cover the cost of his defense. Cohen alleges the company breached a contract when it stopped paying his mounting legal fees after he began cooperating with federal prosecutors in their investigations.

The Trump Organization didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment, and Cohen's attorneys declined to comment on the suit.

Cohen is headed to prison in May after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and other crimes.

Federal prosecutors have said Trump directed Cohen to arrange payments to buy the silence of two women  porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal  who had alleged they had sex with Trump. Trump has denied having an affair.

Cohen also admitted that he lied to Congress about the duration of negotiations in 2016 over a Trump real estate project in Moscow.

The Senate intelligence committee is interested in re-interviewing Donald Trump Jr. and other witnesses after Cohen spoke to the committee last week, a person familiar with the probe said. The person wasn't authorized to discuss the confidential investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

The committee first interviewed Trump Jr. in 2017, when he told the panel he was only "peripherally aware" of the proposal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen told a House committee last week that he had briefed Trump Jr. approximately 10 times about the plan.
Sharif, 69, is serving seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case at the Kot Lakhpat Jail since December 2018.

Lahore: Pakistan's deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday refused to be relocated to a hospital for treatment despite requests by his family members, saying he prefers an "honourable death" over kneeling to "politics being done" by the government in the name of his treatment.

Sharif, 69, is serving seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case at the Kot Lakhpat Jail since December 2018. "I will not accept the PTI government's disdainful behaviour of pushing me around in the name of medical treatment from one irrelevant hospital to another. I prefer honourable death over kneeling to the Imran Khan government's derogatory exploits," Sharif told his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif at Kot Lakhpat jail.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo has suffered four angina attacks last week, his daughter Maryam Nawaz said on Tuesday. The Sharif family is complaining that the government is not providing health facilities to the former premier who has serious health complications. Sharif said the government is doing political victimization "in the name of medical treatment". "The government has not provided any facility for appropriate treatment and is bent on just irritating and bothering to serve its prejudicial designs," he said.

Maryam said Sharif had "refused to go to any hospital despite suffering from a serious medical condition". Earlier in a tweet, she said she took her grandmother along with her to convince her father to let the government shift him to a hospital. However, he "declined the request" and told his mother to "go home, pray to God, and leave the rest to the will of the almighty".
The first and foremost step Pakistan  and we mean both the army and government  must take is acknowledge together the presence of terrorist groups in the country and not feign innocence when the world blames it for the attacks in Kashmir.

No matter how many times China comes out in support of Pakistan, claiming that the country was "making efforts and exercising policies to combat terrorism" on its soil, regardless of how many other nations differ in this opinion, Pakistan's biggest enemy in this regard is its own inconsistency. The government and military making contradictory claims with regard to terrorism only harms Pakistan's own image and further embeds its "safe haven" reputation.

On Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Inter-Services Public Relations  the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces  Asif Ghafoor claimed that the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) does not exist in Pakistan. Saying that the JeM claim of responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in India had not been made from inside Pakistan, he said: "The Jaish-e-Mohammed does not exist in Pakistan. It has been proscribed by the United Nations and Pakistan, as well."

Ghafoor added that instead of blaming Pakistan, the world should assist and facilitate Pakistan in getting rid of such organisations. But a statement by former Pakistani president and army chief Pervez Musharraf complicated this stand on Wednesday, when he said in an interview that Pakistani intelligence had used JeM to carry out attacks in India during his tenure as president.

Moreover, Ghafoor's remarks are a complete contradiction to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's admission on 1 March that JeM chief Masood Azhar was, indeed, in Pakistan, but was "unwell to the extent that he can't leave his house". Two days later, there were unconfirmed reports that Azhar had died of liver cancer. Finally, on Wednesday, a purported audio clip of Azhar making a speech emerged in a bid to quell rumours of his death.

"Fear god," Azhar said in the speech, "and stop persecuting mosques, madrassas and the mujahideen. Remember, that when a Muslim flees the battle against hypocrites, the wrath of Allah is upon him... Fear not only the world community; fear god, too. God can protect you from the world community, but it cannot protect you from god."

His speech sheds doubts on Pakistan's claim of cracking down on terror groups on its soil. Late on Tuesday, Islamabad had announced that it had listed 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its supposed charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as banned terror organisations as against its earlier stand of keeping them on the list of groups "under watch". JuD and FIF were among the 70 organisations the Ministry of Interior proscribed under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, and whose assets have been frozen.

In another development, Islamabad announced that Azhar's brother Mufti Abdul Rauf and son Hamaz Azhar had been taken into "preventive custody". The two were among 44 members of banned groups who had been detained.

On paper, all such news may sound like Pakistan is making headway in taking action against terror groups based in the country. But Azhar being able to freely release a statement amid this "crackdown" says otherwise. "Even as I was working on this speech, some work related to a congregation came up. My energies were diverted to writing a speech," the JeM said.

The Government of Pakistan and the army need to get their stories straight before making statements that are bound to draw even more attention to the terror crisis in the country. One contradicting the other will only cast more doubts on the already murky claims by the government of taking action against terror groups that the army denies exists in Pakistan.

There's another aspect to this supposed crackdown on terror in the neighbouring country  the fear of being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and subsequently facing global economic sanctions. The FATF, which had grey-listed Pakistan in June 2018 for aiding funding for terrorist activities, had given Islamabad a list of recommendations to implement to get de-listed. The FATF's International Cooperation Review Group, which reviewed Pakistan's action plan recently, is not satisfied with the country's progress and has given it time till May to make headway in curbing terror financing.

It might be noted that any economic sanctions after being blacklisted by the FAFT would deny cash-strapped Pakistan access to loans from the International Monetary Fund.

The first and foremost step Pakistan  and we mean both the army and government  must take is acknowledge together the presence of terrorist groups in the country and not feign innocence when the world blames it for the attacks in Kashmir.

"We feel that now the ball is in India's court. Should they decide to escalate the situation, it will get worse," Ghafoor said, albeit incorrectly. The ball has always been in Pakistan's court. In no way can the situation with India improve unless Islamabad takes the onus to crack down  and *really* crack down  on terrorist organisations and their sources of financing in the country.
Law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today, the ministry said in a statement, adding that religious schools, hospitals and ambulances were taken over.

Pakistan has reportedly taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as it intensifies the crackdown on banned militant organisations, its interior ministry said on Thursday.

"Law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today," the ministry said in a statement, adding that religious schools, hospitals and ambulances were taken over.

The Pakistan Interior Ministry's statement read: In compliance with the National Action Plan (NAP), law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today. Besides, provincial governments have taken in their control management and administration of 182 seminaries (madaris), 34 schools/colleges, five hospitals, 163 dispensaries, 184 ambulances and eight offices. The operation against proscribed organisations is an ongoing process and continues under the National Action Plan 2014. Interior ministry is actively working in coordination with provincial governments and law enforcing agencies.

Pakistan began a crackdown against militant groups this week amid growing international pressure in the wake of a terror attack by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama which killed 40 personnel of India's paramilitary force.

However, Islamabad has denied aiding militants and says its push against banned outfits is unrelated to Indian and global pressure.

With inputs from Reuters
The US Department of the Treasury has designated JuD chief Hafiz Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a $10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.

Lahore: Pakistan authorities on Thursday sealed the Lahore headquarters of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its charity wing Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and detained over 120 suspected militants as part of an ongoing crackdown on banned groups.

"Under the National Action Plan (NAP), the government has taken complete control of the banned JuD and FIF headquarters in Lahore and Muridke," said a statement issued by the Punjab Home department Thursday.

It said the government has been taking over the control of the mosques, seminaries and other institutions of the banned organisations in the province. "We have intensified action against the banned organisations," it said.

A senior Punjab government official told PTI that the authorities have sealed the Jamia Masjid Qadsia, the Lahore headquarters of the JuD and FIF.

"At least six administrators of the Punjab government have been appointed at the Muridke headquarters of JuD and two in Lahore's," the official said, adding that the Jamia Qadsia has been sealed and will be opened once the administrators take over the charge.

The official said the Punjab government has also taken over the complete control of the JuD headquarters in Muridke, some 40-km from Lahore. However, the home department did not confirm it.

The official further said that Saeed and his supporters did not protest when the administration and police reached there to take over the control of the building.

"Saeed along with his supporters left for his Jauhar Town residence," he said. His whereabouts was not immediately known.

Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December, 2008. He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November 2017.

"The ongoing operation against the banned groups would continue till achievement of objectives under the National Action Plan (NAP) of 2014," Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi said, adding that efforts were being made to accelerate progress on NAP.

Some 44 activists of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and other banned groups, including the son and brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, had already been taken into custody.

The Ministry of Interior said law enforcement agencies had taken 121 people into preventive detention as of Thursday in compliance with the NAP, formulated after the Taliban attack on an army school in Peshawar in 2014 that killed nearly 150 people, mostly students.

According to Punjab police, the government has seized control of 160 seminaries, 32 schools, two colleges, four hospitals, 178 ambulances and 153 dispensaries associated with JuD and FIF in Punjab.

The police confirmed that it has taken over more than 500 properties of the banned outfits and arrested more than 120 of their activists. "Most of the assets belonged to JuD and JeM," said an official of the provincial police.

Interestingly, the government had taken over the control of the JuD properties including its headquarters several years ago, but subsequently handed over to Saeed and company when the 'international pressure' eased.

At least 56 seminaries and facilities being run JuD and FIF in southern Sindh province have been taken over by authorities.

"The Sindh government also decided to move against the proscribed organisations after the crackdown started by the Centre," advisor to the Sindh Chief Minister on Information and Law, Barrister Murtaza Wahab said.

The confiscation of properties of JuD and FIF comes after Pakistan formally placed them in the list of banned organisations on Tuesday.

He said the schools, medical facilities and seminaries being run by the JuD and FIF will now be run by the provincial government.

The advisor said the two banned outfits were running their seminaries, schools and medical units in many parts of Sindh including Karachi, Matiari, Jamshoro, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Badin, Naushero Feroz and Shahdadkot.

According to officials, JuD's network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance service. The two groups have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.

The US Department of the Treasury has designated its chief Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a $10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.
Hafiz Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008 after the Mumbai terror attack in which 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists killed 166 people.

New York: Pakistan turned down the visa request of a UN team which wanted to interview Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed on his application for removing his name from the UNSC sanctions list, according to UN sources.

Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008 after the Mumbai terror attack in which 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists killed 166 people. He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November 2017.

A representative from the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN informed the UN Ombudsperson in October last year that no visa would be issued for their travel to Pakistan, UN sources told PTI.

The UN Ombudsperson reviews requests from UN-designated individuals and entities to be removed from the UN Sanctions Committee listing.

Sources said the Pakistani representative had sought that the visit be postponed till the beginning of 2019 but the Ombudsperson had made it clear that such an extension for the travel could not be given due relevant UNSC provisions.

The UN has rejected an appeal of Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, to remove his name from its list of banned terrorists, they said.

Notably, the decision comes at a time when UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee has received a new request to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the strike.

The UN decision to reject appeal of Saeed, also the LeT founder, came after India provided detailed evidence including "highly confidential information" about his activities, sources told PTI.

They said that the verdict of the global body was conveyed to Saeed's lawyer earlier this week.
Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here.
By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Police blew up a parcel sent to a Scottish university on Wednesday and said they were linking it to three devices sent to major transport hubs in London the day before. Scottish police said they had carried out a controlled explosion on a package sent to the University of Glasgow.

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - Police blew up a parcel sent to a Scottish university on Wednesday and said they were linking it to three devices sent to major transport hubs in London the day before.

Scottish police said they had carried out a controlled explosion on a package sent to the University of Glasgow.

White postal bags containing small parcel bombs were sent to London's Heathrow and City Airport, and Waterloo - the capital's busiest train station - on Tuesday. One device caught fire when opened but they did not injure anyone and services continued at all three hubs.

"Due to similarities in the package, its markings and the type of device that was recovered in Glasgow, we are treating it as being linked to the three packages we're investigating in London," said Commander Clarke Jarrett from London's Counter Terrorism Command.

"We are working very closely with our colleagues from Police Scotland and both investigations are being run in tandem."

Dean Haydon, Britain's senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, told reporters earlier on Wednesday that the London devices were small and not intended to kill but would have required some specialist knowledge to build. There has been no claim of responsibility.

They were posted from the Republic of Ireland and Ireland's police service is also helping the investigation.

"At the moment there is nothing to indicate motivation, sender, ideology," Haydon said. "So I cannot confirm that it is linked to any Northern Ireland-related terrorist groups."

The United Kingdom is on its second-highest level of terrorism alert, after five attacks in London and Manchester killed a total of 36 people in 2017.

Security services see an attack by international terrorists as "highly likely", but the risk of Northern Ireland-related terrorism in mainland Britain is graded as "moderate", meaning an attack is viewed as possible but not likely.

Conflict over the British-ruled province of Northern Ireland killed thousands from the late 1960s until the Good Friday peace agreement in 1998, mostly in Northern Ireland but also in mainland Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Small groups opposed to Agreement have remained active since.

Haydon said police could not rule out there being further devices, and warnings had been given to other transport hubs and mail handling companies.

Police to the east of London said they had sent for the bomb squad after a suspicious package was sent to the University of Essex, prompting them to evacuate some buildings and put a cordon in place. They later said the package posed no risk.

A suspicious parcel outside an entrance to parliament in London also caused a scare until police deemed it harmless.

(Additional reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Stephen Addison and John Stonestreet)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Martha McSally, 52, who spent 26 years in the Air Force and commanded a fighter squadron, revealed the attack in emotional remarks during a Senate subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military

Washington: Arizona Senator Martha McSally, the first woman to fly in combat for the US Air Force, said Wednesday that she had been raped by a superior officer while in the service.

McSally, 52, who spent 26 years in the Air Force and commanded a fighter squadron, revealed the attack in emotional remarks during a Senate subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military.

"I am also a military sexual assault survivor but unlike so many brave survivors I didn't report being sexually assaulted," McSally said.

"Like so many women and men I didn't trust the system at the time," she said. "I blame myself. I was ashamed and confused. And I thought I was strong but felt powerless.

"The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways," the first-term Republican senator said. "And in one case I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer." McSally said she kept quiet about the assault for many years.

"But later in my career, as the military grappled with scandals and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know  I too was a survivor," she said.

McSally said she considered leaving the military after the assault. "I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years over my despair," she said. "Like many victims I felt the system was raping me all over again.

"But I didn't quit," she said. "I decided to stay and continue to serve and fight and lead, to be a voice from within the ranks for women and then in the House and then in the Senate."

McSally lost a close race in November to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema but was later appointed by the Arizona governor to fill the seat once held by John McCain, who died in August.

She is expected to contend for the Senate again in 2020 and may face a potentially tough race against former astronaut and US Navy veteran Mark Kelly, who is seeking the Democratic nomination.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, who is also a military veteran, revealed earlier in 2019 that she had been raped while in college.
By Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be very disappointed in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports about rebuilding at a rocket launch site in North Korea were true.Two U.S. think tanks and South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday that work was underway to restore part of North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station even as Trump met with Kim at a second summit in Hanoi last week

By Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be very disappointed in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports about rebuilding at a rocket launch site in North Korea were true.Two U.S. think tanks and South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday that work was underway to restore part of North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station even as Trump met with Kim at a second summit in Hanoi last week.

"I would be very disappointed if that were happening," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, when asked if North Korea was breaking a promise.

"Well, we're going to see. Its too early to see. ... It's a very early report. We're the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I don't think I will be, but we'll see what happens. We'll take a look. It'll ultimately get solved."

North Korea began work to dismantle a missile engine test stand at Sohae last year after pledging to do so in a first summit with Trump in June.

A second summit between Trump and Kim broke down last week in Hanoi over differences on how far North Korea was willing to limit its nuclear programme and the degree of U.S. willingness to ease sanctions.

"We have a very nasty problem there. We have to solve a problem," Trump said, while adding in apparent reference to Kim: "The relationship is good."

Trump, eager for a big foreign policy win on North Korea that has eluded predecessors for decades, has repeatedly stressed his good relationship with Kim. He went as far late last year as saying they "fell in love," but the bonhomie has failed so far to bridge the wide gap between the two sides.

Satellite images seen by 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea project, showed that structures on the Sohae launch pad had been rebuilt sometime between Feb. 16 and March 2, Jenny Town, managing editor at the project and an analyst at the Stimson Center think tank, told Reuters.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank released a separate report, also citing satellite imagery, that concluded North Korea was "pursuing a rapid rebuilding" at the site.

News of the work at Sohae was first reported by Yonhap, which quoted South Korea lawmakers on details of a briefing by the countrys National Intelligence Service on Tuesday.

The White House did not immediately respond when asked what Trump meant by "we're the ones that put it out," but U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies cooperate very closely.

A U.S. government source said the work at Sohae likely began before the summit, which was preceded by a series of lower-level talks in February.

SANCTIONS WARNING

Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, warned on Tuesday that new sanctions could be introduced if North Korea did not scrap its nuclear weapons programme.The breakdown of the Feb. 27-28 summit and Bolton's sanctions threat have raised questions about the future of the dialogue the Trump administration has pursued in an effort to persuade North Korea to abandon a nuclear weapons programme that threatens the United States.

Some analysts have interpreted the work at Sohae as an attempt by North Korea to put pressure on Washington to agree to a deal rather than as a definite move to resume tests there.

The U.S. government source, who did not want to be identified, said North Korea's plan in rebuilding at the site could have been to conspicuously stop again as a demonstration of good faith if a summit agreement was struck, while the work would represent a sign of defiance or resolve if the meeting failed.

Democrat Ed Markey, ranking member of the Senate East Asia Subcommittee, expressed his concern about the reports, saying that Trump had held Sohae up as evidence that his approach to dealing with Kim was working.

"North Koreas apparent work at this launch site raises the troubling possibility that yet again Kim Jong Un is more interested in garnering concessions than conducting serious, good faith efforts to denuclearize, the senator said.

Markey said it was imperative to restart working-level talks with North Korea as soon as possible and added that if Pyongyang were to abandon diplomacy the United States should be ready to consider additional ways to apply pressure.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he was hopeful he would send a delegation to North Korea in the coming weeks but that he had "no commitment yet."

While North Korea's official media said last week that Kim and Trump had decided at the summit to continue talks, its vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, told reporters Kim "might lose his willingness to pursue a deal" and questioned the need to continue.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said earlier on Wednesday that the United States was "continuing to have ongoing conversations with North Korea," but did not elaborate.

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, who led pre-summit negotiations, met with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Washington on Wednesday to discuss future steps, a State Department official said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, David Alexander and Tim Ahmann; editing by Richard Chang, Jonathan Oatis and Sonya Hepinstall)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be very disappointed in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports about rebuilding at a rocket launch site in North Korea were true.Two U.S.

By Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be very disappointed in North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports about rebuilding at a rocket launch site in North Korea were true.Two U.S. think tanks and South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday that work was underway to restore part of North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station even as Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a second summit in Hanoi last week.

"I would be very disappointed if that were happening," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, when asked if North Korea was breaking a promise.

Well were going to see. Its too early to see. ... It's a very early report. We're the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I don't think I will be, but we'll see what happens. We'll take a look. It'll ultimately get solved."

North Korea began work to dismantle a missile engine test stand at Sohae last year after pledging to do so in a first summit with Trump in June.

A second summit between Trump and Kim broke down last week in Hanoi over differences on how far North Korea was willing to limit its nuclear program and the degree of U.S. willingness to ease sanctions.

"We have a very nasty problem there. We have to solve a problem," Trump said, while adding in apparent reference to Kim: "The relationship is good."

Satellite images seen by 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea project, showed that structures on the Sohae launch pad had been rebuilt sometime between Feb. 16 and March 2, Jenny Town, managing editor at the project and an analyst at the Stimson Center think tank, told Reuters.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank released a separate report, also citing satellite imagery, that concluded North Korea was "pursuing a rapid rebuilding" at the site.

New of the rebuilding work at Sohae was first reported by Yonhap news agency, which quoted South Korea lawmakers on details of a briefing by the countrys National Intelligence Service in Seoul on Tuesday.

A U.S. government source said the work at Sohae likely began before the summit, which was preceded by a series of lower-level preparatory talks in February.

Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, warned on Tuesday that new sanctions could be introduced if North Korea did not scrap its nuclear weapons program.The breakdown of the Feb. 27-28 summit and Bolton's sanctions threat have raised questions about the future of a dialogue process the Trump administration has pursued in an effort to persuade North Korea to abandon a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States.

Some analysts have interpreted the work at Sohae as an attempt by North Korea to put pressure on Washington to agree to a deal rather than as a definite move to resume tests there.

The U.S. government source, who did not want to be otherwise identified, said North Korea's plan in rebuilding at the site could have been to conspicuously stop again as a demonstration of good faith if a summit agreement was struck, while the work would represent a sign of defiance or resolve if the meeting failed.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he was hopeful he would send a delegation to North Korea in the coming weeks but that he had "no commitment yet."

While North Korea's official media said last week that Kim and Trump had decided at the summit to continue talks, its vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, told reporters Kim "might lose his willingness to pursue a deal" and questioned the need to continue.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said earlier on Wednesday that the United States was "continuing to have ongoing conversations with North Korea," but did not elaborate.

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun, who led pre-summit negotiations with North Korea, met with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Washington on Wednesday to discuss future steps, a State Department official said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, David Alexander and Tim Ahmann; editing by Richard Chang and Jonathan Oatis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that revoked an Obama-era policy requiring U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that revoked an Obama-era policy requiring U.S. intelligence officials to report civilian deaths in drone strikes outside of active war zones.

President Barack Obama put the policy in place in 2016 as part of an effort to be more transparent about drone strikes after he had dramatically increased their use against Islamist militants.

Trump's rescinding of the policy was done with little fanfare. The White House released the text of his executive order.

This action eliminates superfluous reporting requirements, requirements that do not improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission," an administration official said.

The Obama policy had required the U.S. director of national intelligence to release by May 1 each year an unclassified summary of the number of strikes undertaken by the United States against militant targets outside areas of active hostilities.

The United States government is fully committed to complying with its obligations under the law of armed conflict, minimizing, to the greatest extent possible, civilian casualties, and acknowledging responsibility when they unfortunately occur during military operations," the administration official said.

U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat who chairs the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, in a statement called the requirement issued by Obama "an important measure of transparency," and said "there is simply no justification" for cancelling it.

"Todays decision underscores the need for Congress to make this reporting mandatory, something I intend to pursue through the Intelligence Authorization Act this year," he said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Editing by Susan Thomas and Leslie Adler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Hafiz Saeed filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, for removal of the ban.

New Delhi: In a significant development, the United Nations (UN) has rejected an appeal of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, to remove his name from its list of banned terrorists, government sources said on Thursday.

Notably, the decision comes at a time when UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee has received a new request to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar after the Pulwama terror attack in which over 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the strike.

The UN decision to reject appeal of Saeed, also a co-founder of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), came after India provided detailed evidence including "highly confidential information" about his activities, sources told PTI, adding that the verdict of the global body was conveyed to his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza earlier this week.

Saeed, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation JuD, was banned on 10 December, 2008 by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) after the horrific Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.

The JuD chief had filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, for removal of the ban.

Independent Ombudsperson Daniel Kipfer Fasciati, appointed by the UN to examine all such requests, has informed Saeed's lawyer that it has been decided following examination of his request that that he will "continue as a listed individual", sources said.

The Ombudsperson recommended that after gathering all information, it has been decided to continue with the ban as "there was sufficient information to provide a reasonable and credible basis for continuing the listing," sources said, adding the recommendation was endorsed by the UN's Sanctions Committee.

"Saeed's request was opposed by India as well as other countries that had originally listed him - US, UK and France," sources said.

Significantly, Pakistan did not oppose the appeal despite claims by Imran Khan-led government that it was taking action against the banned terrorists and their organisations in what they call a Naya Pakistan (new Pakistan).

In February, the US, the UK and France made a fresh bid at the UN to ban JeM head Masood Azhar, who is also residing in Pakistan as per Pakistani foreign minister's admission. JeM is already a UN-designated terrorist organisation.

Asked about the delay in deciding on Saeed's appeal, which normally takes six months from the time it is registered with the UN, sources said the delay happened because the Ombudsperson got changed before completion of the time period and then some time was taken to appoint a new one.
The measure, announced by President Donald Trump's national security advisor John Bolton, is the latest tightening of screws in Washington's campaign to force Maduro from power.

Washington: The United States will impose sanctions on foreign institutions helping to finance embattled far-left Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the White House said Wednesday.

The measure, announced by President Donald Trump's national security advisor John Bolton, is the latest tightening of screws in Washington's campaign to force Maduro from power. "The United States is putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions for being involved in facilitating illegitimate transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network," Bolton said in a statement.

Trump is leading international pressure to have Maduro replaced by opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington recognizes as the official interim president. The government is already trying to cripple Maduro's access to finances via sanctions on state oil company PDVSA and handing control to Guaido of Venezuelan bank accounts in the United States.

More than 50 other countries have recognized Guaido as interim president, but Maduro has powerful backing from Russia and China. He describes the US-led campaign against him as an imperialist plot to seize control of the oil-rich nation. Years of hard left rule have transformed once thriving Venezuela into an economic basket case, with severe shortages of basic food and medicine.
Venezuelas opposition leader Juan Guaido urged Europe to tighten financial sanctions against the government of Nicolas Maduro after it expelled Germanys ambassador, a magazine quoted him as saying on Thursday.

Berlin: Venezuelas opposition leader Juan Guaido urged Europe to tighten financial sanctions against the government of Nicolas Maduro after it expelled Germanys ambassador, a magazine quoted him as saying on Thursday.

It was the latest flashpoint in a global showdown over Venezuela, with Western nations largely recognising Guaido as the legitimate head of state, but Russia and China still supporting the socialist Maduro and urging non-interference.

This action represents a threat against Germany, Guaido told Der Spiegel after Caracas declared ambassador Martin Kriener persona non grata. He and other diplomats had welcomed home Guaido at Caracas airport earlier this week.

I hope that Europe reacts sharply to this serious threat against an ambassador, Guaido added. Above all, they should tighten financial sanctions against the regime.

Germany is among the many nations backing Guaidos plan to install a transitional government ahead of free elections.

He denounces Maduro as a usurper whose re-election last year resulted from a sham vote. Maduro says he is a victim of a US-led coup attempt and economic war.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Wednesday called Venezuelas action incomprehensible and said Germany and its European partners would continue to back Guaido.

He said the ambassador would be returning home for consultations. Guaido, however, said he had asked Kriener to stay, since Maduro was not empowered to expel a diplomat as he was occupying the post of president illegally.

The international community should act to prevent Maduro using Venezuelan taxpayer funds to kill critics of the regime and indigenous peoples, as is already happening at the border to Brazil, he said in reference to recent violence there.
The foreign ministry said Daniel Martin Kreiner had 48 hours to leave for 'interference' in Venezuela's internal affairs. He had greeted Guaido at Caracas airport on his return to the country on Monday.

Caracas: Venezuela expelled Germany's ambassador on Wednesday, hitting out at international support for opposition leader Juan Guaido as the US stepped up sanctions in a bid to force out his rival, President Nicolas Maduro, despite UN criticism.

The foreign ministry said Daniel Martin Kreiner had 48 hours to leave for "interference" in Venezuela's internal affairs. He had greeted Guaido at Caracas airport on his return to the country on Monday.

Guaido said in a speech to opposition lawmakers that Kriener's expulsion will be seen "as a threat to the free world." Kriener was among more than a dozen foreign representatives to welcome the National Assembly leader  recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries  but so far the only one deemed "persona non grata".

Kriener had helped to try to bring humanitarian aid to the country, he said, adding: "It seems that the Maduro regime does not forgive anyone who wants to help Venezuela." Berlin protested the decision, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas saying that kicking Kriener out only "aggravates the situation".

Caracas "is sending a message to the international community that such frontal support would have consequences, but it also carries a risk," said Venezuelan analyst Mariano de Alba.

Meanwhile, Washington tightened the screws on its campaign of sanctions to force Maduro from power, revoking the visas of 77 people linked to the regime, including officials and their families. "We will continue to hold all of the Maduro regime accountable until democracy and libertad (liberty) are fully restored," US vice president Mike Pence said in a speech.

Last week, Washington revoked 49 visas from Venezuelan figures.

National Security Advisory John Bolton said the US also is putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions if they facilitate "illegitimate transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network." The US is already trying to cripple Maduro's access to finances via sanctions on state oil company PDVSA and handing control to Guaido of Venezuelan bank accounts in the United States.

However, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said sanctions have worsened Venezuela's crippling economic and political crisis, which has forced 2.7 million people to flee since 2015. "Venezuela clearly illustrates the way violations of civil and political rights  including failure to uphold fundamental freedoms, and the independence of key institutions  can accentuate a decline of economic and social rights," said Bachelet, a former president of Chile. "This situation has been exacerbated by sanctions," she said in her annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Maduro has repeatedly said his socialist government is the victim of an "economic war" driven by US "imperialism"  with sanctions the weapon of choice to try to topple him.

Guaido, 35, returned home to a hero's welcome on Monday, having defied a ban on leaving the country to embark on a 10-day tour of South American allies. He remains free despite the threat of arrest by the government. "They thought the pressure had reached its zenith, but it's only just beginning," Guaido told reporters.

On Tuesday, a national holiday, he met public sector union leaders. "Public sector workers have lost practically all their rights, we have no other option but to call for a civic strike," said Guaido, without giving further details.

Maduro, meanwhile, pressed his supporters to hold "anti-imperialist" marches Saturday to counter fresh protests planned by Guaido. "Today more than ever, we are victorious against the conspiracy, against blackmail, while a crazy minority continues with their hatred," he said in his first public comments since Guaido's return.

When he returned to Caracas  his latest challenge to Maduro's authority  Guaido announced to tens of thousands of supporters his plans for new protests on Saturday. He has vowed to set up a transitional government and hold new elections.

As part of his challenge to Maduro, Guaido is attempting to take control of the state bureaucracy, which he considers to have been "kidnapped" through blackmail and persecution. Unions from the oil industry, basic services, state banks and local government took part in Tuesday's meeting, union leader Ana Yanez told AFP. "The public administration is practically paralyzed. In the town halls, people only go to work three days a week and even then barely half the day," said Yanez.

In a speech at the mausoleum of his predecessor Hugo Chavez on the sixth anniversary of the socialist firebrand's death, Maduro called on his supporters to take to the streets on Saturday. That date marks "four years since" then-US president Barack Obama first announced sanctions against the socialist government.

Maduro has consistently called his own counter-demonstration every time Guaido announces a protest.

During his travels, Guaido met Pence and the leaders of Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and Ecuador.
DEIR AL-ZOR PROVINCE, Syria (Reuters) - Thousands of people could still be left inside Islamic State's last enclave in eastern Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said, as the waves of evacuations from the tiny area continued on Thursday. The SDF has said it wants to ensure all civilians have been evacuated before launching a final assault on the besieged enclave of Baghouz

DEIR AL-ZOR PROVINCE, Syria (Reuters) - Thousands of people could still be left inside Islamic State's last enclave in eastern Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said, as the waves of evacuations from the tiny area continued on Thursday.

The SDF has said it wants to ensure all civilians have been evacuated before launching a final assault on the besieged enclave of Baghouz. It is the last shred of populated territory held by Islamic State, which once controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria.

"We are still hearing about the presence of thousands inside Baghouz," SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali told al-Hadath television.

"We expect a fierce battle later on after the end of the civilian evacuation, given that those that will remain in Baghouz are the ones brimming with salafi jihadi ideology and the ones for whom surrender is not an option," he said.

Even with its defeat at Baghouz looming large, Islamic State is still widely assessed to represent a security threat, with a foothold in patches of remote territory and the ability to mount guerrilla attacks.

Many thousands of people, many of them the families of Islamic State fighters, have poured out of Baghouz over the last several weeks. Hundreds of Islamic State militants have also surrendered, the SDF says.

One of those men emerging from Baghouz, Abu Mujahid, told Reuters he came to Syria in 2015 from China's far western region of Xinjiang, also referred to as east Turkestan, which is home to a sizeable minority Muslim population.

"I came from China to here (Syria) because of unfairness. There is a lot of injustice in China and we cannot live with it," he said.

Another man, Abu Ali Shishani, said he had come from the Russian region of Chechnya.

The SDF announced it was launching a final battle for the enclave last month but has slowed its attack to allow civilians to leave.

SDF commander Adnan Afrin said on Thursday he hoped the evacuations would "be completed today".

'FAR FROM OVER'

On Wednesday the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that monitors the war said preparations were underway in eastern Syria to announce the end of Islamic State there. But Colonel Sean Ryan, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition backing the SDF, said the international force had "learned not to put any timetables on the last battle".

Islamic State suffered its major military defeats in 2017 when it was driven from the Iraqi city of Mosul and its Syrian headquarters at Raqqa by local forces supported by a U.S.-led international coalition.

The head of the U.S. military's Central Command, General Joseph Votel, said on Thursday the reduction of Islamic State's territorial footprint was a "monumental military accomplishment", but the fight was "far from over".

"What we are seeing now is not the surrender of ISIS as an organisation," he told a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

Rather, he said, it was the group's "calculated decision to preserve the safety of their families and preservation of their capabilities by taking their chances in camps for internally displaced persons and going to ground in remote areas and waiting for the right time to resurge".

Votel, who oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, said he was under no pressure to withdraw forces from Syria by any specific date, after President Donald Trump ordered the drawdown of most U.S. troops from Syria.

(Reporting by Rodi Said and Tom Perry in Beirut and Aboud Hammam in Deir al-Zor; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Tom Perry and Lisa Barrington; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Frances Kerry)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 7 Pro under the new Redmi branding in India last week starting at Rs. 13,999. We already brought you the first impressions of the phone, here we have the camera samples from the phone. The phone packs a 48-megapixel primary rear camera with single LED Flash, f/1.79 aperture, 1/2.0 Sony IMX586 sensor, 0.8m pixel size, 6P lens has support for PDAF, EIS along with a secondary 5-megapixel camera to capture depth information in portrait shots. It has a 13-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture.

The camera UI is familiar with other Xiaomi smartphones running MIUI 10 with flash, HDR, AI (that can detect 33 scene categories for rear and 12 scene categories for the front camera), color modes (Normal, Vivid, Film, Amour, Latte, Sun, Cookie, Calm, Soda, Gourmet, Glow, Berries, B&W and Fade) on the top. Pressing the menu option shows timer, tilt-shift, straighten, group selfie, Google lens and 48MP option. There is a front camera toggle on the bottom along with option to select modes such as Short Video, Video, Photo, Portrait, Night, Square, Panorama and Pro mode to adjust white balance, shutter speed (1/1000s to 32 seconds). Beautify option (that can be from 1 to 5) is available for both front and rear cameras.

Coming to the image quality, daylight shots came out brilliant with good dynamic range, thanks to the large sensor. HDR shots are better, and macro shots are good as well with good amount of details. You can easily enable the 48MP mode that offers a lot of details, but the images are about 15MB in size. Dual camera portrait shots were good and the edge detection was good as well. There is an option to adjust the blur live after it is shot, and there is also light trails and studio lighting options.

Low-light shots are good, thanks to 4-in-1 Super Pixel technology that lets the cameras sensor hardware combine 4 pixels into a single 1.6m large pixel, and the night mode is even better making the images brighter offering more details, but there is still noise when there is hardly any light. Images with flash are good and the flash is not overpowering. Daylight front camera shots are decent, but low-light shots are just average since it only uses screen flash. Portrait for front camera looks artificial since it uses software-based blur.

Check out the camera samples (Click the image to view the full resolution sample.)

It can record videos at 4k resolution at 30 fps, 1080p at 60 fps, and it also has slow motion 1080p or 720p resolution video recording at 120fps. Check out the video samples below.

Check out the complete Redmi Note 7 Pro review here.
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners ( BIP -0.41% ) has been shifting gears over the past year. One of the big changes is that the company sold one of its legacy businesses and is reinvesting those proceeds across several faster-growing opportunities.

The company's management team sees more changes ahead, which was evident in their comments on the fourth-quarter conference call. Here are three that investors should keep an eye on over the next year.

1. We're shifting our funding model

Like many high-yield dividend-paying companies, Brookfield has seen a shift in investor sentiment. Gone are the days that they'd gobble up new equity so that these companies could fund acquisitions and expansion projects. Instead, investors are pressing companies to retain more cash and fund expansion internally. "As such, we've taken strides in repositioning our funding model to become much more self-reliant in nature with respect to how we fund our growth going forward," according to CFO Bahir Manios. He noted that the company has:

Accomplished this by executing well on our asset rotation strategy, which is an integral component of our overall full investment cycle plan. The ability for us to buy and sell assets is important because it enables us to capture extra value for our unitholders. Our goal is to buy higher-growth businesses, where we can apply our operational expertise, thus earning higher returns. These investments are funded with proceeds generated from the sale of mature de-risked businesses to investors with lower return hurdles. The value arbitrage between the two can be quite meaningful to our results. This strategy, in addition to being an alternative source of funding, allows us to utilize the capital markets only on an opportunistic basis to fund our growth. Going forward, we expect the majority of our growth to be funded by the proceeds from asset sales and cash flows retained in the business.

By shifting its funding strategy, Brookfield believes that it can create more value for investors over the long term. Further, because it will only sell equity when "we have outsized investment opportunities or in circumstances when it makes financial sense to do so," it's more likely to do so at a higher valuation than if it was continually selling shares. That should enable the company to grow cash flow per unit at a faster pace in the future, which should enhance the value of its unit price.

Check out the latest earnings call transcript for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners.

2. We see opportunities in the U.S. midstream market

In addition to selling businesses as they mature, Brookfield Infrastructure remains focused on buying those that are earlier in their growth cycle. One area where it's currently on the prowl is the U.S. midstream segment. CEO Sam Pollock stated on the call that:

We do have an interest in U.S. midstream. We think that with the pullback in the MLP market and the lack of capital that many midstream owners in the states have today -- their lack of access -- provides great opportunities for us to joint-venture with various partners to help them build out some of their infrastructure. There are opportunities to do carve-outs, much like we did with Enbridge. And then, absolutely, to the extent that it makes sense from a value perspective, we will look at the public to private as well. Those are all part of our game plan going forward. And we think one of the best opportunities today is in various parts of the U.S. midstream sector.

Pollock noted that many U.S. midstream companies aren't able to issue equity at attractive valuations to fund growth, which has them looking at alternative financing sources. That's opening up opportunities for Brookfield to potentially partner with them on expansion projects, buy assets from them so that they can fund growth -- which is what it did with Enbridge by acquiring its Western Canadian midstream business -- or even purchasing entire companies. Given the amount of capital that energy infrastructure companies need to invest in the sector over the coming years, Brookfield should have no shortage of opportunities to expand its midstream asset base.

3. We like what we see in South America

Another area where Brookfield sees the potential to make growth-focused investments is in South America, particularly in Chile (where it recently sold an electric transmission business) and Peru (where it bought a water business). In discussing those two regions, Pollock stated:

We have a couple of interesting transactions that we are currently monitoring. They are smaller economies. And so these aren't what I would describe as highly active markets. But every year or two, very attractive businesses do come to market, either through privatizations or through sale from strategics. And as that happens, we tend to be one of the first calls, given our reputation in that market and our ability to get transactions closed. So I am optimistic about our ability to transact in those markets in the not-so-distant future.

As Pollock noted, opportunities in these regions don't come along all that often, which is why the company has worked hard to build its reputation so that it's one of the first calls sellers make. That gives Brookfield a leg up on the competition when bidding for businesses that it believes can create significant value for its investors.

Expect a more dynamic portfolio in the future

Brookfield Infrastructure tends to buy businesses that it means to hold for the long term. While that preference hasn't changed, the company will likely be a more active seller of assets in the future so that it can quickly pounce on higher-returning opportunities elsewhere. That seems to be the case in both U.S. midstream as well as South America, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see the company's portfolio undergo a few more changes in the coming year.
CARSTAR Tops The Collision Repair Industry With Female Franchise Partner Leadership

Across North America, More than 50 Women are at the Helm of CARSTAR Repair Facilities, Lending Unique Leadership and Management Skills to a Once Male-Dominated Industry

March 07, 2019 // Franchising.com // CHARLOTTE - At CARSTAR, North Americas largest premier network of independently owned and operated collision repair facilities, a unique group of leaders is shaping the success and growth of the organization - the women who are franchise partners, managers and generational successors at the more than 600 CARSTAR locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Today, more than 50 women are in leadership roles at CARSTAR locations, providing CARSTAR a distinct advantage in serving customers, insurance partners and the community. Many other women are working their way up the ranks, from technician and painters to customer service and estimating. The unique structure of CARSTAR, which offers independent owners an opportunity to grow and succeed as part of a dynamic North American network, provides female leaders the resources and support they need to compete in todays collision repair industry.

We have an amazing network of franchise partners across North America, and were proud to count more women among our franchise leadership than any other collision repair network, says Hannah Ross, Senior Marketing Director for CARSTAR. The female leadership within the CARSTAR family and their success is a testament to their hard work, commitment to serving their customers and communities as well as their unique skills and perspective that drives growth and achievement.

CARSTAR Pride

Stephanie Daviault is happy to be a part of the CARSTAR family and thinks quality, when she hears the CARSTAR name.

I am extremely proud to be a part of CARSTAR, wearing branded clothes and bringing my CARSTAR pin wherever I go, says Stephanie Daviault, partner at CARSTAR St-Remi Damherst in Quebec. Whenever my mom took her vehicle for a repair or tune-up, I never thought she was treated with respect. When I got into the industry, I made a commitment to be considerate to everyone, explain the repair process to customers and make sure they would feel confident in the service they are being provided. CARSTAR values are the same as ours - plus they provide the support we need while allowing us to independently own and operate our store.

Its in Their Blood

More and more women are taking over the CARSTAR locations started by their families, highlighting a distinctive benefit offered by CARSTAR - the ability to retain independent ownership while being part of a national network.

I started working at CARSTAR Alpine in 2002 for my step-dad, Gary Boesel, as a customer service representative, offers Kelly Domer, general manager at CARSTAR Jordan Road. Then in 2007 after CARSTAR Jordan Road opened I moved there and became the general manager. I have now been part of the team for 12 years and while I am not yet an owner, being a female really has never been an issue. Going to the different corporate events, EDGE Performance Group meetings and leadership classes, I was never made to feel any less than the male franchise partners. Although being a woman in collision repair is rare, I have always felt welcomed and looked at for the knowledge I have and never discounted just because I am a female in the industry.

Lisa Rush got her collision repair education from her father.

CARSTAR to me means knowledge, says Lisa Rush, who grew up in the family owned business, notes that her dad had her under the hood of a car from the time she could walk. Without the knowledge of our CARSTAR team and other CARSTAR owners, I would need to research and learn about changing technology myself. Pushed down to CARSTAR franchise partners, we receive data we need from both a technology standpoint and an insurance relationship standpoint, helping to keep us current. Thanks to CARSTAR I have the resources and knowledge to be OEM certified and to have the confidence to know I am putting my customers back in vehicles that not only look good but are safe as well.

Partners in Business and Love

For LaDonna Russom, a growing CARSTAR operation provided the opportunity to join forces with her husband Brad.

The CARSTAR Rutherford store opened in 2010 and we opened Dyersburg in 2013, notes Russom. It has been a great opportunity for my husband and I to work together. Attending CARSTARs annual conference and being able to network with other women in the industry allows you to feel you have a support system. Womens roles in this industry and the ability to balance work/life is very rewarding but challenging. It is good to know you have those you can lean on for encouragement and support.

Rosanna Lucarelli traded a career in banking for the body shop.

It has been a learning experience and it has been nice to work alongside my husband and support him, says Rosanna Lucarelli, who runs CARSTAR Stoney Creek in Ontario with her husband Domenic. I was an employee at a bank and decided to come in to this business to do bookkeeping and manage the office, all the while raising a family. By me taking care of the office, it took a load off Domenic's shoulders so that he could focus on the facility. As we have been here for many years, we have obviously seen a lot of changes. We have grown with the company and have seen a lot of changes, some good and some not so good. It has also had its challenges. I would not be in this line of work had it not been for my husband, but I definitely think more women should get involved in this industry in the trade side of it because there is so much opportunity.

Doni Collins combined a passion for cars with her husband Eds new CARSTAR location for the perfect marriage.

I grew up around cars, racing and my father had his own custom body shop until he retired, says Doni Collins, a partner at CARSTAR Fairborn and CARSTAR C&H Auto Body in Ohio. Ed and I had been dating for eight years when he decided to join CARSTAR. After asking me if I would help him because he was running the entire operation by himself, I agreed. I arranged to help him for one year; as Ive owned my own business since 1991. We were married in 2010 and 12 years later. here I am! Being a part of CARSTAR has allowed my husband and I to step away from the daily operations and focus on specific goals and operational margins. It has afforded us the opportunity to triple our sales and make many friends whom have made lasting impressions on me as an individual, our team and our business.

A Unique Approach to Team Management and Customer Service

Many of the women in the CARSTAR network agree that they bring a different perspective to their businesses.

Having a female presence in the store to think through a women's experience as a customer, from a clean and stocked washroom to a family friendly reception areas, can make a big difference, says Bernice Di Vito. These considerations extend even further to attract female employees to work in collision repair, both in the office and the production floor. Employees are your first customer so it is important to consider both female and male perspectives in every aspect of our business, if you want to be successful.

In a very male dominated industry it has been interesting to offer a female perspective in particular when it comes employees, notes Cathy Shirtliff, who joined CARSTAR Peterborough and CARSTAR Markham in Ontario to provide HR and marketing support for her husbands growing business. Training, feedback and retention need to be a primary focus of long-term success. It is getting more and more difficult to find the right people so when we get them, we need to focus on their development and engagement. I think women offer the soft skills that can be more challenging for men. Id also love to see more women in the technical role especially painters and preppers as they tend to be very detail oriented and would thrive in this industry.

A Sisterhood for Success

The women of CARSTAR have created their own network group to share insight and guidance, and even have breakout sessions during the annual CARSTAR conferences.

Being in this industry has been great as it has definitely pulled me outside of my comfort zone at moments visiting insurance partners, doing events to raise money for cystic fibrosis and other wonderful charities, says Ashley Van den Hoven, of CARSTAR Elmira in Ontario. I think having more women involved in the industry helps to end a stigma that can go along with an industry such as this. Raising three daughters and one son, we want them to know they can work in any industry as well as be an entrepreneur and succeed no matter what the odds are. Hard work, integrity and respect go a long way!

I started as a customer service representative for a dealership in Saskatoon and came to CARSTAR in 2004, says Esther Cantafio, owner with CARSTAR St. Albert, CARSTAR Edmonton East and CARSTAR Edmonton North in Alberta, Canada. I feel respected by my peers, my opinion has merit and is often requested. My daughter Melissa is also now an important part of our business. Her perspective is sharp and, of course, much different from mine as my approach to staff, customers, vendors and insurance partners has grown with her expertise in retail. I look up to many women at CARSTAR, like Bernice Di Vito from CARSTAR Barrie, who is the first to come to mind, but closer to home is my friend Lisa Murphy from CARSTAR Edmonton South East. Im so proud to have these women in my corner as we all grow and share knowledge amongst one another.

A Lifetime of Learning

Kathy Giles sees CARSTAR as a powerful resource in continuing the success of the four generations leading their business.

I am in the collision repair industry because I am the happy wife of the owner, said Kathy Giles, a partner with her husband at CARSTAR Fergus (Giles) in Ontario. D.G. Giles Auto Body Company Limited has been a family business since 1955. My husband's grandfather started the business, then his father took over, now my husband, and soon, our son will. Being a female partner with CARSTAR has been busy, educational and a lot of fun. CARSTAR opened many doors for our facility with computer programs, functions with our CARSTAR family, fundraising (cystic fibrosis) and more. CARSTAR has affected our business in many ways - being a preferred facility with insurance companies and becoming well known not only within our little city but with surrounding cities and nationwide. We are thankful our CARSTAR family will help guide us with the auto body future.

Candy Trapp seconds the value of CARSTARs resources to carry their business into the future of collision repair.

We purchased an existing CARSTAR franchise location, says Candy Trapp, who with her husband owns CARSTAR Utzig in Janesville, WI. Being involved with CARSTAR has helped us, and we enjoy having access to groups from different locations who meet and go over how they run their businesses. It is very helpful to get other ideas and have other CARSTAR owners look over what we are doing and give opinions on what we could do the make us better. It also has helped greatly to have them work with us on DRP programs. One facility can only do so much so having a big brother help and look over us is amazing. I think that joining CARSTAR would be a great advantage for a collision repair business to help them grow and become known by the community with the help of advertising and the insurance companies with all the DRP programs.

About CARSTAR

CARSTAR is North Americas largest network of independently owned and operated collision repair facilities with more than 600 locations in 35 states and 10 Canadian provinces. A part of the Driven Brands family of automotive aftermarket franchise brands, CARSTAR delivers national scale, premier vehicle repairs, repeatable outcomes and the industrys highest customer satisfaction ratings. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, CARSTAR has maintained its commitment to give back to the communities it serves through a variety of fundraising initiatives, including raising over $3 million for Cystic Fibrosis Canada, and has made fighting cystic fibrosis its cause, North American wide. For more information visit www.carstar.comand www.carstar.caand follow on Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Deborah Robinson

312.505.4336

drobinson@vmg1.com

SOURCE CARSTAR

###

Comments:

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Disqus
Electronic Arts will have EA Play again during this years E3. However, they will not have a press conference at the event.

This is fourth year that EA is doing an EA Play. This years EA Play will take place in Hollywood Palladium, starting on the night of June 7, and it will end on the 9th. EA Play will focus more on showing off multiple live streams and revealing new news on upcoming titles. Attending participants will also get early hands-on time with some of EAs future games.

EA Play is free to attend, and tickets will become available next month. If you plan to go, you better keep an eye out on when those tickets go live next month.

While this all sounds exciting for any fans of EAs games, theres catch. EA will not be having a press conference at E3. Instead their focus will be on EA Play, and showing off live streams during the first two days of the event.

EA isnt the first company to skip out on having a conference at this years E3. While EA will still have a presence with the event, Sony will not be attending the event whatsoever.

EA has revealed many new games in their EA Plays in the past, so it is most likely that they plan to announce more new games at this years EA plays. Possibilities could include the new Dragon Age game that Bioware teased during the most recent Game Awards. Speaking of Bioware, EA may also announce new content for Anthem.

E3 2019 will properly begin on Tuesday, June 11, and will end on Thursday, June 13. EA will have EA Play the weekend beforehand, Friday night to Sunday.
Chemical hydrogen storage system

Hydrogen is a highly attractive, but also highly explosive energy carrier, which requires safe, lightweight and cheap storage as well as transportation systems. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, have now developed a chemical storage system based on simple and abundant organic compounds. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the liquid hydrogen carrier system has a high theoretical capacity and uses the same catalyst for the charging-discharging reaction.

Hydrogen carries a lot of energy, which can be converted into electricity or power, and the only byproduct from combustion is water. However, as hydrogen is a gas, its energy density by volume is low. Therefore, pure hydrogen is handled mostly in its pressurized state or liquid form, but the steel tanks add weight, and its release and usage is hazardous.

Apart from tanks, hydrogen can also be masked and stored in a chemical reaction system. This is in principle the way nature stores and uses hydrogen: In biological cells, finely adjusted chemical compounds bind and release hydrogen to build up the chemical compounds needed by the cells. All these biological processes are catalyzed by enzymes.

Powerful catalysts mediating hydrogen conversion have also been developed in chemical laboratories. One example is the ruthenium pincer catalyst, a soluble complex of ruthenium with an organic ligand, developed by David Milstein and his colleagues. With the help of this catalyst, they explored the ability of a reaction system of simple organic chemicals to store and release hydrogen.

"Finding a suitable hydrogen storage method is an important challenge toward the 'hydrogen economy,'" the authors of the publication explained their motivation. Among the conditions that have to be fulfilled are safe chemicals, easy loading and unloading schemes, and as low a volume as possible.

Such a system, consisting of the chemical compounds ethylenediamine and methanol, was identified by Milstein and his colleagues. When the two molecules react, pure hydrogen is released. The other reaction product is a compound called ethylene urea. The theoretical capacity of this "liquid organic hydrogen carrier system" (LOHC) is 6.52 percent by weight, which is a very high value for a LOHC.

The scientists first set up the hydrogenation reaction. In this reaction, liquid hydrogen carriers ethylenediamine and methanol were formed from ethylene urea and hydrogen gas with hundred percent conversion when the ruthenium pincer catalyst was used.

Then they examined the hydrogen release reaction, which is the reaction of ethylenediamine with methanol. Here, the yield of hydrogen was close to 100 percent, but the reaction seemed to proceed over intermediate stages and ended with an equilibrium of products. Nevertheless, full re-hydrogenation was possible, which led the authors to conclude that they had indeed developed a fully rechargeable system for hydrogen storage. This system was made of liquid organic compounds that are abundant, cheap, easily handled, and not very hazardous.

Its advantage is the simple nature of the compounds and the high theoretical capacity. However, to be more efficient and greener, like setup in nature, reaction times must still be shorter and temperatures lower. For this, even "greener" catalysts should be examined.

###

(3442 characters)

About the Author

Dr. David Milstein is the Israel Matz Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Organic Chemistry of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. His research interests focus on the development of fundamental organometallic chemistry and its application to the design and implementation of new sustainable, green, catalytic reactions for synthesis and energy.

http://www. weizmann. ac. il/ Organic_Chemistry/ milstein/

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
(CNN)  Jeopardy host Alex Trebek is hoping for a victory as he wages a battle against cancer.

The longtime game show host on Wednesday announced he's been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in a video posted to the show's official YouTube account.

"Now, normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I'm going to fight this. And I'm going to keep working and with the love and support of my family and friends  and with the help of your prayers also  I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease," he said.

Pancreatic cancer, on average and across all stages, has a 5-year survival rate of 9%, according to the American Cancer Society.

Trebek, 78, has hosted Jeopardy since 1984, when the show began airing daily in syndication

Sony Pictures Television chairman Mike Hopkins said in a statement Wednesday, "If anyone can beat this it's Alex. He has our full support as he tackles this challenge head-on."

Trebek is known for his quick wit and sense of humor, which was on display in his announcement, despite the somber message at its center.

"Truth told, I have to [keep hosting] because under the terms of my contract, I have to host 'Jeopardy' for three more years," he joked. "So help me. Keep the faith, and we'll win. We'll get it done."

Upon news of his diagnosis, former Jeopardy champions, celebrity fans and even fellow game show hosts have expressed support for Trebek.

"The Sajak family is deeply saddened to hear of Alex Trebek's struggle with cancer," Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak wrote on Twitter. "Our hearts go out to him and his family. But there is no one I know who is stronger and more determined, and I would never bet against him. We, and the entire country, are pulling for you, Alex."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Alex Trebek announces he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer."
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
The Daily Beast about Tusheti: The Last Wild Place in Europe - GeorgianJournal
Samsung Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds now available in India for Rs 9,990 News oi-Vivek Samsung Galaxy Buds works with Android and iOS devices

Samsung officially launched the Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and the Galaxy S10e smartphones in India on the 6th of March. Along with the three flagship smartphones, the company officially launched the AirPods alternative, the Samsung Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds will be available via offline and online channels from 8th of March for a price of Rs 9,999. Users who buy the Galaxy S10, S10+, or the S10e will receive a voucher, which reduces the price of the Samsung Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds to Rs 2,990.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds here

Samsung Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds features

The Samsung Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds come in Black, White and Yellow colors. The outer-case acts as a reserve battery and is capable of wireless charging. The earbuds are powered by Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity with support for making calls, sending messages, and checking the battery life of the earbuds.

The earbuds come with a user replaceable ear tip, where a user can replace the ear tips, depending on the size of the ear canal. Each earbud has a 58 mAh Li-ion battery, which can offer up to 6 hours of continues music playback or 5 hours of talk time. The carry-case also has a 252 mAh Li-ion battery, which can charge the earbuds twice on a single charge. A quick 15 minutes of charging can offer up to 1.7 hours of music playback.

The case can be charged via a Qi-certified wireless charger or using the reverse charging feature on the Samsung Galaxy S10. Similarly, there is an USB type C port, which can be used for fast charging. The Samsung Galaxy Buds true wireless earbuds can be used with an Android or iOS smartphone with Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity and a minimum of 1.5 GB of RAM.

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
Upcoming Oppo flagship to have 10x hybrid zoom, SD 855 SoC and 4065mAh battery News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Oppos next flagship smartphone will have the 10x hybrid zoom technology launched by the company at MWC 2019.

Oppo appears to be all set to launch the next-generation flagship smartphone in the coming months. The company's Vice President S.Y. Brian has confirmed a few details pertaining to the next flagship device. He has taken to Weibo to confirm the key specifications including an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, 10x hybrid zoom and a 4065mAh battery.

Though the executive has confirmed a few specifications of this upcoming smartphone, there is no word regarding when we can expect this device to see the light of the day. Also, its name appears to be unknown for now.

The presence of the Snapdragon 855 SoC doesn't come as a huge surprise as all the latest flagship smartphone of 2019 will use this chipset. Given that the company unveiled the 10x hybrid zoom technology at the MWC 2019 in Barcelona, even this feature was expected to be a part of the next flagship smartphone from the company.

10x hybrid zoom feature

Talking about the 10x hybrid zoom feature, it uses a combination of lens array for the most extensive native zoom on smartphones. This will be one of the most interesting aspects of the device as it will come as a direct rival to the Nokia 9 PureView with a penta-lens camera system.

Other features of next Oppo flagship

Besides these features, the post shared by the Oppo VP also confirms that the smartphone will get the power from a capacious 4065mAh battery. This appears to be a decent battery capacity for a flagship smartphone. There are speculations that this alleged device could be the sequel to the Oppo Find X launched last year but these are mere rumors.

From the previous reports, we get to know that the upcoming Oppo smartphone might not feature a slider mechanism as the design could be achieved on compromising the highly demanded water and dust resistant capabilities. Also, the presence of moving parts is prone to cause damages. Speculations also suggest that there could be an in-display camera on this smartphone.

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
A month after TransCanada Corp. attorneys argued in front of Judge Brian Morris in Great Falls requesting the injunction he placed on the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in November be lifted, Judge Morris ruled on Feb. 15 he would mostly keep the injunction in place. In his ruling, he denied the request to begin constructing worker camps, however did state TransCanada could perform some limited activities such as the construction and use of pipe storage and container yards, in addition to preliminary work such as purchase of materials, land surveys and finalizing contracts.

After hauling truckloads of pipes that are to be used in the construction of TransCanadas Keystone XL pipeline to staging areas along the pipeline's future route in northern Phillips and Valley County in October, TransCanada has been in a legal battle to continue with the construction of the project.

On Nov. 8, 2018, Judge Morris blocked further construction of the pipeline in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in Great Falls, as environmental groups including Indigenous Environmental Network, the North Coast River Alliance and the Northern Plains Resource Council sued the U.S. State Department, TransCanada Keystone Pipeline and the TransCanada Corporation, as previously reported by The Glasgow Courier. The Judge ruled the Trump administration had not fully considered the environmental effects of the pipeline and ordered a new review. In the meantime, he halted all construction-related activities to the pipeline.

With the injunction in place, TransCanada could not do any work in regards to the construction of the pipeline, which in turn resulted in the risk of the project falling behind schedule. At the request of the company, attorneys from TransCanada argued Judge Morris needed to clarify or amend his ruling for the injunction and requested a hearing. They stated their case on the importance of continuing to do preliminary work while his order blocking the construction would be in effect. Preliminary work included purchasing materials, conducting land surveys, discussing federal permits and finalizing contracts. On Nov. 28, Judge Morris ruled TransCanada could continue to do the preliminary work however his order blocking construction would still be in effect.

With no resolution in sight, TransCanada did not want to completely lose the 2019 construction season, so they requested another hearing, which occurred on Jan. 14, stating if pre-construction were to be allowed to begin by Feb. 1, construction of the pipeline would occur as early as June. If its allowed to begin by March 15, work could begin in August. However, if pre-construction work would not be granted at all, TransCanada argued they would lose workers, which in turn put the project even further behind schedule, making it impossible to begin construction in 2019. During the hearing, TransCanada attorneys requested the construction of worker camps and pipe yards begin again after being halted. Attorneys for the Northern Plains Resource Council argued the construction of the camps should not be continued as they are directly related to the federal permit for the pipeline and the work that would be completed during the construction process should also be subject to environment review.

Even though the Feb. 15 ruling allows TransCanada to continue planning and constructing the pipeline, the legal battles are not done. An appeal of the November ruling is pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. With no end in sight, and the inability to construct worker camps, the schedule will further be pushed behind schedule.
Montana Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines and Montana Representative Greg Gianforte supported and helped pass The Natural Resources Management Act (NRMA) which include 170 separate provisions and is the most important public lands legislation passed since the 1970s. The Act, which passed the Senate by a vote of 92-8 on Feb. 12, and passed the House by a vote of 363-62 on Feb. 26, is now on President Trumps desk to sign into law, which he is expected to do.

For Montana, the Act is important in that it permanently authorizes and funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Originally passed in 1965, LWCF devotes a portion of revenues from offshore oil and gas extraction leases to fund a variety of public access and public lands programs. The fund has invested more than $540 million to support Montanas outdoor recreation economy since the establishment. Representative Gianforte has been a consistent supporter of the permanent reauthorization of the LWCF while Senator Tester was the only member of the delegation who opposed legislation to cut $16 million from LWCF last year. He also consistently fought to reauthorize and fully fund the initiative.

The NRMA also restores fish and wildlife habitat on private land, which re-authorizes funding for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program through 2022. The program enables the Fish and Wildlife Service to work with and match investment by private land owners or restoring habitat for fish and land animals. The NRMA also fosters access for sportsmen. The provisions will benefit hunters and anglers as it adds the ability for hunters to transport bows through national parks and makes all federal land open to hunting and fishing, unless otherwise designated.

Montana is truly the Last Best Place because of our public lands and outdoor way of life, Senator Tester stated in a press release. These bills are heading to the Presidents desk as a direct result of hardworking Montanans who made their voices heard and kept fighting to protect our growing outdoor economy.

Another provision in the NRMA is the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, which was drafted by Senator Tester and later adopted by Representative Greg Gianforte. The Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act will permanently withdraw federal mineral rights on roughly 30,000 acres of the Gallatin National Forest and prevent proposed mines from expanding onto unclaimed public land adjacent to the Park. There are simply some places you shouldnt dig or drill, and the doorstep of Yellowstone Park is one of them, stated Tester in a release. Tester originally introduced the legislation in April 2017 and Representative Gianforte later adopted a House version in December 2017. However, neither bill received a full vote in its respective chamber during the prior congressional session.

Ahead of the House vote on Feb. 26, Representative Gianforte stated, Permanently protecting the gateway to Yellowstone and permanently reauthorizing the LWCF will help preserve and expand public access to our public lands. I strongly urge passage of this bill thats so important to Montana.

As of press time, the Act has not been signed by President Trump.
Terrance Michael Grady, age 71, a life-long resident of Valley County, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019.

Services will be held at St. Alberts Catholic Church in Hinsdale, Mont., on Monday, March 11, at 10 a.m. A luncheon will be held at the American Legion Hall with burial at the family cemetery north of Hinsdale.

He was born on Aug. 27, 1947, in Glasgow, Mont., to Philip and Florence Grady.

Mike served as a tank driver in the National Guard. He graduated from technical school in Billings, Mont. He worked several different construction jobs in the state, including the Bentonite plant south of Glasgow and building pole barns. He worked with his father running the family ranch and later took it over. In his later years Mike worked for the County Road Department.

He was a man of few words, he loved a good joke. Even though he seemed rough on the outside, he was very tender hearted. His gruff exterior hid a keen mind. He was an avid student of history and his artistic talents included leatherwork and drawing.

Mike was devoted to his family and friends. He was part of the community of Hinsdale and he helped others when he could and he will be missed.

He is preceded in death by his parents Philip and Florence; one sister, Phyllis; and one brother, Vaughan.

He is survived by two sisters, Valerie and Sheila; one brother, Arden; one niece, Billie and her husband Randy; and three nephews, Ryley, Brandon and his wife, Kirstie, and Shannon and his wife, Kelly.
Putin: Russia Cracking Down On Foreign Spies, But Needs Stronger Protection Of Military Secrets

By RFE/RL March 06, 2019

President Vladimir Putin has called on Russia's FSB domestic security service to strengthen the protection of information related to new weapons and other sensitive data, saying that foreign intelligence agencies were beefing up activities in the country.

Putin issued the warning in a televised speech on March 6, without mentioning any specific country, amid severely strained relations between Russia and the West, which has accused Moscow of several plots, including interfering in other countries' elections and the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England a year ago.

The Russian leader's allegations also come after the United States last month suspended participation in a key Cold War-era nuclear arms-control agreement because of what it says is Russia's development and deployment of a missile system that violates the pact. Moscow followed suit earlier this week.

In a speech to top officials of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Putin said that the agency had exposed 129 foreign intelligence officers and 465 of their agents last year. He did not provide details.

Each year, Putin visits the FSB for a board meeting during which he announces how many foreign agents Russia allegedly managed to catch the previous year.

There is no way to independently verify the figures.

"We see foreign intelligence agencies trying to increase their activity toward Russia, seeking by all means to access political, economic, scientific, and technological information," the Russian leader on March 6, insisting that the FSB's work "must be efficient, especially regarding the production of Russian weapons systems."

Putin has repeatedly spoken about new weapons such as the Avangard and the Tsirkon, claiming that they have no foreign analogues and are impossible to intercept.

He has made the claims in public remarks he has acknowledged were aimed to get Western governments to take notice.

In his March 6 speech, Putin mentioned Washington's decision to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, saying it upsets international security.

The United States and NATO have repeatedly accused Moscow of violating the accord by developing the 9M729 cruise missile, also known as the SSC-8.

Russia has denied that, and accused the United States of breaking the accord itself, allegations rejected by Washington.

Amid persistent tension between Russia and the West, U.S. and European intelligence agencies have acted against alleged Russian spy and hacking networks in recent months.

In a report issued in December, the Czech Security Intelligence Service (BIS) said it had broken up a group that used the Russian Embassy as cover.

Two months earlier, Dutch and U.S. authorities accused Russia's GRU military intelligence agency of involvement in a multifaceted, multinational hacking campaign that targeted global anti-doping agencies, the international chemical weapons watchdog, and other entities.

And British authorities have charged two Russian men identified as GRU agents with carrying out the poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the English city of Salisbury in March 2018.

Moscow has denied it had any involvement in the nerve-agent attack, which led to a series of sanctions against Russia by the West and tit-for-tat diplomatic actions.

More recently, European Council President Donald Tusk on March 5 warned that "anti-European forces" might try to target European Parliament elections in May.

Tusk did not specifically name Russia. But Britain's government has alleged that Russia tried to manipulate Britain's 2016 Brexit referendum, and other EU member states -- including France and Germany -- have charged that Russia has tried to influence their elections in the same way that Russian trolls allegedly interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In January 2017, the U.S. intelligence community concluded that Russia engaged in a campaign of hacking and propaganda to sway voters during the vote, largely aimed at bolstering Trump's chances at the presidency.

Moscow has repeatedly denied the Western allegations of spying and hacking.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and the BBC

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-russia-cracking -down-on-foreign-spies-but-needs-stronger-protection -of-military-secrets/29807363.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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Yemen targets southern S. Arabia with missile

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Feb 6, IRNA -- Yemen conducted missile and artillery attacks on Asir, Jizan and Njran, southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and inflicted heavy damage to Saudi forces.

According to Yemeni media 'Al-Masirah', the Yemeni army and popular committees fired two Zelzal-1 missiles to Saudis' positions in Alab passageway in Asir.

Meanwhile, Yemeni forces in an operation took control of Saudis' positions in Jabal al-Qais, killing and injuring a number of Saudi forces.

In the meantime, Yemeni artillery units targeted Saudi positions in Al-Khazra and al-Baqa and inflicted heavy losses to them.

Saudi Arabia and its regional allies attacked Yemen in March 2015 to bring back to power the deposed president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

Since then, the invaders have committed horrible war crimes against Yemeni civilians.

Earlier, Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree has accused the Saudi-led coalition of repeatedly breaching ceasefire agreement in Al Hudaydah, Yemen, saying that it has breached the truce 966 times in 4 days.

The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2451 to support the Stockholm Agreement on deployment of a team in order to facilitate monitoring and implementing the Agreement and establishing truce in important Yemeni ports.

The resolution mainly focuses on sending essential commodities to the Yemeni people, supporting the Stockholm Agreement, assigning the Secretary-General of the United Nations to implement it and observing the ceasefire.

9376**1771

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






NATO Secretary General meets with President of the European Parliament

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

06 Mar. 2019

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met Antonio Tajani, the President of the European Parliament today (06 March 2019), as part of the NATO-EU cooperation. They exchanged views on the unprecedented level of cooperation between NATO and the EU, the security situation in and around Europe, European efforts on defence, and other topical issues.

The meeting came at an important time, a month ahead of NATO's 70th anniversary and two months before the European elections. Mr. Stoltenberg underlined the importance NATO attaches to the European Parliament, as the representative of European citizens. NATO regularly engages with EU Parliamentarians, as part of the active dialogue and cooperation between NATO and the EU. The Secretary General himself has addressed the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on several occasions.

Secretary General Stoltenberg thanked President Tajani for his personal contributions to NATO as a serviceman in the Italian Armed Force, and as a politician.

Cooperation between NATO and the European Union is closer than ever, with 74 common initiatives in areas such as military mobility, training and exercises, and tackling cyber and hybrid challenges

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






NATO Secretary General: Montenegro is a valued Ally building stability in the Western Balkans

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

06 Mar. 2019

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed President Milo Djukanovic to NATO Headquarters on Wednesday (6 March 2019) for talks on the Alliance's continued adaptation. The Secretary General praised Montenegro for its important contributions to Euro-Atlantic security, including providing troops to NATO's missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Mr. Stoltenberg welcomed that Montenegro is increasing defence spending, with a clear plan to invest 2% of GDP in defence by 2024. He noted that Montenegro can count on NATO: "our Trust Fund in Montenegro is helping to destroy more than 400 tonnes of surplus ammunition, and our air policing mission ensures the safety of your skies, with jets from Italy and Greece."

The Secretary General also thanked President Djukanovic for championing NATO's Open Door policy. All 29 Allies have signed the Accession Protocol for the Republic of North Macedonia to NATO, and the ratification process continues in Allied capitals. "I want to thank Montenegro for promoting stability in the Western Balkans, and demonstrating that NATO's door remains open," he said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Trump agrees on keeping U.S. troops in Syria: report

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 10:22, March 06, 2019

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump responded to lawmakers that he fully agrees on keeping U.S. forces in Syria, U.S. media reported on Tuesday.

A bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives wrote to Trump on Feb. 22, praising his decision to keep a small group of troops in Syria as a stabilizing force.

A copy of the letter obtained by NBC News showed that Trump highlighted a paragraph about the objectives of U.S. continued presence in Syria.

"I agree 100%. ALL is being done," Trump wrote on the letter with his signature.

The White House on Feb. 21 announced that the United States would leave about 200 troops in Syria after the planned pullout. Trump confirmed the next day that a small fraction of U.S. forces would remain in Syria with troops from other countries.

Citing a senior administration official, the media later reported that the U.S. military would leave about 400 troops in two different regions of Syria.

According to the official, half of them would join the multinational force of roughly 800 to 1,500 troops deployed in northeastern Syria to maintain a buffer between Turkey and U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. The rest 200 troops would stay at its base in al-Tanf, near the Syrian border with Iraq and Jordan.

General Joseph Votel, commander of the U.S. Central Command, told the media last month that the United States would likely start to withdraw its troops from Syria in the coming weeks. Currently, there are about 2,000 U.S. troops deployed in Syria.

Declaring victory over the Islamic State, Trump last December announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, leading to the resignation of then U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US flies two B-52 bombers over disputed waters near China

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 10:34AM

The US Air Force has flown a pair of strategic nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over the disputed waters near China, in a move that is expected to raise Beijing's ire.

"Two B-52H Stratofortress bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and participated in routine training missions, March 4, 2019," a statement from US Pacific Air Forces, which oversees air operations in the region, said on Wednesday.

The statement added that one of the long-range bombers conducted "training" in the vicinity of the South China Sea, which is almost entirely claimed by China and through which $5 trillion in shipping trade passes annually.

The South China Sea  which sits atop vast reserves of oil and gas -- is in part claimed by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The last time the US sent bombers through the South China Sea was in November 2018.

The US military further said the second bomber went on a similar mission alongside the Japanese Air Force over the East China Sea, which has been the subject of a separate maritime dispute involving Beijing and Tokyo, among other neighboring countries.

The US  which usually sides with Beijing's rivals in the territorial rows -- claims the Pacific Command's frequent aerial missions over the disputed islands of both seas are intended to ensure the readiness of US forces, and are in accordance with international law.

Besides its aerial missions, Washington also sends warships close to the islands claimed by China in what the US calls "freedom of navigation" patrols.

China, however, sees such flights and naval patrols as both clear provocation and a show of force challenging its sovereignty. It says such deployments could easily trigger miscalculation or even accidents at sea or in air.

Beijing has on numerous occasions warned the US against interfering in its territorial disputes with its neighbors.

The recent maneuvers could further escalate tensions between Washington and Beijing, which are currently locked in a trade dispute.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Bomb attack hits eastern Afghan city, causes multiple fatalities

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 07:41AM

A deadly bomb attack has hit Afghanistan's eastern city of Jalalabad, killing at least 16 people.

Local officials said on Wednesday that two attackers detonated explosives near the office of a construction company in the vicinity of the airport in Jalalabad, in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar Province.

Sixteen members of the firm were reportedly killed in the attack.

"Two attackers detonated their vests, and two more were gunned down by security forces," said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for Nangarhar's governor.

He said clearance operations at the scene still continued.

It was unclear how many people were injured.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. But the Taliban militant group has been active in the province. The Daesh terrorist group is also present in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Taliban representatives are involved in peace talks with the United States in Doha, Qatar.

US State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told a news briefing on Tuesday that the peace talks were making progress but more work was needed to clinch a deal.

Despite a two-day break before the weekend, negotiations continue on "a daily basis right now and progress is being made," Palladino said.

A spokesman for the Taliban spokesman said on Thursday that the two sides had decided to adjourn the peace talks in order to hold consultations and prepare for their next session.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Images show militant facility 'still standing' in Pakistan after India's 'bombing'

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 07:16AM

Newly-released satellite images purportedly show that buildings at a facility belonging to a Pakistan-based militant group that India claims to have pounded in recent airstrikes are standing undamaged.

The high-resolution images, produced by the US-based private satellite operator Planet Labs Inc, apparently show at least six buildings at the site of a religious school run by the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in northeastern Pakistan, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The images show the buildings virtually unchanged from April 2018, according to the report.

On February 26, India said it had conducted "preemptive" airstrikes against the site, destroying it and killing 300 militants.

According to Indian government sources, the jets dropped 1,000-kilogram bombs.

Pakistan said at the time that it had scrambled its own fighter jets when the Indian warplanes violated its airspace and chased them out. It said the Indian jets had dropped their payload in a forested area in haste, leaving no serious damage and casualties.

"There is not even a single brick in the debris," Pakistani military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said the day after the attack. "If there was any infrastructure there, then there would be some debris."

Senior researchers at the James Martin Center for nonproliferation studies who analyzed the satellite images said weapons that large would have caused obvious damage to the structures visible in the picture.

"If the strike had been successful, given the information we have about what kind of munitions were used, I would expect to see signs that the buildings had been damaged," said senior research associate Jeffrey Lewis. "I just don't see that here."

New Delhi has so far failed to produce evidence that the camp was destroyed and that militants were killed. This has prompted opposition politicians to call on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide more details.

"We want to know how many people actually died," said Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal State. "Where did the bombs fall? Did they actually fall in the right place?"

Modi, however, accused the opposition of helping India's "enemies" by demanding evidence of the attacks.

"At a time when our army is engaged in crushing terrorism, inside the country and outside, there are some people within the country who are trying to break their morale, which is cheering our enemy," Modi said at a re-election campaign rally on Sunday.

India has long been engaged in a conflict with Pakistan over the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir. The two have fought four wars since their partition in 1947, three of them over Kashmir.

JeM had claimed responsibility for an attack on an Indian security convoy in Pulwama, in Indian-administered Kashmir, that killed more than 40 Indian troops on February 14. That attack set off tensions between Pakistan and India, which said Islamabad had been involved. The Pakistani government denied that claim.

Pakistan launches crackdown on militants

In a related development, Pakistan's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that it had launched a crackdown to "speed up action against all proscribed organizations."

It said some 44 militants had been arrested in the crackdown. Among them, the ministry said, were the close relatives of JeM leader, Masood Azhar.

It named them as Mufti Abdul Raoof and Hamad Azhar, who is said to be Masood Azhar's son.

Some of those detained were named in a dossier provided to Pakistan by New Delhi after last month's bombing in Kashmir, according to Interior Secretary Azam Suleman.

"We are investigating them; and if we get more evidence, more proof against them, they will be proceeded against according to law; and if we don't get any proof, their detention will end," Suleman said.

As part of the crackdown, Pakistan also banned two charities linked to Hafiz Saeed, the founder of another militant group, which is blamed by the US and India for several deadly attacks; including a siege in Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people.

India has yet to officially react to the arrests, but a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed skepticism.

"We have all seen this done for the last several decades now. How many times has Hafiz Saeed been arrested and let out?" the official said. "And have they taken action against Jaish camps?"

The crackdown on Tuesday was the latest in a series of gestures by Pakistan toward India. The heightened tensions have nevertheless persisted. On the same day, Pakistan said it had warded off an Indian submarine that was attempting to enter its waters.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






At Least 17 Killed In Afghanistan Attack As U.S. Sees 'Progress' In Peace Talks

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan March 06, 2019

At least 17 people have been killed in a militant attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan, officials say.

The extremist group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the March 6 attack through its Amaq news website.

Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar Province, said a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the entrance of the company compound in the provincial capital, Jalalabad.

Four militants then stormed the compound and shot employees of the company, triggering an hours-long gunbattle with Afghan security forces, Khogyani added.

He said most of the dead and the 10 wounded were employees of a private construction company, Entire Builders and Engineers.

The spokesman said that all five attackers were killed in the fighting.

Provincial council member Ajmal Omar put the death toll slightly higher, saying 18 people had been killed with three in critical condition.

The company is located near the main airport in Jalalabad where U.S. and Afghan forces are based.

Both the Taliban and the IS group are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Nangarhar Province.

The Taliban denied any involvement in the attack, which came as U.S. and Taliban negotiators continue to hold peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year war in Afghanistan.

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told journalists on March 5 that negotiations were continuing on "a daily basis right now and progress is being made."

"These discussions are ongoing and what we're focusing on are the four interconnected issues that are going to compose any future agreement," Palladino said, listing them as "terrorism," "troop withdrawal," "intra-Afghan dialogue," and a "cease-fire."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on March 5 that he hoped sufficient gains would be made for him to be able to take a trip to Qatar to help advance the negotiations "in a couple weeks."

The continuation of the talks comes despite a major Taliban attack on a large Afghan Army base in the southern province of Helmand last week that killed at least 25 soldiers.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-jalalabad- double-suicide-attack/29806106.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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






NATO's Stoltenberg To Visit Georgia Later This Month

By RFE/RL March 06, 2019

BRUSSELS -- NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says he will visit Georgia later this month to meet with the Caucasus republic's leadership and attend a joint military exercise.

Stoltenberg was speaking to journalists on March 6 in Brussels after talks with Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic.

"I will visit Georgia later on this month and that's part of the regular strong partnership, political dialogue I have, we have, with Georgia. I will meet with the political leadership in Georgia and I also visit and see the joint NATO-Georgia exercise," Stoltenberg said.

The NATO-Georgia Exercise 2019 will take place between March 18 and March 29 at the Krtsanisi National Training Center, near the capital, Tbilisi.

Troops from 23 NATO members and partner countries will participate in the exercise.

"This is an exercise which we have [held] regularly and it illustrates that NATO and Georgia -- we are close partners," Stoltenberg said. The first NATO-Georgia exercise was held in 2016.

In May 2013, Georgia stated its goal to get a Membership Action Plan (MAP) -- a first step toward eventual membership -- for his country from NATO in 2014. However, in June 2014, NATO officials announced that Georgia would not yet be invited to join the MAP process, but that NATO would implement a "substantive package" of cooperation measures with Georgia.

In December 2017, Stoltenberg affirmed support for Georgia's "eventual NATO membership."

Stoltenberg also thanked Georgia for its contribution to NATO missions in Afghanistan and other places.

"Georgia provides a lot of support to NATO, participating in different NATO missions and operations, not least in Afghanistan but also in different NATO exercises," Stoltenberg said.

The NATO chief thanked Djukanovic, whose country became an alliance member in 2017, for his continued support for the bloc's expansion.

"Mr. President, you are a strong champion of NATO's open-door policy," Stoltenberg told Djukanovic, adding that Podgorica "is promoting stability in the Western Balkans and demonstrating that NATO's door remains open."

At a 2008 summit, NATO agreed that Georgia will eventually become a member, but no firm date has been given, although the membership perspective for the country has been reconfirmed at every summit ever since.

Georgia fought a brief war with Russia in August 2008, and Moscow's continued military presence on Georgian territory adds to tensions in the region.

With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-s-stoltenberg-to -visit-georgia-later-this-month/29806436.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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Air Force Drone Detachment Goes Fully Operational at Polish Base

Sputnik News

22:00 06.03.2019

The first squadron of the US Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper drones has gone fully active at the Miroslawiec Air Base in northwestern Poland, the service announced earlier this week. The drones will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) information from the Baltics and Black Sea regions to the NATO alliance.

Reaper operations at Miroslawiec began last May, but the 52nd Expeditionary Operations Group Detachment 2, which operates the drones, only reached full operational capability on March 4, according to a US Air Forces Europe press release.

Construction was recently completed on facilities such as processing centers, aircraft maintenance, communications and living quarters to support and house the detachment, which is technically part of the 52nd Fighter Wing, the rest of which is based at at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany.

"In addition to the completion of these projects, another important change is the remotely piloted aircraft here are now operated by both contractors and US military personnel," US Air Force Brig. Gen. Greg Semmel said at the opening ceremony, according to the release. "This flexibility allows for the addition of new missions, and having US military personnel expands the variety of missions we can accomplish."

"They all welcomed us into the community; they welcomed us into their restaurants, into their shops and into their homes," said US Air Force Col. Andrew Eiler, the group's commander. "We were neighbors, but became friends and family. I am very proud of the partnership and the capability that we've built."

Built by General Atomics, the MQ-9 is the successor to the MQ-1 Predator as the US Air Force's bread-and-butter vehicle for remotely piloted operations. As it was originally conceived as a recon vehicle, the Predator was only capable of carrying light weaponry following modification. However, the Reaper is larger, heavier and faster, capable of packing 15 times the amount of ordinance as the Predator, according to a USAF fact sheet.

Military.com notes the deployment of Reapers to Poland is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's growing shift toward confrontation with Russia in Eastern Europe  not in the least because the alliance's objections to Russian influence in the region follow those of the Ukrainian government toward Crimea and the Donbas, but also due to the Pentagon's changing strategic orientation worldwide toward great power confrontation with Russia and China.

However, rather than Washington using the MQ-9s for air strikes, as it has in other conflicts like Pakistan and Yemen, it seems the drones will be mostly restricted to their ISR roles in the region.

"Drones may be vulnerable to Russian-supplied [anti-aircraft artillery] and [surface-to-air missiles], so it may not be prudent to commit them against the rebels or to escalate an already tense situation," a retired US Air Force Reaper pilot told the Air Force Times. "We currently operate in arenas where we have total air supremacy. That's something we would not have in eastern Ukraine."

US Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations, told the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that "I need more ISR" in Eastern Europe.

"[My final] concern is my intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capacity, given that increasing and growing threat of Russia," he said.

However, the commander warned lawmakers of the dangers of Washington stepping away from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, as US President Donald Trump did on February 1, triggering a six-month countdown to the agreement's total dissolution.

"I don't know that we have a plan today," Scaparrotti said, according to the Washington Post.

"From my point of view, when you have a peer competitor, and particularly a modernizing one that will be challenging you, such as Russia, we should look toward treaty capabilities in order to provide some stability, to provide signals and communications and limits that we understand and that we can work from," he said.

Sputnik reported last May that MQ-9s had begun operating out of the Air Force's Larissa Air Base in Greece, performing much the same ISR ops across Africa as are now being run out of Poland.

The Polish government has gone to great lengths to develop larger defense ties with Washington over the past year, including offering $2 billion toward a permanent US military base in the country, Sputnik reported.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






India, Pakistan Assert 'Calmness' at Border Amid Revival of Diplomatic Relations

Sputnik News

16:33 06.03.2019(updated 21:24 06.03.2019)

Last week had seen cross-border conflagrations that escalated up to the stage of fighter jets crossing into opposite side's air spaces of the two nuclear power neighbours.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  Barring few instances of artillery shelling at the border, India and Pakistan have said that the overall situation along the line of control (LoC) has been calm. The two countries have made statements in the backdrop of the revival of diplomatic relations and crucial meeting of the Kartarpur corridor on 14 March.

"Post our warning to Pakistan Army not to target civilian areas, the overall situation along LoC remains relatively calm. In last 24 hours, Pakistan Army resorted to intense and unprovoked firing with heavy caliber weapons in selected areas of Krishna Ghati and Sunderbani," the Indian army said on Wednesday.

A similar sentiment was also echoed by the Pakistan army on Tuesday which said that situation along the line of control remained relatively calm barring firing in Hot Spring Sector by the Indian soldiers.

The two armies, nevertheless, traded accusations for targeting each other's military posts and civilian areas with mortar bombs and heavy artillery guns in selected areas. Pakistan side claimed that one of its citizen, 26-year-old Shafaqat of Dara Sher Khan village got injured in the Indian firing.

"Pakistan Army troops effectively replied to the fire by Indian outposts," the Pakistan army claimed.

The Indian army reiterated that all actions taken by Indian defence forces are targeted against terrorists and terrorist infrastructure, away from civilian areas to avoid civilian casualties. It also added that the forces are ready to retaliate in case of any misadventure by the Pakistan army.

On Tuesday, Pakistani foreign ministry announced that Pakistan's High Commissioner to India will be returning to New Delhi after due consultations in Islamabad. He was recalled by Islamabad following Pulwama terrorist attack on 14 February. It has also announced the visit of the Pakistan delegation to New Delhi on 14 March, followed by the return visit of the Indian delegation to Islamabad on 28 March to discuss the draft agreement on Kartarpur Corridor.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Indian Defence Ministry Accuses Pakistan of Fresh Ceasefire Violation in Kashmir

Sputnik News

09:50 06.03.2019(updated 14:39 06.03.2019)

On Tuesday, Pakistan's army claimed that the situation along the line of control remained relatively calm. "The Indian Army fired in the Hot Spring Sector, deliberately targeting the civilian population," it said. India and Pakistan accuse each other of unprovoked ceasefire violations.

New Delhi (Sputnik): The Indian Army has claimed that Pakistan has yet again violated the ceasefire and initiated shelling along the line of control (the de-facto India-Pakistan border) on Wednesday. As per the statement, firing has remained underway in the Nowshera sector along line of control since Wednesday morning.

"Today at about 1030 hours (Indian Standard Time), Pakistan again carried out heavy shelling with artillery and the firing of small arms along the LoC in the Nowshera and Sunderbani Sectors," the Indian Army said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Pakistan also initiated an "unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling with mortars", firing small arms along the LoC in Nowshera Sector. However, there was no immediate report of any casualty on the Indian side, the army added. The Indian army also said that two terrorists affiliated with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen had been killed in a gunfight with security forces in southern Kashmir's Tral town.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan's army claimed that the situation along the line of control remained relatively calm. "Indian Army fired in Hot Spring Sector, deliberately targeting the civilian population. As a result, a citizen, Sharafat, age 26 years, a resident of the village Dara Sher Khan was injured. Pakistan Army troops effectively responded to Indian posts undertaking the fire," the Pakistan Army claimed.

Pakistan added that its navy has remained vigilant. On Monday, Pakistan claimed that Indian troops opened fire in Neza pir, Pandu, Khanjar Munawar, Battal and Baghsar Sector, along the line of control. On Sunday, a Pakistani soldier was killed in the exchange of fire in Nikyal Sector.

The two sides have engaged in massive shelling and an exchange of fire since tension erupted following the 14 February terrorist attack in Pulwama in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Air Force had conducted a preemptive non-military air strike on 26 February against alleged terrorist targets in Balakot, located inside Pakistan. On 27 February, the two air forces had clashed, and shot down a fighter jet each.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






India Reveals How its Su-30 'Defeated' F-16's Missile in Dogfight With Pakistan

Sputnik News

09:17 06.03.2019(updated 09:42 06.03.2019)

On 27 February, Indian and Pakistani warplanes engaged in an air battle over Kashmir following New Delhi's attack on a jihadist camp on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control a day earlier. The dogfight reportedly led to the downing of two Indian planes, as well as a Pakistani F-16.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has denied Islamabad's claims that an Indian Su-30 fighter jet was downed during the February 27 air battle between the two countries' warplanes.

"False claim by Pakistan of shooting down a Su-30 appears to be a cover up for the loss of its own aircraft", the IAF said in a statement.

The IAF added that its Mirage-2000, Su-30 and MiG-21 Bison aircraft "were involved in the engagement" after what it described as Pakistan's attempt to attack Indian ground targets using Pakistani Air Force (PAF) planes.

"During combat, use of F-16 by PAF and multiple launches of AMRAAM [air-to-air missile] were conclusively observed. Prompt and correct tactical action by Su-30 aircraft, in response to AMRAAM launch, defeated the missile", the IAF pointed out.

The statement came after IAF Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor said late last week that India's MiG-21 Bison shot down a PAF F-16 on 27 February in an aerial incident in the contested province of Kashmir.

The PAF earlier denied that it had deployed F-16 aircraft during the February 27 air battle, stressing that no PAF aircraft had been hit and that India's MiG-21 was downed over Pakistan.

The pilot of the downed plane was handed over to India on 1 March in what Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan described as a "peace gesture".

On 26 February, the IAF conducted an assault on an alleged terrorist base in the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir, reportedly destroying several facilities. The air raid followed a suicide attack claimed by the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad on 14 February that killed over 40 Indian soldiers.

India blamed Pakistan for harbouring and protecting terrorists, and also blames Islamabad for having a "direct hand" in the deadly incident  accusations that Pakistan vehemently denies.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Peru Opens 3 Military Bases to Combat Illegal Gold Mining - Interior Ministry

Sputnik News

06:55 06.03.2019

BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - Peru, one of the world's largest gold producers, opens three bases for military and police staff to combat illegal mining in the department of Madre de Dios on the border with Brazil and Bolivia, the country's interior ministry reported on Tuesday.

"The second phase, which will last six months, seeks to reinforce the military and police presence in the buffer zone that was occupied by illegal miners and ensure their permanent eradication," the ministry said on Twitter.

Each of the free bases will be staffed with 100 servicemen from the newly created Amazon Protection Brigade and 50 police officers, the ministry said.

As much as 91.5 percent of gold in Madre de Dios is being mined by unidentified artisan miners, that is, illegally, the data of Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines showed. According to expert estimates, the contribution of illegal mining to the economic growth of the region in 2017 was estimated at more than 40 percent. According to the local governor, about 40,000 illegal miners work in the region, with a total population of just over 140,000.

Illegal gold mining is not purely an economic or environmental issue. In February, the Peruvian government carried out the first phase of its plan to combat the illegal mines, dubbed Operation Mercurio 2019. As many as 1,200 policemen and 200 soldiers participated in the first phase, they managed to save 51 people from slavery and detain 80 suspected criminals in just 14 days.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US General Says Washington Ready to Hold Russia Back in Arctic

Sputnik News

05:59 06.03.2019(updated 07:29 06.03.2019)

The United States is ready to hold back Russia in the Arctic, said the head of the US European Command, General Curtis Scaparrotti.

"Now the Northern Sea Route is open more often, and there is a resource and commercial interest in it. [] This creates competition," Scaparrotti said at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Scaparrotti suggested that Russia has increased its defence potential and opened a number of airfields in the region, deployed advanced radar systems, while also moving various defence systems there to increase control over the region.

"As a result, we updated our plans. We had to change the deployment of some of our forces, operational trends so that we could provide containment. We send a signal that the Arctic is important to us," he added.

Earlier Scaparrotti said that the chances of military conflict in the Arctic are "low in the near-term," yet suggested that Russia is "increasing its qualitative advantage in Arctic operations, and its military bases will serve to reinforce Russia's position."

Russia has repeatedly expressed its intention to develop scientific, transport, navigation and certain military infrastructure in the Arctic to ensure the country's interests in the strategically important region. At the same time, Moscow stresses that it considers the Arctic to be an area for constructive dialogue and equal, conflict-free cooperation in the interests of all nations.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Why the US Might Reject Selling Arms to the Philippines

By Ralph Jennings March 06, 2019

The Philippine foreign secretary says his country wants to buy American weaponry to shore up defense. But although the two countries have worked closely together on security over the past 70 years, costs and broader security worries will make any arms hard to get, experts in Asia caution.

Secretary Teodoro Locsin told a news conference in Manila that he and visiting U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo had discussed the "vital support" of the United States for Philippine military modernization. Mutual defense, he said, "should cover a partner's back as well as its front."

Locsin later tweeted that he hopes the U.S. government will sell weapons to "re-arm our military" for self-defense.

But the Philippines may not be able to afford complex new weapons systems, while U.S. officials would worry that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte might use them in his deadly anti-drug campaign, experts believe. Duterte for his part might not want any new U.S. hardware to upset a 3-year friendship with China, which has its own differences with the United States.

"The geopolitical issue, that's one, second is the limited funding as well as security concerns when it comes to sourcing equipment," said Collin Koh, a maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. "So, in a way it limits the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines)."

Political complexity

The U.S. Arms Export Control Act governing foreign sales is what one political consultant called for this report "a minefield of intricacies and legalities." For that reason, scholars say, the U.S. government sells its new, high-end arms such as aircraft largely to long-term partners such as Australia, Singapore and Taiwan.

Those partners know the Act, can pay the billions of dollars for new equipment and do not turn the weapons on their own people. Sales sometimes irk China as its navy expands onto the high seas, but Chinese leaders are used to the repeat customers.

The anti-drug campaign may raise questions in the United States about "human rights" issues, said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore's public policy school. Human rights groups say anti-drug police have killed thousands of people without due process.

China hopes the Philippines, a rival claimant to sovereignty in the sea between them, will ease away from the United States as part of a Sino-Philippine friendship that included China's pledge in 2016 for $24 billion in aid and investment.

"If you sell one or two ships to the Philippines and the Philippines buys it, what signal does that send to China, that the Philippines is an un-loyal and unreliable neighbor and partner?" Araral said. "For the Philippines, you don't want to send the wrong signal to China."

In Southeast Asia, only Singapore has the formula down for getting U.S.-made weaponry, said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Singapore buys American fighters, helicopters and drones. Officials in Vietnam, he noted, have looked into buying American-made arms but fear they might get turned down, he said.

American lawmakers may worry Manila would use weapons "recklessly," Thayer said.

"There's no one there, leaving Singapore out, where you have a well-established relationship that would run smoothly, and where there is none it hits the bumps in the road," he said.

Smaller, used and donated arms

Manila and Washington have lived by a mutual defense treaty since 1951, followed by a visiting forces agreement in 1991 and ongoing joint naval exercises. U.S. officials count the Philippines as an Asian ally useful for containing China's maritime expansion  also a reason Manila wants to upgrade its navy in case its relations with Beijing someday sour.

Washington also has sold the Philippines pistols, assault rifles, ammunition and rocket launchers since 1980, according to a Federation of American Scientists research paper.

Small arms used for anti-terrorism work or coast guard patrols normally cause little political concern, scholars note.

The database GlobalFirePower.com ranks the Philippine military strength No. 63 out of 137 countries. Ex-president Benigno Aquino kicked off a military modernization program that called for two new frigates or warships, but domestic media said last year a special assistant to Duterte had "intervened" in the deal to acquire those from a builder in South Korea.

Philippine officials may need to keep depending on small, donated, refurbished arms for low-key use, and not just from the United States, Koh said. Foreign sellers are already obliging. In 2017 South Korea donated a corvette warship to the Philippine navy, and last year an Australian shipbuilder said it would deliver six offshore patrol vessels.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






NATO and United Nations working together to strengthen Jordan's security and defence capacity against terrorist threats

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

05 Mar. 2019

Last updated: 06 Mar. 2019 10:28

NATO and the United Nations have launched a partnership to strengthen Jordan's resilience and capacity to deal with threats posed by terrorist attacks with the use of weapons of mass destruction. On 5 March 2019 - at the UN Headquarters in New York - representatives of NATO and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the joint Project on "Enhancing Capabilities to prepare for and respond to a terrorist attack in Jordan featuring the use of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons."

"This is an important occasion, which brings together the UN, NATO and Jordan, as a valuable partner for both organisations, in this unique project," Dr. Antonio Missiroli, Assistant Secretary General for NATO's Emerging Security Challenges said during the signing ceremony. "This joint UN-NATO Project represents a milestone for the NATO-Jordan Defence Capacity Building Package, and in the strategic partnership between the UN and NATO. We are looking forward to seeing our joint efforts come to fruition over the next three years, as Jordan enhances its national resilience and preparedness to deal with different kinds of threats," he added.

"The possibility of non-state actors, including terrorists, acquiring lethal technologies and weapons is a challenge for international peace and security. My Office is committed to help Members States build and strengthen their capabilities with respect to this serious threat," Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov, Head of the UNOCT and Executive Director of the United Nations Counter- Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) pointed out. "This MoU represents the strong commitment of the United Nations and NATO to working with the government of Jordan," he added.

"This trilateral project sets a good example of cooperation between States and International and Regional Organizations, and it also reflects the urgency to raise the level of preparedness and response for the worst possible terrorist attacks whether it's a Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear," H.E. Ms. Sima Bahous, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations said.

This UN-NATO Project will build on the existing NATO project with Jordan to enhance its national crisis management capabilities within the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management, which was launched in February 2018, with contributions from four Allies, through the NATO Defence Capacity Building Trust Fund. It will feature the development of a national crisis plan for dealing with threats posed by Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear weapons and the conduct of a field exercise with a virtual reality component.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US sanctions Iraq's Nujaba Shia group known for role in anti-terror fight

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 09:45AM

The United States has sanctioned Iraq's Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a Shia movement known for its active cooperation with the national army in counter-terrorism operations, which led to the collapse of the Takfiri terror group of Daesh in late 2017.

On Tuesday, the US Department of the Treasury added Nujaba and its leader, Akram al-Ka'abi, to the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The department claimed in a press release that Nujaba and its leader "have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism," and that their blacklisting is meant to deny them "the resources to plan and carry out terrorist attacks."

"Among other consequences, all of their property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them," it added.

Back in 2008, Ka'abi was sanctioned by the US Treasury for allegedly threatening Iraq's peace and stability.

Nujaba - a group of about 10,000 fighters - has been operating under the banner of the government-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi.

Iraq declared victory over Daesh in late 2017, after the national army, backed by Hashd al-Sha'abi, regained control of all areas seized by the Takfiri terror organization. Iraqi forces are now working to rid the country of Daesh remnants.

The Baghdad government later issued "regulations to adapt the situation of the Popular Mobilization fighters," giving them ranks and salaries equivalent to other branches of the Iraqi military.

The fresh ban comes at a time when calls have grown in Iraq for the withdrawal of American forces, now that Daesh has been defeated. Harakat al-Nujaba is also an outspoken critic of Washington's military presence on Iraqi soil.

Iraqi Shia lawmakers have vowed to table legislation in the parliament demanding foreign troops' pullout. Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said he would respect the legislature's decision.

US President Donald Trump raised the ire of Iraqis by making an unannounced visit last December to US forces deployed to al-Asad Air Base in western Anbar Province, with no stop in Baghdad.

The US, backed by the UK, invaded Iraq in 2003 claiming that the former regime of Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

No such weapons, however, were ever found, and the invaders withdrew from Iraq, after nearly nine years of a military campaign that cost tens of thousands of Iraqi lives.

Leading a new coalition of its allies, the US returned to Iraq in 2014 under the pretext of fighting Daesh.

Widespread reports, however, said the Washington-led operations largely spared the terrorists and led, instead, to civilian deaths and inflicted damage on Iraqi infrastructure.

Despite the defeat of Daesh, Trump said last month that American forces must remain in Iraq so Washington can keep a close eye on Iran, prompting condemnations from Iraqi officials.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Border Policies Under Fire in Congressional Hearings

By Victoria Macchi March 06, 2019

Two top U.S. Homeland Security officials defended the Trump administration's border policies on Capitol Hill Wednesday, a day after newly released data showed a spike in the number of undocumented families crossing into the United States.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Kevin McAleenan faced lawmakers' questions over how arriving asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants are treated in U.S. custody, as well as the extent to which President Donald Trump's declaration of a "national emergency" along the southern U.S. border aligns with the situation on the ground.

"This is not a manufactured' crisis. This is truly an emergency," Nielsen told the House Committee on Homeland Security.

The most recent data from CBP, released Tuesday, shows an uptick in the number of families detained at the border in February.

Last month, CBP detained 76,103 people, one of the highest numbers of apprehensions in a single month in recent years.

Nearly half (36,174) were detained with other relatives. Family units, especially those with underage children, can require special medical care after the arduous border crossing on foot.

House Democrats on Wednesday sharply criticized Nielsen on how migrants and asylum-seekers are being treated at the Mexico border. Republicans largely focused on questions about transnational drug trafficking and its impact on the influx of opioids to the U.S.

Absent from the DHS secretary's responses, however, was any acknowledgment about the broader implications of the agency's policies under the Trump administration on those numbers.

Migration is largely understood to result from "push" and "pull" factors. For example, violence in a Central American country could be interpreted as a "push" toward migration, while seeking to rejoin relatives in the US could be a "pull."

As Nielsen was testifying in one hearing, John V. Kelly, the DHS Inspector General  the agency's internal watchdog office  answered questions before the House Committee on Appropriations' Homeland Security subcommittee.

He said the agency was "not fully prepared to implement the "Zero Tolerance Policy" ordered last year by then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, or to deal with its effects, including tracking parents and children separated as a result of that mandatory detention policy.

Kelly also said CBP's "metering" policy, the process of restricting the number of asylum-seekers allowed to enter at ports of entry, may have led to more illegal border crossings.

Commissioner Kevin McAleenan presented a slide show to the Senate Judiciary Committee that highlighted the growing number of groups with at least 100 people in remote areas like the New Mexico Bootheel and Ajo, Arizona, and the unprecedented challenges of attending to medical needs at its short-term holding facilities.

Additionally, a fourth hearing in the House on Wednesday addressed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status  two policies the Trump administration has tried to end or restrict.

The string of testimonies from top officials come before the Senate is expected to vote next week on whether it will reject Trump's national emergency declaration aimed at building border walls, as the House already has.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Bolton warns North Korea of more sanctions if it does not denuclearize

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 05:36AM

US national security adviser John Bolton warns of tougher sanctions on North Korea if it does not scrap its nuclear weapons program.

Speaking on Fox Business Network Tuesday, Bolton said the United States would see whether Pyongyang was committed to giving up its "nuclear weapons program and everything associated with it."

However, he said, "If they're not willing to do it, then I think President Trump has been very clear ... they're not going to get relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them and we'll look at ramping those sanctions up in fact."

The new threat came after the second summit between President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam ended without any agreement late last month.

The summit collapsed over differences on how far Pyongyang was willing to limit its nuclear program and the degree of US eagerness to ease sanctions. Trump abruptly walked away from the talks and held a press conference shortly afterward.

During the presser, Trump told reporters that "he had to walk away" from the talks because of North Korea's demands to lift all economic sanctions against Pyongyang as a prerequisite to denuclearization.

However, a few hours later, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho offered a completely different breakdown of the summit, telling reporters in a separate presser that Pyongyang never asked for the removal of all sanctions, but only the partial removal of them.

Bolton said the US would not "buy the same pony that they've sold to previous administrations" and called on Pyongyang "to go back and reassess their strategy."

Accepting Kim's offer, he claimed, would have "given North Korea a lifeline, giving them a chance to get their breath back economically while potentially still concealing a lot of nuclear weapons capabilities, missiles and the rest of it."

Trump and Kim met at a historic summit for the first time in June 2018 in Singapore, where they agreed to work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Subsequent diplomacy between the two sides, however, made little progress, mainly because the US refused to lift its crippling sanctions.

Bolton's remarks also came a few hours after South Korea said that the North began to restore a ballistic missile launch facility it had torn down.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited on Tuesday a report by the country's National Intelligence Service (NIS) as saying that North Korea "appears to be putting back a roof and a door (to a Dongchang-ri facility)."

The site, located in North Pyongan Province, is said to be served as the engine test site and missile launch facility for liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Japan Cooperates With US as N Korea Reportedly Restores Missile Test Site

Sputnik News

15:30 06.03.2019(updated 16:31 06.03.2019)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Japan is continuing to cooperate with the US and collect information about North Korea's alleged activities to develop nuclear weapons as Pyongyang appears to be restoring part of a missile test facility it previously pledged to dismantle, the Japanese chief cabinet secretary Suga said.

"Japan pays serious attention to North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles and trends in their development, and usually takes efforts to collect information about them and analyze it  We are working closely with the United States to address the issue of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday refraining from providing any further details.

The official highlighted Tokyo's desire to continue cooperation with Washington on the North Korean problem in the future as well.

"We would like to continue working closely with the United States to resolve the issues of abductions [of Japanese citizens by North Korea], nuclear weapons, and missiles," he said.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry refrained from providing any further comments on the issue to Sputnik, referring to the remarks made by Suga.

At the same time, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that the international community should support and encourage the positive steps being undertaken by Pyongyang on its path toward complete denuclearization.

"Speaking about the media reports you are talking about, we have seen them. In fact, we all know that starting from last year, the DPRK [the Democratic People's Republic of Korea] has taken a number of positive measures toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. We believe that these steps should be recognized and encouraged," Lu said at a briefing.

The diplomat added that all concerned parties should continue to adhere to a political path in resolving the crisis on the peninsula and work together for the sake of peace and stability in the region.

This comes after on Tuesday, several US think tanks and South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that satellite pictures showed works were underway to restore the Sohae Satellite Launching Station at Tongchang-ri, which North Korea pledged to dismantle after the summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore last year.

On the same day, US National Security Adviser John Bolton told Fox broadcaster on Tuesday that the United States would see if Pyongyang remained committed to abandoning its nuclear weapons program, warning that Washington might even consider "ramping up" economic sanctions on North Korea.

Prior to that, Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un failed to produce any agreement at their second summit in Hanoi.

The second meeting between Trump and Kim, that took place in Hanoi last week, ended when the US president walked away from the talks on their second day after the North Korean leader demanded that all sanctions be lifted in exchange for denuclearization, but not in the areas Washington wanted.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






North Korea Starts Reassembling Rocket Test Site  Reports

Sputnik News

07:20 06.03.2019(updated 07:26 06.03.2019)

Satellite imagery suggests that North Korea might be taking steps to renew a partially decommissioned long-range rocket test site on the country's west coast.

Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., a senior fellow for imagery analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NPR that there is some evidence that can be seen from satellite images that workers are rebuilding at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station.

"We've seen a remarkably quick rebuilding," he said.

The Sohae facility, also referred to as Dongchang-ri and Tongchang-ri, is the site from which North Korea attempted satellite launches in 2012 and 2016. It's also the location of a test stand that Pyongyang has used to fire some of its rocket engines on the ground. Sohae has figured prominently in the ongoing talks between North Korea and the United States, as after the first US-North Korea summit in Singapore last June Trump had said that Kim had given his word that he would close "a major missile-engine testing site." Kim later followed up with an official announcement that he was closing Sohae, referring to it as Dongchang-ri, during a summit in September with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Satellite imaginary revealed that in summer 2018 North Korea did begin disassembling the site, pulling down a large building used at Sohae to transfer rockets from an assembly building to a launchpad. However, by August, the work had stopped. Bermudez said that the test stand appears almost completely reassembled now, having been constructed somewhere between 20 February and 2 March, and the building has been rebuilt with all but part of its roof.

Bermudez believes the work probably took place after 28 February, when the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi, Vietnam concluded unsuccessfully.

However, David Wright, co-director of the global security program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told NPR that the rebuilding of the site does not violate any agreement with the US. "There is nothing that restricts North Korea's ability to do testing of its ballistic missiles," he said. As long as there is no flight testing, ground tests at facilities like Sohae are unrestricted.

Bermudez says the facility is not believed to be at the centre of North Korea's development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, so the decision to rebuild it may be largely symbolic  as well the decision to take it apart.

"All North Korean ballistic missiles today, maybe with one or two exceptions, can be launched from mobile launchers," he said.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Nearly four million North Koreans in urgent need, as food production slumps by almost 10 per cent

6 March 2019 - The UN is calling for some $120 million to provide life-saving humanitarian aid, desperately needed by 3.8 million North Koreans, as it releases its 2019 Needs and Priorities Plan for the country.

Women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities are prioritized in the plan: 90 per cent of nutritional aid, and 92 per cent of health assistance, go to children under five years old and women.

In a statement published on Wednesday, Tapan Mishra, UN Resident Coordinator in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as the country is officially known, expressed particular concern over the fact that food production in the country dropped by almost 10 per cent between 2017 and 2018  the lowest production in more than a decade  resulting in a significant food gap.

Arguing for adequate funding, the Resident Coordinator said that "the time to act is now," in order to prevent a deterioration of the humanitarian situation in DPRK. Overall, some 11 million people in the country are not getting enough nutritious food, clean drinking water or access to basic services like health and sanitation, and one in five children are stunted due to chronic undernutrition.

Mr. Mishra said that, despite these alarming facts, humanitarian activities in DPRK are "critically underfunded." Last year, barely a quarter of the requested $111 million was provided by donors, which meant that an estimated 1.4 million people went without the food they needed, and almost 800,000 people had not access to essential health services.

Because of the underfunding, many UN agencies have had to scale back their programmes, or even close projects that have served as a life-line for millions of people. Mr. Mishra described delays and challenges to programmes as "unintended consequences of sanctions," which have a "real and tangible impact on the aid that we are able to provide to people who desperately need it."

Mr. Mishra praised the generosity of those donors who have provided funding, noting the positive impact that humanitarian programmes are having on the lives of North Koreans; and the improved access and monitoring that agencies can engage in thanks to "continued, principled and robust engagement with the DPRK Government."

The Resident Coordinator appealed to all potential donors and stakeholders to rise above political and security considerations, and prevent them from getting in the way of providing life-saving aid to the men, women, and children who need it the most, because "we simply cannot leave them behind."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Trump 'Very Disappointed' if N. Korea Is Rebuilding Missile Site

By Steve Miller March 06, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would be "very disappointed" if reports that North Korea was rebuilding a rocket launch site were true.

"I would be very disappointed if that is happening," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, but he cautioned that it was a "very early report."

Days after he boasted about having a strong relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump said that if the reports about the launch site proved to be correct, " I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I don't think I will be, but we'll see what happens."

Multiple sources have reported that North Korea has restored part of the launch site it had begun to dismantle, which it pledged to do at the Singapore summit with Trump last year.

38 North, a Washington-based North Korea project, says satellite images depicted structures on the launch pad at the Tongchang-ri launch site, also known as Sohae, had been rebuilt between Feb. 16 and March 2.

Furthermore, South Korea's Yonhap News said that the country's National Intelligence Service had told lawmakers the work was taking place and involved replacing a roof and a door at the facility.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also concluded North Korea was "pursuing a rapid rebuilding."

The CSIS report added, "Activity is evident at the vertical engine test stand and the launch pad's rail-mounted rocket transfer structure."

Following the Singapore summit, Trump told reporters that the North Korean leader had promised to destroy a major missile engine testing site.

The president didn't identify the site at the time, but a U.S. official later told Reuters that the facility was located at Tongchang-ri.

Neither the U.S. State Department, the White House nor South Korea's Unification Ministry commented on the report about the rebuilding effort. South Korea's presidential office, the Blue House, had yet to respond to multiple requests for comment.

In addition, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano revealed in a quarterly report that North Korea's Yongbyon uranium-enrichment facility remained active.

Amano also stated North Korea was continuing work on building an experimental light-water reactor at the facility.

It was unclear what effect the news surrounding developments at Tongchang-ri and Yongbyon would have on diplomatic efforts with North Korea, but U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said Tuesday that the United States would look at increasing sanctions against Pyongyang if Kim did not end its nuclear weapons program.

Speaking on the Fox Business Network, Bolton said Washington was waiting to see whether Pyongyang was committed to abandoning its "nuclear weapons program and everything associated with it."

"If they're not willing to do it, then I think President Trump has been very clear ... they're not going to get relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them and we'll look at ramping those sanctions up in fact," Bolton said.

U.S. lawmakers, however, aren't delaying in trying to ramp up sanctions on North Korea.

Tuesday, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democrat Chris Van Hollen of Maryland introduced a bill to impose sanctions on any bank that does business with North Korea's government.

The measure had the added endorsement of the parents of Otto Warmbier, the U.S. college student who died after being imprisoned in the reclusive country as a result of the treatment he received during captivity.

Dubbed the "Otto Warmbier Banking Restrictions Involving North Korea (BRINK) Act," Otto's parents said they believed the legislation would provide help in eliciting change in North Korea.

"We continue to support the bill and appreciate them honoring our son's memory," the Warmbiers said.

The measure unanimously passed the Senate Banking Committee last year but did not advance further.

To become law, the bill needs to pass both houses of Congress and be signed into law by Trump.

Resumption of talks

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered his cabinet to pursue all avenues to facilitate a resumption of discussions between Washington and Pyongyang.

"We look forward to continuing the dialogue between the two countries, and I expect that the two leaders will meet again in the near future and achieve the settlement this time," Moon said earlier this week while presiding over a National Security Council meeting.

After the Hanoi summit resulted in no agreement being signed between Trump and Kim, Moon said South Korea's role had become important, and he directed ministers to act.

Moon said he wanted officials to "confirm the differences in the positions of the two sides" and "look for ways to narrow the gap."

"I believe that the North American dialogue will eventually be settled, and it's very undesirable to have a vacuum and deadlocked stage for a long time, so please work hard together for the resumption of the North American dialogue," Moon said.

He added, "I would like to find out the best ways to help North American dialogue through the development of inter-Korean relations within the framework of sanctions."

Moon specifically identified projects agreed to during his summits with Kim, including the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the resumption of tours to Mount Kumgang.

Speaking Tuesday at the commission ceremony of the Korean Naval Academy, Moon spoke optimistically of the future.

"Should we consistently pursue peace with firm determination, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and permanent peace will definitely come," he said.

Lee Ju-hyun contributed to this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






World hails Iran's commitment to JCPOA

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 6, IRNA -- The international community in expressed satisfaction over the IAEA report on Iran nuclear deal, is urging Iran to continue its compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

'Representative to UN-Vienna Ulyanov: @iaeaorg experts confirm that Iran honours its #JCPOA obligations. Patient and responsible approach of Tehran is commendable, and is in sharp contrast with US obvious desire to settle non-related scores with Iran whatever the cost,' Russian embassy to UK tweeted on Wednesday.

'Important discussion at #NUMOV on #Iran with a special focus on #INSTEX Exploring ways on how #INSTEX can help to maintain legal trade in support of the #JCPOA,' Director-General for Economic Affairs and Sustainable Development at Federal Foreign Office Miguel Berger said Wednesday in a Twitter message.

'At the #IAEA Board I reaffirmed our full confidence in the IAEA to monitor and verify the #IranDeal, using all information available and seeking clarifications through complementary access when necessary,' UK Resident Representative to IAEA and UK Governor to IAEA Board David Hall wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

'I called on Iran to continue to comply with the #JCPOA,' he added.

Meanwhile, Italian Mission to the I.O. in Vienna in a Twitter message said 'Delivering Italy's statement at the #IAEA Board of Governors, PR Accili reiterated Italy's commitment to the full implementation of #JCPOA and full trust in the @iaeaorg's ability to objectively and impartially verify #Iran's compliance with its obligations under the deal.'

In the meantime, Australian Resident Representative and Governor on the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Brendon Hammer said "Australia attaches highest importance to the #IAEA's activities in Iran under the #JCPOA. Australia's continued support for the JCPOA is informed by ongoing advice from the Director General that Iran is fully implementing its nuclear commitments under the Plan.'

Also Former Executive Director of IISSAmericas Mark Fitzpatrick, tweeted on Wednesday that 'the JCPOA continues to survive, despite Trump's attempts to kill it.'

Earlier, the Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna Mitsuru Kitano in a message reiterated support for Iran nuclear deal, saying 'At the @iaeaorg [International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)] Board of Governors meeting, I made a statement on Iran's nuclear issues. "Japan continues to firmly support the JCPOA, as it strengthens the international non-proliferation regime and contributes to the peace and stability of the Middle East region."

Trump earlier announced on May 8, 2018, the withdrawal from the JCPOA, which was condemned by other parties to the 2015 agreement and their emphasis to stay in the landmark international deal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency in its 14th report on February 22 reiterated Iran compliance with its commitments under the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Meanwhile, earlier Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano reiterated the fact that Iran is implementing its commitments under the nuclear deal

'My report on Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of the United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015) covers relevant activities of the Agency in that country over last few months,' Amano said.

'Iran is implementing its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It is essential that Iran continues to fully implement those commitments,' he added.

9376**2050

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






EU reiterates support for Iran Deal

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 6, IRNA -- European Union on Wednesday described Iran deal as 'an achievement of multilateral diplomacy' and expressed its 'resolute commitment' to it.

The European Union in a statement that was released on Wednesday highlighted the legitimacy of the deal as it was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council.

The nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed by Iran and the five permanent members of Security Council plus Germany in 2015. But the US pulled out of it unilaterally last May.

The EU statement is released a few days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed for the 14th time that Iran has been committed to its obligations under the deal.

The full text of the EU statement comes as follows:

1. Recalling the November 2016 Council conclusions, the European Union expresses its resolute commitment to and continued support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA is a key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture and an achievement of multilateral diplomacy, endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council through its resolution 2231.

2. The European Union welcomes Iran's continued full and effective implementation of its nuclear-related commitments, as confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in thirteen consecutive reports, including in its latest quarterly report, issued on 12 November 2018. The European Union reiterates the need for Iran to continue to implement all of its commitments, and to continue to cooperate fully and in a timely manner with the IAEA. The European Union welcomes and fully supports the work undertaken by the IAEA in monitoring Iran's implementation of the JCPOA. The EU welcomes Iran's commitment never to seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons. It acknowledges the provisional application by Iran of the Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, encouraging its ratification.

3. The European Union recognises that the lifting of sanctions constitutes an essential part of the JCPOA and deeply regrets the re-imposition of sanctions by the United States, following the latter's withdrawal from the JCPOA. The European Union underlines the efforts undertaken to preserve economic and wider benefits for Iran as foreseen by the JCPOA. These are being intensified through the initiative by France, Germany and the United Kingdom, to operationalise the Special Purpose Vehicle, which has now been registered as a private entity, with a view to providing a positive impact on trade and economic relations with Iran, but most importantly on the lives of Iranian people. The Special Purpose Vehicle will support European economic operators engaged in legitimate trade with Iran, in accordance with EU law and with UN Security Council resolution 2231.

As recalled in the joint statement of the HR/VP with foreign ministers and finance ministers of France, Germany and United Kingdom of 2 November 2018, the resolve to complete this work is unwavering. The European Union recalls that updates to the EU's "Blocking Statute" and the European Investment Bank's external lending mandate to make Iran eligible entered into force on 7 August 2018.

4. The European Union emphasizes its support for the development of EU-Iran relations in areas of common interest as outlined in the Joint Statement agreed by the HRVP and the Iranian Foreign Minister in April 2016, which underpins its sectoral engagement in bilateral cooperation. This includes areas such as political dialogue, human rights, economic cooperation, trade and investment, agriculture, transport, energy and climate change, civil nuclear cooperation, environment, civil protection, science, research and innovation, education, including through university exchanges, culture, drugs, migration, regional and humanitarian.

5. The Council welcomes the progress on the necessary reforms and urges Iran to adopt and implement the necessary legislation pursuant to its commitments under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Action Plan. The EU and is Member States are ready to continue cooperation with Iran in these areas, including by providing technical assistance for the implementation of the FATF Action Plan.

6. The Council expresses concern at the growing tensions in the region and Iran's role in this context, including the provision of military, financial and political support to non-state actors in countries such as Syria and Lebanon.

7. The Council has serious concerns regarding Iran's military involvement and continuous presence of Iranian forces in Syria. The European Union calls upon Iran to fully support the UN-led process on Syria in line with UN Security Council resolution 2254, and urges Iran to use its leverage with the Syrian regime to this end. It urges Iran as one of the Astana guarantors, together with Russia and Turkey, to ensure cessation of hostilities and unhindered, safe and sustainable humanitarian access throughout all of Syria, and particularly in Idlib.

8. Regarding Yemen, the European Union calls upon all parties in the region, including Iran, to support the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2451 and to constructively work towards a lasting political solution to the conflict under UN leadership. The EU notes with concern the conclusions of the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen report, which found non-compliance with the arms embargo established by paragraph 14 of UNSC Resolution 2216.The European Union remains committed to continuing the existing EU-led political regional dialogue with Iran, with the aim of continuing to produce tangible results and fostering an improved regional environment. It recognises the results of the efforts which have been undertaken in the context of the current EU-led dialogue on regional issues. The EU welcomes, in this regard, Iran's public support for the UN talks in Sweden, which led to the Stockholm Agreement.

9. The Council is also gravely concerned by Iran's ballistic missile activity and calls upon Iran to refrain from these activities, in particular ballistic missile launches that are inconsistent with UN Security Council resolution 2231. Iran continues to undertake efforts to increase the range and precision of its missiles, together with increasing the number of tests and operational launches. These activities deepen mistrust and contribute to regional instability. The Council calls on Iran to take all the necessary measures to fully respect all relevant UN Security Council resolutions related to the transfer of missiles and relevant material and technology to state and non state actors in the region. In a broader context, the Council also recalls its longstanding serious concern at the regional military build-up.

10. The Council is deeply concerned by the hostile activities that Iran has conducted on the territory of several Member States and, in this context, decided to list two individuals and one entity. The European Union will continue to demonstrate unity and solidarity in this area and urges Iran to put an immediate end to such unacceptable behaviour.

11. The Council remains seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Iran. Iran continues to frequently apply the death penalty. While the Council acknowledges that the amendments made to the Anti-Narcotics Law, passed in October 2017, have so far led to a significant drop in drug-related executions, it stresses that the EU opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country. The EU underlines that the execution of juvenile offenders is in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to both of which Iran is a party.

In line with EU commitments to ensure equal rights of women and girls and persons belonging to minorities, including ethnic and religious minorities, the Council calls upon Iran to implement the relevant international treaties to which it is a party and to fully respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

12. The Council underlines that existing tensions and distrust in the region should not be further exacerbated and calls upon Iran and all regional actors to play a constructive role in this regard and avoid unhelpful rhetoric. The Council supports a balanced, comprehensive approach with Iran, including dialogue, with a view to addressing all issues of concern, critical when there are divergences and cooperative when there is mutual interest.

9156**1424

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In reality, the book was Berlins critique of Tolstoy and his view of history.

Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) was of Jewish origin and born in Riga in Latvia. He migrated to England in 1921 and taught at the University of Oxford. He was one of the founders of Wolfson College, perhaps the only undergraduate college in Oxford.

The Jindal Global University (JGU) organised a one-day seminar on the seminal thinker and philosopher at the India International Centre last week to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Berlins Two Concepts of Liberty. It also coincided with JGU's own 10 years of excellence in institution building. As the vice-chancellor, Professor Raj Kumar, remarked in his opening address, the role of a university is crucial in raising critical issues that affect our society and polity, and cited the continued relevance of Berlin's ideas in this regard. Both Kathleen Modrowski, the dean of JGU's liberal arts and humanities school, and the British High Commissioner, Sir Dominic Scott (in a separate communication), cited Berlins The Hedgehog and the Fox.

This book was central to Berlin's own credo. The title is derived from a line by Aricholocus, an obscure Greek poet. The fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one big thing, Aricholocus had said. In very simple terms, faced with a variety of and multiple threats from the fox, the hedgehog has one standard response, it simply rolls up into a ball. It has a standard response to a variety of issues; it was thus a single-issue fanatic.

In reality, the book was Berlins critique of Tolstoy and his view of history. Hedgehogs pursue a single vision of history and have a unilinear outlook forcing the pluralism inherent in history into a single monistic model. The foxes, on the other hand, embody pluralism and a variety of ideas and approaches. Berlin felt that all writers could be divided into hedgehogs and foxes and felt that though Tolstoy was actually a fox, he was compelled to seek one universal, causal, reason for all of history, thereby becoming a hedgehog. In part, Berlin's criticism of Tolstoy was derived from the way Tolstoy had portrayed Anna Karenina in his novel and Berlin had been most unhappy with Kareninas end.

The keynote address at the seminar was by Ramin Jahanbegloo, the vice-dean of the law school at JGU. He spoke about his own travel to Oxford from Paris to interview Berlin. Ramin had published a book on his conversations with Berlin and had been struck by Berlin's simplicity and frankness. The OUP in Oxford had given Ramin Berlin's personal number and not only did Berlin take the call himself and opened both the door and his home to Ramin. He even made me a cup of tea, Ramin said.

I was reminded of a colleague who had visited Sir Keith Thomas in his rooms at Oxford. Thomas, more known for his work, The Rise of Religion and the Decline of Magic, was then a delegate to the OUP and chairman of its Finance Committee. He too had offered tea except that he did not know how to make it as his secretary had always done the honours and that day was her off-day. My colleague knew the drill, tea was duly prepared and all was well!

Though I was in a scholarly milieu and had forsaken that world after a stint at university teaching in favour of publishing, I had a vested interest in attending the seminar. At the ensuing discussion that followed, I made a couple of observations. I said that apart from Berlins innate democratic and liberal nature, he was very generous with his time. I could testify to this personally. I had carried to the seminar a copy of a personal seven-page communication by Berlin closely typed and with corrections in his own hand. This was datelined September 22, 1982, by Berlin and had been sent from Headington House at Oxford. It was a lengthy and comprehensive response to a manuscript on political thought sent by its author, Om Bakshi, who was then teaching at Delhi University. The revised manuscript was subsequently submitted to me at OUP India for publishing. I had taught this very subject to university students and it was felt I would be in the best position to assess it.

Bakshi met me in my room at OUP in 1986 and knowing of my interest in the subject, he had prudently thought it fit to include Berlins exhaustive comments which he had carefully preserved from 1982 for its not everyday that you get an enthusiastic response from a scholar of the stature of Isaiah Berlin for your work. Those comments have been preserved by me for the same reasons with one proviso, I am not the author of the work. The comments were historic. Not only did they give an insight into Berlins own pluralism and variety of ideas, they dealt with concepts and thinkers with whom I was familiar. Above all, they established Berlin as a philosopher of ideas very much in the lines of Socrates, Aristotle and Plato. Berlin concluded his letter to Bakshi in his usual self-effacing manner for erudition and scholarship sat lightly on him. I am so sorry that this is so long (and illegible in part), and I hope that you have not abandoned this letter half-way through, as well you might. I say again that I think your essay is one of the most lucid, best-documented, interesting and intellectually stimulating piece of writing that I have met with in recent years, and I hope that you will publish it  and if there is anything I can do in that direction, please let me know. Bakshi's work was published by us in the OUP in 1987 as The Crisis of Political Theory  An Inquiry into Political Thought. I had occasion to discuss this letter again with my friend Dileep Padgaonkar in 1990. Dileep had just returned from Oxford after interviewing Berlin and published an op-ed article, Against the Current. Dileep quoted Berlin to say that one area where philosophers of the Enlightenment went wrong was in trying to discover certain fixed and common laws which govern human behaviour and which transcend time and space. Berlin believed that men are not merely objects in nature governed by discoverable causal laws but human behaviour was in a constant and dynamic flux depending on how men perceived themselves, their relationship to their fellows and, above all, to the world around them. The sheer volume of criticism of his writings, from the Left, the Right, Marxist and Catholic, convinced Berlin that he was living in an age of great intellectual ferment with some very talented people. The seminar on Berlin concluded with closing remarks by Ashok Vajpeyi, poet and literary critic.

He spoke of Berlin's abiding friendships with Anna Akhmatova, a poet, and leading intellectual writer, Boris Pasternak. Under Stalin's Russia this friendship was to prove detrimental to Akhmatova, resulting in her losing the privileges of being a member of the Writers Union, and forcing Akhmatova to compromise and write poems praising Stalin. Stalin's death in 1953 did not ease her condition. Berlin, in atonement and in conjunction with Maurice Bowra, did persuade Oxford to grant Akhmatova an honorary degree in 1956 but her health had broken down and she died the following year.

That same year, Berlin visited Russia and met the writer, Boris Pasternak. The writer persuaded Berlin to smuggle a copy of the Dr Zhivago manuscript to England. Pasternak's wife had grave objections but the writer stood his ground. He had already managed to send a copy to his Italian publishers. Berlin had read the manuscript of Dr Zhivago in his hotel room and realised he had a masterpiece in his hand but was filled with misgivings keeping Akhmatovas fate in mind. Knowing Pasternaks defiant and intractable nature, Berlin carried Dr Zhivago to England where it was published by Hamish Hamilton in 1958. The Italian edition had been published in 1957. The film version by David Lean was to immortalise Dr Zhivago. Pasternak was conferred the Nobel Prize in 1958.

The fame of Dr Zhivago did have repercussions for Pasternak. He was not permitted to go to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize in person though Khrushchev had succeeded Stalin. His privileges in the Writers Union were initially withdrawn and then restored due to international pressure. He died in 1960 and, though the authorities wanted a quiet burial, his funeral was attended by thousands. The Nobel Prize was finally claimed by his descendants in 1988 a good 30 years after it had been conferred.

The writer is a senior publishing industry professional who has worked with OUP and is now a senior consultant with Ratna Sagar Books
EU, Russia, China reaffirm support for Iran nuclear deal

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 07:03PM

Iran says the remaining signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal have reaffirmed their "strong support" for the Islamic Republic despite the United States' decision to unilaterally leave the agreement last year.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, said Wednesday that Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany had "acknowledged that the deal can only survive if Iran can receive the benefits of the deal," and remain committed to keeping it in effect.

Araghchi made the remarks in Vienna, the Austrian capital, after a high-stakes meeting of the with representatives from the remaining signatories to the landmark deal, known as the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the JCPOA.

Under the deal Iran agreed to limit certain parts of its nuclear energy in exchange for removal of all nuclear-related sanctions.

However, US President Donald Trump announced May last year that he would re-impose all the sanctions and punish countries who traded with Iran.

Russia and China reacted to trump's move by reassuring Tehran that they would stick to their commitments.

The remaining three European signatories also promised to come up with a mechanism that would secure trade with Tehran and guarantee Iranian and European companies would stay out of harm's way.

After spending months discussing possible mechanisms to guarantee continued trade with Tehran, the Europeans last month unveiled the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) with strings attached.

Araqchi praised the Europeans' establishment of INSTEX, a barter-type system that is supposed to help businesses on both sides perform direct transactions and evade possible US penalties.

Russia's Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said Tuesday that the JCPOA and its supporting UN Security Council resolution were aimed at boosting economic and trade ties with Tehran.

"We call on all countries committed to the UN Charter to bear in mind that, according to Resolution 2231, the JCPOA is aimed at boosting economic and trade ties and cooperation with Iran," Ulyanov said.

The Russian envoy said Moscow was confident that the ongoing efforts would help resolve the current challenges.

"The need to restore the balance of interests enshrined in the JCPOA is obvious. Russia will continue to work together with its JCPOA partners and other interested countries," Ulyanov added.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US opposes Iran due to Tehran's refusal to be submissive: President Rouhani

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 11:07AM

President Hassan Rouhani says the United States is at odds with Iran because of the Islamic Republic's refusal to be submissive to America, as it used to be before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

"Today, we are again in a battle with the Iranian nation's staunch enemy," President Rouhani said during an address in the Lahijan City, in the northern Gilan Province on Wednesday, referring to the US.

"It (the battle) is all about one thing: America says we should go back to 40 years ago and we say we will not go backwards, we will continue on the path of progress, independence, freedom, and democracy," the Iranian president said.

The Islamic Revolution in Iran deposed the then-Pahlavi regime, thus ending thousands of years of monarchical rule in the country. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last monarch in Iran, was backed by America, which considered his regime its gendarme in the region.

Elsewhere in his remarks, President Rouhani said the status quo in Iran could not considered as normal.

"We are in a state of economic and psychological war," he said, stressing that Iran was in fact facing the enemy at a "battleground."

'US was alone in quitting Iran deal'

Rouhani referred to the US's unilateral withdrawal from a multilateral deal with Iran and said Washington had failed to get the other signatories on board to similarly abandon the deal, signifying a defeat for America.

"America was forced to singularly pull out of an international deal. It wasn't a deal between Iran and America, it was one among seven countries; so, what happened was the US went against the United Nations, the international community, and all of the world's countries," President Rouhani said.

The Iranian chief executive said the US suffered yet another defeat when, at a United Nations Security Council meeting headed by US President Donald Trump last September, it faced strong defense of the Iran deal by all the other 14 Council member states.

"They backed the Iranian nation's commitment and opposed the US's non-commitment," Rouhani said of the other members.

Rouhani also pointed to the US's failure at a meeting it had convened in the Polish capital of Warsaw last month, when it could not rally its allies around a purely anti-Iran agenda.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had announced the meeting in January, saying it would purportedly focus on the "important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence." Later in the month, however, and as officials from various countries indicated their refusal to participate, US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen told the Security Council that the meeting was "not a venue to demonize or attack Iran," in an apparent about-face.

"Therefore, the enemy has not achieved any success," President Rouhani sad, "even though it has caused some problems for us."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






EU Envoys Agree To Prolong Sanctions Against Iranian Human Rights Abusers

By RFE/RL March 06, 2019

BRUSSELS -- European Union ambassadors have decided to leave sanctions imposed on dozens of Iranians accused of severe human rights abuses in place for another year.

EU-nation envoys in Brussels made the decision on March 6, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal details of the discussions publicly

The asset freezes and visa bans apply to 82 Iranian citizens -- including several judges and prosecutors, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, senior police officers, and prison wardens -- and one entity, the Iranian Cyberpolice.

They were first adopted in 2011 and have been rolled over every year since then.

The measures also include a ban on exports of equipment to Iran that could be used for internal repression and equipment for monitoring telecommunications.

The prolongation of the measures will be formally approved by EU ministers in the coming weeks.

In early 2016, the EU lifted all of its nuclear-related economic and financial EU sanctions against Iran after Tehran and global powers reached a deal imposing curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

The waiver that lifted those sanctions remains in place despite the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 agreement known by the acronym JCPOA.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL Brussels Correspondent Rikard Jozwiak

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-envoys-agree-to- prolong-sanctions-against-iranian-human- rights-abusers/29806712.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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US, Rights Activists Slam Iran's Appointment of New Judiciary Chief

By Michael Lipin, Ramin Haghjoo March 06, 2019

The United States and rights activists are criticizing Iran for selecting as its new judiciary chief a conservative cleric allegedly involved in mass executions of dissidents in the 1980s.

An Iranian judiciary spokesman confirmed in a Sunday news conference that Ebrahim Raisi will succeed another conservative cleric, Sadeq Amoli Larijani, as judiciary chief on Friday. Iranian media had predicted the move since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promoted Larijani to the role of head of Iran's Expediency Council in December.

The Expediency Council advises the Supreme Leader about whether to approve or reject parliamentary legislation in cases of irreconcilable dispute between lawmakers and the Guardian Council  a panel of 12 unelected jurists tasked with vetting all legislation.

Raisi has served as custodian of one of Iran's holiest Shi'ite shrines in the northeastern city of Mashhad since 2016, when Khamenei appointed him to the post. The following year, Raisi competed in Iran's presidential election but came in a distant second to incumbent President Hassan Rouhani.

International rights groups accuse Raisi of involvement in the apparent executions of thousands of Iranian dissidents in 1988, when he served as deputy prosecutor general of Tehran. Iran's Islamist leaders have ignored or denied the existence of such mass executions.

U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Palladino sharply criticized Raisi's appointment. In a Tuesday tweet, Palladino echoed the accusations of Raisi's role in mass executions and called the cleric's promotion a disgrace, adding that "Iranians deserve better."

In Monday interviews with VOA Persian, two exiled Iranian rights activists said they believe a Raisi-led judiciary will do nothing to resolve perceived widespread human rights abuses in Iran.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR), said the judicial appointment is a show of defiance by Khamenei toward his international and domestic critics and an effort by him to sustain Iran's Islamist system.

Speaking from London, Justice for Iran (JFI) group director Shadi Sadr said that as long as Raisi is judiciary chief, he will be immune from international prosecution in connection with Iran's 1988 mass executions. But, she said the international community still can label Raisi a human rights violator and ban him from foreign travel.

"At the very least, the United Nations and other international institutions should condemn the appointment of a man accused of one of Iran's greatest crimes to the highest judicial post in the country," Sadr said.

Several prominent Iranian reformist politicians expressed support for Khamenei's move.

In a Sunday tweet, reformist lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi said many Iranian judges were optimistic about imminent changes in the judiciary's leadership. "Given the record of the likely next judiciary chief," he said in reference to Raisi, "there is hope that the General Inspection Organization of Iran (GIO) will recover its necessary place in fighting corruption." Raisi is a former head of GIO, one of several anti-corruption bodies in Iran's government.

Reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh posted a Monday tweet saying supporters of Raisi's two predecessors hope that he will bring the judiciary up to date and make it more efficient. "Iran needs a judiciary that is independent, unbiased and accountable," Tajzadeh added.

In a report published Monday, Middle East-focused U.S. news site Al-Monitor said it appears that Iranian reformists are trying to soften some of their past criticisms of Raisi. It said those reformists, who have been struggling to maintain relevance in a conservative-dominated system, would see their political influence further diminished if they opened a new battle against Raisi, one it said they "certainly" would not win.

This article originated in VOA's Persian Service.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran hails Iraq's security situation after Daesh defeat

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 11:11AM

Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has expressed satisfaction with the current security situation in neighboring Iraq, which managed to defeat the Takfiri terror group of Daesh in late 2017 with the help of Tehran.

Larijani made the remarks at a joint press conference with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi in Tehran on Wednesday.

The top Iranian parliamentarian said Iran and Iraq enjoy friendly relations in various fields, particularly in politics, economy and culture.

Larijani further hailed the security situation in post-Daesh Iraq and said, "We are happy that Iraq is today enjoying good security following the tensions caused by terrorist currents in Iraq."

He also praised joint efforts by the Iraqi army, senior cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and the government-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, in thwarting Daesh's terror campaign.

Daesh unleashed a campaign of death and destruction in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes of land in lightning attacks.

Iraqi army soldiers and allied fighters then launched operations to eliminate the terror outfit and retake lost territory.

Shortly after the beginning of the terror campaign in Iraq, Ayatollah Sistani issued a fatwa calling on all Iraqi citizens to defend their country. Iraq finally declared the end of the anti-Daesh campaign in December 2017.

At Baghdad's request, Iran also provided military advisory assistance to Iraq in the course of its anti-Daesh operations.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Larijani said that he had held talks with Halbousi on developing Tehran-Baghdad economic and parliamentary ties as well as on ways to establish sustainable security in the broader region.

Halbousi, for his part, stressed that Iraq would not allow its soil be used for any aggression against neighboring states.

He further noted that the Daesh terror group could not have been defeated without the help of Baghdad's friends, including Iran.

The Iraqi official's trip comes ahead of an official visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Iraq later this month.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Libya's National Accord Government, Army Agree to Unify Institutions - Adviser

Sputnik News

16:48 06.03.2019(updated 16:49 06.03.2019)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Fayez Sarraj, the head of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) backed by the UN, and Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army, agreed on the need to unify state institutions and hold nation-wide presidential and parliamentary elections by the end of year, Sarraj's media adviser Hassan Houni told Sputnik.

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said on February 28 Sarraj and Haftar agreed on the need to hold general elections in the country.

"[The sides] reached an agreement on the need to unite state institutions and on holding presidential and parliamentary elections by the end of this year, as well as on support for UN envoy's efforts on the matter," Houni said.

The media adviser added that the meeting between the sides was aimed at "ending the bloodshed and preventing the escalation of military conflict in the country."

Libya has been in a state of turmoil since 2011 when a civil war broke out in the country and long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown. The country's eastern regions are governed by the elected parliament, backed by the Libyan National Army, while the Government of National Accord, operates in the country's west, including the Libyan capital Tripoli.

The United Nations attempted to organize nation-wide presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya last December, however, the vote was later postponed until the spring of 2019.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Pakistan May NOT Have Violated F-16 Deal in Clash With India, US Media Says

Sputnik News

16:17 06.03.2019(updated 17:33 06.03.2019)

Pakistan's alleged "misuse" of the F-16 has attracted global attention over the past week, leading to the scrutiny of US arms shipments to Pakistan over the past decade under the pretext of helping Islamabad in its fight against terror groups.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  New York Times journalist Maria Abi-Habib on Wednesday, quoting American sources, revealed that contrary to India's insistence, Washington considers Pakistan not to have violated its F-16 purchase agreement when its jets got in an dogfight with Indian warplanes which led to the reported downing of an Indian MiG-21.

"US officials are pushing back hard on India's interpretation of their F-16 sale agreement with Pakistan. Sources say if India had entered Pakistan airspace for a second day, and Pakistan used the jet defensively, the contract wasn't violated. But, if Pakistan used an F-16 to attack India first, the deal was violated," Maria Abi-Habib, a New York Times journalist tweeted.

Citing weapons experts and officials, NYT journalist Abi-Habib also questioned the Indian Air Force's (IAF) claim that an AIM-120 missile's remnant, that was displayed by New Delhi, was 'proof' of Pakistan's use of an F-16 in the counter-strike that followed the Balakot bombing.

On Tuesday, the US State Department had acknowledged that it was following the report on the alleged misuse of the F-16 in air clashes between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours very closely.

"We've seen those reports and we're following that issue very closely. I can't confirm anything, but as a matter of policy, we don't publicly comment on the contents of bilateral agreements that we have in this regard involving US defence technologies nor the communications that we have with other countries about that," Robert Palladino, deputy spokesperson of the US Department of State said during a media briefing.

Meanwhile, former vice chief of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Shahid Latif told a local newspaper that there is no condition attached to the country's purchase of F-16 fighters from the US that stipulates they cannot be used against India.

"Pakistan can use the F-16 jets for its defence against any country, including India," former air marshal Shahid Latif said in reply to a query on whether the deal condition barred the use of the F-16 in 'offensive' operations. The News International said Latif wondered, "If Pakistan was bound not to use these F-16s against India, then why would the country have purchased it?" He said, "We did not need a toy".

Even as Pakistan continued to insist that the fighter jets used in the aerial clash with India were not F-16s, the Indian Air Force on Tuesday revealed a detailed account about the dogfight seeking to establish that it was a F-16 which the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) tasked with targeting an Indian military installation.

"During combat, use of F-16 by PAF and multiple launches of AMRAAM were conclusively observed. Prompt and correct tactical action by Su-30 aircraft, in response to AMRAAM launch, defeated the missile. Parts of the missile fell in area East of Rajouri in J&K, injuring a civilian on the ground," a statement by the Indian Air Force read.

India's Ministry of External Affairs has claimed that one PAF F-16 fighter aircraft was shot down by an IAF MiG 21 Bison.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Officials Issue Sanctions Warnings to Europe Over Russian Gas

By Jamie Dettmer March 06, 2019

U.S. officials have warned at an energy conference in Brussels that the Trump administration will take punitive action against European companies that are building the Kremlin-favored Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which will deliver energy from Russia to Germany while bypassing Ukraine.

Nord Stream 2 (NS2) will largely replace an older pipeline running through Ukraine and Poland that has the backing of the German government. But it is prompting the alarm of Central European governments, increasingly infuriated with Berlin's dismissal of their concerns.

They object to Nord Stream 2  which will run 1,200 kilometers from Vyborg, Russia, to Lubmin, Germany, and snake under the Baltic Sea  not only because they'll lose lucrative transit fees from the older pipeline, but because they fear the Kremlin wants to develop NS2 largely for political reasons, not commercial ones.

Speaking at the energy conference in the Belgian capital, Nicole Gibson, deputy director of the U.S. State Department's office for Europe, warned that if European companies resume laying pipe later this year they "risk significant sanctions."

Declining to go into any details about the threatened sanctions, Gibson said Washington doesn't accept that Nord Stream 2 is a done deal. "Some people say it is a fait accompli that Nord Stream 2 will be done. We don't see it that way We call on European leaders to make sure Nord Stream 2 is not implemented," she said.

Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko has warned that NS2 would allow the Kremlin to switch off gas to Ukraine and Central Europe when it wants to blackmail its nearer neighbors without disrupting supplies to Western Europe, lessening likely push back from the more powerful European countries while it toys with weaker ones.

Her high-profile warning, upping the political stakes, comes two months after Richard Grenell, the U.S. envoy to Germany, sent letters to dozens of European construction and energy companies saying they face sanctions if they resume in the spring the laying of NS2's concrete-coated steel pipes. Construction work was suspended in December because of winter weather.

Washington's opposition to Nord Stream 2 has been consistent  the Obama administration also was critical.

U.S. President Donald Trump's opposition has a harder edge, however, with officials seeing a dark political menace behind the new pipeline. They argue NS2 will undermine European security, deepen Western Europe's dependence on Russian energy and give the Kremlin a greater opportunity to use natural-gas supplies to exert political influence and blackmail Western European governments.

Nord Stream 2, which will be owned by the Kremlin-directed energy giant Gazprom, would double the capacity of Russian gas delivered to Germany, the European Union's most powerful economy. NS2 will cost billions of dollars to build. Russia currently supplies more than one-third of the natural gas Europe uses, though with demand increasing, that could reach closer to 50 percent next decade, forecast energy industry experts.

Last July, during his visit to the annual summit of NATO allies in Brussels, President Trump expressed his frustration with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the Russia-to-Germany undersea pipeline, saying, "We're supposed to protect you from Russia, but Germany is making pipeline deals with Russia. You tell me if that's appropriate. Explain that."

But Merkel has dug in amid pressure from Germany businesses, which say NS2 will slash their energy costs. The German Chancellor also appears to be distancing herself from a promise she made last year to Central European leaders when she acknowledged for the first time allies' geopolitical concerns, saying NS2 could proceed only if Ukraine's role as a transit country for Russian gas also was protected.

Germany, along with NS2 transit countries Finland, Sweden and Denmark, counter-argue the pipeline will increase Europe's energy security by avoiding potential cutoffs from the more politically volatile Ukrainian route. Washington believes the pipeline also is a Russian bid to hurt Ukraine economically by stripping it of gas transit fees.

Ukrainian officials estimate their losses from Nord Stream 2 will be high, running at about $2.5 billion a year.

"When Nord Stream 2 is finished this year, there will be no need to use the Ukrainian gas transit system," Yuriy Vitrenko, managing director of Ukraine's Naftogaz, a state-owned oil and gas company, told the Brussels conference. "Ukraine will lose approximately 4 percent of GDP," he added.

Kremlin officials say Washington wants to stop NS2 because U.S. energy giants are hoping to export surplus shale gas to Europe as liquified natural gas (LNG). U.S. officials have made no secret of their hopes that American energy firms will be able to profit from a halt to NS2, but say that isn't the major reason for their objections to the pipeline.

U.S. officials' alarm about NS2 is echoed by European security officials. NATO's former head, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has described Nord Stream 2 as a "geopolitical mistake" for the EU, saying it would make a mockery of EU sanctions on Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Germany extends ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 05:05PM

Germany has extended a ban on arms exports to Saudi Arabia imposed over the kingdom's deadly campaign against Yemen and the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"We in the government have decided to extend the export ban until the end of March, and we have done this with an eye on developments in Yemen," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told journalists in Berlin on Wednesday, confirming last week's reports.

"We believe that the Yemen war must end as soon as possible."

In November 2018, Germany announced it would no longer issue arms export licenses to Saudi Arabia until March 9, following the murder of Khashoggi in Istanbul on October 2 that year.

Saudi Arabia launched the devastating campaign in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power. According to a report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi war has claimed the lives of about 56,000 Yemenis so far.

"Not only will there not be any permits issued until the end of this month, but products with permits already granted will also not be delivered," Maas added.

Germany's decision to halt arms sales to the kingdom has drawn criticism of European partners, including France and Britain, due to the fact that the move has impacted joint defense projects.

Last month, Britain warned that the new policy damages Berlin's security commitments while adversely affecting the British military industry.

German magazine Der Spiegel reported on February 19 that British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had raised the issue of arms exports in a letter to his German counterpart.

"I am very concerned about the impact of the German government's decision on the British and European defense industry and the consequences for Europe's ability to fulfill its NATO commitments," Hunt wrote.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Saudi king, crown prince split over MbS' recent moves: Report

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 02:48AM

Saudi King Salman is said to be outraged by the recent moves made by his son, Crown Prince Mohammed, the Guardian has reported, hinting at growing signs of a potentially destabilizing rift between the king and his heir.

In a Tuesday report, The Guardian quoted sources as saying that King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed are understood to have disagreed over a number of important policy issues in recent weeks, including the war in Yemen.

The rift is said to have been building since the brutal murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Arab kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, which was reportedly carried out at the order of Crown Prince Mohammed.

However, a source has told The Guardian that the tension between the king and the crown prince dramatically increased late February, when Salman, 83, visited Egypt and was warned by his advisers about the risk of a potential move against him.

His entourage was so alarmed at the possible threat to his authority that a new security team, comprised of more than 30 hand-picked loyalists from the interior ministry, was flown to Egypt to replace the existing team.

The move was made because "some of the original security staff might have been loyal to the prince", the source said.

According to the source, the friction in the father-son relationship was underlined when the prince was not among those sent to welcome the king home.

When King Salman was in Egypt, Mohammed signed off two major personnel changes including the appointment of a female ambassador to the US for the first time, and that of his full brother Khalid bin Salman to the defense ministry.

The appointment of Khalid as the country's defense chief has further centralized power in one branch of the ruling family.

The announcement was made without the knowledge of the king, who was especially angered by what he believed was a premature move to elevate Prince Khalid to a more senior role, the source said.

The Guardian has been told the king and his team learned about the reshuffle via television.

Prince Mohammed angered the Muslim world last month when he walked on top of the Kaaba in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam, provoking complaints to the king by some religious scholars that the move had been inappropriate, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Ignoring his father's call for freer coverage of the recent protests in Algeria, Bin Salman have reportedly prevented the Saudi press from doing so, despite efforts by mainstream media to portray him as a so-called advocate of reforms in the Arab country.

The crown prince has faced international condemnation over Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Saudi government has denied any involvement by the prince, who was found by the CIA to have ordered the killing.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The promoter and promoter group also reserves the right to subscribe either itself or through investors.

Promoter and promoter group will subscribe to Rs 117,857 million and GIC will subscribe to Rs 50,000 million by way of renouncement in their favour. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi: Promoters of Bharti Airtel along with Singapore government's investment arm GIC Private Ltd will subscribe to over half of the proposed Rs 32,000 crore rights issue in a bid to infuse funds in the company.

"The entire rights entitlement of promoter and promoter group of approximately Rs 167,857 million (Rs 16,785.7 crore) will be subscribed by them and GIC," Bharti Airtel said in a statement Thursday.

The statement further added that the promoter and promoter group will subscribe to Rs 117,857 million (Rs 11,785.7 crore) and GIC will subscribe to Rs 50,000 million (or Rs 5,000 crore) by way of renouncement in their favour.

One of the promoters Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel) said it will infuse Rs 3,750 crore in Bharti Airtel by subscribing to the proposed Rs 25,000 crore rights issue of the company.

Singtel announced that "it will subscribe to 170 million new shares in the Rs 250 billion rights issue by regional associate Bharti Airtel (Airtel) at an issue price of Rs 220 per share, for a total consideration of Rs 37.5 billion (approximately USD 525 million), representing the rights entitlement for its direct stake of 15 per cent".

With this rights issue subscription, Singtel's effective interest in Airtel will be 35.2 per cent and the company will continue to be the single largest shareholder in Airtel. The board of Bharti Airtel approved the rights issue to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through the issuance of fully paid up shares at a price of Rs 220 per share and to raise an additional Rs 7,000 crore via the foreign currency perpetual bond issue. GIC has confirmed to subscribe to this renounced entitlement on behalf of Government of Singapore and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

"The promoter and promoter group also reserves the right to subscribe either itself or through investors for additional shares in the Issue, including in the event of under-subscription by public, in accordance with the applicable laws," the statement said. Airtel is in the process of appointing banks to execute this.

"The rights issue reiterates the confidence of our shareholders in the competitive strength and sound business strategy of Airtel. It shall further strengthen our balance sheet with desired financial flexibility so as to meet future opportunities, particularly in the rapidly transforming Indian mobile market," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India & South Asia) - Bharti Airtel said.

He said the fresh capital infusion will help the company to continue investments in future rollouts to build large network capacity and create content and technology partnerships to ensure the best customer experience.
Live-ammunition Joint Peninsula Shield Drill 10 Continues

Saudi Press Agency

Wednesday 1440/6/29 - 2019/03/06

Dammam, March 06, 2019, SPA -- Using live ammunition, Drill 10 of the Joint Peninsula Shield is entering its third phase, the last but one, it was reported here today.

Joint forces of the Saudi armed forces and land, maritime and air forces from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are taking part in the exercise together with selective Saudi security and military forces from both the Ministry of National Guard and the Ministry of the Interior.

--SPA

21:21 LOCAL TIME 18:21 GMT

0024

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Germany Prolongs Ban on Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia Until End of March

Sputnik News

13:42 06.03.2019(updated 14:06 06.03.2019)

BERLIN (Sputnik)  The German government has decided to extend the embargo on arms sales to Saudi Arabia until the end of March, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday.

"We, in the German government, decided to prolong the embargo on [arms] exports [to Saudi Arabia] until the end of March, we have done that also due to the developments in Yemen," Maas said.

The minister pointed out that Berlin insisted on putting an end to the war in Yemen as soon as possible.

Maas added that earlier permits issued for the German companies to export weapons to Saudi Arabia would also be void until the end of March.

On 20 February, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that future decisions on whether to deliver arms to Saudi Arabia would depend on how the conflict develops in Yemen.

Germany announced the ban in October, amid the controversy surrounding the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Trump Nominee Defends Strained US-Saudi Ties

By Michael Bowman March 06, 2019

President Donald Trump's pick for ambassador to Saudi Arabia defended on Wednesday America's relationship with the kingdom in the face of unflagging congressional outrage over the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Florida Republican Marco Rubio declared that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had gone "full gangster."

However, retired Army Gen. John Abizaid told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "It's a vital national interest that we have a sound relationship with Saudi Arabia to counter malign Iranian influence."

While acknowledging tensions between Washington and Riyadh, the nominee said, "We need a strong and mature partnership with Saudi Arabia. Reform there promises to make the kingdom more dynamic, more prosperous, and the region more stable."

Senators of both parties expressed revulsion over recent Saudi actions, as well as the kingdom's U.S.-backed military campaign in Yemen. The United States has sanctioned 17 Saudis for allegedly killing Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, at the kingdom's consulate in Turkey last October.

"At the same time they are letting women drive, they are sending a team of thugs with a bone saw to chop somebody up in another country  a writer and a resident of our country," Kentucky Republican Rand Paul said. "So, I don't think we should be fooled."

The panel's top Democrat, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, said, "Repeated stories of U.S.-supplied bombs hitting weddings, funerals and school buses [in Yemen] are simply unacceptable."

Rubio focused his remarks on Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Salman.

"He's kidnapped the prime minister of Lebanon. He kicked out the ambassador of Canada. Canceled flights to Toronto. Cut off investments. Recalled all their students in Canada, over a tweet. ... He ordered or knew of efforts to murder Jamal Khashoggi," Rubio said. "He's gone full gangster, and it's difficult to work with a guy like that, no matter how important the relationship is."

Abizaid said Washington can't ignore the crown prince's "malign" actions, but added, "Our relationship with Saudi Arabia is bigger than the relationship just with the crown prince. It's all about a nation. It's about a government."

The nominee added, "These short-term problems have to be solved now. And it requires forceful discussions on behalf of the United States with the government of Saudi Arabia."

Abizaid assured New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen that if confirmed, he would consistently raise human rights issues with Saudi officials. But he pushed back when Shaheen asked how he would "hold the Saudis accountable" for their actions.

"Ambassadors don't hold countries accountable. Countries hold countries accountable," the nominee said. "It's the role of the United States to ensure that the Saudis know what we stand for, what we believe and what the relationship needs to be to move forward. I will ensure that those ideals, those values, those mutual interests are conveyed as clearly as I can to the government of Saudi Arabia."

Positive view of Saudi Arabia

Abizaid insisted the news from Saudi Arabia is not all bad, and shared observations from a recent trip to the kingdom.

"I saw some very innovative and very effective programs aimed specifically at reducing terrorism, both financially and on the field of battle," he said. "He [Salman] has sent a very clear message that he favors a more tolerant view of Saudi Wahabi Islam, and I see evidence of that."

That assertion drew an incredulous response from Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

"The locking up of women dissidents is not necessarily a great advertisement that you [Salman] are willing to push for a more tolerant version of Islam," he said.

Meanwhile, Paul urged a rethinking of America's approach to the U.S.-Saudi relationship, arguing that Washington has long ignored Riyadh's misdeeds.

"I think we've turned a blind eye because of oil, because they tend to side with us against Iran," he said. "And I think there needs to be a more even-handed look at this. Not saying that Iran is good, but maybe both [Iran and Saudi Arabia] are malign actors."

Abizaid had a more positive view of decades-old ties between Washington and Riyadh.

"The United States has a long history of cooperation with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is difficult to imagine a successful U.S. effort to undercut Sunni extremism or keep Iran in check without engaging and partnering with the kingdom," he said.

Senators of both parties heaped praise on Abizaid's military career, including four years as commander of U.S. Central Command during the George W. Bush administration.

Senators predicted his confirmation to the post, which has been vacant for two years.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US needs Rukban refugee camp to justify military presence in Syria, Lavrov says

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 03:33PM

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the United States needs Rukban refugee camp in southern Syria and near the border with Jordan, where thousands of internally displaced people are stranded, in order to justify its illegitimate military presence in the crisis-hit Arab country.

"The fact that people are not allowed to leave [the camp] and are held hostage makes one suggest that the US needs this camp to continue justifying its illegitimate presence there," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Hamad Al Sabah in Kuwait City on Wednesday.

He added, "This is in line with the US policy aimed at creating something like a quasi-state on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. It does not want these territories to get back under the control of Syria's legitimate authorities."

"We will insist that these people are no longer held in the camp against their will," Lavrov pointed out.

The remarks came only a day after Russia's Defense Ministry said Russian satellites had found a cemetery with 300 graves immediately outside Rukban camp's fence.

"US forces prevent refugees from exiting the camp, while militants are forcibly holding them inside, demanding large sums of money in US dollars to let them out.

"At the same time, the UN data show that more than 35,000 Syrians want to return to the territory controlled by the Syrian government, including 28,000 to the province of Homs, 2,800 to the province of Dayr al-Zawr, 1,600 to the provinces of Rif Damashq and Hama and 1,200 to the province of Aleppo," the ministry said.

On February 28, a Syrian official held US military forces and their allied militants responsible for the humanitarian crisis affecting thousands of internally displaced people at Rukban refugee camp.

"The responsibility for the humanitarian crisis of our people at al-Rukban camp falls solely on US occupation forces and their stooges, as they have been preventing civilians' departure by means of force and threats. This is while safe corridors have been opened for those who are willing to leave the camp," an unnamed official at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates was quoted by official SANA news agency as saying on Thursday.

He stressed that the Damascus government is prepared to take responsibility for securing a safe and decent return of displaced people to their hometowns.

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 February 25 that US forces were unlawfully deployed to al-Tanf region in southern Syria, and were training terrorists, who carry out acts of terror across Syria and prevent the return of displaced people in Rukban to their hometowns.

Last 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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Terrorists Shelling Syria's Hama: at Least 5 Civilians Wounded  Reports

Sputnik News

20:51 06.03.2019

DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  At least five civilians were wounded due to terrorist shelling in the northwest of the Syrian province of Hama, Al Ekhbariya broadcaster reported Wednesday.

In turn, the Syrian army attacked the positions of terrorists in the province, from which they fired at civilians of the Jurayn village, according to Al Ekhbariya broadcaster.

This comes amid the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) terrorist clearing operations in the village of Baghouz, which SDF considers to be the last settlement in Syria controlled by the Daesh* terror group.

Several days ago the Syrian military forces repelled two massive terrorist attacks on their positions in the north of the Hama province, which borders Idlib, as well as in Latakia. The attacks resulted in several soldiers being killed and several being injured.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






400 Daesh Fighters Captured Trying to Flee Last Syrian Bastion - Reports

Sputnik News

18:43 06.03.2019(updated 19:28 06.03.2019)

On Friday, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that it had resumed its offensive on Baghouz following the evacuation of civilians.

400 Daesh* fighters who attempted to flee from their remaining Syrian stronghold were captured on Wednesday; at the same time, hundreds of others surrendered themselves, a US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) senior commander said.

The hundreds of terrorists who surrendered abandoned Baghouz as part of an evacuation that included civilians.

This follows Friday reports citing the SDF as saying that it had resumed its offensive on Baghouz following the evacuation of civilians, adding that only militants remain present in the area.

On the same day, SDF Press Office chief Mustafa Bali announced in a Twitter post that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began a final assault on the Syrian city of Baghouz, the last stronghold of the Daesh terror group in the country.

Earlier reports stated that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were clearing the village of Baghouz, which is considered the last settlement in Syria controlled by the Daesh terror group, from terrorists.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Security Council discusses chemical weapons use in Syria following latest global watchdog report

6 March 2019 - The UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday, to discuss the latest findings of the global chemical weapons watchdog in Syria, which concluded that there were "reasonable grounds" that a chemical attack took place during the crucial battle for control of Eastern Ghouta, last April.

The report from the UN-backed Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) made up of 193 Member States, concluded based on its Fact-Finding Mission assessment, that there were "reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place, on 7 April", adding that reactive chlorine had been detected in samples taken, around two weeks after the incident.

The attack in the city of Douma, a suburb of the capital Damascus, came at a crucial stage of the siege by Syrian Government forces, backed by Russia, on rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, which subsequently fell. Dozens were reportedly killed during the likely chemical attack, with videos purporting filmed during the aftermath widely shared across the world, showing children choking and gagging.

At the time, Russia denied any chemical weapons had been used, saying that the attack had been "staged". The Syrian Government denied any involvement. But the United States, together with France and the United Kingdom, launched retaliatory air strikes, aimed at alleged chemical weapons facilities and infrastructure.

Last June, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, delivered a report to the Human Rights Council, saying that the siege and recapture of Eastern Ghouta by Government and allied forces, had been marked by war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The latest FFM's report on Douma, was due to be shared with States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, and passed on to the Security Council. The report does not assign blame for the likely use of chlorine gas, and found no grounds or evidence, to support an assertion from the Syrian Government that rebel fighters in Douma had use a local facility, to manufacture chemical weapons.

Last June, the OPCW was given new powers to assign blame for future chemical weapons attacks, but this did not include the FFM sent to Douma, to gather evidence.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






From Last Islamic State Village, an Exodus Without End

By Jeff Seldin March 06, 2019

At staging areas on the outskirts of the northeast Syrian village of Baghuz, the exodus before the end looked more like an exodus without end.

Women and girls clad in burkas, along with small children, marching, shuffling, slowly but surely, joining thousands of others in abandoning the last shred of the Islamic State terror group's self-declared caliphate.

The scene played out on the ground and again on social media Wednesday, as officials with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces explained that another 2,000 people had chosen to leave Baghuz.

About 400 IS fighters also surrendered, the SDF said, after a failed attempt to use smugglers to get them to safety.

"We left the siege and the people that you call Daesh (Islamic State)," one woman told a cameraman for the Reuters news agency.

"But what you don't know is what's inside the hearts of Daesh. The kindest people are there," she added.

Not all who left Baghuz are so sentimental. SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said among those escaping Wednesday were 12 boys, some of them Yazidis, who had been kidnapped by IS.

Four of them said they had been taken from Tal Afar, in Iraq. On Twitter, Bali made a plea for anyone who could to help them return to their homes.

Staggering number of civilians

Overall, the numbers of civilians and fighters fleeing from the small patch of land have been staggering.

Just two weeks ago, SDF officials estimated there were 1,000 people still holed up in IS-controlled Baghuz. Since then, based on estimates from the United Nations and SDF, as many as 24,000 have fled.

In the past three days alone, coinciding with the SDF's decision to pause offensive operations, about 8,000 civilians have come out, along with at least 900 IS fighters.

However, it is not just SDF officials, who launched the final assault only after declaring that all civilians had been evacuated, who have been caught off guard.

"We have been surprised by just how many people have come out," a U.S. defense official told VOA on condition of anonymity, noting the evacuations may go on for some time.

Regarding efforts to put an end to the IS caliphate, the official said: "It is what it was a week ago. It really hasn't progressed."

IS operates underground

Efforts to get a better sense of just how many people remain in Baghuz have been difficult. Officials say there has been little movement above ground, where Islamic State is holding onto an area covered by wrecked buildings and scattered tents.

But officials advise that Baghuz's multiple valleys make it a deceptively large area. And underground, hidden from the view of reconnaissance drones and other aircraft, IS has used what's been described as a complex network of tunnels and caves, extending possibly for more than 2 kilometers.

Coalition and SDF officials believe it is there, surrounded by explosives and booby traps, where hundreds of the most devoted and hardened IS fighters still lurk.

Officials believe that like many of the more recent evacuees, many of the fighters are from Central Asian countries and, seeing little hope of escaping prosecution or of returning home, are ready to make one last stand.

Terror group's resolve unbroken

For now, according to officials, efforts to bring out more IS fighters and civilians, and to negotiate the release of any remaining prisoners and hostages, will continue until only those committed to fighting and dying remain.

Still, they do not expect the liberation of Baghuz and the end of IS' self-declared caliphate will break the terror group's resolve.

IS' key leaders and officials, if they were ever in Baghuz, are thought to have fled long ago, officials said, joining thousands of IS fighters and followers already engaged in a relentless insurgency across Syria and Iraq.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Taiwan makes official request to buy new American fighter jets

ROC Central News Agency

2019/03/06 21:49:24

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) Taiwan has submitted an official request to the United States to purchase a fleet of new fighter jets to beef up its air defense capability, the Air Force confirmed Wednesday.

The Air Force, however, declined to say when the request was made, what model planes it was hoping to buy from the U.S., or how many.

Asked to comment on an exclusive report published in the Apple Daily earlier in the day, the Air Force confirmed that it had made the request to the U.S. via an official channel and said that its budget would be open to negotiation and would depend on what model aircraft the U.S. decided to sell Taiwan.

According to the Apple Daily, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Feb. 27 made a request to the U.S. to purchase a fleet of 66 F-16V or F-16 Viper fighter jets at a cost of US$13 billion, which would include missiles and related logistics and the training of pilots and maintenance personnel.

Several sources familiar with the matter told CNA that the F-16V would be the preferred model to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of F-5s.

Taiwan's military is currently upgrading its 144 F-16 A/B jets to F-16Vs as part of a US$3.68 billion project launched by the government in 2016.

The retrofit program includes installing advanced equipment such as the AN/APG active electronically scanning array radar system, which is in use on American F-22 and F-35 fighters.

The comprehensive upgrade of the Air Force's entire F-16 fleet is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, according to the MND.

(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/pc

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Turkey says to conduct joint raid with Iran against PKK

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 02:44PM

Turkey says it is planning to carry out a joint attack with Iran against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, which has waged a three-and-a-half decade armed campaign against Ankara for independence.

"God willing, we will carry out a joint operation against the PKK together with Iran," Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told Anadolu news agency Wednesday.

He did not specify which PKK positions were going to be targeted in the planned operation or when the attack would take place. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has in the past indicated that he would order the military to attack militant hideouts in Iraq.

Soylu (pictured below) said the operation was part of Turkey's efforts to eradicate the group after successfully blocking most of its inroads at the border and basically trapping the few hundred PKK militants left in the country.

"There are less than 700 terrorists in Turkey," he said. "The terrorist entry into the country is so little, as well. 12 people entered Turkey since January. We are taking serious measures at our borders."

He also accused the group of recruiting teenagers to fight the Turkish government forces.

Besides Turkey, the European Union and the US have also declared the PKK a terrorist organization. The militant group has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984.

Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against PKK positions in the country as well as in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria.

In January 2018, Ankara launched a cross-border military operation inside Syria, code-named Operation Olive Branch, with the declared aim of eliminating the Syrian Kurdish militants of the People's Protection Units (YPG).

The YPG forms the backbone of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an anti-Damascus alliance of predominantly Kurdish militants supported by the United States.

Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organization and the Syrian branch of the outlawed PKK.

More than 40,000 people have been killed during the three-decade conflict between Turkey and the autonomy-seeking militant group.

Iran's clashes with PKK affiliates

Iran has had its own struggle with the PKK's Iranian offshoot, the so-called Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), which has waged several terrorist attacks in western Iran over the past years.

The terror group carries out attacks in parts of Iran's West Azerbaijan province which borders Iraq, Turkey, and Armenia.

In September last year, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRCG) fired as many as seven missiles at a gathering of terrorist commanders in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Back then, the IRGC said in a statement the missile attack was carried out after terrorist groups affiliated with the global arrogance from the Kurdistan region ignored serious warnings about Iran's determination to dismantle their bases and the necessity to end their aggressive and terrorist acts against the Islamic Republic.

Iran has in the past welcomed Turkey's announced plans to build a 144-kilometer stretch of wall along the border between the two neighbors. Ankara has described the wall as an effective barrier that could halt movement of PKK militants based in Iraq's Qandil mountains, bordering Iran and Turkey.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Significantly, the theme for International Women's Day 2019 is #BalanceforBetter.

The company commanding 26 per cent market share in the organised plywood market, has taken the initiative to train and empower women from a far-flung hamlet of Kerala.

Kolkata: Furniture making may no longer be a male bastion, not at least, if what Greenply Industries, one of India's largest interior infrastructure brands, is doing is anything to go by. Greenply has taken up the cudgels to break the years nurturned myth, by employing women in carpentry, thereby breaking into a domain dominated by male artisans. The company commanding 26 per cent market share in the organised plywood market, has taken the initiative to train and empower women from a far-flung hamlet of Kerala.

Greenply has partnered with Archana Women's Centre, an NGO based in Kerala that emancipates women from the clutches of the societal servitude and empowers them to strike at the roots of poverty and its consequent ills, and has already identified a team of first women carpenters in India. These women hail from the poorest of villages, with basic, or no education and now they are now being trained in carpentry. Interestingly, the Greenply plant at Tizit employs more than 130 women, which is nearly half the workforce. It also works with a network of over 550 female architects across the country.

"Our partnership with Archana Women's Centre is to provide expertise in various training programs such as mechanical skill, knowledge about newer techniques and critical thinking skills, which will develop the women workforce to meet all challenges of carpentry. At every phase, we attempt to find ways to empower and include women workforce in our ecosystem, where they can lead the plywood industry forward," said Rajesh Mittal, Managing Director, Greenply Industries (GIL).

Simultaneously with this initiative, to mark the International Women's Day, Greenply, has come up with a campaign #StopSayingWomenCant to celebrate the cause and for others to follow. Significantly, the theme for International Women's Day 2019 is #BalanceforBetter.
Don't give Turkey F-35 jets if they buy Russian S-400: Top US general

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 6, 2019 12:03AM

The top US general and the head of American forces in Europe has said the United States should not sell its high-tech F-35 fighter jets to Turkey if Ankara moves ahead with plans to buy advanced missile defense systems from Russia.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, General Curtis Scaparrotti said it would be his "best military advice" that the United States not sell Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 jets to NATO ally Turkey unless Ankara drops plans to purchase Russia-built S-400 surface-to-air missile defense systems.

"If they accept the S-400 to establish it in Turkey, there is first the issue that it's not interoperable with NATO systems, nor is it interoperable inside of our integrated missile defense system. The second has to do with the F-35. It presents a problem to all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35, I believe," Scaparrotti said during the Senate hearing.

"My best military advice would be that we don't then follow through with the F-35, flying it or working with an ally that's working with Russian systems, particularly air defense systems, with what I would say is probably one of most advanced technological capabilities," he added. "I would hope that they [Turkey] would reconsider this one decision on the S-400."

The US general also warned that there could be potential consequences in the wake of the purchase deal with Russia, namely, no future foreign military sales between Washington and Ankara.

Additionally, the US State Department later in the day said Washington has made clear to Turkey that Ankara's participation in the F-35 fighter program would be reassessed if it preceded with the purchase of Russian air defense systems.

"If Turkey acquires the S-400, it will not receive the Patriot," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told a briefing.

"We have clearly warned Turkey that its potential acquisition of the S-400 will result in reassessment of Turkey's participation in the F-35 program, and risk other potential future arms transfers to Turkey, as well as lead to potential actions under Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act upon any government entities, private industry, or individuals involved in such a transaction," the spokesperson added.

The remarks came a day after the United States sent out a stark warning to Turkey over its plan to buy the advanced Russian-built S-400 air defense missile systems.

"Turkey's acquisition of the Russian S-400 air defense system will have grave consequences for the US defense relationship with Turkey," Pentagon Spokesperson Eric Pahon said.

Moscow and Ankara finalized an agreement on the delivery of the S-400 missile systems in December 2017. Back in April last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said in Ankara that they had agreed to expedite the delivery of S-400 missile systems. At the time it was said that the delivery could be made between late 2019 and early 2020.

Earlier, Erdogan had stressed that his country "has a right to use different air defense systems" and that other parties have no right whatsoever to criticize Ankara for its military purchases.

The deal has drawn concerns among some of Turkey's NATO allies, particularly the US, who claim the missile batteries are not compatible with those of the military alliance and that the purchase could jeopardize Ankara's acquisition of American Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets and possibly result in US sanctions.

The S-400 system, whose full name is the Triumph Mobile Multiple Anti-Aircraft Missile System (AAMS), is an advanced Russian missile system designed to detect, track, and destroy planes, drones, or missiles as far as 402 kilometers away. It has previously been sold only to China and India.

Turkey is striving to boost its air defense, particularly after Washington decided in 2015 to withdraw its Patriot surface-to-air missile system from Turkey's border with Syria, a move that weakened Turkey's air defense.

Nevertheless, the US State Department in December last year approved a possible $3.5 billion sale of Patriot missile systems to Turkey, after notifying Congress of the certification.

Before gravitating towards Russia, the Turkish military reportedly walked out of a $3.4 billion contract for a similar Chinese system. The withdrawal took place under purported pressure from Washington.

Ankara's ties with its Western allies in NATO have been strained over a range of issues. Erdogan has been critical of Washington for supporting Kurdish groups in Syria that he says are responsible for terror attacks inside Turkey.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Turkey Won't Cancel Russian S-400 Deal - Erdogan

Sputnik News

22:37 06.03.2019(updated 23:18 06.03.2019)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan clarified debate Wednesday about Ankara's deal with Moscow to buy S-400 Triumf air defense systems, saying his government won't cancel the deal, despite protests from its ally in Washington.

"This is over," Erdogan said, noting the signatures had already been made on the deal and that the first delivery will be made in July. "We are an independent Turkey, we are not slaves."

US Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, who heads US European Command, recommended to the US Congress on Tuesday that if Turkey presses ahead with buying the S-400 systems from Russia, delivery to Turkey of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter should be cancelled.

"If they accept the S-400 and establish it within Turkey, there is an issue [] that has to do with the F-35," the commander told the Senate Armed Service Committee, Sputnik reported. "It presents a problem to all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35. My best military advice would be that we don't then follow through with the F-35, flying it or working with an ally that's working with Russian systems, particularly air-defense systems, with what I would say is probably one of most advanced technological capabilities."

The Turkish president also mused that his government might later consider buying Russia's top-of-the-line S-500 Prometey (Prometheus) air defense systems at a later date. The S-500 isn't even fully operational with the Russian Armed Forces yet, but is believed it will be equal in capability to the US Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) system once it enters service in 2020.

He went on to say that the US shouldn't try to discipline Turkey through trade measures, noting that Turkey has its own measures prepared.

Washington has repeatedly threatened to slap sanctions on Ankara under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) if Turkey buys Russia's S-400s, Sputnik reported.

Erdogan's Wednesday comments also touched on the US withdrawal from Syria, where Ankara and Washington have found themselves on opposite sides of Turkey's ongoing conflict with Kurdish militias in the region.

"If US is to take weapons out of Syria, they can, but if they won't, give them to Turkey, not terrorists," Erdogan said in a TV interview with broadcaster Kanal 24. Ankara considers Kurdish militias like those that comprise the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces to be terrorist organizations. As the US timetable for withdrawal from Syria continues, Washington has weighed the question of whether or not to take lent US weapons with them or to leave them in Kurdish hands to continue the fight against Daesh and other forces in the country.

Erdogan said that, while he believes US President Donald Trump has "taken a firm stand" on withdrawing US troops from Syria, he faces pressure from the US state apparatus. "There's a established order in the US," Erdogan said. "We can also call this 'deep state.' They block these steps."

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






No State Has Right to Prohibit Turkey Purchase Russian S-400 Systems  Cavusoglu

Sputnik News

19:55 06.03.2019

ANKARA (Sputnik)  No country has a right to exert pressure on Turkey over its plans to buy Russian S-400 Triumph (NATO reporting name SA-21 Growler) air defence systems, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

"We have wanted to purchase air defence systems from our allies for years and made official requests for that. And these allies that made obstacles even for purchasing simple equipment started to express concern when we buy S-400s. Why are you so concerned? If we are NATO allies and Turkey needs something, you must sell that to us. And if you do not want to sell, do not interfere when Turkey is purchasing something it needs from other country," Cavusoglu said, as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.

This comes after on Tuesday, US Department of State spokesperson Robert Palladino said that the United States had warned Turkey that its planned purchase of the Russian S-400 systems would put at risk Ankara's participation in the F-35 jet program and could lead to Washington imposing sanctions on Ankara.

In January, Cavusoglu said that Ankara was ready to consider the US proposal on deliveries of the Patriot air defence systems, but refused to abandon the S-400 missile systems deal with Russia as a potential precondition for the Ankara-Washington agreement.

In December 2017, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement to supply S-400s to Ankara, with 55 percent of the $2.5 billion contract being covered by the Russian loans.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Turkey May Let Russia's S-400 Destroy US' F-35 Project 'From Within'  Report

Sputnik News

19:00 06.03.2019(updated 19:01 06.03.2019)

On Tuesday, General Curtis Scaparrotti, head of the US European Command, told senators in the Senate Armed Services Committee that he doesn't recommend delivering F-35 jets to Ankara if it doesn't abort the S-400 missile defence deal with Russia.

Turkey "looks poised to let Russia destroy or deeply compromise the F-35 program from within" by operating Russian-made S-400 missile systems and the advanced US fighter jets at the same time, Business Insider reports.

The publication referred in this vein to General Curtis Scaparrotti, head of the US European Command, who noted that he, as a military officer, doesn't advise allowing the US jets to be used in countries that operate Russian military systems, especially air defence systems.

"If they accept the S-400 and establish it within Turkey, there is an issue [] that has to do with the F-35. It presents a problem to all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35. My best military advice would be that we don't then follow through with the F-35, flying it or working with an ally that's working with Russian systems, particularly air-defence systems, with what I would say is probably one of most advanced technological capabilities," Scaparrotti said.

The remarks followed a statement by General Tod Wolters, NATO allied air commander, who argued that the S-400's capabilities allow the missile system to better understand the capabilities of the F-35 warplanes, which he said is "certainly not to the advantage of the coalition".

Wolters added that NATO is concerned about "how much, for how long, and how close" the F-35 would operate near the S-400s.

"All those would have to be determined. We do know for right now it is a challenge," he pointed out.

Retired US Air Force Lieutenant General David Deptula, for his part, told Business Insider the S-400s systems' integration in Turkey's air defences could lead to "technology transfer and possible compromises of F-35 advantages to the S-400".

Washington has repeatedly threatened to slap sanctions on Ankara under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) if Turkey buys Russia's S-400s  something that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said was a "done deal" which cannot be cancelled.

The US also warned that it would block the delivery of its fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey if Ankara went ahead with the procurement of the Russian air defence systems.

Ankara slammed Washington's move, noting that it had fulfilled all its obligations for F-35 supplies and that there are no reasons to halt the shipments to the country.

The Turkish government signed a loan agreement with Moscow on the deliveries of the Russian-made S-400s to Turkey in December 2017, hurting relations with Washington.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Ups Pressure on Turkey Over Russian Missile System Purchase

By Dorian Jones March 06, 2019

Washington is ratcheting up pressure on Ankara over its decision to buy a Russian missile system, which was confirmed last month by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Senior U.S. diplomats held talks this week in the Turkish capital to lobby against the sale as Washington warns of "grave consequences."

Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Palmer met Wednesday with senior Turkish officials in the latest diplomatic effort to block Ankara's procurement of Russia's S-400 missile system.

However, Erdogan reiterated his commitment to buy the Russian system. Addressing a rally Wednesday, he indicated interest in expanding the purchase to Russia's more advanced S-500 system.

"I would hope that they [Ankara] reconsider this one decision on S-400," U.S. General Curtis Scaparrotti told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

Scaparrotti warned that the sale poses a threat to American systems used by Turkey, "it's a problem for all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35, I believe."

The F-35 is America's newest and most technologically advanced plane. Turkey is a co-producer of the aircraft and is due to buy a 100, of which the first two are due to be delivered later this year.

Washington fears the sophisticated radar of the S-400 system could compromise the F-35 technology, which was developed to elude Russian-made systems.

Turkey's purchase of the F-35 is now under threat.

"Turkey's acquisition of the Russian S-400 air-defense system will have grave consequences for the U.S. defense relationship with Turkey," U.S. Pentagon spokesman Nick Pahon said Monday in a statement.

Ankara insists the S-400 offers the best value for its needs and poses no threat to NATO systems. Washington is offering an alternative to the S-400, its more expensive Patriot missile system, but negotiations with Ankara remain stalled over pricing and technology-transfer issues.

Analysts warn the consequences for Ankara, however, could be far-reaching. "If this purchase would go through, even beyond these military aspects, the escalation in Turkish-U.S. tensions would be significant in terms of affecting Turkey's political risk, for the economy," said Sinan Ulgen head of the Istanbul based think tank Edam.

Warning to Turkey

The decision by U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to include Turkey along with India in ending a preferential trade agreement is widely interpreted as a warning to Ankara. While the move affects just one percent of Turkey's total exports, the Turkish currency fell sharply on the news.

"It is clear that the general tendency in Washington, D.C., is to punish Turkey for perceived misconduct, which remains a significant threat to the Turkish economy," said Atilla Yesilada of Global Securities.

Turkey's economy is still reeling from a 2018 spat with Washington. Last year, the Turkish currency collapsed after Trump hit Ankara with sanctions over the detention by Turkey of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who has since been released. Although the sanctions lasted only a few weeks, Turkey's economy now faces a recession.

Washington has various means to inflict further pain on the Turkish economy. U.S. Treasury authorities are still considering imposing a potential multibillion-dollar fine on Turkish State lender Halk Bank after the conviction of one of its senior employees by a New York court for violating the United States' Iranian sanctions.

Ankara is not expected to make any concessions, though, before crucial local elections on March 31. Analysts say taking a hardline against Washington plays well among Erdogan's supporters.

Upcoming meeting

Erdogan said last month that Trump had agreed to meet in April. Ankara officials claim the two presidents maintain a strong working relationship, and they blame current bilateral tensions on ministers and advisers around the U.S. president.

Analysts point out that Erdogan probably will be buoyed by Trump's silence on the controversy of the S-400 deal. "Ankara only cares about what Trump says for Ankara as only Trump is its interlocutor," said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who served in Washington.

Erdogan is widely seen as being unlikely to give up on the Russian missile purchase before meeting Trump. "This could be seen as essentially a negotiating position," Ulgen said.

But the S-400 purchase also is a powerful symbol of Ankara's deepening relationship with Moscow. The two countries increasingly are cooperating in efforts to end the Syrian civil war, despite backing rival sides in the conflict.

The current thaw followed painful economic sanctions by Moscow on Ankara after a Turkish jet downed a Russian bomber attacking Syrian rebel forces. Analysts suggest Erdogan will be wary of again provoking Russia. Before the downing of the Russian jet, Turks enjoyed visa-free travel.

"Turkey once betrayed the Russians, shooting down their fighter, and the Russians have not forgotten this," said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara's Middle East Technical University. "If Russia really trusted Turkey, they would lift their visa requirement, but they still have it. It means Turkey doesn't deserve the Russians' trust."

Observers warn the S-400 missile sale poses Ankara with a diplomatic conundrum: how to avoid drawing the ire of either Washington or Moscow.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






NATO-Ukraine Commission discusses situation in Crimea

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

06 Mar. 2019

The NATO-Ukraine Commission met at NATO Headquarters on Wednesday (6 March 2019) to discuss the current situation in Crimea, five years after Russia's illegal annexation. The Political Director of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleksiy Makeiev, and a representative of the Crimean Tatar community, Eskender Bariiev, briefed Allies on the security environment and human rights violations.

Allies reaffirmed NATO's unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. They expressed concern over human rights violations in Crimea, targeting the Crimean Tatar population, as well as other ethnic, political and religious groups.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that "Crimea is Ukraine. Five years on, NATO Allies do not and will not recognise Russia's illegal annexation. We continue to stand by Ukraine with political and practical support. We have not forgotten the heavy price the Ukrainian people continue to pay for their desire to decide their own future free from outside interference."

NATO continues to call on Russia to immediately release the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized in November near the Kerch Strait. Allies have increased their practical support to Ukraine in light of the security situation in the Black Sea.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






EU Ambassadors Approve Sanctions On Eight More Russians Over Kerch Strait Incident

By RFE/RL March 06, 2019

BRUSSELS -- EU ambassadors have agreed to impose asset freezes and visa bans on eight Russians involved in the capture and jailing of 24 Ukrainian seamen in an incident near the Kerch Strait in November, according to several sources familiar with the discussions.

The sanctions backed by the ambassadors on March 6 are measures that are expected to be formally approved next week, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

After that, the eight Russians will be added to the EU list of people and entities who have been hit with sanctions for undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The list, which was created after Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014 and backed separatists fighting Kyiv's forces in a war that has killed some 13,000 people since April 2014, now consists of 163 individuals and 44 entities. The sanctions against them will be prolonged by six months next week.

The additional eight Russians are either officers who were involved in the Kerch Strait incident or Russian judges who oversaw the subsequent jailing of the Ukrainians, who remain in pretrial detention in the Lefortovo jail in Moscow.

The incident occurred on November 25 when Russian Coast Guard vessels fired on and seized three Ukrainian Navy vessels and their crews while they were on their way from the Black Sea to the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov. Moscow accuses them of illegally entering Russian territorial waters, which they deny.

The incident increased tension over the Kerch Strait, which is the the sole passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov and runs between Russia and Russian-held Crimea.

Based on reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine--eu -ambassadors-approve-sanctions-eight-russians -kerch-strait/29806454.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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Top U.S. General Calls For More Defenses For Ukraine Against Russia

By RFE/RL March 06, 2019

The commander of U.S. forces in Europe called for bolstering Ukraine's defenses against Russian aggression, in eastern Ukraine as well as in the Black Sea.

General Curtis Scaparrotti made the comments on March 5 in testimony before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.

Scaparrotti spoke just over three months after Russian naval forces seized three Ukrainian vessels operating in the Kerch Strait, near Crimea and the Sea of Azov. A total of 24 Ukrainian sailors were also detained.

Russia has insisted Ukrainian vessels were illegally crossing maritime borders.

Scaparrotti, who is also the top commander of NATO, said the United States has already sold Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.

But he told senators there were other things -- "like sniper systems, ammunition"-- that Washington could provide to strengthen Ukraine's forces.

He also said Washington might consider boosting naval defenses in the Black Sea, though he did not specify how.

Moscow "continues to arm, train," and even "fight alongside antigovernment forces in eastern Ukraine," Scaparrotti said. He also accused Moscow of violating the 2015 Minsk agreement designed to end the conflict.

With reporting by AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-general-ukraine -defenses-russia/29806031.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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In her complaint, the actress alleged she was manhandled by her husband often and also verbally abused her for months.

Mumbai: Bollywood actress Arzoo Govitrikar has filed a police complaint against husband Siddharth Sabbarwal accusing him of domestic violence. Govitrikar has registered a police complaint in Mumbai Worli police station.

Arzoo also submitted a CCTV footage which showed the accused allegedly manhandling the complaint, under the influence of alcohol.

On February 19, Mumbai Police registered a case against the accused under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 498 (Husband or relative of husband of woman subjecting her to cruelty), 504, 506 (offence of criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, act or gesture to insult woman's modesty).

In her complaint, the actress alleged she was manhandled by her husband often and also verbally abused her for months.

According to the complaint, on February 15, an argument flared-up between the couple over her husbands alcohol issues. Following the argument, Sabbarwal allegedly manhandled Govitrikar and locked her inside the washroom.

Sabbarwal also threatened to cause danger to her family members, the complaint further alleged. Govitrikar has worked in serials like 'Naagin' and 'Ek Ladki Anjaani Si.' Police said it has not so far apprehended the guilty in the case. An investigation is underway.
NEW Zealands new-vehicle market began to steady in February after a slow January, with the second month of the years 11,699 sales representing a 1.5 per cent increase over the corresponding month in 2018.

With Januarys volume (13,938 units) down 6.0 per cent, the decline in year-to-date sales (25,637) has now slowed to 3.7 per cent on the back of the second-strongest February result on record, behind 2017 (11,785).

The outturn for February 2019 was pleasing, said NZ Motor Industry Association (MIA) chief executive David Crawford. It indicates the market, while not growing, is steady as she goes.

Sales of passenger cars and SUVs were up 2.2 per cent, to 7580 units combined, while light-commercial vehicles flatlined, with volume up just 0.1 per cent, to 4119 units.

In a sign of the times, mid-size SUVs were again the most popular type of new vehicle, with a 16.8 per cent market share, followed by pick-up/cab-chassis 4x4s (15.8%) and small SUVs (15.2%).

Despite its volume declining last month by an uncharacteristic 17.5 per cent, Toyota led all other brands from the front with its 1617 sales and 13.8 per cent market share.

The Japanese marques HiLux ute (686 units, -2.4%) had to settle for second position, though, just behind its key rival, Fords Ranger (699, -4.9%), in the list of best-selling models.

The only other model in the top 10 from brand T was Corolla, which came in at ninth with 235 sales (-8.9%), of which 39 were sold to rental companies in a slow month for the rent-a-car sector.

Largely thanks to its utes success, the Blue Oval was the second most popular brand, with its 1234 sales up 4.2 per cent.

An improved Mitsubishi (1053 units, +22.9%) leapt into third position on the back of the third-placed Triton ute (505, +37.2%), which surged after its facelifted model went on sale, along with the 10th-placed Outlander mid-size SUV (229) and 12th-placed ASX small SUV (188).

Mazdas consistency (954 units, +1.3%) held it in fourth position, with the sixth-placed CX-5 mid-size SUV (292, +5.8%) doing most of the heavy lifting, while the BT-50 ute (196) missed out on the top 10 by just 33 sales.

Holden (848 units, -12.4%) continued to struggle, slipping from third position to fifth, although the fifth-placed Colorado ute (299, -17.4%) did prove popular, even if its volume did shrink considerably.

Like Mitsubishi, Nissan (690 units, +5.7%) climbed up the charts, claiming sixth position, with the fourth-placed Navara ute (335, -12.8%) slowing but still influential.

Hyundai (604 units, +9.2%) also moved up a position, to seventh, thanks to the 13th-placed Tucson mid-size SUV (180) and 14th-placed Kona small SUV (160), while Suzuki (587, +1.2%) took eighth on the back of the contracting eighth-placed Swift light car (246, -19.9%).

The seventh-placed Sportage mid-size SUV (273 units, +22.4%) drove Kia (580, +13.3%) to ninth position, while Honda (512, +24.3%) rebounded back into the top 10, pushing Volkswagen (428, -5.3%) out to 11th.

In the year-to-date sales race, Toyotas 3926 sales and 15.3 per cent market share have it 1199 units ahead of second-placed Ford, which has the best-selling model in New Zealand, the Ranger (1535, +6.0%), underpinning its performance in the market.



NZ top 10 makes February 2019

Ranking Brand Sales Share% 1 Toyota 1617 13.8 2 Ford 1234 10.5 3 Mitsubishi 1053 9.0 4 Mazda 954 8.2 5 Holden 848 7.2 6 Nissan 690 5.9 7 Hyundai 604 5.2 8 Suzuki 587 5.0 9 Kia 580 5.0 10 Honda 512 4.4

The Road to Recovery podcast series
The pilot of the AI-121 turned back from Rajasthan air space and landed safely at Delhi airport at around 4 pm, officials said.

The aircraft was grounded and another plane is being scheduled tomorrow to fly the passengers to Frankfurt, the officials said. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

New Delhi: An Air India plane, with around 200 people on board, had a close shave on Wednesday after suffering cabin decompression at an altitude of 20,000 feet shortly after taking off. The Frankfurt-bound flight returned safely to Delhi.

The Boeing 787 took off from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport at 1:35 pm and lost cabin pressure when it reached the altitude of 20,000 feet, officials said.

The pilot of the AI-121 turned back from Rajasthan air space and landed safely at Delhi airport at around 4 pm, they said.

The aircraft was grounded and another plane is being scheduled tomorrow to fly the passengers to Frankfurt, the officials said.

At a high altitudes, the air is extremely thin due to low atmospheric pressure and low oxygen content. Therefore, an aircraft has to maintain an internal cabin pressure so that passengers do not suffer adverse effects.
(CNN)  If you splurge on the sea bass or snapper, you may not always be getting what you pay for, even at the fanciest restaurants and upscale fish markets.

There's something, well, fishy going on with certain favorite fish dishes, according to a new study from the conservation group Oceana.

DNA tests showed that about 21% of the fish researchers sampled was not what it was called on the label or menu. That's despite nearly a decade of investigations, more regulations and Americans' appetites growing beyond fish sticks and tuna surprise.

"Consumers are getting ripped off," said Beth Lowell, Oceana's deputy vice president. Lowell said this isn't an isolated problem. Her organization tested more than 400 samples from 277 locations in 24 states and in the District of Columbia. Oceana did not name the markets, stores and restaurants where it purchased the samples.

Among the samples they tested, seafood was more frequently mislabeled in restaurants and at smaller markets than in larger grocery chains. One out of three stores and restaurants visited by the investigative team sold at least one mislabeled item.

Favorites like sea bass and snapper had some of the highest rates of mislabeling. Sea bass was mislabeled 55% of the time and snapper 42% of the time, Oceana's tests showed. Often, instead of sea bass, they'd get giant perch or Nile tilapia, fish that should be less expensive and is considered lower quality. Dover sole they tested was actually walleye. Lavender jobfish had been substituted for Florida snapper.

"We've been testing seafood for nine years now, and every time we do a study, we think, 'maybe we will no longer see a problem,' but we keep finding it, and we know it's having an impact on our oceans," Lowell said.

Some of the substituted fish was not sustainably caught, even though it was sold as such, meaning an overfished and endangered Atlantic halibut was sold as the more plentiful Pacific halibut. One in four halibut samples the group tested was mislabeled.

For Americans who are trying to be more mindful about the fish they eat; who are worried about the impact of climate change and endangering fish stock; who want to eat food from lakes or oceans closer to home; or for pregnant women trying to avoid fish with high mercury content, this news has got to be frustrating, Lowell said.

"We need to do more to protect consumers," Lowell said.

Oceana's is not the only recent study to find fish fraud. In December, a New York state Attorney General's Office investigation found that more than one in four samples, or 26.92% of the seafood they bought and tested was mislabeled. In that investigation, the problem was in virtually "every tested seafood category."

New Yorkers who paid 35% extra for "wild" caught would be disappointed to learn that the investigation found it was often farm-raised. The fish substitutes were often cheaper.

"You have to imagine how complex seafood commerce is," said Dan Distel, director and research professor at the Ocean Genome Legacy lab at the Northeastern University Marine Science Center. The lab performed the DNA work in the New York Investigation.

"A lot of mislabeling is probably intentional, sure," he said. "There is also plenty that must be accidental or just the result of the ignorance of the rules."

With so many species and with 80% of the fish Americans eat coming from international sources, labeling is complicated.

"In order to maintain accurate labeling, you have to track it from the fisherman, who is sometimes in remote locations or in the developing world. And then you track it through a variety of middlemen to the distributor, the store, to the high school kids stocking the shelves. There are a lot of places where things could go wrong," Distel said.

Names of fish can also be confusing for people who sell them. Something sold as snapper, for instance, can actually be a few different species. If it's sold as the more expensive red snapper, that's got to be a specific fish, according to FDA rules.

Sometimes, rules even allow a fish to be called something else. Chilean sea bass, for instance, is actually Patagonian toothfish or Antarctic toothfish -- not sea bass. But the restaurant or market has to use "Chilean" in the name. If it's just called "sea bass," it's mislabeled.

"With regard to fraud, honestly, it is fairly simple. Yes, there's a complex global supply chain, like there is for so many products, but the reality is, if something is mislabeled or there's some kind of species substitution, it is fraud plain and simple, and it is just illegal," said Gavin Gibbons with the National Fisheries Institute, an association for the industry. "You would not accept this in any other scenario, and you shouldn't accept it in seafood."

He wishes Oceana would have investigated further to find the source of the mislabeled fish, and he doesn't think the industry needs more regulation. He thinks more of the existing laws should be enforced.

In 2014, the federal government tried to do something about mislabeling, creating the US Government Task Force on Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and Seafood Fraud. The task force's recommendations in 2018 created the Seafood Important Monitoring Program, known in the industry as SIMP.

SIMP requires traceability and catch reporting for 13 types of imported seafood considered most at risk for mislabeling, including red snapper, Atlantic cod, grouper, swordfish, tunas, king crab, mahi mahi, sharks and sea cucumber. Oceana wants the government to expand the requirements to all seafood.

Some groups have taken on the issue without waiting for additional regulations.

Demian Willette, an assistant professor of biology at Loyola Marymount University, has worked on an investigation of the mislabeling problem in Los Angeles sushi restaurants. That 2017 investigation found that 47% of the sushi it tested was mislabeled.

He works with the Los Angeles Seafood Monitoring Project team, a group effort that purchases fish from area restaurants, runs DNA tests to see whether it is accurately described and then works with the restaurants and regulators.

"This is not a gotcha operation," Willette said. "We're trying to work with those restaurants to improve this issue."

There are steps consumers can take to get a better chance of eating what you ordered.

Gibbons, of the National Fisheries Institute, suggests asking the fishmonger or your server or chef whether the establishment is a Better Seafood Board member. Members must adhere to industry principles that include correctly labeling products.

Oceana's Lowell also suggests asking your server about where the fish is caught. "Their ability to answer might indicate how much information they have about it," Lowell said.

If you can look the fish in the eye, it can also help. "You up your chances of getting what you order if you buy as close to the whole fish as possible," Lowell said. "The more processing, the more opportunity for a bait and switch."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Fish fraud: What's on the menu often isn't what's on your plate."
Leading the partys charge, Rahul Gandhi alleged 'the trail of corruption' in the Rafale fighter jet deal 'begins and ends with' Modi.

The Congress has claimed that the cost of 36 Rafale aircraft finalised by the Modi dispensation was higher than that negotiated by the previous UPA government. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Congress Wednesday sought registration of an FIR against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal, with party president Rahul Gandhi claiming that there is now enough evidence to prosecute him.

Leading the partys charge, Gandhi alleged the trail of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal begins and ends with Modi.

He also alleged destruction of evidence and obvious cover-up after the government told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that crucial files pertaining to the fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation were stolen from the Defence Ministry.

There is now enough evidence to prosecute the PM in the Rafale Scam. The trail of corruption begins & ends with him. That crucial Rafale files incriminating him are now reported stolen by the Govt, is destruction of evidence & an obvious coverup, he said on Twitter, using the hashtag FIRagainstCorruptModi.

The Congress chiefs attack came on a day the government said in the Supreme Court that documents related to the Rafale fighter jet deal have been stolen from the Defence Ministry and threatened The Hindu newspaper with action under the the Official Secrets Act for publishing articles based on them.

The corruption and malfeasance in Rafale deal is out in the open. PM Modi misused his office to give benefits to Dassault Aviation and caused loss to the public exchequer, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters.

It is now crystal clear that blatant and massive corruption has taken place in the Rafale deal. It is undoubtedly established that Modi misused his office as Prime Minister to grant undue benefit to Dassault Aviation and caused a loss to public exchequer.

This is a clear cut case under Section 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and different provisions of Indian Penal Code. Time has now come to register an FIR against PM Modi and every other individual so that a time-bound investigation takes place in this entire sage of Rafale corruption reaching the highest echelons of power, he said.

Citing a report of the Indian Negotiation Team (INT), now in the public domain, Surjewala said it was now crystal clear that Modi misled Parliament and duped the country to cover up the murky dealings and blatant corruption, besides, squandering away national security interests.

This conspiracy has now been uncovered, he said, alleging that Modi did away with the bank guarantee condition to cause a loss to the public exchequer and neither was the cost of India-specific enhancements included and nor was the cost of transfer of technology added.

The Congress has claimed that the cost of 36 Rafale aircraft finalised by the Modi dispensation was higher than that negotiated by the previous UPA government.

He said while calculating the price of 36 Rafale aircraft, the cost of India- specific enhancement, which is 1,300 Million Euros or Rs 9,750 crore, was not included.

Almost Rs 10,000 crore have to be paid and look at the angle of corruption further. When we were buying with the same specifications 126 Rafale aircraft during Congress Party regime, the cost of India-specific enhancements with same specification was 11.11 Million Euros or around Rs 82-83 crore. It has suddenly gone up...same India-specific enhancements...when Modi Ji buys 36 aircraft, it goes up 350 per cent to Rs 271 crore per aircraft.

So, from Rs 83 crore per aircraft, it goes to Rs 271 crore per aircraft. Why, it is the same India-specific enhancements, everything is the same and why are you not including its cost that has to be paid by India into the total value of the price of the aircraft, he alleged.

He also alleged that bypassing the INT, Modi held direct negotiations to buy 36 Rafale aircraft and the proceedings of INT now establish that the final negotiations were held in France by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on January 12 and 13, 2016 and the final agreement was consequently signed on January 13, 2016.

This conclusively nails Modi Govts white lie. Responsibility for negotiating the 36 Rafale aircraft purchase was that of the Indian Negotiating Team (INT) constituted by the Ministry of Defence on May 12, 2015. But PM Modi was indulging in direct negotiation with the French, which weakened the credibility of the INT, he alleged.

He said Doval was not part of the Indian Negotiation Team (INT) and was not even authorised by the Cabinet Committee on Security for the same.

Simple question is, how is it the domain of NSA to negotiate and finalise a fighter aircraft purchase deal? Obviously, the PMO and the NSA were doing so under direct instructions of PM Narendra Modi, he said.

The government has rejected the Congresss charge of corruption in the deal, with the ruling BJP accusing the party of spreading lies to target it ahead of parliamentary elections, scheduled for April-May.
BJP state general secretary and MLC N Ravikumar slammed Hariprasad for his remarks.

Bengaluru: Sparking a major row, senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad Thursday alleged there was a "match fixing" between prime minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on the Pulwama terror attack.

"There is a match fixing between Narendra Modi and Imran Khan, or else this Pulwama incident would not have taken place," Prasad, a Rajya Sabha member, told reporters here.

BJP in Karnataka sharply reacted to Hariprasad's charge, calling it irresponsible and saying he should be ashamed of making such statements.

Hariprasad's comments came while reacting to union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the "stolen" Rafale papers.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi asked why a probe cannot be ordered against Modi for a "Rs 30,000-crore scam" when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents related to the fighter jet deal.

Hitting back, Prasad said: "I totally condemn blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi. He does not believe the Indian Air Force, does not trust the Supreme Court verdict that clearly said there is no commercial impropriety in the (Rafale) procurement process. He does not believe the CAG."

Coming down on the union government, Hariprasad sought to know how the huge cache of RDX went undetected when the government agencies could find beef at different places.

"People who talk about the security of the nation, they can detect two kg of beef from Akhlaq's house, they can detect two kg of beef in Kerala guest house, they can't detect 350 kg of RDX on the national highway. It's a shame on them," he said.

BJP state general secretary and MLC N Ravikumar slammed Hariprasad for his remarks.

"This is a highly condemnable, irresponsible statement. He should be ashamed of making such statements. Where had he mortgaged his brain before making such a statement," he said.

He blamed the Congress for terrorism in the country.

Forty CRPF jawans were killed in a suicide attack carried on their convoy in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, for which Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility.

Indian Air Force had carried out pre-emptive strikes on the training camps of terrorists inside the Pakistan soil.

The attack had escalated tension between Pakistan and India.

Hariprasad is not new to controversies. Earlier in January, he had mocked BJP national president Amit Shah's illness when the latter was admitted to the AIIMS for contracting H1N1.

Addressing a meeting here, Prasad had said in Kannada that Amit Shah got the 'swine flu' because he tried to destabilise the Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka.
Gandhi said, 'PM got ISI to Pathankot, went to meet Nawaz Sharif, he is the poster boy of Pakistan'.

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed the media on Thursday on the Rafale controversy.

Taking a dig at Modi government, Gandhi said, Gayab ho gaya is the new tag line for the government on Rafale deal.

On one hand you are saying the documents are missing, so this means the documents are genuine and it is clearly written in them that PMO was carrying out parallel negotiations, he added.

Yes of course take action on those involved in this missing documents case but also initiate an inquiry on PMO making parallel negotiations, Gandhi said.

Sharpening his attack moments later, he asked: Why doesnt the PM get a probe ordered if he isnt guilty.

He said investigate everyone but probe Modi as well.

Targeting PM Modi, Gandhi said, "These days everything seems to be disappearing. Jobs for two crore youth - disappeared, promise of Rs. 15 lakh for all citizens - disappeared, promises of right price for farm produce - disappeared, economic growth - disappeared. And now, even the Rafale files - disappeared."

"PM Modi performed bypass surgery in Rafale deal. The purchase was delayed to benefit Anil Ambani," Gandhi said, addressing a press conference in Delhi.

Talking about the alliance in Delhi for the upcoming elections, Gandhi said that overall our alliances are on track, in Delhi the party unit unanimously said no to a tie-up.

Speaking on Indo-Pak relations, Rahul Gandhi said, PM got ISI to Pathankot, went to meet Nawaz Sharif, he is the poster boy of Pakistan .

Speaking about the IAF strikes on terror camp in Pakistan, Rahul said, I wont talk much about it (evidence of IAF strikes), but yes I read that families of some of the CRPF personnel who were martyred have raised this issue, they are saying we were hurt so please show us what happened.

The Congress presidents fresh attack comes a day after the governments top law officer told the Supreme Court that the documents cited by lawyer Prashant Bhushan were stolen.
Naqvi said the government's agenda is "inclusive growth" and it stands for "insaaf (justice) and imaan (honesty)".

New Delhi: Criticising the Opposition for trying to "confuse" people, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Thursday their attempts will not affect the credibility of Modi government's agenda which is based on development and not vote-bank politics.

Naqvi said the government's agenda is "inclusive growth" and it stands for "insaaf (justice) and imaan (honesty)". The minority affairs minister was addressing representatives of the minority community at BJP's pre-poll programme 'Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat, Modi Ke Saath'. "Some political parties and people are involved in a criminal conspiracy to confuse citizens. Modi government's agenda of inclusive growth is not about vote-bank politics, but a draft of development," he said. People will give a befitting reply to opposition parties in the coming Lok Sabha election, the senior BJP leader said, expressing confidence that the BJP will win a comfortable majority. Highlighting the government's welfare schemes for minorities, Naqvi said the policy of development "without appeasement and "with dignity has ensured that all needy sections, including minorities, have become an equal partner in the development process. He claimed the government has provided employment opportunities to nearly six lakh minority youths through job-oriented skill development schemes such as Seekho Aur Kamao, Usttad, Garib Nawaz Kaushal Vikas Yojana and Nai Manzil. About 50 per cent of them are girls, Naqvi said. During the last two years, more than two lakh artisans have been provided employment and employment opportunities through "Hunar Haat", he said. He also said that the government has provided scholarships to about three crore 83 lakh students belonging to minority communities, who include about 60 per cent girl students. School dropout rate among Muslim girls, which was more than 70 per cent, has been reduced to about 35 per cent due to awareness and educational empowerment programmes. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot, who was present at the event, said the BJP has launched a month-long exercise to seek suggestions from 10 crore people to help the party prepare its "Sankalp Patra" for the Lok Sabha election due by May. The BJP is reaching out to the people across the country through various mediums including emails, social media, phone calls and "Sankalp Raths". Naqvi and Gehlot said the BJP will incorporate suggestions in its Sankalp Patra. Naqvi said the "Sankalp Patra" will be the first manifesto of any party to be prepared with the participation of crores of people. BJP's Sankalp Patra will be a blue print of happiness and transformation in the lives of every section of society.
Hardik Patel's joining will coincide with the Congress Working Committee or CWC meeting in Ahmedabad.

'He is likely to contest the election from Jamnagar constituency,' sources said. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Patidar community leader Hardik Patel will reportedly join the Congress party ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Top sources in the Congress have told news agency Press Trust of India that Hardik Patel will likely join the party on March 12. "He is likely to contest the election from Jamnagar constituency," they said.

Speaking to news agency PTI, the top Congress sources said: "Hardik Patel, who led the agitation demanding reservation for the Patidar community in Gujarat is likely to join the Congress on March 12 in the presence of party chief Rahul Gandhi."

The Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by Poonamben Maadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP.

Hardik Patel's joining will coincide with the Congress Working Committee or CWC meeting in Ahmedabad, following which top party leaders will address a public rally in the city.

The Congress is focusing on Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It had given a tough fight to the ruling BJP in the last assembly elections in the state.
STAMFORD  A major hedge fund based in the city has reportedly cut ties with members of the Sackler family who own controversial OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Hildene Capital Management told investment entities of Sackler family members late last year that the firm was no longer comfortable managing their money, the Journal reported Thursday. The same article also said that someone known by members of the firm had suffered an opioid tragedy.

Hildene declined to comment to Hearst Connecticut Media on the reported disassociation. Sackler family members could not be immediately reached for comment.

Based at 700 Canal St., in Stamfords South End, Hildene operates about a half-mile south of Purdues downtown headquarters at 201 Tresser Blvd. Hildene manages more than $1 billion in assets, according to its website.

The Sacklers who own Purdue have come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks in the wake of hundreds of pages of courts documents released as part of lawsuits filed by Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Connecticut and Massachusetts are the first two states to not only sue Purdue as a company, but also take legal action against Sackler family members.

Their litigation alleges that eight Sacklers catalyzed the opioid crisis by directing the misleading marketing of pain drugs such as OxyContin, while using the revenues to make billions of dollars for themselves and their family.

More than 1,000 other, similar complaints have been filed against the company by cities, counties and states across the country.

Purdue has denied the lawsuits allegations and filed this week a motion to dismiss the Massachusetts complaint.

Those allegations have also ratcheted up pressure on political candidates and museums, universities and medical institutions that have received a share of the many millions donated by Sackler family members, one of the countrys most-prolific philanthropic families.

Connecticuts Democratic Party recently disavowed tens of thousands of dollars in contributions that were made by Sackler family members in recent years.

Other major beneficiaries such as the University of Connecticut, Yale University and Greenwich Hospital have not denounced the family.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott
Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum / Contributed photo

Connecticut Humanities has awarded a $3,998 Quick Grant to Norwalks Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in support of a new exhibition, From Corsets to Suffrage: Victorian Women Trailblazers, which opens May 16.

In a news release, Patsy Brescia, LMMM Chairman of the Board of Trustees, hailed the Connecticut Humanities support for the exhibit, as well as state legislators for their continued efforts in supporting this outstanding cultural venue and National Historic Landmark.
A licensed practical nurse from Rocky Hill who was sentenced to nine months in prison in connection with her toddler being badly burned in a bathtub has had her license reprimanded by the state Board of Examiners for Nursing.

On Wednesday, Shamique Martin was one of nine nurses disciplined by the board. It placed her license on probation for four months and ordered her to take courses in ethics and being a mandated reporter of child abuse.

In February 2017, Rocky Hill police arrested her in connection with her daughters burns. In September 2017, Martin pleaded guilty to one count of risk of injury to a minor and one count of making a false statement. Martin left her child in her boyfriends care even though she knew he was not allowed to be unsupervised with the child, state records show. When alerted about the burns, Martin failed to seek timely medical care and lied to police about how the child was injured, records show.

Rocky Hill police said that Martins 2-year-old daughter was burned in 118-degree water, and her boyfriend, Michael Shamel Davis, staged a fire scene in a bedroom to make it seem that she had been burned there, the Hartford Courant reported. Martin had agreed in a state Department of Children and Families plan not to leave her children unsupervised with Davis, the Courant said.

In December 2017, Martin was sentenced to nine months in prison and three years of probation. In January 2018, Davis pleaded guilty to risk of injury to a minor and was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of probation.

Martin told the board in January that her daughters burns were healed in about a month.

The board also revoked the registered nurse license of Melissa Tackett, of Cromwell, after finding that in 2018, she forged two prescriptions, using the name of a resident at Westside Care Center, the nursing home where she worked in Manchester, to obtain Oxycodone for herself, a memorandum of decision said. She also used the painkiller to excess, the memo said. Criminal charges are pending against her, records show.

The board also revoked the LPN license of Nicole Miller of East Hartford, who tested positive for alcohol in 2018, just two months after being placed on a four-year probation for alcohol use, a memorandum of decision states.

State records show the board also:

Suspended the LPN license of Christine DeFusco of Rocky Hill, saying that she violated a four-year probation by failing to submit drug and alcohol test results and failing to take part in therapy. In 2016, she pleaded guilty her third driving while under the influence charge.

Reprimanded the advanced practice registered nurse license and the RN license of Ellen Sollazzo of Farmington, saying that in 2017, she failed to meet the standard of care by failing to perform appropriate patient psychiatric assessments. She also violated professional boundaries with the patient. Both licenses were also placed on probation for three years.

Placed the RN and APRN licenses of Ashley Dizney of Southington on probation for four years and required her to pass drug and alcohol tests. In 2017, she paid a $1,000 fine and her license was placed on probation for four years for stealing Fentanyl from patients. In 2018, she tested positive for opiates.

Approved a two-year license probation for RN Skye Muli of Middletown. Muli must undergo drug and alcohol tests. In 2017, she used alcohol, marijuana, opioids and cocaine to excess.

Reprimanded and placed the LPN license of Beata Ivana Ventura of Shelton on probation for a year and ordered her to complete a course in ethics. Ventura was accused of stealing nine tablets of Zofran, a drug used to prevent nausea, while working at Greenwich Woods Health Care Center in 2017.

Placed the LPN license of Joseph Iannicelli of Waterbury on probation for two years and ordered him to under drug and alcohol tests. In 2017, he tested positive for opiates and cocaine.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to health reporting.
Business owners and CEOs live and die by top-line growth. Acquiring customers, hitting scale and paying attention to unit economics are all actions that lead to positive cash flow and sustainable business growth. On the other hand, focusing obsessively on your top line and acquisition, while often correct, can leave a lot to be desired on the back end.

Related: What to Do With Bad Debts On Your Books

The reference, of course, is to missed payments, chargebacks, default and churned customers. In short, a leaky bucket can be as damaging to your business as slow growth, and must be handled correctly so you wont lose all those hard-earned customers, not to mention losing that payment you need for your product or service.

Collecting debt while retaining a customer relationship is both an art and a science, but most business leaders approach this mission in one of two extreme ways: One way is to pretend the problem doesnt exist because either the company owner is in denial, fears adverse interactions with the customer involved or hopes to make up the default with more growth.

The other extreme involves business owners who take an aggressive, all-out approach to collecting debt and end up threatening the customer with real or made-up legal action and destroying any good will, as well as the brand itself, in the process. Often these owners will use aggressive collection agencies. In turn, that action causes 25 percent of consumers with debt in collections to feel threatened, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report.

My own brush with debt collection

Ill never forget the first collections call I received, myself. A $120 credit card balance was late, and email alerts hadn't reached me. That's why, even though I could afford that bill, I was unaware of it. Accordingly, I never expected the calls that started to arrive, like clockwork, from unrecognized numbers at 8 a.m. every day. When I finally picked up, a pushy collections agent demanded payment.

I was willing. But when I offered to pay with a card, she demanded a $15 convenience fee." I was appalled: What would have happened if I hadn't simply forgotten? What if I couldnt afford the bill and was treated this way?

That single interaction made me stop using that card. This merchant obviously didnt care about me. Simply talking to me and learning more about my situation wasn't on the merchant's agenda, either, though such action could have uncovered a serious billing issue. Why was I even allowed to go so late? Why didnt the company's interface remind me of a bill? These questions went unanswered.

Related: 6 Hacks for Getting Clients to Pay You Faster

What you can learn.

Dont be the same kind of merchant as that long-ago credit card company. As an entrepreneur myself who's now on the front lines, I often hear about people's experiences with debt collectors. One that comes to mind is of a young man who, one day, decided to stop hiding.

He told me he remembers sitting on a brick wall in a parking lot when, for some reason, he felt brave enough to call the debt collection agency about a missed payment. That conversation essentially became a grown woman screaming at him over the phone. You set this up, you didnt pay for it, and you need to figure out how to pay it right now," she said.

Her goal was to scare the young caller into settling the debt that day. But he literally had no money in his account to offer, other than his food money. He told her he wanted to pay the debt and asked if he could wait until his next payday. No, you already committed to a debt repayment program and you missed it, thats unacceptable," was the response.

The conversation got worse and worse. She wanted something that day and at the end, wound up screaming: You have no idea! What the f*** is wrong with you?! You need to pay this debt! If you cant work with us, well take you to court! Then she hung up.

Needless to say, you shouldn't talk to customers in default this way. There is a process, and talking to your customers properly is beneficial for the following two reasons:

1. A customer in default might expose issues with your product or service.

The problem could be a problematic credit policy that led to the wrong customers getting credit, or billing issues that prevented the customer from paying, or service issues that made the customer leave with no intent to pay.

Recent research from the Urban Institute reminded us how Americans are drowning in debt and how that fact impacts their payment behavior. Talking to these customers will teach you much more about your own blind spots than will talking to happy ones.

Indeed, such conversations represent both an opportunity and a risk to your brand. Customers who default can be strong detractors, if you avoid or antagonize them. They can also be strong promoters if you work with them and get them back on track.

Working to mend the relationship and payment flow will not only reduce your churn, but create a swell of good will that will earn you positive word of mouth.

2. Dealing with legal issues can become a PR nightmare.

Remember Netflixs cease-and-desist request to a Stranger Things-themed bar? Upset by the intrusion on its intellectual property, Netflix sent a creative adorably nerdy-yet firm letter to the folks behind the pop-up.

You should emulate that example. Being thoughtful when you're dealing with a sensitive issue will get you results -- and maybe even some positive coverage!

So, here's how to handle a customer in default.

Ready to pick up the phone? Debt collection industry experts like author and recognized debt expert Michelle Dunn and Stephanie Eidelman from the collections newsletter InsideARM are great sources for ideas on "how to handle" this scenario. Just remember: The stakes are as high as are the potential gains, so take this task seriously, allocate time and follow these best practices:

Make a plan. Engaging with defaulted customers isnt easy. Its a time-consuming, long process thats focused on regaining and rebuilding trust while your business looks for a solution that works for both parties. So, design a process that involves reaching out to your customers via multiple channels (e.g. phone, email, text) over several weeks, in a way that is both persistent and not overly invasive. Stay away from aggressive, automated dialing campaigns or multiple contact attempts per day. While such actions may get you paid a little bit more often (though most times they wont), the risk to your brand is just too high.

Stick to the plan. Customers will not respond perfectly to your attempts to get in touch. While some may appreciate your kinder, gentler approach and try to work with you, others will be evasive, scared, angry, even abusive. When the latter happens, especially on a call, the temptation to get back at the customer will be strong -- and utterly wrong. Sticking to a pre-designed, pre-written process is key to success and improvement.

Optimize, optimize, optimize. Finding any human connection is an art, but optimizing a collection process is a science. Write the best messages possible, set up a process that makes sense, then collect data on what works and what doesnt and constantly optimize. You can change the time, frequency, channel and content of your outreach attempts, as well as the payment arrangements you offer. Finding what works for your business and customers is data-intensive and requires work.

Seek professional help. Sometimes customers just arent willing to talk, or your internal team members are at their wits end on optimizing the process. While old school collection tactics are more harmful than helpful, a new wave of digital-first, data-driven services are available to augment, and often take over, the process once youre no longer interested in running it in house. Services to consider include Collectly for healthcare collections and Interactions, a provider of conversational interfaces. Find a provider that can understand and support your brand while ensuring you get paid, and providing you rich data feedback.

Related: 9 Things to Look for in a Payment Gateway

Depending on your market, getting paid is sometimes as difficult as acquiring new customers. But its a fact of life for business owners. Talking to your customers in default can be beneficial, but also risky if done incorrectly. So, prepare: Plan, optimize and use the tools at your disposal. Youll discover a potential growth engine that too many businesses simply ignore.

Related:

Don't Bother Tackling These 5 Business Functions Yourself

How to Talk to Customers in Default the Right Way

This Indian has the Key for Tesla to Arrive on India's Roads . 4 Things to Know Today



Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Gadkari lost his cool when some people raised slogans during his speech, which was also attended by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari expressed his displeasure on Wednesday over some people raising slogans at a public meeting in Nagpur over their support for a separate Vidarbha state. (Photo: File)

Nagpur: Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari expressed his displeasure on Wednesday over some people raising slogans at a public meeting in Nagpur over their support for a separate Vidarbha state. He warned that he will get them "thrown out" from the event if they continue.

Gadkari lost his cool when some people raised slogans during his speech at the meeting, which was also attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and other senior leaders.

When Gadkari started speaking, some pro-Vidarbha activists sitting in the crowd began raising slogans, demanding separate statehood for the region in eastern Maharashtra. The activists also threw pamphlets in the media enclosure.

Irked over the constant shouting of slogans for a separate Vidarbha state, Gadkari first asked them to keep quiet. Thereafter, the Union minister said: "If they continue to make noise again, spank them, and throw them out. Take them all out."

Nagpur should be developed as the second capital and "we want to take Nagpur and Vidarbha region forward together and put them prominently on the world map," Gadkari told the gathering.

The senior BJP leader said he is happy that under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Nagpur and Vidarbha are witnessing all-around development.

Both Gadkari and Fadnavis belong to Nagpur, considered the second capital of the state and the region's biggest city.

The cotton-growing region, which comprises nearly a dozen districts, has been witnessing a movement for separate statehood for decades.

The BJP supports the demand for separate statehood for Vidarbha citing better and more efficient administration, but its ally - the Shiv Sena - is vehemently opposed to any division of Maharashtra.
Watch the livestream below...

Reading from foldable Mate X's, Huawei claims that the US is not giving Huawei the chance to go through due process in court regarding the US Congress' claim that Huawei is a security threat.

It claims that the US is improperly targeting and punishing Huawei without giving the company the chance to argue its case and "damaging its reputation".

Update 1 (9:22PM EST): Huawei is suing the US governemnt for singling out Huawei and damaging its reputation without providing proof that the company is a threat as the U.S. congress claims and without allowing Huawei due process to reach a resolution.

Update 2 (9:31PM EST): Huawei brings up that U.S. companies have weak "cyber security hygine" as the data breaches that happened over the past few years such as Equifax were all unrelated to Huawei.

Huawei claims the U.S. statute blocking Huawei equipment from developing 5G networks hinders competition and hurts the economy. The company claims that its 5G technology is superior to its peers'. 'Technology for the advancement of the world's should not have boundaries.' [paraphrased]

Update 3: (9:38PM):

On the cusp of 5G, what we need is open and fair competition. Instead, the U.S. Government is using legislative overreach to interfere with the market. As it stands, it can't deploy the most advanced 5G technology on behalf of market players.

Politicizing 5G will only cause damage to industry and businesses and inevitably inhibit U.S. consumers from reaping the potential economic and social benifit of 5G.

Developing...

Updated with official press release from Huawei (9:56PM EST):

[Shenzhen, China, March 7, 2019] Today, Huawei announced that it has filed a complaint in a U.S. federal court that challenges the constitutionality of Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Through this action, Huawei seeks a declaratory judgment that the restrictions targeting Huawei are unconstitutional, and a permanent injunction against these restrictions.

"The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Guo Ping, Huawei Rotating Chairman said. "This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers. We look forward to the court's verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people."

The lawsuit was filed in a U.S. District Court in Plano, Texas. According to the complaint, Section 889 of the 2019 NDAA not only bars all U.S. Government agencies from buying Huawei equipment and services, but also bars them from contracting with or awarding grants or loans to third parties who buy Huawei equipment or services, without any executive or judicial process. This violates the Bill of Attainder Clause and the Due Process Clause. It also violates the Separation-of-Powers principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, because Congress is both making the law, and attempting to adjudicate and execute it.

Song Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer, stressed, "Section 889 is based on numerous false, unproven, and untested propositions. Contrary to the statute's premise, Huawei is not owned, controlled, or influenced by the Chinese government. Moreover, Huawei has an excellent security record and program. No contrary evidence has been offered."

"At Huawei we are proud that we are the most open, transparent, and scrutinized company in the world," said John Suffolk, Huaweis Global Cyber Security & Privacy Officer. "Huawei's approach to security by design development and deployment sets a high standards bar that few can match."

From Huawei's perspective, the NDAA restrictions prevent the company from providing more advanced 5G technologies to U.S. consumers, which will delay the commercial application of 5G, in turn, impeding efforts to improve the performance of 5G networks in the U.S. Beyond this, network users in rural and remote regions of the U.S. will be forced to choose between government funding and high-quality, cost-effective products. This will impede the network upgrade process, thus widening the digital divide. Even worse, the restrictions on Huawei will stifle competition, leaving U.S. consumers paying higher prices for inferior products.

Estimates from industry sources show that allowing Huawei to compete would reduce the cost of wireless infrastructure by between 15% and 40%. This would save North America at least US$20 billion over the next four years.

Guo Ping added, "If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks. Huawei is willing to address the U.S. Government's security concerns. Lifting the NDAA ban will give the U.S. Government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues."

Source
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is known for his accurate predictions of the iPhone sales and deliveries, but today he an new investor note regarding the Samsung Galaxy S10 family. In it he ups his prediction for the Galaxy S10 sales to 40 to 45 million, instead of the earlier 30-35 million. The main reason behind the update is spec differentiation from the current iPhones.

Kuo expects users to choose the Samsung Galaxy S10 phone over the 2018 iPhones for the ultrasonic fingerprint reader, the triple camera setup on the back and the two-way wireless charging. Kuo predicted this years Apple flagships are also going to jump the three-cam hype train, but until then the analyst thinks Samsung will have an undisturbed run.

Since the 2019 iPhone is most likely to adopt a triple setup on the back, the biggest winner will be O-film, a camera component supplier that is reportedly already working with Cupertino.

Another reason the Galaxy S10 is performing much better than expected is the strong interest towards the flagship series in China. Apple failed to impress its Chinese fans and users who want a foreign brand are more likely to switch to the latest Samsung phones.

Via
Unlike Apples impressive network of Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers, Google does not have the same physical presence to offer same-day repairs for the Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL.

Back in September, Google finally opened its own mail-in repair center in the US. Before that, UBreakiFix was your only way to get repairs. Later in November, about a month after the Pixel 3's launch, Google only offered Pixel 3 and 3XL repairs with its network of UBreakiFix stores, most of which had no stock of original parts for the new Pixels.

Google Pixel 3 (2018)

Early buyers of the Pixel 3 were upset when they could not get proper repair service at the locations due to Googles inability to supply the stores with original parts in a timely manner. It has taken some time for Google to figure out the logistics of its in-house repair center but you can now get your Pixel 3 repaired through Googles first-party service.

The change hasnt yet reflected on Googles support website but Google provided Android Police with the following statement.

Yes, all generations of our of warranty Pixels will now be part of the mail-in Google Repair options. Were in the process of updating the page to reflect that.

Granted, a mail-in repair center is still a hassle since your phone needs to be sent to a physical location and then mailed back to you, not to mention Googles site says to allow a 7-10 business day turnaround period. Theres always UBreakiFix if you really need to get service, but they arent widely available in the immensity of the United States.

To start a mail-in service request, head to Googles Repair Center page. As of the writing of this post, the request page will direct Pixel 3 owners to another page to see walk-in options at UBreakiFix locations. Again, Google is in the process of updating this.

Via
With foldable phones attracting all the attention recently, ZTE is keen to be a part of what is possibly the next big thing. The company filed in a patent for a phone that folds vertically similarly to Motorollas alleged 2019 RAZR.

More interestingly, the patent shows that the device will fold inwards, but not in the middle as the upper half of the flexible screen appears shorter.

There is no physical cutout for a selfie camera so it remains to be seen how the company plans to implement that feature. There are two buttons on the right side, presumably for volume and power controls as well as a sim tray. On the back, we can see the camera setup, while the bottom features two symmetrical cutouts and what appears to be a USB-C port.

ZTE is no stranger to the foldable smartphone game as it pioneered the design with its Axon M back in October 2017. At that point the technology clearly wasn't there yet though, which combined with the company's temporary ban in the US led to the failure of that phone.

In December 2018, ZTE published another patent showing a device similar to Samsungs Galaxy Fold so it remains to be seen if the company will employ both designs or is just keeping its options open.

Source (in Dutch)
The water bottle in question has been seized and will be sent for forensic examination to find the cause of the girl's death, police said.

Police said she vomited in the classroom after drinking from the water bottle. She was rushed to a hospital but died while she was being treated, a senior police officer said. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: An 11-year-old girl studying in Class 5 in a private Delhi school died after she drank from a classmate's water bottle, police said. They added that the water bottle may have contained an "acid-like substance".

Police said she vomited in the classroom after drinking from the water bottle. She was rushed to a hospital but died while she was being treated, a senior police officer said.

The incident happened at a school in northeast Delhi's Harsh Vihar.

Sources said that the girl may have consumed a corrosive substance. A forensic team found that the portion of the floor where the girl threw up was completely discoloured.

This led the police to suspect that she may have consumed acid, sources said.

The water bottle in question has been seized and will be sent for forensic examination to find the cause of the girl's death, police said.

A case has been registered and an investigation is underway, senior police officer Atul Kumar Thakur said.




Haiti - FLASH : A former deputy arrested for possession and drug trafficking





Tuesday evening in Ganthier, the National Police of Haiti (PNH) intercepted a suspicious vehicle (Nissan Patrol, immaculate IT-05007) and arrested the 3 people on board whose former deputy of the 49th legislature Jean Fenel Thanis, elected under the banner "Repons Peyizan", Jean Edrick Pompe and Keshuss Cambell, a men of Jamaican nationality.



The search of the vehicle revealed nearly 500 kg of narcotics that were hidden in a dozen packages (marijuana according to the experts of the Brigade against the Trafficking in Narcotics - BLCS)



The 3 arrested individuals are charged with possession and illegal trafficking of narcotics and are currently in the hands of the BLCS where they are interrogated.



TB/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : UN recommends the creation of a Special Political Mission in Haiti





The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has recommended to the Security Council to create a special political mission to Haiti to take over from 16 October 2019 the United Nations Mission for the Support of Justice in Haiti (Minujusth, end of mandate 15 October) and help maintain support for Haiti.



To replace it for a period of one year, beginning on 16 October 2019 and with the approval of the Haitian authorities, the Secretary-General "[...] recommends to the Security Council to approve the establishment of a special political mission [whose size remains to be defined] led by a special representative of the Secretary-General. [...] Its mandate would be to provide good offices and advise the Government in specific areas such as political reform, elections, justice, prison system, police development, violence reduction and human rights," said Guterres.



Extract from the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission in Support of Justice in Haiti :



"The risks for renewed instability arising from the political, security, human rights, economic and humanitarian challenges outlined above have been carefully considered in assessing the timeframe for the conclusion of the peacekeeping chapter and the preferred post-peacekeeping presence in Haiti.As seen in the recent crisis, it is clear that, while national capacities to handle internal threats to security and public order are considerable, the key to preventing relapses lies at the political level, and political stability in the country should continue to be nurtured. Similarly, as a number of the objectives set in the two-year exit strategy of MINUJUSTH relating to the rule of law and human rights are not expected to be fully achieved by October 2019, the continuation of efforts in related sectors will remain critical for achieving the benchmarks end state articulated in my report.



In the light of the above, the strategic assessment mission discussed with President Moise and his Government the duration of the MINUJUSTH mandate, foreseen by the Council to end no sooner than October 2019, as well as options for a United Nations configuration that best corresponds to the current situation on the ground, taking into account its significant evolution since 2004. Two broad models, and their variations, were considered: transition to a special political mission which, under different degrees and formats, would offer varying political and advisory capacities alongside the technical and programmatic support provided by the United Nations country team; and transition to a United Nations country team configuration coordinated by a Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.



Under the United Nations country team option, Haiti would no longer feature on the agenda of the Security Council and the United Nations presence would focus on supporting national efforts to advance sustainable development and system-wide accountability for implementing the United Nations Development Assistance Framework. This option, however, would not allow for the retention under a Security Council mandate of a police commissioner and some international police officers, whose presence in a mentoring and advisory role has been critical in ensuring the performance and development of the Haitian national police.



The establishment of a special political mission would still support a strong development focus, since the mission would complement the more technical and longer-term development-focused role of the United Nations agencies, funds and programmes. The Development Assistance Framework would continue to be the main planning vehicle for coordinating the integrated activities of the mission and the United Nations country team. A special political mission would allow the Security Council to continue to accompany the efforts of Haiti towards sustainable peace and would enhance the good offices role of the United Nations through the mandate provided to my Special Representative. The potential risks of relapse into political instability, as are currently being experienced and which also have implications for the human rights situation, highlight the comparative advantage of this option. Various configurations for this option were reviewed, ranging from a small political office to larger mission structures that include advisory functions for further police development and mentoring, strategic and focused justice reform, corrections, elections, human rights and community violence reduction, to support the Government in the delivery of its strategic rule of law priorities in the short to medium term. In the planning of the transition particular emphasis has been placed on ensuring a smooth transition to the new configuration. A robust gender analysis will be needed to identify risks and opportunities for womens participation and security under the different potential configurations.



Throughout these discussions, Haitian interlocutors reiterated their view that it was time to conclude the United Nations peacekeeping engagement and the application of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.No request was made for an extension of the MINUJUSTH mandate beyond 15 October 2019.



At the same time, in recognition of continuing needs in the country, the Haitian authorities expressed support for the deployment of a special political mission under Chapter VI of the Charter designed to accompany current priorities in specific and strategic rule of law, security, human rights and development areas for a transitional period, so that Haiti would be subsequently removed from the Security Council agenda."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Security : The Dominicans explain the construction work at the border





While several rumors in Haitian communities living close to the border, suggest that the Dominicans build a wall at the border and that others are talking about construction on Haitian territory, Enrique Ramirez Paniagua, the Director General of Dominican Customs wanted to rectify the facts and provide some useful details.



He explained that it was not a border wall, but a perimeter fence built on Dominican territory, intended to protect a large multi-agency complex located in the province Comendador de Elias Pina not far from Belladere



Ramirez said that this future building, will house various public institutions dedicated to the control of goods entering the Dominican territory through this border post. He explained that it was a Center built jointly with the Ministry of Defense, which will also house the Directorate General of Migration (DGM), the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Directorate of Investigations and the agencies of intelligence that fights smuggling and human trafficking at the border.



He described the construction of this perimeter fence as routine work for the security of customs operations, which was carried out just like the construction of the complex, in respect of the boundary markers delimiting the territorial boundaries as signed by the two countries of the island and deposited at the UN.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Commando : Paul Eronce Villard, boot in touch

Wednesday, Paul Eronce Villard, the Government Commissioner of Port-au-Prince, questioned on the case of 7 heavily armed foreign individuals arrested, February 17, 2019 in Port-au-Prince https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26963-haiti-flash-a-mysterious-commando-of-heavily-armed-foreigners-arrested-in-port-au-prince.html followed by their release and transfers to the United States https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-27009-haiti-flash-back-in-the-united-states-the-members-of-the-commandos-are-free.html replied "the Procuratorate did according to the law, what was needed in this case."



Minujusth inquiry into the PNH

According to the findings of the Minujusth inquiry, during the demonstrations of 17 October 2018, the police were responsible for 57 human rights violations, including three summary executions and 47 cases of excessive use of force, resulted in the death of three protesters and injured 44 others. Of the 72 casualties recorded from 18 to 23 November, 51 were attributable to armed elements who were not members of the police force and 21, including 6 deaths, reportedly resulted from the excessive use of force by police officers.



Bahamas : 12 Haitian migrants sentenced

On Wednesday, 12 Haitians were convicted of illegal entry into the Bahamas by the country's justice system, and fined US $300. Unable to pay the amount of the fine, they were surrendered to the police to serve a compensatory prison sentence.



Moise dialogue with ex-President A. Boniface Alexandre

On Wednesday, Jovenel Moise met with former President ai Boniface Alexandre in the context of the inclusive dialogue with all sectors of national life "It is together, with the participation of all, that we will find the solution to the problems that plague the country," said Moise.



Towards a new demonstrations calendar

"A new Mobilization alendar will be presented to the Nation in the coming hours. We reiterate that the solution to the crisis lies first in the immediate resignation of Jovenel Moise, the holding of the PetroCaribe trial and the organization of the National Conference," informed Me Andre Michel one of the spokesman of the radical opposition.



Carnival for children

Sunday, March 3, the First Lady of Haiti, Martine Moise, accompanied by Marie Christine Stephenson, the Minister of Tourism, and Marie Elise Bresson Gelin, the Minister of Social Affairs, made a carnival for children at the cultural club Lakou Souvnans in Artibonite. She took the opportunity to visit the "Lakou Souvnans and Soukri", and talk with the servants of these "lakou" about the problems they face and asked them to pray for Haiti to improve the political climate and social.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The combat system is making its presence in India and attracts youths from Delhi-NCR.

New Delhi: Veena Gupta, a Gurugram-based woman, who has all the qualities of a feminist, provides training to women in self-defence in a male-dominated society. She is a certified trainer of Krav Maga, an Israeli fighting system. The combat system is making its presence in India and attracts youths from Delhi-NCR. The Indian Armed Forces have adopted Krav Maga for decades.

Ms Gupta has trained thousand of girls and working women free of charge. With training centres spread across the country, she equips women with combating techniques to fight against crime and violence.

I believe that parents should allow their girl child to master any form of martial art, which would enable her to protect herself from violence and harassment. Almost all women, girls at some point or the other, become victims of violent crimes.

Incidents of teasing and rape have become very common. The best way out is to empower oneself with the right information and technique,  said Ms Gupta.

I learnt Krav Maga in 2011. Since then, I have been providing training to corporate offices and other institutes. This is a straightforward approach to self-defence. Krav Maga doesnt require years of training to achieve self-defence proficiency. It is easy to learn, easy to remember, and easy to apply, she added.

She recently launched an app My Security My Responsibility (MSMR), which provides safety tips and a police alarm.

She also took an initiative to start Surakshit Bharat Abhiyan to give self-defence training to the students and working women.

The method was formulated to suit everyone especially those who might need it to save their life or survive an attack while sustaining minimal harm irrespective of the background of the attack  criminal, nationalistic, or any other.
By William Schwartz | Published on 2019/03/06

On February 28th Choi Jin-hyuk held his second fan meeting in Taiwan. Official pictures were recently released.

Advertisement

The meeting took place in the Taiwain International Convention Center, and was titled 'Love For You Fan Meeting Taiwan', in English. Attendance totaled fifteen hundred people. As the pictures attest, the audience was packed.

Choi Jin-hyuk came onstage to the song Love's Fool by The Nuts. After completion of the song, Choi Jin-hyuk greeted his fans with an apology, saying that he felt he did not show proper appreciation at his first fan meeting there four years ago.

Choi Jin-hyuk then reenacted some popular scenes from his more popular dramas. "The Last Empress" featured, as did "Devilish Happiness". "The Last Empress" scenes verged on the dramatic, while the "Devilish Happiness" scenes were more romantic.

The fans also prepared a surprise video as well as a plan card. Choi Jin-hyuk mentioned that he also cried there four years ago, and promised to come again.

Written by William Schwartz
By William Schwartz | Published on 2019/03/06

JTBC released a behind-the-scenes look at Lee Je-hoon appearance with Ryu Jun-yeol on "Traveler". The video was released on the JTBC YouTube channel on March 6th.

Advertisement

"Traveler", which airs on Thursdays at 11 PM KST, is a variety show about traveling. Lee Je-hoon and Ryu Jun-yeol did some backpack traveling in Cuba and their adventures are being broadcast on the program.

In the behind-the-scenes look, Lee Je-hoon confides that he had not done this kind of traveling before. Consequently, he found the journey difficult. But when it got rough, he felt comforted and thankful in the knowledge Ryu Jun-yeol gave him about how to carry things properly. Ryu Jun-yeol had some prior experience doing backpack traveling in the United States.

When asked what three things he would pack if he could only pick three things, Lee Je-hoon picked sunscreen, mosquito repellant, and Ryu Jun-yeol. Lee Je-hoon smiled and laughed noting that if Ryu Jun-yeol were along, he could easily do this kind of traveling again. If Ryu Jun-yeol would not fit in the bag, Lee Je-hoon's final choice was a cell phone.

When asked where they would want to travel next time, both Lee Je-hoon and Ryu Jun-yeol answered Cuba. They mentioned having fond experiences with the Cubans they met on their trip and discussed the enjoyable prospect of riding horses and seeing Cuban farms.

Written by William Schwartz
By Panos Kotzathanasis | Published on 2019/03/06

Kim Yu-ri graduated with a degree in Film Making from Kyungsung University in Busan. After graduation, she began working on commercial and independent features and has been making several short films including How Long Has That Door Been Open? which received the Grand Prize in the Korean Shorts competition at the 2014 Jeonju International Film Festival. "Sub-zero Wind" is her first feature film.

Advertisement

Kwon Han-sol played small parts in "The Discloser" and "Steel Rain". "Sub-zero Wind" marks her first protagonist role.

Ok Soo-boon played small parts in "Cinema with You" and "Little Forest". "Sub-zero Wind" marks her first major role.

On the occasion of "Sub-zero Wind" (festival entry) screening at the 25th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas, whrere it won a Special Mention bythe International Jury, we speak with them about the movie, teenagers in Korea, Christianity, loneliness, and other topics

Can you give us some details about how you ended up working in cinema?

Kim Yu-ri: I studied cinema and theatre and after I received my diploma, I went on working in films in the script-writing department and I also shot my own short films. Through the money I earned during that time, I managed to shoot "Sub-zero Wind".

Kwon Han-sol: When I was in high school, my major was film and theater and I first started acting in theater plays. I wanted to go to college but that did not work out, so I started auditioning and I realized that I prefer acting in movies instead of theatre.

Ok Soo-boon: Since I was a child, I would watch dramas and movies and I always knew I wanted to act. However, during school and even college, I did not study movies and theatre at all, but after a while, I decided I wanted to go back to my first dream, acting.

Can you give us some details about the significance of the title?

Kim Yu-ri: In Korean, there are two meanings for the title. The first is the literal one, which means very cold wind, but in the movie Young-ha's name, is also part of the Korean title of the film "Young ha eui ba ram" and ba ram means hope and dream. So, on one hand, you have the cold wind and on the other hand, Young-ha's hopes and dreams. The movie is about how the two characters become adults and how they survive through their experiences and the environment they grow up in is compared with a very cold wind. The movie is also about how they try to find their hopes and their dreams, and for example for Min-ji, who will she be close to, by the end of the movie and how she will survive all of her problems

One of the themes of the film is Christianity. Can you tell us a bit about the situation with Christians in Korea and the reason who chose to deal with this topic?

Christianity is the main religion in Korea. Even in my close environment, almost all of my friends and family are Christians. It is a very common religion in Korea and it is very easy to become one actually. Therefore, I chose it as a theme, because it is so common. Becoming a religious person can be the result of very good intentions at first, but at the end I questioned myself as to how people manipulate religion and how it can be hurtful to those around them. So the theme is really about how you practice religion. In my movie, you cannot really know what is good and what is bad and thus I can express this way of thinking about religion.

The film shows that the life of teenagers in Korea nowadays is quite difficult. How close to reality do you think that is?

Kwon Han-sol: It is a particular situation, but it is the reality that there are a lot problems in Korean families and, although it does not actually go as far as in the movie, it is still a reality that teenagers go through a lot. For example, the university tuitions are really high.

Ok Soo-boon: Not all problems the teenagers face appear on the surface but everybody have their own problems and even if they are family or financial problems, everyone has their own issues who have to go through during their teenage face.

Kwon Han-sol: Korean kids do not express themselves right away, they tend to keep everything bottled, even from the people close to them. However, when someone is close to them for a long time, then they start opening up and eventually tell a lot about themselves.

Kim Yu-ri: In Korea, it is very difficult for teenagers to express themselves and to do anything on their own, to solve a problem by themselves.

Do you think it is more difficult for girls than boys?

Kim Yu-ri: I cannot say that these issues have something to do with sex, there are no differences between girls and boys, no discrimination or anything, but the problem really comes from how you express yourself and how you think about your problems and how you want to solve them. I feel that this is the important thing, to be aware of your situation and to be able to express yourself and a lot of kids don't say anything and they keep everything to themselves.

When I was writing the script, I went through the news and I found a piece about a father who divorced his wife, but for seven years they lived together. He hated the woman he was living with so much, that eventually he kidnapped the kids and held them hostage and one of the kids actually died. When I heard of this, I was thinking about how this family lived in peace for seven years, because you cannot really function normally for such a long time and then have a problem that big. It is about little problems that become big problems and there must be a reason that all this happened, but I am not sure if it is a cultural issue, a Korean issue or just this particular family

In the film, Ok Soo-boon's character seems to be marginalized in school because she is fat. Is that the case in Korea, that fat people get bullied?

Kwon Han-sol: My brother is in middle school so, I can answer this one better. Nowadays in Korea, there is not so much bullying, but more the concept of the "insider" and the "outsider". The first category is about people who have a lot of friends and are really outgoing, and the outsiders are the exact opposite. There is no actual violence or bullying in school. In the past, however, there used to be a big issue with violence among teenagers, but not right now.

Kim Yu-ri: Violence in schools is not physical, as it used to be before and in the movie you cannot see any bullying really.

Ok Soo-boon: In essence, the problem of Mi-jin is that she is very timid, shy and she is alone because she does not get along with other people, maybe because she is a bit fat but also due to her personality. So, it is not an issue of other people bullying her but of her own state of mind, which eventually becomes her everyday life.

Kim Yu-ri: Because her parents died during the time she was twelve to fifteen, the result was that she became shy and timid.

Young-ha eventually starts working as a bar hostess. How difficult was it for you to play that part and did you do any kind of research for this aspect of the role?

Kwon Han-sol: I did not do much preparation for that part because I only had a photo the director showed her before she went to the actual bar. I did not want to prepare much, because my character is going from being a teenager to the adult world for the first time, and I wanted to feel the feelings of the "first-timer" she would have. Also during the movie, I did not prepare everything because I wanted to feel "in the moment", just like the character does. It was also my first time of being in such situations and I felt that not preparing would actually help me portray this "in the moment" concept.

I felt that the scene where Young-ha wakes up next to her father suggests that something sexual happened on his side, but it is still somewhat vague. Why did you choose this approach?

Kim Yu-ri: The point of the movie is not about sexual harassment, is really about how Young-ha is growing up how the two girls deal with everything and about the irony of the fact that everything around them is changing but they do not really know how to deal with the change. So the point is not about what the father did to her and where he touched her, it is not really necessary to film it as realistic as it really happened, because from Young-ha's point of view, it is about who did it to her not what he did. It is her own father, whom she trusted. After the incident, we see it on her face, the surprise, and the feeling of betrayal and that is what the scene is about.

The relationship of the two girls is quite complex. Min-ji is completely faithful in her love for her cousin, and Young-ha also loves her cousin, but at the same time, she kind of exploits her a bit, ordering her around for example. Can you elaborate on this relationship?

Kim Yu-ri: You cannot say that Young-ha is a bad person; she acts that way because she is very young and that is who she is. The main reason she is like this is because she tries to be like her mother; family is very important to her. Everything that she learns is about her family but also derives from her family. The movie is also about how she becomes like her mother, because for her, family is also the most important thing. On the other hand, Mi-jin has no one to rely on and is not because she is very kind or very loving, she acts like that because Young-ha is the only one she can rely on. From a very young age she went through a lot, with her parents dying and living on her uncle's house, she became more mature earlier than Young-ha, and that is why she wants to be more helpful to others, and particularly her cousin, who is her only family, in essence.

Ok Soo-boon: Young-ha is my character's best friend, the only one she can rely on, and that is why Mi-jin is acting like that.

So, do you think that it is inevitable that we become just like our parents, is that one of the messages you wanted to communicate?

Kim Yu-ri: (laughs) In the movie, we can see that Young-ha becomes more and more like her mother, but at the end, she is completely alone because everybody leaves and she leaves everybody. At one point, Young-ha's mother tells Mi-jin that "you have to live your life alone" and I was very worried that people would believe that, as Young-ha believes, that people are on their own, when they leave. If Young-ha just continued her life like this, she would become very much alone, but because Mi-jin was with her, I wanted to show that Young-ha could become like her, someone who helps others. At the end, the movie stops on Mi-jin's face, because I wanted to show that Young-ha is finally with somebody that would accompany her through her life and that she is not alone, as she thinks she is. And the title, the meaning that refers to the very cold wind, refers to Young-ha and her surroundings, but the essence that comes from Mi-jin is very warm, and that is a very hopeful message that I wanted to communicate.

Since the story unfolds in three time frames, you had to have three actors for each role. How difficult was the casting in that regard, and how did you go about directing them?

I started with auditions and first casted the 19-year-old characters, who are present here at the moment, then the 12-years-old and lastly, the 15-years-old. The actors were not famous neither had a lot of experience in the field, but I did not want someone who could perform well due to practice, but someone who could match the character's feelings and overall characters. For each pair of characters, I did a month of rehearsals with each duo together, repeatedly. I wanted the actresses to have a lot of questions for their characters, and that is why I did not give them complete answers, but instead I asked them more questions about the characters, in order to make them confident about their parts. Because the characters are friends but also cousins, the actresses had to become very close with each other, and that is why I was so patient with the procedure and did so lengthy rehearsals. Because the characters had to match each other's feelings and feel the synergy.

Can you give me some details about your future projects?

Kim Yu-ri: I am currently writing scripts, but what I find most interesting is writing about young people and teenagers and their stories and I want to continue on this topic for my next movies. I am currently writing a scenario with the producers that did "Sub-zero Wind".

Kwon Han-sol: I do not have a next project but I have a movie that will come out in March. The title is "Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage" by Lee Jeong-beom.

Ok Soo-boon: Nothing yet, but I will try and have more auditions.

Interview by Panos Kotzathanasis

Facebook
The Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boys Indian Reservation Wednesday signed a purchase agreement for 280 acres of the Sweet Grass Hills, with Chippewa Cree Business Committee Vice Chair Ted Whitford saying Wednesday that the tribe wants to preserve the land.

We dont want it to be destroyed  because it has cultural significance to our tribe and other tribes in this region, Whitford said.

He said the purchase included eight different properties totalling approximately 280 acres of land.

The signing took place at the First American Title Company in Shelby.

Whitford said that the land is sacred to the tribe as well as other tribes in the area. With the land in the tribes possession, he said, the grounds will be preserved for historical significance and will not be developed.

He said the tribe learned of the opportunity after the land owner approached a tribal member and offered the land to the tribe before putting it on the open market. This deal has been in the process for the past nine to 12 months, he said, adding that he feels overjoyed that the tribe was able to secure this sacred land.

Its hard to describe how it feels to have the land back, he said.

He added that a few other members said it was awesome or that they were happy to have the land back after the deal was signed.

The tribe needed the land because gaining access to sacred sites had previously been difficult or even impossible, he said. Now that the tribe has closed the deal, he said, it should be significantly easier.

He said it has been a long time since the tribe has had access to some of these sites.

NativeReligions.org said that these lands historically were used for a variety of purposes. Because of their location on the plains, the hills served as an area to observe the landscape and used as lookout points to watch for bison herds or approaching enemies. It said the lands were also often used as a place for sacred fasting and vision quests.

For the Northern Plains tribes, the Sweet Grass Hills where also a place of origin for many tribal stories.

The Chippewa Cree believe that Devils Chimney Cave, located on East Butte, is where their Creator decided the future of mankind and remade the world after a great flood, the website said as an example.

Watch for more about the Chippewa Cree purchase in upcoming editions of the Havre Daily News.



Native Religions: http://www.nativereligions.org
A fourth generation has taken over at a seven-decade business in Havre, with Jeff Healy taking ownership of Koefod Agency at the beginning of this year.

"I'm looking forward to carrying out a legacy," Healy said.

Koefod has been doing business in Havre for the past 73 years, originally incorporated by Healy's grandfather and great-grandfather, Don Koefod and Ralph Koefod, in 1946. The business was originally located in the Masonic Temple - now the 305 Building - before moving to Third Avenue, in the same building as Stockman Bank in 1991. In 1998, the business moved to 223 Third Ave. Healy added that Koefod owns the building where they are located.

Healy said Koefod was a bank before 1946, but it incorporated as Koefod Insurance Agency. In 1986, Koefod expanded its services to real estate, primarily farm sales and farm management. It also began dealing with residential and commercial property sales.

In 1991, Koefod purchased North Central Agency, which dealt mostly in crop insurance, but also offered health and life insurance. Healy added that Koefod covers all insurances other than life and health.

Koefod later purchased Solem Insurance Agency's property, casualty, security and crop insurance lines in 1997.

Healy said his father, Tom Healy, began working at Koefod in the mid-1970s, shortly after marrying his mother, Debbie Healy, daughter of Don Koefod.

After Don Koefod died in 1993, the agency was purchased by Tom and Debbie Healy.

Tom Healy was a designated certified insurance counselor and served as president of the Montana Professional Insurance Agents Association from 1998 to 1999.

In 2018, Tom Healy retired, selling the business to Jeff Healy.

Healy said he has many good memories of his father growing up. One memory, he said, was from when he was about 4 or 5 years old, when Koefod was still in the Masonic Temple.

"I use to think it was the coolest thing to come down to the office," he said.

He said that he and his brother, Tom, enjoyed playing with the phones and all of the different phone extensions, calling each other from different rooms in the office.

He also remembered riding on the elevator of the Masonic Temple as a child, he said.

Healy said he remembers his father going to work. His father did a variety of insurance, he said, and was recognized a number of times for being really good with insurance. He said he also remembers going on family trips with his father for business.

"As a kid, that was exciting," he said.

His father always knew how to tie a business trip with a family vacation, he said.

He said he admired the dedication of his father and is already learning how draining and mentally taxing it could be to be a business owner.

Another thing Healy said he remembered about is father, and something his father was known for, was how is father bought a large amount of small promotional items that were all branded with the Koefod name, such as pizza cutters, fly swatters and hats.

He said his father really enjoyed having those things, although over the years he had to cut back on a few of them leaving about 11 different Koefod branded items.

"It was out of control," he said, laughing.

Healy said that what was special about his father, something that he is beginning to embrace, was how his father looked at the job as helping people understand something that was very complicated but needed. He said his father had a way of painting a picture of why people needed insurance.

Healy said he always ejoyed working with his father.

His father was one of those guys, he said, who knew everything about the business, and it was always nice to know his father was a good reference for answers.

He said that over the years he worked with his father, they did a few things together, one of them being that they still traveled together to different work-related meetings, conferences and so-on. He added that Koefod would also not be where it is without their employees.

"We've always had some awesome employees," he said.

In addition to their long-standing client base, he said, they have also had long-standing employees, some of which have worked for the company for over 20 years leaving their own legacies.

"It's always been my goal to not be a bad boss, that's the key, I guess, in my mind," he said.

With four generations he has some pretty big shoes to fill, he said, but he is excited for the future and excited to continue to help Havre.

The future

His father semi-retired about five or six years ago, Healy said, so not much has changed in the way the business operates. Although the weight is all on his shoulders now, he said.

"The big thing that we still carry on today is the fact that he would never take a customer on if he felt that they were in it for the wrong reason," he said. "If it was bad for somebody else, even if it was good for him, he would never take advantage of that."

Healy said he moved back to Havre from Missoula in 2008, not sure if he wanted to eventually take over the family business, but saw it as a good opportunity and decided to pursue it. He said he moved back because his father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement and often includes tremors. He said he wanted to be close to home because he knew he was going to eventually need to help out.

While he lived in Missoula, Healy said, he attended business classes at the University of Montana and worked as a salesman at a Harley-Davidson dealership.

He said he also has a son, Ty Verploegen, 6, but he does not know if Ty will eventually work at Koefod, with so many options for careers.

In the past 11 years that Healy has worked at Koefod, he said, he started out mainly working as a real estate agent, doing some crop insurance on the side. In 2017, he started doing commercial-line insurance, farm and ranch insurance and small business insurance.

He said Koefod deals primarily in insurance, although real estate and insurance often go hand-in-hand.

One of the things that most people might not think of with insurance is just how complicated it is, he said. Most people picture the process as bringing in a title or a VIN number into the office and walking out with insurance, he said, not realizing how complicated and complex the process is.

Havre Daily News/Ryan Berry Jeff Healy looks over an old document from the early years of Koefod Agency Wednesday in Havre.

Healy said one of the things he is proud of and appreciates is the long-standing clients they have had over the years. He said there are some people who worked with his grandfather, families that have been with them for more than 40 or 50 years.

"We grow as they grow," he said.

Throughout the years, Koefod has also contributed to organizations, activities and events in communities on the Hi-Line, he said. He said doing so is something he enjoys and is excited to continue.

He said when people come into Koefod, working with any of the agents available, he wants people to leave with a smile and a sense of comfort knowing that they will be taken care of.

He added that Koefod wants to make the process less confusing, more understandable and user friendly.

"It is an important role but not a glamorous role," he said. "It's a needed service with a goal ... that people are not afraid to come into and learn more about how to make it."
As per the SEC directive on October 15, 2016, it is obligatory for all political parties to present their election expenditure.

Mumbai: The State Election Commission (SEC) has issued notices to 14 major political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, in the state for failing to provide the details of their expenditure during the local civic bodies polls. They should submit their details before March 10, said state election commissioner J.S. Sahariya.

As per the SEC directive on October 15, 2016, it is obligatory for all political parties to present their election expenditure. They were intimated about this time and again through various means. Hence, these parties have been issued notice asking why their registration should not be cancelled, said Mr Sahariya.

Apart from BJP and Sena, the parties that have been issued notices include the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal (Secular), the Samajwadi Party, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Lok Janashakti Party and Janata Dal (United).
Press release

GREAT FALLS  The Montana Grain Growers Association and the Montana Grains Foundation will each offer scholarships to be used for the 2019-2020 school year.

MGGA will award two $1,000 scholarships to students pursuing an agricultural related degree at the college of their choice. Applicants or their parent, grandparent, or legal guardian must be a current producer member of MGGA.

MGF will award two $2,500 scholarships to Montana State University juniors or seniors  apply through MSU  and two $2,500 scholarships, one of which is funded by CoBank, to graduate students pursuing agricultural degrees in specific disciplines.

Applications must be received no later than April 1 and the winners will be announced by May 1. More information and application forms are available by calling the MGGA office at 406-761-4596 or online at:

 MGGA Scholarships: https://www.mgga.org/about/mgga-scholarships/.

 MGF Scholarships: https://www.mgga.org/foundation/mgfscholarships/.
Montana Style Events, located west of Havre at 10975 River Road, has expanded its business, adding regular hours to serve food and drinks in its events center to its already established bed-and-breakfast and catering services.

Montana Style owner Betsi Knight said that since her business opened in 2017 she has served private dinners and lunches in her events center and offered three bedrooms at her bed and breakfast. For the past year, she has had a full rural liquor license, she said, so she is able to provide drinks for her visitors.

People can call to schedule private dinners throughout the year, she said, adding that she does have special events for Valentine's Day, birthdays and anniversaries.

Each one is custom, she said, with every dish made specifically for the meal.

With the expansion, she said, customers are welcome to buy drinks, hang out and have fun Monday through Friday after 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday after 2 p.m.

If people wish to eat, she does request they call in advance and make a reservation, she said.

Knight said she is working on creating a menu of bar food which would be available during those hours. She added that occasionally she will make something special for the menu and will post it on her Facebook page.

Her business is a family friendly venue, she said, although if people are ordering drinks they will need to bring their identification cards.

Recently, Montana Style has also been holding some music events, she said, with bands such as Fort Benton's Lucky Valentines, Havre's Lady and the Logger and a part of the Milk River Band. Knight added that Chinook's Stone Broke Band is set to play in the near future.

She said that later in the year she is hoping to have more events open to the public, such as having jam sessions, vendors and food trucks at her business.

Knight said she does all of the cooking for her business herself, such as steaks, breads and desserts. She said she cooks practically everything outside with a smoker, although that is tough in the winter.

"It's challenging for sure," she said.

She said besides some friends occasionally helping her, she has no hired help, and most of the job she does herself.

"It is a lot of fun. It's hard work. It's passionate work I love it," she said.

She added that, in the past, she has also had Triple Dog Brewing Co. beers on tap at her location, and would like to have more Triple Dog in the future.

Knight said this business and the bed and breakfast is her retirement - something that she truly loves and is passionate about.

Havre Daily News/Ryan Berry

Before opening her business, she said, she worked as a freelance interior decorator for more than 40 years. Originally from the Livingston area, she said, she moved to Havre in 1985 to raise her children. As a designer, she worked on the former Plainsman Bar and Restaurant, located between Havre and Chinook, and other locations around town, she said.

She said she wants her business to have a homey feeling, with different seating areas for people to gather into for conversations.

She said she has had the open hours for only the past couple of weeks and does not have a closing time set up yet but "they are welcome to stay."

Knight said she invites people to come out and check out everything she has to offer.

"I love to visit with people," she said.
From NorthWestern Energy

BUTTE  NorthWestern Energy reported that more than $815,000 is being provided for special home weatherization measures for low income Montanans and to Energy Share of Montana, which provides assistance for Montanans with energy emergencies.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed in December 2017 resulted in a $20.5 million benefit to be directed to NorthWestern Energy customers. The Montana Public Service Commission approved a settlement reached by NorthWestern Energy, the Montana Consumer Counsel, Montana Large Customer Group, Human Resource Council, District XI and the Natural Resources Defense Council, Montana Environmental Information Center and the Northwest Energy Coalition as to how this benefit would be applied.

The settlement, reached in November 2018 provided a one-time bill credit to eligible electric and natural gas customers. After that credit was satisfied, more than $815,000 remained. Of the remaining funds, $81,500 will go to Energy Share of Montana to meet the needs of NorthWestern Energy customers who are ineligible under the normal Energy Share guidelines, and $734,100 will go to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services for disbursement to the low income service agencies  Human Resource Council, Human Resource Development Council, or Community Action Partnership  that operate in NorthWestern Energys service area.

The $734,100 will be used by the agencies to address health, safety, and structural issues in residences served by NorthWestern Energy that prevent those residences from receiving the free weatherization services that they would otherwise receive if the issues did not exist.

February 2019 hit Montana hard, and these funds will address some of the issues our low-income neighbors face when trying to keep their homes warm efficiently, said Bobbi Schroeppel, NorthWestern Energy vice president customer care, communications and human resources. This funding comes at an ideal time to help Montanans.

Eligible NorthWestern Energy customers in Montana received the credit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act settlement on their January electric and natural gas bills.

In addition to eligible customers receiving a one-time bill credit, the settlement also reduces rates for all natural gas customers by approximately $1.3 million annually beginning Jan. 1.
Dear editor,

Everyone remembers the big winter storm that swept across north-central Montana in 2017. Like everyone else, my residence was without power for days and my driveway was drifted in within minutes of plowing. I, however, incurred property damage when Hill County Electric crossed my property to restore power on someone elses property.

Now, given the circumstances, yes, we all need to work together in this kind of event to get everyones power restored. I had no problem with them crossing my property to do what they needed to do. The problem I have had with HCE is getting them to fix the damages they caused to my fence and the massive ruts they left in the field. HCE repaired the fence, however they could care less about the ruts they made in the field and the effects the soil disturbances have on growing crops.

To try to resolve this situation, I tried working with HCE to get them to fix their ruts. HCE, however, refused to repair their damages. I was left no choice but to utilize my time and resources to repair the damages prior to planting my spring crop. I submitted an invoice to HCE and they in turn submitted it to their insurance company who refused to pay face value.

I have made two attempts to get this case heard in Justice Court, however, both attempts were dismissed by Judge Audrey Barger before it could get to trial. The first dismissal was because I used the word trespass in my complaint. The second dismissal stated I did not state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Thus, leaving me confused: Does our justice system need an overhaul to protect the little guy? Or do the voters in this county need to elect more-competent judges?

On another note, we have a local co-op that went out of its way to pay thousands of dollars to lawyers in Billings. I can guarantee, HCE has paid almost twice what I have asked to fight this complaint. Is this good customer service? Is this good use of the co-op dollars? Is HCE a company we should continue to do business with?

Regardless of the situation, if anyone causes damage to your personal property, they should be required to fix it. Common sense, right? However as the title says, Judge Barger gives the green light for Hill County Electric to destroy your property.

Sincerely,

Kyle Austin

Havre
Facing rising costs, city may seek sales tax referendum

Although Councilman Jerry Smith gives thumbs down for higher property taxes, the council finds that revenue options are limited as government costs rise.

Hendersonville City Council members had endured two days of financial forecasts, volleyed 10 revenue options and seen their feedback memorialized on sticky notes a facilitator plastered onto poster board when Councilman Steve Caraker pitched his ask for the next budget get-together.

Could you make it a higher building so I make sure I die when I jump out the window? he said.

Gallows humors aside, the council this week confronts two major decisions affecting the 2019-20 budget, one on the spending side, the other on the tax side. Council members on Thursday will look at a request for firefighter/EMTs costing close to $1 million by 2021 and take up a resolution that asks the state Legislature for permission to put a local-option sales tax on the ballot.

During the budget retreat on Feb. 22, Fire Chief Joe Vindigni presented a detailed a report on the shortcomings of the citys first responder service. Made by a consultant, the report covered call volume, response time and factors like civilian survivability when fires spread beyond the room of origin and minutes to defibrillation in a cardiac arrest.

The bottom line, the report concluded, was the city needs more firefighter/EMTs  as many as 21 more  and a new fire station to serve the south side of Hendersonville, likely on Spartanburg Highway.

Vindigni asked the council to endorse an application for a federal SAFER grant (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) to hire 15 more firefighters.

The more people we put in, the higher the chance of getting the grant there is, Vindigni said. Theyre looking at how close to the standard youre going to get. I would go as high as you let me.

Under terms of the grant, the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA would cover 75 percent of the cost in year 1 and 2 and 65 percent in year 3. By year 4, the city would shoulder the whole cost  $845,000, which comes out to about a nickel increase in the citys tax rate.

Im thinking were probably going to reduce the number from 15, Councilman Jerry Smith said this week. Why? I think its a result of all the other things that we heard at the (budget planning) meeting  things we know we have to pay for and realistically our ability to pay for them.

Smith ticked off the items on the list, in both day-to-day operations and longer range capital funded with cash or debt. They included health care insurance, state-mandated retirement contributions, the new police station, renovation of Fire Station 1 downtown, a new Fire Station 3 on the southside of town, the expected salary increase just based on people staying employed and moving up salary ladder, the downtown bathrooms. Plus, there is obviously the ongoing cost of what it takes to maintain the city.

You put all those things together and you try to maintain a reasonable tax rate and it means some things have to be modified to meet those parameters, Smith said. Certainly fire protection is very important to me and to other council members but were just weighing that with the other priorities. I really should say not just fire protection because most of what they do is first responders such as car crashes and medical emergencies.



Local-option sales tax

Councilman Jeff Miller said he, too, is thinking the firefighter cost needs to be trimmed. Early budget talks, he said, involve asking department heads, Tell us your pie in the sky and well see what we can do.

But even if the city adds no new personnel, health care, retirement and regular pay increases mount up.

Payrolls and benefits are hammering us, he said. Youve got to take care of your people. Youve got to be competitive or theyre going to go somewhere else.  Its not a whole lot of fun to be a City Council member right now with the numbers were looking at.

In one exercise in the city budget retreat, a facilitator asked council members to rank potential revenue options  including property taxes, a quarter-cent sales tax, municipal services districts (such as downtown and the Historic Seventh Avenue District), service fees, payments in lieu of taxes (imposed on nonprofits), occupancy taxes, water and sewer rates and bond issues.

Although property taxes ranked low in terms of council members preference, North Carolina law bars or restricts tax and fee options that were once available or are common in other states.

We would love for the Legislature to give us a menu of other opportunities to raise revenue as our community grows, City Manager John Connet said. The only true control over revenue the city council has right now is the property tax. We would like the folks in Raleigh to understand that if we dont have other means of raising revenue we have to put it on the property tax payer. Thats why were continuing to talk to our legislators about other options.

That appeal starts formally Thursday night. The council is scheduled to take up a resolution asking the Legislature to allow the city to hold a referendum on a quarter-cent sales tax. Two council members say they favor the local-option sales tax, even if getting approval in Raleigh seems to be a long shot.

From the reaction I had last year when I was trying to push it, I got a big fat no across the board, Miller said. The retail lobby was very against letting municipalities levy it and to a degree I understand. It gets confusing when sales tax fluctuates across city lines. It could help the city because honestly theres a lot of sales that go through the city. (But) I got shot down pretty hard last year when I was trying to do it.

Miller is not confident the Legislature would be more receptive this year.

Ive received no indication that its going to be more readily received, he said.

The resolution points to the proportion of tax exempt property in the city, including a nonprofit hospital campus and its physician practices, two county courthouses and other county buildings and many nonprofit agencies. The total nontaxable valuation is $404 million, the city says, shielding roughly 20 percent of the total real estate value from the tax rolls.

The quarter-cent sales tax would be a major advantage for us that would spread out some of the cost to the user because a lot of people that are using our services are not people that live in the city, Smith said. This would spread out the cost to more of them. And in my opinion thats a very minor tax increase.

Smith agrees that the chance of approval in the Legislature is remote. And even if the city got approval, its far from certain that voters would say yes. Henderson County voters overwhelmingly rejected a quarter cent local-option sales tax in 2016.

My impression is the same as Jeffs, Smith said. We dont have much chance of getting it but you dont get it if you dont ask. Where I am frustrated is the law requires you to have a referendum so ultimately the citizens can vote it down. The General Assembly is not making a decision or imposing a tax. Theyre allowing people to vote on whether they want the tax.

If a local option sales tax is off the table, along with options like development impact fees and privilege taxes, the council may be looking at keeping the tax rate about where it is  49 cents per $100 valuation  and banking the gain from a 25 percent valuation increase in the new assessment.

During the budget retreat, Connet urged the council and the citys population to change the conversation from one of problems to one of solutions even as social media has overwhelmed old-fashion civic discussion. The City of Four Seasons, with a population of 14,165, swells to many times that when the tourists and local visitors drive in to work, shop and dine.

What we know is we play bigger than we are, Connet said. Were the county seat, a destination, a commercial center, a full service municipality (with) the second largest utility in Western North Carolina and were a growing a community. Whether we want them to or not, people are coming and were a customer service leader. We need to change the conversation with our citizens. We cant provide everything for you, we need you to partner with us or, again, you cant afford to live here.
The target was a training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, the terrorist group which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama suicide bomber attack.

A scene of the spot after militants attacked a CRPF convoy in Goripora area of Awantipora town in Pulwama district of J&K on Thursday. At least 49 CRPF jawans were killed in the attack. (Photo: PTI)

In a country that has suffered numerous terrorist attacks which prematurely snuffed out the lives of soldiers, policemen as well as countless civilians, it comes as no surprise that national security is a highly emotive issue. You dont have to be a national security expert to know that the ruling BJP is likely to go all guns blazing on national security as the 2019 general election draws closer. By now, anyone who has not been hiding under a rock has heard of the BJPs Pulwama edge. The reference is to the terrorist attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir last month that killed over 40 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force and left dozens wounded.

That triggered a retaliatory strike by the Indian Air Force in Balakot in Pakistani territory. The target was a training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, the terrorist group which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama suicide bomber attack. Whatever be the claims and counter-claims swirling around that strike, there is no doubt at all in anyones mind that national security will be a key issue in the coming polls.

But there is something missing in the all-pervasive security talk. And it comes down to how one frames the idea of national security. Conventionally, national security has been sold as the capacity of a nation to mobilise military forces to guarantee its borders and to deter or successfully defend against physical threats, including military aggression and attacks by non-state actors such as terrorist groups. Like the Jaishe-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack.

But should the security debate be only about territorial integrity and protection of borders? Or is national security about all of these things, plus another critical element  social cohesion? Talk about the latter is missing in most mainstream conversations on security.

Ordinary citizens are neither hawks or doves. They are concerned about territorial integrity. They abhor violence and fear terrorist attacks. Typically, in India, they have stood by the armed forces in the hour of a national crisis.

But to most people, a sense of security is as much about borders being protected and extremists kept at bay as protection of their own everyday lives and livelihood.

If security is the big issue, it is equally important to make every Indian, cutting across class, religion and caste, feel safe and secure in their workplaces and homes.

A series of recent incidents in parts of the country show that high-decibel talk about national security, national unity, national solidarity are coinciding with a sense of fear and insecurity among specific groups of people.

Here are just a few randomly selected examples.

In the wake of the escalating India-Pakistan tensions, there have been reports of a spike in Muslim children being subjected to religious slurs, which have left their parents deeply shaken. Nazia Erum, an Indian, who wrote the book, Mothering a Muslim, has publicly said in a social media post: Getting information from various cities that there has been a sharp spike in children being singled out, bullied and being told to go to Pakistan. From my maid, cousins, friends to Twitter acquaintances  everyone reporting this in. Nazia advised parents to take time out and have a word with their children on the current situation in the country to allay their fears.

You could deal with Nazias concerns in two ways  label them anecdotal, or take them on board and recognise that many people, including some from the minority communities, are feeling genuinely insecure, and it is vital to listen to what they have to say. Individual citizens matter. Numbers matter. India has one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. Making specific groups in our society feel as though they are being unfairly targeted or being made the subjects of undue suspicion, putting them through arbitrary patriotism tests, benefits no one.

It certainly does not help strengthen national security.

A second example  the case of Sandeep Wathar, a professor at Dr PG Halakatti College of Engineering and Technology in Karnatakas Vijaypura district, who was reportedly forced to kneel and apologise to activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad for a Facebook post. Wathars crime? According to news reports, he had criticised the Central government for creating a public mood which bordered on war hysteria following the Indian Air Force retaliatory strikes in Balakot in Pakistani territory and allegedly praised Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. A BJP spokesperson claimed that the posts were an attempt to break the countrys unity and praise an enemy country. The professor has since deleted the Facebook posts.

One may or may not agree with Wathar. But surely, engaging with an alternative viewpoint does not weaken the basic fabric of a robust democracy of 1.3 billion which prides itself on its diversity.

A third example  the social boycott and reported attacks on Kashmiri students and civilians working and studying in other states in India in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

Reports of such harassment and attacks led to a petition by advocate Tariq Adeeb in the Supreme Court seeking protection for Kashmiris. The Supreme Court stepped in, and asked 10 states (Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra) as well as Delhi to take prompt action to ensure that Kashmiris living across the country do not face social boycott or attacks.

Security is a feeling. You cant feel secure if you are simultaneously afraid. How can there be security if we otherise groups of people and stigmatise viewpoints that are different from that of the majority? What happens to social cohesion, integral to national unity and security, if we dont take immediate corrective steps?

Long-term measures for counter-terrorism are critical. There are no two views on that. But for that to succeed and be sustainable, to have every Indian feeling secure, you also need serious efforts to bring about social cohesion, so that even dissenting voices and the home-born disaffected, feel a sense of stake in the country and its future.

A country cant be truly secure if there are citizens who feel disenfranchised, that they dont belong here. Extremists thrive in milieus where social cohesion has been shredded.
A doctor put Patrick Quirke on a course of antidepressants to help him sleep after he complained of being stressed over his affair with Mary Lowry, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Tipperary GP Dr Ivor Hanrahan said Mr Quirke, who is on trial for the murder of Bobby 'Mr Moonlight' Ryan, was "upset and quite hurt" about Ms Lowry's relationship with Mr Ryan.

Mr Quirke (50), of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of part-time DJ Mr Ryan.

Mr Ryan (52) went missing on June 3, 2011, after leaving Ms Lowry's home at about 6.30am.

His body was found 22 months later, in April 2013, in an underground run-off tank on the farm owned by Ms Lowry and leased by the accused at Fawnagown, Tipperary.

The prosecution claims Mr Quirke murdered Mr Ryan so he could rekindle an affair with Ms Lowry (52).

Sleeping

Yesterday, Dr Hanrahan told prosecution counsel Michael Bowman that Mr Quirke came for a routine consultation in September 2010 and mentioned a number of work and financial "stressors" he was dealing with at the time and that he was having difficulty sleeping.

The doctor suggested medic- ation, but Mr Quirke was not keen, so the doctor referred him to a counsellor.

Around mid-September, Dr Hanrahan received a phone call from the counsellor, and as a result of what he heard he prescribed mirtazapine, an antidepressant, to Mr Quirke.

He said he primarily prescribed the drug to help Mr Quirke sleep.

In late 2010 and January 2011, the doctor had a number of phone conversations with the accused over a 10-day period and prescribed a number of other medications to help with sleep disturbance.

He said Mr Quirke remained upset and distressed and had other issues that he did not want to discuss.

Dr Hanrahan suggested a face-to-face consultation, which took place on February 3, 2011.

They had a long consultation during which Mr Quirke told the doctor he had been having an affair with Ms Lowry, his wife's sister-in-law, which was a source of stress and upset.

Mr Quirke asked the doctor not to make a note of the conversation, so the doctor wrote in his file only that they discussed a confidential matter.

By the time this conversation took place, he said, Mr Quirke had stopped taking the medication as it did not seem to have helped him.

They discussed the impact of the affair on Mr Quirke's mental health and well-being.

From what Mr Quirke told him, the doctor believed the affair had at that point come to an end because Ms Lowry had started a relationship with another man.

He said his understanding was that Mr Quirke still had feelings for her and "was quite hurt and upset that she had become involved with somebody else".

Under cross-examination, he told defence counsel Bernard Condon that Mr Quirke may not have met the criteria for depression.

The doctor agreed with Mr Condon that Mr Quirke may have thought he had been diagnosed with depression because of the medication he was prescribed, but the doctor repeated that he had prescribed the medication "mainly" to treat sleep disturbance.

Breakfast

Artificial insemination technician Breda O'Dwyer told Mr Bowman she worked with Mr Quirke's cows for about 15 years.

She had an understanding with Mr Quirke that she would call to his farm every morning unless he texted her to say he did not have any cows bulling.

By the time she arrived at his farm, she said, Mr Quirke would normally have finished milking and be on his way for his breakfast.

On June 3, 2011, the day Mr Ryan went missing, she said that as far as she could recollect, Mr Quirke was still in the pit milking his cows when she arrived. The time would have been "9.30 anyway", she said.

Ms Justice Eileen Creedon told the jury it was not needed today but will be tomorrow.
A woman awarded 150,000 in damages after being severely beaten by the father of her two children has said she hopes the ruling will encourage other victims of domestic violence to come forward.

Former soldier Jonathan McSherry (36), who served 22 months of a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for the attack on Jessica Bowes, accepted he broke nearly every bone in her face and kicked her a number of times during a horrific attack in 2015.

He had apologised and her case against him was before the High Court for assessment of damages yesterday.

McSherry, formerly of Cedar Brook Walk, Cherry Orchard, Dublin, attacked Ms Bowes after she arrived at her Clondalkin home in a taxi from a Christmas night out on December 20, 2015, to find him waiting there.

CCTV footage showed him dragging her from the taxi, and then punching, kicking and dragging her along the ground.

Crawled

Ms Bowes lost consciousness twice in the attack, which lasted more than a minute-and-a-half, before she crawled into a neighbour's house.

Speaking to the Herald last night after the damages ruling, she said: "I hope this will act as a deterrent, that people will realise there are possible large financial consequences as well as the threat of prison for this sort of violence.

"I've already had people write to me about it.

"One woman sent me a letter and a holy medal on Tuesday thanking me for my courage and asking me to pray for her so that she could find courage to tell the truth too.

"She went to the bother of writing the letter, getting a stamp and posting it. I was very upset for her and I will pray for her.

"She signed the letter 'an old lady', and it shows this can happen to anyone from any background," she added.

"I just hope now that with International Women's Day coming tomorrow, women everywhere will find the courage to speak out. I hope women young and old will that find strength.

"It's important for women to realise help is there for them - from places like Women's Aid - [and] that legal advice and professional help is available."

The court heard that McSherry owns two properties in Cavan, one of which he transferred into his mother's name in 2017.

In her civil action, Ms Bowes told the court that she was headbutted by McSherry and described his actions as "if he were hunting".

She tried to protect herself by crawling under a parked car and believes she was kicked up to 20 times.

She now found it difficult to fully close her lips because of the damage and felt her face appeared deformed, she said.

Doctors had to insert a permanent metal plate through her mouth to align the facial bones.

Psychological evidence showed that Ms Bowes had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic anxiety and nightmares and was fearful for her own safety and that of her children.

She was described by psychologists as severely damaged and vulnerable.

In defending the civil action, it was argued on McSherry's behalf that in the immediate aftermath of the assault Ms Bowes was examined and showed no evidence of cognitive loss.

Video

It was also said that he had to leave the Army after the attack and had begun his own business.

McSherry accepted that he had carried out the acts seen on the video.

He said he spent seven months in a centre for his drug addiction and was released early from prison to take part in an Alcoholics Anonymous course.

He also took a course with an organisation that helps men to overcome violence.

McSherry complained that because he had been in the media over the attack no one would employ him.

He agreed he owns an apartment in Cavan, which he had transferred to his mother, and another property, also in Cavan.

Ms Justice Bronagh O'Hanlon found that Ms Bowes' account of the incident was factually correct.

It was, the judge said, an extremely serious case, with the assault causing the difficulties that she had experienced which were ongoing and permanent.

The court noted McSherry's admissions and apology did not come immediately.

It was not the function of the civil court to punish the defendant but rather to assess the appropriate damages.

The judge also noted the steps that McSherry had taken to rehabilitate himself, but did not reduce the amount of compensatory damages.

In the circumstances, the appropriate award was 150,000, she said.
6/3/2019, Garda gather evidence at the scene of a shooting in Blakestown Road, Dublin 15. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / INM

A young man was in a serious but stable condition last night after being shot multiple times in a horror rush hour gun attack in west Dublin.

The victim, named locally as Lee Boylan (24), was blasted in his van on the Blakestown Road in Briarswood, Dublin 15, yesterday afternoon.

A gunman approached Mr Boylan at around 5pm as he was sitting in traffic and fired a number of shots into the vehicle, hitting him in the upper body and neck.

The shooter then ran to a waiting silver-coloured BMW 3 Series which was found burnt out a short distance away.

The victim is known to gardai, and his friends have links to a number of organised criminals, including the mob led by drug dealer Mr Flashy.

Dispute

However, he has no previous convictions, and was being treated last night in Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, for his wounds.

Detectives are investigating if the shooting is connected to an ongoing dispute in the west Dublin area involving some of Mr Boylan's associates and criminals from Finglas.

The Finglas crew has links to Shane Fowler, who died in a crash in the area last May.

However, gardai are following a number of possible mot-ives linked to the shooting, which at this stage is being treated as an attempted murder.

"Associates of this man have been embroiled in a number of serious disputes with serious criminal elements in the Finglas and Blanchardstown areas," a senior source said last night.

Gardai said that despite being from the Corduff area, there was nothing to suggest Mr Boylan was connected to the gun warfare in the area last month which saw four shootings within a few hours.

His most serious brush with the law came in February 2016, when he was caught by customs officers while passing through Dublin Airport with three other men.

They were carrying nearly 20,000 in cash and had one-way tickets to Malaga.

Mr Boylan was caught with 2,500, which was forfeited to the State.

He was travelling with a 24-year-old notorious criminal who cannot be named for legal reasons but is currently serving a lengthy jail sentence.

Members of the Armed Support Unit descended on the Blanchardstown area in the aftermath of yesterday's gun attack, while a helicopter from the Air Support Unit was also deployed.

Mr Boylan's brother, who arrived on the scene, was said to have been "hysterical".

"He kept shouting "My brother has been shot. My brother has been shot," said a local resident.

"I live just around the corner from Blakestown and heard about four very loud gunshots.

"When I came out of my house I saw a large crowd of people surrounding the man, who was bleeding very heavily from the side of his body.

"He wasn't moving, but I heard the paramedics say he was alive."

The resident said the victim was well-known in the area and was the father of two children.

Another local resident told the Herald it was the second shooting in Blakestown in recent months.

"Eric Fowler was fatally shot in December, just up the road from here," the woman said.

"It's ridiculous how bad things are getting. If shootings like this keep happening, it's only a matter of time before an innocent person gets killed."

Just up the road in Saddlers Grove, Mulhuddart, a number of children witnessed a man torching the BMW after yesterday's shooting.

Fleeing

Many more residents in the west Dublin estate saw him fleeing the scene on foot.

"A lot of people came out of their homes because when your man set his car on fire, the horn started blaring," one resident told the Herald.

"We all saw him run out of the estate on foot and many people recorded it on their phones.

"He was a young man wearing a tracksuit, but I couldn't see his face because he had his hood up.

"Two children in this estate got a good look at him setting the car on fire. The guards have since spoken to them and they took statements."
Kane McCormack, whose body was found on December 2, 2017, was shot three times near the Meath/Kildare border

A violent Dublin gang boss is being quizzed by detectives on suspicion of involvement in the feud murder of Kane McCormack.

He was taken from his cell in Mountjoy Prison yesterday morning and arrested by gardai.

The gang boss, who was once a member of the infamous Westies mob, is suspected of having a "significant" role in McCormack's murder, and was one of the last people to be seen with him.

McCormack (24) was shot three times near the Meath/Kildare border.

His body was discovered on December 2, 2017.

In the immediate aftermath of his remains being found, members of the Emergency Response Unit raided his Dublin home as part of the investigation.

Cartel

Gardai believe McCormack's killing is linked to the Hutch/Kinahan feud, which has claimed up to 19 lives.

His father, Noel 'Duck Egg' Kirwan, was shot dead outside his Ronanstown home in December 2016.

The gang boss arrested yesterday morning is suspected of involvement in other murders and has connections to the Kinahan cartel.

He was arrested in connection with the 2013 gun murder of Lithuanian crime boss Gintaras Zelvys.

He has also survived at least one attempt on his life, carried out by his former associates in the Westies gang.

"Gardai investigating the murder of Kane McCormack have arrested a male in his 40s in relation to the investigation," said a spokesman.

"The male is currently being detained at Ashbourne Garda Station.

"This is the second arrest in relation to this investigation."

While the mob boss arrested yesterday is suspected of a primary role in the murder of McCormack, gardai believe it was a 38-year-old Finglas criminal who was the actual trigger man.

A theory is that McCormack was targeted because in the wake of his father's murder, he was heard frequently making threats of revenge against the Kinahan cartel.

McCormack, also known as Kane Kirwan, had been formally warned by gardai that his life was in danger.

Gardai were acting on information that the Kinahan cartel would strike over fears McCormack could seek revenge for his father's killing.

It later emerged that there was a 40,000 bounty on McCormack's head.

This was offered up when the cartel became aware of his threats.

When he failed to return to his west Dublin home in the early of hours of December 2, there were major concerns about his safety.

This led to a tense situation when a close female associate of McCormack arrived at the chief suspect's house and made inquires about McCormack's whereabouts.

She was instructed by a woman to leave the property.

Investigators have established that McCormack parked his 04D silver Peugeot 307 vehicle in the car park of Aldi in Clonee on the day before his body was found.

CCTV footage shows him getting into a dark saloon car, which drove out of the car park and turned right toward Dunboyne.

The risk of a hit attempt on his life from the Kinahan cartel was considered so great that, on appearing in court in November 2017, his solicitor asked that his next court date not be read out due to the "threat on his life".

He was facing ammunition charges after he was allegedly caught with 50 rounds of .32 ammunition after detectives stopped and searched a car in west Dublin.

McCormack was well known to gardai and had links to the Hutch gang, as well as other dangerous criminals in the city's drugs trade.

Caravan

Gardai believe McCormack was hiding out in a caravan owned by major crime figure Cornelius Price in the months before his death.

McCormack, originally from Clonee, Co Meath, survived a hit attempt earlier in 2017, after which gardai provided him with security advice.

On that occasion, he was stalked for several days by a Kinahan death squad before gardai staged a dramatic intervention moments before the hit was due to be carried out.

That hit attempt was ordered after the cartel became aware McCormack had been spending a lot of his time at a house in the Ballyfermot area.

Gardai believe that the hitmen were on their way to murder McCormack when they were intercepted by armed officers.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7) - Consumers may see their electricity bills reduced by nearly P1 per kilowatt hour (kWh) by September if President Rodrigo Duterte signs into law the proposed "Murang Kuryente Act."

The bill hurled the bicameral conference committee on Thursday. It the seeks to lower universal charges in electricity bills by tapping royalties from the Malampaya natural gas project in Palawan to pay debts incurred by the National Power Corporation (Napocor) and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM).

Once enacted, Senate Energy Committee Chair Sherwin Gatchalian said households consuming an average of 200kWh per month will have a P170 reduction in their monthly electricity bill.

The senator estimates that 60 to 70 percent of the Malampaya fund will be used to pay off the debts of Napocor and PSALM, which currently stand at P466 billion. The remaining portion of the fund will be used for energy exploration projects.

"Based doon sa projection natin, sobra-sobra yung Malampaya fund. In fact, may matitira pang close to P100 billion kahit na pinapatupad na ang batas na ito," Gatchalian said.

The proposed "Murang Kuryente Act" is now up for ratification by the Senate and House of Representatives, then will be submitted to President Duterte for signing into into law. Congress, however, is in recess for the campaign period for the May midterm elections.

"We are hoping that the President will support this bill dahil nga ito yung kauna-unahang batas na diretso yung savings sa ating consumers," Gatchalian said.
Fitbit also announced new versions of its cheaper trackers in a bid to lure more casual users.

Fitbit is trying to persuade investors that it can hang on to users and sell them future devices if it gets them onto its tracking platform, which can store and share health and activity data.

Fitbit Inc launched its cheapest smartwatch on Wednesday to defend its position as the second-largest seller of smartwatches after Apple Inc.

San Francisco-based Fitbit said the Versa Lite smartwatch will cost $160, down from $200 for the full version. While still tracking workouts and heart rate, it will lack some features such as the ability to store music directly on the watch.

In 2018, Fitbit sold 5.5 million smartwatches, behind the biggest seller Apple Incs 22.5 million units, but just ahead of Samsungs 5.3 million units, according to data firm Strategy Analytics.

But Samsung overtook Fitbit on a quarterly basis in the last three months of 2018.

Indeed, rivalry for a greater share of the market has heated up as Apple and Samsung have added features for health tracking, Fitbits core focus. The Apple Watch included an electrocardiogram feature last year, and Samsung this year added a blood pressure sensor to its Galaxy Active Watch.

Fitbit also announced new versions of its cheaper trackers in a bid to lure more casual users who might not be ready to fork out for the pricier devices of its rivals: The $100 Fitbit HR, capable of tracking heart rate, and the $70 Ace 2, which tracks activity in children as young as 6 years old.

Apple does not make a cheaper tracker and its watches start at $279, while Samsungs tracker and watches start at $200.

Fitbit is trying to persuade investors that it can hang on to users and sell them future devices if it gets them onto its tracking platform, which can store and share health and activity data. Chief Executive James Park said at a press event ahead of the product release that the company has nearly 28 million active users.

Last month, Fitbit forecast first-quarter revenue of between $250 million and $268 million. That was lower than analysts average sales expectation of $272.3 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Gda Reidy said Mazarache and her family surrounded him as he arrested the teenage boy. (Stock picture)

A terrified woman was dragged from her vehicle by two men yesterday during an early morning carjacking.

The woman, who was on her way to work, was targeted at 5.40am.

She had parked her silver- coloured 09 CE-registered Ren-ault Megane at Moyfenrath, Enfield, Co Meath, and was waiting for a lift in another vehicle.

The woman, who has not been named, is understood to have been car pooling.

A garda spokesperson said the victim was suddenly confronted by two men.

"She was physically pulled out of the car and the men got in and drove it away in the direction of Kilcock," the spokesperson said.

"Gardai are investigating reports that the men had been walking on the ring road and on Main Street at Enfield for some time before the incident."

Officers have appealed to any witnesses to contact Trim Garda Station.

Gardai said they are particularly interested in hearing from motorists who were driving in the area at the time of the carjacking, and who may have dashcam footage of the incident or of the two men walking in the area.

It comes as gardai investigating another carjacking, in Kildare, have made significant progress.

Knifepoint

On February 19 a woman in her 40s was left badly shaken when her car was taken at knifepoint in the Kill area.

It was found last week in a supermarket car park in the Palmerstown area of west Dublin.

No arrests have been made in the case, which is being investigated by officers from Naas Garda Station.

Sources said gardai believe that a Ballyfermot criminal may have been responsible for the crime.

The driver has given a full statement to gardai and officers are working on an EvoFIT of the suspect.

Gardai are now trawling through CCTV footage of roads in the Palmerstown and Ballyfermot areas and are "hopeful" of making an arrest.
Student Jade Wilson says she is often left stranded by Dublin Bus services

A Dublin student has told of her frustration at being left stranded at University College Dublin, after night-time bus services were impacted by antisocial behaviour.

Jade Wilson (19), a second year student, said that she was forced to split a taxi fare with a girl she didn't know last week, after being unable to catch a bus at the stop outside the main gate.

Representatives of UCD's students' union, which said it is an issue that is causing "significant upset", will attend a meeting with Dublin Bus officials tomorrow.

Ms Wilson told the Herald that if she arrives at her bus stop on Stillorgan Road after 10pm, "it is kind of an unwritten rule you won't be able to get a bus back to town, or towards any other part of the city really".

She said that she is a member of DramSoc, the drama society.

Late

"If you are doing a show late, or in the library, you won't be able to get a bus after that time," she added.

It is an issue which is affecting her at least once a week when she leaves college late.

"I live in Inchicore, and I usually try to get the 145 to Heuston, and then I can get on the Luas," she said.

However, she said that the failure of buses to service her stop means that it isn't possible to make it on to the Luas either.

"If I am in a group, we would usually walk to the next stop, down the N11. I don't do that when I am by myself because I would say it is a scary route to walk by yourself at that hour," she said.

Last Thursday, she was left waiting more than 40 minutes for a bus.

"At that point, everybody had left the bus stop, and it was just myself and one girl there that I didn't actually know," said Ms Wilson, who is studying English and drama.

"The two of us were stuck, so we split a taxi to town for 20, and then I walked from town.

"Some are saying that they can walk home, but I don't have that option. It would take me an hour-and-a-half to walk home from UCD, and it's late at night as well. It becomes an issue for women."

Meanwhile, Dublin Bus said in a statement it was "aware of customer complaints regarding services at bus stops 767 and 768".

"A number of Dublin Bus services have been affected by anti-social behaviour issues, which has resulted in some services not serving these stops after 10pm," it said.

"While we appreciate the inconvenience caused, the safety of our employees and customers is of paramount importance.

"We have a strong and productive working relationship with UCD. Dublin Bus has engaged consistently with UCD and other key stakeholders over the last number of months in an attempt to find a solution to this problem.

"We remain committed to resolving this issue and representatives of the company are meeting UCD and the UCD students' union this week."

Speaking on RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland yesterday, UCD students' union president Barry Murphy said students were being forced to pay upwards of 50 to get home after buses repeatedly leave them standing at the stop.

He said that there was "significant upset" among students left waiting at night for up to an hour for a bus.

"They're left with no alternative but to get a taxi home, which can cost upwards of 50," he said.

"The bus stop is up on a flyover and some buses just come up and drive past the students.

"It's been suggested that students walk to a nearby bus stop, that's been offered as a short-term solution.

"We have students in wheelchairs who have been left waiting for up to an hour. It may not be possible for them to get to the next bus stop.

"It's unfair to tar all 28,500 students with the one brush."
BMW and Daimler would develop next generation advanced driver assistance systems for compact and larger cars.

Spiraling development costs for self-driving cars have forced BMW and Daimler to team up to share the financial and engineering burden, executives explained at a press conference in Geneva.

Daimler and BMW are teaming up to develop autonomous driving technology to cut costs and set an industry standard that can help to shape future regulation for self-driving cars, senior executives said on Wednesday.

It is a chicken and egg situation. Somebody has to standardize the technology and regulation will follow, Klaus Froehlich, BMWs board member responsible for development, said.

Spiraling development costs for self-driving cars have forced BMW and Daimler to team up to share the financial and engineering burden, executives explained at a press conference in Geneva.

With fully autonomous cars that lack drivers, manufacturers take on potential liability risks arising from accidents, pressuring the industry to clarify technological standards so that regulators can draw up rules.

It is to push technology forward and to set standards already in generation two vehicles, and not just in generation four. We do not want to waste resources, Froehlich said to explain the collaboration between the German automakers.

We should not invent this complicated wheel twice. On the path to setting these standards, it makes sense to share some of these investments, Daimler board member Ola Kaellenius said.

BMW and Daimler will form committees to pick potential suppliers of advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving technology in the coming four months, executives said.

Daimler started earlier working on autonomous driving; they have invested in fields of computer vision where the cooperation will benefit from this experience, BMWs Froehlich said.

Kaellenius said BMW and Daimler would develop next generation advanced driver assistance systems for compact and larger cars.

The collaboration is designed to set standards and at a later stage other partners will be invited to join, the executives said.

FiatChrysler is already a partner (with BMW). We want this partner in the future, Froehlich said.

FiatChrysler Chief Executive Mike Manley said he would welcome an opportunity to continue collaborating with BMW on its next generation autonomous driving technology.
Canadas minister of justice would have to make a final decision on whether to send Meng to the United States.

Trump said in December that he would possibly intervene in the criminal trial if it could help secure a trade deal with China.

The lawyer for Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou told a Canadian court on Wednesday that he has concerns allegations against her have a political character and raised US President Donald Trumps comments on the case.

Meng appeared in a British Columbia court for a scheduled hearing, during which her lawyer Richard Peck raised the issue and referenced comments by the US President without going into detail.

Canada arrested Meng in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of US prosecutors, who have charged Meng and Chinas Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, portraying the company as a threat to US national security and that it conspired to violate US sanctions. Both deny the allegations.

Trump said in December that he would possibly intervene in the criminal trial if it could help him to secure a trade deal with China.

Legal experts and Canadian officials have previously said the comments could allow Mengs lawyers to contend her prosecution is politically motivated, an argument that would resonate in Canada where judges are particularly wary of abuse of the court system.

Last week, Mengs lawyers also said they were suing the Canadian government, its border agency and federal police, with allegations she was detained, searched and interrogated for three hours in violation of her constitutional rights.

There are issues arising out of the treatment of Ms. Meng upon her arrival at the Vancouver International Airport and her detention and subsequent arrest, lawyer Peck said on Wednesday.

The Canadian government approved extradition proceedings against Meng on March 1. With appeals, it may be months or years before a judge could issue an order effectively recommending extradition to the United States.

The British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Heather J. Holmes set Mengs next court date for May 8. Peck said her team plans to discuss with prosecutors what applications will be brought before that appearance.

Canadas minister of justice would have to make a final decision on whether to send Meng to the United States.

Relations between Canada and China have deteriorated sharply since Mengs arrest. China has arrested two Canadians on national security grounds and sentenced another to death.

China has canceled Canadian agribusiness Richardson International Ltds registration to ship canola to China, in the latest sign of tensions between Ottawa and Beijing.
Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging the constitutionality of Section 889 of NDAA.

The NDAA section was signed into law by the US president in August that banned federal agencies and their contractors from procuring its equipment and services.

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd confirmed it is suing the US government over a section of a defense bill passed into law last year that restricted its business in the United States.

Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging the constitutionality of Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a section signed into law by the US president in August that banned federal agencies and their contractors from procuring its equipment and services.

The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort, Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said in a statement.

This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers. We look forward to the courts verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people.

While Huawei had very little market share in the US telecoms market before the bill, it is the worlds biggest producer of telecoms equipment and is seeking to be at the forefront of a global roll-out of fifth generation (5G) mobile networks and services.

Lifting the NDAA ban will give the US Government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues, Guo said.

In its lawsuit, Huawei said its equipment and services are subject to advanced security procedures, and no backdoors, implants, or other intentional security vulnerabilities have been documented in any of the more than 170 countries in the world where Huawei equipment and services are used.

The privately owned firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive as Washington lobbies allies to abandon Huawei when building 5G mobile networks, centering on a 2017 Chinese law requiring companies cooperate with national intelligence work.

Founder and Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei has said Huawei, the worlds biggest telecoms gear maker, has never and will never share data with Chinas government.

NO PROOF

The NDDA bans the US government from doing business with Huawei or compatriot peer ZTE Corp or from doing business with any company that has equipment from the two firms as a substantial or essential component of their system.

In its lawsuit, filed in US District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Huawei argues that the section of the law is illegal because it could sharply limit the companys ability to do business in the United States despite no proof of wrongdoing.

Separately, the lawsuit also alleges that Huawei has been denied due process and that Congress, by stripping Huawei of US commercial opportunities, has violated the separation of powers portion of the constitution by doing the work of the courts.

UPHILL BATTLE

Some legal experts, however, said Huaweis lawsuit is likely to be dismissed because US courts are reluctant to second-guess national security determinations by other branches of government.

The lawsuit will be an uphill battle because Congress has broad authority to protect us from perceived national security threats, said Franklin Turner, a government contracts lawyer at McCarter & English.

In November 2018, a federal appeals court rejected a similar lawsuit filed by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, which was challenging a ban on the use of the companys software in US government networks.

The Texas court hearing Huaweis case will not be bound by that decision, but will likely adopt its reasoning because of the similarities in the two disputes, said Steven Schwinn, a professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

I dont see how (Huawei) can really escape that result, said Schwinn.

If a judge decides Huawei has a plausible claim the case will proceed to the discovery phase, in which internal documents are shared and US government officials could be forced to provide testimony and lay out their national security concerns.

RETRIBUTION

The legal action and public relations outreach compare with a more restrained response in December emphasizing trust in justice when its chief financial officer, Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Vancouver at US request.

The United States has accused Meng - Rens daughter - of bank and wire fraud related to breaches of trade sanctions against Iran.

Meng appeared in court on Wednesday during which her lawyer expressed concern that the allegations have a political character, raising US President Donald Trumps comments on the case.

Separately, Meng, who is fighting extradition, is suing Canadas government for procedural wrongs in her arrest.

The case had strained relations with China, which this week accused two arrested Canadians of stealing state secrets in a move widely seen as retribution for Mengs arrest.

While Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver, it is unclear where the two Canadians are being detained in China. Sources previously told Reuters that at least one of the Canadians did not have access to legal representation.

CHANGE OF TUNE

Ren met international media for the first time in several years in mid-January, calling US President Donald Trump great and refraining from commenting directly on Mengs case. Shifting tone, Ren in mid-February said Mengs arrest was politically motivated and not acceptable.

Long before Trump initiated a trade war with China, Huaweis activities were under scrutiny by US authorities, according to interviews with 10 people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.
A three-member bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, heard the petition. It was filed in 2011.

An anti-terrorism court awarded in 2002 the death sentence to six men for raping Mukhtar Mai on the orders of a panchayat (tribal court).

Islamabad: Pakistans Supreme Court took up on Wednesday Mukhtar Mais review petition against the acquittal of 13 suspects in her gang-rape case eight years after she filed the petition.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, heard the petition. It was filed in 2011.

Those acquitted in the case, including Allah Ditta and Fayyaz among others, appeared in court. They asked court for time as they did not have a lawyer to represent them.

Justice Ahmed said that they are adjourning the case and asked them to come with a lawyer at the next hearing. The case will be heard next on March 27.

An anti-terrorism court awarded in 2002 the death sentence to six men for raping Mukhtar Mai on the orders of a panchayat (tribal court). The Lahore High Court acquitted five of the suspects in 2005 and sentenced the sixth to life in prison.
For Subscribers Black Rock housing proposal is 'over the top,' commissioner says

"I think there has been such a public outcry, and I think we need to listen to the people's voices," said Commissioner Charlie Burkett.
In 11-minute audio clip released on Wednesday evening, Azhar talked about India, Pulwama attack and liberals in Pak.

Azhar started his speech with his fake death story and said he is alive and doing well. He asked his followers to start a jihad against India for oppressing Kashmiris. (Photo: File)

New Delhi/Islamabad: Days after reports of his death, the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has reportedly released an audio clip in which he rejected rumours of his death and warned the Pakistan government to stop persecuting mosques and true Muslims.

In the 11-minute audio clip released on Wednesday evening and uploaded on JeM chat platforms in which Azhar talked about India, Pulwama attack and liberals in Pakistan.

Azhar started his speech with his fake death story and said he is alive and doing well. He asked his followers to start a jihad against India for oppressing Kashmiris.

There are reports about my death. But only God decides how long you live and when you die, the clip said. He said he is alive and doing well.

He narrated incidents of alleged torture during his prison time in India and stated that Pakistan was currently acting under pressure. Slamming India for putting pressure from all corners, Azhar said that the political leadership in the country has failed to understand Indias ploy.

Fear God, Azhar said in the speech. And stop persecuting the mosques, madrassas, and mujahideen. Remember, that when a Muslim flees the battle against the hypocrites, the wrath of Allah is upon him.

In one part of the speech he referred to liberals like Malala and said that Pakistan being an Islamic country should not allow them to take over the country.

These liberals couldnt tolerate the Islamisation of Pakistan under Zia-ul-Haq so just imagine what will happen if people like us rise against them, said Azhar.

Taking a dig at Pakistans foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Azhar said officials were in touch with Jaish and added that the government will have to accept Jaish as it was.

The audio, as stated in the clip, was recorded on March 4.

Qureshi had last week acknowledged that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, the masterminded behind several terror attacks in India, is in Pakistan. Qureshi further said that Azhar is really unwell and not in a position to even leave his house.
by Paul Nguyen Hung

In every parish of the archdiocese, Catholics prepare for Easter by participating in charitable initiatives. For nearly 30 years, Ha Noi parish has held a blood drive at Advent and Lent. Yet, donations remain a taboo in many quarters. In 2019, 330 people have donated blood in one ward, a local official noted. In Ha Noi parish, 142 people donated blood in one day.

Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews)  The Ha Noi parish, Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), organised again this year a blood donation drive as part of its preparations for Lent. The blood collection was held in conjunction with last Sunday Masses, attracting 142 people.

Across Ho Chi Minh City, Catholics usually prepare for Easter by participating in charity initiatives at their local church during the Lenten period.

In his pastoral letter for Lent, Mgr Joseph o Manh Hung, apostolic administrator of the archdiocese, renewed his call "to receive the sacraments, especially those of penance and the Eucharist, as well as pray and carry out social and charitable activities in the churches."

In Ha Noi parish, which is in Go Vap District, the blood drive took place at the church compound. The event has been held every year for almost 30 years at Advent and Lent thanks to Fr Dominique inh Ngoc Le.

The clergymans pastoral outreach pays special attention to the marginalised and every month he provides them with support.

"When I participated in the blood donation for the first time, I was afraid! But at the second one, I was braver, said Peter Pham Nhat Thanh, head of the parish catechists. Since then, every time I give blood, I feel better. This is why I often take part in this initiative, thanks to which it is possible to save people's lives."

Fr Joseph Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, a Passionist priest, is another donor at the Ha Noi church. "When I was in the seminary, I was in contact with people living in remote and isolated areas. I feel a lot of compassion for the ethnic minorities who endure misery and poverty. Tribal people need medical assistance too. Therefore, I want to give my blood to the poor."

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), voluntary unpaid blood donations are up in the countries of Southeast Asia. However, the practice still remains a taboo in many quarters. For this reason, initiative like that at Ha Noi parish is very important for the local population, both Catholics and non-Catholics.

Nguyen Thi Bich Nuong, chairman of the Red Cross of the People's Committee of the 13th Ward (Go Vap District) illustrates the extent of this success. "The Committee's data show that so far 330 Ward residents have donated blood in 2019. On Sunday, there were 142 donors in Ha Noi parish alone, plus 66 people who gave last week at the church in Nu Vuong Hoa Binh. This is a sign of hope."

(Photo credit: Giao Xu Ha Noi).
The victim, Saif al-Deen Abu Zeid, died in hospital from head injuries. The Israeli army speaks of "response" after hundreds of "rioters" threw stones and explosive devices. Strategic sites of Hamas bombed. It is the fifth operation since last March.

Gaza (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A young Palestinian died from Israeli army gunfire during the clashes that broke out overnight between the two fronts along the border between Israel and Gaza.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health this morning reported the victim is a 15-year-old boy called Saif al-Deen Abu Zeid. He died in hospital "following the wounds [to the head] received [in the clashes] east of Gaza a few hours ago ".

An Israeli army spokesman did not want to officially comment on the incident that led to the boy's death. However, he stressed that the army responded after hundreds of "rioters" threw stones and explosive devices against the troops. In a note the army specifies that the air force bombed strategic Hamas sites, which controls the territory of the Strip.

Local witnesses report that the clashes broke out following the latest episode of "night confusion": This is a violent form of protest using with hand held fire bombs and laser lights targeting Israeli forces along the border barrier. Palestinian security sources speak of a bombing of a Hamas base south of Gaza, which would have caused material damage but no casualties.

It is the fifth military operation of the Israeli army since 2 March, each time in response to the launch of "balloons with explosive devices" and other incendiary material along the border.

From March 30, 2018 to coincide with the beginning of the "March of return", the border that separates the Strip from Israel was the scene of repeated demonstrations by the Palestinians. The population protests against the Israeli blockade of goods into Gaza [now described as an open-air prison] and for the recognition of Palestinian refugees right to return to their homes.

In the context of the protests, in recent months there have been numerous episodes of violence termed "shameful" by Israeli activists, during which at least 251 Palestinians (and two Israeli soldiers) were killed.

The army has always claimed to have opened fire to protect the border from raids and attacks by armed militiamen. The UN does not exclude that the Israeli military is committing "war crimes".
by Wang Zhicheng

At a press conference in the company headquarters in Shenzhen, the company charges the US of blocking fair competition and damaging American consumers. In 2010, the US National Security Agency violated Huawei's servers to verify the links between the company and the Chinese army. "Transparency" operation in Shenzhen and announcement in the Wall Street Journal.

Shenzhen (AsiaNews) - Huawei, the technology giant, has denounced the US government for a law that blocks the sales of its products in the country. Moreover, responding to US charges that the company spies for China, it replied that in the past the US government has spied on Huawei.

At a press conference held today at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen, the rotating president, Guo Ping, said that "the US Congress has failed to produce any evidence to support restrictions on Huawei products." " This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers ".

The technology giant wants to abolish Section 889 of the National Defense Act of 2019, which prohibits government agencies from purchasing Huawei and ZTE, another telecommunications company. The law was signed by President Donald Trump last August.

Guo Ping also accused the US government of hacking accused the US of previously hacking into its servers. While not making precise references, Guo Ping perhaps refers to articles by the Financial Times and the New York Times, according to which in 2010, the US National Security Agency hacked Huawei's servers to verify the links between the company and the Chinese army.

This morning's press conference is another of the tools in a campaign to oppose the US government that has restricted the use of Huawei products for reasons of national security. The United States also pushes its allies to do the same. Australia and New Zealand have blocked the use of Huawei products, while Great Britain and Germany have put the collaboration on stand-by, wanting to study the situation.

The us Governments' fears are based on the past of Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, a former liberation army engineer, and in a law that forces China-based groups to give technical help to the country's intelligence services.

In addition to boycotting Huawei products, the US accuses the company of fraud and violating US sanctions against Iran. This is why Huawei's financial director Meng Wanzhou, Ren Zhengfei's daughter, was arrested in Canada and risks being extradited to the United States.

Ren said that his daughter's arrest is "politically motivated".

Meng has denounced the Canadian government for violating her fundamental human rights. On the other hand, China has arrested two Canadian personalities accusing them of espionage. Huawei is also carrying out a "transparency" campaign, inviting all journalists to visit its headquarters in Shenzhen. It even bought a full page add in the Wall Street Journal to address the Americans, telling them not to "believe everything you hear.
Widening the lens beyond Pulwama and Balakot reveals a broad coincidence with Prime Minister Imran Khan completing six months in power. Regionally, Pakistan found itself in the not unfamiliar position that the three neighbours with whom it has most in common  Afghanistan, Iran and India  all accusing it with the same charge: allowing terrorists to use territory it controls. A wide angle would also show a definite lowering of threshold by India when faced with the question of responding to terrorist attacks.

The aftermath of major terrorist strikes has always been revealing of the state of India-Pakistan relations as a whole. Mumbai in November 2008 and Pathankot in January 2016 took place during a relative upswing in the relationship. Uri in September 2016 and Pulwama in February 2019 happened when things were at a low plateau. Both after Mumbai and Pathankot, a real effort was made by India to meet the Pakistan demand for evidence. The term itself merits a pause. In Mumbai, there was a huge volume of information available confirming the complicity of Pakistan-based groups in the attack and in the conspiracy that planned it. This information was shared with Pakistan both in the immediate aftermath of the attack and in the months that followed. The expectation was that authorities in Pakistan would act on this information and convert it into evidence for presenting in their courts and securing convictions against the conspirators. What happened instead was perverse as every lacuna of the Pakistan criminal justice system was used to defeat the object of the exercise. Defending these lacuna became upholding the sovereignty of Pakistan. Former PM Nawaz Sharifs complaint in the famous Dawn leaks case in October 2016 against the subversion of the Mumbai trail and on the free pass given to terrorist groups was precisely this and it led inevitably to his own downfall.

After Pathankot, the process was taken further. Inviting a Pakistan team to the site of the attack was to facilitate the process of conversion of information into evidence. It met a longstanding Pakistan demand that terrorist attacks should be investigated by it too. This was in many ways both a calling of the Pakistan bluff but would have also acted to safeguard the gains of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Lahore visit in the previous month. A return visit by an Indian team could have signalled the beginning of a bilateral counter terrorism process. This was, however, subverted largely through an attempted change of narrative and the production of Kulbhushan Jhadhav amid shrill charges of spying and India terrorism.

In this background, the response to the Uri terrorist attack and, even more emphatically, post-Pulwama represents a lowering of the Indian threshold and is recognised so internationally. It is accompanied by a growing concern about the possibilities of escalation. At the same time, there is an acute sense of frustration with Pakistani complicity, denial and recklessness when it comes to the protection extended to terrorist groups on grounds of sovereignty and self respect.

Relations with India remained throughout at a low over Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans six months in office with one notable and important exception. Even at the best of times, the agreement on the Kartarpur Sahib opening for pilgrims would have been a significant breakthrough. That it could take place at a time when relations were at a low level of trust and atmospherics were poor suggested all kinds of possibilities for the medium term. It is, however, again on the issue of terrorism that all these possibilities would be swept aside and a fresh India-Pakistan crisis would emerge.

Does Pakistan view these changes in the Indian position, and in international perceptions, tactically or strategically? So far, all its responses have been tactical, such as creating a fear psychosis in Pakistan about Indian aggression, giving to media toxicity unwarranted importance rather than address the substantive issues at stake. Its military response post-Balakot and its projection as evening the score for domestic perception is again in the tactical mode. A strategic response would involve recognising the continuous incubation of externally directed terrorist groups in its territory and acting against them. Only when that happens is there a realistic change that the crisis-ridden cycle in India-Pakistan relations could change.

TCA Raghavan is a retired diplomat and currently director general, Indian Council of World Affairs

The views expressed are personal
Diametrically opposite statements in the span of five days by Pakistans foreign minister Makdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Rawalpindi GHQs resident spinmaster major general Asif Ghafoor on the existence of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group and its leadership in Pakistan is singularly instructive on many counts.

First, by overruling the minister in denying the existence of JeM in Pakistan, Ghafoor has made it clear, yet again, that it is the Pakistani army that calls all the shots in the Islamic Republic. Qureshi must be having a feeling of deja vu as he was blindsided by the same army-terrorist network when he was found clueless in New Delhi during the 26/11 attacks. It was then Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Kayani who sent his personal aircraft to pick up a stranded Qureshi from New Delhi.

The then Pakistan national security advisor Mehmood Durrani lost his job post 26/11 after he admitted that Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani national.

Second, the comments suggest that Islamabad will once again try to use the China card to veto a move to get JeM chief Masood Azhar listed as a global terrorist on March 13 when the proposal comes up for listing under the United Nations 1267 resolution. China, to date, has maintained silence over its intention at the UN. This is despite the fact that the United States is using all the resources at its command to help India nail the JeMs role in Pulwama bombing and get Azhar and his terror factory listed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Third, Pakistan, which selectively uses UNSC resolution 47 to harp about its demand for a plebiscite in Kashmir despite not even adhering to the first condition of withdrawing from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, chooses to blatantly ignore the October 2001 listing of JeM as terrorist group according to the 1267 listing.

The importance of Masood Azhar to Pakistan is evident from the fact that Islamabad wrote up a note verbale to India to release him from custody after he was arrested in Srinagar in 1994. A mere 26-years-old at that time, Azhar was already the chief ideologue of the now defunct Harkat-ul-Ansar terrorist group and was used for showing the path of Askari jihad to the Taliban through their common Deobandi ideology.

Fourth, Ghafoors statement indicates that Rawalpindi has again chosen to take the total deniability route in the Pulwama attack as it did in the past with Uri, Pathankot, 26/11 and the Parliament attack. No amount of evidence from India or the international community will make it budge from that position. Both JeM and its comrade-in-arms Lashkar-e-Tayebba (LeT) are strategic arms of Rawalpindi GHQ, used with effect to degrade Indian capabilities and capacities. They also help China by keeping India destabilised.

Fifth, by using US manufactured F-16 fighters in the February 27 attack on India and placing highly versatile M-4 sub-machine guns in the hands of jihadists, Pakistan has made it clear that it will provide military grade weapons to terrorists and use the platforms procured in the name of war on terror in Afghanistan against India by throwing the rule book out of the window. Remember, it was Rawalpindi that placed the Stinger missile in hands of terrorists targeting in the late 1980s and early 1990s by diverting them from the Afghan mujahideen.

The Pulwama bomber has been photographed with a M-4 rifle; the same weapon was recovered from Masood Azhars relative in 2018; a Stinger missile was used against Squadron leader Ajay Ahuja by terrorists in the 1999 Kargil war; and the Austrian Arges high explosive grenades was used in the 2001 attack on Parliament.

Sixth, the arrest of 44 members of proscribed organisations by Pakistan on February 5 is part of the charade to assuage the international community as similar actions have been followed after every major terrorist attack against India. Indian diplomats briefing their counterparts on the Pulwama attack and JeMs involvement have communicated the same to them.

Things are different this time as new red lines have been drawn by India and the international community particularly the US. No longer will an Indian air chief be an odd man out as Fali Homi Major was after he recommended an air-strike to then prime minister Manmohan Singh after 26/11. PM Narendra Modi has made it amply clear that each terrorist strike will be accounted for and met with a counterstrike. The other big change is the attitude of the US and the international community. The Trump administration is going out of its way not only to nail the JeMs role in Pulwama by supporting the Indian investigation but has also been unambiguous in supporting Indias right to self defence. Whether it is Sunni Saudi Arabia and UAE or Shia Iran, there is support for India with Tehran bristling to retaliate against Pakistan for the killing of 27 Revolutionary Guards in a suicide car bombing a day before the Pulwama attack. Unless Pakistan radically reforms itself, it will soon join the club of rogue states which includes North Korea, and with the same mentor.

shishir.gupta@hindustantimes.com
In 1938, the Indian National Congress held its 51st session at Haripura in Gujarat. Subash Chandra Bose was elected president of the Congress party in this session. In his presidential address, Bose said I have no doubt in my mind that our chief national problems are the eradication of poverty, illiteracy and disease. To achieve this, he first set up a national planning committee under the chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru to draft a plan to ensure a basic minimum standard of living for every Indian family. The average Indian familys monthly income in 1938 was 25.

Today, the average Indian familys monthly income is roughly 50,000, a 2,000 times increase since 1938. It is undeniable that India has made remarkable strides in uplifting hundreds of millions of citizens above poverty in the last seven decades.

Yet, this seemingly large increase in average monthly family income hides more than it reveals. The poorest 10% of Indian families earn a mere 5,000 a month. Put another way, 25 million Indian families earn just a tenth of what the average Indian family earns. And, 50 million households earn just a fifth of the average Indian family.

While the Indian economy continues to grow, the much touted trickle down impact of economic development seems elusive to the poorer sections of our society. There is a real risk of the bottom quarter of Indian families being left behind completely. The only way to ensure that these poorest sections do not remain permanently stuck in an abyss is to guarantee them a certain minimum basic income. The plan to ensure a basic minimum standard of living for every Indian family that was envisaged by Bose in 1938 is applicable even today.

Ever since the president of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, announced the Minimum Income Guarantee idea, there has been an outburst of commentary discussing and debating the idea, many welcoming the move, some opposing it. Such a debate is welcome.

The idea that there must be a certain minimum basis for self-respect in society is not a new idea. It dates back to 18th century thinkers such as Thomas Paine and John Stuart Mill. Throughout contemporary history, most major democracies have executed their social contracts through in-kind welfare programmes of food, living, education and health care for their citizens. This has been spectacularly successful in ensuring a certain minimum standard of living for hundreds of millions of poor across the globe.

But it has also reached the point of diminishing marginal utility. Any new in-kind welfare programme does not deliver the same level of utility to the poor as it used to, at much lower levels of poverty. Yet, the risk of contemporary economic development models that accrue disproportionate gains to a select few at the top and leave behind large sections of society is very high. There is now also a fierce need for a certain minimum level of empowerment and economic freedom for all citizens in a society.

The Minimum Income Guarantee is one such idea for a new social contract. A social contract that will empower citizens with the freedom of choice. A social contract that will assure every poor family a basic minimum level of cash income and give them the freedom to live their lives. The Congresss idea of a Minimum Income Guarantee should be viewed in this larger context of the need for a new social contract.

The chief concern about this proposal is that of the State abdicating its responsibilities of providing basic necessities of food, education and shelter to the poor in lieu of providing cash. The minimum income proposal will not absolve the State of its core responsibilities of providing food, education and health care for the poor. It will strengthen the States ability to deliver on its promise of a guaranteed minimum standard of living for every poor Indian family.

The other touted fear of this proposal is its ability to act as a disincentive to work. There is ample empirical evidence across the world that shows how a basic income to ensure a safety net does not act as a disincentive to work. It is a bit far-fetched to argue that in a developing country like India, young people will curtail their aspirations and be satisfied with a hand-to-mouth living that a basic minimum income is designed to provide.

Eight decades after the original proposal of the Indian National Congress, the Congress is committed to ushering in a new social contract in the form of a Minimum Income Guarantee for every poor family in India.

Praveen Chakravarty is chairman, data analytics department, Congress

The views expressed are personal
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday announced he will implement the provision of 10% reservation for the economically weaker section among the general category and also increase the quota for other backward classes (OBC) from the existing 14% to 27%.

Last month, the CM had constituted a ministerial committee to work out modalities for implementing the 10% quota, after the central government approved a Constitutional amendment for the reservation for the economically weaker sections among the general category people.

Nath made this announcement at a programme held at Sagar, 186 km east of Bhopal, to distribute loan waiver certificates among farmers.

However, the CM didnt announce any specific date to implement these steps.

The state government will implement provision of 10% reservation for economically weaker section of general category. All sections in the society will get opportunity for progress and the government is committed for this, the CM was quoted as saying by a government spokesperson.

As of now, the state government provides reservation of 50% to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes in government jobs and educational institutions.

The STs have a 20% quota, SCs 16% and OBCs have 14% quota. Once, the EWS quota is granted and the OBC quota is increased, the state will have overall 73% quota for different sections of society put together. BERHAMPORE: A 38-year-old polling booth-level worker of West Bengals ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was shot dead in Murshidabad district on Tuesday night.

Gouranga Mondal is the second ruling party member to have been killed since February 25 when TMC office bearer, Nazimul Sheikh, was killed near Murshidabads Berhampore town.

Police have arrested one person so far in connection with Sheikhs murder though as many as five were named in the FIR including a former Murshidabad zilla parishad sabhadhipati Shiladitya Haldar and a former councillor of Berhampore municipality Hiru Haldar.

Both of them are from the Congress. Mondal was returning home from Kandi area, where he had gone for a training that the TMC had organised for election work, when he was shot dead.

TMCs Kandi subdivision president, Goutam Roy, accused Congress workers of killing Mondal to regain the partys lost ground in the area.

In the evening when he was returning home, some goons stopped his motorbike around 250 metres from his house and fired three shots at him. To ensure his death, the goons also hurled two crude bombs at him, said Roy.

District Congress spokesperson, Jayanta Das, denied the allegation.

It has become a practice for Trinamool leaders to point fingers at us whenever their men are killed in factional feuds, said Das.

Kandi police station in charge Prasanta Patra said one of the four accused Sukhen Pal  has been arrested while his three alleged accomplices were on the run. We are conducting raids to nab others [Akshay Pal, Sishir Pal, and Arun Ghosh], he added.

Sukhen Pal worked as a civic police volunteer with the Kandi police station.
Arbaaz Khan is starting a new professional chapter in his life. The actor is hosting a web show, Pinch, where he will be speaking to celeb guests such as Kareena Kapoor Khan, Karan Johar, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sonam Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha about how social media affects their lives.

The actor-filmmakers own life has been under the lens of late, after the divorce with Malaika Arora and his relationship with 29-year-old model Giorgia Andriani. If I had to hide my affair, I would not have brought it in open. I unhesitatingly admit that Georgia is there in my life at this point in time. Somebody who I have at his time in my life is a friend who I am also dating. Where it is going to go? Only time will tell. Yes, undoubtedly, we are together, Arbaaz told Deccan Chronicle.

Talking about how she has brought a posutive change to his life, Arbaaz said, When you are living alone then you tend to take life casually. You can either change for the better or probably for the worst. You can get addicted to a bottle or you may think that there is nothing left in your life. Fortunately, I was not in that mindset and my partner encourages me to remain positive and go ahead in life.

He also opened up about the past few years in life, given the divorce. There was a time when I needed to be worried and now its over. Whether you forget or forgive, whatever scenario you may choose, you have to move on.

Also read: Alia Bhatt on Kangana Ranaut slamming her for not speaking up

Malaika had earlier spoken about her divorce on Kareena Kapoors radio show. We did think about a lot of things and weighed every single pro and con. And then we decided, its better off that we move our separate ways because wed just be better people. Because we were two people in a situation making each other extremely unhappy which was impacting everybody elses life around us, she said.

Malaika and Arbaaz divorced in 2017 after almost 19 years of marriage; they have a 16-year-old son, Arhaan.
Actor Arjun Kapoor has wished his half-sister Janhvi Kapoor a happy birthday on Instagram. Janhvi turned 22 on Wednesday, and celebrated with her father (Boney Kapoor) and sister (Khushi) by visiting the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.

Taking to social media, Arjun wrote, Ok see I found an unused picture @janhvikapoor happy birthday hope this year is the beginning of you discovering urself & realising the world is ur oyster... Stay grateful stay humble & stay grounded.... Also I hope truly that u give us the same love this year that u give Pankoo ji!!!

Arjuns picture showed him hugging Janhvi on what appears to be the set of Koffee with Karan. The duo had appeared together on the chat show, as guests on the sixth season. Theyd spoken about how they bonded after the death of Janhvis mother, Sridevi.

Janhvi returned to Mumbai after celebrating her birthday in Varanasi, where pictures of her cutting her birthday cake with a sword were shared online. She is currently filming the Gunjan Saxena biopic in Varanasi.

A day earlier, actors Sonam Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan had also wished Janhvi with Instagram posts. Sharing a throwback picture, Sonam wrote, Happy happy birthday baby jannu... all my love baby girl... keep smiling your gorgeous smile. Meanwhile, Sara wrote alongside a picture of the two of them, Birthday wishes from @saraalikhan95 Many more happy returns of the @janhvikapoor.

Janhvi on her Instagram stories also shared a sneak peek into the surprise that awaited her on her return to Mumbai. Sharing a picture of a room decked up with balloons and decorations, she thanked Arjuns sister, Anshula, for organising a party.

Janhvi had also thanked her fans on the birthday wishes a day prior. Shed written alongside a picture of herself on a boat in Varanasi, Thankful and grateful. For all your love and blessings, for every opportunity, for my family, for my country. Love you all.

Also read: Inside Janhvi Kapoors birthday celebration: Actor honours mom Sridevi, cuts birthday cake with sword. See pics

Janhvi made her film debut with Dhadak, opposite Ishaan Khatter. She will next begin work on Karan Johars period epic, Takht, which also stars Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar and her uncle Anil Kapoor.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Actors Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu are reuniting again after Pink for the upcoming and second film together, Badla. The film, set for release on Friday is a classic whodunnit in which Taapsees character is accused of murdering her boyfriend and Amitabh plays her lawyer.

Reportedly, the Sujoy Gosh directorial is a remake of 2016 Spanish film The Invisible Guest, which was directed by Oriol Paulo. Could it be the next crime thriller that gets viewers biting their nails and sitting on the edge of their seats?

Before the film hits theatres, we have compiled a list of 9 Hindi movies with the best twists endings that no one expected. Did your favourite make it to our list?

(SPOILER WARNING)

1. Kahaani

Vidya Balan starrer Kahaani will definitely count among one of the few Indian films where the audience is kept guessing till the very last frame. That there was never a character called Arnab Bagchi, supposedly Vidyas missing husband, isnt revealed till the last shot, when we see her lighting a candle in front of the picture of her deceased husband, a person called Arup Basu. He was an IB officer, who was killed in the poison-gas attack in the Kolkata metro compartment, shown at the start of the film. Yet through the course of the film, the audience is made to believe that the person in the photograph she shows around is her husband. The truth is unveiled in the final moments when we realise that the man in the photograph is actually her husbands killer, a person named Milan Damji, an IB officer who went rogue. Another high point is the discovery that Vidyas character was never pregnant; a fact deftly hidden to arouse the empathy of both the characters in the film and the audience.

2. Bluffmaster

Riteish Deshmukh plays Robin to Abhishek Bachchans Batman in Bluffmaster; a conman-in-the-making who is taking lessons from the one who has made it an art form. Mumbai, it seems, is full of people who have been on the receiving end of Abhisheks sleight of hand. This time, the two together are playing bait-and-switch with the master criminal himself, Nana Patekars Chandru. Before the heist is over, Abhishek will be conned within an inch of his life, criminals will be outed as blameless dialogue writers and Robin will teach Batman a lesson.

3. Ugly

The ending of director Anurag Kashyaps low-key 2014 thriller Ugly could be interpreted as a ghastly twist on the Alchemist. The plot involves a struggling actor searching for his missing daughter in the underbelly of Mumbai, evading goons, gangsters and cops, only to realise that what hed been looking for had been under his nose all along.

The film captures Anurag in his element, shooting guerilla style on the streets of Mumbai, and dealing with the outcasts of the city.

4. Drishyam

This 2015 Ajay Devgn film was a remake of 2013 Malayalam film by the same name. Ajay plays Vijay Salgaonkar, a big fan of murder mysteries and thillers. He watches these films all day as he runs a cable TV service in Goa. It all comes handy one day when his daughter accidentally kills a boy.

Having learnt the best and most foolproof tricks from the movies, he charts out a perfect plan to dispose the boys body and keep the police spinning in circles, even the boys mother who is the Inspector General of Goa. The film keeps the characters and the audience hooked right until the end to know where did he bury the boys body. A place where the police will never look: underneath the police station itself.

5. Kaun



One of the best films Urmila Matondkar has been part of, the movie written by Anurag Kashyap is a brilliant canvas showcasing the acting prowess of both Urmil and Manoj Bajpayee who plays the main role. A woman, fearing a serial killer on the loose, accidentally allows the killer inside her house. However, after she sees Manojs gun, she manages to get hold of the weapon and tries her best to save herself, calling up her mother and the cops for help. Throughout, we watch a scared woman in fear while Manoj behaves as killer with a twisted mind. However, the twist ending is remarkable when we realise that she is the serial killer. Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, the film hit theatres in 1999.

6. Khamosh



Vidhu Vinod Chopras debut film revolves around a film unit visiting Pahalgam in Kashmir for a shooting schedule where a budding actress (Soni Razdan) is killed and what follows is an investigation full of twists and turns and a series of murders. The film unit was supposed to be working on a murder mystery even as they face similar situations off camera. There are references to the American thriller, Psycho as the iconic shower scene is recreated and there is a looming fear of the supernatural. Released in 1985, the film also seemed to be taking a dig at filmmakers of the 80s  a speculation director Vidhu has admitted was true.

Unlike a typical Bollywood film, none of the twists are predictable and various layers of the characters add to the thrilling experience of the movie. Not only is it quite difficult to guess the murderer, the real killer is actually revealed in the beginning itself - only it is so wonderfully etched in the narrative that the audiences often miss it. With power-packed performances from Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Amol Palekar, Shabana Azmi, Sushma Seth and Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Khamosh is a treat to watch.

7. Special 26

What do you do when you fail an exam for the Central Bureau of Investigation? If you are Akshay Kumar, you find a few good men and women, do some serious research and form your own CBI. After a few heists, you lock horns with the real CBI and you outwit them. In the process, you leave Manoj Bajpayee and the audience completely flummoxed but thoroughly entertained.

8. That Girl in Yellow Boots

Kalki Koechlins 2011 film, directed by Anurag Kashyap, was one of his darkest and that is really saying something. Kalki played Ruth, a British woman coping with her sisters suicide and looking for her father in the dark underbelly of Mumbai. She dates a drug addict and works at a mens massage parlour to sustain herself. There, work is not always very pleasant and she often has to give her clients happy endings.

When she finally reaches her fathers doorstep, having located him successfully, she figures out he already knows who she is. She had met him before, at her massage parlour. He was one of her clients. One to ask her for a happy ending, knowing it all this while that she was his daughter. Lets just say her story got far from a happy ending.

The ending is so harrowing and dark that even Anurag had himself said, I hope you feel the film, because you will not enjoy it.

9. Gupt

Kajol did it!

Follow @htshowbiz for more
The arrested include the brother and son of Masood Azhar, head of the Islamic group that carried out the attack in Kashmir on 14 February. The Pakistani authorities freeze the accounts of some terrorists. Satellite photos reveal that the terrorist training base in Pakistan is intact.

Islamabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - At least 44 alleged militants have been arrested by Islamabad authorities in the last crackdown against Islamic terrorism. The arrests represent the attempt by the Pakistani government to ease the tension with India, rekindled in recent weeks following the bombing of February 14 in Pulwama, Kashmir, during which over 40 Indian soldiers were killed.

Pakistani Interior Minister Shehryar Afridi reports that among the inmates there are also two close relatives of Masood Azhar, the leader of the fundamentalist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), who claimed the massacre in Kashmir. This would be mufti Abdul Rauf and Hammad Azhar, respectively brother and son of Masood. Both men appear on the list of suspects of the attack that Delhi delivered to Pakistani last week.

Although the JeM group has been banned by the Islamabad authorities, its militants continue to hold sway over portions of territory that are difficult to control by state forces, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and tribal areas.

It is in the aforementioned Pakistani province, in the locality of Balakot, that on 26 February the Indian air force raided to destroy a training camp of the JeM militants. After the air raids, the Delhi Defense Secretary claimed the killing of at least 350 militants.

In retaliation, the Islamabad Air Force shot down two Indian fighter jets who had illegally entered their airspace, taking one of the pilots as prisoners. As a "gesture of peace", the government in Islamabad returned Lieutenant Colonel Abhinandan Varthaman, who was given a heros welcome to India.

The arrests of alleged Islamic militants could help defuse clashes even further. Among other things, the satellite images released this week by Reuters reveal that the madrassa (Koranic school) hit by the bombs at Balakot is intact. By comparing the photos before and after the raids, the structure does not show any obvious damage.

Finally, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered to freeze and block the accounts of individuals and Islamic associations linked to Pakistan and included in the list of terrorists drawn up by the United Nations at the global level.
Will Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannus second onscreen stint, Badla, suffer any hit on the number of screens this Friday as Marvel Cinematic Universes new superhero, Captain Marvel also lands in a theatre on the same day? Trade experts say that the screens have been divided between the superhero film and Badla equally, denying reports that Sujoy Ghosh thriller has got only 750 screens.

Trade analyst Girish Wankhede confirmed to Hindustan Times that Badla is releasing across 2,500 screens while Captain Marvel will be screened across 2200-2300 screens across multiplexes. The division of shows will be 60-40 between Badla and Captain Marvel in the beginning. However, depending on the reception of the films, theatre owners may increase or decrease the shows from Monday onwards. He added. Badla and Captain Marvel have a screen division of almost 50% each whereas the ratio of screen division will be 60: 40, he said.

Also read: Ahead of Badla, Taapsee Pannu chooses her favourite from Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan

A BollywoodHungama report claimed there was a major gap and added that Taapsee is unfazed with the news. I am a huge fan of Avengers and Marvel films. But I have no impression of Captain Marvel as an audience so thats why its not as bothersome as Avengers or any other established super-hero will be, she told the website.

Badla is a murder mystery with Taapsees character suspected of murdering her boyfriend. The film was inspired by the Spanish film The Invisible Guest. Amitabh plays a lawyer in the film - a role played by Francesc Orella in the original movie.

On the other hand, Brie Larson plays Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel. Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Lashana Lynch, Annette Bening, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou and Lee Pace also feature in the film directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
A Class 5 student of a private school in northeast Delhis Harsh Vihar died on Tuesday after she allegedly consumed toilet cleaning acid, which another student had brought in a green soft drink plastic bottle after mistaking it for her regular water bottle.

Police said the incident took place during the lunch break hour when the two girls were eating together in the classroom.

Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Atul Kumar Thakur said a case of death by negligence under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Harsh Vihar police station against unknown persons.

We are probing the case to fix the responsibility on the person whose negligence claimed the life of 11-year-old Sanjana (single name). The liquid that the girl consumed has been sent to the forensic laboratory along with the plastic bottle to ascertain the nature of acid, Thakur said.

Sanjana, who succumbed to internal injuries during treatment at a government hospital, lived with her parents and brother in Harsh Vihar near Loni in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. The girl was a Class 5 student at Deep Bharti Public School located in the same neighbourhood where she lived.

A police officer, associated with the case, said on Tuesday, the students of classes 4 and 5 were made to sit together as the class teacher of class 4 was on leave. Sanjana was made to sit with a class 4 student, whose name police have withheld.

During the lunch break, the officer said, Sanjana and the class 4 student had their lunch together. Sanjana felt thirsty and asked the other girl if she could drink from her bottle. The girl gave Sanjana her plastic bottle.

When Sanjana consumed the liquid, she felt a burning sensation in her throat and started screaming. By the time the school staffers rushed to the classroom, Sanjana began throwing up and fell unconscious. The school administration informed Sanjanas parents and rushed her to Guru Teg Bahadur hospital. She succumbed to internal injuries in the evening, the officer said.

According to the officer, they spoke to the class 4 student and her family members and learnt that she took the wrong bottle to school. The girls mother told us that she had kept toilet cleaning acid in a similar bottle and had kept it in the room. The girl mistook it for her water bottle, the officer said.

Police said they have asked the school administration to explain why police were not informed about the incident immediately.

The school officials could not be reached for comment and calls made to the number available on the schools website went unanswered. Sanjay Goel, director of education, said the department did not receive any information about the incident till Wednesday evening. On Wednesday, the family members and relatives of the girl gathered outside the school and demanded justice for their daughter and action against the family members of the class 4 student.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) won the cleanest small city award for the second consecutive year under Swachh Survekshan 2019. The category includes cities with populations of one to three lakh.

However, in the overall ranking, the NDMC lost a rank to 5th this year. In all, 4,237 cities across the country were surveyed this year.

NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar said, This (the fall in rank) has happened primarily because single-use plastic ban is not in place in Delhi. A case involving traders is still going on in the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal. We would have gotten 300 points more if the ban was in place.

Only 3% of Delhis geographical area and population come under the NDMC, but it is considered the seat of political power in India. It managed to get a 3 star Garbage Free City rating, and Open Defecation Free (ODF) ++ tag for setting up toilets with the best international standard facilities. The NDMC had got the ODF certificate in 2016.

Kumar said the councils biggest achievement has been in giving due respect and training to sanitation workers who are now called safai sevaks.

We have 2,205 safai sevaks with the NDMC who we took to Japan, South Korea, China and Singapore, to attend workshops and learn best practices, Kumar said. This NDMCs Swachh Survekshan story is not just about machines, but the human beings involved, he stressed.

A senior NDMC official, who deals with solid waste management, said, the council has achieved door-to-door garbage collection in all its 14 circles.
A 52-second video of a man clinging on the bonnet of a hatchback car in Ghaziabad, near Delhi, has gone viral on social media.

The incident took place on Wednesday and is reported to have been a case of road rage.

In the video, the man wearing a blue shirt and a dark coloured pair of trousers can be seen clinging on to the bonnet of the car even as the Hyundai i20 cars driver swerves time and again in a bid to dislodge the man over quite some distance.

At one point in the video, the driver of the car swerves a little too close to a tree on the roadside in an apparent bid to brush the man off the cars bonnet.

At another point, just before the car is stopped, the driver swerved and almost hit some people standing on the roadside before pulling away.

The man clinging to the cars bonnet can be heard shouting both for help as well as at the driver to stop the car, but to no avail.

The car finally stops only after some men on two-wheelers, who chased him, caught up with him, with one of them stopping his bike right in front of the car with a few others hemming the car in on both the driver and the passengers side.

As soon as the car stops, the man clinging to the bonnet gets off amid shouts and threats and urges the driver to get out of the car.

The driver of the car was later arrested by the police and an FIR filed against him.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
On a day when the north and south Delhi civic bodies registered a significant fall in their rankings in the Swachh Survekshan 2019 announced Wednesday, the east municipality was the silver lining.

While the north and south corporations together account for roughly 67% of Delhi (1,261 square km. and 118 lakh population in total), 29% falls under the jurisdiction of the EDMC.

The North Municipal Corporation Leader of House, Tilak Raj Kataria did not expand on the fall. We did well last year, rising from 279 to 206. How is it possible that we came down this time? he said.

However, an official in the DEMS (Environment Management Services) department at the corporation, requesting anonymity, said, The condition of Bhalswa landfill, that has mixed waste rotting and is like a mountain of garbage right at the entrance of Delhi, could have brought us down... We have already floated a tender for its remediation.

Leader of Opposition in the north MCD, Anil Lakra, said, It only shows how the BJP-run corporation is deep in corruption and there is no focus on work.

The south Delhi municipal corporation (SDMC) leader of house, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, also said she was not aware of the details. There are many technical points in the Survekshan report which must be gone through minutely. It will be irresponsible to comment before that, she said.

Officials at both SDMC and the north corporation blamed it on too much documentation and technicalities in the nationwide sanitation survey this year.

SDMC Leader of opposition Praveen Kumar said, Somewhere we see a multiplicity of staff, somewhere ghost employees, and somewhere a total shortfall. It is madness with no method to it.

EDMC mayor Bipin Bihari Singh, on the other hand, expressed happiness at the improvements made by his municipality. We have very little resources but the money that came to us from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under Swachh Bharat -- around 100 crore -- in financial year 2018-19 helped us, he said. We bought new equipment, turned some dhalaos into dry compactor areas and built new toilets.

The EDMC Commissioner, Dilraj Kaur, said, Regular monitoring of safai karmcharis also made a lot of difference.

Swati Singh Sambyal, programme manager, solid waste management at Centre for Science and Environment, said, The rankings hold up a mirror for the MCDs. They are not focusing on implementing the Solid Waste Management Byelaws 2016. There is no segregation, the only emphasis is on waste to energy plants.
The South Korean intelligence agencies, according to media reports, have discovered activities that indicate that North Korea might be restoring part of the Tongchang-ri missile launch site it had earlier dismantled. The discovery  and not the actual work at the site  follows the failed Hanoi summit where the US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong un could not bridge the differences between the respective positions of the two countries. It is difficult to tell whether North Korea was restoring the missile launch site in anticipation of a failure in Hanoi. However, the restoration work does indeed provide Mr Kim with a great signalling device to reveal his displeasure.

The Hanoi summit was based on three flawed premises. One, the US did not see that Mr Kim was primarily interested in loosening economic sanctions. No other measure like declaring an end to Korean War, setting up of liaison offices and selling the dream of a prosperous North Korea was going to work. Two, Mr Trump overestimated his abilities of achieving denuclearisation in one go. A step-by-step approach of freezing nuclear weapons programme followed by a pragmatic arms control programme could have worked better. Three, Mr Trump thought that he could control the sequencing. Denuclearisation, he assumed, would precede sanctions relief.

According to Mr Trump, Mr Kim has still committed not to resume missile and nuclear weapons testing. The restoration of the missile launch site doesnt mean that testing will ensue immediately. It could just be a bargaining chip by which North Korea could get Mr Trump to be less rigid on economic sanctions. However, if testing resumes, the tensions between the two countries could rise significantly. It will embolden those in the US who have advocated a military solution to the North Korean proliferation problem. An isolated dictator with a small (and vulnerable) nuclear arsenal might feel pressed to reach for the proverbial nuclear button should he fear a military attack from the worlds sole superpower. It is time to take these developments seriously.
After the Balakot airstrikes, Pakistan seems to have launched a crackdown on terrorist groups within the country. As many as 44 members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) have been taken in preventive detention. The detainees include Mufti Abdul Raoof and Hamad Azhar, brother and son, respectively, of JeM chief, Masood Azhar. The terrorist groups headed by 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind, Hafiz Saeed  Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation  too have been banned. Pakistan foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has claimed that these actions havent been taken in response to Indias coercive pressure but were decided much before the Pulwama attack in keeping with Pakistans obligations to the international community.

In any case, it is too early for India to declare victory. This film has played out many times before. Pakistan has often banned these terrorist groups but this did not mean much in practice. It takes many such cosmetic measures in order to show its compliance to members of the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental body tasked with fighting money laundering and terrorist financing. Even after the 2001 Parliament attack in New Delhi, Pakistan had banned JeM. That did not stop it from seeking Chinas help to protect Masood Azhar from sanctions in the United Nations. India furnished a heap of evidence against Saeed after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, but Pakistan never mounted a serious prosecution against him in the courts. After the 2016 Pathankot attack, a Pakistani investigative team was given access to the Indian Air Force base in order to nail JeMs culpability, but once again nothing happened. Even this time, Pakistan has just taken these JeM terrorists into preventive custody. Whether it will prosecute them with sincerity is yet to be seen. Pakistan has been demanding proof from India of JeMs involvement in the Pulwama attack; a dossier has indeed been sent. These dossiers havent worked in the past.

The best thing that Pakistan can do is to hand over both Masood Azhar and Saeed to India. No other step can improve the relations between the two countries like this one. However, it is highly unlikely that the Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan can take this decision even if he wanted to. The Pakistani army has nurtured a number of terrorist groups to use them against India and Afghanistan. It wont give them up easily. If serious prosecutions dont follow, India and the international community should think of more measures to correct Pakistans behaviour.
A London patient became the second man after the Berlin patient, to be cured of HIV after stem cell therapy put their infections in remission without medication, a breakthrough that has given hope to 37 million people living with HIV, which causes AIDS. The Berlin patient, Timothy Ray Brown, has been HIV-free since 2007 after undergoing a bone marrow transplantation (BMT) to treat his acute myeloid leukaemia, and the London man has been in remission for 18 months after his transplantation for advanced Hodgkins lymphoma. In both cases, the bone marrow was taken from donors with natural resistance to HIV because of a genetic mutation in two copies of their CCR5-delta 32 gene, which encodes a critical protein that allows HIV to enter and infect cells.

In itself, the CCR mutation is not a cure. For one, it is extremely rare and is found mostly in people of north European descent, particularly Swedes. In the 1% north Europeans who inherit the mutation from each parent, it offers immunity against infection. Around 14-18% Eurasians have one copy of the mutation, which does not prevent infection but delays the progression of AIDS. The mutation is very rare in Africans, East Asians, or Amerindians, show studies. Since the Berlin patient was cured, stem cell therapy and BMT have failed for many HIV-infected people with blood cancer, with the virus rebounding in some cases, and patients succumbing to their leukaemia or lymphoma in others.

The London breakthrough offers hope for a potential cure using gene manipulation and antibody technology to develop next generation therapeutics for an infection on which at least half a trillion dollars (US $562.6 billion) have been spent worldwide between 2000 and 2015. In India, anyone who tests positive for HIV is given antiretroviral therapy free under Indias National AIDS Control Programme to prolong their lives and lower their chances of infecting others. Gene manipulation, like with any experimental technology, comes with several caveats, including concerns about the off-target effects that can cause adverse mutations, including cancer.
The Union Cabinet has promulgated an ordinance to nullify a Supreme Court order asking that departments be taken as a unit instead of the university/college while doing recruitments. The choice of unit has a direct bearing on the number of reserved posts. Implementing the apex courts order would have led to a drastic reduction in the number of reserved category posts in higher educational institutions.

The ordinance has come two days after a Bharat Bandh was called by pro-reservation groups, with various political parties from the opposition supporting it. It is clear that the move by the ruling coalition is aimed at pre-empting any anger among the Other Backward Class (OBC), the Scheduled Caste (SC) and the Scheduled Tribe (ST) voters before the general elections.

The politics over it is unlikely to end, though.

The opposition would like to claim the announcement as its victory and try and portray the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as anti-reservation.

The BJP has its own set of dilemmas. In 2014, it became the first party to achieve a majority in the Lok Sabha after three decades. Its electoral success came on the back of a multi-caste, multi-class coalition. According to the CSDS-Lokniti survey, the party increased its vote share among all caste and class groups in 2014. Preserving this multi-caste coalition was never going to be easy.

The first serious test for this rainbow coalition came in the 2015 Bihar elections, in which the Opposition exploited a statement by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief to portray the BJP as anti-reservation. This led to a large consolidation of the socially deprived sections against the BJP. The partys multi-caste coalition was tested again after the Supreme Court ordered a dilution of certain provisions in the Prevention of Atrocities (against SC/ST) Act. The issue led to sharp polarisation among upper caste groups and Dalit groups, leading to violent protests. The government brought an ordinance to nullify the order.

Sections within the BJP believe that the move played a big role in the partys defeat in the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan assembly elections last year.

Announcement of reservations for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among upper castes was a move to win back the reportedly estranged but previously loyal supporters among upper castes. The policy was a clever step, as opposition parties found it difficult to oppose it.

The uncertainty which the BJP now faces is whether the gains of the EWS quota would be nullified by the ordinance to prevent a reduction in reserved jobs in higher educational institutions by the central government.
The Cabinet Thursday cleared an ordinance on reservation mechanism for appointment of faculties in universities, Union minister Arun Jaitley said.

Earlier this week, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Centre was committed to restoring the reservation roster in educational institutions following a series of protests over the issue by various students and teachers organisations.

They had been urging the government to bring an ordinance to restore the 200-point roster taking college or university as a unit for reservation in teaching posts.

The University Grants Commission had announced in March last year that an individual department should be considered as the base unit to calculate the number of teaching posts to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates, following an order by the Allahabad High Court in April 2017.

The Supreme Court had last month dismissed a review petition filed by the HRD Ministry after its special leave petition against the court order was rejected by the apex court.

Javadekar had said in the Lok Sabha on February 11 that the government can bring an ordinance if its review petition filed in the top court is rejected.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7)  Malacanang on Thursday clarified it is not condoning other countries' wiretapping of communications in the Philippines but would use these information if voluntarily given for the fight against crime and illegal drugs.

"Hindi naman tayo papayag na ma-wa-wiretap tayo Ang sinasabi ko lang kung in the course ng kooperasyon ng iba ibang bansa ay nagkaroon tayo ng [wiretapped na] impormasyon Bakit natin hindi gagamitin?" Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo told CNN Philippines' Balitaan.

[Translation: "We do not allow wiretapping. What I'm saying is if in the course of cooperation with other countries we are given wiretapped information, why will we not use it?"]

"If it is a matter of national security, I don't think na masama na gamitin natin yung (that it's bad to use these) information as a lead," Panelo said in a Palace press briefing, adding that he understands that illegally wiretapped information is inadmissible as evidence in court.

Panelo, who also serves as Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, clarified that no one in the government's drug watch list or "narco list" was wiretapped, following concerns from lawmakers.

In an earlier briefing, Panelo said, "Tandaan ninyo ang technology ngayon masyadong modern Nakakapasok sa mga telepono ngayon ang ano e, ang surveillance Kaya mahirap ring tanggihan pag sinabi ng law enforcement na kasama ka dito (list)."

[Translation: "Remember that modern technology enables surveillance through telephones. That's why it's hard to deny when law enforcement officials say you are included in the list."]

READ: Thank foreign countries wiretapping criminals in PH  Palace

But Panelo on Thursday said he was not referring to the narco list when he discussed about foreign governments providing the country with wiretapped information, adding that it was merely an "educated guess on what is happening in the world today."

"I think every government is spying 'di ba (right)?" Panelo said.

He also said that as far as he knows, no foreign government has ever given the Philippines wiretapped information.

Supposed use of foreign wiretaps slammed

On Wednesday, some government officials, including Vice President Leni Robredo criticized the supposed use of wiretapped information from foreign governments as basis for the narco list.

"'Di ba bawal iyong wiretapping? Bawal sa batas natin iyon. Kaya iyong sa akin, kung may enough evidence galing sa kanila, bakit hindi sila kasuhan?" Robredo said.

[Translation: "Isn't wiretapping illegal? That is not allowed under our law. So for me, if there is enough evidence, why not file cases?"]

Malacanang has said administrative and criminal charges will be filed against the alleged narco politicians whose names are expected to be out this March.

Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, meanwhile, reminded the administration not to condone foreign countries' invasion of any Filipino's privacy, calling illegal wiretaps "the fruit of a poisonous tree."

He also stressed that even the possession of wiretapped material is considered an offense, rebutting a claim of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra who reportedly said, "If not illegal in that country, then it [wiretapped material] may be passed on and considered admissible in Philippine courts."

Republic Act No. 4200 or the Anti Wire-Tapping Law says it is "unlawful for any person, be he a participant or not in the act or acts penalized in the next preceding sentence, to knowingly possess any tape record, wire record, disc record, or any other such record, or copies thereof, of any communication or spoken word secured... in the manner prohibited by this law."

Panelo considers this a "gray area," but is leaning towards allowing the use of wiretapped information "if it concerns survival of the country" and national interest.

The Palace also stood by the impending release of the narco list, despite concerns about the suspected personalities' right to presumption of innocence, among others.

"As against the individual right of these suspected criminals with that of the national interest, public safety, mas magpeprevail yung public safety," Panelo said.

Duterte admitted wiretaps

President Rodrigo Duterte himself previously admitted to wiretapping politicians allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade. Duterte in September 2017 said he listened to Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog, whom he had accused of being a shabu protector, as well as slain Ozamiz Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr.

"Don't ask me how IWhat kind of listening device. It was a whisper from God and I was listening to him. So they were all tapped," he said.

Duterte also said a foreign country, which he did not name, provided him wiretapped communications about a plot to remove him from office.

Law enforcers are allowed to wiretap private communications in relation to cases of treason, espionage, rebellion or sedition and kidnapping, but only with a court order. The House of Representatives in December 2018 approved a bill which seeks to legalize wiretapping in cases involving illegal drug trafficking.
The greatest growth in Asia and Africa, respectively of + 1.5% and + 2.5%. America with its + 0.96% is below the world, while Europe is the only continent to have an almost zero trend (+ 0.1%).

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  The number of Catholics is growing worldwide: 1.313 million or 17.7% of the population. The data contained in the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2017 is even more significant if we take into account that the growth rate of the world population is 1.1% while the rates of variation of Asia and Africa are respectively + 1.5% % and + 2.5%, America with its + 0.96% is below the world, while Europe is the only continent to have an almost zero trend (+ 0.1%).

The reading of the data by continent highlights 2017, but those of the previous year are substantially similar, as the presence of Catholics is differentiated in the various geographical areas: from 63.8% of Catholics in the American population to 39.7% in Europe, 19.2% in Africa, up to 3.3% in Asia. It is of some importance to underline how the American area is in itself very differentiated: if in North America the percentage of Catholics is only 24.7%, in that Continental Center and Antilles (84.6%) and in that of the South ( 86.6%) the presence of Catholics appears much more conspicuous.

If these are the faithful, the apostolic forces have grown. At the end of 2017 there were 4,666,073, with an increase of 0.5% compared to 2016. The breakdown between the different components is quite different from continent to continent. In the world average, at the end of 2017 the percentage ratio between the total number of clerics and the total of pastoral workers was 10.4%, with lower numbers in Africa (6.4%) and America (8.4%) and higher ones in Europe (19.3%) and Oceania (18.2%).

In Asia the percentage follows the global average. A comparison with the numerical situation of 2016 is striking, because it is the first time since 2010 that there has been a decrease of priests, passing from 414.969 in 2016 to 414.582 in 2017. Instead, there is an increase in the number of bishops, permanent deacons, lay missionaries and catechists.

Candidates to the priesthood worldwide pass from 116.160 in 2016 to 115.328 in 2017, with a drop of 0.7%. The picture of continental flows appears satisfactory in the African and Asian Church, while in Europe and America the decrease appears very evident. The distribution of major seminarians by continent remains substantially stable over the last two years. With reference to the year 2017 it is observed that Europe contributes 14.9% to the world total, America for 27.3%, Asia for 29.8% and Africa for 27.1%.
The Class 10 students of Central Board of Secondary education who appeared for the maths paper on Thursday were satisfied with their performance. Many of them found the paper easy and scoring.

Sathya Sai Vidhya Vihar School, Indore student Promiti MItra said, There were no tricky questions. Except a few, all the questions were from NCERT book. I am satisfied with my performance and so are most of my friends.

St Francis School, Bhopal Prabhjot Singh said, It was an easy but lengthy paper. Section A was too easy.

Sagar Public School, Bhopal, student Poonam Barwal said, I found difficulty in choosing a question from two options as both were of same difficulty level. It was overall a scoring paper.

Campion School, Bhopal student Harijith said, As it was announced that objective type questions will be asked but it was not there. However, it doesnt make any difference as the paper was too easy.
A number of students who appeared in CBSE Class 10 mathematics examination on Thursday said there was an error in the question relating to frequency. The sum of frequencies did not match. Also there were few misprints as in question number 20 in Set-I, question number 21 in Set-2 and question number 22 in Set-3.

Students of Lucknow Public School, South City said though none of the questions asked were out of syllabus but typo errors created problem for students. Shashwat Singh of LPS pointed out that there was an error in the question relating to frequency. One of students, Ankit Sahu of LPS, maintained that the paper was easy to score well.

Shekhar Sharma, one of their teacher, who assessed the question paper noted that the question paper was quite balanced one. A good combination of straight as well as tricky question.

He said there were few misprint as in question no 20 in Set-I, 21 in Set-2 and 22 in Set-3. Also the sum of frequencies did not match either. Overall the paper was of moderate difficulty level in which every student can easily yield more than a passing marks, he said.

A student of GD Goenka Public School, Lucknow Nandini Goel said The paper was lengthy though questions were from practice papers itself. Pranjal Singh said In every set few questions were tricky but we were able to attempt all due to the enough practice done in school.

Abhinav Srivastava, another student of the same school was of the opinion Overall question paper was good as there was no surprise element.Nandini Goel said The paper was lengthy though questions were from practice papers itself.

Pranjal Singh said, In every set few questions were tricky but we were able to attempt all due to the enough practice done in school. Abhinav Srivastava was of the opinion Overall question paper was good as there was no surprise element.

Bhopal

The Class 10 students of Central Board of Secondary education who appeared for the maths paper on Thursday were satisfied with their performance. Many of them found the paper easy and scoring.

Sathya Sai Vidhya Vihar School, Indore student Promiti MItra said, There were no tricky questions. Except a few, all the questions were from NCERT book. I am satisfied with my performance and so are most of my friends.

St Francis School, Bhopal Prabhjot Singh said, It was an easy but lengthy paper. Section A was too easy.

Sagar Public School, Bhopal, student Poonam Barwal said, I found difficulty in choosing a question from two options as both were of same difficulty level. It was overall a scoring paper.

Campion School, Bhopal student Harijith said, As it was announced that objective type questions will be asked but it was not there. However, it doesnt make any difference as the paper was too easy.
This year, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) start a new programme to train school children in space technology, science and applications. Students from class IX in a state, CBSE or ICSE board school can be selected for the programme.

Under the programme, called YUva VIgyani KAryakram (YUVIKA), three students from each state and union territory will be selected by the chief secretaries based on their academic and extracurricular performance.

Students from rural schools will get special weightage in the selection process.

It will be a two-week residential programme that inducts the first batch this year during the summer vacations.

The programme is aimed at catching them young. It will run during the summer vacations in two - three major ISRO centres like in Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad. The list of selected candidates from the states are expected by the end of this month, said an ISRO official, on condition of anonymity.

This is a part of a series of outreach programmes being undertaken by the space organisation. Samwad with Students, where children are told about the countrys space programme, was also launched on the New Years Day in Bangalore. The programme entails a series of lectures by ISRO researchers in different parts of the country.

This year, the fourth stage of the Polar Satellite Launching Vehicle was also used as a platform for experimentation by students. The first student satellite -- KalaamSat -- was launched on January 25. Seven more applications have been received for the programme.

ISRO also plans to open up a viewing gallery that can accommodate 10,000 people in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, near Indias only launch site, before the April launch of Chandrayaan II. The gallery will also double up as a space museum.

What is YUVIKA?

A two-week residential training programme for students on space science, technology and applications.

Who is eligible?

Any class IX student from a state, CBSE, or ICSE board school.

What is the selection process?

Students will be selected based on their academic and extra-curricular performance by chief secretaries. Students from rural schools will get special weightage.

How many students will be selected?

Three students from each state and union territory.

When will it start?

The first batch will start during the summer vacations of 2019.

Where will it happen?

At major ISRO centres in Bangalore, Ahmedabad or Thiruvananthapuram.
Police on Thursday arrested four men from a local right-wing group for beating up two street vendors from Kashmir in Uttar Pradeshs capital Lucknow amid a backlash on people from the restive state after the Pulwama terror attack last month.

Officials said local residents Bajrang Sonkar, Amar Kumar, Anirudh Kumar and Himanshu Garg of Vishwa Hindu Dal were arrested for thrashing the Kashmiri street vendors after a video of the attack was shared widely on social media.

Some members of Vishwa Hindu Dal led by Ambuj Nigam staged a protest outside the Hazratganj police station demanding the release of the arrested men. Naithani said the role of other members will also be probed in the incident.

Two men in saffron kurtas are seen thrashing one of the vendors in a video of the attack. One of the attackers is seen beating the man with a wooden stick as he cowers and runs away after a while. They are also heard using obscenities.

Lucknows senior superintendent of police Kalanidhi Naithani said the men were initially booked for rioting, voluntarily causing hurt and provoking breach of peace. They were later arrested for promoting enmity on grounds of religion, caste and region, attempt to murder and under criminal law amendment act, Naithani said.

The senior police official said some locals saved the two Kashmiris and made a video of the attackers that helped them in tracing them. He said Sonker has 12 criminal cases including that of loot, theft, arms act and murder between 2001 and 2011, he added.

 Victims r ensured safety to carry out their usual business, medical care& compensation 4 loss (sic), Uttar Police posted on its Twitter handle.

The men Abdul Salam and Afzal, who are from Kulgam in south Kashmir, alleged that the attackers called them stone pelters and thanked the police for the action against the men.

We are happy that police have arrested the men who beat us up. We meet the SSP (senior superintendent of police) and he said that police are with us, Salam said in a video released by Lucknow Police.

Circle officer of Mahanagar police station Santosh Singh said the incident happened at Daliganj bridge in Lucknows Hasanganj locality on Wednesday when the men selling dry fruits were attacked by the group.

Singh said the incident was reported to the local police after the video of the attack went viral late on Wednesday night. He said an FIR against unidentified men was registered in the matter.

The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning his stance on the attacks on Kashmiris across India.

Dear PM @narendramodi Sahib, this is what you had spoken against & yet it continues unabated. This is the state governed by your handpicked Chief Minister. Can we expect action in this case or do we file your concern & assurances as a jumla, meant to placate but nothing more? Omar Abdullah tweeted on Thursday.

Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in J&K than videos like these. Keep thrashing Kashmiris like this on the streets at the hands of RSS/Bajrang Dal goons & then try to sell the idea of atoot ang, it simply wont fly (sic), the National Conference leader posted.

Kashmiris in various parts of the country were reported to have been harassed or intimidated in retaliation against the Pulwama terror attack, prompting the Union home ministry to issue an advisory all states to ensure safety and security of the students and people from Jammu and Kashmir living in their areas.

Kashmiri students and businesses were targeted in several states, while at some places, police booked some Kashmiris for anti-India social media posts allegedly praising the suicide attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed on February 14.

Students from Kashmir bore the brunt of the backlash that followed the attack with hundreds fleeing cities such as Dehradun and Ambala after being threatened by right-wing activists who, in some cases, resorted to physical intimidation and forced landlords to evict the victims.

The top court had directed all states and Union territories on February 23 to ensure that Kashmiris, particularly students, feel secure, amid reports from several parts of the country that they were being targeted over the Pulwama attack.

The bench, including Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, had said in the order that chief secretaries and heads of police in all states must take prompt action to prevent incidents of assault, threat, social boycott and such other egregious acts against the Kashmiris including students... and other minorities.
The Supreme Courts five-judge bench that is hearing the Ayodhya case will meet on Friday for pronouncement of orders, a court notice said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court bench had reserved its order on whether the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit should be sent for mediation or not. The court had also asked the parties involved to name the best possible mediators to resolve one of the most politically and religiously sensitive issues.

On Wednesday, the five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, and comprising justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer, also told the lawyers not to argue on history as the court had no control over it.

We have no control over what happened in the past, of [Mughal emperor] Babur... We have no control over the past. We can only undo the present, which is the dispute before us, Justice Bobde said.

He was referring to a belief among Hindus that Babur had demolished a Hindu temple to construct the Babri Masjid in the 16th century.

The court has said that mediation would ensure that confidentiality is maintained by both sides and that the process is not reported or commented upon in the media. At the same time, the court had also clarified that by ordering mediation it did not want to gag the media but to consider delaying the publication of the deliberations.

The Supreme Court is hearing 14 appeals against a September 2010 judgment by the Allahabad high court that ordered a trifurcation of the disputed 2.77-acre site between the Nirmohi Akhara, the Sunni Central Wakf Board and Ram Lalla Virajman, the child deity.

With the Lok Sabha elections barely months away, the case has assumed immense political significance, especially in Uttar Pradesh which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha.

If mediation is ordered in the case, then the case will likely be resolved after the elections end.

The court had in a hearing on February 26 said that even if there was a 1 per cent chance of an amicable resolution, mediation should be given a chance, adding that it was considering a possibility of healing relationships.
Create videos from iconic places such as Londons Big Ben extolling achievements of the Narendra Modi government, join virtual chai pe charcha, create selfie videos, or simply jump on to a flight to India to campaign for the BJP for the Lok Sabha election due this summer at your own cost for a minimum of two weeks.

These are among the eight options the Bharatiya Janata Party has offered the members of the large Indian diaspora abroad, a significant section of which has long supported the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and affiliated organisations such as the BJP.

Many people in the UK and elsewhere received an email this week from Vijay Chauthaiwale, who heads the BJPs overseas division, inviting them to campaign for Narendra Modi in 2019, asking them to choose the activity and register on a new online platform called NRI4NaMo.

The options include joining WhatsApp groups, submitting suggestions for the partys manifesto, writing blogs and articles about the development schemes of PM Modi and organising bike rallies with flags and banners of BJP-Modi and sharing their photos online.

According to Chauthaiwale, India has undertaken a phenomenal journey of transformation in governance during the tenure of the Modi government, which, he further claims, is unparalleled in Indias post-independent history.

The historic visits of the Honble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji to the UK have not only deepened bilateral relations, but also reinvigorated the Pravasi Bharatiya community in the UK, who have been the true ambassadors of India in the UK for several decades now, he wrote.

Modi visited the United Kingdom in November 2015 and April 2018, when he addressed large diaspora gatherings in the Wembley Stadium and in a venue in Westminster, telecast live. His supporters joined Modis Chai pe charcha event in Harrow before the 2014 elections.

The Overseas Friends of BJP claims that thousands of volunteers from the 1.5 million-strong Indian diaspora in the UK have registered to travel to India to join the BJPs campaign, while others have enlisted for other activities.

Britain has a considerable presence of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), which has been functioning since 1966. Its structure, principles and activities are similar to those of the RSS, whose head Mohan Bhagwat attended its mahashivir in Luton in August 2016 to mark 50 years of its existence.
National Security Adviser of the United Kingdom Mark Sedwill Thursday spoke to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and offered all assistance, including intelligence-sharing, in dealing with any form of terrorism, official sources said.

Sedwill also expressed solidarity with India in the aftermath of the Pulwama terrorist attack, they said, adding the call was initiated by the British NSA.

The British NSA said all assistance in dealing with any form of terrorism will be extended to India bilaterally through counter-terrorism cooperation, intelligence-sharing and by bringing the perpetrators of terrorist attacks to justice, the sources added.

The telephonic conversation between the two NSAs came amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan triggered by the Pulwama attack. The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility of the strike in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

On February 26, Indian Air Force combat jets struck JeMs biggest terrorist training camp in Balakot deep inside Pakistan.

A day later, Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday rolled back a controversial faculty hiring system for universities and colleges that had angered Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) communities  the second time in seven months the Centre has reversed a court order following protests.

In a briefing, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley announced that the Cabinet cleared the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers Cadre) Ordinance, 2019 that replaced the 13-point roster in which reservation is determined at the departmental level.

The old system  the 200-point roster that the government has gone back to  takes the entire institution as a single unit for hiring purposes, providing 27% quota to OBCs, 15% to SCs and 7.5% to STs.

The 13-point roster was introduced by the University Grants Commission (UGC) last year after an Allahabad high court order in 2017 said the whole institution couldnt be taken as a single unit to determine reservation. The courts order was challenged by the Centre, which also stopped faculty recruitment in universities, in the Supreme Court (SC) but its petition was rejected.

Thursdays meeting, apparently the last of this government, was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to people with direct knowledge of the developments, he said that the next meeting of the Cabinet would be in June  a date after the upcoming general elections.

With the Lok Sabha elections weeks away, the ordinance is the latest in a slew of attempts by the government to reach out to the SC/ST groups, which together make up around a fourth of the countrys population. A number of ministers and top National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders, including minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, promised to safeguard reservations.

Last August, the government passed a bill effectively reversing changes in the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court after violent protests rocked the country. The courts order had removed some of the stringent provisions in the act for crimes against people from the communities.

This [the ordinance] has been necessitated because earlier this field was governed by UGC [University Grants Commission] circulars. And interpreting those UGC circulars, the Allahabad high court had delivered a judgment, which was upheld by the SC that every department should be independently taken as a unit. And the roster which was formulated resulted in either under-representation or negligible representation of SCs, STs and also OBCs, Jaitley said.

His Cabinet colleague and Union human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar called the decision historic. We had stopped recruitments in universities after the court verdict. Following the issuance of this ordinance, we are immediately starting the process of recruitment, Javadekar said.

I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this decision. The rights of SCs and STs are restored. This reflects the commitment of the government towards SC/ST, Union minister Paswan said. It is obviously to not alienate the SC, ST and OBC sections. This was something which was seen as anti-reservation and they [the government] must have been under pressure from their own constituency also. Elections are around the corner and there is hardly any opposition that such a move would face, said Surinder Singh Jodhka, a professor at Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University.

This decision will allow filling up of more than 5,000 vacancies by direct recruitment in Teachers Cadre duly ensuring that the Constitutional Provisions of Articles 14, 16 and 21 shall be complied with and stipulated reservation criteria for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes are met with, a government statement said.

Under the 13-point roster, every fourth vacancy was reserved for OBC ( 27% corresponds roughly to 1/4), every seventh for SC (15% roughly corresponds to 1/7) and every 14th for ST (7.5% roughly corresponds to 1/14). SC/ST groups argued that many departments didnt have 14 positions, and are much smaller, so the full quantum of reservation would never be reached. For example, if a department had six positions, it will have no reservations for SC and ST candidates, and if it has just three, there will be no reservation at all.

According to an HRD ministry official, a study of 20 central universities had revealed that after this ordinance, the number of vacancies for the aforementioned sections would rise to 2,663 from 1,241 positions. He said that the 10% quota for the economically backward sections (EWS), which was passed by the government in the budget session of Parliament, was not included in the ordinance. A notification for the EWS will be issued later, he added.

This is a welcome step for social justice... The Allahabad high court judgement upholding the 13-point department-based roster and invalidating the earlier institution/university-based 200-point one was twice upheld by the Supreme Court, and had drastically reduced reserved seats, said former UGC member Inder Mohan Kapahy. Hours after the ordinance was issued, the UGC issued a letter asking the varsities to start recruitments immediately.
Police rescued ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliament member, Sharad Tripathi, as supporters of his fellow party state lawmaker, Rakesh Singh Baghel, gathered to protest against him in Uttar Pradeshs Sant Kabir Nagar hours after the two came to blows at a meeting on Wednesday.

A purported video earlier showing Tripathi reaching for his shoe, standing up and repeatedly hitting Baghel went viral. The two came to blows after squabbling over a plaque put up for the inauguration of a road.

Tripathi was upset that his name was missing from the plaque in Baghels assembly constituency of Mehndawal. The assembly segment comes under Tripathis Parliamentarian constituency of Sant Kabir Nagar.

A police officer said Tripathi had to be rescued around midnight as Baghels supporters gathered to avenge the attack.

Baghels supporters alleged police beat them up with batons and staged a sit-in protest through the night in protest. The demonstration was called off on Thursday morning following Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and state BJP president Mahendra Nath Pandeys intervention.

Tripathi and Baghel were summoned to Lucknow as Adityanath and Pandey promised strict action as the Opposition targeted the BJPs over a lack of discipline in the party. In Lucknow, Adityanath said indiscipline will not be tolerated.

He dismissed the negative fallout of the incident on BJPs prospects in the national polls due next month. The BJP will win 74 [out of 80] seats in Uttar Pradesh this time, he said.

But Tripathi remained defiant and accused Baghel of being involved in illegal activities. All contracts, including those of sand mining and road construction, are awarded to him or his men as he resorts to pressure tactics. Why is only he getting contracts? Tripathi asked. ...I will inform the leadership about the illegal activities in which Baghel is involved.

Baghel, a former member of Adityanaths Hindu Yuva Vahini, rubbished the allegations as baseless. You can check with officials that I have never forced them for anything, he said.
Claims and counterclaims over the proof of air strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) facility in Pakistan continued on Wednesday  with a media report saying high-resolution satellite images showed that the structure was still standing, while Indian officials contended that the February 26 raid caused the intended damage using precision weapons that do not trigger widespread destruction.

News agency Reuters reported that images produced by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator, showed at least six buildings on the madrasa site on March 4 were virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the facility.

The report also said the images showed no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees around the madrasa or other signs of an aerial attack.

But two officials in India, who asked not to be named, said the Indian Air Force (IAF) dropped precision bombs on the JeM camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, adding that the unprecedented strike met its objective.

The officials said IAFs Mirage 2000s dropped Israeli Spice 2000 bombs with penetration warheads to destroy the Jaish camp in the pre-dawn strike, Indias response to the Pulwama suicide bombing of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy that killed 40 security personnel. JeM claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Bombs with penetration warheads, such as the Spice 2000, break through the rooftops of buildings targeted and explode inside, said former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Major (retd).

On February 28, IAF said it had credible evidence to prove that the Mirage 2000 strikes against the terror camp met their objective. The evidence, consisting satellite and radar imagery, has been handed over to the government, which now has to decide whether to reveal it or not, one of the officials said.

In Coimbatore, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said on Monday IAF does not count casualties in an operation as its job is to hit the targets, remarks that came against the backdrop of a debate on the damage caused by India raids. Air Force is not in a position to clarify how many people were inside... We dont count human casualties, we count what targets we have hit or not hit... We cant count how many people have died. It depends on how many people were there, the IAF chief said.

Proof of the attack has become a major political issue with several Opposition asking for proof on the number of casualties. Pakistan, its media, and a section of the foreign media, have suggested that Indian jets missed the target. Officials in Indias intelligence establishment said soon after the attack that 300-350 people, including terrorists and commanders, were killed in the air raid.
by Shafique Khokhar

The incident occurred in the citys predominantly Christian Farooq-e-Azam district. After their arrest and release, the victims went into hiding at an undisclosed location. The false charges provoked the reaction of radicals.

Karachi (AsiaNews)  Charges of desecrating the pages of the Quran saw three young Christian women, including two minors, placed under arrest.

It was later discovered that none of the charges were true, but by then the news had spread across their Karachi neighbourhood, provoking a violent reaction by local Islamic radicals who forced some 200 Christian families living in the area to abandon their homes to save themselves.

In Pakistan the accusation of blasphemy - even without evidence - triggers action by Muslim extremists. Thankfully, Christian clerics were able this time to intervene quickly and mediate the affair, which ended peacefully.

One of the clerics, Fr Saleh Diego, a member of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan (CBCP), told AsiaNews that "police released the young women, who now live at a secret location for security reasons."

The three victims falsely accused of insulting Islam are Permisha, 16, Suneha, 15, and Sunaina, 22. The latter is married. All live in a predominantly Christian part of the Farooq-e-Azam district.

At the centre of the incident is a woman related to all three, Ms. Khurshid Bibi, who is the grandmother of the first two and Sunaina's mother-in-law.

In January 2019 she rented a flat to a Muslim couple, Fayaz and Samina Riaz. After three weeks, however, given the disrespectful behaviour of the couple, she asked them to leave the premises.

On 19 February, the three Christian women went to the flat owned by their relative to clean it. Since the Muslim couple had not yet moved, they asked Fayaz and Samina to take away their belongings so they could clean the rooms.

At that point, Samina, by her own admission, decided to accuse the three of blasphemy. She went outside and started screaming that the "kafirs" (infidels) had stolen a copy of the Koran and thrown it into a tub.

Her screams attract the attention of Muslims, who surround the area and attacked several Christian homes causing damages.

The young women were saved only thanks to the timely intervention of police. Later Samina confessed that she made up the blasphemy charge "to teach Christians a lesson".

At present, mediation is underway and no complaints have been filed.

Sadly, false blasphemy accusations are often motivated by personal revenge and religious hatred," Fr Diego explained.

Meanwhile, the Christian families who lived in the area are still displaced and the three young women are still in hiding.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Attorney General KK Venugopal to submit with 10 days the date of meeting of the prime minister-led panel on the appointment of Lokpal and at the same time it turned down advocate Prashant Bhushans plea to make public the names proposed by the search committee.

Turning down Bhushans plea to put the proposed names in the public domain, the bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the matter should be left to the search committee.

We have considered the provisions of the act and its our considered view that no directions are required by this court and the matter should be left to the search committee, it said.

Bhushan submitted that further steps were required to be taken for the constitution of the Lokpal and at this stage the names of the panel should be put in public domain. Bhushan said it was the governments duty to provide the names to the court today.

Also read: Ex-Supreme Court judge to head panel to recommend names for Lokpal

The Chief Justice of India, however, said that the court cannot perform the job of the selection committee.

Transparency is a subjective term. You have done good work but there has to be a limit somewhere. You have to stop. We dont think the names are required to be put in public domain, the Chief Justice of India told Bhushan.

As and when we have the names we will give them to you, the Supreme Court told Bhushan orally.

Also read: Much time has elapsed: SC pulls up Centre on delay in appointing Lokpal

Attorney general KK Venugopal told the court that he was informed by the chairman of the search committee that three names had been forwarded on February 28 to the selection committee that comprises the chairperson, a judicial member and a non-judicial member.

The attorney general told the court that the search committees deliberations had been completed and that the matter now rested with the selection committee. The attorney general also said that the search committee needed another 10 days time to finalise the names.

Earlier, at the onset of the hearing, Prashant Bhushan had asked Justice Arun Mishra to recuse from hearing the contempt case against him. The judge asked Bhushan and those who have filed applications in his support to move a proper application. The contempt case was initiated on complaints by the attorney general and the Union of India over Bhushans tweets allegedly criticising Court on appointment of M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI Director.
With the decision of two Congress MLAs joining the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), defections loom over the Congress party in Telangana ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due this summer after its humiliating defeat in the assembly polls last year.

Two tribal lawmakers, Athram Sakku representing Asifabad in Komaram Bheem of Asifabad district and Regula Kantha Rao from Pinapaka in Bhadhradri Kothagudem district, resigned from the grand old party and crossed over to chief minister K Chandrasekhar Raos TRS.

Besides them, Telugu Desam Partys (TDPs) Sandra Venkata Veeraiah, a four-time MLA, too made a similar statement expressing his wish to join the TRS.

A source in the TRS said more opposition lawmakers were in touch with chief minister KCR, as he is popularly called, and they are likely to join the ruling party anytime.

The resignation of three MLAs after the schedule for the legislative council election was issued gave a big jolt to the Congress. The election will be held on March 12.

The plans of the Congress, which wants to bag at least one out of the four seats in the council with its existing strength of 19 MLAs and two from its ally TDP, have gone awry with the desertions. The strength of the Congress in the 119-member council fell to 18 with the defections.

The TRS allotted one seat to its ally All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and staked its claim for the remaining three seats, making its victory in all the four seats a foregone conclusion.

With the latest resignations from the Congress and the TDP, the TRS tally in the state assembly has gone up to 93. KCRs party got 88 seats in the recent assembly election and two Independents later joined the TRS.

Why is KCR on a poaching spree even after he swept the state polls and enjoys a comfortable majority in the assembly? After all, Rao has grand plans to win 16 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats and that he is out to demoralise the Congress by entertaining massive defections, political analyst T Lakshminarayana explained.

Although the Congress failed miserably in securing seats in the 2018 assembly election, it emerged as a force to reckon with in terms of vote share at 32.32% even as the TRS polled 47.4%. The Congress remained strong in certain pockets like Khammam district where the TRS won only one seat.

The realisation of KRCs grand plans are unlikely in 2019 if the Congress is allowed a strong edifice, hence the chief ministers plans to decimate it, Lakshminarayana said.

Eight out of 21 MLAs from the Congress and 12 out of 15 from the TDP defected to the TRS during the KCRs first stint as chief minister from 2014 to 2018.

The latest defections have angered the Congress as the state unit of the party has planned protest rallies in the constituencies represented by the turncoats from the second week of March, said its president N Uttamkumar Reddy.

Uttamkumar Reddy added that a delegation from the state Congress met the Telangana assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy with a request to disqualify the two defected MLAs.

He wants the assembly speaker to follow the same precedence in the latest defections after council chairman K Swamy Goud disqualified three members, K Yadav Reddy, R Bhupathi Reddy, and S Ramulu Naik, for crossing over to the Congress from the TRS in January this year.
The Jammu Police, with the help of CCTV footage and eye-witness accounts, have arrested the person who had lobbed a grenade at the Jammu Bus Stand around 11.50 am on Thursday.

Addressing media persons here, Jammu region IGP, MK Sinha said, Around 11.50 am on Thursday, a grenade blast took place at the bus stand in which civilians were injured.

Sinha said that as soon as the police got the information, they rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to the Government Medical College and Hospital where one of the injured - 17-year-old Mohammed Sharik from Haridwar - succumbed to his injuries.

The IGP said that of the 32 people who were injured in the attack, 10 belonged to Jammu, 11 to Kashmir and nine were from other states. Two of the injured are still unidentified, he added.

Also read: Grenade attack kills teen at Jammu bus stand, leaves 29 injured

During evacuation of the injured, some police teams were tasked with collecting information from witnesses. We also accessed CCTV footage from the area. Based on the CCTV footage and oral testimonies, we identified a man who was wearing jeans and a jacket and had a red rucksack, said the IGP.

He was seen fleeing the area immediately after the blast. We immediately shared the CCTV footage and other details of the suspect with the police check posts and instructed them to thoroughly check the vehicles leaving Jammu City. The man was spotted at the Ban Toll Plaza and was immediately apprehended, said Sinha.

Also read: Sleep deprived, choked, beaten up: How IAF pilot Abhinandan held off Pak grilling

Sinha said that during preliminary questioning, He disclosed that Farooq Ahmed Bhat, district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kulgam, had given him the task and had provided him a grenade. On Wednesday, he left Kashmir and reached Jammu in the morning where he lobbed the grenade at the bus stand.

The officer also said that it was not possible to say at the moment if any other person was also involved with him.
The dismissal of a 19-year-old woman student from Jammu and Kashmir was cancelled by a city university, about two weeks after she was rusticated following allegations that she posted anti-national comments on social media after the February 14 Pulwama attack that claimed lives of 40 CRPF men.

A seven-member inquiry committee of the SGT University did not find the posts anti-national and the universitys PRO said she was initially dismissed as students were protesting inside the campus and they had to take some decision.

On Thursday, universitys spokesperson Rajneesh Yadav said the dismissal was revoked earlier this week and Zaffar, who had gone back to Kashmir, was yet to join the college. Initial decision was taken by a five-member committee after students approached us with screenshots of the social media posts. Later, the new committee decided to revoke the decision earlier this week, Yadav said.

The PRO did not specify what was the new information on the basis of which the rustication order was quashed.

When asked whether the initial decision to dismiss the student was taken to pacify the protestors, the PRO said, When around 500 students are protesting, then some decision has to be taken.

On February 19, Sadaf Zaffar, a second-year student in the varsitys undergraduate programme, was dismissed following a 20-minute-long meeting after around 500 students started protesting in college demanding her dismissal over anti-national comments, the PRO had said.

The protests died down within minutes of the student being dismissed.

During the protest, a university poster with Zaffars face on it was removed by a staffer and it was burnt by the protesting group, as teachers and police watched, show multiple videos of the incident HT accessed.

The police had earlier dismissed the social media post as a small issue and said that there was no material to file a suo-motto sedition case under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.
Two young leaders from Gujarat, who emerged as the faces of their respective communities before the 2017 assembly elections, are likely to make major political moves in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, according to people close to them.

While Patidar leader Hardik Patel has decided to join the Congress ahead of the March 12 Congress Working Committee meeting in Ahmedabad, party MLA and Other Backward Class (OBC) leader Alpesh Thakor may defect to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

I am joining the Congress, but have not decided the date. My priority is to join on March 12, Patel told HT on Thursday, adding he was yet to decide on where to contest the LS polls from.

Patels outfit Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, which was at the forefront of an agitation demanding reservation benefit for the community in government jobs and college admissions, had declared its support to the Congress party in the local body elections in 2015 and 2017 Gujarat assembly polls.

Confirming the development, a senior Congress leader, who asked not to be named, said, Hardik is joining the Congress, but its not clear when.

The Congress is focussing on Gujarat, the home state of PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, and had given a tough fight to the ruling party in the last assembly polls in the state.

On the speculation of Patel joining the Congress, one his close aides said, Why would we go to a Congress function. Even if Hardik decides to join [Congress], it will be at his show of strength where the Congress leadership would be invited.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman staved off Pakistani interrogators trying to extract crucial information on Indian troop deployment, high-security radio frequencies and sensitive logistics during the first 24 hours of his captivity in Pakistan after his MiG-21 Bison was shot down in a dogfight over the Line of Control, according to a senior officer debriefing the 35-year-old fighter pilot.

Varthaman was captured by Pakistani forces after he ejected from his plane when it took a hit on February 27 as Pakistani jets tried to target Indian military installations in the Rajouri sector a day after Indian Mirage-2000 jets bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp at Balakot in a cross-border airstrike.

The official, who is part of a team debriefing Varthaman after he walked back into India across the Wagah border on March 1, said the Wing Commander was deprived of sleep, choked and even beaten up by his captors in Pakistan.

During his captivity, Varthaman was made to stand for long hours and subjected to loud music to increase his discomfort, the official said, requesting anonymity.

He added that as Pakistani officers tried to extract information from him about the frequencies that the IAF uses to transmit messages, deployment of fighter jets and logistical arrangements, Varthaman held back.

Watch: Deprived of sleep and choked: Inside details from Abhinandans debriefing

All Indian fighter pilots are taught to hold back for as long as possible when captured, so that transmitting frequencies and deployments can be changed in the first 24 hours to deny the adversary any advantage, the officer said.

Wing Commander Abhinandan did exactly that, the officer said.

At least three to four separate teams comprising a select group of officers are debriefing Wing Commander Varthaman on various aspects of his captivity.

The Indian fighter pilot has been feted as a hero for the dignity he maintained during interrogations by Pakistani officers in videotaped conversations shared on social media. The officer quoted above said the India Air Force officer was constantly moved around. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) questioned him, but he was largely in custody of the Pakistan Army, he said. There was no medical treatment in the initial hours after ejection. On the contrary, he was made to stand, they played loud music to confuse and increase the discomfort. He was also chocked  a kind of dry waterboarding  and even beaten up, the officer said. Pakistan tried to extract information regarding Indian deployment.

During the 1999 Kargil conflict, Pakistani troops captured Flight Lieutenant Kambampati Nachiketa after his MiG-27 fighter jet was hit by a Stringer missile. He faced severe torture in Pakistani custody before being returned to India eight days later. An official report on his captivity said interrogators fired shots close to his feet to extract information. In Varthamans case, however, Indias strategic position globally appears to have helped the case, the official said.

As global diplomatic pressure began mounting, Pakistans treatment of Varthaman changed. Apart from Indian diplomatic efforts to build pressure, the US, UK and Saudi Arabia are understood to have spoken to Pakistani authorities following bilateral tensions in the wake of a suicide bombing in Kashmirs Pulwama that killed 40 troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on February 14.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack, following which India said the neighbouring country was harbouring terrorists and their supporters.

On the day of the dogfight over the Nowshera sector that led to the downing of Varthamans fighter jet, Pakistan also deployed two other packages north of Srinagar and south of Akhnoor, a senior IAF official said on condition of anonymity.

According to the IAFs initial assessment, Pakistani JF-17s were deployed near Srinagar and a package of Mirage-2000s flew near Akhnoor. The launch of multiple strike packages was to confuse and tie down our resources, the senior official aware of the IAF assessment said. The two packages, however, did not cross the LoC, the officer added.

The assessment shows that the Pakistan Air Force fired at least two US-made advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles. The official said that while the missiles, which can be fired only from the US-made F-16 fighter jet, puts India at a disadvantage, the capability to fire Meteor missiles - beyond visual range air-to-air missiles -- would have discouraged the three-pronged attack planned by Pakistan.
Yasin Malik, the chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has been booked under the stringent public safety act (PSA) and is being shifted to a jail in Jammu.

Malik was arrested on February 22 and kept at the Kothibagh police station in Srinagar. However, he was informed by police on Wednesday evening that he is being shifted to Jammus Kotbalwal jail.

JKLFs spokesperson confirmed Malik was booked under PSA, which allows for people to be held for up to two years without judicial intervention, and will be taken to Kotbalwal jail.

We condemn this arbitrary arrest and use of PSA against a political leader, the spokesperson said.

Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, another important leader of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), also criticised the government action on Malik.

Strongly condemn slapping of draconian PSA and shifting to #KotBalwalJail Jammu of #YasinMalik & others by the authorities. These illegal & undemocratic tactics will not stop people & leadership from demanding peaceful resolution of #Kashmir Dispute in accordance with peoples will, the Mirwaiz tweeted.

A strike was observed in Maisuma and adjoining areas after people came to know that Malik was being shifted to Kotbalwal jail.

More than 500 separatists leaders and workers, especially those belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami, have been arrested from different parts of the Valley since last two weeks. The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) imposed a ban on the J-K chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami last Thursday for allegedly indulging in activities prejudicial to internal security and public order.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday held a rally in south Kashmir to protest the Centres ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami after the February 14 Pulwama terror attack.

Mufti also accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre of interfering in the religious affairs of Muslims by arresting their religious leaders.
Militants and security forces exchanged fire in a village in Handwara of north Kashmir late on Wednesday, officials said on Thursday, days after a three-day gun battle ended in the area.

The exchange of firing took place late on Wednesday night and the area is still under cordon, officials said. They said they have reports that some militants are also present in the village.

Police said search operation is underway and that mobile internet has been snapped in the area.

Also Read | 54-hour encounter in J-Ks Handwara ends, 2 militants, 5 policemen killed

Two militants were killed over last weekend in a three-day encounter at Baba Gund area of Kralgund in Handwara, 72km north of Srinagar. The 54-hour gun battle had begun on Friday morning and ended on Sunday afternoon as three CRPF personnel, two Jammu and Kashmir policemen and a civilian were also killed.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday urged the Congress to reconsider its decision of not having an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.

I appeal to the Congress to ally with the AAP in Delhi, said NCP spokesman DP Tripathi. He added the division of votes could help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections if the Congress and AAP do not ally. Tripathis appeal came hours after Congress president Rahul Gandhi insisted his partys alliances across the country were on track but its Delhi unit was unanimously against any tie-up with the AAP.

He said the NCPs alliance with Congress in Maharashtra was finalised after a meeting between the presidents of the two parties last month. The issue over a couple of seats is being addressed, he said.

Tripathi said the NCP has conveyed to the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal about its claim over Katihar seat in Bihar. Tariq Anwar, who quit the NCP to join the Congress, represents the seat.
The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday said the charges of rioting and endangering the life of people against Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan during the promotion of his film on board a train in Kota will continue even after the petitioner said he did not want to pursue the case.

The single bench of justice KS Ahluwalia said this while hearing a petition by the actor to quash the FIR against him.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) had lodged an FIR against Shah Rukh Khan in 2017 on the complaint of a railway vendor, Vikram Singh, under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for rioting, unlawful assembly and affray, and some sections of the railways act.

Also read: Shah Rukh Khan booked for rioting, damaging property during Raees promotion

Shah Rukh Khan was travelling from Mumbai to New Delhi on August Kranti Rajdhani Express for the promotion of his film, Raees, when the train briefly stopped at the Kota railway station on January 24, 2017. The vendor alleged that the actor threw gifts at fans without getting down from the train.

As one such gift landed at Singhs trolley, Shah Rukhs fans lunged at it and in the process, they scattered food from the trolley. The vendor said in the melee, some money was also stolen from his trolley.

Singh was present in the court on Wednesday and said he was not interested in pursuing the case. But public prosecutor Sher Singh Mehla said the petitioner could not decide the case because it involved loss to public property.

The prosecutor said the GRP found the actor guilty of rioting and endangering life and personal safety of others in its report.

The matter has been posted for next hearing on May 28.
Lungfish shared some traits with humans, such as the ability to breathe air through lungs, but a new study has proved that they also have a similar life span of up to 80 years.

Dr Stewart Fallon of the Australian National University said lungfish have been on the threatened species list in Australia for decades, but this new understanding could help change that. One of the main issues is no one knew their longevity, he said.

A lot of fish have whats called an otolith  basically a solid stone in their inner ear. As the fish grows, the stone grows as well, and theres usually little annual marker bands on there, so we can count them and know how old the fish is. But the lungfish doesnt have that stone.

The other main issue is that to get an ear stone you usually have to kill the fish, so obviously you wouldnt want to do that to a threatened species.

Fallon and his collaborators came up with a new approach: measuring the amount of carbon-14 in lungfish scales to pinpoint how old the fish is. The researchers discovered they were able to place the fish on the bomb curve, which is used to chart the amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere. This curve has a distinct shape, starting to rise in the mid-50s with the advent of nuclear weapons and peaking in 1963, when the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty came into effect.

That carbons been basically mixing in with all the carbon in the Earth since then, Fallon said. So we have this distinct curve, and when we tested the fish we were able to reproduce that curve, and tell when the fish was born.

The ANU team did around 1200 radio carbon measurements over several years, and found fish aged 378 years. Researchers had previously struggled to find any evidence of juvenile fish, leading to concerns there was an ageing population and that the fish would eventually just disappear. People have been doing research on these fish for 80 years or more. Theres anecdotes about some of the fish in the Brisbane River being translocated from one of the other rivers in the early 1900s because they were already worried about the population then, Fallon said.

The researchers also noticed there were long time periods where no fish were born at all. For example, in the Mary River in the 1970s and 80s we didnt see many fish born. I actually dont know how theyve survived in Australia for so long. They like to lay their eggs in the shallow parts of the river, where there are plants for the eggs to cling onto. Whenever we have big floods it just wipes everything away, so in these time periods we may find there were big floods just beforehand, and then it takes several years for the plants to grow back. If youre trying to understand a certain population, this kind of information is pretty critical.

The research has been published in PLOS ONE (https://goo.gl/tH6kdb).
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday launched a counter-attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who demanded a criminal investigation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rafale deal. Jaitley said Gandhis facts were completely wrong in Rafale deal.

The government has repeatedly made its position clear. The Supreme Court has spoken on it. The petitioners are taking one more chance. The CAG has already analysed it. No dynast can claim that he is above the Supreme Court or the CAG and that their verdicts and findings dont apply on them, Jaitley said briefing the mediapersons in New Delhi.

[In] todays comment made by the Congress party and its presidentthe facts were completely wrong, said the finance minister adding, The Congress party has, in the last few days through statements of its senior leaders, corned itself in a difficult situation. They are getting high TRPs on Pakistan television. But there is revulsion as far as domestic opinion in India is concerned.

Politicians must understand people of India are more intelligent than us, Jaitley said. He also dismissed the oppositions questions over recent strike by the Indian Air Force in Pakistans Balakot. He said the fundamental issue is that India tried to strike at the root of terror through surgical strike and air strike. The IAF targeted a terror camp run by Jaish-e-Mohammed, which took responsibility for Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed last month.

Watch: Probe stolen papers, but also PM: Rahul Gandhi ups ante on Rafale

Earlier, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit back at Gandhi for demanding a probe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rafale deal. Responding to Gandhis fresh attack at PM Modi, Prasad said the Congress president is playing into hands of Rafale competitors.

Totally condemn the blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi. He doesnt believe the Indian Air Force. He doesnt believe the Supreme Court, doesnt believe the CAG [Comptroller and Auditor General]. Does he want to believe Pakistan? He is inadvertently or deliberately playing into hands of Rafale competitors, news agency ANI quoted Prasad as saying minutes after Gandhi held a press conference in New Delhi.

Gandhi had, in the morning, demanded a probe against Modi in Rafale deal saying the prime minister performed bypass surgery on Rafale deal to benefit industrialist Anil Ambani, whose defence firm, Reliance Defence is an off-set partner of the Dassault Aviation. The French company is the manufacturer of the Rafale fighter jet.

Also Read | Who visited Pak, who invited ISI to Pathankot? Rahul Gandhi counters PMs poster boy jibe

Why cant there be a criminal investigation against him also, said Gandhi referring to the Centres decision to probe the leak of official documents from the defence ministry. The government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the documents cited by lawyer Prashant Bhushan were stolen from the ministry. The court was hearing petitions seeking review of its 2018 judgment rejecting probe into Rafale deal.

Gandhi said that the same documents say that the Prime Ministers Office conducted parallel negotiation with France in Rafale deal, weakening the position of the Indian Negotiating Team (INT). He said INT was tasked with negotiating the Rafale contract.

Also Read | Its clear, PM did bypass surgery: Rahul Gandhi ups Rafale attack

The Congress president alleged that the prime minister interfered with the task of the INT to give Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani.

If PM is not guilty, why doesnt he himself agree for an investigation? Why did he refuse to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee, Gandhi said at his press conference.

On Wednesday evening, Gandhi posted a tweet saying there is enough evidence to lodge case against PM Modi in Rafale deal. There is now enough evidence to prosecute the PM in the #RafaleScam. The trail of corruption begins and ends with him. That crucial Rafale files incriminating him are now reported stolen by the Govt, is destruction of evidence and an obvious cover up, he wrote on Twitter.

The Congress has been relentlessly trying to corner the government alleging irregularities in the Rafale deal signed between India and France in 2016. The Congress has alleged that the Rafale deal that was being negotiated during the UPA regime was scrapped by the Modi government to favour industrialist Anil Ambani.

Both the government and Anil Ambanis firm have denied the allegations of the Congress. The government has maintained that the Rafale deal was signed in the interest of the country. The Supreme Court, in December last year, had ruled out commercial favouritism in Rafale deal while dismissing the petitions for independent probe into the Rs 59,000 crore contract.

Prasad , in his counter to Gandhis charge against PM Modi, referred to the CAG report on Rafale. The audit report tabled in Parliament during the Budget Session said that the Rafale deal signed by the Modi government was cheaper than the one that was being negotiated during the UPA regime.
Totally condemn blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Reacting to Rahul Gandhis media briefing on Rafale deal, Union minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, Totally condemn the blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi... He doesnt believe the Indian Air Force, he doesnt believe the SC, doesnt believe the CAG. Does he want to believe Pakistan? He is inadvertently or deliberately playing into hands of Rafale competitors. | ANI

Families of CRPF personnel have raised issue of airstrikes: Rahul Gandhi

Speaking about the IAF strikes on terror camp in Pakistan, Rahu Gandhi said, I wont talk much about it (evidence of IAF strikes), but yes I read that families of some of the CRPF personnel who were martyred have raised this issue, they are saying we were hurt so please show us what happened. |ANI

PM is poster boy of Pakistan, says Rahul Gandhi

Speaking on Indo-Pak relations, Rahul Gandhi says, PM got ISI to Pathankot, went to meet Nawaz Sharif, he is the poster boy of Pakistan.

If PM isnt guilty, why not order probe?

If prime minister is not guilty, why is he not ordering an investigation: Rahul Gandhi continues his attack on PM. He said, It is written in the document that PM should carry on the negotiationThe cost of Rafale was increasedWhy PM is not ordering investigationif he is not guilty, Why dont they set up JPC?

Def min officials complained of parallel negotiation by PMO

Defence ministry officials complained of parallel negotiation by PMO on Rafale.Why did they complain, there was a reason, says Rahu Gandhi

All truth will come out ultimately: Cong president

Rahul Gandhi says, There is direct connectionall truth will come out ultimatelyIn the defence ministry file, the Indian negotiating team says that PMO is carrying a parallel negotiationWhy are you interfering with their workThe reason is you wanted to give contract to Anil Ambani

Probe the prime minister: Rahul Gandhi

Probe whoever you want but investigate the prime minister too, says Rahul Gandhi. He says, Yes of course take action on those involved in this missing documents case but also initiate an inquiry on PMO making parallel negotiations.

PM Modi performed bypass surgery in Rafale deal: Rahul Gandhi

PM Modi performed bypass surgery in Rafale deal, purchase delayed to benefit Anil Ambani, says Congress president Rahul Gandhi | PTI

Rahul takes a dig at the govt

Rahul Gandhi takes dig at Modi government, says Gayab ho gaya is the new tag line for the government on Rafale deal

Rahul Gandhi begins media briefing

Congress president begins media briefing on Rafale deal in New Delhi. Apologises for being late.

Papers were stolen: Govts counter to Rafale plea

During a hearing in SC on Wednesday, the Attorney General cited the Official Secrets Act and demanded that the apex court turn down petitions seeking a review of its own December verdict rejecting a probe of the Rafale jet fighter deal. KK Venugopal said the petitioners case rested on stolen papers acquired from present or former employees of the defence ministry.

Enough evidence to prosecute PM in the Rafale Scam: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that there is now enough evidence to prosecute PM Modi in Rafale scam

There is now enough evidence to prosecute the PM in the Rafale Scam. The trail of corruption begins & ends with him. That crucial Rafale files incriminating him are now reported stolen by the Govt, is destruction of evidence & an obvious coverup, he said on Twitter, using the hashtag FIRagainstCorruptModi..
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday challenged Prime Minister Narenda Modi to face an investigation over alleged wrongdoing in the Rafale fighter jets deal, and said the new motto of the government should be gayab ho gaya (gone missing), a day after the Centre told the Supreme Court that some documents related to the deal were stolen from the defence ministry.

Gandhis comment s drew a swift counter-attack from Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Arun Jaitley, who said neither the Supreme Court nor the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India had found anything amiss in the deal, adding that no dynast could claim to be above such institutions.

Why cant a probe be ordered against the Prime Minister for the 30,000-crore scam when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents related to the Rafale deal? Gandhi asked at a press conference. Why isnt the Prime Minister allowing an investigation against himself if he is not guilty? Gandhi said

Why did he refuse a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe? If there is nothing wrong in the deal, then let there be a probe. Modi should say he is not afraid of any probe and allow investigation into the deal, he added.

The allusion to 30,000 crore is the estimated value of the offset deals offered to Indian suppliers by Rafale-maker Dassault Aviation of France. One of the suppliers is Anil Ambanis Reliance Defence, with which Dassault has forged a joint venture.

On Wednesday, attorney general KK Venugopal said some documents that had been stolen from the defence ministry by present or former employees had been affixed to a petition seeking a review of the Supreme Courts December verdict rejecting a court-monitored probe into the Rafale deal.

He urged the court to reject the petition because its case rested on stolen papers and should not be relied on, saying the government may invoke the Official Secrets Act that makes possession of secret official documents an offence. One document is an eight-page dissent note written by three domain experts in the Indian team that has already been published by The Hindu newspaper.

At Thursdays press conference, Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of performing a bypass surgery on the Rafale deal and holding parallel negotiations with the French interlocutors, citing a defence ministry document to that effect. He said the delivery of the Rafale aircraft had been delayed as a result.

Gandhi also attacked the Prime Minister for calling the Congress a poster boy of Pakistan for questioning the February 26 air strike on a terror camp in Balakot. It is Modi who is Pakistans poster boy, not us, he said.

Responding to Gandhis press conference, Jaitley said: Words were very few, facts were completely wrong and the motivation was also collateral. He also defended the governments stand in the Supreme Court over publication of critical media reports that were based on Rafale documents stolen from the defence ministry and that they violated the Official Secrets Act.

His Cabinet colleague, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, said Gandhi neither believed the Indian Air Force nor the Supreme Court. Will Rahul Gandhi need a certificate about Rafale from Pakistan? In that we cannot help. Of late he believes Pakistan more than Indian forces and its leaders, Prasad said..
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday took his political drive against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Rafale deal a step further. Gandhi said PM Modi is responsible for delay in delivery of Rafale fighter jets to the Indian Air Force.

The Congress presidents comment came in response to PM Modis statement that absence of Rafale fighter jet has hurt Indias defence preparedness.

Under contract being negotiated by the UPA government, the [Rafale] planes were to be supplied early. PM Modi got the contract delayed and now he says this delay is hurting India, Gandhi told a public rally at Kangra in Himachal Pradesh.

Gandhi also targeted Modi alleging that the prime minister politicised the Pulwama terror attack in his public rallies. He said, When Pulwama happened and action was ongoing with Pakistan, I held a press conference and said that the Congress and all its leader and workers are standing with IAF and the government.

We made it clear well not politicise it but it is sad that when the opposition was standing with government, the prime minister was politicising it, Gandhi said.

A CRPF convoy had been targeted by a suicide bomber in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama on February 14 killing 40 soldiers. Both the Congress and the BJP put off their immediate political functions after Pulwama attack. However, PM Modi attended government events, where he talked about Pulwama attack and emphasised the governments commitment to fight terrorism.

The Congress has stepped its campaign against the prime minister and the Modi government over Rafale deal and also its policy to deal with terrorism. Earlier in the day, Gandhi demanded a probe against PM Modi in Rafale deal.

Gandhi alleged that PM Modi conducted parallel negotiation with France in Rafale deal bypassing the Indian Negotiating Team (INT), constituted for finalising the defence contract. The Congress president claimed that PM Modi conducted parallel negotiation to benefit businessman Anil Ambani, whose firm, Reliance Defence is an offset partner of Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale fighter jets.
The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the Centre 10 days to convey to it the possible dates when the selection panel for the appointment of the countrys first anti-graft ombudsman  Lokpal  will meet.

A chief justice Ranjan Gogoi-led bench asked attorney general KK Venugopal to revert within the fixed deadline.

It was earlier informed that former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai-led Lokpal Search Committee has forwarded three panels of names for chairperson, judicial members and non-judicial members to the selection committee.

Venugopal said Desai has informed him about the development and that she sent the recommendations on February 28. He added the shortlisted names are with the selection committee.

The court rejected lawyer Prashant Bhushans plea to put the recommended names in the public domain. Transparency is a subjective term. You have done a good work but there has to be a limit somewhere. You have to stop. We do not think names require to be put in public domain, Gogoi told Bhushan.

Bhushan appeared for petitioner Common Cause, a non-governmental Organisation that has filed a contempt plea against the Centre for not appointing Lokpal despite a Supreme Court judgement. The Supreme Court had on January 17 ordered the Lokpal search panel to shortlist and recommend the names by February end.

The Lokpal Act was passed in 2013. It envisages the establishment of the Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against public servants. The Lok Pal Selection Committee comprises the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha speaker, the chief justice of India or his nominee, Leader of the Opposition and an eminent jurist. As there is no leader of Opposition currently, the leader of the Congress legislature party in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, was invited to the meetings as a special invitee, said Venugopal . But Kharge was not attending the meetings, he added.

Venugopal opposed Bhushans plea, saying it would open a Pandoras box if any names are disclosed at this stage.

Bhushan insisted to know the names. But the bench said: The selection committee is in seize of matter. We have considered the matter. At this stage, we request AG [attorney general] to convey the date of meeting for selecting the Lokpal.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday stepped up the campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, demanding that the government probe him too. Why cant there be a criminal investigation against him also, Gandhi said, pointing to the Centres decision to probe the leak of official documents from the defence ministry.

The Congress presidents fresh attack comes a day after the governments top law officer told the Supreme Court that the documents cited by lawyer Prashant Bhushan were stolen. The top court was hearing requests to review its December verdict that rejected the demand for a probe into the deal to purchase Rafale fighter jets from French aviation firm Dassault Aviation.

Watch: Probe stolen papers, but also PM: Rahul Gandhi ups ante on Rafale

One document is an eight-page dissent note written by three domain experts in the Indian negotiating team. In another, a top defence ministry official complained about the PMO conducting parallel parleys with the French authorities in the controversial Rafale deal which, Rahul Gandhi cited, to accuse the PMO of influencing the deal. PM Modi performed bypass surgery in Rafale deal, he said.

Attorney General KK Venugopal also told the three-judge bench that the government could invoke the Official Secrets Act against The Hindu newspaper, which had published the papers.

Yes of course take action on those involved in this missing documents case but also initiate an inquiry on PMO making parallel negotiations, Gandhi said at a media conference in the national capital. Sharpening his attack moments later, he asked: Why doesnt the PM get a probe ordered if he isnt guilty.

The ruling BJP-led national coalition has rejected the Congress campaign against the prime minister over the deal to buy 36 fighter jets on several elections. In the court yesterday, the Centre also told the judges that defence deals could not be judicially examined. Outside, the BJP often accuses the Congress of acting at the behest of vested interests that the government says, would hurt national security.

At Thursdays press conference, Rahul Gandhi kept his focus on the governments line that some Rafale papers had been stolen before he broadened his attack.

Gayab ho gaya (It has vanished) is the governments new tagline, Rahul Gandhi said at the start of his briefing.

First, he said, it was the 2 crore jobs for youth that vanished. Then the promised right price to farmers for their crops, then the promised 15 lakh to be deposited in bank accountsNow, Rafale file has disappeared, he went on before accusing the government of trying to evade an investigation.

The Rafale deal has become controversial with the Opposition, led by the Congress, claiming that the price at which India is buying Rafale aircraft now is 1,670 crore for each, three times the 526 crore, the initial bid by the company when the UPA was trying to buy the aircraft. It has also claimed the previous deal included a technology transfer agreement with HAL.

The NDA has not disclosed details of the price, but the UPA deal, struck in 2012, was not a viable one, former defence minister Manohar Parrikar has previously said, implying that it would have never been closed and that, therefore, any comparison is moot. Indeed, the UPA was not able to close the deal until 2014, largely over discussions related to pricing of items not included in the initial bid.

The deal has also become controversial on account of the fact that one of the offset deals signed by Dassault is with the Reliance Group of Anil Ambani. The Congress claims the earlier deal was scrapped and a new one signed just to provide Ambani this opportunity for an offset deal. Both the government and Reliance have repeatedly denied this.
Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik will be kept in a separate cell and will not be allowed to interact with other prisoners in Jammus high-security Kot Bhalwal prison, a senior official said on Thursday.

Malik, the chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has been booked under the public safety act (PSA) and will be shifted to Kot Bhalwal jail on the outskirts of Jammu and Kashmirs winter capital.

JKLFs spokesperson confirmed Malik was booked under PSA, which allows for people to be held for up to two years without judicial intervention, and will be taken to Kot Bhalwal jail.

We condemn this arbitrary arrest and use of PSA against a political leader, the spokesperson said.

Though we havent got any intimation or warrant of Yasin Malik being shifted to the Kot Bhalwal prison as of now but once shifted here, he will be totally segregated from other prisoners, a top official, who did not wish to be named, said.

He will be totally segregated and kept in a cell. He will not be kept with other prisoners. There will be no preferential treatment at all to him and he will be treated like other prisoners, he added.

A source with the home department told the Hindustan Times that the separatist leader, if shifted to Kot Bhalwal jail, will be kept in room number 3 which has a kitchen.

The high-security jail has 510 prisoners, including 200 Pakistani and local militants, those arrested for throwing stones and detainees under the Public Safety Act (PSA), lodged in its 15 blocks.

In January this year, Jammu and Kashmir police had seized two cell phones and five pen drives seized among other things during a massive search operation. The operation was launched after three months of planning.

In December 2006, police quelled a revolt by about 300 terrorists, including some Pakistanis, after a move to shift some them outside the state sparked a stand-off.

In May 2013, Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay was attacked inside the prison by a fellow prisoner and died later that month in a Chandigarh hospital.
In case you wanted more reasons why taking a phone to the loo probably isnt the best idea, heres something that may act as a cautionary tale. A little boy in China was so distracted while playing on a mobile phone in the bathroom, he found himself stuck inside a toilet seat. Eventually firefighters had to be called in to help him out of the tough situation.

The incident took place in Wuhan, Chinas Hubei Province on March 1. A video circulating online details how the firemen worked in tandem to rescue the boy.

According to reports, the six-year-old had locked himself inside the bathroom and was playing on the phone. He eventually realised he was stuck inside the toilet seat and couldnt free himself. Family members tried to help him as well but eventually had to call in firefighters to rescue him.

Five firemen arrived to help the boy. They used tools to break the seat in order to pull the child out.

The rescue operation took about an hour and the boy escaped the ordeal with some bruises.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Hardik Patel, who led the Patidar stir for reservation in government jobs and education in Gujarat, is likely to join the Congress sometime in March, sources said on Thursday.

According to sources in the Congress party, the date of Hardik Patels joining has not been decided as yet.

Reports had said Patel would join the Congress when party president Rahul Gandhi and other top leaders will visit the state for a meeting of its working committee on March 12.

Sources close to Patel said that the possibility of him joining the opposition party during the meeting is unlikely as it is a Congress event. Patel, they said, will stage a show of strength, invite Rahul Gandhi and then join the Congress.

While the 25-year-old leader has not said anything on the swirling speculation, president of the Congress state unit Amit Chavdas statement on Wednesday that they will contest on all 26 seats, further fuelled the fire.

Patel has already announced he will contest the Lok Sabha elections and there is little doubt that he would either fight with the Congress partys support or as its candidate.

A report by news agency PTI quoted unnamed sources as saying that Patel would contest the Lok Sabha election from Jamnagar constituency in Gujarat. The Jamnagar seat is currently represented by Poonamben Maadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Hardik Patels outfit Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, which was at the forefront of agitation for reservation benefit in government jobs and college admissions, had declared its support to the Congress party in the local body elections in 2015 and assembly polls in 2017.

The BJP, since the beginning of the quota agitation in July 2015, has called him an agent of the Congress.

Patel had spent nine months in jail in Surat and six months in exile out of Gujarat in connection with two sedition cases against him.

There have also been speculations that Congress OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, who emerged as young leader along with Patel ahead of 2017 assembly elections, is likely to join the BJP, along with two other Congress MLAs.

I will make some announcement on Friday in a press conference, Thakor said.

The Congress is focussing on Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, and had given a tough fight to the ruling party in the last assembly polls in the state.
The seat-sharing deal between the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka is expected to be announced by March 10, leaders of the two parties familiar with the development said on Wednesday.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi called on former prime minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda at his Delhi residence on Wednesday to discuss the seat-sharing issue.

Gowda asked Gandhi to leave 10 out of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka for the JD(S). Initially, Gowdas party had demanded 12 seats.

However, the Congress is not willing to concede more than eight seats, arguing that it had offered the JD(S) to lead the coalition despite having won more seats in the 2018 assembly polls.

It had initially offered six seats to the JD(S) depending on its winnability and not on the basis of the one-third, two-third formula as suggested by the JD(S), according to Congress leaders with knowledge of the matter.

The other problem confronting the two parties is the allocation of constituencies. The JD(S) had demanded Shivamogga, Hassan, Mandya, Mysuru, Bengaluru North, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Raichur, Bidar, Bijapur and Uttara Kannada seats.

While the Congress is willing to concede Hassan, Mandya and Shivamogga, it appears unlikely to give up its claim on Bengaluru North, Mysuru, Tumakuru and Chikkaballapur besides two seats in north Karnataka.

During the two-hour meeting, the two leaders discussed the current political situation in the country and the need for opposition unity.

The two leaders later authorised Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, K C Venugopal, and JD(S) national general secretary Danish Ali, who were present at the meeting, to work out the final seat-sharing model and discuss the modalities.

Rahulji discussed seat sharing in Karnataka. This is the first such discussion between the two parties. Earlier, I had asked for 12 seats. I requested him to give at least 10 seats to the JD (S), Gowda told reporters after the meeting. He said Gandhi will take a final call on the seat sharing issue after taking inputs from Ali and Venugopal but insisted that the objective of the pre-poll alliance is to win the elections.

A senior Congress leader, who asked not to be named because the negotiations were going on, said there was no question of the party giving up seats it had won.
Students are more likely to rate male university teachers higher than their female counterparts in some areas of STEM and Business, according to Australias largest review of student experience surveys.

The study, published in PLOS ONE (https://goo.gl/DcV2w7), examined almost 525,000 individual student experience surveys from UNSW Sydney students across five faculties during 201016.

The study showed that in Business and Science, a male teacher from an English-speaking background was more than twice as likely to get a higher score on a student evaluation than a female teacher from a non-English-speaking background. In Engineering there wasnt a significant swing against female teachers but male English-speaking teachers were 1.4 times more likely to get a higher score than all other teachers. For Medicine, local students were more likely to give lower scores to female teachers from non-English-speaking backgrounds.

In the Business and Science faculties in particular, male English-speaking teachers have the highest probability of getting the highest possible grade at six out of six possible scores, said lead author A/Prof Yanan Fan of UNSW Science.

In Arts and Social Sciences there was no statistically significant bias against female teachers. This suggests that there is less bias where there is a larger proportion of female teachers. Bias was observed, however, against male non-English-speaking background teachers when evaluated by local students.

Fan said there was growing evidence to suggest that all aspects of employment, from hiring to performance evaluation to promotion, are affected by gender and cultural background. Reducing bias will have great benefits for society as university students represent a large proportion of future leaders in government and industry, Fan said.

UNSW Dean of Science and co-author of the study, Prof Emma Johnston, said: We need to continue to support women at all levels of academia in STEM across Australia, in order to smash stereotypes that create the partiality that exists within our community.
The none of the above or NOTA option on electronic voting machines (EVMs) allows voters to exercise their right to disapprove of all the candidates contesting the elections.

The Election Commission added the NOTA button on the EVMs as the last option on the voting panel after the Supreme Court order in September 2013. NOTA was exercised by nearly 60 lakh people in the Lok Sabha election held in 2014.

NOTA also has its own symbol: A ballot paper with a black cross across it.

Heres all you need to know about NOTA.

What is NOTA?

The Supreme Court in September 2013 upheld the right of voters to reject all candidates contesting the elections, saying it would go a long way in cleansing the political system of the country. The top court directed the Election Commission to have an option of NOTA on EVMs and ballot papers in a major electoral reform.

How is a NOTA vote cast?

The EVMs have the NOTA option at the end of the candidates list. Earlier, in order to cast a negative ballot, a voter had to inform the presiding officer at the polling booth. A NOTA vote doesnt require the involvement of the presiding officer.

When was NOTA first used in India? How did it fare?

The NOTA option was first used in the assembly elections held in five states in 2013. More than 15 lakh people exercised the option in the state polls. The figure, however, was lower than 1.5% of the total voters. Around 50,000 voters opted for NOTA in Delhi; 3.56 lakh in Chhattisgarh; 5.9 lakh in Madhya Pradesh and 5.67 lakh in Rajasthan.

What was a similar provision before NOTA?

Before the NOTA option came in existence, people casting negative votes were required to enter their names in a register and cast their vote on a separate paper ballot.

Under Section 49 (O) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, a voter could enter his electoral serial number in Form 17A and cast a negative vote. The presiding officer would then put a remark in the form and get it signed by the voter. This was done to prevent fraud or misuse of votes.

This provision was, however, deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court as it did not protect the identity of the voter.

What difference does NOTA make?

The NOTA option does not impact the results of the elections.

The NOTA option on EVMs has no electoral value. Even if the maximum number of votes cast is for NOTA, the candidate getting the most of the remaining votes would be declared the winner, an election commission official said.

Why have NOTA if theres no electoral value?

The Supreme Court had said negative voting would even encourage people who are not satisfied with any of the candidates to turn up to express their opinion and reject all contestants.

Negative voting will lead to a systemic change in polls and political parties will be forced to project clean candidates. If the right to vote is a statutory right, then the right to reject a candidate is a fundamental right of speech and expression under the Constitution, said a bench headed by then Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam.

The bench also pointed out that the system of negative voting existed in several other countries. Even in Parliament, the MPs have the option to abstain during a vote.

How are 49(O) and NOTA different?

Section 49 (O) stood annulled after the SC cleared the NOTA provision. It gave the poll officials a chance to find out the reason behind the rejection of a candidate through the voters remarks in Form 17A. Through NOTA, the officials cannot find out the reason for the rejection. Moreover, it protects the identity of a voter, thus keeping the concept of secret balloting intact.

Which other countries allow NOTA?

Colombia, Ukraine, Brazil, Bangladesh, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Chile, France, Belgium and Greece allow their voters to cast NOTA votes. The US also allows it in a few cases. The state of Texas in the US permits the provision since 1975. The option, however, has faced opposition there.

In recent elections:

The NOTA appeared to have outperformed several political parties, including the AAP and Samajwadi Party, which contested the assembly polls in the five states in December last year.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which fielded its candidates on 85 seats out of 90 seats in Chhattisgarh, got 0.9% of votes while NOTA votes were 2.1% of the counted votes in the state. Samajwadi Party and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) got 0.2% votes each in Chhattisgarh. The Communist Party of India (CPI) got 0.3% votes in the state.

In Madhya Pradesh, NOTA votes were 1.5% of the total counted votes. The Samajwadi Party got 1.01% while AAP got 0.7% votes.

The NOTA votes in Rajasthan elections were 1.3%. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and SP got 1.2% and 0.2% votes respectively. The AAP and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) received 0.4% and 0.3% votes each in the state.

In Telangana assembly polls, NOTA got 1.1% of votes while NCP got 0.1% of votes. The CPI(M) polled 0.4% votes while CPI received 0.4% votes.

In Mizoram, NOTA got 0.5% of votes while Peoples Represent for Identity and Status of Mizoram (PRISM) got 0.2% of votes.
Hardik Patel, who led the Patidar stir for quota in Gujarat, is likely to join the Congress on March 12 when party president Rahul Gandhi and other top leaders will visit the state for a meeting.

While 25-year-old leader has not said anything on the swirling speculation, president of the Congress state unit Amit Chavdas statement on Wednesday that they will contest on all 26 seats, further fuelled the fire.

Patel has already announced he will contest the Lok Sabha elections and there is little doubt that he would either fight with the Congress partys support or as its candidate.

A report by news agency PTI quoted unnamed sources as saying that Patel would contest the Lok Sabha election from Jamnagar constituency in Gujarat. The Jamnagar seat is currently represented by Poonamben Maadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

His outfit Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, which was at the forefront of agitation for reservation benefit in government jobs and college admissions, had declared its support to the Congress party in the local body elections in 2015 and assembly polls in 2017.

The BJP, since the beginning of the quota agitation in July 2015, has called him an agent of the Congress.

Patel had spent nine months in jail in Surat and six months in exile out of Gujarat in connection with two sedition cases against him.

There have also been speculations that Congress OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, who emerged as young leader along with Patel ahead of 2017 assembly elections, is also likely to join the BJP, along with two other Congress MLAs.

I will make some announcement on Friday in a press conference, Thakor said.

The Congress is focussing on Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, and had given a tough fight to the ruling party in the last assembly polls in the state.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday sharply countered Prime Minister Narendra Modis charge that Opposition leaders were poster boys of Pakistan, saying everyone knows who poster boy of Pakistan was.

Who visited Pakistan for a wedding in Nawaz Sharifs family? Who invited ISI team to Pathankot? So then, who is the poster boy of Pakistan? Gandhi asked, referring to PM Modis 2015 surprise visit to Lahore days ahead of the wedding of the granddaughter of then PM Sharif and to Pakistans joint investigation team visiting Pathankot after a terror attack on an IAF station in 2016. (Live updates)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday called Opposition leaders Pakistans poster boys for seeking proof of the damage inflicted on Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) camp in Balakot.

They abuse Modi here and get clapping in Pakistan. Their faces are on Pakistani TV channels. In a way they have become poster boys of Pakistan, Modi said at a rally in Madhya Pradeshs Dhar district

Read: Gayab ho gaya is govts new line: Rahul Gandhi ups Rafale attack on PM

The Congress presidents counter-attack came during a press conference as the opposition party upped the attack on the government months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

On December 2015, Prime Minister Modi sprang a surprise by flying to Lahore to meet Sharif on his way back from a brief visit to Afghanistan.

Sharif was at the airport to receive Modi when he landed in Lahore on December 25. Besides being Sharifs birthday, December 25 is the birth anniversary of Pakistans founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Modi also blessed the granddaughter of Sharif on her wedding.

Read: Leaked documents did not deter probe, action in other key cases

Gandhis other point of attack was on the NDA government allowing a joint investigation team from Pakistan, which had an ISI officer also, to visit Pathankot where an IAF station had been attacked by terrorists.

Four terrorists and three security forces personnel were killed in the attack.
A day after BJP MP Sharad Tripathi and party MLA Rakesh Singh Baghel were involved in a shoe fight during a meeting in Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, the two leaders engaged in a fierce war of words on Thursday.

Before leaving for Lucknow after being summoned by the party high command, Sant Kabir Nagar MP Sharad Tripathi, who is also the son of former BJP state president Ramapati Ram Tripathi, alleged that Mehndawal MLA Rakesh Baghel was involved in illegal activities.

All contracts, including those of sand mining and road construction, are awarded to him (Baghel) or his men as he resorts to pressure tactics. Why only he is getting contracts? Are other contractors dead? Tripathi asked and said he would report the Baghels illegal activities to the leadership.

Baghel, a former member of the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) and a prominent Thakur leader considered close to CM Yogi Adityanath, however refuted the allegations and said: All charges against me are baseless. You can check with the officials that I have never forced them for anything.

Attacking Tripathi, he said there are four MLAs in his parliamentary constituency.

You ask the MLAs how much work has been done in my area and in his (Tripathis) constituency, he said.

When asked why the tension escalated so much over the mention of names on the stone plaque, Baghel said: The plaque was for a two-lane road worth 25 crore which was inaugurated on March 5. The plaque was not even put up as its inauguration was to be done by the CM (Yogi Adityanath). Tripathi did not attend the programme. He wants his name but does not want to work.

Baghel said the MPs words at the meeting showed his arrogance.

UP BJP president MN Pandey said both the leaders have reached Lucknow. I will try to make them understand about the indiscipline that we witnessed there and give them strict directions on how to behave.
The Supreme Court has given yet another opportunity to the parties concerned to amicably resolve the emotive issue of Ramjanmabhumi/Babri Mosque that has literally haunted the countrys psyche for over a century.

It was in 1853 when the first communal conflict was reported over the contentious issue while the first petition was filed in the local court in 1885. Since then, there have been umpteen twists and turns in the legal case with all the dialogues and formulas coming to naught.

At least three Prime Ministers, several Shankaracharyas, priests and a high-profile godman have evolved formulas since the demolition of the disputed shrine in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

Late godman Chandraswami had started negotiations in the late 80s, former prime minister Chandrashekhar had set up an Ayodhya cell in his office which remained active in the PMO even during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee to negotiate a settlement. Several rounds of parleys, many behind the scene, were held in Delhi, Lucknow and Ayodhya.

Former high court judge late Palok Basu even launched a signature campaign in Ayodhya while Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had also pitched in to hammer out a solution, only to be snubbed by the Nyas.

The Art of Living founder held dialogue with stakeholders Ram Lalla Virajman, Nirmohi Akhara and Sunni Waqf Board and had also met chief minister Yogi Adityanath before travelling down to Ayodhya in mid-November last year. All appreciated his efforts but refused to adhere to any formula.

The formulas have ranged from construction of a temple where a makeshift one exists today on the debris of the demolished shrine while shifting the mosque elsewhere in the temple town to building a mosque and temple side by side.

The issue is where the mosque should be built as any compromise on shifting the temple appears impossible and this even the minority community agrees. Thus, some of them agree to the construction of the mosque within 67 acres of land but Nyas wants it reconstructed outside the 84 kos parikrama route.

Even the protagonists of the temple movement are divided. Some agree to rebuilding of the mosque within the 67 acres of acquired land, the hardliners wanted it to be shifted out of Ayodhya.

VHPs Ayodhya-based spokesman Sharad Sharma said, The mosque has to be out of the 84 kos parikrama route, the cultural boundary of Ayodhya.

The 84 kos parikrama route touches five districts bordering the temple town.

As both the parties stubbornly held to their ground, the

litigants as well as the political parties started preferring a legal settlement of the dispute.

WHY RAY OF HOPE NOW?

However the apex courts mediation move has once again raised hopes for a negotiated resolution of the prickly issue.

It is for the first time that the Sunni Central Waqf Board has shed much of its intransigence by agreeing to come to the negotiating table. Its chairman Zufar Ahmed Faruqi had told HT that he would represent the board in mediation.

The Shia Waqf Board has consistently favoured building of a temple at the same site with its chairman Wasim Rizvi even offering to donate their share of land, when granted by the courts.

The All-India Personal Law Board has throughout preferred legal settlement. However, it has no direct role to play in the dispute as it is not a party in the ongoing case.

However, throwing the spanner in the efforts are the Hindu Mahasabha, Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and Ram Lalla Virajman.

While the Hindu Mahasabha has opposed mediation in the courts, the BJP-VHP supported Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (RJN) that had spearheaded the temple movement, also rejected the move.

RJN head Mahant Nritya Gopal Das said they disfavour mediation in the Ayodhya dispute even if it was conducted by a Supreme Court mediator.

Triloki Nath Pandey, who represents Ram Lalla Virajman in the Supreme Court, said: I am against any form of mediation in the case at this stage. In the past, all efforts for an out-of-court settlement of the dispute through mediation have failed.

Thus, the BJP and the RSS will have to use their persuasive skills to bring them to the negotiating table for last-ditch efforts to resolve the tangle.

And the discussions will have to be fresh, breaking from the past formulas.

The Supreme Court had first stirred the pot in August 2017 by suggesting a negotiated settlement of the emotive issue with the Chief Justice of India even offering to act as a mediator between the two sides laying claim over the historic site in the temple city.

An expert, who did not wish to be named, said: Perhaps the settlement is buried in the pages of history. The Gyanvapi Mosque was built after destroying a Hindu temple, the remnants of which exist on its walls even today. Kashi Vishwanath temple was built adjacent to the mosque. Similarly in Mathura, temple and mosque co-exist at the Krishna Janma Sthan.

Interestingly, both Mathura and Kashi are protected under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991.
Every year on March 8, International Womens Day is celebrated all over the world to commemorate the achievements of women in political, social, cultural and economic spheres. It helps reminds us how important gender equality is. Formally, Womens Day was adopted by the UN in 1977, before which it was mostly celebrated in socialist and communist countries.

To share Womens Day wishes with your mother, wife, friends and others, we have made a list of cards which you can greet them with. Choose which ones you want to send them from the list below. And Happy Womens Day!

Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter
Google celebrated the Russian mathematician Olga Ladyzhenskayas 97th birth anniversary with a Google Doodle and a video about her life and achievements. She was known for her work on partial differential equations and fluid dynamics.

Ladyzhenskaya was born in Kologriv, in erstwhile Soviet Union. Her love for mathematics started from an early age since her father was a mathematics teacher and inspired her love for the subject.

However, Ladyzhenskaya had a pretty difficult childhood. The Soviet Union government labelled her father as enemy of the people and when she was 15 years old he was arrested by the interior ministry of the Soviet Union and killed soon after.

Even though she was a great student, Ladyzhenskaya did not get permission into Leningrad University, because of her family name. It is one of the most prestigious universities in Russia. However, after the death of then Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin in 1952, she got a second chance. In 1953, she got a second chance and presented her degree.

She later taught at Leningrad University and at the Steklov Institute. Ladyzhenskaya was the first one to give precise proof of the convergence of a finite difference method for the Navier-Stokes equations. She was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal in 2002, two years before she died.

Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A 33-year-old woman, and three others, were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly murdering her husbands third wife. The other three arrested accused are the mans two daughters from his first marriage and one of the daughters boyfriend.

The main accused, Parvati Mane, is Sushil Mishras second wife. According to police, Mane conspired to murder the victim after Mishra started living with his new wife, stopped having physical relations with her and supporting her financially, said police.

Police believe that three more may be involved in the crime and are now on the lookout for them.

Mishra, 45, works as a labour contractor and is a resident of Nalla Sopara (East). His first wife resides in Uttar Pradesh. After marrying Mane in 2017, he made his home in Don Lane with her and two daughters from the first marriage, said Jitendra Vankoti, police inspector, local crime branch, Palghar.

About a year ago, Mishra married Yogita, and moved to another apartment at Link Road. Over the last one year, Mishra abstained from having physical relations with Mane and gave her insufficient money. As a result, she had to do odd jobs, said Vankoti.

On February 28, when Mishra had gone on a business trip to Gujarat, Mane, Mishras two daughters and one of the daughters boyfriend went to the Link Road apartment and strangled Yogita. They then wrapped her body in a blanket and dumped it near a mall in Nalla Sopara.

On March 1, the body was found by locals, who approached the police. On scanning the CCTV footage, the police saw the body being carried to the spot in an auto rickshaw.

The police scanned 4,000 rickshaws before identifying the driver. Then, with the auto drivers help, they tracked the accused.
The enmity between Shiv Sena minister Arjun Khotkar and Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Raosaheb Danve could become a sticking point for the saffron combine in Maharashtra.

Khotkar, a minister of state for animal husbandry and fisheries, had vowed to contest the Jalna Lok Sabha seat against Danve, even if there is an alliance between the Sena and BJP.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray have intervened to pacify Khotkar and ensure that Danves election is not sabotaged by local Sena leaders. Khotkar and Danve come from Jalna district of Marathwada in central Maharashtra.

Khotkar met Thackeray at the latters residence in Bandra on Wednesday. Following the meeting, Khotkar reiterated his decision to contest the Jalna seat against Danve, who is the sitting MP. I met Uddhav ji and presented my issues before him. In fact, about a year ago, it was Uddhav ji who asked me to start preparing for this election. Now Uddhav ji and chief minister will discuss this issue. It is a prestige issue for them because the seat belongs to the state BJP president. I will respect whatever decision Uddhav ji and the CM take, Khotkar told reporters after the meeting. Khotkar added that in his meeting with Thackeray, he has sought the Jalna seat for the party.

It is expected that Fadnavis and Thackeray will meet soon to end this deadlock. Earlier, BJP leader and minister Subhash Deshmukh met Danve and Khotkar, aiming for a reconciliation, but it was unsuccessful. Khotkar also met Fadnavis on Monday to resolve the issue. Danve is also expected to meet Thackeray soon.

The enmity in Jalna could affect equations between the two parties in central Maharashtra, which will any way see a fierce battle between the saffron combine and Opposition coalition in the Lok Sabha polls. The region has eight Lok Sabha seats, of which six were won by the saffron combine, while Congress won two in 2014.

Last month, Khotkar said that he should be allowed to contest against Danve, if not, he is willing to contest as an Independent candidate.

Khotkar on Wednesday refuted rumours that he is being tapped by the Congress or plans to quit the Sena, and said, I will decide my future course of action after hearing the decision made by Uddhav ji and the CM. Let them discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government issued a government resolution to regularise encroachment of government land up to January 1, 2011. The state government regularised encroachment on plots up to 1,500 sq feet or smaller. The state has appointed a committee under the chairmanship of the collector to regularise the encroachment in municipal corporation, nagar parishad areas. The encroachments on land above 1,500 sq ft will be demolished and itll be regularised after payment of a fee. However, people belonging to the SC/ST will not have to pay the fee.
The Delhi polices crime branch has arrested four foreign nationals, including two Nigerians, from Uttar Pradeshs Greater Noida area for allegedly cheating people by posting fake matrimonial profiles, officials said. Raymond (28) and Melody (21) from Nigeria, and Kareem Ridwan (27) and Osas Clifford (28) have been arrested. They were staying at Greater Noida, police said.

The arrests were made following a complaint from a woman in Pune. The woman said she came across the matrimonial profile of Tiwari Pandit on a site and they started speaking to each other, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Cyber, Anyesh Roy, said. Police said after gaining her trust, Pandit told her that he lived abroad and he would send his bag to her which he would collect later, police said. Later, she got a call from a woman, who claimed to be from the Customs and Excise Department. The caller asked her to deposit Rs 24,000 in a bank account for clearance of the luggage, which she did, Roy said. However, when more money was asked from her, she got suspicious and lodged a complaint. She realised that she was duped, the officer said During investigation, police got a tip-off that the accused persons would be present at a flat in Greater Noida to meet their accomplices, Roy said.

Police raided the flat and apprehended two brothers Raymond and Melody, Roy said, adding later, two more accused persons were also arrested from Greater Noida. Three laptops and 11 mobile phones were recovered from their possession, police said. It was also found that they were in possession of expired visas and two fake passports. During interrogation, the accused persons disclosed that they got the idea to fool people from the webistes and social media, the DCP said. They used to make fake profiles on matrimonial sites by collecting information and photos from Facebook and Instagram.

Then they cheated people by posting fake profiles, Roy said. Raymond and Melody came to India from Nigeria and were doing some garment export work. They could not pursue their work due to financial crisis and later started duping people through various web portals, Roy added.
CSIRO scientists have helped to develop a strain of mosquitoes that do not spread the devastating Zika virus, which caused more than 4000 cases of serious birth defects in 2015 and is still a risk to millions of people.

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes normally pick up the Zika virus when they feed on the blood of an infected person, and can then spread the virus to the next person they bite. Our study found the mosquitoes with an anti-Zika gene were unable to pick up Zika when they fed, so they were incapable of spreading the virus to anybody else, said Dr Prasad Paradkar of CSIRO, who co-authored the paper published in PNAS (https://goo.gl/YDiYRe).

The researchers injected a synthetic anti-Zika gene into mosquito embryos along with a red-eye gene to differentiate them from normal mosquitoes. Once the mosquitoes were adults, the anti-Zika gene prevented them from picking up the virus when they fed.

Zika has spread to 86 countries, but is not currently present in Australia. However, Aedes aegypti is the biggest transmitter of the virus and is established in northern Queensland and the Torres Strait.

People in 86 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific are at risk of Zika, Paradkar said. With increased globalisation and international travel, the virus is capable of making it to Australian shores some day. Infection during pregnancy can cause life-threatening complications to a foetus or newborn baby, including birth defects such as microcephaly.

The mosquitoes were engineered at the University of California San Diego and were tested in the quarantined insectary at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong, CSIROs national biocontainment facility that allows scientific research into the most dangerous infectious agents in the world.
China has praised Pakistan for its handling of the tense situation with India, appreciating Islamabads restraint in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in February.

The Chinese foreign ministry on Thursday released a statement in Chinese following the visit of vice-foreign minister Kong Xuanyou to Pakistan, lauding Islamabads response.

China has paid close attention to the present situation between Pakistan and India, and appreciates Pakistan remaining calm and exercising restraint from the beginning, and persisting in pushing to lower the temperature with India via dialogue, the foreign ministry statement said.

It paraphrased Kongs discussions with Pakistans leadership comprising Prime Minister Imran Khan, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

In turn, the statement quoted the Pakistani side thanking Chinas objective and fair position on the situation and for its efforts to promote the cooling of the situation.

Kong visited Pakistan as Islamabad faced pressure from global powers to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama.

The Pulwama suicide attack  the worst in Kashmir in decades  led to the most serious conflict in years between the nuclear-armed neighbours with India carrying out a strike on a JeM camp in Balakot and then a dogfight over the skies of Kashmir.

The crisis seems to have eased after Pakistan returned IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman last Friday, nearly two days after he was captured.

Kong was quoted as telling the Pakistani leadership that China maintains that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be earnestly respected and that Beijing is unwilling to see acts that violate the norms of international relations.

The statement quoted Kong as saying that China calls on Pakistan and India to refrain from taking actions to aggravate the situation, show goodwill and flexibility, launch dialogue as soon as possible, and work together to maintain regional peace and stability.

China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in this regard, Kong is quoted to have said.

According to the statement, the Pakistani leaders appreciated Chinas objective and fair position on the situation in Pakistan and India and thanked China for its efforts to promote the cooling of the situation.

It added that the Pakistani side reiterated that it is unwilling to see an escalation of the situation and is willing to resolve the contradictions and differences between the two sides through dialogue and peacefully, and welcomes China and the international community to play an active role in this regard.
Visa requests of a United Nations team to interview 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, residing in Pakistan, were rejected by the countrys consulate in New York. A fresh proposal had been moved by Hafiz Saeed to remove his name from the UNSC 1267 sanctions list which is a list of UN recognised terrorists.

As is the norm, before removing an individuals name from this list, the United Nations conducts in-person interviews of the individuals being considered for delisting. However, they were unable to do this in the case of Hafiz Saeed due to Pakistans visa refusal.

According to sources that confirmed Pakistans latest duplicity in the Hafiz Saeed case, it was fearful that Saeed would voluntarily reveal more incriminating evidence against it and their support to various terror organisations operating from its soil, therefore, Pakistan blocked a face-to-face interview of Hafiz Saeed by the UN officials.

Subsequent to their visa requests getting rejected, the UN ombudsman Daniel Kipfer Fasciati had to settle for a video interview of Saeed after which a report critical of Pakistans behaviour was generated in which the UN officially recommended against de-listing Hafiz Saeed in the UNSC 1267 sanctions list, thereby, dealing a blow to diplomatic efforts waged by Pakistan to protect the co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Hectic diplomatic parleys by India post Pulwama terror attack have resulted in support from all but one permanent United Nations Security Council member over sanctioning Pakistan-based terror heads Maulana Masood Azhar and Syed Salahudeen.

The United States, Russia, United Kingdom and France have been vocal in their support to Indias fight against terrorism and proposal to include these men in the UN sanctions list. However, China remains non committal.

Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in Beijing on Thursday: Security Council has explicit standards and rules on listing. China is participating in consultations in strict compliance with these rules. Chinas attitude shows its strong sense of responsibility and is conducive to real and lasting resolution of relevant issues.

(The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)
Pakistans latest crackdown on banned terror groups are merely an eyewash to placate the West in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from the countrys soil, a US-based news website which reports on the war on terror has commented.

Pakistan on Tuesday said that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhars son and brother were among 44 members of the banned militant outfits taken into preventive detention, amid mounting pressure from the global community on it to rein in the terror groups operating on its soil.

Islamabad also said it is shuttering institutions that belong to Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a designated terrorist group that is an alias for Lashkar-e-Taiba. The crackdown came amid tensions with India following a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on February 14 by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

India recently handed over the dossier to Pakistan to take action against the JeM for the Pulwama terror attack. If the past is any guide, the efforts are merely eyewash to placate Western governments in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from Pakistani soil, the Long War Journal has commented.

Thats because Pakistan has claimed it has shut down JuD offices and detained its top leaders in the past, only to allow the offices to reopen and the leaders free months later, it said on Wednesday.

Ironically, Pakistani generals and government officials routinely state that terrorist groups are not permitted to operate on Pakistani soil. Yet the JuD operates freely in Rawalpindi, the city that headquarters Pakistans military, the website noted.

Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its successor, JuD, has been placed under protective custody at least four times in the past two decades, only to be released, it noted. Even when he was in purported custody, Saeed was free to travel and give sermons at LeT/JuD-run mosques in Lahore, it recalled.

Saeeds ties to both the Pakistani state and global terrorist groups such as al Qaeda are indisputable, it said, adding that the Pakistani state supports Saeed and his organisation, which has offices across the country. Pakistan also routinely rounds up known terrorist leaders and places them under protective custody, only to release them when foreign pressure wanes, the article said.

Dangerous jihadist commanders such as Masood Azhar (Jaish-e-Mohammed), Qari Saifullah Akhtar (Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami), and Malik Ishaq (Lashkar-e-Jhangvi) have been detained numerous times, only to be freed, it noted. There is little reason to believe this latest effort will be any different, the Long War Journal concluded.
In its continuing action against terror and proscribed organisations, the Pakistan Punjabs government on Thursday took over the Lahore headquarters of both the Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) and its wing Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) as part of the objectives to be achieved under the National Action Plan (NAP). Both JuD and FIF were added to the list of organisations proscribed in Pakistan on March 5.

In a statement, the Punjab home department said that it had taken over the headquarters of the JuD and the FIF and that it had taken over the madrassas and facilities of the banned groups, adding that the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) was being sped up.

Under the crackdown on banned groups, a total of 121 people detained and nearly 400 facilities operated by the organisations were taken over across the country, till Thursday.

The action against groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Jamaat-ud-Dawa was launched on Tuesday against the backdrop of mounting international pressure on Pakistan to counter the activities of terrorists operating from its soil following the Pulwama suicide bombing, which was claimed by JeM.

The interior ministry said in a statement law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of Thursday. Provincial governments had taken over the management and administration of 182 seminaries, 34 schools and colleges, 163 dispensaries, 184 ambulances, five hospitals and eight offices, it said.

The operation against proscribed organisations is an ongoing process and continues under National Action Plan (NAP) 2014. Interior ministry is actively working in coordination with provincial governments and law enforcing agencies, the statement said.

A meeting of Corps Commanders chaired on Thursday by Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa discussed the crackdown. Bajwa called for a continued state of vigilance and alertness so as to be prepared for response to any threat, a military statement said. He called for further efforts to accelerate implementation of NAP while rendering full assistance to other state institutions.

On Tuesday, minister of state for interior Shehryar Afridi said 44 members of banned groups had been detained, including JeM chief Masood Azhars brother Abdul Rauf Asghar and son Hammad Azhar. There has been no official word on the status of Azhar, though foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has confirmed he is in Pakistan.

Media reports said the crackdown was largely focused on JuD and Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation, both fronts of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Both groups were banned by Pakistan on Tuesday.

The reports said provincial governments had taken over scores of JuD and FIF facilities in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta. Punjab province has formed special police teams to work with security agencies for the drive, the reports added.

The Auqaf department posted administrators at the facilities and imams of mosques were removed and replaced with other clerics. Officials said the staff of other facilities will be retained only if they are cleared by security agencies. Authorities replaced signboards of JuD and FIF with those of district administrations. Now all these institutions would be running under the district administration, a senior official said.

Indian officials said they were monitoring the crackdown in line with a decision to work with the world community to maintain pressure on Pakistan to deliver on its international counter-terrorism commitments. They continued to be sceptical of the action taken so far, saying it appeared to be a repeat of the crackdowns seen after the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the 2016 terror strike on Pathankot airbase.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said tensions with India had reduced and the threat of war had been eliminated. The meeting of Corps Commanders said the military is determined to defend Pakistan against any misadventure or aggression.
The UN has rejected a petition by Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), to be removed from a list of sanctioned terrorists, with authorities concluding that he wasnt able to prove he did not pose a threat to other countries.

The move comes days before the March 13 deadline for objections to a fresh move by France, the US and Britain to sanction Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, another Pakistan-based terrorist, at the UNs Islamic State and al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

The UN has already designated JeM a terrorist organisation. Saeed, who currently heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) that was banned by Pakistan on Tuesday, petitioned the UN in 2017. He was listed on December 10, 2008 by the UN Security Council after a terror attack in Mumbai by a group of LeT operatives claimed 166 lives.

After he filed his petition through the Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza, it was taken up by Daniel Kipfer Fasciati, the ombudsman for the UN sanctions committee. The UN conveyed its decision to Saeeds lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza on Wednesay. Saeeds lawyer contended his client was not found guilty by any Pakistani court, but the ombudsman concluded this was insufficient to conclude the JuD chief didnt represent a terrorist threat to other countries.

The ombudsmans report, accessed by HT, noted, From the reasonable decision by the Pakistani judiciary to lift the petitioners [Saeed] house arrest, the petitioner can only [say] that he does not represent a security or terrorist threat to Pakistan

It added, The Pakistani court only had this question before it. The court did not pronounce itself  and in fact, neither should nor could pronounce itself  on whether the petitioner could pose a terrorist threat outside Pakistan. But if any, the latter seems to be the case.

The petitioner cannot deduce anything else from this other than the judicial exclusion of him posing a terror threat to Pakistan The report was also categorical that Saeeds argument of dissociation with LeT was not credible. The report concluded, He [Saeed] will continue as a listed individual.

The ombudsmans report was endorsed by the UN sanctions committee, an Indian official said on condition of anonymity. He added the ombudsman and the sanctions committee also concluded Saeed was still the chief of the JuD, even after its ban.

The US, Britain, France, Afghanistan and India opposed Saeeds delisting in separate submissions. India has handed over to Pakistan several dossiers detailing the role of Saeed and LeT in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but Pakistan has responded by saying he had been cleared by Pakistani courts and that India needs to provide more evidence.

Officials said Pakistan, where Saeed lives and operates freely, did not oppose his petition and also refused to cooperate with the ombudsmans office and to grant visas to a UN team to visit the country to question the JuD chief. The ombudsman conducted a video teleconference with Saeed through an interpreter.

The report said, Interviews undertaken by video-conference restrict the ombudspersons holistic observation of the petitioner regarding important indices of credibility, such as body language, tone, facial expression and the like. Should a similar situation of non-issuance of visas emerge in the futureI will request the Committee to authorise travel ban and asset freeze exemptions to enable the petitioner to be interviewed in a third country.

Islamabads silence was clearly not a sign of its opposition to Saeeds delisting  else they would have said so in writing as India and the others  but one of acquiescence with his petition, officials said. All this happened on the watch of the current government, said a person, adding, Imran Khans new Pakistan is no different from the old Pakistan.

At the time of Saeeds listing, the UN Security Council said he was involved in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating the activities of LeT and al-Qaeda. It added he was trained in Afghanistan and had been in touch with Abdullah Azzam, the mentor of slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The US, which has offered a bounty of $10 million for Saeed, had warned Pakistan of repercussions after he was released from house arrest in 2017.
The US has observed a rise in Chinese military activity in the South China Sea area over the last year, according to the top American military officer in the region.

Admiral Philip Davidson, the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, declined to quantify the increased activity -- nor would he say whether the number of US freedom of navigation patrols would increase or remain stable. He did, however, underscore the American resolve to remain engaged, describing the US as an enduring Pacific power.

Its building, its not reducing in any sense of the word, Davidson told reporters on Thursday in Singapore when asked about Chinas military activities in the South China Sea. There has been more activity with ships, fighters and bombers over the last year than in previous years, absolutely.

Its a hazard to trade flows, the commercial activity, the financial information that flows on cables under the South China Sea, writ large, Davidson added.

Davidsons comments are the latest from a senior US official seeking to reassure allies in Southeast Asia of the American commitment to what Washington refers to as the Indo-Pacific region. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo last week in Manila assured the Philippines that a defense treaty would apply if its vessels or planes are attacked in the South China Sea.

Defense Pact

That reassurance hasnt stemmed all concerns, however.

Top Philippine officials have clashed over whether the mutual defense pact with the US needs to be changed. While Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin has said the 1951 accord should stay the same, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana wants it reviewed, even after Pompeos assurances.

The US hasnt stopped Chinese aggressive actions so far, Lorenzana noted in a statement earlier this week, while warning that vagueness in the document could cause chaos during a crisis and that the Philippines didnt want to be dragged into a shooting war it didnt start.

China has targeted a 7.5 percent increase in defense spending in 2019, a slowdown from last years projected 8.1 percent increase though still seen as consistent with President Xi Jinpings plans to grow and advance the military.

Davidson said he sees no sign of a slowdown in Chinas defense capabilities, despite the reduced growth trajectory. More spending, he said, was still an increase.
L ondon Design Week 2019, opening on Sunday at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, is the hottest spring ticket for interiors  and its mostly free.

All the latest trends will fill the centres three airy, glass-roofed domes and the spread of fabrics, wallpapers, furniture, lighting, floorings, baths, tiles and more promises to be glorious this year.

The show is trade only for the first three days, so just for professionals. But from Wednesday to Friday next week, March 13-15, everyone is welcome.

There is no fee for entry and free rides in Mercedes minibuses to and from Sloane Square. There are on-the-house refreshments, including tea and cake, and even a Norwegian breakfast at bed makers Jensen. Guided talks and walks are also free.

So hit the Harbour. Home to 120 showrooms and over 600 of the worlds most prestigious brands, theyre expecting about 15,000 visitors, and an ambitious plan for expansion is well under way.

Colours are bright, bright, bright  pink is ever more vivid, while cobalt blues evoke a perfect summer sky above verdant greens, all bathed in sunshine yellow.

Patterns are pictorial, featuring facades and bookcases, birds, country views and a room of magnolia blooms by decorator Ben Pentreath.

Society decorator Nina Campbell is also at home with many tales to tell. So heres a rare chance to surf the trends, meet design stars  and generally sort those dilemmas of decor.

Specially dressed, the showroom windows have classic photos of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Twiggy, Bianca Jagger, Michael Caine et al, paired with stylish, modern stuff.

Beneath the North, Centre and South Domes are a staggering 81 showrooms over four floors. The adjacent Design Centre East now has a further five floors offering 39 more.

See how a fabric drapes, bone up on tassels and braids and master those tricky pattern repeats. Get tips for making curtains, sort out those pesky poles and tracks, hang that paper perfectly and scoop up samples for your mood boards.

Be a design tourist and visit the brands from overseas  numerous American outfits exude exclusivity. Their grandparents generation invented interior design at the start of the last century, powered by the original influencer Elsie de Wolfe, author in 1913 of The House in Good Taste.

Beige, my colour! said Wolfe of the Parthenonor so they say. But blowing beige out of the water are US carpets, hand-cast and forged door handles, lighting, exquisitely crafted furniture and leather.

Germany, France and Italy are also richly represented, while newly arrived is Irish furniture and also a rug-maker from Belgium.

London Design Week 2019: diary dates

Visit dcch.co.uk or call 020 7225 9166 for dates and times of all London Design Week events at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, SW10.

Trade preview: March 10-12

All welcome: March 13-15, 10am-6pm; daily discovery tours at 2.30pm.

March 13: wallpaper whiz Kit Miles holds court; KLC School of Design will expand your creativity. Wendy Cushing shares trimmings expertise. Live demos at Jason DSouza.

March 14: meet fabric explorer Helen Cormack at Tissus dHelene, for handprint and screenprints. Try a ceramics workshop at Christopher Peacock. Acclaimed interior designer Kit Kemp reveals her new book, 6pm-7pm. Tickets 10.
A festive special of Escape to the Chateau is set to return to Channel 4 on Sunday December 22, following intrepid Dick and Angel Strawbridge as they renovate their French castle.

Keen viewers have already been treated to seven weeks of Escape to the Chateau: DIY, where Dick and Angel visit other British chateau owners and help them realise their renovation dreams.

Fellow Brits inspired to flee the country in the face of Brexit will find an abundance of chateaux, which can be bought for the price of a flat in the capital.

Some are even (almost) commutable to London.

In addition, chateaux may often seem like relative bargains compared to London property, but they tend to require significant investment and work over long periods of time to make them liveable.

If you're still keen to live out the dream, read on for everything you need to know about buying a chateau in France.

Should you buy property in France before Brexit?

With Brexit ongoing, its more vital than ever to consider what this might mean for those thinking of moving across the Channel.

Boris Johnson may be making noises about 'getting Brexit done' and promising to do so by January 31 but it remains unclear exactly what this will mean, including for those buying property in EU countries over the long term.

That said, there are certain facts that will prevail regardless of what eventually happens.

Non-EU citizens are entitled to remain in France for up to 90 days in any 180 day period and standard holiday insurance should cover any medical issues occurring during this period

Property taxes and French mortgage rates remain the same, regardless of the buyers nationality.

Buying historic properties in France

The prospect of renovating a massive home might sound a daunting financial prospect, but there are advantages to buying a landmark home over an ordinary one.

Many chateaux are classed as 'monuments historiques', which means theyre listed buildings.

Buyers must obtain planning permission for any work they plan to do, but the French government will then pay up to 40 per cent of the total bill for restoration and even ongoing maintenance.

Some renovation costs are 100 per cent tax deductible, while others are 50 per cent deductible. Even these are 100 per cent deductible if chateau owners open the house to the members of the public for at least 40 days a year.

Should you, too, fancy buying yourself a slice of French history, you should realise that the process is somewhat different than in Britain, but the following five steps should help you.

The offer

Once youve found your dream chateau, make sure you have organised all your finances, arranged surveys and thoroughly researched the property and the area before making an offer.

The compromis de vente

In Britain, contracts are exchanged at the very last minute. In France, the opposite is true. Once an offer has been accepted, buyer and seller sign a contract called a 'compromis de vente', which can be off-the-peg or contain unique conditions suggested by either party.

The deposit

Once youve signing the compromis de vente, you must pay a deposit of around 10 per cent, which will be held by the agent or local notary.

Cooling off

The buyer has a 10-day cooling off period after signing the compromis de vente and paying the deposit, during which they can change their mind and still have their deposit returned intact.

The acte de vente

Once searches have been carried out, both buyer and seller will be asked to sign an 'acte de vente' to complete the transfer.

The buyer then pays the balance on the purchase price, along with the notaire fees  around one per cent of the sale price  agency fees, and the French property tax  similar to stamp duty  which is 5.8 per cent of the sale price on older properties.

The successful buyer then receives an attestation de propriete, showing they are the new legal owner, along with the keys.
T he biggest monthly house price rise on record today raised hopes of a spring revival in the property market after a two year slump.

The average price of a home in Britain jumped 5.9 per cent to 236,800 in February, according to latest data from lender the Halifax, which has been monitoring the market since 1983.

The remarkable off the radar leap boosted the annual rate of increase from 0.8 per cent to 2.8 per cent, although economists cautioned against reading too much into a single months figures.

Russell Galley, managing director at the Halifax said: The shortage of houses for sale will certainly be playing a role in supporting prices.

The Halifax figures come amid growing anecdotal evidence of a surge in buyers over recent weeks.

Ed Mead, founder of the property viewing website Viewber, said bookings since the start of the year are up 40 per cent on 2018.

Guy Gittins, Managing Director at agents Chestertons said: Following two years of substantial price drops, the market is now bottoming out. Property values in the capital  particularly in prime locations  have now come down to a level that is proving increasingly attractive to potential buyers, driving a huge surge in the number of people registering with agents and buying property since January.

"This dramatic imbalance between supply and demand is starting to fuel small price increases in areas like Hyde Park, Fulham and Putney as competition ramps up.

Andrew Montlake, director of mortgage broker, Coreco, said: Prospective buyers are increasingly waking up to the fact that the current window of opportunity could slam shut in the event of a Brexit deal and are being more proactive.

"Theres a huge amount of pent-up demand out there and its starting to come through.

First-time buyer numbers are also on the rise according to Pete Mugleston, Managing Director of Online Mortgage Advisor.

"The annual, quarterly and monthly growth of house prices announced by Halifax this morning, is likely a result of the increasing numbers of first time buyers on the market.
New research has improved our understanding of when and why penguins evolved, and has identified two recently extinct penguins from New Zealands remote Chatham Islands.

In the study, published in Molecular Biology and Evolution (https://goo.gl/8kRyLS), an international team of researchers sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of all living and recently extinct penguin species. By analysing the genetic relationships of species, and using ancient fossil penguins to put a time scale on these, the team showed that many penguin species arose soon after the geological formation of islands, including those inhabiting the Antipodes and Chatham Islands, Macquarie Island, Gough Island and Galapagos Islands.

The study also confirmed that an extinct and unique crested penguin species existed on the Chatham Islands until a few centuries ago. The former existence of this species had long been suspected by study co-author Alan Tennyson of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, who had previously examined penguin bones from these islands.

The study also threw up a complete surprise, revealing that a previously unknown small subspecies of yellow-eyed penguin also once existed on the Chatham Islands. Evidence suggests Eudyptes warhami and Megadyptes antipodes richdalei inhabited the Chatham Islands up until the last few hundred years, and became extinct only after humans arrived, says Otago University PhD candidate Theresa Cole, who was lead author of the study. The discovery of these two new penguins adds greatly to our understanding of how humans impacted New Zealands marine biodiversity in the past.

The study was published concurrently with another led by Cole that used ancient DNA to show that prehistoric penguin bones from New Zealand included several species that no longer breed there (Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, https://goo.gl/R3d4jY). The researchers are now extending the study by sequencing whole genomes to explore penguin evolution and adaptation.
Males have to make less of an effort to mate with promiscuous female fruit flies, making the quality and quantity of their semen all the more important in the competition to fertilise the females eggs. This also leads male flies to mate repeatedly with the same female, according to research published in Nature Communications (https://goo.gl/mUQSbP).

Over the past 50 years, biologists have realised that females in most animal species mate with multiple males during their lifetimes. However, they didnt know how this behaviour influences how fruit flies and other species evolve.

Lead author Dr Juliano Morimoto of Macquarie University wanted to test the theory that increasing female promiscuity would reduce male competition before mating, while increasing their competition to fertilise the females eggs after mating. To do this, he and his collaborators first genetically manipulated female Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies to increase their promiscuity. By deleting a sex peptide receptor, they reduced the time the females werent sexually receptive after mating, which therefore led to them mating more frequently.

Hundreds of the more promiscuous females were marked with paint and their interactions with male flies monitored. The researchers then counted the thousands of offspring produced and identified their fathers based on eye colour.

We found that when females mate promiscuously, male attractiveness is less important, Morimoto says. Instead, having a large ejaculate might be what males need to win the war. This is the first time researchers have been able to show direct experimental proof of this theory.

The researchers also found that the male flies repeatedly mated with the same female in order to increase the chances of their sperm fertilising the females eggs. This demonstrates that males adjust their sexual behaviour in response to the females promiscuity, Morimoto says.

Our findings help us understand a great deal about the remarkable diversity in mating behaviour and physiology seen in nature, says senior author Dr Stuart Wigby of the University of Oxford. Why in some species males show spectacular displays or fight to the death for access to females; while in other species males invest in making lots of sperm, or in pairing with one or a few females.
By Guy Nolch

The organs of executed Chinese prisoners have been widely used to bypass ethical guidelines restricting Western researchers.

The spectre of the mad scientist raised its ugly head last November when Chinese scientist Dr He Jiankui of the Southern University of Science and Technology announced the birth of the first human babies whose genomes had been edited at the embryonic stage of development. The university claimed to have no knowledge of Hes project, which had been conducted off-campus, and fired him, while Chinese authorities described Hes work as extremely abominable in nature and guarded him at his home 24/7.

International condemnation of the regulation of Chinese medical research was quick, even though Hes collaborators had included US scientists and others who had known what was going on but had turned a blind eye. For instance, Prof Michael Deem of Rice University was the senior author of a paper submitted about the research to Nature, while He had shared news of his progress with Nobel Laureate Prof Craig Mello of the University of Massachusetts in an email titled Success!.

Not only didnt these and other scientists raise concerns, but several scientists have defended human germline interventions or announced their own research aspirations. For instance, Dr Werner Neuhausser of Harvard University has announced plans to edit the DNA inside sperm cells.

Such controversial research can be blocked in more regulated jurisdictions if they dont adhere to ethical guidelines. This has led to the practice of ethics dumping, which the European Commissions TRUST consortium describes as the export of non-ethical research practices to low and middleincome countries (https://goo.gl/bTsoen).

Ethics dumping goes much wider than Hes transgression. In February Dr Wendy Rogers of Macquarie University led a report in BMJ Open (https://goo.gl/S9Bnd1) that investigated the use of executed Chinese prisoners as the source of organs for transplant research. Rogers examined 445 studies from 2000 to April 2017 involving 85,477 transplants, and found that 412 (92.5%) failed to report whether or not organs were sourced from executed prisoners, and 439 (99%) failed to report that organ sources gave consent for transplantation... Of the papers claiming that no prisoners organs were involved in the transplants, 19 of them involved 2688 transplants that took place prior to 2010, when there was no volunteer donor programme in China.

International standards ban the publication of research that involves biological material from executed prisoners, lacks the consent of donors and the approval of a human research ethics committee. Rogers paper notes that in 2006 Chinese officials first openly acknowledged that the majority of transplanted organs were sourced from executed prisoners. The following year, China claimed it would reduce reliance on executed prisoners... However, the use of prisoners organs remains technically legal today in China if consent is obtained, and in 2017 Chinese officials admitted that it is not possible to verify that all organ harvesting from prisoners has ceased.

Rogers concludes that a large body of unethical research now exists, raising issues of complicity and moral hazard among transplant researchers throughout the world. There has been a significant lack of vigilance and failure to adhere to accepted ethical standards by reviewers, editors and publishers, the paper concludes. Researchers and clinicians who use this body of research risk complicity by implicitly accepting Chinese methods of organ procurement.

While the researchers call for immediate retraction of all papers reporting research based on use of organs from executed prisoners, Rogers admits that securing a retraction can be a prolonged process... and even retracted articles continue to be widely cited (http://austscience.com/uf402).
Now Open

7 March 2019

Only 65 kilometres to Sabiha Gokcen Airport and 10 kilometres to Kartepe Ski Centre, DoubleTree by Hilton Kocaeli is now at your service with its 166 rooms, meeting room, ballroom, gastro pub and lobby bar, fitness centre, sauna, Turkish bath, Jacuzzi, steam room, indoor pool and free parking.

Rooms & Amenities

The stylish hotel has 166 guestrooms, including deluxe rooms. Ten suites are also available, providing panoramic views of the city, separate living areas and Nespresso machines.

Guests can take advantage of the hotel's leisure facilities, including a spa complete with private treatment rooms, a sauna and steam room. They can also enjoy a swim in the indoor pool or re-energise in the 24-hour fitness centre.

Meetings & Events

For groups looking to host meetings and events, the hotel offers 380 square metres of flexible space, with the largest room holding up to 500 guests. A pre-function area is also available, providing a space for coffee breaks during a conference or pre-cocktail receptions before an event.

Dining

L'age D'or Restaurant offers international and local cuisines using locally sourced ingredients. After indulging in the restaurant's extensive menu, guests can cosy up at the Chez Lui Gastro Pub with some of the best wine and cocktails. For guests looking for a relaxed environment, the lobby bar and patisserie offers a range of food and beverage, including desserts and speciality coffee, as well as 24-hour room service upon request.
Press Release

7 March 2019

Berlin - In 2018, the number of outbound trips increased by 5.5 percent, resulting in 1.4 billion international trips. Hence, once again tourism is a key growth driver of the global economy, which "only" grew by 3.7 percent in comparison. Growth is coming from all regions worldwide, also from the mature markets Europe and North America, but the strongest gains came from Asian and Latin American markets. For 2019, considering a slowing world economy, also a slightly lower growth rate is expected for international travel. Overtourism could become another growing problem for the tourism industry, with more and more international travelers feeling the effect of overcrowded destinations.

Advertisements

These findings are based on latest results of IPK's World travel Monitor, an annual survey analyzing the outbound travel behavior in more than 60 countries worldwide, covering over 90 percent of the global outbound demand. Trends for the first eight months of 2018 can be found in the ITB World Travel Trends Report (www.bit.ly/2EDcckA) which is published yearly by ITB Berlin.

Asia is growth driver while Turkey showing strong recovery

Asia was the strongest source region last year, with overall 7 percent more outbound trips. Latin America followed with a plus of 6 percent, while there were 5 percent more trips from North America and Europe. Looking at the destination regions, once again Asia but also Europe were the global winners by receiving 6 percent more international trips each, while the Americas were clearly below with a plus of 3 percent. Regarding destination countries, one of the biggest changes was the stagnation of trips to Spain in 2018, a destination that boomed in the recent past. On the other hand, destinations that were avoided by tourist in the past are recovering, above all Turkey with 8.5 million more visitors in 2018 compared to 2017. Holidays once again outperform business trips, due to the continuous downward path of traditional business trips, while MICE trips continued on a growth path. With international travelers staying slightly longer and also spending more when abroad, the turnover of international trips overall increased by 8 percent.

Increasing effect of overtourism

For the second year in a row, IPK International measures the perceptions of overtourism among international travelers. While residents in affected destinations have been protesting for years, also travelers are feeling more and more impaired by the onslaught of tourist in particularly sought-after cities. IPK's latest survey results show that meanwhile more than every tenth international traveler was negatively affected by overtourism. This is an increase of 30 percent over the last 12 months. Cities strongly affected by overtourism were Beijing, Mexico City, Venice and Amsterdam, but also Istanbul and Florence.

In particular, travelers from Asia felt a lot more affected by overtourism compared to e.g. Europeans. Also according to the statistics, young travelers are a lot more bothered by overcrowding compared to older travelers.

Fear of terror remains

Similar to figures from 2018, 38 percent of international travelers currently claim that political instability and terror threats will have an influence on their travel planning for 2019. At that, travelers from Asia feel a lot more impacted by terror threats than travelers from other continents. In terms of what kind of influence terror threats will have on the travel behavior, the great majority states that they will choose only destinations, which they perceive as "safe". The safety image of most destinations slightly improved over the last 12 months - also for Turkey, Israel and Egypt.

Outlook 2019

With predictions of the global economic growth slowing down in 2019, also the forecast for international travel for this year is slightly below the performance of 2018. Overall, IPK International anticipates global outbound trips to increase by 4 percent in 2019. Asia-Pacific remains leading with an expected plus of 6 percent. Growth in the Americas is forecasted to reach 5 percent, while Europe with 3 percent is showing a weakening trend compared to last year.

IPK International

Source: IPK International, World Travel Monitor

IPK International is a tourism consultancy specialized in travel research, tourism marketing and tourism Masterplanning and counts among the leading tourism consultancies worldwide. Apart from tailored studies, IPK conducts the World Travel Monitor, the world's most comprehensive tourism database on European, Arabian, Asian, North and South American outbound travel behavior covering more than 90 percent of the international travel demand. The World Travel Monitor is conducted in over 60 countries and has established itself as the largest continuous tourism study of its kind.

For questions and inquiries, please contact: Julia Howacker via [email protected].
Press Release

7 March 2019

BANGKOK - Millennium Hilton Bangkok has announced its partnership with Rizen Energy, the authorised importer and distributor of BYD electric vehicles, to launch Thailand's first electric limousine service. With the intention to help solve Bangkok's critical pollution problem, the collaborative project aims to reduce 15,000 kilogrammes of carbon in 2019 by encouraging hotel guests to use BYD electric limousines.

Advertisements

"At Hilton, sustainability is a huge part of what we do and is important for a brand with hotels in more than 100 countries and territories," said Heidi Kleine-Moeller, General Manager, Millennium Hilton Bangkok.

"Last year Hilton announced a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 61 percent, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, by 2030. As air pollution in Bangkok becomes more concerning, the opportunity to partner with BYD could not be timelier. We are delighted to offer an environmentally-friendly mode of transport to our guests and clients, which we are confident will help make a difference in the city and country."

Mr. Ronachai Chinwattanaporn, CEO of Rizen Energy, expressed his admiration for Millennium Hilton Bangkok's vision and strong intention to drive this project: "It is a huge win to find a highly-motivated partner that wants to do its part in solving the pollution problem. BYD e6, the first electric limousine in Thailand, has been in use worldwide for public transportation for more than eight years. It is proven to be reliable, safe and practical. Millennium Hilton Bangkok's decision to use BYD electric vehicles will help Hilton stay at the forefront of the industry".

Authorised to import and distribute BYD electric vehicles since 2017, Rizen Energy successfully delivers 104 BYD e6 to customers in Thailand. Designed for public transportation purposes, the spacious e6 model comes with an 80 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, which allows 350 kilometres of driving range per charge, and a universally standard Type 2 charging adaptor. With the powerful BYD 40 kW AC charger, it takes approximately two to two and a half hours to fully charge. BYD e6 only has a motor and battery, which is why the maintenance cost is estimated to be one third of a petrol car.

Hilton views responsible travel and tourism as an integral part of its business, which is why preserving the environment is a cornerstone of Travel with Purpose, the company's corporate responsibility strategy to create shared value for Hilton Team Members, guests, business partners and communities. Hilton's commitment to the environment is embedded across the business and supported by LightStay, an award-winning, global corporate responsibility performance measurement platform. LightStay was developed and implemented by Hilton to provide a one-stop solution for reporting environmental, operational and social impacts. To learn more about Hilton's commitment to preserving the environment, visit cr.hilton.com.

Rizen Energy has been established and authorised to import and distribute BYD electric vehicles since 2017. They are the very first battery electric vehicle distributor in the Thai market. The sales and service teams hold years of experience in automotive business, knowledge and sound understanding in battery electric vehicles. The BYD e6 is an electric vehicle with 350 kilometres of driving range per charge, with an average of 100 kilometres per hour.

To know more about BYD Thailand, please visit www.facebook.com/bydthailand.

About Millennium Hilton Bangkok

A riverfront sanctuary in the heart of the city with a spectacular view from every room, Millennium Hilton Bangkok offers a fresh perspective on life. Situated in the historical Thonburi, a riverside district deeply rooted to the city's colourful past, the ever developing area offers a diverse experience from untouched local villages and iconic cultural sites to quaint local markets and ICONSIAM shopping and lifestyle destination. Attractions like the Grand Palace, the Reclining Buddha and Temple of Dawn are just a short boat ride away. The hotel's shuttle boats are available all day, providing direct access to the BTS Skytrain and Asiatique night market. This 32-storey landmark by the bank of the Chao Phraya River features meeting venues with breathtaking views, award-winning restaurants, rooftop bar and jazz lounge, and eforea- Hilton's cutting-edge spa concept.

The project commenced on 12 February 2019 and guests calling for e-limousine service will enjoy special rates offered until 30 April 2019.
Press Release

7 March 2019

WATERFORD, Conn., - Waterford Hotel Group, a leading hospitality management company, and Waterton, a Chicago-based real estate investor and operator, today announced that they have joined forces to form a new venture to strengthen and grow their hospitality portfolios. With Waterford Hotel Group ("Waterford") driving operational success for hotel assets, Waterton will concentrate efforts on continued real estate investment strategies including growing the hotel portfolio.

Advertisements

"This merger between our organizations will serve as a catalyst to grow our hospitality portfolios in a strategic manner," said Len Wolman, Chairman and CEO of Waterford. "More importantly, it presents greater opportunities for all of our stakeholders, including value add for ownership groups, strengthened brand relations, and increased talent attraction and career growth for our associates."

Waterford has assumed management of eight hotels previously operated by Waterton. Waterford'sportfolio grew to 41 properties in nine states, representing more than 6,200 keys. The new additions to the portfolio complement Waterford'sexisting diverse portfolio of full service, select service, and independent hotels as well as a convention center. The properties that were transitioned total more than 1,600 guestrooms in Ohio, Illinois and Massachusetts; six of which are full service hotels.

Waterton partnered with Waterford based on the firms' 30+ years of hospitality expertise and track record of increasing market share and profitability through operational efficiency, which complements Waterton's investment and asset management expertise. The new venture gives Waterton a platform to leverage the combined asset management and operational acumen of the two firms.

"Our investment management expertise and Waterford's operational expertise represent a powerful combination which is sure to be attractive to brokers, sellers and investors in the hotel space," said David Schwartz, CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of Waterton. "Combining our hotel management platform with Waterford allows Waterton to remain in the hotel business with a more strategic focus on asset management and acquisitions, while creating a larger portfolio with greater synergies for our assets and growth opportunities for our operations professionals."

RobertDouglas advised both firms on the transaction.

About Waterton

Waterton is a real estate investor and operator with a focus on U.S. multifamily, hospitality and seniors housing properties. Founded in 1995, Waterton executes value add strategies and manages a national portfolio of multifamily and hospitality properties on behalf of institutional investors, family offices and financial institutions. Waterton is privately held and is headquartered in Chicago with regional teams throughout the United States. As of December 31, 2018, Waterton's portfolio includes approximately $4.9 billion in real estate assets. Visit Waterton's website: www.waterton.com.
Press Release

7 March 2019

Minor International has strengthened its relationship with the Vietnam-based Novaland Group, with the signing of three new Avani hotels in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vung Tau, and Cam Ranh.

Advertisements

The Avani Vung Tau Resort is located in the port city of Vung Tau, just two hours by car or hydrofoil from Ho Chi Minh. An important trading port dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries, Vung Tau boasts some of Vietnam's most scenic beaches. The Avani Vung Tau is scheduled to open by the end of 2019 and will feature 149 oceanfront and hillside rooms.

Scheduled to open at the end of 2021, the Avani Saigon is located in the historic District 1 of Vietnam's largest city and is surrounded by a blend of colonial and modern architecture with street-side cafes and coffee shops. Just a 30-minute drive from the Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the 217-key property will be part of a 38-storey mixed-use complex that includes retail shops and residences and will feature an all-day dining restaurant and an AvaniSPA.

Avani Cam Ranh Resort & Villas, opening at the end of 2022, will feature 300 rooms and suites, as well as 315 private villas, an all-day dining restaurant, a specialty bistro, a beach club, and 1,200 square metres of meeting and banquet space.

Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels, said, "Avani is one of our fastest growing brands, and we are pleased to be working with Novaland Group to develop three properties in Vietnam as part of Minor Hotels' strategic expansion in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is one of the region's most dynamic economies with tremendous growth potential in both domestic and international tourism, thanks to a winning combination of cultural attractions and natural beauty. We look forward to expanding our footprint in Vietnam with Novaland Group and to creating an exceptional product for Avani guests."

Avani currently operates 24 hotels and resorts in 15 countries and has 15 new hotels in the pipeline.
Opinion Article

7 March 2019

Hidden Gem of the Northeast

Advertisements

While much of the tourism in the area takes place in the city's historic Waterfront and Old Port neighborhoods, hotel development in these areas has largely slowed in recent years due to the lack of vacant land available. Downtown hotel development has shifted primarily to the northeastern and southwestern ends of these neighborhoods. Additionally, recent hotel developments have been part of larger mixed-use developments.

Hidden Gem of the Northeast  HVS

A notable hotel opening in 2018 was the 178-room AC Hotel by Marriott in the northeast edge of the Old Port neighborhood. The opening of this hotel led to a nearly 12% increase in room supply among upscale, upper-upscale, and luxury properties in the market. Despite this increase in supply, these product classes still finished the year at record occupancy, average daily rate, and RevPAR levels.

Hidden Gem of the Northeast  HVS

Despite the limited impact of the AC Hotel by Marriott on market key performance indicators, new supply will become a growing threat in this market. Over the next three years, Downtown Portland's hotel room supply will increase over 30%. Upcoming supply in this market will include both branded and boutique hotels, such as Cambria, Aloft, West Elm, and Marriott Tribute Portfolio.

To maintain this staggering amount of growth and development, the City of Portland recently introduced impact fees on January 1, 2019, to fund infrastructure improvements and other municipal services. While these impact fees apply to any new development or expansion from residential to industrial developments, the new fees will add a cost of over $3,000 per key to development and permitting costs for hotels. While this may taper some future new supply development in the Downtown Portland market, the revenue from these impact fees will allow the City to fund necessary upgrades to handle the over eight million visitors annually.

Conclusion

Portland will likely experience another record-breaking year in 2019, especially after being named Bon Appetit Magazine's Restaurant City of the Year; however, new supply will remain a threat to this market after 2019. Aside from Portland's tourism industry, driven by the market's numerous hotels, local breweries, restaurants, and cruise-ship port, entities such as Maine Medical Center, Unum, and Mercy Hospital, among other smaller medical centers, will continue to support Portland's vital healthcare sector.
Performance

7 March 2019

EDINBURGH, Scotland  Brexit has had little impact on 2019 travel plans but has shaped a negative perception of the U.K. among European travellers, according to findings of a recent survey conducted by STR's Consumer Travel Insights team.



Conducted in February 2019, the survey captured the views of 927 U.K. and international travellers from STR's proprietary Traveller Panel, a global community of engaged travellers.



"We asked our traveller panel a series of questions surrounding Brexit's impact on travel behaviour and travel plans," said Sean Morgan, STR's director of research. "Although there are indications that some travellers will adjust their behaviour due to Brexit, the overall impact of Brexit on consumer travel plans in 2019 and beyond looks marginal. The results do, however, indicate that Brexit has shaped a negative perception of the U.K. among a small proportion of European travellers. But, it appears that strong consumer demand to travel far outweighs any potential limiting effect, such as economic uncertainty due to Brexit. These findings bode well for the future of the travel and tourism industry pre- and post-Brexit."



Key findings include:

61% of respondents said Brexit was not impacting their 2019 travel plans, while 11% answered "yes." Brexit has had a greater impact on the 2019 travel plans of British and European travellers - 17% and 15%, respectively, stated that Brexit had impacted their holiday plans in 2019.

9% of U.K. travellers stated that they were less likely to go to Europe in 2019 due to Brexit, whilst 10% of Europeans said they are less likely to go to the U.K.

38% of Europeans said the ongoing Brexit issue has negatively impacted their perception of the U.K. as a visitor destination.

17% of travellers from the rest of the world stated they would be less likely to travel to the U.K. in the future due to Brexit.

33% of U.K. travellers and 36% of Europeans thought it was best to avoid travelling in late March and early April when the U.K. may formally withdraw from the European Union.

To read the full analysis, click HERE.
Performance

7 March 2019

HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee  The Canadian hotel industry recorded positive year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 24 February through 2 March 2019, according to data from STR.

Advertisements

In comparison with the week of 25 February through 3 March 2018, the industry reported the following:

 Occupancy: +1.2% to 60.1%

 Average daily rate (ADR): +1.0% to CAD148.85

 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +2.2% to CAD89.46

Among the provinces and territories, Manitoba registered the largest increase in occupancy (+9.5% to 68.1%), which resulted in the only double-digit jump in RevPAR (+10.7% to CAD85.13).

British Columbia posted the highest jump in ADR (+3.1% to CAD169.09).

Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest declines in each of the three key performance metrics: occupancy (-22.4% to 38.9%), ADR (-8.2% to CAD120.80) and RevPAR (-28.8% to CAD46.94).

Saskatchewan saw the second-largest drop in RevPAR (-6.8% to CAD61.06).

Prince Edward Island experienced the second-steepest decrease in occupancy (-8.0% to 30.6%).
It's almost impossible to keep up with all of the Air Jordan 1 colorways coming out these days. Practically every day there is a brand new version or color scheme to report on. Don't get us wrong, we're not complaining. The Jordan 1 is far and away one of the most iconic shoes of all time and has a ton of rich history thanks to the fact that it was Michael Jordan's first ever shoe with Nike. There are unlimited color combinations for this shoe and Jordan Brand has proved that time and time again. The latest colorways reveal appears to be an alternative take on the popular Chicago colorway.

Instead of the High OG version of the Jordan 1, this colorway is being put on the mid-cut silhouette. The upper and the overlays are dressed in white leather, while the back heel is red. The Wings logo on the side and the laces are white as well. Meanwhile, the tongue and Nike swoosh come drenched in black. They're the typical Chicago Bulls colors, except this time around they're arranged in a way we really haven't seen before.

According to Sneaker News, these will be coming to retailers in the coming weeks for $110 USD.

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike
Jussie Smollett's case is still a very big topic since the actor is dealing with court dates surrounding the possible staging of a racist homophobic attack to himself. The latest on the matter is the axing of a Drop The Mic episode Jussie was involved in since he made a reference to "bail." The Blast now reports that some nurses at the hospital where Jussie was treated have been fired for improperly looking at his file.



Chicago Police Department via Getty Images

A nurse at Northwestern Hospital told CBS Chicago that she was fired for accessing Jussie's files, but denies going at it in the wrong way, detailing how it was a misunderstanding. The unnamed nurse says she believes that a number of other nurses were fired for the same reason.

The woman plans on appealing her dismissal and says the ordeal is revolved around staff simply scrolling past Jussie's name while looking for other files. The hospital isn't able to comment on the status of the employees.

Queen Latifah recently commented on Jussie's case and said she stands by him until she has all the proof in the world that it was really staged.

"The guy Ive seen has always been someone who cares about people, who cares about others, and whos very kind and whos always been cool and sweet," she said. And thats just the guy I know. So until I can see some definitive proof  which I havent seen yet  then, you know, I gotta go with him until I see otherwise.
Pete Davidson has no fear when it comes to going under the needle and updating his body with some permanent ink. He previously inked up his body quite a bit when he dated Ariana Grande, as we all know, and followed up by getting most of them covered after they broke up. Just last week, he debuted a new tattoo that's inspired by his best friend Machine Gun Kelly and today we've got our hands on an image of yet another piece of work.

New York tattoo artist Ryan Mullins shared an image of some work he did on Pete's forearm and it's a giant unicorn. We can't say for sure what inspired the tattoo or what the mystical beast even stands for.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Burpr9pA02A



In other Pete news, he's now dating actress Kate Beckinsale who is 20-years his senior and MGK is a fan of his friend's dating choices. "I love that shit...that shit's tight," he told paparazzi, adding how he vet Kate for the sake of his friend but all signs point to her being "great."

Kate's ex-boyfriend shared some advice for Pete as he embarks on a relationship with the actress. "Run....enjoy it while you can. I hope they're both happy I hope they can build to where it's an established good relationship," he said. "Just be careful."
We're still one month away from Wrestlemania 35 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but the WWE has already begun promoting Wrestlemania 36.

With the help of Hulk Hogan, and current WWE stars such as Roman Reigns and Charlotte Flair, the WWE officially announced today that Wrestlemania 36 will be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1103688107214409728



As part of the grand announcement, Hogan discussed his favorite WrestleMania moments and shared his excitement that WrestleMania will come to Tampa Bay for the very first time on April 5, 2020.

Im just so excited its finally here in Tampa Bay, said Hogan. This is where I fell in love with wrestling.

In addition to Thursday's news conference at Raymond James Stadium, The Hulkster was included in WWEs Be a Star event which took place at a local Tampa Bay school.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1103765359490985986

https://twitter.com/_/status/1103774261246873601



Several other superstars, including Triple H, Charlotte Flair and Titus O'Neil also spoke about the significance of Wrestlemania finally being held in Tampa, a cultural hub for professional wrestling. Says Triple H, Tampa is ingrained in the fabric of who we are."

Check out some of the other videos from today's big announcement below.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1103704346527744006

https://twitter.com/_/status/1103717236664086530



https://twitter.com/_/status/1103683654595866638


When Jack Yang received his diagnosis of lung cancer in a hospital in Shenzhen, China, he knew a hard path lay ahead.

Only 17 percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer live for five years, according to MD Anderson, where Yang ultimately went through surgery and four rounds of chemotherapy. He and his wife, Sally Huang, left their jobs at a motor manufacturing plant to travel to Houston and fight for Yangs life.

What they did not expect was to face countless obstacles entirely unrelated to health care. Shortly after arriving in Houston last June for intensive treatment, Yang found himself outside in the inhospitable Texas heat, hunting for a short-term rental on foot because he does not have a United States drivers license.

He described the process of finding a place to live using a Chinese aphorism, dahai lao zhen. It was like fishing for a needle in the ocean.

While his timetable to recovery was uncertain, most places required six- or 12-month leases and would not allow him to sublet if his treatment ended sooner; his foreign bank account made it difficult to start utilities, which often check customers credit scores; and furnishing a temporary home without a car was both difficult and expensive.

We need to do this all by ourselves, he said through a translator. You dont know where to start.

Yang is far from the only patient facing such difficulties. The Texas Medical Center served 18,000 international patients in 2010, the most recent year for which data have been released. That total has likely grown since, as the number of patients the center serves a year has increased to 10 million from 6 million. International and out-of-town patients come with their own special considerations, including the need for accommodations for patients and caregivers who may not have transportation or know how long treatment will take.

Most hospitals have offices focused on meeting those needs. MD Anderson, for example, has a team of 10 representatives fluent in Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish, French and Arabic fielding thousands of prospective patient calls a month and greeting families in person as they arrive in Houston. The team answers questions such as whether children can sign up for school during their parents treatments, and sends out emails filled with resources, including a list of 18 short-term apartment rental companies by Joes House, a nonprofit that provides lodging guides for cancer patients.

But Kent Postma, vice president of ambulatory operations at the hospital, said demand for such housing far outstrips supply.

Its almost easier to get into MD Anderson than it is to get into a long-stay living arrangement, Postma said. That person thats coming from West San Antonio who needs to stay here for three nights or three months is competing for that same finite resource as that person from Shanghai or Mexico City.

Demand rises

As a result, furnished short-term rentals near the Texas Medical Center are in high demand, according to real estate agents and the short-term rental giant Airbnb.

A short-term rental sometimes will be like $5,000 (a month) in a high-rise building for a two-bedroom apartment, real estate agent Shirley Qing said of the market near the Texas Medical Center. Average rent in the neighborhood, according to the Houston Association of Realtors, is $2,357.

Qing said its not uncommon for investors to rent blocks of apartments in multifamily properties near the medical center at a discount, furnish them and list them at a markup as short-term rentals. Vacasa, a company that contracts with property managers to turn units into short-term rentals, has six units in Latitude Med Center Apartments, a new 35-story high rise within walking distance of the Medical Centers hospitals. The furnished short-term rentals start at $157 a night, or roughly $4,700 a month.

The Latitude Med Center Apartments developer, Greystar, originally planned to allow third-parties such as Vacasa to convert 10 percent of its units into furnished short-term rentals.

We quickly increased that number to 40 percent, Senior Community Manager Kristin Krohn said. The demand is definitely there. We see it on a daily basis. Several of the buildings services  including an on-call shuttle and room service with a menu of healthy foods  target the needs of people traveling for treatment.

Elizabeth Tur, an Airbnb host, was similarly surprised by the need for housing when she listed a unit at Kirby Place Apartments, a 15-minute bus-ride from the Texas Medical Center, and it was instantly booked for months in advance. The demand is huge, she said. Now we have eight units in Kirby, and were full all the time.

Laura Spanjian, Airbnbs senior public policy director for the Western United States, said that the company looks for, and encourages, unusual activity such as Turs, who went from listing one unit to eight units, part of an unusual spike in listings in a concentrated geographic area. For example, when Super Bowl LI was held at NRG Stadium in 2017 it caused a surge in the number of people listing their properties, a trend Airbnb worked to boost through digital advertising campaigns targeted at recruiting more hosts in the area.

Airbnb plans to amplify the organic growth around the Medical Center by organizing informational events and reaching out to people who may have listed nearby properties for the Super Bowl without knowing that there was year-round demand.

Now that weve seen the trends occurring naturally, we want to look at ways that as a company we can facilitate more options, Spanjian said. For the people traveling for treatment, their loved ones, their friends.

And some hope to help not only with housing needs, but also with the other needs involved with making a life in a foreign place.

Settling in

Sandra Mitro, a Houston resident, said after her husband was diagnosed with cancer, they began meeting patient families from around the world looking for help settling into Houston. One such family was that of Christine and Daniel Devaux from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, who ended up in a furnished short-term rental that offered regular shuttles to the Medical Center and Target for $5,800 a month.

But challenges and expenses extended beyond a place to stay. It was difficult to communicate with family back home in areas without Wi-Fi, causing distress as Daniel underwent treatment and surgery. And when they left the hospital, there were not many quick, healthy food options nearby for weary patients and their families.

If you could get a welcome package with all of these things  communication, transportation, shopping, groceries  it would be such a help, Christine said. They ended up purchasing a U.S. phone and renting a car.

Mitro, who speaks both English and Spanish, now plans to lease an apartment she would make available through Airbnb that offers such information and provides all of the amenities she valued as a caretaker  from hand sanitizer and gloves for dealing with catheters to good water pressure and hot tea for unwinding after a long day.

I know what a caregiver needs, she said. Thats how my business plan started.

A number of flexible housing options for patients have been started by caregivers who learned of the need through experience. One, the nonprofit Aishel House, is associated with the Chabad movement of Orthodox Judaism. It hosts patients in its 27 furnished apartments on University Boulevard, asking only that they pay what they can. Founded in 1992 by Rabbi Lazer Lazaroff and his wife, Rochel, who had a baby requiring intensive care, it is staffed by volunteers and provides hot kosher meals daily and drives patients to and from appointments and errands.

Another MD Anderson patients caregiver, Yi Zhang, is starting his own business in Hunan, China.

Like Yang, Zhang had searched for a short-term rental by foot; once he found one, the apartment would not accept rent by credit card or cash, so every month, he withdrew $1,800 from the ATM, then walked to Kroger and exchanged it for a cashiers check. He had to find specialists who could translate Chinese medical documents into something American doctors could understand, then produce records of his treatment that could satisfy his insurance company back in China.

Besides your treatment, your life is in total chaos, Zhang said through a translator. I wished there was a way to make this process less painful  a one-stop shop that could help us with everything.

Adding convenience

A number of one-stop shops already exist. Established middlemen such as Beijing-based Saint Lucia Consulting have staffs of visa counselors, translators and chauffeurs who will prepare paperwork, meet patients at the airport and drive them straight to a furnished rental. But such services, which are offered in cities around the country, run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Zhangs company, Union Reborn, is targeting a less wealthy market in his hometown of Hunan. He has assembled a team of travel agents and doctors to provide phone consultations on how to prepare for health care abroad.

Union Reborn began giving phone consultations in January. Once patients arrive in America, the U.S.-China Center for Medical Exchange, a nonprofit founded to help doctors from the U.S. study in China and vice versa, will help answer questions and connect patients with apartments, translation services and Mandarin-speaking cab drivers.

In the process, Ive learned of this need, said Wei Wu, the executive director of the U.S.-China Center for Medical Exchange.

She had become friends with the Yang and Huang when Yang was going through chemotherapy, and their friendship provided an example of the services U.S.-China Center for Medical Exchange plans to facilitate on a larger scale.

On a recent Monday, she met the family, who had flown back to Houston for a checkup. The visit with the doctor resulted in bad news for Yang, who needed to extend his stay here.

Wu drove the them to the Great Wall Supermarket in Chinatown, and they chatted in Mandarin about familiar foods, such as sweet rice and celtuce, as she helped push their shopping cart beneath a ceiling hung with red lanterns.

Wus presence provided not only access to the comforts of home, but also the freedom to take advantage of the many choices Houston offers. When it came to eggs, the family decided theyd prefer organic. Well go to the American grocery store for that, Wu said.

They did, then drove back to their temporary home, a room in the home of a fellow patient, which they had arranged in advance.

This story has been corrected to show that the list compiled by Joes House includes 18 short-term apartment rental companies, not 18 extended-stay hotels and furnished apartments.

rebecca.schuetz@chron.com

twitter.com/raschuetz
Boeing has purchased Houston-based ForeFlight, creator of a flight planning app that brought smartphones and tablets into the cockpit, for an undisclosed amount.

The deal, announced Wednesday, caps a two-year partnership between the companies in which Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen provided aeronautical data and charts through ForeFlights mobile app, enabling ForeFlights expansion in commercial aviation.

ForeFlight has a massive installed base in general aviation, ForeFlight Chief Executive Tyson Weihs said. Boeing has that in commercial.

In a news release announcing the deal, Ken Sain, Boeing vice president of digital solutions and analytics, said Boeing would build on the work done by Weihs and his team.

We are excited to build on ForeFlights tremendous success in personal, business and defense aviation so we can provide next-generation, integrated tools to our aviation customers today, Sain said.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston-based app aids private pilots, rescuers, other fliers

ForeFlight, incorporated in 2007, was among the first 500 apps to debut in Apples app store when it launched in July 2008. The companys offerings have since evolved, ultimately replacing the briefcase-worth of charts and weather updates pilots used to carry.

ForeFlight, offering its services for $99, $199 or $299 a year, can help pilots chart their course and select altitudes for a speedy arrival or for fuel savings. It can also provide weather information and allows pilots to calculate their weight and balance.

Using the app during flight, pilots can track their position and call up airport-specific landing information. One tab is dedicated to regulatory paperwork and aircraft details. Other parts of the app are for preflight checklists and post-flight logs.

ForeFlight will remain at its current locations, with roughly 180 employees spread across Houston and Austin  the latter being its largest office  as well as Portland, Maine, and Odense, Denmark. The company expects to hire about 30 more people in 2019.

ForeFlights products and services will continue to be marketed under the ForeFlight name for the time being, according to a Boeing spokesman.

Tom Haines, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, called ForeFlight a really important company for general aviation in the last decade. He said it has given pilots an affordable technology to provide them with situational awareness, weather information, tracking information and other services.

Related: United upgrade at Bush airport aims to reduce waits for baggage

Haines, who said he spoke with Weihs, is confident the company will continue assisting general aviation even as it expands into the commercial sector.

And with Boeing expanding into unmanned, supersonic and hypersonic aircraft, Weihs said the acquisition is an opportunity to introduce its technology to customers in those emerging sectors.

Im ecstatic, he said. Its good for the team. Its good for both companies.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, speaking to a small audience at Rice University, said he will run for president in 2020 if the Democratic nominee is too far left.

Schultz said he is seriously considering running as an independent candidate and would make a definitive decision by the summer.

Im going to try to do something that hasnt been done before, Schultz said, appearing to be referring to a third party presidential bid.

Schultz, worth $3.6 billion according to Forbes, spoke to a mix of undergraduate business students, alumni and donors as part of his tour of Texas, which includes visiting universities, festivals and town hall forums.

His anecdote-heavy speech largely focused on his leadership of Starbucks during company public relations crises, including the 2015 "Race Together" marketing campaign that largely backfired on social media, and a 2018 incident in which two black men were arrested at a Starbucks store in a racial profiling incident in Philadelphia.

But the speech also included campaign-ready talking points. He said he doubted that a Democrat in the White House would be able to move the country forward due to an inability to find compromise with Republicans in Congress. He spoke about two-party divisions and how he believed polls suggest Americans want a third choice.

We probably all can agree, Republican or Democrat, theres something not quite right (in the country), Schultz said. Most importantly, a lack of trust.

Schultz served more than 20 years as Starbuck CEO over the course of two stints. He built Starbucks into a global phenomenon with more than 20,000 stores in dozens of countries. His book, From the Ground Up: A journey to Reimagine the Promise of America, was recently published.

Schultz has been criticized for considering a third-party run by Democrats, who fear he will siphon votes from the eventual Democratic nominee and help re-elect President Donald Trump. Schultz said he doesnt want Trump to win, either, but also criticized the platforms of Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts as too far to the left.

Im willing to say that the two-party system is broken, Schultz said. We think theres a path to 270 (electoral college votes).
From the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Coast to the Eastern Seaboard, U.S. companies are racing to build multibillion dollar export terminals to ship liquefied natural gas to markets around the world amid surging demand for the cleaner-burning fuel. But one company in The Woodlands is taking a different path to capitalize on the LNG boom.

Excelerate Energy owns and operates offshore import terminals from Boston to Bangladesh, and is sticking to that strategy even at at time when other companies are switching U.S. LNG facilities from imports to exports. Founded in 2003 and backed by Oklahoma billionaire George B. Kaiser, privately held Excelerate now employs about 100 and controls more than $3 billion in assets around the world.

Excelerate specializes in offshore import terminals that use a special type of LNG tanker known as floating storage and regasification units, or FSRUs. The tankers are essentially mobile plants that convert LNG back to its gaseous form, which is then fed into an underwater pipeline to transport it to shore where it can be distributed to power plants and homes.

In New England, where a lack of natural gas pipeline capacity creates shortages when frigid temperatures send demand soaring, Excelerate has owned and operated an offshore terminal called the Northeast Gateway since 2008. This winter, two of Excelerates FSRU tankers named the Express and Exemplar, anchored in the frigid waters of Massachusetts Bay. Positioned 13 miles off the coast, the two ships delivered a combined 6 billion cubic feet of natural gas, which translated into roughly 14 percent of the regions daily peak demand of about 42 billion cubic feet.

When a cold snap lasts four or five days and people deplete the fuel that they have on site, then they really start worrying and prices go up, Excelerate Energy Managing Director Steven Kobos said. What we do is moderate those peaks and suppress those peaks.

Related: : Excelerate Energy bids for LNG project in The Philippines

Floating storage regasification units represent a small share of the global fleet of LNG tankers navigating the oceans, but they are expected to increase. Out 474 LNG tankers in the world, about two dozen have regasification capabilities. That number could reach as many as 40 by 2025, according to figures from the consulting firm Accenture.

Mobile and flexible

Excelerate owns more than one-third of the worlds current floating storage and regasification unit fleet. The companys offshore terminals have advantages over those built on land, starting with costs. Building an onshore regasification plant costs roughly $274 for each metric ton of LNG to be imported, according to a 2018 report from the International Gas Union, a trade group headquartered in Barcelona. By comparison, a floating storage and regasification unit costs less than half of that figure  $129 per metric ton of capacity.

The floating plants also have more flexibility, meaning they can easily move to markets where demand and prices are highest. Excelerates tankers can be used at special docks built in ports or offshore terminals such as Bostons Northeast Gateway that use buoys to submerge equipment when not in use.

Muqsit Ashraf, a senior managing director with Accenture, said he expects floating storage and regasification units to play a larger role in the delivery of LNG as developing nations such as Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh embrace the technology to boost their LNG import capacity over the next few years.

The specialized tankers, Ashraf said, come with advantages and some drawbacks. While they cost less to build than onshore regasification plants, Ashraf said they have higher operating costs. The tankers are mobile and flexible, but not able to import as much LNG as onshore terminals. The companies that operate the tankers are also less likely to use long-term contracts, relying on spot markets. Long-term contracts typically come with fixed and stable pricing while spot market prices can be higher and more volatile.

Looking ahead for ( floating storage and regasification units), I would expect to see a gradual increase in share of regasification driven by its flexibility, but at some point, the share will cap out, Ashraf said.

Report: U.S. LNG export capacity to more than double by end of 2019

In addition to the Northeast Gateway in Boston, Excelerate also owns and operates offshore import terminals in Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The company is looking to capitalize on the growing LNG demand in developing nations that are using cleaner-burning natural gas to run power plants as they seek to expand and improve their electrical grids.

Excelerate is set to open a second offshore terminal off the coast of Bangladesh in April and is bidding to build one in the Philippines. Kobos said the companys offshore LNG import terminals are not only improving the reliability of power grids in developing nations, but it is also doing so affordably.

Competition, foreign and domestic

If you go into some of the foreign markets we serve, theyre burning diesel and youre saving them $4 million a day, he said. Ive been in countries where were getting ready to sign a contract and the room goes black because the power went out. Were making a difference in those places.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

Excelerate is the only American company in the floating LNG storage and regasification industry, but it is not alone. Bermuda-based Golar LNG and Norrway-based Hoegh LNG are among the companys foreign competitors. Along the East Coast, Excelerate competes with two onshore import terminals, Cove Point LNG import terminal Maryland, which is owned by Dominion Energy of Richmond, Va., and the Everett LNG import terminal, which has operated near Boston for more than 40 years and is now owned by the French energy company Engie.

Although large reserves of natural gas are nearby in in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania, a lack of pipelines to New England means that LNG imports are still needed in the region. Natural gas averages $2.70 per million British thermal units at the Henry Hub in Louisiana, but during a recent arctic blast, natural gas prices recently went as high as $13.56 at the Algonquin Citygate Hub in Boston, S&P Global Platts reported.

Unlike Excelerates overseas markets, which operate under long-term contracts, Boston is a spot market for Excelerate. It delivers there when demand and prices are highest. This winters shipments mark the companys first to the region since 2016. Kobos said the LNG supplements the regions supplies, helping to smooth price spikes that boost utility bills for businesses and households.

We believe that New England consumers will pay in total $1 billion less for heating and power this year, he said. Its really been remarkable.

sergio.chapa@chron.com

@SergioChapa on Twitter
When it comes to the key musical acts of 1969 you will rarely hear about Zager and Evans.

Mind you this was a year that saw the Beatles limping along on the verge of collapse, Led Zeppelin emerging in the UK, Sly & the Family Stone asserting their place in funk, The Who introducing us to Tommy and the enigmatic David Bowie preparing to take the worlds of music and fashion by storm.

In the midst of all this somehow Nebraskans Denny Zager and Rick Evans managed to top the Billboard pop charts for six weeks during the summer of 1969 with their single In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus) and its profound chronophobia (the fear of the passage of time).

It was a busy 12 months to say the least and a little song recorded down a dusty road in Odessa would help provide the soundtrack to one of the most momentous events of that year  or any year for that matter.

As NASA sent men to walk on the moon, the ramshackle folk-rock duo morosely looked ahead to the next centuries of mankinds technological evolution.

The sense of foreboding in the tune (In the year 2525, if man is still alive...) stood in stark contrast to The 5th Dimensions take on the hit from Hair, Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures), which had topped the charts just before Zager and Evans. The 5th Dimension, with their cleancut looks and smiles, were the saccharine kings and queens of 1969.

Coming to Texas

The songs roots go back to 1964 but it didnt get laid down onto tape until four years later during a recording session in West Texas.

After drummer Dave Trupp, who played drums on the hit, died in late 2015 his former bandmate and bassist Mark Dalton told a Lincoln, Nebraska outlet that he and Trupp were asked by Zager and Evans to record in Odessa, Texas in 1968. It was during those sessions that In the Year 2525 was finally recorded at Tommy Allsups recording studio down a dusty road on the citys northside.

Allsup, who died in 2017, had been sideman for Buddy Holly and Bob Wills among many others. He famously lost a coin toss with Ritchie Valens for a seat on the plane that would kill Valens, Holly, and J.P. The Big Bopper Richardson.

It might have been one take. Wed rehearsed it a lot in Lincoln before we went down, Dalton said. The singing part of it took hours and hours to get the vocal harmonies right.

Allsup told an outlet in 2011 that students from nearby Permian High School were used to get the orchestral sound just right.

Pop premonitions

Reading back on the lyrics, mankind might be actually ahead of the schedule that Denny and Rick plotted out.

Everything you think, do and say / Is in the pill you took today  Psychotropic drugs, anyone?

Your arms hangin limp at your sides / Your legs got nothin to do / Some machines doin that for you  Uber Eats, Favor, Amazon, and other grocery apps mean that you dont need leave home.

You wont need no husband, wont need no wife / Youll pick your son, pick your daughter too / From the bottom of a long glass tube.  Genetic engineering is looking cuddlier by the day.

Later 1,000 copies of the 45 rpm single were pressed and sold out of the trunks of band members cars. Those first 5,000 copies sold out and soon major record labels came calling looking for more from Zager and Evans. RCA Records then signed them to a recording deal.

The song became a hit in the summer of 1969 but sadly the career path ahead of Zager and Evans would be a short one. A car accident involving Evans scuttled plans for the group to play Woodstock and appear on American Bandstand. That likely cemented them as one-hit wonders. It would have been a coup for any band to be included in the cultural tornado that was Woodstock.

A tour opening for Engelbert Humperdinck was probably not the best idea either.

The single soon stalled out on the charts but remained popular in the following decades on 60s compilation albums and one-hit wonder collections. For a brief period, though, those with chronophobia had an anthem.

By late August the Rolling Stones would dethrone Zager and Evans at the top of Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart with Honky Tonk Women only to later be bested by The Archies and their syrupy Sugar, Sugar concoction. Bubblegum always wins.

We couldnt follow the song  that was why we were your classic one-hit wonders, Evans told People magazine in 1996 in a special issue profiling fellow one-hit wonders The Vapors, Al Stewart, and Tiny Tim.

In 2010, during the sixth season of the animated comedy Futurama, with the characters Fry, Bender, and Farnsworth experienced life in the year 252525 but their version of the future included rusty swords, deceptive mermen, and despotic giraffes.

Welcome to the future.

Craig Hlavaty is a Houston-based writer.
Houston's economic future depends on continued immigration, and slashing it by 30 percent would cost the regional economy $51 billion by 2036, according to a study released Thursday.

The report by the Center for Houston's Future, a think tank associated with the Greater Houston Partnership, found that a continued flow of immigrants at existing levels or higher is crucial for businesses in the region to attract enough skilled and unskilled workers.

A 30 percent increase in immigration in that time frame would produce a $67 billion economic gain, roughly one-sixth of the city's current economic output, according to the study. More than half of all jobs added within the next three decades will be filled by foreign-born workers, the researchers found.

MORNING UPDATES: Get the news you need to know to start your morning

The findings, along with research by the New York-based nonprofit New American Economy, were presented Thursday at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Houston business and civic leaders, including Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, stressed the value immigrants bring to the area and encouraged executives across all sectors to press state and federal lawmakers for immigration-friendly policies.

"If we want to continue to progress as a city, region, and state, this is key to our economic future," said Brett Perlman, the Center for Houston's Future's president.

As the politics around immigration have grown increasingly rancorous, Perlman said, business leaders have come to see them as so insurmountable that they aren't speaking out as they have in the past  even as many struggled with the effects of President Donald Trump's policies.

At one institution in the Texas Medical Center, the study found 92 percent of its biomedical researchers are foreign-born at a time when the administration has made it harder to receive professional work visas and moved to rescind spouses' work visas. Increasingly, medical researchers are coming here for training, then returning home.

"This leaves the (medical) sector in a position where it is essentially training its global competition," the study said.

The medical center institution, which was not named in the report, saw the number of patients coming from the Middle East drop by half after Trump's travel ban limited such visitors. International patients traditionally are very profitable for the industry. On the other hand, patients lacking legal status were showing up sicker after delaying their care out of fears of deportation, the researchers found.

The political sensitivity of the issue makes advocacy difficult, said Chelsie Kramer, state organizer for the New American Economy.

Without enough immigrant workers, "(businesses) don't know how they're going to keep their doors open, but they can't speak out on it because they're afraid of backlash," Kramer told the Houston Chronicle editorial board.

The findings, the first to evaluate immigration's economic impact locally, came as a new University of Texas poll found border security and immigration topped voters' lists of the most important issues in the country and the state, with education coming second.

New statistics this week showed the number of mostly Central American families and children crossing the border illegally broke records again in February  the fourth time in the last five months as their apprehensions surged to about 43,000, putting federal authorities at what they called a "breaking point." Advocates said many are coming illegally after being unable to claim asylum at legal ports of entry, but supporters of Trump's emergency declaration to build a border wall said the influx justified his move.

"Immigration is becoming more and more polarized at the federal level," said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the New American Economy, an immigration advocacy group. "The business community has become the most important voice in this fight."

Robbins noted business leaders had rallied to defeat the so-called "bathroom bill" in the 2017 legislative session, but stayed relatively quiet against Senate Bill 4, an expansive proposal that mandated local governments cooperate with immigration authorities. By contrast, a similar measure failed in 2011 after Houston home builder Bob Perry and San Antonio grocery store magnate Charles Butt opposed it.

With the Legislature again considering the repeal of in-state tuition for immigrants here illegally, Robbins said the business community must be vocal.

More than 60 Texas businesses signed a "Texas Compact" last month, pledging support for solutions to meet their labor needs. They urged lawmakers to strengthen border security, but also to create a path to legal status for the state's 1.8 million immigrants here illegally who contribute about $1 billion in state and local taxes.

Houston's approximately 400,000 immigrants here illegally earned $11 billion in 2016, paying $742 million to federal taxes and $448 million to state coffers, according to the New American Economy study.

The compact particularly urged a resolution for about 124,000 Texans who came here illegally as children and were granted temporary work permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program; and about 44,800 from countries damaged by war or natural disasters who are authorized under a Temporary Protected Status. Trump has rescinded DACA and ended TPS for many countries, though both those moves remain mired in litigation.

Tony Payan, director of Rice's Mexico Center, said decades without meaningful immigration reform in Washington had created a "gray market," particularly in Houston's construction industry  about half of which is estimated to consist of workers here illegally. To evade federal penalties, companies subcontract employees, leading to worse safety conditions and lower wages.

"This is bad policy," Payan said. "To simply assume that if we close our doors, employers will be forced to hire workers at whatever wage they want, that's not how the economy works and that's just not the case. What will happen is that things will simply slow down."

Research, including by Harvard economics professor George Borjas, has found that immigration tends to lower the relative wages of high-school dropout American workers by about 2 percent, while typically raising the wages of the other 90 percent of U.S. workers, according to the the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

"Without immigration we can not fully recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey," said Mayor Turner. "All the money in the world means nothing if we do not have enough people to help us get the job done."

lomi.kriel@chron.com

Houston Chronicle reporter Mike Snyder 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.
Google Maps

A 14-year-old boy is fighting for his life after being stabbed outside a southwest Houston school Wednesday.

The student had just left Jane Long Academy in the 6400 block of Bellaire Boulevard when he and another juvenile got into an argument around 4:30 p.m., according to the Houston Police Department.
WASHINGTON - At a closed-door meeting of House Democrats last week, liberal firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that colleagues who backed a GOP amendment on new gun background check legislation could find themselves on a list facing primary election challenges in 2020.

Freshman Houston Democrat Lizzie Fletcher did not join the 26 Democratic defectors on the Republican amendment, which mandated that undocumented immigrants who try to buy guns be reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But the New Yorkers threat did not go over well with much of the Democratic caucus, which has been wrestling with divisions over ideas and tactics since January, when their party took over the majority riding a blue wave of opposition to President Donald Trump in the 2018 midterm elections.

The tug-of-war between the far-left Democrats and moderates trying to move the partys center of gravity toward the middle has put newly-minted lawmakers like Fletcher on the spot. More than 30 of the 40 GOP seats that Democrats picked up in November were won by centrist, New Democrat Coalition candidates like Fletcher, vying to wrest victories in potentially swing districts.

Fletcher defeated nine-term Republican John Culberson in November on the strength of a moderately progressive stance that appealed to educated, suburban women in Harris County who had soured on Trump and sought a less ideologically-riven alternative than her main Democratic rival, activist Laura Moser.

Now Republicans, who had represented Houstons Seventh Congressional District since future president George H.W. Bush won it in 1967, already are keying on Fletcher as a vulnerable incumbent in 2020, a presidential election year where control of Congress will once again be up for grabs.

For subscribers: Former GOP leader joins Cornyn campaign and warns: Texas is now a swing state

Although Fletcher did not run afoul of Ocasio-Cortez and the liberal faction that commands much of the partys new energy, she did come under immediate fire from the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of the House GOP.

The big story is how loyal shes been to the Democratic Party line, NRCC spokesman Bob Salera wrote in an email on Fletchers two-month-old voting record in Congress.

Whether that kind of attack sticks depends in part on what the Democratic Party line becomes over the next two years as centrists warn of lurching too far to the left and alienating independent and even Republican-leaning voters looking askance at a party remade in Trumps image.

Several Democratic presidential candidates have set off a bidding war on the left by endorsing sweeping liberal policy proposals such as the Green New Deal to address climate change, a Medicare-for-All government health system, and reparations for historical injustices against African-Americans.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Fletcher has adopted none of those lines. In the election, she rejected a Medicare-for-All plan in favor of seeking incremental improvements to the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, a position that stood in stark contrast to Moser, who was backed by the Bernie Sanders group, Our Revolution.

After scarcely 10 weeks in office, Fletcher has kept a laser focus on local issues like metro transit and flood control, pragmatic concerns that blend with a pro-business, but socially progressive point of view.

I have to do everything I can to define myself, and not let others define me, she said in an interview. That means not letting other members of my caucus define me, and not letting the Republicans who will run a candidate against me define me.

But with much of the nations attention focused on brash young liberals in the House, Fletcher has had to contend with GOP efforts to brand the entire Democratic Party as a socialist fifth column. One irony in Fletchers dilemma is that since taking office on Jan. 3 she has received very little national media attention other than as a foil for the more provocative pronouncements of the protagonists of the political left.

No Twitter love for transportation, flood control

When U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American Democrat representing Minneapolis, suggested that some Jewish lawmakers might have dual loyalties or allegiance to a foreign country, the NRCC singled out Fletcher and several other Democrats to stand up in the face of blatant anti-Semitism.

Fletchers relative-low profile stands in contrast to two other Houston-area freshmen in Congress: Democrat Sylvia Garcia, who has championed the cause of Dreamers  immigrants brought to the country illegally as children  and Republican Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who emerged as a leading voice on border security - including walls - and received media coverage as the future of the GOP.

I dont get headlines, and I definitely could use more Twitter followers, Fletcher conceded. But for me, its about bringing the voice of my district to Washington.

Fletcher, a Houston energy lawyer, campaigned on local issues like Houstons transportation problems, slow rail development, and the shortcomings in flood control exposed by Hurricane Harvey. In Congress, her two major committee assignments reflect that focus: Transportation and Infrastructure, which includes railroads and pipelines, and Science Space and Technology, which oversees NASA.

Her focus is Houston and Harris County, said Texas Southern University political analyst Jay Aiyer. Its not national.

While Fletcher may not endorse the Green New Deal, she won a position chairing a subcommittee on the environment, which she has used to warn of the dangers of human caused climate change on coastal communities like Houston.

She skirted mild controversy at the State of the Union Address, inviting as her special guest Rhonda Hart, a gun-safety activist whose daughter, Kim, was one of eight students and two teachers killed in the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School last year.

Fletcher cut her teeth in politics as an activist for abortion rights and a defender of Planned Parenthood. But in office she has eschewed many other divisive topics that get lawmakers face time on national cable shows.

She has nevertheless proven a stalwart ally of the House Democratic leadership, which took the unusual step of openly backing her against Moser in the Democratic primary. In the closing weeks of the general election, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi campaigned in Houston - but not with Fletcher, who sought a post-partisan appeal based on compromise and bridging political divides.

While Fletcher has yet to break with Pelosi on the sorts of procedural votes that have threatened party unity in recent weeks, she signaled that she is prepared to if necessary.

We have to take tough votes all the time, she said. People in districts like mine wont always be voting with the caucus.

In the early going, some analysts see her building the political capital needed to go her own way when it fits the politics of the Seventh Congressional District.

That will buy her flexibility when she needs to vote against the party on a final passage vote that might be a little more difficult for her, said Craig Goodman, a political scientist at the University of Houston-Victoria.

For now, news coverage is dominated by the partys more aggressive left wing - represented by democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. This month, Rolling Stone magazine featured Ocasio-Cortez, Omar and National Teacher of Year Jahana Hayes, a strong teachers union supporter and the first African-American to represent Connecticut.

But analysts say it is centrists like Fletcher who may be the key to maintaining Pelosi as House Speaker.

New Democrat Coalition wrote the book on tough wins

The New Democrat Coalition, with more than 100 members, remains the largest ideological caucus among House Democrats. In recent weeks, it has sought to flex its muscle through eight issue-oriented task forces to shape policy on health care, infrastructure and climate change.

Were largely people who come out of districts like Lizzies, said Connecticut U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, the chair emeritus of the New Democrats. Were pretty sensitive to being literally on the front lines  Were the repository of knowledge on how you win in tough areas.

Fletcher co-chairs a New Democrats task force on trade, a top priority in the Houston business community. Whether that would pay dividends in a future Democratic primary remains to be seen.

The irony is that for Democrats to keep the majority, the people they need to worry about are primarily the centrist Democrats, because they are the ones who are most vulnerable in 2020, said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones. Theres no way Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is going to bet beaten by a Republican in 2020.

To Jones, the divide Democrats face is not unlike what establishment Republicans confronted during the tea party movement of a decade ago.

Either way, lawmakers like Fletcher have to walk a fine line. Progressive activists in Houston argue that they, too, are part of the coalition that made Fletcher the first Democrat to represent the Texas Seventh Congressional District in a half-century. Some worry that the new Democratic majority will become too timid, uninspiring, and too ready to give in to Republican pressure.

Democratic activists who took a lot of their time and put themselves out there and did everything that they could to retake Congress want to see change, said Daniel Cohen, a precinct chairman in Fletchers district. We want to see something bold that spurs change.

Cohen said hed like to see House Democrats like Fletcher make more aggressive moves toward universal health coverage, preferably Medicare-for-all, and make louder declarations about the environment and immigration. He also believes that more outspoken leftists like Ocasio-Cortez have gotten a bad rap in the media.

Theyre so used to people saying nothing, Cohen said, that when somebody finally calls out the problem, they think theyre a trouble-maker.

Its also worth mentioning, Cohen added, that it doesnt hurt your re-election odds to have a bunch of activists ready to roll.

In the face of those divisions, Fletcher said she has a unifying message for Democrats. Democrats in my district wanted to win, she said, and we did.
AUSTIN  Clad in the iconic white, brimmed hats, the Texas Rangers are known as the states elite police force trusted to investigate major crimes and public corruption. But a federal lawsuit is dredging up cases of wrongdoing amid the ranks and accusing the Texas Department of Public Safety of perpetuating a good old boy culture that turns a blind eye to some rule-breaking employees, while punishing others.

In a statement, the Department of Public Safety said it looks forward to refuting the claims in court. Yet even before the accusations are litigated, the incidents described in the lawsuit  that were verified through public records obtained by Hearst Newspapers  reveal a series of recent cases in which members of the storied unit have broken rules or violated ethical standards.

A Texas Ranger admitted to a sexual relationship with the widow of a murder victim, whose death he was investigating. Another was involved in a fatal car crash while speeding in his state-issued vehicle. A third was accused of making sexual comments last year to female employees of the Pflugerville Police Department, records show.

The lawsuit  and the incidents its bringing to light  come amid increased scrutiny of the Department of Public Safety, usually a darling of Texas state leaders. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is blaming the agency for the states flawed attempt to purge suspected non-citizens from the voter rolls. Meanwhile, state lawmakers have publicly chastised DPS leaders for long wait times at the states driver license offices.

Texas Take: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday

The attorney behind the lawsuit targeting misconduct within the agency, Ty Clevenger, says the end goal of his case is to clean up DPS. A former Texas cop, Clevenger has become a thorn in the agencys side, by filing lawsuits and regularly blogging about eye-popping claims of wrongdoing within the Rangers and DPS.

He represents former DPS investigator Darren Lubbe, but Clevenger also has sued the department on behalf of a trooper who sued in 2015 after being reprimanded for appearing in a photo with the rapper Snoop Dogg.

Somebody needs to do it," Clevenger said, "shine a light on whats going on inside DPS.

In the lawsuit, filed in November 2018, Lubbe alleges he faced retaliation after refusing to attend a cowboy church in East Texas with his boss. After he filed a formal complaint, Lubbe claims he received his first negative performance review and was harassed into an early retirement.

That came, the lawsuit alleges, as other DPS officials who broke rules avoided punishment or were quietly reprimanded.

One example cited in the lawsuit is the case of Texas Ranger David Armstrong. On his way back to the Dallas area after a tour of duty on the border, Armstrong was driving double the posted 40 mph speed limit when he hit a pickup truck that had run a stop sign, according to a law enforcement report on the crash. The trucks passenger was thrown from the vehicle and later died of his injuries. The state-issued truck Armstrong was driving skidded into a ditch and caught fire, records show. He broke his wrist and fractured a hip, records show.

For subscribers: In this undercover operation, it was the booze police who got stung

Investigators on a state crash reconstruction team found the other driver was drunk-driving when he disregarded the stop sign in Premont, roughly 80 miles north of McAllen. But investigators also noted that if Armstrong had been driving the speed limit, the crash would not have happened, records show.

Armstrong wasnt suspended or demoted as a result of the February 2017 wreck, DPS records show. He didnt face criminal charges, after a grand jury opted not to indict him, according to officials.

The lawsuit alleges this demonstrates the double standard and evidence of a cover up by top DPS officials. Armstrongs attorney Eric Perkins, however, said his client was the least culpable in causing the accident.

The Texas Rangers did not do anything to cover this up, Perkins said. It was all thoroughly investigated.

The lawsuit alleges other Texas Rangers were quietly disciplined. One is Brent Davis, was investigating the 2016 murder of Longview businessman Ronald Horaney when he began a sexual relationship with murder victims widow, according to the lawsuit and DPS records.

Sexual misconduct cases draw suspensions

The Rangers launched an internal investigation of Davis after a concerned family member reported the relationship in summer 2017. Davis admitted to the affair and said in an affidavit that it began months after his role in the murder investigation had waned.

The pair met up when he was off duty, but Davis communicated with the widow using his state-issued phone, the investigation found. He cut off communication once the internal inquiry began, he said. In the affidavit, Davis said he didnt think his actions compromised the murder investigation.

The internal review, however, found Davis violated agency ethics rules. In a harshly worded letter, then-Texas Ranger Director Randall Prince, told Davis his actions might have jeopardized the integrity of a murder investigation. The case remains unsolved.

Prince said Daviss conduct would support termination, but noted it should not diminish your overall and impressive statement of work throughout your career with the department. Davis was instead demoted to a trooper with the Texas Highway Patrol and suspended for five days without pay.

Former Texas Ranger Michael Smith received similar discipline after an internal investigation found he made sexual comments to female employees at the Pflugerville Police Department last summer, including calling one a tall drink of water. One woman told investigators that Smith had suggested she would be rough in bed, which he denied. Another alleged Smith made comments about all the sex toys found at a crime scene. And she said he wrote the word playboy on an office whiteboard in front of the words bunny suit, which surveillance video appeared to confirm, the report said. Smith said it was a joke, when questioned by investigators.

Austin TV News outlet KXAN reported Texas Ranger Michael Smith pulled over a driver in 2017 who flipped him off in traffic, and then pointed his gun at the man. DPS told KXAN the incident was investigated and the agency found that Smith had exercised poor judgment. Theres no record he was suspended or demoted as a result. The lawsuit alleges most other officers would have been terminated for that conduct.

Neither Smith nor Davis responded to a request for comment. The pair are the only Texas Rangers that have been demoted within the past five years, of the dozen allegations of rule-breaking that were investigated, DPS records show.

Filed in Austin in U.S. District Court, Lubbes lawsuit alleges his superiors began to question his religious devotion in 2014 and urged him to attend church. He refused, and began to face retaliation, including unfair discipline, the lawsuit alleges.

In one example, the lawsuit said, Lubbe gave a co-worker the used tires from his DPS vehicle when they were replaced. Lubbes boss didnt object at the time, the lawsuit says, but later he ordered the tires returned and reported the incident. The lawsuit says Lubbe faced several days of suspension as a result  later reduced to one  while a higher-up who had taken and returned two chairs from the office and pressured Lubbe to attend church was allowed to quietly retire.

Ultimately, Lubbe alleged, he was ordered transferred out of the region. Since he couldnt relocate his family, the lawsuit said, Lubbe was forced to retire in 2017.

Police experts say there are a number of factors that figure into the discipline of an officer, and there are sometimes good reasons that agencies react differently to infractions that may seem similar at first glance.

A number of factors play into the decision such as an officers work history and whether he or she was on duty at the time of the incident.

Maki Haberfeld, professor of police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said demotion is a serious punishment.

Police organizations are the most punitive organizations you can think of, there are rules and regulations for everything, she said. To think they get away with more is a misconception.

Criminology professor Alex del Carmen, however, said law enforcement officers need to be held to a high standard, especially when the rule-breaking takes place while theyre on duty.

Those that enforce the law are also required to adhere to the law, said del Carmen, Executive Director at the School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Strategic Studies at Tarleton State University.

The state has yet to file a response to Lubbes lawsuit.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7)  Metro Manila police chief Guillermo Eleazar justified his roughhousing of a cop nabbed for robbery extortion, saying that he deserved to be shamed for what he has done.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source, Eleazar also refused to apologize to Police Officer Mario Quibete. Eleazar collared and forcibly tilted the head of Quibete in front of media after his arrest.

"Itong taong ito, [This person,] he doesn't deserve to stay in the PNP (Philippine National Police.) At 'yung panduduro sa kanya, [And my berating him,] he deserved that'," Eleazar said Thursday.

He added, "Talagang nakakagigil na rin dahil we've been doing this itong entrapment operation even before. Pinakikikita nga natin na ginagawa natin ngayon para magsilbing babala sa ibang mga pulis."

[Translation: It really is infuriating because we've been doing this entrapment operation even before. We are showing what we are doing now to serve as a warning to other policemen.]

However, Eleazar apologized to the public for his outburst, adding that he would act differently if faced again with the same situation.

But the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said Quibete's rights to dignity and presumption of innocence were violated.

"How ever much we understand the frustration of General Eleazar, we wouldn't want this to also guide the work of other police officers kasi tinitingala siya at baka gayahin or baka mas malala [because he is looked up to and they might imitate or it could be worse] in the next instance," CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia told CNN Philippines' Balitaan.

De Guia added that shaming is considered as mental torture under the Anti-Torture Act. She also said that maltreatment of prisoners is prohibited under the Revised Penal Code.

"As much as possible, kung kakayanin na magtimpi, sana ay ipaubaya na lang sa korte ang pagpapataw ng parusa sa mga pulis kasi sabi nga natin, may karapatan din ang mga pulis," she said.

[Translation: As much as possible, if they can restrain themselves, hopefully they should just let the court mete out penalties for policemen because as we have said, policemen also have rights.]

Eleazar said that the policeman is free to file charges against him. He also shrugged off negative reactions from the public.

"Kung marami sa inyong kumakampi, kinakampihan 'yan, eh so be it. Kung sa tingin nila, mali 'yung ginawa ko diyan, so bahala kayo. Eh kung sa tingin nila eh 'yun pa ngayon ang sympathy is on that policeman, eh palagay ko baligtad na ang perspective sa ginagawa natin ngayon," Eleazar said.

[Translation: If many of you back him up, then so be it. If they think that what I did was wrong, that's up to you. If they think that, now the sympathy is on that policeman, then I think that our perspective on what we are doing now is twisted.]

Eleazar also said that policemen who are bad "to the bones" will still commit crimes even if their salaries are increased three times or four times. "It's about greed. It's about easy money for easy life," he said.

Still, Eleazar said erring cops comprise only a fraction of the police force and appealed to the public to continue supporting the PNP's internal cleansing program by reporting scalawags.

This is not the first time that Eleazar shamed erring cops in front of cameras. In his early days at the helm of the National Capital Region Police Office, he shamed cops for sleeping on the job. He also gave the same treatment to a cop who was accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in exchange for clearing her parents' of drug charges.

President Rodrigo Duterte praised Eleazar for his shaming of Quibete in front of the press and assured him of his support.

Duterte approved last year pay hikes for police and soldiers, with rookie cops getting their salaries doubled.
As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.
Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
Are you living up to your legal obligations? If not, you could be in for a nasty surprise
Translations:

Le fret aerien connait un debut dannee au ralenti (pdf)

Comienzo debil para el transporte de carga aerea en 2019 (pdf)

Transporte aereo de carga comeca 2019 com resultados em queda (pdf)

2019 (pdf)



Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs), decreased 1.8% in January 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. This was the worst performance in the last three years.

Freight capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometers (AFTKs), rose by 4.0% year-on-year in January 2019. This was the eleventh month in a row that capacity growth outstripped demand growth.

Demand for air cargo continues to face significant headwinds. Global economic activity and consumer confidence have weakened. And the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturing and export orders has indicated falling global export orders since September 2018.

"Air cargo markets contracted in January. This is a worsening of a weakening trend that started in mid-2018. Unless protectionist measures and trade tensions diminish there is little prospect of a quick re-bound," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's Director General and CEO.

january 2019 (% year-on-year) World share1 FTK

AFTK FLF (%-pt)2 fLF (level)3 Total Market 100.0% -1.8% 4.0% -2.7% 45.1% Africa 1.7%

1.0% 8.2% -2.5% 35.4% Asia Pacific 35.5% -3.6% 4.1% -4.0% 50.1% Europe 23.3% -3.1% 2.8% -3.1% 50.1% Latin America 2.6% 0.0% -0.7% 0.2% 29.9% Middle East 13.3% -4.5% 4.1% -3.8% 42.1% North America 23.6% 3.3% 5.0% -0.7% 40.0%

Regional Performance

Only two of six regions reported year-on-year demand growth in January 2019  North America and Africa. Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East all contracted, while Latin America was flat.

Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for air freight shrink by 3.6% in January 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. Weaker manufacturing conditions for exporters in the region, ongoing trade tensions and a slowing of the Chinese economy impacted the market. Capacity increased by 4.1%.

North American airlines posted the fastest growth of any region for the eighth consecutive month in January 2019, with an increase in demand of 3.3% compared to the same period a year earlier. Capacity increased by 5.0%. The strength of the US economy and consumer spending have helped support the demand for air cargo over the past year, benefiting US carriers.

European airlines experienced a contraction in freight demand of 3.1% in January 2019 compared to a year ago. Capacity increased by 2.8% year-on-year. Weaker manufacturing conditions for exporters, and shorter supplier delivery times particularly in Germany, one of Europe's key export markets, impacted demand. Trade tensions and uncertainty over Brexit also contributed to a weakening in demand.

Middle Eastern airlines' freight volumes contracted 4.5% in January 2019 compared to the year-ago period. Capacity increased by 4.1%. Seasonally-adjusted international air cargo demand, which trended upwards for the past three months helped by stronger trade to/from Europe and Asia, has started to decline.

Latin American airlines' freight demand was flat (0.0%) in January 2019 versus last year. Despite the economic uncertainty in the region, a number of key markets are performing strongly. Freight traffic within South America and between Central and South America grew at a double-digit rate in January. And demand on routes between North and South America also performed well. Capacity decreased by 0.7%.

African carriers saw freight demand increase by 1.0% in January 2019, compared to the same month in 2018. Capacity grew 8.2% year-on-year. Seasonally-adjusted air cargo demand has now trended upwards for six months. And while seasonally-adjusted international freight volumes are lower than their peak in mid-2017, they are still 35% higher than their most recent trough in late-2015.

World Cargo Symposium

The challenges and opportunities facing the air cargo industry will be discussed at the 13th World Cargo Symposium which will gather the air cargo industry in Singapore, 12-14 March.

For a quick overview, take a look at our January Cargo Infographic (pdf)

Read the full January Air Freight Analysis (pdf)



For more information, please contact:

Corporate Communications

Tel: +41 22 770 2967

Email: corpcomms@iata.org



Notes for Editors:
Tanzanian authorities create special zone to protect marine resources

March 07,2019 | Source: Xinhuanet

Tanzanian authorities on Tuesday announced the creation of a special zone aimed at protecting marine resources and fighting illegal fishing in the Indian Ocean.



"Illegal fishing and haphazard harvest of marine resources have been in place in the Indian Ocean since time immemorial and this has to end now," said Tanzanian Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Luhaga Mpina, when announcing the formation of the special zone in the southern coastal fishing town of Kilwa.



Speaking to fishermen in Kilwa district, Lindi region, Mpina said the launch of the special zone for the protection of marine resources was not aimed at harassing fishers. "Our resolve is to ensure that our natural resources are not abused," said the minister. He said the government was in the process of overhauling the Fisheries Act of 2003 in order to improve the management of fisheries in the east African nation.



Mohamed Kimbwembe, a fisherman from Somanga in Kilwa district, praised President Magufuli's administration for fighting illegal fishing with full force. "Illegal fishing was endangering our marine resources, some of which started to face extinction," observed Kimbwembe.



On Monday, East African Community member countries sharing Lake Victoria signed an agreement aimed at conducting joint illegal fishing crackdown in Lake Victoria. The agreement was signed in Tanzania's northern tourist city of Arusha by ministers responsible for fisheries from Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. A joint statement issued by the ministers said the joint crackdown in Africa's largest lake was to protect and sustain resources found in the lake.

 2000-2019 XINHUANET.com

Theme(s): Post Harvest Technology and Trade, Others, Landing Centres, Fisheries Resources, Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods, Freshwater ecosystems and threats, Coastal Ecosystems and Threats, Fisheries Development and Aquaculture, Communities and Organisations.
Vulnerability of migrant workers in Thailand's fishing industry

March 07,2019 | Source: UNDP

In 2013, the Royal Thai Government proposed that the UN General Assembly proclaim March 3rd as World Wildlife Day. The anniversary gives us an important opportunity to reflect on the relationship between wildlife and humans. Today, there is wider awareness that the same practices driving animals to extinction and ecosystems to collapse are also perpetuating some of the worlds worst human rights abuses, including slavery. Ironic as it may sound, what if the key to stemming some wildlife losses lay in protecting human rights of workers? Those working on ending human rights abuses in seafood supply chains are provoking these and other important questions.



Seas empty of fish



Though the seas around Thailand are much admired for their beauty, they have mostly been depopulated of fish. According to a recent report by the Environmental Justice Foundation, Boats now catch just 14 percent of what they caught in the mid-1960s and Thailands fish stocks and marine biodiversity are in crisis. This is driving fishing boats farther and farther out to sea.



More and more fishing boats resort to bringing in so called, trash fish to use as fish meal for prawns in shrimp farms, or as pet food for western consumers. Thailand is the largest shrimp exporter in the world, with 70 percent coming from the aquaculture.



As Thailands economic growth rates have risen, so too, has its need for labour. However, Thailands working age population like many countries in the region has dropped precipitously. This has led Thailands seafood industry to rely more and more on Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian migrant workers to fill the gap in dangerous professions like industrial fishing. And as fish catches decline and operating costs rise, some unscrupulous business owners are exploiting this unprotected group.



There are over two million registered migrant workers in Thailand, and most likely many more unregistered. Of the former, the Thai Ministry of Labour estimates that 222,000 work in the seafood processing and approximately 129,000 work on fishing vessels. Migrants are not granted the same rights as Thai nationals, so they are more vulnerable.



Vulnerabilities of migrant workers



The risks that these migrant workers face came to the surface in 2014, when journalists from the Guardian and the Associated Press discovered Burmese and Thai nationals in slave camps on remote islands off Indonesia. These stories were followed by others involving enslavement in shrimp peeling sheds. The horror they elicited prompted consumer-led boycotts. Brand name, international buyers placed stop-orders on Thai seafood, and the US Department of State downgraded Thailand to Tier 3, the lowest possible ranking, in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The report faulted the country for failing to investigate, prosecute, and convict ship owners and captains for extracting forced labor from migrant workers, or officials who may be complicit in these crimes.



In 2015 Thailands fishing fleet was formally accused of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) resulting in an EU-issued a 'yellow card' and putting Thailand on the path towards a complete seafood import ban.



Thai authorities quickly sprang into action, alongside its major seafood suppliers. They deployed covert patrol vessels and began intercepting illegal fishing boats. Authorities started a programme requiring all fishing vessels above a certain size to report their catches before and after every trip. In 2017 the Thai government launched a National Action Plan to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to which UNDP has been providing technical support. And in January, Thailand also became the first country in Asia to ratify the Work in Fishing Convention C188, which sets basic standards of decent work.



Human rights abuses



Though it is too early to know, these actions may be bringing unregulated fishing and human rights abuses in the seafood industry to an end. In 2018, the US State Department moved Thailand from Tier 3 to Tier 2 in the TIPS report, and the EU lifted its yellow card, based on documented improvements, saying that Thai authorities had addressed serious human rights abuses. These and other responses suggest a growing recognition of the link between human rights protection and strong environmental stewardship.



Which brings me and others to consider solutions to other problems. For example, what other wildlife might be protected with greater protection for migrant workers? How might Thailands wild elephant population be increased through stronger respect for land rights? How might the Asian Tiger regain its footing through greater protection of indigenous peoples rights? These and other questions will continue to be raised by our UNDP Business and Human Rights in Asia project. Please let us know your thoughts!

Theme(s): Post Harvest Technology and Trade, Landing Centres, Others, Freshwater ecosystems and threats, Coastal Ecosystems and Threats, Fisheries Development and Aquaculture, Fisheries Resources, Communities and Organisations, Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
OFID supports to strengthen Mozambique's artisanal and industrial fishing

March 07,2019 | Source: Urdu Point

The OPEC Fund for International Development, OFID, has signed a US$12 million loan agreement with Mozambique to co-finance a project aimed at strengthening artisanal and industrial fishing to boost food security and improve living standards.



The loan will support the Angoche Fishing Port Project by financing the construction of port infrastructure in Mozambiques Nampula Province. On completion, the project  which is co-financed by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa and the government of Mozambique  will promote more competitive and sustainable trade, strengthen the fisheries value chain and facilitate exports.



OFID and Mozambique have enjoyed a strong partnership for over 40 years  with public and private sector loans (including the loan provided under the newly-signed agreement) totaling more than US$275 million and targeting mainly the agriculture, fishery, energy, education and transportation sectors. The country has also benefited from a number of regional and national grants.



The agreement was signed by OFID Director-General Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, and Mozambiques Deputy National Director of Treasury Ester dos Santos Jose, at OFIDs Vienna headquarters. OFID was established in January 1976 by the then 13 member countries of OPEC; including the United Arab Emirates.

Theme(s): Post Harvest Technology and Trade, Coastal Ecosystems and Threats, Fisheries Development and Aquaculture, Fisheries Resources, Communities and Organisations, Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods, Freshwater ecosystems and threats, Landing Centres, Others.
Electric School Buses and Midi Buses: Big Business Coming

We all know China has 400,000 large battery buses and they are spreading across the world thanks to strong subsidies but there is another big opportunity coming with smaller buses. Uniquely, the new IDTechEx report, "Electric School Buses and Midi Buses 2019-2039" appraises this. There are over 1.5 million school buses, mostly midi buses but with larger ones favorite in North America. Federal support for electrification is poor or non-existent so adoption of electric versions has had to await public outcry about the entirely avoidable poisoning of children with engine fumes and cost-effectiveness even parity of up front price between the clean and dirty options. This is imminent.

The report reveals how the school electric bus market extends from Dubai to New Zealand and it will jump to $6.9 billion in 2029 with rapid increase thereafter. The market for small and midi buses for other purposes will be a multiple of that and include robot shuttles rapidly becoming its biggest part. By the end of the decade, some robot shuttles may be acting as school bus, urban bus and taxi all in one day. There will be much innovation and the report has an image of what the planned Tesla midi bus may look like, leveraging existing Tesla technologies. Indeed, Tesla has just bought the world's largest supercapacitor manufacturer and the report looks at the potential for supercapacitors to replace batteries in such buses.

School bus diesel exposures to children pose as much as 23 to 46 times the cancer risk considered significant under US federal law. There is no known safe level of exposure to diesel or gasoline exhaust for children. Their weak, developing immune systems get a huge belt when the bus doors open. In the USA alone, the captive ridership is around 26 million twice daily injured by this extreme case of cruelty to children. Indeed, US school buses emit 3,000 tons of cancer-causing soot and 95,000 tons of smog-causing compounds every year. Each year, one school bus in Texas emits the equivalent of 114 cars according to the EPA.

The Executive Summary and Conclusions of the report pulls all this together in easily understood infographics, forecasts for electric school buses in China, USA, Canada and Other Regions and also buses in general, robot shuttles and fuel cell buses. A technology timeline covers 2019-2040.

Chapter 2 Introduction covers school bus economics, regulations and market forces. That includes fewer people taking driving licenses, shortages of bus drivers and other reasons for robot buses eventually. Chapter 3 details the technology, criticising the poor start with hybrid electric buses and heavy old chassis and clarifying technologies that will succeed, benchmarking other more advanced sectors through to "massless energy" from bodywork making and storing electricity. Here are the battery and supercapacitor advances coming up to 2030, the trend to less battery, new supercapacitor buses, options for charging on-the-move and more given by year ahead. Learn how vehicle-to-grid and solar bodywork are making school buses affordable and how robot buses will function.

Chapter 4 profiles relevant bus manufacturers by type and their activity prioritising school and midi buses. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 detail the latest situation, learnings and issues with school buses in North America, China and Other Regions respectively.
Ratna Ariyanti is a journalist, a board member of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Indonesia and IFJ South East Asia Coordinator. She describes the challenges facing women journalists and provides some useful tips to change the face of media and unions.

How would you describe the situation of women in media in Indonesia? What are the challenges they face reaching top level positions?

Female journalists in Indonesia are less numerous than men. And the media industry is still male dominated. As a result, only a small percentage of female journalists can reach top level positions or become decision makers in the newsroom.

Women face a double burden: working as journalists and taking care of the family members or children. It is very challenging for female workers as only a few media houses can support them with facilities such as breastfeeding rooms, day care, or paid menstrual leave -which is mandatory in labour law.

Another challenge for female journalists is sexual harassment at work, not only from colleagues or supervisors but also in the field, including from sources. Newsrooms fail to guarantee the safety of female journalists at work.

What are the consequences of the lack of women in managing positions in media?

Newsrooms still maintain the gender bias in recruiting or assigning female journalists. The latest research published by Tempo Institute in Jakarta shows that only 11% of sources cited in the media (print and online) were females. Newsrooms are only focusing on the speed of producing stories. Therefore they choose sources that are easy to contact and most of them are male.

How can we solve this situation? Considering your personal experience, what step would you suggest to take to help achieve gender equality in media?

Newsrooms should provide facilities for women including breastfeeding rooms and daycares. The newsrooms should give the same treatment for male and female journalists, including the right to attend trainings, get promoted, and equal wages or allowances.

What could be the role of male journalists and media leaders in this process?

Gender equality can only be achieved if men work side by side with female journalists. As media leaders, they should open jobs to young female journalists and implement meritocracy within the newsrooms. Mentoring for female journalists can also be an option. Male journalists must also fight against masculinity culture in newsrooms.

You are one of the 8 women out of 41 members in the AJI board.  Why are they so few women in these positions?

Because the number of female members is also low. AJI Indonesia has 1,846 members and only 343 are women members.

The busy schedule of journalists, in general, has become the obstacle for journalists to be more active in the unions.

Any tip to share on how to get involved in the union and its leading roles?

I have had several roles in AJI including in the womens division where I was in charge of developing programmes to increase female journalists skills. We invited speakers and experts who were female journalists, writers or photographers. The aim was to set up a network so that young female journalists could engage more with their senior fellows.

Now I am a member of the workers unions division. The role of the team is to strengthen the unions of media workers in the country.

It is quite challenging to divide your time between work and activism. The board members (both in the Jakarta chapter and in the headquarters) have weekly regular meetings on top of journalism work. If the journalism workload is high, many members of the committee skip the meetings. However, we are still in charge through a WhatsApp group so the discussion can continue even though we do not meet face to face. Technology is very helpful to connect us. We also hold an online meeting to replace the face-to-face weekly meeting at least every few weeks.

Commitment is key.
Imperial Valley News Center

Justice Department Secures Denaturalization of Convicted War Criminal

Portland, Oregon - On March 1, Judge Marco A. Hernandez of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon entered an order revoking the naturalized U.S. citizenship of a convicted war criminal. The court held that defendant Sammy Rasema Yetisen aka Rasema Handanovic aka Zolja, a native of the former Yugoslavia, illegally procured her U.S. citizenship. The courts order was based on its finding that Yetisen lacked the good moral character required to naturalize because she had executed six unarmed civilians and prisoners of war during the 1990s Balkans Conflicts because of their religion and ethnicity. She later concealed her crimes to procure refugee status and U.S. citizenship in the United States.

War criminals will find no safe haven in the United States, said Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio. The Justice Department will continue to prosecute those who fraudulently obtain U.S. citizenship and willfully abuse our refugee program.

Sammy Rasema Yetisens denaturalization is yet another example of the Justice Departments enduring commitment to ensuring war criminals find no sanctuary in our country, said Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. The long passage of time will neither shelter nor immunize those who have defrauded the United States by concealing such heinous crimes.

Yetisen, 46, was part of an elite unit of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina that attacked the village of Trusina in April 1993, in what is known as the Trusina massacre. The unit targeted Bosnian Croats who resided in the village because of their Christian religion and Croat ethnicity, killing 22 unarmed individuals including women and the elderly. Yetisen played a key role in the massacre, serving as part of a firing squad that lined up and executed six unarmed prisoners of war and civilians. Yetisen was admitted to the United States as a refugee before naturalizing in 2002. In her naturalization application, Yetisen indicated that she had never had any military service in the United States or in any other place.

In April 2012, Yetisen was convicted in a Bosnian court pursuant to a guilty plea of war crimes against prisoners of war and war crimes against civilians based on the firing squad execution-style killings. In exchange for her plea and cooperation, Yetisen was sentenced to five years and six months in prison. Upon her release from prison, Yetisen returned to the United States and resides in Oregon. The Justice Department previously secured the denaturalization of Edin Dzeko, one of Yetisens fellow soldiers and another perpetrator of the Trusina massacre.

Before their war crimes had come to light, Dzeko and Yetisen each requested and received refugee status from the United States, claiming themselves to be victims of persecution. Dzeko and Yetisen concealed and affirmatively misrepresented their criminal history, military service, and persecutory acts throughout their immigration proceedings. Such benefits would have been denied had immigration authorities known about their roles in the Trusina massacre.

This case exemplifies the work of the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center. We will use all available resources, collaborate with all possible partners and explore all mechanisms of the law to bring these cases of horrendous human rights violations to justice, said Mark Shaffer, Chief of the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center. Our inter-disciplinary, inter-agency team continues to delve into the human rights abuses that occurred in the former Yugoslavia and around the world, and we will not rest until we are certain that the United States does not serve as a safe haven for those who would commit such abuses.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations Human Rights Violator and War Crimes Center and the Civil Divisions Office of Immigration Litigation, District Court Section (OIL-DCS) National Security and Affirmative Litigation Unit (NS/A Unit), with consultation and support from ICEs Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) Seattle Office of the Chief Counsel, and the Criminal Divisions Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.

The case was jointly prosecuted by Chief Timothy Belsan and Senior Counsel for National Security Aram Gavoor of OIL-DCSs NS/A Unit and Trial Attorney Steven Platt of OIL-DCS, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianne Schweiner of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Oregon.

Members of the public who have information about foreign nationals or naturalized U.S. citizens suspected of engaging in human rights abuses or war crimes are encouraged to call the ICE tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or to complete its online tip form; or the Justice Departments Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section at 1-202-616-2492. Callers may remain anonymous.
El Centro Police Officer Injured attempting arrest suspect in custody

El Centro, California - Last night at 10:11 PM, Officer Daniel Crankshaw from the El Centro Police Department attempted to conduct a stop a Hispanic Male Adult (HMA) on a bicycle in the area of 1000 N. Imperial Avenue. The officer had seen the suspect in the area of Imperial and Villa with two other males on bikes prior to attempting his stop. The officer followed the suspect for a short distance in the area prior to attempting to stop him. When ordered to stop by the officer, the suspect refused, and the officer pursued him and was able to catch up to him in the area of #2 southbound lane of Imperial Avenue.

Update: This morning, the suspect identified in the incident where both he and the officer were stuck by a vehicle, was arrested. Joel Cortez OBESO, 42 of El Centro, was contacted and arrested by the Brawley Police Department as he awaited a court hearing on another case. He will be booked for pending charges associated with the incident from last night.

As with all criminal cases before the court, the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty. We thank all those who assisted with this case and continued support for the El Centro Police Department and Officer Crankshaw. We also pray that OBESO recovers from any injuries he may have sustained during the incident.

The officer grabbed the suspect who continued to disobey directions and the two of them fell to the pavement. As the officer wrestled with the combative suspect on the ground, they were both struck by a vehicle traveling southbound on Imperial Avenue.

After being struck by the vehicle, he managed to get himself into the center median out of harms way. The suspect was able to free himself, scaled and jumped a fence in the area, and fled the scene with the assistance of the other two parties he was initially seen with. Video shows one of the subjects giving their bicycle to the suspect, and the suspect is last seen riding away westbound on Scott Avenue.

Other officers I arrived on scene and rendered aid to the officer until the arrival of medical personnel. The officer was flown to Desert Regional Medical Center by Reach Air. Officer Crankshaw was later released from Desert Regional Medical Center with minor injuries and is expected to have a speedy recovery. El Centro Police Chief Brian Johnson Remarked to staff that St. Michael was looking out for Daniel (Crankshaw) tonight.

The El Centro Police Department Criminal Investigations Division is currently following up on information and leads regarding the identity of the suspect in this case.
President Trump in Greeting with Former United States Hostage in Yemen, Danny Burch and Family

Washington, DC - Remarks by President Trump in Greeting with Former United States Hostage in Yemen, Danny Burch and Family:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much for being here. We have a very big moment because we have Danny Burch back home, where he should be.

He was in Yemen, in a very horrible situation  a captive, a prisoner. You can call him whatever you want, but it wasnt good. He was there for 18 months  even a little more than 18 months  and we got him out. And we had some great help from UAE and all of our friends. But we got Danny out. And hes just come home, said hello to his family, his beautiful son. Thank you for being here. And its nice to see your father back where he belongs.

I want to thank our Vice President for being here. I want to thank Mitt Romney  Senator Romney, Senator Graham for being here. They were in the office, unrelated to this, and they heard about this and they know the story of Danny. This is a very big story in our country, what they did with you. But we got him out, and were very happy about it.

And, Danny, welcome home.

MR. BURCH: Thank you so much. Its great to be here.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

MR. BURCH: (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Danny. (Applause.) Would you like to say something?

MR. BURCH: Gosh, its great to be an American. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Danny. Appreciate it.

Thank you all very much. Mike  Mike, do you have anything to say while were here?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Just, Im so proud of this team  the State Department team.

Mr. President, youve made it clear to the wider world that when Americans are detained anywhere in the world, we want them home. And we work urgently to do that. And weve seen great successes over the last two years.

And Dannys homecoming is just one more statement about the priority that you and our administration, our entire team, place on bringing Americans back from captivity.

So its an honor to be here with you. And, Danny, its an honor to say, Welcome home.

MR. BURCH: Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I will say, Danny, were 20 and 0. Weve gotten a lot of them out. And they shouldnt have been there  Aya from Egypt, and many others. North Korea. We have a few negotiations going on right now. I wont tell you where because we dont want to blow the negotiation out the window, but we have a few negotiations going.

I love doing it because I love the end result. This is the end result: a happy man with a happy family.

Lindsey, would you have anything to say?

SENATOR GRAHAM: Congratulations. Youve got a very good hostage negotiator. And to the Yemen people, Im sorry youre having to go through what youre going through. And thank you for taking Iran on. I appreciate that, Mr. President. The root of most evil in the Mideast is Iran. Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, would you say maybe a few words? You worked very hard.

MR. OBRIEN: Sure, Mr. President. Thank you. And this wouldnt happen with all of these hostages and detainees without the support of the President. The President has had unparalleled success in bringing Americans home without paying concessions, without prisoner exchanges, but through force of will and the goodwill that hes generated around the world.

So thank you to the UAE, which assisted President Trump in this important rescue. And, again, Im honored to be here with you today, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thats so nice.

MR. OBRIEN: And welcome home, Danny.

MR. BURCH: Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: The Ambassador said that hes the greatest hostage negotiator in our history. And I say, Dont say it because theyll never write it. Theyll never write it.

Mitt, would you say something? Please.

SENATOR ROMNEY: Id be happy to. I congratulate the administration, the President, the Vice President, for making this such a high priority. Welcome home. Its wonderful to have you back in our wonderful land.

Thank you also to Robert OBrien and the entire team at State and the administration thats working to find ways to bring our hostages home. Its a great and important work, and we very much appreciate it. Its wonderful to have one of our own come back to our shores.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Mitt. And, Robert, again, congratulations to everybody. Keep it going. We have some other ones going right now that nobody knows about, but were going to pull it off.

And I really  youre doing a fantastic job. Thank you very much.

MR. OBRIEN: Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank all very much. Thank you. Thank you.

Q How are the trade talks going with China?

THE PRESIDENT: Going okay. Were moving along. Were discussing that with Lindsey and Mitt. Theyre moving along well, and well see what happens. Theyre either going to be a good deal or its not going to be a deal. But I think theyre moving on very nicely.

Q Mr. President, is North Korea breaking a promise by rebuilding a key missile launch site?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, were going to see. Its too early to see. But we have to solve a problem. We have a very nasty problem there. We have to solve a problem. The relationship is good.

I would be very disappointed if that were happening. Its a very early report, and were the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim. And I dont think I will be, but well see what happens. Well take a look. Itll ultimately get solved.

Thank you all very much. I appreciate it.

Q Whats your message to Republicans who choose to vote against your national emergency declaration? Whats your message to Republicans who have already chosen to vote against it?

THE PRESIDENT: Well have to see how the vote goes. Well see how the vote goes.
Brazil Riverine Medical Mission 2019-1 Concludes

Manaus, Brazil - Four U.S. Navy physicians embarked aboard Brazilian Navy hospital ship NAsH Carlos Chagas (U 19) completed a month-long mission with their Brazilian Navy counterparts to exchange medical expertise and to bring medical care to isolated communities along the Amazon River, March 3.

The mission encompassed nine total mission stops along the Rio Madeira portion of the Amazon, with Chagas traveling south from Manaus on Feb. 4 to Porto Velho and back to Manaus. The U.S. team; comprised of two family medicine doctors, a pediatrician/infectious disease specialist, and a dermatologist; was paired with a rotating team of Brazilian Navy general medical officers, an obstetrician, and a general surgeon.

First in Axinim on Feb. 6, the U.S.-Brazilian team visited the Heraclio Emiliano Moda medical clinic. With the waiting room filled to capacity and a line spilling out the door into the street, the team saw 135 patients over the course of eight hours. Six days later on Feb. 12 in Bom Futuro, the team set up a clinic at a school close to the riverbanks, seeing 95 patients. A majority of the care took place on the riverbank itself, with patient consultations and exams conducted outside under a grove of trees. Two days later on Feb. 14 in Calama, the team treated 102 patients at the comparatively sprawling Benjamin Silva- Calama clinic.

Following a port visit to the mission turnaround point of Porto Velho, the team conducted a spree of medical clinics as they headed northeast up the Rio Madeira. In Nova Alianca on Feb. 19, the team treated 93 patients in a single open wing of a public building. The next day, Chagas moored in Sao Carlos and the team travelled a short distance to a school to treat 178 patients. On Feb. 21, an open structure in Pombal kept the rain off the physicians as they treated 62 of the villages residents. The last mission stop of the series took place in Humaita on Feb. 22, where 19 Brazilian Navy family members received care aboard Chagas. At the clinics conclusion, the team enjoyed a scheduled port visit in Humaita.

The penultimate mission stop in Prainha on Feb. 26 did not go according to plan. Due to flooding in the area, a majority of the villages residents had packed up and moved away. Nevertheless, the remaining 30 residents were brought aboard Chagas and treated. With the extra time, the final mission stop of Vencedor occurred a day early on Feb. 27, where 100 patients received care in a schoolhouse.

Over the course of those nine mission stops, the team saw 814 patients. The average Brazilian field clinic design averages to 32 patients seen by a provider team, but the U.S.-Brazilian joint field clinic design average came out to 42.3, a 32% increase.

Lt. Cmdr. Robert Lennon, the U.S. team lead, emphasized that the two main objectives of the mission  enhancing U.S. military medical readiness and strengthening U.S.-Brazil relations  were accomplished beyond expectations.

The ability to practice quality medicine in austere environments is an essential skill for military clinicians that can only be learned by participating in missions like this, he said. The universal language of medicine and dramatic impact of providing community care means that joint missions are an excellent platform for building partnerships, and this mission is a model for military medical diplomacy.

Having participated in a 2017 iteration of this mission, Lennon noted several improvements to the first of two scheduled joint operations in 2019.

Chagas was built as a hospital ship, and the layout and functionality is that much more efficient. The interoperability has been extraordinary, and this makes a big difference. There have been massive advances in the Riverine Health Network as well, which lets us refer patients and continue to direct and enhance care. And we proved the concept of telemedicine with live consults made between remote primary care and dermatology specialty care in Manaus and Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, he said.

Lennon highlighted the capability of the point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), which essentially plugs a proprietary ultrasound wand into a modified Android tablet running custom software. 3% of all patients seen received the ultrasound examination, and two Brazilian physicians were trained to the level of U.S. credentialing in point-of-care techniques.

This demonstrates POCUS training as both an immediate partner nation capacity improvement tool and a potent medical force multiplier to humanitarian care, he said.

The missions linchpin, according to Lennon, came in the form of Brazilian Navy Cmdr. Carlos Marsico, Manaus Naval Polyclinic director. The U.S. team was only able to practice medicine in Brazil under the license of a Brazilian physician for limited didactic missions, and it was Marsico who served as that license-holder.

Marsico emphasized the importance of the mission, noting the combined team of polyclinic staff, Brazilian Navy Amazon Flotilla staff, Chagas sailors, and U.S. personnel made a life-changing impact for the people of Rio Madeira.

Many times, this is the only specialty care they will ever see. They really need it, as they are so isolated. They seldom see specialists like dermatologists - when they get doctors, theyre general practitioners. These people have the same needs and wants as all, and sometimes these missions are the only care they see for months at a time, he said.

The Brazil Riverine Medical Mission is a joint effort between Commander, U.S. Fourth Fleet and the Brazilian Navys Ninth Naval District, whose mission is to provide care to local populations, build medical interoperability in support of joint humanitarian and disaster relief missions, and exchange medical knowledge. This was the third mission of its type and served as a platform to expand the U.S. Navys tropical medicine training opportunities, which will ultimately combine training at the Tropical Medicine Institute in Manaus followed by a joint medical mission within the Amazon River basin.
There is no avoiding the bitter truth: the literary canon remains dominated by the works of men. History has seen its share of breakthrough successes  from Jane Austen to the Brontes  but each woman who has carved her name in the hall of fame only did so after she overcame the various obstacles faced by those of her gender.

At different periods in time, women have been denied education, denied agency and denied access. Their work has been dismissed as light, inconsequential, too romantic or without intellectual merit. Some, like Mary Anne Evans, found the need to write under the guise of a man in order to be heard at all  we know her better now as George Eliot.

The situation has improved greatly since Eliots days, but discrimination is still rampant in literary industry. A study from last year, for example, found that books written by women were priced on average 45 per cent lower than books written by men.

There's no better time to consider how we can make a change. The canon must be completely deconstructed and reformed in a way that better reflects the rich, varied world we live in.

There is so much brilliant work out there which not only has failed to receive its dues, but has been robbed of the opportunity to deepen our own experiences. In that light, heres a list of some of the very best books written by women, encompassing both works that are already considered go-to classics, and work that surely deserves that title in the future.

The 25 best books by women Show all 25 1 /25 The 25 best books by women The 25 best books by women Pride and Prejudice  Jane Austen Austen remains one of historys greatest masters in two tricky literary fields: the world of romance and the world of social satire. Pride and Prejudice, then, sees her at the peak of her powers. Through the eyes of Elizabeth Bennet, her sharp-witted protagonist, we witness upper-class Regency England as both a dream and a farce. Not all is as it seems, and society betrays its holloweness when it deems that money should trump love. The 25 best books by women Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston Despite the fact that Hurston was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, Their Eyes Were Watching God was largely rejected by her peers. It was during the 1970s and 1980s that her novel was essentially rediscovered, with many contemporary black feminists heralding the genius of her work. The novel focuses on Janie Crawford, a black woman who refuses to give in to bitterness or sorrow, as she navigates three marriages and a life marked by poverty. Its a story bursting with passion and soulfulness. The 25 best books by women The Lottery and Other Stories  Shirley Jackson Jackson probed the darkest corners of the American psyche during the 1940s and 1950s, all thanks to her collections of ghost stories, including 1959s The Haunting of Hill House, which was recently adapted into a Netflix series. With several novels and over 200 short stories for readers to get lost in, there are very few horror writers like her. Thats especially true when it comes to (arguably) her greatest work, 1948s The Lottery, which traces a small towns annual tradition to its sinister conclusion. The 25 best books by women To Kill a Mockingbird  Harper Lee A Pulitzer Prize winner, To Kill a Mockingbird has carved its place in history. Its depiction of racial injustice in the American Deep South was startling frank for the 1960s, in a way that undeniably had a social impact at the time  it became an instant sensation and is now widely taught in American schools. Lee writes about the worlds cruelties with an honesty and compassion that still resonates, with the character of Atticus Finch becoming a enduring model of integrity for the legal profession. The 25 best books by women Kindred - Octavia E Butler Butler was a key figure in sci-fi history, expanding the boundaries of what the genre could achieve and what it could come to represent. First published in 1979, the book still feels as fresh as ever in its first-person account of a young black writer, Dana, who through strange circumstances, finds herself travelling between her own reality and a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. Its through this unusual theme that Butler can explore the lasting trauma of Americas history on African-Americans today. The 25 best books by women Jane Eyre  Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre feels, in many ways, thoroughly modern today. Although originally published under the pen name Currer Bell, it feels likes a dive into the mind of Bronte herself. The story is told through a first-person narrative that feels so psychologically intimate, its as if shes sharing the secrets of her own world with us. We follow Jane through her school years, all the way to her later employment by Mr Rochester, a tortured soul who she falls madly in love with, with many aspects of her journey reflecting elements of Brontes own life. The 25 best books by women Half of a Yellow Sun  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Adichie, who was born in Nigeria, is considered one of the most original literary voices of her generation. You can see why this is when reading Half of a Yellow Sun, which depicts the brutality of the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s, as seen through four different perspectives: twin daughters of a wealthy businessman, a British citizen, a professor, and a houseboy. Its history via an achingly human lens. The 25 best books by women White Teeth  Zadie Smith Smith remains a modern titan of the British literary scene, thanks partially to White Teeth, which is considered one of the most sensational fiction debuts of all time, becoming an immediate bestseller and sweeping up multiple awards. Its a tale of two men  Bangladeshi Samad Iqbal and Englishman Archie Jones  who become friends after being stationed together during WWII. Their return to London sees the book examine British post-war attitudes to those from formerly colonised countries, although Smith ensures the subject is approached with both heart and a sense of humour. The 25 best books by women The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector Lispector was a literary innovator. The Hour of the Star, published posthumously in 1977, invents a narrator named Rodrigo SM, who in turns tells the story of Macabea, a poor young woman who hails from Alagoas, where Lispectors family first settled when they immigrated to Brazil. However, the way Rodrigo perceives Macabea, and reckons with her story, itself creates a dialogue between the two characters, calling into question notions of identity and authorship. The 25 best books by women Mrs Dalloway  Virginia Woolf One of literatures sharpest minds and inspiration to the feminist movement in the 1970s, Woolf not only helped pioneer the use of the stream of consciousness as a narrative device, but utilised it to speak openly about sexuality, mental illness, and gender roles. The novel largely follows the inner thoughts of two characters, Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Smith, one a high-society woman in post-WWI England and the other a veteran suffering from shell shock. The 25 best books by women A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories  Flannery OConnor OConnor wrote hard stories for a hard world. Her unsentimental, sardonic use of the Southern Gothic style helped weave her own take on the parable, in which the morally weak often face violent, painful punishment for their misdeeds. That said, the door is always open for transformation and spiritual awakening by the storys conclusion, with her work frequently confronting ideas of morality and ethics through the lens of her own Catholic faith. The 25 best books by women Persepolis  Marjane Satrapi At times, it seems less like Persepolis is a story. Satrapis graphic novel, published in two volumes in 2000 and 2004, feels more like an invitation, as she takes our hand and leads us through her childhood and early adult years, so that we can see through the eyes of a curious, funny, smart young girl who must face the personal repercussions of war and religious extremism in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution. Its the political seen through the personal, but its always Satrapis own spirit that shines the brightest. The 25 best books by women Frankenstein  Mary Shelley Many have now come to consider Shelleys Frankenstein as the first pure work of science-fiction, with a central narrative driven a characters exploration of a world beyond what we already know. Not only is it significant for its later influence on culture, but Shelleys work, initially published anonymously, is astonishing in both its emotional vitality and its philosophical implications. Its a work where we both feel the anguish of the misunderstood, while also reckoning with the concept of mans unbridled power. The 25 best books by women Beloved  Toni Morrison Beloved takes its inspiration from the true story of Margaret Garner, who escaped slavery in Kentucky in 1856 and fled to Ohio, a free state. However, the story itself focuses on a protagonist named Sethe, a former slave, whose home is haunted by a malevolent presence that she believes is her eldest daughter. Its through this vivid sense of magical realism that Morrison can confront the unfathomable trauma that slavery has inflicted on the African-American collective memory. The 25 best books by women The Handmaids Tale  Margaret Atwood Although the book has received increased attention thanks to Hulus critically acclaimed TV adaptation, its all thanks to the fierceness of Atwoods critical analysis of gender politics. Her 1985 book, which imagines a near-future New England controlled by a totalitarian state, in which women are completely subjugated to men, has only become increasingly relevant  and prescient. Her work provides a continued reminder that it doesnt take much for our world to slip into complete dystopia. The 25 best books by women Middlemarch - George Eliot Mary Anne Evans, amongst other concerns, feared that her work, Middlemarch, would be dismissed entirely due to the notion that womens writing was strictly light and romantic. And so, instead, it was published in eight instalments across 1871 and 1872 under the name George Eliot. The book is far from light; set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch, it follows a vast, sweeping narrative that encompasses subjects of religion, idealism, and political reform. The 25 best books by women Little Fires Everywhere  Celeste Ng Ng writes about American suburbia with an astounding clarity, perhaps partially because she considers the act of writing about ones hometown as a little like writing about a relative, with an attachment that perceives both their greatest attributes and their flaws. Little Fires Everywhere is her second novel to take place in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where she grew up, and focuses on a new arrival to the town, who sense of mystery disrupts its residentss obsession with structure and rules. The 25 best books by women The Bell Jar  Sylvia Plath Famous for its popularity with teenage girls, Plaths work speaks to clearly to an adolescent precisely because it makes no attempt to sugar-coat the prospect of the entrance into adulthood. The books protagonist, Esther, a young woman attempting to establish herself in New York, feels more like a front for Plath to discuss her own experiences of struggling with mental health, especially in the context of the 1950s, when womens concerns were so rarely paid attention to. There is an honesty to Esthers frustration that has been a comfort to many. The 25 best books by women My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante My Brilliant Friend is only one part of Ferrantes four-book series, known as the Neapolitan Novels. As the first chapter, it is, de facto, the most well known of the series, but its also an invitation to such raw intimacy that readers will be unable to resist delving into the rest. Ferrante serves as a pseudonym, allowing the books to illuminate with candor the friendship between two women, born in Naples in 1944, who try to find peace in a world of violence and misogyny. The 25 best books by women The Age of Innocence  Edith Wharton Edith Wharton captures with vigour both the opulence and the suffocating claustrophobia of New Yorks Gilded Age, as two future newlyweds  in every other way societys perfect vision of man and woman  find their union disrupted by the arrival of a cousin shrouded in scandal. The Age of Innocence is a wistful, romantic novel that still succeeds in treating societys hypocrisy with an acute sense of disdain. The 25 best books by women The Color Purple  Alice Walker Marking a rare mastery of the epistolary novel, The Color Purple focuses on the experiences of black women living in the US South during the 1930s. Although it deals with themes of abuse and violence, the honesty in Walkers voice is disarming in a way that opens us up to her protagonists journey towards self-realisation and personal freedom. Its no wonder that the books continued relevance saw it both adapted into 1985 film, directed by Steven Spielberg, and a Broadway musical. The 25 best books by women Rebecca  Daphne du Maurier Rebecca remains one the finest examples of Gothic literature, despite the fact that du Maurier wasnt writing within the confines of some drafty Victorian castle; rather, she was examining the world of spirits during the interwar period. In its story of a woman whose whirlwind courtship with a widower turns sour when she becomes haunted by the lingering presence of her husbands first wife, Rebecca is a book filled with suppressed desires, loss, and a looming sense of threat. The 25 best books by women The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy As Roys debut novel, its an extraordinary first outing. Roy contrasts the innocence of childhood, as seen in the books protagonists, fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, with the rising political turmoil in Kerala during 1969. It also features a non-sequential approach to narrative, with the novel intricately weaving between the twinss reunion in 1993 and the lengthy flashback and sidetracks, all painted with a massive sense of scope and imagination. The 25 best books by women Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie We may know every twist and turn of Christies best works by now, but theres still a frisson to how intricately and confidently she pulls the rug from underneath readers. Murder on the Orient Express still feels like her most enthralling work, as famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot finds himself in the midst of a murder scene, after his train is blocked by the heavy snowfall and a passenger is found dead, making the rest of those on board all instant suspects. The 25 best books by women The Tale of Genji  Murasaki Shikibu The oldest book on this list, this classic of Japanese literature was written by Shikibu, a noblewoman and lady-in-waiting, in the early 11th century. Although the original manuscript no longer exists, whats been passed down to us now was translated initially into modern Japanese, with English translations being published at a later time. An account of the life Hikaru Genji, the son of the emperor, its a masterful work of psychological portraiture, which offers a rare glimpse into the cultural customs of post-classical Japan.
Stanley Kubrick changed the face of cinema over his 48-year career.

Renowned for his subversive and taboo-breaking subject matter, the directors extraordinary filmography includes such seminal works as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Dr Strangelove.

A reclusive and often controversial figure, Kubrick started out as a photographer before transitioning to filmmaking, where his technical innovations and visionary movies made him an icon.

He served as his own editor, cinematographer and screenwriter for most of his films, developing a reputation for perfectionism and meticulous research.

Many of his challenging masterpieces did not receive their due praise upon initial release; some, in fact, were eviscerated by critics. By Kubricks own count, the first exhibitors screening of 2001 yielded 241 walkouts.

Kubrick remains one of the most beloved and influential filmmakers of all time. Here are his 10 best films, ranked.

10. The Killing (1956)

Filmed when Kubrick was just 27 years old, The Killing is a clever and visually deft heist noir starring Sterling Hayden. Because of union regulations, Kubrick had to hire a separate cinematographer for the film, and the Oscar-winning Lucien Ballard was chosen. The pair clashed on set. Yet, even this early in his career, Kubrick proved tough and refused to compromise on the lenses being used or shot selection. The Killing never quite hits the heights of Kubricks later films, but it was major influence on many modern heist movies, including Quentin Tarantinos Reservoir Dogs. Its memorable racetrack set-piece was echoed in 2017s Logan Lucky.

9. Lolita (1962)

The film which birthed Kubricks enduring reputation for controversy, Lolita  an adaptation of Vladimir Nabokovs equally scandalous novel written from the perspective of a child sexual predator  proved a tricky sell for distributors. Lolita is often seen as Kubricks first mature feature, and its uncomfortable premise has lost none of its edge when viewed today. James Mason is wonderfully creepy as Humbert Humbert, the academic who lusts after the teenaged Dolores Haze (Sue Lyon), but it is Peter Sellars who steals the show here, in a brilliant multi-faceted comic performance which anticipated his roles in Dr Strangelove.

8. Paths of Glory (1957)

Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory (United Artists)

While Kubricks first run at an anti-war feature would later be overshadowed by Full Metal Jacket, Paths of Glory is still an extremely effective portrayal of bureaucracy and injustice in the First World War. Kubrick began to refine his distinctive visual style while filming, having the camera follow Kirk Douglass Colonel Dax around the trenches. His use of the battlefield tracking shot positions it as a distant ancestor to Saving Private Ryan.

7. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Stanley Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange' also gained accusations of so-called obscenity, prompting the director to withdraw it from circulation (Warner Bros)

Adapted from Anthony Burgesss supposedly unadaptable novel, A Clockwork Orange was made by Kubrick at the height of his powers. Its many great qualities  innovative use of classical music, idiosyncratic production design and moral complexity  were ultimately eclipsed by its horrifying sexual violence. The film was initially a financial success  until reports of copycat violence were published by the media, leading to the director pulling the film from British cinemas partway through its run.

6. Barry Lyndon (1975)

Barry Lyndon is a superlative feat of filmmaking craft and is considered by many Kubrick purists to be the directors finest feature. Charting the rise and fall of an Irish social climber and fortunate duellist (Ryan ONeal), Kubricks foray into the world of period dramas was not a convincing commercial success, and its nearly three-hour runtime can be off-putting for casual viewers. Barry Lyndon does, however, look spectacular. Kubrick developed specialised camera technology to film by candlelight, and many of the shots were composed to look like classical paintings.

5. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

(Warner Bros.)

Kubricks shocking take on the Vietnam war arrived in the wake of several other classic Vietnam movies (Apocalypse Now; Platoon; The Deer Hunter) but found its own place in the public imagination thanks to its unusual diptych structure. Most of the films famous imagery comes from the first half, set in an American training camp. Full Metal Jackets second half, a descent into the hell of the Vietnamese warzone, is slick and appropriately harrowing but never quite fulfils the promise of the beginning. Kubrick showed his usual flair for casting when he chose former marine R Lee Ermey to play an abusive drill sergeant.

4. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Eyes Wide Shut, a sexual odyssey starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, was Kubricks final film. Set against a dream-like Christmas backdrop, Eyes Wide Shut steers Cruises upper-crust doctor through a hazy mess of conspiracies and perversions, leading to a masked orgy in a private mansion; the most resounding and talked-about sequence in the film.

Eyes Wide Shut had an incredible 14-month shoot. Kubrick managed to complete the editing and witnessed the first (enthusiastic) responses to the film shortly before his death. Despite the prurience of its premise, Eyes Wide Shut ranks among the directors best for its thematic nuance and dense, unsettling ambience.

3. Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

After originally optioning Cold War novel Red Alert for adaptation as a political drama, Kubrick found the subject matter perversely suited for black comedy. Peter Sellars gives three stellar performances (as US president Merkin Muffley, toadying officer Group Captain Mandrake, and the deranged ex-Nazi scientist Dr Strangelove) and Strangeloves stream of quotable lines helps make it one of the most iconic satires of all time. Some of the behind-the-scenes stories have become notorious in their own right  such as Kubrick insisting on a bright green casino-style table-top for the film, which is shot entirely in black-and-white.

2. The Shining (1980)

Grin and bear it: Nicholson on set with the unpredictable Kubrick (Getty)

The Shining was met with mixed reviews and scorn from Stephen King (on whose novel it is based) when it was released, but in the years since, Kubricks adaptation has been recognised as a classic of the horror genre. The director was famously cruel in his treatment of Shelley Duvall (who played the terrified wife of Jack Nicholsons homicidal patriarch), with one scene requiring a staggering 127 takes. In Kubricks mind, the treatment was simply a means to an end; he once told Duvall that nothing great was ever accomplished without suffering. The Shining is a labyrinth of suffering, on-screen and off, but its greatness is plain to see.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

(YouTube/Warner Bros. Pictures)

None of the Kubricks other films can quite match the the influence, ambition or visionary inspiration of his 1968 sci-fi opus. A transcendent epic that charts the evolution of humanity from prehistoric apes through to our unknowable interstellar future, 2001: A Space Odyssey redrew the limits of what science fiction could achieve. Co-writing the script with sci-fi legend Arthur C Clarke, the director employed revolutionary practical effects to depict the future of space travel, balletically juxtaposing images of moving spacecrafts with classical music. Kubricks reputation as a cold, mechanical director stems in large part from this film, but 2001 understands that humanity and technology are two sides of the same evolutional coin.
On 1 March, a few days before Leaving Neverland aired on HBO in the United States and Channel 4 in the UK, a video was tweeted from the official Michael Jackson account. It showed a toddler, perhaps three or four years old, watching and dancing along to the video for Thriller.

It was the kind of footage youve probably seen before. A little kid instinctively responding to the sublime rhythm and melody of Jacksons work like millions of children have done over the years. I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard the track Bad in my aunts car, aged seven or so. It zapped me, immediately, like it did so many children, with its liquid rhythm and seductive melodies. And its continued to zap me ever since, on dancefloors, at weddings, when DJing. I even love Stranger in Moscow, Jacksons lowest charting song.

Now, like many, Im reassessing my fandom after watching Leaving Neverland, a documentary about the extensive molestation allegedly suffered by Wade Robson and James Safechuck at the hands of Jackson when they were children, and how it has affected their lives, and the lives of their families, since. The film is a disturbing portrait of the long-lasting, violent and pernicious effects of child sexual abuse.

Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Show all 9 1 /9 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson with accuser Wade Robson Sundance Insitute Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Accuser Wade Robson meeting Michael Jackson for the first time Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson with the Robson family Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson at the home of accuser James Safechuck Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Dan Reed approached the Michael Jackson documentary with 'all the scepticism and rigorousness that I would approach a story about a terrorist attack' Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson leaves the courtroom on a break at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse for the second day of closing arguments in his child molestation trial in Santa Maria, California, 2005 AFP/Getty Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson accuser Wade Robson Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers James Safechuck, another of Jackson's accusers Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed Channel 4

I didnt want to watch it at first, for a few reasons. People are innocent until proven guilty, after all, and Jackson is dead, having been tried and acquitted. I loved his music, especially as a child, and part of me wanted to look the other way. I didnt want to believe the man who made the greatest pop tunes could commit the most abhorrent crime possible. It didnt tally up with the way his music made me feel. Also, I find the general can you separate the art from the artist? debate difficult and confusing. Im uncomfortable with the role of moral arbiter. Who am I to judge the people in my record collection? People f*** up; thats what they do. Its human nature. Well, this is what I thought before I watched the documentary.

In the first hour or so, I told myself that he had had an abusive childhood himself. Hardly a childhood to speak of. That he had probably been abused, that he was mentally ill because of the damage and childhood sexualisation inflicted on him. But by the third hour, that wasnt an excuse I could swallow anymore. There werent any excuses left. I believed Robson and Safechucks accounts that he raped and assaulted them in a pattern of seduction and grooming and brainwashing that continued for years. I found the case for Michael Jackson the child rapist and paedophile too convincing and compelling to ignore.

The graphic details and elaborate ways of how Jackson seduced and abused Robson and Safechuck are difficult to watch. He built up a fortress of security around the bedrooms in Neverland, of cameras and wires, so he would be warned if anyone was approaching. But he had also, somehow, built a fortress around him, made of people who must have known something was going on. Who were these people? The documentary doesnt answer these questions, but they are important. After Lisa-Marie Presley divorced Jackson she described his inner circle in a 2010 interview with Oprah Winfrey as spiders, vampires, sycophants, sucking his blood. Where are they now?

The role of Robson and Safechucks mothers is explored in the film. How could they possibly have allowed their young sons to sleep in a bed with Jackson? Or leave their boys alone with him overnight? We see how their delusion, their love of Jackson, their pride that he loved their sons, their desire for the trips and experiences and trappings you only get if youre the chosen paramour of the biggest superstar in the world, blinded them to what was really going on behind closed doors. While watching it, I oscillated between feeling disgust and disbelief at their stupidity to pity, at the end, when Safechucks mother in particular, quietly, shows how the guilt and remorse is brutal and never-ending.

Are the parents and Michael Jacksons team implicated? We dont know. But, we, as a culture, build up these stars. Our sinister obsession with celebrity and fame allows this kind of abuse to happen. What is the spell that we all fell under? What is its nature? And how can we break it?

A wave of progressive change is certainly helping. The stories feel very different post-MeToo and child sex abuse revelation in institutions such as the Catholic Church. We are more aware now of the damage sexual abuse can cause, cascading through the years. Our eyes have been opened and our consciousness raised.

Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up

 Trailer for new HBO documentary about Michael Jackson abuse victims Leaving Neverland

Can we still listen to Jackson today knowing that he was a child rapist? Some people will be comfortable with that. I put some of his songs on yesterday to see how it felt. Immediately, instinctively, my head moved to the beat of the songs Ive listened to for so long. But then I remembered that by streaming his music on a service Im actively giving money to his estate and potentially people who may have covered for his abuse for years. I remembered the awful sexual assaults that Robson and Safechuck had endured, which may have taken place before or after the recording of the songs. Listening to Whos Lovin You, my favourite Jackson 5 song, felt less dissonant.

But how we feel about his music doesnt ultimately matter. Its a personal choice and there are loads of other songs to listen to. What matters now is that this moment leads to a change in how we consider fame and celebrity, who we worship and what we turn a blind eye to.

This is much bigger than the music, its bigger even than Michael Jackson. Its about our hitherto lax attitude to men in positions of power who use their fame, talent and stardom and the infrastructure around them to get away with hurting and abusing other people. What is important now is that survivors stories are heard, that we listen, and that child abuse is stopped.

Its not yet clear whether the documentary will affect Jacksons market appeal. Will more radio stations ban Jacksons music? Will the musical Dont Stop Til You Get Enough go ahead on Broadway in 2020? Will the allegations make a dent in the money the estate makes (between $20m and $25m a year on recording royalties, according to Billboard)?

The fairytale character always associated with Jackson is Peter Pan. But while watching Leaving Neverland, I couldnt stop thinking about the story that used to terrify me as a child, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, whose titular character leads children away from their parents with the entrancing music of his pipe, out of the village and into a cave, or over a cliff to be drowned in the sea. The story may be hundreds of years old but still serves as a stark warning: people with talent can do terrible things  and we are susceptible to being blinded by their power.
Long before hitting TV screens in the UK, Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson and Me was making headlines and dividing opinions.

The controversial documentary, directed by Dan Reed, centres on the testimony of Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who accused Michael Jackson of abusing them as boys at his Neverland ranch.

Since the film premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January, Jacksons estate have been on the defensive, suing the producers HBO for $100m and attempting to block Channel 4 from airing the documentary in the UK.

Channel 4 refused to pull the film and, last night, UK audiences got the opportunity to make up their own mind, with 2.4m people tuning in to watch the first part of the three-hour long documentary.

TV reviewers offered up a flurry of four-star reviews in response.

Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Show all 9 1 /9 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson with accuser Wade Robson Sundance Insitute Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Accuser Wade Robson meeting Michael Jackson for the first time Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson with the Robson family Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson at the home of accuser James Safechuck Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Dan Reed approached the Michael Jackson documentary with 'all the scepticism and rigorousness that I would approach a story about a terrorist attack' Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson leaves the courtroom on a break at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse for the second day of closing arguments in his child molestation trial in Santa Maria, California, 2005 AFP/Getty Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Michael Jackson accuser Wade Robson Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers James Safechuck, another of Jackson's accusers Channel 4 Leaving Neverland  photos show Michael Jackson with his accusers Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed Channel 4

The Independents Ed Cumming said that despite the shock factor of Robson and Safechucks testimonies, Leaving Neverland disappointed.

It is too long, for one. I suspect the idea is to pile up so much detail as to put the reliability of the witnesses beyond doubt. But it is also entirely one-sided, with no voice from the Jackson side except from those in the archive footage, wrote Cumming.

Lucy Mangan from The Guardian hailed the film as an astonishing piece of work.

Relentlessly spare and unsensationalist, it manages better than any other in its genre not to let its attention wander from the survivors testimony, she concluded.

The Telegraphs film critic, Tim Robey, praised the work of the British director Reed, whos previously tackled the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks and the life of paedophile hunters on film.

All his thought is in the edit and the structure, allowing the families to step forward as our storytellers, although the film also incorporates an impressive amount of grainy video footage of the boys, wrote Robey.

The is Sarah Carson predicted the film would be remembered as the final nail in Jacksons coffin rather than a landmark piece of filmmaking.

The second and final part of the documentary airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.
Alien life could be found in solar systems where to stars have been pushed together, according to new research.

The early life of planetary systems can often be difficult and dramatic: young planets orbit around suns that are found in clusters of stars that often collide with each other violently. Such dramatic moments have been thought to be difficult for life, since they are so harsh and violent.

It has meant that research has largely focused on planets and potential life around stars that are similar to our own, since we have been biased to presume that any other solar system that has aliens inside of it is likely to look like ours. Virtually none of those "solar twins"  stars that look like our own  have actually been found to exist.

But new research from the University of Sheffield suggests this period of difficulty could be positive in at least one way. Those difficult times when stars form in binaries could improve the chances of allowing the planets around them to be the right temperature, sitting in the habitable zone where liquid water can exist and life could flourish.

When they encounter a third star, a binary pair of stars might be pushed together. That in turn could expand the habitable zone, making life more possible.

Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 1 /30 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013 Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa Celebrates 50 Years of Spacewalking For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Hubble Cosmic Couple The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427  more commonly known as WR 124  and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago Nasa's most stunning pictures of space The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launch The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. It also took caviar, ready for the satellite's inhabitants to celebrate the holidays Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth from the ISS From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Black Hole Friday Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead  sharing pictures of black holes Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space NuSTAR X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Cassiopeia A c A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Orion Capsule splashes down The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later  having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth Observations From Gemini IV in 1965 This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Frosty slopes of Mars This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Yellowstone from space NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Saturn This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Worlds Apart Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Mars Rover Spirit Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Morning Aurora From the Space Station Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station Nasa/Scott Kelly Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Launch of History - Making STS-41G Mission in 1984 The Space Shuttle Challenger launches from Florida at dawn. On this mission, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk and Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space. The crew of seven was the largest to fly on a spacecraft at that time, and STS-41G was the first flight to include two female astronauts Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Sees a Galactic Sunflower The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the Nasa Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Pluto image Four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with colour data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced colour global view of Pluto Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Fresh Crater Near Sirenum Fossae Region of Mars The HiRISE camera aboard Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a "fresh" (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Peers into the Most Crowded Place in the Milky Way This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way NASA & ESA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space An Astronaut's View from Space Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Giant Landform on Mars On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Expedition 39 Landing A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Chandra Observatory Sees a Heart in the Darkness This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region

The habitable zone is sometimes known as the Goldliocks zone: it is the distance from stars where the temperature is not too hot and not too cold. Those perfect conditions are thought to be necessary for life, since water will be able to be found and the complex molecules that can go on to become life can form.

Roughly a third of the star systems in our galaxy are thought to be made up of these binary pairs, and the chance of them being is higher when the stars are young.

In such systems, when the stars are far enough apart, the Goldilocks zone is set by the radiation coming out of the individual star. If the stars are close enough, the size of it increases, becuase the stars feel the warmth from each other and the planet is more likely to be in the right place, researchers Bethany Wootton and Richard Parker write.

By using computer simulations to understand how the stars might interact, they were able to understand how the encounters would affect the pairs of two stars. In a typical "stellar nursery", where there would be 350 or so binaries, some 20 of them would be squeezed together in such a way as to expand their Goldilocks zone, and with it the chance of alien life.

In some cases those habitable zones even overlapped. That would make the chances of life even higher.

"Our model suggests that there are more binary systems where planets sit in Goldilocks zones than we thought, increasing the prospects for life," says Wootton. "So those worlds beloved of science fiction writers - where two suns shine in their skies above alien life - look a lot more likely now."

Now researchers hope to use more computer models and try and understand if the difficult moment such binary pairs exist in are better than the positives they might give.

What's more, scientists will now be able to look towards these binary systems in the hope of seeing yet more clues about how habitable they are. While we are still some way off understanding whether these systems are actually able to support life, Parker said, the research could encourage more observation of places where they are actually occurring.

That does not necessarily mean that we have been looking in the wrong place, he said, but as we learn that it might be possible for stable solar systems to develop in places very different to our own, it is clear how little data we have on those systems. New research could further explore what is happening around those systems, and try and discover the kind of environments that might be found there.
Mark Zuckerberg has revealed a complete overhaul of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as part of a brand new vision for the future of his three companies and social networks in general.

Achieving that vision  which will focus on messaging apps, he said  means changing his entire company so that it is structure around security and privacy.

That includes a major overhaul of the way Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp work, he explained.

The three apps will be re-written so that they are entirely compatible with each other, allowing someone to send a message from Instagram to someone on WhatsApp, for instance. But they will also be made more private and secure, with the entire system being encrypted so they cannot be intercepted or read by anybody else.

All of that and much more was laid out in a long post  titled A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking  that detailed how those social networks of the future will work, and why Facebook was aiming for such a restructuring.

The entire text is below.

Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Show all 15 1 /15 Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook is born On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users Wikimedia Commons Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Open for business The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth PA Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Billion-dollar bid Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I dont know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'Id just start another social networking site' Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network In the money In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time Getty Images/iStockphoto Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking the lead Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the worlds most popular social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking on the tech giants In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019 Getty Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook goes public On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion  the third largest in US history Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Gobbling up the competition Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network One billion users On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If youre reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post Getty Images Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Expanding its empire In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Two billion users In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Privacy scandal On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections Shutterstock Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Record profits Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users iStock/Independent Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Unhappy users A study found that people are happier when they dont use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health Rex Features

A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking

by Mark Zuckerberg

My focus for the last couple of years has been understanding and addressing the biggest challenges facing Facebook. This means taking positions on important issues concerning the future of the internet. In this note, Ill outline our vision and principles around building a privacy-focused messaging and social networking platform. Theres a lot to do here, and were committed to working openly and consulting with experts across society as we develop this.



Over the last 15 years, Facebook and Instagram have helped people connect with friends, communities, and interests in the digital equivalent of a town square. But people increasingly also want to connect privately in the digital equivalent of the living room. As I think about the future of the internet, I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than todays open platforms. Privacy gives people the freedom to be themselves and connect more naturally, which is why we build social networks.

Today we already see that private messaging, ephemeral stories, and small groups are by far the fastest growing areas of online communication. There are a number of reasons for this. Many people prefer the intimacy of communicating one-on-one or with just a few friends. People are more cautious of having a permanent record of what theyve shared. And we all expect to be able to do things like payments privately and securely.

Public social networks will continue to be very important in peoples lives  for connecting with everyone you know, discovering new people, ideas and content, and giving people a voice more broadly. People find these valuable every day, and there are still a lot of useful services to build on top of them. But now, with all the ways people also want to interact privately, theres also an opportunity to build a simpler platform thats focused on privacy first.

I understand that many people dont think Facebook can or would even want to build this kind of privacy-focused platform  because frankly we dont currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services, and weve historically focused on tools for more open sharing. But weve repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services that people really want, including in private messaging and stories.

I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content wont stick around forever. This is the future I hope we will help bring about.

We plan to build this the way weve developed WhatsApp: focus on the most fundamental and private use case  messaging  make it as secure as possible, and then build more ways for people to interact on top of that, including calls, video chats, groups, stories, businesses, payments, commerce, and ultimately a platform for many other kinds of private services.

This privacy-focused platform will be built around several principles:

Private interactions. People should have simple, intimate places where they have clear control over who can communicate with them and confidence that no one else can access what they share.

Encryption. Peoples private communications should be secure. End-to-end encryption prevents anyone  including us  from seeing what people share on our services.

Permanence. People should be comfortable being themselves, and should not have to worry about what they share coming back to hurt them later. So we wont keep messages or stories around for longer than necessary to deliver the service or longer than people want it.

Safety. People should expect that we will do everything we can to keep them safe on our services within the limits of whats possible in an encrypted service.

Interoperability. People should be able to use any of our apps to reach their friends, and they should be able to communicate across networks easily and securely.

Secure data storage. People should expect that we wont store sensitive data in countries with weak records on human rights like privacy and freedom of expression in order to protect data from being improperly accessed.

Over the next few years, we plan to rebuild more of our services around these ideas. The decisions well face along the way will mean taking positions on important issues concerning the future of the internet. We understand there are a lot of tradeoffs to get right, and were committed to consulting with experts and discussing the best way forward. This will take some time, but were not going to develop this major change in our direction behind closed doors. Were going to do this as openly and collaboratively as we can because many of these issues affect different parts of society.

Private Interactions as a Foundation

For a service to feel private, there must never be any doubt about who you are communicating with. Weve worked hard to build privacy into all our products, including those for public sharing. But one great property of messaging services is that even as your contacts list grows, your individual threads and groups remain private. As your friends evolve over time, messaging services evolve gracefully and remain intimate.

This is different from broader social networks, where people can accumulate friends or followers until the services feel more public. This is well-suited to many important uses  telling all your friends about something, using your voice on important topics, finding communities of people with similar interests, following creators and media, buying and selling things, organizing fundraisers, growing businesses, or many other things that benefit from having everyone you know in one place. Still, when you see all these experiences together, it feels more like a town square than a more intimate space like a living room.

There is an opportunity to build a platform that focuses on all of the ways people want to interact privately. This sense of privacy and intimacy is not just about technical features  it is designed deeply into the feel of the service overall. In WhatsApp, for example, our team is obsessed with creating an intimate environment in every aspect of the product. Even where weve built features that allow for broader sharing, its still a less public experience. When the team built groups, they put in a size limit to make sure every interaction felt private. When we shipped stories on WhatsApp, we limited public content because we worried it might erode the feeling of privacy to see lots of public content  even if it didnt actually change who youre sharing with.

In a few years, I expect future versions of Messenger and WhatsApp to become the main ways people communicate on the Facebook network. Were focused on making both of these apps faster, simpler, more private and more secure, including with end-to-end encryption. We then plan to add more ways to interact privately with your friends, groups, and businesses. If this evolution is successful, interacting with your friends and family across the Facebook network will become a fundamentally more private experience.

Encryption and Safety

People expect their private communications to be secure and to only be seen by the people theyve sent them to  not hackers, criminals, over-reaching governments, or even the people operating the services theyre using.

There is a growing awareness that the more entities that have access to your data, the more vulnerabilities there are for someone to misuse it or for a cyber attack to expose it. There is also a growing concern among some that technology may be centralizing power in the hands of governments and companies like ours. And some people worry that our services could access their messages and use them for advertising or in other ways they dont expect.

End-to-end encryption is an important tool in developing a privacy-focused social network. Encryption is decentralizing  it limits services like ours from seeing the content flowing through them and makes it much harder for anyone else to access your information. This is why encryption is an increasingly important part of our online lives, from banking to healthcare services. Its also why we built end-to-end encryption into WhatsApp after we acquired it.

In the last year, Ive spoken with dissidents whove told me encryption is the reason they are free, or even alive. Governments often make unlawful demands for data, and while we push back and fight these requests in court, theres always a risk well lose a case  and if the information isnt encrypted wed either have to turn over the data or risk our employees being arrested if we failed to comply. This may seem extreme, but weve had a case where one of our employees was actually jailed for not providing access to someones private information even though we couldnt access it since it was encrypted.

At the same time, there are real safety concerns to address before we can implement end-to-end encryption across all of our messaging services. Encryption is a powerful tool for privacy, but that includes the privacy of people doing bad things. When billions of people use a service to connect, some of them are going to misuse it for truly terrible things like child exploitation, terrorism, and extortion. We have a responsibility to work with law enforcement and to help prevent these wherever we can. We are working to improve our ability to identify and stop bad actors across our apps by detecting patterns of activity or through other means, even when we cant see the content of the messages, and we will continue to invest in this work. But we face an inherent tradeoff because we will never find all of the potential harm we do today when our security systems can see the messages themselves.

Finding the right ways to protect both privacy and safety is something societies have historically grappled with. There are still many open questions here and well consult with safety experts, law enforcement and governments on the best ways to implement safety measures. Well also need to work together with other platforms to make sure that as an industry we get this right. The more we can create a common approach, the better.

On balance, I believe working towards implementing end-to-end encryption for all private communications is the right thing to do. Messages and calls are some of the most sensitive private conversations people have, and in a world of increasing cyber security threats and heavy-handed government intervention in many countries, people want us to take the extra step to secure their most private data. That seems right to me, as long as we take the time to build the appropriate safety systems that stop bad actors as much as we possibly can within the limits of an encrypted service. Weve started working on these safety systems building on the work weve done in WhatsApp, and well discuss them with experts through 2019 and beyond before fully implementing end-to-end encryption. As we learn more from those experts, well finalize how to roll out these systems.

Reducing Permanence

We increasingly believe its important to keep information around for shorter periods of time. People want to know that what they share wont come back to hurt them later, and reducing the length of time their information is stored and accessible will help.

One challenge in building social tools is the permanence problem. As we build up large collections of messages and photos over time, they can become a liability as well as an asset. For example, many people who have been on Facebook for a long time have photos from when they were younger that could be embarrassing. But people also really love keeping a record of their lives. And if all posts on Facebook and Instagram disappeared, people would lose access to a lot of valuable knowledge and experiences others have shared.

I believe theres an opportunity to set a new standard for private communication platforms  where content automatically expires or is archived over time. Stories already expire after 24 hours unless you archive them, and that gives people the comfort to share more naturally. This philosophy could be extended to all private content.

For example, messages could be deleted after a month or a year by default. This would reduce the risk of your messages resurfacing and embarrassing you later. Of course youd have the ability to change the timeframe or turn off auto-deletion for your threads if you wanted. And we could also provide an option for you to set individual messages to expire after a few seconds or minutes if you wanted.

It also makes sense to limit the amount of time we store messaging metadata. We use this data to run our spam and safety systems, but we dont always need to keep it around for a long time. An important part of the solution is to collect less personal data in the first place, which is the way WhatsApp was built from the outset.

Interoperability

People want to be able to choose which service they use to communicate with people. However, today if you want to message people on Facebook you have to use Messenger, on Instagram you have to use Direct, and on WhatsApp you have to use WhatsApp. We want to give people a choice so they can reach their friends across these networks from whichever app they prefer.

We plan to start by making it possible for you to send messages to your contacts using any of our services, and then to extend that interoperability to SMS too. Of course, this would be opt-in and you will be able to keep your accounts separate if youd like.

There are privacy and security advantages to interoperability. For example, many people use Messenger on Android to send and receive SMS texts. Those texts cant be end-to-end encrypted because the SMS protocol is not encrypted. With the ability to message across our services, however, youd be able to send an encrypted message to someones phone number in WhatsApp from Messenger.

This could also improve convenience in many experiences where people use Facebook or Instagram as their social network and WhatsApp as their preferred messaging service. For example, lots of people selling items on Marketplace list their phone number so people can message them about buying it. Thats not ideal, because youre giving strangers your phone number. With interoperability, youd be able to use WhatsApp to receive messages sent to your Facebook account without sharing your phone number  and the buyer wouldnt have to worry about whether you prefer to be messaged on one network or the other.

You can imagine many simple experiences  a person discovers a business on Instagram and easily transitions to their preferred messaging app for secure payments and customer support; another person wants to catch up with a friend and can send them a message that goes to their preferred app without having to think about where that person prefers to be reached; or you simply post a story from your day across both Facebook and Instagram and can get all the replies from your friends in one place.

You can already send and receive SMS texts through Messenger on Android today, and wed like to extend this further in the future, perhaps including the new telecom RCS standard. However, there are several issues well need to work through before this will be possible. First, Apple doesnt allow apps to interoperate with SMS on their devices, so wed only be able to do this on Android. Second, wed need to make sure interoperability doesnt compromise the expectation of encryption that people already have using WhatsApp. Finally, it would create safety and spam vulnerabilities in an encrypted system to let people send messages from unknown apps where our safety and security systems couldnt see the patterns of activity.

These are significant challenges and there are many questions here that require further consultation and discussion. But if we can implement this, we can give people more choice to use their preferred service to securely reach the people they want.

Secure Data Storage

People want to know their data is stored securely in places they trust. Looking at the future of the internet and privacy, I believe one of the most important decisions well make is where well build data centers and store peoples sensitive data.

Theres an important difference between providing a service in a country and storing peoples data there. As we build our infrastructure around the world, weve chosen not to build data centers in countries that have a track record of violating human rights like privacy or freedom of expression. If we build data centers and store sensitive data in these countries, rather than just caching non-sensitive data, it could make it easier for those governments to take peoples information.

Upholding this principle may mean that our services will get blocked in some countries, or that we wont be able to enter others anytime soon. Thats a tradeoff were willing to make. We do not believe storing peoples data in some countries is a secure enough foundation to build such important internet infrastructure on.

Of course, the best way to protect the most sensitive data is not to store it at all, which is why WhatsApp doesnt store any encryption keys and we plan to do the same with our other services going forward.

But storing data in more countries also establishes a precedent that emboldens other governments to seek greater access to their citizens data and therefore weakens privacy and security protections for people around the world. I think its important for the future of the internet and privacy that our industry continues to hold firm against storing peoples data in places where it wont be secure.

Next Steps

Over the next year and beyond, there are a lot more details and tradeoffs to work through related to each of these principles. A lot of this work is in the early stages, and we are committed to consulting with experts, advocates, industry partners, and governments  including law enforcement and regulators  around the world to get these decisions right.

At the same time, working through these principles is only the first step in building out a privacy-focused social platform. Beyond that, significant thought needs to go into all of the services we build on top of that foundation  from how people do payments and financial transactions, to the role of businesses and advertising, to how we can offer a platform for other private services.

But these initial questions are critical to get right. If we do this well, we can create platforms for private sharing that could be even more important to people than the platforms weve already built to help people share and connect more openly.

Doing this means taking positions on some of the most important issues facing the future of the internet. As a society, we have an opportunity to set out where we stand, to decide how we value private communications, and who gets to decide how long and where data should be stored.

I believe we should be working towards a world where people can speak privately and live freely knowing that their information will only be seen by who they want to see it and wont all stick around forever. If we can help move the world in this direction, I will be proud of the difference weve made.
Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram users will now be able to send messages to each other, Mark Zuckerberg has announced.

The Facebook boss said it will introduce the vast overhaul of the way all of its messaging apps work as part of a move towards being a privacy-focused platform.

That will include upgrading its encryption and refusing to store data in countries with poor human rights records, he said, as well as rewriting how the various chat apps can talk to each other.

People want to be able to choose which service they use to communicate with people, he wrote as part of a long explanation of his vision of the future of social networks. However, today if you want to message people on Facebook you have to use Messenger, on Instagram you have to use Direct, and on WhatsApp you have to use WhatsApp.

We want to give people a choice so they can reach their friends across these networks from whichever app they prefer.

The feature will eventually include compatibility with SMS, he said, which would for example allow someone to text someone using Facebook Messenger. People will still be able to keep all of those accounts separate if they want.

Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Show all 15 1 /15 Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook is born On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users Wikimedia Commons Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Open for business The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth PA Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Billion-dollar bid Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I dont know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'Id just start another social networking site' Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network In the money In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time Getty Images/iStockphoto Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking the lead Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the worlds most popular social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking on the tech giants In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019 Getty Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook goes public On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion  the third largest in US history Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Gobbling up the competition Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network One billion users On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If youre reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post Getty Images Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Expanding its empire In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Two billion users In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Privacy scandal On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections Shutterstock Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Record profits Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users iStock/Independent Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Unhappy users A study found that people are happier when they dont use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health Rex Features

Adding that feature  which Mr Zuckerberg calls interoperability  will feed into the privacy focus by allowing people to avoid sending unencrypted SMS messages from Messenger and instead talking on WhatsApp, where conversations are hidden, he claimed. People would also be able to speak to someone on Facebook but do so without having to give out their phone number, he suggested.

But the possibility of combining the apps has been a long-standing source of concern for privacy advocates and using. WhatsApp and Instagram founders have left the company in recent months, reportedly after disagreements over how those various platforms should work together in future.

In the post, titled a privacy-focused vision for social networking, Mr Zuckerberg explained how private messaging is becoming the most common and popular method people use to interact with others on its products.

As I think about the future of the internet, I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than todays open platforms, Zuckerberg wrote. I expect future versions of Messenger and WhatsApp to become the main ways people communicate on the Facebook network.

In his letter, Mr Zuckerberg detailed why people prefer private networks and the intimacy it offers them.

People are more cautious of having a permanent record of what theyve shared, Mr Zuckerberg added. I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content wont stick around forever. This is the future I hope we will help bring about.

In addition to interoptability, he said Facebook would focus on several principles as it tried to create the future of social networking:

Private interactions. People should have simple, intimate places where they have clear control over who can communicate with them and confidence that no one else can access what they share.Encryption. Peoples private communications should be secure. End-to-end encryption prevents anyone  including us  from seeing what people share on our services.Permanence. People should be comfortable being themselves, and should not have to worry about what they share coming back to hurt them later. So we wont keep messages or stories around for longer than necessary to deliver the service or longer than people want it.Safety. People should expect that we will do everything we can to keep them safe on our services within the limits of whats possible in an encrypted service.Interoperability. People should be able to use any of our apps to reach their friends, and they should be able to communicate across networks easily and securely.Secure data storage. People should expect that we wont store sensitive data in countries with weak records on human rights like privacy and freedom of expression in order to protect data from being improperly accessed. Mark Zuckerberg

The changes will be taking place over the next year and beyond, said Mr Zuckerberg, noting there will be more details and tradeoffs to work through related to each of these principles.

Doing this means taking positions on some of the most important issues facing the future of the internet. As a society, we have an opportunity to set out where we stand, to decide how we value private communications, and who gets to decide how long and where data should be stored, he concluded.

I believe we should be working towards a world where people can speak privately and live freely knowing that their information will only be seen by who they want to see it and wont all stick around forever. If we can help move the world in this direction, I will be proud of the difference weve made.
World Book Day provides children across the country with the opportunity to dress up as their favourite characters for a day, taken straight from the pages of their most treasured books.

This year, the annual event takes place on Thursday 7 March.

The aim of World Book Day is to "celebrate stories" and encourage children to "love reading", while raising money for charity by having each child who dresses up in celebration of the occasion bring 1 into school.

Some of this year's costumes have proven incredibly creative, as young book-lovers immerse themselves in the imaginative world of literature.

From the quick-witted Hermione Granger to the mischievous Pippi Longstocking, here are some of this year's best World Book Day costumes:

Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Show all 12 1 /12 Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 The Hulk This boy is green with rage as one of Marvel comic's mightiest heroes, the Hulk. With clenched fists and a menacing grimace, no one's going to mess with this mean machine! Twitter/Sean Byrne (@byrnephoto_uk) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Miss Havisham Dulcie has pulled out all the stops, dressed as the chilling Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens' classic novel, 'Great Expectations' for World Book Day. Her costume's finishing touches include a Victorian candle and bridal flowers. Twitter/Clare Haynes (@Clarerose234) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 The Mad Hatter This Mad Hatter has come to cause mischief with her colourful costume. With a bright blue top hat, pink tutu and mismatched tights, there's no mistaking this eccentric character. Twitter/Sean Byrne (@byrnephoto_uk) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Willy Wonka Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is all smiles, likely due to a conniving plot he has planned for the next 'bad nut' that walks into his magical factory. Twitter/Matthew Williams (@Matthew18498919) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Captain America Captain America is ready to save the day, his trusted adamantium shield in tow. While the superhero may have been beloved in the States since 1941, when he made his comic book debut, he's been welcomed with open arms in UK, too, as seen here. Twitter (@Gigi__22) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Pippi Longstocking She wouldn't be Pippi Longstocking without her signature, red, plaited pigtails. This young girl is channeling the playful character from head to toe, stripy socks and all. Twitter/Katy Phillips (@Ktp1974) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 The Mad Hatter and Alice The Mad Hatter and Alice make quite the duo in 'Alice in Wonderland', as they also do here on World Book Day. Let's hope Alice manages to make her way out of that house. Twitter (@GlamandGeeky) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Marie Curie Two-year-old Evie Gerrish knew exactly who she wanted to dress up as for World Book Day 2019, telling her mother that she would be transforming into famed scientist Marie Curie. Her mother, Amy, completed her costume with a test tube of radium (slime) and handmade Nobel prizes. Amy Gerrish (@__amycg) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Billionaire Boy David Walliams' 'Billionaire Boy', published in 2010, tells the story of a boy called Joe Spud who has all the wealth in the world, but no friend to share it with. This young boy pulled out all the stops for his World Book Day costume, covering his shirt in 20 notes and pennies to recreate the character. Twitter/Emma West (@EmzyWest) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Hermione Granger No one can quite compare to Hermione Granger from J. K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' book series. The brightest witch of her age, Hermione is the perfect character to dress up as for World Book Day, considering the witch constantly has a book (or several) to hand. Twitter/Bonnie Bridgman (@BonnieMrsbbh) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Hiccup Hiccup proves himself to be an unlikely hero in 'How To Train Your Dragon', not feeling as though he fits in his Viking community until he discovers his special connection with dragons. This young boy is definitely one proud Viking, donning Hiccup's furry jacket, boots and tunic. Twitter/Charlotte Sometimes (@CharlTaylorPage) Best costumes from World Book Day 2019 Albus Dumbledore A lot of expectation comes with dressing up as Albus Dumbledore, arguably the most powerful wizard in J. K. Rowling's wizarding world. There's no mistaking the Hogwarts headmaster's long, white beard and elegant wizarding robe. Twitter (@Klee637)

On World Book Day 2019, authors are being urged to include more characters with disabilities in their stories.

Oscar-winner Rachel Shenton and Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo have called for children's books to contain more diversity, explaining that it's important for children to "see themselves in the programmes and movies they watch and in the books they read".

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

From Artemis Fowl to Peter Rabbit, take a look at a roundup of the best children's books for World Book Day here.
If the thought of spending your days getting paid to do literally whatever you want - or nothing at all - sounds appealing, a new job opportunity in Sweden may be the perfect fit.

In 2025, an art project-turned-career-opportunity will open for applications - and all it will require is showing up for work each day to clock-in.

To complete the only requirement, the chosen employee, who will receive a salary as well as employee benefits such as vacation days and a pension, will report to the Korsvagen train station in Gothenburg, Sweden, every morning to punch a clock, which will turn on a set of fluorescent lights.

Once the employee clocks in at the train station, which is currently under construction, they will then be free to spend the rest of the day doing as they wish - until it is time to clock out and turn off the lights.

Other than that, whatever the employee chooses to do constitutes the work, according to the job description - meaning they can leave the station or stay, if they wish.

Open-plan offices affect employees' ability to concentrate, new study finds Show all 2 1 /2 Open-plan offices affect employees' ability to concentrate, new study finds Open-plan offices affect employees' ability to concentrate, new study finds 20-openoffice-rx.jpg Rex features Open-plan offices affect employees' ability to concentrate, new study finds concentration-rx.jpg Rex features

And the dream job even comes with job stability, as it will be for life, or as long as the employee wishes to continue in the role.

The social experiment is called Eternal Employment and was created by Swedish artists Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby, according to Atlas Obscura, who are funding the salary of the future employee with prize money from Public Art Agency Sweden and Swedish Art Transportation.

Rather than dedicating the $650,000 (496,000) prize to decorating the train station, the artist duo decided to make a statement about the future of the work sector by giving an employee total control over their career.

As long as we live in a society where the return on capital is substantially higher than the average increase in wages, Eternal Employment is kept afloat, the job description reads.

Once the job opens for applicants, Goldin and Senneby told Atlas Obscura it will consider potential employees from around the world and will be an equal opportunity employer.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The only other requirement is that the chosen employee not hold another paying job while in the employment of the train station - which seems like an easy request to fulfil.
The Countess of Wessex has teamed up with Angelina Jolie ahead of International Womens Day to tackle sexual violence.

Sophie Wessex, 54, announced that she is working with the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI), which was launched in 2012 by Jolie and former foreign secretary William Hague, to support victims of conflict-related rape and sexual exploitation.

PSVI, which is part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, specialises on helping women, men and children in war zones in countries such as South Sudan, Syria and Iraq.

Rhys-Jones met the Hollywood actor in November at the organisations Fighting Stigma Through Film festival in London.

Writing for The Daily Telegraph, she explained how important the work of organisations like PSVI is, also mentioning the Women, Peace and Security initiative, which was founded 20 years ago to help women in areas of conflict.

International Women's Day Designer T-Shirts Show all 6 1 /6 International Women's Day Designer T-Shirts International Women's Day Designer T-Shirts Victoria Beckham T-shirt, 175 International Women's Day Designer T-Shirts Alexa Chung T-shirt, 86 International Women's Day Designer T-Shirts Rosie Assoulin T-shirt, 155 International Women's Day Designer T-Shirts Isabel Marant T-shirt, 95 International Women's Day Designer T-Shirts Ellery T-shirt, 200 International Women's Day Designer T-Shirts Perfect Moment T-shirt, 145

Against a backdrop of ugly headlines for women, revelations of sexual exploitation, and the abuse suffered by those in war zones, it is easy to overlook the pioneering work of change-makers, she writes. Brave women that stand for progress, even when their physical security and basic aspirations are under threat.

Calling for women to play a bigger role in peacekeeping, she added: Only when women and men work alongside each other as equals will the world see sustained improvement in conflict resolution and a reduction in sexual violence in conflict.

Wessex went on to explain how she plans to support such measures.

I am now taking an active role in championing the UKs work on Women, Peace and Security and the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative," she adds.

The initiative works to tackle stigma, support survivors  including children born of wartime rape  strengthen justice and accountability, and prevent conflict-related sexual violence. The consequences of conflict do not go away when the guns are laid down.

The Countess concluded her piece with a special nod to International Womens Day, which takes place on Friday 8 March.

This International Womens Day I will be celebrating the brave work of women using their voices to resolve conflict, counter gender violence and build peace, she says.

Its not the first time Rhys-Jones has used her platform to advocate for gender equality and womens rights.

In 2014, she founded the Womens Network Forum, which supports women in the workplace.

She is expected to formally announce her support for the two initiatives on Friday at a reception for Women Peacebuilders held at Buckingham Palace.

Read her letter in full here.
International Womens Day (IWD) is being celebrated around the world on Monday 8 March, as people come together to champion the advancement of womens rights and gender equality.

While the day itself carries the clear theme of female empowerment across the world, the way its acknowledged and celebrated differs from country to country.

Some companies offer women a half-day off work, for example, while others celebrate by giving one another flowers.

Read on to see how International Womens Day celebrations vary across the globe.

United States

In the US, the whole of March is Womens History Month.

This has been an ongoing celebration since February 1980 when President Jimmy Carter declared the week of 8 March as National Womens History Week.

Within a few years, thousands of schools across the country had embraced the week as a means of achieving equality in the classroom, something that was spearheaded by the National Womens History Alliance. It was also supported by city councils and governors, who ran events and special programmes to champion female empowerment.

The celebrations evolved and by 1986, 14 states had extended the celebrations to last for the duration of March.

Now, every year an official statement of recognition is issued by the President, known as a Presidential Proclamation, on IWD to honour the achievements of American women.

Italy

In Italy, International Womens Day is called La Festa della Donna.

Its celebrated primarily by the giving of bright yellow mimosa blossom flowers. On the day itself, bouquets of the sunshine-hued blooms are sold on almost every street corner in Italy, the idea being that people honour the women in their lives by giving them these flowers, which are viewed as a symbol of female strength and sensibility.

This floral theme also manifests in confectionery form, with some Italians choosing to celebrate IWD by making a special cake designed to resemble small blooms of the mimosa flower. Traditionally, this is a sponge cake made with citrus liqueur and topped with cream and cubes of pastry to mimic the shape of the flower.

China

In China, 8 March has been a national holiday since 1949. Many companies offer female employees a half-day on International Womens Day so that they can spend the afternoon celebrating.

Similar to Valentine's Day, IWD in China is viewed as an opportunity for people to treat the women they love with special gifts.

It has, therefore, been adopted as a day for commercial opportunities, with many brands capitalising on the probability that people want to spend money on the women in their lives by launching special IWD marketing campaigns and deals.

China also celebrates Girls Day on 7 March, which is dedicated to championing the achievements of younger Chinese women in schools and universities.

Berlin

On 24 January 2019, Berlins parliament voted for International Womens Day, known as Frauentag, to become a public holiday.

This means that workers in the German capital, the only state in the country to recognise the day as a public holiday, will get the day off.

UK

In the UK, International Womens Day is celebrated in a number of ways, with a special focus on raising awareness of social and political issues affecting women.

Events taking place around the country this year in honour of IWD include virtual panel talks, screenings and art exhibitions, many of which aim to raise funds for specific charities dedicated to womens rights.

In the past, fashion brands have partnered with womens charities to raise money through sales of special IWD garments.

Spain

In 2018, more than five million female workers marked International Women's Day with a landmark 24-hour strike to protest against the gender pay gap, domestic violence and sexual discrimination in the workplace.

Rallies took place around the country in more than 200 locations. Those taking part were encouraged by organisers not to spend any money on the day and not participate in any domestic chores.

In 2019, similar protests, as organised by the feminist organisation The 8M Commission, took place.
A Facebook user has been criticised online after telling women to stop whining about the price of sanitary products.

Taking mansplaining to new heights, a man decided to wade in on the debate over free sanitary products by calculating just how many tampons a woman needs to use for the average period.

Unfortunately for the individual, his maths didnt quite add up.

A Twitter user shared a screengrab of the comment which was initially posted on PinkNewss Facebook page.

So the average period is 10 to 35ml of blood, each tampon holds about 5ml, so seven tampons per cycle, the Facebook user wrote.

Period euphemisms around the World Show all 8 1 /8 Period euphemisms around the World Period euphemisms around the World Germany 'Erdbeerwoche': translates as 'strawberry week' iStock Period euphemisms around the World France 'Les Anglais out debarque' or 'The English have arrived' referring to past wars with England and possibly the British army's red coats Getty Images Period euphemisms around the World Brazil 'Eustou Com Chico' or "I'm with Chico' in reference to socialist Chico Mendes and possibly his gruesome assassination in the late 80's Getty Images Period euphemisms around the World Finland The Finnish affectionately refer to periods and pms as 'Hullum Lechman Tauti' or 'mad cow disease' Getty Images Period euphemisms around the World The United States Though there are many varied terms, a popular americans commonly refer to periods as 'Aunt Flo' iStock Period euphemisms around the World China In China you may hear 'its little sister to come in' iStock Period euphemisms around the World Denmark 'Der Er Kommunister i Lysthuset' or 'There are communists in the funhouse' Getty Images Period euphemisms around the World South Africa A famed colloquialism for a period in South Africa is 'Grannys stuck in traffic' iStock

Lets be generous and say 10 for those ladies with an extra-juicy uterine lining.

Nine periods a year equals 90 tampons max, he added, before referring to a 64-pack of tampons listed for 7.90 plus shipping on Amazon.

Cut down on your Starbucks venti frapps and stop whining. This isnt a first world problem, he concluded.

Recommended Government launches bid to end period poverty worldwide by 2030

The tweet has since gone viral, receiving more than 19,000 likes, 3000 retweets and more than 1,000 comments.

The mans unsolicited advice hasn't gone down well, with people on Twitter pointing out his calculations didnt account for the fact that many women have periods that are heavier, more frequent or last longer than predicted.

He literally was like women are pregnant for nine months which means they only get nine periods a year. Sounds accurate, one woman commented.

Another added: I just realised this a**hole also thinks we have 9 periods per year.

Oh yeah, because I always hit the pause button during swim season. So easy!

Others took issue with the fact the social media user ignored medical advice around toxic shock syndrome (TSS) which suggests women should change their tampon every three to four hours.

Do you want TSS? Because that's how you get TSS, one person wrote.

Another sarcastically added: Yeah, because leaving a tampon in for 12-24 hours is a REALLY good idea...

A third commented: Love to wear tampons for 12 hours at a time and die of infection.

Saves a lot of money in the long run.

The mans misguided calculations follow the news that all NHS hospitals in England will be required to offer free tampons or sanitary products to any patient who needs them from this summer.

The new rules follow months of campaigning from charities like Freedom4Girls and Free Periods calling on the government to eliminate period poverty.

In March 2017, a police officer working at a school in Leeds discovered a large number of female students were truanting because they were unable to buy products during their menstrual cycle, which is estimated to cost in the region of 20,000 over a womans lifetime.

A large number of students were asking us for sanitary products in school. A lot of teachers were buying them from their own pockets to give out, Sara Barrie, safer schools officer for West Yorkshire Police, told The Independent at the time.

It was clear there was an issue. And when I then delved a bit deeper and opened up discussions, the girls said financing and funding was a real problem."

Barrie explained that many of the children she encountered were from low income families.

"Theres often more than one child, and families really are struggling with finances, with these products often coming far down the priority line," she said.

"The girls are so sensitive that they dont want to upset mum by saying they need them because they know moneys tight."

The tweet comes just weeks after a man tried to mansplain about vulvas on Twitter.

When the Guardian tweeted about a recent photograph series titled "Me and my vulva: 100 women reveal all", one man, called Paul Bullen, took it upon himself to "correct" the tweet, incorrectly commenting underneath: "The correct word is vagina".



In response, a number of women set out to educate Bullen about genitalia.
The Tories set themselves a big target on apprenticeships in the run up to the 2015 general election.

The party made a manifesto pledge to have 3 million apprenticeships by 2020, and introduced a new system whereby businesses would pay for these training positions.

However, four years on, the perception of apprenticeships is still mixed and both students and companies say they need more support to help meet the governments target.

Apprenticeships got a boost in popularity and became more appealing to school leavers in the wake of higher tuition fees.

Many students who might previously have submitted applications to universities without a second thought found themselves weighing up their options more carefully, and for some, an apprentice scheme proved to be a good alternative to a degree.

Ucas chief puts the case for apprenticeships Show all 2 1 /2 Ucas chief puts the case for apprenticeships Ucas chief puts the case for apprenticeships 424212.bin Ucas chief puts the case for apprenticeships 424211.bin JOHN LAWRENCE

However, despite the governments target of bringing more young people into the workforce via apprenticeships, many school leavers still find it difficult to get the information they need about the schemes that are available.

In some cases, schools are failing to provide information, and still focus on university places and Ucas forms.

Moshe Shamash, 21, says that he had no clear idea about what he wanted to do when he left school, but he knew that university was not the right path for him.

It was a mixture of grades and the fact that I wasnt sure, he says. I was hearing stories about people who didnt get jobs after uni.

Shamash is now a software engineer apprentice at Workplace by Facebook, but he tells the Independent that it was not easy to pursue this path.

At school there was no mention of apprenticeships, he says. The general feeling that you have to go to uni was quite prevalent. They werent too impressed that I was going on an apprenticeship scheme.

This experience is echoed among other apprentices.

Jack Moore, 20, an apprentice at Vodafone, says that although his school was initially supportive of applications for apprenticeship schemes, that very quickly went away.

Then it was all about Ucas and going to uni, so I was the only one in my year who actually went on to do an apprenticeship, he says.

Despite the lack of support from some schools, for many young people the benefits of doing an apprenticeship far outweigh the attractions of going to university.

 Sales apprentice buys her own home aged 20 after working five jobs rather than going to university

Nayan Maghmare, 19, is also on the apprenticeship scheme at Vodafone. He says he joined the scheme because it felt like a win-win situation.

You get corporate experience and you earn money. There are particular skills that you learn on the job that you might not learn at uni, he says, highlighting time management in particular as a skill he has picked up in the workplace.

Ishaan Korotan, 19, decided on the apprenticeship route for similar reasons, joining the scheme at Cisco. Im really interested in cyber security and I thought what better way to learn about it than by working for the company  in terms of knowledge and skills you get from working within the industry its quite valuable.

It is not all upsides, though. Sri Konreddy, 19, is also at Cisco, and says she has less free time than her friends who are still in education.

Im adulting much sooner than my friends at university, she says.

However, she adds: Its a good thing for me. Ive made friends for life and the support has been great.

Meanwhile, for businesses, while apprentices are widely viewed as a good thing, the governments apprenticeship levy, aimed at supporting these schemes, has not gone down so well.

The levy, which was introduced in 2017, requires employers paying more than 3m in total each year to allocate 0.5 per cent of their payroll costs to training.

This financial obligation was supposed to support the apprenticeship strategy  but in 2017-18, apprenticeship starts were down 24 per cent year-on-year, falling from 494,900 to 375,800.

James Reed, chairman and chief executive of Reed Recruitment, says: Its clear that the apprenticeship levy is in urgent need of simplification in order to make a success of it.

It is also clear that financial incentives on their own are not enough to achieve the kind of results the government had hoped for.

Charlie Mullins, founder of Pimlico Plumbers, has long been a vocal critic of the levy, although he supports the aim of increasing the numbers of apprentices joining the workforce.

The apprenticeship levy was supposed to increase the number of new apprentices, in a genuine effort to combat the UKs skills gap, he says.

On paper, so far so good; but in reality it has proven an unmitigated disaster, and has led to a catastrophic collapse in new apprenticeship starts.

The problem is part perception, and part that the levy is just too damn complicated and time consuming to claim for businesses already heavily burdened with the existing tax bureaucracy.

Business owners, especially of SMEs, just dont have the time to get their heads around how to claim the money. What we need is a simple system where the government pays businesses directly for each apprentice they take on.
Ever since Yuri Gagarin strapped himself in and blasted off on a Vostok rocket in 1961 to bravely go where no man had gone before, millions have dreamed of following in his exhaust trail.

But few have had the opportunity. Just 536 to be precise.

Enterprising startups such as Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and SpaceX are bringing the idea of commercial space travel tantalisingly close.

But since Nasa ended its manned space programme in 2011, the dream of becoming an astronaut has largely been the preserve of the uber-rich. Just look at the founders of those three companies: Jeff Bezos, Sir Richard Branson, Elon Musk.

While being a billionaire is not a prerequisite for wannabe astronauts, its fair to say that space flight it likely to remain an elite activity for some time. A sub-orbital flight with Virgin Galactic will likely cost around 200,000, for example.

But one US company is attempting to change that with a five-year training programme for those who think they have what it takes to hurtle into orbit.

SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Show all 15 1 /15 SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Space X Dragon departs from the International Space Station and heads for earth AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Space X Dragon undocks from the International Space Station NASA SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission SpaceX Crew Dragon is pictured about 20 meters (66 feet) away from the International Space Station Nasa/AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifts off on March 2 2019 Reuters SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Astronauts aboard the Space Station preparing to open hatchet to the SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying a instrumented dummy after it successfully docked with Space Station Nasa TV/EPA SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A dummy(L) named Ripley onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard after the opening of the hatch during the Demo-1 missioN Nasa TV/AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission The SpaceX team watches as the SpaceX Crew Dragon docks with the International Space Station Nasa/AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket docked with the International Space Station during the Demo-1 mission Nasa/AFP/Getty SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft Reuters SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Astronaut David Saint-Jacques taking a look inside the SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying a instrumented dummy Nasa TV/EPA SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off on an uncrewed test flight Reuters SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifts off on an uncrewed test flight Reuters SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a demo Crew Dragon spacecraft on an uncrewed test flight AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission SpaceX's new crew capsule approaches just before docking Nasa TV/AP SpaceX Dragon heads back to earth after ISS mission Astronaut Eric Boe, assistant to the chief of the astronaut office for commercial crew, left, and Norm Knight, deputy director of flight operations at Nasa's Johnson Space Center watch the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft Nasa/AP

AdvancingX is running a global Career Astronauts competition which is free to enter. Successful candidates will be put through their paces in a range of tasks designed to create the perfect space team. Hundreds of candidates will be whittled down over five years to just 40. Eventually, four lucky winners will get the chance to fly into space.

Dr Mindy Howard, one of the trainers on the course, knows a thing or two about the demands of space travel, having made the grade as one of NASAs Highly Qualified Astronaut Candidates.

While undergoing her own astronaut training she flew in parabolic flights which ascend at a steep angle before reducing altitude to give passengers a weightless experience. Shes also tested herself in an high-g centrifuge which spins you round to mimic the intense physical pressures of a rocket launch.

Scuba diving with submersible craft is part of the training (AdvancingX)

While Dr Howard has not yet made it into space she is now passing on the skills she has learnt to train the next generation of potential astronauts.

Dr Howard will teach candidates on the Career Astronaut programme about the mental toughness needed to travel into space, using techniques developed for her company Inner Space Training.

AdvancingX will also take the astronauts-to-be Scuba diving, using submersible craft to prepare them for carrying out tasks in a low-gravity environment.

AdvancingXs chief executive Dr Eduardo Diaz says he plans to use biosensor technology to mitigate health risks of space travel and increase the success of teams in a new era of the career astronaut.

(Mindy Howard (Mindy Howard)

Dr Diaz wants to select those who can work well enough in a team to one day occupy a lunar base, or even one further afield.

The employment opportunities are enormous, he says.

Imagine an entirely new society that will need every kind of human resource necessary to survive.

There's a need for farmers, medical personnel, and mechanical engineers just to name a few.

Candidates will even construct habitats in Icelandic lava tunnels which aim to mimic the desolate environment one might find on the moon or a distant planet.

NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Show all 21 1 /21 NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Robert McCalls mid-1970s prediction of NASAs space shuttle building a modular space station is close to what finally happened, except that the real shuttles only flew one at a time. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Ed White photographed by Gemini 4 Commander Jim McDivitt. During the first of 66 orbits, they made an unsuccessful attempt to rendezvous with the spent upper stage of their Titan launch vehicle. On McDivitts advice, White waited one more orbit to recover from the effort of the failed rendezvous, and then exited the Gemini for his historic spacewalk on June 3, 1965. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Apollo 9 CM pilot Dave Scott emerges from the hatch, testing some of the spacesuit systems that will be used for lunar operations. The photo was taken from the hatch of the docked LM by Rusty Schweickart in March 1969. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Mothership Balls Three overflies an X-15 in 1961. Three operational X-15s were constructed and flown for 199 test flights between them, as they pushed at the envelopes of speed and altitude, and reached the very edges of space. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives The Mercury Control Center (MCC) at Cape Canaveral supervised seven human spaceflights between May 1961 and March 1965, into the beginning of the Gemini era. Meanwhile the more advanced control complex in Houston was taking shape ahead of Apollo. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Technicians working at the base of Alan Shepards Mercury-Redstone 3 launch vehicle are swathed in vapour from vented excess oxidiser gas on May 5, 1961. Subsequent rockets could not be so closely approached when fueling. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives The Rendezvous Docking Simulator at Langley prepared Gemini astronauts for the strange physics of orbital flight. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Ahead of Gemini 10, Commander John Young explains to the media how copilot Michael Collins will inspect the Agena Target Docking Vehicle during his spacewalk, 1966. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Navy divers prepare to retrieve the Gemini 6A crew on December 16, 1965. Green dye was released by spacecraft on splashdown, making it easier to spot from the air. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives The U.S. geological Surveys map of the area around Tycho Crater, famous as the site of a mysterious alien monolith in the 1968 science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey. In real life, this chaotic and rugged terrain would have been too difficult for an Apollo mission to access. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot Michael Collins inspects NASAs Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, where rock samples collected by Apollo were analysed. Nitrogen gas protected the rocks from accidental corrosion in Earths oxygen-rich atmosphere. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives NASA scientists are confident that Buzz Aldrins boot prints from Apollo 11 are still as sharp and distinct today as when they were first stamped down in 1969, because the Moon has no air or rain to erode them. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives NASAs Anechoic Chambers are among the quietest places anywhere on earth. Walls absorb almost all stray echoes, whether sound or radio. This 1972 model of a shuttle, being tested for radio characteristics, has thruster pods on the wingtips. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Lightning strikes the launchpad of Space Shuttle Challenger on August 30, 1983 prior to STS-8, the first pre-dawn launch of the space shuttle program. Launchpads are surrounded by tall lightning towers and other conductive systems.These create a giant Faraday Cage, diverting the electric charge of strike well away from the spacecraft. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives The ISS has been continuously occupied since November 2000. Its habitable volume is equivalent to a Boeing 747s. An international crew of six people live and work while traveling at five miles (8 km) per second, orbiting Earth once every 90 minutes. This is the single most complex and ambitious engineering effort in history, even when compared to Apollo. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives The Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) is a hybrid of parachute and balloon technology. A new generation of flexible heat shield materials could enable a huge shield to be deployed from a small storage canister just before a spaceraft hits the atmosphere of its target planet. In July 2012 a HIAD survived a trip through Earths atmosphere at 7,600 mph. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives In April 2016, ocean scientists at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, analysing data from Landsat 8, found mysterious lines crisscrossing the vegetation in the shallow waters of the North Caspian Sea.The cause turned out to be ice gouging at the seafloor in winter, before melting in the spring, and leaving just these clues. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Curiosity made this self-portrait on August 5, 2015, by maneuvering the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on the end of a seven-foot-long robotic arm. Multiple overlapping frames were acquired, then digitally stitched together by image analysts at JPL. The arm moved into a new position for each frame but the camera always pointed toward a specific vanishing point to minimize parallax distortions. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Jupiter's moon Io is dwarfed by the planet it orbits, as seen by the Cassini spacecraft en route to Saturn. Cassinis 13-year tour of the ringed planet changed the course of planetary exploration. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives A technician prepares to unlatch a small door built into the guide vanes of the Transonic Wind Tunnel at Langley Research Center in 2010. The vanes prevent turbulent eddies from interfering with the tests. Courtesy of NASA NASA at 60: Amazing photos of space exploration released from archives Courtesy of NASA

Is it far-fetched to believe that commercial astronauts will land on the moon any time soon?

Elon Musk, the boss of SpaceX doesn't think so. His pioneering company recently docked a craft at the International Space Station. He plans a manned mission there as soon as July and lunar flights are firmly within his sights.

We should have a base on the moon, like a permanently occupied human base on the moon, and then send people to Mars, Mr Musk said at a recent press event.

Those who want to apply for AdvancingXs programme need to take a 20-minute behavioural assessment online. Successful candidates will then be assessed through a number of tests designed to find the best team players.

AdvancingX aims to fund the course through company sponsorships in order to ensure that space flight remains an achievable dream for those of us who dont have millions of dollars to burn.
Sales at Greggs have topped 1bn for the first time as the launch of its controversial vegan sausage roll helped drive a surge in customer numbers.

The bakery chain posted a 15 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to 82.6m in 2018, with sales rising 7.2 per cent to just over 1bn.

Greggs said that while the first half of 2018 was impacted by extreme weather, it was able to bounce back and perform ahead of expectations.

For 2019, Greggs hailed the enthusiastic reception and extraordinary level of social and general media coverage surrounding its vegan sausage roll, which has helped spur a spike in footfall.

Chief executive Roger Whiteside paid homage to the impact of the roll alongside the firms full-year results.

The 20 best food scenes in film Show all 20 1 /20 The 20 best food scenes in film The 20 best food scenes in film Lady & the Tramp Who would have guessed one of the most romantic scenes in cinema would involve two dogs eating scraps in an alleyway? And, yet, the iconic spaghetti kiss from Disneys 1955 animated film has been oft imitated but never surpassed, as the two pups indulge in an Italian delicacy, all soundtracked to Sonny Burke and Peggy Lees Bella Notte. And, as Tramp proves, theres no greater act of chivalry than offering your date the last meatball Moviestore/Rex The 20 best food scenes in film Babette's Feast Gabriel Axels Oscar-winning 1987 Danish film is a visual treat for any self-confessed gourmand. The story sees two pious Protestant sisters offer refuge to a French woman fleeing the political tumult in Paris after the collapse of the Second Empire in 1871. They agree to hire her as a housekeeper, discovering later that shes the former chef of one of Pariss best restaurants. When she wins the lottery, she uses the funds to whip a meal to remember for her kindly hosts. The 20 best food scenes in film Hook All the very best chefs know that a dash of pure imagination is key to creating a true culinary wonder. Its a lesson well-taught in Steven Spielbergs 1991 classic, Hook, as a grown-up Peter Pan (Robin Williams) looks on in disbelief as the Lost Boys tuck into what appears to be nothing at all. Its only when he truly believes that he can see the brightly colour feast laid out before him. And what childish feast would be complete without an old fashioned food fight? Sony The 20 best food scenes in film Breakfast at Tiffany's Sure, the 1961 films title may be a little misleading. Its protagonist, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn), in reality only has breakfast outside of Tiffanys, popping out of a cab in the early morning light to peer into the jewelry shop window, all while enjoying a pastry and some coffee in a paper. The moment has still remained the peak of glamour, decades later, so who cares if its all a little white lie? Keystone Features/Getty Images The 20 best food scenes in film The Godfather Its a classic scene that proves to be surprisingly instructional. Francis Ford Coppolas 1972 film has a full-blown recipe tucked within its elegant drama, as Vito Corleones close associate, Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano), offers his version of the perfect pasta sauce. As he explains: You start out with a little bit of oil. Then you fry some garlic. Then you throw in some tomatoes, tomato paste, you fry it; you make sure it doesn't stick. You get it to a boil; you shove in all your sausage and your meatballs. And a little bit of wine, and a little bit of sugarthat's my trick." Rex Features The 20 best food scenes in film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Although the 1971 musical is, as a whole, a sugary delight, its hardest to resist the temptation of Willy Wonkas Fizzy Lifting Drinks, a soda described as so bubbly that it lifts anyone who drinks it right off the ground. Its no wonder that it was the one stop on the tour that ended up tempting the pure-hearted Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) and his grandfather (Jack Albertson). Now, the real question is: does it come in different flavours? Getty The 20 best food scenes in film Eat Pray Love For anyone who considers pizza to be the true love of their life, Ryan Murphys 2010 romcom is a perfect cinematic match. Its hard not to relate to the moment Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) bites into a piece of authentic Italian pizza, during the Naples stop on her global adventure of self-discovery, and declares: Im in love. Im in a relationship with my pizza. Rex Features The 20 best food scenes in film Beauty & the Beast Although we might not fully be convinced that the grey stuff is delicious, the dinner and show approach to Lumiere (Jerry Orbach)s hospitality is something we could certainly get used to. In Disneys 1991 animation, Belle (Paige O'Hara) is presented with a whole cavalcade of sumptuous dishes: including beef ragout, cheese souffle, pie and pudding "en flambe". And theres a sage piece of advice to go with it all, too: If you're stressed, it's fine dining we suggest! Indeed. Disney The 20 best food scenes in film Steel Magnolias While theres been a growing fad of ambitious, unusually themed cakes  you need only look at the success of the TLC reality series Cake Boss  there are few cinematic cakes that quite stick in the memory like Jackson (Dylan McDermott)s armadillo-shaped groom cake from 1989 comedy-drama Steel Magnolias, a spin on the tradition from the American South of having another cake separate to the main wedding cake. And did we mention that its red velvet on the inside? REX FEATURES The 20 best food scenes in film Marie Antoinette When it came to director Sofia Coppola conjuring the ultimate image of decadence for her 2006 biopic on the French queen, there was no more perfect treat than Ladurees famous macarons. Delicate and pastel-toned, the meringue-based confection has long been the speciality of the French bakery, first established in 1862. A new flavour was even created in honour of the film, with the Marie Antoinette offering a combination of rose and anise flavours. Columbia Pictures The 20 best food scenes in film The Hundred Foot Journey Food is often regarded as one of the best ways to understand a culture, and The Hundred-Foot Journey is wonderful for showing the efforts the talented, self-taught novice Hassan (Manish Dayal) goes to in order to comprehend that. During a picnic he reveals he has mastered the five mother sauces of French cuisine, and the delicate tasting process that follows demonstrates just how important food is to France. The 20 best food scenes in film Goodfellas In prison, dinner was always a big thing. So much so that the Wise Guys ate better than most people on the outside. Beyond the Sea plays in the background as the gangsters prepare their meal: Garlic sliced so thin with a razor blade that it would liquefy in the pan with just a little oil, meatballs in a tomato sauce thats a little too oniony, steak cooked medium rare, iced lobsters, prosciutto, salami, cheese, red wine and good Scotch. Maybe crime does pay after all. The 20 best food scenes in film Chocolat There are few pleasures in life more fulfilling than that of cooking for others. In Chocolat  based on the book by Joanne Harris  a slow-motion scene where dinner party guests tuck into the feast created by expert chocolatier Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) is full of warmth and laughter. AP The 20 best food scenes in film Pulp Fiction In a world where people seem more than happy to fork out 15 for some mushy avocado on toast, $5 for a milkshake doesnt seem too unreasonable. Vincent Vega (John Travolta) takes his boss wife Mia (Uma Thurman) out to Jack Rabbit Slims for a burger, where she decides she wants the $5 dollar shake. You dont put bourbon in it or nothing? a bewildered Vincent asks the waiter. When it arrives, Mia takes a long sip: Yummy. I gotta know what a $5 shake tastes like, Vincent says. He takes a sip. Then another. Goddamn, thats a pretty f***ing good milkshake. Miramax/YouTube The 20 best food scenes in film Julie & Julia Nora Ephrons feature film based on the intertwining stories of chef Julia Child and Julie Powell, the blogger who rose to fame after documenting her pledge to cook all 524 recipes in Childs cookbook, is all about the joy one can find in food. It is some of the earlier scenes that capture this best, like when Julia (Meryl Streep) and her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) arrive in Paris and stop at a French restaurant, where Julia is served a sizzling platter of sole. It looked so mouth-watering in the final edit that Ephron wanted to call up Martin Scorcese and say, youve never shot a fish like that before. Rex The 20 best food scenes in film Ratatouille Fearsome critic Anton Ego takes a bite of ratatouille and is transported back to his childhood, where it was a favourite comfort food, in the best scene from Pixars wonderful animated film. The detail is superb, from the process of Remy the rat preparing the dish to the moment Egos pen falls to the ground as he remembers the power of a favourite meal in evoking memories we thought were lost. YouTube screengrab / Jeugos para ninos / Disney Pixar The 20 best food scenes in film Spinal Tap I dont want this, I want large bread but I can rise above it, Im a professional. The miniature bread catastrophe is a beautiful parody on every self-absorbed rock star to have kicked off over something as ludicrous as the food theyre served backstage. Guitarist Nigel Tufnell sits next to a tray of sandwiches looking baffled as his manager walks over. "Look," he says, picking up a sandwich. "This, this miniature bread. It's like... I've been working with this now for about half an hour. I can't figure it out. Let's say I want a bite, right, you've got this..." "Why do you keep folding it?" Ian asks. Nigel looks down at the broken bits of bread, then tries again: "This. I don't want this." He throws the sandwich to the ground, disgusted. "I want large bread!" Embassy Pictures The 20 best food scenes in film The Help After all the trauma she has been through  at the hands of her abusive husband and a racist ex-employer  Minny (Octavia Spencer) arrives at her employer Celia Foote to find a beautiful dinner cooked for her as a thank you for everything she has done for Celia and her husband. You see the care that has gone into it as Celia lays everything out on the table, from a mile high meringue to the fried chicken Minny taught her how to make. That table of food gave Minny the strength she needed, the narration explains. She took her babies out from under Leroy and never went back. AP Photo/Disney DreamWorks II, Dale Robinette The 20 best food scenes in film Five Easy Pieces Robert Dupea (Jack Nicholson) just wants some toast to go with his omelette, but the waitress is stubbornly sticking to the diners no substitutions rule. Ill make it as easy for you as I can, goes the famous order. Id like an omelette, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast. No mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce and hold the chicken. Columbia Pictures The 20 best food scenes in film Big Night It was a scene that helped propel a revolution in American dining. Il Timpano, a dish inspired by the notoriously tricky-to-make Italian meal, is the star of a moment in Big Night where chef brothers Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secondo (Stanley Tucci) prepares it as the centrepiece for a feast attended by their rival, Pascal. Goddamit, I should kill you, he screams, throwing his fork down after tasting Il Timpano. This is so f***ing good, I should kill you.

Whilst there are significant uncertainties in the months ahead, Greggs has started 2019 in great form, helped in part by the publicity surrounding the launch of our vegan-friendly sausage roll.

We hope to continue benefiting from this strong momentum during the first half of 2019 before facing stronger comparatives later in the year.

We have a strong financial position which we plan to use to invest in Greggs potential for further growth, whilst also delivering good returns for shareholders.

Januarys news that Greggs was to sell a vegan-friendly sausage roll drew a flurry of responses online, including comments from Good Morning Britain TV host Piers Morgan and comedian Ricky Gervais.

Greggs sells 1.5 million sausage rolls a week but created the new option due to public demand after an online petition by Peta, calling for a vegan version, was signed by more than 20,000 people last year.

Its popularity has already led to Greggs lifting its 2019 profit outlook.

Greggs was also helped by the growth of healthier options, hot drinks, breakfast and hot food and said that it has had a very strong start to 2019.

PA
Justin Trudeaus Liberal Party is mired in a corruption scandal over a Canadian government contractor accused of bribing Libyan officials to secure work during the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

At the heart of the issue is a 5bn company, SNC-Lavalin, which is far from being a household name outside of Canada. So what is the firm and why has it proved so controversial over the years?

Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin is an engineering and construction group that works across the mining, oil and gas, water and infrastructure sectors.

It is Canadas largest construction company with CA$9.3bn (5bn) revenue in 2018 and 50,000 employees across 160 countries.

Justin Trudeau Show all 8 1 /8 Justin Trudeau Justin Trudeau Day out The family get in the boat with climate change AP Justin Trudeau Keeping fit Jogging over the Alexandria bridge with the Mexican president AP Justin Trudeau Family comes first Sophie inspires me every day to be better. I wouldnt be here tonight if it werent for her leadership and her example." AP Justin Trudeau Three-way handshake Trudeau has vowed to strengthen international relations. Twitter Justin Trudeau Bromance Friendship with the White House The White House Justin Trudeau Pandas Just because. Twitter Justin Trudeau Yoga The plank became an internet sensation Twitter Justin Trudeau Making history Trudeau's gender-balanced cabinet was the first of its kind AP

Since its founding in 1911, SNC has provided key services on big government infrastructure projects including motorways, hospitals and railways.

Its close relationship with the Canadian government has been central to Mr Trudeaus current problems. Members of his party are alleged to have leaned on Canadas Attorney General to influence the outcome of a corruption case against SNC-Lavalin.

The company was formed in 1991 when the countrys two biggest construction firms, SNC and Lavalin, merged.

(AFP/Getty Images (AFP/Getty Images)

Lavalin had previously worked on the roof for Montreals stadium for the 1976 Olympics during Justin's father Pierres time as prime minister.

The Olympics went down as the most expensive ever at the time, having gone an astonishing 13 times over budget, leaving Montreal with vast bill that almost bankrupted the city. A string of officials were convicted of corruption and breach of trust, though none of these were directly linked to Lavalin.

Outside Canada, SNC-Lavalin has been linked with allegations of bribery and corruption.

In India it won a government contract in 1995 to renovate and modernise a hydroelectric power station. SNC was accused of bribery and financial fraud. A government investigation resulted in the expulsion of several Indian government officials.

 Justin Trudeau looking to cancel arms deal with Saudi Arabia

More recently in Bangladesh four former SNC-Lavalin employees were cleared of graft charges over their role in the construction of the Padma Bridge. The four-mile long bridge cost $3bn to build.

SNC-Lavalins latest problems stem from Libya where it is accused of handing $48m in bribes to officials between 2001 and 2011.
The US trade deficit jumped by 12.5 per cent last year, hitting $621bn (474bn), according to the latest figures from the Commerce Department.

The data also showed a $891bn goods trade shortfall in 2018, the biggest goods deficit on record.

The US reported these disappointing numbers in spite of efforts by Donald Trump to protect American business and trade.

Mr Trump has stirred up fears of a trade war with China over the last year, announcing a series of tariffs on Chinese goods.

The conflict sparked fears for the global economy, with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) warning that the trade spat put businesses and jobs around the world at risk.

These products may become more costly in the trade war Show all 9 1 /9 These products may become more costly in the trade war These products may become more costly in the trade war Orange Juice, which Florida is known for, may soon be subject to import tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war The EU lists 'footwear with outer soles of rubber or of plastics and uppers of plastics' amongst the goods that may soon be subject to import tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war Cosmetic products, such as US brands Maybelline, MAC and Avon, may soon be subject to import tariffs Getty Images for Rebekka Ruetz These products may become more costly in the trade war Jeans, the all-American trousers, are on the EU's list of goods that may be subject to import tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war Bourbon whiskey is on the EU's list of over 100 US products that may be subject to import tariffs Getty These products may become more costly in the trade war US peanut butter products are on the EU's list of goods that may soon be subject to tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war US motorcycles, such as the Harley-Davidson, may soon be subject to import tariffs Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war Cranberry products, a major US crop export, may soon become more expensive Getty Images These products may become more costly in the trade war All tobacco products are on the EU's list of US goods that may be subject to import tarifs AFP/Getty Images

Meanwhile, businesses likely stocked up on imports in anticipation of further duties on Chinese goods, which contributed to the deterioration in the US trade deficit last year.

The goods trade deficit with China increased 11.6 per cent to an all-time high of $419.2bn in 2018. The US, which also slapped duties on imported steel, aluminium, solar panels and washing machines, had record imports from 60 countries in 2018, led by China, Mexico and Germany.

Perhaps Donald Trump will now discover that tweets and bluster alone wont dramatically shrink the trade deficit, said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing in Washington. The administrations fiscal policies have helped to boost the trade deficit.

The US and China have recently made progress towards a trade truce, with Mr Trump officially suspending tariffs on $200bn of Chinese goods last week.

However, officials warned that long-term resolution is unlikely to be found for some time and economists expect exports to remain weak even if Washington and Beijing strike a trade deal.

That will take time and if the Chinese growth is as soft as most economists believe, it is hard to see how they can ramp up demand for US products very much this year, said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.

Additional reporting by newswires
The publics satisfaction with the running of the NHS under the Conservatives has hit lows last seen in the middle of the financial crisis, research shows.

Results of the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, published on Wednesday, show the number of people very or quite satisfied with the way the health service is run fell to 53 per cent.

This is a drop of three percentage points from 2017, and the lowest satisfaction since 2007.

This is despite 2018 being a year when the NHS celebrated its 70th anniversary, and the government pledged a 20.5bn investment over the coming years.

In the short term at least, the promise of more money doesnt appear to buy satisfaction, said Ruth Roberson, a senior fellow at the Kings Fund which led the analysis alongside the Nuffield Trust think tank.

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

She said that satisfaction is at its lowest level for over a decade with cash aloe being unlikely to solve the publics biggest concerns.

The survey shows that the public have been left in no doubt about the damaging effects of Tory austerity policies, with underfunding one of the major causes of dissatisfaction identified by by 49 per cent of people.

Despite ministers repeated insistence that the NHS is inefficient and needs to do more to make its money go further, money being wasted was only an issue for a third of the public.

Instead their chief reasons for concern are long waits for GP and hospital appointments (53 per cent) and a lack of staff, identified by 52 per cent.

A seven-year pay freeze for NHS staff came to an end last year, but damage has already been done to morale and staff numbers with more than 100,000 vacancies across the NHS and attempts to boost GP numbers going in reverse.

Overall, 63 per cent of the public remain satisfied with the NHS according to the annual poll  with more than two-thirds specifying high-quality care as their reason for being satisfied.

The BSA has run since 1983 and records satisfaction with different parts of the NHS. In hospitals there was a mixed picture, with satisfaction for inpatient care rising; in outpatient services, such as planned surgery, it has fallen.

NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Show all 18 1 /18 NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, addresses demonstrators following the march AFP/Getty NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary EPA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Reuters NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary EPA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary PA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary PA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images

Public feeling towards general practice, once the sector with the highest positive public perception, has continued to drop, hitting 63 per cent last year  the lowest since the survey began.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said it was always disappointing to hear patients werent satisfied, though she said patients satisfaction with their own GP remained high.

Our workload has escalated, both in terms of volume and complexity, in recent years, Prof Stokes-Lampard said. But the share of the NHS budget general practice receives is less than it was a decade ago and the number of full-time equivalent GPs in England has actually fallen over the last two years.

The analysis cautions that there may be a lag before the 20.5bn pledged by Theresa May has an impact on satisfaction levels, with the expectation that it will fund measures in the NHS 10-year plan.

However, the authors warned that even with more money on its way, the long-term vision for the health service doesnt actually address issues with waiting times and staff shortages, which top the publics concerns.

Labours shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth MP said satisfaction was at an all time high under the last Labour government.

This survey confirms the public know they simply cant trust the Tories with the NHS, he added.

For public satisfaction in the NHS to have plummeted to such depths on the back of nearly nine years of austerity, wider cuts, staff shortages and privatisation is a damning indictment of the Tory stewardship of this vital public service.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the NHS in England has recently been ranked as the safest and best health service in the world.

They added: The launch of the long-term plan  backed by an extra 33.9bn a year by 2023-24  will safeguard our health service for generations to come and transform patient care by improving outcomes for major conditions, treating more people in their communities and increasing the frontline workforce.
Tiny creatures that can eat pollution and generate electricity in the process have been captured for the first time.

Scientists trekked into the depths of Yellowstone National Park to extract these bacteria, which are adapted to living in geysers and hot springs that can reach over 90C.

The so-called electrogenic microbes were targeted due to their ability to produce power, which experts hope could be harnessed in the future to drive devices.

However, publishing their findings in the Journal of Power Sources, the scientists admitted this could be tricky because of the extreme environments the bacteria live in, which is why they had to test their abilities in the field.

This was the first time such bacteria were collected in situ in an extreme environment like an alkaline hot spring, said Abdelrhman Mohamed, a PhD student at Washington State University who led the research.

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary

The team stuck electrodes into the water of four hot springs, and left them for a month to be colonised by the bacteria.

The natural conditions found in geothermal features such as hot springs are difficult to replicate in laboratory settings, said Dr Haluk Beyenal, who supervised the study. So, we developed a new strategy to enrich heat-loving bacteria in their natural environment.

Some of these electricity-producing bacteria have the power to convert toxic pollutants into less harmful substances.

As they do so, the electrons passing through their body as they digest their food are dumped outside their bodies on minerals or metals, using hair-like structures that protrude from their bodies like wires.

This produces a stream of electricity in an efficient process that can conceivably be used in low-power applications.

While scientists hope that the microbes could one day power all kinds of systems, they have been limited by the handful of varieties that have been grown in labs.

But by employing the naturally occurring populations in places like Yellowstone, they hope they can develop something that helps to both produce electricity and clear up pollutants.
Photos of a venomous spider consuming an equally-venomous snake in Australia have gone viral after a woman captured the battle.

Robyn McLennan, from Bright, Victoria, was visiting a winery when she happened to see the Redback spider attempting to eat the Eastern Brown snake - which she then shared to the Facebook group Field Naturalists Club of Victoria.

Took this shot today at [a winery] in North East Victoria. I believe the baby snake is an Eastern Brown, McLennan wrote, alongside three photos.

She then added an update to the post, describing the spiders tactics.

The spider has now brought the entire snake off the ground and it is [suspended] mid-air, just under the lower lip of the tank, she wrote.

The most stunning images of spider webs Show all 8 1 /8 The most stunning images of spider webs The most stunning images of spider webs Spider webs Villagers stand next to trees covered in spider webs in the flood affected areas of K.N. Shah, located near Dadu in Pakistan's Sindh province. The cocooned trees have been a side-effect of spiders escaping flood waters in the area The most stunning images of spider webs Spider webs An orb-weaver spider web in heath, blooming heather, in the morning light, Brandenburg, Germany The most stunning images of spider webs Spider webs A spiderweb is seen at sunrise in Dunte, 60 km (37 miles) north from Riga, Latvia The most stunning images of spider webs Spider webs View of morning dew on spider web in Bavaria, Germany The most stunning images of spider webs Spider webs Spider webs cover heather in Abernethy Forest, Scotland The most stunning images of spider webs Spider webs A shed in Australia is surrounding by spiders webs Reuters The most stunning images of spider webs Spider webs Frost-covered spider's webs are seen in Godewaersvelde in north of France The most stunning images of spider webs Spider webs A spider is pictured in a spider web covered with morning dew ARNO BURGI/AFP/Getty Images

In the photos, the giant spider can be seen lowering itself onto the coiled snake, trapping it in its web.

According to members of the group, while the photos are astonishing, the natural occurrence of Redbacks attacking and eating Eastern Brown snakes is not uncommon.

Yes that is an Eastern Brown snake, one person commented. They seem to get caught by Redbacks reasonably frequently based on social media photos and videos.

A member of the Facebook group Brisbane Snake Catchers confirmed this, writing in a separate post regarding the photos: Many people would think this would be an unlikely event, but it is a fairly common occurrence, just not witnessed by the public often.

A Redback Spider killed and ate a Eastern Brown snake in Australia (Robyn McLennan)

The battle was captured at a winery in Australia (Robyn McLennan)

Both animals are venomous (Robyn McLennan)

All animals are opportunistic feeders, as in theyll eat what they can, to survive.

Others were simply impressed by the battle between the two deadly animals.

Deadly vs deadly, one person wrote, while another said: Thats a pretty big snack for a small spider.

The native Eastern Brown snake is the second deadliest snake in the world, according to the Australia Zoo.

However, Redback spiders, which are also native to Australia, are one of the most dangerous spiders in the country, according to the University of Michigans Animal Diversity Web (ADW).

When hunting for prey, typically insects, lizards, and other spiders, the Redback constructs complex silk webs that trap the prey before killing it.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Often the spider wraps the dead prey completely in its web before carrying it home, where it may be saved for later.
Why do zebras have stripes? Scientists put them on horses to find out

Whats black, white and striped all over  except for its head?

Horses wearing zebra coats on a farm near Bristol.

The animals were dressed for studies investigating a mystery that has puzzled scientists for more than a century.

With solid coats of brown or gray, most mammals are pretty boring, said Tim Caro, who studies animal coloration at the University of California, Davis, and is a co-author of a study published recently in PLOS One.

So when you see these bold patterns like on a giraffe or zebra, as a biologist you say, Why?'

Scientists have debated the function of this sassy animal print. Now most scientists agree that the function of a zebras stripes is to ward off biting flies that can carry deadly diseases.

Zebras in the wild are not easy to get close to. So Caro and a colleague, Martin How, went to Hill Livery, a horse farm moonlighting as an orphanage and a conservation hub for captive zebras near the University of Bristol in Britain. With their students, they observed and filmed horse flies trying to bite zebras. They also dressed some horses in zebra print to see if it helped them avoid fly bites.

The flies pestered all of the horses and the zebras in the paddocks equally. But once they got close, the zebra stripes seemed to dazzle the flies so much that they couldnt manage a controlled landing. Flies zoomed in too fast and either veered off just in time  or simply bumped into the zebra and bounced off. The flies did not seem to like the zebra coats on horses, either, but their bare heads were fair game.

Something is stopping the fly from realising that its close to making a landing, Caro said. We dont know what that is, but stripes are exerting an effect to the very last second.

The only thing they can say for certain is that the high contrast between black and white most likely tricks the flys low-resolution vision, which relies on sensing movement.

Its probably just blowing the flys vision away, How said.

Scientists tipped over fruit flies to deprive them of rest (Getty/iStock)

Who needs sleep? Not these flies

Sleep is so universal across the animal kingdom that we usually assume it is essential to survival. Now, however, scientists who repeatedly disturbed the sleep of more than 1,000 fruit flies are reporting that less slumber may be necessary for sustaining life than previously thought, at least in one species.

A handful of studies involving dogs and cockroaches going back to the late 19th century suggest that being deprived of sleep can result in a shortened life span. But the methods behind some of these studies can make it difficult to say whether the test subjects were harmed by sleep deprivation itself, or by the stress of the treatment they were given.

The new study took a milder approach, in hope of seeing the true effects of sleep deprivation. The automated system the researchers developed for monitoring the flies kept track of their movements with cameras, scoring any extended period without movement as sleep. When they were not being awakened repeatedly, the males slept about 10 hours a day, females about five on average.

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary

To keep the flies awake, the researchers equipped the system with tiny motors that would gently tip the flies any time they went still for at least 20 seconds. With this method, researchers deprived flies of rest over the course of their entire lifetimes, tipping them hundreds of times a day such that if they were snoozing during those periods of stillness, they might have been able to sleep around 2.5 hours a day on average.

When the results came from that experiment, it was very surprising, said Giorgio Gilestro, a professor at Imperial College London who is a co-author of the study, which was published recently in Science Advances.

While female flies in the experiment died about 10 days sooner than other flies, male flies had completely normal life spans of about 50 days. Gilestro suggests that perhaps whatever sleep is doing in the way of essential maintenance can happen in a very, very short period of time, such that little sleep is required to keep an organism alive.

The study has limitations. It looked at only a single strain of fruit fly, said Dragana Rogulja, a professor at Harvard University who studies sleep using fruit flies.

The Antarctic blackfin icefish held on in a hostile environment (Arthur Hodson Searle)

Its not hard to see how his brain works

The Antarctic Ocean was once warmer. Then about 30 million years ago, the temperature dropped. Few fish could survive temperatures that were just above seawaters freezing point, and they either migrated to warmer waters or went extinct. One bottom-dweller held on. Through the power of natural selection, its descendants developed traits that let them survive these unlikely conditions. Today, the Antarctic blackfin icefish, or Chaenocephalus aceratus, thrives in these frigid waters with no scales, blood as clear as water, and bones so thin you can see its brain through its skull.

How this creature  no longer a bottom-dweller  can live in such a hostile environment has long fascinated scientists, who have mapped its genome and continued exploring its unusual traits. In a paper published recently in Nature Ecology and Evolution, a team of scientists compared the genome of the Antarctic blackfin icefish to those of its close relatives. They found that, across these genomic maps, and tens of millions of years of evolution, gene families had shrunken or expanded, giving rise to some of the icefishs most unusual features. In addition to revealing how the icefish managed to adapt to extreme Antarctic conditions, the teams findings provide a new way to look at the genetics behind human diseases such as anemia and osteoporosis.

A trait thats maladaptive in one environment can be adaptive in another, said H William Detrich, a marine scientist at Northeastern University who has been studying icefish for decades and helped lead the study. He added that we can learn a lot about human physiology and medicine by studying these evolutionary outliers.

Frigid water holds more gasses, including oxygen, than warmer water does. But in water so cold, red blood becomes gunky, hard to pump and more likely to freeze. So the fish basically evolved a therapy for anemia, said John Postlethwait, a developmental biologist at the University of Oregon who also worked on the paper. It developed supersize gills and lost its scales, which enabled it to absorb the waters plentiful oxygen through its skin. It also expanded its circulatory system with extra vasculature and a heart four times the size of closely related, red-blooded species.

Security officials with the remains (Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt)

Two mummies, or parts thereof, are kept off flight

Egyptian security officials at the Cairo International Airport recently foiled a plot to smuggle out of the country mummified limbs that were hidden inside a loudspeaker, Egypts Ministry of Antiquities announced. The contraband was to be loaded on a plane to Belgium when authorities spotted something strange on the X-rays.

Arm and a leg job: the mummified limbs were hidden in a speaker (Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt)

In a hollowed-out speaker, they found six preserved body parts belonging to two different mummies: two sets of feet and lower legs; two sets of hands and forearms; an upper arm; and part of an upper torso, according to Iman Abdel-Raouf, an Egyptian official who works on archaeological matters. Authorities did not identify the smuggler or say whether any perpetrators were charged.

The recovered remains will be brought to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo so that a team of archaeologists can inspect and conserve them, according to the ministry. Their analysis could provide insight into the origins of these body parts and how they relate to other discoveries. Every artifact from Egypts past, no matter the size, helps shape scientists understanding of its ancient civilizations.

Grave robbing and smuggling have long troubled Egypt. Looting of ancient Egyptian artifacts escalated during the 2011 revolution, and the country has lost an estimated $3bn to illegal smuggling since then, according to the Antiquities Coalition, an American nonprofit that tracks the looting and trafficking of antiquities.

So long as there is a demand for looted and stolen artifacts, thieves and traffickers are going to find the supply, said Tess Davis, the coalitions executive director. Its impossible to police all of the country all of the time.

In 1983, the country enacted a law, known as Law No. 117, mandating that all antiquities, art and artifacts  mummies included  were to be strictly regulated and considered the property of Egypt. Anyone found guilty of smuggling such items from the country could face fines and up to two years in prison.

Back from the dead: Wallaces Giant Bee (Clay Bolt)

A bee absurdly big, and surprisingly alive

It has been 38 years since scientists last spotted the insect known as Wallaces Giant Bee, a rare species found only in a group of Indonesian islands called the North Malukus. With a wingspan of 2.5 inches and a body the size of a human thumb, its considered the worlds largest bee, and was feared extinct.

Those fears can now be somewhat laid to rest. In January, an international team of conservationists found a Megachile pluto, as the species is called, in the wild. The team captured the first-ever photos and videos of a live specimen, renewing hope for survival of the species, which is threatened by deforestation.

Its just ridiculously large and so exciting, said Simon Robson, a biologist at the University of Sydney in Australia and a member of the expedition.

The discovery did not come easily. Despite the bees size, its rarity, remote location and nesting habits make it difficult to find.

I personally know of at least five attempts to find the bee, said Clay Bolt, a photographer who was part of the latest expedition.

The bees make their homes by digging holes in the nests of tree-dwelling termites, where they spend much of their time hiding.

It was a lot of walking around the forest in 90-degree heat and the highest possible humidity looking at termite nests and chasing after bees, Robson said. In all, it took five days of hunting for the team to find their holy grail.

The expedition was partly funded by Global Wildlife Conservation, a Texas nonprofit that in 2017 started a global search for 25 lost species  animals that are not necessarily extinct but have not been spotted in at least a decade.

Excited as they were to find the bee, Robson and his team worry that the sighting may be a mixed blessing. Last year, an anonymous seller sold a previously unaccounted-for specimen to an unknown bidder on eBay for $9,100. If you can get that much money for an insect, that encourages people to go and find them, Robson said. To help protect the bees, the team has agreed not to disclose the exact island where they made their discovery.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

 New York Times
More white people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism last year than Asian people, official figures show.

Of the 273 individuals arrested on suspicion of terror-related activity in Britain last year, 43 per cent were of white ethnic appearance. The figure represents an increase of nine per cent since 2017.

Just 31.5 percent were Asian.

Although the overall number of white suspects held, 118, was down by more than a quarter (26 per cent) year-on-year, it was the third highest for a calendar year since data collection started in 2001.

The proportion of white people arrested now exceeds the proportion of Asian people arrested, the Home Office statistical report said.

London Bridge Terror Attack Show all 16 1 /16 London Bridge Terror Attack London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police Officers outside the Barrowboy and Banker Public House on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police deal with a 'major incident' at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services near the scene of the incident Screengrab London Bridge Terror Attack People run down Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services arrive at the scene near Borough market at London Bridge Carl Court/Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency personnel on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police sniffer dogs on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack A second helicopter lands on London Bridge as police are responding to three incidents in the capital, amid reports that a vehicle collided with pedestrians on London Bridge, Scotland Yard said. Officers are dealing with reports of stabbings in Borough Market, where armed officers attended and shots were fired. They are also at an incident in the Vauxhall area PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London REUTERS London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack A police officer escorts members of the public to safety at London Bridge Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident near London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters

There were falls in arrests across all ethnic groups, the report said. The largest was seen for those of Asian ethnicity which fell by 56 per cent from 196 to 86 arrests.

Meanwhile, the total number of terror-related arrests in 2018 was down by 41 per cent on the previous year.

Officials said the fall is partly explained by the large number of arrests which followed attacks in London and Manchester in 2017.

Of those 273 arrests, 171 were registered in the international" category, covering suspected activity linked to or inspired by terror groups outside the UK, such as Isis.

Sixty-six were registered in the domestic bracket, which includes cases where there was no connection to either Northern Ireland-related or international terrorism.

While further breakdowns were not given, that section would include arrests related to suspected far-right activity.

Out of 273 arrests: 102 (37 per cent) resulted in a charge, of which 81 were charged with terrorism-related offences; 99 people (36 per cent) were released without charge; 23 (8 per cent) people were released on bail pending further investigation; 17 (6 per cent) faced alternative action; and 32 (12 per cent) cases were pending at the time data was provided.

 Ben Wallace says security will be 'less straightforward' after Brexit and leaving the EU with no deal could be 'detrimental' to the UK's ability to fight terrorism

Of the 81 people charged with a terrorism-related offence, 38 had been prosecuted, all of whom had been convicted.

There were 221 people in British custody who had been convicted or charged with terrorism-related offences at the end of December.

More than three quarters of those (79 per cent) were considered to have Islamist-extremist views, while 13 per cent were categorised as holding far right-wing ideologies.

The number of Islamist-extremist prisoners held in custody saw a decrease of 9 per cent to 175, the report said.

 Lewis Ludlow pledging himself to Isis

Meanwhile, the proportion of prisoners holding far-right ideologies has increased steadily over the past three years, with the number up from 21 to 28 in the latest year.

Britain suffered five terror attacks in 2017, while 14 Islamist and four extreme right-wing plots have been foiled in the last two years.

Additional reporting by Press Association
Tommy Robinson could face up to two years in prison after the attorney general ruled he should face fresh contempt of court charges.

Geoffrey Cox concluded it was in the public interest to bring new proceedings against the anti-Islam activist, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, over a video he recorded outside a grooming trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Robinson, 35, was jailed for 13 months in May last year after he filmed people involved in a criminal trial and broadcast the footage on social media.

The footage, lasting about an hour, was watched 250,000 times within hours of being posted on Facebook. The four men on trial were later convicted of gang-raping a teenage girl.

Robinson was accused of breaching a blanket reporting restriction of a series of grooming gang trials in West Yorkshire, but the contempt finding was quashed by the Court of Appeal in August.

Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Show all 16 1 /16 Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey A Tommy Robinson supporter in London after former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson left the Old Bailey where his contempt of court case was adjourned PA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey A Tommy Robinson supporter outside the Old Bailey in London where the former English Defence League (EDL) leader is accused of contempt of court PA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey in London before former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson arrives accused of contempt of court PA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson protest at the Old Bailey Courthouse EPA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of former English Defence League leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, or 'Tommy Robinson', who was jailed for contempt of court in May and later released, wait for him to arrive at the Old Bailey to attend a court hearing Reuters Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Tommy Robinson arrives for his hearing at the Old Bailey Reuters Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right spokeseman Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the right-wing EDL (English Defence League) wave flags as they demonstrate outsise The Old Bailey AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey EPA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey EPA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Robinson gestures to supporters from inside the Old Bailey AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey EPA

The English Defence League founder was freed to face new proceedings at the Old Bailey. Nicholas Hilliard QC, the Recorder of London, referred the case to the attorney general in October after receiving a statement from Robinson.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Cox said: After carefully considering the details of this case, I have concluded there are strong grounds to bring fresh contempt of court proceedings against Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson).

As proceedings are now underway, it would not be appropriate to comment further and I remind everyone that it is an offence to comment on live court cases.

The first hearing in the case will be held on 22 March at the High Court in London.

Reacting to the announcement, Robinson said: What people should be asking is whats taken the attorney general five months?

How is this in the public interest? This is ongoing state persecution of a journalist who exposes the government, the establishment and all of their wrongs.

I, along with the support of the British public, will contest this. I am innocent. I broke no law.

Large crowds of supporters have turned out to cheer on Robinson at previous court appearances.

He could be jailed again if he is found in contempt, with a maximum sentence of two years.
The survivors and bereaved families of the Grenfell Tower fire have called for urgent reassurances from Theresa May after it emerged they will have to wait at least two years for any criminal charges to be brought.

Campaign group Grenfell United said it was extremely frustrating and disheartening that the Metropolitan Police was unlikely to submit a file to the Crown Prosecution Service before late in 2021.

Scotland Yard said in a statement its investigation  which is believed to be considering possible manslaughter charges  must take the final report of the public inquiry into account.

However the inquiry chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, has not yet confirmed a date or venue for the second stage of hearings, which will examine the causes of the disaster which killed 72 people. The first phase only sought to examine what happened on the night of the fire, 14 June 2017.

Natasha Elcock, chair of Grenfell United, said: The week after a fire that killed our loved ones and neighbours Theresa May promised us justice. Justice for us means accountability and change. The police have said no charges will be brought until at least 2021. And we see little real change.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Show all 18 1 /18 Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Kitchen in flat 16 where the fire started Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 ReutersGrenfell Tower Inquiry/Reuters Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Hallway in flat 16, leading to the kitchen where the fire started Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Bedroom in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Living room in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Toilet in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Living room in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Bedroom 2 of flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/Reuters Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Bedroom in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Bedroom 2 of flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/Reuters Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began The kitchen from flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Kitchen in flat 16 where the fire started Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Door to flat 16 from the lobby on floor 4 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Living room in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA Grenfell Tower Inquiry: photos of inside the flat where fire began Hallway in flat 16 Grenfell Tower Inquiry/PA

We are living in a limbo with no individuals or organisations being held accountable and it is so painful for all of us who lost loved ones and our homes that night. We wait month after month, our lives on hold, for some kind of justice and progress.

It is extremely frustrating and disheartening to now be told this will be our way of life for years to come.

Ms Elcock, who lived in a flat on the 11th floor of Grenfell Tower, added survivors know the truth about what happened to us.

We know the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower turned our homes into a death trap and we know that people, organisations and institutions that were meant to care for us didnt and 72 people died, she said. And yet no one has been held accountable.

The group now fear the bereaved families could lose faith in the inquiry process because of the wait for justice.

We urgently need reassurances from government that justice and change will come, said Ms Elcock. It is now 21 months since the fire, thousands of people are still living in homes with dangerous cladding, people in social housing are still being mistreated by landlords and Grenfell families still wait for any kind of justice.

Recommended Government refuses full police funding request for Grenfell probe

We have to ask, will Theresa May be remembered as the prime minister that brought us justice and change or the prime minister that failed us?

The officer leading the investigation into the fire, Detective Superintendent Matt Bonner, said it would be wrong not to take into account the findings of the inquiry.

We have always said our investigation will be thorough, exploring all reasonable lines of inquiry and examining all the available evidence, he said in a statement.

While the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the police investigation are independent of each other, our timelines are inextricably linked.

For our investigation to be considered thorough and complete, it must consider all relevant information and it would be wrong not to take into account evidence given to the public inquiry and its final report and findings.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

We are in regular contact with the bereaved families and survivors as well as the wider community, and have informed them of our projected timeline for the investigation.

I know this is longer than some might have anticipated, but the police must ensure all the available evidence is considered before any file is submitted to the CPS.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan told BBC Radio 4s Today programme the decision by the police was not surprising but added: It will be distressing for many victims, many survivors.
For more than a century, International Womens Day has provided a chance to reflect on female achievements and celebrate the movement for greater rights.

It has gone from a day which socialists proposed to advance womens suffrage and equal rights in the early 1900s to an event formally recognised by the UN.

But it is not just a day to celebrate womens contribution to humankind  it is also a day to reflect on womens struggles and look at gender equality as a whole.

Held on 8 March each year, the day is marked as a public holiday in some countries but is largely ignored in others.

Here is a short selection of stories which show the difficulties women face:

From changing rooms to public toilets: The dark trend of hidden spy cameras filming women

Increasing numbers of women are being secretly filmed on spy cameras as covert recording technology becomes cheaper and more readily available, experts have warned.

Peeping toms are installing clandestine cameras in rental and student properties or public spaces including toilets, swimming pool cubicles, changing rooms and tanning salons, in an attempt to capture explicit photos of women without their consent.

International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Show all 17 1 /17 International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Radical political activist Angela Davis speaks at a protest in Raleigh Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Poor pay, 14 hour days and dangerous working conditions led to a strike by around 1400 women and girls at a match factory in Bow, London, 1888. The action was later coined The Matchgirls Strike International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Christabel Pankhurst, one of the founders of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and a leading member of the suffragette movement, addresses a crowd in Trafalgar Square in a speech in which she invites the crowd to rush the House of Commons, 11 October 1908. Christabel Pankhurst and her mother Emmeline, alongside Flora Drummond, were arrested two days later charged with conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace. The rush on parliament went ahead without them however, with over 60,000 suffragettes attempting to break through the 5000 strong police cordon protecting parliament. Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Suffragette Emily Davison is hit and killed by King George V's horse Anmer during the 1913 Epsom Derby. She fell underneath the galloping horse after leaping from the crowd and trying to grab hold of the reins Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Striking women machinists from the Ford plant at Dagenham protest outside negotiations over their wages, 1968. The women went on strike over their lack of pay in relation to their male colleagues. The action helped to trigger the Equal Pay Act 1970 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history The women's liberation movement march in Washington, August 1970 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Protestors disrupt the 1970 Miss World competition. Original caption: The Miss World contest causes a feminist storm as demonstrators invade the Royal Albert Hall where the contest was held. Protestors fired ink at spectators and let off stink bombs in scenes resembling a school assembly. The unruly ladies were eventually expelled from the hall by security guards and policemen Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Somalians demonstrating in Mogadishu for the release of Angela Davis, March 1972, a Black Panther activist imprisoned in the USA after being charged with first degree murder. Davis was later acquitted Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Jayaben Desai, one of the mostly British-Asian women out on strike at the Grunwick factory in 1977, pictured on the picket line Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Women protest against nuclear weapons outside of RAF base Greenham Common, 1982 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Indian protestors hold candles during a rally in New Delhi in December 2012, after the death of a student who was gang raped on a bus in the Indian capital Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history A feminist group Sisters Uncut protesting against cuts to domestic violence refuges occupy the red carpet during a protest at the Suffragette premiere, 7 October 2015 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history People gather for the Womens March in Washington, January 2017 Reuters International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Protesters walk during the Womens March on Washington, with the US Capitol in the background, in January, 2017. Donald Trump was sworn in as president the previous day Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Women march as part of the gender equality protest in London, March 2017 AFP/Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Demonstrators march through during the March4Women event, 4 March 2018, London Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Placards are displayed during the March4Women, 4 March 2018, London Getty

This material is then being uploaded to porn websites where there is said to be a growing market for voyeuristic material.

Keith Roberts, who runs a company that detects spycams and bugs called Advanced Sweeping, said his cases ranged from detecting spy cameras placed in homes by partners or exes, to instances of people using the equipment to snoop on strangers.

It has grown exponentially in the last five to seven years, he said. Our caseload is going up, which comes from these things being readily easy to buy. They used to have to go to spy shops but now its all on eBay and Amazon. It is shocking. Tech can lead people down some dark roads. It is terrifying. You have got to be very vigilant these days. We check businesses, residential homes, boats, vehicles.

I felt really, really scared: Nepalese women address horror of being banished to outside huts during periods

Women living in Nepal are routinely banished to an outside hut or animal sheds, stopped from taking part in family activities, having contact with men and given less food to eat when they are on their periods due to an ancient practice that remains prevalent despite a ban.

The Hindu custom of isolating women who are menstruating from the rest of the household because they are deemed impure is known as chhaupadi. Dozens of women and girls have died in Nepal in recent years as a result of the tradition, in spite of concerted campaigns by activists coupled with government measures to rid the area of the practice.

Public sector employees increasingly turning to sex work due to austerity, campaigners warn

Increasing numbers of public sector workers are being forced to turn to sex work due to austerity measures and welfare cuts, campaigners have warned.

A leading campaigning group, which supports the decriminalisation of prostitution, says more women in public sector roles are doing sex work to top up their income due to employers making no allowances for the fact they have children.

The warning came as the organisation, the English Collective of Prostitutes, released a report comparing sex work with other jobs commonly done by women. It found sex workers earn significantly more per hour than women working in the other jobs  including those in public sector positions such as nurses and midwives.

Im more tired at home but we can get the food we want and decent shoes for the kids, said a teacher who chose to remain anonymous.

Majority of men believe women more likely to be sexually assaulted if wearing revealing clothes, study suggests

A majority of men in the UK think a woman is more likely to be sexually harassed or assaulted if she wears revealing clothes, new research suggests.

An exclusive survey conducted for The Independent found 55 per cent of men believed that the more revealing the clothes a woman wears, the more likely it is that she will be harassed or assaulted.

The research by polling company D-CYFOR found men are markedly more likely to hold this view than women  with 41 per cent of female respondents subscribing to the view that revealing clothing invites unwanted sexual advances.

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, which runs a free 24-hour helpline for people who have been sexually assaulted, said the findings illustrated how deeply entrenched victim-blaming is in society.

Noeline Blackwell, head of the centre, said: There is an assumption  not borne out by any evidence  that the way a woman dresses is likely to lead to rape or sexual assault.

We know that people are raped wearing a variety of clothing. The idea that a woman who goes out scantily clad will be pounced on is the most common myth across generations. They could be in their jeans, school uniform, or pyjamas.

Northern Irelands abortion ban: The harrowing experiences of domestic violence survivors and underage girls looking for help

A former Irish politician lifts the lid on the harrowing circumstances endured by domestic violence victims or women who are under 16 that fall pregnant in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland has a ban on abortions in almost all cases  even rape or incest. Abortion is only permitted when there is a risk to the life of the mother, or a serious risk to her physical or mental health.

She had a contraceptive implant so he sat on her chest and cut out the implant with a stanley knife. He had raped her and had been raping her for weeks after that, Dawn Purvis, former director of the Marie Stopes pregnancy advice service in Belfast and a former Independent Unionist member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, said.

Indian womens rights campaigner says porn driving surge in underage girls being raped

An Indian womens rights campaigner has said a surge in underage girls being raped can be attributed to the rise in men watching porn but condemned the decision to introduce the death penalty for such crimes.

Dr Rukmini Rao, who has campaigned for increased punishment for rape and the recognition of domestic violence, argued the growing popularity of porn was driving not just underage rape but also marital rape.

The 68-year-old argued there was a very serious problem with rape in the country  saying many young girls and women are not properly educated about the definition of consent.
She made history when threw herself in front of the King's horse at Epsom Derby to protest against women's suffrage.

Emily Davison died from her injuries four days after the horse crashed into her on 4 June 1913, in front of stunned crowds.

Opinion remains divided over whether the 41-year-old intended to sacrifice herself or whether she just aimed to disrupt the race.

But the long time campaigner, who was sentenced to a month's hard labour in 1909 after throwing rocks at the carriage of chancellor David Lloyd George, nonetheless became the first woman to give her life in the fight for female emancipation.

Her funeral on 14 June, 1913, saw thousands of suffragettes accompany her coffin, as people line the streets to pay their respects.

International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Show all 17 1 /17 International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Radical political activist Angela Davis speaks at a protest in Raleigh Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Poor pay, 14 hour days and dangerous working conditions led to a strike by around 1400 women and girls at a match factory in Bow, London, 1888. The action was later coined The Matchgirls Strike International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Christabel Pankhurst, one of the founders of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and a leading member of the suffragette movement, addresses a crowd in Trafalgar Square in a speech in which she invites the crowd to rush the House of Commons, 11 October 1908. Christabel Pankhurst and her mother Emmeline, alongside Flora Drummond, were arrested two days later charged with conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace. The rush on parliament went ahead without them however, with over 60,000 suffragettes attempting to break through the 5000 strong police cordon protecting parliament. Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Suffragette Emily Davison is hit and killed by King George V's horse Anmer during the 1913 Epsom Derby. She fell underneath the galloping horse after leaping from the crowd and trying to grab hold of the reins Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Striking women machinists from the Ford plant at Dagenham protest outside negotiations over their wages, 1968. The women went on strike over their lack of pay in relation to their male colleagues. The action helped to trigger the Equal Pay Act 1970 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history The women's liberation movement march in Washington, August 1970 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Protestors disrupt the 1970 Miss World competition. Original caption: The Miss World contest causes a feminist storm as demonstrators invade the Royal Albert Hall where the contest was held. Protestors fired ink at spectators and let off stink bombs in scenes resembling a school assembly. The unruly ladies were eventually expelled from the hall by security guards and policemen Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Somalians demonstrating in Mogadishu for the release of Angela Davis, March 1972, a Black Panther activist imprisoned in the USA after being charged with first degree murder. Davis was later acquitted Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Jayaben Desai, one of the mostly British-Asian women out on strike at the Grunwick factory in 1977, pictured on the picket line Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Women protest against nuclear weapons outside of RAF base Greenham Common, 1982 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Indian protestors hold candles during a rally in New Delhi in December 2012, after the death of a student who was gang raped on a bus in the Indian capital Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history A feminist group Sisters Uncut protesting against cuts to domestic violence refuges occupy the red carpet during a protest at the Suffragette premiere, 7 October 2015 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history People gather for the Womens March in Washington, January 2017 Reuters International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Protesters walk during the Womens March on Washington, with the US Capitol in the background, in January, 2017. Donald Trump was sworn in as president the previous day Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Women march as part of the gender equality protest in London, March 2017 AFP/Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Demonstrators march through during the March4Women event, 4 March 2018, London Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Placards are displayed during the March4Women, 4 March 2018, London Getty

Later, at the funeral of leading suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in 1928, it was reported that the Herbert Jones, the jockey of the horse who collided into her, laid a wreath in honour of both Mrs Pankhurst and Ms Davidson.

On International Women's Day this footage carries special significance and is seen as a turning point for the emancipation of women in the UK.
Frustrated EU officials have urged UK Brexit negotiators to table a workable solution to the Irish backstop by Friday if they want a breakthrough in talks.

The UK is currently seeking changes to the withdrawal agreement to make it more palatable to Brexiteer MPs ahead of a crunch vote next week.

But speaking on Thursday morning French Europe minister Natalie Loiseau said there had been no precise proposals from the UK and that the EU side was still waiting.

A European Commission spokesperson had gone on the record in Wednesday to say talks so far had been difficult and that no solution was in sight.

I'm not working on ifs and when's, I'm working on the positions or the proposals of the British government. We are waiting for a proposal from the British government, we have heard what you don't want, we are willing to know what you want, Ms Loiseau told BBC Radio 4 early on Thursday.

Let me tell you, there we no precise proposals, no. There were ideas, but there were never, until now - maybe there will be today because I know talks are going on in Brussels - but we are waiting for a sustainable proposal.

Earlier in the week Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar told the Irish parliament the UK had proposed no actual legal text for the EU side to consider.

After his latest meeting Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said on Wednesday: I cant reveal the discussions, they are private and confidential discussions but we are into the meat of the matter, both sides have exchanged robust, strong views and we are now facing the real discussions.

A leaked diplomatic note from the EU side suggests the UK has proposed two possible changes to the controversial policy.

The note, first reported by BuzzFeed News, includes plans for an arbitration panel that would allow the backstop to end if one side or another was not judged to have taken reasonable steps to find alternatives to it.

The second proposal is that of a mini-backstop which would limit regulatory alignment only to areas crucial to avoiding infrastructure on the Irish border.

EU officials are said to have rejected both these plans because they believe they would undermine the certainty of the backstop preventing a hard border in Ireland.

Talks are said to be somewhat ill-tempered, with EU officials resenting yet another change of interlocutor on the UK side, following the departures of David Davis and Dominic Raab, a switch from visits by Ollie Robbins and the eclipsing of Stephen Barclay by Geoffrey Cox. Michel Barnier and Sabine Weyand have remained the EU's main negotiators throughout the process.

Theresa May is expected to visit Brussels herself either this weekend or on Monday, if there has been enough progress to produce some kind of concession.

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

Her visit would come one day ahead of the second planned meaningful vote on her deal, where the Government hopes to overturn MPs first decision to reject the plan. If her deal is rejected MPs are then on Wednesday scheduled to vote on a no-deal, and on Thursday whether Article 50 should be extended.

Brexiteer MPs do not like the backstop becuase they fear it will trap the UK in a permanent customs union with the EU. The DUP, on whom Theresa May relies for a majority, do not like it because it treats Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the UK. The UK government agreed to the plan but then said it would renegotiate it after pressure from Tory MPs. The EU says the policy is necessary to prevent a hard border in Ireland and preserve the peace process.
Philip Hammond has dangled the prospect of extra cash for public services if MPs back Theresa May's Brexit deal amid a mounting backlash over the impact of police cuts on rising violence.

The chancellor said he could release the money set aside for a no-deal Brexit if Britain leaves the EU smoothly, providing "more money still that we can put into public services over the next three years".

He also warned Brexiteers to think "very, very carefully" about rejecting Ms May's blueprint in a crunch vote next week, as Britain's departure from the EU risked being delayed if it is defeated.

In a sign of cabinet tensions, he also publicly rejected calls from home secretary Sajid Javid and police chiefs for an emergency fund to deal with knife violence after a spate of fatal stabbings in recent days.

Recommended Sajid Javid directly contradicts Theresa May over knife crime

Mr Javid directly contradicted the prime minister over the link between the rising knife violence and cuts to policing that Ms May presided over as home secretary.

Mr Hammond appeared to dismiss the calls, ordering the police to find resources from other areas to deal with the spike in knife violence.

"If you've got an immediate problem, and this is an immediate problem, you cannot solve it by recruiting and training more officers - that takes time," he told the Today programme.

"What you have to do is redirect your resources, change your priorities, to deal with the immediate priority issue."

The chancellor argued that securing a Brexit deal would allow him to turn on the spending taps, as the government scrambles to win support from MPs ahead of the so-called meaningful vote on Tuesday.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

He said: "If we get the right Brexit deal done, and a smooth exit from the European Union so that we can release the money that we've set aside to deal with the possible disruption of a no-deal exit, then that will give us more money still that we can put into public services over the next three years."

If MPs reject the deal, Mr Hammond argued it was "likely that the House of Commons will vote to extend the Article 50 procedure, to not leave the European Union without a deal, and where we go thereafter is highly uncertain."

He added: "For those people who are passionate about ensuring that we leave the European Union on time it surely must be something that they need to think very, very carefully about now because they run risk of us moving away from their preferred course of action if we don't get this deal through on Tuesday."

If the deal is voted down, the prime minister has promised to allow the Commons a vote on whether to veto a no-deal exit on Wednesday, and a further vote on the prospect of a short delay to Brexit the following day.

Mr Hammond refused to be drawn on how he would vote, amid fierce speculation on whether the prime minister would allow her cabinet to have a free vote to avoid resignations.

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

"I'm not going to speculate about something that hasn't happened and I don't think will happen because I think the government is very clear where the will of parliament is on this," he told Today.

"Parliament will vote not to leave the European Union without a deal next Wednesday, I have a high degree of confidence about that.

"But we do need to have clear confirmation. It's right that parliament should make that decision and then we'll put the question about extending Article 50 and how we try to break this impasse by finding a consensus."

It comes as frustrated EU officials have urged the UK to come up with a workable solution by Friday to resolve the impasse over the Irish backstop.
 Close Jeremy Corbyn 'reaches out' to Tory MPs over Brexit

The government has hit back at EU claims that it has not put forward a fresh Brexit plan, with just days left to secure changes to the Irish backstop ahead of crunch votes next week.

Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, insisted the UK had put forward proposals that were clear as day.

It came after French foreign minister Nathalie Loiseau and Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar both claimed the UK was yet to put forward a new proposal.

MPs will vote again on Theresa May's Brexit deal next week, with new concessions on the backstop seen as crucial to securing Tory MPs backing for the plan.

As it happened...
The Brexit department's most senior civil servant has announced plans to retire by the end of the month - coinciding with Britain's official EU exit day.

Philip Rycroft, who once said fears about Brexit "keeps me awake at night", is due to step down as permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DexEU) within weeks.

Mr Rycroft, 57, is the latest in a string of senior figures to leave DexEU, and his departure sparked claims from critics that the "chaotic" Brexit department was struggling to cope with the demands of leaving the EU.

His predecessor Olly Robbins moved to the Cabinet Office to lead talks with Brussels, while Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay became the third person in post after both David Davis and Dominic Raab resigned in protest at Theresa May's Brexit plan.

Announcing his departure, cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill said Mr Rycroft had demonstrated "exceptional leadership" and has "a deep understanding of the practical and policy challenges and opportunities of Brexit".

Mr Barclay said: "I would like to thank Philip Rycroft for his excellent leadership of the department, initially as second permanent secretary and subsequently as head of the department since October 2017.

"Under Philip's guidance, the department has been at the heart of the Government's preparations for a smooth and orderly exit from the European Union, and to deliver the mandate of the people."

He will be replaced by Clare Moriarty, the permanent secretary at Defra, who said it was an honour to lead the department at such an important time for the UK.

His departure drew criticism from pro-EU campaigners.

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

Labour MP Jo Stevens, who backs the Peoples Vote campaign, said: The chaotic Brexit department is already on its third secretary of state, and now we learn theyll soon be onto their third permanent secretary as well.

"The department is a reflection of the whole Brexit process  shambolic and doomed to fail.

And Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said: So the only managed departure the Department for Exiting the European Union has been able to strike is for their own permanent secretary.

I wish Philip Rycroft well in his retirement, albeit I am sure the public, like me, would prefer to see the whole Brexit shambles retired instead.

With a change in personnel at this key stage in the Brexit process, questions will be raised. The best assurance Ministers could give is to back the Liberal Democrat campaign to give the people the final say, including the option to stay in the EU.
Theresa May is to make a last ditch plea to the European Union to give ground and allow changes to the proposed Brexit deal that would allow her partys MPs to back it.

The prime minister will give a speech saying that the actions of Brussels negotiators will have a material impact on the outcome of the critical vote next week.

Her intervention comes as her chief negotiator is expected to head back to Brussels on Friday in a bid to secure something which will allow the government to say it has won some kind of alteration.

The mood of cabinet ministers has been grim in recent days as negotiations have failed to create the kind of breakthrough for Ms May to win the support of Tory Eurosceptics and her DUP partners in government for her deal.

Speaking in Grimsby on Friday afternoon, the prime minister will say: Just as MPs will face a big choice next week, the EU has to make a choice too.

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

We are both participants in this process. It is in the European interest for the UK to leave with a deal.

We are working with them but the decisions that the European Union makes over the next few days will have a big impact on the outcome of the vote.

Geoffrey Cox is attempting to win changes to the Irish backstop  an arrangement which, as it stands in the withdrawal agreement, would see the UK potentially trapped in an indefinite customs union if Britain and EU fail to agree a trade deal by the end of 2020.

Conservative backbenchers in the European Research Group of MPs and members of the DUP have said they can only back the withdrawal agreement in a crunch vote on Tuesday if the UK has a legally-binding route to leave the backstop.

If the prime minister has not secured any changes by Sunday night she will go into the vote on Tuesday asking MPs to take a decision on an agreement which is ostensibly the same as the one rejected by 230 votes in January.

But until now EU leaders and officials have refused to consider suggestions to solve the issue put forward by the UK.

Speaking on Thursday morning French Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau said there had been no precise proposals from the UK and that the EU side was still waiting for something workable to be brought forward.

 Former Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni: 'Brexit biggest mistake by a European country since war

A European Commission spokesperson went on the record on Wednesday to say talks so far had been difficult and that no solution was in sight.

Sir Keir Starmer, Labours shadow Brexit secretary, said: Its becoming increasingly clear that Theresa May will not be able to deliver the changes she promised to her failed Brexit deal. This speech looks set to be an admission of failure.

After two years of negotiation, the government is simply incapable of delivering a Brexit deal that protects jobs, the economy and peoples livelihoods.
A raft of senior Irish and Northern Irish politicians have called on Karen Bradley to resign as the UKs Northern Ireland secretary, after she made inflammatory comments about killings by British soldiers during the Troubles.

Ms Bradley apologised on Thursday morning for saying deaths caused by soldiers and police were not crimes, comments she later described as misguided and ill-judged.

Dr James Reilly, a senator and former deputy leader of Leo Varadkars Fine Gael party, said in a sitting on Thursday morning: I too decry and deplore the comments made by Karen Bradley. I fail to see how she can ever regain the confidence of nationalists and families of those who suffered through the Troubles.

Have we forgotten Bloody Sunday? Have we forgotten the Miami [Show]Band? Have we forgotten so many other issues? I think she really does need to consider her position. We did decry in this house the action of a Sinn Fein MP and he stood down  so I think we need the same response here.

Independent senator Frances Black said: The hurt that Karen Bradley caused to families of those killed by state forces during the conflict was disgraceful; for her to say that the massacres of innocent people on Bloody Sunday, Ballymurphy and others was dignified and appropriate is beyond belief, she needs to resign.

Calls for Ms Bradleys resignation also came from Northern Ireland. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: Karen Bradley is publicly interfering with the rule of law. No one has the right to deliberately pressure or intervene with due process. She should resign.

The calls did not only come from nationalists. Mike Nesbitt, a former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party in Northern Ireland said: One way or another I have had dealings with the last 13 secretaries of state for Northern Ireland. Karen Bradley consistently demonstrates she isnt up to the job.

Northern Irelands former police ombudsman Baroness Nuala OLoan said: Those comments show a complete disregard for the operation of the rule of law. Moreover, they also demonstrate a total lack of understanding about Northern Ireland and utter contempt for those who suffered the loss of loved ones.

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

Ms Bradleys comments come at a strained time for relations in Northern Ireland, with the border question dominating Brexit talks and deadlock in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Her comments are not the first to land her in hot water: in September of last year she caused a storm after admitting that when she started the job she did not understand that people who are nationalists dont vote for unionist parties and vice versa.

The secretary of state apologised on Thursday, stating: Yesterday I made comments regarding the actions of soldiers during the Troubles. I want to apologise. I am profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt that my words have caused. The language was wrong and even though this was not my intention, it was deeply insensitive to many of those who lost loved ones.

I know from those families that I have met personally just how raw their pain is and I completely understand why they want to see justice properly delivered. I share that aim and that is why I launched the public consultation on addressing the legacy of the Troubles.

Most infamous of the killings referred to by Karen Bradley was Bloody Sunday in 1972, in which British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians during a civil rights march in Derry, resulting in 14 people being killed. The 1971 Ballymurphy Massacre refers to the killing of 11 civilians in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast by British soldiers.

The Troubles claimed the lives of around 3,500 people on both sides from the 1960s until 1998.
Two white South African farmers have been sentenced to a combined 41 years in prison for killing a black teenager who they had accused of stealing sunflowers.

The sentencing on Wednesday brings a close to the case which had inflamed tensions in a rural town and exposed the nations enduring racial divisions.

During a hearing at the High Court in Mahikeng, Judge Ronald Hendricks described the actions of the farmers as disgraceful and appalling.

The farmers were convicted of throwing the 15-year-old boy off a moving truck in April 2017.

The boy, Matlhomola Mosweu, died after breaking his neck. His death set off riots in the town of Coligny, about 125 miles west of Johannesburg.

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 two farmers  Pieter Doorewaard, 28, and Phillip Schutte, 35  were found guilty of murder, kidnapping and other charges. Doorewaard was sentenced to 18 years in prison, and Schutte to 23 years.

They had claimed that after they caught Matlhomola stealing, they put him on the truck to take him to a police station. But the teenager, they said, then jumped off the vehicle.

Recommended Outrage in South Africa over video of singer being beaten

The judge ruled that the killing had not been planned or premeditated, but had happened on the spur of the moment. He added, The community of Coligny was terrorised by this.

The killing prompted days of rioting and looting in the farming town, especially against white-owned businesses.

As in all of South Africa, one of the worlds most unequal societies, racial tensions had simmered just below the surface in Coligny, where farms and other businesses are still largely owned by whites and other individuals who are not black South Africans.

Most black residents, who depend on white-owned farms for work, live in a nearby township. Matlhomola had lived in a shantytown for newer arrivals, called Scotland informal settlement.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The courtroom was filled with members of the Economic Freedom Fighters, an opposition party that has long pushed for the expropriation of white-owned land without compensation.

Pressure from the party, a spin-off of the governing African National Congress, has compelled the ANC to adopt a similar position under president Cyril Ramaphosa.

The New York Times
When Loice asked the villagers why they had tied a bell around the girls leg, she was told the 12-year-old had just started her period. The ring was a reminder to men in the remote community in South Sudan that the child was ready for marriage.

The womens rights activist turned radio host recalls that haunting memory and countless others she has encountered in her work while speaking to the audience of Peace of Her Mind.

The weekly talk show is South Sudans first female-run radio programme and it tackles some of the toughest and most grim issues women face in the worlds youngest country, including child brides.

Set up last summer, in conjunction with Oxfam International, it airs on South Sudans Eye Radio, which broadcasts across the country.

The radio is changing peoples minds. People are listening to the show and learning, Ms Kiden tells The Independent from her office in Juba, where the show is based.



Most of the women suffering from gender-based violence are located in the remote areas of the country. They dont know they are even allowed to talk, that they can say no. Its hard to get access to the areas but radio can often get there, she adds.

The South Sudanese rights advocate grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda after fleeing South Sudan in 1995 during the countrys 20-year bloody war for independence with the north.

She was inspired by her mother, who fetched water to make money to keep her children fed and clothed. And so on returning to South Sudan in the early 2000s, Ms Kiden dedicated her life to fighting for womens rights, including helping set up the radio show.

Gender-based violence is an increasing problem in South Sudan, which plunged back into civil war in 2013, after gaining independence from the north in 2011.

The UN has said rape was used as a weapon of war in the five-year conflict, which nominally ended in the autumn with a peace deal signed between President Salva Kiir Mayardit and rebels.

Women have been among the most affected by the violence. According to Unicef, 65 per cent of women and girls have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, and approximately 51 per cent have suffered domestic violence.

Meanwhile, poverty, violence and hunger are driving a spike in child marriages as families are increasingly forced to promise their young daughters to grooms in exchange for food and cattle dowries or protection.

Although official statistics are not available, in areas like Nyal, in the north, Oxfam said new data it has gathered showed as much as 71 per cent of all girls were married underage, making it the second highest rate in the world after Niger.

Women are traditionally expected to be the breadwinners, responsible for securing food and water for the family as well as being the chief parent and housekeeper, Ms Kiden explained.

But at the same time, they are rarely given the opportunity to express themselves, are often not permitted to go to school and do not realise what their rights are, she added.

This is at the heart of Peace of her Mind, which does not pull any punches with its subject matter.

So far, they have tackled everything from child marriage and the dangers of early childbirth to domestic violence and rape.

The pilot was first aired last summer and the show started broadcasting every Friday in the autumn. It reaches communities from the south to the north of the country.

Its main host is veteran South Sudanese reporter Hellen Samuel known as Mama Hellen who said it was an important platform for women to learn their basic rights and open a conversation about taboo subjects.

Ms Kiden said the all-female team were surprised when at the launch of the show most of the callers were men.

I had one male caller defending child marriage. He was saying that by the time a woman was 20 she was too old and no one would marry her, Ms Kiden explains.

Loice Kiden is a host on South Sudans new Peace of Her Mind show tackling issues women face in the war-ravaged country (Oxfam International ) (Oxfam International)

I always lead by example and so used myself as one, she adds.

Ms Kiden told the man she was 30, unmarried, and armed with a university degree that allowed her to secure a decent living to properly support her family. She said she was not worried about finding a husband.

I said that letting a girl be educated would be double the profit, she jokes: This lady would be able to buy him many more cows through working.

Another male caller argued child marriage was important as it helped South Sudan increase its population.

I told them there are a lot of cases of women dying in childbirth because their bodies were not prepared to give birth, she recalls.

Slowly the team have noticed a change in attitudes of those calling into the show.

Rhea Catada, who works for Oxfam in South Sudan, says that radio is an important medium in South Sudan, where literacy rates are very low.

According to the UNs latest statistics, 80 per cent of women in South Sudan cannot read or write, while 70 per cent of men are illiterate.

Radio is very influential, and the show is sparking important debates, she tells The Independent.

Its also important that this show is independent, she adds.



In the studio there is a sign reminding radios hosts not to play the political anthems of either the regime or the opposition. The team are not affiliated with any political group.

Radio is very influential, and the show is sparking important debates Rhea Catada, Oxfam

Ms Kiden says the show, giving women a voice, came at a crucial time.

The government promised in the peace deal to ensure that 35 per cent of the countrys executive positions were filled by women  but that has yet to happen.

Women are behind everything in South Sudan and are the most affected by the conflict, Ms Kiden says.

It is important for their voice to be heard so that lawmakers, officials, leaders can know the full impact of the conflict on our country and so how to put it back together again.
An Alabama judge has recognised the legal rights of an aborted foetus, allowing a man whose girlfriend ended her pregnancy at six weeks to sue the manufacturer of the pill she used and the clinic that gave it to her.

The decree, issued by Madison County probate judge Frank Barger, explicitly states that Baby Roe is a person and allows plaintiff Ryan Magers to name the foetus as a co-plaintiff in the suit for wrongful death.

Mr Magers, 19, said in court filings that when his girlfriend discovered she was pregnant in early 2017, he repeatedly pleaded with her to carry the pregnancy to term and give birth, but she wanted to have an abortion. His lawyers say that the case is the first of its kind in the US.

Its the first time in the country that an aborted foetus has been recognised as having legal rights, Mr Magers attorney Brent Helms told Alabama local news outlet WHNT 19.

Abortion-rights groups expressed alarm, saying Judge Bargers decision sets a dangerous precedent.

Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Show all 23 1 /23 Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists hold placards outside of the US Supreme Court ahead of an expected ruling on abortion clinic restrictions on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions An abortion rights activist holds placards outside of the US Supreme Court before the Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. The US Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Texas law placing a raft of restrictions on abortion clinics, handing a major victory to the "pro-choice" camp in the country's most important ruling on the divisive issue in a generation. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 27: Pro-life activists pray on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 27: Texas abortion provider Amy Hagstrom-Miller looks on as Nancy Northup, President of The Center for Reproductive Rights speaks to the media outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions An abortion rights activist holds placards outside of the US Supreme Court before the Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. The US Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Texas law placing a raft of restrictions on abortion clinics, handing a major victory to the "pro-choice" camp in the country's most important ruling on the divisive issue in a generation. Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Texas abortion provider Amy Hagstrom-Miller wipes a tear as she walks down the steps of the United States Supreme Court with Nancy Northup, President of The Center for Reproductive Rights on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 27: Abortion rights activists Morgan Hopkins of Boston, left, and Alison Turkos of New York City, celebrate on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 27: Abortion rights activists Morgan Hopkins of Boston, left, and Alison Turkos of New York City, celebrate on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images) Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activist Morgan Hopkins of Boston, celebrates on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists embrace after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists hold placards outside of the US Supreme Court ahead of a ruling on abortion clinic restrictions on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. / AFP / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. / AFP / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists embrace after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Pro-choice activist, Alissa Manzoeillo, of Washington, D.C. waits for rulings in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. A ruling is expected in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, a Texas case the places restrictions on abortion clinics, as well as rulings in the former Virginia Governor's corruption case and a gun rights case. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists hold placards outside of the US Supreme Court ahead of an expected ruling on abortion clinic restrictions on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists hold placards outside of the US Supreme Court ahead of an expected ruling on abortion clinic restrictions on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. AFP/Getty Images

It comes at a time when the idea of foetal rights  which recognises embryos and foetuses as separate from the women who carry them  is gaining currency in legislatures, courts and law enforcement agencies.

In one New Jersey case, a mother lost custody of her child when she had a vaginal birth instead of the C-section her doctors insisted was necessary.

In others, pregnant women who drank or took drugs  either illegal or prescribed  and then had miscarriages were accused of child abuse.

And dozens of states have passed foetal homicide laws that treat the unborn as a separate entity from the woman carrying them.

Ilyse Hogue, president of Naral Pro-Choice America, tweeted on Tuesday that the Alabama lawsuit is a very scary case. It asserts that a womans rights are third in line after the rights of a man who impregnates her and the foetus she aborts, she said.

It has the potential to be used in other states, and its part of abortion opponents being emboldened ... and conservatives turning over every rock to see how they can ban abortion, said Elizabeth Nash, who studies state legislation at the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights.

Recommended US states sue Trump administration to block new abortion obstacles

Legal experts say the case highlights the high stakes for abortion if a new conservative majority on the US Supreme Court should strike down Roe v Wade.

University of San Diego law professor Dov Fox said the high court has been clear that foetuses are not people and that a womans views on abortion trump her partners because she is the one to carry and deliver the baby.

But if foetuses are recognised as having rights equal to the women carrying them, it would open up tough legal and ethical questions.

The implications would revolutionise our ability to use reproductive technologies, to access contraception  and potentially impose all kinds of restrictions on lives and freedoms of pregnant women, Mr Fox said.

Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at New York University, Langone, said the cases are chipping away at the framework that allows abortion, by trying to protect foetal life and drawing a moral equivalency between a foetus and newborn.

However, he said, biological development matters in terms of how we treat an embryo or a foetus legally and morally, which is why even many Americans who support abortion rights feel uncomfortable with the idea of third-trimester abortions.

Mr Magers case names the Alabama Womens Centre for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville and an unknown pharmaceutical company that makes and distributes a pill designed to kill unborn children as defendants.

Hannah Ford, a spokesperson for Personhood Alabama, an anti-abortion group that has been assisting in the suit, said in a statement that Baby Roe was cruelly robbed of life and silenced before entering the world or being able to personally voice complaint in court.

Dalton Johnson, owner and administrator of the Alabama Womens Centre, said he felt like this kind of case was unprecedented, and we are assembling our legal team.

The father of the woman in the lawsuit  who asked that his and his daughters names not be used, to protect their privacy  said his family is really distraught. He said his daughter was 16 and a high school senior, and Mr Magers was 19 and unemployed when they discovered that she was pregnant.

We had a long discussion over what she was going to do when she got pregnant. And we said we would support her either way, he said, adding: They werent married, and I felt, legally, it was her right to make that decision.

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

He said his daughter and Mr Magers are no longer together.

The lawsuit is part of a series of efforts by anti-abortion activists to elevate the moral and legal status, or personhood, of a foetus, embryo or even a fertilised egg, to that of a person.

Last year, voters in Alabama  one of the most conservative states in the country when it comes to abortion  passed an amendment to the states constitution that recognises the rights of the unborn with a 59 per cent yes vote.

Gualberto Garcia Jones, president of the Washington-based Personhood Alliance, said on Wednesday that he is very hopeful that Alabama will continue to lead the country in standing up for the rights of the pre-born.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

In addition to Alabama, Kansas and Missouri have personhood language on the books, and Louisiana passed a 1986 law that gives embryos the status of a juridical person. But many other efforts have been unsuccessful.

A 2011 legal challenge to embryonic stem-cell research based on the personhood argument was dismissed when a judge demanded more information about the identity of the individual embryo.

And a highly publicised dispute involving actress Sofia Vergara and her ex-fiance Nick Loeb over their two frozen embryos  stored in California  has continued for years in Louisiana without resolution. (Mr Loeb wants to use them and has named them Emma and Isabella and set up a trust fund for them, while Ms Vergara does not want to use them.)

Adrienne Kimmell, the Naral Pro-Choice America vice president, called such efforts chilling to womens rights.

It represents the real-life consequences of anti-choice personhood policies, she said, which, by design, seek to demote the fundamental rights of women, and are a stepping stone in the anti-choice movements ultimate goal of criminalising abortion and punishing women.

Washington Post
US federal wildlife officials are proposing to strip endangered species protections from the grey wolf populations in 48 states, citing significant increases in their numbers.

The decision, announced on Wednesday by David Bernhardt, the acting secretary of the Interior Department, is likely to set off another round of court battles.

Conservationists and biologists contend that some areas of the country, like the Adirondacks in New York and the southern Rocky Mountains, could be suitable habitats. But wolf populations in those regions are vulnerable and still need protection to recover.

The grey wolf populations had dwindled to about 1,000 in the Lower 48 states when they received protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. But since their reintroduction to various regions, mostly in the West, the wolves numbers have rebounded to about 5,000.

In a statement, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said: Recovery of the grey wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is one of our nations great conservation successes, with the wolf joining other cherished species, such as the bald eagle, that have been brought back from the brink with the help of the ESA.

Travel By Numbers: US national parks Show all 4 1 /4 Travel By Numbers: US national parks Travel By Numbers: US national parks 354672.bin AFP/Getty Images Travel By Numbers: US national parks 354677.bin AP Travel By Numbers: US national parks 354678.bin AP Travel By Numbers: US national parks 354679.bin RexFeatures

Mr Bernhardt made the de-listing proposal public on Wednesday in a speech to the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Denver, but it is not yet official.

The proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register, with a period of time made available for public comment.

The Obama administration had also proposed removing the wolves endangered status in 2013, but federal courts rejected the move.

Even before Mr Bernhardt was named as acting secretary of the Interior Department, administration officials and Republicans in Congress had begun efforts to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

Recommended A starving wolf stalked a woman and her dog for 12 hours

And Bernhardt has come under fire for potential conflicts in a debate over protections for the smelt, a tiny fish at the centre of one of the latest rounds of Californias water wars.

Once considered only a pest, wolves were extirpated from nearly all of their range through a campaign of bounty hunting, trapping, the killing of pups in the den with dynamite and even biological warfare as trappers introduced mange into wolf populations.

When the wolves received protection, much of the population was limited to northern Minnesota. In the mid-1990s, they were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho, where their numbers have taken off.

They have spread into neighbouring states, including Utah, Oregon, Washington and California.

As their numbers grew, ranchers have had to contend with wolves appetite for cattle and sheep.

And while hunters contend that wolves have decimated elk and other game in certain regions, conservationists point to the benefits that the predators provide: keeping deer, elk and other species in check and therefore reducing their effect on vegetation.

The National Cattlemens Beef Association applauded the plan for de-listing, and said it should have happened sooner.

In a joint statement, Jennifer Houston, president of the group, and Bob Skinner, president of the Public Lands Council, contended that the Endangered Species Act rarely functions as Congress intended.

Radical environmental activists use an endless cycle of lawsuits and procedural tricks, to thwart de-listing, they said.

The animals are prolific breeders and while they are hunted and trapped, they are managed by state wildlife agencies that limit how many can be killed.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Losing the endangered status protection concerns conservationists, who worry that new populations wont become established in areas where the wolf is present but not yet stable.

Stripping protections from wolves now would halt further recovery from places where wolves once lived and could live again, said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director for the Centre for Biological Diversity.

Without protections in the Adirondacks or Maine or the southern Rockies we dont have any hope of recovery.

New York Times
A manhunt is underway in Illinois to capture a man who allegedly shot and killed a deputy with a US Marshall task force at an extended stay hotel.

Following the shooting, the Rockford Police Department warned residents to stay away from the area, where Rockford Police Lt Andre Brass said a shooting occurred after a team of officers arrived to serve up a warrant.

The suspect has been identified as 45-year-old Floyd Brown.

Employees of nearby businesses told an ABC News affiliate in Chicago that they saw between 50 and 60 officers swarm the hotel, and a series of loud bangs.

Rockford is about 90 miles northwest of Chicago.

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

Representative Adam Kinzinger, who represents the congressional district that includes Rockford, said in a statement that his office is watching the situation.

"My office and I continue to monitor the active shooter situation in Rockford, as we pray for the safety of our community," Mr Kinzinger tweeted
Justin Trudeau promised during a press conference on Thursday to take many lessons from a scandal that has caused two of his cabinet ministers and a longtime senior aide to step down, but refused to apologise for the situation.

The Canadian prime minister described the controversy plaguing his office as an erosion of trust after the Globe and Mail newspaper reported last month that his staff put pressure on his ex-attorney general and justice minister to try to avoid a criminal prosecution of the Montreal-based engineering company SNC-Lavalin.

The iconic firm  based in the prime ministers own district  has faced allegations of bribes for government contracts in Libya.

Critics have said Mr Trudeaus alleged intervention would be improper political meddling in a case.

There was no inappropriate pressure, Mr Trudeau said. Im obviously reflecting on lessons learned in this.

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

Each of these interactions was a conversation among colleagues about how to tackle a challenging issue, he said about his discussions with Jody Wilson-Raybould, his former attorney general.

However, I now understand that she saw it differently.

Recommended The political scandal threatening to bring down Justin Trudeau

Gerald Butts, Mr Trudeaus top aide and close friend, resigned last week and denied that he or anyone in the prime ministers office pressured Ms Wilson-Raybould.

Mr Trudeau has also said his job is to stand up for workers' jobs. If convicted criminally, SNC-Lavalin would be banned from receiving any federal government business for a decade.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The company is a major employer in Quebec, with about 3,400 employees in the province, 9,000 employees in Canada and more than 50,000 worldwide.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen struggled to answer questions from House Democrats about her role in implementing the Trump administrations strict immigration policy and the subsequent family separation during her first hearing.

At one point during Wednesdays testimony, Ms Nielsen denied that migrant children separated from their families at the border were held in cages.

Sir, they are not cages, they are areas of the border facility that are carved out for the safety and protection of those who remain there while theyre being processed, she responded during a tense exchange with House Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson.

The DHS Secretarys understanding of the situation was later questioned by Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, who asked Ms Nielsen to elaborate on the facilities where children were held - and whether they differed from where dogs are kept.

Ms Nielsen appeared unable to differentiate between the Customs and Border Protection facilities and dog cages, telling Ms Watson Coleman: Its larger, it has facilities, it provides room to sit, to stand, to lay down.

The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Show all 15 1 /15 The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Texas and Mexico are connected by entry points like these. US Border Patrol in Laredo, Texas conducts daily patrols throughout the Rio Grande, snaking between the US and Mexico, where it searches for migrants and drug traffickers. The legal entry point to Mexico can be seen above the riverines frequently used by cartels to funnel narcotics into the US. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol US Customs and Border Protection oversees its side of the entry point. US Customs and Border Protection officers oversee the processing of nearly two million trucks and three million pedestrians annually at the Laredo sector, which also processes the majority of trade between the US and Mexico. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The Rio Grande snakes between Mexico and the United States. The US and Mexico have bordering coastlines in Laredo Texas, where the Rio Grande's occasionally rough currents splash onto both nations' shores. For migrants attempting to enter into either country, the swim is much more dangerous than it appears. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Drug traffickers and migrants use "highways" to cross the border. US Border Patrol agents call worn pathways like these "highways," as they are frequently used by drug traffickers and migrants entering into the US. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The journey is still far from over. If they're able to make it onto land, many obstacles still remain for migrants and drug traffickers. US Border Patrol agents are equipped with high-tech security, K-9 units and aerial camera footage surveilling 40 miles of borderlands. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Border Patrol uses classic methods and high-tech to surveil the border. A control room at the Laredo sector headquarters is fully-manned 24/7 with a team of local employees who alert agents on the ground of border crossings in real-time. Their cameras live-stream 40 miles of the 170 mile territory the sector covers. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The US provides trusted traveler programs on both its southern and northern borders. Officers lead the way to Sentri offices, which runs a trusted traveller program from US and Mexican local residents who regularly cross the border for work or leisure purposes. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The pathway to freedom. Once travellers are processed, they walk up this ramp towards the US. Many Mexicans cross the border each day with collapsable shopping carts to buy goods while visiting the country. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol But first, the wait. A dog waits for their owner to go through processing with US Customs and Border Patrol. On a good day, processing can take under an hour. On a bad day, well, there's just no telling how long one might be stuck inside the Laredo sector field offices. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The first lady of CBP. Inside the Laredo field offices, US Border Patrol agents keep a framed photo of Christine Davis, the first female agent to join the federal agency in 1975. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol "The hall of fame." US Border Patrol also honors those who have served in the agency for over thirty years. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Officers inspect a vehicle in secondary processing. Outside, officers are conducting secondary inspection on a vehicle that's been pulled aside for further investigating. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The waiting room for detained migrants. A US Customs and Border Protection officer shows the inside of a holding room where people requiring further questioning go through secondary processing. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol A man and his daughter go through processing. US Customs and Border Protection also regularly provides humanitarian visas and other temporary permissions for people with valid reasons seeking entry to the US. Here, a father and his daughter await to see whether they will be provided one of those visas. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Laredo processes over three million pedestrians annually. Thousands of legal asylum seekers, migrants and refugees seek entry to the US through the southern border annually, where they go through processing at offices like this after arriving at a legal port of entry. For many, the trip can take days, if not weeks or even months. Chris Riotta

The response prompted Ms Watson Coleman to reply: So did my dogs cage.

Despite the practice of separating families at the border ending with an executive order by the president, Ms Nielsen told the committee the crisis at the border is not manufactured.

This is truly an emergency, she said.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Following the hearing, Senator Jeff Merkley disagreed with Ms Nielsens insistence that children were not held in cages.

I saw them with my own eyes. Theyre cages. With children in them, he wrote on Twitter.
A former Baltimore police sergeant has been accused of planting a BB gun on a suspect after another officer intentionally ran him over, prosecutors said.

The charges also led the Baltimore Police Department to suspend three current officers pending an internal investigation, the departments acting commissioner, Michael Harrison, said.

A fourth officer listed in the indictment who had already been suspended will also be investigated.

Mr Harrison called the allegations against Keith Gladstone and the other officers beyond disturbing.

The charges and suspensions are the latest scandal to shake the citys Police Department following the death of Freddie Gray, a scathing Justice Department investigation and one of the highest murder rates in the US.

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 sergeant who ran over the suspect in 2014, as well as six other officers in the departments hard-charging Gun Trace Task Force, were charged with racketeering in 2017 in a high-profile case.

The sergeant accused of planting the BB gun, Keith A Gladstone, has pleaded not guilty to all three counts of the indictment, his lawyer said.

Gladstone, 51, was released from custody without bail, the lawyer said.

In the indictment, which was announced by the US attorneys office for the District of Maryland, prosecutors said Gladstone also told an officer to lie about the 2014 episode if questioned by federal investigators. Several officers were involved or witnessed the events, it claimed.

The lawyer for Gladstone, David B Irwin, said he was still reviewing the charges and had no immediate comment.

If convicted, Gladstone would face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the conspiracy to violate civil rights; a maximum of five years in prison for conspiracy to commit offences against the US and a maximum of 20 years in prison for witness tampering.

Prosecuting criminals who work in police agencies is essential both to protect our communities and to support the many honourable officers whose reputations they unfairly tarnish, Robert K Hur, the US attorney for Maryland, said in a statement. This is not about policing, it is about a criminal conspiracy.

Attempts to reach Mike Davey, a lawyer for the police union, were not immediately successful.

But he told the Baltimore Sun that the union was confident that the suspended officers had very little if any knowledge of any wrongdoing on behalf of Sergeant Gladstone.

According to the indictment, Gladstone was at dinner with another officer on 26 March 2014, when he received a cellphone call from another police sergeant referred to as WJ.

The sergeant had just deliberately run over a suspect referred to in the indictment as DS, the court documents said.

In response, Gladstone retrieved a BB gun from the trunk of his police car and drove with the officer he had been having dinner with to the scene, prosecutors said.

Once there, Gladstone dropped the gun next to a pickup truck near where the suspect was lying injured on the ground, the indictment said.

Gladstone then told the sergeant, WJ, that the gun was near the truck and instructed the sergeant to have another officer search it, the indictment said. Gladstone then left the scene with the officer he came with, it added.

The sergeant referred to as W then told another officer to move the BB gun under the truck, closer to the victim, prosecutors said.

It was eventually recovered by the Baltimore Police Departments crime lab unit and the suspect was subsequently charged with possession, use, and discharge of a gas or pellet gun  as well as a number of drug offences  based on a false statement of probable cause written by WJ in another officers name, the indictment said.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The suspect was detained on those charges for about a week; the charges were dismissed about eight months later.

According to the indictment unsealed this week, Gladstone  who retired about two months after the task force members were charged  told the officer with whom he had been having dinner that if the officer was questioned by federal law enforcement officials about the 2014 episode, the officer should lie and tell them that they had been deployed there to provide scene security.

This year, Baltimores mayor tapped Harrison to become the citys fifth police chief in four years, and asked him to try to solve the many problems that chased most of the others from the job. Among the tasks was building trust among residents who widely view the department as racist, corrupt and indifferent.

In a statement about the indictment of Gladstone, he said the allegations speak to a culture that I am here to change.

The New York Times
More than 150,000 people signed an online petition to save the lives of two husky dogs bit a four-year-old boy in Utah causing doctors to amputate his arm.

The incident took place on Sunday when the boy was playing in the backyard of his family home in Layton and reached through the fence and into the neighbours' backyard where the two dogsPolar and Bearwere, law enforcement said.

Jason Cook, the Battalion chief at Layton Fire Department, told NBC News that the child wore a sock on his arm when one of the dogs bit him so hard it ripped off a part of his limb.

The boy, while in stable condition, was subsequently airlifted to a hospital and underwent surgery to amputate his arm. Mr Cook said he never been a part of a call like that throughout his 29-year career in the fire department.

The dogs are currently quarantined in Davis County Animal Control as law enforcement investigates the incident.

Hounded out: Why dogs are struggling to fit into modern life Show all 4 1 /4 Hounded out: Why dogs are struggling to fit into modern life Hounded out: Why dogs are struggling to fit into modern life 620910.bin Dan Burn-Forti Hounded out: Why dogs are struggling to fit into modern life 620911.bin Dan Burn-Forti Hounded out: Why dogs are struggling to fit into modern life 620914.bin Dan Burn-Forti Hounded out: Why dogs are struggling to fit into modern life 620913.bin Dan Burn-Forti

Davis County Animal Control Director Rhett Nicks believes it is likely for the dogs to be euthanised based on the severity of the boys injury.

We are doing a dangerous dog investigation, which could range from nothing being done up to euthanasia, Mr Nicks told an NBC affiliate.

Animal lovers are fighting back. Jessica Nusz, a best friend of Polar and Bears owner, created a Care2 petition to spare the dogs life who were involved in an unfortunate accident.

She said the dog thought it was playing with a toy, bit down too hard and didnt see that there was a child on the other side of the fence.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

This situation is unfortunate on both sides, the petition reads. And now both dogs are in quarantine at Davis county animal control. There are fears that Bear might be put down and he doesnt deserve to be put down for this freak accident.

More than 160,000 people signed the petition as of Thursday morning.

It is uncertain when Davis County Animal Control will decide the fate of the huskies.
Tim Cook responded with humour after Donald Trump incorrectly referred to the Apple CEO as Tim Apple.

Rather than acknowledging the error in person during a White House meeting Wednesday, the tech billionaire decided to change his Twitter name instead - to Tim Apple.

Cook made the revision using the Apple logo after numerous requests from people on social media, who found the presidents misidentification amusing.

PLEASE change your Twitter name to Tim Apple. That is all, one person tweeted at Cook following the presidents gaffe.

Another said: Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, seriously should change his name to Tim Apple! Its catchy.

11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Show all 11 1 /11 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Turn on Night Mode Twitters dark blue Night Mode is a lot easier on your eyes than its regular, vibrant theme. On the site, you can enable it by clicking your profile photo (on the right-hand side of the bar at the top of the screen) and selecting Night Mode. On Android and iOS, you need to tap your profile picture at the top of the screen and select Night Mode. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Lengthen your tweets A small group of users are no longer restricted by Twitters 140-character tweet limit. Even if youre not a chosen one, you can double your limit to 280 characters on desktop by downloading the Tampermonkey plugin, going to https://gist.github.com/Prof9/c16fc4997e0ef5b22a15c43edd7f5f49, clicking Raw and then Install. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Improve search Twitters regular search tool can be a little messy, but Advanced Search makes it much easier for you to find specific things. Go to https://twitter.com/search-advanced and filter your search by word, hashtag, exact phrase, location, date and account. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Disable read receipts Like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Twitters direct messaging service shows you when your messages have been seen by the person you sent them to. You can disable read receipts though. On Android, iOS and the site, go to Settings and Privacy, click on Privacy and Safety and disable read receipts. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Monitor your tweets Retweets and Likes only form part of the story, as far as tweet engagement is concerned. You can view a lot more information about how people have reacted to your updates, including the number of times theyve been seen and the number of times people have interacted with them. Just open your tweets and hit the View Tweet Activity button. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Trim the fat If you feel like youre drowning in push notifications, you can cut down the number you receive from Twitter by going to Settings, Notifications, Push Notifications and deselecting the types of notifications you wouldnt like to receive. You can also enable sleep settings, which allow you to switch off all mobile updates during certain hours of the day. On the site, go to Settings, Mobile and select your hours. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Save data You can stop videos from playing automatically on desktop and the Twitter app. On the site, you can do this by going to Settings, Account, Video Tweets and unchecking Video Autoplay. On both the Android and iOS versions of the app, go to Settings, General, Data Usage, Video Autoplay, and choose between Mobile data & Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Only, and Never. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Save even more data You can save even more data and completely transform your timeline in the process by disabling images. Just go to Settings, Data Usage and uncheck the Image Previews box. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Customise your profile Editing your Twitter profile is really straightforward, just go to your profile and click the large Edit Profile button. However, theres one customisation option thats easy to miss. As well as your name, bio and profile photos, you can change your colour scheme. The option is only available on the Twitter site, and is sandwiched between the Website and Birthday sections. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Browse properly One of the Twitter apps most annoying features is its in-app browser, which links automatically open up in. You can sacrifice it for your favourite mobile browser by going to Settings, Display and Sound and unchecking the Use In-App Browser box. 11 useful Twitter features you might not know about Subscribe to tweets You can set up alerts that let you know whenever a certain account tweets, but its a two-stage process. First, on the app, go to Settings, Notifications, Push Notifications, Tweets and turn the toggle button on. Then open the profile page of the account you want to receive notifications from, tap the Bell icon next to the Following button and choose between All Tweets, Only Live Video and Off.

Cooks decision to amend his Twitter handle was met with joy, with one person writing: This is my favourite news story today.

Tim Cook changes his name to Tim Apple on Twitter (Twitter)

President Trump made the error during a meeting with the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

While he has not addressed the incident, the presidents daughter Ivanka Trump did so on Twitter with a response of laughing emojis to a tweet from The Daily Show referencing the mistake.
The Democratic Party has announced it will block Fox News from hosting its candidates political debates ahead of the US presidential election, citing concerns about the broadcasters ties to Donald Trump.

Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Tom Perez said a recent New Yorker expose on the inappropriate relationship between the president and the right-wing network had cast doubt on its ability to host fair and neutral political coverage.

Therefore, Fox News will not serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates, he added.

Mr Trump responded with an angry tweet indicating he may boycott certain debates.

Democrats just blocked Fox News from holding a debate, he wrote. Good, then I think Ill do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!

Criminals who worked for Trump Show all 5 1 /5 Criminals who worked for Trump Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Cohen Former lawyer for Donald Trump was sentenced to three years in prison on counts involving evading income tax, false disclosure of the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and another hush money charge Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Paul Manafort Former campaign manager for Trump Manafort was found guilty in February 2018 of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The crimes occurred prior to his appointment in Trump's campaign Getty Criminals who worked for Trump George Papadopoulos Former Trump campaign adviser Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in October 2017. He had lied about making contact with a professor who claimed that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton. He was sentenced to 14 days in jail Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Flynn Former White House National Security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017. He had lied about conversations that he had with the Russian ambassador to the US during Trump's Presidential campaign. He was not given prison time due to his "significant assistance" to the Mueller investigation Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Rick Gates Deputy chairman of Trump's presidential campaign Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in February 2018 AFP/Getty

Fox News said it hoped Democrats would reconsider its decision.

The New Yorker report, published on Monday, claimed that Fox News knew about Mr Trumps alleged affair with pornographic film actor Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election, but killed the story because the broadcasters owner Rupert Murdoch wanted him to win.

The article, by veteran journalist Jane Mayer, also cited unnamed sources who claimed Mr Trump was fed questions ahead of a Fox-sponsored debate in 2015  a charge the network strongly denied.

An expert in presidential studies quoted in the story described Fox News as the "closest we've come to having state TV".

Fox is the Americas most-watched cable TV network, with many of its viewers avid fans of Mr Trump.

US presidential debates are usually broadcast by networks who secure exclusive rights.

 Trump touts 'disaster' as a way to make America great again in 2014 Fox News interview

Fox was among the broadcasters who pitched to host one of the 12 Democratic primaries currently scheduled.

Bill Sammon, senior vice-president and managing editor of Fox's Washington bureau, said he hoped the party would reconsider the ban and allow a debate moderated by its hosts Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

"They're the best debate team in the business and they offer candidates an important opportunity to make their case to the largest TV news audience in America, which includes many persuadable voters," he added.
In Michael Cohens testimony to members of Congress in 2019, one name came up more than 20 times.

When asked by House Democrats who else would have access to business or financial records that could implicate Donald Trump in a range of investigations, from his campaigns connections to Russia to hush money payments involving an adult film star, his former attorney listed the names of several Trump insiders  starting with Allen Weisselberg.

The man at the centre of investigations and criminal charges involving Mr Trumps business, other than the former president whose name is emblazoned in gold on its Manhattan headquarters, is a press-averse accountant who has presided over the companys finances for decades.

Mr Weisselberg, the Trump Organizations longtime chief financial officer, was criminally charged on 1 July 2021 following a years-long probe from the Manhattan District Attorneys office and a parallel investigation from the New York State Attorney General into allegations of tax evasion and fraud.

He has pleaded not guilty to 15 counts, including conspiracy, grand larceny and tax fraud.

Prosecutors allege Mr Wesselberg was connected to a 15-year scheme, including evading taxes on $1.7m of income.

Since 2017, the company has been held under a trust controlled by the former president and his adult sons  along with Mr Weisselberg, the only person not named Trump to oversee the companys accounting.

But Mr Weisselbergs name also appears on other company cheques and documents going back decades, and he would be familiar with its tax returns, its lenders and investors, and is said to track every penny going in and out of the company, according to The Associated Press.

Given his institutional knowledge, the potential testimony and evidence from one of the Trump familys longest-serving confidants in its sprawling empire could expose the former president in a potential criminal case.

Mr Weisselbergs attorney Mary Mulligan declined to provide comment to The Independent.

Now 73 years old, Mr Weisselberg first started working with the Trump family in the 1970s, when he worked under Fred Trump, the former presidents father  long before his sons legacy of real estate fortunes and failures, bankruptcies, and reality TV ascendance; Mr Weisselberg even appeared briefly as a guest judge on a 2004 episode of NBCs The Apprentice.

The Weisselberg family also has grown into the Trumps  his son Barry Weisselberg has managed the Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park, and another son, Jack, is an executive director at Ladder Capital, one of the biggest lenders to the Trump Organization, along with Deutsche Bank.

Jennifer Weisselberg, who was married to Mr Weisselbergs son, Barry, for 14 years, has cooperated with the latest investigations and suggested that prosecutors have sought to flip the CFO.

Mr Weisselberg also spoke to federal prosecutors as part of the investigation in which Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, after buying the silence of two women who claimed to have had affairs with Mr Trump, including Stormy Daniels and Playboy centrefold Karen McDougal.

Mr Weisselberg was not charged in that case, but Cohen connected him to the $130,000 payment to Ms Daniels.

He received limited immunity in the grand jury probe, which would preclude any truthful statements from being used against him in a criminal case.

In February, the office of Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance obtained years of the former presidents financial documents after a protracted legal battle that reached the US Supreme Court.

The office has not publicly revealed the scope of potential allegations, but court filings in 2020 revealed that his office argued that previously reported allegations of tax and insurance fraud justified a grand jury probe into the former president and his company.

In documents filed in the US Circuit Court of Appeals, prosecutors argued that mountainous allegations against the president  including misstatements about his business properties to insurers, potential lenders and the government  could establish crimes including tax and insurance fraud and falsification of business records, among others.

The nations high court rejected arguments from the former president and his legal team that he retained an executive immunity from complying with subpoenas, while swatting away the investigation as a fishing expedition or part of a partisan witch hunt.

The Trump Organizations legal team anticipates charges related to alleged failures to pay taxes on fringe benefits and corporate perks, including cash, cars and property given to employees; its unclear who received those benefits and what the total amounts to.

In a statement following reports of imminent criminal charges involving his company, Mr Trump said that his dealings are standard practice throughout the US business community, and in no way a crime.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7)  The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Thursday reminded the government that inmates are entitled to visitation privileges according to international standards.

The independent constitutional body's reminder follows the Bureau of Corrections's (BuCor)'s suspension of the visitation privileges of all prisoners nationwide. The BuCor's move was in the wake of the suspected drug-dealing by an inmate at the New Bilibid Prison, the country's national penitentiary.

In a statement, the CHR said that although a conviction is expected to limit a person's liberty in prison, guiding principles should be followed, such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

"The said standards include prohibiting punishments that may be prejudicial to the physical and mental health of a prisoner," the CHR said. "It was also determined that supervised visitations and contact with the outside world, by correspondence and regular visits, as well as exercise and sports, are part of the minimum standards."

It stressed that the goal of prisons should be to reform and hold the inmates accountable for their offenses while still upholding their dignity.

It proposed implementing measures to strengthen the BuCor  an agency under the Justice Department which supervises the country's prisons and penal system  to prevent drug transactions from behind bars.

The commission also urged the government to stop imposing such "blanket punishment" and instead "take a look at improving jail management-from their processes to personnel-to ensure that no unlawful act happen within the prison systems."

BuCor chief Nicanor Faeldon hit back at the CHR for its statement, saying its representatives should instead visit prisons and penal farms to check on prisoners' welfare themselves.

"They have to go here and ask the prisoners, the PDLs (Persons Deprived of Liberty) kung inaapi namin sila bago sila magsasalita ng kung ano ano," Faeldon told reporters on Thursday.

"They are also part of this government. Hindi yung ngawngaw lang sila nang ngawngaw. They know that the government has priorities. They're always for the best," he added.

Malacanang, meanwhile, supported Faeldon's order to suspend all prisoners' visitation privileges.

"Eh kung temporary lang naman edi siguro (If that's just temporary then) that's a measure undertaken by authorities to prevent the proliferation of illegal drugs," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a press briefing.

When asked if the measure violates any right of the inmates, Panelo said, "if it's a privilege, you can lift a privilege. It's not a right."

Rustico Ygot, an inmate of Bilibid, is now in a preventive cell after being linked to the P190-million shabu that was recovered from twin drug operations in Cebu province on March 3. He supposedly had Internet access enabling him to facilitate drug transactions from Bilibid.
The stepsister of Anne Frank will be meeting with teens who were photographed making Nazi salutes and posing alongside a swastika made of red plastic cups this week.

Eva Schloss, who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp, is scheduled to meet with the high school students on Thursday. The anti-semitic photos from the party were originally posted on Snapchat with the caption master race and German rage cage.

Other comments made during a Snapchat conversation among the teenage party goers include Yaaa no, phone gonna die. Just like the Jews.

The teens who attended the party on Saturday, March 2 were students who attended high schools at Newport Harbor, Costa Mesa, and Estancia, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District said it is investigating the photos and interviewed more than two dozen students as of yet.

Remembering the Holocaust Show all 16 1 /16 Remembering the Holocaust Remembering the Holocaust 119165.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119169.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119229.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119167.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119162.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119166.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119163.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119224.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119168.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119228.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119152.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119226.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119150.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119151.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119147.bin Hannah Bills Remembering the Holocaust 119231.bin Hannah Bills

While these actions did not occur on any school campus or school function, we condemn all acts of anti-Semitism and hate in all their forms, Fred Navarro, superintendent of Newport-Mesa, said in a statement.

In response to the backlash from the viral photos, several students involved wrote apologies condemning their own behaviour as disgusting, appalling, and irresponsible.

Recommended Antisemitic carnival float had Jewish puppets grinning amid money

Ms Schloss is optimistic about meeting the students. She believes the meeting could become a learning experience for the teens. According to a statement from the Chabad Centre for Jewish Life, the 89-year-old Holocaust survivor said, the students could become advocates of tolerance and understanding despite their inappropriate actions.

The Austrian-born memoirist was captured by the Nazis when she was 15-years-old after spending two years hiding in the Netherlands.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

"Its imperative that todays young people come face to face with the consequences of unchecked hatred," Rabbi Reuven Mintz, the centres director, said in a statement.

"Our hope is that meeting someone who witnessed firsthand the atrocities committed under that same swastika and salute will help guide these students towards a life of tolerance and acceptance, spreading a message of inclusion and love, rather than one of hatred.
The House of Representatives oversight committee has demanded a trove of documents from Georgias governor and secretary of state after launching a probe into voter suppression issues reported during the 2018 midterm elections.

The committee alerted Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about the new investigations in letters sent on Wednesday, saying it was investigating recent reports of serious problems with voter registration, voter access and other matters affecting the ability of people in Georgia to exercise their right to vote.

The letters ask both men for extensive information concerning those allegations.

The House committee is now under control of the Democratic Party. Mr Kemp and Mr Raffensperger are Republicans.

Mr Kemp served as the states chief election officer while he ran for governor.

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

Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams has alleged he mismanaged the election, an allegation the new governor vehemently denies.

A nonprofit group founded by Ms Abrams last week released over 200 sworn statements gathered as part of an ongoing legal challenge to the way the states elections are run.

They included statements from Georgia voters who experienced long lines, last-minute polling place changes, missing or incorrect voter registration records and malfunctioning machines, among other issues.

Mr Kemp brushed off the new investigation on Wednesday, saying Democrats need to stop playing politics.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Mr Reffensperger said in a statement that he looks forward to an open dialogue and a thorough process.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Prominent progressives including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have come to the defence of Representative Ilhan Omar amid controversy following her criticism of pro-Israel groups and politicians, which some have deemed anti-semitic.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has suggested that Ms Omar may not have understood the full weight of what she was saying at the time.

"I don't think that the congresswoman perhaps appreciates the full weight of how it was heard by other people, although I don't believe it was intended in any anti-Semitic way," Ms Pelosi said on Thursday during a press briefing.

Mr Sanders, who is Jewish, said that he believes the attacks on Ms Omar are aimed at silencing discussion of American foreign policy with regards to Israel.

What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate, Mr Sanders, who is top democratic presidential candidate, said in a statement. That's wrong.

:: Read everything you need to know about the controversy surrounding Ms Omar's statements right here::

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

Ms Ocasio-Cortez claimed that the attacks on Ms Omar illustrate the hypocrisy in Congress surrounding questions of racism or anti-semitism.

One of the things that is hurtful about the extent to which reprimand is sought of Ilhan is that no one seeks this level of reprimand when members make statements about Latinx + other communities (during the shutdown, a GOP member yelled 'Go back to Puerto Rico!' on the floor), Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

She continued: Its not my position to tell people how to feel, or that their hurt is invalid.

But incidents like these do beg the question: where are the resolutions against homophobic statements? For anti-blackness? For xenophobia? For a member saying hell send Obama home to Kenya?
Jared Kushner has gone rogue.

Donald Trumps senior White House adviser once again abandoned government normalities during an official state trip to Saudi Arabia, reportedly discussing US-Saudi cooperation with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a meeting that lacked representation from the US Embassy in Riyadh.

The 38-year-old adviser also discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the US economic investment in the Middle East with Saudi royalty, including King Salman, according to a White House readout from the trip that was released just as the presidents former lawyer Michael Cohen began his explosive public testimony on Capitol Hill last week.

Mr Kushners quiet undertaking of such high-profile meetings has raised national security concerns from military and intelligence officials, who said the presidents son-in-law was undermining US authority in the region.

Naveed Jamali  a former US Defence Department intelligence officer and double agent  told The Independent the Trump administration has frequently blurred the lines of communication between government agencies by sending Mr Kushner to meet with top international officials.

We know there is a flawed system by the fact that Jared Kushner has a security clearance, Mr Jamali  who has launched a bid for political office  said on Thursday, noting the 38-year-old advisers omission of Russian contacts from his initial clearance application and foreign business assets that would typically bar an official from receiving a clearance.

Mr Jamali added, Who speaks for the government, the institutions or the family of the president?

Criminals who worked for Trump Show all 5 1 /5 Criminals who worked for Trump Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Cohen Former lawyer for Donald Trump was sentenced to three years in prison on counts involving evading income tax, false disclosure of the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and another hush money charge Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Paul Manafort Former campaign manager for Trump Manafort was found guilty in February 2018 of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The crimes occurred prior to his appointment in Trump's campaign Getty Criminals who worked for Trump George Papadopoulos Former Trump campaign adviser Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in October 2017. He had lied about making contact with a professor who claimed that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton. He was sentenced to 14 days in jail Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Flynn Former White House National Security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017. He had lied about conversations that he had with the Russian ambassador to the US during Trump's Presidential campaign. He was not given prison time due to his "significant assistance" to the Mueller investigation Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Rick Gates Deputy chairman of Trump's presidential campaign Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in February 2018 AFP/Getty

Multiple sources from the US embassy in Riyadh have reportedly said they were not read into the details of Mr Kushners Saudi Arabia visit, and have yet to receive any sort of briefing on the White House officials meetings with Saudi leadership.

Mr Kushner was also reportedly provided security during his visit by Saudi officials  a component of a state trip typically handled by the US embassy in the region. Embassy staff also usually sits in on high-level meetings, and can include intelligence and military personnel, cultural attaches and officials from across government agencies.

Those reports, first published in the Daily Beast nearly a week after Mr Kushners trip, were refuted by a senior administration official.

This reporting is not true and the sources are misinformed, that official said.

During his meetings with the Saudi crown prince, Mr Kushner seemingly failed to mention the high-profile killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and US resident who disappeared after entering a Saudi consulate last year in Istanbul. The international intelligence community and Turkish officials have claimed the crown prince was involved in the alleged murder of Mr Khashoggi, who was often critical in his reporting of the Saudi government.

Mark Hertling, a former US Army officer, lambasted the White House administration in a tweet for reportedly failing to include critical subject matters experts in Mr Kushners meetings with Saudi royalty.

Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, also asked why Mr Kushner was having secret meetings with the Saudi government while keeping US officials in the dark about the substance of the meetings.

Are conflicts of interest at play here? he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Kushner, long considered a security risk embedded in the West Wing by career intelligence officials, was reported to have conducted informal conversations on the chat app WhatsApp with the Saudi crown prince, who he has developed a relationship with since Mr Trumps 2016 election.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The New York Times reported Mr Kushner was providing the prince with advice on how to weather the controversies surrounding the slaying of Mr Khashoggi.

House Democrats have launched an investigation into the White House's security clearance processes under Mr Trump, demanding a trove of documents related to the matter and other investigatory concerns from Mr Kushner along with 81 total contacts and entities close to the president.

[Kushner] is somehow who is much more amenable to personal offers like financial gain, Mr Jamali said. He doesnt seem to have the strongest allegiance to the US  thats concerning.
Donald Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen allegedly asked about the possibility of a presidential pardon, contradicting what he recently told a congressional hearing.

The 52-year-old, who for more than a decade worked as Mr Trumps legal fixer, last week told the House of Representatives oversight committee he had not sought a pardon from the man now occupying the Oval Office.

I have never asked for it, nor would I accept a pardon from President Trump, he said, as he delivered a scathing attack on the president, terming him a conman and a racist.

But reports suggest Cohen did indeed ask about the possibility of a presidential pardon, after FBI agents raided his offices and home in the spring of 2018 having received a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller, who is heading the Russia investigation. The Wall Street Journal said the conversations about a possible pardon involved Stephen Ryan, Cohens attorney at the time, and Jay Sekulow, Rudy Giuliani and Joanna Hendon, who then made up the presidents personal legal team.

The revelation emerged as Cohen sued the Trump Organisation, seeking $1.9m in what he claimed were unpaid legal costs. He also said the organisation owed him another $1.9m as part of his criminal sentence. In a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, Cohen said the Trump Organisation breached its obligations to indemnify him after it became clear he would cooperate in investigations into his work.

Criminals who worked for Trump Show all 5 1 /5 Criminals who worked for Trump Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Cohen Former lawyer for Donald Trump was sentenced to three years in prison on counts involving evading income tax, false disclosure of the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and another hush money charge Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Paul Manafort Former campaign manager for Trump Manafort was found guilty in February 2018 of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The crimes occurred prior to his appointment in Trump's campaign Getty Criminals who worked for Trump George Papadopoulos Former Trump campaign adviser Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in October 2017. He had lied about making contact with a professor who claimed that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton. He was sentenced to 14 days in jail Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Flynn Former White House National Security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017. He had lied about conversations that he had with the Russian ambassador to the US during Trump's Presidential campaign. He was not given prison time due to his "significant assistance" to the Mueller investigation Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Rick Gates Deputy chairman of Trump's presidential campaign Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in February 2018 AFP/Getty

The Journal said Mr Trumps lawyers dismissed the idea of a pardon at the time, but Mr Giuliani, who still represents the president, left open the possibility of a future pardon.

On Thursday, a spokesman for Cohen, Lanny Davis confirmed to ABC News his client had asked Mr Ryan to meet with Mr Giuliani.

Mr Davis claimed Cohen stood by his testimony last week, saying that last year he was part of a joint defence agreement with the president and many of his advisors.

Prior to Michael Cohens decision to leave the Joint Defence Group and tell the truth on July 2 2018, Michael was open to the ongoing dangling of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media, Mr Davis said.

 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions Michael Cohen: 'do you think we need to review financial statements and tax returns in order to compare them'

During that time period, he directed his attorney to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump.

The suggestion that Cohen contradicted his most recent testimony of Capitol Hill will be seized on supporters of the president, who have long sought to portray the former lawyer as unreliable. Mr Trump described his appearance before the committee as shameful.

Mr Giuliani tweeted: The defence now to Cohen saying under oath he NEVER asked for a pardon is a familiar one; Whats The Meaning of Never. Serial liars often try the same deception too often. Lets hope Congress and DoJ are outraged at Cohens disrespecting them by perjuring himself repeatedly.

The revelation Cohen sought a pardon came a day after he completed his fourth and final day of testimony before congressional investigators. He emerged from a closed-door session of the House intelligence committee to tell reporters: I believe theyre happy and I have given them my assurance that any additional information that they need I will continue to cooperate.

The committees chairman, Democrat Adam Schiff, said: He was fully cooperative with the committee. I think the members found it an enormously productive session.

Cohen is due to go to jail in May to serve a three-year his term after he last year pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion, bank fraud, and campaign finance violations in relation to hush money payments made to two women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, on the eve of the 2016 election.

He also pleaded guilty to a separate charge brought by Mr Muellers office that he lied to Congress about discussions over the construction the the planned Trump Tower building in Moscow.
Michael Cohen  Donald Trumps former personal lawyer  has completed several days of scathing testimony about the president, emerging from a closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill to declare the committee members were satisfied with the evidence he gave.

On the day he had been due to start a three-year prison sentence after being convicted of paying hush money to two women in violation of campaign finance laws  something he claimed he did to protect Mr Trump  Cohen completed his fourth and final day of testimony before congressional investigators.

I believe theyre happy and I have given them my assurance that any additional information that they need I will continue to cooperate, the man who once bragged he would take a bullet for the president said, as he emerged from a hearing of the intelligence committee of the House of Representatives.

The committees chairman, Democrat Adam Schiff, sounded even more positive. He was fully cooperative with the committee, he said of Cohen. I think the members found it an enormously productive session.

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

The 52-year-old last week delivered a damning attack on the man he once worked for, when he described the president as a conman and a racist as he gave public testimony before the House committee on oversight and reform.

I am not protecting Mr Trump anymore, he said. My loyalty to Mr Trump has cost me everything: my familys happiness, friendships, my law licence, my company, my livelihood, my honour, my reputation, and soon my freedom. I will not sit back say nothing and allow him to do the same to the country.

Cohen delivered his words as Mr Trump was in Vietnam for dencuclearisation talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The talks did not progress far, something experts had said was no surprise given that the two sides had failed to even come close to an agreement before the two leaders sat down.

As it was, Mr Trump sought to blame the failure on Cohens testimony and the platform given to him by Democrats.

 Saturday Night Live skewers Michael Cohen testimony with Ben Stiller skit

For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the walk, Mr Trump tweeted in reference to his claim he had been forced to walk away from the negotiating table. Never done when a president is overseas. Shame!

It was not immediately clear what Cohen had said to the committee on Wednesday. CNN said he had provided members with new documents showing edits to the a false written statement he delivered to Congress in 2017 about the Trump Organisations pursuit of the Trump Tower Moscow project.

It said documents were provided to further explain his public testimony last week in which he said Mr Trumps then-personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, made changes to his statement to the House and Senate intelligence committees.

Cohen is due to go to jail this spring to serve his term after he last year pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion, bank fraud, and campaign finance violations in relation to hush money payments made to two women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, on the eve of the 2016 election.

He also pleaded guilty to a separate charge brought by Robert Muellers office that he lied to Congress about discussions over the construction the the planned Trump Tower building in Russia.

Cohen had been due to report to prison on 6 March. Federal judge William Pauley last week granted him an extension until May 6. Cohens lawyer said his client required more time to cope with both recovery from a recent surgical procedure and to prepare for testimony on Capitol Hill.
Donald Trumps former campaign chairman will face justice on Monday over a slate of tax and bank fraud charges.

Paul Manafort could very well spend the rest of his life in prison after US District Judge TS Ellis III delivers his sentencing at 3.30pm EST.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Manafort could receive a 20-year sentence Thursday, though most observers expect he will receive less than that.

A Virginia jury convicted Manafort on eight felonies related to tax and bank fraud charges for hiding foreign income from his work in Ukraine from the IRS and later inflating his income on bank loan applications.

Prosecutors have said the work in Ukraine was on behalf of politicians who were closely aligned with Russia, though Manafort has insisted his work helped those politicians distance themselves from Russia and align with the West.

After his conviction, Manafort pleaded guilty to separate charges in the District of Columbia related to illegal lobbying.

Criminals who worked for Trump Show all 5 1 /5 Criminals who worked for Trump Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Cohen Former lawyer for Donald Trump was sentenced to three years in prison on counts involving evading income tax, false disclosure of the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and another hush money charge Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Paul Manafort Former campaign manager for Trump Manafort was found guilty in February 2018 of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The crimes occurred prior to his appointment in Trump's campaign Getty Criminals who worked for Trump George Papadopoulos Former Trump campaign adviser Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in October 2017. He had lied about making contact with a professor who claimed that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton. He was sentenced to 14 days in jail Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Flynn Former White House National Security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017. He had lied about conversations that he had with the Russian ambassador to the US during Trump's Presidential campaign. He was not given prison time due to his "significant assistance" to the Mueller investigation Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Rick Gates Deputy chairman of Trump's presidential campaign Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in February 2018 AFP/Getty

He faces up to five years in prison on each of two counts to which he pleaded guilty.

In the District case, prosecutors say Manafort has failed to live up to the terms of his plea bargain by providing false information to investigators in interviews.

Recommended Paul Manafort lawyers request leniency in federal court

In the Virginia case, neither prosecutors nor defence attorneys have recommended a specific term to the judge in their sentencing memoranda. Manaforts lawyers have sought a sentence significantly below the guidelines.

You write the pages to your own life story, Judge Ellis routinely tells defendants before pronouncing sentence. He also tells those who appear before him that life is a series of choices and living with the consequences of those choices.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Donald Trump has scrapped a policy requiring US intelligence officials to publish the number of civilians killed in drone strikes outside active war zones.

The rule was introduced by Barack Obama in 2016 in an attempt to improve transparency and minimise non-combatant casualties during operations against terrorist targets.

Human rights groups described President Trumps decision to revoke executive order 13732 as shameful and deeply wrong, while security experts suggested it was an attempt to conceal deaths from drone strikes carried out by the CIA.

Other legislation still requires the secretary of defence to release an annual report on civilian casualties caused as a result of United States military operations. Drone strikes can also be undertaken by the CIA.

Daphne Eviatar, Amnesty International USAs director of security with human rights, said: This is a shameful decision that will shroud this administrations actions in even more secrecy with little accountability for its victims.

The public deserves to know how many civilians are killed by US actions. This is an unconscionable decision and in complete disregard of fundamental human rights.

It is incomprehensible that this vital work will be left only to human rights organisations such as ours.

Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action Show all 21 1 /21 Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action A picture released by the French Defence audiovisual communication and production unit (ECPAD) shows the launching of a cruise missile from a French military vessel in the Mediterranean sea towards targets in Syria overnight. The United States, France and Britain carried out a wave of punitive strikes against Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime in the early hours of April 14 in response to alleged chemical weapons attacks. AFP/Getty Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action Rafale warplanes being prepared for take off at the Saint-Dizier aerial military base, eastern France. Media reports state that the United States, France and Britain launched military strikes in Syria to punish President Bashar Assad for an apparent chemical attack against civilians and to deter him from doing it again. EPA Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action Damascus skies erupt with missile fire as the US launches an attack on Syria targeting different parts of the capital. President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in retaliation for the country's alleged use of chemical weapons. AP Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action A map show the location of the air strikes carried out by the US-led coalition in Syria overnight. US Department of Defense Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The wreckage of a building described as part of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre compound in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus. AFP/Getty Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action Royal Air Force tornado jets take off in the early hours from RAF Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus to conduct air strikes in Syria. Four Tornado jets fired Storm Shadow missiles "at a military facility -- a former missile base -- some 15 miles (24 kilometres) west of Homs, where the regime is assessed to keep chemical weapon precursors," the defence ministry said in a statement. AFP/Getty Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action Map of where the air strikes hit in Syria released by the Pentagon. A Syrian military statement says the US, Britain and France fired 110 missiles during a joint attack on targets in Damascus and outside. Pentagon Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action A photo released on the Twitter page of Hezbollah's "Central War Media" account shows night footage of flares above Damascus seen through a night-vision device as Western strikes reportedly hit Syrian military bases and chemical research centres in and around Syria's capital. US, France, and Britain announced the joint operation. AFP/Getty Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The preliminary damage assessment of Barzah research and development centre before and after the air strikes, released by the Pentagon. Pentagon Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The preliminary damage assessment of Him Shinshar chemical weapons bunker before the air strikes. Pentagon Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The preliminary damage assessment of Him Shinshar chemical weapons bunker after the air strikes. Pentagon Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The wreckage of a building described as part of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre compound in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus. AFP/Getty Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The wreckage of a building described as part of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre compound in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus. AFP/Getty Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The wreckage of a building described as part of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre compound in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus. AFP/Getty Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The preliminary damage assessment of Him Shinshar chemical weapons storage site before and after the air strikes, released by the Pentagon. Pentagon Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The preliminary damage assessment of Him Shinshar chemical weapons storage site before the air strikes. Pentagon Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The preliminary damage assessment of Him Shinshar chemical weapons storage site after the air strikes. Pentagon Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action A British military Typhoon aircraft lands at the Sovereign Base Area (SBA) of Akrotiri, a British overseas territory located ten kilometres west of the southern Cypriot port city of Limassol, following US, British and French strikes on Syria. Syrian state media slammed Western strikes on Saturday as illegal and "doomed to fail," after the US, Britain and France launched a joint operation against the Damascus.government. Huge blasts were reported around the Syrian capital, moments after the three Western governments announced they were striking Syria's chemical weapons capabilities. AFP/Getty Images Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The preliminary damage assessment of Him Shinshar chemical weapons bunker before and after the air strikes, released by the Pentagon. Pentagon Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The preliminary damage assessment of Him Shinshar chemical weapons bunker before the air strikes. Pentagon Syria air strikes: US, UK and France joint military action The preliminary damage assessment of Him Shinshar chemical weapons bunker after the air strikes. Pentagon

Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions National Security Project, said: President Trump has already weakened rules that sought to limit civilian deaths caused by this countrys illegal and immoral lethal force programme, in which it kills suspects in places where we are not at war. This order now shrouds those killings in even greater secrecy.

Trumps decision to increase secrecy about the United States killing of people abroad is deeply wrong and dangerous for public accountability.

Trump revoked a transparency order that provided an imperfect but still important record of deaths caused by the military and, critically, the CIA. This decision will hide from the public the governments own tally of the total number of deaths it causes every year in its lethal force programme.

Adam Schiff, the Democrat chair of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, described the presidents move as a troubling retreat from transparency and said there was simply no justification for cancelling it.

Todays decision underscores the need for Congress to make this reporting mandatory, something I intend to pursue through the Intelligence Authorization Act this year, he added.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that Mr Trumps move eliminates superfluous reporting requirements that distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission.

The United States government is fully committed to complying with its obligations under the law of armed conflict, minimising, to the greatest extent possible, civilian casualties, and acknowledging responsibility when they unfortunately occur during military operations, the official said.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Last year a Pentagon report, released a month after the deadline, concluded that approximately 499 civilians were killed and 169 were injured during US military operations in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen in 2017.

The watchdog group Airwars concluded between 3,923 and 6,102 non-combatants were likely killed in air and artillery strikes by the United States and its allies in Iraq and Syria alone that year.

Additional reporting by AP and Reuters
 Close Democrat Rashida Tlaib announces plans to file impeachment resolution against Donald Trump

Donald Trump has stirred controversy by accusing House Democrats of failing to tackle antisemitism in their ranks, saying it was shameful the opposition had not taken a stronger stand.

The president appeared to be exploiting divisions exposed by congresswoman Ilhan Omars criticism of Israeli lobby groups in Washington, which has seen her spar with fellow representatives including New York veteran Nita Lowey while the House dawdles over whether to stage a vote on a resolution condemning prejudice against the Jewish faith outright.

President Trump has also threatened to stop the Fake News Networks covering the 2020 presidential election debates on a day his former campaign manager Paul Manafort is sentenced after being found guilty of bank and tax fraud.

Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
The US State Department has demanded the immediate release of an American journalist detained in Venezuela after it was reported on Wednesday the countrys counter-intelligence agency arrested the freelance reporter.

Cody Weddle was reportedly obtained by Venezuela authorities during a raid at his home in Caracas this week.

The journalist, who produced freelance coverage on the political crisis under Nicolas Maduro for publications like the Daily Telegraph, Miami Herald and ABC News, had not been reached since 8am on Wednesday morning, according to a Venezuela press workers union.

Kimberly Breier, an assistant secretary of state at the US State Department, called on Venezuela to release the journalist in a tweet on Wednesday, saying the federal agency was aware of and deeply concerned about the developments.

The Venezuela leader  whose recent electoral victory has been deemed a farce by the international community  prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it, Ms Breier wrote.

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

Being a journalist is not a crime, she added. We demand the journalists immediate release, unharmed.

The arrest arrives a week after Jorge Ramos  a notable journalist and Univision anchor  was detained in Venezuela along with his crew. The incident occurred as the reporter was interviewing Mr Maduro, according to the Guardian, which said the news team was deported shortly afterwards.

Recommended Opposition leader Guaido returns to Venezuela after defying travel ban

The latest arrest has sparked outcry from civil rights groups and press organisations alike.

The Maduro regime, desperate, is doing the only thing it knows to do: repress and censor, Jose Miguel Vivanco, a director at Human Rights Watch, wrote in a tweet.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Donald Trump and his White House administration have thrown their support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido, who recently invoked a Constitutional authority allowing the leader of Venezuelas Democratically-elected Congress to assume the presidency.

Meanwhile, the Maduro regime has blocked international aid from coming into the country, causing a deadly confrontation at the nations borders, as the economic and political crisis continues to intensify.
Chinas ruling Communist Party has warned its officials against erroneous thoughts ahead of a year of sensitive anniversaries.

This year will see the 30th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, as well as mark 60 years since the Dalai Lama fled into exile from Tibet and, on 1 October, 70 years since the founding of Communist China.

The Communist Party came to power in 1949 following decades of civil war in which millions died, and has always been cautious about threats to stability.

This year is the 70th anniversary of the founding of new China, President Xi Jinping told officials from Inner Mongolia on Tuesday, the opening day of the annual meeting of parliament. Maintaining sustained, healthy economic development and social stability is a mission that is extremely arduous.

President Xi has strengthened the partys grip on almost every aspect of government and private life since he assumed power in late 2012.

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

Last year, parliament amended the countrys constitution to remove term limits and allow him to stay in power indefinitely.

In January, the party stressed the importance of loyalty in new rules on strengthening party political building, advising members they should not fake loyalty or be low-level red.

Be on high alert to all kinds of erroneous thoughts, vague understandings, and bad phenomena in ideological areas, the document warned. Keep your eyes open, see things early and move on them fast.

The Communist Party has increasingly increasingly been making rooting out disloyalty and waving from the party line a disciplinary offence to be enforced by its anti-corruption watchdog, whose role had initially been to crack down on criminal acts such as bribery.

 China cuts BBC TV feed during discussion of Muslim detention camps

China has persistently denied its war on corruption is about political manoeuvring or Mr Xi taking down his opponents.

President Xi told an audience in Seattle in 2015 the anti-graft fight was no House of Cards-style power play, a reference to the Netflix political drama.

In the same month, the top law-enforcement official said Chinas police must focus on withstanding colour revolutions, or popular uprisings, and treat the defence of Chinas political system as central to their work.

 China block out CNN feed during reporting of Xi Jinping protests

The party has meanwhile shown no interest in political reform, and has been doubling down on the merits of the Communist Party, including this month rolling out English-language propaganda videos on state media-run Twitter accounts to laud Chinese democracy. Twitter remains blocked in China.

The official state news agency Xinhua said in an English-language commentary on Sunday that China was determined to stick to its political model and rejected Western-style democracy.

The country began to learn about democracy a century ago, but soon found Western politics did not work here. Decades of turmoil and civil war followed, it said.

Additional reporting by Reuters
A grenade blast at a bus station in the Indian city of Jammu has killed one civilian and injured at least 30 people, police have said.

Authorities called for calm following the explosion on Thursday morning, which comes weeks after a Pakistan-based militant group killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir.

Jammu is the winter capital of Indias Jammu and Kashmir state, part of which is claimed by Pakistan.

I request everybody to maintain calm, the citys police chief MK Sinha said. We are chasing all leads.

Footage posted on social media showed injured victims lying on the ground following the blast, which went off just before noon local time (6.30am GMT). Police said the grenade had rolled under bus after being hurled at the station.

Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures Glass shattered in the explosion litters the floor around the bus in Jammu, India AFP/Getty Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures Policemen inspect the bus that was subject of a grenade attack in Jammu, India AFP/Getty Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures A sniffer dog and policemen inspect the site of a grenade attack in Jammu, India AP Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures Policemen and onlookers stand at the site of a grenade blast in Jammu, India Reuters Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures People injured in a grenade attack are treated at the government medical hospital in Jammu, India AP Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures Policemen inspect the site of a grenade attack in Jammu, India AP Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures A person injured in a grenade attack is carried for treatment to a government medical hospital in Jammu, India AP Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures People injured in a grenade blast are taken to the hospital for treatment in Jammu, India Reuters Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures Policemen inspect the bus that was subject of a grenade attack in Jammu, India AFP/Getty Grenade attack injures at least 18 in Kashmir: in pictures AFP/Getty

It was a big blast, a witness told news agency ANI.

No arrests have been made over the explosion, the third grenade attack in Jammu the past 10 months. No one was hurt in the last blast in December.

Authorities have blamed rebels fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir for previous attacks, often without producing any evidence. Rebels in turn accuse government agents of carrying out false flag attacks to turn people against their movement.

Tensions have increased in the region in recent weeks after India carried out airstrikes in Pakistan against militants blamed for killing paramilitary police in a 14 February suicide bombing.

Last week, Pakistan shot down an Indian fighter jet and captured its pilot, who was later returned in what was described as a peace gesture.

Both countries have blamed each other for unprovoked violations of a 2003 ceasefire at several sectors of the Kashmir border.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

On Thursday, the leader of a hardline Hindu group in India justified an attack on two fruit sellers from Muslim-majority Kashmir as revenge for Februarys suicide bombing.

The street traders were beaten with sticks in the northern city of Lucknow on Wednesday by members of the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Dal.

After the attack on our army men with the help of Kashmiri jihadis, there is anger among the public, said the groups leader, Ambuj Nigam.

While the nuclear-armed Indian and Pakistani militaries have clashed along their disputed border, many ordinary Indians have turned their anger on Kashmiris, who live throughout the country.

In Pakistan, the government announced it had taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as part of its push against banned groups.

The country has come under international pressure to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed responsibility for the attack on paramilitary police.

Thursdays raids is Pakistans biggest move against banned groups in years and appeared to be targeting Islamic welfare organisations that the US says are a front for militant activities.

Additional reporting by agencies
Malaysias tourism minister has claimed there are no gay people in the southeast Asian country.

Mohamaddin Ketapi was speaking to reporters ahead of the ITB Berlin tourism fair when he was asked whether homosexual people were welcome in his country.

I dont think we have anything like that in our country, he replied, according to German newspaper Deutsche Welle.

He had previously sidestepped a question on whether the country was safe for Jewish and LGBT+ visitors.

An aide later told news site Malaysiakini the ministers statement was his own personal views, but said it was in line with the Malaysian governments official policy, which does not recognise the LGBT+ community.

The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Show all 16 1 /16 The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Bora Bora is textbook honeymoon territory Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations The stilt fishermen of Sri Lanka Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Santorini sunsets are among the best in the world Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Team Sri Lanka with the Maldives Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations There's more to Mykonos than its party reputation Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Honolulu's the place for top notch hotels Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Rotorua in New Zealand - perfect for a different kind of honeymoon Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Pick South Africa for a properly wild honeymoon MHVILJOEN/Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations And relax, at Le Meridien Bora Bora Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Bora Bora's your typical honeymoon destination Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Iceland's magnificent landscape is a pretty impressive start to a marriage Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Some beaches are better for same-sex couples than others Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Iguazu Falls straddle Brazil and Argentina Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations A honeymoon in Iceland might turn up the Northern Lights Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Rio embraces LGBT travellers Out of Office The best LGBT+ honeymoon destinations Queenstown New Zealand Out of Office

However, the anonymous aide added: Tourists coming to Malaysia like any other country are welcome regardless of their creed, sexuality, religion or colour.

Mr Ketapi later tweeted to say his response referred to the lack of LGBT+-specific tourist campaigns in the country.

His comments were denounced by the deputy president of the opposition Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Mah Hang Soon, who said they had made Malaysia a laughing stock.

He was asked by a reporter if Malaysia is safe for homosexuals. All he needed to say was that Malaysia is a safe country and every tourist is safe here, he said, according to The Star.

He added: Malaysia does not ask or care about the sexual orientation of tourists. He just needed to say every tourist must respect the laws and cultural sensitivities of their host countries and it ends there.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Homosexual sex is illegal in the Muslim-majority country under a British Empire colonial era law.

In September, Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said his country cannot accept gay marriage.

In Malaysia, there are some things we cannot accept, even though it is seen as human rights in Western countries, he said. We cannot accept LGBT, marriage between men and men, women and women.
South Korea's military is carefully monitoring North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities after it said new activity has been detected at the intercontinental ballistic missiles plant.

The US and South Korean militaries are maintaining close intelligence coordination over developments at the Norths missile research centre in Pyongyang and a separate long-range rocket site, Seouls Defence Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said on Thursday.

She did not elaborate, but South Korean media reported that movement of cargo vehicles were spotted recently around the facility at Sanumdong in Pyongyang, which produced North Koreas first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the US.

Spy chief Suh Hoon told politicians briefed by the Souths National Intelligence Service he viewed the activity as missile-related, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said.

It also quoted Mr Suh as saying the North continued to operate its uranium enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex after the first summit between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last June.

North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits Show all 16 1 /16 North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea, portraits of former supreme leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are required by law to be hung in the home, the classroom, the factory and all manner of other private and public places Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the classroom AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the living room AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the maternity ward of the hospital Alamy North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On board the ship Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits At the ballot box Mannen av bord North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the office AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On the bridegroom Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On the Pyongyang subway Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits On a government building Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the teacher training facility AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the home AFP/Getty North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits At the military parade Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits In the hall Reuters North Korea's pervasive leaders: the Kim portraits At the Chinese border AFP/Getty

It comes after a second summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim broke down last week in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi over disagreements about limiting the North's nuclear programme in return for US sanctions relief.

On Tuesday, two US think-tanks and the South Korean spy agency reported work was underway to restore part of the Norths Sohae Satellite Launching Station, even as the Hanoi meeting took place.

North Korea began dismantling a missile test stand at Sohae last year, in line with a pledge Mr Kim made at his first summit with Mr Trump.

I would be very disappointed if that were happening, Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, when asked if North Korea was breaking a promise.

Its too early to see ... Its a very early report. Were the ones that put it out. But I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim, and I dont think I will be, but well see what happens. Well take a look. Itll ultimately get solved.

 North Korea's foreign minister disputes President Trump's explanation for summit collapse

Earlier this week, satellite imagery from Planet Labs Inc analysed by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California showed activity at Sohae from 23 February up until Wednesday.

The Washington-based 38 North said its latest photos from Wednesday indicated the rail-mounted transfer building used to move rockets at the site was now complete, and said cranes had been removed from the launch pad and the transfer building had been moved to the end of the pad.

On Tuesday, Mr Trumps national security adviser, John Bolton, warned new sanctions could be introduced if North Korea did not scrap its weapons programme.

Additional reporting by agencies
On the sweltering August week she was to die  choked to death by her own uncle  Mariam Magomedova had returned home to the village of Nechayevka in Dagestan, to celebrate her cousins wedding.

Relatives on her mothers side recalled their joy at seeing the tall, beautiful, serious 22-year-old  practically everyone remembered her thus  on a rare trip back from Moscow. They had even helped her buy the ticket home. They couldnt have known what lay in store. It was as much of a shock to them as it was to her.

The gods never looked out for Mariam, says her aunt, Patimat Abdulmuslimova. The girls terrible run of luck started two years before she died, when she was hitched against her will to a cousin 14 years her senior. The wedding went ahead regardless of her protestations; joyless, and with a lot of crying. There was a terrible omen that day, says Abdulmuslimova, when the wedding party crossed paths with a funeral procession.

Nobody in Nechayevka knows quite why Mariam Magomedova was killed. There were certainly lots of stories, recalls Umarazat Magomedova, head teacher at the local middle school (no relative). The girl was already divorced by this point, the teacher says, but for some reason relatives on the fathers side were animated by SMS messages she may or may not have exchanged with a man. No one saw those messages, or could even say what they contained.

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

When it came to court, the uncle offered a different story: Mariam had been seen wearing short sleeves and only knee-length dresses. There were rumours about immorality  only none of them were actually true.

For two weeks, the fathers side of the family kept quiet about their role in Mariams disappearance. It was only when the body was found, complete with the scarf used to choke her, that the truth emerged. But that was only the start. It took Mariams mother four years to put her daughters killer in prison.

Every step of the way, the authorities obstructed her. A suspicious death report took weeks to be filed. The investigation was drawn out for a year. It was thrown out before reaching the district court. After great scandal, the case went to court, but the uncle was acquitted. With the help of NGOs and journalists, that verdict was quashed, and a re-trial ordered. Finally, with the writing already on the wall, the uncle admitted his guilt, and was sentenced to seven years, just above the minimum tariff.

Eventually - we got there, says her aunt Abdulmuslimova. We were motivated by her beautiful eyes. I still see them every day.

They no longer speak to the fathers side of the family  not, she says, after they behaved like such animals.

The story of Mariam Magomedovas death is far from an isolated incident in Russias predominantly Muslim North Caucasus. But it is worth telling in detail for two reasons: first, because it went public, and second because it was so doggedly pursued in the courts amid obvious resistance from authorities.

It is far more usual for such matters to stay well hidden, says the human rights lawyer Yulia Antonova who in December 2018 co-authored - with Saida Sirazhudinova - the first major study on the issue. Families across the region are much more likely to close ranks, Antonova says, with local police, doctors and lawyers helping them to cover their tracks. If things ever reach court, relatives usually request hearings to be carried out in private.

The taboo nature of the issue also means we have little idea of the true scale of the problem. The 2018 report documents at least 36 cases over five years from 2012-17, but the numbers include only definite honour killings  ones that are documented and cross-referenced. Many cases of women leaving to Moscow or being involved in car accidents may have had uglier explanations.

The UN estimates the real numbers may be 10 times higher, agrees Antonova. We may be looking at about 500 deaths in those five years alone.

Nechayevka, a depressed village with approximately 60 per cent unemployment, has little tolerance for western ideas of womens rights (Oliver Carroll)

In general, suffocation or stabbings are the two main methods of choice, but shootings, poisons and even axes have been reported too. Most of the time, an individual is not acting alone, but on the authority of an all-male family council. Sometimes, the close family may be against the idea, but are bulldozed by a distant relative wanting to use the killing to enhance social or, just as often, professional status. As far as the crimes are concerned, these can range from adultery to simple rumour of immoral behaviour. In one case from 2015, an Ingush girl was suffocated to death by her uncle after he caught her smoking a cigarette.



According to Svetlana Anokhina, a local journalist who has helped several girls from the North Caucasus to safety, men often hide behind twisted ideas of glamour and honour to justify their crimes. The absurdity of the killings is no guarantee against their social acceptability, she says: "We need to untangle the concepts. These are not honour killings, but cold-blooded murders, committed by people in positions of trust. Its murder committed when all the guards are down.

The banner of honour killing has also been used to hide from some very dishonourable practices from robbery through to rape and incest. One particularly disturbing case from 2013 involved the killing of a 14-year-old girl. Her father, referred to in legal documents as Abdula A told investigators he had killed her in "a fit of rage" after finding out about her immoral behaviour. The reality of what actually stood behind it  two years of his raping and abusing her  only emerged after an aunt came forward to say the girl had confided in her. Abdula was eventually sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The regions corrupt law enforcement system  serviced by money and clan loyalties  adds a special burden on its women. Salimat Kadyrova, the lawyer who represented Mariam Magomedovas grieving mother through court, says she still remembers how her killers seemed to enjoy special protection from the police. The case was filled with dirty lies, she says.

A flash of anguish appears on the lawyers face. She looks into her tea. It is a tough job at times, she admits; enough to make you doubt the morality of the nation. She had just been in court representing another victim, a woman from from Novochurakh, a mountainous village 20 miles along the road from Nechayevka. There was nothing nice about the story. The woman, a mother of two, had been gang raped by nine men from the village, who filmed the outrage and distributed the video over social media. Not content with their crime, the men then went to the victims family, and lobbied for her killing, saying she had brought shame on their honour.

No one was looking out for Mariam, says her aunt Patimat Abdulmuslimova (Oliver Carroll)

The family declined to act, and the woman  thankfully  is still alive. But it is not much of a life. Ever since her attack, the victim has lived under a self-imposed house arrest, afraid of coming across her attackers again. And it is unlikely the legal process will get the woman the justice she deserves. The ringleaders of the rape belong to an influential local mafia family, and all but one have already been released.

These guys are used to getting their way, says Kadyrova. Not even God can stop them.

For some, religion  with its influence on patriarchy and conservative traditions  is the best hope to effect change in the region. Indeed, since at least 2013, the official position of the main clerical leadership has been against honour killings, insisting they are incompatible with sharia law. But in some cases, religious teachers have on the contrary played into narratives of honour and local traditions.

The preacher at the local capital Makhachkalas main Juma mosque, for example, offered only a lukewarm criticism of honour killings when The Independent called in.



Traditions were what keep Dagestan from falling under moral destitution, Imam Zainulla Atayev said: We dont believe in same-sex marriage and we dont believe in sex with donkeys.

Has he come across any cases of honour killings in his own congregation? He insists not. Certainly not among our people. Religious people would never have such daughters. What if the girl was a prostitute, or of loose moral values? Ive heard of fathers stabbing their daughters over that, yes, but its always in a fit of rage Has anyone asked your advice about what to do? Well we  always try to calm the sides down.

House No 15, a hipster cafe located about a mile and a half from the mosque, would seem to have little in common with austere religion or traditionalist Dagestan. Picture a Hackney cafe with bearded 20-year-olds, oat-milk lattes, coloured hair, piercings, tattoos, the latest iPad pros, and the sounds of Althea and Donnas Uptown Top Ranking. Imagine women smoking and discussing theatre festivals. Any one of them would fall under beyond the knee-length skirt indecency rule that according to one story cost Mariam her life.

But even here, in the heart of Dagestans Bohemia, a survey of opinions returns unexpected results.



Only one woman in her twenties rejects outright the idea of honour killings. The other dozen express neutrality  or even agreement in some circumstances.

Journalist and activist Svetlana Anokhina has helped evacuate several women facing threat of honour killings (Oliver Carroll in House No 15) (Oliver Carroll)

One young man, dressed in hipster black, says he is genuinely worried about the decline in Dagestans moral values. Before you could steal brides, he says; take away their honour and shed be yours: Now she can go back without the shame and neither her brother nor father will do anything about it!

In Nechayevka, villagers insist the region's traditions of blood revenge still had a role to play in keeping women moral. But Mariams death had united them against the idea of untimely, disgraceful, underserved killings. Never again could it be used for something so obviously unproven, the villagers said. They say they made sure Mariams mother would be allowed to rebury her daughter in the first row of graves at the village cemetery  right near the gate  so no one could ever forget the shame.

There, an inscription written on the back of the dramatic gravestone reads, in the local Avaric language: Killed because of gossip.

A few rows back from the new grave, on the far edge of the cemetery, are another half-dozen unmarked mounds. The local headteacher Magomedova says she doesnt exclude the possibility they may be hiding similar stories.
The European Parliament is to vote on scrapping mandatory daylight savings time across the EU, in a move that could result in the continent ending its twice-yearly clock changes.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker last year said he wanted to scrap rules that means all EU countries have to change their clocks in March and October  with a view to ending daylight savings completely.

The Parliaments transport and tourism committee became the latest EU body to endorse the proposal in a report this week, clearing the way for the blocs parliament to hold a vote on the issue.

EU sources told The Independent the issue would likely be put to a vote of all MEPs from across the bloc in the last week of March.

Under the proposals to be voted on, the EU would no longer mandate the clock change and leave the choice up to member states. The committee recommended that the change be enacted from 2021, later than originally planned.

Recommended This is why the clocks go back for Daylight Saving Time

However, in practice member states would still be expected to coordinate time zones amongst themselves for simplicitys sake  and the expectation is that they would move away from daylight savings time.

A European Commission consultation received 4.6 million responses out of 510 million citizens, with 84 per cent against the current practice of changing the clocks.

Three million of the responses were from Germany, however - which led to some EU diplomats to claim it was unrepresentative.

The plan has the support of Jean-Claude Juncker (AFP/Getty)

If MEPs back the plan in the vote later this month then they will have to enter negotiations with member states, who are split on the issue.

Member states who want to keep the old rules include the UK, Greece, and Portugal, while France, Denmark, and the Netherlands are among those undecided. Most other member states, most notably Germany, back the change.

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 UK is expected to keep following EU rules until at least 2021, and possibly later under the withdrawal agreement negotiated by Theresa May  meaning it would likely be affected by the proposal if it appears promptly.

Proposals to scrap or amend daylight savings time have occasionally emerged in the UK, but have never come to fruition. The issue of clock changes can become an emotive issue, with warnings on both sides of children going to or coming home from school in the dark, higher or lower road accident rates, and higher or lower energy usage by households.
Two American Mormons have been detained and found guilty of migration offences  adding to already fraught US-Russia relations.

A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday evening confirmed two US citizens had been arrested in the port city of Novorossiysk, home to a major Russian navy base, but refrained from giving additional details.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, David Gaaga and Cole Brodovsky were arrested while addressing a local branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in English. The men were usually based in Rostov-on-Don, 200 miles to the north, the paper added.

In a strict reading of Russia's migration laws, prosecutors contended that such "English lessons" were not compatible with the religious visas the men had used to enter the country with. In court, the men insisted that discussions in English were part of their religious work.

Unsurprisingly, a district judge agreed with prosecutors, finding them guilty of violating migration rules inside a border zone. According to the judgment, the men were fined 2,000 roubles (approx 25) each and moved to a temporary detention centre ahead of their likely deportation.

In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 2019-02-15T185050Z-1041913715-RC11E657B970-RTRMADP-3-RUSSIA-BUSINESS-DETENTION.JPG REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 07372543.jpg EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125031857.jpg Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125022312.jpg Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125022291.jpg Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 07372494.jpg EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud urn-publicid-ap.org-93277d8c217f4568b96b8b1904b7e396.jpg AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 07372493.jpg EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125031852.jpg Sergei Bobylev/TASS In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125031860.jpg Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125032009.jpg Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 2019-02-15T152441Z-650771727-RC114BA8B5A0-RTRMADP-3-RUSSIA-BUSINESS-DETENTION.JPG REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud AFP-1DH711.jpg VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125062626.jpg Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images

Mormon missionaries continue to practice legally in Russia, having escaped the provisions of new "anti-terror" laws applied to many other "foreign" minority religious groups. Last month, a group of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Siberian city of Surgut complained of harassment and torture at the hands of Russian law enforcement.

Friday's arrests also come on the back of the December arrest of US citizen Paul Whelan over alleged espionage attacks. He spent his 49th birthday in prison this week, with little prospect of an imminent release.

A spokesman for the US State Department told CNN they were aware of the arrest, and "had no higher priority than the protection of US citizens abroad."
An Egyptian transgender woman arrested for inciting anti-government protests is at risk of torture and sexual violence, activists and rights groups have warned.

Malak al-Kashef, 19, has undergone gender reassignment surgery, but it still officially registered as a male in Egypt. She was arrested on Wednesday as part of a crackdown on protests sparked by a deadly train crash in Cairo last week.

Early reports suggested she is being held separately from other prisoners. Some activists have expressed concern that she may eventually be placed in detention with the male population, which could put her at risk of abuse.

Malak Al Kashif is a transsexual woman and after her detention she will be dealt with as a male and be imprisoned with male inmates and this is mainly due to the fact that the process of changing her ID is taking too long, and so she is still a male according to her ID, wrote May Elshamy on Twitter, reported the Al Bawaba news site.

Egypts prisons are like graves and chambers for torture and sexual harassment but for a person like Malak, the chances of abuse will be doubled, wrote another.

Hundreds of people have used the Arabic hashtag "in solidarity with Malak al-Kashef".

Amnesty International said she had been taken by the police to an undisclosed location, and that her lawyers have been unable to locate her.

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

There are real fears for the physical safety and psychological well-being of Malak al-Kashef," said Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty Internationals Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.

Malak al-Kashef appears to have been detained solely for peacefully exercising her rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Due to her gender identity, Malak is at increased risk of torture by the police, including rape and sexual violence, as well as assault by other detainees," she added.

Egypts LGBT community has been on the receiving end of a harsh crackdown for the past few years, which began following the unfurling of a rainbow flag at a concert in 2017.

More than 70 people were arrested last year under Egypts debauchery laws, which criminalises same sex relations, according to Bedayaa, a Cairo-based LGBT rights organisation. Egyptian authorities subject victims arrested under the law to forced anal examinations, which amounts to torture.

Earlier this year, an Egyptian TV host was sentenced to one year in prison for interviewing a gay man on his show. Mohamed al-Gheiti, who previously expressed his stance against homosexuality, invited the man to discuss his lifestyle on air in August 2018.

Despite the dangers she faced, Kashef has spoken publicly about her transition and the difficulties of being transgender in Egypt. In a 2018 interview with Erem News, she said she had attempted suicide because of the pressures she faced.

According to Egyptian news site Mada Masr, citing the same interview, she said he had written in her suicide note: Im not killing myself because Im trans. Its society that has killed me, because you rejected me, hurt me, hit me, detained me.

The site said Kashefs family currently do not know her whereabouts.

Her arrest follows the detention of more than 70 people in the past week for taking part in small and scattered anti-government protests sparked by a deadly train crash.

Twenty five people were killed and dozens injured in the accident at Cairos main train station, which caused a large fire. Many blamed the countrys crumbling infrastructure for the high death toll, and have expressed anger at the government for not addressing the issue.

 Egyptian pop singer sent to prison for two years over video that 'incited debauchery'

Since coming to power following a coup in 2014, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has cracked down on all forms of opposition to his rule.

In the last year, his security forces have escalated a campaign of intimidation, violence, and arrests against political opponents, civil society activists, and many others who have simply voiced mild criticism of the government, according to Human Rights Watch.

Egypts transport network suffers frequent crashes, and the government has faced criticism for not doing enough to maintain it.

Authorities said they have arrested six people over the deadly crash, including two train conductors, their aides and two other rail workers. Investigators said the crash may have been caused by a fight between the two conductors.
Just one civilian was harmed in RAF airstrikes that killed more than than 4,000 enemy fighters in Iraq and Syria, the British government has claimed.

An estimated 4,013 Isis militants have died in four and a half years of bombing, with 302 surviving with injuries, according to Ministry of Defence (MoD) figures.

But the UK government admitted responsibility for only one civilian death in more than 1,700 raids, a claim observers have dismissed as not credible.

The charity Action on Armed Violence, which obtained the MoD casualty estimates through a freedom of information (FOI) request, said it was highly likely that the civilian harm from RAF airstrikes is under-recorded.

The RAFs claim of a ratio of one civilian casualty against 4,315 enemies must be a world record in modern conflict, said executive director Iain Overton. Yet few conflict experts believe this to be true. To them, it is clear that far more needs to be done by the UK to improve transparency surrounding civilian casualties from airstrikes.

"War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Show all 20 1 /20 "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria A child injured by an IED explosion in Raqqa Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Children riding a bicycle among destroyed buildings in Raqqa Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Entire neighbourhoods in Raqqa are damaged beyond repair Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Satellite image showing the house where seven members of the Badran family were killed in a Coalition strike on 18 July 2017, before the strike CNES/Airbus DS "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Satellite image showing the house where seven members of the Badran family were killed in a Coalition strike on 18 July 2017, after the strike CNES/Airbus DS "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Members of the Badran family killed in three separate Coalition air strike on 18 July and 20 August 2017 in Raqqa Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria The city of Raqqa in northern Syria has become hardly recognizable to those who try to return after months battle between US-backed forces and the Islamic State terrorist group for control of it. The city has no running water or electricity and homes, business and public squares are mere rubble and debris Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Satellite image showing the houses where 16 members of the Fayad family and neighbours were killed in Coalition strikes on 12 October 2017, before the strike CNES/Airbus DS "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Satellite image showing the houses where 16 members of the Fayad family and neighbours were killed in Coalition strikes on 12 October 2017, after the strike CNES/Airbus DS "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Fayad Mohammed and his daughters Wafa, Fadda and Tamam; Ammar al-Faris; Reem al-Maddad, Yusra Abd-al-Aziz, and baby Razqiya Habib; Jasim Hamal and Salem Hamad. They were among the 16 civilians killed in Coalition air strikes on 12 October 2017 in Raqqa Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Men wait by the side of the road for casual labour in Raqqa. Many end up clearing partially destroyed or damaged buildings, a very risky endeavour as many building were mined by IS and civilians are frequently killed and injured by mines Amnesty "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Satellite images showing the Aswad familys building before it was destroyed in a Coalition air strike which killed eight civilians, five of them children, on 28 June 2017 CNES/Airbus DS "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Satellite image showing the Aswad familys building after it was destroyed in a Coalition air strike which killed eight civilians, five of them children, on 28 June 2017 CNES/Airbus DS "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Amal Othman, 13, and her brothers Ammar, 8 and Mahmoud, 17; and Jamal Aswad, 41  four of the eight victims killed in a Coalition air strike on 28 June 2017 in Raqqa Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Low-income district west of the Jezra intersection on the western outskirts of Raqqa city destroyed by the Coalition shelling started in June 2017 Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Satellite image showing the houses where 16 members of the Fayad family and neighbours were killed in Coalition strikes on 12 October 2017, before the strike CNES/Airbus DS "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Satellite image showing the houses where 16 members of the Fayad family and neighbours were killed in Coalition strikes on 12 October 2017, after the strike CNES/Airbus DS "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Ali Hassan Nafa; Mahdia Hashish and her husband Hussein Ali; Hussein Hashish, Mohammed Hashish and Hussein Ibrahim Hashish, and Mohammed Ali Hashish Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Harat al Badu, a built up area in central Raqqa, next to the stadium. It was the scene of the final battle in the city between SDF/Coalition forces and IS Amnesty International "War of Annihilation"  devastating toll on civilians in Raqqa, Syria Map showing where the Badran, Hashish, Aswad and Fayab families were living before the coalition air strikes Unosat /Amnesty International

The US-led coalition formed in 2014 to fight Isis in the Middle East has confirmed 1,190 civilian deaths.

The UK has been shielded from criticism of the coalitions devastating air campaign because of the relatively junior role it played compared to American forces.

The RAF killed nearly 3,000 enemy fighters in Syria and just over 1,000 in Iraq since launching its first airstrikes in September 2014, according to the MoDs figures.

Last May the government admitted the first civilian death of the campaign, after a motorcyclist was killed in a Reaper drone strike on Isis fighters in Syria.

But Amnesty International has accused the British military of being in deep denial over its contribution to high civilian death toll in the campaign to oust Isis.

Reacting to the latest figures from the MoD, the rights group again criticised the claims.

In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the MoD is claiming to be the first military in modern history to have carried out massive aerial bombing with close to zero civilian casualties, said Oliver Feeley-Sprague, Amnesty International UKs military, security and policing expert.

It absolutely beggars belief and shows just how deeply in denial the MoD is over its role in the mass bombing of Mosul and Raqqa, he added.

More than 1,500 civilians were killed in coalition air and artillery attacks on the northern Syrian city of Raqqa between June and October 2017, according to Airwars, a UK-based independent investigative group that tracks casualties.

The RAF carried out some 216 airstrikes in and around Raqqa, many in densely populated neighbourhoods, during the offensive to recapture it from Isis. British forces made repeated use of the Paveway IV, a 500lb bomb, which would have caused significant damage.

Airwars said a possible reason behind the UKs refusal to acknowledge civilian harm was due to a reliance on observable evidence as proof  such as imagery captured by aircraft that showed civilians near the target area  while dismissing reliable reports from the ground.

Chris Woods, Airwars director, told The Independent: The MoD says it can precisely determine that its killed 4,013 Isis fighters in Iraq and Syria since 2014, while at the same time insisting its impossible properly to determine civilian harm from these same actions.

MoD casualty assessments are not fit for purpose when tracking civilian harm from RAF strikes.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The government said information concerning enemies killed and wounded in action is based on the best available post-strike analysis.

This information, however, is only given as an estimate as the UK is not in a position to visit airstrike sites inside Syria and verify the facts, it added.

An MoD spokesperson said: After every British airstrike we conduct detailed battle damage assessment, which thoroughly examines the outcome of the strike against its target, be it Daesh fighters, weapons, or bases.

This assessment also looks very carefully at whether or not there has been any civilian casualty or damage to civilian infrastructure.
A group of Syrian refugees has launched a bid to prosecute the Syrian government for war crimes, following a similar move by Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Previous attempts to bring a case against Bashar al-Assads government at the International Criminal Court have all failed because Syria is not a member of the tribunal, and so the court does not have the jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed in the country.

But lawyers representing the refugees, who fled Syrias brutal civil war and are now in neighbouring Jordan, believe they have found a way for a case to be heard.

They will ask the court to prosecute Syria for the crime of deportation, arguing that relentless attacks against civilians forced them to leave their country. They say that the court has jurisdiction because Jordan, where the refugees were forced to flee, is a member of the ICC.

A similar case was brought to the court by Rohingya refugees who escaped a brutal crackdown in Myanmar to Bangladesh. The ICC prosecutor opened a formal examination into those alleged crimes in September last year, and investigators arrived in Bangladesh this week.

Its a game changer, said Rodney Dixon QC, an international human rights lawyer and lead counsel in the new case. It provides a gateway that wasnt there before.

Many people have been disillusioned about what can be done, what is the value of the ICC when these big conflicts cant be taken on. But now they can, he told The Independent.

Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Show all 17 1 /17 Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Nagan, 12, is one of 180,000 Syrian refugee children Unicef has identified as OOSC (Out Of School Children) who have been forced into work in Lebanon Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The majestic snow capped mountains overlooking al-Wafa refugee camp in Arsal, Lebanon. It is home to 700 refugees who fled their homes at the outbreak of civil war in 2012 Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Fuda al-Bareesh, 92, spends her days in solitude at Alsalam 2 camp in Arsal, Lebanon. She made the journey from Syria across the mountains alone on a donkey Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Kareemah, 21, mother of two from Chebaa, southern Lebanon. She is unsure how her family will be able to afford basics like food and fuel if aid is cut off Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Exercising patience in the cold, men and women wait to collect winter fuel at Alsalam camp, Arsal. Gifted by Muslim Aid UK donors, each family receives 20 litres  enough for two days of continuous heat Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The view to the snow covered mountains through the cracked pane of glass at al-Wafa camp Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year At al-Wafa refugee camp in Arsal, Abdul Al Moamen, 10, sits in tears Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Ahmed, 3, helps his eldest brother to move the empty plastic jerry cans along the line as they get refilled at a fuel distribution centre Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Qaram, 8, was orphaned when her father was killed by Isis. She is in desperate need of an operation to save her sight. Instead of going to school, she works eight-hour shifts each day on a nearby farm Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Ahmed Fawzi, Lebanon country director for Muslim Aid, comforts Abdul al-Moamen Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Bisan, 5, plays with friends in among puddles of rainwater from recent storms Norma and Miriam Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Amina Safadi is a beneficiary of the Primary Healthcare Centre in Chebaa, Lebanon. The ICRC-accredited facility welcomes the most marginalised Lebanese residents as well as Syrian refugees. Safadi says she has no idea what she would do if the service was unavailable Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The queue for fuel at a fuel distribution centre in Arsal Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Hadi, 6, waits with aid workers whilst his mother collects heating fuel for the familys stove Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Fuel bowser delivers aid to the 700 residents at al-Wafa camp Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year The child workers of Lebanon. Unicef says 180,000 children are working on farms and in factories Paddy Dowling Return to Lebanon: Syrian refugee crisis in its eighth year Ahmed Slabi and his five children. What are my choices now for me and my family? It's bad here or worse in Syria. He feels dependent on international aid, a social pariah and beggar in a country that is not his own Paddy Dowling

Around half of Syrias entire population has been displaced by the nearly-eight year war, with 5.6 million living as refugees outside the country and 6.6 million internally displaced.

The case will aim to prove that the Syrian governments actions led to the displacement and deportation of civilians, which is considered a crime under international humanitarian law.

It is being litigated by a British legal team on behalf of a Turkey-based NGO that works with victims of the Syrian war. The team has collected the testimony of 28 Syrian refugees currently in Jordan, which will form the base of the evidence against the government. They represent a sample of thousands of victims identified by the NGO and who are available to provide testimony.

Violent acts occurred in Syria which have caused people to leave the country and go to an ICC state. The crossing of the border is the key element in the case. Thats a serious crime, to force someone out of their country, said Mr Dixon.

You dont have to show that the government put these people on trains or buses, for instance, to cross the border: it can be that the repeated bombing of a village forced them to flee to a neighbouring state, he said.

The team will present evidence of violence against civilians, which forced the refugees to flee, but the case will only be able to prosecute for the forced displacement.

The initial act is a crime as well, but the ICC wont be able to convict on that basis because of the lack of jurisdiction, he said.

 Jordan's Syrian refugees scrape by a living

A summary of the testimonies from the refugees, seen by The Independent, details a litany of war crimes carried out by the Syrian government.

I saw a lot of people being shot at by the regime forces, people were being randomly shot including my 18-year old nephew. Two other family members of mine were kidnapped and we never heard from them again, said one of the witnesses in the case, who now lives in Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.

My eldest son was being forced to join the regime forces but he refused. He was taken away and brought back to our house a few days later, he was bruised all over and didnt recognise me. He was bleeding and his clothes were torn.... We knew we had to leave again. I left with my four other children and we made our way to Jordan. It was a very difficult journey. I still havent heard from my son, I dont know if he is alive or dead, she said.

The ICC must do something about this. We have suffered for too long, she added.

One witness describes how he was rounded up with 200 people in a mass arrest in his town. He was taken to a detention centre where he and others were tortured by being beaten with wire whips and hung from the ceiling. After he was released, his town came under a relentless bombing campaign that forced him to flee. Witness testimony is currently anonymous, due to security concerns, so exact details of locations and experiences are not yet public.

Another describes how her husband was arbitrarily detained, and threats were made against her by government forces. After living under the threat of constant bombing and fighting near her home, she left for Jordan with her children.

The stories will be familiar to the millions of Syrians who have fled their homes since the war began in 2011, few of whom have held out any hope of justice.

Throughout the civil war, rights groups and numerous UN investigations have built up a wealth of evidence showing the Syrian government has committed crimes against humanity.

The Syrian army has used indiscriminate force against rebel-held areas, including the use of banned chemical weapons, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. It has detained, tortured and executed thousands without trial.

The last attempt to refer Syria to the ICC came in 2014, when a UN Security Council resolution backed by more than 60 countries to refer the Syrian conflict to the court was vetoed by both Russia and China.

But as the war has died down over the past year, and Assad has all but secured victory, there have have been a number of attempts to hold individual members of the Assad regime accountable.

Last month, police detained two Syrians in Germany and one in France on charges of torturing anti-government activists early in the countrys uprising, the first such arrests in Europe against suspected figures in Syrias security services.

Germany has universal jurisdiction laws that allow it to prosecute people for crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. Such crimes can be prosecuted in France if the suspect is resident there or a victim is French.

Recommended Syrian intelligence official arrested in Germany on torture charges

The arrests could pave the way for the first criminal trials of senior members of Assads regime anywhere in the world, and would represent a significant milestone in efforts to hold the government accountable for well-documented crimes against humanity.

Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UKs Crisis Campaigns Manager, welcomed the move to prosecute Syria at the ICC.

The vicious use of surrender or starve tactics conducted by Assads regime involved a devastating combination of sieges, bombardments and forced displacement, uprooting thousands of civilians and forcing them to live in dire conditions. These have been part of a systematic attack on civilians that amounts to crimes against humanity, he told The Independent.

These crimes should not go unpunished. Victims and their families have the right to truth, reparation, and justice. Initiatives such as this one offers an innovative approach to ensuring accountability and if successful, it will open up a clear avenue of justice for the Syrians who were driven out of their homes, he added.

A foreign office spokesperson said: The Assad regime must be held accountable for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and for the displacement of half of Syrias population. The UK Government stands by the Syrian people who have suffered some of the most serious crimes under international law.
A stray dog called Mera is believed to have become the first of her species to ascend a 7,000 metre high mountain.

After befriending climbers on a mountaineering expedition in Nepal, the creature joined them as they made their way up Baruntse, a peak in the Himalayas just south of Mount Everest.

Mera, who appears to be a cross between a Tibetan mastiff and a Himalayan sheepdog, joined the team as they were descending from the summit of the Mera Peak nearby.

The 45-pound animal crossed a glacier and made a beeline past other climbers for the groups leader Don Wargowsky, he told Outside magazine.

For the next three weeks he shared his tent with the dog, giving it a sleeping pad and a jacket to use as a bed.

The dog in photography: 1839-Today Show all 11 1 /11 The dog in photography: 1839-Today The dog in photography: 1839-Today Elena Lusenti, 2016 Courtesy of the artist/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today Nadar (Gaspard Felix Tournachon), Paul and His Dog, c 1865 The J. Paul Getty Museum/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today Studio Bengue & Kindermann, c. 1890 Hans Christian Adam/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today Arnold Genthe, c1913 The Library of Congress/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today Lisette Model, Dog Show, New York, c. 1946 Lisette Model Foundation/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today John F. Kennedy, 1949 John F. Kennedy Library/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today Todd Webb, 79th Street, New York, 1952 Yancey Richardson Gallery/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today Bruce Davidson, East 100th Street, Harlem, New York, 1966 Magnum Photos/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today William Wegman, To Sleep, 1995 Pace/MacGill Gallery/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today Fatima NeJame, 2012 Courtesy of the artist/TASCHEN The dog in photography: 1839-Today The Dog in Photography 1839Today Raymond Merritt Hardcover, 14 x 19.5 cm, 688 pages US$ 20 |  15 |  15 TASCHEN

Due to the prevalence of rabies among some dogs in Nepal, strays are often not treated with much care, but Mera apparently won over the sherpas accompanying the mountaineers with her excellent climbing skills.

Theyd never seen anything like this happen. They said she was a special dog, that she brought luck to the expedition, Mr Wargowsky said. Some even thought she was blessed.

At one point the dog was unable to follow the climbers and spent two nights alone on a glacier as high winds raged.

Mr Wargowsky was convinced she would be unable to survive, but when two sherpas had to return in that direction they encouraged her to cross the difficult section. Eventually she was able to follow the climbers and continue her ascent.

At a later point Mr Wargowsky tied her up at a base camp as the next section of climbing involved travelling along a ridge with vertical snow and drops of thousands of feet on either side.

But Mera chewed through the rope and caught up with the team in less than an hour, he said.

At the next base camp, bad weather closed in and Mr Wargowsky and Mera shared his tent for four days, with the mountaineer sharing his meals with the dog.

When they finally set out for the summit at 2am, Mr Wargowsky left the animal sleeping in his tent. She reportedly slept until morning and then caught up with the team, crossing terrain which had taken the mountaineers seven hours in just two.

On the final ridge the dog ran ahead of the climbers, who were moving slowly due to the rarified air at high altitude. Despite fine weather, the wind-chill factor also meant it was around -20C.

Id never been on top of something like that with a dog. She was leaning up against me and wanting to be petted. It was pretty surreal, Mr Wargowsky said.

Although he was unable to fly the dog out of Nepal, but she has been adopted by the expeditions base camp manager, Kaji Sherpa.
As the families of the 239 victims onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines jet mark five years since they lost their relatives, the search for answers continues.

The respected aviation security expert, Philip Baum, has given The Independent the five possible scenarios that he believes are most likely. Here, each is evaluated.

Pilot-assisted suicide

Many people have focused on the aircrafts commander, Captain Zaharie Shah. He was 53 years old when he took the controls of MH370 and departed from Kuala Lumpur, destination Beijing. In his care were 227 passengers and 11 other crew members.

A common theory is that Captain Shah locked the first officer out of the flight deck. He switched off the communications systems that were designed to keep MH370 in touch with air-traffic controllers; donned an oxygen mask; and depressurised the aircraft. At an altitude higher than Everest, the passengers and other crew would soon perish from from oxygen deficiency (hypoxia).

Potential passenger belongings from MH370 Show all 13 1 /13 Potential passenger belongings from MH370 Potential passenger belongings from MH370 A bag and pen Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 The sole of a shoe Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 A satchel with pen Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 The inside of a bag Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 A shoulder bag Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 The word Mensa, from the high-IQ organisation, on an item Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 A phone case and pen Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 A wash bag Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 A backpack Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 A camera case Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 A prayer hat Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 The sole of a shoe Blaine Gibson Potential passenger belongings from MH370 A luggage bag and pen Blaine Gibson

The captain then, the theory goes, flew the aircraft along the frontier between Thailand and Malaysia to avoid raising the interest of the military on either side, before turning south to a location where he believed it would never be found.

But the official report says: There was no known history of apathy, anxiety, or irritability. There were no significant changes in his lifestyle, interpersonal conflict or family stresses.

The first officer was 27-year-old Fariq Abdul Hamid. He was on his first Boeing 777 mission without a training captain overseeing him, and had flown the aircraft only five times before. The investigators said his ability and professional approach to work was reported to be good. It seems unlikely that someone with such limited experience of the aircraft would be able to pull off such a plan.

While sadly there have been a number of crashes perpetrated by suicidal pilots  most recently the tragic destruction of Germanwings flight 9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, in which the first officer killed himself and 150 others  never has the subsequent crash been so delayed from the moment of seizure.

Hijacking by the pilot with the intention of landing, surviving and escaping

While it is difficult to find any precedent for this theory, it is feasible that one of the pilots intended to land or ditch the aircraft in a survivable state but bungled it and was incapacitated by hypoxia along with the others onboard. Yet it is difficult to conceive of a possible motive for such an audacious mission; besides, the investigators concluded: There is no evidence to suggest that the PIC [pilot in command, ie captain] and FO [first officer] experienced recent changes or difficulties in personal relationships or that there were any conflicts or problems between them.

MH370 debris - in pictures Show all 7 1 /7 MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris French police officers carry a piece of debris from a plane in Saint-Andre, Reunion Island. AP MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris Police carry a piece of debris from an unidentified aircraft found in the coastal area of Saint-Andre de la Reunion, in the east of the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion AFP PHOTO / YANNICK PITOUYANNICK PITOU/AFP/Getty Images MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris The plane part is being taken to France for further investigation Reuters MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris French gendarmes and police inspect a large piece of plane debris which was found on the beach in Saint-Andre, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion Reuters MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris French gendarmes and police inspect a large piece of plane debris which was found on the beach in Saint-Andre, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion Reuters MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris Johnny Begue, a member of a local shore cleaning association, in Saint-Andre, French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, holds the remain of a suitcase found the day before on the same site Getty Images MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris Searches continued on Friday for other possible MH370 debris along beaches on the island of Reunion AP

There had been no financial stress or impending insolvency, recent or additional insurance coverage purchased or recent behavioural changes for the crew.

The investigators also analysed both pilots radio conversations and say they detected no evidence of anxiety or stress.

In addition, the final report notes: It is not possible to deactivate automatic deployment of the masks from the cockpit. The oxygen masks are set automatically to drop in the event of a severe fall in cabin pressure, which would have given the passengers and crew some time to try to communicate with the ground.

Hijacked by a passenger or member of cabin crew

Given the large number of passengers onboard, as well as 10 cabin crew, there is a wide range of possible motives. Standard aviation security measures were in place at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. As the tragic events of 9/11 showed, the fact of having passed through a checkpoint does not mean that the passenger poses no threat to the aircraft and the people onboard.

There were a total of 227 passengers (including three children and two infants) onboard, with the majority of them from China, followed by Malaysia.

Two Iranian passengers were travelling on passports stolen from an Italian and an Austrian respectively, but they appear to have been illegal migrants who were keen to reach the West rather than harbouring any malicious intent.

All 10 members of cabin crew were married with children, which some have said implies they were unlikely to have hijacked the aircraft.

Hijacked remotely in a sophisticated act of cyberterrorism

This is where feasible theories and unfeasible conspiracy theories begin to converge.

In 2003, Boeing took out a Patent on Remote Control Take-over of Aircraft, designed to foil hijack attempts. The uninterruptible autopilot envisioned by the patent could be activated, either by pilots, onboard sensors or remotely via radio or satellite links by the airline or government agencies if there were attempts to forcibly gain control of the cockpit.

This system once activated would disallow pilot inputs and prevent anyone onboard from interrupting the automatic takeover. Thus, the personnel onboard could not be forced into carrying out the demands of any unauthorised person(s).

The converse is that criminals on the ground might be enabled by such technology to take over the aircraft.

But the aircraft maker told investigators: Boeing has confirmed that it has not implemented the patented system or any other technology to remotely pilot a commercial aircraft and is not aware of any Boeing commercial aircraft that has incorporated such technology.

The report concludes: There is no evidence to support the belief that control of the aircraft 9M-MRO (operating as MH370) could have been or was taken over remotely as the technology was not implemented on commercial aircraft.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Seized by a stowaway

Could someone have boarded the aircraft prior to the passengers and crew, either in a suicidal mission or with the intention of landing at, say, Christmas Island? This is a theory that Philip Baum sees as second-most likely after pilot suicide. He has demonstrated that there is an underfloor area just outside the flight deck door which could conceal a person. They could also deactivate the transponder, making the aircraft disappear.

It is possible that an ex-employee with a grudge was responsible  there are many cases in aviation of such individuals  but there are many arguments against such a scenario, and the probability seems extremely low. The perpetrator would need to have had access to the aircraft before it was readied for departure from Kuala Lumpur. They would need to have overcome the cabin crew, 227 passengers and two pilots to take over the aircraft. And they would need not to be missed when they disappeared at the same time as MH370.

In addition, it is difficult to come up with a motive. No terrorist group has come up with a serious claim to have taken control of MH370 for political or propaganda purposes.

Only when the aircraft is found will these theories be tested.
After 30 years in charge of Ryanair, Michael OLeary says ideally a woman would replace him as chief executive at the helm of Europes biggest budget airline.

Ryanair is overhauling its structure, with Mr O'Leary becoming group CEO  overseeing the main Ryanair airline, its Austrian subsidiary Laudamotion and a Polish operation known as Ryanair Sun.

The move creates a vacancy as chief executive of the airline itself. The controversy airline boss said: If I had a choice, Id have a female.

That would be a very significant break with the past in Ryanair. Its been run by me for the past 30 years.

I would want someone who has the opposite of my limited skill set. Someone female, empathetic, caring, kind, as opposed to a rapacious bastard like me.

Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Show all 12 1 /12 Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Ryanair Murcia Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Murcia approach over med Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International King Felipe VI at Murcia airport Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Murcia Ryanair EasyJet check in Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Ryanair Murcia Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Duty free shop Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Murcia departure gate Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Murcia International Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Murcia landing Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Murcia arrival first flight Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Murcial passport control Simon Calder Ryanair makes history on maiden flight to Spain's Murcia International Murcia check in Simon Calder

Mr OLeary accepted, though, that he is likely to be succeeded by a senior executive already working for Ryanair.

On balance its likely to be an internal candidate because they understand the business.

The only female contender is Carol Sharkey, who has been with Ryanair since 1995 and was appointed as chief risk officer in May 2018.

The leading male candidate is believed to be Peter Bellew, chief operating officer since 2017. He was running Malaysia Airlines until he returned to Ryanairs Dublin HQ to sort out the debacle of pilot rostering.

But there are three other strong contenders: chief financial officer Neil Sorahan, chief commercial officer David OBrien and chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs.

Mr OLeary spelled out the timetable for the appointment of his successor: Well do the full year results in May. Well run the ads at that stage. Well recruit sometime between September and October and have them in place by the end of the year.

The chief executive also lamented that so few women were serving as pilots, saying: Women tend to be more intelligent and more sensible.

But, he said: We do recruitment days for pilots, its 90 per cent male 10 per cent female.

Its a great career with someone with a family. You do five [days] on, four off. Youre limited to 900 hours a year, thats 18 hours a week. And you get paid 200,000 a year.

But the general secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), Brian Strutton, said he did not recognise these assertions. It is indeed true that pilots are limited to 900 hours a year, but Id be interested to see Mr OLearys evidence that those hours are distributed evenly to 18 hours per week.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

In many airlines, including Ryanair, these hours are often bunched together over the busy summer months, leading to high levels of fatigue.

Wed also be keen to see evidence of how many of Ryanairs employees (excluding Mr OLeary and his 100m pay packet) are earning 200,000 a year.

As for the piloting profession being family friendly, shifting shift work, long hours and nights away can be disruptive to family life.

BALPA has also recently launched a maternity pay campaign, which shines a light on the dire maternity provision in airlines.

The association says many airlines, including Ryanair, offer only the statutory minimum pay, which can result in a cut of up to 90 per cent for female pilots.
Passengers on a charter Virgin Atlantic flight were quarantined after dozens were struck down with sickness while on board.

Five crew members reportedly became unwell during the flight from Barbados which landed at London Gatwick at 5.20am this morning.

Flight VS610 was met by police wearing masks, who boarded the plane and escorted passengers and crew to a holding area to be medically assessed.

The illness was not immediately diagnosed, although those on the flight reportedly came down with hacking coughs and sore throats.

Passengers are thought to have flown home following a cruise in Barbados.

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust confirmed it was called to attend an inbound flight at Gatwick airport shortly before 5am on 6 March following reports of a number of crew and passengers feeling unwell and nauseous.

We sent ambulance crews including our Hazardous Area Response Team and a number of other specialist paramedics to the scene, said a spokesperson.

JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill Show all 9 1 /9 JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill Emirates plane in quarantine at JFK airport after '100 passengers fall seriously ill' ABC JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill The emergency services are seen, after the passengers were taken ill Reuters JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill Passengers leave the plane being assisted by the air cabin crew and the emergency services REUTERS JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill Emergency response crews gather outside the plane AP JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill Passengers leave the plane being assisted by the air cabin crew and the emergency services REUTERS JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill Reuters JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill Local news outlets said up to 100 of the 500 passengers were suffering from coughs and fevers ABC JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill According to a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio, the flight originated in Dubai and stopped over in Mecca, which was experiencing a flu outbreak. Authorities were considering this as a possible source for the illness ABC JFK airport: Emirates plane in quarantine after passengers fall ill The New York Police Department Counterterrorism Bureau said they were monitoring a "medical situation" at the airport. The Centres for Disease Control and New York Fire Department were also on the scene ABC

Paramedics treated 30 people, most of whom were able to be discharged from the scene following medical advice. However, three patients were taken to hospital for further treatment.

Virgin Atlantic said: A number of customers onboard the VS610, which landed at London Gatwick this morning from Barbados, reported feeling unwell.

Recommended 200 cruise passengers struck down with gastro illness

As a precaution the plane was met by the relevant authorities who made the decision to screen everyone onboard, in line with standard health and safety procedures.

The wellbeing of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we are supporting those affected.

Customers have now left the aircraft and can continue their journeys as normal.

London Gatwick added that some passengers had left the airport and continued with their journeys by 9.20am.
It is now, on International Womens Day 2019, not quite a century since the first woman took her place in the British House of Commons. Other women, in Ireland, had their own elections, but, for political reasons, did not take part in the proceedings at Westminster, so it was Nancy Astor that made history in 1919 as MP for Plymouth Sutton. Even now, a hundred years on, we can still see the disparity of female representation among the people who make our laws  about two-thirds of MPs are men. Across the west, the persistence of the gender pay gap, the #MeToo phenomenon and some well-publicised cases of men still badly abusing positions of power demonstrates how much more there is to be done before women can truly claim to be equal citizens. There is, in other words, no room for complacency while employers fail to promote women on merit, pay them less, refuse family-friendly hours, and treat them as sexual conveniences. It would be foolish to underestimate the prevalence of such attitudes, even today. Britain, like many nations, may like to congratulate itself on the legislative progress it has made, as well as emblematic breakthroughs such as its two female prime ministers, but across great swathes of ordinary life women remain underrepresented, undervalued and underappreciated.

Still, in western societies they at least have the opportunity to mobilise and agitate. Even in Trumps America, as we have seen most recently in the congressional elections, having a misogynist in the White House does not preclude further progress in making sure women have a voice, loud and clear, in protecting their civil rights and calling out casual sexism or determined chauvinism.

The ugly truth is that most of the 3.7 billion or so women who share this planet with their brothers, fathers and sons suffer systemic discrimination, denial of human rights, stolen life opportunities  and, all too often, much worse depravations. The sheer scale and variety of mans inhumanity to women  for the great majority of such abuses are perpetrated by one gender against another  is difficult to take in. The use of rape and sexual abuse in warfare, for example, has increased in recent decades as wars among, and within, failing states have multiplied. In Syria against the Yazidi women, in Burma against the Rohingya, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to give just a few examples, forced prostitution and sexual violence have been routine weapons used to terrorise the civilian population. That UN peacekeeping troops and aid agencies have also fallen prey to such depravity is still more depressing. In the refugee crisis it is women, and their children, who have felt the harshest punishment and paid the highest price at the hands of people traffickers and corrupt officials alike.

In many developing economies, and some wealthy ones, such as the Gulf States, the status of women remains grotesquely low. When observers feel as though they have something to celebrate when Saudi Arabia at last allows its female citizens even to drive a car, we have some sense of the scale of the ground that needs to be made up.

Across large swathes of the world, girls, even more than boys, face obstacles up to and including the threat of violence in accessing education. The symbolic example of Malala Yousafzai, almost murdered by the Taliban for the crime of going to school in Afghanistan, and the work of the Malala Fund remind the world, again, about the extent of the problems, which rid women of opportunity and their nations of much-needed skills and enterprise. With more than 130 million girls out of school, worldwide, today, only determined international action can bring something approaching resolution to the issue.

Access to other services such as health care, including sexual and reproductive health services, is usually highly restricted; the result is the misery of unplanned pregnancy, maternal mortality and morbidity, the spread of sexual and reproductive diseases, congenital deformities and all the complications and costs that accompany such misfortunes.

International Womens Day is a moment not to despair at the apparently insuperable cliff face of gender inequality and securing equal human right for womankind. It is a time to reflect on how much progress has been made, against the odds, in western cities, and how the examples of women in societies that were once grimly patriarchal have changed in ways that the forefathers  and that is the right word  of current generations could not have imagined. Women globally have the example of other women to inspire them, and the lesson that education, above all, can widen opportunity both for individual girls and for women more generally. As Ms Yousafzai declared a few years ago: Let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first.
Without fail, every International Womens Day the usual background din of internet trolls rumbles into a hot, frustrated crescendo: why do we need an International Womens Day? Arent we satisfied with the equality women quite obviously have? Why isnt there an International Mens Day?

From its roots as a socialist workers protest in New York in 1908, when 15,000 women marched against poor working conditions, low pay and overtime, women began to acknowledge a day of celebration and activism. In 1975 the United Nations officially recognised 8 March as a day of advancing the status of women worldwide.

Now, celebrating International Womens Day encompasses many means of female empowerment and activism: from panel discussions, lectures and festivals to an excuse to WhatsApp your friendship groups  as well as the recent rampant consumerism many brands have jumped on.

Last year on International Womens Day I published a book called She: A Celebration of 100 Renegade Women. It told the stories of women across centuries and specialisms who had battled against the odds to triumph, marking the path for others to follow. It followed the roaring success of Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, a book that transformed the lives of historical women into childrens bedtime stories.

Sadly, alongside celebration and successful sales figures, reaction to Rebel Girls (as I found with my own book) included the publication of male equivalents  or in my case, questions along the lines of: When will you publish He: A Celebration of Renegade Men?

International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Show all 17 1 /17 International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Radical political activist Angela Davis speaks at a protest in Raleigh Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Poor pay, 14 hour days and dangerous working conditions led to a strike by around 1400 women and girls at a match factory in Bow, London, 1888. The action was later coined The Matchgirls Strike International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Christabel Pankhurst, one of the founders of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and a leading member of the suffragette movement, addresses a crowd in Trafalgar Square in a speech in which she invites the crowd to rush the House of Commons, 11 October 1908. Christabel Pankhurst and her mother Emmeline, alongside Flora Drummond, were arrested two days later charged with conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace. The rush on parliament went ahead without them however, with over 60,000 suffragettes attempting to break through the 5000 strong police cordon protecting parliament. Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Suffragette Emily Davison is hit and killed by King George V's horse Anmer during the 1913 Epsom Derby. She fell underneath the galloping horse after leaping from the crowd and trying to grab hold of the reins Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Striking women machinists from the Ford plant at Dagenham protest outside negotiations over their wages, 1968. The women went on strike over their lack of pay in relation to their male colleagues. The action helped to trigger the Equal Pay Act 1970 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history The women's liberation movement march in Washington, August 1970 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Protestors disrupt the 1970 Miss World competition. Original caption: The Miss World contest causes a feminist storm as demonstrators invade the Royal Albert Hall where the contest was held. Protestors fired ink at spectators and let off stink bombs in scenes resembling a school assembly. The unruly ladies were eventually expelled from the hall by security guards and policemen Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Somalians demonstrating in Mogadishu for the release of Angela Davis, March 1972, a Black Panther activist imprisoned in the USA after being charged with first degree murder. Davis was later acquitted Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Jayaben Desai, one of the mostly British-Asian women out on strike at the Grunwick factory in 1977, pictured on the picket line Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Women protest against nuclear weapons outside of RAF base Greenham Common, 1982 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Indian protestors hold candles during a rally in New Delhi in December 2012, after the death of a student who was gang raped on a bus in the Indian capital Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history A feminist group Sisters Uncut protesting against cuts to domestic violence refuges occupy the red carpet during a protest at the Suffragette premiere, 7 October 2015 Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history People gather for the Womens March in Washington, January 2017 Reuters International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Protesters walk during the Womens March on Washington, with the US Capitol in the background, in January, 2017. Donald Trump was sworn in as president the previous day Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Women march as part of the gender equality protest in London, March 2017 AFP/Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Demonstrators march through during the March4Women event, 4 March 2018, London Getty International Womens Day: groundbreaking figures from history Placards are displayed during the March4Women, 4 March 2018, London Getty

Everyone should have the chance to be inspired by those of the same gender as them. But the idea that we need to counter a compendium of women with one of men felt much the same as when the question is posed as to whether or not an International Womens Day is really necessary.

Last year was dubbed by many as the year of the woman. It marked the centenary of the womans vote, secured eventually through militant tactics. Celebrations peppered the calendar, and 8 March seemed like a festival of sorts. This year, the day feels as if it is about to pass without much noise at all. Was that it? We got one year and now we have to zip it?

The theme for this years International Womens Day is Balance for Better. Its hard to think of a more measured and reasonable tagline: we simply want balance. And anyone who has paid attention to the news this year should be able to see the urgency that is required. This global recognition of womens plight is more vital than ever.

It emerged recently that women had been lied to for 60 years to satisfy the Pope. We have been having false periods and messing with our biological makeup for a made up reason. The pill remains the most widely taken form of contraception despite numerous accounts of how damaging it can be for mental health. A male equivalent is still not on the market.

Meanwhile, hormone replacement therapy for women going through the menopause has been linked with Alzheimers.

Two women die from cervical cancer every day in England but smear test signups are at a 20-year low. Women are too embarrassed to protect themselves from cancer.

Labiaplasty is one of the fastest-growing types of cosmetic surgery. The patriarchy came for our hair, our weight, our breasts, and it finally came for our vulvas. It is killing us. This week Public Health England released the first ever smear test campaign. As in, it has taken until 2019 for womens health to be considered campaign-worthy.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

At Westminster, Christopher Chope MP blocked a bill that could protect women from FGM, some eight months after he blocked a bill criminalising the taking of photographs up womens skirts without their consent. Men like Chope are still, somehow, able to determine the course of womens lives and have a say over their safety.

The gender pay gap, predicted to take more than 200 years to close, is actually widening at big firms nationwide, with four in 10 companies reporting wider disparities than last year.

Sexual harassment is still widespread in various parts of the world: in many countries across eastern Europe up to 70 per cent of women have been affected.

Recommended The South Sudanese radio show run entirely by women for women

Tomorrow, women in Spain are going on strike to protest the rise of the far-right and their damaging views on abortion and domestic violence. In Spain this week there was also a bus campaign with an image of Hitler wearing makeup pasted across the side of the bus above the hashtag #StopFeminazis. The demand for equal rights is being equated with the genocidal Nazi regime.

Female tourists allege they have been raped and sexually assaulted by hoteliers and tour guides, with TripAdvisor asking them to detail their attacks in reviews.

Google has refused to remove a Saudi government app that allows men to track their wives.

Of course we are seeing some positive changes. The movement against sexual harassment is seeing perpetrators finally face the consequences for their actions. But without these movements  without this day  would our voices have been otherwise heard?

While people may joke and jibe about the need for an International Womens Day, its clear that every day is International Mens Day. Every single day is one where these inequalities continue to stubbornly exist and are dismissed as nothing more than unconnected freak occurrences.

The 25 best books by women Show all 25 1 /25 The 25 best books by women The 25 best books by women Pride and Prejudice  Jane Austen Austen remains one of historys greatest masters in two tricky literary fields: the world of romance and the world of social satire. Pride and Prejudice, then, sees her at the peak of her powers. Through the eyes of Elizabeth Bennet, her sharp-witted protagonist, we witness upper-class Regency England as both a dream and a farce. Not all is as it seems, and society betrays its holloweness when it deems that money should trump love. The 25 best books by women Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston Despite the fact that Hurston was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, Their Eyes Were Watching God was largely rejected by her peers. It was during the 1970s and 1980s that her novel was essentially rediscovered, with many contemporary black feminists heralding the genius of her work. The novel focuses on Janie Crawford, a black woman who refuses to give in to bitterness or sorrow, as she navigates three marriages and a life marked by poverty. Its a story bursting with passion and soulfulness. The 25 best books by women The Lottery and Other Stories  Shirley Jackson Jackson probed the darkest corners of the American psyche during the 1940s and 1950s, all thanks to her collections of ghost stories, including 1959s The Haunting of Hill House, which was recently adapted into a Netflix series. With several novels and over 200 short stories for readers to get lost in, there are very few horror writers like her. Thats especially true when it comes to (arguably) her greatest work, 1948s The Lottery, which traces a small towns annual tradition to its sinister conclusion. The 25 best books by women To Kill a Mockingbird  Harper Lee A Pulitzer Prize winner, To Kill a Mockingbird has carved its place in history. Its depiction of racial injustice in the American Deep South was startling frank for the 1960s, in a way that undeniably had a social impact at the time  it became an instant sensation and is now widely taught in American schools. Lee writes about the worlds cruelties with an honesty and compassion that still resonates, with the character of Atticus Finch becoming a enduring model of integrity for the legal profession. The 25 best books by women Kindred - Octavia E Butler Butler was a key figure in sci-fi history, expanding the boundaries of what the genre could achieve and what it could come to represent. First published in 1979, the book still feels as fresh as ever in its first-person account of a young black writer, Dana, who through strange circumstances, finds herself travelling between her own reality and a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. Its through this unusual theme that Butler can explore the lasting trauma of Americas history on African-Americans today. The 25 best books by women Jane Eyre  Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre feels, in many ways, thoroughly modern today. Although originally published under the pen name Currer Bell, it feels likes a dive into the mind of Bronte herself. The story is told through a first-person narrative that feels so psychologically intimate, its as if shes sharing the secrets of her own world with us. We follow Jane through her school years, all the way to her later employment by Mr Rochester, a tortured soul who she falls madly in love with, with many aspects of her journey reflecting elements of Brontes own life. The 25 best books by women Half of a Yellow Sun  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Adichie, who was born in Nigeria, is considered one of the most original literary voices of her generation. You can see why this is when reading Half of a Yellow Sun, which depicts the brutality of the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s, as seen through four different perspectives: twin daughters of a wealthy businessman, a British citizen, a professor, and a houseboy. Its history via an achingly human lens. The 25 best books by women White Teeth  Zadie Smith Smith remains a modern titan of the British literary scene, thanks partially to White Teeth, which is considered one of the most sensational fiction debuts of all time, becoming an immediate bestseller and sweeping up multiple awards. Its a tale of two men  Bangladeshi Samad Iqbal and Englishman Archie Jones  who become friends after being stationed together during WWII. Their return to London sees the book examine British post-war attitudes to those from formerly colonised countries, although Smith ensures the subject is approached with both heart and a sense of humour. The 25 best books by women The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector Lispector was a literary innovator. The Hour of the Star, published posthumously in 1977, invents a narrator named Rodrigo SM, who in turns tells the story of Macabea, a poor young woman who hails from Alagoas, where Lispectors family first settled when they immigrated to Brazil. However, the way Rodrigo perceives Macabea, and reckons with her story, itself creates a dialogue between the two characters, calling into question notions of identity and authorship. The 25 best books by women Mrs Dalloway  Virginia Woolf One of literatures sharpest minds and inspiration to the feminist movement in the 1970s, Woolf not only helped pioneer the use of the stream of consciousness as a narrative device, but utilised it to speak openly about sexuality, mental illness, and gender roles. The novel largely follows the inner thoughts of two characters, Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Smith, one a high-society woman in post-WWI England and the other a veteran suffering from shell shock. The 25 best books by women A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories  Flannery OConnor OConnor wrote hard stories for a hard world. Her unsentimental, sardonic use of the Southern Gothic style helped weave her own take on the parable, in which the morally weak often face violent, painful punishment for their misdeeds. That said, the door is always open for transformation and spiritual awakening by the storys conclusion, with her work frequently confronting ideas of morality and ethics through the lens of her own Catholic faith. The 25 best books by women Persepolis  Marjane Satrapi At times, it seems less like Persepolis is a story. Satrapis graphic novel, published in two volumes in 2000 and 2004, feels more like an invitation, as she takes our hand and leads us through her childhood and early adult years, so that we can see through the eyes of a curious, funny, smart young girl who must face the personal repercussions of war and religious extremism in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution. Its the political seen through the personal, but its always Satrapis own spirit that shines the brightest. The 25 best books by women Frankenstein  Mary Shelley Many have now come to consider Shelleys Frankenstein as the first pure work of science-fiction, with a central narrative driven a characters exploration of a world beyond what we already know. Not only is it significant for its later influence on culture, but Shelleys work, initially published anonymously, is astonishing in both its emotional vitality and its philosophical implications. Its a work where we both feel the anguish of the misunderstood, while also reckoning with the concept of mans unbridled power. The 25 best books by women Beloved  Toni Morrison Beloved takes its inspiration from the true story of Margaret Garner, who escaped slavery in Kentucky in 1856 and fled to Ohio, a free state. However, the story itself focuses on a protagonist named Sethe, a former slave, whose home is haunted by a malevolent presence that she believes is her eldest daughter. Its through this vivid sense of magical realism that Morrison can confront the unfathomable trauma that slavery has inflicted on the African-American collective memory. The 25 best books by women The Handmaids Tale  Margaret Atwood Although the book has received increased attention thanks to Hulus critically acclaimed TV adaptation, its all thanks to the fierceness of Atwoods critical analysis of gender politics. Her 1985 book, which imagines a near-future New England controlled by a totalitarian state, in which women are completely subjugated to men, has only become increasingly relevant  and prescient. Her work provides a continued reminder that it doesnt take much for our world to slip into complete dystopia. The 25 best books by women Middlemarch - George Eliot Mary Anne Evans, amongst other concerns, feared that her work, Middlemarch, would be dismissed entirely due to the notion that womens writing was strictly light and romantic. And so, instead, it was published in eight instalments across 1871 and 1872 under the name George Eliot. The book is far from light; set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch, it follows a vast, sweeping narrative that encompasses subjects of religion, idealism, and political reform. The 25 best books by women Little Fires Everywhere  Celeste Ng Ng writes about American suburbia with an astounding clarity, perhaps partially because she considers the act of writing about ones hometown as a little like writing about a relative, with an attachment that perceives both their greatest attributes and their flaws. Little Fires Everywhere is her second novel to take place in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where she grew up, and focuses on a new arrival to the town, who sense of mystery disrupts its residentss obsession with structure and rules. The 25 best books by women The Bell Jar  Sylvia Plath Famous for its popularity with teenage girls, Plaths work speaks to clearly to an adolescent precisely because it makes no attempt to sugar-coat the prospect of the entrance into adulthood. The books protagonist, Esther, a young woman attempting to establish herself in New York, feels more like a front for Plath to discuss her own experiences of struggling with mental health, especially in the context of the 1950s, when womens concerns were so rarely paid attention to. There is an honesty to Esthers frustration that has been a comfort to many. The 25 best books by women My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante My Brilliant Friend is only one part of Ferrantes four-book series, known as the Neapolitan Novels. As the first chapter, it is, de facto, the most well known of the series, but its also an invitation to such raw intimacy that readers will be unable to resist delving into the rest. Ferrante serves as a pseudonym, allowing the books to illuminate with candor the friendship between two women, born in Naples in 1944, who try to find peace in a world of violence and misogyny. The 25 best books by women The Age of Innocence  Edith Wharton Edith Wharton captures with vigour both the opulence and the suffocating claustrophobia of New Yorks Gilded Age, as two future newlyweds  in every other way societys perfect vision of man and woman  find their union disrupted by the arrival of a cousin shrouded in scandal. The Age of Innocence is a wistful, romantic novel that still succeeds in treating societys hypocrisy with an acute sense of disdain. The 25 best books by women The Color Purple  Alice Walker Marking a rare mastery of the epistolary novel, The Color Purple focuses on the experiences of black women living in the US South during the 1930s. Although it deals with themes of abuse and violence, the honesty in Walkers voice is disarming in a way that opens us up to her protagonists journey towards self-realisation and personal freedom. Its no wonder that the books continued relevance saw it both adapted into 1985 film, directed by Steven Spielberg, and a Broadway musical. The 25 best books by women Rebecca  Daphne du Maurier Rebecca remains one the finest examples of Gothic literature, despite the fact that du Maurier wasnt writing within the confines of some drafty Victorian castle; rather, she was examining the world of spirits during the interwar period. In its story of a woman whose whirlwind courtship with a widower turns sour when she becomes haunted by the lingering presence of her husbands first wife, Rebecca is a book filled with suppressed desires, loss, and a looming sense of threat. The 25 best books by women The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy As Roys debut novel, its an extraordinary first outing. Roy contrasts the innocence of childhood, as seen in the books protagonists, fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, with the rising political turmoil in Kerala during 1969. It also features a non-sequential approach to narrative, with the novel intricately weaving between the twinss reunion in 1993 and the lengthy flashback and sidetracks, all painted with a massive sense of scope and imagination. The 25 best books by women Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie We may know every twist and turn of Christies best works by now, but theres still a frisson to how intricately and confidently she pulls the rug from underneath readers. Murder on the Orient Express still feels like her most enthralling work, as famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot finds himself in the midst of a murder scene, after his train is blocked by the heavy snowfall and a passenger is found dead, making the rest of those on board all instant suspects. The 25 best books by women The Tale of Genji  Murasaki Shikibu The oldest book on this list, this classic of Japanese literature was written by Shikibu, a noblewoman and lady-in-waiting, in the early 11th century. Although the original manuscript no longer exists, whats been passed down to us now was translated initially into modern Japanese, with English translations being published at a later time. An account of the life Hikaru Genji, the son of the emperor, its a masterful work of psychological portraiture, which offers a rare glimpse into the cultural customs of post-classical Japan.

International Womens Day exists, and Womens History Month in the US, for the same reason Pride month and Black History Month exist: because it is about raising the voices and opportunities of those who are not heard on a daily basis. Because it is women who currently have the unarguable disadvantage across the globe.

Perhaps one day there wont be a need for an International Womens Day at all. Wouldnt that be nice.

But for now, as we near the precipice of real change in the west and as women in developing countries, eons away from equality, continue to fight for their rights, the need is greater than ever.
Department of Public Expenditure secretary general Robert Watt appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday (PA)

A senior civil servant has apologised to an Oireachtas committee following claims he described them as a mob that has to be controlled.

Robert Watt, head of the Department of Public Expenditure, was appearing at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is examining the cost overruns at the National Childrens Hospital (NCH).

Ahead of his opening statement, Mr Watt was asked about comments he allegedly made to Government officials outside the committee room.

The committee was told that Mr Watt was overheard saying that the committee chairman, Fianna Fails Sean Fleming, has to control the mob.

If anyone takes offence, I do apologise. It's a colloquial expression. It's not meant to be an offensive remarkRobert Watt

Sinn Feins David Cullinane asked Mr Watt to confirm whether he made the comment, adding that if he did it would be deeply unsatisfactory.

Mr Watt said: I dont know what I said, if I said it I apologise for that. I dont recall saying it.

If anyone takes offence, I do apologise. Its a colloquial expression. Its not meant to be an offensive remark.

Mr Cullinane said his response was not good enough.

The committee meeting, which became embroiled in a number of rows, was examining the cost overrun at the hospital, which jumped from 600 million euros to 1.7 billion euros and is expected to rise further.

Before the committee began, members expressed their outrage after the states chief procurement officer Paul Quinn failed to appear, despite being specifically invited.

Mr Cullinane said he found it very unsatisfactory that he did not appear.

I think thats a clear tactic by the accounting officer and by the Secretary General, he added.

I think there is an attempt by some at the top of the public service to kick back against the PAC and we are seeing it more and more. We have to stand our ground as a committee.

It's at a stage now where the level of contempt in which the committees are being treated is unacceptableMarc MacSharry, Fianna Fail

Fianna Fail TD Marc MacSharry said: Its at a stage now where the level of contempt in which the committees are being treated is unacceptable.

I think the notion of pesky politicians having the effrontery to ask questions in the public interest when it comes to the expenditure of public money on their behalf and how thats being treated.

Social Democrat Catherine Murphy said: I was the one who looked for him to come in.

This is about process and failure of process. I am deeply, deeply angry the decision was made to exclude him from that.

Mr Watts 18-page opening statement was criticised after he failed to mention the childrens hospital.

Sinn Feins Jonathan OBrien said it was bizarre.

He added: It seems to me like theres a determination not to discuss the NCH today with the PAC, that you didnt want Mr Quinn before the committee because there would be awkward questions asked of him.

I find it bizarre he is not here given his unique position as head of the Office of Government Procurement.

Mr Watt went on to describe the NCH as a complex project, adding that no-one is happy about the overrun.

When asked if he was happy that the process was adhered to by the Department of Health, he replied: I am happy that the project was managed by the Department of Health in line with the public spending code.

I think there are issues around the nature of this tendering process because we moved away from the lump sum contract.

The issue was that the complexity of the project meant that it was not possible to have detailed design set out when we entered a two-stage design process.

When the detailed design was finalised, then it became apparent that the estimate that underpinned the contract in spring 2017 wasnt accurate.

Mr Watt said he was made aware of the cost overruns on November 19.

He was asked by Mr OBrien if he agreed that it was a huge failure not to inform him about the cost overruns at an earlier date.

No, if they had come to us in August or September and said there is an issue here, we would have asked, How much is it going to cost, Mr Watt replied.

Mr MacSharry said it was not remotely credible that Mr Quinn did not tell him earlier than November about the major overspend.

When later pressed by Labours Alan Kelly about the timeline of events and when exactly he became aware of the costs, a frustrated Mr Watt said he found the questioning absolutely pointless.

Fine Gaels Kate OConnell queried the two-stage tendering process and asked officials whether they would be happy to use a similar process for future projects.

Mr Watt said: My view is we shouldnt commit to a contract which has significant works unless we have greater clarity around the design and final costs.

One of the issues here was that the Government had committed to spending before we had final sight of tender.

I think the big question is, if we had known the cost of all the options, the actual final cost, what would the state have done? We dont know what the answer is.

We need to ensure that doesnt happen again.
Driving force: Traffic crosses the Border into Northern Ireland from the Irish Republic at Co Armagh. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

CHAOS is unfolding in the driver green card system, with a number of motorists being turned down for the documents designed to enable drivers to cross over to the UK.

Independent.ie has spoken to several motorists, whove tried prepare for a potential hard Brexit but have been refused the green cards from insurance providers.

The cards will enable drivers to cross over the border into Northern Ireland and into Britain post a hard Brexit.

This comes in the wake of the Government and Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) notifying drivers of the necessity of the free cards in a no-deal scenario.

One female driver, from Dublin, requested a green card from her insurance broker today, as she regularly drives to Northern Ireland and Britain.

She was told not one green card had been issued to customers from any of the 14 insurance companies on its books.

The woman was then notified she couldnt have a green card currently and was instead asked to call back late next week, to see if there are any updates.

Seamus Ward, a driver from Dundalk, Co Louth, phoned his car insurance broker on Monday but was, he said, also instructed to wait until next week to apply.

Retired businessman Mr Ward said: I spoke to a courteous lady who said theyd not been advised of any changes but to wait until after the vote in the Commons on March 12.

Mr Ward claimed he was told anything else was scaremongering in the media.

Mr Ward had been making the query, as hes due to travel to the UK on April 19.

He claimed the customer services worker, finished the call by saying there would be a card sent out to him in the event of a no deal scenario, by the end of the month.

Another female driver, from Dublin, said she had called her insurance company and was told that a green card should be with her by the end of March and motorists living in border counties were the first priority.

Read More

And AXA Ireland tweeted a customer enquiring about green cards on Wednesday: In the event of a No Deal Brexit, all direct car and van customers will automatically receive a green card by post, free of charge. You do not have to do anything.

Fianna Fail transport spokesman Robert Troy, was confused by the mixed messages, saying: It was made very clear, to start applying for green cards immediately, as theres a four week turnaround period.

Its now less than four weeks until March 29. If a driver doesnt have a green card on March 30, in the event of a hard Brexit, they may be under risk of their car being impounded.

If they are involved in an accident and not covered when in the UK, thats a serious concern.

This is something I will raise with the Minister for Transport and the MIBI.

Its possible someone (insurance brokers/providers) is trying to save themselves money somewhere and is waiting until next week, in the hope that a hard Brexit will be prevented.

Thats not a duty of care to customers. Everyone hopes a hard Brexit will be prevented and that there wont be a need for green cards.

But if the turnaround time is four weeks and some people are being refused, thats a concern.

Dermott Jewell, from the Consumer Association of Ireland, labelled the occurrence typical of Brexit, adding that such chaos was more than likely down to saving money.

Mr Jewell said the confusion could now lead to consumers turning their backs on this initiative.

Like so much of anything surrounding Brexit, not everyone seems to be following the same advice, he added.

There needs to be significant clarification from the MIBI to explain what's happened, how this is to be remedied and when.

All motor insurance providers across Ireland have been notified of the stipulation to provide drivers with green cards upon requests.

And an informed source within the motor insurance industry said he believed the situation is down to a breakdown in communication.

It is understood the MIBI will now be ensuring the message is once again made clear to any insurance providers who may not have followed instructions.

The MIBI said one million green cards and templates have so far been issued to motor insurance providers. These have been delivered, it says, to 40 providers.

5,000 green cards were issued last year for travel outside Europe, highlighting the fact these documents are by no means uncharted territory for insurance providers.

Some drivers have also raised concerns that green cards are contrary to the Good Friday Agreement but the MIBI stated the documents were being organised on the advice from the UK Government and the European Commission, which is, it said, straightforward.

If theres a no deal Brexit then any EU registered vehicle driven in Northern Ireland or the UK will require a green card to satisfy the law enforcement authorities. This includes vehicles from the Republic of Ireland.

David Fitzgerald, Chief Executive of the MIBI, said: The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland has now issued one million blank green cards, as well as separate electronic application templates to the insurance companies.

From the beginning of March the insurance companies and insurance brokers are issuing green cards to their policyholders as requested.

"Anyone who requires a green card should contact their insurance provider and they will be issued with one.

So if you get your motor insurance directly from an insurance company, you should contact them or if you get your motor insurance from a broker, then that is who you should contact.

The process is quite clear. Anyone who expects to drive in Northern Ireland or elsewhere in the UK in the days immediately after Brexit should now contact their insurance provider and they will be issued a green card before the 29th March.

Anyone who plans on travelling to Northern Ireland or other parts of the UK, should contact their insurance provider one month in advance of their journey.
Full speed ahead: A float featuring an effigy of British Prime Minister Theresa May is seen prior to the annual Rose Monday Carnival parade in Dusseldorf, Germany. Photo: Getty

Senior executives of many businesses across the UK have been cowardly in their approach to explaining to the public the cost of a hard Brexit to their firm.

There has been a flood of warnings in the last few months about the very real, specific and painful costs of a no-deal Brexit. But it has been too little and possibly too late.

Brexiteer business figures from James Dyson to Wetherspoons pub chain founder Tim Martin, were vocal from the beginning about why they believed it was important to leave the EU.

In theory, Tim Martin ran the risk of alienating half of his customer base - but in fact his share price has doubled since the start of 2016.

On the remain side, business leaders hid behind the warnings of their industry bodies such as the Institute of Directors or the CBI. Unfortunately for them, lobby group warnings do not carry the same punch.

Now senior figures in business from the boss of Airbus and Aston Martin, to BMW, are predicting dire consequences for jobs.

It is possible they weighed up the pros and cons of speaking out sooner and decided to say very little until now. Make a stark warning about how you may have to move production or shed lots of jobs, and your share price could fall.

Many of them probably took a gamble that it would all be sorted out by now and things would never get this close to a no-deal crash-out Brexit.

Contrast the relative silence in the UK with many senior high-profile Irish business figures.

Michael O'Leary runs a publicly quoted multi-billion euro airline with huge business interests in the UK and a reliance on the performance of the British economy. He was predicting that airplanes wouldn't even take off unless something changed.

Even food companies in Ireland with a lot to lose have been open and frank about the implications without fearing the attention it could attract to their business and its vulnerability.

If the head of a lobby group like the CBI says a crash-out Brexit will be very bad for business, it simply doesn't register that much. Lobby groups are expected to complain about things and their analyses fitted very nicely into the Brexit chant that all bad news was part of 'Project Fear'.

But when the chief executive of a large corporation employing thousands of people comes out and says this will cost a lot of jobs and we will have to weigh up our future in this country, people sit up and take notice, not least the employees and those in the supply chain.

One can only presume many executives were making their concerns known privately to politicians. However, if the company is listed on the stock market, they would have to be very careful about what they could say privately to a politician about the real cost of Brexit to a business.

The business community did their analysis of what they thought would happen, and they got it wrong.

Too many Brexit myths have made it into the public consciousness and could serve to derail the chances of British voters coming up with a different result in any future second referendum.

A string of executives are now warning about the reality of a hard Brexit, but it has come after a hardening of attitudes among the British electorate many of whom just want to "get on with it".

As Brexit reaches a very important juncture next Tuesday, with the next big vote on UK Prime Minister Theresa May's deal, Irish businesses have to ask themselves what exactly are they hoping for?

When the speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow announces the result of the vote some time next Tuesday evening, what result should we want?

The vast majority of Irish people want there to be no Brexit at all. However, the road which leads to that destination is very hard to see right now.

Given that Ms May's deal offers a transition period, the backstop and the basis for a reasonably close relationship between the EU and the UK into the future, many of us might be happy to settle for her deal to pass.

If it passes, we have to bear in mind it will only be the beginning of long, drawn-out trade negotiations for several years to come in which the Irish Government will be using whatever influence it has to get the best deal for the UK.

While there is solid speculation that the EU will come up with something next week capable of securing more Tory votes than the last time, Ms May might only close the gap but not win the day.

If that happens, there will be a vote on taking a no deal off the table, which is likely to pass. There will be a vote on extending the March 29 deadline.

We could breathe a sigh of relief that no deal won't be happening but we will remain in the dark about what will happen. One scenario suggests that parliament will take a bigger role in the whole process. It has also been speculated that there is a (cross-party) majority in the House of Commons in favour of a softer Brexit with the UK staying in the customs union and possibly the single market.

Good for Ireland, but it is the outcome described by former Prime Minister Tony Blair as a "pointless Brexit". It could also completely fracture the political party structure that has dominated British politics for so long.

A softer Brexit would be very good news for Ireland, but nobody has any plans to put such a Brexit plan on the table. In recent weeks more people in Ireland are predicting an extension of Article 50, no progress in the extended period, and eventually the whole Brexit project drifts and never actually happens.

Wishful thinking for many of us, and at this stage it seems unlikely Ireland will get away that lightly.

Unfortunately, Irish business has to try and make sense of all of this. Some form of Brexit is on the cards eventually, even if a no-deal crash-out looks less likely than it did a few weeks ago.

In the coming days, the negotiators in London and Brussels will try to find a formula which enables some third-party arbitration mechanism which decides when the backstop can be replaced. Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement there has to be such a mechanism anyway to decide on disputes about interpretation of the deal. But the ultimate arbiter is the European Court. This will be very hard to sell to the ERG hardliners and the DUP, even if the latter appear to be looking for a way out of this mess while saying they achieved their aims.

Even the most-seasoned political observers in London are reluctant to say how many votes Ms May's 'improved' deal will secure next Tuesday. A temporary no-deal, crash-out cannot be ruled out. After crashing out, the UK would have to come to the negotiating table to map out a future trading relationship. But a lot of damage could be done to solid Irish businesses in the meantime.

One business adviser who works with SMEs told me there was total Brexit fatigue at this stage with the whole thing.

Gene Murtagh, chief executive of multibillion-euro Kingspan Group said he wants clarity before making decisions on Brexit. He said it was a risk to do nothing but making the wrong move was equally dangerous. More honesty from a senior executive of a major Irish company.
A three-point plan is being hatched in Brussels with the aim of helping UK Prime Minister Theresa May pull back from a cliff-edge Brexit.

While negotiations between the UK and EU remain "difficult", a 'package' of measures is being put together in a bid to assure British politicians they won't be trapped in the backstop indefinitely.

The Irish Independent understands it includes:

A commitment from both sides on a timeline for exploring alternative arrangements;

Scope for changes to the political declaration if the UK wishes;

A 'letter of comfort' which reaffirms that the intention of the backstop is to be temporary.

The EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, yesterday told commissioners that no solution to the impasse has been identified "at this point".

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the "most sensitive and most difficult" element of the talks will be trying to facilitate the UK's attorney general Geoffrey Cox so that he can offer fresh legal advice to the House of Commons.

Mr Cox previously warned the UK could be 'trapped' in the backstop which ties the country to EU customs regulations in order to avoid a hard Border on the island of Ireland.

Expand Close Revelations: Tanaiste Simon Coveney on a visit to INMs offices in Dublin yesterday. Photo: David Conachy / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Revelations: Tanaiste Simon Coveney on a visit to INMs offices in Dublin yesterday. Photo: David Conachy

"I think some people are overly optimistic at this stage about those negotiations and their outcome," Mr Coveney said.

Speaking exclusively on Independent.ie's 'Floating Voter' podcast, the Tanaiste said the backstop will not be changed ahead of the key House of Commons vote on Tuesday, but "there will be an effort to try to introduce some form of declaration that creates a persuasive legal argument that reassures people that the backstop would be temporary".

Mr Coveney also revealed more details about the Irish Government's strategy in the event that a no-deal Brexit becomes inevitable in the coming days.

"If it all fails politically, collapses and Britain crashes out in 23 days' time then I think there is a recognition that the British and Irish governments and EU Commission will have to work together to try to put some complex arrangement in place to prevent physical barriers on the Border," he said.

In comments that are likely to raise eyebrows among observers in the DUP, the Tanaiste said that even in a no-deal scenario there will still need to be "something very similar to the backstop" in order to prevent a Border.

"That's the truth of it," he said.

Asked why the PSNI has been more forthright in outlining its resources for dealing with a disorderly Brexit than An Garda Siochana, Mr Coveney replied: "The truth is that if there is going to be unrest it's more likely to happen in Northern Ireland than in the Republic of Ireland, that's the truth of it."

Meanwhile, the DUP's Sammy Wilson has accused Northern Ireland's top civil servant of having a political motive for warning against a no-deal Brexit.

David Sterling has warned of the grave, profound and long-lasting consequences of a disorderly Brexit.

"I have no doubt this was written for a political motive," Mr Wilson said.

He described suggestions businesses could struggle or relocate from Northern Ireland to the Republic as "scare tactic".

"I don't care if he's head of civil service or Santa Claus, it really doesn't matter, the fact of the matter is he's got it wrong," Mr Wilson told MPs.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the Government must bail out the beef industry, which is likely to be devastated in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Speaking in the Dail yesterday, Mr Varadkar said the overriding concern of everyone in the beef industry is what is going to happen in the next couple of weeks with regard to Brexit.

"I want beef farmers and the beef industry to know we have their back.

"We are working to secure a deal that provides a transition period so there is no change to the rules of trade until at least 2020.

"I believe that will restore confidence to the industry and allow prices to rise again.

"In the event that we don't have a deal we are working very closely with the European Commission to put in place financial supports that will be necessary to bail out the industry," he said.

The Taoiseach said this is something we will have to do to defend incomes and jobs.

However, on the current slump in beef prices, he said the Government does not control the beef factories or the price of any commodity.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed told the Irish Independent in January that if, and when, a hard Brexit becomes a reality, Ireland will be making a case for major grant aid.

"You're looking at hundreds of millions here. Between the beef industry and the fishing industry we're talking mega-money," he said.

Meanwhile, Britain's government has reached a general agreement on import tariffs if it leaves the European Union without a deal, Trade Secretary Liam Fox said yesterday.

However the Business Secretary Greg Clark warned that tough choices still remained.

British media reported earlier this week that the government was planning to slash tariffs on 80-90pc of goods if it left with no deal, which would benefit consumers but damage the competitiveness of many British factories and farms.

Speaking to MPs yesterday, Mr Fox said senior ministers had reached an outline agreement but that it was too soon to make details public.

"It is always possible that there could be further changes, but there has been a basic agreement," he told a parliamentary committee.
Ulysses House: The penthouse floor is subject to a 10-year lease

Bryan Garry of QRE Real Estate Advisers is quoting a price in excess of 2.25m for the penthouse floor of Ulysses House on Foley Street in Dublin city centre.

Extending to 610 sq m (6,566 sq ft), the property is subject to a new 10-year lease in favour of British Study Centres Limited (guaranteed by BSC Group Limited) from 2018.

The lease provides for five-yearly open market rent reviews.

The initial rent is 185,708 per annum, which equates to in excess of 28 per sq ft, to include two basement car parking spaces.

British Study Centres is an award-winning school of English with year-round study centres for adult students in the UK and Dublin.

Based on the 2.25m guide price, the prospective purchaser can expect a net initial yield of 7.6pc (allowing for standard purchaser's costs of 8.46pc).

Bryan Garry expects to see significant interest from investors, given the strength of tenant covenant coupled with heightened demand from educational occupiers.
Quay decision: An artists impression of the hotel to be built on Sullivans Quay in Cork city centre

The development of a new 220-bedroom hotel on the site of the former tax office on Sullivan's Quay in Cork is expected to attract a wide range of Irish and international investors looking for a foothold in the city.

Agent CBRE has been instructed to offer the hotel for sale in advance of its delivery by its current owners, Bam Property Ltd. The hotel will be delivered to a specification pre-agreed between the parties.

The proposed hotel will form part of a mixed-use scheme designed by Scott Tallon Walker Architects, comprising the hotel itself and 8,000 sq m (86,111 sq ft) of Grade A office space. Located on the site of Cork's former tax office, the new hotel will extend to 14,680 sq m (158,014 sq ft), and will feature a landmark 12-storey tower and executive lounge on its top floor.

The hotel's planning permission provides for 220 bedrooms ranging in size from 21 sq m (226 sq ft) to 31 sq m (334 sq ft), with suites of up to 60 sq m (646 sq ft). The proposed bedroom mix currently includes 118 king bedrooms, 60 double-double bedrooms, 29 suites and two presidential suites.

The proposed hotel will have a 327 sq m (3,520 sq ft) restaurant with a private dining area of 36 sq m (387 sq ft).

Additionally, the ground floor internal courtyard will provide space for outdoor dining, while the 159 sq m (1,711 sq ft) bar area will provide seating for approximately 70 patrons. The first floor will include nine meeting rooms (10-12 person capacity), a conference and banqueting space of 215 sq m (120 guests seated), as well as two break-out spaces, welcome area and a bar.

The hotel will also include a gym on the first floor, as well as an executive lounge on the 10th and 11th floors. The space on the 10th and 11th floors could also be used as a presidential suite.

In terms of its location, the proposed hotel will occupy a pivotal position in Cork city centre. This will be further enhanced by the hugely-anticipated development of the 73m Cork Event Centre on nearby South Main Street. The 6,000-capacity arena is expected to deliver an additional 200,000 visitors into Cork City annually.

Commenting on the opportunity the proposed hotel on Sullivan's Quay presents, John Hughes of CBRE said: "Over the past six years, Cork City has seen exceptionally strong hotel performance with continuous growth both in terms of room rate and occupancy. RevPAR (Revenue per available room) saw an impressive 12.24pc compound annual growth rate between 2012 and 2018.

"Hotels have benefitted greatly from increased visitor numbers, especially in conjunction with numerous multinationals setting up their operations in Cork, as well as the success of Failte Ireland's 'Wild Atlantic Way' tourism initiative."
There are 40,000 people working in Dublin's Docklands, and there will be another 40,000 people working there within two years. That's one dramatic revelation from an expert seminar run by Owen Reilly, estate agents, who specialise in docklands property. I attended the event as an Owen Reilly client, and I was surprised at the pace of development.

Derek Kelly, head of Dublin City Council's docklands office, provided an overview of the planning and infrastructural issues. The role of his office is to manage and implement the North Lotts and Grand Canal Basin Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) planning schemes.

Their focus is on five development hubs: Grand Canal Square, Boland's Mill and Britain Quay on the southside, and Spencer Dock and the Point Village, across the river.

The SDZs are split into 20 blocks and provide for 2,600 residential units and 366,000 sq m of commercial space. Mr Kelly said the number of residential units is likely to be exceeded, and the commercial space will definitely be exceeded, partly due to moves to allow increased building heights.

The plans also provide for three new bridges, seven new public spaces and a range of community facilities.

The pace of development is dramatic and there are 15 large projects under construction, with planning permission for five more. The commercial element of this comprises approximately 400,000 sq m, of which 300,000 sq m is under construction. The residential component provides for just over 2,000 apartments, plus student accommodation of over 900 bedspaces. Over 1,000 of these apartments are under construction.

Among the infrastructural works being undertaken are a new district heating system for the docklands, and an 'Open Access Telecoms Network', which is ducting to meet future connectivity needs. The next major landholding to be developed will be the Poolbeg West SDZ, comprising 34 hectares (84 acres) and with potential for 3,500 residential units and 100,000 sq m of commercial space

Fuelling this are the rapidly-rising employment numbers in the docklands.

Anne-Louise Hannon, associate director with CBRE, described the strength of the office market. She said there are 14 office developments currently under construction in the docklands, totalling approximately 250,000 sq m, and that approximately 140,000 sq m of this has already been reserved. By the end of 2022, over 350,000 sq m is scheduled to be delivered and this will accommodate a further 40,000 workers in the area. Ms Hannon is positive about the outlook and told me that with Dublin vacancy rates below their natural level, prime rents increased by approximately 5pc last year to 650 per sq m.

For residential property, Maya Healy of Owen Reilly, said apartment prices increased by 4pc last year, a cooling from double-digit growth over previous years; 62pc of buyers are investors, and 75pc of those are Irish.

Average rents grew by 10pc last year, 80pc of tenants are from overseas, and 83pc don't want a car-parking space. Ms. Healy estimates that landlords are securing gross yields of 5.8 pc.

Average sales prices for apartments are 322,500 (1 bed), 503,000 (2 bed) and 612,000 (3 bed), while average rents are 1,983 per month, 2,386 per month and 3,150 per month respectively.

Interestingly, Owen Reilly data shows that the average total income for a couple renting a 2-bed unit is 145,000. At the prime Grand Canal Dock, the average salary of a single tenant is 117,000 per annum.

Of 11 major developments totalling 2,085 apartments, nine of those are being sold as single lots into the Private Rented Sector for onward leasing. In almost all cases, the 10pc social housing provisions are being provided by developers, elsewhere in Dublin. Afterwards, Owen Reilly told me there will be an under-supply of apartments and that he expects rents to continue rising.
Dublin Data Sec 2019, Ireland's leading data security conference, takes place on April 30, 2019 at the RDS Concert Hall.

Click here to buy tickets to the conference

From privacy and data leaks to the top challenges facing organisations, leading experts and speakers will cover everything you need to know about how to secure and protect your business.

Other themes include public sector data protection and GDPR - a year on from its introduction as well as Brexit implications.

In addition, we will also address the ramifications of legal failure and examine encryption: privacy versus security.

The conference will also include breakout sessions where leading issues will be teased out further.

Speakers include John O'Dwyer, Deputy Data Protection Commissioner. Bill Buchanan, professor in the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University, Maria Farrell, writer and tech policy consultant and Adrian Weckler, technology editor at Independent News & Media.

Click here for more information on the conference

Dublin Data Sec 2019 is an Independent News & Media (INM) event.
Irelands largest non-bank lender, Finance Ireland, has said that its lending to Irish dairy farmers has now surpassed 100m and is growing.

Finance Ireland has also confirmed that Milkflex loans are now available as a standard lending product from the company.

They can be used for a wide variety of dairy farm investment purposes and requires no asset security from borrowing farmers.

Finance Ireland also confirmed that dairy farmers from 17 different Co-Ops have taken loans through the innovative Milkflex scheme for uses ranging from the purchase of refrigerated bulk tanks, environmental investments to milking parlors through to refinancing bank debt.

MilkFlex offers flexible, competitively priced loans to dairy farmers with repayments linked to movements in milk price.

It was developed by Finance Ireland and is supported by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and Rabobank.

The Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed said the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) recently issued an open call inviting banks and other lenders to become lending partners for the the long awaited Future Growth Loan Scheme.

The Future Growth Loan Scheme has been developed by his Department and DBEI in partnership with the Department of Finance, SBCI and the European Investment Fund (EIF).

It will be delivered through participating finance providers and make up to 300m of investment loans available to eligible Irish businesses, including farmers.

The Minister said the SBCI advises that a period of due diligence, which will include the EIF, will now follow. He said he has urged SBCI to operationalise the Scheme as soon as possible.

The Scheme will run for three years from its launch date and further announcements in this regard will be made shortly.

This is a long-awaited source of finance for young and new entrant farmers, especially the cohort who do not have high levels of security. It will also serve smaller-scale farmers, who often do not have the leverage to negotiate for more favourable terms with their banking institution.

The loans will be competitively priced, will be for terms of 8-10 years and will support strategic long-term investment in a post-Brexit environment. There is a minimum loan amount of 100,000 for SMEs or 50,000 for primary agriculture. The maximum loan amount is 3,000,000 and loans of under 500,000 will be made on an unsecured basis.

There will be 50m to 60m available initially for farmers, within an overall agri-food package of 120m. Should demand exceed these levels, this can be reviewed.

The Scheme features a two-stage application process whereby initial application is made through the SBCI website. Successful applicants are issued an eligibility reference number which can then be used in an application to one of the participating finance providers. Approval of loans is subject to the finance providers own credit policies and procedures.
"No matter what kind of Brexit takes place, things are going to change." That was the big message from Agriculture Minister Michael Creed at the recent Brexit Stakeholders Consultative Committee meeting.

Minister Creed told stakeholders that contingency planning is ongoing and that a no-deal Brexit would present enormous challenges for the agri-food sector.

Beef

Half of our beef exports by both value (1.1bn) and volume (290,000 tonnes) are sent to the UK each year. In the event of a hard Brexit, this would lead to the imposition of tariffs of up to 70pc (780m).

IFA beef chair Angus Woods urged the Government to take advantage of EU economic safeguard clauses to put in place immediate measures to lift pressures off the Irish beef sector.

"The EU Commission has support tools and mechanism ready to go to support farmers. The whole uncertainty and nervousness around Brexit is having a serious impact on prices as the case for hard Brexit is still a real possibility."

Sheep

Last year, 432,000 lambs were imported from Northern Ireland for processing. According to Bord Bia figures, these lambs would be subject to WTO tariffs of 85.5c/kg if no deal between the EU and UK is struck, which would effectively end cross-border trade.

While ICSA sheep chair Sean McNamara thinks the shortage of lambs would lead to an increase in prices in the Republic in the short-term, he thinks a soft-Brexit is the best outcome for trade overall.

"If there was a hard Brexit, I'd worry that in the long-term, factories might have to close as they wouldn't have enough of a supply. There's a lot of uncertainty at the moment. A lot of sheep farmers have beef as well so if there is hard Brexit, they would be doubly affected."

Pigmeat

A tariff rate of 22pc (91m) would apply to the 56pc of pigmeat exports which are sent to the UK each year in a no-deal scenario.

With Irish pig prices running at a 15-year low for the last six months, Teagasc's pig specialist Ciaran Carroll said that the possibility of a hard Brexit is an extra worry for pig farmers who are already suffering enormous losses.

Dairy

At present over a quarter of total dairy exports (857m), including half of cheese exports (410m) go to the UK market. A potential tariff rate equivalent of 49pc on average (422m) could be implemented if there was a hard Brexit.

Conor Mulvihill of Dairy Industry Ireland warned that for a single product of Cheddar alone, the tariff threat is about 155m, with a threat of about 400m on overall dairy exports to the UK.

"We are engaging closely with our colleagues in Food Drink Ireland, to push for a tariff stabilisation fund and state aid," said Mr Mulvihill.

ICMSA president Pat McCormack added that quota-less access to UK is imperative.

Tillage

WTO tariffs on tillage in the event of a crash-out would be 95/t, 93/t and 89/t on wheat, barley and oat respectively.

Ireland imports approximately 230,000 tonnes of milling wheat for flour each year from the UK. Bobby Miller of Irish Grain Growers Group warned that a hard Brexit could drive more farmers out of tillage.

Horticulture

Almost 90pc of Irish mushrooms are exported to the UK each year, if WTO tariffs were applied a rate of 12pc could be applied.

"It's not just tariffs that would be an issue, customers in the UK want them white and fresh and we take pride in getting the mushrooms to them within a day of being ordered. If there were port delays, this would put this in jeopardy," said Gerard Reilly of Reilly Mushrooms in Westmeath.
Turkey may re-open to live exports from Ireland later this year the Minister for Agriculture has said after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart today.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, met with his Turkish counterpart, Dr Bekir Pakdemirli, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, in Istanbul today.

Speaking after the meeting, Minister Creed said there are obvious concerns in Turkey regarding over supply in the beef market, a matter which Minister Pakdemirli is determined to address.

"Im pleased however that the Minister indicated his intention to consider the re-opening of the market in the second half of 2019. I assured my Turkish colleague that there is significant interest from industry in resuming that trade.

The Turkish Government suspended the issuing of new import licenses in late 2018, but prior to that Turkey had become an important market for Irish livestock in recent years and Minister Creed said he was keen to impress upon the Minister the importance of the Turkish market for Ireland and our desire to re-establish trade as soon as possible.

"Turkey offers significant potential as a destination for Irish cattle exports, although import licenses are currently suspended by the Turkish Ministry due to over-supply in the Turkish market.

"Since 2016, more than 60,000 Irish cattle have been exported to Turkey, including both breeding animals and cattle for further fattening. The stringent system of animal health and welfare controls operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the sea journey ensures that Irish cattle arrive in Turkey excellent condition, a point acknowledged by the Turkish delegation."

Under the EUs TAIEX programme, Department of Agriculture veterinary officials provided a knowledge transfer programme in 2017 to the Turkish Ministry in Ankara on how Ireland administered the EU laws on Animal Welfare- there was a keen interest by the Turkish side on Irelands use of control posts, assembly centres, livestock markets and the transport and welfare of animals.

Turkish officials visited Ireland last month under the TAIEX programme, including visits to meat plants, livestock marts, assembly centres and ports, to understand how animal welfare controls are administered.

Ireland exported 56m of agri-food products to Turkey in 2018, of which dairy accounted for 33m and live exports almost 13m in value. Ireland imported 15m of agri-food products from Turkey, of which over 11m were fruit and vegetables or fruit and vegetable based products.
More women are holding senior management roles in Ireland but, while gender balance at the top level is still a way off, the strategy to address the issue must not be rushed according to the head of Grant Thornton in Ireland.

Grant Thornton International's latest Women in Business report ranks Ireland eighth out of 35 countries globally in terms of the percentage of woman in these leadership roles.

Expand Close Sasha Kerins / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Sasha Kerins

The new research, published ahead of International Women's Day, found the number of global businesses with at least one woman in senior management increased in the last year to 87pc from 75pc.

The proportion of businesses with women involved in senior management is at its highest level in the 15 years since Grant Thornton started tracking data.

"Would I like to get this done quicker? Yes. But everyone needs to feel that they are on this journey together and it needs not be rushed which would create a different sort of issue," said Grant Thornton's Mick McAteer.

"It takes time to fix something that has been this way for centuries."

Specifically to Ireland, businesses said that 23.32pc of the overall employee count participate in the management of the organisation, with around one-third (34.88pc) of those women.

Meanwhile, 22pc of firms here said that they have no women in senior management. However, there have been significant changes over the last two years as this compares with 39pc in 2017 and 41pc in 2016.

Francesca Lagerberg, global leader at Grant Thornton International, said that the latest "encouraging" figures have been driven by external factors including increasing organisational transparency, gender pay gap reporting and highly visible public dialogue like the #MeToo movement.

"Despite the strong business case in favour of gender diversity, change at the top has been slow until now," she said.

Expand Close Mick McAteer / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Mick McAteer

"Hopefully, the sharp increase in the representation of women in senior leadership we're seeing this year is not purely a knee-jerk reaction to the current social climate and we'll see similar progress in the coming years."

Grant Thornton Ireland's head of diversity, tax partner Sasha Kerins, agrees that the deliberate action of leaders within an organisation will be critical in order to continue this upwards trend of female representation in senior positions. "It's not enough to just sit on the wall; in order for real change you need to work with human resources (HR) and look at policies - work flexibility, recruitment and training bias, career development - and determine the key things that must be focused on to drive that change," she said.

"And when you're adopting a new initiative, it can't be simply a nice-to-have, it needs to be impactful, something that you can track and measure."

The detail of the roles held by women were also analysed in the new report, which found that, of those holding senior management positions in Irish businesses, more than half (56pc) filled the human resources slot while almost a quarter (22pc) take the helm as CEO or managing director.

Most companies researched said that they are creating an inclusive culture in the workplace but 30pc said that they are taking no action to improve gender balance at all.

Similar to the overall global response, time constraints - for both men and women - has been cited as the biggest barrier to reaching senior management level.

In terms of the analysis of the statistics, Mr McAteer said it was important to dig deeper into the data as often the "full picture" might not be easily transparent.

He said that he would hope that legislation for Gender Pay Gap Information, which is currently before Dail Eireann, would offer the transparency that the pay-parity analysis requires.

"If your senior management is mostly male and a pay-parity analysis is done across all levels, this analysis is going to be skewed.

"Bad decisions can be made based on headline numbers," he said.

"It's a complex area and peers need to be likened with peers; quite often the headline pay does not reflect the reality of the situation.

"For example, working mothers on a three-day week compared with men on a five-day week. They may be on the same salary but the initial numbers might not reflect that."
Profits at Aviva Ireland have risen 15pc year-on-year to 113m, from 99m in 2017, across its life and general insurance businesses.

In its full year financial results, the group reported that this is its fourth consecutive year of double-digit percentage growth across both verticals.

Despite "more challenging market conditions", profits at the general insurance business rose 4pc to 63m on an annual basis.

"Our combined operating ratio, a key measure of profitability, remains robust at 91.5pc and in line with 2017. Net written premiums declined marginally by 2pc to 485m in an increasingly competitive market," said chief executive officer (ceo) John Quinlan.

Last June, Aviva acquired Friends First and the group said that the integration into its life business "is progressing well" and has boosted the profits in this vertical.

Profits across the life business jumped 31pc to 50m, 38m in 2017, with the value of new business premiums rising 14pc to 1.367m.

As regards the final recommendations of the Personal Injuries Commission, Mr Quinlan said they were supported by Aviva and the group wrote to its customers encouraging them to petition for its proposals to be implemented quickly.

"We now need further government led progress in reducing personal injury claims costs to enable insurers to bring motor insurance premiums down to more sustainable long-term levels," he said.

"The high levels of personal injury awards have also been a factor in the increased cost of commercial insurance for our business customers and further reforms are required here to reduce claims costs."

Furthermore, he said that the group was supportive of measures to increase pensions coverage among those in full-time employment from its current level of less than 50pc.

Preparing for post-Brexit, Aviva completed the establishment of a separate Irish legal entity last month for the general insurance business which completed the authorisation process for both its life and general insurance businesses to be regulated in Ireland.

"This allows us to continue to protect our customers and serve their best interests in Ireland post-Brexit," said Mr Quinlan.
CarePlus Pharmacy has upgraded its IT infrastructure in a 200,000 deal with technology firm Novi to improve the group's data security and mobile working capabilities.

The franchise, which opened its first store in Cork in 2015, required a secure solution given the potential of a data breach to expose sensitive commercial data.

The pharmacy group creates and shares intellectual property (IP) across its network and stores this in-house along with other valuable data.

With a growing team of field staff in sales and support roles across the country, having a seamless remote access to its systems was also essential.

In the last four years, CarePlus Pharmacy stores have built up a presence at more than 60 locations in Ireland, the scale of growth surpassing the capacity of the existing IT infrastructure.

Technology and Systems Director at CarePlus Pharmacy, Finn McCann, said that, before the solution was implemented, the company's IT were under constant pressure to address system issues.

Novi oversaw a complete IT migration to a single set of hardware and software, introducing an automate IT update solution, implementing additional layers of security and a new remote access solution.
Drinks group C&C expects group earnings for the year to the end of February to grow by 20pc.

In its latest trading forecast, the company reports that EBIT for the 12 month period is expected to be near the upper end of market estimates.

C&C bought UK distributor Matthew Clark and the Bibendum wine business in 2018. The remainder of C&C's business includes major brands such as Bulmers and Magners.

The trading update said that operational delivery, customer service and the underlying cash contribution of both Matthew Clark and Bibendum in the second half have continued to improve.

As a result, year-end net debt at C&C is now expected to be well below market estimates, between 305m and 312m.

The company's sponsorship of next weeks Cheltenham Gold Cup by Magners and Bulmers is also expected to build on the positive trading momentum of its Irish branded businesses.

C&C is hosting a capital markets day with the announcement of its full year results on May 22.
A clinical diagnostics firm have invited secondary school female students on site to discover what a career in science would look like.

Clare-based Beckman Coulter is welcoming girls from St Josephs Secondary School in Tulla to meet some its leading women scientists.

The visit, which takes places on International Womens Day, is part of a new eight-week programme between Beckman Coulter and St. Joseph's.

It has been designed to encourage more girls to choose Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) subjects.

Beckman Coulter Site Director Orlaith Lawler, said that to celebrate the #Balanceforbetter theme this International Womens Day, the company is meeting "those who could be the scientists  or our employees - of the future".

"We want to highlight the pathways open to girls through Stem, to open their eyes to the many possibilities that a career in science can offer and to hear first-hand from some of Beckman Coulters talented female scientists who are, after all, based just a few miles away from their school," she said.

The US-headquartered firm, which makes biomedical lab instruments, boasts a gender balanced workplace, with a 54pc female to 46pc male ratio at the site.

At the top level, the representation of men and women in senior management roles is equal.

Students from St Josephs Secondary School reached the finalist stages at the recent BT Young Scientist of the Year event at the RDS in Dublin.

Science and Maths teacher Mairead OBrien said the collaborative initiative with Beckman Coulter will allow students to experience first-hand what career in the technology, maths and science sector holds.

"The GiftED programme is aimed at first and second year students and it hopes to have a profound influence in encouraging more female students to opt for science based subjects at senior cycle which in turn will hopefully lead them to opt for third level courses in this field," she said.
A farmer who took on the IDA - and won - is now seeking to prevent the go-ahead for a planned new 3.54bn facility at Intel's plant in Co Kildare.

Lexlip farmer Thomas Reid has lodged an objection with Kildare County Council against the new application by the US microchip giant for an extended and revised manufacturing fabrication facility, known as a 'fab'.

Mr Reid has long been a thorn in the side of the US multinational in the planning arena and this is the seventh Intel Leixlip application the farmer has objected to since 2012, with six previous Intel applications brought before An Bord Pleanala by Mr Reid.

In 2016, Intel secured planning permission for the first phase of the 'fab' facility valued at 3.54bn and the new application, which is an extension of the original plan, represents an additional investment of 3.54bn.

In total, the more than 7bn investment, which would employ 6,000 construction workers at peak and 1,600 full-time jobs on completion, would represent the largest private investment in the history of the State on one project if given the go-ahead by Intel.

Consultants for Intel have told Kildare County Council the firm has already invested 11bn on its site at Leixlip and the firm is seeking a 10-year planning permission for its new application.

However, Mr Reid of Hedsor House, Blakestown, Carton, Maynooth, is seeking to frustrate the multinational's plans after lodging a two-page hand-written objection against the new application.

The objection will now entitle Mr Reid to appeal any decision to grant permission by Kildare County Council to An Bord Pleanala. In his objection, Mr Reid claims the planning application is contrary to the proper planning and development of the area.

In the objection, Mr Reid - subject of an award-winning documentary last year over his successful Supreme Court battle with the IDA - stated he is calling on Kildare County Council to refuse the application outright.

Former Labour TD Emmet Stagg has lodged a submission in favour of the Intel application, saying the proposed development would reinforce the Leixlip site as a centre of world-class excellence.

Mr Reid unsuccessfully opposed the 3.54bn first phase of the 'fab' plan in 2017 when lodging an objection against the application and then appealing the Council decision to An Bord Pleanala.

In 2015, Mr Reid emerged victorious in his battle with the IDA when a unanimous Supreme Court found that the IDA making of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for Mr Reid's 72-acre farm adjacent to the Intel campus had been in excess of the IDA's powers.

The five-judge court overturned an earlier High Court decision, which would have cleared the way for IDA to buy the site for development, against Reid's wishes.

The costs associated with the case left the IDA with a bill of 1.375m. Kildare County Council is due to make a decision on the Intel application before the end of this month.
Ireland's 'bean an ti' culture could be the reason why we have more female Airbnb hosts than the global average.

In line with International Women's Day, the online accommodation service released statistics around the location and earnings of their female hosts.

Across the platform's global hubs, some 56pc of active Airbnb hosts are women while our tally stands at 60pc female to 40pc male.

Head of Airbnb in Ireland Aisling Hassell said that Ireland's breakdown could be down to the natural hospitality of Irish women.

"The figures could be representative of the 'bean on ti' days, in terms of Irish women's approach to welcoming in and accommodating visitors," she said.

"However, you would be amazed at some of the things our male hosts will do to really up the standard. Behind every good man is a good women, apparently, but it goes both ways."

Since Airbnb was launched in 2008, female hosts globally have collectively earned over 28bn on Airbnb, 10.6bn of that in the past year alone.

The estimated total income for female hosts in Ireland in 2018 was 89m with the typical female Irish host earns 4,300 a year.

Dublin's proportion of female hosts ties in more with the global average at 52pc, with the numbers rising the further away from the capital: Cork (58pc), Galway (60pc), Kilkenny (62pc) and Waterford (61pc).

"When you get into the more rural areas, we're back to the bean an ti origins again. Women, either on their own or with their partner, and/or family are living remotely. Whether it's through farming or running businesses like jewellery making from home, they're looking to make supplemental income," said Ms Hassell.

"There are pockets of entrepreneurs across the country welcoming people into their home to make this extra cash."

If the amount of annual earnings through hosting on Airbnb seems high, Ms Hassell said that visitors don't realise how difficult the fundamentals of being a host can be.

"We advise our hosts of certain standards that they should adhere to at a minimum. But even normal checking in and cleaning for the next guest can be a mammoth task.

"Some hosts outsource the cleaning to a third party, of course, but many will clean the entire enterprise themselves, not an easy job.

"There are always those hosts that stand out though, of course, with their special touches like bottled water or light snacks or a little note.

"There's even one guy from the Midlands that buys flags from his visitor's country of origin and raises that on their arrival."
Increasing the minimum wage in 2016 lifted pay by 2pc - even for workers who didn't qualify for the rate.

Increasing the minimum wage in 2016 lifted pay by 2pc - even for workers who didn't qualify for the rate.

There is no evidence of job losses as a result of the increase, although there may have been reductions in hours, a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said.

Without the change approximately 10pc of workers would have earned 9.15 per hour or less in 2016.

"We estimate that the increase in the minimum wage resulted in a 2pc increase in the average hourly wage of workers earning between 6.50 and 11.50 per hour, ESRI researchers Paul Redmond, Karina Doorley and Seamus McGuinness wrote in a report.

That range covers the bottom 25pc of the earners.

Ireland first introduced a minimum wage in 2000, setting it at IR4.40 (5.59) an hour.

Relative to European Union peers, the minimum wage here now stands at the higher end of the spectrum.

Last year the minimum wage was increased further to 9.80, on the back of recommendations from the Low Pay Commission.

This works out at a monthly salary of 1,656.20 for employees on the rate.

Arguments over the impact of minimum wages have been particularly intense in the United States, where a raft of cities and states implemented better pay policies.

Democrats are now pushing for a national 15 minimum wage and look set to encounter stiff resistance from Republicans and business groups.
Ireland's housebuilders may never reach the 35,000-unit-a-year mark that analysts believe is necessary, according to Glenveagh Properties chief operating officer Stephen Garvey.

Mr Garvey told reporters that we "may be living in an era where housing will never outstrip demand".

"You'd question whether the market will ever get there. Maybe the market only gets to 26,000 or 27,000. If you look at the UK, they always said they needed 300,000 but the market never could produce it," he said.

He said he it would be "a push" for the industry to build 20,000 units this year.

"Maybe it's too early [in the year]... I just don't see it on the ground."

Mr Garvey was speaking as Glenveagh published results yesterday, which showed it lost 3.5m after tax in 2018, excluding exceptional items. It also announced it had bought two sites in Kildare for a combined 50m.

After that the company has around 90m of capital left to deploy on land purchases.

It is looking to sell 725 houses this year as it moves from buying land to building and selling houses.

CEO Justin Bickle said that despite Brexit looming, he didn't think the company had missed the top of the market for selling houses.

"We're buying better sites, closer to town, cheaper, than what we were buying in 2017... the key for us is to maintain that price discipline," Mr Bickle said.

Yesterday at around lunchtime the company's shares were trading around 87c each, below the company's 1 IPO price. Oaktree, a private-equity company closely involved in setting up Glenveagh, sold down its stake in the business substantially last year as part of share placing.

Mr Bickle said that sale was because of the nature of private equity, where investments are supposed to be sold off within a certain time frame.

"We can't control the share price, our job is to have a business plan and execute on it," he said, adding that markets generally had turned down in the latter half of last year, but have come up again this year, with Glenveagh's shares following that trend.

The company said it could deploy as much as 25pc of its land bank into the private rented sector - whereby homes are sold in bulk to big investors who then rent them out to tenants. That sector has grown rapidly in recent years.

Glenveagh is also looking to partner up with local authorities to build social housing.
Attendees take smartphone photographs of humanoid robot Sophia at Barcelonas MWC  research has found some towns could lose almost 60pc of jobs to automation. Photo: Bloomberg

A shrewd observer once noted that probably the two most successful organisations in the country are the GAA and the Tidy Towns competition. What they have in common is that they are largely volunteer-driven, and are intensely local.

Old romantic that I am, I see in this one of the last traces of the Gaelic world, a world that is not long gone in historical terms. In that world, what you were depended largely on where you were born.

Even if it is in the blood, and despite the success of those organisations, the general response to Irish localism is one of criticism. It is often ascribed, not to our own past, but to the imposition of foreign government.

Sometimes there is the suggestion that it is a sign of backwardness. The Lord Deputy would have agreed with that. None of which would matter very much, except that going against the grain of national character by aping the policies of former feudal monarchies may explain some past failures.

There were successes too. The dispersal of IDA factories around the country in the first 40 years of the inward investment strategy was one. As was mentioned in last week's column, weaknesses in the economy have shown up more in differences between workers rather than regions.

The world of those decades has largely disappeared and a new one is evolving before our eyes, but in ways which were not foreseen with a future which is unpredictable. There will certainly be difficulties but new conditions may provide an opportunity to find an Irish solution to our slice of this global problem.

Localism meant lots of interest was generated by the report from University College Cork on the threat to different towns from the expected growth in automation and artificial intelligence.

Even more compelling was the finding was that some towns were going to fare worse than others. That sort of thing really does get people going. It also highlighted a particularly difficult political challenge; that different towns will need different sets of policies.

The analysis by UCC's Spatial and Regional Economics Research Centre found the number of jobs at high risk from automation ranged from a low of 26pc to a high of 58pc in different towns. More surprising was the conclusion that many low-risk towns have high-risk towns nearby, and vice-versa.

Overall, the paper found that 40pc of jobs may be in danger. This is in line with the research which put this issue in the headlines, the Frey and Osborne paper of 2013. It concluded that almost half the jobs in the USA could be lost or affected and a third in Britain.

It is a new take on a very old issue. The great Keynes himself had his concerns, fretting that technology might rave ahead of workers' ability to adapt. That was 80 years ago. While he was right about the technology, which has advanced more than he could have imagined, mass unemployment did not appear. On the contrary, unemployment in the US is at a 50-year low.

Many critics of the new worries point to the notorious Luddites, who destroyed textile machines in the 19th century. Employment and populations soared as the mechanical revolution took hold. But the hand-loom weavers did lose their jobs.

The problem in future may still be one of change and adaptation rather than masses of people without work. Change may well speed up with developments in artificial intelligence. The concern is that, even if new jobs are created, they may not be as skilled and well-paid as the ones which are gone.

This was a central point in another piece of research on the subject last week. It came in the spring quarterly of the trade union-backed Nevin institute (NERI), which also had a quite different take on how to assess the risk than the UCC document.

There is another local angle here. The trade union movement being an all-island one, the NERI report is on Northern Ireland, a region whose economy, the institute has pointed out in the past, is hampered by poor skills and low productivity.

Its task-based analysis finds jobs are in less danger than the mainstream methodology does. Just 7pc are at high risk of disappearing as a result of automation, although a further 58pc face substantial change in the tasks involved and only 13pc look likely to escape entirely.

This seems more in keeping with historical patterns than mass, permanent layoffs. The calculations are that there will be enough new jobs created to replace lost jobs. But that is only part of the story.

The new jobs created will often be quite different from those lost. Even where they merely change, they could indeed be less skilled, and therefore lower paid. It can be misleading to think of them as replacement jobs, the authors say.

More than a quarter of those in the distribution, hotels and restaurant sector are at high risk of automation and a further 46pc are at mid-to-high risk.

As with other studies, this one finds that risk in general is highest among low-skilled workers, with a third facing possible extinction of their jobs.

Even among middle-skilled workers, 40pc face substantial change in the structure of their job, as some tasks become suitable for machines. In a subtle change, which the report says is already under way and will accelerate, the workforce polarises between high and low skills, as the middle sector shrinks in relative size.

Growth concentrates at one end in non-routine cognitive, high skilled occupations such as engineers, and at the other in non-routine occupations such as caring and leisure services.

The same patterns can be seen in the UCC report, even if the numbers differ. The authors point out that they use estimates for the value of jobs and the exact numbers thrown up by the exercise should be treated with caution.

But it is the patterns which matter. There is no denying the fascination of seeing them displayed at the level of individual towns, some as small as 1,500 souls. Nothing quite like this has been done before and so we see that Carrick-on-Suir and Clones are among the most threatened towns, and Strandhill and Annacotty among the least.

I mention those two because all the others in the best 10 are satellites of Dublin. The expected changes add another dimension to the difficulty of balancing the Dublin region with the rest of the country.

This is exacerbated by the somewhat unexpected finding that agriculture is one of the industries where jobs are most at risk. One might have thought the automation of farming took place more than a century ago but, along with manufacturing, more change is on the way.

Towns with significant employment in health and support services, public administration, accommodation and food, construction and wholesale/retail trade are also less exposed.

In a parallel with middle-ranking jobs, middle-ranking towns may fare worst too. Those with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants or more than 10,000 are in less danger than those in-between.

On the other hand, any town far from a large urban centre faces greater risks than those which are less remote.

A one-size fits all solution is clearly not the answer. Insofar as national policies might help, NERI emphasises more collective bargaining and legal protection of workers, while the UCC paper thinks Ireland's multiple universities could spread their benefits better into surrounding towns.

All agree that more flexible, accessible education and training facilities are needed to keep up with technological change but the UCC analysts say the unexpectedly wide spread of risk among towns points to the need for local initiatives.

These will have to be devised locally to meet the different challenges to different towns. Another new analysis - from the ESRI on policies to help disadvantaged groups - showed how difficult it is to make a clear success of such efforts.

The plethora of policies from every kind of quango and agency made it impossible to know what was working and what was not. The grassroots approach of the GAA and Tidy Towns shows that local can work and when it works, it works very well.
Big plans: Helen Dixon says there has been a huge expansion in resources, with another 30 specialists due to be recruited. Photo: AFP/Getty

It's a hectic time for Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon. Since the GDPR kicked in last May, her office's probes into big tech firms have multiplied. But as we learned from the agency's recent annual report, one firm dominates the investigations: Facebook.

In all, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner now has 10 statutory inquiries into Facebook, representing more than a fifth of all such inquiries and two-thirds of its probes into multinational firms. These include probes into WhatsApp and Instagram, subsidiaries of the social media giant.

And they take into account last September's so-called 'token breach', where up to five million Irish and European users were affected with some 30 million accounts worldwide put at risk of being hacked. Under the EU's new GDPR rules, Facebook faces a fine of more than 2bn in a worst-case scenario.

It's not just the social media giant that is under scrutiny - there are over 40 active investigations, including many into local authorities. But Facebook is the gorilla in the room.

Is this a coincidence? Or is Mark Zuckerberg's firm genuinely at the forefront of data privacy problems in our lives? I talked to Dixon about the issue, together with more general challenges faced by the Irish Data Protection Commission.

Adrian Weckler [AW]: Do you think it's significant that 10 out of 15 of your big new inquiries under GDPR relate to one company, Facebook?

Helen Dixon [HD]: We have reacted to the circumstances that have arisen. We couldn't have predicted last September that Facebook was going to notify the massive token breach that they did. So that is entirely circumstantial.

Similarly, on the 25th of May 2018, the day that the GDPR applied, the new NGO, None Of Your Business, headed up by Max Schrems, launched complaints with European regulators on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.

Those complaints were about very fundamental first principles under GDPR which raised issues for every user on the platform. And so in those circumstances, it kicked-off an inquiry on our part.

So, in large part, we've been led in that direction by the circumstances that have arisen. There are undoubtedly areas of high risk we will need to focus on outside of the internet companies. But this is what has shown up in terms of significant breaches complaints about systemic issues in the first seven months.

AW: When you're thinking of initiating an inquiry into a big multinational firm like that, what are the factors you take into account? How do you choose which ones to pursue?

HD: There are lots of inputs that we consider. We're obliged to look at every complaint we receive from individuals. When they look like they relate to something that could be an issue that affects more than the one individual, that may trigger the launching of an inquiry.

The other feed that we have are breaches.

With the mandatory breach notification requirement in the GDPR, we're seeing evidence of large volumes of breaches that are now be notified to us.

In the seven months since GDPR has applied, the big tech companies in particular have notified us of very large-scale breaches that have affected tens of millions of users in some of the cases.

So a very big breach of the nature of some that have been reported may well trigger us to use the limited resources that every Data Protection Authority has and take on a full-scale inquiry.

We get leads by other means as well. Sometimes the European data protection authorities bring issues to our notice. The media, of course, is very important in digging out issues.

AW: Do you feel pressure to launch an inquiry into a company like Facebook? After all, that company has arguably been at the centre of the most criticism, especially by media companies, in the last two years. Has that played any part?

HD: No. It can't influence our decision. If you look objectively at the facts, Facebook is a massive platform. So it's always going to be in scope.

As to whether it was predictable that the NGOs were going to lodge complaints in respect of Facebook companies out of the blocks, that probably was foreseeable.

But again, we have an obligation to handle complaints. And by any objective standard, when we receive a complaint that relates to issues that are going to affect, as I said, many millions of users, then it's appropriate that we apply resources to it.

So, no. I mean, there's a huge amount of Facebook coverage, as you say. If we were to make the inquiries that we open directly proportional to that, probably all of our inquiries [would be about Facebook]. We have 48 inquiries that we opened last year post application of the GDPR. So a proportion of them are Facebook, but it's less than a quarter actually.

AW: Are relationships with Facebook good?

HD: We've always had a position that GDPR will never be successfully implemented unless there is a constant and evolving dialogue between regulators and the regulated entities.

It's a principles-based law that has been designed deliberately so that it can stretch to cover any sector and any scenario.

But that requires that there is dialogue.

Regulators need to understand the real-world scenarios of companies and public sector bodies and voluntary organisations and then come to solutions that are in the best interests of consumers and data subjects. So when you ask about relationships we're very focused on keeping dialogue open.

But of course, our relationship now with some of the bigger entities and the internet companies that we regulate is multifaceted in a way that it wasn't before.

So while we still have meetings around potential future product launches to understand what the issues and risks for data subjects might be, equally we are having more correspondence in the context of statutory inquiries.

But the relationship still has to be there one way or the other.

AW: When big tech firms show you a product before it's launched, is it ever the case that they change or ditch it if your office says it won't fly?

HD: It is. We had a consultation with a company just last week that notified us of a product implementation that they were planning for the EU for next month.

On foot of concerns we expressed about the approach they were taking to rolling it out in the EU, they have decided to delay it pending further engagement so that we can satisfy ourselves that they followed a process that has allowed them to assess the risks to subjects in the EU.

That's not an unusual occurrence. Because often what we're calling out is that they have taken shortcuts themselves.

AW: Has Facebook come back with any update on plans to share data between it and WhatsApp?

HD: WhatsApp's pause on sharing data with Facebook for the purposes of friends, suggestions, and ad serving and product enhancements remains in place.

We actually have a specific statutory inquiry open, looking at the transparency that WhatsApp delivers to users. Part of that investigation is looking at the way that they wrote up the privacy policy in anticipation of the application of the GDPR and how they've expressed the provisions around data-sharing with Facebook.

AW: There has been non-stop speculation that Facebook, or other social media firms, secretly listen to our conversations for the purposes of serving us ads. Has your office ever investigated this?

HD: Nobody's ever contacted us and asked us specifically, but I have asked my technical team to look into the issue because we hear the same commentary.

We established a new technology leadership unit within the DPC. What that unit has said to me is that it would be very difficult to set up lab tests to fully test it.

So while we haven't set up such a lab test ourselves, they have looked at research done by researchers and academics who have looked at this question.

They're satisfied that there doesn't appear to be evidence to support the idea. It's an interesting one, though.

AW: Does this office have enough resources?

HD: Our budget for 2019 is 15.2m. We brought on board 25 staff last year and recruited an additional 25, who started last month. So there's huge expansion in our resources.

That's commensurate with the tasks that we have, under the GDPR. With the extra budget we now have for 2019, we'll recruit a further 30 specialists, more technologists, more trained investigators, more communications and media staff and so on.

So we are now in the top tier of highly resourced data protection authorities in the EU. Of course, the reality is that any Data Protection Authority globally is limited in its resources.

AW: One recurring theme in the DPC's annual reports is privacy versus security. You're looking at CCTV and other surveillance issues in local authorities.

But what about private estates and the growth of smart home products like Nest outdoor cameras or the Ring doorbell, which videos and photographs people who come to the door?

HD: The Court of Justice of the European Union has clearly said that where a homeowner operates a CCTV system they can operate it under the household exemption.

This is the exemption we all have as individuals to administer to our family and friends and private life without becoming subject to obligations under data protection law.

But that's provided the CCTV is trained only within the limits of the perimeter of your own home.

Homeowners in Ireland that are operating schemes that are more expansive and which are scanning public areas outside of their homes either need to tailor where those cameras are trained or assume the obligations of a data controller.

AW: So with a Ring doorbell, if somebody is in your driveway or outside your door, that's okay. But if it activates because somebody across the road is getting into their car, then data protection law kicks in?

HD: That's right. In that case, that householder is assuming the obligations of a data controller. They would have to provide clear notice that they are surveilling the public area.

They would also have to allow the neighbour across the road rights of access to their image into the personal data that they're recording and so on.

We get an awful lot of queries about this into our front-line service. Essentially, cameras should be trained within the perimeter of your own home.

AW: Is it fair to say that GDPR has made browsing websites disruptive, with so many increased pop-ups?

HD: There seems to be quite a bit of melodrama around this issue.

The answer we would give is that we are supervising the most innovative companies in the world, companies that make a lot of money out of user experience on apps and the internet.

They're monetising personal data with the skills they have around innovation. We think there must be a way of integrating what is the fundamental rights of individuals to know what has been done with their personal data.

I don't think it's true that the international experience of users on apps is that they're being ruined or slowed down.

But if there is any assertion of this, we shouldn't look to the GDPR in assigning blame. We should look to innovative companies and say: 'Find us a better way of delivering on our rights and our experience'.

AW: But hasn't it defeated the purpose of trying to inform people about what they're consenting to? Don't people now just tap and click blindly to get past the constant pop-ups?

HD: You bring up a good issue. Notice and consent aren't the only ways of legitimising collection and processing.

Many industry groups argue that there is perhaps an overemphasis on consent being the most superior of the legal bases under GDPR, which it isn't. They're all equal. Of course, consent must be relied on, typically in cases where special categories of personal data are going to be processed, like health data, biometric data or political data.

So one of the questions that we are going to be looking at in some of the big inquiries that we've now opened under the GDPR is around this.

Is it objectively the case that an organisation must ensure that a user has read the notice, or is it sufficient that organisations meet a certain standard that it is readable and usable?

And is it the concern of the organisation whether someone reads it or not, once the organisation has met that standard?

I know that if any one of us was to read the full privacy notices on the average websites and apps we interact with, it would take 76 days a year. And so there are question marks there.

On the other hand, the law does provide for the new legitimisation of processing using transparency and consent.

AW: And what about the complaint that others such as former Yahoo and Facebook executive Alex Stamos makes that GDPR has actually made it smoother for the biggest corporations, with their compliance teams, and harder for small outfits and startups that aren't as well resourced?

HD: I don't think there's any evidence to support that contention. As to whether the bigger internet companies with their privacy teams and all of the resources that they can bring to bear have successfully navigated the obligations of the GDPR, and that it's to their advantage, remains to be seen.

You've seen from the annual report that we launched 15 inquiries related to big tech companies looking at very fundamental principles under the GDPR.

They're into transparency and whether the requirements of the quality of consent is sufficient.

They're also looking at technical and organisational measures around security.

So we're certainly not at a point where we can concur with that statement that they've navigated it successfully.

To hear a podcast interview between Adrian Weckler and Helen Dixon, donwload or stream The Big Tech Show at independent.ie/podcasts or on Soundcloud or on most popular podcasting apps

Dublin DataSec 2019, Irelands data protection conference, takes place on April 30. For further information and tickets click here. It is an Independent News & Media event.
VR Education has reported revenue of 716,000 for 2018, a 15pc increase year-on-year.

The firm's 'Engage' platform, which the group launched in December last year, can be used in schools, universities, and corporate training to teach subjects in a virtual reality environment. The company counts Nokia among its partners.

The Waterford-based group is listed in London and Dublin. It recorded a loss of 1.5m in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation, in what was the first full set of results since its IPO last year.

The loss was due in part to higher capitalised costs, and in line with expectations, according to annual results from the group yesterday.

VR has just released a new World War 2 simulation product, 'Raid on the Ruhr'.

"The group has continued to make substantial operational progress since its admission to AIM, in line with the strategy outlined at the time of our IPO," said CEO David Whelan.

"The board would like to thank our new and existing shareholders for their support and we look forward to capitalising on significant market opportunities during the course of 2019 and beyond."

Overall, the company reported a 4.5m loss for the year, which included a non-cash fair value loss arising on derivative financial liabilities of 2.6m. The net cash position stood at 3.5m at year-end with no debt.

Joseph Quinn of Davy Stockbrokers said the business is well positioned in a promising sector. "We believe 2019 is building to be a strong year with the commercial release of Engage and a broadening base of retail experiences."

VR floated at 0.13 a share in March last year, shares were 0.12 yesterday.
The Duchess of Cambridge greets well-wishers after her visit to Keech Hospice Care in Luton where she wore a dress by LK Bennett (Eddie Keogh/PA)

LK Bennett has become the latest victim on the UK high street after collapsing into administration.

The companys Irish operation will not be affected as of yet however, as that comes under its international arm which is not part of the administration process.

Founded by entrepreneur Linda Bennett in 1990, it made a 5.9m (6.9m) loss in the year to July 2017, according to the most recent set of accounts.

Famed for its kitten heel shoes, the womenswear retailer has appointed accountancy firm EY to carry out the process. Administrators have already cut the number of head office employees and closed five stores. EY will now try to find a buyer.

Expand Close The Duchess of Cambridge arrives for a visit to Evelina Childrens Hospital in London in a dress by LK Bennett (Chris Jackson/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The Duchess of Cambridge arrives for a visit to Evelina Childrens Hospital in London in a dress by LK Bennett (Chris Jackson/PA)

Dan Hurd, EY joint administrator said: Amidst tough trading conditions for retailers, the company has been further impacted by significant rent increases and business rate rises.

[Ms Bennett] and the management team therefore made the difficult decision to place the company into administration, to protect the future of the business.

He added: LK Bennett is a strong luxury UK brand, the new season collection was critically acclaimed and recent trading is up, which we hope will be attractive to prospective buyers.

In 2008 Ms Bennett sold her business to Phoenix Equity Partners and Sirius Equity for 100m but was brought back as a consultant.

The brand was hit with the Duchess of Cambridge, and this year Kate Middleton has been photographed wearing black suede LK Bennett Marissa boots, and less than three months ago she wore a green and white polka dot LK Bennett dress at Evelina London Children's Hospital.

Other occasions she has worn the label include a visit to Keech Hospice Care in Luton in 2016 when she wore a blue and white LK Bennett dress, and in 2013 she wore a red LK Bennett coat when she joined poppy sellers at a London Tube station.

Patent nude LK Bennett platform courts became a "must have" item in any fashionista's wardrobe when the duchess started wearing them.

However, Kate only started sporting the elegant and simple shoes after taking advice from the Duchess of Cornwall.

The shoes, which she has worn on a number of occasions, are favoured by Camilla, who has been wearing them "for years", according to a royal aide.
It's World Book Day today, and while the event is primarily aimed at children with the aim of encouraging them to read more, it's also a good moment for us grown-ups to remind ourselves of the pleasure of a good book. Here are ten modern Irish classics to get you started:

Star of the Sea

By Joseph O'Connor (2002, Random House)

Arguably the first Irish literary triumph of the new millennium, O'Connor's aching, atmospheric and deeply tender famine-ship saga was a global smash that saw its author move into the pantheon of international novel writers. There simply isn't enough room here to list off the accolades and awards that it snapped up.

There Are Little Kingdoms

Kevin Barry (2007, The Stinging Fly Press)

On his way to becoming the most exciting prospect in modern Irish fiction and a byword for linguistic divilment, Barry released this short-story collection as his first real calling card. A Rooney Prize winner and a coup for the much-loved Stinging Fly independent publishing house, Little Kingdoms is rife with richly-drawn characters, singing narratives and the types of delicate observations that pass most of us by.

Room

by Emma Donoghue (2010, Picador)

Before director Lenny Abrahamson and Brie Larson brought this wrenching tale of a mother and son living in confinement to Oscar-courting attention, Emma Donoghue's novel had been striking chords with readers everywhere in the aftermath of the Josef Fritzl case. It is one thing to wade into such a dark and difficult world and emerge the other side with an international bestseller. It's another to make the results so beautiful and life-affirming.

Video of the Day

The Spinning Heart

by Donal Ryan (2012, Doubleday Ireland)

Mad to think Ryan's debut was just seven years ago, and even madder to think he was drowning in rejection letters up to its arrival. In the time since, the Limerick author has become synonymous as the poster boy for a new generation of Irish writers unknotting the moral bankruptcy of the recession with assuredness, skill and wisdom. From word-of-mouth buzz to awards and acclaim, this multifocal saga has secured a rightful place in the nation's heart. Ryan, meanwhile, has continued to yield fruit with freakish consistency.

Irelandopedia

by Fatti & John Burke (2015, Gill Books)

Adults and children alike were charmed by this large-format confection from father-and-daughter team John and Fatti Burke (on content and illustration duties, respectively). Not only has it made Fatti one of the most in-demand illustrators on the island but Irelandopedia also ushered in a market for smart, sensitive and fact-laced children's books that gently held the hand.

The Glorious Heresies

by Lisa McInerney (2015, John Murray)

The Lisa McInerney/Kevin Barry axis - fire-cracking prose, dark humour, scuffed heels - has been one of the most exciting developments in homegrown literary fiction. Despite already being a celebrated blogger, the former's debut novel caught some off guard with its sizzling existential tale of crime and redemption in Cork. While we await the mooted television adaptation (the rights were snapped up after publication), this is a good time to revisit the 2016 Baileys Prize winner.

Solar Bones

by Mike McCormack (2016, Tramp Press)

A single, unspooling sentence of novel length about the inner thoughts of an engineer from Co Mayo. A hard sell for any publisher, you'd have to agree. Enter Tramp Press, who see something in Mike McCormack's gilded, unorthodox character portal when only polite rejections have been forthcoming. Leap forward a year or two and Solar Bones is now canonical, taking both the Goldsmiths Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award on its way to international acclaim.

Lying in Wait

by Liz Nugent (2016, Penguin)

Nugent's second outing (after 2013's Unravelling Oliver) confirmed not only Ireland's place at the top tier of crime fiction but also its author's canny way with psychological chillers that ask "whydunnit" rather than "whodunnit". Lying in Wait's excruciating tension and unforgettable villain (when did you last hear of anyone calling their baby 'Lydia'?) has kept readers around the world up past their bedtime ever since.

Days Without End

by Sebastian Barry (2016, Faber & Faber)

With younger upstarts popping up across the Irish literary landscape, Barry stepped back into the fold to show them how it's done with this spectacular American Civil War saga told through the eyes of an Irish famine refugee. Deemed "a miracle" by the Costa judges who crowned it Novel of the Year, Days Without End was the culmination of exhaustive research, something plainly obvious in the heady registers it reaches in its tale of love and barbarity.

Notes To Self

by Emily Pine (2018, Tramp Press)

The beating heart of last year and a release that seemed to capture something contemplative, courageous and healing in Irish writing, Pine's award-winning collection of essays takes an unflinching look at themes often deemed too tangled to discuss with any clarity. Not only does the Dublin author untangle them with lofty skill, she cracks open gleaming, devastating truths in the process.
Conor Maynard has said that naivety led him to being robbed at gunpoint in Brazil.

The pop star was attacked in Sao Paulo last month after he left a restaurant in an Uber taxi following a meal.

The 26-year-old  who released his debut album Contrast in 2012  said on reflection he realised he had definitely been naive about the dangers of the South American city.

Expand Close Conor Maynard said the robbery in Brazil made him reconsider the dangers of travel (Jonathan Brady/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Conor Maynard said the robbery in Brazil made him reconsider the dangers of travel (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Speaking at the WE Day event in London, he said: I was definitely quite naive. I was in Jamaica two weeks before and we had been warned that certain places were quite dangerous.

It was almost like karma slapping us in the face two weeks later in Brazil. Its definitely made me feel that I need to be more careful in these situations and not take things for granted.

Maynard said it had been a pretty intense and scary situation, adding: It was unfortunate but Im looking forward to going back and that not happening again.

At the time he shared details with fans via Instagram Story before announcing that he was cutting his trip short.

#WEday UK is HERE!! Getting ourselves primed on the Blue Carpet with @ConorMaynard and many more taking ALL the selfies!  pic.twitter.com/SkYz4djyaV  WE (@WEMovement) March 6, 2019

He said a man on a motorcycle had pulled up next to his car, banging on the window with a gun, pointing at his managers watch and shouting in Portuguese.

Video of the Day

Speaking on the WE Day red carpet, Maynard said the incident had made him reconsider the issue of knife crime in the UK.

He said: I personally have never been directly affected by it but things like that do make you think about it. It makes you realise anything could happen at any time.

But if you spend every second thinking I could die right now, theres going to be no enjoyment in your life. You definitely need to learn from it but not dwell on it forever.

Theyve got a huge gun issue in America. That is something, fortunately, that we dont have to live with. We dont have to live in fear about that kind of thing.

But holding knives is a similar kind of thing. If we are so proud of Oh, we dont have the gun problem, then we need to also get rid of this problem.
Stacey Dooleys new make-up show Glow Up has proven to be a hit with viewers (Ian West/PA Wire)

Stacey Dooleys new make-up show Glow Up has proven to be a hit with viewers after making its debut on BBC Three.

The Strictly Come Dancing winner had earlier defended the programme after critics accused her of doing trivial work instead of the gritty documentaries that made her famous.

Dooley said the backlash was painfully predictable and accused her detractors of having a short-sighted, Stone Age attitude.

Glow Up features 10 aspiring make-up artists (MUAs) fighting to be named Britains next cosmetics star and win the chance to work alongside some of the worlds top talent.

Dooley, 31, hosts the show while stylists Val Garland and Dominic Skinner are on judging duties, alongside a different guest judge each week.

After the first episode aired on BBC Three on Wednesday, viewers heaped praise on the show.

One Twitter user said: Been catching up with episode 1 and im loving it! Im an aspiring MUA, and an experience like this would of been amazing to do! Always love a challenge, makes me miss it from college getting briefs and having to design looks. #GlowUp.

Another wrote: Loved #Glowup no way would I cope under that pressure! @StaceyDooley amazing as always!

Loved #Glowup no way would I cope under that pressure! @StaceyDooley amazing as always!  Elles (@Elles29145267) March 6, 2019

Video of the Day

A fan said: Abso loving #GlowUp @StaceyDooley @TheValGarland @dom_MUA are incredible together! Love this!!

A viewer commented: I am O B S E S S E D with #GlowUp already! @StaceyDooley!

I am O B S E S S E D with #GlowUp already! @StaceyDooley!   Sadie Sjogren (@sadiesjogren) March 6, 2019

And another tweeted: Just sitting down to watch my girl @StaceyDooley in #GlowUp Love your usual stuff but really enjoying seeing you on some more fun, light hearted vibes.

Just sitting down to watch my girl @StaceyDooley in #GlowUp Love your usual stuff but really enjoying seeing you on some more fun, light hearted vibes   Kell (@kelly1281_) March 6, 2019

Dooley, who triumphed in Strictly Come Dancing, is best known for her hard-hitting documentaries, covering subjects including terrorism, prostitution and child sex abuse.

After making a film in Africa for Comic Relief, she was criticised by Labour MP David Lammy, who accused her of reinforcing unhelpful stereotypes.

He said: The world does not need any more white saviours. Dooley replied and invited Mr Lammy to travel to Africa himself.
Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley said she did not intend to cause offence but fell short of apologising after saying deaths caused by soldiers and police during the Troubles were not crimes.

Her comments sparked calls to resign and provoked trenchant criticism from outraged victims of the security forces and nationalist political leaders, while the Irish Government sought an explanation.

Ms Bradley returned to the House of Commons to clarify to MPs that alleged wrongdoing should always be investigated.

Next week, prosecutors will announce whether soldiers will face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings of 14 innocent civilians in Londonderry.

When asked on Wednesday evening if she would like to apologise for her comments, Ms Bradley told the Press Association: "Coming back to the House of Commons and correcting the record is the biggest statement I can make in terms of the inadvertent comments that I made during oral questions.

"I was absolutely determined to be clear to everybody that what I had said needed correcting and to do so on the floor of the House of Commons is the biggest statement I can make."

She said she did not intend to cause "any offence or upset to anybody", adding: "I am determined that we will find a way to deal with the issue of the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland as soon as possible and in a way that is right and fair for victims and everyone."

Pressed on whether she would say sorry to people she upset, Ms Bradley, who was at a St Patrick's Day event at the Embassy of Ireland in London, said: "As I say, I never intend to cause any offence. I want to ensure that we have a system that works for everyone."

Ms Bradley initially told MPs on Wednesday: "The fewer than 10pc that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes.

"They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way."

She later returned to the House of Commons to make clear her position, saying: "The point I was seeking to convey was that the overwhelming majority of those who served carried out their duties with courage, professionalism and integrity and within the law.

"I was not referring to any specific cases but expressing a general view.

"Of course where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated - whoever is responsible.

"These are of course matters for the police and prosecuting authorities, who are independent of Government."

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, who was also at the event at the Embassy of Ireland, was due to meet Ms Bradley to seek clarification.

A spokesman said: "Secretary of State Bradley's reaffirmation this afternoon that 'where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated - whoever is responsible' is important.

"There are no amnesties from prosecution provided for in the Good Friday Agreement or any subsequent agreements including the Stormont House Agreement.

"The Irish Government has been clear that it would not support any proposal to introduce such a measure, for state or non-state actors."

Mickey McKinney, whose brother William was shot by a Parachute Regiment soldier, said of Ms Bradley's initial comments: "It's very hurtful.

"She should resign right away, is she not aware that there was an inquiry that found our people completely innocent, was she not aware of David Cameron's apology to the people for the behaviour of the army?

"For her to come out with ridiculous comments, that is completely outrageous."

More than 90pc of deaths caused during 30 years of violence involved republican or loyalist paramilitaries.

John Kelly's brother Michael was aged 17 when he was shot dead during the January 1972 Bloody Sunday civil rights march.

Mr Kelly said: "She has to resign, she has no option, she has to go because she cannot be representative now of anybody now in the North.

"The Secretary of State is supposed to be impartial but she showed her true colours today."

Ciaran MacAirt, grandson of a woman killed in Belfast's McGurk's Bar by loyalists during the Troubles, said her comments were "disgusting".

"She has not accounted for the hundreds of killings perpetrated by and at the behest of state agents.

"Furthermore, she will never be able to whitewash such indefensible killings as the deliberate shooting dead of civilians including children, never mind all of the other unlawful killings by the British armed forces."

Also calling for Ms Bradley to resign, nationalist SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Ms Bradley was publicly interfering with the rule of law.

Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O'Neill said Ms Bradley had made "outrageous and offensive" comments during her initial appearance in Parliament and later told her it was a "resignation matter".

The Northern Ireland Secretary's words came during oral Northern Ireland-related questions in the House of Commons.
The issue was raised when Clodagh Hawes sister Jacqueline Connolly and mother Mary Coll met Mr Flanagan last week. Photo: Gareth Chaney, Collins

Cabinet proposals to close off a loophole allowing killers or their estates to benefit from their crimes were significantly delayed as it wasn't deemed a high enough priority.

The issue has been highlighted on several occasions in recent years, most recently last week by the family of slain mother Clodagh Hawe.

But the Irish Independent has learned that although the Government signed off on the draft heads of a bill aimed at closing the loophole in July 2017, the legislation itself was not drafted.

The Dail was informed of this in a debate last October by Junior Minister Andrew Doyle.

He said the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel had delayed drafting the legislation "due to pressure from other legislative priorities".

In the meantime, Fianna Fail TD Jim O'Callaghan has been seeking to move forward with a private members' bill to close off the loophole, but this has been delayed as Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan wants to make substantial amendments due to concerns it would have unintended consequences.

Expand Close Celine Cawley / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Celine Cawley

Mr O'Callaghan's bill has been dubbed Celine's Law, after Celine Cawley who was killed by her husband Eamonn Lillis in 2008. Despite being convicted of manslaughter, Lillis maintained he was entitled to ownership of assets he jointly held with his wife.

Because of the loophole Lillis won the right to a 50pc share of their Irish assets. In contrast, a French court found he had no right to a share in a house they had in France.

Meanwhile, it is feared the estate of Alan Hawe stands to benefit despite his brutal murder of his wife Clodagh and their three sons before taking his own life in August 2016.

The issue was raised when Clodagh Hawe's sister Jacqueline Connolly and mother Mary Coll met Mr Flanagan last week.

Expand Close Clodagh Hawe / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Clodagh Hawe

Speaking yesterday, Mr Flanagan said that while he acknowledged the work done by Mr O'Callaghan, he believed changes needed to be made to the Fianna Fail TD's bill.

"I indeed have the strict obligation and responsibility as minister to ensure that any law we make doesn't have any adverse or unintended consequences," he said.

"I'm giving careful consideration to all aspects of the bill."

Mr Flanagan said he was "very keen to see what improvements we could make at an early date".

Those changes are set to be put forward when the Oireachtas Justice Committee considers the bill.

Its scrutiny of the proposed legislation is expected to get under way on March 27.

The Irish Independent understands the committee has decided to write to Ms Cawley's family to get their views on the proposed law.

AdVIC, an organisation that campaigns for the rights of the victims of homicide and their families and friends, is being invited to attend, as is Professor John Mee, of University College Cork, an expert in land law and family property.

Mr Flanagan is concerned the proposed law as it stands would not apply to someone who aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter. He is also said to be concerned about a number of complex jurisdictional issues which may arise in cases where the killing took place outside the jurisdiction.

However, Mr O'Callaghan has called for the bill to be prioritised by the Government.
An amateur boxer allegedly broke the nose of a senior executive in one of businessman Sean Quinn's former companies at a service station cafe, a court has been told.

Belfast High Court was told Kevin Lunney was knocked to the ground and then punched repeatedly in an attack linked to a campaign aimed at vilifying and intimidating him and other directors.

It came as an order restraining Bernard McGovern from any further alleged harassment was secured.

Mr Lunney is a director in Co Fermanagh-based firm Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), which consists of elements of the former business empire founded by ex-tycoon Sean Quinn Sr.

Mr Quinn has repeatedly condemned all alleged attacks on those now running QIH.

Injunction proceedings were brought against Mr McGovern, of Springtown in Kinawley, Co Fermanagh, following the alleged assault in Co Cavan last month.

"The defendant is himself a successful amateur boxer, he knows well how to punch and use his fists, which is what he used in the attack on February 1," said barrister Peter Girvan, appearing for Mr Lunney.

Counsel claimed Mr McGovern threw hot water in the face of another QIH director, who was shielded from harm by his glasses.

Mr Lunney was then allegedly punched a number of times while he was seated, with more blows inflicted as he lay on ground.

The defendant fled after being dragged off the executive by others in the cafe, according to the barrister.

A Garda criminal investigation into the alleged attack is continuing.

No submissions were made on behalf of the defendant, who has not yet obtained legal aid funding.
Jessica Bowes in hospital after the attack (left) and Jessica today (right)

Jonathan McSherry, pictured leaving the Four Courts after a High Court action taken against him by his former partner, Jessica Bowes.Pic: Collins Courts

A woman awarded 150,000 in damages after being severely beaten by the father of her two children said she hopes the ruling will encourage other victims of domestic violence to come forward.

Former soldier Jonathan McSherry (36), formerly of Cedarbrook Walk, Cherry Orchard, Dublin, who served 22 months of a three-and-a-half year prison sentence for the attack on Jessica Bowes, accepted he broke nearly every bone in her face and kicked her a number of times during a horror attack in December 2015.

He had apologised and her case against him was before the High Court for assessment of damages yesterday. CCTV footage of the attack showed McSherry dragging Ms Bowes from the taxi, punching, kicking and dragging her along the ground. She lost consciousness twice in the attack which lasted more than a minute and a half before she crawled into a neighbour's house.

McSherry, formerly of Cedar Brook Walk, Cherry Orchard, Dublin, attacked Ms Bowes after she arrived at her Clondalkin home in a taxi from a Christmas night out on December 20, 2015, to find him waiting there.

CCTV footage showed him dragging her from the taxi, and then punching, kicking and dragging her along the ground.

Ms Bowes lost consciousness twice in the attack, which lasted more than a minute-and-a-half, before she crawled into a neighbours house.

Expand Close Jonathan McSherry pictured leaving the Four Courts. Photo: Collins Courts / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jonathan McSherry pictured leaving the Four Courts. Photo: Collins Courts

Speaking to Independent.ie last night after the damages ruling, she said: I hope this will act as a deterrent, that people will realise there are possible large financial consequences as well as the threat of prison for this sort of violence.

Ive already had people write to me about it.

One woman sent me a letter and a holy medal on Tuesday thanking me for my courage and asking me to pray for her so that she could find courage to tell the truth too.

She went to the bother of writing the letter, getting a stamp and posting it. I was very upset for her and I will pray for her.

Expand Close Jessica pictured after her brutal beating / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jessica pictured after her brutal beating

She signed the letter an old lady, and it shows this can happen to anyone from any background, she added.

I just hope now that with International Womens Day coming tomorrow, women everywhere will find the courage to speak out. I hope women young and old will that find strength.

Its important for women to realise help is there for them  from places like Womens Aid  [and] that legal advice and professional help is available.

Read More

The court heard that McSherry owns two properties in Cavan, one of which he transferred into his mothers name in 2017.

In her civil action, Ms Bowes told the court that she was headbutted by McSherry and described his actions as if he were hunting.

She tried to protect herself by crawling under a parked car and believes she was kicked up to 20 times.

She now found it difficult to fully close her lips because of the damage and felt her face appeared deformed, she said.

Doctors had to insert a permanent metal plate through her mouth to align the facial bones.

Psychological evidence showed that Ms Bowes had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic anxiety and nightmares and was fearful for her own safety and that of her children.

She was described by psychologists as severely damaged and vulnerable.

In defending the civil action, it was argued on McSherrys behalf that in the immediate aftermath of the assault Ms Bowes was examined and showed no evidence of cognitive loss.

It was also said that he had to leave the Army after the attack and had begun his own business.

McSherry accepted that he had carried out the acts seen on the video.

He said he spent seven months in a centre for his drug addiction and was released early from prison to take part in an Alcoholics Anonymous course.

He also took a course with an organisation that helps men to overcome violence.

McSherry complained that because he had been in the media over the attack no one would employ him.

He agreed he owns an apartment in Cavan, which he had transferred to his mother, and another property, also in Cavan.

Read More

Ms Justice Bronagh OHanlon found that Ms Bowes account of the incident was factually correct.

It was, the judge said, an extremely serious case, with the assault causing the difficulties that she had experienced which were ongoing and permanent.

The court noted McSherrys admissions and apology did not come immediately.

It was not the function of the civil court to punish the defendant but rather to assess the appropriate damages.

The judge also noted the steps that McSherry had takento rehabilitate himself, but did not reduce the amount of compensatory damages.

In the circumstances, the appropriate award was 150,000, she said.
Patrick Quirke was still in his milking parlour when an artificial insemination technician arrived at his farm on the morning Bobby Ryan went missing, which was "not normal" as he would usually be finished milking by that time, a jury has been told.

Breda O'Dwyer told the Tipperary murder trial that on previous occasions when she visited Mr Quirke's farm over 15 years, he would "always be washed out and on his way to breakfast" at the time of her arrival.

Mr Quirke (50), of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan (52), a part-time DJ known as Mr Moonlight, on a date between June 3, 2011, and April 2013.

Artificial insemination (AI) technician Breda O'Dwyer told the trial she had been visiting Mr Quirke's farm annually for 15 years. AI season starts around April 20 and most farmers would request her to service cattle for six to eight weeks, on a daily basis.

Asked whether Mr Quirke would usually be there when she called to his farm at Breanshamore in the mornings, Ms O'Dwyer replied: "Normally not. He'd have cleaned up and gone. The dairy would be washed out, the whole place would be spotless."

Asked if she had any specific recollection about June 3, 2011 - the day Mr Ryan went missing - she said Mr Quirke was still in the pit in the milking parlour when she arrived and she assumed he was still milking cows.

Expand Close Breda O"Dwyer. Photo: Gerry Mooney / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Breda O"Dwyer. Photo: Gerry Mooney

She said she had no idea what time she arrived but added "it would have been 9.30am anyway".

She later clarified that on previous occasions over the past 15 years when she had been to his farm for the same purpose, she said he would "always be washed out and on his way to the breakfast".

Asked if she spoke of it with Mr Quirke after that, she said they had "different conversations at different times".

"It was in the newspaper and I was going in and out of Pat's. I wasn't going to talk about the weather when it was in my face," she said.

Expand Close Dr Ivor Hanrahan. Photo: Gerry Mooney / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Dr Ivor Hanrahan. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Asked whether they had ever discussed that particular morning, June 3, 2011, she said they had.

"He said Sean Dillon was there and I said I didn't see him," she said, adding: "He asked did I not remember Sean Dillon was there milking with him - I said I didn't see him.

"That's not saying Sean wasn't there," she said.

Asked by the prosecution if he could have been in the pit, she said: "I didn't see him."

Under cross-examination by Bernard Condon SC for the defence, she said her diary had not been preserved and she could not find it.

She was obliged by the Department of Agriculture to keep a diary only for one or two years in case of disease break out, she said.

Ms O'Dwyer agreed that when gardai first interviewed her in May 2013 she could not find her diary but a month later she found it, but it had since gone missing again, she said.

Mr Dillon told the court he had worked on Mr Quirke's farm for many years. His father was a first cousin of Imelda Quirke, Patrick's wife, he said.

He was 14 in June 2011 and could not remember whether it was June 3 when he was at Mr Quirke's farm, but he knew it was the day after his school holidays began.

He remembered moving bales for Mr Quirke and said it was also possible he had helped with milking. He said it would not be unusual for Mr Quirke to ask him to finish the milking. Asked whether the AI woman was there, he said he could not recall.

He remembered hearing two years later in school that a body had been found and he was frightened because he had been close to the area the previous week. That evening, he and his mother went down to Mr Quirke's house and there was a conversation about it.

"They said it was found in the septic tank," he told the court.

Asked if there had been any discussion about the tank, he said he remembered Mr Quirke saying a calf had caught its leg in it a year previous. When asked if he had known about the tank before the body was found, he said: "Not really, I knew it was there because the leg of the calf got stuck in the tank. I wasn't sure it was a tank but I knew there was concrete there."

Dr Ivor Hanrahan told the trial that Mr Quirke attended his clinic in Tipperary town on September 7, 2010, and mentioned that he was under stress and was having difficulty sleeping.

He subsequently had a number of telephone calls with Mr Quirke over a 10-day period at the end of 2010 into early January and, as a result, prescribed a number of other medications to help him with his sleep disturbances.

However, Mr Quirke derived "minimal benefit" from this. He told the doctor that there were a number of issues bothering him that he did not want to go into detail about and Dr Hanrahan suggested he come to see him in person, which he did on February 3, 2011.

They had a long consultation and Mr Quirke disclosed an extra-marital affair with Mary Lowry. Mr Quirke told him he had been having an affair with Ms Lowry and that it was over. "She was in a relationship with a man and he was upset and quite hurt about it," said Dr Hanrahan.

Dr Hanrahan said he thought Mr Quirke was suffering from an adjustment disorder, rather than from depression.

The trial continues.
Work to tackle serious structural and health and safety concerns at 40 schools will not be completed with a "permanent solution" until next year, according to the Education Minister Joe McHugh.

Construction is set to commence this summer at 23 schools which need the most urgent attention. Mr McHugh said these schools need work carried out on internal and external parts of their buildings. The remaining schools will be attended to in 2020, he added.

The schools were all constructed by the Northern building company Western Building Systems.

Concern arose about the structural integrity of the schools last year when initial assessments were carried out on 42 schools built since 2003. Initial inspections uncovered structural issues at 22 schools.

These included questions about an inadequate number of cavity wall ties in place at specified points to link the outer and inner walls (leafs) at some schools.

Precautionary measures were put in place to make sure they could be occupied safely until a permanent solution could be put in place without interfering with school time.

Another school, Ardgillan Community College in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, was partially shut and remains closed. The extent of the work needed here is expected to take longer than the others to remedy but Mr McHugh said he expects the schools with the most serious defects to be addressed later this year.

A second phase of detailed investigations at affected schools began in January and has been completed on eight sites. These are set to be completed by early May.

"This is about being vigilant and that processes that are fit for purpose to ensure that lessons are learned where they are needed," Mr McHugh said yesterday.

Less serious structural issues at another 17 schools, where precautionary measures were not deemed necessary during the initial phase of inspections, are expected to be addressed in 2020.

A spokesman for the Department of Education said: "With finite time to carry out the implementation works, it is not logistically possible to remediate all of the schools in 2019. The schools with precautionary measures in place are being prioritised."
Scene: Garda check the van involved in the shooting at Blakestown Road, Dublin 15.

Gardai have appealed for witnesses to come forward and issued a description of a gunman after a father-of-two was left in a 'critical condition" following a shooting in west Dublin last night.

The victim, named locally as Lee Boylan (24), was targeted while driving his van on the Blakestown Road in Briarswood, Dublin 15, yesterday evening. It's understood that his condition has deteriorated this morning and he has been transferred from Connolly Hospital to Beaumont Hospital.

Expand Close Lee Boylan / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Lee Boylan

A gunman approached the victim about 5pm as Mr Boylan waited in traffic and fired a number of shots into the vehicle, striking him in the body and neck.

The shooter then ran to a waiting silver BMW 3 Series which was found burned out a short distance away. Several children saw the car being set alight.

Superintendent Liam Carolan today said that the shooter was so reckless that "anybody in the vicinity could have been shot dead. It was daylight, there were a number of people in the area including young children."

Supt Carolan described what happened during a press conference this morning.

"The injured party drove down Blakestown Road in a VW Crafter van registration 151D43908," he said.

"Approximately three of four cars back there was a silver BMW 320 coupe - registration 05KY 5360. The front seat passenger of that BMW got out and approached the driver's side of the van and fired multiple shots into the van.

"The driver, who was on his own at the time, was struck a number of times in the upper body.

"Following on from the shooting we believe the gunman fled on foot and ran into Huntstown Lawn. The gunman was wearing a dark bulky parka jacket which extended down to his knees. He is approximately 6ft tall, he had a blue glove on his left hand, and a black baseball cap with a white logo.

Expand Close Garda Superintendent Liam Carolan from Blanchardstown briefs the media on the shooting of Lee Boylan in Blakestown. Photo: Tony Gavin / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Garda Superintendent Liam Carolan from Blanchardstown briefs the media on the shooting of Lee Boylan in Blakestown. Photo: Tony Gavin

"Shortly after he fled, a black VW Golf came out of that estate, and we are anxious to speak to the driver of that car, it was around 5.05pm, and we just want to eliminate that car from our enquiries.

"Subsequently the BMW traveled to Sadlier Lawn in Mulhuddart and the car was set on fire."

In a statement this afternoon, gardai renewed an appeal for any witnesses of the scene or cars to come forward.

"We are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to yesterdays shooting incident to contact the incident room at Blanchardstown Garda Station.

"We are particularly interested in the movements of a black /grey BMW 320 coupe, registration number 05KY5360, seen around the Blakestown Road area or adjoining estates yesterday between 9am and 5pm."

They are also anxious to speak to anyone who was seen in the Sadlier estate where the BMW car was. He was described as 6ft, 40 to 50 years of age, grey facial stubble and described as very emaciated. He was wearing a hoodie worn over a baseball cap and runners with reflective stripes.

They have also appealed for information relating to the BMW car. It was purchased in the Ronanstown area of Clondalkin on February 9 this year.

"We're very anxious to trace the movements of that car from February 9 to today. People may have seen that car parked up in an apartment block or in an estate, and we'd be anxious to speak to anyone with information," Supt Carolan said.

The gun victim is known to gardai, and his associates have links to a number of organised criminals in west Dublin, including the mob led by drug dealer Mr Flashy.

Expand Close A burnt-out car on Saddlers Drive a short distance from the incident / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A burnt-out car on Saddlers Drive a short distance from the incident

However, he has no previous convictions and was last night being treated in James Connolly Memorial Hospital where he was in a stable condition.

Detectives are probing whether the shooting is connected to an ongoing dispute in the west Dublin area involving Mr Boylan's associates and criminals from Finglas.

The Finglas gang has links to Shane Fowler, who died in a road traffic collision in the area last May. However, gardai are following a number of possible motives linked to the shooting which at this stage is being treated as an attempted murder.

"Associates of this man have been embroiled in a number of serious disputes with serious criminal elements in the Finglas and Blanchardstown areas," a senior source said last night.

Despite being from the Corduff area, gardai said that there was nothing to suggest Mr Boylan was connected to gun warfare in the area last month which resulted in four shootings within a few hours.

His most serious brush with the law came in February 2016 when he was caught by Customs passing through Dublin Airport with three other local men. They were carrying almost 20,000 in cash with one-way tickets to Malaga, Spain.

Mr Boylan was caught with 2,500 which was forfeited to the State.

He was travelling with a 24-year-old notorious criminal who can't be named for legal reasons but is currently serving a lengthy jail sentence.

Members of the Armed Support Unit flooded the Blanchardstown area in the aftermath of the gun attack, while a helicopter from the Air Support Unit was also deployed.

The brother of the victim is said to have been in "hysterics" in the direct aftermath of the shooting.

"He kept shouting, 'My brother has been shot. My brother has been shot'," said a local resident.

"I live just around the corner from Blakestown and heard about four very loud gun shots.

"When I came out of my house I saw a large crowd of people surrounding the man, who was bleeding very heavily from the side of his body."

The resident added that the victim is well known in the area and is a father of two children.

Another local resident told the Irish Independent that this is the second shooting to take place in Blakestown in recent months.

"Eric Fowler was fatally shot in December just up the road from here," she said.

"It's ridiculous how bad things are getting.

"If shootings like this keep happening it's only going to be a matter of time before an innocent person gets killed."

Just five minutes away in Saddlers Grove, Mulhuddart, a number of children witnessed the man, who is linked to the shooting, torch his silver BMW 3 Series car.

Many more residents in the west Dublin estate saw him flee the scene on foot.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Blanchardstown Garda Station 01 666 7000 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.
DNA checks: One of the devices sent to addresses in the UK. Photo: Metropolitan Police/PA

Forensic police officers in the UK and Ireland have identified similarities between packages sent to the University of Glasgow yesterday and 'love bomb' packages sent to London on Tuesday.

Classes are expected to return to normal at the university today after a controlled explosion was carried out in its mailroom.

Bomb disposal officers detonated a suspect package which had been found on Wednesday morning.

Confirming the link with the incidents in London on Tuesday, Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson of Police Scotland said anyone who sees anything suspicious should report it immediately.

He said: "The package sent to the university was not opened and no-one was injured. A controlled explosion of the device was carried out this afternoon by EOD.

"There are similarities in the package, its markings and the type of device that was recovered in Glasgow to those in London.

"Therefore, we are now treating it as being linked to the three packages being investigated by the Met in London and both investigations are being run in tandem."

The results of forensic tests on three incendiary bomb packages found at London transport hubs this week were last night being studied by gardai in a trans-national bid to identify those responsible

Officers from the Garda and the London metropolitan police hope fingerprint and DNA checks on the A4-size packages and Jiffy bags, which contained the small devices, will yield some clues about who the bombers are.

Members of dissident republican faction the New IRA remain the prime suspects for the London parcel bombs.

However, Dean Haydon, the Metropolitan Police's senior national co-ordinator for counter terrorism policing, acknowledged nothing had yet been found to indicate the motivation of the sender.

He also said that police had not ruled out the possibility of further devices and added that Scotland Yard was pursuing a number of lines of inquiry.

This included the Irish stamps and postmarks on the packages, but he pointed out that there were no messages contained within them.

He could not confirm if the incidents were related to what he called Ireland-related terrorist groups.

Senior Garda officers said that if the devices were the work of dissident republicans, it was unusual that 24 hours later, no one had claimed responsibility for them.

"In the past, some group would claim responsibility or at least jump on the bandwagon after a similar incident, but nobody has yet come forward", one officer said.

The New IRA was responsible for seven parcel bombs sent to British military recruitment centres across the south east of England, including Oxford, Brighton, Canterbury, Slough, Aldershot, Reading and Chatham in Kent, in February 2014.

The latest devices in England, sent to Heathrow and London city airports and Waterloo rail station, were described as small with "some degree of sophistication".

One of them caught fire when the package was opened, but no one was injured.

The other two remained intact and were dealt with by explosive experts.

Police in the UK remained vigilant yesterday for further packages, and there were a number of security alerts, but they all turned out to be false alarms.

Officers from the Garda's security and intelligence section at the force's headquarters in the Phoenix Park are in close contact with their counterparts in the London Met.

They are also working with the PSNI in an effort to identify the person or group behind the devices.

Forensic officers from the Garda technical bureau are assisting with checks through their database.

Tanaiste and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said he reacted with embarrassment and anger when he heard that the packages had been posted from here.

He said the people who sent the packages, which had Dublin postmarks, should be "isolated and criticised".

"I think any decent thinking person needs to reject utterly the kind of warped thinking that results in somebody sending an explosive device or something that can catch fire in the post into anywhere," Mr Coveney added.
Victims' families have called for the UK's Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley to resign after she said deaths at the hands of soldiers and police during the Troubles were "not crimes".

Her comments in the House of Commons sparked anger and accusations that she was interfering with the rule of law.

Next week, prosecutors in the UK will announce whether British soldiers will face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings of 14 innocent civilians in Derry.

Ms Bradley later backtracked and returned to the Commons to say alleged wrongdoing by all should always be investigated.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney met with Ms Bradley last night for a detailed discussion on the controversy at the Irish Embassy in London last night.

His office said they talked about the importance of full and impartial investigations into all deaths during the troubles and the importance of both governments standing firm on that principle.

According to the Tanaiste both reaffirmed their commitment to the legacy framework of the Stormont House Agreement.

The Tanaiste made very clear that the Irish Government would not support any proposal to introduce an amnesty for any party, the spokesman said.

Mickey McKinney, whose brother William was killed on Bloody Sunday, said: "It's very hurtful.

"She should resign right away. Is she not aware that there was an inquiry that found our people completely innocent? Was she not aware of David Cameron's apology to the people for the behaviour of the army?"

John Kelly's brother Michael was 17 when he was shot dead during the January 1972 civil rights march.

Mr Kelly told BBC Radio Ulster: "I don't believe she can represent the nationalist people of the North or anyone who lost their lives at the hands of the British army. I believe she should resign."

She claimed that more than 90pc of deaths caused during 30 years of the Troubles involved republican or loyalist paramilitaries.

Ms Bradley initially told MPs: "The fewer than 10pc that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes.

"They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way."

She later returned to the Commons, saying: "The point I was seeking to convey was that the overwhelming majority of those who served carried out their duties with courage, professionalism and integrity and within the law.

"I was not referring to any specific cases but expressing a general view.

"Of course where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated - whoever is responsible."

When asked on Wednesday evening if she would like to apologise for her comments, Ms Bradley told the Press Association: "Coming back to the House of Commons and correcting the record is the biggest statement I can make in terms of the inadvertent comments that I made during oral questions.

"I was absolutely determined to be clear to everybody that what I had said needed correcting and to do so on the floor of the House of Commons is the biggest statement I can make."

She said she did not intend to cause "any offence or upset to anybody", adding: "I am determined that we will find a way to deal with the issue of the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland as soon as possible and in a way that is right and fair for victims and everyone."

Pressed on whether she would say sorry to people she upset, Ms Bradley, who was at a St Patrick's Day event at the Embassy of Ireland in London, said: "As I say, I never intend to cause any offence. I want to ensure that we have a system that works for everyone."

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, who was also at the event at the Embassy of Ireland, met with Ms Bradley to seek clarification.

A spokesman said: "Secretary of State Bradley's reaffirmation this afternoon that 'where there is evidence of wrongdoing, it should always be investigated - whoever is responsible' is important.

"There are no amnesties from prosecution provided for in the Good Friday Agreement or any subsequent agreements including the Stormont House Agreement.

"The Irish Government has been clear that it would not support any proposal to introduce such a measure, for state or non-state actors."

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said she was publicly interfering with the rule of law. "No one has the right to deliberately pressure or intervene with due process," he said, adding: "She should resign."
Some businesses are not reporting cyber attacks on their data for fear of reputational repercussions among customers, according to a senior cyber crime officer.

Detective chief superintendent, Pat Lordan  from the gardais cyber crime bureau  said companies need to report a data hack on their business sooner rather than later.

Mr Lordan said any money lost in such an attack is impossible to get back if firms wait to long to take action.

He said that more companies need to report such incidents and if they do find out about it early, theres a chance of getting the money back.

From a law enforcement point of view, were probably not seeing enough reports being made on the different types of frauds and scams that were seeing everyday of the week, he said.

The problem is if you hide in your little bunker and you dont report it for a couple of days and youre terrified of the data protection commissioner, terrified of the customer finding out that money will never be seen again, Mr Lordan told the Zero Day Con at Dublins Convention Centre this afternoon.

Mr Lordan added that Ireland is no longer a small isolated country that isnt targeted and said it is now a global problem.

If we know the money is gone from your company through a business email compromise, if we know about it very quickly, theres a good chance of getting the money back, he added.

Also speaking at the conference, FBI agent Todd Renner said there is a reliance form authorities for businesses to provide them with information of cyber attacks.

The single biggest challenge we face is having people report to us, what theyre seeing and whats going on. We rely on you guys and when things happen on your networks or in your homes, we dont know about it unless you tell us, Mr Renner said.

Without that information theres not much we can do, because we dont know theres a victim.
The family of Celine Cawley have paid tribute to the bravery of Clodagh Hawe's family, saying they are "an inspiration to everyone who believes in the triumph of good over evil".

Celine's siblings - Chris and Susanna Cawley - issued a statement to RTE's 'Claire Byrne Live' programme last night praising Clodagh's mother Mary Coll and sister Jacqueline Connolly.

Their statement also praised the contribution of Jim and Rose Callaly, the parents of Rachel O'Reilly, who was murdered by her husband Joe O'Reilly at their home in The Naul, north Co Dublin, in 2004.

Businesswoman Celine (46) was killed by her husband Eamonn Lillis at their home in Howth, north Dublin, in 2008. He was released from prison in 2015 after serving a sentence for her manslaughter.

In the years after their sister's death, Chris and Susanna have called for legal reforms that would prevent those who killed their partners from gaining financially with regard to their joint assets after their death.

Ms Cawley's siblings were involved in protracted legal proceedings against her killer over control of joint assets owned by the couple.

Referring to the decision by Clodagh's family to go on the 'Claire Byrne Live' programme last week, Chris and Susanna said: "Reflecting on this bravery, we are left wondering how is it that private citizens, who are already trying to process the distress and sadness arising from a horrific crime, must take on such a personally onerous role in trying to get the State to respond to what is so manifestly in the interest of the common good and the principles of social justice.

The family said that Celine's killing and their subsequent attempts to administer her estate illustrated the totally unacceptable current situation in Ireland where men who commit a crime can currently gain financially from it.

"We understand that legislation is currently being discussed. It is vital that proposed legislation ensures that 100pc of jointly held assets pass to the estate of the victim's family.

"It is crucially important that men who may be considering a horrific act of violence know that they will be disinherited from any role or part in jointly held assets. This legislation needs to be enacted urgently."

Over the weekend, the Irish Independent reported on how 'Celine's Law' - which would block killers from benefiting from their crimes - is being stalled by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan.

A Department of Justice spokesperson said there are problems with the proposed legislation and that it may have unintended consequences.

The proposed law was first tabled by Fianna Fail's justice spokesperson Jim O'Callaghan two years ago.

Last week, Ms Connolly and Ms Coll made calls for an inquiry into the murder of Clodagh and her three sons. They also made a call for changes to succession laws.

Clodagh Hawe and her sons Liam (13), Niall (11) and Ryan (6) were murdered by their husband and father Alan Hawe at their home in Virginia, Co Cavan, in August 2016.

Alan Hawe transferred funds from their joint account to his personal account before he took his own life. It is thought he did this so his family would inherit the money.
Clodagh Hawe's mother Mary Coll (left) and her sister Jacqueline Connelly leaving the Department of Justice in Dublin following a meeting with Justice minister Charlie Flanagan. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has agreed to set up a serious case review into the investigation surrounding the murder of Clodagh Hawe and her three sons.

Clodagh (39), Liam (13), Niall (11) and Ryan (6) were killed in their home near Ballyjamesduff in August 2016 by Alan Hawe, who subsequently took his own life.

This new development, confirmed by gardai, follows a meeting between Drew Harris and Clodaghs family at Garda Headquarters in Dublin.

Commissioner Harris told the family that he has appointed Assistant Commissioner Barry OBrien to conduct a serious case review of the investigation, a garda spokesperson said.

Expand Close Justice minister Charlie Flanagan at the Department of Justice in Dublin following a meeting with Clodagh Hawe's mother Mary Coll and her sister Jacqueline Connelly. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Justice minister Charlie Flanagan at the Department of Justice in Dublin following a meeting with Clodagh Hawe's mother Mary Coll and her sister Jacqueline Connelly. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The review team will take a number of weeks to establish. Commissioner Harris said the family will be kept informed as the review progresses.

The review will look at the garda response to the familys deaths, rather than the lead up to the murders themselves.

Following today's meeting, Clodaghs mother Mary and sister Jacqueline told members of the media that they welcomed the commissioners decision.

We have had a very constructive two-and-a-half hour meeting with the Garda Commissioner, said Jacqueline Connolly.

He has agreed to conduct a serious case review headed by his Assistant Commissioner Barry OBrien.

We look forward to being appraised of that process in two weeks time.

Once again, we would like to thank the media for the respectful coverage around Clodagh, Liam, Niall and Ryan and for the support we have received from everyone around the country.

Gardai described the meeting as being conducted in a dignified manner.

It is welcome that the family found it productive and it helped provided clarity for them on some matters, a spokesperson said.

Commissioner Harris provided the family with information on the criminal investigation undertaken while also respecting the data protection rights and confidentially of those individuals who had given statements to An Garda Siochana in the course of the investigation.

Earlier this year, the family was refused copies of the Garda files from the original investigation into the murders.

The have since been appealing for a new and full inquiry into the murders and to be given access to the Garda files.

They are also calling for a review on Irelands inheritance law where a spouse can benefit financially from domestic murder.

In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Ms Connolly said that in the days and weeks after the shocking killings, they slowly started to learn that as the victims family they had little rights.

This began when they moved to have Alan Hawe exhumed from the grave he shared with Clodagh, Liam, Niall and Ryan.

Of course, when we tried to have the body exhumed we learned, as we did on so many occasions later, that we, Clodaghs next of kin, had no rights. It would be the Hawe family that would have the ultimate say whether there would or would not be an exhumation, she said.

We also would find out that under the Succession Act 1965, the Hawe family alone are entitled to all the proceeds of the estate.

Since the inquest, Clodaghs family have learned from the notes of his counsellor that Alan Hawe had been viewing pornography at work on a laptop, had been having regular urges to masturbate, and was experimenting with cross-dressing.

He had stated he had been caught red-handed and Ms Connolly and Ms Coll want to know what that refers to.

They have also been told by a local man that he saw Alan Hawe driving very close to the school where he was vice principal early on the morning of August 29.

So, after Alan Hawe murdered his wife and three sons, did he leave the house to go to his place of work, Castlerahan National School, where he was vice-principal, perhaps to destroy evidence? Ms Connolly asked.

When we asked a detective did gardai pursue this line of inquiry - local witnesses saying they sighted the murderer driving that morning - we were accused of interfering with a witness because we allowed a local to tell us what they saw that morning.
Higher education minister Mary Mitchell OConnor has delivered a blistering attack on male attitudes to gender equality.

She described the level of interest in among men as small, as in teeny small, as in this small as she gestured to her audience with her thumb and forefinger only centimetres apart.

The minister spoke about the silence from men to her women-only professorships initiative, although she also said that some women patted me on the head claiming the jobs would be seen as second-rate.

Ms Mitchell OConnor was speaking at a National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) conference on creating a zero tolerance approach to sexual violence and harassment in higher education.

The It Stops Now conference marks International Womens Day and the minister said there would be a special Cabinet meeting tomorrow followed by some ground-breaking equality announcements.

She told her largely-female audience that women were making a huge mistake if they thought talking about womens issues to groups made up exclusively of women was going to change things on the equality agenda.

How many men, for example, do you think, are going to contact the organisers of this event after we finish, looking for copies of any speeches made? Think about it, she said.

She said Ireland was full of powerful influential, thoughtful men, in politics, in the arts, in business and in sport and continued: So every one of them must be clamouring to hear what we're saying here today, mustn't they? Well, if you can hear that clamour, your hearing must be a lot better than mine is.

She said that anyone who believed the organisers were going to have multiple requests for papers from the conference from influential men, from the men who matter in Ireland in 2019, you're a whole lot more optimistic than I am - and I'm optimistic by nature.

The minister said that International Women's Day was in danger of becoming what Holy Days used to be when we were going to school, back in the day; a chance to skive off with friends and have no homework for that day.

She said there was a need to re-purpose it so it actually achieved solid objectives. But she went on to warn that if we don't engage and involve men in this critical work around gender equality-then it wasnt going to happen or if it does happen, it will be too little, too late.

Ms Mitchell OConnor referred to her announcement, last November, of 45 female-only professorships as a way of redressing a gender imbalance in senior posts in higher education.

On the day of the launch and thereafter, I didn't have to say curb your enthusiasm, because enthusiasm stayed pretty much curbed without any help from me. Men stayed mostly silent, presumably feeling safer in silence.

Women - committed feminists, even - patted me on the head and said they understood where I was coming from, but really, the positions would be seen as second rate. Really?

She said the statistics proved that academic posts are outrageously biased, in their distribution, towards men, a bias that was long-standing.

The bottom line is that for generations, men within academia have effectively confined hundreds of professorships and lectureships to men. Were any of those professorships or lectureships regards as second rate as a result of that? Are you kidding?

Yet the minute a female Minister says 'Lads, here's a handful of posts you can't go for. Here are a handful of posts that, by way of a tiny tilt towards equality, will be kept for women,' the view taken is negative.

She said women had been competing like champions for the last 30 or 40 years for such posts and only a fraction of them had come through.

Referring to announcements after tomorrows Cabinet meeting, she said they would include new guidelines and initiatives that women, including the National Womens Council had been demanding for years.
REVENUE officers have seized smuggled cigarettes worth more than 1.2 million.

As part of routine profiling, Revenue officers found the black market cigarettes in a container that had arrived into Dublin Port from Rotterdam on Monday.

The cigarettes, which originated in Belarus, have a retail value of over 1.2 million, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over 1 million.

A Revenue spokesman said in a statement: "Most people pay the right amount of tax and duty.

"If you know someone is evading or involved in smuggling, report it. Contact Revenues Confidential Telephone 1800 295 295."

Investigations are ongoing.
Police flats at Glin Ree Court in Newry, Co Down , where the bodies of a man, a woman and a teenage girl were discovered at a flat at around 11am on Thursday morning. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Police have launched a murder investigation following the deaths of three people in Newry.

The bodies of a 38-year-old man, 37-year-old woman and 15-year-old girl were discovered at a flat in Glin Ree Court at 11am on Thursday morning.

The three bodies have not yet been identified and the cause of death has not been established.

Police are investigating the cause of a death and post mortem examinations will take place in due course.

Expand Close Police at the scene of an incident in the Glin Ree Court area of Newry where three bodies have been discovered on March 7th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott / INM) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Police at the scene of an incident in the Glin Ree Court area of Newry where three bodies have been discovered on March 7th 2019 (Photo by Kevin Scott / INM)

They confirmed they are not seeking anyone else in connection with the deaths.

Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy said: "At about 11am this morning the police received a call from a concerned member of a family worried they had not been in contact with the family member for a number of days.

"Police officers have responded to the flat at Glin Ree Court in Newry and forced entry into the flat and found inside the bodies of three people.

"At this stage we believe the bodies of those of a young female aged approximately 15, a female aged approximately 37, and a male aged approximately 38.

"At this stage the deceased have not been formally identified and as yet we have no defined cause of death for those individuals.

"At this stage I do not believe that anybody else is involved in the deaths of those individuals and I am not currently seeking anybody else in connection with their deaths. It is still a very early part of the enquiry and the investigation is ongoing.

Expand Close Police at the scene in Newry. Photo: Kevin Scott/Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Police at the scene in Newry. Photo: Kevin Scott/Belfast Telegraph

"If that position changes we will of course be in touch."

"At this stage we are treating this as a murder investigation. The exact cause of the death with regards to the three individuals is unclear."

Mr Murphy said it is not clear when the victims died and what nationality they are.

The PSNI's forensic team attended the scene on Thursday afternoon.

Newry and Armagh DUP MLA William Irwin said he was concerned by the discovery.

This is an awful tragedy and I understand Police have commenced investigations into this very concerning discovery. I extend my sincerest sympathy, thoughts and prayers to the wider family of the deceased individuals at this awful time," he said.

SDLP MLA Justin McNulty said a "dark cloud" was hanging over Newry.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the deceased," he said.

Over the coming hours and days more will become known but for now this community is stunned and my thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives and with this community.

Local SDLP councillor Michael Savage said that he believed a "very tragic story is unfolding" and said the news had sent "shock waves across our city and has left many local people unnverved.

Sinn Fein councillor Charlie Casey offered his sympathies to the families of those involved.

Details are still emerging and a police investigation is underway and that should be allowed to proceed," he said.

I would encourage anyone with information on this incident to bring it forward to the PSNI.
Water wasters will be slapped with fines - similar to those incurred by speeding motorists - under plans proposed by Fianna Fail, the Irish Independent can reveal.

Legal advice commissioned by the party proposes the introduction of a "fixed charge notices system akin to that operated at present in the sphere of motor vehicles" in order to deal with those who waste water.

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are at loggerheads over the water charges issue, which continues to threaten the stability of the Government.

The stand-off centres upon how to deal with so-called 'excessive usage'.

Fine Gael wants to introduce legislation that penalises people who waste water - but Fianna Fail insists such an offence can be dealt with by a law introduced in 2007 called the Water Services Act.

At present, the law provides for a 5,000 maximum fine and /or a prison sentence of up to three months for offenders.

The legal advice, seen by this newspaper, proposes that the legislation should be strengthened in order to ensure Ireland is compliant with EU law.

With the row now set to spill into next week, Housing Minister Simon Coveney yesterday consulted Attorney General Maire Whelan, while Fianna Fail obtained further legal advice on the matter.

Lawyers Darren Lehane and Conleth Bradley propose a fine system similar to the one that applies to motorists.

"However, we are of the view that it might be considered appropriate to improve the effectiveness of the system as a whole by introducing, for example, a fixed charge notice system akin to that operated at present in the sphere of motor vehicles whereby an offender would be given an opportunity to pay a fine first before the matter proceeds to court," the advice stated.

"The amount of the fine could be structured on a graded basis commensurate with the amount of waste involved."

Under the FF proposed system, people will avoid court appearances and instead receive the fine in the post.

The news comes as Mr Coveney held talks with the Attorney General as the Government aims to defuse the ongoing water row.

Mr Coveney last night said he was "satisfied" that the Government's approach was the right one and would ensure Ireland was not opened up to fines and potential legal action by the European Union.

In a clear swipe, the Cork South Central TD said he did not believe Fianna Fail's legal advice was credible.

"I am not prepared to go down the route of prosecutions," Mr Coveney said, adding that Fianna Fail's approach should be seen as trying to "make criminals out of people".

He said the Government's position would ensure the taxpayer was not left to pick up the tab for the wasting of water.

"Why should everyone else in the State pay for the guy who leaves the tap on?" Mr Coveney said.

Meanwhile, Mr Coveney gave his clearest indication yet that he is willing to budge on the issue of refunds. The minister said he had an "open mind" on the issue, which he said would be worked through next week by the committee.
Apple ice wine, a mature goat's cheese and a charity offering nourishing were among the winners in the 2019 Irish Food Awards.

The Irish Food Writers' Guild (IFWG) annual awards are independently judged and celebrate indigenous businesses which are responsible for boosting Ireland's food and drink reputation, both north and south of the Border.

The full list of winners was Hegarty Cheese, 3fe Coffee, Young Buck Cheese, Dunany Flour's Organic Spelt Berries, Killahora Orchard's Rare Apple Ice Wine.

Special awards went to Co Antrim's Broughgammon Farm, Cork Penny Dinners and Peter Hannon of Hannon Meats.

"Each year, the IFWG singles out a select number of products and organisations that evoke pride in our national food identity and contribute to our rich and diverse food culture," said Kristin Jenson, who is the chairperson of the IFWG.

The awards highlight both the opportunities and challenges facing Irish food producers, she added as he spoke at a lunch to celebrate the winners at Dublin's Glover's Alley.

Expand Close Peter Hannan of Hannan Meats. Photo: Paul Sherwood / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Peter Hannan of Hannan Meats. Photo: Paul Sherwood

"Many of these are small businesses.

"Together with all in the food industry, they have major concerns over what is coming down the track following Brexit."

Ms Jenson added: "With the threat of UK tariffs a real possibility, it is incumbent on us all - government, industry and consumers - to protect and support our abundance of incredible food producers.

"They have all played a significant role in helping position Ireland as a food tourism destination."

Expand Close David Watson and Barry Walsh of Killahora Orchards. Photo: Paul Sherwood / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp David Watson and Barry Walsh of Killahora Orchards. Photo: Paul Sherwood

Ms Jenson also urged all sectors of society to source, buy and eat "local, high-quality produce" to help Irish producers thrive during this period of uncertainty.
NORTHERN Irelands Secretary of State Karen Bradley has apologised for claiming that all deaths at the hands of soldiers during the Troubles were not crimes.

Ms Bradley is fighting for her political survival amid a massive backlash, including today in the Dail.

In her statement today, Ms Bradley said: I want to apologise. I am profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt that my words have caused. The language was wrong and even though this was not my intention, it was deeply insensitive to many of those who lost loved ones.

She said that having personally met families affected she understands just how raw their pain is and I completely understand why they want to see justice properly delivered.

I share that aim and that is why I launched the public consultation on addressing the legacy of the troubles.

My position and the position of this Government is clear. We believe fundamentally in the rule of law. Where there is any evidence of wrongdoing this should be pursued without fear or favour whoever the perpetrators might be.

That is a principle that underpins our approach to dealing with legacy issues and it is one from which we will not depart.

She had a difficult meeting with Tanaiste Simon Coveney in London last night and is expected to travel to Belfast this evening.

Mr Coveney told the Dail this afternoon that the Irish government has made it clear to her that there are no amnesties provided for in the Good Friday Agreement.

The Irish government has been clear we will not support any proposal to introduce such a measure for any state or non-state actors, Mr Coveney said.

Next week, prosecutors will announce whether soldiers will face trial for the Bloody Sunday killings of 14 innocent civilians in Derry.

But Ms Bradley stated yesterday that fewer than 10pc of killings during the Troubles were at the hands of military and police personnel.

They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way, she said.

Mr Coveney said the timing of the comments couldnt be worse.

This is a time of real sensitivity for many victims of violence and terrorism too, he said.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said her comments were "insensitive" and "wrong".

When asked if she should resign he said it was not for him to determine the composition of another government.

Fianna Fails deputy leader Dara Calleary said Ms Bradleys comments ignored the grief of people on this island and cannot go unchecked.

Yesterdays remarks were absolutely callous and completely out of order, he said, adding that they were calculated.

For Sinn Fein, party deputy leader Pearse Doherty said Ms Bradleys remarks were utterly unacceptable from the UK Minister deemed responsible for Northern Ireland. It was an outrageous and ridiculous statement, Mr Doherty said.

The Sinn Fein TD said the remarks were not out of the blue and followed a pledge by UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, to bring in legislation protecting serving UK security members from prosecution for such incidents.

Mr Doherty said the UK government was refusing to implement the so-called Stormont House agreement on the injustices perpetrated by the UK security forces. He added that there were important unresolved issues about security forces collusion with Loyalist paramilitaries in committing crimes.

The Tanaiste said he had a long meeting with Ms Bradley on Wednesday evening. He asked her to publicly state her governments support for all agreements on the North and a public commitment that there can be no amnesty for past crimes.

I think she accepted all those things and I understand there is a strong attempt by the Secretary of State to do those things, Mr Coveney said.

Mr Doherty said Ms Bradleys comments did not state her governments commitment to implement the Stormont House agreement on dealing with past injustices. He added that Ms Bradley had said the language was wrong but that was not sufficient  the real question was one of intent.

Mr Coveney said he believed Ms Bradley was a good person who had made a mistake which she now acknowledged.
Premium

Dan O'Brien Opinion While we catastrophise about Covid, we ignore risk of running out of cash

We Irish view the world in an increasingly strange and unhealthy way. We catastrophise about Covid in a way other European countries do not. We focus on how bad the effects of the virus could get, on how many more restrictions might be imposed by Government and how helpless we are in the face of the virus.
Mother Teresa once shared an inspirational quote about the value of a smile: Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.

This certainly rings true for Mary Flanagan and her husband Paul, as it was Marys warm smile that made Paul fall in love with her back in 2006. Mary had experienced problems with her teeth in the past, and she was told that getting work done would cost up to 60,000.

I was then advised by a retired Irish dentist to visit Kreativ Dental Clinic in Budapest, Hungary, where I made savings of over 40,000.

Not only was I happy with the savings I had made, but I was also thrilled with my new smile. Plus, I had suffered a lot of pain in my teeth beforehand and was unable to eat certain foods because of it, but that pain is now gone.

Setting a date

Paul, who was also suffering from dental problems at the time, knew Mary through mutual friends and had heard she had visited Kreativ Dental Clinic. He contacted her to ask if she would meet with him for advice on beginning his own dental journey.

I was attracted to Mary because she was beautiful and intelligent, and had such a welcoming smile, says Paul.

Mary adds, On that first meeting with Paul, we got on so well that we barely discussed the information that we were actually there to talk about! So, we had to arrange a second meeting and things just blossomed from there.

Three months after they got together, Mary decided to travel to Kreativ Dental Clinic with Paul, to keep him company and help to ease his fear of dentists. Mary and Paul were married in December 2011, and she says it was the happiest day of our lives.

We couldnt stop smiling.

Soon after her wedding, Mary was inspired to become the Irish representative for Kreativ Dental Clinic. Today, she helps customers to secure the best-value flights to Budapest and book their free consultations.

Awarded International Dental Clinic of the Year 2018 by medical travel publication The International Medical Travel Journal, Kreativ Dental Clinic has been providing quality dental care for over 18 years. The clinics oral surgeons and dental specialists are experienced in their respective fields of dentistry, and treatments include implants, root canals, and full porcelain crowns, along with many other treatments.

Since the clinics inception, a second clinic called Kreativ Dental 2 opened its doors in 2015. Located beside the first clinic, it was built to help manage the high demand from patients worldwide. A third clinic has just been completed, which is set to open this year.

In addition to a free comprehensive consultation and OPG X-Ray, Kreativ Dental Clinic offers a written guarantee on all work, and aftercare is also provided in Ireland. Treatment costs will depend on a patients personal situation and a full breakdown of costs will be provided in writing. Patients can make savings of at least 60pc, and they can also claim tax back.

In the mood

Mary and Pauls love story is unique, in the fact that it was their smiles that brought them together. But research has shown that a smile can make us appear more attractive. It lifts our own mood, as well as the moods of those around us.

Many Irish people visit Kreativ Dental Clinic to achieve a healthy smile that they will feel confident with. Many of these people had an initial fear of dentists, but have ended up feeling relaxed during their treatment, and would look back and say it was all worth it.

During a visit to Kreativ Dental Clinic, you are not under any pressure to go ahead with treatment. You can simply go over for a free consultation and decide what to do after meeting with the dental specialist.

Maybe you have a wedding coming up in the next year or two and you would like to have a confident smile for then. Or, perhaps it is something yourself and your partner have always wanted to do. Then, why not book a free consultation and treat it as a relaxing weekend break away to the beautiful city of Budapest? Budapest was recently named Best European Destination 2019 by European Best Destinations (EBD).

Whatever your personal reasons for achieving a smile you love, it might just be one of the best decisions you ever make.

For more information, visit the Kreativ Dental Clinic or call Mary Flanagan on (01) 805 5526 or (086) 029 9998.

Sponsored by:
February was a dizzying month for fashion. Along with Oscar season reaching its climax and a series of high-profile royal appearances, designers in New York, London, Milan and Paris presented their autumn-winter collections. Here, we're running down the biggest catwalk looks and what you'll be wearing next season.

MAD FOR PLAID

It never really goes out of style, but the fashion world seized on the versatility of plaid for autumn. Dior led the charge with a tribute to the 50s Teddy Girl: the famous Bar jacket was rendered in vibrant red tartan, alongside wool coats, jumpsuits and skirts in vivid green, black and white. Versace went grunge with acid-hued outerwear and negligees with bondage harnesses, while Chloe gave rustic tartans an urban twist with sharp coats and mid-calf boots - expect to see plenty of lookalikes come September.

INTO THE MATRIX

The Matrix turns 20 this year, and Italian brands marked the anniversary in style. Bottega Veneta's new creative director Daniel Lee featured directional leather dresses, jumpsuits and coats paired with futuristic knitwear and stomping lug-sole boots. At Rochas, there were vinyl gowns, blouses and jackets; Salvatore Ferragamo proposed leather for eveningwear with a strappy floor-length gown; and Trinity-worthy leather coats appeared at Tod's, Roberto Cavalli and Alberta Ferretti, often worn with over-the-knee boots.

THE (SUPER) HERO BUY

We're pining for a bit of drama in our outerwear after seeing the range and variety of capes on the catwalks. There was lush velvet at Giorgio Armani for red-carpet-ready glamour, delicate lace at Prada for some fairy tale romance, cosy tartan at Lanvin for a weekend retreat, and supple leather at Salvatore Ferragamo for elegance with an edge. If that sounds impractical, look to Missoni's fine knitted versions for an alternative to the blanket scarf, or take inspiration from JW Anderson's cape-coat hybrid. The belt flatters the waist, while the draping is quietly chic.

ON YOUR TOES

It may not be the most weather-appropriate boot, but open-toe styles are set to dominate this year thanks to Victoria Beckham. The former Spice Girl's hero shoe is a thigh-high peep-toe style that was presented in leopard print, lipstick red, rich burgundy and classic black. Worn with satin gowns, skirt suits and argyll knits, Beckham makes the case for a peeptoe for every occasion. There were skintight knitted versions and slouchy leather styles, which VB has already worn a handful of times. Brace yourself for some chilly toes this winter.

BELT UP

Video of the Day

Trinny and Susannah's favourite styling trick makes a return. All eyes are on the waist next season - and the wider, the better. The standout at JW Anderson was a chunky paisley jumper cinched with a thick belt, while Dior wrapped massive belts over full skirts, knits and high-waisted trousers. It works a treat for breaking up bulky winter looks.

NO SHRINKING VIOLET

At Kate Spade, Irish designer Nicola Glass championed the regal hue in satin shirtdresses, trouser suits and leopard print coats. There were pastel 80s silhouettes at Balmain, 70s disco dresses at Michael Kors and swinging 60s prints at Anna Sui, while Valentino's fluid mulberry gown was clean and contemporary. From soft lavender to rich plum to deep eggplant, this is the colour to wear, head-to-toe or in a statement piece.

DRESSED TO FRILL

Call it the Villanelle effect, but designers are pumping up the volume. The silhouette is modest, often with high necks and long sleeves, but the focus is on the vast, frothy skirts. Molly Goddard (who designed the famous frock from Killing Eve) proposed more fabulous fuchsia frills; Tomo Koizumi's blockbuster New York show was filled with technicolor ruffles; Ashish presented his signature sequins in hot pink and denim blue; and Richard Quinn applied loud florals to trapeze dresses, bubble hems and even a feathered bridal gown. Ground yours with a pair of combat boots, or stick to a sweeping skirt with a crisp white shirt tucked in.

RUFF AND READY

High necklines are getting a Victorian update next season. You can go big or take it in small steps: Marc Jacobs, Brock Collection and Erdem nodded to the past with decadent metallics, antique florals and ladylike tiered dresses, while Tory Burch put a modern spin on the look by pairing ruffled neck blouses with jeans for everyday wear.

MORE IS MORE

Busy lifestyles call for more than one bag to fit all the daily essentials, and designers have answered the call by doubling the number of bags to hold at once. Ulla Johnson teamed circle bags with tasselled bucket bags in warm tan and ochre, Rebecca Minkoff offered doubles in polished leather and snakeskin, and at Kate Spade, models wore cross body styles while carrying structured totes.

PRETTY PLUMES

Is it time for a break from sequins? Plumage took the spotlight across the fashion capitals, most spectacularly in Mary Katrantzou's ombre designs and Marc Jacobs' sweeping gowns, including the finale look modelled by Christy Turlington. Irish designer Richard Malone showcased feathered opera gloves along with coats, shirts and trousers trimmed with contrasting feathers, while an orange feather-embellished parka worn by Kaia Gerber was a highlight at Valentino - and just about made the case for feathers for daytime.
The Duchess of Cambridge arrives at the Empire Music Hall in Belfast, as part of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's two day visit to Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo.

Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex arrive at the Book of Kells Exhibition at Trinity College during their visit to Dublin, Ireland, July 11, 2018. Gareth Fuller/Pool via REUTERS

The Duchess of Sussex arriving to meet Michael Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain on the second day of the Royal couple's visit to Dublin, Ireland. Photo: PA

It should go without saying that there is more to honouring Ireland than wearing green and drinking pints of Guinness.

And yet, that is the default strategy for so many visitors, especially high profile ones. Over the last 12 months in particular, the British royal family have been on a full-court press of soft diplomacy in order to continue positive Anglo-Irish relations, which makes the obvious omission of the well-dressed duchesses wearing anything Irish-designed at specifically Irish events all the more perplexing.

On Wednesday night, Prince Charles and Camilla celebrated at early St Patricks Day dinner with Simon Coveney, and London-based stars like Dara O Briain and Kenneth Branagh. Charles spoke a few words As Gaeilge and vowed to visit all 32 counties - overall, it was well received affair. Camilla, future British queen consort, arrived at the event in a breathtaking green kaftan, a delicately embroidered piece which was gifted to her by the King of Morocco in 2011 during a state visit to the country and a decidedly odd choice for a distinctly Irish event.

The dress was undeniably beautiful and the shade of green a refreshing departure from her usual attire, but it was a missed opportunity for an obvious win by wearing something designed by someone with even tenuous Irish connections. The politics of fashion, in particular with royals, is a delicate one: they need to master high/low dressing while promoting homegrown designers, sprinkled with the right amount of tribute to whichever nation theyre honouring.

Expand Close Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall attends a dinner to mark St Patrick's Day and celebrate UK-Irish relations on March 06, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall attends a dinner to mark St Patrick's Day and celebrate UK-Irish relations on March 06, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Last month, Kate Middleton and Prince William visited Northern Ireland in a surprise two-day trip and despite four different outfit changes, there wasnt so much as an accessory by a designer based in Belfast or beyond, just a new Missoni dress in a shade of mint. On the island of Ireland, there is a talent pool recognised on a national and global scale, with increasing popularity - in the last year alone, Paula Rowans leather gloves appeared in British Vogue and Helen Cody and Laura Jayne Haltons work both graced the Oscars red carpet last month.

Philip Treacy, the London-based milliner from Galway is the only creative who has successfully cracked the upper echelons of the British royal family. Hatmaker Margaret OConnor from Ennis, previously worked with Treacy, helping create looks for Princess Beatrice and Zara Tindall at Kate and Williams wedding in 2011 and is full of praise for the British royals, but is hopeful for some Irish consideration in their wardrobes.

I lived in London for 7-8 years and the Princes Trust really supported me. I studied in Kensington and Chelsea, I got my millinery papers there and I feel my career started in the UK, she explained. I think they should use Irish designers, but they probably dont know enough about them. I think theres scope to open up the window to new talent and it would a nice union. Maybe its up to the Irish embassy to schedule a visit with some designers making moves so they can look at their work, or should it be up to designers? We need someone to help designers connect with these people for potential opportunities.

Every year, the Duchess of Cambridge honours the Irish Guards on St Patricks Day and every year, she is impeccably dressed in themed attire - like her Alexander McQueen tartan coat dress or Jane Taylor pillbox hat - but hasnt dipped her toe into the Irish design pool for the event, and there is a unique opportunity for such next weekend.

In 2018, when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry visited Dublin on a two-day visit, she resorted to the same simplistic tactics employed by her in-laws, wearing forest green as she touched down at Dublin Airport to pose for the waiting press. Her white gown by Kerryman Don ONeills THEIA line during a state dinner in Tonga last October is widely regarded as one of her best ever looks, so the evidence supports the fact that taking a risk with a lesser known brand can pay off in spades.

With the closure of Orla Kielys business, a Dubliner whose work often hung up in Kate and her mother Caroles wardrobes, there is a vacancy for another mid-range brand to appeal to their accessible tendencies. Cathy Martin, Belfast-based style guru and businesswoman, said it was a missed opportunity for the royal to show off her fashion stripes.

Video of the Day

Id love to see them wearing Irish and it would be a great aim for St Patricks Day depending on their engagements. Maybe we just need someone at embassy level to send some options over, although Im not sure thats how their styling works, she said. I believe both duchesses choose their own clothes with minimal styling. Personally, I would love to see Meghans bump draped in a beautiful Grecian-style dress by Una Rodden.
Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte, found guilty of killing a teenager, Matlhomola Mosweu, who was thrown from a moving vehicle, look on during sentencing in Mafikeng, South Africa. Photo: REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Two white South African farmers were yesterday jailed for a combined 41 years for the murder of a black youth who was thrown from a moving vehicle after being accused of stealing sunflowers worth around 80 rand (5).

Pieter Doorewaard and Phillip Schutte were found guilty last October of killing Matlhomola Mosweu (15) in April 2017.

Yesterday, North West High Court Judge Ronnie Hendricks said in his sentencing that the murder was neither planned nor premeditated but that the killers had acted recklessly.

"Murder is undoubtedly the most serious offence that can be committed," he added.

Doorewaard will serve 18 years in prison, including 15 for murder, and Schutte will serve 23 years, 20 for murder.

Both got three years for kidnapping, two for intimidation, one for theft and two for pointing a firearm.

After the killing in the farming community of Coligny, residents set fire to homes and businesses owned by whites.
A former special forces soldier will be attempting to summit the 14 highest mountains on Earth in seven months to break a 31-year-old record.

Nirmal Purja, known as Nims, aims to smash the current record  which stands at seven years, 11 months and 14 days  set by Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka.

On the way, he also plans to defeat at least seven speed world records on mountains over 8,000m high.

I am doing this because I believe I can, I am the one in this world who can do it, he told the Press Association.

Its called Project Possible because I believe in the power of the possible, if you believe in your ability and fully go into it, you can make the possible, possible.

He will head out to the Himalayas on March 15 with the support of a rotating team of Nepalese climbers on each mountain.

During the first phase, he hopes to climb Mount Everest, aiming to complete the first six peaks by June 1.

After that he will progress to the second highest mountain, K2, for phase two and tackle another five mountains by August 1.

The final phase will begin on September 1, with plans to finish the final three peaks by November 1.

Nims served in the British military for 16 years, 10 of which were spent in the special forces, and he was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2018 for his achievement in extreme high-altitude mountaineering.

He is a cold weather warfare specialist, and said he was the first Gurkha to climb Everest while serving in the British military.

He also holds three existing Guinness World Records for the fastest consecutive summits of Everest, Lhotse and Makalu in five days, the fastest time from the summit of Everest to the summit of Lhotse, and he was the first person to summit Everest twice, Lhotse once and Makalu once, in the same season.

In 2016, he broke mountaineering conventions to rescue a climber left in the Everest death zone, bringing her to safety alone. She is alive and well, living with her family in India.

The project also has the backing of SAS: Who Dares Wins chief instructor Ant Middleton who has voiced his support on Twitter.

A bit of Monday morning UP & GO  A big shout out to my dear Gurkha brother Nims... Lets get behind him and show him our support! Anything is possible if you put your mind to it...! Trust me  #zeronegativity #mindovermuscle #gobro https://t.co/ynqLknpfGX  Ant Middleton (@antmiddleton) January 21, 2019

Nims said: He is one of the sponsors, he is one of the brothers. But I also have support from the ambassador of Nepal to England.

Nims is aiming to raise 750,000, and has set up a GoFundMe campaign to achieve his goal. The money raised will be donated to children in need in Nepal and mindfulness charities.

Further information is available at projectpossible.co.uk.
North Korea has started rebuilding a key missile test site, analysts believe, after they spotted changes in recent satellite images of the facility.

Cranes were visible in parts of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, which also tests technology linked to intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The activity dates from between mid-February and early March - meaning it took place either before, during or just after Donald Trump's meeting with Kim Jong-un in Vietnam.

The Centre for Strategic Studies' Beyond Parallel project and 38 North, two respected North Korea research groups, concluded there was activity at the site after seeing satellite footage.

Jenny Town, of 38 North, told the BBC: "The North Koreans are likely see the rebuilding not as an active part of their missile programme, but of their civilian space programme."

There were also reports that South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, made a similar assessment at a recent briefing to a committee of the country's politicians.

Two parts of the Sohae station seem to have been developed in recent weeks. At both the launch pad and the engine test site, some buildings appear to have been reassembled. Two cranes can be seen at each area in satellite images.

The changes are significant because the facility has been dormant since August 2018, a few weeks after Mr Trump and Mr Kim first met in Singapore. Mr Trump has previously hailed the lack of activity as a sign of progress.

Speaking at the White House yesterday, Mr Trump said of the news: "I would be very disappointed if that is happening... it's a very early report."

Experts warned against drawing too many conclusions from the changes, saying the activity does not necessarily mean North Korea is preparing to restart missile launches.

However, they also noted the regime would be aware any developments at the facility would be spotted by the Americans, who monitor such sites, raising the possibility it is being used to increase pressure on the US during talks.

The path forward in denuclearisation talks remains unclear after Mr Trump left the summit with Mr Kim in Hanoi last week without an agreement. Both sides have played that down, but no date for a third meeting between the two leaders has been set.

The Trump-Kim summit fell apart because of differences over how much sanction relief North Korea could win in return for closing its ageing main nuclear complex. The US and North Korea accused each other of causing the breakdown, but both left the door open for future negotiations.

Mr Trump said Mr Kim told him North Korea would continue to suspend nuclear and missile tests while negotiations are happening, and South Korea and the US announced they are eliminating massive military drills and replacing them with smaller exercises in an effort to support the talks.

The 38 North report said the rail-mounted processing building, which is where space launch vehicles are worked on before being moved to the launch pad, is being reassembled.

It said two support cranes can be seen at the building, and walls have been erected and a new roof added.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
The report found the UK could be missing out on 250 billion of economic growth due to the barriers facing women entrepreneurs (Joe Giddens/PA)

Financial institutions will be asked to publish details of how many women-led businesses they back, as part of the Governments response to the barriers facing female entrepreneurs.

Under plans to increase the number of women founding start-ups in Britain by 50%, banks and other institutions will be able to sign up to a Female Entrepreneurs Code which asks them to adopt a policy of publishing gender funding data.

NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group and UK Finance are among the first to indicate interest in signing up for the code.

The initiative is one of the Governments responses to a review led by NatWests deputy chief executive Alison Rose, published on Friday, which has found that closing the gap between male and female entrepreneurs could add 250 billion to the UKs economy.

Ms Rose said: The UK has one of the most vibrant entrepreneurial communities in the world, but only one in three of our entrepreneurs is female  we need to be more ambitious and find ways to unlock the huge untapped potential.

She added: It is imperative that we support female entrepreneurs and capitalise on the missed opportunity which is significant, equating to more than 1 million missing businesses and 250 billion for the UK economy.

Challenges facing female founders identified by the report include low access to capital, high risk awareness, disproportionate primary care responsibilities and a lack of relatable role models.

Commenting on the findings, Prime Minister Theresa May said: Alison and her team set out an ambitious path to smash this glass ceiling so that we can realise the full potential of female entrepreneurs and boost economic growth.

I am committed to real change in this area, starting with our action today to encourage more companies to look at the gender split of who they choose to invest in.

In addition to encouraging firms to be more transparent about the number of women-led businesses they back, several more initiatives will be considered in the wake of the Rose Review.

These include a task force, led by AA Advisory founder Alexandra Daly, to encourage UK investors to support more female entrepreneurs.

Banks will also be encouraged to commit to getting high net work clients and institutional investors to back women-led businesses. Natwests private banking arm Coutts said it was in discussions with a number of potential investors on this.
Screengrab taken from CCTV footage of the moment a three-year-old boy (blue T-shirt) was sprayed with acid Photo credit: West Mercia Police/PA Wire

A father has been jailed for plotting a "monstrous" acid attack on his three-year-old son which left the youngster "scarred for life".

The parent and five other defendants were all convicted by a jury of conspiring to throw sulphuric acid with intent to "burn, maim or disfigure" the boy on July 21 last year.

In a statement read as the father was jailed for 16 years, the boy's mother said she feared her estranged husband's sense of "honour" would drive him to kill her if ever released.

Judge Robert Juckes QC, granting the mother a lifetime restraining order, told the parent he had been "the instigator and planner".

He had provided "obviously strong acid" for the assault, and was guilty of a "monstrous breach of trust" against his son.

Earlier, the 40-year-old, of Wolverhampton but originally from Afghanistan, had rubbed his face with his hand as he was unanimously convicted by the jury.

A six-week trial at Worcester Crown Court was told the youngster, who cannot be identified due to his age, suffered serious injuries to his face and arm at a Home Bargains store in the city.

The Crown alleged the father, stung by his wife walking out on him in 2016, enlisted others to attack his son - in a bid to win more contact with the child by showing his mother was unfit to care for him.

Giving evidence earlier in the trial, the mother told how he twice threatened to kill her and the children if she ever left him again.

The judge accepted her testimony that the father had once also asked an imam about killing his spouse, after she had previously walked out with the children in 2012.

In her victim impact statement, the woman told how he also once watched a video of a father who killed his daughter, then telling his wife "that's our culture. They call it honour killing".

Afterwards, she said: "My son is OK, he's a happy child, but he's been scarred for life and will need continuous support."

Jurors unanimously convicted the father - who cannot be named to protect his son's identity - on Wednesday, after nine hours, alongside the five other men.

A seventh defendant, Martina Badiova, was cleared of the same charge.

Sentencing, Judge Juckes described the case as "unique", telling the court he had "never come across a case in which there were so many people involved, targeting a child".

Among those also found guilty of the conspiracy were "operatives" Adam Cech, 27, of Farnham Road, Birmingham, Jan Dudi, 25, of Cranbrook Road, Birmingham, and Norbert Pulko, 22, of Sutherland Road, London.

All three men were captured on CCTV at the scene of the attack, after following the boy and his mother to the store from their home in a Vauxhall Vectra.

The attack happened at 2.16pm on Saturday July 21, when Cech approached the child and squirted acid at him from a small plastic medicine-type bottle.

Jurors heard how the injured boy repeatedly screamed "I hurt, I hurt" after he was sprayed.

Footage then showed the three men calmly making their escape - Pulko even stopping at the tills to purchase two items.

The attack followed what prosecutors claimed had been an "aborted attack" at a school eight days earlier.

During that incident, Pulko, and Saied Hussini, of Wrottesley Road, London, were seen by eagle-eyed neighbours loitering in the area.

CCTV footage later showed Pulko approaching the child, who was walking with his mother, with an object held in his hand before he veered away without incident.

Pulko and middle-man Jabar Paktia, 42, of New Hampton Road, Wolverhampton, who introduced the father to Hussini, were also convicted of the same charge.

Hussini, who tested the strength of the acid on his arm before the attack, was also found guilty of the same charge and was called a key member of the "organisation of lies", by the judge.

The 43-year-old was jailed for 14 years for his senior role in the conspiracy.

He had claimed the father had been willing to pay 3,000 to carry out the job, adding Paktia, Hussini and the father all went together to first meet Pulko.

A feature of the trial was the "markedly cut-throat" defences, Judge Juckes said.

Cech claimed in court that he had been threatened with a BB gun by Pulko to squirt the victim and did not know acid was inside the bottle.

When he was convicted, Cech - who had attacked the boy - put his head in his hands and looked at the floor.

The father denied even knowing Pulko, but the judge said he had been "plainly" caught on CCTV meeting and handing over the acid, probably from a car battery, in a pub car park on the day of the attack.

He also claimed to have only hired Hussini and Paktia as "private investigators", while Dudi alleged he was only there to watch the mother - and no more.

Hussini claimed he only went along with the scheme in a bid to divert the father from the attack - implicating the boy's parent - but the jury also rejected his account.

Paktia and Pulko - who did not give evidence - along with Cech and Dudi, were described as "actively involved" by the judge and jailed for 12 years each.

The child suffered a 10cm burn injury to his left forearm, and a 3cm burn on his forehead, which needed specialist hospital treatment, but has since made a good recovery.

Sentencing, Judge Juckes said: "Even battle-hardened Crown Court judges were sickened when they heard the news that someone had attacked a three-year-old with sulphuric acid."

He added: "It became increasingly apparent how well-planned this was, with links going back to the man at the heart of this attack, who was the boy's own father."

Judge Juckes said the men then "spent the night in celebration" after the attack, "as though none of you began to appreciate the monstrous thing you had done".

He said: "It is an extraordinary thing in this case that not one of you, most of whom have no previous convictions, most of whom with families of your own, at any stage stood back and asked the question of yourself and others, 'What are we doing?'"
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin pictured earlier in his trial in court in Lyon (Laurent Cipriani/AP)

A French court has found top Catholic official Cardinal Philippe Barbarin guilty of failing to report accusations against an alleged paedophile priest.

In a surprise decision on Thursday, the Lyon court handed Barbarin a six-month suspended prison sentence for not reporting the facts in the period between July 2014 and June 2015.

The Rev Bernard Preynats alleged victims said Barbarin and other church officials covered up for him for years, but the statute of limitations had expired on some charges and even the victims had expected that the cardinal would be acquitted.

Expand Close Victims spokesman Francois Devaux welcomed the verdict (Laurent Cipriani/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Victims spokesman Francois Devaux welcomed the verdict (Laurent Cipriani/AP)

The prosecutor had also argued against convicting, saying there were no grounds to prove legal wrongdoing.

Preynat is accused of abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 80s and will be tried separately.

Following the verdict, Barbarin said he would soon offer his resignation to the Pope.

Barbarin was not in court for the decision, but in a brief statement afterwards he said: I have decided to go and see the Holy Father to offer him my resignation.

He spoke of his compassion for the alleged victims and said they are in his prayers.

His lawyer Jean-Felix Luciani said he will appeal against the verdict, which he said was not fair at the juridical level.

Speaking of his disappointment at the sentence, Mr Luciani added: We hope that at the next step, justice will be done  suggesting he is hopeful of acquittal in the appeal.

Five other defendants were acquitted.

This is a victory that sends a strong signal to lots of victims and a signal to the church as well.Francois Devaux

Alleged victims of Preynat said Barbarins conviction is a victory for child protection.

Francois Devaux, president of the victims association La Parole Liberee (Lift the Burden of Silence), said: We see that no-one is above the law. We have been heard by the court. This is the end of a long path.

This is a victory that sends a strong signal to lots of victims and a signal to the church as well.

A lawyer for some of Preynats alleged victims, Yves Sauvayre, called the verdict historic.

He added: This is a turning point.
Peer-to-peer lender Funding Circles annual losses increased on higher marketing costs and charges related to its recent IPO.

The company posted revenue of 141.9 million for 2018, a 55% increase year-on-year, which exceeded its 50% guidance.

But pre-tax losses widened to 50.7 million from 36.3 million as it stepped up marketing activities to support its international growth ambitions.

Funding Circle, which launched in 2010, matches lenders to small business borrowers and floated on the London Stock Exchange last September with a valuation of 1.5 billion.

The company expects to generate more than 200 million of revenue in 2019 and report lower adjusted losses.

Chief executive Samir Desai described 2018 as a record-breaking year for Funding Circle and said the company is focused on investing for growth and building on its market positions in the UK, US, Germany and the Netherlands.

The company plans to launch in Canada later this year.

Mr Desai added: Our focus has always been on delivering an exceptional customer experience to both borrowers and investors, leading to strong and consistent repeat behaviour, and I am proud that, in 2018, 43% of our group revenue came from existing customers.

Funding Circle is in a strong position financially and operationally, and we are confident of meeting our growth expectations for the year.

Funding Circle said that it also remains vigilant to the increasing economic uncertainty caused by Britains impending departure from the European Union and is prepared for the possible outcomes.

The company maintained that its UK business is not directly affected on a day-to-day operational basis by Brexit and that it regularly stress tests the loanbooks in each of our geographies to ensure that investor returns would remain resilient in an economic downturn.
Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies is suing the US government saying a law limiting its US business was unconstitutional, racheting up its fight back against a government bent on closing it out of global markets.

Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump in August, which bars federal agencies and their contractors from procuring its equipment and services.

The lawsuit marks the latest confrontation between China and the United States, which spent most of 2018 slapping import tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods. The year ended with the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer (CFO) in Canada at U.S. request, to the consternation of China.

Long before Trump initiated the trade war, Huawei's activities were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, according to interviews with 10 people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.

"The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said in a statement.

"This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers. We look forward to the court's verdict."

While Huawei had very little share of the U.S. market before the bill, it is the world's biggest telecoms gear maker and is seeking to be at the forefront of a global roll-out of fifth generation (5G) mobile networks and services.

In its lawsuit, Huawei said its "equipment and services are subject to advanced security procedures, and no backdoors, implants, or other intentional security vulnerabilities have been documented in any of the more than 170 countries in the world where Huawei equipment and services are used."

The privately owned firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive as Washington lobbies allies to abandon Huawei when building 5G networks, centring on a 2017 Chinese law requiring companies cooperate with national intelligence work.

"The U.S. Government is sparing no effort to smear the company and mislead the public," said Guo in a news briefing at Huawei's headquarters in southern China.

"NO PROOF"

The NDAA bans the U.S. government from doing business with Huawei or compatriot peer ZTE Corp or from doing business with any company that has equipment from the two firms as a "substantial or essential component" of their system.

In its lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Huawei argues that the section in question is illegal because it could sharply limit the company's ability to do business in the United States despite no proof of wrongdoing.

The lawsuit also alleges that Huawei has been denied due process and that Congress, by stripping Huawei of commercial opportunities, has violated the "separation of powers" portion of the constitution by doing the work of the courts.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he had no information on whether China's government may also seek legal action against this U.S. law, but added Huawei's move is "totally reasonable and totally understandable".

UPHILL BATTLE

Some legal experts, however, said Huawei's lawsuit is likely to be dismissed because U.S. courts are reluctant to second-guess national security determinations by other branches of government.

The lawsuit "will be an uphill battle because Congress has broad authority to protect us from perceived national security threats," said Franklin Turner, a government contracts lawyer at McCarter & English.

In November 2018, a federal appeals court rejected a similar lawsuit filed by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, which was challenging a ban on the use of its software in U.S. government networks.

The Texas court hearing Huawei's case will not be bound by that decision, but will likely adopt its reasoning because of similarities in the two disputes, said Steven Schwinn, a professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

"I don't see how (Huawei) can really escape that result," said Schwinn.

Huawei's chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said the two cases were different in terms of evidence and scope, and that the Chinese firm's case had "full merits".

If a judge decides Huawei has a plausible claim the case will proceed to the discovery phase, in which internal documents are shared and U.S. government officials could be forced to provide testimony and lay out their security concerns.

RETRIBUTION

The legal action compares with a more restrained response in December emphasising "trust in justice" after the arrest of CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei later said Meng's arrest was politically motivated and "not acceptable".

Meng - Ren's daughter - is accused by the United States of bank and wire fraud related to breaches of trade sanctions against Iran. Canada approved extradition proceedings on March 1, but Meng has since sued Canada's government for procedural wrongs in her arrest. The next court hearing is set for May 8.

The case strained Canada's relations with China, which this week accused two arrested Canadians of stealing state secrets and blocked Canadian canola imports.

Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver. It is unclear where the two Canadians are being detained in China, and at least one does not have access to legal representation, sources previously told Reuters.
The US has demanded the immediate release of an American journalist, who was reportedly arrested by Venezuelan military intelligence in a raid on his home in the capital Caracas.

Counter-intelligence agents detained Cody Weddle and Carlos Camacho, his Venezuelan assistant, at 8am yesterday, a local press union said.

The arrest risks further escalating tensions between the government of Nicolas Maduro and the US, which along with more than 50 other countries has recognised Juan Guaido as the legitimate president.

Venezuela yesterday ordered Daniel Kriener, the German ambassador, to leave the country within 48 hours, accusing him of meddling in the country's affairs.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
Hundreds of children in Iraq have been charged with links to terrorism, many of them based on confessions obtained through torture, a human rights group has found.

Iraqi and Kurdish authorities are detaining approximately 1,500 children, 158 of whom have been charged with alleged affiliation to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), according to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The report claims the prosecutions are often based on dubious accusations and forced admissions.

The 52-page report, entitled 'Everyone Must Confess: Abuses against Children Suspected of Isis (Isil) Affiliation in Iraq', criticised what it described as a deeply flawed screening process that often leads to detention and prosecution of children regardless of whether they have any involvement with Isil, or the extent of that involvement.

Of the children interviewed by HRW who admitted association with Isil, most said they joined because of economic need, peer or family pressure, or to escape family problems or gain social status. Some said they worked as guards, cooks or drivers. Others denied personal involvement, though some said that family members belonged to Isil.

It cites the case of a 17-year-old detainee, who said he worked at a restaurant in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that served Isil members, and believed his name appeared on a "wanted" list because jihadists took his identification so he could be paid.

"This sweeping, punitive approach is not justice, and will create lifelong negative consequences for many of these children," warned Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director for HRW.

She said those under 18 recruited by armed groups should be recognised as victims and be rehabilitated.

Iraq declared victory against Isil in December 2017 after three years of costly battles that killed tens of thousands and left Iraqi cities in ruins.

The country is grappling with a massive legacy from the fight. In a rush to deliver justice to Isil's victims, the government has sped through thousands of trials of suspects. 'The Daily Telegraph' has attended hearings in Baghdad and Mosul, witnessing torture, five-minute judgments where suspects were not always given legal representation, and cases of mistaken identity.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7)  Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday called for ways to boost trade, investments and cooperation with the Philippines in his separate meetings with President Rodrigo Duterte and Filipino business leaders.

Facing the media together with Duterte after their bilateral meeting in Malacanang, Mahathir said businesses from both nations should invest in each other's countries.

"We would encourage private sectors from both countries to explore opportunities of collaboration and venture in new cooperation and investments," he said.

The visiting Malaysian leader cited the areas of infrastructure, tourism, education and health care as trade opportunities.

"We have the opportunity to increase and appraise ourselves in the areas of tourism, health and education, including the investment of our private sectors," Mahathir said, adding that he looks forward to a pending memorandum of understanding between the Philippines and Malaysia on health care.

Mahathir said the Philippines is Malaysia's 15th largest trading partner in the world, and its 4th largest trading partner among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

Bilateral trade has been growing but has been largely in favor of Malaysia, he said, adding that he and Duterte "strongly believe that trade and investment between the two countries could be further strengthened in the coming years."

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman told CNN Philippines that Mahathir's earlier meeting in the morning with business leaders in Makati was "very productive."

"It is very positive. We would like to congratulate Malaysia for its stellar economic growth last year... both Philippines and Malaysia are considered economic bright spots in ASEAN," Macatoman said.

Macatoman, who attended the private forum said that Mahathir pushed for Malaysian and Philippine businesses to invest in each other's countries.

He said that there is also an opportunity to strengthen trade in Halal, or food products that are prepared as prescribed by Islamic law.

"The Halal industry is untapped right now in the Philippines," Macatoman said.

Malaysia helped facilitate the peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an effort that has culminated to the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

According to Macatoman, Malaysia was the fifth largest source of approved foreign investments in 2018, followed by China, Singapore, Japan, and the Virgin Islands.
Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer of US President Donald Trump, on Thursday sued the Trump Organization, accusing it of failing to reimburse him for legal fees he incurred on matters arising from his work on its behalf.

In a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, Cohen said the Trump Organization breached its obligations to indemnify him after it became clear he would cooperate in investigations into his work, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian influence in the 2016 US presidential election.

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cohen said the organization has refused to pay any of his legal fees or costs since May 2018, and owed him about $1.9 million as of Jan. 25, 2019.

Expand Close President Donald Trump has accused his former lawyer Michael Cohen of lying (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp President Donald Trump has accused his former lawyer Michael Cohen of lying (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

He also said the organization is also responsible for another $1.9 million he owes as part of his criminal sentence.

Cohen was sentenced in December to three years in prison after pleading guilty to federal campaign finance violations, including over "hush money" payments to two women who said they had sexual encounters with Trump. The president has denied their claims.

Russia had denied interfering in the 2016 election. Trump has said there was no collusion between his campaign and Moscow, and has labeled the Mueller probe a "witch hunt."
Refusal: US President Donald Trump meets Danny Burch, a former US hostage in Yemen, in the White House yesterday. Photo: Tom Brenner/Getty Images

Donald Trump has rebuffed efforts by Democrats in Congress to obtain files relating to his son-in-law's White House security clearance, calling the probes into his campaign and administration a "witch hunt" and a "shame" for the United States.

The comments came as House oversight committee chairman Elijah Cummings said he and his colleagues would consider their "next steps" after the White House refused to hand over documents related to Jared Kushner's security clearance.

Expand Close Jared Kushner: Trump's son-in-law and adviser got security clearance. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jared Kushner: Trump's son-in-law and adviser got security clearance. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Mr Cummings had requested the documents after reports indicated Mr Trump had himself ordered his former chief of staff to grant Mr Kushner a security clearance in spite of concerns from US intelligence agents.

Mr Kushner is the president's son-in-law and a senior White House adviser. Since taking a position in the West Wing, he has been tasked with an ambitious set of projects including negotiating peace in the Middle East and working on criminal justice reform in the US.

"There is a key difference between a president who exercises his authority under the Constitution and a president who overrules career experts and his top advisers to benefit his family members and then conceals his actions from the American people," Mr Cummings wrote after the White House baulked at his committee's request.

"The White House security clearance system is broken, and it needs both congressional oversight and legislative reform. I will be consulting with members of the committee to determine our next steps," he added.

The White House response makes it likely that Democrats will subpoena the files, setting up a potential legal fight between the West Wing and Congress.

The House judiciary committee has also launched an investigation, with more than 80 organisations or individuals connected to the president or his campaign receiving letters requesting documents.

Mr Trump, when asked about the investigation into Mr Kushner's security clearance, said the investigations were an attempt to divert attention from legislating.

"The witch hunt continues," he said.

Typically used to setting the national or global agenda, presidents are by definition on their back foot when they come under investigation. And the latest fusillade of requests for information has the Trump White House, already increasingly focused on the twin challenges of dealing with the probes and the 2020 election, in a reactive position.

Mr Trump's response points to his increasing frustration with Congress and his intention to seize on the investigations as evidence he is under siege. While Mr Trump is far from the first president to bristle at Capitol Hill oversight, his enthusiastic embrace of political victimhood is still novel - and stands to serve as a key part of his re-election argument. Mr Trump has made railing against the so-called witch hunt against him a staple of his rallies and speeches, revving up crowds by mocking his investigators and news coverage of their proceedings.

That attitude was emphasised by Mr Trump's son Eric, who was among 81 people and organisations the House judiciary committee has contacted as part of its probe into possible obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power.

Calling Congress "incompetent", Eric Trump said: "We're going to fight the hell out of it. And we'll fight where we need and we'll co-operate where we need, but the desperation shows."

Aware that the shift to divided government would usher in an onslaught of investigations, the White House began defensive moves late last year. Seeking to be ready for the Democratic-led House, more than a dozen lawyers were added to the White House counsel's office and a seasoned attorney was added to the communications team to handle questions related to the probes.

After Democrats took the House last November, Mr Trump declared they had to choose between investigating him and earning White House co-operation on matters of concern like health care and infrastructure. Mr Trump assessed publicly this week that Democrats had made their choice, saying: "So the campaign begins."

His aides had already made that determination, with press secretary Sarah Sanders issuing a statement calling the judiciary committee probe an "abusive investigation".

( The Independent, London)
A boy injured in the incident recovers in hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan (Rahmat Gul/AP)

Three people were killed when mortar shells exploded outside a ceremony in the Afghan capital Kabul attended by the countrys chief executive and a former president.

The ceremony commemorated the 1995 death of prominent minority Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari, who was killed by the Taliban.

Afghan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and ex-president Hamid Karzai attended the gathering. Both men were unharmed, but three others were killed and 31 people were injured in the attack launched from a house near the ceremony.

Expand Close Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai attended the ceremony which was attacked, but was not injured (PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai attended the ceremony which was attacked, but was not injured (PA)

Security forces battled for several hours with militants holed up in the house, and two insurgents were eventually killed and one person was arrested.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Presidential candidate and former Afghan national security adviser Hanif Atmar tweeted that eight of his personal guards were injured in the horrid and unforgiveable attack.

Another presidential candidate, Latif Pedram, was injured but his condition is not known.

Hundreds of people attended the ceremony in a large hall on the western edge of Kabul in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood.

Azizullah Amini, who attended the event, said he heard at least four explosions and the hall shook as if something was slamming into the ground outside the building.

Expand Close A man injured in the attack is treated in an ambulance (Rahmat Gul/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A man injured in the attack is treated in an ambulance (Rahmat Gul/AP)

The ceremony quickly ended as people were rattled by the blasts.

IS said on an affiliated website that it had targeted a Shiite celebration attended by senior government officials.

Meanwhile, IS has claimed responsibility for an attack on Wednesday on a construction company in eastern Nangarhar province that killed at least 17 people and triggered an hours-long gun battle with Afghan forces.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban waged a blistering four-hour battle with security forces on Wednesday night in northern Kunduz province, in the Qalay Zul district, killing seven policemen.

Early on Thursday, the Taliban killed four Afghan border patrol officers in western Herat province, near the border with Iran.
Satellite photos showing new activity at a North Korean rocket launch site have raised fresh doubts that Kim Jong-un will ever give up his drive for nuclear weapons.

But US President Donald Trump has said he is still hoping to reach an agreement on the issue that eluded the leaders at their summit last week.

The president said his relationship with the North Korean leader remains good, even though Mr Trump walked away from negotiations at their high-profile meeting in Vietnam.

Expand Close An image of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp An image of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

He said at the time that the Norths concessions on its nuclear programme were not enough to warrant sanctions relief, and added on Wednesday that he would be unhappy if reports prove true that Mr Kim is rebuilding a launch site.

The North Korean leader had promised in Vietnam to extend his ban on nuclear and rocket tests.

Asked about reports of new work at the Sohae Satellite Launch Station, which is tucked into the hills north-west of Pyongyang, Mr Trump said: I would be very, very disappointed in Chairman Kim.

Past US administrations have discovered the perils of trying to do business with North Korea, which has a history of backing out of agreements.

Mr Trump believes his discussions will be different because Mr Kim has publicly announced his desire to focus on economic development in his reclusive nation, which is suffering under harsh US and international sanctions.

Mr Trump has favoured direct talks with Mr Kim, but with no third summit under discussion right now, the next stage of negotiations is likely to be conducted at lower levels.

On Wednesday, Mr Trumps envoy to North Korea Steve Biegun had lunch at the State Department with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea. The South Koreans have proposed semi-official three-way talks with the United States and North Korea as it works to put nuclear diplomacy back on track.

Suh Hoon, the director of South Koreas National Intelligence Service, told the parliament in Seoul that North Korea is restoring facilities at a rocket launch site it had dismantled last year in a goodwill measure.

Meanwhile, 38 North, a website specialising in North Korea studies, said commercial satellite imagery indicates the rebuilding started between February 16 and March 2.

And the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, issued another report saying satellite imagery taken on Saturday  just two days after the summit ended  showed North Korea pursuing a rapid rebuilding of the rocket site.

Some analysts think the work is a signal that Mr Kim is getting ready to conduct more tests, but others suggest he is just registering his disappointment that no agreement was reached at the summit.

Joel Wit, a North Korea proliferation expert who helped negotiate with North Korea in the mid-1990s, said the new work at Sohae is Mr Kims way of showing that he is getting impatient with lack of progress in negotiations.
A photo of Corey Jones is shown to the court room (Lannis Waters/Palm Beach Post/AP)

A Florida police officer has been found guilty of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a stranded black motorist.

Nouman Raja is the first officer in the state to be convicted of an on-duty shooting in 30 years. He has since been fired.

A jury found Raja guilty on Thursday in the October 2015 shooting of 31-year-old Corey Jones. Raja now faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced.

Expand Close Nouman Raja is the first Floridan officer to be convicted of an on-duty shooting in 30 years (Lannis Waters/Palm Beach Post/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Nouman Raja is the first Floridan officer to be convicted of an on-duty shooting in 30 years (Lannis Waters/Palm Beach Post/AP)

Raja was in plain clothes and driving an unmarked white van in the dark when he drove the wrong way up a highway off ramp to Joness broken down vehicle.

Prosecutors said an audio recording reveals Raja never identified himself and approached Jones aggressively, making him believe he was being robbed.

They say that caused Jones to pull his legally possessed handgun. Raja then shot him repeatedly.

Lawyers for Raja, who is of South Asian descent, had said he identified himself and justifiably shot Jones because he feared for his life.
Daniel Kriener was among some other diplomats who welcomed back Mr Guaido (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

The Venezuelan government has ordered the German ambassador to leave the country after he expressed support for opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Foreign minister Jorge Arreaza tweeted a statement saying Ambassador Daniel Kriener interfered in Venezuela's internal affairs and allied himself with "extremist sectors" of the opposition.

Mr Kriener and some other top diplomats greeted Mr Guaido when he returned to Venezuela on Monday and vowed to intensify his campaign to topple the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

Waiting for Mr Guaido at the country's main airport, Mr Kriener spoke to media and said he hoped the leader of the National Assembly would have a safe return. There were concerns that the opposition leader might face detention, but Mr Maduro's government did not move against him.

Expand Close Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro visits Complejo Siderurgico de Guayana in Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela March 6, 2019 / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro visits Complejo Siderurgico de Guayana in Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela March 6, 2019

After Venezuela's expulsion order, the German Foreign Ministry said it was co-ordinating how to proceed, "including with our partners on the ground".

The United States and some 50 other countries have recognised Mr Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela and have urged Mr Maduro, to resign so the country can prepare for elections.

Mr Maduro says he is the target of a US-backed coup plot.
The latest song from Milan Talkies , titled Jobless, dropped today and takes us back to the '90s reminding us of films like Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hai Kaun. The song features popular South Indian actress Shraddha Srinath , who marks her Bollywood debut with the film. She is seen paying an ode to Bollywood heroines of '90s.

" Chhota Sa Jawab Hai, Ha Ya Na. Sar Hila Ke Hi De Do" to which Shraddha replies "Kyu De? Le Lo Jawab Pyar Karte Ho". The song starts with Ali Fazal 's dialogueto which Shraddha replies

In the video, Shraddha Srinath will remind you of Madhuri Dixit's song "Chocolate Limejuice Icecream" from Hum Aapke Hai Kaun leaving you nostalgic.

The song portrays Shraddha as a girl who is madly in love and does all the cute little things which people in love do like playing with the pillow, staying awake with the phone all night, dancing your heart out, living every moment of life joyfully. The "Jobless" song from Milan Talkies is perfect to get into the retro mood with its cute old school style romance.

The lyrics and music of the song are quite catchy and fits perfectly in the situation of the song. The song is sung and written by Akriti Kakar which is also her very first song in the Bollywood. The producers and makers of the film released the song with the caption

"Presenting #JoblessSong Which Will Bring Back Your 90's Mood! @shraddhasrinath Recreates The Quintessential Bollywood Heroine Charm From The 90s

#MilanTalkies"

Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia MilanTalkies stars Ali Fazal in the lead role and marks the Hindi film debut of Kannada star Shraddha Srinath.

The movie is about a struggler who wants to become the biggest filmmaker in India, how his life revolves around movies and how he falls in love filmy style. The film is slated to release on 15th March.
The absolute masterpiece ''One Hundred Years of Solitude'' novel is finally coming to Netflix. Penned by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez's, the magical novel has finally been acquired by the streaming giant for adaptation.

The book will be adapted into a Spanish-language series and filmed largely in the Nobel prize-winning author's home country of Colombia, with Garcia Marquez's sons, Rodrigo Garcia and Gonzalo Garcia Barcha, serving as executive producers, reported The Guardian.



Garcia said that his father was skeptical of the sprawling magical realist novel's capacity to fit within a traditional film structure, and wanted the story to be told in Spanish.

"For decades, our father was reluctant to sell the film rights to 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' because he believed that it could not be made under the time constraints of a feature film, or that producing it in a language other than Spanish would not do it justice," Garcia said.



"But in the current golden age of series, with the level of talented writing and directing, the cinematic quality of content, and the acceptance by worldwide audiences of programs in foreign languages, the time could not be better."

Internet is too excited about the new development. Take a look.

Joy! One of my most favourite books to be brought to the screen. Please do the magic justiceNetflix to adapt One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez https://t.co/m7TFwYlpjT  Jo Gray (@JoGray100) March 7, 2019

The book follows the Buendia dynasty, founders of the rural and isolated town of Macondo, and fuses fantastical and allegorical elements such as rains of yellow flowers, alchemy and religious apparitions, with realism, history and literary pastiche https://t.co/c0mY4tokKa  (((Tim Morton))) (@TimMorton2) March 7, 2019

Something to look forward to! https://t.co/lvGdnxi955  Rmanc (@Rmanc2) March 7, 2019

As Netflix announces that it will adapt 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' my old argument on why it is unjust to brand the great Gabriel Garcia MARQUEZ as a practitioner of a facile form of writing called magic realism. https://t.co/kCLZPqGUJD  Manu Joseph (@manujosephsan) March 7, 2019

Netflix itself guarantees you one hundred years of solitude https://t.co/PHhCY3c1VL  Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) March 6, 2019

now i understand why Spielberg was going so hard after Netflix. He's just bitter about his failed One Hundred Years of Solitude adaptation, of which only one frame remains pic.twitter.com/DwFd7JNFsc  Stephen Sajdak (@stephensajdak) March 6, 2019



It became a defining work of magical realism and one of the most celebrated Latin American novels of the 20th century, having sold an estimated 47 million copies and been translated into 46 languages, The Guardian reported.



"One Hundred Years of Solitude" will not be the first Garcia Marquez work to be adapted for the screen. The author's 1985 novel "Love in the Time of Cholera" was adapted for film in 2007, directed by Mike Newell and starring Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Javier Bardem and Benjamin Bratt.
Listen, I definitely don't have the ability to speak as candidly as Kangana does and I really really respect her for that. And may be in a way she is right that sometimes we do hold back. Kyunki hum nahi chahte ke, khamakha kyun bolna... My dad always says that there are already so many opinions in the world that the world could do with one less opinion. So, I have an opinion but I will keep it to myself. But kudos to her because she genuinely speaks really well," said Alia Bhatt.

Just a few days ago, he attacked and raised his voice against PM Modi for politicizing the Pulwama attack for his own benefit.

The book will be adapted into a Spanish-language series and filmed largely in the Nobel prize-winning author's home country of Colombia, with Garcia Marquez's sons, Rodrigo Garcia and Gonzalo Garcia Barcha, serving as executive producers, reported The Guardian.

We were shooting on the streets in Glasgow and then I had to walk on the footpath. As I was walking, a car went by and our desi bhai was sitting in the car, who waved and said: 'Hey, Salman Khan, how you doing?' So, I waved back at him and walked on. What to do," the Badla actor told Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan recently revealed once again at the promotions of Badla.

It's great that there can be a space where people can come forward without fear of being judged, and get the mental and physical support they need. The Humsafar Trust has been working in this direction for so many years and they have a real sense of the common problems that need to be addressed. Now that Section 377 has been repealed, I think more such health centres should be there to help bring more inclusivity and access, she said.
At least 18 people were left injured after a powerful explosion ripped through a bus stand in Jammu. According to police, the explosion which took place around 12 noon on Thursday in the old city was triggered by a grenade.

It was a grenade explosion, it has caused injuries to approximately 18 people, all the injured have been shifted to hospital, Jammu IGP MK Sinha said, adding that the intention was to disturb communal peace and harmony. Read More.

Here's More Top News For The Day:

1) Musharraf Admits Using Jaish For Attacks In India, Minister Says In Touch With JeM, Army Says No Jaish In Pakistan

Facing global isolation for harbouring terrorists, the establishment in Pakistan seems to have gone into a tizzy. While the civilian leadership is busy defending "unwell" Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar who "cannot even leave his home" the powerful Pakistan Army says there is no Jaish in Pakistan.

And even as Pakistan continues to deny the JeM links to the Pulwama terror attack and acknowledge the evidence handed over by India, the country had more international embarrassment on Wednesday after former Army Chief and President Pervez Musharraf admitted that the ISI has been using the terror outfit to carry out attacks in India during his tenure. Read More.

2) BJP Workers Beat Up Youth In UP For Questioning Govt Over Jobs, Brand Him Anti-National

The current political climate of India has reached a point where questioning the government over its accountability is equivalent to being an anti-national, a term that has gained momentum in the past five years.

Now that right-wing outfits have assumed supremacy in maintaining the so called moral fabric and the law and order of the country, another shocking incident came to light from Uttar Pradesh. Read More.

3) Locals In Lucknow Turn Saviours As Two Saffron-Clad Goons Thrash Kashmiri Vendors For No Reason

Kashmiris living outside the state, running business and studying in colleges across the country have been on the receiving end of the backlash following the Pulwama terror attack last month which killed over 40 CRPF personnel.

In yet another such shameful incident two Kashmiri street vendors selling dry fruits on in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow were assaulted for being Kashmiris. Read More.

4) Women Need Governmental Support To Deal With Climate Change In The Himalayas

A recent report, Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) Assessment: Mountains, Climate Change, Sustainability, and People, released by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on February 4, highlighted that existing laws and policies do not support the multiple ways in which women negotiate their roles in households, communities, and the market. Read More.

5) Continuous Violent Incidents Against Kashmiris Show How We Are Alienating Our Own People

Ever since the Pulwama terror attack, last month where more than 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide bomb blast this has been an all too familiar story. Yes, everyone in this country were angry and wanted revenge for the blood of our soldiers, a small section of our society decided to take it upon themselves to give justice to the families of the martyrs, by not going to war, but by intimidating and beating up Kashmiris. Read More.
The current political climate of India has reached a point where questioning the government over its accountability is equivalent to being an anti-national, a term that has gained momentum in the past five years.

Now that right-wing outfits have assumed supremacy in maintaining the so called moral fabric and the law and order of the country, another shocking incident came to light from Uttar Pradesh.

A group of Bharatriya Janata Party (BJP) workers on Wednesday, 6 March, thrashed a student during a shoot of a TV news channels talk show for speaking against the ruling government.

The shameful incident took place in UPs Muzaffarnagar when a journalist was anchoring an election talk show Mahaul Banaye Rakhiye for Hindi news channel Bharat Samachar. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media and shows a group of men brutally thrashing a student and calling him a terrorist.

Dissatisfied with the responses of the student, identified as Adnan, the political workers began manhandling him, shows the video.

In Muzaffarnagar, BJP workers brutally thrashed a youth who confronted govt's claim over job and education during an election special segment hosted by senior journalist @narendrauptv for his channel. Mob can be heard calling the youth a terrorist. pic.twitter.com/mNjo3zCT6n  Piyush Rai |   (@Benarasiyaa) March 6, 2019

The video showed Adnan saying that the present government has failed in providing jobs to the youth, but was soon interrupted and beaten up.

The local youth Adnan, who was brutally thrashed by BJP supporters in Muzaffarnagar for criticising claims over job and development, speaks to media. Claims he was called a terrorist for criticising BJP. Listen in. pic.twitter.com/fQDPShafcU  Piyush Rai |   (@Benarasiyaa) March 7, 2019

As of now, no official complaint has been filed in the matter and no arrest has been reported.

Of late, there have been numerous questions about the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government and its failure over efficiently maintaining the law and order situation in the country.

On the same day, two Kashmiri men selling dry fruits on a roadside were assaulted by two saffron-clad members of a right-wing outfit in Lucknows Hasanganj area. The men were abused, slapped and beaten with a stick because of their identity and were swiftly rescued by some locals.

The video of the same is doing rounds on social media. One attacker, Bajrang Sonkar, has been nabbed by the police while another perpetrator, Amar Mishra, is at large.

WTH is this??

A poor Kashmiri dry fruit seller was beaten up by Sanghi terrorists in Lucknow.

Cc @Uppolice @spgrplucknow

1/2pic.twitter.com/o9bKFposN1  Md Asif Khan  (@imMAK02) March 6, 2019

When the attackers were asked why they were beating up the men, they replied that they were Kashmiris. The Kashmiri men were asked to produce Aadhaar card while they were constantly thrashed. The victims, identified as Abdul and Afzal of Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir, came to Lucknow to sell dry fruits.

The assailants belong to a new right-wing outfit called Vishwa Hindu Dal.

An FIR has been lodged in this connection at Hasanganj police station under various sections of IPC.
Another day, another city, and almost the same story played out. On Wednesday, two street vendors selling dry fruits were beaten up by a mob for no fault of theirs, but for the fact that they belonged to Kashmir.

Ever since the Pulwama terror attack, last month where more than 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide bomb blast this has been an all too familiar story. Yes, everyone in this country were angry and wanted revenge for the blood of our soldiers, a small section of our society decided to take it upon themselves to give justice to the families of the martyrs, by not going to war, but by intimidating and beating up Kashmiris.

Kashmiri students studying in Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Punjab and UP were forced to flee or go underground following a series of attacks and threats. Some colleges even went step further and decided not to admit Kashmiri students from next academic session.

It wasn't just the Kashmiri students that were facing the heat. Business owned by Kashmiris across India too face the backlash with many of them being vandalised. Some hoteliers and shop owners even put up notices reading no entry for Kashmiris.

BCCL

While most of these actions were done by individuals or fringe groups, Tathagata Roy the governor of Meghalaya, who is known for his controversial comments took it a notch further by calling for a boycott of Kashmir and Kashmiri businesses.

"Dont visit Kashmir,dont go to Amarnath for the next 2 years. Dont buy articles from Kashmir emporia or Kashmiri tradesman who come every winter. Boycott everything Kashmiri," Roy said in a tweet which he claimed was an appeal from a retired colonel of the Indian Army.

It is quite ironic that from a governor to the guys who beat up the two street vendors had one thing in mind - to teach Kashmiris a lesson by boycotting them, killing their tourism industry and not letting them study in your cities.

BCCL

Himanshu Awasthi, one of the 'absconding' attackers who assaulted the two dry fruits sellers wanted to teach them a lesson for everything that has happened in Kashmir including stone pelting on security forces to the terror attack on amarnath pilgrims, none of them which an ordinary civilian from Kashmir had anything to do with.

BCCL

We all agree that Kashmir is and will always remain an integral part of India. But instead of integrating Kashmiris into our midst over the years what we have done is to alienate them.

By trying to make Kashmiri students and businessmen accountable for the actions of the extremists we will only achieve what Pakistan wants - to alienated the masses, make them anti-India and make the call for secession and 'aazadi' even louder.
Facing global isolation for harbouring terrorists, the establishment in Pakistan seems to have gone into a tizzy. While the civilian leadership is busy defending "unwell" Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar who "cannot even leave his home" the powerful Pakistan Army says there is no Jaish in Pakistan.

And even as Pakistan continues to deny the JeM links to the Pulwama terror attack and acknowledge the evidence handed over by India, the country had more international embarrassment on Wednesday after former Army Chief and President Pervez Musharraf admitted that the ISI has been using the terror outfit to carry out attacks in India during his tenure.

BCCL/ FILE

Our intelligence men were involved in a tit-for-tat between India and Pakistan. They were conducting bomb blasts in Pakistan and we were getting it done there (in India)," he said. The exiled former leader made the revelations while talking to a Pakistani journalist for a talk show.

Musharraf's admission, which is not at all surprising, is however significant, as he himself had survived assassination attempts by JeM when he was in power.

Musharraf had then ordered a crackdown on the JeM, but admitted that no major action was taken against the Jaish and he did not insist on it.

The former leader's admission revealing the deep running ties between the ISI and JeM comes even as the military leadership in Pakistan continues to shield the terror outfit. Even on Wednesday, Major General Asif Ghafoor, the spokesperson of the Pakistan Army told CNN that the outfit doesn't even exist in the country.

AFP

First of all, the claim was not made from within Pakistan since JeM does not exist in the country. It was proscribed by Pakistan and the United Nations, Ghafoor said.

Ironically, this was just a day after Pakistani authorities rounded up some 44 people for having links with proscribed organisations, including Hamad Azhar, the son of JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar and a close relative Mufti Abdul Rauf.

Ghafoor however admitted the existence of the JeM training camps in Balakot but insisted that there was no human casualty nor did the airstrikes damage any infrastructure.

AFP

While the Pakistan Army wants the world to believe JeM doesn't exist in the country, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi just a few day ago had told the same channel that Azhar was very much in Pakistan, but he was unwell, to the point that he cannot even leave his home.

Later in another interview, this time with the BBC, Qureshi even said that JeM never claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack, adding that "people here" are in touch with the JeM leadership.
Volkswagen is finding itself in trouble yet again for diesel emissions from its vehicles. This time, the German automaker has been slapped a penalty of Rs 500 crore for installing cheat devices in its offerings which are harmful to the environment.

The penalty has been handed by a National Green Tribunal (NGT) bench, headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and has to be paid by the company within a two months period.

Volkswagen India, however, defends itself from the allegations, repeating its earlier stance that all the vehicles from the company are totally in accordance with the emission norms in the country. "The Group awaits the copy of the order of Honourable NGT. The Volkswagen Group will challenge the order of the Honourable NGT before the Honourable Supreme Court," Volkswagen Group India spokesperson said.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

Also read: At Rs 133 Crore, Bugatti 'La Voiture Noire' Is Now The World's Most Expensive Car And It Is Already Sold Out

The two and fro has taken place before as well, with the company moving to the top court earlier this year in order to challenge the Rs 100 crore penalty put out by the green tribunal. The penalty was handed out back in November 16, 2018, when the NGT had alleged that Volkswagen had been using cheat devices in its diesel cars in India which resulted in environmental damage through the vehicles. The tribunal had then directed the company to deposit an interim amount of Rs 100 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The NGT then slammed Volkswagen in January for not depositing the amount in time, directing it to do the same within 24 hours, failing which the directors of the company would be sent to jail.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

Also read: Skoda's Latest Electric Vehicle Is A Bike That Doesn't Have Pedals Or Any Hand Controls!

Volkswagen has been facing a similar flak globally, with the US government lashing out at the company earlier for its diesel emission scandal, to which it even pleaded guilty back in 2017. The case resulted in a USD 4.3 billion settlement with the US authorities and nine people getting charged. The penalty from the NGT can prove to be a major blow to the firm as it adds to its already pending penalties which amount to a total USD 2.8 billion in US and Canada.

(With inputs from PTI)
Human beings can be unforgiving in the ways they treat animals. When she was just three-years-old an Indian Flavia was separated from her herd and taken to a zoo.

Being taken away from the herd can impact the animals in ways unknown and for Flavia, things got worse after being kept in solitary confinement for 43 years of her life at Spains Cordoba Zoo.

Facebook

Animal rights groups had made several attempts to try to rescue Flavia, but it was too late.

The elephant was suffering from a severe case of depression, which led to deteriorating health and weight loss. But on March 1, 2019, Flavia, who has been a part of multiple campaigns against animals behind bars, passed away at the zoo, all alone.

She collapsed in her enclosure on Friday, and after she was unable to get to her feet, she was euthanized.

"During the last six months, Flavia's physical condition had deteriorated, but especially so in the last two weeks," Amparo Pernichi, the councillor in charge of Environmental issues at Cordoba City Hall told the Local.

The animal rights party Pacma was working with the people at the zoo to improve Flavias enclosure.

 Ayer amanecimos con la triste noticia del fallecimiento de nuestra querida elefanta Flavia 

Con este audiovisual rendimos homenaje a ella y a su familia mas cercana: los trabajadores y trabajadoras publicas del Zoo de #CordobaEsp#HastaSiempreFlaviahttps://t.co/voOvCHMXQc  IU Cordoba Ciudad (@iucordobaciudad) March 2, 2019

They were also thinking of shifting the elephant to another safari park in Europe so that she could interact and live with other elephants.

But all this remains unaccomplished and Flavia has passed away. Rest in peace, dear Flavia, we hope you are in a better place!
People shout slogans and wave the national flag near the India-Pakistan border in Wagah on March 1, 2019, as they wait for the return of an Indian Air Force pilot being returned by Pakistan. (Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the lone Indian American woman in the House, introduced her Medicare for All bill Feb. 27, which  among many benefits  provides health care coverage for all, without premiums, deductibles, or co-pays. (File photo/Facebook/RepJayapal/video screen grab)
In this photograph taken on June 11, 2015, thirteen year old Indian boy, Sonu helps his father load bricks onto a horse cart at a brick kiln, on the outskirts of Jammu on the eve of World Day against Child Labor. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Insurance fraud seems like it might be an easy thing to do. Insurance companies are often so huge, one wonders how they might not even notic...
Chart of the Day: Why is Lightwave Logic Up? Barchart - 15 minutes ago WHY? Now that I have your attention I must say I can find no reason for the high upward momentum of this stock. If you do buy in at this level, realize it is a HIGHLY SPECULATIVE position and you better... LWLG : 18.50 (+12.46%)

3 REITs With Ultra-Safe Dividends Sure Dividend - Wed Dec 8, 11:42AM CST There are only 3 REITs on the list of Dividend Aristocrats. This article examines all 3, which are Realty Income, Essex Property Trust, and Federal Realty Investment Trust.

Beans Gaining at Midday Barchart - Wed Dec 8, 11:39AM CST Wednesdays soybean market is 6 3/4 to 7 1/2 cents in the black at midday. For Jan, that comes after futures were down as much as 14 cents earlier in the session. Soymeal is gaining $6.10 to $6.40/ton... ZSF22 : 1261-0s (+0.86%) ZSPAUS.CM : 12.2766 (+0.88%) ZSH22 : 1268-6s (+0.83%) ZSX21 : 1234-0s (+1.79%) ZSPX21US.CM : 12.3270 (+1.90%)

Double Digit Losses so far for Wheat Barchart - Wed Dec 8, 11:39AM CST Midweek wheat trading has the winter wheat markets down by double digits. CBT SRW futures are down 11 /4to 14 3/4 cents so far. KC wheat is giving back as much as 16 cents at midday. Spring wheat futures... ZWZ21 : 791-2s (-1.00%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.4578 (-1.81%) KEZ21 : 810-2s (-2.06%) KEPAWS.CM : 7.9027 (-1.84%) MWZ21 : 1053-4s (+0.74%)
The retirement age, which is now at 62, and re-employment age, 67, are set to be raised, though the exact timing of the changes and by how much have yet to be determined, the countrys Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo said in parliament on Tuesday. This comes after a working group comprising individuals from the government, labour unions and private sector in the city-state reached a consensus on the matter, she said.

A higher retirement age will motivate both workers and employers to invest in skills upgrading and job redesign for older workers, while increasing the re-employment age will afford companies the flexibility to reset employment terms, like salary and job scope, to cope with business uncertainties, Teo said.

We should carefully consider the timing and pacing of these moves, Teo said. Countries looking to raise their retirement ages typically make their intentions known five to ten years in advance. She cited Denmark, where its retirement age is set to go up from 65 to 68 by 2030, over 11 years.

The Southeast Asian nation, grappling with an aging population, has been attempting to ensure it remains a vibrant economy by limiting restrictions on high-skilled foreign labour as well as re-balancing its education system in order to attract investment and encourage enterprise

Copyright Bloomberg News
Haven first came to light in 2018, when the three major companies announced plans to create an independent healthcare organisation that would be free from profit-making incentives and constraints. It was established to provide healthcare support to the 1.2 million employees of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase. The venture aims to improve upon certain areas of the current healthcare system, particularly its accessibility and affordability.

We want to change the way people experience healthcare so that it is simpler, better, and lower cost, said Haven CEO Atul Gawande, MD, MPH. Well start small, learn from the experience of patients, and continue to expand to meet their needs.

The executive has been meeting with employees of the three companies to understand their healthcare experiences. On Havens website, he said that the venture will be an advocate for the patient and an ally to anyone  clinicians, industry leaders, innovators, policymakers and others  who make patient care and cost better.

Gawande was named CEO of Haven in July. He is joined by the rest of the companys leadership team: COO Jack Stoddard, CTO Serkan Kutan, and head of measurement Dana Safran.

The good news is the best results are not the most complicated or expensive. The right care in the right place is often more effective and less costly than what we get today, Gawande said in a statement.
MetLife has become the first insurer to join the UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change (GICC).

GICC, now with 27 members, is focused on developing the innovation market to work better for women, and to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and womens empowerment.
Findings showed that only 8% of those surveyed are willing to pay more than $1,000 as an out-of-pocket fee  that, when 93% of advisers said they would need to charge in excess of $1,000. Meanwhile, none of the consumers indicated they were willing to pay $2,000 or more, the amount that almost two thirds of advisers said they would need to charge; and nearly 30% of consumers said they were not willing to pay a fee at all.

Weve seen across a number of sectors and a number of countries that consumer willingness to pay out-of-pocket fees for life insurance advice is very limited, usually due to financial constraints - so in a way these findings simply reinforce what we expected to be true, said Tim Bailey, Zurich life and investments CEO. To the extent that demand for life insurance generally coincides with major life events, for example taking on major debt such as a mortgage, or the birth of a child, we often see the paradox that the time when cover is most needed is also the time when household finances are most challenged. Mandating an out-of-pocket fee to people in such circumstances, from 2021, is likely to put expert life insurance help out of reach at the worst possible time for them and would likely see people with inadequate or inappropriate cover, or worst still, no cover at all.

Bailey urged insurers and the advice profession to cooperate with ASIC and the government to help create a consistent and robust evidence base to be used by the many stakeholders who will shape the sector over the coming years.

Life insurance is not without its complexities, and some of the commentary we have heard since the royal commission highlights a genuine lack of understanding of the sector and the interplay between the major channels and product types, Bailey said. For example, an appreciation of the differences between group and retail, the dynamics at play, and the role each plays in delivering positive consumer outcomes, does not seem to be evident in many discussions. Similarly, it is largely overlooked that since the implementation of LIF, up-front commission rates are now standardised, rendering one of the major objections to commissions  a fear of bias towards products or providers paying higher rates  effectively redundant.

Zurich said it supports the royal commission recommendation that any consideration of life insurance advice be undertaken in 2021 as part of the ASIC review of the LIF reforms.
A release said that, to date, Pie has raised a total of $61 million. The company will use the funds it has raised to expand geographically, add new distribution sources, and continue to make the entire experience easy as pie for its customers.

Pie Insurances coverage is available in 18 states. Earlier this year, the company began selling workers compensation insurance to small businesses in Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, and New Mexico  with plans to sell coverage nationwide by the end of the year.

We are impressed by the momentum Pie has achieved in less than a year, said SVB Capital partner Tilli Kalisky-Bannett in a statement. Were thrilled to join this phenomenal team in their next phase of growth.

The company sold its first policy in March 2018; in the first 11 months since it launched, Pie Insurance has generated almost $10 million in written premium.

In addition to their strong growth, Pie is producing outstanding underwriting results, commented Greycroft co-founder and partner Ian Sigalow. The company is positioned to make a huge impact on the small business market for commercial insurance.

Im so proud of what our team has accomplished in a short period of time, remarked Pie co-founder and CEO John Swigart. Were grateful to work with such supportive investors to take Pie to the next level and fundamentally change the way small businesses get workers compensation insurance.

Swigart told Reuters that Pie is trying to corner a piece of the small business insurance market, which has $100 billion in insurance premiums. The executive added that workers compensation represents $25 billion of that number.

The great thing is its required coverage for every business in the country that has employees, he added.
Companies testing autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh will have to immediately report crashes resulting in any injuries and have three days to reveal those that result in any damage.

The guidelines are part of an executive order signed Monday by Mayor Bill Peduto and are meant to help build public confidence in the testing after a deadly accident in Arizona last year.

Representatives of the five companies testing autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh  Aptiv, Argo AI, Aurora Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University and Uber  expressed their support for Pedutos measure.

Karina Ricks, director of the citys Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, says the companies have 30 days to submit initial information, such as neighborhoods where they expect to conduct testing and times the tests will happen.

New companies must submit information 10 days before starting on-road testing.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Auto Autonomous Vehicles
The estate of a William Paterson University student who took her own life after alleging she was raped at a fraternity has settled a lawsuit against the school for $800,000.

Cherelle Locklears mother alleged in the lawsuit that the university failed to adequately investigate the rape claims in 2015 and didnt question or discipline her alleged attacker.

A judge filed notice in January that a settlement had been reached, and a formal court order was entered Monday.

We believe that this suit is but one of, unfortunately, many involving sex assault on college campuses, Bradley Rice, an attorney representing the estate, said Tuesday. Its one step forward in trying to bring better awareness and heightened scrutiny to the institutions that are meant to protect our best and brightest.

In a statement, the university said, the legal matter that commenced after the tragic death of Cherelle Locklear has now been resolved by an agreement that is acceptable to all parties and with no admission of wrongdoing or liability by the University.

The alleged rape occurred at the Sigma Pi fraternity in September 2015. After a suicide attempt in mid-October, Locklear notified a university victims service coordinator.

According to the lawsuit, the coordinator wasnt reported to campus police until November. The suit claimed police then utterly failed to perform an appropriate and thorough investigation.

Locklear hung herself in a dormitory bathroom in November 2015.

The lawsuit alleged negligence, infliction of emotional distress and a violation of Title IX, the federal law protecting people at institutions receiving federal funds. It claimed the university had a duty to offer Locklear counseling, issue a no contact order to the alleged attacker and take disciplinary action.

Rice said a separate, confidential settlement was reached with the Theta Tau chapter of Sigma Pi fraternity. An attorney representing the fraternity didnt immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Education Universities New Jersey
The so-called Troika Laundromat was a financial network set up by a Russian investment bank to help clients move money out of the country and hide it. The scheme exported about $4.8 billion over seven years, with the help of a now-defunct Lithuanian bank.

That much we know from disclosures by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project [OCCRP] and its partner news organizations. Almost daily revelations over the last week have widened the group of banks involved and added to a picture of massive laundering  perhaps facilitated by the absence of a central enforcement agency in Europe.

What we dont yet know is the identity of many of the participants on the Russian side, what proportion of the money was illicit, and whether additional banks are likely to be named. Financial institutions from Stockholm to Amsterdam already face uncomfortable questions, with investigations under way in the Baltic nations, the U.S., the U.K. and the Nordic countries.

While the sums reported by the OCCRP are small  at least compared with the $230 billion handled by a tiny Estonian unit of Danske Bank A/S between 2007 and 2015, much of it suspicious  the disclosures this week give a more detailed glimpse of the Russian money trail.

Heres what we know:

The scheme consisted of at least 75 shell companies set up by Troika. Money was moved between them for deals that were entirely made up, including fake invoices, in order to disguise the recipients.

In total, $8.8 billion of internal transactions were generated to obscure the source of the money. Clients used the funds to buy real estate or luxury yachts, while criminal groups worked to launder illicit funds.

Troika needed a commercial bank that wasnt looking too closely at contracts and trades. It chose Lithuanias Ukio Bankas. Ukio set up accounts for 35 of the companies in the Laundromat, probably more, OCCRP says.

Because Lithuania wasnt yet using the euro, it needed correspondent banks to handle euro-denominated transactions. Thats how most of the Western banks seem to be connected to the system. Analysts say for that reason, potential fines, if any, would be limited, because the onus is usually on the respondent bank to vet clients.

OCCRP previously exposed three similar money-laundering schemes. The latest is based on a subset of a data trove that includes about 1.3 million leaked transactions from 238,000 companies, the bulk of them between 2003 and 2013. Reports by the groups media partners keep adding fresh details about the role of Western banks.

Nordea Bank Abp, the biggest Nordic bank, allegedly handled about 700 million euros ($790 million) in potentially dirty money, with funds arriving from Ukio and heading to shell companies in countries such as the British Virgin Islands and Panama, according to Finnish broadcaster YLE.

More than $889 million moved from accounts at Deutsche Bank AG to Laundromat accounts from 2003 until 2017, according to Suddeutsche Zeitung, a German daily. The report comes on top of regulatory scrutiny of Deutsche Banks role as a correspondent bank in the Danske Bank money-laundering scandal.

At ING Groep NV, hundreds of millions of euros passed through banks Moscow branch from companies that were part of the Troika Laundromat, the Dutch newspaper Trouw reported. A former unit of ABN Amro Group NV was used by the Troika Laundromat to move about 190 million euros, Trouw and De Groene Amsterdammer, a Dutch magazine, reported. That unit was bought by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, which is now looking into the matter, in 2008.

About 43 million euros [$48.6 million] from the Troika Laundromat landed in an account at Cooperatieve Rabobank UA for a Dutch yacht builder, Heesen. The money was for the construction of two boats for Russian senator Valentin Zavadnikov, according to Trouw and De Groene Amsterdammer. Turkiye Garanti Bankasi ASs Dutch unit processed 200 million euros [$226 million] in transactions from two Lithuanian banks, the Dutch media outlets reported.

Accounts at Credit Agricole SAs Geneva unit received about $150 million from the Troika system through 2012, in more than 500 transfers, Tages-Anzeiger reported. Austrias Raiffeissen Bank International AG was accused by Bill Browder, an investor, of ignoring red flags in the transfer of $634 million from Ukio Bankas and the Estonian unit of Danske Bank.

Related:

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Russia
Bill Browder, the investor whos made a career of chasing money launderers, says the cases hes brought against banks so far only represent a tiny fraction of the full amount in dirty money trying to get out of Russia and into the West.

The Hermitage Capital Management co-founder, who says he has worked closely with law enforcement agencies across Europe, estimates that roughly $1 trillion in questionable funds from the East are either already inside the European Union or looking for loopholes to get in.

Our investigation continues to lead to new evidence and new information and new suspicious transactions, Browder said in an interview with Bloomberg Televisions Guy Johnson. And as long as it does, we will take that evidence and follow that evidence where it leads.

Browder this week filed his latest criminal complaint against a Nordic bank, alleging that Swedbank AB handled $176 million connected to the death of Sergei Magnitsky. Swedens Economic Crime Authority has confirmed receipt of the complaint, which is dated March 4, and says its now looking into the claims.

Browders complaint follows separate allegations that tie Swedbank to almost $6 billion in suspicious transactions.

Browder alleges that for years, criminals from the former Soviet Union turned to the Baltic units of Nordic banks to launder their money, enabling them to pay for Western luxuries such as private schools for their kids and expensive homes. Browder has previously filed complaints against Danske Bank A/S, which is now being investigated in the U.S. for its role at the center of a $230 billion laundering scandal stemming from its Estonian branch.

Browder says the amounts linked to Danske only represent one-quarter of the estimated flight capital from Russia.

The Swedbank Case

Browder says that the suspicious transactions went on for nearly a decade with no one stopping them.

The transactions were obvious to us from the outside so its hard to imagine that they werent obvious from the inside of the bank. Unless there are real legal consequences for money laundering, these problems will continue, he said.

Swedbank spokesman Gabriel Francke Rodau said in an emailed comment on Thursday, We have, as far as we know, not yet been able to see the notifications content or details. Therefore we have difficulty in giving a comment on this. In all of the cases when authorities start investigations, we always cooperate fully, and we see positively on all investigations.

Browder is asking prosecutors to include Nordea Bank Abp, the Nordic regions biggest lender, in their investigation of Swedbank. Hes also calling for the creation of an international team to ensure an effective investigation, as the case balloons to include banks across the rest of Europe.

Regulators in Sweden and Estonia started investigating Swedbank last month following media reports linking it to the Danske case. Browder is chasing all banks he says played a part in enabling a $230 million tax-fraud scheme. Magnitsky, Browders lawyer, died in a Russian prison in 2009 after trying to bring the perpetrators in that case to justice.

Joakim Bornold, a savings adviser at Soderberg & Partners in Stockholm, said the criminal complaint represents a real blow to investors ability to have confidence in Swedbank. He also criticized a decision by management to prevent employees from using a whistle-blower channel set up by Swedens main broadcaster, SVT. The move makes Swedbank appear more like a bank from the old Soviet regime, Bornold said.

Red Flags

According to the complaint, which was also filed to the Swedish government and police, the signs of money laundering were hard to miss. Browder points to the location of corporate account holders in countries such as the British Virgin Islands and the Marshall Islands. Meanwhile, others registered in the U.K. appear to have filed zero or no financial returns even as they did transactions of substantial dollar amounts via their Swedbank accounts, he said.

Swedbank employees failed to block and report suspicious transactions with multiple suspicious counterparties in large amounts, thereby facilitating the illegal activity, the complaint alleges.

Red flags were obvious in a number of cases, raising suspicions that employees may have actively assisted clients in laundering money, according to the document.

Swedbank, which dominates the Baltic regions financial markets, has been forced to backtrack on its earlier insistence that it wasnt involved in the Danske case. Danske took over the Tallinn-based operations at the center of the scandal as part of a bigger deal with Sampo Oyj of Finland in 2007. Before Sampo, the unit was majority owned by the Estonian central bank.

Viktor Yanukovych

Swedbanks U-turn followed a Feb. 20 report by Swedens main broadcaster, SVT, alleging the bank had misled the public about its Baltic dealings. SVT says Swedbank provided services to Russian oligarchs and deposed Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych, among others.

Swedbank has since acknowledged it handled suspicious transactions, which have been reported to the police. The bank has declined to comment on individual clients or transactions.

Swedens FSA said on Wednesday that the picture emerging confirms clearly that there have been deficiencies in the anti-money laundering work at Swedish banks Baltic operations, but it also indicates that these deficiencies mainly lie a few years back in time. Commenting specifically on allegations in Swedish media against Swedbank, the FSA said there appear to have been serious deficiencies in the lenders controls against laundering.

The development has put pressure on Chief Executive Officer Birgitte Bonnesen, who ran Swedbanks Baltic business from 2011 until 2014. For now, the board has given Bonnesen its backing, but some investors have criticized managements handling of the case.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Economic Crime Authority has started a separate probe to find out whether Swedbank broke insider information rules, after it gave its biggest shareholders advance warning that SVT was planning to publish a report. The bank has denied wrongdoing.

Since the allegations first surfaced on Feb. 20, Swedbank has lost almost a fifth of its market value, equivalent to about $5 billion. By comparison, Danskes scandal has cost it almost 50 percent in lost market value over the past year, equivalent to roughly $17 billion.

The allegations:

77 Swedbank Baltic accounts received $18 million from 13 Danske Estonian accounts

The biggest share of the $176 million in transactions was tied to Ukio Bank, a Lithuanian bank that was declared bankrupt in 2013

590 Swedbank accounts in the Baltics and Sweden received $158 million from 102 Ukio accounts

50 Swedbank accounts in Sweden received around $2.4 million from 31 Ukio accounts opened by shell companies located in Belize and the British Virgin Islands.

The money flowed in both directions: 91 Swedbank accounts held by individuals and businesses sent $92 million to 46 Ukio accounts.

With assistance from Ott Ummelas, Niclas Rolander and Hanna Hoikkala

Related:

Whats Known About Massive Russia Money Laundering Scheme, Troika Laundromat

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Europe Russia
The Boston-based health care organization founded by giant employers Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase announced its name  Haven  and launched a new website at www.havenhealthcare.com.

Haven will serve the 1.2 million employees and families affiliated with Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase across the country. But over time its founders say it intends to share what it learns to help others.

The three companies announced plans in January 2018 to create this organization, which they say is free from profit-making incentives and constraints.

We want to change the way people experience health care so that it is simpler, better and lower cost, said Haven CEO Atul Gawande, MD, MPH. in prepared remarks in unveiling the name. Well start small, learn from the experience of patients, and continue to expand to meet their needs.

Dr. Gawande assumed the helm as CEO this past July and assembled a leadership team  including former Comcast executive Jack Stoddard as chief operating officer, Serkan Kutan as chief technology officer, Dana Safran as head of Measurement, and others.

Gawande is a surgeon, professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, and a journalist who has written about rising healthcare spending.

JPMorgan, Amazon, Berkshire Venture to Target Health Issues Using Data, Technology

In recent months, Dr. Gawande said he has been meeting with Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase employees to understand their health care experiences.

In a letter posted on the new website, he vows that Haven will be an advocate for the patient and an ally to anyone  clinicians, industry leaders, innovators, policymakers and others  who makes patient care and cost better.

The website also identifies a some areas where the company hopes to improve upon the current health system, including the difficulty people have accessing care, navigating the complex system, and affording medical treatments and prescription drugs.

The good news is the best results are not the most complicated or expensive. The right care in the right place is often more effective and less costly than what we get today, Dr. Gawande said.

Currently Haven is focused on recruiting software engineers, data scientists and clinicians to join its team.

Related:

Topics Amazon
A series of hurricanes tore through Florida in 2005, and Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trumps business and residence in Palm Beach, was apparently very beaten up because Trump collected about $18.3 million in insurance payments from Aon PLC that year.

When my attorney asked Trump during a 2007 deposition if he ever plowed all of those funds back into his club, he pointed out that under the insurance plan you didnt have to even though the hurricane really did tremendous damage.

What kind of damage specifically did you have to the property from these hurricanes? my lawyer asked.

I dont remember that; I really dont, Trump replied. They did appraisals.

But Trump also said he didnt review the appraisals or anything, really, pertaining to the insurance claim. Instead, he told my lawyers, he left all of those details to a Trump Organization executive, Matthew Calamari. (Trump was being deposed as part of a libel lawsuit he filed against me for a 2005 biography I wrote, TrumpNation; Trump lost the suit in 2011.)

In 2016, the Associated Press scoured Palm Beach property records for damage reports, interviewed the adjuster who assessed Trumps insurance claim, met with the man who oversaw Mar-a-Lago and spoke with several former Palm Beach officials about possible hurricane damage to the club. There was little evidence of large-scale damage, the AP concluded. When the AP wrote about Trumps club again in 2017, it noted that strikes by four major hurricanes have done little damage to Mar-a-Lago in the 90 years since it was built.

Questions about the presidents dealings with insurers and banks over the years occupy center stage again. Last week, Trumps former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, testified that the president provided inflated valuations of his assets to insurers. He said that Calamari, along with the Trump Organizations chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, and another Trump executive, Ronald Lieberman, all had knowledge of the practice  and that the presidents tax records and financial statements would substantiate his testimony. (Cohen also said in his testimony that Trump routinely exaggerated and lied about his wealth, both to snare a spot on the Forbes 400 list of Americas wealthiest billionaires and to secure hefty bank loans, something that I know to be absolutely true.)

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that the New York State Department of Financial Services, which regulates insurers, banks and other financial enterprises, has issued an expansive subpoena to the Trump Organizations longtime insurance broker, the first step in an investigation of insurance policies and claims involving President Trumps family business. Aon, the same company that insured Mar-a-Lago when my lawyers deposed Trump, is the London-based broker that received that subpoena.

Scrutiny of Trumps insurance dealings is just the beginning of what is going to be a long, meandering and possibly harrowing experience for the president, his family, longtime employees of the Trump Organization, many of Trumps business partners and the White House. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan, attorneys general in Virginia, New York and the District of Columbia, five committees within the House of Representatives and, now, banking and insurance regulators, are all putting the Trump Organization and the presidents financial and political dealings under a wide array of microscopes.

On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee alone uncorked 81 letters seeking information from the White House, individuals, agencies and others that have all intersected with the president. Recipients included the Trump Organization, the Trump Campaign, the Trump Transition, the Trump Foundation, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, Weisselberg, Calimari, Lieberman, two Trump attorneys (Alan Garten and Sheri Dillon) and Trumps longtime business assistant, Rhona Graff. The list of recipients didnt include other current or former high-ranking Trump Organization executives such as Jason Greenblatt and Jeffrey McConney, or the presidents daughter, Ivanka Trump; the Judiciary Committees chairman, Jerrold Nadler, said that the current list isnt exhaustive. Nadler, a New York Democrat, said he plans to focus on Trumps possible obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power.

Meanwhile, Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wants to hold a future public hearing with Weisselberg. An upcoming hearing is also planned with Felix Sater, a career criminal who partnered with the Trump family on the former Trump SoHo Hotel and worked with Cohen and the Trump Organization to pursue a property development in Moscow before and during Trumps 2016 presidential bid. Asked recently by Bloomberg News for comment about his upcoming congressional appearance, Sater waxed patriotic. Till the day I die, I stand ready to serve my country that I love, he said. God bless America.

Maxine Waters, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is planning an examination of Trumps dealings with Deutsche Bank AG, a troubled German lender that has been mired in scandal. She said that she plans to look into possible money laundering, among other things, and will do whatever is necessary to get an accurate picture of Deutsches ties with Trump.

Trump and everyone in his orbit saw most of this coming, of course, but that doesnt make it any easier now that its arrived. If, indeed, Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe is winding down at the Justice Department, then the center of gravity of the investigations has moved to Congress and New York, and will therefore take on a more explicitly financial air. And that will make all of them intruders in a world the president particularly prizes: his business.

The White House appears to be on an offensive footing as it responds to all of this. Trump said he may not cooperate with Nadlers document request. He may also choose to use tools like executive privilege to keep some of his senior presidential advisers from testifying before Congress, but that affords him little broad protection given the nature of the investigations, as my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Noah Feldman has pointed out. Congress, and certainly law enforcement, will issue subpoenas for testimony and documents.

So a clash is coming, across multiple jurisdictions, states and authorities. The president hinted at some of this in his State of the Union address when he warned that if there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. Well, investigations are underway and the president will discover the weight of his armor, particularly the protection afforded by some of those closest to him.

Everybodys job at the Trump Organization was to protect Mr. Trump, Cohen said in his testimony last week. If Cohen is any indication, however, many, if not everybody, at the Trump Organization and elsewhere may decide to protect themselves before they protect the president. Investigators have landed on the money trail.

Related:

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics New York Hurricane
Insys Therapeutics Inc. founder John Kapoor didnt cut corners when it came to collecting intelligence on opioid sales, using the data to beat down his employees and to spur doctors to prescribe more of his highly addictive painkiller, a Boston jury was told.

Insys tracked every prescription written for their competitors drugs by buying daily federal data, Alec Burlakoff, former vice president of sales, testified at Kapoors racketeering trial. Data from the Transmucosal Immediate Release Fentanyl (TIRF) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program, commonly known as TIRF REMS, is used to alert doctors to the risks of misuse, abuse and addiction of medicines that contain fentanyl.

Intelligence was something Dr. Kapoor did not cut corners on, Burlakoff, 45, testified. The daily reports were available, if you were willing to pay crazy, astronomical amounts of money.

The testimony Tuesday from Burlakoff adds to the catalog of dubious methods Insys used to spur sales of its Subsys opioid painkiller. The jury had already heard that the company used phony speakers fees to bribe doctors to prescribe Subsys, or increase the dosages. Burlakoff hired a former stripper with no experience as sales manager, who, witnesses said, had used her sex appeal to persuade physicians to write more prescriptions. And the jury had also heard that call center representatives duped insurers into paying for Subsys to patients who didnt need the powerful drug.

Subsys was approved only for cancer patients with breakthrough pain, but the jury was told that doctors prescribed it to people with arthritis, depression and back pain.

Kapoor, 75, studied the TIRF REMS data closely every day, including the doses prescribed for Subsys, according to Burlakoff. Kapoor was upset when doctors in the speakers program werent increasing doses, Burlakoff said.

Each morning during the 8:30 beatdown with Kapoor, Burlakoff said he had to be prepared to explain why a doctor wasnt increasing dosages.

If someone wrote a competitive product for the first time, it was not going to be a good day in the office, Burlakoff said.

Sales representatives were ordered to drop everything and visit that physician within 24 hours and do whatever it took to get the doctor on board, he said.

It was micromanagement that Ive never seen in my life, Burlakoff said.

That testimony strikes at the heart of Kapoors defense. His lawyers made it clear to jurors in opening statements that hell blame his subordinates for any wrongdoing.

Burlakoff testified Tuesday he knew bribing doctors was a crime, but never talked directly to Kapoor about their criminal risk and would advise him about meetings with doctors only in general terms.

Typically within 24-48 hours after a meeting took place, I would send an email, which was a little bit generic because I didnt want to create a poor paper trail that would get the company in trouble, he said.

The case is U.S. v. Kapoor, 16-cr-10343, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Drugs
All those listed as missing have been found and searches ended with no additional bodies discovered among the shattered homes, splintered pines and broken lives devastated by a tornado in rural Alabama, leaving the death toll at 23, authorities said Wednesday.

We are still in standby mode on the outside chance they find somebody else, which is not likely, Lee County Coroner Bill Harris told a news conference.

Law enforcement officials had accounted for the final seven people on their list of those reported missing after the Sunday storm, Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said. All of them were alive.

The situation will now move, as it should, to a recovery, Jones said.

A violent storm system that spawned tornadoes across the Southeast on Sunday stuck hardest in Alabama, where a powerful EF4 tornado carved a path nearly a mile wide through the small community of Beauregard. The 23 who died included a 6-year-old boy and a couple in their 80s.

Pope Francis sent condolences Wednesday to tornado victims, while President Donald Trump said he will visit Friday to see the damage.

The National Weather Service has confirmed at least 34 tornadoes hit Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina on Sunday.

The monstrous twister that smashed Beauregard with winds of 170 mph (274 kph) was the deadliest U.S. tornado in nearly six years. It crossed the Chattahoochee River into western Georgia and inflicted more damage along a path stretching roughly 70 miles (112 kilometers).

Meanwhile, Alabama and several other southern states will be under threat of more severe storms  including the risk of some tornadoes  with a new system thats arriving in the South this weekend, forecasters said.

A vast part of the region from Texas to Georgia will be under threat of severe weather Saturday, the national Storm Prediction Center warned. The area at risk of storms is home to 41 million people and includes major cities such as Dallas, New Orleans and Atlanta.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis said he was praying for the dead and injured, saying he is spiritually close to all those who are suffering and grieving.

Francis sent a telegram of condolences Wednesday to the bishop of Mobile, Alabama, the Most Rev. Thomas Rodi, saying he was saddened to learn of the tragic loss of life and injuries. Francis prayed for peace and strength for the survivors, and that God may grant eternal rest to the dead, especially the children, and healing and consolation to the injured and those who grieve.

The Beauregard tornado was the deadliest to hit the U.S. since May 2013, when an EF5 twister killed 24 people in Moore, Oklahoma.

___

Associated Press writers Kate Brumback and Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Georgia Alabama
March 6, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Kelly Abbott, CEO of ParcelPal Technology, sits down with Anthony Varrell of StoneBridge Partners to discuss his company's disruptive technology and expansion plans into the United States.

For those who are not familiar with ParcelPal Technology Inc.'s (PKG:CSE) story, could you walk us through the company and fill the readers in on how you have built this firm into what it is today, shed some light on your core competency, and what lies ahead for the future?

Sure, I would love to. I'll start from the very beginning. I started ParcelPal in late 2016 with the idea of simply having anyone be able to call a courier and have items delivered anywhere in city in under an hour for a reasonable price. After having some initial success with this model, I began to ask, how can we offer more to consumers, businesses and those who are delivering our packages for us?

We began to develop various arms of technology and flipped this previous model on its head. I thought, how about we start driving consumer traffic to local businesses, this way any consumer could get anything they wanted in under an hour from any business that they want that is local. This model has really transformed our technology into a more modern way for consumers to shop, purchase products and have goods delivered to them in an hour or less from local businesses that are on our platform.

Our platform now supports restaurant/food delivery, retail, alcohol and medical marijuana and, pending legalization, recreational marijuana. Our mission really is to put a delivery service in everyone's pocket where they can get anything they want delivered to them in an hour or less. In essence we are no longer only an on-demand delivery provider in under an hour; we are a marketplace that allows consumers to find, buy and get anything they want from any vendor in under an hour, so long as it's legal.

How would you compare or differentiate yourself from an industry leader and first mover in the on-demand economy, such as Uber?

I think the fact that we are a technology company all together makes us stand out from the traditional courier companies and that business model altogether. The courier industry is still quite antiquated with their current fulfillment processes and technology that they use. With our technology, we've actually automated the entire fulfillment process and taken it a step further by actually connecting consumers to more businesses through our platform.

So we don't just simply ship items from A to B; we make any businesses inventory available and accessible for all local consumers and by doing so we drive up demand for their products. Think of us as the largest warehouse in the city without owning any warehouses. As we move forward, we will vertically integrate the company and begin working as fulfillment partners for a lot of these businesses by taking care of their entire last mile supply chain.

Our services don't require a warehouse facility, or any other capital expense to get started, so businesses can actually fulfill from any location they want. A lot of business don't have the technical know-how to bring themselves online or don't have the infrastructure for a delivery service. With ParcelPal they have that ability to bring themselves online, fulfill orders faster and reach a larger audience that they didn't have before for a very minimal investment.

We want to give businesses the power of our technology so they can reach that larger audience, not just deliver items A to B like traditional courier companies. Consumers often want their products right now. Our technology lets us deliver products within an hour or less, which is often a tough feat for traditional courier companies.

ParcelPal is in a unique position and has several catalysts for growth. What is your revenue model and when are you forecasting to be cash flow positive?

We take marginal fees from both the consumer and the business only when an order has been requested. Depending on the vertical, we take anywhere from 1530% of the total cost of goods of the order from the business and approximately 9% from the consumer, plus a delivery charge. We are aiming to be cash-flow positive in Q2Q3 this year.

With the launch of your full version of your Android App, when or if do you plan to launch an IOS version?

We have both versions fully live. You can download the iOS version here.

You can download the Android version, which was recently launched, here.

With cannabis booming in Canada, thanks to the legalization of adult use, how will you leverage this vertical for growth?

It's no secret the cannabis space is the one of the largest growing markets in Canada. Looking at the landscape, we are looking to form additional partnerships with LPs, dispensary chains and eCommerce stores. With a fragmented supply chain, we see a large opportunity for LPs to be able to get into additional markets that they would not operate in. Licenses are very expensive and difficult to come by. With us, they do not need to have a storefront. With our average delivery time of 37 minutes, it will take a consumer less time to order from us and have it delivered than it would be to go to a store.

As far as competition, there aren't any major players in Canada with the technology that we have. There are a couple players in the U.S. that are starting to gain market share in the legalized states. The barriers to entry are quite high in OnDemand delivery. We've aimed ourselves at the medical space to start, and we're now taking the proper steps to position ourselves for the opportunities that are present within the recreational space.

From a market perspective, I believe the focus has been on cannabis producers and I think the market will switch to looking at ancillary businesses that support production and distribution.

What does your distribution agreement with Choom look like? Are there any other LPs that you are targeting for distribution contracts?

Our agreement with Choom is to fulfill from each of its dispensaries across Canada. It has over 50 licenses and just entered an LOI to purchase a retail license with one of the 25 cannabis store applicants in Ontario. Choom is a very innovative retail partner for us. It is always looking at different ways to create the best possible customer experience, and our platform falls into this category. For our customers, we will be doing some very innovative things moving forward. We are aiming to handle all fulfillment requirements for Choom; we will have more news about this in the future.

On other LPs, we are aiming to partner up with one of the major LPs in Canada. We have had conversations with a few players, but I cannot comment further than that.

How big of a growth driver do you expect cannabis to be for the firm? Are there any plans to service the cannabis vertical in the United States as well?

Anytime I enter a new market, to lower capex, I always wish to have partnerships within that region. The cannabis market needs a reliable and innovative distribution partner, so are expecting this to be a large growth catalyst for our national expansion strategy.

The United States has fragmented regulations, which pose a very big opportunity for ParcelPal moving forward. We have started our expansion across the West Coast, and have entered Everett, Washington, in this process. We plan to keep this expansion paralleled with Canada. California has very big opportunities for us; keep an eye out for news.

Although the company is well capitalized, are there any plans to raise capital in the next few quarters and scale into new markets?

We do not have any plans to raise capital in the near future. As I move into new markets, our strategy is to mitigate any spending on unnecessary marketing by forming strategic partnerships.

We have been able to enter a new city with approximately $250,000 in capex so far. Our competition in the food delivery space spends millions when expanding. As a major shareholder in the company, I treat shareholders' money as my own. I run ParcelPal on lean principles to ensure every dollar spent will see a return.

Is Everrett, Washington, the only U.S. jurisdiction you are currently operating in? What other U.S. markets are you currently targeting?

We plan to make entry across various U.S. cities and states in the near future. As we expand east in Canada, we plan to do so in parallel in the U.S. We will follow the same lean principles of expansion as I explained before, where we will leverage existing and create new partnerships for each new city we expand to.

Anthony Varrell is managing director of StoneBridge Partners LLC.

Disclosure:

1) Anthony Varrell: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: None. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: ParcelPal. Additional disclosures are listed below.

2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: ParcelPal. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with ParcelPal. Please click here for more information.

3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy.

4) This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports.

5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of ParcelPal, a company mentioned in this article.

StoneBridge Partners Disclosures

Pursuant to an agreement between StoneBridge Partners LLC and ParcelPal Inc., we have been hired for a period of 90 days beginning January 1, 2019 and ending April 1, 2019 to publicly disseminate information about (PKG) including on the Website and other media including Facebook and Twitter. We are being paid $6,500 per month (PKG) for or were paid "ZERO" shares of unrestricted or restricted common shares. We own zero shares of (PKG), which we purchased in the open market. We plan to sell the "ZERO" shares of (PKG) that we hold during the time the Website and/or Facebook and Twitter Information recommends that investors or visitors to the website purchase without further notice to you. We may buy or sell additional shares of (PKG) in the open market at any time, including before, during or after the Website and Information, provide public dissemination of favorable Information.

TechSectorStocks.com - investing ideas in tech stocks - mobile payments, social media, AI and Robotics, Drone Stocks, GPS, Internet of Things (IoT) Like Tech Stocks? View our Tech Stocks Directory Get News Alerts on Tech Stocks

More Info:

This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp
Air traffic control strikes and staff shortages cost the EU economy 17.6bn in 2018 in the worst year of delays for air passengers in nearly a decade, industry association Airlines for Europe has said.

Air traffic control industrial action, a lack of controllers, or other structural issues were responsible for over 75% of delays, with the number of EU airline passengers affected up 26% on the previous year to 334m, said the industry body, citing Eurocontrol data.

Progress on aviation has stalled and we are going backwards, Ryanair chief executive and Airlines for Europe chairman Michael OLeary said in a statement which outlined steps to tackle the issue.

The EU must tackle inefficient air traffic control monopolies through internationalisation of airspace, introduction of competition between air traffic control providers, and quicker delivery and flexible deployment of air traffic controllers, he said.

Meanwhile, Ryanair is in early discussions with Airbus about a potential order for 100 A321 aircraft for its recently acquired subsidiary, Laudamotion.

For now the company is focusing on leased older aircraft, said Mr OLeary.

Ryanair is also interested in the latest Boeing narrow-body model the 737 MAX 10  for its all-Boeing main fleet at the right price, but those conditions do not exist currently, he said.

Any order of Airbus A321s for Austrian unit Laudamotion would most likely not include fewer than 100 aircraft including 50 firm orders and 50 options, Mr OLeary said on the sidelines of an airlines conference in Brussels.

Chief executives of Airlines for Europe members, including Aer Lingus and British Airways owner IAG, Easyjet, Lufthansa, as well as Ryanair, met yesterday for their annual meeting in Brussels, where they also called for revised regulations on passenger rights and airport charges.

Airlines for Europe said operational issues such as air traffic control strikes had led to one million tonnes of avoidable CO2 emissions since 2014.

The summit was held a day after a study funded by investors said airlines are doing too little in the fight against global warming.

Reuters
Insurer Aviva Ireland has said it will lower insurance premiums if reform of personal injury payouts and fraud is tackled, as it posted a 15% increase in operating profit to 113m last year.

Boosted by its acquisition of Friends First, the Irish arm posted a significant increase in profits, according to Aviva figures. Operating profit in its Irish general insurance business increased by 4% to 63m, despite what it called challenging market conditions.

Its combined operating ratio, which is a key measure of profitability in general insurance, remains robust at 91.5% and in line with 2017, the firm said.

Aviva Ireland defended the cost of premiums for motorists and businesses, saying savings would be passed onto their customers if there was reform of personal injuries and fraud.

Aviva Ireland has been actively lobbying for major reform of the personal injury landscape for some time now. In addition, we are taking a very firm stance on insurance fraud and, where we suspect that a claim is fraudulent, we will challenge it.

We have taken a number of successful cases to date and will continue to do so. Our policy is to continue to take a firm stance on insurance fraud and to support a focus on reform so that a sustainable reduction in personal injury claims costs can be achieved and, in turn, passed on to our customers, a spokeswoman for the firm said.

Despite figures from the CSO showing premiums falling for motorists in the past two years, TDs and Senators have queried insurance costs, saying anecdotal evidence has shown otherwise.

Business groups such as marts and the Irish Farmers Association, as well as the GAA and community organisations have publicly testified at Oireachtas committee hearings on rising costs of premiums.

Aviva Ireland chief executive John Quinlan said the firm publicly supported the final recommendations of the Personal Injuries Commission, which said high payouts was disproportionately affecting businesses and consumers.

We now need further Government-led progress in reducing personal injury claims costs to enable insurers to bring motor insurance premiums down to more sustainable long-term levels. The high levels of personal injury awards have also been a factor in the increased cost of commercial insurance for our business customers and further reforms are required here to reduce claims costs, Mr Quinlan said.

Overall, the Aviva Group posted a 2% rise in full-year operating profit, boosted by gains in its life insurance business. Aviva said operating profit across its business was 3.12m (3.64bn) in 2018, up from 3.06bn a year earlier.

Additional reporting Reuters
Bus Eireann is hosting a series of open days around the country this weekend for women who are interested in joining the company as bus drivers.

John Sheridan, Acting Media and PR Manager with Bus Eireann, said: Traditionally the majority of our drivers have been male but that is changing, and we want to encourage more women to consider it as a career option.

"We hope that by attending one of our open days, in Dublin, Cork or Galway, interested applicants will see that it is an attractive career option, and one that it is equally available to men and women.

The company has openings for new drivers nationwide and it is holding information sessions from 9am to 4pm in Dublin and 10am to 4pm in Cork and Galway this Saturday, March 9.

Those attending can meet with women who are currently working as drivers with Bus Eireann, as well as with operational and HR staff who can talk you through the role.

Rhonda has been driving for Bus Eireann for 12 years: When I was a young girl, I saw a female Bus Eireann driver and thought one day I would like to do that. I then took the plunge and got my bus licence and with no driving experience, I arrived into Bus Eireann for an open day 11 years ago and was hired. It was by far one of my best decisions.

"I love my job as you get to travel the country and meet loads of new and interesting characters, she said.

Bus Eireann is also recruiting a number of Apprentice Heavy Vehicle Mechanics this year and it is encouraging applications from females for these positions also. For more information visit www.buseireann.ie/Apprentices.

For more information go to Open Day for Women.
Pre-tax profits at the hotel group which operates the Ashling Hotel near Heuston Station in Dublin climbed 28% to over 6m in 2017.

Accounts show revenues at the Flannery family-owned Foxfield Inns Ltd increased 5% to 21m, which included investment income of 375,897.

The firm approved dividends of 550,000 after paying out 750,000 in 2016.

Pay to directors fell from just over 951,100 to 897,775, including pension contributions of 235,084.

The directors are listed as Kevin Flannery, Mary Flannery, Andrena Moynihan, Frank Flannery, and Sheelagh Flannery.

In 2017, it accomplished a level of financial reward in line with expectation, said the firm.

Staff numbers were unchanged at 178, as staff costs fell slightly to over 7.2m.

At the end of 2017, the firms accumulated profits totalled 49.18m and its cash pile increased from 6.28m to 8.3m.

The profit in 2017 takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of 527,669.

Last year the business was thwarted in its expansion plans when An Bord Pleanala refused permission to build a 10-storey apartment-hotel.

The plan included 31 self-contained executive suites that would have involved the demolition of four vacant and semi-derelict buildings.

The company said the hotel was running at peak capacity and needed to expand to accommodate the increased business.

Planning was refused for reasons which included that the proposed building failed to protect and enhance the character and appearance of the area and its setting.
When reporting on the subject of mart prices, and specifically the Friesian bull calf at the marts, I suppose I am fairly biased.

Having spent the last couple of years buying and rearing calves, and then counting the cost of my adventures, I have come to the conclusion, like many more, that no matter how much the calf costs at the mart, he costs too much. Is there anyone these days taking the calf rearer into consideration?

Does our world have to continually revolve around the well-being of the well looked after dairy farmer?

One farmer/calf buyer I spoke to this week bluntly stated that not only should the Friesian bull calf be free, but a subsidy should be attached to his tail, to give the farmer who chooses to take him on a reason to do so.

Without such incentives, right now, there is little sound reason to take up the Friesian bull calf buying challenge.

While the dairy farmer might object to such a suggestion, the man or woman buying the calf will very shortly need nothing less than a subsidised purchase, if they are to stick to the chore.

There aint no romance without finance, was a line from a big hit song by Gwen Guthrie back in the 1980s. And Im telling you now, there will shortly be no calf rearing here in Ireland, through a lack of financial reward.

Just like romance, you cant have one without the other. The profit simply isnt in the business at the end of the day. The outlay to begin the task is too great. The co-op and the dairy farmer are the only ones gaining out of the enterprise. And the dairy farmer, in spite of what he might say, is doing fine.

He has been in the pink most years since the abolition of the milk quota, with the beef farmer across the road eternally in the red. Its about time a little of the love was shared with the calf rearer, and a little less tears shed for the dairy farmer. Meanwhile, mart manager Tom McCarthy has reported a good trade for calves at Bandon.

Shipping Friesian bulls sold from 25 to 80 per head, with stronger types (suitable for the local farmer buyer) making up to 160 a head. Bandon mart had 1,550 calves on offer on Monday.

And looking at the larger animal, dry cows in Bandon sold from 50 under to 400 with the kilo. Friesian bullocks made from 200 to 550 with the kilo. Aberdeen Angus and Hereford bullocks sold from 250 to 600 with the kilo. Continental bullocks made from 400 to 800 with the kilo. Heifers in Bandon on Monday sold from 250 to 850 with their weight.

Bandon, Monday

No Breed Sex Weight 

1 Ch heifer 640kg 1490

3 Sim heifers 556kg 1110

5 Lm heifers 443kg 920

1 BB heifer 505kg 1130

5 AA heifers 384kg 700

1 Fr cow 820kg 1120

6 Fr cows 533kg 870

[/factbox]

Kilkenny mart on Thursday saw a big sale of cattle, mart manager George Candler gave us all the details.

We had the biggest sale of 2019, so far, here on Thursday with 1,000 stock on offer.

Trade remains very firm, especially for continental type bullocks and heifers.

The bulk of Friesian bullocks ranged from 1.55 to 1.85 per kilo, with forward store continental bullocks and heifers ranging from 2.15 to 2.55 per kilo.

Lighter types sold up to 2.95 per kilo.

Dairy-influenced Aberdeen Angus and Hereford, especially heifers, are the most difficult to sell.

Cull cow prices appear to have steadied, especially for the lesser animal, perhaps due to smaller numbers appearing.

And switching to Mondays dairy sale at Kilkenny, George added, In the dairy ring, the trade is showing the confidence that is present for all involved in this sector of agriculture.

Trade peaked at 1,940 for a fresh calved Friesian cow on her third lactation.

Fresh calved Friesian heifers ranged from 1,350 to 1,840 per head.

Kilkenny Thursday

No Breed Sex Weight 

2 Ch steers 685kg 1395

2 BB steers 630kg 1330

4 AA steers 600kg 1190

5 Lim steers 510kg 1250

7 Hr steers 350kg 730

2 AA heifers 470kg 910

4 Ch heifers 345kg 815

[/factbox]

In Skibbereen on Friday, dry cows sold from 1/kg to 800 with the kilo.

Continental bullocks made from 300 to 700 with the kilo.

Aberdeen Angus and Hereford bullocks sold from 250 to 550 with the kilo.

Weanling bulls in Skibbereen on Friday sold from 280 to 620 with the kilo.

Skibbereen Friday

No Breed Sex Weight 

3 Ch steers 366kg 1000

2 Lm steers 520kg 1100

1 BB steer 665kg 1150

5 Hr steers 351kg 700

2 Ch heifers 337kg 845

1 Ch cow 605kg 1400

1 AA cow 530kg 960

[/factbox]

The heavy snow that fell in the Kilmallock area on Sunday afternoon led to a small turnout of cattle at the mart on Monday.

However, there was nothing chilly about the trade, with Denis Kirby of GVM reporting a strong demand, and 126 buyers doing business.

Kilmallock, Monday

No Breed Sex Weight 

11 Lim steers 304kg 870

4 BB steers 299kg 750

6 Fr steers 353kg 550

5 Hr steers 529kg 1110

1 Lim heifer 495kg 990

3 AA heifers 490kg 960

1 Fr cow 495kg 620

1 Sh cow 600kg 860

[/factbox]

Bullocks in Kilmallock sold for up to 2.86/kg. Dry cows made up to 1.56/kg.

Heifers hit 2.28/kg with dairy stock making up to 1450 a head.

Looking ahead to Tuesday nights sale, the intake opens at 3pm, with the sale of weanling bulls in ring 1 commencing at 6pm.

And the sale of suckler cows and weanling heifers in ring 2 begins at 6.30pm.

Wednesday evenings calf sale will begin at 6.45pm.

In Macroom mart on Saturday, dry cows sold from 100 under to 345 over the kilo. Continental bullocks in Macroom sold from 320 to 810 with their weight.

Hereford and Aberdeen Angus bullocks made from 230 to 600 with their weight.

Heifers in Macroom made from 250 to 650 with the kilo.

Macroom, Saturday

No Breed Sex Weight 

6 AA steers 560kg 1160

6 Hr steers 520kg 1070

4 Lm steers 560kg 1370

1 Lm heifer 580kg 1230

2 Ch heifers 470kg 1050

1 Lm cow 715kg 1060

1 Fr cow 740kg 820

[/factbox]

Dungarvan mart manager, Ger Flynn, reported a very good cattle and calf trade, with a stronger farmer presence, following Mondays mart sale.

Dungarvan, Monday

No Breed Sex Weight 

3 Hr steers 525kg 1100

4 Fr steers 540kg 1015

7 Hr steers 479kg 900

1 Lm heifer 580kg 1110

2 Lm heifers 452kg 860

1 Fr cow 690kg 800

1 Fr cow 680kg 830

[/factbox]

Friesian bull calves at Dungarvan sold from 15 to 40 with up to 150 paid for stronger Friesian bull calves.

Ann Keane of Clare Co-Op mart gave us the following report on last Thursdays cattle sale at Ennis mart.

The month of February finished on a good tone with numbers strong, we had over 900 on offer and a good trade all round.

It must be said that there was a great run of quality store bullocks available on Thursday.

Quality was a bit more variable in the heifer ring. There were 240 cull cows on offer with a good mix of dairy and continental culls about. Again, trade for the feeder cows was good.

A reasonable entry of aged bulls on offer, and these averaged 1.70/kg, with a top call of 1,820 for a 1,100kg Charolais.

Looking at the more recent sale of suckler and weanling stock in Ennis, on Tuesday, Ann added, Numbers are holding very strong with almost 1,000 on offer yet again, which included 250 calves.

The trade for calves was better than expected, with the majority of Friesian bulls selling between 40 and 70 and better, stronger ones making to 120.

Herefords generally made 150 to 250 and Angus made 100 to 200, with continentals making up to to 390.

Pairs in the suckler ring generally made 1,050 to 1,710 but a top call of 2,300 for a real top quality pair.

In-calf sucklers made to 1,750. Again, quality in the bull and heifer rings was well appreciated with prices achieved.

Ennis, Thursday

No Breed Sex Weight 

3 Lm steers 365kg 1025

3 Ch steers 623kg 1505

3 Lm steers 486kg 1285

5 Ch steers 601kg 1440

1 Ch heifer 390kg 1000

6 Lm heifers 503kg 1250

1 Fr cow 825kg 1150

[/factbox]

To wrap up for this week, auctioneer Noel Corcoran of Castleisland mart reports increased numbers of cattle once again at our sale this week.

We had excellent clearance rates with prices for all categories on an upward swing, this being particularly applicable to the quality lots, said Noel.

At our recent clearance sale of dairy cows, prices ranged from 1000 to 1620, with a full clearance recorded. Suckler cows were also very much in demand and ranged in price from 980 to 1700, depending on whether in-calf or with calf at foot.

Mondays calf and weanling sale here in Castleisland saw 760 calves come under the hammer with a great clearance recorded.

Adverse weather over the weekend slightly hampered shippers, with delays in sailings.

But in spite of this, all calves found a home. Continental bulls sold to a high of 485, with continental heifers realising up to 350.
The Government has committed to allowing a grace period of a few months for motorists coming from the North if there is a no-deal Brexit and said they will not require special green cards.

Disagreement over the special international insurance cards yesterday triggered rows in the Dail.

TDs approved emergency legislation on protection measures in the event of a no-deal earlier than expected. The so-called Omnibus Bill will now proceed to the Seanad.

But with just over three weeks until the March 29 Brexit deadline, there is still no final deal between the EU and UK over the withdrawal agreement. Key votes by British MPs next week will decide whether a deal is accepted or ultimately whether Britain seeks an extension to the deadline.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed to the Dail yesterday that drivers coming from the North would be exempt from needing to have the green card, which provides proof of cover.

It is estimated that up to a million drivers on both sides of the border will need these special green forms. Mr Varadkar said no such promise of grace could be given to drivers going North  this is a decision for the British government.

There will be a grace period for people who are based in Northern Ireland and coming south and have insurance but not a green card. We cannot make a commitment on behalf of the government in Northern Ireland because there is not one, and we cannot make commitments on behalf of the UK government, he said.

Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty said the demand for green cards, echoed by insurers yesterday, goes against the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement:

Many people are incredibly angry, theres a lack of certainty over how the green card position will operate.

My own insurance company say they will start to issue them after March 29, but what will happen to motorists on March 30, who will not have a green card and our cars can be impounded if we travel to the North?

Mr Varadkar said the Government is in talks with Brussels about financial aid for farmers in the event of a no-deal. In case there is no deal, we are working closely with the European Commission to put in place financial supports that will be necessary to bail out the industry in order to defend incomes and jobs, which is our priority at the moment, he said.

Fianna Fail TD Lisa Chambers said firms and exporters want more details of aid. She insisted any changes in negotiations with Britain on Brexit could not undermine the withdrawal deal.

Emergency legislation to ensure services, pension payments, and transport continues unaffected in the event of a no-deal has finished the final stage in the Dail and now goes to the Seanad for debate.

Meanwhile, Tanaiste Simon Coveney met Britains Prince Charles and wife Camilla at an Irish embassy-hosted St Patricks Day dinner in London last night.
A 56-year-old man faced sentencing yesterday arising out of an incident where he called out his teenaged daughters name as she passed him on the street and said he loved her.

The case was dealt with at an in camera hearing of Cork District Court yesterday and it concerned the breach of a barring order. The man had a barring order against him so is not allowed to contact his wife or children.

He was previously convicted and fined for breaching that order last year.

Yesterday he pleaded guilty through his solicitor, Eddie Burke, to a charge of breaching the order again on January 11 this year. Sgt Gearoid Davis said the mans daughter and classmates were across the road from the accused who called out to her by name saying something like, I love you, I am sorry.

The teenager was upset and brought the incident to the attention of her teacher.

Mr Burke asked the judge to note the defendants reply after caution when the charge was put to him. He said, I did not shout at her in an aggressive manner.

Mr Burke said the accused had been directed to stay away from the area of the family home but not from the place where, by chance, the defendant saw his daughter.

Mr Burke said: He said himself his daughter was shocked. He went straight to [his local] garda station and reported it himself. At that stage he was told there was no complaint of an incident.

The solicitor said the man had not been allowed to see his children since June 2018. The defendant accepted he should not have reacted in the way he did. The defendant spoke in court and said it was obvious to him as soon as he greeted his daughter that she had gone into a panic.

Judge Olann Kelleher said he would be concerned about any escalation. Mr Burke said there had been no incident since this occurred in January. Judge Kelleher fined him 200 for breaching the barring order.
Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein made "happy bedfellows" when they "hounded" former Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald out of office, the Taoiseach has said.

Leo Varadkar said both parties should "hang their heads in shame" for the way they acted in late 2017 when Ms Fitzgerald was forced to resign amid a controversy surrounding the legal strategy which was used against Sgt Maurice McCabe.

He said that even at this stage they should apologise for what they said because "Dail privilege is a privilege that should not be abused".

Mr Varadkar was speaking as the former Justice Minister Ms Fitzgerald was chosen to run alongside former SDLP leader Mark Durkan in the European elections.

The two candidates were selected to run for Fine Gael in the Dublin constituency at a meeting in Clontarf Castle on Wednesday night.

Mr Varadkar said "Europe has never been more important" and so it is critical that Ireland is represented by "our best people".

"The European parliament is where things are happening," he said.

Nominating Mr Durkan, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said it had fallen on Fine Gael to get the country out of economic crisis and referring to Brexit he said the party will have to "to navigate our way through challenges that are now political in nature".

Outgoing MEP Brian Hayes said over the past 25 years Ms Fitzgerald "showed loyalty to this party at every point along the road".

He said the party would be sending the best team to Europe that represents North and South.

Mr Durkan said he would bring his experience of the Good Friday Agreement and said it should not be treated as "a problem to throw in the way" of Brexit but can be used as a "toolkit" to solve some of the problems.

Ms Fitzgerald this is "a time of huge uncertainty and extraordinary challenge" and said she would represent Ireland's interests in a post-Brexit Europe.

Fine Gael now have seven candidates, four women and three men.
Fine Gael have set up a dedicated group to increase the partys presence in Northern Ireland. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the establishment of the Northern Ireland engagement group at a meeting of the Fine Gael party last night.

It comes as former SDLP leader Mark Durkan was selected to run alongside former tanaiste and justice minister Frances Fitzgerald for Fine Gael in the upcoming European elections.

The two candidates were selected to run in the Dublin constituency at a meeting in Clontarf Castle last night.

Nominating Mr Durkan, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said it had fallen to Fine Gael to get the country out of economic crisis and referring to Brexit he said the party will have to to navigate our way through challenges that are now political in nature.

Outgoing MEP Brian Hayes said over the past 25 years Ms Fitzgerald showed loyalty to this party at every point along the road.

He said the party would be sending the best team to Europe and that team would represent North and South.

Mr Durkan, who will remain living in Derry during the campaign, told the convention he would bring his understanding of the Brexit challenges and would defend and protect the Good Friday Agreement in that context.

Fine Gael now have seven candidates, four women and three men.

Meanwhile at a meeting of the parliamentary party in Leinster House, the Taoiseach said the aim of the May elections is to hold the partys four seats and challenge for two more.

Mr Varadkar also announced that a Fine Gael Northern Ireland engagement group has been set up and Louth TD Fergus ODowd has been selected to chair this group.

The new group has been tasked with developing links with parties and other significant groups in Northern Ireland, attend party conferences and cultural, economic and academic events.

The group will also look at ways of increasing the Fine Gael profile in the North and will report back with suggestions on party positions to take on Northern issues. It comes after Fianna Fail cemented a formal partnership with the SDLP.

Former Minister Barry Andrews has been selected to run as Fianna Fails Dublin candidate in the upcoming European elections. Nominations for candidates for the other constituencies closed yesterday and the party are to hold selection conventions in the coming weeks.
A US-bound flight turned around over the North Atlantic this evening and returned to Dublin after a passenger suddenly fell ill.

Norwegian Air International flight D-81823 left Dublin at around 3.05pm bound for Providence, Rhode Island in the US. The flight was about 75 minutes into its journey when the crew declared a medical emergency and turned around.

The pilot had told air traffic controllers that they wished to divert to Shannon Airport.

The crew had been cleared to divert and land at Shannon however soon afterwards the pilot confirmed they would be returning to Dublin instead. The crew advised controllers that there was a doctor on board who was looking after the patient.

While it was believed the patient would require more immediate attention and the decision was made divert to Shannon, the medical advice later was that the passenger was stable enough for the flight to return to Dublin instead.

The flight was cleared to route to Dublin however the crews requested priority landing on their return. The Boeing 737-800 MAX jet landed safely shortly after 5.30pm and was met at the terminal by ambulance paramedics.

No details about the passenger were available while the flight continued its journey at around 7.20pm.

Dublin Airport experienced an increase in unscheduled landings last year.

The airport authority (DAA) confirmed they handled 70 in 2018 including technical, medical and weather-related incidents. This was an increase on the 56 in 2017.

Most of the diversions were weather-related however as many as ten flights diverted with medical emergencies.
The Irish food industry needs to be prepared for Brexit, an awards ceremony honouring the best produce on offer north and south of the border has heard.

The winners of 25th Irish Food Writers Guild Food Awards were revealed at a ceremony in Dublins Glovers Alley restaurant. Cork led the way, collecting three of the eight honours presented, while producers in Antrim, Down, Dublin, and Louth were also awarded.

Caitriona Twomey of Cork Penny Dinners was presented with the Community Food Award in recognition of their charitable work. Other honours were presented to Cork cheesemaker Dan Hegarty for Templegall cheese as well as Mike Thomson from Co Down for Young Buck Cheese.

Barry Walsh and Kate Watson of Killahora Orchards in Cork were presented with the Irish Drink Award for their Rare Apple Ice Wine.

Awards were also handed out to Andrew and Leonie Workman in Louth for Dunany Organic Spelt Berries, Colin Harmon of Dublins 3fe Coffee (Outstanding Organisation Award), and Charlie Cole collected the Environmental Award on behalf of Broughgammon Farm in Co Antrim.

Peter Hannan of Hannan Meats in Co Down was presented with a lifetime achievement award.

Organisers said the geographical spread of the awards demonstrates the all-island approach that, as a nation, we take to food production, supply, and quality standards.

"With the food industry gearing up for the impact of Brexit, and with the threat of UK tariffs a real possibility, it is incumbent on us all, Government, industry and consumers, to protect and support our abundance of incredible food producers, who have played a significant role in helping position Ireland as a food tourism destination, chairperson of the Irish Food Writers Guild, Kristin Jensen, said.

Each year, the IFWG singles out a select number of products and organisations that evoke pride in our national food identity and contribute to our rich and diverse food culture.

Many of these are small businesses and, together with everyone in the food industry, they have major concerns over what is coming down the track following Brexit later this month, Ms Jensen said.

Therefore, we urge all sectors of society to embrace sourcing, buying and eating local, high-quality produce, and ensuring that all our wonderful producers survive and continue to thrive as they face into a period of great uncertainty.

We believe we owe it to them and to ourselves as a great food nation, to continue flying the flag for the fantastic range of Irish produce that is available on our own doorstep, she said.

IFWG said no company knows that it has been nominated or shortlisted for an honour, as the Guild alone nominates those shortlisted and chosen as award winners, and that none of the producers can enter themselves or their product for consideration.

The exception to this is the Community Food Award, for which the Guild invites nominations every year from the public as well as their own members.
Gardai will review security checks on mail in An Post and at airports and ports following the parcel bomb attacks in London.

The review will examine the possibility of tightening up security procedures and the threat posed by devices igniting while being handled by postal, airline or ferry staff or the risk of such an ignition happening during a flight or a sailing.

Sources said the review was standard in response to a security incident and did not necessarily mean there was any fault in current systems.

Gardai are conducting an investigation after it emerged that the three incendiary devices sent to three London transportation hubs on Tuesday appeared to have been posted in Ireland.

Sources said a security review would run in parallel with the criminal investigation into who sent the parcels.

The Garda Security and Intelligence Section at Garda HQ is involved in the review, while the Special Detective Unit is leading the criminal investigation.

All of these issues are looked at every time there is an incident, said one security source.

This could involve dialogue with An Post and others. This could involve training, what to look out for, but this is not a guarantee you could spot such devices.

The source said that while such parcel bombs typically involved robust movement to ignite, such as tearing or ripping open an envelope, it depended on how they were packaged.

The source said: There are transportation concerns. There is potential it could go off when it travels. But its very difficult to screen everything, particularly if they are well concealed or protected.

The source said there was screening at An Post sorting offices, but said there were literally millions of packages and that suspect packages would get attention.

Another source said scanning of parcels was conducted by airline and security authorities, not An Post.

An Post told the Irish Examiner: We are working closely with the Gardai on this investigation. Ensuring the safety and security of our people as they transport, sort and deliver mail is our number one priority.

An Post has procedures in place for dealing with suspect packages and an expert security team to manage such incidents, and train and advise staff and managers on an ongoing basis.

Dublin Airport Authority said security issues around cargo on aircraft was a matter for the airlines.

Aer Lingus parent company IAG made this statement on behalf of IAG Cargo: "Robust Security measures are in place as prescribed by Department of Transport, Tourism and Sports National Civil Aviation Security Programme (NCASP), and not for disclosure to the general public."

When asked for a copy of the NCASP document, the Department of Transport said: "The document is not for public dissemination."

The Irish Examiner has yet to receive a response from Ryanair.

A statement from Stena Line said: Due to strict client confidentiality agreements, Stena Line is not at liberty to discuss publicly any of its customer contract arrangements so it has no comment to make on whether it does or does not work on behalf of An Post. On the issue of security checks, Stena Line works closely with a number of statutory agencies on both sides of the Irish Sea and is fully compliant with all the associated requirements placed upon it.

The Irish Examiner has yet to receive a response from Irish Ferries.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said he reacted with dismay, anger, and embarrassment at what he said was the warped thinking behind the attacks.

The Department of Justice said Minister Charlie Flanagan had been briefed and Garda authorities were in close and continuous contact with their UK counterparts.

Gardai are investigating if a fourth package - received at Glasgow University, resulting in an evacuation - is linked to the three other parcels.
The husband of the late Caitriona Lucas says it is a great honour that one of her paintings has been featured in two new stamps issued to honour the Irish Coast Guard.

The stamps are based on a painting by the late Doolin-based volunteer, who lost her life while taking part in a search at Kilkee in September 2016.

One of the stamps depicts a rescue helicopter and the other a Coast Guard rescue boat.

Bernard Lucas explained on RTE radios News at One that the stamps are based on a painting she had completed featuring a helicopter and rescue boat which makes it all the more poignant, he said.

Her father, her children and all the family were very proud of her, added Mr Lucas.

"She painted stuff that she loved. She loved the Coast Guard, she was really into it, it was a very big part of her life, of our lives."

Mr Lucas said he wants people to think of the Coast Guard when they see the stamps, of the people serving with the Coast Guard lost in recent years, of all the volunteers who are still going out every day.

He also wants people to think of the safety message too. Its what we are, what we do, thats what were there for.

When asked if he was proud of his late wife, he said: Im always proud of Caitriona. She was a bright light that shone brilliantly.
The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering a 90-year-old retired farmer in his home have asked to re-hear evidence from two pathologists and to view clothing from both the deceased and accused.

Ross Outram (28), of Ferryland, Waterford Road, Clonmel in Co Tipperary, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Paddy Lyons (90) at Loughleagh, Ballysaggart, Lismore, Co Waterford, at a time unknown between February 23 and 26, 2017.

Having spent two hours and 29 minutes deliberating today, the jury of eight men and four women were sent home for the evening.

Earlier, a note was handed up to the judge from the foreman of the jury, requesting to see a hoodie that belonged to the accused man and a grey hat that belonged to Mr Lyons.

Forensic scientist John Hoade gave evidence in the trial that he examined a grey hoodie belonging to Mr Outram and found blood on the right sleeve and hood which matched Mr Lyons' DNA profile. Garda Eugene O'Neill testified that he went to Mr Outram's house at Ferryland on February 27 and searched the back bedroom, where he seized a grey hoodie.

Defence counsel, Michael O'Higgins SC, outlined in his closing speech that Mr Outram told gardai in his interviews on two occasions that Mr Lyons was alive when he left the house because he [the deceased] had put on a grey hat.

Thats an unusual memory fragment and why would Mr Outram invent that detail? emphasised the barrister, adding that a garda had given evidence that he found a grey hat in the vicinity of Mr Lyons' fireplace.

There was a further inquiry from the jury as to whether Mr Lyons' grey hat had blood on it. "The answer is no, no blood was found on that," replied Mr Justice Paul Coffey.

The jury also requested to re-hear the evidence of Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster concerning Mr Lyons' injuries as well as a defence pathologist's findings.

Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster has told the trial of observing Mr Lyons' blood-smeared body in an armchair at his home. She found his cause of death to be blunt force trauma to his body along with a traumatic brain injury and shock due to fractures of his hip joint, jawbone and ribs.

Former Northern Ireland State Pathologist, Professor Jack Crane, gave evidence for the defence in the trial and said he was instructed to prepare his own pathology report having reviewed Dr Bolster's report.

The jury finally asked for "a picture" of blood-staining from Mr Lyons' front door.

In his charge, Mr Justice Coffey said there were four verdicts the jury could return, namely; guilty of murder, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, not guilty of murder but guilty of assault causing harm, or not guilty.

The judge told the jurors that they must be unanimous in their verdict before sending them away to begin deliberations at 11.42am this morning.

Mr Outram told gardai in interviews that he had fought back after Mr Lyons hit him with a walking stick and shovel, and that he had taken up to 100 Xanax that day. A pharmaceutical expert has told the jury that there is "no proof" that Mr Outram had taken Xanax.

The jury has heard medical evidence that Mr Lyons suffered a stiffness or fusion of his right shoulder during childbirth and could only keep it in one position.

Ross Outram

The trial has previously heard that Mr Outram had injuries that included marks on his hands, bruising to the inside of his thigh and lumps on his head.

The defence argued in their closing speech that Mr Outram had acted in self-defence and that he could not be made liable for "a fall" which saw Mr Lyons break his hip if it was unconnected to the original injuries inflicted on him by the accused.

Prosecution counsel, John OKelly SC, submitted that no one knew how much truth "if any" is in Mr Outrams version of events, as he had lied consistently in his first six garda interviews.

Mr O'Kelly told the jury that it flew in the face of all common sense to suggest that Mr Lyons hip injury could have occurred after he was subjected to the attack or could be seen as something entirely independent. There is no evidence to show that it could have happened later or was entirely separate and independent, he said.

Mr Justice Coffey yesterday told the jury in his charge that in order to convict Mr Outram of murder they must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Lyons fall and the fracture of his hip was either directly caused by the multiple blows inflicted on him or it was reasonably foreseeable that it was a natural consequence of these blows.

If the jury found that Mr Lyons fell on the ground or collapsed in the course of being repeatedly beaten by Mr Outram, the judge said they could find that causation had been established.

However, if the jury accepted that it was reasonably possible that Mr Lyons did not fall or sustain his hip injury during the altercation and the fall occurred after Mr Outram left the house, then causation had not been made out and they must acquit him of murder.

In order to convict Mr Outram of murder, the jury must be satisfied that the natural and probable outcome of the accused's acts was to cause death or serious injury to Mr Lyons. The jury must also be satisfied that the accused did not act in self-defence.

However, if the jury was satisfied that Mr Outram acting in self-defence used more force than was reasonably necessary but no more than he considered necessary then they could find him guilty of manslaughter instead.

Mr Justice Coffey emphasised that it was of particular relevance that Mr Lyons was a man of advanced years, who had poor health and a useless or limited right arm. The jury must see if the deceased had posed a threat to Mr Outram, he concluded.

The jury will resume deliberating at 10.30am tomorrow morning.
A group of women in dispute with the Department of Justice over the dates they worked in Dublins High Park Magdalene laundry has written directly to Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan asking him to intervene.

A total of 14 women who were in An Grianan training centre post-1980 and worked in the attached High Park Magdalene laundry in Dublin have yet to receive a provisional offer for redress from Mr Flanagans department.

A number of these women said they have been told by the Restorative Justice Unit (RJU) in the Department of Justice, which administers the redress scheme, that the reason for the delay is that the order that ran the institution  the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge  has stated that it stopped sending girls from An Grianan to work in the main laundry in 1980.

The legal team for the women have requested information on the evidence given by the order to the RJU to support this claim from the department on three separate occasions but have been refused it.

Human rights lawyer Colin Smith pointed out that the High Court accepted in 2017 that children worked at High Park into the 1980s and said the delay in granting the women redress was obscene.

Now, nine of the 14 women have signed a letter to Mr Flanagan calling on him to intervene directly asking him to instruct officials in the RJU to provide them with redress. They point out that the claim by the order that women did not work in An Grianan after 1980 is incorrect.

This information, the details of which your officials have consistently refused to share with us, is incorrect. We know because we were there, states the letter

We appreciate the efforts you have already made to ensure that we be admitted to the scheme. We now request that you direct your officials to provide us with the redress to which we are entitled.

The women also outline that they all worked in the laundry as children post-1980.

We confirm that we worked in the Magdalene laundry, it states.

Some of us worked after school on Wednesdays and Saturdays and every day during the summer; some of us worked other days; some of us worked every day throughout the year.

Some of us were sent to work in the Magdalene laundry when the Sisters wanted to punish us. We were not paid for the work that we did as children in the Magdalene laundry, states the letter sent to Mr Flanagan.

The women have learned that a potential reason for the 1980 cut-off point is a claim that a separate laundry was constructed at An Grianan that year and that no girls were sent to work in the main laundry as a result.

However, the Irish Examiner has obtained documents showing this laundry was constructed in the early months of 1984 at a cost of 17,001.

The department has said its goal is to process the applications as quickly as possible and that Mr Flanagan is strongly committed to ensuring those entitled to redress receive it.
The Garda investigation into the parcel bombs posted to London will be a difficult one, security sources have warned.

Hopes that the stamps on the parcels could help in the process of identifying the possible sender or senders may be short-lived given that the apparent stamps  special St Valentines stamps from 2018  were purchased more than a year ago.

Sources said that even if An Post was able to pinpoint what office the stamps were purchased in, any CCTV footage from then would be long gone. The other main avenue of potential evidence will come from a forensic examination of the parcels in a bid to gather DNA or fingerprint samples.

Given most envelopes and stamps have adhesive, the prospect of gathering DNA samples through a person licking the envelope or stamps may be unlikely, sources said.

The gathering of DNA, or indeed fingerprints, through touch, will also be compromised by the multitude of people that could have handled the parcels during collection, transportation, delivery and receipt.

This will be difficult enough to investigate, said one security source. The hope from the stamps would be that you would be able to identify what post office the stamps were bought in. But given that the stamps are over a year old, even if you did identify the post office, the CCTV is long gone.

The source added:

This was obviously pretty well planned, with planning going on a long time.

One of the key inquiries underway within the Garda Special Detective Unit, operating with the assistance of the Garda Security and Intelligence Section, is its liaison with An Post.

The source said that although progress through handwriting analysis was remote, it could help identify if one or more people wrote the addresses on the packages.

On what the evidence told investigators, the source said: This was not a random attack. It was targeted at transport hubs. The primary cause was not to cause injury, though they might not have been too worried about that, but to cause public panic and worry, and for publicity, and with Brexit down the road it could have been to make people feel uneasy about the whole situation.

The source said that while Security and Intelligence and the SDU will keep an open mind, the main suspicion would centre on dissident republicans, such as the New IRA.

They would be an organisation of interest and there is a clear suspicion that this is linked to Brexit, the source said. It is hard to see what other motive there would be.

There has been a long history of the Provisional IRA, the Real IRA and more recently the New IRA using fire bombs and letter bombs.

In 2014, the New IRA sent parcel bombs to eight British military offices and barracks, some of which were posted in the Republic.

Ten years previously, the Real IRA placed similar devices in 14 shops and supermarkets across six towns in the North in one month.

Sources point out that the perpetrator could be a lone individual, within the republican movement, who carried out the attacks, without the knowledge of any particular organisation.

The New IRA has been linked to the car bomb found outside Derry courthouse last January.

The New IRA is thought to have 40-50 active members in the South, though sources said you could cut that a bit in terms of who was willing to transport or use bombs.
Fianna Fail members are furious that the party has organised EU parliament selection conventions for St Patrick's weekend.

While the party has chosen former minister Barry Andrews to contest in the Dublin constituency, there is still a long list of candidates who are seeking the nomination to run in the two remaining electoral areas.

The Ireland South Convention will take place on Saturday, March 16 - the same afternoon as Ireland play their last Six Nations rugby match. The Midlands North-West will take place the night before on March 15 in Longford.

Nominations closed this week with seven people put forward in the Ireland South constituency including sitting TDs Billy Kelleher and John McGuinness.

Seamus McGrath, the brother of sitting TD Michael, has also been selected as has Malcolm Byrne, Jason Fitzpatrick, senator Ned O'Sullivan and Ciaran Hartley who was Fianna Fail's substitute for Brian Crowley.

It is expected that Billy Kelleher will be selected at the convention which will take place in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. However, supporters are worried that many conservative members of the party may move to block Mr Kelleher's nomination given his vocal support of repealing the Eighth Amendment.

Party officials are also worried that there may be a low turnout at both conventions because of the weekend they are being held. However, it is understood that the Fianna Fail constituencies committee are eager to pick candidates as soon as possible.

Nine people have received nominations to run in the Midlands North-West region. This includes sitting TDs Anne Rabbitte and Brendan Smith, sitting senator Aidan Davitt and former Donegal TD Niall Blaney.

John Comer a former chairman of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) will also contest along with Dundalk-based Dr Dilip Mahapatra Gerry Bridgett, Sean Hennelly and councillor Naoise O Cearuil.

Fianna Fail's national constituencies committee has directed that one candidate be selected to run in each area, however, it is expected that other candidates could be added after convention.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael has selected seven candidates across the country including former Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald and former leader of the SDLP Mark Durkan who both hope to take a seat in Dublin.

The Green party has selected one candidate in each of the three constituencies.

Outgoing general secretary of the INTO, Sheila Nunan, is among Labour's candidates in the May elections.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has described the comments by British Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley as insensitive and wrong.

Speaking in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said many families in Northern Ireland are still grieving.

Legacy issues in Northern Ireland and Ireland and in Britain, in fact, are very difficult ones. I have met some of the families of the people who were killed during the troubles. They are still grieving. A lot of them are still hurting and a lot of them still have questions that are unanswered and are seeking justice even today and they deserve justice.

And I think in that context, the Secretary of States comments were insensitive and they were wrong.

Bear in mind what we are talking about here is the killing of civilians, not combatants. We are talking about peaceful protesters in Derry on Bloody Sunday. We are talking about Ballymurphy. We are talking about Kingsmills. We are talking about Dublin and Monaghan.

We need a British government that is at least open to the possibility that these killings of civilians could have been crimes.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney met Ms Bradley on Wednesday night where he raised Government concerns about her statements.

This morning, the Northern Secretary has apologised for her comments in the House of Commons that all killings by the British army and police during the Troubles were not crimes.

Karen Bradley said today that she was profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt her words caused.

The language was wrong and even though this was not my intention, it was deeply insensitive to many of those who lost loved ones. I know from those families that I have met personally just how raw their pain is and I completely understand why they want to see justice properly delivered, she said.

I share that aim and that is why I launched the public consultation on addressing the legacy of the troubles. My position and the position of this Government is clear. We believe fundamentally in the rule of law.

British Prime Minister Theresa Mays official spokesman said the prime minister continued to have confidence in Ms Bradley as secretary of state despite the controversy over her comments.
An American cytotechnologist who recently blind-tested Ruth Morrisseys smear slide which was sent to MedLab in 2012 has told the High Court she did not find anything that looked like an abnormality.

The President of the Wisconsin Society of Cytology, Coleen Stowe, was giving evidence on behalf of the US laboratory MedLab in the continuing action by terminally ill Ruth Morrissey who has sued over the alleged misreading of her smear slides in 2009 and 2012 by two different US laboratories and which were taken under the CervicalCheck screening programme.

Ruth Morrissey was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014 which recurred last year. The court has heard that the mother of one has a maximum of two years to live.

Ms Stowe told the court she got a box of 12 slides. She knew the slides came from an Irish law firm but she did not know which side they represented.

Referring to Ruth Morrisseys slide she found that it was negative for lesions or malignancy. She recorded the slide as negative. She said she found the slide to be adequate.

Cross-examined by Patrick Treacy SC for Ms Morrissey, Ms Stowe said she was paid a fee for the blind-testing but she would rather not say how much.

Ruth Morrissey and her husband Paul Morrissey of Kylemore, Schoolhouse Road, Monaleen, Co Limerick, have sued the HSE and the US laboratory Quest Diagnostics Ireland Ltd with offices at Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin, along with Medlab Pathology Ltd with offices at Sandyford Business Park, Dublin 18.

It is claimed there was an alleged failure to correctly report and diagnose and there was an alleged misinterpretation of her smear samples taken in 2009 and 2012. A situation, it is claimed, allegedly developed where Ms Morrisseys cancer spread unidentified, unmonitored and untreated until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in June 2014.

It is further claimed a review of the 2009 and 2012 smears took place in 2014 and 2015 with the results sent to Ms Morrissey's treating gynaecologist in 2016, but she was not told until May 2018 of those review results which showed her smears were reported incorrectly.

The Morrisseys further contend that if Ms Morrissey had been told the results of the smear test audits in late 2014 or early 2015, she would have insisted on an MRI and other scans.

The HSE, the court has already heard admitted, it owed a duty of care to Ms Morrissey. The laboratories deny all claims.

The case before Mr Justice Kevin Cross continues tomorrow.
John Daly recalls the impact on a corner of Co Kerry fifty years ago when Hollywood arrived in the shape of Ryans Daughter.

When the front-runners of the Ryans Daughter film cavalcade arrived in Dingle in the early weeks of 1969, Ireland was a very different place.

The average industrial wage was 19 a week, the pint of plain was 20 pence, and houses anywhere could be picked up for well under 5000. Into this still inward-looking and deeply conservative country came Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Trevor Howard and hundreds of movie people  transforming Dingle into an offshoot of Hollywood for two tumultuous years.

Suddenly carpenters were earning 50 a week, Ferraris and Maseratis were buzzing around Slea Head, pubs were packed, and a new breed of tourism began to emerge.

(Did I mention the weekend girls flown in from New York? Thats another story altogether). It was 50 years ago, in an Ireland most people nowadays wouldnt recognise.

Loosely based on Gustave Flauberts classic novel, Madame Bovary, the film  which won two Academy Awards  is set in 1916 and tells the story of Rosy Ryan, a young woman married to the much older local schoolteacher, and who engages in a disasterous affair with a British officer.

While the film didnt garner much praise from the critics, it did go on to change the lives of many people in Dingle and Kerry  and left behind a wealth of tales, tall and true, that still crop up regularly at many a bar counter 50 years later. Even when the latest Star Wars film arrived into the area two years ago, once again trailing big bucks and bigger egos, the global name recognition of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader still found themselves unfavourably compared to the halcyon times between 1969 and 71.

Memories of the largesse spawned by the enormous Ryans Daughter production still abound in the locality, as do the rumours of scandalous goings-on that supposedly occurred when bad weather, artistic temperament, and monstrous egos clashed in a stunningly scenic corner of the world that was, up to that time, an unknown tourist backwater.

Ryan's Daughter.

As author Michael Tanner put it in his book, Troubled Epic: On Location With Ryans Daughter: The story of Ryans Daughter is a reminder of an era when dinosaurs ruled the cinematic world, when epics were preceded by an overture, ran in excess of three hours, and demanded an intermission. A bygone age when stars really were stars  and behaved like them.

If the film captured the imagination due to being a blockbuster years before the term entered common parlance, its effect on the hinterland of Dingle and much of Kerry became a legend that continued to grow long after the last prop had been dismantled.

Credited with kick-starting Dingle, and indeed Irish, tourism through a three-hour international advert worth its weight in gold, Ryans Daughter also brought a profound social and economic change to a region ravaged by emigration and a pervasive poverty from which fishing and hardscrabble farming were the only escape.

At a time when Ireland teetered between an isolated past and membership of the EEC just a few years down the road, Ryans Daughter arrived with a horn of plenty that proved inexhaustible for the duration of the shoot. Carpenters were earning up to 500 a week, as were electricians, plumbers, and any kind of skilled labour.

During the building of Kirrary, the specially constructed village on the side of a mountain, everybody from taxi-drivers and couriers to hardware merchants and local shopkeepers got in on the act as the Hollywood largesse flowed in a seemingly non-stop torrent. Then, of course, there was the drinking.

Married Irish woman Sarah Miles enters into a risky affair with British soldier Christopher Jones in a scene from Ryan's Daughter

On the wet days  and there were many of those  Dingle got its first glimpse of what the hellraiser tag really meant as Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, and Leo McKern were allowed full rein in a private fiefdom far from the prying camera lenses of London or LA. This was the era when tweeting was only found on the beaks of birds. Drinking sessions in Krugers and Ashes, afternoon delights with female consultants flown over from New York, and Bentleys racing down rutted boreens where sheep normally grazed.

Six months after the film wrapped and the whole cavalcade had moved on, someone discovered a brand-new Porsche in a lock-up garage  a birthday gift Mitchum had forgotten to take home with him.

Married at the time to the Ryans Daughter screenwriter Robert Bolt, Sarah Miles recalled her days and nights in that West Kerry peninsula as waking every morning to the awesomely barbaric beauty, a place with some of the most unique people in the world.

She admitted later that the film would always be a high-water mark of her film career: There is something quite mysterious about Ryans Daughter, that link with the landscape and the people. It seems to be something planted in the psyche that goes on and on.

While many of Bolts other screenplays were better received by the critics  Doctor Zhivago, A Man For All Seasons, Lawrence Of Arabia  Miles recalled that the continual response to Ryans Daughter was so much greater than all of those.

Having decamped away from that Dingle madness at Fermoyle House on the other side of the Conor Pass, Miles and her husband led a mostly quiet existence enlivened only by those hellish 4am set calls into a wild Kerry darkness.

Rumours abounded of an affair between the actress and Mitchum, an event she finally admitted to many years later.

What was the magic Mitchum wove around women? she asks in her autobiography.

There is no doubt I found his power fascinating. He knew that any woman who had an ounce of lust within her would find it hard to resist his bear-like proximity. And I was, after all, a woman.

Mitchum was rarely without company during the filming, with female consultants from the US regularly jetting into Shannon, where a car was waiting to take them to his riotous lodgings at Milltown House.

On occasions, however, the stars cavorting almost caught up with him. Local businessman Tom Ashe recalled getting a phone call from a worried Mitchum early one morning  his wife was flying in that day and he needed to get rid of a female companion  fast.

I had a priest driving for me at the time, Ashe recalled. He was out working with the missions in Korea and was making a few bob during his holidays home.

He was the right man for a delicate job like that.

English film director David Lean (1908 - 1991, foremost of group) films a tempestuous sea on the west coast of Ireland for a climactic scene in the MGM film 'Ryan's Daughter', 1970. The camera is equipped with a specially designed plexiglass window which rotates at high speed to prevent seaspray from fogging the lens. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

FORTUNES WERE MADE ON RYANS LARGESSE

Ryans Daughter pumped an estimated 3 million into the Dingle economy over its two years in the region. The whole community was left with money, a local businessman remembered. Before the film, few houses round here had bathrooms, and carpets on floors were non-existent. Afterwards, sales of carpets and luxury goods soared. Buildings and renovations rose a thousand-fold.

Labourers were paid an astronomical 45 a week and an extra 9 for Sundays.

The children in Mitchums classroom, drawn from national schools in Dunquin and Feohanagh, were paid 2 a day, and 3 on Sunday. Even farmers got in on the act, being paid 2 per load of stones drawn up the hill to Kirrary. After the filming ended, the Kerryman reported that it was the end of the rainbow that filled many pots of gold. All in all, the area prospered greatly. Young men bought cars and leather jackets; young girls were now chaperoned openly to the pubs and dancehalls, and enlightening breezes of modernity blew the cobwebs of antiquity cleanly away from the lichen walls of west Kerry.
Ciara Doorley was Emma Hannigans editor for nine years. The author passed away before the publishing house was able to give feedback on her final novel, The Gift of Friends. Here, Ciara writes the letter she was never able to send.

Emma rang the office late 2017 to say that she was putting the finishing touches to her 2019 novel The Gift of Friends- giving it a final read before she sent it in. I knew that she had been in a lot of pain for the past few months and I couldnt believe that, with everything going on, she had completed her new book.

But that was Emma. She delivered ahead of deadlines, she edited in quick-smart time and trusted us with the business side of things. Emma always, modestly, attributed her successes to her book team but, of course, she was the star. Her popularity and bestselling success was down to her huge talent, warmth, sense of fun, humour, imagination, and joy for life, all of which she brought to every page of her 14 books.

Emma Hannigan photo Marc O'Sullivan.

During the course of our conversation however, Emma went on to say that she might not be able to do the book signing tour that had been arranged for the reissue of her memoir All to Live For. I knew that this would be a blow for her.

As much as Emma loved the writing process and the escape it gave her from her illness, she relished the signing tours: that one time of the year where writers emerge from their writing dens to meet the booksellers. And on every signing tour, Emma went all out.

Freshly-baked brownies and treats for the booksellers, and props wherever she could manage it: a wedding car adorned in ribbon for The Wedding Promise, and then there was the signing tour for her best seller Driving Home for Christmas. Nobody did Christmas like Emma  it was her favourite time of the year  and the signing tour was the perfect excuse for her to revel in the sparkle: flashing, battery-operated earrings, Christmas bobble hairbands and extra-special home-baked treats.

As far as Emma was concerned, the signing tour and brownies were just one small way she could do her bit to sell her book and to express her gratitude to booksellers.

She loved being a writer and never once took anything for granted. When Headline came on board to co-publish Emma in the UK, they felt the full Emma Hannigan force  no request was too big or too small for her. They fell in love with her as much as we had done here.

So when Emma told me that she might not be able to visit the shops that autumn, thats when I knew that this time was different. I tried to explain on the phone that it didnt matter that she wouldnt make it around this time, we had the publication of Letters to My Daughters coming up in early 2018 and everyone knew that she was going through a hard time, but I could hear the upset in her voice.

She hated letting people down and she was frustrated that the illness she had fought against for so long was affecting her life in this way. In all the years I knew her, cancer never once got in the way of Emma Hannigan living her life. She refused to let it.

Emma didnt get a chance to do her signing for Letters to My Daughters, which was published in February 2018, just weeks before she passed away, but she had been working away, creating another spellbinding book,

The Gift of Friends, for her readers. I didnt get to send Emma editorial notes for The Gift of Friends as she was too ill. So Emma, Im really pleased to share with you my thoughts below:

EDITORIAL NOTES: THE GIFT OF FRIENDS

Dear Emma, What can I say about The Gift of Friends? I think its my favourite of yours yet. Do I always say that? If I do, its because every time you send in a new book, Im blown away and this time is no different. Emma, Ive been working with you for eight years now and each time you deliver a new script, I ask myself: How has she done it this time? How has she created yet another book where, from the very first page, I find myself completely immersed in this new world and in the fate of all of the characters?

I dont know where you come up with such storylines or characters, but youve outdone yourself here again. Pearl, so strong and from the beginning were rooting for her to stand up to the awful Seth. Nancy, what a life she has lived. Shes the glue that holds the whole of Kingfisher Road together and I loved her. Her relationship with all of the other women feels so genuine and heartfelt. Maia, who is my favourite, is pure Emma Hannigan  sparkly and sparky and not afraid to speak her mind, but vulnerable with it all and possessed of a steely determination and a fierce love for her children and the people around her. Im also harbouring a secret crush on Freddie  is that weird!?

Ill own it! Danielle, what I loved most about her was her relationship with her mum  complicated as mother/daughter relationships often are. And then we have Betsy, with her immediate and encompassing love for her grandson. Its all so well done Emma, as is the journey we see all of these characters go through during the course of the book. You write women as they are: strong, flawed, vulnerable, messy, complicated, and as tough as boots when it comes to protecting those they love, but The Gift of Friends in particular is a celebration of friendship. I need these women in my life!

There is something so optimistic about The Gift of Friends and through the ups and downs of these women, I am always reassured that the nasty characters will get their just deserts and that loyalty, love and friendship will prevail. This book is a ray of sunshine, Emma, and brightened up my days so much  I was only sorry that I had to finish it. And Kingfisher Road  can I live there please?

So, on to the business, though there are some comments suggesting small changes in the script, I loved this entire book and most of the edits concern tightening here and there  very small stuff. The only slight suggestion I would have is to spin out the ending a little more so that were dont know whats going to happen just for a little while longer.

But maybe thats just because I never wanted it to end  and I know your readers are going to feel exactly the same way. It takes talent and grit to carve out a career as a writer. Emma, we know you have grit  if flying to London in the middle of your last round of chemo to go on the Lorraine show doesnt prove that, nothing will  but along with this grit, you have, of course, masses and masses of talent for writing books and characters people can relate to, and youve outdone yourself with The Gift of Friends.

When I think back to working with you for the first time on Talk to the Headscarf and now here we are eight years, number one bestsellers, copious amounts of brownies, trips to London, book awards, chats, and stories later and you have delivered The Gift of Friends, which is a true gift. I loved every single word of it and your readers will as well.

Its been a few years since you won the RNA Award for The Secrets We Share- maybe its the year for The Gift of Friends? But actually, we dont need any award to tell us what an amazing writer you are, Emma  and a massive congratulations on another spelling-binding, engrossing, wonderful book. Heres to making this another Number One.

The Gift of Friends sparkles and shines, just like its author. Nobody in the world deserves it more than you do.

Also, on another note, Im really happy to say that baby Alice was born in May. I hope you dont mind, but we picked Emma for her second name. And when she asks about it, Ill be so proud to say that she was named after an inspiring, amazing, award-winning, bestselling author whose books sit proudly on my bookshelves. Ill also be able to tell her that I was lucky enough to work with this talented author who became a friend and who knew the importance of living every day with love, and who knew with complete certainty that there can never, ever be too much pink sparkle in our lives.

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your writing life, Emma. Love and light, from your publishing family at Hachette.

The Gift of Friends is out now
A new book paints a picture of rampant homosexuality in the Catholic Church but builds castles on the sands of rumours and innuendo, writes TP OMahony.

If Pope Francis is facing a blowback from the conviction of Cardinal George Pell  who was the Vaticans finance chief  for sexually abusing two choirboys in 1996 when he was Archbishop of Melbourne, and negative reaction to the global summit on clerical sex abuse (the latter being the greatest crisis facing the Catholic Church since the Reformation), then there will be further distress for him caused by the shocking revelations contained in a new book.

Entitled In the Closet of the Vatican, it was written by Frederic Martel, a French journalist, and paints a picture of rampant homosexuality at all levels in the Catholic Church.

The main focus, inevitably, is on the Vatican of which the author has this to say: The Vatican has one of the biggest gay communities in the world, and I doubt whether, even in San Franciscos Castro, the emblematic gay quarter, though more mixed today, there are quite as many gays!

Sub-titled Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy, the book was published in eight languages and in 20 countries on the day the global summit opened in Rome, and it is an unrelenting expose in which homophilia is depicted as often lurking behind homophobia.

Martel cites a comment made by Pope Francis as showing an acute awareness of this: Behind rigidity there is always something hidden, in many cases a double life.

To this Martel adds his own observation: The more vehemently opposed a cleric is to gays, the stronger his homophobic obsession, the more likely it is that he is insincere, and that his vehemence conceals something.

That some very senior figures in the Church lead double lives is at this stage well attested to.

Some prominent Cardinals  George Pell being one of them, Theodore McCarrick and the late Alfonso Lopez Trujillo of Colombia are others  who have been most vociferous in condemning homosexuality, the use of condoms even in the battle against AIDS, and methods of family planning that involve any form of artificial contraception, have been exposed as sexual predators, abusing altar boys, seminarians and other young males. This is a deeply disturbing situation, but Martel is given to much exaggeration.

The authors central preoccupation is the homosexualisation of the Church  and he purports to find it everywhere. Even Pope Paul VI doesnt escape.

Paul VIs homosexuality is an old rumour. In Italy it is very persistent.

Yet it never gets beyond rumour. And in Rome, especially in the Rome of the Vatican, the rumour-mill never sleeps, and its nefarious produce is often employed to devastating effect.

In his acclaimed biography of Paul VI, Peter Hebblethwaite never even alludes to his sexuality. Why? Because there was never any factual basis for the claim that he was gay. Yes, we know there is a gay culture in the Vatican and always has been. And there have been scandals from time to time. The VatiLeaks that caused so much pain to Benedict XVI were, among other things, the latest manifestations of this culture.

The reality Martel describes certainly exists; thats not the issue. The issue is whether it is as widespread, as pervasive, as brazen as he asserts. If it is, then the Vatican is truly a can of worms, and the complicity and cover-up runs through all echelons, to the very top. And it isnt just the Vatican.

In a book that runs to 555 pages, Martel says his investigation was conducted in 30 countries.

It all proved too much for Benedict XVI who was overwhelmed by what he learned, and prompted his abdication in February 2013. According to the author the decisive moment for that Pope was his visit to Cuba in 2012. What he found there sickened him. According to Roberto Veiga, who was director of a Catholic journal and worked directly for ten years with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, and who talked to Martel, the Cardinal, who had played a key role in organising the Popes visit, had been involved in covering up sexual abuse by clergy in Havana. This set the process leading to Benedicts abdication in motion.

When Francis was elected in April 2013, he was very much an outsider in Rome. Not since Giuseppe Sarto, who as Pius X was Pope from 1903 to 1914, has there been such an outsider  somebody who neither studied nor worked in Rome before becoming Pope.

This gave Francis certain advantages, but also left him disadvantaged. He had to learn to cope with the Roman Curia, a complex organisation staffed at the upper end by ambitious and even ruthless prelates, jealous of their own power. But Francis, behind the smiles and the easy-going appearance, has turned out to be a hard man.

What the book confirms is there is a real need to reassess the long 25-year pontificate of Karol Wojtyla. We know from other sources  most notably Gods Politician by David Willey, the BBCs Vatican correspondent, and The Pope in Winter by John Cornwell  that there was a dark side to the first Polish Pope.

As John Paul II he turned a blind eye to the burgeoning clerical sex abuse scandal, even shielding the notorious paedophile Marcial Maciel, the Mexican priest who founded the order of the Legionnaires of Christ, and arranged for Cardinal Bernard Law to be moved to Rome after the Boston Globe exposed his role in covering up widespread sex abuse of children by priests. In Rome Law enjoyed diplomatic immunity, putting him beyond the reach of the US courts.

Marcial Maciel was probably the most diabolical figure that the Catholic Church has given birth to and raised over the past 50 years, writes Martel.

Possessing insane levels of wealth and overseeing a sustained programme of sexual violence, he was protected over several decades by John Paul II, Stanislaw Dziwisz, personal secretary to the pope, and Angelo Sodano, the cardinal secretary of state, who became prime minister of the Vatican.

All of this is true. It was left to Benedict XVI to finally banish the Mexican, who died in 2008, and who should have faced criminal charges.

A book that badly needed editing, it is episodic in structure and the self-indulgent author meanders all over the place, building castles on the basis of rumour, innuendo, allusion and gossip.

The central weakness was succinctly highlighted by Guillaume Goubert, editor-in-chief of the French Catholic daily La Croix: There is also his propensity to see everything through the prism of homosexuality, even when its about politics or money.

In this sense, In the Closet is a gay book that is self-referential, a term that the author often uses to describe the Church. A much more serious aspect is that Martel makes no clear distinction between those who practice homosexuality and those who, while they may have homosexual leanings, do the utmost to remain faithful to their commitment to celibacy.

If the situation in the Vatican is only half as bad as this book claims, then the best course of action might be for Francis to abandon the place altogether and move to Avignon, where the Palace of the Popes (the residence of Popes from to 1309 to 1377) still stands.

In the Closet of the Vatican by Frederic Martel is published by Bloomsbury at 25stg
Two recent developments are bringing Americas trade strategy toward China into focus. The first, which affects bilateral trade negotiations, is no surprise: US President Donald Trump has abandoned his bluster for vague promises  to enforce property rights, loosen restrictions on foreign investment, and stop pressuring foreign companies to share their technology  that China has made before.

The second development, which concerns Americas allies, is more revealing  and treacherous.

In the last few months, the Trump administration has released its negotiating objectives for a possible trade agreement with the United Kingdom after Brexit, as well as future talks with the European Union.

Most of those objectives are not particularly surprising; they seek to maximize access to UK or EU markets, while protecting sensitive US sectors. But they do include one highly unusual provision.

In its document on the EU, the US states its intention to secure a mechanism to ensure transparency and take appropriate action if the EU negotiates a free-trade agreement with a non-market country.

The non-market country is no doubt China. If the EU agrees to this demand, it would have to inform the US  which would have the right to intervene  even if it is merely negotiating a trade deal with the worlds second-largest economy.

This objective has to be taken seriously, because the US had a similar clause added to the revamped North American Free Trade Agreement, now called the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

In fact, the USMCA clause is even stricter, because it gives the US the right to intervene even earlier, when Canada so much as intends to start trade negotiations with China.

Asking a trading partner to ensure transparency when they negotiate with other countries may sound innocuous, but it represents an unprecedented level of interference in partner countries trade policymaking.

Trade negotiations are already arduous, protracted affairs, not least because they involve easing protection of politically sensitive sectors.

Adding an unrelated third party to the proceedings  especially one whose intent might be to torpedo the negotiations  would make success even less likely.

Moreover, action the US would deem appropriate if the EU started negotiating a free-trade agreement with China would presumably include the threat of tariffs against European exporters.

The EU currently has no intention of entering into a free-trade agreement with China. But, as a matter of principle, it is highly unlikely to accept such a clause. And, given that the EU is actually a bigger global trading power than the US, it is in a position to say no.

A post-Brexit UK, however, will probably have little choice but to follow Canadas lead and hand the US an effective veto on its trade policy towards China. In the UK, Brexiteers used the slogan Take Back Control in campaigning to leave the EU.

However, with these US demands, the UK will lose its autonomy over trade policy. The dream of a Singapore-on-Thames is unlikely to materialise.

There can be no economic justification for the US to object to one of its allies concluding a free-trade agreement with another country, even one without a pure market economy.

Economic analysis has shown that regional trade agreements can have ambiguous effects on third countries. This is why such deals are subject to Article XXIV of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which says that regional free-trade agreements should cover substantially all the trade between the relevant partners.

This bar might be difficult for the EU and China to clear, given that both still have rather protected agricultural sectors. The US could thus air any legitimate complaint about an EU or UK deal with China through existing WTO channels.

This is yet another example of how the US could use the multilateral trading system to its advantage, instead of undermining it.

But the US attempt to control its allies trade policy toward China is not driven by economic considerations. Rather, it represents a geostrategic effort to isolate China, thereby giving the US more leverage with its main global rival.

This is not the first time that economic weapons are being deployed in a great power rivalry. At the beginning of the 19th century, the French army had vanquished most other powers on the European continent.

But Napoleon could not force his will upon the pesky British, whose navy dominated the seas and who had the financial resources to support his enemies. So, in 1806-07, at the peak of his military success, Napoleon erected the so-called Continental Blockade, forbidding any territory he ruled from trading with Britain.

The blockade proved extremely difficult to enforce, even in France, where smuggling proliferated. Worse, by forcing all of his allies to bend their trade policy to his will, Napoleon inadvertently fueled hostility to his rule, especially in Northern Europe, where trade with Britain had played a vital role in the local economy.

Yet Napoleon was so obsessed with enforcing the blockade that he forced even Russia  the only other power he had not defeated  to agree to it as a condition of peace.

This proved extremely costly for Russia, which eventually disregarded the blockade and reopened its ports to the British. Napoleon took this as a casus belli and invaded Russia. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Napoleons imperial overreach was his undoing. If Trump sticks to his current course on trade policy, the US may well face a similar fate.

Daniel Gros is Director of the Center for European Policy Studies. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.
Food Local Food Businesses Victorious at Awards Night

Award winners pose for photos at the 2019 Myanmore Awards on March 6, 2019. / Myanmore / Facebook

YANGONWednesday night was an occasion to honor the most talented people in Myanmars dining, nightlife and travel industries. The annual Myanmore Awards, now in their sixth year, saw 17 coveted awards handed out at a glamorous gala event held at Novotel Hotel.

In a city where unique and exciting new restaurant concepts crop up so regularly, competition in the dining scene is fierce. Nevertheless, locally-owned restaurants repeatedly came out victorious in the 2019 Myanmore Awards: Orng Kitchen won Restaurant of the Year, Burma Bistro was awarded Newcomer of the Year and Kachin restaurant Mu Ai was awarded best local cuisine restaurant. Bodhi Nava, a new cafe by the same owner as former award-winner Green Gallery, won Cafe of the Year, while Le Planteurs executive chef Jean Marc Lemmery was announced this years Chef of the Year.

I was a bit shocked when they announced the winner of the Restaurant of the Year award, said Orng Joitamoi, head chef and owner of Orng Kitchen who won Chef of the Year in 2018.

Last year, when we won Chef of the Year there was a huge pressure on me. We kept trying harder and working harder and I think our food and our restaurant improved about ten fold in the process. This award means a lot for me personally and for the whole kitchen: we have worked so hard for this.

In the bar scene, Bar of the Year was awarded to Penthouse and Sanchaung institution Win Star beer shop took home the Myanmar Beer Outlet of the Year award. Nikki Barltrop, chief operating officer of the 57Below group of restaurants which include Gekko, Union Bar and Grill and Parami Pizza, was commended for constantly raising the bar in the food and beverage industry through her commitment to quality and was awarded Special Award for Contribution to Excellence.

Previously awarded to Isabel Sway Htin and Htet Myet Oo of Rangoon Tea House fame, this year the KBZ Entrepreneur of the Year award went to another foodie, Myat Phoo Wai of NooDi noodle shop.

After plans to hold a separate hospitality and tourism awards event in December fell through, Myanmore instead added a new travel category to the awards this year. The Best Experience award went to the well-established Balloons Over Bagan, an operation owned by Memories Group, while Tourism Industry Figure of the Year was awarded to the hard-working May Myat Mon Win for her tireless efforts in promoting tourism in Myanmar. Hotel of the Year went to Sofitel Inle Lake Myat Min.
Burma French Man Jailed for Drone Flight Awaiting Deportation

French national Arthur Desclaux appears at the Immigration Office in Ottarathiri Township, Naypyitaw on March 6, 2019. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

NAYPYITAWA French national who was sentenced to one month in prison with hard labor after flying a drone near the Union Parliament Building completed his sentence Wednesday but remains in detention in Naypyitaw awaiting deportation.

Though he has served his time in Yamethin Prison, Arthur Desclaux now faces deportation under the Immigration Law. However, he is being held at a police station in Ottarathiri Township until someone can be found to act as surety for him, township immigration officer U Myint Zaw told reporters. He remains in detention at the police station as he faces a 10-million-kyat bill for the deportation and there is no one to cover it.

Unfortunately, his family doesnt have friends here. So far, there is no one who can act as surety for him, so he has to stay here. The [French] Embassy cant act as surety because it needs to be done by a person, U Myint Zaw said.

According to the Immigration Law, Immigration officials are authorized to detain a foreigner for a maximum of 15 days before permission is granted for deportation. However, the Immigration Office is expected to act promptly out of consideration for the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The counselor at the French Embassy said he believed the sentence of one month in prison was appropriate, as Desclaux flew the drone in a restricted area near Gate 2 of the Union Parliament building on Feb. 7.

Desclaux entered Myanmar through the Myawaddy border checkpoint from Mae Sot town in Thailands Tak province on Jan. 30. He arrived in Naypyitaw by bicycle on Feb. 7. He was arrested while flying the drone on the same day, before he had even found accommodation in the city.

He was charged under Article 8 of the 2012 Export and Import Law for illegally bringing a drone into the country. The law prohibits people from exporting and importing restricted materials. Violators face up to three years imprisonment and a fine if convicted.

Desclaux said he was unaware of the need to declare the drone. He would not have been imprisoned if he had declared it.

After his release from prison on Wednesday, the French national was charged by the Civil Aviation Department and the Immigration Department with two additional offenses: violating the 1934 Burma Aircraft Act and visa regulations.

He confessed to violating both laws. The Ottarathi Township Court fined him 50,000 kyats for the first charge, and 100,000 kyats for the second charge. The French Embassy paid the fines for him.

The township judge said the court gave Desclaux a light sentence considering as he is a foreigner and not familiar with Myanmars laws, and had already been imprisoned under the Export and Import Law.
Burma Nowhere to Call Home: Yangon Slum Dwellers Face Eviction Threat

A homeless child walks near temporary shelters beside a street in Yangon on Feb. 4, 2016. / Reuters

YANGON  Than Chaung was among the lucky ones when Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in 2008. He and his family survived the countrys worst natural disaster, fleeing to Yangon as the storm killed nearly 140,000 people and battered millions of homes.

But a decade on he was forced from his home again last December, this time by men wielding sledgehammers under orders from authorities to clear the shanty town where he lived.

The demolition of Nyaung village in Hlaing Thar Yar, an industrial zone in northwest Yangon, was the third last year, part of a government plan to relocate 440,000 slum dwellers in the city where 30 percent live in informal settlements.

Since the easing of political and economic restrictions began in 2011, demand for industrial land has surged  while natural disasters and a manufacturing boom in Yangon and Mandalay have spurred migration to these cities.

Than Chaung and other residents said they were hardly consulted or compensated for losing their homes, which they said they built on land they bought from another villager.

Last year, a court ruled that their claim was not valid because the land belonged to a factory.

They said we have to move because this is not our land. But we paid money for it, said Than Chaung, showing a photograph of a handwritten note that he said was a receipt for the purchase.

We have lived here for many years. We cannot afford to go anywhere else.

With growing migration from rural areas, Yangons population is forecast by the United Nations to nearly double to more than 11 million by 2040, placing an enormous strain on resources.

Many migrants come in search of jobs in factories and end up in the dozens of shanty towns built in recent years.

Authorities said residents are encroaching on private land, and relocation will improve the lives of the tens of thousands living in shanty towns that lack electricity, running water and sewage systems, and that are prone to flooding.

But human rights groups and the U.N.s settlements agency, UN-Habitat, warned forced resettlement could make people poorer.

There is a history of government-orchestrated forced resettlement in Myanmar and in Yangon in particular, to make way for urban development, UN-Habitat said in a report last year.

Development-induced forced displacement and resettlement is increasing, uprooting and impoverishing people and undermining basic human rights.

A spokesman for Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) did not respond to e-mails and calls seeking comment.

Problematic

As Asian cities expand quickly, governments have struggled to provide sufficient affordable housing as construction of luxury apartments and glitzy malls booms.

From Mumbai to Manila, the urban poor settle under bridges, along creeks and railway tracks, and beside landfills, under threat of forced evictions by authorities keen to modernize the cities and build more offices and malls.

In Myanmars commercial capital, Yangon, few informal settlements remain within the city, in contrast to other cities in the region, said Eben Forbes, an independent researcher.

The historical practice has been to clear squatters from central Yangon and relocate them to new towns at the periphery, Forbes told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

This practice is problematic due to the trauma that eviction causes, the governments inability to extend basic urban services to the peripheral areas, and potential political consequences.

YCDC estimated the city will need more than 1.2 million housing units by 2040 for migrants and slum dwellers.

Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein had pledged to solve the squatter problem before the end of his term in 2020.

Last month he said about 130,000 households had been issued smart cards, and would be prioritized for relocation.

There are problems, and we will take time and effort to solve them, he was quoted as saying in the Myanmar Times.

Challenges

Hlaing Thar Yar, with nearly half a million residents, is the citys largest industrial zone, crammed with export units of manufacturers of garments, car parts and processed foods.

Authorities have said slum residents will be resettled in two townships more than an hours drive from central Yangon. Construction was to be completed by 2020, with easy access to jobs, schools, hospitals and public transport.

But UN-Habitat, in its report, advised against forced resettlement and encouraged in-situ upgrades instead.

From a total 423 informal settlements it mapped in Yangon, about 130 were suitable for upgrading, while the rest were in hazardous areas such as river banks and railway tracks, it said.

But authorities were skeptical about in-situ incremental upgrading and prefer resettlement at this time, it added.

In Nyaung village, where about 600 families live, more than a dozen families, including Than Chaungs, spent about two weeks on the streets after their homes were demolished in December.

Then they knocked down the metal barricades placed around the rubble and tried to rebuild their homes, Than Chaung said.

His neighbor, Kyaw Su, who moved to the area nearly 20 years ago in search of work, was afraid her home will be next.

She has been selling fried snacks on the street since the demolition, too afraid to go to her job in a garment factory.

What if they come back and knock down my house? Living like this, we can never be sure there wont be more evictions, she said.
Burma Rohingya Trading Identity for Partial Citizenship, More Rights in Rakhine State

Lawmakers take a rare stand for persecuted Muslims in western Burma after learning that the movement of about 500 people recently awarded citizenship remains restricted.

YANGON  More than half of the 7,000-plus Muslim Rohingya who have applied for citizenship in Rakhine State over the past three years have now been accepted following a wave of approvals in just the last few months, according to the Ministry of Labor, Population and Immigration.

U Shein Win, deputy director general of the ministrys National Registration and Citizenship Department, said most of them failed to qualify for full citizenship because they lacked the necessary family records going back seven decades.

In any case, the recent wave of citizenship cards has been raising both hopes and old grievances across the strife-torn region. It has drawn a mixed reaction among Rohingya in Maungdaw Township and the more than 700,000 who have fled to Bangladesh since late 2017 to escape a military crackdown in northern Rakhine.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in early 2018 to repatriate the refugees, but the process has yet to begin in earnest. Only a few dozen have returned to Myanmar to date, mostly outside of official channels.

Recently, authorities in Rakhine have issued more than 100 green cards granting partial citizenship to Rohingya who stayed in Maungdaw as an incentive to entice more of the refugees back.

According to Maungdaw residents, more than 400 applicants are still awaiting decisions on what sort of citizenship they will receive  if any.

Myanmars Citizenship Law was enacted in 1982 under the Ne Win regime, creating three categories of citizenship with varying privileges: full, associate and naturalized. The accompanying cards are colored pink, blue and green, respectively. The laws stipulates that anyone whose ancestors arrived Myanmar before Jan. 4, 1948, the day Myanmar gained independence from Britain, is eligible for one of the three.

All applications are vetted in Naypyitaw by the Central Body, made up of top officials from several government ministries.

Thousands of cards issued

U Shein Win said the program was initiated in 2016, a few months after the national elections that swept the National League for Democracy to power.

He said the majority of the applicants were those with National Verification Cards (NVCs), which grant Rohingya residence in Myanmar while they apply for citizenship.

The NVCs were thought up by the previous administration, headed by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, to replace the so-called white cards. The white cards had allowed holders to vote in the 2010 general elections but were revoked after the communal riots that swept across the country two years later, disenfranchising many Rohingya in the process.

U Shein Win said the government had issued 14,000 NVCs in Rakhine, and at least half the holders have applied for citizenship. He said the government handed out citizenship cards to those applicants in two groups earlier this year and had only one group left to vet.

Most of the applications have been approved; I just dont know the specific number. I think there is only one batch to be completed. he said.

U Shein Win said most of them have received green and blue cards. A few pink cards went to those with the most complete family records. Pink cards appear to be the fewest, he said.

More rights

Some Rohingya applicants say the Central Body recently approved 74 green cards.

Abdul Rashid (name changed for his safety), from Maungdaw, said his family was among the lucky few granted pink cards because they had records going back seven generations.

He said many applicants thought they would get full citizenship, but added that most could not produce the necessary family documents dating back to 1948 or beyond and received green or blue cards instead. He said some of those granted green cards were dissatisfied and have appealed the decision, while others have refused to even take them.

Amir Hamza (name changed) is still awaiting a decision on his application.

He said the cards  whether pink, blue or green  label them as ethnic Bengali rather than Rohingya, which they consider themselves, but have been accepted regardless by most as a ticket to a better life. Because even as naturalized citizens, he said, they can move freely, own property, access education, vote and get passports.

Although we prefer Rohingya over Bengali, a green or pink card is a necessity, so we exchanged our [ethnic] status to have a practical life, Amir Hamza said.

U Shein Win, the immigration official, confirmed that the new cards labeled the holders Bengali, reflecting the governments position that they are the descendants of Bangladeshi laborers brought to Myanmar by the British before independence.

A tough choice

It remains unclear how many NVC holders have submitted applications nationwide as of February.

According to the Presidents Office, the Immigration Department issued nearly 760,000 white cards and about 470,000 have been surrendered as of December 2016.

Since then, the department has distributed about 6,000 NVCs to those who surrendered their white cards.

Amir Hamza, who is on good terms with some local officials, said that about 150 green cards were handed out in Rakhine as of February.

He said that so long as Rohingya insisted on being identified as such, they would never gain citizenship.

We lose our identity, but we have greater opportunities. I think my decision [to apply] was not wrong, he said.

Naturalized and associate citizenship is open to anyone who entered, or whose parents entered, Myanmar after 1948, or who has a Foreign Registration Card. However, those citizens are not allowed to become diplomats, members of parliament or run for president or hold other senior government positions.

Abdul Rashid and Amir Hamza said some Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh also want to apply for the citizenship cards but are afraid they may be targeted by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. The militant group launched the attacks on police posts in Rakhine State that triggered the military crackdown in 2017, and some of its members are reported to be hiding in the camps among the refugees.

Not good enough

Al Haj U Aye Lwin, a former member of the now-defunct Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, said issuing green cards to Rohingya in Maungdaw with the requisite family records was not good enough.

As a commission member, he visited the refugee camps in Bangladesh several times and learned that many of the refugees had National Registration Cards (NRCs), which the Myanmar government started issued in 1951 to every citizen but later demanded back. Many Muslims, particularly those in Rakhine State, did not turn them in.

After a popular nationwide uprising in 1988, the government began issuing Muslims with the white cards. U Aye Lwin said many white card holders therefore likely had NRCs before. He urged authorities to consider that before granting applicants anything less than full citizenship.

If the recipients accept green cards or associate citizenship, we have nothing to say. But once they accept the green card, it means they are being downgraded from full citizenship, said U Aye Lwin, a member of the Myanmar Interfaith Dialogue Group.

He noted, however, that the children of those getting green cards now would eventually be able to apply for full citizenship themselves.

Given the ongoing violence and persecution in Maungdaw, Amir Hamza said he may move to Yangon whatever color card he gets in hopes of starting a new life.

Once we own that card, we can travel freely across the country, he said.

And given how many times different identity cards have been issued to Rohingya in the past only to be revoked later, many remain wary of the latest effort.

Asked about those concerns, U Shein Win laughed.

That will never happen because this program is being carried out by the state, he said. Dont worry.
Burma Ukrainian Firm Will Reportedly Help Tatmadaw Build Plant for Military Equipment

A Ukraine Army BTR-4 eight-wheeled APC. / Army Technology website

YANGON  A Ukrainian military import/export agency and the Myanmar Army recently signed a joint venture agreement to construct an assembly plant to build armored personal carriers (APCs) and self-propelled howitzers by 2020.

Defense Blog reported on Wednesday that Great Export Import Company had confirmed an initial delivery of equipment and machinery for use in the plant.

Defense Blog published a list of items, including descriptions and value figures, imported by the Ukspecexport agency. The total value was more than US$4.2 million, or more than 6 billion kyats.

The list includes components for a production line to assemble BTR-4U eight-wheeled APCs and 2S1U self-propelled howitzers, based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis. These are different from the BTR-3U eight-wheeled armored vehicles seen in military parades, combat drills and military blogs in Myanmar.

The Irrawaddy phoned Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the Office of the Commander-in-Chief, for comment on the Defense Blog report multiple times Thursday, but the calls went unanswered.

According to some Burmese-language military blogs, the Army used BTR-3U armored vehicle in Shan States Laukai in operations against the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in 2016, alongside Chinese Type 92 light APCs. Some pro-military commenters said on Facebook that the BTR-4U is an upgraded version of the BTR-3U and can carry an additional eight soldiers.

The BTR-4U APC was launched in March 2014 by the Ukraine Armys Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. The vehicle is equipped with a 30mm cannon, coaxial machine gun (7.62mm) and four Konkurs or Baryer anti-tank (AT) missiles. It can also be armed with a 30mm automatic grenade launcher instead of two AT missiles.

Defense Blog reported in May 2016 that Myanmar bought 10 BTR-3Us from Ukraine in 2003 and that in 2010 the military began acquiring spare parts for the vehicles from Ukraine.

The Myanmar military has also bought about 20 Mi-17 helicopters in various versions since 1995. Since then the Ukraine Army has been supplying parts and training provided by foreign specialists for Myanmar. The Mi-17 chopper can carry up to 30 troops. They are used by the Myanmar military for transportation.

In January 2018 after a visit to Myanmar, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant-General Alexander Fomin revealed that Myanmar planned to purchase six Sukhoi Su-30 twin-engine fighter aircraft. The Myanmar Army has never publicly announced what version of the Sukhoi SU-30 it plans to buy from Russia.
Burma Union Lawmaker Calls For Checks on Civil Service Board After Scandal

A graduation ceremony is held at the Central Institute of Civil Service (Upper Myanmar) on Feb. 23, 2018. / Global New Light of Myanmar

YANGON  An Upper House lawmaker on Thursday called on the government to reckon with the fallout from the partnerships the Union Civil Service Board (UCSB) struck with two unaccredited foreign universities and to prevent such incidents in the future.

During a Union Parliament discussion on a bill submitted by the UCSB to amend the Union Civil Service Board Law in December, Upper House lawmaker U Myo Win said it was important to vet training programs carefully in light of the many bogus universities and diploma mills handing out fake degrees.

The following month, the Presidents Office announced that the UCSB had ended its partnerships with two such foreign universities  Hawaii-based Akamai University and an affiliated institution, Malaysias EDS Business School  following a recent scandal.

The UCSB, a government agency responsible for recruiting and training civil servants, worked with Akamai and EDS in providing several courses since 2017 and a masters degree program in 2018 for high-ranking government officials.

Following the Presidents Office announcement, the UCSB has vowed to work only with legitimate universities in the future. But further details, or any explanation of how the relationships with Akamai and EBS were formed, have yet to emerged.

U Myo Win, who has a history of calling for civil service reform, said in Parliament on Thursday that the agency chose to partner with the two institutions without proper checks.

How many people in Myanmar hold certificates from those universities? Will the government recognize those certificates? What about the public money spent on them? The government needs to take action on that. Lawmakers also need to enact legislation to prevent such cases from happening again, he said.

He suggested adding language to the UCSB Law amendment bill requiring the agency to announce in advance any plans to partner with foreign universities and institutions on training programs and provide an estimated budget to the government and Parliament for approval.

U Myo Win also suggested that the government approve all UCSB plans to hire foreign experts of consultants.

Last month, a UCSB spokesperson said no public money had been wasted in the Akamai and EBS tie-ups but refused to say how much was spent.

Following Thursdays discussion, the Parliament speaker said the Upper Houses Bill Committee would hold a hearing on U Myo Wins proposals.

Ko Nay Yan Oo, who is studying at Oxford University in England and broke the scandal via Facebook, has petitioned the Presidents Office, State Counselors Office and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the UCSB. The ACC could not be reached on Thursday for comment.
Burma Women Underrepresented in Formal Peace Process, Study Finds

Lahu women attend the 3rd Union Peace Conference in Naypyitaw in July 2018. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

YANGONMore than 670 women are contributing to peace building in Myanmar, representing nearly 400 organizations, but only about one quarter of them serve as delegates to the formal Union Peace Conference process, according to the Women Contributing to Peace map released on Wednesday.

The study, conducted by Nonviolent Peaceforce and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), collected data from August 2018 to January 2019. The map, intended as a quick guide, lists 674 women from 383 organizations who contribute to peace building.

The maps, compiled for each state and region of the country, include well-known women leaders as well as peace advocates who are less visible. They include government officials, parliamentarians (of both the Union and state parliaments), representatives of civil society organizations, political parties, ethnic armed organizations, and the media and private sectors. Most of them participate in peace negotiations in five key sectors: economics, land and environment, politics, security and the social sector.

The map is, by necessity, incomplete, and will be updated gradually. They are designed to help peace process observers understand who is engaged, but the authors do not claim that it includes everybody.

I hope you will treat this map as a tool, not as artwork, said Teresa McGhie, the director of USAID Mission in Myanmar, at the maps release.

The joint release by USAID and Nonviolent Peaceforce highlighted that, By illustrating the wide range of women and organizations engaged in peace-related activities across the country, these maps counter the claim that there are no women in Myanmar with the expertise needed to resolve longstanding conflicts.

During the launch, there was a panel discussion focusing on the next steps for peace and security in Myanmar involving women with expertise on security, peace and gender and ethnic affairs.

Daw Khin Ma Ma Myo, the director of the Myanmar Institute for Gender Studies, who also participated as a delegate to the security sector discussion in the Union Peace Conference sessions, said the current peace process needs to be reviewed in order to overcome the current deadlock and to draft genuine basic principles that actually reflect the democratic federal Constitution.

She said, The current deadlock will be slowly overcome, as everyone understands that peace is necessary for the country, but what the stakeholders need to do is to rethink how and by when they are to achieve peace.

Sharing her own experience of being a UPC delegate, she said the key stakeholders, including the armed forces (the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, and the EAOs) and the political parties are upholding their position papers and defending them, so that is another factor contributing to the deadlock.

Thus, the dialogues in those multi-stakeholder conferences [UPC] are not actual negotiations, she said, adding that the back-channel or sideline talks, or small-scale talks prior to the main conference, are important in peace talks.

Countering the claim that Myanmar has few women who have the capacity and skills to take part in the peace talks, other panelists highlighted that mindsets need to be changed to acknowledge that there are many resourceful women in the field.

U.S. Ambassador Scott Marciel told the audience during his closing remarks that as Myanmar has a lot of women with knowledge, expertise and willingness to contribute to the process, it is important to include those women in the formal peace process and in all the discussions and dialogues.

Around the world, research has shown that including women in the peace process greatly increases the chance that it succeeds and lasts, the ambassador said.
World INSIGHTLong Before Trumps Trade War with China, Huaweis Activities Were Secretly Tracked

Surveillance cameras are seen next to a Huawei company logo outside a shopping mall in Shanghai, China on March 7, 2019. / REUTERS

The surprise arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer in December quickly turned the executive, Meng Wanzhou, into a central figure in a trade war between two economic superpowers.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters he would consider intervening in her casea potential action he alluded to again two weeks agoif it would help close a trade deal with China.

Mengs lawyer on Wednesday told a Canadian court that he has concerns the allegations against her have a political character, noting Trumps comments on the case.

But U.S. probes of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. for allegedly evading U.S. sanctions on Iran were not rooted in Trumps trade aspirations. Long before Trump initiated a bitter trade war with China, Huawei activities were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, according to interviews with ten people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.

The U.S. focus on Huawei intensified after years of investigation into smaller Chinese rival ZTE Corp., and relied in part on information collected from devices of company employees traveling through airports.

Two of the sources said a critical point took place in August 2017, when deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosensteinbest known for his oversight of special counsel Robert Muellers probe of Russian interference in the U.S. electionhanded a lead role to Brooklyn prosecutors to pursue possible bank fraud charges against Huawei.

Fifteen months later, that strategy would help land Meng in a Canadian jail.

The U.S. investigations of Chinas top telecom companies were spurred by reports by Reuters over six years ago, detailing possible Iran sanctions violations by both ZTE and Huawei, as well as close ties between Huawei and Skycom Tech Co. Ltd.a suspected front company doing business in Iran.

A spokesperson for Huawei, the worlds largest telecommunications equipment maker, has denied the charges in the sanctions case, and did not provide further comment to Reuters. Meng has said she is innocent of the charges. ZTE, which pleaded guilty in 2017 for illegally shipping U.S. goods to Iran, did not respond to requests for comment.

U.S. Justice Department spokesperson Nicole Navas Oxman said the government pursues cases free of any political interference and follows the evidence and rule of law in pursuing criminal charges.

Airport evidence grab

On Dec. 1, 2018, Meng was stopped at Vancouver International Airport as she walked up the jetway after her flight, according to a lawsuit she filed on Friday accusing the Canadian government of violating her rights. Border officers examined her passport and escorted her to an area for secondary screenings.

While there, she was instructed to surrender her two mobile phones, an iPad and a personal computer, along with their passwords, the suit alleges, and the officers viewed the devices contents.

Reuters has not been able to determine what information was found on Mengs devices, but it is not the first time she and other Chinese telecom executives have turned over such property to border patrol agents.

In the years leading up to the Huawei indictment, U.S. officials had been capturing information that would influence the investigation when telecom executives passed through U.S. airports, according to a number of sources familiar with the Huawei and ZTE investigations and the Meng indictment.

For example, Meng arrived in the United States via John F. Kennedy International Airport in early 2014. The indictment says investigators found suggested talking points on one of her electronic devices, stating among other things that Huaweis relationship with Skycom was normal business cooperation.

Meng had been pulled into a secondary screening at the airport that time as well, and her electronic devices were taken, according to a person familiar with the stop. After a couple of hours, the devices were returned and she was freed to go, the person said.

Another border search, this time on Sept. 12, 2014, of executives from rival ZTE also supported U.S. investigators long-held suspicions of how Huawei might have been doing illicit business in countries subject to U.S. sanctions, one of the sources told Reuters.

ZTEs CFO at the time was stopped at Bostons Logan Airport after flying in from London with an assistant, the person said.

The assistant was carrying a Lenovo laptop containing a confidential ZTE document, dated Aug. 25, 2011 and signed by four top executives, about the need to establish front companies to supply U.S. procured items needed for projects in embargoed countries.

The airport stop provided key evidence against ZTE in its legal battle with the United States, according to U.S. officials. But it also identified a company as F7 and how it used a front company to serve as its agent for contracts in sanctioned countries. F7 was Huawei, according to the individuals familiar with the ZTE and Huawei investigations.

The document was posted on the U.S. Commerce Department website in March 2016 when ZTE was placed on a list of companies that were restricted from buying parts and components from U.S. suppliers. Shortly after the public posting, the New York Times reported that the description of F7 offered by ZTE matched Huawei.

A month later, the Commerce Department sent a subpoena to Huawei in the United States demanding information on the companys exporting American technology to Iran, according to a court document and one of the people familiar with the Huawei probe.

From ZTE to Huawei

With the case against ZTE wrapping up, more than a dozen people from Departments of Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security and Justice, gathered in Washington on Feb. 14, 2017 and talked about how they were moving forward against Huawei, according to a person familiar with matter.

Brooklyn prosecutors discussed the relationship between Huawei and HSBC, a bank that was required to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors in any investigation until the end of 2017 for violating U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, the person added.

In late 2016, HSBC began to conduct an internal bank probe of Huawei. In the weeks and months following the meeting, HSBC helped authorities obtain evidence of links between Skycom and Huawei, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The probe found Meng met in 2013 with a HSBC banker. She later gave him a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, which the U.S. indictment says misrepresented Huaweis control of Skycom.

HSBC told Reuters that it provided information in response to demands from the Justice Department.

The U.S. Attorneys office in Washington D.C., meanwhile, pursued a more traditional export control investigation against Huawei, which included the accusations of attempted illegal shipments of computers to Iran disclosed in the Reuters 2012 story.

A grand jury subpoena was issued to the U.S. subsidiary of the company in April 2017, the first clear sign to Huawei that the probe had turned criminal.

Armed with that knowledge, the company moved U.S.-based Chinese employees who knew about its Iranian dealings out of the country and otherwise concealed and destroyed evidence, the prosecutors allege. Meng and other Huawei executives also began to avoid travel to the United States, prosecutors say.

In the late summer of 2017, according to two of the sources close to the Huawei investigation, Rosenstein chose Brooklyn as the venue to file charges and the Washington U.S. Attorneys office dropped out of the case. Brooklyn was already working with a money laundering unit at the Justice Department. The national security division also merged with the Brooklyn prosecution team.

Legal experts said since most evidence of any illegal U.S. goods in Iran presumably existed outside the jurisdiction of U.S. authorities, the bank fraud route presented a potentially quicker path to indictment. They added that bank fraud charges are more likely to lead to arrest by other countries for extradition to the United States than export controls or sanctions violations, and have a longer statute of limitations.

Meng and the company were charged with bank and wire fraud. The PowerPoint presentations numerous misrepresentations were central to the charges brought against Meng herself, the indictment shows.

Twelve months after Brooklyn got the case, prosecutors secretly obtained a warrant for Mengs arrest.

Less than four months later they learned she was stopping in Vancouver en route to Mexico on Dec. 1, and asked the Canadians to detain her at the airport.
World Italy Mulls Preliminary Belt and Road Deal With China

The sign of an international forum on the Belt and Road Initiative is pictured in Beijing, China, on July 2. / Reuters

ROME  Italy is negotiating a preliminary deal to become a part of Chinas giant Belt and Road infrastructure plan to boost trade, a government official said on Wednesday, in a move that could upset the United States.

Junior Industry Minister Michele Geraci said that if Italy did sign an accord when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the country later this month, it would be non-binding and just an initial framework.

However, in a sign there is no government unity on the issue, another junior minister cautioned against any such move, saying more thought had to be given about national security.

At this moment, I do not think we should proceed with the signature, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Guglielmo Picchi wrote on Twitter.

Both Picchi and Geraci represent the coalition, far-right League party.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), championed by Xi, aims to link China by sea and land with Southeast and Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, through an infrastructure network on the lines of the old Silk Road.

Aside from boosting trade and investment, Xi aims to advance exchanges in areas such as science, technology and culture.

Italian officials said Xi was due to visit Italy from March 22-24 and would spend at least one day in Palermo, the capital of the island of Sicily.

We are still negotiating the details of the MOU [memorandum of understanding], and it might or might not be signed, Geraci said. It is an initial framework. It is not a contract. There are no commitments. There are no funds and no obligations.

Italy fell into recession at the end of 2018 for the third time in a decade and the government is eager to find ways to boost the economy and revive the stalled construction sector.

Pressure

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the United States was irritated by the prospect of Italy joining the BRI, and had warned the project could significantly damage Romes international image.

We view BRI as a made by China, for China initiative, the newspaper quoted Garrett Marquis, White House National Security Council spokesperson, as saying.

Geraci said he had not seen any sign the United States was annoyed or concerned.

Our goal does not seem to me to be controversial, he said. It is about helping companies do business.

An Italian diplomatic source told Reuters that Rome was facing a lot of pressure from China to sign a MOU, but added that if an accord was reached it would be an empty box.

Picchi, who is close to League leader Matteo Salvini, said allowing China to help build Italys 5G high-speed telecom network and giving it access to other infrastructure was a security issue that needed further review.

A number of European Union states have signed MOUs with China, including Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Malta, Poland and Portugal. If Italy signs, it would be the first Group of Seven major industrialized nation to do so.

An EU spokesperson in Brussels said the EU was cooperating with Beijing on the initiative, but added that this was on the basis of China fulfilling its declared aim of making it an open platform which adheres to market rules, EU and international requirements and standards.

Past EU optimism over dealing with China has turned to frustration over Beijings slowness to open up its economy and a surge of Chinese takeovers in critical sectors. There has also been pressure from the United States to shun China over espionage fears.
Guest Column Govt Losing Its Way on National Reconciliation

Police break up a sit-in protest staged by Karenni activists opposed to the installation of a statue of General Aung San in Loika, the Kayah State capital, in February 2018. / MPA

On Feb. 12Union Dayin Loikaw, Kayah State, police marked proceedings by firing rubber bullets into a crowd of demonstrators who were peacefully protesting against the construction of a statue of General Aung San. There has been no information on whether the government provided any assistance to those injured by police. The demonstrators feel these statues are not representative of their own independence and ethnic struggles. Previous statues of Aung San in Mon, Kachin and Chin states were also met with protests. By Feb. 21 the government had opened 86 cases against 55 youths over the Kayah protests; the cases were later withdrawn and the protesters released. The protests and construction of the statues has halted for a month while the two sides negotiate.

The repression of these protests in such a violent manner is short-sighted. It will only inflame tensions, and add weight to the protesters claims that the Bamar government does not care about their struggle. This has dire ramifications for the already stalled national reconciliation process. The firing of rubber bullets into a crowd of unarmed peaceful protesters, on the day that the Myanmar government is supposed to be celebrating national unity, is as ironic as it is barbaric. Yet this is no isolated case; the government response in Kayah State provides a blueprint for the repression of ethnic identity across the country.

In Rakhine State, increased violence between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) is highly concerning. This outbreak of violence has also led to an increase in the repression of civilians due to alleged association with the AA. So far, 40 people have been arrested under the 1908 Unlawful Association Act 17(1) in Rakhine State alone, including 24 IDPs who fled Chin State due to fighting near their homes. Around 6,000 civilians have recently been displaced due to the armed clashes. The most recent spate of arrests is not helping the situation; it has only exacerbated an already tense situation in Rakhine State and is only likely to increase the local populations sympathy for the AA.

Meanwhile, protesters in Kachin State continue to be arrested and detained, be it for holding anti-war protests or, as was more recently the case, organizing protests against the Myitsone Dam. The arrest in February of Bernadette Ja Hkawng for violating the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law (PAPPL) while protesting against the dam came in the same week that the World Kachin Congress bestowed its inaugural Kachin human rights awards on three Kachin community leaders who are currently serving jail sentences over last years anti-war protest.

Such arrests and repression are not always political, or aimed solely against ethnic groups. In February, seven students from Yadanabon University in Mandalay Region were arrested and sentenced to three months in jail with hard labor. The students had burned portraits of officials as a protest against a lack of campus safety following the murder of a student near the campus in December last year.

The rationale behind these arrests is weak and does not stand up to scrutiny. It should be clear to all lawmakers and politicians that the arrests will not help national reconciliation. Nor will these arrests stop the protests, as the countrys political history shows. After the bloody suppression of the 88 movement, dissent did not stop. After the bloody suppression of the Saffron Revolution in 2007, dissent did not stop. Nor will dissent stop in Kayah State after the firing of rubber bullets into an unarmed crowd.

The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), so many of whose members are former political prisoners, knows all too well that you cannot stop democratic protests with violence and repression. To stop such protests you must tackle their root causes by holding discussions with demonstrators. To crack down on these protests as it has done is not only morally wrongno one should be jailed or beaten for exercising their democratic rightsbut also a terrible move politically; the party is doing itself no favors. National reconciliation in Myanmar is a difficult enough process; we dont need the government making it harder by deepening and exacerbating long-held grievances.

Nor is national reconciliation helped by the governments determination to incarcerate journalists, as in the cases against the two Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Myanmar Now journalist Swe Win has also suffered for his reporting, having to undergo an unnecessarily protracted trial after being accused of defaming ultranationalist monk U Wirathu by one of his supporters. The trial further demonstrates the governments poor commitment to freedom of expression.

Cracking down on protest in this way is politically expensive, costing the NLD precious support in ethnic areas. The NLD had huge popular support in 2015, but it may not be able to count on this backing come 2020. If the rights of ethnic citizens are not of concern to the NLD, then maybe purely political considerations will be. This clumsy, heavy-handed approach only fuels the mistrust of peopleespecially ethnic peoplein the NLD-led government.

These actions serve to highlight the lack of justice on offer in Myanmar today. The laws used to detain and arrest these protesters, students and civilians are not befitting of a democratic government. The laws were written by a British colonial government in order to stifle dissent and maintain the status quo. It is unethical for such inherently repressive laws to be used against civilians. Moreover, it is perverse for the NLD to imprison the next generation of activists using the very laws under which they themselves were jailed.

The Unlawful Association Act, Article 505(b) of the Penal Code, the Telecommunications Code, the PAPPL, and other repressive laws are all evidence of a legal system that stifles what it is supposed to protect. If the NLD wants to take meaningful steps toward building a real democracy, it needs to amend and repeal such legislation, or at the very least, stop tormenting ethnic civilians under archaic laws no longer fit for purpose.

Bo Kyi is a former political prisoner and joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Commentary Myanmar Govt, Military Use U.N. Opium Report to Slur Enemies, Shield Allies

People harvest opium in Pekon Township, Shan State, in 2014. / Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy

It is clear to see that Myanmar authorities had a great deal of influence on the Myanmar Opium Survey the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released in January.

Many of us know who really grows the opium, and their ties to the authorities. Instead, the UNODC has put most of the blame on the ethnic armed groups fighting the Myanmar military.

The report was a joint effort of the UNODC and Myanmar government. The UNODC and the governments Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control would have each written a draft and then combined them.

The result reflects the way Myanmar authorities regularly accuse the ethnic armed groups they are fighting of growing opium and using the profits to buy weapons. The report reads less like a product of the UNODC than of the government.

Of course the UNODC could not have released the report without the governments approval, so it must be biased.

The UNODC accused the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a mostly ethnic Kachin armed group that engaged in heavy fighting with the military last year in northern Myanmar. Though the rivals have met several times in China for talks, sporadic fighting has continued.

Kachin State accounts for 15 percent of the opium produced in Myanmar. The rest comes from neighboring Shan State. We all know where the 15 percent in Kachin is grown.

According to the Transnational Institute, a research and advocacy group based in the Netherlands, most of the poppy cultivation in Kachin takes place it two locations: in Sadung Township bordering China and inside a tiger reserve in Tanai Township, which are effectively under military and government control.

Why did the UNODC fail to mention that a local border guard force under the militarys supervision is the one growing poppy in Sadung? The military clearly did not want fingers pointed at one of its allies.

The UNODC could cooperate with the KIA in many ways to combat opium production in Kachin State. But this report sullies the KIAs reputation, so it may now be unwilling to cooperate. The KIA advocates against drugs and has even cracked down on production, but the UNODC failed to mention this. It also failed to mention the work of Pat Jasan, a vigilante group that detains drug users and destroys poppy crops.

In northern Shan State, meanwhile, the Pansay militia allows locals to grow poppy in area under its control and then takes a cut of their revenue, all while fighting with the Taang National Liberation Army, another ethnic armed group in conflict with the military. Why did the UNODC not mention that?

Instead, the UNODC also accused the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army  yet another ethnic armed group fighting the military  which has a small area of control in Shan States Kokang region near the Chinese border.

But the government does not dare to blame the United Wa State Army (UWSA). The powerful ethnic armed group claims it has stopped growing poppy, but some still believe it continues to cultivate crops in a few remote areas in northern Shan. Again, the UNODC failed to accuse the UWSA.

The government and military have been blaming the countrys drug trade on their most hated enemies for a long time. The UNODC should get wise to the ruse. Otherwise, it will continue to be their tool.
On This Day Gandhi Preaches Non-Violent Revolution in Myanmar

A photograph of the last meeting between U Nu and Mahatma Gandhi, taken at Birla House in Delhi, India on December 4, 1947.

Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule, arrived in Myanmar on March 7, 1929 to collect donations from Indian nationals in Myanmar to raise funds for the Handloom Association of India, and share his experiences with Myanmar people.

He addressed the people at Jubilee Hall and Fytche Square (now Mahabandoola Park) in Yangon. He held talks with Buddhist monks at Shwedagon Pagoda and said, I am glad to find you telling me that the hponegyis (Buddhist monks) are leading the political movement in Burma, but you have a serious responsibility upon your shoulders when you undertake leading a political battle.

History shows that the clergy has not always interfered with the political matters to the benefit of mankind. Very often unworthy ambition has moved the clergy of the world as it has moved unscrupulous men to take part in politics, and if now you hponegyis aspire to lead the political movement of this, one of the fairest lands on the face of the earth, you are shouldering a tremendous responsibility.

In his two-week visit, he visited several towns in central and lower Myanmar. In Mandalay, he said, In India it is a common saying that the way to swaraj (which means independence for India) is through Mandalay. The British government has taught you too a great lesson by incarcerating one of Indias great sons here.

The way to swaraj is the way of sufferingindeed no country has come to its own without suffering.

Indian political leader Subhas Chandra Bose was imprisoned in October 1924 in Mandalay for two and half years due to his defiance of colonial rule.

During his visit, Gandhi said, I have no other and no better guidance to offer to you than to commend to your attention the general principle of non-violence, in other words, self-purification.

He wrapped up this, his third visit to Myanmar, on March 24. Prior to the 1929 visit, he had been in Myanmar in 1902 and 1915.

Gandhis preaching of non-violence later influenced Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in her fight for democracy. Gandhi Hall and Gandhi Hospital became significant places in Myanmars political and healthcare systems. U Nu, who became Myanmars first prime minister, paid a visit to Gandhi in New Delhi in 1947 before his assassination the following year.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7)  Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that he looks forward to a peaceful Mindanao, as it could lead to the prosperity of both the Philippines and Malaysia.

"I believe with the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or BARMM, we have to boost economic ties between both countries," Mahathir said in a press statement delivered with President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacanang.

Malaysia helped facilitate the peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which led to the signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law and the creation of the BARMM.

"I look forward to the smooth transition of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao through the interim government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao," Mahathir said, expressing Malaysia's "desire to continue to be of help in Mindanao."

The Prime Minister cited the areas of infrastructure development, education, health care and tourism as key areas for trade.

He said he and Duterte discussed programs for teachers and students in Madrasahs or Islamic schools, especially in Mindanao.

READ: Malaysian PM Mahathir calls for increased investments, trade with Philippines

In a speech later at a banquet held in his honor, Mahathir said that Malaysia will continue to work with the Philippines on issues of peace in Mindanao.

"So to the extent that we can be useful, we are always ready to work with our neighbors in order to resolve problems which in a way of course affect us as well," he said.

Mahathir and Duterte also discussed other security issues during the former's two-day official visit to the country. These include combating piracy, terrorism, transnational crimes, illegal drugs and the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

The Malaysian leader said his country is committed to take the necessary steps to address terrorism and violent extremism through its Trilateral Cooperation Agreement with the Philippines and Indonesia.

Under that agreement, the three countries have agreed to undertake unilateral maritime and air patrols to tackle the growing security challenges in their maritime borders.

The rotational naval and air patrols, as well as information sharing and communications, are supported by the Joint Maritime Coordinating Centers in Tarakan, Indonesia; Tawau, Malaysia; and Bongao, Philippines.
Thursday, March 7th, 2019 (11:10 am) - Score 1,309

The Cambridgeshire County Council in England has today set an ambitious new target, which will see them aim to achieve over 30% coverage of Gigabit speed full fibre (FTTP etc.) broadband connectivity across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by 2022, among other things.

At present full fibre networks are already said to cover around 8.4% of premises in the county, which is above Ofcoms most recent national UK average of around 6%+. On top of that the local Connecting Cambridgeshire project is still working alongside Openreach (BT) to help extend fixed line superfast broadband (24Mbps+) coverage to over 99% of premises in the county by the end of 2020 (here).

However last year also revealed a new 5.6m investment by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority and 4m from the Governments new Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) programme, which were both confirmed as part of the regions new digital strategy (here).

On top of that Cityfibre and Vodafone are already in the process of deploying FTTH to cover homes in both Cambridge (here) and Peterborough (here). Not to mention similar network expansions by other ISPs and operators, such as Virgin Media, Hyperoptic and Openreach (BT) etc.

Suffice to say that a lot of progress is already being made, which may explain why the local authority thinks their full fibre plans can be achieved within the Connecting Cambridgeshire programmes budget, at no extra cost to the Council, following successful bids for over 14m additional EU and Government funding*, together with private investment from commercial providers.

Councillor Ian Bates, Chair of the Economy and Environment Committee, said: Cambridgeshire County Councils forward thinking approach to extending full fibre coverage aims to put the county at the forefront of the UKs digital development and supports the Governments ambition to reach 50% of the country with fibre by 2025. It builds upon Connecting Cambridgeshires strength in delivering leading digital programmes, particularly the superfast broadband rollout which will reach 97% of premises this year, and is on track to reach over 99% of the county by 2020, bringing the latest fibre to the premise technology to rural areas. Digital connectivity is a game changer so we must plan ahead to increase the availability of gigabit services for homes and businesses across the county by using public sector assets innovatively and creating conditions that make it commercially viable for full fibre rollout.

The forward thinking plans, which have been in development for awhile, are currently still subject to the approval by Members of the County Councils Economy and Environment Committee on 14th March 2019. But at this stage that vote appears to be more of a rubber stamping exercise.

The Four Year Plan  Using Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) technology to complete the superfast broadband rollout, which is on track to reach over 99% of homes and businesses by 2020, including Government funding for 5000 additional premises in hard to reach rural areas.  Maximising commercial investment  proactively removing barriers to rolling out telecoms infrastructure through the Enabling Digital Delivery (EDD) team. In the last year, over 80m has been invested in full fibre networks across the county by commercial providers*.  Using the Councils assets to support better connectivity such as making fibre ducting under the Busway and cycleways available on a commercial basis.  Upgrading around 150 public buildings with full fibre to support gigabit-capable services, particularly rural areas of Huntingdonshire, East Cambridgeshire and Fenland using Government funding. Creating a leading edge Council policy for fibre ducting to be included in all new transport infrastructure schemes.

In terms of the additional funding that will be required to help support all this, the current programme includes 10m+ clawback from BT to extend the superfast broadband roll-out (greater focus expected on FTTP), 4m from the LFFN fund, 4m from DEFRAs Rural Broadband Scheme and 5.6m from the CPCA to expand the digital connectivity strategy, plus another bid for further EU funding.

Meanwhile private sector investment in local full fibre networks is said to total 80m. The council has also provided a useful infographic for their plan (you might need to right-click and open in a separate window to read it properly as its quite large).
Whitfield Diffie: "If he [Malcolm Turnbull] had outlawed high-energy reactions and uranium and plutonium they could protect themselves from nuclear weapons."

Public-key cryptography pioneer Whitfield Diffie has poured scorn on former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull over the latter's comment that "the laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia" made in the run-up to the introduction of the encryption bill in Parliament last year.

Diffie, who is currently a cryptographer and security expert at Cryptomathic, said Turnbull's statement was one of the memorable lines from the whole debate over the encryption law which was passed by the Federal Parliament on 6 December last year.

He told the Cryptographers' Panel at the ongoing RSA Conference in San Francisco, "It's [the encryption law debate] given us this great line from the Prime Minister that the laws of mathematics may be all well and good but the laws of Australia apply in Australia.

"And I think he hasn't seen the possibilities, if he'd extended his views to cover the laws of physics and the laws of chemistry and then if he'd outlawed high-energy reactions and uranium and plutonium they could protect themselves from nuclear weapons... and I think with the right chemical laws they could protect themselves from global warming."

His words were greeted with loud laughter.

The Cryptographers' Panel at RSAC 2019. The encryption law is discussed starting at about 12:25.

The panel was moderated by Zulfikar Ramzan, the chief technology officer of RSA, and included Ron Rivest, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Shafi Goldwasser, director of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing; Diffie, independent researcher Paul Kocher and Tal Rabin, Distinguished Researcher and manager of the Cryptographic Research Group at IBM Research.

Adi Shamir, co-founder of the RSA Conference, could not attend as he was denied a visa by the US Government.

Added Diffie: "But seriously, I think the problem is roughly this: that it's actually easy to disrupt the use of cryptography by legitimate large-scale commercial organisations to [give] them a lot of trouble. It's not clear whether those techniques are going to be the same amount of trouble to, for example, terrorists.

"And so I think this is a step that is not going to be productive. But my own view, probably lots of people see as radical: I would like to see issues of personal privacy and autonomy, many of them, taken out of the control of legislatures. Now that isn't easy to do when and I'm afraid I think that progress is likely to be in the other direction."

He said he was very worried about the situation as it existed. "At this moment, you still have a certain amount of privacy in your own thoughts. The mind-reading is kind of limited, it's not zero. They can now do things and find out whether you're familiar with something or not. Well, I think that electronic-brain interfaces may well come to the point where they can read your mind, and all that will protect you is a subpoena.

"If we look back 200 years, anyone could have a private conversation. You walked far off and away from other people and if they can't hear, then you had greater security than anyone in the world has today. I think if you look at other things that are still your own that way, they are eroding very quickly."

Kocher said the situation created by the encryption law was "100% backwards".

"Australia's new laws can put developers in prison if they refuse to put backdoors in their products or if they tell anybody that they've done it," he pointed out. "To me, this is 100% backwards. If anybody should be going to prison, it's developers who sneak backdoors into products and then don't tell their managers and their customers that they've done it.

"The other thing that's important to remember here is that secret backdoors are kind of like pathogens and governments have done a terrible job of managing them.

"For anybody who had to deal with the NotPetya situation  and that cost companies somewhere around US$10 billion  it was basically the weaponisation of exploits that were leaked from the US National Security Agency.

"I don't think Australia can do a better job than the NSA. So this is not going to end well, for, really any of us, to have this kind of policy being enacted whether it's in Australia or anywhere else in the world.

Rivest quipped that it was "a great example of the quote, the road to hell is paved with good intentions".

Kocher had the final word. "Forcing restaurants to poison bad customers might have net positives in certain situations, but it's not really a precedent we want to set," he said.
Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei Technologies has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, challenging section 889 of the US National Defence Authorisation Act which it says unfairly discriminates against it and prevents it from operating in the US.

Announcing the court action at its headquarters in Shenzhen on Thursday, Huawei rotating chairman Guo Ping said the company had requested the court to declare the relevant provision of the Act unconstitutional.

He pointed out that the US had been carrying on a campaign of making allegations against Huawei and painting it as a security risk, but had provided no proof to substantiate any of these allegations.

"The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," he said.

Guo referred to the, adding that even though the premier US spy agency had obtained the company's source code it could not find any vulnerabilities.

The NSA hacked into Huawei's servers, an operation codenamed Shotgiant, to find links between the company and the People's Liberation Army, according to documents made public by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2014.

From left: Li Dafeng, executive member of the Supervisory Board and director of the ICT Infrastructure Managing Board Office; John Suffolk, senior vice-president and global cyber security and privacy officer; Dr Song Liuping, senior vice-president and chief legal officer; Guo Ping, rotating chairman of Huawei; Glen D. Nager, partner at Jones Day and lead counsel of the lawsuit; and Dr Yang Chaobin, president of Huaweis 5G Product Line.

But it also wanted to exploit Huawei's technology so that when the company sold equipment to other countries, both US allies and enemies, the NSA could, in the words of The New York Times, "roam through their computer and telephone networks to conduct surveillance and, if ordered by the president, offensive cyberoperations".

An NSA document was quoted as saying: Many of our targets communicate over Huawei-produced products. We want to make sure that we know how to exploit these products", to "gain access to networks of interest around the world.

Said Guo: "This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers. We look forward to the court's verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people."

According to the complaint, Section 889 of the 2019 NDAA bars all US Government agencies from buying Huawei equipment and services, but also bars them from contracting with or awarding grants or loans to third parties who buy Huawei equipment or services, without any executive or judicial process.

The company said this violated the Bill of Attainder Clause and the Due Process Clause. "It also violates the Separation-of-Powers principles enshrined in the US Constitution, because Congress was both making the law, and attempting to adjudicate and execute it."

"At Huawei we are proud that we are the most open, transparent, and scrutinised company in the world," said John Suffolk, Huaweis global cyber security and privacy officer. "Huawei's approach to security by design, development and deployment sets a high standards bar that few can match."

The company claimed estimates from industry sources showed that allowing it to compete would reduce the cost of wireless infrastructure by between 15% and 40%. This would save North America at least US$20 billion over the next four years.

Guo added, "If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the US and help it build the best 5G networks. Huawei is willing to address the US Government's security concerns. Lifting the NDAA ban will give the US Government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues."
On-site wireless communications provider Ascom has appointed Technical Solutions as its channel partner for the New Zealand market.

Ascom, which is focused on healthcare ICT and mobile workflow solutions, says it aims to accelerate the companys commitment to the aged care industry.

Delivering integrated and orchestrated clinical workflow solutions, the Ascom Healthcare Platform closes digital information gaps between devices, aged-care systems, and care teams.

Ascom says Technical Solutions prides itself on delivering superior service and consultancy to the healthcare market throughout New Zealand  noting that the company has a proven track record of reliably delivering high value, industry-specific services and design solutions to their clients; and a genuine focus on client success.

Will Granger, Key Accounts director at Ascom, said: We are delighted to be entering this segment with Technical Solutions, to address the evolving and changing care model for elderly care in New Zealand. Ascom solutions address challenges such as fewer instances of miscommunication, preventing double documentation errors, increasing the time available for direct patient care.

Our heritage of over 20 years representing these solutions in the New Zealand Healthcare market coupled with our workflow intelligence that enhances alert handling, resident communication, and staff collaboration.

Gareth Newton, director at Technical Solutions, said, We are excited to partner with Ascom, the synergies between our two companies are apparent, as together with Ascom we can offer our clients and the aged care/medical industry better service and integration.

We believe by working together; we offer healthcare providers a unique solution that will help them deliver even better patient care in-turn making care delivery more efficient."
Malcolm Turnbull appears to be trying to stay relevant after his tenure as prime minister ended.

Malcolm Turnbull is talking about technology again. Yes, that same Turnbull who gave us the multi-technology mix  or Malcolm-technology mix , take your pick  and also fibre-to-the-node.

The same man who decided to retain the ageing HFC network to supply broadband so that the rollout could be done cheaper and faster. That's a move which has certainly turned out well.

But this time he's been dealing with weightier matters and advising the UK to follow Australia and ban Chinese companies from a role in the rollout of 5G networks. He was giving a speech  presumably for a fee  to the Henry Jackson Society, a neoconservative British foreign policy think-tank, in London on Tuesday.

There were some rather startling claims made by Turnbull, but then that should come as no surprise to people who have seen him in action Down Under.

For one, he repeated the falsehood that there will be no separation between the core and the radio access network in 5G, a claim that has also been spouted by the head of the Australian Signals Directorate,

"Network function virtualisation and mobile edge computing means processing, or intelligence, will be distributed throughout the network, and the old distinction between the core and the Radio Access Network ( or edge) will no longer be applicable," Turnbull said.

But last November, a 5G trial in Auckland conducted jointly by Huawei and New Zealand telco Spark, showed that this claim was just that  a claim.

The trial used a Huawei 5G NR (New Radio on both the C-band and mmWave) and a 4G Radio Access Network, both of which were deployed by using dedicated hardware connected to the Cisco Evolved Packet Core, with each component isolated.

Turnbull also claimed that Australia's decision to ban Huawei and ZTE from playing a role in 5G networks was "not because another country told us to let alone for protectionist reasons, but to defend our own sovereignty and to hedge against changing times".

Sure. Pull the other one, Malcolm. Anyone who has lived in Australia for some time, knows that it strains the imagination to think of any decision like this being taken without American intervention.

It's interesting to note that some others are pushing the same line  "we acted on our own, the Americans did not influence us".

Once politicians leave the stage, they want to stay relevant by commenting on things, mostly about which they know nothing. Turnbull would do well to learn from the example of Paul Bremer, overseer of the American invasion of Iraq and a bungler of no small proportions.

As Peter Maass pointed out in The Intercept, Bremer wrote a memoir after he got back from Iraq and then, when that did not sell well, turned to painting and then became a ski instructor.

Turnbull might like to consider something similar. After all, he hails from a wealthy suburb, one where these hobbies are probably very popular.
Women who work in the Australian technology sector are as one in saying that more of their tribe are needed in the ICT industry for a number of reasons. To mark International Women's Day, a number of them offered their opinions as to how the IT industry can attract more female talent in 2019 and in the years ahead.

Several of them also outlined what could be done to ensure that women were able to break through the glass ceiling and assume leadership roles in what is a massively male-dominated sector.

Laura Doonin, director at e-commerce provider Moustache Republic, said she was privileged to be a woman in technology at a time when she felt the right conversations were taking place.

"Women are taking a stand to move towards equality and change is in the air, but the lack of female leadership is a real thing," she said. "The speed of technology and digital innovation is not slowing down and there is a greater need now more than ever before for leaders with strong emotional intelligence to be in positions of power to ensure ethical business practices.

"I believe women in the tech industry dont need to be coders. I am in no way a data scientist, but if we understand technology and its intended purpose and are strategic then now is the time for a 'feminine' type of leadership  one that is thoughtful, collaborative, and inclusive.

Inspiring a new generation of women to learn computer science empowers female entrepreneurs and employees to come up with unique solutions to new problems," said Lara Pascoe, regional marketing lead at secondary storage solutions provider Cohesity.

"Computer science is a growing field, one in which we desperately need more top talent. It is one in which women cant be left behind. To start at the grassroots level, there needs to be a focus on engaging women in STEM courses and education, teaching them how to code and apply computer engineering practises.

"We are seeing a lot more education, support and women in tech initiatives around the world and I think its only a matter of time before we start seeing some positive change.

Shannon Campbell, a senior security specialist at CQR Consulting, said the term information technology, which was born in the 1960s, referred to the "amazing ability" to store and index data in place.

"The focus switched to the evolving IT space where coding created capability and then hackers broke the code. Today, this coding and the hacking focus and stigma of sitting behind a desk staring at a computer all day is what girls believe 'being in IT' is all about."

She said her vision of IT was much wider, sexier and much more involved than coding and hacking. "The IT space has evolved rapidly. We have the world at our fingertips, we are interconnected and it is an essential enabler of business. Do we need to change the name of IT to something more representative of today to inspire?" Campbell asked.

By changing the name, can we reach a whole new generation of girls and young women who want to be communicators, problem solvers and global entrepreneurs in an integrated corporate environment? Can we help companies build empires, market goods all over the world, secure secrets, create effective and efficient human processes to support this critical enabler? This new world view must be mentored in the workplace and marketed by women to schools and universities to capture the interest of the next generation and leave them with powerful images of the possible."

She added that IT was not not just for coders and hackers. "There's a real skills shortage in information communication technology corporate integration experts. Its about business goals, communication, risk, security and money at all levels of business.

Carmen Culina, head of Product at digital transformation firm Certus 3, pointed out that, according to some studies, 5% or fewer of the managers in the tech industry were female. "This is to everyone's detriment, she said.

"We need a greater sense of personal accountability for this situation from corporate leaders and managers responsible for hiring and promotion.

"STEM skills education may go part of the way in improving participation, but it won't solve the problems inside science and technology companies that prevent women from getting into the executive pipeline and ultimately the CEO's position.

Nicole Stirling, director, Marketing, Asia Pacific & Japan for Acquia, a company that sells a customised version of the open source content management system Drupal, felt there was a big chance for women to use their unique upbringing, skills and personality to the technology community.

"Right now, women represent roughly 17% of the Drupal community, which far exceeds representation in open source of 1.5%, but its still too low," she said.

"The open source community creates connection, learning, employment and leadership opportunity. If youre even remotely curious about whats involved in being a 'Drupalist', ask to shadow a developer for a week or sign up for a computer science course.

Stirling also recommended that women take an active role in their personal careers. "Dont rely on your employer to challenge or train you. Join a developer or Girls in Tech community and get involved, be outspoken. Learn what others are doing and take their experiences into any networking you do," she added.

Inclusion and diversity are the biggest challenges facing the ICT industry, according to Tori Starkey, general manager-Marketing for camera and office equipment manufacturer, Ricoh Australia.

"In particular, diversity of thinking," she said. "We are continually seeing that teams that are cognitively diverse and have psychological safety are the best performing, yet often female leaders in particular are deemed to have limited 'leadership capability' or aren't a good 'cultural fit' if they have a differently leadership style and way of thinking to the norm. This leaves a lot of potential on the table in terms of innovation, creative thinking and problem solving.

From a marketing perspective diversity also enables us to better align and understand our customers to design experiences and solutions that create value. If we don't actively address inclusion as well as diversity, we will never address the talent pipeline issue in one of our fastest growing industries.

Vivienne Horsfall, ANZ marketing manager for identity management vendor Ping Identity, said attracting women into IT started from the grassroots.

"Changing the perception of STEM programs in school is paramount," she said. "Programs must be inspirational, relevant and capture the imagination while evoking an intrinsic 'coolness'. Providing influential female role models and mentors is extremely powerful as girls can project their future self.

Getting excited about the application of STEM in the real world is an important element to capture their imagination. These experiences must be relevant to the different development stages to have greater appeal."

Horsfall pointed out that, for example, younger girls often wanted to have fun, and therefore an excursion to a theme park working alongside engineers to understand the design and technology of building a rollercoaster was an appealing proposition.

"As they mature, there tends to be increased consciousness of the world around them so investigating technologies that are saving the world - cleaning water supplies and our oceans becomes more relevant and finally playing with the technologies that are changing our lives such as robotics & AI.

The workplace itself is changing and as more companies embrace and honour their mantra and truly understand the benefits of a diverse workforce, women will feel valued and the domino effect will prevail.

Petra Smith, virtual security consultant at Aura Information Security, said the cyber security skills shortage was now approaching three million people globally. "But less than 20% of the current workforce in the industry are women," she observed.

"This comes at a time when analysis from AustCyber suggests that a shortage in Australias cyber security workforce may be costing the country more than $400 million in lost revenue and salaries and predicting that we may need 17,600 more cyber security workers by 2026.

Diverse teams are better at solving problems and in an industry that's all about solving complex problems, the lack of diversity another business risk.

"So how do we solve the problem of gender inequality in technology? Representation matters. Women and gender minorities need to see people like them succeeding. It isn't enough to interest young women to enter the industry. We also need to break down the barriers that keep women from advancing and becoming tomorrow's role models. I feel incredibly fortunate that my job gives me opportunities to inspire women at the start of their tech careers to get into information security by sharing my experience.

Joanne Wong, senior regional marketing director for the Asia Pacific and Japan at security intelligence company LogRhythm, said there was a long way to go before greater gender diversity was achieved in the technology talent pool, though many steps had been taken towards improving gender equity in the workplace.

"To help strike the balance, we will need to rally both organisations and individuals," she said. "From an organisational level, companies will have to set the stage to help women acquire tech-related skills. These organisations can pave the way for women to either shift their careers or develop a hybrid skillset, marrying their current skills with technology. For example, a finance manager can learn analytics which may be relevant for fintech companies."

Wong stressed that at an individual level, it was vital that women to adopt a mindset of lifelong learning and constant upskilling to stay relevant. "In a fast-moving environment where organisations are going digital, cyber security know-how is becoming an increasingly vital skillset for any employee," she said. "Women who are willing to learn this skill will be able to get an edge over the others and in fact, play a significant role to help the company grow.

Gender fairness at the workplace is a big ambition, but definitely one that is achievable. As a cyber security professional, I believe technology will be at the heart of some of the biggest changes in the next decade. Artificial intelligence will be a huge enabler but we will still need irreplaceable abilities such as human instinct and experience to help us discern false positives from true cyber incidents. Women will be able to harness their 'women's intuition' by giving a different perspective based on their life experiences and wisdom. It is those who are able to leverage both technology and personal skill sets that will truly stand out from the crowd.

Barbara Kay, senior director of Security Product Marketing at enterprise technology solutions company ExtraHop, was of the opinion that the need for both male and female cyber security professionals created a great, reasonably level playing field.

"Todays youth are growing up surrounded and buffeted by security and privacy concerns," she said. "Using tools like Khan Academy and code.org, anyone can get more comfortable with the technical components and then layer on understanding of the security concepts.

"Gaining a certification in security is also a way to establish credibility - and frankly this space is starved for people. Bring your curiosity and you will find more environments using tools and automation to facilitate effective workflows and an environment that enhances skill development on the job. When it comes to cyber security, learning never stops for both men and women.

Corryn Webb, talent lead at IT solutions provider Veritec, said her employer supported the goal of encouraging more women to join the industry.

Diversity, fairness and respect are fundamental values of Veritec," she said. "One of many initiatives we have is the recent launch of the Veritec Impressive Women group, a forum to celebrate inclusion and one that takes inspiration from female leaders in the industry who share their own journeys, conduct workshops and develop actions to encourage others to join the IT Industry and support progression.

"Our dedication to diversity is exemplified with our very own Women in Information and Communication Champion of Change who is our chief executive, Keiran Mott.

Claudia Pirko, regional vice-president of enterprise software company BlackLine, said she had seen organisations trying to grapple with the inclusion of more women in the IT industry for the last two decades.

"I dont think this is a quick fix that can be changed overnight or by simply enforcing women quotas," she observed. "It requires a much more robust approach, starting all the way from primary school and then through high school and on to university, and then, of course, as women consider their first job placement.

Women (and men) for that matter need to see more diversity in their peers and management and then accepting and supporting women in IT and in IT leadership will become more of the standard and norm. I know for me, personally, when I started my Computing Science Degree in 1998 it was very daunting as a female as at least 90% of my colleagues back then were men.

Barbara Staruk, managing director, Product and Development of Tribal Group, said a key factors in making women take up careers in IT was to get to a position where it was not exceptional.

"My parents were both developers, having gone to the same technical university," she said. "They worked as developers at the same company for many years when I was young. In my mind, there was no difference in my mother and my father. Women literally played the same roles as men.

"This is the environment that we need to re-create  where women in an IT role is to be expected and normalised. This happens by the small number of women who are currently in these roles creating spaces to show the younger generations that is not only possible, but normal. This can happen through interactions in primary school, mentorship or just through promotion on social media."

Staruk said another factor that could drive change was to avoid separation earlier in life. "A part of normalising womens role in technology is normalising girls roles in the classroom," she said. "If young girls are given the same expectations in terms of interest and aptitude for STEM learning, the outcome of more [women being] interested in STEM will follow.

Moving women into senior roles in IT is also another step on the same process. Organisations need to be flexible to the demands of family and the realities of working parenthood. Tribal has a strong ethos in flexibility, this must be present in every organisation to ensure that it is a better option for a woman and mother to continue to progress in their roles while managing a family. As technology evolves, the IT industry has every capability to offer the flexibility to encourage women to balance progression in work and family responsibilities."

She said it was very important to bear in mind that many roles in technology were actually simply business roles.

"There is an incorrect conception that one must be a technologist to work in a technology company. But, we must remember that much of what powers technology is business roles: project management, finance, consulting services, etc. For those who arent technology interested, there are still many roles in technology.
The Federal Government's national quality benchmark of 90% of premises being able to obtain speeds of 50Mbps in the fixed line footprint of the NBN will be achieved in only two states and the NT, according to evidence provided to the NBN Joint Standing Committee.

Victoria (92%), NSW (91%) and the Northern Territory (96%) are the three which will meet the guarantee. The percentages for other regions are; Queensland (89%), ACT (84%), South Australia (88%), Tasmania (87%) and Western Australia (85%).

Labor Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Josh Wilson, the member for Fremantle and deputy chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the NBN, said in a statement that these levels were based on network performance in 2022, and not 2020 when the NBN Co says the rollout will be completed.

They said this came after Labor had warned Communications Minister Mitch Fifield repeatedly that the levels of fibre-to-the-curb were not enough, especially in WA where the fixed-line speeds were the slowest.

"It is astonishing that despite a $21.4 billion cost blowout, and rollout delay of four years, the Liberals cant even meet their own low-ball speed mandate in five out of eight States and territories," Rowland and Wilson said.

"Under the original fibre plan, the entire fixed line footprint in every state and territory could achieve speeds of 1000Mbps.

"Under the Liberals, not even 90% of the fixed-footprint can achieve 50Mbps."
Animal Studies Scholars and Bloom Community School Students to Observe and Enrich Louisville Zoo Primates

March 7, 2019

Illinois Wesleyan students interact with primates at the Louisville Zoo.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.  A group of first-year Illinois Wesleyan University students will spend their upcoming Spring Break observing and enriching the lives of primates at the Louisville (Kentucky) Zoo alongside elementary students from Bloom Community School.

Led by Assistant Professor of Psychology Ellen Furlong, Illinois Wesleyans Animal Studies Scholars are members of the Animal Studies First-Year Experience. The scholars include elementary education major Brylee Lutman 22 (Bloomington, Illinois), nursing major Raven Robinson 22 (Newport Beach, California) and psychology major Lindsey Fitch 22 (West Chicago, Illinois).

During their Spring Break trip, students will put into practice some of the things they learned while enrolled in a Gateway Animal Studies course during the fall semester.

The Animal Studies Scholars and the Bloom Community School students will spend their week at the zoo observing primate behavior before designing enrichment experiences for the animals. Enrichment tools that meet zookeeper approval will be presented to the animals at the end of the week, and the students will get to observe their responses. The trip will provide students with an educational experience that integrates learning about ecology, animal behavior and psychology with elements of design and construction.

Illinois Wesleyan students create enrichment tools for primates at the Louisville Zoo.

The experience builds nicely on the work that students did in their Gateway, Furlong said. They thought about the ethics of zoos, the roles of zoos in our society, and how zoos may help with conservation and education efforts.

Students who participate in the trip will be actively engaged in making the community better, which Furlong believes is emblematic of an Illinois Wesleyan education.

This experience asks students to think critically and creatively: to integrate their concerns about the welfare of animals with their research on a particular species, and their observations of the animals behavior, Furlong said.

Furlongs Animal Studies Scholars First-Year Experience is a full year in which scholars from a variety of disciplines explore questions related to animals.

One of those was the question of what do we owe animals when they are in our care? Furlong said. Challenging animals minds when they are in captivity is an ethical duty that the American Zoological Association takes seriously.

A primate at the Louisville Zoo interacts with an enrichment tool created by Illinois Wesleyan students.

The upcoming trip marks Furlongs fourth extended trip to the Louisville Zoo with students. Furlong researches thinking in both dogs and primates, and while not directly related to her current research, Furlong has deep connections with the zoo.

I often conduct research at the Louisville Zoo, Furlong said. In fact, I began my relationship with the zoo back when I was in college, and we have continued to work together since.

Other Illinois Wesleyan researchers who recently collaborated with the zoo include Jessica Kraut 16, who explored spatial cognition in tigers and bears housed there, and Maisy Bowden 18 who studied social facilitation in gorillas, seals, sea lions, and orangutans.

Grace Sheese will also be joining the trip. In addition to serving as an Adjunct Instructor in the School of Art, Sheese is a co-founder and current head teacher at Bloom Community School.

By Megan Baker 21
For a better experience on our website and avoid any trouble, we strongly recommand to activate Javascript ( click here ).

Hello and welcome to Journal des Palaces

You are a communication or the PR manager?

Click here

You are an applicant?

Check out our questions and answers here !
Finance executives in the United States continue to feel good about growth in their respective industries, despite creeping concerns that the good times could be coming to an end in the near future.

The fairly rosy economic outlook was reflected in a survey of 844 U.S.-based finance decision-makers  mainly CFOs, CEOs, and controllers  by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.

The first-quarter Business & Industry Economic Outlook Survey released Thursday shows declines from the prior year in all nine components of the CPA Outlook Index (CPAOI).

The overall CPAOI is 76, the same as in 2018s final quarter but several points below the post-recession high of 81 set this time last year. A reading above 50 indicates a generally positive outlook.

That positive sentiment is certainly being felt at Vics Crane and Heavy Haul Inc., a privately owned Minnesota company that handles jobs across the Upper Midwest and specializes in work at oil refineries.

Were having a good year this year, and were expecting an even better year this upcoming year, said Jim Dutcher, CPA, the companys CFO.

The company had record years coming out of the recession but then saw dips, bringing the companys annual revenue down to $30 million. The last few years have seen a climb back up, with contracts for major work expected to bring in $35 million to $40 million this year, Dutcher said.

Revenue trending upward

Also pleased with revenue projections is Ted Sarenski, CPA/PFS, the CEO and owner of Blue Ocean Strategic Capital, a personal finance firm in Syracuse, N.Y. Sarenski said hes expecting revenue gains of 5% to 10%, enough to add another financial planner to his eight-person team.

That predicted uptick in revenue is shared by other financial executives, with an average increase of 4.4% in revenue reported this quarter. Profit is also expected to bump up, with margins of 3.6% predicted over the next year. Thats up slightly from the 3.4% profit projection of a quarter ago but down from the 4.4% projection from a year earlier.

Clients are seeking Sarenskis financial services firm in large part because increasing demands in their own work mean they dont have the capacity to plan their own financial future, he said. Low unemployment levels have also helped his bottom line.

Employment is very good in terms of everyone having jobs, he said, adding that theres also more job security now than in years past.

But lessons from the recession have lingered, he said, with clients more focused on savings and planning than what he saw prerecession.

People are more aware of the idea they need to save more themselves, he said. Its not total optimism that everything is going to be great, but theyre not overly pessimistic either.

Watching for hints of a downturn

The survey found 57% of respondents were optimistic about the U.S. economy, down from 79% a year ago. The global economy is also a concern: A year ago, 71% of respondents were optimistic about the global economy. This quarter, just 34% remain optimistic. Behind labor shortages, the factor cited most often as having an impact on respondents businesses over the next 12 months was global economic conditions.

Trade tension is not an issue that affects a majority of respondents, but it does carry concerns: 43% say they are worried about a general, global economic slowdown as a result of trade tension, up from 36% who felt that way in the third quarter of 2018. Regarding Brexit, the UKs plan to depart the European Union, U.S. finance decision-makers mainly see a neutral impact (71%) to their bottom lines. Those forecasting a negative impact, however, rose to 16% from 4% since the second quarter of last year, the last time the question was asked.

Trade tensions, the cooling economy in China, the looming overhang of Brexit on the United Kingdom and European Union, a series of regional conflicts  all of these have contributed to a sense of uncertainty and pessimism about the global economy, said Ash Noah, CPA, CGMA, managing director of CGMA learning, education, and development for the Association. On the other hand, were seeing a bit more of a stable outlook for the U.S. economy this quarter.

Keeping a close eye on the possibility of an economic slowdown is Sara Smith, CPA, CGMA, the CFO of ALPS Corp., a legal malpractice insurance carrier in Missoula, Mont.

The 62-person company insures attorneys, and Smith said it generally sees an uptick of claims during economic downturns. Businesses and dissatisfied corporate clients tend to be the first wave of claims, and individuals unhappy with their legal advisers in personal matters like divorces come in a later, second wave.

You look for something that might help mitigate that loss, Smith said about why malpractice claims rise in rocky economic times.

But the insurance firm areas have been doing well, as they clear regulatory hurdles in additional states to offer their services. ALPS is licensed to sell malpractice policies in 45 states, and it writes policies in 38 of them, specializing in offering malpractice insurance to small legal firms in rural areas.

Smith expects revenue growth of 5% to 8% over the next year.

We feel pretty good at least about the next year or so, she said.

Finding qualified personnel a challenge

Staffing continues to be the major challenge for many companies, with availability of skilled personnel highlighted again as a top business challenge in the economic outlook survey. Other top challenges were domestic competition, employee and benefit costs, and regulatory requirements.

The staffing challenge is acutely felt at Vics Cranes and Heavy Haul, Dutcher said. Company officials struggle to find qualified operators, especially on what are called turnaround projects, where oil refineries are shut down for repair or service, and the crane and heavy equipment operators work day and night shifts to get the site operational as soon as possible.

While the company has a base of payroll employees who work in projects close to company headquarters, some of the companys work is performed by union contractors who travel across the country for employment.

Vics had some success last year attracting the needed crane and heavy equipment operators by tacking on an additional $100 per diem for hotels and meals, an incentive the company may use again, Dutcher said.

While finding talent remains the top challenge in the survey, that issue isnt universal. At ALPS, the Montana legal malpractice insurance provider, the firm hired two additional people in January and expects to add two to four hires over the next year.

The main reason they have success is location, Smith said. The firm is headquartered in Missoula, a university town considered the cultural hub of Montana with a steady stream of students arriving each year and people looking to stay on in the area.

Podcast: Ken Witt, CPA, CGMA, the Associations lead technical manager for management accounting, delves further into the results, with a look at what finance decision-makers expect of their businesses in the next 12 months, as well as concerns that make them cautious. Listen now >
Learn Vallarta through Cultural Experiences

The Mexican culture as reflected in the very popular vacation destination of Puerto Vallarta can be experienced best by taking a walking tour. Puerto Vallarta Walking Tours offers eight such walks. Their aim is to immerse you in the local culture for a couple of hours so you feel more comfortable being here as you explore on your own.

An experienced guide will take you to different neighborhoods where you may see examples of Spanish Colonial architecture, hear the history of how Vallarta came to be, meet and talk to local artisans and vendors, taste a fresh hot tortilla while strolling an open market, or even make chocolate based on an ancient Mayan recipe.

Have more time? Visit a pre-Hispanic rural pueblo, a cowboy town, or snorkel and hike as you spend a day away on the water.

Visit PuertoVallartaWalkingTours.com to see all tour details and photos. Most walks are flat. A couple are not suitable for people with mobility challenges. Two are wheelchair friendly. All are suitable for children 12 and older.

PVWT is owned and operated by Sandra Cesca, an American who has lived in Puerto Vallarta full time since 2008 and started her walking tours in 2009. She is certified by the Department of Tourism and personally knows all of the people you will meet while walking Puerto Vallarta.

She is also a cultural photographer and uses many of her photos on her websites so you can see where you will be walking and what you will see and do. Find reviews from her many clients on Trip Advisor where she has a Certificate of Excellence.



 B E L O W T H E F O L D 





Sandra lives in Puerto Vallarta full-time. Her photos and articles can be found on puertovallartawalkingtours.com; Instagram and Facebook. She can be contacted at sandra.learn.vallarta(at)gmail.com ; or sandra.cesca.photography(at)gmail.com. Vanilla beans cultivated around the world originally came from Mexico. When Cortes came to conquer Mexico in 1519, he sent samples of the vanilla orchid back to Spain, where they eventually spread to other countries. But how can you tell if vanilla extract is pure or imitation?Sotuta de Peon, once one of the largest hacienda plantations for the production of natural fiber rope, was established in the 1800s just outside of Merida, Mexico. Today, it is a living museum, having been restored from its abandoned state over 25 years ago.Walking around Puerto Vallarta you will see many palapas, especially along the beach, where they serve as sun protection. So what is a palapa? It's an open-air thatched roof structure that is commonly constructed by local craftsmen using natural materials from the jungle.Dulce Maria Morales sits at our daily market removing the spines from nopal (prickly pear) cactus to prepare them for sale. When I first came to Mexico, I asked her what to do with these lovely green pads. Now, after many meals which have included various preparations, I love this food.The always smiling Jesus, whose nickname is 'Willy Wonka,' and I became friends at least 10 years ago when I started to bring people to one of his family's Puerto Vallarta 'dulcerias' to taste his many yummy products. Caramelized nuts, not chocolate, are his specialty.I first met Marta several years ago, after hearing about her famous breads, cakes, and cookies in the small Mexican town of El Tuito. I have visited her many times since because her butter cookies are to die for. If you ever visit Puerto Vallarta, I will happily take you there.I was walking by this shop in downtown Puerto Vallarta when I was attracted to the hundreds of wooden shapes hanging on the walls. Turns out they were 'milagros,' which means 'miracles' in Spanish, and they have been used for over 4000 years as a way to express gratitude.Mexico has long been known for its talented artists and craftsmen. Some techniques date back hundreds of years. Many shops and galleries in Puerto Vallarta carry these beautiful, handmade pieces, some examples of which can be seen on some of my walking tours.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 40F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 40F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
VANCOUVER, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Advantage Lithium Corp. (the "Company" or "Advantage Lithium") (TSX Venture: AAL) (OTCQX: AVLIF) is pleased to announce that the updated resource estimate for the Company's flagship Cauchari Project in Jujuy, Argentina has more than doubled from the previous resource announced in May 2018, making the project the second largest development project in Argentina (based on NI 43-101 compliant M&I resources only).

The updated resource is based on the results of the Phase II and Phase III drilling programs. The update, prepared by FloSolutions SpA, has increased the resource to a volume of approximately 1,800 million cubic metres of brine at an average concentration of 476 mg/l lithium, for 4.8 Mt of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) in the Measured and Indicated Categories and approximately 600 million cubic metres of brine at an average grade of 473 mg/l lithium for 1.5 Mt of LCE in the Inferred category.

David Sidoo, the Founder and CEO of Advantage Lithium, commented on the significant resource expansion at the Cauchari Project: "We were delighted when the Phase II drilling program delivered the 3Mt resource in May 2018 but the subsequent Phase III drilling has delivered significant additional resources to the project, doubling the resource size. It positions the Cauchari JV as the second largest undeveloped lithium project in Argentina, based on the project M+I Resources (without considering the Inferred resources). This is a fantastic result for the Company and allows us to reassess the future production capacity for the project in order to maximise value for our shareholders."

Project Highlights

LCE Resources more than doubled, with 4.8 Mt of Measured and Indicated and 1.5 Mt Inferred

The Archibarca Area (NW Sector) contains just above one 1 Mt Measured Resources at an average lithium concentration of 564 mg/l; the Clay and Halite units (in the SE Sector) contain 3 Mt of Measured and Indicated Resources with an average Li concentration of 481 mg/l and the Deep Sand (SE Sector) with 0.4 Mt of Indicated resources at 500 mg/l lithium

The result of the extended pumping tests on CAU07 in the Archibarca area and CAU11 in the SE Sector demonstrate favourable brine extractability characteristics

The Phase III program has confirmed that Salar de Cauchari is a major brine basin with the resource open at depth below 600 m and to the south

and to the south Excellent chemistry for brine processing with the Mg/Li ratio averaging ~2.5, very similar to Orocobre's Olaroz project

The Company intends to submit a full technical report within 45 days of this filing, in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) to support the conclusions presented here.

Updated Cauchari Resource

The drilling program has expanded the resource at the Cauchari Project to 4.8 Mt of LCE of Measured+Indicated Resources contained in 1.8 km3 of brine and 1.5 Mt of Inferred Resources contained in 0.6 km3 of brine. The resources have been broken into six different geological units which are classified between Measured, Indicated and Inferred resources, with the classification reflecting differences in the level of available sample information. The resource estimate is presented in Table 1 below.

The key areas of the resource for future brine production are the Archibarca Fan and the SE Sector of the Project. The Archibarca Fan resource consists of 1.0 Mt of LCE as Measured Resources at 564 mg/l lithium. The Measured and Indicated Resources in the SE Sector, mostly contained in the Clay and Halite units, amount to approximately 3 Mt of LCE at 481 mg/l lithium. The extraction characteristics of the Archibarca Fan and SE Sector have been confirmed by the 30 day pumping tests in each area during the Phase III Program in 2018.

Andy Robb, VP Project Development commented: "The resource expansion is an outstanding result for the Company, providing the opportunity to assess the possibility of expanding the future production rate for the project to 25 ktpa. The resource remains open at depth with extensive Deep Sand encountered in phase III drilling."

The brine resource is calculated over the western and eastern properties of the Cauchari project and covers an area of 117.7 km2. The brine resource in the west extends from the brine level below the surficial gravels to a depth of over 400 m and is classified as Measured in the north in the Archibarca area and Indicated further south in the West Fan, with small volumes of Inferred resources in these areas. The Measured and Indicated Resources in the east extend from the phreatic brine level to a constant depth of 400 m in the Halite and Clay units. Indicated Resources in the Deep Sand unit extend to 500 m depth. Below these depths the resource is classified as Inferred, reaching a depth of up to 619 m. The Deep Sand unit remains open at depth. None of the drill holes completed to date have intercepted bedrock (basement) and the resource remains open at depth.

Table 1: Cauchari Project Lithium Resource Estimate; March 3, 2019

Measured (M) Indicated (I) M+I Inferred Aquifer volume (km3) 9.7 20.9 30.7 10.7 Mean specific yield 6% 6% 6% 6% Brine volume (km3) 0.6 1.2 1.9 0.6 Li mean grade (g/m3) 35 26 29 27 Li mean concentration (mg/l) 527 452 476 473 Resource (tonnes) 345,000 550,000 900,000 290,000 Lithium Carbonate Equivalent 1,850,000 2,950,000 4,800,000 1,500,000

Notes: 1. CIM definitions were followed for mineral resources. 2. The Qualified Person for this Mineral Resource estimate is Frits Reidel, CPG. 3. Lithium is converted to lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) with a conversion factor of 5.32. 4. Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Results of the brine chemistry analysis carried out confirm the Cauchari brine is similar in composition to the brine in the adjacent Olaroz Salar from which Orocobre is successfully producing lithium carbonate using conventional lithium processing technology. Table 2 provides a summary of the Cauchari brine characteristics. There is a reasonable prospect that the Cauchari brine could be successfully processed using technology similar to the Olaroz plant.

Table 2: Cauchari brine chemistry characteristics

Samples Ratio Archibarca

Fan Clay East Fan Halite Deep Sand West Fan Mg/Li 2.3 2.5 1.6 2.7 2.5 3.2 SO4/Li 26.2 39.7 88.7 44.3 38.1 38.4

Resource Estimation Methodology

The updated lithium resource estimate for the Cauchari Project is based on the results of 26 diamond holes and five rotary holes drilled between 2011 and the end of 2018. Figure 1 shows a location map of the drill holes completed during the 2011 and 2017/8 drilling campaigns and Figure 2 shows a cut-away diagram of the resource area and concentrations. Brine sample collection consisted of bailed and packer samples in the diamond holes, and packer and pumped samples in the rotary holes. More than 2,000 brine samples (including more than 300 QA/QC samples) were analyzed by Norlabs (Jujuy, Argentina) as the primary laboratory and by Alex Steward Assayers (Mendoza, Argentina) and the University of Antofagasta (Chile) as secondary QA/QC laboratories. Brine was also extracted from diamond cores (centrifuge methodology) in an independent laboratory in the USA and analysed in the Norlabs laboratory to further verify and validate brine chemistry results.

HQ core was retrieved during the diamond core drilling from which more than 300 primary undisturbed samples were prepared for laboratory drainable porosity and other physical parameter determinations by Geo Systems Analysis (GSA) in Tucson, AZ. Laboratory QA/QC porosity analyses were undertaken by the DBS&A Laboratory, Core Laboratories and the British Geological Survey.

The lithium resource was estimated using SGEMs software applying ordinary kriging. The resource estimate was prepared in accordance with the guidelines of National Instrument 43-101 and uses best practice methods specific to brine resources, including a reliance on core drilling and sampling methods that yield depth-specific chemistry and drainable porosity measurements. The resource estimation was completed by independent qualified person Mr. Frits Reidel of Santiago based hydrogeology firm FloSolutions with extensive experience in the estimation of lithium brine resources in Argentina.

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved on behalf of the Company by Mr Frits Reidel, a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101. Full details of the drilling results, resource estimation methodology and quality assurance/quality control will be provided in the associated NI 43-101 technical report.

Figure 1: Location of Cauchari properties, drill holes and the resource area  dashed line shows the cross section in Figure 2

Figure 2: Resource model looking west-southwest through the SE Sector and the Archibarca area

ADVANTAGE LITHIUM CORP.

Per: "David Sidoo"

David Sidoo, President

Tel: 604.423.3760 | Fax: 604.683.1585

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About Advantage Lithium Corp.

Advantage Lithium Corp is focused on developing its 75% owned Cauchari lithium project, located in Jujuy, Argentina. The Company also owns 100% interest in three additional lithium exploration properties in Argentina: Antofalla, Incahuasi, and Guayatayoc. The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V:AAL) OTCQX Best Market in the U.S. (OTCQX: AVLIF).

Further information about the Company can be found at www.advantagelithium.com.

Cautionary Statement:

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "is expected","intends", or "has the potential to". Forward looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of Advantage that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rebukes Guyana Goldfields' management for false statements about its EPA permit; is "deeply disturbed by the company's total misrepresentation and misleading information"





Latest claims consistent with Guyana Goldfields' pattern of misleading stakeholders and further damages company's reputation with Guyanese government; fresh start with wholesale board change is required to reset relationship

TORONTO, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Guyana Goldfields Inc. (TSX: GUY) ("Guyana Goldfields" or the "Company") shareholders (the "Concerned Shareholders"), together owning not less than 5% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company, are deeply concerned about potentially misleading statements made to the market about a permit the Company received from Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Company claims in a new investor presentation dated February/March 2019 that it has "received EPA approval for underground development" and that it is now "fully licensed and permitted for underground development".

These statements clearly imply that the Company has received the necessary permit to resume certain activities at the Aurora Gold Mine, which directly contradict specific statements made by Guyanese government officials. In what seems to be another self-inflicted government relations disaster for the Company, Guyanese officials publicly responded to set the record straight about the limits on what the Company is actually permitted to doas covered in a March 2, 2019 local newspaper article:

Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday, EPA Head, Dr. Vincent Adams , categorically stated that no such permit was issued. He stressed that the company only got a permit to do prospective works which will allow for the collection of data.





"Despite what the media reports are saying, that is all they are allowed to do. There is no mining that can be done," the EPA Head articulated.





The EPA Head said, "This is the second run in that the EPA has had with the company on this underground mining operation. The first was when they went ahead with the project without our approval

"It is really disappointing that a company which claims to be of international repute is operating in this manner. It does not speak well for its reputation. It does not speak well for them and it is rapidly eroding EPA's trust in its operations."

Dr. Adams added, "I am deeply disturbed by the company's total misrepresentation and misleading information to the minister, the public and their shareholders."

The Concerned Shareholders are deeply unsettled by the gross disconnect between the Company's claims about having received the necessary approvals and permits to resume certain activities at the Aurora Gold Mine and the statements of government officials refuting such claims. Whether or not the Company is legally able to carry on operations at, and execute on its business plan for, the Aurora Gold Mine is a material fact that goes to the core of the Company's business. Incomplete and/or misleading disclosure on a fundamental material fact is extremely serious and troubling.

A Worsening Relationship with the Guyanese Government

As the Concerned Shareholders described in their January 2, 2019 press release, the Company's relationship with the government in Guyana has taken several blows over the past year as a result of a series of missteps by the Company, including a history of non-compliance with EPA regulations and a mass-firing of 80 local workers last summer.

The Concerned Shareholders are worried that, along with this latest blunder, the Company's mounting transgressions may yield serious and long-term consequences for Guyana Goldfields' mining operations.

"The fact that this story is splashed on the front pages of the Guyanese media and that government officials are publicly chastising Guyana Goldfields is not only embarrassing but it further puts into jeopardy the Company's relationship with the government. With its primary asset in Guyana, it's essential that they have good relationships with Guyanese officials and abide by all rules and regulations," said Patrick Sheridan, one of the largest shareholders and former Executive Chairman and former director of the Company. "Potentially misleading the market is a serious offence. It's becoming more and more clear that shareholders need a new board and management team with a fresh and honest approach to dealing with government officials, shareholders and the public at large. It's time for change."

An Ongoing Pattern of Misleading Shareholders

The Concerned Shareholders believe that Guyana Goldfields' latest claims are just another example of the current Board of Directors (the "Board") misleading shareholders.

The Concerned Shareholders believe that the Board has consistently and deliberately twisted or omitted the reasons for the Company's poor results, including excuses such as the rainy season, slow equipment mobilization and most recently, problems with the resource model. The Company also recently issued a press release mischaracterizing Concerned Shareholder Patrick Sheridan's tenure with the Company, desperately trying to distract shareholders from the massive value destruction (of over $1 billion since 2016) that Guyana Goldfields' shareholders have had to endure.

Two New Handpicked Directors Does Not Equal Change

Earlier this week, the Company announced the addition of two new directors. While the Concerned Shareholders have encouraged new voices on the Board, they have also warned shareholders that the Company was likely to adopt this tactic in an effort to create the appearance of change. As the Concerned Shareholders noted in their January 22, 2019 press release, installing incumbent and management-selected preferred replacement directors is a common tactic used by boards struggling to maintain shareholder support.

These patronage appointments should in no way be labelled as 'Board refreshment' and do not meet shareholders' expectation for significant and meaningful change: no directors have resigned to make room for the new directors, the two new directors were handpicked by the current Board and there is no indication the Board plans to deviate from its same failed approaches of the past. Indeed, it is highly unlikely that by adding these two directors the Board will be able to reset its dwindling relationship with the Government of Guyana.

"Incremental changes are insufficient to get Guyana Goldfields back on track. Wholesale change is required to turn this company around, repair the relationship with the Guyanese government and create value for shareholders," said Mr. Sheridan.

The Board's commitment to refreshment is further challenged by the fact that the Board has not attempted any communications with the Concerned Shareholders since they submitted their requisition more than two months ago and has failed to interview the highly qualified candidates they have put forward. If the Board is serious about refreshment, they would consider the Concerned Shareholders' slate of director nominees who bring superior skill-sets, track records and experience: each of the Concerned Shareholders' nominees has held senior leadership positions at leading Canadian and international companies including Alio Gold Inc., Falco Resources Ltd., Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., Minnova Gold Corp., Atacama Pacific Gold Corporation and Osisko Metals Incorporated and have significant mining, operational, public company, financial and legal experience.

Learn More about the Concerned Shareholders and their Plan to Fix Guyana Goldfields

Shareholders are encouraged to visit FixGuyGold.com to learn more about the Concerned Shareholders and about their plan to stop the massive value destruction.

Patrick Sheridan, on behalf of the Concerned Shareholders, welcomes the opportunity to engage with fellow shareholders. Mr. Sheridan can be reached at 416-628-5904 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Advisors

Kingsdale Advisors is acting as strategic shareholder, communications and proxy advisor and Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP and Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP are acting as legal advisors to the Concerned Shareholders of Guyana Goldfields Inc.

Additional Information

Information in Support of Public Broadcast Solicitation

The information contained in this press release does not and is not meant to constitute a solicitation of a proxy within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Although the Concerned Shareholders have delivered the requisition, shareholders are not being asked at this time to execute a proxy in favour of the Concerned Shareholders' nominees (the "Nominees") or any other resolution set forth in the requisition. In connection with the meeting, the Concerned Shareholders may file a dissident information circular in due course in compliance with applicable securities laws.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Concerned Shareholders are voluntarily providing the disclosure required under section 9.2(4) of National Instrument 51-102  Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102") and section 150(1.2) of the Canada Business Corporations Act in accordance with Canadian corporate and securities laws applicable to public broadcast solicitations. In connection therewith, certain information regarding, among other things, the Nominees has been provided by the Concerned Shareholders in its press release dated January 10, 2019, (the "Nominee Announcement") under the section entitled "Information Concerning the Nominees". The Nominee Announcement has been filed by the Concerned Shareholders and is available for review on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Since the Nominee Announcement, Nominee James White has advised the Concerned Shareholders that he now beneficially owns, controls or directs (directly or indirectly) 35,000 common shares of Guyana Goldfields.

The information contained herein and any solicitation made by the Concerned Shareholders in advance of the meeting is, or will be, as applicable, made by the Concerned Shareholders and not by or on behalf of the management of Guyana Goldfields. All costs incurred for any solicitation will be borne by the Concerned Shareholders, provided that, subject to applicable law, the Concerned Shareholders may seek reimbursement from Guyana Goldfields of the Concerned Shareholders' out-of-pocket expenses, including proxy solicitation expenses and legal fees, incurred in connection with a successful reconstitution of Guyana Goldfields' board.

The Concerned Shareholders are not soliciting proxies in connection with the meeting at this time. The Concerned Shareholders may engage the services of one or more agents and authorize other persons to assist in soliciting proxies on behalf of the Concerned Shareholders. The Concerned Shareholders have retained Kingsdale Advisors ("Kingsdale") as its strategic shareholder, communications and proxy advisor. Kingsdale's responsibilities will principally include soliciting shareholders should the Concerned Shareholders commence a formal solicitation of proxies, providing strategic advice and advising the Concerned Shareholders with respect to the meeting and proxy protocol. Any proxies solicited by or on behalf of the Concerned Shareholders, including by Kingsdale or any other agent, may be solicited pursuant to a dissident information circular or by way of public broadcast, including through press releases, speeches or publications and by any other manner permitted under Canadian corporate and securities laws. Any such proxies may be revoked by instrument in writing executed by a shareholder or by his or her attorney authorized in writing or, if the shareholder is a body corporate, by an officer or attorney thereof duly authorized or by any other manner permitted by law.

The registered address of Guyana Goldfields is located at 141 Adelaide Street West, Suite 1608, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 3L5. A copy of this press release may be obtained on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor launched her preliminary examination into the situation in Ukraine on 25 April 2014. Over the last five years, hundreds of victims and witnesses  assisted by civil society  have submitted credible evidence of a macabre catalogue of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by a range of actors on Ukrainian territory. The Prosecutor has a legal duty to initiate a full investigation as soon as there is a reasonable basis to believe that a crime within the Courts jurisdiction has taken place, and that such a case would be admissible.

Since 2014, the Prosecutor is yet to formally decide on whether any ICC Statute crimes have taken place in Ukraine.

Remarkably, the Prosecutor is yet to formally decide on whether any ICC Statute crimes have taken place in Ukraine.

This ostensive inertia is undermining public trust and alienating civil society  on whom the ICC relies at this stage in proceedings  and is diminishing the prospect of successful convictions, whilst the ICC loses its deterrent effect.

We call on the Prosecutor to reconsider her approach to preliminary examinations in order to safeguard the effectiveness of investigations, retain public trust and uphold victims fundamental rights.

Re-examining preliminary examinations

A preliminary examination is a filter for separating credible criminal allegations that fall within the ICCs remit from the inevitable barrage of irrelevant, inadmissible and unsubstantiated complaints. According to Article 53 of the ICC Statute, reasonably believable allegations that would be admissible before the Court shall be sent on for full investigation  triggering much greater resources and investigative powers. However, the Prosecutor has no legally imposed deadline for doing so. In Georgia this process took nearly eight years. A preliminary examination on Colombia has been ongoing since 2004.

ICC judges reminded the Prosecutor that a preliminary examination must be completed within a reasonable time [] regardless of its complexity

On 6 September 2018, ICC judges reminded the Prosecutor that a preliminary examination must be completed within a reasonable time [] regardless of its complexity and that a prolongation of a preliminary examination beyond [assessing the relevant facts] is, in principle, unwarranted. The judges pointed out that the preliminary examination process does not warrant complex or detailed process of analysis or require the available information to be comprehensive or conclusive. Crucially, the judges reminded the Prosecutor that delays inevitably undermine the effectiveness of investigations, since with the lapse of time, memories of witnesses fade, witnesses may die or become untraceable, evidence deteriorates or ceases to exist, and thus the prospects that any effective investigation can be undertaken will increasingly diminish. Finally, according to the judges, such delays undermine the victims rights to the truth, to have access to justice and to request reparations.

The threshold for a full investigation has been met

For five years intrepid members of Ukrainian, Russian and international civil society have collected hundreds of witness and victim statements, reels of video and photographic evidence, satellite imagery, internet scrapes, ballistics, crater and medical analysis, documents and other forms of evidence. We have compiled and analysed this information to formulate credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, namely deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian objects, murder, enforced disappearance, torture, sexual violence, illegal detention, pillage, persecution and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The Prosecutor has received over 80 other submissions from civil society organisations and state actors. It is our firm belief that the threshold for a full investigation has been met.

We can only speculate as to the reasons for this apparent inertia, as there is no judicial oversight in this case.

Nevertheless, in December 2018, the Prosecutor announced that her office is yet to determine whether any ICC Statute crimes have taken place in Ukraine. We can only speculate as to the reasons for this apparent inertia, as there is no judicial oversight in this case. (Ukraine hasnt ratified the ICC Statute and therefore has no right to seek judicial review of the Prosecutors progress.) The lack of adequate resources may well be a key factor, yet it remains unclear why so little of the Prosecutors 46 million annual budget is allocated to the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division  the gatekeepers of the Courts caseload.

Victims and witnesses are losing interest

Whatever the reasons, the Courts slow pace of progress on Ukraine has already had a detrimental effect of the prospect of successful prosecutions. Faced with a lack of tangible results in exchange for the risks, countless man-hours and resources spent on providing the Prosecutor with the evidence she needs to take the case forward, civil society organisations are beginning to re-direct their resources to other projects. NGOs have sited psychosocial support for victims, truth and reconciliation initiatives in contact-line communities and political advocacy as being more worthwhile than documenting crimes.

In the meantime, key suspects have died and a growing number of witnesses have lost interest in providing evidence to the ICC.

The unintended effect of the ICCs inertia is the drying up of the very source on which its preliminary examinations rely. In the meantime, key suspects have died and a growing number of witnesses have lost interest in providing evidence to the ICC. The initial deterrent effect of the ICCs involvement on would-be criminals is waning. As key evidence deteriorates or is left undocumented, so do the prospects of achieving justice.

We believe that a balance must be struck between the need for a broad enquiry to identify those most responsible for the largest number of the most serious crimes, and the need to demonstrate tangible results through fair and expeditious justice.

To this end, we believe that a more flexible and proactive approach to preliminary examinations and investigations is required. Manageable representative cases, for which sufficient evidence to prosecute is identified at an early stage, should be severed from the broader inquiry and streamlined through the investigative process. This would allow for quicker more manageable investigations and trials, in tandem with an ongoing broad enquiry. Moreover, the prosecution of specific criminal episodes, field commanders and key cadre will feed evidence into the broader enquiry and help to build stronger cases against those up the chain of hierarchy. This is what we hope to achieve through our latest filing  by identifying an emblematic candidate for prosecution.
A New York federal court has dismissed a lawsuit by the Herero and Nama tribes seeking compensation from Germany for the genocide of their ancestors in what is now Namibia.

In a 23-page judgment dated Wednesday, Judge Laura Taylor Swain said that the principle of sovereign immunity of a state applied, rendering the case inadmissible.

The two tribes were seeking compensation for the persecution their members suffered in what was known as German South West Africa during colonial rule from 1884-1915. The territory has since become Namibia.

Tens of thousands of members of the Herero tribe and some 10,000 Namas were killed from 1904-1908 after rebelling against German rule.

This is indeed a disappointing ruling for us and all nations of the world who are committed to justice and fairness for all, Herero chief Vekuii Rukoro said in a statement read at a news conference.

We assert that Judge Swain has made some fundamental errors of law in her jurisdictional analysis and we are determined to see to it that this decision is reversed on appeal and that our claims for reparations shall proceed.

The plaintiffs argued that two exceptions to the principle of sovereign immunity  one covering state commerce outside the US that causes a direct effect inside the country, and another on property taken in violation of international law  applied in the case.

The plaintiffs said that, among other issues, the presence of bones of genocide victims  which were sold by the wife of a German anthropologist to the American Museum of Natural History  constitutes a direct effect under the commercial activity exception.

And they said that the takings exception applied since plunder from Namibia went to Germany, which then purchased four buildings in New York.

But Swain ruled that in the first case, plaintiffs failed to demonstrate a direct effect in the US, while in the second, they did not sufficiently demonstrate the existence of commercial activity necessary for the exception to apply.

The court lacks subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to the  commercial activity and takings exceptions, Swain wrote.
A group of Syrian refugees on Thursday asked the International Criminal Court to open a case against the Syrian regime for crimes against humanity committed during the ongoing war.

The case against President Bashar al-Assad has been filed by British lawyers representing 28 refugees who have fled Syria to neighbouring Jordan.

Though Syria is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Jordan is.

However, the lawyers are relying on the recent precedent before the ICC of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who have fled to Bangladesh and argue that the same legal principle applies.

The ICC exists precisely to bring justice to the victims of these most brutal international crimes, Rodney Dixon of London law firm Stoke White said after sending the communication to the court in The Hague.

The devastating war in Syria has been going on for almost nine years now and no one has yet been held accountable for the hundreds of thousands of violations against civilians.

This case represents a genuine breakthrough for the Syrian victims.

There is a jurisdictional gateway that has opened up finally for the ICC prosecutor to investigate the perpetrators who are most responsible.

Lawyers said the case would focus on the wider pattern of attacks and alleged crimes against the civilian population in Syria including torture, rape, chemical attacks and disappearances.

Anonymised victim accounts have been provided to the ICC prosecutor.

The ICC confirmed they had received the dossier but gave no further details.

European Union countries on Monday added Syrias interior minister Mohammad Khaled al-Rahmoun and six other new ministers to a sanctions blacklist for their role in Assads violent repression of civilians.

The European Council said the ministers who were appointed to Assads government in November have been barred from travelling to Europe and will see their assets frozen.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7) A candidate or government official lying about his or her educational record can be considered a fraud, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Thursday.

"That's fraud," the spokesman told reporters when pressed about the issue ahead of the midterm polls.

This comes amid Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio's sentiment that lying should not be a huge cause of concern for the elections.

Duterte-Carpio on Wednesday said all candidates "have been telling lies"-- in response to accusations that former Special Assistant to the President and senatorial hopeful Bong Go have been using public funds for his campaign.

Panelo, however, noted it is still up to the electorate whether or not they will vote for a certain candidate-- honest or not.

"I'm saying honesty, as an issue, depends on the voter himself or herself. If he or she will consider that. As far as Mayor Sara is concerned, hindi issue 'yun (it is not an issue)," the spokesman clarified.

Senatorial candidate and Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos in February faced backlash after an independent student publication of Princeton University countered her educational records. Marcos, in previous interviews, said she had graduated from the prestigious Ivy League school.

"Imee Marcos, a current candidate for a Philippine Senate position and the daughter of former Filipino President Ferdinand E. Marcos, says she graduated from the University in 1979. Although she enrolled in the University in 1973, no record shows that she graduated," the Daily Princetonian reported.

Panelo said "honesty" should only be considered when it comes to work-related issues.

"It goes without saying, if you are dishonest you will be removed definitely... in relation to your work. But if you're dishonest with respect to your personal relations..." he said.

"Ang kailangan sa gobyerno, matino. Basta 'yung sa trabaho mo, matino ka, wala kang gagawing masama, in violation of the law."

[Translation: What we need in the government is someone upright. If you're good with your work, you're not doing anything in violation of the law.]

He added voters should have had personal "dealings" with candidates before they can judge or consider them as honest or not.

"How would you know if the records are bogus or not? Hindi ba ang dami nang pine-present na records, 'yun pala bogus? Dapat alam mo personally 'yung kandidato, may dealings ka sa kanya. Parang mag-sespeculate ka lang," he added.

[Translation: Isn't it that they're presenting a lot of records, but they are all bogus? You should personally get to know the candidate, and you should have dealings with him or her. Otherwise you will just speculate.]

For her part, Vice President Leni Robredo said she disagrees with Duterte-Carpio's sentiment.

She said that while there's nothing wrong with failing to graduate from certain schools, candidates should be upfront and transparent with their statements.

"Kasi iyong kampanya, ito iyong paraan para makilala natin iyong mga kandidato. Iyong kampanya, ito iyong paraan para makapagdesisyon nang tama iyong taumbayan kung sino iyong kaniyang bobotohan. Kung ang premise nito kasinungalingan, parang ang dinadaya natin, taumbayan," Robredo said during an interview Thursday in Cagayan.

[Translation: Our campaign is the way for Filipinos to get to know the candidates, and to help them decide wisely. If its premise is dishonesty, it's like we're deceiving the citizenry.]
WHITE MOUNTAIN, Ore.  A number of sheep found dead in a northeastern area of Curry County were likely killed by wolves, according to the latest report by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).

The kills reportedly occurred between February 23 and March 4, when the owner and a Wildlife Services specialist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found the bodies of the dead sheep "in a partially fenced pasture on private property" near White Mountain.

Despite the high number of sheep reported dead, ODFW said that only five carcasses were examined  although the wounds on the dead sheep were similar.

"The premortem trauma and attack locations on all three carcasses are consistent with a wolf attack, but lack diagnostic evidence to clearly differentiate between wolf and domestic dog," ODFW said in its report.

Because the evidence was not entirely damning, ODFW concluded that a cause of death by wolf depredation was only "probable," and not confirmed.

ODFW periodically releases a report on investigations into livestock believed to have been killed by wolves. Before this most current case in Curry County, the last confirmed report in Southern Oregon was a calf killed in Jackson County on January 18.

This local case connects to an issue now playing out on the national stage  the prospect of gray wolves losing protected status in the U.S. Acting Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced the proposal on Wednesday, although it is not final.

Gray wolves received endangered species protection in 1975, after their numbers had dwindled to about 1,000, and only in a small area of the Midwest. Now wildlife officials estimate that there are at least 5,000 in the Lower 48 states of the U.S.
GRANTS PASS, Ore.  "Numerous" complaints from neighbors made to various law enforcement tip lines led officers with the Rogue Area Drug Enforcement (RADE) team to make two arrests and seize drugs, guns and stolen property at a house in Grants Pass on Monday, according to a statement released on Thursday.

Callers had contacted the RADE tip line, Josephine County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police with complaints about suspicious activities at the house.

The tips led RADE to a house at 2585 Woodland Park Road, where officers arrested two people  46-year-old Karen D. Kidd and 54-year-old Anthony J. Slovick. During a search of the house, investigators reportedly found eight grams of heroin, three ounces of methamphetamine, two guns, drug paraphernalia, $4,400 dollars in cash and a vehicle reported stolen in Jackson County.

Kidd was arrested and charged with possession, manufacturing and distributing meth within 1,000 feet of a school, while Slovick was lodged for a parole board warrant out of Josephine County.

RADE said that the investigation remains ongoing, and anyone with information or questions should contact 541-955-6970.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- There are around 44 million people in the world living with Alzheimers disease or a related form of dementia. That's according to Alzheimers news today.

Two southern Oregon businesses joined forces to improve the lives of Alzheimers patients in Grants Pass.

Team senior referral services and home instead senior care are helping to launch the Alzheimers doll therapy program in Grants Pass.

On Wednesday they gave free therapy dolls to people living with Alzheimers.

"It's taking that maternal instinct that all women have and it giving it back to them when they are withdrawn typically, said Corey Donovan Franchise Owner of Home Instead Senior Care of Southern Oregon.

Thats exactly what happened for Nyla Gunderson. She was diagnosed with dementia back in 2014.

What I noticed right away was the soundtrack. The music in the background and seeing that mom loved that baby just like some kind of a thing", Said Rob Gunderson, Nylas son.

If you want to purchase a therapy doll you can visit teamsenior.org
184 Shares Share

An excerpt from Tweets, Likes,and Liabilities: Online and Electronic Risk to the Healthcare Professional.

When it comes to HIPAA violations, there are, sadly, plenty of examples available to serve as cautionary tales. Some seem like innocent mistakes that just about anyone could make. Others are so egregious that those involved appear to be willfully inviting the wrath of regulators and malpractice attorneys. Unfortunately, some people assume that any post that does not include the patients name or photograph is a safe post. As we will see, that is a false and dangerous assumption. The following examples of HIPAA violations over the years offer valuable lessons for anyone dealing with patient privacy issues in the digital age.

Before and after

Because purely cosmetic procedures are not typically covered by health insurance, plastic surgery practices often need to market their services more aggressively than other providers. This often means posting patient before and after photos in order to showcase a surgeons results. Doing so can place the provider in the center of a digital minefield, where slip-ups can result in lawsuits and HIPAA violations. Mandi Stillwell, a San Francisco photographer, was stunned when a man she met on an online dating site informed her that his Google search of her name had turned up photographs of her bare breasts. Stillwell had undergone plastic surgery in Fresno and had agreed in writing to let Dr. Enraquita Lopez photograph her and use the images to market the practice. However, the agreement stipulated that if images of her results were used, Stillwell would remain unidentifiable. The photographs showed only her torso. Stillwell filed suit against Dr. Lopez. In court, Dr. Lopezs lawyer explained that the doctor and her staff had made a mistake and accidentally placed identifiable photos of Stillwell on the internet. The photos were removed as soon as the doctor was made aware of them. The jury found in favor of Stillwell, and she was awarded an $18,000 settlement. Of course, just because the doctor had the photos removed from the internet does not mean they will not reappear. Any viewer with a computer could have copied them and could repost them at any time.

Even when a provider is confident that photos it has posted make it impossible to identify a patient, the digital world can prove them wrong. In one case, otherwise anonymous photos were posted on a practices website in such a way that clicking on the photos revealed their digital file names, which included the patients names. You must be aware of hidden or semi-hidden information in digital photos and other files and always make sure that all patient identifiers are removed.

To modify a line from Thomas Jefferson, the cost of patient privacy is eternal vigilance.

An inside job

An employee who unintentionally creates a HIPAA breach is bad enough, but a rogue employee who willfully creates them is every practices worst nightmare. Some employees cant resist snooping in medical records; others go much further. Consider the case of a high-end plastic surgery practice located on Beverly Hills posh Rodeo Drive. A contract employee who started out as a driver and translator was soon given other duties, including data entry. Things went bad very quickly. Just six months after the employee started, the practice confronted her about missing funds. She quit but claimed she could not return her company phone because she had lost it. The practice was able to recover the phone when the ex-employee was caught trespassing at a facility that stored patient records. According to the office manager, the former employee had been surreptitiously photographing and videoing patients and procedures, patient records, and credit card numbers. It also appears the employee may have been responsible for a burglary at the practice, during which a large amount of data was downloaded to a hard drive and paper records were stolen. Some patients began receiving threatening and harassing phone calls and emails. As of this writing, the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department is conducting an ongoing investigation.

Obviously, you should screen and background check employees carefully to help prevent inside jobs. And every employee should be thoroughly trained and know the boundaries that apply to their position. Whats more, you should be monitoring data access to ensure that no one is viewing, printing, or downloading any information that is beyond the scope of their duties. Doing so allows you to spot irregularities early on and deal with them in a timely manner.

Michael J. Sacopulos is a health care attorney and co-author of Tweets, Likes,and Liabilities: Online and Electronic Risk to the Healthcare Professional.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
EUGENE, Ore. -- Eugene School District 4J is holding a forum Wednesday night, inviting community members to provide input on the possible renewal of a local school funding measure before it goes to voters in May.

The school board earlier voted to refer a five-year renewal of the local option levy to the May ballot. Now residents will be able to ask questions and discuss the measure with board members, the superintendent and other 4J staff at the forum, which is being held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the 4J Education Center, 200 N. Monroe St.

The levy is a property tax that provides about $17 million a year for 4J school operations, such as teachers, programs, utilities and other daily operating costs. The money pays for the equivalent of about 161 teachers or 26.5 school days each year. A renewal would maintain funding for school operations and would not raise the tax rate.

If voters approve the levy renewal on May 21, it would continue the local option levy at the same tax rate for another five years, through June 2025. Renewal of the levy would provide funds to maintain school days, school programs, class sizes and other school service levels.

Without this levy, the school district said they would need to reduce general fund operating costs and services by about 9 percent beginning with the 2020-21 school year.

Under Oregon law, a local option levy is the only way voters in a school district can provide local property tax funding for teachers, lower class sizes, school programs and other school operation costs. By contrast, capital bond funds, such as the bond measure approved by 4J voters in 2018, can only be spent on buildings, buses, books and other capital investments.

The local option levy was renewed for the 2015-2020 school years in November 2014. To learn more, click here.
LANE COUNTY, Ore. -- Last week's winter snowstorm caused trees and branches to fall into rivers across the county, leaving behind dangerous conditions for boaters.

On Tuesday, deputies with the Lane County Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol cut off a portion of a tree that had fallen in the Siuslaw River. Sgt. Steve Sieczkowski said they're going out to check on hazards across the county.

"Any of them that threaten life and safety, we try to put them in high priority and try to get them addressed immediately," Sieczkowski said.

The fallen trees are creating dangerous conditions for kayakers in Lane County who are right in the middle of their season. Tanya Scoggin, a kayaker and assistant manager at Oregon Paddle Sports, said the downed trees can be deadly for even the most experienced boater.

"That's one of the most common ways boaters die is debris in the river in the forms of snags and strainers and cross river logs," Scoggin said.

Sieczkowski is urging boaters to know before they go. Information on hazards can be found at boat ramps and online at the Oregon Marine Board's website. He's urging boaters to let them know if they see any hazards and said that information can be just as important as wearing a life vest.

"We'll go out and evaluate the scene, take photos of it, get the information posted so that other people that are going to plan their trip will have the information as well," Sieczkowski said.

Hazard reports to the Lane County Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol can be made directly by calling 541-682-8995.
EUGENE, Ore. -- March is Women's History Month, a time to recognize and honor the work women do in our community, including the women in blue.

KEZI 9 News sat down with officers at the Eugene Police Department to learn more about the women behind the uniform.

Officer Allison Jordan spends her days prowling the streets of downtown Eugene and said she often experiences men undermining the work she does by harassing her or not taking her seriously.

"We've gotten some silly comments sometimes where people are borderline inappropriate, and you have to shut that down," Jordan said.

Some of the officers said when they chose to become a cop, they were questioned by family members, who wondered if they were ready for the job.

"There were a lot of people, family members that were like, 'But you're so small. Aren't you going to be scared?'"

These are just some of the challenges women face during their work in law enforcement.

"I don't take it too personally," Officer Jennifer Peckels said. "I just treat them the same as anybody else, whether or not I'm going to take enforcement action or not."

Sgt. Julie Smith spends part of days patrolling downtown Eugene. There's a million things going on during her day, but multi-tasking is nothing new for her. It reminds her of another important part of her life.

"When you're at home, you're parenting with your children, you're making dinner, you're talking to them, helping them with their homeowork, you're doing chores, you're having conversations with your significant other," she said.

While these women face many challenges, like anyone in law enforcement, they said the rewards are so much greater.

"What I'm proud about is that I try to instill in my children and grandchildren that caring and compassion about people and treating people they way they wanna be treated and doing good things for the community," Smith said.

With about 12 percent of the Eugene Police Department being made up of women, the officers said they're always welcoming more.

"If you want to do something, you can do it," Detective Jennifer Curry said. "Just put in the hard work, and it usually works out fine."

Smith agreed.

"There's nothing that's exclusive to only a male in this profession," Smith said. "I think anyone that wants to do this job is capable of doing this job."
Oisin ONeill has certainly been through the mill over the past four months and for most of November and into December many didnt know if the popular little fellow would pull through.



For his mother Susan, dad John and his younger siblings it was a very worrying time for them as it was for other immediate family and the people of Callan.



Susan and John spent many weeks at his hospital bedside in Dublin while his siblings were cared for by both his grannies as well as close friends. During that time many prayers were offered up and a special mass was arranged with hundreds packing the parish church to pray for Oisins recovery.



He was visited in hospital by Kilkenny stars Richie Hogan and JJ Delaney who presented him with a signed Kilkenny jersey.

As Christmas approached Oisin showed signs of recovery and it was brilliant that he was able to spend Christmas at home in Callan.



He even had a few pucks of a ball in the Astroturf alley at John Locke Park with his best buddy his dad John. John and Oisin are always together and both love John Locke Park and the Lockes.



As 2019 turned Oisin continued to get stronger and as he waited for a place in Dun Laoghaire Rehabilitation Centre he returned to school at Scoil McAuley Rice.



In the past few weeks Oisin has been attending Dun Laoghaire and is really going from strength to strength.



In the past week Henry Shefflin who manages the Ballyhale team invited Oisin to Ballyhale to meet the team and some of the stars who are going for glory in the All-Ireland Club final on Saint Patricks Day.



So last weekend Oisin travelled to meet some of the team. After the meet and greet session the Ballyhale lads presented Oisin a club jersey. Everyone knows Oisin loves his jerseys and adds this one to his growing collection. We wish a continuing full recovery.
Local community groups at the first Tidy Towns Forum for 2019 have pledged their support for the National Tidy Towns Spring Clean Campaign.

Forum members were informed that over 75 groups have already registered with An Taisce which clearly shows the commitment of local groups in keeping Kilkenny litter free. The Tidy Town representatives and guest speakers were happy to lend their support to this campaign and encourage more groups to register and participate in keeping Kilkenny litter free.

The forum facilitated three guest speakers namely Dearbhala Ledwidge, Heritage Officer, Kilkenny County Council who provided a presentation on the Local Authority Pollinator Award and gave advice to the Forum on how best to assist pollinators. Frank Stafford, A/ Senior Engineer who presented the recently adopted Waste Management Bye Laws, 2018 followed by Mags Whelan, Public Participation Network Co-ordinator who discussed the role of the PPN and put out a call for new Environmental Pillar members.

After, Mary Cashin, Acting Environmental Awareness Officer updated the forum on environmental awareness initiatives and provided the attendees with information on a number of issues.

For anyone wanting to participate in The National Spring Clean they can still register by calling National Spring Clean on 01-4002219 or visit the website at www.nationalsprinclean.org

All clean up groups registering with the National Spring Clean campaign receive a FREE clean-up kit comprising information, posters, colour coded refuse sacks for segregation of waste materials, protective gloves and high-vis vests. Groups registered with National Spring Clean are covered under a public liability insurance policy while engaged in clean-up activities for the duration of the campaign.

An Taisce encourages people taking part in #springclean19 activities to tell everyone about it. Post photos using the #SpringClean19 hashtag to your favourite social media platforms. You can tag the campaign on Twitter or Facebook using either the twitter handle @NationalSpringC, and on Instagram using the Campaigns Instagram handle @nationalspringclean.

Kilkenny County Council also provides litter picking equipment on a loan basis to groups who register with National Spring Clean. Groups can avail of this additional litter picking equipment by contacting their Local Area Office or the Environment Section, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny on 056-7794470. Groups who require assistance with litter removal after their registered litter pick should contact the Environment Section, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny on 056-7794470.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP)  Court records say an 18-year-old from Mason City has been accused of sex extortion schemes in three Iowa counties.

The records show Christian Gossweiler already has been given two years of probation and a five-year suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty in Story County. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that authorities say Gossweiler targeted an Iowa State University student he met online when he was using an assumed name. The records say she sent him a nude photo and he later threatened to show the photo to her friends and family if she didn't do what he wanted or blocked him on social media.

The records say he's scheduled to go on trial April 16 in Black Hawk County, where authorities say he threatened to release another woman's photos and videos if she didn't have sex with him.

He's also charged with extortion in Scott County, accused of using threats to collect more photos from the woman involved in the Black Hawk County case.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  A proposed mental health crisis center in Rochester is getting $5M in state funding.

The money was approved by the Minnesota Department of Human Services for the center, a joint project of Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center, and the Collaborative Resource Education Services and Technology (CREST) group.

This center will meet a critical need for people across 10 counties here in southeast Minnesota, says Bruce Sutor, M.D., practice chair for the Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology. People in crisis are too often cared for in busy emergency departments. Now they will have, 24/7 access to the mental health services they need, in a welcoming, calm environment designed with their needs in mind.

Construction on the center is expected to begin in 2020.

We realized early on that we all share the same goal, says Paul Fleissner, Deputy Administrator of Health, Housing, and Human Services for Olmsted County. To address the serious gap in mental health care in our society, we needed to work together. The model we developed closes that gap, providing the care people need no matter their age, type of crisis, or ability to pay.

Olmsted Countys 2018-2020 Community Health Improvement Plan found nearly 1 in 3 local adults reported having had a mental health condition.

We were aware that there was a gap in mental health care in southeastern Minnesota. By working together, we will be able to provide timely access to safe mental health services to individuals who may be in crisis and need mental health care, says Kathryn Lombardo, M.D., Olmsted Medical Center president and OMC psychiatrist.

The center will serve people in Dodge, Olmsted, Mower, Fillmore, Steele, Waseca, Goodhue, Wabasha, Winona, and Houston counties.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa  A Floyd County nurse is facing federal charges over stealing drugs and illegal gun possession.

Christopher Scott West is accused in Cedar Rapids Federal Court of tampering with a consumer product, possession of a firearm by a drug user, and acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception, or subterfuge. According to court documents, the crimes occurred while West worked as a nurse anesthetist at Floyd County Medical Center between February and September 2018.

Authorities say West would tamper with vials of fentanyl and sufentanil, removing at least 88 percent of the contents and replacing them with another liquid. West is also alleged to have chosen a particular type of anesthesia for a patient undergoing surgery in order to keep the drugs leftover after the surgery for his own use. Authorities say the patient suffered complications from the procedure and needed additional time in the hospital.

West is also accuse of possessing two pistols, four rifles, and a shotgun while he was using drugs.

His trial is set for begin on May 6.
MASON CITY, Iowa  A Minnesota man accused of stealing a pickup truck in North Iowa is pleading not guilty.

Christian Kelly Brodt, 25 of Blaine, MN, is accused of taking the truck from Tonys Tire Service in Clear Lake in August 2018. The truck was eventually found heavily damaged and abandoned on Interstate 94 near Minneapolis.

Brodt booked into the Cerro Gordo County jail on February 5. Hes now entered a not guilty plea to 1st degree theft. A trial is set to begin on April 9.
OLMSTED COUNTY, Minn. - Authorities are officially classifying the death of a Somali man who was found on an Olmsted County road Tuesday as a homicide.

Authorities identified Garad Hassan Roble, 28, of Rochester, as the man who was shot multiple times and found deceased.

There are people of interest in the case, authorities said Thursday, but no arrests have been made.

Watch: The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office gives an update on the case.

Garad Roble - Image provided by family. Garad Roble - Image provided by family.

Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson said it seems to be a very specific act against Mr. Roble.

The Olmsted County Sheriffs Office is still seeking information from the public regarding Mr. Robles whereabouts during the 24 hours prior to him being located (from 03:00 AM on Monday March 4th to 03:45 on Tuesday, March 5th, 2019).

The Sheriffs Office can be contacted at 507-328-6688

Due to the initial investigation indicating that this was not a random act of violence, we do not believe there is an ongoing concern for public safety, authorities said Wednesday.

The male was found deceased Tuesday morning in the 2300 block of 45th St. SE in Marion Township.

According to Sgt. Kirby Long, a person driving to work saw the man and called 911. Gold Cross and Olmsted County Sheriff's Office arrived on scene to find the man deceased. Based on "apparent trauma," the death was called suspicious.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is assisting the Sheriff's office in the investigation.

This is Rochester's first homicide since Sept. 8, 2018.

After a deadly year in terms of homicides in 2018, this is Rochester's first murder of 2019.

2018 ROCHESTER HOMICIDES

Alexander Weiss 2nd-degree murder charge

ROCHESTER, Minn.  Court documents detail tense moments prior to 25-year-old Alexander Weiss shooting 17-year-old Muhammed Rahim after a traffic accident.

On Wednesday, Weiss was charged with second-degree murder in the case and was held on $200,000 for unconditional bond and $75,000 for conditional bond just after 11 a.m.

Read more here.

According to the criminal complaint, Weiss told police in the moments just before the shooting that Rahim got in his face and spit on him before Rahim grabbed at Weiss gun.

Weiss said after that, he shot Rahim once.

Documents state Weiss told officers that he saw a Chevy Cavalier hit the sewer gate on the north side of 31st St. NE. Weiss said he drove his Subaru near the Cavalier and the Cavalier backed into Weiss vehicle

Police: Verbal confrontation led to Rochester murder

ROCHESTER, Minn.  Sao Yim Jr., 24 of Rochester, is charged with 2nd degree murder for the March 12 killing of Ahmed Muafaq Abdulhu Al Naddf, 40, who was found shot to death in the 2800 block of Charles Court NW in Rochester. Yim is also charged with possession of a firearm after being convicted of a crime of violence.

Read more here.

Yim has pleaded not guilty and his trial is now scheduled to begin on May 13, 2019.

Eric Tyler Lee, of Rochester, pleaded guilty to aiding an offender in this case and was previously sentenced to 10 years of supervised probation.

Two stabbed to death as Rochester has first double murder in more than 2 decades

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Officers had left the scene just 10 minutes before a fatal double stabbing Saturday night, authorities said Monday.

Phillip Hicks, one of two victims who died Saturday, called police at 6:29 p.m. Saturday about a verbal altercation he was having with Glenn Johnson. This is the first double murder in Rochester in more than two decades.

Read more here.

Police arrived at the Castleview Apartments at 6:37 p.m. and determined that nothing criminal had happened and cleared the scene at 7:05 p.m. The building is managed by The Salvation Army.

Ten minutes later, the call about the stabbings of Hicks, 57, and 45-year-old Eric Alan Flemming was received. Both died from stab wounds to the chest and torso areas.

3 facing second-degree murder charges in trailer park shooting death

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Three people are in custody and Rochester Police tell us they are tied to a trailer park homicide.

Authorities said Kielah Parsons, Malcolm Woods, and Darien Kristopher Klindworth-Woods are facing 2nd degree murdger charges for the fatal shooting of Brandon Arndt.

Read more here.

Arndt was found shot in the head September 10, inside his trailer home on the 1900 block of Marion Road Southeast.

Arndt was declared dead at the scene.
OLMSTED COUNTY, Minn.  Its a discussion thats happening in many of our communities: At what age should someone be able to purchase tobacco products?

It was way back in 1987 that the federal government raised the minimum age for tobacco use from 16 to 18 years old.

Now, public health officials in Olmsted County are proposing the age to buy tobacco be increased from 18 to 21.

The proposal comes at a time when teens are experimenting with new products like e-cigarettes.

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams is letting it be known e-cigarettes and vaping is becoming a concerning trend.

"I am officially declaring e-cigarettes among youth an epidemic in the United States, Adams said back in December.

Some think the proposal would help put a dent in the issue.

"Raising the age in my opinion is a step in the right direction, Alyssa Cerna, of Phoenix, AZ, said. A lot of people my age do not smoke cigarettes and they're very turned off of the idea of cigarettes in general because of the tobacco, but I think companies are now gearing their I guess sales towards e-cigarettes because teens will use them.

Others dont want to see more laws against it.

We let young adults go to war at 18, you know puts guns in their hands and the whole bit, Sam Hurne, of Rochester, said. So I don't think raising the age to 21 is appropriate.

At the same time, people arent sure how much help it will be.

There's always loopholes, people are going to smoke if they want to, Cerna said.

The Olmsted County Board of Commissioners is holding a public hearing about the proposed change on Tues., April 2. It starts at 9:00 a.m. at the Government Center.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  Sexually assaulting a teenager at a graduation party results in jail time and probation.

Pang See, 34 of Rochester, was arrested in June 2018 and charged with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct. Police say he sexually assaulted an 18-year-old female at a Rochester hotel.

He pleaded guilty in February 2019 to 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct and has been sentenced to 178 days in jail, which may be served as a staggered sentence over the course of three years. See must also be on supervised probation for 15 years and either pay a $1,000 fine or do 100 hours of community work service.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - When roaming the streets of Rochester, residents had different answers on what they are hoping to give up for the Lenten season.

"Desserts," Connor O'Brien said. "I think it's more of a thing when I want to be a healthier person."

"Sodas, flavored drinks," Matt Hewhastreiter said. "Trying to avoid gluttony."

"Ranch, dressing because I am a dipper," Abbie Gwilt said. "I tend to use ranch on everything."

They chose these things because they wanted to display self-control or practice better health, but one good samaritan named Bob Hoel uses Lent as his time to reflect and better himself.

"I prefer to think of Lent to be more thoughtful to people in need rather than give up something myself particular," Hoel said.

Some ways he hopes to do that is by donating or writing a check to an organization.

Rebecca Snapp is an employee at the Salvation Army and says donating to their food shelf is one way you can practice self-betterment. Donating 40 items of healthy food this season is what people in need could use and is the best kind of sacrifice to make.

"Why would you not want to make a sacrifice that could better someone else in your community?" Snapp said. "To me, that's the best kind of sacrifice you can make."

Snapp also says they could use all the help -- and hands they can get.

"We're always looking for people interested in taking part in this," Snapp said. "It's a simple task. Get them logged in and help them to get their groceries."

It's something which Hoel will continue observing.

"I like the idea of giving something away," Hoel said.

To sign up to volunteer for the Salvation Army, here is a link.
Experience is a wonderful teacher, which is how we know that many mushrooms are poisonous and that owls make lousy pets. Investors who lived through the September-to-December market correction also got to learn how their mutual funds fared in an abrupt downturn  and thats something worth knowing. The Standard & Poors 500-stock index tumbled 19.4% with reinvested dividends in 96 days from Sept. 20 through Dec. 24. The correction left few markets unscathed: The MSCI Europe, Australasia and Far East index tumbled 13.6%, and the Russell 2000 small-company stock index shed 26.1%. Fortunately, the stock market roared back after its Christmas Eve low: At this writing, the S&P 500 is up 19.2% since Dec. 24, and for the round trip  from September peak to today  the blue-chip index is down just 3.9%. What can we learn from this, aside from not selling in a panic? Some managers fare well in reducing losses in a correction; some excel at producing gains on the rebound; relatively few do well in both directions. Heres a look at how diversified, actively managed mutual funds fared in the most recent market unpleasantness: the best on the way up, on the way down, and for the round trip. We also included the worst funds for the round trip. Our data for the correction is Sept. 20, 2018 to Dec. 24, 2018; the recovery, Dec. 24, 2018, to Feb. 22, 2019; and the round trip, Sept. 20, 2018, to Feb. 22, 2019. All data is courtesy of Morningstar. Large Blend These funds look for stocks of big, growing companies whose stocks are reasonably priced, relative to earnings.

Best fund, up market: Selective Opportunity Foundation (SLCTX), up 27.3%. This $89.4 million fund looks for stocks of companies with fat profit margins and few competitors. Drawback: Its young and expensive, with a 1.54% expense ratio. Best fund, down market: AMG Yacktman Focused N (YAFFX), down 7.3%. Lead manager Stephen Yacktman has worked on the fund since 2003 and took the reins from his father, star manager Donald Yacktman, in 2016. The fund had 20.3% of its assets in cash at the end of 2018. Best fund, round trip: Selective Opportunity Foundation, up 5.0%. And that is despite an 18.3% drop during the correction. Worst fund, round trip: Catalyst/Lyons Tactical Allocation A (CLTAX), down 16.6%. CLTAX went for the hat trick, faring worst in the up phase (+5.6%), the down phase (-21.0%) and the round trip. As of the end of January, the fund was 84.5% in bonds and 15.5% in cash. Large Growth These funds look for big companies whose earnings should get bigger. Best fund, up market: Zevenbergen Growth Institutional (ZVNIX), up 39.0%. The retail shares of the fund trade under the ticker ZVNBX. Technology and consumer cyclical stocks are its rocket fuel. Top three holdings as of Dec. 31: Amazon.com (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX) and Exact Sciences (EXAS), a molecular diagnostics company. Best fund, down market: Quantified STF Investor (QSTFX), down 11.3%. This fund trades frenetically to follow market trends and did well on the way down. It missed the trend on the way up, though, falling 7.5% during the rebound and chalking up a dismal 17.9% round-trip loss.

Best fund, round trip: Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities A (FAGAX), up 4.9%. Manager Kyle Weaver uses tech stocks for much of this funds rocket fuel, with Alphabet (GOOGL), the parent company of Google, at the top of its holdings as of the end of 2018. The fund ranked third in its peer group on the way down, and sixth on the way up. Sadly, this fund carries a maximum 5.75% sales charge. Worst fund, round trip: Quantified STF Investor, down 17.9%. See above. Large Value Sometimes, a big stock can be a big bargain, and value investors look hard for stocks that sell at a discount to a companys real value. Best fund, up market: Lyrical U.S. Value Equity Institutional (LYRIX), up 25.8%. While the fund performed well on the way back up, it fell hard  23.8%  on the way down. Biggest holding at the end of the year: insurance company Aflac (AFL). Best fund, down market: Copley Fund (COPLX), down 6.8%. Longtime manager Irving Levine passed away last year, but current skipper Peter Gottlieb handled the correction adroitly. The fund is heavy in energy, financial services and especially utilities. Best fund, round trip: Copley Fund, up 4.4%. Worst fund, round trip: Mount Lucas U.S. Focused Equity Institutional Class (BMLEX), down 15.4%. Big stakes in Macys (M) and CenturyLink (CTL), the funds second- and third-largest holdings at the end of 2018, helped sink this fund. Mid-Cap Blend These funds frolic in the field of mid-sized companies, hoping to find stocks of growing companies that are reasonably priced, relative to earnings.

Best fund, up market: Kinetics Spin-Off and Corporate Restructuring Advisor A (LSHAX), up 35.7%: As its name implies, the fund invests in companies that are either trying to remake themselves or make a go of it by leaving their parent company. Not surprisingly, the fund tumbled 31.0% in the correction. Its a load fund, too, aimed at investment advisers. Best fund, down market: Frank Value Investor (FRNKX), down 4.1%. This tiny $13.6 million fund has a big 1.52% expense ratio. The secret sauce in the correction: A heaping helping of bonds. The fund had 61.6% of its portfolio in bonds and just 16.1% in stocks. And, yes, Brian Frank is the portfolio manager. Best fund, round trip: FAM Equity-Income Investor (FAMEX), up 2.3%. Managers Thomas Putnam and Paul Hogan have run this value-seeking fund since its inception in 1996. The fund is small  $283 million  and moderately expensive, with a 1.26% expense ratio. Nevertheless, its portfolio of unloved stocks that typically pay a dividend held up nicely. Worst fund, round trip: Putnam Equity Spectrum Y (PYSYX), down 14.8%. This fund fell 24.9% in the correction and couldnt get very far back up, rising 13.6% in the up market. Mid-Cap Growth These funds hope for future earnings growth in mid-sized companies. Best fund, up market: Hodges Fund Retail (HDPMX), up 41.5%. A big overweight position in basic materials stocks, such as US Concrete (USCR) and United States Steel (X), propelled this fund to its top spot.

Best fund, down market: Nieman Opportunities A (NEOMX), down 14.8%. The fund went into the correction in September with big overweights in financial services stocks as well as a nearly 16% stake in international stocks  both of which helped ease the downturn. Best fund, round trip: Shelton Green Alpha (NEXTX), up 5.2%. This fund emphasizes green energy, with top holdings like Vestas Wind A/S ADR (VWDRY), a top wind energy company, and Canadian Solar (CSIQ). Worst fund, round trip: Hodges Fund Retail, down 15.8%. A big gain in an up market is great, but not when you lose 40.5% in the down market  which is what Hodges did. Mid-Cap Value These funds hunt for bargains among mid-sized companies. Best fund, up market: Hotchkis & Wiley Mid-Cap Value A (HWMAX), up 30.8%. This broker-sold fund had 20% of its portfolio in energy companies, such as Whiting Petroleum (WLL), its largest holding as of Dec. 31. The fund also had the worst record in the correction, falling 31.3%. Best fund, down market: Goodhaven Fund (GOODX), down 14.7%. Broad diversification helped this fund in a punk market. In November, the latest information available from Morningstar, the fund had 11.4% of its assets in cash, 13.5% in non-U.S. stock and 10% in bonds. Best fund, round trip: Jensen Quality Value J (JNVSX), down 0.7%. The danger with value investing is that some stocks deserve to be cheap because they are lousy companies. Jensen looks for cheap companies with a long-term record of high returns on shareholder equity.

Worst fund, round trip: James Mid Cap (JAMDX), down 11.8%. The funds gains in the up market werent enough to overcome its 28.1% loss in the correction. Small-Cap Blend These funds seek out GARP  growth at a reasonable price  when picking small-company stocks. Best fund, up market: Hodges Small Cap Retail (HDPSX), up 33.4%. This funds hunting grounds are the membership of the Russell 2000 index, which measures small-company stock performance. At the end of September, the fund had loaded up on energy, technology and consumer cyclical stocks. Best fund, down market: Segall Bryant & Hamill Small Cap Value (SBHVX), down 18.8%. No one likes a loss of that magnitude, but the average small-company blend fund fell 24.8% during the correction. The funds performance is all the more remarkable in light of its 21% stake in technology. Best fund, round trip: Highland Small-Cap Equity A (HSZAX), up 3.4%. This funds 2.34% expense ratio is reason for pause, as is its 5.75% maximum sales charge. But the fund, as of the end of February, has beaten 76% of its peers over the past 10 years, and 97% of its peers the past five years. Worst fund, round trip: Pacific Advisors Small Cap Value A, (PASMX), down 17.2%. The fund gained 26.6% on the upswing but plunged 34.6% on the way down. Small-Cap Growth Best fund, up market: Delaware Small Cap Growth Institutional (DSGGX), up 39.3%. The retail version of this broker-sold fund trades under the ticker DSGDX. The fund toppled 29.6% on the down leg of the correction, leaving investors with a 2.0% round-trip loss.
Retirees Kristi Appelhans, 68, and her husband, Tony, 69, live in Idaho Falls, Idahoabout 2,000 miles from their daughter Kiras family in Staten Island, N.Y. Although they visit every couple of months, they have found that the best way to stay connected to their grandson, Oliver, age 5, is through video chats using Skype and FaceTime.

Once Oliver got big enough to see us, around age 1, wed walk outside with our computer and show him our rooster or a birds nest, says Kristi. At three, Oliver began guiding their long-distance interactions. Wed watch him as he played with Legos in his living room and talk to him, says Kristi. These days, Oliver shows them the lights on his bedroom ceiling or performs chemistry experiments, such as mixing vinegar and soda in the kitchen sink.

Technology has allowed us to keep the connection with him strong between visits, says Kristi. We use it more than we expected. Like the Appelhanses, many grandparents separated by geography from their beloved grandkids find that communicating through new tech tools is a lot more fun than the obligatory phone calls relied on by past generations.

Audio alone doesnt cut it anymore. This generation expects to see someones face when they talk, says Alison Hillhouse, vice president of youth culture and trends at MTV, and author of the self-published how-to guide Virtual Grandma. Her son, Charlie, 6, likes to video chat with his grandmother, who lives in Missouri. My mom, a former schoolteacher and creative type, uses puppets and props, says Hillhouse. She will play with toy trucks and narrate a story to Charlie. And my dad dresses up in costumes.
An unexpected blow to your finances can be detrimental if you arent prepared. For these three people, scaling back on daily spending, sacrificing certain needs and tapping into an emergency fund made all the difference. A Furlough Is No Vacation The government shutdown in January wasnt the first time Sherrie Kinard hit turbulence during her 20-year career at the Environmental Protection Agency. Kinard, 47, of Highlands Ranch, Colo., rode out the two-week shutdown in 2013while she was in the midst of a contentious divorce. Afterward, she beefed up her savings and became allergic to credit card debt. This furlough was way more scary because we had no idea when it would end, she says. Plus, when she remarried last fall, she drew down her savings to pay for the wedding and to make a down payment on a new home. Sherrie Kinard and her family cut back on unnecessary expenses, such as eating out, when her job was hit by the five-week federal government shutdown. Photo by Benjamin Rasmussen When the furlough was announced, the family stopped eating out, and Kinard returned an expensive Christmas gift from her husband. Kinard immediately reached out to creditors. Her mortgage lender agreed to let her postpone her January payment without charging a late fee. Other creditors allowed her to postpone payments.

Kinard has two sons, Evan, 14, and Zachary, 12. Both are on the autism spectrum and need therapy and medications. Kinard pays about $400 a month in out-of-pocket expenses for Evan. (Zachary qualifies for support from Medicaid.) During the shutdown, Kinard had to cancel Evans therapy. Kinard missed two paychecks during the five-week shutdown, and she received back pay two weeks after it ended. If another shutdown had occurred, she would have taken a loan from her Thrift Savings Plan retirement account. At least, she says, she would be paying herself back. Dont Skimp on Your Emergency Fund Prarthana Appaiah, 29, started seeding her emergency fund when she took her first job as a substitute teacher in Loudoun County, Va., a position that was originally set up as a six-month contract. Living at home enabled her to save two-thirds of her paycheck each month, which she set aside in a savings account and put toward her emergency fund, as well as her student loans and buying a car. Both of my parents started their emergency funds and investments much later in their careers, so they always encouraged me to start early, she says. When Prarthana Appaiah had to shell out a several hundred dollars for unexpected car repairs, she was able to foot the bill thanks to her emergency fund. Photo by Ryan Donnell Appaiah settled on $15,000 to $20,000 as the target amount she wants to hold in her emergency fund. As long as her emergency fund holds that amount, she focuses on investing rather than saving more. Now a full-time fourth-grade teacher and living with a roommate, Appaiah aims to save at least one-third of her paycheck each month. She doesnt automate transfers between her checking and savings account, but she keeps an eye on her bank account to make sure her savings are on track. Her emergency fund came in handy recently when a series of misfortunes befell her 10-year-old car, including a hit-and-run while parked and unexpected repairs. But otherwise, I dont touch it, she says. Shes currently replenishing the last couple of hundred dollars she needs to return to her optimum $20,000 target. Dont Be Blindsided by a Layoff On January 23, Tim Swarens tweeted: I was told a few minutes ago that @indystar has laid me off. Im in shock.
Joseph Bailey, an associate research professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, discusses the pros and cons of a cashless society.

According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, nearly 30% of Americans say they make no cash purchases during a typical week. How does the use of electronic payments in the U.S. compare with other countries? The U.S. is moving quickly toward more cashless transactions, but it still lags some European countries, such as Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Sweden has reached a tipping point at which only about 2% of transactions are conducted in cash. In part, thats because the Swedes are technologically savvy, they have a relatively small market, and the government encourages electronic payments of its currency. Chinese cities are also embracing the cashless life, with a mobile-phone system that uses encrypted codes for transactions. In India, some 255 million people are making everyday purchases using the Paytm virtual wallet system, backed by Chinas Alibaba.

Will the U.S. catch up with the other countries? If you want a picture of how well handle money in the future, look at how college students manage their money. And then just imagine a world in which they are the majority, and not the rest of us who grew up in a world where we carried around wallets with paper money and maybe coins in our pockets.

What are the trade-offs for consumers as we move toward more cashless transactions? Consumers give up anonymity when they dont use cash. For example, lets say you go grocery shopping and your payment shows whether you got a discount for using a reusable bag or paid for a plastic store bag. Marketing could be tailored to you, based on how youre perceived to feel about the environment. Or if you use electronic payments to buy a lot of fruits and vegetables, you could be pitched a gym membership because a marketer thinks youre getting fit. Some consumers may not be comfortable with this type of marketing because they think its an invasion of privacy.

Are there any other drawbacks to a cashless society? Cashless businesses could hurt low-income consumers who mostly use cash. In addition, we eventually could see a surcharge for using cash. Theft could also become a bigger problem. You may be less likely to be pickpocketed because youre not carrying cash, but you might face a greater financial threat from a remote hacker or data thief who manages to hack into your smartphone.
However, even if you meet the income requirement, you may be disqualified from free filing if, say, you made (or lost) money trading stocks or you contributed to a health savings account. For example, H&R Blocks Free File program lets users file a federal tax return and up to three state returns at no cost. But if you made money from a side gig or have investment income, youll be prompted to use the Premium version, which can cost between $50 and $70 to prepare and e-file a federal return and $36.99 for each state return. Before you start plugging in numbers, read the fine print and disclaimers for the software.

Software with strings attached. Many millennials can file their taxes free. The IRSs Free File program partners with tax software giants such as H&R Block and TurboTax to offer free online tax preparation for taxpayers who made less than $66,000 in 2018. (The big tax software providers also offer their own free versions for taxpayers with straightforward returns.)

Last year my mother told me it was time to start doing my own taxes . I panicked at this thrust into adulthood. But, with a beer in hand, I persevered and learned two things: Freelancing and moving across the country make filing your taxes more complicatedand more expensive.

Overlooked write-offs. The new tax law nearly doubled the standard deduction for single filers, to $12,000 (its $24,000 for married couples who file a joint return). Even if you take the standard deduction, you could still qualify for money-saving tax breaks.

For instance, if youre paying off student loans, you may be able to deduct up to $2,500 a year in interest. The interest deduction is phased out as you climb the income ladder, and single filers are locked out of this break if their adjusted gross income (AGI) is $80,000 or more.

If you had a ton of unreimbursed medical expenses last year because of, say, a catastrophic illness, you may be able to deduct them, but youll have to itemize. And you can only deduct expenses that exceed 7.5% of your AGI (that will rise to 10% in 2019).

The tax overhaul eliminated a great tax break for millennials and others who relocate for a new joband one I neglected to claim in 2016. You can no longer deduct your moving expenses unless youre an active member of the military. If you made the same mistake I did in 2016 (or moved in 2017 and failed to claim the deduction), you could file Form 1040X with the IRS to claim the moving expenses. Youll need your original tax return and accompanying documents, plus the receipts for your moving costs. The deadline to file an amended return is three years after your original filing deadline.

Dont overlook tax breaks from your state or city. In the District of Columbia, some of my colleagues are eligible for a tax credit of up to $1,025 for residents who made less than $51,000 in 2018 and lived in D.C. for the whole year. Minnesota offers a tax credit of up to $2,150 for single renters who made less than $61,320 in 2018.

If youre feeling overwhelmed and dont qualify for the free programs, its probably worth it to pay for tax software. The programs also generally have live chat boxes and explanations that will guide you through the process. If youd rather entrust your taxes to a human, you could hire a tax preparer, but the average cost for preparing a tax return is $216, according to a survey by the National Association of Tax Professionals.

Im filing with H&R Block Premium again (for a total cost of $124) because I earned a little bit of freelance income in 2018 and need to file a federal and two state returns. I dont qualify for the Maryland renters tax credit, and I have no interest to deduct on any student loans. I have until Tax Day 2020 to file an amended 2016 return to claim the now-defunct moving deduction, but Im not sure its worth trying to recreate the return and find all my documents. That was three years ago, and I didnt keep the receipts.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinas decision to increase its budget deficit ratio to 2.8 percent this year from 2.6 percent in 2018 is appropriate for the economy, and leaves room for policymakers to maneuver, Finance Minister Liu Kun said on Thursday.

But a proactive fiscal policy does not mean China will open the floodgates for stimulus, Liu said at a news conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing, reiterating past government pledges of restraint.

Global investors are closely watching how forcefully Beijing will support the economy after growth in 2018 slowed to a near 30-year low. A key market focus is how policymakers will balance the need for growth against the threat of a further flare-up in financial risks and debt.

We will not spend a penny that is not supposed to be spent, and well strive to guarantee the money that is supposed to be spent, Liu said.

Premier Li Keqiang told the opening of parliament on Tuesday that China is planning billions of dollars in additional tax cuts and infrastructure spending, amid pressure from softer domestic demand and a trade war with the United States.

The premier also announced the slightly higher target for the budget deficit to GDP ratio and a lower annual economic growth target of 6-6.5 percent, both of which had been widely expected.

For 2019, Beijing is planning cuts of nearly 2 trillion yuan ($298 billion) in taxes and fees for companies, featuring long-awaited reductions in value-added tax for manufacturing, transport and construction sectors. It has not yet announced when the VAT cuts will take effect.

Liu acknowledged that the planned tax cuts will exert some pressure on local government finances, but he pledged more funds will be transferred from the central government to localities.

Considering the downward pressure on the economy and the upcoming policy of larger tax and fee cuts, some regions will still face relatively big budgetary pressure this year, said Liu.

PROVINCES IN TRANSITION

Many provinces across China are in the midst of a long-term economic transformation as President Xi Jinping urges industries to move away from low-value, polluting manufacturing.

Shanxi, a northern province traditionally known for its coal resources, is building solar plants in old mining districts in its renewable energy push, and like other provinces, has not been spared from the broader economic slowdown.

To shore up its corporate sector, Shanxi reduced taxes by 57.3 billion yuan ($8.5 billion) in 2018 and cut fees of 6 billion yuan, with 90 percent of the companies benefiting from the tax cuts being private firms, Wu Tao, head of the Shanxi provincial governments finance department, said on the sidelines of parliament on Wednesday.

Since last year, we have overcome difficulties and spared no effort in pushing forward the implementation of tax and fee cuts, even though fiscal revenues, which once dropped for two consecutive years, are still in a stage of recovery, Wu said.

Shanxi is expected to cut taxes and fees by another 31.2 billion yuan this year, he said.

Shanxi has reported falling government revenues in 2015 and 2016.

The finance minister said the central government is highly concerned about the cases of some provinces having difficulties in paying salaries, maintaining operations and social security.

Local governments will be allowed to issue 2.15 trillion yuan worth of special purpose bonds in 2019, up 59 percent from last year. Such bonds are not included in the government budget and for funding key investment projects.

The arrangement on the budget deficit ratio has fully considered factors including fiscal revenue and local government special bonds and leaves more policy room for future macro adjustments, Liu said.

The government will also look to offset some of the reduction in fiscal revenue from the tax cuts by collecting more profits from certain state-owned financial institutions and centrally-owed enterprises, Liu said, without giving more details.

Local governments will also have to secure funding via other channels, he added.

In this regard, some funds will be raised, which allows us not to raise the deficit ratio too high.

But Liu said some local governments are still raising debt illegally and Beijing will not allow new hidden debt.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio said on Thursday he would not enter the 2020 U.S. presidential race, but would work to help the party recapture the White House and battle Republican President Donald Trumps phony populism.

Brown, who just wrapped up an exploratory month-long tour of four early voting states, said he was confident the growing field of Democratic White House contenders would carry on his fight for workers.

Weve seen candidates begin taking up the dignity of work fight, and we have seen voters across the country demanding it, Brown said in a statement. It is how we beat Trump, and it is how we should govern.

Talking to reporters outside the Senate chamber, he said he did not have a lifelong ambition to be president and the tour had been designed to elevate his pro-worker message within the party.

In that sense, it was mission accomplished, Brown said. I look forward to going back to the Senate where I think I can be most effective.

Brown, a liberal with strong ties to the labor movement, had not registered significant support in most opinion polls of a Democratic field that includes better-known fellow senators such as Kamala Harris of California, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

His decision is certain to increase speculation that former Vice President Joe Biden, another Democrat with a history of appealing to working-class voters, is likely to enter the race. Former Congressman Beto ORourke of Texas is also expected to announce a decision soon.

Three other possible Democratic contenders - former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon - also announced this week that they would not run.

Brown had easily won re-election to the Senate in November in Ohio, even though Republicans captured every other statewide office. That feat impressed many Democrats looking to take back the industrial states Trump swept on his way to victory in 2016, and sparked talk about a Brown candidacy.

On his exploratory tour, Brown argued he could be a unifying force in a party debating whether to focus on winning back working-class voters or rallying the suburban, women and minority voters who fueled the partys gains in Novembers congressional elections.

Its not an either/or, Brown said when he kicked off the tour in late January. We can do both.
The Herald reports:

The Kiwi jihadi being held in a Syrian prison has told a reporter that if he returns to New Zealand, he is interested in setting up a medicinal cannabis company. 

He said he was interested in starting a business and he had heard there was going to be a referendum on cannabis and he was interested in starting a medicinal cannabis company of some kind, MacDiarmid told RNZ.



If the legalisation of medicinal cannabis didnt occur through the referendum, MacDiarmid said Taylor was thinking of running a cafe.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7) Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Thursday issued a clarification on her earlier controversial statement, while taking another swipe at the opposition senatorial slate.

"I'm helping the black hole candidates dig themselves out of their own hole when I say honesty should not be an issue," Duterte-Carpio said in a statement.

She also advised the slate not to attack other candidates when "they are themselves liars."

"They use inaccurate, misleading statements and even direct lies when they attack other candidates or President (Rodrigo) Duterte, and they know they are stretching the truth and yet they deny that they are lying," the presidential daughter said. "That is the reason why they should not attack other candidates about honesty because they are themselves liars. And this is the truth."

The Hugpong ng Pagbabago leader on Wednesday said all candidates "have been telling lies"-- in response to accusations that senatorial hopeful Bong Go, President Rodrigo Duterte's former special assistant, has been using public funds for his campaign.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo meanwhile said the mayor is entitled to her own opinion.

"Baka naman ang gusto niyang sabihin (maybe what she wants to say is), everybody gives white lies," the spokesman said in his media briefing Thursday.

"If I were a candidate, the issue would be performance, character... Kasama lahat doon pati yung (everything is included including the) behavior mo. She's entitled to her own opinion. It's a free country," he added.

Vice President Leni Robredo said she disagreed with Duterte-Carpio's sentiment, noting that candidates should remain upfront and transparent during the campaign period.

"Kasi iyong kampanya, ito iyong paraan para makilala natin iyong mga kandidato. Iyong kampanya, ito iyong paraan para makapagdesisyon nang tama iyong taumbayan kung sino iyong kaniyang bobotohan. Kung ang premise nito kasinungalingan, parang ang dinadaya natin, taumbayan," Robredo said during an interview Thursday in Cagayan.

[Translation: Our campaign is the way for Filipinos to get to know the candidates, and to help them decide wisely. If its premise is dishonesty, it's like we're deceiving the citizenry.]

Duterte-Carpio previously lashed out at the opposition over its supposed "obsession" about a debate challenge, calling the slate a "black hole."

Her father President Rodrigo Duterte also recently attacked the opposition bets, saying they were heading to hell.

CNN Philippines' Joyce Ilas and Alyssa Rola contributed to this report.
If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here.

Submit
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.



Borderland Beat?



We love to have you in our team, send Sol Prendido or HEARST an email! Want to be a contributor or citizen reporter forBorderland Beat?We love to have you in our team, sendoran 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.




Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) continues with its quest to develop entrepreneurs in the country and their latest collaboration with African Youth Entrepreneurs Summit (AYES) is a case in point.

According to a statement, the government-owned investment arm together with AYES, recently joined hands to host a one-day engagement which brought together young entrepreneurs from Africa to enable them to share notes on business acumen as well as to foster partnerships.

This year the summit (AYES) was held at Travel Lodge last Thursday under the theme; Disruptive Innovation in Todays Versatile Business Jungle to celebrate and develop young sharp minds that are driving African countries to economic diversity. The summit which is in its second year following its launch in 2018, is an annual event that intends to have a combined voice and representation to connect youth owned business ideas and reinforce the entrepreneurial desires of young African entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, BDC Head of Corporate Affairs and Strategy, Boitshwarelo Lebang addressed multitudes of youth entrepreneurs under the topic The Future of Global Finance: Where trends are leading to in the Financial Services Sector. Lebang told attendants that inclusion through the use of technology will define the future of the industry. FinTech is the future, with the likes of Crowdfunding, B2B (Business to Business) funding etc, she said. Furthermore, she stated that sectors that investors are hungry for include technology, health care, energy and retail.

Still at the same gathering, BDCs Investment Principal, Modise Mokone shared information relating to the groups funding model as well as scalability which is critical for competing at a global level. BDC, which invests in virtually every sector, except large scale mining, said their association with AYES, is critical as it allows the group to support its mandate of developing commercial and industrial sectors in the country.

The established partnership with BDC and AYES will come in handy since it will be used to support the formers Corporate Social Investment project which is aimed at supporting entrepreneurs with mentoring and funding based on their pitched business ideas.
Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) National Appeals Board (NAB) has reversed a decision by union President Masego Mogwera to suspend National Executive Committee member Motswaledi Monaiwa. Monaiwa and other NEC members were suspended last year following a controversial meeting in July where they suspended President Mogwera and other NEC members.

Mogwera would later suspend the NEC members who participated in the meeting that suspended her. This resulted in court battles between the two camps in the build up to the unions elective congress in Kasane. NAB sitting last week resolved to set aside Monaiwas suspension. Upon perusal of documents filed on records and respondent having not filed their rebuttal, despite an opportunity having been provided for them to do so, the NAB allows the appeal to succeed.

The appellants letter of suspension of 29th July 2018 is hereby declared irregular and is set aside. The appellant is hereby restored to his full union membership rights and regional chairmanship effective 22nd February 2019, said NAB chairperson Ruth Khupe in her judgement.

The NAB stated in its findings that Monaiwas right to fully belong to a union and participate in union activities is jeopardised due to the suspension. It further stated that according tot Article 47.4 of BOPEU Constitution the president has no power to unilaterally suspend a member.

The president can only suspend a member once there is jurisdictional trigger from NEC to commence disciplinary proceedings against a member. Once there has been such commencement then and only then the president can suspend such a member. The power to commence disciplinary proceedings against a member is vested on the NEC only, which is when a principle of delegatus protestas would be applicable to the president.

In this instant case, the appellant and other NEC members were suspended consequent to a discussion surrounding the conduct of the president. Therefore, the president was conflicted in this matter, said Khupe adding that this is contrary to the principle of natural justice.

NAB stated that notably the suspension was done merely two days to the issuance of the state of emergency meeting by the 1st Deputy President. The action of the president according to the NAB is ultra-vires since she acted against the constitutional provision.

According to the background of the matter on the 28th July 2018, the NEC of BOPEU convened a meeting at Cresta Lodge in Gaborone; whereat 19 members of the NEC were present except one

The NEC comprised of 20 members. Consequent to the BOPEU President and Treasurer General being conflicted in issues discussed, they were asked to recuse themselves temporarily from the proceedings. The 1st Deputy President-Bargaining Martin Gabobake chaired the meeting. He later supposedly adjourned the meeting by declaring a state of emergency

Monaiwa is of the view that Gabobake had acted beyond his power and mandate in declaring a state of emergency hence this was unconstitutional. During the meeting, a resolution was passed suspending five (5) National Office Bearers (NOB) being Mogwera, Gabobake, Tlhabologo Galekhutle, Topias Marenga and Kethapeleng Karabo. On the 30th July 2018 Mogwera suspended all NEC members who participated in the meeting that passed the resolution.
The much-anticipated new book, a manifesto called Dear Upright African was pencilled to be launched yesterday (February 28th) in New York City. The book is penned by Botswanas very own Donald Molosi. In the book, the actor and writer shares his experiences attending school in Africa and calls for the decolonization of the African classroom.

This manifesto, according to Molosi is his most ambitious work yet. According to a press release, the book advocates for education reform and calls on the African governments to preserve our African languages. Beyond entertaining to read, the book is a manifesto for putting African history and languages in the African classroom, says the press release. Ahead of the release, Molosi has been intensively working around the clock to raise awareness about the book, and the Upright Movement. He is currently in Kenya where he has been meeting with different leaders, and having important discussions around this topic.

One of the thought leaders that he met is the one and only, award-winning writer Ngugi wa Thiongo. The two met at Ngugis home village of Limuru. Speaking from Nairobi, this is what Molosi had to say, With my new book I am energizing a continent-wide conversation about decolonizing African classrooms. It is a revolution that was begun by Prof. Ngugis generation and it will complete in my generation. Young Africans have run out of patience for the colonized curriculum because they are now aware that it creates their unemployment. Botswana, for instance, has one of the most colonized curricula in Africa. That is a crisis. Our children deserve better than to suffer from unemployment that government creates on purpose.

He explains that they spoke about his work with Prof. Ngugi concerning decolonization. His message to me was clear: Keep Going! One thing he said that stayed with me was that my fear for our disappearing African languages is valid. He encouraged me to keep this important conversation about decolonization alive. That, for me, was a blessing from him to me as my African elder before the February 28 release of my book, he explains in the press release. According to Molosi in an interview with this publication, one of the objectives of his travels is to bring awareness to the problematic curriculum in Africa. Beyond that, he explains that he is having key conversations with thought leaders in every country for them to internalise the gravity of the issue. I am still on my travels, but meeting Prof. Ngugi was extremely helpful in a situation within East Africa, the conversation of decolonizing, he explains.

He further says that the rest of the continent identifies with exactly the same colonial problems that he talks about in the book. The other African leaders I have been meeting are genuinely shocked that Botswana is this resolutely colonial, he explains. He further highlights that one of the highlights regarding the book is launching the book in Germany. This, he says, will give him an opportunity to speak to an European audience about the way Europe continues to impoverish Africa in knowledge, consciousness and other resources. I want them to know that we know they are robbing and controlling us, and it must end. I will engage with diaspora Africans in Germany to tell them that we need their voices and efforts for education decolonization that Africa deserves, explains Molosi. All the travels are sponsored by the Upright African Movement.

When it was first presented as a 2017 TED talk, Dear Upright African created a lot of conversation. In it, Molosi proposed that African schools should teach African history to which a certain teacher at Maru a Pula School proceeded to attack and insult Molosi online. Although Molosi himself never responded to the attack, many Batswana labelled the attack against Molosi as a racist one as there was nothing wrong with his suggestion. Molosi says of the attack, The world was watching that racist rant on the internet. People all over the world were disappointed to see how bad the situation in Botswana is. So I am back with this book because I desire change and yes, I am impossible to intimidate.

The book boasts a glowing foreword by the legendary Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions, one of the most important writers to ever come out of Africa. In her remarks about Molosis work, Dangarembga says that, Palpably outraged, Molosi reminds us - sharing vivid examples - of how the metaphysical and physical engagement of empire with the African continent formed a carefully orchestrated strategy whose end result was to inflict large numbers of Africans, including African elites, with a chronic, debilitating self-hatred. Drawing form his extensive reading on the subject, Molosi offers practical remedies for the devastating crisis he chronicles.

In addition, Kenyan literary superstar Binyavanga Wainaina whom TIME Magazine crowned one of the most influential 100 people in the world says of Dear Upright African, In this manifesto, Donald Molosi shows us what a decolonized Africa would look like. This matter is vital for people in school today. It is this sort of activism that our continent needs now.
Child's elevated mental ill-health risk if mother treated for infection during pregnancy

Risks for autism and depression are higher if one's mother was in hospital with an infection during pregnancy. This is shown by a major Swedish observational study of nearly 1.8 million children.

"The results indicate that safeguarding against and preventing infection during pregnancy as far as possible by, for instance, following flu vaccination recommendations, may be called for," says Verena Sengpiel, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and last author of the study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Maternal infection with certain infectious agents, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) or the herpes virus, are already known to be capable of harming fetal brain development and boosting the risk of certain psychiatric disorders.

The findings of the current study, however, also show that infection in general during pregnancy, too -- including when the actual infectious agent does not reach the fetal brain -- is related to elevated risk of the child developing autism or depression later in life.

More autism and depression

The study is based on data on all children, totaling almost 1.8 million, born in Sweden during the years 1973-2014. The particulars from the Swedish Medical Birth Register were linked to the national inpatient register, which records whether the mother was treated in hospital with an infection diagnosis during the pregnancy concerned.

Using the inpatient register, the researchers also monitored these children's mental health until 2014, when the oldest were aged 41.

It was found that if, during pregnancy, a mother with an infection diagnosis received hospital treatment, there was a marked rise in the risk of her child needing hospital care later in life, with a diagnosis of either autism or depression. The increase in risk was 79 percent for autism and 24 percent for depression.

In contrast, there was no association between the mothers being in hospital with an infection diagnosis during pregnancy and two other psychiatric diagnoses studied in their children: bipolar disorder and psychosis, including schizophrenia.

Increased risk even after mild infection

The pregnant women in the study may have been hospitalized with diagnoses other than infections, but then had infections diagnosed during their stay as well. The elevated risk of mental ill-health in the child was also evident after infections in the pregnant women that are usually considered mild, such as a common urinary tract infection.

The study, which was observational, provides no answer on how maternal infection during pregnancy affects fetal brain development. However, other studies have shown that an infection in the mother leads to an inflammatory reaction, and that some inflammatory proteins can affect gene expression in fetal brain cells.

Other research shows that inflammation in the mother boosts production of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the placenta, which may conceivably affect the unborn child's brain development.

###

The study was carried out in collaboration between researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy and colleagues at the UW (University of Washington) School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington, US.

Title: Long-term Risk of Neuropsychiatric Disease after Exposure to Infection in Utero; https:/ / jamanetwork. com/ journals/ jamapsychiatry/ fullarticle/ 2727135

Contacts:

Associate Professor Verena Sengpiel; verena.sengpiel@obgyn.gu.se -- takes questions by email, not telephone

Professor Bo Jacobsson, +46 (0)705 600 162; bo.jacobsson@obgyn.gu.se

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 7)  A suspected member of the drug syndicate believed to be led by an inmate from inside the New Bilibid Prison was killed in the province of Cebu, a police official said Thursday.

Janelyn Encila, 31, was shot by motorcycle-riding assailants after disembarking from a cab in Barangay Labogon, Mandaue City at around 7 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

Encila's parents and sister were arrested on Sunday after the recovery of P190 million worth shabu from twin drug operations. Among those nabbed was Encila's sister Jocelyn, identified by the police as the partner of Rustico Ygot, a Bilibid inmate who supposedly led the drug syndicate.

Ygot is now in a preventive cell at the New Bilibid Prison as authorities said he previously had Internet access enabling him to facilitate drug transactions from behind bars.

Police said Encila facilitated the distribution of illegal drugs and sent proceeds to Ygot.

Prior to her death, Encila sought police protection as she reported that someone had been following her since the arrest of her family members, Mandaue City Police Office director Julian Entoma said.

"We suspect that she was killed by fellow members of the syndicate after she was deemed useless and may squeal on syndicate's activities after the arrest of her parents and sisters," Entoma told a news conference on Thursday.

Also on Wednesday, Talisay City, Senior Police Officer 3 Mikee Espina was shot dead at the terrace of his house in Barangay Dumlog at around 11 a.m. Authorities are investigating the possible motive for the crime. Cebu Provincial Police Office spokesperson Eloveo Marquez said the slain policeman was reassigned to Masbate after being linked to illegal drug activities - although no cases were filed against him.

Another suspected drug personality, Neil Benjamin Yap, 34, was ambushed by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Mandaue City an hour after Espina's killing. Police said Yap was earlier arrested for selling ecstasy in a buy-bust operation in January 2018.

Cebu City-based journalist Dale Israel contributed to this report.
Jammu, March 7: One terrorist was gunned down by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara following a brief gunfight on Thursday. According to reports, the encounter between security forces and terrorists broke out in Kralgund village of Handwara. The search operation is currently underway and the identity of the militant is yet to be ascertained. Based on credible input about the presence of terrorists in the area, a cordon and search operation was launched jointly by police and the security forces. Handwara Encounter: 5 Security Personnel Martyred, 1 Civilian Dead in Gunfight; 2 Terrorists Killed.

The encounter comes days after eight people including two militants, five security men and a civilian were killed in the 48-hour-long gunfight. Five CRPF troopers, including an inspector, two local policemen and a civilian were killed during the encounter in Babagund village of Handwara that started on March 1 and ended on March 3. The civilian named Waseem Ahmad Mir was also killed in the encounter. According to reports, security forces had started a cordon-and-search operation in Babagund village of Handwara area following information about the presence of militants there. Kupwara Encounter: 2 CRPF Jawans, 2 Jammu And Kashmir Policemen Martyred in Gunfight, 1 Civilian Dead.

The gunfight broke out on March 1 when the security forces were carrying out searches after firing exchanges had stopped at the encounter site when a militant. The terrorist, presumed to be dead, rose from the debris of a blasted house and fired indiscriminately at security forces.

Reports inform that as many as 14 JeM terrorists have been gunned down in Kashmir since the terror group claimed responsibility for the February 14 suicide bomb attack in Pulwama that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 07, 2019 08:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
- The Scandinavia branch of the APC has congratulated President Buhari on his re-election win

- Buhari polled 15,191,847 victory votes to defeat his main opponent, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP who scored 11,255,978 votes

- The APC in Scandinavia advised people with grievances or who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the election to seek possible redress in the courts of law

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Scandinavia chapter on Friday, March 1, congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari for emerging winner in the February 23 presidential election.

The chairman of the chapter, Ayoola Lawal, gave the congratulatory message in a statement from his base in Stockholm, Sweden, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Wednesday, February 27, declared the president as winner of the election.

INEC chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, while announcing the election results, said Buhari of the APC polled 15,191,847 votes to defeat his main challenger, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 11,255,978 votes.

READ ALSO: APC forms majority as Saraki, Akpabio, 62 senators, 151 reps fail to return

Lawal said the election was not just a referendum on Buharis leadership but also a referendum on consequences of values and antecedents.

This 2019 presidential election proved to us the first of its kind in the history of Nigeria or rather Africa, whereby all the so-called elites across board could not lay claim to be instrumental to the success of the outcome.

Even most of the so-called leaders and myth influencers against the re-election of the Buhari/ Osinbajo ticket could not deliver in their polling units, let alone their local governments.

It was indeed a battle between the key corrupt establishment and the last man standing in his generation against corruption and extreme capitalism in the land, Nigeria.

"We commend the leadership of the party, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, for leading the party to victory once again. Special thanks to the co-chairman of the Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Bola Tinubu and all the members of the council, both at home and in the Diaspora.

"To all the candidates that participated on the platforms of several political parties, especially the main opposition, PDP, at the just- concluded election, lets us think Nigeria first and join hands with Buhari to move Nigeria forward," he added.

READ ALSO: Atiku presents 5-point demand to Buhari

Lawal urged those with grievances or who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the election to seek possible redress in the courts of law. He advised them not to take any action that could undermine unity and peace in the country.

The chairman commended INEC for delivering an election adjudged to be largely peaceful, urging the commission to use the March 9 elections to improve on the process.

We call on the federal government, the security agencies and citizens to be vigilant about any group or individual that might want to take law into their hands over election outcomes.

"Timely decisive action must be taken against such individuals or groups in order to keep the sanity of our system.

To the Nigerian masses to which the victory belongs, complete what you already started by ensuring that we conduct ourselves in a peaceful manner in the forthcoming governorship and state assembly elections on March 9," the statement added.

PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update

Recall that Legit.ng earlier reported that Prince Tony Momoh, a chieftain in the ruling APC and former minister of information, said that Buharis victory in the just concluded general election was more celebrated when compared to his 2015 election win.

Momoh also said whoever believes the victory of the presidents re-election bid was not as praised as his first emergence must have a problem with their memory.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV

Source: Legit
- A coalition of civil society organisations and election observers has alleged that there is a military siege on the Niger Delta

- The group said the prolong military operation is due to Saturday, March 9, governorship and state House of Assembly elections

- The group said the military has no constitutional power to superintend over the conduct of elections in the country

A coalition of civil society organisations and election observers has alleged that there is a military siege on the Niger Delta region ahead of Saturday, March 9, governorship and state House of Assembly elections.

The group made the allegation at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, March 9, stressing that the military has no constitutional power to superintendent over the conduct of elections in the country.

The coalition claimed that the deployment of soldiers to the region is aimed at intimidating, harassing and building unnecessary tension around an election process which, ordinarily, should be a civil exercise.

READ ALSO: Tribunal opens hearing on Atiku's case with three-man panel

National coordinator of the coalition, Comrade Okpanachi Jacob, stated that, Nigerian Police have played crucial roles in ensuring a peaceful conduct of our election but we are worried that same cannot be said about the conduct of the military with no statutory obligation during elections.

We must all remember that democracy becomes a sham if elections are carried out in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Security operatives are also expected to be impartial, neutral and demonstrate integrity as agents of political parties.

The organisation bemoaned the ignoble heavy deployment of troops in some parts of the Niger Delta region of the country, saying that election became war in those states and led to the death of over 30 people, including a personnel of the Nigerian Army.

We must not allow desperate politicians and their collaborators within security agencies to truncate this democracy. And when we find ourselves under such circumstance such as it is presently being witnessed, appropriate action must be taken not to allow our democracy to be derailed, the group stated.

The coalition urged President Buhari to have a rethink on the role he has given the military, saying that this is about election but not war. The military has no job at the collation centres, polling units as they can only serve as back-up for the police.

The group also called on ECOWAS, African Union and United States of America to immediately prevail on President Buhari to cease the ongoing military hostilities in the Niger Delta region ahead of the Saturday's elections.

Equally, the coalition called on Nigerians to shut any form of violence and support the Nigerian police in ensuring sanctity of the polls.

We encourage the acting Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adam to keep treading the path of professionalism and uphold the rule of law, the group added.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Similarly, some women groups on Wednesday, March 6 marched to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Abuja ahead of the Saturday, March 9 governorship and state assembly election in various states of the federation.

The groups under the auspices of Save Democracy Women, cautioned that the governorship elections must not be postponed and also warned against militarization of the exercise.

Led by May Ubeku, convener, Impact Future Nigeria, the women carried placards with various inscriptions to press home their demands.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

2019 Election: We are retrogressing in Nigeria  83-year-old man says after voting| Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
- Festus Keyamo has responded to ex presidents Obasanjos assertion that he is Buhari's boss and has led Nigeria longer than anyone else

- OBJ said he had a right to criticize the president; as that is what democracy is about

- Keyamo, however, stated that General Yakubu Gowon (rtd.) holds the record of the single longest unbroken rein as head-of-state and is the boss of all bosses

The spokesman for the Buhari Campaign Organisation, Festus Keyamo (SAN) has responded to former president Olusegun Obasanjos comment that he would continue to criticise Buhari, and that he (OBJ) is the president's boss and has led Nigeria longer than anyone else.

The former president made the comment in Abeokuta, Ogun state on Tuesday, March 5, while speaking at an event organised to celebrate his 82nd birthday.

READ ALSO: Court orders Yola APC rep-elect to vacate seat for PDP candidate

Legit.ng: If it is my brother that is occupying the leadership role and he is not doing what I believe he should do, he must be criticised and that is what democracy is all about.

I have been in that position longer than any Nigerian will ever be there. So if I say anybody in government in Nigeria is not doing well, let that government prove that it is doing well."

In reaction to OBJs comment, however, Keyamo disputed that the former president had been at the helm of the nations affairs for the longest period of time.

Taking to his Twitter handle, @fkeyamo, on Wednesday, March 6, the senior advocate stated that General Yakubu Gowon (rtd.) holds the record of the single longest unbroken rein as head-of-state and is the boss of all bosses.

He tweeted:

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that Festus Keyamo said OBJ invoked a curse on himself by endorsing Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the just-concluded 2019 presidential election.

Keyamo dismissed the endorsement as a complete non-event and questioned Obasanjo for backing a character whom he had previously accused of being corrupt.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

Nigeria deserves more than Buhari can offer - Obasanjo - on Legit TV:

Source: Legit.ng
- A sociopolitical organization in Akwa Ibom state has warned Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to steer clear of the state

- Akwa Ibom Liberation Movement (AILM) says the APC national chairman should be held responsible for any crisis in the state

- The group accused Oshiomhole of inciting Akwa Ibom APC supporters in the state during his recent visit

A sociopolitical organization in Akwa Ibom, Akwa Ibom Liberation Movement (AILM), has accused the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, of inciting violence in the state.

The group made the allegation in an open letter signed by the leader of the movement, Prince Emmanuel Sam, on Wednesday, March 6.

The APC national chairman had on Monday, March 6, when he visited the state declared that, It will be our shame if we allow an established, biased umpire to superintend and steal the votes of Akwa Ibom people.

The group said they had expected Adams, as a onetime governor, to possess some level of morality.

The group wondered why a party chairman who could not deliver Edo state for his party during the last presidential and National Assembly elections, could have the impetus to incite his party faithful against the peace loving people of the state.

The group warned that, in spite of the intimidation and harassment by the APC war lords, Akwa Ibom people, who believe in PDP, will return all the candidates of the party in Saturdays elections.

Prince Emmanuel said: From the recent ranting of Adam Oshiomole about the elections that took place in Akwa Ibom during their condolence visit to the state party after their whooping failure, it may not be too wrong to deduce that the national leader of the APC is making waves so as to instigate their members to act ultra vires in the forth-coming state elections.

May be, this is coming as the result of the fact that without needing the services of a prophet, they already have a premonition of another round of colossal collapse and outright defeat, which will render the face of the APC, a shattered visage in Akwa Ibom state.

We want a terror-free tenure and people-oriented governance. Hence, Akwa Ibom people want to vote in the coming elections under a peaceful atmosphere devoid of intimidation.

Let Adams Oshiomhole be therefore warned to desist from every effort and attempt to instigate violence during the coming elections in Akwa Ibom state. He should know that there is no way they will be able to use federal might to hijack the will of the people in the state elections, because the Almighty will break any moves of federal might.

If their plan is to release their APC underdogs to cause mutiny against the restful state of things in this election season, they should know that it will only amount to fighting only God, and they will not stand it.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, a coalition of civil society organisations and election observers has alleged that there is a military siege on the Niger Delta region ahead of Saturday, March 9, governorship and state House of Assembly elections.

The group made the allegation at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, March 9, stressing that the military has no constitutional power to superintendent over the conduct of elections in the country.

The coalition claimed that the deployment of soldiers to the region is aimed at intimidating, harassing and building unnecessary tension around an election process which, ordinarily, should be a civil exercise.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

2019 Election: We are retrogressing in Nigeria  83-year-old man says after voting| Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
- Adamu Kwanate who is a lawmaker from Adamawa has passed away

- The APC lawmaker reportedly collapsed during a campaign

- Kwanate was rushed to a hospital in Yola where he passed away

Adamawa House of Assembly member, Adamu Kwanate (APC- Nasarawo/Binyeri), is dead.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that Kwanate died on Wednesday, March 6, four days after another lawmaker, Abubakar Abdurahman (ADC-Mubi South) passed away after a long illness.

READ ALSO: Court orders Yola APC rep-elect to vacate seat for PDP candidate

Kwanate who is seeking reelection in the upcoming election on Saturday, March 9, was said to have collapsed during a campaign engagement in his constituency and was rushed to a hospital in Yola, where he died.

Mohammed Daji, information officer of the state assembly, who confirmed the death of the lawmaker to NAN, said: I just got the shocking news of his death, but I am yet to get details of what happened."

Meanwhile, ahead of the governorship and state House of Assembly elections, President Muhammadu Buhari addressed Nigerians calling for a peaceful process.

In the address on Wednesday, March 6, the president noted that the coming elections were very important considering the governors and state lawmakers were closer to the people.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

President Buhari extended condolences to those who lost their lives or where injured due to criminal activities in the presidential election.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

INEC announces Buhari as 2019 election winner, Nigerians react | Legit TV:

Source: Legit
- The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment carried out a surveillance of fuel stations in Abuja

- The department found out that some of their dispensing machines were not accurate

- It was gathered from the surveillance that oil marketers have been cheating Nigerians

Mohammed Sidi, director, weights and measures department, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, says that oil dealers have been cheating Nigerians of N198,500 per truck sold.

Sidi said this in Abuja on Wednesday during a surveillance activity of the department to some fuel stations.

He said that the action was to ensure that all commercial transactions involving the use of weights and measures were accurate, fair and legal.

"Every weighing equipment in all sectors of the economy, whether oil and gas or non-oil and gas must be up to the required standard," Sidi said.

READ ALSO: Court orders Yola APC rep-elect to vacate seat for PDP candidate

At Forte Oil Station, Maitama, opposite Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, the team found that customers lost 0.5 litres of fuel in every 20 litres they bought.

The team sealed three of the dispensing pumps and collected their certificate of clarification.

This is because the officials of Weights and Measures discovered that for every 20 litres of fuel dispensed to customers of the filling station, not less than 0.5 litres was found to be a shortage to customers.

We have 33 litres in a truck and when for every 20 litres, it is short with 0.5 litres which means that in a truck they will be making a profit of N198,500 per truck," Sidi said.

The team also visited Forte Oil station at Ibrahim Babangida Boulevard, opposite National Universities Commission and found that customers were cheated by the same quantity of fuel. The team sealed three dispensing pumps for oil and one for diesel.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

At Dan Oil on Airport Road, the team found that customers lost 0.6 litres for every 20 litres bought and sealed three petrol pumps and one diesel pump. At the filling station, the attendants quickly adjusted some pumps immediately they sighted the officials.

The managers at all the stations refused to comment.

The team also visited Mabushi District cement depot and certified bags of cement found in the place as having the right quantity. The bags of cement checked were Bua, Dangote and Sokoto cement products.

The chairman of the depot Maxwell Nnamani said that the depot always maintained standards and urged other dealers to do same.

Nnamani said that although the issue of re-bagging had been a problem in the industry, it was being addressed.

The team also visited the 7UP Company at Idu Industrial Area to measure different products.

PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update

At Shoprite mall at the Jabi Lake, the team expressed satisfaction after measuring different products.

We are happy because there is a lot of improvement from the non-oil sectors compared to what we witnessed before," Sidi said.

He appealed to members of the public report any suspected discrepancies by products dealers to the department to enable it to do its job better.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said that it recovered assets in the monetary worth of over N771 million from marketers who did not pay in full for petroleum products supplied to them.

NNPC made this known through a statement by its spokesman, Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja on Tuesday, March 5, and said the products were taken from Kaduna Depot of Petroleum Product Marketing Company (PPMC).

Former NNPC group managing director Andrew Yakubu in court over fraud allegations | Legit TV

Source: Legit
- The Nigerian Army has launched a probe into the allegations of unprofessional conduct against its personnel

- It was complains galore on the conduct of soldiers during the presidential and National Assembly elections

- Governors of Bayelsa, Oyo and Ogun states had lodged a formal complaint against some soldiers with the Army headquarters

Following allegations of misconduct against some soldiers in the recent presidential and National Assembly elections, the Nigerian Army on Wednesday, March 6, said it has launched a probe into the allegations of unprofessional conduct against its personnel.

Speaking at a meeting with Principal Staff Officers (PSOs), General Officers Commanding (GOCs) and Operational Commanders (OCs) in Abuja, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, disclosed that the governors of Bayelsa, Oyo and Ogun states had lodged a formal complaint against some soldiers with the Army headquarters.

He said the army has inaugurated a high-powered committee to look into the allegations of unprofessional conduct levelled against its personnel during the last election.

READ ALSO: Another Adamawa lawmaker dies 3 days to election

His words: There have been reports of alleged compromises by some personnel during the elections. We have received complaints from some stakeholders, major political parties, governors of Bayelsa, Oyo and Ogun states of allegation of misconduct as well as unprofessional conduct by some of our personnel.

Unfortunately, some other states have gone to the press with unsubstantiated allegation without resort to the Nigerian Army leadership.

Nonetheless, all these complaints are noted and will be addressed appropriately. A high-powered committee had been convened and instituted to investigate all cases of alleged misconduct by troops arising from the 2019 general election.

This is aimed at ensuring that all cases are thoroughly looked into for the purpose of dispensation of justice and to uphold Nigerian Armys credibility, professionalism and apolitical stand.

Addressing the officers on the conduct of soldiers in the coming elections, he warned them against hobnobbing with politicians, guard against any surprise attack and to be ready to deal ruthlessly against any post election violence.

He also warned that, they must act according to the rules of engagement and within the code of conduct as well as have respect for fundamental human rights in the performance of their assigned roles.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, a coalition of civil society organisations and election observers has alleged that there is a military siege on the Niger Delta region ahead of Saturday, March 9, governorship and state House of Assembly elections.

The group made the allegation at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, March 9, stressing that the military has no constitutional power to superintendent over the conduct of elections in the country.

The coalition claimed that the deployment of soldiers to the region is aimed at intimidating, harassing and building unnecessary tension around an election process which, ordinarily, should be a civil exercise.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

2019 Election: We are retrogressing in Nigeria  83-year-old man says after voting| Legit TV

Source: Legit
- A Belgian billionaire identified as Ehud Arye Laniado has passed on tragically

- Reports claim that 65-year-old Ehud died of heart attack during manhood enlargement surgery in Paris

- The middle-aged man was a successful diamond trader and owned many pricey properties

Reports reaching Legit.ng claim that a Belgian-Israeli billionaire diamond trader has passed on following complications during manhood enlargement surgery.

The 65-year-old Ehud Arye Laniado, who was getting the procedure done at an unidentified private clinic on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris, reportedly developed a heart attack and died after a substance was injected into his manhood.

Reports reveal that Laniado who was the the CEO of Omega Diamonds was very insecure about his looks and a certain friend of his attested to the fact, saying that the billionaire was always bothered about his looks and only found peace when he had his accountant read out his account statement.

READ ALSO: Hearts melt as Nigerian soldier publicly proposes to beautiful police woman (video)

His company, Omega Diamonds located in the Belgian city of Antwerp put out a statement which read: "Farewell to a visionary businessman. It is with great sadness that we confirm that our founder Ehud Arye Laniado has passed away.'"

Interestingly, Laniado was not only a billionaire by bank account, he also knew how to live and party hard. He reportedly owned the most expensive penthouse in Monaco worth over N14 billion, as well as a house in the plush LA suburb of Bel Air where he loved to drink bottles of Chateau Margaux with models and celebrities, according to Mirror UK.

May his soul rest in peace.

PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group

Meanwhile, a Nigerian guy was stabbed to death in New York, United States, by an unknown person. The man who was an Uber driver in that part of the country was 27 years old when he was killed.

As reported, the man was killed in the Bronx on Saturday, March 2, 2019. The man whose name was Ganiyu Gandonu died while working and transporting passengers with his Toyota Camry.

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 News: Abuja Hospital, Parents Speak on Historic Separation of Co-joined Twins on Legit TV:

Source: Legit
- The governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, and his predecessor, Ayodele Fayose embraced each other in public on Wednesday, March 6

- Both men met at an event in Lagos in honour of a legal luminary, Afe Babalola

- Recall that Fayemi defeated Fayoses deputy, Kolapo Olusola, in the last governorship election in the state

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti state and his predecessor Ayodele Fayose put their differences aside on Wednesday, March 6, when they embraced each other at a ceremony in Lagos in honour of a legal luminary, Afe Babalola (SAN).

Babalola, who is the founder of Afe Babalola University, was honoured with the 2018 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership.

Legit.ng gathers that after Fayemi delivered a speech and approached his seat, Fayose stood to greet him. The governor opened his arms and embraced his predecessor.

READ ALSO: Election 2019: Hold Oshiomhole responsible for violence in Akwa Ibom - Group

Among those that attended the event were former head of state and ex-secretary general of Commonwealth, Yakubu Gowon and Emeka Anyaoku, respectively. Prominent traditional rulers and politicians also graced the occasion.

Fayemi and Fayose are political rivals, who have in recent times engaged in war of words over policies, electoral victory and Ekiti state politics generally.

At the event, Fayemi said: I am immensely proud that baba (Afe Babalola) is from Ekiti. You have restored our values for us. With you around, at least no one can accuse us of being the state of stomach infrastructure. They will definitely regard us as the fountain of knowledge."

The governor's statement was a veiled reference to Fayose's stomach infrastructure policy. But the former governor ignored the criticism and displayed a rare show of love.

Both current and former governors raised their hands in solidarity as clap and laughter erupted in the hall.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Ekiti state governor, Kayode Fayemi, on Thursday, January 24, said former governor Ayodele Fayose left a total debt profile of over N155.79 billion for the state.

This was as the governor signed into law, the N129.9bn state budget for 2019, as part of events to mark his 100 days in office.

The governor said while giving account of his stewardship in Ado Ekiti that the debt profile included local loans and other debts.

He gave the breakdown of the debts as; loans, N57.694 billion; unpaid salary arrears, N16.777 billion; outstanding leave bonus to workers, N4.402 billiin; pension and gratuity arrears, 39.775 billion; outstanding corpers allowance, N28.883 million.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Others were; outstanding subventions to institutions, N4.770 billion; outstanding contractors claims, N28.575 billion; outstanding furniture allowance, 470.2 million; outstanding severance allowance, N586.144 milliin; monetized vehicle arrears, N101.243 million: outstanding warrants, N386.777 million, outstanding FIRS obligation; N184.2 million, traditional rulers arrears, N150.214 million; judgment debts, N95.214 million, and other outstanding liabilities of N1.792 billion.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

Were Ekiti residents paid to vote? - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
- The Nigerian Communications Commission says about 75 percent of electronic devices imported into Nigeria annually are toxic junk

- The NCCs vice chairman, Umar Garba Danbatta, said this importation is due to the low income of most Nigerians

- Danbatta said the commission has developed a draft regulation on e-waste, in line with its regulatory mandate

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says about 75 percent of electronic devices imported into Nigeria annually are toxic junk and irreparable.

The assertion was made by the commissions executive vice chairman, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, during the public inquiry on draft guidelines on disaster recovery and draft regulations on e-waste which took place in Abuja on Wednesday, March 6, Daily Trust reports.

READ ALSO: Court orders Yola APC rep-elect to vacate seat for PDP candidate

Legit.ng gathers that Danbatta said the importation of such substandard products was due to the low income of most Nigerians and their desperate quest for information.

He said the threat being posed by e-waste is so glaring and cant be ignored by the NCC.

He said: In a fast-paced telecoms industry where speed and capacity define the networks, rapid advances in technology make it easier and convenient to change malfunctioning gadgets than to repair them.

Also, the illegal and predatory e-waste value chain, which encourages the movement of e-waste from developed to the developing countries, adds another layer to the global challenge of handling e-waste.

In Nigeria, due to low GDP per capital/low income, and the desperate quest for information, it is estimated that 75% of electronics imported into the country are irreparable and toxic junk.

Danbatta said the commission had developed a draft regulation on e-waste, in line with its regulatory mandate.

According to Danbatta, the regulations represent a holistic intervention aimed at providing clarity and delimiting the responsibilities of various stakeholders in the e-waste value chain within the telecommunications industry.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that as part of efforts to mitigate the effects of cyber crime on telecom consumers, the NCC took its enlightenment campaign to Ibadan.

Ismail Adedigba, NCC deputy director of Consumer Affairs Bureau, said the commission had put together the programme, having considered telecom consumers as important stakeholders in the industry.

He listed types of cyber crime to include phishing scams, identity theft, child soliciting and abuse, online scams, malware, software piracy and hacking providers, traditional rulers, security agencies as well as telecoms consumers.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

What is working well and what needs improvement in Nigeria? - on Legit TV:

Source: Legit.ng
- The federal government has referred to the deportation of 40,000 Nigerian Boko Haram victims by Cameroon as sad and regrettable

- The federal government said that it had earlier appealed to the Francophone nation not to chase away the affected persons, but to no avail

- It said that appropriate steps will be taken in response to the development

In reaction to the Cameroonian government's deportation of 40,000 Nigerian Boko Haram victims from Borno who were taking refuge in the Francophone nation, the federal government has said that the act is regrettable and sad.

Sadiya Farouq, the commissioner for National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), in her statement on Tuesday, March 5, said that the federal government had appealed to Cameroon not chase out the victims who fled from the Rann area of the state, but to no avail, The Nation reports.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Farouq, in her statement, said: It is highly regrettable and sad to note that despite the passionate appeal made by the Nigerian Authorities to the Government of Cameroon not to chase out the victims of Boko Haram attacks from Rann Local Government of Borno State, this appeal has been ignored.

Information reaching us is that the Cameroonian Government has thrown out the Displaced Persons from Rann who ran into Cameroun for safety in total disregard for the appeal and a clear breach of the United Nations Charter and Convention on the protection of Displaced Persons which both countries endorsed.

The United Nations Convention on Refugees and its 167 Protocol states that: no contracting state shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his or her life or freedom will be threatened on account of his or her race, religion or nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion."

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

The commissioner said that the federal government will take appropriate steps in response to the development.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the government of Saudi Arabia had donated food items to internally displaced persons in Borno, a donation which is the second from the country.

Saudi government intends to put at least seventy thousand food baskets in the hands of internally displaced persons across the state.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

Can Nigerian Soldiers really not deal with Boko Haram fighters?| Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
- President Muhammadu Buhari has been congratulated by some ambassadors for winning the 2019 presidential election

- The ambassadors say President Buhari's victory portends a positive image for Nigeria in the international community

- Recall that President Buhari defeated presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party

Some ambassadors have congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his victory at the February 23 presidential election, saying his re-election portends a positive image for Nigeria in the international community.

The envoys are ambassador Hassan Hassan, Nigerias ambassador and deputy chief of mission in Nigerias embassy in Washington DC, and Professor Tijjani Bande, Nigerias ambassador/permanent representative to the United Nations, NAN reports.

Legit.ng gathers that others are Ambassador Audu Kadiri, Nigerias ambassador/permanent representative to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva, Ambassador Akinremi Bolaji, Nigerias high commissioner to Singapore and Ambassador Hakeem Balogun, Nigerias ambassador to Indonesia.

READ ALSO: Drama as Fayemi and ex-governor Fayose embrace in public

Bande said: "What is important is that around the world and especially in West Africa, citizens are happy that there is continuous improvement in the electoral process in Nigeria.

From the campaigns, we saw people going to seek for votes; we saw that the people campaigned. The idea that you need a thug to go around and rig, certainly, we have grown beyond that.

Nobody would say that this was not a good election.

The other side is that the integrity of the process also was a reflection of the integrity of the president himself; he had always said that nobody should rig election in his name."

Bande further said the people who initially thought those in power simply used their position to set an outcome for themselves were proved wrong as Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress lost in some areas.

He said: There are areas they did far less than they expected but the idea now is that there is no part of the country that is off limits to any candidate, which is important.

A candidate can get good numbers of people to work for him or her in all parts of the country.

This is extremely important.

Now, going forward, the focus on anti-corruption, infrastructure, peace and security in the Northeast and around the country are things that are extremely important for Nigeria, but not only for Nigeria.

They are also important for Africa and for the world and the president has stated that he would focus even more on those things that his administration has done and people have appreciated."

Hassan, on his part, said Buharis re-election would ultimately consolidate on the subsisting cordial relations between Nigeria and the United States.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

He said: The Nigeria-U.S. political relations reached its peak with the State Visit of President Buhari to the White House on the invitation of President Donald Trump in April 2018.

The two presidents exchanged views and had discussions on matters of mutual interests, and with the re-election of President Buhari, it is expected this would be enhanced for the benefits of both countries."

Legit.ng previously reported that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari over his re-election.

Northern CAN in a letter to President Buhari dated Friday, March 1, said Buharis victory showed his uprightness and transparency in governance.

The letter was signed by Yakubu Pam who is the chairman of the association.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result, can he win? | Legit TV

Source: Legit
- A US-based Liberian woman has revealed how she punished her cheating Nigerian husband

- Her husband travelled to Nigeria for two months to meet with a mistress thinking his wife was unaware

- In his absence she moved out of their big house, kept their properties in storage and rented their home out for N461,078 per month for a whole year

- Her husband returned, discovered he had no access to the house and his wife revealed what she had done as she advised him to change or forget the marriage

Cheating in marriages has become very common and many would wonder why it has become easy to go against sacred marriage vows.

Nigerian men in particular have built a reputation for being philanderers and women have run out of ways to punish them. However, a Liberian woman who was faced with a similar situation has taken to social media to share her story.

The US-based woman has explained in a now viral video how her Nigerian husband cheated on her and how she was able to give him an unforgettable punishment.

The mother of three revealed that she has been married to him for eight years and he has cheated on her a couple of times. The woman also added that she had set up her husband and her childrens phones in a way that would make her aware of his activities seeing as he is not as tech-savvy as she is.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Nigeria

The cheated woman recounting her experience Photo: Youtube

Source: UGC

The wife explained that she noticed her husband had been talking with a Nigerian woman and they made plans on what they would do and where to meet when he eventually goes to Nigeria.

Eventually her husband made known his plans to travel to Nigeria under the guise of spending some time with his family. His wife acted like she was unaware of his true plans because she believes one cannot stop an adult from doing what they really want to do.

After her husbands departure, the woman carried out her plan. She moved out of their big house, kept their properties in storage, cleaned up the house and put it up for rent at $1,275 (N461,078) per month.

The woman added that she rented a smaller apartment for herself and the kids.

READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (formerly NAIJ.com)

Her husband finally returned after two months and noticed that he could not gain access to their house. She told him what she had done and that the house would stay rented for one year till he changes his philandering ways.

The woman also added that if after a year he decided they should not continue with the marriage, then she would sell the house.

READ ALSO: Khloe Kardashian blasts Jordyn Woods over her interview on alleged affair with Tristan Thompson

See the full video below:

Nawa o. Many on social media have applauded this woman as a hero while some men think her actions are wrong.

Meanwhile Legit.ng previously reported that an angry wife invited her husband's side chic to the house and beat her mercilessly with a belt.

According to reports, the wife has been suspecting her husband of having another woman in his life but got confirmation after he forgot his phone at home.

The wife seized the opportunity to send a text message to her husbands mistress. She pretended to be her husband as she invited the lady to come so they could get down. The message reads: My stupid wife is not home, come over and lets make some sweet love.

HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better.

Who cheats more in a relationship, the man or the woman? | Legit TV

Source: Legit
- The Kano chapter of the NIS has warned non-Nigerians in the state to stay away from polling stations during the March 9 elections

- The agency said it would not hesitate to apprehend any non-Nigerian found on the voting queue during the polls

- The NIS is also collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission to ensure that national identity cards are not issued to non-Nigerians

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kano state, has warned non-Nigerians resident in the state to stay away from the Saturday, March 9 governorship and House of Assembly elections or face the wrath of the law.

The states comptroller of NIS, Isiyaka Yusuf gave the warning when he visited members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the Press Centre in Kano on Wednesday, March 6, NAN reports.

READ ALSO: March 9 polls: Even with A4, PDPll win in A/Ibom - Gov Emmanuel

Legit.ng gathers that he said the warning became necessary as the agency would not hesitate to apprehend any non-Nigerian found on the voting queue during the governorship and House of Assembly elections.

The election is meant for Nigerians; so non-Nigerians are not expected to participate in the exercise, he said.

According to him, the agency had met with the leaders of all non-Nigerians residents in the state with a view to enlightening them on the dangers of violating the law.

He said the meeting was organised to ensure strict adherence to the law, which prohibits any non-Nigerian from participating in elections in the country.

He said the agency has confiscated a number of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) across the country, stressing that the agency would continue to work with other security agencies to track down recalcitrant offenders.

The NIS boss said the agency was also working in partnership with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure that the national identity card was not issued to non-Nigerians.

We have confiscated many national identity cards that were issued in error to non-Nigerians and it will be a continuous exercise, he said.

Yusuf disclosed that the service had concluded arrangements for the commencement of e-registration for foreign nationals in the country.

He said the exercise, which was expected to commence in April, was aimed at ensuring that foreigners resident in the country were registered.

The NIS boss urged Nigerians to support the service in its renewed effort to reposition the service as well as protect the country and its citizenship.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

In a similar development, Legit.ng previously reported that the comptroller general of the NIS, Lagos state command, Ekpedeme King, warned immigrants in the state not to vote in the 2019 polls.

King made this statement at a meeting with different associations of ECOWAS citizens in Lagos. He also urged the leaders to warn their people not to take part in the elections.

King said the warning came after some PVCs were retrieved from some immigrants.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

What has changed in Nigeria since the last election? - on Legit TV:

Source: Legit.ng
Ahead of the governorship and state House of Assembly elections coming up on Saturday, March 9, Legit.ng conducts a poll on Facebook and Twitter asking Nigerians whether they want soldiers deployed to Rivers state for the elections.

Elections in Rivers state have always been characterised with violence and killings.

For instance, the February 23 presidential and National Assembly elections in the state were marred with violence.

READ ALSO: Elections 2019: Nobody can force me to alter results in Sokoto - REC

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Yakubu Mahmood, during a briefing with journalists and some international observers including the United States ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Syminton, on Sunday, February, 24, confirmed the death of an ad hoc staff in the state.

Ibisekin Amachree was hit by a stray bullet on her return from duty Degema local government area of Rivers state.

The violence in the state also led to cancellation of National Assembly polls in some parts of the state, forcing INEC to reschedule supplementary elections for the National Assembly seats yet to be conducted.

Despite the security challenges experienced in the state, Nigerians are still divided over whether or not the military should be deployed to the state to curtail violence during the governorship elections.

In the Facebook poll, 45% agreed that military should be deployed to the state while 55% disagreed.

However, on Twitter, 57% agreed that military should be deployed while 43% disagreed.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that two soldiers on the evening of Saturday, March 2, were allegedly killed by unknown gunmen in Abonnema, Akuku-Toru local government area of Rivers state, according to an eyewitness.

The incident reportedly happened in the Obonoma community and the victims were shot by gunmen wearing military uniforms.

The Amanyanabo of Abonnema Kingdom, King Disrael Gbobo Bob-Manuel, said the gunmen stormed the military checkpoint and killed the officials.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

2019 Election: Nigerians react to Saraki's loss as INEC releases more results | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
- A coalition has commended the deployment of military troops to the region ahead of the Saturdays election

- The coalition said the presence of the troops would further boost the confidence of electorate during the polls

- According to the coalition, the pockets of violence witnessed in some parts of Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers state would have been more widespread but for the presence of troops

A coalition has commended the deployment of military troops to the region ahead of the Saturdays governorship and House of Assembly elections across Nigeria.

The South-South Coalition for Credible Leadership has described the deployment of military troops for election as a welcome development.

The coalition said the action would further boost the confidence of electorate during the polls.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, March 7, the coordinator general of the coalition, Success Timothy, said the deployment is necessary following the success of the troops in some south-southern states during the national assembly and presidential election on February 23.

Timothy said the presence of troops during the elections proved to be the right decision in view of the fact that acts of politically motivated violence were limited to a few instances.

He said the pockets of violence witnessed in some parts of Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers state would have been more widespread but for the presence of troops.

Timothy said: "Interestingly, the Niger-Delta, where political leaders clamored most against military presence for the election, recorded more of the instances of violence and ballot snatching during the exercise."

"It is logical that soldiers should be withdrawn from areas that were largely peaceful during the polls of two weeks ago to allow for the deployment of higher number of troops to the places that recorded violence.

Meanwhile, we observed that the personnel of the Nigerian Army were able to maintain peace and prevent political brigandage while adhering to acceptable rules of engagement," Timothy noted.

Addressing condemnation of the troops' deployment from various quarters, Timothy said those opposed to seeing troops in the Niger-Delta are the militants and sabotage economic infrastructure in the region as well as those that have their sight set on kidnap for ransom.

"These are backed up by separatist elements, including those that belong to groups that the courts have outlawed.

They are apparently scared that the presence of the military in the area will yield credible intelligence that can be used to dismantle their non-election related criminality.

It is most unfortunate that the criminal intentions of the aforementioned groups are being hidden behind the facade of the opposition and for marshalling weak arguments against the deployment of troops to secure the country during the elections," he added.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that some women groups on Wednesday, March 6 marched to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Abuja ahead of the Saturday, March 9 governorship and state assembly election in various states of the federation.

The groups under the auspices of Save Democracy Women, cautioned that the governorship elections must not be postponed and also warned against militarization of the exercise.

Led by May Ubeku, convener, Impact Future Nigeria, the women carried placards with various inscriptions to press home their demands.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

2019 Election: Atiku heads to court to contest election result; can he win? - on Legit TV

Source: Legit
- Over 8,000 students will be graduating during the University of Lagos 2017/2018 academic session convocation ceremonies

- Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is expected to deliver the convocation lecture on April 1

- Also expected is Prince Arthur Eze who will chair the occasion, and the vice president of the Republic of the Gambia, Hon. Ousainou Darboe, an alumnus of the institution

The University of Lagos says it will be graduating over 8,000 students during its 2017/2018 academic session convocation ceremonies scheduled for April 1 to April 5.

The vice chancellor of the institution, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, March 7, in Lagos.

He said that the university would on Friday, March 8, hold a special Senate meeting to consider results.

According to Ogundipe, arrangements for the successful hosting of the ceremony have now been concluded.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

He said that activities lined up for the week-long event include a news conference scheduled for Wednesday, March 27. The vice chancellor said that graduating students were expected to attend the ceremony on the dates scheduled for their respective faculties.

He said that the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, would on April 1, deliver the convocation lecture, titled: Nigeria Rising: The Path to Prosperity.

He said: We are fully ready and excited that the event will eventually hold. We are going to start the event proper with the lecture to be delivered by one of our own, in the person of the Vice President, Prof. Osinbajo.

We are also expecting Prince Arthur Eze to chair the occasion, just as we are also expecting the vice president of the Republic of the Gambia, Hon. Ousainou Darboe, an alumnus of the institution.

This time around, we are going to introduce a new concept to the graduating students at the faculty levels, whereby they will go to their respective faculties ahead of their own convocation, and do what we call hooding.

For instance, the students of the faculty of science will go to the faculty a day before their scheduled date of their own convocation, and do the hooding ceremony. Same for those in the faculty of education, law, and others."

The don said that the long service award would come up on the last day of the ceremonies. Meanwhile, Ogundipe explained that he was looking forward to the inauguration of key projects that were nearing completion on the campus by the VP, Osinbajo, during the ceremony.

READ ALSO: Atiku calls on supporters to vote PDP in coming elections

The vice chancellor: We actually have various projects that are ongoing on campus, among which is the CBN project, donated by the CBN to this institution.

This project comprises lecture rooms that are going to be of the 21st generation standard, IT compliant whereby one can be in the US for instance and be delivering lectures to students over here seamlessly.

We also have the new building and the faculty of social science lecture rooms, the fire station and the library.

All these are still under construction and they are progressing well, except for the library that we had issues with.

Sometime ago, we experienced a partial collapse of the structure, and from the angle of the contractor, I am not an expert in that field, the project is slow, not as fast as we thought it should be."

According to him, the project ought to have been completed, but those handling the job asked for more time which the university management graciously granted.

He said: Over a week ago, we experienced the collapse of the form work, because according to them, it was mounted over two weeks before the collapse.

And because they had mounted this form, they were supposed to have tested it to see if it could absorb the weight of what would be placed on it subsequently.

They just added the concrete to it and the result was the collapse, but thankfully, nobody was injured."

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Ogundipe said that already, the council of the university had set up a committee to look into the development and come up with a report.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Wednesday, February 20, announced its plan to shift the dates for the conduct of the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations.

The examination board made the announcement at its meeting held at the board's headquarters in Abuja.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

Nigerians express mixed feelings as JAMB reduces admission cut-off to 120 | Legit TV

Source: Legit Newspaper
Social media has been a platform where many take to when they want to celebrate their special ones. A popular Nigerian actor clocked a new age and thousands of fans are celebrating him for all the wonderful screen memories he has given them.

The legendary Nollywood actor identified as Pete Edochie recently added a new year and clocked the age of 72. He shared a picture on his personal Instagram page and wished himself a happy celebration.

Despite the fact that it is boldly written on his Instagram bio that he is not active on Facebook and Twitter, this has not stopped his fans and well-wishers from singing his praises on the platforms.

This is not entirely surprising as the thespian has given many a handful of memorable childhood experiences with his onscreen performances.

READ ALSO: Toyin Lawani glitters in gold as she celebrates 37th birthday

His latest feature in Genevieve Nnajis Lionheart, had once again warmed up many fans and reminded them of why they loved the rich and traditional finesse, he brings into the characters he plays on TV.

See some congratulatory birthday messages from his fans below:

chi_nonso1: Happiest birthday daddy

iamsethjackreece: Longlife. The Great man

eleganceblaq: Happy birthday sir...may u live long

chineloifes: Happy birthday to you sir wish you more life and happiness

ijeomaigbonaju: Happy birthday sir may God continue to bless u & give u many more years ahead to celebrate

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app

emmaanedo: Happy birthday to you Ogalagidi Omambala

ho_okoro: So much love for Sir...chukwu gozie gi. Thanks for being you, you inspire me a lot. Hip Hip Hip

marklewiiis: Happy Birthday Sir. May your days be long like Methuselah

Twitter users had particularly praised Edochie for his rich and thought provoking proverbs, as they celebrated with him on the occasion of his birthday ceremony.

See tweets below:

PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously gathered the report of Nigerian actor Kanayo O. Kanayo, who had taken to social media as he celebrated a new age. The actor shared a couple of videos in which community women from his village had visited him to celebrate his birthday.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

Top 3 Nollywood Stars: Who Earns More Than Others? | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
- Plans have been concluded by the Sokoto state government to send 50 indigenous students to Republic of Ukraine

- The 50 who were chosen on merit, are part of the 200 students Governor Tambuwal promised to give scholarship

- According to the governor, there are presently 100 students from Sokoto studying in India, 20 in Ghana and 30 in Sudan

Sokoto state government has finalised all arrangements to give sponsorship to 50 indigenous students to study medical sciences in the Republic of Ukraine.

The governor of Sokoto state, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said this through the secretary to the state government, Professor Bashar, while also urging the students to be good representatives of the state, Nigerian Tribune reports.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Tambuwal said his government gave the scholarship as part of the administrations promise to train nothing less than 200 students in the state in medical sciences.

The governor also said that there are presently 100 students from the state in India, 20 studying in Ghana and some other 30 in Sudan studying various areas of medical sciences.

He also said that the 50 students will set off to Ukraine after the coming governorship election, as he promised that he would continue the sponsorship programme if re-elected for a second term.

It should be noted that earlier at the special send-off organised by the Sokoto state scholarship board, the chairman of the board, Honourable Altine Shehu Kajiji, disclosed that the 50 students going on scholarship to Ukraine are the last batch of the 200 students.

The director International students matters in the state, Kabiru J. Labaran, also said that the prospective students were all choose based on merit.

PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Abubakar Umar, a House of Representatives member-elect for the Shagari-Yabo federal constituency, said Governor Tambuwal would not be re-elected by the people of the state because he has done nothing for them.

It was also gathered that he said it was payback time as Tambuwal had performed woefully in all ramifications.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

2019 Election: We are retrogressing in Nigeria  83-year-old man says after voting| Legit TV

Source: Legit Newspaper
Editor's note: Ms. Ating an Abuja-based analyst writes on the recent news that Nigeria's has become the highest producer of rice in Africa surpassing Egypt which has a low turnout in production due to the country's decision to preserve its water resources.

Ating says reports also show that Nigeria is still an importer of rice, despite the laudable progress made.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng.

Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@corp.legit.ng drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors.

Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App.

Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Twitter.

Im not sure anyone saw it coming. Yes, we all know theres a rice revolution going on in the country in the last three years. We heard plenty of that on the campaign trail before the February 23 presidential election. But many have thought, like me, that it was all campaign stunts.

But it became real when Dr Harold Roy-Macauley, the Director-General, Africa Rice Center, Benin Republic, was quoted as saying Nigeria is now the largest rice producer in Africa, overtaking Egypt which had held the title, in the last one year.

We now know that Nigeria is the largest rice producer in Africa because it produces 4 million tonnes out of the Africa average of 14.6 million tonnes of rice annually. Egypt, which Nigeria has edged out of the lead, used to produce 4.3 tonnes annually but suffered a decline of almost 40 percent in the last one year.

The reduction in production was attributed to the Egyptian government decision to limit cultivation to preserve water resources.

But while Egypts production is on decline, Nigerias has been on the rise in the last three years to reach the current level.

The good news in the rice sector may not be surprising to stakeholders already familiar with developments in the nations agricultural sector. But for others, it will encourage interest in whats going on and how to be part of it.

The success in rice production would lead to renewed interest in the partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN since 2015.

READ ALSO: Atiku calls on supporters to vote PDP in coming elections

It is a fact that attempts have been made by past governments to recreate agriculture through various schemes such as Operation Feed the Nation and the Green Revolution initiative of the Shehu Shagari administration during the second republic, among others. But none of the previous efforts created the desired impact largely due to inadequate financing.

This is a gap which has now been closed by the CBN under Godwin Emefiele. In keeping with his promise to run a central bank that would serve the growth and development needs of the country, Emefiele has ensured the CBN becomes a strategic driver of economic growth of the country.

The CBN under him has introduced various initiatives for concessionary funding of agriculture, which is widely recognized as the sector that has the potential to drive economic growth.

These initiatives and intervention schemes can broadly be classified under sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, micro, small and medium scale enterprises, power and energy and banking.

But nowhere have these interventions yielded more so quickly as in the agriculture sector where rice production has received the most focus.

CBN development finance initiatives like the Agricultural Credit Guaranty Scheme, Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme and Anchor Burrowers programme (ABP), among others have tremendously helped to reposition the agriculture sector in the country.

The ABP, one of the initiatives of the CBN which has made very positive impact, was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015 to create a linkage between anchor companies involved in the processing and small holder farmers of the required key agricultural commodities.

The programme has focused primarily on rice production.

The thrust of the ABP is the provision of farm inputs in kind and cash (for farm labour) to small holder farmers to boost production of these commodities, stabilize inputs supply to agro processors and address the countrys negative balance of payments on food.

The objective is to boost agricultural production and non-oil exports in the face of unpredictable crude oil prices and its resultant effect on the revenue profile of Nigeria.

The programme empowered rice farmers and processors in the country and resulted in a significant boost in rice production in the country.

Statistics from the CBN indicate that the ABP has added two million metric tons to rice supply in the country and created 500,000 jobs. This is clearly a revolution in rice production in the country which succinctly confirms that agriculture financing is key to a faster growth of the economy.

There is no other sector of the economy that had employed similar number of people within the same period. But that is not to say we are where we should be; it is just an acknowledgement of the mileage covered. But the road to self-sufficiency in food production still stretches further.

Reports show that Nigeria is still an importer of rice, despite the laudable progress made.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

The volume of rice importation into Nigeria has declined drastically, but were still insufficient in rice production. Export figures obtained from India and Thailand, which are dominant rice exporters to Nigeria, indicate that as at September, the latter had so far exported about 5,161 metric tonnes of rice to Nigeria, while the former sold only a paltry 426 tonnes as at July 2018.It is a long walk away from the over 400,000 metric tons of rice previously imported into the country.

As Roy- Macauley said , the African rice value chain needs to be better integrated and be capable of competing with imported rice in terms of quality.

He stressed that the goal to achieving rice self- sufficiency is not just about on farm assistance but also involves introducing rice varieties that fit the diverse African agro-ecologies, improve irrigation facilities and disseminate rice growing techniques to farmers.

The CBN and the Ministry of Agriculture must continue this partnership and sustain the various initiatives to reposition the entire Agric sector.

The efforts that created the rice revolution must be extended to other agriculture commodities if Nigeria is to achieve self-sufficiency in food production. These targeted schemes and programmes for the real sector development also have potentials for employment generation, wealth creation and poverty reduction.

It has been noted that a nation can hardly sustain its economic growth without a strong agricultural base and the reasons are obvious. Agriculture provides food, raw materials and employment and it is bandied that agriculture is the largest provider of employment, and it is estimated that more than 65 per cent of industries and business activities are supported by agriculture at primary and secondary levels.

Agriculture is also important in international trade; it helps to reduce balance of trade, reduce import, increase export, generate foreign exchange, impacts transportation, help to improve standard of living of the people. Many advanced economies developed on the back of agriculture.

Emefiele must remain focused on his mission at the CBN. Although his tenure, which is renewable, expires June this year, what he started must not be allowed to fizzle out. It is critical that we sustain the momentum.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better.

Nigerians raise money for Airport worker who returned millions after legit.ng's report| Legit TV

Source: Legit Nigeria
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Thursday, March 7, upturned the disqualification of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Taraba state, Sani Danladi, The Nation reports.

Recall that Danladi had been disqualified on charges of age falsification on Wednesday, March 6.

READ ALSO: Drama as Fayemi and ex-governor Fayose embrace in public

Legit.ng had previously reported that a Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, Taraba state, on disqualified the APC gubernatorial candidate from contesting the March 9 governorship election.

It was reported that the ruling, according to the court was based on alleged falsification of age in the documents which the APC governorship candidate supplied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a separate report, hoodlums in Wukari, Taraba, on Thursday, January 17, attacked the motorcade of the APC governorship candidate in Taraba.

Also in the convoy, which lost no fewer than 10 vehicles burnt in the attack, was Nigerias ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Alhaji Hassan Ardo.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Legit.ng gathered that Danladi, who was on a campaign tour of the southern senatorial district of the state, was on his way to Ibi local government area when some youths ambushed the motorcade at a junction in Wukari.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better.

Leadership of Nigeria is not meant for our forefathers| - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
Reports currently trending on social media suggest the loss of yet another Nollywood talent identified as Tony Anyasador.

According to reports seen circulating on the internet, he reportedly died on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Owerri, Imo state.

Anyasador was believed to be battling a yet to be disclosed illness for quite a period of time before his tragic passing.

READ ALSO: Personal letter from the Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng (former NAIJ.com)

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App

Anyasodor was famous for his role in movies such as Heavy Storm 1 and 2, and Beyond the Verdict 2. He had also worked with the likes of screen goddess, Queen Nwokoye. He lived in Owerri in Imo state until his death.

His death comes several months after Yoruba actress Funmilayo Ogunsola popularly known as Ijewuru died in Ibadan, Oyo state. The actress reportedly passed away on February 4, after she had a heart attack at her residence in Ibadan. Ijewuru was one of the wives of late veteran actor, Olusola Ishola Ogunsola, popularly known as Isho Pepper.

HELLO! NAIJ.com (naija.ng) upgrades to Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better

Tears, wailing as late Moji Olaiya is laid to rest in Lagos | Legit TV

Source: Legit
A drunk man cursing in Italian switched to English when he yelled an expletive at a police officer and then smacked the officers glasses off of his face, Freemansburg police said.

Natale Tassone, of Glouster County, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault, as well as disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

The 56-year-old Tassone was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Freemansburg police said they were called for a combative and aggressive drunk man a little after 10 p.m. Monday to a home in the 900 block of Karoly Street.

They found Tassone lying in a driveway, yelling, screaming and cursing.

Tassone began cursing at an officer in Italian, and police said it smelled like Tassone had been drinking. Tassone admitted drinking at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem.

EMS tried to help Tassone, but he began cursing at them and grabbed one of them by the waist and would not let go, according to police.

Bethlehem Township police arrived to assist Freemansburg, and officers tried to help walk Tassone back into the house.

Tassone was allegedly uncooperative, and continued cursing at all the officers. After being warned, Tassone reportedly said to a Bethlehem Township officer (expletive) you and then smacked glasses off the officers face.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A Monroe County man is accused of having sexual communications with two 13-year-old girls over three months.

Daniel Siegfried, 43, of East Stroudsburg, was arraigned Wednesday on seven charges, including sexual exploitation of children, unlawful contact with a minor, and child endangerment.

He was sent to Monroe County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.

State police at the Stroudsburg barracks said they were informed Feb. 19 that Siegfried was having inappropriate contact with minors through social media.

The minors reported having sexual communications with Siegfried, including exchanging photographs, from November until February, troopers said.

State police raided a home in the 400 block of Schoolhouse Road in East Stroudsburg, and searched Siegfrieds social media accounts and electronic devices as part of the investigation, troopers said.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Developer Borko Milosev figures his rescue of the Hogtown Building on North 13th Street in Easton will be complete in about two months.

Thats about four months later than he initially estimated before work began, but not a problem, he said.

The four, one-story condos will sell for about $200 a square foot, but one could quickly go off the market.

Milosev, a Wilson Area High School and Moravian College graduate, is thinking about keeping one for himself and moving from Whitehall Township to the city where his work is having dramatic impact.

Just last week, Milosev, the principal in Bethlehem-based Post Road Management, announced he is taking on the 505-507 Northampton St. project, which prior to his involvement appeared to be a teardown on a key Downtown street. His work on the 100 block of Northampton Street, especially 118-120 Northampton, has been much praised.

The condo effort just south of the Simon Silk Mill redevelopment on 13th Street took on an abandoned four-story red brick granary near a section of the Bushkill Creek. A history by William Jacob Heller says the section was called Hogtown in the days of Andrew Jackson due to swine feeding on refuse of one of the numerous distilleries that dotted this charming stream ... during the whiskey period.

The Karl Stirner Arts Trail ends at the building on the east side of 13th Street.

The demolition work was complete and the rough-out of wiring and plumbing was nearly done and waiting inspection, to be followed soon after by insulation and drywall, Milosev said last week.

Things should start taking shape, as that work gets underway, he said.

Juliet balconies still need to go up as of March 5, 2019, on the Hogtown Building at 521 N. 13th St. in Easton. Four condos could be for sale there by summer. (Tony Rhodin | For lehighvalleylive.com)

In contrast to the 118-120 Northampton rental project where pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong and the work took years longer than expected to complete, the Hogtown project has had no big things go awry so far, Milosev said.

Some of the flooring wasnt as good as expected with more subfloor rotted than previously thought, he said. Some beams were also in tough shape and the building was taking on water on the south side as it poured off nearby Route 22, he added.

But those issues were resolved, he said.

The better part of a year ago, Milosev said he expected to spend $150,000 to $160,000 per condo. The first three floors will have about 1,550 square feet of living space while the fourth floor will be about 1,000, he said. He bought the building at 521 N. 13th St. for $1,000 in 2015 from the citys redevelopment authority, but work had to wait until other projects were complete, he said previously.

The loft-style spaces, which will have few interior walls, will feature one-and-a-half bathrooms, a laundry room and a bedroom space, along with kitchen, dining and living spaces, according to the floor plans. The first three floors also have study nooks and walk-in closets.

There will be Juliet balconies, with the two on the first floor and one on the fourth floor looking north and the single second- and third-floor balconies facing west above 13th Street.

The work of selling the condos has yet to begin as Milosev seeks a more complete product to market. The company will create a 3-D walkthrough as part of that effort, he said.

The fourth floor condo will have north-facing outdoor space in the Hogtown Building at 521 N. 13th St. in Easton. Four condos could be for sale there by summer. (Tony Rhodin | For lehighvalleylive.com)

As for going on the condo market when most of his previous projects, including a highrise on Elizabeth Avenue in Bethlehem, have been rental properties, Milosev said, Well give it a shot.

The Hogtown Building is in a Keystone Opportunity Zone, so it will allow temporary property and other tax incentives for buyers, he said. The condos should draw the attention of high-income workers, he added.

There is still significant work to do on the condos and decisions to make about the buildings exterior, which is currently red brick and in worse shape than conditions initially were inside. Milosev is hoping to maintain the industrial look of the structure while adding high-end treatments inside. There are three layers of brick, but with windows and patio doors already in, it might be challenging to remove a layer. However, the windows and doors are inset a layer already.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
When she threw her support behind building a new Palmer Elementary School, a six-figure settlement with a neighbor wasnt part of the deal, according to Easton Area School Board member Billie Weiss.

Confronted with a $100,000 settlement offer for an easement to put a storm drain through the neighbors property, Weiss said shes had enough.

Even though the students have already been moved out of Palmer Elementary School in preparation for demolition, Weiss wants to consider renovating the school rather than building new if it means forgoing the drain pipe.

Im not for this, she said of the settlement offer from neighbor Eric Adams.

She said she urged district officials six months ago to consider renovations but no one took her seriously. She refuses to go along with new construction until someone shows her a renovation wont work.

If I dont see this renovation plan, I am out completely. I am a no all the way through, she said.

School board member Tina Rosado agrees with Weiss.

From the beginning (Adams) has been asking an outrageous amount, she said.

The $26.3 million plan for a new school was approved by the Palmer Township supervisors in October on the condition that the Easton Area School District help mitigate flooding on Washington Street, Lilac Road and Hay Terrace. The school district can put an end to decades of flash floods by putting a storm drain pipe through Adams property at 110 S. Greenwood Ave., according to Palmer Township Supervisors Chairman Dave Colver.

But Adams doesnt want the pipe. He has threatened to sue as far back as June 2018 to prevent his yard from being torn up. According to Adams, the final 40 feet of the pipe will be mounded with dirt as it rises above ground level and will end in a riprap apron, which Adams describes as an unsightly mound of rock and gravel on his land.

Eric Adams said the large tree in the center of this photo and the small one to the right will have to be ripped out due to the installation of a storm sewer pipe on his property. The pipe would go along this grassy strip of land. (Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com)Rudy Miller

Adams sent a letter to the school district on March 3 urging it to fight the township requirement.

Adams says in the letter he and his wife are mulling a $100,000 settlement to grant the district permission to put in the pipe. He suggests he might ask for more money and says the pipe should never be installed.

The evidence suggests that the proposed stormwater drainage system is both an unsound design as well as a gross misuse of the school districts limited resources, he wrote. He believes the pipe could channel stormwater onto nearby Route 22.

Adams says the pipe will cost $1 million to install. Township and school district engineers speaking at public meetings have put the cost in the $400,000 to $450,000 range.

Adams says a detention pond at the school will reduce stormwater runoff by more than 50 percent. If the school district is already reducing runoff dramatically, he sees no need to put in a drain pipe several blocks away.

Colver said stormwater runoff was not considered when the school was built in 1948. (Additions went on in 1955, 1959 and 1978.) The pond will improve runoff, but the problem is so egregious that the storm drain is still necessary.

All the township is asking is for the school district to capture and pipe their water, not the neighborhoods water, he said.

Weiss disagrees.

Were fixing a 35-year-old problem that Palmer has had, she said. Colver says the storm drain is set up to capture water originating at the school, not from the neighborhood properties.

The plans for new construction call for a new parking lot, new bus drop off and new school configuration. Colver said the district could opt to renovate, but would have to forgo all those improvements in order to forgo the pipe requirement.

Any plan that disturbs more than an acre of land requires a plan that addresses runoff. The requirements come from the state and county, not the township, Colver said.

The longer the school district stalls the project, the higher construction costs will inflate, he said. A 1 or 2 percent increase in construction costs would come close to what the school district would have to pay to settle with Adams, install the pipe and move ahead now with plans for the school.

Colver said the school district and the township are working together to replace sidewalk on school-owned and township-owned land in front of the school. Everyone should work together on a compromise plan to keep the school project on track, he said.

The bottom line is its the school districts project. Theyre the developer. Were trying to help things along, Colver said.

Rendering of the new Palmer Elementary School. Provided June 13, 2018. (Courtesy Alloy 5 Architects)Courtesy Alloy 5 Architects

School board President George Chando said the school district decided long ago that it was more cost effective to build a new school rather than renovate.

School board member Meg Sayago also stands behind plans for the new school.

The students of Palmer Elementary School deserve a modern school that addresses the educational needs of todays students and is comparable to the other Easton Area School District elementary schools, she said. Attempting to renovate a building like Palmer, given the existing foot print, is impractical, less cost effective than new construction and does not allow for all the design features of a new building."

School board member Brian Snyder said its about time to replace the decrepit school less than a half-mile from the relatively new township community center.

I will continue to work with all parties involved in order to raze that vacant eyesore and build a new Palmer Elementary School that will shine like a jewel in the community and offer all the best and modern amenities for staff and students in a vibrant, modern, and enriching educational environment, Snyder said.

I do not want to speculate about the Palmer circumstances as we are still in discussions with the township, Easton Area School District Superintendent John Reinhart said. Mrs. Weiss and the rest of the board of education are very eager to get to a point of a resolution on the matter because this impacts on the future lives of hundreds of families in the township.

The students from Palmer Elementary School moved temporarily last month to extra classrooms in Easton Area Middle School. Theyll stay there until the school project is complete.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
A 33-year-old man with a Florida drivers license was behind the wheel on Tuesday morning of a 2010 BMW X5 that had such dark tinting on the windshield that a stationary Pennsylvania State Police trooper patrolling Interstate 80 West in Monroe County couldnt see inside, court papers say.

So Trooper Nicholas B. Avvisato pulled over the SUV about 11:44 a.m. at mile marker 289 in Tunkhannock Township, police said.

Throughout the course of this stop I observed indicators of criminal activity, Avvisato wrote in court papers.

He asked Primitivo Alicea Candelaria for permission to search the vehicle and when given the OK, found 540 grams -- a little more than a half-kilo -- of raw heroin packaged inside two plastic bags which were in turn inside a suitcase in the rear of the vehicle, police said. The heroin, valued at $20,000, was later tested at the Stroudsburg barracks and received a presumptive positive for the illegal narcotic, police said.

Alicea Candelaria, no address given, was arraigned that afternoon before District Judge Richard Claypool on charges of possession with intent to deliver drugs, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia (the plastic bags) and improper sunscreening, records show.

He was sent to Monroe County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

His preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled 10:30 a.m. March 14, records show.

Court papers did not show an attorney for Alicea Candelaria.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
After decades spent collecting thousands of images of child pornography, Nazareth resident Brian Shafer will spend the next 10 years in federal prison.

He told a federal marshal he expects to die there. He even hopes for it, according to court papers.

I want to go to the same prison that Whitey Bulger went to, the one where they killed him his first day there," the 68-year-old man allegedly told a federal marshal who came to his home to investigate a bail violation in January.

Shafer was due to be sentenced in February and told the marshal Im done next month, meaning he anticipated a long prison term.

Im in pain and I know Im not going to live long," he told the marshal, according to court papers. "I know Im not going to make it out of prison alive and I want to die.

Shafer admitted he stockpiled thousands of images of child pornography over decades, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Stephan. He claimed he was asexual but admitted he sexually abused four boys, according to the memo.

The memo doesnt indicate whether he was charged with molesting children.

Shafer pleaded guilty in October 2018 to two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography.

Each and every time he downloaded, saved, and viewed an image of one of the worst days of a childs life he re-victimized that child. The harm caused by the proliferation of these child sexual abuse images is untold, Stephan said in the memo.

Court papers say Shafers activities were uncovered when he brought his computer to Best Buy in Bethlehem Township for a repair on Oct. 3, 2016. An employee who found the images alerted police, who uncovered photos of naked boys ranging in age from four to 14, court records say.

Shafer was released on bail and ordered to stay off the internet, but a marshal found an internet connection in January in his home in the 200 block of North Church Street. When authorities uncovered the internet connection, Shafer admitted he had lost the will to live, court papers say. He said he thought about hanging himself or committing suicide by cop.

A federal judge revoked Shafers bail after the violation for internet usage. Shafer was sentenced Feb. 22 to 10 years and one month in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr.

Online records say defense attorney Gary Asteak asked for a more lenient sentence. Asteak didnt return a call seeking comment.

Court papers say psychologist Frank Dattilio found Shafer is not at risk for future acting out behaviors and is amenable to treatment. Stephan disputed Dattilios conclusion that Shafer should be given some credit for exercising self control regarding contact offenses.

A man who admits to viewing and downloading child pornography for decades, and to having sexual contact with four minor boys, cannot be described as a person deserving of some accolade for exercising self-control. It certainly appears to be quite the opposite, Stephan wrote in her memo.

One must never forget, each and every image depicts a horrifying moment in a childs life, forever in circulation for those like the defendant to derive from it deviant sexual pleasure and satisfaction, she added.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Hackettstowns Business Improvement District is preparing for its 11th annual St. Patricks Day parade this weekend.

The parade is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, with James Jim Travis as the 2019 parades grand marshal. The Warren County towns BID estimates the annual parade attracts 14,000 visitors.

You can find a map of the parade route here.

Starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday, the following areas will have no parking, and vehicles parked there will be ticketed and towed:

Route 46 (Main St), between Grand Avenue and Warren Street

Washington Street, between Church and Valentine streets

Franklin Street, between Liberty Street and Route 517 (High St)

Liberty St, between Route 46 and Franklin St

Valentine Street, between Route 46 (Main St) and Beatty Street

Madison, Monroe and Jefferson streets between Valentine Street and Grand Avenue

Washington Street, between Warren Street and Bells Lane.

Victoria Lane, between Route 182 (Mountain Ave) and Mitchell Road

Bells Lane, between Route 182 (Mountain Ave) and Washington Street

Parking is available in municipal parking lots and many of the side streets.

Starting at 3:15 p.m. the parade route will close to traffic: Route 182 (Mountain Avenue) at Victoria Lane, to Route 46 to Grande Avenue at Washington Street. Police officers will be on scene to direct traffic.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
By Greg Dudkin

Like many Pennsylvanians, I have been watching with great interest the debate surrounding the future of nuclear power. Proposed legislation currently circulating within the Pennsylvania General Assembly would require electric utilities to purchase as much as 50 percent of customer demand from nuclear energy as part of a new mandate under Pennsylvanias Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act.

As president of one of the largest electric utilities headquartered here in Pennsylvania, I must respectfully ask the General Assembly to seriously consider the broad impact and the unintended ramifications this aggressive proposal would have on all 1.4 million customers served by PPL Electric Utilities.

The conversation surrounding how to achieve long-term market-based solutions to reducing carbon is essential to Pennsylvanias energy future. Our parent company, Pennsylvania-based PPL Corp., supports efforts to advance a cleaner energy future and has committed reducing its carbon emissions 70 percent from 2010 levels by 2050. Additionally, PPL Electric Utilities has begun to undertake several projects that promote greater incorporation and growth of carbon-free energy sources, such as solar, onto our grid.

No one disputes that nuclear energy is carbon-free, but dont confuse narrow nuclear subsidy proposals with efficient and effective economy-wide, market-based efforts to move the state toward a low carbon future.

This proposal, if adopted, will make Pennsylvania less competitive, impacting every electric customer in Pennsylvania and raising the average price of electricity in the state for years to come. We have estimated that our customers, alone, will pay $130 million more each year to rescue a single energy source that already benefits from an existing robust market.

If electricity customers are asked to bear this burden, customers should expect, and legislators should require that regulators have oversight. As a regulated utility, PPL Electric Utilities is required to open its books to the states Public Utility Commission and demonstrate a financial need before we can adjust the rates we charge to customers. Nuclear plant owners who are asking our state government to give them customer-funded financial assistance should be required to do the same. Recent draft proposals do not include this much-needed requirement and also provide a subsidy for plants that are profitable.

This issue has been the focus of limited discussions for well over two years. It is only recently that proponents have turned up the heat on the General Assembly to act swiftly. Lawmakers should not fall for the crisis label that has been intentionally created by the bill proponents.

I ask that lawmakers take their time in properly vetting this issue through the process  hold hearings, call in all stakeholders and most importantly, demand numbers from those advocating for this measure. Consider seeking independent audits or financial verification from outside resources available to the General Assembly. In the end, strongly consider whether hiding a nuclear bailout in customers electricity bills is necessary and the best course to moving Pennsylvania forward.

Greg Dudkin is president of PPL Electric Utilities.
The cream of traditional Irish music will be in Laois next weekend when Camross Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann hosts its annual Stephen Conroy Traditional Music Workshops.

The event will be held on Saturday, March 9 in Camross school and hall.

Registration takes place at 10 .30 am with tuition classes starting at 11am and running through to 1pm.

After an hour long break for lunch, classes will resume running until 4pm.

Tuition will be given by the All Ireland Senior Ceili Band winners 2018, The Blackwater Ceili Band and other prominent and talented tutors well known within Comhaltas .

The tutors are: accordion  Michael Curran / Colm Slattery, concertina  Clara Mannion and Aoife Ni Argain, fiddle - Lydia Warnock and Eugene McKenn, flute - Michael Coney and Mark McCrystall, tin whistle  Ursula McAdam and Rosie Ferguson, banjo  George McAdam and Darragh Carey Kennedy.

The day concludes with a Ceili Mor in the Camross Hall featuring the Blackwater Ceili Band. Eircode R32 YEF6. Dancing 9pm - 12 midnight. Admission to the concert is 10 including supper.

The Tuition fee is 20. Contact Crescentia Phelan at 087-1367889 or email crescentiap58@gmail.com for enquiries.

More details are also on the Camross CCE facebook page.

The Workshops honours Camross CCE founder Stephen Conroy.

Stephen was a hugely influential figure in the community dedicating himself to organising events on a voluntary basis to promote Irish culture and traditions to enhance his community.

Stephen inherited his love of all things traditional from his parents but set dancing was his one true passion. We are holding our music workshop that he loved so well in his memory, said Crescentia Phelan said

She said the event is an example of how Camross CCE strives to promote all that Comhaltas encompasses through culture and heritage.

We endeavour to promote and nurture the Irish language, traditional music, song and dance, siad Ms Phelan.

We endeavour to provide opportunities to our students to develop their talents and skills. she said.

The branch has about 100 members with 80 young musicians aged from six years to 18 years. They attend classes every Monday night in Camross Hall.
A Polish national caught with 2,000 of cannabis who claimed he was supplying the drug to his friends has been given the benefit the probation act, having been assessed at a low risk of reoffending.

Seweryn Hajdenrajch, 37, with an address at 3 The Crescent, Kilminchy, Portlaoise, was charged with drug possession, and having drugs for sale or supply, at his home on July 23 last.

When the case first came before the district court last November, Sgt Jason Hughes gave evidence that the accused's house was searched by gardai and cannabis resin and herb to a value of 2,000 was found.

The accused made admissions that he had been supplying the drug to his friends.

He had no previous convictions.

Defence, Ms Josephine Fitzpatrick said that the accused, a Polish national living in Ireland 13 years, had since turned his life around and stopped what he was doing.

Judge Catherine Staines asked the State was it satisfied the accused had stopped.

Garda Donal Cahill replied that the accused had not come to garda attention since.

The matter was then adjourned for a probation report.

When the case returned to court last week, as the accused had no previous convictions, had cooperated fully and was assessed at a low risk of reoffending, Judge Staines applied the probation act, section 1.1.
A former Laois resident who jailed for the manslaughter of a young Offaly man is now set to remain detained in Central Mental Hospital as in inpatient after evidence from a psychiatrist that he should be committed.

Polish national Dariusz Alchimionek (44), with an address at Barrow Way, Spa Street, Portarlington, Co Laois, had denied the manslaughter of John Gorman (19) and assault causing harm to his brother, Adam, on December 29, 2015.

The brothers had been returning home from Tullamore when a vehicle driven by Alchimionek suddenly crossed the road into the path of their oncoming car at Ballycrystal, Geashill, Co Offaly.

In his original trial, Tullamore Circuit Criminal Court heard how Alchimionek had become convinced the Islamic State group, or Isis, were about to invade Europe and a third World War was about to begin.

Consultant psychiatrists for both the prosecution and the defence, both of whom worked at the Central Mental Hospital, agreed that Alchimionek met the criteria to be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

The jury had the option of returning of three verdicts: guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity.

The trial judge told the jury: "In light of the medical evidence, it would seem to me that you have no option but to accept... the defence of not guilty by reason of insanity is available to the accused, and in such circumstances, you are obliged to acquit."

After two hours and 50 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned majority guilty verdicts of 11-1 on both counts, which were met with applause in the courtroom.

Alchimionek was then sentenced to nine years imprisonment with the final three suspended by Judge Keenan Johnson in October 2017.

The Court of Appeal quashed the jury verdict last week on grounds it was perverse and against the weight of the evidence.

President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said the quashing of a jurys verdict because it was perverse was very exceptional but the court felt compelled to do so in this case.

He has since been moved to hospital and the three-judge court heard on Thursday, March 7 from Dr Paul OConnell, consultant psychiatrist at the Central Mental Hospital, who assessed Mr Alchimionek in recent days.

Dr OConnell told the court that in his opinion, Mr Alchimionek warranted continued detention as in inpatient at the CMH.

On foot of the assessment, the court committed Mr Alchimionek to the CMH.

Mr Justice Birmingham said it was a traumatic case and a terrible tragedy that must not be easy for anyone to cope with.

Last week, Mr Justice Birmingham said the court was very conscious of the impact the terrible tragedy had on the family of the deceased.

However, he said it was never in controversy that Mr Alchimionek was, in fact, insane at the time of the incident and, if the court directed a retrial, it seemed inevitable the evidence would be the same.

If another jury was to reject the unanimous expert evidence a second time, he said the Court of Appeal would very likely find itself dealing with another perverse verdict.

On the other hand, if another jury in a retrial acted on foot of the unanimous expert evidence, then the verdict would be the same as the Court of Appeal could enter now.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice Brian McGovern, said prolonging matters towards an inevitable conclusion by directing a retrial would not be in the public interest.

Counsel for Mr Alchimionek, Kenneth Fogarty SC, along with Niall Flynn BL, said a retrial was an unnecessary exercise.
A man who threatened to knock a gardas head off told the local district court that the offence was caused by his ADHD and autism.

Adam OToole of 34 Cremona Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, was charged at last weeks Portlaoise District Court with threatening or abusive behaviour.

Sgt JJ Kirby gave evidence that on June 13 last year, at the Railway Station, Portlaoise, the gardai were speaking to two males, one of whom was the accused.

The accused said to the garda: Go on and touch me, Ill knock your f***ing head off.

The accused had 28 previous convictions, including 20 for road traffic matters, three for theft, two for using a false instrument, one public order and one for resisting arrest.

Defence for the accused said he was a young man who had left school at an early age. Defence said the accused suffered with ADHD and autism and had very little recollection of the incident.

He wished to apologise to the court and to the gardai, added the defence barrister.

Judge Catherine Staines remarked that autism was not an excuse for the accuseds behaviour, saying that people with autism dont normally behave this way.

The accused himself told the court that he could not really remember the night in question.

He also said he had now started work.

Judge Staines asked him had he attended with a psychiatrist for his ADHD and the accused replied he had.

In ruling, Judge Staines said the accused seemed to have turned his life around and she applied the probation act.
Maynooth Community First Responders (CFR) were delighted to accept a donation of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) this week from Life Credit Union, Maynooth.

Early access to CPR and an AED within the first 3-5 minutes of cardiac arrest greatly improve survival rates.

According to Chair of Maynooth CFR, Cllr Reada Cronin, an AED is a key piece of equipment for the group. CFR groups are linked with the National Ambulance Service and are dispatched along with an ambulance to certain emergencies, such as heart attack, cardiac arrest, choking and stroke. The most important piece of equipment in our kit bag is the AED. They are small but expensive so to have received a donation of a defibrillator from Life Credit Union is a huge boost to the group and we are delighted to have their support.

Five thousand people die each year from cardiac arrest in Ireland. For every minute that passes after a cardiac arrest, the chances of recovery are reduced by 7% to 10%. Having early access to CPR and an AED are crucial steps in the cardiac chain of survival, according to the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC).

Brenda Walsh, Branch Manager of Life Credit Union Maynooth, said: Life Credit Union is community-based and driven. Our aim is always to support those in our community and we were thrilled to support Maynooth Community First Responders by donating a vital piece of life-saving equipment. This will benefit all of us in Maynooth and, while we hope not to have to call on emergency services, it is a relief to know that we have this level of support locally.

Maynooth CFR is a group of 18 volunteers, trained and certified by CFR Ireland to provide life-saving assistance in cases of heart attack, cardiac arrest, stroke and choking, working alongside the National Ambulance Service. The aim is to be on the scene within 10 minutes, providing life-saving assistance while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

The group was established in May 2018 and are now waiting for sign off by the National Ambulance Service so that they can go live and begin to provide life-saving assistance. Maynooth CFR is entirely voluntary. For more information follow them on Facebook.
Circle K (formerly Topaz Energy) has announced that Finlay's Service Station, Rathangan Road, Monasterevin has rebranded to Circle K Express, as the rollout of the new brand in Ireland continues.

Read also: Monasterevin Tidy Towns to hold AGM

The newly rebranded service station will host a grand opening today from 12 to 2pm.

Circle K officially launched in Ireland in 2018, announcing significant investment and job creation in the Irish market as over 420 service stations will be rebranded.

To celebrate rebranding to Circle K, sites are hosting official grand openings, with special offers both instore and on the forecourt for a limited time at selected Circle K sites nationwide.

Jonathan Diver, Senior Director Retail Sales & Operations Dealers, Circle K Ireland commented: We are delighted to be launching our newest Circle K location in Ireland. As we continue the rollout of brand across the country, we want to emphasise that, while we have a new name, it is the same great people working under the Circle K brand. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the hardworking staff and management at our newest Kildare Circle K Express service stations, and indeed all our Circle K staff for making our rebrand come to life in local communities.
Local gardai have been asked to monitor the use by cyclists of footpaths.

Cllr Seamie Moore was speaking at last Mondays meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC) and raised the issue of cyclists using footpaths in Naas.

He said that locals were reporting feeling hounded on the footpaths by cyclists and that lately it was often two or three cyclists at one go.

In my opinion pedestrians should feel safe on the footpaths, he remarked to the JPC.

Its an increasing problem, he said, adding that he had no problem with small children on bikes if accompanied by a parent.

He also noted there was often no bell, no helmet or no high viz.

Some of our own arent great, he said, but added: Its soon copied by those who come to live in Ireland.

Chief Superintendent Brian Sutton responded that the phenomenon was often a precursor to people having their mobiles snatched from them by people on bicycles.

He said he would make it a priority.
A man who tried to reclaim a deposit he paid for flowers for his wedding failed to turn up for the hearing at the Small Claims Court yesterday, Wednesday, March 6.

There was a sting in the tail for Aiden Kelly of 33 Mount Eagle View, Leopardstown Heights, Sandyford, Co Dublin because the florist he sued, Stephanie Doussal of Unit 6 Clane Business Park, Clane did show up and successfully countersued for what the company had spent on Mr Kellys flowers.

Sitting at Naas Courthouse Judge Desmond Zaidan heard evidence that Mr Kelly had booked Ms Doussal to do the flowers, at a total value of 1,800 and paid a 400 deposit for them.

The day before the wedding Mr Kellys wife called the florist to cancel the order. Ms Doussals husband, who explained the situation to the judge, said that it was during the big snow of 2018.

He revealed that several days later Mr Kelly rang demanding the 400 back, which the florist refused to give because the cancellation was so late.

The court also heard that the company had, by then, spent 1,350 on flowers for Mr Kellys wedding and were countersuing for that amount.

Judge Zaidan struck out Mr Kellys claim against Ms Doussal because he did not appear in court and granted her claim against Mr Kelly, awarding her 1,350.
Celebrate International Women's Day at the Glens this Friday, March 8 with two exceptional female vocalists: Ailie Blunnie and

Victoria Geelan.



Ailie Blunnie

Ailie Blunnie is a musician and songwriter from Carrick-on-Shannon.

Her songs have a stillness and beauty that carry echoes of the landscapes of her childhood, and a vibrancy and vigour that lend freshness to the modern electronic folk genre in which she works.

Four years in the making, her debut album, West to the Evening Sun, was released in 2017 and was reviewed as: One of the finest Irish albums of the year by Roisin Dwyer in Hotpress.

Another review in the NY Irish Echo by Colleen Taylor said: This album extends beyond innovative musical arrangements, even beyond the skill of poetic, expressive lyrics. Blunnies songs are transcendent and transporting.



Victoria Geelan released her debut album Unfit the Picture to great acclaim in 2014.

Victoria will be joined by celebrated Donegal harpist and multi-instrumentalist Joleen McLaughlin, of folk and roots music group The Henry Girls, and completing the trio will be Rohan Armstrong on upright bass, who is much in-demand in both the jazz and original music scenes throughout Ireland.

Known for her passionate, sophisticated interpret -ations of jazz standards, this is an exciting opportunity to hear her vocal artistry in an intimate, acoustic setting.

According to BBC Radio Ulster: Victoria crafts a show she gives her soul to.



Tickets to this all female show are 10/8.

Bookings on (071)9855833 or visit theglenscentre.com



This year's theme for International Women's Day is #BalanceforBetter

The campaign theme provides a unified direction to guide and galvanize continuous collective action, with #BalanceforBetter activity reinforced and amplified all year.

Balance is not a women's issue, it's a business issue. The gender balance is essential for economies and communities to thrive.

Events will be held around the world to celebrate women this Friday, March 8.
A Drumcong native who emigrated to America over 50 years ago celebrated her 100th birthday recently surrounded by family.

Mary Moreton, nee Harvey, originally from Drumcong, Co Leitrim emigrated with her husband and family from Farnaugh, to Brooklyn, New York in 1966.

She celebrated being 100-years-old on February 10, with her family in Phoenix, Arizona.

Mary was the youngest of nine children of John and Bridget Harvey of Drumcong.



Mary and husband Pat Moreton (now deceased) went to America with their two youngest children, Angie and Liam, in 1966, and they quickly settled in Brooklyn, New York.

They lived near their three other children, daughters, Vera, Bridie and Lily, who had emigrated to America earlier.

It was a big step for Mary and Pat to sell their home, farm land, and all of their other belongings in Ireland and travel to a new country.



Although they missed the old sod, they never looked back! In the 1970s, daughters, Vera and Bridie, moved their respective families to Phoenix, Arizona and Mary and Pat followed suit.

Mary celebrated her big birthday surrounded by her daughters, Vera and husband John Curley, Bridie and husband Pat Mulqueen, Lily and her husband Christy McCoy, Angie and husband Boyd Hunter, and her son, Liam Moreton.

Most of her ten grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren were also present and a fun time was had by all.

Mary received birthday wishes and gifts from her longtime friend, Annie Moreton and family.

Her daughter Lily told the paper: She was shocked by all the attention she was getting from pictures and comments posted on Facebook as well as by all of the birthday wishes from extended family and old friends living in New York, Ireland, Canada and even India!



Her grandson, Ken Mulqueen, created a video of her life story, which included her favourite song Lovely Leitrim.

Mary is a strong woman and attributes her longevity to working hard, staying very active, and eating well.

She lives an independent lifestyle in her own home and enjoys daily visits from family and friends. She loves reading, watching game shows on TV, and playing cards every Thursday.



Her daughter Lily said, We are so happy that Mary is doing well and can still keep up with us - she is well on her way to 101!
A request that the Forestry Appeals Board come before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture to address the concerns in relation to the methodology, criteria and process which the Forestry Appeal Committee have applied to County Leitrim forestry applications has been made by Fianna Fail TD for Sligo-Leitrim Marc Mac Sharry.

Deputy Mac Sharry has written to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Chairman Pat Deering TD, seeking a committee hearing with the Forestry Appeals Board to address the many concerns being raised by concerned communities throughout the north west, and in particular County Leitrim, where more than 50% of traditional agricultural land is now planted.

Deputy Mac Sharry commented The many constituents in Leitrim who have contacted me have grave concerns with the continued planting of forestry in the county. The current situation is not sustainable.

I have requested that the Forestry Appeals Board come before the Agriculture Committee to answer questions to members on behalf of concerned communities.

Almost a year ago to the day I raised serious concerns on this matter and since then the anxieties of constituents in the north west have only increased. As a nation we all want to play our part on climate change and reaching our forestry targets however it is not reasonable for County Leitrim to be expected to shoulder such a disproportionate amount of the burden.

As things stand more than 50% of traditional farming land in County Leitrim has been planted. Much of it with invasive species which is not helping our environment. In addition, it threatens the future viability of traditional suckler and sheep farming in the area.

Forestry planting must be spread proportionately in all regions with an emphasis on mixed forestry which includes greater native and broadleaf coverage. County Leitrim and much of the north west have done their fair share.

I very much hope that the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee Chairman Deputy Deering accedes to my request so that members can advance the case on behalf of County Leitrim and ask pertinent questions as to why appeals are all too often falling on deaf ears, concluded Deputy Mac Sharry.
A public meeting hosted by Luke Ming Flanagan MEP and Thomas Pringle TD will take place this Friday 8th March 2019 at the Central Hotel in Donegal.

A number of speakers have been lined up to speak at the event entitled 'PESCO and Irish Neutrality' which runs from 7pm to 10pm.

The event comes after another similar meeting which was held in Galway in November 2018 entitled 'Are We Heading Towards an EU Army?'.

PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) is a European Union initiative to integrate the armed forces of nearly every European member state. PESCO was rushed through the Dail in October 2017 by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael with very little coverage.

Speaking ahead of the public meeting in Donegal, Luke Ming Flanagan MEP said "There is an urgency to talk about the ramping up of military projects in the European Union. Ireland as a neutral country should not be aligning ourselves with imperial powers in Europe. I look forward to exploring this and other implications in Donegal this Friday".

Independent candidate for the upcoming local elections, Valerie McNulty will also speak at the meeting along with Dr Karen Devine, lecturer in International Relations and EU Politics in Dublin City University. The meeting will be chaired by Cllr Seamus Maguire.
A MOTORIST acquitted of dangerous driving causing the death of another driver in County Limerick is to face a retrial after his conviction was overturned.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was previously charged with dangerous driving causing the death of another motorist on the N20 in 2014.

He was acquitted by a jury, on the direction of the trial judge, following a trial at Limerick Circuit Court last year.

During a hearing last month, the Court of Appeal heard the mans car crossed 1.7metres into the opposing lane of traffic before colliding with the deceaseds oncoming car on a straight stretch of road.

The man, who is aged in his early 30s, had not been drinking or speeding. His mobile phone had not been used for 42 minutes prior to the incident. There was no evidence of any medical issue, no evidence of any infirmities in the vehicle, no evidence that any environmental factor contributed to the incident and no evidence that his vehicle went out of control.

The trial judge directed the jury to acquit the then accused on the basis there was insufficient evidence to support the charge of dangerous driving causing death. There was no alternative charge such as careless driving causing death.

The Director of Public Prosecutions moved to appeal the mans acquittal on a point of law under Section 23 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2010.

Counsel for the DPP, Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, told the Court of Appeal that the act of driving dangerously had been defined by the courts as driving in a manner which a reasonably prudent person would recognise involved a direct, immediate and serious risk to the public.

Ms Lawlor said the jury ought to have been given the opportunity to assess whether driving 1.7m into oncoming traffic was a dangerous act. She said the jury could have assessed where on the spectrum of dangerous versus carelessness it lay.

Instead, she submitted that the trial judge engaged in a personal analysis on whether an alternative charge - careless driving causing death - was more appropriate.

That was not the test and the trial judge erred in applying legal principles set down in a case known as Galbraith, Ms Lawlor submitted.

When asked about a potential lapse in concentration, she said it was for the jury to assess whether that would have been careless or dangerous.

Counsel for the acquitted man, Dominic McGinn SC, said it was a matter of sufficiency, not quality of evidence, and there simply was not sufficient evidence to support the charge of dangerous driving causing death.

Mr McGinn said there were no inherently dangerous features on the facts. He said an element of the offence was not present. It was a legal assessment and the trial judge was obliged to make that assessment.

Quashing the acquittal, Mr Justice John Edwards said there was no explanation for why the driver crossed from his correct side of the road to his incorrect side of the road at the point he did.

However, he said the circumstances were open to inference that he became distracted or was momentarily inattentive, such that he didnt realise he was drifting over to the incorrect side of the road.

He said there was evidence that would have allowed a jury to consider the issue, and the matter ought to have been allowed go to the jury for deliberation.

Delivering final judgment this Thursday, Mr Justice Edwards, who sat with President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, said the court would allow the appeal.

The date of the retrial has yet to be confirmed.
TWO Limerick students took time out of class to urge people to be more protective of the world we are living in.

Saoirse Exton, 13, and Caitlin Ni Chaoindealbhain, 14, put down their pencil cases and picked up their placards, setting up a picket in Patrick Street to protest for a brighter future.

Saoirse said: We are striking from school for climate action. We don't think that governments here in Ireland and around the world are taking enough action to stop climate change.

Codenamed Fridays 4 Future, the friends hope to stage a protest each week to keep the issue of climate change high on the agenda.

On Friday, March 15, the pair will be part of global strike action on the issue.

It's vitally important, especially for people like us. We only have 12 years, so I'm going to be quite young when global warming starts taking effect, if we do not stop it now. So we are not going to have a planet to live on once we get older, Saoirse said.

She added that people can take little steps, like being more aware of what they are consuming and how much water they are using.

For instance, if you're brushing your teeth, think of simple things like turning off the tap. Don't leave it running. Or if you want to buy new clothes, don't. Don't consume as much. There is only a limited amount of resources in the world so we need to use as little of them as possible, she explained.

Asked why the pair chose to strike outside outside Limerick Twenty Thirtys offices in Patrick Street, Saoirse said: Usually people would strike outside the City Hall. That's quite out of the way and its pedestrianised. We felt Patrick Street is more visible. More people would be driving past, and would be walking past too.

I've had a really positive reaction. Nobody has said anything negative. We've not had any really angry people, she laughed.

While it is OBriens Bridge girl Saoirses first protest, Caitlin from near Thomond Park has taken to the picket line before.

A number of elected representatives turned up to show their support, including Jan OSullivan and Cllr John Loftus.

All are welcome to join the protests going forward.

For more information, follow them on Twitter at @Fridaysforfut18, and Instagram at www.instagram.com/fridays

forfuture.limerick/
STAFF at the Shannon Group have awarded nearly 50,000 to charities which support children across the Mid-West.

Share a Dream, which is based in Plassey and Clare Crusaders, based in Ennis have shared in the boost of 47,400.

The donation is the fruit of a number of events organised by staff from the Shannon Group stable of companies.

Among these were the final runway run, cake sales, and the annual Santa Flights which see thousands of children get free flighrs over a two day period each Christmas.

Shannon Group chief executive Matthew Thomas said: Our designated charity programme requires huge commitment from our employees. Each year they go above and beyond to fundraise, dragging themselves out in the cold and rain to participate in, and run, events that have taken place from early morning to late at night.

This year, the hundreds of staff have turned their attention to helping two lifesaving charities, the Irish Cancer Society and Limerick Suicide Watch.

Every euro raised comes from their hard work and I want to thank them all for this.

The money is going to great causes that really appreciate this effort so this is a really special aspect of what we do at Shannon Group and connects us with special people and charities, Mr Thomas added.

Shay Kinsella, who founded the Share a Dream Foundation, which exists to give special days out to terminally ill youngsters, said: We are absolutely thrilled with the funds received from Shannon Group this year. As a charity receiving no funds whatsoever from the government or any other source we rely solely on groups like Shannon to ensure our survival.

These funds will mean we can create many of the dreams come true for seriously ill children on our list this year. A huge thank you to everyone in Shannon Group for their dedication and commitment in raising much needed funds.
LIMERICK City and County Council is being petitioned to put in place a programme to teach teens about mental health.

Local election candidate Seonaidh Ni Shiomoin, has set up an online campaign to council boss Conn Murray urging the authority to implement a mental health awareness programme in all secondary schools across the city.

The petition, which had almost 200 signatures by this Tuesday lunchtime, will be followed up with a notice of motion from Ms Ni Shiomoins colleague on the council, Cllr Mary Cahillane.

Depression is the largest cause now of disabilities of youngsters between 10 and 24 years. Its a predisposing factor for suicide. Limerick has twice the national average rate of suicide, and its a hotspot for suicide at this stage: its recognised as a priority area by the National Office for Suicide Prevention, she said.

Ms Ni Shiomoin, a teacher by profession, said one school-based intervention, Youth Aware of Mental Health, or Yam was delivered in classrooms over a four week period, and was associated with a significantly lower number of subsequent suicide attempts and suicidal ideation.

Its aim was to improve mental health literacy and coping skills of young people, to raise awareness of risk and protective factors associated with suicide and to enhance young peoples knowledge about mental health issues like depression and anxiety.

Limerick City and County Council has no role to play in educational provision locally, a spokesperson confirmed.

However, Ms Ni Shiomoin feels the authority has a role to play  and can introduce the programme independently of government.

The council has funding for this. Theyve said in their local programme that they want to support positive mental health. We cannot be depending on the national government to come up with anything meaningful. Really, this has to be done at local level. Its a targetted area and its in crisis, the Solidarity candidate added.

As well as a notice of motion, Ms Ni Shiomoin will be organising a public meeting in the city in early April, focused on mental health provision, with the Raheen lady hoping to make it a focal part of her campaign.

People are outraged at what is happening with mental health, and I think there is a real feeling around what can people do. Id also like to see a 24-hour on-call crisis counsellor in Limerick City, she added. Petition at: bit.ly/2ENuj8R.
GARDAI in Limerick have arrested and charged a man after cocaine and cannabis was seized.

Gardai have arrested and charged a man in his 50s in relation to the seizure of 8,500 worth of suspected cocaine and cannabis herb following a search at a house in Raheen on Wednesday.

Shortly after 8am, gardai from the Detective Unit in Roxboro Road, assisted by the Regional Support Unit, carried out a search at a house in the Raheen area, a spokesperson said.

During the course of the search gardai seized 8,300 worth of cocaine, 200 worth of cannabis and drug paraphernalia.

The suspected drugs will now be sent for analysis.

The man in his 50s was arrested at the scene and brought to Roxboro Road Garda Station where he detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996.

He has since been charged and is due to appear before Limerick City District Court this morning at 10.30am.
HISTORIAN and Limerick rock-and-roll fanatic Paddy Brennan's book which got the seal of approval from President Michael D Higgins has been honoured with a Mayoral reception.

A former Limerick Person of the Month winner, the Corbally man, originally from the Hyde Road, last year published a massive book chronicling the city and countys music scene over more than two centuries.

Mayor Collins described the piece as a labour of love, suggesting Paddy had been working on the opus for 30 years, rather than the three he admitted to!

The 556-page publication contains 1,400 photographs, and the sounds of Shannonside are also included in a special compact disc.

I was blown away in Thomond Park at the launch, the mayor admitted. The book is in my office. When I have a coffee and take a break for five minutes, I take out the book and flick through it. Then you realise youve gone from one page to the next and 20 minutes has gone, and you need to go back to work! You get really engrossed in it.

He said Limerick is unique to have this tome, adding: No city in the world has a book like this. I think the reason for this is the fact there are very few cities in the world that have a musical history like Limerick has. It takes someone very special like Paddy to put it together. It really was a labour of love. He said it took him three years to put together. I have a suspicion he was probably planning it for nearer on 30 years! Paddys love of music really shines through in this piece of work.

Mayor Collins pointed out that there are not too many books from Limerick authors which contain a foreword from President Michael D Higgins.

It just shows he is a man who is very interested in arts and culture. This musical history of Limerick can live on now into the future. It's fantastic Paddy has compiled it, but it's fantastic for Limerick we have it. There aren't too many books in Limerick which have a foreword from the President of Ireland, the mayor added.

Speaking at his reception, Paddy asked whether he might be the first person from the Hyde Road to be afforded a mayoral reception.

Were a long way from the Hyde Road, I can tell you! But I appreciate this gesture so much, he said, sitting alongside wife Geraldine.

This book has gone all over the world. It's gone to the Congress in Washington. I'm delighted so many people have seen this book, he added.

Many of Paddys friends and supporters were present at City Hall for the reception, including Denis Allen  famous, of course for writing Limerick, Youre a Lady, which marks its 40th anniversary this year.

Tommy Drennan and John Daly were also present  the latter describing Paddy as a special human being. Tributes to the writer also came from metropolitan district councillors Marian Hurley and John Costelloe.
A HUGE, all-out community effort gets underway in Askeaton this weekend in a mighty bid to support one of their own.

Community groups in the parish have all come together to Do It for Diarmuid which will help raise funds for local man Diarmuid Barron who has had a cancer diagnosis.

Last Christmas, Diarmuid, who is 29 and the son of Anne and Richie Barron, returned from New Zealand where he has been living for the last eight years. His fiancee, Jenna, a Belfast woman, came with him on the visit. But, over the holiday, Diarmuid fell ill and has now been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.

He is now receiving treatment, Theresa OConnell, PRO for Askeaton GAA club explained this week. The GAA is one of a number of groups who are holding events to raise funds for Diarmuid. They are a well-known family, Ms OConnell said.

Diarmuid and his brothers have all been members and players with the club.

The GAA is organising a Road Hurling competition for teams of three, starting at 10am in the church car park this Saturday.

There has been a fantastic response with teams coming from all over, Ms OConnell said.

It costs 60 to enter a team but there is a great prize of 300 for the winners.

The weekend of fundraising kicks off on Friday when students at the national and secondary schools in the town hold a colours day.

The local swimming club will also be a sponsored swim at the Askeaton Swimming Pool and Leisure Complex.

Then on Friday night, a Race Night and auction organised by Josh Sheahan will take place at the Top of the Town Bar, with lots of generously donated items going under the hammer.

Saturday morning will see the Road Hurling teams in action early while a Cheltenham Preview Night in the Top of the Town on Saturday night is already sold-out.

The fun continues on Sunday with a sponsored ride organised by the Stonehall Harriers getting underway from St Marys Abbey at 12 noon.

And throughout Sunday afternoon, kicking off at 1pm in the Community Hall, Ciara Ryan will host Afternoon Tea with lots of home-baked treats.

We all came together as a community, Ms OConnell said. We are all pulling together.

More details are available from Theresa on 087-6497963 or Sherley on 087-8343877.




A Nigerian citizen who had been living in Canada was on Monday, March 4, sentenced by U.S. federal court to 10 years in prison for obstructing justice in a multi-million dollar fraud case.

Michael Adefemi Adeyemo, also known as Adekunle Olufeni Adetiloye, was previously sentenced in 2012 in North Dakota to serve 17 years and six months for a multi-million dollar credit card fraud scheme involving more than 20 banks in the U.S., according to a Justice Department news release.

At the time, it was the largest credit card fraud suffered by US Bank and the Discover Card Bank in their histories.

Years after the 2012 sentencing, authorities discovered Adeyemo, 47, took steps to conceal his prior residency in the U.S. as a legal permanent resident, that he was a licensed attorney in Nigeria and that he was a fugitive with an outstanding warrant in California from 2001 for another fraud scheme.

A jury found him guilty of concealing this evidence from authorities to reduce his 2012 sentence.

Sentencing Adeyemo to 10 years in prison, District Judge Linda Reade in Iowa said Adeyemo showed a "callous disregard of the laws of the United States."

"This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service has been and will always be relentless in the pursuit of facts throughout a criminal investigation, said Bill Hedrick, Inspector in Charge of the Denver Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes North Dakota. Postal Inspectors know this and take great pride in their search to find the truth. Through the diligence of our Inspector and others in this case, we were able to bring the defendant to face justice for the full scope of his crimes, said Hedrick. We appreciate the dedicated effort of all those involved in this case, including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Forensic Lab, and agents from Homeland Security Investigations.








Nigerians on twitter are currently dragging the UK High Commission in Nigeria. The commission shared a statement on its twitter handle calling on Nigerians to ensure a credible governorship and state House of Assembly elections which hold this Saturday, March 9th.

Nigerians are asking the commission to mind its business and leave themselves out of this election.

Their grouse with the commission is that it released a statement earlier validating the Saturday February 23rd presidential election. See their twitter reactions below..
Two U.S. Air Force craft were traveling so fast  quicker than the speed of sound  and so close together that the shock waves emanating from the craft began to merge and NASA was there to capture photographic proof.

The resulting snapshots are the first-ever photos of two supersonic shock waves (pressure waves) interacting in the air. And it's quite a sight: It looks as though the atmosphere folded up into a fresh batch of laundry. [Supersonic! The 10 Fastest Military Airplanes]

As an aircraft travels, it pushes the air in front of it and creates waves, just like a motor boat creates waves as it moves through the water.

But when aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound  or faster than 767 mph (1235 km/h)  it moves faster than the waves it creates. Because air molecules can't keep up with its speed, they begin to compress. This creates a rapid increase in pressure in front of the craft, resulting in a different kind of wave: supersonic shock wave. Though humans can't see these shock waves, we can hear them merging together as they move through the atmosphere as a thunder-like sound called a sonic boom.

In the recent event, NASA's air-to-air schlieren photographic technology captured images of mingling shock waves from two T-38 supersonic U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School airplanes. These craft fly about 30 feet (9 meters) from one another and at a 10-foot (3 m) difference in height, according to a NASA statement.

Snapped by another plane flying at about 2,000 feet (610 m) above the two fast-moving aircraft, the images captured how the shock waves became distorted or curved as they interacted. "We never dreamt that it would be this clear, this beautiful," J.T. Heineck, a physical scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, said in the statement.

They also snapped a photo that they called a "knife-edge" shot of supersonic shock waves created by a single T-38. Shock waves created by a single aircraft look like straight lines emenating like a cone off the tip of the aircraft.

NASA captures a single image of a supersonic shockwave in what they call a "knife-edge" shot. (Image credit: NASA Photo)

Their camera was improved from previous models and included a wider field of view with the ability to collect 1,400 frames per second. The photos are part of a NASA flight series aimed at capturing high-quality images of shock waves; these photos will help scientists better understand how the shock waves form and interact. NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works are currently designing an aircraft called the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology X-Plane that will not create sonic booms, but rather quiet rumbles, according to the statement.

By understanding how shock waves form and interact in the air, engineers hope to hone the aircraft's design and, eventually, show regulators that supersonic aircraft can be made quiet, NASA officials said in the statement. These quieter aircraft, in turn, may one day lead lawmakers to lift restrictions on supersonic aircraft flights over land.

Originally published on Live Science.
BOSTON  The Arctic is melting. The first ice-free summer is coming. The whole melting process is speeding up the warming of the entire Earth. And every autumn, a layer of extra clouds are forming over the ice-thinning Arctic that  researchers now believe  are speeding that melting up.

In a talk here March 4 at the March meeting of the American Physical Society, Ariel Morrison, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, presented research that for the first time offered a clear answer as to how the melting Arctic is changing its clouds, and how those clouds in turn are changing the Arctic. It was originally published in the journal JGR Atmospheres Dec. 10, 2018.

"Right now, there's about a 20-year estimate: Between the 2040s and the 2060s, we're expecting to see the first ice-free summer," Morrison told Live Science. "This moves that toward the earlier end of the estimates." [On Ice: Stunning Images of Canadian Arctic]

Modeling how clouds impact the Arctic is complicated because they have two different effects: They reflect light back into space before it can hit the ground, and they act like a blanket that traps heat from escaping from the planet's surface into space. The first effect cools the ground, and the second warms it up.

When the sun is out, every cloud does dual duty: reflecting incoming light back into space, and reflecting radiating heat back toward the ground. So it can be difficult to know whether, in any given situation, clouds are doing more to warm the surface or keep it cool.

Until Morrison's research, scientists weren't sure if the changing cloud situation in the Arctic was speeding or slowing melting overall. There were just too many factors involved.

Clouds are also famously difficult to study in climate science in general. And in the Arctic, matters are further complicated by the vast, ice-free North Atlantic Ocean that has lots of cloud cover in the sky but no sea ice due to the warm underwater currents that keep the ocean's surface above the freezing point. Morrison developed a "mask" that cut out all the noisy, unnecessary extra data from the North Atlantic so she could target regions where the clouds were actually relevant to melting.

Once she narrowed down the model to target the clouds she was focused on, Morrison found that the melting Arctic isn't dramatically changing the reflective, cooling effect of clouds. In the summer, most clouds in the Arctic form from moisture that flows through the atmosphere from warmer southern latitudes. So the yearly increase in open water in the Arctic doesn't have a big effect on total cloudiness during the months when clouds are most crucial to reflecting light back into space.

"If we had found that summer clouds were responding to sea-ice loss  so you melt some ice, a cloud forms on top of it  then clouds would have this negative feedback with sea ice," she said.

In other words, as sea ice melted, clouds would do more to cool the Arctic.

But it turns out, the summer melt has no significant impact on clouds.

However, Morrison found, things are different in the fall. During those months, it turns out, the skies above patches of open water are much more likely to be cloudy. And those clouds do much more to trap heat than to reflect light into space.

"It's very, very seasonal in the Arctic," Morrison said. "Because the Arctic only has sunlight for about six months out of the year, and it's strongest in the middle of the summer. So only in the middle of the summer, only in the middle of July, do clouds have this cooling effect, because they're reflecting away more [light] than they're [trapping]."

The rest of the year, more clouds means more heat. And during the fall, less ice also seems to mean more clouds. So as the Arctic melts, it's effectively covering itself in a seasonal blanket that makes that melting happen even faster.

Morrison said she hopes her research will, in the future, factor in to Arctic climate models, so they can more precisely plot out the future of the quickly warming region.

Editor's note: This article was corrected at 10:24 am EST on March 11, 2019 to reflect that Morrison's work had already been through peer review and been published, contrary to what was originally stated.

Originally published on Live Science.
Near the bottom of Earth's mantle lie two continent-sized blobs of hot, compressed rock. They are called large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs) because seismic waves slow down as they pass through them, but geologists usually just call them "the blobs."

About halfway between your feet and the center of Earth, two continent-size mountains of hot, compressed rock pierce the gut of the planet  and scientists know almost nothing about them.

Technically, these mysterious hunks of rock are called "large low-shear-velocity provinces" (LLSVPs), because seismic waves shuddering through Earth always slow down when passing through these structures.

A mesmerizing image, featured in an article on Eos (the official news site of the American Geophysical Union, or AGU), gives us one of the most detailed views yet of these rocky anomalies  which most scientists simply call "the blobs." [Earth's 8 Biggest Mysteries]

Geophysicists have known about the blobs since the 1970s but aren't much closer to understanding them today.

"They're among the largest things inside the Earth," University of Maryland geologist Ved Lekic told Eos reporter Jenessa Duncombe, "and yet we literally don't know what they are, where they came from, how long they've been around, or what they do."

This much is evident: The blobs begin thousands of miles below Earth's surface, where the planet's rocky lower mantle meets the molten outer core. One blob lurks deep below the Pacific Ocean, the other beneath Africa and parts of the Atlantic. Both are massive, stabbing up about halfway through the mantle and measuring as long as continents. According to Duncombe, each blob stretches about 100 times higher than Mount Everest; if they sat on the planet's surface, the International Space Station would have to navigate around them.

To get a better sense of their shape and scale, take a look at the stunning 3D map of the blobs that Lekic and University of Cambridge seismologist Sanne Cottaar created in 2016 (shown above). The blobs' vast, cascading plains have been likened to mountains of sand or interconnected pits of gravel, Duncombe wrote, but whether they're lower- or higher-density than the surrounding mantle remains a point of contention among scientists.

Equally mysterious is how, if at all, the blobs affect geological functions such as plate tectonics and volcanism. A more recent map of the structures, presented by University of Oxford doctoral student Maria Tsekhmistrenko at the 2018 annual meeting of the AGU, suggests that the tips of the blobs might branch into plumes of hot material that brush up against volcanic hotspots just below Earth's surface. What does this mean? Nobody knows. It may take many more decades to better understand the enigma near the heart of our planet. Luckily, the blobs don't seem to be going anywhere.

You can read Duncombe's article here.

Originally published on Live Science.
A set of four tiny combs from the Polynesian kingdom Tonga might be among the world's oldest tattoo kits.

The tools had been sitting in storage in an Australian university for decades. A team of researchers recently reassessed the artifacts and found that the combs  two of which are made from human bone  are 2,700 years old.

Archaeologists have known that tattooing was practiced in several cultures since prehistory. Mummies from Siberia to Egypt have been found with tattoos visible on their flesh. Otzi the Iceman, a 5,000-year-old mummy found in the Alps, has dozens of tattoos on his body, which some researchers think were inked on for therapeutic purposes.

"In Oceania, we don't have mummies to help us figure out when tattooing first appeared because skin doesn't survive our harsh tropical conditions," the authors of the new study, Geoffrey Clark, of Australian National University, and Michelle Langley, of Griffith University, wrote in an article for The Conversation. "So, instead we must look for less direct clues  such as tools." [Mummy Melodrama: Top 9 Facts About Otzi the Iceman]

It's only recently that archaeologists have begun to recognize prehistoric tools that were used to make tattoos. In 2016, archaeological experiments showed that 3,000-year-old volcanic glass tools were likely used for tattooing in the Solomon Islands. Last year, another team reported that they found ink-stained tattoo needles carved out of turkey bones from a 3,600-year-old Native American grave in Tennessee. And just last week, archaeologists reported that a 2,000-year-old artifact in museum storage had been identified as a tattooing tool; that needle was made from prickly pear cactus spines by the ancestral Pueblo people in what is now Utah.

The small combs from Tonga were found in an ancient dump during an excavation at an archaeological site on the Tonga island of Tongatapu in 1963. The artifacts had been in a storage facility at the Australian National University in Canberra, and then were assumed lost after a fire. But when the artifacts were found intact in 2008, researchers decided to carbon-date the tools to determine their age.

Tattooing was, and still is, an important practice of people in the Pacific region; the word "tattoo" comes from the Polynesian word "tatau." Men in Tonga were ridiculed if they were not tattooed, Langley and Clark wrote, and many of them traveled to Samoa to receive traditional tattoos when European missionaries suppressed the practice in the 19th century.

In the late 18th century, British captain James Cook told Europeans about the elaborate body art he saw during his voyages in the Pacific. He wrote that, in Tonga, tattooing "is done by what we might call puncturation or ingraining with a little flat bone instrument cut full of fine teeth & fix'd in a handle. It is dipt into the staining mixture...and struck into the skin with a bit of stick untill [sic] the blood sometimes follows, and by that means leaves such indelible marks that time cannot efface them."

Langley and Clark think the 2,700-year-old tattoo combs might have been used in a similar way, and the artifacts offer evidence of the deep antiquity of tattooing in Tonga. The researchers also determined that two of the combs were made from the bones of seabirds and the other two from human bone.

"Tattoo combs made from human bone could mean that people were permanently marked by tools made from the bones of their relatives  a way of combining memory and identity in their artwork," Langley and Clark wrote.

Their findings were published in the Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology.

Originally published on Live Science.
The Volunteer

By Salvatore Scibona

Penguin Press. 432 pp. $28

---

At a crucial point in "The Volunteer," the second novel from Salvatore Scibona, the title character walks into an adobe hut in New Mexico. "Pinon wood burned in the cookstove. A new smell to him at the time." Thereafter, the odor "was never to lose its mythy power of turning whatever the moment into an eternity."

The same power as found in a born novelist: He conveys a world in a detail. Scibona can also take us into the broken heart of a child lost in a foreign airport, the shattering chaos of a night assault during the Vietnam War and the quiet intensity of a working-class New York neighborhood.

Throughout, his ear-perfect dialogue percolates. Still, the moments of ecstasy are what most distinguish this book, one that trots the globe yet misses nothing. Awe suffuses the key scenes so intensely that even a boulevard in Queens can brim with mystic power: "The whole street thick with life. How can you stand to stay inside?"

Not staying inside, one way or another, drives much of what happens. Characters either quit home or get locked out, starting with that child in an airport. The novel opens between departure gates and renders the boy's pathos with lightning-stroke vividness: "Under his crooked hat his face was anarchic with spasmodic blinks and sniffles." He appears about 5, and though this is Hamburg, his babbling isn't in German. He carries no ID, only a mysterious wad of U.S. currency.

This crisis is the first of many muscular tentacles of plot. The remainder of the brief introduction shifts to the boy's father, an American soldier who served in Latvia and Afghanistan. This soldier, Elroy, has rarely seen his child, he has no real father of his own, and the close of the first chapter finds him a long way from Hamburg. He's in New Mexico with his former "legal guardian," Tilly. As for why the boy is not with him, Elroy can only offer a lame excuse: "It didn't work out, you know?"

The line provokes a bewildering range of emotion, from pity to contempt. The rest of the novel explores similar extremes, across generations and continents. The scope is far grander than in Scibona's 2008 debut, "The End" (a National Book Award finalist), though the style remains jewel-like.

Scibona next considers the surrogate grandfather, Tilly, more commonly known as Vollie, for "Volunteer." His Iowa parents meant the nickname fondly. When the kid actually volunteers, however, joining the Marines in a fit of teenage pique, it just about kills him.

This is the late 1960s, and he finds himself pinned down in Khe Sanh, then tied up underground as a prisoner of war. He survives and goes underground in a new way: Taking the name Tilly, he joins "a 'shop' that developed intelligence products," and he is sent to Queens to determine whether a mysterious character is dead or alive. He doesn't even think to ask why; disassociation is crucial.

The war chapters and their aftermath, in a simmering, polyglot city, seem to me the peak of Scibona's accomplishment. They stand with the Vietnam reporting of Michael Herr, in "Dispatches," and the Bronx depictions of Don DeLillo's "Underworld." Indeed, DeLillo's magnum opus makes a good model for this novel, likewise chasing connection across eras and oceans.

Still, when Tilly catches his first whiff of pinon wood, out in the Southwest, the novel's not much past halfway. At that point, he's again desperate to reinvent himself. Fleeing cross-country, repulsed by a bloodbath as unconscionable as anything in 'Nam, his first significant encounter is with Louisa, tending the hut fire.

This woman emerges as the second great creation in "The Volunteer," and the story's closest thing to a sustaining connection. At once amorous and flinty, a hippie dreamer and a resilient pioneer, Louisa joins Tilly in a hardscrabble effort to escape his ghosts: "Lean years. Love years ... (BEGIN ITAL)Let's do this until we break(END ITAL)."

But Louisa, too, is saddled with a burden out of the past. She's caring for a baby out of a commune that practiced free love - a boy named Elroy.

Once Scibona's narrative catches up with itself, and with the abandoned child, the most affecting player becomes a worldly German priest. He's the one open to ecstasy and its "mythy power."

As for Elroy, learning his hard road doesn't soften his threatening edges. Insofar as this novel is a tragedy, he's the dark heart. But work like "The Volunteer" can never be one thing only, upbeat or down. It's teeming, brilliantly.

---

Domini will publish his fourth novel, "The Color Inside a Melon," in June.
Author Don Winslow will be in San Antonio on Friday to sign copies of his new book The Border.

Its the final volume of his Cartel trilogy, which traces the drug war through the relationship between DEA Agent Art Keller and Mexican drug-cartel boss Adan Barrera.
Batman, Superman and Gary the Snail can all be seen hanging around in the halls of Southwest High School.

Big Art Day, sponsored by the Texas Art Education Association, challenges students statewide to bring art out into the open. This year, art teacher Betty Arredondo provided students with colored Post-It Notes and duct tape so they could showcase their comic book and cartoon creativity. Thats how the super heroes and SpongeBobs snail, not to mention characters from anime, video games and movies, have been rendered in hundreds of pieces of sticky paper and tape.
Wednesday night was filled with cheers and flavor as San Antonio had the chance to sample some of the best food and drinks in the city at the Express-News' Top 100 taste event.

The annual event was held at the McNay Art Museum.
With more than a year of careful planning, development and production under their belts, Andrew Anguiano and Gregg Spickler are ready to pop a fizzy cap or two. The co-founders of Southside Craft Soda have scheduled a launch party for their fledgling brand at B&B Smokehouse Saturday, March 9.

Southside Craft Soda will offer tastings of its first product, TexaCola, at the event. The soda is made with Mexican cane sugar; a citrus blend of lemons, oranges and limes from the Rio Grande Valley; and a touch of honey from San Antonio. TexaCola is currently available at a limited number of San Antonio-area bars and restaurants and can be purchased in four-packs at Smoke Shack Meat Market for $6.
(CNN)  U.S. intelligence officials will no longer be required to publicly disclose the number of civilians killed in airstrikes against terrorist targets "outside areas of active hostilities" due to a new executive order issued by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

However, given the secrecy surrounding counterterrorism strikes conducted by US intelligence agencies, it is unclear whether Wednesday's announcement will result in less transparency about how the US conducts such operations.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to clarify when asked for more information by CNN.

Specifically, Trump's order lifts an Obama-era mandate for intelligence professionals to provide an "unclassified summary of the number of strikes" as well as "assessments of combatant and non combatant deaths resulting from those strikes" each year.

The most recent published report, which was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in January of 2017, said "US government" conducted 54 strikes outside of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan during 2016, resulting in one civilian death.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence referred questions about the change to the White House.

The secretary of defense is legally required to provide a similar report and will continue to do so despite Wednesday's executive order as that requirement falls under congressional oversight as outlined in the National Defense Authorization Act.

However, that report pertains solely to U.S. military operations in places like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya.

CNN has previously reported on at least one CIA strike that has taken place during the Trump administration, which occurred in Yemen, killing a senior al Qaeda bomb maker.

The White House said Wednesday's executive order was not an effort to decrease transparency about casualties resulting from U.S. strikes.

"The United States Government is fully committed to complying with its obligations under the law of armed conflict, minimizing, to the greatest extent possible, civilian causalities, and acknowledging responsibility when they unfortunately occur during military operations," a National Security Council spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

Instead, the administration argues that the measure is intended to streamline the process by eliminating "superfluous reporting requirements."

"This action eliminates superfluous reporting requirements, requirements that do not improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission," the spokesman added, noting that the report by the Pentagon, which will still be submitted to Congress, "has a broader geographic scope" in covering "civilian casualties resulting from U.S. military air and ground operations worldwide."

"The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Department of Defense to submit a report on civilian casualties caused as a result of U.S. military operations," Pentagon spokesperson Cmdr. Candice Tresch told CNN.

The Pentagon released its fiscal year 2017 report on June 1, 2018, and plans to release the 2018 report on May 1.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Trump revokes Obama order on reporting civilians killed in US airstrikes."
As we celebrate International Womens Day 2019, we took a look at the career of one of the most notable figures in the legal world today, Lady Justice Arden.

Lady Arden, who will be here talking to law students next week (14 March - sign up here) spoke last year as part of the First 100 Years Project. She opened up about the adversity she faced during the early stages of her career, growing up in the north west of England in a male dominated professional environment.

In her earlier years, Lady Arden had dreamed of becoming a doctor; however realising she was not so great at maths, her desires moved onto pursuing a career in the legal profession. This made sense as her brother, father and grandfather were already solicitors. Rather than follow in their exact footsteps, Arden decided shed like to become a barrister and this is where she faced criticism.

There was lots of sucking of breath saying its going to be difficult you know, but it was all about well you can be a solicitor, but you cant be a barrister. People will never instruct you and you will never be able to get on.

Highlighting the importance of having role models to inspire ambition, Lady Arden was lucky enough to be able to look up to Liverpudlian barrister Rose Heilbron. Heilbron had become the first woman to lead in a murder case and one of the first women to be appointed to the Kings Counsel.

Carving out an equally successful legal career, Lady Arden went on to specialise in company law at Londons Erskine Chambers, talking silk in 1986. She served as Attorney General of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1991 and 1993, and later the Court of Appeal from 2000 to 2018.

Continuing her quest for breaking the mould in her legal career, Lady Arden questioned the need for judges to be named as Mr and Mrs Justice and calling for the title to removed. This call faced criticism and was not changed, but later appeals to allow female judges to be sworn in as Lady rather than a blanket title of Lord for all, were accepted.

Lady Arden was pleased to encounter many female judges in her international work, with countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Germany having a ratio of 40% women in their top courts. This did however highlight the gender imbalance in the UK Supreme Court. Helping to address the imbalance, Lady Arden was appointed to the UK Supreme Court bench in October 2018 to join Lady Black of Derwent and Baroness Hale of Richmond.

She hopes the next generation of women will find it easier to balance life, work and family.

Watch her full interview with the 100 Years Project here:
Two men have been arrested in connection with the seizure of drugs and cash from a vehicle and a home in an upscale neighborhood in north Laredo.

Jesus Ramon III, 19, and Luis Alberto Gonzalez, 39, both from Laredo, were each charged with second-degree felony possession of marijuana.

The duo were arrested Tuesday after Webb County sheriff's deputies seized 668 pounds of marijuana from a rental truck and almost $46,000 from a home in the 2800 block of Burke Street, located near the Plantation Subdivision.

READ ALSO: Police: Man claimed he worked for the Mexican Mafia during arrest in central Laredo

"These criminals were masking their way to act like citizens of this area," Sheriff Martin Cuellar said Wednesday. "And I'm not being discriminatory, they did not fit that area."

The seizure and arrests were the result of a months-long investigation.

Ramon was arrested first after deputies pulled over the rental truck he was driving at about 1 p.m. in the 3600 block of East Del Mar Boulevard. Twenty bundles of marijuana was discovered in the vehicle. The Sheriff's Office said the bundles were concealed within a load of furniture. The narcotics had an estimated street value of $534,480.

"They want to mask their load with toys and furniture. Sometimes the crooks think that they are smarter than we are," Cuellar said.

Further investigation led the Sheriff's Office to the home on Burke. When deputies arrived, Gonzalez, a resident of the home, was detained after he tried to flee on foot, authorities said. According to Cuellar, Gonzalez was paying $3,000 a month in rent to live in the residence.

At the home, deputies found $45,810 in cash and a "wrapping room," a location where drugs are packaged, and other physical evidence related to the marijuana seizure, Cuellar said.

RELATED: Suspicious vehicle report in south Laredo leads to multiple drug bust

"The more important thing that the sheriff wants to do with the operation is to get the drug off the neighborhoods. This is an example of what we've done," said Sheriff's Office Chief Federico Garza.

A U.S. Border Patrol K-9 unit and Precinct 4 Constable Harold Devally's office assisted in the operation.

"The community involvement is important. Whenever they see something, report it. It may end up ... to something like this (seizure). This is our goal, to eliminate all this stuff out of our community," Devally said.
A Zapata County resident has been arrested for sexually assaulting a child in the parking lot of Laredo Medical Center in 2015, according to an arrest affidavit.

On Sunday, Ruben Campos, 24, was served with an arrest warrant that charged him with two counts of sexual assault.

Laredo police said the case unfolded on Oct. 11, 2017, when a woman called police saying that Campos had sexually assaulted her daughter. She stated that the incident occurred in May 2015 while she was admitted into LMC for treatment. Campos forcefully placed her in the backseat of the car and sexually assaulted her, the affidavit states.

READ ALSO: City of Laredo delegation proposes alternatives to border wall during D.C. trip

Furthermore, the mother stated they had filed a case with the Zapata County Sheriff's Office because the child also complained of being sexually assaulted in Zapata.

Authorities said the child underwent a forensic interview at the Webb County Children's Advocacy Center on Oct. 2, 2017. She stated that sometime in May 2015, her mother was hospitalized at LMC.

One day, she accompanied Campos to make some errands. He had promised her to take her to LMC. She recalled that Campos sexually assaulted her in the northwest parking lot of LMC, court documents state.

She stated that Campos placed his private part in her private part while they were in the backseat of a white four-door car, according to the affidavit.

RELATED: Texas man accused of infecting 3-year-old girl with STDs

She too elaborated on other alleged incidents that occurred in Zapata.

Investigators tried reaching out to Campos. He returned the call Dec. 17, 2018. He denied the allegations and added that he was incarcerated for nine months. Campos then allegedly agreed to meet with investigators on Dec. 24, 2018, at LPD to further discuss the allegations.

Campos called investigators the day of the meeting saying he was unable to get transportation Zapata to Laredo. Campos never rescheduled a date or returned calls.
Navy Midshipman Samuel Quach, from Sugar Land, participated in the 2019 spring Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps ship selection draft as a future member of the Surface Warfare Officer community.

More than 40 midshipmen from NROTC units around the country chose to serve as surface warfare officers. Each selecting midshipmen are ranked according to their grade point average, aptitude scores and physical fitness.

NROTC has forced me to address my limiting beliefs and helped me on my path to identify who I was, what I value, and what I stand for, said Quach. The program has allowed me to identify and work on my weaknesses.

According to their rankings, each midshipman provided a preference of ship or homeport to the junior officer detailer at the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee. If these preferences were available, they were assigned as requested.

Being able to pick my ship means entry to my next adventure and challenge, Quach said.

Quach, a 2015 William P. Clements High School graduate, has selected to serve aboard USS New Orleans. Quach is majoring in biology at Univeristy of Texas at Austin. Upon graduation, he will receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard New Orleans as a surface warfare officer.

Commissioned in 2007, New Orleans is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock homeported at Naval Base San Diego. Amphibious transport dock ships are warships that embark, transport and land elements of a landing force for a variety of expeditionary warfare missions.

I am looking forward to being able to meet my division, Quach said.

The midshipmens ship selection is not only a major personal milestone but also an important day for the ships in the fleet. Not only do the midshipmen choose where they are going to start their Navy career, but the ship they choose will also gain a motivated, eager, young officer to help lead and improve an already great team, according to Navy officials.

NROTC units across the country instill essential warfighting fundamentals, professional core competencies, and ethics required in a Navy or Marine Corps officer, said Rear Adm. Mike Bernacchi, Commander, Naval Service Training Command, which includes the NROTC Program. I am enormously proud of our graduating midshipman for completing this demanding program, and look forward to them joining the fleet.
BUCKS COUNTY >> Police in Bristol Borough, Yardley Borough and Morrisville Borough report the following incidents and arrests: Bristol Borough THEFT >> On Nov. 13 a theft was reported at 455 Bristol Pike. A central air conditioning unit was partially dismantled and numerous parts were stolen. THEFT >> On Nov. 13 a theft was reported at 1010 Route 13. Six...
Former Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning faces possible jail time after refusing to answer a grand jury's questions about her disclosure of classified State Department cables and war logs in 2010 to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Manning said that a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, scheduled a contempt hearing for Friday and that she could be sent to jail, less than two years after she was released from a military prison for her leaks.

"Yesterday, I appeared before a secret grand jury after being given immunity for my testimony," Manning said in a statement Thursday. "All of the substantive questions pertained to my disclosures of information to the public in 2010 - answers I provided in extensive testimony, during my court-martial in 2013. I responded to each question with the following statement: 'I object to the question and refuse to answer on the grounds that the question is in violation of my First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment, and other statutory rights.' "

The same judge, Claude Hilton, refused to quash the subpoena against Manning in a sealed hearing Tuesday.

"I will exhaust every legal remedy available," Manning said in her statement. "My legal team continues to challenge the secrecy of these proceedings, and I am prepared to face the consequences of my refusal."

Manning is one of several people who have been called in recent months to aid the investigation into WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, who has been charged under seal.

David House, who befriended Manning in 2010 at a hacker space in Boston he founded, testified under immunity in front of the grand jury last July. He said he, too, was asked about the war logs Manning shared with WikiLeaks.

During her trial, Manning testified that she acted on her own to send documents to WikiLeaks and that no one associated with the anti-secrecy group pressured her into giving more information. But prosecutors produced chat logs in which she asked Assange for help cracking a password to argue that the two were collaborating.

Manning, 31, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was given 35 years in prison for exposing the largest cache of classified documents in U.S. history. But her sentence was commuted after seven years by President Barack Obama. A spokesman for President Donald Trump, who was about to take office, called that decision "disappointing" and "troubling."

Assange remains in asylum in Ecuador's London embassy, where he has lived for the past seven years to avoid extradition.
WASHINGTON - House Democrats find themselves in one of the trickiest battles on Capitol Hill, trying to prove their unity in the fight against President Donald Trump and on core issues they campaigned on last year.

They had a remarkably effective first two months in the majority, defying Trump on his demand for a border wall and clearly winning the leftover budget battle from 2018. They passed a significant bill that would require expanded background checks on gun purchases. And they are poised to approve an expansive bill that would revamp ethics and electoral laws.

But those early wins are threatened by the growing controversy about how House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., resolves the dispute with some outspoken first-term Democrats on issues related to Israel, an ideological and generational fault line that could end up sowing more division among Pelosi's ranks for the bigger fights ahead.

The focus is again on Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, and remarks about "loyalty" to Israel. After leadership signaled a willingness to advance a softly worded resolution related to anti-Semitism, Omar's allies rallied to her defense and accused Pelosi's leadership team of inappropriately singling out the Somali refugee.

Led by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., fellow freshman Democrats, Omar's defenders sidelined the original resolution, and now leaders are cobbling together a broader draft that would oppose many forms of offensive actions.

It may seem trivial - a nonbinding resolution expressing opposition to intolerance of all kinds - but this is a critical test for leadership to bring the caucus back together.

After Wednesday's closed-door meeting of Democrats erupted over the issue, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., tried to explain that the divisions only undermined the broader effort.

"Our diversity is our strength, our unity is our power. And whenever we have been unified, we've been successful," Jeffries, chairman of the caucus, told reporters. He cited the 2017 effort to defeat the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the shutdown fight over Trump's border demands. "We're all clear that as long as we continue to remain unified around the core issues that we promised the American people we would address, then we're going to be successful."

House Democrats erupt in protests over indirect sanction of Rep. Omar for alleged anti-Semitism

Unity on those issues, however, might be determined by how this saga ends, particularly on climate change, health care and the potential constitutional showdown with Trump.

Ocasio-Cortez has become the face of the Green New Deal, the loosely defined umbrella effort to reduce carbon emissions. Omar has a prime seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., a prominent supporter of Israel.

Like Ocasio-Cortez and Omar, Engel is a prominent supporter of the Medicare-for-all legislation unveiled last week by the liberal wing of the caucus.

And Tlaib has emerged as one of the highest-profile voices demanding the impeachment of Trump, something she reiterated again at a news conference Wednesday morning before the Democratic caucus began.

Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., need to end the tension over Omar to build trust for the legislative battles ahead, or else the individuals involved will almost certainly feel aggrieved and take out their anger on more prominent issues.

"It's very important that we get everybody back on the same page, and I think we are getting there. It's been growing pains, but we're getting there," said Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus who opposed the early draft of this week's anti-Semitism resolution.

Israel has become a divisive issue inside a Democratic caucus that, in years past, tended to agree with Engel's position and now has a younger flank that views Benjamin Netanyahu's government as oppressive and aligned with Republicans.

That sentiment grew in 2015 when House Republicans, still in the majority, unilaterally invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress - mainly to speak out against the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran.

But on several occasions Omar has engaged in tropes that go beyond questioning Netanyahu's actions and were deemed anti-Semitic.

That's put Pelosi in a bind, trying to find a way to admonish and instill discipline in Omar while also avoiding alienating the younger Democrats.

Republicans scored an unusual early win a few weeks ago when they fashioned a procedural amendment to serve as a rebuke of anti-Semitism, and it passed overwhelmingly.

GOP leaders are now waiting for other such motions to divide Democrats, leaving Pelosi's team to consider a rules change that would hinder Republican efforts at division.

"Nothing good is accomplished by being distracted by issues that divide the nation. We want to bring people together," Jeffries told reporters.

The new resolution, whenever it is unveiled, is likely to include condemnations of "anti-Semitism, racism, white supremacy, Islamophobia, homophobia and the rise in hate" since Trump was sworn in two years ago, Jeffries suggested.

Jeffries, the No. 5 Democratic leader, runs the weekly caucus meeting and hosts a news conference afterward. He launched this week's briefing discussing the ethics bill that is supposed to be the big win of the week, with two freshman Democrats at his side who won Republican seats last fall.

Of the 13 questions he faced, just one focused on the content of the ethics bill. Almost every other issue involved Omar in some way, as well as Tlaib's latest call for impeaching Trump.

"Impeachment is premature," Jeffries said.

Declaring unity, among Democrats, is also premature.

As Pelosi entered the closed-door meeting, she admonished the media for fixating on the Omar controversy. "The press loves to foment unease in the Democratic Party but we are very united," she told reporters.

A few minutes later the caucus meeting erupted over how to handle the latest dispute over Israel, ending with more questions than answers. During afternoon votes on the House floor, Pelosi huddled with Fudge and senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss the issue.

"We're very diverse," Fudge said. "We're just trying to figure out how everybody thinks about things."
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke his silence over a U.S. threat to punish Turkey with sanctions should it buy an advanced Russian S-400 missile-defense system, saying the purchase is a "done deal."

"It is out of the question for us to revoke the S-400 deal," Erdogan said during an interview with TV24 television broadcast late Wednesday. "Such an immoral act would not suit us."

The U.S. warned this week that it could retaliate by blocking Turkey's planned purchase of the next-generation F-35 fighters it's helping to build. The U.S. fears the Russian system could be used to collect intelligence on the jet's stealth capabilities, but Erdogan said "we've researched it, there is no such thing."

Ties remain strained between the NATO allies even after Turkey defused a showdown last year by freeing long-held U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson. President Donald Trump on Monday stripped some Turkish exporters of their preferential trade status, and the U.S. warned of penalties against any government entities, private businesses or individuals involved in the purchase of the missiles from Russia. The Pentagon is also seeking to install a multinational force in a planned Syria safe zone over Turkey's objections.

Erdogan said "no one should attempt to tame Turkey" with threats on trade and that his country wouldn't agree to a U.S. proposal to sell its own Patriot missile-defense system unless it shares the technology.

"We will not go into a deal if they insist on keeping the 'key' to the system," Erdogan said of the Patriot missiles. "We've agreed with the Russians, we will go into joint production. We may also go into S-500s after the S-400s."

The top U.S. Commander in Europe, Curtis Scaparrotti, told the Senate Armed Services on Tuesday that the Pentagon should refuse Turkey's planned purchase of 100 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters if Ankara goes through with buying the S-400s. Turkey has invested more than $1.25 billion in the stealth F-35 jet since its development phase began in 2002.

The U.S. can't dictate that Turkey should buy everything from it, Erdogan said, reminding that the country's flagship Turkish Airlines is purchasing planes from Boeing Co. worth about $10 billion.

"We're not a slave, we're independent," Erdogan said. "We've completed the signatures with Russia for the S-400 deal under very very suitable conditions and they've brought the delivery forward to July. God willing, we will receive the first system in July."

Another major rift with the U.S. is over Washington's support for a Syrian Kurdish force that Ankara regards as a mortal enemy. To keep the Kurdish fighters away from its frontier, Turkey wants to secure a Syria safe zone along its border rather see that job done by a multinational force.

Washington allied with the Kurdish YPG militia in the battle against Islamic State, and wants an international armed presence stationed in a future safe zone to protect them from Turkey.

"We can't say 'yes' to giving control of the safe zone to anyone but Turkey," Erdogan said. "Otherwise, we would be facing the threat of an attack from that area any moment."

Despite the grievances, Erdogan also struck an optimistic note by speaking favorably about Trump. The Turkish president said the two leaders may soon talk on the phone and added that his son-in-law, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, was also in touch with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to defuse the tensions.

"I don't find any of these serious," Erdogan said. "I believe discussions that I will hold with him, and discussions between Mr. Berat and Kushner, will put things back on track."
Washington

House Democratic leaders put off a vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and bigotry after a backlash from rank-and-file lawmakers who said Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whose comments gave rise to the measure, was being unfairly singled out.

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat, told reporters Wednesday the language of the resolution was still being drafted and no date for a vote had been set.

Democrats, including some African-Americans, confronted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a closed-door meeting Tuesday, demanding to know why they were being pushed to pass the resolution when bigoted comments by Republicans have gone unchallenged. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said she told leadership that there must be "equity in our outrage," noting that Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, was being attacked for her faith.

"Islamophobia needs to be included" in the anti-Semitism resolution, she said Wednesday. "We need to denounce all forms of hate. There is no hierarchy of hurt."
KABUL, Afghanistan - An outdoor memorial service attended by numerous Afghan politicians and officials, including Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai, was attacked Thursday by mortar fire in the Afghan capital, killing three people, police and health officials said.

The attack, which also wounded 20 people, was claimed by the Islamic State extremist group through its affiliated website.

The mid-morning gathering which drew several thousand people, was being held in a public arena to mark the anniversary of the death of a minority Shiite and ethnic Hazara leader, Abdul Ali Mazari, who was killed in 1995 by the Taliban.

Exactly a year ago this week, a memorial service here for Mazari was attacked by a suicide bomber outside a mosque, killing 10 and leaving 22 injured.

Both attacks took place in southwestern Kabul, the heart of the capital's large Shiite and Hazara community, which has been the target of dozens of bombings and other attacks in recent years. The 2018 bombing was also claimed by the Islamic State, a radical Sunni group which views Shiites as apostates and has claimed most terror attacks on Shiite targets.

Witnesses said Abdullah, 58, who shares executive power with President Ashraf Ghani, was addressing the crowd Thursday when loud mortar fire was heard nearby and people scattered in panic. Abdullah was not harmed.

Ghani, in a statement, called the attack a "criminal act" that showed "enmity with civil values and democracy."

Presidential candidate Latif Pedram, 55, a liberal politician and member of Parliament, was wounded, but his condition was not immediately known. Eight guards of another presidential candidate, former national security adviser Hanif Atmar, were also injured.

"This was the most horrid and unforgivable attack on civilians by a merciless enemy," Atmar tweeted several hours after the attack. He said he had arrived home unharmed. "I am pained by the loss of life and injury suffered by so many."

Images from Afghan news broadcasts showed dozens of people fleeing the open-air ground as booming sounds could be heard and officials warned from the stage microphone that the event was under a mortar attack.

Residents said two of the three people killed were inside a house near the event that was hit by mortar fire. Officials at the interior ministry said most of the rounds landed about 200 feet from the memorial site, and that the attackers had used another house in the area to launch the mortars at the crowd.

The attack revived concern about the Islamic State's violent agenda at a time when the country has been focused on reaching a peace settlement with the separate, domestic Taliban insurgency. The Taliban have stepped up aggressive attacks in recent months while its representatives have been meeting with U.S. officials to seek an end to the 17-year conflict.

In the past three years, the Islamic State has attacked mosques, shrines, political institutes, education centers and gymnasiums in southwest Kabul, as well as in Herat and other Shiite-dominated areas, killing hundreds of people. Most of the attacks have been suicide bombings.

Community leaders have said the Islamic States seeks to provoke sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shiite groups in Afghanistan, but so far it appears to have failed, as religious and political leaders from both sects have condemned the attacks.

However, ethnic Hazara groups have staged protests blaming the Ghani government for failing to protect them. On Thursday, Muhammad Mohaqeq, a senior Hazara leader, told a news conference that "all these episodes either go to the weakness of the government, or the government is collaborating with such circles to use them as a tool . . . against its political rivals."
TOKYO - President Donald Trump has scaled back U.S. military exercises with South Korea, but that apparently was not enough to satisfy North Korea.

Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Service (KCNA) issued a strongly worded condemnation of the more limited exercises on Thursday in what may be another example of hardening attitudes since a summit meeting in Hanoi between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed last week without an agreement.

The exercise, called Dong Maeng, or "Alliance," began Monday and is running until March 12. It is seen as a replacement for the canceled annual Foal Eagle exercises that involved thousands of troops and massive displays of force, and for Key Resolve, an exercise involving computer simulations. Trump canceled Foal Eagle last year at the time of his first summit with Kim in Singapore.

Justifying his latest decision to shrink exercises with South Korea, Trump focused on their cost, although officials have also acknowledged that maneuvers were suspended to allow room for diplomacy with North Korea.

North Korea routinely condemns any joint exercises conducted by the United States and South Korea and denounced South Korean independent air force exercises in December. But the latest statement is notable for its timing and forcefulness about the latest war games.

"It is a violent violation of the joint declarations and statements that North Korea reached with the U.S. and South Korea," KCNA wrote." This also represents a frontal challenge to the aim and desires of all [Korean] people and the international community for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

KCNA denounced the diminution of the exercises as merely a name change and said they were an attempt to ramp up war capabilities.

The Pentagon described this week's exercises as "newly designed Command Post exercises and revised field training programs," focused on maintaining joint readiness while forgoing elements that in the past had been intended as a show of force.

Meanwhile, satellite images released Thursday showed North Korea appeared to have completed rebuilding work at a satellite rocket launchpad and engine test site. The images, dated March 6, showed that the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, also known as Tongchang-ri, "appears to have returned to normal operational status," according to 38 North, a website devoted to analysis of North Korea. Rebuilding work at the site was first revealed earlier this week, but it appears to have been completed quickly.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service also told lawmakers this week that it has spotted the movement of transport supply vehicles at the Sanumdong complex on the outskirts of Pyongyang, where intercontinental ballistic missiles and space rockets have been manufactured in the past, South Korea media reported.

And in another sign that positions may be hardening, White House national security adviser John Bolton warned that the United States may tighten sanctions if North Korea does not denuclearize.

"Our judgment at this point is that North Korea was surprised and disappointed that the president walked away from the inadequate offer they had put on the table," Bolton told the Boston Herald, referring to the satellite images of rebuilding work.

- - - The Washington Post's Min Joo Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
You've probably read about robots replacing human labor as a new era of automation takes root in one industry after another. But a new report suggests humans aren't the only ones who might lose their jobs.

In New Zealand, farmers are using drones to herd and monitor livestock, assuming a job that highly intelligent dogs have held for more than a century.

The robots haven't replaced the dogs entirely, Radio New Zealand reports, but they have appropriated one of the animal's most potent tools: barking.

The DJI Mavic Enterprise, a $3,500 drone favored by farmers, has a feature that lets the machine record sounds and play them over a loud speaker, giving the machine the ability to mimic its canine counterparts.

Corey Lambeth, a shepherd on a sheep and beef farm, told RNZ that the machines are surprisingly effective. "That's the one thing I've noticed when you're moving cows and calves that the old cows stand up to the dogs, but with the drones, they've never done that," he said, noting that means the drones move livestock faster, with less stress, than the dogs do.

Farmers told RNZ that the drones come in handy for more than just herding cows and sheep. The robots allow farmers to monitor their land from afar, monitoring water and feed levels and checking on livestock health without disturbing the animals.

Jason Rentoul told RNZ last spring that a two-hour herding job that used to require two people and two teams of dogs could be accomplished in 45 minutes using a single drone. "Being a hilly farm where a lot of stuff is done on foot, the drones really saved a lot of man hours," he said. "The drone does the higher bits that you can't see [from the ground] and you would [otherwise] have to walk half an hour to go and have a look and then go, 'Oh, there was no sheep there.'"

Farmers all over the world are using drones. In South Africa, they monitor crop health from above, which boost harvests, according to CNN. In California, winemakers use drones equipped with sensors to grow healthier grapes, according to MIT Technology Review. Because drones fly closer to the ground, they're able to provide high-resolution images that are less expensive than hiring someone to fly over a field in a manned aircraft, the publication reported.

In New Zealand, farmers say some dogs already are learning to work alongside drones, identifying the machines as more co-worker than foe.

"A good herding dog, he's already figured out if the drones are working on that side, I'll go over here [to the other side] and work over here," Rentoul said.

For now, farmers say, there's still a need for herding dogs, primarily because they have a longer life span than drones, can work in bad weather and don't require an electrical socket every few hours to recharge.

"There's definitely going to be places for dogs always on farm," Lambeth said. "The one downside of the Mavic [drones] or anything electronic is you still need to bring them in and charge them."
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was warned that he must not try to put off a scheduled public hearing before a U.S. House committee next week, where a main topic will be his role in seeking to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

The warning came in a letter to Ross on Wednesday from House Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings, after Ross requested more time to prepare for the hearing that's been scheduled for March 14, according to an official familiar with the matter.

"We have had many very serious questions for Secretary Ross since we invited him to testify several months ago, and we will finally have a chance to ask him these questions -- under oath -- at our hearing next Thursday," Cummings said in a statement Thursday.

Ross' reason for asking for a delay was that the scope of topics had been broadened from the original request for him to appear in January. But Cummings, in his letter, said that while he would narrow some of the issues to be discussed, he also insisted that Ross appear as scheduled, said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the proceedings.

A main topic of the hearing is to be allegations by committee Democrats that Ross has given misleading testimony on multiple occasions to Congress about the citizenship question. Democrats have said Ross may have committed a criminal offense if he wasn't truthful about how that decision came about.

In a letter to Cummings, Michael Platt Jr., Ross's assistant secretary for legislative affairs, said the Commerce Department needed more time because the committee now is indicating it wants documents about topics including the secretary's "personal finances and ethics obligations" and reports of a "technology transfer to Saudi Arabia."

"To be clear, the secretary has every intention to appear before the committee and continue assisting in your oversight capacity -- the department simply needs more time to produce responsive documents and prepare to testify on the broad range of important topics raised in your letters," he wrote.

Yet the focus on the census issue is especially timely. On Wednesday, a federal judge in California became the second to strike down the administration's effort to add the citizenship question, after a New York judge in January previously ruled that Ross exceeded his authority under federal law. The Supreme Court had already scheduled a hearing on the matter for April based on that earlier ruling.

Democrats and other critics say the citizenship question would impede the Census Bureau's count of the U.S. population.

Democrats worry that adding it now could suppress the response rate among immigrants and non-citizens. That, in turn, could affect some states' number of congressional seats, Electoral College clout and federal funding. California is among states that have filed legal action to block the inclusion of the question.

Ross' role has come under scrutiny of Democrats because he and other Commerce Department officials have asserted multiple times that the decision to include the citizenship question stemmed solely from a Justice Department request in December 2017.

But the Democrats said internal documents show Ross was taking steps to add the question long before then. The Justice Department said in a court document last October that Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist, was among those Ross spoke with before including the question. Census-takers started asking about citizenship in 1820, but haven't posed the question to every household since 1950.

The committee also is expected to look into the ethics office's refusal to certify Ross's latest financial disclosure because -- after reporting that he had sold off his shares in BankUnited Inc. in 2017 -- he actually sold the stock in October 2018. According to a later filing, he said he mistakenly believed that the shares had been sold earlier.
Media Advisory: UBs Graduate School of Education assists in WNYs first high school celebration of International Womens Day

I saw my involvement as that of guide, says Robert. They had an idea and I approached my work similar to the childrens book titled, What do you do with an idea? 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  Amherst Central High School and the University at Buffalos Graduate School of Education will team up for what may be the first-ever celebration in a Western New York school of International Womens Day, featuring school-wide events and learn-in/tech-in sessions to raise awareness of womens issues among all students.

The motto for the day is Be informed. Be inspired.

When: The sessions will take place during all three school lunch periods, from 10:50 a.m. to 1:04 p.m., Friday, March 8.

Where: Amherst Central High School, 4301 Main St., Amherst, N.Y. 14226.

What: The event, which organizers believe is the first of its kind at a Western New York secondary school, includes seminars and activities for all students on three themes affecting women locally, nationally and throughout the world. The program follows a week-long lead-up of announcements and flyers to raise awareness of womens issues and struggles for equality around the world.

The three themes, which were identified through discussions with the young women in the school, are media, STEM/health and politics. Each lunch period will focus on one of the identified themes, and each discussion will be followed by a hands-on activity.

Who: The event was organized by Sarah A. Robert, associate professor in UBs Graduate School of Education and director of the Teaching and Leading for Diversity program. Robert was asked to get involved by Amherst Central High School Assistant Principal Nancy Ables.

Also invited to present are Noemi Waight, UB assistant professor of learning and instruction, who will discuss STEM/Health, and Ana Luisa Munoz Garcia, assistant professor of curriculum, technology and evaluation at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, who will discuss politics.

Also involved in the planning was Qinghua Chen, a UB doctoral candidate studying in Roberts course on Intersectionality, Inequality and Education.

Eileen Buckley, senior reporter at WBFO-FM, also will speak to students during the first lunch period.

Why: I saw my involvement as that of guide, says Robert. They had an idea and I approached my work similar to the childrens book titled, What do you do with an idea?

I knew of the celebration (of International Womens Day) and I have participated in it when I lived in Argentina. However, I was not aware of any schools in the area that were celebrating the day.

As guide, I drew on my skills as an ethnographer, as a professional researcher who studies everyday life, seeking the meaning of it from the participants own words and experiences. So it was important to me that we listened to young women students because this is a celebration of and for them.

What does it mean to be a young woman in Amherst today? What matters to you? It is from these conversations that the themes emerged. The women students were concerned about reproductive health and sexuality, unequal pay for women and men, the representation of women in the media and in politics, and the lack of paid maternity leave.

Robert says she was honored by the students candor.

They were willing to talk, share their ideas, and so I hope that the event reflects those conversations and respects their concerns for learning more and raising awareness about issues that matter to them.

The structure of the events, she says, are more than just another lecture aimed at young people. School teachers asked for a participatory event, a conversation that was informative as well as an opportunity to practice dialogue, says Robert. The social studies teachers also were concerned about broadening their students knowledge of engagement with the world. This is what encouraged the search for speakers from Western New York and beyond.

For more information, contact Charles Anzalone in UBs Office of Communications.
Washington

The U.S. envoy for Venezuela dismissed the possibility of American military action in the South American country in a recording made by two Russian pranksters and released Wednesday.

Special Representative Elliott Abrams said in the recording that the U.S. wouldn't use force in Venezuela unless the government did something "completely crazy" like attack the American Embassy.

But Abrams, who apparently believed he was speaking with a Swiss official, said the U.S. seeks to "make the Venezuelan military nervous" by not publicly ruling out military action to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

"We think it is a mistake tactically to give them endless reassurances that there will never be American military action," he said. "But I can tell you this is not what we are doing. What we are doing is exactly what you see, financial pressure, economic pressure, diplomatic pressure."

The recording was made by two Russian comedians, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stoyarov, as one of the men posed as a Swiss official speaking with Abrams about efforts to seize Venezuelan bank accounts as part of an effort to compel Maduro to cede power to opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Washington

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen insisted Wednesday the crisis at the southern border is not manufactured, as she faced questions from Democrats for the first time since they took control of the House.

"We face a crisis  a real, serious and sustained crisis at our borders," she said at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing. "Make no mistake: This chain of human misery is getting worse."

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said he wanted to use the hearing in part to give Nielsen the opportunity to start a "serious discussion," rather than echoing President Donald Trump's claims of a security crisis at the border, and to say what she knew about the family separations last year. He said real oversight over the border was long overdue.

"No amount of verbal gymnastics will change that she knew the Trump administration was implementing a policy to separate families at the border," Thompson said. "To make matters worse, the administration bungled implementation of its cruel plan, losing track of children and even deporting parents to Central America without their children."

Nielsen was grilled on whether she was aware of the psychological effects of separating children from their parents, and when she knew ahead of time about the "zero tolerance" policy that led to the separation of more than 2,700 children from their parents last year. And she was asked about conversations with Trump as he declared a national emergency at the border to try to gain funding for his proposed wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

"There is an emergency," Nielsen said. "I have seen the vulnerable populations. This is a true humanitarian crisis that the system is enabling. We have to change the laws."

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders weighed in on the hearing via Twitter:

"The crisis at our border is no secret," she wrote. Democrats were "just choosing to ignore it."

The hearing is one of three at the Capitol on immigration Wednesday. Since Democrats took control of the House, they have prioritized investigating last year's family separations and have subpoenaed documents related to the policy.

As Nielsen spoke to the House, Customs and Border Commissioner Kevin McAleenan presented a slide show to the Senate Judiciary Committee that highlighted the growing number of groups with at least 100 people in remote areas like the New Mexico Bootheel and Ajo, Arizona, and the unprecedented challenges of attending to medical needs at its short-term holding facilities.

Tens of thousands of families are crossing the border illegally every month, straining resources. Last month, there were more than 76,000 migrants apprehended  it was more than double the same period last year. And she said the forecast is that the problem will grow worse as weather gets better; traditionally the early spring months see higher illegal crossings.

The new figures reflect the difficulties Trump has faced as he tries to cut down on illegal immigration, his signature issue. But it could also help him make the case that there truly is a national emergency at the border  albeit one built around humanitarian crises and not necessarily border security.

The Senate is expected to vote next week and join the House in rejecting Trump's national emergency declaration aimed at building border walls, but Trump would almost certainly veto the measure and the issue is likely to be settled in the courts.

Lawmakers also asked Nielsen about the conditions of children held at Border Patrol facilities, and whether asylum seekers were being wrongly turned away at the border.

Homeland Security's top internal watchdog official, John Roth, was also testifying Wednesday, and James McHenry, a Justice Department who oversees clogged immigration courts.

Also Thursday, Customs and Border Protection officials will testify about challenges of hiring and recruiting Border Patrol agents, including a contract worth up to $297 million for consulting firm Accenture. The firm successfully recruited only two agents during its first 10 months of the contract.
WASHINGTON - Trump administration officials thought they were doing the auto industry a favor when they decided to freeze gas mileage standards. But automakers aren't so sure.

To persuade them, White House officials have launched an intense lobbying campaign as they seek to line up support for a proposal they hope to finalize by this summer. The rule, which would undercut the most ambitious climate policy enacted during Barack Obama's time in office, is sure to set up a legal clash with California and 13 other states that plan to press ahead with stricter tailpipe standards.

In two separate discussions in less than three weeks, according to several participants, the White House has urged major auto companies to endorse the administration's plan to freeze fuel standards for cars and light pickup trucks between Model Year 2020 and 2026. But domestic and foreign automakers have continued to raise concerns about the proposal, dubbed the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, because California and other states plan to require vehicles in their states to meet tighter emissions limits.

The flurry of activity came after the White House broke off discussions with California on Feb. 21: state officials said the administration never actually offered a compromise proposal that could serve as the basis of a real negotiation. California received an exemption under the Clean Air Act to set its own emissions standards a half-century ago, but the Trump administration is poised to challenge its exemption as part of the package the Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are racing to complete.

Bloomberg and Reuters reported some details about the administration's lobbying campaign this week.

A White House official, who wasn't authorized to speak on the record, said the administration expects to get broad support for its rule once it is finalized. Administration officials argue that the nation needs to readjust the emissions targets because consumers prefer bigger and less fuel-efficient vehicles than regulators initially envisioned, and that keeping them in place will spur Americans to drive older, less safe vehicles.

Both the administration and its critics agree the rollback will lead to higher greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. In a draft environmental assessment of the proposal, NHTSA projected that it and other policies would keep the world on an emissions trajectory that could raise global temperatures by 7 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. A new analysis by NYU Law School's State Energy and Environmental Impact Center projects that if finalized, the administration's proposal would yield between 16 and 37 million metric tons of CO2 by 2025, equivalent to the annual emissions of more than 9 million vehicles.

Auto companies asked Trump to reassess federal fuel efficiency standards within days of him taking office, a point administration officials raised during a Feb. 21 conference call and a meeting at the White House Friday with representatives from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford and General Motors.

"We're doing it for you, we're deregulating the sector for you," is the way one senior administration official, who asked for anonymity to discuss private conversations, put it. "We hope you get behind us."

Fiat Chrysler expressed support for the administration's proposal at the Friday meeting, according to two individuals who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. GM and Ford officials were less committal.

Asked about the ongoing discussions, Ford's president of global operations Joe Hinrichs said in a statement that the company is "disappointed" that California and federal regulators have not been able to find a compromise on future fuel efficiency standards. "A coordinated program with every stakeholder is in the best interest of Ford's customers, and is the best path forward to achieve reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and support critical investments in new technologies."

In a statement, a Fiat spokesman said the company supports mileage targets "based on market realities," noting that gas prices are low and bigger vehicles remain popular with consumers.

A GM spokeswoman confirmed it attended the Friday meeting, and said the company appreciated the White House reaching out.

The Auto Alliance, whose members produce 70 percent of cars and light trucks in the United States, has continued to voice concerns about the administration's approach. Auto Alliance spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist said in an interview Thursday that the group supports "year over year increases in fuel economy" and a nationwide standard that includes California and its affiliated states. Any regulation that fails to achieve that, she said, would lead to litigation and force firms to sell a different mix of vehicles in parts of the country.

"Years of litigation is not helpful. It's going to be difficult for the industry, and it's ultimately going to be bad for customers because it could increase the price of cars," Bergquist said. "It's still a negotiation going on, and it's not done till it's done."

And American Honda Motor--which, along with Ford, has publicly questioned the proposed rule issued in August--echoed those concerns.

"Our position has not changed and we are still urging the parties to negotiate," said Robert Bienenfeld, an assistant vice president at American Honda Motor, said in an email.

The administration is exploring the idea of increasing fuel efficiency standards between 0.5 percent and 1 percent a year in the final proposal, according to several individuals briefed on the plan, in order to address industry's call for annual increases. That would still fall short, however, of existing federal standards. The Obama rule would have boosted the fleetwide average to nearly 51 miles per gallon by 2025; it would reach 37 MPG by 2025 under the Trump proposal.

Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, showed little sympathy for automakers in an interview Thursday. She said that California regulators had been clear all along that they intended to stick with the steadily increasing fuel efficiency standards that both the federal government and the auto industry agreed to during the Obama administration.

"They clearly intended to get some flexibilities built into the enforcement of the existing regulations, and maybe a little more time and ability to use some of the credits that they had built up over time," she said of the automakers. "And now at this point, they are facing years of litigation. It's an unfortunate situation, but as I said, it's not our problem."

Delaware Sen. Thomas Carper, the top Democrat on the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, said in a statement that auto companies should publicly disavow the administration's proposal.

"The automobile industry should think twice - and then for a third or fourth time - before tying its future to a proposal that is so legally flawed that it will surely be overturned by the courts immediately," Carper said. "Costly litigation and regulatory uncertainty are entirely avoidable. There is a clear deal to be had between the administration and the state of California, and the automobile industry should be up in arms until that deal is struck."

- - -

The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.
GSE joins celebration of International Womens Day

Amherst Central High School and the Graduate School of Education are teaming up on March 8 for what may be the first-ever celebration in a Western New York school of International Womens Day. The celebration will feature school-wide events and learn-in/tech-in sessions to raise awareness of womens issues among all students.

The motto for the day is Be informed. Be inspired.

The event, which organizers believe is the first of its kind at a Western New York secondary school, will take place during the schools three lunch periods. It will include seminars and activities for all students on three themes affecting women locally, nationally and throughout the world. The program follows a week-long lead-up of announcements and flyers to raise awareness of womens issues and struggles for equality around the world.

The three themes, which were identified through discussions with the young women in the school, are media, STEM/health and politics. Each lunch period will focus on one of the identified themes, and each discussion will be followed by a hands-on activity.

The event was organized by Sarah A. Robert, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education and director of the Teaching and Leading for Diversity program. Robert was asked to get involved by Nancy Ables, assistant principal of Amherst Central High School.

Invited to present are Noemi Waight, UB assistant professor of learning and instruction, who will discuss STEM/health; Eileen Buckley, senior reporter at WBFO-FM, who will speak on the media; and Ana Luisa Munoz Garcia, assistant professor of curriculum, technology and evaluation at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, who will discuss politics.

Also involved in the planning was Qinghua Chen, a UB doctoral candidate and student in Roberts course on Intersectionality, Inequality and Education.

I saw my involvement as that of guide, Robert says of the event at the high school. They had an idea, and I approached my work similar to the childrens book titled, What do you do with an idea?

I knew of the celebration (of International Womens Day) and I participated in it when I lived in Argentina. However, I was not aware of any schools in the area that were celebrating the day.

As guide, I drew on my skills as an ethnographer, as a professional researcher who studies everyday life, seeking the meaning of it from the participants own words and experiences, she says. So it was important to me that we listened to young women students because this is a celebration of and for them.

What does it mean to be a young woman in Amherst today? What matters to you? It is from these conversations that the themes emerged. The women students were concerned about reproductive health and sexuality, unequal pay for women and men, the representation of women in the media and in politics, and the lack of paid maternity leave, Robert says.

They were willing to talk, share their ideas, and so I hope that the event reflects those conversations and respects their concerns for learning more and raising awareness about issues that matter to them.
Research News

UB chemist creating tools to study how pharmaceuticals affect inner workings of living cells

UB chemistry professor Qing Lin has long had an interest in applying his expertise in chemistry to problems in biology. Photo: Douglas Levere

By CHARLOTTE HSU

Even when a drug works in treating disease, we often dont understand the details of how it does its job. The tools we are developing will hopefully help to fill this gap in knowledge. 

Over the past decade, UB chemists have made steady progress on developing biochemical tools that can be deployed inside living cells to study how pharmaceuticals affect those cells inner workings.

A new $2 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, will enable the researchers to take their work to the next level  including by testing these new tools inside cells.

Eventually, the research could facilitate development of therapies for the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, depression and osteoporosis.

Our project utilizes chemistry as a research tool to study biological problems inside living cells, says lead scientist Qing Lin, professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences. Even when a drug works in treating disease, we often dont understand the details of how it does its job. The tools we are developing will hopefully help to fill this gap in knowledge.

The focus of Lins work is cellular receptors  specialized protein molecules that protrude from the surface of human cells. When hormones or pharmaceuticals bind to these receptors, the receptors become activated, triggering a chain of events inside the cells that cause the cells to take specific actions, such as secreting insulin.

Lins lab is developing tools to study, firstly, how cellular receptors change shape when theyre activated, and, secondly, how molecules inside human cells respond when a receptor is activated.

To accomplish the first task, the researchers are creating fluorescent probes that can be attached to specific parts of cellular receptors to monitor how the receptors change shape upon activation. To achieve the second objective, the team is creating genetically engineered cellular receptors that trap targeted molecules, enabling scientists to understand which molecules inside a human cell interact with an activated receptor. This early recruitment is an important first step in the cascading chain of events that takes place after a receptor is activated.

In short, Lin says, We are developing tools for making possible real-time measurements related to molecular events that take place inside living cells when receptors are activated.

This NIH-supported research focuses on a specific class of receptors called class B G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that play a role in diseases including diabetes, depression and osteoporosis.

But, if successful, the methods Lin is developing could be adapted to study other kinds of cellular receptors as well, he says.

Our tools will enable scientists to monitor what happens inside a cell when a receptor is activated in real time, Lin says. This is very valuable because different molecules can activate the same receptor in different ways and trigger different downstream signaling events within cells, which may produce discrete physiological responses.

Lin has long had an interest in applying his expertise in chemistry to problems in biology. Among other activities, he is founder of Transira Therapeutics, a UB spinoff and drug-development company whose first product under development is a diabetes drug that acts on class B GPCRs.
Shell casings and other evidence led to the arrest of a suspect who shot a man during a robbery attempt on San Antonio's North Side, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Christian Scott Flores, 19, was taken into custody Wednesday on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

On Dec. 16, San Antonio police responded to two shootings that occurred within minutes of each other.

The first occurred in the 3500 block of Crestmont Drive. No one was hurt, but a man's pickup was struck several times, according to Flores' arrest affidavit.

The man's friend was shot in the forearm minutes later in the 2200 blocks of Thousand Oaks.

Investigators recovered the same shell casings at both locations and both men said they noticed the shots had come from a gold Chevrolet Impala, the affidavit says.

RELATED: BCSO: Chase suspect pretended to be employee at H-E-B to throw off pursuing deputies

The car, which is registered to Flores, was abandoned after the shootings and recovered by police, according to the affidavit. Flores told investigators someone took his car without permission but the vehicle hadn't been reported stolen, the affidavit says.

Detectives believe Flores and another suspect who has not yet been arrested wanted to the rob the men of marijuana, according to the affidavit.

Flores' bail was set at $75,000, according to jail records.

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | fsabawi@mysa.com|@FaresInSA
We are glad to learn there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Texas. But, frankly, this should come as no surprise to anyone who pays attention to the issue.

It is unfortunate the pronouncement from a highly respected San Antonio federal judge had to come after acting Texas Secretary of State David Whitley irresponsibly attempted to purge nearly 100,000 people from voter rolls, prompting lawsuits.

U.S. District Judge Fred Bierys finding was not unexpected. There has never been any evidence of rampant voter fraud in the state as some officials would like us to believe  its an issue raised mostly to excuse enacting voter restrictions for partisan gain.

Soon after Whitley distributed a list in late January of people on voter rolls who did not appear to be U.S. citizens, he began backtracking and sending out corrections. We soon learned the list had never been checked for duplicate listings or cross-referenced against the names of Texas residents who recently had become naturalized citizens. An estimated 5,000 Bexar County residents were on that list.

Bierys ruling offers little comfort to those recently naturalized citizens caught up in the secretary of states mess. It does little to compensate for the fear, anxiety and intimidation Whitleys action caused. The negative impact of this fiasco on naturalized citizens voting in future elections will never be known. But the message was clear: You are, without basis, suspect.

The courts ruling is welcome news for election administrators across the state who were thrown into a frenzy of busy work when the list was released. Biery has ordered election officers in all 254 Texas counties not to remove any person from the current voter registration list until authorized by the court and then only if there is substantial evidence of ineligibility.

The litigation in this case is far from over. The judge denied a motion from the state to dismiss the suits brought by the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Campaign Legal Center. They allege the voter purge is unconstitutional and is intended to suppresses minority votes. Two related cases filed by the ACLU and Mexican American Legal Defense Fund have been consolidated under the LULAC case.

The voter purge attempt has imperiled Whitleys confirmation to the post Gov. Greg Abbott appointed him to in December  rightly so. A Senate committee last week voted along party lines to advance the nomination to the full Senate where it may face a tough vote. A two-thirds majority is needed to confirm an appointment, and the 12 Senate Democrats have stated they plan to block it.

Following Bierys ruling, Abbott tried to shift some of the blame for the voter list problems on the Texas Department of Public Safety and its director, Steve McCraw.

The secretary of state had asked that DPS not include any U.S. citizens in the data file that was being transferred. The states election director, Keith Ingram, acknowledged on the witness stand his office was aware there might be problems with the voter list because some of those named could have become naturalized citizens after getting a drivers license.

The unprofessional way the agency handled this issue raises concerns about the future role of DPS in voter registration. Our view, however, is that DPS needs to remain part of it.

The need to ensure the integrity of the states voter rolls is understandable, but those efforts must be made in good faith without trampling on anyones rights or intimidating any category of voters.

Abandoning the use of DPS data in registering voters is not the solution. Across the country a majority of the states have approved legislation allowing online voter registration, but it has yet to become a reality in Texas. If that is to happen here, DPS must continue to share its data with the secretary of states office.

We cannot allow the mess Whitleys office created undermine efforts to bring online voter registration to Texas.
If you listen to the news, you will realize that not a day goes by without hearing about another product recall being issued by a manufacturer. Maybe its for a car, or perhaps a food product that was contaminated, sometimes a childs toy. Regardless of the product, the manufacturer is concerned that it may be dangerous and wants to get it repaired or off the market completely prior to being subject to lawsuits from individuals who have been injured in some way from the product. Unfortunately, not everyone hears about product recalls right away. So does a companys liability for injuries due to their damaged product stop when a recall is issued? Today, lets answer the question: I have been the victim of a defective product after a recall: what are my rights?

Product Recall Liability

Product recall liability is a complicated area of the law. As noted above, product recalls are usually initiated by the manufacturer or producer of the product. Sometimes, however, the defect or danger is discovered by a government agency, such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). If the producer of a possibly dangerous product is reluctant to issue the recall, the CPSC may step in and do so. Regardless of whom issues the recall, the issuance of the recall does not protect the producer of the product from liability going forward from injuries suffered due to the defective product. Laws governing defective product liability must be shown to prove your case vary from state to state. The rule of law used in the state of Texas is referred to as strict liability. This basically means that the injured party does not have to prove that the manufacturer of the product was negligent. If the product was defective and the defective product caused you injury, the manufacturer is liable.

Defective Product Liability

If you have been injured by a defective product, you should contact a lawyer to assist you with your product recall liability case. Texas law allows a person up to two years to file a lawsuit due to product liability. Without delay, you should contact the recall lawyer Texas recognizes to handle such cases - thats the Thomas J. Henry law firm.

Recall Lawyer in Texas

Your defective product recall lawyer will review all aspects of the case. To prevail in such cases, you must show that you were injured while using a product that was defective due to the manufacturer. While you do not have to show negligence on the part of the manufacturer, you must have been using the product as it was intended to be used. Your recall lawyer in Texas recognized to handle such cases, the Thomas J. Henry law firm can help you sort through all of it.

In addition to getting compensated for the medical bills related to the defective product injuries, damages can include compensation for lost wages and the pain and suffering caused by the injuries.

Product Liability Lawyer in Texas

Product liability claims can be complex. If you have been injured due to defective product liability involving texting while driving, contact the product liability lawyers in Texas who knows best, Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys. Thomas J. Henry has the experience, the expertise, and determination to get their clients the settlements and verdicts they deserve. Call Thomas J. Henry today at 361-221-5053.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
Relocation of a salt gritting barn in Longford town is one of the main issues that elected members of Longford Municipal District are keen to resolve before the current council finishes up in May of this year.

The long-running saga has dominated conversation at many Longford MD meetings, with no solution to the 'unbearable' noise pollution levels being offered over the past 18 months to two years since concerns were first raised.

Following a request by elected members at the January MD meeting, area engineer Eamonn Bennett returned to this month's meeting with a full report on the cost of not only moving the salt barn itself, but the entirety of the complex, including two area depots that have been relocated to the Park Road site over the years, an archive store and an Irish Water laboratory facility also located on the site.

The cost of moving everything and giving up the site to housing would amount to an astonishing figure of over 6 million, according to Mr Bennett's comprehensive report.

Read more: Moves afoot to relocate Longford salt gritting barn

Councillors were reluctant to agree on moving the entire complex, insisting that the main issue was the salt barn itself and that this is what should be focused on.

Really and truthfully, my main concern has always been the noise that has been generated from the filling of lorries into the night when we have inclement weather, said Cllr Peggy Nolan.

And it is causing great hardship to the residents. It actually is adjacent to four different housing estates. It shouldnt be there, so whatever the cost to remove it, we owe that to our tenants. If it was a private landlord that was causing that sort of upheaval to their tenants, there would be legal action.

Cllr Joe Flaherty agreed that the salt barn was the main issue and that six million was a lot of money to pay for the relocation of the entire complex.

6.3 million seems an astonishing cost for the work when you look at how its broken down. Youd nearly think childrens hospital looking at it, he said.

But if you consider that the Finesse Medical are building a state of the art factory outlet for 7.2m. St Christophers are building a new school for 6m. Theyre big projects. We seem to be spending an awful lot of money on this.

If you just focus on the salt barn, machinery store, office, canteen strip those out and you can bring it down to two million. I think its something that needs to be done piecemeal, and remove the worst offending ones early on in the process.

Mr Bennett, however, recommended that councillors consider relocating the entire complex as the noise pollution was a result of more than just the salt barn.

I dont mind what you decide; the only thing I would say is you can leave the lab. You can leave the archive store, whatever you want. But to eliminate the noise complaints, youll have to take the area depot out of there and the salt barn, he said, stressing that the area depots that were moved from other locations in the town were cause for several noise complaints over the years.

They're night time works and we were getting complaints all the time. And it will happen again, he added.

Councillors remained firm, however, in their resolve to only relocate the salt barn for the time being, stressing that the salt barn and the loading of gritting trucks has always been the issue.

Cllr Mae Sexton, who first raised the issue two years ago, said that it was the bullying tactics of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) that resulted in the location of the salt barn on Park Road in the first place.

Despite our lack of engineering skills, there was nobody in this chamber (at that time) that wasnt against it being there. Every one of us without fail said it was not the right place for it.

And we knew nothing about salt barns, she fumed at last week's meeting, stressing that TII bullied them into agreeing to locate the facility at the Park Road site by essentially telling them to 'use the money or lose it'.

We then went ahead with absolute ironclad guarantees that there would be no noise after a certain time at night, that the lorries would be loaded when the expectation was there that they would have to be used.

We didnt believe it and we were right. It never worked from day one. And then I put down my notice of motion 18 months or two years ago asking for this to be moved and now I find that since that notice of motion, somebody took a decision to move all the additional noisy machinery into that yard.

We should have moved this salt barn when it became evident that its keeping people awake day and night. And we certainly shouldnt have added to the noise, Cllr Sexton continued.

I think thats deplorable. The people up there have a right to complain about the disgraceful noise. It would never have been tolerated if it was a private development.

However, Cllr Sexton stressed, the main issue is the noise from salt barn and it should only be the salt barn that the council relocate for the time being.

Read more: Moves to relocate Longford salt barn take fresh twist

It has to go. People up there cant take it anymore. So I am proposing that we find some place to put the salt barn and move it out and if that site happens to suit our lorries as well, then well and good.

But I think the noise from all of the stuff thats there for the salt barn is more concerning than a few lorries coming and going with the odd works that go on at night.

I just cant grasp it. I cant get my head around the fact that a simple moving of that couldnt be done to a safer location where its easier accessible and not disturbing all of those people and that was the purpose of my notice of motion 18 months or two years ago, she said.

Cathaoirleach of Longford MD Cllr Seamus Butler then addressed the issue of mitigation for tenants who are suffering from the noise pollution, stating that some form of compensation is surely in order for the people who have put up with this issue for so long.

Whatever decision is reached by the council, he said, it would not come into effect for next winter or even the following winter.

Everyone in the chamber agreed that the salt barn needed to be moved, said Cllr Butler, but in the meantime, could we look at mitigation for our tenants?

After what the Cathaoirleach said was a very good discussion on the issue, it was agreed that the relocation of the salt barn - and the cost of mitigation for tenants - would be one of the main topics on the agenda for the next Longford MD meeting on March 27.

For now, though, councillors are all in agreement that the salt barn needs to be moved out of the Park Road complex to a more suitable location.

Read more: Salt barn relocation row in Longford prompts heated debate
Drivers in Ireland with a UK licence could face the possibility of sitting their theory test and driving test again in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

That is, unless they swap over to an Irish licence before March 29. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, UK licences will no longer be recognised here in Ireland, according to Michael Winters of Abbey Murphy Insurance.

They technically won't have a licence at all if there's a no-deal Brexit. They'll have to do the theory test, the 10 or 12 driving lessons and the driving test, and there's currently a wait list of a least six or seven weeks for that, he said.

And after March 29, if there's a no-deal Brexit, NDLS offices won't be able to contend with the number of people who will be calling to sort out there licence.

Under current arrangements, a UK licence holder resident here in Ireland has an entitlement to exchange their UK licence for an Irish one.

To exchange your licence you must complete a licence application form and present this, the correct fee and your UK licence at an NDLS centre.

Exchanging your licence is not available online you will have to attend an NDLS centre - you will get more information on the process at www.ndls.ie.
A Longford woman facing a drugs charge has indicated her intention to contest the case when they return before the court later this year.

Claire Keegan, with an address at 46 Railway Meadows, Royal Canal Avenue, Townsparks, Longford, but now living in the UK appeared at a recent sitting of Longford District Court where details of the charges were outlined.

Ms Keegan, who was represented in court by local solicitor Lorna Groarke, was charged with the unlawful possession of cannabis at the above named address on May 12 2018. She was also charged with stealing two cans of Sally Hansen Water Resistant Airbush Legs valued at 9.95 each from Penneys, Longford Shopping Centre on July 3 and July 26 last year.

Ms Groarke said she had gone to great lengths to observe CCTV footage of the alleged incidents to no avail and had written to the State on three separate occasions.

Inquiring as to what the items allegedly stolen were used for, Ms Groarke humourously said to Judge Seamus Hughes: We can see if we can get you a can.

In terms of the separate drugs charge, it was alleged a search had taken place with Ms Keegan telling gardai after they had found a small amount of cannabis: Is that all you got? and to get out of her house.

It was also alleged Ms Keegan told Sgt Brennan at the scene: I smoke a bit of weed, big deal.

This was a statement Ms Groarke said her client would completely and utterly deny.

My client will tell you she has never smoked anything in her life, said Ms Groarke, adding her partner at the time was no longer in her life.

In fixing a date for hearing for the drugs charge, Ms Groarke said Ms Keegan was entitled to have the other shoplifting matters struck out on the basis of the great efforts that had been made to raise concerns over the difficulties in observing CCTV footage from the scene.

If the letters (sent to prosecution) can be located then I will give you a strike out, Judge Hughes told Ms Groarke.

If the Gardai say they never received them, then there is an issue.

The case is due to return before a sitting of Longford District Court on July 19 2019.
Longford County Arts Office is delighted to announce details of its exciting new Longford Landscape Photography Competition.

Cllr Peggy Nolan recently suggested to Longford County Arts Office that the extensive reservoir of photography talent in the county be recognised for the way they capture the natural and unspoiled beauty of the Longford countryside, its towns and villages.

County Arts Officer Ferguse Kennedy didn't hesitate to jump on board with the idea, saying that the people of Longford are lucky to live in what the late environmentalist Dick Warner described as the last great wilderness in Western Europe.

We are also blessed with a huge number of amateur and professional photographers in the county, said Mr Kennedy.

Bearing in mind that over five hundred enthusiastic photographers from around the region availed of the courses provided by the Midlands College of Photography a number of years ago.

Through combining these two great assets, the County Arts Office has decided to launch Longford Landscapes, a photographic competition culminating in an exhibition in May 2019.

Longford County Council is providing generous prize money - 750 plus a framed citation for the winning entry with a further 350 plus framed citations for the two runners up.

The competition is open to professional and amateur photographers. Emphasis will be given by the adjudicators to photographs that capture the beauty of our towns, villages and countryside in a new and refreshing way.

When one thinks of the beauty of Longfords Mall or the villages of Newtowncashel, Abbeyshrule or Ardagh it is easy to appreciate the variety and scope for great photographs, said Mr Kennedy.

Photographs need not have been taken specifically for this competition as we are aware that photographers may have gems stored away in boxes or on hard drives. It is only necessary that the images are original, be by the photographer and have been taken in County Longford.

To learn more about the competition and how to enter log on to: Longford Landscapes at www.longforddigitalarts.ie.

Also read: Longford artists celebrate the beauty of sisterhood through art and photography
In the aftermath of recent elections in Cameroon, instability has increased, with a factional struggle opening up between different sections of the ruling class. President Paul Biya of the ruling CPDM, who retained power in 2018, has ramped up political repression, arresting opposition leader Maurice Kamto and intensifying his suppression of the countrys Anglophone minority.

All of this is taking place against a backdrop of general decrepitude for Cameroonian society, which is suffering from years of underinvestment, slowing economic growth and widespread decay. Meanwhile, Biya and Kamto (both of whom are cut from the same bourgeois cloth) are increasingly leaning on different sets of imperialist powers, as China is starting to muscle into territory formerly wholly dominated by Western imperialism. The former Defence Minister, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o, was also detained today (6 March) as part of this spat within the ruling class.

The Biya regime has been a loyal ally of Western (and particularly French) capitalism since taking power in 1982. In recent years, Biya has also been a military ally of the United States against the Islamic terror group, Boko Haram. However, Cameroon is also an important country from the perspective of Chinese imperialism. It is a key part of Beijings One Belt, One Road project in Central Africa. As such, China is beginning to extend its influence in Cameroon (as in neighbouring Nigeria).

Chinas presence means Western imperialism is pushing back against it by simultaneously pressuring Biya to keep his distance from Beijing, and by supporting other elements in the ruling class. Biya is trying to balance between different imperialists, while Kamto is seeking to make himself more attractive to the West by offering his services against Biya. In spite of all of his anti-regime demagogy, however, Kamto is not seen as a genuine political alternative by Cameroonian workers and peasants.

Cameroons capitalist malaise

The masses in Cameroon are suffering immensely, and it seems there is no way out. The Anglophone crisis (which threatens to erupt into a full-blown civil war) is just the latest expression of long-term degeneration of volatile and degenerate Cameroonian capitalism.

Cameroon is a weak, oil and mineral-based export economy, which has been feeling the slowdown in world trade and the Chinese economy: two key factors that previously kept oil and mineral prices up. While the countrys debt-to-GDP hovered around 10-12 percent until 2014, it has now shot up to 35.7 percent, after oil prices dived in 2014.

The masses in Cameroon are suffering, and it seems there is no way out. Biya and Kamto are cut from the same cloth / Image: Robert Prince

The increased debt is also limiting Biyas room for economic maneuvers. To meet the terms of new IMF loans, Biya has carried out austerity, including a reduction of government spending from 8 percent to 6.6 percent of GDP from 2016 to 2019. Schools, hospitals and infrastructure are in a chronic state of underinvestment. Meanwhile employment rates are stagnant and so is development in production (70 percent of Cameroons working population is still employed in the low-tech agricultural sector).

The ruling class is far more interested in reaping super-profits from the oil industry than in investing in actual production. All the while, the parasitic Cameroonian bourgeoisie and political elite spend billions made via corrupt deals on private jets and palatial accommodation (usually abroad). Billions more are lost to so called capital flight; which, in this context, simply means open theft of public funds.

In order to stabilise his rule, Biya has covered his austerity with anti-Anglophone nationalist hysteria, and his cuts disproportionately target the Anglophone regions of Cameroon. These nationalist attacks have in turn fueled a separatist crisis. Despite being the source of most of Cameroons wealth, the oil-rich Anglophone regions are made to swallow the deepest cuts, on top of social and political repression. And more austerity is likely to be on the way, as creditors such as the IMF, wary of the state of the economy, are demanding even more cuts in the 2019 budget.

All these factors have contributed to the pauperisation of the Cameroonian working class. Despite a small increase in GDP growth in 2018 (3.8 percent versus 3.5 percent in 2017), population growth has meant that about 30 percent of Cameroonians remain in poverty, while Biya, Kamto and their cronies in the ruling class grow fat.

China encroaches

The main factor in the recent political struggle between Biya and Kamto is the increasing presence of Chinese imperialism in Cameroon. Beijing is coming to regard Cameroon as a key African foothold, especially because the country is not seen by US imperialism as fundamental to its sphere of influence. Sino-Cameroonian trade has increased tenfold in a decade, China is now Cameroons biggest export partner after France, and it dominates the Cameroonian construction and infrastructure sectors.

Beijing is clearly attempting to court Biya and pull him away from the West. He was invited for a three-day state visit to China in March 2018, and visited Beijing again in September at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, where President Xi Jinping pledged a $60bn package of aid, investment and loans to Cameroon. Meanwhile, Beijing has forgiven $174m of Cameroon's debt between 2007 and 2019. This bribe is only a tiny sliver of the approximately $3bn Cameroon owes to China, which shows how Chinese finance capital has begun to creep into the void left after France decreased its engagement with its former colony.

The main factor in the recent political struggle between Biya and Kamto is the increasing presence of Chinese imperialism in Cameroon, which is starting to lean on Biya / Image: fair use

The string of debt write-offs are actually on loans obtained to fund construction by Chinese companies in Cameroon, meaning Beijing is subsidising its own development projects: a small price to pay for a major African foothold. China has been using its financial muscle throughout Africa, taking key assets and infrastructure as collateral when countries are not able to repay their debt. Of course, if it is up to China alone, Cameroon will not escape this fate.

China has also been exploiting Cameroons rich gold reserves for the past several years, often illegally, and utilising methods that destroy surrounding farmland and leave behind trenches that cause fatal accidents and trigger landslides. This has resulted in a huge amount of anger and resentment from the population. The Forests and Rural Development Association (FODER) in Yaounde claims that the Biya regime has been sending in the army to protect Chinese mining companies from enraged locals.

The nations relationship reached a watershed in 2011 when China committed billions of dollars to finance a new sea port in the fishing town of Kribi. When completed in 2035, it will be the biggest deep-water port in the region. This investment shows Cameroons strategic importance to Beijings ambitions in Africa. The Kribi port will extend the reach of the so-called New Silk Road: that is, Chinas plans to construct an international trade network based on Beijings interests.

Kamto: wannabe Western lackey

With Biya drifting closer to China, the West is trying to defend its own position. It is therefore leaning on other forces within the Cameroonian ruling elite. Kamto (who came second in the presidential elections, with around 14 percent of the official vote) has been offering his services to the West. But he lacks any real support on the ground. As part of this factional struggle within the ruling class, Kamto was arrested by Biyas troops on 28 January. He is now being held at the Special Operations Unit in Yaounde, from which he sent a message criticising the Biya government for his illegal and arbitrary detainment. Despite this language of martyrdom, Kamto is a consummate opportunist, and until 2011 he was actually Biyas Minister for Justice in the CPDM. He is made of the exact same stuff as the sitting president. The Cameroonian masses are not blind to this. This was underlined by the fact that attempted protests against Biyas re-election and Kamtos imprisonment have been complete flops.

While Western imperialism does not currently see Kamto as a convincing replacement for Biya, he is still a potentially useful pawn / Image: fair use

Kamto thought he could demagogically unite the weak and atomised opposition parties of Cameroon (of which there are over 200) under the single, anti-Biya banner of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM). Aside from a vague promise to resolve the Anglophone crisis with dialogue, the CRMs political programme was little different from that of the CPDM. It also included a number neoliberal policies Kamto hoped would appeal to Western imperialism, including the need for more flexible labour and modernisation of the economy (i.e casualisation of labour and privatisation). Kamto also probably thought that his friends in the West would position him as Biyas successor and see him as a trustworthy ally, given the presidents drift towards China and Kamtos esteemed status as a former chairman and special rapporteur with the U.N.

He was mistaken. The US did not do much to support the CRM, while France continued to back its traditional party. Biyas victory was never actually in question, especially with the Anglophone separatists enforcing a voting boycott, which resulted in an extremely low turnout by English-speaking voters (who tend to be most critical of Biya). Western imperialism is not seeking regime change in Cameroon. As it stands now, they are merely trying to maneuver to get more concessions from the existing regime.

The Anglophone crisis continues

While all this is going on, Biyas heavy-handed approach is turning the Anglophone crisis into an uncontrollable conflagration. More than 430,000 people have been displaced and hundreds killed over the course of the conflict, with reports of atrocities by both the separatists and Biyas Special Forces.

Neither China nor the West want this situation to get out of hand. They would all prefer stability. But while China and France have been relatively silent about the affair, the US has threatened to pull military support, training and equipment from Cameroon. Laughably, General Thomas D. Waldhauser, leader of United States Africa Command, claimed this was due to Biyas atrocities. But the US has never batted an eye at Biyas political repression up until now, and this new measure is probably another attempt at putting pressure on Biya.

The West is also using the arrest of Kamto as part of this game. The U.N. Secretary General and the International Law Commission have threatened that Kamtos continued detention will lead promptly to a comprehensive reevaluation of U.S. military and other assistance to the Cameroonian government. Meanwhile, the EU (via its mouthpiece in Cameroon, Federica Mogherini) condemned the arrest and prolonged detention of several leaders of an opposition party, including its leader Maurice Kamto. The statement calls for an end to human rights violations in the north-west and south-west regions of Cameroon through an inclusive political dialogue and in a context of respect for fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. It ends with a subtle threat, referencing the foundation for the partnership between Cameroon and the EU, for the benefit of all Cameroonians being based on these values and concluding the EU will support any initiative in this direction (my emphasis).

While Western imperialism does not currently see Kamto as a convincing replacement for Biya, he is still a potentially useful pawn. By portraying their old ally Biya as a bogeyman building up Kamto as a martyr, they could try to lean on him to balance Chinese interests, and keep their options open in terms of succession when the 82-year-old incumbent is finally off the scene.

The masses need an alternative!

Cameroonian capitalism is rotten to its core. It is incapable of showing any way forward for the poor workers and peasants of the country. But although Biyas decrepit, 37-year regime is long overdue to be overthrown, Kamto is no alternative. He represents the same system and the same ruling class as Biya. This explains why the masses have yet to enter the scene: they do not see anyone offering solutions to the dire social problems in Cameroon, and do not trust any of the political representatives on offer. Between the imperialist tug-of-war and squabbles within the ruling class; the working class and poor can only lose out.

A radical revolutionary movement, organised on class lines against the ruling elite and imperialism, is the only way forward / Image: fair use

At the same time, there is no real workers party and no real labour movement, unlike over the border in Nigeria. The last major strike (prior to the teachers walkout by Anglophones in 2017) was in 2008, and even that wasnt led by the feeble Confederation of Cameroon Trade Unions  it was a grassroots action led from below. In these conditions, along with the general economic decline, the stage is taken over by different imperialist forces, along with opposing sections of the degenerate, parasitic bourgeoisie, who have no issue with wreaking havoc in the country to pursue their own narrow interests.

What is needed is a radical revolutionary movement, organised on class lines, to unify the Francophone and Anglophone working class and poor around social demands against the Biya regime and the rest of the rotten ruling class. Beyond that, it is necessary to build a workers party that will channel the desire for change into a programme of action. This is the only way forward.
A memorial vigil will be held for Jassy Correia, the 23-year-old mother who was kidnapped and found dead in the trunk of a car in Delaware days after she went missing from a Boston nightclub.

The vigil will be held at 311 Bowdoin St. in Dorchester, near St. Peters Church, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, according to a post by Correias cousin on Facebook. A wake will be held at St. Peters Church Friday afternoon, from 5-9 p.m., and a funeral mass will be held at St. Peters Church on Saturday at 10 a.m., according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Boston.

Correia went missing in late February after a night out at Venu nightclub in Boston, where she was celebrating her 23rd birthday.

An investigation across state lines led authorities to capture the kidnapping suspect, Providence man Louis Coleman III, in Delaware last week. Correias remains were found inside a suitcase in the trunk of Colemans car, authorities said.

Coleman will face varying degrees of charges in Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He has not yet been charged with murder.

Correia was a mother to a 2-year-old daughter and was described by loved ones as a kind and outgoing person. A GoFundMe page has raised more than $143,000 for the family.
Electronic tolling may soon be a common sight on Connecticut roadways.

State legislators have proposed adding electronic tolling on Connecticuts major roadways: Interstate 91, Interstate 95, Interstate 84 and Route 15.

Gov. Ned Lamont proposed the tolls as necessary for funding infrastructure improvements.

Connecticuts highways and bridges are aging, in need of repair, and congested. Current transportation revenues are insufficient to maintain the existing infrastructure or make the types of improvements needed to reduce congestion, Joe Giulietti, Connecticuts transportation commissioner said Wednesday, of the plan. A new source of revenue is needed that supplements the revenue currently being allocated to the Special Transportation Fund. The fund needs to be sustainable and sufficient to improve the condition of Connecticuts existing infrastructure and finance highway improvements that will reduce congestion.

Legislators estimate tolling across the state would net about $800 million each year. Opponents of the plan argue state officials should reevaluate spending plans before placing the cost on drivers in the state.

A tolling study released by the Connecticut Department of Transportation calls for differing rates for Connecticut residents with an E-ZPass, commuters and out-of-state residents, in addition to peak period driving rates and off-peak. Class one vehicles will pay the lowest rates, with class two - medium trucks, buses - paying about double and heavy trucks paying about four times as much.

Peak driving rates for passenger vehicles is estimated to be 7.9 cents per mile, with a 30 percent discount for Connecticut residents.

A out-of-state driver with an E-ZPass traveling from Hartford to New Haven - about 38 miles - during peak hours would spend about $6 roundtrip. A Connecticut resident with an E-ZPass would spend slightly over $4, less with the commuter discount.

For a Massachusetts driver with an E-ZPass traveling on I-84 during off peak hours, the proposed toll would cost $6.17 one-way, $12.34 roundtrip. During peak hours, the cost of that trip rises to $7.74 one-way, $15.48 roundtrip.

The highest costs will be fared by out-of-state drivers without an E-ZPass. These drivers will be charged up to 50 percent higher than the base cost, 11.8 cents per mile. Traveling from the Massachusetts state line down I-91 to New Haven during peak travel times would cost such a driver $13.68, roundtrip, under the current plan. Traveling off peak hours, with an E-Z Pass, would save an out-of-state driver $4.52 roundtrip.

Proposed tolling rates for Connecticut roadways.

Connecticut and Vermont are the only states in New England to not toll along state roadways.

Massachusetts introduced all-electronic tolling in 2016. It replaced toll plazas at more than two dozen locations with 16 metal gantries featuring cameras that can read E-ZPass transponders or take pictures of license plates for vehicles without transponders.
SACRAMENTO -- Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving will miss Wednesdays matchup against the Sacramento Kings with a left thigh contusion, the team announced Wednesday afternoon.

Irving and the Celtics got a big win on Tuesday, blowing out the Golden State Warriors 128-95. Wednesdays game represents an opportunity to continue trying to build some badly needed momentum with the playoffs just a month away.

But the Celtics will try to build without Irving, who scored 19 points and dished out 11 assists against Golden State. Boston sent out a clean bill of health on Wednesday afternoon before dropping Irvings injury news a few hours later.

The Celtics can often get by without Irving, slotting Terry Rozier into the starting lineup and giving Gordon Hayward more opportunities as the teams primary ball-handler. In 11 games without Irving this season, the Celtics are 9-2 (although the quality of the opponents in most of those games is worth noting). Rozier has been considerably better a starter than as a member of the second unit this season, averaging 13.3 points per game on 43.9/41.1/94.1 shooting splits, as opposed to 7.9 points per game off the bench with 36.1/32.5/76.6 shooting. Despite that success, however, the Celtics have not always played well when Rozier replaces Irving -- Rozier, Marcus Smart, Marcus Morris, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford have a net rating of -4.7 and a brutal offensive rating of 92.9.

Still, Rozier will likely get the start, and the Celtics have plenty of other lineup combinations to try. Rozier can give the Celtics a boost at times, and the Celtics will be able to match up more naturally against DeAaron Fox and Buddy Hield -- the potent Kings backcourt that has propelled Sacramento into playoff contention unexpectedly.

The Celtics have pair of days off after Wednesdays game. As far as injuries go, Irvings thigh contusion may be well-timed.
SPRINGFIELD  WGBY is gearing up for its fourth season of Presencia, the stations bilingual television show featuring the diverse Latino community of western New England, and is looking for audience members for the taping of several musical performances.

Having a live audience for our 'Presencia 'studio tapings is essential for our talent and and its also an opportunity for the community to visit WGBY studios and experience a behind-the-scenes taping of this TV segment, said Vanessa Pabon-Hernandez, executive producer of the show.

The tapings are free, but registration is required. Sign up here. Those interested are reminded that performances may require more than one take to complete.

We are excited to bring you another season filled with a variety of guests and different topics that include mujeres (women) at work, the importance of credit, reflecting on the impact of Hurricane Maria, defining Afro-Latino as well as more features on local restaurants, she said.

The live tapings include:

Saturday, March 9 at 2:30 p.m.

DAR & The Rebel Monks , a five-piece Latin pop rock band

Alturas Duo , an engaging ensemble performing chamber music with a unique blend of Classical and South American influences

Wednesday, March 13 at 5 p.m.

Wednesday, March 20 at 5 p.m.

Viva Quetzal , an Afro-Andean fusion band

Thursday, March 21 at 5 p.m.

PUERTOMINICANA , a dynamic female percussionist duo representing Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic

Maria Luisa Arroyo , Springfield Poet Laureate

Saturday, March 23 at 12:30 p.m.

CODA , A Latin jazz fusion ensemble offering a groove that extends from jazz standards to Afro Caribbean music

Dulce Santana & Goza a Latin musical ensemble from Latin America, Brazil and Spain

We hope guests will meet new friends in the audience, taste some traditional Latino appetizers, learn about the culture, and have fun, Pabon-Hernandez said.
Two more recreational marijuana shops may soon be open in Massachusetts, including one just outside of Boston.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission will vote on the applications of two recreational marijuana retail locations during the commissions meeting on Thursday.

The applications are for New England Treatment Access on Washington Street in Brookline and Silver Therapeutics planned shop in the Berkshire County town of Williamstown.

There are 10 recreational marijuana shops approved to operate across Massachusetts. The first to open in 2018 were New England Treatment Access location in Northampton and Cultivate Holdings in Leicester. In months since, eight other locations were approved in Easthampton, Fall River, Great Barrington, Hudson, Pittsfield, Salem and Wareham. The 10th shop, Sanctuary Medicinals in Gardner, opened this week.
AMHERST  Named after its founder, Samuel Minot Jones, the towns Jones Library will celebrate 100 years of service to the community with a year-long series of events and programs beginning with a cake-cutting in the Woodbury Room on Thursday, March 21, at 6:30 p.m.

Beginning at 9:30 a.m. that morning, patrons will have a chance to view and delicately handle some of the librarys historical archived material.

On March 21, 1919, Calvin Coolidge signed An Act to Incorporate The Jones Library, Incorporated, for the Purpose of Maintaining a Library in the Town of Amherst, the organizations website says.

The Republican Coolidge at the time was governor of Massachusetts. He was the countrys 29th president, from 1923 to 1929.

The website says: The celebration has multiple elements including monthly programs and events, historical exhibits, book displays, oral histories, and social media posts featuring fun facts about the library. There will even be a library-themed crossword puzzle! Our goal is to engage with our Amherst community in ways that will honor our history and celebrate our future.

Reading and storytelling will be a part of the celebratory events, which run through March 21, 2020.

Author Bruce Watson reads from his new book, Hearth and Soul, that recounts Jones Librarys first 100 years, on May 9. The librarys website says: Distinguished author and Jones Library patron Bruce Watson brings the history of the Jones Library to life, as the decades changed Amherst from a conservative farming community into a vibrant college town where, residents proudly proclaimed, only the H is silent.

On June 8 and 15, the Classics Book Club will read and discuss a book published in 1919, My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse.

Robert Frost poems will be read on July 18 by Stephen Collins, with discussion. The library will display the original manuscript of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Frost in the Woodbury Room that evening.

A program planned on Nov. 2, called Short Skirts, Oh My! History of Womens Rights, is described as follows on the library website:

When Abigail Adams begged her husband to remember the ladies in drafting a new code of laws, John wrote back that he could not but laugh at her extraordinary suggestion. Less than 150 years later, women were working, voting, and experiencing the first taste of freedoms unheard of just a generation earlier. In this talk, Anne Barrett traces the exciting social and historical milestones in the fight for women's rights.

A complete listing of the Jones Library events may be found at joneslibrary.org.
Massachusetts State Police seized several hundreds grams of fentanyl and arrested four people in connection with an alleged Lawrence-based drug trafficking ring.

Authorities said a joint investigation between state police, the state Attorney Generals Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration identified drug runners, accomplices and a possible stash house at 10 Kempton Court in Lawrence over the past several weeks.

On Wednesday, state police arrested 32-year-old Alex Martinez, 27-year-old Jean Carlos Marte-Velasquez, 26-year-old Genesis Fernandez and 29-year old Servino Perez-Guzman  all of Lawrence  in connection with the case.

Officials said while conducting surveillance Tuesday evening, troopers observed an alleged drug deal and stopped the involved vehicle, placing two people under arrest.

A further investigation led to a search warrant for the Kempton Court home, where police said they seized a large quantity of fentanyl, several finger presses and $1,060 in cash.

The total amount of fentanyl seized during the course of the investigation was approximately 750 grams, authorities said.

One additional suspect was placed under arrest as a result of the search warrant, and a fourth defendant was arrested at a separate location, according to state police.

The four defendants were charged with drug trafficking and arraigned in Lawrence District Court Wednesday.
The Boston City Council is putting a spotlight on the safety of women in the citys clubs and bars, following the recent abductions of two women from local nightspots.

Twenty-three-year-old Olivia Ambrose was found alive after being abducted from Hennessys bar on Jan. 19, according to police. And Jassy Correia, a 23-year-old mother, was found dead after allegedly being kidnapped while celebrating her birthday at the downtown Venu nightclub in late February.

For City Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George, those tragedies demand a response.

@BOSCityCouncil meeting, I filed a Hearing on Patron Safety to address the culture of violence that afflicts our City.



With the murder of Jassy Correia, its clear that we need to be more proactive about addressing violence against women, esp in our nightlife venues. #bospoli pic.twitter.com/7FE6ZFhqRa  Annissa Essaibi-George (@AnnissaForBos) March 6, 2019

Essaibi-Georges hearing will take place before the councils Public Safety Committee, and representatives from the licensing board, Boston Police Department and the business community will be invited to testify. A date for the hearing has not yet been set.

The hearing notice says that it is the citys obligation to educate nightlife patrons about public safety risks, and that the city should take a more proactive approach to ensuring that people can socialize in public without threats of violence, sexual assault, kidnapping or murder.

It follows two high-profile searches for missing women who disappeared from Boston bars -- one of which ended in a rescue, and the other in tragedy.

After Ambrose went missing, a massive social media campaign and police investigation ensued until officers found her alive in the apartment of Victor Pena.

Pena has been charged with kidnapping and rape.

Correia left the club in the early morning hours of Feb. 24 and disappeared. Investigators, using surveillance footage, identified Louis Coleman as a suspect in her abduction. When he was pulled over in Delaware, Correias body was in his trunk.

Boston Police Commissioner William Gross and Mayor Marty Walsh announced their own meeting on the safety of nightlife patrons on Wednesday, focusing on ongoing concerns including the safety and wellbeing of patrons, disturbances at closing time, security, dispersal of patrons and issues regarding the operation of the licensed premises in the area." The meeting, which will include Boston police personnel, a representative from the licensing board and liquor license holders, will be held at Boston Iron Workers Union Local 7 on March 12 at 3 p.m.

Mayor Walsh and I see this as an opportunity to open a dialogue between the Boston Police, the Licensing Board and our licensees in an effort to improve public safety in and around our licensed premises across the city," Gross said in a statement.
Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday that he would be inclined to support a ban on conversion therapy for minors if it reaches his desk.

Conversion therapy tries to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. In some forms of therapy, a therapist might cause pain each time a person has a sexual reaction to someone of the same sex.

Many medical organizations have condemned conversion therapy as not being a legitimate medical treatment. More than a dozen states have banned it.

The House and Senate last year both passed a ban on conversion therapy for minors. But votes came late on the final day of the legislative session, and final votes were never taken to send the bill to Bakers desk.

The Legislature this week held a public hearing on two proposed bills to ban conversion therapy for minors.

Supporters of a ban say the practice harms gay and lesbian youth. Opponents say it is a legitimate tool to help struggling adolescents.

The bills being discussed would not apply to conversion therapy for adults.

Baker, a Republican, declined to comment on either of the specific bills. But speaking to reporters after an unrelated event in Boston, he said, If a conversion therapy bill gets to my desk and we dont see any other issue with it, its something wed be inclined to support.
HOLYOKE  The school districts graduation rate of 72 percent for the 2017-18 school year was its highest since passing the MCAS became a graduation requirement, and marked an increase of 20 percent from five years ago.

Data recently released by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education also show the dropout rate fell 23 percent, to 4.9 percent, over the same period.

Our students and educators deserve immense credit for the significant improvement in district graduation and dropout rates," Dr. Stephen Zrike, the districts state-appointed receiver and superintendent. "While more work is needed to ensure that our students are more prepared to excel in college or career opportunities, it is clear that our expanded pathways are making a profound impact on the student experience.

The states overall graduation rate  measuring the number of students who graduated in four years or less  was 87.8 for the most recent full school year, a drop of 0.5 percent from the previous year.

Except for the slight drop in 2018, the states graduation has risen steadily since 2007.

The dropout rate at the Holyoke High School North Campus was 4.4 percent, based on 58 students out of 1,332 not graduating. Holyoke High School Dean Campus showed an 8.7 percent dropout rate based on 16 students of 183 not graduating.

The school district attributes the improvements to establishing student teams to identify students at risk of dropping out and personalized, student support; new programs like credit recovery, dual enrollment, Saturday School, and the Opportunity Academy and Newcomer Program, a press release said.

Also, the district continues to build positive relationships with students, families and community stakeholders and bolster access to intervention and tutoring program for students who come up short of graduating, the release said.

Mayor Alex B. Morse, in the same statement, said he was pleased with the latest data. He noted the graduation rate stood at 49 percent when he entered office in 2012.

These improvements are a direct result of the hard-working teachers and support staff in our district, as well as the students who have responded to the positive changes implemented by the school turnaround plan, Morse said.

The mayor added that all Holyoke students deserve an excellent education that grants full access to the local economy.

We have worked to make sure there is a pathway for every student, and this news affirms that more students are finding a path that best fits their educational needs and interests, Morse said.

The school district now offers students dual-enrollment programs that allow students to earn college credits for courses taken on-site or at Holyoke Community College, Westfield State University and UMass Amherst.

In September, the school district implemented an academy model at Holyoke High School North Campus and Holyoke High School Dean Campus. The new model allows students to explore academic and career opportunities.
ORANGE - A two-alarm fire early Thursday destroyed a house at 5 Hillside Terrace, displacing 2 residents and killing a pet cat, fire officials said.

No one was home at the time of the fire, reported at around 4:15 a.m. When firefighters arrived on scene, heavy flames were visible from the 1 1/2 story ranch with an attached two-car garage, according to a statement issued by the Orange Fire Department.

The amount of flames and a collapsing ceiling prevented firefighters with hoses from entering the structure.

Conditions began to deteriorate rapidly and the roof collapsed. Firefighters searched both rear bedrooms looking for any people before confirming the two residents were away and accounted for.

Firefighters rescued one cat but another perished.

An investigation determined the fire started in the chimney attached to a wood stove.

It took roughly 3 hours to bring the fire under control, and firefighters had to contend with sub-zero temperatures that caused everything to ice over.

The American Red Cross has been called to assist displaced residents.

According to town records, the home is owned by Stephen and Joanne Walker, and has a total valuation of $131,400.

Hillside Terrace is off South Main Street near the entrance to Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School.
SPRINGFIELD  The National Park Service has named Kelly Fellner as the new superintendent of Springfield Armory National Historic Site.

Fellner will also administer Coltsville National Historical Park in Hartford, a new national park centered around the former Colt Armory factory and linked to Springfield through the firearm industry in the Connecticut River Valley.

Kelly is such a good fit for Springfield Armory and Coltsville because she values collaboration so highly, said National Park Service Northeast Region Director Gay Vietzke in a statement. She is an experienced manager who has a strong track record of building partnerships and community, and I believe she is the right person to lead Springfield Armory. Additionally, her experience working with new and emerging parks in urban areas will be a great asset to the development of Coltsville.

The Springfield Armory has been lead by an interim superintendent since James Woolsey left last summer to take the job overseeing Great Basin National Park in Nevada.

Home to the Benton Small Arms Collection, one of the largest collections of military small arms in the world, the Springfield Armory draws more than 26,000 visitors a year. It has amassed the collection as a three-dimensional reference library and it is now available to historians and researchers.

I look forward to working with the committed employees, volunteers, and community partners of Springfield Armory National Historic Site and Coltsville National Historical Park, said Fellner in a news release. Parks rely on a complex network of municipalities, agencies, and community groups. Together, we can preserve the architecture and stories of technology and human innovation of both Springfield Armory and the new park we are creating together in the Coltsville Historic District.

Fellner has worked for the National Park Service for 30 years.

Since 2015, she has served as assistant superintendent at Fire Island National Seashore, overseeing, partnerships, planning, and public affairs.

Prior to that, she spent five years as the Northeast Region youth and volunteer programs manager, where she increased the number of partnership programs as well as the funding for service and work opportunities for diverse youth.

Fellner was also chief of visitor services and youth engagement at Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, supervisory park ranger at Longfellow National Historic Site, lead ranger at Olmsted National Historic Site, park ranger at Lowell National Historic Park and Tsongas Industrial History Center, and historian with National Register programs in the Intermountain Region.

She also had temporary assignments as superintendent at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area and assistant superintendent at Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Fellner holds a masters degree in public history and museum administration from Northeastern University and a bachelor of arts in history and anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
SUNDERLAND  Mark Klempner, the 63-year-old Greenfield man whose body was recovered from Mount Toby on Sunday, is being remembered as a devoted father, an accomplished musician and writer and an active member of the Jewish community.

The Northwestern district attorneys office is continuing to investigate along with Sunderland police, and has released few details on the circumstances of Klempners death.

Hopefully we will have some answers  who, what when and where  real soon, said Police Chief Erik Demetropoulos.

Klempners body was found near the cave trails of Mount Toby by hikers, and police were notified of the discovery at about 12:45 p.m. First responders staged along Route 47 for the recovery effort, which took approximately four hours and was hindered by the terrain and cold temperatures.

Buckland residents Janice Sorensen and her husband, Michael Hoberman, got to know Klempner last spring when he stayed at their home, through Airbnb, for several months. They grew to be friends.

He was energetic and interesting to talk to, said Hoberman. He knew about a lot of things and had a lot of interesting life experiences.

Klempner had moved to the area from Costa Rica to be closer to his two young children and found work as a substitute teacher in Greenfield. He ultimately moved there.

Sorensen and Hoberman said they had heard news reports on the recovery of the body  before Klempners name was released  and wondered if it was somebody they knew. They later learned that was indeed the case.

Its just a repulsive shock, Sorensen said. I feel so ill thinking about his kids.

Both Sorensen and Hoberman said they were struck by how close Klempner was to his children, a girl and a boy.

He was a very, very committed father, said Sorensen. He was patient with his kids.

He was very involved with them, said Hoberman. When he had them over he would interact with them a lot. He played ball with them, he would read to them.

Klempner, a prolific writer, wrote a book called The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage. Hoberman said Klempner went to the Netherlands and interviewed Dutch people who risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazis.

He basically tells their stories, Hoberman said. Its an inspiring book in the sense that it that it holds a light that in dark times there is this goodness in people that comes out.

In the short time that he lived in Western Massachusetts, Klempner grew to be active in the Jewish community. Thats a very important part of who he was and what he cared about, Hoberman said.

Hoberman said Klempner, an accomplished guitarist, left his family home when he was about 17 and went to Los Angeles to pursue his musical dreams. He was in the midst of writing another book, a memoir, on his experiences there in the 1970s and 1980s.

Both Sorensen and Hoberman had no information on the circumstances surrounding Klempners death beyond what has been released by the district attorneys office and police. Its mystifying, Hoberman said.

Hoberman said he last spoke to Klempner about a week ago and that he was poised to go to Boston the following day for a job interview with Teach For America with the hopes of landing a teaching job in Holyoke. Hoberman never learned how the interview went.
SPRINGFIELD  The Melha Shriners fraternal organization announcement on Thursday that it has sold its long-term clubhouse at 133 Longhill St., in Forest Park as it copes with declining membership and seeks a smaller location.

The sale of the property to Breakthrough Worship Center of Springfield ends one era and begins another, said 2019 Melha Potentate Daniel Smith, in a prepared release. A March 25 closing date on the sale is expected.

With our membership continuing to decline, it was not financially viable to remain in such a large building, Smith said. Even though the Melha Shriners will be selling our iconic building and home for the last 60 years, we still have every intent to continue and/or increase a vibrant presence in our community.

The sale price was not being disclosed pending the closing, a spokesman said.

The Melha Shriners will relocate to temporary office space at the Clarion Hotel in West Springfield until a new, permanent location can be found, officials said.

The Melha Shriners announced in July of 2017 that it had voted to sell the Longhill Street property due to shrinking membership and growing expenses. The fraternity had numbered nearly 4,000 in the late 1970s, and now numbers less than 1,000. Smith said.

We are very pleased that our buyers, and their planned use of the property, is consistent with the residential character of our Forest Park neighborhood.

Attempts to reach Breakthrough Worship Center for details on their plans were unsuccessful.

Breakthrough Worship Center describes itself as a non-profit, Christian church, founded in August 2015 on its Facebook page.

The Shriners primary purpose is to raise money for Shriners Hospitals for Children, such as the facility on Carew Street in Springfield.

The Shriners were chartered in Springfield inn 1898, and purchased the former Dwight W. Ellis property on Longhill Street in the late 1950s.

The Melha Shriners are planning a commemorative event on Saturday, March 16, at the Longhill Street site at 5 p.m., . The event includes a cornerstone from the building being removed with the hope the Masonic Brothers left something to find, the Shriners said.

Complimentary tickets can be obtained by calling the office at 413-736-3647.
Two members of law enforcement were reportedly shot Thursday afternoon at the Boston Police firing range on Moon Island in Quincy Bay.

Boston Police received a report at 1:57 p.m. of two people shot at the firing range, Boston Police public information officer Kim Tavares said. Neither were members of Boston Police.

More than likely it is accidental," Tavares said.

According to WCVB, who first reported the shooting, both victims are members of an outside law enforcement agency.

Both victims were federal court officers and their injuries are non-life threatening, WBZ-TV journalist Cheryl Fiandaca reported.

Sources : 2 Federal Court officers shot at #Boston police gun range on #MoonIsland appears to be accidental. Non-life threatening injuries #WBZ  Cheryl Fiandaca (@CherylFiandaca) March 7, 2019

This is a developing story.
Scarborough Leader

Funding for the project would come from a bond and through a capital campaign.
The trial and incarceration of Michelle Carter, the Massachusetts woman convicted of involuntary manslaughter for pressuring her boyfriend into killing himself, is the focus of an upcoming HBO documentary.

I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth Vs. Michelle Carter is set to come out later this year.

The trailer for the film highlights some of the text messages Carter sent her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III, on the night she encouraged him to kill himself before his eventual suicide.

Roy, who was 18, was found dead in a Fairhaven Kmart parking lot on July 13, 2014, after he turned on a gas-powered water pump and allowed his truck to fill with carbon monoxide. Carter was 17 at the time.

Thousands of messaged between the two were used as evidence in the trial, and Carter was found guilty by a judge on June 16, 2017. She was sentenced to 15 months in jail, though her sentenced was stayed until February 2019 as she appealed the verdict.

The trial gained national attention as the spotlight focused on if Carter could be held responsible with the messages she sent.
A recently revealed video of a police officer in Springfield grabbing a student by the neck, handcuffing, and arresting him indicates the need for stronger policies to govern the behavior of the police in our schools, and to bring more transparency and accountability to the system.

Beyond trauma on kids, stress, and the financial toll on families who miss work to show up for court, school-based arrests generate unmeasurable social costs. Arrests drive kids out of school, increasing the likelihood of further court involvement: a first-time arrest doubles the odds a student drops out. Sadly, for many young people of color, schools are doing a better job preparing them for a lifetime of involvement within the criminal justice system than for college.

Neighbor to Neighbor has been advocating for years to improve the memorandum of understanding (MOU) now in place between the police department and the schools in anticipation of an incident like this one. Weve met with school committee members and school officials, explained our concerns, and provided model language, but our requests have been repeatedly denied.

To be clear, under the current MOU, there is no excuse for the actions of the police officer who assaulted the student. And in fact, school arrests have dropped significantly over the past several years, largely due to the expansion of a diversion program. Mayor Domenic Sarno and Superintendent Daniel Warwick deserve credit for this progress, and they have touted it as a reason that no significant changes to the MOU are necessary. We disagree. Despite recent improvements, we believe we can do better by our children.

One of our concerns is that the reduction in school arrests is the result of changes in the behavior of some individual officers but not cemented in policy. Weve long been concerned that unless any improvements are memorialized in the MOU, they may vanish if we get a new mayor, superintendent, or police commissioner. Now that Commissioner John Barbieri has retired, its more important than ever to strengthen the MOU.

One of the simple changes weve requested is a clear statement that police should not arrest students unless someones physical safety is at risk. Other school discipline matters should be dealt with by school officials. Such language is missing from the current agreement.

The Attorney Generals Office, Executive Office of Public Safety, and Department of Secondary Education recently developed a model MOU to help municipalities adopt policies that are in line with a new state law meant to reduce school arrests. The state law says that MOUs must be updated to state that officers shall not use police powers to address traditional school discipline issues, including non-violent disruptive behavior. Yet no such change has been made in Springfield.

Weve also asked city officials for more transparency. The number of students arrested, their race, and disability status should be shared with the public on a regular basis. That way, members of the public know what is going on in our schools. There should also be a simple mechanism put in place to allow parents, students, and administrators to submit complaints about problem officers.

Finally, information about the existing diversion program, including the policies that govern it, demographics on which students participate, and how success is measured, should be shared with parents and the public.

Springfield has said it will not update its current MOU until its expiration in 2021. However, the MOU is already out of compliance with the new state law, and the recent video at Commerce High School proves its time to take action now, to make sure that such an incident never takes place again.

Zulmalee Rivera is an organizer for Neighbor to Neighbor, Springfield.
SOUTHWICK - A fire in the back of a trash truck has resulted in both lanes of College Highway being closed to traffic while firefighters trying to extinguish the flames.

According to police, the fire in the back of the trash hopper is difficult to reach and extinguish.

Photos from the scene show a large trash truck with heavy smoke coming from the rear trash storage area.

The truck is located near Valvoline ExpressCare at 657 College Highway.

Traffic is being detoured at Feeding Hills Road and at Sunnyside Road. Police said at 3:30 p.m. that the detour will be in place for north and south traffic for at least two hours.

College Highway, or Route 202, is the main route through Southwick, connecting with Westfield to the north and Enfield, Connecticut to the south.
BOSTON - A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Wednesday to charges that he tried to arrange contract killings of three people while he was an inmate at the Essex County House of Correction.

Mason Stickney, 21, of the Byfield section of Newbury, admitted to three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce in the commission of a murder-for-hire.

The facility of interstate commerce in question was a telephone at the county jail, over which Stickney negotiated with a man in a murder-for-hire plot.

U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper has scheduled sentencing for June 13. Stickney could be sentenced to up to 10 years in federal prison for each count.

According to prosecutors, the plot began in October 2017, when Stickney was being held in custody at the Essex County House of Correction on unrelated charges.

During this time he approached another inmate and sought his help in finding someone to kill three people on Stickneys behalf. The three people were identified as a police officer, a restaurateur, and a student. The other inmate notified officials at the jail. Investigators arranged for the other inmate to provide Stickney with the telephone number of a would-be hitman who was actually an undercover agent.

According to prosecutors, Stickney was recorded in telephone and in-person conversations arranging details for when and how the murders were to be committed. He promised to pay the hitman $10,000 as soon as he was released from jail.

He also offered to kill any three people the hitman wanted killed.
Despite falling short in their initial push to overturn the FCCs roll back of net neutrality protections, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and congressional Democratic leaders stressed this week that they remain committed to restoring the Obama-era internet regulations.

Markey, a vocal critic of the Federal Communications Commissions December 2017 repeal vote, joined House and Senate Democrats Wednesday in announcing the 2019 version of his Save the Internet Act, which would codify the 2015 Open Internet Order requiring companies providing broadband connections to act in the public interest and not use unjust business practices.

The Massachusetts Democrat, who will lead his chambers push to restore net neutrality protections, argued that the legislation is needed to overturn the Trump FCCs wrongheaded decision."

When we talk about a free and open internet, we mean an internet that is free from corporate control and open to anyone to communicate, innovate and connect, he said in a statement. 'Net neutrality ensures that when you pay your monthly bill to your internet service provider, you are able to access all content on the web at the same speed as your neighbor or big corporations."

The senator stressed that whether in the halls of Congress or the halls of the courts, (Democrats) will not stop fighting until net neutrality is fully restored.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, agreed that Democrats are fighting for everyone who relies on the free and open internet."

Contending that the 2017 FCC vote handed the big internet service providers the car keys and left American families and small businesses standing on the sidewalk, he urged Republicans to join Democrats in their push to restore net neutrality.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, added that it was an honor to join Democrats in both chambers in seeking to end what she called the Trump assault on net neutrality.

Markeys latest bill calls for enacting three net neutrality principles: no blocking, no throttling and no paid prioritization when it comes to online service, his office noted.

It also, among other things, seeks to empower the FCC to prohibit unjust, unreasonable and discriminatory practices" and restore the commissions authority to fund broadband access and deployment, particularly for rural communities, officials said.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, is among the 40-plus Democrats who have signed on as co-sponsors to the Senate proposal.

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pennsylvania, meanwhile, will lead Democrats efforts to pass a companion measure in the House.

Democrats renewed focus on restoring net neutrality protections comes one year after Markey filed a resolution to block implementation of the FCC-approved Restoring Internet Freedom order, which rolled back Obama-era internet rules.

Although the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate approved Markeys Congressional Review Act resolution on a 52 to 47 vote, the House failed to take up the measure -- leaving the 2017 regulations in place.

Critics of the FCCs Restoring Internet Freedom order have raised concerns that it could lead to internet service providers slowing down, blocking online traffic or setting up internet fast lanes.

By contrast, supporters of the 2017 regulations, which restore the classification of broadband internet access service as an information service, have argued that they were needed to address the heavy-handed, utility-style regulation on internet service providers the commission imposed in 2015 -- rules which they argued led to a drop in broadband investment and stifled innovation.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined congressional Democrats this week in reintroducing a bill that looks to reduce college costs and address growing student debt through new federal grants and other incentives.

The Massachusetts Democrat, who is running for president in 2020, signed on as a co-sponsor to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatzs, D-Hawaii, Debt-Free College Act -- legislation that calls for tackling college affordability through a new state-federal education funding partnership.

Warren, a former Harvard professor, lauded her Senate colleague for again putting forth the bill, which would provide a dollar-for-dollar federal match to state higher education appropriations in exchange for a commitment to help students pay down college costs without having to take on debt.

It also looks to give federal Pell Grant eligibility to DREAMer students, or those who came to the country illegally as children, and repeal suspension of eligibility under the 1965 Higher Education Act for drug-related offenses, according to the bills text.

Every student deserves a chance to get a college education without being crushed by debt, Warren said in a statement. Thats why Im glad to join my colleagues in reintroducing the Debt-Free College Act, which would allow our students to build an economic future for themselves and their families.

Arguing that the full cost of college extends beyond tuition and includes room and board, books and other supplies, Schatz said his proposal brings states back to the table and leverages federal dollars to reinvest in public education" to help people cover such expenses.

Warrens office noted that tuition, board and other college costs have led 44 million Americans to take on more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt -- a 170 precent increase since 2006.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, meanwhile, has suggested that student loan debt may be responsible for up to 35 percent of the recent decline in home ownership among young adults. The Pew Research Center, in turn, found that about half of student borrowers say their loans increase their risk of defaulting on other bills, according to Warrens office.

Warren is not the only 2020 Democratic White House hopeful to come out in support of Schatzs bill. U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris, D-California; Cory Booker,D-New Jersey; and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, are also among the measures nine original Senate co-sponsors.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, D-Boston, meanwhile, has signed on as a co-sponsor of a companion measure introduced in the U.S. House.

Schatz introduced similar legislation in March 2018, which failed to make it out of the Senates Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Warren and eight other Senate Democrats also co-sponsored that measure.
Paul Manafort, President Donald Trumps former campaign chairman, is set to appear in a Virginia federal court Thursday afternoon for his first round of sentencing for charges brought as part of Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian election meddling.

The 69-year-old political operative, who will go before U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, faces up to 24 years in prison for failing to pay taxes on income he earned as a Ukrainian political consultant and defrauding banks and the government.

Manaforts lawyers, in a recent sentencing memo, asked the judge to give their client less prison time, arguing that the courts 19- to 24-year guideline is clearly disproportionate to the offense conduct for which Mr. Manafort was convicted.

They added that a sentence substantially below the range calculated by probation is warranted in light of the fact that the defendant is a first-time offender and given the nature of the offenses for which Mr. Manafort was convicted.

His attorneys further cited his age, health and cooperation with Muellers investigation as reasons he should face a shorter sentence.

Muellers office, in a separate sentencing memo, said the government agrees with the guidelines analysis in Manaforts pre-sentence investigation report.

It added that while the government does not take a position as to the specific sentence to be imposed here, it believes Manafort acted for more than a decade as if he were above the law, and deprived the federal government and various financial institutions of millions of dollars.

The sentence here should reflect the seriousness of these crimes, and serve to both deter Manafort and others from engaging in such conduct," officials said.

Manafort was found guilty in August 2018 of eight financial crimes in a trial that came as part of the special counsels investigation into Trump associates. A mistrial was declared on 10 other counts that the jury could not reach a consensus on.

The former Trump campaign chairman later pleaded guilty in September 2018 to a new set of federal conspiracy charges as part of a cooperation agreement with Muellers office.

Last month, however, a federal judge ruled that Manafort lied to prosecutors in three of five areas alleged by Muellers office, breaching the cooperation deal -- something that could impact his March 13 sentencing in that case.

The former Trump campaign official denied intentionally lying after striking the agreement.

The New York Times, meanwhile, recently reported that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. may also bring charges against Manafort.
AGAWAM -- Need to Impeach, a national effort which seeks to push President Donald Trump out of the White House, announced this week that it will hold its rescheduled Western Massachusetts town hall on Wednesday.

Officials with the progressive organization said Need to Impeach founder and billionaire Tom Steyer will hold an evening town hall-style event at Chez Josef in Agawam on March 13.

Doors for the town hall, which is free and open to the public, will open at 6:15 p.m., organizers noted.

Steyer was initially set to address constituents of Massachusetts 1st Congressional District at a February Need to Impeach town hall in Springfield, an event which was postponed due to concerns over inclement weather.

Despite the forecast, he made his case for Trumps impeachment, as well as took aim at U.S. Rep. Richard Neals failure to request the presidents tax returns, in a meeting with The Republicans editorial board.

Steyer told reporters that he did not understand why Neal, a Springfield Democrat, has yet to use his power has the House Ways and Means Committees chairman to formally seek Trumps tax information.

Neal has rejected Steyers call for him to speed up his efforts to request Trumps tax information, as well as a Need to Impeach ad campaigns push for him and other Democrats to immediately move toward removing the president from office.

The congressman told The Republican on Monday that his committee is still working with congressional counsel on how to correctly seek the presidents tax returns, despite another U.S. House panels recent move to request a trove of documents from the White House, Trump administration officials and others.

Judiciary Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat who has also been targeted by Steyers Need to Impeach, recently sent document requests to 81 agencies, entities and individuals believed to have information relevant to" his panels investigation into Trumps alleged obstruction of justice, public corruption and other abuses of power."
Manifestations a Bamenda (Photo d'archives) Archives

The National President of the opposition party, Party de L'Esprit 48 (PEA 48) has called on youths living in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon to remain patient, and stop being sacrificial lambs, as solutions to the crisis are hunted.

Mr Jean Marc Ngoss was speaking this Wednesday at a press conference in his residence in Douala, on the heels of celebrations ,marking the 12th Anniversary of his party.

" I went to the Anglophone regions and presented my 15 suggestions to settle the crisis once and for all. I suggested to the regime in power but they didnt seize the opportunity to exploit it. Right now, instead of killing themselves, the youths have to be patient and stop being sacrificial lambs. This is because, you cant put in danger lives of youths, simply to send off someone who is already about 90, said the politician.

He further regretted that if opposition parties in Cameroon were united, some problems in the country would have been easily solved.

" I called the other political parties that if no dialogue has been done on the Anglophone crisis or if the electoral code isnt modified, we should come together and boycott elections in Cameroon, but we no one came. However we should be the little light, no matter the darkness

The press conference was an opportunity for PEA 48, to present its activities for the past 12 years , while unveiling its new form of governance, which it intends to sell to the people of Cameroon, as elections approaches. Jean Marc said its party wasnt like others who cried foul all the time and carried out manifestations. He believes in using the little torch, no matter how dark a room is.

Meantime, as part of activities to mark the 34th edition of the International Womens Day, PEA 48s womens wing has organised q blood donation exercise at the Douala Regional Hospital, this Friday,8 March. The women believe in donating blood to save lives, no matter the tribes involved. They have expressed their stands for a United Cameroon and said No to Separation
Ayuk Tabe au tribunal Facebook

The court hearing against Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and Nine other Anglophone leaders have been been adjourned again.

The news of its adjournment came late Thursday after the court ruled that the incoming magistrate ,assigned to the case, will have to start all over. It is customary that any presiding who begins a court case runs it to the end but in case where he or she is assigned to other duties, the next person sitting in, will have to review the case from onset.

Therefore, the decision adjourning the case, didnt come as a surprise to many analysts. Colonel Mem Michel the former presiding judge in the affair against the ten separatist leaders standing trial at the Yaounde military tribunal was transferred to Buea, following a presidential decree signed on Tuesday, March 5.

Sisiku Ayuk and 9 others are facing 10 counts under Cameroon's anti-terrorism law. They might be handed a death penalty if proven guilty. According to. Barrister Christopher Ndong, accusations brought against his clients include acts of terrorism, advocating terrorism, secession, civil war, and revolution.

The two English-speaking regions today observed a ghost town. This is often done in solidarity ,each time the Anglophone leaders have a hearing. Some Ambazonian leaders recently called for a ghost town on Thursday and tomorrow Friday. Friday 8 will be celebrated across the country as the International Womens Day, but women in these areas have been threatened not to leave their houses for any celebrations.
Manifestations a Bamenda (Photo d'archives) Archives

A document, purportedly from Cameroon's military, showing various camps of secessionist forces (,also known as Amba Boy) has been leaked on social media.

The document specifies Amba camps and with little details on the numbers settled in, as well as how to reach the camps.The military has recently embarked on several suspected Amba camps in the North West, killing these young men for carrying out what they call, terrorist activities.

The document online suggests that some Amba camps are as populated as a village. The camp in Munka, Menchum Division, is said to have over 400 persons. Yelum in Built Division has over 500 militants, while Numbeng, one of the oldest camps is said to be thickly populated. There are some villages with over three Amba camps.

Cameroon soldiers in recent months, have recorded big wins in the killing of some separatists generals such as General Amigo and General Ivo, killed in Belo and Kumba respectively., Field Marshall Lebialem, another "general" in Kumbo, Bui division, amongst others.

Few days ago, the Ambazonian general of Muyenge village Muyuka Sub Division, Fako Division South West Region was killed alongside six of his " guards".

The multiplicity of these generals and governments target on them, has pondered many who couldn't imagine that the military would fish out these soldiers, despite the fact that most of them live in the bushes.

However, analysts have argued that the continuous killing of these boys havent led to a ceasefire. They suggest only an inclusive political dialogue, would bring a lasting solution to the crisis.

Meantime, the case pitting the state of Cameroon and some Ambazonian leaders arrested and deported from Nigeria, will be heard today.
Though generally safer than open surgeries, minimally invasive vascular procedures have a number of possible complications. One major complication is an internal bleeding or blood extravasation from a ruptured or dissected vessel, typically caused when working with large instruments and devices, and something that a physician may not even notice until the situation is already dire.

Saranas, a company out of Houston, Texas, just won FDA de novo approval for its Early Bird bleed monitoring system. The device is the only product of its kind and it is hoped that it will help to save patients when transcatheter procedures take an unexpected turn.

The system works off of a vascular access sheath with embedded bioimpedance sensors that can detect a bleeding event and set off an alarm on the control unit.

The device is currently being piloted in a few clinical centers with the company having plans to soon begin commercial rollout of the technology.

Heres a short animation showing off the Early Birds usage:

Link: Saranas technology info page

Via: Saranas
Animals that are raised in a farm for the production of commodities such as meat, eggs, wool, fur, leather as well as for labor are known livestock animals. The term livestock was initially used in the 1650-1660. In some periods since then, livestock and cattle was used interchangeably. However, today cattle is referred to domesticated bovines while livestock has a wider reference that includes chickens, horses, rabbits, pigs, camel, goats, and cows among others. The farming of commercial products from these animals is known as animal husbandry.

Livestock farm equipment products include milking equipment, grooming equipment, egg handling equipment, and feed equipment among others. Milking equipment is a pump like equipment used to automatically milk cows and goats. Grooming equipment include grooming kits, hoof trimmers and similar equipment. Egg handling equipment is used in poultry farms to sort and transport eggs within the farm. Feed equipment is used to dispense measured quantity of feed and water for the livestock. Tagging equipment are used to tag or label the livestock while the other equipment include products such as body belts, collars and other similar equipment used to maintain the livestock. These products are used in farms such as poultry farms, dairy farms and other such similar

Request Free Sample Report@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=1066

Livestock Farm Equipment Market: Drivers and Restraints

Advancement in technology along with the developments in treatment of a variety of diseases in livestock drives the growth of the livestock farm equipments. The need for automation of a number of animal husbandry processes also drives the growth of the market. Furthermore increased demand for dairy products, leather goods and woolen products further ups the market growth. However, one of the major threats arises from the opposition from animal activist groups. Furthermore, increasing number of lactose intolerant population and the trend of conversion to vegetarians and veganism is slightly affecting the livestock farm equipment market growth.

Livestock Farm Equipment Market: Segmentation

Tentatively, the global Livestock Farm Equipment market can be segmented on the basis of product type, end users, and geography.

Based on product type, the global Livestock Farm Equipment market is segmented as:

Milking Equipment

Grooming Equipment

Egg Handling Equipment

Feed Equipment

Tagging equipment

Other Equipment

Based on end users, the global Livestock Farm Equipment market is segmented as:

Poultry Farm

Dairy Farm

Other Livestock Farm

Livestock Farm Equipment Market: Overview

The global livestock farm equipment is expected to witness moderate growth over the forecast period. Livestock farm equipment products have tough competition especially in the milking equipment and tagging equipments. The livestock farm equipments can be broadly classified based on the product type and end users. The livestock farm equipments based on product type include milking equipment, grooming equipment, egg handling equipment, feed equipment among others. The livestock farm equipments based on end users include poultry farms, dairy farms and other livestock farms.

Livestock Farm Equipment Market: Regional Outlook

Geographically, the global livestock farm equipment market is segmented into viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is expected to be the dominant market in the global Livestock Farm Equipment market owing to technology advancements, and substantial adoption of these livestock farm equipments. The Livestock Farm Equipment market in Asia Pacific excluding Japan is expected to grow at a significant CAGR due to advancement of technology that is available at low cost when compared to the U.S.

Request/View TOC@ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1066

Livestock Farm Equipment Market: Key Players

The global market for livestock farm equipment is highly fragmented. Examples of some of the key players operating in the global Livestock Farm Equipment market are HID Global, Omnia Technologies, Murray Farmcare, Bob-White Systems, Pearson International LLC, Afimilk Ltd, Cal Tag, Inc., and Allflex Australia Pty Ltd among others.

The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.

The report covers exhaustive analysis on:

Market Segments

Market Dynamics

Market Size

Supply & Demand

Current Trends/Issues/Challenges

Competition & Companies involved

Technology

Value Chain

Regional analysis includes

North America (U.S., Canada)

Latin America (Mexico, Brazil)

Western Europe (Germany, Italy, U.K, Spain, France, Nordic countries, BENELUX)

Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, Rest Of Eastern Europe)

Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (China, India, Australia & New Zealand)

Japan

Middle East and Africa (GCC, S. Africa, Rest Of MEA)

Report Highlights:

Detailed overview of parent market

Changing market dynamics in the industry

In-depth market segmentation

Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value

Recent industry trends and developments

Competitive landscape

Strategies of key players and products offered

Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth

A neutral perspective on market performance

Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint.

Report Analysis@ https://www.factmr.com/report/1066/livestock-farm-equipment-market
Viscosupplementation Market Highlights:

MRFR has segmented the global viscosupplementation market on the basis of various parameters in order to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the market. The leading players and segments dominating the global viscosupplementation market are also profiled in the report.

Viscosupplementation is a procedure used to refill the lubricating fluid in bone joints. Hyaluronic acid is a major component of viscosupplementation formulations, as hyaluronic acid is normally found abundantly in joint fluid but decreases in volume in arthritic joints. Supplementing the hyaluronic acid externally provides the patients with a stable reserve of joint fluid, which is vital in managing and combating arthritis. Viscosupplementation is used to treat knee pain, hip pain, shoulder, as well as to inhibit the progression of osteoarthritis.

Request Premium Sample Report at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/7255

The growing prevalence of arthritis and the growing geriatric population around the world are the major drivers for the global viscosupplementation market. Geriatric individuals are more likely to suffer from arthritis than younger demographics, as joints naturally deteriorate with age. The growing awareness about arthritis and increasing government efforts to combat the disease are likely to be among the major drivers for the global viscosupplementation market over the forecast period. Government support to viscosupplementation treatment has resulted in wider acceptance of the treatment method around the world, especially in developed economies. Growth of the healthcare sector in emerging regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and South America is also likely to be a major driver for the global viscosupplementation market over the forecast period, as the prevalence of arthritis in these regions is likely to grow at a steady growth rate over the coming years.

Competitive Analysis:

Leading players in the global viscosupplementation market include Sanofi, Ferring B.V., Fidia Farmaceutici, Seikagaku Corporation, Zimmer Biomet, F. Hoffman-La Roche, HTL Biotechnology, Allergan, Smith & Nephew plc, Lifecore Biomedical LLC, and Anika Therapeutics Inc.

Segmentation Analysis:

The global viscosupplementation market is segmented based on hyaluronic acid type, procedure type, application, end user, and region.

By hyaluronic acid type, the global viscosupplementation market is segmented into stabilized hyaluronic acid and standard hyaluronic acid.

By procedure type, the viscosupplementation market is segmented into single injection procedure, three injection procedure, and five injection procedure.

By application, the global viscosupplementation market is segmented into knee arthritis, hip osteoarthritis, shoulder osteoarthritis, and others.

Based on end user, the viscosupplementation market is segmented into hospitals & clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, and pharmacies.

Industry Updates:

In April 2018, the Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield reversed its previous decision to remove knee viscosupplementation shots from its insurance coverage, deciding to keep paying for the treatment while looking for additional evidence for its efficacy.

Browse Complete 90 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 80+ Respective Tables and Figures at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/viscosupplementation-market-7255

Regional Analysis:

The global viscosupplementation market is segmented by region into the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa.

The Americas is likely to be the major regional segment of the global viscosupplementation market over the forecast period due to the growing prevalence of arthritis and the growing adoption of viscosupplementation. The rising adoption of sedentary lifestyles and lack of physical exercise is likely to be a major factor driving the prevalence of arthritis in North America, thus driving the viscosupplementation market in the region. The growing government support to the adoption of viscosupplementation in government healthcare agencies is also likely to be a major driver for the viscosupplementation market in the Americas over the forecast period. Europe is also likely to be a major regional market for viscosupplementation procedures over the forecast period due to the growing prevalence of arthritis in the region and widespread acceptance of viscosupplementation.

Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit rapid growth in the global viscosupplementation market over the forecast period due to the growing demand for viscosupplementation in the regions emerging economies.

About US:

Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

Contact Us:

Market Research Future

Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers

Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar,

Pune  411028

Maharashtra, India

Phone: +1 646 845 9312

Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, March 7, 2019

The last time I checked, actors were real people too.

What do the makers of TV commercials featuring real people, not actors think actors are? Robots? Automatons? Extraterrestrials?

The meaning of this wording in commercials such as the real people Chevrolet series (pictured above) is clear enough. The commercials are saying these participants are just like you and me. Their reactions are not forced, contrived or otherwise acted, supposedly.

But might there be a better way to say it than with wording indicating that actors are something other than people? Perhaps the wording could simply say: These people are not actors.

And by the way, for all we know, one or more of the real people in these commercials are actors -- only they are not practicing their craft in the commercials.

advertisement advertisement

Think of it like this: Maybe some of the people in the commercials are typists or iron workers or firefighters. But in the commercials, they do none of these things. If an actor happens to be chosen for one of these real people spots, the TV Blog is confident that an actor can put his or her acting on hold for the duration of these commercials and let his or her real self shine through.

The integrity of actors is also besmirched when commercials go the opposite way and include wording that informs the rest of us that the people in commercials are actors. Typically, you will see someone costumed as a doctor or dentist, but wording placed discreetly onscreen will say actor portrayal.

Thus, actors are positioned here as fake professionals who are on hand because no real doctors or dentists could be found who would agree to make these commercials claims. These actor portrayals then call the entire commercials into serious question. This is not the fault of actors, however, who are doing the best they can with the material they are given.

It should come as a surprise to no one that as a profession, acting is a tough career to take up. Actors need work, even if the roles are simply being themselves (real people) or playing doctors and dentists making claims that real professionals won't touch.

Speaking of language issues on television, the TV Blog has long noted that the way locations are identified on TV -- specifically in scripted TV dramas here -- is cumbersome, wordy and in many cases, ridiculous.

This happens constantly. You're watching a far-flung drama in which the action moves from city to city, and on screen you are reading words such as Moscow, Russia or London, England or New York, New York or New Orleans, Louisiana.

The pictures setting the scene along with the words include widely recognizable landmarks such as Moscows famous onion domes, or Big Ben in London, or Times Square in New York. The country or state designation is superfluous and even slightly insulting.

As for New Orleans, Louisiana, everyone knows this is the New Orleans they are likely seeing. There is no need to remind us that this is the New Orleans that is in Louisiana.

Do the makers of these shows think that somehow a viewer might mistake Paris, France -- identified by the Eiffel Tower or some other globally recognized landmark -- with Paris, Texas, if they neglect to append France to the city's name?

It could be that the producers of these shows either doubt the basic intelligence of their audiences, or they simply have no background in writing according to widely accepted styles that have been long adopted by journalists. Among these is the tradition that a number of major cities around the world do not require state or country designations when used in datelines or within story copy.

Oh, well. Trivial as these points might seem, the TV Blog always remains hopeful that some of these suggestions and observations will make their way to the powers that be in Los Angeles. Oh, by which I mean Los Angeles, California, in case you are wondering.
Walgreens has launched Feel More Like You, a pharmacy, health and beauty service designed to help people with cancer deal with the physical and and medical changes that cancer treatment can cause.

The wider launch will cover 3,000 stores -- a little less than a third of all Walgreens -- and follows a pilot program of 100 stores Walgreens initiated last spring.

The announcement came the same day the FDA scolded Walgreens for a bad record of allowing minors to buy tobacco products.

Feel More Like You gives cancer victims the opportunity to get cosmetic advice from 3,000 beauty consultants Walgreens has specially trained to advise patients about how to deal with the physical changes treatments can cause, like dry skin and discolorations, the loss of eyebrows and eyelashes, changes to nails and cuticles and sunlight sensitivities.

advertisement advertisement

Walgreens has also given 12,000 pharmacists training about knowledgeably recommending over-the-counter products to help manage side effects like skin rash, increased fatigue, mouth sores and dry mouth.

The drugstore chain produced a commercial that ends with a new tagline and hashtag, Battle Beautifully. Walgreens has also added information for cancer victims on its website.



The pharmacists and beauty staff received specific empathy training from Cancer Support Community, which, along with the Look Good Feel Better Foundation, helped Walgreens devise the program.

Our organization pioneered training techniques to help cancer patients manage the visible side effects of treatment, so the opportunity to train thousands of Walgreens beauty consultants was something we were eager to support, said Louanne Roark, executive director of the Look Good Feel Better Foundation.

Walgreens also helps to raise millions of dollars each year for cancer-related organizations like Susan G. Komen, Stupid Cancer and LLS (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society).

Last year, Walgreens received a patent for new proprietary technology, called Walgreens Connected Care Oncology, that its pharmacists can use to counsel patients using oral oncology medicines, called oncolytics, at home.



The Feel More Like You program is a feel-good cancer story Walgreens can be telling.

But on Monday, the FDA also came down hard on 40 companies, including Walgreens, it said had a poor track record of failing to keep minors from obtaining tobacco products.

Though Walgreens wasnt anywhere near the worst, the FDAs monitoring found 22% of Walgreens stores sold tobacco to underage consumers the FDA sent into stores. (Its chief rival, CVS drugstores, stopped selling cigarettes in 2014.)

The FDA singled out Walgreens because the company positions itself as a health-and-wellness-minded business."

Walgreens said it has a zero-tolerance policy about selling minors tobacco products and it has lowered the visibility of the products in some stores and promoted smoking cessation programs.
by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, March 7, 2019

Microsoft began rewarding users years ago for conducting a search on Bing, and recently made an Android Launcher available through the app store that rewards people, too. Now Google has introduced an in-app program in Google Play that rewards users for watching advertisements.

Rewards Products, an in-game currency or bonuses platform, enables developers to build in a feature that allows those using their app to earn money for each ad viewed.

The first rewarded product will support the video format. App users can choose to watch a video advertisement. When complete, they are rewarded with virtual goods or in-game currency. For example, the user selects "watch ad, views the video, and then is granted 100 coins.

Earnings made must exceed $100 before payment is redeemed. Earned balances must meet $10.

The idea is to get mobile android developers to use Googles tool set and build the feature into their apps. Developers can add rewarded products to any app, not just video games, without using an extra SDK. The feature relies on AdMob technology.

advertisement advertisement

Developers will find the option to create rewarded products under the in-app products section in the Play Console. Google has set some lengthy guidelines, and has provided detailed information on how to monetize the apps.

Blocking ads is another feature. Developers can block specific apps from advertising in their own app by searching for a specific app package name or by using a comma-separated list for multiple apps. About 500 is the maximum number of apps the developer can block across all of specific apps and one account.

Using the Play Console, developers can review the app's financial data to see sales, manage products and subscriptions, and monitor how rewarded products perform. Revenue data is based on estimated sales, the amount paid by buyers, including tax.

Ads may not always be available to serve up in the app, per Google. The selection of Ads Content Rating, Category blocks, and App blocks also will impact the amount of advertisements available.
L'opposant camerounais Maurice Kamto photographie le 14 aout 2018. AFP/Archives/Reinnier KAZE

The Mfoundi High Court in Yaounde has rejected an appeal of Habeas Corpus to the National president of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), made by his lawyers.

The decision taken this Thursday, by the presiding judge, implies Maurice Kamto and some sympathisers of his party, would stay in detention while waiting for the second case at the Yaounde Military Tribunal.

Maurice Kamto and some seven other members of his party were at the Mfoundi High Court late February, where their lawyers applied for their unconditional release. Reports say a good number of party symthisers had turned out at the court premises to give support to the opposition leader.

The main opposition leader Maurice Kamto was arrested in January along with some 200 members of his party across Cameroon. He has been charged with sedition, insurrection and inciting violence, for organising protests across the country.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 7, 2019

Tech company VidAngel, which operated a supposedly family friendly streaming video service, infringed movie studios' copyright, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The decision marks another in a string of defeats for VidAngel, which briefly operated a $1 streaming video service that allowed users to censor nudity or violence from videos. VidAngel, which launched in 2015, purchased DVDs like "The Martian" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," and then streamed them from its own servers, without obtaining licenses from the studios. In some cases, those films weren't otherwise available for on-demand viewing.

Disney, Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox sued VidAngel in June of 2016, arguing that the startup was infringing copyright by streaming programs without a license.

VidAngel said its service was protected by the Family Movie Act, a 2005 law intended to enable parents to censor movies. The Family Movie Act appears to create an exemption to copyright infringement laws when people tinker with legally acquired DVDs in order to mute or hide "limited portions of audio or video content."

advertisement advertisement

In late 2016, U.S. District Court Judge Andre Birotte Jr. in Los Angeles enjoined VidAngel from operating while the lawsuit was pending.

The company then unsuccessfully appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the injunction. The appellate judges rejected VidAngel's analysis of the Family Movie Act, ruling that the company's interpretation of the law would severely erode the rights of content creators.

The judges who issued and upheld the injunctions found that VidAngel was likely to lose its case, but didn't definitively rule that the company infringed copyright.

Last year, the studios asked Birotte to officially find that VidAngel infringed copyright.

VidAngel countered that it was entitled to a trial, where it could press its arguments about the Family Movie Act. The company argued that the 9th Circuit judges based their decision to uphold the injunction on an undeveloped factual record.

Birotte rejected that request on Wednesday, ruling that the company hadn't shown that anything had changed since the earlier decisions.

Birotte hasn't yet ruled on how much VidAngel owes the studios in damages. The company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2017, is now operating a different filtering service that allows people to screen out objectionable material from Amazon, Netflix and other streaming video providers. VidAngel stated Wednesday that Birotte's decision doesn't impact the current service.
A new large-scale Danish study searches for connections between autism and the MMR vaccine. In particular, they investigate at-risk individuals. Once again, no links are found. Share on Pinterest The latest study to look at MMR vaccines and autism goes an extra step. The furor surrounding vaccines and their relationship with autism has been rumbling along for decades. A paper published in 1998 first described a link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Both the findings and the lead researchers have since been entirely discredited . Anyone who takes an interest in science might be asking whether we need to carry out any more research in defense of the MMR jab. After all, strong evidence has already been collected, confirmed , and replicated .

Facts upon facts The author of the study that sparked the storm, Andrew Wakefield, has since been stripped of his clinical and academic credentials. Vaccination rates dropped after the panic began, and they still have not returned to the levels needed to protect children from disease adequately. The authors of the latest study write that Measles outbreaks are not uncommon in Europe and in the United States, and vaccine hesitancy or avoidance has been identified as a major cause. Clearly, not everyone is convinced that the MMR vaccine is safe; scare stories are difficult to forget and worryingly easy to perpetuate. By continuing to publish high-quality evidence, the fears surrounding vaccines might, one day, be extinguished once and for all.

Overturning all arguments Some people have criticized earlier studies that found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. They argue that, although the vaccine might not increase autism risk at a population level, it might make a difference for children who already have an increased risk of autism. According to the authors of the present study, another common argument is that the vaccine is associated with a regressive form of autism, leading to a clustering of cases with onset shortly after MMR vaccination. They argue that this time-sensitive interaction might not have been picked up in some of the previous work. The team of scientists set out to overturn these arguments. This week, they published their findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The researchers, from the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, took data from a Danish population registry. In all, they had access to data from 657,461 children; of these, 6,517 received an autism diagnosis during the 10-year follow-up.

The data are in, again The researchers compared autism rates in children who had received the MMR vaccination and compared them against children who had not had the jab. As expected, there was no increase in risk associated with the vaccination. Similarly, even in children with a higher risk of developing autism, the MMR vaccination made no difference. The autism risk factors that the team accounted for included having a sibling with an autism diagnosis, low birth weight, maternal age, paternal age, and smoking during pregnancy. The authors conclude: [O]ur study does not support that MMR vaccination increases the risk for autism, triggers autism in susceptible children, or is associated with clustering of autism cases after vaccination. In further analyses, they also looked for links between vaccinations other than MMR and autism; again, they found none. One of the studys main strengths is the large number of individuals included in the analysis. As the authors write, the studys size allowed them to conclude that even minute increases in autism risk after MMR vaccination are unlikely.
TORONTO

March 7, 2019

University of Calgary

Navdeep Dhaliwal

Kenneth McKinnon

Scott Walters

Kincardine, Ontario

Lesotho

Canada

October 2, 2018

/PRNewswire/ - The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. ("Supreme Cannabis" or the "Company") (TSX: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF) (FRA: 53S1), today announced the strengthening of its board of directors (the "Board") with the appointment of a new independent director, Kenneth R. McKinnon, Q.C. As an experienced corporate executive and director, Mr. McKinnon brings substantial financial oversight and business advisory experience to the Company's Board.Mr. McKinnon is currently a Partner at Citrus Capital Partners Ltd. and serves on the board of Touchstone Exploration Inc., and Alvopetro Energy Ltd. His previous director experience includes Petrominerales Ltd. and Lightstream Resources Ltd. where he served as Chairman from 2011 -2016. Mr. McKinnon also served on the Board of Governors of theand as a Director of Alberta Innovates, holding positions on the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the Compensation and Governance Committees in each organization."Mr. McKinnon brings a wealth of governance expertise and experience to our already robust board of directors," said, CEO of Supreme Cannabis. "As a management team, we benefit greatly from our Board's stewardship and oversight. This addition will be of great value as we continue to execute on our strategic imperatives for 2019 and position Supreme Cannabis for long-term growth in the international cannabis market.""I'm pleased to be joining the board of Supreme Cannabis at this important inflection point in the Company's history within an exciting and dynamic market environment," said. "As the Company embarks on a period of tremendous growth and differentiation, I look forward to working with the management team to implement the best practises in corporate governance."Following Supreme Cannabis's recent graduation to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Board reviewed its existing corporate governance and, in line with best practice, decided to increase the number of independent directors sitting on the Board. As such, the Company has also accepted the resignation of Mr., who served as a director of the Company since 2016 before becoming a member of Supreme's management team in 2018. The Board thanks Mr. Walters for his service and contribution and notes that he will continue to play a valuable role on Supreme Cannabis' senior management team as its Vice President of Corporate Development.The Supreme Cannabis Company (TSX: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF) (FRA: 53S1) is a Canadian publicly traded company committed to providing premium brands and products that proudly reflect its consumers, people and uniquely innovative culture. The Company's portfolio includes its wholly-owned subsidiary and multi-award-winning brand, 7ACRES.7ACRES is a federally licensed producer of cannabis operating inside a 440,000-square-foot facility in. 7ACRES is dedicated to providing consumers with a premium-quality product that recognizes its customers are informed, discerning and value a brand and culture that aligns with their principles. 7ACRES brand success has been reflected in its "Brand of the Year" award at the 2018 Canadian Cannabis Awards, "Best Licensed Producer Branding" award at the 2018 AdCann Advertising Awards and in provincial supply agreements where 7ACRES' product is consistently listed in the highest brand category available to recreational consumers.The Company's growing portfolio also includes an equity investment and long-term global distribution partnership with-based Medigrow for the exporting of medical-grade cannabis oil.The Supreme Cannabis Company has been a leading innovator in the sector including the design of growing facilities and development of operational excellence metrics. We are confident that together with our flagship brand, proprietary technology and products, truly unique culture, and industry-leading team, we will deliver our shareholders consistent long-term value creation.For more information, please visit The Supreme Cannabis Company and 7ACRES websites.Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.Certain statements made in this press release may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. These statements may relate to anticipated events or results including statements that are not historical facts. Particularly, information regarding our expectations of future results, targets, performance achievements, prospects or opportunities is forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "believe", "estimate", "plan", "could", "should", "would", "outlook", "forecast", "anticipate", "foresee", "continue" or the negative of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements are current as of the date they are made and are based on applicable estimates and assumptions made by us at the relevant time in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. However, we do not undertake to update any such forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws in. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Information Form dated("AIF"). A copy of the AIF and the Company's other publicly filed documents can be accessed under the Company's profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com. The Company cautions that the list of risk factors and uncertainties described in the AIF is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect its results. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/supreme-cannabis-strengthens-board-of-directors-with-the-appointment-of-kenneth-r-mckinnon-300808152.html



SOURCE The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc.




All the desi grooms out there, there's a piece of great news for all of you. A multi-millionaire father is looking for a groom for his daughter who he says is single, virgin and can speak multiple languages.

Meet 58-year-old Arnon Rodthong, a multi-millionaire from Thailand, who owns a huge durian (yep, the smelliest fruit on the face of the earth) farm in a province in southern Thailand.

 Facebook

Just like any other father in the world, Arnon too is concerned about his 26-year-old daughter, Karnsita Rodthong's marriage and future. So, he decided to take the matter into his own hands and made a bizarre and inescapable offer for his future son-in-law.

Arnon has announced to offer 10 million baht (Rs. 2.19 crore approx.) as well as his entire estate to the man who marries his daughter. In fact, he is even willing to waive off the 'dowry fee' that a groom is expected to pay to his future wife (it's a part of the custom in some parts of Thailand).

 Facebook

According to Arnon, Karnsita helps him run the family business, can speak fluent English and Chinese and is a virgin. "I want someone to take care of my business and make it last. I don't want a person with a bachelor's, or master's or philosopher's degree," he said. He further added, "I want a diligent man. I just want someone with a hard-working attitude. That's all." What's more, there are no restrictions on the future groom's nationality, as long as they 'work hard and make Karnsita happy'.

 Facebook

While the dad has plans of giving it all to his future son-in-law, his daughter seems to have plans of her own on how she wants to use that money.

Reportedly, Karnsita, who is overwhelmed by all the attention she is getting after her father's offer, hints that her future husband might have to struggle to take out money from her father because she would "like to use it herself for plastic surgery in Korea."

Well, now we're curious about that lucky guy who will get Karnsita, 10 million baht and huge durian farms.
Samsung launched the company's latest flagship devices for India, however, many users were also interested to know more about the Galaxy Fold.

The foldable smartphone is expected to go on sale in April and it seems like there will only be limited units available for purchase.

The foldable smartphone's India availability remained a mystery, however, the company has now confirmed that the 'Galaxy Fold' will come to India.

 YouTube/Samsung

Speaking to select journalists, Dj Koh, President and CEO of Samsung's IT and Mobile Communications Division said that the Galaxy Fold will launch in India, without revealing any more details.

Indian market is, I clearly said, most important market  not only investment and everything, my long-term commitment is towards the market. In this market, why will I not deliver my newest technology innovation? Yes, I will do, Koh said to Gagets360 in an interview.

Samsung has not revealed the exact launch date of the smartphone, however, reports suggest that it could launch sometime in May.

There's a good chance that the Galaxy Fold will be more expensive in India as it may not be manufactured here. Koh confirmed that Samsung would like to manufacture the phone in India, to keep the costs low. "Because of taxes, we must make it in India, to sell in India," he added

Samsung is also working with Indian telecom companies for a smooth roll-out of 5G smartphones. There's a good chance that Samsung may launch the 5G version of the Galaxy S10 when it deems fit.

India is already a very important market for Samsung as the company has already set up the world's biggest manufacturing plant in India. Some of Galaxy S10's camera features were also developed in India thanks to the company's R&D team in Bengaluru.

 YouTube/Samsung

It's awesome to see Samsung launch the Galaxy Fold in India, however, it would be prudent for the company to keep a realistic price.

Having said that, the Galaxy Fold is going to be the company's most premium device and will demand a hefty price tag. It already carries a price tag of $1980 (approx Rs. 1,40,000) and is expected to cost even more in India.

Source: Gadgets360
| BY Ricki Green |

With just 16 days until the NSW Election, Keep Sydney Open is calling on the advertising and creative community to show their support for a more creative Sydney.

Keep Sydney Open, which began as a movement five years ago in response to the failed lockout laws, has evolved into a political party with its sights on winning seats in the NSW Upper House on 23 March. KSO will also contest 42 seats around the state.

By offering an important counter-balance to the current ideology and close-minded thinking of the NSW Government  which is costing the Sydney economy $16bn annually  Keep Sydney Open is fighting to create a global city that is open to ideas, open to opportunity and open to new ways of working.

Says Jess Miller (above centre), who is a candidate on the Upper House ticket for Keep Sydney Open, and who has worked in agency land for the past 10 years: The close-minded approach to city and place-making by the NSW Government is damaging Sydneys global competitiveness and economy. It is causing many of our colleagues in the creative community to move to LA, London and Melbourne.

This has significant knock-on effects to the creative and media sector, which is why we are asking the members of our community, people who are as frustrated by the culture and brain suck as we are, to join the fight.

To express your support for an Open Sydney, we ask you to do one or all of the following:

 Donate whatever you can to supporting the campaign  Keep Sydney Open needs to raise at least $30K to give this a decent shot.

 Participate in the Keep Sydney Open T-shirt day  buy your whole team a Keep Sydney Open t-shirt, jumper or tote-bag (for the bargain price of $20) and have the team wear them in support of a more open Sydney on Friday March 22, the day before the election. Dont forget to post a selfie on social media (#keepsydneyopen).

 Share Keep Sydney Open content and stories on your social media channels, in your newsletters, put some posters on the wall  youre all professional communicators and creatives  make the campaign your own and get the word out there!

There is plenty of evidence backing Keep Sydney Opens message that keeping Sydney closed is damaging our economy, our access to talent, our community and our global standing.

The Deloitte Access Economics Report, released in February, found that Sydneys underdeveloped night-time economy means the city is missing out on $16bn annually. The reports creators made the point that a more innovative workforce is built on exposure to the arts and culture, and the richness of the citys arts sector is crucial to attracting and retaining talent.

In addition, a recent report by the Committee for Sydney, Sustaining the Advantage, found that the limited opportunity to access night-time and after dark activities is risking Sydneys international reputation as a city, and is a major factor in holding Sydney back from being one of the Best Cities in the World.

Adds Miller: Through the lockouts, festival decimation and nanny state mentality, this government is trashing the global perception and competitiveness of Sydney as a brand with global appeal.

We understand and care deeply about what brand Sydney represents locally and globally, and what the economic impact of being known as the Nanny State does to our emerging artists, creatives, and local businesses.

A vote for Keep Sydney Open is a vote for a fresh approach to politics all over NSW.
Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou will travel this evening to North Macedonia, where she will have meetings with the political leadership aimed at further strengthening relations between the two countries, following signature of the Prespa Agreement.

On Friday, 8 March, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs will meet with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Z. Zaev, and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, N. Dimitrov. The same day, she will have a meeting with the government's Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs, B. Osmani.

Also participating in the Greek delegation are Members of Parliament Theodora Tzakri and Ioannis Sifakis, as well as the Secretary General for European Affairs, Panagiotis Pavlopoulos, and other officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
We are troubled as we watch the process of the United Kingdoms withdrawal from the EU. This is a development without victors and with unforeseen consequences for the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union. The only sure thing is that the in order to limit the negative effects of BREXIT, the withdrawal must be carried out in an orderly manner, based on the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, Ms Sia Anagnostopoulou stressed.

Clarifying what without an agreement means for business and commercial transactions, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs stated: It means that, on 30 March 2019, the United Kingdom will be a non-EU country. Our trade relations, at least temporarily, or until another arrangement has been agreed upon, will be subject to the regulations of the International Trade Organization, without preferential treatment.

Laying out the legislative, business, administrative and other technical measures that the Greek Government has taken in the event of a no deal, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that:

- A targeted emergency action plan has been drawn up, which will coordinate the actions of the co-competent services of Greek public administration. The competent services of the Ministries are already processing the measures of a technical, administrative or other nature which will need to be adopted in the event of a no deal. The action plan will be ready to be implemented at the end of March 2019, should a no deal result.

- Legislation that includes provisions for citizens rights, financial services and other related issues has been provided for. The main plan for the issues that will arise from the UKs withdrawal from the EU is expected to be submitted to Parliament shortly.

- A website has been created for Brexit (https://brexit.gov.gr/) which includes information for citizens and business, economic, and professional organisations. The website will be updated regularly.

- Immediate strengthening of the consular office of the Embassy in London has been foreseen, in order to meet the increased needs that shall arise for Greek citizens.

- Increased staff have been provided for at customs offices and police services at the countrys points of entry/exit, should this be deemed necessary by the competent authorities, and accordingly by the needs that shall arise.

- Briefing of enterprises, should this be deemed necessary, and according to the political developments, shall be continuous.
BRIDGEPORT  Seventeen police officers and two civilian detention officers were found to be in violation of the Bridgeport Police Departments policy and procedures in an internal investigation of the actions of these officers in connection with breaking up a house party in 2017.

In the 405-page report, obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media on Wednesday after a Freedom of Information Act request in January, was completed on Nov. 16, 2018.

The officers were found to be in violation of the following policy and procedures and were all referred to the Police Commission:

Sgt. Paul Scillia

Excessive force.

The use of force used by the Sergeant Paul Scillia was excessive, unnecessary and unreasonable based on the facts and circumstances gathered, during the OIA investigation, the report said.

The report said Scillias actions are extraordinarily inconsistent with generally accepted police practices and procedures, as well as existing law and regulations. The report said excessive force by Scillia was used on a partygoer at the house. The report found the same findings for Scillias excessive force used against another partygoer at booking.

Truthfulness.

Scillia was less than credible in his testimony beginning with the initial investigation and statements, the report said.

Failure to supervise.

Based on all documentation, reports, video and signed sworn statements Sergeant Scillia was a supervising authority for this occurrence. This investigator having found omissions, inaccuracies and statement which were simply not true, indicated violations of the duties of a supervising officer, the report found.

Sgt. Mark Belinkie

(Committed suicide on March 2)

Failure to supervise.

Belinkie was serving as the booking sergeant.

The report said, Sergeant Belinkie did not wait for proper relief from the sergeant on the next shift before ending his shift. Sergeant Belinkie did not adequately notify his Commanding Officer, about witnessing a police officer drag a partygoer up the booking ramp, though he did stop the officer, have the partygoer stand up and told the officer he would have to put what happened in his report.

Belinkie failed to adequately supervise officers at Booking, the report said.

Medical attention.

The partygoer, who had been dragged up the booking ramp, said he had pins in his leg and Belinkie failed to ensure he had medical attention and failed to notify his commander, the Office of Internal Affairs or the Chief of Police. The partygoer had been in a wheelchair at the party.

Lt. Robert Sapiro

Failure to supervise.

Sapiro was the only lieutenant on duty at the time and was the Officer in Charge for all Bridgeport police officers. Sapiro turned his back when officers were using excessive force against a partygoer, completely ignoring what is taking place with the officers, the report said.

Detective Kenneth Fortes

Truthfulness.

Detective Kennth Fortes, an experienced Police Officer, trusted by the Department and community was less than credible in his testimony beginning with the initial investigation and it is compounded when compared with the report and statement provided by him during the investigation, the report said.

The report indicated Fortes maintained that a partygoer claimed to have a gun, which was found to be untrue.

Inaccurate reporting.

The report found that Fortes was found to have inaccurately reported in his use of force report following the incident.

Officer Michael Stanitis

Excessive force.

The report said, Officer Stanitis is seen on video taking what appears to be an object form his duty belt, then keeling near the head of (a partygoer) and strike him several times with what appeared to be downward strikes. Officer Stanitis was observed on video utilizing this behavior on two occasions during the arrest of (the partygoer).

Truthfulness.

Stanitis, according to the report, was less than credible in his testimony beginning with the initial investigation and statements. Compounded when compared with the evidence produced by the video.

Officer Daniel Faroni

Excessive force.

Faroni used excessive force while dealing with a partygoer and video footage showed that he opted to drag the partygoer up the booking ramp, the report said. The partygoer, according to the report, was in a wheelchair.

Failure to protect property.

Faroni was found to have failed to protect the wheelchair of the partygoer. The report indicated Faronis report on the incident didnt indicate whether the wheelchair was returned to him.

Officer Joseph Cruz

Excessive force.

Cruz said a partygoer tried to leave while police were on scene and Cruz did a leg sweep and took him to the ground, the report said. Video showed the partygoer did not try to leave when police attempted to arrest him, the report said, and Cruzs action was considered to violate the departments excessive force policy.

Truthfulness.

Claims in Cruzs reporting of the incident indicated the partygoer resisted arrest, which the report said was untrue. And, the report found, Cruz lied in his reports regarding overhearing something by other officers about someone with a gun.

Officer Adam Szeps

Truthfulness.

In his report he indicated that a partygoer was yelling and cursing at police officers, but video footage from the party showed the partygoer was not doing that.

Medical attention.

The partygoer was visibly injured and was bleeding from a cut on his forehead in the backseat of a police cruiser, the report said, adding, it is difficult to believe that Officer Szeps who assisted picking up (the partygoer) from the ground and escorted him to the Police vehicle did not see the injuries.

Officer Douglas Bepko

Truthfulness.

Bepko said the actions of two other officers in the OIA investigation were professional and that he was only at the party for a few minutes. He said he heard about a situation involving a firearm after the fact and did not see any physical fights involving officers while on scene, the report said.

Officer Bepko, an experienced Police Officer, trusted by the Department and community, was less than credible in his testimony beginning with the initial investigation and statements. Compounded when compared with the evidence produced by the video, the report said.

Officer Todd Sherback

Public contact.

While placing a partygoer under arrest, the partygoer said a profanity to Sherback, which the officer said back to the partygoer, the report said.

Officer Joseph Pires

Truthfulness.

Pires was found to be less than truthful not only in his incident report, but also during his interview which is contradictory to the video that was provided to the OIA, the report said. The report indicated he lied about having to jump out of the way of a vehicle while at the party. Video footage showed he did not have to move and that the vehicle nearly hit two sergeants, but not him or other officers as he stated.

Inaccurate reporting.

Pires failed to complete a use of force report in a timely fashion after he used a degree of force or physical restraint that was more than the mere guiding, holding or handcuffing of someone while he took a partygoer into custody, the report said.

Officer Matthew Johnson

Inaccurate reporting.

The report found that Johnson willfully and knowingly entered two reports for the same incident and attempted to alter his original report by removing information about a partygoer resisting arrest.

Officer Linet Castillo-Jimenez

Truthfulness.

Officer Castillo-Jimenez, an experienced Police Officer, trusted by the Department and community was less than credible in her testimony beginning with the initial investigation and it is compounded when compared with the two reports and statements provided by her during the investigation, the report said.

Officer Natalie McLaughlin

Truthfulness.

McLaughlin was less than truthful in her incident report and her sworn statement to the OIA, the report said.

Inaccurate reporting.

The report said McLaughlin gave inaccurate accounts of what she witnessed at the party, including that one of the partygoers cursed at officers. Video footage showed that the partygoer was not cursing at officers.

Officer Michael Mazzacco

Racial slur.

The report indicates Mazzacco used profanity and a racial slur while talking to a partygoer.

Officer Stephen Silva

Medical attention.

Silva transported a partygoer who was clearly injured as a result of an arrest by other officers and failed to get the partygoer medical attention.

Officer Thomas Lattanzio

(Accusations against him did not list a possible referral; the report states separated from service. He committed suicide on Dec. 4, 2017.)

In the event an officer separates from service through (death, retirement, resignation, etc.) while their actions are subject to an open Internal Affairs investigation, any such investigation shall immediately cease if there are no other respondents in said investigation. If an investigation occurs in which the separated officer is not the only respondent, the investigation will continue and the disposition relative to the separated officer will be Separated from Service, the report said.

Excessive force.

The report indicated Lattanzio used excessive force against a partygoer.

Truthfulness.

Officer Lattanzio, trusted by the Department and community was less than credible in his testimony beginning with the initial investigation and statements. Compounded when compared with the evidence produced by the video, the report found.

Civilian Detention Officer Jose Figueroa

Figueroa was serving as a detention officer in booking.

Excessive force.

Video footage showed Figueroa tapped/poked a partygoer in booking after he claimed the man made a rude comment about his wife, the report showed. The report said he shoved him enough to knock him down into a chair. When asked if the partygoer posed a threat to the officer or anyone else, he said that partygoer was being a jerk.

Civilian Detention Officer Paul Humphrey

Figueroa was serving as a detention officer in booking.

Public contact.

While placing a partygoer under arrest, the partygoer said a profanity to Humphrey, which the officer said back to the partygoer, the report said.
BRIDGEPORT  Thank God for cameras.

That was City Councilman Ernie Newtons reaction when he learned 17 police officers face discipline for rule violations and possible criminal activity related to their response to a 2017 house party on Colorado Avenue.

In total, more than 40 officers responded to the noise complaint that eventually erupted into chaos. Eight party goers were arrested.

According to a report by Bridgeports Office of Internal Affairs, which was released to Hearst Connecticut Media on Wednesday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, Multiple recordings of video footage surfaced which resulted in concerns over allegations of misconduct relative to physical force used by some of the responding cops. Other officers were accused of not being truthful about that night.

It painted the picture of what happened, Newton said Thursday morning.

It is a picture that for over three months was kept from the public, community leaders and some elected officials. The report was completed on Nov. 16, 2018. Hearst first asked the city for a copy in early January.

Newton said City Council members were also just learning the details of the Internal Affairs report.

The council should never be left in the dark, Newton said.

Police Chief Armando Perez commented on the investigation late Thursday afternoon.

The department will not tolerate misconduct from our officers, Perez said in a prepared statement. Since this incident and throughout my tenure as chief, we have taken various proactive measures to ensure that officers are appropriately trained on safety, responding to a scene, and interacting with the community.

On Wednesday, Perez and Mayor Joe Ganim had said neither would comment that day, as services were being held for Bridgeport Police Sgt. Mark Belinkie, who committed suicide last weekend.

City spokesperson Rowena White said that in cases like this one where there has been a civilian complaint, the Office of Internal Affairs investigates and, by federal law, the matter is then referred to the mayor-appointed Police Commission.

Penalties could include firing, suspension, demotion, or additional training. But until the commissions hearings are finished, the chief cannot implement any disciplinary action against the officers involved, White said.

Council President Aidee Nieves said Thursday morning that she was still digesting the report, adding, We should have been briefed.

Nieves also said, I do not want to politicize this; it has to go through due process.

State Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport, who earlier this week called on the city to release the report, said in a statement that the revelations of abuse, lies and misconduct by certain members of the Bridgeport Police Department (are) truly shocking and heartbreaking.

Moore, who is challenging fellow Democrat Ganim in this years municipal election, added: I believe this report is only the beginning of getting at the truth.

Accusation and defense

Internal Affairs wrapped up its probe of the Oct. 21, 2017 house party three days after Ganim swore in Perez as Bridgeports permanent police chief, following a national search.

Belinkie was accused in the report of failing to supervise officers on the night of the party, and of failing to provide medical attention in the police departments booking area to one of the people arrested.

Another of the 17 cops, Thomas Lattanzio, who was accused of using excessive force, killed himself in Seaside Park in December 2017.

Sgt. Chuck Paris, head of the citys police union, mounted a vigorous defense Thursday of the 17 officers and was critical of reliance on civilian video from the party.

Its amazing how this video, which has only very, very limited video of the actual events, that everyone has taken it to be gospel and the officers are at fault, Paris said. This is one side of the story. ... People at this party escalated this to the point officers had to take action, which was never their intention.

Paris noted how his union members were responding to a simple noise complaint about loud music.

If (party goers) would have just complied with the officers to lower the music, (police) would have left. Its that simple, Paris said.

That initial noise complaint led to the arrests of Carmelo Mendez on misdemeanor charges and Peter Diaz, Fernando Morales, Wanda Mendez, Sara Deida, Ramon Davila, Jose Alvarado and Jose Rosario on felony and misdemeanor charges. All those cases are pending in state Superior Court.

Very discouraged

The Rev. Cass Shaw, head of the Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, has been part of a coalition pressuring the 3-year-old Ganim administration to implement policing reforms, particularly after a rookie officer shot and killed 15-year-old Jayson Negron in May 2017. Shaw had also encouraged Ganim during last years chief search to replace Perez.

Shaw said the news of the internal affairs report left her very discouraged.

I do believe there are good people trying to make a difference, and would count Chief Perez as one of them, Shaw said. But he has not demonstrated the kind of leadership that has made a substantial change.

State Rep. Christopher Rosario, D-Bridgeport, said Perez must be held accountable.

At the end of the day this is happening under the chiefs watch, Rosario said.

Rosario said he was troubled that the report found 10 cops lied about the house party incident, particularly since the civilians involved were people of color.

Paris stood by his union members. He said the officers who initially showed up at the scene are younger officers, but did a really good job trying to get this done in a manner where there would not be a problem. They were very well-trained.

He said one of the civilians at the party, who legally carried a firearm, reached to that area in a threatening manner.

The future of this department is looking very bright, Paris said. But if the police cannot do their job and its OK for the community and anyone to take exception to that  and then claim the officers injure them or were rude to them  its a major issue thats happening across this country.

Hearings to come

The Police Commission has yet to schedule any hearings  which essentially take the form of trials, with witnesses and cross-examinations  for the 17 officers. Commission Chairman Daniel Roach, a Ganim aide, said he does not comment on pending cases.

This is the Police Commissions most complicated case in recent memory. Tom Bucci, a former mayor-turned-labor attorney, recalled being involved when the commission had to discipline about five officers at once.

That was arduous, Bucci said Thursday. I cant imagine 17. ... Theyve got to try to come up with a process that provides fairness, a full, adversarial-type hearing for these officers, and at the same time be expedient.

John Gulash, a criminal defense attorney who has represented clients before the Police Commission, said the current situation could be a logistical nightmare, in part because commission members have limited hours of availability.

He said some of the officers might reach disciplinary settlements with the board so that there are not 17 bitterly contested cases.

Paris said he is frustrated for the officers, who had to wait a year for the investigation to wrap up, and now face what he anticipated could be six months of disciplinary hearings.

These officers have been sitting in limbo, Paris said.

The union president also questioned whether those involved would get just treatment.

How do we get these officers a fair hearing when everyone, including Marilyn Moore, has made a decision these officers are guilty? Paris said.

Political fallout

John DeCarlo, Branfords one-time police chief, is now associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven. He said that even with the disciplinary hearings pending, the city should have already been taking steps to avoid future such incidents.

This is something that could be termed a sentinel event ... something that we learn from and change basic policies, training, things, so it doesnt happen again.

DeCarlo recalled earlier in his law enforcement career having to break up parties and fights.

I remember these big guys were knocking cops down like flies, he said. So I can certainly see it happening and going out of control. ... (But) police have to be accountable Were not a gang.

Nieves said Perez has been working in recent years to make improvements, from body cameras to more training for de-escalation and cultural sensitivity.

I have asked the chief to work on a community policing policy, which he is, Nieves said. Im confident that actions going to be taken. There has to be, to ease the community.
CROMWELL - The Board of Education has taken another step to bring the school system back to an even keel.

The board has freed up Fran DiFiore to return to her role as high school principal on a full-time basis. DiFore had been serving as interim superintendent since the board parted ways with Superintendent John T. Maloney Jr. in mid-February.

Taking over from DiFiore, the board has hired Tom Tym Y. McDowell as the long-term interim superintendent.

Board of Education Chairman Michael J. Camilleri explained the changes in a letter to the community.

McDowell, who began his career as music teacher, worked his way up to superintendent and served in that capacity in school districts in Connecticut, Massachusetts and in Vermont, according to Camilleri.

Since retiring from permanent roles [as superintendent], Tym has served as interim superintendent in a number of districts, including Wethersfield, Tolland and Watertown, he said in the letter.

At the same time as the board hired McDowell, it also reached out to begin identifying search firms that could assist the board in its search for a new full-time superintendent.

Camilleri said the board intends to start its search this month and, ideally, will hire that person by July 1, when the new school year officially starts.

The board also proposed eliminating the assistant superintendent position and instead returning to our former approach of having a Director of Curriculum, Camilleri said.

The board had previously announced that in light of a complaint about the work environment it would hire a human resources director.

Along with Maloney, Assistant Superintendent Krista Karch resigned from her position on Feb. 13, capping two months of turbulence and drama that began with an anonymous letter complaining Karch had fostered a hostile work environment.

The letter also claimed Maloney and Karch were involved in an inappropriate relationship.

The board suspended the two officials on Dec. 11 and launched a formal investigation that did not find evidence of an improper relationship. Maloney was returned to his position in late January.

The board deferred action into Karchs return, however. The board made it a condition of her continuing suspension that Karch not meet with Maloney. But then the two were reportedly seen together in a restaurant in early February.

Pressed by the board whether or not they had met, Karch at first denied they had but then acknowledged they did.

The board then demanded and received their respective resignations from the two educators.

Camilleri said the resignations closed the book on a difficult chapter, adding that it is time for the school to move forward and heal.

But any number of questions remain in the wake of the upheaval.

Not the least is who hacked into the schools supposedly secure surveillance system to capture a 30-second interaction in which Maloney may or may not have given Karch a peck on the cheek.

The investigation by the law firm of Shipman & Goodwin said any number of people had access to the surveillance system. The investigator was unable to determine who leaked the snippet.

That nagging question hangs over the board, with many parents questioning why the police were not called in to investigate what appears to have been a crime.

There are also questions about who exactly saw Maloney and Karch in the restaurant and reported the interaction to the school board.
MIDDLETOWN  The grande dame of Meadow Meat was a warm and generous woman who placed customer service above all else in her mission to offer the highest possible quality meat and seafood from the modest butcher shop, those who knew her said.

Mary Ellen Carfi, who took over the business when her husband Donald passed in 2006, died Feb. 13 at 73.

Meme (her nickname) was an incredibly generous person whose laughter and smile were contagious. Always in a good mood wherever she went, she brightened the room with her smile, the family wrote in Carfis obituary. After the passing of her husband, life took on a different purpose with the birth of her grandson, the second love of her life. Nothing made her happier than being with her grandson and making family memories down the beach.

She and her first husband, father of her two children, divorced when the children were very young.

David Sargis Jr., a former software developer, and his sister, Rhonda Sargis Montana, who worked in the insurance industry, left their jobs to come work for their mom in 2006, when their stepfather died. At the time, the siblings werent involved in the company but enjoyed hearing stories from their mother and stepfather about the day-to-day operations.

Their parents were always self-employed. Carfi was a real estate agent and eventually ran her own hair salon at the front of their former building while her husband ran his food distribution business out of the back.

These two lovebirds worked together, lived together, spent every minute of the day together, her daughter said.

Mary Ellen married her soul mate, Donald in 1980. It was love at first sight and they were inseparable from the day they met, according to her obituary.

When they bought the butchery, it included a slaughter house and rendering plant at the back of the property, which the family no longer uses. Part of that area remains, after a portion of it was demolished. Back in the day, the cows would be led out of the locomotive and walk over the train tracks right into the facility, Sargis said.

The shop is now a vestige of old-fashioned butcher shops. Customers enter through the loading dock area, through a large steel meat locker and long hanging strips of PVC, which, when parted, reveal a generous selection of ruby-red steaks, hamburger, pork chops, chicken cutlets, scallops and fish filets.

When Sargis got into the business, I didnt know what a rib-eye steak was from anything else.

I had to learn everything from the ground up, he said. I knew what a cow looked like.

A year later, his sister came aboard part-time. Shortly after her stepfather died, Rhonda Sargis Montana learned she was pregnant with her mothers pride and joy, grandson Jake Montana.

The familys two dogs, Charlie, a 13-year-old Australian Shepherd, and Bowzer, 4, a Chihuahua/Yorkie/poodle mix, are fixtures in the office.

When the butchers would come in (the back area), Charlie would lick their feet, delighted at the bits of meat hed get from their shoes, Sargis said.

Years ago, Sargis arrived at the idea of offering all-natural dog food after Charlie became ill at a young age.

Its made from the same stuff you would buy for yourself, he said. We just grind it up, with the bone and everything  the dog gets the marrow, the bone.

He said his mother was part of that plan right from the start.

Once she was in charge of the business, Carfi quickly became the face of Meadow Meat.

She was big on customer service, talking to the people. Everyone knew her and loved her. She was so friendly and personable to everyone and anyone, her daughter said, adding it was a gift to work with her mother.

[Donald Carfis] job was operation and buying. Her job was everything else: from the paperwork to the bookkeeping to dealing with the USDA, Sargis Montana said of her stubborn and spunky and sweet and generous mother.

Carfi took great pleasure in feeding her family, making everything from scratch.

On Tuesday mornings, shed walk in  she was this tiny little thing  and be carrying six, seven bags, Sargis said. All had chicken cutlets, this and that, meatballs, stuff that we could eat for three or four days.

Carfi would pack up take-home containers for her family every day.

When she did pass away, she was in the process of cooking. She had it all on the counter, getting it ready, Sargis said.

At her funeral, her children were pleasantly surprised when longtime customers shared stories about their mother.

One woman, who had three kids and a dog, came up to the siblings and Carfis grandson.

I wanted you to know what a wonderful lady she was, and she is in our homes every week because to this day, I make recipes for my family that shes told me, Sargis Montana said she was told. Even her kids know a little bit about his grandmother because of the recipes that she made.

Many Meadow Meat customers were shocked to hear of Carfis passing when they came in to shop.

Theyre calling in for orders asking for Mary Ellen. Its was so hard for us afterward, because they were coming in looking for her, and we had to tell the story over and over again, her daughter said. To see the shock and sadness in the people  that was the hard part, too.

Carfi had a home on the beach in Old Lyme, where she loved to spend her off-time with a group of friends she became close with after her husband died. Many younger than her and retired, they would ask her to stop working.

She had a better social life than a 16-year-old, her son recalled.

Carfi finally began mulling over the idea, but never had a chance to fulfill her intentions to retire, her daughter said.

Meadow Meat is located at 17 Eastern Drive in Middletown. For information, call 860-347-8574 or visit meadowmeat.com.
MIDDLETOWN  Friends of onetime Colorado governor, Wesleyan University graduate and decade-long Middletown resident John Hickenlooper are hoping the 67-year-old two-term politician finds success in his bid for the Democratic nomination for president in the 2020 election.

Hickenlooper, who identifies as politically progressive, declared his intentions Monday.

Im running for president because we need dreamers in Washington, but we also need to get things done, Hickenlooper said in a video announcing his campaign. Ive proven again and again I can bring people together to produce the progressive change Washington has failed to deliver, the Associated Press wrote.

More for you The Ones To Watch: 2020 presidential candidates

Hickenlooper earned both his bachelors degree in English in 1974 and masters in geology in 1980 from Wesleyan.

Locally, the 42nd governor of Colorado and mayor of Denver from 2003 to 2011, was an important supporter of the Community Health Center on Main Street in the 1970s and 80s, said Mark Masselli, president, CEO and cofounder of the health facility. Maselli and Hickenlooper were roommates for a couple of years, he said.

Hickenlooper had a role in the centers first location, which opened in May 1972, and offered free dental care in a converted walk-up apartment downtown.

John helped out during a very important transition, Maselli said this week. The health center had lost its main operations on Court Street because the hallway was too narrow in the dilapidated building. We couldnt grow. There were real serious health conditions in the building.

Hickenlooper inherited a little money from his father, who died when he was 8, and used those funds to buy the property.

He said, This is very important to me. Health care is a right, not a privilege. You dont get a lot of 20-year-olds saying that, said Masselli.

Thats why Hickenlooper is known as one of the founding fathers of the Community Health Center. He later helped with securing funding so the facility could make renovations and expand, Masselli said.

Hes a breath of fresh air, politically, said Wesleyan President Michael Roth, who has known Hickenlooper since he became the schools leader more than a decade ago. Hes a friendly, interesting, authentic and open person. Ive never met a politician quite like John.

Roth said he visited Hickenlooper for a Wesleyan event years ago in Colorado.

Youre in my city, Ill drive you around, Roth said Hickenlooper told him. As they walked around on their way to a fine restaurant for a meal together, Roth said many people came up to greet and hug Hickenlooper, himself a former restauranteur.

He seemed completely at ease in the city. He worked hard to make things better. John is a kind of person who  makes life better for the most vulnerable and improves living conditions for most people, Roth said.

Hes a pragmatic politician who takes on tough issues, like gun safety laws, which are not easy to pass in Colorado, Roth said.

Hickenlooper opposed the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. However, when the countrys first commercial cannabis facilities began operating five years ago, the heworked to make the industry safe and well-regulated, rather than take a big stand, Roth said.

Hickenlooper traveled to Middletown in 2017 for the groundbreaking of the health centers soon-to-open Knowledge and Technology Center on Grand Street, across the road from the main building.

Hes a big supporter of health care around the country and in Colorado, said Masselli, who called the presidential candidate a very diverse thinker who is likable and intelligent. He believed we always should be working to bring together people who may not share the same outlook, but are passionate about what they do. He wants to make a difference in society.

Hickenlooper wrote an op-ed published 50 years ago in The Middletown Press in support of universal health-care coverage.

Hes well-liked and and done remarkable things in terms of health care in Colorado, where 95 percent of people are covered, Masselli said. Hes done great things on climate issues, methane rules  some of the most progressive in the country. He got a buy-in from oil and gas industries and the environmental community.

As governor, Hickenlooper prided himself for staying above partisan fights, and has argued his record as a former governor and big-city mayor distinguishes him from a broad field of Democratic presidential aspirants who are backing ambitious liberal plans on health care, taxes and the climate, the Associated Press has reported.

Hickenlooper has hedged on supporting Democratic rallying cries like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal to combat climate change. He once worked as a geologist for a petroleum company, and was roundly criticized for telling a congressional panel he drank fracking fluid while arguing for the safety of the energy extraction technique, according to the AP.

Betsy Morgan, a cofounder of Oddfellows Playhouse youth theater, said he was a friend of the arts organization early on, and an important supporter.

Hes stayed in touch continually through all these years, and comes back to Middletown on a pretty regular basis, she said.

Hickenlooper has many friends in the city, some of whom traveled to Colorado for his inauguration in 2011.

Hickenlooper was not available for comment Wednesday.
A business school dean at a New Jersey university said she has resigned from her position because the school decided against having an on-campus Chick-fil-A location.

Rider University students were surveyed last year about what restaurants they would like to have on campus, WNBC-TV reported.

More for you These fast-food items have even more calories than you thought

While Chick-fil-A was the most popular choice among students in an initial survey, it was not provided as a choice in a second survey sent. University officials said that was because the company's values in regard to the LGBTQ community did not align with the university's, according to reports.

The university leadership had made such a judgmental statement about Chick-fil-As values -- values that reflect the essence of the Christian as well as other faiths, Cynthia Newman said in her two-page resignation announcement, conservative news site Campus Reform reported, adding that the decision was like a gut-punch to her.

"I am not willing to compromise my faith and Christian values, and I will not be viewed as being in any way complicit when an affront is made to those values," Newman said.

However, a university official said the decision was made to support LGBTQ inclusion.

While we respect Dr. Newmans personal decision, we maintain that the decision about choosing an on-campus restaurant franchise was in no way a judgment on religious values, Kristine Brown, the universitys associate vice president of marketing and communications, told NJ.com.

Newmans resignation from the dean position will be effective in August. She still plans to work at Rider University as a faculty member, according to her letter.

A university official said there were members of the community who were strongly against bringing the fast-food chain onto campus, Philly Voice reported.

Officials with the fast-food chain provided a statement in response to the school's decision last year.

We have no policy of discrimination against any group, and we do not have a political or social agenda. More than 120,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs represent the Chick-fil-A brand, Chick-fil-A officials said in the statement at the time, NJ.com reported.
President Donald Trump moved Wednesday to rescind part of an Obama-era order requiring the publication of an annual report on civilian casualties resulting from U.S. military and intelligence actions overseas. Pentagon officials say, however, that they will continue to release their data.

The Defense Department will continue to provide information on civilian casualties in accordance with the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, said Pentagon spokeswoman Navy Cmdr. Candice Tresch.

"All Department of Defense efforts to minimize civilian casualties described in Executive Order 13732 [United States Policy on Pre- and Post-Strike Measures to Address Civilian Casualties] continue to apply," Tresch said in a statement.

Any credible report of deaths as a result of U.S. airstrikes outside "areas of direct active hostilities" will be investigated, she said.

The 2018 NDAA requires the DoD to submit a report on civilian casualties "caused as a result of U.S. military operations," Tresch said.

The figure includes those killed by drone and manned aircraft strikes.

The Pentagon released its first report covering 2017 data on June 1, 2018, and plans to release the next on May 1, she said.

On Wednesday, Trump rolled back part of the 2016 requirement instituted by then-President Barack Obama for U.S. government agencies, in particular the Central Intelligence Agency, to report civilian casualties resulting from actions taken against terrorist groups or individuals overseas.

According to the new executive order signed by the president, the director of national intelligence is no longer required to issue "an unclassified summary of the number of strikes undertaken by the United States government against terrorist targets outside areas of active hostilities, as well as assessments of combatant and non-combatant deaths resulting from those strikes, among other information," the new order states.

Obama signed the his original order to create more transparency after his administration received complaints from activists that airstrikes, specifically targeted drone strikes, were on the rise in countries such as Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Pakistan.

"This requirement was about more than transparency," former Obama administration official Ned Price said via Twitter. Price, who served at the CIA between 2007 and 2017, also worked as an intelligence officer on the National Security Council.

"It allowed, for the first time, the U.S. to counter disinformation from terrorist groups with facts about the effectiveness and precision of our operations. It was an important tool that we're again without," Price said Wednesday.

The executive order comes following the Pentagons launch of a study into how it counts civilian casualties. The study came about after discrepancies were observed in the air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The Washington Post reported that the review, overseen by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, was initiated last year to achieve a more accurate assessment of the impact of military operations on civilians, and possibly to determine how to prevent casualties.

The Pentagon claims that "at least 1,190 civilians have been unintentionally killed by [U.S.-led] coalition strikes" since the air campaign against ISIS began in August 2014.

Independent watchdogs say the count is much higher.

Airwars, a London-based non-profit group that tracks air conflicts against ISIS and other groups in Iraq, Syria and Libya, estimates that the actual number is likely between 7,500 and 12,000 due to the nature of urban conflict.

The group says it labels its findings as a "fair" estimate, gathered in many cases from local sources.

"These originate from 1,366 separate alleged incidents," Airwars states.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
The Army has released the identities of two Reserve Soldiers killed while conducting military operations in Kuwait on Tuesday.

Sgt. Holli Bolinski, 37, of Pinckneyville, Ill., and Spc. Jackson Johnson, 20, of Hillsboro, Missouri were killed in North Kuwait when their unidentified vehicle collided with a civilian commercial truck, according to a release from the Army's 184th sustainment command.

Military.com first reported the fatal crash Wednesday.

A third soldier was injured in the crash and is now pending medical evacuation from Kuwait, officials said.

According to the release the three soldiers were medically evacuated via helicopter from the site of the crash to the U.S. Military Hospital-Kuwait at Camp Arifjan, where they were stationed during the deployment. Bolinski was pronounced dead upon arrival, according to the release, while Johnson died later of injuries from the crash.

All three soldiers were assigned to the 657th Transportation Detachment out of Mount Vernon, Illinois.

They were deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Spartan Shield, an ongoing partnership training and deterrence mission taking place in various locations in Southwest Asia.

Pentagon officials said the tragic incident remains under investigation.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
The top U.S. general in the Middle East is warning against removing troops from Afghanistan too soon or considering the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria defeated after the president called for an end to the wars in the region.

Army Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, reiterated that any decision to leave Afghanistan must be based on the conditions on the ground rather than set timelines. While he's been given no direct order to remove troops from Afghanistan, he said, the time is not right for a full withdrawal.

"The political conditions where we are in the reconciliation right now don't merit that," Votel said during a Thursday House Armed Services Committee.

Votel also said the fight against the Islamic State group, which troops have been battling across Iraq and Syria, is "far from over." While the destruction of the ISIS caliphate in Syria was a "monumental military accomplishment," he said the terror group is likely to make a resurgence.

"We should be clear that what we are seeing now is not the surrender of ISIS as an organization, but a calculated decision to preserve the safety of their families and preservation of their capabilities by ... going to ground and remote areas and waiting for the right time to resurge," Votel warned.

President Donald Trump has been eager to bring troops home from the Middle East. On Feb. 1, he tweeted that after 18 long years of war there, he wanted to see the conflicts end.

"I inherited a total mess in Syria and Afghanistan, the 'Endless Wars' of unlimited spending and death," he said. "... It is now time to start coming home and, after many years, spending our money wisely. Certain people must get smart!"

Trump also told troops in Alaska last week that U.S. and coalition forces took over 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate.

"That means the area of the land," the commander in chief said. "We just have 100 percent."

But Votel described a tough fight ahead to defeat the terror group. Once ISIS resurges, it will very much resemble an insurgency, he said. That's similar to what troops have spent nearly two decades trying to defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"What we will see is we will see low-level attacks -- we will see assassinations, we'll see [improvised-explosive-device] attacks, we'll see ambush-type things as they begin to emerge from this," he said. "... What our focus has to be is working with our partners on the ground as we're doing fairly effectively in Iraq right now."

Votel stressed the importance of advise-and-assist missions with partners such as Iraq, along with strong intelligence capabilities, to win that battle.

In Afghanistan, winning will mean seeing a negotiated settlement between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban and safeguarding U.S. interests, he said. The Middle East can't be used as a safe haven to attack the homeland again, he said.

"That would have to be satisfied as part of any overall agreement here," he said.

While Votel said peace negotiations in Afghanistan have recently moved further ahead than at any point in the last 18 years, they haven't reached a point yet for him to advise withdrawing U.S. forces.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
NATO's commander made his pitch for continued funding of the European Deterrence Initiative and its military construction projects ahead of the expected release next week of the Defense Department's budget request for fiscal 2020.

Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, who doubles as NATO commander and head of U.S. European Command, said funding of the initiative, which now stands at $6.5 billion, is vital to carrying out the National Defense Strategy and other directives aimed in part at countering Russian aggression.

"I cannot stress enough that [European Command's] ongoing and future success in implementing and executing these strategies is only possible with Congress' support, especially the sustained funding of EDI," he said in prepared remarks for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday.

Scaparrotti also renewed his recommendation for moving the European Defense Initiative out of the funding for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), which is not subject to the spending limits of the Budget Control Act of 2011, and into the baseline DoD budget to provide stability of resourcing.

"Really, what we need is predictability. OCO tends to fluctuate each year," he said in response to questions from Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.

The initiative "provides funding to improve our deterrence posture and execute our deterrent initiatives and activities, and also helps provide "the necessary infrastructure to respond to adversaries in a timely manner," Scaparrotti said.

About $800 million of the current $6.7 billion appropriated for EDI in the fiscal 2019 budget was slated for military construction projects, ranging from storehouses and railheads to airfields and barracks.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, questioned Scaparrotti on whether any of the military construction projects in EDI would be "reduced, delayed or eliminated" under the national emergency President Donald Trump has declared to get funding for the southern border wall.

Trump and White House officials have said that up to $3.6 billion in military construction projects already funded by Congress could be targeted in the effort to raise about $8.1 billion for the border wall.

Kaine asked whether Scaparrotti had been given a list of projects in Europe whose funding could be diverted to the border wall.

"Not with respect to this [national emergency] proposal," Scaparrotti said.

"No one has discussed it with me," he said. But should orders come down to pick projects that can be put on hold to fund the border wall, "I expect I'll be in the decision loop."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
The U.S. armed services should consult with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the conduct of private companies hired to manage military housing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said Thursday.

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on military oversight of base housing, Blumenthal said the services should weigh their legal options for bringing charges -- criminal or civil -- against the private contractors for failing to meet contractual obligations to their tenants.

The contractors, he said, provided substandard, unhealthy and inadequate housing and ignored pleas to repair or service the homes.

In the past two years, multiple news reports have surfaced citing squalid conditions at military houses -- from faulty wiring and exposed plumbing to poor water quality, vermin infestations, mold and lead contamination.

Last year, Reuters published extensive reports on lead contamination in Army housing, and mold and substandard conditions in Air Force housing.

And in February, a survey of more than 14,500 residents of base housing found that 56 percent said they had "negative or very negative experiences" with their houses on military installations.

Blumenthal said one of his constituents, who lived at Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut, reported mold in their bathroom but were told they just needed to clean it up. Instead, the mold returned and a baby who lived in the home developed pneumonia and later had a stroke.

"What's happening here is criminal. It may not be criminal in some sense ... I'd leave that to the Justice Department. But I respectfully recommend that each of the services ask Justice to be involved, to do an intensive review as to whether there needs to be a criminal investigation or a civil investigation. That's the enforcement these landlords understand."

Military family members present at the hearing applauded Blumenthal's suggestion. Sarah Kline, who lived at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, in home infested with mold and cockroaches, said she supports DOJ involvement.

"That's where I want to see this go. I've had contractors in my house doing shoddy work. I've called the housing office to let them know what was going on and nothing happens," Kline said.

Army, Navy and Air Force officials currently are conducting inspections of 100 percent of their military housing stock in response to the scandal. The Marine Corps is calling individuals to ask if they can inspect the homes, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said, and will send an inspector if invited to do so.

The services also are also finalizing a tenant bill of rights to give more leverage against the housing management companies, including a pathway for withholding their rent payments if their issues aren't fixed.

And they plan to increase staff at the garrison commands to conduct tighter oversight of the companies, as well as "reeducate" commanders on their responsibilities regarding base housing, service officials told the senators.

But whether the cases will end up in court remains to be seen. Army Secretary Mark Esper said his service plans to pursue allegations of fraud and "hold people accountable." Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said audits of the housing programs are underway and if issues are found, the service may consider consulting DOJ. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said the service would consult its Office of Special Investigations.

But the latter two answers didn't satisfy Blumenthal.

"Let me point out that the processes for audit and internal investigations take a lot of time. This procedure ought to be expedited. If you care about this issue, let's recognize it for what it is. This problem hasn't just arisen. If it were new and novel, maybe following the normal audit process would make sense," he said.

Among the other concerns raised by senators was the relationship between base housing offices and the private management companies. The services said that they plan to strengthen the power of the housing offices and increase staffing at the federal offices.

But in many cases, the housing office and the contract management firms are collocated in the same buildings, where they spend each day side-by-side. The situation, Sen. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, said, makes the two parties appear to be "in cahoots."

"They are not [the military families'] advocates, according to the families. Can I get an Amen?" she said.

"Amen," shouted the families in the audience.

The service secretaries said they will strengthen the commanders' roles in overseeing housing offices and renegotiate contracts with the companies, with support of Congress.

They also promised that troops and their families should see results from the ongoing investigations and repairs within 90 days.

"The Army has to get back in the housing business," Esper said.

Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein said he has lived in base housing for more than 50 years, including his childhood, and he wanted airmen to have safe communities where they don't have to worry about their children's health or about retaliation if they complain about the condition of their housing.

"We are going to have to put our boot on the throat of these contractors," Goldfein said.

--Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @patriciakime.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she is grateful to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie on behalf of thousands of caregivers of veterans who suffered severe physical or mental injuries while in service since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

At Murray's request, Wilkie last December ordered suspension of further downgrades or stoppage of caregiver benefits to current recipients until the VA can attest that its health care facilities nationwide are running and resourcing the caregiver program consistently and as Congress intended.

On the other hand, Murray said, she and Democratic colleagues in the Senate are alarmed by other VA actions related to expansion of the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) to older generations of severely injured veterans as Congress directed under last year's VA Mission Act.

"VA continues to miss deadlines and not get it right," she said in a phone interview Wednesday. "And we have got to make them step up to the plate and make this work."

In a Feb. 28 letter to Wilkie, Murray and nine other Senate Democrats, including ranking members on the Veterans Affairs and Armed Services committees, contend the VA already is months behind in needed upgrades to information technology to begin to extend caregiver benefits to qualified veterans of the Vietnam and Korean War eras by Oct. 1, 2019, as Congress directed.

The letter also charges VA officials with a lack of transparency as they draft regulations to implement caregiver expansion, and criticizes some steps the VA has said it wants to take to hold down future program costs -- for example, by tightening access to caregiver benefits and changing methods for calculating caregiver stipends. The letter warns Wilkie that the VA lacks authority to make some of the changes without getting Congress to change in law.

A VA handout says more than 38,000 caregivers have been aided by the program since it was established in 2011. The annual cost exceeds $900 million and will rise sharply as the program expands to benefit family caregivers of surviving veterans who received severe line-of-duty injuries since World War II.

The VA says it wants to make eligibility determinations more transparent and consistent. As the Mission Act requires, eligibility will be based on a veteran requiring assistance with at least one activity of daily living, or needing supervision or protection to remain in their community. But to ensure consistency, the VA has signaled it will require a more rigid definition of serious injury and an explicit need for daily assistance, with more monitoring visits and an annual reassessment.

Murray and colleagues want more details on what's planned.

"At this point, they have not responded to any of our inquiries," said Murray in our interview. "They are not answering our questions. They are not telling us what they have in mind. So, we are doing everything we can to make this visible so they, if we have to, are embarrassed into it."

Murray was the leading advocate in Congress for establishing and expanding family caregiver benefits to severely injured veterans since Congress first approved a comprehensive caregiver benefit package in 2010, initially only for veterans severely injured during the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.

In 2011, as the new chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Murray lambasted the Obama administration over its draft rules to implement that benefit, criticizing missed deadlines and restrictive language to limit access.

As caregivers and severely injured veterans of past war eras criticized the inequity of extending benefits only to the post-9/11 generation, Murray led a bipartisan fight to expand eligibility. With the help of colleagues, she finally got it done under a phased schedule as part of the 2018 VA Mission Act.

Caregiver benefits include a caregiver stipend, access to health care insurance, training and stress counseling, and a period of paid respite away from caregiver responsibilities. Eligibility is to be phased in for persons caring for veterans catastrophically injured in past conflicts back to World War II.

Expansion of benefits to veterans who received severe line-of-duty injuries after May 7, 1975, and before 9/11 would begin two years after earlier generations become eligible.

While expansion is expected to add hundreds of millions of dollars to VA budgets, Murray and other advocates contend the program also saves federal dollars because families avoid having to institutionalize veterans to get proper care.

VA officials have contended they can't expand caregiver benefits without a significant upgrade in information technology. Congress funded that effort, but the VA missed an Oct. 1 deadline last year to declare the new IT system operational.

"We told them: Get it done," said Murray. "Behind their walls, I don't know what they're doing to get it done. It's not done yet. And it needs to get fixed."

For the past two years, Murray and staff contend, the VA aggressively downgraded caregiver benefits or discharged veterans from the program. It was deemed a particular problem for veterans severely disabled from post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injury as VA health care providers judged them capable of performing activities of daily living without aid of a caregiver.

To a rising clamor from families and from Murray, Wilkie agreed to impose a second VA moratorium on caregiver benefit downgrades and program discharges. Murray said she is worried they can begin again whenever Wilkie declares past inconsistencies in management and oversight to have been found and fixed.

She wants the VA to explain to Congress why so many families felt the program had been unevenly operated and under resourced. That's especially important with expansion planned for older generations of severely injured vets, Murray said.

"Before restarting appropriate discharges and downgrades," senators told Wilkie in their recent letter, "we ask that you require training, leadership, and oversight improvements, and that you request an independent evaluation of the efficacy of those steps by the Office of Inspector General."

In the Mission Act, they added, "we structured a responsible, phased-in approach to the expansion to allow VA to strengthen the program. VA cannot continue to squander this time. The program must be ready and meet the statutory deadlines, because veterans are urgently in need of this support."

The senators noted that expansion to severely injured veterans of Vietnam and earlier wars can't begin until the VA has a new IT system operating. The Oct. 1, 2018, deadline for that "has come and gone, and it is not clear if or how VA will ensure the certification deadline of the system, October 1, 2019, is met."

The letter reminds Wilkie that government auditors first recommended that the VA fix its caregiver IT system in September 2014, and the department "has repeatedly assured us it is working on this issue. We urge you to immediately expedite these efforts, including by examining whether commercial-off-the-shelf solutions can rapidly and effectively meet the Department's needs."

The letter further notes that, for the past two years, the Trump administration in its VA budget requests has shorted the caregiver program by several hundred million dollars, forcing Congress to add funds so all eligible post-9/11 caregivers continue to get promised benefits. It urges Wilkie not to short the program again.

"The Department must also ensure sufficient staff are in place to handle the high workload and to prepare for the program's expansion," the letter continues. "Caregiver Support Coordinators are already overwhelmed, as are the administrative staff essential to running the program."

The VA had no immediate reaction to charges made in the letter, which also demanded that the department provide Congress with the most recent data and statistics available to give a fuller picture of how the caregiver program operates.

To comment, write Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120 or email milupdate@aol.com or twitter: Tom Philpott @Military_Update
In all, more than 30 recommended changes were put in place based on testing and feedback from airmen and reviews by the 2020...
The U.S. Air Force is trying to extend the life of 28 of its oldest aerial refueling tankers because of mission demand, compounded by delays for its newest tanker, the KC-46 Pegasus.

Gen. Stephen Lyons, head of U.S. Transportation Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the service is "working currently to delay the divestiture of a select number of [KC-135 Stratotankers] so that we don't have this exorbitant dip in [tanker] capability over time."

Lyons said the idea has been well received so far by top Air Force leadership. "Obviously, it's going to cost money and, when the money is put into the program, that's when we'll know. But the intent is to retain 28 weapon systems beyond their currently scheduled retirement," he said.

His comments come after the service ordered a halt in KC-46 deliveries, citing foreign object debris found in some of the aircraft. As of Tuesday, the Air Force still isn't accepting the Pegasus on its flight lines, marking two weeks since the stand-down, a service spokeswoman told Military.com.

Related content:

The KC-46 is scheduled to replace part of the service's older tanker fleets, such as the KC-135 and KC-10 Extender.

The Air Force said its goal is to retire its KC-10s and have the right mix of KC-46 and KC-135 aircraft to meet its 479 tanker requirement. The service will gradually phase out its older aircraft, as well as portions of its KC-10 fleet, beginning in the 2020s as it adds KC-46s.

Though the KC-10s are much younger (the modified McDonnell Douglas DC-10 air tankers deployed for the first time in 1981, while the KC-135 fleet dates back to the 1950s), the KC-135 fleet is expansive: There are 396 Stratotanker R/T variants across the total force, while the KC-10A fleet numbers 59 in the active component only, Air Mobility Command told Military.com last year. Two additional KC-135s reside with Air Force Materiel Command for testing.

Though older, the sheer size of the KC-135 fleet means it is more readily available for operations.

Lyons would not say how much longer the Air Force will keep the 28 KC-135s past their intended retirement, but said that maintainers are working "very, very hard" to improve the overall readiness rate of the fleet

The KC-135 fleet's average mission-capable rate stands at 74 percent, according to fiscal 2017 numbers reported by Defense News. Mission-capable rates measure how effectively aircraft can be ready for their primary mission, or to deploy at a moment's notice.

"In the KC-135 fleet, for example, we're unable to meet that 85 percent goal," Lyons said Tuesday, referencing the service's stated goal of 80 to 90 percent readiness for its aircraft fleets. "The Air Force is working very, very hard to improve that readiness in the near term. That would generate more tails available for mission."

In written testimony to the committee, Lyons said the service, with the help of Congress, will see what fleet numbers it has to work with "over the next decade."

"We strongly advocate for continued congressional support to enhance tanker readiness and balance new aircraft fielding with aging aircraft divestiture in order to retain the necessary number of accessible [tanker] assets over the next decade," he wrote.

Even as the KC-46 continues to experience setbacks, Lyons told lawmakers "the decision to deliver, I think, was a good one."

Boeing Co. was supposed to deliver the initial 18 aerial refueling planes by August 2017. After a series of delays, the first aircraft was transported from Boeing's Washington state facility to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, on Jan. 25.

The Air Force announced earlier this year that it would accept the tanker, which is based on the 767 airliner, despite the fact it still has deficiencies, predominantly with its remote vision system, that Boeing has agreed to fix after delivery.

The systemic issue, which will require a software and hardware update, may take three to four years to fix, officials have said.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
We all know that military members with families are eligible to live in base housing when it is available, while single troops are relegated to living in barracks, onboard ships or, if lucky enough, off base.

Did you know that the general public can also live in base housing?

Specifically, they can live in "privatized military housing."

As part of the base housing privatization process legislated by Public Law 104-106, the Defense Department says that, when the number of vacant homes on any base rises above a certain level, the contractor can rent them to anyone it likes. The program is available on only some bases. Check with your local housing office for details.

While all of the housing areas are different -- some have yard maintenance and utilities included, while some don't; some will rent only to DoD civilians and military retirees, while others may rent to anyone; each housing company has its own set of rules, but they generally follow the federal guidelines.

If you're interested in living in a place where you may not have to worry about home or yard maintenance, paying utility bills or homeowners association fees, base housing may be for you. In fact, some of the companies that run the privatized housing call living on base "the ultimate gated community."

You normally lease a house for one year at a time. Military families get first dibs on any available housing, so if you are living there and your lease comes up for renewal, you may have to move to make room for an active-duty family.

To qualify, you must pay for a credit and background check for each adult living in the home and show proof of employment and income. You also have to pay a security deposit.

What does that mean for active-duty members? Well, since all military housing in the U.S. is undergoing the privatization process, your next on-base neighbor just could be a retiree with grandchildren your age, maybe they could be babysitters.

While much of the privatized housing is outside the gates, some of it is actually on base. If you live in housing located inside the gates, you get a base access card that is good for the term of your lease. This would get you through the gates but not give you access to the commissary, exchange or other facilities that require a military ID card.

The rent is usually based on the local Basic Allowance for Housing, but can be much less than comparable homes in the area. And the fact that utilities may be paid, maintenance is included, the housing is pet-friendly, and much of it is pretty new makes living on base a good option for some people.

If you are a DoD civilian working on base, it may be a very good deal -- cutting your commute time and allowing you to live near people with similar interests. If you're a retiree, it will make shopping on base and visiting medical facilities that much easier.

Of course, you could also live next to a 19-year-old with six kids whose spouse has just deployed for the first time.

Stay on Top of Your Veteran Benefits

Military benefits are always changing. Keep up with everything from pay to health care by subscribing to Military.com, and get access to up-to-date pay charts and more with all latest benefits delivered straight to your inbox.
The Big Three (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) have managed to keep their outrage factories in full gear even though we're in an off year for politics.

Things are just going to get more intense in the run up to the 2020 elections, so it's probably a good time to remind yourself how to avoid a few mistakes that could impact or end your career.

Try to remember to use the internet for as its inventors intended: cute animal videos, making your high school friends jealous of your awesome life and talking trash about sports.

Here are some mistakes to avoid.

1. Don't Compromise OPSEC/PERSEC

Walter Sobchak knows about OPSEC from his service in Vietnam.

Broadcasting your (or your family member's) deployments on Facebook can most definitely compromise an operation's security. No matter how proud (or frustrated) you are with that fifth round in Afghanistan, keep the details to yourself until the mission is over.

Also, turn off that fitness tracker. Lots of us like to rack up social media cred by sharing just how AWESOME our workouts can be. Turns out that the privacy settings on those fitness apps leave a lot to be desired and could potentially expose information on military personnels exact location and activities at military bases worldwide.

Use an old-fashioned step counter like your grandparents did and learn to read a map.

2. Don't Be a Bully Online

It's one thing to compare a soldier to Bobby from "King of the Hill" and crack up everyone in the barracks and another thing entirely to turn that joke into an online meme. Humiliate someone on the internet with what you considered an innocent crack and the brass will bust you for bullying. Especially if you're not as funny as you think you are.

(Pfc. Andrew Hartmann, the soldier featured in the Bobby Hill meme above, showed remarkable poise when that image went viral last year. Not everyone will be as easygoing about what's still a mean joke.)

3. Drugs: Still Against the Rules

Recreational marijuana use is now legal in ten states plus the District of Columbia. Twenty-three more allow its medical use. Unless you live in the heart of Dixie, you're at most one state line away from someone who's legally lighting up.

The Feds still believe weed should be illegal and it's strictly off-limits to active duty military members, even if the most conservative veterans groups are advocating for its medical use by the VA.

Most of us under the age of 60 are surrounded by social media posts of our friends and family members sparking up or whipping up a batch of pot brownies. But just because weed has gone mainstream, you can't slip up and endorse its use on social media. Stay off drugs or keep doing them in secret like your parents did.

4. Don't Share Nudes

There are two angles on this one.

First, don't share nudes of yourself. Maybe share nudes of yourself with a committed life partner who has earned your eternal trust. Definitely do not share nudes with that cute guy or girl you met last week down at the local tavern. Once you send them, you've lost all control of what happens (see below).

Second, we shouldn't have to remind anyone of this, but here goes: Never share nudes of someone else, whether you took them or not. Don't share nudes of your ex after they've betrayed you. Don't forward nudes of someone you don't even know when your idiot friends shared them with you.

The 2017 Marines United Facebook group scandal made the military look bad and the bad PR it generated means the next group dumb enough to do this is going to get slammed even harder.

There's no such thing as a "private" Facebook group, email list or texting chain. Anyone can break ranks at any time. Anyone paying attention to OPSEC should have know this already.

5. Don't Threaten a Government Official

President Harrison Ford, under direct threat in "Air Force One."

Sure your Uncle Leroy served three tours in Vietnam and received a Purple Heart, but now he's a civilian. His Facebook rants about what he'd like to do to a current (or former) president or the FBI agents who may or may not be planning to come take his guns are the kind of protected free speech our men and women in uniform are fighting to project.

You, on the other hand, are sworn to protect the commander in chief. Any ranting that can even vaguely be interpreted as a threat will bring the Secret Service to your door. Just ask Kody Brittingham, whose hatred of President Obama landed him in federal prison and on our "Military Members Who Turned Extremist" list.

6. Don't Make Political Statements or Endorsements

Of course, Gunny has left us and won't actually be running in 2020.

Sure, it seems like forever since the days when our presidents at least pretended to represent all Americans instead of just the ones who voted for them, but the fact that our politicians have dropped that mask doesn't change the rules for military members.

Our military is fighting to defend the rights of all American citizens, even the ones we may not agree with. That's a tough one to swallow sometimes, but it's that belief that's supposed to separate us from every other country in the world.

No matter who's president or running the Congress, the military's job is to execute the policies of the United States of America. People can probably guess who you voted for based on how you choose to live your life, but military members are supposed to keep their politics to themselves.

After you've transitioned out of the military, you've got the rest of your life to rant on social media. In fact, some of our most persistent Military.com commenters are veterans who will explain exactly how this country's gone to hell.

Sharing those thoughts now is just going to get you into trouble. Keep your mouth shut until you run for Congress in a few years.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- A Washtenaw County judge on Wednesday postponed the jail sentence of a 67-year-old man who suffers from dementia and cannot remember why hes in the criminal justice system.

Ronald Edwards, 63, of Ypsilanti, was sentenced in December to serve 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to his third offense of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, court records show.

Edwards began serving his sentence incrementally, ordered to report to the Washtenaw County Jail a minimum of one day per week. Be hes been turned away three consecutive times upon booking due to mental or physical health issues, it was revealed during an emergency hearing Wednesday, March 6.

Washtenaw County Trial Judge Archie C. Brown said he cannot legally dismiss the jail sentence, a mandatory minimum, but said he will allow Edward to delay service of the jail time until he is healthy, or by the conclusion of his probationary period, whichever comes first.

Edwards, who missed the Wednesday hearing because of a major medical appointment," according to his public defender, suffers from numerous medical conditions, and his memory impairment is severe, a county probation officer said during a hearing on Feb. 6

When he leaves here today, he probably wont even know that he was here today, the officer told the judge.

The dementia, with origins including past heavy alcohol use, a car crash and age, has progressed to the point where Edwards cant remember why hes in the court system, according to a letter included in court filings sent in December from a doctor at Ann Arbors Veterans Affairs hospital.

The memory impairment also causes him to forget to take his medications, the December letter said. He also was continuing to drive against medical advice.

Edwards' license was briefly suspended in December, according to Michigan Secretary of State records. As of mid-February, his driving was restricted until June 2019 to visits to and from work, medical treatment, support meetings and probation.

Because of this memory impairment, it is my professional medical opinion that his involvement in the court will not be beneficial for him nor the community, the letter said.

Edwards was arrested in April 2018 after police were called to the 400 block of Chestnut Boulevard in Scio Township for a report of a driver trying to run someone over, Washtenaw County Sheriffs Sgt. H. Eugene Rush previously said. Police did not find evidence of that, but did find Edwards intoxicated, he said
ANN ARBOR, MI -- After at least five failed and eight missed drug tests, a Washtenaw County judge has had enough.

Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Archie C. Brown on Wednesday, March 6 ordered Jacob L. Labelle, accused of shooting a truck driver during a parking dispute last year, to jail after learning Labelle has failed four additional court-ordered drug tests since last appearing on similar violations in early February.

Labelle, 25, is charged with assault with intent to murder, carrying a concealed weapon and felony firearm for shooting delivery driver Michael Ritter about 9:30 p.m., May 14, 2018 near the Walgreens at 317 South State St. in Ann Arbor.

Labelle tested positive for marijuana during mandatory drug tests conducted Feb. 8, Feb. 15, Feb. 20 and Feb. 26, according to prosecutors. He also tested positive for benzodiazepines on Feb. 15, according to results presented in court Wednesday.

Labelle had been free since May 2018, after a $250,000 surety bond was posted by his mother, prominent Ann Arbor attorney Deborah LaBelle, court records show.

He was previously allowed to leave the state, despite bond conditions against it, to seek inpatient mental health treatment, court records show.

Brown gave Labelle a second chance to comply with bond conditions during an appearance on violations Feb. 6, when it was revealed Labelle had failed to appear for five court-ordered drug tests and tested positive for marijuana Jan. 3.

But on Wednesday, Brown sentenced Labelle to 21 days in the Washtenaw County Jail, followed by mandatory enrollment in a residential drug treatment program.

Labelles attorney, John A. Shea, said his client is self-medicating, not using marijuana to go out and party, and has one of the most serious anxiety disorders hes ever seen in a client.

Mr. Labelle, but for his continuing to ingest cannabis, has complied with the courts bond conditions, Shea said prior to the judges sentence. He shows up at all court appearances, he shows up at community corrections when summoned ... In terms of recent history, hes doing what hes supposed to do.

Brown said its unlikely he would allow Labelle to enter a residential drug treatment program before completing the 21-day jail sentence.

Labelles charges stem from a violent altercation with a delivery driver.

Michael Ritter had blocked LaBelles Mercedes while making a delivery, and got angry when LaBelle knocked over delivery totes, the driver testified during a July 2018 preliminary examination. Ritter then knocked over a 6-foot stack of totes himself, striking LaBelle.

He didnt ask how long we were going to be, Ritter said. He said Move it. I got my CCW. The Walgreens kids tried to reason with him. This was my last delivery and I just wanted to go home.

After an altercation in which he failed to get the gun away from LaBelle, Ritter said Do it. You would be doing me a favor. This is a sh*t job, he testified.

Labelles attorneys said he pulled out his firearm in self-defense without any intent to kill.

LaBelle was diagnosed with PTSD slightly more than a month before the shooting, according to court filings. His trial is scheduled to begin on April 1.
ROSEVILLE, Mich. -- A fatal crash on westbound I-94 has closed the freeway at 10 Mile Road and police say traffic will be delayed for several hours Thursday.

The delay is expected to last through rush hour according to the Michigan State Polices Twitter page.

WB I-94 at 10 Mile

FREEWAY CLOSED

Due to a fatal crash. Expect traffic delays through the rush hour. pic.twitter.com/zKBtqmvUxL  MSP Metro Detroit (@mspmetrodet) March 7, 2019

The Michigan Department of Transportation says the following detour is in place to help commuters avoid the area: westbound I-696 to southbound I-75 to I-94. Clean up of the scene is ongoing along with a police investigation, but no timetable for when the freeway will reopen has been announced.

MSPs Twitter account says a preliminary investigation shows a driver in Ford Taurus was slowing down for traffic when a semi truck was unable to slow down and crashed into the Taurus. The semi truck then rolled over and landed on a Chrysler and a Cadillac SUV.

The driver of the Taurus was killed instantly, while the other drivers suffered minor injuries.
BERRIEN COUNTY, MI  A man led police on a high-speed chase down I-94 after he stole an ambulance in southwest Michigan.

Multiple departments took part in the chase, which featured speeds of more than 90 miles per hour, according to a news release.

The Three Oaks Ambulance was stolen while the crew was getting food at Panera Bread in St Joseph Township around 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The crew had just dropped off a patient at Spectrum Lakeland Hospital in St Joseph.

The chase began when a Baroda-Lake Township officer spotted the ambulance near mile marker 16 on westbound I-94.

It continued for several miles until stop sticks were used by the Pokagon Tribal Police, damaging the ambulances front passenger tire. The ambulance got off at exit 4A onto US-12 where it stopped in a church parking lot.

After a brief foot chase, the male suspect was arrested and lodged in the Berrien County Jail.

The 35-year-old male suspect is being held on several charges.

Agencies assisting the Baroda-Lake Township Police Department in the pursuit include the Berrien County Sheriffs Office, Bridgman City Police, Amtrak Police, Michigan State Police, Chikaming Township Police, Pokagan Tribal Police and New Buffalo City Police.
ANN ARBOR, MI  A shallow plume of dioxane may be seeping into storm sewer pipes in Ann Arbors West Park, and some worry it could be a warning sign of bigger problems to come.

A third round of testing has shown the toxic chemical present in the Allen Creek drain system that flows under the park, eventually dumping into the Huron River by Argo Pond.

Some local environmental watchdogs are concerned about the potential for a shallow plume of dioxane to also leak into home basements and pose vapor-intrusion health risks for residents.

After a test last fall showed the West Park dioxane levels at 4.4 parts per billion, and later 19 ppb, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioners Office announced plans to do monthly tests from February through July at seven Allen Creek drain locations.

Dan Hamel, a DEQ environmental quality analyst, reported the latest results at this weeks meeting of the Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane, a group of local officials and residents keeping close watch over Ann Arbors expanding Gelman dioxane plume.

Feb. 7 samples showed dioxane still present in the water flowing under West Park at 15 to 16 ppb.

Water samples were collected from the storm sewer several feet below ground in the parks southwest corner by Seventh Street.

Just downstream to the east, samples from a manhole in Chapin Street next to the park showed dioxane at 8.7 to 8.8 ppb.

There were no detections of dioxane at five other locations further upstream, Hamel reported.

What does that tell you? CARD Chairman Roger Rayle asked the DEQ official at Tuesday nights meeting.

That tells us that its not coming from up-gradient, Hamel said, adding its too early to draw conclusions about a specific source point.

Its unclear to what extent differing depths of the storm sewers may be playing a role in which ones do and dont have dioxane in them.

The plan is to continue monthly testing at the seven locations into July and see where the information leads, Hamel said.

A summary report is expected by September.

I dont want to go out and say weve proven anything yet, Hamel told CARD members.

An underground plume of dioxane has been gradually spreading through Ann Arbor's groundwater for decades, originating at the Gelman Sciences complex off Wagner Road between the 1960s and 1980s. The plume now covers an area more than three miles long and a mile wide, inching toward the Huron River.

Its the subject of ongoing litigation brought against the polluter by the city of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Scio Township, the Huron River Watershed Council and the state of Michigan. And new concerns have been raised now that traces of dioxane have been detected in the citys drinking water coming from the Huron River.

Dioxane is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as likely to be carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure. It also can cause kidney and liver damage and respiratory problems.

Just a few parts per billion in drinking water, with long-term exposure, poses a 1 in 100,000 cancer risk, according to the EPA.

The leading edge of the Gelman plume, as mapped using test results from monitoring wells scattered around the city, is now shown moving east through the West Park area, just west of downtown.

It's there where branches of Allen Creek  which once openly flowed until they were converted into underground storm sewers roughly a century ago  come together. And shallow groundwater in the area is known to rise to the surface and seep out of hillsides.

The Allen Creek storm sewer is a mix of new and old pipes, including some clay pipes, and groundwater can get into them, Hamel said.

Rayle suggests testing additional storm sewer locations in the West Park area to further investigate where there might be dioxane in shallow groundwater entering the Allen Creek drain system.
ANN ARBOR, MI - The federal government is giving a California engine manufacturer $2 million to work with the University of Michigan and Nissan on making hybrid vehicles more efficient.

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the grant to Achates Power, based in San Diego, to develop a highly-efficient opposed-piston engine, according to a news release.

The UM Energy Institute will offer engineering resources and talent in the design and testing phase.

I am excited to design and optimize the controls that will free this opposed-piston engine from the mechanical constraints of the crank and gear mechanism through the electric motors; it is like breaking the shackles and unleashing its true potential, said UM mechanical engineering professor Anna G. Stefanopoulou, director of the Energy Institute, in a news release.

Along with the freedom, though, comes the responsibility of highly precise control and coordination of the piston motions to maximize efficiency and ensure a smoother operation."

The project partners will look design a unique, single-cylinder OP engine" that will minimize energy losses that conventional internal combustion engines face, according to a news release.

The project builds on the successful development of the OP Engine and expands our research and development into the hybrid and range-extender market, said Fabien Redon, chief technical officer at Achates Power.

The inherent balance and power characteristics of the OP Engine makes it an ideal powertrain in a hybrid solution, providing vehicle manufacturers a cost-effective solution to improve vehicle fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions."
ANN ARBOR, MI - An Ann Arbor man was hospitalized for psychiatric concerns last week after a struggle with officers at the Ann Arbor Police Department.

The 30-year-old man was taken into custody between 7:30 and 8 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28 after creating a disturbance in the lobby of the department, Ann Arbor police Lt. Earle Fox confirmed.

The man was yelling for an officer by name, but no officer of that name works at the department, Fox said. The situation escalated when police couldnt produce the officer.

The man refused to leave, Acting Deputy Chief Aimee Metzer said.

When police decided to take the man into custody for causing a disturbance, he resisted and a struggle took place, Fox said. One officer suffered minor injuries.

The man was then transported to University of Michigan's Psychiatric Emergency Services, Metzer said.

He had previous run-ins with the officers the previous day, she said.

Before the incident at the police station, the man visited the offices of The Ann Arbor News on North Ashley Street, where, at about 7 a.m., he attempted to enter the building, claiming to be an employee. When he was denied access, he repeatedly kicked and pulled on the door, then drove his vehicle up to the doors of the building before eventually driving away.

The man visited the News the previous night requesting a follow-up to a 2017 story on another violent encounter with police.

Police submitted to prosecutors a request for charges of resisting and obstructing police, Fox said.
ANN ARBOR, MI  Ongoing discharges of dioxane by Gelman Sciences could be to blame for trace detections of the toxic chemical in Ann Arbors drinking water, officials say.

The polluter is sending dioxane-laced water into a creek that feeds into the citys water supply, and the state has been allowing it for years.

Members of the local Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane and a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality official discussed the matter at a CARD meeting Tuesday night, March 5.

Gelman, which once operated a filter manufacturing plant off Wagner Road and left the areas groundwater heavily polluted decades ago, has spent years conducting pump-and-treat remediation under court orders, gradually extracting contaminated water from the ground and treating it to remove dioxane the company once dumped into the environment.

Treated water with lower levels of dioxane is then discharged to a tributary of Honey Creek, which flows to the Huron River, upstream of Barton Pond, from which Ann Arbor gets most of its drinking water. The discharges also contain bromate and hydrogen peroxide.

Because its diluted by the time it hits Barton Pond, dioxane had not been detected in the city's treated drinking water until a test in February showed it at 0.030 parts per billion.

City officials alerted the public about it last week, noting dioxane in the raw Barton Pond water also was measured at 0.061 ppb.

The first-time detection in the drinking water, though small, was a significant milestone in the decades-long saga of the Gelman plume, as local residents and officials have been watching for years to see if and when dioxane might eventually contaminate the citys water supply.

Some now worry the February detection could be just the tip of the iceberg, with much larger concentrations of dioxane still migrating.

Well readings this past year showed dioxane concentrations as high as 8,200 ppb in groundwater.

Theres no proof that its Gelmans dioxane in Barton Pond, and it theoretically could be from another source, state and local officials said, but its known from regular testing that the water Gelman is discharging daily contains varying levels of the chemical.

I do want to stress that there are other sources of dioxane, said Dan Hamel, a DEQ senior environmental quality analyst, noting its used in a lot of consumer products.

Dioxane is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as likely to be carcinogenic to humans by all routes of exposure. It also can cause kidney and liver damage, and respiratory problems.

Just a few parts per billion in drinking water, with long-term exposure, poses a 1 in 100,000 cancer risk, according to the EPA.

Under a DEQ permit last updated in 2016 and up for renewal this year, Gelman is allowed to discharge up to 1.872 million gallons of treated groundwater per day, though its doing much less than that.

On a daily basis, the discharged water is allowed to contain up to 22 ppb of dioxane, while the monthly average is limited to 7 ppb. Before permit standards were tightened in 2005, even higher dioxane discharges were allowed.

Dioxane levels in the discharges are typically between 3 and 8 ppb, and the monthly average has not exceeded the limit, Hamel said.

The discharge limits were put in place before the state acknowledged in an October 2016 emergency order that dioxane is more dangerous than previously believed. In the order, the state set new rules to limit dioxane in residential drinking water to 7.2 ppb, down from 85 ppb, but Gelmans discharge limits were not adjusted downward.

State and local governments, along with the Huron River Watershed Council, are now suing the polluter in court, with hopes of getting Gelman to do more monitoring and cleanup.

A spokesman for the company didnt respond to a request for comment.

The permit that allows Gelman to discharge dioxane-laced water expires on Oct. 1, and the company is expected to submit a new permit application to the DEQ by early April, after which it will go through review and a public comment period, Hamel said.

Its technically a federal permit, but the DEQ absolutely has discretion to deny a permit, Hamel said.

CARD members plan to keep a close eye on the process and scrutinize what dioxane discharges are allowed going forward.

At the request of local officials and residents, the DEQ has done various tests for dioxane along Honey Creek in the last couple years, Hamel said, giving a report on the results Tuesday night.

At Honey Creek and Dexter Road, results ranged from non-detect to 2.1 ppb. At a Honey Creek tributary and Jackson Road, results ranged from 1.9 to 3.9 ppb. And where the tributary crosses Park Road, results ranged from 2 to 3.8 ppb, with 1.6 to 4.1 ppb in nearby Little Lake.

While dioxane is now showing up in the citys treated drinking water for the first time, the city already detected dioxane at 0.067 ppb in Barton Pond back in December, and it showed up in the citys supply wells near the city airport at 0.083 ppb last March, said Kristen Schweighoefer, the countys environmental health director.

CARD Chairman Roger Rayle, who has been tracking the Gelman plume for more than 25 years, called that a startling revelation and wondered why that wasnt shared before. The information is now posted on the citys website.

Jack Eaton, one of three Ann Arbor council members who attended Tuesdays meeting, noted the makeup of council changed in November and the council is pushing the city to be more transparent.

CARD members believe the dioxane in the groundwater at the citys airport, about four miles southeast of where the Gelman plume originated, may be from another source, or it could be a faulty reading.

If there really was dioxane permeating several miles over a groundwater divide, that would be a game changer, even more than having low levels of dioxane in your finished water, Rayle said.

Another point of concern at Tuesday nights meeting was the DEQs revelation that dioxane and bromate testing reported over the years as being done where Honey Creek and the Huron River meet is actually done further downstream, where the pollution becomes more diluted in the river. The results have been reported as non-detect, and Rayle now argues the testing should be done where the creek and river actually meet to find out concentrations entering the river.

In addition to dioxane likely getting into Barton Pond via Gelmans discharges into Honey Creek, Rayle said, its possible a fingerlike extension of the Gelman plume could be passing between monitoring wells and going straight to the pond undetected. Theres already evidence thats how some of the dioxane has spread, he said.

Rayle, who lives in Scio Township, is concerned many more township residents on well water could be in the path of the plume as it further expands, and he doesnt think enough is being done.

When were talking about water for this community, this area, the future of Ann Arbor, everybody has to do their due diligence to a better extent than whats happening now, he said.

Noting theres also PFAS contamination across the state, including in the Huron River and Ann Arbors drinking water, Rayle argued its time to give the DEQ more resources to do its job.
ANN ARBOR, MI - A developer wants to build two adjacent hotels on a site where an eyesore of a shuttered inn stood for years on the citys west side.

Ann Arbor Best Hospitality is proposing an Aloft by Marriott and Home2 by Hilton at 2800 Jackson Ave., former site of the Michigan Inn hotel, which was demolished in 2009.

Each four-story hotel would have 136 rooms and 107 suites, project plans show.

Developers submitted a site plan and rezoning request to city council this week, city planner Jill Thacher said in an email. If approved, city engineers will need to approve construction plans, then they can apply for building permits.

The 4.5-acre site would have two driveways leading to to Jackson Avenue and the I-94 Business Loop, plans show. Developers anticipate beginning construction by 2020.

Ann Arbor Best Hospitality purchased the property for $3 million in 2017 from Michiginns Real Estate, LLC, property records show.

The site once held the Michigan Inn hotel, which included 129 rooms and a restaurant. It was originally built as a Ramada property in 1968.

It sat vacant from 1991 until its demolition, and was badly damaged in a 2007 fire that was ruled an arson.

The city fought for years to force demolition of the hotel as a dilapidated property before it was finally sold for $2.2 million in 2008 and demolished in 2009.

A message seeking comment was left with the owner of the property.
ANN ARBOR, MI  Mexican journalist and University of Michigan Knight Wallace Fellow Emilio Gutierrez Sotos application for asylum has been denied by a United States immigration judge.

U.S. Immigration Judge Robert Hough ruled that Gutierrez and his son be removed from the United States in his Feb. 28 decision. The ruling comes after Gutierrez and his son, Oscar, were freed on July 26, 2018, from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Texas.

In 2017, an immigration judge in El Paso, Texas, denied Gutierrezs asylum request and he was scheduled for deportation. The deportation was halted after protests from numerous journalism organizations, including The National Press Club, Reporters Without Borders and the American Society of News Editors.

Gutierrez entered the country 11 years ago seeking asylum after his reporting on corruption in his home country made him the target of death threats.

In his ruling, Hough said Gutierrez Soto failed to demonstrate he suffered past persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution if he was forced to return to Mexico. On March 7, Gutierrezs attorney Eduardo Beckett filed an appeal to the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals.

Additionally, the respondent failed to show that it is more likely than not that he would be subjected to torture upon his return to Mexico, Houghs ruling states.

Those who have fought for his freedom say they will continue to do so, including Knight Wallace Fellowship Director Lynette Clemetson, who urged other journalism and press freedom organizations to intervene in the case.

"This ruling demonstrates a disturbing disregard of the facts, both those specific to Emilio and those regarding the horrific dangers facing journalists in Mexico." Clemetson said. "Having been before the judge in person, it seems clear that his decision was predetermined. It is important that people who believe in freedom and safety of the press continue to fight for a just outcome for Emilio, regardless of this disingenuous ruling.

A 2018 letter from the U.S. Department of State submitted to Hough advocating for Gutierrez referred to Mexico as the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist outside of war zones, with 51 journalists killed there since 2010, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Perpetrators of violence against journalists continued to act with impunity, with few reports of successful investigation, arrest, or prosecution of suspects, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Busby noted in the letter.

The judges decision indicated Gutierrez failed to provide the court with sufficient evidence to establish he suffered from past persecution or that there was a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of his political opinion.

Specifically, the record lacks evidence that the respondent wrote any articles that denounce the corruption in Mexico, Hough wrote. ... The court counted three articles that pertain to the illicit activities of a small group of Mexican military members.

Hough questioned Gutierrezs credibility, and ruled that because a person can change jobs, journalists do not qualify as a targeted social group under U.S. asylum law.

"Under Judge Hough's rationale, all reporters in Mexico have to do to stay out of danger is quit reporting  just what the drug cartels and corrupt officials want," National Press Club President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak said. "Dozens of well-known press and free speech organizations, including this one, find Emilio credible. Judge Hough is the only one who doesn't. That's why we are appealing for justice."

Gutierrez joined the 2018-19 Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists class at UM as a Senior Press Freedom Fellow in July. While at UM, Gutierrez was expected to study issues related to global press freedom and safety. Gutierrez spoke about his career and the importance of a free press during a UM panel in December.

The Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists is one of several organizations that previously signed amicus briefs put together by The National Press Club in support of Gutierrezs case.
FLINT, MI -- The new woman in charge of Flint water prosecutions says she needs more time to assess the strength of at least two of the pending criminal cases before shes prepared to defend them.

Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud told a Genesee district court judge Thursday, March 7, that shes not ready to press the cases against former emergency manager Darnell Earley or former Flint Department of Public Works Director Howard Croft and wont be ready by next month either.

The people are currently evaluating all the evidence in these cases, specifically the defendants that are ... in front of the court today..., Hammoud said. We are doing our due diligence in this case ... to evaluate and re-evaluate the evidence in this case and the charges on all defendants.

Earley, the state-appointed emergency manager in charge of Flint at the start of the citys water crisis, faces charges of false pretenses, conspiracy to commit false pretenses, willful neglect of duty and misconduct in office.

Special prosecutor Todd Flood, who led the Flint water investigation from January 2016 until January 2019, also filed notice with the court that he would ask Judge Nathaniel Perry to add a charge of involuntary manslaughter at the conclusion of Earleys preliminary exam.

Croft also is targeted for involuntary manslaughter and faces charges of false pretenses and conspiracy to commit false pretenses.

Hammoud said Thursday that the Attorney Generals Office is in the process of both reviewing the cases built by Flood and adding new investigators to work on new leads.

There are many pieces of information that we are assessing -- even maybe some additional discovery that we will be seeking, she said. We plan to not leave any stone unturned.

How long the review will take wasnt clear Thursday, but Hammoud asked Perry not to schedule a restart of preliminary exams for Earley or Croft until after another probable cause conference April 1.

We are not wasting a minute," but are evaluating evidence in these cases and six others that are currently pending in Genesee district and circuit courts, she assured the judge.

The fresh review comes after Attorney General Dana Nessel in January put Hammoud in charge of the Flint water cases and criminal investigations, and last month announced that Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy would assist in overseeing the cases.

Thursdays decision to pause the Earley and Croft cases follows a pattern of delays requested since Nessel shook up the structure of the water prosecutions, bringing in not only new managers but also new prosecutors and investigators.

Flood, who was appointed special prosecutor in the water cases by former Attorney General Bill Schuette, appeared with Hammoud in two district courtrooms in Flint Thursday, questioning witnesses in the preliminary examination of Patrick Cook, a community drinking water specialist for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and sitting next to the solicitor general in Perrys court.

Whether I agree with the (current) charges or not is still something that Im evaluating ... Theres a lot of things in this case that I do not agree with," Hammoud said of the cases against Earley and Croft.

She hopes Flood remains a part of the states Flint water team even though hes no longer in charge and his work has been criticized by Nessel.

Just this week, Nessel said she replaced civil and criminal attorneys from leading Flint water crisis cases because she was not satisfied these cases were being handled properly.

Todd Flood is an essential part of this team, Hammoud said. In fact, even throughout this evaluation process he has been extremely helpful.
FLINT, MI  A veteran probation officer recommended juvenile sentencing for three teens in the October 2017 rock-throwing death of Kenneth A. White.

Mikadyn Payne, 17, Mark Sekelsky, 17, and Trevor Gray, 16 appeared Wednesday, March 6 in front of Genesee Circuit Judge Joseph J. Farah for a continuation of a sentencing hearing.

They previously reached a plea deal that dropped 10 of 11 charges and amended a second-degree murder charge to manslaughter. The plea still needs to be officially accepted by the court.

White died after a large rock crashed through the windshield of his vehicle on southbound Interstate 75 in Vienna Township. He was a passenger in the vehicle. The rock, estimated to weigh around 20 pounds, was thrown from the Dodge Road overpass.

Holly Walker, a probation officer with the state of Michigan, offered her recommendation after an assessment that reviews items such as the offense itself, any past record and the socioeconomic structure in their homes.

Im trying to look at the facts and make the best recommendation based on the facts and the circumstances in this case with no emotions in regard to my decision on the recommendation, she said.

Still, Walker recognized the gravity of the incident.

I believe what happened to the victim, theres no excuse. Nothing can bring him back, Walker said during questioning by Frank Manley, Sekelskys attorney. At this point, we have to go forward and decide on how were going to address the responsibility to the community that these young men are either going to be in or released back into.

Information in the report included Snapchat messages sent between the suspects regarding a tear drop tattoo they planned to get following the incident. The messages were sent after the incident took place.

The fact that they had taken a life and that they had planned to pretend like it didnt happenthat was difficult to read, said Walker.

Speaking on their potential sentences, Farah questioned what outcome would be just in the case.

Is the measurement of redemption going to be You know what judge, I learned you shouldnt throw rocks over the overpass'?" he said. I mean that seems like a small accomplishment, doesnt it? Is it something deeper than that?

After completing her assessment, Walker said, I believe they knew that and that is why they took responsibility for their actions and pled guilty ... They knew that was wrong.

I believe they need to be in a more structured environment and have programming geared towards someone their age to assist them in preventing this path theyre already starting down, she noted.

Farah hasnt made a decision about whether to sentence the teens as juveniles.

I havent decided anything," he said. "Zero. Thats what Ive decided so far.

The teens could face more time served if they are sentenced as juveniles rather than as adults, with the judge having the discretion to hold them in custody up to their 21st birthdays. The court would be required to give them credit for time served if they are sentenced as adults.

Alexzander Miller, 16, did not appear in court on Wednesday.

A sentencing hearing for Kyle Anger, 19, was adjourned on Tuesday without a decision. He will be sentenced as an adult in the case. Anger previously agreed to a plea deal that dropped all charges but one count of second-degree murder.

All the other teens will testify against Anger as part of their plea deals.
WALKER, MI  Bissell, a Walker-based family owned business that manufacturers and markets cleaning products, has received a $500,000 state grant as it undertakes a $10 million expansion that will create 100 new jobs.

The performance-based grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation will be paid out over a three-year period as Bissell meets job creation goals. The company is adding 25,000-square-feet of office space at its corporate headquarters, 2345 Walker Ave. NW.

Grand Rapids, and its healthy business environment, have been integral to BISSELL operations for over 140 years, the companys chairmen and CEO, Mark Bissell, said in a statement. We continue to see employment growth in this community. The decision to continue our investment here made sense."

Bissell, which has locations and business offices around the world, manufactures and markets vacuums, carpet sweepers, deep cleaners, hard surface appliances and a full line of floor cleaning consumables.

The goal of the expansion is to create enough space for another 150 workers, which will allow for planned growth through 2020 and beyond, according to an MEDC memo outlining the grant funding.

In its request to MEDC for assistance, Bissell said locations in Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina  where the company has offices  would provide better access to skilled workers than Walker and are more attractive as there would be less capital investment for expansion.

Incentive assistance is necessary to assist with capital expenditures and to help secure the jobs in Michigan, according to the MEDC memo outlining the grant request.

In addition to the MEDC grant, the city of Walker is also considering offering Bissell a tax break.

The states Transportation Economic Development Fund has also assisted with the project. TEDF awarded a $1.8 million grant to the city of Walker for a $3 million project to demolish a bridge near Bissells headquarters. The bridge is weight restricted and in need of repair, and the structure is problematic for Bissell because the only entrance to the business is located close to the structure.

The bridge, which passes over railroad tracks below, will be replaced with a traditional roadway railroad crossing. Work on the project is expected to start in July, the state said in December.

The Right Place, a Grand Rapids-based economic development organization, said it worked with Bissell and the MEDC to ensure the company chose to expand in Michigan as opposed to Chicago or North Carolina. The Right Place also connected the company with West Michigan Works! to provide training for new workers.

This expansion project from a global leader like BISSELL reaffirms that West Michigan is a world-class destination for business success, Birgit Klohs, president and CEO of The Right Place, said in a statement. It is why we are steadfast in our support of existing companies in the region, assisting them as they continue to grow, invest, and ultimately create jobs in the community.

Bissell said its new jobs have a weighted average salary of $75,000, according to information submitted to TEDF as part of the funding application for the bridge demolition project.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- When a fleeing homicide suspect started shooting at officers on U.S. 131, Grand Rapids police Officer Todd Wuis didnt have time to ponder his actions.

He immediately sped toward the man in his cruiser, ducking toward the dash at one point, and clipped the armed man to disable him.

It was split-second, he said. I was just reacting to the situation taking place."

Wuis spoke Wednesday, March 6 about the intense moments surrounding the Sept. 27 police chase that ended in the U.S. 131 S-curve with suspect Adam Nolin firing a revolver and running from officers barricading themselves behind cruisers.

Wuis recently was given the Police Medal -- the highest honor possible for a living Grand Rapids Police officer -- for actions that fellow officers called heroic. He received the award at the annual police awards ceremony.

Wuis is an 18-year veteran of the force, a father and husband. He has worked with a police dog for the last eight years.

He recalled being among several officers and cruisers chasing Nolins pickup down northbound U.S. 131. When another officer pulled a pit maneuver on the truck and spun it around, Nolin seconds later exited the truck with a gun and began shooting and running.

Other cruisers already were stopped nearby and Wuis was just pulling up when he saw the gun..

Im like Oh no.' This is more than just a K9 call now. This is a life-and-death situation, he said.

At that point, Wuis thought maybe Nolin already had shot an officer. But he missed.

He figured his best chance at stopping the suspect was to speed forward. He credited years of police training with helping him make the right decision.

That was the safest option I felt I had. It was an active shooter. He was shooting at officers...Were dealing with a bad guy, Wuis said.

I didnt have time to think of the (possible) bad outcome. It was a reaction, he said.

When he struck Nolin, it dislodged the gun from his hand and disabled him. He was taken into custody without further incident and no officers were hurt.

Wuis said he was both shocked and honored to receive the Police Medal award.

Nolin is awaiting trial on charges of open murder and several other felonies. Hes accused of killing his girlfriend, 27-year-old Tia Randall, at Creekside Estates mobile-home park near Clyde Park Avenue SW and 52nd Street.
LOWELL, MI  A part-time worker at Lowell Area Schools has been indicted on charges of production and distribution of child pornography.

Madalynne Paige Iteen, 22, allegedly took sexually explicit photos of an 8-month-old boy she was babysitting and distributed the images on Snapchat, court records said.

She faces at least 15 years in prison, and up to 30 years, if convicted of producing child pornography. The distribution charge carries a penalty of five to 20 years in prison.

She has no previous criminal record.

Lowell Area Schools would not disclose Iteens job title or status with the district. The school district earlier said in a letter to parents that a part-time worker was arrested as part of a federal investigation and had been placed on administrative leave.

She came to the attention of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Grand Rapids last month when the Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario, Canada, assumed the email account of a suspect arrested for child pornography.

The email gave the Ontario investigator access to a directory containing photos with child exploitative names, including kid vids, HSI special agent Scott Bauer wrote in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

A Camera Uploads folder had numerous non-pornographic images of a woman identified as Iteen, along with pornographic images and videos believed to be Iteen, Bauer wrote.

Additionally, there were images of the abuse of what appeared to be an infant boy, he said.

Several images of sexually explicit photographs involving an infant boy believed to the (the victim) were also contained with the Camera Uploads folder , he said.

On Feb. 15, HSI agents and Kent County sheriffs deputies raided Iteens residence she shared with her grandmother.

Iteen told police that she had been contacted in summer 2018 by someone who shared about 20 videos of girls  maybe 3 to 7 years old  performing sex acts with men.

She told police she had no sexual interest in children and deleted the videos, the HSI agent said.

Then, while she was babysitting the 8-month-old, she was told by the person she had been in contract with to take sexually explicit images of the boy, including images of her molesting the boy. She sent the images via the internet, HSI said.

During the search, police said they found bed sheets that appeared to be the same as those depicted in the photos of the boy.

Iteen is free on a $50,000 unsecured bond. Her attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
JACKSON, MI  A new $6 million event center wont be ready for the 2019 Jackson County Fair, but a reimagined midway is on schedule to debut this summer.

Renderings of the reimagined midway and American 1 Event Center were presented to the Jackson County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, March 5.

"We have made a lot of progress," Jackson County Parks Director Jeff Hovarter said to the board Tuesday. "If this winter decides to let go, we'll make a lot more progress."

Phase one of the changes at the Jackson County Fairgrounds/Keeley Park, 200 W. Ganson St., will finish before the Aug. 4-10 fair, Hovarter said.

Improvements include a new midway in the infield of the old horse-racing track and a new 510-space parking lot on the south side of the fairgrounds. The shell of the American 1 Event Center is going up this summer and open in February 2020.

The 36,000-square-foot building will include a main hall, event spaces and a catering kitchen. American 1 Credit Union gave $4 million for the project and the county bonded for another $4 million for the balance, plus other fairgrounds improvements.

The south end of the horse-racing track is being removed now, but the north half and the grandstands will remain.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- An hour before the Kalamazoo school board met in front of the public at its regular sessions, trustees for years gathered over dinner to discuss issues with the superintendent and among themselves.

Some teachers referred to them as secret meetings. While technically open to the public, they were held in a small conference room with little room for the general public.

As MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette was reporting on a story about the meetings, board President Patti Sholler-Barber announced this week that the board would stop holding them.

She cited schedule conflicts for newly elected and appointed board members.

Its not working. So, its done, Sholler-Barber said in an interview Wednesday, March 6.

(The meetings) served as a very helpful thing for the board for learning about all sorts of broad topics, policies, practices and discovery, she said. They were very functional for those decades. Having said that, this is a new board.

Amanda Miller, president of the teachers union, told MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette prior to Sholler-Barbers announcement that it did not seem as though the public was welcome at the meetings.

You have to get your own chair," Miller said. That doesnt say, Welcome.

The meetings are required to be open to the public by law. But the way they are announced and their location inside a small conference room in the superintendents office with no seats available for the public show a conflict, at least in spirit, with Michigans Open Meetings Act, according to Jennifer Dukarski, legal counsel with the Michigan Press Association.

Having a meeting before the meeting, it violates the spirit of the Open Meetings Act, if not the actual law itself," Dukarski said.

The dinner meetings, called a rehearsal for the main meeting by one former board member, sometimes included discussion of items later put to a vote. The public typically does not see the same level of discussion or hear many doubts from individual members on the same topics during the boards regular meeting.

Sholler-Barber said the board did not violate the law, following the advice of its attorney, because the dinner meetings were open to the public and noticed as required.

Any deliberation or discussion of school issues must be done in an open meeting, Dukarski said. The dinner meetings defeat the purpose of transparency by limiting the number of people who can attend, she said.

Its just bad form," Dukarski said.

As a public body, Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Education must function under the rules of the Open Meetings Act, a law set in place to allow the public access to all business of an elected board.

The board does not take any votes during the dinner meeting. Instead, they hear from Superintendent Michael Rice on presentations coming during the regular meeting, how state politics are impacting students locally or about new programs or initiatives at the schools. The board does not offer a time for public comment during the meeting, which is a requirement of a open meeting under the OMA, Dukarski said.

When asked if there was opportunity for public comment during the dinner meeting, Sholler-Barber said a public comment period is offered at the regular meeting. Because the dinner meetings should be considered an extension of the regular meetings, the board met its legal requirement for public comment, she said.

At what Sholler-Barber said was the final dinner meeting Thursday, Feb. 28, Rice briefed the board on upcoming purchase recommendations they would vote on during the regular meeting. Rice asked the members if they had questions on the recommendations, which would be approved with a single vote as part of the consent agenda, and encouraged the members to read them before voting.

During the meeting, the president of the districts teachers union stood and a reporter sat in the hallway because of space constraints.

How the public is notified

The dinner meetings are not included in the notice in the window of the Administration Building and are not referenced on the boards website. The meetings are noticed in smaller font below the regular meeting notice on the agenda packets, which are available online.

Left: The public noticed posted outside the Kalamazoo Public Schools Administration Building does not reference the dinner meetings. Right: The dinner meetings are noticed in smaller font below the regular meetings in the agenda packets, which are available online.

The districts monthly newsletter to the school community, Excelsior, lists on its cover the times and dates for upcoming board meetings, but makes no mention of the dinner meetings.

The November election brought two new members to the board, one of whom openly criticized school leaders as disconnected with the community. Shortly after, former board members spoke out against a decision to appoint another new member to fill a vacant seat, calling it a major mistake."

Newly elected board member Tandy Moores call for greater transparency was a major theme of her campaign. She won a seat on the board with about 13,000 votes, 24 percent of the votes cast in the November election.

She encouraged fellow members to make more effort to inform the public of decision making and to seek input on important policy decisions. She said the members are elected by the public, therefore they need to speak directly with parents to address their concerns.

At the dinner meeting Thursday, Feb. 28, Moore requested discussion on the public comments made during meetings. The same night, Moore criticized the board for neglecting to acknowledge an invitation to a community-organized forum. After heated discussion, the board voted unanimously to go into closed session.

Moore said in a public statement published the next day that she regretted her decision to vote in favor, calling the closed session unlawful.

According to a lawyer from the Michigan Press Association, this closed session was in violation of the Open Meetings Act.

Sholler-Barber acknowledged the violation, saying it was a mistake to go into closed session.

Thats why we issued the apology and defined that we were very much in agreement with and in no size, shape or form were we looking to bypass or not be under the jurisdiction of that law, she said.

Moore previously said the public should attend the informational dinner meetings as a chance to see behind the scenes of their elected officials decision-making process. The community would see more of their elected officials unrehearsed dialogue," she said.

Moore said she appreciates the hour before the meeting to ask questions and break the formality of a business meeting, but that people must be welcomed to the discussion. Board members would also benefit from gathering information from people outside the district administration, including from the community, parents and teachers, she said.

The Board of Education at Portage Public Schools advertises work sessions, board retreats and regular business meetings in the same location online.

Board retreats are scheduled the same day as other meetings, but do not happen at the same frequency as regular meetings, district spokesperson Michelle Karpinski said. Much like KPS, the members are fed dinner and have time for discussion on school policy, but unlike KPS, the meetings are noticed with an agenda and include time for public comment. The retreats are held in the superintendents office conference room, similarly to the KPS meetings. The conference room is small and if an audience were to show up, the members would move the meeting to the board room, Karpinski said.

'Secret dinner meetings

Miller, president of the Kalamazoo Education Association, said she was made aware of the dinner meetings and began to periodically attend about a year ago. Shes been leader of the local teachers union for five years, she said.

The meetings are called secret dinner meetings among the teaching staff, Miller said, though technically open to anyone who wishes to attend.

Its not good for our board to appear that way, she said.

To be transparent, its healthy for the community to see how decisions are made, Miller said. (The public) needs to see the people they elected being thoughtful and getting the experience to make decisions to move the district forward."

Without it, she said, people assume the worst.

Lauren Freedman. a former board member who recently resigned because of a move out of state, said in an interview with MLive that when she first joined the board in early 2017, she began questioning the dinner meetings. She said, in her experience as a board member, the dinner meetings were basically a rehearsal for the regular meeting, which Freedman called unacceptable."

The dinner meetings were a way to align the board members opinions before going in front of the public, Freedman said.

The board members are responsible to the voters, she said. Voters should have direct access to their elected officials without interference from the districts administration.

These are the people that elected you, Freedman said. Its remembering who you work for.

Freedman resigned in December 2018 and moved from Kalamazoo to Seattle. Her opinions on board practices had no role in her decision to leave, she said.

What does the law say?

The Open Meetings Act does not require that boards post agendas ahead of their meetings beyond noticing the time and place. But posting agendas by public school districts and city government is common practice.

Agendas from the KPS board, published a few days prior to regular meetings, are often empty, lacking any detail on what will be discussed at the upcoming meeting. The printed agenda packets, offered to those in attendance at the regular meetings, often include further detail on what the board will discuss that evening.

Brad Banasik, legal counsel with the Michigan Association of School Boards, said districts have more flexibility over the content of their meetings when detailed agendas are not posted ahead of time.

The association, which represents school boards from across the state, does not advise districts whether to post agendas ahead of meetings, Banasik said. Without flexibility to move topics, boards risk creating a false" expectation for the meeting, he said.

But, Banasik said, regardless of how a special meeting is identified, whether an informational meeting or work session, the meeting is required to be open to the public under the Open Meetings Act. This means boards must allow time for public comment, take minutes and have seats for the public, he said.

Both special and regular meetings should be held in a space that can accommodate an audience, Banasik said. If, for example, a group of 30 people showed up to a meeting that was held in a small conference room, the board should recess the meeting and move to a larger space like an auditorium, he said.

In her time on the board since 2006, there was never a large group who showed up forcing the board to move to a larger space, Sholler-Barber said. There is not a plan in place for that to happen, but since the meetings are over, its no longer necessary to have a plan, she said.

It hasnt happened, and were done," Sholler-Barber said.

The association urges districts to comply with the Open Meetings Act and to generally promote openness, according to the groups resolutions, which guide the associations position on issues related to education.

"Public trust and confidence are essential to maintain and strengthen a democratic form of government, MASB said on their website.
MUSKEGON, MI  The smokestack that dominated the Muskegon skyline for nearly five decades now stands at less than one-third its former stature.

Its a visual testament to the progress made toward clearing the site of the former B.C. Cobb coal-fired power plant at the east end of Muskegon Lake that is expected to be transitioned into a port terminal.

But the process is now expected to take longer than the new owners previously stated goal of 18-20 months, which would have meant completion in summer 2019.

Demolition is now expected to be complete by February 2020, said Mary Ann Sabo of Sabo PR, which represents owner Forsite Development.

With any project as large and complex as the decommissioning of the Cobb plant, its impossible to know how long the process will actually take until the project is well underway, she said in an emailed statement. A delay in the asbestos abatement and severe winter weather has put the project a couple months behind our originally anticipated completion date.

The plant supplied power and jobs to the Muskegon area for 67 years. It was shuttered during April 2017 as part of Consumers Energys move away from coal due to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys tightening emissions standards at the time.

Consumers had already invested $22 million to decommission the plant when it gave the 115-acre site and $1 million to Forsite during fall 2017, according to Consumers officials and documents filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission. Forsite, of North Carolina, is expected to make the property a deep-water port terminal.

Forsite is responsible for leveling buildings, asbestos abatement and the brick-by-brick deconstruction of the formerly 650-foot-tall smokestack. Its work began in November 2017.

The stack is now 180 feet tall, Sabo said.

The remainder will be taken down mechanically with high-reach excavators and wrecking ball," Sabo said. The stack is expected to be entirely removed sometime this summer.

Asbestos abatement teams are expected to finish work and vacate the site this month, she said.

A turbine building has already been removed, Sabo said. Prep work to remove boilers is ongoing.

The deep-water marine terminal that would replace the power plant is expected to specialize in cross-Lake Michigan shipping, according to a previous press release. The plan includes working with economic development agencies to place an industrial park nearby for businesses looking to use the cross-lake logistics route.

Muskegon Lake is the largest natural deep-water port in West Michigan, according to Port of Muskegon marketing materials.

Efforts are underway by the West Michigan Shoreline Food Processing Initiative to turn Muskegon into a food processing hub, and those businesses could be prime customers for the terminal.

The initiative seeks to grow West Michigans food processing capacity and turn Muskegon into a key shipping port for those goods. It launched during fall 2017, shortly after Consumers transferred Cobb ownership to Forsite. A grant of $232,728 from the Consumers Energy Foundation got the initiative started.

The biggest project announced by the initiative so far is a food processing incubator, Food Forward FARM, expected to be built on the site of the old farmers market on Yuba Street. Its a $5 million to $7 million development by Muskegons Core Realty Partners.

When shipping operations get started, the site of the B.C. Cobb plant will be cleared of buildings, which are expected to be replaced by stacks of shipping containers and piles of bulk materials, Foresite President Tom McKittrick said previously.
MUSKEGON, MI  A planned 55-unit condominium project with access to the Hartshorn Marina has been approved, and its developer hopes to begin the project in the spring.

Final plans for the Hartshorn Village development at property on West Western Avenue were recently approved by the Muskegon City Commission. The property is located between the marina and Fricano Place.

The site plan presented to commissioners on Feb. 26 details 55 condos built across the sprawling lakeside development, complete with a fenced-in club house and pool area, lush landscaping and access to the city-owned marina.

It includes several key changes from what was originally presented to the city commission last year, including a sharp increase in the number of available condos and green space. The plan originally called for 23 condos with less open green space and community areas.

An earlier agreement that would have given prospective residents the right of first refusal for marina slips at Hartshorn has also been refined. The agreement had drawn the ire of Muskegon residents who frequent the marina.

This site plan shows a planned 55-unit condominium development with access to the Hartshorn Marina that was recently approved by the Muskegon City Commission. The developer, Harbor West, hopes to begin the project in the spring. (Courtesy of Westshore Engineering and Surveying)Courtesy of Westshore Engineering and Surveying

The developer, Harbor West, plans to construct two types of condo models with names like Schooner and Clipper that will vary between 1-story, 1.5-story and 2-story detached single-family style homes. Each of the condos would include a garage, and at least six of the units would have an extra detached garage for storage, according to the plan.

Jake Eckholm, Muskegons new director of economic development, said Harbor West estimates that the homes would start at a price of $300,000. The price of the homes would increase depending on custom finishes. The developer does not plan to build basements in the condos because of flooding concerns.

Harbor West would likely break ground this spring and start condo construction during summer. The project is expected to be complete in 2020, Eckholm added.

Several improvements to the land are also planned, like upgrades to the marina, its adjacent park and existing green space to the north of Fricano Place.

Fricanos lower parking deck and a bike path will likely be relocated.

Marina improvements were slated to begin in the summer of 2018 but have been delayed, said Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson. Improvements to the dock area were also to begin in summer 2019, but that work likely wont begin until 2020.

Amenities such as greenspace and a new clubhouse were included in several drawings provided to commissioners at the Feb. 26 meeting.

A total of 50 parking spaces would also be located near the new clubhouse and pool area located to the south of the marina.

Harbor West, a partnership between Smith Equities and DeHaan Homes, is in the process of hiring a company to run its condo association, Peterson said. City staff also plan to recommend that the prospective condo association operate the marina  a decision that would need to be approved by the city commission.

Peterson said he expects that proposal to be brought forward to the commission at a later date.

In March 2018, Peterson stated that the city and the developers were working on an agreement that would let condo residents get the right of first refusal to existing boat slips at Hartshorn Marina.

Eckholm said that agreement has been refined and that the development will not have guaranteed boat slips. If one does become available, only then would prospective residents have the right of first refusal.

The development company envisions a condominium community where residents can walk "out your unit right to your boat," John VanFossen of Smith Equities told city commissioners in 2017.

If the development proves successful, Smith could be interested in developing more former lakefront industrial property to the west, VanFossen said.

The property adjacent to Hartshorn Marina previously was a parking lot for the former Shaw Walker manufacturing facility across West Western.
MUSKEGON, MI  Hines Corporation, usually known as a business buyer, has sold three companies so far this year in an effort to give them room to grow, according to a company official.

This week, the Norton Shores-based corporation announced the sale of one of its most well-known businesses: Michigan Spring and Stamping Co., which is headquartered in Muskegon. In January, Hines Corp. announced the combined sale of Crane Carrier Co. and Kimble Mixer Co. Neither has a Michigan presence.

The sales do not indicate an upcoming leadership change at Hines Corp., said George Bud Hendrick, executive vice president of corporate development at Hines Corporation.

Hines Corp. expects Michigan Spring and Stamping headquarters to remain in Muskegon and jobs to be unaffected, Hendrick said.

The sale to Germany-based KERN-LIEBERS was completed on Thursday, Feb. 28, he said. Michigan Spring and Stamping has locations in Muskegon, Texas and China, but the majority of employees  130 of 160  are in Muskegon.

Michigan Spring and Stamping manufactures a range of technical springs, assemblies, precision stampings and wire forms used in a variety of industries, including medical, automotive and recreation.

The buyer is a medium-sized, family business describing itself as a global technology leader for the production of highly complex strip and wire parts and assemblies.

The sale was driven by the potential for Michigan Spring and Stamping to grow, and its need for more specialized support to do so, Hendrick said.

We all know how people can react to news that some local company has been sold, he said. That also means somebody bought it. They want it. They want the people. Larry (Hines) would not have sold a business if it was going to be shut down. We selected the buyer."

Larry Hines is the president of Hines Corp., which he founded in 1984.

Hines Corp. acquired Michigan Spring and Stamping in 2008. The company was combined with American Coil Spring, which Hines Corp. purchased in 1997. In 2017, Michigan Spring and Stamping was expanded into China.

I welcome the whole team into the KERN-LIEBERS Group and look forward to growing the business further with the leadership of the current management team, said Hannes Steim, managing director of KERN-LIEBERS, in a statement.

Tim Zwit serves as president of Michigan Spring and Stamping.

In January, the Hines Specialty Vehicle Group, which included Crane Carrier Company and Kimble Mixer Company, was sold to Turnspire Capital Partners LLC, according to a news release. Under the new ownership, the companies have combined to operate as Crane Carrier Company, headquartered in New Philadelphia, Ohio.

That sale was also in an effort to better position the companies for continued growth, Hendrick said.

The close timing of the sales is pure coincidence, Hendrick said.

"We remain a buyer of businesses and long-term owner of businesses, he said. Its important for people to understand that this isnt some new direction or change of heart."

When asked about whether the sales indicate an upcoming exit by Hines, Hendrick said Hines has not slowed down and there are no retirement plans to his knowledge.

Hines also remains involved in civic and charitable efforts in the Muskegon area, including No More Sidelines, Muskegon Area Promise and Muskegon Covenant Academy.

When asked in August 2017 if he would retire anytime soon, Hines told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle, Mmmmm, not really. He was 71 at the time, and about to receive the Governors Lifetime Humanitarian Award.
The Chinese electronics giant Huawei has filed a lawsuit against the United States government, challenging Washington's decision to ban federal agencies from using its products.

The suit, filed with the federal court in Texas, alleges that the ban on Huawei products, passed as part of a defense spending package last year, is unconstitutional and is part of the Trump administration's campaign of political and economic pressure against China.

"This ban not only is unlawful but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers," Huawei's Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said in the statement. "The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products."

Also on rt.com Huawei or highway: Chinese giant to sue US government over tech ban

Washington continues to insist it views Huawei products as a potential security threat, arguing that the Chinese government can use the tech giant as a spying tool. Huawei has consistently denied the allegations, accusing the US of failing to produce any evidence of the companys supposed wrongdoings.

The tech giant maintains that the US government specifically singled out two Chinese firms  ZTE and Huawei  in its National Defense Authorization Act. Such a provision in the NDAA, Huawei alleges, violates the US Constitution and illegally bans federal agencies from buying its products.

Also on rt.com Ask Snowden: Huawei exec pokes fun at US spying during tech show

The US concerns about Huawei products, and its pressure on European allies to exclude the company from the participating in their 5G mobile network developments, just happen to coincide with Washingtons own push for dominance on the global communications market. At the same time, Washington is seeking to extradite Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou from Canada, to prosecute her for violation of its sanctions against Iran.

Also on rt.com Huawei opens cybersecurity center in Belgium amid US crackdown

Like this story? Share it with a friend!
The sight of Republican representatives wearing pearl necklaces at a gun control debate in New Hampshire sparked a wave of outrage, followed by cries of fake news as both sides contend their meaning.

Male Republican members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives were photographed wearing pearl necklaces at a gun control hearing while gun control activists shared their stories on Tuesday.

The images were shared on social media by Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, where they soon spread and fuelled impassioned outrage as many expressed disgust at what was perceived as an insult to mothers who were giving testimony of their experiences with gun violence. The hearing was to debate House Bill 687-FN, which would restrict access to firearms for potentially dangerous people.

Gun control activists accused the representatives of mocking them, saying the pearls signified the women clutching pearls.

As the outrage mounted, Democrats like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker added their rebuke of the Republicans. However, Womens Defense League of New Hampshire president Kimberly Morin provided an alternative narrative to the meaning behind the pearls that raised questions about outrage culture.

The PEARLS are in support of the Womens Defense League, she wrote. Women who ACTUALLY PROMOTE GUN SAFETY and WOMENS RIGHTS.

According to Morin, the pro-gun group has been wearing pearls at similar hearings since 2016. The pearls allegedly dont mock gun control advocates, but are a symbol of support for womens right to bear arms.



Sure enough, RT has found evidence of the group wearing pearls in the past.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Russias largest mobile operator MTS has agreed to pay $850 million in fines to resolve US federal charges over alleged bribing of a government official in Uzbekistan to gain access to the countrys telecommunications market.

MTS, or Mobile TeleSystems, which has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange, said it managed to reach a voluntary settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

The agreement puts an end to the investigation around the former MTS subsidiary in Uzbekistan carried out from 2004 to 2012, the company said in a statement. The penalty will be paid from the funds that were reserved by MTS in the third quarter of 2018.

Also on rt.com US seeks seizure of $1bn in assets of telcos operating in Russia

The SEC confirmed the information, saying that apart from the criminal and civil fines, the company also agreed to an independent compliance monitor for at least three years. According to the agency, MTS carried out illicit payments of at least $420 million to unnamed front companies controlled by the Uzbek official.

The company engaged in egregious misconduct for nearly a decade, secretly funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to a corrupt official, Charles Cain, chief of the SEC unit that investigates violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit, said in a statement.

The agreement clinched between the US authorities and MTS, which stopped its operations in Uzbekistan two years ago, was in the companys best interests, according to CEO Alexey Kornya.

Also on rt.com VimpelCom to pay $795mn corruption fine

The resolution and settlement allow MTS to focus fully on the implementation of MTS business strategy to be a first-in-class digital telecom company, Kornya said in a statement.

In late 2016, VimpelCom, the second-largest telecom operator in Russia, agreed to pay $795 million to reach a settlement with the US Department of Justice and Dutch regulators over the same case. VimpelCom and its Uzbek subsidiary Unitel pleaded guilty to bribing a senior official to win business in the country.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
The Saudi Kingdoms energy minister announced that a large deposit of natural gas has been found in the Red Sea off the countrys coast, and discussed potential energy projects abroad.

Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that Saudi State energy company Aramco, the worlds largest energy company, discovered large amounts of gas, Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

Aramco signed a deal last year with Shell to find opportunities in the natural gas market in order to make the kingdom's economy less dependent on oil prices. The investment into the gas sector was reportedly carried out as a part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans plan to diversify the kingdoms economy.

Also on rt.com Russias energy major Novatek sells 10% stake in Arctic LNG 2 to Frances Total

Saudi Aramco has been eyeing projects in Russia, Australia, America and Africa to kick-start a global business in the liquefied form of the fuel. Gas is a major market and we want to be one of the largest players, Amin Nasser, the chief executive of Saudi Arabias state-run oil company, said in an interview to Bloomberg in London this February. Theres appetite to invest in natural gas and LNG.

Al-Kalid also reportedly discussed on Thursday Aramco's aim to invest in a South African petrochemical project, alongside potential LNG project acquisitions in the United States.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
Three dozen countries, including all EU members, voiced a rebuke of Saudi Arabia at the UN Human Rights Council, calling it out on the Khashoggi murder and the detention of activists. Yemens bloodbath slipped past them, somehow.

The statement, delivered Thursday by the representative of Iceland, Harald Aspelund, on behalf of all signatories, including all 28 members of the EU, voiced concern over Riyadhs use of counter-terrorism laws to suppress critics of the government. It called for the release of rights activists who are currently detained in Saudi Arabia for exercising their fundamental freedoms.

It also condemned the murder of self-exiled Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Kingdoms Istanbul consulate last October and called on Saudi authorities to cooperate with all investigations into the crime, including one by the UN's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard.

Also on rt.com US Senators lash out at gangster Saudi crown prince, but the deals go on and on

The rebuke, which was touted by Reuters as unprecedented since the creation of the UN rights body in 2006, is unlikely to make much of an impact on the actual policies of Riyadh, veteran Saudi rights activist Ali Al-Ahmed, who directs the US-based Institute for Gulf Affairs, told RT.

I dont put much weight in these statements, he said. Mildly-worded rebukes minimize the suffering and give Saudi Arabia an exit. They absolve themselves from any responsibility, he argued, adding that the allies of Saudi Arabia in the West, like the UK, tend to pay lip service to the human rights situation in the country while actually shielding it from any consequences for its actions.

The years-long war in Yemen, where Saudi-led coalition is fighting the Houthi rebels, however, was not even touched-on by the damning statement. The conflict, which has claimed thousands of civilian lives, caused a massive cholera outbreak and brought millions of people to the brink of famine is apparently not enough of a human rights violation.

Such a very selective approach is not quite surprising, given the deep involvement of the western countries  the US in particular  in the conflict, co-founder of the CODEPINK rights group, Medea Benjamin, believes.

I think there was pressure on them to not include that but it definitely should have been included, Benjamin told RT. The western countries  have been aiding and abetting the Saudis in their crimes in Yemen.

While the criticism voiced by the UN body appears to be quite weak, the US did not endorse the statement, apparently to not spoil its cozy relations with Riyadh even a tiny bit.

The United States  the Trump administration doesnt care about human rights and doesnt want to criticize its ally Saudi Arabia.

The US, the Trump administration wants to continue to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, it wants to continue to cover up for the Saudi crimes in Yemen and it wants to continue to have a cozy relationship with a very repressive regime that is clearly a violator of human rights, both internally and externally, Benjamin explained.

Also on rt.com Appalling that the UK govt supports Saudi regime, one of the most brutal on Earth  Ken Livingstone

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Ankara is not a slave to an America in which Washington decides which weapons system Turkey can purchase, the countrys president proclaimed, stressing its deployment of Russia's S-400 air defense systems will proceed as planned.

Ankaras resilience against US pressure over the purchase of the S-400 systems remains rock solid, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan clarified on Wednesday, stressing that Turkey is a sovereign nation which has the right to choose its trade partners and arms suppliers.

Its done. There can never be a turning back. This would not be ethical, it would be immoral. Nobody should ask us to lick up what we spat, Erdogan told Kanal 24.

Were an independent country, not slaves.

The fuss over the Russian deal is now even forcing Turkey to consider upgrading to the next-generation of Russian air defense systems, the S-500, once it enters Russian military service sometime in 2020, Erdogan said.

Also on rt.com Talks on Patriot missiles get rocky, no step back from deal with Russia  Erdogan

Claiming the need to protect NATO interoperability and to conceal the technical characteristics of US hardware from the Russians, and specifically with the Lockheed Martin F-35s, Washington has been using coercive diplomacy against Ankara, trying to force it to back down from its S-400 deal. The US insists Turkey should instead spend $3.5 billion on US Patriot missiles, an offer Ankara has repeatedly turned down in the past but is now vaguely considering if the conditions were suitable.

Also on rt.com Pentagon threatens Turkey with grave consequences for buying Russian S-400

The S-400 remains a problem to all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday arguing that the US should stop the stealth fighter transfer to Turkey and forfeit sales of other military technology to its NATO ally, if Ankara deploys the Russian-made defensive weaponry as expected in July. Earlier this week a Pentagon spokesman warned of grave consequences and of broader implications" unless Turkey cancels the purchase.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Banks that use SWIFT need to fully automate their processes in order to prevent misuse of the network, a senior official from the international messaging service said on March 7.

"It has nothing to do with the level of compliance, it's really about full automation," Alain Raes, Chief Executive EMEA and Asia Pacific, SWIFT said in an interaction with media in Mumbai on March 7. He said banks should apply the straight-through processing (STP) method to eliminate human intervention.

STP is a method that helps financial companies speed up transaction processing. "This has to be done by the banks. We are not part of that. It is basically interconnecting software to software so that when there is payment is being sent, it is sent through SWIFT without human intervention," Raes said.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is a Belgium-based secure financial messaging service which is used by over 11,000 banking and securities organisations in more than 200 countries across the world.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently penalised at least 19 lenders including top players like State Bank of India and ICICI Bank for not complying with directions on use of the financial messaging service provided by SWIFT. It had earlier come into the limelight in the Nirav Modi scam when officials from Punjab National Bank used the network to carry out fraudulent transactions.

Raes said that SWIFT cannot take responsibility for the frauds conducted on its system. "We are working under 200 jurisdictions. There is no way SWIFT can police all of them. We're not an investigation or enforcement agency. There is no way we can take ownership or responsibility," he said.

The messaging service provider, however, is open to collaboration with authorities to prevent such misuse. Last year, it had mandated compliance of 16 security principles by participating institutions to qualify for using the network. "The ones that are not compliant with these rules will be communicated with the regulator. It is up to the regulator to decide what they want to do," Raes said.

In February 2018, RBI had pointed out that the risks arising from the potential malicious use of the SWIFT infrastructure, created by banks for their genuine business needs, is a component of their operational risk profile. The regulator also said it has, on various occasions, alerted banks to implement measures for prevention of such misuse.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

KIMS Hospitals, one of India's largest hospital chain from Hyderabad led by leading Cardio-thoracic Surgeon Dr Bollineni Bhaskar Rao, is on the hunt for a Chief Executive Officer to run the operations.

Under Rao's stewardship, KIMS has grown from a single hospital to a chain of multispecialty hospitals with 3,000 beds capacity, both organically and through strategic acquisitions.

The expansion was fuelled by liberal dollops of private equity money, which Rao raised to expand the hospital chain.

Rao wears several hats. If he is not in the operation theatre performing bypass surgery, he will be busy overseeing administrative and financial matters of the company as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

But Rao says managing large hospital network is becoming increasingly challenging.

"Healthcare industry is going through a difficult phase, we are trying to optimise costs, increase volumes, reduce patients stay in the hospital, restructuring procurement, and even possibly looking at reducing the number of doctors and nurses," said Rao to Moneycontrol.

But to do this difficult surgery at the organisation level, Rao needs one more hand, a CEO. It is turning out to be a difficult search.

The rapid expansion of private healthcare facilities over the last one decade has not just created a shortage of specialist doctors but qualified senior administrators to manage them.

Limited pool of senior managers

Dr Rana Mehta, Partner and Leader Healthcare at PWC, managed hospitals in New Delhi and Colombo for Apollo Hospitals for a decade. A doctor by training, Mehta says there is a limited pool of top managers available to run operations and these people move from one hospital to the other.

"In healthcare, there is a shortage of professionals. And typically professionals who were brought from other industries, but now healthcare is becoming very complex with its own nuances, clearly as much as we say clinical shortage, I think equally there is a shortage of administrators. It is more acute at a CEO level, but it is also there right up to the manager level," Mehta says.

A channel check with headhunters by Moneycontrol confirms this.

Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO, CIEL HR Services says the shortage of CEOs is due to the rise in the number of hospitals in the country that has widened the supply-demand gap.

Hospitals usually want medical practitioners with some level of administrative experience to be part of the management team and such people are not easy to find. This is especially true after the sudden boom in the number of new hospitals coming up. Further, those who are well qualified for the role have ambitions to go abroad. Shortage of senior professionals in the medical sector is a reality across the globe and skilled Indians are also choosing to move to international locations if they have the requisite skills, he says.

The bigger challenge, according to HR professionals, is also that medical professionals are now not just employable in hospitals, but also other sectors like insurance and e-commerce firms.

The options of employment are much wider and an individual who would otherwise be paid Rs 50 lakh per annum in a hospital could get at least 25-30 percent more if they join the corporate world, says the medical and pharma vertical head at a global recruitment consultancy.

What bothers the industry is the shortage of managerial staff comes at a time when the industry is facing headwinds.

The numbers tell the story

The average revenue per operational bed (ARPOB) of the companies tracked by ICRA has grown by a muted 2 percent in first half of FY19 on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, much below the five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2 percent.

The EBITDA dropped to the lowest in six-years to 11.4 percent in FY18 from the peak profitability of 15.7 percent in those years.

It all started with the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the cap on prices of stents and knee implants by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) and stiff regulatory action by certain states, including putting restrictions on procedure rates, levying penalties and placing operational limitations on erring hospitals, ICRA said in its recent report on hospital sector.

The recent trade margin cap on 42 cancer drugs by the government is also seen to hit hospitals hard. The low package rates offered by much anticipated Ayushman Bharat also spooked corporate hospitals.

All this is hastening consolidation in the sector, with Radiant-Max Healthcare deal followed by Malaysias IHH Healthcare's acquisition of Indias second largest healthcare provider Fortis Healthcare for $1.1 billion in June. There is also talk about Manipal Hospitals buying Medanta.

"I think given the headwinds the industry is facing both in terms of costs and ability to raise prices, I think obviously the efficiencies need to be improved," Mehta says.

"So cost containment, cost optimisation and revenue enhance would be big focus areas for hospitals," he says.

Meanwhile, hospitals are hiring consultants to do some of these things for them.
Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal is also expected at the star-studded ceremony in the city. (Image: Reuters)

Even as it waits for the final word on the Essar Steel insolvency case, ArcelorMittal is also gradually, albeit slowly, progressing on its greenfield project in Karnataka.

"The company has completed all the necessary formalities for acquiring the land by signing and executing a lease cum sale agreement for 2,643.25 acres of land on December 26, 2018 and the project is currently under review," said the world's largest steelmaker in its recently released 2018 annual report.

ArcelorMittal had in 2010 signed an agreement for setting up the Karnataka plant, with a capacity plan of six million tonne a year. The facility, which would include a captive power plant of 750 MW, needs an investment of $6.5 billion.

Industry executives, however, say that the company may pace the project execution according to the verdict on the Essar Steel insolvency.

The LN Mittal-company was selected as the preferred bidder by Essar Steel lenders late last year. But a last-minute proposal by the Ruias and scores of legal cases relating to operational creditors of Essar Steel has slowed down the insolvency process. The Ruias' proposal stands at Rs 54,000 crore as against ArcelorMittal's Rs 42,000 crore.

Despite Ruias' higher amount, the insolvency courts have not faulted lenders for choosing ArcelorMittal's bid. Hearing on a petition to speed up the process, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has asked the Ahmedabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to pass an order on the case by March 8.

A senior industry executive said that an order may be expected on March 8.

ArcelorMittal has its nose ahead at the moment, and if the company does manage to bag Essar Steel, then the company could go slow on the greenfield project in Karnataka.

The Essar Steel acquisition will be among its biggest, and ArcelorMittal has already readied a $7-billion term facility agreement with lenders.

Apart from the upfront payment of Rs 42,000 crore, ArcelorMittal's resolution plan for Essar Steel also includes an investment of a further Rs 8,000 crore "to support operational improvement, increase production

levels and deliver enhanced levels of profitability. The company provided a $0.6 billion performance guarantee in connection with the execution of the resolution plan," the annual report cited above said.

ArcelorMittal had signed the agreement for the Karnataka project after facing setbacks in its planned investments in Odisha and Jharkhand. It has since scraped the Odisha project, which was signed with much fanfare in 2005. It was LN Mittal's first step inside his home market, a moment underlined by his emergence in the world steel industry.

At the moment though, all eyes will be on the insolvency court's order.
Saudi Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) is expected to happen within two years, the Saudi newspaper Okaz said on March 7, citing Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih.

The newspaper paraphrased comments made on March 6 during Falih's visit to Aramco headquarters.

Falih had said in January that the state oil giant will be listed by 2021.
Representative Image

Supporting the decisions on electric vehicles approved during the last cabinet meeting, the government, on March 7, further approved creation of Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) to support and promote clean, connected, shared and sustainable mobility solutions.

The cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved setting up of National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage along with creation of the PMP for five years to support setting up of few-large scale, export-competitive integrated batteries and cell manufacturing Giga plants.

The government aims to promote indigenous manufacturing of all components utilised in the supply chain for manufacturing of electric vehicles through the PMP scheme, which will be executed between 2019-20 and 2023-24 and will be approved by the NMTMBS.

The programme will provide a plan which will send clear signal to the industry to make necessary investments in capacity to localise the value chain, the government said in the statement.

Also read: Cabinet approves Rs 10,000 crore package for phase II of FAME scheme

Moneycontrol had first reported that the government was contemplating setting up of Giga Factories for the production of battery packs in India.

In its last meeting (held in December 2018), the Committee (of Secretaries) decided to focus on indigenous manufacturing of electric vehicles. It will lay the impetus on sourcing developing an indigenous supply chain that includes Giga-factories and also facilities where lithium-ion batteries can be recycled," a source had told Moneycontrol.

The term 'Giga-factory' was first coined by Elon Musk, who owns Tesla, the world's biggest car-maker in the electric sphere. Giga-factory refers to a huge battery manufacturing centre where the Li-ion batteries, used for running EVs, are crafted.

During its last cabinet meeting on February 28, government had approved Rs 10,000 crore outlay for second phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (& Hybrid) vehicles (FAME) Scheme which aims to subsidise manufacturing of electric vehicles.

The second phase, which is an extension of FAME-I started in 2015, will be undertaken for three years (2019-20  2021-22) and will concentrate on subsidising private two-wheelers, commercial three/four wheelers and public transport.

According to the proposal cleared by the cabinet, FAME II will focus on the electrification of public transportation including "shared transportation", incentives for an operational expenditure model for e-buses by state transport corporations.

Also read: Exclusive | India to receive $300 million in aid from World Bank for EV push

The incentives will be applicable only for three and four-wheelers plying as commercial vehicles and public transport, with the incentives applicable for private two-wheeler vehicles that use advanced battery packs made of lithium ion, the proposal said.

While close to 2,65,335 electric/hybrid vehicles were supported through demand creation and various decisions related to charging infrastructure and technological support under phase 1, the second phase will focus on 10 lakh electric two-wheelers, 5 lakh electric (commercial) three-wheelers, 55,000 electric (commercial) four-wheelers and 7,000 buses, acting as a dampener for private car owners and manufacturers.

While incentives up to Rs 22,000 were available for two-wheelers, up to Rs 61,000 for three-wheelers and up to Rs 1,87,000 for four-wheelers were provided under the first phase, the government has not clarified the amount of incentive under the second phase.

Sources, however, said that a subsidy of Rs 10,000 per KwH battery pack for two/three/four wheelers and a flat subsidy of Rs 20,000 on buses could be approved by the government.

The idea is to bring the cost of electric vehicles at par with the incumbent vehicles, Amitabh Kant, chief executive officer, NITI Aayog has said. He said that a subsidy of Rs 20,000  Rs 30,000 could be given to cars.

The push towards electric and hybrid vehicles came after 14 of 20 most polluted cities in the world were in India. As per the latest report , India is home to 15 of the 20 most polluted cities.
Indian traders have signed contracts to ship 800,000 bales of cotton to China as demand surged from the world's biggest consumer of the fibre due to a rally in prices in China, industry officials told Reuters.

The exports from the world's biggest cotton producer will help China in augmenting supplies, but could weigh on global prices.

"Chinese buyers were very active in the market in last few days," said Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India (CAI).

The cotton was sold at around 80 to 81 cents per pound on a cost and freight basis (C&F) to China, for shipments in March and April, he said on the sidelines of a Cotton India conference in Mumbai.

India has already shipped around 600,000 bales to China so far in the 2018/19 marketing year that started on Oct. 1, he said.

The United States, the world's biggest exporter of the fibre, has cornered the bulk of Chinese imports for at least a decade. But China's decision to impose a 25 percent import tax on cotton, in retaliation for tariffs enacted by the administration of US President Donald Trump, has allowed India to grab a bigger share of the Chinese market.

"Imports are nearly 10 cents (per lb) cheaper than domestic supplies for Chinese buyers," said a London-based cotton dealer with a global trading firm.

China has also been buying cotton from Brazil in the last few days due to depleting stocks, he said.

Cotton ending stocks in China are forecast at 6.58 million tonnes in 2018/19, down from 7.43 million tonnes.

BORDER TENSION

India's cotton sales to neighbouring Pakistan have slowed in the last few days amid rising tensions between the nuclear armed nations, said Mohit Shah, director at Gill& Co., a leading exporter.

"Traders on both sides of the border are waiting for clarity," Shah said.

Hostilities between the two countries escalated dramatically late last month, after an Indian air strike on what it said was a militant group that carried out a deadly suicide attack in the Pulwama district of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14.

A few traders diverted cotton shipments for Pakistan to China due to the uncertainty, and as China was paying around 2 cents per lb more than Pakistan, said CAI's Ganatra.

Around 100,000 bales of cotton shipments for Pakistan were delayed, but those would be shipped in the next few weeks, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.

Despite good demand from China, India's cotton exports in 2018/19 could fall 27.5 percent to 5 million bales, the lowest in a decade, due to a drop in production, CAI estimates.
The total cotton production is likely to decline by over 11 percent to 328 lakh bales (of 170 kgs each) for the 2018-19 season, mainly low rainfall in many key cotton growing areas, the Cotton Association of India (CAI) Thursday said.

In the last season (2017-18) the total cotton output stood at 365 lakh bales, CAI president Atul Ganatra told reporters here at 'Cotton India 2019'.

The main reason for the decline in the estimates of the crop is mainly low rainfall in many key cotton growing areas, he said.

"Cotton sowing has taken place in around 123 lakh hectares this year. Particularly, states like Gujarat has rain deficit of 28 percent and same time there was rain deficit in Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra. Due to shortage of rain there will be no third and fourth picking in most of these cotton growing states. In regular course in India farmers take 4 to 5 pickings," he said.

Further, Maharashtra and Telangana governments had instructed farmers to remove cotton plants by December 31, 2018, to avoid Pink Ball worm problems, he added.

This is likely to give rise to imports by 70-80 percent to about 27 lakh bales during this season compared to 15 lakh bales last year, he said.

"In case cotton rates shot up after June in the domestic markets, the import targets are close to achievable. Looking at the shortage in India is going to face after June 2019 cotton rates may further go up," he added.

The cotton price is ruling at Rs 42,000 per candy (1 candy is 356 kgs), which is over the minimum support price of Rs 41,000.

The imports will mainly be from the US and African countries as the Australian and Brazilian stocks are sold out, Ganatra said.

Meanwhile, the exports is likely to decline by 27 percent to 50 lakh bales compared to 69 lakh bales last year.

"We are planning to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh Trade Association and Spinner Association in two weeks to ease issues. This is likely to increase exports to Bangladesh by 30 percent, who is our biggest importer. Last year we exported 20 lakh bales to the neighbouring country," he added.

Similarly, the exports to China is also increase to 15-20 lakh bales from 8 lakh bales last year, he said.

"China produces 335 lakh bales but its consumption is 570 lakh bales. So the country imports to fill the demand and consumption gap. The trade war between the US and China is has not benefited India as every one is confused. But in the long run this scenario is likely to benefit India," he added.

Talking about exports to Pakistan, Ganatra said, the current border situation is not going to affect exports much.

India had exported 8 lakh bales to the neighbouring country last year, he said.

This year 6.5 lakh bales has already been exported and due to the current border situation the rest will be shipped once this situation is resolved, he added.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a scheme for rebate of all state and central embedded levies for apparel and made-up textile segments, which would make shipments zero-rated, thereby boosting the country's competitiveness in export markets.

Addressing a press conference here, Textiles Secretary Raghvendra Singh said the decision was needed as incentives for apparel and made-ups under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) were not WTO compatible anymore.

"The MEIS scheme offered 4 per cent support which was not available beyond December 31," Singh told reporters.

He said rates under the Remission of State Levies (RoSL) have been revised upwards for garments and made-ups, and centrally embedded levies outside the ambit of GST have been added to the scheme, which will "more than offset" incentives not available under MEIS for apparel and made-ups.

The decision assumes significance as shipments from neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Vietnam enjoy zero duty access to the EU, which is the biggest export market for India's apparel sector.

"However, our exports to the European Union have to face a tariff disparity of around 9.6 per cent. We were facing acute competition in this business where profitability is quite marginal," Singh said.

The made-up segment of textiles includes products like bedsheets, blankets and curtains.

"Our endeavour will also be to extend these benefits to exports of fibre, yarn and fabrics. A committee will be set up to examine if similar incentives can be extended to these segments," Singh said.

According to him, the revenue foregone estimate due to the decision has been pegged at Rs 6,300 annually.

The inter ministerial committee as well as the norms committee of the Department of Commerce shall from time to time assess the impact of this decision and tweak it wherever needed, Singh said.

Currently, Remission of State Levies (RoSL), which is to offset indirect taxes levied by states such as stamp duty, petroleum tax, electricity duty and mandi tax that were embedded in exports, is provided to textiles exporters.

"The decision which also extends rebate up to March 31, 2020, will greatly benefit apparel & made-ups manufacturers/exporters," Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said in a tweet.

She said the apparel and made-ups have a combined share of 55 per cent (around USD 21 billion) in the total Indian textile export basket and the decision to enhance rebate will have a direct impact on these segments, thereby increasing competitiveness of India's textile exports globally.

The decision also entails change in disbursal mechanism whereby the rebate of all embedded state and central levies will be done through the Scrip System.

"Fulfilling one of the primary demands of the industry, Rebate of State and Centre Levies/Taxes will be done through IT-driven Scrip System thereby preventing delay & ensuring speedy disbursal," Irani said in another tweet.

The decision will enable the government to take various measures for making exports of apparel and made-ups zero rated.

"The proposed measures are expected to make the textile sector competitive. Rebate of all embedded state and central taxes/levies for apparel and made-ups segments would make exports zero-rated, thereby boosting India's competitiveness in export markets and ensure equitable and inclusive growth of textile and apparel sector," an official statement said.

A senior official said under RoSL, in apparel, previously there was a maximum rate of 1.7 per cent which has been revised to a maximum of 3.6 per cent.

The rate of central levies on apparel was a maximum of 2.45 per cent which means effectively the rate on apparel has gone up from 1.7 per cent to 6.05 per cent.

The official said for made-ups, previously the maximum RoSL rate was 2.2 per cent which has been revised to 5 per cent, plus central levies with a maximum rate of 3.2 per cent, taking the overall rate from 2.2 per cent to 8.2 per cent.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) which aims to have 20 percent women in their workforce by 2020 is using a mix of incentives and skilling initiatives to increase the number of women at the workplace.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, PV Murthy, Executive Vice-President and Global Head-Human Resources, IHCL said the company also offers higher commissions for external recruiters for referring women candidates.

At present, 17 percent of the IHCL workforce consists of women. According to their annual report, IHCL had 32,242 employees at the end of FY18.

Entry level

When we go to campuses, we ensure that 50 percent of the students recruited are girls. It is at the policy level that we have taken this decision, added Murthy.

There is also a programme called DiWA (Diversity including Women At Taj). This provides a structured programme for training through skills certification centres in the North East, he said.

IHCL provides them with six months of on-the-job training. Once they graduate, these women are placed in frontline roles in the hotels. Murthy said the first batch was placed at Taj Aravali in Udaipur.

The idea is to have all the new hotels follow this route to hire more women for the properties, he added.

IHCL also has an internal referral programme wherein if a lady is referred by an external consultant, they are paid a higher commission. Murthy said that 23 percent of women employees got hired through this programme.

HR practices

Murthy said it was crucial to not just hire more women but to have effective HR practices for them at the workplace.

Statutory norms like Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) policies are in place, he said.

It is to be noted that there were allegations of sexual harassment against IHCLs former MD and CEO Rakesh Sarna by an ex-employee. After an Indian Express report quoting the complainant, a Tata Group spokesperson had said on November 2 that said the case was investigated by an appropriate independent committee.

"The findings were informed to the complainant by a former director of IHCL. We heard her and others, and we recognise the opportunity to raise the bar," the spokesperson had said in response to the report. Sarna had later stepped down from his post in 2017, citing personal reasons.'

Further, the Taj Hotels spokesperson had said the matter was investigated and dealt with by an appropriate independent committee constituted for this purpose.

Special facilities for women

Murthy said IHCL was among the first companies to offer IVF treatment facility for women in the company. He said ten women have availed this benefit which was introduced last year. The company also offers necessary support to the women for this purpose.

Apart from this, the company also has a restaurant China Polis in Vivanta, Trivandrum that is exclusively run by women. He said they are looking at similar such initiatives for other locations.

Murthy added the company's property Taj Wellington Mews (Mumbai) had a project to have 50 percent women employees. Currently, it has touched 45 percent.

It is not just women employees at the entry level. Murthy said the idea is also to have women at leadership positions.

We will be rolling out a programme for the mid-level women managers in the organisation to groom them for senior level positions, he added.

Unique job roles

While the hospitality industry has a majority of women staff in the frontline roles, Murthy said the idea is to get more women to be part of niche job positions.

Some of these include lady security officers, lady engineers and naturalists in various locations in Taj safaris. IHCL provides training and technical expertise in the conservation of natural resources to these women.

It is still a journey for us at Taj. We are moving step by step, added Murthy.
Moneycontrol Contributor

On February 26, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) informed the market that three banks  Corporation Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Dhanlaxmi Bank  were taken out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework. This was a follow-up to three banks (Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra and Oriental Bank of Commerce), which were taken out earlier on January 31. This implies that of the 11 public sector banks, six are out of the scanner.

Despite the wide appeal of the PCA framework, it still appears like a black-box. Many analysts are worried that the RBI is letting banks go easily, thereby undermining its own efforts of bringing them under the framework despite stiff opposition. One reason for this is that RBI has not really cared to simplify this black box.

Before looking at the solution, let us quickly understand what PCA is. PCA is like a surgical procedure where the patient is not just operated but is under intensive care after the surgery. Only when the patient is deemed fit do hospitals allow the patient to be discharged and ask her to gradually resume her daily routine.

Similarly, under the PCA framework, the RBI takes the ill banks into its custody where illness is defined as banks having low capital, poor asset quality, leading to high NPAs, low profitability etc. To give the right treatment, RBI has established three thresholds to gauge the exact illness of the banks. Based on these thresholds, RBI carries out the treatment. (See the table below)

Interestingly, PCA is not a new development and was instituted in 2002. The idea came from the US where PCA was first used to resolute banks during a financial crisis in the early 1990s. Taking the lessons forward, some other countries have also implemented their own PCA plans. RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya in a speech (October 12, 2018) compared the PCA frameworks in India and the US.

However, what is lacking in the PCA framework is that it reads like a black box. It is really difficult to track many financial indicators, which explain the entry and exit of banks in the framework. Just like entering a patients cubicle makes one jittery after seeing the buzzing of many health indicators, same is the case with the PCA as well. Sample these RBI press releases of January and February, where six banks exited:

Taking all the above into consideration, it has been decided that Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra, which meet the regulatory norms including Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB) and net NPAs of less than 6 percent as per the third quarter results, are taken out of the PCA framework, subject to certain conditions and continuous monitoring. In the case of Oriental Bank of Commerce, though the net NPA was 7.15%, as per the Q3 published results, the government has since infused sufficient capital and the bank has brought its net NPA to less than 6%.

.two banks have also made the necessary disclosures to the stock exchange that post the infusion of capital, the CRAR, CET1, net NPA and leverage ratios are no longer in breach of the PCA thresholds. The banks also apprised RBI of the structural and systemic improvements put in place to maintain these numbers.

It is difficult to understand both the terms and the flow of funds.

RBI should take a leaf from Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) which has developed an online Bank Financial strength dashboard. RBNZ explains the dashboard as: an innovative online tool for sharing prudential and financial information on New Zealand incorporated banks. It sits alongside disclosure statements as a source of information for the public and market to better understand and compare banks businesses and risks. The dashboard is updated quarterly and is based on information that banks already provide to the Reserve Bank, reducing the cost of the initiative for banks and the Reserve Bank.

Anyone who sees the dashboard will realise that it really tries to help the public understand the banks business and risks. One can play around the graphs in the dashboard to get a sense of financial strength of both individual banks and the banking sector. If one looks at the various metrics, it is not very different from RBIs own PCA framework.

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

RBI collects a lot of data and needs to figure ways to present it in a better manner. RBNZs financial dashboard provides a good way to present this information to build a better public understanding of Indias banking sector.
The National Green Tribunal Thursday slapped a fine of Rs 500 crore on German auto major Volkswagen for damaging the environment through the use of "cheat device" in its diesel cars in India.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the carmaker to deposit the amount within two months.

The tribunal enhanced the compensation amount of Rs. 171.34 crore, which was recommended by a NGT- appointed committee, as a means of "creating deterrence".

The auto maker, however, said that it did not violate the BS-IV norms and that the test results were based on "on road testings" for which there were no prescribed standards.

The bench said, "Sustainable development is the main guiding factor... We are unable to accept the manufacturer's objections to the report."

It said that the apex pollution monitoring body may consider utilising the money towards improving air quality in the National Capital Region and other highly polluted areas.

The green panel on November 16, 2018 had said that use of 'cheat device' by Volkswagen in diesel cars in India leads to inference of environmental damage and had directed it to deposit an interim amount of Rs 100 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

It had also constituted a joint team of representatives of the CPCB, Ministry of Heavy Industries, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, which had recommended Rs 171.34-crore fine on Volkswagen as "health damages" for causing air pollution in Delhi due to excess nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.

The expert committee in its report has estimated that Volkswagen cars released approximately 48.678 tonnes of NOx in 2016 in the national capital.

"Estimated cost of heath damage due to additional NOx emissions from the Volkswagen group vehicles is approximately Rs 171.34 crore using a metro city i.e Delhi as base. The value may be considered conservative due to lack of methodologies for calculating the overall impact of nitrogen oxide on the environment in India and hence only health damages are valued.

"Further, the valuation is for Delhi considering that the value of NOx is 435 tonnes released in the city. This is assumed because lack of data on the geographical locations and plying regions of Volkswagen vehicles which have caused the damage and for all the years which have been considered for damage," the committee has said in its report.

The panel was formed by the NGT on November 16 last year to give its opinion whether the manufacturer has exceeded the prescribed environmental norms and fair estimate of the damage caused to the environment.

The committee has told the NGT that automobiles are a major source of nitrogen oxide. The green panel had said the use of 'cheat device' by Volkswagen in diesel cars in India leads to inference of environmental damage and asked the German carmaker to deposit an interim amount of Rs 100 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board.

The tribunal was hearing pleas filed by Ailawadi, a school teacher, and a few others seeking ban on the sale of Volkswagen vehicles for alleged violation of emission norms.

A 'cheat' or 'defeat device' is a software in diesel engines to manipulate emission tests by changing the performance of the cars globally.

Volkswagen India had in December 2015 announced the recall of 3,23,700 lakh vehicles in India to fix the emission software after ARAI conducted tests on some models and found that their on-road emissions were 1.1 times to 2.6 times higher than the applicable BS-IV norms.

The automobile giant had admitted to the use of 'defeat device' in 11 million diesel engine cars sold in the US, Europe and other global markets to manipulate emission test results.

After the tests by ARAI, Volkswagen India had undertaken to rejig the software by recalling around 3.23 lakh vehicles fitted with EA 189 diesel engines which were in alleged violation of emission norms.

The company, however, had said that the recall in India was purely voluntary in nature as it did not face any charges regarding violating emission norms in India, unlike in the US.
Hartek Group, the Mohali-based Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) player in power sector, is looking to raise Rs 100 crore from investors, including private equity players, as it looks to expand its business.

The Group, which helps set up power transmission and distribution networks, has also ventured into rooftop solar installations, and is looking to double its revenue to Rs 500 crore in the 2019-2020 financial year.

While the company had a revenue of Rs 267 crore in the FY18, it expects a drop in topline in the present financial year because of the challenges in the solar sector.

"Some of the bids in the solar segment have been postponed. But despite these challenges, our bottomline will continue to grow," said Founder and Group CMD Hartek Singh.

Singh founded the Group in 1991, beginning with trading of electrical products. While its foray into diesel generation sets didn't pan out as planned, Hartek Group's venture into the EPC business in 2006, bore fruit.

"We have now completed more than 150 projects in power EPC across India," said Singh.

The founder wants to use funds to build capabilities that will enable the Group to bid for bigger projects of high voltage and extra high voltage segments in the transmission and distribution sector.

In November last year, the company had bagged an order from Power Grid Corporation (PGCIL) for augmenting high-voltage 400-KV substations in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

The company is also focusing on the solar segment, having commissioned substations for 1,500 MW in five years.

"Our Group company Hartek Power is looking for more of these projects as the stage is now set for big solar parks," said Singh.

The Group also has a manufacturing arm, Hartek India, which makes transmission and distribution equipment including transformers and switchboards. "This helps us diversify within the power sector, and also have a backward integration model," said Singh.
Honda Cars India expects to end the ongoing financial year with 8 percent sales growth on account of good performance of its compact sedan Amaze, according to a senior company official. The company, which has completed the sedan line-up with the launch of the latest version of its Civic sedan priced between Rs 17.7 lakh and Rs 22.3 lakh, is also looking to fill gaps in its SUV line-up going forward to make a bigger presence in the Indian market.

"In the April to February period this fiscal, our sales have grown 6.5 percent. We expect to sell around 17,000 units in March taking our overall sales to 1.8 lakh units for the year," Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) President and Chief Executive Officer Gaku Nakanishi told PTI.

He further said it would translate to a growth of 8 percent from 1.7 lakh units sold last fiscal.

During the ongoing year after a good start, there has been a slowdown in automobile sales in the latter half due to various factors, including floods in Kerala, increase in fuel prices, low finance availability due to liquidity crunch faced by NBFCs.

"Our expectation is that (passenger vehicle) sales in March will be flat for the industry and the overall industry growth will be around 3 percent, while Honda's will be more than double of that," Nakanishi added.

HCIL's sales growth this fiscal has been primarily driven by compact sedan Amaze, he added.

Commenting on the newly launched Civic, he said, "This completes our sedan portfolio in India."

The all-new Civic comes with both petrol and diesel fuel options. The petrol versions will come with a 1.8-litre engine mated with a CVT (automatic) transmission. The diesel trims will come with a 1.6-litre engine mated to a manual six speed transmission.

According to the company, the petrol variants deliver a fuel efficiency of 16.5 km per litre, while the diesel versions would offer fuel efficiency of 26.8 km per litre.

Honda had discontinued the Civic sedan in India in 2013 after selling around 55,000 units since its launch in 2006. The new Civic in petrol is priced between Rs 17.7 lakh and Rs 21 lakh, while the diesel option comes at a price range of Rs 20.5 lakh to Rs 22.3 lakh (all prices ex-showroom).

The company currently has sedans -- Amaze, City and Accord -- catering to various customers across different price points.

Like the sedans, he said, "We also want to have a complete range of SUV. We know there are gaps in our SUV portfolio which we are working to fill."

Nakanishi, however, did not elaborate when and how many SUVs would be launched in India. The company currently sells compact SUV W-RV, mid-sized B-RV and top end C-RV.

When asked about the hatchback segment, where the company does not have a presence following the discontinuation of its Brio model, Nakanishi said Honda doesn't have plans to fill it at the moment.

The Amaze will continue to be the company's entry-level model, he said adding that "the volumes that we lose out from not having Brio will be made up by sales from models such as the Amaze, Civic and others that we have in our portfolio".
Mark Zuckerberg's recent announcement about making Facebook a private and encrypted communication channel revealed the new direction he aims set out on. Even though the social media giant took pride in its 'open sharing' strategy at the inception of the company, Zuckerberg acknowledged that its users may want something different.

After being involved in many data breaches and privacy debacles, Zuckerberg said he aims to build Facebook into a private service which is more secure, like WhatsApp, which has end-to-end encryption. The principles of this new platform will be private interactions, encryption, reducing permanence, safety and interoperability. But, why now?

Zuckerberg mentioned the phrase 'people want' six times in the blog post where he explained his vision for a new Facebook, labelling this a users' choice. But, this may help the company mend its image in today's environment when users are trusting very few establishments with their data.

After Facebook was found to be involved in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it's credibility regarding handling personal data of its users was tarnished. In the scandal, the political consulting firm harvested personal information of millions of Facebook users without their consent for political purposes.

Facebook admitted that data of 50 million Indian users was also compromised in this data breach. Many countries across the globe are questioning Facebook's operations. Due to this issue, Zuckerberg even had to appear before a senate committee in the US to justify Facebook's data collection methods.

Even in India, Facebook and its social media platforms WhatsApp and Instagram appeared before a parliamentary committee recently to assure the Centre that they were complying with the local privacy laws. They were also asked to keep misinformation on the websites in check.

Targeted advertising on the website which uses personal data of its users through third party apps was also a sore spot. By tapping into private communication, Facebook would be able to restore the trust of the public, which was damaged after the social network's mishaps.

"I understand that many people don't think Facebook can or would even want to build this kind of privacy-focused platform  because, frankly, we don't currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services. But we have repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services people really want, including private messages and stories," Zuckerberg wrote in a lengthy blog post.

Zuckerberg said encrypted messaging would also help the safety of government dissidents and others who harbour controversial views.

It is unclear how the company's advertising will navigate through this new model but it is still in the works with no particular time frame given yet. Critics are worried that this may never see the light of day, as has happened with many other announcements Facebook made as a response to backlash to its scandals. This includes its anonymous login tools and 'clear history' button to clear information advertisers on Facebook have about you.
A day of profit booking for D-Street but benchmark indices managed to close the day in green and well above their crucial support levels on Thursday.

S&P BSE Sensex which was up nearly 200 points closed with gains of just 89 points towards the close of the trade while Nifty50 managed to hold on to 11050 levels. The index finally closed 5 points up 11,058.

Broader market indices showed signs of weakness, but the overall market depth was tilted in favor of the buyers. The S&P BSE Mid-cap index closed 0.3 percent lower while the Small-cap index closed 0.11 percent down.

IT stocks succumbed to selling pressure for yet another day as the rupee hit a 2-month high. Wipro was down 3 percent, while Infosys and Tech Mahindra shed a little over 1 percent each.

However, there were a lot of stock specific opportunities which are available for traders, suggest experts. Investors should not turn their eye away from PSU banks, as well as metals which are moving higher post correction, they say.

PSU banks, as well as metals, are beaten down sectors which are now moving higher. In the PSU Banks, we are recommending BoB, SBI, and PNB. In the private banking space, we like Axis Bank, Yogesh Mehta, VP, retail research, Motilal Oswal Securities told Moneycontrol.

In the metal space, we like Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Power look promising. Select pharma stocks are also looking attractive in the short term such as Lupin, and in the auto space, M&M is looking good, added Mehta.

Stocks in news:

Sugar stocks closed mostly higher after the Cabinet approved the allocation of additional funds to sugar mills.

NHPC shares rallied more than 3 percent after the Cabinet Committee approved the company's investment in Chenab valley power project and acquisition of Lanco's Teesta hydro project.

The share price of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) gained nearly 3 percent after the company's construction arm secured orders from prestigious clients across varied states in India.

Shares of Biocon fell 2.3 percent after receiving six observations from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on inspection of the company's Bengaluru facility.

IDFC First Bank slipped over 4 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock. Commenting on valuations, the global investment bank in a report said that 1.3x FY20e P/B (price-to-book value) is expensive relative to peers.

Global Updates:

European markets are trading lower by 0.5 percent on Thursday ahead of a European Central Bank rate decision.

Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday on the back of third consecutive day of losses from Wall Street. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.14 percent to close at 3,106.42, while Nikkei fell 0.65 percent to close at 21,456.01.

Hang Seng index shed 0.8 percent to 28779.45, while Kospi declined 0.45 percent to end at 2,165.79.
Representative image

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

NHPC shares rallied more than 8 percent intraday Thursday after the Cabinet Committee approved company's investment in Chenab valley power project and acquisition of Lanco's Teesta hydro project.

While addressing press conference, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, has approved the investment sanction for construction of Kiru Hydro Electric Project (624 MW) by Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPPL).

CVPPPL is a Joint Venture Company of NHPC Limited, JKSPDC and PTC (India) Limited for execution of 3 hydroelectric projects namely Pakal Dul, Kiru and Kwar with agrregate capacity of 2,164 MW at Chenab River Basin in Kishtwar of Jammu & Kashmir, with equity participation of 49 percent, 49 percent and 2 percent by NHPC, JKSPDC & PTC respectively.

The Kiru hydro electric project will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 4,287.59 crore and is scheduled to be completed in a period of 4 1/2 years.

The Cabinet has also given its approval for the investment sanction for acquisition of Lanco Teesta Hydro Power (LTHPL) and execution of balance work of the Teesta Stage-VI hydro electric project by NHPC in Sikkim.

The project will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 5,748.04 crore. Teesta Stage-VI HE project is a Run of River Scheme in Sirwani village of Sikkim to utilise the power potential of Teesta River Basin in cascade manner.

At 13:23 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 25.15, up Rs 1.25, or 5.23 percent amid high volumes on the BSE.
March 07, 2019 / 03:34 PM IST

Market at close: Benchmark indices ended higher for the fourth consecutive day with Nifty closed around 11,050 level.

The Sensex was up 89.32 points at 36725.42, while Nifty was up 5.20 points at 11058.20. About 1287 shares have advanced, 1349 shares declined, and 159 shares are unchanged.

L&T, M&M, Axis Bank, ITC and Power Grid Corp were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers include Wipro, IOC, Coal India, Zee Entertainment and Sun Pharma.

Among the sectoral indices, IT, metal, auto and pharma witnessed selling pressure, while some buying was seen in the bank, FMCG and infra sectors.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Minority shareholders were apprehensive about valuations of the Indian power grid business of ABB India, which is now getting demerged as part of its parent's global slump sell off and sold to Hitachi for $11 billion.

The reason behind this apprehension was that ABB is exiting the global power grid business at a valuation of one time its CY17 annual sales and 13 times earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), far lower than the Indian business, which is trading at 3.3 times CY18 estimated sales and 38 times EBIT. If the global benchmark is used, domestic investors would receive far lower proceeds than what is ascribed by the market.

Thankfully, ABB India is now curving out this domestic transmission and distribution (T&D) business into a separate entity. Currently, promoters hold 75 percent in ABB India, while the rest is owned by the public. The demerged entity will mirror the existing shareholding of ABB India. After the demerger, existing promoter stake will go to Hitachi, whereas minority shareholders will be issued one share of the demerged entity for every five shares held in ABB India.

As the management would seek to list this demerged company, the value will be determined by the market. While the rational for the swap ratio is still missing, the idea should be to maintain or create value for minority shareholders. The sum total of the shares after demerger should be equal to or higher compared to the current value of existing shares.

ABB Indias power grid business accounts for about 40 percent of its revenue and 30 percent of EBIT. It reported a sales turnover of Rs 4,222 crore and an EBIT of Rs 422 crore in CY18.

Investors will weigh both the companies separately. ABB India is currently valued at 40 times its CY19 estimated earnings. That is on a higher side and reflect its technological edge and product profile, which may not reflect in the case of power grid business. Thus, the power grid business may get a lower valuation multiple, which seems to be reflect in the swap ratio and which favours the remaining business. This also means that investors should not expect a cash payout or a one-time dividend as expected by most earlier.

Follow @jitendra1929

For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research page

Moneycontrol Research analysts do not hold positions in the companies discussed here
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on March 7 launched 18,000 housing units in the lower (LIG), middle (MIG) and high income group (HIG) categories.

This may not be the last housing draw as there are over 6,000 flats still under construction across Delhi, top DDA sources told Moneycontrol.

The advertisement for 2019 housing lottery was published on March 7.

"This is not the last housing scheme. We still have over 6,000 houses under construction spread across Delhi," DDA Vice Chairman Tarun Kapoor told Moneycontrol.

All application processes will be done online. Online registration will start from March 25, he said.

DDA has decided to include an additional 7,500 flats in the 2019 scheme over and above the 10,300 announced earlier. The additional flats are in the economically weaker section and the middle income group located in Narela, sources said.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported that the DDA housing scheme 2019 was going to be launched this week.

On February 25, the DDA had passed a proposal to put 10,300 flats in Narela and Vasant Kunj. Up for grabs are 960 flats for the economically weaker section (EWS) at Narela; 8,383 LIG flats at Narela and Vasant Kunj; 579 MIG flats at Vasant Kunj; and 448 HIG flats at Vasant Kunj, the DDA had said in a statement.

Sources said those applying for two-bedroom MIG flats or three-bedroom HIG flats will have to deposit Rs 2 lakh as registration fee. Those going for one-bedroom LIG flats will have to deposit Rs 1 lakh. The registration amount for flats for economically weaker sections has been kept at Rs 25,000.

Officials said the cost of the flats is likely to be in the range of Rs 70 lakh to Rs 80 lakh for MIG and Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 2 crore for HIG. MIG units range between 650 sq ft to 750 sq ft and HIG around 970 sq ft in plinth area. Carpet area of units is generally 10-20 percent less than the plinth area.

For first time homebuyers, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) benefit may also be available, officials said.

Flats surrendered by the allottees of the earlier schemes have not been included in the new scheme.

DDA launched its last scheme almost nine years ago after the Commonwealth Games when 2,300 HIG and MIG houses were up from grabs in Mukherjee Nagar, Dwarka, Rohini, Pitampura and Motia Khan. In 2014, almost 500 MIG flats located in Narela that were offered in the draw were returned by the allottees due to lack of infrastructure facilities.

The DDA's budget for the year 2019-20 was presented on February 25. Expenditure has been set at nearly Rs 6,968 crore, a growth of 23.30 percent over FY19 revised Budget Estimate at Rs 5,651 crore. Key activities to be taken under the budget include transforming Delhi into a world-class city and preparing a request for proposal (RFP) for developing vacant area available at Dwarka (200 hectares), a DDA statement had said.

Other activities include construction of socio-cultural centres in Rohini, CBD Shahdara and Mayur Vihar; retrofitting of Nehru Place, Bhikaji Cama Place and Basant Lok Community Centres; promotion of sports; beautification of Delhi and heritage preservation, the statement said.
The Supreme Court (SC) has set aside an order by the Bombay High Court (HC) that had imposed a fine on the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (Mumbai) and made adversarial remarks about his performance.

The division bench of the apex court, led by Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hemant Gupta, while hearing a plea filed DCIT Sanjay Jain, said the HC had issued directions without issuing a specific notice to the petitioner.

We find merit in the submission, which has been urged on behalf of the petitioner that the High Court was not justified in its remarks against the petitioner and in issuing the directions which it has issued. Apart from the fact that these directions were issued without specific notice to the petitioner, we find that they were wholly unnecessary having regard to the list before the High Court, the bench said.

The HC had imposed a Rs 1.5-lakh fine against Jain after Nu-Tech Corporate Services had filed a case against the decision of the Income Tax Department to adjust refunds due to it against its pending demands.

When the company had challenged the revenue departments assessment and demand, the revenue officials failed to submit the documents in the court.

Besides imposing a fine, the HC also noted that the officers superiors take note of the courts order, and take any action if needed.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has said that mutual funds will have to disclose assets under management of their schemes on a daily basis, coupled with an additional benchmark and product labelling.

In a clarification letter to the Association of Mutual Funds India (AMFI) on March 7, the market regulator said, The AUM of all schemes except liquid schemes has to be disclosed on daily basis on AMFI website.

Moneycontrol has access to a copy of the letter.

AMFI had earlier requested SEBI to do away with the requirement of publishing the daily AUM of mutual schemes.

SEBI said that in case of liquid schemes the closing AUM, and the AUM of the previous month has to be disclosed on the AMFI website on a daily basis.

However, if the AUM movement of the schemes is over 10 percent from the previously disclosed AUM, fund houses will have to disclose the AUM of that day.

AMFI had asked to do away with the requirement to prevent unhealthy competition. Fund managers said that the disclosure of AUM on a daily basis may lead to unhealthy competition among fund houses for the shoring up of assets. Also, the extensive media glare on AUM figures may result in unnecessary pressure on funds.

At the same time, SEBI accepted AMFIs request on the performance disclosure of short term schemes such as overnight fund, liquid fund, ultra-short duration fund, low duration fund, and money market funds. SEBI said that mutual fund houses will have to disclose the performance for a period of seven days, 15 days, one month, three months and six months.

SEBI also clarified that AMCs can disclose AUM of growth option of both regular and direct plans.

NEW FORMULA

In the same letter, SEBI said it has modified the formula of calculating the total expense ratio (TER) for beyond 30 (B30) cities.

TER is a percentage of a scheme's corpus that a mutual fund house charges towards expenses which including administrative and management expenses.

Earlier, only 'retail' assets were included in calculating the ratio. With the new formula, SEBI has allowed fund houses to consider both, retail and HNI assets while calculating the ratio.

The ratio at present is 30 bps of the total assets garnered.

Further, SEBI said that fund houses will have to follow the list issued by AMFI to look at T30 and B30 cities.
Japan's Softbank Group Corp said on Thursday it had launched a new $5 billion innovation fund to invest in technology companies in Latin America.

Softbank, which already has a $100 billion investment vehicle known as Softbank Vision Fund, has made sizeable investments in ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc, shared office provider WeWork, food delivery startup DoorDash and dog walking app Wag.

"Latin America presents significant opportunities for SoftBank Group, and the Vision Fund will have the ability to co-invest alongside the SoftBank Innovation Fund," executive officer of SoftBank Investment Advisers Rajeev Misra said.
Angel Commodities' report on Crude Oil

On Wednesday, WTI Crude prices declined by 0.6 percent to close at $56.2 per barrel over excess production from the United States. Last week, U.S. Crude inventories increased by 7.1 million barrels to 452.93 million barrels, exceeding market expectations for an increase of 1.2 million barrels. U.S. crude oil output continues to be at a record high of 12.1 million barrels per day (bpd), which is 2 million bpd higher since early 2018. China is one of the biggest consumer of Crude, lower demand from China weighed on the Crude prices. Supply cuts by OPEC continue to support the crude. OPEC and its allies meet next in Vienna on April 17- 18, 2019.

Outlook

Excess of crude production by U.S. might over power the Supply cuts by OPEC and its allies and weigh on Crude prices. On the MCX, oil prices are expected to trade lower today, international markets are trading higher by 0.36 percent at $56.42 per barrel.

For all commodities report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read More
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Here are stocks that are in the news today:

Vedanta: Board approved 2nd interim dividend of Rs 1.85 per share i.e. 185 percent on face value of Re 1 for the financial year 2018-19.

Varroc Engineering: Step down subsidiary Varroc Lighting Systems, Poland opened new Research & Development Centre.

Asian Granito India: Board approved the issue of 50 lakh convertible warrants at a price of Rs 180 per convertible warrants to promoter, promoter group and non-promoters. Board also approved the overall limit of Rs 300 crore for related party transaction with subsidiary company Crystal Ceramic Industries Private Limited.

Odisha Cement clarified that company never authorised allied to transfer, use or pledge these securities, in any manner whatsoever, as margin or otherwise, for the benefit of any person or entity, at any point in time

Biocon: USFDA concluded a pre-approval inspection of company's insulin drug substance manufacturing facility triggered by a New Drug Application submitted by insulin AP/customer. The inspection at the Bengaluru facility took place between February 25-March 5, resulting in a Form 483 with six observations.

MEP Infrastructure Developers: Promoter released a pledge on 38 lakh shares (representing 2.07 percent of total paid-up equity).

Development management agreement between Raymond & Colorplus Realty has been mutually terminated with effect from March 5, 2019

CARE has revised its rating to A+ (credit watch with developing implications) for long-term debt programme, market linked debentures and subordinated debt of the Company

Jayant Agro-Organics: Promoter Jayant Finvest increases stake in company by 3.22 percent to 58.93 percent.

Ajmera Realty & Infra India: Promoter ARIIL Trust raises stake in company by 2.78 percent to 52.81 percent.

Leel Electricals: Bharat Raj Punj, Managing Director of the company has tendered his resignation due to his personal and professional reasons.

GE Power India's managing director Andrew H. DeLeone has submitted his resignation due to personal circumstances

Himachal Futuristic Communications: Company bags orders of Rs 117 crore for supply of optical fibre cables from Tata Project.

Asahi Songwon Colors: Plant operations of CPC crude blue plant at Padra, Vadodara have been restarted after planned shutdown for periodic maintenance.

HDFC: Board approved the payment of interim dividend of Rs 3.50 per share for the financial year ending March 2019.

Sun TV Network board meeting on March 8 to consider interim dividend

Cyient: Company selected by UK Power Networks to develop an outage planning portal.

HSIL: Reliance MF cuts its stake in company by 0.65 percent to 4.47 percent.

Omaxe: Vijayalaxmi, Chief Operating Officer of the company has resigned from the company due to personal reason.

LT Foods: Company decided to make an investment of Rs 20 crore in the form of preference shares in its majority owned subsidiary company Daawat Foods Limited (DFL) to strengthen the balance sheet of DFL and improve its current ratio.

Relaxo Footwears: Promoters cut stake in the company by 1.967 percent to 35.508 percent.

Tata Power: Company crosses the 7 lakh consumer base milestone in Mumbai.

NELCO: Company secures in-flight & maritime connectivity licence from Department of Telecommunications.

Khadim India: Commercial Paper of Rs 30 crore has been redeemed.

Apollo Tricoat Tubes: Company commences commercial production of Tricoat Tubes with advanced Galvant technology at manufacturing facility at Malur.

Arvind Fashions: Subsidiary of Arvind to list on March 8.

Bulk Deals on March 06

NSE

Keerti Know & Skill: Ajit Laxmichand Jain HUF sold 20,000 shares of the company at Rs 70 per share.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank: Premjayanti Enterprise Pvt Ltd sold 14,50,000 shares of the company at Rs 76.59 per share.

OnMobile Global: Altruist Technologies Private Limited bought 5,70,763 shares of the company at Rs 33.04 per share.

Sunteck Realty: BNP Paribas Arbitrage bought 21,10,027 shares of the company at Rs 370.06 per share.

BSE

Sunteck Realty: BNP Paribas Arbitrage further bought 20,16,540 shares of the company at Rs 370 per share.

7NR Retail: Rathod Manoj Chhaganlal HUF sold 84,000 shares of the company at Rs 34.75 per share.

Jaipan Industries: Capgrow Capital Advisors LLP sold 36,618 shares of the company at Rs 16.70 per share.

Majestic Research: Veer Enterprise sold 1,03,200 shares of the company at Rs 30.33 per share.

Relaxo Footwears: Afis A/C American Funds Insurance Series Growth Income Fund bought 8,67,238 shares of the company at Rs 715 per share.

(For more bulk deals, click here)

Analyst or Board Meet/Briefings

Polyplex Corporation: Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on March 30.

Tube Investments of India: Conference Call with Institutional Investor to be held on March 7.

BCL Industries: Management of the company will be attending the Valorem Analyst Conference 2019 on March 15.

South Indian Bank: Officials of the company will be meeting a group of institutional investors at Prabhudas Liladhar Conference on March 8.

HUDCO: The board meeting to be held on March 12 to consider raising of funds through issue of bonds/ debentures.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services: Company's officials will attend Prabhudas Lilladher - Investor Conference on March 7 and Morgan Stanley - Investor Groups on March 14.

Take Solutions: Company's officials will meet analyst/institutional investor in Buyside Non-deal Roadshow on March 7.

TRF: Investors' Conference Call is scheduled to be held on March 11.

Sheela Foam: Officials of the company will be meeting with various investors on March 7 in Singapore and on March 8 in Hong Kong.

Mahindra Logistics: One-on-one conference call is scheduled to be held with Mission Holdings on March 7.

Asian Paints: Company's officials will meet investors on March 8, 13, 14 and 15.

eClerx Services: Company's officials will interact with Franklin Templeton Investments on March 7.

Punjab National Bank: Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on March 28.

SRF: Ashish Bharat Ram, Managing Director will be interacting with certain Analysts on March 7 in 6th edition of Ambit's Chemical Day.

Sudarshan Chemical Industries: Company's officials will interact with Analysts / Institutional Investors on March 7 at Ambit India Access - Chemicals Day (Conference).

Elecon Engineering Company: Extraordinary General Meeting of the company to be convened on March 30.

: Board meeting is scheduled on March 9 to consider voluntary delisting of company from National Stock Exchange of India Limited.
Representative image

India is planning to hike Saudi Arabia's flying rights quota in the country by 40 percent from April 1, according to a report in The Economic Times.

The move will make the oil-rich nation the only country within a 5,000-km flying distance from India to have its quota increased by the Modi government. India has earlier rejected requests for an increase in flying rights by other countries like Dubai, Qatar, China, Singapore and Malaysia.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The news comes days after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited India. During his visit, he announced plans to invest $100 billion in India's infrastructure sector. Salman also backed India against Pakistan at the recent Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meet.

Read: Saudi Arabia sees $100 bn investment opportunity in India: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

India's decision to increase Saudi Arabia's flying rights quota may be driven by the incentives provided by the Gulf country. Saudi Arabia has unilaterally allowed Indian carriers to add as many flights as they want to Dammam.

"The External Affairs Ministry insisted on implementing the increase in quota on the back of various incentives provided by Saudi Arabia," an official aware of the matter told the newspaper.

The MEA is said to have asked the Aviation Ministry to consider the fact that Saudi Arabia allows Air India to fly to Israel using its airspace, and that the national carrier is the only airline that is allowed this facility, the official added.

Currently, flights between the two countries are governed by air services agreements -- also called bilateral flying rights.

As per the new aviation policy, no country within 5,000 km flying distance from India will be allowed any extra seats unless Indian carriers exhaust 80 percent of the flying rights quota. In the case of Saudi Arabia, the utilisation by Indian carriers is still about 74 percent (barring Dammam), but the aviation ministry expects it to cross 80 percent by April.
Banks are selling their surplus stock of government bonds to meet rising demand for loans as deposit growth is slowing, according to a Mint report.

For the fortnight-ended February 15, non-food credit growth stood at 15.6 percent, while deposits grew at 10 percent. Bank credit has grown between 10 percent and 15 percent every two weeks since last June, while deposit growth stood at 6-10 percent, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows.

"Since deposit growth has not kept pace, banks have had to cut down on their excess SLR to meet their credit requirements," Karthik Srinivasan, Group Head at ICRA told the newspaper.

Banks have been maintaining a statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) of as much as 30 percent, much higher than the RBI mandate at 19.25 percent. This was mostly because of weak credit growth, according to the report.

For a very long time, banks had kept SLR holdings 10 percentage points above the regulatory requirement, Ajay Manglunia, Head of Fixed-Income Markets at Edelweiss Securities, told the newspaper.

SLR holdings of lenders have come down to 26.8 percent of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) in February from 30.8 percent in February last year, according to Bloomberg data. NDTL is the sum of a bank's deposits and borrowings.

Since banks under the prompt corrective action were not able to make capital-intensive investments, they chose to park excess funds in risk-free SLR bonds, Manglunia added.

The ongoing liquidity issues among non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) after the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) default have also added to the rising credit demand. "In today's environment, NBFCs are finding it difficult to lend as they are not getting enough capital from the market. While banks are able to raise money at 7-8 percent, NBFCs are getting funds at 11-12 percent at the moment," Manglunia said.

There is definitely a slowdown in loan disbursements by NBFCs and housing finance companies, while banks have been growing, Srinivasan added.

"So, obviously, part of their ability to grow their credit books comes from the fact that they are taking over some of the NBFCs' assets. As NBFCs are

going slow, banks are entering into those segments and that is partly getting funded by monetising some of their excess SLR," Srinivasan explained.

According to the report, the credit-deposit ratio of banks, which indicates how much of a bank's deposit base is being mobilised for loans, now stands at 77.5 percent from 74.9 percent in June 2018.

With more banks coming out of the RBI's prompt corrective action (PCA) framework, some of their investments in SLR would be deployed to boost credit growth, an economist told the newspaper.

"There has been an increase in the cost of funds, denoting a relative scarcity of deposits. Banks have adjusted between giving credit and deploying in SLR

securities, which is the reason for the drop of SLR and rise of credit-deposit ratio," the economist said.

Some industry experts say that a rally in government securities allowed banks to book some profit and free up capital. By selling excess SLR, they are able to book profits and also able to deploy them at a better margin of close to double-digits as compared to 7.5 percent in the government securities market, Manglunia stated.
The Finance Ministry on March 6 announced in a gazette notification to roll out Rs 20 coin for the first time in the country. The new coin will be shaped like a "dodecagon" - a 12-edged polygon.

The Rs 20 coin will have some similarities with the Rs 10 coin that is in circulation across the country. The new coin will be two-toned and have a diameter of 27 mm, similar to Rs 10 coin.

The outer ring of Rs 20 coin will be 65 percent copper, 15 percent zinc and 20 per nickel, the inner disc will be 75 percent copper, 20 percent zinc and five percent nickel.

The face of the coin shall bear the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar with the legend Satyamev Jayate inscribed below, flanked on the left periphery with the word Bharat in Hindi and on the right periphery with the word INDIA in English.

However, unlike the circular 10-rupee coin, the Rs 20 coin will not have any marks on its edges. The ministry has not given any other cues on its design or appearance yet in the notification.

Further, the government will also release the new series of prototypes of coins of Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5 and Rs 10, as per the extraordinary notification by the Gazette of India.

Interestingly, the Reserve Bank of India had issued the first 10-rupee coin nearly 10 years ago in March 2009. Since then, there have been 13 iterations of the coin.

While these iterations often lead to confusion among the public, the central bank issued a clarification last year saying that all 14 kinds of coins continue to be legal tender.
IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman held on to sensitive information, including Indian troop deployment, high-security radio frequencies and sensitive logistics during his first 24 hours in Pakistan's captivity after his MiG-21 Bison was shot down in a dogfight over the Line of Control (LoC), according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

The report, quoting a senior officer involved in the debriefing of the 35-year-old fighter pilot, said, that the Wing Commander was deprived of sleep, choked and beaten up by his captors in Pakistan to extract information from him.

To increase his discomfort during captivity, Varthaman was made to stand for long hours and was subjected to loud music, the official said.

The report adds that Pakistani officers tried to extract information from him regarding the frequencies used by the Indian Air Force (IAF) to transmit messages, deployment of fighter jets and logistical arrangements. However, Varthaman held back, the report adds.

The officer said that all Indian fighter pilots are taught to hold back sensitive information for as long as possible while they are held captive so that transmitting frequencies and deployments can be changed in the first 24 hours.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Reports had earlier suggested that Varthaman was subjected to mental harassment during his detention but was not physically tortured.

Varthaman had been captured by Pakistani Army upon landing in Pakistan after he ejected from his plane that was hit.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot, deep inside Pakistan early February 26.

Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations on February 27. However, the IAF thwarted their plans.

The Indian strike on the JeM camp came 12 days after the terror outfit claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Kashmir, killing at least 40 soldiers.
Moneycontrol News

The ruling Indian National Congress government in Chhattisgarh has found that the previous government in the state headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Raman Singh diverted funds from several social welfare schemes to the Centre's flagship initiative Ujjwala scheme, according to a report in The Economic Times.

As per Chhattisgarh government's records, the BJP government had diverted Rs 29 crore from a labour department scheme, Rs 212.90 crore from environment cess, Rs 47.08 crore from Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and Rs 162.38 crore from District Mineral Foundation (DMF) to Ujjawala scheme. As per the guidelines, funds for CAMPA and DMF cannot be diverted for any other purpose.

While CAMPA oversees compensatory afforestation which needs to be done in lieu of diversion of forest land for non-forestry use, DMF looks after the interest of persons and areas affected by mining.

The budgetary allocation made for Ujjwala scheme was Rs 55 crore. Under this scheme, the government provides free LPG cylinders to families below the poverty line.

However, this was not the first time that diversion of DMF funds has been reported from Chhattisgarh. In 2018, the Centre for Science and Environment had pointed out that DMF funds in Chhattisgarh's Korba district were used for building multi-level parking lots and convention centres in towns.

A Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas official told the newspaper that the ministry bears the cost of Rs 1,600 per connection (which includes cylinder, pressure regulator, booklet and safety hose). The remaining has to be borne by the beneficiary. "Chhattisgarh government had told the ministry that it would bear the remaining cost. The Centre is not involved, in any way, on how the state provides the budget," the official added.

In Chhattisgarh, only about 53 percent of Ujjwala beneficiaries come for refills as against the national average of 82.45 percent, the report suggests.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

"The Centre set ambitious and unrealistic targets under Ujjwala for the states purely for electoral gains. Under pressure from the Prime Minister, Chhattisgarh government diverted finances from several public schemes to distribute free cylinders," Chhattisgarh Congress Spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi told the newspaper.
The number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra doubled in the last four years, according to a reply provided to a Right to Information (RTI) query.

The Maharashtra government, in a letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), had said that 6,268 farmers committed suicide between 2011 and 2014. The number rose to 11,995 from January 2015 till 2018-end -- an increase of over 91 percent -- a report by NDTV stated.

The Vidarbha region recorded the highest number of farmer suicides, at 5,214, in the last four years. This was followed by Marathwada, with 4,699 farmer suicides, the report added.

Three out of the last four years have seen deficient rainfall. The Maharashtra government had unveiled a mega Rs 34,022 crore farm loan waiver scheme in June 2017 that will see a debt up to Rs 1.5 lakh per farmer being written off.

In December last year, unit chief of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Raosaheb Danve had claimed that nearly 90 percent farmers in the state have received the benefit of the government's loan waiver.

The state government has declared drought in 268 revenue circles and 5,449 individual villages, apart from 151 tehsils, where agricultural production is expected to fall by more than 50 percent.

In February, Maharashtras Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said an aid of Rs 1,507 crore has been credited into bank accounts of 42 lakh drought-affected farmers. A total of Rs 2,909 crore have been allocated for this purpose, he said.

Presenting a vote-on-account in the Legislative Assembly, Mungantiwar said 82.27 lakh farmers in 151 tehsils with land holding of 85.76 lakh hectares have been affected by last year's drought.
In a significant development, the United Nations has rejected an appeal of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, to remove his name from its list of banned terrorists, government sources said on Thursday.

Notably, the decision comes at a time when UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee has received a new request to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the strike.

The UN decision to reject appeal of Saeed, also a co-founder of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), came after India provided detailed evidence including "highly confidential information" about his activities, sources told PTI, adding that the verdict of the global body was conveyed to his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza earlier this week.

Saeed, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jammat--ud-Dawa (JuD), was banned on December 10, 2008 by the United Nations Security Council after the horrific Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.

Saeed had filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, for removal of the ban.

Independent Ombudsperson Daniel Kipfer Fasciati, appointed by the UN to examine all such requests, has informed Saeed's lawyer that it has been decided following examination of his request that that he will "continue as a listed individual", sources said.

The Ombudsperson recommended that after gathering all information, it has been decided to continue with the ban as "there was sufficient information to provide a reasonable and credible basis for continuing the listing," sources said, adding the recommendation was endorsed by the UN's Sanctions Committee.

Saeed's request was opposed by India as well as other countries that had originally listed him - US, UK and France, sources said.

Significantly, Pakistan did not oppose the appeal despite claims by the new Imran Khan-led government there that it was taking action against the banned terrorists and their organisations in what they call a 'Naya Pakistan' (new Pakistan).

Last month, the US, the UK and France made a fresh bid at the UN to ban JeM head Masood Azhar, who is also residing in Pakistan as per Pakistani foreign minister's admission. JeM is already a UN-designated terrorist organisation.

Asked about the delay in deciding on Saeed's appeal, which normally takes six months from the time it is registered with the UN, sources said the delay happened because the Ombudsperson got changed before completion of the time period and then some time was taken to appoint a new one.
On March 5, Pakistan announced that its interior ministry has placed 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) in the list of banned organisations.

According to Pakistan's National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA) list, which was updated on March 5, JuD and FIF were among 70 organisations proscribed by the Ministry of Interior under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

Before this, the two organisations were reportedly in their under watch list since 2017. However, the move to ban these organisations is not a new tactic and has been a part of Pakistans playbook to ward off international pressure.

Action against Saeed's LeT mere lip service

Saeeds Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) has been a banned outfit in Pakistan since January 2002. Yet, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind continues to operate with impunity from Pakistani soil.

In January 2017, Saeed, along with four of his aides, was detained by Pakistans Punjab Government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act. He was under house arrest until November 2017 when he was let free due to lack of evidence. This, after India sent dossiers of evidence against LeT and Saeeds involvement in the attack that killed 174 people and injured more than 300.

The Indian dossier even claimed that the crucial evidence provided by the FBI was also not included in Pakistans chargesheet.

Saeed contests elections in Pakistan

Nearly four weeks after he was freed from house arrest, Saeed floated a political party called the Milli Muslim League (MML). Even though his party was denied recognition, it managed to contest for prime ministerial elections in Pakistan in July 2018. The JuD fielded more than 265 candidates, including his son and son-in-law.

If this was not enough, the MML office was inaugurated from the National Assembly Constituency of Lahore district -- a seat which is traditionally contested and won by the Sharifs since 1985 -- in an attempt to challenge Sharifs dispensation in his own turf. The finishing touch was former Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf saying that he was open to an alliance with the MML after saying that he was the biggest supporter of Hafiz Saeed.

The US had to slip in a not-so-subtle reminder at that time to rejig Pakistans memory that there is $10 million bounties on Saeed, who was proscribed by the United Nations Security Council in 2008.

Musharraf admits JeM acted on orders of Pakistani intelligence

More recently, Musharraf admitted that the Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for killing 40 CRPF jawans in the Pulwama terror attack on February 14, carried out attacks in India on the instruction of Pakistani Intelligence agencies during his tenure.

Also Read | Explained: Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Pakistan-based militants, at heart of tension with India

When asked why did he not take action against JeM, which had also tried to assassinate him in two attempts, Musharraf said: Those were different times. Our intelligence men were involved in a tit-for-tat between India and Pakistan. This was continuing at that time and amid all of this, no major action was taken against the Jaish. And, I also did not insist.

Musharraf, who was the President of Pakistan from 1999 to 2008, has been living in Dubai since March 2016. He is facing a treason case for suspending the Constitution on 2007.

The JeM, which has been on Pakistans list of proscribed organisations since January 2002, has conducted major terror attacks in India, including the attack on military instalments in Pathankot and Uri in January and September 2016, respectively.

Pak foreign minister accepts Azhar in country, but can't take action

In February, Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had told CNN, during an interview, that Azhar is in Pakistan, but the government can act against him only if India presents solid and inalienable evidence that can stand in a court of law.

Meanwhile, Pakistan issued another notice on March 4 saying that it was freezing the assets of LeT and Hafiz Saeed through a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) under the UNSC Act of 1948. Pakistan had the gumption to do so 13 years after the UN had banned him.

SROs are reportedly not prosecutable in courts and do not place any liability or penalty on any financial entity or government functionary who does not implement it.

Then what reason do we have to believe that this move is not a charade being played by Pakistan to pacify the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which is due to take a decision on whether to move Pakistan from the grey to the black list in October this year?
File image: Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari on March 6 expressed anger over some people raising slogans at a public meeting in Nagpur in support of a separate Vidarbha state and threatened to get them "spanked and thrown out" from the event.

Gadkari lost his cool when some people raised the slogans during his speech at the meeting, which was also attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, among others.

When Gadkari started speaking, some pro-Vidarbha activists sitting in the crowd began raising slogans, demanding statehood for the region in eastern Maharashtra.

They also threw pamphlets in the media enclosure.

Irked over the shouting of slogans for a separate Vidarbha state, Gadkari asked them to keep quiet.

Thereafter, the Union Minister said, "If they make noise again, spank them, remember stop shouting or all of you will be spanked and thrown out. Take them all out."

Nagpur should be developed as the second capital and "we want to take Nagpur and Vidarbha forward together and put them prominently on the world map," Gadkari told the gathering.

The senior BJP leader said he is happy that under the leadership of Fadnavis, Nagpur and Vidarbha are witnessing all-around development.

Both Gadkari and Fadnavis hail from Nagpur, the second capital of the state and the region's biggest city.

The cotton-growing region, which comprises nearly a dozen districts, has been witnessing a movement for statehood since decades.

The BJP supports the demand for Vidarbha statehood, but its ally the Shiv Sena is vehemently opposed to any division of Maharashtra.
Congress has released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The list which gives out the names of 15 candidates  11 from Uttar Pradesh and four from Gujarat  was released on March 7, 2019.

As per the list, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi will contest from Rae Bareli while Congress President Rahul Gandhi will fight from Amethi.



Announcement of first list of candidates selected by Congress Central Election Committee for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. pic.twitter.com/FEzssyx3uV

 Congress (@INCIndia) March 7, 2019

Both Rae Bareli and Amethi have been traditional Congress bastions with the mother-son duo consecutively winning the seats in the last three general elections.

Other names in the list include veterans like Salman Khurshid who will be contesting from Farrukhabad and RPN Singh from Kushi Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.

The announcement comes when the Election Commission of India is wrapping up the logistics before the dates to the crucial polls are announced.

Sources said the poll panel is in final stages of completing its logistical preparations to hold elections for the 17th Lok Sabha and a detailed polling schedule could be announced as early this weekend or by early next week.

The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3.
Accusing Congress president of speaking "blatant lies" on the Rafale issue, the BJP said on Thursday he neither believes the Indian Air Force nor the Supreme Court verdict and asked if he needed a certificate from Pakistan about the fighter aircraft.

Soon after Gandhi demanded a probe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale deal, the BJP hit back with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleging that the Congress president believes Pakistan more than Indian forces and its leaders.

"I totally condemn blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi. He does not believe the Indian Air Force, does not trust the Supreme Court verdict that clearly said there is no commercial impropriety in the (Rafale) procurement process. He does not believe the CAG," Prasad said.

"Will Rahul Gandhi need a certificate about Rafale from Pakistan. In that we cannot help. Of late he believes Pakistan more than Indian forces and its leaders," the senior BJP leader added.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi asked why a probe cannot be ordered against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a "Rs 30,000-crore scam" when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents related to the fighter jet deal.

At a press conference, he accused the prime minister of conducting parallel negotiations on the fighter jet deal and the government of manipulating institutions to "save" him.

The parallel negotiations "retarded" the delivery of Rafale, he claimed.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on March 7 said the theft of Rafale files from the Union Ministry of Defence was a matter of concern and demanded an enquiry into it.

She also sought the central government's version about the theft and asked who was the 'chhuppa rustam' (hidden person) behind this act.

In a tweet in Hindi, Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, described the entire matter as 'tamasha' (farce) and hinted that its fallout would be known after the Lok Sabha elections.

"What farce is going on in the country? Documents are being stolen from the Ministry of Defence itself. This is a very dangerous situation for the country," she tweeted.

"What would the government say on this? Who is the hidden person behind this? There must be an enquiry into it," she added.

The chief minister asked the people to "wait for sometime as general election results would come out soon".

Attorney General K K Venugopal had informed the Supreme Court on March 6 that the Rafale files were stolen from the Defence Ministry.

The government had also threatened The Hindu newspaper with action under the Official Secrets Act for publishing articles based on data allegedly taken from the stolen documents.

Banerjee had on March 6 condemned the "threats by the BJP" to N Ram, chairman of The Hindu publishing group.

"Media plays an important role in democracy. I strongly condemn threats by BJP govt to one of India's most senior & respected editors, N Ram. Invoking Official Secrets Act to threaten journalists is a shame," she had tweeted.
Accusing the Centre of trying to throttle the voice of media by threatening to invoke Official Secrets Act against veteran journalist N Ram, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee flayed the Union government.

"Media plays an important role in democracy. I strongly condemn threats by the BJP govt to one of India's most senior & respected editors, N Ram," said Banerjee said in a tweet.

"Invoking Official Secrets Act to threaten journalists is a shame. They cannot curb freedom & rights of the press as per their convenience," she added.

The Union government earlier on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that documents related to the Rafale aircraft deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry and threatened The Hindu newspaper with the Official Secrets Act for publishing articles based on them.

Those who put documents on the Rafale deal in the public domain are guilty under the Official Secrets Act and the contempt of court, Attorney General K K Venugopal told a a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

An investigation into the theft is on, the attorney general said on a day the newspaper published another article on the fighter jet deal.

The bench, which also included justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, was hearing a batch of petitions seeking a review of its December 14 verdict dismissing all the pleas against the deal inked by India to procure the French fighter jets.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on March 7 asked the BJP whether it was pursuing a "jhoot and boot" campaign, a day after the party was embarrassed by its two legislators who attacked each other with one of them using his shoe.

By "jhoot" (lies), Yadav appeared to be referring to the multi-crore Rafale aircraft deal, which the Opposition has alleged involved corruption.

His comments came a day after the BJP-led government at the Centre told the Supreme Court that documents related to the agreement had been stolen from the Defence Ministry.

"First there were parallel negotiations. Then the (Rafale) files were stolen. Meanwhile in Uttar Pradesh, MP-MLA used shoes for dispute resolution at a meeting to discuss development. Now BJP workers are asking their leaders as to what campaign is on? The 'jhoot' and the 'boot' or the youth and the booth?" Yadav said in Lucknow.

His "boot" dig was aimed at the fracas in Sant Kabir Nagar, where two elected representatives of the BJP hit each other during a meeting in presence of minister of in-charge of the district, Ashutosh Tandon, son of Bihar Governor Lalji Tandon.

One of the legislators involved in the fight, caught on tape, used his shoe to hit the other.

On March 7, Yadav's ally in Uttar Pradesh for the general election, BSP chief Mayawati, too had a dig at the Centre's disclosure about "stolen" Rafale jet deal documents.

Mayawati said in a tweet it was a "very strange and irresponsible chowkidari" that the documents were "stolen".

"The Modi govt made a sensational disclosure in the Hon'ble Supreme Court that secret documents pertaining to Rafale fighter deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry."

'Very strange & irresponsible chowkidari. Is national security & interest in the safe hands? Think long & loud," she tweeted.
File photo of Congress president Rahul Gandhi

Ratcheting up his attack on the BJP government over the Rafale aircraft issue, Congress President Rahul Gandhi asked on Thursday why a probe cannot be ordered against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a "Rs 30,000-crore scam" when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents related to the fighter jet deal.

Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi accused the prime minister of performing a bypass surgery in the deal and the government of manipulating institutions to "save" him.

"Justice should for all. Investigate everyone, but probe Modi as well" as it has emerged in the official files that the Prime Minister Office's was involved in parallel negotiations in the fighter jet deal, he said.

The parallel negotiations "retarded" the delivery of Rafale. The aircraft could not come earlier because "you wanted to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore", he alleged.

Gandhi also took a swipe at the government over Attorney General K K Venugopal telling the Supreme Curt on Wednesday that the Rafale files were stolen from the defence ministry.

"Gayab ho gaya" is the new tagline of the Modi government, he said, adding the Rafale files had disappeared like jobs for youths, right prices for farmers' produce, and the promises of Rs 15 lakh to everyone, farmers' insurance, black money after demonetisation and Dokalam.

"An interesting thing happened yesterday... The government said the media will be investigated, but there is no probe against those involved in the Rs 30,000-crore scam. The government is protecting Narendra Modi, the 'chowkidaar', at any cost," he told the press conference.

"The prime minister delayed the Rafale deal... The parallel negotiations retarded the delivery of Rafale. The aircraft could not come early because you wanted to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore," he alleged.

The government has constantly rejected the allegations levelled by the Congress with the BJP accusing Gandhi of spreading lies to torpedo the Rafale deal due to his vested interests. Ambani has also rejected corruption allegations.

"You do whatever you want to do legally, but justice should be for all. If files have been stolen, then you are accepting that the stories based on those documents are true...Why should not there be a criminal investigation? When a probe can be ordered against anyone who opposes the prime minister, then why not against Narendra Modi?" he asked.

Hitting back at Modi for calling the Congress a "poster boy" of Pakistan for questioning the air strike on terror camps in Balakot, Gandhi said "it is he who is Pakistan's poster boy, not us".

He recalled that the Modi government had invited Pakistan's spy agency ISI to India to probe the Pathankot terror attack and then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif to attend his swearing in.
BJP president Amit Shah on March 7 said Congress chief Rahul Gandhi should feel ashamed of asking for proof of India's air strike on a terror camp in Pakistan.

People will give Gandhi a reply for (saying) it during the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leader said.

Addressing the party's booth-level workers at Bamora near Sagar town in Madhya Pradesh, Shah said an IAF official at a press conference asserted that the IAF had hit terror targets.

Even after this conclusive statement, Gandhi is insulting thousands of martyrs of India by asking for evidence of the air strike, Shah said.

The IAF conducted air strike last month on a camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan, in retaliation to the terror outfit's attack at Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

Shah lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "work and untiring attitude."

Earlier "only two countries" were known for avenging attack on their forces. "Modiji has now ensured India's name is also counted among such countries," he said.

In the last 25 years, Modi has not taken a single vacation, Shah said. He targeted Gandhi for "going on vacations frequently."

The country has got a prime minister who works for 18 out of 24 hours a day and is very dedicated towards the nation, the BJP chief said.

"What the Modi government has done in 55 months of rule, the Congress was unable to do in 55 years with Gandhi family's four generations ruling the country," he said.

The Modi government brought a major change in the country by implementing 135 welfare schemes, including Ayushman Bharat, Rs 6,000 per annum for small and marginal farmers and Rs 3,000 pension for labourers, Shah said.

People of the country are with the BJP and would again vote for the party in the ensuing polls, he said, asking BJP workers to work hard in the next two months.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address booth-level party workers in Goa on March 8, a senior party functionary said.

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief Girish Chodankar said Gandhi will address the workers at 'Jeet Ki Aur' function at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium near Panaji.

"This would be Gandhi's first formal public meeting in Goa since he became the party president, though he had held informal interactions with the leaders in Goa recently," Chodankar said.

"The party will formally launch its campaign for the Lok Sabha election in Goa through the public meeting," he added.

According to Chodankar, around 12,000 booth-level party workers from across the state would attend the meeting.

During the visit, Gandhi is also expected to meet the people dependent on iron ore mining industry, activists opposing the handling of coal in port town of Vasco and environmentalists, who are against the amended Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification, he said.
DMK President MK Stalin would hold discussions with his party's MPs and MLAs on March 11, on the coming Lok Sabha elections, the party said on Thursday.

The Opposition party would also discuss the bypoll to 21 Assembly seats in the state, DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan said in a statement.

He said the meeting of MPs, MLAs and District Secretaries would deliberate on the general elections as well as the bypolls.

The meeting is scheduled days after the DMK finalised its seat-sharing agreements with eight of its allies, including the Congress, for the Lok Sabha polls, leaving itself 20 segments to contest from.

Tamil Nadu has a total of 39 Parliamentary seats, while the neighbouring Puducherry has one. The Congress has been allotted the lion's share of seats among the DMK's allies, with the grand old party receiving nine seats in the state, besides Puducherry.

CPI, CPI (M) and VCK have been given two seats each. The DMK has allotted one seat each to the MDMK, IJK, IUML and the KMDK. It has also allotted the MDMK one Rajya Sabha seat, the election for which is scheduled for June.

Eighteen seats fell vacant following the Madras High Court upholding the disqualification of equal number of AIADMK MLAs for revolting against Chief Minister K Palaniswami in 2017.

Tiruvarur and Tirupparankundram segments await by-elections due to the death of sitting legislators, former DMK chief M Karunanidhi and A K Bose of AIADMK, respectively, last year.

Hosur, represented by former AIADMK minister P Balakrishna Reddy, was declared vacant after he resigned following a special court sentencing him to three years' rigorous imprisonment in a two-decade-old riot case.
India wants to keep buying Iranian oil at its current level of about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), as it negotiates with the Washington about extending a sanctions waiver past early May, two sources in India with knowledge of the matter said.

India has reduced its purchases of Iranian oil but has been in talks on extending its sanctions waiver, a senior India official said in January.

New Delhi is asking to be allowed to still buy Iranian oil at current levels of around 1.25 million tonnes per month, or about 300,000 barrels per day, the sources said.

The United States reimposed sanctions against Iran in November last year in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear and missile ambitions, after President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of a 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers.

Although the United States granted Iran's biggest customers - China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece - waivers that have allowed them to continue limited imports, Washington is putting pressure on governments to eventually cut imports to zero. The current round of waivers expires around May 4.

Vincent Campos, a spokesman at the US State Department's energy bureau, did not confirm that India was asking the United States to renew its waiver, but said talks are ongoing with the eight consumers of Iran's oil that received waivers in November with the aim of eventually cutting the imports to zero.

"We continue to have bilateral discussions," with each of the countries including India, Campos said.

Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), exported almost 3 million bpd of oil at its pre-sanctions peak, but supply has dwindled to around 1.25 million bpd since the start of the year, shipping data in Refinitiv showed.

Talks with Washington on extending the waiver slowed due to the U.S government shutdown that extended through January, one of the Indian sources said. Talks have now resumed and India wants to get clarity before general elections scheduled in May, the source said.

No immediate comment was available from India's oil and external affairs ministries.

India's move to seek extended sanctions exemptions comes as Washington plans to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its exports to the United States.

India is the biggest beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which dates from the 1970s, and ending its participation would be the strongest punitive action the United States has taken against the country since Trump took office.

Iran was India's seventh biggest oil supplier in January compared with its position as third biggest a year ago before the reimpostion of sanctions.


Trump just called Apple CEO Tim Cook Tim Apple pic.twitter.com/gTHHtjWvc9

 Sean O'Kane (@sokane1) March 6, 2019

Remember US President Donald Trump saying he has the worlds greatest memory? Well, he has proved himself wrong again. At an event held on Wednesday, the President just referred to tech giant Apples Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook as Tim Apple.

The incident took place at an event held in the White House and the video of the goof up has gone viral since. The video shared by Twitter user Sean OKane, where Trump can be heard saying: We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple, has garnered over 5.3 million views. There are over 1.3 lakh likes on the video and around 40,000 retweets.

Sure, the President is required to memorise a lot of names but doesnt warrant him the leeway to mix up names so often. Why do we say that? This is definitely not the first time Trump got called out by media outlets and the netizens for a name gaffe.

In 2017, after deliberating on the importance of not making mistakes, the US President calls Chuck Canterbury, the National President of Fraternal Order of Police, South Carolina as Ken.

Last year, he introduced Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson as "Marilyn Lockheed" at an event.

He once referred to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Benjayahu and House Speaker Paul Ryan as Ron, not once, but twice.

Also, Rick Perry, a former member of the Trump Administration, was once called Jim Perry, while Kevin McCarthy became Steve, all thanks to the US President.
Google is celebrating the 97th birth anniversary of Russian mathematician Olga Ladyzhenskaya by dedicating a doodle and a YouTube video recalling her life and achievements today.

The Google doodle features her caricature in an elliptical shape with a NavierStokes equation, paying homage to her work involving linear and quasilinear elliptic equations. Ladyzhenskaya provided the first rigorous proofs of the convergence of a finite difference method for the NavierStokes equations.

Her work on differential equation led to several developments in the study of fluid dynamics and paved the way for advances in weather forecasting, oceanography, aerodynamics, and cardiovascular science.

Ladyzhenskaya credited her passion and inspiring love for mathematics to her father, who was a mathematics teacher.

Olga Aleksandrovna Ladyzhenskaya was born on March 7, 1922, in Kologriv in the Soviet Union.

Her early life, however, was filled with numerous hurdles including incarceration and the subsequent murder of her father. Ladyzhenskaya's father, a descendant from Russian nobility, was executed by the Soviet authorities after being labelled as an "enemy of the state". She was just 15 when her father was executed.

After her father's death, her mother and sisters had to sell dresses to make ends meet.

Ladyzhenskaya was even denied admission to Leningrad State University, one of the oldest and one of the largest universities in Russia, despite obtaining excellent grades in high school due to her family's background. She, however, got a second chance after the death of the then Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin in 1952.

Olga Ladyzhenskaya presented her doctoral thesis and was given her degree in 1953 after being taught by the famous Soviet mathematician Ivan Petrovsky. She went on to teach at the Leningrad University and at the Steklov Institute.

Ladyzhenskaya stayed in Russia even after the Soviet Union collapsed and the country witnessed a rapid salary deflation for professors.

She died on January 12, 2004, in St Petersburg, Russia, at the age of 81.
Pakistan plans to take action against militant groups operating on its soil, a minister said on March 5, amid global pressure to act after a suicide bomber killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir last month.

But Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry denied Indian accusations that Pakistan was involved in the February 14 attack, which led to a sharp rise in hostilities, saying it "had nothing to do with us".

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India both carried out aerial bombing missions last week and on March 6 fought a brief dogfight in the skies over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, but they stepped back from the brink after Islamabad on March 1 handed back a captured Indian pilot as a peace gesture.

Britain and the United States welcomed the pilot's return but urged Islamabad to take action against militant groups carrying out attacks on Indian soil. Islamabad denies assisting the groups or using them as proxies in its rivalry with India.

Previous vows by the Pakistan government to crack down on anti-India militant groups have largely come to nothing, with militant leaders living freely in Pakistan.

Pakistan's powerful military dictates the South Asian nation's security plans and foreign policy, including relations with India.

Chaudhry said the decision to act was taken at a meeting of the National Security Committee before the suicide bombing, claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), in Kashmir.

"A full-fledged strategy is now in place," Chaudhry told Reuters. "We have different strategies for different groups, but the main aim is that we have to enforce the writ of the state. We have to demilitarise if there are groups (on our soil)."

Pakistan's English-language Dawn newspaper said a source briefed journalists that a crackdown against militant groups was imminent.

"The action would soon be visible as things progress," Dawn cited the source as saying. It did not identify the source or say whether it was from the military or government.

In September 2017, Reuters reported that Pakistan's military had decided to deradicalise armed militant groups and try to get them involved in politics.

That strategy was criticised by civil society groups and the previous civilian government after the emergence of a new party linked to Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. Saeed denied a role in the attack but the new party was later banned.

DRYING UP MILITANTS' FUNDS

Chaudhry said Pakistan would use an "economic, political and administrative strategy" that would adhere to Pakistan's National Action Plan (NAP) formulated in 2014, which vowed to stamp out militant groups.

Analysts say security services carrying out NAP did not target anti-India outfits.

Chaudhry added that Pakistan would also fulfil demands set out by a global watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which put Pakistan on a terrorism watch list in 2018 on the urging of the United States and European nations.

"We have to implement FATF conditionalities, and likewise, we have taken strict measures on money laundering to dry the source of funding for these groups," Chaudhry said.

Chaudhry said the government was looking to close "loopholes" that allowed banned groups to operate.

"With banned groups it will be made sure that they will be banned in practical terms also," he said. "The problem is that they change names and start operating from other names. This needs to be taken care of."

India accused Pakistan of playing a role in the February 14 JeM attack in the Kashmiri city of Pulwama.

"We have looked at the incident and it is our considered opinion that Pulwama has nothing to do with us," Chaudhry said.

The United States, Britain and France proposed last week that the U.N. Security Council blacklist the head of JeM, Masood Azhar. A vote is due to be held in mid-March with a focus on Pakistan's staunch ally China, which has blocked previous attempts by world powers to sanction the JeM chief.

Pakistan's foreign minister last week told CNN that Azhar was in Pakistan and "really unwell".

India on February 26 bombed what New Delhi called a JeM militant training camp in a forest area in northern Pakistan, killing "many terrorists". Islamabad denied such a camp existed and invited journalists to visit the site.

Villagers in the area said there was no active militant camp but pointed to a nearby madrasa and said it was run by JeM. The military prevented Reuters reports from visiting the madrasa.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on March 7 said improved relations between India and Pakistan will lead to peace and stability in the region and the exchange of visits by delegations of the two countries discuss the Kartarpur Corridor will help in de-escalating tensions.

Qureshi's comment came following his meeting with Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood, who discussed with him the relations and current situation between Islamabad and New Delhi.

Mehmood, who is scheduled to return to New Delhi after he was summoned by Islamabad for consultations following flare up of tensions between the two neighbours after the Pulwama terror attack.

"Pakistan desires de-escalation and an improvement in the current situation. The delegation-level visits will play a key role in this," Qureshi was quoted as saying by Geo News.

"In March, both the countries will hold consultations over the Kartarpur Corridor," he said.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured its pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1.

Qureshi also said that Pakistan wants peace in the region and has taken several steps in this regard.

India and Pakistan will discuss on March 14 the modalities of the operationalisation of the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate easy access by Indian Sikhs to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.

India had earlier said that the discussions with Pakistan over the Kartarpur Corridor would be held according to the government's decision to operationalise the corridor for easy access to the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station | Estimated cost: Rs 3,500 crore Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is a project proposal to construct a 3,200 MWe nuclear power station with two EPR reactors in Somerset, England. Although the cost cited by the main contractor EDF for the project is Rs 2,600 crore, the environmental charity Greenpeace said that the cost may run over Rs 3,500 crore, with construction alone costing around Rs 1,800 crore. It is expected to start producing power from mid-2020. (Reuters)

A US military commander says his country is keeping a close watch on North Korea following reported activity at a rocket launch site there.

The head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Phil Davidson, says he is working with countries including South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and France to enforce sanctions against North Korea at sea.

He says maritime patrol aircraft and ships are watching for any sanctions breaches via methods like ship-to-ship transfers.

Davidson was speaking to reporters Thursday in Singapore.

Davidson took command of around 380,000 civilian and military personnel in the region last April.
Vinita Deshmukh, Moneylife's consulting editor, is among the 30 women selected as 'Web Wonder Women' by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. On Wednesday, Ms Deshmukh, and other 'web wonder women' were felicitated by Maneka Gandhi, minister for women and child development. According to the ministry, these women have been driving social reforms via social media and were felicitated to celebrate their exceptional achievements of women.

"Women online, though niche, are a very powerful voice. #WebWonderWomen was a campaign to recognise, honour and encourage such voices that have in their own capacity driven a positive impact on social media platforms," Ms Gandhi said while felicitating these web wonder women.

Referring to Ms Deshmukh, the ministry stated, "Vinita uses the dual power of the Right to Information (RTI) Act for her investigative stories and Twitter to amplify them. Vinita has intelligently used Twitter for consumer-related complaints and got the issues promptly resolved. Vinita also uses Twitter to spread public awareness on several issues. She has authored four books including co-authoring Vinita Kamtes 'To the last bullet on her husband, Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte, who was martyred in the 26/11 Mumbai Terror attack."

The minister, along with a panel of 10 judges, finalised the names of 30 women who have impacted and influenced society through social media. The women were selected from over 240 nominations received under the categories media, awareness, legal, health, governmental, food, environment, development, business and art.

Organised in collaboration with Twitter India and Breakthrough India, the event was aimed to recognise the fortitude of Indian women stalwarts from across the globe who have used the power of social media to run positive campaigns to steer a change in society.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday imposed a Rs500 crore penalty on German automaker Volkswagen for using a "cheat device" in its diesel cars to deceive emission tests.

The Tribunal ordered the company to deposit the amount within two months.

An NGT-appointed committee had earlier recommended a penalty of Rs 171.34 crore, which the bench enhanced in its Thursday order.

Volkswagen, however, said that it did not violate the Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) emission norms and that the results were based on "on-road testings" for which there were no prescribed standards.

The Bharat Stage are government instituted standards to regulate emission of air pollutants from motor vehicles.

The bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said, "Sustainable development is the main guiding factor... We are unable to accept the manufacturer's objections to the report."

The bench passed the order on a petition moved by Delhi-based teacher Saloni Ailawadi.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), a premier research institution that mainly depends on the central government for financial support, is facing shortage of funds and is forced to hold back half the salary amount of all staff members and researchers for February 2019.

Ratan Tata is the chairman of Council of Management that includes Bharat Ratna Prof CNR Rao as a member of the eight member Council of Management of TIFR. AR Sule, joint secretary (R&D) Department of Atomic Energy represents the government on the Council of Management, according to TIFR website.

Due to insufficient funds, all staff members and students/post-doctoral fellows of TIFR, its centres and field stations will be paid 50% of the net salary for the month of February immediately, said a notice released by TIFRs Registrar Wg Cdr (Retd) George Antony on 6 March 2019.

When contacted, Wg Cdr Antony initially declined to comment on the notice issued by him.

When persisted that the TIFR notice is already in public domain, Wg Cdr Antony told Moneylife the notice is not supposed to have reached you. It ig Cdr h ased its borrowing and s an internal matter and not meant for public view. These days of social media anyone can take a picture and circulate it.

We will solve it ourselves, he replied when asked why the countrys premier research institution is facing a financial crunch. The institute comes under the purview of Department of Atomic Energy and depends on it for financial support.

All deductions will be calculated on full salary and will be deposited to respective authorities as per rules, said the TIFR notice, promising that remaining part of the salary will be paid when sufficient funds are available.

The administration and management of TIFR vests with a council that includes  three members of the central government, one member from Maharashtra government, two members appointed by the trustees of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, director of TIFR, one co-opted member appointed by the council. This information is given in 2017-18 annual report and stated in its accounts section by TIFRs chartered accountants GD Apte & Co.

The institute has maintained proper accounts of expenditures incurred out of the grants received during the financial year ended March 2018, the firm said in the annual report.

A block grant of Rs421.57 crore (2016-17 Rs381.32 crore) and capital grant of Rs161 crore was received during the year by TIFR from government of India. The amount has been spend on various research activities of the institute including establishment and other expenses, said Apte & Co.

According to the auditor's report, during FY2017-18, TIFR did not receive any grant from the Maharashtra government. While the central government provided a grant of Rs582.57 lakh during FY2017-18, it was lower by about Rs67.9 crore compared with previous year. In Fy2016-17, TIFR had received a grant of Rs650.47 crore from the central government, the report from GD Apte shows.

TIFR started functioning from 1 June 1945 with support from Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. The vision statement of its founder Homi Bhabha states it is the duty of people like us to stay in our own country and build up outstanding schools of research such as other countries are fortunate to possess.

TIFR is a national centre of the government of India, under the umbrella of the department of atomic energy, as well as a deemed university awarding degrees for master's and doctoral programs, according to its website. It says, At TIFR, we carry out basic research in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science and science education. Our main campus is located in Mumbai, with centres at Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

TIFR initially began functioning within the cosmic ray research unit on the campus of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore and moved to its south Mumbai location in October 1945.

Some of the departments that TIFR lists out in its annual report include School of Mathematics, TIFR Centre for Applicable Mathematics, Bengaluru, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Department of Biological Sciences, Department of Chemical Sciences, Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Department of High Energy Physics, Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics, Department of Theoretical Physics, School of Technology and Computer Science, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru, TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad.
March 07, 2019 North Korea's Game Plan And Its Upcoming Satellite Launch John Bolton won. After a short period of calm and talks between the U.S. and North Korea both sides are again walking towards a conflict. But one important thing changed. The recent talks between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un in Hanoi failed when the U.S. overplayed its hand. In his New Year speech Kim had already warned that he was ready to take a "new way" if such a problem would occur. As we wrote: History shows that North Korea has always gamed out such talks. It is always prepared to let them fail and it is ready to take the next step whenever that happens. The "new way" may well allude to some new weapon that North Korea is ready to test. Cruise missiles are a possible candidate. There are no cruise missiles (yet) but a satellite launch that is supposed to pressure Trump to come back to the table: Commercial satellite imagery from March 6 of North Koreas Sohae Satellite Launching Station (Tongchang-ri) indicates construction to rebuild the launch pad and engine test stand that began before the Hanoi Summit has continued at a rapid pace. Given that construction plus activity at other areas of the site, Sohae appears to have returned to normal operational status. There are also signs of new activity at the Sanumdong missile factory which produces both, space launchers as well as ballistic missiles. The U.S. media turn the upcoming space launch into another scare stories about North Korea. Quoting the usual anti-Korean 'experts' NBCNews writes: North Korea is pursuing the "rapid rebuilding" of the long-range rocket site at Sohae Launch Facility, according to new commercial imagery and an analysis from the researchers at Beyond Parallel. Sohae Satellite Launching Station, North Korea's only operational space launch facility, has been used in the past for satellite launches. These launches use similar technology to what is used for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

...

"The activity they are undertaking now is consistent with preparations for a test, though the imagery thus far does not show a missile being moved to the launch pad," Victor Cha, one of the authors of the report, said. "The activity on the ground," Cha said, "shows us that they do have a (nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile) capability that is not just developmental, but in the prototype phase. They've already tested a few of these and it looks like they're preparing the launch pad for another act." The highlighted phrases are false. They are war propaganda. Ballistic missiles use different technologies than space launchers: An ICBM requires a short burn-time of the rocket engines in order to minimize gravitational losses and the risk of early interception in boost-phase by anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems. The typical ICBM rocket motor burn time is about 180-320 seconds. The Unha-3 boost-phase is estimated at to be between 550-570 seconds. Ballistic missiles usually have different motors than space launch vehicles. There are also different structural issues, differences in the control systems, different launch trajectories. See here, here and here. Most significantly ballistic missiles need to reenter the atmosphere to deliver their payload. It is only there that North Korea still has problems using them. Space launch vehicles are unsuitable to test the reentry phase. Moreover the Sohae facility has never been used to launch ballistic missiles. For geographic reasons it is exclusively used for space launches. To understand why North Korea is using this satellite launch to maybe bring the U.S. back to the table we have to go back to the negotiations between the two parties. Before the first summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore both sides agreed that the U.S. would freeze large scale maneuvers in and around Korea while North Korea would stop ballistic missile testing as well as nuclear tests. This 'freeze for freeze' agreement was held up since. Trump recently reconfirmed that no large maneuvers would take place. North Korea would like to keep the 'freeze for freeze' agreement alive. A satellite launch is not contrary to that agreement. Unfortunately some U.S. officials, i.e. John Bolton, and North Korea hawks like Victor Cha may well want to use a satellite launch to declare it dead. The first summit ended with a signed Joint Statement, a sequenced four step agreement in which the U.S. promised to lift some sanctions (1) and an end to the state of war (2) while North Korea commited "to work towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" (3) and to recover remains of U.S. personal killed during the Korea war (4). Trump had asked for and was granted an additional personal favor. Kim promised Trump to blow up North Korea's nuclear test tunnels and to dismantle a missile engine test stand. He fulfilled both but is now walking back on the second point. The U.S. has not fulfilled its side of the bargain. The Trump administration still demands the "full denuclearization" of North Korea before the lifting of sanctions. That position contradicts the Joint Statement. It is also utterly delusional. North Korea never agreed to and will never agree to completely denuclearize. The best deal the U.S. can get (pdf) is one that limits the extend of North Korea's nuclear arsenal and prevents the proliferation of its nuclear technology. The logic is simple: North Korea has the bomb. This is how deterrence works. If Saddam Hussein or Muammar al-Qaddafi had finished their bombs, theyd both likely still be around. During the recent summit in Hanoi North Korea offered to destroy its largest nuclear complex which includes the Yongbyon reactor used to make plutonium and an uranium enrichment site. As a "corresponding measure" it demanded the lifting of those sanctions that most directly hurt its people. But the U.S. side was not willing to take that deal: With Trump preparing to leave the hotel, North Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui hurriedly brought the US delegation a message from Kim, two senior administration officials and a person briefed on the matter said. The message amounted to a last-ditch attempt by the North Koreans to reach a deal on some sanctions relief in exchange for dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear complex. US and North Korean officials had been haggling over a shared definition of the sprawling, three-square-mile [Yongbyon] site and the last-minute overture sought to advance the North Koreans' proposal for dismantling it. But the message did not make clear whether the North Koreans shared the US's expansive definition of the facility and US officials asked for clarity. Choe rushed back to get an answer. Kim replied that it included everything on the site. But even when Choe returned with that response, the US delegation was unimpressed and didn't want to resume the negotiations. Within hours, Trump would be wheels up for Washington. "We had to have more than that," Trump said when asked about Yongbyon before leaving Hanoi. "We had to have more than that because there are other things that you haven't talked about, that you haven't written about, that we found." The destruction of the Yongbyon complex in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions would have been a great deal. The U.S. blew it. In a press conference the Foreign Minister of North Korea Ri Yong-ho declared that this was the best deal the U.S. would get. He said the North Korea expected "corresponding measures" to be taken by the U.S. in exchange for the destruction of Yongbyon but that the U.S. was unwilling to offer any. In a later interview the Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui accused the U.S. of moving the goal posts: "I think about whether (we) should continue talks," she said, recalling leader Kim Jong-un's New Year's message, in which he said his regime will be left with no other choice than pursuing a "different path" to dialogue unless the U.S. takes reciprocal steps.

...

[A]mid the lack of any sign that the U.N. will lift the sanctions, the U.S. has gone too far toward the "reckless assertion" that North Korea should dismantle nuclear and missile facilities, Choe said. She accused the Trump administration of having moved the goal posts, saying it initially talked about dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear complex and is now taking issue with other sites as well. The U.S. continues to walk away from the Joint Statement Trump signed in Singapore and is back to making threats: U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton warned North Korea it must be willing to completely give up its nuclear weapons program or perhaps face even tougher sanctions. If theyre not willing to do it, President Trump has been very clear theyre not getting relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them, Bolton told the Fox Business Network on Tuesday evening. And well look at ramping those sanctions up, in fact. North Korea never promised to stop its space launches. It will soon revive them. The U.S., especially John Bolton and other hawks, will use the upcoming space launch to claim that it is a 'ballistic missile test' and that the 'freeze for freeze' agreement should thereby end. New large scale maneuvers will be held to train for the invasion of North Korea and the U.S. sanctions regime will be further tightened. A similar situation already occurred in early 2012. Shortly after Kim Jong-un was formally declared North Korea's new leader, talks between the U.S. and North Korea were held in Beijing. In February, on 'Leap Day', the two sides agreed on a deal. North Korea promises a moratorium on nuclear and long range ballistic missile tests in exchange for significant U.S. food supplies. A month later North Korea announces its plans for a space launch. Two weeks later the U.S. stops the promised food supply. In April North Korea attempts to launch a weather satellite. The space launch fails, but the U.S. uses it to ramp up UN pressure against North Korea for its 'ballistic missile development'. Another satellite launch later that years results in more pressure. In February 2013 North Korea conducted another nuclear test. A repeat of that situation is now highly likely. The U.S. already walked back on the Singapore Statement Trump signed. It did not accept the quite reasonable offer made in Hanoi. It rejects to take "corresponding measures" until North Korea fully denuclearizes which it will never do. The upcoming North Korean space launch will be used by Bolton and others to condemn North Korea for 'ballistic missile' testing. The U.S. will probably declare the 'freeze for freeze' agreement dead and restart its maneuvers. The North will take "corresponding measures" and restart nuclear and missile tests. U.S. sanctions will further increase. We will be back to the situation of early 2018 when both sides hurled insults against each other and Trump threatened with war. But one important thing will have changed. During the latest round China, Russia and South Korea were on the side of the United States. Now, after North Korea demonstrated that it is reasonable and made good offers to get to a deal, neither China nor Russia will support further sanctions. Indeed China already urges to lift sanctions in response to the "positive will" that North Korea demonstrates. China is North Korea's biggest trade partner. If it reopens its border to North Korea trade, all U.S. sanctions are in vain. By overreaching with his demands the 'great deal maker' Donald Trump will have lost his biggest negotiation asset, the international solidarity that held up the sanctions. As said above: History shows that North Korea has always gamed out such talks. Posted by b on March 7, 2019 at 19:27 UTC | Permalink Comments
Photo: Contributed Bollywood Bang is a celebration of South Asian culture and will take place April 27 at Predator Ridge.

One of the most popular events of the year is back with a bang.

Bollywood Bang is a celebration of South Asian culture and will take place April 27 at Predator Ridge.

We are excited to partner with Predator Ridge as venue sponsor for this years Bollywood Bang, said Dalvir Nahal, event founder and organizer.

It has been a long-time dream of mine to host the event at Predator, which gives us the opportunity to enhance the celebrations to even greater heights. This year promises to be our most dazzling Bollywood event to date.

Guests will be taken on a festive journey beginning with a red carpet reception, followed by henna painting, Bhangra dancers, a feast of more than a dozen authentic South Asian dishes and desserts paired with fine Okanagan wines, and a dance celebration with a live DJ.

A live and silent auction will feature exquisite and unique prize packages.

We have some new surprises this year that wont be revealed until event night, said Nahal. People are going to be thoroughly entertained and amazed.

Since 2013, Bollywood Bang has raised more than $250,000 for a variety of local charities.

Funds raised this year will support Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Vernon and District Branch.

Programs benefitting from Bollywood Bang proceeds include:

Super Saturdays - an early intervention and prevention-based program for children aged 7-12 years old who have a parent living with a mental illness.

Friday Night Live  offers youth aged 13-17 a peer support-based program to manage their mental wellness.

Suicide prevention and community mental health education provides 24/7 Crisis Line services for more than 5,500 calls each year. Our workplace wellness programs and training equip employers, employees, health professionals and community members to improve their mental health management and assist others in their mental health journey.

With nearly all of the tickets sold, we can truly say this is one of the most anticipated events of the year, said Nahal. I am continually inspired and thankful for the heartfelt support we receive every year.

Tickets are $175 each or $1,750 for a table of 10.

A limited amount of tickets will be available to the public.

To be placed on a ticket wait-list click here.
Photo: Contributed Local artist Carley Kitagawa, Julia Payson, CMHA Vernon & District, David Scarlatescu and Beatrice Weir, owners of The Fig Bistro.

Business and art joined forces to raise $2,500 for youth mental health programs at the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Vernon & District Branch.

The Jungle Art Exhibit for Mental Health, organized by Vernon artist Carley Kitagawa took place at The Fig Bistro on Jan. 30 during the annual Bell Lets Talk Day, which encourages Canadians across the country to share stories about mental health to create awareness and reduce stigma.

We couldnt have asked for a better turnout, said Kitagawa, of the 100 guests at the event. We are really grateful to the community for coming out to help.

Kitagawa donated proceeds from the sale of paintings from her The Jungle collection, which was created while she was visiting Costa Rica.

Were so happy that our first event has been such a great success, and we are able to donate to a wonderful charity that we believe in, said Beatrice Weir, co-owner of The Fig Bistro.

Funds raised will support early intervention and prevention programs for youth.

The future of our community will be in the hands of todays youth. We need to cultivate strength and resilience while providing the guidance and support they need, said Julia Payson, executive director, CMHA Vernon & District.

Some of CMHAs youth programs include Super Saturday for children aged 7-12 and Friday Night Live for youth aged 13-17.

Both programs serve youth who have a parent living with a mental illness.

Youth take part in life and social skills development activities designed to build confidence, community connectedness, and help manage their mental wellness.
TREB President Garry Bhaura reiterated the Boards position that the B-20 qualification rules, which might have been useful in stabilizing the market once upon a time, are now doing more harm than good.

The [Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions] mandated mortgage stress test has left some buyers on the sidelines who have struggled to qualify for the type of home they want to buy. The stress test should be reviewed and consideration should be given to bringing back 30-year amortizations for federally insured mortgages, Bhaura stated, as quoted by BNN Bloomberg.

Read more: Torontos condo market sees notable slowdown in January

The figures came in the wake of a month which merited some measure of optimism. January new home sales in the GTA had a notable 14% annual increase, the Building Industry and Land Development Association announced in its report supplemented by Altus Group data.

This year is starting off on a positive note, Altus Group executive vice president of data solutions Patricia Arsenault said. The improvement in new home sales over last January is consistent with our outlook for somewhat higher annual sales in the GTA this year, following the drop in 2018.
The closures mean that Ocwen will be laying off employees in Atlanta; Orlando; Houston; Addison, Texas; Glendale, Calif.; Fort Washington, Penn.; and Waterloo, Iowa. The company will retain its corporate office in West Palm Beach, Fla., and its offices in Mount Laurel, N.J., Rancho Cordova, Calif., and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.

Akseraylian said affected employees will get at least 60 days notice, be eligible for severance benefits and be offered career transition help.

The most important thing is we are trying to do everything we can to ease the impact to employees, Akseraylian told the Courier. Decisions like this are very difficult when they impact employees.
Photo: CTV News

As the Okanagan prepares for light snowfall Wednesday evening and overnight, Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for parts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. There are no warnings for the Okanagan at this time, despite the fact Environment Canada is calling for virtually identical amounts of snow over a similar period of time.

A total of five centimetres is expected to have fallen in Vancouver and affected areas by this evening before the snow tapers off. The forecast is similar for the Okanagan and Kelowna specifically, with a40 per cent chance of flurries early this evening and overnight with as much as 5 to 10 centimetres expected in total.

The snowfall could make the rush hour commute tricky and you are advised to adjust your driving to the road conditions.

Check DriveBC and Castanet traffic cameras for the latest on road conditions around the province and the Okanagan.
Now an originator and sales manager at Leader Bank, Butts is just off a $110 million year, having transformed his business almost entirely to purchase from nearly a 50/50 split in 2016.

Butts began his career working for Wells Fargo and then moved to Bank of America. Eventually, however, he found the processes and chains of command to be so regimented and structured in those institutions that he decided it wasnt how he wanted to do business. He wasnt sure if he wanted to leave the mortgage industry entirely or try his hand with another, smaller, bank. He chose the latter, and thats when the gears shifted into place. Within a couple of years, he became a top producer.

When Butts left Bank of America, he wanted two things: first, a more direct process, where he could immediately talk to people he needed to speak with without the extensive chain of command; and second, he wanted the best rate.

I had been told when I first got in the business, we dont sell rate, we sell service, and I tried that, and people were like, whats your rate? Id say, Dont worry about rate, my service is excellent. And theyre like, Okay, but whats your rate? Butts said. I just figured, if I have the best rate, I know I can sell and I know I can do a lot of deals. Leader was just the perfect fit for me, between the processing and the rates, and thats how I grew my business. My motto now is best rates, best service, best deal. If you have the best service and the best rates, why wouldnt you want to work with that person?

In some ways, Butts has pretty standard business practices. He tells clients that hes always available, to the point where he doesnt travel much because its too hard for him to be fully accessible when hes out of the office. Hes busiest when his clients or partners are available, which is often first thing in the morning or at the end of the standard workday. Whether a loan is worth $100,000 or $1 million, Butts treats them the same, and knows his clients sense that hes looking out for them as opposed to spinning something to close a deal.
After a Midland Police Department officer was shot and killed while responding to a residential alarm, Texas law experts offered their perspectives on what to expect if the case goes to trial.

Early Tuesday morning, MPD Officer Nathan Heidelberg was dispatched to a home in north central Midland and shot by the homeowner after announcing he was with the police department, according to the arrest affidavit.

The homeowner, David Charles Wilson, believed he was experiencing a home invasion at the time he shot the officer, according to a statement from Wilsons attorney.

Wilson has been charged with manslaughter, a second-degree felony with a prison sentence of two to 20 years if convicted.

RELATED: Affidavit: Officer hears Heidelberg announce presence of police before shot was fired

To convict Wilson of manslaughter, prosecutors must prove he acted recklessly, according to experts in Texas criminal law.

Theyve got to prove he didnt act the way a normal person would act under those circumstances, said Patrick Metze, professor of law and director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at Texas Tech University.

He said that was difficult to prove in Texas, where we have such a gun culture and were taught your home is your castle and people should not invade your castle.

Theres also a presumption in Texas law that deadly force is the proportionate response to a break-in, said Amber Baylor, associate professor of law and director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at Texas A&M University.



Instead of the defense counsel having to explain why someone feels theres a threat leading to deadly force, the jury can infer that there was one, Baylor said.

If the prosecution can prove Wilson was in a reckless state of mind at the time of the shooting, which the Texas penal code defines as a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise, then the defense can argue his actions were justified, the experts said.

Deadly force can be justifiable when the individual actually and reasonably believes the person theyre using force against is committing a burglary or a robbery, said Jennifer Laurin, a criminal law professor at University of Texas at Austin.

RELATED: Officer's funeral services announced

At the time Heidelberg was shot, he was investigating an unsecure door, according to Wilsons arrest affidavit, which also states three other officers arrived at the residence and heard Heidelberg loudly announce himself as being with MPD.

Laurin said, the fact that they have reported out that police shouted loudly is to establish [Wilson] didnt actually believe that someone was breaking into his house.

She said one determining factor at a trial would be if the other officers testify and if a jury finds them credible.

An available line of cross examination is the credibility of the witnesses and if the witnesses have motive to shade the truth, Laurin said. The defense could suggest police loyalty might cause there to be more consistency in their stories than there should be.

She added the defense might argue that the police werent as loud as they think they were.

Another important factor if the case goes to trial will be whether Heidelberg entered the suspects home, Metze said.

He said it was unlikely the shooter could have seen the light from a flashlight, which is what Wilson shot at according to the affidavit, unless the officer was inside his home or the front door was open. Its unclear what is meant by unsecure door in the affidavit.

However, Laurin stressed theres still a possibility the case wont proceed to a trial.

Even in homicide cases, its more common than not that cases are solved with a plea, she said. It all hinges on the quality of the evidence.
Google Maps

A man involved in an attempted robbery Tuesday morning at La Loncheria was killed during the incident, according to a press release from the citys spokesman.

An employee of the restaurant at 1601 S. Main St. told Midland police that a man  later identified as Eduardo Orellana  was attempting to rob the business and shot at him. The employee then fired back and hit Orellana, who died at the scene.
Presidents of higher education institutes across the Permian Basin have spoken clearly about their goals to ensure student success  but without sufficient funding from the legislature, they said it will be difficult to fully achieve.

Steve Thomas of Midland College, Gregory Williams of Odessa College and Sandra Woodley of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin sat on center stage in the Horseshoe Pavilion  among many other educators and businesses at Wednesdays State of Education luncheon  discussing their recent conversations with the state legislature.

Thomas said MC is one of 50 community colleges in the state, and each are individually governed by elected officials and trustees. However, all 50 community colleges are treated as a one-line item in the state appropriation.

Its a complicated formula, but we work through that, (because) there are three buckets of money (for all community colleges in Texas), Thomas said.

In addition to state appropriation, funding also comes from tuition fees and local tax bases.

In MCs most recent audit from December, the state provided 16 percent of the colleges operating budget. Forty-two percent of funding came from local tax bases, and 21 percent came from tuition fees. In 2002, it was nearly reversed with the state providing funds in the 40 percent range  and even before that, the state provided funds in the 60 percent range.

This change in pattern has created a dilemma, because MC officials do not want to raise tuition, or increase local tax bases, just because state funding has decreased.

For you, people that pay your taxes to support us, wheres that money going to come from if we continue to see the state decline? Thomas asked the crowd.

Williams said he also appreciates the local tax bases who have been wonderful about paying for what the state has not, but he and Thomas do not want to take advantage of it, knowing it is a conservative area with people who do not like to see their taxes raised. However, OC and MC are holding the No. 1 spot in terms of community college success across the state.

Williams said he served as the chair for the Texas Association of Community Colleges this year, representing OC, Thomas and the other 48 community college presidents in Texas, and he thinks the state economics are healthy, but their focus is on K-12 public education this session.

On Monday, the Senate passed Senate Bill 3, which increases the salary of every teacher and librarians in the state by $5,000 at a cost of $4 billion over the next two years.

But also, theyre wanting to do more for community colleges at the state level during the session as well, Williams said.

However, Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 2 could place limits on how much community colleges could raise in additional revenue from local tax bases, which is an issue, he said. Now colleges will have to look at increasing revenue in a different way.

Though state funding toward community college has not necessarily declined in total, it has seen a relative decline based on a per-student basis, he said, and 2019 could be a year when it begins to change.

But that could leave us vulnerable in future years if we dont have as much flexibility to respond to the economic downturns or issues from our local tax base, Williams said.

In response to the experiences of the two community college presidents, Woodley explained her beliefs in funding formulas  and why the colleges in West Texas are not receiving sufficient funds  and what is being done to help.

Receiving her doctorate in Business Administration in Management degree, she said it was always her responsibility to develop and define funding formulas.

(It is) about 30 percent math, about 70 percent politics, Woodley said. I dont mean that in a politically disparaging way, (but) theyre arbitrary in some level (that) the powers are able to determine how the formulas are done or not.

These formulas are also backward-looking, and they focus on what has happened in the past and not what is trying to be accomplished.

Woodley also said it is also related to what it costs to run the university, and in Texas, the model is heavily-weighted toward institutions that are major research institutions and have doctoral programs.

That is not my mission, and that is not what I do, Woodley said. UTPB will never fair in a one-size-fits-all funding formula like the one used in Texas.

Because of this, the UTPB budget is heavily dependent on special-item funding from the legislature. While she said this session is not horrible-looking, the senate has cut off some of the special-item funding which she would like back.

I guarantee I need every penny in that budget to be able to move the university forward and then some, Woodley said.

In the meantime, she said state Reps. Tom Craddick and Brooks Landgraf have filed a bill, earmarking that 9 percent of taxes coming out of the Permian Basin in oil and gas comes back to the Permian Basin. She said most of it will fund needs in infrastructure, roads and bridges and K-12 education, but higher education will receive some of it as well.

She said since she began her tenure as president a little less than two years ago, she can see the collaboration and strategic partnerships among the community are starting to become successful.

(It gives) the ability for the decision makers to understand how important the Permian Basin is, at this time, and the worlds history, Woodley said. It is not a hyperbole to say that the success of the Permian Basin is relevant to global success. (So, theyve begun) making sure the goose  that is laying all the golden eggs  has the care she needs to continue to do that. I think there is starting to be some traction for them to say, We do need to invest back in the Permian Basin, so there are no stumbling blocks to the potential success that we are seeing here.

Follow Brandi on Twitter for more education news: @BrandiDAddison
Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2013, file photo, Kevin Tsujihara, poses for photos in a screening room at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif. WarnerMedia is investigating claims that Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Tsujihara promised acting roles in exchange for sex as detailed in The Hollywood Reporter, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

WarnerMedia is investigating claims that Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara promised acting roles in exchange for sex as detailed in The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday.

The article includes text messages between actress Charlotte Kirk and Tsujihara going back to 2013 when they were introduced by Australian billionaire James Packer.

The messages suggest a quid pro quo relationship between the aspiring actress and the studio head.

The expose comes two days after AT&T-owned WarnerMedia announced an expanded role for Tsujihara, who is already one of Hollywood's most powerful executives.

WarnerMedia representatives say a prior investigation did not find impropriety in Kirk's casting in films like "Ocean's 8."

An attorney for Tsujihara says he didn't help Kirk get roles. In her own statement, Kirk denies that any inappropriate behaviour occurred with Tsujihara.




The potential of business strategies in Kuwait remains in massive proportions given the growth of potential markets within the Asian and Middle East regions. The presence of entrepreneurs such as essay writing continues to open new business concepts whose results aim at increasing the growth of businesses.





Education advancements play a critical role in the influence generated by the essay writing service in Kuwait and other countries in the world medium and large enterprises. Despite the advantages brought about by the essay services on businesses, not everyone identifies with the role played by these essays on the overall growth of businesses.





What Steps To Use In Writing A Business Essay?





The following steps highlight on some of the steps an individual should follow when writing essays related to business.





Step 1. Analysis





Different businesses require varying types of essays that match to their ways of operation and lines of business. In the analysis stage, you need to understand what the business essay requires as to whether its an explanation or description of a business product. The analysis stage allows an individual to settle on a specific line of thought to develop on a single business idea such as how to write about computer for a tech company.





Step 2. Research





The basic form of any piece of writing lies wholly on the inputs made towards the research process especially for a business essay which has to bring back positives. The research allows an individual to build on a skeleton for the whole research process and a source for information. The analysis should involve the critical components of a business mainly the marketing and finance options.





Step 3. Outline





After undertaking the first two steps, the final stage an individual commit involves combining the previous levels to generate meaningful results. The significant effects should incorporate business concepts and the different contents on the different parts of the essay. The outline allows an individual to centralize their business opinions and ideas into a logical sequence.





How Do Business Essay Change Strategies?





The following points elaborate on how business essay bring about positive strategies to a business entity.





 Market Capture





The descriptive business essay mainly concentrates on informing through a captivating story to both new and prospective customer on new business products. Captivating the minds of customers through a business profession essay goes a long way to increase the market base and awareness of new products. None the less, the business gains competitive advantage and maintains a customer base.







Product Brand





More countries continue to make breakthroughs into the online based businesses by either using the internet-based platforms to transact. To give the difference between Kuwait products and those from the rest of Asia and the world, they use business essays.







Trends





The current trend among customers involves shopping through e-commerce platforms, and Kuwait has a large number of individual preferring to buy from the internet. The business essay would form an excellent asset for a business trying to venture into the emerging trends of the market. Moreover, a detailed business essay would redirect internet traffic to a business' sales department.





Business Essays Remain The Future Of Trading





A product in the market with different originalities may serve the same purpose although, with a business essay , customers choose products based on the information on the compositions. At the end of a financial year, a business is sure to record low expenses on sales and marketing as the only cost involves the internet uses and innovation departments for the essays.









I hope you enjoyed this blog post about how essay writing services in Kuwait and professional assignment writers can boost business.





Interested in more articles about writing and journaling?





Read Related Resources:












Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2018, file photo, provided by the National Park Service, a 4-year-old female gray wolf emerges from her cage as it released at Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, a move certain to re-ignite the legal battle over a predator that's rebounding in some regions and running into conflicts with farmers and ranchers, an official told The Associated Press. (National Park Service via AP, File)

U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for grey wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that's running into conflicts with farmers and ranchers as its numbers rebound in some regions.

The proposal would give states the authority to hold wolf hunting and trapping seasons. It was announced Wednesday by acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt at a wildlife conference in Denver.

Wolves had previously lost federal protections in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, where hunters and trappers now kill hundreds of the animals annually.

Wildlife advocates and some members of Congress reacted with outrage to the latest proposal and promised to challenge any final decision in court.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now with the group Defenders of Wildlife, warned of an "all-out war on wolves" if the plan advances.

"We don't have any confidence that wolves will be managed like other wildlife," she said.

But government officials countered that the recovery of wolves from widespread extermination last century has worked and they no longer need the Endangered Species Act to shield them.

"Recovery of the grey wolf under the Endangered Species Act is one of our nation's great conservation successes, with the wolf joining other cherished species, such as the bald eagle, that have been brought back from the brink," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Gavin Shire said in an emailed statement.

Agriculture groups and lawmakers from Western states are likely to support the administration's proposal.

Further details were expected during a formal announcement planned in coming days.
Federal prosecutors agreed Wednesday to drop all felony corruption charges against former Rep. Aaron Schock if he pays tens of thousands to the IRS and campaign committees, a dramatic reversal the Illinois Republican said proved he was targeted by a prosecutor looking for stardom.

Schock, a one-time rising GOP star, resigned from Congress in 2015 amid scrutiny of his spending, including decorating his office in the style of the Downton Abbey TV series. He faced up to 20 years in prison when he was indicted a year later on two dozen counts, including wire fraud and falsification of election commission filings.
Photo: The Canadian Press This satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe, was captured on March 2, 2019, and shows the rocket test stand at the Sohae Satellite Launch Facility in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. North Korea is restoring facilities at the long-range rocket launch, which it dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps, according to foreign experts and a South Korean lawmaker who was briefed by Seoul's spy service. The finding follows a high-stakes nuclear summit last week between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump that ended without any agreement. (DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company, via AP)

North Korea's state TV has aired a documentary glorifying leader Kim Jong Un's recent visit to Vietnam that omitted the failed nuclear negotiations with President Donald Trump.

The documentary broadcast Wednesday shows a smiling Kim talking with Trump while walking together inside a Hanoi hotel last week.

It also shows Kim's black limousine passing through a Hanoi street lined with residents waving flags.

The documentary cited Kim as saying North Korea and the U.S. must put an end to their decades-long animosity and confrontation.

But it didn't mention about the lack of an agreement following the Kim-Trump summit.

The footage was released amid reports that North Korea is restoring some facilities at its long-range rocket launch site that it dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps.
I have the blueprint to the ...
Photo: Contributed

There a lot of attention focused on Parliament Hill even though Parliament is in recess until March 18.

The focus is on the Justice Committee, which is hearing more details on the growing fallout of allegations of political interference coming from the highest levels of the Trudeau Liberal government.

MP Jane Philpott, the former Liberal president of the Treasury Board, just resigned from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet, citing a loss of confidence in how the government has handled the SNC-Lavalin situation.

My intent is not to further discuss the ongoing SNC-Lavalin details, but rather another recent government policy announcement that was announced but largely overlooked as a result of the SNC-Lavalin situation occurring in Ottawa.

Last week, the federal government announced marijuana pardon legislation for those individuals who have a previous conviction for the simple possession of cannabis.

The Liberal government describes Bill C-93 as "An Act to provide no-cost, expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis."

The Liberals would like to see the law passed by the summer of 2019.

The stated goal of the bill is to break down barriers for people with a criminal record related to cannabis possession now that legalization has occurred.

Currently, there is a $631 fee for a pardon along with a waiting period that are both proposed to be waived under this bill.

Estimates from Ottawa indicate this bill could apply to as many as 400,000 Canadians although it is unknown how many will apply.

Total costs for this bill with the processing of pardons could be in excess of $300 million.

It should also be noted that a pardon is not the same thing as an expungement that formally removes all records related to the office in question.

This is an important distinction because there can be situations when a pardon is not recognized at the border of another country resulting in a refusal of entry.

My concern with this bill is one of cost and fairness.

While I support the principle of issuing a pardon, I do not believe it is fair that Canadians without criminal records are paying for a program that requires no financial contribution from those who will access it.

My question this week:

Do you support Bill C-93 being fully funded by taxpayers?
Photo: CTV News

A pair of farmers on Vancouver Island are being bombarded with threats and vitriol after they shot two dogs they say were attacking their livestock.

Wendy Glover and her partner say they had no choice on Dec. 24 but to shoot the dogs as they attacked one of their goats on their farm in Errington.

"[They were] pulling her from her legs like a wishbone, they were biting her neck and her guts," Glover told CTV News "I screamed louder than I have ever screamed before in my life."

RCMP corroborated the story and issued a news release Wednesday saying the farmers had the right to shoot the pets.

The owner of the dogs, meanwhile, maintains her pets would never attack.

"They lived with a blind, geriatric mini-horse," said Mafawnee-Olivia Kenton. "I absolutely can't see that. They were around baby goats and sheep for years. They were almost like livestock guardian dogs."

The two Huskies were the subject of a community-wide search in December, but the owners found out just two days ago they were shot and killed on Glover's property.

"The dogs that were described on social media as being extremely friendly, gentle, easy to handle  that's not what I saw," said Glover.

The pair now face a major backlash and threats from the community.

"Not just to us but children, animals, threatening to shoot our horses in the knees so that we'd have to go and finish them," said Michael Chamberlin.

The threats prompted a warning from Oceanside RCMP.

"While it is understandable that people are upset that animals were hurt, vigilantism and threats (online or in person) will not be tolerated," the detachment said in a statement. "To prevent future tragedies, dog owners are advised to ensure their animals are properly secured and not roaming on other properties."

with files from CTV Vancouver Island
Photo: The Canadian Press Leader of Thai Raksa Chart party Preechapol Pongpanich, center, leaves Thai Raksa Chart party to Constitutional Court in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, March 7, 2019.

A court in Thailand on Thursday ordered the dissolution of a major political party ahead of this month's general election because it nominated a member of the royal family to be its candidate for prime minister.

The constitutional Court also banned members of the Thai Raksa Chart Party's executive board from political activity for 10 years.

The ruling raised fresh questions about the fairness of the upcoming election, the first since a military coup toppled a democratically elected government in May 2014.

Thai Raksa Chart on Feb. 8 nominated Princess Ubolratana Mahidol as its candidate in the March 24 polls. Her brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, later that day issued a royal order calling the nomination highly inappropriate and unconstitutional.

Thai Raksa Chart is aligned with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose allied parties have won every national election since 2001 but have twice been toppled in coups. The latest election is being held under rules that are generally acknowledged as making it hard for pro-Thaksin parties to win a majority, and the dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart will make it all the more difficult.

The constitutional Court is one of the most conservative institutions in Thailand and has consistently ruled against Thaksin and his allies.

Its statement explaining Thursday's ruling was even more critical of the party's action than the king had been. It appeared to ascribe ill intentions to the party's actions, blaming it for endangering a tradition that keeps the royal family above politics, even though Ubolratana embraced the nomination enthusiastically on her popular Instagram account.

As legal justification for the nomination, the party had pointed out that she held no formal royal titles because they were rescinded when she married a foreigner, an American, in 1972.

The nine-judge panel spurned such reasoning, following instead the king's line of argument that "Even though she relinquished her title according to royal laws ... she still retains her status and position as a member of the Chakri dynasty."

The court voted unanimously to dissolve the party, and by a vote of 6-3 for the political ban on its executive members.

Thursday's ruling was the third time a court has dissolved a political party associated with Thaksin on grounds that his supporters believe were slim and politically motivated. Two predecessor parties to his current main vehicle, Pheu Thai, were dissolved in 2007 and 2008.
Sonora Area Foundation logo View Photos

Sonora, CA  Seven nonprofits are sharing over $100,000 in grant awards from Sonora Area Foundations latest funding round.

The SAF board of directors, which recently held its first grant application review for 2019, approved funding a wide range of nonprofit community projects and programs as detailed below.

For creating a laboratory focusing on science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) programs, Columbia Elementary School received a total of $16,000 after the board added a $10,000 grant to two smaller grants of $3,000 each made from SAF-held Dierker-Ferro and McMillen Jacobs Associates funds.

Matching a $25,000 grant from the Sonora-based company Front Porch, the board members approved providing a similar amount to support the GRACE (Grace Respect & Caring Encouragement) Fund also held by SAF.

Funding For Homeowner Help, Meals Assistance, Mentoring Development

A new Habitat for Humanity of Tuolumne County program that will bring home repairs to low-income Tuolumne County homeowners received a $30,000 grant. For its community meals and food pantry services, the board granted Lighthouse Ministries $7,500 in supportive funding. TeenWorks Mentoring received $5,000 to assist with mentor recruitment.

The board supported enabling better delivery of a service for the homeless community by making an award grant of just over $13,600 to St. James Episcopal Church. The churchs specific plans for the funds are to have utility connections installed that will allow the Give Someone A Chance shower bus to set up onsite.

Groveland Community Services District also received a partial grant of $20,000 towards the cost of installing a SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) filling station. SAF also established a fund to facilitate donations from the community to raise the additional $12,000 required for the project.

Established in 1989, the Sonora Area Foundation promotes philanthropy through assisting charitable donors, making grants to worthy projects and programs and providing leadership on local issues. For more details, click here.
Flooding on Washington Street in Sonora View Photos

Sonora, CA  During a one-and-a-half hour period on Wednesday afternoon, the Sonora Police Department received 16 calls for service related to flooding.

Click here to view yesterdays detailed story in regards to many of the flooding impacts. Clarke Broadcasting reviewed the police department call logs this morning, and the first 911 call came in at 1:31pm to alert the PD that water from the creek along West Stockton Road was flowing over the bridge and starting to submerge the roadway. Seconds later, there was a report of two vehicles with water up to the top of their wheels on William Street. At 1:34pm was the first call regarding a heavy stream of water heading down Stewart Street. At 1:36pm a vehicle became trapped in 2-3 feet of water at an intersection along Morningstar Court. At 1:37pm there was water starting to cover the 100 block of Mono Way. At 1:48pm there was a heavy mudslide in front of the Cabrini House on South Washington Street.

Some of the later incidents during the two oclock hour include additional flooding on Stockton Road, briefly resulting in a full road closure (click here to view a video of a shopping cart floating down the road). There were multiple cars submerged in water on South Barretta Street at the bottom of a dip, heavy water entering the back of the Pine Tree Peddler business on South Washington Street, a flooded vehicle on South Washington Street, a vehicle becoming stranded near the DMV on Morningstar, and flooding near the Greenwood Village apartments on Greenley Road.

There were also many other businesses and homes that received flooding in Sonora, but many incidents did not require police assistance, so they went unreported.

The Tuolumne County Sheriffs Office was also very busy yesterday afternoon, but their logs are not immediately available this morning. The greater Sonora area received the heaviest amount of flood impacts during yesterdays storm system.

To view the latest information on the weather, click here.
Photo: The Canadian Press Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, departs following a full day of testimony with the House Intelligence Committee Wednesday, March 6, 2019.

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, "directed his attorney" to explore a potential presidential pardon last year, his current attorney said Thursday, appearing to contradict his client's testimony to Congress.

Cohen testified under oath last week at a House Oversight Committee hearing that he had never asked for, and would not accept, a pardon from Trump.

On Thursday, Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, said Cohen had in fact "directed his attorney to explore possibilities of a pardon at one point with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump."

The conversation happened in the months after the FBI in early April raided Cohen's home, office and hotel room, while Cohen's lawyers were involved in an agreement to share information with Trump's legal team. At the time, Cohen was "open to the ongoing 'dangling' of a possible pardon by Trump representatives privately and in the media," Davis said in a statement.

The development was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Davis' comment raises questions about whether Cohen, who is slated to begin a three-year prison sentence in May, lied to Congress last week. But it also highlights how the issue of pardons has emerged as a significant line of inquiry for congressional investigators.

There is nothing inherently improper about a subject in a criminal investigation seeking a pardon from a president given the president's wide latitude in granting them. But investigators want to know if the prospect of presidential pardons were somehow offered or used inappropriately.

Cohen has become a key figure in congressional investigations since turning on his former boss and co-operating with special counsel Robert Mueller. During last week's public testimony, he called Trump a con man, a cheat and a racist.

Trump, in turn, has said Cohen "did bad things unrelated to Trump" and "is lying in order to reduce his prison time."

In his statement on Thursday, Davis said when he was brought on to Cohen's legal team in June, his client "authorized me as a new lawyer to say publicly Mr. Cohen would never accept a pardon from President Trump even if offered."

"That continues to be the case," Davis said. "And his statement at the Oversight Hearing was true  and consistent with his post joint defence agreement commitment to tell the truth."

Davis did not immediately respond Thursday to text messages and emails seeking additional information.
Courtesy photo/Hale Center High School

Every one of the 34 graduating seniors of the Hale Center High School Class of 2019 has been accepted into college and/or the military, the district announced via Facebook last week.

It's something the district strives for and celebrates every year, though it's unclear if every student accepts the opportunities they're presented with, Counselor Laurie Johnson, with Hale Center ISD, wrote in an email to The Herald.
The Plainview Downtown Association will host "Discover Out on the Downtown" 2nd Saturday in Plainview's downtown historical district on Saturday.

Events are set to begin at 10 a.m.

This event will feature a Rummage Sale, which is scheduled from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Participation is free and open to the public, according to a news release about the event.

Those interested can reserve a 10-foot-by-10-foot area of the sidewalk in front of unoccupied storefront along Broadway and Ash Streets by calling Ranada Jack at (806) 296-5254 or Diane Book at (806) 774-4938.

Cars and Coffee is also set to start at 10 a.m. at the Broadway Brew, 107 E. Seventh St. The downtown merchants are also set to open during that time with food vendors set to serve at the Courthouse from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., the news release states.

Diana's Traveling Boutique, 707 Broadway, will feature Storytime with "Abracadabra, It's Spring" at 11 a.m.

There will also be a PDA March 2nd Saturday 4-Leaf Clover Give-Away for a concert featuring Mercy Me and David Crowder. The concert is set for March 31 at Santa Ana Star Center and includes a nigh stay in the Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, according to the news release.

Those interested in entering must take a selfie by the four-leaf clover with the business owner or employee inside a Plainview Downtown Association member store. Those interested have until March 15 to submit photos, the news release states.

Photos can be texted to Moore at (806) 518-9872.

Contact Phyllis Wall at (806) 296-6669 or plainviewdowntownassociation@gmail.com or visit the Plainview Downtown Association's webpage  http://2ndsaturdayplainview.com or their Facebook page for additional information.
Feb. 27

Plainview police arrested a 27-year-old woman on Feb. 27 for assault causing bodily injury, family violence. The individual was arrested at the 800 block of N. Broadway around 3:45 a.m.

A 46-year-old man was arrested on Feb. 27 just after 8:45 a.m. during a traffic stop at the 600 block of Baltimore St. The man was charged with driving without a license and failing to obey a designated point-stop sign.

Police arrested a 22-year-old man for driving with a license invalid with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution. The man was stopped at the 200 block of W. Fifth St. just after 9:20 p.m.

A 20-year-old woman was stopped on Feb. 27 and charged with possession of marijuana after police responded to the 1100 block of Galveston St. around 8 p.m. in reference to a suspicious vehicle.

Burglary of vehicles was reported at the 1500 block of N. Interstate 27 at 11:45 a.m. on Feb. 27.

A theft was reported at the 200 block of Yonkers St. on Feb. 27 just before 5 p.m.

A burglary was reported at the 800 block of Cedar St. on Feb. 27 just after 6:10 p.m.

Criminal mischief was reported at the 1700 block of W. 11th St. just after 8:20 a.m. on Feb. 27.

Feb. 28

A robbery was reported at the Allsup's at 501 N. Date St. last Thursday just after midnight. Police said an employee was approached by a Hispanic male who struck the employee and demanded cash from the register. The suspect them fled on foot and was not located.

A computer hack was reported at the 200 block of E. Roselawn last Thursday just before 2 p.m.

A theft was reported at the 300 block of SE Fifth St. last Thursday just after 9 a.m.

A theft was reported at the 200 block of SE Sixth St. last Thursday just after 4:20 p.m.

Police responded to the 1000 block of Houston St. in reference to a disturbance last Thursday just before 9 p.m.

Friday, March 1

Police arrested two individuals at the 1900 block of W. Fifth St. on Friday just before 9 p.m. A 19-year-old man and 17-year-old man were both arrested. The 19-year-old was charged with an outstanding warrant and a charge of possession of marijuana. The 17-year-old was charged with driving without a driver's license.

A 27-year-old woman was arrested during a traffic stop at the 1000 block of Yonkers St. on Friday just after 7:30 p.m. The individual was arrested for an outstanding warrant.

A vehicle crash with vehicle damage was reported at Seventh St. and Amarillo St. on Friday just after 5:10 p.m.

Police responded to a call about an individual joy riding at the 1300 block of Quincy St. just after 6:15 a.m. Friday.

Identity theft was reported Friday at the 500 block of Raleigh St. just after 2:15 p.m. on Friday.

An assault was reported at the 900 block of W. 28th St. Friday just before 2 p.m. The incident report indicates threats were made to the victim and/or their spouse.

An individual was stopped by police at the 2100 block of W. Sixth St. for possession drug paraphernalia on Friday just before 3 p.m.

An aggravated assault was reported at the 1400 block of Wayland St. just after 10 p.m.

Saturday, March 2

Police arrested a 46-year-old man at E. Campbell and Date Streets just after 1:20 p.m. and charged him with driving while license invalid and with a hit and run that caused damage to a vehicle.

A 38-year-old man was charged with an active warrant for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle on Saturday at the 900 block of W. Eighth St. just after 12:20 p.m.

Police arrested a 26-year-old woman Saturday at the 820 block of Borger St. just after 10 a.m. Police were called to the location in reference to an assault.

Officers arrested a 27-year-old woman at the 2700 block of SW Third St. just after 9:30 p.m. on Saturday for driving with an invalid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution.

Police were called to the 700 block of Denver St. on Saturday just after 12:30 p.m. in reference to burglary of vehicles. An individual evaded arrest, according to the report, but there were no arrests indicated. The case involved a juvenile.

Officers responded to a burglary of a habitation reported at the 1300 block of Vernon St. just before 1 p.m. Saturday.

Police responded to the 1300 block of Mesa St. just after 7:30 p.m. Saturday for an assault and a theft.

A burglary of a habitation was reported at the 300 block of Ash St. just after 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Sunday, March 3

Officers arrested 35-year-old Enrique Javier Martinez on Sunday at the 700 block of Joliet ST. just after 1:30 p.m. The individual was charged with possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony. Responding officers found amphetamine during the incident.

An assault was reported at the 600 block of N. Interstate 27 just after 2 p.m. on Sunday.

A theft was reported at the 3700 block of Olton Road just before 1 a.m. Sunday.

A vehicle crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 800 block of Itasca St. just before noon on Sunday.

A vehicle crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 3400 block of Olton Road Sunday just before 2:30 a.m.
The Tower of the Americas will host its inaugural "Taste at the Tower" event on Fiesta's opening day.

The family-friendly celebration opens at 7 p.m. on April 18 at the base of the tower, located in the 700 block of East Cesar Chavez. Attendees can "nibble on chef-inspired appetizers," "sip on tasty specialty drinks" and catch some live music.
Brian Heath owns Grape Creek Vineyards, a successful and beautiful winery about 10 miles beyond Fredericksburg, nestled amid a half-dozen other wineries. He bought it from the original owner 13 years ago  but now, his dream is growing bigger.

"We started offerings, expanding, offering different things," he said.

He and his wife Jennifer considered buying a second property in California but their love for the Hill Country was too great  and they decided to remain and expand locally.

Finally, they settled on a new offering with universal appeal: sparkling wine.

"Studies have shown that of people who enjoy wine, beer and spirits, sparkling wine has the biggest overlap," Heath said, noting that it's something almost everyone enjoys from time to time.

With the concept of Heath Sparkling Wines well in place, he then spent a fair amount of time in Napa with large sparkling wine makers  since there is as much involved in the making of sparkling wine as its traditional cousin, still wine.

"A lot of wineries are beginning to dabble in it," he said. "But we wanted a winery just dedicated to sparkling wine and to follow the traditional process of Champagne, France."

This process, calls the method Champenoise, is a method of making sparkling wine that allows the final stage of fermentation to happen within the bottle itself.

While mass-produced sparkling wines often use the Charmat method, in which the second fermentation takes place in a pressurized tank rather than a bottle, because it's less expensive and can produce bulk quantities, the wines Heath will offer will have a lovingly individualized touch.

Some of the ones they've crafted so far have such delightful and enticing names as Euphoria, Ebullience, Adoration and Blanc de Blancs.

Heath's business partners include not only his wife Jennifer but their winemaker, Jason Englert. Englert was originally employed at Grape Creek as a cellar manager, but Heath soon realized he had a massive talent for winemaking.

"I think he's one of the most decorated winemakers in Texas," Heath said.

The new buildings will have a strikingly modern look, he added, heavily featuring steel, glass and concrete.

"It's going to be unlike anything Fredericksburg has ever seen," said Heath.

The new winery locale will be at 10591 East U.S. Highway 290 outside of Fredericksburg.

Tasting rooms are designed to create the vibe of a private tasting, but there will be numerous rooms  and all the glass looks out on a vineyard. The building is built up about six feet off the ground with an amazing view of the Hill Country, said Heath.

"That way, everyone's attention will really be on the wine and how the wine is made," he added.

The tasting experience, too, will be contemporary and unique.



"It's an immersive tasting experience... with four champagnes with pairings," Heath noted.



Each server at Heath Sparkling Wines will have their own section to oversee and will be equipped with a tablet to control an on-demand virtual tour on a display screen.

If a patron has a question, Heath said,they can get their question answered without necessarily sitting through a lengthier tour.

"And you can watch drone photographs of all the vineyards we get grapes from," Heath said. "What we want people to do is get the sense of where the fruit comes from and how this all works."

Heath noted that although he's spent a lot of time in wineries, he's never seen anything quite like what Heath Sparkling Wines will be.

The tasting room will be opening to the general public in July  and before then, those interested in contacting Heath Sparkling Wines for more information can get in touch with the winery via the easy contact submission form found at heathsparkling.com.

"This is the first of its kind in Texas, and I think the tasting experience is really going to wow," Heath said.

He noted that he finds the winemaking industry so much more rewarding than his previous career, which was in background financial services.

"It's a happy business," Heath said. "It's got a lot of variety  a retail side, farming side, manufacturing side. And there's never a bad day when you're looking at a beautiful view up at the Texas sky."

Editor's Note: This content is made possible by Heath Sparkling Wines. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
While Southold Farm & Cellar is a bit off the beaten path, it's well established in the rest of the wine world: its wines are featured in some of the best restaurants in places like New York City and San Francisco.

Regan Meador, who co-owns the winery with his wife Carey Meador, said they have a unique and specific goal.

"The thrust of it for us is making wines that really do reflect the uniqueness of Texas and aren't trying to emulate another region, so we go through a lot of pains ... to not manipulate the wines. We're making them reflective of what Texas actually produces, not trying to make something out of Texas grapes that's like somewhere else," said Meador.

Meador said that while Texas has a ways to go before it's going to be considered world-class wine country, that's what part of his endeavor is.

"That's not to say we're going to be the only ones, but we are going to be out on the forefront of pushing that, going about making wines that can stand on a list that is the best wines of the world," he said.

While Meador was born in west Texas and lived in Dallas and Houston for a time, he met his wife Carey while both were living in New York City, and they ultimately wound up moving to the east end of Long Island  which was where Southold Farm & Cellar was born, its vineyards planted in 2013.

Before that, Meador studied wine in New York City and took a job as an assistant winemaker in Long Island to learn the ropes.

Once the couple opened their own winery, they situated it on 10 beautiful acres and grew some northern Italian grapes but also fruit from local growers.

But, in 2016, Regan and Carey Meador found themselves embroiled in a battle they never asked for: After seeking approval from the local zoning board and state authorities to open a small tasting room and production facility on their property for more than two years, they were repeatedly rejected and decided to pack up and move their winery dream to Texas.

"We're one of the only wineries that I know of in the United States that has ever moved across state lines," Meador said. "It was a huge task  more than we even anticipated."

But, he said, where they are today is "head and tails" above where they would have been on Long Island.

He noted that they have so many friends in the local industry and are very much tied to Texas.

And so it was that they purchased a property just north of Stonewall and created a winery, tiny tasting room and home for themselves. And, he said, the move has been worth it.

"We're having an amazing time. We're putting out Texas wines  all of our distributors in all our other states that we've been working with stuck with us, and that's why our wines are in Massachusetts and New York and all these other places,"Meador said. "It's amazing to see what we thought was possible actually manifest itself  and I think the future is going to be pretty intense. We're in for some big things."

Due to space, Southold Farm & Cellar does require a reservation for tastings.The major reason for that is they like to host the tastings as a group, which gives them a chance to talk through all the wines in a communal fashion  all while discussing what they're doing on the property, how they planted the vineyards on the steep hillside, and other educational elements.

Those who attend will sit down with 12 or so of their "soon-to-be best friends" as the Meadors talk them through each wine and the process of making it.

"The overarching thing is we're keen about staying out of the way of what we get from the vineyard ... everything's fermented with natural yeast fermentations, so we don't inoculate with store-bought stuff. So what's coming in on the grapes is what's fermenting the fruit," Meador said.

Visitors will taste about five wines, including a limited-edition wine.

The winery, located at 10474 Ranch Road 2721, is open Thursday through Monday and hosts tastings on the hour. Those interested can visit southoldfarmcellar. com and fill out a form reserving space for a tasting.

The future is bright for the couple: they're also launching some new wines in Austin and New York City, and are proud to have their wines featured all over the country at illustrious locales like Gramercy Tavern in New York.

"We're consciously doing things outside the tasting room, too," said Meador.The way Meador sees it, they're on the cutting edge of grand new adventures.

"We're making wines that are truly unique and truly special and can only be made in Texas," he said.

Editor's Note: This content is made possible by Southold Farm & Cellar. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
Photo: The Canadian Press People use a mobile phone in a Huawei retail shop in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province, Thursday, March 7, 2019.

Chinese tech giant Huawei is challenging a U.S. law that limits its sales of telecom equipment in the U.S. on security grounds as the company steps up efforts to preserve its access to global markets for next-generation communications.

Huawei Technologies Ltd.'s lawsuit, announced Thursday, asks a U.S. court to reject as unconstitutional a military-spending provision that bars the U.S. government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment.

It comes as the biggest global maker of network equipment fights a U.S. campaign to persuade allies to shun Huawei. That threatens to block access to major markets as phone carriers prepare to invest billions of dollars in next-generation cellular networks, known as 5G.

The complaint filed in Plano, Texas, the headquarters of Huawei's U.S. operations, says the law is an unconstitutional "bill of attainder," or a measure that singles out a specific entity for punishment. It says that denies the company due process and amounts to a "death penalty."

The American Embassy in Beijing said it had no comment on pending litigation.

Steven Schwinn, a professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, said the lawsuit is likely to be dismissed by a judge. He said the "bill of attainder" claim, or punishment without due process, would be hard to prove.

But Schwinn said the lawsuit is one of Huawei's only remaining options, short of trying to get Congress to reverse the ban.

"This strikes me as a last-ditch effort to do something," he said.

Franklin Turner, a partner at law firm McCarter & English, said there are parallels to a lawsuit filed by Kaspersky Labs in 2017 that was eventually thrown out as well. The U.S. government had barred federal agencies from using Kaspersky's anti-virus products because of concerns about its ties to the Kremlin and Russian spy operations.

Turner said Huawei will likely keep fighting, but "to keep it going, is the legal equivalent of scaling Mount Everest without a rope."

Huawei, China's first global tech brand, is at the centre of U.S.-Chinese tensions over technology competition and cyberspying. The company has spent years trying to put to rest accusations it facilitates Chinese spying or is controlled by the ruling Communist Party.
The driver of a Houston ISD bus hit and killed a bicyclist who inadvertently slid under the vehicle Thursday afternoon while trying to avoid a collision in the Heights.

The rear wheels of the yellow school bus ran over the male cyclist and killed him almost instantly around 3 p.m., according to witnesses and police. The impact knocked the cyclists one-speed ride to his side in the intersection of East 8th Street and Heights Boulevard.

Ronny Smeink was shopping for antiques across the street from the crash and heard screams.

"I thought somebody was looking for their dog, Smeink said. I looked up and saw somebody on the ground."

The shopper ran across the boulevard to help the cyclist and called 911 as another man tried to get the riders backpack off him. Smeink checked for a pulse and felt nothing.

There was no sign of life, Smeink said.

A blood-soaked sheet later covered the cyclist as police investigated the crash.

The cyclist was peddling north in a bike lane along the boulevard and appeared to have the right away as the bus stopped at a stop sign on East 8th, Houston Police Department Lt. Thurston Roberson said at a press conference. The bus driver continued through the intersection and went in front of the bicyclist and hit him, Roberson said.

One child was on board the bus and going home at the time of the fatal crash, Houston ISD officials said in a statement. The unidentified driver was completing the afternoon route from an unspecified school.

The driver and student were not injured.

The unidentified bicyclist was believed to be in his early 20s, Roberson said. A wallet could be seen lying on top of his back pack.

The driver remained on the bus with umbrellas and sheets covering the windshield for at least three hours as police interviewed her and investigated the crash. Three of her relatives who came to the scene within an hour of the crash declined to comment.

Shes fine, said one of the relatives.

A grand jury will later determine if the driver will face charges in the fatal wreck.

A camera on the bus was running at the time of the crash and investigators are reviewing it frame-by-frame to determine what happened and who was at fault.

The school district said its transportation services is cooperating with the police investigation.

A woman walking her dog at an apartment complex adjacent to the crash site mournfully looked at the cyclists body.

Its not my child, but I feel so bad for whose ever he is, she said, without providing her name.

Also gathered on the sidewalk Thursday evening was 25-year-old Hayden Eckhardt, who used to be an avid bicyclist in the Heights.

I dont any more because of (expletive) like this, Eckardt said, pointing to the cyclists body in the street. Its scary to be a bicyclist in Houston, Texas.

His fear is not unfounded. Local drivers have mowed down nearly 2,000 pedestrians and cyclists in the past 16 years. From 2001 to 2016, 235 of them were cyclists killed on greater Houston roadways.

Eckardts friend, Andrew Hemingway, 29, said he was nearly hit Thursday afternoon by a vehicle using a nearby bike lane to pass him.

jay.jordan@chron.com

nicole.hensley@chron.com
The man who designed a remote adobe hut in the West Texas desert died last month, just shy of 94 years old. But his legacy lives on.

About 10 years ago, designer Don Bryant helped performing songwriter Trevor Reichman create a space that looks like it came straight out of the Star Wars universe.

Now, Reichman is dedicating the property to him and sharing breathtaking photos of the space he purchased outside of Big Bend National Park.

"[Bryant] gave me one of the dome frames that he designed and taught me how to stucco..." said Reichman. "I built it out from there, with help from friends along the way, and finished it out with adobe and lime plaster."

The hut -- or "Dome," as Reichman refers to it -- now rents for about $98 per night on AirBnB. It's located Terlingua Ranch, about a 25-minute drive from the entrance of Big Bend National Park.

Aside from stunning views, it provides basic amenities like parking, wifi, a kitchen, kitchen supplies, and a composting toilet.

It boasts an "off-grid" experience, and Reichman's photos of starry backgrounds and vivid sunsets paint an otherworldly picture of the surrounding environment. He said he understands the comparisons to Star Wars.

"It wasn't intentional for it to look like Luke Skywalker's home, but so many guests point it out," he said. "I think quite a few Star Wars fanatics stay at the Dome because of its resemblance."

The property has brief openings available in March and April. The hut is mostly open for a summer getaway, but perhaps for a reason.

While the space provides a good buffer for the elements, it doesn't have air conditioning. It offers a fan and perimeter windows to welcome a breeze. If the 10-day forecast proves to be too much, Reichman offers cancellation options during off-peak periods.

"Many say that summer is their favorite time of the year out here," according to the home's AirBnB profile. "But it all depends on one's heat tolerance."

Click through the slideshow above to see photos from inside the desert hut.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.
A San Antonio man was found guilty of disorderly conduct for cursing at three San Antonio Police Department SWAT officers in an aggressive manner during a confrontation he instigated last year.

Jesus Padilla, known as Mexican Padilla on the video streaming platform YouTube, was convicted Tuesday on three counts of disorderly conduct using foul language and issued a fine of $1,713.

Padilla is a member of the First Amendment Auditors, which records police and government workers to test the limits of First Amendment freedoms.

The city said in a news release addressing Padillas conviction Tuesday that these recordings, which are often confrontational, are used against police officers to disrupt their routine duties.

This particular confrontation, which can be seen in a 1-minute video, occurred April 27 at SAPDs central substation, 401 S. Frio.

Three SWAT officers can be seen leaving the station as Padilla and two colleagues are standing in the lobby. The three begin following the officers out of the station, at which point one officer can be seen standing in front of the door as Padilla tries to exit.

At this point, an angry Padilla erupts in explicit language and homophobic slurs.

The SWAT officer seen in the video tells Padilla and his group he thought they were staying inside the building, and then warns another in Padillas group not to open the door on him as he briefly stands in the doorway of the station.

A moment later, the officer walks away from the door and is followed out by Padilla and the others in his group. Padilla continues cursing at the officers as his colleagues press them for their names and badge numbers.

The three officers continue walking to an unmarked SUV, telling the group that they dont have time to give out their information because they are on assignment.

In an interview Tuesday, Padilla maintained that cursing at the officers, which he does often in many of his videos, is part of his First Amendment rights.

I just cuss at them, but Im never going to fight them or nothing, Padilla said.

City officials said that Padilla chased after, jostled and shouted insults at the officers on duty, all of which constituted crimes of disorderly conduct.

As long as Im not threatening to assault them its not against the law, Padilla said. They get paid well enough to have thick skin.

During the trial, Padilla said McManus himself was there alongside the city attorneys who were representing the three SWAT officers.

McManus applauded Padillas conviction Wednesday. He said the courts decision almost puts a dagger in the heart of their First Amendment excuse for insulting police officers.

There are two distinct actions here, he said. If someone is stopped, and they decide to call a police officer a derogatory term, thats one thing. But if you are aggressively and in a verbally assaultive way closing space on a police officer when theyre doing their jobs ... that is totally different than just calling a police officer a name.

The incident involving Padilla and the SWAT officers is the first time Padilla has gone to trial over an arrest stemming from his self-described auditing. Padilla chose to represent himself in the case and intends to appeal the conviction.

In the other cases against Padilla which are heading through the county courts, he was appointed an attorney to help him with research.

Jose Nino, deputy city attorney, said the two other defendants are also being tried in the case involving the three SWAT officers. A judge will hear their cases in the coming months.

The city attorneys office is committed to upholding the First Amendment, however when those words or actions tend to incite a breach of the peace, then its our duty to prosecute to the utmost of the law, he said.

The chief said the videos Padilla and his cohorts upload and promote on social media are vulgar, profane, insulting, and unnecessary. Such behavior, according to McManus, not only puts the officers in danger, but the auditors as well.

For those concerned about police conduct and First Amendment rights, McManus said hes not afraid of any of his officers being placed under a microscope.

Cop watch all you want, he said, but it does not give you the right to verbally assault police officers and distract them while theyre trying to do their jobs.
Photo: The Canadian Press Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, speaks as he departs after testifying before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington.

President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has filed a lawsuit claiming the Trump Organization failed to pay nearly $2 million toward his legal defence.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in New York state court claims the Trump Organization stopped paying Cohen's mounting legal fees after he began co-operating with federal prosecutors.

It alleges breach of contract and seeks damages on Cohen's behalf.

Messages seeking comment have been left with the Trump Organization.

The lawsuit says the company stopped paying for his legal defence about two months after the FBI raided Cohen's home and office.

Cohen pleaded guilty in August to tax crimes, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations.
The girlfriend of a man who was killed and his body stuffed in a barrel testified Wednesday that she called hospitals all over San Antonio looking for the man, and determined he was dead while talking to a medical examiner.

Baby Vasquez, 21, testified at the opening of the murder trial of Jesse Ray Castilla, 38. He is accused of killing Joseph Camarena, 26, on Nov. 17, 2017, after Camarena went to see Castilla about money.

Vasquez, who has a daughter with Camarena, said she saw Castilla with a gun the night of the killing when she went to Castillas home looking for her boyfriend.

OnExpressNews.com: Trial begins in killing of San Antonio man found stuffed in barrell in 2017

I was scared, she told the jury.

Vasquez said Castilla told her he had taken Camarena to a hospital because he could have been having a seizure. Castilla told her he was foaming at the mouth, and his eyes were rolling back, she testified, so she called hospitals around the city to find him.

She also went to a downtown hospital to find him, but could not.

I didnt know what else to do, Vasquez said.

She decided to call the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office to see if they had anyone resembling him there.

They kept asking me about tattoos, she said. So I already knew he was dead.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

Camarena died from a gunshot wound.

San Antonio police initially received a call about a body around 9 p.m. Nov. 17, 2017. When they arrived near Morsund Boulevard and Loop 410, they found a barrel that contained Camarenas remains.

Authorities believe Castilla shot Camarena in the 300 block of Lovett Avenue on the Southwest Side. According to reports, the night Camarena died, he went to Castillas to collect money owed to him by the defendant.

An arrest affidavit indicated the night Camarena died, Castilla offered a bag of methamphetamine to a couple in exchange for dropping off the barrel at a river.

When the pair went to remove the barrel, it fell from a pickup and the top came off, exposing two feet, according to the document.

OnExpressNews.com: Court documents reveal details in case of body that was found in barrel in S.A.

Prosecutors Kristina Escalona and Stephanie Paulissen introduced into evidence photographs of the barrel that showed the mans feet, legs, and a closeup of Camarenas face, which prompted gasps and cries from family members in the gallery.

In the afternoon, the barrel that contained Camarenas body was brought into the courtroom and placed in front of the bench of Judge Jennifer Pena, who was presiding over her first murder trial as the judge of the 290th state District Court.

The barrel, which contained blood and bugs, was sealed and wrapped because of its odor, and courtroom officials felt it could be a biohazard. Two other barrels were brought into court to use for demonstrations to the jury.

Defense attorneys Suzanne Kramer and Sharon Thorn are representing Castilla.

If convicted, Castilla faces up to life in prison.

Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863
An Air Force Reserve officer suspected in his wifes disappearance may have visited a San Antonio military training base within hours after she went missing, according to Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.

Salazar said at a news conference Thursday at Eisenhower Park that the search for Andreen McDonald has shifted to Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, based on information developed within the past couple of days about where Air Force Reserve Maj. Andre McDonald may have gone shortly after his wife disappeared.

On ExpressNews.com: Lawyer for Air Force Reserve officer suspected in wifes disappearance cautions about rush to judgment

She was last seen alive Feb. 28 and reported missing the next day. She is feared dead based on evidence found at her Timberwood Park-area home. Andre McDonald is being held in jail on a charge of tampering with evidence for allegedly trying to destroy receipts of items that investigators believe he was going to use to dispose of her body.

We have information that the suspect, very early on in the investigation, or even before the investigation began, that he was in this area or on base, and he had no official business here, Salazar said. That is why we are concentrating on this area.

Before the media briefing, Rick de Castro, who is coordinating the overall search for Texas Search and Rescue, told a group of trained search and rescue members that we have intelligence her body may have been dumped here.

More than 300 searchers, about 200 of them volunteers, joined Thursdays search as members of the Air Forces 502nd Security Forces helped guide them through the 27,990-acre base where various branches of the military train.

On ExpressNews.com: Child told staffer: 'Daddy hurt Mommy' in missing S.A. woman case

Among them was one of Andreen McDonalds aunts, Cheryl Spencer, a professor at City University of New York, who flew in to San Antonio overnight.

Spencer thanked everyone  from authorities investigating her nieces disappearance to the military to volunteers to the media.

The people of San Antonio have been exemplary, Spencer said. Our hearts are low to the ground, but we are trying to keep our heads up. Were not blind. Were hopeful (shes alive). We refuse to speak of her in the past.

She said her family, which is literally spread out across the world, in Canada, Jamaica. West Indies and just about every (U.S.) state, is waiting for word of where Andreen McDonald might be.

The unknown is just crazy, but we just want to find her, Spencer said.

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
A suspect who is accused of pretending to be an H-E-B employee in an effort to evade Bexar County deputies during a chase on the West Side was identified Thursday afternoon.

Orlando Jose Perez Ortiz, 28, was charged with evading arrest, evading arrest with a vehicle and violation of a protective order, Bexar County Jail records showed. His bail was set at $15,000.
New Braunfels police made an arrest in connection with the death of a man they found shot to death in a hotel room three days earlier.

Bryan David Ramirez-Fernandez, 17, was taken into custody Thursday on suspicion of murder, according to a news release. His bail was set at $100,000.
A great empire and little minds go ill together, said Edmund Burke.

America is not quite an empire, but one little mind was on full display during President Donald Trumps recent CPAC speech. It was two hours of Trump unplugged, unleashed, uncensored, unreconstructed and unhinged. It was a vivid reminder that the president of the United States, when he is most comfortable and authentic, is a rude, arrogant crank yelling profanities at the television. Correction: through the television.

Most Americans, I suspect, would judge the speech as bad and rambling. To a former speechwriter, it was like watching a wound drain; it was like eating toothpaste canapes, it was like holding centipedes on your tongue; it was like hearing a ringtone of Macarena during a funeral, and no one can find the phone.

As the organizing structure of the speech, Trump skipped from enemy to enemy  a taunt here, a mock there. Hillary Clinton made an appearance. As did Robert Mueller and Jeff Sessions, and Central American refugees, and weak-kneed generals, and socialist Democrats, and university administrators, and those horrible people who miscount inaugural crowds.

This last point  that the size of his inaugural crowd was maliciously underestimated by evil forces  seems to be the Ur-myth of Trumpism. It was the subject of his first order as president compelling a minion (poor Sean Spicer) to utter an absurd falsehood on his behalf. Given the flood of lies that has followed, it must have felt darn good. Those who are willing to believe this original lie are the truest of believers  a core of supporters who will stomach absolutely anything.

Trumps CPAC speech was a bold assertion that he has learned nothing  absolutely nothing  during his first two years in office. Not manners. Not economics. Not geopolitics. Not simple decency.

The speech seemed like the rhetorical spawn of Fidel Castro and George Wallace, combining demagoguery and bigotry in equal measure. And it confirmed Trumps place as the worst speaker in presidential history.

Having gotten that out of my system, let me turn to what really bothered me. Our president lacks dignity.

This might sound like a relatively small matter compared to things like honesty, equality and justice. But dignity  both acting in a dignified manner and treating others in a manner appropriate to their dignity  is a core value of democracy. Americas founders were generally suspicious of absolute democracy, which can easily become tyranny exercised by 50 percent of the public plus one. In a strong democracy, those in the majority are restrained by respect for the dignity of those in the minority. If the majority uses its (temporary) power to demean, humiliate and dishonor those out of power, it plants seeds of future revenge and escalation. Disagreements become feuds, and the sense of being in a shared enterprise and having a shared fate is weakened.

A democracy is designed for disagreement; it is undermined by mutual contempt. And Trumps whole style of politics is the cultivation of contempt. This directly weakens our unity as a nation.

The first president, George Washington, made dignity the defining commitment of his political life. He felt that the office of president should have an element of nearly royal elevation. But the generation of Washington gave way to the age of Jackson and a much earthier version of democratic participation. Presidents have tended to fall into either the Washington or Jackson camp. Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

But Trump is not merely Jacksonian in his crudeness. He has made the denial of dignity to certain people and groups a political rallying cry. This kind of cruelty and dehumanization is the defining commitment of his political life. He is not merely undignified as a leader; he is committed to stripping off the dignity possessed by others.

There is a tie between incivility and injustice. When a president uses his office to demean others, he is undermining an essential democratic premise  that those out of power are still protected from abuse by general respect for their inherent worth and dignity. They are still partners in a common enterprise. And they deserve better than cruelty and contempt.

michaelgerson@washpost.com
Mayor Ron Nirenberg and members of the City Council have expressed concern about the Decade of Downtown causing neighborhood displacement. Nirenberg said it best last year, We should not be resigned to displacement as an acceptable condition in the community.

COPS/Metro takes the City Council at its word, but actions speak louder than words. The councils actions show that preventing displacement is less important than giving tax incentives and fee waivers to developers.

In December, COPS/Metro asked the council to delay the renewal of the Center City Housing Incentive Policy, or CCHIP, to ensure that it does not cause additional displacement. However, the council decided it must be passed in 2018. It gave lip service to preventing displacement, but took no action. Only council members Rey Saldana and Ana Sandoval had the courage to vote against CCHIP.

It is time for Nirenberg and the council to display the same level of urgency for preventing people from being displaced from their homes that they showed in renewing CCHIP.

A city-funded National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders, or NALCAB, study showed that housing values in the neighborhoods surrounding downtown appreciated faster than other San Antonio neighborhoods. For example, parts of Dignowity Hill appreciated 130 percent between 2011 and 2016, compared with a citywide average of 26 percent. These close-knit neighborhoods are quickly being priced out of range for anyone who does not earn a six-figure salary.

In addition to CCHIP, UTSAs expansion will potentially displace West Side residents. The city and county are bending over backward to fuel UTSAs downtown growth. Yet no one is planning to prevent neighborhood displacement.

COPS/Metro supports a thriving downtown and the benefits that UTSAs expansion will offer. We do not support development that pushes people out of their homes and uses public dollars to do the pushing. We are against development happening so fast and furiously that existing residents cannot take advantage of the improvements. Development must be planned so that it benefits everyone, not just developers. As it stands, the citys decisions benefit developers with little consideration for current residents.

To date, the councils only action has been the creation of a displacement mitigation fund that helps people after they are displaced. This is needed, but displacement prevention is more urgent.

On Feb. 18, 140 COPS/Metro leaders asked Nirenberg to create a displacement prevention plan. He said that he would, but only after the completion of a displacement study, which has not started and will not finish until 2020. In the meantime, displacement continues. Neighborhoods will be disrupted well into the foreseeable future. This is unconscionable.

Nirenberg said that he was listening to us. However, the mayor and the council must do more than listen  they must act now to develop a displacement-prevention plan that includes accomplishing the following:

1. Increase owner-occupied rehabilitation investment in vulnerable neighborhoods. The city is heavily investing in downtown. An equitable investment must be made in strengthening and preserving affected neighborhoods.

2. Establish a city-coordinated homestead exemption enrollment program. Developers are aggressively buying up properties from unaware owners. The city should be leading the charge to educate homeowners about homestead exemptions, tax freezes for those older than 65 and property tax deferrals.

3. Establish a tax abatement program for homeowners. The city creates Tax Reinvestment Zones for businesses, and the same should be done for vulnerable neighborhoods.

4. The city must lead an aggressive land banking initiative to ensure there is property for affordable rentals. The city must also coordinate efforts with all public entities to ensure that land it sells is preserved for affordable housing.

5. Establish a coordinated housing system as recommended by the mayors housing task force.

A vibrant downtown and strong, affordable neighborhoods are not mutually exclusive. Both can become a reality with equitable attention and commitment.

It is time for a Decade of Neighborhoods.

Sister Jane Ann Slater of the Congregation of Divine Providence is chancellor at the Archdiocese of San Antonio and a COPS/Metro Leader. Linda Davila of St. Timothy Catholic Church is also a COPS/Metro Leader
The Brits and Canadians I know certainly love their single-payer health care systems. If one of their politicians suggested they should switch to the American health care model, theyd throw him out the window.

So single-payer health care, or in our case Medicare-for-all, is worth taking seriously. I have just never understood how we get from here to there, how we transition from our current system to the one Bernie Sanders has proposed and Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and others have endorsed.

Despite differences between individual proposals, the broad outlines of Medicare-for-all are easy to grasp. We would take the money were spending on private health insurance and private health care, and we would shift it over to the federal government through higher taxes in some form.

Then the government could set prices and force health care providers to accept current Medicare payment rates. Medicare reimburses hospitals at 87 percent of costs while private insurance reimburses at 145 percent of costs. Charles Blahous, a former Social Security and Medicare public trustee, estimates that under the Sanders plan, the government could pay about 40 percent less than what private insurers now pay for treatments.

If this version of Medicare-for-all worked as planned, everybody would be insured, health care usage would rise sharply because it would be free, without even a co-payment, and America would spend less overall on health care.

It sounds good. But the trick is in the transition.

First, patients would have to transition. Right now, roughly 181 million Americans receive health insurance through employers. About 70 percent of these people say they are happy with their coverage. Proponents of Medicare-for-all are saying: Were going to take away the insurance you have and are happy with, and were going to replace it with a new system you havent experienced yet because, trust us, were the federal government!

The insurance companies would have to transition. Lots of people work for and serve this industry. All-inclusive public health care would destroy this industry, and those people would have to find other work.

Hospitals would have to transition. In many small cities the local health care system is the biggest employer. As Reihan Salam points out in The Atlantic, the United States has far more fully stocked hospitals relative to its population and much lower bed occupancy than comparable European nations have.

If you live in a place where the health system is a big employer, think what happens when that sector takes a sudden, huge pay cut. The ripple effects would be immediate  like a small deindustrialization.

Doctors would have to transition. Salary losses would differ by specialty, but imagine you came out of medical school saddled with debt and learn your payments are going to be down by, say 30 percent. Similar shocks would ripple to other health care workers.

The American people would have to transition. They are more suspicious of centralized government and tend to dislike higher taxes.

The Sanders plan would increase federal spending by about $32.6 trillion over its first 10 years, according to a Mercatus Center study that Blahous led. Compare that with the Congressional Budget Offices projection for the entire 2019 fiscal year budget, $4.4 trillion. That kind of sticker shock is why a plan for single-payer in Vermont collapsed in 2014 and why Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected one in 2016. Its why legislators in California killed one. In this plan, the taxes are upfront, the purported savings are down the line.

Once they learn Medicare-for-all would eliminate private insurance and raise taxes, only 37 percent of Americans support it, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey. In 2010, Republicans scored an enormous electoral victory because voters feared that the government was taking over their health care, even though Obamacare really didnt. Now, under Medicare-for-all, it really would. This seems like an excellent way to re-elect Donald Trump.

The government would also have to transition. Medicare-for-all works only if politicians ruthlessly enforce spending cuts.

Finally, patient expectations would have to transition. In Canada, the median wait time between seeing a general practitioner and a specialist is 8.7 weeks; between a GP referral and an orthopedic surgeon, its nine months. That would take some adjusting.

If America were a blank slate, Medicare-for-all would be a plausible policy, but we are not a blank slate. At this point, the easiest way to get to a single-payer system would probably be to go back to 1776 and undo that whole American Revolution thing.
No, not a border wall but the resources to deal with refugees fleeing violence in their own countries.

No, not inflammatory rhetoric about how those fleeing crime are themselves criminals intent on doing Americans harm. Instead, acknowledgment that dealing with the root causes of this exodus might be more fruitful in stanching it.

This is what is desperately needed. There is a genuine humanitarian crisis occurring at the border, but it has nothing to do with whatever utility the president says a border wall will provide. The president seems to be caught in a time warp  stuck back in a time when the crossers were, by and large, Mexican men looking for work in the United States.

This was a threat mostly in the imaginings of nativists who will not do the work that the immigrants do, and an issue more complex than those who chant the mantra what part of illegal dont you understand? can comprehend. The numbers of these types of crossers have diminished, as have crossings by undocumented immigrants generally.

In the cross hairs now are Central Americans. They are the father and/or mother arriving with children. They are fleeing the ever-present threat that their boys will be forced to join gangs in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala or die  or join and then die  or that their girls will be forced to submit to sexual degradation as the price of simply existing.

And mostly they are showing up at the border and giving themselves up to authorities so that they may pursue asylum claims. A wall would do nothing to stop them. As a sign of how desperate their existences are in their own countries, they are coming despite the presidents get-tough strategies. If keeping them away is the goal  even by taking away their children  zero tolerance is simply not working.

But we nonetheless would not characterize this as a national emergency. This is the presidents characterization  one that fails to understand that these migrants pose no threat, hence pose no emergency as the president frames the issue.

The resources needed to address this are not necessarily more detention centers  though more resources to make sure that the sexual abuse and poor health environments reportedly inflicted on detainees no longer happen. Release into the community after initial screenings is the better bet and, despite the presidents rhetoric, the vast majority will appear for follow-up proceedings. The resources needed are more judges and other staff to deal with the claims.

Not everyone will be granted asylum  only a fraction were even before the Trump administration. But we are obligated, legally and morally, to consider these claims when credible threats exist should they return home.

But also needed is acknowledgment that erecting barriers  whether physical or bureaucratic  does not even begin to address the real problem. That problem is the poverty that pervades their lives in their own countries. This comes in two forms  lack of the means to sustain themselves economically and the dearth of the rule of law.

Yes, we already provide aid  roughly $556 million annually to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador combined, according to USAID. But it is not likely enough nor as strategically targeted as is necessary.

The Trump administrations focus in Latin America at the moment is legitimately on Venezuela, once the wealthiest nation in the region and whose implosion is occurring in fast motion. The implosion in these Central Americans has been occurring over decades in relative slow motion, but the fallout for the U.S. is happening now.

After Congress dispenses with the presidents faux declaration of national emergency to build his border wall, it must turn its sights on the real humanitarian crisis, the one happening in real time at our border.

National emergency? The only threat exists to our own values. How we treat these immigrants will say volumes about our character and whether the ideals we claim are more than just words.
Photo: The Canadian Press Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe attends a media event in Saskatoon, Sask.

Western premiers say the SNC-Lavalin affair is distracting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a time he should be focused on jobs in their region.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has taken aim at the prime minister's comments about the 9,000 jobs tied to the Quebec company.

Moe says Trudeau needs to be reminded he is not the premier of Quebec and that thousands of jobs have been lost in the energy sector.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley released a statement this week about China blocking shipments of Canadian canola to say Trudeau needs to get back to work defending jobs and farmers.

She suggested the federal government is navel-gazing at its own controversy.
Given all the petroleum refineries and chemical plants constantly belching who-knows-what into the local atmosphere, Houston should be very concerned that state environmental protection officials may have put peoples health at risk by refusing NASAs officer to monitor air pollution after Hurricane Harvey.

Harvey knocked down smokestacks, damaged pipelines, broke chemical storage tanks, and flooded hazardous waste sites, causing poisonous runoff to spill into nearby streams. All hands were needed to assess the 2017 storms environmental impact and figure out what immediate steps should be taken to protect the public. Yet when NASA extended its hand, it was refused.

That revelation was made this week by the Los Angeles Times, which reviewed post-Harvey emails between NASA officials and Michael Honeycutt, director of the toxicology division of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

NASA had a DC-8 plane equipped with some of the worlds most sophisticated air pollution monitoring equipment ready to fly from California to Texas when Honeycutt told the space agency not to bother. At this time, we dont think your data would be useful, Honeycutt wrote to NASA.

He said TCEQ would instead use low-flying helicopters equipped with infra-red cameras, mobile bus units and crews with handheld devices to sample the air. The Environmental Protection Agency agreed with Honeycutts assessment that the NASA data might create confusion.

Honeycutt doubled down on his decision Tuesday night, telling the Chronicles Mike Morris, I do this for a living. I know what data we need. However, his agency in a statement Wednesday to the Chronicle editorial board seemed to pass the buck to NASA: The air monitoring network was up and running for a week at the time of the NASA offer, giving us ground-level results needed to identify sources or affected neighborhoods, the statement read. After discussing this with the EPA and NASA, NASA made the decision to cancel the flight.

Really? The Times article said NASA officials were stunned by Honeycutts refusal of its assistance. Texans, especially those who had trouble breathing amid the acrid air left by Harvey, should be shocked too. And outraged.

Honeycutt is supposed to be a scientist. In fact, two months after Harvey he was named chairman of the EPA science advisory board. Since when do scientists refuse an offer of additional data to help them make the right analysis?

He argued to the Chronicle that NASA flying from that far up couldnt pinpoint exactly where pollution is coming from. Actually, NASAS flying chemistry lab can fly as low as 500 feet and soar up to 40,000 feet. It can host up to three dozen scientists and since 2016 has flown more than 197,000 miles across the world to sample airborne gases and particles. The lab has the ability to analyze more than 450 types of air pollutant compounds, compared with the 24 compounds EPAs single-prop air pollution plane can analyze.

Honeycutts cold shoulder to NASA has renewed fears that he too often favors industry over the environment. The Environmental Defense Fund opposed his appointment to chair the EPA science advisory board, pointing out that the TCEQ official had criticized the EPAs health-based standards for ozone because most people spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors.

The Chronicle reported in 2015 that TCEQ paid a consulting firm $2.6 million to help it argue that stricter EPA smog rules would cost Texas industries billions of dollars without markedly improving public health. Honeycutt defended the consultant contract, saying it cost less than what would be saved by weakening the ozone rule. So we think that the return on investment in this is just phenomenal, he said.

Thats not an appropriate response from someone Texans are paying to be an environmental steward.

An investigation last year by the Chronicle and The Associated Press revealed the toxic footprint left by Harvey was much bigger than authorities reported. Benzene, vinyl chloride, butadiene and other known human carcinogens were among the dozens of tons of industrial chemicals released throughout Houstons petrochemical corridor and surrounding neighborhoods and waterways following Harveys torrential rains.

Houston residents understand the economic lifeblood of this sprawling metropolitan community flows at a price  the potential dangers to public health posed by the more than 500 chemical plants and 10 refineries located within the nations largest energy corridor. The dangers are only acceptable if those charged with protecting public health are doing their jobs.

Honeycutt has failed in that endeavor. Instead of worrying about having too much data (in science, theres really no such thing); he should be worried about having too much of something that is harmful when youre loaded with it  hubris.
Re: The framers intent, Your Turn, Tuesday:

The letter writer tries to support the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by suggesting that its important for citizens to have access to modern weapons so we can fight back against the government if necessary.

He said, Our government has rapid-fire weapons and could easily overrun the common good behind terrible leaders if we the people had no way to fight back.

What he fails to recognize is that our government has weapons much more powerful than rapid-fire rifles.

This tired trope that somehow a bunch of hillbillies with a couple of AR-15s is going to fight the U.S. government, which is armed with Abrams tanks, high-tech fighter jets and drones, guided missiles and other advanced weaponry is ridiculous. There is no way that citizens armed with long rifles would be able to fight and win against the U.S. government, so please refrain from using this terrible argument in support of citizens having access to military-grade arms designed for the sole purpose of killing as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

Eric Walls, Helotes

Its a problem now?

Re: Cafeteria Catholic, Your Turn, Tuesday:

Its interesting to note how all of a sudden abortion has become a topic used against political candidates. Where was the outcry when abortions were being treated as a typical health issue by ordering drugs, or by going to the pharmacy and getting drugs to have an abortion?

Christian men all of a sudden are outraged over abortions, blaming the Democratic Party. It appears to be more of a political move than a Christian move. Letter writer Mike Gonzales from Houston is showing his own hypocrisy for accusing Julian Castro of being a cafeteria Catholic when, in reality, all of us should follow our own conscience.

Dora Ortiz

Drain Texas swamp

Re: Fund for Texas schools falling short, front page, Tuesday:

Kudos and bravo to Staff Writers Susan Carroll and David Hunn.

I am shocked and dumfounded at the chart on Page A6. Furthermore, how can secretive bodies be allowed to oversee such enormous public funds? It appears Texas has its own swamp that needs to be drained.

I have written my representative and I would hope others will do the same to end these star chambers in our public arena.

Dave Driskell

Pick a Dem leader

The problem facing the Democrats right now is that they do not have a leader. The candidates are all jumping up and down waving their arms and shouting, Pick me, pick me! They must choose a leader and unite behind that person.

The Republican candidate, be it Donald Trump or Mike Pence, can take advantage of this disunity and steal the election.

Richard Wallish

You do trust them

Its easy to fall into the trap of hating a family member, friend, work associate or neighbor because of divergent political views. Just remember this: Even though you do not trust him as far as you could throw him (or her), you trust them enough with the single most precious gift you have to offer: your life!

We have been engaged in war in Afghanistan and Iraq for nearly 18 years, and each year, the death toll on Americas highways has exceeded the number of dead and grievously wounded in war overseas. Every time you get on the highway, you trust your neighbor not to drive when he is not in full possession of his faculties and to stay in his lane unless he signals otherwise.

You trust him not to text while driving or listen to his car radio so intently that he loses sight of the road before him. You trust him not to fall asleep at the wheel and not to have a heart attack or a stroke while driving.

When your vision of the intersection is obstructed by a car or truck on either side of you, dont you trust his judgment as to whether a car is approaching the intersection at a high rate of speed? Dont you move forward with him into the intersection, although you probably shouldnt? In other words, you trust him or her not to do anything that would interfere with his or her perception of the road or what to do about it. You trust him or her with your life.

Michel Laham, M.D.

ZIP code fallacy

Re: Where you live may affect how long you live, Metro, Feb. 28:

There are no real inaccuracies in Todd Ackermans article, but he is not clear about the cause and effect relationship involved. ZIP codes generally do not affect ones longevity. Rather, good health and prosperity affect ones ability and inclination to live in ZIP codes like 78254.

The University of Texas studies are for the purpose of identifying ZIP codes where people needing services are located. Unfortunately, these people would probably need just as many services or more if they were moved from Government Hill to Stone Oak, and it is doubtful their life span would increase because of such a move.

Reagin McAllister

Its run its course

Re: Gov. Abbott, help protect our planet, Editorial, Monday:

I agree 100 percent. To add another possible mindset for political inaction, lets pose this idea. When we hear humans are at fault for climate change, it could imply that the old battle of good vs. evil is at play. So blaming is the end game. Many react defensively, of course  thats human nature!

But if you were to dig a little deeper into environmental logic, youll see that most environmentalists are not accusing anyone of evil. Granted, our media often show some pitchforkers who do, but, believe it or not, thats not the norm.

As an environmentalist of long standing, I can proclaim that the Industrial Revolution was overall of vast benefit to humanity. It increased our life span and improved lifestyles. We should be grateful, even hold parades. But it has run its course.

The effects of using fossil fuels (when accompanied by the growing population) have proven to be dangerous. Thats the bottom line.

Hopefully, people like the governor see this distinction.

Bill Hurley
A San Francisco mansion with an arresting Tudor Revival facade continues to sit on the market without selling, despite a price reduction, a prime location with drop-dead views, and celebrity cache.

Hollywood actor and house collector Nicolas Cage famously owned the home on the corner of Francisco and Hyde streets for a brief spell in the 2000s.

Originally listed in 2017 for $12 million  and briefly taken off the market before returning in 2018 the six-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom home on Russian Hill's so-called Gold Coast at 898 Francisco St. is now on the market for $10.95 million.

ALSO: $6 million slashed off price of Northern California ranch, nearly the size of San Francisco

Listing agent Mark Levinson of Pacific Union says interest has grown in recent days as real estate activity picks up in March, but he admits the property, which has been largely left untouched since it was built in 1914 (except a slap-dash 1990s kitchen update), will require a special buyer who has both money and time.

"People look at it as a fixer," said Levinson. "There are only a certain amount of people who have that kind of money and that kind of bandwidth. People in this price range are so busy and don't have time for a renovation. Homes that do sell tend to be renovated and gorgeous. I think if the house were done, it would sell overnight."

Unlike updated high-end homes with open floor-plans and modern amenities, this house has smaller, compartmentalized rooms featuring original details such as beamed ceilings, leaded glass windows, wood moldings, and fireplaces with ornate mantels.

"It has a formal living room, formal dining room, a great entryway for art," said Levinson. "I think it's a great house."

While Levinson thinks $1 million in renovations, including a revamp of the kitchen, is all this house really needs, he says a more extreme makeover would boost its value exponentially.

"Any money you put into this house, you will get back," he said. "I think Francisco is a huge opportunity for someone because whatever they put in, they're going to get back. This is the Gold Coast in Russian Hill, it's the best of the best. You'll see one $20 million house after another."

Is this really a $20 million block? Homes don't turn-over here often, and the only recent sale indicates yes.

Last spring, Steve Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs purchased a home of a similar size  six bedrooms spread across 6,000-square-feet  for $16.5 million in an all-cash deal. But unlike 898 only a few houses away, Jobs' home had been remodeled over the years, most recently in a contemporary manner by S.F.-based decorator Steven Volpe, who was described by the Wall Street Journal as the "decorator to Silicon Valley's elite."

After that, the most recent sale of a somewhat comparable home seems to be 828 Francisco. The 7,723-square-foot behemoth is larger than 898 Francisco and sold for $17.5 million in 2005; now Zillow estimates its value at $23 million while Redfin values at it between $29.5 million and $32.61 million.
Veterans in Texas have lined up to sue 3M over defective combat earplugs. The lawsuits allege the manufacturing company knowingly sold defective dual-ended Combat Arms earplugs to the U.S. military from 2003 to 2015. As a result of wearing the earplugs, veterans claim to have suffered permanent hearing damage.

Over 100 lawsuits against 3M have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Attorneys for the veterans expect to see more lawsuits against the company in the future.

3M Accused of Knowing About Defects Early On

The lawsuits against 3M allege the company knew about defects in the dual-ended Combat Arms earplugs in the early 2000's. After testing exposed the defect, 3M is accused of lying about the product's ability to meet military standards.

3M continued to sell the earplugs to the military until the product was discontinued in 2015.

3M Previously Paid Millions to Resolve Allegations

According to Military Times, 3M previously paid $9.1 million to resolve allegations made by the U.S. Justice Department. Justice Department officials accused the company of knowing about a design flaw that would cause the earplugs to slip from the ear canal, exposing veterans to loud sounds. By knowingly selling the defective earplugs to the military, 3M violated the False Claims Act.

The federal government's case against 3M was unrelated to the lawsuits filed by veterans.

Tinnitus and Hearing Loss in Veterans

While tinnitus and hearing loss are already among the most common disabilities suffered by veterans, the defective Combat Arms earplugs manufactured 3M have exacerbated the problem by providing false assurance among military members that they were taking appropriate steps to mitigate damaging sounds and protect their hearing. If you used 3M earplugs while serving in the U.S. military, be aware of the following symptoms.

Tinnitus may come in the form of:

Ringing

Hissing

Clicking

Buzzing

Roaring

Whistling

Other symptoms of hearing loss include:

Muffling of speech and other sounds

Difficulty understanding words, especially against background noise

Trouble hearing consonants

Frequently asking others to speak more slowly, clearly, or loudly

Withdrawal from conversations

Needing to turn up the volume of the television or radio

Do You Suffer from Tinnitus or Hearing Loss Caused by Defective Military Earplugs?

If you were issued 3M Dual-Ended Combat Arms Earplugs while in the military and now suffer from tinnitus or hearing loss, contact Thomas J. Henry immediately. For the past 25 years, our experienced product liability attorneys haven handled a multitude of defective product cases and have litigated against some of the largest companies in the world. Our extensive legal and financial resources allow us to provide our clients with truly dynamic legal representation.

Let us help you recover the compensation you are entitled to. Our firm has offices in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, and Houston, serving clients across Texas and nationwide. Contact us today for a free case review.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
KUWADZANA East Member of Parliament Chalton Hwende (MDC Alliance), who is facing charges of trying to subvert a constitutional government by inciting people to protest, was yesterday remanded in custody to March 30 by a Harare magistrate.

Hwende was arrested on Tuesday at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport while coming from Namibia.

The MP, who was represented by Harrison Nkomo appeared before magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa, who remanded him in custody, pending indictment at the High Court.

Nkomo complained that his client was arrested mid-air while aboard Air Namibia by police officers who were tracking him, saying it breached international laws since the accused was not in the jurisdiction of this country.

The lawyer also claimed that the police officers took his passport before he stamped and declared his passport, saying he wants to put it on record in case they want to charge him with violating immigration protocols.

Allegations are that sometime in December last year, Hwende posted Twitter messages that had the effect of inciting people to revolt against the government in his personal capacity as an opposition MP.

It is alleged that Hwendes posts incited the public to engage in mass protests characterised by violence and hooliganism, ostensibly to overthrow a constitutionally elected government.

The State alleges that the messages incited members of the public by announcing that 2019 should be the year of a final push to a new Zimbabwe. It is alleged Hwende said: We cannot continue on this trajectory of failure and kwashiorkor of leadership. Enough is enough. In January citizens must organise themselves for a complete shutdown of the country. Stay at home no one will shoot you.

Hwende allegedly further indicated that 2019 is the year of rolling mass action against the illegal regime of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, saying people voted for MDC leader Nelson Chamisa and people must be prepared to die defending their right to choose the president of choice.

The State also alleges that during the period between January 14 and 16, in response to Hwendes Twitter messages and other members of the opposition, various trade unions and pressure groups committed acts of violence and hooliganism countrywide.

As a result of the accused persons utterances nationwide public violence was committed by protesters that left members of the police and public injured, some losing their lives, the State alleges.

Charles Muchemwa appeared for the State.

 NewsDay

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest News
THE ruling Zanu PF Mashonaland West province has called for a meeting with WhatsApp administrators within its ranks to discuss what it called rampant and gross social media abuse in that province.

The alleged social media abuse by party members was directed at the leadership, provincial youth leader Vengai Musengi said in the letter inviting the administrators for a March 9 meeting.

We have noted with concern the rampant and gross social media abuse in Mashonaland West Zanu PF structures where party members are disrespecting and vilifying leaders through politics of patronage.

Disciplinary measures will be taken against those found on the wrong side of the law, Musengi said in a letter dated March 5, 2019 that went viral on social media yesterday.

The letter calls on members to use social media to build and not destroy the party.

Musengi said the Mashonaland West Zanu PF WhatsApp administrators meeting, the first of its kind, would be held at their provincial headquarters in Chinhoyi.

 NewsDay

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest News
By Wolf Richter, a San Francisco based executive, entrepreneur, start up specialist, and author, with extensive international work experience. Originally published at Wolf Street

Exports increase economic activity as measured by GDP; and imports do the opposite, they reduce GDP though they tend to increase corporate profits  or else why would Corporate America run its supply chains around the world? So a trade deficit is a net negative for the economy. And this is what we got today from the Commerce Department:

US trade deficit in goods jumped by 10.4% , or by $84 billion to $891 billion, after having jumped 7.5% in 2017 (to $552 billion). Worst trade deficit in goods ever.

, or by $84 billion to $891 billion, after having jumped 7.5% in 2017 (to $552 billion). Worst trade deficit in goods ever. US trade surplus in services improved by 5.9% or by $15 billion, to $270 billion, edging out the prior record of 2015.

or by $15 billion, to $270 billion, edging out the prior record of 2015. US trade deficit in goods and services jumped 12.4%, or by $69 billion, to $621.0 billion, after it had already jumped by 10% in 2017. The worst trade deficit in goods and services since 2008.

Exports of goods and services rose by $149 billion to $2.5 trillion, as imports surged by $218 billion to $3.12 trillion. The chart shows the annual trade deficit in goods and services (red columns) versus the deficit in goods only (black line):

The Goods Deficit

Exports of goods increased by $118 billion in 2018, to $1.67 trillion. One third of this increase was the $39-billion increase in exports of crude oil and petroleum products.

Imports of goods rose by $202 billion to $2.56 trillion. The largest categories of imports:

Capital goods (computers, electrical equipment, etc. but not automotive): +8.2% to $693 billion

Industrial supplies and materials (including crude oil): +13% to $576 billion

Consumer goods, except automotive: +7.6% to $647 billion

Automotive vehicles and components: +4% to $372 billion

Food, feeds, and beverages: +7%, to $147 billion

A special word about pharmaceutical preparations, the legal kind: imports surged 21% to $134 billion. This is now the largest sub-category of Consumer Goods  because more and more of your prescription drugs are made in other countries. In 2016, pharma products blew past cellphones, currently the second largest category, stagnating at around $108 billion.

Below are the 14 countries with which the US has the largest trade deficits in goods (services not included). I put China and Hong Kong together since a lot of merchandise is transshipped and/or invoiced via Hong Kong. I included the EU (purple bar) for memo purposes, though it is not a country and though some member states are also included in the chart:

Some special words about the countries with which the US has the largest goods trade deficits:

China and Hong Kong : the deficit soared 13.5%, or by $45 billion, to a phenomenal $388 billion, after having jumped 7% in 2017. Imports rose by $33 billion, and exports actually dropped by $13 billion.

: the deficit soared 13.5%, or by $45 billion, to a phenomenal $388 billion, after having jumped 7% in 2017. Imports rose by $33 billion, and exports actually by $13 billion. Mexico : the deficit increased by $10.5 billion, as imports and exports surged by 10.2% and 9.1% respectively.

: the deficit increased by $10.5 billion, as imports and exports surged by 10.2% and 9.1% respectively. Germany : the deficit remained about flat.

: the deficit remained about flat. Japan: the deficit declined a smidgen, by $3 billion.

The opaque nature of trade dealings  transshipments, trade invoicing, tax issues, etc.  along with issues of ports of entry, etc., can produce peculiar results. For instance, the US had a trade surplus of $25 billion with the Netherlands and of $14 billion with Belgium, and not because the end-users of US products are in the Netherlands and Belgium. And the US had a huge trade deficit of $47 billion with tiny Ireland (up from $38 billion in 2017) where many US companies shelter part of their profits from US taxes.

The chart below shows US imports (red) and exports (black), in order of the trade deficit:

Here are the ratios of imports to exports by top country. A value of 1 means that trade is balanced, with imports equaling exports. A value of 3.5 means that US imports from the country are 3.5 times the size of US exports to that country:

China/Hong Kong: 3.5

Germany: 2.2

Japan: 1.9

Mexico: 1.5

Canada: 1.1 (trade in goods is almost balanced).

This indicates that the US has a booming bilateral trade in goods with Canada that is almost balanced. If services are included, the trade relationship is balanced.

It also shows that Corporate America has routed its supply chain so deeply into China that by now 3.5 times as many goods are imported from China to the US than are exported from the US to China.

Corporate America is largely responsible for the trade deficit. No one forces companies to run their supply chains through China and around the world. Incentives in the US tax code and cheap labor overseas make it very profitable.

While the systems in China, Japan, and Germany coddle their local exporters, and impede imports, the US system does the opposite: It coddles US importers, and they range across the spectrum, from Walmart and GM to Apple and Pfizer. And these importers ruthlessly take advantage of what the system offers them.
Yves here. I found this article more than a bit frustrating, in that it didnt clarify the legal and medical issues regarding ordering drugs from foreign suppliers. Im not sure whether this is due to the author being too close to the subject matter or a Kaiser Health News editorial stance of not getting very much into the weeds.

One matter it glosses over is the relationships among the patient, the physician providing the Rx, and the pharmacy. There is a legitimate concern with foreign online pharmacies in that some (many?) will authorize a drug prescription using an affiliated doctor when the doctor has made no exam of the patient, no review of records, and typically is simply authorizing a patient request. Having patients self prescribe is not a hot idea. The question then becomes what if any legitimate means there are for US patients to have their medical conditions validated by a non-US doctor if the foreign doctor has never examined the US patient.

A second matter is that the US has made it illegal to re-import drugs. This is a clear sop to the pharmaceutical industry, but is nevertheless a bar to ordering from Canada, since most of the drugs are likely to be of US origin.

A third, which the article alludes to, is whether the foreign pharmacy is selling bona fide drugs. There have already been scandals in the US drug distribution network with drugs getting into supply that were repackaged to hide the fact that they were past their sell-by date or to show a higher potency. If a foreign pharmacy is so outside the law that it has captive MDs writing scrips for whatever the patient wants, why should anyone expect the drugs to be any good?

I say this as someone who regularly gets a prescription medication from Australia. But I deal with a doctor who has examined me and get it shipped from one of the big drug store chains. But it goes without saying that Americans go to these lengths only because drug companies are allowed to charge what the market will bear, which is not surprisingly quite a lot, while in every other advanced economy, governments bargain hard for better prices.

By Phil Galewitz, Senior Correspondent for Kaiser Health News, who has covered the health beat for more than two decades. He is a former board member of the Association of Health Care Journalists. In 2004/05, he was a Kaiser Media Fellow and wrote about community solutions to the uninsured. Before coming to KHN, he was at The Palm Beach Post and was a national health industry writer for the Associated Press. Originally published at Kaiser Health News

Cities and local governments in several states said they will continue to use a Canadian company to offer employees prescription drugs at a highly reduced price, even though federal officials raised safety concerns about the practice last week.

The municipalities use CanaRx, which connects their employees with brick-and-mortar pharmacies in Canada, Great Britain and Australia to fill prescriptions.

In a letter Thursday to CanaRx, the Food and Drug Administration said the company has sent unapproved and misbranded drugs to U.S. consumers, jeopardizing their safety.

The FDA urged consumers not to use any medicines from CanaRx, which works with about 500 cities, counties, school districts and private employers to arrange drug purchases. Some of these employers have used the service as far back as 2004.

Prices of drugs from overseas pharmacies can be as much as 70 percent lower than what people pay in the U.S. because the costs are regulated by the foreign governments.

FDA officials would not explain why they waited more than a decade to act. They acknowledged the agency had no reports of anyone harmed by drugs received through CanaRx.

The FDA made its warning as Congress and the Trump administration look into ways to lower drug prices. Last month, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said he has President Donald Trumps backing to start a programto begin importing drugs from Canada for state residents.

After DeSantis comments, White House officials stressed that any such plan must get state and federal approvals.

The FDA said that in most cases importing drugs for personal use is illegal, although it very rarely has tried to stop Americans from bringing drugs across the Canadian border. It has not stopped retail stores in Florida that help consumers buy drugs from Canada since 2003. Nine storefronts were raided by FDA officials in 2017, although the FDA has allowed them to continue operating.

Schenectady County in New York, which has worked with CanaRx since 2004, defended its relationship and had no immediate plans to end it, according to Chris Gardner, the county attorney. We will wait to see how this plays out, but right now its status quo, Gardner said.

He said CanaRx, which is headquartered in Windsor, Ontario, helped the county save $500,000 on drug costs in 2018. About 25 percent of the countys 1,200 workers use the program and get their drugs with no out-of-pocket costs. If they use American pharmacies, they generally have a copayment.

This is a good program, and on the merits it looks lawful, and they are not doing the terrible things that the FDA is suggesting, Gardner said.

CanaRx officials denied they were breaking any laws or putting Americans health at risk. They say they are not an online pharmacy but a broker between brick-and-mortar pharmacies in Canada, Australia and Great Britain and U.S. employees. People can buy drugs via CanaRx only with a prescription from their doctor.

The company said it has no plans to stop distributing drugs.

The FDAs characterizations of the CanaRx business model and operating protocols are completely wrong, said Joseph Morris, a Chicago-based lawyer for the company. It is not possible to place an order via any CanaRx website; the websites are informational only.

Morris said the FDA notice prompted calls from many municipalities but all so far say they plan to stick with the company.

Columbia County, N.Y., has been using CanaRx for about a decade and the savings allows it to offer employees drugs with no out-of-pocket costs instead of paying up to a $40 copay in local pharmacies.

This is bull, Stephen Acciani, an insurance broker who works with the county, said of the FDA crackdown. They are not selling unsafe medications. His recommendation would be for the county, which has more than 600 employees on its health plan, to continue using CanaRx.

He noted that employees receive drugs through the mail in their original packaging from manufacturers.

Kate Sharry, a benefits consultant to the city of Fall River, Mass., and more than 100 other municipalities in Massachusetts, said, It will give some clients pause. How can you not pay attention to this from the FDA? But she expects the local governments to stay with CanaRx.

Federal health officials under both Republican and Democratic administrations have blocked efforts to legalize importing drugs, saying its too risky.

Sometimes a bargain is too expensive, said Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner and president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a New York-based nonprofit that receives some of its funding from drugmakers.

Pitts, who applauded the FDA action, said its difficult for consumers to know when their pills from foreign pharmacies dont have the correct potency or ingredients. He said doctors may also not realize a patients problem stems from issues with the medicine. Instead, the physicians may just change the medications dosages. He said it is not safe for Americans to buy drugs that are imported through foreign pharmacies.

Gabriel Levitt, president of PharmacyChecker.com, a website for U.S. consumers that verifies international pharmacies offering drugs online, said CanaRx is one of the safest ways for Americans to get drugs from legitimate pharmacies in Canada and other industrialized counties.

He said the FDA is trying to intimidate CanaRx and its local government clients. My biggest fear is they will scare consumers and they wont take their very safe and effective medications because they hear about this bogus warning.

The FDAs action, which appears to try and make those programs look unsafe and sinister, seem to have a political and public relations purpose, one that is perfectly allied with the lobbying agenda of drug companies, he said.

He pointed to testimony by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb last week  just a day before the CanaRx warning. When asked about importing Canadian drugs, Gottlieb did not mention CanaRx, but he said that people going to a brick and mortar pharmacy in Canada are getting a safe and effective drug. I have confidence in the Canadian drug regulatory system. He added that his concerns are with online pharmacies.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the industry trade and lobbying group, cheered the FDA action but denied it had any role in it, said spokeswoman Nicole Longo.

PhRMA supports the FDAs efforts to crack down on organizations that are circumventing its robust safety and efficacy requirements, she said. Drug importation schemes expose Americans to potentially unsafe, counterfeit or adulterated medicines.
Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in an armchair discussion at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Convention in Toronto on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's apology to Inuit has been delayed by a winter storm that is keeping his plane from landing in Iqaluit.

The prime minister was going to say the government is sorry for mistreating Inuit who went south for tuberculosis care in the middle of the last century, some of whom died and were buried rather than being returned to their families.

But the weather has diverted him to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L., where he'll pause before making another attempt to get to Iqaluit later today.

The event has been tentatively rescheduled for early evening, if Trudeau can be there.

The apology has been in the works for the better part of two years since Trudeau signed an Inuit-Crown partnership agreement in 2017.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the organization that speaks for Inuit in Nunavut, has said it wants to help family members locate burial sites of those who died during tuberculosis treatment from the 1940s through the 1960s and whose bodies were buried in southern Canada.
A recent article in Inside Higher Ed argued that We need to abolish the Harvard M.B.A degree for the good of the people who pursue that path, as well as the world at large.

This is a nice sentiment, but the problem is bigger than the Harvard MBA, or even MBAs generally.

The underlying problem is increasingly mercenary values in society, and the rising popularity of MBA programs was more a symptom than a cause. The reason I am pretty sure the causality runs largely the other way is that it was during the 1980s that societal values moved in a big way towards valuing profits and markets over relationships and communities. This in turn was the product of a long-running, well-funded effort by then extreme right wingers to undo the New Deal and make prevailing views in the US more friendly to Corporate America. The strategy for that project was set forth in the 1971 Powell memo.

It is true that the explosion in MBA programs, and the number considered to be high quality, has exploded since I was a kid. Then, the prestigious names were Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and Chicago, and for Wall Street jobs, you could add Columbia. Since then, a raft of programs considered second-tier (Darden, Sloan, Tuck, Yale, Kellogg) are now seen as close to on a par with the glam programs.

The resulting growth in the number of people getting MBAs who expected to earn big bucks in turn led to MBAs colonizing not for profits like hospital and higher education administration. That in turn has led to societal harm like the corporatization of medicine (see Health Care Renewal for a long-form treatment) and less and less university revenue going to teaching, and more to turning the schools into hedge funds with educational arms attached to them.

Tolerance for misconduct also rose. It would have been inconceivable in the 1960s that someone who had gone to prison, like Mike Milken, could ever recover any semblance of respectability. Admittedly, Harvard Business School did go through a bout of navel-gazing after some alumni were involved in 1980s scandals. But the school then determined that students moral compasses were set long before they went to grad school. HBS resolved to enroll more ethical students, but that sounded like a silly idea, since the crooked types would figure out what to say.

Similarly, just having more MBAs out there doing whatever they do is probably a bad thing because studying economics, even thinking about economics, makes people less compassionate, and MBA logic is economic logic with a little less jargon.

But as the same time, theres corruption in fields where MBAs are scarce to non-existent. Look at scientific publication. As Dr. Marcia Angell, who had been the editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, wrote in 2009:

It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor.

However, MBAs were positioned to benefit most from the rise of Greed is good. And the fact that economists promoted the idea that companies existed to increase shareholder value, a made-up idea with no legal foundation, led to equity-linked executive pay, which led to its explosive rise.

And the rise in MBAs is directly related to the increase in inequality. The 0.1% consists largely of hedge fund and private equity managers, fields colonized by MBAs. The 1% is the domain of CEOs and top professionals.

Now we get to the second beef about the Harvard MBA, that it makes people miserable, as confirmed by Charles Duhiggs report on his 15 year reunion.

Again, the causality is backwards. Most people are miserable. The great world religions main purpose is to reconcile mortals to the inevitability of suffering. Money does not make you happier once a certain (not all that high) level of income is met.

On top of that, highly unequal societies are unhappy societies. Stress is high, even at the top, because if you fall, your decline in status is great and you are almost certain to lose all of your former supposed friends. Most MBAs live in worlds where the gradients are high.

The Victor Frankl school is that what keeps people going is having creative work they consider to be important or a strong personal relationship. MBAs, almost by definition, are not creative in the Frankl sense (as in artists, writers, scientists). They have (hopefully) average to high intelligence and decent social skills along with being sufficiently organized and responsible to be allowed to be in charge of things.

MBA programs select for ambition, and then the competitiveness of most schools plus the pressure cooker of the most sought-after recruiters further encourages graduates to invest in their careers at the expense of their personal lives. And despite the plush settings and lofty pay, the substance of many MBA jobs isnt that great. A classic scene from Frank Partnoys book Fiasco has the members of the Morgan Stanley derivatives team saying to a person that they hate their work, theyd rather do anything else, even dig ditches.as long as they could make the same amount of money.

But things may have gotten even worse by virtue of younger people being over-coddled and over-praised and having even less realistic expectations for their adult life. For instance, in an essay I hope to address soon, the author wrote, I came into my job as a McKinsey consultant hoping to change the world from the inside I think he sincerely meant that. I would not be surprised to learn that McKinsey made a sales pitch along those lines.

In my day, (mid 1980s), if anyone had said that, they would have been seen as a nutter. One of my friends who wound up being the first woman partner in M&A on Wall Street, said of her job, Its indoor work. A job at an elite firm was understood to confer high wages, respectability, and good downside protection if it didnt work out. If you wanted to change the world, join the Peace Corps.

So Im not surprised to learn that most MBAs are unhappy, and I suspect that unhappiness is much more pervasive these days due to 24/7 demands on just about everyone and much greater career instability. I do know some people in my peer group who seems happy, and a couple that I think are genuinely happy. But they had the same temperament when they were young. But many people who get MBAs, particularly the sort that winds up at McKinsey, are insecure overachievers. So their dissatisfaction should come as no surprise. Those highs of meeting a goal are short-lived and the underlying anxiety resurfaces pretty quickly.
Climate change forces Arctic animals to shift feeding habits: study Agence France-Presse

Hero Pilot Orders Pizza For Stranded Plane Passengers Grub Street (J-LS)

Our planet just set a scary new carbon dioxide record Grist

Microplastic pollution revealed absolutely everywhere by new research Guardian (David L)

Jibo, the $899 Social Robot, Tells Owners in Farewell Address That Its VC Overlords Have Remote-Killswitched It Boing Boing

Why Napalm Is a Cautionary Tale for Tech Giants Pursuing Military Contracts New York Times

40% of A.I. start-ups in Europe have almost nothing to do with A.I., research finds CNBC

Neuroscience Readies for a Showdown Over Consciousness Ideas Quanta Magazine (David L)

Why Do We Need Sleep? Israeli Scientists Solve the Mystery Haaretz (David L)

China?

Brexit

Venezuela

New Cold War

Rules of the Cyber Road for America and Russia Joseph Nye, Project Syndicate (David L)

Syraqistan

What is HAMAS? Sic Semper Tyrannis (resilc)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Google Tool Lets Any AI App Learn Without Taking All Your Data CNET. And this is supposed to be reassuring? Your device wont send your browsing history showing you like opera and porn, it will just report that you like opera and porn. Mark Zuckerberg Says Facebook Will Shift To Emphasize Encrypted Ephemeral Messages The Verge

Trump Transition

Bernie Sanders defends Ilhan Omar, says we must not equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of Israels right-wing government Business Insider (resilc)

2020

The Forces Arrayed Against Bernie  Before He Faces Trump DownwithTyranny! (RR)

Black Injustice Tipping Point

Fake News

Teen who vaccinated himself says anti-vaxx Mom gets misinformation from Facebook USA Today

MMT

A thorough defense of Modern Monetary Theory Boing Boing (furzy)

Uber escapes criminal charges for 2018 self-driving death in Arizona ars technica (PlutoniumKun)

Production to cease at Ohio GM plant operating for more than 50 years The Hill (resilc)

Some advertisers are quitting Facebook, chiding the companys despicable business model CNBC

Guillotine Watch

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour (martha r, from @AmericanIndian8): Polar bear & field of fireweed at sunset Northern Canadas Hudson Bay.

And a bonus (guurst):

Baby dragon  pic.twitter.com/zgjcF3bUe6  Nature is Amazing  (@AMAZlNGNATURE) February 19, 2019

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Nature has manufactured the perfect machines. Only the fastest, toughest, and most cunning creatures have endured. We examine how animals have evolved and how we can benefit from their evolution.

Sundays from 8:30pm AEDT.
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will travel to Warsaw, on Thursday, 7 and Friday 8 March 2019 where he will have bilateral meetings with the President of the Republic, Mr. Andrzej Duda and the Prime Minister Mr. Mateusz Morawiecki.

The Secretary General will also attend a leadership retreat of the European Peoples Party (EPP) where he will deliver a speech.

He will then, together with the Minister of Foreign affairs, Mr. Jacek Czaputowicz, address a conference organized by the Polish Institute of International Affairs with the German Marshall Fund of the United States entitled Delivering on the Promise of Europe Whole, Free and at Peace.

Media advisory

Thursday, 7 March

18:00 Secretary General joint press statement with the Polish President  Presidential Palace Belweder

Friday, 8 March

10:15 Secretary General addresses the Conference organised by the Polish Institute of International Affairs with the German Marshall Fund of the United States

The joint press statement as well as the remarks at the Polish Institute of International Affairs will be streamed live on the NATO website.

Photographs and video of the events will be available afterwards on the NATO website.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress, @jensstoltenberg and @NATO)
(As delivered)

President Duda,

Andrzej,

It is a really great to be back in Poland to meet with you, and as you just said this is the third time we meet this year. And I really appreciate this opportunity to once again address some of the most demanding security challenges we all are faced with.

2019 is the year when we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of NATO. But also the year when we celebrate that its 20 years since Poland joined the Alliance.

And over the past two decades, Poland has shown again and again your strong commitment to our transatlantic bond and to our NATO Alliance.

You do that in many different ways by contributing to our shared security and to our collective defence by having Polish troops part of our Enhanced forward Presence in Latvia.

And you are also participating and contributing to NATOs tailored forward presence in Romania.

And then Polish planes help to keep the skies safe because you are part of the NATO Air Policing over Lithuania.

And then Poland also supports NATO partners in many different ways. You contribute to NATO missions and operations. Polish troops serve in Afghanistan, helping to fight terrorism.

And Poland is also contributing with trainers to our training mission in Iraq. And you are participating in our presence in Kosovo, helping to stabilise that region.

So we are extremely grateful for all the contributions Poland is providing to NATO every day.

At the same time what we have seen over the last two decades is that also NATO is increasing its presence in Poland. We have the battlegroup in Poland  the high readiness battlegroup. We have a new US armoured brigade, rotational presence in Poland. And then we have increased our presence in the Baltic Sea. And Poland is also hosting one of the sites for NATOs missile defence.

On top of that we also know that we have more exercises proving that we have increased the readiness of our forces so we can quickly reinforce if needed. And all of this is sending a very strong message of unity, of commitment and of resolve of all NATO Allies, and that we stand together. We keep the peace and we protect each other.

I want to thank Poland especially for what we do when it comes to defence spending.

You are leading by example. You allocate 2% of GDP to defence. And you are right that I mentioned that this is important, not least because we see that the GDP of Poland is growing, so you are allocating more money for defence every year.

We also know that in an uncertain world, we need to invest more in defence.

And the Polish investments in defence is also helping to improve burden-sharing within the NATO Alliance.

President Duda,

We just discussed some of the current security challenges we are faced with, including the fact that Russia is violating the INF Treaty.

And the INF Treaty has been a cornerstone for European security for decades.

Now we see that Russia is deploying new missiles, SSC-8 missiles, which are mobile, hard to detect, nuclear-capable, and can reach European cities with little or no warning time. And by doing so, they also reduce the threshold for any potential use of nuclear weapons in a conflict.

So we continue to call on Russia to come back into compliance with the INF Treaty, to respect this cornerstone Treaty for all of us.

But also, we need to be prepared, and we have started the planning, for a world without the INF Treaty and with more Russian missiles.

It is too early to say the outcome of this process in NATO. But what I can say is that our response will be measured, it will coordinated as a NATO Alliance, and we dont have any intentions of deploying new nuclear missiles, land-based missiles, in Europe.

We also discussed Afghanistan, where our troops have served for many years.

We support the peace efforts. We are there to create the conditions for peace. To send a clear message to the Taliban that they will not win on the battlefield, but they have to sit down at the negotiating table and reach a political agreement.

For any peace to be sustainable, it will need to be built on the achievements that have been made in recent years, including on human rights and the rights of women.

So Mr. President, it is always a great pleasure to meet with you and it is always a great pleasure to address common security challenges together with you.

And I am honoured and proud to be here together with you and to mark the 20th anniversary of Poland joining the NATO Alliance.

So once again, thank you so much.
(Natural News) Now that the full truth is finally coming out about the Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax, its high time to hold the mainstream media and its Leftist minions responsible for spreading this obviously fake news as if it was real.

Had all of these so-called journalists who believed Smollett without verifying any of his wild claims actually looked into the matter, they would have realized that Smollett had previously sent himself a fake racist letter, which failed to gain the level of publicity that he had hoped.

Upset that this fake letter didnt achieve for himself the victim status that he was aiming for, Smollett then paid his two Nigerian buddies $3,500 each to lynch him as he left a Chicago Subway restaurant at 2 a.m., sandwich in hand. Smollett then, as the world is now fully aware, proceeded to blame this fake lynching on Trump supporters whom he falsely claimed were wearing Make America Great Again hats.

When the letter didnt get enough attention, [Smollett] concocted the staged attack, a corroborated source told CBS 2 investigator Brad Edwards.

For more news about false flag attacks like this that were staged as part of an agenda to frame President Donald Trump and his supporters, be sure to check out FalseFlag.news and Faked.news.

President Trump is right: Fake news is a bigger problem than anyone could have imagined

All these mainstream media hacks needed to do to either verify or debunk Smolletts claims was to contact Chicagos Cinespace Studios, where Smolletts Empire show is filmed, to determine the source of the fake racist letter that Smollett says was sent to him, along with a white substance that later turned out to be ground-up aspirin.

Had they done this, they could have easily put two and two together and determined that Smollett was the source of both the letter and the attack, his motive being to victimize himself for 15 minutes of fame. But instead, they gobbled down and digested Smolletts fictitious claims, and spread them around as reality.

Its the reason why increasingly fewer Americans trust anything they see or hear on the news, because very little of this news is actually real. Once-trusted news outlets like The Washington Post have once again proven that they are unable or unwilling to fact-check anything anymore, especially when it paints President Trump and everyone who supports him in a negative light.

Another glaring piece of evidence against Smolletts made-up story about being attacked that the mainstream media completely ignored was a play he had just read for entitled, Take Me Out. This play features a gay character who is attacked using the same racial slurs Smollett told police his attackers screamed at him, including f****t and n****r.'

In other words, Smollett ripped the subject matter straight from Take Me Out and used it to make up his own story about being attacked, which the mainstream media then parroted without fact-checking any of it. And chances are Smollett will continue this charade, even though hes now been exposed and publicly shamed, claiming that hes still somehow a victim in all of this.

Once Smollett is charged, he will almost certainly try to play the sympathy race card by publicly confessing to staging the whole thing, says Mike Adams, the Health Ranger. Importantly, this public confession will be paired with a tripling down on self-victimization: Smollett, I predict, will blame Trump for making me do it.'

Victimology is now the specialty of the deranged, delusional Left. These are people who dont know how to create economic abundance, run a business in a sustainable way or produce anything of value for society. Instead, they become experts in victimhood, and they play the victim card to its fullest, Adams adds.

Be sure to listen to the full podcast with Adams discussing the Smollett hoax at Brighteon.com.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

ZeroHedge.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The risk of having high uric acid  a condition known as hyperuricemia  increases with age. As a natural solution, researchers from Sungshin Womens University and Korea Food Research Institute in South Korea recommend using soy vinegar brewed from fermented soybeans.

In their study, they looked at the potential hypouricemic and antioxidant activities of fermented soy vinegar in hyperuricemic mice. They induced hyperuricemia in mice by administering potassium oxonate. Then, they treated the mice with 100, 200, or 400 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) body weight of soy vinegar extract once a day for seven days.

Soy vinegar extracts contain free isoflavones, ubiquinones, gamma-aminobutyric acid, gallic acid, and acetic acid. The researchers found that treatment with soy vinegar extract reduced the level of uric acid in a dose-dependent manner. Soy vinegar extract worked by reducing uric acid production through xanthine oxidase inhibition and increasing uric acid excretion through uricase activity in hyperuricemic mice. In addition, the supplementation with soy vinegar extract improved antioxidant enzyme activities in the liver.

These results, which were published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, suggest that supplementation with soy vinegar extracts can prevent the development of hyperuricemia and reduce oxidative stress in the liver. From these findings, the researchers conclude that fermented soy vinegar may be used as a natural treatment for high uric acid.

Hyperuricemia affects 43.3 million Americans. Uric acid forms when purines break down in the body. Purines are chemicals found in certain foods, such as red meat, organ meat, seafood, and beans. Normally, the body eliminates uric acid through urination. However, when the body makes too much uric acid or cant excrete enough of it, hyperuricemia occurs. Elevated uric acid levels can lead to crystal formation, typically in and around the joints (causing gout) and in the kidneys (causing kidney stones). The immune system may attack these crystals, which in turn, causes inflammation and pain. Elevated uric acid levels are also linked to health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease.

Other ways to naturally lower uric acid in the body

You can naturally reduce uric acid levels in your body by:

Avoiding or limiting intake of foods rich in purine: Purine-rich foods include organ meats, pork, turkey, fish and shellfish, scallops, mutton, veal, cauliflower, green peas, dried beans, and mushrooms.

Purine-rich foods include organ meats, pork, turkey, fish and shellfish, scallops, mutton, veal, cauliflower, green peas, dried beans, and mushrooms. Avoid alcohol: Alcohol consumption can make you more dehydrated and can trigger high uric acid levels. Some alcoholic beverages like beer also contain high purine levels.

Alcohol consumption can make you more dehydrated and can trigger high uric acid levels. Some alcoholic beverages like beer also contain high purine levels. Cut out sugars: Studies have also shown that sugar may contribute to elevated uric acid levels. Avoid sugary foods and drinks and eat more whole foods and fewer refined packaged foods and drink more water instead.

Studies have also shown that sugar may contribute to elevated uric acid levels. Avoid sugary foods and drinks and eat more whole foods and fewer refined packaged foods and drink more water instead. Eat more fiber-rich foods: Eating more fiber-rich foods, such as oats, nuts, and barley, will help the body eliminate uric acid and help regulate blood sugar and insulin levels. Health experts recommend eating at least five to 10 grams (g) of soluble fiber a day.

Eating more fiber-rich foods, such as oats, nuts, and barley, will help the body eliminate uric acid and help regulate blood sugar and insulin levels. Health experts recommend eating at least five to 10 grams (g) of soluble fiber a day. Increase your vitamin C intake: Research shows that vitamin C can also help eliminate uric acid in the body and reduce inflammation. To increase your vitamin C levels, eat foods such as citrus fruits, strawberries, broccoli, bell peppers, cabbage, tomato juice, and guava.

Research shows that vitamin C can also help eliminate uric acid in the body and reduce inflammation. To increase your vitamin C levels, eat foods such as citrus fruits, strawberries, broccoli, bell peppers, cabbage, tomato juice, and guava. Lose those extra pounds: Being overweight or obese also contribute to high uric acid levels. This is because fat cells make more uric acid than muscle cells. It also makes it more difficult for your kidneys to filter out uric acid.

Being overweight or obese also contribute to high uric acid levels. This is because fat cells make more uric acid than muscle cells. It also makes it more difficult for your kidneys to filter out uric acid. Practice a healthy lifestyle: Learning to manage your stress, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly will help fight inflammation, which triggers high uric acid. (Related: Acupuncture found to help normalize uric acid levels, reduce risk of gout and kidney damage.)

Read more news stories and studies on natural treatments for hyperuricemia by going to FoodIsMedicine.com.

Sources include:

Science.news

Healthline.com 1

Healthline.com 2
(Natural News) Many people dont know this, but its impossible to be both pro-life and pro-vaccine. Thats because fresh tissue from aborted human babies is absolutely essential, according to vaccine industry scientists, for researching and developing new vaccines.

Speaking before a recent congressional hearing about the alleged need for continued federal funding, Sally Temple, the former president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, made the claim that aborted baby body parts are unique, and that theres no alternative replacement as it concerns vaccine creation.

She contends that chop shop fetal remains collected from baby butcher mills like Planned Parenthood are a critical part of the process of developing models that encompass the most complete human immune system.

Currently, the best models are the ones that use fetal tissue, Temple stated plainly before members of Congress.

For more related news about vaccines and abortion, be sure to check out Vaccines.news and Abortions.news.

Vaccine scientists are using aborted baby body parts to create mutant test mice

One of the heinous things these unborn baby butchers are doing with aborted baby body parts is splicing them with mice in order to test new pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

Known as Hu-BLT, these humanized mutant mice are used in experiments to test the safety and effectiveness of drugs like Truvada (emtricitabine / tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), an HIV medication commonly prescribed for pre-exposure prophylaxis.

These mice have been critical for the development of Truvada, said Temple, whose organization advocating fetal and embryo stem-cell work has received $6 million in federal funding over the past three years, reports GreenMedInfo.

Truvada is a preventative drug for healthy high-risk sexually active homosexual and bisexual men to prevent HIV transmission.

Aborted babies are still used to create MMR, DTaP-IPV, hepatitis A, and chickenpox vaccines

In addition to Truvada, there are also a whole slew of vaccines for which these mutant mice embedded with aborted human fetal tissue are used for testing purposes. According to Temple, it wouldnt even be possible to develop vaccines without first aborting human babies and harvesting their tissue.

The cell lines that are used to make vaccines are valuable, but in order to make the original prototype vaccine, that requires these humanized models in many cases, shes quoted as saying.

The two particular cell lines shes referring to, here, known as MRC-5 and WI-38, are obtained from the lung tissue of mature aborted babies. They continue to be used in the development of a number of common childhood vaccines, including those for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR); diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and polio (DtaP-IPV); hepatitis A; and chickenpox.

MRC-5 and WI-38 were actually first collected from the bodies of aborted babies back in the 1960s and 1970s, as a deposition taken this year from vaccine developer Stanley Plotkin revealed that more than 70 aborted babies were needed as part of the harvest for just one of the two cell lines.

Planned Parenthood continues to illegally sell aborted baby body parts to Big Pharma for cash profit

Vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturers continue to obtain aborted baby body parts for their ongoing research projects from none other than Planned Parenthood, which an in-depth, undercover Center for Medical Progress (CMP) sting operation revealed has been illegally profiting from for decades.

While the Trump Administration has somewhat cracked down on the practice since the series of CMP videos was released, theres still tax money being disbursed for such research, which various conservative politicians are trying to bring to an end.

What my constituents have a problem with is using their tax dollars to buy baby brains and baby eyes to do research when they find it abhorrent, stated Representative Mark Meadows, a Republican from North Carolina, at the conclusion of this same congressional hearing.

Do you not see why we have this issue? You know we spent $25,000 on 30 pairs of eyes and 15 of those were past 20 weeks in gestation. Do you see the conundrum that we are in?

Sources for this article include:

GreenMedInfo.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The American Left, now in full control of the misnamed Democratic Party, has launched an all-out assault against the Trump administration, the president himself, against our Constitution and our republic as founded.

The latest evidence is embodied in the effort to prevent the administration from including a question about immigration status in the 2020 Census, which is due to launch in less than two years.

A federal judge on the 9th Circuit, an Obama appointee, ruled Wednesday that the administration doesnt have the authority to impose the question, though of course, it does because the law governing the administration of the constitutionally required census count every decade is clear.

How clear? This clear: A question about citizenship status was included in every Census Bureau questionnaire until 1950, when the question of birthright country and current citizenship status was still asked but in a different way or on a form other than the one sent to all U.S. households.

And yet, according to U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California, the question is simply impermissible because Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (Commerce conducts the Census) didnt give a good reason for adding it.

You read that right. A federal judge actually ruled against the governments lawful, legal ability to define the Census questionnaire on the basis that he didnt believe the justification was good enough.

Oh, and because Trump and his team are nothing but racists and bigots who threaten our country.

Secretary Rosss reliance on Voting Rights Act enforcement to justify inclusion of the citizenship question was mere pretext and the definition of an arbitrary and capricious governmental act, Seeborg wrote in his ruling, claiming that including a citizenship question threatens the very foundation of our democratic system.

Moreover, Secretary Rosss conclusion that adding the citizenship question would enable the Census Bureau to obtain more complete and accurate data in response to the Justice Departments request is not only unsupported, it is directly contradicted by the scientific analysis contained in the Administrative Record, Seeborg continued.

California doesnt want to lose congressional seats

It isnt unexpected at all that yet another Left-wing judicial activist appointed by a Left-wing activist president would rule against the very Republican Trump administration. Whats shocking or, at least, should be, is the judges willful ignorance of the law and our founding principles.

America isnt a democracy though thats what the Left always calls our country. Its a representative republic; if it were a democracy, then wed have mob rule and we dont (yet).

Also, its not a federal judges place to decide whether an Executive Branch agency  the Justice Department and the Commerce Department, in this case  has shown justification for requesting certain information on the Census. The question is whether the Executive Branch is legally or constitutionally permitted to request and obtain it, and by all reasonable analyses of the Constitution and U.S. codes, the government most certainly does have an interest in determining who is and isnt in the country legally.

Whether people are in the country illegally or not doesnt even matter for the purposes of the Census; according to the Constitution and by law, every person must be counted, because thats how House seats are apportioned.

Which brings us to why the state of California filed this lawsuit.

If Judge Seeborg should be suspicious of any partys motives, it ought to be those of Californias Democrats. After turning the state into a giant illegal alien sanctuary, Democrats are afraid that a Census Bureau question asking about citizenship will lead many illegal aliens to avoid the questionnaire  thus cutting Californias representation in Congress, and likely preventing many illegals from voting. (Related: Confirmed: California is protecting over 5,000 illegal alien criminals by refusing to hand them over to federal authorities.)

This ruling, like all of them from the 9th Circuit, will be overturned once it reaches the Supreme Court because, again, the administration has every right to ask a citizenship question. The problem is will the case be adjudicated in time for the Census questionnaires to be printed and sent out?

Read more about how Democrats open borders policies are leading to a massive invasion of our country at OpenBorders.news and InvasionUSA.news.

Sources include:

TheGatewayPundit.com

TheNationalSentinel.com
(Natural News) When it comes to vaccinations, Big Pharma and government health agencies have no qualms about guilt-tripping people into agreeing to something that many of them might otherwise not accept. Bombarded with terms like herd immunity and community immunity, those of us who have serious questions about the safety of vaccines can become convinced that not allowing vaccinations for ourselves or our children is detrimental to the entire community and therefore just plain selfish.

However, is this a message based on sound science and spread for the greater good of all, or is it nothing more than propaganda designed to protect Big Pharmas BIG profits?

The theory of herd immunity

As explained by Natural Health 365, the concept of herd immunity is based on the theory that if at least 95 percent of all the people in any given community are vaccinated against a certain disease then all will be protected, even if the remaining 5 percent somehow slip through the cracks.

This might sound logical and sensible, but the facts dont back this theory up for the simple reason that nowhere near 95 percent of adult Americans are vaccinated.

As noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

Many adults in the United States have not received recommended vaccinations and racial/ethnic vaccination differences persist.

How many have not received their shots? It differs for each type of vaccination, but according to the CDCs most recent statistics, the numbers for many vaccines are alarmingly low if the theory of herd immunity is to be believed:

Influenza vaccination, adults over the age of 19: Between 37.2 and 44.8 percent.

Pneumococcal vaccination, adults between 19 and 64 years at increased risk: Between 18.5 and 24.0 percent.

Pneumococcal vaccination, adults over the age of 65: Between 59.8 and 66.9 percent.

Tdap vaccination, adults between 19 and 64: 8.2 to 28.0 percent.

Tdap vaccination, adults over 65: 8.0 to 20.4 percent.

Hepatitis A vaccination, all adults over the age of 19: Between 8.1 and 9.5 percent.

Hepatitis B vaccination, adults older than 19: 24.5 to 27.1.

Herpes zoster vaccination, adults over 60: From 14.4 to 33.4 percent.

HPV vaccination, females 19 to 26 years old: 20.7 to 48.5 percent.

HPV vaccination, males aged 19 to 26: 2.1 to 13.5 percent.

During the 2009-10 through the 2015-16 influenza seasons, less than half of adults over the age of 19 were vaccinated.

Natural Health 365 noted:

So somehow, despite the fact that the majority of U.S. adults arent properly vaccinated against most vaccine-preventable diseases, and despite the fact we are well below the threshold required for so-called herd immunity, we STILL arent seeing an epidemic of measles, hepatitis, tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. (Related: Vaccine propaganda isnt working  Research finds parents still saying NO to jab-pushing doctors.)

Whats the real driving force behind vaccination?

So, if 95 percent of people arent getting vaccinated and yet we arent seeing outbreaks of these diseases, we know there has to be another reason that government agencies and pharmaceutical companies keep insisting theyre necessary. That reason is simple: money.

According to the Global Research Centre for Research on Globalization, Technavio, one of the worlds leading technology research and advisory companies, has predicted that Big Pharma vaccine producers will pocket over $61 billion in profits by 2020. Back in 2016, they were already raking in $24 billion in profits from these products.

Former Merck & Co. employee, Brandy Vaughan, noted while speaking out against the introduction of Californias vaccine mandate bill, SB277:

The U.S. gives more vaccines than any other country in the world. Our childhood schedule for under the age of one has twice as many vaccines as other developed countries. What else do we have? The highest infant mortality rate of any developed nation. Finland has the lowest. They only give 11 by age six. 

What we have with vaccines is the highest profit margin pharmaceutical drug on the market. Drug companies make more money off vaccines than they do any other pharmaceutical drug, in terms of profit margin. There is a lack of rigorous safety studies. And they dont have the incentive to do them because they have no liability.

Still think its a good idea to protect community immunity through vaccination?

Learn more about the dangers of vaccines at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

NaturalHealth365.com

CDC.gov

GlobalResearch.ca
Photo: The Canadian Press Former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould walks from West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019.

The vice-chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says she would have welcomed the presence of Jody Wilson-Raybould as minister of Indigenous Services.

Heather Bear says she wonders if it would have been wise for the former minister to occupy this role in cabinet to help find solutions to problems Indigenous people face.

Wilson-Raybould was Canada's first Indigenous minister of justice.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former principal secretary Gerald Butts told the House of Commons justice committee that Wilson-Raybould was offered the Indigenous-services portfolio in January and rejected it because as a lifelong critic of the Indian Act, she didn't want to be the person administering it.

Butts said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau couldn't have a minister vetoing her own reassignment so Wilson-Raybould ended up as veterans-affairs minister instead, before resigning a month later amid the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand says it was "amazing" for Wilson-Raybould to be offered the opportunity as an Indigenous person, adding she would have brought valuable experience to the table including from her time as the B.C. regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations.
(Natural News) With vaccine fanaticism having now turned into a dangerous left-wing medical cult, its refreshing to hear a medical organization denouncing the dangerous idea of mandatory vaccines. Recently, The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons  an organization that supports vaccines in general  publicly denounced the pursuit of mandatory vaccination enforcement, correctly stating that there are no rigorous safety studies demonstrating vaccine safety.

The full statement from the AAPS is enlightening. Were reprinting it here, and as you read this, note that the AAPS is a pro-vaccine organization, yet the AAPS still respects the foundational concept of informed consent. While nearly everybody else in the medical system has turned into a mindless vaccine zombie who seeks to inject people with hazardous substances against their will, the AAPS reminds us that there are still some thoughtful individuals in the pro-vaccine camp who embrace the importance of public education and freedom of choice.

Here is their full statement:

To: Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, House Energy and Commerce Committee

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

Re: Statement federal vaccine mandates

Feb. 26, 2019

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) strongly opposes federal interference in medical decisions, including mandated vaccines. After being fully informed of the risks and benefits of a medical procedure, patients have the right to reject or accept that procedure. The regulation of medical practice is a state function, not a federal one. Governmental preemption of patients or parents decisions about accepting drugs or other medical interventions is a serious intrusion into individual liberty, autonomy, and parental decisions about child-rearing.

A public health threat is the rationale for the policy on mandatory vaccines. But how much of a threat is required to justify forcing people to accept government-imposed risks? Regulators may intervene to protect the public against a one-in-one million risk of a threat such as cancer from an involuntary exposure to a toxin, or-one-in 100,000 risk from a voluntary (e.g. occupational) exposure. What is the risk of death, cancer, or crippling complication from a vaccine? There are no rigorous safety studies of sufficient power to rule out a much lower risk of complications, even one in 10,000, for vaccines. Such studies would require an adequate number of subjects, a long duration (years, not days), an unvaccinated control group (placebo must be truly inactive such as saline, not the adjuvant or everything-but-the-intended-antigen), and consideration of all adverse health events (including neurodevelopment disorders).

Vaccines are necessarily risky, as recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court and by Congress. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has paid some $4 billion in damages, and high hurdles must be surmounted to collect compensation. The damage may be so devastating that most people would prefer restored function to a multimillion-dollar damage award.

The smallpox vaccine is so dangerous that you cant get it now, despite the weaponization of smallpox. Rabies vaccine is given only after a suspected exposure or to high-risk persons such as veterinarians. The whole-cell pertussis vaccine was withdrawn from the U.S. market, a decade later than from the Japanese market, because of reports of severe permanent brain damage. The acellular vaccine that replaced it is evidently safer, though somewhat less effective.

The risk: benefit ratio varies with the frequency and severity of disease, vaccine safety, and individual patient factors. These must be evaluated by patient and physician, not imposed by a government agency.

Measles is the much-publicized threat used to push for mandates, and is probably the worst threat among the vaccine-preventable illnesses because it is so highly contagious. There are occasional outbreaks, generally starting with an infected individual coming from somewhere outside the U.S. The majority, but by no means all the people who catch the measles have not been vaccinated. Almost all make a full recovery, with robust, life-long immunity. The last measles death in the U.S. occurred in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC). Are potential measles complications including death in persons who cannot be vaccinated due to immune deficiency a justification for revoking the rights of all Americans and establishing a precedent for still greater restrictions on our right to giveor withholdconsent to medical interventions? Clearly not.

Many serious complications have followed MMR vaccination, and are listed in the manufacturers package insert, though a causal relationship may not have been proved. According to a 2012 report by the Cochrane Collaboration, The design and reporting of safety outcomes in MMR vaccine studies, both pre- and post-marketing, are largely inadequate (cited by the National Vaccine Information Center).

Mandate advocates often assert a need for a 95% immunization rate to achieve herd immunity. However, Mary Holland and Chase Zachary of NYU School of Law argue, in the Oregon Law Review, that because complete herd immunity and measles eradication are unachievable, the better goal is for herd effect and disease control. The best outcome would result, they argue, from informed consent, more open communication, and market-based approaches.

Even disregarding adverse vaccine effects, the results of near-universal vaccination have not been completely positive. Measles, when it does occur, is four to five times worse than in pre-vaccination times, according to Lancet Infectious Diseases, because of the changed age distribution: more adults, whose vaccine-based immunity waned, and more infants, who no longer receive passive immunity from their naturally immune mother to protect them during their most vulnerable period.

Measles is a vexing problem, and more complete, forced vaccination will likely not solve it. Better public health measuresearlier detection, contact tracing, and isolation; a more effective, safer vaccine; or an effective treatment are all needed. Meanwhile, those who choose not to vaccinate now might do so in an outbreak, or they can be isolated. Immunosuppressed patients might choose isolation in any event because vaccinated people can also possibly transmit measles even if not sick themselves.

Issues that Congress must consider:

Manufacturers are virtually immune from product liability, so the incentive to develop safer products is much diminished. Manufacturers may even refuse to make available a product believed to be safer, such as monovalent measles vaccine in preference to MMR (measles-mumps-rubella). Consumer refusal is the only incentive to do better.

There are enormous conflicts of interest involving lucrative relationships with vaccine purveyors.

Research into possible vaccine adverse effects is being quashed, as is dissent by professionals.

There are many theoretical mechanisms for adverse effects from vaccines, especially in children with developing brains and immune systems. Note the devastating effects of Zika or rubella virus on developing humans, even though adults may have mild or asymptomatic infections. Many vaccines contain live viruses intended to cause a mild infection. Childrens brains are developing rapidlyany interference with the complex developmental symphony could be ruinous.

Vaccines are neither 100% safe nor 100% effective. Nor are they the only available means to control the spread of disease.

AAPS believes that liberty rights are unalienable. Patients and parents have the right to refuse vaccination, although potentially contagious persons can be restricted in their movements (e.g. as with Ebola), as needed to protect others against a clear and present danger. Unvaccinated persons with no exposure to a disease and no evidence of a disease are not a clear or present danger.

AAPS represents thousands of physicians in all specialties nationwide. It was founded in 1943 to protect private medicine and the patient-physician relationship.

Respectfully yours,

Jane M. Orient, M.D., Executive Director

Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

###

Where to learn more truth about vaccines

Read Vaccines.news for daily news updates on vaccines.

See NVIC.org for legislative updates on vaccine laws.

Find vaccine truth videos exclusively at Brighteon.com, the YouTube alternative for truth videos on any subject.

Check out GreenMedInfo.com for authoritative articles on the dangers of vaccines and prescription medications.

Read Censored.news, the alternative to Google News, covering the internets most censored news sources on vaccines, medicine and politics.

Most importantly, stop using Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter or Pinterest to get your information, since all those tech giants censor all truthful information about vaccines, cancer and other topics.
The health of coral reefs can be impacted as much by the diversity of fish that graze on them as by the amount of fish that do so, according to a new study by scientists at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. In the Science Advances paper, the researchers untangle and unveil the powerful effects that biodiversity has on Caribbean coral reefs.

"Scientists have long known that reefs are healthier when a large number, or 'high biomass,' of plant-eating fish graze their surfaces," said Doug Rasher, senior author of the study and a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory. "However, this study revealed that having a diverse portfolio of those fish species on the reef is equally important to keeping reefs well grazed and hospitable to baby corals."

The findings have significant implications for the management of tropical fisheries. Many herbivores, such as parrotfish and surgeonfish, are eaten by people across the Caribbean. Management plans often focus on sustaining a given number of herbivores on a reef, and not necessarily promoting species diversity within the herbivore community.

As these fish graze, they scrape tiny turf algae and seaweeds from the reef, keeping spaces free of algae and primed for the settlement of baby corals. This grazing is especially important following reef disturbances, such as hurricanes and coral bleaching events. In these decisive moments, considerable space on the reef suddenly becomes available. If seaweeds take hold, they prevent corals from re-establishing and can take over in their place. Shifts to seaweed beds are difficult to reverse and have become common in the Caribbean, where corals have declined on average by 80 percent over the last 40 years.

Scientists previously determined that different fish species favor consuming different algae. This means that diverse groups of herbivores keep algae at bay more effectively. However, these localized benefits of biodiversity have typically been studied on individual reefs, so it has been unclear whether such "biodiversity effects" are common throughout the ocean. To address this question, the research team studied 10 reefs spread across more than 1,000 kilometers of coastline in the Dominican Republic. By studying this vast area, they were able to quantify the influence of herbivore biomass and diversity across many reefs, as well as identify new biodiversity effects that might operate across the entire region.

"Looking at reefs in isolation is like studying individual pieces of the puzzle," said Rasher, who completed the analysis with Jon Lefcheck, a former postdoctoral scientist in his lab and the lead study author. "It is only by studying multiple reefs across an entire region that we could see the much larger role that biodiversity plays in supporting the process of grazing."

The fieldwork was carried out by Rasher in collaboration with Bob Steneck, a scientist at the University of Maine, and Ruben Torres, president of Reef Check Dominican Republic. Using remote underwater cameras, Rasher captured extensive video of fish grazing at each reef site. In these same places, the team measured the abundance of algae on the reef and how well the herbivores had trimmed it down. They also counted the number of baby corals present on the reef.

Back at the lab, Anne Innes-Gold, intern in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program at Bigelow Laboratory, analyzed the video footage to observe the amount, diversity, and sizes of the fish that had grazed the reef. Lefcheck then designed a statistical model to process the data and disentangle the impact of fish biomass and diversity on grazing. The model also enabled them to make more accurate comparisons among reefs by accounting for the influence of environmental differences that exist from site to site.

"Our research helps bring coral reefs in line with what we know from many other ecosystems - from seagrass beds to forests and grasslands," said Lefcheck, now Tennenbaum Coordinating Scientist for the Smithsonian's MarineGEO program. "It appears more and more likely that biodiversity is the lynchpin that holds nature together."

This study, which was funded by philanthropic gifts from Bigelow Laboratory donors, shows the importance of considering the influence of biodiversity at multiple spatial scales when studying an ecosystem or managing natural resources.

"Fisheries are typically managed at the level of country or region, not the reef," Rasher said. "This research shows that fostering fish diversity -- both at the local and regional scale -- is more important than we realized to the health of coral reefs."
An international group of researchers including biologists from the University of Maryland found that at least four species of marine ribbon worms independently evolved the ability to regrow a head after amputation.

Regeneration of amputated body parts is uncommon but does exist throughout the animal world--from salamanders, spiders and sea stars that can regrow appendages to a species of ribbon worm that can regenerate an entire individual from just a small sliver of tissue. But regenerative abilities were broadly assumed to be an ancient trait that some species managed to hold on to while most others lost through evolution.

This new study, which was published in the March 6, 2019 issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, turns that assumption on its head. In a survey of 35 species of marine ribbon worms, the researchers found that the ability to regenerate an entire head, including a brain, evolved relatively recently in four different species.

"This means that when we compare animal groups we cannot assume that similarities in their ability to regenerate are old and reflect shared ancestry," said Alexandra Bely, associate professor of biology at UMD and one of the study's authors. "We need to be more careful when comparing regeneration findings across different groups of animals."

All animals have some degree of regenerative ability. Even humans re-grow damaged skin over a wound. However, animal lineages that diverged very early in evolutionary history--such as sponges, hydroids and ctenophores--are often able to regrow entire individuals from even small amputated parts. As animals evolved greater complexity, regenerative abilities have become less dramatic and common.

Estimating where and when changes in regenerative abilities occurred on the tree of life is fundamental to understanding how regeneration evolves and what factors influence the trait. Until now, scientific understanding of how regeneration evolved was based solely on studies of animals that lost regenerative abilities. That's because all known gains in regenerative ability occurred too far in the distant past for comparative studies.

This new research presents the clearest documentation of animals gaining regenerative abilities and could shed light on the characteristics necessary for the trait to evolve.

To conduct the study, the researchers collected ribbon worms along coasts of the U.S., Argentina, Spain and New Zealand from 2012 to 2014. They performed regeneration experiments on 22 species, bisecting them front to back and observing their ability to regenerate. They also obtained information on 13 other marine ribbon worm species from previous studies.

All of the species were able to restore themselves to complete individuals by re-growing back ends. Only eight species were able to regrow their heads and restore an entire individual from just the back portion of the body. Four of these were known from previous studies and four were new.

More surprising than the number of ribbon worms that could re-grow heads was that the majority of them could not. Studies from the 1930s of the ribbon worm Lineus sanguineus showed it to be a champion of animal regeneration with the ability to regrow a whole body and head successfully from the equivalent of just one two-hundred-thousandths of an individual (that's like re-growing a 150-pound person from just 0.012 ounces of tissue or roughly 1/16th of a teaspoon). That example saddled the entire phylum of marine ribbon worms (known as Nemertea) with a reputation for being super regenerators.

The natural assumption was that it was an ancient trait passed down from a common ancestor that some ribbon worms began to lose as species diverged. However, with their survey of 35 species, the researchers reconstructed the evolutionary pattern of regeneration across the phylum and found it to be a more recently evolved ability, even among super regenerators like Lineus sanguineus.

"The ancestor of this group of worms is inferred to have been unable to regenerate a head, but four separate groups subsequently evolved the ability to do so," Bely said. "One of these origins is inferred to have occurred just 10 to 15 million years ago."

In evolutionary terms, that's recent history given that regenerative abilities are thought to have first evolved before the Cambrian Period more than 500 million years ago.

Opportunities to study gains in regenerative abilities can greatly improve scientists' understanding of the developmental strategies that enable and enhance regeneration. For example, some of the non-head regenerating worms in the study survived months without heads. That could indicate a possible precursor to evolving the ability to regenerate a head, because surviving an amputation long enough for regeneration might be the first evolutionary step.

"These species that have recently evolved head regeneration will make for excellent models for studying the emergence of new regeneration abilities in animals," Bely said. "We can now ask such questions as what changes in molecular processes led to novel head regeneration ability."
A man suspected of fatally shooting an Illinois sheriff's deputy has been charged with first-degree murder.

Prosecutors in Winnebago County in northern Illinois had issued a warrant against Floyd E. Brown for attempted murder. Winnebago County State's Attorney Marilyn Hite Ross says the charge against the 39-year-old Brown of Springfield was upgraded after McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Keltner died of his injuries.

Authorities say Brown was taken into custody hours after his car crashed Thursday afternoon along a central Illinois interstate. They say Brown fled a Rockford hotel where a fugitive task force tried to serve a warrant for his arrest Thursday morning.

They say Brown was wanted on a burglary warrant and a parole violation.

Authorities say Brown also wounded a woman described as an acquaintance of his. She was treated at a hospital and released.

------

4:15 p.m.

Authorities say a suspect in the fatal shooting of an Illinois sheriff's deputy has been taken into custody.

Illinois State Trooper Sean Ramsey told WGN-TV that 39-year-old Floyd E. Brown was taken into custody hours after his car crashed Thursday afternoon along a central Illinois interstate. State police officials said they attempted to negotiate with him to surrender. However, Ramsey did not explain how Brown was taken into custody.

Brown is alleged to have fatally shot 35-year-old McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Keltner, a 12 1/2-year veteran of the department Thursday morning while helping serve an arrest warrant.

Prosecutors in Winnebago County in central Illinois say they have issued a warrant with $5 million bond against Brown for attempted murder. Officials haven't said when charges against Brown will be upgraded.

--

3:55 p.m.

A sheriff's department spokesman says an Illinois deputy shot while helping to serve an arrest warrant at a hotel has died.

McHenry County Sheriff's Department Chief David Dezane says the deputy was pronounced dead Thursday afternoon.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker sent a tweet expressing condolences to the deputy's family members.

The suspect, 39-year-old Floyd E. Brown, was in his car that crashed Thursday afternoon along a central Illinois interstate. Illinois State Police officials said they were trying to negotiate with him.

Police say Brown fled the Rockford hotel earlier Thursday after shooting the McHenry County sheriff's deputy who was assigned to a fugitive task force serving Brown with an arrest warrant. Police described the injured woman as an acquaintance of Brown and said she was injured by one of his rounds.

------

1:45 p.m.

Authorities say a sheriff's deputy is in critical condition and a woman suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound in a shooting at a northern Illinois hotel.

The suspect, 39-year-old Floyd E. Brown, was in his car that crashed Thursday afternoon along a central Illinois interstate. Illinois State Police officials said they were trying to negotiate with him.

Police say Brown fled the Rockford hotel earlier Thursday after shooting the McHenry County sheriff's deputy who was assigned to a fugitive task force serving Brown with an arrest warrant. Police described the injured woman as an acquaintance of Brown and said she was injured by one of his rounds.

Prosecutors in Winnebago County have issued an arrest warrant for Brown on an attempted murder charge with a bond of $5 million.

------

1 p.m.

Police say a man suspected of shooting an officer at a northern Illinois hotel before fleeing has crashed his vehicle along an interstate about 170 miles (273.5 kilometers) away.

Trooper Sean Ramsey tells WGN-TV that police have several officers and a negotiator at the crash scene. Illinois State Police say the suspect is inside his vehicle and troopers have down Interstate 55 in both directions.

Authorities say the suspect, 39-year-old Floyd E. Brown, shot an officer earlier Thursday at a hotel in Rockford as a fugitive task force tried to serve an arrest warrant. He then fled in a vehicle and drove south.

Police have said they believe Brown has a rifle and is considered "armed and dangerous."

------

12:20 p.m.

Police in northern Illinois say they believe a man suspected of shooting an officer at a Rockford hotel has left the area.

Rockford police Lt. Andre Brass identified the suspect as 39-year-old Floyd E. Brown.

Police say he fled the Extended Stay America hotel in Rockford after shooting an officer who was part of a regional fugitive task force trying to serve a search warrant. The officer was taken to the hospital but his condition hasn't been released.

Brass says police believe Brown has a rifle and is to be considered "armed and dangerous." Brass didn't know what direction Brown fled in.

------

11:05 a.m.

Police say a gunman has fled an Illinois hotel after shooting an officer who was part of a task force trying to serve an arrest warrant.

Rockford police Lt. Andre Brass says the suspect was wanted on several warrants when the regional fugitive task moved in Thursday. Brass says the suspect fled in a vehicle after the shooting.

Brass says investigators believe the suspect is still armed. He says: "We just want to end this situation peacefully with his surrender."

Rockford is about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northwest of downtown Chicago.

------

10:50 a.m.

Authorities say an officer has been shot at a hotel in northern Illinois.

The U.S. Marshals Service says the shooting occurred Thursday morning at a hotel in Rockford. Spokeswoman Belkis Cantor Sandoval says the officer was on-duty and working with a regional task force when the shooting occurred.

She didn't immediately have details but said more information was forthcoming.

Local media is reporting that Rockford police are responding to an active shooter at a hotel.

ACTIVE SHOOTING: Police are on scene of an active shooting on Bell School Road. Posted by WIFR TV on Thursday, March 7, 2019
This story has been updated with a new statement from Customs and Border Protection and a response from the ACLU.

Documents obtained by NBC 7 Investigates show the U.S. government created a secret database of activists, journalists, and social media influencers tied to the migrant caravan and in some cases, placed alerts on their passports.



At the end of 2018, roughly 5,000 immigrants from Central America made their way north through Mexico to the United States southern border. The story made international headlines.

As the migrant caravan reached the San Ysidro Port of Entry in south San Diego County, so did journalists, attorneys, and advocates who were there to work and witness the events unfolding.

But in the months that followed, journalists who covered the caravan, as well as those who offered assistance to caravan members, said they felt they had become targets of intense inspections and scrutiny by border officials.

One photojournalist said she was pulled into secondary inspections three times and asked questions about who she saw and photographed in Tijuana shelters. Another photojournalist said she spent 13 hours detained by Mexican authorities when she tried to cross the border into Mexico City. Eventually, she was denied entry into Mexico and sent back to the U.S.

These American photojournalists and attorneys said they suspected the U.S. government was monitoring them closely but until now, they couldnt prove it.

Now, documents leaked to NBC 7 Investigates show their fears werent baseless. In fact, their own government had listed their names in a secret database of targets, where agents collected information on them. Some had alerts placed on their passports, keeping at least two photojournalists and an attorney from entering Mexico to work.

The U.S. government created a secret database of activists, journalists, and social media influencers tied to the migrant caravan. NBC 7's Mari Payton has more.

The documents were provided to NBC 7 by a Homeland Security source on the condition of anonymity, given the sensitive nature of what they were divulging.

The source said the documents or screenshots show a SharePoint application that was used by agents from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations and some agents from the San Diego sector of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

The intelligence-gathering efforts were done under the umbrella of Operation Secure Line, the operation designated to monitor the migrant caravan, according to the source.

The documents list people who officials think should be targeted for screening at the border.

The individuals listed include ten journalists, seven of whom are U.S. citizens, a U.S. attorney, and 48 people from the U.S. and other countries, labeled as organizers, instigators or their roles unknown. The target list includes advocates from organizations like Border Angels and Pueblo Sin Fronteras.

To view the documents, click here or the link below.

PHOTOS: Leaked Documents Show Government Tracking Journalists, Immigration Advocates

NBC 7 Investigates is blurring the names and photos of individuals who havent given us permission to publish their information.

The documents are titled San Diego Sector Foreign Operations Branch: Migrant Caravan FY-2019, Suspected Organizers, Coordinators, Instigators and Media and are dated January 9, 2019.

Emblazoned on it are the American and Mexican flags, with a banner that reads: "ILU-OASSIS-OMEGA." An official at the Department of Homeland Security said the seal indicates that the documents are a product of the International Liaison Unit (ILU), which coordinates intelligence between Mexico and the United States.

For each person, the documents show their photo, often from their passport but in some cases from their social media accounts, along with their personal information. That information includes the persons date of birth, their country of commencement, and their alleged role tied to the migrant caravan. The information also includes whether officials placed an alert on the persons passport.

Some individuals have a colored X over their photo, indicating whether they were arrested, interviewed, or had their visa or SENTRI pass revoked by officials.

In addition to flagging the individuals for secondary screenings, the Homeland Security source told NBC 7 that the agents also created dossiers on each person listed.

We are a criminal investigation agency, were not an intelligence agency, the Homeland Security source told NBC 7 Investigates. We cant create dossiers on people and theyre creating dossiers. This is an abuse of the Border Search Authority.

One dossier, shared with NBC 7, was on Nicole Ramos, the Refugee Director and attorney for Al Otro Lado, a law center for migrants and refugees in Tijuana, Mexico. The dossier included personal details on Ramos, including specific details about the car she drives, her mothers name, and her work and travel history.

After sharing the documents with Ramos, she said Al Otro Lado is seeking more information on why she and other attorneys at the law center have been targeted by border officials.

The document appears to prove what we have assumed for some time, which is that we are on a law enforcement list designed to retaliate against human rights defenders who work with asylum seekers and who are critical of CBP practices that violate the rights of asylum seekers, Ramos told NBC 7 by email.

In addition to the dossier on Ramos, a list of other dossier files created was shared with NBC 7. Two of the dossier files were labeled with the names of journalists but no further details were available. Those journalists were also listed as targets for secondary screenings.

Customs and Border Protection has the authority to pull anyone into secondary screenings, but the documents show the agency is increasingly targeting journalists, attorneys, and immigration advocates. Former counterterrorism officials say the agency should not be targeting individuals based on their profession.

NBC 7 Investigates sent the information to all border and law enforcement agencies the source listed, asking whether the information was valid and if these tactics were legal.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson did not answer NBC 7s list of questions or confirm the validity of the documents shared.

By email, the spokesperson said, Criminal events, such as the breach of the border wall in San Diego, involving assaults on law enforcement and a risk to public safety, are routinely monitored and investigated by authorities.

To read CBPs full statement, click here.

It is protocol following these incidents to collect evidence that might be needed for future legal actions and to determine if the event was orchestrated, the statement read. CBP and our law enforcement partners evaluate these incidents, follow all leads garnered from information collected, conduct interviews and investigations, in preparation for, and often to prevent future incidents that could cause further harm to the public, our agents, and our economy.

UPDATE - 4:20 p.m.

Minutes after our story published and five days after a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson gave us the agency's statement above, CBP told our colleagues at NBC News that the names in the database are all people who were present during violence that broke out at the border in November. The agency also said journalists are being tracked so that the agency can learn more about what started that violence. CBP never clarified that point directly to NBC 7 Investigates.

UPDATE - 8:20 p.m.

Staff attorney Esha Bhandari with the ACLUs Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, called the government's targeting of journalists and migrants "outrageous."

This is an outrageous violation of the First Amendment. The government cannot use the pretext of the border to target activists critical of its policies, lawyers providing legal representation, or journalists simply doing their jobs. We are exploring all options in response, Bhandari said.

Senior staff attorney Mitra Ebadolahi with the ACLU of San Diegos Border Litigation Project called NBC 7's report the latest example of abuse of power by the CBP.

For years, the U.S. government has used the pretext of border security' to trample on Americans constitutional rights. This most recent example is just the latest in a steady stream of CBP abuse of authority, and once again underscores the dire need for meaningful agency oversight and accountability," Ebadolahi said.

Journalists Targeted for Border Inspections

NBC 7 Investigates spoke with seven of the journalists listed on the database as targets for secondary screenings, including freelance photojournalist Ariana Drehsler.

I'm interested in covering social and political issues, Drehsler said, adding that she covered the migrant caravan in Tijuana for Buzzfeed News and United Press International.

I think there's a lot of misconceptions, maybe from both sides, about who are these people that are trying to seek asylum, Drehsler said. So I think as a photojournalist, it is my responsibility to cover that to the best of my abilities.

Drehsler estimated she had crossed the border from San Ysidro dozens of times covering the caravan.

UPI

I was very transparent about what I was doing, Drehsler said. Sometimes you would see me carrying a camera and if I was asked by an agent what was I doing, I would tell them I was photographing the [migrant] shelters.

But on December 30, 2018, when Drehsler was crossing back into the United States, she was pulled into secondary inspection and questioned by border agents.

Two people in plainclothes came down and took me to another room, Drehsler said. They questioned me in a small room, asking me questions about the shelter, what was I seeing there, who was I working for.

They said that I was on the ground and theyre not, which I thought was really interesting.

After about an hour, Drehsler said she was allowed to leave but agents warned her that an alert had been placed on her passport and that she would be pulled into a secondary screening again if she crossed the border. The agents told her to plan accordingly, given the screenings could last an hour or more. When she asked why this alert was placed on her passport, agents told her they had no idea.

Drehsler said she was pulled into secondary screenings two more times while crossing the border. Each time she said she was questioned by the same agents in plainclothes. The second time was on Jan. 2, 2019, and the third time was on Jan. 4, 2019.

On the third occasion, Drehsler said she was told to leave her gear, including her camera and cell phone, on a table outside of the interview room. When she returned, she said it didnt appear to her that the gear had been looked through. Agents asked Drehsler if she could show them the photos she had taken but she said she declined.

Some of the questions agents asked Drehsler on the third screening struck her as odd.

They asked about the new caravan and if word had gotten out about how difficult it is to seek asylum in the U.S., Drehsler said. Then before I left, the female agent asked if I rented or owned my home.

Drehsler told NBC 7 the personal details listed for her in the leaked screenshots are accurate. She confirmed the photo officials used came from her passport. The screenshots include a green X over Drehslers photograph, indicating she had been interviewed by agents.

Sharing the documents with Drehsler, she told NBC 7 she was blown away.

I have so many questions; I have more questions than answers, she said. Personally, I don't understand what [agents] are hoping to find.

Other journalists and attorneys have previously told news outlets like NPR and The Intercept that they too faced the same kind of increased scrutiny surrounding their work involving the migrant caravan.

Evidence of increased scrutiny of journalists at the border was detailed in an October 2018 report prepared by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ.)

The report identified 37 journalists who said they found the secondary screenings by border officials invasive, and said 20 cases involved border agents conducting warrantless searches of [the journalists] electronic devices.

The journalists featured in the leaked documents said they were separated from their electronic devices and gear but had no evidence that agents had gone through their items.

Kitra Cahana is another freelance photojournalist and U.S. citizen listed as a target in the documents. By phone from Honduras, Cahana told NBC 7 she also faced increased scrutiny and was eventually denied entry into Mexico for no apparent reason.

Kitra Cahana

Cahana's work has been featured in National Geographic magazine, The New York Times and the CBC out of Canada. One night in late December, she said Mexican authorities photographed her passport while she and other journalists were working near the border.

Then, on Jan. 17, 2019, while traveling from Canada to Mexico City, Cahana said she had a connecting flight in Detroit, Michigan. Cahana said in Montreal, her passport was flagged while going through U.S. Customs pre-clearance. Cahana said she was pulled into a secondary screening where border agents asked her a list of questions about her work.

They were interested in whether I had an assignment when I was going down to cover the caravan, Cahana said. And they wanted to know how I was funding my work.

Cahana said she was asked to explain how freelance photojournalism works, which she found strange. Afterward, her passport was flagged again in Detroit but eventually, she was allowed to board her flight and fly to Mexico City.

But when she arrived in Mexico, her passport was flagged again. Cahana said she brought this to a Mexican official and was taken into a back room with another group of detained individuals.

There, Cahana said her phone was taken away and she couldnt leave the room. When she needed to use the restroom, an agent escorted her.

I wasn't allowed to be in communication with anyone, I wasnt allowed to contact my embassy, Cahana said. It was very confusing because my Spanish is quite limited and no one there really spoke English.

Cahana said the whole ordeal lasted 13 hours and in the end, she was denied entry into Mexico. She had to wait until a plane arrived that could take her back to Detroit, where her flight originated.

Since then, Cahana said she tried one more time to cross the border into Mexico.

I was trying to cross into Mexico through Guatemala to continue my work covering the caravan and then I was denied again, Cahana said.

NBC 7 Investigates confirmed another journalist was denied entry into Mexico after covering the caravan in January. That journalist is also listed in the SharePoint files leaked to NBC 7.

In the documents shared with NBC 7, Cahana confirmed her personal details were accurate and that the photo used is from her passport. Cahana said shes been in contact with the Committee to Protect Journalists and the ACLU as far as the alert placed on her passport, preventing her access to Mexico.

Cahana said the increased scrutiny by border officials could have a chilling effect on freelance journalists covering the border.

In the current state of journalism, it's really freelancers who are bringing so much news to the public, Cahana said. And the uncertainty of having an alert placed on your passport and not knowing where and when that's going to prevent you from doing your work is really problematic.

Correction: A previous version of this story stated three photojournalists were denied entry into Mexico. After speaking with those involved, it was clarified that only two photojournalists were denied entry into Mexico. The article above has been updated to reflect this.

Want to know if you're on the target list? Have you faced increased scrutiny while covering a story at the border? NBC 7 Investigates wants to hear from you. Contact us at cbptargetlist@nbcuni.com.
Photo: Lauren St Clair/The Phoenix

Brie Welton, Editor in Chief of the student newspaper The Phoenix at UBC Okanagan, had the opportunity to interview Me Too movement founder Tarana Burke. Here is an edited version of their conversation.

The original Me Too movement began, not with the hashtag, but 12 years ago as a grassroots campaign founded by activist Tarana Burke. The campaign was borne out of a need in underprivileged communities for sexual assault support for survivors, particularly African American women and girls.

The phrase went viral in 2017, in the wake of sexual abuse allegations against Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein, when actor Alyssa Milano tweeted an invitation for survivors to comment #metoo.

Time named Burke Person of the Year in 2017 for her efforts.

Burke spoke at UBCO on Thursday and also at Kelowna Community Theatre.

Where is the Me Too movement going from here?

Its a movement to support survivors. It is a movement to make sure survivors have resources... Make sure that people recognize, survivors mostly, recognize that they have the power to do the work to end sexual violence. And a lot of that is around cultural shift, a different understanding of our role to end sexual violence, and also our role in relating to each other in that work. And thats a big order. That cant happen from just the internet That takes different kinds of people, working together Thats what were doing in a big way. Our work is really about shifting the narrative its around providing resources and connecting individual survivors to resources they may or may not have known existed  and if they did know existed, didnt know how to access them.

There is a plan being made to work with Hollywood writers to address how they handle sexual abuse on screen. What does this plan entail?

Being a part of productions, whether their scripted or unscripted... all conversations around sexual violence. Its shaping how they talk about it. Whether its changing the language from victim to survivor, or it is having depictions of sexual violence or telling stories that havent been told, Surviving R. Kelly is an example of that, its a story that we couldnt get told for 20 years, until now.... I think folks have only just scratched the surface of what the reality of sexual violence is. So thats why that work is important. Pop culture is everywhere, people are consumed by it. So using it to our advantage as a way to broaden our message.

If you could give advice to a survivor of sexual assault who isnt comfortable coming forward yet, what would that be?

Dont be pressured into doing it. The timing around saying me too or telling your story is your own, and theres nobody who can advise you better than your own instincts. And I think thats an important message for survivors, because a lot times what happens as a result of the violence is that you dont trust your instincts, and you dont trust your decision making. But when you lose the right to make a decision about your own body, every decision you make after that becomes that much more important. And that decision includes whether you tell your story or not.... Don't feel like you have to tell your story in order for it to be valid, and telling your story also can look a lot of different ways. It doesnt mean doing it publicly, it doesnt mean doing it on social media. It could mean writing it in your journal, telling a family friend. But do it in your own time, be incredibly gentle with yourself, and know that the resources are here for you when the time comes.
Santa Clara County hosted a free, daylong election security conference Wednesday at Google's Mountain View campus, with a keynote address from California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.

County Board of Supervisors President Joe Simitian moderated the event, titled "Protecting the Front Line: County Election Security in the 21st Century."

"If we want to make sure that the vote count is right, counties have to get the job done, and weve got to be on the front lines of this security conversation in terms of making sure that our systems are safe and sound," Simitian said.

Speakers from technology, law and policy backgrounds discussed protecting votes at the ballot box in Santa Clara County and the Bay Area.

Padilla said a number of voting machines are outdated and counties across the country need more money for better computers and software to count ballots and mark them for people with disabilities.

"We must make a commitment," Padilla said. "Not a one-time commitment, not a once every 15 year commitment, but a sustained commitment to invest in our elections."

Padilla also noted that this year, Californias budget has an extra $134 million just for upgrading election equipment. And for the first time, he said, his office sends alerts and emails to registered voters with easy instructions on when and where to vote.

Barbara Simons, a computer scientist and board chair of Verified Voting, spoke on one the panels, arguing that ironically, using more traditional, low-tech systems like paper ballots is the safest way to vote.

"At this point, we really dont know of a better, more secure option," Simons said. "Computers can make mistakes, they can have software bugs, there can be hidden malware, and we now have to worry about hacking."

Panelists included California Voter Foundation President Kim Alexander and professors from Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley.

Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin, Santa Clara County Chief Privacy Officer Mike Shapiro and San Mateo County Supervisor Warren Slocum closed the day with a "County Perspectives" panel after the lunchtime keynote by Padilla.
Former Chicago Ald. Ed Vrdolyak has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from a case in which authorities allege he secretly collected millions of dollars from a settlement with tobacco companies.

Accoridng to Vrdolyak's attorney Mike Monico, the former alderman could have faced up to five years in prison on the charges he faced. A sentencing hearing will be held on July 23 to determine his fate.

Vrdolyak, 81, was indicted in 2016 on charges of tax evasion and obstructing and impeding the IRS, according to a 19-page indictment that outlined his role in a scheme to pocket millions from a $9.3 billion settlement reached between the state of Illinois and tobacco companies in 1998.

Vrdolyak pleaded not guilty in November 2016, but on Thursday he appeared before Judge Robert Dow to change his plea.

The change of plea comes more than two years after prosecutors accused the former powerhouse Chicago politician and an associate, attorney Daniel Soso, of secretly pocketing more than $10 million in fees from the 1998 settlement.

As part of that settlement, over $188 million was paid to four law firms that helped with the litigation. One of those firms, Seattle-based Hagens Berman, allegedly agreed to pay Vrdolyak and Soso fees from the settlement, even though they, according to the indictment, "did not perform any work," nor were they authorized to work, on the case.

Prosecutors also alleged that Vrdolyak attempted to help Soso dodge federal income taxes on the payments.

At the time of his indictment, an attorney for Vrdolyak called the charges "confusing and disappointing," adding that the former alderman "had the money set aside in escrow" and was "waiting for the government to send us the appropriate documents."

"In Illinois youre entitled to pay referral fees, and they dont accuse us of doing anything wrong with that, Vrdolyak's longtime lawyer Michael Monico said at the time. The state got a good deal and the citizens got a good deal, because the state received a lot of money as a result of the lawyers who helped."

In 2008, Vrdolyak pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a real estate kickback scheme involving the sale of a Gold Coast medical school building. The judge in that initially sentenced him to probation, but on appeal, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison, which he served from 2010 to 2011.

First elected in the city's 10th Ward in 1971, Vrdolyak earned the moniker "Fast Eddie" for his penchant for cutting backroom deals. He is perhaps best known for leading a majority-white group of alderman dubbed the "Vrdolyak 29" who stymied the agenda of Mayor Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor, on City Council in the 1980s.

Vrdolyak was previously scheduled to go to trial in the tobacco settlement case on April 15.
A U.S. Marshals task force officer was fatally shot while trying to serve an arrest warrant at a Rockford hotel Thursday morning and the suspect was apprehended after he fled more than 100 miles south, authorities said.

The officer was identified as deputy sheriff Jacob Keltner, who served with the McHenry County Sheriff's office for almost 13 years. He died shortly after 3:30 p.m., according to Chief Administrative Officer Dave Devane of the McHenry County Sheriff's office. Keltner's accused killer, 39-year-old Floyd E. Brown, now faces first-degree murder charges.

Keltner was married and had two children, officials said.

"For those of us in the McHenry County Sheriffs Office, this is bitter news," McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim said in a statement. "Deputy Keltner was an integral part of our office, someone who had risen quickly to greater responsibilities after he was first sworn in in 2006. He was loved and respected by all his colleagues, and he will be sorely missed."

Illinois State Police said officers pursued Brown before his vehicle was struck by a police cruiser and crashed in a rural area along Interstate 55 in Logan County. He was apprehended after an hourslong standoff with state police and SWAT officers, authorities said.

The standoff shut down I-55 in both directions near Lincoln for hours. Route 60 was also temporarily shut down in the area and Amtrak's Lincoln Train 303, which travels between Chicago and St. Louis, was stopped south of Bloomington-Normal for the police activity.

The incident began at the Extended Stay hotel off North Bell School Road, where authorities initially said officers were investigating an "active shooter" situation.

A U.S. Marshals task force officer was fatally shot while trying to serve an arrest warrant at a Rockford hotel Thursday morning and the suspect was apprehended after he fled more than 100 miles south, authorities said. Trina Orlando reports.

Rockford police said members of the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Apprehension Task Force were attempting to serve an arrest warrant around 9:15 a.m. when they were fired on. Police said shots were fired inside the hotel and in the parking lot after authorities said they believed the suspect, armed with a rifle, fled the hotel out of a third-floor window. A McHenry County Sheriff's deputy working on the task force was hit by gunfire in the parking lot and was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to police. The officer was pronounced dead hours later.

A woman described by police as "a female acquaintance of the suspect" was also shot "inside the hotel," police said. The gunshot was not believed to be from law enforcement and the wound did not appear to be life-threatening, according to authorities. She was treated and released.

A U.S. Marshals task force officer was fatally shot while trying to serve an arrest warrant at a Rockford hotel Thursday morning and the suspect was apprehended after he fled more than 100 miles south, authorities said. Phil Rogers reports.

Residents were advised to avoid the area near the hotel. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and numerous other departments also responded to the scene.

Police spokesman Andre Brass said that Brown has no known ties to Rockford but is from central Illinois.

Police said he was wanted on warrants out of several Illinois counties and was recently identified as a burglary suspect in December in Bloomington, Illinois. Bloomington police said Brown fled from police and eluded officers who were investigating burglaries in the area. A reward of up to $1,000 was being offered for information leading to his arrest at the time.

Extended Stay said it was "working with proper authorities to ensure the safety of our guests and employees."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the officer and his family," the hotel said in a statement.



Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he was "closely monitoring the active shooter incident in Rockford" and urged members of the community "to follow the instructions of local law enforcement."

"My immediate thoughts and prayers are with the officer shot, his family, first responders & residents affected by this situation," Pritzker wrote.

Sen. Dick Durbin also said he was tracking updates and thanked law enforcement "who are responding to the emergency."

After the standoff came to an end, Brown was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries related to the crash. He was last placed in ISP custody, but authorities said he will "eventually be turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

First and foremost, we would like to extend our deepest condolences to the McHenry County Sheriffs Office and the family of Deputy Keltner, ISP Acting Director Brendan F. Kelly said. The men and women of the Illinois State Police, including responding Troopers from District 16, District 1, District 15, District 6, District 8, and District 9, all responded with seamless professionalism alongside the law enforcement of this state. ISPs SWAT team in particular showed incredible tactical restraint, bravery and boldness today. This dark day has come to an end, and this defendant can now be brought to justice."
Four gray wolves have been released into Isle Royale National Park in Michigan with a very important mission: to help control the parks exploding moose population.

According to the National Park Service, a partnership was formed with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) to capture the four wolves on public land near Wawa, Ontario, and to release them at the national park in Michigan earlier this month.

Three of the wolves are males, and all from the same pack. They were released into the park last week. A 65-pound female wolf was also released into the park earlier in the week.

Researchers hope that the wolves will reproduce on the island and help bring the moose population back in check, after it exploded due to an absence of the predators.

To see these wolves disappear into the forests of Isle Royale and to have an opportunity to start a new generation of wolves on the island fulfilled a major objective in the first year of reestablishing the population, Isle Royal Park Superintendent Phyllis Green said in a statement.

According to the NPS, moose are able to outcompete other herbivores for food, and their numbers need to be kept in check at the national park.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians, much less than what was called for under sentencing guidelines.

Manafort, sitting in a wheelchair as he deals with complications from gout, had no visible reaction as he heard the 47-month sentence. While that was the longest sentence to date to come from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, it could have been much worse for Manafort. Sentencing guidelines called for a 20-year-term, effectively a lifetime sentence for the 69-year-old.

Manafort still faces the possibility of additional time from his sentencing in a separate case in the District of Columbia, where he pleaded guilty to charges related to illegal lobbying.

Before Judge T.S. Ellis III imposed the sentence, Manafort told him that "saying I feel humiliated and ashamed would be a gross understatement." But he offered no explicit apology, something Ellis noted before issuing his sentence.

Manafort steered Donald Trump's election efforts during crucial months of the 2016 campaign as Russia sought to meddle in the election through hacking of Democratic email accounts. He was among the first Trump associates charged in the Mueller investigation and has been a high-profile defendant.

But the charges against Manafort were unrelated to his work on the campaign or the focus of Mueller's investigation: whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russians.

A jury last year convicted Manafort on eight counts, concluding that he hid from the IRS millions of dollars he earned from his work in Ukraine.

Manafort's lawyers argued that their client had engaged in what amounted to a routine tax evasion case, and cited numerous past sentences in which defendants had hidden millions from the IRS and served less than a year in prison.

Prosecutors said Manafort's conduct was egregious, but Ellis ultimately agreed more with defense attorneys. "These guidelines are quite high," Ellis said.

Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys had requested a particular sentence length in their sentencing memoranda, but prosecutors had urged a "significant" sentence.

Outside court, Manafort's lawyer, Kevin Downing, said his client accepted responsibility for his conduct "and there was absolutely no evidence that Mr. Manafort was involved in any collusion with the government of Russia."

Prosecutors left the courthouse without making any comment.

Legal observers said they were surprised by the length of the sentence and prominent Democrats expressed outrage, NBC News reported.

"Crimes committed in an office building should be treated as seriously as crimes committed on a street corner," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., tweeted.

Though Manafort hasn't faced charges related to collusion, he has been seen as one of the most pivotal figures in the Mueller investigation. Prosecutors, for instance, have scrutinized his relationship with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate U.S. authorities say is tied to Russian intelligence, and have described a furtive meeting the men had in August 2016 as cutting to the heart of the investigation.

After pleading guilty in the D.C. case, Manafort met with investigators for more than 50 hours as part of a requirement to cooperate with the probe. But prosecutors reiterated at Thursday's hearing that they believe Manafort was evasive and untruthful in his testimony to a grand jury.

Manafort was wheeled into the courtroom about 3:45 p.m. in a green jumpsuit from the Alexandria jail, where he spent the last several months in solitary confinement. The jet black hair he bore in 2016 when serving as campaign chairman was gone, replaced by a shaggy gray. He spent much of the hearing hunched at the shoulders, bearing what appeared to be an air of resignation.

Defense lawyers had argued that Manafort would never have been charged if it were not for Mueller's probe. At the outset of the trial, even Ellis agreed with that assessment, suggesting that Manafort was being prosecuted only to pressure him to "sing" against Trump. Prosecutors said the Manafort investigation preceded Mueller's appointment.

The jury convicted Manafort on eight felonies related to tax and bank fraud charges for hiding foreign income from his work in Ukraine from the IRS and later inflating his income on bank loan applications. Prosecutors have said the work in Ukraine was on behalf of politicians who were closely aligned with Russia, though Manafort insisted his work helped those politicians distance themselves from Russia and align with the West.

In arguing for a significant sentence, prosecutor Greg Andres said Manafort still hasn't accepted responsibility for his misconduct.

"His sentencing positions are replete with blaming others," Andres said. He also said Manafort still has not provided a full account of his finances for purposes of restitution, a particularly egregious omission given that his crime involved hiding more than $55 million in overseas bank accounts to evade paying more than $6 million in federal income taxes.

In the D.C. case, Manafort faces up to five years in prison on each of two counts to which he pleaded guilty. The judge will have the option to impose any sentence there concurrent or consecutive to the sentence imposed by Ellis.

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has not shown remorse or taken responsibility for his crimes, federal prosecutors said in a court filing two days ahead of his sentencing hearing.

Prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller's office said Tuesday that Manafort "blames everyone from the Special Counsel's Office to his Ukrainian clients for his own criminal choices."

"Manafort suggests, for example, that but for the appointment of the Special Counsel's Office, he would not have been charged in connection with hiding more than $55 million abroad, failing to pay more than $6 million in taxes, and defrauding three financial institutions of more than $25 million dollars," prosecutors wrote.

In reality, they said, he was under Justice Department investigation before Mueller was appointed special counsel in May 2017.

The filing was aimed at persuading a judge to reject Manafort's pleas for leniency at Thursday's sentencing hearing in Alexandria, Virginia. Sentencing calculations call for a punishment of up to 24 years.

Manafort was convicted in August of eight financial crimes in the Virginia case. He faces another sentencing hearing later this month following a guilty plea in Washington.

Whatever sentence he receives will be by far the longest punishment given so far to any of the defendants charged in Mueller's nearly two-year investigation.

Prosecutors also rejected Manafort's argument that his age  69  should be taken into account, saying he can and should receive proper medical care in prison.
More than 100 employees are out of a job as a trucking company shuts down its terminal on Research Parkway in Meriden.

New England Motor Freight, based in New Jersey, has filed for bankruptcy.

Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati said he received a letter informing him of the 122 layoffs at the terminal in his city. One worker said it caught everyone by surprise.

"We all were caught off guard I mean the business was booming," said Michael Bianchi.

The layoffs come after what industry experts consider the best year for trucking in recent history. Bianchi said hes noticed a slow-down since the start of 2019.

"But nothing to be suspicious of a shutdown or losing our jobs," Bianchi said.

After 22 years of driving trucks for New England Motor Freight, Bianchi learned last month that hed be getting laid off as the company shuts down its terminals and trucking operations.

"Very depressing I mean you find out you no longer have a job so now I have a child no more insurance, insurance runs out in 60 days and now were all scattering looking for jobs," Biacnchi said.

Mayor Scarpati said hed like to find out how many of the terminated employees live in his city.

"Theres New England motor freight trucks all across the nation, this is the only terminal in Connecticut so to see this is somewhat surprising," Scarpati said.

This week the company agreed to improve the severance package for 2,500 full-time employees after a class-action complaint saying they werent provided the federally-mandated 60 day notice about the layoffs.

Bianchi said hes unsure if hell be able to earn as much if he starts over driving for a new company.

"Everybody was heartbroken, were like family you know, we were prided on being a family," he said.

The companys chief restructuring officer, Vincent Colistra, reports two years of losses.

"We have worked hard to explore options for New England Motor Freight, but the macro-economic factors confronting this industry are significant," Colistra wrote.

The mayor says any laid off employees who live in town are welcome to reach out to his office.
Connecticut State Police say a trooper who died on duty when his cruiser struck the back of a tractor-trailer last year was speeding and not wearing a seat belt, but had no alcohol or drugs in his system.

State police on Wednesday released a 603-page report on the accident involving Trooper First Class Kevin Miller on Interstate 84 eastbound in Tolland.

The report says the 19-year state police veteran was driving more than 80 mph (130 kph) in a 65 mph (105 kph) zone in the right lane when he struck a tractor-trailer with mechanical problems that was traveling less than 5 mph (8 kph). Police concluded the crash was an accident and no charges will be filed.

Police say the truck driver wasn't injured and tested negative for drugs and alcohol.

Andrew Matthews, executive director of the Connecticut State Police Union, released the following statement on the report:

Trooper Kevin Millers passing in the line of duty is a reminder of the dangers our Troopers face on a daily basis. While deemed an accident, this also a reminder of the dangers mechanically defective tractor trailers pose to the motoring public.

We ask the public to remember Trooper Miller and his 14-year-old son and 11-year old daughter who no longer have their father. We also want to thank the public for the support they have provided since the loss of our Brother, Kevin. We are committed to caring for Trooper Millers family in his absence and will always honor the sacrifice he made while upholding the honor of his State Police badge.
NBC Connecticut is connecting you to the American Heart Associations Greater Hartford Go Red for Women Luncheon.

The luncheon is designed to empower local women with education and awareness of heart disease.

The event includes a Womens Wellness Showcase, health screenings, and a program featuring inspiring speakers. NBC Connecticut's Heidi Voight will proudly emcee the event.

The luncheon is being held at the Connecticut Convention Center on Wednesday, March 13, 2019, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Registration begins at 10:00 a.m. and the luncheon starts at 12:15 p.m. Click here to register.
Repairs are becoming a serious problem for an iconic arts building in Dallas.

The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center falls under the care of the City of Dallas, but a new proposal could see the building under new management. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra would like to take over operations for the Meyerson.

Repairs have been mounting for the past five years, with maintenance issues and damage being traced from the water-stained ceiling tiles to the ripples in the carpet.

The DSO has been waiting for city leader to fix the issues, but receiving bond money has been a slow process.

"The city manages dozens of other buildings. It takes a while for maintenance issues to get fixed," said Debi Pena, the VP of People and Facilities for the building. "We hear about problems, we see the problems, but our hands are tied. When this proposal goes through well be able to stop issues when we see them and take preventative measures."

The DSO in 2018 raised its own funding to give the Meyerson a face-lift and power washing.

The price of repairs does not compare to the value of the building and what the Meyerson means to the arts community and families in North Texas.

"This building is iconic, and it truly is one of the best symphony halls in the world," Pena said. "Being from Dallas, it makes me proud that we have a building like this, that Dallas can call her own. When want to preserve the Meyerson so families from generations to come, can experience the beauty in the music and the building."

The City of Dallas has granted similar proposals for buildings and spaces like the Arboretum, Fair Park and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

The next meeting is March 21.
Photo: Contributed

Boundary-Similkameen MLA Linda Larson wants B.C. to stop changing its clocks twice a year, but only if California and Washington State do so first.

The Liberal MLA is reintroducing her private members bill on the subject for the third time, seeking to keep B.C. on Daylight Savings Time.

California and Washington State are both going through a process right now to stay on DST year-round, said Larson. It would be prudent that B.C. follow, as they are our biggest west coast partners.

She said B.C. will need to stay on the same time zone of those U.S. states to "maintain its economic advantage.

Seventy nine per cent of the worlds population doesnt switch clocks, so there must be a reason for that, says Larson. The idea for this bill originated in Grand Forks, where municipal officials put this resolution forward at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in 2017 and 2018. The people in my community have been quite adamant about making this change."

With this being her third try, Larson hopes the bill has more support this time around now that California and Washington State are considering it.

I support the community of Grand Forks in this resolution and everyone who has contacted me on this issue, says Larson. Im happy to follow through with this bill and I hope all members will support it.

B.C. Premier John Horgan previously publicly contemplated putting an end to the time change, but said in November 2018 there wasnt enough support for the idea from the business community.
A shooting in East Dallas Thursday morning has left one person dead and a nearby high school on lockdown.



Dallas were called to the 9800 block of Kingsman Drive, near Ferguson Road and Oates Drive, at about 11:40 a.m.



Officers arrived to find one victim at the scene who was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound.

It's not yet clear what led to the shooting, or where it took place, but officers were seen focusing their investigation into a cordoned off area in an alley behind a row of homes.

No suspects have been named and no arrests have been announced. Police have also not released any information about the victim.



Dallas' Bryan Adams High School, which is located about one-quarter of a mile away from the home, was locked down for about an hour. That lock down was lifted at about 12:45 p.m.



Police said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
What to Know Alvord told police the man became "very belligerent," making him feel threatened. So he punched the man.

Police say a Florida man spent what was supposed to be his wedding night in jail after breaking the nose of a man who refused to move out of the way of the beachfront wedding pictures.

Ocean Ridge police arrested 27-year-old Jeffery E. Alvord on Sunday following the fight with a 24-year-old man who refused offers of $50 to move out of the way of the wedding pictures.

Alvord told police the man became "very belligerent," making him feel threatened. So he punched the man. The victim told police a groomsman held him so Alvord could hit him.

Alvord's attorney Steven Cohen told the Palm Beach Post the incident "did not play out" as the victim stated.

Alvord was released on bond Monday and married his fiance.
The French government on Wednesday unveiled plans to slap a 3 percent tax on the French revenues of internet giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook.

The bill is an attempt to get around tax avoidance measures by multinationals, which pay most of their taxes in the EU country they are based in  often at very low rates. That effectively means the companies pay next to no tax in countries where they have large operations.

The tax will apply to digital companies that have global revenues of over 750 million euros ($848 million), and French revenue over 25 million euros. That will help protect startups, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a news conference.

About 30 companies, mostly based from the U.S, but also from China and Europe, will be affected.

France is set to be the first European country to implement such a tax as the bill presented Wednesday in a cabinet meeting is likely to pass in the coming months in parliament, where French President Emmanuel Macron's party has a majority.

Le Maire estimated the tax will raise about 500 million euros ($566 million) a year this year but that should increase "quickly."

He said the tax will not affect companies directly selling their own products online. It will mostly affect companies that use consumers' data to sell online advertising. It will also apply to online services companies like Airbnb and Uber.

"This is about justice," Le Maire said. "These digital giants use our personal data, make huge profits out of these data ... then transfer the money somewhere else without paying their fair amount of taxes."

Le Maire quoted figures from the European Commission, the EU executive body, showing that the major digital tech companies pay on average 14 percentage points less tax than other European companies.

France decided to implement the digital tax after a similar proposal at the European Union level failed to get unanimous support from member states.

Le Maire said he would now push for an international deal by the end of the year among the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based forum made up mostly of developed nations.

The Computer and Communications Industry Association criticized the French measure, saying it would ultimately lead to higher costs for French firms and consumers.

"So-called digital companies are, contrary to claims, not under-taxed and they should not be arbitrarily targeted," said CCIA Europe's vice president, Christian Borggreen.
We did it again! NBCLA's award-winning meteorologists have been certified once again as Southern California's most accurate team for the third year in a row, according to WeatheRate.

NBCLA's team includes veteran Fritz Coleman, who's been with the station for more than 35 years, meteorologists David Biggar, Belen De Leon, Shanna Mendiola and Anthony Yanez.

Is 2019 a stand-out year for rainfall? David Biggar explains for the NBC4 News on Monday, March 4, 2019.

WeatheRate is an independent weather research company that examines forecasts along with accurate temperatures and timing over a 52-week period.

WeatheRate also looks at which stations have the most cutting-edge technology --- hello, StormRanger, the only mobile radar truck that can detect weather changes faster and more accurately.

"NBCUniversal Owned TV Stations recent investments in weather and their concerted effort to provide viewers with accurate forecasts is clear. They have earned our seal of approval in more top 20 markets than any other broadcast group in the country," Bruce Fixman, President of WeatheRate, said in a news release.

The station provides hourly and week-long forecasts daily during its newscasts starting with Today in LA from 4-7 a.m. and all day through the last newscast at 11 p.m. It also has a robust app, NBCLA, viewers can use 24/7.

Now that it's really pouring in LA, aren't you glad you tune in to NBCLA?

And don't let us do all the talking. Show us what the weather looks like in your neck of the woods by tagging #NBCLA on social media.

View my Flipboard Magazine.
"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek said he has been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer but intends to fight the disease and keep on working.

In a video posted online Wednesday, the 78-year-old said he was announcing his illness directly to "Jeopardy!" fans in keeping with his long-time policy of being "open and transparent."

He's among 50,000 other Americans who receive such a diagnosis each year, Trebek said. Normally, the "prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I'm going to fight this, and I'm going to keep working."

Trebek said he plans to beat the disease's low survival rate with the love and support of family and friends and with prayers from viewers.

He lightened the difficult message with humor: He said he must beat the odds because his "Jeopardy!" contract requires he host the quiz show for three more years.

"So help me. Keep the faith and we'll win. We'll get it done," he said, his voice calm and steady.

Trebek, a native of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, has been host of the syndicated quiz show since 1984. He and his wife, Jean Currivan, have two children.

Ken Jennings, a longtime "Jeopardy!" player who took part in the show's "All-Star Games" that ended Tuesday, posted a tweet in which he compared Trebek to the late TV journalist Walter Cronkite.

"I've said this before but Alex Trebek is in a way the last Cronkite: authoritative, reassuring TV voice you hear every night, almost to the point of ritual," Jennings wrote.

Trebek has gone online before to get out word about his health. In January 2018, he posted a video announcing he'd undergone surgery for blood clots on the brain that followed a fall he'd taken. The show was on hiatus during his recovery.

In 2007, he was hospitalized for about a week after suffering what was described as a minor heart attack.

The show has yet to bring in a substitute host for him  save once, when he and "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak swapped their TV jobs as an April's Fool prank.

In a Twitter post, Sajak wrote "there is no one I know who is stronger and more determined, and I would never bet against him. We, and the entire country, are pulling for you, Alex."

Trebek, the smoothest of TV game show hosts, admitted to a case of nerves during rehearsals in January for the show's first-ever "All-Star Games," a team-play tournament that made new demands on its host.

"This will probably start me drinking again," he joked.

Although Trebek had publicly toyed with the idea of retiring, he instead renewed his deal in 2018 with Sony Pictures Television for three more years, through the 2021-22 season.

In the January set interview with The Associated Press, Trebek discussed his decision to keep going with "Jeopardy!"

"It's not as if I'm overworked  we tape 46 days a year," he said. But he noted he's been working on TV for more than 50 years and was, as he put it, "78-and-a-half now. I'm slowing down."

"It's logical to start thinking about retiring," he said. "And I will someday, when I feel I've lost enough of my abilities and am messing up a little too much, or it's no longer any fun."

"And it's still fun," he said.

Trebek, who holds a philosophy degree from the University of Ottawa, was a TV and radio reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Company before moving to the United States. He became a U.S. citizen in 1998.

He's won five Emmys as best game show host and received a lifetime achievement award from the TV academy in 2011.

Created by entertainer-producer Merv Griffin, "Jeopardy!" debuted as a NBC daytime show in 1964 with host Art Fleming and ran for more than a decade before going into syndication. The version with Trebek shifted the show largely into early evening slots.
A meeting of House Democrats turned contentious Wednesday as some new members who helped deliver the House majority confronted leaders over a resolution implicitly rebuking Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota over her comments on Israel.

In the party's weekly closed meeting, Democrats protested the way Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders tried to rush out a resolution this week responding to Omar's latest remark about Israel. Omar last week suggested the Jewish state's supporters are pushing lawmakers to pledge "allegiance" to a foreign country.

The draft of the resolution condemning anti-Semitism has angered Omar's fellow freshmen and their liberal supporters. Pelosi had already said the measure would be broadened to decry anti-Muslim bias. But that didn't quiet the ranks, and the party's first major dissension broke out in an uncomfortable confrontation, according to three officials familiar with the episode, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.

Rep. Jahana Hayes of Connecticut complained that Pelosi left Democrats out of the loop on the resolution's details.

"My comments were about the process we are using when concerns arise," Hayes said in a statement. "As a member of Congress I should not get important information from cable news."

Two people with knowledge of the situation said Hayes was engaged in conversation with a colleague when Pelosi asked her a question. The congresswoman did not respond because she did not hear the speaker address her, these people say. Most lawmakers had left the room at the time.

Then Pelosi said, "If you're not going to listen to me, I'm done talking," according to a person in the room.

A senior Democratic aide said Pelosi had earlier acknowledged the issues and said the resolution was not final. One person in the room quoted the speaker as saying the leaders had tried to increase communication so that members stay united and have "a clearer understanding of what our purpose is as a caucus, how we proceed."

Some Democrats hugged Omar, one of two Muslim women in Congress, during the meeting, according to other officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. She's also received powerful boosts from fellow Democratic freshmen Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

Rep. Katie Hill, D-Calif., said she spoke up in a leadership meeting earlier this week about the original draft being "reactionary" to Omar's most recent comment. The dissention over the issue, Hill said, "has been building for a while."

Many have pointed to the fact that Omar was the target of an anti-Muslim poster that appeared last week at the West Virginia Capitol in Charleston, with her picture over an image of the World Trade Center's burning towers.

"We're very concerned about that and we want that paid attention to," said Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif. "Many members of the D caucus are concerned and concerned over the general rise in hatred that we have seen. And so we want to make clear that we make a stand against all forms of bigotry and hatred."

That sounds straightforward enough, especially for a party that has celebrated its diversity, criticized Republicans of their lack of it and bristled over racially sensitive remarks from President Donald Trump.

But much about the resolution remains up in the air, including what it will say, whether it will name Omar and whether it will get a vote on the House floor this week as Pelosi originally intended, Democrats said. Also unclear is whether Omar will get to keep her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

There was clear dissention among the Democrats on whether a resolution condemning anti-Semitism was even necessary, given that the House voted on a similar measure already.

"I'm not sure we need to continue to do this every single time," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the co-chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The upheaval was a striking change from the heady first days of Democratic control, which installed Pelosi as speaker for the second time. Omar is among the most prominent freshman, as evidence by her appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone's March issue with Pelosi, Hayes and Ocasio-Cortez. The resolution has created friction among Pelosi and all three of the women in the photo.

Omar, one of two Muslim women in Congress, has declined to comment, but a series of remarks about U.S.-Israel policy have forced the Democrats to respond. Pelosi, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and other Democrats condemned Omar's remarks about divided loyalties. She did not apologize.
Brightline and Bumble Bizz will be hosting the Women on the FAST Track panel on Thursday, March 7th at the Brightline MiamiCentral station in celebration of International Womens Day 2019.

The event will highlight the work of South Floridas most notable female leaders as well as raise and address key issues women face today.

The all-female panel will also discuss ways to identify and build resources and support for women within our community.

Kelly Saks, Digital Influencer and Miami Community Marketing Manger for Bumble will moderate the panel discussion with South Floridas leading women across industries ranging from tech to beauty as they discuss their stories and the inevitable challenges they overcame in their journey to success.

Among the panelists invited to participate are: Johanna Mikkola, CEO & Founder of Wyncode Academy, who will touch on women in technology and coding. Dr. Janelle Vega, Board Certified Dermatologist at Mayoral Dermatology, will discuss beauty and skincare and the ever-evolving world of digital marketing. Anastasia Koutsioukis, Owner and Creative Director of Mondolin Aegean Bistro and Mrs. Mandolin Lifestyle Boutique & Cafe. Lissette Calderon, CEO of Neology Life Development Group and Maile Aguila, Senior Vice President of Residential Sales of Swire Properties.

The Women in FAST Track panel will kick off with a champagne and hors doeuvres starting at 6:30pm until 8pm.

Tickets for this event will be available via Eventbrite for $40 per person and will include wine, champagne and bites as well as a Brightline Smart service round-trip voucher to use for future trips. Click here to purchase.

Glamsquad will also be at the event offering guests express manicures on a first-come, first-served basis.

MiamiCentral is located near Downtown Miami and a short 30-minute and 60-minute train ride from Brightlines Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach stations.
A married couple is facing charges after allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old female.

Prosecutors said Zaidel Rivero and Yaisel Faya-Guinea sexually assaulted the teen in February in their home and then recorded the event with their home surveillance cameras.

Rivero and Faya-Guinea allegedly took the victim to a strip club, where they drank alcohol. They then went back to the house, where they allegedly had sex, according to Nessa Eth, a prosecutor.

Theres no basis for how they obtained the private camera or video footage from inside of a house of the defendant, said Riveros defense attorney. And the other part was how do they establish that he even know or she even knew the age.

Rivero was already in police custody on February 13th for second degree murder charges.

According to an arrest report, cameras were rolling as Rivero stabbed a man several times, and then threw him to the floor of a parking lot. The man later died.

In addition to murder charges, Rivero is also facing additional armed robbery charges.

The murder case was an attack by that victim at his house when he defended himself and there was video showing one side of the story and I just provided the weapon that the victim used against my client to the officer, the detective, said the defense attorney.

Prosecutors said it was four days before the murder when Rivero and his wife sexually assaulted the minor.

A judge set a bond at $8,500 for Rivero. Although he got bond for the sexual assault case, hes being held on no bond for the murder charge. Faya-Guinea bonded out of jail.

In the meantime, Riveros attorney is scheduling a special court hearing to get him out on bond pending the trial.
A Mexican journalist has again been ordered deported from the United States despite his fear that his past stories about corruption make him a target in one of the world's most dangerous countries for reporters.

The attorney for Emilio Gutierrez Soto and his son, Oscar, said Thursday that he would appeal an immigration judge's decision denying them asylum.

Judge Robert Hough's Feb. 28 order says Emilio Gutierrez Soto's testimony was not credible and that he had not shown that he would be singled out for his reporting on the Mexican military were he to return now.

Press freedom advocates have highlighted Gutierrez's articles that alleged military forces were robbing and extorting local people in Chihuahua, which borders New Mexico and part of West Texas. He and Oscar Gutierrez Soto entered the U.S. in 2008.

Gutierrez says he was threatened for writing those articles and fears he will be targeted if forced to return to Mexico.

Hough said that those fears were "merely speculative" given the decade that's passed since the articles were published. The judge also said Mexico "has laws which protect free speech and the government generally respects these rights."

Eight journalists were killed in Mexico last year in connection with their reporting work, according to Reporters Without Borders, more than any other country besides Afghanistan. Two journalists in Mexico have already been killed this year.

In many parts of the country, drug cartels and organized crime gangs are largely free to harass and murder reporters with impunity.

The asylum request made by Gutierrez and his son was first denied in July 2017, and they were taken into detention that December during a check-in with immigration authorities. The two were released in July, two months after an immigration appeals court ordered a new asylum hearing.

Their attorney, Eduardo Beckett, said Thursday that the two were not under immediate threat of deportation after the order, but are under a "dark cloud ... which causes much anxiety and stress not knowing the final result."

"It is well documented that persons who have filed complaints or have gone public against government authorities have paid with their lives," Beckett said in an email.

The National Press Club said it would mobilize in support of the Gutierrez family. Emilio Gutierrez is currently serving a journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan.
Photo: Contributed

Elected officials from the Penticton Indian Band and neighbouring City of Penticton have sat down together for an inaugural council-to-council meeting.

Mayor and council met with Chief and council Monday for talks on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and the 94 recommendations arising from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The members of Penticton City Council had been looking forward to meeting with the Penticton Indian Band Chief and council since Chief Chad Eneas personally congratulated us on the night of our swearing in ceremony, said Penticton Mayor, John Vassilaki.

Our time together Monday with Chief Eneas and his council served as a productive starting point to discuss the partnerships and interests that are critical to all our people and economies while also acknowledging the important role of reconciliation in developing respectful and just relationships between our communities.

A joint news release states both parties committed to look how the two sides can practically apply reconciliation through the proper recognition of Indigenous peoples of this land.

We are excited about the commitment by both parties to further dialogue culminating in real outcomes, said Chief Chad Eneas.

The news release continues that the PIB informed city council how some of the federal and provincial systemic policies create an unequal reality for the Penticton Indian Band.

Suggestions were made for a partnership and shared agreement for further planning and development projects addressing climate change.

The two parties briefly reviewed the protocol agreement signed back in 2004 by mayor David Perry and Chief Stewart Phillip, with a desire to see it developed further.

The meeting was held behind closed doors without prior notice given to the media.
Governor Gavin Newsom spoke with longtime residents of San Ysidro, California Thursday who described a community on edge, where legal residents are afraid to speak Spanish in public and apply for benefits.

Newsom spoke with several people who said they have lived in the border community all of their lives.

Luz Camacho Espinosa grew up in Tijuana but has lived in San Ysidro for 37 years.

"I used to feel free to come and go," Camacho said. "The feeling of freedom was always present but since this declaration of emergency and the new atmosphere of hate, theres no other way to put it, it has changed."

Monica Hernandez works in the healthcare industry said she has lived in the region since 1974 and said residents there are harassed for speaking Spanish in public.

"The community is on edge," she said.

In February, President Donald Trump declared an emergency to obtain wall funding beyond the $1.4 billion Congress approved for border security. The move allows the president to bypass Congress to use money from the Pentagon and other budgets.

The residents told Newsom there are a lot of very real challenges including the affordable housing crisis and pollution of the water off the coast of San Diego County.

"San Ysidro is not a bad place. We are not bad people," said Lisa Cuestas, CEO Casa Familiar. "We are an American town."

Newsom talked about the dynamic nature of the border region as a center for commerce and criticized President Trump for his policies and treatment of asylum seekers.

The Republican Party of San Diego County said the governor should speak to those U.S. citizens who they say have been hurt by illegal immigrants.

Their statement said, in part, "We challenge the Governor to make his arguments to the faces of angel families and those whose children have been trafficked or hooked on drugs due to the criminal gangs which use our border..."

Protestors with signs addressed the governor as he entered and left the restaurant.

On Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials released statistics on the number of people apprehended at the border. For the first time, the number of families and unaccompanied minors make up the majority of people apprehended by CBP officers, according to February's report.

"The system is well beyond capacity and remains at a breaking point," U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan said.

The commissioner was asked if a proposed border wall would solve the problem and he said both an extended border barrier system and changes to legislation to help process asylum seekers are needed to deal with the increase in people crossing into the U.S. illegally.
Experts said Wednesday that only 22 vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California, where a grim, increasingly violent battle is playing out between emboldened fishermen and the last line of defense for the smallest and most endangered porpoise in the world.

Jorge Urban, a biology professor at the Baja California Sur University, said the 22 vaquitas were heard over a network of acoustic monitors. That was in fact higher than many had expected; some had estimated as little as 15 would remain in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, the only place in the world where the vaquita marina is found.

It may be a sign the vaquita is holding on, and what is keeping it alive is a thin line of defenders: Every night 22 volunteer crew members from ships operated by the environmentalist group Sea Shepherd go out to search the upper Gulf for hidden gill nets that catch prized  but protected  totoaba fish and drown vaquitas.

It is increasingly dangerous work. Over the last month, the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat has suffered two attacks in which dozens of fast fishing boats pounded the ship with rocks and firebombs.

"If we stop operations, the vaquita will go extinct," said Sea Shepherd first mate Jack Hutton. "It's just out here removing nets, if we stop removing them then there's no hope for the vaquita."

The prime season to catch totoaba, which peaks in May, is causing a frenzy. The big fish's swim bladders are considered a delicacy in China and can bring thousands of dollars apiece at retail. With so few vaquitas left, a mass totoaba fishing effort this spring could wipe out the species.

"We know we are going to keep getting attacked," said Hutton, who was operating a drone that fishermen shot out of the sky last year. "We know we are risking our lives, but if we don't the vaquita has no chance."

The activists are not alone. Mexican marines and federal police aboard the Farley Mowat fired rubber bullets during the most recent attacks. But officials are clearly not capable of handling the attacks, or preventing fishermen from setting the submerged, hidden nets, which are banned by law from the area. The Mexican Navy and Environment Ministry did not reply to request for comments.

But marines have been intimidated by the fishermen, said documentary filmmaker Richard Ladkani, who filmed as they stood by while fishermen set out in their boats or as they battled authorities to free detained fishermen. Ladkani directed "Sea of Shadows," which won the audience award at the Sundance film festival this year for world documentaries.

Ladkani said he accompanied the Navy on wild, dangerous nighttime chases at top speed in which fishermen tried  and sometimes succeeded  in ramming naval patrol boats to disable their engines. "Why is the navy not using force?" Ladkani wondered. "We were on 10 chases, and every time the pangas (boats) got away."

Ladkani also has a theory about why the fishermen are getting so violent and desperate: Sea Shepherd is successful enough at pulling out nets  which cost about $3,000 apiece  that the fishermen are going into debt, borrowing money from the cartel of Chinese and Mexican totoaba traffickers to buy new nets.

"This is a vicious circle where people get more indebted," said Ladkani. "This one fisherman wound up owing the cartels $54,000 for 18 nets. He tried to get out, he finally came out and said there is no way I can repay the cartel. He was murdered."

Sunshine Rodriguez, a leader of the fishermen in the Baja California town of San Felipe, agreed that the illegal totoaba trade has not brought riches to the town: A total ban on gillnets has paralyzed the fishing fleet, and government payments meant to compensate for lost fishing income haven't been paid in at least three months.

"I know people who are dedicated 100 percent to that (totoaba) business, and don't even have $10 to put gas in the tank of their panga," said Rodriguez. "The Chinese are making the profit, that I can tell you."

"What did they expect the people to do, starve?" Rodriguez asked, saying the idea that fishermen make thousands of dollars for each totoaba bladder is a myth. He said a half-kilogram bladder from an average-sized fish commands only about $400, and prices are dropping.

Rodriguez said the Chinese-Mexican illegal dealers keep cutting the price because the fishermen "are starving. ... They say 'we'll keep on dropping it, we'll keep on making more profit, and these people are going to keep fishing because they have nothing else to do."

Investigator Andrea Costa of the group Elephant Action League agreed that prices appear to be falling, calling that "the first good news for the vaquita in a long, long time." He attributed that to his group's work in identifying illegal traders in Baja California's Chinese community, noting that the Chinese government recently arrested 16 traders.

Costa, who spent a year and a half working undercover to expose the totoaba trade, agreed with Rodriguez on another point: The Mexican government's strategy of focusing almost exclusively on cracking down on the fishermen is never going to work unless it also cracks down on the middlemen and the traders.

"As long as you hammer, put all your efforts only on the fishermen, only on removing the nets, you will fail," Costa said. "You don't address the problem, and the problem is a very sophisticated supply chain

As long as you don't hit these people and you do that ... you'll bleed out, not only the vaquita but the whole marine life in the Sea of Cortez."

Rodriguez, the fishermen's leader, puts it this way: "Everybody is illegal out there. Regardless if it's a shrimp net or a totoaba net, there is a ban on nets.

"So if you're going to catch me and take my boat away for using a shrimp net, what do you think I'm going to do instead? I'm going to do the most profitable illegal thing because I'm still illegal."

But in the meantime, the Sea Shepherd goes each night and hauls in nets, sometimes as many as 15 per night. The fishermen go out each night and lay nets because many of them can't stop; they're too in debt to the traders.

The Sea of Cortez, which Jacques Cousteau once called "the aquarium of the world," is suffering long-term damage from the nets, which are carefully weighted to float below the surface to avoid detection.

"The fact that they hide their nets does mean that we find active nets months later that have not been checked or forgotten about or lost by the poachers," said Hutton. "It means that there's walls of death that are just going to sit out there forever if no one picks them up

Ladkani said, "When it's totoaba season at the end of May, they may have killed everything by then."
A Waldorf, Maryland, teen who helped his mom during her struggle with breast cancer and graduated with honors is dead after someone shot him while he walked home from a friend's house.

Walter Eugene Thomas, 18, was found dead on a bike path off of Freemantle Court after midnight Tuesday, the Charles County Sheriff's Office said.

Thomas' mother, Shenna Foster, told News4 she had four sons and says he was her youngest.

"Why? Why would you take my baby? What'd he do to you? What did he do to you?" she said.

She said he was close with her and was there for her with words of support and love when she fought breast cancer. He even sported a pink shirt.

"He was always with me," Foster said.

"It's unbelievable."

Investigators said they are looking into whether the killing is connected to another shooting that happened three days before about a half mile away in the same Waldorf neighborhood.

Authorities said the 23-year-old victim in Sunday night's shooting on Amber Leaf Court was not fatally injured.

Anyone with information in either case is asked to call Charles County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS, the sheriff's office said in a post on Facebook.
An American journalist who lives in Caracas, Venezuela, and works for a South Florida TV station was released Wednesday after being detained at his home.

Cody Weddle, a freelance reporter who works for WPLG, was detained during a raid by military officials at his residence, along with his assistant, Carlos Camacho, the organization tweeted.

According to a tweet posted by WPLG, he was released and is being deported from Venezuela.

Weddle, 28, has lived in Caracas since 2014 and has worked for WPLG, the Miami Herald, ABC, CBS and the Telegraph, the Herald reported.

In a statement released early Wednesday prior to his release, WPLG President E.R. Bert Medina said they were trying to figure out Weddle's whereabouts.

"We have been unable to confirm specific details but a witness at the time of the raid claims Cody was taken into custody and his equipment confiscated. We have been unable to reach Cody today and are obviously very concerned about him," Medina's statement read. "Cody has been dedicated and committed to telling the story in Venezuela to our viewers here in South Florida. The arrest of a journalist doing his job is outrageous and unacceptable."

Weddle's arrest comes a week after Univision journalist Jorge Ramos and his work team were detained and deported from Venezuela, after an interview with Nicolas Maduro.

"Completely unacceptable for @NicolasMaduro and his thugs to detain @WPLGLocal10s Cody Weddle for reporting on the successful return of the legitimate Venezuelan President @jguaido," Florida Sen. Rick Scott tweeted. "He must be released immediately and the U.S. will not stand for this kind of intimidation!"
What to Know Climate skeptics have endorsed "both sides" approaches taken in the fight that began decades earlier over teaching evolution

The scientific consensus is that global warming is real and man-made

A Connecticut lawmaker wants to strike climate change from state science standards. A Virginia legislator worries teachers are indoctrinating students with their personal views on global warming. And an Oklahoma state senator wants educators to be able to introduce alternative ideas without fear of losing their jobs.

As climate change becomes a hotter topic in American classrooms, politicians around the country are pushing back against the scientific consensus that global warming is real and man-made.

Of the more than a dozen such measures proposed so far this year, some already have failed. But they have emerged this year in growing numbers, many of them inspired or directly encouraged by a pair of advocacy groups, the Discovery Institute and the Heartland Institute.

"You have to present two sides of the argument and allow the kids to deliberate," said Republican state Sen. David Bullard of Oklahoma, a former high school geography teacher whose bill, based on model legislation from the Discovery Institute, ran into opposition from science teachers and went nowhere.

Science education organizations and climate scientists have blasted such proposals for sowing confusion and doubt on a topic of global urgency.

"These efforts are dangerous and require vigilance in the academic community to make sure that they don't succeed," said Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University.

He said the proposals reflect bad-faith efforts to undermine scientific findings that "prove inconvenient to vested interests, be they the fossil-fuel lobby or fundamentalist religious groups."

Some climate science skeptics have cast the debate as a matter of academic freedom.

James Taylor, a senior fellow at Heartland, an Illinois-based group that dismisses climate change, said it is encouraging well-rounded classroom discussions on the topic. The group, which in 2017 sent thousands of science teachers copies of a book titled "Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming," is now taking its message directly to students. A reference book it is planning for publication this year will rebut arguments linking climate change to hurricanes, tornadoes and other extreme weather.

"We're very concerned the global warming propaganda efforts have encouraged students to not engage in research and critical thinking," Taylor said, referring to news reports and scientific warnings.

Neither Discovery nor Heartland discloses the identities of its donors.

Instruction on the topic varies widely from place to place, but climate change and how humans are altering the planet are core topics emphasized in the Next Generation Science Standards, developed by a group of states. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have adopted the standards, and 21 others have embraced some of the material with modifications.

Still, a survey released in 2016 found that of public middle- and high-school science teachers who taught something about climate change, about a quarter gave equal time to perspectives that "raise doubt about the scientific consensus."

Climate skeptics have endorsed approaches taken in the fight that began decades earlier over teaching evolution, in which opponents led by conservative Christians have long called for teaching both sides of the issue.

By early February, the Oakland, California-based nonprofit National Center for Science Education flagged over a dozen bills this year as threats to the integrity of science education, more than the organization typically sees in an entire year.

Several of them  including proposals in Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Dakota  had language echoing model legislation of the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, which says teachers should not be prohibited from addressing strengths and weaknesses of concepts such as evolution and global warming.

Similar measures became law in Louisiana in 2008 and Tennessee in 2012. In states where they may not be feasible politically, Discovery has urged legislators to consider nonbinding resolutions in support of giving teachers latitude to "show support for critical thinking" on controversial topics. Lawmakers in Alabama and Indiana passed such resolutions in 2017.

Discovery officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Florida state Sen. Dennis Baxley is pressing legislation that would allow schools to teach alternatives to controversial theories.

"There is really no established science on most things, you'll find," the GOP legislator said.

Elsewhere, lawmakers in Connecticut and Iowa, which both adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, have proposed rolling them back. Connecticut state Rep. John Piscopo, a Republican, said he wants to eliminate the section on climate change.

"It's one-sided, totally one-sided. The teachers are not able to teach," said Piscopo, a Heartland Institute member. "I want students to have the freedom to understand it's a scientific debate."

Other bills introduced this year in such states as Virginia, Arizona and Maine call for teachers to avoid political or ideological indoctrination of their students.

"If they're teaching about a subject, such as climate change, and they present both sides, that's fine. That's as it should be. A teacher who presents a skewed extension of their political beliefs, that's closer to indoctrinating. That's not good to kids," said Virginia state Rep. Dave LaRock, a Republican.
Photo: The Canadian Press Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister

Manitoba's Progressive Conservative government included a long-promised provincial sales tax cut in its annual budget Thursday  a move that could pave the way for a possible early election.

The government said it plans to cut the tax to seven per cent from eight per cent as of July 1, which will save the average household $350 a year.

"We think that Manitobans deserve a break and  this is something we committed to doing," said Finance Minister Scott Fielding.

"It was a major platform item that we had and so we're very proud of this."

The tax cut was a cornerstone of the Tory election campaign in 2016, three years after the former NDP government had raised it.

PC Leader Brian Pallister promised the cut would come before the next election scheduled for Oct. 6, 2020, and in recent months he hasn't ruled out calling an earlier vote.

The 2019-20 budget also reduces ambulance fees to a maximum of $250, down from $340.

It keeps a tight rein on spending increases, with hikes of less than one per cent in health and education operating costs and cuts to some infrastructure spending.

The government is predicting a deficit of $360 million, $161 million smaller than the deficit in the current fiscal year. Fielding said the government is on track to meet its promise to balance the budget by the end of a second term.

Manitoba's finances have been helped by successive years of major increases in federal transfer payments. This year will see transfers jump by more than $300 million, mostly in equalization payments designed to help poorer provinces offer services similar to richer ones.

The opposition parties have criticized the Tories' spending restraint, and have said the public has paid more for things such as public-housing rent and tuition.

Opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew said last year he would not commit to supporting a tax cut until he read the budget.

The budget vote is expected in June.
The trial of a former Massachusetts State Police trooper accused of domestic violence is underway at Lowell Superior Court.

Robert Sundberg, 48, is no longer a trooper, but was a 14-year veteran when the allegations first came out against him in April of 2016. Charges against him include rape, assault with intent to rape, assault and battery, strangulation, stalking and malicious destruction of a motor vehicle.

The alleged victim in the case is his former girlfriend, who was also a state trooper. She told police she endured years of verbal and physical abuse by the defendant, who she claims was fueled by alcohol.

She said Sundberg choked her multiple times in their Boxboro home and threatened her if she ever told anyone. She took the stand after opening statements Wednesday. Her testimony was not recorded in order to protect her identity.

Sundberg has maintained his innocence throughout the case. In the past, his attorney accused the alleged victim of making the story up because his client was about to break up with her.

It is unclear if the former trooper will take the stand in his own defense. If he is convicted, the rape charge carries a maximum of 20 years behind bars.

The Middlesex County District Attorney's Office said the trial is expected to last one to two weeks and will continue with more testimony on Thursday.
A 2-alarm fire Thursday morning destroyed a Leominster, Massachusetts gas station.

The fire broke out at the Sunoco Station on Main Street at about 10 a.m.

NBC10 Boston's Sky Ranger helicopter was over the scene, where plumes of smoke could be seen coming from the gas station. Numerous firefighters were at the scene battling the blaze.

Donna Rabidou had pulled into the station, just off Route 2, due to a flat tire when the fire broke out.

"I was only in there just minutes and then all of a sudden I heard this boom," Rabidou recalled. "You just kinda pause and you see more fire and I'm like, 'I gotta get out of here. This is a gas station. There's gas in those cars.'"

Off-duty Leominster Dep. Fire Chief Gary Ranno spotted the flames first.

"I was off duty, out doing some errands. I stopped in at the dealership, was pulling out of the dealership and saw the smoke coming out of the building," Ranno said.

He used his radio to tell the other firefighters back at the station then began helping to put the fire out.

Out of the five people inside the gas station, only one suffered minor injuries and refused treatment.

Fire Chief Robert Sideleau said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

"It may have been that the car backfired and that's the initial reports," said Sideleau. "

The building has been deemed a total loss but it's still a win for the fire department whose main concern is accounting for everyone inside.

"The fire is out and nobody got hurt. It's awesome," said Ranno.
A Massachusetts man who allegedly threatened to conduct a "shooting spree" is facing charges for illegally purchasing 150 rounds of ammunition without a license.

Brian Schwarztrauber, 54, of Cambridge, was arraigned Wednesday in Cambridge District Court for illegal possession of ammunition and is facing an additional charge of purchasing ammunition without a license. He was ordered held on $25,000 cash bail.

According to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, police were called to the Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington last Saturday for a report of a disruptive patron at the Northeast Gun Show.

Upon arrival, police allegedly located Schwarztrauber, who was being disruptive and refused to leave the gun show. When police approached him, they said they detected a strong odor of alcohol. While police were speaking with him, they received a notification from Cambridge police concerning statements Schwarztrauber had allegedly made indicating that he was going to use a firearm and ammunition to conduct a "shooting spree."

Due to his level of intoxication, Schwarztrauber was placed into protective custody while police continued to investigate.

While taking him into custody, police learned from a gun show employee that Schwarztrauber had allegedly purchased ammunition without a firearms identification card. Police subsequently located three 50-round boxes of PPU Handgun Line 9mm Luger ammunition in Schwarztrauber's vehicle. He was arrested at that time.

Cambridge police subsequently obtained a search warrant for Schwarztrauber's home in Cambridge, where they located a box of Hornady Valkyrie 224 rifle ammunition.

"About a week ago, I noticed him saying some things that I found very concerning," said his roommate, Amanda Greenfield, who went to police after she said she heard him talking on the phone about plans to shoot people up.

Greenfield says she overheard Schwarztrauber talking to a man named Chris, saying he was allegedly going to get a rifle and that he wanted a sniper rifle.

No firearms were found in the apartment.

"He's always ... been kind of full of anger and hate for the left, but lately, it's kind of become more crystalized," Greenfield said.

The police report said Schwarztrauber has recently been "talking about mass shootings" and that he would make "racist comments and is very much against the views of the Democratic party."

Schwarztrauber is scheduled to return to court on April 2.

Also charged as part of the investigation was Stephen Fowler, 69, of Guilford, Connecticut, the vendor at the gun show who sold the ammunition to Schwarztrauber.

Fowler was charged with selling ammunition without complying with the requirements relating to firearms identification cards. He was arraigned Tuesday in Woburn District Court and released on $500 cash bail with the condition that he not sell firearms in Massachusetts.
A New Hampshire man whose girlfriend was fatally shot over the weekend has been arrested on drug and driving charges stemming from the police's ongoing investigation.

Jeremy Winslow, 34, of Manchester, was arrested on a warrant that stemmed from the shooting this weekend in Manchester after appearing in court on a compliance hearing from a domestic violence case from 2016, according to police.

Winslow was charged with possession of cocaine and driving with a suspended license. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

He told NBC10 Boston on Monday that he and his girlfriend, 34-year-old Tanya Hall, were out Saturday night at the nightclub Manchvegas when a fight inside spilled outside of the bar, and that he was driving away in his Jeep with Hall in the passenger seat when she was shot and killed.

The alleged gunman, Justin Moura, was arrested and is being held without bail. He waived his appearance in court on Tuesday.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Police in Massachusetts have safely located a woman who had been missing from Wilmington.

Authorities say Kimberly Landry, 39, last had contact with her family on March 5.

Police said Landry was located Monday and thanked Lowell police for their assistance. No other information was provided.
A death investigation is continuing in Vermont after a mothers body was found in her car on the side of the roadand police are calling the death suspicious.

Alicia Harrington of Rutland City was reported missing to the Rutland Police Department Tuesday.

Maj. Dan Trudeau of Vermont State Police said Harringtons husband told officers his wife never picked up their young child from school, as expected.

The 44-year-olds vehicle then turned up Wednesday in Proctor, with a dead body inside.

An autopsy Thursday confirmed the body found in the car was Harringtons.

Initially, we thought maybe the car broke down, but the car starts right up, Trudeau said in response to a question from necn. It was parked in an odd position along the side of the roadvery, very close to the travel lane. In fact, the tires were into the travel lane. So it didnt seem like it was your typical parking spot.

Investigators said the medical examiners findings on a cause or manner of death are pending a toxicology report, which could take weeks.

Trudeau said his team spent Thursday talking to friends and relatives of Harrington, working on piecing together a timeline leading up to her death.

Necn spotted four state troopers from the search and rescue team scouring both sides of the road where Harringtons car was found. They were apparently looking for anything out of place in bushes and along a farm near the road.

While state police are still treating Harringtons death as suspicious, they believe it was an isolated incident and said theres no reason to suspect theres any threat to the community.

Trudeau urged anyone with information on Harringtons travels Tuesday to call Vermont State Police at 802-773-9101.
The mother of a woman who was shot and killed over the weekend in New Hampshire has filed a restraining order against her daughter's boyfriend, saying she is concerned he will try to take custody of the victim's young child.

Jeremy Winslow was with Tanya Hall when she was shot to death outside ManchVegas Bar and Grill in Manchester Saturday night. Justin Moura was charged with murder in the case.

Court documents show that Hall's mother filed a restraining order against Winslow, who she says contacted her no fewer than 14 times since the day after her daughter's death. She said she was afraid Winslow would try to take custody of Hall's son.

After the shooting, Winslow gave reporters a lengthy account of Hall's death. During the interview, Winslow referenced the boy several times.

"Her little boy thinks I am his dad. He's not my son," Winslow said. "I love him just the same."

"I am very concerned of what Jeremy would do if he made contact with my grandson, who is only 18 months old," Hall's mother wrote in the restraining order. "I also fear for my safety."

Documents show Winslow's criminal history includes several convictions for stalking and domestic violence. Thursday, authorities announced he had been arrested on charges stemming from the investigation into Hall's death. He is accused of possessing cocaine and driving with a suspended license when Hall was shot in his Jeep.

Winslow is not a suspect in the murder case, the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office said.

Just days before the murder, Winslow was also arrested in Bedford on a warrant for failing to appear in court on a motor vehicle charge.

NBC10 Boston tried to reach Hall's mother for comment but has not yet heard back.
Police in Vermont are investigating the death of a woman found in a vehicle Wednesday.

Vermont State Police said a concerned citizen reported Alicia Harrington missing Tuesday. At 8 a.m. Wednesday, her Subaru Impreza was found on Florence Road in Proctor. The body of a woman was inside.

State police said the identity of the woman was being withheld. They added that an autopsy would be conducted in Burlington to determine how the woman died and confirm her identity.

Anyone with information is asked to call 802-773-9101.
New Hampshire has been good to Bernie Sanders, delivering him a 22-point victory in 2016 that was one of his biggest blowouts that year. But as he launches his second campaign for the presidency, there are early signs that he doesn't have a lock on the nation's first primary.

More than a half-dozen Democratic leaders, activists and lawmakers who endorsed the Vermont senator in 2016 said they were hesitant to do so again. Some said they were passing over the 77-year-old self-described democratic socialist in search of fresh energy while others said that, 11 months away from the primary, it's simply too early to make a choice.

That caution underscores one of the central challenges facing Sanders. His insurgent 2016 campaign took off in part because he was the sole alternative to the more establishment-oriented Hillary Clinton. But in a 2020 field that already spans a dozen candidates and includes several progressives, women and people of color, Sanders isn't the only option for people yearning for political change.

"He's right on many of the issues that I care about," said Jackie Cilley, a former state senator who endorsed Sanders in 2016. "But I'm just looking at some new candidates."

With his name recognition and residency in neighboring Vermont, Sanders goes into New Hampshire with an early advantage. But his rivals aren't ceding the state to him.

On a recent New Hampshire swing, California Sen. Kamala Harris insisted she would compete for the state and took a not-so-subtle dig at Sanders by noting she's not a democratic socialist. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, of neighboring Massachusetts, along with Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, have also visited New Hampshire.

Endorsements aren't the only sign of a candidate's strength. And Sanders and his team insist they won't take New Hampshire for granted. His first swing through early-voting states this week as a 2020 presidential candidate includes several stops in New Hampshire.

The senator plans to spend "a lot of time" in the state, said Jeff Weaver, Sanders' 2016 campaign manager who is now working as a senior adviser for the new campaign. He acknowledged it would be difficult for Sanders to notch as big of a victory in New Hampshire as he did in 2016.

"In a very big field, it will be impossible to get that kind of margin again," Weaver said.

Several Democrats said the size of the field has made them think twice about backing Sanders too quickly.

"It's massive," liberal activist Dudley Dudley said of the 2020 roster. "Our cup runneth over or something, I don't know. I'm struggling with it myself."

Dudley said she's still fond of Sanders but has also been impressed by other senators who have visited New Hampshire, including Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

"If I were to endorse (Sanders), it would be because I believe he is the most likely to be able to beat (President Donald) Trump," she said. "And it may come out that way. I don't know. But I want to weigh it. I want to look at all of the candidates."

Steve Marchand, the former mayor of Portsmouth, endorsed Sanders in 2016 but described himself as "wide open" when it comes to 2020.

"I'm not going to support anybody for a good long time," Marchand said. "I want to kick the tires on everybody."

Another hurdle for Sanders is one of his own making. His leftward push against Clinton in 2016 proved so popular among Democrats that it's now become vogue for the younger generation of 2020 candidates.

Looking at the crowded 2020 field, former state Sen. Burt Cohen said it seems like Sanders' 2016 agenda is "pretty much everybody's agenda," including "Medicare-for-all" and criticizing income inequality.

After endorsing Sanders in 2016 and working as a delegate for him at the Democratic National Convention, Cohen hasn't "fully decided yet" whether he'll support Sanders, saying, "I may end up endorsing Bernie. I'm not sure."

The approach is shared by fellow 2016 Sanders delegate Andru Volinsky, who now holds a seat on the state's executive council.

"My initial inclination is towards Sen. Sanders," Volinsky said. "But the door is not completely closed to others."

Despite the caution from some Democrats, others have already embraced his 2020 run.

Sanders has kept the support and help of Kurt Ehrenberg, who was the New Hampshire state director for the unsuccessful effort to get Warren to run during the 2016 cycle. He then became the New Hampshire political director for Sanders during the presidential campaign.

Rep. Mark King, a Nashua Democrat, endorsed Sanders in 2016 and said he plans to do so again, in part because Sanders has the same values and the same approach as he did before.

"I didn't just blindly follow the senator again," said King, who was a 2016 delegate for Sanders.
A vigil was held Thursday night for Jassy Correia, the 23-year-old mother from Dorchester who was kidnapped after leaving a nightclub in Boston and later found dead in Delaware.

According to the Boston Globe, Katie Sofia Depina, cousin of Correia, posted info about the vigil to her Facebook page.

The vigil began at 7:30 p.m. outside of St. Peters Church on Bowdoin Street in Dorchester.

Louis Coleman, 32, of Providence, Rhode Island, is facing a federal charge of kidnapping, resulting in death. The charge carries a sentence of mandatory life and also makes Coleman eligible for the death penalty if convicted, according to federal prosecutors who announced the charges Sunday.

Authorities said Correia's body was discovered inside the trunk of Coleman's car in Delaware on Feb. 28.



A number of new details were revealed about the case this week, with prosecutors announcing that it appears preliminarily that Correia died from blunt force trauma and strangulation. Lelling added that while only a preliminary medical examination has been done at this point, it does not appear Correia was sexually assaulted.

Authorities believe Correia put up a fight, saying there are "definitely indications that she did not go quietly."

Prosecutors cited several examples that suggest Correia put up a struggle, including the forward windshield of Coleman's red sedan being cracked in two locations on the passenger side, significant bruising on Correia's body, and a scratch on Coleman's face that he said was from Correia.

A timeline of the investigation was also provided by authorities on Sunday.

After learning of Correia's disappearance, Boston police reviewed surveillance tape from outside of Venu Nightclub, where Correia had last been seen. Police observed on the footage that Correia was on the sidewalk at 2:14 a.m. when she was approached by a man, later identified as Coleman. He could be seen interacting with her, and then leaving the area with her before the two get into his red sedan.

Authorities said it does not appear that Correia knew Coleman but there is still a lot left to learn.

The post Vigil for Jassy Correia appeared first on Caught In Dot.
A woman driving with a suspended license from previous DWI convictions was arrested Wednesday evening for allegedly leading police on a chase with her 16-year-old daughter in the vehicle.

Vickie Thibodeau, 39, of North Billerica, Massachusetts was arrested for allegedly instigating the chase after she failed to yield for officers in New Hampshire.

State police said they tried to pull over a pickup truck for "an assortment of traffic offenses" on Route 16. After the driver, who was later identified as Thibodeau, failed to stop, the chase went from Wakefield to Dover.

Authorities used stop sticks to deflate the truck's tires and eventually disable the vehicle, according to state police. Thibodeau immediately surrendered and was taken into custody.

She was charged with subsequent DWI, aggravated DWI, disobeying a police officer, operating after suspension, reckless conduct, reckless operation and speeding. The subsequent charge was given to Thibodeau because she has five prior convictions of driving under the influence, according to officials.

Anyone with more information on the chase is encouraged to share information with Sgt. Nicholas Levesque or Trooper Alexa Williamson by contacting them at 603-323-3333.
The New Hampshire woman who was kidnapped from the Mall of New Hampshire with her four-year-old son and then allegedly raped by a man who had escaped a Vermont treatment facility is now suing the state of Vermont and that treatment center.

That victim is also speaking out for the first time and identifying herself, saying she plans to do everything she can to make sure this doesnt happen to someone else.

Celia and her son did not choose this result, they did not choose to be in this situation, said attorney Anthony Carr who represents Celia Roessler.

On the afternoon of Jan. 5, 2019, Roessler was buckling her son into his car seat in the parking lot at the Mall of New Hampshire. According to a recently filed lawsuit, Roessler says she was violently elbowed, pushed into the passenger seat of her car, and abducted with her son by Everett Simpson.

Simpson is a convicted criminal who had, days earlier, escaped from a Vermont treatment facility called Valley Vista.

After he allegedly raped Roessler in front of her little boy at a Vermont motel, Simpson took off and was eventually captured in Pennsylvania.

In a statement, Roessler writes, in part, The past couple months have not been easy, but the most important thing is we made it out alive, and my son was not physically harmed.

Roessler's attorney spoke on her behalf Wednesday.

This would not have happened but for the gross negligence of both Vermont and Valley Vista, Carr said.

Roessler is now suing the State of Vermont and Valley Vista, claiming the treatment center failed to immediately notify police when Simpson escaped and alleging that the state failed to properly alert the public that a dangerous criminal was on the loose.

The State of Vermont has publicly admitted to breaching its duties and even suspended a state trooper.

In response to the lawsuit, Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan writes, in part, Our sympathy goes out to the Plaintiff and her family, who were victims of a heinous crime... Once we have had an opportunity to evaluate the claims, we will reach out to the Plaintiffs counsel."

Roessler says she was raised to make the best of every situation, and thats exactly what she plans to do here.

Celia is willing to come forward and be that strong person and put a face to this, and make sure that she gets justice, but also that it never happens again, Carr said.

In Roesslers statement, she also says shes speaking out now because she has nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of.
COLD PURSUIT: snowplough driver seeks revenge against drug dealers he thinks killed his son

Cold Pursuit (15)

Running time 1hr 15min

Rating: ***

ONE might be led to believe that, absent a bizarre gaffe by star Liam Neeson during the films promotion, Cold Pursuit mightve gone down as a middle-of-the-road revenge thriller. Alas, things were always going to be more complicated than that.

Director Hans Petter Moland, a Norwegian filmmaker whose work is tinged with a vein of quintessentially Scandinavian ink-black comedy, intended bigger things for his Hollywood debut; its a film one can view in all manner of ways, and Neesons tales of racist revenge ideation only imbue it with another layer of troubling subtext. The past few years have seen a renaissance in Scandi-noir adaptations (The Snowman, The Girl in the Spiders Web), despite the genre having lost much of its international appeal; Cold Pursuit, an English-language remake of Molands own Kraftidioten, sticks squarely to the directors original vision, moving the action from snowy Norway to frost-bitten Colorado while otherwise maintaining its predecessors plot, its mindless violence and its air of nihilistic absurdity. While some will come to Cold Pursuit seeking yet another helping of grisly Neesonian mayhem, the screenplay gleefully twists the premise every which way, delivering bold, occasionally

ingenious satirical flourishes before upping the body count for a more conventional third act.

Neeson plays the outrageously-named Nels Coxman, a snowplough driver and all-round law-abiding

citizen  such a pinnacle of his community, in fact, that theyre set to proclaim him Citizen of the Year. The award ceremony is disrupted, however, by news of his sons death, apparently from a heroin overdose; it soon transpires that he was, in fact, killed by the local mob, led by the unhinged Viking (Tom Bateman). After dispatching (in a gloriously remorseless set piece) a trio of cartel enforcers, Nels inadvertently provokes a war between Vikings gang and White Bull (Tom Jackson), an Amerindian drug lord. What ensues is a braindead orgy of gruesome violence, with the perpetually-scowling Nels always waiting in the wings to pick at the carcasses of dead thugs.

But wait, theres more. Moland is evidently a Coen Brothers fan and he tries for a Fargo-esque subplot involving Emmy Rossums cop, as in most films of its ilk, the police of Cold Pursuit are always a few steps behind the protagonist, giving Nels plenty of time to cut a bloody swathe across the wintery landscape. Less successful is an interlude involving Nels hitman brother, Brock (William Forsythe. Forsythe, once a very prolific performer, is criminally underused in one of his first

mainstream roles in donkeys years. None other than Laura Dern is roped in to portray Nels troubled wife, but we see very little of her outside of the first act  you could read her absence as a sly comment on the preposterous hypermasculinity of the vigilante genre, but that would probably be giving Moland the benefit of the doubt. At the end of the day, this is

a Neeson vehicle through-and-through, and the (rightly derided) star sends himself up with a degree of efficacy  the ludicrous sense of desolation and despair conjured by the screenplay (and by the movies frozen locales) provides a stomping ground fit for the Irish actors particular talents, and he emerges as an action-comedy T-Rex, rampaging across gangland in a quest not of redemption, but of macabre self-satisfaction.

Cold Pursuit is a peculiar, occasionally fun entry in the revenge canon, a bit too savvy for Taken fans just as it falls decidedly short of the greats (Death Wish, Taxi Driver).
Sian Berry spoke at a 'climate emergency' protest on Tuesday

THE co-leader of The Green Party has urged West Berkshire residents to use the passion and spirit of the Newbury bypass protests to pressurise West Berkshire Council into declaring a climate emergency.

Sian Berry told demonstrators who gathered outside the district councils offices ahead of its budget meeting on Tuesday night how the fierce protests against the bypass inspired her as a young transport campaigner and environmentalist.

The construction of the bypass, which involved the felling of nearly 10,000 mature trees to make way for the construction of the A34, sparked some of largest anti-road protests in European history.

The demonstrations, dubbed the Third Battle of Newbury, saw more than 7,000 people protest on the site of the bypass between 1995 and 1996.

A peaceful #ClimateEmergency protest has started outside @WestBerkshire Council, organised by @newburygreens ahead of a full council budget meeting which starts later tonight. pic.twitter.com/sFmYq7BZ6R  Fiona Tomas (@fionatomas_nwn) March 5, 2019

Tuesdays 60-strong gathering was held to increase pressure on West Berkshire Council to declare a climate emergency and bring forward its commitment to becoming a zero net-carbon district by 2030.

More than 27 local authorities throughout the UK have already passed motions declaring a climate emergency.

West Berkshire councillors will debate a petition launched by West Berkshire Green Party urging them to do the same in July.

The Green Partys prospective parliamentary candidate for Newbury, Steve Masters, urged the crowd  which comprised both young and older generations  to keep pressing the council on green policies to ensure future generations have a viable planet for a viable future.

Pupils from St Bartholomews School, who took part in a national climate change strike outside Newbury Town Hall last month, were also in attendance.

Among them was head girl Emily Carr, who stressed the need for changes in environmental policies in the agricultural industry and called on the council to make a clear and irreversible commitment to helping the UK achieve a carbon-free economy.

Ms Berrys visit to Newbury was the second time in less than a year that a co-leader from the Green Party has visited the town, following Jonathan Bartleys visit in September last year.

Ahead of the local elections on Thursday, May 2, Ms Berry said: Newbury, please get some Green councillors elected soon  it would really suit you.

Youre a town of protesting.

Lets get some Greens on the council in time for that debate in July.

Ms Berry also urged locals to play their part in tackling West Berkshires transport emissions, which, having been on the rise every year since 2011, are thought to be the biggest carbon contributor in the district.

She said: Our transport problems are solved in local areas by local people, who demand that the traffic is reduced from their neighbourhood.

Local people are the experts  and making the plans so we dont have knock-on effects in other areas.

She added: Decades of focus on the car has led to other forms of transport withering away.

People have cars, they dont get on the bus as much as they could.

Weve got a crisis in many rural areas.
HARTFORD  Two state charter schools with less-than-stellar track records were awarded two-year renewals on Wednesday, with the chairman of the state board of education praising the body for holding the independent schools more accountable.

Its clearly working, Board Chairman Allan Taylor said, speaking specifically to officials at Stamford Academy Charter School and Great Oaks Charter School in Bridgeport which had renewal applications reviewed by the board.

Stamford Academy, which opened in 2004, is coming off a one-year probation because of low student performance, chronic student absenteeism and high student suspension rates. The school enrolls 159 high school students who enter the program under-credited and with below-grade-level achievement.

They are students who were at risk of dropping out, said Richard D'Avino, chairman of the Stamford Academy Board of Directors.

Great Oaks opened five years ago and serves 400 students in grades 6 through 9. Its student achievement in 2018 was below Bridgeport public schools proficiency in both math and reading. Its student suspension rate of 26 percent is three times the state average of 6.8 percent and its turnover rate last year was about 25 percent.

Charter schools are state-funded schools that run independent of local control. There are two dozen of them in Connecticut, including six in Bridgeport and three in Stamford. In recent years, the state Department of Education has paid closer attention to the performance and management of them.

Last year, Stamford Academy was put on probation and was forced to implement a 16-point corrective action plan

Principal Andrea Weller called it the kick in the butt we needed.

She and others described a school that has worked to decrease suspensions through the use of restorative justice practices, increase student attendance rates and focus on raising SAT scores  the test used by the state to judge student performance in high school.

Bernadette Teele, a parent, said the school met her daughter, an 11th-grader, where she was and is allowing her to become a leader.

She was lost in the district school, Teele said.

Dean Perkins, who works at Stamford Academy as a youth development specialist, said his motto is to be the person he needed when he was a teen. Much of his work is one-on-one.

Our school needs to stay open, Perkins said.

In his report, Robert E. Kelly, the states charter school program manager, said there are some signs of improvement, particularly in the area of suspensions.

Taylor, acknowledging that charter schools remain controversial, said he was pleased with the effort being made.

There were harsher words for Great Oaks, which is going through the renewal process for the first time.

Robert Trefry, an ex-officio member of the state board, asked Susan Briggs, chairwoman of the Great Oaks board, if she thought the school was getting its moneys worth from the Great Oaks Foundation, a charter school management organization that also works with charter schools in New York, New Jersey and Delaware.

Obviously the school is struggling, Trefry said. Where is the support?

Briggs said the foundation does support the school. Trefry responded that if the foundation came in and wanted to open another school in the state, it would be a tough sale.

State board member Joseph Vrabely Jr. said the school has a tough road ahead of it and that two years  the length of the renewal is not a long time.

Your SBAC numbers are terrible, Vrabley said of the schools standardized test scores.

John Scalice is the schools third principal. He called the states criticism fair.

Last year, 16.6 percent of Great Oaks students met the goal set for them in language arts, compared with 26.6 percent of Bridgeport Public School students and 55.1 percent of students statewide. In math, 18.6 percent of Great Oaks students met the goal compared with 12.4 percent in Bridgeport and 43.7 percent statewide.

Great Oaks Charter School must focus on providing increased explicit instruction in development of foundational skills in reading and math, the renewal report says.

Scalice said the suspension rate this year is down 61 percent and the number of teachers properly certified is past 50 percent with others in the process of becoming fully certified. It had been at 41 percent.

Nasshan Thompson, who sends her daughter to Great Oaks, said she would have moved out of Bridgeport had she not gotten the letter saying her daughter had gotten into the school.

It did a great deal for my daughter, she said.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck
HARTFORD  Instead of sponsoring separate legislation, Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven and Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, have teamed up to get behind a new bill that would restore voting rights to individuals who are incarcerated.

Having a bill worked on by both someone in the Senate and the House gives it a better chance of passage, Elliott said a press conference Wednesday at the Legislative Office Building.

Voting is a fundamental right of every American and we should not be in the business of limiting it for our citizens who are incarcerated, Winfield said. While a person may be incarcerated they do not lose all of their rights during this time and the right to vote upholds all other rights.

The legislation goes further than a separate bill that would restore parolee voting rights.

Currently, someone on probation can have their voting rights restored, but someone on parole cannot.

Elliott and Winfield are also supporting legislation that would give an estimated 6,200 individuals on parole the right to vote.

Proponents of passing such legislation point out that Connecticut is among the last states on the east coast to pass legislation restoring voting rights for this population. Seventeen states have passed similar legislation to restore voting rights for parolees.

The Sentencing Commission has backed the measure to restore parolees voting rights. It also did so last year but it never came up for a vote in either the House or the Senate.

The commission also backed the measure last year but it never came up for a vote in either the House or Senate.

The bill didnt receive much attention last year in the midst of the budget crisis that dominated most of the session, but it was a priority for the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus.

A deal was brokered to let them debate the bill for a limited period of time in the House last year, but it never got called for vote.

Proponents said that across all New England states, Connecticuts laws governing votings rights restoration are the most restrictive. In Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire voting rights are automatically restored as soon as an incarcerated individual is released from custody, even if they are serving terms of parole or probation.

In Maine and Vermont, incarcerated individuals never lose their civil right to vote - even while they are incarcerated.

One of those speaking in favor of the legislation at the press conference was the Rev. Jeff Grant, co-founder and minister-director of the Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse & Children Project.

Grant served 14 months in prison for taking money from a clients escrow account when he was practicing law.

But I was one of the lucky ones, Grant said. Because I served in a federal prison when I got out I was able to vote again.

I regard my right to vote as a holy, fundamental right, he said. Unfortunately that is not a right for people in the state system.

Elliott said the bill is beneficial because it lets former inmates feel invested in the community.

Secretary of State Denise Merrill supports a bill that would restore voting rights to parolees.

This bill would remove the confusion over parole versus probation and simplify the restoration of voting rights to the physical release from prison, Merrill said.

Reattaching voting rights to people as they leave their period of confinement doesnt just alleviate confusion that can dampen registration, it also will help people to reintegrate into the civic life of their community, Merrill said. Voters who exercise their right to vote sooner are more likely to become lifetime voters.

Both Winfield and Kennard Ray, chair of the Full Citizen Coalition to Unlock the Vote, said not allowing parolees to vote is a system to promotes racial prejudice since, proportionately, there is a large percentage of people of color who are parolees.

Is that the legacy we want for Connecticut, asked Ray.

Winfield added: Our society is not judged by how we treat the most well-off among us but how we treat those who are in our minority groups, economically disadvantaged, and in one way or another forgotten.

To take away the right to vote does not, as some would suggest, speak to what they have done, but it speaks to who we are. And, it does not speak well of us, Winfield said.

When it was pointed out to Winfield that during a public hearing on the bill that there was no stated, or submitted testimony opposed to the bill, he cautioned to not read too much into that.

Opposition isnt always spoken, Winfield said, especially when it comes to issues of economy, issues of race.

The General Administration and Elections Committee has until April 3 to forward the legislation to the Senate.
NEW MILFORD  For the second time this week, a vehicle collided with a building in the Greater Danbury area  this time in New Milford.

A Chevy Colorado truck rolled into the Midway Market & Deli at 88 Park Lane Road Wednesday afternoon  two days after an SUV crashed through Kings Breakfast & Lunch in Newtown.

Store employees were just hanging out when they suddenly heard a noise, said Midway Market employee James Thompson. It didnt even sound like a car hitting the building.

Turns out that a truck left in the wrong gear rolled over a cement wheel-stop and into the storefront, shattering the markets front window and leaving an indent in the buildings brick exterior facade.

The guy was just running in to buy a bag of chips, said Thompson. Its not something you expect to happen.

First responders were at the scene within minutes and no injuries were reported, he said, adding that employees were away from the window at the time and there were no customers inside the store.

Thompson said the truck didnt appear to have any dents  just a lot of scratches  and that the building inspector was going to come by to assess the damage.

New Milfords building official was not immediately available to comment.

Police Lt. Lawrence Ash said the crash caused only minor damage, and there was no enforcement since the incident took place in a parking lot.

The crash may have brought some added excitement to an otherwise ordinary day at the market, said Thompson, but it didnt slow down business.

Not long after first responders cleared the scene, customers were in and out of the market.

Were still selling sandwiches, said Thompson.

kendra.baker@hearst.com
Burnham Library in Bridgewater will offer two special events, trivia night and a talk about womens suffrage, in the coming days.

Trivia Night, co-hosted by the library and Bridgewater Recreation, will be held March 9 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the library.

A professional trivia master will lead the event for people 21 and older, and prizes will be offered.

The event is BYOB and BYOS.

Team or individual registration is required in advance and space is limited.

A $10 per-person entry fee is payable at the door.

Registration is available via Eventbrite at www.burnhamlibrary.org

No More Pink Teas: The Militant Surge for Woman Suffrage will be held March 16 from 11 a.m. to noon.

Progressive-era suffrage historian Joanie DiMartino will discuss how national and Connecticut suffragists participated in a surge of militant political activism that led to women gaining the right to vote in 1920.

DiMartino is the Connecticut representative for the National Votes for Women Trail, a project managed by the National Collaborative for Women's History Sites to identify and mark sites throughout the nation integral to the woman suffrage movement.

She also serves on the Connecticut Centennial Commission for Woman's Suffrage.

Registration is required by calling the Main Street South library at 860-354-6937 or emailing cfisher@burnhamlibrary.org.
As Ohio continues to grapple with the opioid epidemic, state lawmakers are proposing sentencing reforms for those struggling with addiction disorders.

What we are trying to accomplish is to arrest the problem and get Ohioans who are struggling with addiction help before their offenses could mean jail time, Sen. John Eklund, R-Munson Township said. We want people to get better and move on to lead productive lives, while also ensuring that traffickers are arrested and stay behind bars.

His co-sponsor for Substitute Senate Bill 3, Bazetta Democrat Sean OBrien added, This is an attempt to recognize that and to deal with that crisis in the best way we can. We know we cant arrest our way out of it.

According to Eklunds office, the proposed bill would make possession of small amounts of drugs an unclassified misdemeanor charge with a presumption of treatment, but subject to a maximum one-year jail sentence (fifth-degree felony) if the court deems the offender a threat to others.

Eklund said in a press conference announcing the bill that everyone who has had a hand in this legislative process seems to agree that there are people who the criminal justice system, as it currently functions, is ill-suited to offer them the opportunity at redemption, the opportunity at a normal life.

Fentanyl would be excluded from reclassification. The powerful synthetic opioid contributed to nearly 71 percent of Ohios 2017 overdose deaths. Sexual assault-enabling drugs would also be excluded from reclassification.

Eklund said that the bill would also eliminate prosecution for trace amounts of a drug.

That was something that we heard from a lot of people, that nobody wants to be prosecuting people for trace amounts of drugs anymore anyway, he said.

Judges would have the ability to halt prosecution against first-time possession offenders if that person agrees to enter into a judge-prescribed treatment program. If successfully treated, the judge can dismiss the case altogether and no conviction is put on the offenders record.

The bill also seeks to reform sealing procedures, in an effort to remove the scarlet letter of prior possession convictions so that a recovering offender faces fewer obstacles to finding gainful employment and housing as the individual works toward an addiction-free life.

According to Eklunds office, the legislation would permit misdemeanor and fifth- and fourth-degree felony drug possessions to be sealed upon successful completion of drug court or intervention in lieu of conviction programs.

The bill puts drug trafficking into three tiers. The tier of an offense would depend on the amount of drugs being trafficked, Eklund said.

If the prosecution proves a person had intent to sell or distribute any amount of heroin, the offender could face trafficking charges and convictions. The bill also maintains mandatory prison sentencing for high-level trafficking offenses according to Eklunds office.

The bill does not retroactively change sentences for those convicted of crimes that would have more lenient punishments under the new proposed law.

OBrien said the logistics of doing so are daunting. Eklund said it is not completely off the table, however.
Theres no doubt that surgically implanted medical devices can improve lives.

Hip and knee replacements can help people regain their mobility. Drug pumps can deliver doses of pain-relieving medicine on demand. And metal rods can stabilize spines and broken bones.

But implanted devices can also do serious damage, as happened to Mechel Keel, who lives in Owosso, Mich.

To fix her leaky bladder, an OB-GYN stitched a flexible mesh strap inside her pelvis in 2004. But within months, the mesh hardened and started cutting her insides.

The pain kept her from returning to her job as a hairdresser. The injuries and scar tissue that developed required multiple surgeries to correct and also resulted in chronic infections.

Keel said she understands why her doctor in Tennessee thought the high-tech mesh would help. But she also now feels she was treated like a guinea pig.

We were the testers, she said. There was no animal testing done. We were the animals.

Thousands of cases of complications from surgical mesh have been reported to the Food and Drug Administration. More and more ailments are being treated these days with medical devices, including implants. And most of these medical devices, unlike pills in a medicine cabinet, dont go through human testing before being offered to patients.

But some devices break down or malfunction in peoples bodies, and reports about sometimes debilitating injuries have led the FDA to rethink how it assesses medical devices before allowing them to be sold.

For devices in which failure is obviously life-threatening, regulators have required some sort of human testing as part of the most stringent path  known as premarket approval. But most medical devices enter the market after manufacturers provide technical information and show that the devices are similar to others that have been legally sold previously.

The FDA has acknowledged that some seemingly safe devices have caused major problems, and the agency has elevated the risk level of those products following reports of injuries, as it did with urogynecologic surgical mesh for some uses in 2016. Unfortunately, the FDA cannot always know the full extent of the benefits and risks of a device before it reaches the market, the agency said in a recent statement.

We have things like metal-on-metal hips, said health journalist Jeanne Lenzer about a kind of orthopedic implant. Outside the body, [they] seem to function just fine. They put them in little machines, rock them back and forth  they dont break. [But] put them inside people, and something very different happens.

There have been massive recalls of hip implants, for example, due to devices causing swelling and pain. And there have been problems with weakened bones in patients who received hip implants that contained plastic.

Lenzer wrote a scathing book, The Danger Within Us, about the device industry and said she was dumbfounded to find out how many devices never went through human testing the way drugs do.

Thats in part because of a regulatory review process known as 510(k) for a section of the FDA law covering medical devices. Manufacturers typically show their product has substantial equivalence to a predicate device that has already been legally marketed.

That standard can perpetuate problems. You just say your device is like an old device, and the old device was never tested, nor was your device, Lenzer said.

In practice, sometimes the basis for a whole family tree of devices turns out to be defective. Pelvic mesh is a relevant example, with much of whats on the market being based on mesh that was around prior to implementation of FDA regulations for medical devices in 1976. One study found that 16 percent of mesh on the market was designed like products that had been pulled from the market because of safety concerns.

Thousands of women have filed suit  or reached settlements  with medical device companies that manufacture pelvic mesh.

I would want nothing if you could just give me my life back, said Gloria Jones of Hillsdale, Mich., who is one of thousands who have settled with device manufacturers over faulty mesh. They could have given me millions, but all I needed was my life back.

Jones, who has struggled to continue working through crippling abdominal pain as a middle school special-education teaching assistant, has had four surgeries to remove pieces and continues to require intravenous drugs to control infections.

It seems like I get off one antibiotic, and three days later I have another one, she said. I would beg anybody who is even thinking of putting mesh in their bodies to stop and get a second opinion.

In response to problems reported with mesh, the FDA started requiring human testing for some of these products in recent years. The agency held an advisory committee meeting on Feb. 12 to discuss the safety and effectiveness of mesh and how it should be regulated.

Manufacturers by and large have said they dont oppose what the FDA is trying to do, calling the changes reasonable. But they have pushed back against calls to bring regulation of medical devices in line with that of pharmaceuticals.

If youre treating someone for high cholesterol, the testing that you go through to ensure safety and effectiveness on a chemical thats going to be used in your body to control your cholesterol is just very different than it would be for the implantation of a heart valve, said Scott Whitaker, CEO of AdvaMed, a trade association for medical device companies. Honestly, its apples and oranges.

Whitaker dismisses the idea that devices, which range from tongue depressors to surgical robots, should all go through human trials.

Testing should be as complete and as thorough and as ethical and as appropriate as possible. But it doesnt all fit the same and cant all fit the same standard, Whitaker said. And while we always strive for 100 percent, there are times when something might not go according to plan. It could also be because the surgery didnt go as was planned.

The FDA declined NPRs request for an interview. But the agency has released some written justification for the regulatory revamp.

We believe firmly in the merits of the 510(k) process, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a November statement, noting that applications have more than doubled in size to an average of 1,185 pages. But we also believe that framework needs to be modernized to reflect advances in technology, safety and the capabilities of a new generation of medical devices.

In the same statement, the agency addressed some specific shortcomings and charted plans to make changes to the process over the next few months:

Pushing back on manufacturers that base any new devices marketing application on one thats more than 10 years old;

More actively watching how devices perform once theyre on the market, rather than relying on patients to report problems;

Scrapping the 510(k) name for something more descriptive, such as the Safety and Performance Based Pathway.

Dr. Michael Matheny, a Vanderbilt University professor who tracks medical devices, approves of the FDAs incremental approach and calls it thoughtful.

It would really be unfortunate if patients wouldnt consider any medical devices at all to be used in their bodies, Matheny said. But I do think being aware that theres nothing without risk is also important.

Matheny notes, though, that in some ways the risks can be more profound for devices than medication. If the FDA recalls pills, a patient can at least stop taking them immediately, he said. With implanted devices, patients are sort of stuck, at least for a while  and thats if surgeons can even safely remove them.

This story is part of a partnership that includes Nashville Public Radio, NPR and Kaiser Health News.
January 18, 2018, ACROBiosystems officially opened its new Innovation laboratory in the Delaware Innovation Space in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, and held a grand opening ceremony. Mike Chen, Chairman and CEO of ACROBiosystems; Charles Riordan, Vice President, Research and Innovation, University of Delaware; William D. Provine, Chairman and CEO, Delaware Innovation Park; Alexa Dembek, Director, Science Innovation, DuPont Many guests from all walks of life, including government agencies, investment institutions, biopharmaceutical companies and research institutes, attended the opening ceremony and the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Image credit: ACROBiosystems

ACROBiosystems Innovation laboratory is in Delaware Innovation Park, which is co-founded by Delaware State Government, the University of Delaware and DuPont. To further increase the company's client offering, the laboratory has established equipment platforms, including Illumina MiSeq Sequencer for TCR Screening, MSD hypersensitivity multi-factor electrochemiluminescence analyzer QuickPlex SQ 120 for biomarker, PK, sample analysis and custom Assay Development.

The laboratory will use technology and platform innovation as the core, developing integrated products and technology solutions in the drug development process and pre-clinical research phase, with strategic customers, Universities, and Biomedical Research companies focused on the field of high-tech development. At the same time, building a new collaboration to bring further Technology Innovation and support to the Industry.

Since in 2010, ACROBiosystems has been working with TOP 50 Biopharmaceutical companies throughout the world. The company provides customers around the world with high quality target products and solutions that facilitate the drug discovery process. ACROBiosystems now has more than 2,000 biopharmaceutical customers in more than 60 countries around the world, in addition to its manufacturing R&D center in Beijing, China, the Innovation Lab in Wilmington, Delaware, Office in Newark, Delaware. And offices in Shanghai, China; San Jose, St. Louis, and Boston.

"ACROBiosystems Innovation Lab is a perfect example of how Delaware collaborates with businesses, and I welcome and look forward to our collaboration with ACROBiosystems." commented William D. Provine, Chairman and CEO of Innovative Industrial Park, Delaware, in his opening remarks. The completion of the innovation Laboratory is that ACROBiosystems provides an important support for the company to broaden its client offering, product lines, develop new concepts, lays a deeper foundation for enhancing collaborations with industry organizations and related scientific research institutes and enterprises. ACRO Biosystems will continue to provide ongoing assistance in areas such as early target discovery, drug development, pre-clinical research.
Bifodan A/S together with Aalborg University is pleased to announce the foundation of the Probiotic Research Initiative. Probiotic Research Initiative is a collaboration between Bifodan and the Biomedicine Group at Aalborg University to enhance the effectiveness of research across academia and industry related to the application of probiotics in health and disease.

The Biomedicine group at Aalborg University (AAU), Denmark is at the forefront of innovative research in understanding and addressing a variety of health-related issues, and the affiliation with University Hospital of Aalborg, allows this group of researchers to test basic research in the clinical setting in a very efficient manner. Probiotic Research Initiative will support both Bifodan and AAU in advancing and communicating scientific results related to probiotics in a very effective way.

Recently, at Probiota 2019 in Copenhagen, Dr. Fereshteh Dardmeh (DVM, Ph.D.) presented her latest research with probiotics from Bifodans strain portfolio and says about the collaboration: Bifodan strains are ready - they have been screened and developed and the cooperation between the Biomedicine group of Aalborg University with the research team at Bifodan has been very fruitful; Dr. Hiva Alipour (DVM, Ph.D.), another member of the probiotic initiative team also agrees and adds that The collaboration between academia and the industry is very valuable and will help not only to significantly boost the scientific knowledge but to also further move probiotics from bench to bedside.

Mr. Erik Brandsborg, Chief Scientific Officer at Bifodan A/S adds about the Probiotic Research Initiative:
Researchers have developed a novel CAR-T cell therapy that can reduce B cell numbers known to cause the inflammatory responses in lupus.

Alpha Tauri 3D Graphics | Shutterstock

Lupus is a difficult condition to treat. It is an autoimmune condition that leads to kidney failure and other complications of different organs that can be fatal eventually.

The study showed that removing these B cells in mice could have a curative effect on lupus. The therapy uses chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, which are genetically engineered T cells that have been trained to recognize a specific target.

The engineered T cells are capable of recognizing CD19  a protein marker on the B cells. They bind to the cells with the marker and kill them. The results of the study were published in the recent issue of the Science Translational Medicine.

CAR-T therapy has been trialed in other disease conditions such as pemphigus vulgaris. Marko Radic, an immunologist at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis explained that lupus is conventionally treated using a monoclonal antibody.

This drug aims to reduce the number of B cells and is also used in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. However, two large trials have recently shown that the therapy had no effect on patients with lupus.

Radic and his colleagues tested the genetically engineered T cells for their efficacy against B cells in two mouse models of lupus. First, the mice underwent whole-body radiation to eliminate all the immune cells. The scientists then administered the genetically modified T cells to 41 laboratory mice.

The results showed that among 26 mice, the CAR-T cells killed all B cells displaying CD19 and that all signs of lupus had been removed from the spleen, kidneys, skin and other organs of the mice.

Radic said, We were so impressed. The animals lived for a year after treatment. This translates to a long time for humans with the disease.
Cities and local governments in several states said they will continue to use a Canadian company to offer employees prescription drugs at a highly reduced price, even though federal officials raised safety concerns about the practice last week.

The municipalities use CanaRx, which connects their employees with brick-and-mortar pharmacies in Canada, Great Britain and Australia to fill prescriptions.

In a letter Thursday to CanaRx, the Food and Drug Administration said the company has sent "unapproved" and "misbranded" drugs to U.S. consumers, jeopardizing their safety.

The FDA urged consumers not to use any medicines from CanaRx, which works with about 500 cities, counties, school districts and private employers to arrange drug purchases. Some of these employers have used the service as far back as 2004.

Prices of drugs from overseas pharmacies can be as much as 70 percent lower than what people pay in the U.S. because the costs are regulated by the foreign governments.

FDA officials would not explain why they waited more than a decade to act. They acknowledged the agency had no reports of anyone harmed by drugs received through CanaRx.

The FDA made its warning as Congress and the Trump administration look into ways to lower drug prices. Last month, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said he has President Donald Trump's backing to start a program to begin importing drugs from Canada for state residents.

After DeSantis' comments, White House officials stressed that any such plan must get state and federal approvals.

The FDA said that in most cases importing drugs for personal use is illegal, although it very rarely has tried to stop Americans from bringing drugs across the Canadian border. It has not stopped retail stores in Florida that help consumers buy drugs from Canada since 2003. Nine storefronts were raided by FDA officials in 2017, although the FDA has allowed them to continue operating.

Schenectady County in New York, which has worked with CanaRx since 2004, defended its relationship and had no immediate plans to end it, according to Chris Gardner, the county attorney. "We will wait to see how this plays out, but right now it's status quo," Gardner said.

He said CanaRx, which is headquartered in Windsor, Ontario, helped the county save $500,000 on drug costs in 2018. About 25 percent of the county's 1,200 workers use the program and get their drugs with no out-of-pocket costs. If they use American pharmacies, they generally have a copayment.

"This is a good program, and on the merits it looks lawful, and they are not doing the terrible things that the FDA is suggesting," Gardner said.

CanaRx officials denied they were breaking any laws or putting Americans' health at risk. They say they are not an online pharmacy but a broker between brick-and-mortar pharmacies in Canada, Australia and Great Britain and U.S. employees. People can buy drugs via CanaRx only with a prescription from their doctor.

The company said it has no plans to stop distributing drugs.

"The FDAs characterizations of the CanaRx business model and operating protocols are completely wrong," said Joseph Morris, a Chicago-based lawyer for the company. "It is not possible to place an order via any CanaRx website; the websites are informational only."

Morris said the FDA notice prompted calls from many municipalities but all so far say they plan to stick with the company.

Columbia County, N.Y., has been using CanaRx for about a decade and the savings allows it to offer employees drugs with no out-of-pocket costs instead of paying up to a $40 copay in local pharmacies.

"This is bull," Stephen Acciani, an insurance broker who works with the county, said of the FDA crackdown. "They are not selling unsafe medications." His recommendation would be for the county, which has more than 600 employees on its health plan, to continue using CanaRx.

He noted that employees receive drugs through the mail in their original packaging from manufacturers.

Kate Sharry, a benefits consultant to the city of Fall River, Mass., and more than 100 other municipalities in Massachusetts, said, "It will give some clients pause. How can you not pay attention to this from the FDA?" But she expects the local governments to stay with CanaRx.

Federal health officials under both Republican and Democratic administrations have blocked efforts to legalize importing drugs, saying it's too risky.

"Sometimes a bargain is too expensive," said Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner and president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a New York-based nonprofit that receives some of its funding from drugmakers.

Pitts, who applauded the FDA action, said it's difficult for consumers to know when their pills from foreign pharmacies don't have the correct potency or ingredients. He said doctors may also not realize a patient's problem stems from issues with the medicine. Instead, the physicians may just change the medication's dosages. He said it is not safe for Americans to buy drugs that are imported through foreign pharmacies.

Gabriel Levitt, president of PharmacyChecker.com, a website for U.S. consumers that verifies international pharmacies offering drugs online, said CanaRx is one of the safest ways for Americans to get drugs from legitimate pharmacies in Canada and other industrialized counties.

He said the FDA is trying to intimidate CanaRx and its local government clients. "My biggest fear is they will scare consumers and they won't take their very safe and effective medications because they hear about this bogus warning."

"The FDAs action, which appears to try and make those programs look unsafe and sinister, seem to have a political and public relations purpose, one that is perfectly allied with the lobbying agenda of drug companies," he said.

He pointed to testimony by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb last week  just a day before the CanaRx warning. When asked about importing Canadian drugs, Gottlieb did not mention CanaRx, but he said that people going to a "brick and mortar" pharmacy in Canada "are getting a safe and effective drug. I have confidence in the Canadian drug regulatory system." He added that his concerns are with online pharmacies.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the industry trade and lobbying group, cheered the FDA action but denied it had any role in it, said spokeswoman Nicole Longo.

"PhRMA supports the FDA's efforts to crack down on organizations that are circumventing its robust safety and efficacy requirements," she said. "Drug importation schemes expose Americans to potentially unsafe, counterfeit or adulterated medicines."
Bandages infused with electricity can help heal wounds faster than typical bandages or antibiotics--but for years, researchers have not really understood why.

A recent study by a team at The Ohio State University is offering new clues about the science behind those bandages, and researchers say the findings could help lead to better wound treatment.

The bandages belong to a class of therapies called electroceuticals, which are devices that use electrical impulses to treat medical issues such as wounds.

The study, published online recently in the journal Scientific Reports by a research team at The Ohio State University, is the first of its kind to look at the ways electroceutical bandages kill bacteria around a wound, allowing wounds to heal faster. Electroceutical bandages have been used to treat wounds since at least 2013.

"The goal is to heal nonhealing or chronic wounds, and, if infection is present, to remove infection," said Shaurya Prakash, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and co- author of the study. "And what we wanted to understand was the mechanism behind why these electroceutical treatments work to kill bacteria."

Biofilms are small communities of microorganisms--including bacteria--that can live on the surface of the skin or a wound. The communities are held together by something called extracellular polymeric substances--EPS for short. The substances are generally made up of fats and proteins, and can create a protective barrier that keeps bacteria safe from traditional clinical treatment options, including antibiotics. That means that even with traditional antibiotic treatments, some skin infections can linger and prevent wounds from healing.

But electroceutical bandages made of the right materials can break through that barrier, Ohio State's research shows, destroying bacteria and allowing wounds to heal faster. The team developed a new model to study soft-tissue infections to learn more about how the bandages work.

The Ohio State study used haboti silk, a common Japanese weave, in the bandages. They silk-screened silver lines onto the silk, and attached a small device to deliver electricity to the biofilm. When they applied the electrified bandage to bacteria-laden biofilm in the lab, the bacteria were destroyed.

The research team used electron microscopes to monitor the bacteria. They saw that the electric current disrupted the biofilm enough to begin destroying bacteria. They also saw that bacteria continued to die off two days after the electric current was turned off. Their theory, based on these experiments, is that the bandage and electric current produce a potent antimicrobial chemical--hypochlorous acid--that takes over and kills bacteria without harming the healthy skin nearby.

This recent study was conducted on bacteria and biofilms in vitro, essentially meaning in a petri dish rather than on a human or an animal. Prakash is quick to point out that the studies set the stage for further research--experiments that will help scientists better understand the reasons why biofilms work the way they do. That fundamental understanding will help improve the design of electroceutical bandages, he said.

But in the meantime, Prakash and his team sent a few prototypes to The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Last year, veterinarians used the bandages to help heal an open sore on a dog with a wound that just wouldn't get better, even while being treated with antibiotic medications.

"If infection is present, wounds will not heal," Prakash said. "So we need to find a way to get through the biofilm to the bacteria."

The dog arrived at Ohio State late in 2017 with an open, infected wound. Within a week of using the bandage, half of the wound had healed; within 11 days, the infection had cleared.

Those results are promising, Prakash said, but early. The team hopes to conduct additional studies and collaborate with microbiologists at Ohio State to further understand the reasons why these bandages successfully destroy bacteria when other treatment options have failed.
Dr. Douglas Kwazneski was helping a Pittsburgh surgeon remove an appendix when something jarring happened. The surgical stapler meant to cut and seal the tissue around the appendix locked up.

Kwazneski later turned to the Food and Drug Administration's public database that tracks medical device failures and "there was nothing," he said. Yet when he surveyed leading surgeons on the matter, he discovered that more than two-thirds had experienced a stapler malfunction, or knew a peer who did. Such failures can have deadly consequences.

Kwazneski had no idea the FDA had quietly granted the makers of surgical staplers a special "exemption" allowing them to file reports of malfunctions in a database hidden from doctors and from public view.

"I don't want to sound overdramatic here, but it seemed like a cover-up," said Kwazneski, who practiced in Pasco County, Fla., from 2016 through earlier this year.

The FDA has built and expanded a vast and hidden repository of reports on device-related injuries and malfunctions, a Kaiser Health News investigation shows. Since 2016, at least 1.1 million incidents have flowed into the internal "alternative summary reporting" repository, instead of being described individually in the widely scrutinized public database known as MAUDE, which medical experts trust to identify problems that could put patients in jeopardy.

Deaths must still be reported in MAUDE. But the hidden database has included serious injury and malfunction reports for about 100 medical devices, according to the FDA, many implanted in patients or used in countless surgeries. They have included surgical staplers, balloon pumps snaked into vessels to improve circulation and mechanical breathing machines.

An FDA official said that the program is for issues that are "well-known and well-documented with the FDA" and that it was reformed in 2017 as a new voluntary summary reporting program was put in place for up to 5,600 devices.

Yet the program, in all its iterations, has been so obscure that it is unknown to many of the doctors and engineers dedicated to improving device safety. Even a former FDA commissioner said he knew nothing of the program.

KHN pored over reams of public records for oblique references to reporting exemptions. After months of questions to the FDA, the agency confirmed the existence of reporting-exemption programs and thousands of never-before-acknowledged instances of malfunctions or harm.

Amid the blackout in information about device risks, patients have been injured, hundreds of times in some cases, lawsuits and FDA records show.

"The public has a right to know about this," said Dr. S. Lori Brown, a former FDA official who accessed the data for her research. She said doctors relying just on the public reports  and unaware that many incidents may be omitted  can easily reach the wrong conclusion about the safety record of a particular device.

The FDA has also opened additional  and equally obscure  pathways for device makers to report thousands of injuries brought to light by lawsuits or even deaths that appear in private registries that medical societies use to track patients. Those exemptions apply to risky and controversial products, including pelvic mesh and devices implanted in the heart.

FDA spokeswoman Deborah Kotz confirmed that the "registry exemption" was created without any public notice or regulations. "Any device manufacturer can request an exemption from its reporting requirements," she said in an email.

I don't want to sound overdramatic here, but it seemed like a cover-up. Dr. Douglas Kwazneski, surgeon

Agency records provided to KHN show that more than 480,000 injuries or malfunctions were reported through the alternative summary reporting program in 2017 alone.

Alison Hunt, another FDA spokeswoman, said the majority of device makers' "exemptions" were revoked that year as a program took shape that requires a "placeholder" report to be filed publicly.

More than a million reports of malfunctions or harm spanning about 15 years remain in a database accessible only to the FDA. But with the agency's new transparency push, the public may find a public report and submit a Freedom of Information Act request to get information about incidents. A response can take up to two years.

The long-standing exemption program "has allowed the FDA to more efficiently review adverse events  and take action when warranted without sacrificing the quality of our review or the information we receive," Hunt said in an email.

To those outside the agency, though, the exceptions to the reporting rules are troubling. They strike Madris Tomes, a former FDA manager, as the agency surrendering some of the strongest oversight and transparency powers it wields.

"The FDA is basically giving away its authority over device manufacturers," said Tomes, who now runs Device Events, a website that makes FDA device data user-friendly. "If they've given that up, they've handed over their ability to oversee the safety and effectiveness of these devices."

Doctors, like Kwazneski, who have turned to the public data to gauge the risks of surgical staplers have seen little. He wrote about the "unacknowledged" problem of stapler malfunctions in a 2013 article in the journal Surgical Endoscopy. In 2016, while reports of 84 stapler injuries or malfunctions were openly submitted, nearly 10,000 malfunction reports were included in the hidden database, according to the FDA.

Device maker Medtronic, which owns stapler maker Covidien, has been described as the market leader in surgical staplers. A company spokesman said that the firm has used reporting exemptions to file stapler-related reports through July 2017. Ethicon, the other major stapler maker, said it has not.

The public database shows that Medtronic has reported more than 250 deaths related to staplers or staples since 2001.

Mark Levering, 62, nearly lost his life after a stapler malfunction early last year, according to a lawsuit filed by his family. His surgeon has testified that a surgical stapler misfired during his liver surgery at ProMedica Toledo Hospital in Ohio.

Staff performed CPR for 22 minutes while surgeons rushed to suture the severed vein. He emerged from a coma unable to walk or consistently recognize his wife and son. The surgeon, hospital and device maker Covidien have denied allegations of wrongdoing in an ongoing legal case.

Told of the reporting "exemption" for surgical staplers, his wife, Doris Levering, was incredulous.

"Why would this information not be made available to doctors? The true information  I mean the actual numbers " she said. "People's lives are at stake. Mark's life will never be the same."

The Stapler Problem

The sheer number of malfunctions made surgical staplers an easy pick for the new alternative summary reporting program at its inception nearly 20 years ago, according to Larry Kessler, a former FDA official and now a University of Washington health services professor.

Surgical staplers have a unique ability to help  or harm  patients. The device is designed to cut and seal tissues or vessels quickly, often during minimally invasive surgeries. When it fails to seal a major blood vessel, medical staff can quickly shift into "code blue" mode to rescue a patient from bleeding to death.

The severity of some of the injuries caught former FDA official Brown's attention in the early years of its reporting exemption. Her 2004 article on stapler mishaps, published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, accounts for one of the few places in public records where an FDA authority mentions the "alternative summary" program. She found that in the first 28 months of filing to the hidden database, stapler makers filed more than 5,100 reports of malfunctions or injuries.

She also noted that the publicly reported 112 stapler-related deaths in patients aged 22 to 91 from 1994 to 2001 were a "reason for concern."

In the public data filed since, it would appear that the staplers rarely misfire. In 2011, only 18 injury or malfunction reports were filed publicly. Last year, the number was 79.

Lawsuits detail how quickly a stapler failure can turn a smooth surgery into a catastrophe.

In Michigan, Eugene Snook's surgeon was in the process of removing part of his lung when he cut but couldn't seal a major vessel due to a "stapler malfunction," the surgeon said in sworn court testimony. Snook, then 59, had no detectable blood pressure for four minutes during the 2012 surgery.

The damage to Snook's artery was so great, his surgeon decided to remove his lung completely, medical records filed in court say. Snook sued stapler maker Covidien, which in court records said there was no proof the stapler was unsafe when it left Covidien's control and also that the surgeon used it improperly. The case reached a confidential settlement in 2017.

Another surgeon attempting to remove a benign liver growth from April Strange, 33, in 2013, testified that a stapler malfunction caused the woman to bleed to death. Strange, of central Illinois, left behind a husband and two daughters, then 6 and 8.

The stapler was thrown out after surgery, court records say. Covidien argued in court records that Ryan Strange couldn't prove that the stapler had a specific defect.

Covidien reached an agreement to settle the family's claims for $250,000, part of a larger settlement in the case.

Doctors initially thought Mark Levering had liver cancer. So when the diagnosis came back as an abscess that needed to be surgically removed last February, it came as a relief to his wife, Doris.

That relief turned to dread the day of surgery. The procedure was supposed to last two hours, she said. But the surgery hit a snag when the stapler "misfired," according to the surgeon, causing so much bleeding that the minimally invasive procedure was converted to an open procedure so the doctor could suture the vein.

Levering underwent CPR for 22 minutes. A code blue was called, a nurse testified. Levering lost 3 quarts of blood  about half the blood in his body. He was put on life support and would remain in a coma for weeks.

After Levering reopened his eyes, it was clear that the man who used to tend to stray cats and enjoy dinner out with his family was gone. Levering could no longer walk, comb his hair or recognize the letters of the alphabet.

Doris and Mark Levering have sued the doctor, hospital and surgical stapler maker, alleging that the device caused Mark's bleeding and brain injury. The surgeon has acknowledged in sworn testimony that the stapler malfunctioned, but denied other wrongdoing. The hospital said in a legal filing that its actions were "prudent, proper" and "lawful."

Covidien denies any defect with the stapler or that it caused Levering's injuries. A spokesman for parent company Medtronic declined to comment further on any lawsuit but said that "we always make patient safety our top priority" and that the company complies with FDA requirements.

The company's reports of stapler problems in the public database remain relatively low. But in 2018, with the reporting exemption gone, a spike of reports emerged for Covidien's staples  not to be confused with staplers. While Medtronic reported 1,000 staple malfunctions or injuries in 2015, the number soared to 11,000 for 2018.

Rolling Out The Program

The alternative summary reporting program started two decades ago with a simple goal: to cut down on redundant paperwork, according to officials who were at the FDA at the time.

Kessler, the former FDA official, said the program took shape after scandals over under-reporting of device problems spurred changes allowing criminal penalties against device companies.

Soon, thousands of injury and malfunction reports poured into the agency each month, with about 15 staff members dedicated to reviewing them, Kessler said. Many reports were so similar that reviewing them individually was "mind-numbing." Kessler went to the FDA's legal department and to device manufacturers to propose a solution.

Device makers would be able to seek a special "exemption" to avoid reporting certain complications to the public database. The manufacturers would instead send the FDA a spreadsheet of injury or malfunctions each quarter, half-year or year.

That way, Kessler said, reviewers could quickly look for new problems or spikes in known issues. When the program launched in 2000, the list of exempted devices was made public and only a few devices were involved, Kessler said.

"I don't know why it's not [made public] now," he said. "I'm surprised about that."

Starting in September, KHN filed Freedom of Information Act requests for "exemption" agreements and reports for several medical devices. Health and Human Services officials denied an appeal to provide some of the records quickly, concluding there was no "compelling need" for haste. For one request, the records were estimated to arrive in 22 months.

The FDA did provide some top-level data. It shows that from 2014 through 2017, the overall number of alternative summary reports filed by device makers rose from 431,000 to 481,000.

The FDA declined to provide a complete list of "about 100" devices that have been granted reporting exemptions over the years, but confirmed that exemptions have been used for mechanical breathing machines and balloon pumps, known as intra-aortic balloon pumps, inserted in the vessels of people with circulation problems.

An FDA spokeswoman said "alternative summary" exemptions remain in place for pacemaker electrodes and implantable defibrillators.

Matthew Baretich, a biomedical engineer in the Denver area, said he helps several area health systems analyze device-related patient injuries and make equipment-purchasing decisions.

He said he regularly scans the FDA's public device-injury reports. Asked about "alternative summary" reports, he said, "I've got to tell you, that's a new term to me."

Bruce Barkalow, president of a Michigan-based biomedical engineering firm, said he's the guy government officials, attorneys or device makers call if someone gets a pacemaker and dies in the shower three days later.

In an interview, he said he was not aware of the reports, either. He said they may appear to the FDA to be a "nothing burger," but the data would be meaningful to his forensic investigations.

The ECRI Institute, a nonprofit leader in medical device safety, declined to provide an engineer for an interview. Educating hospital leaders and health providers, the institute issues an annual "Top 10" in medical technology hazards. Its tagline: "Separating fact from fiction in healthcare."

Among the institute's "top medical device subject matter experts," spokeswoman Laurie Menyo said in an email, "none of them had any familiarity with FDA's Alternative Summary Reporting Program."

Even Dr. Robert Califf, former FDA deputy commissioner and commissioner from 2015 to 2017, said in an interview that he was unaware of the program. "Never heard anything about it," he said. "It's interesting."

Companies that get the exemptions tend to be very "tight-lipped" about them, said Christine Posin, a former device firm manager and consultant to device companies.

The relative secrecy around the program can give them an advantage, she said. For instance, sales representatives can print out only the public reports of device problems, ignoring what's buried elsewhere.

That creates a business opportunity to persuade a doctor to try a different device. "'We have a good product that does the same thing,'" Posin said a sales representative might tell a physician.

Exemptions Multiply

The FDA has spent millions, convened experts and pledged to improve its work in device safety in recent years. All the while, it has quietly opened new avenues for the makers of controversial and risky devices to file injury and even death reports with little public review.

Pelvic mesh is one example. The fabric-like device has long been used to hold up pelvic organs in women experiencing organ prolapse. In 2011, the FDA issued a "safety communication" saying "serious complications" like pain or infection were "not rare."

The agency soon reclassified the device, ordered safety studies and saw most mesh makers remove the device from the market.

Behind closed doors, though, the agency has since granted pelvic mesh makers a special exemption from reporting injuries to the public, according to the FDA and mesh makers who were asked about the practices.

Under what the FDA calls the "litigation complaint summary reporting" exemption, device makers can file a single placeholder "injury" report. Attached to the summary report, device makers have sent the FDA a spreadsheet with as many as 1,175 reports of patient injuries, based on allegations in lawsuits.

To someone tallying the overall number of injuries related to pelvic mesh, the report would appear as a single injury. It would take a sharp eye to find the summary report and a special request  taking up to two years to be filled  to get the details on the 1,175 cases submitted directly to the FDA.

According to the FDA, in 2017 alone, eight mesh makers used their exemptions to send nearly 12,000 injury reports to the FDA.

The FDA is basically giving away its authority over device manufacturers. If they've given that up, they've handed over their ability to oversee the safety and effectiveness of these devices. Madris Tomes, former FDA manager

Dr. M. Tom Margolis, a urogynecologist in the San Francisco Bay Area and an expert medical witness for those who are suing mesh makers, said a program that might hinder doctors relying on open FDA data to assess the risks of mesh is "horrible" and "unethical."

"We need to know the good and the bad," said Margolis, who treats patients in his urogynecology practice. "If you're trying to hide complications from me, well that's  wrong, my God, it's heinous."

The FDA issued the same kind of exemption to the makers of da Vinci surgical robots months after Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers pointed out that the company was filing a notably small number of injury reports in the public database. Johns Hopkins professor Dr. Marty Makary noted in 2013 that the handful of reports sent to the FDA at the time were signs of a "haphazard" system that is "not independent and not transparent."

Within months, the FDA allowed the makers of the robots to file a single report, noting that a spreadsheet sent straight to the FDA summarizes about 1,400 injuries alleged in lawsuits, with some injuries dating to 2004. Since then, the device maker has reported smaller batches of 99 and 130 injuries at a time.

"This is very frustrating," said Homa Alemzadeh, an assistant professor of computer engineering at the University of Virginia who is working with MAUDE data to create software to identify errors in real time or before they happen in surgeries performed by robots. She said she was not aware of the reporting exemption.

Under another reporting exemption, the FDA is allowing device makers to report hundreds of death cases in spreadsheets sent directly to the agency.

Under the "registry exemption," device makers can summarize what they learn from registries that tend to be held by specialty medical societies, and track the use of a certain kind of device, according to FDA spokeswoman Kotz.

Kotz said the data in registries often falls short of the level of detail that the FDA seeks for the more thorough death reports that device makers are required to file.

Device makers filing such reports include Edwards Lifesciences, which makes the Sapien 3 valve that's snaked through a vessel and implanted in the heart. Some hail the device as a breakthrough for saving patients from the trauma of open-heart surgery to replace a valve. Others raise concerns over limited data showing how long the valve will last in the body.

The summary reports offer potential patients few answers. Such reports document as many as 297 deaths or 1,800 injuries in a single filing, with virtually no detail readily available to the public. In all, Edwards has filed more than 1,800 Sapien 3 valve patient deaths as summaries since 2016.

Edwards spokeswoman Sarah Huoh said in an email that the FDA mandated the tracking of every patient who has the valve in the registry to provide "comprehensive evidence for device safety."

"The approval of alternative reporting protects against duplicate reports coming from multiple sources," Huoh said.

Another device, the MitraClip, is used to attach two flaps in the heart that are allowing blood to flow backward. The device has been controversial, with some scientists saying it is crucial for a certain subset of patients, and others pointing to the harm it can cause to the heart.

The FDA has allowed Abbott Vascular, which makes the MitraClip, to report as many as 347 deaths or 1,000 injuries in a single filing, also shipping the details straight to the agency, FDA records show.

An Abbott spokesman said in an email that the company has done clinical trials with thousands of patients to establish the MitraClip's safety. He said the exemption was granted because data in the registry was stripped of patient identifiers, making it hard to know whether the company would be filing redundant reports to the FDA.

We need to know the good and the bad. If you're trying to hide complications from me, well that's  wrong, my God, it's heinous. Dr. M. Tom Margolis, urogynecologist and expert medical witness

Last year, the FDA finalized regulations for yet another summary reporting program. Under the newest system, device makers do not have to seek an exemption or notify the FDA that they'll be filing a public summary report in MAUDE.

The FDA has deemed the makers of more than 5,600 types of devices eligible to file "voluntary malfunction summary reports." Among them are some of the riskiest devices the agency oversees, including cardiac stents, leadless pacemakers and mechanical heart valves.

The growing cadre of exceptions to the injury- and death-reporting rules strikes Dr. Michael Carome, director of the Public Citizen Health Research Group, as a retreat by the FDA from making crucial information available for researchers and patients.

"It's just another example of a flawed oversight system," he said, "bent toward making it easier for industry rather than making protection of public health the primary goal."

California Healthline reporter and producer Heidi de Marco contributed to this report.
Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers are attending the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), where they are sharing their latest findings in the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS and related infectious diseases with other top basic, translational and clinical researchers from around the world. This years conference is being held March 4 to 7 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

Researchers present their latest findings in the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS and related infectious diseases at CROI 2019. Credit: iStock

The following four oral abstracts will be presented during the session Oral Abstract O-07 TB: From Contact to Cure and Beyond in room 6AB. Separate embargo-lift times are noted for each presentation.

TB Prevention for Pregnant Women with HIV

IPT and Pregnancy Outcomes in HIV-Positive Women, the Tshepiso Cohort

Both pregnancy and HIV increase the risk of tuberculosis, which can lead to poor birth outcomes. A previous study showed that isoniazid preventive therapy given during pregnancy led to higher risk of bad outcomes than administering isoniazid post-delivery. Nicole Salazar-Austin, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics and infectious disease at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will present results from the Tshepiso cohort, a prospective observational study of 152 mother-infant pairs from 2011 to 2014 in Soweto, South Africa. The research team found that isoniazid preventive therapy given during pregnancy was not associated with a higher rate of poor maternal or infant outcomes.

Ok to Combine TB Preventive Regimen with Antiretrovirals

Safety of Weekly Rifapentine/Isoniazid (3hp) for Adults With HIV on Dolutegravir

So-called short course preventive therapy for latent tuberculosis infection is preferred because of convenience and higher likelihood that patients will complete treatment. However, a previous, small trial testing in healthy adults the safety of short course therapy in combination with the antiretroviral dolutegravir resulted in fever, hypertension and other problems. Kelly Dooley, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine and clinical pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will present the results of a 60-participant trial during which adults infected with HIV who were on dolutegravir were given 12 once-weekly rifapentine/isoniazid doses, also known as 3HP. The study team finds that the coadministration of dolutegravir and 3HP was well tolerated and thus could transform TB control in the long term.

Optimal Dose Established for High Dose Isoniazid in Treating MDR-TB

Early Bactericidal Activity of High-Dose Isoniazid Against Multidrug-Resistant TB

While the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends high dose isoniazid in treating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, the optimal dose and how well it works has not until now been established. The AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5312 enrolled 59 participants to receive randomized doses of the drug for seven days. The 43 trial participants with isoniazid resistant TB conferred by a genetic mutation in the inhibin subunit alpha (INHA) gene received 5, 10 or 15 milligram per kilogram of the drug, and the 16 drug responsive patients received the standard 5 milligram per kilogram dose. Sputum cultures were collected daily and analyzed for bacterial activity. Kelly Dooley, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine and clinical pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will present data showing that 1015 milligram per kilogram doses had substantial impact on Mycobacterium tuberculosis with INHA mutations, similar to lower doses on strains without INHA mutations. These results support WHO recommendations for treating patients with INHA strains.

New-Generation TB Drugs are Safe for the Heart

QT Effects of Bedaquiline, Delamanid or Both in MDR-TB Patients: The Deliberate Trial

Two of the first new drugs to be approved in 40 years for treating tuberculosis are well tolerated, but the body processes them very slowly, and they affect the length of the heartbeat in ways that could potentially cause fast and chaotic heartbeats, seizures or fainting, or could cause the heart to stop. Kelly Dooley, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine and clinical pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will present results of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5343, which treated 84 adults with multidrug-resistant TB who were receiving multidrug background treatment of bedaquiline, delamanid or both drugs for 24 weeks. Each participants heart performance was measured with electrocardiograms at the beginning, every two weeks for 24 weeks and at week 28. The team found that the combined effect of bedaquiline and delamanid is clinically modest, and they are safe to use for MDR-TB patients with normal heartbeats.
Doctors are encouraging women not to be alarmed by a new study linking the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with a slightly increased risk of Alzheimers disease.

i viewfinder | Shutterstock

The Royal College of GPs says the research does not prove that HRT causes Alzheimers disease and that women who are using the therapy should continue to do so.

The study, which was recently published in the BMJ, assessed data available for 170,000 post-menopausal women over 14 years. The scientists compared women who had received a diagnosis of Alzheimers with age-matched controls who had not received a diagnosis.

The researchers identified a 9 to 17% increased risk for the disease among women taking HRT, particularly those who took the treatment for more than ten years.

This translates as between nine and 18 additional cases of Alzheimers per year for every 10,000 women aged 70 to 80 years.

It should be noted that the study was observational and did not actually prove that HRT causes Alzheimers, and the scientists could not exclude the possibility of other factors such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease influencing the results. In fact, other research has demonstrated that HRT can improve brain function.

The GPs are reassuring women that HRT is a safe and effective therapy for most individuals with menopause symptoms and that any risk of Alzheimers developing is extremely low.

Chairwoman of the college, Helen Stokes-Lampard, says the therapy can be of excellent benefit to many women who suffer from unpleasant side-effects of the menopause such as hot flushes and night sweats. There is also a large body of evidence demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of the therapy.

However, there are risks associated with the use of any medication and it is important that women are made aware of them, she warns:

To minimise any risk, best practice for most women is to prescribe the lowest possible dose of hormones for the shortest possible time in order to achieve satisfactory relief of symptoms." Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chairwoman, The Royal College of GPs

Alzheimers charities have also called the research inconclusive and advised women not to be put off taking HRT for a short period.

Chief scientific officer for Alzheimers Research UK, Dr. David Reynolds, said that anyone concerned about the effects of the treatment should speak to their doctor.
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday released its first list of 15 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, naming 11 candidates from Uttar Pradesh and four from Gujarat.

The party has once again fielded UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli, a seat that she has held uninterrupted since 2004, and party president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi, from where he is a three-time MP.

Amethi and Rae Bareli are Congress strongholds in Uttar Pradesh and the only two seats won by the grand old party in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The list was finalised at an over hour-long meeting of the party's central election committee chaired by Rahul Gandhi.

The announcement put an end to speculation that Sonia Gandhi may not contest in the upcoming polls due to health reasons and the party's newly appointed general secretary in-charge (East UP) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may be fielded from her constituency.

Interestingly, the Congress has announced 11 candidates for the electorally crucial state of UP, where the party was overlooked for an alliance by the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party. The party has stated that it would contest on all seats in the state, which sends 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha.

The list also came on a day when SP chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the Congress is very much a part of the SP-BSP alliance and would contest on only Amethi and Rae Bareli seats, the two constituencies left alone by the regional parties.

The first list, however, does not include Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who had recently announced her political debut. She was made the Congress general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Former union ministers Salman Khurshid, Jitin Prasad and R P N Singh have been fielded from their traditional seats of Farrukhabad, Dhaurahra and Kushi Nagar respectively.

Former UP Congress chief Nirmal Khatri will contest from Faizabad, while Bharatsinh Solanki, the party's ex-chief of the Gujarat unit, has been fielded from the state's Anand constituency.

The party has fielded Imran Masood from Saharanpur, Saleem Iqbal Shervani from Badaun, Annu Tandon from Unnao, Rajaram Pal from Akbarpur, and Brij Lal Khabri from Jalaun (SC).

Apart from Solanki, the other candidates named from Gujarat are - Raju Parmar from Ahmedabad West (SC), Prashant Patel from Vadodra, and Ranjit Mohansinh Rathwa from Chotta Udaipur (ST).
Wolverine is at the center of the transition in the incoming X-Men era 'Destiny of X' with X Lives and Deaths of Wolverine

Wolverine will live and die in the twin titles X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine
Sorry!

This content is not available in your region
New Delhi:

Auto LPG industry in the country has sought a reduction in GST rates on LPG conversion kits for automobiles from current 28 per cent to 5 per cent to boost vehicle conversions to the environment-friendly fuel. Indian Auto LPG Coalition, the apex industry body for auto LPG in India, said that high GST rates were hampering conversion to LPG, which is much cleaner transport fuel as compared to petrol.

In a statement, the association said putting an efficient and non-polluting fuel under the highest GST slab is counter-productive to the government's focus on cleaning India's urban air quality. The high GST rates are proving detrimental to the conversion industry and hampering the growth of the clean and environment-friendly transport fuel.

"An auto LPG conversion kit is not a luxury item which is placed under the highest GST slab. At a time, when our cities have been reeling under the impact of harmful vehicular emissions, all efforts must be initiated to push consumers towards using cleaner fuels. Conversion of vehicles to auto LPG has to be promoted by making them more affordable and easily available," said Suyash Gupta, Director General of Indian Auto LPG Coalition.

He said such a prohibitively high GST rate is driving up the costs of conversion kits and discouraging consumers.

"Auto LPG is a very clean transport fuel with almost negligible particulate material emissions, and can bring about immediate improvements in air quality," he said.

The association said auto LPG has become a major draw in several countries and has helped clean up their urban environments, thanks to favourable policy measures.

A prominent example is South Korea which records 4 million tonnes in sales of this fuel annually. Turkey runs almost 40 per cent of all private vehicles on auto LPG.

"Another detrimental policy that is hindering the growth of auto LPG is the archaic Type Approval norms governing vehicle conversions to gaseous fuels. The Type Approval norms of the Ministry of Road Transport in India require companies to renew extremely cost prohibitive Type Approvals for Auto LPG and CNG conversions every three years. This has resulted in a rapid dwindling of players in the retro-fitment market," the statement said.

With a little policy support, auto LPG can become a viable alternative transport fuel for both four-wheelers as well as 2 wheelers.

"Even as we work on making electric vehicles a reality on Indian roads in the long term, we must not ignore more readily available options and lose sight of more easily do things to fight environmental pollution. Encouraging auto LPG conversion is one of the most viable and easy solutions to our air quality concerns in the short term, Gupta said.

Auto LPG emits almost negligible particulate matter than either diesel or petrol vehicles; 96 per cent lesser nitrogen dioxides (NOx) than diesel; 68 per cent lesser NOx than petrol. NOx is hugely responsible for respiratory ailments among urban dwellers. Auto LPG also emits about 22 per cent lower carbon dioxide (CO2) than petrol which is comparable to the CO2 emissions of CNG.

With rising crude prices becoming a major headache for the Indian economy, increasing usage of Auto LPG in the short run can also help cut India's import bill, the statement said, adding Auto LPG is more than 40 per cent cheaper than petrol.
New Delhi:

Hindustan Unilever is known for its brilliant marketing campaigns. But on Thursday, the FMCG giant found itself on backfoot when it tweeted an advertisement based on recently concluded Kumbh Mela. In the 30-second long clip, a son is seen abandoning his father in the Mela. The father keeps on calling out his son, but the man leaves him. Soon, the son spots another father-son duo, which reminds him of his childhood. At last, he finds hid father sitting at near a tea vendor sipping chai. The ad ends with both father and son enjoying Hindustan Unileveras Red Label tea.

In now deleted tweet, Hindustan Unilever said, a#KumbhMela is a place where old people get abandoned, isnat it sad that we do not care for our elders? #RedLabel encourages us to hold the hands of those who made us who we are. Watch the heartwarming video; an eye opener to a harsh reality. #FatherSon #Bond #oldage.a

A

.@RedLabelChai encourages us to hold the hands of those who made us who we are. Watch the heart-warming video #ApnoKoApnao pic.twitter.com/P3mZCsltmt a Hindustan Unilever (@HUL_News) March 7, 2019

The ad has been posted again on companyas official Twitter account. But this time, the aforementioned tweet is not there. a@RedLabelChai encourages us to hold the hands of those who made us who we are. Watch the heart-warming video #ApnoKoApnao,a says the new description.

Looks like the ad has irked many people with #BoycottHindustanUnilever trending on the micro-blogging site since morning. Yog Guru Ramdev also took to Twitter and called for its boycott. aFrom East India Co to @HUL_News thatas their true character. Their only agenda is to make the country poor economically & ideologically. Why shld we not boycott them? For them everything, every emotion is just a commodity. For us parents are next to Gods #BoycottHindustanUnilever,a the Patanjali founder said.A

A

From East India Co to @HUL_News thatas their true character. Their only agenda is to make the country poor economically & ideologically. Why shld we not boycott them? For them everything, every emotion is just a commodity. For us parents are next to Gods #BoycottHindustanUnilever https://t.co/suozbymLBI a Swami Ramdev (@yogrishiramdev) March 7, 2019

The Kumbh Mela, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, was held in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj from January 15 on Makar Sakranti to March 4 this year. The Kumbh draws lakhs of pilgrims over the course of approximately 55 auspicious days to bathe at the Sangam. It is celebrated four times over a course of 12 years.

According to Kumbh Mela administration, till February 9, as many as 14.94 crore devotees have already visited the place. The entire Kumbh Mela area wore an illuminated look, and devotees approaching the Sangam area through Kali Marg were mesmerized by the LED lighting at the event. Kumbh Mela police this time used gas balloons as an indicator to the public thronging the mela area to locate the lost and found centres run by it. Choppers were also used for aerial monitoring of the Kumbh mela area.

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

A suspected Maoist has been killed in a lengthy exchange of fire with police here, officials said on Thursday. The gunfight started Wednesday night and went on till early Thursday morning. The police were yet to reveal the identity of the suspected Maoist.

A group of Maoists allegedly reached a private resort on Wednesday night and demanded food for 10 members of the team and money, sources said. The resort staff informed police about the presence of the extremist group and a specialised Thunderbolt squad of the Kerala Police rushed in. One person was killed during the exchange of fire on Wednesday. No officer was injured in the firefight, a police official told PTI.

Police have cordoned off the forested locality near Vythiri in Wayanad district and combing operation is underway to capture the rest of the members of the armed group.

A high-level meeting of police and district officials has been convened by the Inspector General of Police, Kannur Range.

Kerala Thunderbolts is an elite command force of the Kerala Police under the India Reserve Battalion.
New Delhi :

After Balakot air strike, the political atmosphere of the country changed in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati were quick to sense this. Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, who stitched a grand alliance for Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh with RLD, are now considering a change in their strategy. If sources are to believed, the SP and the BSP have started a fresh round of talks with the Congress to include the party in their grand alliance.

Even though the SP, the BSP and the RLD have finalised the seat-sharing formula, the alliance will now re-work on their pact and include the Congress. According to sources, the Congress may be given 13 more seats which will make its tally to 15 seats as the grand alliance had already decided not to field candidates on two seats - Amethi and Rae Bareli.

Earlier, the Congress party had demanded 20 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. However, both Akhilesh and Mayawati agreed to give just 15 seats but the Congress rejected the offer. In the fresh round of talks, the Congress demanded 15 more seats, excluding Amethi and Rae Bareli. However, sources said that SP and BSP are willing to give just 13 more seats and given the current political discourse, the Congress is likely to accept the offer.

As per the new pact, the Samajwadi Party will vacant seven seats and the Bahujan Samaj Party will give up six seats. During a press conference on Tuesday, Akhilesh Yadav himself had said that the Congress was not completely out of the grand alliance and the talks were still on.

BSP chief Mayawati and SP's Yadav had jointly announced their alliance in January, saying the SP and the BSP will contest 38 seats each out of the total 80 in Uttar Pradesh. However, according to a list released later, the SP announced it will contest 37 seats and the BSP 38.
highlights Entire govt is trying to save chowkidaar, Gandhi said.

Unruffled, The Hindus N Ram said nobody would get any info on sources.

The Supreme Court will hearing the case on March 14 now.

New Delhi:

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the stolen Rafale files on Thursday. Addressing media in New Delhi, Gandhi said that gayab ho gaya is the new slogan of the Modi government. From jobs to issues, everything is missing, Gandhi said slamming the NDA government at the Centre. This comes a day after Attorney General KK Venugopal admitted that some Rafale files were stolen from the Ministry of Defence. The twist in the complicated case came when during the Supreme Court hearing, Venugopal said that, certain documents were stolen from the Defence Ministry either by public servants and an investigation is pending. We are dealing with defence purchases which involve security of the state. It is a very sensitive case. Venugopal made the statement when Prashant Bhushan, one of the petitioners, tried to submit an eight-page note. At that point, the Attorney General objected to it and said that those note files were stolen from Defence Ministry and probe into that is underway.

This would be an offence under Official Secrets Act. Action might be taken against two newspapers which published. Action is also warranted against Senior counsel These are matters which involve the very security of the State, Venugopal added.

On one hand you are saying the documents are missing, so this means the documents are genuine and its clearly written in them that PMO was carrying out parallel negotiations. Yes, of course take action on those involved in this missing documents case but also initiate an inquiry on PMO making parallel negotiations, Gandhi said. Rafale files disappeared, it was said that an investigation should be conducted against you (media) because Rafale files disappeared; but the person who was involved in Rs 30,000 crore scam, no investigation against him, asked Gandhi.

Yesterday also, Gandhi had tweeted saying there are enough evidence to prosecute PM Modi in the Rafale scam. The Congress chief's attack came on a day when the government said in the Supreme Court that documents related to the Rafale fighter jet deal have been stolen from the Defence Ministry and threatened The Hindu newspaper with action under the Official Secrets Act for publishing articles based on them.

"The corruption and malfeasance in Rafale deal is out in the open. PM Modi misused his office to give benefits to Dassault Aviation and caused loss to the public exchequer," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had said.

"It is now crystal clear that blatant and massive corruption has taken place in the Rafale deal. It is undoubtedly established that Modi misused his office as Prime Minister to grant undue benefit to Dassault Aviation and caused a loss to public exchequer," he further said.
New Delhi :

Gujarat Congress MLA Alpesh Thakore is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) if sources are to be believed. He will also directly get a ministerial berth, the sources added. However, the OBC leader and Congress legislator from Radhanpur in north Gujarat, denied rumours that he was preparing to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Earlier in September 2018, Thakore had rubbished all rumours stating that he was going join the BJP. "I don't know who is spreading these canards at regular intervals but I want to state clearly that I am in the Congress and shall remain in the Congress," Thakore told reporters, flanked by state Congress president Amit Chavda and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani. He had asserted: "I had joined the Congress after seeking the opinion of over 20,000 followers and today I am entrusted with national responsibility in the party, including in Bihar." There had been rumours of Thakore negotiating with the ruling BJP and that he might be accommodated as a Minister in the Vijay Rupani government. Political circles have also been speculating that he may vacate his constituency for former Minister Shankar Chaudhary.

Thakore had courted controversy for raising his voice against the Congress and supporting the BJP govermnent's move to raise salaries for legislators in the state from Rs 70,000-plus to over Rs 1.16 lakh per month.
New Delhi:

Hardik Patel, the influential Patidar leader, is likely to join the Congress on March 12 and contest from the Jamnagar constituency in Gujarat. The Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by Poonamben Maadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Patel's joining will coincide with the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Ahmedabad, following which top party leaders will address a public rally there.

Last month, Patel had announced his decision to take the political plunge at a rally in Lucknow. In 2017, Patel had supported the Congress during the Gujarat Assembly Elections.

Patel hit the national headlines after he spearheaded the Patidar community's state-wide agitation to demand reservation in government jobs and educational institutes. Patel was let out on bail but on the condition that he will not enter Mehsana district. His father Bharat Patel said the marriage ceremony was earlier planned at a temple in Mehsana but had to be cancelled.

Recently, the Patidar quota agitation leader tied the knot with his childhood friend Kinjal Parikh at a ceremony in Gujarat. The 25-year-old convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) married Kinjal Parikh at a temple in Digsar village of Surendranagar district, around 130 km from Ahmedabad, in the presence of close relatives and friends. "This is the beginning of the second innings of my family life. My resolution is that everyone should get equal opportunity. We have one pledged to fight together for the 'navnirman' (reconstruction) of the country.

"We will fight till the end of our breath for truth, for the people and for right to equality," Patel told reporters after the marriage ceremony.

Patel said he was in love with Kinjal Parikh, who is pursuing a course in law, since long and the marriage was later arranged by their family members.

Both Patel and his wife are natives of Viramgam in Ahmedabad district though the newly married bride's family lives in Surat.
New Delhi:

Movie buffs finally got a glimpse of what the hype around Kalank is all about. Karan shared a picture of the multistarrer movie to reveal the story behind the film's origin.A

In his post, the filmmaker described Kalank as a film that was born in his "heart and mind 15 years ago." Karan further revealed that Kalank was his late father Yash Johar's dream project and wrote: "The last film my father worked on before he left us. It was his dream to see this film come through."

The first look of the movie will be shared on Thursday by the lead actors Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt.A

Kalank according to Karan Johar is set in the 40s era and has been "woven, nurtured and visualised" by its director Abhishek Varman. He added, "Tomorrow the journey begins... I am excited, anxious and emotional about this one. I do hope you join us on our path to undying love."

A

Varun Dhawan who was shooting for dance drama StreetDancer 3D in London has wrapped his schedule and will fly to Mumbai for the launch. The actor wrapped the shooting for Kalank in January 2019. "Get ready for our biggest film and my toughest role #kalank" he said in his caption.

A

Alia Bhatt too shared a motion picture with its official logo that reads, 'Begins to unravel tomorrow.'

Kalank begins to unravel from tomorrow. Stay tuned!! pic.twitter.com/cq1GNSkZap a Alia Bhatt (@aliaa08) March 6, 2019

A

Kalank is a period drama that includes an impressive ensemble cast from Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan to Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha, Kunal Khemu and Aditya Roy Kapur among others. The period drama went on floors in April last year and is scheduled to release on April 19 this year.







For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

An Air India flight from Delhi to Durgapur was diverted to Lucknow after the craft faced a technical glitch on Thursday morning. Stranded passengers created a ruckus at the airport due to no clarity on the time of departure of an alternate flight. As many as 118 passengers were on board the AI 755 that encountered an engine failure due to which the plane was made to land in the Chaudhary Charan Singh airport in the Uttar Pradesh capital. Passengers take to Twitter to vent out their anger and frustration with saying that the airline is not making any effort to arrange an alternate flight for them, while others blaming the staff for giving them false information.

Here are some of the reactions from stranded passengers at Lucknow airport, courtesy Twitter:

Ritwik Mondal:A Please help us. I am traveller of AI 755 (delhi durgapur flight). Due to some technical fault plant has landed in lucknow airprt. Stl 3 hrs flight in lucknow, but air india staff prvde flse information. (sic)

@AshwaniLohani @PMOIndia @MoCA_GoI @airindiain @narendramodi @SuPriyoBabul



Please help us.

I am traveller of AI 755 (delhi durgapur flight). Due to some technical fault plant has landed in lucknow airprt. Stl 3 hrs flight in lucknow, but air india staff prvde flse information. a Ritwik Mondal (@ritwikmondal2) March 7, 2019

Rupak Chakraborty:A Air india flight AI 755 from Delhi to Durgapur landed at Lucknow Airport due to technical reasons. No effort being made to arrange for any alternate flights to Durgapur. Stuck for over an hour.

Air india flight AI 755 from Delhi to Durgapur landed at Lucknow Airport due to technical reasons.

No effort being made to arrange for any alternate flights to Durgapur. Stuck for over an hour.#NDTV #MoCA_GOI #aajtak a Rupak Chakraborty (@rup31ak) March 7, 2019

Sunny Yadav:A @airindiain flight number 755. Was supposed to go durgapur, technical problem, landed at Lucknow airport, 2 guys with dead body in his home. No support or relief from air india staff..

@airindiain flight number 755. Was supposed to go durgapur, technical problem, landed at Lucknow airport, 2 guys with dead body in his home. No support or relief from air india staff.. a SunnyYadav (@SunnyYadav15) March 7, 2019

On Wednesday, an Air India flight from Delhi to Frankfurt suffered a mid-air decompression and consequently, it returned to the airport "keeping safety of 220 passengers in mind", said the national carrier in a statement. According to airline officials, the flight faced decompression at the height of approximately 20,000 feet around 15 minutes after taking off. "Air India flight AI121 operating from Delhi to Frankfurt today faced an issue of decompression and keeping safety of the 220 passengers in mind, the flight had returned to Delhi. No passenger has suffered any injury," said the Air India spokesperson.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

As many as 28 people were injured in a bomb blast that took place at Jammu bus stand on Thursday, according to reports. The explosion took place inside a bus and a man had carried theA grenade in his pocket. All the injured people were rushed to the Government Medical CollegeA in a critical state. Following the attack, security agencies have cordoned off the entire area. A team of forensic experts reached the spot to investigate the blast. The security agencies have launched a search operation in the area.

"It was a grenade explosion, it has caused injuries to approximately 18 people, all shifted to hospital,"A MK Sinha, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu said.

According to eyewitnesses, a loud explosionA was heard inside a bus. Initially, people thought it was a tyre burst but when they reached the spot it was found out that a grenade has exploded there. So far, no group has claimed the responsibility of the attack.

"I thought it was a tyre burst. it was a big blast. The locals took the injured to the hospital in an ambulance," news agency ANI quoted one of the eyewitnesses as saying.

The incident has taken place days after Pulwama attack in which over 40 CRPF personnelA were killedA after a suicide bomber of the JeM drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF convoy. Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-MohammedA took the responsibility of the attack. Following this, Indian Air Force carried out aA strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) campA inside Pakistan.

J&K: Blast at Jammu bus stand. Injured admitted to hospital. Area has been cordoned off by security personnel pic.twitter.com/utO7RX0GOp a ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019

This is a breaking news story. More details will be added soon. Please refresh the page for the updated version.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

One terrorist was killed in a brief exchange of fire at Kralgund in Handwara. The search operation underway.

At least two terrorists belonging to Hizbul-Mujahideen outfit were killed on Tuesday morning in an encounter that broke out between security forces and terrorists at Reshipora Tral area in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. After receiving specific inputs about the presence of terrorists, a joint operation was launched by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF and the Army. The security forces then cordoned off the entire area. Authorities have also suspended mobile Internet services in the town.



Earlier, three CRPF jawans, two Jammu and Kashmir police personnel and a civilian were killed in an encounter at Babagund village of Langate, Handwara in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. Two terrorists were also killed in the gun battle. The civilian was killed during clashes with security forces following stone-pelting incident at the spot. Security forces had launched a cordon and search operation following information about the presence of terrorists there, the officials said. During the searches, the terrorists opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated, they said. There was a lull in firing several times during the day but the terrorists would resume firing as soon as the security forces advanced towards the house where the ultras were hiding, the officials said. Clashes between a group of youngsters and security personnel took place near the encounter site, leaving four persons injured, the officials.



On February 14, at least 42 CRPF personnel were killed last month in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 30 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir. It was the first time in more than a decade that Indian jets had crossed the LoC to strike against Pakistan. The Indian Air Force hit Jabha Top, a forested hilltop where the Jaish-e-Mohammed had its camp.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

In a swift comeback at Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Congress chief was spreading blatant lies. The retort comes hours after Gandhi alleged that the entire government is trying to save PM Modi in Rafale deal. He (Rahul Gandhi) is inadvertently or deliberately playing into hands of Rafale competitors, Prasad was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. In a morning press conference, Gandhi said that gayab ho gaya (everything is missing) is the new slogan of BJP government. The stinging attack was directed towards NDA leadership after Attorney General KK Venugopal admitted in the Supreme Court that some Rafale files have been stolen from the office of the defence ministry.

If PM is not guilty, why doesn't he himself agree for an investigation? Why did he refuse to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee, asked Congress chief. The problem in India is, there is a criminal investigation only on people who oppose PM Modi. Media is being punished because they are being brave. I'm very proud that they have the guts to stand against Narendra Modi, Gandhi added. Apart from the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party has also slammed the ruling BJP over stolen Rafale files. The Modi govt made a sensational disclosure in the Hon'ble Supreme Court that secret documents pertaining to Rafale fighter deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry. Very strange & irresponsible chowkidari. Is national security & interest in the safe hands? Think long & loud (sic), Mayawati said on Twitter.

The Centre, which accused former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and lawyer Prashant Bhushan of relying on stolen documents to seek review of judgment dismissing petitions on the Rafale fighter jet deal, is facing searching queries from the Supreme Court that also asked, "are these documents untouchable" for consideration by courts. "We can understand you saying that petitioners came with unclean hands. That they got the documents through doubtful sources. But it is another thing to say that the court cannot consider these documents at all. That they are untouchable," a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi observed.

The remarks by the bench came when Attorney General KK Venugopal insisted that the review petitions and a perjury application filed in the matter has to be dismissed as the petitioners were also averse to disclosing the sources of the documents which were stolen from the Defence Ministry.

The high voltage hearing witnessed the bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, asking the Centre: "When there is allegation of corruption, can the government take shelter under national security?

"If an act of corruption is committed in Rafale deal, will govt take shelter behind Official Secrets Act? I (CJI) am not saying it is committed, but if it is then government cannot take shelter behind OSA."

(With agency inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The IAF has said "misinformation" on the shooting of a Pakistan Air Force F-16 by MiG-21 Bison is being spread on social media, while cautioning that "fake accounts" of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman have been created in the last one week. The Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot, who was captured by the Pakistan Army after his MiG-21 Bison was shot down, had returned home last week via the Wagah-Attari border crossing.

The IAF in a statement said, post his return, fake accounts have been created of the pilot. "Misinformation on the shooting of a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 by MiG-21 Bison is being spread on various social media sites," the statement said.

The IAF said that in a press statement issued on February 28, it had clarified that one F-16 of the PAF was shot by MiG-21 Bison and it fell across the Line of Control (LoC).

"Additionally fake accounts of Wing Commander V Abhinandan have been created in the last one week," the statement said.

"Wing Commander Abhinandan does not have any official social media account on Twitter and Instagram," the IAF said and advised "all not to follow these accounts as they may contain malware".

Since his return from Pakistan, the country has been in awe of the bravery of Varthaman and he has been trending on social media.

Many on Facebook and Twitter have been putting up posts, saying they desired to have his rather characteristic gunslinger moustache with mutton chop beard style.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was in Pakistans captivity after he ejected from his plane when it took a hit on February 27, was asked questions about how he shot F-16 fighter jet. According to reports, Pakistani forces grilled him about the India-Pak aerial dogfight in which a jet of the Pakistan Air Force was shot down.

According to reports, Pakistani forces also tried to extract crucial information on Indian troop deployment, high-security radio frequencies and sensitive logistics during the first 24 hours of his captivity.

The official, who is part of a team debriefing of 35-year-old fighter pilot after he walked back into India across the Wagah border on March 1, said the Wing Commander was deprived of sleep, choked and even beaten up by his captors in Pakistan, according to a Hindustan Times report.

All fighter pilots in India are taught to hold back for as long as possible when captured so that transmitting frequencies and deployments can be changed in the first 24 hours to deny the adversary any advantage, the officer said. Wing Commander Abhinandan did exactly that, the officer said.

The Print quoted top sources in the security and defence establishment as saying that Varthaman was subjected to bright lights, loud music to keep him disoriented and break him down. The report came close on the heels of Varthamans earlier statement in which he had reportedly told Indian officials that Pakistani authorities did not physically torture him in his nearly 60-hour stay in their custody, but he was subjected to considerable ''mental harassment".

MRI reports of Varthaman have revealed that the fighter pilot suffered spinal injury as he ejected from his plane after it was shot down. The officer is undergoing more check-ups and treatment at the Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi Cantonment. Medical reports also revealed that Pakistan had not planted any bug in Varthaman's body.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Abhinandan Varthaman, the Indian Air Force Wing Commander who was in Pakistans captivity after he ejected from his plane when it took a hit on February 27, was grilled by the Pakistani forces trying to extract crucial information on Indian troop deployment, high-security radio frequencies and sensitive logistics during the first 24 hours of his captivity, according to a senior officer debriefing the 35-year-old fighter pilot. The official, who is part of a team debriefing Varthaman after he walked back into India across the Wagah border on March 1, said the Wing Commander was deprived of sleep, choked and even beaten up by his captors in Pakistan, according to a Hindustan Times report.

At least three to four separate teams comprising a select group of officers are debriefing Wing Commander Varthaman on various aspects of his captivity.

During his captivity, Varthaman was made to stand for long hours and subjected to loud music to increase his discomfort, the official said, requesting anonymity. The official also added that Varthaman showed immense resilience even as Pakistani officers tried to extract information from him about the frequencies that the IAF uses to transmit messages, deployment of fighter jets and logistical arrangements.

All fighter pilots in India are taught to hold back for as long as possible when captured so that transmitting frequencies and deployments can be changed in the first 24 hours to deny the adversary any advantage, the officer said. Wing Commander Abhinandan did exactly that, the officer said.

The Print quoted top sources in the security and defence establishment as saying that Varthaman was subjected to bright lights, loud music to keep him disoriented and break him down. The report came close on the heels of Varthamans earlier statement in which he had reportedly told Indian officials that Pakistani authorities did not physically torture him in his nearly 60-hour stay in their custody, but he was subjected to considerable ''mental harassment".

MRI reports of Varthaman have revealed that the fighter pilot suffered spinal injury as he ejected from his plane after it was shot down. The officer is undergoing more check-ups and treatment at the Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi Cantonment. Medical reports also revealed that Pakistan had not planted any bug in Varthaman's body.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

To spend Rs 4,500 crore to revive 'un-served, under-served' airports

In a bid to boost regional air connectivity, the Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to "revive and develop" a number of "un-served and under-served airports" across the country at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore. "Cabinet approves revival and development of un-served and under-served air strips of state governments, Airports Authority of India (AAI), civil enclaves, Central Public Sector Units (CPSU), helipads and water aerodromes," a government statement read. According to the statement, the government would spend Rs 4,500 crore on the entire exercise.

"As an outcome, small cities/towns shall be connected on commencement of operation of flights to under-served/un-served airports," the statement said. The regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying affordable.

Rs 26k crore investments announced for 2 thermal, 1 hydro power projects

An investment of Rs 25,816.1 crore for two thermal power projects and a hydro-electric plant were also approved. The CCEA cleared a proposal for investment of Rs 10,439.09 crore for 1320 MW Buxar Thermal Power Project in Bihar, an official statement said. The CCEA, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved an investment of Rs 11,089.42 crore for 1320 MW Khurja Super Thermal Power Plant in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh and Amelia Coal Mine in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh. The government also approved an investment of Rs 4,287.59 crore for construction of Kiru Hydro Electric Project (624 MW) on river Chenab in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Delhi's unauthorized colonies get Cabinet nod for conferring ownership

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Centre Thursday approved a proposal to constitute a committee to recommend process for conferring ownership or transfer rights to residents of unauthorized colonies in Delhi. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Cabinet approves proposal to constitute a committee to recommend process for conferring ownership or transfer rights to residents of unauthorized colonies in Delhi," the government said in a statement. There are over 1,650 unauthorised colonies in the national capital where migrant population plays a vital role in deciding the fate of any political party during elections.

Cabinet orders Alternative Mechanism on CPSE strategic sale

To fast-track strategic sale of CPSEs, the Cabinet Thursday allowed Alternative Mechanism to decide on the timing, price and quantum of shares of a state-run company to be put on the block for outright sale. "The CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) has approved delegation of the following Alternative Mechanism in all the cases of strategic disinvestment of CPSEs where CCEA has given 'in principle' approval for strategic disinvestment," an official statement said. The Alternative Mechanism (AM) on strategic disinvestment consists of the Finance Minister, Minister for Road Transport and Highways and minister representing respective administrative department, to decide on the matters relating to terms and conditions of the sale.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Amid ongoing tension between India and Pakistan, a latest report suggests that New Delhi canat drag Islamabad to international courts over the use of F-16 fighter jets in the February 27 airspace invasion. According to aThe Printa report, the contract between Pakistan and Lockheed Martin donat hold any legal validity. This means that the terms in the end-user agreement are not legally binding. Quoting an American envoy, The Print said that, athe US will not be able to do much on this.aA A A

The report comes at a time when the US officially said that it was looking into the matter. The United States has sought more information from Pakistan on the potential misuse of F-16 fighter jets against India in violation of what it is called the end-user agreement, the State Department said. Pakistan had acquired the F-16 fighter jets from US to afight against terrorisma in 2008. However, the country has long been using the assets acquired from the US against India.

During a joint military press conference on Thursday, India had shown parts of an AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile to prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets during an aerial raid targeting Indian military posts in Kashmir following Indiaas anti-terror strike on JeM camp in Balakot.

During the misadventure, Indian Air Force jets shot down an F-16 fighter jet. However, Pakistan denied the Indian claims of using F-16 fighter jets and that one of its planes was shot down by Indian Air Force.

aWe are aware of these reports and are seeking more information,a news agency PTI quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying when asked about report that Pakistan has violated end-user agreement with the United States in this weekas border clash with India.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Jammu and Kashmir Police has arrested a man who threw a grenade at the Jammu bus stand, said state police chief Dilbag Singh. According to reports, the man arrested has been identified as Yasir Arhaan. Arhaan, who hails from South Kashmirs Kulgam, was arrested while fleeing.

The person who threw the grenade at the Jammu bus stand earlier today, has been arrested, DGP Dilbag Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.

A teenager was killed and 33 others sustained serious injuries in the grenade blast beneath a bus at Jammu bus stop on Thursday, Jammu Medical Superintendent said. All the injured were rushed to Government Medical College hospital for treatment in critical condition. Following the attack, security agencies cordoned off the entire area and a team of forensic experts reached the spot to investigate the blast.

This is the third grenade attack by terrorists in Jammu bus stand since May last year.

According to eyewitnesses, a loud explosion was heard inside a bus. Initially, people thought it was a tyre burst but when they reached the spot it was found out that a grenade has exploded there. So far, no group has claimed the responsibility of the attack.

"I thought it was a tyre burst. it was a big blast. The locals took the injured to the hospital in an ambulance," news agency ANI quoted one of the eyewitnesses as saying.

The incident took place days after Pulwama attack in which over 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber of the JeM drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF convoy. Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed took the responsibility of the attack. Following this, Indian Air Force carried out a strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp inside Pakistan.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

At least one person dead while 33 others sustained serious injuries in a grenade blast beneath a bus at Jammu bust stop on Thursday, Jammu Medical Superintendent said. All the injured were rushed to Government Medical College hospital for treatment in critical condition. This is the third grenade attack by terrorists in Jammu bus stand since May last year.

"Whenever there is heightened state of alert, we strengthen checking and frisking but there is always a possibility of someone slipping through and this one seems to be a case like that," MK Sinha, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu said.

Following the attack, security agencies cordoned off the entire area and a team of forensic experts reached the spot to investigate the blast. According to reports, one suspect has been arrested by the police. The accused had reportedly carried the grenade had in his pocket.

Earlier, Sinha had confirmed that it was a grenade attack and said that approximately 18 people were injured. "It was a grenade explosion, it has caused injuries to approximately 18 people, all shifted to hospital," Sinha said.

According to eyewitnesses, a loud explosion was heard inside a bus. Initially, people thought it was a tyre burst but when they reached the spot it was found out that a grenade has exploded there. So far, no group has claimed the responsibility of the attack.

"I thought it was a tyre burst. it was a big blast. The locals took the injured to the hospital in an ambulance," news agency ANI quoted one of the eyewitnesses as saying.

The incident has taken place days after Pulwama attack in which over 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a suicide bomber of the JeM drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF convoy. Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed took the responsibility of the attack. Following this, Indian Air Force carried out a strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camp inside Pakistan.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The Modi Cabinet's last Cabinet meeting before the Lok Sabha polls will take place today. Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address a rally at Moga in Punjab and thereafter go to Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh. President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen testified before Congress again, a week after accusing his ex-boss of being a racist, a conman and a cheat in scathing public remarks. Amazon to close US pop-up stores, focus on opening more book stores Stay hooked here for all the latest from India and around the world through the day.

20:22 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP parliamentary board meeting scheduled to be held tomorrow.

17:51 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In

Indian Air Force is in a high state of preparedness, to proactively engage any perceived threat in the present security scenario. A strict vigil in the skies to detect and thwart any act of aggression from Pakistan Air Force is being maintained: ANIhttps://t.co/LmJvvhuC87 pic.twitter.com/AXhc2LRWik

 News Nation (@NewsNationTV) March 7, 2019



17:03 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) neutralized three maoists in an operation in Hazaribagh today. 1 AK and 2 INSAS rifles along with huge cache of ammunition recovered so far. Search operation still underway.

13:40 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Blast strikes near major political gathering in Kabul: AFP

13:38 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Union Cabinet approves proposal to constitute a committee to recommend process for conferring ownership or transfer rights to residents of unauthorized colonies in Delhi.

12:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 2002 Gujarat riots case: Supreme Court today granted bail to one of the convicts in Naroda Patiya matter, Babu Bajrangi. He has been granted bail on health grounds.

12:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In J&K: Blast at Jammu bus stand. Injured admitted to hospital.

12:30 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Delhi's Patiala House Court reserves order in lawyer Gautam Khaitan's bail application in his arrest under the black money act.ED counsel DP Singh opposed the bail plea of Gautam Khaitan and argued 'Khaitan is an expert in laundering of money.'

12:30 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder: Our industry should work hard to make ourselves stronger & pay more taxes so that our soldiers have better ammunition, better salaries, nutrition & they can take care of their families better, I said this in 2014 also, not after Pulwama.

12:27 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Emission fiasco: NGT slaps Rs 500 crore fine on Volkswagen.

12:27 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Singtel to buy $525 million worth stock in Bharti Airtel.

12:22 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 2002 Gujarat riots case: Supreme Court today granted bail to one of the convicts in Naroda Patiya matter, Babu Bajrangi. He has been granted bail on health grounds, reports ANI.

12:22 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder on US decision to withdraw Indias name from GSP program list: Best way to combat, we have to work harder and smarter, we have to be more disciplined and competitive. We can keep on blaming others but ultimate solution is to us becoming better.

12:21 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder on US decision to withdraw Indias name from GSP program list: Best way to combat, we have to work harder and smarter, we have to be more disciplined and competitive. We can keep on blaming others but ultimate solution is to us becoming better.

12:21 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Akash Vijayvargiya,BJP MLA& son of Kailash Vijayvargiya on Rahul Gandhi: Earlier, he was called 'Pappu', that was a harmless&an affectionate name.But of late he has been acting like an anti-national. So we now changed his name from 'Pappu' to 'Gadhon ka Sartaj'.

12:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Guaido urges Europe to increase sanctions against Maduro regime: Spiegel interview.

11:24 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Supreme Court refuses to pass directions to disclose 3 panels of names recommended by Lokpal search committee.

10:44 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Maoist leader CP Jaleel killed in an encounter with Kerala police in Vythiri last night, reports ANI.

09:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress President Rahul Gandhi: Overall our alliances are on track, in Delhi the party unit unanimously said no to an alliance.

09:46 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress President Rahul Gandhi: On one hand you are saying the documents are missing, so this means the documents are genuine and its clearly written in them that PMO was carrying out parallel negotiations.

09:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Ravninder Singh, Doctor says,'I saw her brothers (born in 1903) record &her daughter is 90, found 2-3 records corroborating her age. To operate at this age was a challenge; she is doing fine. We have applied for Guinness Book of World Records & Limca Book of Records.



Ravninder Singh, Doctor says,'I saw her brothers (born in 1903) record &her daughter is 90, found 2-3 records corroborating her age. To operate at this age was a challenge; she is doing fine. We have applied for Guinness Book of World Records & Limca Book of Records. #Punjab pic.twitter.com/lTqqNLPE1L

 ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019



09:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Punjab: Kartar Kaur Sangha- 118 years old as claimed by family- was operated upon successfully and a pacemaker was implanted, at a hospital in Ludhiana.



Punjab: Kartar Kaur Sangha- 118 years old as claimed by family- was operated upon successfully and a pacemaker was implanted, at a hospital in Ludhiana. pic.twitter.com/dDVLpLHjg6

 ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019



09:32 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Thousands attended a morning mass in the Philippines and marked their foreheads with ash to mark the beginning of the season of Lent.

09:30 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Huawei sues US for barring government agencies from buying the Chinese telecom giant's products.

09:30 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In US Senator Martha McSally - the first woman to fly in combat for the US Air Force - says she was raped by a superior officer while in the service.

09:15 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Man seen in viral video thrashing Kashmiri street vendors in Lucknow has been arrested by Police.

08:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath in Sagar: I have announced today that we will give 27% reservation (earlier 14%) to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) & 10% to General classes (economically-weaker sections).

08:12 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will kick off the TMC's campaign for the Lok Sabha polls on International Women's Day on March 8.

07:55 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Huawei accuses US of hacking its servers, stealing emails.

07:42 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar on Gurugram termed most polluted city in the world: It's a worrying report & all of us are concerned. I have asked Deputy Commissioner to call a meeting of the concerned departments within 2 days to discuss further steps that can be taken.

07:41 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In China's Huawei says sues US over federal ban on using its products.

07:07 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Mumbai: Inside visuals from the car service centre where a fire broke out last night. 6 luxury cars affected in the fire.



Mumbai: Inside visuals from the car service centre where a fire broke out last night. 6 luxury cars affected in the fire. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/TcnSUMTyYq

 ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019



07:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Mumbai: Fire broke out at a car service centre near Mahalakshmi Railway Station last night; doused now. No casualties reported.



Mumbai: Fire broke out at a car service centre near Mahalakshmi Railway Station last night; doused now. No casualties reported. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/CwN5CRitwv

 ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019



For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Following the attack on Kashmiri vendors in Lucknow on Wednesday evening, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that such incidents will do more harm to the idea of India in Jammu and Kashmir than anything else. Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in J&K than videos like these. Keep thrashing Kashmiris like this on the streets at the hands of RSS/Bajrang Dal goons & then try to sell the idea of atoot ang (integral part), it simply wont fly, Abdullah said in a series of tweets.

The former chief minister was reacting to a video in which two Kashmiris were being seen thrashed by a group of men in Lucknow.

Dear PM @narendramodi Sahib, this is what you had spoken against & yet it continues unabated. This is the state governed by your handpicked Chief Minister. Can we expect action in this case or do we file your concern & assurances as a jumla, meant to placate but nothing more? Abdullah asked.

Abdullah posed a question to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who represents the Lucknow seat in Lok Sabha, that if he would step in to deliver the justice in this case.

Jenab @rajnathsingh Sahib. You represent this constituency in the Lok Sabha, this is the constituency where Vajpayee Sb was elected from & went on to be PM. If no one else will step in & deliver justice can we expect you to punish those guilty of this assault? he added.

wo Kashmiri vendors, who were selling dry fruits on a busy Lucknow road, were thrashed by a group of men belonging to a right-wing organisation. The perpetrators filmed the assault on their mobile phones. In a video shared by one of the accused, they are heard saying that they did it because they belonged to Kashmir. One of the accused has been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police after the video of the incident went viral.

The incident took place on Wednesday evening in Daliganj area of Central Lucknow when a handful of saffron-clad men started beating the traders. Seeing no police on spot, the bystanders came to the rescue of the traders and stopped the group from further assault.

Later, the police registered a case of rioting and breach of peace and arrested one of the accused men. "A case has been filed in the Hazratganj police station. A search is on for the accused. An investigation will be done," police officer Amit Kumar said.

However, the main accused, president of Vishwa Hindu Dal, has not been arrested yet and continues to post updates on social media. Following the outrage, the video of the incident has been taken down.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Days after Pakistan government banned 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), Punjab government on Thursday took control of their headquarters. According to reports, the government will soon take control of Jamat-ud-Dawaas mosque and madrasa in Lahore's Chauburji.

aPakistan's Punjab govt takes control of headquarters of banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat, it will also take control of JuD mosque and madrasa in Lahore's Chauburji tonight,a tweeted ANI.

Sources: Pakistan's Punjab govt takes control of headquarters of banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat, it will also take control of JuD mosque and madrasa in Lahore's Chauburji tonight. pic.twitter.com/VEm9kxodoY a ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2019

Meanwhile, the United Nations has rejected Saeedas appeal to remove his name from its list of banned terrorists, government sources said.

The development comes close on the heels of UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee receiving a new request to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Jaish, Pakistan-based banned terror outfit has claimed responsibility for the strike.

The UN decision to reject the appeal of Saeed, also a co-founder of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), came after India provided detailed evidence including "highly confidential information" about his activities, sources told PTI, adding that the verdict of the global body was conveyed to his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza earlier this week.

Saeed, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jammat-ud-Dawa (JuD), was banned on December 10, 2008 by the United Nations Security Council after the horrific Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.

He had filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, for removal of the ban.

Saeed's request was opposed by India as well as other countries that had originally listed him - US, UK and France, sources said.

Significantly, Pakistan did not oppose the appeal despite claims by the new Imran Khan-led government there that it was taking action against the banned terrorists and their organisations in what they call a 'Naya Pakistan' (new Pakistan).

A Last month, the US, the UK and France made a fresh bid at the UN to ban JeM head Masood Azhar, who is also residing in Pakistan as per Pakistani foreign minister's admission. JeM is already a UN-designated terrorist organisation.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

The Supreme Court on Thursday set 10 days deadline for the Centre to submit the date of the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection panel on the appointment of countrys first Lokpal. The top court, however, rejected senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan's request to make the names of proposed by the search committee for the Chairman and members.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that while transparency was a subjective term, there was no need to put the names proposed by the search committee in the public domain.

Transparency is a subjective term. You have done good work but there has to be a limit somewhere. You have to stop. We dont think the names are required to be put in public domain, the top said.

Bhushan had argued that it was the governments duty to provide the proposed names of the Chairman and its committee members to the court. The court, however, said that it cant do the work of the search committee and the matter should be left to them.

"We have considered the provisions of the act and its our considered view that no directions are required by this court and the matter should be left to the search committee," the court said.

As per the rules, the selection panel will select the Lokpal from the names suggested by the search committee  headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.

Earlier, the Supreme Court Thursday fixed a February-end deadline for the search committee on Lokpal to recommend a panel of names for appointment of the countrys first anti-graft ombudsman. The search committee is headed by former apex court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi directed the Centre to provide the search committee requisite infrastructure and manpower to enable it to complete its work.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief and separatist Yasin Malik was booked under Public Safety Act (PSA), a party spokesman said on Thursday. Malik sahab has been booked under the draconian law, Public Safety Act. He is being shifted to Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu, he said. Malik was detained by the Jammu and Kashmir police from his residence in Srinagar on February 22 and was shifted to the Kothibagh police station. The detention came two days after the state administration said the security of 18 separatist, including Malik, would be withdrawn. The JKLF leader on Thursday termed the announcement a "lie".

While Malik said he had never received any protection from the state, hardline Hurriyat Conference termed the reports about the withdrawal of security of its chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani "ridiculous".

"I have had no security with me for the last 30 years. So, when there was no security, what withdrawal are they talking about? This is utter dishonesty on part of the government" Malik told reporters.

The JKLF chairman said he never had any security at his residence, office or even at his public rallies and he had turned down offers for it several times. He termed the notification a "lie".

As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near their bus in Pulwama district. The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
London:

Scientists have analysed two recently discovered exoplanets that have similar sizes but very different densities, and may offer a unique insight into how worlds are formed. Kepler-107b and Kepler-107c have almost identical radii of 1.5 and 1.6 Earth radii, but their densities that are over twice as different, researchers said. Scientists from Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and University of Bristol in the UK spent three years observing the exoplanetary system Kepler-107 via the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in La Palma.

They gathered more than a hundred spectroscopic measurements of all four sub-Neptune mass planets in Kepler-107 -- named after the NASA Kepler space telescope that discovered the exoplanetary system five years ago.

Unlike Earth's relation to the Sun, the planets in the Kelper-107 system are much closer to each other and their host star (their equivalent of our sun). All of the planets have an orbital period of days as opposed to years.

It is not uncommon for the planet that is closest to the host star to be the densest due to heating and interaction with the host star which can cause atmosphere loss.

However, in the case of Kepler-107, the second planet, 107c, is denser than the first, 107b, according to a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

So much so that 107c contains in its core an iron mass fraction at least twice as large as that of 107b, indicating that at some point, 107c had a head-on high-speed giant collision with a protoplanet of the same mass or more collisions with multiple planets of a lower mass.

These impacts would have ripped off part of the rock and silicate mantle of Kepler-107c, suggesting that it is denser now than it was originally.

"Giant impacts are thought to have had a fundamental role in shaping our current solar system," said Zoe Leinhardt, a computational astrophysicist at University of Bristol.

"The moon is most likely the result of such an impact, Mercury's high density may be also, and Pluto's large satellite Charon was likely captured after a giant impact but until now, we hadn't found any evidence of giant impacts occurring in planetary systems outside of our own," said Leinhardt.

"If our hypothesis is correct, it would connect the general model we have for the formation of our solar system with a planetary system that is very different from our own," he said.

"With this discovery we have added another piece in the understanding of the origin of the extraordinary diversity in composition of small exoplanets," said Aldo Bonomo, researcher at INAF.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Helsinki:

Finnish officials have begun work to bring the country's sexual assault legislation into line with international standards, by defining rape as sex without consent, the country's justice minister said on Wednesday. Although considered one of the world's most gender-equal societies, Finland has come under fire for its legal definition of rape which requires a victim to prove violence was used, or that they were in a state of fear and helplessness.

"In January I decided that the justice ministry will begin a total reform of rape legislation," Justice Minister Antti Hakkanen said during an event hosted by the rights group Amnesty International.

"The legislation will be clearer than it currently is, and brought up to date, in part, by strengthening the legal role of consent," Hakkanen said.

The proposal for the new law will come before parliament some time during the coming four-year parliamentary term, the justice ministry said.

Anger at Finland's record on tackling sexual crimes came to a head in 2017 when a court ruled that a 23-year-old man who had sex with a 10-year-old was not guilty of rape because the child had not opposed intercourse with the attacker and violence was not used.

The man was given a two-year sentence for the lesser crime of sexual abuse. The sentence was subsequently upheld on appeal.

The prevalence of violence against women in Finland is among the highest in the EU, according to the bloc's Fundamental Rights Agency.

In a report released on Wednesday, Amnesty International said the Finnish justice system currently "ignores, denies and tacitly condones sexual violence against women".

Finland is a signatory to the Istanbul Convention, which commits states to criminalising non-consensual sex.

According to Amnesty, only a minority of EU states define rape as sex without consent, and the organisation is campaigning for law changes across the continent.

Sweden became the latest country to adopt a new "consent law" in cases of sexual assault, which came into force in July last year.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has sued the US government for banning the use of its products by government agencies. Huawei said that the US Congress could not produce sufficient evidence to support the restrictions. "The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort. This ban not only is unlawful but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers," Huawei Rotating chairman Guo Ping said.

In the lawsuit filed against the US government, the firm said that it has no Chinese government ownership as claimed by the Trump administration. The tech giant has also accused the US government of hacking its servers and stealing emails.

The offensive from the Huawei has come days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the company of having deep connections with Chinese intelligence agencies.

One is that theres a risk that theyll steal American technology, and frankly, use those systems to invade your privacy. That is, they do telecommunications equipment that provide backbone services for networks, handsets all throughout the IT infrastructure and soon will be moving across the entire world with their new 5G rollout of their equipment, Pompeo had said.

Second, Huawei also presents a more traditional national security threat. Its very different from in America. If youre working with AT&T or a US telecom provider, a Microsoft or an IBM whos providing IT services or products, its a private company doing its own thing, trying to make money, trying to grow its business, he said.

The Shenzhen-based firm has been facing headwinds in its bid to enter the US market. Citing security concerns, three countries  the US, Australia and New Zealand have banned Huawei from supplying its equipment for their upcoming 5G mobile broadband networks.

Huawei is owned by the state of China and has deep connections to their intelligence service. That should send off flares for everybody who understands what the Chinese military and Chinese intelligence services do. We have to take that threat seriously, Pompeo had said.

The company, however, has denied all the allegations and maintained that it works independently and has no allegiance with the Chinese government and the countrys intelligence agencies.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Islamabad:

Jaish-e-Mohammed which claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack does not exist in Pakistan, the military's spokesperson has said, days after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi admitted that the terror outfit's chief is present in the country. The already sour relations between India and Pakistan have worsened after Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack that left 40 CRPF personnel dead.

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor when asked if the two countries were close to war after the attack told CNN, "We were I would say close to war because when they [India] violated the airspace under token aggression, we went for response."

"Along the Line of Control (LoC) we were eyeball-to-eyeball. There is presence of troops at the LoC for decades. But post the Indian aggression and our response, the safeguards have been taken by both side," Ghafoor said on the situation along the LoC.

He said that troops had been increased because it is natural as part of military planning. When the situation gets hot there are safeguards. Those safeguards are in place on both sides."

After the Pulwama attack, the Indian Air Force carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was a JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.

The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was handed over to India on Friday.

When asked about Indian claims regarding the Balakot air strike, Ghafoor said that not even a single brick had been found there nor were there any causalities.

"Their [Indian] claims are false," he said.

He further said that the JeM claim of responsibility for the Pulwama attack had not been made from inside Pakistan.

"Jaish-e-Muhammed does not exist in Pakistan. It has been proscribed by the United Nations and Pakistan also. Secondly, we are not doing anything under anybody's pressure," he claimed.

Last month Qureshi during an interview with CNN said that JeM chief Masood Azhar is in Pakistan, but said the government can act against him only if India presents "solid" and "inalienable" evidence that can stand in a court of law.

Ghafoor said instead of blaming Pakistan, it is time for the world to assist and facilitate Pakistan in getting rid of such organisations.

On Pakistan's release of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman as a gesture of peace, Major General Ghafoor stated, "Now it is up to India whether they take that peace gesture and move forward towards de-escalation or continue the agenda that they have."

"We feel that now the ball is in the Indian court. Should they decide to escalate more, the situation will go bad," Ghafoor said.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
The development and improvement of pharmaceuticals plays the central role in the ongoing battle against human disease. Organic synthesis is the field that enables these developments as it offers the toolbox to diversify chemical structures. The group of Nuno Maulide, recently named the Scientist of the Year 2018 in Austria, in collaboration with the group of Harald Sitte, has now reported a facile method for the replacement of hydrogen with fluorine in important drug molecules. This new discovery enables the fine-tuning of existing (and potential new) pharmaceuticals to endow them with improved pharmacological properties.

The vast majority of pharmaceuticals employed in the treatment of human diseases are of an organic nature, meaning that the active component is a molecule (or a combination of several molecules) that is constituted of carbon and hydrogen atoms. This trait is shared with all living matter, as proteins, sugars, fats and DNA are also based on such hydrocarbon skeletons, differing only by arrangement and their substitution with a relatively small amount of other possible elements (mainly oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus). "Our bodies are nothing else than a large assembly of billions of carbon-made, or in other words, organic molecules", says Nuno Maulide, recently named Scientist of the Year 2018 in Austria and Professor at the University of Vienna. Owing to this similarity, organic pharmaceuticals are ideally suited to interact with the human body, for example by binding to receptors thereby triggering or inhibiting a desired or undesired function.

Finding the key that best fits the lock

The design of a pharmaceutical molecule targeting a specific interaction with a receptive structure is often conceptualised by the analogy of a lock and key. "The receptor (for example an enzyme) has a unique structure (lock) and therefore requires a unique structure (key) to interact with. Due to the need for an exact fit, the structural integrity of the pharmaceutical compound is key (pun intended!) to assure its beneficial bioactivity", explains Harald Sitte, Professor at the Medical University of Vienna and co-author of the study.

Trying to escape the clean-up

However, just as nutrients are metabolised by the body, pharmaceuticals that enter the body (made up of the same essential constituents, carbon, hydrogen, ) are also degraded by the same enzymes that metabolise and eliminate our food constituents. This type of clean-up machinery is essential for our body in order to protect itself; molecules that are undesired and could have negative effects must be eliminated swiftly. Unfortunately, such machinery is often indiscriminate and pharmaceuticals will also be metabolised as soon as they enter in contact with the body, explains Christopher Teskey, PostDoc in the Maulide group and joint first author of the study. This can alter the structure of pharmaceuticals and therefore also remove their beneficial properties. "Large parts of this degradation occur precisely at the junction of carbon and hydrogen atoms (CH bonds), that can be broken or altered to form new compounds that can be more easily cleared from the body by excretion. CH bonds are inherently rather weak bonds, meaning that oxidation can take place easily", explains Pauline Adler, former PostDoc in the Maulide group and the studys other joint first author. "It ultimately is a race to escape cleaning up! The longer a beneficial pharmaceutical can escape this cat-and-mouse chase with the metabolism enzymes, the longer its beneficial effect can be felt in the body", jokes Maulide.

A clever solution: exchange H with F can be a 2-in-1

It is therefore obvious that, if the structural weak points of drug molecules could be eliminated or mitigated, their metabolic stability could be significantly increased. Chemists have found some years ago that the strategic replacement of especially weak CH bonds with much stronger CF bonds can be a highly rewarding approach in this direction. While hydrogen and fluorine are distinctly different in some respects, their sizes are comparable, and the replacement of H with F can therefore often be assumed to have only minimal effect on the structure of the key (pharmaceutical). "Even more so, because of these differed electronic properties, a strategically placed fluorine atom can potentially establish additional interactions with its target (lock), thereby enhancing the desired activity", explains Maulide. "Moreover, introduction of fluorine into a drug molecule can alter its properties in such a way that it can be more easily absorbed by the body (increased bioavailablility), once again increasing the amount of drug that can find and interact with its receptor. It really can be a 2-in-1 situation!", posits Daniel Kaiser, former PhD student of the Maulide group and co-author of the study.

The challenge of replacing H with F: if only you could use toothpaste

While the introduction of fluorine can have this wide range of beneficial effects on a pharmaceutical, its placement onto organic molecules is often far from trivial. The most common methods of fluorination involve highly reactive, corrosive and sometimes toxic reagents. These reagents are based on positively charged fluorine atoms (F+), which are far more expensive and difficult to handle than their common and cheap negatively charged (F) fluoride counterparts (the fluoride anion itself is commonly known, for example, as a constituent of toothpaste).

A simple solution and the first demonstration

The research group of Nuno Maulide (Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Vienna) has now discovered a facile and selective method for the introduction of fluorine atoms into organic molecules using the widely available fluoride anion (F). "Most chemists have looked to introduce fluorine by using negatively polarised organic molecules that can react with a F+ reagent. We simply did the opposite: switch polarity of the organic molecule so that we can use the same fluoride you have in toothpaste!", enthuses Maulide. Importantly, this approach employs cheap starting materials, is operationally simple and delivers high yields of the products in short amounts of time.

In the published work, several fluorinated analogues of common bioactive agents were easily synthesised, most prominently fluoro-Citalopram. "The parent molecule Citalopram is a blockbuster antidepressant used in the treatment of clinical depression. It interacts with the serotonin transporter (SERT) and raises the synaptic concentration of serotonin to alleviate the depressive symptoms", explains Sitte. In collaboration with the group of Prof. Harald Sitte (MedUni Vienna), Prof. Maulide and his team were able to establish that the activity of Citalopram is retained upon insertion of a fluorine atom. Significantly, while the activity is retained (despite the structural change), other pharmacological factors, such as metabolic stability and bioavailability, are expected to improve as a consequence of fluorination. The teams therefore believe that fluoro-Citalopram could present a viable alternative to the non-fluorinated analogue.

Chemistry opens the door

"Having a method to exchange H with F under such simple conditions is but the beginning. We can now imagine doing this exchange in a range of other pharmaceuticals and study the properties of the resulting, new analogues. Since the exchange of H with F is also a technique that can be of relevance to the materials industry, you can understand why we are excited about this work", explains Maulide. "This is a great example of the power of Chemistry: because we are able to manipulate the structure of matter at a molecular level with atomic precision, we can open doors that would otherwise remain closed to the imagination", closes Maulide.
New Delhi:

14 people including President candidate Abdul Latif Pedram were injured during multiple blasts in Kabul on Thursday. According to TOLO News, an official from the Ministry of Public Health said that at least 14 people were wounded in Kabul gathering attack. Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, former president Hamid Karzai, former NSA Haneef Atmar, former Vice president Yunus Qanuni, Acting Foreign Minister, Salahuddin Rabbani, 2nd Deputy Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq and other officials were at the ceremony. Hundreds of people were attending the Kabul meeting to mark the 24th death anniversary of Abdul Ali Mazari, leader of the Hezb-e-Wahdat party. Mazari was killed by the Taliban after he was taken prisoner by them in 1995.

On Wednesday, 16 people were killed in Jalalabad. Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor in eastern Nangarhar province, had said that along with the 16 killed, nine other people were wounded when the militants launched a suicide bombing and stormed a construction company near the airport outside Jalalabad, the provincial capital.

He said the attack started around 5 a.m. and lasted until 10:30 a.m. Khogyani had said that there were five attackers, two of whom detonated their suicide vests while three others were shot and killed by the security forces.

Meanwhile, China's defence ministry is defending military cooperation with Tajikistan following a report of a sizeable Chinese troop presence at a base in the Central Asian state. Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told reporters at a monthly briefing that cooperation between the two was "in line with" international law and related resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council. However, Ren says there is no Chinese presence in the adjacent Wakhan Corridor belonging to Afghanistan.

China had apparently sought to keep its Tajikistan base manned by members of the paramilitary People's Armed Police a secret. However, the Washington Post in February reported on the sizeable Chinese military complex first-hand, although it remains unclear what the troops' mission is and Ren provided no details.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Lahore:

Pakistan's deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday refused to be relocated to a hospital for treatment despite requests by his family members, saying he prefers an "honourable death" over kneeling to "politics being done" by the government in the name of his treatment. Sharif, 69, is serving a seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case at the Kot Lakhpat Jail since December 2018.

"I will not accept the PTI government's disdainful behaviour of pushing me around in the name of medical treatment from one irrelevant hospital to another. I prefer honourable death over kneeling to the Imran Khan government's derogatory exploits," Sharif told his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif at Kot Lakhpat jail here.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo has suffered four angina attacks last week, his daughter Maryam Nawaz said on Tuesday.

The Sharif family is complaining that the government is not providing health facilities to the former premier who has serious health complications. Sharif said the government is doing political victimization "in the name of medical treatment".

"The government has not provided any facility for appropriate treatment and is bent on just irritating and bothering to serve its prejudicial designs," he said.

Maryam said Sharif had "refused to go to any hospital despite suffering from serious medical condition".

Earlier in a tweet, she said she took her grandmother along with her to convince her father to let the government shift him to a hospital. However, he "declined the request" and told his mother to "go home, pray to God, and leave the rest to the will of the almighty".

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

In a significant development, the United Nations has rejected Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jammat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeeds appeal to remove his name from its list of banned terrorists, government sources said on Thursday.

The development comes close on the heels of UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee receiving a new request to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Jaish, Pakistan-based banned terror outfit has claimed responsibility for the strike.

The UN decision to reject the appeal of Saeed, also a co-founder of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), came after India provided detailed evidence including "highly confidential information" about his activities, sources told PTI, adding that the verdict of the global body was conveyed to his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza earlier this week.

Saeed, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jammat--ud-Dawa (JuD), was banned on December 10, 2008 by the United Nations Security Council after the horrific Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.

Saeed had filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, for removal of the ban.

Independent Ombudsperson Daniel Kipfer Fasciati, appointed by the UN to examine all such requests, has informed Saeed's lawyer that it has been decided following examination of his request that that he will "continue as a listed individual", sources said.

The Ombudsperson recommended that after gathering all information, it has been decided to continue with the ban as "there was sufficient information to provide a reasonable and credible basis for continuing the listing," sources said, adding the recommendation was endorsed by the UN's Sanctions Committee.

Saeed's request was opposed by India as well as other countries that had originally listed him - US, UK and France, sources said.

Significantly, Pakistan did not oppose the appeal despite claims by the new Imran Khan-led government there that it was taking action against the banned terrorists and their organisations in what they call a 'Naya Pakistan' (new Pakistan).

Last month, the US, the UK and France made a fresh bid at the UN to ban JeM head Masood Azhar, who is also residing in Pakistan as per Pakistani foreign minister's admission. JeM is already a UN-designated terrorist organisation.

Asked about the delay in deciding on Saeed's appeal, which normally takes six months from the time it is registered with the UN, sources said the delay happened because the Ombudsperson got changed before completion of the time period and then some time was taken to appoint a new one.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Ole Gunner Solskjaer saluted Manchester United's never-say-die star as they reached the Champions League quarter-finals with an historic 3-1 win over Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday.

United became the first team in European Cup history to recover from losing the first leg of a knockout round tie 2-0 at home.

Romelu Lukaku scored twice either side of Juan Bernat's equaliser before Marcus Rashford converted a controversial stoppage time VAR-awarded penalty to send United through on away goals.

It was an incredible result given United were without the suspended Paul Pogba as well as nine injured stars including Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Ander Herrera.

But United interim manager Solskjaer insisted he never doubted his players could do the unthinkable in the last 16 second leg in Paris.

"The belief in the boys was just what we hoped for. It was fantastic," Solskjaer told BT Sport.

"You always know it is possible. With this club, this is what we do. It's Man Utd. It's the Champions League. That's what it does."

Faced with a daunting first-leg deficit, Solskjaer admitted United desperately needed Lukaku's second-minute goal to put the momentum back in their favor.

Once United had opened the scoring, Solskjaer felt the French champions were haunted by the ghosts of their previous failures from winning positions in the Champions League, including blowing a 4-0 lead against Barcelona two years ago.

"It was a great start. We started with a plan to get the first goal, but we didn't expect it to come so soon," he said.

"We wanted an open game with many goals and that's what happened.

"There is always some mental doubt because they (PSG) have had those experiences.

"Our boys are young and fresh which gave us more energy when we needed that goal."

United had a huge slice of luck for the winner as VAR ruled that PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe, turning his back as he jumped, had handled a Diogo Dalot shot as it struck him on the arm in the penalty area.

Kimpembe barely extended his arm at all, but Rashford made the most of the opportunity as he calmly netted from the spot.

Fearless

Solskjaer claimed it was the right decision, although he was nervous when Rashford stepped up to take his first ever penalty for United.

"The referee had a big, big call to make. My staff said the player made himself big, so it's a clear penalty," Solskjaer added.

"I was in the Champions League with Molde and we got a penalty in the last minute and my player missed that and we went out.

"I had to try and calm everyone down. Of course, there were doubts. But Rashford, he's 21 and the pressure on the boy, there were no nerves whatsoever, fearless."

Solskjaer has had an astonishing impact since arriving from Molde to replace the sacked Jose Mourinho in December.

He is yet to lose a domestic match and has won every away game in all competitions.

After masterminding one of the great European comebacks it is impossible to think he won't get the job on a permanent basis.

When asked about the prospect of taking charge full-time, the Norwegian said: "Until the summer, let's see what happens."

England striker Rashford insisted he never felt even a second of concern as he endured the long wait to take the penalty while VAR looked at the incident.

"I think it was just about keeping a cool head. That's what you practice for. I wanted to take it," he said.

"Those moments are the moments we live for, and we want to come out of them smiling after.

"It's a beautiful thing, to have 10 players injured too, but it's an opportunity and it's what we deserve."
The Seventh Minor Criminal Court yesterday sentenced an Asian garbage truck driver to two years of imprisonment after finding him guilty of causing the death of a child while recklessly driving in one of the villages in the Northern Governorate last week.

The 36-year-old, a truck driver for a private cleaning company, was using his phone and driving when he rammed into a Bahraini family of three, mother and two children, in Malkiya Village, sources said. As a result of the tragic accident, the four-year-old boy instantly lost his life whiles the mother and the other child, a six-year-old boy, survived with multiple injuries. In a statement issued by the Public Prosecution yesterday, Traffic Prosecution Chief Prosecutor Abdulhadi Al Asfoor said the court also ordered to suspend the defendants driving licence for a year in addition to the announced imprisonment sentence.

Mr Al Asfoor also explained that the man was referred to the court after the Prosecution probed the details of the tragic incident and interrogated him. As reported last week on Tribune, the mishap occurred on Monday morning while the mother and her two children were walking on one of the alleys of Malkiya, near Hamad Town.

The unheeding driver, who was busy using his phone, rammed into the family and mowed down the younger son, who was announced dead on the spot, according to sources. The victim was identified as Ali Al Musalli and was buried on the same day in Diraz graveyard, where a funeral ceremony was held. The driver was immediately arrested as confirmed by the security authorities.

As the incident was reported, calls for imposing more controls on heavy vehicles movement inside villages and residential areas resurfaced. This came simultaneously with the repetition of similar incidents in the past few years in such areas, including several fatal accidents involving trucks and minors reported in Bani Jamrah, Sanad, Riffa and other residential areas.
More than 600 Stop & Shop employees unanimously voted Wednesday night to go on strike as contract negotiations with the grocery giant stalled.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 371 in Westport, which represents workers in much of Connecticut, including Westport and Fairfield, authorized a strike during a special meeting in Cromwell Wednesday, in which they also voted to reject Stop & Shops proposed contract.

With the vote, a strike of Stop & Shop employees can be called at any time. However, this doesnt necessarily mean a strike will take place.

The decision came a day before contract negotiations were set to resume in Providence, Rhode Island.

We hope that yesterdays decision will send a clear message that our union family is committed to making Stop & Shop a better place to work and shop, UFCW Local 371 President Tom Wilkinson said Thursday. The cuts that Stop & Shop are proposing not only hurt workers, but will also affect the customer service and shopping experience our communities have come to know and appreciate.

The contract between Stop & Shop and five United Food and Commercial Workers local unions expired on Feb. 23. The following afternoon, UFCW Local 1445 in Boston voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, said Amy Ritter, UFCW spokeswoman.

Other local unions  1459, 328 and 919  are set to meet on Sunday to discuss similar strike authorizations.

The standoff between the grocer and its workers centers on the most recent contract offer, which includes hour cutbacks, elimination of Sunday premium pay, no raises over the next three years, increased automation and decreased health and pension benefits.

This, the union argues, comes at a time when the corporations parent company, the Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize, is reporting more than $2 billion in profit over the last year.

But at the same time, the company is proposing tens of millions of dollars in cuts to workers take home pay and benefits, the union wrote on its Facebook page. These proposals would hurt our communities.

Stop & Shop has more than two dozen stores located in southwestern Connecticut. The workers union represents about 98 percent of store employees, and there are about 120 employees per store.

More than 31,000 Stop & Shop employees in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island belong to the UFCW, according to Jennifer Brogan, a spokeswoman for Stop & Shop.

A strike could impact all Stop & Shop stores in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachussetts, according to Ritter. There is a compensation plan in place for union members, Ritter said, if a strike is called  though the details of that plan will change depending on the state and what the type of strike.

Despite this latest development, Stop & Shop remains confident that a deal will be reached between the two parties.

We renegotiate contracts with our local unions every three years and have done so successfully each time historically. We see no reason this year will be any different, Brogan said. We are working hard to reach strong new contracts that will continue to provide highly competitive wages, comprehensive health care coverage and, unlike any other area food retailers, a defined benefit pension.

Employees of the grocery chain last walked off the job 30 years ago this month, with the stoppage lasting less than a day.

Stop & Shop told Hearst Connecticut Media last week that it has plans in place in case of a strike.

Should a union strike or job action occur, we have plans in place to minimize interruption to our store operations so that our customers can continue to count on Stop & Shop, Brogan said.

Amanda Cuda and Alex Soule contributed to this story
Families of Americans imprisoned or missing in Iran faulted the U.S. government on Thursday for not doing more to bring their loved ones home and called for establishing a dialogue with Tehran to negotiate their return.

At turns embittered and bewildered, the criticisms of the Obama and Trump administrations were leveled by relatives of three men whom the United States considers hostages of the Iranian government.

The family members attended a hearing before a House foreign affairs subcommittee called on the 12th anniversary of the disappearance of former FBI agent Robert Levinson.

"After three very different presidential administrations, we are no closer to bringing Bob home than when we started," said Christine Levinson, his wife, who believes her husband is alive and being held in Iran.

"I think it's necessary for the Trump administration to make it a priority," she added. "The U.S. government needs to get him home. That's all we're asking for."

Babak Namazi, whose brother Siamak and father Baquer were arrested in Tehran more than three years ago, called on the White House to enter into direct negotiations with Iran to free at least six U.S. citizens or residents known to be imprisoned in Iran.

"The only way is through dialogue," he said. "We've managed to get hostages home from countries that we thought we were going to go to war with imminently. I'm referring to North Korea."

And Omar Zakka, whose father, Nizar, is a Lebanese citizen but a U.S. permanent resident, said he would be happy just to hear President Donald Trump mention his father's name and call publicly for his release.

The hearing was held amid growing tensions between Tehran and Washington. During the Obama administration, the plight of Americans imprisoned in Iran was regularly brought up on the sidelines of the lengthy negotiations that led to the 2015 nuclear deal.

Christine Levinson and Babak Namazi struck a bitter tone about the failure of the Obama administration to get their family members home.

"The Obama administration had the opportunity to get Bob home and failed," said Chistine Levinson. "And they had eight years to do it. I hope that President Trump doesn't follow that lead, and brings Bob home again."

Babak Namazi accused the Obama administration of having "abandoned" his brother by not insisting he be part of a prisoner swap coinciding with the Iran nuclear deal.

"It was the Revolutionary Guards who took my family," he said. "But the Obama administration chose to leave Siamak behind."

On the day the Iran nuclear agreement was implemented in January 2016, five other Americans imprisoned in Iran were released and all but one, who chose to stay, were flown out of the country as part of a prisoner swap negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry.

Namazi said that he never understood why his brother, who had been arrested four months earlier, was not aboard that flight and that he learned about it from the news media. But he said he learned that the Iranians promised to release Siamak within weeks after it was decided that an American would be left behind "in the name of the greater good of the nuclear deal."

Their father went to Iran to visit Siamak a few weeks later and was himself arrested. Both men were convicted of collaborating with a hostile foreign power - the United States.

"I spend a lot of time still wondering how our lives would have been so different today had Siamak not been abandoned in January 2016," Babak Namazi said.

Kerry continued to press for the release of Siamak and Baquer Namazi for a year before the Obama administration ended. In one of his final acts as secretary of state, Kerry called Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to urge that the Namazis be released.

But now, with Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and the reimposition of sanctions, tensions have grown more strained. There is no communication between officials from the two countries, and no opportunities even to discuss the fate of U.S. prisoners.

Namazi said his father's health, at age 82, is deteriorating rapidly. He has been diagnosed with epilepsy, blocked arteries and his knees buckle after only a few steps. He has been released from prison on a medical furlough but not given permission to leave the country.

"The horrific and painful reality is that my father is dying," he told the committee. "I have begged repeatedly for the Iranian government to allow my sick father to be allowed to leave Iran. We don't want my father to leave Iran in a coma, or worse, dead."
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A bill that would allow terminally ill patients to legally obtain a lethal dose of medicine to end their lives advanced in the Maryland House of Delegates on Wednesday, setting the stage for what will likely be a dramatic vote on Thursday.

It is the first time - after three attempts in recent years - that the legislation will be debated on the floor of the General Assembly.

The bill moved forward without any discussion, even though it has both strong support and strong opposition in the Democratic-majority House to make Maryland the seventh state to allow patients to get help in ending their own lives.

Minority Leader Nicholaus Kipke, R-Anne Arundel, one of the lead critics of the bill, said he would share his concerns when the legislation is taken up Thursday.

The vote is expected to be close, he said.

"I'm feeling very, very optimistic," said Del. Shane Pendergrass, D-Howard, the bill's lead sponsor. "But until we see the votes, I don't say that I'm confident."

Maryland is one of dozens of states where advocates have pushed in recent years to enact right-to-die legislation. Momentum began building after the highly-publicized 2014 death of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old California woman with terminal brain cancer whomoved to Oregon to end her life legally. Six states, including California, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia, allow patients to get assistance in ending their lives.

The strongest opposition to the legislation has come from Catholic organizations. Maryland, which has deep Catholic roots, would be the southernmost state to adopt a right-to-die law.

Pendergrass introduced the bill in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Each time, it failed in committee.

But public support for such measures has grown. A recent Goucher College poll found that 6 in 10 Maryland residents favor allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medicine to terminally ill patients.

"Every person is one bad death away from supporting this bill," Pendergrass said, recalling a witness who testified the first year she sponsored the legislation.

The bill would apply only to terminally ill people who doctors say have less than six months to live. A patient would have to make three requests, both oral and written, to end his or her life, with waiting periods and the ability to rescind the request at any time.

If the House votes to approve the bill, it would move to the Senate. If it passes there, it would go to Gov. Larry Hogan, R, who could choose to sign it, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.

Kipke said he plans to offer a "serious argument" against the bill Thursday.

"This isn't the right policy for Maryland," he said. "All Marylanders want a compassionate and dignified end of life, and we have those options today in our state. And if people don't have access to that, that's what we need to work on."

The House advanced the bill on the first day Del. Mary Ann Lisanti, D-Harford, returned to the chamber since her colleagues voted to censure her last Thursday. Lisanti, who useda racial slur to describe a majority-black legislative district in Prince George's County, missed legislative sessions on Friday, Monday and Tuesday.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, D, criticized Lisanti on Wednesday during his opening remarks at the bimonthly Board of Public Works meeting, calling her use of the epithet "inexcusable" and saying the House should take the "rare, severe and drastic" step of expelling her for her conduct.

Franchot has been feuding with legislative leaders over a bill that would strip his office of its power to regulate tobacco and alcohol. That measure also advanced Wednesday morning, again with no debate. It faces a final vote in the House before moving to the Senate.

In his remarks, Franchot decried what he called a "culture of secrecy" in Annapolis that, he said, resulted in Lisanti's use of the racial slur - in a conversation with colleagues - going unreported for weeks.

Lisanti has refused calls to step down.
Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
OLD SAYBROOK  As many as six dogs have become sick after visiting the The Preserve, 1,000 acres of protected forest that spans Essex, Old Saybrook and Westbrook.

Decomposing deer carcasses and THC from marijuana are thought to be the possible causes of the animals maladies.

For sure, nobody knows and none of the vets really know for sure what the cause was, said Bob Nussbaum, vice president of the Essex Land Preserve. While there was some discussion of a THC component and marijuana, theyre going by what people would call signs and symptoms, no toxicology tests.

While questions remain about what caused the illness in these animals, local vets are advising pet owners to keep their pets leashed and be mindful of what they are ingesting while walking on the property.

The exact location is off Ingraham Hill Road in Essex, around the utility right-of-way on the Essex/Old Saybrook border of the forest, according to The Preserve Facebook page.

Old Lymes Clark Veterinary Hospital recently posted an urgent warning about dogs and THC on their Facebook page Feb. 19, which stated that two dogs in the past five days have been brought to emergency for ingesting THC found out on walks at Cini Beach, Niantic and at the Preserve in Old Saybrook.

The post continued, THC is the psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis and is toxic to pets. At this time, we dont know if the dogs ingested residue from oil-based pods containing THC, burnt-ends of joints or loose marijuana, so please be mindful when on walks.

Veterinarian Kristin Williams, of the Essex Veterinary Clinic, said after contact with a deer carcass, her 7-year-old male springer spaniel, Freddo, became ill with muscle tremors and acting very mentally inappropriate, meaning like completely out of it.

It was two separate visits, when the dog was off leash, that he exhibited these symptoms. Within 12 to 24 hours, with intravenous fluids and supportive care, the dog recovered.

In addition, one of Williams clients came to the office with similar symptoms and, according to Nussbaum, he has received at least two emails from concerned citizens whose dogs also presented with the same symptoms.

All these cases reportedly took place on the Old Saybrook side of The Preserve, which, according to Nussbaum, is co-owned the state of Connecticut and Old Saybrook.

Calls to the Old Saybrook Police Department, which has authority over the towns animal control department, were not returned.

Theres no definitive knowledge of what is, Nussbaum said. Having said that, weve told people that dogs have been affected in the same area of The Preserve. All of the cases that Im aware of, people let their dogs run in a particular area, some ate deer, some apparently didnt eat deer. The dead deer were actually on the Old Saybrook side of The Preserve.

According to Williams, there were similarities in the symptoms her dog exhibited and the dog that visited her clinic.

There was a client at the clinic  that had a dog that got into the same deer carcass and became very ill and ended up in the Pieper ER in the same week, she said. Is it possible that my dog could have gotten into marijuana at a lower dose or something? I dont know the answer to that, perhaps my dog did get into marijuana in The Preserve that was somehow around and, oh, by the way, he also ate a deer carcass that I blamed for the signs that he was showing because I knew that he had gotten into it.

No definitive illness has been associated with deer carcasses, and yet within two to three hours of having contact with it, the dogs became ill.

There was some kind of toxin in that deer carcass that causes neurological problems in the animals that consumed it, Williams said. If its sitting for long enough and mold develops on the carcass, I would think that it could make a dog sick. But, I think this is something that is going to be impossible to ever prove. All I know is that two dogs, three if you want to count mine twice, that got into this carcass got extremely ill in a similar time period.

Biologist Michael A. Gregonis, with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Deer, Small Game and Wild Turkey Management Program, said there is no evidence of deer carcasses causing any adverse reactions to dogs that come in contact with them.

He added that any concern about Chronic Wasting Disease, a neurological disease affecting deer, is unfounded in the state.

It is a disease thats in deer, but we do not have it in the state of Connecticut, he said. New York is the closest place that the disease had an outbreak and it has not been documented in the state since 2005, so pretty (much) ruled that out.

He added that CWD is specific to Cervidaes, which includes deer, moose and elk, and does not cross over to canines.

When asked for specific ways that THC affects dogs, Williams wrote this following: The symptoms associated with marijuana toxicity are central nervous system depression (e.g. lethargy, somnolence), ataxia, vomiting, tremors, changes in the size of the pupils, hypothermia, urinary incontinence, abnormal changes in heart rate, hypotension, disorientation, hyperesthesia, behavior disorders, hypersalivation, and vocalization. In severe cases, coma may occur.

Dr. Deborah Yarrow, Branfords Mill Pond Veterinary Hospital, reiterated the dangers of pets and THC.

We end up trying to get them to vomit up whatever theyve eaten. If not, they have to have blood work and be supported through intravenous catheters and oral medications to decrease absorption, Yarrow said.

The Preserve is a 1,000-acre forest that includes land in Old Saybrook, Essex and Westbrook. Over 70-acres of The Preserve is owned by the Essex Land Trust. The land includes wetlands, vernal pools, watercourses, swamp and a variety of animals including amphibians, mammals and birds.

Rules of the The Preserve state that dogs must be on leash or under owners control at all times, according to essexlandtrust.org. On the Old Saybrook side, dogs must be leashed at all times.

Nussbaum said the Essex Land Trust is getting the word out via social media and emails, in addition to postings in The Preserve.

Regardless of the general rule, if youre going to walk your dogs in that area, you should not let them run free, and if they show any signs of symptoms, you should take them to a vet right away, he said. Be aware that theres a situation in that particular area of The Preserve. Dont let your dogs eat things or drink things that they shouldnt be running free to do and notify your vet if they get any of these neurological symptoms.

To report any information call Old Saybrook Parks and Rec at 860-395-3152 or the state DEEP at 866-337-7745.

This story has been corrected as to the location in Old Saybrook where dogs reportedly ingested THC. It is the Preserve, which is not owned by the Old Saybrook Land Trust, but is owned by the town of Old Saybrook and the state.
For years as I was growing up, I was confronted by questions from friends and acquaintances because of my strong support for the establishment of a state of Israel and, later, my continued support for this Middle East democracy prompted some people to ask if Jews had dual loyalty. The question was a way of suggesting that Jews could not be truly American if they were committed to a state other than the United States. On its face, the suggestion was anti-Semitic without question

But thats not what Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said in a recent town hall that prompted Nancy Pelosi and several high-ranking members of Congress who happened to be Jewish to condemn her statement as anti-Semitic. Regarding U.S. policy toward Israel, Omar said, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance or pledge support to a foreign country. ... I should not be expected to have allegiance or pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee.

She didnt say or even imply she was talking about Jews. She said she was being asked to support Israel in order to be able to serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee, which was true. Her argument was not about how Jews feel about Israel, but rather what was being demanded of her.

But the House will be voting on a resolution on the danger of accusing Jews of dual loyalty. The resolution doesnt mention Omar by name, but is clearly meant as a condemnation of her. But as Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman points out in a recent column, the whole purpose of the Democrats resolution is to enforce a dual loyalty not among Jews, but among members of Congress, to make sure that criticism of Israel is punished in the most visible way possible. And thats what Omar was complaining about.

As Waldman points out, many on the right, including that sainted champion of racial and religious harmony, Donald J Trump, have called for Omar to be removed from the Foreign Relations Committee and, in Trumps case, removed from Congress. But lets remember Trump speaking in 1991 to then Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino president John R ODonnell in which Trump was complaining about an African-American finance employee. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that were yarmulkes every day. Those are the kind of people I want counting my money. No one else. No anti-Semitic trope there?

Omar is one of only two members of the House who supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement  the other is Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. BDS is an effort to pressure Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands and guard Palestinian human rights.

But as Waldman says, the ultimate irony is that dual loyalty is precisely what AIPAC, the principal long-standing pro-Israel lobby, demands and what it gets. It makes this demand not of Jews, but of every member of Congress, and even of politicians at the state level where he says that a number of states have passed laws in opposition to the BDS movement, in which a state will refuse to do business with anyone who supports BDS.

So lets be clear. Criticism of the occupying state that in the last nine months of 2018, according to the United Nations, killed Palestinians, many of them children, at the rate of about one a day while they were taking part in protests along Israels perimeter fence with Gaza about their right to return to ancestral homes is not to be borne. Those killed included medics and journalists. Most of the dead were unarmed and posed no danger to anyone with little more than rocks in their hands and slogans on their lips. But Israel continued with an immoral and unlawful policy that sees soldiers of its military shoot, gas, shell, and kill protesters.

This is not the Israel I grew up supporting. Israel has occupied Palestinian lands for more than half a century and operates a system of discrimination almost reaching the levels of South African apartheid. It deserves to be criticized; it needs to be criticized and Ilhan Omar is brave to do so.

Stephan Lesher is a retired journalist and a Southbury resident.
Though he has used it only a few times so far, President Donald Trump is clearly enamored of his power to pardon those who have committed federal crimes, no doubt because his decision is not subject to any pesky oversight from Congress or the courts. And it appears that many of the criminals with whom Trump has surrounded himself are, or at least were, eager to have him use that power to benefit them.

Let's begin with our good friend Michael Cohen:

"Michael Cohen's former legal team reached out to President Donald Trump's lawyers seeking a pardon, Cohen's current attorney said late Wednesday, largely settling speculation about who initiated conversations about the matter but raising new questions about whether Cohen was honest in his public testimony to Congress last week," The Washington Post reported.

"Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis said in an interview that Cohen directed his former attorney Stephen Ryan to contact Trump's representatives after they "dangled" the possibility of pardons 'in their public statements.' Davis did not specify which public statements swayed Cohen, saying only that the outreach took place before federal law enforcement raided Cohen's home and office in April 2018."

But that's not all:

"Trump's lead lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said Wednesday that lawyers for several people facing scrutiny from the Justice Department in the investigations into the Trump campaign and presidency had contacted him to see whether the president would pardon their clients," The Post reported.

Several people! Well, you might say, that's not the president's fault. Anyone can ask for a pardon. It doesn't mean he'll say yes, and Giuliani says his response to these supplicants was that they'd have to wait until the investigation was over before Trump would even consider it (though Trump's other lawyers had discussions with attorneys for Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn about the possibility of pardons).

So what could possibly have convinced these people that a man of Trump's unquestionable integrity would even consider something so unethical as using his pardon power to get free one of his former aides from accountability in an investigation in which he himself is under suspicion?

To answer that question, we might start with the extraordinary number of Trump aides and associates who have either been convicted or pleaded guilty to crimes, a list that includes his former national security adviser, his former campaign chairman, his former deputy campaign chairman and his former personal attorney. It's almost as though people with questionable ethics and a propensity toward criminality gravitate toward him, the kind of people who think that if all else fails they can get the boss to make their problems go away.

Then we might move on to the fact that Trump has been trying to obstruct the investigation into the Russia scandal from the beginning. He pressured FBI Director James Comey to back off the probe of Michael Flynn, and reportedly asked the director of national intelligence to intervene with Comey for the same purpose. Then he fired Comey and said on national television that he did it amid anger over the Russia investigation.

Then he told the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in an Oval Office meeting that now that he had fired Comey, "I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off." And he complained endlessly in public about his former attorney general's decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, out of anger that the A.G. would be unable to protect him from the investigation ("I don't have an attorney general," he said, despite the fact that the gentleman was otherwise doing his job).

All of which is to say, if you were caught up in the Russia investigation, you know well that Trump is both contemptuous of it ("Witch hunt!") and favorably inclined toward using whatever means are available to obstruct it.

You also know that much like a mob boss, Trump has a principled opposition to anyone cooperating with authorities investigating crimes, no matter the investigation in question. He has called Cohen a "rat," mob slang for those who provide evidence against other criminals, and said about such cooperation, "I have had many friends involved in this stuff. It's called flipping, and it almost ought to be illegal." Should you refuse to cooperate, you know you'll win his admiration and perhaps his favor.

Then there are the things Trump has said about the pardon power itself, like this:

"As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?" the president tweeted in June.

If he thinks he has the right to pardon himself for crimes he might have committed, why wouldn't he pardon you too? Especially if you do him a solid by refusing to give up information that could have implicated him.

I doubt anyone can honestly say that if Trump believed he could get away with it - legally and politically - he'd pardon everybody. He wouldn't only pardon those like Flynn and Manafort, who have already been shown to have committed crimes, he'd issue some pre-emptive pardons, too, for people like his son Don Jr. And of course, he'd pardon himself.

There's some uncertainty about whether the president can in fact pardon himself, or even pardon others in order to avoid his own culpability in a major administration scandal. There's no question, however, that doing so would be grounds for impeachment. And if Trump should lose his bid for re-election, don't be surprised if before the next president takes office he starts passing out pardons to everyone involved in the Russia scandal.
TORONTO, March 6, 2019 /CNW/ - Toronto Hydro Corporation (the "Corporation") today announced its consolidated financial and operating results for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Net income after net movements in regulatory balances for the year ended December 31, 2018, was $167.3 million compared to $156.5 million for the comparable period in 2017. The increase over the previous year was primarily due to higher electricity distribution rates and consumption. This increase was partially offset by higher operating expenses due to emergency power restoration following severe storms in 2018, higher depreciation and a provision for future refunds to customers.

The Corporation continues to invest in the grid to address safety, reliability, support a growing city and meet customer service needs.

Selected Financial Highlights

(in millions of Canadian dollars)





Year Ended December 31

20181 $ 2017 $





Distribution revenue 674.2 724.2 Net income after net movements in regulatory balance 167.3 156.5 Capital expenditures 511.3 552.9

















1 In 2018, distribution revenue included a $102.2 million reduction for approved rate riders from customer bills

The audited consolidated financial statements and related Management's Discussion and Analysis (presented in Canadian Dollars) are available on the Corporation's website www.torontohydro.com or through SEDAR's website www.sedar.com.

QUOTE

"We continue to make infrastructure investments for the benefit of our customers to help maintain the safety and reliability of the system, power a growing city, and support grid resiliency. We achieved strong operational and financial results in 2018, despite the significant effect of a number of extreme weather events."

 Anthony Haines, President and CEO

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENTS

On December 13, 2018, the OEB issued a decision and rate order approving THESL's 2019 rates and providing for other deferral and variance account dispositions.

On March 6, 2019, the Board of Directors of the Corporation declared dividends in the amount of $25.1 million with respect to the first quarter of 2019, which is payable to the City of Toronto by March 31, 2019.

ABOUT TORONTO HYDRO

The Corporation is a holding company which wholly owns two subsidiaries:

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (THESL)  distributes electricity and engages in conservation and demand management activities; and

Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc.  provides street lighting and expressway lighting services in the City of Toronto .

The principal business of the Corporation and its subsidiaries is the distribution of electricity by THESL, which owns and operates the electricity distribution system for Canada's largest city. A leader in conservation and demand management, it has 772,000 customers located in the City of Toronto and distributes approximately 19% of the electricity consumed in Ontario.

Twitter  twitter.com/torontohydro

Facebook  facebook.com/torontohydro

YouTube  youtube.com/torontohydro

Flickr  flickr.com/torontohydro

LinkedIn  Linkedin.com/company/toronto-hydro

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain information included in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. The purpose of the forward-looking information is to provide management's expectations regarding the Corporation's future results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities and may not be appropriate for other purposes. All forward-looking information is given pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions of applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "can", "could", "will" and similar expressions are often intended to identify forward-looking information, although not all forward-looking information contains these identifying words. The forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Corporation's management.

The forward-looking information is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or results anticipated by the forward-looking information. The factors which could cause results or events to differ from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the execution of the Corporation's capital and maintenance programs necessary to maintain the performance of our distribution assets and make required infrastructure improvements; risks associated with electricity industry regulatory developments and other governmental policy changes; risks associated with the timing and results of regulatory decisions regarding the Corporation's revenue requirements, cost recovery and rates; risk that the Corporation is not able to arrange sufficient and cost-effective debt financing to fund capital expenditures and other obligations; and risk of downgrades to the Corporation's credit rating.

All forward-looking information in the news release is qualified in its entirety by the above cautionary statements and, except as required by law, the Corporation undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date hereof.

SOURCE Toronto Hydro Corporation

For further information: Christina Basil, Communications and Public Relations, 416-902-9437, [email protected]; 24-hour media line: 416-903-6845, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.torontohydro.com


SYRACUSE, NY -- Yes, you can have an Irish-themed beer celebration in Syracuse where the beverage of choice isnt green.

Bars around the Syracuse area this month are welcoming a traditional Irish red ale that goes by the name Sullivans Maltings Irish Ale. (No, its not black like Guinness Stout, either).

Its a beer brewed in Ireland whose only U.S. markets, so far, are in Upstate New York. Its American debut came in Buffalo in 2016.

Sullivans was tapped to great fanfare (including bagpipe and drum) at Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub in Armory Square last weekend.

A grand new beer from Ireland deserves a grand entrance, said David Hoyne, who owns Kitty Hoynes with his wife, Cindy. He invited members of a Syracuse family named Sullivan to join in by pouring the first pints.

Sullivans is also coming to Central New York bars from downtown to Tipp Hill, Baldwinsville to Manlius and beyond. (See list and more details below).

The beer -- a malty, rich and slightly bitter red ale -- has quite a pedigree. It takes a few pints to get the whole story.

Sullivans was the name of a brewery in Kilkenny, Ireland that opened in 1702 -- thats 57 years before Guinness got started. It closed in the early 20th century after the owner at the time lost money on a horse race. Had it remained open, it would be Irelands oldest brewery.

Among the partners in the newly re-opened Sullivans are members of the Smithwick family. You might recognize that name -- pronounced Smiddick -- if you frequent Irish pubs. Youll often find Smithwicks, also an Irish red ale, alongside Guinness.

The Smithwick family had opened its own brewery in Kilkenny in 1710. When Sullivans closed around 1920, the Smithwicks bought its assets, including the brand name. The Smithwicks continued brewing for decades, then sold their brewery and brand names -- except for Sullivans -- to Guinness in 1965. Guinness later consolidated with other drinks companies to form Diageo, bringing the Smithwicks name under that corporate umbrella.

In 2016, the descendants of the Sullivans and the Smithwicks got back together in the brewing business. They are working to build their own brewery in Kilkenny, and in the meantime brew it under contract at the Boyne Brewhouse in Droghda, north of Dublin.

The beers back story is especially intriguing to David Hoyne. He is a native of Kilkenny, where his family, including his mother, Kitty, operated a business that included a pub.

The lore of the Sullivans, the Smithwicks and an ale from Kilkenny was hard for him to resist.

Yes that Smithwicks family who had sold their original brewery to Guinness back in the day, he wrote in an email. They are back in the beer business with Sullivans. ... I have had a few pints of it back home, any ale lover will thoroughly enjoy a pint of Sullivans ale in Syracuse.

But why is this thoroughly Irish ale entering the U.S. market through Upstate New York?

The link is a New York City investor named Michael Meade, who is originally from Buffalo and still spends much of his time there. He got wind of the Sullivan / Smithwick effort to restore the Sullivans name to an Irish ale. He invested in the business, and suggested his hometown as the first U.S. outlet.

"People say, There are millions of Irish bars in Boston and New York City -- why didnt you start there? " Meade said. But were still pretty small, so we werent ready for that scale, that size market. The thing is the Irish diaspora (years of emigration) is strong in many smaller places and that includes cities like Buffalo, Albany and Syracuse. That was the scale we could handle, to start.

Sullivans is distributed in Buffalo by Try It Distributing, and in the Capital Region by the related Saratoga Eagle distributors. In Central New York, the distributor is Spirit & Sanzone of East Syracuse.

Sullivans will soon be found in places like Rochester and Erie, Pa. Its move into the Midwest starts in Cleveland this week.

Meet the Sullivans team

As Spirit & Sanzone expands the reach of Sullivans Maltings Irish Ale in Central New York, it is hosting special events at two area bars this week:

-- 7 p.m. Thursday. Sullivans partner Dan Smithwick, a descendant of the famed Irish brewing family, will be on hand for a meet-and-greet at Colemans Authentic Irish Pub, 100 Lowell Ave. on Tipp Hill.

-- 7 p.m. Friday. Dan Smithwick and Sullivans head brewer Ian Hamilton will greet fans at Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub, 301 W. Fayette St.

Where to find it

Other Central New York bars getting kegs of Sullivans include: Kelleys Bar & Restaurant in Syracuse; The York in Armory Square; George Odeas and Nibsys on Tipp Hill; Asils Pub in Camillus; Angry Garlic, Sammy Malones, Potters Pub and Pastas on the Green in Baldwinsville; Limp Lizard (Onondaga and Liverpool); Murphys Law in Manlius; Home Team Pub in Liverpool; Hafners Pub in Clay; McCarthys Pub in Cazenovia and Brasserie Bar & Bistro in Township 5.

Video: Watch Neil Sullivan, accompanied by a pipe and drum duo, pour the first pints of Sullivans Malting Irish Ale at Kitty Hoynes on March 1:

Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
HAMDEN  Two dogs that have been held in a cage for years will go to a sanctuary to live out their lives.

Mayor Curt B. Leng said the Rottweilers, named Kato and Kleo, will be moved to a sanctuary instead of being put down.

I am very pleased to announce that Kato and Kleo, two dogs formerly detained at the North Haven Animal Shelter, are being re-located to a sanctuary facility for animals in Florida, Leng said in a text message. The dogs will live their lives in proper care, surrounding by attentive and loving facility managers. The transfer of the dogs was peacefully completed this morning (Wednesday), providing resolution to a complex and very challenging situation on all sides between the State, Town, and Ms. Miller.

The dogs owner, Kim Miller, has fought more than six years of legal battles with the town to get her dogs back after they were taken for attacking a woman.

The dogs were in Millers back yard one day in October 2012 when someone doing work on her house opened the gate to her yard, the Register reported. The dogs escaped and the following incident  whether they attacked a neighbor, or lashed out after being attacked themselves  is still in question. The woman involved ended up in the hospital and told police she was trying to keep the dogs from her granddaughter, who was not injured.

Since then, the dogs have been held by Hamden Animal Control at the North Haven Animal Shelter pending the outcome of multiple legal cases. The dogs have been on death row this entire time after Hamden Animal Control issued a kill order on the dogs in 2012.

Leng could not comment on whether associated lawsuits have been dropped as part of this agreement but said the dogs were transported at no cost to the town.

Miller has said her dogs were being beaten with bats and they reacted and havent shown any signs of aggression toward visitors or herself in all these years. One of the dogs, Kato, has been diagnosed with cancer while in quarantine.

Hamden has supported a compassionate resolution to this situation for many years, and I am very happy that all parties have agreed to this solution, and taken the actions necessary to make it happen, Leng said. I thank Ms. Miller for her cooperation and grace in our discussions. I appreciate the many advocates and officials who have expressed sincere interest and opinions regarding the matter. While it has taken an extraordinary and unfortunate amount of time, with numerous lengthy legal actions, as well as legal and jurisdictional complexities, I believe working to achieve this resolution was the right one and hopefully helps everyone move forward.

Several elected officials have visited the dogs over the years. Hamden Councilman Justin Farmer, D-5, visited the dogs Dec. 17 last year with Miller, his constituent. Farmer, who is black, wrote an op-ed for the Register describing the visit that he said was racially discriminatory because a police officer was called to watch him during the visit.

Leng told the Register police shouldnt have been called and only an animal control officer needed to be present.

Farmer said he doesnt think its coincidence that the long battle has come to this end because Miller has been advocating for herself and her dogs for years.

Miller could not be reached for comment.

The Facebook page Free Kato and Kleo posted pictures Wednesday afternoon of the dogs being transported.

mdignan@hearstmediact.com
HAMDEN  A $10 million facelift has given a long-vacant ambulatory health care facility on Whitney Avenue a new life.

The Northeast Alliance Surgery Center at 2080 Whitney Ave. still is awaiting state certification and wont begin accepting patients to the 16,000-square-foot facility until early April. But a few more weeks is nothing for town officials and state Department of Economic and Community Development staffers, who have worked for three years trying to put together the necessary components to turn the former Hospital of Saint Raphael surgical center into a new health care facility .

What then was known as the Hamden Surgery Center was closed as part of Yale New Haven Hospitals acquisition of Hospital of Saint Raphael earlier in the decade, according to Dale Kroop, the towns director of economic development and neighborhood revitalization.

This place is going to very successful, Kroop said during a Wednesday tour of the facility. When youre dealing with a health care facility, you have a lot of moving parts like financing and certification.

Lindy Gold, a senior development specialist with the DECD who worked with Kroop to fill the vacant space, said the joint effort was incredibly important to Hamdens economy.

The Northeast Alliance Surgery Center already has hired a 20-person support staff, said Dan Coraluzzi, chief executive officer of the facility. Surgical Care Affiliates  which owns and operates six other licensed similar facilities in Connecticut, including four locations in Fairfield County  holds a minority ownership stake in the center.

SCA is a part of Optum, which is a health information technology and services firm that is part of UnitedHealth Group. SCA is a sister company of health insurance giant UnitedHealthcare.

The Hamden facility is SCAs first New Haven County location.

Dr. James J. Yue, a spinal surgeon who formerly taught at the Yale School of Medicine, is one of the centers founders and is a partner in the facility. Yue is currently a partner in CT Orthopaedic Specialists.

The center will specialize in orthopedics, plastic surgery, podiatry, ophthalmology and pain management, according to Yue.

The state contributed $400,000 in grants and loans to the project, Coraluzzi said. The remainder of the money for the project came from either financing or doctors who will be sending patients from more than a half-dozen offices that are part of the Physicians Health Group..

Yue said getting the Physicians Health Group is critical to the success of the specialty care facility.

Without a steady stream of patients being referred here, the practice would age right out over time, he said.

Because the new surgery center wont have the amount of overhead associated with a full-service hospital, it will be able to offer patients a high level of service at a fraction of the cost, according to Yue.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com

Editors note: This story has been updated to clarify that SCA is a part of Optum.
Ulrich: For some time now  maybe five years, give or take  weve been interested in how we can connect with our fans in new ways, and how we can have more things to share with them and connect on the Metallica experience. A few of our peers have done wine and beer and spirits, and weve watched from the sideline and wondered how we can go down this path. About two years ago, we hired a couple people to start looking into this whole thing; we like to do things on our own and independent, but the more we understood the beer world, we realized it was smart to find a partner in crime.
The irony and coincidence couldnt have been more glaring.

There was state Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano trotting out his now-diminished caucuss 2019 versions of good government; their proposals to provide better oversight of state services and save taxpayer money.

We want to keep Connecticut moving forward, he said, with just a few fellow senators behind him, who possibly knew what was coming when the reporters questions would shift their focus from the odds-against initiatives to the fox in their hen house. Foster confidence and investment in Connecticut.

A couple hours earlier, their former Capitol attorney and fundraiser, Mike Cronin, had finally been arrested on an 11-page larceny charge for stealing $267,816.30 from the Senate Republican Leadership Committee PAC. Apparently he had enough sense to keep the withdrawals from the PAC below $10,000 a pop over the six-year scam, so he currently faces only a single felony charge.

Somehow, the $90,000 or so that he admitted to Fasano (in the ruins of the GOP losses last December) that he had stolen, hit a multiplier as the forensic fraud examiner in Chief States Attorney Kevin Kanes office performed a deep dive into the embezzlement that may have sunk the Republicans aspirations to gain their first majority since 1994-95.

Among the purchases Cronin made was a $3,000 ring for his second wife; and more than $9,000 for back rent for the apartment where they were living in Glastonbury. Cronin was using the Republican Senate offices address in the Legislative Office Building to fight a bankruptcy and foreclosure proceeding in the West Hartford home occupied by his former wife. In a related action, at the time Cronin was residing in Glastonbury, he listed his primary residence in West Hartford.

Coincidentally, or ironically, depending on ones view, on the day Fasano fired Cronin, Dec. 3, the foreclosure action was withdrawn, likely because Cronin coughed up an estimated $80,000 in back payments and penalties. Cronin  treasurer of the PAC beginning in 2007  and his first wife apparently defaulted previously on their mortgage, because they were ineligible for mediation.

The story gets messier, because he related to the court that in April 2017 the West Hartford house was his primary residence. But in August 2018, in attempt to get out from under the foreclosure, he testified in Superior Court filings that he divorced his wife in 2014, and deeded the house to her. Mediation is only available if the home in question is ones primary residence.

Then, of course, the IRS could become interested in this white-collar crime, since  nearly comically  there are guidelines for crooks to report ill-gotten income or they can face federal charges. Even John G. Rowland, the twice-convicted former governor and federal inmate, reported his income during that latest tangle with the feds, or he might still be in the slam.

The arrest warrant says that the day after his firing, Cronin went to Kanes office and admitted he was the sole signatory, and the chief fundraiser for the PAC, set up in the states landmark 2005 election reforms, which limited contributions to individual candidates to $100, while allowing legislative leadership PACs to accept $2,000 per contributor. Mr. Cronin admitted that it was possible that sometimes he took cash donations for his own personal use and that money never made it to the SRLCs bank account, the warrant says.

Maybe Senate Republicans werent going to dodge Novembers blue wave, which swept away three veteran senators  Toni Boucher from Wilton, Scott Frantz in Greenwich and Mike McLachlan in Danbury. Cronin, according to the arrest warrant, returned about $32,290, for a net loss of $240,081.17. Some of that would have been available to prop up, say, McLachlan and Frantz who received no contributions from the PAC, according to State Elections Enforcement Commission filings. Boucher got about $4,400 from other committees.

Toward the end of his news conference, after Fasano let the other GOP senators melt away, he announced that the PAC accounts will now be closely monitored at the end of each month. I dont think it has any effect upon the 2018 races at all, he said, whistling in the hen house. Nope, just a ironic coincidence.

He lied to us about the bank balances and therefore thats sort of how he covered his tracks, Fasano said, his voice halting with emotion. This is someone who was held in great respect in this building. Someone a lot of us considered a friend. The Republicans have filed a civil suit for restitution.

But their credibility as a fiscal watchdog, who spent most of the previous eight years railing against Gov. Dan Malloy as an ineffective manager unable to supervise and rein in state government, has been tattered from the inside.

Ken Dixon, political editor and columnist, can be reached at 203-842-2547 or at kdixon@ctpost.com. Visit him at twitter.com/KenDixonCT and on Facebook at kendixonct.hearst.
WATERBURY  The 2nd Annual Mountaintop Mass to honor the life and legacy of the Venerable Father Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, will be held April 28 at Holy Land USA, according to a release

Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt will celebrate the Mass, which is cosponsored by the Holy Land foundation and the Knights of Columbus. It will be held on Divine Mercy Sunday.
Americans under the age of 45 have found a novel way to rebel against their elders: They're staying married.

New data show younger couples are approaching relationships very differently from baby boomers, who married young, divorced, remarried and so on. Generation X and especially millennials are being pickier about who they marry, tying the knot at older ages when education, careers and finances are on track. The result is a U.S. divorce rate that dropped 18 percent from 2008 to 2016, according to an analysis by University of Maryland sociology professor Philip Cohen.

Demographers already knew the divorce rate was falling, even if the average American didn't. Their question, however, was why? And what do current trends mean for the marital prospects of today's newlyweds?

PLEASE HELP: Jealousy and misunderstanding chipping away at relationship

One theory is that divorce rates are falling largely because of other demographic changes-especially an aging population. Older people are less likely to get divorced, so maybe mellowing boomers were enough to explain the trend. Cohen's analysis of U.S. Census Bureau survey data, however, suggests something more fundamental is at work. Even when he controls for factors such as age, the divorce rate over the same period still dropped 8 percent.

"The change among young people is particularly striking," Susan Brown, a sociology professor at Bowling Green State University, said of Cohen's results. "The characteristics of young married couples today signal a sustained decline [in divorce rates] in the coming years."

Young people get the credit for fewer divorces because boomers have continued to divorce at unusually high rates, all the way into their 60s and 70s. From 1990 to 2015, according to Bowling Green's National Center for Family and Marriage Research, the divorce rate doubled for people ages 55 to 64, and even tripled for Americans 65 and older. Cohen's results suggest this trend, called "gray divorce," may have leveled out in the past decade, but boomers are still divorcing at much higher rates than previous generations did at similar ages.

Today's young couples don't seem to be following the same path.

"One of the reasons for the decline is that the married population is getting older and more highly educated," Cohen said. Fewer people are getting married, and those who do are the sort of people who are least likely to get divorced, he said. "Marriage is more and more an achievement of status, rather than something that people do regardless of how they're doing."

Many poorer and less educated Americans are opting not to marry at all. They're living together, and often raising kids together, without tying the knot. And studies have shown these cohabiting relationships are less stable than they used to be.

Fewer divorces, therefore, aren't only bad news for matrimonial lawyers but a sign of America's widening chasm of inequality. Marriage is becoming a more durable, but far more exclusive, institution.
TOLLAND  A Rockville court clerk told Trooper First Class Ken Miller that he looked "exhausted" and should "go home and get some sleep" the morning of March 29, 2018, according to a 603-page state police accident report released Wednesday.

Little more than two hours later, the 19-year state police veteran crashed into the back of a tractor-trailer that was crawling in the right lane of Interstate 84 in Tolland, killing Miller nearly instantaneously, the report said.

Miller told the clerk that he had been working a double shift before he left the courthouse that morning, the report said.

Witnesses told investigators that the truck was traveling at a speed with traffic in the middle lane but moved over to the right lane and dramatically slowed down. One witness said he believed the truck had stopped in the right lane minutes before the crash.

Other witnesses said they noticed the state police cruiser traveling fast in the right lane without any lights and sirens at around exit 67 eastbound, the report said. Miller was driving at a speed of nearly 83 mph in a 65-mph zone when he crashed into the back end of the truck, the report said.

Both the tractor-trailer driver, Melvin Purvis, of Alabama, and Miller tested negative for drugs or alcohol, investigators said.

Kevin Miller was unable and failed to recognize the hazard in front of him due to limitations of human capabilities due to these limitations Miller had insufficient time and distance to apply the brakes, and/or take evasive action to avoid the collision with the rear of the semi-trailer combination, the report said.

Purvis told state police that his truck had been having mechanical problems since he drove up from South Carolina that day. Investigators concluded that Miller's speed wasn't a factor in the crash, but it was likely a factor in his death. State police also said the mechanical issue with the truck was a contributing factor in the crash, the report said.

The cause of the crash was determined to be "accidental," the report said. No charges will be filed, state police said.
Well, in his first shrewd move, Olszewski hired chef Mari Katsumura, daughter of the late Yoshi Katsumura, a beloved chef figure in his own right. Morgan Olszewski, Michaels daughter, was installed as general manager. (Michaels name doesnt appear in any of the restaurants press materials.) Also added were beverage director Olivia Noren (formerly of Sepia, Le Bernardin and Per Se) and pastry chef Jeanine Lamadieu (formerly of Smyth and Le Bernardin), making Yugen the rare instance in which the top chefs and top managers are all women.
SEYMOUR  Hey, Seymour residents: What stores or restaurants would you like to see take up shop in the Tri-Town Plaza? Or whats the best thing Seymour has to offer in terms of its business scene? And do you know what role the Economic Development Commission plays?

The Economic Development Commission would like answers to those questions, and is turning to residents for their input.

The EDC has posted a brief, three-question survey online at https://bit.ly/2NQhoG8 and wants residents to give their two cents on issues important to growing Seymours economic base.

Its always great to hear residents thoughts, ideas and suggestions, said First Selectman Kurt Miller. Their input helps shape our direction going forward.

While Seymour has an Economic Development Commission, there is no economic development director . The previous director, Fred Messore, left the job in late 2017 to become West Havens commissioner of planning and development. On the job in Seymour since 2011, Messore was involved in several key projects including the first phase of Seymours greenway trail in the heart of downtown.

But, Miller said his budget proposal for 2019-20 includes funding for the Connecticut Economic Resource Center .

In the meantime, the commission is working hard to engage residents.

As an organization striving to better the town, we are always looking to hear peoples opinions, said commission Chairwoman Christine Aliman. The EDC enjoys hearing back from public opinion and seeing what people are passionate (about) in this town.

The three-question survey asks the following:

1. Pertaining to business, what do you think is the best part about Seymour? Why?

2. Seeing the changes being made at Tri-Town plaza, what business would you like to see brought in there?

3. How much do you know about the EDC and its goals?

Regarding the Tri-Town Plaza, long-overdue demolition to the former Ames and Adams stores commenced last December, but there are no specific plans or proposals yet about what could take their place.

Miller had said Ron Spector, of Nevada, who owns the plaza at 814 Derby Ave., has made some offers and has been trying to actively market and rent the space.

Spector had said in December that while demolition will not necessarily be followed by new construction  we are actively looking for users.

Ames department store and Adams grocery store served as the plazas anchors for years before closing in 2002 and 2003, respectively, leaving a 94,000-square-foot void in Tri-Town ever since.

jean.sos@snet.net
SEYMOUR  Whether its the chocolate peanut-butter cupcakes, cherry shortbread cookies or anything cannoli, Wildflour Confections has helped put the flavor of downtown Seymour on the map.

The towns only bakery, boasting an all-girl power staff, is gearing up to celebrate its fourth anniversary, and is inviting everyone to join the sugar rush.

Wildflour has quickly become one of the go-to destinations in downtown Seymour over the last four years, said First Selectman Kurt Miller. They fit in perfectly with what is going on. The cupcakes are out of this world and Alyssa and her team should be commended for their warm and inviting set-up. I am looking forward to many more years of them being in downtown Seymour.

Miller said hes partial to anything chocolate that the boutique-style bakery, at 18 Bank St., creates.

The staff, led by owner Alyssa DeMatteo, will celebrate four years downtown with a party scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 30. The event, according to Leslie Pizzagalli, the shops media manager, will be packed with giveaways, surprises and, of course, sweet treats for all.

The bakery has grown over the years, according to Manager Emily Kane, and now boasts more than 200 flavors of cupcakes.

For our shop in particular, social media posting and consistency has helped us to grow significantly over the years, said Kane. Foodies follow us on Instagram and go out of their way to come to the shop to try our sweets then they post pictures on their pages. Its been great the way internet marketing has evolved.

Kane said Wildflour has a great relationship with fellow downtown businesses, and we all want to see each other succeed. So when someone stops in a for a half-dozen cupcakes, the staff will encourage them to stop by Tea with Tracy next door for a cup of tea or across the street to Tickled Pink for a unique trinket.

DeMatteo opened Wildflour in February 2015 at just 24 years old after dreaming of having her own storefront. She opened a virtual bakery in 2013 on Facebook, and while working at the Seymour Antiques Co. next door, found the vintage space that ultimately became Wildflour.

DeMatteo has since racked up several awards for her entrepreneurial spirit, including being a two-time recipient of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerces Women in Networking grant award, and most recently was named the Connecticut Small Business Associations Young Entrepreneur for 2018.

GVCC President Bill Purcell helped DeMatteo cut the ribbon during her grand opening and plans to return for the anniversary, where hell undoubtedly sample his all-time favorite cupcake.

All of us at the chamber are proud of Alyssa and congratulate her on the fourth anniversary celebration of Wildflour Confections, said Purcell. Women entrepreneurs like Alyssa are making a positive impact in our Valley communities, adding life and vitality to our commercial districts. And by the way, Alyssas chocolate peanut-butter cupcakes are heavenly.

Kane encouraged everyone to stop by the birthday party.

Our birthday celebration is our way of thanking our customers for being so loyal and helping us to grow year after year, Kane said. Its going to be a great day, and we hope to see familiar and new faces to help us celebrate.

More information can be found online at www.thewildflourconfections.com or on Facebook.

jean.sos@snet.net
Two former doctors-in-training were charged with manufacturing and selling the Molly that killed a man in Bergen County, authorities said Wednesday.

Anthony Kopiecki and Molly Campbell, both 29, were accused of offenses of strict liability for drug induced death, knowingly operating a drug manufacturing facility, distributing LSD and MDMA, the drug commonly called Molly or ecstasy. The charges were among a nine count indictment handed up by a Bergen County grand jury.

The victim died at an area hospital on May 7 shortly after police responded to a 911 call reporting he suffered a medical emergency at a Mahwah home, according to Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo.

An autopsy revealed the death was caused by acute cardiorespiratory failure from Molly intoxication, the prosecutor said in a statement.

Kopiecki and Campbell, both Brooklyn residents, were initially arrested the next day in Jersey City on drug distribution charges while investigators worked to track down who supplied the deadly dose, Calo said.

A. Kopiecki M.D. and M. Campbell arrested for distribution of "Molly, MDMA" and LSD by Mahwah Detectives, BCPO and Jersey City PD @JCPoliceDept pic.twitter.com/9PnWim6y3e  Mahwah Police Dept. (@Mahwah_Police) May 22, 2018

The pair worked as first year medical residents, according to the prosecutors office. Kopiecki was listed as suspended while Campbells status was expired. Officials did not say where the duo worked or when their medical licenses apparently lapsed.

Kopiecki was arrested Monday, authorities said. Campbell was working outside the country and was slated to surrender to police when she returns. It was not immediately clear if they had retained attorneys.

Last month, prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced what they said was the states first successful drug death-related prosecution in a Molly case.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. 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
A hospital worker in Bergen County who found a noose in his work area says he was the target of a bias crime and has sued his employers for negligence and creating a hostile work environment, according to legal filings.

Patrick OReilly, 58, who is African-American, works as a materials chain analyst at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. In February 2017, he said began noticing crumpled napkins, wrappers and other debris on his work cart.

Since OReilly took pride in keeping his work area clean, he felt the garbage was left on his cart with the intent to harass and embarrass him, according to the suit.

OReilly claims he complained often to supervisors, human resources and security about the garbage, which he said he found on his cart every day.

In April 2017, a hospital security officer told OReilly he checked surveillance cameras in the hallway, but the video footage revealed nothing suspicious, the suit states.

Two months later, OReilly was traumatized to find a three-foot long hangmans noose, made out of rope, left in his work area, and situated in such a way for (OReilly) to find the noose, the lawsuit states.

In the lawsuit filed last year in Bergen County, OReilly cites New Jerseys Law Against Discrimination and claims he feared for his safety and suffered pain, humiliation and psychological distress resulting from a bias crime and the hospitals alleged negligence in failing to stop the harassment.

Given the long history in the United States of the hangmans noose, and (OReilly) being African American, (he) was stunned and initially unable to move from his work area because he was so traumatized by the noose being left there, the lawsuit states.

In a statement, Englewood Hospital said an investigation by the hospital and city police found no discrimination had occurred, and called the allegations unsubstantiated.

Englewood Health has a longstanding commitment to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for all of our employees, the hospital wrote. Due to pending litigation, we cannot comment on any of the unsubstantiated allegations made, other than to say that we conducted a thorough investigation into the matter and subsequently coordinated with local law enforcement throughout their investigation.

Neither investigation resulted in any finding of discrimination on the part of Englewood Health. Our priority is, and remains, to care for others. We strive for acceptance, cooperation and teamwork. We do not tolerate acts of hatred, intolerance or discrimination.

The hospital, in a legal answer to the lawsuit, acknowledged that OReilly contacted security in June 2017 and that a noose was found.

The noose was removed from the vicinity, the hospital states in court papers.

However, the hospital called other allegations in the lawsuit frivolous, malicious, vexatious, and made in bad faith.

Police photo of the news shows it measured at more than three-feet long.

Attorney Helene C. Herbert of Englewood, who filed the suit, said Thursday her client had been bullied at his job and that everyone has a right to be safe from intimidation and bias.

There needs to be a transparent, investigative process in place that is universal to identify these problems, so employers may put into place a plan of correction to protect their employees, Herbert said.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Years ago, when Darren DeSumma was cruising down Route 73 on the way to the shore, he remembers pulling into Mr. Bills grill for a cheap and quick cheeseburger and a soft drink.

Those places always spiked my interest, DeSumma, 50, said this week. Back in that time, things were simpler. I like the idea of that.

DeSumma is so enamored with the idea that he bought a rundown former burger joint on The White Horse Pike in Stratford and plans to breathe new life into it.

He plans to reopen the former Webers restaurant with all of the old favorites, including root beer, burgers, fries and onion rings. The roadside grill went out of business four years ago. DeSumma is planning to have it up and running again by late next month.

There is only one other Webers grill operating in New Jersey and one in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I always wanted to be in the food business, DeSumma said. Its something Ive thought about since my early 20s. I always liked the uniqueness and character of it.

The other Webers in Pennsauken  about 10 miles up the road from Stratford  is a retro throwback with a swooping Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired, space-age roof car port. It is reminiscent of the age of waitresses on roller skates delivering food to your car after flicking on your headlights.

The Pennsauken location has also been known to feature an Elvis impersonator complete with a one-piece white, rhinestone studded jumpsuit.

DeSumma said his new location will get a makeover but keep true to the carport roof and retro look. Food will be delivered on car-door trays but he said nothing about an Elvis impersonator.

Everything is going to be new, DeSumma said. Therell be a retro, neon sign on the street. Well bring the place back to life.

Webers was known for homemade root beer. DeSumma, who also owns a mens clothing store, Ernestos on 5th Street near South in Philadelphia, said he has an exclusive recipe to make the root beer. He also promises fresh cut fries and burgers.

DeSumma said a root beer recipe from the former owner, Mae Komesaruk, was included in the sale. Komesaruk opened the Stratford Webers with her husband in 1959, according to a published report. DeSumma said he has never met Komesaruk, who now lives in Florida, but hopes to meet her the next time she visits the area.

He said the root beer will be original but everything else about his reborn Webers will be tailor made for his new vision of a car-hop restaurant.

Webers locations resemble Stewarts All American Grills. There are 19 Stewarts locations in New Jersey and a total of 29 from as far west as Ohio. They also feature their own root beer blend.

The Oklahoma Webers claims to be the original.

Webers is a family-owned and operated restaurant that was started in June of 1933, according to the company website. Webers Superior Root Beer was the creation of Oscar Weber Bilby back in the late 1800s. Through trial and error, he put together a secret recipe consisting of 14 natural ingredients which were fire brewed then stored and aged in birch bark barrels.

Michelle Bilby, when reached in Oklahoma this week, said her family has heard about the Webers restaurants in New Jersey, but they are not affiliated.

My dad told me about some restaurants who used to use our name and used to buy root beer from us more than 20 years ago, Bilby, 30, said. But were not associated with them anymore.

The Webers on Peoria Avenue in Tulsa still features quarter-pound Angus beef burgers sauteed in onions, fresh-cut fries, and of course root beer. There is an outside takeout window but no carport or car-hop service.

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
The father of Newark grocery store owner will join his daughter in federal prison after being sentenced Wednesday for his role in a nearly $900,000 food stamps scam that lasted about seven years.

Manuel Venegas, 54, of Newark, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. His daughter, Maria Teresa Venegas, received a two-year term last month, the U.S. Attorneys Office for New Jersey said in a statement Wednesday. Both previously pleaded guilty to one count of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit fraud. Maria pleaded guilty in September and her father the following month.

Manuel Venegas will also be subject to two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $573,199 in restitution. Vanegas took part in the scam between March 2015 to March 2018 as an employee of the Jennys Deli. His daughter began the fraud in 2011.

Though SNAP recipients are only allowed to use their Electronic Benefit Transfer cards to buy certain food items, the deli instead gave some customers cash by entering made-up dollar amounts for their purchases.

Authorities began looking into Jenny's Deli when they noticed an unusually high number of SNAP transactions.

An undercover agent later made about 20 purchases at the deli, exchanging SNAP benefits for cash.

In an example provided in charging documents, a SNAP recipient bought $5 in items. Venegas, though, debited $75 from the persons account, which was then credited to the delis bank account. He gave the SNAP recipient a few dollars in cash and the business kept the rest.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Newark will pay $27 million over 30 years to rent property that it sold for $1 in 2017, according to a deal the city council approved on Wednesday.

The city will rent 258 parking spaces and office buildings on 43-67 Green Street from the Newark Parking Authority, an autonomous public agency that plans to redevelop the land.

But the agreement raised eyebrows among some members of the council and the public who questioned why the city had not kept and developed the property itself, instead of selling it to the parking authority.

Were paying them for something that we gave them. This is basic math, it doesnt add up, Newark resident Debra Salters said.

The lot, which is currently a surface parking lot for municipal employees, is adjacent to City Hall and steps from the Prudential Center. Last month, employees were told they could no longer park on the property and were relocated around the area.

This is not the Parking Authority pushing this on the city, a redevelopment agreement was passed by this council, Anthony Mack, executive director of the parking authority told the council on Wednesday. Were actually subsidizing the city as were constructing this.

Under the $34 million redevelopment project, the parking authority will erect administrative offices, ground-floor retail space and a five-story parking deck with 515 parking spaces. There will also be a cafe with outdoor seating and offices for the parking authority.

The property is assessed at more than 10 million, according to state property records.

Newark will rent storage space for its municipal court, relocate its finance department there and get 258 parking spots for use during business hours. The 30-year agreement allows the city to lease 26,000 square feet of space for $27 a square foot with a 5 percent increase every three years.

The parking deck will also satisfy the citys long-standing obligation with the New Jersey Devils. Under a 2013 revenue-sharing arrangement between Newark and the Devils for the Prudential Center, the city agreed to build a parking deck on Green Street. The city offloaded that requirement to the parking authority when it sold the land in 2017, officials said.

On Wednesday, the lease was approved in a 5-4 vote, with Councilmen Carlos Gonzalez, Augusto Amador, Anibal Ramos and Luis Quintana voting no. But the meeting turned heated when resident Lisa Parker questioned whether Council President Mildred Crump had a conflict of interest in voting for the lease.

Crumps son, Lawrence Crump, is general counsel for the parking authority.

How dare you? Crump said from the dais. How dare you question his integrity? How dare you question mine? Why are you asking this question?

Kenyatta Stewart, corporation counsel for Newark, said Crump voting on the parking authority issue was not a conflict because neither she nor her son would directly benefit from the deal.

She has nothing to gain in this situation, Stewart said.

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Police officers responding to a 911 call in Glassboro were injured when a man allegedly tried to grab an officers gun.

Four Glassboro officers responded to a report of a man and woman arguing in the area of the Hibachi Grill in the Doubletree Shopping Center on Tuesday night and found a man, later identified as Isaiah T. Austin, 23, of Sicklerville, standing by the passenger side of a vehicle and a woman in the passengers seat.

Cpl. Joshua Adieyefeh repeatedly asked Austin to speak with other officers in an attempt to separate the pair, but Austin instead lunged for the cops holstered gun, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Adieyefeh was able to break Austins grip before he could remove the weapon and officers wrestled him to the ground.

When Austin placed his hands near his stomach and chest area as if he was attempting to remove a concealed item, Adieyefeh used pepper spray on him and he was eventually handcuffed.

The report also notes that the woman was circling officers causing great concern to the safety of the officers, though the account makes no mention of her being charged.

Officer injuries included cuts to the hands, knee bruising and exposure to Austins blood which was present upon our arrival and not due to law enforcement action, according to the complaint.

Officials did not respond to a request for additional details about the incident.

Austin was charged with four counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, disarming a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, obstruction and disorderly conduct.

He was placed in Salem County Correctional Facility pending a detention hearing.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Police responded twice to Snyder High School in Jersey City on Wednesday, first on a report of a parent punching the schools principal and then to stop a fight that broke out among students after dismissal.

The later fracas led to a three-car collision involving police headed to the Bergen Avenue school, a city official said. Police officers citywide were sent to the school to respond, according to law enforcement sources.

At least nine people were arrested, city spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said.

A spokeswoman for the Jersey City Public Schools declined to comment.

The first incident happened at about noon, when two female students had a verbal altercation that led the principal to send them home early, according to a memo the school spokeswoman sent Board of Education members.

While the girls were being picked up  one by her mother, the other by her grandmother  one of the girls attacked the other, BOE President Sudhan Thomas told The Jersey Journal. The principal, Yvonne Waller, attempted to stop the attack and the parent punched her, the memo says.

Police arrested the mother and her daughter, the memo says.

At 3 p.m. cops returned to the school when the big fight broke out and continued into the surrounding neighborhood, Wallace-Scalcione said. A police officer sustained a minor injury while responding to the chaos, but no other injuries were reported, Wallace-Scalcione said.

That fight was related to one that broke out on Martin Luther King Drive on Tuesday, according to Thomas.

The name and age of the mom who was arrested was not immediately available, Wallace-Scalcione said.

No one was injured in the motor vehicle collision involving the responding officers, she said.

We are obviously very concerned about these multiple but unrelated incidents around the Snyder ecosystem today, Thomas told The Jersey Journal.
A Bayonne man has been charged with attempted murder after authorities say he slashed an off-duty Jersey City police officers neck during a dispute outside a bar early Saturday morning.

Michael Devaney, 34, was also charged with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, according to the criminal complaint.

Michael Devaney is a hard-working family man, said Brian Neary, Devaneys attorney. We are going to make sure we find out all the circumstances regarding the incident.

The off-duty police officer told Jersey City police that he and another another off-duty officer were leaving South House on Newark Avenue sometime before 2:50 a.m. when they got into an argument with three men, the criminal complaint said.

The argument escalated and Devaney pulled out a knife and slashed one of the off-duty Jersey City officers in the neck, causing a 2-inch laceration, the complaint said.

According to the complaint, the off-duty officers did not identify themselves as police officers at any time during the incident.

Devaney was arrested after he was identified by the two officers. Police did not recover a weapon, the complaint said. It is believed there is at least one video that shows at least part of the confrontation.

Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione did not respond to a request for more information.

The 34-year-old appeared at a detention hearing before Hudson County Superior Court Paul DePascale Wednesday and he was released through the course of his prosecution.

This report was updated with new information at 1:40 p.m. on March 7.
WEST NEW YORK  A Democratic feud between the two factions of town leaders in West New York has landed in court, with Mayor Felix Roque alleging he has been marginalized by a group of political foes who are fueled by their thirst for more power.

The mayors three-count complaint, filed Feb. 26 in Hudson County Superior Court, comes about two months before West New Yorks municipal election, when all five commissioner seats are up for grabs and Roque is seeking a third term against some of his former running mates.

Political tensions have turned this town of 54,000, sandwiched between Union City and Guttenberg along the Hudson River, into something out of a Parks and Recreation and Veep mash-up. Public meetings become profanity-laced shouting matches. Commissioners heckle Roque at press conferences. In January the mayor voted to kick his own son off the towns zoning board, as reported by Hudson County View.

Roque alleges he has been sidelined politically because he supported Union City Mayor Brian Stack over school teacher Amy DeGise in last years contested race for chair of the Hudson County Democratic Organization, while many of the other town commissioners backed DeGise (DeGise won). Roques foes say his tenure as mayor has been chaotic and needs to end.

West New York is represented by five commissioners  Roque, Cosmo Cirillo, Susan Colacurcio, Margarita Guzman and Gabriel Rodriguez  and each runs a different department. They vote among themselves to appoint someone mayor. All five current commissioners ran on one slate four years ago, but have since split into two camps: Roque and Colacurcio in one, Cirillo, Guzman and Rodriguez in the other.

Roques 25-page lawsuit is filled with allegations that commissioners have used their power to sideline him and cost him support in May. First elected in 2011 in a surprise victory over the Democratic establishment, Roque went on to win re-election in 2015 with the full backing of the Hudson County Democratic Organization. He is now again at odds with county Democratic leadership (DeGises father is County Executive Tom DeGise).

The mayor is asking a judge to rule on three things: that a hiring freeze implemented by the commissioners last month is illegal; that his commissioner foes have withheld approval of lawful hiring to lessen his power; and that the towns corporation counsel is improperly acting as the towns administrator.

The complaint names as defendants Cirillo, Guzman, Rodriguez and Michael Jimenez, the corporation counsel.

This lawsuit is necessary to curb those excesses of power and to ensure that public resources are not abused for political gain, Roque said in a statement. The board of commissioners are elected to run the town responsibly. Rodriguez, Cirillo, and Guzman have abdicated that duty and I am confident that the court will address their abuses of power and restore integrity to our government.

Asked to comment, Phil Swibinski, spokesman for the Rodriguez, Cirillo and Guzman campaign, called the lawsuit a desperate attempt by Roque to cling to power while misusing the court system.

"Commissioners Rodriguez, Cirillo and Guzman took control of the board of commissioners because they refused to allow Mayor Roque to continue mismanaging West New York government, trying to hire unqualified political cronies for $200,000 jobs and failing the residents of the community, Swibinski said. The annual hiring freeze is a common-sense policy that protects taxpayers while the municipal budget is being prepared and it has nothing to do with politics.

The election is May 14.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
HOBOKEN  A rally and public march will be held Saturday on the Hoboken waterfront to protest the planned use of the Union Dry Dock as a ferry maintenance and fueling facility, which advocates say would upend efforts to complete contiguous open public space on the Hudson river.

The rally is being organized by the Fund for a Better Waterfront, a local group that has spent decades working to transform the citys waterfront from its industrial past as a home for longshoremen, shipyard workers and dock builders into an uninterrupted public park along the river.

The march, which will begin at 10 a.m., will set from Pier A Park.

We understand that ferry service is important  were not trying to take anything away from the role that ferries play in the regional transportation system, said Ron Hine, executive director of the fund. Were just saying that (the facility) should go in an appropriate location. There are far better places to put this than the Union Dry Dock site.

Residents and officials in Hoboken have battled New York Waterways plan to move its ferry maintenance station from Weehawken to the Union Dry Dock site since the company purchased the land in 2017. Advocates have envisioned the site as parkland, while the citys master plan calls for the site to be transformed into public space, a city spokesman said.

Just weeks ago, the city issued a stop work order against the company for performing ferry maintenance services at the site because no conditional use has been approved by the city.

The parcel of land on Sinatra Drive between Ninth and 10th streets near the Castle Point shoreline, was used for decades for similar purposes by the Union Dry Dock company.

NY Waterway declined to comment on the rally set for this weekend and what approvals still remain in the process to establish the maintenance yard, but the companys president and founder, Arthur E. Imperatore, has previously said the facility will play a crucial role for the region.

This action is critical to our ability to provide vital mass transit service on a daily basis, enriching the lives of New Jersey commuters and adding value to waterfront property, Imperatore said.

Hoboken tried acquiring the land via eminent domain, but backed off upon request from Gov. Phil Murphy  and under threat when NJ Transit said it would buy the property and lease it to NY Waterway. The city offered $11.6 million for the property last year, but the company chose not to sell.

Two studies, meanwhile  one conducted by Boswell Engineering in September and another conducted by NJ Transit in 2009  say the best location for the station would be Hobokens Lackawanna Terminal at 1 Hudson Place.

But NY Waterway cleared a major hurdle in December, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit determining the plan for the site would not be in contrary to the public interest, a statement from the group said.

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, strongly believes that the Union Dry Dock site should be turned into a public waterfront park, has been in contact with Murphys office, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed.

The mayor's office said Murphy and his staff have "have been very helpful in facilitating a resolution that recognizes the interests of all stakeholders."

Meanwhile, the issue represents something of a rarity in Hoboken politics: both the city council and mayors office are against the plan.

We move backwards in time if we see our waterfront become industrialized and if so, said Second Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher. Its that simple.

For Hine  a resident since 1969  allowing the facilitys approval would be a colossal mistake that would render his groups decades-long goal for the waterfront at loss.

Hobokens waterfront has been transformed  for almost three decades weve been trying to finish and piece-by-piece its been coming together, he said. Thirty years ago, none of it had been developed, and theres been a huge investment made by the city, the state, the Port Authority and private developers to make this happen.
Hudson County has 10 school superintendents right now and two of them are getting paid six-figure salaries for not working.

Frank Gargiulo, who is the countys highest paid schools chief, hasnt run the county school district  the Hudson County Schools of Technology  since September but hes still on the payroll making $279,494. The acting superintendent is Amy Lin-Rodriguez, who makes $201,600.

Yep, thats nearly half a million dollars in pay for two superintendents in a school district with about 2,600 students.

The district says Gargiulo, 79, is on a sabbatical until his official retirement in August 2019. That would put his tenure with HCST at a smidge over 29 years and six months.

HCST spokeswoman Caitlin Mota said the sabbatical is "in anticipation of his retirement."

Throughout the sabbatical period, Mr. Gargiulo has kept in communication with the HCST administration during this transition period pursuant to the terms of his negotiated contract with the district, Mota said.

A county source said pre-retirement sabbaticals are common at HCST.

A 2006 inquiry into questionable and hidden compensation for public school administrators by the state Commission of Investigation found sabbaticals create additional long-term costs to the states pension system by extending employees lengths of service.

Gargiulo joins Jersey Citys superintendent, Marcia V. Lyles, who was dismissed by Jersey Citys school board in January but is still getting paid her $231,000 salary, plus benefits. The board cant fire her without getting the state involved, so it is keeping her on the payroll until her contract expires  in June 2020.

The HCST school board, led by Hudson County political operative Craig Guy, approved resolutions in July naming Lin-Rodriguez acting superintendent for this school year and appointing her superintendent effective Sept. 1, 2019. A third resolution approved Gargiulos sabbatical/retirement.

Asked to comment, Guy said he wanted to reread the resolutions to determine the specifics of Gargiulos paid leave.

Most of HCSTs students are enrolled in two high schools and one middle school.

Gargiulo has worked for HCST since 1990. His name graces the districts new High Tech High School campus in Secaucus.

He has been a county political figure for decades. A retired school principal, he made history in 1985 when he and three others became the first Republicans elected to represent Hudson County in the state Assembly in over 60 years. Democrats won back the seats in 1989.

Gargiulo was elected a North Bergen commissioner in 1989 and has served on that board ever since. He is seeking re-election in May.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
The man Mercer County authorities say stabbed his neighbor to death in East Windsor last week is back in Mercer County and appeared in Superior Court in Trenton Wednesday.

Jefrey Vasquez-Calderon, 37, arrived from Essex County Tuesday evening, where he was being detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), officials said.

Vasquez-Calderon is charged with killing Luis Sanchez, 30, who was found dead on the back patio of his home on Bennington Drive in the Twin Rivers development last Wednesday morning, Feb. 27.

The two were neighbors and acquaintances, and were seen together the night before on local surveillance video leaving a Twin Rivers bar together, according to court documents. The Mercer County Prosecutors Office has alleged Vasquez-Calderon stabbed Sanchez several times with a knife, sometime overnight, but have not revealed a motive for the crime.

An office spokeswoman said Wednesday that they will argue at an upcoming detention hearing that Vasquez-Calderon remain jailed until his case is over.

Prosecutors detectives suspected Vasquez-Calderons alleged involvement, and before he was officially charged in the killing, agents with ICEs Homeland Security Investigations Cherry Hill office arrested and detained him last Thursday, Feb. 28, in Trenton.

ICE, which lists him as Jefrey Arturo Vasquez Calderon, said hes an Guatemalan national whos in the United States illegally.

At the conclusion of the criminal case pending against him, to include any potential conviction and prison term, he will be returned to ICE custody for removal proceedings, New Jersey ICE spokesman Emilio Dabul said.

Sanchez was a budding artist who moved to Mercer County a few years ago from Queens, New York, his family wrote on a GoFundMe page seeking to raise money for funeral expenses. He was a a devoted husband, and a loving father-- a son, brother, nephew and faithful member of our family.

In April 2018, Sanchez was the artist of the month at Somervilles Gallery On Main.

In shock, disbelief, and with broken hearts, we are trying to come to terms with the loss of our precious Luis whose life was taken from us. Luis at 30 years of age enjoyed a beautiful life, a life full of many great things that the future held for him and others, a life who was beginning to flourish, his family wrote on GoFundMe.

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.
A man on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted list for allegedly killing his fiancee and her dog in Newark in 2014 was arrested Thursday in Maryland.

Lamont Stephenson was arrested in Prince Georges County, Maryland, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Gregory Ehrie said during a Thursday evening press conference in Newark.

Stephenson is also a suspect in a Washington D.C. murder from Wednesday night in which a woman and her cat were killed, ABC reported.

Three officers from the Prince Georges County Police Department responded to a 2 a.m. call of a suspicious person in a truck on Annapolis Road in Lanham, Maryland, who was later identified as Stephenson, county Police Chief Hank Stawinski said during a press conference.

Stephenson initially told the officers that he was homeless and that he was just trying to get out of the weather," but later told police he was wanted in New Jersey for murder and that he had also committed a crime in Washington D.C. on Wednesday night, Stawinski said.

After police confirmed that he was wanted by the FBI, Stephenson was arrested, the chief said.

Stawinksi said the Washington D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department has a warrant out for Stephensons arrest charging him a homicide that occurred there late Wednesday night prior to arrest by the Prince Georges County Police.

Ehrie said that he could not provide details about Stephensons arrest or the District of Columbia murder and said the investigation was ongoing.

Stephenson was on the run from the FBI for 147 days before his Thursday morning arrest, and was captured thanks to the innumerable man hours spent by local, regional and state agencies to find him, Ehrie said.

One-hundred-and-forty-seven days ago, we warned Mr. Stephenson that he will be found, Ehrie said.

First responders found Stephensons fiancee, Olga DeJesus, 40, asphyxiated, along with her dog, inside her apartment in the Stephen Crane Village housing project on Oct. 17, 2014.

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office charged Stephenson with murder less than a month after DeJesus' body was found, but detectives were unable to find him.

Catching Mr. Stephens was a goal, a long-standing goal for the Essex County Prosecutors Office, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens said Thursday.

DeJesus and Stephenson attended Bloomfield Tech High School, and began a relationship after reconnecting at a 20th anniversary event, a classmate told NJ Advance Media at the time of the killing.

The couple got engaged a short time before DeJesus death.

Eleven of DeJesus family members were on hand during the FBI press conference and they clapped when authorities unveiled a FBI most wanted poster of Stephenson with the words Captured printed over the top of it.

Among those family members was Olgas brother, Felix DeJesus Jr., who thanked federal authorities, the media, the Newark Police Department and the Essex County Prosecutors for their roles in arresting his sisters killer.

I know my sister is looking down and she can finally rest in peace, Felix said. Ive though about this day every day for the last four years. We went through a lot and we didnt give up.

Olgas father, Felix DeJesus Sr., said in Spanish that he never stopped praying for the arrest of Stephenson but that he also prayed that he would not hurt another family.

It wont bring my daughter back, but hell pay justice, he said.

The last sign of Stephenson was captured by surveillance cameras at Newarks Penn Station, from where investigators believe he fled the state.

In September 2017, federal prosecutors in New Jersey obtained a warrant for his arrest on a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution."

Stephenson will be returned to Newark later this week and then turned over the Essex County Prosecutors Office, Ehrie said.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Nearly two months after a lengthy outbreak that sickened 33 people in Ocean and Passaic counties ended, another case of measles was reported Wednesday in Lakewood.

An Ocean County resident who could have possibly exposed others to the highly contagious disease at two Lakewood locations between Feb. 26 and Feb. 27, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

Anyone who visited the Congregation Sons of Israel - Park Avenue, 401 Park Ave., on Feb. 26, 2019, between 5:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m, or the Kol Shimshon synagogue, at 323 Squankum Road, on Feb. 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. may have been exposed to measles, the department said.

The health department asked anyone who visited the two locations to call their doctor immediately to discuss potential exposure and risk of developing the illness."

We are warning residents about a #measles case in Ocean County who could have possibly exposed others between Feb. 26-27.



We are investigating any connection to the previous Ocean County outbreak or current those in other states.https://t.co/y8hzPGjdqy pic.twitter.com/B2ty4M2WOL  NJDOH (@NJDeptofHealth) March 6, 2019

Anyone who was exposed was at risk of getting the disease if they have not been vaccinated or have not had measles. Measles symptoms, which include fever, coughing and a rash that usually starts on the face, might not develop until as late as March 25.

Measles can can cause serious complications such as pneumonia and encephalitis, a swelling of the brain, and can lead to a miscarriage, premature birth or low-birth weight baby for pregnant women, the CDC said.

The disease can be spread through the air when someone coughs or sneezes and an people can get sick if they come in contact with mucus or saliva from an infected person, officials said.

Health officials said they are investigating if this new case has any connection to the previous Ocean County outbreak or any current outbreaks in other states.

Jan. 16 marked 42 days since the last diagnosed case was considered infectious, or two full incubation periods, the Ocean County Health Department announced at the time.

The outbreak started in late October after the first measles case was confirmed in Lakewood involving a traveler who had contracted it in Israel.

The New Jersey Department of Health also warned on Feb. 26 that a New Jersey resident with measles may have exposed others to measles in Bergen County.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon 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.
The brash pharmaceutical executive serving seven years in a low-security federal prison in New Jersey after raising the price of a drug 5,000 percent is running his business from prison using a cell phone smuggled into the facility, according to a report.

Martin Shkreli, who is housed in a 12-man cell at Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix is still heavily involved in Phoenixus, his private Swiss drug company, WSJ.com reported. The FBI is aware of Shkrelis activities and is investigating the so-called pharma bro and his associates.

Until recently Shkreli was posting missives on Twitter from the phone. He even fired his CEO - who was on a safari in Africa- over the phone, the report said.

The 35-year-old was sentenced to seven years in prison for securities fraud.

Shkreli was jailed in September 2017 in a bizarre stunt when he offered $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clintons hair while he was free on bail.

Before his legal woes, Shkreli stirred widespread rage when he boosted the price of Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent. Shkreli has become the public face of the pricing controversy, after his company jacked up the price after obtaining rights to the drug. The drug is the only U.S.-approved treatment for a deadly parasitic infection called toxoplasmosis.

The prison at Fort Dix features a range of gym equipment, racquetball courts, horseshoe pits, volleyball, bocce ball lanes, intramural sports, a music room, pool tables as well as hobby crafts. There are no bars, towers or locks on rooms within the community units.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. 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.
From getting his kick-start with food in the Lehigh Valley to being nominated as 'Best Chef by the James Beard Foundation, Chef Matt Kern from Nazareth is giving credit to the people who got him here.

The James Beard Foundation Awards highlight food culture by awarding well-deserved culinary professionals and restaurants across the United States.

Kern attended both Bethlehem Catholic and Nazareth Area high schools while washing dishes at the former Viennese Pastries Cafe in Bethlehem. Afterwards, he spent two years at Fegleys Bethlehem Brew Works and by 21, found himself at Starfish Brasserie (now the The Twisted Olive, also in Bethlehem).

I put the chef coat on for the first time, remembered Kern. I said, I want to do this for the rest of my life.

With only a culinary arts class under his belt from the Career Institute of Technology and no culinary school experience, Kern knew he wanted to make this career path happen.

While at Starfish Brasserie, Kern worked under Chef Dick Barrows, who taught him the essentials of French cooking. I learned the brigade system in the kitchen, he mentioned.

Kern eventually moved on to Edge Restaurant in Bethlehem, which he called his first big role. He acknowledged Executive Chef Tim Widrick as the one who taught him discipline and emotional control in the kitchen. He instilled a whole lot of pride in my work, Kern said.

Ironically, Kern also attributes his skill sets to another James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant -- Bolete in Salisbury Township.

Kern referred to Bolete as the most incredible restaurant I could ever work at. Bolete Restaurant emphasizes the importance of having a family feel in the restaurant industry with a primary focus on locally purchased foods and recipes made from scratch. It was the best food Ive ever seen, Kern mentioned.

The most recent Bolete menu contains items like Maryland Crab Salad, House Smoked Pennsylvania Pork Chops and Cast Iron Seared Organic Farm Raised Salmon.

From there, Kern moved out of the Lehigh Valley where he worked at five Delaware restaurants over the years. Now, he is the executive chef at Heirloom -- a restaurant located in Lewes, Delaware.

Kern described owner Megan Lee as extremely passionate about her work and very loyal to her crew. This renovated Victorian home is American-Farm styled with an incredible group of individuals who, Kern says, he owes his nomination.

Im not a one man show, Kern stated. I couldnt do this without them.
The pandemic forced biracial teen Amelie Liu to address her dad's death. It was through addressing her grief that she realized she didn't feel as much of a connection to her Chinese identity as she did with her Jewish identity. The Hyde Park resident wrote a children's Thanksgiving book about it, so others can celebrate their multiculturalism.
The Catholic churchs release of the names of 188 New Jersey priests with credible accusations of child sexual abuse against them, the defrocking of former Cardinal McCarrick and the summit at the Vatican on a range of sex abuse scandals should give us comfort that the church is heading in a good direction.

But, its not. Instead, were left feeling hollow and jaded.

Maybe its because every day we could go to the Hudson County courts and see biological fathers, uncles, family friends, former teachers and others in prison jumpsuits, handcuffs and shackles being sentenced for the most vile of crimes against the innocents in their care. Yet, it is excruciatingly rare to see a priest in that position.

The New Jersey list  like the Pennsylvania one before it and the Brooklyn one after it -- only confirms suspicions that the church has long dealt with what should have been civil matters in-house, and it did so poorly at that.

Beyond that, telling us that scores of dead men were predators is no comfort. And telling us about living predators for whom the statute of limitations on many crimes has run out is cruel. Not telling us about other predator priests because they are involved in active litigation cuts the most deep.

The actions we are speaking about are indeed criminal.

We would like to believe the current church leadership that their zero-tolerance policy will be effective and that they will treat accusations going forward as allegations to be reported to the police.

What would really restore our faith, though, would be to see McCarrick and all those other predators in prison jumpsuits, handcuffs and shackles, paying for their crimes here on Earth and being required on release to register as sex offenders under Megans Law.

We wait with hope for the results of New Jersey Attorney General Gerbir Grewals statewide task force investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. We echo his urging that survivors and others with information contact the offices toll-free tip line at 855-363-6548.

On the civil side, we urge lawmakers in Trenton to quickly approve legislation that would expand the currently narrow, two-year statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue. The state Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill today.

Submit letters to the editor and guest columns to jjletters@jjournal.com.
By Ryan P. Haygood

This past Sunday, my team at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice joined thousands of people in a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama to commemorate the 54th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday and to honor the heroes who shed blood to secure the fundamental right to vote.

We can honor their memory right here in New Jersey by fulfilling their goal of ensuring that everyone, regardless of race or criminal history, can exercise that sacred right.

In a transformative expansion of democracy, Florida voters recently overturned a Jim Crow law and restored the right to vote to 1.5 million people with convictions.

Now it is New Jerseys turn.

Last month, people across New Jersey filled every seat in a Senate hearing to urge passage of S2100 and A3456, historic legislation by Senators Ronald Rice and Sandra Cunningham, and Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter, that will restore voting rights to nearly 100,000 people in prison, on parole, or on probation.

During the hearing, Senator Brian P. Stack said that this great piece of legislation is long overdue and needs to be voted out and...signed by the governor.

He is right.

Voting for people with convictions, as my colleague Ron Pierce explains, has value to the soul, and it connects individuals to the broader community. Studies show that voting helps to reduce recidivism and increase the chances of a successful integration upon release. Once released, having a voice in the governance of ones environment enhances ones investment in being a positive force within it.

Senator Stack is also right that correcting this wrong is long overdue.

As we explain in our report 1844 No More: Let Us Vote, the story is often told about how racist Southern legislatures historically built democracies that excluded Black people, other people of color and women.

What is less well known is that this history of exclusion also took place right here in New Jersey.

New Jersey was the first northern state to restrict the vote to only white men. New Jersey opposed the Emancipation Proclamation, and it was the last northern state to abolish slavery. Following the Civil War, New Jersey refused to ratify the Reconstruction Amendments.

It is against this racist historical backdrop that New Jersey further restricted access to the ballot box by denying the vote to people with criminal convictions in 1844, the same year it restricted voting to white men.

New Jerseys decision to maintain this practice in 2019, 175 years later, accomplishes the same racial exclusion that was common in 1844.

Today, New Jersey denies the right to vote to nearly 100,000 people because of a conviction  more people than live in Trenton, Camden, Hoboken, Montclair, and in each of more than 150 other municipalities in New Jersey.

Although Black people comprise just 15 percent of New Jersey's overall population, they represent more than half of those who have lost their voting rights as the result of a criminal conviction.

Indeed, owing to population increases, more Black people in New Jersey are disqualified from voting today than were prohibited from voting in New Jersey prior to the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment.

This disparate impact on Black political power is a direct result of New Jerseys decision to connect the fundamental right to vote to its criminal justice system, which is infected with racial discrimination.

New Jersey has the shameful distinction of having the highest Black/white adult and youth incarceration disparity rates in America. A Black adult in New Jersey is 12 times more likely to be incarcerated than a white adult. A Black child is 30 times more likely to be detained or committed than a white child  even though Black and white young people commit most offenses at about the same rate.

New Jerseys disenfranchisement law imports these staggering racial disparities from the criminal justice system into the political process, accomplishing what now-prohibited poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy tests explicitly sought to dodisproportionately exclude Black people from voting.

But today, we arent judging New Jersey by this shameful past.

Instead, we are embracing an important opportunity to turn the corner on this shameful history.

The 1844 No More campaigna robust statewide coalition, including impacted voices and system-involved people, community leaders, policy makers, elected officials, faith leaders, and coalition partners  is urging passage of S-2100 and A-3456.

More than 100 organizations, as well as the mayors of major cities  including Newark, Jersey City, and Hoboken  have joined the call to restore voting rights to people in prison, on parole, and on probation in New Jersey.

Our collective task, particularly in this difficult national moment, is to reduce barriers to voting and to encourage more people to participate in the political process. And it must be done comprehensively, because restoring voting rights to only those on parole or probation  and not the incarcerated  would worsen the racial disparity by increasing the percentage of people denied the right to vote who are Black to a staggering 62 percent.

Join us in erasing this moral stain on our democracy by urging Senate President Sweeney and Speaker Coughlin to post, the New Jersey Legislature to pass, and Governor Murphy to sign, S-2100/A-3456 without delay so that nearly 100,000 more New Jersey citizens can vote this November, an election in which all 80 seats in the New Jersey Assembly are up for election.

Its time to join Maine, Vermont, and most Western democracies and pass legislation to end New Jerseys practice of denying voting rights based on a conviction in a racially discriminatory criminal justice system.

Its time to declare once and for all that we are 1844 No More.

Ryan P. Haygood is president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday he wants to avoid a state government shutdown in New Jersey this summer  especially after the recent record-long federal shutdown under President Donald Trump.

Theres no appetite on anyones part to shut the state of New Jersey down, Murphy said during a new conference in Wood-Ridge one day after unveiling his second state budget proposal. Weve seen what it did at the federal government level, which was ridiculous.

Speculation about a shutdown bubbled Tuesday after Murphy released his budget, in which he renewed his controversial proposal to hike taxes on those who earn at least $1 million in New Jersey. The plan almost led to a shutdown last year when Murphys fellow Democrats who lead the state Legislature successfully opposed it.

Murphy says a millionaires tax would generate $447 million in revenue for the state, to help pay for increases for public education, transportation and government worker pensions.

But the Legislature must approve the plan, and top Democratic lawmakers have said they remain against the increase.

If Murphy and lawmakers dont reach a deal by June 30, that could force the state government to shut down.

This years debate is a little different than last years. The millionaires tax was one of a few increases Murphy pushed for in his first budget. In the end, he and lawmakers cut a deal that increased taxes only only those who make $5 million or more.

But Murphys new budget includes no other major tax hikes, and it also features $1.1 billion in savings.

Lawmakers said they were encouraged by that and called this a better start to the budget process than last year. Still, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-MIddlesex, said theyd prefer to seek even more savings than rely on a tax hike.

Murphy said Wednesday hes optimistic" about finding a compromise but insisted a millionaires tax is the right thing to do."

Whats at stake, he said, are things like an additional $100 million in the budget to help fund perpetually troubled NJ Transit.

We dont reflexively pull the tax lever, Murphy said. We know we have to run a tight ship. We have to be responsible.

Its not a big number," he said about the millionaires tax, but its a huge game-changer in our ability to invest in the middle class.

Murphy said he also believes his relationship with lawmakers is on better footing than last year. He noted he had breakfast with Sweeney and Coughlin just before his budget address.

Ive signed 207 bills, the governor said. For all the noise that gets talked about, the reality is weve found a lot of common ground.

Sweeney, who often feuds with Murphy, told reporters Tuesday he also doesnt want a shutdown.

We never want to go down that route, honestly," the Senate president said. Theres no desire for anything more than to get to a budget that we all can live with."

Murphy was joined at Wednesdays event by state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, who is also Wood-Ridges mayor and chairman of the Senates budget committee. Sarlo, a Sweeney ally, said Murphys budget address Tuesday was "was a really, really great starting point for the budget process.

This is probably the best starting point that I have seen in 10 years, Sarlo said.

Another lawmaker at Wednesdays event, state Assemblyman Gary Schaer, D-Passaic, publicly threw his support behind the tax increase.

Youre right, Schaer, a former Assembly budget committee chair, told the governor. There does need to be a millionaires tax. The revenue generated is fundamental and important.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Larry Higgs contributed to this report.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
The heads of New Jerseys five Catholic dioceses released a lengthy joint statement expressing support earlier this week for a proposed law that would lift the statute of limitations on when alleged victims of sex abuse can file civil lawsuits against priests and the church.

But behind the scenes there is a fight brewing over the bill that could open New Jerseys Catholic dioceses and Catholic schools up to a flood of civil lawsuits amid the widening priest sex abuse scandal.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, head of the Archdiocese of Newark, and the bishops and auxiliary bishops of the states other dioceses released a rare joint statement Tuesday saying they want to work with lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations that would allow abuse victims to file lawsuits decades after they were abused.

Now is not a time for just more analysis and study. This is a time for action to prevent any future abuse anywhere it might occur. The Catholic Bishops of New Jersey stand ready, as we have for the past two decades, the Catholic bishops statement said.

Victims advocates have argued for years that New Jerseys current law, which limits civil lawsuits to two years after the alleged sexual abuse, is too narrow and unfair.

Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, the bills lead sponsor in the state Senate, fired back at Catholic leaders, saying the church has been fighting the statute of limitations legislation, called S477, behind closed doors in Trenton.

It is unfortunate that Catholic Church leaders continue to mislead my colleagues. In spite of their public support of my legislation, they and their high paid lobbyists continue to oppose it in private meetings and calls with legislators, Vitale said.

He called the churchs stance on the bill bewildering given everything that has come out about decades of sexual abuse claims by priests.

They oppose holding their institution and others accountable for the rape of children even when it may be proven that they conspired in past abuse," Vitale said. That is inconceivable.

Bishop David M. OConnell, head of the Diocese of Trenton, said Vitales statement that Catholic Church leaders were being misleading was unfair.

The Catholic Church is not trying to mislead anyone, including his colleagues. Church leaders have offered to work with him and his colleagues since the inception of his proposed legislation. He has refused our offers, OConnell said.

Last month, New Jerseys five Catholic dioceses released the names of 188 priests and deacons credibly accused of abusing children over multiple decades. More than 100 were dead. Few were ever criminally prosecuted.

Around the world, Catholic dioceses have pledged to be more transparent and institute reforms to ensure children are safe within their parishes.

The pressure on the church has helped push Vitales previously-stalled bill to lift the statute of limitations on sexual abuse victims. Last month, New Jersey lawmakers said they had reached a deal to get the new law passed.

The new law would apply to all sexual abuse victims, not just those allegedly abused by priests.

The new rules would allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to file a civil suit up until the age of 55 or seven years after they make the discovery" connecting their emotional and psychological injury to their abuse, Vitale said. It would allow a victim to sue an institution and a specific individual.

Victims who previously could not file lawsuits because of the statute of limitations would have a two-year window -- from Dec. 1, 2019, to Nov. 30, 2021 -- to file their cases, including if they are over the age of 55.

Patrick Brannigan, executive director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference, said he has been meeting with lawmakers about the bill and he feels the church has been unfairly maligned.

Everyone is talking as if the abuse is still going on. We cleaned up our act 20 years ago, said Brannigan, who represents the five Catholic dioceses in Trenton.

Catholic leaders also dont support the section of the bill that says the institution, including the church, can be sued retroactively by victims for old cases. Though, church officials do support the section of the bill saying victims can sue over any abuse in the future.

Brannigan said he is also lobbying lawmakers to delay the date the new law would begin so it doesnt interfere with the churchs new compensation program for victims.

The New Jersey Compensation Fund for Victims of Church Sexual Abuse of Minors, funded by the states Catholic dioceses, is scheduled to begin taking claims from victims of priest sex abuse starting in July. After a review by independent administrators of the fund, victims will be offered cash settlements in exchange agreeing to not sue the church.

Church officials are worried that victims will bypass the compensation fund and go to court to sue the church instead if New Jersey lifts its statute of limitations on lawsuits this year.

OConnell, the Bishop of Trenton, said wants to see the new law delayed until at least the end of the year, when the churchs new victims compensation fund can finish collecting its first round of applications from priest abuse victims.

As Bishop of Trenton, I  not a lobbyist  personally called only one legislator in my diocese, asking her to support a 30-day delay of the proposed December 1, 2019, implementation of the elimination of the statute of limitations until the Churchs Victims Compensation Program runs its course on December 31, 2019. She considered it a reasonable request but Senator Vitale refused, asking what difference a month makes, OConnell said.

A hearing on the legislation is scheduled in Trenton for Thursday afternoon, Vitale said.

Among those expected to testify are two Olympic gymnasts sexually abused by team doctor Larry Nassar, siblings who alleged they were abused by a priest named in Pennsylvanias attorney generals report on priest sex abuse in that state and other sexual abuse victims, Vitale said.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
A tentative contract between the largest union of state workers and Gov. Phil Murphys administration includes annual raises and takes aim at out-of-network health care costs.

The Communications Workers of America announced earlier this week it had reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract, and the administration provided details Thursday morning. The contract, which must be ratified by members, will apply to 2019 through 2023. The unions current contract is set to expire in June.

As part of the deal, CWA members will get 2 percent raises annually, and the two sides agreed to devise a new health care plan that the administration estimates should save the state at least $70 million a year.

Our tentative contract agreement provides fair wages, allows for CWA members to enter a new health care plan that generates significant savings for the state of New Jersey and taxpayers, and provides a fair premium share for members, Murphy said in a statement.

"Together, were turning the page from the failed approaches of the past toward a new chapter of mutual respect and dialogue with our workforce.

CWA New Jersey Director Hetty Rosenstein said the negotiations were long and and difficult and they butted heads as they went about creating the new health care plan, but she praised the administration for being open to new ideas.

They dont ever say things to you like no, you shouldnt try that," Rosenstein said. We brought innovations to the table and they consider them really seriously.

The new health insurance plan will reduce reimbursements to out-of-network providers. In addition, the state will conceive a health care ombuds position to help state workers choose in-network providers and offer counseling in selecting a health care plan.

Under the contract, the formula for determining how much state workers enrolled in this new plan contribute to the cost of their health care will change to a percentage of their pay. They have been paying a percentage of premium thats determined by their salary and plan coverage, equal to at least 1.5 percent of their total pay.

Workers in the new CWA PPO will see a reduction in their premiums of between 1 percent and 3 percent of pay, Rosenstein said, adding that employees enrolled in the Aetna Liberty Plan and the Horizon OMNIA Health Plan should also see lowered costs.

We did the things that would have the least amount of disruption and the greatest amount of savings to our members, she said.

The contract also restores job security language and makes changes to the employee disciplinary process.

The CWA represents nearly half of all state employees, including some of the its highest-paid  psychiatrists earning $226,000 a year  and more than 1,000 full-time employees earning less than $40,000.

This deal comes less than a year after Murphy and the CWA closed the books on a long-running contract dispute that spilled over from former Gov. Chris Christies administration, with a deal to pay $148.9 million in back pay raises and retroactive longevity bonuses to some 32,000 workers who had been without a contract since 2015.

Murphy, a Democrat, has already accounted for the reduced health care costs in his proposed budget, which he unveiled Tuesday. That budget included about $800 million in reduced spending on employee health care. Much of that is attributed to shifting retired educators to Medicare Advantage, audits and contract rebidding.

But the administration also projected it would save $217 million in reduced costs through labor negotiations.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
The editor and founder of a conservative news website on Wednesday filed a police report against a top official at a state agency thats under scrutiny for its hiring practices, NJ Advance Media has learned.

Phil Stilton of Shore News Network alleges a vice president for the Schools Development Authority, Pamela Luster, pulled a door closed on him after a contentious board meeting in Trenton.

She didnt say anything. She just slammed the door on me," Stilton said. She had some power on her.

The minor incident left his elbow a little red and swollen and his shoulder a little stiff from being pulled, Stilton said.

He filed a report with the Trenton Police Department. He said he has not decided whether he will press charges.

Luster is top official at the SDA. She earns a salary of $170,000 a year.

The authority didnt immediately respond for comment.

Shore News Network is a conservative website that has no shortage of anti-Gov. Phil Murphy stories, saying in headlines that Murphy has a tax-hungry socialist agenda and referring to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a hypocrite champagne socialist.

Stilton said he was taking photos of SDA employees with his cellphone when Luster pulled the door closed on him.

He was there to cover the SDAs board meeting, which was contentious. The incident occurred after the board meeting.

At the meeting, a half-dozen former state workers who have accused Murphys appointee to lead the authority, Lizette Delgado-Polanco, called on her to resign. They accused Delgado-Polanco of stacking the agency with patronage hires, including Luster, whos a friend of Delgado-Polanco.

About a month after Delgado-Polanco was tapped to run the agency in August, 26 staffers, many of whom had worked at the SDA under Democratic and Republican governors, were fired.

By October, 33 new hires, including many people with ties to Delgado-Polanco, were brought on to fill some of the positions opened by the firings and a host of new jobs titles that were created under the new CEO.

Fourteen of the new hires were brought on at salaries that top six figures and reach as high as $170,000. At least 10 of those top earners either worked with Delgado-Polanco in the past or at companies represented by unions Delgado-Polanco worked for, or had other close ties to the new CEO.

The SDA builds and maintains schools in the states poorest areas. About 200 people work at the authority.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
WASHINGTON  No wonder the House voted to overturn President Donald Trumps declaration of a national emergency and the Senate is expected to follow suit.

Almost two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Trumps decision to declare an emergency and a majority doesnt want him to build a wall along the southern border.

In the latest Quinnipiac University poll, 66 percent of voters disapproved of Trumps action, more than double the 31 percent who supported it. A Monmouth University poll of U.S. adults offered a similar breakdown, with 65 percent opposing the emergency and 33 percent in favor.

While Trump declared the emergency in order to get taxpayers to fund a border wall that he promised Mexico would pay for and that Congress rejected, 55 percent in the Quinnipiac poll didnt want the construction at all, with 41 percent in favor. A majority opposed the wall in the Monmouth poll as well, 51 percent, with 44 percent supporting it.

We didnt want it in the first place and we certainly dont want it built by emergency executive order,' say wall-weary voters in big numbers, said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll.

Trump declared the emergency in February after signing legislation fully funding the federal government through Sept. 30 without wall funding. He acted after a Republican-controlled Congress last December wouldnt pass a spending bill with wall money and he wouldnt sign legislation without it, triggering a record-long 35-day partial government shutdown.

The Democratic-controlled House voted, 245-182, last month to overturn the declaration, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., acknowledged that Trump likely would lose in the Republican-controlled Senate as well.

That hasnt stopped the president from pressuring his fellow Republicans to support him.

Senate Republicans are not voting on constitutionality or precedent, they are voting on desperately needed Border Security & the Wall. Our Country is being invaded with Drugs, Human Traffickers, & Criminals of all shapes and sizes. Thats what this vote is all about. STAY UNITED!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2019

Still, Trump is likely to get the last word on Capitol Hill. Congress doesnt appear likely to muster the two-thirds majorities of each house needed to override his threatened veto.

Two-thirds of Americans said they would oppose Trump using emergency powers to divert money to a border wall, and that has held true," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. The question is whether public opinion will shift after Congress votes on overturning that declaration.

The federal courts will have the final decision. New Jersey is one of 16 states suing to overturn the declaration, calling it an illegal use of the federal National Emergencies Act.

Trumps declaration indicated he would use federal funds already approved by Congress for other items, including military construction. House Appropriations Committee Democrats said that could threaten $41 million for a munitions disassembly complex at Picatinny Arsenal and $10.2 million for a new refueling system for planes with hazardous cargo at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., the only member of the states congressional delegation who supported Trump on the emergency, said he called the Joint Base and was told that the allocation was not at risk.

Both polls were conducted March 1-4. The Quinnipiac survey of 1,120 voters had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points. The Monmouth poll of 802 adults had margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
A Republican state lawmaker issued a dire warning about leaving affordable housing decisions in the hands of the courts: We will collapse the entire housing market in the state of New Jersey.

State Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen, who is leading the charge against the current affordable housing obligation process, called on the New Jersey Legislature to pass a moratorium on any new decisions and give the power back to lawmakers.

Schepisi, along with Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, R-Union, blasted their Democratic colleagues throughout a 90-minute town hall in Cranford on Tuesday for failing to come up with a more efficient solution to solve the states affordable housing crisis. The state is in need of 155,000 affordable housing units, a judge ruled in March 2018.

Schepisi said Democrats  who control the Legislature  are taking the approach of bury my head in the sand and it will go away.

The court system is making rulings on how many affordable housing units 350 suburban municipalities in New Jersey are obligated to zone for, Bramnick and Schepisi said, and thats a problem.

Because it is going through the courts, there is absolutely no statewide record of what is taking place, Schepisi said. Nobody ... in the state of New Jersey right now knows how many projects in total have been approved simultaneously."

"Nobody knows how many units, what type of units, whether or not we are going to crash the entire real estate market of the state of New Jersey. We need to stop this. We need to do an evaluation.

Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, D-Passaic, the chairman of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, defended the current process and how his Democratic colleagues have handled the affordable housing shortcomings of the state.

I am well versed in and have a clear understanding of the affordable housing issues in New Jersey, Wimberly said in a statement Wednesday night in response to the town hall. ... I am passionate about these issues, because housing is a basic need that impacts people from all backgrounds in every community.

My position does not give me, or any other lawmaker, the authority to dictate what should or should not be handled through the legal system," he added.

The courts took over the process after the agency tasked with decisionmaking, the Council on Affordable Housing, failed to regulate or enforce affordable housing mandates from 1999 to 2015. Eventually, the state Supreme Court ruled that judges will take over the regulation.

Since then, suburban municipalities (cities are not a part of the process) have been settling in court with the Fair Share Housing Center, a public interest organization, on what their fair share obligation of affordable housing is.

Affordable housing obligations exist in the first place because of the Mount Laurel doctrine, a 1975 state Supreme Court ruling that prohibits discrimination through land use laws and orders all New Jersey municipalities to plan and zone for realistic housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income residents.

The qualifications for affordable housing vary depending on the region. A moderate-income household earns between 50 and 80 percent of the area median income, according to the state.

And a low-income household earns less than 50 percent of the areas median income; very low-income households are classified as earning less than 30 percent of an areas median income.

Fair Share has settled with more than 250 municipalities, said Anthony Campisi, a spokesman for the organization.

Rather than endless fighting and bureaucracy, we are actually getting the job done right now," he said. "A moratorium would only reward the towns that have been resisting.

The moratorium both lawmakers are lobbying for would halt the current process involving the courts and allow for stakeholders, both Democrats and Republicans, Schepisi said, to meet and determine the best solution for providing more affordable housing from a regional and statewide approach.

If you really wanted affordable housing and you wanted it in the right place, you wouldnt do it town by town, Schepisi said.

The current process lacks transparency and stout policy decisions, which could lead to the toppling of the housing market, as well as future difficulties for municipalities, she said.

It is the lack of knowledge. It is the lack of awareness, Schepisi said about the current process. There is no idea what it is going to do to our infrastructure, how it is going to impact that. How it is going to impact our schools.

At a public Housing and Community Development Committee hearing in the Assembly last summer, lawmakers, municipal leaders and residents continually raised concerns that the courts were not taking into account environmental concerns, sewage systems and infrastructure when approving the settlements between Fair Share and a municipality.

Fair Share has continually rejected that idea. Campisi said that during the settlement process, towns can conduct a vacant land analysis, going parcel-by-parcel throughout the town, examining sewage capacity, environmental sensitivities, preserved areas and other factors to determine how many units could actually be built in a particular municipality.

For example, Westfield, a wealthy Union County town, had an obligation of 1,090 units. After a vacant land adjustment based off the analysis was made during the settlement, they came to an agreement with Fair Share to zone for 60 units and a 75-unit project has been proposed.

I think Leader Bramnick and Assemblywoman Schepisi want there to be no progress in this, which is why they are proposing a moratorium, Campisi said. We are actually getting the job done right now by working with towns and coming up with really innovative approaches.

Making sure there are enough homes for working families and people with disabilities to live in New Jersey wont hurt our state," he continued. "It will make our state stronger.

Schepisi has sponsored 10 bills in the Assembly addressing the affordable housing obligation, including the moratorium, which she said is the priority.

The moratorium would be the first step in us actually doing our job, she said. (Then) having a bipartisan commission of people and stakeholders and take a look at this from a statewide obligation.

To pass a moratorium, it would need 41 votes in the Assembly, 21 in the Senate and for Gov. Phil Murphy to sign off on it. Democrats have a majority rule in Trenton.

You have to be outraged, Bramnick said to the crowd Tuesday night. We are mad because the Legislature isnt doing their job.

Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Follow on Twitter @monavage. 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.
The Salem County Prosecutors Office is investigating an apparent animal abuse case after a dog was found in an abandoned house feeding off an already deceased dog.

Ruth, a 4 or 5-year-old Boxer/Beagle mix, was found with no food or water in an abandoned house in Salem County, the Humane Society wrote on Facebook. For survival, she was eating another dead dog found in the house.

Ruth is believed to be a 4- or 5-year-old Boxer/Beagle mix and is being fostered by a volunteer of the Salem County Humane Society.

The pup - who is severely underweight at just 29 pounds - is being fostered by a Human Society volunteer. Ruth tested positive for Lyme disease, and has a long road to recovery before eventually being spayed and vaccinated, said Connie Waller, vice president of the countys Humane Society.

Shes very sweet, shes just really sick and skinny, she said. "But shes going to be okay, and thats the big thing.

Once Ruths health is cleared by a veterinarian and she gains some weight, shell be available for adoption. In the meantime, the Salem County Humane Society is asking for donations for her care.

We want to get her back to health and get her into a great home, Waller said.

The Prosecutors office did not release any further information, citing an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information regarding the case is urged to call 856-339-8624.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
A political fundraiser in one city has started to leave a bad taste in some residents mouths, but city officials say the $1,000-plate dinner is nothing out of the ordinary.

A photo of the invitation  a private reception hosted by Linden Mayor Derek Armstead to raise money for the Democratic slate of council candidates  was posted on Facebook last week by Gretchen Hickey, a city councilwoman who unsuccessfully challenged the mayor in the primary last spring. The post quickly made its way around social media, inciting reactions to not only the price, but the fact that the restaurant, Ristorante da Benito in Union, was out of town.

$1,000 a ticket, and I guess Linden isnt good enough to host an event for Linden Elections, Hickey posted. So very sad. Greed & selfishness at its best again, Hickey wrote.

Provoked by the receptions price tag, longtime Linden resident John Kaczor started a GoFundMe to see if he could raise $1,000 to get into the dinner, despite not being on the guest list. And hes getting close to the goal, too. The fundraiser, which he shared on social media Friday with the caption Im hungry, raised $635 in donations in less than a week.

By all means, (Armstead) is allowed to have his fundraiser, Kaczor said. He has to protect his majority on the council. Its just putting a bad taste in peoples mouths.

Wow!!! $1000 a ticket, and I guess Linden isn't good enough to host an event for Linden Elections, so very sad. Greed & selfishness at its best again!!! Posted by Gretchen Brook Hickey on Thursday, February 28, 2019

Armstead emphasized that the fundraiser is private, and the leaked invitation was only sent to corporate donors. According to Armstead, the $1,000-per-person charge is not out of line for an average campaign fundraiser, especially considering the reception is for five candidates  each one would get a $200 donation.

Another Union County political fundraiser, a reception for Assemblywoman Linda Carter (D-Plainfield), was listed on the Union County Democratic Committees website at $300 per ticket. And a recent Republican fundraiser honoring Sen. Tom Kean (R-Livingston) and Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) was $250 per individual, and $1,000 for sponsors of the event.

Youre always going to have naysayers, said Rebecca Tattoli, the mayors secretary who planned the fundraiser.

Hickey did not return a request for comment.

The city has five council seats up in June, and the fundraiser is for the candidates to obtain money for advertising and getting the word out, Tattoli explained. Armstead said that although the invitation didnt list their names, the reception is for incumbent councilmen Ralph Stano (7th Ward) and Barry Javick (2nd Ward), as well as new candidates Marlena Berghammer (5th Ward), Garnett Blaine (8th Ward) and Monique Caldwell (3rd Ward).

In response to residents concerns about the location, Tattoli said she picked Ristorante da Benito because its a common location for Union County campaign fundraisers and the owner has family in Linden. Last June, and another time when he first ran for mayor, Armstead held his fundraisers at the same location, but he has also hosted events in Linden at Nunos Pavilion, a Portuguese and Spanish banquet hall, as well as III Amici Ristorante, an Italian restaurant in town.

Kaczor said hed refund everyone who donated if he doesnt get into the reception and, according to the the mayor, its probably not going to happen.

Hes definitely not coming in," Armstead said in response to Kaczors efforts to crash the dinner reception, adding that Kaczor should find a nice young woman, see a movie and eat some popcorn.

Gianluca DElia may be reached at gdelia@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @gianluca_delia. 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.
There are still people in jail, specifically and only, because they cant afford to pay a money bond. So we do have further to go, Grace said. There is no justification for requiring people to put up money before theyre released. It doesnt increase the chances of people coming back to court, and some studies are showing that even when people pay the money bond and get released, it increases the risks that theyll be rearrested in the future. So taking money from communities that cant afford to pay it is actually destabilizing. Its increasing recidivism; its bad policy.
Mansfield Township police Wednesday announced disorderly conduct charges against two men following an altercation last month, one of whom was run over by a vehicle in the incident.

Matthew J. Zeigler, 29, suffered head injuries in the incident about 9:45 a.m. Feb. 27 in the Mansfield Village Apartment complex parking lot, according to police.

Police said officers were called there by Zeigler's girlfriend, who reported two male assailants harassing him and that "her boyfriend was run over by their vehicle."

Zeigler was taken by the Mansfield Rescue Squad to Morristown Medical Center. He suffered a skull fracture and brain bleed and needed emergency surgery, according to a gofundme.com fundraiser set up to help him and his family. Zeigler lives at Mansfield Village, according to the account.

With a description from Zeigler's girlfriend, a Mansfield detective spotted the suspects' vehicle about 11:30 a.m. in the area of Walmart along Route 57. The driver, 19-year-old township resident Jordan D. Cannon, was taken into custody and charged with assault by auto, endangerment, reckless driving, failure to report an accident and leaving an accident involving injury, police said.

Cannon was sent to the Warren County jail, pending a court appearance.

Police said they charged Zeigler "for his behavior just prior to the incident," according to a news release.

Also charged with disorderly conduct is Michael Tang, 22, of Mansfield, a passenger in Cannon's vehicle. That charge stemmed "from a prior incident with the victim," police said.

Zeigler and Tang remained free pending a court appearance.

Efforts to reach Zeigler, Cannon and Tang were unsuccessful because no phone numbers could be found for them.

The Warren County Prosecutors Office assisted police in the investigation.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Robert Froeba, 49, is accused of second-degree murder in the mans death, which occurred Feb. 27, 2019 in the 2900 block of Jackson Avenue.
New Orleans Police superintendent Shaun Ferguson and Mayor LaToya Cantrell lead the way as police, firefighters, and first responders do the traditional sweep of Bourbon Street just after midnight to declare an end to Mardi Gras on Wednesday, March 6, 2019.
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., says he will seek re-election in 2020 and plans to announce his candidacy for a second term after Louisiana votes for governor Oct. 12. (Photo by Carolyn Kaster, The Associated Press)
LSU shortstop Josh Smith will miss LSUs game Wednesday (March 6) against Holy Cross with what Paul Mainieri called a very slight hamstring strain.

Mainieri said Smith irritated his left hamstring in the series against Bryant but it wasnt anything serious.

He played the next four games against Southern and Texas, but LSU is giving him rest Wednesday. Smith will have four days of rest before LSU begins its weekend series against California. He could pinch hit if needed Wednesday.

He wants to play, and he could play, Mainieri said. I just think the prudent thing to do is not play and try and nip it.

In his place, third baseman Hal Hughes will slide into the shortstop spot. Chris Reid will start at third base for the second game in a row.

Hughes started at shortstop in 63 games last season when Smith was out with a stress reaction in his back. Mainieri said Smiths back and hamstring issues are unrelated.

In other lineup news, freshman Drew Bianco will start at second base instead of Brandt Broussard. Mainieri said its to get a pop into the lineup. Bianco will bat in Smiths leadoff spot, as to not mess with anybody elses spot in the lineup.

Jaden Hill still not throwing

Star freshman pitcher Jaden Hill still hasnt thrown after dealing with an elbow strain following his second career start against Bryant (Feb. 24).

LSU held him out this weekend against Texas, and Mainieri said Wednesday he will remain out for another week, if not longer.

Mainieri was at the doctor with Hill yesterday, and they hope its nothing serious.

We just need his body to tell us when the time is right to start pre-throwing exercises," he said. "He may be another 10 days until he can really start pre-throwing stuff.

Hill has allowed just two runs on six hits through 10 innings this season.
Greg Guidry, associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, won the backing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in a 12-10 party-line vote Thursday (March 7) for a federal judgeship. Next he faces a confirmation vote by the full Senate for a lifetime appointment to the 13-parish U.S. District Court in New Orleans.

Guidry coasted through his committee hearing last month, and his name was hardly mentioned in Thursdays meeting. Instead, the votes on Guidry and four other judicial nominees from Republican President Donald Trump turned largely on a partisan split over Senate procedure in confirming judges, especially those of higher courts.

Greg Guidry coasts through Senate hearing to be federal judge in New Orleans

At some point we have to act like a common legislative body and quit allowing ourselves to be kicked around by the executive branch, bemoaned Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, whose Democratic Party makes up the minority of committee members and the Senate.

Theres been abuse  if thats the proper word  on both sides," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La said. He added that hes willing to discuss procedural changes with Democrats.

Lets be honest: This committee has a problem, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the panels chairman.

Any structural reforms were put off to another day, however. And it remains unclear if they will will ever come, said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who monitors judicial nominations.

It will only happen in an election year where neither party can game the system for benefits, but for the rest of Trumps term the downward spiral is likely to continue," Tobias said. "The process is not rigorous or effective now.

Greg Guidry, Louisiana Supreme Court judge, picked by Donald Trump for federal court

. . . . . . .

Drew Broach covers Jefferson Parish politics and education plus other odds and ends. Email: dbroach@nola.com. Facebook: Drew Broach TP. Twitter: drewbroach1.
For CRATs, participants are shown three words, like dress, dial and flower. They are then required to name one word that could be combined with the three words they were given, such as sun, which would create the words sundress, sundial and sunflower.
Then one day, after some procedure or other, seeing her so vulnerable and just, tiny, I realized she was no warrior. She was a little girl being treated for cancer that did not seem to be responding to anything, she continued. I could see her for who she was, not who I needed her to be. She fought no battle, she had no weapons, she did not lose.
To the victor belong the spoils. I can't tell you how many times over the last two years -- when I lamented Donald Trump 's trashing of the Paris Accords, pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, gutting environmental regulations or other disasters -- my Republican friends reminded me: "Deal with it. Elections have consequences."

Last Saturday, I heard Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announce at CPAC that he was going to introduce legislation imposing strict new limits on access to abortion. After all, he told the crowd: "Elections have consequences."

So, so true. And therefore how appropriate, now that Democrats enjoy majority rule in the House of Representatives and have begun to schedule oversight hearings, to remind our Republican friends: "Remember? Elections have consequences."

But first an important distinction. Contrary to what Republicans in Congress claim, Democrats are not devoting all their time and energies to pursuing Donald Trump. As Nancy Pelosi promised Democrats would do if elected, they are pursuing an aggressive legislative agenda. Democrats have already passed two gun safety bills, held hearings on prescription drug prices, overturned Trump's national emergency declaration, introduced legislation to deliver Medicare-for-All and a Green New Deal, and approved HR1, a bold initiative encompassing ethics, campaign finance and voting rights reform.

At the same time, no matter how many times Donald Trump has warned against it, Democrats are determined to hold oversight hearings -- where Republicans, afraid of Donald Trump, did not. It's not overreach. It's part of their job under the Constitution: not only to pass laws and appropriate funds, but to make sure departments and agencies are spending that money wisely and, most importantly, not breaking the law.

Any doubts that Democrats were going to take their oversight responsibilities seriously disappeared this week with action taken by the House Judiciary Committee. Within days of hearing former Trump fixer Michael Cohen paint a picture of misdeeds, crimes and lies by the Trump administration, Chairman Jerry Nadler went after every person named by Cohen, and then some.

Nadler sent letters to 81 agencies, individuals, or entities close to Trump requesting that they turn over all documents relating to three areas of interest: whether Trump obstructed justice by interfering in criminal investigations of his campaign and administration; whether Trump violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution and campaign finance laws; and whether Trump abused his power to pardon and other presidential powers.

Nadler cast a wide net. The list of people targeted reads like the Trump Rogues Gallery. It includes: sons Eric and Donald Jr., and son-in-law Jared Kushner; former campaign aides Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Corey Lewandowski, Steve Bannon, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos; former White House staffers Hope Hicks, Sean Spicer, K.T. McFarland and Reince Priebus; former administration officials Michael Flynn, Don McGahn and Jeff Sessions; hangers-on Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi, and National Enquirer Publisher David Pecker. Only the Trump Tower doorman didn't make the cut.

The scope of the Judiciary Committee's investigation is already breathtaking, and this is only the beginning. Consider: Every aspect of Donald Trump's world -- his political, business and personal life -- is under the microscope. And nearly everyone who ever had any contact with him is now a potential witness against him.

White House aides immediately dismissed the Judiciary Committee requests as another "witch hunt." "The Democrats are not after the truth. They are after the president," sniffed Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. But they're merely whistling past the graveyard. No matter how it turns out, the wide-ranging Judiciary probe is bad news for the Trump administration for a couple of reasons.

First, because this comes on top of the ongoing Special Counsel's investigation -- and will continue long after Robert Mueller wraps up his work and issues his final report. Trump's troubles won't end with Robert Mueller. Congressional hearings into Trump wrongdoing will continue to dominate the news right up to the 2020 election .

Second, because, even though articles of impeachment are not the focus of this set of hearings, the Judiciary Committee is where the impeachment process, if it ever develops, must begin. In other words, Nadler's investigation into obstruction and abuse of power may not directly aim at the impeachment of Donald Trump, but it will build the case for it.

Isn't it interesting? As we saw in the Michael Cohen hearing, Republicans don't respond by defending Trump. Because they can't. They just attack Democrats for holding oversight hearings in the first place. How silly. Surely, they must realize: "Elections have consequences."

( Bill Press is host of a nationally-syndicated radio show, CNN political analyst and the author of the new book, "Trump Must Go: The 100 Top Reasons to Dump Trump (And One to Keep Him)," which is available in bookstores now. You can hear "The Bill Press Show" at his website: billpressshow.com. His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter at @bpshow.)

(c) 2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
WASHINGTONThe commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on March 6, that the abnormally high numbers of migrantsmost from Central Americapaired with broken U.S. immigration laws, has created a border security and humanitarian crisis that has been taken advantage of by smugglers and drug cartels.

Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee, CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said apprehensions at the border were higher in Februaryover 76,000than theyve been in any February for over a decade, and that because U.S. immigration laws are different for children and families coming from Central Americawhere about 70 percent of the migrants are coming fromCBP has become overwhelmed.

These flows have border security consequences, he said. Families and children are routinely used to divert our agents and occupy them while smugglers bring illicit drugs and single adults that are trying to evade capture across our border.

In addition to the onslaught of illegal immigrants, the number of asylum seekers jumped 120 percent in FY 2018 compared to FY 2017.

After days, and sometimes weeks of travel, he says those arriving at the border often come with injuries and illnesses that U.S. law enforcement agencies are then responsible for treating. This fact was brought to center stage with the deaths of two children last December who were taken into CBP custody. The causes of their deaths are still under investigation.

Issues where doctors have advised that this child needs surgery within two weeks to repair this, and they get on a bus to head all the way to the U.S. border and report that to the agent as they arrive, he said. Weve seen all manner of medical conditions.

As an example of how much care they need, he said CBP made a high of 130 hospital trips in one day last week, with an average of 55 trips a day.

That means we spent 6,000 hours of border patrol agents waiting at the hospital with people, he said. Thats like losing 30 agents for the year.

To tackle the issue, he suggested a three-pronged approach: fix U.S. immigration laws, reinforce the border, and work with other countries to stop the flow of migrants.

Immigration Laws

On the legal side, he suggested amending the Flores Settlement, under which a family unit cannot be held in custody for more than 20 days.

Once asylum seekers are released into the country, it often takes years for their cases to be processed. McAleenan recommends keeping them in detentionas a family unituntil their cases have been settled. In that scenario, he estimates it would take six to eight weeks.

He also thinks it could have an effect on the number of children being smuggled into the country with unrelated adults to act as family units.

In the last 10 months, 1,700 people made false claims of being in a family with children they werent related to. In a few cases, he said, the adults met the children for the first time at the U.S.-Mexico border.

He says smugglers are advertising to prospective clients that they will be released into the United States if they have a child with them. And theyre right, he said.

Its difficult for me to conceive of any policy we could adopt that could do more, quite perversely, to promote human trafficking than this, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said in the hearing.

I think thats a very legitimate concern, McAleenan responded.

McAleenan also suggested that the bar to prove credible fearthe standard an asylum seeker needs to meet to remain in the countryis too low, citing statistics showing that the majority of those who apply for asylum meet the credible fear threshold, but only a fraction turn out to qualify for asylum.

Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), children from Central America cannot be repatriated like those from Canada and Mexico, another U.S. law that McAleenan said adds to the backup in the system. Less than 2 percent of Central American children are repatriated because of it, he said.

He would like to see TVPA amended so that children can be sent back to their countryin some cases at the request of their home countryan amendment that he believes would go a long ways toward preventing child trafficking.

Border Barrier

Along with better immigration laws, he says human traffickers are taking advantage of the porous U.S.-Mexico border to smuggle people across undetected. More funding for personnel and technology would help, but he also said there needs to be a barrier.

We need to maintain what we have, the 654 miles, and we need hundreds of additional miles in critical areas where we have difficulty controlling, he said.

The deployment of several thousand active-duty troops by the Department of Defense (DoD) was based off requests by CBP, he said, although he denied requesting a specific number of personnel.

We have significant need for additional border security barrier, for surveillance capability, and for agents, so having DoD backfill that, to create impedance and denial in certain areas, is a real mission enhancement for us, he said.

Foreign Aid

Part of mitigating the tide of illegal immigrants to the country requires looking at the factors that are pushing these migrants toward the United States, and McAleenan suggested that more aid to the Northern Triangle of Central America, where the majority of migrants come from, would be wise.

In December, the State Department announced it was committing $5.8 billionin public and private investmentto the Northern Triangle to promote institutional reforms and development. It said it would also commit another $2.5 billion if commercially viable projects are identified.

But there is another country involved in the crisis that shares at least part of the blame, according to McAleenan, and that is Mexico. It is in Mexico that the cartels, which control human and drug trafficking over the border, are based.

Partnership with Mexico is essential, McAleenan said.

The United States creates the demand for the drugs that the cartels sell, but we need the government of Mexico to step up and address the enforcement side of this, McAleenan said.

When asked whether Mexico could be doing more than it is, he said he thinks the new administration of President Lopez Obrador is working on making sure any immigration is safe and orderly, and that enforcement posture is improved.
NEW YORKA former Chinese diplomat and executive for the U.S. arm of a Chinese construction conglomerate went on trial on March 5 on American charges that he forced Chinese laborers to work on New York area construction sites under a form of debt bondage.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Heeren in his opening statement in federal court in Brooklyn told jurors that Dan Zhong was a leader of the U.S. arm of a criminal enterprise that exploited forced labor for personal gain.

According to the indictment, the scheme involved 46 Chinese workers being forcibly held since 2010.

Zhong served as the president of U.S. Rilin Corp, a unit of China Rilin Construction Group, a privately held construction conglomerate headed by Zhongs billionaire uncle, Wenliang Wang.

Zhong was also a diplomat at the Chinese consulate in New York from 2001 to 2006, then at the U.S. embassy from 2006 to 2009.

Zhong had an accompliceWang Landong who served as the manager of the construction company. Wang was a diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Washington from 2001 to 2007.

Heeren said the company offered workers in China jobs in the United States but required them to pledge large sums of cash and even their familys homes as security, which they would lose unless they performed all the work owed under the contract.

The prosecutor said the workers came to the United States on visas that allowed them to work only on Chinese diplomatic facilities, but were also forced to work on private properties in the New York area, including Zhongs own New Jersey home.

The workers passports were seized and kept in a safe that Zhong controlled. He said workers were told where they could live, to keep them away from New Yorks Chinese communities where they might speak to others.

The company had a car that picked up the workers in the morning and shuttled them back to the dorm every day. The dorm was padlocked to prevent them from leaving. Heeren said those who tried to escape were recaptured, sometimes violently, describing one instance in which an escapee was seized and thrown in a van.

One of Zhongs lawyers, Robert Cleary, said that all of the workers came voluntarily to the United States, where they could make up to five times as much money as they could in China.

That was their choice, Cleary said. There was no debt, there was no bondage, there was no forced labor.

Cleary said the jury would hear evidence that workers who finished their contracts and returned to China received their deposits back with interest, and that those workers were able to enjoy themselves in their spare time and even travel around the country.

According to the defense lawyer, Zhong was never involved in violence. Cleary said evidence would tie some practices claimed by the prosecutors not to Zhong but to his accomplice Wang, who was also charged in the case but is not in U.S. custody.

Zhong was arrested in 2016. His trial is expected to last two to three weeks.

By Brendan Pierson. The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
3/7/2019

Page Content

WASHINGTON (March 7, 2019)  The National Transportation Safety Board announced Thursday it has enlisted the assistance of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the NTSBs ongoing investigation of the fatal, Feb. 23, 2018, natural gas-fueled explosion in Dallas, Texas.

The USACE is scheduled to take soil samples starting March 11, 2019, in the area of Espanola Drive and Durango Drive in Dallas, to help the NTSB evaluate the technical accuracy of the preliminary geotechnical assessment report. The USACE will also perform lab testing of the collected soil samples and will submit their report by April 30, 2019.

The NTSB is obtaining these soil samples to aid our assessment of the potential impact the local soil conditions may have had with gas leaks that were observed in the area prior to the Feb. 23, 2018, explosion, said Robert Hall, Director of the NTSBs Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials.

This is the last major task to be conducted in this investigation. The NTSB has completed its metallurgical testing as well as its review of the Atmos emergency response and operations. The NTSB anticipates opening the docket, which will contain factual reports developed in the course of this investigation, in the second quarter of this year.

A 12-year-old girl was killed and four others injured in the explosion at a residence at 3534 Espanola Drive, Dallas. That accident was preceded by two natural gas related events at 3527 and 3515 Durango Drive, Dallas on Feb. 21 and 22, 2018. More than 300 residences were subsequently evacuated due to the nature and number of natural gas pipeline leaks discovered in the residential neighborhood.

The NTSBs preliminary report for its investigation of the accident was issued March, 23, 2018, and is available online at http://go.usa.gov/xQaYK.
In her work, she found her name and her passion, said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who through his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition provides support staff and other resources so Sinclair can continue her weekly prison visits. There are some people in prison. Some have done things that are horrendous. Others are victims of their circumstances. They all need parents who will adopt them in a spiritual sense.
The department said the university failed to give federal financial aid credit balances to students as required by law and that, after receiving $13 million in federal aid in January, Argosy instead used the money to cover payroll costs and other expenses. The federal education agency called that a severe breach of the required fiduciary standard of conduct that demonstrates a blatant disregard for the needs of its students.
Alex Trebek, the longtime host of the classic trivia television show Jeopardy!, announced in a video on Wednesday that he has Stage IV pancreatic cancer.

Normally the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, Mr. Trebek said. But Im going to fight this, and Im going to keep working.

Mr. Trebek, 78, has become a household name during his tenure at Jeopardy!, in which three knowledgeable contestants compete to see who can come up with the right answers  or rather, the right questions  the fastest.

Mr. Trebek said that he learned about the diagnosis this week.

The average lifetime risk for pancreatic cancer is about one in 63 for men, and one in 65 for women, according to the American Cancer Society. The disease is known for its low survival rates. It has been estimated that only about 9 percent of patients who are found to have the disease survive the next five years.
Inside the fair is a healthy mix of new and 20th-century historical art, solo presentations and specially curated critical sections with names like Platform and Focus. This fair hews to what has become a tried and true formula among the largest art expositions, offering a diverse array of artists, including many women; panels on protest art, the biennial phenomenon, collecting and investing. It argues for the relevance of fairs beyond their value as international trade bazaars.

There are many highlights among the 198 galleries. Consider these galleries as places to start.
Rising knife crime in Britain prompts debate about austerity

Knife crime is rising for the fourth straight year in Britain  there were 43,000 such offenses in the year ending Sept. 30, 2018  though over all it has declined markedly since the mid-1990s. Two recent fatal stabbings of 17-year-olds have refocused national attention on the problem and created a political crisis for Prime Minister Theresa May.

The opposition Labour Party is blaming austerity for the rise in knife crime, and Mrs. Mays own home secretary, Sajid Javid, has clashed with her, demanding emergency increases in police funding.

Analysis: There are more than 20,000 fewer police officers today than in 2010, and many now spend hours doing the work once done by mental health agencies that have been cut back or eliminated. But analysts largely agree that the data does not connect rising crime to diminished police presence. Instead, they point to austerity cuts to social services, like youth centers and interventions for children who are expelled from school .
In December, Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huaweis founder and the chief financial officer of the company, was detained in Canada at the behest of the United States, which is seeking to extradite her.

Her father, Ren Zhengfei, the companys founder, has since rejected the claims against his daughter and said that he would wait to see if President Trump would intervene in the case. Ms. Meng has been in court this week in Vancouver, British Columbia, as part of an extradition hearing.

In the meantime, Huawei has battled against many of its customers and nations that have said they would pull back from buying its products. China has also retaliated against Canada by detaining several Canadian citizens. This week, Canadian officials also complained that China had begun to suspend the import of canola from the country.

Lu Kang, the spokesman for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday that the Chinese decision was based on the discovery of pests in Canadian canola.

China has a long history of interrupting trade with other countries in the middle of diplomatic spats. In September 2010, China halted the export of rare earth metals to Japan for two months during a dispute over the sovereignty of a cluster of tiny islands between Japan and Taiwan. Weeks later, China suspended trade talks with Norway and then halted the import of Norwegian salmon after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a Chinese dissident by a Norwegian committee.

Huaweis lawsuit argues that by singling out the company, Congress has violated constitutional principles on the separation of powers and also the bill of attainder clause, which prohibits legislation that singles out a person or entity for punishment without trial.

The actual and intended effect of these prohibitions is to bar Huawei from significant segments of the U.S. market for telecommunications equipment and services, thereby inflicting immediate and ongoing economic, competitive, and reputational harms on Huawei, the companys lawyers wrote in the suit.
Immigrant rights advocates and organizers protesting the Trump administrations policies celebrated a victory this week after JPMorgan Chase & Company said it would no longer finance private operators of prisons and detention centers.

As the administration has stepped up efforts to detain undocumented migrants, privately run prisons have become the governments default detention centers for them, despite reports questioning the facilities safety. In addition to securing lucrative government contracts, these private companies have also borrowed money from large banks.

A spokesman for JPMorgan Chase & Company, Andrew Gray, said on Tuesday the company had a robust and well established process to evaluate the sectors that we serve.

As part of this process, he said, we will no longer bank the private prison industry.

Mr. Gray did not immediately respond to a question about whether the decision was related to public pressure.
Mr. Halls lawyer, Peter Guadagnino, said the detectives were dedicated to being police officers, even though they quit in the uproar that followed the September 2017 allegations. They still feel hurt, he said.

The case against the detectives began to fall apart in recent months after defense lawyers highlighted evidence from security cameras and cellphones that contradicted the womans statements about what she wore that night, what the inside of the van looked like and where the men drove her.

In January, prosecutors acknowledged in a letter to the court that the woman made a series of false, misleading and inconsistent statements about the facts of this case and about collateral or unrelated matters, and that most troubling, she made some false statements under oath. The letter asked the court to allow a special prosecutor to be assigned to the case.

When the judge denied the request, Mr. Gonzalezs office shifted gears and prepared a new case for a grand jury to review, this time without the womans testimony, officials said. The grand jury returned an indictment on the lesser charges.

From the start, the case had presented an unusual legal challenge for prosecutors: Under a loophole in state law  one that has since been closed  it was not illegal at the time of the reported attack for the police to have consensual sex with someone in their custody. To prove rape, the prosecutors would have had to show the men used physical force or threats to compel the woman to have sex.

Up until December, the prosecutors maintained there was strong evidence the woman had been sexually assaulted. They pointed to semen found on the womans body that proved a sexual encounter had taken place with both men, and to evidence the woman was in handcuffs during the alleged assault. In addition, the woman had never wavered in her assertion that she had been forcibly raped.
According to court records, Vrdolyak's role in the tobacco settlement came after then-Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan negotiated a contingency arrangement promising 10 percent of the payout to four law firms that handled the litigation. That figure was dramatically reduced after years of court arbitration, but in the end, several law firms were to share in a total of $188.5 million.
For President Trump, the era of congressional oversight is shaping up to be a family affair, with his three eldest children  Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric  at risk of getting swept up in multiple investigations. But none of the Trump clan may face a more thorough going-over than Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and top White House adviser.

Mr. Kushner this week was among a long list of Trumpworld intimates asked to provide documents to the House Judiciary Committee as it looks into possible presidential misdeeds.

This request landed just as the continuing tussle was heating up between Mr. Kushner and the House Oversight and Reform Committee , which is examining claims that Mr. Trump arranged to have his son-in-law granted top-secret security clearance over the objections of intelligence officials.

In both cases, the White House has signaled its intent to defy Congress, arguing executive privilege and legislative overreach. On Monday, the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, sent a letter to the oversight committee chairman, Elijah Cummings, rebuffing his request and effectively daring him to start issuing subpoenas. Mr. Cummings said he would confer with colleagues to determine what comes next.
In his testimony before Congress last week, Michael Cohen in effect warned of a coup:

Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power, Cohen said.

That fit neatly into the concern in some liberal circles that President Trump may not simply undermine democracy but actually overturn it. References to the Nazi takeover of Germany have proliferated, and cautionary tales about fascism are now ubiquitous, including Madeleine Albrights Fascism: A Warning.

The polarization also leads Trump supporters to worry about a coup  by the deep state against Trump  and some make glib references about resorting to violence.

We are in a civil war in this country, Joseph diGenova, a prominent conservative commentator on Fox News and other programs, told Laura Ingraham in her podcast. He added, As I say to my friends, I do two things  I vote and I buy guns.
Two Democratic presidential hopefuls, Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, weighed in on Twitter in support of Moms Demand Action, which is an arm of Everytown For Gun Safety, the gun control group financed by Michael Bloomberg. These moms are fighting to confront gun violence and protect our children, Ms. Harris said. They dont deserve to be mocked.

But a different narrative soon emerged: Kimberly Morin, the president of a gun rights group that also attended the hearing, told The New Hampshire Union Leader that her group had distributed the pearls. The hearing was over a proposed red flag bill, which would allow courts to temporarily take away guns from people found to be an immediate risk to themselves or others.

In an interview on Wednesday, Ms. Morin said the pearls were not meant to mock anyone, but had for years been a symbol for her group, the Womens Defense League of New Hampshire, which offers firearms training to women as well as advocating gun rights.

Shes lying, Ms. Morin said of Ms. Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action. Thats my comment  shes lying.

For her part, Ms. Watts said Ms. Morins group was backing away from the necklaces original intent. It started out meant to mock Moms Demand Action volunteers, she insisted.
Ilhan Omar, a freshman congresswoman embroiled in an anti-Semitism scandal. Who is she, and how did she get caught up in this? Omar is a Somali-American who came to the U.S. as a refugee, and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. I stand here before you tonight as your congresswoman-elect with many firsts behind my name. Shes also part of a new group of left-leaning Democratic congresswoman whove made waves in the House and faced criticism from establishment Democrats. Climate change and our environmental challenges are one of the biggest existential threats to our way of life. The fact that someone would actually use a prop, a black woman, in this chamber, in this committee is alone racist in itself. Donald Trump is setting a precedent  Mr. Chairman, I ask that her words be taken down  Donald Trump is setting a precedent. I reclaim my time. In February, Omar made headlines for her sharp questioning of a Reagan-era State Department employee. I fail to understand why members of this committee, or the American people, should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful. If I could respond to that  It wasnt a question. It was an attack. That was not, that was not a question that was, I reserve the right to my time. Since coming into office, shes faced controversy for her long-held criticisms of Israel, including this tweet from 2012, which have pitted her against some of its fiercest supporters in Congress. The recent allegations of anti-Semitism against Omar spurred from comments she made in this tweet. Some saw her tweet as anti-Semitic because she insinuated that American support for Israel is fueled by money from a pro-Israel lobbying group. Omar quickly apologized on Twitter, but President Trump still went on to call for her resignation. What she said is so deep-seated in her heart that her lame apology, thats what it was, it was lame, and she didnt mean a word of it, was just not appropriate. I think she should resign from Congress, frankly. Omar drew condemnation and debate within the Democratic Party. Her remarks were reprehensible, condemned by the vast expanse of the Democratic Party. We have a 17-year history of Steve King and racist remarks, and there was absolute silence on the Republican side of the aisle until recently. So why the double standard? Why the double standard between a young Muslim woman and all of this other history? Now the House is considering a resolution condemning anti-Semitism. Despite what happens, its stoked intense debate within the Democratic Party and exposed an ideological and generational divide.
WASHINGTON  President Trumps lead lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, said Wednesday that lawyers for several people facing scrutiny from the Justice Department in the investigations into the Trump campaign and presidency had contacted him to see whether the president would pardon their clients.

Mr. Giuliani declined to identify the lawyers who broached the subject with him or their clients. He made his statement in response to questions about Mr. Trumps former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who has told federal prosecutors in Manhattan about pardon discussions last year that involved Mr. Giuliani and a lawyer who was expressing interest in representing Mr. Cohen, according to people briefed on the matter.

The disclosure from Mr. Giuliani  and the new details about pardon discussions involving Mr. Cohen  highlighted again the continued questions about Mr. Trumps pardon power and how he might use it as the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III; other federal prosecutors; and Democrats in Congress investigate his political and business careers.

The discussions acknowledged by Mr. Giuliani demonstrate that, at the very least, some of those under investigation, or their lawyers, believed that it was worthwhile to ask about whether a pardon was on the table.
WASHINGTON  The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Chad A. Readler of Ohio as President Trumps 33rd federal appeals court judge despite bipartisan criticism that as a Justice Department official in the Trump administration he had shirked his official responsibility to defend the Affordable Care Act when it was challenged in court.

Mr. Readlers nomination is just the latest to divide the Senate as Republicans renew their drive to fill federal district and circuit court vacancies while gearing up to force through a Senate rules change to accelerate the confirmation process for the remainder of Mr. Trumps tenure.

With the approval of Mr. Readler to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and two other appeals court nominees headed for a vote, Mr. Trump will have filled nearly 20 percent of the nations appellate court judgeships. That is a pace well ahead of his predecessors and one that puts his stamp firmly on the federal judiciary, with nearly two years remaining in his term. President Barack Obama did not see his 33rd circuit judge confirmed until early in his second term.

The fight over Mr. Readler was intensified by his role in the legal struggle over the Affordable Care Act, which Democrats said he was obligated to defend as a top lawyer in the Justice Departments civil division because it was existing law. Instead, he filed a brief in support of a lawsuit by Republican attorneys general aimed at gutting the Affordable Care Act, and argued that it, and its protections against denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, was unconstitutional.
Kimberly Breier, the United States assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said on Twitter earlier Wednesday that the State Department was aware of Mr. Weddles arrest and demanded his immediate release, unharmed.

Mr. Weddle and Mr. Camacho joined dozens of journalists, both local and foreign, who have been detained in recent weeks in Venezuela.

The arrests came a week after the Mexican-American journalist Jorge Ramos was detained at the presidential palace after a confrontational interview during which he asked Mr. Maduro about the erosion of democracy and human rights in Venezuela, a once wealthy country whose economy has unraveled under Mr. Maduros rule.

There are increasingly brazen tactics being used, and that speaks to the continued disregard on the part of Maduro and other Venezuelan state agencies for press freedom and the safety of journalists, said Natalie Southwick, the Central and South America program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists. There is a lack of respect for the rights of journalists and the work they are doing in the country.

It has not been uncommon in recent years for foreign journalists to be arrested and deported for not having a visa that grants them permission to live and work in Venezuela, but that is not the case for Mr. Weddle. According to his most frequent freelance employer, the South Florida television network WPLG, he has permission to live and work in the country.

It is our understanding that he is living and working in Venezuela legally and has been doing so for the past four years, E. R. Bert Medina, the networks president, said in a statement. Cody has been dedicated and committed to telling the story in Venezuela to our viewers here in South Florida.

In a brief message on Facebook, Mr. Weddles mother said her son had told her that he had a visa granting him residency in Venezuela for five years.
He argued that cooperating with China on the infrastructure push would allow Italy, which is saddled with enormous debts and stuck at about zero growth, to export fashion, machinery, food, chemical and other goods to China in greater numbers. He said Italys current exports to China paled next to those of Germany and France. France, he said, sells seven times as much wine to China, and even Ireland exports more food and beverages there.

Those countries have been aggressive in pursuing trade with China, but they have also been wary of One Belt, One Road investment in their nations.

Germany and other countries have erected obstacles to foreign investment after Chinese companies, often with close ties to Beijing, bought big stakes in the carmaker Daimler, Deutsche Bank and Kuka, a German maker of industrial robots.

Italy abstained this month when the European Union voted to approve a regulation giving countries more power to scrutinize and block foreign investment, especially when it is supported by a foreign government. But the regulation, clearly written with China in mind, allows countries to let foreign money in if they choose.

Image Michele Geraci, Italys under secretary in the economic development ministry. It is a very fertile area for investment, he said of the potential influx of money from China. Credit... Angelika Warmuth/EPA, via Shutterstock

European leaders resistance to Chinese investment may have slowed, but it has not stopped. Direct investment by Chinese companies in the 28 countries of the European Union plunged 40 percent in 2018 to 17.3 billion, or $19.6 billion, according to a study published this week by the Rhodium Group, a consulting firm, and the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.

Much of the decline reflected the reduced buying power of Chinese companies because of slower economic growth. And Chinese investments in Germany still rose 400 million, to 2.1 billion, last year with the acquisitions of a pharmaceutical company and an auto industry supplier, the study found.
WASHINGTON  An American hostage who was freed in Yemen in February after nearly 18 months in captivity was rescued in an armed raid led by the United Arab Emirates with help from the United States, according to American and Yemeni officials.

The hostage, Danny Lavone Burch, had been held by a criminal Yemeni gang with a record of kidnapping Westerners for ransom. The gang was known to sell hostages to a powerful local affiliate of Al Qaeda, the officials said.

President Trump hosted Mr. Burch at the White House on Wednesday, crediting his release as a result of great help from U.A.E. and all of our friends. The president did not provide details, but also said Mr. Burchs rescue was one of a few negotiations worldwide to free Americans held captive.

Gosh, its great to be an American, Mr. Burch told a small group of American officials and journalists in the Oval Office.
Fans of contemporary art will be crisscrossing Manhattan this weekend, visiting fairs on Midtowns Far West Side, an East River pier and points in between. One should not live by art alone. Consider this: The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, which is running through Sunday at the Park Avenue Armory (which hosted another art fair  the Art Show  just last week).

[Read Roberta Smiths guide to surviving this weeks fairs.]

This weekend visitors to the Armory can review a cinema memorabilia collection that shines a light on L.G.B.T.Q. performers in Hollywoods early years and a Bible containing details about the tragic fates of slaves on a South Carolina plantation. This wide-ranging fair is a vivid reminder of, among many things, the importance of history and the hardships humans have endured. Here are six highlights from the dealers inventory.

Booth C26

Walter Reuben Inc.

Walter Reuben, who owns an eponymous cinema-memorabilia gallery in West Hollywood, Calif., has a collection of photographs and paperwork about L.G.B.T.Q. performers, directors and writers, and gay-themed productions. The collection (priced at $95,000) contains 1920s and 30s publicity shots of actors, like William Haines, whose careers came to an abrupt end after they were outed, as well as Elton John in concert regalia in the 1970s and stills from Lily Tomlins 1980s films. Mr. Reuben has also acquired photographs, scripts and advertisements for early films and shows with L.G.B.T.Q. characters who were open about their sexuality, including The Boys in the Band. Mr. Reuben said he hopes to find a buyer who will keep the archive intact, in order to foster research in a lesser-documented aspect of film history.
But investigators, much like in the recent Jussie Smollett case, werent able to find any video evidence to corroborate the attack and returned to the young woman with questions, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. The woman then confessed that the attack never took place, he said.
Our guide to new art shows and some that will be closing soon.

HILMA AF KLINT: PAINTINGS FOR THE FUTURE at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (through April 23). This rapturous exhibition upends Modernisms holiest genesis tale  that the male trinity of Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian invented abstract painting starting in 1913. It demonstrates that a female Swedish artist got there first (1906-7), in great style and a radically bold scale with paintings that feel startlingly contemporary. The mother of all revisionist shows regarding Modernism. (Roberta Smith)

212-423-3500, guggenheim.org

LUCIO FONTANA: ON THE THRESHOLD at the Met Breuer (through April 14). The art of this Argentine-Italian modernist looks a bit like it comes from another planet, and it might as well, given how seldom we see it in New York. The Met Breuer show, with single environments at the Met Fifth Avenue and El Museo del Barrio, is the artists first museum survey here in over 40 years. This wouldnt be especially notable  plenty of his Latin American peers never get seen at all  were Fontana, who died in 1968, not so influential a figure. The threshold in the title refers not only to the early phase of his career, which the Met Breuer exhibition highlights, but also to his position as a forebear of contemporary art as we know it. Things we take for granted  installation, new media and the poly-disciplinary impulse that defines so many 21st-century careers  Fontana pioneered in the 1950s. (Holland Cotter)

212-535-7710, metmuseum.org

THE JIM HENSON EXHIBITION at the Museum of the Moving Image. The rainbow connection has been established in Astoria, Queens, where this museum has opened a new permanent wing devoted to the career of Americas great puppeteer, who was born in Mississippi in 1936 and died, too young, in 1990. Henson began presenting the short TV program Sam and Friends before he was out of his teens; one of its characters, the soft-faced Kermit, was fashioned from his mothers old coat and would not mature into a frog for more than a decade. The influence of early variety television, with its succession of skits and songs, runs through Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, though Henson also spent the late 1960s crafting peace-and-love documentaries and prototyping a psychedelic nightclub. Young visitors will delight in seeing Big Bird, Elmo, Miss Piggy and the Swedish Chef; adults can dig deep into sketches and storyboards and rediscover some old friends. (Jason Farago)

718-784-0077, movingimage.us

FRIDA KAHLO: APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING at the Brooklyn Museum (through May 12). This is not exactly an exhibition of Kahlos art  it contains just 11 paintings, from compelling self-portraits to ghastly New Age kitsch  but an evocation of an artistic life through her elegant Oaxacan blouses and skirts, not to mention the corsets and spinal braces she wore after a crippling traffic accident. Do her outfits have the weight of art, or are they just so much biographical flimflam? Your answer may vary depending on your degree of Fridamania, but the woven shawls and color-saturated long skirts here, as well as gripping photographs of the artist by Carl Van Vechten, Imogen Cunningham, Manuel Alvarez Bravo and other great shutterbugs, suggest Kahlos real accomplishment was a Duchampian extension of her art far beyond the easel, into her home, her fashion and her public relationships. (Farago)

718-638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nights highlights that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. If youre interested in hearing from The Times regularly about great TV, sign up for our Watching newsletter and get recommendations straight to your inbox.

Slugging the Sacklers

A lawsuit against Purdue Pharma has thrown back the curtain on the Sacklers, one of Americas wealthiest families. Their company produced OxyContin and subsequently covered up the drugs addictive qualities, according to the suit. Until recently, the Sacklers have been known for their philanthropy more than their business. But that is changing, as Samantha Bee pointed out in a withering segment of Full Frontal on Wednesday.
This is the story Swenson sets out to recount in his book, though he makes plain early on that it is not the only story he is going to tell. Tales of exoneration after wrongful imprisonment face some fundamental narrative challenges. For one thing, the outcome is already known: long-overdue vindication. For another thing, these accounts present a dramatic situation that is almost too vast to conceive of  the nightmare of spending a decade or two or three locked away for a crime you didnt commit  while at the same time often fairly pedestrian and limited in its legal particulars. Its the sort of story that is both too big for a book, and not big enough. To address the latter problem, Swenson has paired his account of what happened to these three men with the story of the city in which they were arrested and convicted.

Image

Their fate, Swenson suggests, is tied up with the fate of Cleveland, which, when they were born in the 1950s, was still one of the 10 biggest cities in the country, but by the time they were charged in 1975 was in sharp decline, a product of white flight, de-industrialization and disinvestment. He links the mens wrongful imprisonment to a litany of ongoing institutional failures in the city, among them neglecting to apprehend a serial killer who, undetected for years, hid 11 womens bodies at his home in an impoverished East Side neighborhood; the devastation wreaked over the last decade by subprime lenders; and a sweeping corruption racket in the government of Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland. If wed hit the point where we no longer expected our police officers to stop serial killers before body counts reached the double digits  if whole neighborhoods could disappear now under fine-print mortgages while the county government simply watched a tax base drain away, he writes, was it so hard then to believe the criminal justice system could put the wrong men in jail for a murder?

The answer to that rhetorical question is of course no, but the details of how the system got this one wrong still manage to shock. On May 19, 1975, a white 58-year-old money-order salesman by the name of Harry Franks was making his rounds collecting cash when two young men confronted him outside a convenience store, hit him with a metal pipe, tossed acid in his face and tried to grab his briefcase full of money. One of the robbers pulled a gun and shot Franks, killing him, while wounding a woman inside the store.

In the ensuing days, the police would get tips about several possible suspects. But they took the word of 12-year-old Edward Vernon, who had been in the crowd of kids that gathered around the crime scene and, when an officer came over to inquire for witnesses, eagerly volunteered himself. He later identified Rickey Jackson, 18, as the shooter and Ronnie Bridgeman, 17 (who later changed his name to Kwame Ajamu), as the co-assailant; the police alleged that Wiley Bridgeman, 20, Ronnies brother, had driven the getaway car. The ensuing trials of the defendants, who like Vernon were African-American, were riddled with red flags: A teenage girl who was inside the store insisted that the attackers were not Rickey and Ronnie; inconsistencies proliferated in the accounts Ed gave the police and the various juries; testimony by other children that Ed had not left school early that day on a city bus, a crucial element of his account. One boy testified that when he asked Ed on the day of the murder how he could have seen the killer when the other kids he was with had not, Ed said, I have got X-ray eyes. Nonetheless, juries voted to convict all three.

Swenson does his best to conjure the unimaginable years that follow, as the men are dispersed across the Ohio prison system. Rickey witnesses three murders and a gang rape. Wiley is diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia and spends nearly half his time in mental health units.
The first miniature books to enter Patricia J. Pistners life were ones she made with paper and a staple gun for her childhood dollhouse many years ago. She placed them on tiny doll tables in tiny doll rooms and read them aloud to tiny dolls. A house has to have books in it, she said recently.

There would be more dollhouses  ones she and her husband built and furnished for his granddaughters, and the now famous Pistner House, a five-and-a-half-foot-high marvel of 18th-century French architecture and design that features perfectly-scaled miniature reproductions, made over half a decade, by 65 artists and artisans. That led to a new obsession. I made a life-changing decision to put in a library, Pistner said, and instead of using faux books I decided I would have real books.

Fast forward a number of years  and a number of courses on antiquarian books, miniature books and the history of bookbinding  to now, when Pistner (pronounced PEIST-ner) has become one of the countrys foremost collectors of miniature books. About 950 books from her collection are currently on display at the Grolier Club, the nations oldest society of bibliophiles, in Manhattan. (The exhibition, curated by Pistner and Jan Storm van Leeuwen, closes on May 19.)
In a sign of the growing backlash against cashless stores around the country, the City of Philadelphia will require retailers to accept legal tender starting this summer.

Retail outlets that have stopped accepting cash say it is faster and easier for their employees to process digital payments. But critics say the practice discriminates against people without bank accounts or credit cards, or who simply prefer to pay cash.

City Councilman Bill Greenlee, a co-sponsor of the bill, said it would ensure fairness as residents complete everyday transactions.

It just seemed to me unfair that I could walk into a coffee shop right across from City Hall, and I had a credit card and could get a cup of coffee. And the person behind me, who had United States currency, could not, he said in a phone interview on Thursday.
But Tammy McCutchen, one of the architects of the Bush administrations increase, said she was pleased that the department had set the threshold at about the 20th percentile of earnings for salaried workers in the South  in line with where she and her colleagues had set it in 2004.

I think thats what they had to do in light of the Texas court decision, said Ms. McCutchen, a lawyer at the management-side firm Littler Mendelson. Anything higher would have been subject to challenge again.

Many employers and business groups argued that while the 2004 threshold was in need of an increase, the magnitude of the Obama change was unreasonable.

Some argued that it would significantly increase costs for employers, who would either have to pay out hundreds of millions more in overtime or raise workers salaries above the new threshold to avoid paying additional overtime. Many critics also said salaried workers would suffer a loss of status by having to account for their time the way hourly workers do.

The Obama administration argued that its proposal was modest by historical standards, noting that it would make fewer than 40 percent of salaried workers eligible for overtime pay based on their salaries, far less than the percentage who were eligible in 1975.

Even so, it estimated that more than four million workers would gain the right to overtime pay under its rule.

Other skeptics argued that the change would have little impact because employers would lower the base wage of people who work significant overtime hours, leaving their total pay, including wages and overtime, roughly unchanged.
A program created by a group that organizes farmworkers has persuaded companies like Walmart and McDonalds to buy their tomatoes from growers who follow strict labor standards. But high-profile holdouts have threatened to halt the efforts progress.

Now the group, a nonprofit called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, is raising pressure on one of the most prominent holdouts  Wendys  which it sees as an obstacle to expansion.

The Immokalee workers initiative, called the Fair Food Program, currently benefits about 35,000 laborers, primarily in Florida. Over the last decade, it has helped transform the states tomato industry from one in which wage theft and violence were rampant to an industry with the some of the highest labor standards in American agriculture.

Theyve already been successful in a measurable way at effectively eliminating modern-day slavery and sexual assault, and greatly reducing harassment, said Susan L. Marquis, dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, Calif., who has written a book on the program. Pay is substantially higher for these people.
Chris Wallace sounded a little bit wistful, and a little bit wry.

Im disappointed, he said by telephone on Thursday. There would have been a certain man-bites-dog quality to it: the Democrats showing up on Fox.

But Mr. Wallace, the Fox News Sunday moderator, had to put aside his hope for a Fox News-sponsored Democratic primary debate on Wednesday, when Democratic officials rejected the idea in an unusually sharp rebuke.

To be banned, or boycotted, for the 12 debates over the next year, is kind of stunning, he said in his first extended comments on the matter. There are a lot of voters that a Democrat is going to need to get elected president who watch Fox News. People in the Rust Belt states, the rural areas that Hillary Clinton lost. They would have been able to see the Democratic candidates make their arguments about why theyre better able to represent their interests.

The Democratic chairman, Tom Perez, attributed his rejection of Fox News in part to an article published by The New Yorker that, he wrote, chronicled the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News.
MADRID  As Spain grapples with a turbulent political crisis, one of Europes last Socialist governments may soon fall amid the rise of a new nationalism in the country. But whatever the outcome, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is leaving behind a signature legacy: a record increase in the minimum wage.

The 22 percent rise that took effect in January, to 1,050 euros (about $1,200) a month, is the largest in Spain in 40 years. Yet the move has ignited a debate over whether requiring employers to pay more of a living wage is a social watershed, or a risky attempt at economic engineering.

Mr. Sanchez insists that the plan will underpin growth by putting more money into the pockets of low-paid workers, which will flow back to the economy through increased spending. Critics, including Spains own central bank, have warned that it will kill tens of thousands of jobs by increasing business costs.

Its a debate playing out around the world, as politicians and officials try to address issues of inequality plaguing their economies.
BEIJING  President Trump says he is optimistic that a landmark trade deal with China is close. Chinese officials are not so sure.

The two sides in recent weeks agreed to the broad outlines of an agreement that would roll back tariffs in both countries, with China buying more American goods and opening up some markets to foreign goods. The trade deal looks like a good one for Beijing, since it would largely spare the government from making substantive changes to its economy.

But some of the biggest details  like the enforcement mechanism to ensure China complies and the timing for the removal of tariffs  still havent been hammered out. Beijing officials are wary that the final terms may be less favorable, especially given Mr. Trumps propensity for last-minute changes, according to two people familiar with Chinas position.

The work team is still continuing to negotiate because we still have a lot to do, Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said on the sidelines of the 11-day annual session of the National Peoples Congress, which began on Tuesday. At the legislative meeting, senior Chinese officials have been taking turns warning that challenges remain.
While the next general election is nearly two years away, the issue already promises to be one of the biggest ballot measure fights in Illinois history, with dark money groups that arent required to disclose their donors lining up on either side. One  Think Big Illinois  is tied to the governor, and the other  Ideas Illinois  is tied to business interests.
Calvin Klein is getting out of fashion . At least the trendsetting, wardrobe-shaping kind.

On Thursday, the brand whose combination of sex appeal and minimal sportswear helped define American style for an international audience, and which was once a tent pole of the New York Fashion Week schedule, said that it would be closing its luxury collection business.

Collection is the official designation of the line shown during fashion week. It is the most expensive part of the business and accounts for the clothes most often seen in glossy magazine shoots and on celebrities. Calvin Klein is, at least for the foreseeable future, leaving the runway behind.

The move comes three months after the departure of Calvin Kleins chief creative officer, the Belgian designer Raf Simons, whose appointment had been announced with great fanfare in 2016 (and who had changed the name Collection to 205W39NYC, after the address of the brands headquarters). His ascension was billed as a return to the years of Calvin Klein, when one visionary designer was responsible for all aspects of the brand. Closing the brands collection business marks not only a complete reversal of that decision, but the rejection of a business model long held dear in the industry: the so-called halo effect of a high-end line that acts as an attention-getter and newsmaker, driving sales of more mass (and profit-generating) jeans, underwear and perfume.
PARIS  Is the concept store over as a, well, concept?

What is a concept store? Personally, I dont know any, said Arthur Gerbi, the president of Merci, a multibrand, multicategory store founded in 2009 and labeled by everyone, back in the era of the now-closed Colette, as Pariss other concept store. To me, a store is a reflection of the people who work there. I believe in the edit, the eye, the curation.

It may sound like semantics, but as its 10th anniversary nears, Merci is focused on redefining what, exactly, is the retail experience. This month, it is doing a slow reveal of an annex called, simply, the apartment. Its not so much a place for commerce as a way of being: It will be about discovery, sharing, pleasure, Mr. Gerbi said.

It has been germinating for a decade, and took the past two years to blossom.

Ever since its successful pop-up experiment in a house in Montmartre in 2017 (a partnership with the lifestyle website My Little Paris), the Merci team had been thinking about a way to expand its own lifestyle philosophy.
What happens if you get a dream job, and it means giving up on your own name?

Increasingly that is an unavoidable choice for young designers who come to public attention by starting their own labels with a few friends, and even fewer funds, and then get snapped up by heritage names with big budgets, reputations and resources. There is one catch: The roles require full commitment.

Such was the dilemma facing Paul Andrew. Last month he was promoted from womens wear and accessories design director at the Italian leather goods brand Salvatore Ferragamo to be creative director across all collections for the luxury house. His purview will extend to mens wear and brand image strategy at a critical juncture for the business. Ferragamo, which in recent years has struggled to gain online visibility and win over younger luxury shoppers  and has recently been subject to takeover speculation  is in the midst of a major restructuring effort.

The demands of the new job will require Mr. Andrew to effectively relocate to Italy from New York, his long time home base and the headquarters of Paul Andrew, the namesake footwear line he started in 2012. Though he won the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund prize in 2014 on the strength of his label  and as of January, it was stocked by more than 100 wholesale partners  he chose to hit the pause button. His 2019 spring-summer collection will be the last one shipped to stores and sold online  for now  and excess stock will be donated to charity.

It wasnt the easiest decision by any means, Mr. Andrew said by telephone from New York. It wasnt as if business was bad, and I have worked very hard to build the Paul Andrew brand into what it is today. But Ive been offered such a big opportunity from Ferragamo, and I want it to be a success. There is a lot of work to do that will need my one focus and energy, not to mention a lot of time in Italy. This felt like the right call.
Forget the diamond engagement ring. These days, anything from a leaf to a puppy will do the job, as couples seek out ways to create their own love narrative from the very beginning.

Customization is at an unprecedented level among couples who are engaged, or nearly there, said Kylie Carlson, the chief executive of the International Academy of Wedding and Event Planning, an online school with seven global campuses.

Instagram and Pinterest offered unprecedented access to ideas and examples, she said. For better or for worse, some were eager to be that next viral hit.

Whether guided by the hope of fame or the simple desire to do their engagement their own way, the latest crop of newly engaged couples arent flashing sparklers.

The trend of bending the rules started a few years ago, and has been gaining steam ever since, said Lauren Kay, the deputy editor of The Knot.
The cancer that has struck Alex Trebek, the 78-year-old host of the television quiz show Jeopardy!, is uncommon and devastating: a Stage 4 malignancy of the pancreas, the insulin-producing organ that lies behind the stomach.

Pancreatic cancer strikes about 55,000 people each year in the United States, accounting for 3 percent of all cancers but 7 percent of all cancer deaths. Thats because it can be so difficult to detect and treat. Stage 4, unfortunately, is the most advanced level.

The main risk factor is aging, and Mr. Trebek is in the right age range, said Dr. Ursina Teitelbaum, clinical director of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

What is pancreatic cancer?

There are several types, but the most common by far is adenocarcinoma: Tumors arise in pancreatic glands that make enzymes to help digest foods.
The northeastern part of the country where the epidemic has struck has been a conflict zone for decades, with more than 100 armed groups, as well as security forces posing a constant threat of violence to the population.

Distrust of outsiders is entrenched, and grew in two areas, Beni and Butembo, after the government barred residents there from voting in the long-delayed elections in December, supposedly because of concerns about the spread of Ebola. Many people thought the government had used the disease as an excuse to keep them from voting, and some of their anger turned against the outside groups that had drawn so much attention to Ebola.

Recent attacks on two treatment centers operated by Doctors Without Borders led the group to close them, and brought a scorching and highly unusual self-assessment by Dr. Liu, who included her organization among those that had fallen short. She urged medical teams to treat Ebola patients as humans and not as a biothreat.

She blamed not the communities, but the responders, for failing to win peoples trust.

They hear constant advice to wash their hands, but nothing about the lack of soap and water, Dr. Liu said. They see their relatives sprayed with chlorine and wrapped in plastic bags, buried without ceremony. Then they see their possessions burned.

In a piercing essay published on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, another physician from Doctors Without Borders, Dr. Vinh-Kim Nguyen, wrote: Early in the epidemic, we witnessed armed agents forcibly bringing patients in for treatment. In a population already traumatized by violence and forceful responses to numerous crises, such tactics fuel distrust of responders, which prompts patients to flee and spawns violence.

Dr. Nguyen also noted that when Ebola teams were accompanied by security forces, they were met with fear and distrust, especially of forced vaccination. But when the security forces were absent, people would actually ask to be vaccinated.

The lesson is clear: Guns and public health dont mix, he wrote.

Dr. Liu said aid groups needed to offer help in ways the community would accept, even if it meant helping families to safely care for Ebola patients at home, or giving them information and equipment to carry out safe burials on their own .
Imagine its a Friday night. All your friends told you they were busy, so youre sitting at home, alone, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. But then you see a post that stops you in your tracks. Its a picture of all of your friends hanging out together  without you.

Has this ever happened to you? If so, how did it make you feel? How did you react? If it has not happened, how do you think it might feel to be left out by your friends? What would you do?

In They Left Me Out, and I Saw It All, Hallie Reed, a college student, writes about a time when this very thing happened to her:

It was my first semester of college, and I was still finding my footing. I rushed and pledged a sorority. I also joined an academic program, all in the hopes of being socially engaged and establishing genuine friendships I could rely on during college. There were still lonely days, but things were looking up. A group of us were having semiregular game nights and restaurant outings, which to me was the very definition of college besties. One Friday, I joyfully announced to my mom over the phone, I think I finally found my friend group! Later that afternoon, my three new friends told me individually that they would be out of town that weekend. I assumed they each had plans. No big deal. Then I checked Instagram the next day. They were spending the weekend in Chattanooga together. How did I know? Every facet of the trip was documented on Instagram. There they were, eating ice cream and having a photo shoot in front of a pink polka-dot wall. There they were laughing on a bridge and there they were playing in the leaves. There they were, having fun without me. We tend to talk a lot about having FOMO when we scroll through our social media feeds, but fearing youre missing out and knowing youve been left out are different. We can let our imaginations fill in the gaps about other peoples lives, but sometimes it doesnt take much imagination at all to see that people are doing awesome things without you. Thats the cost of living with social media. It seems like everyone has a story like mine. Savannah Elliott, another student at my school, Samford University, remembers asking a friend if she wanted to hang out one weekend. She said she was sick with the flu, Ms. Elliott said. I saw later on Instagram stories that she gave a party and didnt invite me. Laura Asher, a junior sociology major from Kentucky, recalled a time her freshman year when she asked her friends what they were doing that night. Nobody texted me back. I assumed that they were just staying home for the night, Ms. Asher said. Later I checked Instagram and saw they had all posted pictures and Stories of them at a country concert. Research shows these negative reactions to our social media feeds arent limited to us few. One study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that young adults with higher social media use seem to feel more socially isolated than young adults with lower social media use. Even worse, the journal Computers in Human Behavior found that for young adults, the use of more social media platforms is linked to higher risks of symptoms of anxiety and depression. Youll never be invited to everything. But it can be hard to not feel hurt and betrayed when you see exactly what youre missing plastered all over social media. So what can you do?

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

 Have you ever been left out, as Ms. Reed was? How did it feel? What did you do when you found out?

 Have you ever excluded someone else from something? Did they find out? How did being on the other side of this situation make you feel?

 Do you ever have FOMO, the fear of missing out, when scrolling through social media? How do you handle it?

 After reading Philip Galaness advice, how might you look at the reasons you were left out  or felt as if you were missing out  differently?

 What other tips can you use from this article for the next time you are (or feel) excluded? What suggestions would you add to Mr. Galaness list and why?
Below, the February 2019 edition of Teenagers in The Times. This roundup of the news and feature stories about young people that have recently appeared across sections of NYTimes.com appears on the first Thursday of each month during the school year.

For ideas about how to use Teenagers in The Times with your students, please see our lesson plan and special activity sheet, both of which can be used with this or any other edition.

_________

Education
The daguerreotype shows a 7-year old girl. Her face is pale, her expression somber. Her elegant plaid dress, trimmed in lace, and the notebook on the cloth-covered table behind her, suggest that she comes from a prosperous family.

Though modest, the photograph taken in Boston in 1855, is actually historic. It shows not a white child but a black girl  Mary Mildred Williams  who was born into slavery. It was an image so compelling to white Americans at the time that it helped transform the abolition movement. Housed in relative obscurity at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the daguerreotype was recently rediscovered by the photographer and scholar Jessie Morgan-Owens while researching her dissertation.

Marys daguerreotype was one of the first images of photographic propaganda and one of the first portraits made solely to prove a political point, Ms. Morgan-Owens wrote. It marks a forgotten moment in media history: when photography, introduced to the United States in 1839, first began to make its tenacious claim on our sympathies and on our political points of view.

Mary is now the subject of Ms. Morgan-Owenss groundbreaking book, Girl in Black and White: The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement (W.W. Norton & Company). Mary and her family had been enslaved in Virginia. Her father, Henry Williams, escaped to Boston and worked with members of the Vigilance Committee, which provided legal and financial help for fugitive slaves, to free his family in the South. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, a prominent ally, saw an opportunity in the familys story.
The documentary Ferrante Fever is, as its title suggests, less about Elena Ferrante  the enigmatic, pseudonymous Italian writer whose Neapolitan novels have enthralled readers around the world  and more about the author as a literary phenomenon. Its an anodyne fan flick that casts only furtive glances in Ferrantes direction, as if the filmmaker, Giacomo Durzi, were a reverential subject who doesnt dare to make eye contact with the queen.

His approach is worshipful, decorous and therefore strikingly incongruous with the layered, ambivalent genius that his film pays tribute to  a novelist who has made a point to excavate the darker recesses of a womans experience. Ever mindful of what Ferrante has called her deliberate absence, Durzi has opted to have writers, editors and other cultural figures explain what it is they find so beguiling about her books.
Bing Guan, a freelance journalist from New York and student at the International Center of Photography, said he and a colleague were stopped by U.S. agents while returning from Tijuana in December. A plainclothes agent who didn't identify his agency showed Guan a multi-page document with dozens of photos and asked him to identify people in the images. The agent then asked Guan to show him the photos he had taken in Tijuana.
The title character in Gloria Bell  played by a transcendent Julianne Moore  is a restless life force. In most other movies, she might also be a cliche. A middle-aged divorcee, she lives alone in a Los Angeles apartment that doesnt quite feel like a home. Her adult children are off having their own lives; her son has a new baby. Gloria keeps a tidy house, works in insurance, has friends, smokes. She also sings and she dances, moving to pop confections that sound like chapter titles in a wistful romance: A Little More Love, All Out of Love, No More Lonely Nights.

The Chilean writer-director Sebastian Lelio has told this story before in a somewhat different key. His 2013 movie Gloria also centers on a divorced middle-aged woman who lives by herself and doesnt like the hairless cat who keeps stealthily invading her place. That Gloria lived (and danced) in Santiago and was played by the superb Paulina Garcia, who, like Moore, inhabits the character so deeply that the performance can feel like a possession. Beat for beat and subtly different line for line, the two movies can seem eerily alike; Lelio has likened Gloria Bell to a cover version. The redo feels lighter, perhaps because it is unburdened by originality.

The first movie was inexorably saturated in the Chilean history that comes with any character whos lived through the Pinochet dictatorship. The new Gloria, by contrast, feels unselfconsciously free of her countrys history, its immensity and heaviness, which feels very American. Theres music on Glorias car radio, not news, and the Trump presidency might as well not exist. (The movie was shot in 2017.) Its easy to imagine that Gloria has attended a womans march or two (if just for the company), but her pastimes skew classic Californian: She takes a yoga class, smokes weed and attends what looks like a laughter therapy session filled with joyous, hands-on communion.
Starting as violently as it plans to continue, Vincent DOnofrios The Kid drops us into a savage altercation as Rio (Jake Schur), 13, kills his abusive father before slicing the face of his scummy uncle, Grant (Chris Pratt). Primed by the boys affectless narration (here, when characters arent practicing brutality, theyre talking about it), we intuit that what will follow for Rio and his older sister, Sara (Leila George), is unlikely to be pretty.

Set in the American Southwest in 1879, The Kid feels less like an actual movie than a table-napkin idea for one. A fateful encounter with Billy the Kid (Dane DeHaan) and his nemesis, Sheriff Pat Garrett (Ethan Hawke), lands the siblings in Santa Fe and back in Grants clutches. For Sara, that means the brothel, where Grant seemingly has a season pass; for Rio, it means deciding which of his two new acquaintances he can trust to rescue her.
The restructuring plan could give Mr. Cuomo (even more) significant control over the M.T.A., after years of him denying or downplaying that influence. The governor suggested in the radio interview that he would ask legislators to consider changing how the agencys board members  of whom Mr. Cuomo controls a plurality but not a majority  are chosen.

Some lawmakers have already expressed skepticism. State Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, said the scope and purpose of the expert panel, as well as the governors long-term plans for the M.T.A., remained unclear.

There are many still unanswered questions, and numbers that dont necessarily add up right, she said. But I certainly agree that we have a crisis for mass transit funding, and dramatic solutions must be implemented.

Buckling up

What do seatbelts have to do with state spending? Unclear. But theyre in the budget anyway, in the form of a proposal to make back-seat passengers wear them.

Currently, its illegal in New York to ride without a seatbelt in the front seat, and in both the front and back for anyone under 16.

Its not contested that rear seatbelts save lives: A 2007 study found that crash mortality could be reduced by as much as 75 percent for people in the back seat if they wore seatbelts.

But that doesnt explain why the proposal was in the budget, rather than introduced as a separate bill. Except that this is how the budget in Albany is always done: crammed with nonfiscal matters that the governor or other lawmakers want. After all, its harder to reject any one policy when its tied to a $170 billion budget for the entire state. Ah, transparency.
Now a nonprofit group is making public thousands of lawsuits by people who say they are victims of police misconduct in New York City.

The group, the Legal Aid Society, unveiled an online database yesterday called CAPstat. But police unions in New York warn that the information includes false allegations.

Heres what you need to know about it:

What does the database include?

To date, the database contains information about 2,339 lawsuits accusing 3,897 officers of violating the federal civil rights of various plaintiffs.

The suits were filed between January 2015 and mid-2018.

The website also has disciplinary records for about 1,800 officers accused of misconduct between 2011 and 2015.

Why is the database useful?

You can look up who has been sued, and why.

Its not just about finding a bad officer, but identifying systemic problems, said Cynthia Conti-Cook, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society.
Or perhaps we might also wonder if and where they learned that it is perfectly fine to express a mischievous, rebellious or playful side through the use of such cruel and divisive imagery. This generation of children has grown up with constant screen time, inundated with an endless stream of images that eventually renders many of those visual signifiers meaningless, where Nazi symbolism is just processed as more cartoonish provocation.

Just this week during an assembly at Sidwell Friends, the progressive Quaker school in Washington from which Chelsea Clinton and Malia Obama graduated, a student participating in a trivia contest flashed a user name consisting of two swastikas onto a screen visible to the whole auditorium. It was not the first time that swastikas have shown up at the school in recent months.

And in Orange County, Calif., a group of high-school students came under fire for building a swastika out of red, plastic beer cups during a drinking game at a party. Were they bilious members of the alt-right?

When one participant apologized on social media, she said that she considered what she and her friends had done as a joke and not a big deal, until photos of the incident went viral and they realized the seriousness of their antics.

The contemporary school environment emphasizes diversity and inclusion to a point unprecedented in history. Children are put in restorative circles and taught to love and respect one another, to make up and never to antagonize, tease, bully or invalidate. But do these conceptualizations stand up to the corrective lessons of history?

New York is one of a number of states in which Holocaust education is mandated, but the general shift toward a greater focus on science, technology and mathematics and away from the humanities, happening across the education system and around the country, has pushed certain subjects and ideas dangerously into the rearview.

Last year a study conducted by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, for example, interviewed 1,350 American adults and found that 66 percent of millennial respondents could not identify Auschwitz as a concentration camp.
Jerry Merryman, a self-taught electrical engineer who helped design the first pocket calculator, died on Feb. 27 in Dallas. He was 86.

His wife, Phyllis (Lee) Merryman, said the cause was heart and kidney failure. He had been hospitalized since late December for complications arising from surgery to install a pacemaker.

In 1965, two years after he joined the electronics maker Texas Instruments without a college degree, the company asked Mr. Merryman and two other engineers to build a calculator that could fit into a shirt pocket.

He designed the fundamental circuitry in less than three days, and when Texas Instruments unveiled the device two years later, the moment marked a transformational shift in the way Americans would handle everyday mathematics for the next four decades.
John Shafer, who abandoned a career as a Chicago publishing executive to join the vanguard of a new generation of vintners in Californias Napa Valley, died on March 2 in the city of Napa. He was 94.

His death was announced by Andy Demsky, a spokesman for the Shafer family.

Mr. Shafer (pronounced SHAY-fer) was 47 when he resolved to acquire a winery as an absentee owner and one day retire as a gentleman farmer. His horticultural experience had been limited to planting flowers in his front yard.

But within six months of that decision, he took a leap. He left his job at what he described as an ossified company to take up a second career in which he could be his own boss and work outdoors.

In 1973, he transplanted his family 2,000 miles west to a 209-acre hillside tract at the base of the Stags Leap Palisades, in what was then a sleepy valley north of San Francisco. He paid $260,000 for the land (about $1.5 million today).
Once again, the Trump White House is publicly crossing swords with the intelligence community in ways that are likely to harm American security.

The latest salvo is an effort taking shape over the next few weeks to red team the science of climate change  in effect, to challenge it and investigate it for uncertainties. The backdrop for the scheme is President Trump publicly questioning the accuracy of the nations most extensive and scientifically robust assessment by 13 federal agencies that showed how stronger storms, higher sea levels, more heat waves and sundry other effects of climate change will harm the nation. This same science has also informed a new intelligence community report that identifies climate change as a significant threat to national security.

Impacts typical of a changing climate are already buffeting the front lines of Americas military presence. Some are palpable and easily trace back to warming. For example, in Alaska, erosion from warmer weather is undermining the foundations at some radar facilities that are critical early-warning networks for attacks on the United States. They are among dozens of facilities the Pentagon has tagged as at risk from recurrent flooding, drought, desertification, wildfires or thawing permafrost resulting from shifts in climate that are happening much faster than expected. To some degree, better engineering  although often at substantially higher cost  will help reduce these impacts.

Much more insidious are the effects of warming on the social fabric and confidence in government in countries whose stability matters to American security. As commander of United States forces in Afghanistan and other locations, one of us (General Allen) dealt regularly with insurgencies and failed states that created direct dangers to American security. In Afghanistan, for example, the failure of the state is linked in part to weaker agriculture (the main source of income in most communities).
The real lesson to take away from Europe is that progressive social programs are most popular, most effective and most durable when they are carried out in ways that do not damage business prosperity. European social reformers didnt just reduce poverty and inequality. They created a new reality. When conservatives come into power in European countries, they find they cannot take away the progressive policies.

European reformers managed this by embedding progressive policies in business-oriented arrangements. Low taxes on capital are just one example. We dont need to enact exactly the same policies now  given how much wealthy Americans have benefited over the last several decades, progressive taxation still has a role to play in the United States  but we do need to learn the larger lesson that the secret of the European welfare states is that they are surprisingly business-friendly.

What would a policy that takes these lessons to heart look like in the United States today? It would look a lot like a business-oriented version of the Green New Deal. The recent proposal by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Edward Markey needs a great deal of work, but it is far from a pipe dream  indeed, its the only proposal we have that is trying to face difficult truths.

For the plan to reduce carbon emissions, however, it has to get started now, and stay in place a long time, including through the next few conservative backlashes. The only way to do that  the only way to make it the new reality of the American economy, rather than a temporary attempt swept away by conservative populism  is to get business on board. This isnt just because businesses will otherwise fight it, its because the American people will otherwise fight it.

To move from vision to reality, the Green New Deal coalition must include business groups, manufacturers, farmers and unions, and reformers need to genuinely listen to and respond to their concerns. They need to focus on solving problems such as the decline in productivity and work force participation, by using the revenue from a carbon tax to create jobs in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and by using higher taxes on capital gains to fund infrastructure, education, and research and development.
On Monday, Google announced something unusual: After its annual pay equity analysis, it gave most of the raises to adjust for unequal practices to men.

The company says that it was about to make changes this year that would have compensated many men less than women in a certain job category, so it headed off that inequity. But the analysis appears to leave out many of the factors that women at the company say have led them to be paid less. The companys annual reviews only compare people in the same job categories, yet women say the problem is that they are hired into lower-tier and lower-pay positions while men start in higher-level jobs with higher pay brackets.

Its hard to know for sure whats going on with Googles wage gap, because the company wont release all of its data publicly. In prior years it claimed that it had no gap in pay between men and women, while arguing that it shouldnt have to hand over detailed data to the Department of Labor, which analyzes pay practices at government contractors. Yet in 2016 the Labor Department found that Google had systemic disparities, which an official called quite extreme.

A new rule could help make sense of whats going on. On Monday, a federal judge cleared the way for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to start requiring companies with 100 or more employees to collect and report their pay scales broken down by gender and race. President Barack Obama proposed the rule in 2016, but when Donald Trump came into the White House, he halted its implementation, saying it imposed too large a burden on businesses and wasnt likely to offer meaningful enough insights into pay discrimination.
Israel has hypnotized the world, she tweeted in 2012. May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. Last month, she wrote that U.S. support for Israel was all about the Benjamins baby. A few weeks after that, she told an audience in D.C. that I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is O.K. to push for allegiance to a foreign country. Confronted with criticism about the remark from her fellow Democrat Nita Lowey, she replied: I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee.

Under intense pressure, Omar recanted those first two tweets. But shes standing her ground on her more recent comments. Its a case study in the ease with which strident criticism of Israel shades into anti-Semitism.

For those who dont get it, claims that Israel hypnotizes the world, or that it uses money to bend others to its will, or that its American supporters push for allegiance to a foreign country, repackage falsehoods commonly used against Jews for centuries . People can debate the case for Israel on the merits, but those who support the state should not have to face allegations that t heir sympathies have been purchased, or their brains hijacked, or their loyalties divided.

Its also a case study in the insidious cunning and latent power of anti-Jewish bigotry proof that anti-Semitism is not, after all, merely the socialism of fools. Omar, I suspect, knows exactly what she is doing. She pleads ignorance when it suits her, saying she was unaware that her references to hypnosis and Benjamins might be considered offensive. Or she wraps herself in the flag, sounding almost like Pat Buchanan when he called Congress Israeli-occupied territory. Or she invokes free speech, telling Lowey our democracy is built on debate  as if the debate she wants to force is as innocuous as a dispute over a spending bill.

As the criticism of Omar mounts, it becomes that much easier for her to seem like the victim of a smear campaign, rather than the instigator of a smear. The secret of anti-Semitism has always rested, in part, on creating the perception that the anti-Semite is, in fact, the victim of the Jews and their allies. Just which powers-that-be are orchestrating that campaign? Why are they afraid of open debate? And what about all the bigotry on their side?
LAHORE, Pakistan  India and Pakistan dont have to be on the brink of war. Negotiators painstakingly put together a way out of the crisis and a road map for resolution of the Kashmir dispute in the mid-2000s, and we need to get back to it.

Kashmir has been disputed since 1947, with India holding around two-thirds and Pakistan one-third of its territory and both claiming all of it. The unresolved future of the largely Muslim region has led to three wars between the two countries, while frustration with Indian misrule in Indian-controlled Kashmir led to an insurgency supported by Pakistan in 1990.

India and Pakistan have alternated between phases of intense hostility and moments of calm since 1947. At various points, their leaders have  although unsuccessfully  sought to find ways to resolve their disputes. The insurgency in Kashmir was ebbing by the mid-2000s and Indias prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and Pakistans president, Pervez Musharraf, initiated a secret dialogue through trusted aides.

Indian and Pakistani envoys agreed to make the Line of Control, the heavily militarized border between the Indian and Pakistani-controlled portions of Kashmir, irrelevant by giving the Kashmiris the right to free movement and trade across the line. They agreed upon providing autonomy to Kashmirs subregions and drawing down forces as violence receded. They also agreed to establish a body of Kashmiris, Indians and Pakistanis, vaguely described as a joint mechanism, to oversee the political and economic rights of the Kashmiris on both sides of the line.
Last week, India sent warplanes into Pakistan for the first time in five decades. Indian officials said they had struck Jaish-e-Muhammads biggest training camp and killed a very large number of militants, although those claims have been called into doubt. Pakistan counterattacked, leading to a dogfight in which at least one Indian jet was shot down and a pilot was captured by the Pakistanis.

The situation could have easily escalated, given that the two countries have fought three wars over 70 years, maintain a near-constant state of military readiness along their border and have little formal government-to-government dialogue.

Adding to the volatility, Indias prime minister, Narendra Modi, is waging a tough re-election campaign in which he has used anti-Pakistan talk to fuel Hindu nationalism.

With Pakistans Army most likely shaken by the Indian raid and unwilling to slide into protracted conflict, Prime Minister Imran Khan returned the pilot to India, in what was seen as a good-will gesture, called for talks and promised an investigation into the bombing. Mr. Modi took the opportunity to back off further escalation.

The next confrontation might not end so calmly.

Pakistan has never seriously cracked down on militant groups that attack India and the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir. In recent days, Pakistani authorities said they detained 44 members of various armed groups, including a brother of Masood Azhar, the head of Jaish-e-Muhammad, and planned to seize assets of militants on the United Nations terrorist list. But Pakistan has rarely followed through on such promises.
To the Editor:

Re Rift Over Israel Has Democrats Divided by Age (front page, March 6):

Of course Democrats are more aggressive in combating prejudice within their own party. Its both human nature and good diplomacy to hold your own family to higher standards than outsiders or adversaries (otherwise, youd just look partisan and hypocritical).

As an older American Jewish Democrat, I am as aghast as younger American Jews at Israels inhumane treatment of Palestinians. I encourage speaking out against it and I applaud Jewish-Palestinian collaboration. But anti-Semitic tropes about the power of Jewish money and the dual allegiance of American Jews are inexcusable aspersions in the face of what might otherwise be valid concerns.

Jewish Democrats are fairly defending themselves against such tropes; if other groups  people of color, Muslims, Palestinians  criticize Jewish Democrats for not speaking up more forcefully on their behalf as well, that is fair, too. But why arent those other groups equally concerned about anti-Semitism?

James Berkman

Boston

To the Editor:

Concerns Raised Over Power Wielded by a Pro-Israel Lobbying Giant (news article, March 5) provides useful information about the tactics the pro-Israel lobby uses to pressure and intimidate members of Congress. Until now, these methods have largely accomplished their goal: an almost total and unconditional refusal in Congress to question Israels human rights violations against Palestinians or the $3.8 billion in military aid we give to Israel each year.
To the Editor:

Re A Well-Meaning Job Training Bill That May Hurt More Than Help, by Kevin Carey (The Upshot, nytimes.com, March 1):

Mr. Carey tries to discredit our Jobs Act, a bill to expand Pell grants to short-term credentialing programs. Responding to the 86 percent of voters who support making federal financial aid available for job training, the Jobs Act would place people who dont go to traditional college on a clear career path to employment.

Mr. Careys greatest concern with the Jobs Act is a mistaken belief that short-term training programs dont lead to higher wages. In fact, most studies show that they do. Even the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce report he cites concludes that certificates have grown because they are affordable, usually take less than a year to complete, and often yi eld high returns in the job market.

Mr. Carey also stokes fear that Pell grants under the Jobs Act would go toward shoddy, low-quality programs. But most certificate programs are offered by nonprofit institutions like community colleges, which are accredited and regulated for quality. Mr. Careys criticism should call us to reform Pell grants, not shun job training.

In fact, Americas public community colleges are the biggest supporters of our bill. States like Virginia and Ohio have demonstrated that you can support short-term credentials and ensure quality and positive outcomes for workers and employers.
Reports that Robert Mueller will soon issue the findings of his investigation have brought a new urgency to the question of whether, assuming sufficient evidence exists, a president can be indicted while in office.

Most people take for granted that both Mr. Mueller and the new attorney general, William Barr, accept the current Justice Department legal position  reached in a 2000 opinion  that a sitting president cannot be indicted. In a June 2018 memo, Mr. Barr said that under the Framers plan, the proper mechanism for policing the presidents actions is the political process  that is, the People, acting either directly, or through their elected representatives in Congress.

Yet since 1973, the Justice Department has revisited its position five times on the question of indicting a sitting president and reached different conclusions. In fact, as executive assistant to President Richard Nixons attorney general, Elliot Richardson, I can speak to the circumstances that delivered that first opinion: The principal purpose of the 1973 Watergate-era legal opinion  which concluded that a sitting president cannot be indicted  was to aid in removal from office of a criminally tainted vice president, who, the memo concluded, could be indicted.

But it was not intended to set an ironclad precedent that would forever shape how a president might be treated.
Medical professionals refer to these parents as vaccine-hesitant. As much satisfaction as it might offer to bring my family-room rants  What is wrong with you?  to my conversations with them, Im starting to believe I cant simply write them off as idiots. Even presenting facts might not be enough. Those of us who understand how important and safe vaccines are might need to meet them where they are, trying to express empathy for the misguided fear theyre obviously experiencing, if were to break through to them and encourage them to make choices that can save lives.

This outlook is inspired by conversations Ive had at home. My wife, Sarah, is a family medicine physician with a public health degree. She has told me that most of the skeptical parents she sees each week arent raving conspiracy theorists  bug-eyed stereotypes who write manifestoes in crayon, listen to Alex Jones and live off the grid. Theyre people who seem to make rational choices in most other areas of their lives. Parents are worried about the vaccine side effects, she said. They believe they might cause autism in their children or some debilitating illness.

Vaccine-hesitant parents are often influenced by a thoroughly debunked, nearly two-decade-old study that erroneously concluded that the M.M.R. vaccine is linked to autism in children. Since then, a small but highly organized and zealous group referred to as the anti-vaxx movement has promoted this misguided propaganda and also intimidated and harassed pro-vaccine doctors. Russia has strategically weaponized this doubt, unleashing bots on social media to spread disinformation and promote discord, creating a false equivalency between both sides of the debate and eroding public consensus on vaccination.

All of this has influenced friends of mine from the Bay Area and Virginia, otherwise highly informed individuals who pride themselves on sniffing out fake news, to remain skeptical about vaccines. Sarah described their mind-set and those of the patients she sees: The parents dont trust big pharma. They dont trust scientific studies, and they think evidence is always changing. They dont understand how vaccines work. Some will be like I dont want to overload my kids immune system with too many shots at once.

This global doubt explains why measles reached a 20-year high in Europe in the first six months of 2018. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing last week to discuss response efforts to this growing public health threat that can easily be prevented. A top Washington State official just declared that the United States needs a national campaign to combat the anti-vaccination movement. Washington has recently been hit with a measles outbreak costing the state over $1 million.
Miche Griffin grew up on a farm near Nashville, dreaming of a more exciting life. As a kid, I was drawing pictures of my loft in New York City, she said. Somewhere deep inside, I knew I needed the distraction and the busyness that the city offered.

She arrived in the East Village nearly 30 years ago, feeling like a pioneer and a risk-taker. That was when Tompkins Square Park was full of tents, and one guy had cooked his girlfriend and fed her to the homeless people, she said. That was what I moved to.

Ms. Griffin eventually settled with her partner in a two-bedroom rental in a walk-up building , above a restaurant on a busy East Village block, and their daughter was born not long after. Her partner died about a decade later.

Three and a half years ago, their daughter left for college in New England. She was never a city girl at heart, Ms. Griffin said. Even as a child, she agonized about homeless people, and complained that the playground was too loud and disorienting. When she moved away, She said, I dont think Ill live in New York City again.
Connie Newberry, an interior designer in Manhattan, brought in Ms. Harris to create a serene woodland scene for a clients entry hall on Park Avenue. It was an ideal place for a mural, she said: This is a space you move through. You can take more of a chance in these spaces.

Decorative painting has fallen in and out of fashion over the years. This is an art form that perhaps reached a pinnacle during the Italian Renaissance, after all. It was on a vacation to Italy in 1980 that Ms. Harris, then in her 20s and abroad for the first time, discovered the immersive beauty and nuanced colors of frescoes painted by artists like Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Raphael.

But it wasnt until later that decade, after working the front counter at Christies, for a travel publication selling ads and for Town & Country magazine, that Ms. Harris, who majored in painting in college, became a full-time artist. It coincided with a period when decorative techniques like faux marbling and glazing were the rage. She painted a lot of floors to look like inlaid wood.

Everywhere Id go Id try to convince them to do a mural, Ms. Harris said. Id see a room and go, You know what this needs?
[The topics parents are talking about. Evidence-based guidance. Personal stories that matter. Sign up now to get NYT Parenting in your inbox every week.]

Elliot Claire: What kind of baby name is that? A girls name? A boys name? Both?

Mission accomplished, said Elizabeth and Sean Scotten, of Oakland, Calif., who became parents to Elliot Claire almost a year ago. We loved the juxtaposition of a name thats more traditionally masculine and a name thats more feminine, Ms. Scotten, 35, explained. As the baby grows up (its a girl!), she can use any combination of the two.

My husband went through the experience of having to change his name, Ms. Scotten said. The couple started out as high school sweethearts, at age 14. When we first met, he was living as a girl. He was my first girlfriend, and thats changed.
Meanwhile, satellite images released Thursday showed North Korea appeared to have completed rebuilding work at a satellite rocket launchpad and engine test site. The images, dated March 6, showed that the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, also known as Tongchang-ri, "appears to have returned to normal operational status," according to 38 North, a website devoted to analysis of North Korea. Rebuilding work at the site was first revealed earlier this week, but it appears to have been completed quickly.
You can put it in the most modern house, or the most traditional, and somehow it still freshens up the interiors, he said. It adds glamour, it adds sex appeal, but it still can feel really fresh.

Start with color, and no, not bright blue. The colors I most associate with Morocco are the warm, earthy, rich reds that echo the spices found in markets all over the country, the earthenware that is so often decorated and the natural red clay that is used to paint the majority of buildings in Marrakesh, said Charlotte Cosby, the creative director of Farrow & Ball, the British paint and wallpaper company.

Image This Moroccan stand can hold cookies or fruit. Its $150 at Marrakech Designs in Boston. Credit... Cody O'Loughlin for The New York Times

For a truly intimate Moroccan feel, Ms. Cosby said that she believed that you must paint all four walls in the room, including the ceiling.
Sometimes, when life throws you a curve, it can be a golden opportunity. Jasmit Singh Rangr was happily settled in Manhattan, running Rangr Studio, the design practice he founded in 2004, when in 2014, his wife, Abigail Dillen, was offered a vice presidents job at her longtime employer, Earthjustice, that required moving to San Francisco.

I loved being in New York, Mr. Rangr said. But at least the move would allow the couple and their now-6-year-old son, Sher, to leave what he described as their dismal little Upper West Side rental.

Ms. Dillen  who is now the president of Earthjustice, a nonprofit that uses the court system to protect the environment  suggested looking in the Berkeley Hills. After going through the now-common experience of finding a house, only to be outbid by someone with lots of ready cash, the couple discovered a bank that would lend them the money to buy an empty lot (preferably one with a view, which would maximize resale value). Through a combination of dogged research and luck, they found property that they could buy for its appraised value rather than the market price. And on this steeply sloping site, Mr. Rangr designed a spare, light-filled house that measures 2,850 square feet, but takes maximum advantage of a view that includes the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge and Mount Tamalpais in Marin County. He and his family moved in, in late 2016.
Color battles like these have grown common. Historic district administrators and other neighborhood design watchdogs have gained power over growing urban and suburban territories. Homeowners in aging subdivisions brave disapproval as they try to update association covenants, to brighten obsolete dark palettes while maintaining visual cohesiveness. Blog posts have drawn attention to extreme colors and suggested boundaries of good taste, while social media has made for open season on peoples house paint choices. Tantrums, lawsuits and nit-picking have ensued.

Regulations in Palm Coast, Fla., forbid fluorescent, loud, clashing or garish colors or ANY SHADE of purple, fuchsia, magenta and orange that does not meet the pastel requirement. In Wellington, Fla., homeowners have struggled to persuade authorities to add mouthwatering paint colors called oregano spice and cocoa berry to the official rosters of permitted hues. In Gaithersburg, Md., homeowners have landed in court for using excessively pale trim in a predominantly earth-tone subdivision  the house that generated the controversy is on Happy Choice Lane.

In Cody, Wyo., rule-breaking owners have spewed expletives while painting their homes exterior in bands of cafe gray, maroon rust, walnut bark and cinnabark, the Powell Tribune reported. There are reports of a Louisiana residents yellow house being painted gray by neighborhood objectors while the owner was out of town. People have ranted online against the subjective judgments and excessive power of the color police. A petition arose to abolish homeowner associations, partly because of the threat of color dictatorship.

John Hammersmith, a community associations expert who owns Hammersmith Management in Colorado, said that board discussions of paint choices had been known to devolve into yelling, screaming, almost fisticuffs. He quoted a common saying in real estate: You just dont want to live next to a pink house.
Our guide to plays and musicals coming to New York stages and a few last-chance picks of shows that are about to close. Our reviews of open shows are at nytimes.com/reviews/theater.

Previews & Openings

AINT NO MO at the Public Theater (previews start on March 12; opens on March 27). When Donald J. Trump was elected president, a lot of people talked about fleeing to Canada or elsewhere. Few made good on it. But Jordan E. Coopers play imagines a world where black Americans prepare to depart en masse. Stevie Walker-Webb directs a satire in which black lives mobilize.

212-967-7555, publictheater.org

ANYTHING THAT GIVES OFF LIGHT at Joes Pub (previews start on March 14; opens on March 16). The Highlands of Scotland and the hills of Appalachia unexpectedly collide in this new work presented by the TEAM and the National Theater of Scotland, with music by the Bengsons. Directed by Rachel Chavkin, the play tracks an American woman, who finds herself alone on her second honeymoon in Scotland, and the two men she meets at a pub.

212-967-7555, joespub.com

BE MORE CHILL at the Lyceum Theater (in previews; opens on March 10). A favorite of some blissfully uncool young fans, this Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz musical about a teenager who swallows a potentially malevolent supercomputer is booting up on Broadway. Reviewing the Off Broadway production, Ben Brantley called it a high-energy, high-anxiety musical. Stephen Brackett directs.

bemorechillmusical.com
Who would have thought a French play from the late 17th century would become one of the most popular on the English stage in the early 21st?

Tartuffe, Molieres 1664 satire, has received no fewer than four separate revivals or adaptations in or near London lately, of which the National Theaters modernized version, running through April 30, is surely the most raucous.

Indeed, so knockabout is this treatment of the familiar parable of gullibility and hypocrisy, set this time in North London high society, that some may feel they are watching an upscale sex farce rather than a canonical mainstay. But once the thickly accented title character starts to work a malign magic on his trusting and pliable friend Orgon (Kevin Doyle), Molieres play reasserts its cautionary power in this newly antic version by John Donnelly.

Tartuffe is the National Theater debut of the Tony-winning American actor Denis OHare, who is first seen in the title role handing out flowers in the audience before he takes the stage. He plays this guru con man as an outsider with a man bun, who has a habit of clasping his hands and saying namaste even as he embarks upon a stealthy takeover of Orgons home.
Entering the newest train station in Miami is a bit like walking into another world. With natural light streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows, the modern building is bright, sleek and full of thoughtful amenities. Outlets and USB ports are at every seat, free Wi-Fi is available at the entranceway, and the entire structure smells lovely, thanks to a signature scent wafting through the corridors (grapefruit, orange and lemongrass with a touch of vanilla).

The multibillion-dollar Brightline train that stops at this station offers the only private intercity passenger train service in the country. The diesel-electric system currently connects Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. In 2021, it will expand to Orlando, with groundbreaking scheduled for later this year. Brightline partnered with Virgin last November, and will soon be rebranded Virgin Trains USA.

As fewer people in the United States apply for drivers licenses and more take ride-sharing services, the team behind Virgin Trains believes that this is the perfect time to make train travel a new American habit. And they are starting with top urban areas in Florida.

We recognized this major mobility problem that was starting to present itself between densely populated too-short-to-fly but too-long-to-drive areas, and we saw it as an opportunity, said Patrick Goddard, president of Brightline.
A white police officer in Colorado has been placed on leave while the authorities investigate why he detained a black man holding a trash clamp in front of the mans home.

The man, who repeatedly told officers that he had been picking up trash in front of the building where he lives and works, was not taken into custody or booked on suspicion of a crime, the police said, but the episode late last week has caused anger and concern in the liberal and largely white city of Boulder, Colo.

At a City Council meeting on Tuesday, residents reportedly clacked trash grabbers as Chief Greg Testa of the Boulder Police Department briefed officials on what had happened and announced that the officer had been placed on administrative leave.

This is an extremely concerning issue and one we are taking very seriously, Chief Testa said.

The college towns population is about 100,000  81 percent white and less than 2 percent black, according to census data. And at Tuesdays meeting, city officials  most of them white  found themselves grappling with issues of structural racism, bias and restorative justice.
Good morning.

(Heres the sign-up, if you dont already get California Today by email.)

When he took office this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom inherited an expansive, consuming problem. The state doesnt have enough housing, and what housing it does have is rapidly becoming too expensive for most people who live and work in the state.

Legislators have tried to make a dent in various aspects of the crisis. Today, my colleague Jennifer Medina explores how one of Mr. Newsoms efforts is playing out in a Southern California city.

Not too long after he took office, Mr. Newsom, in his State of the State address, called out several cities he said were not doing their fair share to develop more affordable housing. Among them: Montebello, a historic middle class suburb just east of Los Angeles that was once referred to as a Mexican-American Beverly Hills.

Just a short drive away from Downtown Los Angeles, Montebello has long attracted government employees and other white-collar workers eager to buy modest single-family homes  a kind of promised land for those looking to get out of the city. Today, three-bedroom homes can be found for around $500,000  a relative bargain compared with much of Los Angeles. So it was, at least in some ways, a bit of an odd choice for the governors ire.
Christopher Watts, the Colorado man who is serving a life sentence for killing his pregnant wife and two daughters, confessed in a prison interview that his daughters were still alive when he put his dead wifes body in his truck and drove his family to the oil field where all three bodies were found, according to an investigative report and audio recording of the interview released on Thursday.

During a nearly five-hour interview with investigators last month, Mr. Watts, 33, revealed that he killed his family over a longer period of time in August than was previously reported and painted a disturbing picture of his daughters final moments.

He said that he strangled his wife, Shanann Watts, after a fight at their home in Frederick, Colo., and that his 4-year-old daughter, Bella, witnessed him dragging the body down the stairs.

What is wrong with Mommy? Bella cried, according to his account.

He then loaded Bella and her 3-year-old sister, Celeste, into the back seat of his truck, with their mothers body nearby on the floorboard, and drove them about 45 minutes to the oil site, he said.
In 2017, the authorities say, the three wove an irresistible yarn. Posting to GoFundMe, a crowdfunding site, Ms. McClure and Mr. DAmico said that she had run out of gas while driving home in the Philadelphia area, and that Mr. Bobbitt, a homeless veteran, had spent his last $20 to buy gasoline for her. The couple said they wanted to raise $10,000 to thank him and get him off the streets.

GoFundMe allows anyone to suggest a cause worthy of donations, whether its classroom supplies, life-or-death medical care or a border wall. With thousands of causes competing for attention, users often rely on emotional appeals to stand out.

This time, it worked. Buoyed by social media and coverage from the international news media, 14,347 people donated $402,706 to the campaign within three weeks.

From there, the story became much less inspiring.

Federal prosecutors say Ms. McClure and Mr. DAmico rapidly spent most of the money on the likes of gambling, vacations, a luxury car, clothing and expensive handbags, much of which was later seized. The authorities said the couple set up a bank account for Mr. Bobbitt in December 2017 and deposited just $25,000; the couple later justified that as a way to keep him from spending it all at once.

Mr. Bobbitt sued the couple in August, saying that he had ultimately received just $75,000, including the value of a camper he temporarily lived in, and that they had spent the rest. GoFundMe announced in September that it would help cover the costs to make sure Mr. Bobbitt got all of the money he was due.
Manafort was wheeled into the courtroom about 3:45 p.m. in a green jumpsuit from the Alexandria jail, where he spent the last several months in solitary confinement. The jet black hair he bore in 2016 when serving as campaign chairman was gone, replaced by a shaggy gray. He spent much of the hearing hunched at the shoulders, bearing what appeared to be an air of resignation.
Welcome to Crossing the Border, a limited-run weekly newsletter from The New York Times. Like what you see? Send this to a friend. If someone forwarded it to you, sign up here to have the next issue delivered to your inbox.

In Tijuana, one highly curated taste of Mexico

Floating above the cactus-pear cocktails and gourmet tacos, a green mosaic rises above the plaza just on the Mexico side of the Tijuana border: ESTACION FEDERAL. There are Edison-bulb patio lights and metal fire pits. Textures of reclaimed wood and concrete and succulents. In the back, a food truck doubles as a southwestern mural, a blur of orange and yellow and purple.

This Instagram-ready commons in chaotic Tijuana is the brainchild of Miguel Marshall, a cross-border entrepreneur whose vision of a binational border between Mexico and the United States has grown even more resolute in the era of President Trump. He is the chief executive of Centro Ventures, a Tijuana-based real estate development company that is creating work-and-living spaces like this, with carefully curated food, coffee, co-working units and even Airbnb lofts.

Mr. Marshalls entrepreneurial work has earned him cachet among business leaders in Mexico and the United States. He has been designated as one of Tijuanas global shapers by the World Economic Forum, which holds the annual gathering of world economic leaders in Davos, Switzerland.
[Read the latest edition of Crossing the Border, a limited-run newsletter about life where the United States and Mexico meet. Sign up here to receive the next issue in your inbox.]

Go Nakamura, a freelance photographer whose work has appeared in The New York Times and who was on the list, said he had suspected for several months that his name had been flagged to immigration officials.

In an interview Thursday, he recalled being stopped by Mexican authorities in late December while he was near the border fence in Tijuana to take photographs of migrants. The officers asked to see Mr. Nakamuras passport, something he had not experienced during other lengthy assignments on the border, he said. He thought it was strange when the officers took photos of his passport on cellphones.

Mr. Nakamura, an American citizen, tried to re-enter the United States several days later, and initially faced routine questions. He was asked about his background, where he lived, where he went to school. He was also asked about when he began working as a photojournalist.

But the questioning began to alarm Mr. Nakamura when an officer pulled out a document with pictures of about 10 to 14 faces and asked him to identify them.

They asked me if I recognized any of the faces, Mr. Nakamura said. I didnt, so I said no. The officer who showed me the papers, she was asking me if I was connected with the organizers of the caravan. She was like, have you met the organizers or do I know the organizers?

I felt like they thought I was a spy or something, Mr. Nakamura said.

Kitra Cahana, a freelance photographer on the list whose work has also appeared in The Times, said she was barred from entering Mexico on Jan. 17 while she was en route to photograph another caravan of migrants traveling through the country. As she was about to board a flight from Montreal to Detroit, she scanned her passport at a pre-clearance machine, which printed out a picture with an X over my face. She was taken into secondary questioning in Montreal, but was ultimately allowed to board her flight.
The number of pedestrians killed in traffic in the United States is approaching a three-decade high, contributing to what has been an alarming rise in such deaths in recent years, according to a new study.

An estimated 6,227 pedestrians were killed in traffic in 2018, according to the study from the Governors Highway Safety Association, a projection based on data from the first half of the year. That figure represents a striking rise from a decade earlier, when 4,109 pedestrians were killed in traffic.

Ive been in this business for 36 years and Ive never seen a pattern like this, said Richard Retting, who wrote the report and has worked in a variety of traffic engineering and safety roles for the New York City Department of Transportation, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and other federal and local transportation agencies.

The report cited alcohol use, speeding, unsafe infrastructure and the prevalence of SUVs as some of the biggest problems contributing to the fatalities. It also suggested that the increased use of smartphones may contribute to such deaths.
WASHINGTON  Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who sent archives of secret military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, said on Thursday that she had refused to answer questions about her interactions with the antisecrecy organization before a grand jury  and might be sent to jail as soon as Friday.

Ms. Manning had been imprisoned for about seven years before President Barack Obama commuted most of the remainder of her 35-year sentence in 2017, and she was released from a military prison in May of that year. Her defiance of the subpoena means she may be imprisoned again after a judge holds a closed hearing about her legal arguments and whether to hold her in contempt of court.

The court may find me in contempt and order me to jail, she said in a statement, adding: In solidarity with many activists facing the odds, I will stand by my principles. I will exhaust every legal remedy available. My legal team continues to challenge the secrecy of these proceedings, and I am prepared to face the consequences of my refusal.

Ms. Manning also confirmed that  as widely suspected  prosecutors wanted to ask her about WikiLeaks. Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have been investigating the organization for years, and inadvertently revealed last year that they had charged its leader, Julian Assange, under seal.
Congress cannot meaningfully address the nations significant challenges without first recognizing and acknowledging the undue influence of special interests in our politics, said Representative Abigail Spanberger, Democrat of Virginia.

Some of those provisions, however, have drawn criticism from both conservative and liberal groups that argue the language is overly broad and would infringe on First Amendment rights.

Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the minority whip, said the legislation would turn the Federal Election Commission into a speech czar with the power to enforce Democrats vague definition of campaign-related speech. The American Civil Liberties Union has urged members to oppose the legislation.

Communications that refer to a candidate in the context of an important public policy issue may have nothing to do with supporting or opposing that candidates election, and yet that speech would trigger disclosure, the organization said in a 13-page letter laying out its concerns.

The legislation would establish a six-to-one matching system for donations of up to $200 to congressional and presidential candidates who reject high-dollar contributions. That system would be funded by an additional fine on corporations found to have broken the law. Republicans call that welfare for politicians.

Make no bones about it: No matter how they try to move a shell game around, the cost will be borne as another mandatory spending program in Washington, said Representative Rodney Davis of Illinois, the ranking Republican on the House Administration Committee.

Eliminating barriers to voting

The legislation seeks to make it easier to vote. It would designate Election Day as a federal employment holiday and automatically register citizens to vote, restore voting rights to those who have served felony sentences and encourage same-day voter registration.
The former White House chief of staff, John F. Kelly, on Wednesday declined to answer questions about the existence of a memo he wrote saying that President Trump had ordered officials to give his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a security clearance in May 2018.

Mr. Kelly also broke with Mr. Trump on key aspects of his approach to immigration and the NATO alliance, and said that his top concern about decisions made by the president was whether they were objectively right for the country when divorced from political concerns.

Mr. Kelly, who kept his voice level during a 90-minute question-and-answer session at Duke University, would not specifically address Mr. Kushners clearance being ordered by Mr. Trump, which The New York Times reported last week.

I couldnt  and Im not dodging  I couldnt comment on that for a couple of reasons, Mr. Kelly said, citing clearances being among the things that he could not discuss, and that conversations with the president at that level would certainly be kept confidential under executive privilege.
Senator, lawyer, mother, childrens book author and now, Democratic candidate for president. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is in. Im filing an exploratory committee for president of the United States tonight. Hailing from President Trumps home state of New York, shes joining what will likely be a crowded 2020 field. Which Democrats  Who will run for president in 2020? The list is growing. It ranges from  Gillibrand is a former corporate lawyer and congresswoman. Growing up in a political family in Albany, She fell in love early on. I was drawn into politics when I was a little girl. And it was really with my grandmother, who loved politics. She was appointed to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate in 2009. Welcome, Senator. Gillibrand went on to win the seat again in a 2010 special election and has held it ever since. Over time she has reversed her positions on immigration and gun control. You start off in a different place on immigration and now youre more progressive on that. On guns, you started off, you know, more kind of pro-Second Amendment. Now, you went from having an A to an F from the N.R.A. I recognize that there was a lot of things I didnt know, and I should have been fighting for them before. Shes now one of the partys most reliably liberal voices. Some of her priorities: A populist economic agenda, womens rights and gender equality and fighting for victims of sexual assault with a focus on the military. Who is being held accountable for doing nothing since 2013? Who? Which commander? Gillibrand was the first senator in her party to call for the resignation of fellow Democrat Al Franken, following accusations of sexual misconduct. Enough is enough. Here she is during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaughs confirmation hearings. I want to really have Dr. Blasey Fords back tomorrow. So Im going to sit behind her. Not only do I support her. But I believe her. So what is her dynamic with President Trump? He said: Shes just a puppet of Schumer. You know that. He put her there. Hes also referred to her as a lightweight who would do anything for money. She responded this way. It was a sexist smear. Its part of the presidents effort at name calling and its not going to silence me. Gillibrand has also voted against almost all of Trumps major nominees. I urge my colleagues. Reject this bad choice. So what are her chances? Gillibrand is seen as a serious contender, but so far her poll numbers are low. Her next step? Building a national profile and campaign.
Welcome to the revenge of the moderates.

Since President Trumps election, an activist liberal wing has taken hold of the Democratic Party. Theyve pushed bold economic, health care and environmental proposals. Some have embraced the term socialist, giving fresh fodder to Republican critics, and denounced the richest Americans and biggest corporations. And theyve dominated the national conversation, from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Congress to Senator Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail.

But now, as the 2020 primary field comes into sharper focus, were starting to see a resurgence of more moderate, market-oriented Democrats, as they try to re-exert their power in a party they fear is courting political defeat by veering too far left.

Mr. Biden, a politician defined by the era of centrist Democratic politics, has his campaign plan nearly in place and seems to be moving toward entering the race in the coming weeks. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado and other congressional moderates, like Representatives Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Tim Ryan of Ohio, are making noise about launching their own presidential bids.

Those men, along with several other white male moderates who may enter the race, hope to provide a counterweight to the proposals of the Sanders-Warren wing of the party.

Of course, in one really big way, the liberals have already won by shifting the debate distinctly leftward. The conversation in the Democratic Party is around their ideas: a massive plan to fight climate change, a complete overhaul of the health care system, new taxes on the ultrarich.
Senator Sherrod Brown, the populist Ohio Democrat known for extolling the dignity of work, announced Thursday that he would not seek the Democratic nomination for president, ceding the primary field to other left-leaning candidates with broader national appeal.

His exit comes as better-known Democrats like former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. prepare to announce their own plans for 2020, and as the field itself has swelled to 14 candidates, including fellow liberal senators like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Allies of Mr. Brown said on Thursday that his decision to forgo a 2020 bid had nothing to do with the signs that Mr. Biden is preparing to enter the race. Rather, they said, Mr. Brown ultimately resolved that he was content in the Senate and lacked the consuming drive to become president. And there were obvious practical obstacles to the 2020 nomination for a 66-year-old white man with a mix of liberal and moderate views and a relatively modest donor base. Indeed, for Mr. Brown, the popularity and fund-raising strength of Mr. Sanders, a fellow populist, were obstacles that were at least as big as any Mr. Biden might present.

[Why are so many Democrats bowing out of a 2020 campaign this week? Here are four reasons.]

Speaking to reporters between votes in the Capitol on Thursday, Mr. Brown quickly noted that he didnt have a lifelong ambition to be president. Though he argued that there was a path for me, highlighting his progressive credentials, he said he felt tugged to remain in the Senate, a job he relishes more than some of his colleagues who covet the presidency.
National STEM award success for Bath mathematician

Dr Apala Majumdar, EPSRC Research Fellow and Reader in Mathematical Sciences at the University of Bath, has been named winner of the Academic category of the 2019 FDM Everywoman in Technology Awards.

The annual national awards programme uncovers and celebrates the most inspirational women working within STEM industries and recognises their role in inspiring and supporting the next generation.

Dr Apala Majumdar was one of three finalists for the Academic category of the annual awards programme, selected from a field of hundreds of applicants, chosen by a panel of senior technology leaders against criteria including career achievement, future potential and their commitment to supporting others in the industry.

Dr Majumdar moved to the University of Bath in 2012 and is currently Director of the University's Centre for Non Linear Mechanics. Her research into the mathematics of material science, specifically into liquid crystals, aims to make LCD screens found in TVs and phones cheaper and more efficient.

She won the British Liquid Crystal Society Young Scientist Award in 2012 and the London Mathematical Society Anne Bennett prize in 2015. She is a member of the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences programme committee and has organised numerous international workshops.

She has held visiting professorships at Beijing Normal University, IIT Bombay, Shanghai Jia Tong, visiting fellowships at Oxford, Cambridge and the Chinese Academy and is principal investigator for projects involving overseas partners in India and China.

Her industrial research collaborations have included Merck and Hewlett Packard.

She was nominated by former senior colleague at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford, Professor Alain Goriely, who said: "I cannot think of a more deserving candidate for an academic award for young women who are inspiring other female researchers around the world.

"Her publication record is stellar, her research inspiring, and she has single-handedly built an international network spanning four continents, making her one of the world leaders in her field and most internationally recognised of her generation.

"This award is a wonderful recognition of her many talents and achievements."

Apala Majumdar said: "I would like to thank Professor Alain Goriely for nominating me. The wider support in my department at Bath, from the Head of Department and various colleagues, has been vital for raising my profile and building international links.

"It is very satisfying to see senior male academics championing the academic credentials of female researchers as they climb up the ladder."

The winners were revealed at an awards ceremony on Wednesday 6 March in London, attended by over 500 industry leaders, government and the media. The awards champion and raise the profile of the individual women that are achieving success in their field, and the companies that are supporting them to do so.

Chris Budd OBE, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Deputy Director of the Institute for Mathematical Innovation at the University of Bath, said: "I am delighted that Apala has won this amazing award.

"She is without question one of the most talented young applied mathematicians working in the UK.

"She has been a great role model for female mathematicians, and has shown them clearly how good a senior female mathematician can be. Well done Apala!"

For the first time, two academics from the University of Bath were named as finalists for the award, with Dr Adelina Ilie from the University's Department of Physics also being chosen as a finalist in the same category.

Previous winners from the University include Professor Semali Perera in 2017 and Professor Carole Mundell who was named Woman of the Year at the awards in 2016.

###

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Participants of BDS training in Japan, Ms Lui (front 2nd on the right). Photo:Supplied
MADISON, WIS.  The Wisconsin National Guard has decided an Illinois congressman who serves as a Guard member did nothing wrong when he criticized Gov. Tony Evers' decision to withdraw troops from the U.S. southern border.
In the Middle East, Mr. Greenblatts tweets have done little to repair the rift with the Palestinians or lay the groundwork for his long-anticipated peace plan. In a recent exchange, Mr. Greenblatt accused the longtime Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, of unfairly maligning the proposal when he warned that it would be an apartheid system with ghettos for Palestinians.

Mr. Grenell, whose no-holds-barred style most closely mirrors Mr. Trumps, infuriated his German hosts last May when he tweeted, after the presidents decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, that German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately. Germany had opted to stay in the deal.

All of the presidents advisers pay close attention to his social media behavior and copy some of his moves. Mr. Bolton, for example, has taken his lead in pounding a message through sheer repetition: Mr. Boltons 150-plus tweets on Venezuela are not unlike Mr. Trumps repeated references to the special counsels Russia investigation as a witch hunt.

Mr. Bolton told CNN that the tweets were a new experiment in public diplomacy  never mind that Mr. McFaul, and later Secretary of State John Kerry, did it during the Obama administration.

A longtime commentator on Fox with a penchant for pungent statements, Mr. Bolton sometimes infuses his tweets with a distinctly Trumpian tone. Talks between Russia and Maduros cronies are only useful if they are discussing retirement beaches for Maduro, he wrote last week of Russian efforts to broker a solution to the crisis.

The difference between Mr. Trump and his advisers is that his tweeting is usually more ad hoc. He has been known to tap out his messages off the cuff and not have them vetted, with a watch this expression, according to two people who have seen him do it.
Ms. Wences once bragged to a friend, as they walked on school grounds just before a snowstorm, that her father was the one who sprinkled the salt crunching under their feet. Her father, Enrique, later told her not to talk about his work.

He said, You dont want to be like me, mija, she recalled, using a Spanish abbreviation for my daughter. I want you to go to school. I want you to do better than me.

Mr. Wences, 43, said he was self-conscious that he did not finish high school.

It was a regret that would power him through seven-day workweeks for 25 years so that his daughters could get an education. One of the happiest moments of his life was when Yoselin called him from her car in the parking lot of Wake Technical Community College, where she was studying for an associate degree, to tell him that N.C. State had accepted her transfer application.

Ms. Wences said that if she got pregnant now, she would probably have to drop out of college.

Id feel embarrassed that the sacrifices that my dad made up to this point would be going down the drain, she said.

Between 2007 and 2017, the population of Hispanic women of childbearing age in Wake County grew nearly 50 percent, drawn by a booming local economy. Yet the fertility rate for Hispanic women dropped by about 47 percent, according to Dr. Johnson. The rate for women who were not Hispanic dropped by about 16 percent in the same period, he said.

Birthrates tend to follow economic cycles. The fact that the American rate has not picked up along with the economy in recent years has puzzled demographers. In a survey late last year, the top reasons young women gave for delaying children involved money  children were simply too expensive.

But several young women interviewed for this article said that was not the case for them. Many came from large extended families with aunts and cousins who would care for a baby if need be. Many of those women had been raised by siblings in Mexico as their parents worked.
HONG KONG  President Xi Jinping is known for breaking the rules of Chinese politics, amassing more power than any leader since Mao.

His latest attempt to shake things up may be one of his boldest moves yet: Mr. Xi is going slightly  though unabashedly  gray, in defiance of longstanding Communist Party tradition.

For decades, Chinese leaders have sported unnaturally black heads of hair, a look that symbolized unity and gave the party a youthful veneer.

But Mr. Xi, 65, appears to be dispensing with vanity as he presents himself as a relatable and avuncular leader, part of his efforts to soften his hard-line policies.
SRINAGAR, Kashmir  Fears of communal violence were once again raised in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday when a grenade blew up at a crowded bus stand, killing one person and wounding many others.

Around the same time, videos of two Indian men beating Kashmiri street vendors in a northern Indian city went viral online, further stoking tensions.

The violence followed a week of hostilities in Kashmir between India and Pakistan, both of which claim the mountainous region.
DOHA, Qatar  Nearly 11 days after peace negotiations between the United States and the Taliban began with high hopes, it has become clear that any resolution to the 18-year war could be frustratingly slow.

One of the most prominent issues thwarting progress is a disagreement over a fundamental question: What is terrorism, and who is a terrorist?

The answer is so important because the two sides had already agreed in principle on a framework for two crucial issues: the withdrawal of American troops, and a commitment that Afghan soil would not again be used to launch terrorist attacks against the United States and its allies, as Al Qaeda did with its strikes on Sept. 11, 2001. That attack led the Americans to invade Afghanistan in an effort to hunt down Al Qaedas mastermind, Osama bin Laden.

The Taliban have said they would not allow Afghanistan to be used as a launching pad for international attacks. American negotiators have insisted on specifying that Afghanistan not be used by terrorist groups, but the Taliban have resisted, saying there was no universal definition of terrorism.
BANGKOK  A Thai political party that nominated the sister of Thailands king as its candidate for prime minister was dissolved on Thursday by the constitutional court for hostile action against the nations political system and constitutional monarchy.

Under Thai law, members of the royal family are considered above politics. Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Varnavadi, 67, the elder sister of King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, was born a princess but gave up her royal titles when she married an American in 1972.

Nevertheless, within hours of Ms. Ubolratanas nomination by the Thai Raksa Chart Party last month, King Vajiralongkorn, 66, deemed her candidacy inappropriate, effectively ending her brief political career.

Involvement of a high-ranking member of the royal family in politics, in any way, is against the nations traditions, customs and culture and is therefore considered improper and highly inappropriate, the king said in a royal communique on Feb. 8.
OTTAWA  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Thursday spoke directly about the political controversy that has consumed the country for the past month, saying that there had been a breakdown in trust and communication but that he had done nothing wrong.

While Mr. Trudeau has made saying sorry a regular ritual of his office, he declined to do so in this case. Bluntly asked by a reporter in the packed national press gallery in Ottawa if he was apologizing, he said no  though indirectly.

In regards to standing up for jobs and defending the integrity of law, I continue to say that there was no inappropriate pressure, he said.

In the brewing political crisis, the prime minister and his staff have been depicted as inappropriately and repeatedly pressuring his justice minister and attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to settle a corporate criminal case that they believed threatened Canadian jobs.
LONDON  The British work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, apologized on Thursday after describing a Labour Party member of Parliament in a radio interview as a colored woman, adding another chapter to claims of racism that have recently rocked lawmakers.

The comment from Ms. Rudd, who is white, quickly faced a chorus of criticism, including from the Labour member of Parliament, Diane Abbott, who is black. Ms. Abbott, a prominent critic of Prime Minister Theresa Mays government, said the term was an outdated, offensive and revealing choice of words.

Ms. Rudd, a Conservative, said on Twitter that she was mortified at my clumsy language and sorry to @HackneyAbbott.

In the radio interview with the BBC, Ms. Rudd was responding to a question about abuse on Twitter being aimed overwhelmingly at women.
PARIS  A Catholic cardinal offered his resignation on Thursday after being found guilty by a French court of covering up decades-old sexual abuse by a priest in his diocese, a surprise victory for the priests accusers, who had forced the case to trial after it was dropped by prosecutors.

The conviction of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, was the first in France against such a high-profile clergyman, adding to a long list of sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church just weeks after a landmark meeting at the Vatican ended without a concrete plan to tackle the issue.

Cardinal Barbarin, 68, was found guilty of failing to report child abuse by the Rev. Bernard Preynat to the authorities from 2014 to 2015, after parishioners accused the priest of sexually abusing dozens of Boy Scouts in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The court handed down a six-month suspended prison sentence to Cardinal Barbarin, who had faced up to three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros, nearly $51,000. His lawyers said they would appeal.
BERLIN  A simmering linguistic controversy has flared up in Germany, with a group of more than 70 influential figures publishing an appeal against the use of gender-neutral terms.

The group issued the letter on Wednesday. On an accompanying petition, they said they were responding in part to a recent decision by the city of Hanover to officially adopt language practices including the so-called gender star  an asterisk that invites readers to choose between gendered spellings.

The so-called gender-neutral language is first based on a general error; second, produces a wealth of ridiculous linguistic structures; and third, cannot be sustained consistently, the signatories, who include writers, lawyers, journalists, teachers, linguists and a former head of Germanys domestic intelligence agency, assert.

This whole contortion of the language leads to something that is illegible  and hard to understand, said Oliver Baer, the managing director of Verein Deutsche Sprache, an organization that describes itself as dedicated to promoting the use of German, claims about 34,000 members and helped to write and distribute the letter.
Noting that she did not have many engineers to look up to growing up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, "I hope that I can be an example to people that might not have someone to look at as a mentor . . . that it doesn't matter where you come from or what examples there might be around you, you can actually achieve whatever you're passionate about."
DUBLIN  The British cabinet minister for Northern Ireland apologized on Thursday after causing widespread anger by asserting in Parliament that killings by soldiers and the police during the decades-long conflict there were not crimes.

The remarks from the minister, Karen Bradley, made on Wednesday, were particularly inflammatory because they came a week before prosecutors in Northern Ireland were scheduled to decide whether to charge British former soldiers over their roles in one of the conflicts deadliest days: Jan. 30, 1972, known as Bloody Sunday. On that day, members of the Parachute Regiment fatally shot 13 unarmed protesters and bystanders in Londonderry. A 14th died months later.

Within hours of making her comments, faced with widespread condemnation in Ireland and elsewhere, Ms. Bradley returned to Parliament and said that she wanted to clarify, adding that her earlier statement was not referring to any specific cases but expressing a general view.

On Thursday, she offered a further, written statement, declaring that she was profoundly sorry for the offense and hurt caused by her words.
MOSCOW  Russian lawmakers, moving to further restrict freedom of speech, passed bills on Thursday that would introduce jail terms and fines for insulting the government online or spreading so-called fake news.

The bills are seen as an effort to pre-empt and control public criticism as Russias prolonged economic stagnation pushes down the Kremlins approval ratings. They reflect a nearly two-decade-long project by President Vladimir V. Putin to put information flow under state control, a push made more difficult by the growth of the internet.

The new measures await final passage in the upper chamber of parliament and Mr. Putins signature. He has expressed support for restrictions against insulting the state online.

One set of bills passed by the lower house, the Duma, would subject private individuals to fines of up to $3,000 or 15 days of administrative arrest for insulting the government online. Individuals would face fines of up to $6,000 for posting what is termed fake news.
GENEVA  Dozens of Western countries rebuked Saudi Arabia for its aggressive crackdown on free expression in a landmark initiative on Thursday in the United Nations top human rights body.

It was the first time states had ever confronted the kingdom over its human rights record in the United Nations Human Rights Council, where Saudi Arabia is one of 47 members.

The rebuke came in a statement signed by 36 nations  including every member of the European Union  that condemned Saudi Arabias continuing arrests and arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders and its use of counterterrorism laws to silence peaceful dissent.

The statement pointed in particular to the treatment of Saudi women who have challenged the kingdoms strict rules.
The Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Taiwans Asia University Hospital recently reported the case of a student who fell asleep while listening to music with earbuds on and woke up completely deaf in one year.

The popularity of headphones and earbuds has skyrocketed right alongside that of smartphones, with people using them pretty much everywhere, either to listen to music, take phone calls or even study. Some people reportedly use them while sleeping to learn foreign languages subconsciously. Even though hypnopedia, or the ability to learn during sleep, isnt supported by any scientific evidence, many people still believe that because the brain is able to perceive sound during sleep, by exposing it to new information will cause it to retain at least some of it. But apparently, testing this concept, or even listening to music with earbuds or headphones on while sleeping isnt a very good idea.

Photo: Pixabay.com

Dr. Tian Huiji, director of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Asia University Hospital, in Taiwan, warned people against using earbuds and headphones to expose their ears to loud sounds while theyre sleeping, using a recent case as an example of possible consequences. He talked about a second-year student who showed up at the hospital complaining of being unable to hear with one ear. He told doctors that he had the habit of putting on his earbuds and listening to music before going to sleep, but the night before experiencing his sudden deafness, he had fallen asleep with the earbuds on.

Luckily for the unnamed student, one of the earbuds fell off while he was sleeping, so the deafness only affected one ear. Dr. Huiji said that the teen gradually recovered after being hospitalized for 5 days, but advised people experiencing similar symptoms to seek medical help as soon as possible to prevent permanent damage.



Dr Huiji explained that even though some people wear earbuds and headphones for hours on end virtually every day without experiencing sudden deafness, doing the same thing while sleeping is much more dangerous. When we fall asleep, blood circulation in our body slows down, so while the hair cells in our ears are still stimulated by sounds coming out of the earbuds/headphones, the body cannot supply enough blood to them, which can result in sudden deafness.

According to the director of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, earbuds are particularly dangerous, because they dont allow any of the sound to escape outside. Padded headphones and earhook headphones are a safer choice, as they allow some of the sound to dissipate, but the volume at which sound is played is important as well. As a rule, Dr. Huiji advises against using any type of earphones or earbuds during sleep and also giving your ears a 10-minute break after every 50 minutes of using these hearing accessories during the day.

via OMG Taiwan
A 56-year-old woman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been diagnosed with Transient Global Amnesia (TGA) after a terrible headache apparently caused her to completely forget the last 38 years of her life.

One day in early October of last year, Kim Denicola was leaving a bible study at a local church when she called her husband to complain about an excruciating headache and blurry vision. He told her to go to the emergency room, but some friends found her passed out in the church parking lot and rushed her to the hospital. The first thing Denicola remembers from after that incident is lying in a hospital bed and a nurse asking her questions she apparently had all the wrong answers to.

Photo: VSRao/Pixabay

She said, Do you know what today is, what year are you in? I said, Yeah, 1980. And she said, Can you tell me who the president is? I said, Yes, Ronald Regan. And she stopped, Kim told Fox8.

Things got even worse when a stranger walked into her room and grabbed her hand. When she saw tears in his eyes, she knew something was wrong. That man was David, her husband of 17 years, but she didnt remember marrying anyone, let alone someone so much older than her. You see, the last thing Kim Denicola remembered from before her blackout was turning 18 in 1980. Everything from that point on, her marriage, giving birth to two children, basically the last 38 years of her life had been completely erased from her memory.

It is mind boggling, Kim said. When I found out I was married, I had two biological children, I have two boys that I raised that are my nephews, and I have three stepchildren, so thats seven kids that I impacted in some way over those 38 years that I have no clue about.

Ever since that fateful day in October 2018, Kim Denicola has undergone several rounds of brain scans and medical exams, but doctors have been unable to come up with an explanation for her sever memory loss. She showed no signs of a stroke or brain damage, so she has been diagnosed with an extremely rare condition known as Transient Global Amnesia. But even as a TGA sufferer, Kims case stands out because of the long period of time she appears to have forgotten.

The time period of memory loss is longer. Shes recalling back to where she doesnt remember computers, so that was back in the 80s or 90s, so thats really unusual that you have that type of memory loss associated, Dr Tasha Shamlin told Fox8.

Sudden memory loss is usually temporary, but according to a recent report by Inside Edition, Kim Denicolas strange amnesia has persisted for five months now. Her family, who she has gradually gotten reacquainted with, hoped that looking at old photos would help jog her memory, but so far that has not worked.



Kim Denicola is currently rediscovering all the things that she has forgotten from the past 38 years, including mundane things like smartphones, computers and flat-screen TVs, and coming to to terms with tragedies she has no recollection of, like the deaths of her parents and brother.

Theyre gone, but all these other ones Im just going to learn what to do and how to, how to be their mom, at 18, Denicola said.

Despite all the challenges of waking up in a whole new world, surrounded by people she doesnt remember meeting before, Kim Denicola is determined to make the best of her new life. If the memories dont come back, I can make new ones, she said.


Matt Steinfeld

Matt Steinfeld, who was director of policy communications at Facebook, is joining Japanese telecommunications giant Softbank Group as corporate communications director on April 1.

At FB, he tackled issues such as data privacy, cybersecurity, election integrity and safety. He joined the social media giant following its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp, where he was global communications director and adviser to co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton.

Earlier, Steinfeld was at WPPs Glover Park Group, where he did work for Ford, Microsoft, Washington Post, World Wildlife Fund and JP Morgan Chase.

Softbank is pushing for federal approval of the merger of its 80 percent-owned Sprint with T-Mobile.

It has been beefing up its US PR capabilities since the November hire of Gary Ginsberg, former Time Warner/News Corp. executive and Clinton White House alum, as head of communications.

Softbank last month added Sarah Lubman, ex-Brunswick Group partner and Wall Street Journal reporter, as partner, corporate communication.
Matter Communications has launched Matter Health, a dedicated brand for its healthcare practice. The agency says that Matter Health will draw upon the industry expertise of its dedicated healthcare team, as well as other resources across the agency. Matter Health offers integrated marketing services including public relations, social media, digital marketing and creative services. The practice is led by Ryan Lilly, vice president of Matters existing healthcare group. Matter launches the new brand following several additions to its client roster, which include consumer medical device manufacturer Atlantic Therapeutics, medical robotics company Myomo and Level Rx, which creates medical video games that challenge physicians and sharpen their cognitive and analytical skills.

Golin has named Abisola Ajayi, Karina Herrera, Alondra Ibarra and Darryl Langston Jr., all of whom are pursuing degrees in integrated marketing communications, as Spring 2019 Al Golin Fellows. The fellowships are the legacy of a partnership between the late Al Golin, the agencys founder, and his alma mater, Roosevelt University in Chicago. The agency has also presented the Al Golin Scholarship in Communications at Roosevelt, which has benefited dozens of students from under-represented backgrounds, to Roosevelt student Roberto Rosas. Through his work with students at Roosevelt and senior executives across a broad set of industries, Al was supporting diversity and practicing inclusion long before it was the trendy thing to do, said Margenett Moore-Roberts, Golins first-ever chief inclusion and diversity officer.

Paragon PR has launched Counterpoint, a multimedia platform for capital markets participants to engage with a community of peers in debate and discussion on the challenges and opportunities provided by disruptive technologies. Counterpoint will host and develop a range of content including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts and will be available to industry readers across multiple channels. Markets Media will become the first media partner later this quarter and will publish the majority of all third-party contributed content. Peter Farley, a capital markets technology expert with over 30 years of experience in institutional finance, will be the platforms consulting editor of Counterpoint. Farley most recently served as senior capital markets marketing strategist at Finastra.



Paul Venturino

GLOBALHealthPR has brought on Chile-based Strategika as its newest member agency. The addition is intended to increas the partnerships specialty reach and capabilities in Latin America. Founded in 2001 by Paul Venturino, Strategika advises local and multinational clients in their relationship with stakeholders in Chile and throughout Latin America. The addition of Strategika to the GHPR family further solidifies our regional knowledge and local market know-how to meet the diverse needs of healthcare companies in this region," said GHPR executive vice president Tim Goddard. Other GHPR firms in Latin America include Paradigma in Argentina, Tino Comunicacao in Brazil and PRP in Mexico.


Emmerson Mnangagwa

Zimbabwe, which is reeling from economic sanctions imposed by the US and its allies, has turned to Ballard Partners for strategic consulting and DC advocacy work.

The Trump administration on March 6 extended sanctions, which were imposed in 2003, against more than 100 Zimbabwe officials and institutions, for another year.

Those sanctioned for human rights abuses include former Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe and current president Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Zimbabwes government called the extension of US sanctions a travesty of justice against the Zimbabwean people.

Brian Ballard, former head of Floridas Trump Victory fundraising group, is lobbying on behalf of Zimbabwes minister of foreign affairs.

According to his firm's contract, Zimbabwe lacks access to international financial institutions and is under great diplomatic pressure from western nations.

Ballards job is to encourage a re-examination of Zimbabwe from the State Dept. with a view of establishing the best possible bilateral relationship with the US and facilitating the restoration of Zimbabwes membership in the good standing with the community of nations.

The Zimbabwe contract is worth $1M for two years.

Since Trumps election, Tallahassee-based Ballard has picked up business from Qatar, Turkish Bank Turkiye Halk Bankasi, Dominican Republic, Maldives, Mali, General Motors, Uber, Democratic Republic of Congo, Democratic Party of Albania and Nigeria.
Donald Trump will not debate the Democratic partys nominee for the presidency. He said as much yesterday with the following tweet:

Democrats just blocked @FoxNews from holding a debate. Good, then I think Ill do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!

Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez decided March 6 that Fox News would neither host nor televise his partys presidential primary debates.

He made that move following the publication of Jane Mayers must-read Trump TV epic in the New Yorker, a piece that has rich details about the symbiotic ties between the president and his Fox propaganda arm.

Trump, who spends most of his day watching TV, is simply lost with Fox. Its all that hes got, said a former Fox host.

Rupert Murdochs network is Trumps force multiplier, according to Nicole Hemmer, author of Messengers of the Right. She told Mayer that for both Fox and Trump, fear is a business strategy that keeps people watching.

Since the death of former chief Roger Ailes, who at least paid lip service to being fair and balanced, and Trump's election, Fox has jettisoned all restraint and tossed the basic tenets of journalism out the window.

Fox & Friends, which Ailes launched as a fun show and a way for him to spout off, provides the president with talking points of the day.

Veteran GOP lobbyist Charlie Black told Mayer, Trump gets up and watches Fox & Friends and thinks these are his friends. He thinks anything on Fox is friendly. But the problem he gets are unvetted ideas.

Ignoring counsel and belittling White House advisers, Trump turns to Fox for guidance. Media Matters counts more than 200 cases since August 2018, of Trump posting Fox items to his 58M Twitter followers.

The networks prime-time line-up has become even more one-sided with superstar Sean Hannity appearing at Trump rallies, phoning in advice and conducting seven one-on-one interviews with Trump.

Overall, Fox has interviewed the president 44 times compared to a combined ten for CBS, NBC and ABC. CNN has not had an interview with the president

Fox has become Trumps safe space, according to Mayer.

Jerry Taylor, co-founder of the Niskanen Center moderate think tank in DC, said to Mayer, In a hypothetical world, without Fox News, if president Trump were to be hit hard by the Mueller report, it would be the end of him.

But, with Fox News covering his back with the Republican base, he has a fighting chance. because he has something no other president in American history has ever had at his disposala servile propaganda operation.

If Perez sticks to his guns, Trump, who views himself as the most harassed president in US history will dodge debating a Democratic challenger.

Hell tell his base theres no way he would treated fairly by appearing in a debate sponsored by one of the enemies of the people.

Perez overplayed his hand and provided Trump with an out.

Rather than going head-to-head with an aggressive Democrat, who would expose just how ill-informed the president is about national and international affairs, Trump will seek refuge on the Most Watched, Most Trusted network.

His adoring fans will love it and Fox ratings will soar.
Offaly TD Carol Nolan, along with fellow Independent TDs Mattie McGrath and Michael Collins, has welcomed commitments provided to them by the office of the Deputy Garda Commissioner regarding the processing of Attachment and Committal Orders.

The Deputies were speaking after they along with Mr Jerry Beades, met with senior Garda personnel earlier today as part of their ongoing efforts to protect and vindicate the rights of those in severe mortgage or repossession distress. Speaking on behalf of the group Deputy Nolan made the following statement:

Our meeting today with the Deputy Garda Commissioner was very positive and constructive," Deputy Nolan said.

"We all agreed that the existing processes that are in place in terms of how Attachment and Committal Orders are being constructed and served is not fit for purpose and is failing families and individuals right across the state."

"The Deputy Garda Commissioner informed us that they have been in regular contact with the Law Society and have now agreed with them that a new Code of Practice is to be drawn up and strictly adhered to."

"As we understand it; the changes that will now be introduced will ensure that any legal representative acting on behalf of banks or lenders will now have their Attachment or Committal Order referred to the Office of the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Legal Department in the Phoenix Park," the Offaly TD explained.

"This represents significant progress as it will work to protect those in financial distress against the undue haste which has previously been attached to the execution of these Orders in the Courts."

"There was a general acceptance by all of us present at the meeting that peoples rights are not being protected and in some cases have even been undermined due to the speed at which these Orders are granted.
Campaigner Kathleen Chada takes centre stage for Midlands 103s special schedule for International Womens Day.

The Carlow mum, whose two sons were murdered by their father in 2013, is lobbying for law reform, particularly for sentencing and parole.

Her heartbreaking story features in the compelling content being arranged by the radio station this Friday, when its male roster steps aside to honour the occasion.

The day begins with IMRO award-winning broadcaster Ann Marie Kelly, the usual breakfast host, before Tullamore journalist Aisling ORourke takes on the flagship Midlands Today Show at 9am.

Model and podcaster Tara McCormack presents The Afternoon Show, while the stations editor Sinead Hubble co-hosts Drivetime with Emma Comerford from the Engineering Department, who proves shes equally adept on the mic.

Mountmellicks Claire O Brien hosts the Irish language programme Bosca Ceoil, while proud Texan Kathy Casey hosts Country Roads at 8pm.

All news bulletins will be presented by women, with surprise guests making cameo appearances throughout the day.

Operations Manager Rebecca Donnelly is delighted with the line-up: Our challenge for the 2019 International Women Day is to ask how we can forge a more gender-balanced world. Its about celebrating our achievements as women and if this experimental schedule proves popular, it could lead to significant changes.
Offaly Public Participation Network is holding a series of community consultations on a project aimed at making the county greener, wilder and healthier.

The events will delve into environmental issues like pesticides and renewable energy.

"In 2018 we found out that pesticides definitely cause cancer and our food and green spaces are sprayed with them, constantly," a statement from Green Offaly said.

"Everything that is driving climate change is a direct result of our progress and it is a fact that we are all going to have to

change the way we live. If we wait for others to do it for us, we could be waiting for a while."

"Here in Offaly, our answer to these challenges is the creation of Green Offaly Sustainable Development Trust. Development Trusts are organisations that are community-based, owned and led. Green Offaly is focused on helping our local communities become greener, wilder, richer and healthier, powered by community-owned renewable energy sources."

"This is green regeneration and it has never been done in Ireland before. It is good for community, good for business, good for the environment, great news for Offaly and it all begins with you! As part of our pre-project launch, we will be visiting 4 locations across Offaly: Ferbane, Birr, Daingean and Tullamore."

"We want to find out what your communities say around the issues of environment and community. We will take your feedback at these community meetings and use it to build the foundations of the Trust. Dont wait for others to act, come along, find out more and tell us what you want to see happen in your community."

The dates and locations of the meetings are listed below:

Ferbane and surrounding area: March 14 6.30pm - 8.30pm Gallen Community School, Ferbane.

Birr and surrounding area: March 19 6.30pm - 8.30pm Marian Hall, Birr

Tullamore and surrounding area: March 21 6.30pm - 8.30pm Darmagh Community Centre, Tullamore

Daingean and surrounding area: March 26 6.30pm - 8.30pm The Old School House, Daingean.

Ireland is part of a collective EU pledge to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and as such has committed to reduce carbon emissions 20% by 2020 at least 40% by 2030; and between 80% and 95% by 2050.
Offaly TD Barry Cowen and sitting councillor Peter Ormond are among a group of Fianna Fail representatives in the Midlands hosting a public meeting on climate change and the future of Ireland.

The meeting takes place on March 21 in Athlone Institute of Technology. The meeting will be addressed by leading experts on climate change from the energy, transport and agriculture sectors.

Hosted by Deputy Robert Troy in conjunction with Eugene Murphy TD, Barry Cowen TD, Cllr Joe Flaherty and Cllr Peter Ormond, the meeting will focus on practical steps that people can take in their daily lives to combat climate change.

Fianna Fail TD for Longford Westmeath, Robert Troy, explained, Irelands poor performance in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is indicative of the Governments abject failure to take seriously the threat of climate change."

"Unlike our nearest neighbours or European counterparts, Ireland has scored very low in the CCPI and we are not prepared for the challenges we will face in attempting to meet our international obligations to protect our planet."

Climate change is real, and sticking our heads in the sand is no longer acceptable. This is not just something that affects people in far-flung locations; its having an impact here in Ireland and in the Midlands Region with unusual weather patterns including drought, freak storms and heavier than normal weather."

We need to step up our efforts to combat climate change and I believe the responsibility lies with the Government to lead by example. On a local level, people need to be educated as to the impact on their everyday lives and on what kind of planet they will be leaving behind for the future generations," Troy said.

By hosting this meeting and bringing experts to the IT in Athlone we hope to provide practical and useful information to people, from all across the Midlands, as to how they can play their part in tackling climate change."

We hope to get good engagement on the issue and would encourage those who wish to better inform themselves on the impact of climate change to come along and listen to the experts and ask questions. Anyone wishing to register or get further information can email my office Robert.troy@oireachtas.ie," concluded Deputy Troy.
Matt Dunne, on the instructions of the Representatives of The Estate of Maura Brophy, have been asked to sell by Public Auction on Wednesday March 27, at 3pm in the Heritage Hotel, Killenard, Co. Laois a Semi Derelict House on c 23 acres in the following Lots:

Lot 1 Semi Derelict House on 10 acres Reserve 120,000. The land has extensive road frontage, is currently in grass and undoubtedly has more site potential. Subject to PP.

NOTE - the ideal thing about this lot is that anyone can refurbish it to their own requirements without having to satisfy a local needs requirement!

Lot 2 11 acres of excellent arable land with scenic views currently in Hardwood Forestry, Oak, Pine, Ash and Cherry Reserve 55,000 or 5,000 per acre. This lot would also ideally suit a Log Cabin or a once off house Subject to obtaining PP.

Lot 3 Which is for Sale by Private Treaty 2acre site with scenic views, ideal for a house subject to obtaining the necessary Planning Permission from Laois County Council  Guide Price 45,000

NOTE  Local needs will apply

Directions:

From Rosenallis, turn right at St. Brigids Church, and proceed towards Drummond Cross, turn left before Cuddy Kitchens Workshop and the three lots are off this roadway.

8 Miles Mountmellick,11 Miles Portlaoise, 9 Miles Tullamore.
Are you a current print subscriber? You qualify for online access to the Omak Chronicle. To receive your access, create a website account and then verify your print subscription or e-edition subscription with your subscriber number, which may be found on your bill or mailing label.
He was named chairman and CEO in 1981. In addition to growth in the master trust and custody business, the bank expanded in securities lending and wealth management areas during his tenure. It also expanded its foreign exchange trading operations, its London branch and its U.S. presence, especially in Florida and Arizona along with Illinois.
Hyderabad rape case: The rapist will be caught and killed in encounter, Telangana minister

1 dead, 16 unwell after botched vaccination administered to kids in Hyderabad

Hyderabad

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

Hyderabad, Mar 08: One toddler died and 15 kids fell ill after they were administered botched vaccination at the Urban Health Centre located in Hyderabad's Nampally on Thursday.

According to police, 16 toddlers fell ill and one of them died, after they were administered vaccination at Urban Health Centre located in Nampally, reported news agency ANI.

"Today, 16 toddlers have fallen sick after taking vaccination at the Urban Health Centre located in Nampally. All the children have been brought to Niloufer health centre for treatment. One toddler among 16 died and was shifted to Osmania General hospital for Post Medical Examination (PME)," police told ANI.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 8, 2019, 1:40 [IST]
India's armed forces now do not hesitate to cross border to protect country, says Rakshya Mantri

One year of Balakot airstrike: 'It marks paradigm shift in our operations', says Ex-IAF chief Dhanoa

Balakot strike: S-2000 smart bombs penetrated targets, caused blast inside

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: The Indian Air Force has given the government radar and satellite images showing bombing of the "intended targets" at the JeM terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot and "causing significant damage" to it, sources in the security establishment said.

The source-based information about the "evidence" comes in the backdrop of a report by a foreign news agency claiming that satellite images of the Jaish-e-Mohammad Madrasa in Balakot showed the facility is still intact and buildings are standing.

The government was given on Sunday all the "evidence" of the February 26 strike on the JeM camp, including radar and satellite imagery, which showed that the S-2000 laser-guided munition hit the intended targets causing significant "internal damage", sources said.

S-2000 smart bombs penetrates the targets and cause a blast inside, as per sources.

They also said that the IAF has collected from independent sources satellite imagery of the site of the JeM camp after the strike to assess the impact of the operation, and these images have also been handed over to the government.

This satellite image shows JeM madrasa buildings still standing days after Balakot airstrike

The news report, which drew a comparison between an April 2018 image of the camp with that of an image taken on March 4, 2019, to show it is practically unchanged, also comes amid raging debate over the number of human casualties in the Balakot air strikes.

Briefing reporters last week, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had said "a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated", while the government sources said 350 terrorists were killed. Later, BJP president Amit Shah put the toll at 250.

Amidst media reports suggesting minimal damage during these air strikes, opposition parties have been clamouring for clarity.

On Monday, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said it is for the government to provide death toll of terrorists, and the IAF only sees if a target has been hit or not.

On Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said around 400 terrorists were killed in the air strikes. When asked about the number of terrorists eliminated, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not give any figure.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 5:59 [IST]
BJP lawmakers meet Uttar Pradesh unit president after brawl, Yogi warns of strict action

India

pti-PTI

Lucknow, Mar 07: The two BJP lawmakers who had exchanged blows met the Uttar Pradesh party president here on Thursday to explain their conduct even as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath warned of strict action over the fracas.

But no immediate action has been announced against Sant Kabir Nagar MP Sharad Tripathi and Mehdawal MLA Rakesh Baghel, who fought at an official meeting.

A party leader said BJP state unit president Mahendra Nath Pandey told them sternly that they should have refrained from the behaviour they displayed at the district planning committee meeting in Sant Kabir Nagar on Wednesday evening.

The party leader said Pandey met the two separately for their versions and has also sought a report from state minister minister Ashutosh Tandon, who too was present at the meeting in Sant Kabir Nagar The next course of action will be decided after getting the report, he said.

Uttar Pradesh: BJP MP beats party MLA with shoe

Earlier, at an event here, Adityanath said the BJP is a disciplined party. Indiscipline will not be tolerated. In this particular case, strict action will be taken against the guilty," the chief minister said Thursday.

Pandey had summoned the two lawmakers to Lucknow after the fracas that was caught on tape, leaving the ruling party red-faced. The two leaders had got into an argument at the meeting over taking credit for a newly laid road.

The opposition has mocked the Bharatiya Janata Party over the fight, with the Congress calling it the Bharatiya Joot (shoe) Party. At Wednesday's meeting, after a brief exchange of words, Tripathi had got up from his seat and begun thrashing Baghel with his shoe.

The MLA reacted, landing a few blows on Tripathi. Tripathi was apparently angry that his name was missing from the plaque marking the inauguration of the road in the district's Mehdawal area.

PTI
If normalcy to be brought in Kashmir, Article 370 has to be reinstated: Farooq Abdullah

Two dead, around 30 Injured in grenade blast at Jammu bus stand; Hizbul behind the attack

India

oi-Vikas SV

Jammu, Mar 7: A grenade blast at Jammu bus stand today left one person dead and around 30 people injured.The police said that terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen was behind the attack.The blast took place around noon. The grenade reportedly went off under a bus, said reports. Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh said that the person who hurled the grenade has been arrested.

A civilian, injured in Thursday's Jammu grenade attack, succumbed to injuries the next day, taking up the death toll to two. At least 28-29 are injured and undergoing treatment.

"Teams were constituted to work on leads, CCTV camera footage examined, based on oral testimony of witnesses we were able to identify a suspect. He was detained, his name is Yasir Bhatt, he has confessed to the crime,"IGP Jammu, Manish K Sinha, told the media.

"Yasir Bhatt was tasked to throw this grenade by District Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kulgam, Farooq Ahmed Bhatt alias Omar," Sinha added.

The injured were rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital, and some are being operated for shrapnel injuries, said reports. The area has been cordoned off by the local police. This is said to be third grenade blast in the area in the past 10 months. Among the injured were bus drivers, conductors and some passersby.

"The person who threw the grenade at the Jammu bus stand earlier today, has been arrested," news agency ANI quoted Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh as saying.

The state has been on a high state of alert after the February 14 Pulwama attack and February 26 Balakot airstrike at JeM camp.

"It was a grenade explosion, it has caused injuries to approximately 18 people, all shifted to hospital," MK Sinha, IGP Jammu, told reporters earlier. It seems that the grenade was lobbed from the outside, he further said.

Reports quoted an eyewitness as syaing that it was a 'big blast'. The locals helped the injured and escorted them to the ambulances, the eyewitness further told a TV channel.

The blast took place at SRTC bus stand in Jammu around noon. One injured person is said to be critically injured, said reports.

Earlier today, a gunbattle broke out between the security forces and the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara. As per latest reports, one terrorist has been killed so far, said reports.

There have been at least five major encounters between the forces and the terrorists in Kashmir since India carried out a pre-emptive stike on JeM base in Pakistan's Balakot of February 26. Two terrorists were killed in an encounter with terrorists in Babgund area of J&K's Handwara on March 3.

[Escalating tension as Pakistan mobilises additional troops, weaponry]

Terrorists on Saturday (March 2) evening launched an attack on a camp of the 44 RR (Rashtriya Rifles) in Nagbal in Shopian district. Police were alerted immediately, who retaliated and fired back. The fresh encounters came amid heightened Indo-Pak tensions in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack, the subsequent anti-terror operation by India and Pakistan Air Force's attempt to target Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir.
CRPF obvious choice in Kashmir, but say no to political adventurism: Strategic expert

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

New Delhi, Mar 07: The Pulwama attack, in which 41 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred, has left indelible impact on the people of the country. Consequently, the major attack raises questions on the capability and vulnerability of the the paramilitary force.

OneIndia spoke to Dr. Ajai Sahni, Executive Director, Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), regarding the necessity of CRPF deployment in Kashmir, counter-terror capability of the force and ways to reduce casualties of the CRPF personnel.

OneIndia: Is CRPF more vulnerable compared to Army in conflict areas in general and especially in Kashmir?

Ajai Sahni: The CRPF is deployed in a number of static and crisis management duties, as well as CT operations, often in small units, with a high measure of exposure. Compared to the Army, moreover, they are relatively poorly equipped and resourced, and consequently, their vulnerabilities are high. Nevertheless, by and large, the number of fatalities in the Force tends to be significantly lower, as compared to the Army and the J&K Police. In 2018, for instance, of a total of 95 SF personnel killed, seven were drawn from CRPF and 37 from the Army (the remaining 45 were from the Police, with six not-specified). Of course, the Pulwama vehicle borne IED suicide bombing has dramatically distorted this trend in 2019, with 41 of the total of 55 killed this year (data till March 3) drawn from the CRPF; six from the Army, three from the Police, and another five not specified.

After Pulwama attack, Govt allows security forces deployed in Kashmir to travel by air

OneIndia: Is it necessary to deploy CRPF in Kashmir?

Ajai Sahni: The CRPF is the largest Paramilitary Force in the country, and has also been designated as the lead agency for response to insurgency and terrorism. Further, if you don't deploy the CRPF, you would have to deploy some other Central Forces in the present circumstances. While the J&K Police are now doing an excellent job, and have enormously improved their effectiveness, both in terms of intelligence gathering and operations, they are still far from sufficient in number and capacities to handle the challenges of both the insurgency and of the law and order crises created by sympathetic separatist campaigns, such as the relentless stone pelting to which Security Forces are subjected. Some Central deployment is necessary, and as the designated first responder against insurgency, the CRPF is the obvious choice.

OneIndia: Is the government expecting more from CRPF than they could deliver in terms of counter-strikes in Kashmir?

Ajai Sahni: There is a definite gap between what the Government expects and what the CRPF is equipped, trained and resourced to do. The Government has failed to reconcile its expectations with its allocations, and this has put the CRPF under extraordinary pressure.

OneIndia: How is the co-ordination between CRPF and the Army?

Ajai Sahni: Coordination between all Forces in J&K is now fairly good. There may be occasional exceptions, but these are usually the result of friction between individual local commanders, and can be expected in any theater of conflict.

OneIndia: How is CRPF rapport with local Kashmiris?

Ajai Sahni: This is a more difficult problem. CRPF gets its personnel from across the country, and patterns of deployment require fairly regular circulation of personnel. The troops are moved from theatre to theatre well before they are able to familiarise themselves even with the operational environment - leave alone the local people and cultures. There are, however, some outreach programmes that are intended to create a measure of goodwill between the Force and the local population, and these do help in some measure in building some bridges. Clear directives from the CRPF leadership also help moderate the behaviour of troops on the ground. However, where the message from the top is to deal harshly with segments of the population, abuses multiply and the distance between the Force and the people grows rapidly.

OneIndia: Do you think capability of CRPF should improve?

Ajai Sahni: Of course, there are many lacunae in patterns of training and deployment that need attention, equipment, particularly a range of modern technologies, and weaponry, need urgent upgrades; protection of personnel require continuous reviews both of protective gear and established protocols.

Pulwama attack: CRPF issues advisory against fake photos of martyrs

OneIndia: What do you suggest to reduce CRPF personnel casualties in Kashmir?

Ajai Sahni: The most significant initiative needed is to reverse the polarising, hate-based politics that has dominated the State over the past five years and more - from the run up to the 2014 elections. It is useful to remind ourselves that total terrorism linked fatalities in J&K had fallen to 117 in 2012, according to to SATP data, but had surged to 451 in 2018. Political adventurism, intentional destabilisation by the current regime at the Centre, the marginalisation of constitutional political parties, and the coarse and heavy handed approach that has been adopted towards the population, and the excessive focus on divisive issues such as Articles 370 and 35A, is feeding terrorist recruitment and violence, as well as separatist agitations, in the State.

This environment creates limitless opportunities for Pakistani mischief as well. There is overwhelming evidence today that most Kashmiris are turning away from the terrorists. A flood of intelligence provided by locals is making a continuous chain of successful, narrowly targeted counter-terrorist operations possible.

Moreover, most terrorist and stone pelting violence is now restricting to a few small areas of the Valley. Just five tehsils, out of 82 in the State, accounted for nearly 49 per cent of all terrorism related fatalities, while the worst affected five tehsils accounted for over 64 per cent of all stone pelting incidents in 2018. These trends demonstrate the vast opportunities for normalisation in J&K, but these have been sacrificed to the polarising electoral strategy of the ruling party at the Centre. Unless these policies are abandoned and a measure of sanity is reintroduced into New Delhi's policies, Kashmir will continue to burn.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 5:52 [IST]
Direct link to download DDA recruitment admit card 2019

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: The DDA recruitment admit card 2019 has been released. The same is also available on the official website.

The recruitment exam of the Delhi Development Authority for 203 posts will be held on March 18 and 19 2019. The exam would be conducted in a computer based testing format. The admit card is available on dda.org.in.

How to download DDA recruitment admit card 2019:

Go to dda.org.in

Click on the link direct recruitment 2019

Click on link for downloading admission status certificate

A new page will open

Log in with user id and password

View admit card

Download admit card

Take a printout

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 7:24 [IST]
Drone from Pak side of border fired at by BSF

Stuck at Attari border for 70 days, Pakistani couple name their newborn 'Border'

Escalating tension as Pakistan mobilises additional troops, weaponry

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: Amid heightened Indo-Pak tension, sources in the security establishment said that Pakistan has mobilised additional troops and military equipment from its frontier with Afghanistan to forward positions in several sensitive sectors along the LoC in Kashmir.

The Indian Army on Wednesday also issued a stern warning to Pakistan against targeting civilians along the LoC, saying any further provocation or misadventure by it will have "dire consequences".

Balakot strike: S-2000 smart bombs penetrated targets, caused blast inside

Official sources said the warning came after Pakistan targeted forward posts in Nowshera sector with 155 mm artillery guns which was retaliated by the Indian Army with Bofors guns.

Sources said the military officials of the two armies spoke over the hotline on Tuesday during which India had asked Pakistani side not to target civilian population along the LoC.

"Post our warning to the Pakistan Army not to target civilian areas, the overall situation along the Line of Control remains relatively calm," the Army said in a statement while reiterating the warning on Wednesday about attacks on civilians.

According to the statement, the Pakistan Army resorted to intense and unprovoked firing with heavy caliber weapons in selected areas of Krishna Ghati and Sunderbani, targeting Indian posts and civilian areas with mortar bombs and heavy guns.

"The same was effectively retaliated by the Indian Army. There have been no casualties on the Indian side," it said.

A strict vigil is being maintained along the LoC and the international border and any further "provocation or misadventure by Pakistan will be responded in a befitting manner with dire consequences," the statement added.

Tensions between the two countries escalated after Indian fighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp + near Balakot deep inside Pakistan on February 26.

Sources also post-Balakot strike, Pakistani side has mobilised additional troops and military equipment from its borders with Afghanistan to forward positions in several sensitive sectors along the LoC.

PAF shot down 2 IAF fighter jets: Pak foreign minister tells Parliament

Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations on February 27. However, the IAF thwarted their plans.

The Indian strike on the JeM camp came 12 days after the terror outfit claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, killing 40 soldiers.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 6:16 [IST]
PM-Kisan 10th installment to roll out by next week: How to check your status and name in beneficiary list?

Exclusive: MP farmers to Rahul Gandhi: Correct mistakes of Chhindwara SEZ

India

oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi

New Delhi, March 7: Farmers of Madhya Pradesh have expressed hope that the Congress President Rahul Gandhi will correct mistakes of the Chhindwara Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Thousands of farmers of Tehsil Sausar of District Chhindwara have been running from pillar to post from last 11 years to get back their land from a company called Chhindwara Plus Developers Limited, which they accuse of purchasing thousands of acres of their fertile land in the name of setting up the SEZ since 2007 at throwaway prices.

Since the Congress came to power in Madhya Pradesh and waived off loans of small farmers, the affected farmers have become hopeful of getting justice.

25 trains cancelled, 7 diverted over farmers' protests in Punjab

Talking to One India, an affected farmer Nandkishore Dhoble alleged that Chhindwara SEZ is a crystal-clear example of unholy nexus between government officials and the concerned company to grab fertile land of the farmers in the name of SEZ.

"Almost over 11 years have passed but not a single industrial unit has been set up in the said SEZ, but the company has managed to purchase around 6000 acres of farmers' land between 2007-13 at throwaway prices by using dubious tactics," alleges Dhoble.

Interestingly, it was during Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath 's tenure as Union Commerce and Industries Minister, the company had got in principle approval in 2007 for one year to set up the SEZ in Sausar.

It is notable that Chhindwara Lok Sabha is considered Kamal Nath's bastion.

One India is in possession of the Government of India's 'in-principle' approval letter No F.2/718/2006-SEZ Dated July 30, 2007.

Clause (i) of the letter asked the company to submit a suitable proposal within one year along with proof of land possession/ leasehold rights, updated project report and checklist.

It further adds that "The applicant should be in possession of the identified area either by way of ownership, or by way of leasehold rights valid for twenty years or more on the date of application".

Clause (ix) had the provision of granting an extension of in-principle approval "with valid reasons and details of steps taken for implementation".

Too many choices making decision making difficult for Indian farmers, says a scientist

Thereafter, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Madhya Pradesh Trade and Investment Facilitation Corporation Limited and Chhindwara Plus Developers Private Limited on October 27, 2007, to set up SEZ at Sausar.

Dhoble alleges after signing of the MOU, the company and some corrupt government officials via touts started spreading rumours that the government has declared SEZ and require land for the same and land of those people will be acquired forcibly by the government who will not sell their land.

"Company started purchasing land at its whims and fancies from different farmers at different prices. Till now, the company has got many extensions of 2007 in-principle approval and has managed to purchase around 6000 acres of land by flouting SEZ rules," Dhoble said, adding that the office of Sub- Registrar, Sausar, also waived off the stamp duty on the land purchased by the company.

He has substantial documentary evidence, obtained through the Right to Information Act, which suggests how the said SEZ became an alibi of purchasing agriculture land by flouting government rules and regulations under the then Congress-ruled central government and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh.

The RTI replies (copies of the same are with One India) reveal that no government order was issued for exempting the stamp duty and the company was not authorised to get directly involved in the land purchase process.

For example, Inspector General of Registration, Madhya Pradesh, in an RTI reply on July 4, 2018, informed Dhoble that no order was issued by Sub-Registrar, Sausar, to exempt stamp duty for the purchases made by Chhindwara Plus Developers Private Limited.

Surprisingly, Sub-Registrar, Sausar signed a sale-deed of 1.254 hectares of agricultural land belonging to one Pandhari Maroti Bhumar in favour of Chhindwara Plus Developers Private Limited on August 17, 2018, that clearly mentioned at the top that the sale of the land was exempted from Stamp Duty. The said land was sold for Rs. 10,50,600.00.

Interestingly, the said company had also moved the Jabalpur High Court in 2017 to get a stay against the erection of high-tension electricity poles and lines by the Power Grid Corporation on its said SEZ land.

During the hearing, the counsel of the respondent informed the court that the subject SEZ has been issued a formal approval for setting up the multi-product SEZ, which is yet to be finally notified.

The counsel had argued that under Section 11 of the SEZ Act no Development Commissioner has been appointed till date, therefore, the provisions of SEZ Act would not be applicable in the case of the petitioner (Chhindwara Plus Developers Private Limited).

Single Bench of Justice Ms.Vandana Kasrekar passed an order on July 4, 2017, and granted permission to the Power Grid to erect high-tension electricity poles & lines in the Chhindwara SEZ.

It was also revealed during this case that the company had got final approval to set up SEZ on August 29, 2016. The said approval is valid for a period of three years, i.e August 29, 2019. But, the villagers tell One India that not a single industry has been set up in the said SEZ.

They also express surprise that without developing the SEZ how come the company is successful in getting extensions after extensions.

They have demanded Congress President Rahul Gandhi to intervene in the matter and direct Kamal Nath to take necessary steps to correct mistakes of the Chhindwara SEZ.
Explainer: What does the new AK-203 have to offer

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: Prime Minister, Narendra Modi recently dedicated a project at Amethi in which India and Russia would produce the latest AK-203 assault rifles.

The latest rifles are intended at replacing the current INSAS rifles. In the wake of rising incidents of terrorism and terrorists using modern weapons, the AK-203 is the need of the hour.

The production of the Ak-203 is expected to begin in the next 3 to 6 months and the project would deliver 1.2 lakh rifles in three years.

The AK-203 magazine can hold 30 bullets and has an effective range of 400 metres.

AK-203 rifles will create jobs, help Indian security agencies, says Vladimir Putin

Further its 100 per cent accuracy would help the forces in a big way. It would be lighter and shorter when compared to the INSAS. Further it can host and under barrel grenade launcher or a bayonet. The rifle can also be equipped with detachable tactical sound suppressors.

The NATO grade weapon is capable of firing 10 bullets in one second or 600 bullets in a minute. The rifle can be used both in automatic and semi automatic modes. The rifle can work under extreme climatic conditions and can be effective both in sand, water and soil. The weapon also never gets jammed.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 10:18 [IST]
But resumes dont run City Hall. Mayors do. Preckwinkle has been in the public eye long enough that we have a fair idea what traits would help and hurt her as mayor. Lightfoots background, and capabilities for mayoral leadership, are less well-known, so its worth looking into Preckwinkles question: Does Lightfoot have the background capacity and capability to lead the city from behind the big desk of the mayors office?
For the Jaish-e-Mohammad it is all in the family

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: For the Jaish-e-Mohammad, one of the most lethal terror groups in the world, it is all in the family. The outfit was created following the release of its chief, Maulana Masood Azhar, following the Kandahar IC-814 hijack.

In the year 1994, the Indian agencies detained a 26 year old in Srinagar, who had claimed to be a journalist. At the time of his arrest, he had on him a Portuguese passport. Little did anyone guess that Masood Azhar, the man who had been detained would go on to become one of the world's most dangerous terrorists.

Back in the day, he had no outfit of his own, but the ISI taking advantage of his oratory and organisational skills sent him to Kashmir to oversee the operations of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

Was the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror facility destroyed in Balakot strike?

After his arrest, he spent five years in custody, following which he was released following the IC-814 hijack. Following his return, India had asked Pakistan to reign in on him. However despite an assurance by then president, Pervez Musharraf, Azhar was allowed to launch the Jaish-e-Mohammad. The official announcement came following the attack on Parliament in 2001.

While Azhar remained a driving force, his ailments forced him to take a back seat. Intelligence agencies tell OneIndia that he has been in hospital for sometime now battling spinal cancer. However, with Azhar lying low, the operations of the outfit had not subsided. It continues to be lethal and with several members of Azhar's family taking a front seat, the outfit has gone to carry out big strikes, such as the ones we witnessed in Pathankot, Uri, Nagrota and Pulwama.

The Balakot terror facility is one of the biggest that the JeM runs apart from the one in Bahawalpur. With the Balakot facility being hit, it moved a major part of its operations to a new facility is located at Markaz Usman-o-Ali Railway Link Road in Bahawalpur.

The JeM runs its operations like a family business. It has always relied on family members as it feels that none of them would go rogue or compromise on the ideology of its founder, Azhar.

The current facility at Bahawalpur houses a modern building apart from state of the art terror camps that can house up to 400 terrorists. JeM also runs camps in Balochistan and also in strongholds of the Taliban that include, Khyber and Spin Boldak passes. With Azhar in hospital, the man in command for the Afghan operations today is Ibrahim Azhar. Being in charge of the Afghanistan operations of the JeM, he works closely with the Taliban.

It may be recalled that Ibrahim's son Usman Hyder was killed in an encounter n Jammu and Kashmir's Tral on October 30 2018. His younger son, Mohammad Umair is currently in the Valley and was the mastermind of the Pulwama attack.

Why JeM and Lashkar attributes Ghazwa-e-Hind to the Prophet

Apart from Ibrahim, the outfit is also being run by Masood Azhar's sons Abdullah and Wali. India's dossier says that both sons play an active role in radicalising cadres for the JeM.

The India operations of the JeM are today largely overseen by Abdul Rauf Asghar, who is the brother of Maulana Masood Azhar. It may be recalled that he was detained in Pakistan along with 44 others.

His other two brothers, Maulana Ammar and Talha Saif too play key roles in the running the outfit. Masood Azhar's brother-in-law, Yusuf Azhar who was in charge of the Balakot operations is said to have lost his life in the air strike.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 15:59 [IST]
Four targets identified at Balakot were hit as intended

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: The debate over the authenticity of the Balakot air strikes continue with some claiming that no damage was created to the terror facility of the Jaish-e-Mohammad.

By March 2 2019, India had gathered sufficient evidence that suggested the targets identified at the Balakot facility had been hit as intended. Evidence in the form of satellite imagery had been collected, which clearly suggested that the buildings that were identified had been hit. Further it was said that the buildings were hit by 5 S-2000 precision guided munition that were fired from the Mirage 2000.

Air strike at Balakot hit four JeM buildings, SAR evidence suggests

The evidence that was collected us under the classified category and it was entirely up to the government whether or not to release the information. India collected evidence in the form of Synthetic Aperture Radar, which suggested that the four buildings that were selected as targets were hit.

Further, following the strike, Pakistan took journalists to the spot and were selectively shown around. No journalist was allowed into the facility, Indian officials have learnt. Moreover the JeM facility was not accessible to anyone, officials also said.

Further there have been questions about the scale of destruction. India says that the S-2000 smart bombs penetrates the targets and causes a blast inside.

The Indian Air Force has collected from independent sources satellite imagery of the site to assess the impact and the same has been handed over to the government.

The government was given on Sunday all the "evidence" of the February 26 strike on the JeM camp, including radar and satellite imagery, which showed that the S-2000 laser-guided munition hit the intended targets causing significant "internal damage", sources quoted by PTI said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 12:49 [IST]
Google dedicates interactive Doodle made by women on International Women's Day 2019

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

Bengaluru, Mar 08: Search engine Google has dedicated interactive, slideshow Doodle told by and made by women on the occassion of International Women's Day.

In it, Google showcases inspirational quotes across various languages by thirteen international female trailblazers-both past and present. Connecting to the larger theme of "women empowering women," the quotes were also designed by a talented group of female guest artists from around the globe.

Google stated that the process of choosing the thirteen quotes was extremely difficult, but aimed to include a diverse representation of voices on a day which celebrates the past, present, and future community of diverse women around the world.

Based in the United States, American illustrator Melissa Crowton created the multilingual opening and closing images in today's Doodle.

Asked about what inspired her approach to the images you designed for the Doodle, Melissa Crowton says, "Although it is often hard to communicate so much in one image, I was inspired by the diversity of the women of the world and wanted my image to reflect that. Each element is unique in shape, texture, and size, which I found to be an apt representation of the beauty of our community."

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, March 8, 2019, 0:24 [IST]
PM-Kisan 10th installment to roll out by next week: How to check your status and name in beneficiary list?

PM Modi lauds UP govt for the work done for the benefit of sugarcane farmers

India, Pak meeting on Kartarpur corridor on March 14: Centre

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

New Delhi, Mar 07: Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal thanked PM Narendra Modi for his commitment to the Sikh community and said talks with Pakistan on Kartarpur corridor will go on as planned.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, said, "14 March was fixed by both [ India and Pakistan] Governments for discussions on Kartarpur corridor. I'm grateful to the Prime Minister that he stands firm in his commitment to the Sikh community. The talks will carry on as they had been planned."

India has said its first meeting with Pakistan to finalise the modalities for Kartarpur corridor would be held at the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border on March 14. The announcement came a day after Pakistan said it would send a delegation to India on March 14 to discuss a draft agreement for setting up of the corridor to facilitate visa-free visit of Sikh pilgrims to the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib.

PM Modi releases 5th volume of 'Dictionary of Martyrs'

The first meeting between India and Pakistan to discuss and finalise the modalities for Kartarpur corridor would be held at Attari-Wagah (Indian side) on March 14, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

(With PTI inputs)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 19:59 [IST]
If normalcy to be brought in Kashmir, Article 370 has to be reinstated: Farooq Abdullah

J&K: Terrorist gunned down in Handwara

India

oi-Vikas SV

Srinagar, Mar 7: A gunbattle broke out between the security forces and the terrorists this morning in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara. As per latest reports, one terrorist was killed.

The encounter began in Kralgund area of Handwara on Thursday morning with a brief exchange of fire. The internet was been suspended in the area in the wake of the gunbattle..

On March 5, two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir's Tral area following a gunbattle between them and the security forces. Two terrorist were killed and one civilian was reportedly injured. He was caught in crossfire between the forces and the terrorists.

There have been at least five major encounters between the forces and the terrorists in Kashmir since India carried out a pre-emptive stike on JeM base in Pakistan's Balakot of February 26.

[Escalating tension as Pakistan mobilises additional troops, weaponry]

Two terrorists were killed in an encounter with terrorists in Babgund area of J&K's Handwara on March 3. The gunbattle went on for almost three days. The death toll of the security forces was five. The encounter began on Friday (March 1) morning when security forces launched a search operation in the area in north Kashmir, following information about presence of militants there.

[Indian Army needs free hand to counter Pakistani e-jihad in Kashmir]

Terrorists on Saturday (March 2) evening launched an attack on a camp of the 44 RR (Rashtriya Rifles) in Nagbal in Shopian district. Police were alerted immediately, who retaliated and fired back. The fresh encounters came amid heightened Indo-Pak tensions in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack, the subsequent anti-terror operation by India and Pakistan Air Force's attempt to target Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir.
Former Karnataka Minister C Channigappa passes away at Apollo hospital in Bengaluru

Neither Siddaramaiah nor anyone can finish off JD(S): HD Deve Gowda

JD(S)-Congress seat sharing: Final call on March 10

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: The JD(S) and Congress would take a final call on the number of seats both parties would contest in Karnataka on March 10. While a broad understanding has been reached, the two parties would meet again on March 10 and take a call.

Scaling down his party's demand, JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to allot at least 10 out of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka to his party.

The Janata Dal (Secular) had earlier demanded that it be given 12 seats to contest.

After Gandhi met Gowda at the latter's residence, the JD(S) said the seat-sharing agreement is likely to be finalised shortly and will be announced by March 10.

At the two-hour meeting, Gandhi and Deve Gowda broadly discussed seat sharing in Karnataka, prevailing political situation in the country and the need for opposition unity.

AICC's general secretary in Karnataka K C Venugopal and JD(S) national general secretary Danish Ali were present at the meeting.

With 20 MP seats 'a Kannadiga can be PM again': Kumaraswamy

"Gandhi discussed about seat sharing in Karnataka. This is the first such discussion between the two parties... Earlier, I had asked for 12 seats. At the meeting, I requested Rahulji to give at least 10 seats to the JD(S)," Gowda told reporters.

Asserting that the objective of the pre-poll alliance is to win the elections, Gowda said the Congress chief will take a final call on the seat-sharing arrangement after taking inputs from Ali and Venugopal.

The ruling coalition partners in Karnataka have held formal talks + on seat sharing at the state level.

Ali said, "Some issues which were not discussed at the meeting have been left to me and Venugopal to decide and finalise."

The Congress would contest two-thirds of the seats and the JD(S) will get the rest, he said.

"However, seat wise, we have to discuss and finalise. We are going to reach a decision shortly and will announce it by March 10," he noted.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 6:07 [IST]
If normalcy to be brought in Kashmir, Article 370 has to be reinstated: Farooq Abdullah

J&K Governor condemns grenade attack

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

Srinagar, Mar 07: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik called the grenade explosion at Jammu bus-stand a 'heinous and cowardly attack on innocent people.'

Condemning the attack, Governor Satya Pal Malik directed the administration to provide best medical assistance to the injured.

Reacting to the grenade attack, Satya Pal Malik said, " We condemn the heinous and cowardly attack on innocent people. It was a reaction by anti-nationals and terrorists as they are losing their grip. Government has come down very heavily on such elements after Pulwama terrorist attack."

One dead, around 30 Injured in grenade blast at Jammu bus stand; Hizbul behind the attack

"The government has decided that it will uproot terrorism from here. We have arrested 170 people who support terrorist activities. We also banned Jamat-e-Islami as they radicalise and mislead the youth, " said the Governor.

He asked all agencies to ensure that those responsible for the attack are brought to justice. The governor announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs 20,000 each to those injured, his spokesperson said.

A grenade blast at Jammu bus stand today left one person dead and around 30 people injured. The police said that terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen was behind the attack.The blast took place around noon. The grenade reportedly went off under a bus, said reports. Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh said that the person who hurled the grenade has been arrested.
As Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Cong says such posturing for personal ambition will help BJP

King of donkeys is anti-national Rahul Gandhi's new name: BJP MLA

India

oi-Vikas SV

Bhopal, Mar 7: Alleging that the Congress president 'has been acting like an anti-national' in recent times, BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya said that Rahul Gandhi's name 'Pappu', which the BJP leaders have often used while referring to the Congress chief, has now been changed to "Gadhon ka Sartaj" ( King of donkeys).

The BJP has been extremely critical of Rahul Gandhi over his alleagtions against PM Modi over Rafale deal issue and recently for raising questions on IAF's preemptive strikes of terrorist camp in Balakot, Pakistan.

"Earlier, he was called 'Pappu', that was a harmless and an affectionate name. But of late he has been acting like an anti-national. So we now changed his name from 'Pappu' to 'Gadhon ka Sartaj'," news agency ANI quoted Akash Vijayvargiya as saying.

National interest can be ignored for sake of 'chowkidar': Mayawati targets Modi

Akash Vijayvargiya is the son of senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya and an MLA in the Madhya Pradesh assembly. In the recent Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, Akash defeated Congress' three time MLA Ashwin Joshi by a margin of over 5700 votes from Indore-3 vidhan sabha seat.

With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the allegations, counter-allegations and name calling have become the order of the day. Even Rahul has been attacking PM Modi by using "Chowkidaar chor hai" jibe at almost every rally. "Chowkidaar chor hai" literally translates into "The watchman is chief". PM Modi calls himself the Watchman while asserting that he has been harsh on corruption.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 12:23 [IST]
NIA arrests key accused in Jalandhar grenade hurling case

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: The National Investigation Agency has arrested a key accused involved in the Jalandhar grenade throwing case. The accused person has been identified as Amir Nazir, who is a resident of Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir.

On September 14 2018, 4 grenades were hurled at the building of a police station in Jalandhar in which one police personnel was injured. The probe by the NIA revealed that the attack was the handiwork of Kashmir based terror outfit, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.

NIA raids houses of separatists, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in Kashmir

The agency had earlier arrested Fazil Bashir and Shahid Qayoom, both residents of Jammu and Kashmir. Both were pursuing their B.Tech (Civil) from a college in Jalandhar. Two more accused persons, Rauf Ahmed Mir and Umar Ramzan were killed in an encounter at South Kashmir on December 22 2018.

The NIA says that Nazir had procured and facilitated the delivery of 4 grenades used in the attack. The attack was carried out on the instructions of AGH chief, Zakir Musa.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 5:44 [IST]
Not just Balakot, R&AW had codified 30 other terror camps close to army installations in Pak

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: As the agencies assess the damage caused in the Balakot air strike, survelliance by the National Technical Research Organisation has indicated that there were 300 mobile phones active at the facility.

Technology today has come a long way and has ensured that concrete details are made available following such operations. However back in 1996-67 in the absence of agencies such as the NTRO, the intelligence agencies found it hard to codify or map such facilities.

R&AW mapped Balakot 15 years back, but it needed guts to hit it

It was no easy job for us back then explained former Research and Analysis Wing officer, Amar Bhushan. Apart from Balakot, we had codified 30 similar camps, all of which were located near army installations in Pakistan. We had managed to piece together all the information regarding these camps and more importantly we were able to show them on maps.

This list was then circulated to agencies across the world and none denied the information. Those were the times, when the problem of terrorism had not hit the European nations as yet. They always felt that it was an internal issue. They would cite their domestic laws and say that they would get involved only if an organisation hurt their domestic security interests says Amar Bhushan.

However post 9/11 everything changed. The first codified terrorist list prepared by us was taken more seriously and the problem of terrorism was widely recognised.

R&AW picked 5 JeM camps, but here is why Balakot was zeroed in on

On the NTRO data of 300 mobiles being active in Balakot, Bhushan says that it has high capability interception tools. If they say they heard 300 mobiles, it may not be precisely in the Balakot facility, but around it as well.

However the issue is not how many were killed. It is not about tree or flower pot damage. The issue is that that we have identified and hit them. We have gone inside and hit them. The evidence is not about the bodies, Amar Bhushan also says.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 16:47 [IST]
Arun Jaitley framed bill on Art 370 nullification that can withstand legal challenge, says his wife

Jaitley statue at Kotla: Angry Bedi asks DDCA to remove his name from stands, quits membership

People are more intelligent: Arun Jaitley's retort to Rahuls Rafale charge

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 07: Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday lashed out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who demanded 'criminal investigations' against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rafale deal.

"The government has repeatedly made its position clear. The Supreme Court has spoken on it. The petitioners are taking one more chance. The CAG has already analysed it. No dynast can claim that he is above the Supreme Court or the CAG and that their verdicts and findings don't apply on them," Jaitley said briefing the mediapersons in New Delhi.

"Today's comment made by the Congress party and its president...the facts were completely wrong," said Jaitley.

"The Congress party has, in the last few days through statements of its senior leaders, corned itself in a difficult situation. They are getting high TRPs on Pakistan television. But there is revulsion as far as domestic opinion in India is concerned," he added.

PM Modi is Pakistan's poster boy, not us: Rahul hits back

"Politicians must understand people of India are more intelligent than us," Jaitley said.

Earlier in the day, Congress President Rahul Gandhi asked why a probe cannot be ordered against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a "Rs 30,000-crore scam" when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents related to the fighter jet deal.

Gandhi accused the prime minister of performing a bypass surgery in the deal and the government of manipulating institutions to "save" him.

"Justice should be for all. Investigate everyone, but probe Modi as well" as it has emerged in the official files that the Prime Minister's Office was involved in parallel negotiations in the fighter jet deal, he said.

The government has constantly rejected the allegations levelled by the Congress with the BJP accusing Gandhi of spreading lies to torpedo the Rafale deal due to his vested interests. Ambani has also rejected corruption allegations.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 15:42 [IST]
INC means I Need Commission: BJP hits out at Congress after Rafale report

PM Modi is Pakistans poster boy, not us: Rahul hits back

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 07: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbing him as the "poster boy of Pakistan" for hugging former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and inviting the country's spy agency ISI to Pathankot after the IAF base was attacked.

Gandhi's remarks came after the Prime Minister on Tuesday called the opposition as "poster boys of Pakistan" for seeking proof of the IAF's action on a terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

"He is the Pakistan's poster boy, not us," said Gandhi, hitting back at Modi for having publicly hugged Sharif during his swearing-in ceremony and later when he visited Pakistan to wish him on his birthday.

PM did 'bypass surgery' in Rafale deal, investigate him too: Rahul Gandhi

The Congress president also targeted the Prime Minister for inviting Pakistan's spy agency ISI to India to probe the Pathankot terror attack.

He said he had seen the views of the families of the CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack, who had raised questions on the impact of the air strike in Pakistan, asserting that the Congress had also said this.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 14:07 [IST]
Three more Rafale jets to land in India from France in non-stop flight

Rafale: Explained, can RTI override the Official Secrets Act?

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: The Union Government while advancing arguments in the Rafale review plea at the Supreme Court said that documents linked to the deal were stolen from the defence ministry.

Attorney General K K Venugopal while making submissions sad that the newspapers that published the files may have violated the Official Secrets Act. Opposing the petitioners argued that the Right to Information Act overrides the Official Secrets Act.

Does the Right to Information Act override the Official Secrets Act? Let us examine.

Can cover be sought under national security if crime is committed: SC

What is the Official Secrets Act of 1923:

It is a colonial law that has carried on since the British rule and states that actions which involve helping an enemy state against India is actionable. Further it states that a person cannot approach, inspect or even pass over a prohibited government site or area.

Section 2 of the AAct states that if any person for purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, obtains, collets, records, publishes or communicates to any person any secret official code, he or she shall be punishable with imprisonment up to fourteen years.

The AG said that the documents on the basis of which the report was published was based on stolen files from the MoD. Hence it qualified as an offence under the Act. While he said that the government probe is underway, he however added that no FIR had been registered so far.

The Whistleblower Protection Act:

Petitioner, Arun Shourie told the court that in the Coalgate and 2G scam cases, he had taken documents from a whistleblower. The Act protects whistleblowers making disclosures in public interest related to an act of corruption, misuse of power, criminal offence by a public servant.

How do we fight Pak F-16s without Rafale: Govt in SC

The petitioners also cited a 2013 judgment of the Supreme Court in which it was held that the identity of a whistleblower can never be revealed to the accused facing prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Does Right to Information Act override OSA?

The petitioners while arguing that the RTI Act overrides the OSA said that under Section 8(2) of the Act it is stated, ' notwithstanding anything in the OSA, not any exemptions permissible in accordance with sub section (1), a public authority may allow access to information, if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests.

Further it also states that in case of a clash with the OSA, public interest would prevail.

However under Section 6 of the OSA, information from any government office is considered to be official information. Hence such information can be used to override requests made under the RTI Act.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 10:09 [IST]
Raviji, the same thing just happened to me: Shashi Tharoor to seek explanation from Twitter

What is itat e-dwar the new e-filing portal of the IT appellate tribunal

Social media companies free to do business, but should be accountable to Indian laws: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Big step towards transparency: Prasad on first compliance report by Google, FB under new IT rules

Rahul Gandhi playing into hands of Rafale competitors: Union Minister RS Prasad

India

oi-Vikas SV

New delhi, Mar 7: The BJP-led government at the Centre hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on PM Modi in the wake of new trun that Rafale deal issue took after a report in daily 'The Hindu' allegedly based on "stolen" documents from the defence ministry.

Alleging 'parallel negotiation' in Rafale deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi demanded 'a criminal investigation' against Modi. "PM Modi performed bypass surgery in Rafale deal," Gandhi said on Thursday.

PM did 'bypass surgery' in Rafale deal, investigate him too: Rahul Gandhi

Reacting to this, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad lashed out at the Congress president and accused Gandhi of telling 'blatant lies'.

"Totally condemn the blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi. He doesn't believe the Indian Air Force, he doesn't believe the SC, doesn't believe the CAG. Does he want to believe Pakistan? He is inadvertently or deliberately playing into hands of Rafale competitors," RS Prasad told ANI.

The Congress president's fresh attack came a day after the government's top law officer told the Supreme Court that the documents cited by lawyer Prashant Bhushan were 'stolen'. The top court was hearing requests to review its December verdict that rejected the demand for a probe into the deal to purchase Rafale fighter jets from French aviation firm Dassault Aviation.

Time to lodge FIR against PM Modi for corruption in Rafale deal: Congress

"It's a blatant case of corruption, it is clearly stated that the PM of India is carrying out a parallel negotiation," Gandhi said today. "Why should there not be a criminal investigation? The problem in India is there is a criminal investigation only on people who oppose PM Modi. Basically, everything possible is done to safeguard Narendra Modi."

The Congress on Wednesday alleged corruption and malfeasance in the Rafale fighter jet deal and said the time has come to lodge an FIR against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The corruption and malfeasance in Rafale deal is out in the open. PM Modi misused his office to give benefits to Dassault Aviation and caused loss to the public exchequer," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had told reporters yesterday.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 11:32 [IST]
Till when does a father have to take responsibility of his child: SC clarifies

Air Pollution: You want to ban industries in Pakistan? Court asks UP govt

SC gives Centre 10 days to decide date for meeting of Lokpal Selection Panel

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 07: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to inform within 10 days possible date for the meeting of the selection committee for appointment of Lokpal.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was informed by Venugopal that the search committee headed by former apex court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai has recommended three panels of names to the selection committee for appointment of chairperson, judicial and non-judicial members.

The top court also refused to pass directions to disclose names in the three panels.

Rafale: Explained, can RTI override the Official Secrets Act?

The Selection Committee led by Prime Minister and comprising Lok Sabha Speaker, CJI or his nominee, Leader of Opposition and an eminent jurist will now take decision on appointing India's first ever Lokpal and its members.

As there is no Leader of Opposition, the leader of Congress Legislature Party in Lok Sabha had been invited to the meeting as a special invitee, but he (Mallikarjun Kharge) is not attending the meetings, Venugopal told the court.

The top court also turned down advocate Prashant Bhushan's plea seeking to make public the names proposed by the search committee. The court observed that it will not pass any directions to disclose three panels of names recommended by the Lokpal Search Committee and said that the matter should be left to the committee.
Ram temple in Ayodhya to be ready by 2025, open for 'darshan' to devotees by 2023 end

Foundation works for Ram Mandir to be ready by October, 'garbhagriha' by Dec 2023: VHP

Will Ayodhya dispute be solved through mediation: SC verdict today

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Mar 08: The Supreme Court will pronounce verdict on Friday whether to send the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for court appointed and monitored mediation for a "permanent solution".

Hindus and Muslims have been warring for the land on which the now demolished Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi structure once stood for long now.

A five-Judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had reserved the verdict on referring the matter for mediation on Wednesday.

Should Ayodhya dispute be decided through mediation? SC reserves order

During the course of the hearing on Wednesday, the apex court said it was aware of the gravity of the case and the outcome of mediation on the body politic of the country.

"It is not only about property. It is about mind, heart and healing, if possible. We are not concerned about what Mughal ruler Babur had done, and what happened after. We can go into what exists in the present moment," said the five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, and comprising Justices S.A. Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S.A. Nazeer.

The development is significant as it comes just weeks ahead of national elections due by May.

The Allahabad High Court had in 2010 carved up the land in the ration of 2:1 between the Hindus and the Muslims. Both sides have challenged the ruling. It has been pending in the top court ever since.

The Hindu parties to the case the Nirmohi Akhara, the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha and the All India Hindu Mahasabha have all expressed their opposition to mediation.
Tailed, photographed, how Indian diplomats bear the brunt of strained ties with Pak

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: Diplomats often bear the wrath in view of escalating tensions between two countries.

Amidst the growing tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack and Balakot air strike, India diplomats have borne the brunt of harassment by ISI officials.

India has protested in the form of a note verbale and it was mentioned that Pakistani officials had tailed the vehicles of Indian diplomats. There was aggressive tailing of the vehicles, when two Indian officials were on their way to the embassy, India has complained.

Four targets identified at Balakot were hit as intended

India also raised two more complaints and said that its officials were tailed, intercepted and their photographs clicked in an intimidating manner. Another official complained about an ISI official following him to a market in a motor-cycle.

Such incidents have been on the rise since tensions escalated between the two countries. India says that these incidents are in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. India has pointed out that the security of its officials is the responsibility of the Pakistan government. India has further asked the Pakistan government to probe these incidents and also share the outcome.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 15:31 [IST]
UN rejects Hafiz Saeed's plea for removal from list of banned terrorists: Government sources

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 07: In a significant development, the United Nations has rejected an appeal of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, to remove his name from its list of banned terrorists, government sources said on Thursday.

Notably, the decision comes at a time when UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee has received a new request to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the strike.

The UN decision to reject appeal of Saeed, also a co-founder of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), came after India provided detailed evidence including "highly confidential information" about his activities, sources told PTI, adding that the verdict of the global body was conveyed to his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza earlier this week.

For the Jaish-e-Mohammad it is all in the family

Saeed, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jammat-ud-Dawa (JuD), was banned on December 10, 2008 by the United Nations Security Council after the horrific Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.

Saeed had filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, for removal of the ban.

Independent Ombudsperson Daniel Kipfer Fasciati, appointed by the UN to examine all such requests, has informed Saeed's lawyer that it has been decided following examination of his request that that he will "continue as a listed individual", sources said.

The Ombudsperson recommended that after gathering all information, it has been decided to continue with the ban as "there was sufficient information to provide a reasonable and credible basis for continuing the listing," sources said, adding the recommendation was endorsed by the UN's Sanctions Committee.

Saeed's request was opposed by India as well as other countries that had originally listed him - US, UK and France, sources said.

Significantly, Pakistan did not oppose the appeal despite claims by the new Imran Khan-led government there that it was taking action against the banned terrorists and their organisations in what they call a 'Naya Pakistan' (new Pakistan).

Last month, the US, the UK and France made a fresh bid at the UN to ban JeM head Masood Azhar+ , who is also residing in Pakistan as per Pakistani foreign minister's admission. JeM is already a UN-designated terrorist organisation.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 20:21 [IST]
Was the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror facility destroyed in Balakot strike?

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: Amid conflicting claims of "satellite evidence" on whether India did strike the Jaish-e-Mohammed camp at Balakot in Pakistan, the Indian air force( IAF) maintained that it had hit the intended targets and that precision 'Spice' bombs had pierced the roofs of identified buildings and exploded inside.

A Reuters report on Wednesday referred to images produced by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator, showing at least six buildings on the site of the Jaish camp on March 4. The report claimed the image was virtually unchanged from an April 2018 photo and had no signs of a bombing. "There are no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees around the madrassa or other signs of an aerial attack," the report said. It quoted Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Non-proliferation programme at Middlebury Institute of International Studies, who "confirmed" that the satellite picture showed the structures in question.

Balakot strike: S-2000 smart bombs penetrated targets, caused blast inside

Indian government sources have previously said the attack did not target the entire Jaish campus, but only 5-6 specific buildings. IAF chief Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanao has said the designated targets were hit even as he did not offer an estimate of how many persons may have died.

Even as a political battle raged, with Congress demanding the government clarify the accounts on casualties, and BJP countering, asking why the opposition was doubting the armed forces, television channels on Wednesday played yet another set of satellite images claiming that the targets at the Jaish terror camp had been hit.

The images showed areas that were identified as blast impact sites where vegetation was allegedly damaged. The TV reports claimed that this was the result of the blasts at the buildings that were hit. It was also alleged that the bodies of terrorists at the camp might have been buried at the site to hide evidence and there were efforts to rebuild the roofs.

So far, though representatives of foreign media have visited Balakot and some accounts had residents claiming that there had been few or no casualties, no one has been allowed at the camp itself that is near Balakot on a hilltop in a wooded area. Some foreign correspondents have reported that locals have spoken of a few dozen bodies being removed from the area.

ISI colonel, Salim Qari, JeM trainer Maulana Moeen among those killed in Balakot strike

The IAF is sticking to its stand that it hit the intended targets in pre-dawn strikes on February 26. "The bombs, which were pre-loaded with satellite images and geographical coordinates of the JeM facility, pierced the roofs of the targeted buildings and exploded inside. The inmates would have been killed by the blast and shock waves," a source said.

Rejecting commercially-available satellite imagery being used by some experts to claim there was no major visible external damage to the facility, IAF sources said it was up to the government to decide whether it wanted to release the SAR (synthetic aperture radar) and other pictures captured by Indian surveillance platforms during the strikes.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 6:12 [IST]
Businessman in Kolkata shot at after his car was stopped by 18 men

West Bengal: Rescued stray dog becomes top member of elite sniffer club

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Kolkata, March 7: She was a stray dog who was being mistreated but under proper care, 'Asha' made a remarkable comeback to become a member of an elite sniffer dog club.

The dog was rescued in an injured condition by personnel of West Bengal Police from outside their training facility and put under treatment. That was 18 months ago.

"The dog was bleeding when she was taken inside the campus," senior West Bengal Police Training Academy official Dipankar Bhattacharya was quoted as saying by AFP.

West Bengal: TMC leader shot dead in Behrampur

'Asha' made full use of the opportunity, thanks to its talent matching higher breeds like German Shepherd and Labradors. Her special sniffing sense saw her completing the training successfully and she is now an able member of the sniffer dog club that hunts down drugs and explosives.

Head of the academy Sajal Mandal praised the dog and said there was no match to her intense power of smelling. Besides, she was also hailed as the fastest runner and is the first mixed-breed canine to join the 30-strong unit.

"She performed better than her pedigree peers, jumping nearly six feet (two metres) high and crossing hurdles," Mandal said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 9:53 [IST]
Patel's inherent decency bleeds through, and despite his ruthlessness and cold efficiency, we never, ever believe he'll do something outside of his moral code. Samira, however, is a mystery. She seems a bit too posh to be this scrappy and sits at the intersection of old-world customs and modern globalization. Watching her transform from a quaking young woman in customary dress into a gum-chewing, scrunchie-wearing Western woman illustrates how easily codes can be switched, how cultures can shift. Apte's layered performance keeps Samira unpredictable. There's more to her than meets the eye, but every time we suspect her, nothing pans out. It's a constant denial of our expectations of the genre.
Italy finds patient with new COVID-19 strain which UK said is out of control

A perverts advert? Oral sex commercial of UK self-storage firm creates a storm

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

London, March 7: What can be said about this commercial? A pervert's advert? A self-storage company based in UK has come under backlash for coming up with a "sexist" advert showing a bare-bodied woman pretending to perform oral sex on a man and its caption says: "Caught with your pants down? Need storage? Don't blow it on another firm!"

The advert has no subtlety factor and that has offended people. It has been found on the display on toilet doors and walls inside pubs in areas of Lincolnshire in eastern England. The company behind the advert is Container King - a storage company which has its premises in Lincolnshire and other places.

One social media user said on Twitter: "I was amazed that this kind of image is still considered acceptable by anyone in 2019. Also I have no idea what it has to do with storage units."

A spokesperson for Container King also expressed their surprise at the advert. According to a report in Lad Bible, they said: "We are a family company."

Kenya man supplies gallons of water to drought-stricken animals, earns praise

"We do adverts in toilets in pubs, nothing big time at all.We do a few funny things, but nothing like that."

In the beginning of 2019, fresh rules came into force prohibiting the use of what the Advertising Standards Authority consider to be "harmful" or "sexist" gender stereotypes.

ASA spokesperson Ella Smillie was quoted as saying by The Guardian: "Changing ad regulation isn't going to end gender inequality but we know advertising can reinforce harmful gender stereotypes, which can limit people's choices or potential in life."

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 10:54 [IST]
Act or face FATF wrath, Pakistans finance secretary warns

International

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

Islamabad, Mar 07: Pakistan must take strict measures, including action against banned outfits by May, to avoid economic sanctions over the non-implementation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, the finance secretary has warned.

Last year, the Paris-based FATF, an international terror financing watchdog, finalised a report with 40 recommendations for de-listing Islamabad from its 'grey list'. Pakistan was placed on the list for failing to curb anti-terror financing.

Arif Ahmed Khan was talking to reporters after attending a meeting of a sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday.

After Pulwama attack, India trying to push Pakistan on FATF blacklist

Dawn reported that he said "the country had to proceed against the banned outfits in the light of FATF recommendations".

Khan expressed apprehensions that Pakistan might face economic sanctions if the FATF recommendations were ignored and not implemented.

The finance secretary said Pakistan had to take strict measures to implement the FATF recommendations.

The International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) of the FATF that reviewed Pakistan's action plan in recent meetings was not satisfied with the progress on milestones set for January 2019.

This was despite "improvements" in the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime and integrated database for currency declaration arrangements, the report said.

It expressed concern over Pakistani authorities' inability to demonstrate why they considered eight proscribed entities to be low risk as opposed to the high-risk view of the Asia Pacific Group (APG) and the ICRG.

Therefore, the FATF urged "Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan, particularly those with timelines of May 2019" to address strategic deficiencies, the report said.

The FATF will undertake the next review of Pakistan's progress in June 2019, which will be preceded by a face-to-face meeting with the Joint Group in May.

In June 2018, Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its AML/CFT regime and to address its strategic counterterrorism financing-related deficiencies by implementing an action plan to accomplish these objectives.

The successful implementation of the action plan and its physical verification by the APG will lead the FATF to clear Pakistan out of its 'grey list' or move it into the 'blacklist' by September.

FATF continues to keep Pakistan in Grey List despite India's push to blacklist

The FATF blacklist means the country concerned is "non-cooperative" in the global fight against money laundering and terror financing. If the FATF blacklists Pakistan, it may lead to downgrading of the country by multilateral lenders like the IMF, World Bank, ADB, EU and also a reduction in risk rating by Moodys, S&P and Fitch.

Pakistan was placed on the grey list of the anti-terror finance watchdog in July 2018. The FATF currently has 35 members and two regional organisations - European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council. North Korea and Iran are in the FATF blacklist.
Former foe Iraq stands by Iran on question of sanctions imposed by US

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Tehran, March 7: Historically, they have been known to be enemies. Iraq and Iran had also fought an eight-year war in the 1980s and did not have much in common politically in the Saddam Hussein years. However, things have improved between the two West Asian neighbours in the post-Saddam phase and on Wednesday, March 6, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi threw his country's weight behind Iran as the latter was put under increasing difficulty by the US's sanctions.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani in Tehran, Halbousi said: "Just as Iran had positive stance in fighting terrorism, we will also support Iran against sanctions," the Tehran Times reported.

"Besides, now it is the time to pursue the interests of our nations, which requires us to boost our cooperation in the economic sphere and elsewhere."

Imran Khan outsmarted PM Modi in statesmanship, says Iran media

Larijani on the other hand, expressed satisfaction over the current security situation in Iraq after the IS was defeated there in late 2017 with the help of Iran. He said Iran and Iraq enjot friendly relations in fields like politics, culture and economy.

The top Iranian parliament said he had talks with Halbousi on developing economic and political ties with Iraq to set up sustainable security.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is set to visit Iraq soon and Iran said it will be a historic opportunity to arrive decisions on border issues, economic cooperation and others.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 16:37 [IST]
Collapse of Kabul will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history: Donald Trump

Thousands of terrorists might have been airlifted out of Kabul: Trump slams Biden

Never in history has withdrawal from war been handled so badly: Trump

Hillary Clinton will be sorely missed in 2020 presidential election, says Donald Trump

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Washington, March 7: US President Donald Trump had made it a routine affair to mock Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state who had contested against him in the 2016 presidential election. He had attacked her in relation to all sort of issues, including corruption and often described her as "crooked Hillary".

On Tuesday, March 5, he mocked Hillary yet again saying the Democratic leader would be "sorely missed" in the 2020 presidential election. On Monday, March 4, Hillary, 71, announced that she would not be contesting the presidential election again. In 2016, she had polled more votes than Trump though she lost eventually.

"'(Crooked) Hillary Clinton confirms she will not run in 2020, rules out a third bid for White House.' Aw-shucks, does that mean I won't get to run against her again? She will be sorely missed!" the president tweeted.

(Crooked) Hillary Clinton confirms she will not run in 2020, rules out a third bid for White House. Aw-shucks, does that mean I wont get to run against her again? She will be sorely missed!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2019

Trump himself has already nominated him for the 2020 electoral race.

Hillary, who had contested the 2008 presidential election race as well but lost to party colleague Barack Obama who eventually became the president. She served for four years as the secretary of state under Obama presidency. Hillary, however, will not be completely out of the scenario as she will be working for the party's unity and other aspects ahead of the election.

Even if not contesting 2020 polls, Hillary Clinton will not be entirely out of scene

"I'm not running, but I'm going to keep on working and speaking and standing up for what I believe," she said of the 2020 presidential election in an interview with News 12 in New York state.

Shortly after Trump's mocking tweet, Clinton tweeted a gif from the movie "Mean Girls" with a character saying: "Why are you so obsessed with me?"

While Trump's tweet received over 1.47 lakh likes, Hillary's one got 2.80 lakh likes.

Over a dozen Democratic candidates - a lot of them being women - have already joined the presidential race.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 11:00 [IST]
There are those who value relationships, this Kenyan politician returned after 23 yrs to repay debt

Kenya man supplies gallons of water to drought-stricken animals, earns praise

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Nairobi, March 7: For Good Samaritans like Patrick Killonzo Mwalua, there is no dearth of opportunities to do good. A farmer from Kenya's Tsavo West National Park, Mwalua has attained international attention for doing something good for animals in times of drought.

Mwalua decided to deliver thousands of litres of water to the animals of the drought-stricken national park and shared the pictures of his work on Facebook. He said the delivery of water has been a 'non-stop mission' and joy for him. He also thanked those whose donations have helped him take the water to the thirsty animals.

Emergency declared in Russian archipelago for a bizarre reason

It's been two years since the man started his noble mission and he supplied 3,000 gallons of water four times a week to the drought-stricken animals. He was assisted by Nina Poletti, a Canadian friend, in bringing the water to the national park.

Mwalua now has his own foundation in Kenya and he eyes to end the prevailing drought conditions in the park.

"From last year, from June, there was no rain completely. So, I started giving animals water because I thought, 'If I don't do that, they will die," Mwalua was quoted as saying by The Dodo.

"I was born around here and grew up with wildlife and got a lot of passion about wildlife. I decided to bring awareness to this so when they grow up they can protect their wildlife."

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 9:58 [IST]
Going slow on Hafiz Saeed, looking up to Azhar, Pak is only worsening its case at FATF

Not dead, God will decide when, Masood Azhar says in audio clip

International

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

Islamabad, Mar 07: The Pakistani military's statement that Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) does not "exist" in the country came days after its foreign minister Mehmood Qureshi admitted in an interview to CNN that JeM chief Masood Azhar was in Pakistan and "is very unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house".

When asked why Pakistan had not taken action against Azhar, Qureshi had said the government wanted "solid, inalienable evidence" to convince the "people and the independent judiciary of Pakistan" of their actions.

For the Jaish-e-Mohammad it is all in the family

However, Azhar was quite active when he used the audio clip on Wednesday to warn the Pakistani authorities. "Stop persecuting the mosques, madrassas, and mujahideen. Remember, that when a Muslim flees the battle against the hypocrites, the wrath of Allah is upon him," he said.

"There are reports the world over of my death. But, without doubt, God alone decides how long we are to live," he said in the clip, which seems to have been recorded on Monday as the Jaish chief says, "Today is 4th March 2019. The day has passed, Tuesday night is upon us and I have no way of knowing whether I will be alive when you hear my words."

On Tuesday, Pakistan had launched a crackdown on banned militant outfits and detained 44 members of proscribed organisations, including Azhar's brother and son. The action against the banned outfits, according to Pakistan's junior interior minister, will continue for two weeks.

Was the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror facility destroyed in Balakot strike?

Maj Gen Ghafoor said on Wednesday that any clampdown on militants was part of ongoing domestic policy. "We are not doing anything under anyone's pressure," he said, adding that Pakistan would root out "anybody who operates from its soil". "We feel that it is not in the interest of Pakistan," he said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 16:18 [IST]
Pak used JeM to carry out terror attacks in India during my tenure says Pervez Musharraf

International

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Mar 07: Former Pakistan president, Pervez Musharraf has said that the Jaish-e-Mohammad was used by the country's intelligence to carry out attacks in India during his tenure.

He made the disclosure during a telephonic interview with Pakistan journalist, Nadeem Malik of Hum News. He further said that the outfit had tried to assassinate him twice in December 2003.

Act or face FATF wrath, Pakistan's finance secretary warns

When asked about why he refused to act against the outfit, Musharraf said that the times then we're different. Both India and Pakistan were involved in a clandestine struggle carrying out bombings in each other's territory. He also said that he did not insist that action be taken.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 8:03 [IST]
Ramadan 2021: Hotels and restaurants in Dubai can serve food to customers without curtain covers

COVID-19 Crisis: Saudi Arabia to ship 80 metric tonnes of oxygen to India to meet growing demand

3 year travel ban to be imposed by Saudi for those visiting countries on Red List

Saudi envoy meets Pak PM; conveys crown prince's special message

International

pti-PTI

Islamabad, Mar 07: Saudi's top diplomat met Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday and delivered a "special message" from powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, amid global efforts to de-escalate Indo-Pak tensions, according to media reports.

Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir called on Prime Minister Khan at the his office where the two discussed the ongoing Indo-Pak tensions and matters of regional and bilateral interest, Geo TV reported.

Jubeir conveyed him a special message of the crown prince, it added. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, PM's adviser on trade, secretary foreign affairs and other higher officials were present during the meeting.

Ahead of his meeting with Khan, Jubeir met Qureshi and discussed Pakistan's recent tensions with India, regional security and bilateral relations. The Saudi diplomat assured Qureshi of his country's support towards solving the issues with India in a peaceful manner.

Not just Balakot, R&AW had codified 30 other terror camps close to army installations in Pak

According to Pakistan Foreign Office, Jubeir will also meet Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Jubeir was earlier supposed to visit Pakistan on March 1 but it was delayed due to heightened tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi.

Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14. India launched a counter-terror operation in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26.

The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1. Countries like the US, the UK, China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were involved in easing tensions between India and Pakistan.

While announcing the Saudi minister's visit, Foreign Minister Qureshi Wednesday said that the Saudi envoy is coming to Pakistan with a "special message" from Crown Prince Mohammad.

Jubeir's visit comes after the crown prince stand alone visits to Pakistan and India soon after the Pulwama terror attack.

PTI
Venezuela expels German envoy, alleges "interference" in internal affairs

International

pti-PTI

Caracas, Mar 7: Venezuela expelled Germany's ambassador Wednesday, hitting out at international support for opposition leader Juan Guaido as the US stepped up sanctions in a bid to force out his rival, President Nicolas Maduro, despite UN criticism.

The foreign ministry said Martin Kriener had 48 hours to leave for "interference" in Venezuela's internal affairs. He had greeted Guaido at Caracas airport on his return to the country on Monday. Guaido said in a speech to opposition lawmakers that Kriener's expulsion will be seen "as a threat to the free world."

Kriener was among more than a dozen foreign representatives to welcome the National Assembly leader -- recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries -- but so far the only one deemed "persona non grata".

Kriener had helped to try to bring humanitarian aid to the country, he said, adding: "It seems that the Maduro regime does not forgive anyone who wants to help Venezuela." Berlin protested the decision, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas saying that kicking Kriener out only "aggravates the situation". Caracas "is sending a message to the international community that such frontal support would have consequences, but it also carries a risk," said Venezuelan analyst Mariano de Alba.

[Explained: The ongoing crisis in Venezuela]

Meanwhile Washington tightened the screws on its campaign of sanctions to force Maduro from power, revoking the visas of 77 people linked to the regime, including officials and their families.

"We will continue to hold all of the Maduro regime accountable until democracy and libertad (liberty) are fully restored," US Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech.

Last week, Washington revoked 49 visas from Venezuelan figures. National Security Advisory John Bolton said the US also is putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions if they facilitate "illegitimate transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network." The US is already trying to cripple Maduro's access to finances via sanctions on state oil company PDVSA and handing control to Guaido of Venezuelan bank accounts in the United States.

However, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said sanctions have worsened Venezuela's crippling economic and political crisis, which has forced 2.7 million people to flee since 2015. "Venezuela clearly illustrates the way violations of civil and political rights -- including failure to uphold fundamental freedoms, and the independence of key institutions -- can accentuate a decline of economic and social rights," said Bachelet, a former president of Chile.

[US slaps new sanctions on Venezuela regime]

"This situation has been exacerbated by sanctions," Bachelet said in her annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Maduro has repeatedly said his socialist government is the victim of an "economic war" driven by US "imperialism" -- with sanctions the weapon of choice to try to topple him. Guaido, 35, returned home to a hero's welcome on Monday, having defied a ban on leaving the country to embark on a 10-day tour of South American allies. He remains free despite the threat of arrest by the government.

"They thought the pressure had reached its zenith, but it's only just beginning," Guaido told reporters. On Tuesday, a national holiday, he met public sector union leaders.

"Public sector workers have lost practically all their rights, we have no other option but to call for a civic strike," said Guaido, without giving further details. Maduro, meanwhile, pressed his supporters to hold "anti-imperialist" marches Saturday to counter fresh protests planned by Guaido.

"Today more than ever, we are victorious against the conspiracy, against blackmail, while a crazy minority continues with their hatred," he said in his first public comments since Guaido's return. When he returned to Caracas -- his latest challenge to Maduro's authority -- Guaido announced to tens of thousands of supporters his plans for new protests on Saturday. He has vowed to set up a transitional government and hold new elections.

As part of his challenge to Maduro, Guaido is attempting to take control of the state bureaucracy, which he considers to have been "kidnapped" through blackmail and persecution. Unions from the oil industry, basic services, state banks and local government took part in Tuesday's meeting, union leader Ana Yanez told AFP.

"The public administration is practically paralyzed. In the town halls, people only go to work three days a week and even then barely half the day," said Yanez. In a speech at the mausoleum of his predecessor Hugo Chavez on the sixth anniversary of the socialist firebrand's death, Maduro called on his supporters to take to the streets on Saturday.

That date marks "four years since" then-US president Barack Obama first announced sanctions against the socialist government. Maduro has consistently called his own counter-demonstration every time Guaido announces a protest. During his travels, Guaido met Pence and the leaders of Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and Ecuador.

PTI
Wuhan gets wings: First three-way meeting between Afghanistan, India, China held in Kabul

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Kabul, March 7: It was during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's informal meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan in April last year that the two sides had agreed to take a new cooperative approach on Afghanistan and steps have taken shape towards that direction in the past few months.

In October last year, 10 Afghan diplomats were jointly trained by the two neighbours at the Indian Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi. Trilateral cooperation between India, China and Afghanistan was among the main thrusts agreed in Wuhan and on March 2, more steps were seen towards that direction.

US ends preferential trade treatment for India: What China is thinking?

The first three-way meeting of Afghanistan, India and China was held Kabul where the Indian and Chinese ambassadors to Afghanistan were present and it was chaired by Idrees Zaman, the host country's deputy minister for foreign affairs, The Kabul Times reported.

Afghanistan stresses more cooperation with India, China

In the meeting, Zaman called India and China as Afghanistan's good neighbours and old friends and stressed on further training of Afghan military and civil employees, mining activities, increase of power and energy, improvement of agriculture and transport, setting up joint chamber of commerce between the three nations, among others. Zaman also called for cooperation in areas of mutual economic interest.

Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Vinay Kumar and Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Liu Jinsong praised the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs for holding the meeting and vowed that their respective countries were ready to extend necessary cooperation in the respective fields.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 16:07 [IST]
720 Juneberry Road, Riverwoods: $2,195,000 | Listed: Oct. 15, 2021



This six-bedroom home has four full bathrooms, one half bath, reclaimed wood floors and 12-foot ceilings on the main floor. The kitchen is equipped with dual islands, a built-in ice machine, freezer drawers and a walk-in pantry. The living room features a wood-burning fireplace and a wood-beamed ceiling, and the dining space leads to a screened porch with a fireplace, a built-in grill and a refrigerator. The primary bedroom suite is located on the main floor has a private sitting area with a fireplace and a walk-in shower. Four additional bedrooms that share Jack and Jill baths are on the second floor. An indoor hot tub, a sunroom, a heated four-car garage and a finished lower level with an in-law suite complete this home.



Agent: Ron Ehlers, Compass, 847-975-5515



*Some listing photos are virtually staged, meaning they have been digitally altered to represent different furnishing or decorating options.



To feature your luxury listing of $800,000 or more in Chicago Tribunes Dream Homes, send listing information and high-res photos to ctc-realestate@chicagotribune.com.



Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news.
Thinking that its water, Class 5 girl drinks acid in Delhi school; Succumbs to internal injuries

New Delhi

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Mar 7: In a horrifying incident, a 11-year-old school girl reportedly succumbed to internal injuries in a Delhi hospital after she allegedly drank acid mistaking it for her water bottle. Another student of her school had brought acid in a plastic bottle and 11-year-old class 5 student drank it during the lunch break, said reports.

She immediately felt a burning sensation in her throat and started screaming, a Hindustan Times report quoted Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Atul Kumar Thakur as saying.

Delhi women's panel seeks complete ban on sale of acid in city

The horrifying incident took place at Deep Bharti Public School in Harsh Vihar. The nature of the acid is yet to be ascertained and the plastic bottle has been sent to forensic laboratory.

A case under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Harsh Vihar police station, said the HT report.

Police said that the negligence claimed the life of 11-year-old girl and a probe is underway to fix the responsibility for this.

Since the class teacher of class 4 was on leave, the students of classes 4 and 5 were made to sit together. While the class 5 girl was having her lunch along with a class 4 girl, she felt thirsty and asked the other girl if she could drink from her bottle. The class 4 girl gave the class 5 girl her plastic bottle.

"When Sanjana consumed the liquid, she felt a burning sensation in her throat and started screaming. By the time the school staffers rushed to the classroom, Sanjana began throwing up and fell unconscious," the report quoted Thakur as saying.

Delhi: Police officer shot at by two unknown assailants

She was rushed to Guru Teg Bahadur hospital and her parents were informed. She succumbed to internal injuries in on Tuesday (March 5) evening.

As per reports, the family members of the class 4 girl, who was sitting with the victim during lunch, have stated that they kept toilet cleaning acid in a bottle similar to class 4 girl's water bottle. The girl mistook it for her water bottle and took it to school, police said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, March 7, 2019, 10:24 [IST]
New Memorandum of Agreement Brings the Farthest Borders of EU Closer

Published March 7, 2019 by Lee R

The new market in Sweden is eager to learn from the pioneering Malta jurisdiction.

Newly regulated Sweden and regulation pioneer Malta are collaborating.

The Understanding

In the interest of furthering public policy objectives and mutually common values, the Malta Gaming Authority and Spelinspektionen Tuesday announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance their cooperation.

The Terms

According to terms which came into effect March 4th, the MoU will support the effective sharing of information between the two parties on regulation challenges and matters in which they have shared interest.

Sweden's Stake

In a market recently liberalised to licence international operators January 1, 2019, Sweden is just learning what it's challenges are.

Since the licensing process for the new regime in Sweden began last fall, Sweden Authority Spelinspektionen has issued nearly 70 gaming and betting licencesthe majority to MGA licencees maintaining their technical equipment and base in the Mediterranean island nation.

Malta's Interest

Malta is fresh off introduction of important amendments to simplify its Gaming Act from a multi-licence system to a dual licensing system for B2B services and B2C gaming/betting services.

Spelinspektionen Leader Speaks

Swedish Gambling Authority Director General Camilla Rosenberg explained the expansion strategy behind the MoA:

By opening the communication channels between the authorities, we become stronger in our supervisory activities. This is the beginning of a broad and long-term cooperation, and our plan is to initiate corresponding collaborations with more gambling authorities in Europe.

MGA Leader Strategy

MGA Chief Executive Officer Heathcliff Farrugia pointed out that a key to his organisation's regulatory objectives was building effective relationships such as the new one in the MoA:

The MGA is always actively seeking to foster relationships with fellow authorities and other international regulatory bodies as we firmly believe that such relationships are key to reaching our objectives, especially in the area of remote gaming which is fundamentally cross-border in nature.

Outlook

Stretching across the entire geographical swath of the EU, the new collaboration between Sweden and Malta is an intriguing bond. A successful collaboration model has the chance spread to all EU members in between to yield an optimised model for compliance and efficiency across the remainder of the EU, where the most jurisdictions are regulating to this point.
Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

Private capital activity in emerging markets is at record levels, according to the latest report from EMPEA. In 2018, private capital vehicles across all emerging markets raised USD90 billion and invested a disclosed USD70 billion, representing year-over-year increases of 39 percent and 27 percent, respectively. The data shows significant investor interest in emerging Asia.

Due to strong international investor interest in Chinese technology-enabled, consumer-oriented businesses, funds raised for the country reached USD35 billion, the highest level ever recorded by EMPEA. However, China was not alone in posting a year-over-year gain in fundraising. Encouraged by improving investor sentiment and better economic prospects, capital raised for Latin America and Africa increased by 92% and 22%, respectively.

LPs committed USD6 billion to Brazil-focused funds, representing a 267% year-over-year increase and the highest level recorded by EMPEA since 2011. A substantial portion of the 2018 fundraising total accrued to 11 different local currency vehicles, with BRL-denominated fundraising surging to the highest level since 2012. Other fund managers sought to capitalize on investor appetite for private credit fund strategies. GPs raised a record USD2.1 billion for distressed debt, direct lending, and special situations funds-more than quadruple the amount raised over the preceding 12 years combined.

Indian private capital fundraising in......................

To view our full article Click here
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

Malta-based Kintaro Capital has become one of the first EU crypto funds to receive its license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), licensing it as a private investment fund (PIF) for cryptocurrencies and listed equities.

The formal approval of its PIF license from the MFSA makes Kintaro Capital, a venture of the Konfidio blockchain studio, one of the first regulated crypto funds for qualifying investors under Maltese law.

The licence allows Kintaro clients to invest in strategic alternatives to fiat based instruments. Malta complies with all EU financial and regulatory laws governing investor protection and financial instruments, pointed out a press release from the company.

Kintaro's 'Digital Innovation Fund' will invest in a portfolio of selective crypto-assets and exchange-listed equities, it added.

Dr. Mervyn Maistry CEO & Founder, Konfidio and Kintaro Capital said: "We're one of the first crypto funds licensed by an EU Financial Services Authority, with explicit investor protection. Our thorough approach to building a team with over 100 years of investment research and portfolio management experience has paid off."

Kintaro Capital leverages three years of crypto-economic experience, he said. Through their token research and data analytics expertise, the fund targets high yields in the blockchain sector.

The fund is administered by SGGG Fexserv Fund Services (Malta) Ltd., responsible for the......................

To view our full article Click here
Explore Global Military Virtual Training Market forecast 2019  2025

https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/1011124/global-military-virtual-training-depth-analysis-report

Market players, stakeholders, and other interested parties are the best receivers of trusted insights and strategic advice that the report provides to help them achieve their mission-critical priorities when operating in the global Military Virtual Training market. The experienced research analysts who have authored the report offer useful guidance to capitalize on market opportunities that matter the most. The guidelines offered in the report also help to find effective solutions to certain business issues related to the global Military Virtual Training market. With strong data and metrics, verified peer-driven research, and forward-thinking insights, the analysis provided in the report helps to make the right business decisions.Why is market segmentation important?Our market analysts are experts in deeply segmenting the global Military Virtual Training market and thoroughly evaluating the growth potential of each and every segment studied in the report. Right at the beginning of the research study, the segments are compared on the basis of consumption and growth rate for a review period of nine years. The segmentation study included in the report offers a brilliant analysis of the global Military Virtual Training market, taking into consideration the market potential of different segments studied. It assists market participants to focus on high-growth areas of the global Military Virtual Training market and plan powerful business tactics to secure a position of strength in the industry.Global Military Virtual Training Market by TypeTraditional Military Virtual TrainingVirtual Reality Based Military TrainingGlobal Military Virtual Training Market by ApplicationFlight SimulationBattlefield SimulationMedic Training (Battlefield)Vehicle SimulationVirtual Boot CampGlobal Military Virtual Training Market by RegionNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanGet your own copy of the report sample atWhat is our research methodology?We at QY Research use quantitative and qualitative modeling, trend analysis, industry-best practices, top peer practices, and in-depth proprietary studies as a full range of research methods. Our analysts employ the latest primary and secondary research techniques to offer you comprehensive market analysis that will help your business to give sustainable performances. The innovative approaches that our researchers take to compile business reports and market analysis or research studies help clients to achieve higher sales in their respective industries.Our unique research methodologies help us to give you critical knowledge about the global Military Virtual Training market and equip you to take informed decisions faster and with confidence, cutting through the complexity. With a view to help you to formulate result-oriented business plans, we distill vast volumes of data into precise and clear recommendations related to the global Military Virtual Training market using our unparalleled research methods.How do we profile market leaders?One of the important sections of the research study includes the company profiling of key figures of the global Military Virtual Training market. The authors of the report closely analyze all of the leading companies considered for the research study on the basis of different factors such as their main business, gross margin, and markets served. They also take into account their prices, revenue, and production apart from the specification and application of their products. The review period considered here is of nine years.Global Military Virtual Training Market: Major PlayersL-3 Link Simulation and TrainingBoeingCAE IncFlightSafety InternationalThalesLockheed MartinCubic CorporationRheinmetall DefenceRaytheonRockwell CollinsElbit SystemsVirtual Reality MediaWhat to expect in our report?(1) A complete section of the report is dedicated for market dynamics, which include influence factors, market drivers, challenges, opportunities, and trends.(2) Another broad section of the research study is reserved for regional analysis of the global Military Virtual Training market where important regions and countries are assessed for their growth potential, consumption, market share, and other vital factors indicating their market growth.(3) Players can use the competitive analysis provided in the report to build new strategies or fine-tune their existing ones to rise above market challenges and increase their share of the global Military Virtual Training market.(4) The report also discusses competitive situation and trends and sheds light on company expansions and merger and acquisition taking place in the global Military Virtual Training market. Moreover, it brings to light the market concentration rate and market shares of top three and five players.(5) Readers are provided with findings and conclusion of the research study provided in the report.Global Military Virtual Training Market: TOCThere could be 13-16 sections in the report, where each one carries unique information and data related to the global Military Virtual Training market. Besides detailed and accurate analysis of the global Military Virtual Training market, the report includes a disclaimer for buyers, an author list, and information of the methodology used and data sources.Global Military Virtual Training Market Forecast: This section has five chapters that provide forecast figures on the basis of different factors and type of market segmentation. It includes consumption forecast by application, price, revenue, and production forecast by type, consumption and production forecast by region, and revenue and production forecast of the global Military Virtual Training market.Marketing Channel, Distributors, and CustomersMilitary Virtual Training Manufacturing Cost AnalysisGlobal Military Virtual Training Production, Revenue, and Price Trend by TypeGlobal Military Virtual Training Market Analysis by ApplicationMore SectionsQYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. the company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience). Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team).Market players, stakeholders, and other interested parties are the best receivers of trusted insights and strategic advice that the report provides to help them achieve their mission-critical priorities when operating in the global Military Virtual Training market.
Instead, when the agenda came out, it listed the special committee as having no report for the Committee of the Whole. While no reason was given, the delay may have been due to a large agenda for the meeting already, and a time crunch because Mayor Richard Irvin was giving his State of the City Address after the meeting.
Middle East Combustion Turbine Market Drivers, Challenges by 2024: Centrax, Siemens, Wartsila, General Electric, MAPNA Group, Toshiba, Solar Turbines and Ansaldo Energia

Middle East Combustion Turbine Market

https://www.graphicalresearch.com/request/1031/sample

https://www.graphicalresearch.com/request/1031/inquiry-before-buying

https://www.graphicalresearch.com/industry-insights/1031/middle-east-gas-turbine-market

https://www.graphicalresearch.com/

According to the Graphical Research new growth forecast report titled Middle East Combustion Turbine Market analysis by Capacity, Product, Technology, Application, Industry Analysis Report, Country Analysis Application Development Potential, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2018  2024, estimated to exceed annual deployment of 4 GW by 2024.Strengthening government measures toward renewable energy integration along with restructuring of trade policies and investment flow will stimulate the Middle East gas turbine market growth. Refurbishment and retrofitting across the key power markets in line with technological enhancements across the materials, combustion, cooling and aerodynamics industries will further drive the industry landscape.Request for a sample of this research report @Rising energy demand from manufacturing plants coupled with paradigm shift toward the integration of effective energy mix will drive the gas turbine market size. The industry growth is further attributed to the implementation of effective energy utilization policies toward the expansion of combined cycle power plants.Ongoing installation of co-generation units to withstand energy consumption in commercial, small industrial and isolated transmission & distribution networks will propel the gas turbine market. In addition, ongoing expansion of effective re-generation units to withstand minimal heat requirements will further boost the industry landscape.Operational efficiency, lower overall operational cost, effective environmental proximity, and effective waste heat utilization are the key factors justifying the product demand. In addition, growing industrial headway along with increasing demand for energy & stability in gas prices will further develop a positive scenario for the gas turbine market.Increasing deployment of gas turbines across process industries by replacement of coal by gas in a host of small-scale industrial applications will further enhance the growth prospects of Middle East gas turbine market. In addition, government reforms to curtail emissions along with stalling of gas prices in the current industrial regime will further pose immense potential for gas turbine deployment.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Middle East Combustion Turbine Market will witness robust growth on account of government funding and extensive R&D reforms toward installation of efficient combined cycle generation units. For instance, in 2015, European Investment Bank granted a loan of USD 600 million to the Government of Egypt for the establishment of Damanhour Power Station of 1,800 MW capacity.Shifting trends toward energy-efficient technologies coupled with increasing focus toward replacement of inefficient coal fired power plants will drive the Middle East gas turbine market. Increasing efforts for power capacity augmentation to meet the constantly increasing power demand will further provide a thrust to the industry dynamics. As per OPEC 2016, Saudi Arabia depends on oil exports for about 85% of its annual revenues and is expected to replace oil power plants by gas fired generating stations in the country.Notable participants across the gas turbine market in Middle East include Centrax, Siemens AG, Wartsila, General Electric, MAPNA, Toshiba, Capstone Turbine, Solar Turbines, Score Group and Ansaldo Energia.Browse key industry insights from this report @Segments We Cover:Middle East Combustion Turbine Market Statistics, By Capacity50 kW to 500 kW> 500 kW to 1 MW> 1 MW to 30 MW> 30 MW to 70 MW> 70 MW to 200 MW> 200 MWMiddle East Combustion Turbine Market Trends, By ProductAero-derivativeHeavy dutyMiddle East Gas Turbine Market Analysis, By TechnologyOpen cycleCombined cycleMiddle East Combustion Turbine Market growth, By ApplicationPower plantsOil & gasProcess plantsAviationMarineOthersThe above information is provided for the following countries:Saudi ArabiaUAEQatarKuwaitOmanAbout Graphical Research:Graphical Research is a business research firm that provides industry insights, market forecast and strategic inputs through granular research reports and advisory services. We publish targeted research reports with an aim to address varied customer needs, from market penetration and entry strategies to portfolio management and strategic outlook. We understand that business requirements are unique: our syndicate reports are designed to ensure relevance for industry participants across the value chain. We also provide custom reports that are tailored to the exact needs of the customer, with dedicated analyst support across the purchase lifecycle.Contact Us:Parikhit B.Corporate sales,Graphical ResearchEmail: sales@graphicalresearh.comWeb:
Infectious Disease Therapeutics Market Industry Insights 2026: Gilead Sciences, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Janssen Pharmaceutical, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Merck & Co

Infectious Disease Therapeutics

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1658

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1658

Key players are developing new products for the treatment of infectious diseases and are also receiving approvals to commercialize their products. For instance, in May 2017, Merck received FDA approval for its ISENTRESS HD, a new 1200 mg integrase inhibitor for HIV-1 infected patients. This drug can also be used in combination therapy with other antiretroviral. Moreover, increasing advancements in rapid diagnosis of various infectious diseases allowing early and quicker diagnosis is greatly impacting the medical outcome of disease treatment. Advanced technologies such as lateral flow, agglutination assays, and solid phase that are used in rapid diagnostics of infectious diseases are integrated with innovative features such as portability of handheld devices, offering point-of-care treatment to the patients.Download PDF Brochure of Research Report:Moreover, advancements in the technology of point-of care diagnostics is expected to drive growth of infectious disease therapeutic market over the forecast period. For instance, in 2014, Becton, Dickinson, and Company offered point-of-care system BD FACSPresto for HIV/AIDS. It offers percentage results of CD4 T lymphocytes and hemoglobin concentration. Moreover, in January 2017, Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) developed a fusion antigen, which is used as a part of diagnostic test manufactured by InBios International, Inc. for Chagas disease.Moreover, research funding is provided by various government and private organizations for infectious diseases to provide effective diagnostic and treatment options. For instance, in November 2016, QuantuMDx Group received funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop and test companys CAPTURE-XT pathogen concentration technology and Q-POC molecular diagnostic platform for rapid low cost detection of tuberculosis. In January 2018, University of Glasgow-led project received US$ 1.85 million funding, which is a part of Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). This project will develop new tests for parasitic diseases and rapid testing in remote locations to help enable rapid diagnosis and rapid treatment of infectious diseases.For instance, in March 2013, Qiagen N.V. launched its careHPV test in China. CareHPV is a molecular diagnostic test designed to screen for high risk human papillomavirus (HPV) at low-resource settings such as areas lacking electricity, water or laboratories. Qiagen also gained the approval from China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) for the careHPV in 2012. Moreover, in March 2018, Government of India launched the TB Free India Campaign with an aim to completely eliminate tuberculosis (TB) by 2025.Get Request Sample Copy of Research Report:Infectious Disease Therapeutics Market  TaxonomyThe global infectious disease therapeutics market is segmented on the basis of mode of treatment, drug class, disease infection, end user, and region as mentioned below:By Mode of TreatmentDrugsOral AdministrationTopicalInjectionsOthersVaccinesBy Drug ClassAnti-BacterialAnti-ViralAnti-ParasiteAnti-FungalOthersBy Disease IndicationTuberculosisHIV/AIDSInfluenzaHepatitisOthersBy End UserHospital PharmacyRetail PharmacyOthersBy RegionNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastAfricaAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.1001 4th Ave,, #3200, Seattle, WA 98154
Contraceptives Market Drug Profile, Top Industry Intelligence and Therapeutic Development By 2024

https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/contraceptives-market

https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/contraceptives-market/report-sample

https://www.psmarketresearch.com/send-enquiry?enquiry-url=contraceptives-market

https://www.psmarketresearch.com

The global contraceptives market is growing significantly due to increasing incidences of unwanted pregnancies, increasing prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases and advances in contraception techniques. In addition, government and non-government organizations are funding and supporting programs to encourage contraception. Large unexplored contraceptives market in emerging economies is creating ample opportunities for the global contraceptives market to grow at a considerable rate in the coming years. Several major players in the contraception market are actively involved in the research and new product development for contraception, which could meet the demand of cost effective long term contraception.Access Detailed Report Summary:Contraception is a method used to prevent pregnancy. Several contraceptives, such as hormonal drugs, physical barriers, and advanced contraceptive devices have been developed in order to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Contraceptives also help in preventing sexually transmitted infections. According to a report published by Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit organization working in advance sexual and reproductive health, 213.4 million pregnancies occurred across the globe in 2012, of which 40.0% were unintended. Also, high number of sexually transmitted infection is a major concern across the globe. According to the WHO, in 2013, 35.0 million people lived with HIV/AIDS and 1.5 million people died due to AIDS related illness worldwide. The organization also reported that an estimated 500 million new curable sexually transmitted infections (including chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis only) occur across the globe each year.Request to Get the Sample Pages at:The global contraceptives market is categorized as devices and drugs. Based on devices, the contraceptives market is categorized as contraceptive sponges, vaginal rings, contraceptive diaphragms, intrauterine devices (IUDs), subdermal implants, male condoms, female condoms, and others. The IUDs segment is further categorized as hormonal IUDs and copper IUDs. On the basis of drugs, the contraceptive market can be categorized as topical contraceptives, injectable contraceptives, and oral contraceptives or pills. Contraceptive pills lead the global contraceptive drugs market due to its convenience in use and high efficiency in emergency contraception.Make Enquiry Before Buying the Report:Geographically, North America leads the global contraceptives market due to high awareness about contraception, high number of unwanted pregnancies, and increasing prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents and young adults. In addition, inclusion of contraception in Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as preventive services to be provided without co-payment by patient further drives the growth of global contraceptives market in North America region. Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region in the global contraceptives market. The major reasons for the fastest growth in the region are increasing prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, high unintended pregnancies, and improving healthcare infrastructure. Moreover, the contraceptives market is growing rapidly due to the several government supported programs for promoting contraception in emerging economies, such as India and China, of Asia-Pacific region.Some of the major players operating in the global Contraceptives market are Cooper Surgical Inc., Mayer Laboratories Inc., Merck & Co. Inc., Bayer AG, Actavis Inc., Reckitt Benckiser plc, Pfizer Inc., The Female Health Company, Church & Dwight Co., Inc., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.About P&S IntelligenceP&S Intelligence is a provider of market research and consulting services catering to the market information needs of burgeoning industries across the world. Providing the plinth of market intelligence, P&S as an enterprising research and consulting company, believes in providing thorough landscape analyses on the ever-changing market scenario, to empower companies to make informed decisions and base their business strategies with astuteness.Contact:P&S IntelligenceToll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)International: +1-347-960-6455Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:
Near Infrared Medical Imaging Market Industry Trend 2026: Bruker Corporation, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Shimadzu Corporation, PerkinElmer, Inc., MIZUHO Corporation, Karl Storz GmbH

Near Infrared Medical Imaging

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1682

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1682

Increasing incidences of cancer and neurological diseases that demand imaging techniques for their diagnosis are expected to foster growth of near infrared medical imaging market. For instance, according to the World Cancer Research Fund International, breast cancer was reported to be the most common type of cancer detected in females with nearly 1.7 million new cases diagnosed in 2012. The data also suggests that this number is expected to increase by 2020 across the globe. Moreover, increasing prevalence of neurological disorders such as Alzheimers disease, epilepsy, dementia, and other diseases are also driving growth of global near infrared medical imaging market. According to the World Health Organization 2016, hundreds of millions of people are affected worldwide due to neurological disorders. The data suggests that over 50 million people across the globe suffer from epilepsy, whereas around 47.5 million people are suffering from dementia and around 7.7 million new cases are reported every year.Download PDF Brochure of Research Report:According to the American Cancer Society, invasive breast cancer was diagnosed in around 231,840 patients in the U.S. in 2015. Furthermore, key players in the market are introducing novel products, which is expected to aid in growth of the market in the region. For instance, in April 2017, Leica Microsystems introduced augmented reality near infrared fluorescence integrated imaging system GLOW800 at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting that facilitates full visual spectrum of white light into a single, real-time image. Asia Pacific is expected to witness a significant growth in the market, owing to increasing investments by international players by collaborating with regional players in the market. For instance, in June 2012, Infradex, Inc., a medical device company signed an exclusive agreement with Nipro Corporation for the distribution of TVC near infrared spectroscopy imaging system in Japan.Key players operating in the global near infrared medical imaging market include Bruker Corporation, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Shimadzu Corporation, PerkinElmer, Inc., MIZUHO Corporation, Karl Storz GmbH, and NOADAQ Technologies, Inc. among others. Market players are focused on providing technologically advanced products to sustain their position in the competitive market. For instance, in April 2018, Shimadzu Corporation introduced new LIGHTVISION near-infrared fluorescence imaging system for visualizing lymph nodes and blood vessels for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.Get Request Sample Copy of Research Report:Market TaxonomyOn the basis of product type, the global near infrared medical imaging market is segmented into:Near Infrared Fluorescence Imaging DevicesNear Infrared Bioluminescence Imaging DevicesOn the basis of application, the global near infrared medical imaging market is segmented into:In-vivo ImagingCancer SurgeriesCardiovascular SurgeriesGastrointestinal SurgeriesPlastic/Reconstructive SurgeriesOthersOn the basis of end user, the global near infrared medical imaging market is segmented into:HospitalsDiagnostic CentersResearch LaboratoriesOthersOn the basis of geography, the global near infrared medical imaging market is segmented into:North AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.1001 4th Ave,, #3200, Seattle, WA 98154
Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems Market Factors leading to increasing demand Estimated By Global Players McKesson Corporation and GE Healthcare

Global Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems Market

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/403

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/403

The systems that are used to maintain digital health record of the patient are called electronic health record (EHR) systems. This systems supports the systematic storage of information such as health progress notes, diagnoses, vital signs, medications, allergies, lab data and past medical history. The electronic storage of the system helps the ecofriendly storage of the information with minimum risk of losing it along with less manual work and other facilities such as easy access to the required information.For In depth Information Get Sample Copy of this Report @The EHR systems helps to access and track health records conveniently and also allows for easy sharing of patient information with other healthcare professionals, in order to take clinical decisions during the treatment. Furthermore, the system also helps to get connect with different locations and healthcare departments to collect patient data; for instance, from clinical laboratory, other hospitals, in schools for maintaining students health record, different companies that keeps the health record of their employees, pharmacies, and emergency facilities. For effective use and to avoid reimbursement loss from any treatment some EHR system providers follow some methods to guide the patient and clinician during the course of treatment.As per the data published by Practice Fusion Blog, Inc. (It is the top most cloud based EHR platform in U.S.), it is expected that, by the end of 2017 around 90% physicians will use EHR systems in the U.S. Also, 67% out of all providers of EHR systems have reported that there is 1% growth in the adoption of EHR systems between September 2016 and March 2017. The highest adoption rate of EHR systems is observed in internal medicines departments, pediatrics departments followed by nephrology, family practice and urology department.Technological advancements, highly beneficial applications and raised demand of EHR systems lead the growth for Electronic health record (EHR) systems market towards positive direction in the near futureThe continuous improvements in healthcare sector and supportive government initiatives create a highly conducive environment for growth of the global electronic health record (EHR) systems market. For instance, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs) and hospitals who adopt, implement, upgrade, or demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. The top contributor region in this market is North America, followed by Europe, as this regions has high adoption rate and developed healthcare network and facilities. The increasing development and digitalization in emerging economies are expected to show the high growth rate in electronic health record (EHR) systems industry in the near future. Also, high growth rate is expected from China as, this country is known for the production of low cost electronic devices. Based on end user the hospitals, as the hospitals generate large amount of data on a daily basis and the use of EHR system reduces their work pressure and save time required to keep health record, therefore the EHR systems became an integral part of hospitals in recent years. Also, the rising demand for Web/Cloud-based EHR systems from small healthcare facilities will result in growth of this segment of electronic health record (EHR) systems market in near the future.Low affordability of EHR systems due to their high cost and maintenance and service expenses are some factors restraining the growth of electronic health record (EHR) systems market. The manufacturers are continuously working to reduce the cost of these systems to increase the market penetration in emerging economies.Request For Customization of Research Report @Some of the major players in the electronic health record (EHR) systems market are Cerner Corporation, athenahealth, Inc, Meditech, Allscripts, Epic Systems Corporation, Quality Systems Inc, McKesson Corporation and GE Healthcare. Other emerging players in this market are Healthcare Management Systems, eClinicalWorks, Healthland and CureMD Research & Development. Also, the earliest acquisition in this market is Cerner Corporation acquired Siemens Health Services in February 2015. This acquisition will drive the innovation and development in healthcare IT segment.About Coherent Market InsightsCoherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact UsMr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Solid State Lighting Market 2019 Global Analysis by Key Leaders: Panasonic corporation, Samsung electronics, Acuity brands lighting, Cree, Eaton corporation, General electric, Energy Focus,

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1781

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/solid-state-lighting-market-1781

The report on the global Solid State Lighting market covers historical market trends, current market dynamics, market valuation by segmentation as well as region, country-level analysis for every segment, key player's market share analysis, competitive landscape and supply chain analysis.Market Highlights:The advance structural design of solid state lighting devices make them more durably and shock-resistant than conventional filament wires and brittle glass based bulbs. In addition, absence of filament evaporation issues, further increase the product life cycle. The swelling demand for energy efficient lighting solutions, which conform to greater productivity and high durability requirements along with environmental implications is playing an important role in propelling the growth of the solid state lighting market. Such lighting systems are witnessing incredible among success in developing countries were the need for sustainable power and lighting system is more.Moreover, rapid industrialization and urbanization in many of emerging economies is also creating opportunities for solid state lighting. At the same time, stricter emission laws and increasing concerns over global warming is expected to influence it adoption in advanced economies. There has been tremendous product development activities, which has led to advancement in energy efficient lighting system. Consumers all over the world are shifting towards lighting solutions that are not only energy efficient but last longer. Factor as such are expected to reflect favourably on the market during the forecast period. Potential application in the medical sector and the automotive sector is also encouraging market players to step up efforts in developing the technology further.Get a Sample Report @Major Key Players OSRAM Licht AG (Germany), Royal Philips Electronics N.V. (Netherlands), Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (South Korea), General Electric Company (U.S.), Nichia Corporation (Japan), AIXTRON SE (Germany), Applied Materials, Inc. (U.S.), Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (Hong Kong), Bridgelux, Inc. (U.S.), Cree, Inc. (U.S.), Acuity Brands, Inc. (U.S.), Advanced Lighting Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Energy Focus, Inc. (U.S.), Intematix Corporation (U.S.), LED Engin, Inc. (U.S.),Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. (Japan), TCP International Holdings Ltd. (Switzerland), Topanga Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Ceravision Ltd (U.K.), and Bright Light Systems, Inc. (Georgia) are some of the prominent players profiled in MRFR Analysis and are at the forefront of competition in the Global Solid State Lighting Market.According to MRFR, Globally the market for Solid State Lighting market is expected to grow at the rate of more than ~8% from 2016 to 2022.Latest Industry Trend and News:Acuity Brands, Inc. recently revealed that location-powered mobile specialist Verve(TM) is partnering with the company in its Atrius(TM) IoT ecosystem. This will allow verve to bolster its out-of-store and in-store shopper data and engagement solution for brands and retailers.Leading technology firm Osram Licht AG has reportedly agreed to acquire BAG Electronics GmbH, a light component manufacturer for an undisclosed amount. The move will allow Osram to expand its electronic component business.Regional AnalysisSolid state lighting market in North America is expected to remain highly lucrative throughout the assessment period. This is primarily owing to increased government efforts to adopt energy efficient technologies such as OLED and LED. The use of incandescent bulb has dropped in countries such the US and Canada, which supporting the growth of the market. Meanwhile, Europe is expected to retain it second position over 2022. Increased demand for solid state lighting in both commercial and residential sectors is driving the sales of solid-state lighting in Europe. During the forecast period, Asia Pacific (APAC) is also expected to witness a health growth.Segmentation:The solid-state lighting market can be classified into 6 key segments for the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding;Segmentation by Installation Type: Comprises of New Installation and Retrofit InstallationSegmentation by Offering: Comprises of Hardware, Software and ServicesSegmentation by Application: Comprises of General Lighting, Backlighting, Automotive Lighting, Medical Lighting and OthersSegmentation by Region: Comprises of Geographical regions - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World.Browse Complete Report @Target Audience: OEM Consumer electronics vendors Transportation LED vendors Research & consultants Distributors and resellers GovernmentList of TablesTable 1 Global Solid-State Lighting Market (Usd Billion)Table 2 Global Solid-State Lighting Market, By TechnologyTable 3 Global Solid-State Lighting Markets, By RegionTable 4 Global Solid-State Lighting Market, By RegionTable 5 Global Solid-State Lighting Market, By ApplicationTable 6 Global Solid-State Lighting Market, By RegionContinuedList of FiguresFIGURE 1 RESEARCH PROCESSFIGURE 2 DRIVERS OF GLOBAL Solid-State Lighting MARKETFIGURE 3 GLOBAL SOLID-STATE LIGHTING MARKET: BY TECHNOLOGY (%)FIGURE 4 GLOBAL SOLID-STATE LIGHTING MARKET: BY APPLICATION (%)FIGURE 5 GLOBAL SOLID-STATE LIGHTING MARKET SHARE BY REGION (2016 & 2022) (%)ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Zika Vaccines Market Opportunities and Forecast Assessment Evaluated By Global Players GlaxoSmithKline plc, Bharat Biotech International Pvt. Ltd, GeneOne Life Science

Global Zika Vaccines Market

https://bit.ly/2Xqngu9

https://bit.ly/2SxqKHA

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/phase-xs/

Zika vaccines are developed for immunization & prevention against diseases caused by Zika virus. This virus belongs to genus Flavivirus and is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The virus can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, sexual contact or from infected pregnant women to the fetus. Diagnosis of this infection is confirmed by detecting viral DNA through PCR. However, only 1 in 4 people with zika infection are prone to develop symptoms. In November 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that zika infection no longer constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as major cases of zika virus were asymptomatic.For In depth Information Get Sample Copy of this Report @In April 2015, a major ongoing outbreak of Zika virus was registered in Brazil, which later affected the population in South and Central America. This outbreak caused mild illness (fever, rashes, joint pains, conjunctivitis, nausea, and muscle pain), though the recent outbreaks showed severe complications such as microcephaly, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and various congenital neurological abnormalities in infants who were born to infected mothers. The link between zika virus and microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome was identified and reported in 2015 in Brazil.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70 new zika virus infection cases were reported in the U.S. in 2015, which increased to 41,181 cases in 2016. Lack of reporting is a major factor for lower incidence rate in 2015. Increase in awareness can result in more diagnosis and reporting thus generating growth of the global zika vaccines market.Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology found that the extract of San Francisco plant (Codiaeum variegatum) found in Australia, can kill the zika virus. This extract can arrest the virus and stop it from replicating without causing any damage to the host cells.Continuous increase in human clinical trials and rise in number of zika cases will drive the growth of Zika vaccines marketAs of March 2016, 67 companies and research institutions were working on various kinds of R&D projects and clinical trials aided to develop effective vaccines against zika virus. The FDA approved the first human clinical trial for GLS5700 in June 2016, a zika vaccine being developed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals. Further in 2017, a grant was approved for phase 2 clinical trials for a DNA vaccine conducted by NIAIDs Vaccine Research Center (VRC).Increasing awareness among the population would aid in controlling the incidence rate of zika infection. The WHO implemented a global framework for creating public awareness through its Zika Strategic Response Framework and Joint Plan in February 2016. This plan outlines all the points to be taken care of at the time of infections. In June 2016, WHO Regional Office for Europe developed a training curriculum to increase awareness by the publication of Zika Risk Assessment for European Region.High investment costs required for R&D and the development of effective zika virus vaccines serves as a restraining factor for the global zika vaccines market.Request For Customization of Research Report @While major of the Zika virus cases occur in tropical regions such as Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela, Colombia and Suriname, there are higher chances of mosquito infections in tropical areas of the U.S. like Texas and Florida. According to Pan American Health Organization, around 1,246 suspected and confirmed cases were reported between epidemiological week (EW) 10 and EW 14 of 2016 in the sub region which involves Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Ecuador.Competitive LandscapeSome key players operating in the zika vaccines market are Cerus Corporation, Biken Inc, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Bharat Biotech International Pvt. Ltd, GeneOne Life Science, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Immunovaccine Inc., NewLink Genetics Corp. and Sanofi S.A. The companies launched various R&D measures and clinical trials to attain immunogenicity against zika virus. In February 2016, Sanofi S.A launched a vaccine research and development project, with the introduction of Dengvaxia (Dengue vaccine) that will aid the company understand the Zika virus and develop an effective vaccine against it. Likewise, Inovio Pharmaceuticals initiated a clinical study of zika vaccine (GLS-5700) in Puerto Rico in August 2016. This trial may provide a potential push to Inovios vaccine if positive results are reported as there was a rapid progression of zika outbreak in Puerto Rico at that time. This could benefit the trial in assessing true efficacy and safety of the vaccine. Rapid progression in clinical trials and approval would augment the zika vaccines market growth.Also, Coherent Market Insights has a proprietary database of pipeline biologics and biosimilars, called PHASE-XS. This database provides analytical data in addition to the clinical information of ongoing trials for biologics and biosimilars. An amalgamation of more than 30 parameters, PHASE-XS helps biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to analyze the market trend, competition, and market potential. For more information or to access this database, kindly click on the below link or contact at sales@coherentmarketinsights.comAbout Coherent Market InsightsCoherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact UsMr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Point of Care Technology Market Detailed Analysis & Focusing on Key Leaders: Siemens Healthineers, Abbott, Johnson & Johnson, BD, Roche, Beckman Coulter and Alere Inc.

Point of Care Technology Market

https://www.researchformarkets.com/sample/global-point-of-care-technology-industry-market-447660

https://www.researchformarkets.com/inquiry/global-point-of-care-technology-industry-market-447660

https://www.researchformarkets.com/reports/global-point-of-care-technology-industry-market-447660

Point of Care Technology market report works for initiating and developing the strategies for sales, advertising, marketing, and promotion. The report takes into account all the aspects of market that are necessary to create the finest and top-notch market research report. It estimates CAGR values in percentages which facilitate to know the rise or fall occurring in the market for particular product for the specific forecast period. Point of Care Technology market research report also studies the trends in consumer and supply chain dynamics which enables building up production strategies for Healthcare industry.This comprehensive report makes available the recent and forthcoming technical and financial details of the industry. Point of Care Technology report also offers details about consumers demands, preferences, and their variable likings about particular product. All the data and information, especially numerical data, involved in this report has been represented very well in the form of graphs, charts or tables for the better understanding of users. Moreover, very loyal sources such as journals, newspapers, company websites and annual reports of the companies have been referred to collect the data which can be relied upon confidently.Key Players In Global Point of Care Technology Market Include: Johnson & Johnson Abbott Medtronic Roche Siemens Healthineers BD Beckman Coulter Alere Inc. Alere Toxicology Plc Alere eScreen Meridian Bioscience Inc. Beckman Coulter BrasilGet Sample PDF Illustration Here at:In this report, we analyze the Point of Care Technology industry from two aspects. One part is about its production and the other part is about its consumption. In terms of its production, we analyze the production, revenue, gross margin of its main manufacturers and the unit price that they offer in different regions from 2014 to 2019. In terms of its consumption, we analyze the consumption volume, consumption value, sale price, import and export in different regions from 2014 to 2019. We also make a prediction of its production and consumption in coming 2019-2024.At the same time, we classify different Point of Care Technology based on their definitions. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What is more, the Point of Care Technology industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.Market Segmentation, By Product Types: Glucose Testing Cardiac Markers Hb1ac Testing CoagulationMarket Segmentation, By Applications: Hospitals Home Care Clinics Ambulatory CareMake an Enquiry Before Buying at:Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Point of Care Technology2 Industry Chain Analysis of Point of Care Technology3 Manufacturing Technology of Point of Care Technology4 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Point of Care Technology5 Global Productions, Revenue and Price Analysis of Point of Care Technology by Regions, Manufacturers, Types and Applications6 Global and Major Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of Point of Care Technology 2014-20197 Consumption Volumes, Consumption Value, Import, Export and Sale Price Analysis of Point of Care Technology by Regions8 Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Point of Care Technology9 Marketing Traders or Distributor Analysis of Point of Care Technology10 Global and Chinese Economic Impacts on Point of Care Technology Industry11 Development Trend Analysis of Point of Care Technology12 Contact information of Point of Care Technology13 New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Point of Care Technology14 Conclusion of the Global Point of Care Technology Industry 2019 Market Research ReportBrowse Complete Report Here at:Reasons To Buy This Report:1. To get a comprehensive overview of the Point of Care Technology market.2. To gain information about the top players in this industry, their product portfolios, and their key strategies.3. To gain insights about the major regional insights in which the Point of Care Technology is flourishing.4. Recent industry trends and developments5. Potential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growthNote: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About Research for Markets:Research for Markets indulges in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. We have established the pillars of our flourishing institute on the grounds of Credibility and Reliability. RFM delve into the markets across Asia Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.Contact:Mr. A NaiduResearch for MarketsTel: +44 8000-4182-37 (UK)Email: alan.naidu@researchformarkets.com
Critical Communication Market Future Growth with Top Worldwide Players (Motorola, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, Huawei, AT&T, Harris, Hytera, Cobham Wireless, Ascom, Leonardo et al) During 2019-2025

Critical Communication Market

https://www.orianresearch.com/request-sample/838195

https://www.orianresearch.com/enquiry-before-buying/838195

https://www.orianresearch.com/checkout/838195

http://www.orianresearch.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/13281002/

Worldwide Critical Communication Market 2019 Industry Research Report focuses Market Size, Share, Growth, Manufacturers and Forecast to 2025. It vast repository provides analytical overview of market that will help to new and existing to take important decision. The report is beneficial for strategists and industry players to plan their future business strategies. The Critical Communication Market Research Report primarily based upon factors on which the companies complete in the market and this factor which is useful and valuable to the business.The global Critical Communication 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 7.5% during 2019-2025.The critical communication market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest rate between 2017 and 2023 owing to the new developments in technological fields, increasing infrastructural developments, and ongoing smart-city projects in the region. Moreover, organizations in APAC are expected to invest heavily in critical communication to deal with terrorist breaches and natural disasters, and for use in applications such as transportation. In addition, various ongoing projects in India, China, and South Korea, such as metro and railway communication projects, are boosting the growth of the critical communication market in this region.Get Sample Copy of this Report The Global Critical Communication market 2019 research provides a basic overview of the Industry including definitions, classifications, applications and Industry chain structure. The Global Critical Communication market analysis is provided for the international markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status. Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia India Central & South AmericaGlobal Critical Communication Industry 2019 Market Research Report is spread across 104 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and competitive landscape details in this niche sector.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @This report includes the estimation of market size for value (million USD) and volume (K Units). Both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been used to estimate and validate the market size of Critical Communication market, to estimate the size of various other dependent submarkets in the overall market. Key players in the market have been identified through secondary research, and their market shares have been determined through primary and secondary research. All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns have been determined using secondary sources and verified primary sources.Analysis of Critical Communication Market Key Manufacturers: Motorola Ericsson Nokia ZTE Huawei AT&T Harris Hytera Cobham Wireless Ascom Leonardo ..Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Land mobile radios (LMRs) Long-term evolution (LTE)Market segment by Application, split into Public Safety Transportation Utilities Mining OthersResearch objectives of this report are: To analyze global Critical Communication status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the Critical Communication development in United States, Europe and China. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their development plan and strategies. To define, describe and forecast the market by product type, market and key regions.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Critical Communication are as follows: History Year: 2014-2018 Base Year: 2018 Estimated Year: 2019 Forecast Year 2019 to 2025Order a copy of Global Critical Communication Market Report 2019 @With tables and figures helping analyze worldwide Global Critical Communication Market, this research provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Our research analysts will help you to get customized details for your report which can be modified in terms of specific region, application or any statistical details. Also, we are always willing to comply with the study which triangulated with your own data to make the market research more comprehensive in your perspective.Major Points from Table of Contents:Global Critical Communication Market Research Report 20191 Critical Communication Market Overview2 Global Critical Communication Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Critical Communication Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2014-2019)4 Global Critical Communication Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2014-2019)5 Global Critical Communication Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Critical Communication Market Analysis by Application7 Global Critical Communication Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Critical Communication Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Critical Communication Market Forecast (2019-2025)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixAbout UsOrian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on the World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ Industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact UsRuwin MendezVice President  Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (415) 830-3727 | UK: +44 020 8144-71-27Email: info@orianresearch.comWebsite:Follow Us on LinkedIn:
Some of the things he highlighted included: the opening of new restaurants along Orchard Road and new businesses opening at West Plaza Shopping Center on the West Side; the cleanup and potential renovation of the old Copley Hospital site that could include a new 40,000-square-foot administration building for East Aurora School District; the developments in the Route 59 corridor, including Pacifica Square, the largest Asian-centric shopping center in the country, and Cedarwood, a planned senior housing complex; and redevelopment downtown, including the opening of the Aurora Arts Center, and new deals for redevelopment of the historic Keystone, Terminal and Vargas buildings.
Europe Generator Sets Market is Thriving Worldwide with Leading Players are Kohler, Cummins, Generac, Caterpillar, Honda, Escorts, Yamaha, John Deere, Atlas Copco, Caterpillar among others

Europe Generator Sets Market

https://www.graphicalresearch.com/request/1032/sample

https://www.graphicalresearch.com/industry-insights/1032/europe-generator-sets-market

https://www.graphicalresearch.com/request/1032/inquiry-before-buying

https://www.graphicalresearch.com/

According to the Graphical Research report titled "Europe Generator Sets Market is predicted to exceed USD 5 billion by 2024." Rising demand for uninterrupted & reliable power supply in response to the inadequate grid infrastructure will drive the Europe gensets market growth. The ability of these gensets to efficiently backup crucial operations during power fluctuations or unexpected blackouts constitutes the key factor which will strengthen the products adoption.Notable industry players operating in the Europe gensets market include Kohler, Cummins, Generac, Caterpillar, Honda, Escorts, Yamaha, John Deere, Atlas Copco, Caterpillar among others.Request for a sample of this research report @Germany gensets market, in 2017 was valued over USD 600 million. Growing investments by industry giants toward the expansion of their cloud footprint is set to stimulate the industry expansion. For instance, Microsoft, in March 2018, announced the extension of its data centers infrastructure in Germany with the opening of two new facilities, which in turn will create cyclical demand for gensets.Increasing digitization accompanied by sizeable expansion of the data center infrastructure will propel the Europe generator sets market growth. The booming regional data center industry, primarily led by Germany, the Netherlands, France, and the UK are supporting the widespread deployment of generator sets as requisite backup power equipment. These units are majorly installed across financial services and IT firms, hospitals and other commercial spaces.Europe gas fired gensets market is set to witness robust growth on account of stringent legislative requirements aimed at reducing GHG emissions and supporting the adoption of energy efficient equipment. In addition, the expansion of gas pipeline infrastructure across the region, coupled with increased competitiveness of fuel prices will support the industry outlook. As per the European Commission (EC), the EU, in 2016 funded the construction of a gas pipeline (Balticconnector) between Finland and Estonia with an investment of over USD 200 million.Browse key industry insights from this report Europe Generator Sets Market in detail along with the table of contents at:Rising infrastructure and commercial investments, predominantly across the Eastern Europe will drive the Europe gensets market size. The industry growth is largely driven by gradual upturn in overall investment volumes in 2017 on account of improving macro-economic outlook and real estate expansion. Moreover, growing demand for retail, logistics and office properties in addition to expansion of senior nursing and housing establishments will accelerate the deployment of gensets in the region.Europe AC generator sets market size is set to expand over 6% by 2024. AC gensets are majorly deployed across residential spaces subject to their low maintenance requirements and operational viability for small power ranges. Affordable price, operational durability, quick start-up, and reliability are some of the key features strengthening the product demand.Segments We Cover:Europe Generator Sets Market Analysis, By FuelGasolineDieselGasEurope Generator Sets Market Share, By ApplicationBackupPrime PowerEurope Generator Sets Market, By End UseResidentialCommercialIndustrialEurope Generator Sets Market Forecast, By Power Rating1000 kVAEurope Generator Sets Market Size, By CurrentDCACSingle PhasePoly PhaseThe above information is provided on a regional and country basis for the following:EuropeRussiaUKGermanyFranceSpainAustriaItalyMake an inquiry for purchasing this report @About Graphical Research:Graphical Research is a business research firm that provides industry insights, market forecast and strategic inputs through granular research reports and advisory services. We publish targeted research reports with an aim to address varied customer needs, from market penetration and entry strategies to portfolio management and strategic outlook. We understand that business requirements are unique: our syndicate reports are designed to ensure relevance for industry participants across the value chain. We also provide custom reports that are tailored to the exact needs of the customer, with dedicated analyst support across the purchase lifecycle.Contact Us:Parikhit B.Corporate sales,Graphical ResearchEmail: sales@graphicalresearh.comWeb:
Animal Breeding Management Industry 2019-2025: Key Companies Analysis with Market Opportunities (Berendsen, Angelica, Alsco, ImageFIRST, Synergy Health, Aramark, Mission, Cintas, Unitex, Crothall, G&K, Tokai, Ecotex etc.)

Animal Breeding Management

https://www.orianresearch.com/request-sample/839256

https://www.orianresearch.com/enquiry-before-buying/839256

https://www.orianresearch.com/checkout/839256

Animal Breeding Management Market Research Report 2019 presents a detailed analysis of industry size, share, growth, trends, demand and forecast 2025. The report also provides information regarding business opportunities, development trends, future roadmap and top manufacture history it will help your good decision making.Get Sample Copy of This Report atThis report studies the global market size of Animal Breeding Management in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Animal Breeding Management in these regions.Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions North America, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, Middle East & Africa etc.)This research report categorizes the global Animal Breeding Management market by top players/brands, region, type and end user. This report also studies the global Animal Breeding Management market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels and distributors.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @Key Companies Analyzed in this Report are: Boehringer Ingelheim Zoetis Merck Elanco Bayer Virbac Ceva Sante Animale Vetoquinol Bimeda Animal Health Chanelle Global Animal Breeding Management Market report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through analytical research, market survey and observations) and secondary research. The report also features a complete focused on qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain, growth aspects, utilization ratio and manufacturing capacity.Place a Direct Order Of this Report @Major Points Covered in Table of Contents:1 Animal Breeding Management Market Overview2 Global Animal Breeding Management Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Animal Breeding Management Production Market Share by Regions4 Global Animal Breeding Management Consumption by Regions5 Global Animal Breeding Management Production, Revenue, Price Trend by Type6 Global Animal Breeding Management Market Analysis by Applications7 Company Profiles and Key Figures in Animal Breeding Management Business8 Animal Breeding Management Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Marketing Channel, Distributors and Customers10 Market Dynamics11 Global Animal Breeding Management Market Forecast12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 Methodology and Data SourceAbout UsOrian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on The World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact UsRuwin MendezVice President  Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (415) 830-3727 | UK: +44 020 8144-71-27Email: info@orianresearch.com
Makeup Brushes Global Market 2019 Top Key Players  LOreal, Shiseido, Estee Lauder, LVMH, E.l.f., Paris Presents, Sigma Beauty and Forecast to 2025

Makeup Brushes Market

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3719425-global-makeup-brushes-market-2019-by-manufacturers-regions

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3719425-global-makeup-brushes-market-2019-by-manufacturers-regions

www.wiseguyreports.com

Global Makeup Brushes MarketWiseGuyRerports.com Presents Global Makeup Brushes Market 2019 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2024 New Document to its Studies Database. The Report Contain 121 Pages With Detailed Analysis.DescriptionA makeup brush is a tool with bristles, used for the application of make up or face painting. The bristles could be made out of natural or synthetic materials, while the handle is usually made out of plastic or wood. When cosmetics are applied using the appropriate brush they blend better into the skin.Scope of the Report:China is the largest producer due to the abundant raw materials, low labor cost, she take a market share of around 45% in 2017, the brushes produced in China has a lower price level, this made Chinas revenue share in global declined to 37.4%.Global giant manufactures mainly distributed in U.S. and E.U. The key consumption markets locate at developed countries. The Europe takes the market share of 25.6%, followed by North America with 20%. The developed countries have a high makeup penetration rate, for the developing countries, China market got a consumption market share of 31.1% due to the large population.The worldwide market for Makeup Brushes is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 8.5% over the next five years, will reach 2170 million US$ in 2024, from 1330 million US$ in 2019, according to a new GIR (Global Info Research) study.Get sample Report @This report focuses on the Makeup Brushes 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.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversLOrealShiseidoEstee LauderLVMHE.l.f.Paris PresentsSigma BeautyAvonAmore PacificChanelWatsonsZoevaChikuhodoHakuhodoMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversNatural Hair BrushesSynthetic Hair BrushesMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoOffline SalesOnline SalesComplete Report Details @Table of Contents -Major Key Points1 Market Overview1.1 Makeup Brushes Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Natural Hair Brushes1.2.2 Synthetic Hair Brushes1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Offline Sales1.3.2 Online Sales1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 United States Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.4.4.5 Turkey Market States and Outlook (2014-2024)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 LOreal2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Makeup Brushes Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Product A2.1.2.2 Product B2.1.3 LOreal Makeup Brushes Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2017-2018)2.2 Shiseido2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Makeup Brushes Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Product A2.2.2.2 Product B2.2.3 Shiseido Makeup Brushes Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2017-2018)2.3 Estee Lauder2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Makeup Brushes Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Product A2.3.2.2 Product B2.3.3 Estee Lauder Makeup Brushes Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2017-2018)2.4 LVMH2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Makeup Brushes Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Product A2.4.2.2 Product B2.4.3 LVMH Makeup Brushes Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2017-2018)2.5 E.l.f.2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Makeup Brushes Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Product A2.5.2.2 Product B2.5.3 E.l.f. Makeup Brushes Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2017-2018)2.6 Paris Presents2.6.1 Business Overview2.6.2 Makeup Brushes Type and Applications2.6.2.1 Product A2.6.2.2 Product B2.6.3 Paris Presents Makeup Brushes Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2017-2018)2.7 Sigma Beauty2.7.1 Business Overview2.7.2 Makeup Brushes Type and Applications2.7.2.1 Product A2.7.2.2 Product B2.7.3 Sigma Beauty Makeup Brushes Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2017-2018)..CONTINUEDAbout UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, Industry research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)
Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) Market 2019-2022 Global Key Companies Analysis by Intel, Agilent, Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei, Panasonic, NEC, Xilinx,

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2318

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cloud-radio-access-network-market-2318

Cloud Radio Access Network Market, By Component (Baseband unit (BBU), Optical transmission network (OTN) and Remote radio head (RRH)), By Service (Network Service, System Integration, Customer service) - Forecast 2022The global Cloud Radio Access Network Market is expected to grow at USD 14 Billion by 2022, at 21% of CAGR between 2018 and 2022.Key Players:The prominent players in the cloud radio access network market are- International Business Machines Corporation (U.S.), Intel (U.S.), Agilent Technologies (U.S.), Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (France), Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (China), Ericsson (Sweden), Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan), ZTE Corporation (China), Panasonic Corporation (Japan), NEC Corporation (Japan), Xilinx, Inc. (U.S.) among othersGet Sample Report @Market Synopsis of Cloud Radio Access Network Market:Cloud Radio Access Network is also known as Centralized Radio Access Network. Radio Access Network is the equipment which connects to the cellular antennas, processes the signals and also send it to the core network. Cloud Radio Access network is an advanced cellular network architecture which provides centralized processing, real time cloud computing and power efficient infrastructure that supports 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G systems and address all the challenges that mobile operators face.The cloud access network architecture comprises of different components namely the baseband unit (BBU), optical transmission network (OTN), and remote radio head (RRH). The base band unit (BBU) is a digital units that implements the base station functions from baseband processing to packet processing. The remote radio head (RRH) performs radio functions such as amplification, analog to digital and digital to analog conversion and frequency conversion. The remote radio head collects frequency signals performs radio functions and then it is transmitted through optical transmission network (OTN).The major drivers for the Cloud Radio Access Network market would be its immense benefits, which are reduced costs, improved energy efficiency, improved spectrum utilization and others. Other important drivers for the cloud radio access network are its ability to pool resources, reuse infrastructure, and simplify network operations and others. Recently it is observed that mobile networks are evolving rapidly with respect to capacity, coverage and new features. The demand for reducing latency, increasing data rates and others can be fulfilled by introducing cloud radio access network architecture. Introduction of cloud network architecture would help operators to meet the demands by use of network virtualization functions and data center processing capabilities in the network.Segments:Cloud Radio Access Network Market by Components: Baseband unit (BBU) Optical transmission network (OTN) Remote radio head (RRH)Cloud Radio Access Network Market by Service Network Service System Integration Customer serviceRegional Analysis:The regional analysis of Cloud Radio Access Network market is being studied for region such as Asia pacific, Americas, Europe and Rest of the World. Rising popularity of smartphones, tablets and others has driven the market of Cloud Radio Access Network in Asia-Pacific region. Asia-Pacific region is expected to dominate in the cloud radio access network market by the forecast period owing to the increasing investments in the cloud radio access network space. The study reveals that most Asian mobile operators have already working in the R&D phase of cloud radio access network solutions. The Cloud Radio Access Network market is also expected to grow steadily in Europe and Latin America regions over the forecast period.Get Full Report @Intended Audience MES (Manufacturing Execution System) MOM (Manufacturing Operations Management) Players Technology Investors Hardware and software manufacturers System Integrators Government Organizations Research/Consultancy firmsAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune  411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +91 841 198 5042Mail: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Paper Carrier Bags Market- Key Players |International Paper Company, Mondi Group Plc, Walter Packaging, Smurfit Kappa Group, ProAmpac LLC, American Paper Bag, LLC,

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2902

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2902

https://www.factmr.com/report/2902/paper-carrier-bags-market

www.factmr.com/

http://insiderstribune.com/

Global Paper Carrier Bags Market: An OverviewCarrier bags are shopping bags often made of paper and have handles attached to them. Paper carrier bags are made from different varieties of kraft paper. These bags offer several benefits such as consumer convenience, durability, and are environment-friendly. Along with this, these bags can be recycled and reused, which is an additional benefit to the environment. Manufacturers of paper carrier bags produce bags with different dimensions, size, and colors. Paper carrier bags also offer printability for branding and promotion.The paper carrier bags market is expected to witness growth during the forecast period due to the global push for the adoption of sustainable solutions. Globally, there have been several incidences of bans on plastic bags and sacks, as well as the imposition of taxes on the use of single-use plastic products. Increasing scrutiny and regulations on the use of plastic bags create ample opportunities for the growth of the global paper carrier bags market. The outlook for growth of the global paper carrier bags market is expected to remain positive during the forecast period.Request For Sample @Global Paper Carrier Bags Market: DynamicsThe global market for paper carrier bags is expected to flourish during the forecast period, owing to the increasing awareness among end-use consumers and paper carrier bag manufacturers regarding the effects of conventional plastic bags on the environment. This has resulted in the inclination towards environment-friendly packaging products, such as paper.One of the key drivers for the growth of the global paper carrier bags market is the booming retail sector in developing countries such as India. Stringent government laws and regulations against the use of non-degradable conventional plastic packaging solutions, and the push for using biodegradable packaging solutions, such as paper carrier bags, are anticipated to further propel the global market for paper carrier bags during the forecast period.Despite the positive outlook, there are some factors affecting the growth of the global paper carrier bags market, such as the availability of alternative solutions like plastic and fabric bags. Until there is a complete ban on the usage of non-degradable and non-recyclable materials for the manufacturing of bags, the global paper carrier bags market is expected to face strong competition. The reduction in the use of plastic bags and sacks is currently a slow process, and therefore, acts as a key restraint to the growth of the global paper carrier bags market.Request For Brochure @Global Paper Carrier Bags Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the global paper carrier bags market is segmented into North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East & Africa, and Japan. Among these, Europe is expected to lead the market in terms of both, volume and value, owing to the increasing awareness regarding using sustainable packaging solutions supported by governing bodies in countries such as France, Spain, and others region. The market in Asia Pacific excluding Japan is anticipated to expand at an above average growth rate during the forecast period.Global Paper Carrier Bags Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players operating in the global paper carrier bags market are International Paper Company, Mondi Group Plc, Walter Packaging, Smurfit Kappa Group, ProAmpac LLC, American Paper Bag, LLC, etc. Many more local and unorganized market players are expected to contribute to the global paper carrier bags market.Report Analysis @The report on the global paper carrier bags market is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, and inputs from industry experts, and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the market trends, macroeconomic indicators, and governing factors, along with market attractiveness as per segment. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Read Industrial News :
Global Organic Search Software Market Research Report 2019 | Industry Analysis, Share, Growth, Trend and Top Key Players  Wrike, Moz, Yoast, Ginzametrics, Real Magnet, Mention, Salesforce, Exponea Forecast to 2025

Organic Search Software , Organic Search Software Market, Organic Search Software Market Trends

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3788518-global-organic-search-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3788518-global-organic-search-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=3788518

Global Organic Search Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2019-2025Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Organic Search Software - Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Manufacturers and Analysis of Top Key Players to 2025 To Its Research DatabaseOrganic search, also known as natural search, refers to unpaid search results. In contrast to paid search results (pay-per-click advertising), which are populated via an auction system, organic search results are based on relevance to the user's search query, links and domain authority and other organic ranking factors.In 2018, the global Organic Search Software market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025.This report focuses on the global Organic Search Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Organic Search Software development in United States, Europe and China.The key players covered in this studyWrikeMozYoastGinzametricsReal MagnetMentionSalesforceExponeaMarinRaven ToolsWeb CEOUpCityWordStreamMozSEO BookGet Sample Report of Organic Search Software Market@Market segment by Type, the product can be split intoCloud-BasedOn-PremiseMarket segment by Application, split intoLarge EnterpriseSMBsMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South AmericaThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze global Organic Search Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players.To present the Organic Search Software development in United States, Europe and China.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their development plan and strategies.To define, describe and forecast the market by product type, market and key regions.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Organic Search Software are as follows:History Year: 2014-2018Base Year: 2018Estimated Year: 2019Forecast Year 2019 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2018 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Complete report with Comprehensive table of contents@Major Key Points in Table of Content1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global Organic Search Software Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2014-2025)1.4.2 Cloud-Based1.4.3 On-Premise1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Organic Search Software Market Share by Application (2014-2025)1.5.2 Large Enterprise1.5.3 SMBs1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 Organic Search Software Market Size by Manufacturers3.1.1 Global Organic Search Software Revenue by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.1.2 Global Organic Search Software Revenue Market Share by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.1.3 Global Organic Search Software Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 Organic Search Software Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players Organic Search Software Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into Organic Search Software Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans12 International Players Profiles12.1 Wrike12.1.1 Wrike Company Details12.1.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.1.3 Organic Search Software Introduction12.1.4 Wrike Revenue in Organic Search Software Business (2014-2019)12.1.5 Wrike Recent Development12.2 Moz12.2.1 Moz Company Details12.2.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.2.3 Organic Search Software Introduction12.2.4 Moz Revenue in Organic Search Software Business (2014-2019)12.2.5 Moz Recent Development12.3 Yoast12.3.1 Yoast Company Details12.3.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.3.3 Organic Search Software Introduction12.3.4 Yoast Revenue in Organic Search Software Business (2014-2019)12.3.5 Yoast Recent Development12.4 Ginzametrics12.4.1 Ginzametrics Company Details12.4.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.4.3 Organic Search Software Introduction12.4.4 Ginzametrics Revenue in Organic Search Software Business (2014-2019)12.4.5 Ginzametrics Recent Development.13 Market Forecast 2019-202513.1 Market Size Forecast by Regions13.2 United States13.3 Europe13.4 China13.5 Japan13.6 Southeast Asia13.7 India13.8 Central & South America13.9 Market Size Forecast by Product (2019-2025)13.10 Market Size Forecast by Application (2019-2025)Continued................Buy Organic Search Software Market Report Now@About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd: Pune  411028: Maharashtra,: Ph: +91 841 198 5042
Scaffolding Market to Grow at ~5.14% CAGR by 2023 | Leading Players Overview- Wilhelm Layher, Safway, PERI, Altrad, ULMA Construction, MJ-Gerust, Stepup Scaffold, ADTO , Entrepose Echafaudages Itsen Construction Equipment

Scaffolding

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4900

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/4900

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/scaffolding-market-4900

Global Scaffolding Market by Type (Supported Scaffolding, Suspended Scaffolding and Rolling Scaffolding), By Material (Steel, Aluminum, Wood and Others), By Application (Construction Industry, Electrical Maintenance, Temporary Stage, Others) by Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of World) - Global Forecast to 2023.The major players operating in scaffolding market are Wilhelm Layher Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Safway Group Holding LLC, PERI GmbH, Altrad Group, ULMA Construction, MJ-Gerust GmbH, Waco Kwikform Limited, Stepup Scaffold, LLC, ADTO Industrial Group Co., Ltd., Changli XMWY Formwork Scaffolding Co., Ltd. Beijing Kangde, Cangzhou Weisitai Scaffolding Co.Ltd., Instant Upright, Tianjin Wellmade Scaffold Co. Ltd., Youying Group Rapid Scaffolding Engineering Co. Ltd, Tianjin Gowe Industrial Co. Ltd., Entrepose Echafaudages Itsen Construction Equipment (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Rizhao Fenghua Scaffolding Co. Ltd. and KHK Scaffolding & Formwork LLC.Get Sample Report with Complete TOC @Market ScenarioScaffolding is defined as the erection, alteration or dismantling of temporary structure, specifically erected to support a platform. Scaffolds are commonly used for working at heights, and it involves the risk for scaffolder (person working on a scaffold) to fall from an incomplete scaffold during the erection and dismantling of a scaffold.Scaffolding is the type of prefabricated construction that involves major structures or components of construction built off-site, generally, at factories to be erected later on site on concrete foundation. The scaffolding market is driven by various factors such as increasing FDI in construction in Asia Pacific region, and supportive government regulations and policies. The scaffolding market has constraints such as fluctuation in raw material prices and slower economic growth, which hinder the growth of the market.The governments across all regions are seen promoting and developing their construction sector. The emerging nations are the ones that are particularly bringing various reforms and regulations to boost their infrastructure growth and real-estate market. Such growth is expected to augment the market growth of scaffolding. The government of India announced several major initiatives to boost the construction industry in the country. Some of them are the passage of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016, the amendment of the Benami Transactions Act, 100% deduction in profits for affordable housing construction, and change in arbitration norms for construction companies. Similarly, in China the central policies on housing were relaxed, which resulted into lowest down payment ratio decreased in 2016. Cheaper down payments encouraged more homebuyers to borrow money from banks. This, in turn, pushed the construction industry, which ultimately leads to the increased demand for scaffolding.Steel and aluminum remain the majorly used raw material for the manufacture of scaffoldings. The market growth is hindered by the fluctuating prices of steel. It has been observed that steel and aluminum being the most vastly traded metal worldwide, the price fluctuation hampers various end-use industries. Scaffoldings are manufactured out of such steel and aluminum sheets throughout the world. Thus, price fluctuation affects the production cost, ultimately affecting the growth of the market.Global Scaffolding Market is expected to grow with the CAGR of approximately 5.14% during the forecast period.Scope of the ReportThis study provides an overview of the global scaffolding market, tracking three market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a six-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next six years for each region. The scope of the study segments the global Scaffolding market by type, by material, by application, and by regions.Global Scaffolding Market, By Type Supported Scaffolding Suspended Scaffolding Rolling ScaffoldingGlobal Scaffolding Market, By Material Steel Aluminum Wood OthersGlobal Scaffolding Market, By Application Construction Industry Electrical Maintenance Temporary Stage OthersGlobal Scaffolding Market, By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of the WorldSupported scaffolding by type segment, steel by material segment and Construction Industry by application segment are expected to hold the largest market size in forecast period.Global Scaffolding Market is segmented, by type as supported scaffolding, suspended scaffolding and rolling scaffolding. Supported scaffolding segment accounted for the largest market share of about 68.81% in 2016, with a market value of more than USD 9,700 million. It is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Based on type, the market is segmented as steel, aluminum, wood, and others. Steel accounted for the largest market share of about 46.28%, in 2016, with a market value of more than USD 6,500 million; projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Based on application the market has been segmented as construction industry, electrical maintenance, temporary stage and others. Construction Industry accounted for the largest market share of about 67.65% in 2016, with a market value of more than USD 9,500 million. It has been projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.Early Diners Are Offered Free Customization- Up to 20%Get Attractive Discount @Table of Contents1 Executive Summary2 Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.3 Assumptions2.4 Market Structure3 Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation3.5 Forecast Model4 Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.1.1 Increasing Fdi in Construction in Asia Pacific Region4.1.2 Supportive Government Regulations and Policies4.2 Restraints4.2.1 Fluctuation in Raw Material Prices4.2.2 Slower Economic Growth4.3 Opportunities4.3.1 Emerging Economies5 Market Factor Analysis5.1 Porter's Five Forces Analysis5.1.1 Threat of New Entrants5.1.2 Bargaining Power of Suppliers5.1.3 Threat of Substitutes5.1.4 Bargaining Power of Buyers5.1.5 RivalryContinued......List of TablesTable 1 Share of Top Five Countries Attracting Fdi Equity Inflows for Construction Development, 2000-2015 (Usd Million)Table 2 Global Scaffolding Market, by Type, 2012-2016 (Usd Million)Table 3 Global Scaffolding Market, by Type, 2017-2022 (Usd Million)Table 4 Global Scaffolding Market, by Type, 2012-2017 (Million Metric Tonne)Table 5 Global Scaffolding Market, by Type, 2017-2022 (Million Metric Tonne)Table 6 Global Scaffolding Market, by Material, 2012-2016 (Usd Million)Table 7 Global Scaffolding Market, by Material, 2017-2022 (Usd Million)Table 8 Global Scaffolding Market, by Material, 2012-2016 (Million Metric Tonne)Table 9 Global Scaffolding Market, by Material, 2017-2022 (Million Metric Tonne)Continued......Ask for your specific company profile and country level customization on reports.Get More Information on Scaffolding Market Research Report- Forecast 2023 @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528Amanora ChambersMagarpatta RoadHadapsarPune -411028Maharashtra, India
Choline Chloride Market will register the CAGR of 5.5% Till 2025 | Top Key Players Algry Quimica Sl, Balchem Corporation, Taminco Corporation, Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd.

Choline Chloride

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/78322

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/78322

www.upmarketresearch.com

The newly released research at Up Market Research titled 2019 - 2025 Global Choline Chloride Market Report provides data, information, brief analysis, company profiles, statistics for past years and forecasts for next few years. This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of Choline Chloride Market by product type, application, key manufacturers and key regions.Request Sample Copy Of this Report @Choline Chloride Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period.It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Choline Chloride Market global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018  2025.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.The generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Choline Chloride Market analysis & forecast 2018- 2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region- wise Analysis Choline Chloride Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)For More Information On This Report, Please Visit @The Major Players Reported In The Report Are: Algry Quimica Sl Balchem Corporation Taminco Corporation Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd. Balaji Amines Ltd. Basf Se Havay Chemicals Pestell Mineral and Ingredients A and C Co. Inc. Be-Long Corporation Nb Group Co. Ltd. Kemin Industries Inc.Global Choline Chloride Market: Product Segment Analysis: Purity >99% PurityAbout UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States.
Europe CBCT Dental Imaging Market Business Insights Towards 2023 | by Players as Carestream Health, Dentsply Sirona, FONA Dental, S.R.O., Gendex (Danaher Corporation), Imaging Sciences International, etc

Europe CBCT Dental Imaging Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4137

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/4137

Market Research Future published a Cooked research report on Europe CBCT Dental Imaging Market Research Report - Forecast to 2023 Market Analysis, Scope, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2023.Europe CBCT Dental Imaging Market- OverviewOver the past few years in the field of dentistry, radiographic imaging has evolved from a conventional two-dimensional technique to a three-dimensional modality. Cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) has been referred as the gold standard for diagnostic maxillofacial imaging. There have been an increasing references in the dental literature towards the utility of CBCT in clinical dental practice. Dental cone beam computed tomography (CT) is a distinctive type of X-ray machine used in circumstances where regular dental or facial X-rays are not sufficient. This type of computed tomography scanner uses a special type of technology to produce three dimensional (3-D) images of oral structures, soft tissues, nerve paths, and bones in the craniofacial region in a single scan.Europe CBCT Dental Imaging market is expected to grow at the CAGR of ~ 11.41% during the forecast period till 2023. According to a recent study report published by the Market Research Future, the Europe CBCT Dental Imaging market is expected to gain eminence over the forecast period. The market is forecasted to demonstrate a steady growth by 2023, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a constant CAGR during the anticipated period (20172023).To Get Sample Report visitCompetitive AnalysisCarestream Health (U.S.), Dentsply Sirona (U.S.), FONA Dental, S.R.O. (Slovak Republic), Gendex (Danaher Corporation) (U.S.), Imaging Sciences International, LLC. (Danaher Corporation) (U.S.), J.MORITA MFG.CORP (Japan), KaVo Dental GmbH (Danaher Corporation) (Germany), NewTom (Italy), and Planmeca OY (Finland) and others are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Europe CBCT Dental Imaging Market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.The market for CBCT Dental Imaging is characterised by the presence of several well-established and small players, the global market of CBCT Dental Imaging appears to be highly competitive and fragmented. Major players are increasingly expanding their footprint in the emerging nations, making it putting pressure on the regional players, especially in terms of features such as type, product portfolios, and pricing. The market is witnessing intensified competition which is expected to get more intensified further during the forecast period. The key players in the industry are adopting to compete with one another directly and indirectly with other ecosystem players. The established companies are busy in acquiring companies and entering into partnership with other ecosystem players. The Market Entropy activities in this market includes Mergers & Acquisitions, Collaboration & Expansion, Product Development and Launch and Others.Since, the market started gaining attraction; companies across the globe have been striving hard to bring about innovations in 3D radiographic imaging devices and services, depending upon the demand of the consumers. In light of this trend, the market is gaining considerable momentum through the opportunities for personalization and customization which the new entrants have to offer.SegmentsEurope CBCT Dental Imaging market has been segmented on the basis of type of detector which comprises of flat panel detector and image intensifier. Flat panel detector is sub-segmented into indirect conversion flat panel detectors and direct conversion flat panel detectors.On the basis of application, it is segmented into dental implants, orthodontics, endodontics, and others. Dental Implants is sub-segmented into endosteal implants and subperiosteal implants.On the basis of end user, this market is segmented into hospitals & dental clinics, academics and research institutes, and others.Regional AnalysisConsidering the scenario of the market, in 2016, Germany accounted for the largest market in Europe CBCT dental imaging market. The highest number of CBCT machines are sold each year in Germany among other European countries. Innovation and technologically advanced product development is leading the market growth. Germany is expected to reach 93.8 million by 2023. Some other factors such as growing aging population, funding for research, and availability of advanced imaging products are driving the market growth.Italy holds second position in Europe CBCT dental imaging market due to rapid adoption of advanced imaging devices and top class medical facilities. This market was valued around USD 29.0 million in 2016 and expected to continue its growth during the forecast period. Availability of advanced healthcare facilities, large amount of money invested for technology up gradation, and high awareness among the medical professional as well as people are spurring the market growth.UK is expected to grow at fastest CAGR of 11.89% during 2017-2023. Some major factors are driving the market growth such as government support to encourage research and new product development, growing aging population, increasing cases of various dental problems, increasing number of people suffering from gum problems etc.Rest of Europe is expected to grow slower than other European countries in this market and this lag can be attributed to slow adoption of advanced devices, low investment for research and technology up gradation, slow economic growth, traditional approach toward the healthcare etc.To Get an Exclusive Discount on Report VisitAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureHadapsar, Pune  411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Powered Agriculture Equipment Market 2019 by Global Leaders Analysis: AGCO, John Deere, Mahindra & Mahindra, CNH, Kubota, CLAAS, Alamo, Iseki

Segmentation of Powered Agriculture Equipment Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2439

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/powered-agriculture-equipment-market-2439

The global powered agriculture equipment market is estimated to expand at 5.43 % CAGR during the forecast period (2017-2023) owing to the increasing demand for food, asserts Market Research Future (MRFR). Agriculture equipment and tools play a crucial role in several functions as per the need of the consumers. Powered equipment is slowly taking over traditional methods owing to advanced and highly innovated products.Drivers and Constraints Impacting the Market:With the growing population in several regions, there has been an increase in the overall demand for food. In order to increase productivity and supply of food, the agricultural processes need to be faster. The adoption and utilization of agricultural equipment and mechanization techniques have made this possible. This triggers the demand for powered agricultural equipment across the globe. In several countries, governments are offering extensive support to farmers to purchase agricultural equipment in order to work efficiently. This is anticipated to foster the market growth over the forecast period. For instance, in countries like India, the government has initiated Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana to support farmers to purchase tractors at a subsidized rate. The emergence of advanced technology is triggering the market growth during the forecast period. GPS locators, computer monitoring systems, and self-steer programs allow most advanced tractors and are less wasteful and more precise in the use of seed, fuel, or fertilizer.Get Sample Report of Powered Agriculture Equipment Market @The Key Players of Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market Are:AGCO Corporation (U.S.), John Deere & Co. (U.S.), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (India), CNH Industrial (U.K), Kubota Corporation (Japan), CLAAS Group (Germany), Alamo Group Inc. (U.S.), Escorts Group (India), Iseki & Co. Ltd (Japan), SDF S.P.A. (Italy), and other.Segmental Analysis of Powered Agriculture Equipment Market:The global powered agriculture equipment market has been segmented on the basis of product type and region.By mode of product type, the global powered agriculture equipment market has been segmented into cultivation and soil preparation equipment, seed drill, tractors, combine/combine harvester, sprayer, and others. Among these, the tractor segment is predicted to account for the largest market share with 52.4 % in 2016 and a market value of 36.37 billion. Tractors are one of the most essential equipment in the agricultural industry and hold the highest volume in the market. Tractors account for the highest sales as they are multifunction. They are usable as agricultural equipment in monsoons as well as commercial and other transportation purposes.Regional Insights:Geographically, the powered agriculture equipment market spans across regions namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa.Among all the regions, Asia Pacific is predicted to account for the largest market share with 33.47 % in 2016 and a market value of USD 23.3 billion. The Asia Pacific region comprises more than 60 % of the worlds population and is estimated to increase in the future. This is further leading to shortage of food in the country. Use of agricultural machinery and equipment has proven to be an effective way to increase the production of food. One of the major driving factors in this region is the number of subsidies by the state and the central governments which is encouraging the farmers to purchase equipment for their farms. Moreover, countries such as China, India, and Indonesia promote the market in this region.North America is predicted to hold the second position in the market with a market value of USD 20.2 billion. North America is one of the major producers of corn, wheat, and soybean which require the use of agricultural equipment, thus stimulating the market growth during the forecast period. Countries like the United States account for the largest share in the North American region. Canada is also a major market in this region and is predicted to expand at 5.00% CAGR over the review period.Europe accounts for 24.7% market share globally owing to the presence of major countries like Germany and France in this region. Germany is one of the leading exporters of agriculture machinery in the world.Get Complete Report Details of Powered Agriculture Equipment Market@Table of Contents1 Executive Summary2 Introduction3 Research Methodology4 Market Dynamics5 Market Factor Analysis6 Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market, By Product Type7 Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market, By Region8 Competitive Scenario9 Company Profile10 List Of Tables11 List Of FiguresContinued.About Us:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR) and Market Research & Consulting Services.Address:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312sales@marketresearchfuture.com
On that day, firefighters accompanied police officers into the building to find and confront the shooter as part of special tactical units. It was the first time the city had used the combined units. The idea is that paramedics are on the scene to quickly help with injuries during an incident.
Coiled Tubing Market Key Player Analysis  Baker Hughes, Halliburton Co., Nabors Industries Ltd., Superior Energy Services Inc.

Coiled Tubing

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/78345

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/78345

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/reports/coiled-tubing-market-2019

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/request_for_discount/78345

www.upmarketresearch.com

A new business intelligence report released by Up Market Research with title Global Coiled Tubing Market Research Report 2019 that targets and provides comprehensive market analysis with future prospects to 2025. The analysts of the study have garnered extensive research methodologies and data sources (i.e. Secondary & Primary Sources) in order to generate collective and useful information that delivers latest market undercurrents and industry trends.Request Sample Copy Of this Report @Coiled Tubing Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period.It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Coiled Tubing Market global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018  2025.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.The generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Coiled Tubing Market analysis & forecast 2018- 2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region- wise Analysis Coiled Tubing Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)For More Information On This Report, Please Visit @The Major Players Reported In The Report Are: Baker Hughes Halliburton Co. Nabors Industries Ltd. Superior Energy Services Inc. Weatherford International Ltd. Archer Limited C and J Energy Services, Inc. Calfrac Well Services Ltd. RPC, Inc. Trican Sanjel CorporationGlobal Coiled Tubing Market: Product Segment Analysis: Gas OilGlobal Coiled Tubing Market: Application Segment Analysis: Well Intervention (Well Completion and Well Cleaning) DrillingThe Report Covers In- Depth Analysis As Follows: Chapter 1 Overview of Coiled Tubing Market Chapter 2 Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions Chapter 3 Global Market Status and Forecast by Types Chapter 4 Global Market Status and Forecast by Downstream Industry Chapter 5 Market Driving Factor Analysis of Coiled Tubing Market Chapter 6 Coiled Tubing Market Competition Status by Major Manufacturers Chapter 7 Coiled Tubing Market Major Manufacturers Introduction and Market Data Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Market Analysis of Coiled Tubing Market Chapter 9 Cost and Gross Margin Analysis of Coiled Tubing Market Chapter 10 Marketing Status Analysis of Coiled Tubing Market Chapter 11 Report Conclusion Chapter 12 Research Methodology and ReferenceRead More details Coiled Tubing Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market- driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real- time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real- time scenario.Global Coiled Tubing Market: Key Stakeholders: Manufacturers Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream VendorsIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Coiled Tubing Market are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025Key Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Coiled Tubing Market and its commercial landscape. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for Coiled Tubing Market analysis and forecast 2018- 2025.Avail Discount On this Report @Customization of the Report:Up Market Research provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.You can also ask for region wise market research report, as below: Coiled Tubing Market  Global Market Status & Trend Report 2013- 2025 Top 20 Countries Data Coiled Tubing Market  North America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Coiled Tubing Market  South America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Coiled Tubing Market  Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Coiled Tubing Market  EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Coiled Tubing Market  Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Coiled Tubing Market  China Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Coiled Tubing Market  India Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Coiled Tubing Market  United States Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States.
Electronic Toll Collection Systems Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2019  2022

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1180991-global-electronic-toll-collection-systems-market-research-report-2017

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1180991-global-electronic-toll-collection-systems-market-research-report-2017

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/1180991-global-electronic-toll-collection-systems-market-research-report-2017

Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems IndustryLatest Report on Electronic Toll Collection Systems Market Global Analysis & 2022 Forecast Research StudyIn this report, the global Electronic Toll Collection Systems market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingHoneywellTransurbanTranstollTranscore HoldingsToll CollectTRMI Systems IntegrationSensor DynamicsXerox Corporation3MConnect EastEFKONSAICDENSOQ-FreeMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesPercepticsThales GroupKapsch TrafficComTry Sample Report @Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Electronic Toll Collection Systems in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoRadio-Frequency Identification (RFID)Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC)Video AnalyticsGlobal Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)Global Positioning System (GPS)On the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Electronic Toll Collection Systems for each application, includingHighwayUrbanBridgeOthersFor Detailed Reading Please visit WiseGuy Reports @Some Major Points from Table of content:Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems Market Research Report 20171 Electronic Toll Collection Systems Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Electronic Toll Collection Systems1.2 Electronic Toll Collection Systems Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)1.2.4 Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC)1.2.5 Video Analytics1.2.6 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)1.2.7 Global Positioning System (GPS)1.3 Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems Segment by Application1.3.1 Electronic Toll Collection Systems Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Highway1.3.3 Urban1.3.4 Bridge1.3.5 Others1.4 Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Electronic Toll Collection Systems (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)If you have any enquiry before buying a copy of this report @7 Global Electronic Toll Collection Systems Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Honeywell7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Electronic Toll Collection Systems Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Honeywell Electronic Toll Collection Systems Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Transurban7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Electronic Toll Collection Systems Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Transurban Electronic Toll Collection Systems Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Transtoll7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Electronic Toll Collection Systems Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Transtoll Electronic Toll Collection Systems Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Transcore Holdings7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Electronic Toll Collection Systems Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Transcore Holdings Electronic Toll Collection Systems Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Toll Collect7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Electronic Toll Collection Systems Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Toll Collect Electronic Toll Collection Systems Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 TRMI Systems Integration7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Electronic Toll Collection Systems Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product BContinued..For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comAbout UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.Contact Us:Norah Trent+91 841 198 5042Office No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Global Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Industry 2018 Market Analysis & Forecast Research Report

Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Industry

https://franknraf.com/reports/global-organic-cosmetic-ingredients-industry-2018-market-research-report/

https://franknraf.com/sample-report/?rpt_id=6070

https://franknraf.com/reports/global-fast-fashion-sales-market-report-2017/

Frank n Rafs, In this report, the global Organic Cosmetic Ingredients market is valued at USD XX million in 2017 and is expected to increase USD XX million by the end of 2025, rising at a CAGR of XX% between 2017- 2025.This report is divided into several key Regions, with production, consumption, profit (million USD), market share and growth rate of Organic Cosmetic Ingredients in these regions, from 2013 to 2025 (forecast), covering: North America Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaGlobal Organic Cosmetic Ingredients market competition by highest manufacturers, with production, price, and profit (value) and market share for every manufacturer; the biggest players including: Burts Bee Amway Aveda Corp Kiehls Natura Cosmeticos S.A. Origins Aubrey Organics LOrealBased on the product, this report shows the rate of production, profit, price and market and growth of all types, mainly divided into: Plant Extracts Proteins Vitamins Waxes (Shea Butter, Coconut, Groundnut, Palm, and Palm Kernel Oil) Hickening Agents AdditivesBased on end users / apps, this report focuses on the status and approach including for major applications / end users, consumption (selling), market sharing, and growth rates for each application. Hair Care Skin Care Fragrance Oral Soap OtherIf you need any special info, please contact us. We will give you the information you need.Enquire about Report atTable of Content Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Market Overview Global Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Market Competition by Manufacturers Global Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Capacity, Production, Profit (Value) by Region (2013-2018) Global Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2018) Global Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Production, Profit (Value), Price Trend by Type Global Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Market Analysis by Application Global Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Manufacturing Cost Analysis Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders Market Effect Factors Analysis Global Organic Cosmetic Ingredients Market Forecast (2018-2025) Research Findings and Conclusion AppendixGet a Sample copy of this Report atRelated Report:Global Fast Fashion Sales Market Report 2017In this report, the value of the World Fast Fashion Market is worth XX million US dollars in 2017and between 2017 and 2025, the XX% CAGR is expected to increase to $ 20 million by the end of 2025For More Detail -About Us:Frank n Raf is one of the eminent companies in Market Research and Consulting Services headquartered in Pane, India and soon will be in The United States. In terms of market research and consulting services, we give our customers more choices. We provide deep and transparent industry insights, syndicated search reports, customized search reports, and excellence in the services we consult.Contact Us:Frank n Raf Market Research LLP401  A Wing, Amar Synergy,Sadhu Vaswani Chowk, Pune Station,Pune  411014Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 347-321-6773E-mail: info@franknraf.com
Connected Healthcare Market is Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 30.2% till 2023 | with Allscripts, Athenahealth, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cerner, Koninklijke Philips N.V., GE healthcare, Qualcomm, etc

Connected Healthcare Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1892

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/connected-healthcare-market-1892

Global Connected Healthcare Market Report Split Into Several Key Regions, With Sales, Revenue, And Market Share And Growth Rate. Covering North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. And It Is Incorporated On Marketresearchfuture.Com With 115 Pages.Market Highlights:The global connected healthcare market has been evaluated as a growing market and it is expected that the market will touch high growth figures in future. Continuous increase in lifestyle disease has led to the development of personalized healthcare solutions is boosting the revenues per year.Request Sample Copy atTaste the market data and market information presented through more than 142 market data tables and figures spread over 152 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content (TOC) & market synopsis on The Global Connected Healthcare Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022.Connected health is a new model for healthcare delivery which deliver healthcare services remotely. Connected healthcare creates an environment where patients are treated in the best location, by the best person, using the most relevant and efficient methods and cut down on waste and reduces system costs even though improving patient quality of life. It allows societies to maintain personalized healthcare in a climate of reducing resources and increasing demand. It enables genuine patient focus in the most efficient way possible.Top Players:The major participants of this market are Agamatrix, Inc. (US), Airstrip Technology (US), AliveCor Inc. (Australia), Allscripts (US), Athenahealth Inc. (US), Boston Scientific Corporation (US), Cerner (US), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands), GE healthcare (UK), Qualcomm (US), Medtronics (Ireland) and others.Segments:Global Connected Healthcare market has been segmented on the basis of type which comprises of M-health devices, M-health services and E-prescription. On the basis of application; market is segmented into Monitoring Applications, Diagnosis & Treatment, Education and Awareness, Healthcare Management, Wellness & Prevention and others.Regional Analysis:Globally North America is the largest market for Connected Healthcare. The North American market for Connected Healthcare is expected to reach at USD 37.38 billion by the end of the forecasted period.Europe is the second-largest market for Connected Healthcare which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30.48%. Asia pacific region is expected to be fastest growing region in Connected Healthcare market.Browse Complete 152 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 100+ Respective Tables and Figures atAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Dental Anesthesia Industry Analysis by Mega Trends and Top Participants as Astra Zeneca, Septodont, Dentsply, Sirona, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Gilead Sciences, etc

Dental Anesthesia Industry

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/755

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/dental-anesthesia-market-755

Global Dental Anesthesia Market Report Split Into Several Key Regions, With Sales, Revenue, And Market Share And Growth Rate. Covering North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. And It Is Incorporated On Marketresearchfuture.Com With 115 Pages.Dental Anesthesia Market - HighlightsGlobal Dental Anesthesia Market is expected to register a CAGR of about 8.9% over the forecast period (2017-2027). The Global Dental Anesthesia Market is growing exponentially owing to the increasing dental healthcare base, increasing trend towards dental health checkup, growing economy are the factor contributing to the growth of the market.Anesthetics are drugs that has the ability to induce reversible sensation loss. Local anesthesia (vasoconstrictors) are different from analgesic or pain killers which relives pain without loss of sensation. They are usually administered to facilitate surgery. In U.S., the two vasoconstrictors are levonordefrin and epinephrine.Epinephrine used for dental anesthetics include lidocaine, articaine, prilocaine, and bupivacaine. Dental anesthetic consists of both local anesthetic and general anesthetic. These anesthetics are used in nonsurgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) procedures.Request Sample Copy atThe dental anesthetics are injected into the gum or inner cheek before performing any dental surgery. Rising cases of cancer, periodontitis, and gingivitis are expected to increase dental procedure, thus increasing the demand for dental anesthetics, globally.Increasing use of cigarettes and tobacco and changes in eating habit is anticipated to increase dental disorders related to maxiofacial and oral.The color-coding system empowered by the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs in 2003 is labelled on injectable local anesthetic that carried the ADA seal of acceptance. The system was developed as a result of the growing concern of difference in color coding from manufacturer to manufacture. The rising awareness about importance of dental health among the population and government initiatives to provide better dental facilities is expected to boost the market for dental anesthesia.Major Players:Some of the key players in this market are Astra Zeneca, Septodont, Dentsply, Sirona, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Gilead Sciences Inc., Johnson & Johnson and others.Industry Updates:Sepember, 2017 AstraZeneca entered into a collaboration agreement with Aspen Global Incorporated (AGI) to acquire the rights for anaesthetic medicine outside U.S. The anaesthetic medication portfolio include EMLA, Xyloproct /Xylocard/ Xylocaine, Diprivan, Marcaine, Naropin, Citanest and Carbocaine. The agreement will imply AstraZeneca to manufacture and supply medication to AGI over a period of 5 years.Feb, 2017 Septodont Healthcare India Pvt. Ltd. acquires DLA, a leading injectable dental anesthetics manufactures. The leading dental anesthetics includes Lidostesim (Lidocaine), Mepivalem (Mepivacaine) and Citanest (Priolocaine). This acquisition will strengthen their presence throughout the Latin American region.March, 2017 GlaxoSmithKline plc divested nearly all their anesthetics portfolio to Aspen Pharma. By this acquisition Aspen has strengthened its drug portfolio and increased its customer base. GSKs anaesthesia portfolio consists of Anectine, Ultiva, Mivacron Tracrium, and Nimbex. In addition, Aspen and GSK has entered into parallel agreements to terminate their collaboration in Africa and further exercise an option to acquire GSK's remaining thrombosis business.July, 2016 Kitron signs supply agreement with Dentsply Sirona. This agreement will add Kitron as a new supplier for Dentsply Sirona.March, 2016 Johnson & Johnson released the Sedasys anesthesia device. By this acquisition Aurora Diagnostics will strengthen consultancy in Laboratory Medicine.February, 2016 DENTSPLY International Inc. and Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. announce completion of remaining regulatory milestones for proposed merger.June, 2014 Inibsa Dental started marketing The Wand STA in June a new system for delivery of dental anaesthesia that allows for a painless process and with less collateral numbness after the intervention.Segmentation:The global dental anesthesia market is segmented on the basis of product type, types of anesthesia, route of administration, and end-user.On the basis of product type, the global dental anesthesia market is segmented into Lidocaine, Mepivacaine, Prilocaine, Bupivacaine 0.5% with Epinephrine 1:200,000, Articaine, and others. The Lidocaine is divided into Lidocaine 2% with Epinephrine 1:100,000, Lidocaine 2% with Epinephrine 1:50,000, and Lidocaine Plain. The mepivacaine is divided into mepivacaine 2% with levonordefrin 1:20,000 and mepivacaine 3%. The prilocaine is divided into prilocaine 4% with epinephrine 1:200,000 and prilocaine 4%. The articaine is divided into articaine 4% with epinephrine 1:100,00 and articaine 4% with epinephrine 1:200,000.On the basis of type of anesthesia, the global Dental Anesthesia market is segmented into general anesthetics, local anesthetics, and others.On the basis of the mode of administration, the global dental anesthesia market is segmented into maxillary anesthesia, mandibular anesthesia, and others. The maxillary anesthesia is categorized into local infiltration, field block, asnd nerve block. The local infiltration is further classified into supraperiosteal injection, intraseptal injection, and periodontal ligament injection. The field block is further classified into periapical injection. The nerve block is further classified into posterior superior alveolar, middle superior alveolar, and anterior superior alveolar.The Mandibular anesthesia is categorized into nerve block, tissue, or skin. The nerve block is further classified into IAN, Akinosi, and Gow-Gates.On the basis of end-user, the global dental anesthesia market is segmented into specialized dental hospitals, dental clinics, pharmacies and drug stores, e-commerce, and others.Global Dental Anesthesia Market - Regional AnalysisNowadays the injectable dental local anesthetics available in North America amide based local anesthetics. North America holds the largest market share for Dental Anesthesia Market and is anticipated to dominate the market forecast period.The European healthcare industry is flourishing owing to the increasing number of medical professionals and growing awareness. The steady increase in the number of dentists in Europe specifically France, Germany, and Italy. Increased awareness about healthcare due to the high literacy rate in Europe is ultimately going to boost the growth of the dental market further boosting the dental anesthetics market.Asia Pacific is a fastest growing dental consumables market. The dental consumables market comprises of large and small entities which provides a platform for healthy competition and scope for growth. With already established players such as Shuguang and J Morita in the dental consumables market, the dental anesthesia market is going to witness a high growth rate. The region is also considered as one of the largest exporter of dental consumables around the world due to the rising demand for higher standards and quality, the regions proved to be a huge market for anesthetics as well as dental consumables.Browse Complete 100 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 80+ Respective Tables and Figures atAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Noise Control System Market Estimated to Grow at a CAGR of 5.8 % during Forecast Period 2017- 2027 || Key Players - Saint Gobain, USG Corporation, GP Industries Ltd, Knauf Insulation Inc., SIAC PTE LTD, QUIETSTONE UK LTD

https://www.mrrse.com/sample/3446

https://www.mrrse.com/noise-control-system-market

https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3446

A new report titled Noise Control System Market Estimated to Grow at a CAGR of 5.8 % during Forecast Period 2017- 2027 has been included in the enormous research repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) that compiles various facets of the Noise Control System market at a global level portraying a holistic analysis of the marketplace along with intelligence on key participants. The report covers an unbiased analysis on various market aspects, emphasizing major trends giving direction to the market, key opportunities paving new growth avenues, key drivers pushing the markets growth and challenges and restraints hindering the market for Noise Control System across the globe.It is hardly surprising that buyers across the world prefer less noisy products over their noisier counterparts. Quieter equipment is more expensive because of the built-in soundproofing mechanisms but this hasnt deterred consumers in the slightest. Quieter equipment is more beneficial and economical over a period of time and a number of companies such as YAMAHA Corp., Warner Howard, Mitsubishi Electronic Corp., Whirlpool, and Sharp Electronics Corp. have focussed their attention on making ever-quieter products. Industrial equipment, household appliances, and the transportation industry stand to benefit the most from this, thereby boosting the noise control system market.To Get Sample Copy of Report, Click here @Healthcare industry to drive the noise control system marketThe hospital environment plays a critical role in a patients well-being and the road to recovery. High noise levels in the hospital or its vicinity can affect the health of the patients considerably. A quiet hospital environment allows a speedy recovery by lowering the patients blood pressure and stress levels, improving sleep quality, and reducing intake of pain medication, thereby culminating in high staff productivity and a healthy overall atmosphere. Noise control systems in hospitals enhance patient recovery and decrease stress and pressure levels.Noise cancelling technology being implemented in automobilesExcessive noise created while driving can affect the processing power of a driver leading to avoidable stress and distractions. Noise control systems installed in vehicles play a vital role in allowing both drivers and passengers to enjoy a peaceful, comfortable, and safe journey. The iconic American giant, Ford Motor Company has recently unveiled a car enabled with a noise control system. The Ford Mondeo Vignale has high-tech noise cancellation features that go a long way in reducing the impact of road, tyre, and wind noise, thereby improving the drivers experience. There is currently a race underway with several leading automakers such as Toyota and Honda seeking to improve their sound deadening technology, boosting the overall noise control system market.Browse Complete Report with TOC @The World Health Organization and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development are the two primary regulatory authorities that study and assess the impact of environmental noise. Several laws have been introduced across the world to curb the menace of sound pollution and reduce its associated health issues. For e.g., in Saudi Arabia, traffic noise is a major problem on account of the rapid growth of urban agglomerations coupled with a high population growth. Therefore, the best way to control this scourge is by the imposition of heavy fines that should reduce noise levels in the region.Power consumption a major restraint in the noise control system marketVentilation systems, industrial machinery and equipment motor fans create substantial noise pollution. DC fans use a new form of ECM that is ultra-efficient and ultra-quiet at the same time. DC fans are perfect in diverse applications such as telecom switches, medical appliances, and car entertainment systems, where noise is often a hindrance. Quieter equipment is typically more power-intensive but it has greater benefits in the long run, spurring its adoption.North America and APEJ account for more than half the noise control system market and they are expected to retain their commanding position throughout the course of the forecast period. APEJ is on track to grow by 46 basis points in 2027 over 2017 but this will still not be enough to dislodge North America from its pole position in the noise control system market. North America should record a robust CAGR of 5.8% enabling the regional market to grow to more than US$ 15 Bn in 2027 from about US$ 8.5 Bn by 2017 end. APEJ will record a CAGR of 6.0% during the forecast period to reach a market valuation in excess of US$ 12 Bn by the end of 2027.Enquire about this Report @About Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.com
Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Market 2018 | Major Key Players: Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, LG, EVE Energy, AWT - Analysis & Forecast 2025

Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Market - 2018

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3754845-global-helium-gas-market-insights-forecast-to-2025

https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3754846-global-electronic-cigarette-lithium-battery-market-insights-forecast-to-2025

https://wordpress.com/view/jitendra0077.wordpress.com

http://www.wiseguyreports.com

Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Market - 2018Wiseguyreports.Com Adds "Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Analysis Of Top Key Player Forecast To 2025" To Its Research DatabaseDescription :The global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery market is valued at million US$ in 2018 and will reach million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of during 2019-2025. The objectives of this study are to define, segment, and project the size of the Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery market based on company, product type, end user and key regions.This report studies the global market size of Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery in these regions.This research report categorizes the global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery market by top players/brands, region, type and end user. This report also studies the global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels and distributors.The following manufacturers are covered in this report, with sales, revenue, market share for each company:SamsungSonyPanasonicLGEVE EnergyAWTHIBATTMxjoGreat PowerHGBFestAspireRongchengRequest For sample Report Market size by ProductBuilt-in BatteriesReplaceable BatteriesMarket size by End UserCigalikeEgoModMarket size by RegionNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeMalaysiaPhilippinesThailandVietnamEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaCentral & South AmericaBrazilRest of Central & South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesTurkeyEgyptSouth AfricaIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery are as follows:History Year: 2014-2018Base Year: 2018Estimated Year: 2019Forecast Year 2019 to 2025If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Click Here For Complete Report Major Key Points in Table of Content:1 Study Coverage1.1 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Product1.2 Market Segments1.3 Key Manufacturers Covered1.4 Market by Type1.4.1 Global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Market Size Growth Rate by Product1.4.2 Built-in Batteries1.4.3 Replaceable Batteries1.5 Market by End User1.5.1 Global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Market Size Growth Rate by End User1.5.2 Cigalike1.5.3 Ego1.5.4 Mod1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Executive Summary2.1 Global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Market Size2.1.1 Global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Revenue 2014-20252.1.2 Global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales 2014-20252.2 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Growth Rate by Regions2.2.1 Global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales by Regions2.2.2 Global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Revenue by Regions3 Breakdown Data by Manufacturers3.1 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales by Manufacturers3.1.1 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales by Manufacturers3.1.2 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales Market Share by Manufacturers3.1.3 Global Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Revenue by Manufacturers3.2.1 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Revenue by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.2.2 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Revenue Share by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.3 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Price by Manufacturers3.4 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Manufacturing Base Distribution, Product Types3.4.1 Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Manufacturers Manufacturing Base Distribution, Headquarters3.4.2 Manufacturers Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Product Type3.4.3 Date of International Manufacturers Enter into Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Market3.5 Manufacturers Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans11 Company Profiles11.1 Samsung11.1.1 Samsung Company Details11.1.2 Company Business Overview11.1.3 Samsung Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.1.4 Samsung Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.1.5 Samsung Recent Development11.2 Sony11.2.1 Sony Company Details11.2.2 Company Business Overview11.2.3 Sony Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.2.4 Sony Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.2.5 Sony Recent Development11.3 Panasonic11.3.1 Panasonic Company Details11.3.2 Company Business Overview11.3.3 Panasonic Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.3.4 Panasonic Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.3.5 Panasonic Recent Development11.4 LG11.4.1 LG Company Details11.4.2 Company Business Overview11.4.3 LG Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.4.4 LG Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.4.5 LG Recent Development11.5 EVE Energy11.5.1 EVE Energy Company Details11.5.2 Company Business Overview11.5.3 EVE Energy Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.5.4 EVE Energy Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.5.5 EVE Energy Recent Development11.6 AWT11.6.1 AWT Company Details11.6.2 Company Business Overview11.6.3 AWT Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.6.4 AWT Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.6.5 AWT Recent Development11.7 HIBATT11.7.1 HIBATT Company Details11.7.2 Company Business Overview11.7.3 HIBATT Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.7.4 HIBATT Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.7.5 HIBATT Recent Development11.8 Mxjo11.8.1 Mxjo Company Details11.8.2 Company Business Overview11.8.3 Mxjo Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.8.4 Mxjo Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.8.5 Mxjo Recent Development11.9 Great Power11.9.1 Great Power Company Details11.9.2 Company Business Overview11.9.3 Great Power Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.9.4 Great Power Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.9.5 Great Power Recent Development11.10 HGB11.10.1 HGB Company Details11.10.2 Company Business Overview11.10.3 HGB Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Sales, Revenue and Gross Margin (2014-2019)11.10.4 HGB Electronic Cigarette Lithium Battery Products Offered11.10.5 HGB Recent Development11.11 Fest11.12 Aspire11.13 RongchengContinued For Similar Reports @About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.
Osteonecrosis Treatment Market Key Players Analysis Bone Therapeutics, Enzo Biochem Inc., and K-Stemcell Co Ltd. Hospitals, clinics, universities

Osteonecrosis Treatment

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1490

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1490

Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) to boost osteonecrosis treatment market. Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products is a class of innovative therapies that comprises of gene therapy, somatic cell therapy, and tissue-engineered products, which is expected to drive growth of osteonecrosis treatment market. Osteonecrosis usually affects young population and this significantly will contributes towards growth of osteonecrosis treatment market.For instance, according to the American College of Rheumatology, in 2017, around 10,000 to 20,000 people in the U.S. who suffered from osteonecrosis were between the ages of 20 and 50. Currently, the osteonecrosis non-surgical treatment (medication) is symptomatic treatment that targets the symptoms and try to cure the disease. Hence, emerging players in the field of bone disease treatment is gaining momentum by introducing gene regulation approach.Download PDF Brochure of Research Report:Key players like Enzo Biochem, Inc. and Bone Therapeutics are aiming gene regulation and cell-based product treatment, which is expected to augment growth of osteonecrosis treatment market. For instance, PREOB manufactured by Bone Therapeutics, a cell based medicinal product derived from autologous bone marrow stem cells has been approved in the U.S., however, it is currently in phase III in Europe.In spite of being a rare disease, osteonecrosis treatment market is expected to propel due to the prevalence of causative agent for osteonecrosis. Side effects of various medicines taken during cancer, HIV/AIDS, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis or blood disorders or medical treatment such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, high-dosage of steroids or organ transplants may increases the chances of having osteonecrosis.Furthermore, few interventions such as Stanford Universitys sponsored project aims at evaluation of osteonecrosis before and after decompression surgery with ferumoxytol-enhanced MRI, which improve detection and allow to track transplanted bone marrow cells. This intervention is in phase 4 clinical trial and is expected to complete the project over the forecast period, which in turn will propel growth of the osteonecrosis treatment market.For instance, according to NCBI 2015, it is estimated that around 20,000 to 30,000 new patients are diagnosed with osteonecrosis annually in the U.S. Asia Pacific is also expected to witness faster growth in the global osteonecrosis treatment market over the forecast period, owing to increase in development activities by various key players in this region. For instance, Bone Therapeutics and Asahi Kasei Corporation signed a license agreement in 2017 for the development and commercialization of PREOB in Japan.Major players involved in osteonecrosis treatment market include Bone Therapeutics, Enzo Biochem Inc., and K-Stemcell Co Ltd. Hospitals, clinics, universities, and institutes are other major participants in the osteonecrosis treatment market.Get Request Sample Copy of Research Report:Osteonecrosis Treatment Market TaxonomyBy Drug ClassNon-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS)Anti-coagulantOther drugsBy Distribution ChannelsHospitals pharmaciesRetail pharmaciesOnline pharmaciesAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.1001 4th Ave,, #3200, Seattle, WA 98154
Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Market By Top Key Players AstraZeneca PLC, Sinovac Biotech Ltd., Astellas Pharma Inc., Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., and Daiichi Sankyo

Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1500

www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1500

Manufactures in vaccine market are focused on research and developmental activities for developing new vaccine with better safety and immunity for the disease at low cost and to strengthen the product portfolio. For instance, in 2017, GlaxoSmithKline plc, received US FDA approval for phase III clinical trial of its product Shingrix, a recombinant sub unit vaccine, for shingles infection in adults. Moreover, manufacturers are targeting disease such as HIV or dengue to expand product portfolio.For instance, in 2018, Sanofi received US FDA approval for its dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia. Furthermore, merger and acquisition are adopted by key players to expand the company share. In 2014, Pfizer Inc., acquired Baxters portfolio, which includes of marketed vaccines for US$ 648 million. The portfolio includes NeisVac-C and FSME-IMMUN/TicoVac vaccines against meningitis by group C meningococcal meningitis and tick-borne encephalitis, respectively.Download PDF Brochure of Research Report:The global disease control and prevention vaccine market is projected to witness significant growth over the forecast period, owing to rapid advancements in technology for development of novel vaccines such as recombinant and cell-based technologies, resulting in increasing production of the vaccines. For instance, in 2018, collaboration between Austrian biotech Themis Bioscience and Oslo-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEIP). CEIP will fund US$ 37.5 million for vaccine development for five years. Moreover, governmental bodied supports the research and development program leading to the development of improved form of presently available vaccines.For instance, in 2015, a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease scientists engineered a protein to maintain the specific shape of the viral spike, stimulating the immune system to produce powerful anti-HIV antibodies. However, manufacturing cost as well as large gap between demand and supply leading to hike in pricing is expected to hinder the growth of disease control and prevention vaccination market.For instance, according to World Health Organization (WHO), incidence of polio are decreased by 99% as of 2018 as compare to 1988, attributed to global initiatives for polio eradication by public and private organizations. Furthermore, increasing government initiative to strengthen immunization program are expected to augment the growth of disease control and prevention vaccine market. For instance, in 2017, Minister of Health from 194 countries endorsed Global Vaccine Action Plan to prevent millions of death through more access to vaccine by 2020. Moreover, manufacturers are focusing on the developing new vaccine with better safety and immunity for the disease at low cost.According to Access to Medicine Foundation index, 2017, vaccine market is dominated by four major players, collectively referred as 'big four': GSK, Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer, and Sanofi. Big four contribute to 80% of the global vaccine revenue. Players vary significantly by portfolio and pipeline size. Other major players operating in market include AstraZeneca PLC, Sinovac Biotech Ltd., Astellas Pharma Inc., Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., and Daiichi Sankyo.Request Sample Copy Of This Report:Detailed Segmentation:Global Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Market, By Product Type:Live-attenuated VaccinesInactivated VaccinesRecombinant VaccinesToxoid VaccinesGlobal Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Market, By Type:Monovalent VaccineMultivalent VaccineGlobal Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Market, By Route of Administration:OralInjectableGlobal Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Market, By Age Group:PediatricAdultsGlobal Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Market, By Indication:Infectious DiseaseCancerOther IndicationAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.1001 4th Ave,, #3200, Seattle, WA 98154
Global Embroidery Machinery Market Exhibits Higher Growth Prospects during 2018-2028 // Jiangsu Dingnuo Machine & Electric Co., Ltd., HSW, Lovely Impex, Unix Stitchmachines Private Limited, Alpine Pvt. Ltd

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2015

https://www.factmr.com/report/2015/embroidery-machinery-market

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2015

https://www.factmr.com/

https://factmrblog.com/

http://theguardiantribune.com

There has been a significant growth in the embroidery machinery market in the past few years. Embroidery machinery has been gaining popularity owing to its widespread use in textile and fashion industry. Embroidery Machinery Market has been gaining significant traction because of embroidery machinerys industrial applications and customers in niche segments of the textile market.Request TOC of this Report-The demand for embroidery machinery has increased in the recent years because of the growing upper-middle-class population across the globe. The embroidery machinery market is being driven by urbanization and cultural changes in consumer lifestyle across the world. The shift in consumer preference towards fashion and the practice of buying fashionable outfits as a need for living has fuelled the market for embroidery machinery. The embroidery machinery market is predominantly driven by the growth in the fashion industry around the globe. The embroidery machinery market is flourishing because of the massive long-term changes in the fashion industry that serve as a backdrop for the variations in the embroidery machinery market. The fashion industry is turning a corner. Looking towards the near future, there is a new sense of optimism in an industry plagued by uncertainty, thereby uplifting the embroidery machinery market.Embroidery Machinery Is Driven Predominantly by the Fashion IndustryThe adoption of disruptive technologies like mobile internet, advanced robotics, virtual and augmented reality, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence is hastening, with the potential to disorder several industries  including fashion. The embroidery machinery is an integral part of the fashion as well as the textile industry. Although many fashion companies are experiencing a steep decline in brick-and-mortar traffic, the market for embroidery machinery is still booming at a fast pace. They are simultaneously searching for ways to re-evaluate store networks, diminish store operating costs and innovate the in-store experience to attract customers. The embroidery machinery is the base of the entire fashion industry, subsequently getting affected by the aforementioned differences. Support, training and warranty options are also huge factors in the long-term success of embroidery machinery market. Also, even though the embroidery machinery made for the embroidery or monogramming business have similar features the economic volatility and demanding consumers are likely to spur the embroidery market sales across the regions.Computerized Embroidery Machinery Segment Is Expected to Lead the MarketEmbroidery machinery market is segmented on the basis of machinery type, application and region. The embroidery machinery product types include free motion embroidery machinery and computerized embroidery machinery. Computerized embroidery machinery can be further classified into single head embroidery machinery, multi head embroidery machinery and schiffli embroidery machinery. By application, the embroidery machinery market is categorized into, fashion industry, textile industry and other industries. The penetration of embroidery machinery in fashion industry is very high as compared to other industries. Computerized embroidery machinery are also widely preferred over free motion embroidery machinery due to being more user-friendly than free motion embroidery machinery.To know more about the Embroidery Machinery Market Visit the link-Developing Economies Prevail In the Global MarketThe embroidery machinery market has been broadly divided into seven regions: North America, South America, Europe, CIS and Russia, Japan, APEJ and MEA. Despite the concentration of players in North America, embroidery machinery manufacturers are primarily concentrated in Asian countries, mostly China. APEJ is anticipated to be a preeminent market in the global embroidery machinery market after North America, Europe, and Japan owing to the tremendous demand for production of high value-added embroidery work authorized research and development centers, and the presence of prominent players in these regions. The market in APEJ is expected to have the fastest growth due to increasing textiles, as well as the fashion industry, shifting consumer preference, and developing standard of living. Moreover, increasing the demand for computerized embroidery machine which benefits in generating a digital pattern automatically along with shifting of manufacturing plants to China are the factors which are expected to surge the demand of embroidery machinery market throughout the forecast period. Apart from APEJ, North America and Europe are also anticipated to depict growth in the upcoming years in the embroidery machinery market. Some of the key market players in the embroidery machinery market are Weaver Computerized Embroidery Systems, Dongguan Baolun Computerized Embroidery Machine Co., Jiangsu Dingnuo Machine & Electric Co., Ltd., HSW, Lovely Impex, Unix Stitchmachines Private Limited, Alpine Pvt. Ltd. and other prominent players.Compilation of authentic and first-hand intelligence, insights offered in the report are based on quantitative and qualitative assessment by leading industry experts, and inputs from opinion leaders & industry participants around the value chain. Growth determinants, macroeconomic indicators, and parent market trends have been scrutinized and delivered, coupled with the market attractiveness for each market segment encompassed. Qualitative impact of growth influencers on the market segments across regions has also been mapped by the report.Request Brochure of this Report-About FactMRFactMR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market insights reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Blog:Read Industry News at -
Immune Anti-Inhibitor Market In-depth Study On Shire Plc, Baxter International, Inc, F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd., Novo Nordisk A/S

Immune Anti-Inhibitor

www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1519

www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1519

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2016, an estimated 1 in 5 people with haemophilia A and about 3 in 100 people with haemophilia B develop inhibitors (antibodies). Moreover, patients suffering from Von Willebrand Disease (VWD) type 3 are also at a risk of developing inhibitors. According to National Haemophilia Foundation (NHF), haemophilia A occurs in 1 in 5,000 people and is four times as common as haemophilia B, which supports growth of the immune anti-inhibitors market. Ongoing research and development of different therapies for haemophilia with inhibitors are expected to boost growth of the global immune anti-inhibitor market.Download PDF Brochure @Moreover, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is examining the etiology of the haemophilia with inhibitors, which could help in development of novel therapies to boost growth of the immune anti-inhibitor market. Pipeline for haemophilia with inhibitors is also promising as few of the manufacturers are working on novel therapies for the condition. One such organization Catalyst Biosciences has a Factor VIIa marzeptacog alfa (activated) in the clinical trials for haemophilia A or B with inhibitors. Moreover, Bioverativ Inc., a Sanofi S. A.'s subsidiary has FVIIIa mimetic bispecific antibody under studies for haemophilia A with inhibitors.Researchers are working on analyzing the risks associated with use of replacement factors, as in which replacement factors are more prone to facilitate development of antibodies. For instance, World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH) announced results from study published in journal Blood in 2014, which demonstrated higher incidence of inhibitor development after treatment with Kogenate FS/Bayer/Helixate NexGen replacement factor.The World Federation of Haemophilia has requested the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the European Medicine Agency (EMA) to examine the data. Such studies are expected to reduce the instances of haemophilia with antibodies. Furthermore, therapies such as Immune Tolerance Induction (ITI) which involve continuous treatment with replacement factors till they are no longer considered as foreign bodies by inhibitors are expected to restrain the growth of the market.Key players operating in global immune anti-inhibitor market include Shire Plc, Baxter International, Inc, F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd., Novo Nordisk A/S, and CSL Behring.Request a Sample Copy @Immune Anti-Inhibitor Market Taxonomy-The global immune anti-inhibitor market is segmented on the basis of product type, distribution channel, and geography.By Product Type-RecombinantPlasma-DerivedOthersBy Distribution Channel-Hospital PharmaciesOnline PharmaciesRetail PharmaciesBy Geography-North AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle EastAfricaAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.1001 4th Ave,, #3200, Seattle, WA 98154
Find out why Online Business Market is emerging globally by Top key players like Flipkart, InMobi, Snapdeal, Paytm, OlaCabs, Zomato, ShopClues, Jabong, Quikr, Housing.com, Amazon, and Facebook

Online Business Market

https://www.researchnreports.com/request_sample.php?id=246851

https://www.researchnreports.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=246851

https://www.researchnreports.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=246851

www.researchnreports.com

The Online Business Market report, which is a new addition defines and briefs the readers about its products, specifications and applications. The research lists highlights the key changing trends adopted by the firm to maintain their dominance. By using SWOT analysis, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are mentioned in the report of all the key companies. All important players in the global market are outlined with all the essential details such as business overview, sales, competitors, applications and specifications.Online business means business transactions that take place online with the help of the internet. It use of ICT to enable the external activities and relationships of the business with individuals, groups and other businesses. Today, most consumers search online for information before buying products or using services, so all businesses should have an online presence at every time. It is very effective. The features of Online Business is It is easy to set up, Much cheaper than traditional business, There are flexible business hours, Marketing strategies cost less, Anyone can buy anything from anywhere at anytime and many more. The Online Business Market is expected to reach CAGR +31% during forecast period 2019-2025.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Top Key players:Flipkart, InMobi, Snapdeal, Paytm, OlaCabs, Zomato, ShopClues, Jabong, Quikr, Housing.com, AmazonIn coming days Online Business is growing tremendously due to advancing digital technology, As consumer habits change over the next few years, which will have a considerable impact on how online marketing is being performed. On the basis of its regional outlook the market is alienated into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Significant firms are converging on dispersal their products and services across various regions. Moreover, procurements and unifications from some of the foremost organizations.Enquiry before Buying:The Porters five theory and SWOT analysis have also been utilized for analyzing the market data. The major plans accepted by the renowned players for a better penetration in the Global Online Business Market also form a key section of this study. The market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities have been presented together with their corresponding impact analysis.Table of Content:Online Business Market Research Report 2019-2025.Chapter 1: Industry OverviewChapter 2: Analysis of Revenue by ClassificationsChapter 3: Analysis of Revenue by Regions and ApplicationsChapter 6: Analysis of Online Business Market Revenue Market Status.Chapter 4: Analysis of Online Business Industry Key ManufacturersChapter 5: Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Online Business.Chapter 6: Development Trend of Online Business market 2019-2025.Continue for TOCKey questions answered in the report include: What will be the market size and the growth rate by the end of the forecast period? What are the key Online Business Market trends impacting the growth of the market? What are the potential growth opportunities and threats faced by the leading competitors in the market? What are the key outcomes of Porters five forces analysis and the SWOT analysis of the key players functioning in the global Online Business Market? This report gives all the information regarding industry Overview, analysis and revenue of this marketGet Upto 40% discount@If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About Research N Reports:Research N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat Global competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.Contact:(Research N Reports)10916, Gold Point Dr, Houston, TX, Pin - 77064,Sunny Denis(Sales Manager),+1-8886316977,sales@researchnreports.com,
Fractionated Shea Butter in Cosmetics and Personal Care Market Expected to Increase at a CAGR of 4.5% in Terms of Revenue Over 2018-2026

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=60060

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/fractionated-shea-butter-in-cosmetics-personal-care-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Transparency Market Research (TMR) offers elaborated insights into the global fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care market, in its upcoming market outlook titled, 'Fractionated Shea Butter in Cosmetics and Personal Care Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2018-2026'. The global fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care market is projected to register a compound annual growth rate of around 4.5% in terms of market value during the forecast period, due to various factors affecting the market, regarding which, Transparency Market Research offers detailed insights.Get PDF Sample For More Information @Asia Pacific to Witness Lucrative Growth in the Fractionated Shea Butter in Cosmetics and Personal Care MarketAs a developing economy with increased purchasing power for personal care and cosmetic products, and holding a high population of health-conscious consumers, Asia Pacific is expected to experience a substantial growth rate of fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care, owing to increasing utilization of color cosmetics and personal care utilities, and favorable government norms regarding trade. It is anticipated that Asia Pacific would witness a substantial compound annual growth rate of the fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care market, accounting for 5.1% during the during the forecast period.Read Report Overview @High Propensity for Saponifiable Fractionated Shea Butter in Cosmetics and Personal CareOn the basis of product type, the saponifiable fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care segment is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.5% during the forecast period. Switching consumer preference for natural and lesser processed cosmetic products over the years has increased the market penetration of saponifiable fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care. As a chemical-free ingredient, saponifiable fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care has significant demand among natural cosmetic manufacturers.Rising Disposable Income and Increasing Women Workforce Attributed to the Rise in Premium CosmeticsIncreasing number of working individuals across the globe is resulting in increasing per-capita spending capacity on cosmetic products, which, in turn, is leading to the increasing sales of quality premium products. The increasing trend of working women who are spending more on their personal appearance is a major factor fueling the growth of the global cosmetic market across the world. Thus, rise in disposable income and increasing women workforce are directly proportional to the total spending on premium cosmetic products, which serves as an opportunistic platform for the global shea butter market.Fractionated Shea Butter in Cosmetics and Personal Care Industry Witnessing Strong Growth in Color Cosmetic ProductsThe market participants of various color cosmetics are consistently expanding their product portfolios by merging and acquiring raw material suppliers and domestic players, and promoting their brands through continued marketing campaigns and also through celebrity endorsements. Fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care industries have been witnessing various introductions and innovation of newer products in color cosmetics by major players in the market.Fractionated Shea Butter in Cosmetics and Personal Care Market: Competition DashboardTMR has profiled some of the most prominent companies active in the global fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care market, such as Cargill, Incorporated, Sophim S.A., Clariant AG, BASF SE, Olvea Group, Archer Daniels Midland Company, The HallStar Company, AAK AB, Croda International Plc, Ghana Nuts Company Ltd, Agrobotanicals, LLC, AOS Products Private Limited, Bunge Limited, Ojoba Collective, The Savannah Fruits Company, and others, to provide a wider view of the fractionated shea butter in cosmetics and personal care market around the world.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRas experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Website:
Global Ddos Protection Market 2019-2025: Top Players Are- ARBOR NETWORKS, INC., AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES, INC., F5 NETWORKS, INC., IMPERVA, RADWARE LTD, CORERO NETWORK SECURITY, INC.

https://www.marketreportsworld.com/enquiry/request-sample/77777

https://www.marketreportsworld.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/77777

https://www.marketreportsworld.com/purchase/77777

Global Ddos Protection market report provides all essential information and deep analysis of major factors responsible for the development of the Global Ddos Protection Market Its actionable insights demonstrates a broad overview of trade knowledge and key Information like Key Manufacturers, Types, Application, Table of Content, SWOT examination etc. of the market. These data help the Buyer know about the competitors better. This Report talk about ongoing item advancements and gives a diagram on potential provincial pieces of the pie.Get Sample Copy of this Report@Top merchant analysis is one of the key component and is exceptionally helpful for each player to comprehend focused scene in the market.Major Brand companies present in Global Ddos Protection market report are:ARBOR NETWORKS, INC., AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES, INC., F5 NETWORKS, INC., IMPERVA, RADWARE LTD, CORERO NETWORK SECURITY, INC., NEUSTAR, INC., CLOUDFLARE, INC., NEXUSGUARD LTD, AND DOSARREST INTERNET SECURITY LTD.Ddos Protection Market Report Highlights:The DDoS protection market was valued at USD 1.04 billion in 2017, and is expected to reach USD 3.96 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 20.31% during the forecast period (2018 - 2023). The DDoS protection market has been segmented based on deployment, which includes on-premise, cloud, hybrid, and by component into solution, services, professional services, and design and implementation. By organization size, the market has been segmented into small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. Based on applications, the market has been segmented into network, application, database, and endpoint. The end-user industry is limited to healthcare, defense & government, manufacturing, energy and utilities, healthcare, education, and retail. The regional landscape of the report includes North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @Increasing Instances of Sophisticated DDoS AttacksDepending on the size and type of the organization, a DDoS attack can be from a small nuisance to something that can break a company's revenue stream and damage it permanently. Recent DDoS attacks include the record-breaking attack on code repository Github a few weeks ago. GitHub was taken offline for about 10 minutes by an attack that peaked at 1.35Tbps. According to DDoS protection outfit Arbor Networks, the US service provider survived an attack that reached an unprecedented 1.7Tbps. Such attacks are making the organization to be prepared by implementing DDOS protection, which is directly driving the market.Increasing Adoption of DDOS Protection ServicesWith DDoS attacks growing in complexity and size, a company needs a DDoS protection service with a robust network and variety of mitigation techniques to thwart any attacks directed at the site. The best protection services are provided by Incapsula Enterprise, F5 Silverline DDoS Protection, and Arbor Cloud. The companies growing the global network and scrubbing capacities equip it with the size needed to thwart large-scale volumetric attacks. Combined with many data centers located across the world, the service is ready for the most advanced DDoS attacks. Companies host a plethora of mitigation techniques that intercept application layer, protocol, and volumetric attacks, IP blocking, rate limiting, automatic bot discernment, and more. While the services do not offer unlimited mitigation, one can use this protection service on-demand or always on, customizing it to fit the needs of a company. While DDoS protection services employ similar mitigation techniques to thwart attacks, they differ in price, deployment methods, and network size.Ddos Protection market report is an entire guide for new competitor to comprehend the market patterns and plan the business likewise. It covers the market scene and its development prospects over the coming years, the Report talk about ongoing item advancements and gives a diagram on potential provincial pieces of the pie. The report delivers a complete panoramic view of the Ddos Protection Market. The primary approach discusses through an impression of the market. This section of the report includes numerous arrangements, definitions, the industry chain, and the various significant aspects of the global market.Price of the Report (Single User License): $4250Order a copy of Global Ddos Protection Market Report 2019 @Key Recent Developments February 2018: Brazil ranked fifth in the most targeted distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in 2017. Brazil has witnessed a total of 264,900, which is about 735 attacks per day and 30 events per hour last year, according to NETSCOUT Arbor. About 34.9% have originated in the country, followed by attacks originating in the US (30.3%), Canada (17.8%), and the UK (17.8%).Major Points from Table of Contents:1 Executive Summary2 Preface2.1 Abstract2.2 Stake Holders2.3 Research Scope2.4 Research Methodology2.4.1 Data Mining2.4.2 Data Analysis2.4.3 Data Validation2.4.4 Research Approach2.5 Research Sources2.5.1 Primary Research Sources2.5.2 Secondary Research Sources2.5.3 Assumptions3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats3.6 Product Analysis3.7 Technology Analysis3.8 End User Analysis3.9 Emerging Markets3.10 Futuristic Market Scenario4 Porters Five Force Analysis4.1 Bargaining power of suppliers4.2 Bargaining power of buyers4.3 Threat of substitutes4.4 Threat of new entrants4.5 Competitive rivalry5 Global Ddos Protection Market, By Product5.1 Introduction5.2 Hardware5.3 Software5.4 Services5.4.1 Training and Education5.4.2 Risk and Threat assessment5.4.3 Managed Security Services5.4.4 Design and Integration5.4.5 Other Services6 Global Ddos Protection Market, By Technology6.1 Introduction6.2 Cryptography6.3 Content Filtering6.4 Access Control Technology6.5 Authentication Technology7 Global Ddos Protection Market, By End User7.1 Introduction7.2 Retail7.3 Telecom & IT7.4 Manufacturing7.5 Aerospace, Defense, and Intelligence7.6 Information and communication technology (ICT)7.7 Healthcare7.8 Transportation7.9 Education7.10 Government7.11 Banking, Financial services and Insurance (BFSI)7.12 Other End Users8 Global Ddos Protection Market, By Geography8.1 Introduction8.2 North America8.3 Europe8.4 Asia Pacific8.5 South America8.6 Middle East & Africa9 Key Developments9.1 Agreements, Partnerships, Collaborations and Joint Ventures9.2 Acquisitions & Mergers9.3 New Product Launch9.4 Expansions9.5 Other Key StrategiesMarket Reports World is the credible source for gaining the market reports that will provide you with the lead your business needs.Market is changing rapidly with the ongoing expansion of the industry. Advancement in the technology has provided todays businesses with multifaceted advantages resulting in daily economic shifts. Thus, it is very important for a company to comprehend the patterns of the market movements in order to strategize better. An efficient strategy offers the companies with a head start in planning and an edge over the competitors.CONTACT USMr. Ajay MorePhone: US +1 424 253 0807/ UK +44 20 3239 8187Email: sales@marketreportsworld.comMarket is changing rapidly with the ongoing expansion of the industry. Advancement in the technology has provided todays businesses with multifaceted advantages resulting in daily economic shifts. Thus, it is very important for a company to comprehend the patterns of the market movements in order to strategize better. An efficient strategy offers the companies with a head start in planning and an edge over the competitors.CONTACT USMr. Ajay MorePhone: US +1 424 253 0807/ UK +44 20 3239 8187Email: sales@marketreportsworld.com
Microneedle Flu Vaccine Market to Grow at a High CAGR by 2026 And The Key Companies Are Micron Biomedical, Microdermics Inc., 3M Company, Inc., VaxInnate, and Vetter

Microneedle Flu Vaccine

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/2286

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/talk-to-analyst/2286

Vaccine is one of the most important biologic product used to prevent from infection of various diseases such as seasonal influenza, hepatitis, polio, diphtheria, Japanese encephalitis, measles, meningococcal disease, tetanus, haemophilus influenza type b, whooping cough among others. Vaccine consists of inactivated or killed form of microorganism or its protein. Vaccine generates anti-body response, which stimulates the immune system against specific diseases. Any future infections due to microorganism can be prevented by vaccinating the patients against that specific disease. Most of the vaccines are delivered through conventional needle and syringes, which has certain challenges such as needle phobia, discomfort in older and pediatric populations, requirement of special storage infrastructure, and need to visit the healthcare facility for its administration.Ask For Sample Copy @Microneedle flu vaccine resolves most of the challenges caused with conventional vaccines. It is of bandage-strip sized patch, which can be easily applied all over the skin. It consists of 100 solid water-soluble needles, which are capable to penetrate skin. Vaccine is encapsulated in the needles and is released as the needle tip dissolves within minutes, once the patch is applied over the skin surface. Skin produces local immune response against pathogens in the vaccine thereby, providing response similar to that of needle-based vaccine. The patch is peeled away and discarded like a used bandage strip.Microneedle Flu Vaccine Market  Regional Insights.On the basis of geography, the global microneedle flu vaccine market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. North America would be dominant region in the global microneedle flu vaccine market during the forecast period. This is owing to the need of large number of influenza vaccines each year and current ongoing research over microneedle flu vaccine in the region. In June 2017, National Institutes of Health-funded study led by a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University published a report in the journal Lancet, which shows that an influenza vaccine can produce robust immune responses and be administered safely with an experimental patch of dissolving microneedle. Participants in the study preferred microneedle flu vaccine over other types of vaccines.There is increased amount of research funding to develop commercially available micro needle flu vaccine, which would pace up the launch of these products. In 2015, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Micron Biomedical were awarded US$ 2.5 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the development of dissolvable microneedle patches for polio immunization. This would also widen up the disease profile for which microneedle vaccine could be developed.Competitive AnalysisKey players in the global microneedle flu vaccine market are Micron Biomedical, Microdermics Inc., 3M Company, Inc., VaxInnate, and Vetter among others.Talk To Our Analyst @Microneedle Flu Vaccine Market - Market DynamicsMicroneedle flu vaccine is still in nascent stage of development however, after its launch it would provide various advantages over conventional needle-based vaccines, which will drive growth of the market.Microneedle vaccine can be delivered easily at any location without special storage infrastructure, therefore it can be used even at distant location. This vaccine can be self-administered by anybody thereby, eliminating the need of clinic visit and assistance of physician. This serves as an important advantage, especially in the emerging markets, where there is severe shortage of healthcare workers. According to World Health Organization, 2017 factsheet, Africa had an average of 1.30 health workers per 1000 population in 2015, which is way below the 4.5 per 1000 required for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Globally, health workforce shortage is estimated to be 14.5 million, out of which Africa has the most severe health workforce (HWF) shortage, estimated to reach 6.1 million by 2030. Microneedle vaccine can address these issues if utilized on global scale. Moreover, it would avoid deaths caused from unavailability of vaccine by improving access to vaccination. For instance, according to United Nations Development Programme, measles vaccines have averted nearly 15.6 million deaths since 2000, globally.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Vitiligo Drugs Market Register a Hugh Growth In Healthcare Industry by 2026 | AXIM Biotechnologies, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, Boston Pharmaceutical

Vitiligo Drugs Market

www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/2447

www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/2447

Vitiligo is a skin condition characterized by white patches on the skin. It is also known as skin depigmentation. In skin depigmentation, the skin's pigment-making cells known as melanocytes are lost or destroyed, which result into patches. The patches of affected skin appear white and usually have sharp margins. In most of the cases, the patches emerge on the skin, which is more exposed to sunlight. Although the disease can occur at any age, it is more observed in the mid-twenties. Although the disease does not affect the physical health of a person, it creates concerns about physical appearance and ethical identity of the person. The exact cause of Vitiligo is not known.Request a Sample Copy Of This Business Report:Vitiligo drugs market is expected to witness significant growth, owing to development of new therapies for vitiligo. For instance, in Feb 2018, researchers at Yale University School of Medicine discovered a new therapy for the treatment of vitiligo. The therapy can aid in returning the color of depigmented skin due to vitiligo. The new combination therapy includes oral medication of Xeljanz (tofacitinib) and ultraviolet-B light therapy. Xeljanz is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and ultraviolet B (UVB) light therapy is an effective treatment for psoriasis. UVB penetrates the skin and slows the growth of affected skin cells.Vitiligo Drugs Market - TaxonomyBy Drugs Class:Calcineurin Inhibitors, Corticosteroids, Immunomodulator, PsoralensBy Route of Administration: Oral, TopicalMoreover, increasing pipeline studies to develop new drugs for the treatment of vitiligo is expected to drive vitiligo drugs market growth. For instance, in December 2016, Nicolaus Copernicus University initiated the phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trial for Atorvastatin calcium salt and Simvastatin-acid sodium salt. The study has been initiated for the evaluation of vitiligous lesions repigmentation after the administration of Atorvastatin calcium salt and Simvastatin-acid sodium salt in patients with active vitiligo. The study is estimated to complete by April 2019.Key players operating in the global vitiligo drugs market include, AXIM Biotechnologies, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, Boston Pharmaceutical, Castle Creek Pharma, Dermavant Sciences, JN Biosciences, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Incyte Corporation, Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, and Galderma laboratories (Nestle Skin Health).Download the PDF brochure:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Mr.ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email:sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Crypto Asset Management Market Forecasts to 2027 - by Top Players Analysis Crypto Finance, Digital Asset Custody, Exodus Movement, Gemini Trust, Iconomi, itBit Trust, Ledger SAS, Metaco

ReportsWeb

https://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00012523715/sample

https://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW00012523715/buying

Number of investors need to protect and secure their cryptocurrencies, however, ample of risks are involved in this market. To combat these risks, crypto asset management is used. It helps in securing financial transactions, verify transfer of assets or control creation of additional units. Instead of managing numerous wallets and accounts, crypto asset management simplify the process by consolidating the diverse holdings and offering enhanced portfolio management tools.Get Sample copy atMARKET PLAYERSThe reports cover key developments in the crypto asset management market as organic and inorganic growth strategies. Various companies are focusing on organic growth strategies such as product launches, product approvals and others such as patents and events. Inorganic growth strategies activities witnessed in the market were acquisitions, and partnership & collaborations. These activities have paved way for the expansion of business and customer base of market players. The market payers from crypto asset management market are anticipated to lucrative growth opportunities in the future with the rising demand for crypto asset management in the global market. Below mentioned is the list of few companies engaged in the crypto asset management market.The report also includes the profiles of key companies along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies in the crypto asset management market. In addition, the report focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of the last 3 years, the key development in the past five years.- Crypto Finance AG- Digital Asset Custody Company- Exodus Movement, Inc.- Gemini Trust Company, LLC- Iconomi Ltd.- itBit Trust Company, LLC.- Ledger SAS- Metaco SA- Vo1t- XapoMARKET DYNAMICSCrypto asset management tools are developing at a rapid rate to support retail investors, which is responsible for driving the crypto asset management market. Moreover, due to increasing penetration of internet, the number of online transactions is increasing which is directly linked with the adoption of crypto asset management among a variety of verticals, which is anticipated to provide significant opportunities to the players operating in the crypto asset management market.MARKET SCOPEThe "Global Crypto Asset Management Market Analysis to 2027" is a specialized and in-depth study of the technology, media and telecommunication industry with a special focus on the global market trend analysis. The report aims to provide an overview of the crypto asset management market with detailed market segmentation by deployment type, end-user, and geography. The global crypto asset management market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading crypto asset management market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.MARKET SEGMENTATIONThe global crypto asset management market is segmented on the basis of deployment type and end-user. Based on deployment type, the market is segmented into on-premises and cloud. On the basis of end-user, the crypto asset management market is segmented into retail, BFSI, and others.Inquire for Report atREGIONAL FRAMEWORKThe report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides an overview and forecast of the global crypto asset management market based on various segments. It also provides market size and forecast estimates from the year 2017 to 2027 with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South & Central America. The crypto asset management market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers the analysis and forecast of 18 countries globally along with the current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.The report analyzes factors affecting the crypto asset management market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics affecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend. The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions namely; North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, and South & Central America after evaluating political, economic, social and technological factors affecting the crypto asset management in these regions.Table of Content:1. INTRODUCTION2. KEY TAKEWAYS3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY4. CRYPTO ASSET MANAGEMENT MARKET LANDSCAPE5. CRYPTO ASSET MANAGEMENT MARKET - KEY MARKET DYNAMICS6. CRYPTO ASSET MANAGEMENT MARKET - GLOBAL MARKET ANALYSIS7. CRYPTO ASSET MANAGEMENT MARKET - REVENUE AND FORECASTS TO 2027 - DEPLOYMENT TYPE8. CRYPTO ASSET MANAGEMENT MARKET - REVENUE AND FORECASTS TO 2027 - END-USER9. CRYPTO ASSET MANAGEMENT MARKET REVENUE AND FORECASTS TO 2027 - GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS10. INDUSTRY LANDSCAPE11. CRYPTO ASSET MANAGEMENT MARKET, KEY COMPANY PROFILES12. APPENDIXContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.Pune, India
Varactor Diode Market - Notable Trends & Potential Players 2025 | Skyworks Solutions Inc., ON Semiconductor Corp.

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=3152

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=3152

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=3152

Global Varactor Diode Market: SnapshotVaractor diodes are utilized extensively in wireless infrastructure. They play a significant role in the proper operation of 5G technology, as these diodes are highly efficient in enhancing linearity function for high speed applications. A considerable rise in the sales of electronic goods, such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets can be observed across the world in the near future, thanks to the advent of 5G technology. At present, 5G technologies are under research and development phase, and hence, varactor diodes are mostly employed in VCOs and utilized in various applications, such as consumer devices, radar, and seaports.Order Brochure for more detailed information @Going forward, the augmenting number of mobile services, such as e-commerce, social media, and financial services, is expected to drive the global market for varactor diodes, considerably, in the years to come. In addition to this, the rising application of mobile broadband technology and the increasing demand for consumer electronics are projected to support the growth of this market over the next few years. Emerging consumer electronics technologies are also expected to influence this market positively over the forthcoming years.Manufacturers of varactor diodes across the world are emphasizing on expanding their product portfolio to gain maximum traction in the global market. With a massive mobile subscriber base, countries, such as China and India have surfaced as the key contributors to the global market for varactor diodes. These economies are registering a constant development in 5G mobile technologies and, since these diodes are utilized extensively in mobile devices, especially in the smartphones, their demand is increasing significantly in the Asia Pacific region.Request TOC for Facts & Tables @Global Varactor Diode Market: OverviewThe global varactor diode market is envisioned to increase growth riding on a widening range of mobile services including financial, ecommerce, and social media. Since varactor diode finds application in mobile devices, the growth of the marker could be directly influenced by the development of 5G mobile technologies. Currently, companies are focusing on research and development and product enhancement to bolster their growth status. Increasing usage of radars could augur well for the market since they contain voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) which incorporate varactor diodes.Global Varactor Diode Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe world varactor diode market is foreseen to gain impetus on the back of the swelling demand for consumer electronics witnessed on the global platform. While this could a powerful factor augmenting the demand for varactor diode, increasing adoption within the arena of radio frequency design is anticipated to set the tone for a valuable growth in the market. Furthermore, rising count of mobile phone subscriptions could tellingly increase the demand in the market. Varactor diode is considered to be a good choice for manufacturers because of their small size, light weight, and less noise generated in comparison with other diodes.Global Varactor Diode Market: Market PotentialIn March 2018, Diodes Incorporated announced AL5816, AL5815, AL5817, and AL5814 linear LED controllers. Available in thermally-enhanced MSOP-8EP and SOT-25 packages, the AL58xx series offers a low bill of materials (BOM)-cost solution for a range of industrial and commercial applications such as general smart-lighting installations and architectural details. It could also be applied in appliance interior lighting, instrumentation illumination, and signage. With an over 80% efficiency, these devices are expected to deliver adjustable and dimmable drive current for LED strings.Get Customize Report on Future Aspect of Market @Global Varactor Diode Market: Regional OutlookOn the geographical front, the international varactor diode market is foretold to witness the rise of Asia Pacific as a leading region. This could be on account of its expected higher share with respect to revenue supported by the escalating demand for varactor diode in the manufacture of tablets, smartphones, and other electronic gadgets. The market situation could be particularly true in successful emerging economies of the region. North America is envisaged to take the second position in terms of share owing to rising adoption in the defense and military industry. Other regions, viz. the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, and Europe could tread on the heels of North America.Global Varactor Diode Market: Companies MentionedProminent industry names such as Skyworks Solutions Inc., ON Semiconductor Corp., NXP Semiconductors N.V., Infineon Technologies AG, and Diodes Inc. are expected to make their presence known in the international varactor diode market. The report offers deep insight into the competitive scenarios of the market and how the vendor landscape could shape in the near future.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050
Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles (ROVs) Market Prime Trends & Innovations Up to 2028 | Market Key Players are Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc., New Holland, ODES UTVS, KYMCO USA, etc.

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=786

https://www.factmr.com/report/786/recreational-off-highway-vehicles-market

https://www.factmr.com/checkout/786/S

https://www.factmr.com/

https://factmrblog.com/

FactMR has published a new research report titled Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles (ROVs) Market Prime Trends & Innovations Up to 2028 to its online database that tries to unveil the various scenarios prevailing in the recreational off-highway vehicles (rovs) market. This assessment delivers a smart compilation of primary and secondary data which provides a clear insight about the future plans expected to impact the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles (ROVs) Market. This study comprises of prominent data which makes it a beneficial source for investors, analysts and industry experts to acquire necessary knowledge associated to the fundamental market trends, opportunities and growth drivers during 2018-2028.Request for Free 100 Page Sample Report Here -The Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA) projects a continuous rise in sales of the recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs) in the forthcoming years, with shifting trends toward power sports, and high demand for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Consumer spending on leisure and sports has surged on account of their inclining preference toward leading a healthy lifestyle, complemented by growing GHDI across developed and developing nations. Touring and recreational activities have been influenced by the upward trend of leisure & sports expenditure, thereby impacting demand for ROVs as a consequence.Primarily a discretionary purchase, recreational off-highway vehicle sales flow and ebb with fluctuations in disposable income. As disposable income increases, demand for ROVs at retail level rises, subsequently stimulating demand at manufacturing level. Prospects of recreational off-highway vehicles market continue to be positive, as demand for high-performance vehicles, subjected to rough landscapes and environments, direct manufacturers focus toward sustainable technologies & designs, according to a recent FactMR report.Current trend in the ROVs Market is widening the application scope and curtailing costs for facilitating & driving technological penetration. In off-highway machinery industry, progression in the development of electrical hybrid vehicles and systems continues to pick pace, with the rise in incorporation of electronics and sensors. The recreational off-highway vehicles industry continues to explore different electrification levels, including full electrification or mild hybridization, given the consensus that there are a couple of effective strategies apropos of alternative energy for powering these vehicles.View Full Market Research Report Here -The industry is demonstrating a paradigm shift toward all-electric ROVs, driven by the convergence of a plethora of factors that include reduction of fossil fuel dependency, recapturing energy, and ability of electric power in making vehicles more productive by leveraging efficient hybrid systems. Integration of technologies such as battery advancements, artificial intelligence (AI), combined electro-hydraulic actuators, and autonomy, will further turbocharge the abilities of electrification in ROVs.Led by the U.S., North America will continues to spearhead the recreational off-highway vehicles market, with an estimated value share of over 50% by 2028-end. Legislations are currently being set up in North America, proposing alternations to current laws related to ROVs. These changes will potentially result in a battle between the environmentalists who focus on protecting valuable natural resources and off-road enthusiasts who seek access public lands. Changes in ROVs legislations will further impact growth of the market in North America.Furthering its commitment toward improving safety of ROVs and reducing the number of serious injuries and mortalities across the nation, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has rolled out an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) for addressing safety hazards pertaining to ROVs. Inadequate lateral stability & occupant protection during a rollover crash, coupled with undesirable steering attributes of ROVs are engulfed in primary evaluations of CPSC. The ANPR of CPSC is expected to significantly influence future development and manufacturing of recreational off-highway vehicles in North America.Buy Market Research Report Here -About FactMrFactMR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400, Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Blog:
Outdoor Wi-Fi Market 2019 Top Players: Aerohive Networks, Airspan Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Alvarion Technologies, Avaya, Cisco Systems, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Company, Huawei

https://marketprognosis.com/sample-request/16139

https://marketprognosis.com/discount-request/16139

https://marketprognosis.com/enquiry/16139

The global outdoor Wi-Fi market was valued at USD 28.51 billion in 2017, and it is projected to reach a value of USD 63.25 billion by the end of 2023, at a CAGR of 14.20% over the forecast period, 2018-2023. Several wireless applications have been envisaged with wireless internet technology, which can be used for the provision of mobile and wireless applications and services. Further, the popularity of these services is growing rapidly, along with technologies such as Internet of Things and social networking, therefore, boosting the market. The public and private Wi-Fi ecosystems have clearly expanded over the last few years. The major players, such as Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent and others are investing in Next Generation Hotspot initiatives and their services. Moreover, the increasing investments in smart city projects, globally, are expected to boost the market during the forecast period.Detailed Sample Copy of Updated Analysis @Increased in Demand for Internet of Things and Penetration of Internet-Enabled Smart GadgetsThe deployment of smart infrastructure systems, based on IoT techniques, helps companies establish and maintain work efficiency and continuous workflow, which is further boosting the market growth. Global manufacturers are expected to invest about USD 70 billion in 2017, as such developments further necessitate the need for outdoor Wi-Fi systems. Fashion and luxury smart watches are expected grow, which are expected to constitute about 25% of smart wearables are among the most commonly used platform through which outdoor Wi-Fi networks are set to be accessed by consumers. Upcoming smart wearables, such as the smart jackets by Google and Levi, are expected to follow suit. Adidas and Under Armor have also collaborated for the launch of smart shoes, many other revolutionary products are being deployed, which depend on outdoor Wi-Fi services for functionality, which fuels the growth of outdoor Wi-Fi systems.Key Developments in the Market January 2018: Netgear has released new Orbi satellite, which is primarily for outdoor Wi-Fi systems the total coverage accounts for about 2,500 sq. meters which supports mesh networks. The new configuration allows for use over an additional distance, while providing a seamless high-performance Wi-Fi coverage, which certainly set the standards for new Wi-Fi systems in the market. January 2018: 130 new Xfinity outdoor hotspots have been added in Bloomington by Comcast. This helps in the expansion of outdoor Wi-Fi services provided in Indiana. With the total number of hotspots reaching beyond 1,000 across the state, consumers have been observed to visit public locations with access to internet. The positive outlook of installing systems is set to kick start a similar trend across the country.Major Players:AEROHIVE NETWORKS, AIRSPAN NETWORKS, ALCATEL-LUCENT, ALVARION TECHNOLOGIES, AVAYA INC., CISCO SYSTEMS, FORTINET, HEWLETT PACKARD COMPANY, HUAWEI, JUNIPER NETWORKS, MOTOROLA, NETGEAR, NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS, UBIQUITI NETWORKS INC., AND ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIESRequest Discount on this report @Education Sector is Expected to Revolutionize Teaching Methods to Drive Growth for this MarketThe trend of internet penetration in the education institutions has proliferated, globally. However, in developing countries many schools and colleges are still using wired technology, as opposed to the emerging Wi-Fi infrastructure. 41% of the total college going students are estimated to own 3 or more connected devices, which further emphasizes the need for outdoor Wi-Fi in educational institutions. It has also been identified that about 33% of the schools provide 500 mbps of internet and have estimated an increase in the bandwidth, owing to the growth of mobile devices. Integrating technology and devices to provide a better learning experience is a trend, which is expected to transform the learning culture across the developing economies. Leveraging the ease of access to internet to facilitate e-learning in the remote and rural areas is further encouraging government initiatives to install outdoor Wi-Fi systems to enhance the existing and conventional architecture in schools and other educational institutions.North America is Expected to Have One of the Highest Market Share for AI Medicine.The outdoor Wi-Fi in this region, under the transportation sector, is gaining recognition with a number of service hubs looking to monetize their Wi-Fi networks by using vehicle as an outdoor Wi-Fi relay point to deliver location-based services. North America has a large number of educational institutions looking to make their data available more easily and accessible, through a single Wi-Fi network. About 48 states and the District of Columbia have been supporting online learning opportunities owing to, which the outdoor Wi-Fi market is expected to increase.Enquiry Before Buying@About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMarkPvt Ltd,Thane - 421501India.Contact No:+1 973 241 5193Email: sales@marketprognosis.com
Packaging Tubes Market 2018 | Hoffmann Neopac AG, Tubopress Italia SpA, Lajovic Tuba D.O.O and Pirlo GmbH & Co. KG

Market Research Hub

https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1877940

https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/packaging-tubes-market-proliferating-demand-for-laminated-tubes-to-soon-outstrip-plastic-and-aluminum-tubes-global-industry-analysis-2013-2017-and-opportunity-assessment-2018-2028-report.html

Market Research Hub (MRH) has carefully analyzed this research study titled Packaging Tubes Market: Proliferating Demand for Laminated Tubes to Soon Outstrip Plastic & Aluminum Tubes: Global Industry Analysis 2013 - 2017 and Opportunity Assessment 2018 - 2028, which is available on its online portal. The aim of this assessment is to highlight the various projections expected to occur in the global market for Packaging Tubes Market. Readers can gain knowledge related to prime market facets such as market size, Y-o-Y growth and market dynamics, which are projected to change during the stated forecast period. According to research findings, the global Packaging Tubes Market is likely to advance at a steady CAGR during the period between 2018 and 2028.Get Sample Copy of This Report @This report provides forecast and analysis of the Packaging Tubes Market at the global level. It provides historical data of 2013-2017 along with forecast from 2018 to 2028 in terms of revenue (US$ Mn) and volume (Mn Units). The report also includes macroeconomic indicators along with an outlook on consumption pattern globally. In addition, it includes global drivers, restraints and recent trends of the medical device market. The report also comprises the study of current issues with end uses and opportunities for tubes manufacturers and also includes detailed value chain analysis. In order to provide users of this report with comprehensive view of the market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis and company players with their SWOT analysis and strategy overview. The dashboard provides detailed comparison of tubes manufacturers on parameters such as operating margin, total revenue, product portfolio, and what we call innovation scale. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis by product type, capacity, closure type, end-use, and region.The report includes consumption of tubes and the revenue generated from sales of tubes globally and across all important regional economies.The global Packaging Tubes Market is segmented on the basis of product type into plastic tubes, laminated tubes and aluminum tubes.On the basis of capacity, the global Packaging Tubes Market is segmented into up to 50ml, 50 to 100ml, 100 to 150ml and above 150ml.On the basis of closure type, the global Packaging Tubes Market is segmented into stand-up, nozzle, fez, flip-top and others (ball applicators, pumps, etc.)On the basis of end-user, the global Packaging Tubes Market is segmented into cosmetics, oral care, commercial, pharmaceuticals, home and personal care, food and others.Market numbers have been assessed based on consumption and weighted average pricing of tubes by product type and then aggregate revenue is derived through country pricing trends. Market size and forecast for each segment have been provided in the context of regional markets. The Packaging Tubes Market has been analyzed based on expected demand and current market scenario. Pricing is considered for the calculation of revenue that are average country prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous regional tubes manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors. All key end users have been considered on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents. Country demand patterns have been considered while estimating the market for various end uses of tubes in different regions across the globe. Top-down approach has been used to estimate the Packaging Tubes Market by country. Market numbers for all the regions by product type, by capacity, by closure type and by end-use have been derived using the bottom-up approach, which is cumulative of each regions demand. Company-level market share has been derived on the basis of revenues reported by key manufacturers. The market has been forecast based on constant currency rates.A number of primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study. Secondary sources include Factiva, World Bank, Packaging Digest, and Hoovers, and company annual reports and publications.Detailed profiles of companies are also included in the report to evaluate their strategies, key product offerings and recent developments. The key players of the global Packaging Tubes Market are Albea S.A., Essel Propack Ltd., CCL Industries Inc., Berry Global Group Inc., Ctl-Th Packaging SI, Linhardt GmbH & Co. KG, Montebello Packaging, Huhtamaki Oyj, Interapac International Corporation, Plastube Inc., Pack-Tubes, Perfektup Ambalaj San. Ve Tic. A.S., Burhani Group of Industries, Tubapack A.S., Norway Pack A.S., Alltub Group, Hoffmann Neopac AG, Tubopress Italia SpA, Lajovic Tuba D.O.O and Pirlo GmbH & Co. KG.BROWSE Full Report NOW @Table Of Content1. Executive Summary1.1. Market Overview1.2. Market Analysis1.3. FMI Analysis and Recommendations1.4. Wheel of Fortune2. Market Introduction2.1. Market Definition2.2. Market Taxonomy3. Market Background3.1. Porters Analysis3.2. Macro-Economic Factors3.3. Forecast Factors Relevance & Impact3.4. Value Chain3.5. Market Dynamics3.5.1. Drivers3.5.2. Restraints3.5.3. Opportunities3.5.4. TrendsMore Information@@@About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like packaging market research and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com
Concrete Surface Retarders Market Size, Trends, Key Development Strategies, Market Share by Sika AG, BASF SA, Mapei AS, CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V) Industry to Reach US$ 95.72 million by 2026, Growing at +4% CAGR during 2019-2025

Concrete Surface Retarders Market 2019

https://decisionmarketreports.com/request-sample?productID=1013784

https://decisionmarketreports.com/market-reports/1013784/global-concrete-surface-retarders-market

https://decisionmarketreports.com/request-methodolgy?productID=1013784

https://decisionmarketreports.com/request-customization?productID=1013784

https://decisionmarketreports.com

Concrete Surface Retarders Market 2019-2025: According to Research study, the Global Concrete Surface Retarders Market was valued at US$ 70.08 million in 2018 and is anticipated to surpass US$ 95.72 million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 4% from 2019 to 2026.Things Covered in Sample Report> Deep Dive Strategy & Competition> Deep Dive Data & Forecasting> Executive Summary & Core FindingsGet a Quick Sample PDF Brochure of this report atGlobal Concrete Surface Retarders Market Competitive LandscapeThe Global Concrete Surface Retarders Market study report will provide a valuable insight with an emphasis on global market including some of the major players as given below:  Sika AG  BASF SA  Mapei AS  CEMEX S.A.B. de C.VOur market analysis also entails a section solely dedicated for such major players wherein our analysts provide an insight to the financial statements of all the major players, along with its product benchmarking and SWOT analysis. The competitive landscape section also includes key development strategies, market share and market ranking analysis of the above mentioned players globally.Browse Complete Report with Table of Content atWhat is Concrete Surface Retarders?Concrete Surface Retarders are the product that are primarily applied to fresh concrete in order to delay the setting process chemically, without affecting setting rate of the underlying cement. These products are easy to apply and effectively works in a very limited time. In the report, the market outlook section mainly encompasses fundamental dynamics of the market which include drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges faced by the industry. Drivers and Restraints are intrinsic factors whereas opportunities and challenges are extrinsic factors of the market.Factors such as growing demand for green buildings, growing infrastructure investment & industrialization and rising urban population have been driving the global concrete surface retarders market. On the other hand, risky construction activities might hamper the overall growth at a global level.Research study narrows down the available data using primary sources to validate the data and use it in compiling a full-fledged market research study. The report contains a quantitative and qualitative estimation of market elements which interests the client. The Global Concrete Surface Retarders Market is mainly bifurcated into sub-segments which can provide a classified data regarding latest trends in the market. This can be of a great use in gaining knowledge about the cutting-edge technologies in the market.To know more about Methodology of this report @Table of Content1 INTRODUCTION OF GLOBAL CONCRETE SURFACE RETARDERS MARKET1.1 Overview of the Market1.2 Scope of Report1.3 Assumptions2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY OF VERIFIED MARKET RESEARCH3.1 Data Mining3.2 Validation3.3 Primary Interviews3.4 List of Data Sources4 GLOBAL CONCRETE SURFACE RETARDERS MARKET OUTLOOK4.1 Overview4.2 Market Dynamics4.2.1 Drivers4.2.2 Restraints4.2.3 Opportunities4.3 Porters Five Force Model4.4 Value Chain Analysis4.5 Regulatory Framework5 GLOBAL CONCRETE SURFACE RETARDERS MARKET, BY RAW MATERIAL5.1 Overview5.2 Organic Agents5.3 Inorganic Agents6 GLOBAL CONCRETE SURFACE RETARDERS MARKET, BY TYPE6.1 Overview6.2 Water-based6.3 Solvent-based7 GLOBAL CONCRETE SURFACE RETARDERS MARKET, BY APPLICATION7.1 Overview7.2 Residential7.3 Commercial8 GLOBAL CONCRETE SURFACE RETARDERS MARKET, BY GEOGRAPHY8.1 Overview8.2 North America8.2.1 U.S.8.2.2 Canada8.2.3 Mexico8.3 Europe8.3.1 Germany8.3.2 U.K.8.3.3 France8.3.4 Rest of Europe8.4 Asia Pacific8.4.1 China8.4.2 Japan8.4.3 India8.4.4 Rest of Asia Pacific8.5 Latin America8.5.1 Brazil8.5.2 Argentina8.6 Rest of the World9 GLOBAL CONCRETE SURFACE RETARDERS MARKET COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE9.1 Overview9.2 Company Market Share9.3 Vendor Landscape9.4 Key Development Strategies10 COMPANY PROFILES10.1 Sika10.1.1 Overview10.1.2 Financial Performance10.1.3 Product Outlook10.1.4 Key Developments10.2 BASF10.2.1 Overview10.2.2 Financial Performance10.2.3 Product Outlook10.2.4 Key Developments10.3 Cemex10.3.1 Overview10.3.2 Financial Performance10.3.3 Product Outlook10.3.4 Key Developments10.4 GCP Applied Technologies10.4.1 Overview10.4.2 Financial Performance10.4.3 Product Outlook10.4.4 Key Developments10.5 Fosroc10.5.1 Overview10.5.2 Financial Performance10.5.3 Product Outlook10.5.4 Key Developments10.6 Mapei10.6.1 Overview10.6.2 Financial Performance10.6.3 Product Outlook10.6.4 Key Developments10.7 The Euclid Chemical Company10.7.1 Overview10.7.2 Financial Performance10.7.3 Product Outlook10.7.4 Key Developments10.8 W. R. Meadows10.8.1 Overview10.8.2 Financial Performance10.8.3 Product Outlook10.8.4 Key Developments10.9 Parchem Construction Supplies10.9.1 Overview10.9.2 Financial Performance10.9.3 Product Outlook10.9.4 Key Developments10.10 Russtech10.10.1 Overview10.10.2 Financial Performance10.10.3 Product Outlook10.10.4 Key Developments10.11 TK Products10.11.1 Overview10.11.2 Financial Performance10.11.3 Product Outlook10.11.4 Key Developments11 Appendix11.1 Related ReportsTo get Customization of this report @About UsDecision Market Reports is a one-stop solution, covers market research studies of all the industries, companies and regions. DMR aims at providing quality research, and insights about every market to helps our clients in taking right decisions. Our repository consists of most trending industry reports, niche areas, and leading company profiles. A comprehensive collection of reports is updated daily to offer hassle-free access to our latest updated report databases.Contact UsGasper James304, S Jones Blvd,Las Vegas,NV 89107, USAUS Toll Free +1-866-605-1052Email: sales@decisionmarketreports.comWeb:
Talent Acquisition & Staffing Technology and Services Market to 2028 |CareerBuilder, LLC, BambooHR, LLC, LinkedIn Corporation, The Adecco Group, Saba Software, Inc.

Market Research Hub

https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1877938

https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/talent-acquisition-and-staffing-technology-and-services-market-technological-advancements-to-underpin-staffing-solutions-in-the-coming-years-global-industry-analysis-2013-2017-and-opportunity-assessment-2018-2028-report.html

Market Research Hub (MRH) has carefully analyzed this research study titled Talent Acquisition & Staffing Technology and Services Market: Technological Advancements to Underpin Staffing Solutions in the Coming Years: Global Industry Analysis (2013 - 2017) and Opportunity Assessment (2018 - 2028), which is available on its online portal. The aim of this assessment is to highlight the various projections expected to occur in the global market for Talent Acquisition & Staffing Technology and Services. Readers can gain knowledge related to prime market facets such as market size, Y-o-Y growth and market dynamics, which are projected to change during the stated forecast period. According to research findings, the global Talent Acquisition & Staffing Technology and Services is likely to advance at a steady CAGR of during the period between 2018 and 2028.Get Sample Copy of This Report @Report SynopsisThis report by Future Market Insights offers a 10 year forecast for the globaltalent acquisition & staffing technology and services market. This study demonstrates the market dynamics and trends globally across the seven key regions of North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, SEA & Others of APAC, China, Japan and MEA that influence the current nature and future status of the talent acquisition & staffing technology and services market over the forecast period.Report DescriptionThis report provides detailed analysis of talent acquisition & staffing technology and services market and offers insights on the various factors like the growing popularity of smart innovations that will fuel the globaltalent acquisition & staffing technology and services market, across key industry verticals. The report includes an extensive analysis of the industry drivers, restraints, market trends and market structure. This market study provides a comprehensive assessment of key stakeholder strategies and imperatives for succeeding in the business.The talent acquisition & staffing technology and services market is anticipated to witness significant revenue growth during the forecast period, owing to rise in cloud-based platforms to hire the best talent for the organisation and growing impact of social media technology on the recruitment industry.The global talent acquisition & staffing technology and services market is categorised on the basis of category type, industry type and platform. All segments are thoroughly analysed to understand segmental contribution to market growth. The report also provides a detailed analysis covering key trends and market opportunities.Market SegmentationBy Category TypeMarketing AdvertisingJob PostingEmployer BrandingRecruitment MarketingTechnologiesIntegrated ATSStandalone ATSPoint Solution & Sourcing ToolsServicesRecruitment Process OutsourcingContingent Staffing ServicesBackground Screening ServicesOther Search ServicesBy Industry TypeEducationManufacturingBFSIHealthcareIT & TelecommunicationEnergyRetailTransportationOthersBy Platform TypeInternal ReferralsOther Internet PlatformsSocial PlatformsBROWSE Full Report NOW @Table Of Content1. Executive Summary1.1. Market Overview1.2. Market Analysis1.3. FMI Analysis and Recommendations1.4. Wheel of Fortune2. Market Introduction2.1. Market Definition2.2. Market Taxonomy3. Market Background3.1. Macro-Economic Factors3.2. Forecast Factors Relevance & Impact3.3. Talent Acquisition Framework3.4. Market Dynamics3.4.1. Drivers3.4.2. Restraints3.5. Opportunity AnalysisMore Information@@@About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like semiconductor market research and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com
Global Cloud-Based Email Security Market Overview 2019: Proofpoint, Trend Micro, Cisco Systems, Fortinet, Forcepoint, Sophos Group, Barracuda Networks

https://marketprognosis.com/sample-request/16144

https://marketprognosis.com/discount-request/16144

https://marketprognosis.com/enquiry/16144

In 2017, the cloud-based email security market was valued at USD 701.9 million and is expected to reach a value of USD 1102.4 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 7.81% during 2018-2023 (the forecast period). The scope of this report is limited to the solutions that are offered by the major players, including providers of solutions for cloud-hosted email applications. Email is known to be the target for 90% of hacks. It is the leading threat vector for ransom ware, phishing, and data theft. The rising penetration of cloud-based services in enterprises, coupled with the increasing number of cyber-attacks and the sophistication of malware, spam, and phishing attacks occurring across the globe, is expected to drive the adoption rate for cloud-based email security. However, the lack of skilled enterprise and awareness among consumers are expected to hinder the market growth.Detailed Sample Copy of Updated Analysis @Top Players:The key players in this market include: Proofpoint Inc., Trend Micro Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Fortinet Inc., Forcepoint LLC, Symantec Corporation, Sophos Group PLC, Barracuda Networks Inc., Dell Technlogies Inc. and FireEye Inc.Key Developments In The Market November 2017 - Forcepoint introduced over 40 new software and hardware features across its Forcepoint Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) and User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) products. These features enhance the understanding of user behavior and data flow throughout an enterprise or government organization and rapidly identify and eliminate risk. These features are expected to complement the companys email security cloud delivering enhanced malware detection for users in, both, unencrypted and encrypted traffic. January 2018 - Barracuda Networks, Inc. acquired PhishLine, LLC. The PhishLine is a leading SaaS platform for social engineering simulation and training. The companys acquisition is focused on enhancing the companys email security product portfolio. By combining Barracuda's AI-driven protection against phishing and spear phishing with PhishLine's platform, the company offers its customers a comprehensive defense against email-borne targeted attacks.Increased Spam, Viruses, and Inappropriate Email ContentWhile enterprises have pushed consistently to meet future demands by adopting cloud-based services, the growing number of attacks on cloud environments have also increased. This increase in the number of attacks has threated and challenged the traditional IT infrastructure. The same can also be attributed to the fact that more valuable data is shifting to the cloud, and hackers find it lucrative to risk stealing valuable data. Thus, it has become increasingly important for organizations to step-up security systems, to protect their cloud environments. According to a recent survey, about 3-4% of all emails contain a virus, which translates into 6 million virus-containing emails every day. This number poses a big threat to individuals as well as organizations. Another study reveals that, about 70% of all email traffic is estimated to be spam, and these figures have doubled over the previous year. Further, with the increase in the volume of the data generated, and the number of email exchanges, the efficiency of anti-spam software is ought to increase. A large volume of this confidential information sent through email is at a high risk of being intercepted. Thus, it is making companies to adopt cloud security solutions and software, as they constantly seek to secure systems, through which these information can be encrypted and protected.Request Discount on this report @Asia-Pacific To Register The Fastest Growth Over The Forecast PeriodAccording to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, SMEs are the engines of growth and innovation in the region, which account for over 97% of all enterprises and employ over half of the workforce across APAC economies. With the growing penetration level of Internet and the shift towards digitization of the internal processes have been a few instrumental factors in driving the adoption rate of cloud-based services. Alongside the digital transformation in the region, companies in Asia-Pacific have been found to be 80% more likely to be targeted by hackers when compared to other regions, owing to ineffective cyber laws and lack of cyber-security awareness. Majority of these attacks were reported around property theft, deception, and invasion of privacy. These threats incur heavy losses and have been increasing over the years. In 2016, about 1,32,000 cybercrimes (28% were fraud and malicious business methods) were reported in Japan as compared to that of in 2012, with about 78,000 cases. Therefore, this factor is driving the adoption rate of robust cloud security solutions. All these factors, coupled with the healthy growth in the number of out-sourced projects, particularly in India and China, are expected to drive the adoption rate of cloud-based email security market in the region.BFSI To Continue Hold The Largest Market ShareOwing to the large customer base that the industry serves, the BFSI sector faces a number of data breach and cyber-attacks. The growing technological penetration, coupled with the digital channels, such as internet banking, mobile banking, becoming the preferable choice of customers for banking services, is making the industry more vulnerable to these cyber-attacks. Increasing email exchanges within this sector, amongst employees as well as customers, which contain crucial valuable information, are driving the adoption rate of cloud-based email security solutions, owing to the need for banks to leverage on advanced authentication and access control processes.Enquiry Before Buying@About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMarkPvt Ltd,Thane - 421501India.Contact No: +1 973 241 5193Email: sales@marketprognosis.com
Global System Integration Services Market Size, Status and Forecast

www.marketdensity.com/contact?ref=Sample&reportid=70659

www.marketdensity.com/global-system-integration-services-market-size-status-and-forecast

www.marketdensity.com

Businesses worldwide depend on software and technology integration solutions to achieve seamless operations and drive revenue growth. While innovative IT applications and integrated solutions have enriched business functions, IT departments are implementing relevant measures and upgrades to smoothen the IT and business operations. The companies seek integrated IT infrastructure solutions that are agile, resilient, secure, and cost-effective. It enables rapid integration of different processes, systems, services, information, and devices to enhance the overall business performance. The rising need for a converged ICT infrastructure will aid in the strong growth of the system integration services market size during the next four years.Get sample copy of the report:Table of Contents:Table of Contents1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global System Integration Services Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2014-2025)1.4.2 Consulting Services1.4.3 Infrastructure Integration Services1.4.4 Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global System Integration Services Market Share by Application (2014-2025)1.5.2 BFSI1.5.3 Government1.5.4 Telecom1.5.5 Retail1.5.6 Energy1.5.7 Healthcare1.5.8 Manufacturing1.5.9 Automotive1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 System Integration Services Market Size2.2 System Integration Services Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 System Integration Services Market Size by Regions (2014-2025)2.2.2 System Integration Services Market Share by Regions (2014-2019)2.3 Industry Trends2.3.1 Market Top Trends2.3.2 Market Drivers2.3.3 Market Opportunities3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 System Integration Services Market Size by Manufacturers3.1.1 Global System Integration Services Revenue by Manufacturers (2014-2018)3.1.2 Global System Integration Services Revenue Market Share by Manufacturers (2014-2018)3.1.3 Global System Integration Services Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 System Integration Services Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players System Integration Services Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into System Integration Services Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans4 Breakdown Data by Type and Application4.1 Global System Integration Services Market Size by Type (2014-2019)4.2 Global System Integration Services Market Size by Application (2014-2019)5 United States5.1 United States System Integration Services Market Size (2014-2019)5.2 System Integration Services Key Players in United States5.3 United States System Integration Services Market Size by Type5.4 United States System Integration Services Market Size by Application6 Europe6.1 Europe System Integration Services Market Size (2014-2019)6.2 System Integration Services Key Players in Europe6.3 Europe System Integration Services Market Size by Type6.4 Europe System Integration Services Market Size by Application7 China7.1 China System Integration Services Market Size (2014-2019)7.2 System Integration Services Key Players in China7.3 China System Integration Services Market Size by Type7.4 China System Integration Services Market Size by Application8 Japan8.1 Japan System Integration Services Market Size (2014-2019)8.2 System Integration Services Key Players in Japan8.3 Japan System Integration Services Market Size by Type8.4 Japan System Integration Services Market Size by Application9 Southeast Asia9.1 Southeast Asia System Integration Services Market Size (2014-2019)9.2 System Integration Services Key Players in Southeast Asia9.3 Southeast Asia System Integration Services Market Size by Type9.4 Southeast Asia System Integration Services Market Size by Application10 India10.1 India System Integration Services Market Size (2014-2019)10.2 System Integration Services Key Players in India10.3 India System Integration Services Market Size by Type10.4 India System Integration Services Market Size by Application11 Central & South America11.1 Central & South America System Integration Services Market Size (2014-2019)11.2 System Integration Services Key Players in Central & South America11.3 Central & South America System Integration Services Market Size by Type11.4 Central & South America System Integration Services Market Size by Application12 International Players Profiles12.1 Accenture12.1.1 Accenture Company Details12.1.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.1.3 System Integration Services Introduction12.1.4 Accenture Revenue in System Integration Services Business (2014-2019)12.1.5 Accenture Recent Development12.2 CSC12.2.1 CSC Company Details12.2.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.2.3 System Integration Services Introduction12.2.4 CSC Revenue in System Integration Services Business (2014-2019)12.2.5 CSC Recent Development12.3 Fujitsu12.3.1 Fujitsu Company Details12.3.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.3.3 System Integration Services Introduction12.3.4 Fujitsu Revenue in System Integration Services Business (2014-2019)12.3.5 Fujitsu Recent Development12.4 HPE12.4.1 HPE Company Details12.4.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.4.3 System Integration Services Introduction12.4.4 HPE Revenue in System Integration Services Business (2014-2019)12.4.5 HPE Recent Development12.5 IBM12.5.1 IBM Company Details12.5.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.5.3 System Integration Services Introduction12.5.4 IBM Revenue in System Integration Services Business (2014-2019)12.5.5 IBM Recent Development13 Market Forecast 2019-202513.1 Market Size Forecast by Regions13.2 United States13.3 Europe13.4 China13.5 Japan13.6 Southeast Asia13.7 India13.8 Central & South America13.9 Market Size Forecast by Product (2019-2025)13.10 Market Size Forecast by Application (2019-2025)14 Analyst's Viewpoints/Conclusions15 Appendix15.1 Research Methodology15.1.1 Methodology/Research Approach15.1.1.1 Research Programs/Design15.1.1.2 Market Size Estimation12.1.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation15.1.2 Data Source15.1.2.1 Secondary Sources15.1.2.2 Primary Sources15.2 Disclaimer15.3 Author DetailsBuy this report online:About Market Density:Market Density is your one stop market research and industry analysis reports' library providing business data and intelligence information on thousands of micro markets with global as well as regional coverage.Market Density offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Market Density understands how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.Contact Us:Email: sales@marketdensity.comWebsite:Phone: +1 669 264 16564340 Stevens Creek Blvd,Suite # 172,San Jose, CA 95129
Power Rental Market Witness Highest Growth in Near Future | Aggreko PLC, Catrpillar Inc, Ashtead Group PLC, Cummins, Inc, Kohler Corporation and Hertz Corporation

Power Rental

https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2954239/?utm_source=SBL

https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2954239/?utm_source=SBL

https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/global-power-rental-report-size-study-market/?utm_source=SBL

https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/power-rental-systems-market-insights-2019-global-and-chinese-analysis-and-forecast-to-2024-market/?utm_source=RR&utm_medium=SBL

Global Power Rental Market to reach USD xxx billion by 2025.Global Power Rental Market valued approximately USD xxx million in 2017 is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than xxx% over the forecast period 2018-2025. The Power Rental market is developing and expanding at a significant pace considering the global scenario. The Power rental is referred as plant hire offering flexibility, reliability, speed, and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, The power on rent delivers complete operating power packages along with delivers scalable components within the large power station installations to various industrial applications on the global scenario. The market growth is primarily driven by rising demand for power across the world. Additionally, growth in consumption of power, rising construction and development of power infrastructure are further propelling the growth of the market. Moreover, surging power demand in developing economies represents significant growth opportunities in the near future. However, increasing expenses associated with transmission & distribution and several strict regulation emission regulations are expected to hamper the market growth.Request for a sample copy of this report @The regional analysis of Global Power Rental Market is considered for the key regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and Rest of the World. North America is the fastest growing region across the world in terms of market share. Whereas, owing to the countries such as China, Japan, and India, Asia Pacific region is anticipated to be the dominating region over the forecast period 2018-2025.The major market player included in this report are: Aggreko PLC, Catrpillar Inc, Ashtead Group PLC, Cummins, Inc, Kohler Corporation and Hertz CorporationThe objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below:Enquiry Before Buying @By Type: Diesel, Gas and OthersBy Application: 11-50 KW, 51-200 KW, 201-500 KW, 501-1,001 KW, 1,501-2,000 KW and Above 2,000 KWBy End User: Utilities, Oil & Gas, Events, Construction, Mining, Shipping and OthersPower Rental Market Key Segments:By Country:North America: U.S., Canada, MexicoEurope: UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Rest of EuropeAsia-Pacific: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Rest of Asia-PacificLAMEA: Chile, Israel, South Africa, Rest of LAMEATarget Audience of the Global Power RentalMarket in Market Study:Key Consulting Companies & AdvisorsLarge, medium-sized, and small enterprisesVenture capitalistsValue-Added Resellers (VARs)Third-party knowledge providersInvestment bankersInvestorsAccess Full Summery @Table of ContentsChapter 1.Executive SummaryChapter 2.Power Rental Market Definition and ScopeChapter 3.Power Rental Market DynamicsChapter 4.Power Rental Market Industry AnalysisChapter 5.Power Rental Market, by ApplicationChapter 6.Power Rental Market, by Deployment ModeChapter 7.Power Rental Market, by Regional AnalysisChapter 8.Competitive IntelligenceChapter 9.Research ProcessSimilar Publisher Related report:Power Rental Systems Market Insights 2019, Global and Chinese Analysis and Forecast to 2024More summary:About Us:Big Market Research has a range of research reports from various publishers across the world. Our database of reports of various market categories and sub-categories would help to find the exact report you may be looking for.We are instrumental in providing quantitative and qualitative insights on your area of interest by bringing reports from various publishers at one place to save your time and money. A lot of organizations across the world are gaining profits and great benefits from information gained through reports sourced by us.Contact Us:Mr. Abhishek Paliwal5933 NE Win Sivers Drive, #205, Portland,OR 97220 United Statescall answer Direct:+1-971-202-1575call answer Toll Free:+1-800-910-6452email help@bigmarketresearch.com
Global Humectants Market - In-Depth Analysis with Booming Trends Supporting Growth and Forecast till 2025 Key Players  Cargill, BASF, Archer Daniels Midland, DowDupont, Roquette Freres, Ingredion, Incorporated

Humectants Market

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/78906

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/78906

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/reports/humectants-market-2019

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/request_for_discount/78906

www.upmarketresearch.com

The qualitative research study conducted by Up Market Research titled Global Humectants Market Research Report 2019 provides primary Data, surveys, Scope of the Product and vendor briefings. The market dynamic forces have been determined after conducting a detailed study of the Global Humectants Market. The study provides forecasts for Humectants Market investments till 2025.Request Sample Copy Of this Report @Humectants Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period.It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Humectants Market global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018  2025.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.The generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Humectants Market analysis & forecast 2018- 2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region- wise Analysis Humectants Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)For More Information On This Report, Please Visit @The Major Players Reported In The Report Are: Cargill BASF Archer Daniels Midland DowDupont Roquette Freres Ingredion Incorporated Brenntag AG Barentz Ashland Batory Foods CorbionGlobal Humectants Market: Product Segment Analysis: Synthetic NaturalGlobal Humectants Market: Application Segment Analysis: Food and beverage Oral and personal care Pharmaceuticals Animal feed OthersThe Report Covers In- Depth Analysis As Follows: Chapter 1 Overview of Humectants Market Chapter 2 Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions Chapter 3 Global Market Status and Forecast by Types Chapter 4 Global Market Status and Forecast by Downstream Industry Chapter 5 Market Driving Factor Analysis of Humectants Market Chapter 6 Humectants Market Competition Status by Major Manufacturers Chapter 7 Humectants Market Major Manufacturers Introduction and Market Data Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Market Analysis of Humectants Market Chapter 9 Cost and Gross Margin Analysis of Humectants Market Chapter 10 Marketing Status Analysis of Humectants Market Chapter 11 Report Conclusion Chapter 12 Research Methodology and ReferenceRead More details Humectants Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market- driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real- time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real- time scenario.Global Humectants Market: Key Stakeholders: Manufacturers Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream VendorsIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Humectants Market are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025Key Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Humectants Market and its commercial landscape. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for Humectants Market analysis and forecast 2018- 2025.Avail Discount On this Report @Customization of the Report:Up Market Research provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.You can also ask for region wise market research report, as below: Humectants Market  Global Market Status & Trend Report 2013- 2025 Top 20 Countries Data Humectants Market  North America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Humectants Market  South America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Humectants Market  Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Humectants Market  EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Humectants Market  Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Humectants Market  China Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Humectants Market  India Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Humectants Market  United States Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States.
Radiotherapy Market growing at 6.90 % to cross $12.3 billion by 2025: Top Leading Companies  GE Healthcare, Siemens AG, Canon Medical Systems, Varian Medical Systems, Ion Beam Applications, Nordion

Radiotherapy Market

https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/135090

https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/135090/single

https://www.businessindustryreports.com/check-discount/135090

A fresh report has been added to the wide database of Business Industry Reports. The research study is titled Radiotherapy Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2025 which provides important data about the production, consumption, revenue and company profiles for key industry participants.Global Radiotherapy Market Synopsis:According to Market Analyst, The Global Radiotherapy Market is expected to grow at an impressive Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2019 to 2025. Technological advancements in radiotherapy and increasing government investments to meet the demand for cancer treatment are some key trend triggering the growth of the radiotherapy market over the forecast period.If you want to know more about Radiotherapy, Get Sample Copy of Report @Global Radiotherapy Market to reach USD 12.3 billion by 2025. Global radiotherapy market is valued at approximately USD 7.2 billion in 2017 and is anticipated to grow with a healthy growth rate of more than 6.90 % over the forecast period 2018-2025.Radiotherapy sometimes causes adverse effects throughout the treatment. You might not notice these effects until you've had a number of weeks of treatment. Soreness and reddening of the skin Disorder and swelling of your chest or breast region Tiredness soreness and Reddening of the skin. Radiotherapy could produce the skin go darker or red. Many people don't have any skin problems at all, but others may have very sore skin. You have a skin response depends upon the area and one kind of skin. It's not going to happen straight away but develops progressively after several sessions. Skin responses settle down two after your treatment finishes.Key driving factor for the radiotherapy market is increasing prevalence of cancer. Since, radiotherapy tests allows clinicians to identify and detect organism accurately and helps to offer proper guidance to clinicians thereby, promoting the demand for radiotherapy tests over the forecast period. According to Cancer index, it was estimated that around 2,814,000 of Chinese would die from cancer in 2015 equivalent to around 7,500 cancer deaths every day on an average basis in the country.On the basis of segmentation, the radiotherapy market is segmented into type, application and end-user. Type segment of global radiotherapy market is classified into external beam radiation therapy, internal radiation therapy and systemic radiation therapy of which external beam radiotherapy segment is expected to grow at a highest CAGR owing to the increases accuracy and precision of tumor targeting.The regional analysis of radiotherapy market is considered for the key regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and ROW. North America holds the leading position in radiotherapy market owing to the increasing number of cancer cases coupled with the technological advancements in radiotherapy equipment.Complete report on Radiotherapy Market spread across 200 Pages and No. of Table of contents. Buy Research @The Market is segmented and projected on the basis of major key players:1 GE Healthcare2 Siemens AG3 Canon Medical Systems Corporation4 Varian Medical Systems, Inc.5 Ion Beam Applications6 Nordion7 Isoray8 Mirada Medical9 Elekta AB10 Varian Medical Systems Inc.Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers:1 North America Country (United States, Canada)2 South America3 Asia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea)4 Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy)5 Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC)Request a Discount on standard prices of this premium report @Key Questions Answered in this Report:1 Which would be global Radiotherapy market opportunities and restraints with producers in the industry?2 What all segmentations covered?3 Which will be the Radiotherapy trending variables currently impacting the market shares?4 What will be the global Radiotherapy market size in 2025?5 Who will be the top vendors in Radiotherapy market?6 Whats going to be the growth speed?7 Which will be the significant Radiotherapy market trends?8 Which industry regions are currently affecting on Radiotherapy markets development?TABLE OF CONTENTS1 Global Radiotherapy Market Definition and Scope2 Research Methodology3 Executive Summary4 Global Radiotherapy Market Dynamics5 Global Radiotherapy Market, By Type6 Global Radiotherapy Market, By Application7 Global Radiotherapy Market, By End-users8 Global Radiotherapy Market, by Regional Analysis9 Competitive IntelligenceAbout usBusinessindustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Industry ReportsPune  Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940
It is disappointing that they are using resources to dispute their obligation, instead of investing the money into cancer prevention for the villages firefighters, Kim Hauber said.  The pension board and circuit court made a proper decision and we are confident that the appellate court will uphold the decision.
Home Theater Audio Systems Market estimated to reach nearly US$ 15,000 Mn in revenues by 2025-end.

https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/16801

https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/16801

Multi-room audio systems, which enable to play songs through mobile application, are expected to pave huge opportunities for home theatre audio systems manufacturers. Integration of home audio systems with wearable devices have compelled manufacturers in developing smart and networked speakers. Global sales of home theatre audio systems will account for revenues worth US$ 9,954 Mn in 2017, according to a report by Persistence Market Research (PMR). PMRs report projects the global home theatre audio systems market to register 5% CAGR through 2025. Global sales of home theatre audio systems are estimated to reach nearly US$ 15,000 Mn in revenues by 2025-end.Key Takeaways from Findings of PMRs Report on Global Home Theatre Audio Systems MarketA sample of this report is available upon request @Low-range home theatre audio systems will remain sought after, based on price range. Sales of premium home theatre audio systems will register fastest growth in the market. In addition, revenues from sales of mid-range home theatre audio systems will remain comparatively higher than that of premium home theatre audio systems.Un-organized retail stores will remain the most lucrative sales channel for home theatre audio systems, expanding at the highest CAGR through 2025. Sales of home theatre audio systems in organized sales channel will account for revenues worth US$ 5,909.2 Mn by 2025-end.By technology, Bluetooth home theatre audio systems will remain dominant in the market, followed by Wi-Fi. In addition, sales of Wi-Fi and NFC home theatre audio systems are estimated to exhibit parallel expansion at 4.8% CAGR through 2025.More than 40 Mn units of 9.1 channel & above home theatre audio systems are expected to be sold by 2025-end, based on channel type. In terms of volume, sales of 6.1 channel home theatre audio systems will comparatively lower than other channel type segments in the market.North America will continue to be dominant in the global home theatre audio systems market, with sales poised to reach US$ 4,748.8 Mn by 2025-end. Asia-Pacific (APAC) will remain the second largest market for home theatre audio systems, closely followed by Europe. However, sales in Europe will exhibit a comparatively higher CAGR than APAC through 2025.Increasing Adoption of Wireless Home Theatre Audio Systems to Drive Market Growth in North AmericaIncreasing adoption of wireless home theatre audio systems equipped with features such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is expected to drive growth of the market in North America. Audio industry in the region has been witnessing a rise in technological advancements, transforming the fashion in which music is played and appreciated. This is further expected to fuel demand for home theatre audio systems in North America. However, increasing risk of subsequent hearing loss, resulting from prolonged exposure to music with noise levels over 85 decibels, is likely to inhibit growth of the market in this region.Increasing Government Support for In-house Manufacturing to Influence Growth of the Market in APACGovernments in Asia Pacific countries are providing necessary support for in-house manufacturing through various schemes, for example  Make in India scheme by the Indian government. This has further led towards reduction in manufacturing costs, thereby prices of products. The home theatre audio systems market in APAC is expected to be highly influenced by such initiatives of governments. In addition, increasing population, especially in India and China, is further expected to impact adoption of home theatre audio systems in these regions.However, confined living spaces in APAC countries, owing to ever-growing population, has resulted into disturbance to neighbors caused by high frequency of home theatre audio systems, particularly in urban areas. This has led people living in urban areas to adopt personal hearing devices such as earphones, or, Bluetooth speakers. These factors are expected to restrain growth of the home theatre audio systems market in APAC.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Key market players identified in PMRs report include Bose Corporation, Harman International Industries, Yamaha Corporation, Sony Corporation, Intex Technologies (India) Ltd, LG Electronics Inc., Samsung Electronics, Pioneer Corporation, VOXX International Corp, Sound United LLC, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Bowers & Wilkins, Pioneer Corporation, Bang & Olufsen, Braven LC, Sonos.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353
Crane Market Regional Trend & Growth Forecast 2019-2024 By Top Companies Konecranes, Liebherr Group, XCMG Group, Welbilt Inc, Terex Corporation, Komatsu Ltd.

Crane Market

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2398

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2398

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/crane-market

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2960

https://www.gminsights.com/

In the Crane Market, the oil & gas industry accounted for around 20% of the overall revenue and is anticipated to grow at a steady rate over the forecast timespan. The rise in the adoption of mobile Crane Market is expected to accelerate owing to the expansion in the cement plants and infrastructure development.Crane Market is expected to exceed USD 20 billion by 2024. Increasing construction spending across the globe is a major factor driving the crane market growth.Request for a sample copy of this report @Shifting focus of the government entities on infrastructure development coupled with growing consumer preference for aesthetic and luxurious constructions will drive the industry growth. Urbanization, environmental impacts, and population growth have surged the need for sustainable and smart infrastructure solutions.The construction and transportation sectors are the major segments contributing toward the adoption of mobile cranes with many on-going projects.Several major economies across the globe are contributing toward the industry growth, with construction and retrofit market growing at a significantly high pace. The crane market will witness a growing demand for the upgrading of mobile cranes in the coming years.Crane Market, By Product Mobile Crane Truck Loader Crane Rough Terrain Crane All Terrain Crane Crawler Crane Fixed Crane Monorail Crane Stiffleg Crane Tower Crane Gantry CraneMake an Inquiry for purchasing this Report @Growing adoption of mobile and tower cranes for construction activities is accelerating the U.S. crane market growth. Increasing adoption of the cranes was owing to the rise in home construction, nonresidential building, and government construction activities. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the construction spending rose to 0.9 percent in November 2016 by 0.3 percent. The constantly-growing population in the region has resulted in increased investments in the infrastructure development sector. Rapid urbanization in the country is demanding the faster construction of facilities and buildings for the growing population. In addition, the rising government investments in infrastructural operations have provided a potential for the growth of the crane market.Public infrastructure and government utilities in North America will witness a high adoption of cranes owing to the construction of reservoirs, wastewater treatment plants, and power lines across the region thereby providing an impetus to the crane market.In Europe, the focus of the crane manufacturers is on implementing new safety standards relating to the assembly and dismantling of the machine. An important product development issue across the entire range of crane types is the reduction of diesel engine exhaust emissions in compliance with Stage V of the EU Regulation on emission limits for mobile machinery. Europe accounted for the second largest revenue in crane market owing to the growing usage of cranes across the construction and oil & gas industries. However, the European market was hurt by changes in subsidies in the wind power market in Germany, resulting in fewer crawler crane sales.Browse Report Summery @Key players participating in crane market include Palfinger AG Terex Corporation, Komatsu Ltd., Konecranes PLC, Liebherr Group, Tadano, Ltd., XCMG Group, Hitachi Sumitomo Heavy Industries, and Manitowoc among others. The crane industry is highly fragmented and competitive in nature owing to the presence of several regional and international players, who are actively investing in R&D and developing technologically-advanced products to sustain in the industry. There is an inclination toward energy-efficient cranes as they help in reducing carbon emissions. Several players are ensuring new product development initiatives to foster the crane market growth.Browse Related Reports:Crawler Crane Market to reach US$ 3 bn by 2024Crawler Crane Market size is set to exceed USD 3 billion by 2024; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. The shipments are expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4%.Increasing utilization of crawler cranes in the energy sector is anticipated to drive the crawler crane market growth. These machines offer heavy lifting operations at the nuclear and renewable energy sites and facilitate the operators in handling the materials efficiently. Several manufacturers have developed energy sector-specific machines that witness a high demand. For instance, Manitowoc has launched a wind power crane, Grove GTK1100, that is used for wind turbine operations such as erection and construction. Additionally, the crawler crane market is witnessing growth opportunities due to the increasing infrastructure projects across the globe.Request for a sample copy of this report @About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:
Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Market Analysis by top key players: Cisco Systems, Squirrel Systems, Toshiba Corporation, POS Direct Ltd, Panasonic Corporation, NEC Corporation, NCR Corporation

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1694978/?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=RV

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1694978/?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=RV

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/point-of-sale-pos-terminals-market-by-type-fixed-pos-terminals-cash-counter-terminals-self-service-kiosks-others-mobile-pos-terminals-by-deployment-on-premise-cloud-based-by-component-hardware-software-by-end-user-retail-healthcare-restaurant-hospitality-others-by-regions-market-size-forecast-2017-2026/?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=RV

https://www.marketstudyreport.com

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog

The qualitative research study conducted by Market Study Report titled Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals provides primary Data, surveys, Scope of the Product and vendor briefings.The Global Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals market study focuses major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. It provides information on trends and developments, and focuses on markets and materials, capacities and technologies, and on the changing structure.Request a sample of this premium report at:According to a new study the worldwide POS Terminals market is anticipated to reach USD 169.4 billion by 2026. In 2017, the fixed POS terminals dominated the global market, in terms of revenue. North America accounted for the largest share of the global POS terminals market in 2017.There has been an increasing adoption of POS terminals across the world owing to rising internet penetration and increasing need for digital payments. The global POS terminals market is driven by the increasing need to simplify payment transactions along with enhanced customer management and inventory management. Technological advancement along with integration of cloud-based POS solutions and android-based POS solutions is expected to accelerate POS adoption in the coming years. However, increasing risks of data leaks and lack of security associated with POS terminals restricts the growth of this market.North America generated the highest revenue in the market in 2017, and is expected to grow at a substantial rate during the forecast period. This is due to increasing support from government to encourage secure transactions. Advanced NFC and EMV-enabled devices are being adopted across the region to minimize frauds and security breaches related to payments. Increasing penetration of mobile devices, affordable mobile POS terminals, and growing acceptance by small and medium-sized businesses further supports market growth in this region. The use of POS terminals in varied industries such as healthcare, retail, and hospitality among others accelerates its adoption. Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.The various types of POS terminals included in the report includes fixed POS terminals and mobile POS terminals. In 2017, fixed POS terminals accounted for the largest share in the global market. Fixed POS terminals are widely used across business with high transaction volume and can be easily integrated with hardware devices. Additionally, fixed POS terminals are also used for customer management, employee management, sales analysis, and customer loyalty programs. However, adoption of mobile POS terminals is gradually increasing owing to their affordable prices, and growing demand for wireless technologies. These devices are easy to use, offer mobility, cost efficiency, and overall profitability.On the basis of components, the global POS terminals market is segmented into hardware components, and software components. The hardware components include computer, receipt printer, bar code scanner, magnetic strip reader, and cash drawer. The hardware segment is expected to dominate throughout the forecast period owing to the high costs associated with them. The hardware is used across various industries with software varying according to industry specific requirements. The software segment is expected to grow significantly in the coming years owing to additional features offered such as customer loyalty programs, employee management, and business process monitoring. Growing adoption of cloud-based POS solutions would also supplement market growth.The Various end-users of POS terminals market include retail, healthcare, restaurant, hospitality, and others. In 2017, the retail sector accounted for the largest share in the global POS terminals market and is expected to maintain its lead during the forecast period. The retail sector comprises large supermarkets and hypermarkets, grocery and departmental stores, and specialty retail stores among others. The retail sector majorly uses fixed POS terminals to cater to the high volume of fast checkouts. Use of POS terminals in the retail sector ensures faster service, provides data related to past transactions, offers customer loyalty solutions, and reduces human errors. The growing retail sector in developing countries of Asia-Pacific is expected to drive the market growth in the coming years.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:The key manufacturers covered in this report:VeriFone Systems, Micros Systems, Ingenico S.A., Pax technology Limited, Cisco Systems, Squirrel Systems, Toshiba Corporation, POS Direct Ltd, Panasonic Corporation, NEC Corporation, NCR Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Corporation, and Samsung Electronics.Research objectives:To study and analyze the global Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals size by key regions/countries, product type and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2023.To understand the structure of Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals by identifying its various subsegments.Focuses on the key global Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals players, to define, describe and analyze the value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years.To analyze the Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).To project the size of Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries).To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches and acquisitions in the market.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.Table of Contents:1 Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Market Overview2 Manufacturers Profiles3 Global Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Market Competition, by Players4 Global Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Market Size by Regions5 North America Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Revenue by Countries6 Europe Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Revenue by Countries7 Asia-Pacific Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Revenue by Countries8 South America Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Revenue by Countries9 Middle East and Africa Revenue Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals by Countries10 Global Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Market Segment by Type11 Global Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Market Segment by Application12 Global Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals Market Size Forecast (2018-2023)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixFor more details about this report:About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report LLC4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:
Comprehensive analysis on 3D Printing Metal Market Size | Key Players are: 3D Systems Corporation, Arcam AB, Materialise NV, ExOne GmbH, Hoganas AB, Renishaw Plc, Equispheres, Carpenter Technology Corporation, and Sandvik AB.

3D Printing Metal Market

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1695132?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=ABHIJEET

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/securecheckout/paymenta/1695132?msfpaycode=sumsf?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=ABHIJEET

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/enquiry-before-buying/1695132?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=ABHIJEET

https://www.marketstudyreport.com

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog

Market Study Report, LLCs, recently compiled report on 3D Printing Metal Market delivers a holistic view on market valuations, market size, profit estimations, SWOT analysis and regional landscape of the market. In addition, the report points out key challenges and growth opportunities, while examining the current competitive standings of key players in during the forecasted timeline.The Global 3D Printing Metals Market is anticipated to reach USD 3.06 billion by 2026 according to a new study.3D printing (3DP) metals have witnessed significant market growth due to its large industrial applications. These metals are used in the additive manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing due to their superior characteristics such as lightweight and high strength, with few of them having very high resistivity to corrosion.Request a sample of this premium report atThe global 3D printing metals market comprises of large number companies and is a highly consolidated industry. Some of the key companies include 3D Systems Corporation, Arcam AB, Materialise NV, ExOne GmbH, Hoganas AB, Renishaw Plc, Equispheres, Carpenter Technology Corporation, and Sandvik AB.3D printing metals is a part of overall 3D printing industry, that is currently an attractive market due to increased focus by major industrial companies, specialized 3D printer vendors, 3D printing service bureaus, software vendors, professional service providers, and other marketplace providers.Aerospace & defense industry is at the forefront for driving the global 3DP metals market. This technology results in lighter, faster, less wasteful, and high yields as compared to the traditional materials and technologies. Moreover, high value production is a typical scenario for different requirements of this industry, thud 3DP metals manufacturing is an articular appeal to small, medium-sized, and big conglomerates alike.Medical industry also contributes substantially to the growth of 3D printing metals market. This is largely used in the production of hearing aids in the medical segment. As the global health industry focuses on improving quality, reducing costs, and becoming patient-centric, the technological advancements in the 3D printers play a significant role here.One of the most interesting aspects for the 3DP metal industry includes an appealing scenario for both the suppliers and operators. Potential opportunity for reduced cost to supply aftercare services is a potential opportunity for the suppliers. Reduction in the transportation costs, potential to use analytics for the consumption of spare parts and shortening the development and retooling process are some of the most significant aspects of this industry landscape.Different types of metals are used in the manufacturing process depending on the end-user?s requirements. Titanium is anticipated to witness fast growth over the forecast period to its excellent properties concerning precision in production and superior characteristics over other metal types.North America is the dominant and mature market for 3D printing metals market with United States as the major contributing nation. Asia Pacific is expected to witness a substantial faster growth during the forecast period due to its expanding manufacturing industry, high R&D investments by large market players in China, South Korea, and Japan, and supportive government policies.Purchase full report of 3D Printing Metal Market at:Table of Contents1. Overview and Scope2. Executive Summary3. 3D Printing Metals Market Insights4. 3D Printing Metals Market Size and Forecast, By State5. 3D Printing Metals Market Size and Forecast by Metal Type6. 3D Printing Metals Market Size and Forecast by End-Use Type7. 3D Printing Metals Market Size and Forecast by Regions8. Company Profiles8.1. 3D Systems Corporation8.1.1. Overview8.1.2. Financials8.1.3. Product Benchmarking8.1.4. Recent Developments8.2. Stratasys Ltd.8.2.1. Overview8.2.2. Financials8.2.3. Product Benchmarking8.2.4. Recent Developments8.3. Voxeljet AG8.3.1. Overview8.3.2. Financials8.3.3. Product Benchmarking8.3.4. Recent Developments8.4. Renishaw PLC8.4.1. Overview8.4.2. Financials8.4.3. Product Benchmarking8.4.4. Recent Developments8.5. Sandvik AB8.5.1. Overview8.5.2. Financials8.5.3. Product Benchmarking8.5.4. Recent Developments8.6. Titomic Limited8.6.1. Overview8.6.2. Financials8.6.3. Product Benchmarking8.6.4. Recent Developments8.7. EOS GmbH Electro Optical Systems8.7.1. Overview8.7.2. Financials8.7.3. Product Benchmarking8.7.4. Recent Developments8.8. Materialise NV8.8.1. Overview8.8.2. Financials8.8.3. Product Benchmarking8.8.4. Recent Developments8.9. GE Additive8.9.1. Overview8.9.2. Financials8.9.3. Product Benchmarking8.9.4. Recent Developments8.10. The Exone Company8.10.1. Overview8.10.2. Financials8.10.3. Product Benchmarking8.10.4. Recent Developmentsbuying decision on this premium report:About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report LLC4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:
Structural insulation panels Market Size Detail Analysis focusing on Key Players like Kingspan, Romakowski GmbH & Co. KG, Lattonedil Spa Milano, and Isopan

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/980162/?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=Pc

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/980162/?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=Pc

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/structural-insulation-panels-sips-market/?utm_source=openpr.com&utm_medium=Pc

www.marketstudyreport.com

www.marketstudyreport.com/blog

In its latest report on Structural insulation panels Market, Market Study Report, LLC, provides a concise analysis on the recent market trends. The report further includes statistics, market forecasts and revenue estimations, that in addition highlights its status in the competitive domain as well as expansion trends adopted by major industry players.Structural insulation panels industry size is driven by rapid technological advancements in the construction industry. These technologies consist of various precast, modular, and prefabricated building structures, specially designed for residential and commercial sectors. Additionally, a growing population and rising consumer concerns regarding energy-saving building materials will drive industry development. Developing economies including Brazil, India, China, and Mexico will significantly trigger product development due to a large consumer base along with a shifting trend for modern building installations.Request a sample of this premium report at:The global structural insulation panel minerals market is highly competitive owing to the presence of a few dominating companies including Kingspan, Romakowski GmbH & Co. KG, Lattonedil Spa Milano, and Isopan. Their prime initiatives to improve the market share include new product launches, geographical expansions, R&D investments, and mergers & acquisitions. This helps them explore the untapped market potential. Companies are also focusing on implementing forward and backward integrations across the value chain.Increasing consumer awareness pertaining to rising electricity bills and the necessity for energy-efficient building techniques have stimulated the product demand across residential as well as commercial buildings. The necessity for effective energy conservation due to the rising energy demand along with growing concerns regarding resource scarcity will propel the SIP market. The implementation of several programs such as LEED, Energy Star building certification, and ICC?s Model Energy Codes is likely to influence industry dynamics over the forecast period.Glass wool is expected to witness significant growth owing to increasing demand for thermal and acoustic insulation. Strong applications scope for reducing the energy consumption of buildings, offering a conducive environment and reducing fuel utilization will positively support product penetration over the forecast timeline. It is widely used in attics, critical opening spaces, and wall cavities. Amplified growth of new housing developments and overall building construction expenditure will drive industry gains.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:OSB one side skin type is estimated to witness a growth of over 7% up to 2024. They are widely used and applied on the roofing, siding, and wall structures of residential buildings. It provides excellent insulation from heat, moisture, and humid conditions and offers outstanding benefits over its counterparts owing to its compatibility with fixed structures. These benefits have increased the adoption in building construction fueling the industry share.Wall panels dominated the overall industry and is expected to witness highest growth over the forecast period. Substantial reduction in the construction time of wall and labor cost are key factors supplementing product penetration. The factory-built SIPs eliminate the need to cut the material on job site which eliminates delays and enables quick interior finishing. Substantial reduction in the construction time of wall and labor cost are key factors supplementing product penetration.The residential sector accounted for over 50% of the market share by 2024 and will continue to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. Infrastructural expansion is a major factor that will drive the use of SIPs in the residential market during the forecast timeframe. Socioeconomic development along with housing subsidies by governments will positively impact the market expansion. Household renovations have observed a strong demand in the past and are anticipated to witness significant gains over the forecast timespan. Affordable housing schemes along with the expansion of zero-energy homes supported by regional authorities are expected to provide a profitable opportunity for manufacturers.North America is projected to exceed USD 200 million by 2024. The constant development of the business in the regional economy, along with its openness to imports, has provided an impetus to the international trade scenario for these products. The region is expected to witness growing investments towards house refurbishment and repair. Additionally, the growing infrastructure development owing to high economic growth and expanding immigrant population in the region is expected to support business growth.More Details on this Report:About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report LLC4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:
A federal judge sentenced a former Oregon investment manager to prison last week for running a multimillion-dollar real estate scam that cost scores of investors their retirement savings.

Conspicuous by their absence, though, were two Portland law firms, a Portland attorney and a real estate manager implicated in documents associated with the case. Attorneys and investigators maintain that the bumbling investment manager behind the scheme, Shayne Kniss, would never have done so much damage without a series of powerful enablers.

Prosecutors sought three years, five months in prison for Kniss, but U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman sentenced Kniss to three years in federal prison. He said he was reducing the investment managers prison term by five months in part because of unnamed others who also bore responsibility for his crime.

The case occurs in a larger context of bigger players paying their way out of this problem while youre left holding the bag, the judge told Kniss last week. A former U.S. Attorney in Oregon who has prosecuted more than his share of big cases, Mosman made it clear he wasnt happy about that.

Iris Capital raised more than $5 million from investors from 2011 to 2013, promising returns of 8 to 12 percent by purchasing distressed homes and rehabilitating them for quick sale. But the Lake Oswego firms home-flipping scheme fell apart almost immediately.

Documents associated with the case indicate it cost more than anticipated to rehabilitate the homes. And Kniss proved an incompetent manager, according to his own attorney, with his bad judgment exacerbated alcohol addiction and mental health issues. He embezzled investors money for his own personal spending and to invest in a business seeking to capitalize on marijuana legalization in Oregon.

As Kniss and his investment firm came undone, though, documents in the case allege some of Kniss legal advisers failed in their obligations to raise red flags with investors. Theyre also accused of hiding Iris problems from state investigators. Iris real estate manager allegedly used Iris properties to secure his personal loans.

And in one extraordinary case, a Portland attorney allegedly took an ownership interest one of Iris marijuana startups  then arranged a settlement that funneled money into that company, a potential violation of legal rules governing conflicts of interest.

While Mosman didnt name the others in court Monday, and they havent faced criminal charges, documents associated with the case suggest some have paid settlements totaling more than $3 million. That money helped compensate the investors who lost retirement savings in the scam. The victims recovered nearly 80 percent of their loss, in aggregate.

Kniss could not have pulled off the Iris investment scheme alone, wrote attorneys for the court-appointed receiver seeking to recover the losses in a 2017 civil complaint. He needed the participation and aid of professionals to legitimize the scheme and to help him navigate the complicated legal issues that securities offerings implicate.

Court filings connected with the case allege misconduct by four parties, in addition to Kniss:

Bittner & Hahs: The receiver alleged the Portland law firm knew Kniss had improperly commingled investors funds and allowed him to continue soliciting new investments while misrepresenting Iris financial health in securities filings.

Dunn Carney: This Portland law firm allowed Kniss to present investment materials that failed to disclose Kniss personal financial struggles, his complaint history in the securities business, or the rampant financial mismanagement in the Iris portfolio, according to the receiver. The receiver also alleged that when state investigators were looking into Iris, Dunn Carney incorrectly described the funds status, hiding the fact Iris funds should have been registered and were in clear violation of Oregon securities law. Dunn Carney also allegedly failed to prevent its client, Iris, from issuing investor materials that omitted mention of the state investigation.

Sean Keys: Iris real estate manager used Iris properties to secure $500,000 in personal loans, according to Kniss attorney, who says Keys paid an undisclosed settlement in the case

Nick Slinde: The Portland attorney accepted a 15 percent ownership stake in one of Iris marijuana businesses in exchange for his legal services, according to Kniss attorney . Then he allegedly arranged for Keys to repay the $500,000 loan directly to the marijuana business  in which Slinde had an ownership stake. If Slinde conflated his interests with those of his clients as alleged, that could represent a serious conflict of interest. Additionally, Slinde allegedly said the $500,000 could be described as a real estate transaction, rather than a marijuana business, to Iris investors.

While the court documents obscure the identity of the people or firms who reached settlement agreements, they do indicate the settling parties each deny liability. The receiver does not repeat the allegations against the law firms in documents filed after the settlements.

The Oregon State Bar has not received any complaints in connection with the Iris scandal.

An attorney for Keys declined comment on the case. The firm Dunn Carney and Portland attorney Slinde did not respond to requests for comment.

In a statement, Bittner & Hahs said responsibility for the scandal rests squarely with Kniss, noting the memo Iris receiver filed before his sentencing specifically asserts his misuse of business funds, failure to maintain records and misrepresentations to investors cannot be blamed on others.

In many instances, Kniss prepared his own documents -- without the assistance or knowledge of legal counsel  in order to improperly raise money from investors, Bittner & Hahs said in its statement. Reputable law firms were unfairly blamed for Kniss fraud. It was not the other way around.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Jeff Manning contributed to this report.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699
The chairman of the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners broke state ethics laws when he used his official position and government email to urge the county to hand over records to his wife for a possible lawsuit against the county, according to an Oregon Government Ethics Commission report released Wednesday.

The agency opened an investigation into Commissioner Jim Bernard last year after receiving a complaint from now-retired county Treasurer Shari Anderson.

Anderson made multiple allegations about Bernards conduct related to his wifes employment. Bernard is married to Danielle Cowan, executive director of Clackamas County Tourism and Cultural Affairs.

An ethics commission investigator didnt find sufficient evidence to support some of Andersons allegations, but she recommended that the commission find that Bernard violated two state laws -- one prohibiting public officials from using their positions for financial gain and the other dealing with declaring conflicts of interest.

Investigator Hayley Weedn concluded that Bernard had committed ethics violations when he used his position and government email to urge county officials to release information to his wife that could financially impact her and when he failed to declare a conflict of interest at a meeting where his wifes request for information was discussed.

The ethics commission is scheduled to meet Thursday to review the recommendations.

If it accepts them, Bernard may appeal to an administrative law judge.

Bernard said hes confident the commission will find no ethics violation.

The violations center on an executive session in November 2017 and two emails Bernard sent that month urging the county to comply with a request from his wifes lawyer for records.

According to ethics commission records, Bernard sent the emails as Cowan threatened to sue the county alleging that false and defamatory statements had been made about her during the executive session in June 2017.

Cowan had sought a recording of the meeting. In limited circumstances, Oregon law allows public bodies to meet and deliberate in executive sessions that are closed to the public.

Bernards first email was sent to a fellow commissioner, Sonya Fischer, before the commission met in November 2017 to consider Cowans request; he sent the second one to a county lawyer and county administrator after the meeting.

Using his government email account, Bernard urged them to comply with his wifes request, saying his family comes first.

I will support my wife in anyway possible just as both of you would, he wrote, according to the investigative report. We have made huge effort to separate our relationship from work but in this circumstance family is number 1.

One of my rules  has been to keep us out of court and public scrutiny. That is why I think her lawyer should be given access to the file.

Weedn wrote that in Bernards email to county administrators, the commissioner admitted that in making his request he was putting the interests of his family first.

She also found that Bernard attended part of the executive session where his wifes request for records was discussed. He was in the room for other items on the agenda but effectively recused himself from participation in the discussion involving the records request from Ms. Cowans attorney without announcing any conflict of interest.

Weedn wrote that merely excusing ones self from the room when theres a conflict of interest isnt enough to satisfy the requirements of the law.

Rather, such actions appear to ... undermine the requirement to publicly announce conflicts of interest, she said.

Cowan clearly had a financial interest in obtaining the records, the ethics investigation states, adding that if the county failed to turn over the records, it would have cost Cowan additional legal fees to try to get them and if she sued the county, she would seek money damages.

In an interview on Wednesda, Bernard said one of the emails he sent came from a personal account and he said he wasnt in the room during the executive session.

So if I am not there, there is no potential nor actual conflict because I wasnt there, he said.

He acknowledged sending an email to county attorney Stephen Madkour and Don Krupp, the former county administrator, from his work account. He said he advised them to release the recording.

If there is nothing there, then I think you should consider releasing it, he said he told them.

Cowan on Wednesday strongly defended her husband as an ethical politician and blamed Anderson for the original ethics complaint, which she said stemmed from a personal vendetta.

Cowan said the executive session where she was discussed came as county officials and her agency battled over the appropriation of tourism-related dollars.

I was the one who was being destroyed in there basically with falsehoods, she said.

She said she never ended up hearing the recording from the executive session.

In all honesty, if Jim wanted me to have the tapes, he could have handed them over to me at my house, Cowan said. He was going through, I was going through the process for finding out what was there.

She said her husbands requests on her behalf werent some shady cloak and dagger effort.

Its simply not true and creates this picture that hes done some things to benefit us, she said.

Cowan has run the countys tourism agency since 2010. Her annual salary is about $151,000, according to the county. Bernard, whose salary is $102,960, was first elected to the commission in 2009.

-- Noelle Crombie

503-276-7184

ncrombie@oregonian.com

@noellecrombie

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
In a letter to the Portland Bureau of Transportation, advocates for disabled Oregonians called on the agency to strengthen restrictions on e-scooters, which are poised to return to the city this summer.

Emily Cooper, legal director for Disability Rights Oregon, wrote that the city had fallen short in adhering to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which calls for equal access to public space. During the citys pilot program last summer, Portlanders rode more than 800,000 miles on the roughly 2,000 e-scooters dispersed across the city.

But the devices, which users are free to leave wherever they finish their trip, often end up blocking sidewalks and other public rights of way, Cooper wrote, creating dangerous conditions for those with disabilities. The citys own report on the pilot noted that improperly parked scooters negatively impacted accessibility and created a hazard for people with visual impairments.

During this 2018 pilot, (Disability Rights Oregon) received several concerning calls and complaints regarding the lack of sidewalk accessibility and safety from both our staff and clients with mobility disabilities and vision impairments, Cooper wrote.

Her concerns were first reported by the Portland Tribune.

It was unclear what additional steps the city would take to address the critical concerns with sidewalk accessibility and improve e-scooter safety, before the scooters return to Portland streets this spring, Cooper added.

Cooper requested that the city require data from the scooter companies on the number of times the devices were left blocking a public right of way, and for the city to enforce state and federal law with regards to parking and riding violations. She also encouraged the city to give priority to companies that employ geofencing, technology that would require parking the scooters in specific areas, and to create a public forum where members of the community can address concerns about the devices.

That last request was of particular importance, Cooper wrote, because renewal of the e-scooter program for a full year was decided without any public meetings or open discussion, especially with the disability community.

It is unclear what efforts the city took to invite the public to comment on the possibility of any future or long-term renewal of the program or offered citizens a chance to say what might be changed in a future initiative, she wrote. The processes of government and the votes of

administrative bodies should be open to the public.

Cooper met with city attorney Ken McGair on Tuesday, and the city is considering ways to address compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. But, as Cooper wrote, the City is hesitant to implement too many regulations as it may dissuade smaller, more diverse e-scooter businesses from entering the marketplace.

No date has been set for exactly when the scooters will return.

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048

@sfkale

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
Washingtons legislature took a first step on Wednesday toward funding a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River.

The Senate Transportation Committee passed a funding bill that includes $450 million for the project, on top of $17.5 million Washington Gov. Jay Inslee proposed.

Inslees proposed budget would put that money toward an office tasked with spearheading design and construction of the bridge.

The $450 million would be used for other parts of the process and is supposed to demonstrate that the state is serious about building a replacement bridge this time, said Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver.

This is another concrete step toward getting this project moving while we work with Oregon to design a planning process and determine the details of a new bridge, Cleveland said. This is only a down payment on what a new bridge will cost, of course, but we anticipate funding from other avenues, including our federal and Oregon state partners once we agree on a mutual vision for the new bridge.

Washington and Oregon would have to repay a $140 million grant to the federal government if the bridge never materializes.

While it is a priority, especially for Clark County lawmakers, the project failed in 2013 despite nearly $190 million worth of planning over more than a decade.

Oregon is also expected to contribute to funding the project. The previous iteration that failed relied on both states to pony up $450 million.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has been supportive of the new push to restart negotiations on the bridge.
A Multnomah County judge on Thursday accepted the terms of a settlement in the case of stand-up comedian Katt Williams, who was accused of punching a town car driver last year during an argument over whether the comedians dog was welcome in the car.

Williams, 47, who lives in both California and Georgia, wasnt in the courtroom. His attorney and the attorney for the victim said a settlement had been reached with Williams cutting the driver a check.

With that, the criminal and civil charges were dismissed. The amount of the settlement wasnt discussed in court and attorneys declined to say what it was.

Williams had been accused of fourth-degree assault. The cars driver, Wali Kanani, sustained minor injuries to his face.

The argument broke out when Williams wanted the driver to take him and his dog to performance at the Moda Center.

Williams is most widely known for his work on an improv show called "Wild n Out' and his role as "Money Mike'' in the 2002 comedy "Friday After Next.'' He won his first Emmy last September for being a guest actor on Donald Glovers acclaimed show "Atlanta.''

Kanani said he was pleased by the outcome and is glad that he doesnt have to return to court again.

--Tom Hallman Jr.

thallman@oregonian.com 503 221-8224

@thallmanjr
After a Portland man had his federal drug conviction thrown out on appeal last year, his lawyer filed motions to retrieve his property and cash seized at the time of his arrest.

But Mark Patrick Johnson soon learned all that was taken from him was gone.

Portland police destroyed his cellphones, bags and a small safe confiscated in the case. The $7,100 that a deputy removed from his back pocket was forfeited years ago on an order from a Multnomah County judge.

And Johnsons prospects of getting them back or getting compensated dimmed Wednesday in federal court.

Its devastating, court-appointed lawyer Tonia Moro said after failing to convince the judge to order the government to make good on the losses.

Its very, very disappointing. Its a shame because he needs the money so badly.

Johnson, now 48, had been convicted in December 2014 of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine after a one-day federal trial. The trial judge had denied a defense motion to suppress evidence in the case. On July 23, 2015, Johnson was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison.

This past May, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the seizure of his property was improper.

The panel ruled Portland police and Multnomah County sheriffs deputies should have done only an inventory of the items in the car he was driving when stopped in Gladstone on an outstanding warrant in April 2014. But instead, they searched for evidence of a crime and seized bags from the trunk for a later search, before towing the car.

The items seized served as the basis for Johnsons federal prosecution.

The appeals panel ruled that "a suspicionless inventory search does not permit officers to search or to seize items simply because they believe the items might be of evidentiary value,'' but must function instead to secure and to protect the property of the person arrested.

The appeals court overturned Johnsons conviction and he got out of prison in October.

But the Police Bureaus evidence warehouse destroyed Johnsons property in mid-2017, while his appeal was still pending, according to the prosecutor.

The property seized included two cellphones, a battery pack, a duffel bag, a backpack and a small Sentry Safe inside the backpack. All were marked as evidence by the government at trial.

In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Leah Bolstad called the destruction of the property unfortunate and blamed the passage of time. She also said no one from the Police Bureau had consulted with the U.S. Attorneys Office before getting rid of Johnsons property.

Nowhere was it made clear to the government that defendant wanted these items back, Bolstad added.

The Police Bureau is supposed to keep evidence until a judge, a prosecutor or the lead investigator in the case says it can be disposed of, under bureau policy.

The prosecutor suggested Johnsons lawyer might pursue a civil claim with the city of Portland.

Johnsons concerns should be raised with the people who held or destroyed the property, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman said.

Johnsons lawyer asked Mosman to appoint her as part of the Criminal Justice Act panel to help her pursue a civil judgment against the city, but Mosman declined.

As for Johnsons cash, Multnomah County had petitioned to seize it through civil forfeiture. A Multnomah County judge granted the request in March 2015, after Johnsons conviction but before his sentencing.

Johnsons lawyer argued the forfeiture wasnt proper because the cash was cited as evidence in Johnsons federal prosecution. She noted U.S. Department of Justice policy that says if the property is seized as part of an ongoing federal investigation, and the defendants are being prosecuted in federal court, the property should be federally forfeited.

Bolstad presented an April 2014 notice of forfeiture from the county that was signed by Johnson after his arrest while he was in custody at Inverness Jail. The notice warned that the cash might be confiscated for good if he didnt file a claim for it, even if he wasnt convicted of a crime.

She also showed that the county had published notices in the Daily Journal of Commerce of its intent to seize the cash under civil forfeiture on four different days in May and June 2014.

Defendant did not file a claim for the property, nor did any other interested party, Bolstad wrote in a court brief.

All the forfeiture notices were published while Johnson remained in custody.

Johnsons case comes in the wake of a Feb. 20 U.S. Supreme Court decision that places limits on states ability to take and keep cash or other property through civil forfeiture. The high court ruled that the property seized cant be out of proportion to the crime involved.

As she left the courthouse Wednesday, Johnsons lawyer was dejected, questioning how she was going to explain the outcome to her client, who waived his appearance in court, or pursue a civil claim against the city on his behalf when she wont get paid to do so.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
A substitute teacher reportedly told a Salem fifth-grader to go back to Mexico if he didnt want to sing the Pledge of Allegiance.

The teacher, who hasnt been publicly identified, will not be working anymore in Salem-Keizer Public Schools, the district said Thursday.

"She said, 'If you don't want to sing, go back to Mexico,' " Steven Zendejas, the boy involved, told the news station.

His mother told KATU he was born in the U.S. and is a U.S. citizen.

The incident happened at Swegle Elementary School.

Were really disappointed with what happened yesterday at Swegle Elementary, Lillian Govus, district spokeswoman, told the news station for a report published Wednesday. We pride ourselves on being a safe and welcoming school district. What that substitute said to that student doesnt align with our values.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
BIRTHDAY GAL: Actress Haley Lu Richardson was born in Phoenix on this day in 1995. This birthday gal has starred in such movies as Operation Finale, Support the Girls, and The Edge of Seventeen. Shes also appeared on the small screen on episodes of Law & Order: SVU, Awkward, and Shake It Up. Up next for Richardson will be starring opposite Cole Sprouse in the upcoming romantic film, Five Feet Apart.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The chip on someone's shoulder can interfere with daily routines. The workplace can quickly become the center of disputes. Use your best manners and diplomatic talents to put teamwork back into action.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You may sparkle and shine, but no one says, "please be mine." You may meet people with cheerful demeanors, and interesting stories, but they could be interested in a business relationship, not a social contact.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You might be overly competitive or aggressive. Focus your energies on doing your job to the best of your ability. There is no good reason to rush to make changes where home, family, career, or business is concerned.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): This is a good day to show off your attractions. You may reassess your long-term goals today but view them in an entirely different light by end of the weekend. Wait for better timing to start something new.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Curl up with a good book. Your ability to make financial decisions is somewhat impaired so this isn't a good time to turn the roulette wheel. Invest your time in learning about a valuable subject or new technique.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Sink or swim. When you are treading water, just about anything can act as a life preserver. You may be drowning in a sea of ideas but could find it difficult to discriminate between the good ones and bad ones.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Familiarity breeds contempt. You might have a better time if you get out of the house and mingle with a few strangers. Don't let jealousy or seething ambitions blind you to the value of long-lasting relationships.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You might be at your best in group meetings where your business ideas will receive attention. In just a few more days you will be ready to put these ideas into action. Digest new information thoroughly.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Keep your feet firmly on the ground. You shouldn't offer advice or handle someone else's finances because your street smarts are impaired. You may be distracted by get-rich schemes or wishful thinking.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Frustrations and setbacks are a signal that the timing is not right to move forward. Be grateful if someone points out your mistakes. This gives you a heads-up to fix errors before they become more problematic.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Stalwart friends don't necessarily give good financial advice. Weigh information from all types of sources very carefully before acting. You may briefly think that your job has a glamourous side.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Avoid a rift. Friendships might realign under these stars and you may be insensitive to someone's feelings. Stall or delay when you are faced with the task of signing new agreements or creating new proposals.

IF MARCH 7 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: You may be more sensitive, compassionate and imaginative during the next four to five weeks. You may attract new friends who encourage you to dabble in the arts or to focus on improving your health. In May you could exaggerate your importance or feel lost in a sea of unrealistic ideas. You will be more grounded and practical in June, when you can get organized, back on a sensible schedule and are imbued with more ambition. This ambition can trip you up in July when your flair for financial maneuvering is briefly snuffed out. October is a better time to focus on your health than to focus on your career and moneymaking although you may not believe this is so. Wait until December, when your shrewdness is at a peak, to make major financial outlays or decisions.

(c) 2019 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
The reactions to Leaving Neverland, which alleges that the late Michael Jackson abused male children, have now included OMSI, in Portland. In a statement on the OMSI website, its announced that the laser light show previously scheduled for March, which focused on the music of Jackson, has been canceled.

The announcement reads, in part, that OMSI had scheduled the laser Michael Jackson show in March, "but decided against it out of our desire to be sensitive to the nature of the content presented in the HBO documentary.

One of our goals is to be an inclusive place where people feel safe to learn, play and grow. Due to the controversial nature of the documentary and out of respect for those who may have personal experiences relative to the content of the documentary, we feel it is not appropriate to play this show."

In an email, OMSI spokesman John Farmer writes that OMSI has an extensive library of amazing laser light shows (from Led Zeppelin to Bruno Mars to 'Stranger Things) and rotate those shows every 1-2 months.

The laser Michael Jackson show had been scheduled to play in March for a couple of months, Farmer writes, but as the announcement says, the decision was made to pull it, when we learned about everything that came out in the HBO documentary," and wanted to be sensitive to that content and the controversy surrounding the film.

Replacing the Jackson show, Farmer confirms, is a laser show devoted to the music of AC/DC.

Leaving Neverland is a four-hour documentary that aired in two parts, March 3 and March 4, on HBO. In the film, two adult men, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, share photos, videos and memories, in which they allege that Jackson first befriended them, and then sexually abused them. Family members of the two are also interviewed.

The explosive stories recounted by Safechuck and Robson include explicit details about Jacksons alleged abuse.

Responses to Leaving Neverland have been dramatic. The Jackson estate and members of his family have objected to the documentary, and filed a $100 million lawsuit against HBO. Both Safechuck and Robson had earlier said that Jackson had not abused them, and Robson testified on Jacksons behalf during a 2005 trial in which Jackson was accused of child molestation. Jackson was acquitted on the charges in that case, which involved another boy.

But Safechuck and Robson later went on to file lawsuits alleging that Jackson sexually abused them.

Leaving Neverland earned the third-largest audience for an HBO documentary this decade, as the Hollywood Reporter noted.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
The Cloud 9 staff gets back to work Thursday, when Superstore returns from a break with new episodes. Though its a comedy, Superstore manages to touch on newsy issues, from workers benefits to immigration. Viewers should see more of that blend in the second half of Season 4, according to a discussion of the show at the recent Television Critics Association 2019 winter press tour, in Pasadena, California.

Superstore creator and executive producer Justin Spitzer, along with cast members including America Ferrera and Oregons own Nico Santos, said Superstore benefits from a light touch, even with dealing with timely topics.

With so much division in politics and cultural life, I think more and more people are looking for conversations that feel in any way honest and authentic and sane about whats happening in the world around us, said Ferrera, who plays Amy.

Spitzer and the other writers are able to address those things without it feeling like theyre picking a side or saying whos wrong or whos right, Ferrera continued.

Superstore has been renewed for a fifth season, and has gotten more popular as viewers can watch earlier seasons on Hulu.

Santos, who was born in the Philippines and moved with his family to Gresham when he was 16, said Superstore fans can make shopping tricky.

Sometimes, Santos said, he and costar Lauren Ash will go to a Target store, and people are like, Are you guys doing research? Whats going on here?

Ash, who plays the intimidating Dina, added, People are also terrified of me. Theyre like, Oh, God. Youre the lady from that show.

I just want to buy my toilet paper in peace, joked Santos, who graduated from Centennial High School, and plays Mateo, an associate who has his own interests at heart.

From the start, Superstore has featured a cast of characters and actors who come from diverse backgrounds. That had a lot to do with what the actors brought to the table, Spitzer said.

None of the roles in the pilot script had any ethnicities attached to the characters except for Mateo, said Santos, adding the character was supposed to be a straight, Latino guy.

Mateo now shares some qualities with the actor who plays him. I never thought in a million years Id be involved in a project, as Santos said, that "celebrated the fullness of my identity of being queer and Asian.

In an especially timely plot element, Mateo is an undocumented immigrant.

Being Filipino, I certainly know a lot of members of my community who are undocumented, and thats so relevant right now, Santos said. People stop me wherever I go who are, sort of, just really appreciative of the fact that weve tackled the issue, because they themselves are undocumented or a family member or a loved one is undocumented.

America Ferrera as Amy, Nico Santos as Mateo, Jon Barinholtz as Marcus, Colton Dunn as Garrett, Kelly Schumann as Justine and Nichole Bloom as Cheyenne in a "Superstore" Season 4 episode. (Photo: Colleen Hayes/NBC)Colleen Hayes/NBC

What hes heard, Santos said, is gratitude that Superstore has been able to bring a closer look and portray undocumented characters with dignity and respect, which is an opportunity that we are very thankful to do on the show.

Colton Dunn, who plays Garrett, agreed that Mateos character on Superstore can cast light on a topic that has divided many Americans.

A lot of times the narrative of undocumented workers and just undocumented people is that they are criminals, Dunn said. And the other side is sort of, like, No, they are not. And its great to have an actual example of a character who is really just living through this time out here. All hes trying to do is be, like, a floor supervisor at a superstore.

Mateo is an everyday American, Santos said. Thats what I love about Mateos character so much. Thats why I came to this country. I moved to this country when I was 16 in search of a better life, and the fact that all of this is happening is kind of, like, so surreal. But, yeah, its just, like, that there are millions of undocumented immigrants in the country right now, and they are all contributing members of society, not like these criminals and murderers like the President makes them out to be.

Spitzer said that its been important for Superstore to be thoughtful, but also funny.

We dont start with the idea of, Lets explore a social issue, Spitzer said. If anything, we are just watching to make sure the social issue doesnt obscure the laughs. We dont want to get so trapped in, like, heavy storytelling or an issue that we are not having fun, because our first objective is to make an entertaining, fun show, and when it can be smart too, thats great. 

Superstore returns for the second half of Season 4 at 8 p.m. tonight on NBC.
A 6-year-old boy spent about eight weeks in the hospital -- much of it in a dark room. His parents face nearly $1 million in medical bills. He suffered excruciating pain and lost control of his body as the first case of tetanus in Oregon in about 30 years.

The disease is preventable by taking a vaccine, but the child wasnt vaccinated. Nor is he still.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report Thursday about the 2017 tetanus case as part of their Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which aggregates field studies and discussions of contagious disease outbreaks throughout the U.S. and world. It comes amid a measles outbreak in Washington and Oregon that has sickened 75 people, most of them unvaccinated children. Legislatures in both states are considering bills to make it harder for parents to opt-out of required vaccinations.

The widespread use of the tetanus vaccine has led to a 95 percent decline in the number of tetanus cases since the 1940s, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Almost no one dies from the disease anymore.

But its still relatively easy to contract tetanus, a bacteria that lives in the soil, if not vaccinated.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report written by doctors at Oregon Health & Science University and a scientist from the Oregon Health Authority, the boy got a cut on his forehead while playing outside on a farm. The cut was cleaned and sutured at home.

But six days later, he started to cry, his jaw clenched tight and the muscles in his arms and upper body spasmed involuntarily. Those episodes were followed by his neck and back arching and more full-body spasms. Then he started to struggle to breathe.

His parents called for emergency medical help and the boy was transported by helicopter to a pediatric medical center. There, he was diagnosed with tetanus.

At the OHSU Doernbecher Childrens Hospital, his lockjaw prevented the boy from drinking water, which he craved. He had to have a tube placed into his windpipe and then was hooked up to a machine that helped him breathe, the report said.

The boy was given a dose of the tetanus and pertussis vaccine and a hefty dose of tetanus immune globulin. Immune globulins are one of the first-line defenses against many vaccine-preventable diseases. In the measles outbreak in Washington and Oregon, people infected with measles and pregnant women who have been exposed to the virus have been given measles immune globulins to slow or stop the virus from taking hold.

After given the tetanus-fighting drugs, the boy was placed in a darkened room with ear plugs and minimal stimulation in the pediatric intensive care unit to reduce his spasms, which seemed to be worsened by noise, light and other external stimulation.

The boy was also given an IV of metronidazole, an antibiotic that fights bacterial infections, and the cut on his forehead was again washed and cleaned, according to the report.

But he continued to get worse. Strong muscle spasms pulled his back and neck backward until they arched; his blood pressure and heart rate rose to dangerous levels; he developed a severe fever.

On his fifth day in the hospital, doctors cut a hole in his neck to insert a tube to help him breathe long-term. He kept receiving IV infusions of medication to try to dampen his pain and blood pressure. Doctors also tried to stop his muscle spasms with strategies to block his brain from sending the involuntary signals to his muscles.

After a month, the CDC said, the boy was weaned off the neuromuscular blockade and his ventilator. On the 44th day in the hospital, he could start to sip clear liquids. On the 50th day, he could walk 20 feet on his own. Four days later, the tube in his windpipe was removed.

And on the 57th day after entering the hospital, he got to leave and enter a rehabilitation center, where he regained his ability to run, bike and play within 17 days.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the childs diagnosis of tetanus comes from clinical observations. Tetanus bacteria are notoriously difficult to get to grow in a lab, so even though a sample of the bacteria taken from the boy didnt grow in the lab, researchers say theyre positive the boy had tetanus.

The familys bills for just the boys hospital stay came to $811,929 -- about 72 times the average cost for a child hospitalized in the U.S. That amount doesnt include the air transportation to the hospital from the farm, his time at the rehabilitation center or any follow-up costs.

The CDC report says recent tetanus cases in adults have ranged in cost from $22,000 to more than $1 million.

Unlike measles or some other disease, getting infected with tetanus doesnt make someone immune for life. A person could get tetanus multiple times during a lifespan if not vaccinated.

Most parents choose to fully vaccinate their children, who receive doses of DTaP, the diptheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine, at ages 2, 4 and 6 months, then again between 15 and 18 months and finally a fifth dose between 4 and 6 years old.

The immunity wears out about every 10 years, so federal health officials recommend children and adults get booster shots of the vaccine for only diptheria and tetanus every 10 years.

However, knowing all of that, the CDC noted that the parents of the child chose not to give him a second dose of the vaccine or any other recommended immunizations.
A new national push on vaccinations could be in the works, as evidenced by a visit to Oregon and Washington by the U.S. surgeon general on Wednesday.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams met with Oregon and Washington public health officials, doctors and emergency responders to the measles outbreak that has become one of the largest in the country. As a former Indiana state public health director, he praised the quick response of Washington and Oregon health workers to contain the outbreak.

Wednesday afternoon, he visited Evergreen Pediatric Clinic in Vancouver to talk about how local and national health officials can better reach people who are hesitant to vaccinate their children.

We need to make it easier to get a vaccination that to get an exemption, Adams said.

Adams said he cannot explicitly endorse state-level laws, but he voiced support for the idea behind bills in the Oregon and Washington legislatures that would eliminate widely used exemptions from mandatory vaccination.

The Washington House passed a bill Tuesday night that would get rid of a loophole for parents to opt out of the measles vaccine for personal or philosophical reasons.

Oregon has had one hearing on a bill that would do the same for all vaccines for school-age children.

National studies show that states that limit the reasons to opt out of vaccination have higher immunity rates. That is also shown through comparing vaccination rates between states that only allow people with documented medical reasons for not vaccinating, such as Mississippis nearly 100 percent immunity rate for measles, against states like Washington and Oregon that dont reach the 93 to 95 percent herd immunity bar.

I think thats clear, and I think we need folks to understand that, Adams.

The head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said recently that the federal government might be forced to intervene in states with weak vaccination laws to boost immunity rates.

Adams also indicated he thinks there needs to be a better national campaign to make vaccination easier to understand and access.

While he acknowledged that the Vancouver-area outbreak is showing signs of slowing -- after a month of new diagnoses every day, there are now lulls between new measles cases -- there is still a growing outbreak in New York that has infected more than 120 people.

The current number is 75 between Oregon and Washington, but health officials say the outbreak wont be over until at least 21 days go by without a new measles case.

Federal health officials have met with Facebook, Google and WebMD, he said, to convince the internet giants to better regulate organizations that spread misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

He expects Facebook to announce a move to crack down on anti-vaccination propaganda this week.

Scientific consensus, including by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that vaccines are safe and effective.

But Oregon and Washington have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

Dr. John Wiesman, head of the Washington State Health Department, said that the low immunity rates have cost the state millions.

The state government has spent $1.2 million combating and containing the measles outbreak. It has also taken restaurant health inspectors away from their work to help out.

Wiesman said that figure also doesnt include the cost to students who have been excluded from school because they are unvaccinated or the cost to the school districts in Clark County that have been disrupted.

Clark County Public Health has spent $615,800 on its own, according to a spokeswoman.

Adams added that the outbreak affects local business because customers are afraid to visit public places and parents who must stay home with their children or are afraid to take children with weak immune systems or who cant be vaccinated to day cares or the grocery store.

Oregon Health Authority Director Lillian Shirley said that there needs to be more emphasis on the social contract to keep a community safe. She and the other health officials repeatedly returned to the idea that everyone should be vaccinated who can be in order to protect those who cant.

This is an unfortunate incidence where theres been a breach in that, Shirley said.

Adams visit highlighted what he said is one of the key answers to raising vaccination rates -- one-on-one relationships with health care professionals who can offer good information about vaccines.

Cerisse Wilson, of Vancouver, was scared to vaccinate her son Everett Banse-Fay when he was born. She had seen posts on Facebook and other social media that warned that vaccines could be dangerous, so she started to research more.

She found scientific sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others that endorsed vaccines. But she also found lots of sites that heightened her fears.

She tried to stay skeptical of what she found, but the stories from parents who said their children were injured by vaccines swayed her to delay many of her young sons shots.

As someone that didnt want to screw up parenthood on the first try, I read the books, I asked different doctors what were the vaccines that I could get for him that could get him safe enough but that would allow me to stagger out the vaccine schedule, Wilson said.

But eventually, she said, she became more worried about her son getting what the vaccines prevented than what anti-vaccination advocates claimed the vaccines could do to him and started to catch him up on his shots.

She talked with her doctor at Evergreen, who allowed her to air her concerns. Wilson said that helped open the conversation to changing her mind.

Now, at 15 months, Everett is getting on a normal vaccination schedule.

But Wilson said that she still has anxiety as a new parent when faced with a very vocal and well-organized group of people who spread fear about vaccines.

Sometimes you find what youre looking for to validate those concerns, Wilson said. A freaked-out mom is going to go to that and say, well, see, it exists.

We are with US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who is visiting the Evergreen Pediatric Clinic in Vancouver, Washington. Posted by The Oregonian on Wednesday, March 6, 2019
The Trump administrations pick for ambassador to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday said he would support efforts to look into cases of Saudi nationals who have escaped prosecution in Oregon and elsewhere around the country.

Retired Army Gen. John Abizaid delivered the remarks in response to questions raised by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon during a nomination hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, D.C.

Merkley, a Democrat, used his allotted time to highlight five cases in Oregon of university students from Saudi Arabia fleeing after they have been accused of serious crimes.

All were young men studying at a public college or university with assistance from the kingdom. In four of the cases, the Saudi government posted large sums of money for bail and underwrote their legal fees. Three surrendered their passports to authorities.

Merkley suggested there could be hundreds more like them around the country.

Im surprised the State Department hasnt already investigated this, Merkley told Abizaid. Would you encourage the State Department to investigate this issue, to get to the bottom of it?

Abizaid, a West Point graduate who oversaw U.S. Central Command during the Iraq War, responded: Senator, if you confirm me, I will encourage them to do so.

The exchange came as federal law enforcement officials conduct a multi-agency investigation into how more than a dozen Saudi students escaped prosecution in the U.S.

The Oregonian/OregonLive so far has found 17 cases of Saudi students vanishing from states across the country and Canada while facing criminal charges, including rape, manslaughter and possession of child pornography.

At least eight of these defendants, including three from Oregon, have returned to Saudi Arabia or left North America, according to state and federal officials.

In two of the cases  one in Oregon and one in Ohio  state and federal authorities believe Saudi officials directly orchestrated the disappearances.

Are you as disturbed as I am that Saudi nationals have a get-out-of-jail- free card that allows them to commit abuses against children, manslaughter, rape and have no accountability? Merkley asked Abizaid during the hearing.

The retired four-star general didnt offer a direct response. I think there has to be complete accountability for any government and their citizens living abroad, and that includes respecting the laws of the host nation, he said.

Abizaid then noted how tens of thousands of students from Saudi Arabia study in the U.S. each year. All but a tiny fraction of them avoid legal trouble.

Believe you me, Merkley replied, I am not implying that Saudi nationals, as a whole, are committing crimes on a higher basis than anyone else. Im making the point that when a person commits a crime in the United States we shouldnt  because theyre an ally that buys a lot of stuff from us  allow them to whisk their citizens out.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., has said that, as a policy, it will cover the cost of bail and legal fees for any citizen facing criminal charges in the U.S. It has denied that its played any role in helping Saudi students skip bail and flee the country.

Though considered a major strategic ally and trading partner, Saudi Arabia doesnt share an extradition treaty with the U.S.

In January, Merkley introduced a bill that would, among other things, request the State Department to lobby the Saudi government to turn over any of its citizens accused of crimes in the U.S. who are now residing in the kingdom.

Abizaid is likely to be confirmed as ambassador.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632

Read other stories from this series:

He was accused of killing a Portland teen. Feds believe the Saudis helped him escape

Gone: More cases emerge of Saudi students vanishing while facing Oregon charges

Saudi students who vanish before trial span states, decades

Oregons Merkley and Wyden seek to punish Saudi Arabia over students who vanished before trial

Oregons Wyden prods FBI director for answers about Saudi role in student disappearances

Not just Oregon: Saudi students in at least 8 states, Canada vanish while facing criminal charges

Feds launch investigation into disappearance of Saudi students facing U.S. charges

State Department says it wont intervene after manslaughter suspect returns to Saudi Arabia
An attorney for Russell Orlando Courtier, the white man accused of killing an African American teenager, offered an unexpected theory Thursday about what happened: Courtier had just suffered a vicious beating by the teen and wasnt thinking clearly when he got into his Jeep and struck the 19-year-old.

The death of Larnell Bruce Jr. in August 2016 wasnt a cold-blooded murder by a man with white supremacist beliefs as the prosecution has portrayed, defense attorney Kevin Sali told jurors.

Rather, Courtier feared for his life and brain scientists will testify that Courtier suffered a head injury that prompted an unusual reaction to that threat, Sali said as Courtiers trial began in Portland. Although the defense theory was known to the prosecution, it had never before been publicly aired.

Russell Courtier never wanted any of this to happen, Sali said.

The trial is expected to last 12 days. Jurors will be asked to decide if Courtier, 40, is guilty of murder, hit-and-run driving and the hate crime of intimidation.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Jerry Hodson also will be asked to rule whether Courtiers girlfriend, Colleen Hunt, 37, is guilty of those crimes for allegedly egging Courtier on from the passenger seat of the Jeep. Witnesses told police they overheard Hunt yelling, Get him, baby! and Run him over!

A packed courtroom listened to the openings statements, with many members of the dead teenagers family and supporters attending. A a heavy contingent of media, including the British Broadcasting Co., also watched on.

The case has drawn extensive attention, as an an example of Americas racial tensions boiling over with deadly consequences.

Prosecutor David Hannon told jurors that Courtier was so devoted to the white supremacist ideas of his prison gang, European Kindred, that he had its initials tattooed into his skin. Courtier also wore an EK hat to the 7-Eleven in the Rockwood neighborhood of Gresham, where the confrontation occurred, Hannon said.

Courtier and Bruce got into a fight moments before the 19-year-old sprinted away and Courtier drove into him, the prosecutor said. The seconds before the killing were caught on surveillance video.

August 10, 2016, was a dark evening in Rockwood, the prosecutor said. It was a dark evening in Multnomah County. At the 7-Eleven located on Southeast 188th and East Burnside, Russell Courtier hunted and chased Larnell Bruce in his girlfriends large, red Jeep. ... He had one intent, and that was to kill Mr. Bruce.

Hannon said Courtier could have waited for police, but instead he chose to attack Bruce by driving into the oncoming lane of traffic and onto the sidewalk.

He would not let a sidewalk deter him, Hannon said. And he would not let a young man running away in fear for his life deter him.

Sali, the defense attorney, said it was Courtier who was in fear for his safety and the safety of his fiancee, who was sitting in the parked Jeep with nothing more than the soft top of the vehicle protecting her from Bruce in the moments leading up to the killing.

Bruce had what Sali described as a machete, but surveillance video doesnt show him using it during the encounter. Its unclear what the brawl was about.

Sali said it was Bruce who suddenly attacked Courtier, with Bruces two male associates by his side.

Its not what anybody would call a fight, Sali said. Mr. Courtier is alone, unarmed. ... Mr. Courtier is struck over and over, including in the head and the face.

What this case is going to turn on is what was in Mr. Courtiers mind? Sali said. ... How calmly and rationally was he able to make decisions and understand everything going around him in that extremely threatening, traumatic situation?

To find Courtier or Hunt guilty of murder, jurors must reach a 12-0 verdict. If found guilty, Oregon law calls for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of release after 25 years. But the prosecutor has notified the court that if Courtier is convicted, he intends to seek dangerous offender and upward departure sentences that could result in a longer prison term.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
In 1978, we left Tidewater, Virginia, with a metro population of approximately 800,000 and unbelievable traffic problems on its freeways and internal street systems. We came to Portland with a metro population of approximately 1.3 million and found no issues with traffic at all. Each community has grown by about 1 million over the 40 years. I visited Tidewater last summer during the week of July 4. The city has constructed new freeways, tunnels, bridges and improved internal street systems. It has similar land constraints as Portland, as it is boxed in by water. Even with the holiday traffic, it appeared the traffic problems were greatly improved. So, dont tell me you cant build out of a traffic problem.

Portland has done nothing to support increased capacity for traffic and is now where Tidewater was 40 years ago or worse. Attempting to keep traffic off the roads with tolls or moving them to mass transit is not the answer. Tidewater did not spend any money on mass transit systems like light rail or streetcars.

We need a westside freeway connecting Wilsonville with Vancouver via a new bridge. Interstate 5 and its intersections need to be improved. I would make it a part of the 2020 plan that encourages employees to move near their place of work. For example, live in Oregon. Explore a tax on employers that hire employees living out of state.

Claude Moss, Portland
Milo Yiannopoulos wont be going to Australia as planned.

The British-born, U.S.-based former Breitbart News editor has been denied entry to the country. Australias Department of Home Affairs rejected the right-wing controversialists visa application this week, it stated, because he failed the character test.

I am confused, appalled, amused and devastated, all at the same time, Yiannopoulos responded on Facebook. The idea that any western country would welcome a hate preacher like Omar Abdelkafy while banning a champion of free speech, capitalism and Christianity is unconscionable, but its especially awful coming from Australia, until recently a fair-minded land of common sense.

Omar Abdelkafy is an Egyptian cleric whos called the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks a comedy film. Abdelkafy spoke in Australia in February.

Along with saying his character did not pass muster, Australian immigration officials informed Yiannopoulos that they could deny entry to anyone they have legitimate reason to believe might incite discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community."

During Yiannopouloss 2017 speaking tour of Australia, riots broke out between extremist protesters, The Australian reported. The clashes resulted in injuries to five Melbourne police officers.

Yiannopoulos, 34, blamed the feral Left for the violence at his events and says the mainstream media has not been fair to him.

Last year he told journalists: "I cant wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight."

In 2016, he spoke at the University of Oregon and declared, I dont want any Muslims in the country. Two months later, Twitter permanently banned him from the social-media platform.

This is the end for Twitter, he said at the time.

More recently, hes been suspended by PayPal and Venmo for anti-Semitic harassment.

Milo Yiannopoulos' speaking engagements frequently draw protesters.AP

After the Home Affairs departments decision on Tuesday, Yiannopoulos called on Australian voters to keep his banishment in mind the next time they go to the polls.

The government cannot be involved in deciding which opinions are OK to state and which arent, he said. Australians should remember this day and remember who did this when they cast their votes at the next election.

The self-described troll has been trying to restart his career and broaden his support since February 2017 when a video surfaced in which he advocated for sex between adults and 13-year-olds, a controversy that led him to resign from Breitbart. His planned appearance at that years Conservative Political Action Conference was cancelled, and Simon & Schuster jettisoned his book deal.

Yiannopoulos has recently turned to gospel singing. Last month CD Baby rejected his new song, Silver and Gold, reportedly telling him in an email that the music distributor will not be working with you in any capacity. Per our terms of service, Section 10b., we may decide not to work with an artist whose content is patently offensive, defamatory, etc.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
SALEM  Oregon bade farewell Wednesday to Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, a Republican who defied the odds to break Democrats three-decade grip on his office but whose bid to usher in good-government reforms was cut short when he died last week of brain cancer.

As Richardsons flag-draped casket lay in state in the Capitol rotunda, with an Army honor guard standing watch, lawmakers, friends and well-wishers paid respects to a man they said governed with unflinching integrity and lived through good-naturedness.

Regardless of what side of the aisle his colleagues sat on, Dennis kind heart guided him and his work, Gov. Kate Brown said in brief remarks. He always treated me and all our fellow lawmakers with kindness, respect and civility. This is his legacy that I will always remember, and its a very important one in todays world.

Brown joined Republican Congressman Greg Walden, current and former lawmakers and dignitaries as well as hundreds of other mourners at the funeral service in the state House of Representatives chamber. Nearly every prominent current political figure attended: Brown, House Speaker Tina Kotek, State Treasurer Tobias Read and Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle, though none of Oregons four living former governors were present.

"Dennis always gave his best in the great cause of public service, Walden said, noting the sad irony that Richardson died the same week as Norma Paulus, the previous Republican secretary of state, who left that office in 1985. Paulus served as the states elected schools chief until 1999.

Richardson died Feb. 26 at age 69 after a months-long struggle against brain cancer. His state funeral, the first since Gov. Tom McCalls in 1983, served to venerate Richardson with solemnity and momentarily unite Oregons political leaders in a time of unusual partisan rancor and interpersonal strife at the Capitol.

Only the day before, the Legislature agreed to pay $1.1 million to nine women whom a former state senator had sexually harassed, actions that Capitol leaders admit they did not do enough to stop. That has sparked finger-pointing across the aisles and among Democrats. Peter Courtney, the stalwart Senate president, announced amid the fracas that he had left on medical leave to recover from a flare-up of his thyroid eye disease.

Wednesdays service assisted Oregons weary lawmakers to briefly set aside their partisan dispositions and honor the demeanor Richardson pursued as secretary of state  one in which party politics played little role in governance. That staid approach earned him the admiration of voters and the respect of Democratic and Republican officials alike.

We didnt always agree with Secretary Richardson but we were inspired and impressed by his independent mind, said Phil Keisling, a Democrat and former secretary of state.

Betsy Johnson, a notoriously tough Democratic state senator, choked back tears as she recalled that Richardson, when he held a powerful position on the Legislatures budget committee, had written legislation to aid her flood-ravaged district and never sought to take credit for the good deed. That feat led Johnson to endorse Richardson for secretary of state years later, an action for which her fellow Democrats vilified her.

Dennis placed the needs of the state above party, Johnson said.

Still, Johnson noted, politicians are rarely exalted in life as they are in death.

"At a state funeral, its inevitable that some in attendance will imagine their own memorial someday  which of their political enemies will suddenly discover the deceaseds wisdom, their integrity, now that theyre not around to make trouble  or at least audit them, Johnson remarked, drawing laughter from the crowd in the House chamber.

True to form, Richardson weathered his share of criticism over nearly two decades in politics as a staunch conservative. His hard-line views on abortion, same-sex marriage and immigration, sometimes inartfully expressed in the many newsletters he penned, drew negative press coverage and often put him at odds with Democrats.

Wednesdays state funeral follows a service Monday attended by family at the Mormon chapel in Central Point, the southern Oregon city where Richardson lived with Cathy Richardson, his wife of more than 40 years, raised a family and practiced law.

He was born Dennis Michael Richardson in Los Angeles in 1949, the son of a carpenter. He was a city councilor, state representative and secretary of state. But also a devoted husband, father of nine, grandfather of 31. Devout Mormon. Vietnam War veteran. Prolific nice guy. His personal motto  pro tanto quid retribuamus  meant having been given much, what will you give in return?

Richardsons career in politics started small and local. He served on a school district budget committee. He made inroads with the local chapter of the Oregon Republican Party. He first held office as a Central Point city councilor, a position he was appointed to in early 2001.

He climbed the ladder fast, quickly declaring his candidacy for state representative against the Republican incumbent, Cherryl Walker, over her vote against stricter abortion rules, declaring that her political and moral views dont fit southern Oregon values.

He beat Walker in the primary election with 60 percent of the vote, easily won the general election, and never faced a serious challenger through six terms as state representative.

All the while, he cultivated an image as a lawmaker who fought hard for fiscal restraint and his conservative social views. Yet Richardson also earned a reputation as a kind-hearted statesman and capable negotiator.

He rose through the Legislatures ranks to become a co-chairman of the budget committee in 2011, an unusual year where the House was tied 30-30 between Democrats and Republicans. Richardsons diplomatic approach to penciling the states multibillion-dollar budget that year  regarded as a time when excessive partisanship could bring legislative gridlock  solidified his influence among Republicans.

By 2014, Richardson, ready for the statewide stage, ran for governor against John Kitzhaber, the incumbent. The contest was among the most bitter in memory, with Richardson capitalizing on accusations of corruption on the part of Kitzhaber and his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes. Even so, it wasnt enough to overcome Oregons strong Democratic edge, and Kitzhaber won handily.

Kim Wyman, the Republican secretary of state of Washington, recounted how Richardson privately discussed the campaign with her and never uttered a bad word against Kitzhaber. Wyman said the conversation was like none other she had ever had with a politician.

He only focused on the positive, Wyman, herself a cancer patient, said through tearful remarks. Godspeed, Secretary Richardson.

Richardson wasnt out of the fight despite his loss to Kitzhaber. He launched a campaign for secretary of state the following year, casting himself as a reformer who would wield the secretary of states auditing powers to expose wrongdoing, waste and corruption within state government. The message carried him to victory on election night over Brad Avakian, the Democratic state labor commissioner.

Richardson hit the ground running once in office.

His auditors investigated health care spending, child welfare programs, state contracting practices, the failed Columbia River Crossing project and more  publishing reports that rocked the Democratic establishment in Salem and spotlighted significant shortcomings.

And he instituted small but meaningful reforms. He had audit reports written in plain language. He posted his agencys spending online. He live-streamed election results. He created a kid governor program. He raised money so a public display could be built for the Oregon Constitution.

Following the service Wednesday, the military honor guard performed a three-volley salute on the Capitol steps, after which Richardsons body was driven to Medford, where it will be interred.

He continued to lead his agency and think of the people until his last breath, Leslie Cummings, the acting secretary of state, said in a eulogy. Thank you Mr. Secretary for a life well-lived. A life that matters.

 Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com; 503-221-8209
Southeast Portland lawmaker Alissa Keny-Guyer has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will take a temporary medical leave to undergo surgery in a few weeks, she told constituents in an email Wednesday evening.

Keny-Guyer, chair of the House Committee on Human Services and Housing, is in her ninth year in the Oregon House of Representatives. The district she represents spans Northeast and Southeast Portland.

In her email, Keny-Guyer expressed gratitude to fellow legislator Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, who is a physician, for urging her to be tested.

My colleagues, my committee vice chairs, and my fantastic team are ready to fill in when I leave for surgery in the next few weeks, she wrote. I am eager to get past this bump in the road and return promptly to vote on the many bills currently working their way through committees.

In the meantime, she wrote, she will be taking weekends off. Her staff will preside at a Mar. 16 constituent coffee where she had planned to appear, she wrote.

According to the federal National Cancer Institute, most forms of thyroid cancer are highly treatable and the survival rate exceeds 98 percent.

-- Betsy Hammond

betsyhammond@oregonian.com
House Republicans took a shot across the governors bow Wednesday, issuing a news release castigating her smash and grab plan to tap a surplus in the state accident insurance fund to hold down spiraling pension costs for K-12 schools.

Gov. Kate Brown has yet to specifically detail her plans to backstop Oregons Public Employees Retirement Fund, where a $26 billion deficit is driving precipitous and repeated cost increases for schools, government agencies and municipalities around the state. But records released to The Oregonian/OregonLive show that Brown, her chief of staff, legislative director and the states chief financial officer have met with industry experts and an investment banker to discuss the SAIF Corp. option, which was first raised by a task force she appointed in 2017 to look for ways to reduce the pension systems growing deficit.

At this point, Brown isnt focused so much on decreasing the PERS deficit as holding down pension costs for schools. Thats so the pension funds voracious appetite doesnt end up swallowing the $2 billion corporate tax increase that lawmakers are considering this session to put more money into classrooms.

The basic idea behind the SAIF plan would be to tap up to $1.4 billion of its policyholder surplus to fund a side account in the pension system that would throw off investment earnings to offset schools increasing pension costs. An analysis by PERS suggests Brown may need a $3 billion infusion into the school side account to offset the rate increases schools could see in 2021. The governor has also suggested thats shes willing to consider some form of employee cost sharing in the pension system.

Tapping SAIF to backstop the pension system is not a popular idea in the business community, which enjoys some of the lowest workers compensation insurance rates in the country due in part to the very surplus Brown would look to tap. For the past decade, SAIF has issued dividends to policyholders out of its operating surplus that effectively reduce those insurance rates.

Our capital base allows us to do what we do, said Lauren Cansler, a spokeswoman for SAIF Corp. It provides safety and security for our policyholders and injured workers, and it enables us to keep prices low and service levels high.

Republicans lawmakers have pushed hard for the governor to tackle PERS reforms, but they say the SAIF plan is a Democratic shell game that could undermine the affordability of workers compensation insurance and put workers at risk.

The Governors proposed indiscreet confiscation of SAIFs reserves is a smash and grab, endangering hardworking Oregon wage earners, House Republican Leader Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass, was quoted in a news release.

Kate Kondayen, a spokeswoman for the governors office, said Brown is committed to identifying ways to address the PERS deficit and stabilize schools costs, but has no intention of selling SAIF or taking any action that will weaken SAIFs strong safety programs or benefits for workers.

She did confirm that Browns chief of staff, Nik Blosser, met last month with a New York investment banker, Tony Ursano, who specializes in mergers, acquisitions and other transactions in the insurance industry.

This is not the first time a governor has looked to SAIFs surplus as a source of a bailout. During the early eighties recession, Republican Gov. Vic Atiyeh tapped the accident insurance fund for $81 million after several special sessions failed to patch a hole in the state general fund.

That move was first challenged by SAIF itself, then in two class action suits. The Oregon Supreme Court eventually ruled that the sweep of the surplus funds was illegal and ordered the state to repay the $81 million, plus interest. By the time it was repaid, that amounted to $225 million.

That doesnt mean the governor couldnt legally tap SAIFs surplus. In 1982, lawmakers also passed a bill that specifically allowed the state to direct legislatively the disposition of any surplus in excess of reserves and surplus deemed actuarially necessary according to recognized insurance principles. So any post-1982 surplus could be fair game.

If Brown were to move forward with the plan, it would almost certainly be challenged again in court, said Bill Gary, the Eugene attorney who handled the SAIF lawsuits for the Department of Justice in the 1980s and 1990s. He said there is a strong tradition of treating SAIF like a mutual insurance company, indicating the surplus belongs to the policyholders. If someone could make the case that it would harm SAIFs ability to provide workers compensation insurance at reasonable rates, they could argue it wasnt surplus at all.

I wouldnt surface the idea of taking the surplus until I had a carefully reasoned opinion from the attorney general saying I could do it, and even then Id keep in mind that the court could see it differently, Gary said. I would also ask if it makes sense to take a program thats working well and contributing significantly to the strength of the economic climate in Oregon" and use its surplus to support the underfunded pension system.

It doesnt take much to screw that up.
This post was updated at 4 p.m. on March 7.

Oregons Secretary of State plans to suspend most of the penalty against a union-backed political action committee that mishandled ballots in last falls election.

The state would cut the penalty from $94,750 to just $24,750, a 74 percent reduction. Oregon Public Broadcasting first reported the decision.

The pending order says the Secretary of State believes the smaller penalty serves the public by eliminating the need for a hearing and reduces costs and expenses, according to OPB. The Secretary of States office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Defend Oregon collected 96 ballots from voters for last falls general election, which is a legal practice under Oregons voting system. However, the liberal group failed to submit them in time for the ballots to be counted for the November 6 election.

State law allows a fine up to $1,000 per violation in such a case and last month the Secretary of States office said it would seek nearly the maximum penalty.

In the secretarys view, the harm of not having a ballot counted is more severe than any other violation of election law, state elections director Stephen Trout wrote at the time.

On Thursday, OPB reported that the Secretary of States office determined Defend Oregon made an honest error. The agreement would require Defend Oregon to submit procedures for collecting ballots and would eliminate more than $70,000 of its penalty if it operates during the 2020 election without violations.

Defend Oregon previously acknowledged its failure. In a statement last month, the organization said we take this mistake very seriously and sincerely apologize to impacted voters who entrusted us with their ballots.

Defend Oregon did not immediately respond to an inquiry Thursday seeking comment on the agreement.

Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson died February 26. Deputy Secretary Leslie Cummings is in charge of the office until Gov. Kate Brown appoints Richardsons successor.

There is no indication that the 96 ballots affected the outcome of any Oregon races in last falls general election. However, ballot collection has become a national issue following a scandal in North Carolina in which political operatives allegedly collected ballots and filled out uncompleted ballots in favor of Republican candidates and forged witness signatures. That November race will be redone. More attention is being paid to voting by mail as doubts arise nationwide about the security of election systems that can be hacked and about reliance on aging or inadequate voting machines. After Oregon pioneered the all-mail vote in 2000, Colorado and Washington state soon followed suit.

And from the governor on down to county clerks, Oregon officials praise the system they say allows voters to cast ballots at their leisure through the post office or at official mail-in ballot drop boxes because voters don't have to leave work on election day or travel long distances to crowded polling stations. They also say the system has the added benefit of leaving a paper trail and presents fewer opportunities for hacking.

Still, the Oregon incident exposed a potential election vulnerability. An organization collecting ballots might mishandle ballots, as happened last year, or even dump them to try to sway an election. It also made clear that no one knows how many groups in Oregon collect ballots to turn in as no government agency tracks the practice.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699

The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
Why do all hipsters look the same? This is a question anyone scrolling through Instagram has probably asked themselves, at least three times a day.

Now, it appears, math has an answer to the confounding question of why nonconformists are always conforming to each other.

An article from MIT Technology Review called The hipster effect: Why anti-conformists always end up looking the same discusses the work of Jonathan Touboul, a mathematician at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

According to the article, Touboul focuses in particular on a society composed of conformists who copy the majority and anticonformists, or hipsters, who do the opposite.

Using computer models, tested out behaviors of the different groups and found the anticonformists were prone to synchronizing their anti-conformist behaviors.

For example, Touboul said in the article, if a majority of individuals shave their beard, then most hipsters will want to grow a beard, and if this trend propagates to a majority of the population, it will lead to new, synchronized, switch to shaving.

The article is interesting, sure, but for one bearded man in a hat, it hit a little too close to home.

According to a tweet thread from the editor of the Review, Gordon Lichfield, after publishing the article, We promptly got a furious email from a man who said he was the guy in the photo. He accused us of slandering him, presumably by implying he was a hipster, and of using the pic without his permission. (He wasn't too complimentary about the story, either.)

Well, the editor was pretty sure it wasnt slander to call a person a hipster, but still asked his creative director, Eric Mongeon, to contact Getty, where the picture was from, for more information.

Now, as far as I know, calling someone a hipster isnt slander, no matter how much they may hate it. Still, we would never use a picture without the proper license or model release. So we checked the license. https://t.co/uFPXXNlEid  Gideon Lichfield (@glichfield) March 6, 2019

Eric contacted Getty Images, wrote Lichfield. Getty looked in their archive for the model release. And came back to us with the surprising news: the model's name wasn't the name of our angry hipster-hater.

So, basically, a man who frequently wears a beanie, flannel and a beard saw a picture of another man wearing a beanie, flannel and a beard and assumed it was him.

All of which just proves the story we ran, Lichfield wrote. Hipsters look so much alike that they cant even tell themselves apart from each other.
A 38-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in prison after being convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl over a period of three years.

A Washington County jury found Jose D. Satey-Sanchez guilty of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree sodomy on Feb. 27, and Circuit Judge Janelle Factora Wipper found him guilty of charges including first- and second-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse and luring a minor.

Both set of charges involved the same girl, with the jury trial charges occurring in 2014 and the others in 2017.

The judge ordered Satey-Sanchez to register as a sex offender, participate in a sex offender treatment program, have no contact with the victim and not live within 3 miles of her if he gets out of prison.

According to court documents, the girl was 9 in 2014 when she told a friend at school that she was being abused, and she named Satey-Sanchez as the culprit. Staff at her school contacted police and the state human services department. Police began a criminal investigation.

The girl was removed from her home by the state Department of Human Services, and it was later determined independently that the girls claims were credible.

Criminal charges were never filed against Satey-Sanchez, and the girl recanted her statements in court in 2015, court documents said.

Prosecutors said the girl was encouraged to backtrack by her mother, who was also told of the abuse by her daughter in 2014 but didnt believe her and didnt contact police.

Satey-Sanchez was ordered to not have contact with the girl, court documents show. He continued to abuse the girl, prosecutors said.

The girl reported in 2017 that Satey-Sanchez raped her, according to the county district attorneys office. Evidence was collected through a rape kit, and a police analysis later turned up Satey-Sanchezs DNA, according to prosecutors.

Satey-Sanchez was indicted in Washington County Circuit Court in August 2018.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBailey

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
If you have a comment or opinion concerning the matters discussed in this report, or if I may be of assistance to you at any time, please feel free to call my office in Pineville at 843-567-4386. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the House of Representatives.
Ruth Aiken Owens is a reading teacher of third-graders in Dorchester District 2. She and her husband have four grown children and live in Summerville.
Nearly one in four Midlothian residents are of Latino descent, but that makeup isnt reflected in the patronage at the Midlothian Public Library, and officials there are making a concerted effort to change that.
Leadercast Live returns to Mid Michigan College's Mt. Pleasant Campus from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 10.

Event tickets are $70 per person and include lunch and event materials.

Leadercast Live is the largest one-day leadership event in the world, broadcast live each year from Atlanta to hundreds of host sites around the globe. In 2019, Leadercast Live is bringing together experts in leadership and organizational health to help attendees master the art and science of developing and leading healthy teams.

Attendees have the opportunity to:

 Get empowered by world-class speakers who show you how to become a more effective leader,

 Receive useful takeaways, including digital summaries you can share with team members,

 Surround yourself with other leaders who share your passion for learning and leading,

 Focus on self-improvement by removing yourself from your work environment,

 Spark your creativity and fill yourself with determination to achieve new level of success.

Keynote speakers include

 Gayle King, co-host CBS This Morning and editor-at-large O, the Oprah Magazine

 Patrick Lencioni, author and founder, The Table Group

 Dr. Caroline Leaf, communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist

 Marcus Samuelsson, chef, restauranteur, author and TV personality

 Juliet Funt, CEO WhiteSpace at Work

 Andy Stanley, leadership communicator, author and pastor

 Ginger Hardage, Founder, Unstoppable Cultures

 Craig Springer, executive director, Alpha USA

 Carla Harris, vice chairman and managing director, Morgan Stanley

For more information about Leadercast Live, visit midmich.edu/leadercast or contact Greg Sieszputowski at gsieszputowski@midmich.edu or 989- 386-6622 ext. 503.
National Public Radio special correspondent Renee Montagne will visit Midland on Wednesday, March 13, and will be in Traverse City on March 14. WCMU Public Media will host the free events.

Montagne, who has earned many of journalism's top honors, was host of NPR's Morning Edition from 2004 to 2016. Today, her career with the network continues as a special correspondent.

She will speak at 7 p.m. at the Midland Center for the Arts, and at 7 p.m. at Kirkbride Hall/Grand Traverse Commons in Traverse City.

Montagne's most recent assignment has been a yearlong collaboration with ProPublica reporter Nina Martin, investigating the alarming rate of maternal mortality in the U.S., as compared to other developed countries. The series has won every major award in American journalism, including a Peabody award, a George Polk Award and Harvard's Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Journalism. The series was also named a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.

"Renee Montagne has set the standard in journalism through her penetrating tenacity and compassion for people," said Ken Kolbe, general manager of WCMU Public Media. "As the spotlight on the journalism profession intensifies, Ms. Montagne's comments are certain to be enlightening."

Kolbe says Montagne's itinerary includes two public appearances and receptions. Both events will feature comments and a question and answer session with Montagne. The events are free and open to the public. Registration is required at wcmu.org/renee.

"Montagne also will take time during her visit to meet with communication students in Mount Pleasant from Central Michigan University's College of Arts and Media," Kolbe said. "She cherishes opportunities to meet with future professionals in the communication field to share her insights and answer their questions."
A 5-3 vote by the Gladwin City Council this week allowed DeShano Companies Inc. to more forward on a project to build 49 low- to moderate-income housing units.

Council members Linda Winarski, Nancy Bodnar and Roger Gardner voted against two variances to the city ordinance as required to make the Village North II plan compliant with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. The two items concern a tax abatement and what happens if the property is sold.

While there is a 16-year tax abatement on the project, Executive Assistant Heather Arnold of DeShano Companies said the city will not lose tax revenue.

"This does not negate the property taxes, the city does not lose the tax revenue," Arnold said. "They will receive payment in lieu of taxes along with municipal water and sewer revenue."

The project is expected to generate about $24,000 in revenue based on a percentage of rent prices.

Winarski worried what would happen if the property sold or the project was put under new management. She wanted to know what the city's recourse would be. Arnold said she didn't know how to answer the question. She said in her more than 20 years of working with DeShano, he has only sold one property and that was to a non-profit that needed the real estate.

Doug Lewis of New Dawn Shelter said 31 percent of the county residents fall into the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, (ALICE) which is a new way of defining and understanding households struggling to earn above the federal poverty level, but not enough to afford a bare-bones household budget. Lewis said one of the things the shelter struggles with is finding residents adequate housing when they leave.

Councilwoman Sarah Kile agreed, the city needs the additional affordable housing.

"It's a good project and it is a needed project," Kile said.

However, Gardner, who opted against the project, had questions.

"We need the housing, but if people can't afford what they have now, how are they going to afford this?" Gardner asked. "What is this project going to do? Build more housing people still can't afford?"

It is not a done deal, yet, Arnold said.

DeShano Companies still must take the plan back to MSHDA by April 1. From there, Arnold said they will see where their project rates. If selected by MSHDA, it could be about six months before construction begins.

"It is quite a process," Arnold said.

"We are grateful for the city, they have been great to work with.
Among the early voting options in Kane County is the traveling polling place known as the Vote Mobile. It will be at several locations in the Elgin area starting March 18 for county residents who want to vote before the April 2 election. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)
Today Apple's CEO attended the inaugural American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting. In the limited press segment after an introductory statement by Ivana Trump, the President stated that he wanted to start with Apple's CEO Tim Cook. Cook's commentary starts around the 5:09 mark of the YouTube video below.

Cook's commentary was more like a brief conversation with the President as he spoke directly to him. Cook stated: "Thank you, Mr. President. Its an honor to serve on this council. Ive always thought that America is so special in so many ways, but at the heart of all of it is people. And that, to me, is what this group is about.

For  our company, as you know, was founded by a college drop-out.So weve never really thought that a college degree was the thing that you had to have to do well. Weve always tried to expand our horizons.

And so that degree  about half of our U.S. employment last year were people that did not have a four-year degree. And were very proud of that, but we want to go further.

And so to that end, as weve looked at the  sort of, the mismatch between the skills that are coming out of colleges and what the skills are that we believe we need in the future, and many other businesses do, weve identified coding as a very key one.

And we believe strongly that it should be a requirement in the United States for every kid to have coding before they graduate from K-12, and become somewhat proficient at it.

And so weve provided a  weve done a curriculum now and provided it to all schools in the United States. Four thousand have picked it up. Now, we have a lot further to go because theres a lot more than 4,000 schools in America, but that is a start.

Weve also done that with 80 community colleges. And were really proud of that, particularly with the work that were doing in Austin, and providing coding education there.

Theres an enormous deficit in the number of jobs versus the number of candidates. And so were  we are proud to take part and to help to get this alignment much better between education and private sector. We realize that in something this large, it takes government, private sector, and education all kind of oaring in the same direction, and were very proud to be a part of it."

Many news organizations including CNBC and even some Apple news sites unfortunately, and childishly, highlighted Trump's one slip of the tongue at one point in the meeting calling Tim Cook, Tim 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.
The Arab-Israeli conflict isnt, on the whole, very funny. But West Bank Story managed to get laughs out of it, not to mention an Oscar in 2007 as Best Live Action Short Film. If you have twenty-one minutes, you might enjoy watching the film. Especially if youve ever visited Israel or Palestine or if you catch some of the in-jokes and references:

West Bank Story

***

Back, though, to the unfunny:

Rep. Ilhan Omar should be condemned  Religious, racial and ethnic hatred must find no refuge in Congress

Omar the flashpoint as Democrats confront divide over Israel

I have long found myself in a slightly odd position: Im far more negative about Israel than most of my fellow political conservatives and than most of my fellow Latter-day Saints. On the other hand, Im far more positive about Israel than the overwhelming majority of my fellow Arabists (except, on the whole, for those of them who are Jewish and/or Israeli).

As Ive previously commented, when Im in a group that, in my judgment, is going too far in its condemnation of Israel, I feel the compulsion to stand up in Israels defense. However, when Im in a group that I judge to be too uncritically laudatory of Israel, I feel an equal and opposite compulsion to point out the many areas in which Israel, to my way of thinking, falls short in its treatment of the Palestinians.

I would like to be pro-Palestinian, but Palestinians (speaking collectively and, thus, somewhat unfairly) have committed too many atrocities for me to rally to their cause with any great feeling of moral comfort. But I cant be anti-Palestinian, either, because I think it undeniable that they have suffered many injustices and unnecessary humiliations. When some Palestinians complain of alleged Israeli genocide against them, I reject this as a wild exaggeration and a grievous abuse of the term. But I believe that many Palestinians could be won over if they were treated fairly and without prejudice. On the other hand, Israel deserves praise for the fact that its judicial system has often (but not always) sided with Palestinians in their grievances against the Israeli government. On the other other hand, sometimes the Israeli bureaucracy seems to go out of its way to irritate and infuriate the Palestinians, who are too easily irritated and infuriated. But the Israelis are too often oblivious to their offenses. And on and on it goes. As the saying has it, its complicated.

But lets end on a positive note. Heres a brief video of an Israeli Jewish man dancing, alone while atop a car, in an Arab village:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=735884213433617
Irelands Robert Boylan has called our attention to two commentaries on recently-issued Gospel Topics essays from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The first is from Brant Gardner:

A Reaction to the Churchs Recent Essay on Book of Mormon Geography

The second is from Clark Goble:

On the Church Masonry Essay

***

Weve certainly taken hits. More than a few once-faithful Latter-day Saints have gone missing. All of us know people whose commitment to the Gospel, once fervent, has seemingly disappeared  or, at least, people who have children or siblings who have forsaken the faith. These departures are not to be minimized or ignored. Theyre unutterably sad. And we should take whatever steps we can, while remaining faithful to the revelations given to us by the Lord and to the teachings and covenants of the Gospel, to prevent such losses.

That said, those who confidently predict the imminent demise of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its pending collapse, appear to be a bit overenthusiastic. The news isnt entirely bad:

Most churches are losing members fast  but not the Mormons. Heres why. In an era of declining faith, Mormon membership is holding steady.

In fact, theres quite a bit of good news, as well. I try to share it from time to time.

***

And some other churches are facing some pretty major problems. Consider this call, for instance, to apply a kind of anti-trust or anti-monopoly policy to the Roman Catholic Church:

Not Too Big to Fail: Break Up the Catholic Church

I wouldnt hold my breath for Mr. Simons proposal to gain much traction, let alone to be carried out, but what he suggests would be the most radical change in Catholicism and mainstream western Christendom as a whole since at least the time of the Protestant Reformation.

***

Some of you may have heard that George Cardinal Pell has been convicted in a Melbourne court of the sexual abuse of a minor. I havent followed the case closely, although it did catch my eye because Cardinal Pell was the 2013 speaker in the same series of annual lectures on religious liberty at the University of Notre Dame Australia School of Law in Sydney for which I spoke late in 2018.

In a time of justifiably swelling controversy about clergy sexual misbehavior in the Catholic Church, that churchs image certainly doesnt benefit from the conviction for sexual abuse of its ranking Australian leader, a former very high official at the papal court in the Vatican itself. Still, although I have no dog in the fight, I have to say that, based on what little I know about it, the case against Cardinal Pell seems at a glance to be distinctly weak:

Why the Case against Cardinal George Pell Doesnt Stand Up

Cardinal Pell story is an extremely tangled web, but readers need alternative media to know that

***

Heres a little bit on media bias  and specifically on media bias as it affects coverage of issues relating to religion, faith, and gender:

When covering the United Methodist split, remember that theres two sides  not one

***

Finally, a senior writer from National Review visits Utah and jots down his impressions:

Salt Lake City Journal
Matthew 8:14-17

Mark 1:29-34

Luke 4:38-41; 7:11-17

Among the four gospels, only Luke recounts the story of Jesus raising the son of the widow of Nain from death.

But all three of the synoptic gospels  Matthew, Mark, and Luke  mention the healing of Peters mother-in-law ().

Do you notice something about that story?

Its striking that the first pope, as Peter is traditionally regarded among Roman Catholics, had a mother-in-law. That fact rather suggests, unless Im missing something, that he was married. (I cant think of many men, with all respect to mothers-in-law, who would opt to take a mother-in-law without a wife.)

The traditional site of the home of Peter in Capernaum is one of my favorite tour stops when we take groups to Israel, because I think the case for its authenticity is quite strong. Which means that its one spot  and, anyway, Capernaums not all that big  where (in my judgment) we can be quite confident that Jesus was actually there.

Matthew 8:18-22

Compare Mark 4:35; Luke 9:57-62

Society and laws being what they are, Latter-day Saint missionaries seldom if ever go without purse or scrip anymore. But they used to do it quite a bit, even within living memory. (If Im not mistaken, my friend Louis Midgley traveled without purse or script during his first mission among the Maori of New Zealand. I never had to do it in German-speaking Switzerland, which I rather regret  now, anyway. Of course, it would have been illegal in Switzerland.)

Jesus and his apostles seem to have been doing somewhat the same thing.

And, like missionaries today, those who served in the time of Jesus himself were obliged to more or less leave their families behind, as well as their material interests and concerns. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is sometimes criticized and often mocked for its policies restricting missionary contact with home  somewhat relaxed, recently  and for keeping missionaries out in the field when there are family illnesses and, sometimes, even family deaths. But this seems to be pretty much in the spirit of New Testament discipleship, as hard to bear as that may sometimes be.
Patna: Shreyasi Singh, the Commonwealth Games gold winner in the shooting event, on Wednesday was appointed the brand ambassador in the state governments attempt to eradicate malnutrition among women and children.

The recipient of the coveted Arjun Award, Singh, at a function held at Adhiveshan Bhawan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bihar government in which she agreed to promote messages and participate in events to reduce hunger and malnutrition in the state.

This is a great opportunity for me and I will dedicate myself to this worthy cause that aims to deal with malnutrition leading to a number of diseases including stunted growth and serious health issues, Singh said.

Atul Prasad, Principal Secretary in the Social Welfare Department, and many others were present on the occasion.
While its far too early to pass any judgment on GeForce RTX in laptops, we can at least walk you through the reasons you may actually want to buy a GeForce RTX-based laptopor not.

Nvidias GeForce RTX GPU for laptops has arrived, hot on the heels of its announcement at CES. Unfortunately, all the hand-wringing and chest-beating that surrounded the original GeForce RTX has followed. It may magnify further with the newest GeForce RTX laptop GPUs, as detractors look for more evidence that Nvidias pursuit of a hybrid ray tracing future is the wrong path.

Reasons to buy a GeForce RTX laptop

Put on your green t-shirt and queue up the ray tracing demos so you can rub your friends faces in them. Yes, if youre a fan of what Nvidia has achieved with ray tracing, here are some of the reasons you might just want to buy a GeForce RTX laptop.

RTX is the fastest gaming laptop GPU in town!

One of the biggest reasons to buy a new laptop with GeForce RTX is theyre likely to be faster than previous-generation laptops. For example, the MSI GS75 Stealth that we just tested, with an RTX 2080 Max-Q, is clearly faster than GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q laptops weve seen. In fact, in several benchmarks, the GS75 Stealth is faster than laptops that weight 50 percent more and feature much hotter and power-hungry graphics cards inside.

Daniel Masaoka/IDG We suspect that in a burly beast like Alienwares Area-51m, the GeForce RTX 2080 is going to sing.

Much of that performance weve seen is based on todays conventional gamingthat is, games that dont use hybrid ray tracing. Even if ray tracing is the future, youll still be playing these games for a while.

For example, check out the pure graphics performance results from 3DMark Time Spy, which gives the RTX 2080 Max-Q a definite lead over all other laptops weve seen lately. While we havent seen a full-tilt GeForce RTX 2080 laptop yet, we imagine that in, say, an Alienware Area-51m, that 2080 might sing.

IDG If GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q outpaces all others, then you can probably safely assume the clocked versions will rock everyones world.

You want a thin and light, yet powerful gaming laptop

While thin-and-light gaming laptops arent exclusively GeForce RTX-based, the push for making more of them is kicking into high gear with this generation.

In fact, Nvidia said of the 40 laptops that support RTX, 17 will use the Max-Q version, which pretty much means theyre going to be thin. The thin-and-light gaming choices will simply be better on models with GeForce RTX.

Adam Patrick Murray MSIs GS75 Stealth is a great example of how you can get your large screen and powerful gaming without breaking your back.

Ray tracing is the future!

Hybrid ray tracing is either the future of PC gaming or its bane, depending on whos talking. After seeing Nvidias hybrid ray tracing demos though, youre sold. Weve seen them too, and ray tracing represents a true night-and-day difference when fully implemented.

Epic This Star Wars demonstration of hybrid ray tracing has at least some people believing in its future.

Put simply, buying a GeForce RTX laptop future-proofs you for that shiny and reflective day, justifying the cash output now rather than later. The next chart, for example, shows how a GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q laptop stacks up in 3DMarks Port Royal ray tracing test.

Sure, thats not a stupendous score, but for all those other, non-ray-tracing laptops, 0 times 0 is zero.

IDG Heres the argument for why the GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q is infinitely better than laptops using last-generation GeForce graphics cards.

GeForce RTX laptops may be surprisingly quiet

One thing we havent mentioned is just how well-behaved a GeForce RTX Max-Q laptop can be. By well-behaved, we mean a laptop thats so quiet, even when running a game, that you may wonder whether something is wrongas we initially did when we tested the MSI GS75 Stealth. Not every GeForce RTX Max-Q laptop will be as discreet, but if you can find one that whispers while still belting out more frames than a GeForce GTX 1080, then thats a win.

Adam Patrick Murray Youd have a hard time believing the MSI GS75 Stealth is running at full speed thanks to the quiet fan configuration and the efficiency of he RTX chip inside.

You really cant lose on GeForce RTX

One of the arguments against buying into GeForce RTX has been the lack of game support for the new technology. While we agree thats a valid point, the counterpoint is you dont really give up anything. For example, heres another chart that shows you where a GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q laptop sits even without that hybrid ray tracing or DLSS support. No matter what, GeForce RTX laptops are likely to outpace the generation they just replaced, so youre still going forward and youre ready for the future.

IDG Despite being just under five pounds, the MSI GS75 with its new GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics chip easily outpaces laptops that weigh far more.

Reasons not to buy a GeForce RTX laptop

We just gave you plenty of truly legitimate reasons to buy a new GeForce RTX laptop, but there are also plenty of reasons we can give you not to buy one. So lets run through the fear, uncertainty, and doubt tree and ruin your RTX fantasy.

Dan Masaoka/IDG For $700 to $800, it would really hard to convince us that a GeForce RTX 2060 laptop is worth savings over a GeForce GTX 1060 laptop.

GTX 10-series laptops are plenty fast and a lot cheaper today

Although Nvidia has never disclosed the price difference between the older 10-series laptops and its new 20-series laptops, weve had vendors tell us that its not the huge sticker shock desktop gamers got. In fact, around a hundred bucks is what weve loosely settled on for the price difference.

But we also know know that laptops with GeForce GTX, not RTX, are where the deals are today.
A police officer in northern Pennsylvania has admitted to engaging in some very unauthorized community outreach.

While an officer in Hop Bottom, Susquehanna County, Joshua Diddick, 29, gave alcohol to three teen girls in the small, tight-knit community that was shocked by the allegations last year, Pa. state police say.

Diddick, now an ex-officer, admitted as much Wednesday, pleading guilty to a corruption of minors charge for furnishing alcohol to the teen girls, WNEP-TV reports.

But it could have been far more serious, as Diddick also had faced a felony charge for not reporting that another man was engaged in underage sex with one of the teen girls he had furnished alcohol to, WNEP reports.

Diddick was arrested last fall and charged with corruption of minors and the felony charge of failing to report the underage sex  an event that rocked the small town at the time:

Details from WNEP-TV:

State police say Diddick bought the teenagers alcohol last year while serving an officer for Hop Bottom. Troopers say Diddick also failed to report that one of those teenagers was in a sexual relationship with a married man in Susquehanna County.

Court papers alleged the man and the teen would engage in sexual behavior while Diddick and the other girls drank alcohol at and around a house on Mack Road near Hop Bottom.

(Story continues below)

A former police officer in Susquehanna County pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to giving alcohol to three teenage girls. https://t.co/dvdIQFJKy6  WNEP (@WNEP) March 6, 2019

There was no immediate update on this part of the story or whether the man was ever charged.

At the time, however, residents expressed shock that a police officer was involved:

Thats horrible, youre supposed to be able to trust the police officers to uphold the law, not break it, resident Stephanie Gray told WNEP at the time. I would be very upset if I was the parents of these girls.
Racial tensions in Alabama, seven months after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, resulted in violence on Feb. 18, 1965, in Marion.

State troopers beat protestors and shot 26-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson, an African-American demonstrator trying to protect his mother, who was being struck by police. Jackson died on Feb. 26.

From history.com, "In response, civil rights leaders planned to take their cause directly to Alabama Governor George Wallace on a 54-mile march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. Although Wallace ordered state troopers 'to use whatever measures are necessary to prevent a march,' approximately 600 voting rights advocates set out from the Brown Chapel AME Church on Sunday, March 7. [The Rev. Martin Luther] King, who had met with President Lyndon Johnson two days earlier to discuss voting rights legislation, remained back in Atlanta with his own congregation and planned to join the marchers en route the following day."

Demonstrators marched undisturbed through Selma.

But as they began to cross the bridge spanning the Alabama River, the marchers could see trouble on the other side - state troopers with billy clubs and white spectators waving Confederate flags. Across the bridge was the name of the reputed grand dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan, Edmund Pettus, according to history.com.

Major John Cloud, using a bullhorn, warned the marchers that continuing could be harmful to their safety. They were told to go home.

The marchers stood their ground. The state troopers, wearing gas masks, advanced, knocked marchers to the ground and hit them with sticks. Deputies on horses chased the marchers while swinging clubs, whips and rubber tubing wrapped in barbed wire.

The attack was captured by television cameras and when it aired that evening, viewers "were appalled at the sights and sounds of Bloody Sunday."

"Outrage at 'Bloody Sunday' swept the country. Sympathizers staged sit-ins, traffic blockades and demonstrations in solidarity with the voting rights marchers. Some even traveled to Selma where two days later King attempted another march but, to the dismay of some demonstrators, turned back when troopers again blocked the highway at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Finally, after a federal court order permitted the protest, the voting rights marchers left Selma on March 21 under the protection of federalized National Guard troops. Four days later, they reached Montgomery with the crowd growing to 25,000 by the time they reached the capitol steps.

The events in Selma galvanized public opinion and mobilized Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act, which President Johnson signed into law on August 6, 1965. Today, the bridge that served as the backdrop to Bloody Sunday still bears the name of a white supremacist, but now it is a symbolic civil rights landmark."
Pennsylvanias secretary of health this week took issue with a Republican U.S. senator who said childhood vaccines should be voluntary.

Dr. Rachel Levine said the comments by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul seem to her and other doctors who care for children to be completely wrong.

Her comments coincided with a Philadelphia-area outbreaks of mumps which had sickened at least 16 people as of mid-week. The cases were associated with Temple University.

Most people recover from the mumps with no major consequences, although in rare cases mumps causes inflammation of the brain and permanent problems such as deafness.

Vaccination can protect against the mumps; most children get the vaccine through the vaccine commonly called MMR, which also protects against measles, rubella and chickenpox.

A U.S. Senate committee this week held a hearing to warn against false information regarding vaccines, saying anti-vaccine groups pose a public health threat.

However, Paul, who is from Kentucky and who is a physician, said its inappropriate for the government to require vaccinations, according to the Washington Post. Rand acknowledged he and his three children are vaccinated because the benefits outweigh the risks. But he received applause from anti-vaccine activists after saying I do not favor giving up liberty for a false sense of security, the Washington Post reported.

Pauls comments prompted rebuttal from Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, also a Republican and a physician, who said he has seen people who have not been vaccinated, who require liver transplantation because they were not...Or ended up with terrible diseases if for no other reason that they didnt understand vaccination was important.

Pennsylvanias Dr. Levine, speaking in Harrisburg, referred to studies which conclude there is no link between vaccines and conditions such as autism. She called vaccines a public health victory and said the idea that these immunizations shouldnt be required doesnt make any sense.

Levine noted that Pennsylvanias vaccination rate for kindergarten students is 96 percent, considered a high vaccination rate. Scientists say a vaccination rate of 95 percent or more results in herd immunity, where so many people are immune that diseases have little opportunity to take hold and spread. This means even people who cant receive vaccine because of their medical condition are safe.

In most cases, mumps involve symptoms such as fever, headaches, fatigue and muscle aches.

The MMR vaccine is about 88 percent effective in preventing mumps, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hundreds of thousands of people per year in the United States got the mumps prior to 1967, when vaccination became common. Cases fell by about 99 percent after 1967, according to the CDC.

However, there has been a recent resurgence of mumps, with cases rising from 229 in 2012 to 6,366 in 2016, the CDC said. Outbreaks are often associated with college campuses and attributed to students living in close proximity.

Officially, Pennsylvania knows of three cases through March 1. However, there is a lag in reporting cases, meaning most if not all of the Philadelphia cases, which were reported to local health authorities, arent reflected in the statewide total, health department spokesman Nate Wardle said.

Wardle said Pennsylvania had 144 confirmed or probable mumps cases in 2018 and 116 in 2017. In the six years leading up to that, there were no more than 21 cases in a year, he said.
The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is asking hundreds of doctors throughout the state to review the patterns of their prescriptions for opioid medications.

U.S. Attorney David J. Freed sent letters to more then 300 doctors last week, according to a news release. Freed told each doctor that their patterns for prescribing opioids for Medicare Part D patients appears to be significantly different from peers within the same medical specialties.

The letters, according to the news release, are part of the U.S. Attorneys Offices effort to combat the opioid epidemic. The agency has made no determination that prescribers who receive the letters have violated the law.

The news release also indicates the office is not suggesting that the prescriptions written by the doctors who received letters were not medically appropriate.

Freed referred the doctors to educational materials on the opioid crisis prepared by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Beyond criminal and civil enforcement efforts, I am committed to help educate prescribers regarding the dangers of excessive opioid use and the consequences, Freed said in the news release. I strongly urge prescribers to utilize all resources available, including the Pennsylvania Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), to ensure that they are doing all they can to reduce serious prescription opioid abuse, while maintaining patient access to appropriate pain medications.
A dog was shot in the face and killed Tuesday afternoon in Hampden Township, according to police, who said the entire incident was recorded on dashcam video.

There was no indication that any domesticated animals or people were in danger of being attacked by the dog, police said.

Kenneth Miller Jr., 53, of Enola is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals causing serious bodily injury or death and cruelty to animals, online court documents show.

According to a criminal complaint filed by Hampden Township police, an officer was called to the 1600 block of Holtz Road, where Miller was standing in front of a tree with a shotgun.

A brown pit bull was walking toward Miller, when he shot it in the left side of its face, killing the dog, police said.

Police said the entire incident was recorded on video by a dashcam in the officers vehicle.

Additional officers arrived to find the dog bleeding and dead in a driveway, police said.

Miller was arrested, and police seized an unloaded shotgun and unloaded pistol as evidence from the scene, according to the complaint.

Miller was arraigned on his charges Tuesday before Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth Beckley, according to online court documents. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary heating at 9 a.m. March 13.

Miller is free from incarceration after posting $10,000 cash bail.
WILLIAMSPORT - A former Williamsport police officer who has been fighting his corruption conviction since 2011 has a partial victory to show for his effort.

A state Superior Court panel Wednesday vacated the obstruction of justice conviction of former Lt. Thomas H. Ungard Jr. but let stand two counts of tampering with public records.

Since the reversal of the obstruction conviction does not change the overall sentencing scheme, the panel declined to remand the case to Lycoming County court for further proceedings.

The same court in 2013 had affirmed the conviction.

Ungard, 53, who served as coordinator for the county drug task force, began filing appeals after he was sentenced April 12, 2011, to 18 months' probation and fined $750. He has served only one day of probation because of the appeals.

The obstruction charge accused Ungard of soliciting an individual to lie to investigators.

There is no doubt Ungard "acted nefariously" but, citing binding case law and language of relevant statutes, the panel concluded there was insufficient evidence to convict him of that count.

He was accused in the tampering counts with engaging in simulated sales of two forfeited vehicles by placing false dollar amounts on the titles transferred to another individual and then to members of his family.

The panel rejected Ungard's argument those crimes were minor, there was no pecuniary harm and the matter was addressed administratively.

It pointed out he betrayed a trust as task force leader not only with the title transfers but by using a forfeited pickup truck in June 2006 to take then police Chief John McKenna on a Canadian fishing trip.

He paid restitution to the task force in the amount equal to the fair market rental value of the pickup.

Ungard joined the force in May 1993, was suspended with pay July 15, 2006, and terminated April 24, 2014.

There also is controversy over his pension. The city Police Pension Board denied it but a judge restored it. The city's appeal of that decision is pending.

Then Attorney General Tom Corbett traveled to Williamsport to announce Ungard and Cpl. Dustin Kreitz were charged following a presentment by a statewide grand jury.

The attorney general's office withdrew most of the charges against Kreitz, and in January 2012 he pleaded guilty to a count that as a public official he failed to report receipt of big-screen television from the drug task force, a misdemeanor for which he was fined $350.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has requested job descriptions, grading policies and the districts conflict of interest policy amid a state inquiry into the spending of federal grants at the high school.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education suspended a chunk of federal money from the Harrisburg School District after noting serious compliance issues related to the spending of School Improvement Grants at the main high school, according to the letter the department sent to the district.

PennLive obtained a copy of the letter from the department this week through a Right to Know request. PennLive previously reported on the suspension of the grants, but the letter reveals additional details about the nature of the states investigation.

The letter requested a series of documents from the district and said the federal money would not be released until all the information received was reviewed and approved by the division of Federal Programs.

The letter did not explicitly state the compliance issues but the particulars documents requested reveal the departments focal points regarding the new Blended Transition Academy, at the John Harris campus.

The department asked for:

the job descriptions of the leaders for the program and their certifications

the districts conflict of interest policy

specifics about how students were chosen, retained and graduated from the program.

policies related to grading student work.

The academy, which costs $700,000 annually, was originally proposed in January 2018 as a way to identify students at risk of dropping out or failing to graduate and catch them early enough to get them back on track for graduation.

The academy was being run by Treena Watson, a former teacher who became an administrator to start this program, and Barbara Hasan, a retired assistant superintendent who has continued to work for the district through various contracts since her retirement in 2014.

After the money to finance the Blended Transition Academy was halted by the state last month, Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney moved Hasan into the principals job at the main high school, where she will continue to get paid by the district.

Its unclear what her principal salary is as the transfer had not yet been presented to, or approved by the school board. Hasan can return to service for the school district if she does not take monthly retirement benefits, according to Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System guidelines.

Hasans son, Bilal Hasan, is currently the districts business manager, even though the state department of education nine months ago told board members in a formal letter that he did not meet the qualifications to retain that position. In his position, he is in charge of the districts spending and financial records as the district does not have a chief financial officer, even though the state department of education nine months ago told the district that position must be filled as part of the districts recovery plan. The district has not had a full-time CFO since at least 2016.

Some school board members say they cant get any answers from Knight-Burney about the state departments inquiry or Barbara Hasans abrupt transfer into the principals job.

Board Member Carrie Fowler said she believes Barbara Hasan now may be getting paid from the substitute teacher service, but said she cant get confirmation.

Fowler said she and School Board members Judd Pittman and Brian Carter have asked Board President Danielle Robinson for an executive session but Robinson did not respond. Robinson did not immediately respond to a message from PennLive.

Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney (at right) met with reporters Monday Aug. 13 to provide an update on a grading investigation at the main high school. Jaime Foster, chief academic officer is at left.

Knight-Burney also did not respond to multiple requests from PennLive on Tuesday and Wednesday for insight into the review of the federal grants, information about the Blended Transition Academy or Barbara Hasans previous and current positions and contracts.

When the proposal by Watson and Barbara Hasan for the Blended Transition Academy was approved by board members in January 2018, the proposal included the following measurable outcomes for students in the program:

Achieve five credits/courses toward graduation by the end of the 2017/18 school year

Decrease the suspension rate by 80 percent

Boost attendance to 85 percent

Reduce dropout rate by 15 percent.

The letter from the education department asked for student records and grading policies, noting that state and federal law require retention for six years.

Fowler said she and several other board members asked Knight-Burney for copies of the letter from the Department of Education about the federal grant inquiry but the administration would not provide the letter.

Instead, Knight-Burney wrote school board members an email after PennLive reported on the suspension of federal funds, calling the article a personal attack.

I stand by the decisions that I have made, Knight-Burney wrote in the March 1 email. It is very sad that a highly respected educator who has served our district well is having her reputation tarnished and questioned in this manner.

The Federal Grants office of PDE has requested some documents: job descriptions; certification information, etc. We have compiled the information as requested and are waiting to be notified of the meeting with PDE to address any questions they may have.

Knight-Burney noted the school improvement grants are typically paid through reimbursements and that she was sure that when we meet with PDE and provide them with the requested documents, our reimbursement cycle will continue.

Michael Levin, an attorney representing the school district, on Friday told PennLive the Blended Transition Academy is still operating. He also confirmed Barbara Hasan was, and is currently, being paid through a company known as Substitute Teacher Service that has a contract with the district.

Editors Note: This article was updated Friday afternoon with information from Michael Levin, of the Levin Group.
Jeopardy! game show host Alex Trebek announced in a YouTube video Wednesday afternoon that he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

He said that he didnt want fans of his or the show reading the news elsewhere or reading or hearing some overblown or inaccurate reports regarding my health. So therefore, I wanted to be the one to pass along this information.

He said he found out the diagnosis earlier this week and plans to keep working as long as he can.

Truth told, I have to! Because under the terms of my contract, I have to host Jeopardy! for three more years! So help me," he said. "Keep the faith and well win. Well get it done. Thank you.

Trebek, 78, began hosting the daily syndicated version of Jeopardy! in 1984. The show, which is in its 35th season, has more than 7,000 episodes; Trebek has won 33 Daytime Emmys. He received a Peabody Award for encouraging, celebrating and rewarding knowledge.

If anyone can beat this its Alex, read a statement from Mike Hopkins, chairman of Sony Pictures Television, which produces Jeopardy! "He has our full support as he tackles this challenge head-on, according to a Washington Post story.

Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak tweeted his sympathies to Trebek and his family, adding that there is no one I know who is stronger and more determined, and I would never bet against him. We, and the entire country, are pulling for you, Alex. The Washington Post story noted that the two have long been friends - the only time Trebek didnt appear on Jeopardy! was when he and Sajak switched hosting duties for a day in 1997.

Trebek made news in Pennsylvania last fall when he served as moderator for the lone debate between gubernatorial incumbent Tom Wolf and Republican challenger Scott Wagner.

--

Editors note: Added reaction and more details about Trebeks career at 8:15 p.m.
WILLIAMSPORT - A federal judge refused to dismiss charges against two members of a white supremacist organization who argued that the government "manufactured" the charges against them.

Justin Daniel Lough and Jacob Mark Robards are two of six members of the Aryan Strikeforce who were arrested on charges they participated in a scheme to smuggle drugs and weapons across state lines. Lough and Robards are the only two who have not pleaded guilty to related charges.

Rather, they asked the court to dismiss the charges, contending the government engaged in "outrageous conduct." They said the government "manufactured" the crime because it controlled the transactions involving drugs and firearms.

U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann denied the motion, writing that the defendants were repeatedly advised by undercover FBI employees who infiltrated the Aryan Strikeforce that they could back out of the transactions at any time.

While the FBI decided when and where the transportation of drugs would occur, and the weight of the simulated drug, Brann noted that Strikeforce members took control of some decisions, brought other people into the plan. Lough even reached out for more work, Brann said.

The judge's 90-page opinion detailed the investigation into the operation in which proceeds from drug sales were used to buy gift cards that were later to be used to buy guns and ammunition.

The invesgitation was started because the FBi received complaints about convicted felons trying to get firearms in Potter County, FBI Agent Kyle D. Moore testified in December.

But the initial thrust was to gain intelligence on a plot to detonate an improvised explosive device, possibly at an ANTIFA rally in Harrisburg, he said. ANTIFA is a militant anti-fascist movement.

A strikeforce member in bad health talked about wanting to go out with a bang and discussed taking an oxygen canister to a rally and detonating himself, Moore testified.

Moore in his testimony described the recruiting procedures of the Aryan Strikeforce, saying it takes six years as a "supporter" before an individual becomes a "patched" or full-fledged member.

A patched member, he testified, had to have the ASF symbol tattooed on his body and take a blood oath that concluded with a straight arm salute and a yell: Hail Aryan Strikeforce! Hail Combat 18!

Combat 18 is a violent, white supremacist organization in the United Kingdom.

A Dunkin Donuts and the El Rodeo restaurant in Harrisburg and locations in Lords Valley, Tannersville, Potter County, Hagerstown, Md., and Staunton, Va., were among places where meetings or transactions occurred in 2016 and 2017.

The opinion cites an April 7, 2017, meeting in a parking lot in Harrisburg where Aryan Strikeforce member Joshua Steever, who has entered a guilty plea, was shown a box containing parts to make a handgun automatic and triggering mechanisms for AR-15 rifles.

An escalation of violence was the reason the undercover investigation ended April 11, 2017, with the filing of charges, Moore said.

Examples Brann cited included a brass knuckles assault of an African-American and an attempted point blank execution.

Besides Steever of Manville, N.J., described as the Aryan Strikeforce founder, others who have pleaded guilty are Stephen D. Davis, Connor Drew Dikes of Silver Spring, Md., and Henry Lambert Baird of the Allentown area.

Davis, formerly of Bumpass, Va., is the only one to have been sentenced. All six are detained. Robards is from Bethlehem.
A Dauphin County man faces five felony charges after police said two teenaged girls reported that he sexually assaulted them at a Lykens-area home.

Thomas E. Fornwald, 63, of Lykens was arraigned Tuesday evening on felony charges of indecent assault of a person younger than 13 and two counts each of corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor.

That is in addition to two misdemeanor counts of indecent assault without consent and indecent assault of a person younger than 16.

According to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday by state police in Lykens, troopers were first contacted Dec. 11 by a 13-year-old girls mother, who reported that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by Fornwald at a home where she was visiting a friend.

The girl was interviewed in January by police, and, according to the complaint, she told them that she was in a hallway at the home when Fornwald picked her up, pinned her arms to her sides and groped her.

I was scared, the girl told police, according to the complaint.

Police said the girl also told them that Fornwald made sexual comments to her, and that she went home crying before reporting the assault to her mother.

Fornwald also was interviewed by police, and he told them that he put his arm around the girl to catch her when she tripped, and while doing so, he could feel that she was beginning to develop, investigators wrote in the complaint. Fornwald said he intended to apologize for the contact, police said.

A few weeks later, on Dec. 28, officers received a report from Children & Youth Services about a second 13-year-old girl, who also accused Fornwald of assaulting her, police said.

The second 13-year-old also was interviewed by police, according to the complaint, which explains she too was visiting a friend.

Police said the girl reported that Fornwald often would try to get her alone."

The girl said Fornwald made sexual comments to her and asked her to commit sex acts, but she always refused, police said.

The girl also told police that Fornwald would touch her inappropriately," and, once, when she was sleeping, he lifted her shirt, according to the complaint.

She woke up, quickly pulled her shirt down and push his hand away, police said, adding that the girl said Fornwald assaulted and harassed her on multiple occasions.

She was afraid of Thomas and eventually stopped going there because of what he did and said to her, police wrote in the complaint.

Fornwald is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. March 13 before Magisterial District Judge Rebecca Jo Margerum.

As of Wednesday afternoon, online court documents showed that Fornwald remained incarcerated in Dauphin County Prison unable to post $100,000 cash bail.

Fornwald is registered to the state Megans Law website for a rape conviction in July 1996.
An Ephrata man is accused of impersonating police after police say he used flashing lights to pull over a motorist last month.

Manuel J. Median, 27, was in the area of North Reading Road and Alexander Drive in Ephrata around 11:15 a.m. Feb. 1, when police say he activated flashing amber and white LED lights mounted inside of his SUV.

The vehicle in front of him pulled over, and Medina approached the car and identified himself as a police officer, police said. Medina then clarified and told the driver he was not an officer but should be considered one, police said.

The driver drove away and called police.

Medina was charged Tuesday and released on $10,000 unsecured bail. He also waived his preliminary hearing, according to online court documents.

His mandatory arraignment is scheduled for March 22.
Pennsylvanias Supreme Court has refused to hear Lock Haven Universitys appeal of a lower courts order requiring it to rehire a professor who was fired over a 28-year-old conviction for molesting two children.

That means the order to reinstate mathematics Prof. Charles Morgan that was issued by Commonwealth Court in August must stand.

The Commonwealth Court decision upheld an earlier arbitration ruling favoring Morgans reinstatement. The arbitration ruling was won on Morgans behalf by the Association of State College and University Faculties, the professors union.

The Pennnsylvania State System of Higher Education backed Lock Havens attempt to keep Morgan out of the classroom.

Morgan was hired by Lock Haven in 2004 and was promoted to full professor in 2009. His criminal record was discovered in 2016 after the state universities secured court permission to require professors who teach minors to undergo criminal background checks.

In Morgans case, an FBI report showed that in 1989, when he was 19, he was charged with sexually assaulting two minors in Kentucky. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but reduced his jail time by completing voluntary sex offender therapy.

The Centre County resident didnt have to report his conviction when he applied for a job at Lock Haven because the employment application only asked whether he had pending criminal charges or had been convicted of a crime in the past decade.

In ordering Morgans reinstatement, the arbitrator found the preponderance of evidence showed (his) youthful criminal acts had not followed him into middle age.

The Supreme Courts refusal to hear Lock Havens appeal doesnt end the dispute over Morgans termination. A civil rights lawsuit Morgan filed against the university and the state system in U.S. Middle District Court in 2017 remains active.
Penn State University was one of more than two dozen universities around the country that was recently targeted by Chinese hackers searching for maritime research, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The outlet reported that the hacking group is known interchangeably as Temp.Periscope, Leviathan or Mudcarp, and that they were after research related to maritime technology being developed for military use.

Penn States applied research laboratory, which earns money from the Defense Department, was among the targets, WSJ reported.

A Penn State statement provided to the Centre Daily Times said that the university administration was aware of cyber attacks. The university said it was working with the government to protect their network, but did not confirm or deny a security breach.
A man awaiting trial on charges he beat and choked his wife tried from his jail cell to hire an assassin to kill her, police said.

But a cooperating witness working with a detective thwarted that plan, police said, and Leroy Newton Vencak Jr., 32, is now also facing a charge of criminal solicitation for criminal homicide.

According to the criminal complaint:

Dauphin County Detective John OConnor said that a witness told him on Dec. 7 that Vencak was trying to hire an assassin to kill his wife.

Venceck is being held in Dauphin County Prison on charges of aggravated assault and strangulation from an incident that happened in August, according to the complaint.

The witness handed OConnor a note he received from Vencak while they were in separate sections of the prison. Police said Vencak and the witness are both members of a prison gang called Dead Men Incorporated.

In the note, Vencak wrote that he needed to find someone within the gang to kill his wife, and he would pay to have it done, police said.

Upon learning of the plot, the Dauphin County District Attorneys Office alerted the potential victim so that she could relocate while the investigation proceeded.

OConner then set up a bogus post office box address with a fake name for the assassin, and gave it to the cooperating witness to give to Vencak, according to the criminal complaint.

On Feb. 5, OConnor learned that a letter was received at the address. The letter, seized as evidence, contained Vencaks wifes name, her address, the ages of her children, the locations of their rooms, and other details, according to the criminal complaint.

Vencaks wife told police the letter perfectly described the locations of her room and the childrens rooms, and she recognized the handwriting as Vencaks, according to the criminal complaint.

In an interview with police on Tuesday, Vencak initially denied trying to have his wife killed, and also denied writing the note to the witness and the letter. After detectives told him the letter is being sent to the Pennsylvania State Police Forensics lab for DNA and fingerprint testing, Vencak admitted that he wrote the note and the letter, police said.

Vencak also told police he considers his wife a rat because she turned him into the police and refused to drop the felony charges against him from the August incident.

Vencak was denied bail on his most recent charges, and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 27, according to a criminal docket.
Even though he claimed he committed the crimes to help out his sick child, a man who robbed six East Shore convenience stores at gunpoint deserves to stay in prison, a state appeals court has ruled.

In making that call, the Superior Court panel rejected Nathaniel Strassers contention that the 6- to 12-year jail term a Dauphin County judge imposed on him is manifestly excessive.

Strasser, a 21-year-old stone mason with no prior criminal record, did have a unique excuse for robbing the stores in Swatara and Lower Paxton townships, Middletown and Hummelstown during a one-week spree in August 2017.

When he was sentenced by county President Judge Richard A. Lewis this past July, Strasser insisted he was trying to get money to aid his gravely ill 2-year-old son, who lives in Honduras. His lawyer said Strasser turned to crime after a bank and friends rejected his requests for a loan.

Strasser argued on appeal to the Superior Court that Lewis not only punished him too harshly, but was unjust in ordering him to serve his Dauphin County sentence consecutively to a 3- to 6-year prison term he received for another armed robbery in Adams County.

The state court backed Lewis decision in an opinion by Senior Judge Dan Pellegrini.

Pellegrini seconded Lewis observations that Strassers crimes were grossly reckless and highly dangerous especially since the pistol used in the holdups had a live round in the firing chamber when it was seized by police.

The state judge also cited Lewis finding that, This could have very well turned into a tragic event. (Strasser) had no regard for the safety of others.
Citing a special investigation by PennLive, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. said Wednesday that the outrage of nursing home abuse and neglect merits the attention of both parties in Congress.

Casey cited the PennLive report - Still Failing The Frail - at a hearing on nursing home abuse in Washington Wednesday.

Its an outrage, to say the least, to hear what weve heard for far too longthe stories of abuse and neglect that have gone on, Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said at the hearing.

More recently weve had reporting in Pennsylvania, a series entitled Still Failing the Frail  thats the name of a story by PennLive, a newspaper series in Pennsylvania on some of the abuses that have taken place, Casey said at the hearing. In this particular series there were stories of patients with maggots in their feeding tubes, patients with bed sores, which we hear about a lot, and patients that died because of the abuse that they faced.

The PennLive report found a chain of troubled nursing homes in Pennsylvania remain mired in problems despite ownership changes and promises of tougher oversight by Gov. Tom Wolfs administration. More than 80,000 Pennsylvania residents live in nursing homes.

Earlier this week, Casey and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, wrote a joint letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services seeking answers about nursing home care. The senators raised questions about the substandard nursing homes designated by the government as special focus facilities.

Only 85 of the nations 15,000 nursing homes are currently considered special focus facilities. Those homes get extra scrutiny and can potentially lose funding if they dont improve. In the letter, Casey and Toomey said they want to know how nursing homes qualify for that designation.

At the hearing, Casey pointed to the special focus facilities and noted that the federal government puts together a list of nursing homes in every state that should be considered for the program. While 400 homes are recommended for additional monitoring, Casey said, less than a quarter are admitted to the program.

Casey asked if the list of homes recommended for additional federal monitoring should be made public.

Maya Fischer, a witness at the hearing, said her mother was sexually assaulted in a Minneapolis nursing home. She said families should be entitled to as much information as possible when they are scouting nursing homes.

Its an extremely difficult decision to make on putting your loved one in a nursing home facility, Fischer said. "Its heartbreaking. So any information that we can get to help us make an informed decision, I would be all for.

Another witness at the hearing, Patricia Olthoff-Blank, told senators that her mother suffered neglect at a nursing home in Iowa that led to her death last year.

This hearing demonstrates clearly that this is an issue that both parties in both houses have to be concerned about, Casey said.

The Senate Finance Committee held the hearing. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican and the committees chairman, said he hoped the hearing would shed light on the systemic issues that allow substandard care and abuse to Americas nursing home industry and to help lead the way to reforms.

More questions are being raised regarding the oversight of nursing homes in the Keystone State.

Following the PennLive investigation, Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced plans to conduct an audit of the state Department of Healths oversight of nursing homes.

RELATED STORY: Experts offer some guidelines for finding a good nursing home.
Emergency crews rushed to a Philadelphia subway station this morning for a report of someone being stabbed twice in the chest.

The 33-year-old was taken to an area hospital, and police are investigating the stabbing in the concourse area at the Walnut-Locust station of the Broad Street Line, Action News 6 ABC is reporting.

This happened on the second day of the ongoing SEPTA Transit Police worker strike, according to reports.

There is no word yet on a motive for the stabbing, reports indicate.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, operates buses, light rail and trolleys in the Philadelphia region. The Transit Police union went on strike Wednesday after contract talks broke down, according to reports.

But during the strike, 49 police supervisors remain on duty, pulling 12-hours shifts and patrolling the system, reports indicate.
A Steelton woman suffered non-life threatening injuries when she accidentally shot herself near Steelton-Highspire Elementary School on Wednesday, police said.

Swatara Township police officers went to the Steelton-Highspire High School parking lot around 3:30 p.m. to investigate damage to a vehicle parked there, police said. Officers determined that a projectile hit the vehicle, breaking two windows.

Working along side Steelton Police, Swatara investigators learned that Zuleyka Ortiz-Candelaria, 30, accidentally discharged a firearm while she was parked near the Steelton-Highspire Elementary School.

The discharge happened while Ortiz-Candelaria was in her parked vehicle, police said. She suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound, and reported the shooting to Steelton Police.

The investigation found that the shooting occurred in Swatara Township in the 200 block of Reynders Lane.

Ortiz-Candelaria was charged with reckless endangerment, possessing a weapon on school property, criminal mischief and filing false reports to law enforcement.
A York City man was convicted of rape of a child and other sexual offenses Wednesday afternoon, according to a post by the York County District Attorneys Office.

GUILTY: Rape of a Child Jacob Harry Hess, 43, of York City, was found guilty moments ago of Rape of a Child, Sexual... Posted by York County District Attorney's Office on Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Jacob Harry Hess, 43, was found guilty at trial, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25, 2019.

The York Dispatch reported in April 2018 that Hess was charged in connection with a 2010 rape of a three-year-old girl. York City Police said Hess admitted to the rape.

The outlet reported that Hess initially admitted to sexually touching the girl, but said it was by accident when they were wrestling. He also made anti-police and anti-judicial system statements and said the girl never liked him.

Hess would have been 34 when the girl was 3.

Hess was convicted of felony child rape, sexual assault, and corruption of minors, and misdemeanor indecenet assault of a person younger than 13, according to online court dockets.

The district attorneys office thanked the York City Police Department and Assistant District Attorney Taylor Katherman for their work on the case.
George Stephan Murrison, 84, passed away at his home in Petersburg on February 10 with his wife Nancy, daughter Lynda and his two dogs Rowdy and Risky by his side.

He was born October 12, 1934 in San Andreas, California and was raised in the California foothills. After high school, he enlisted in the United States Army to be near his brother and both were stationed in Korea during that war. After the service he settled in Lodi, California and started his family. He worked 32 years for General Mills in Production Management.

He and Nancy met at General Mills and married in 1984, They came to vacation to Petersburg, Alaska in 1988 and fell in love with the town. In 1990 they bought the Scandia House and settled in Petersburg.

He loved to fish and take friends and family fishing and boating. He was also every dog's best friend.

His parents, brother, sister and stepdaughter preceded him in death.

He is survived by Nancy, his wife of 34 years, his children, Gregory, Kimberly, Lynda and Chris, six grandchildren, five great grandchildren and two sisters.

Military services and burial were held February 19, 2019 in Lodi, California.
Charlevoix, Boyne City schools close due to missing gun threat

The potential threat of a missing gun from a Boyne City residence caused the closure of both Boyne City and Charlevoix public schools on Wednesday.
Our mission is to follow Christ and to be faithful to Christ and do what Jesus tells us to do, he said. As human beings, were resistant to open ourselves and to accept the new reality of the two combined parishes.
For 24 years, August Wilson was engaged in a remarkable project he completed shortly before his death in 2005. He wrote 10 plays, each representing a decade in the African American experience in the 20th century. This Century Cycle is a monumental contribution to American drama.

Gem of the Ocean takes place in 1904  the first of the cycle although written next to last, in 2003, at the height of his powers. The Ardens production, under James Ijames strong direction, is wildly theatrical and deeply emotional and not to be missed.

Years ago, while waiting for another production of Gem of the Ocean to begin, I heard the following exchange between a couple sitting behind me. A woman, reading from the program that Aunt Ester  the central character in this play and one who reappears in several of Wilsons other plays  was 287 years old, said, How that be? Her companion replied, Its theater. And that is the true story of August Wilsons stagecraft, allowing the hard realities of life to exist alongside mysticism.

The play begins when Citizen Barlow (the superb Akeem Davis, who becomes the muscular center of the show) bursts into Aunt Esters house, desperate to have his soul washed, tormented by some terrible deed he must confess to. Aunt Ester (the impressive Zuhairah) takes him in, and he becomes part of the household, joining Eli (Steven Wright) and Black Mary (Danielle Lenee, lovely). There are various visitors: cruel, power-drunk Caesar (Bowman Wright); Solly (Brian Anthony Wilson, in a strong, sympathetic performance), who is still a freedom fighter; and Rutherford Selig (Brian McCann, who creates a rich and warm character), a white peddler.

The climactic scene in Gem  both theatrically and thematically  is Aunt Esters conjuring up of the City of Bones. Citizen will revisit the horrors of the Middle Passage, the journey from freedom to slavery, as he passes through states of wonder, terror, guilt, and confession. Saving him is a communal effort (his name isnt Citizen for nothing), and their rejoicing is interrupted by Caesar, a vicious convert to the law; we do well to remember the injunction Render unto Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is Gods.

The drama  in every sense of the word  is enhanced by the set (designed by Thom Weaver, whose lighting is wonderfully evocative). Theres a pump for water, a stove for cooking, and a sofa for sitting, while the stage is surrounded by shining black statues, figures standing in dark water. Late in the play, while in his visionary state, Citizen is terror-stricken: They all look like me. They all got my face! He has discovered the central truth August Wilson and Aunt Ester were guiding him toward.

The plays debate  between the values of self-interest and community, between commerce and kindness, between refusal and sanctuary  is eerily relevant. Gem of the Ocean is a history play: The title is the name of the slave ship that brought Aunt Ester to America, just as her address, 1839 Wylie Avenue, contains the date of the slave rebellion on another ship, the Amistad, and points, as well, to the time the Underground Railroad began. But, like all great history plays, Gem of the Ocean is about the present as well as the past.

Theater

Gem of the Ocean

Through March 31 at the Arden Theatre Company, 40 N. Second Street. Tickets: $18-$52. Information: 215-922-1122, ardentheatre.org.
The statue of Billy Penn and observation deck, on top of City Hall, can be seen from the 57th floor of Liberty One Observation Deck . Read more

Spirited Media is seeking buyers for Billy Penn in Philadelphia and TheIncline in Pittsburgh, local news sites employing about five staffers at each location.

Spirited Media also announced on Monday that it sold the Denverite to Colorado Public Radio. Terms were not disclosed.

Chris Krewson, a co-founder and part-owner of Spirited Media, said on Thursday that the company had been looking for $1.5 million in additional funding -- required to take the operation to profitability -- for Denver, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh online sites. The company couldnt raise the funding.

Prior investors included the Gannett Co., which faces a hostile takeover bid from the hedge fund Digital First Media.

Krewson didnt place a value on Billy Penn, which launched in 2014, and TheIncline, which started in 2016. But he said that Spirited Media was speaking to local investors in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and would like to close a deal in weeks and not months.

The Spirited Media generates most of its revenue through membership supporting local journalism and local events.

Krewson said that Spirited Media was reorganizing its business around consulting on digital operations for television and radio stations.
Inside the Saxbys coffee shop at Drexel University, Alyssa Bennett, 21, makes deposits, sets schedules, and pitches in at the latte machine when the line gets long.

The third-year Drexel student is what the Philadelphia-based company calls a Student CEO, referring to cafe executive officer. In locations on or near college campuses in Pennsylvania, Washington, Georgia, and New Hampshire, the coffee company hands over operations to a local student for the semester, paying them above minimum wage to run the cafe full time while also receiving class credits.

Drexel president John Fry called this twist on the campus coffeehouse exactly the kind of thing that we want.

Another coffee shop? Who cares. But a student-run Saxbys? Great, he said.

As academia becomes increasingly competitive in attracting top students and staff, universities are turning to retail to create study, work, and play environments that set themselves apart. Even as brick-and-mortar stores struggle to compete with online retailers, the upcoming generation of college students is fiercely brand-loyal and often prefers a hands-on shopping experience, research shows.

Its been a slow burn to get colleges to realize how critical the retail and restaurants scene plays on the college campus experience, said Doug Green, a managing principal at MSC Retail, whose MSC University unit focuses on retail real estate in higher education. But its really starting to snowball, and youre starting to see more and more schools recognize what they have, recognize what they need.

Take the Saxbys on 34th Street. It is within walking distance of a Wawa, 7-Eleven, and Starbucks. A Chipotle, Insomnia Cookies, Blaze Pizza, and Drexels food court Urban Eatery are nearby.

Just having a campus environment where you know theres so much available to you, you can walk down the street  and pass three coffee shops I think that really pushes people to come to college campuses, Bennett said. I know when I was touring campuses, I was, like, well, is there a coffee shop in the business building? Because I want to be able to access coffee whenever I can. Especially a cafe like this with such a great environment for people to come meet and study and hang out. It really drives home that Drexel, or whatever college its on, is a place where you want to be.

Tracking the college generations shopping habits could also be a good indicator of their future tendencies, experts say.

For Saxbys CEO Nick Bayer, the university locations gave the company insight into the emerging demand for cold brew coffee over regular hot coffee. This happened far sooner at college campuses, he said, and the company responded by creating a cold brew collection with signature flavors. This has since spread to the companys noncollege locations.

Our more urban cafes in places like Drexel, were seeing a nice glimpse into what sort of trends and buying profiles future consumers are looking for because were serving that 18- to 24-year-old so closely, Bayer said.

Gen Z

Penn has invested in commercial development for decades now, but it has adapted to provide amenities that meet the needs of its changing population. Although retail used to be mostly service-oriented, Ed Datz, Penns real estate executive director, said the university is now attracting more experiential retailers, expressed in some ways by the homegrown food hall, Franklins Table.

Penn courted Philadelphia-based companies and alumni to open locations at the food hall, resulting in a mix of cuisine, such as falafel from Goldie, breakfast sandwiches from High Street Provisions, burgers from KQ Burger, Kensington Quarters fast-casual model, and acai bowls from the Juice Merchant.

This gives local retailers exposure to a new market and insight into changing buying habits. Students also get access to diverse and unique Philadelphia foods.

"We have to make it an attractive place with needed amenities in order to be a magnet for talent, said Tony Sorrentino, a Penn assistant vice president. You cant be in an ivory tower.

>>READ MORE: Gene therapy innovators Amicus Therapeutics to join University Citys surging biotech sector

Even while online shopping carves out more of the market, a National Retail Federation survey showed that 67 percent of the younger generation, called Gen Z, said they prefer to shop in a store most of the time.

Big-name retailers have also taken notice of this trend. Target opened seven of its smaller-format stores on or near college campuses last year, and the company announced plans to open about 30 stores annually in the next few years. There are locations across the country, including the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Cincinnati, University of Texas-Austin, Florida State University, the University of Maryland, and Boston University.

Orange Theory Fitness, a boutique fitness studio chain, opened a location in University City this year, brokered by MSC. Carlisle, Pa.-based Giant Food Markets announced last month that it will be expanding its urban store concept, Giant Heirloom, to University City, among other neighborhoods.

If you can hook them young, and you can get them engaged, you can be a presence in their lives during these formative years, said Katherine Cullen, the NRFs director of consumer and industry insights.

After the success last year at the Penn food hall, Michael Pasquarello, the owner of 13th Street Kitchens restaurant group, KQ Burgers parent, said he hopes to open two more KQ Burger locations within a year.

Its turning people on to our 13th Street Kitchens brand as a whole, and we use that as a marketing strategy there for sure because these young students turn into young professionals and theyre Penn students, so they generally do pretty good out there, Pasquarello said. Its a nice little circle of life.

***

It hasnt always been a virtuous circle for universities and their environs. While relationships have probably improved over the years, there continue to be tensions.

Its important to think about development in a way that benefits both the university and surrounding community, said Tayyib Smith, principal at Little Giant Creative agency, which helped develop an exhibit called A Dream Deferred, to examine the effects of redlining, aka denying loans in Philadelphia neighborhoods, including West Philly.

The history of universities and the black communities that they border are extremely complicated, Smith said, referring to the federal urban renewal policies of the 1950s and 1960s that Penn exploited to grab tracts of land in West Philadelphia and displace thousands of residents, mostly African Americans from the Black Bottom neighborhood.

Universities ought to own up to the mistakes of the past and try to correct them moving forward, said Omar Blaik, CEO of U3 Advisors, a real estate and economic development consulting firm that has worked with universities across the country.

Blaik, who was Penns senior vice president of facilities and real estate for nine years until March 2006, was instrumental in more than $2 billion in construction and real estate projects, including redevelopment of 40th Street and the Perelman Quad construction.

Retail as a strategy is not a transaction. Retail needs to be curated, Blaik said. Universities need to create a market that is open to people from diverse backgrounds.

University City hosts its annual Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll each summer, highlighting businesses between 43rd and 52nd Streets with $1 deals for the event. Though its about a mile and a half away from campus, Penn included a description of the event on its university-run news page and mentioned such businesses as VIX Emporium, Black Hound Clay Studio, and The Nesting House. The university also promotes shopping around campus with its website, dubbed Shop Penn, with a list of retailers, including the Last Word Bookshop, Piper Boutique, and United By Blue.

>>READ MORE: Changing Skyline: The ugly story behind Penns bucolic urban campus

David Adelman, the chief executive officer of Campus Apartments, a student housing company that has worked on many projects near colleges, said that, ultimately, he looks for retailers with a broad appeal.

Keswick Cycle, a bike shop 500 feet from Locust Walk between 40th and 41st Streets, pays Campus Apartments below-market rate rent to operate in that location, said Brian Hackford, the shops managing partner. The store, which has been open since fall 2011, saw 15 percent growth last year, Hackford said, not necessarily from the students, but from other residents of West Philadelphia.

We try to curate and kind of cater with a focus more on the community than just the students, Adelman said.
Pennsylvania has released applications for cannabis companies that want to participate in the states much-vaunted medical marijuana research program.

Each winner will be granted a permit to grow cannabis and a permit to open six retail dispensaries. Each applicant must have a preexisting research contract with one of eight state-approved health systems.

Applications are due before April 11.

In a previous round, the state rejected every application on various technical grounds. The applications are seen by many as a formality. Five medical centers in the Philadelphia region are believed to have signed contracts with the cannabis companies months, if not years, ago.

The University of Pennsylvania has paired with Curaleaf; Drexel University with Acreage; Jefferson Health with Solterra, a.k.a. Main Line Investment Partners; Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine with Cansortium; and Temple University with Laurel Harvest Labs.

The research program was created to gain support from Republican lawmakers who called for more research before the states medical marijuana law was passed.

The health systems will design research studies for the cannabis companies. The researchers will not be allowed to work with the plant or its products, because federal law outlaws marijuana in any form. Handling the drug would jeopardize federal grants and funds flowing from Medicare and Medicaid. That also means that patients will be self-reporting data, making any research unlikely to be considered by typical peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Each company will collect patient data and share it with the health system research team. The companies will pay for any research expenses. Many of Pennsylvanias currently operating commercial cannabis companies say they are already sharing patient data with research institutions.
University of Pennsylvania engineer Marc Miskin and Cornell University colleagues have developed micro-robots that are one-quarter the size of a pixel on a standard computer screen. The goal is to deploy them inside the body to track vital signs. Read more

Every time University of Pennsylvania engineer Marc Miskin speaks about his research on miniature robots, someone asks the question: How does it compare to the submarine in Fantastic Voyage?

Thats the fanciful 1966 sci-fi movie in which a tiny vessel makes an emergency journey inside the brain of an injured scientist. The incredible answer: The real-life bots, which Miskin developed with former colleagues at Cornell University, are about the same size.

Roughly one-quarter the size of a pixel on a standard computer screen, they are little squares of silicon with legs made from platinum and titanium, able to swim around inside your body and track vital signs.

At least someday, Miskin hopes. For now, they swim around on microscope slides in Miskins lab at Penn, where he started in January as an assistant professor of electrical and systems engineering. The bots are equipped with miniature solar cells, allowing Miskin to power them with laser light.

Miskin presented his research this week in Boston at a conference of the American Physical Society. He designed the robots at Cornell as a postdoctoral researcher, working with colleagues Itai Cohen, Paul McEuen, and Alejandro Cortese.

A million robots can be made from one 4-inch wafer of silicon using techniques adapted from the semiconductor industry, Miskin said at a news conference. They are so cheap to make  a fraction of a penny each  that he thinks of them like chemicals or medicines.

Its a fundamentally different kind of robot," he said. You can throw them away.

Other scientists who have heard presentations by team members are impressed.

Producing a 3D device at that scale is a challenge, said David Gracias, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He likened the manufacturing techniques used by the Penn-Cornell team to a very small-scale version of origami  the Japanese art of paper folding. But he cautioned that more work would be needed to improve control of individual robots and track their location.

It will still be a very long time before they can use them in the body, Gracias said.

The robots are able to move because electricity has a different effect on the two kinds of metal in each leg. The platinum expands while the titanium remains rigid, causing the legs to bend. The front and back legs are alternately contracted or relaxed to generate the robots gait, Miskin said.

He said the research reminded him of his childhood, when he would look at droplets of water through a microscope, marveling at the range of microorganisms.

There is this alien, bizarre universe that we know exists in drops of water, in our blood, all over, he said. We can now go into that world.

Future research will involve developing wireless sensors so the robots can transmit information on vital signs from a patient, such as levels of neuronal activity in the spinal cord, Miskin said. The robots are small enough that they can be injected with a syringe. He also plans to study the best way to retrieve them, perhaps with magnets.

The bots also could be used in nonbiological applications. Miskin said a colleague is looking into ways they could be used to improve the performance of rechargeable batteries.

They could live in your lithium-ion battery, looking for electrical shorts and eating them up so your battery lives longer," he said.

As for the submarine in Fantastic Voyage, Miskin was unable to find a direct mention of its size. But in promotional materials from the movie, it is shown alongside red blood cells, allowing Miskin to estimate that the fictional vessel was about 60 microns in length. Miskins real-life robots are 70 microns across.

For comparison, human hairs are typically 30 to 100 microns thick. And a standard computer-screen pixel is 250 to 280 microns across.
A lawyer with the Center City-based Ballard Spahr firm was shot in a botched robbery attempt in West Philadelphia, and the firm is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman.

Spencer A. Hill Jr., 37, an associate at the firm, was shot at 10:45 p.m. Monday near 52nd Street and Cedar Avenue while walking home from work, authorities said.

In an interview Thursday, Hill said he heard someone quickly approaching from behind. When the 6-foot-4, 350-pound litigator turned around, he said, a dark-hooded man in blue jeans came to a full stop.

Hill said he saw a flash of light, then felt a searing pain just below his chest. After crumpling to the ground, he said, he regained his composure and rushed up the front steps of his two-story rowhouse. His wife phoned police, who drove him to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.

Surgeons located the bullet, but opted not to remove it. He was released Thursday morning, and is expected to make a full recovery, he said.

Mark Stewart, Ballard Spahr chair, said his firm is offering the reward out of frustration. In October, another member of the firm was involved in a violent encounter. So, we asked, What can we do? Stewart said.

Hill, a South Philadelphia native, has bachelors and masters degrees from Chestnut Hill College and a law degree from the University of Akron. He supplements his regular caseload with pro-bono work in cases of prisoner rights and criminal justice reform, Stewart said.

Hes doing everything he can to make this community better, Stewart said. And hes innocently walking home after a long day of work, and hes targeted.

Detectives suspect the gunman, described as a black man in his early 20s, was trying to rob Hill. They also believe the gunman was responsible for an armed robbery at 52nd and Addison Streets 10 minutes before Hills shooting.

The guy that shot me didnt say anything," Hill said, so I think he was trying to rob me, but Im not sure.

If the gunman had fired an inch higher or lower, Hill might not have survived, he said.

I realize just how close it could have been," he said. It hurts to be walking around, but it feels good.
O.C. Communications Inc., tech talent supplier for Comcast Corp., says on its website that a company is only as good as its employees, and at OCC, we train ours to be the best.

Court documents tell a different story: Some techs werent paid overtime, many were denied meal breaks in violation of state law, and others had to buy their own tools.

Thats according to a federal class-action lawsuit in San Francisco that named the California firm and Comcast. The two agreed to settle the case after extensive litigation, including the production of 1.5 million documents.

O.C. Communications could not be reached for comment. The settlement agreement says that it will pay the $7.5 million. Comcast had no comment on Wednesday. Both denied wrongdoing.

Desidero Soto, of Concord, Calif., and one of the lead plaintiffs, said that O.C. Communications scheduled him for 32 job stops one day, though typically he was assigned eight.

I was directed by my supervisor to work through meal periods, regardless of what I was required to write on my time sheets, Soto told the court. Any time I took to eat would typically take place while I was driving from one job to another and even then, I was required to have my cellular telephone on me at all times and be available to respond to any work calls.

Jacky Charles, a Margate, Fla., tech with the firm between September 2016 and May 2017, said he had to buy his own wireless drill, drill bits, pliers, screwdriver, staple gun, and several types of cable, boots and pants.

Hundreds of other techs also wrote with similar tales to the court.

O.C. Communications and Comcast agreed on March 1 to settle the lawsuit that could result in about 4,500 techs splitting the $7.5 million after legal fees, court records show.

Plaintiffs lawyers believed that they could show in court that the techs hadnt been paid 2.5 hours a day, hours worked off-the-clock. Lawyers for Soto and the other plaintiffs calculated that Comcast and O.C. Communications total exposure was $43.6 million, including penalties, in a trial.

The suit, filed in January 2017, claimed that the companies violated state and federal laws, such as not paying people for all the hours they worked and failure to compensate the techs for piecework, overtime or minimum wages.

According to the allegations in the suit, Comcast controlled about 90 percent of O.C. Communications revenue stream and monitors and evaluates technicians work activities, work progress and whereabouts in real time during the course of the day through mobile devices. In addition, contacts and correspondence between [O.C. Communications] and Comcast reveal that the technicians appear to be fully integrated into Comcasts business, the suit claimed.

O.C. Communications also listed on its website Cox, Time Warner Cable, the U.S. Air Force, and California community colleges as clients. It was responsible for payrolls and employed the contractor techs.

Philadelphia firm Berger Montague represented the techs with Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky Wotkyns of Emeryville, Calif. Sarah R. Schalman-Bergen, a lawyer for Berger & Montague, had no comment other than to say that the case had been resolved.

In reaching the settlement, plaintiffs considered the risk that O.C. Communications wouldnt have the resources to pay a significant portion of damages, and that the court could decline to find Comcast liable as a joint employer, court records show. O.C. Communications is based in Elk Grove, Calif, and has operations in Washington, Nevada and Florida, according to its website and court records.

O.C. Communications instructed Charles to underreport his hours for compensation, the Margate, Fla., tech told the court.

OCC required me to write that my beginning time was typically an hour after I actually started working, and OCC typically required me to write that I stopped working several hours before I typically stopped working, Charles wrote. If I did not underreport my time as instructed, OCC would manipulate my time cards to reduce my total work time.
The Lloyd family's historic farmhousewhich dates back to the late 1700shas been sold to a developer, who is looking to demolish it as part of a new housing project. Residents in Caln Township are fuming, saying that their elected officials have done nothing to protect the property. Read more

The Lloyd farmhouse in Caln Township has a star-studded genealogy, a background that reads like a whos who of American history.

William Penn himself sold the land it sits on to a wealthy family, a grant that paved the way for the creation of the state. A century later, it became an unofficial stop on the Underground Railroad, according to local histories of the pipeline to freedom. All the while, its caretakers maintained crops that state historians have described as an early example of the agriculture that would come to dominate the region.

But after years of deterioration and multiple owners, the 1757 buildings history is coming to a close, unless a frantic scramble by residents and local historians can stop it. Theyve embarked on a last-ditch effort to grant the farmhouse historic status, working against the demolition permit its owner has received from officials in this central Chester County community.

The saddest part of this, from my perspective, is that all these historians from up and down the Main Line have contributed to this, and its had no effect, said Cheryl Spaulding, who lives across the street. Im not surprised this is going to be developed, but other projects have kept these houses, incorporated them into their design and ultimately saved them."

Harry Miller III, the Delaware-based developer who purchased the 61 acres the farmhouse sits on, did not answer multiple requests for comment. Neither did Justin Olear, a vice president in Millers company Regal Builders, who applied for the demolition permit from the township.

Nor did the two respond to State Sen. Katie Muth, a Democrat who represents parts of Berks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties. In a letter sent to Miller on Tuesday, Muth offered to mediate a conversation between him and township residents.

Miller, through Wild Meadows LLC, bought the land from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for just over $4 million last April, county records show. During the archdioceses 22-year-stewardship, the house sat relatively empty, used occasionally as a meeting space for prayer groups and catechism classes for nearby St. Josephs Parish. The archdiocese sold the property to ease some of its debts.

At a public meeting with residents last month, Miller revealed plans to construct two four-story apartment buildings with underground parking and 120 single-family homes for people 55 and older. Miller also plans to add small commercial properties to the complex, but that proposal  which would require a zoning change  was sent back to him for revision by the township commissioners.

The temporary rejection, according to Board President Jennifer Breton, was due in part to the massive turnout of residents at a hearing on the zoning change in December. The overflow crowd, which wrapped around the township building where the hearing was supposed to be held, forced the cancellation of the meeting.

The board obviously is concerned about the communitys feelings. Were not immune to that, Breton said. My hope is that people can get the true facts of the situation and understand were not the bad guys necessarily. Were trying to do the best thing we can for everyone involved, both residents and developers.

In the months since that hearing, residents have packed into supervisors meetings to sound off on Millers vision. The comments typically revolve around concerns about the traffic impact that 120 new homes would have on the already-congested area, or of the loss of open space in the rural township. But more recently, theyve focused on saving a farmhouse thats older than the United States itself.

Breton and her colleagues maintain that their hands are tied.

If the applicant meets all the requirements laid out in the construction code, the township has no legal right to not give the permit," said Kristin Denne, the township manager. And not doing so would, frankly, be prejudicial and be a violation of his property rights."

Denne said the demolition permit was issued to Olear in early January, and that he has 180 days to act on it. The township has a historical zoning overlay that grants additional protections, but the Lloyd farm does not fall within it.

In recent weeks, as the preservation push has grown more active, residents noted that the access road to the property has been blocked by large logs, accompanied by new signs warning against trespassing on private property.

The physical obstacles havent deterred Robin Ashby, president of the nearby Downingtown Historical Society.

It is an eleventh-hour push here, said Ashby, whose organization helped sponsor the farmhouses application to the National Register of Historic Places Most Endangered Places" listing. Each year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation chooses 11 properties in each state that it deems worthy of emergency inclusion.

For us, this represents one of the earliest structures in the area, Ashby said. The residents arent necessarily against the development of this tract of land. Its just a thoughtful approach to keeping an element that really is irreplaceable.

State records show that theirs isnt first attempt at preserving the farmhouse. An appraisal of the propertys historic value was completed in 1982, according to Howard Pollman, director of external affairs for the state Historical and Museum Commission. At the time, it was deemed eligible for listing on the National Register, but no further action was taken, he said.

Two decades later, a developer wrote to the state commission asking about a series of historic properties in the township. The Lloyd farm was one of the ones assessed during the 2014 inquiry, during which it was noted that it was no longer eligible for preservation status because of loss of integrity," according to records provided by Pollman.

But historical status cant in and of itself prevent demolition, according to Paul Steinke, the executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.

Were sometimes faced with the situation where all we have to go on is the persuasions of the developer, Steinke said. "Now, sometimes the local government can help with that, to go to the developer to try to make that case it should be preserved.

But its devilishly difficult in many situations to get a property owner to comply, he added.
FILE - This June 30, 2017, remote camera image released by the U.S. Forest Service shows a female gray wolf and her mate with a pup born in 2017 in the wilds of Lassen National Forest in Northern California. U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that's run into conflicts with farmers and ranchers after rebounding in some regions, an official told the Associated Press, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. (U.S. Forest Service via AP, File) Read more

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator thats running into conflicts with farmers and ranchers as its numbers rebound in some regions.

The proposal would give states the authority to hold wolf hunting and trapping seasons. It was announced Wednesday by acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt at a wildlife conference in Denver.

Wolves had previously lost federal protections in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, where hunters and trappers now kill hundreds of the animals annually.

Wildlife advocates and some members of Congress reacted with outrage to the latest proposal and promised to challenge any final decision in court.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now with the group Defenders of Wildlife, warned of an "all-out war on wolves" if the plan advances.

"We don't have any confidence that wolves will be managed like other wildlife," she said.

But government officials countered that the recovery of wolves from widespread extermination last century has worked and they no longer need the Endangered Species Act to shield them.

"Recovery of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act is one of our nation's great conservation successes, with the wolf joining other cherished species, such as the bald eagle, that have been brought back from the brink," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Gavin Shire said in an emailed statement.

Agriculture groups and lawmakers from Western states are likely to support the administration's proposal.

Further details were expected during a formal announcement planned in coming days.

Long despised by farmers and ranchers, wolves were shot, trapped and poisoned out of existence in most of the U.S. by the mid-20th century.

They received endangered species protections in 1975, when there were about 1,000 left, only in northern Minnesota. Now more than 5,000 of the animals live in the contiguous U.S.

Most are in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rockies regions.

Protections for the Northern Rockies population were lifted in 2011. State officials and government biologists say the region's wolves have continued to thrive despite pressure from hunting. The animals are prolific breeders and can adapt to a variety of habitats.

Wildlife advocates want to keep federal protections in place until wolves repopulate more of a historical range that stretched across most of North America.

Since being reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in the mid-1990s, the Northern Rockies population has expanded to parts of Oregon, Washington, and California.

Those states so far have not allowed hunting, despite growing pressure from ranchers whose livestock herds have been attacked.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has argued for years that gray wolves have recovered in the lower 48 states, despite experts who contend they occupy only about 15 percent of the territory they once roamed. Agency officials insist the recovery of wolves everywhere is not required for the species no longer to be in danger of extinction.

John Vucetich, a wildlife biologist at Michigan Technological University, said most wolf experts probably would agree the species is not at imminent risk. But said he dropping federal protections was a premature move.

Many people "still find it difficult to live with wolves," primarily because they kill livestock as well as deer and elk that people like to hunt, Vucetich said. If wolves are returned to state management, he said, "I do worry that some of the states could be overly aggressive and that wolves could fare worse than their current condition."

The government first proposed revoking the wolf's protected status across the Lower 48 states in 2013. It backed off after federal courts struck down its plan for "delisting" the species in the western Great Lakes region states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Fish and Wildlife Service officials disclosed to the AP last year that another scientific review of the animal's status had been launched.

Shire declined to disclose the agency's rationale for determining the species had recovered, but said members of the public would have a chance to comment before a final decision in coming months.

Ryan Yates, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation, applauded the federal agency's plan and said many farmers and ranchers have lost livestock to wolf kills since the species was granted legal protections. The farmers and ranchers will respect state regulations aimed at managing wolf populations, he said.

"Some people like them, some people don't, but the law's the law," Yates said.

Lawmakers in Congress frustrated with court rulings maintaining protections for wolves have backed legislation to forcibly strip protections in the Great Lakes region and beyond. A similar effort by lawmakers ended protections for Northern Rockies wolves.

Associated Press writer Gillian Flaccus contributed to this article.
A: It varies. We have some small home based functions, 15 is probably our max for that. Once a month we have larger gatherings to discuss ethical issues. I get clippings out of the New York Times and Chicago Tribune. It may be a corporate issue, it may be governmental. We bring up a number of issues, for example, the overly expensive drugs in this country.
FILE - In this Wednesday, April 19, 2017, file photo, chef Mario Batali attends an awards event in New York. The 20-year business partnership between celebrity chef Mario Batali and the Bastianich family of restaurateurs has been dissolved, months after the original timeline for the divestiture and more than a year after several women accused Batali of sexual harassment and assault. (Photo by Brent N. Clarke / Invision / AP, File) Read more

NEW YORK (AP)  Celebrity chef Mario Batali has given up financial stakes in all his restaurants, severing a 20-year business partnership with restaurateur Joe Bastianich, more than a year after several women accused Batali of sexual harassment and assault.

The move announced Wednesday comes months after the original timeline for Batali's divestiture. Bastianich and partners bought out Batali's share in such high-end eateries as the Michelin-starred Babbo in Greenwich Village and Del Posto, a fine-dining Italian spot in the New York City's Meatpacking District.

In a two-sentence statement issued through a spokeswoman, Batali said simply he had reached an agreement with Bastianich and will "no longer have any stake in the restaurants we built together."

Batali, known for his bright orange kitchen Crocs and ponytail, wished his former business partner the "best of luck in the future."

Bastianich and his sister, Tanya Bastianich Manuali, said in a statement to employees that business ties with Batali are now fully severed. Other restaurants the two had stakes in had already closed. Manuali recently took over day-to-day operations and oversight of the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group, forming a new company to operate 16 remaining restaurants.

Batali and Joe Bastianich had originally been scheduled to part ways in July. They would not discuss additional details of their agreement. Bastianich and Manuali are the children of chef Lidia Bastianich.

In addition, the U.S. branch of Eataly with several locations, including a flagship in Manhattan, said in a statement Wednesday the Italian food emporiums are in the process of acquiring Batali's minority stake.

At one time, Batalis reach included restaurants in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Boston, and Singapore. He became a celebrity with appearances on the Food Network shows Molto Mario and Iron Chef America. He was one of the hosts of ABCs The Chew, which has been canceled.

Sexual harassment and assault allegations against Batali have not produced any charges. The accusations surfaced in late December 2017, torpedoing his career. In an email newsletter he distributed at the time, Batali apologized for past behavior and wrote:

"I have made many mistakes and I am so very sorry that I have disappointed my friends, my family, my fans and my team. My behavior was wrong and there are no excuses. I take full responsibility."

He did not detail what behavior he was referring to. He was heavily scorned online for a postscript he included: In case youre searching for a holiday-inspired breakfast, these Pizza Dough Cinnamon Rolls are a fan favorite. The recommendation came complete with a link to the recipe.

Batali is said to now be living in Michigan.
An execution room at the prison in Lucasville, Ohio, in 2005. Read more

COLUMBUS, Ohio  Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday delayed three additional executions to give the Ohio prison system time to develop a new lethal injection method, responding to a federal judges scathing critique of the first drug used in the current process.

Federal Judge Michael Merz said in January that inmates could suffer severe pain and an experience similar to waterboarding because the drug, the sedative midazolam, doesn't render them deeply enough unconscious.

DeWine, a Republican, delayed a February execution after the judge's ruling and ordered the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to develop a new process. But Merz questioned why Ohio was preparing for additional executions, given that directive.

DeWine said Thursday it was "highly unlikely" any new injection process would make it through expected lawsuits in time for the next three executions.

The governor "is also mindful of the emotional trauma experienced by victims' families, prosecutors, law enforcement, and DRC employees when an execution is prepared for and then rescheduled," DeWine's office said in a statement.

The inmates affected by the decision, their old execution dates, and their new dates:

Cleveland Jackson. Originally scheduled to die May 29 for fatally shooting a 17-year-old in Lima in 2002 in a bloody drug-related robbery on a crowded home. New date: Nov. 13.

Kareem Jackson. Originally scheduled to die July 10 for shooting and killing two men in Columbus during a 1997 robbery. New date: Jan. 16, 2020.

Gregory Lott. Originally scheduled to die Aug. 14 for setting an 82-year-old man on fire in a 1986 East Cleveland robbery. New date: March 12, 2020.

In January, following the judge's ruling, DeWine rescheduled the execution of Keith Henness from Feb. 13 to Sept. 12.

Henness was convicted of killing 51-year-old Richard Myers in Columbus in 1992. Authorities say Myers had been helping Henness find a drug treatment for his wife.

Whether any of these four executions happens on the new dates is up in the air. Ohio, like other death penalty states, has struggled to find drugs for lethal injection. Even if it announced a new procedure this month, the method would then undergo months or years of court scrutiny.

After Ohio started looking for new drugs in 2014, it took the state more than three years to establish its current three-drug lethal injection protocol. Since then, it has become even more difficult for states to find drugs.

"Ohio's not going to execute someone under my watch when a federal judge has found it to be cruel and unusual punishment," DeWine said last month.

Because of Ohios use of midazolam, Merz called the constitutionality of the states system into question in his Jan. 14 ruling.
SAN DIEGO (AP)  The U.S. government ran an operation to screen journalists, activists, and others while investigating last years migrant caravan from Mexico, a San Diego TV station reported Wednesday, citing leaked documents.

Dossiers that included photos from their passports or social media accounts, date of birth, and other details were kept in a database and some freelance journalists had alerts placed on their passports and were flagged for secondary screenings at customs points, the station KNSD-TV said.

One freelance photojournalist was denied entry to Mexico for reasons that were never stated, the station reported.

The documents, in the form of dossiers and screenshots, were provided to NBC 7 Investigates by a Homeland Security source on the condition of anonymity, the station reported. Those listed as warranting secondary screening included 10 journalists  seven of them U.S. citizens  a U.S. attorney, and 47 people from various countries labeled as organizers, instigators, or unknown, the station said.

The intelligence-gathering efforts were done under the umbrella of "Operation Secure Line," which was designed to monitor the caravan of thousands of people who began making their way north from Central America late last year to seek asylum in the United States, the source told the TV station.

A Customs and Border Protection statement sent to the Associated Press on Wednesday said the extra security followed a breach of a border wall in San Diego on Nov. 25 in a violent confrontation between caravan members and border agents. The confrontation closed the nations busiest border crossing for five hours on Thanksgiving weekend.

Such criminal events  involving assaults on law enforcement and a risk to public safety, are routinely monitored and investigated by authorities, the statement said.

"It is protocol following these incidents to collect evidence that might be needed for future legal actions and to determine if the event was orchestrated."

The statement didn't address specifics of why journalists would be on the list to have their passports flagged.

The American Civil Liberties Union condemned the operation.

"This is an outrageous violation of the First Amendment," attorney Esha Bhandari said. "The government cannot use the pretext of the border to target activists critical of its policies, lawyers providing legal representation, or journalists simply doing their jobs."

The documents, dated Jan. 9, are titled "San Diego Sector Foreign Operations Branch: Migrant Caravan FY-2019, Suspected Organizers, Coordinators, Instigators and Media." The source said the material was used by agents from the CBP and other agencies, including some San Diego FBI agents.

Two freelance photojournalists confirmed to the station that the information in their dossiers was accurate. Both were pulled in for secondary questioning at border crossings and one, Kitra Cahana, eventually was stopped in Mexico, was denied entry, and had to fly back to the U.S. They were not told why they were targeted.

One dossier was on Nicole Ramos, the refugee director and attorney for Al Otro Lado, a law center for migrants and refugees in Tijuana, Mexico. It included details such as the kind of car she drives and her mother's name, KNSD-TV reported.

The document appears to prove what we have assumed for some time, which is that we are on a law enforcement list designed to retaliate against human rights defenders who work with asylum seekers and who are critical of CBP practices that violate the rights of asylum seekers, Ramos told the station by email.
In this June 2018 selfie provided by Sherry Weddle, she poses for a photo with her son, journalist Cody Weddle, during a vacation in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (Courtesy Sherry Weddle via AP) Read more

CARACAS, Venezuela  Venezuelas government expelled the German ambassador and detained a U.S. freelance journalist in Caracas for hours on Wednesday as President Nicolas Maduro sought to maintain control amid a Western-backed opposition campaign to unseat him.

Cody Weddle, a correspondent for ABC affiliate Local 10 News in Miami, was awaiting a flight to the United States on Wednesday night from an airport outside Caracas.

Senior Venezuelan officials would not comment on the case.

The ambassador, Daniel Kriener, had been among a group of U.S., Latin American and European diplomats who greeted opposition leader Juan Guaido at Caracas airport on Monday as he returned to the country after a 10-day trip abroad, defying warnings that he might be arrested.

"Venezuela considers it unacceptable that a foreign diplomat carries out in its territory a public role closer to that of a political leader aligned with the conspiratorial agenda of extremist sectors of the Venezuelan opposition," Maduro's government said in a statement.

Germany, the United States, and more than 50 other countries have recognized Guaido as Venezuelas interim leader in the wake of an election last year riddled with irregularities in which Maduro claimed a second term.

Earlier Wednesday, military counterintelligence forces raided Weddles Caracas home and took the Virginia native into custody. They also seized Weddles assistant, Venezuelan journalist Carlos Camacho.

U.S. diplomats demanded Weddles release and sharply criticized the detention. The Venezuelan government did not say why he was being held and did not respond to calls seeking comment.

The State Department is aware of and deeply concerned with reports that another U.S. journalist has been detained in #Venezuela by #Maduro, who prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it, Kimberly Breier, the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, said in a tweet. Being a journalist is not a crime.

Phil Gunson, a political consultant at the International Crisis Group, suggested on Twitter that the incident could strain already tense relations between the United States and Venezuela.

Having military intelligence arrest a US citizen, freelance reporter @coweddle, seems like unnecessary provocation, he tweeted.

The two countries came to the brink of suspending relations in January, but they have maintained a limited diplomatic presence in each other's capitals.

Weddle, 29, has been a freelance journalist in Caracas for four years, producing TV and print content for, among others, ABC News, Canadian Broadcast Corp., and the Miami Herald.

As Maduro faces arguably the strongest challenge to his grip on power since becoming president in 2013, he is increasingly limiting media coverage by blocking websites, closing radio stations, and intimidating reporters through paramilitary groups.

Weddles detention came one week after Univision journalist Jorge Ramos was held in the presidential palace for hours; his cellphone, cameras, and SIM cards were taken when he asked interview questions Maduro did not like. Ramos and his team were then deported.

On Wednesday, about 7 a.m. local time, a group of armed men, most of them dressed in black, approached Weddles Caracas apartment building, said Florangel Manzo, 49, the president of the condominium board. She said that one of the men showed her an order to raid Weddles apartment, that the order came from a military tribunal, and that the journalist was being accused of betraying the homeland.

A security guard at the building, Juan Jose Araque, said he saw five men dressed in black carrying pistols at Weddle's apartment on Wednesday morning. The guard said the security forces wore jackets indicating that they were from the military intelligence service.

He said Weddle remained calm as the men packed some of his belongings into a suitcase and camera bag. "He didn't look nervous. He had a sandwich before he left," he said. About two hours after arriving, he said, the men escorted the journalist to a black Jeep and drove away.

According to the National Union of Journalism Workers, detentions have surged this year, with Camacho and Weddle joining 34 local and international reporters, photographers, and producers taken into custody in the past two months. Most have subsequently been freed; some have been deported.

The Washington Posts Carol Morello contributed to this article, which also contains information from the Associated Press.
FILE - This June 11, 2015, file photo shows Virgin Atlantic's Boeing 787-9 at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Mich. Britain's Virgin Atlantic has dropped a requirement that female flight attendants wear makeup, joining other major carriers that have eased their dress and grooming requirements after complaints about turning female employees into sex objects. (Tanya Moutzalias / Flint Journal via AP, File) Read more

DALLAS (AP)  Britain's Virgin Atlantic has dropped a requirement that female flight attendants wear makeup, joining other major carriers that have eased their dress and grooming requirements after complaints about turning female employees into sex objects.

Virgin Atlantic announced this week that female cabin crew members can skip the makeup. If they want to keep using lipstick and foundation, they must stick to an approved palette of shades.

An airline executive said the changes  which also include making it easier for women to pick pants over Virgin's familiar red skirts  came after listening to employees.

Not only do the new guidelines offer an increased level of comfort, they also provide our team with more choice on how they want to express themselves at work, Virgin Atlantic executive vice president Mark Anderson said in a statement.

Uniforms are standard for cabin crew on most airlines, but U.S. carriers have come a long way since Southwest famously dressed its flight attendants in hot pants during the 1970s.

Southwest's current policy is typical: Long pants are a uniform option, and makeup isn't required. If crew members wear makeup on the job, it "should be professional, conservative and complement the uniform and the employee's complexion," according to guidelines for flight attendants. Glitter and "eccentric" or "excessively bright" makeup colors and styles are expressly prohibited.

American Airlines tells its flight attendants that if they wear makeup, "it should be tasteful and complimentary to your professional image."

United Airlines, JetBlue, and Delta Air Lines said they dont require makeup either.

There have been employee complaints against U.S. carriers over hairstyles, with some employees believing they were victims of racial discrimination. Makeup, however, ceased being a major concern years ago.

"When I started, we had to go to makeup class  and men got the day off," said Sara Nelson, a flight attendant since the mid-1990s and now president of the Association of Flight Attendants union. She said appearance standards at most U.S. carriers now treat men and women more equally.

Objectification of women is still an issue at U.S. carriers. Last year, Nelson's union said its survey indicated that nearly two-thirds of U.S. flight attendants suffered harassment during their careers, ranging from suggestive comments to groping.

Last month, a separate union that represents American Airlines cabin crews objected to a video showing people dressed as flight attendants performing a musical number that suggested American uses sex appeal to attract high-paying passengers. The airline said it had no involvement in the skit.

Appearance standards are stricter for foreign carriers, particularly in the Middle East and Asia.

Some carriers including Malaysia-based AirAsia and Vietnams VietJet Air have been criticized for putting young female flight attendants in tight-fitting clothes or revealing outfits either on the job or in promotional videos.
They were quietly buried at Washington Crossing National Cemetery without fanfare: veterans who served their country but had no one to pay their last respects for the final leg of their journey.

Their final salute and military honors instead came later from a group of strangers  military brethren who converge on the sprawling Bucks County cemetery every month to carry out a solemn ritual to pay homage to members of the military who died alone, often without any known next of kin or friends.

The Guardians of the National Cemetery started the tradition in January 2010 when the national cemetery in Upper Makefield Township opened, said Robert E. Craven, president of the volunteer group. Since then, the service has been conducted on the fourth Thursday of every month, whether for a single veteran or more than a dozen, he said.

Our ceremony is simply to acknowledge that those veterans should not, not be recognized, Craven said. It is the right thing to do.

Why we serve: They gave all that was asked. Now its our turn. http://www.guardiansofthenationalcemetery.org/Mission.html

On a cold, sunny afternoon last week, about 50 people gathered at an interment shelter for an unattended service, military honors for six veterans who were buried in February. The service is called unattended because there were no family or friends present when their remains were interred.

A processional led by the Warriors Watch, veteran motorcycle riders, escorted a group of mostly veterans wearing military uniforms decorated with medals to the ceremony. A brown symbolic urn was placed on a table. A row of veterans holding American flags stood at attention as the names of the deceased were read:

Air Force Tech. Sgt. James Brown

Army Spec. 5 Theodore Crowell

Army Cpl. Robert Back

Marine Pvt. Anthony Tassa

Air Force Airman Second Class George Marshall

Navy Fireman First Class Herbert Casen

This short yet meaningful ceremony ensures those who answered their nations call are honored for their service, Jarrod Guenther, program support assistant at the cemetery, told the mourners. Your presence here today reinforces our commitment that no veteran should take their final journey alone.

A short distance away, a volley of three rounds was fired. A bugler sounded the 24 notes of Taps. A two-member National Guard honor team meticulously unfolded and then refolded an American flag that was presented to a volunteer who stood in for family.

The Rev. Mitch Triestman, a missionary with the Friends of Israel based in Bellmawr, Camden County, offered a short sermon, expressing appreciation to the mourners, who included regular attendees and first-timers who vowed to return next month. The service is carried out in the same manner used for an actual interment.

You guys didnt send cards and flowers. You stood by your love of country, of God, of faithful patriotism to be here that these men and women do not go on their final journal alone, said Triestman, a Vietnam veteran and one of three pastors who conduct the monthly service.

Because of privacy laws, little was shared about the life history of the six veterans beyond basic information gleaned from their DD 214s: their branch of service and rank. That mattered little to the band of brothers who came to honor them.

We had brothers that passed on to their reward with no one to say goodbye, said William J. Kelly, 72, of Jamison, a Vietnam veteran and a senior vice commandant of the All Divisions Detachment of the Marine Corps League. People who dont have family need someone to show up for them.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are 19.6 million veterans, including 496,777 of the 18 million who served in World War II. Now in their late 80s and 90s, World War II veterans are dying quickly, 348 of them every day, some dying alone as they outlived their family and friends.

Randy Noller, a spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs, said the government has several programs to ensure that veterans with no known next of kin or insufficient resources are buried in a national cemetery. In 2018, the unclaimed remains of 237 veterans were interred at one of 136 national veterans cemeteries around the country, and even more were laid to rest at unattended services like the one at Washington Crossing.

Washington Crossing National Cemetery, spanning more than 200 acres, is the only active national cemetery in the region and has enough space to accommodate the military dead for at least 50 years. A free grave site and marker or headstone are available to eligible armed forces members and their spouses who meet certain active-duty requirements.

Craven, 70, of Lower Bucks, an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam, said the first unattended service was held for seven veterans. He said volunteers were stunned when a funeral director arrived at the cemetery to bury the remains of a veteran in a plywood casket .

We dont know if they had somebody, didnt have anybody, said Craven, a retired Homeland Security special agent. We dont know what the circumstances are for that veteran, other than that at the time of interment there was nobody there to stand for them.

Some of the veterans may have been homeless, suffering from post-traumatic stress or estranged from family members who were unaware of their death or didnt know they were eligible for burial benefits, officials said. Every effort is made to identify relatives and in some cases family members were located but unable to attend.

In those cases, the remains were laid to rest during the month in a direct interment, with only funeral home and cemetery workers present without a ceremony. Military honors are rendered at the unattended service.

Its an awful lot of men who are buried and no one knows anything about it, said Robert Dennis, 71, of Langhorne, a Navy veteran, who attended the service for the first time last month. We have to take care of our own.

In 2017, the city of Philadelphia began its No veteran left on a shelf program and interred at Washington Crossing the cremains of 17 veterans that had sat in the morgue for years, said Brian W. Donnelly, a South Philadelphia funeral director who handles the services held four times a year. The last burial in November was for 22 veterans, he said.

I didnt realize that there were that many veterans that were unclaimed, said Donnelly, who donates urns for the cremains. Its very sad to have that many people.

It was unknown how many unclaimed remains of veterans are at the morgue at any given time, officials said. If a body is identified but family cannot be located, the Medical Examiners Office will have the remains cremated after 90 days, sooner if the family is found but unable or unwilling to make funeral arrangements.

There are more than 819,000 veterans in Pennsylvania, more than half 65 or older. In New Jersey, there are 340,561 veterans, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

New Jersey does not hold official unattended services at its state veteran cemeteries, said Kryn P. Westhoven, a spokesperson for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. But it is not uncommon for veterans to turn out in force when there is a request to pay respects to a comrade without family.

In January, more than 1,000 mourners showed up at Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, Burlington County, for services for veteran Peter Turnpu, 77, of Atco, who died without any known next of kin. The funeral director who handled his arrangements said he didnt want him to be buried alone, too, and asked the public to attend.

New Jerseys Mission of Honors has interred the abandoned or forgotten cremains of nearly 300 veterans at Doyle, and reunited the remains of more than 300 more with families since 2009 and plans to bury at least 38 this year. The volunteer group of veterans located the remains of two Spanish-American War veterans that had been sitting on shelves at funeral homes for more than 60 years, said Francis Carrasco, the groups chairman.

Thats unacceptable. Theyre going to be buried with the dignity that they deserve, Carrasco said.

The unattended service is held on the fourth Thursday of every month (except Thanksgiving) at 2 p.m. at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, 830 Highland Rd., Newtown, Pa. More information at 215-504-5610.
Police investigate a fatal stabbing that took place near the Spruce Street entrance to SEPTA's Broad Street Line. Read more

A 30-year-old man was fatally stabbed Thursday morning during an altercation at a Center City subway station and police arrested a suspect about an hour later.

The slaying occurred on the first full day of a strike by SEPTA Transit Police officers.

Philadelphia police said the victim, whom they did identify, was stabbed once in his chest about 6:45 a.m. on the concourse at the Broad Street Lines Walnut-Locust station. He apparently then made his way to the stations Spruce Street entrance.

Medics took the man to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:49 a.m.

SEPTA police supervisors, who are filling in for the striking officers, arrested a suspect an hour later, the agency said.

The preliminary investigation indicates that this was not a random attack, SEPTA said in a statement. The individuals involved knew each other and were involved in an altercation that escalated to the stabbing.

Philadelphia Homicide Capt. Jason Smith said surveillance video captured a violent confrontation between the men. Smith said the assailant, whose name was not immediately released, was taken into custody after apparently seeking help for his injuries at the Hub of Hope, a service center for the homeless in Suburban Station. He was hospitalized but not immediately charged, Smith said. .

The attack occurred amid a strike by SEPTAs 178 police officers, which began Wednesday over a contract dispute regarding work rules.

The transit agency said it did not anticipate the strike would cause any service interruptions and that SEPTA intends to rely on the departments 49 supervisors to work 12-hour shifts to cover patrols. Philadelphia police will assist with enforcement at transit hubs in the city, while police in suburban communities will provide coverage at Regional Rail stations.
As nearly 200 SEPTA police officers went on strike Wednesday over work rules, including whether they could review body camera footage before providing statements for investigations, there was one notable difference between their messaging and the high-profile teachers strikes that have swept the country in the last year:

The absence of talk about the public good.

In Los Angeles this January, for example, 30,000 teachers went on strike over wages, but also over issues they said affected everyone in the county: class size, the role of charter schools, the need to hire support staff like counselors and librarians.

Experts call it social justice unionism or bargaining for the common good," and the approach has been on display in Philadelphia with unions supporting Fair Workweek scheduling legislation as an antipoverty measure, the building trades backing a rally for immigrant rights last summer, and labor groups joining coalitions to fight for a slate of progressive issues in the 2019 primary.

This strategy  aligning labor interests with those of the public  gained traction in the last decade, as union membership steadily dropped and labor faced unprecedented attacks. As Sarah Lawrence College labor historian Priscilla Murolo put it in the 2018 reissue of her book, From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: A Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States, To survive, let alone grow, unions had to expand their agenda far beyond wages, hours, and working conditions and become organizations that closely linked day-to-day efforts to empower workers on the job with longer-range struggles for justice in society at large.

>> READ MORE: Why labor has embraced immigrant rights  and 9 more examples of Philly intersectionality

Social justice unionism, experts say, is what the labor movement needs right now because it gets the public on the side of workers  especially as anti-union rhetoric seeks to discredit striking workers by describing them as greedy and selfish.

Bargaining for the common good has largely worked: The Los Angeles teachers settled their contract after a weeklong strike, winning caps on class sizes and a commitment to hire one librarian for every middle and high school by 2020. Teachers elsewhere in the country, such as Kentucky, have said that public support was key to winning their fights.

Omari Bervine, president of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109, which represents all of SEPTAs officers, said his primary duty is to protect the rights of his members, and often that aligns with the publics interest. After all, he said, like teachers, police officers serve the public.

But he said he wasnt interested in framing the story of the strike just to appeal to the public for its support. Were interested in telling the truth." If people disagree with the reason the union is on strike, thats their prerogative, he said.

Civil rights groups, though, believe the unions stance is at odds with the good of the public: If officers can review footage before providing a statement, it could shape how officers recount an incident. Police accountability has become a pressing public issue after a series of high-profile cases where unarmed black people were killed by police.

Still, Bervine disagrees that his unions position goes against the public interest. An officer viewing the footage before making a statement does not have a negative impact on the public good, because the publics need has already been served by [an incident] being recorded, he said.

Officers should be able to review footage before providing a statement, he said, because if their statement differs from whats on the video, officers could unintentionally perjure themselves. This is not a controversial position, he said, noting that its the policy for the Philadelphia Police Department. At least 74 other police departments across the country have similar policies, according to a 2017 report.

Meanwhile, another union in Philadelphia is gearing up for a strike  the one representing faculty and staff at Community College of Philadelphia  and leaders have sought to frame the battle as one for public education in a city plagued by poverty, though the strategys effectiveness has yet to be tested.
Striking SEPTA Transit Police Officers stand outside of SEPTA Headquarters at 1234 Market St. on March 6, 2019. Read more

First things first: Yes, SEPTA transit police are currently on strike, but service is not expected to be affected. Weve got details on it all just in time for your morning commute. Second things second: Reporter Claudia Vargas has dug deep into how overtime factors into the retirement funds of city workers and found its having a big impact on Philadelphias pension obligations. Like, $17 million-in-one-year big. Speaking of city money, weve got a preview of the budget address Mayor Jim Kenney is scheduled to deliver today, too.

Reading this online? Sign up here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning.

 Aubrey Nagle (@aubsn, morningnewsletter@philly.com)

Nearly 200 police officers responsible for patrolling SEPTAs stations and vehicles began a strike Wednesday afternoon. SEPTA does not expect the strike to cause any service disruptions and expect supervisors to cover patrols with help from police in Philadelphia and suburban communities.

Of concern for the striking workers is SEPTAs policy regarding body cameras as well as other issues involving work rules.

Lately, SEPTA police have been at the center of a controversy over how to address the homeless population taking shelter at city transit hubs.

Imagine if you could guarantee yourself a paycheck each month thats higher than your base salary. Thats exactly what 18 municipal employees who retired in 2017 were able to do thanks to accumulated overtime.

But theyre not the only ones who got a boost. An Inquirer analysis of pension data found that the average pension of a city employee who retired in 2017 was boosted an average of 14 percent due to overtime.

Together, it could cost the citys depleted pension fund $17 million.

Mayor Jim Kenney will present his fourth budget address to City Council today, and his $5 billion proposal is built for the reelection campaign trail.

The administration plans to send more money to the School District of Philadelphia and invest in public safety and community programs.

Ahead of the address, the Philadelphia Free Library system requested $15 million in additional funding. They want the money for new materials, staffing, and building maintenance.

What you need to know today

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

Was it a good one, @the_brittjames?

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!

Thats Interesting

Opinions

Practicing assertive communication skills early on builds critical muscle memory, making it more natural for girls to use their voice effectively later in life. Above all else, remind any young girl in your life that her voice matters. That you value her speaking her mind.  Marisa Porges, Head of School at The Baldwin School, on why we need to teach young girls to interrupt the conversation.

Philly lawmakers need to attack corruption like that recently found in the local construction industry by promoting fair and open competition for public contracts, writes Joe Perpiglia, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter.

Youve been using the word hysterical wrong, a word that has become gendered beyond recognition, writes The Angry Grammarian Jeffrey Barg.

What were reading

A Daily Dose of | Fossils

Dinosaur tracks  yes, dinosaur tracks!  have been found at Valley Forge National Historical Park.
Quaker City Captain Bob Shannon Jr. (right) was known for his elaborate performances at the Mummers Day Parade. Read more

Robert Shannon Jr., 71, of Blackwood, the legendary Mummer known as the ambassador who was the captain of the Quaker City String Band for 37 years, died on Monday, March 4, just a day after marching in a St. Patricks Day parade.

Mr. Shannon was born and raised in Philadelphia. His last appearance as a Mummer, with his trademark smile and enthusiasm, was with his award-winning string band at the parade in Gloucester City, close to his home in Camden County, said Harry Brown, the string bands president.

He was the worlds most famous Mummer, Brown said. He traveled across the United States, and went to Spain and to Ireland, to march in a St. Patricks Day parade there. He loved to make friends, and he loved to make people smile, Brown said.

Mr. Shannons wife, Susan, said she met her husband 25 years ago, when she worked at the barbershop where he got his hair cut. They were married nearly 23 years.

He was a wonderful family man, Susan Shannon said.

In recent years, she said, Mr. Shannon ushered for the Phillies. He would look up at the sky and say, Pop, theyre paying me to watch the Phillies.'

Mr. Shannon worked for 40 years as a civilian employee of the Department of Defense in Philadelphia, his wife said.

Mr. Shannon was a 1966 Darby-Colwyn High School graduate and earned a business degree from the University of Delaware, his family said. At that time, he was a drum major for the Eagles marching band, the Sound of Brass, said his brother Jack.

After going to sleep after midnight, his wife said, Mr. Shannon died of an apparent stroke. He had suffered two previous strokes that forced him to retire as captain in 2008, she said.

When Mr. Shannon retired from the Mummers, it ended an era for a man who, at 6-foot-10, could not be missed, friends said. He had participated in parades since he was 11, playing sax and following in the footsteps of his father, a longtime member of Quaker City.

At 23, he became captain of Quaker City, becoming only the second person to hold the position since the group was created in 1931. He was known to Mummers and fans alike as an outstanding performer who engaged his audience on New Years Day, wearing elaborate costumes whether the groups theme was hillbillies, scarecrows, or Reflections of Old Moscow.

Bob was just one of those people everyone admired. When he marched down the street, he was iconic, said Joe Asti Pomante, who performs in the Durning String Band. He was bigger than life.

He was known for his quick change of spectacular costumes during performances that were minutes long. During the Mummers Parade in 1999, he wore three different costumes for that years Moscow theme. He first emerged as Russian royalty, surrounded by feathers and red and gold sequins head to toe. While Mr. Shannon was dancing before the judges, there was the slightest bit of snow and a gentle wind when confetti was shot into the air, and it swirled around him as if he were in a snow globe, said Steve Highsmith, longtime anchor of parade TV coverage. Quaker City won first place that year, the beginning of a four-year first-place streak.

The Fralinger String Band, which also had four consecutive wins, was a major rival in competitions, said George Badey, who plays sax for that club. During the four years that Quaker City won, Badey said, his club came in second until it regained the title in 2003. Mr. Shannon was a fierce rival, but always a gentleman, Badey said.

Under Mr. Shannons leadership, Quaker City won the top honor nine times. Captains are also judged for their performance, and Mr. Shannon won first place in that category seven times, said Badey, a Mummers historian.

As memorable as Mr. Shannon was on the parade route, he was also well known for mediating conflicts and showing compassion. When Badeys son was hospitalized about 15 years ago, Mr. Shannon told Badey there were 100 Mummers ready to donate blood if needed.

Bob Shannon lived a life of wonder. He spread so much happiness around, Badey said. He had a life well lived, and were going to miss him terribly.

In addition to his wife and brother, Mr. Shannon is survived by children Christopher, Nadine Hickman, Danielle Fetter, and Andrea Rivell, and his former wife, Georgean Krips.

Visitation will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday, March 11, and 8 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 12, at the Murphy Ruffenach Brian W. Donnelly Funeral Home, 2237 S. Third St. Burial will be at Resurrection of Christ Cemetery, Bellmawr.

Donations may be made to the Palandro-Ferry Memorial Foundation, Box 8696, Collingswood, N.J. 08108-8696.
Aaron Muderick, founder of Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty, pictured with Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) on Feb. 7, 2019. Muderick thanked the Senator for his work on tariffs, especially as it relates to Section 232 issues. Read more

Im known as Crazy Aaron. Im the inventor of Crazy Aarons Thinking Putty, a mysterious compound that bounces and stretches in fantastical colors and special effects. We are the rare toy company that produces its goods here in the United States and exports them to children around the world. In the 20 years since Crazy Aarons began, we have grown from a hobby business (in my parents basement) to a mid-size employer with a globally recognized brand operating out of our new world headquarters in Norristown.

On Feb. 7, I was in Washington, expressing my concerns to members of Congress about our ongoing tariff war with China. I know firsthand, as a businessman, that tariffs are extraordinarily counterproductive to trade and commerce.

The first round of tariffs President Donald Trump placed on Chinese goods last August kicked off a long trade battle. For us, the result of Round One has been higher costs for our raw materials. Prices have gone up for both the metal tins used to contain Thinking Putty, and for the silicone that gives our toys their snap. This double hit has had a significant impact on our business and has led to financial loss.

The fact that we source these materials domestically doesnt seem to matter. The U.S. is part of an intricate global economy, and imposing tariffs on international goods often increases domestic prices by raising demand. With these tariffs in place, U.S. production does not meet U.S. demand. This has sent even more players scrambling for a piece of a fixed domestic supply.

Economists recognize that tariffs are a blunt force instrument. The idea that tariffs will spur increased domestic outputs of materials like steel and silicone only makes sense in theory. Building large-scale industrial plants takes a very long time. And as the economist John Maynard Keynes observed, This long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run were all dead. As a practical trade policy tool, tariffs are antiquated.

As destructive as the current rounds of tariffs have been, it is the next round that could deal a fatal blow to Americas approximately $28 billion toy industry. Our company is part of a larger ecosystem of manufacturers, designers, retailers, and toy industry workers. I have serious concerns about our partners who source in China. If further tariffs go into effect, it will mean the almost immediate loss of thousands of jobs and will put a destructive hurricane over the 2019 holiday season.

As a U.S. manufacturer, we are proud of the investment we make in our community. However, we are only able to do so when buoyed by international sales of our product. Growth across world markets is key to our success. Tariffs and trade wars diminish trust and respect for the U.S. abroad and seriously hinder growth in those markets.

I believe the success of U.S. business comes from creativity, ingenuity, and speed in responding to the latest customer demands. Those qualities drive us to produce better products. They also lead consumers overseas to desire American-made products and pay a premium for them. While they may seem like a viable solution to more complicated issues, tariffs are actually self-defeating. They not only diminish our domestic sales from American consumers, who pay what is essentially a tax, but also threaten our export-driven growth.

Lets be smart and not force a self-inflicted wound by taxing toys and losing what the U.S. toy industry has worked so hard to achieve here and around the world.

Aaron Muderick is the president of Crazy Aarons Puttyworld.
The city made two big commitments to gain support for a sweeping overhaul of its property tax system in 2013: the move to the so-called Actual Value Initiative would be revenue neutral and property assessments would be uniform.

But promises made have not been promises kept.

The revenue-neutral claim went out the window before the ink was dry on AVI. And an independent audit commissioned by City Council last year found numerous errors in the way properties are assessed.

Six years after a major revamp of property taxes that resulted in a tax hike for most residents, one truth remains: Philadelphia property tax system is still broken.

While there have been improvements, property tax bills remain uneven from one home to the next. Tens of thousands of homeowners pay more in property taxes than they are supposed to, while others pay less. There appears to be no rhyme or reason as to how properties are assessed.

The City Council audit and a recent report by the City Controller found numerous problems including:

Assessments are not uniform and do not meet industry standards.

Assessments are off by an average of 15 percent.

The Office of Property Assessments lacks accurate data and does not document all of its procedures.

Assessment methods are not made public, making it difficult for property owners to determine how their values were calculated.

An analysis last year by The Inquirer found more than 35 percent of homes in the city are overassessed, resulting in tax bills above what property owners should be paying. .

Overall, 48 of the citys 57 neighborhoods saw jumps in their assessments, including some homeowners whose property taxes increased more than 100 percent. The spike prompted thousands of angry property owners to file appeals  the largest number since 2014 when the city implemented AVI.

City Council passed an ordinance earlier this year that allows property owners who are appealing their assessments to pay taxes based on their previous assessments until their cases are resolved. The city also is looking to hire a new chief assessment officer.

But bolder steps are needed. The city should implement a moratorium on increases in new assessments until properties are uniform, transparent, and meet the industry standards.

The city should also cap or phase in future increases to avoid sharp spikes in tax bills. This is something Mayor Kenney called for in 2012 when he was a City Councilman: Theres got to be some limit to what were gonna whack people with, because they can move, Kenney said then. You cant expect people to have their real estate taxes doubled and expect them to want to still be Philadelphia residents.

Many states and some cities, including New York City, have limits on how much property taxes can increase in a given year. Philadelphia  which already has one of the largest tax burdens in the country  should do the same. As Kenney once said, jacking up property taxes is just one more reason why residents who can move to the suburbs.
Wabtec Corp. employees, who are members of UE Local 506, strike near the west gate of the former GE Transportation plant, now owned by Westinghouse Airbrakes Technologies Corp., in Lawrence Park Township, Erie County, Pa., on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. Leaders of UE Locals 506 and 618 said in a statement that they were unable to convince the company to negotiate what they called an "acceptable short term agreement that preserves the wages, benefits, and working conditions" for more than 1,000 employees. Read more

When a new owner called Wabtec took control last month of General Electrics historic locomotive manufacturing plant in Erie as part of an $11 billion deal, the bosses must have thought it was going to be easy to bully 1,700 United Electrical workers into a less favorable contract that would have started any new hires at much lower wage than factory veterans.

Why wouldnt the union accept this shotgun marriage? Pennsylvania-based Wabtec (formerly Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies) called on the same playbook that manufacturing execs have used to hold down Americas blue-collar paychecks for decades. The locomotive plant wouldnt be able to compete with rivals in Mexico or China without major givebacks, management insisted. And if the union didnt cave immediately, Wabtec could just shift the work to other lower-cost plants away from the Great Lakes.

So those bosses must have been stunned when union leaders didnt sign on the dotted line. Instead, their 1,700 members walked out  the first U.S. labor strike by manufacturing workers in nearly three years.

They thought they could steamroll all the existing employees, Brad McCurdy  one of those rank-and-file workers, an electrician with 14 years at the Erie plant  told me by phone this week. He said todays workers heard the echoes from the last major strike at the former GE facility, an epic 102-day walkout in 1969. Were fighting for this community. In the strike 50 years ago, our union brothers didnt sell us up the river, and were not going to sell future workers up the river.

Some local observers thought the strike was foolish  didnt Wabtec hold all the cards?  but so far the strategy has worked for UE Locals 506 and 618. Late Wednesday, the two sides agreed to a 90-day interim agreement that essentially preserves the current union contract while allowing some time for a new deal that could satisfy both blue-collar workers as well as management.

The high-stakes Erie showdown caps a year thats been remarkable in America both for the number of labor strikes  the most in more than three decades  and the success that middle-class workers have gained from walking off the job. The 485,000-plus Americans who took part in work stoppages in 2018 was the most since 1986, and the highest number in the 21st Century by a long shot. And so far, 2019 is off to even more ambitious start for organized labor.

In Oakland, a 7-day teacher strike just ended with workers seeing major concessions, including a pay raise that was double the districts original offer and a promise of more hiring and support for counselors, school psychologists, and nurses. That came on the heels of Januarys similar job action in Los Angeles, where a strike over issues like reducing class sizes was largely a win for the union, Indeed, the bulk of 2018s initial strike wave driven by  to Oklahoma.

Now, walkout fever is spreading elsewhere. In late 2018, a 7,700-worker strike against the nations largest hotel operator, Marriott Corp., led to major gains for housekeepers and other staff. Here in Philadelphia, SEPTA transit police are  as I write this, anyway  on the picket line over a variety of workplace issues, while some 1,200 faculity and support staff at Community College of Philadelphia have authorized a potential strike that could begin in a matter of days.

Theres something in the air. Many labor experts say that strikes  not unlike the global waves of political unrest that occurred in 2011, 1989 or 1968  can be contagious, as workers see and adopt winning tactics from elsewhere. But in America right now, the uprising has been compounded by mounting frustration over income inequality, and how buying power for the middle class has stayed flat for years while incomes from top executives and investors have skyrocketed.

The word strike has again become part of the American lexicon, Erik Loomis, the University of Rhode Island labor historian and author of A History of America in Ten Strikes, told me. Loomis disputed one argument over the rise in labor unrest recently floated by Trump administration officials, that the current low U.S. unemployment rate of 4 percent is giving middle-class workers the courage to take risks. Instead, Loomis sees rising outrage over a system where most income gains are falling to the top 10 percent.

Loomis said strikes are actually scary  especially when youre a worker and you have a family and you dont know what the impacts going to be. But if you see them [strikes] working elsewhere, that can give you confidence. He said many workers squeezed by taking on extra jobs to make ends meet -- are thinking, if this is the good economy, what happens in the next recession?"

Theres more than a little irony that Erie  the northwestern Pennsylvania city that puts the rust in the Rust Belt would be the site of the nations first manufacturing plant strike in a while. In 2016, the city where the then-GE Transportation locomotive plant  erected by the company in 1910 along with the historic Lawrence Park neighborhood that surrounds it  had become the last remaining large factory was a frequent stop on the campaign trail for candidates like Donald Trump.

Heres what Trump told a rally there just two months before he was elected 45th president: So Erie has lost a lot. Right? You know that, right? Hang in, dont leave. I promise we can fix it so fast. We will stop these countries from taking our jobs.... Now, I came up with a great plan. Im lowering corporate taxes so our companies stay, so I dont even have to make the call.

Big corporations like Wabtec, which last month projected a 2019 profit of about $1.2 billion, got that big Trump tax cut in late 2017, yet it still plans to reduce labor costs rather than share any of the benefits with workers. After buying GE Transportation, the company informed the UE it wanted a new contract that not only rankled the current workforce with a requirement for mandatory overtime but demanded the right to staff the Erie plant with as much as 20 percent lower-paid contractors, and to hire any new union employees at a 40 percent lower paycheck than what current workers get.

Wabtec calculated that long-time employees like McCurdy  a 42-year-old father of two  would jump at the deal since their pay and benefits would be little affected. That proved to be a major miscalculation. Instead, the factory workers saw the offer as an arrogant example of what McCurdy called corporate greed and Union Busting 101. They voted to strike, huddling on their picket line around flaming burn barrels against frigid blasts of wind off Lake Erie.

The Erie workers took their cue from other recent strikes that appealed for  and received  wide public support. The signs brandished by picketers read On Strike for the Jobs Our Communities Deserve and were modeled after a similar slogan used by Chicago schoolteachers in a 2012 job action. They said the lower salaries that Wabtec wants to offer new hires would be a crippling blow for the already hard-hit Pennsylvania city. The lower wages, they said, would suck $17 million out of the Erie economy  just a tad more than the bonus Wabtec CEO Raymond Betler got for pulling off the GE buyout.

This company is exploiting the fact that we have a low medium income and not a lot of good paying jobs in Erie, McCurdy told me, referring to the Wabtec demands. As the strikers braced against the cold this past week, they took support from their neighbors who honked or stopped to donate some hand warmers. Its hard not to think that strikers winning the public relations war is what helped drive Wabtec  which had initially begun shifting work to other U.S. facilities  back to the bargaining table instead.

Thats not surprising. U.S. public support for labor unions has spiked to 62 percent  the highest its been in years since Trump was elected in 2016. After decades of seeing paychecks erode, more and more workers are looking at their options and asking themselves, what have we got to lose? For Americas CEOs who were so quick to pocket their Trump tax cut or spend the money on buybacks that enriched their investors but not their workers, the forecast for 2019 is a long hot summer.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., sits with fellow Democrats, Rep. David Trone, D-Md., left, and Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., right, on the House Education and Labor Committee during a bill markup, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Read more

WASHINGTON - House Democrats argued acrimoniously Wednesday over whether to rebuke Rep. Ilhan Omar for allegedly anti-Semitic remarks, forcing party leaders to confront a growing rift over race and religion that threatened to hamstring the newfound majority.

Omar, D-Minn., suggested last week that Israel's supporters have an "allegiance to a foreign country," a remark that angered some Democrats who saw them as hateful tropes; some pushed to condemn the freshman lawmaker. Her defenders argued that leadership was applying a double standard in singling out one of the two Muslim women in Congress.

In a closed-door Democratic caucus meeting Wednesday morning, lawmakers debated whether to vote on an anti-hate measure in response to Omar. The session quickly became rancorous, reflecting splinters over wider issues such as America's long-standing support for Israel, the appropriate response to racial and religious grievances and younger generations' reliance on social media. Plans for a quick vote appeared to fade amid the uproar.

Democratic leaders openly fretted that the divisions would overshadow their legislative agenda, especially a planned Friday vote on a major campaign and ethics reform bill, just days after they launched a sweeping investigation focused on the president. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and Republicans sought to capitalize politically, eager to position their party as the more reliable ally of Israel - and the more appealing choice for Jewish voters who have long trended to vote for Democrats - ahead of the 2020 election.

Trump tweeted that it was "shameful" that Democrats weren't taking a stronger stand against anti-Semitism in their ranks: "Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it's inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!"

But Trump's words have been galling to Democrats, particularly members of the Congressional Black Caucus, considering the president's equivocating after the racial attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, his profane description of third-world countries and his criticism of black athletes.

"Since this president has been president, living while black has become a real, real issue, and there's a deafening silence about how the country is changing in terms of tolerance," said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., a former chairman of the caucus, in an interview moments after speaking out at the caucus meeting.

Inside the Democratic caucus meeting, according to multiple people present who spoke on the condition of anonymity, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tried to keep the focus on a planned Friday vote on the sweeping measure. She acknowledged "internal issues," according to notes taken by a Democratic aide present, and urged members not to "question the motivations of our colleagues."

"You can disagree wholeheartedly, but do not question their patriotism or their loyalty to our country in any way, and that holds for the Republicans as well," she said, according to the notes.

Walking into the meeting, Pelosi chastized the media and said the Omar situation "would be resolved."

"I think you make more of it than there is . . . to be very honest with you," she said, adding that "the press loves to foment unease in the Democratic Party, but we are very united" about the House Democratic agenda.

Pelosi made a similar point in the room, said the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private discussions.

But moments later, House members stood up to challenge the decision - endorsed by Pelosi and the rest of the House Democratic leadership - to move forward with a resolution condemning religious hatred. Initially, the measure targeted only anti-Semitism, with some Democrats pushing for a direct rebuke of Omar, but by Tuesday night - facing backlash from members not on board with the plan - leaders decided to expand it to include anti-Muslim bias.

On Wednesday morning, it was unclear whether there was consensus about passing any legislation at all.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., was among the first members to speak up in the meeting, asking, "Why are we doing this?" Afterward, she said any resolution would be "redundant and unnecessary."

"We've individually and collectively already responded to the fact that we oppose all isms that do not treat people in this country fairly and justly," she said. "To continue to engage in this discussion is simply an opportunity to give both the media and Republicans distractions from our agenda. We've got important work to do."

Other members, including Richmond, said it was unfair that the caucus would take action against one of its own members while other GOP lawmakers have uttered offensive remarks with no retribution. In an extraordinary exchange this week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., accused Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, of anti-Semitism for a tweet referring to Tom Steyer, a Democratic donor of Jewish descent, as "Tom $teyer," and Richmond and several other members mentioned Trump.

"We need to have equity in our outrage," said Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who after the meeting said she was focused on "the occupant of this White House who is seeding every form of hate, emboldening it with racist rhetoric and policies. That is who we all need to be focused on, and this is a distraction."

Later Wednesday, the Congressional Black Caucus met to discuss how to handle the issue, but the group's chairwoman, Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., said the group would not take an official position on a response to Omar.

"People within the caucus are kind of all over the map," she said. "There are some people that feel, 'Why are we doing a resolution?' Some people, they want to see what it actually says, and there are some people that feel good about what they are hearing."

Omar attended Wednesday's Democratic caucus meeting but did not speak. There, Pelosi made reference to an episode last week in which a sign that falsely linked Omar with the 9/11 attacks was posted at an event hosted by the West Virginia Republican Party, according to the aide's notes: "That is outside the circle of official or civilized behavior on their part, and we cannot give them grist for it."

But other lawmakers, including a group of Jewish members who pushed to pass the resolution focused on anti-Semitism, remain convinced that the House needs to act in response to Omar's remarks. Twice in the two months prior, Omar has apologized for past remarks perceived as anti-Semitic, but she has publicly defended the most recent episode as a valid criticism of Israel's influence in American politics.

Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., who is among the Jewish members involved in crafting the initial resolution, rose to defend it, according to one member present who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said his colleagues needed to understand that these words were hurtful to people like himself who had dealt with them all their lives.

One freshman member, Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., confronted Pelosi about being blindsided earlier this week with news reports that there would be a vote on an anti-Semitism measure. The Washington Post and other outlets reported on details from a draft resolution Monday, a day before most lawmakers arrived in Washington for votes.

"We're a large caucus," Hayes said in an interview Wednesday. "We have lots of people from lots of perspectives. At what point can people weigh in before a resolution goes forward? I have a large Muslim population, I have moderate Jews, I have conservative Jews in my district, and people are asking, 'What does it say?' . . . I'm their representative, and I don't have an answer. As a member of Congress, that cannot be how we operate."

Hanging over the internal debate among Democrats is political pressure from Republicans. GOP leaders on Wednesday accused Democrats of tolerating anti-Semitism by refusing to remove Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over the U.S.-Israel relationship.

"They should stop empowering her disgusting hatred before it turns into horror," said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the House Republican Conference chairwoman.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other Republicans pointed out how the GOP took action against Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, stripping him of committee assignments after he questioned whether the term "white supremacy" was offensive. But Democrats have found the comparison laughable, pointing to the years of prior GOP inaction as King made repeated offensive comments about immigrants and racial minorities.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., addressed the issue on the Senate floor: "It is unconscionable for any member of the United States Congress, even less a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to repeatedly traffic in base stereotypes."

For Democrats, the internal divide over how to handle Omar's statements has been exacerbated by members targeting one another on Twitter, where much of the public debate has played out - both among Democrats and between members of the two parties.

At one point during the meeting, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., a close Pelosi ally, pleaded with Democrats: "Everyone stop tweeting!"

Congressional Progressive Caucus co-Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said afterward that by fighting publicly, Democrats were playing into GOP hands.

"We are now in the majority, and Republicans have an intent to divide us whenever they can," she said, adding that her colleagues needed to find "a process where these things can play out in private and not in front of everybody."

Rep. Juan Vargas, D-Calif., was targeted on Twitter Tuesday by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for saying that questioning the U.S.-Israel relationship should be out of bounds.

Vargas on Wednesday brushed off the online clash: She could have come down the hall and asked me what my opinion is. That would have been fine, he said, adding, We have a very different opinion here, I believe. To question someones loyalty because theyre Jewish, I think, is terrible. Its something that we shouldnt question at all.
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2019, file photo, construction crews install new border wall sections seen from Tijuana, Mexico. Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) says the Pentagon is planning to tap $1 billion in leftover funds from military pay and pensions accounts to help President Donald Trump pay for his long-sought border wall. Durbin told the Associated Press, its coming out of military pay and pensions, $1 billion, thats the plan. Read more

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Pentagon is planning to tap $1 billion in leftover funds from military pay and pension accounts to help President Donald Trump pay for his long-sought border wall, a top Senate Democrat said Thursday.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) told the Associated Press, Its coming out of military pay and pensions. $1 billion. Thats the plan.

Durbin said the funds are available because Army recruitment is down and a voluntary early military retirement program is being underutilized.

The development comes as Pentagon officials are seeking to minimize the amount of wall money that would come from military construction projects that are so cherished by lawmakers.

Durbin said, "Imagine the Democrats making that proposal  that for whatever our project is, we're going to cut military pay and pensions."

Durbin, the top Democrat on the Appropriations panel for the Pentagon, was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who met with acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thursday morning.

The Pentagon is planning to transfer money from various accounts into a fund dedicated to drug interdiction, with the money then slated to be redirected for border barriers and other purposes.

More attention has been paid to Trump's declaration of a national emergency to tap up to $3.6 billion from military construction projects to pay for the wall. The Democratic-controlled House voted last month to reject Trump's move, and the GOP-held Senate is likely to follow suit next week despite a White House lobbying push.

Senate Republicans met again Wednesday to sort through their options in hopes of making next week's voting more politically palatable. They are struggling to come up with an alternative to simply voting up or down on the House measure as required under a never-used Senate procedure to reject a presidential emergency declaration. Lawmakers in both parties believe Trump is inappropriately infringing on Congress' power of the purse.

Senators are increasingly uneasy ahead of voting next week because they don't know exactly where the money to build the wall will come from and if it will postpone military projects in their home states.

Vice President Mike Pence told senators during their meeting a week ago that he would get back to them with an update. But senators said they don't yet have a response from the administration.

Its a concern, said Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas). He said a number of senators have been talking to the White House about other ways the administration could shuffle the money without relying on the authority under the emergency declaration, which is likely to become tied up in litigation.

The pitch is, "Why have this additional controversy when it could be done in a less controversial way?" he said. "Apparently, the White House is not persuaded."

The Army missed its recruiting goal this year, falling short by about 6,500 soldiers, despite pouring an extra $200 million into bonuses and approving some additional waivers for bad conduct or health issues.

Congress also appropriated money to give members of the military incentive to take early retirement, but enrollment in the program is coming in well under expectations.

This is pay that would have gone to Army recruits that we cant recruit, Durbin said. So theres a savings because we cant recruit. The other part was they offered a voluntary change in military pensions, and they overestimated how many people would sign up for it.
WASHINGTON - Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio announced Thursday that he will not seek the presidency, a decision he said came after a tour of early primary states left him more confident that his party was focusing more on labor and workers than it had in 2016.

"I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate in 2020," Brown said in a statement. "The best place for me to make that fight is in the United States Senate."

Brown, 66, is the second Democratic senator to pass on a White House bid this week; Oregon's Jeff Merkley released a similar statement Monday. Both senators had hired staff in some early states and had begun to sketch out the argument that a populist Democrat with a record of winning white, working-class voters could break the coalition that narrowly elected Donald Trump.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also announced this week that he would not seek the Democratic nomination.

"Donald Trump has used his phony populism to divide Americans and demonize immigrants," Brown said in January as he began his four-state "Dignity of Work" tour. "He uses phony populism to distract from the fact that he has used the White House to enrich people like himself. Real populism is not racist."

But Brown, who had never seriously considered a presidential bid until urged to do so after the 2016 election, said he found that he did not have the same investment in a run as other Democrats. He was also encouraged to hear several rival candidates adopt his "dignity of work" motto on the trail, seeing that as evidence that the party was not making the same blunders that it had ahead of Trump's win.

Brown's decision may open some breathing room for other Democrats who were making similar, populist arguments and who had overlapping allies in the labor movement and on the left. Allies of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., saw Brown as a potential threat to the Vermont senator's candidacy, offering Democrats a younger, fresher voice with a record of victories in the Midwest.

"I'd be the only Democrat on that stage who voted against the Iraq War," Brown told reporters in Selma, Alabama, this weekend. "I think I'd be the only Democrat on that stage that came out for marriage equality 20 years ago."

Brown, like Trump and Sanders, had opposed trade agreements on the grounds that they slighted blue-collar workers in this country and contributed to broad job losses in a swath of states. He praised the president for imposing tariffs on imported steel, which he argued would make U.S. steel companies more competitive and rejuvenate employment in the industry.

But on most other issues, Brown fell in line with the rest of his party and the rest of the presidential field. He stopped short of endorsing Medicare-for-all but supported greater access to national health insurance, a ban on assault weapons, and a version of a Green New Deal. His competitive advantage, to some early-state Democrats, was that he had done so in an increasingly red Ohio.

"I've seen so many national Democrats look at this as either you speak to the progressive base or you speak to workers," Brown said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "If we have to choose between the two, we lose."

Brown defined "dignity of work" as ensuring jobs paid enough to live on, that every American could afford health care, education and housing, and that workers had enough control of their schedules to raise a family - a nod toward improving paid family leave policies. He'd also gotten some momentum in the Senate for a child-care subsidy, and he emphasized that Senate work in his decision not to run for president.

Democrats with an eye on control of the Senate may be relieved by Brown's decision; had he won the presidency, Ohio's Republican governor would have appointed his replacement. And while it did not become an issue during his exploratory tour, Brown faced Republican attacks in 2018 over his first marriage and subsequent messy divorce, an issue that could have emerged anew had he run for president.

Brown is now married to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Connie Schultz, who resigned from the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 2011 because she felt their relationship would raise questions about her neutrality. She now teaches journalism at Kent State University and campaigned with him in his visits to early states, citing her own blue-collar roots. Both of them, Brown said, would stay active in the Democratic debate.

Weve seen candidates begin taking up the dignity of work fight, and we have seen voters across the country demanding it - because dignity of work is a value that unites all of us, Brown said in his Thursday statement. It is how we beat Trump, and it is how we should govern. Thats why Im confident it will continue to be a focus for Democrats in 2020, and I plan on making sure that happens.
The Philadelphia Marine Center's owner, the Durst Organization of New York, is closing the facility north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Read more

New York developer Durst Organization has ordered the closure of the Philadelphia Marine Center marina just north of the Ben Franklin Bridge in an early step toward developing the surrounding piers, sending boaters scrambling for new places to dock vessels that, to some, are a full-time home.

Adam Rosenberg, Dursts director of residential properties, said in a letter sent to marina users Thursday that the facility  acquired as part a 5.3-acre assemblage of four piers it bought in March 2017 for $21.4 million  would close permanently April 15.

The marina needs to be cleared so divers can start surveying the areas underwater terrain for reports needed by the Army Corp. of Engineers for its permitting processes, which are aimed at protecting sensitive marine life and can take several years to complete, Durst spokesman Anthony Campisi said.

We are announcing this closure now because we want to give you enough time to find new accommodations for your vessels and will work with you to help facilitate this process," Rosenberg wrote to the marinas users.

Michael Nuzzo, who has been living with his wife at the marina on their 40-foot Silverton Yachts vessel, said he was caught off-guard by the announcement and doesnt know where he might be able to move his floating home.

They should have let us know this six months ago. Its not like they just come up with it, said Nuzzo, 50, who estimated that as many 20 boats at the facility serve as full-time residences. I have no idea where Im going now.

About 55 vessels are currently docked at the slip, but all 150 of its slips are generally occupied during summers, Campisi said.

Boaters are barred by their leases from living in their vessels, but the prohibition has long been ignored by the marinas management, Nuzzo said.

Jerry Ehrlich, who docks his 26-foot Uniflite sport-fishing boat at the Marine Center just a few minutes walk from his home in the Waterfront Square condominium building, said the immediate area has few alternative marinas. Space is tight at the small Pier 3 and 5 facilities south of the Ben Franklin Bridge and at Penns Landing, he said.

The Marine Center also offers the only fueling dock and full-scale waste-tank pump-out facility in central Philadelphia, with the next closest marinas offering such services up toward the Northeast at the Wissinoming Yacht Club or downriver near Philadelphia International Airport in Essington.

I am really so disgusted right now, Ehrlich said. This is a way of life theyre going to take away from people. I dont even know where to go.

The marina previously was owned by Philadelphia developer Brandywine Realty Trust, which sold Pier 12  the Marine Center pier  to Durst in a package that also included the Pier 24 parking lot north of Callowhill Street and the current sites of the Dave & Busters, Morgans Pier, and Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse restaurants.

Rosenberg also said in his letter to marina users that the Pier 24 lot was closing temporarily starting Thursday for inspections but that spots would be available for boaters through April 15 at Dave & Busters parking facility.

Durst, which counts a stake in New Yorks One World Trade Center office tower among its holdings, has released few details about its plans for the Delaware River waterfront property other than to say it would involve apartments.

It is also under agreement with the Delaware River Waterfront Corp. to buy a 1.6-acre, publicly owned parking lot between Vine and Callowhill Streets, across Christopher Columbus Boulevard from the marina.

As part of the revitalization of the Delaware River waterfront, [Durst] purchased several waterfront piers next to the Marine Center and are in the process of acquiring the Vine Street parking lot, Rosenberg wrote. In the coming months, more details about this new development will be available.

Campisi declined to predict whether the new development would include a marina to replace the one that is to close next month. He also would not say whether Durst hoped to enlarge parts the existing piers to allow for bigger building footprints or if building may occur on platforms over waterbound sections of the its property.

I dont want to speculate on whats going to happen to the remaining piers on the site. We need to evaluate their condition, he said. The exploratory work that were doing is going to help inform that.

Ehrlich said he thinks Dursts divers could have done their surveys around docked vessels.

They just dont want to put up with the boaters anymore, he said.
St. Laurentius Church, located in Fishtown, has been the subject of debate among residents for years. Read more

City Council on Thursday voted to change the zoning of the land surrounding St. Laurentius, Philadelphias first Polish Catholic church, helping to clear a path toward redevelopment of the historic property in Fishtown.

The bill, written by Council President Darrell L. Clarke and introduced by Councilman William K. Greenlee, faced no opposition. The legislation rezones the land directly underneath and near the church to allow for multifamily development, while the remainder of the blocks zoning, for single-family buildings, will stay the same. The change takes effect immediately.

Clarkes bill, which was introduced this year after new concerns arose about the 130-year-old propertys safety, momentarily caps a yearlong debate over what should happen to the church. Since the Archdiocese of Philadelphia moved to close and deconsecrate the church in 2014, developer Leo Voloshin has pursued plans to transform the property into 23 apartments, while preserving the exterior, which is listed on the citys historic register. That plan has faced opposition from a group of residents called the Faithful Laurentians, who argue that more should be done to save the interior of the church, including its murals.

In late 2016, Voloshin received approval from Philadelphias zoning board for his redevelopment project, but the Faithful Laurentians appealed the case all the way to the state court, arguing that the variance he received was issued in error. Last month, that court found that the Faithful Laurentians did not have legal standing. Hal Schirmer, an attorney for the group, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. It is unclear if the group plans to appeal the case to the state Supreme Court.

Voloshin also was not available Thursday afternoon. On Tuesday, he said he intends to move forward with his proposal but is awaiting an engineers report with the final costs of preserving the churchs exterior. Nearly 2 years ago he estimated that structural restorations would cost nearly $1 million. He has said previously that saving the church gets more challenging every day.

The situation at St. Laurentius took on new urgency in January, when five or six stones tumbled from the side of the building, crashing into the scaffolding below. Philadelphias Department of Licenses and Inspections said this week that the stones weighed a total of nearly 700 pounds. The St. Laurentius Catholic School, located on the block, closed for a few days afterward. The building has an unsafe designation from L&I.

Days later, Clarkes office indicated it was working on remapping legislation, meaning a bill that would change the zoning of the parcels around St. Laurentius. At the time, Jane Roh, spokesperson for Clarke, said that our understanding is that there is little community support for this obstructionist lawsuit" filed by the Faithful Laurentians.

Our office definitely shares the communitys concerns that delays will only increase the odds that the structure will have to be demolished to protect the publics safety, that interested developers will be forced to walk away, or both," she said at the time.

Clarkes legislation rezones the land bounded by Berks, Memphis, Wilt, and Tulip Streets in Fishtown, which measures one block long by one block wide.

Remapping bills, such as the one Clarke wrote, have had a long history in Philadelphia. Known colloquially among observers as spot zoning" or one way that councilmanic prerogative is applied, the practice has been used on numerous sites citywide. Clarke, for example, proposed legislation in 2014 that rezoned the parcel around the citys new Comcast tower. It was ultimately enacted. And Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. successfully introduced a remapping bill in 2017 to change the zoning of Manayunks Venice Island. Luxury townhouses are now being built on the site.

Spot zoning has at times been criticized for benefiting only one particular parcel.

The passage of Clarkes remapping bill comes just days after L&I released the findings of an engineering report that assessed the condition of St. Laurentius. The assessment, completed by the Philadelphia-based structural engineering firm Joseph B. Callaghan Inc., determined that although there has been little movement of the north towers as a whole, the situation is precarious and continuing to deteriorate."

L&I added that the stone facade that covers the towers is expected to fail at an accelerating rate and that the department may soon be compelled to order the demolition of the north towers in the interest of public safety.
The three-story Dilworth House, located on Sixth Street on Washington Square, is sandwiched between the Lippincott condos and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. A developer is seeking to build a condo tower behind the colonial-style property. Read more

The Society Hill Civic Association has filed a zoning appeal to oppose the 12-story condo tower proposed behind the historic Dilworth House on Washington Square, reigniting a fierce fight that has gripped one of Philadelphias wealthiest and oldest neighborhoods for the last decade.

The group, which filed the appeal Jan. 17, argues that Philadelphias Department of Licenses and Inspections was wrong to grant zoning permits to John Turchi, the developer of the proposed high-rise. Last month, L&I gave Turchi the green light to demolish the rear portion of the Dilworth House to make room for a 10-unit high-rise and an underground, automated parking garage, so long as he first received approval from both the Philadelphia Historical Commission and Art Commission.

In its appeal, the Society Hill Civic Association argues that Turchis proposed high-rise violates zoning rules that govern the area near Independence Hall. Specifically, the groups allege that Turchis tower does not comply with setback requirements, meaning the amount of distance that a portion of a building is required to be from the street. In addition, the Society Hill Civic Association said, Turchis tower would extend past the Dilworth Houses current footprint  something they allege is not allowed for building lines established in the area after 1954.

The zoning code has protections for properties near Independence National Historical Park, said Paul Boni, chair of the Society Hill Civic Associations Zoning and Historic Preservation Committee, adding that the group believes L&Is decision was an error.

While the appeal hearing has not been scheduled in front of Philadelphias Zoning Board of Adjustment, it could threaten Turchis plans for the site. Since 2004, when Turchi introduced plans to demolish the house and build a condo tower in its place, neighbors have fought fiercely to keep it standing. Plans and appeals have wound their way all the way up to Pennsylvanias Commonwealth Court. All the while, the house has sat abandoned, while other high-end condo buildings  including, most recently, developer Tom Scannapiecos 500 Walnut tower  have risen in the area.

Still, even with the appeals submitted, Turchi is able to forge ahead. According to city spokesperson Paul Chrystie, developers typically can begin work on a property as soon as they have approvals from the required agencies, even before the zoning board renders a decision on the appeal. In this case, with Turchis zoning permits from L&I already secured, all that is likely standing in his way is Historical and Art Commission approvals before the final building permits are approved.

Turchi has not yet submitted an application to either commission, Chrystie said. His current plans call for retaining the primary portion of the Dilworth House.

Neither Turchi nor his St. Davids-based attorney, Philip Rosenzweig, returned calls for comment. In a previous interview, Rosenzweig said that although Turchi conceived the plan, he has not yet decided whether he will be the builder.

Turchis plans have long upset neighbors, who view the Dilworth House as historically important, more for the gesture it represents than for its architecture. When the Society Hill was reeling in the mid-20th century, then-Mayor Richardson Dilworth commissioned prominent architect G. Edwin Brumbaugh to build him a home in Society Hill as a signal of his commitment to rejuvenating the area. The three-story house was built in Colonial Revival style.

It is classified as significant within the Society Hill Historic District.

Turchi, who purchased the property in 2001 for $1.75 million, originally planned to restore it to its former grandeur, consistent with its historic heritage," Inquirer archives show. That, however, shifted when he announced his plan for an elegant, contemporary condo building in the houses place.

After years of appeals and pushback, Turchi ultimately achieved partial victory in 2015 from the Commonwealth Court, which granted him the ability to demolish the homes rear portion. The facade and main portion of the property would have to remain.

According to a version of plans submitted to the city last year, Turchis current proposal would be about 172 feet tall and would be connected to the primary portion of the home. Some of the units appear to extend into the Dilworth House itself, according to the drawings.

With its boundaries stretching from the Delaware River to just beyond Washington Square, the Society Hill Civic Association and the neighbors within it have opposed other developments, too. Some neighbors have expressed opposition to the plans for a 31-story residential tower on the grounds of Center Citys Sheraton Society Hill Hotel. The civic association also fought a developers former plans to build a residential building at the site of the neighborhoods Acme.
A Rutgers-led team has identified 11 tick species living in New Jersey, hoping to foster a statewide effort to control the spread of the arachnid responsible for Lyme and other diseases.

Scientists involved in the study believe it is the first time a formal tally has been made in the Northeastern United States.

Two of the identified species are invasive and may have found a permanent home in the state, at least in part because climate change has made it warm enough for them to survive.

Ticks spread pathogens that can cause diseases in humans, livestock, and pets. James Occi, a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers Center for Vector Biology, said he hopes the work leads to a standardized tick surveillance program. That would help researchers more accurately assess which tick-borne diseases might be present and find better ways to control the pests.

The scientists searched scholarly databases, the United States National Tick Collection curated by the Smithsonian Institution, and reached out to other universities in the Northeast to derive their findings.

There hasnt been any kind of systematic surveillance, said Dina M. Fonseca, an associate professor at Rutgers.

She noted the tick blitz, a census of ticks in all 21 counties, that Rutgers started last year as the first step. The census showed, for example, that lone star ticks, which can spread disease-causing pathogens, are more widespread across the state than ever before.

New Jersey also drew national focus two years ago when an exotic Asian tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, also known as the longhorned tick, was confirmed to be present. It is one of the two invasive species from other countries found to be spreading throughout the state. Other research suggests the longhorned tick has likely been present since 2013. The longhorned tick has been a threat to animals and people in other countries  but thats not been the case so far in New Jersey.

The brown dog tick, the second invasive species, can infest dog kennels and homes, carrying pathogens that cause canine and human diseases.

Fonseca said other ticks have moved north from the Southern United States in recent years, such as the Gulf Coast tick, which can transmit Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis, a form of spotted fever, to people. The Gulf Coast tick isnt present in New Jersey yet, but the authors of the study believe it will eventually arrive.

Although its hard to say exactly why a tick moves into a certain area, Fonseca said climate change could be having an impact.

"So were seeing a moving north of ticks that many would argue is related to warmer temperatures, Fonseca said. Before that, they wouldnt survive.

She said ticks are one of the most common carriers of vector-borne diseases in the world. Vector borne means an infection is transmitted to humans by other animals or insects or, in this case, arachnids.

Fonseca said New Jersey had 4,000 diagnosed cases of Lyme disease, which is vector borne, last year. She said, on a per capita basis, Lyme disease incidence rivals that of cancer in New Jersey.

Nationally, there are up to 300,000 cases of Lyme disease each year. Overall, the number of tick-borne diseases has tripled in the United States in the last 10 years.

For example, the lone star tick, long present in New Jersey, presents a significant public health threat because it feeds on pets, people, and wildlife. It results in thousands of cases of Ehrlichia chaffeensis in dogs each year. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it likely transmits Heartland virus, presenting an emerging threat. Though there were only 40 cases reported as of last year, those diagnosed with Heartland virus have fever, fatigue, decreased appetite, headache, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle or joint pain.

As a result, Fonseca said, its important that the state  and nation get a better idea of how big the tick population is and where species are present.

Heres a rundown of ticks present in New Jersey (the common name is listed if there is one): lone star, winter, American dog, rabbit, Asian longhorned, brown dog, blacklegged, Ixodes brunneus, Ixodes cookei, Ixodes dentatus, and Ixodes texanus.

Five other species of ticks have been reported in New Jersey, but not verified.
There are always going to be the students that think they know how to do it themselves, and those are the students were always outreaching to, to try and make sure theyre coming in to see us, Harris said. We also have a number of adult students. We do a lot with them in terms of advising, but they are probably some of the students who arent coming in [for academic advising] as frequently.
The Pine Bluffs Municipal Airport may be getting a new hangar and maintenance shop should the Wyoming Business Council approve a $173,000 grant request from the town.

Expected to cost approximately $477,000 the new building would also house a pilots lounge, restrooms and a room for flight planning.

In addition to the potential grant, the Federal Aviation Administration would cover about $251,000 for the project, the Wyoming Department of Transportation would cover just shy of $16,800 and there would be a $25,000 local match.

After a public hearing  no members of the public were present aside from this reporter  the council voted 4-0 to apply for the grant.

Pine Bluffs Treasurer Kim Patterson said the town has a strong chance of being awarded the grant  more than 50 percent, she said.

In other business, Pine Bluffs will be receiving an additional emergency siren that will be placed on the east side of town.

The siren currently near Pine Bluffs Elementary School will be moved to an alley north of City Park.

Patterson said the reason for that is when it needs maintenance, heavy equipment is often involved in close proximity to small children.

The next town council meeting is Monday, March 18 at 7 p.m.
From out of the dusty boxes and stored memories, Ervin H. Klundt lives again to tell his story.

Klundt was born August 7, 1913 to Jacob K Klundt and Carolina Ackerman in Grafton, Nebraska. He is the cousin of local Pine Bluff resident Otto Marquart.

Marquart was going through some memorabilia and memories from his family, and came across his cousin Ervin's story and miscellaneous paperwork showing him to be a Bronze Star recipient of World War II.

In Klundt's words, as he has written, his time in the United States Army would not only take him to the war, but to the "riches" of Germany.

Ervin H. Klundt

World War II 1942-1945

"I was drafted into the United States Army on March 28, 1942 from Geneva, Nebraska. After being processed at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas I was sent to Camp Barkley (near Abilene), Texas to join the Company D, 359th Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, for infantry training.

Many times we had to go on 25 mile hikes carrying a full field pack. Running much of the time. Many could not make it and had to be brought back to camp by Army vehicles. We would make the 25 miles in 9+ hours. This was in the summer time in Texas and it was very hot.

Early in 1943 the 90th Division was sent to Louisiana on maneuvers for two months. We returned to Camp Barkley for more training. On September 1943 the division was sent to Arizona and California for maneuvers in the desert. New Years Day we were loaded on a troop train headed for Fort Dix, New Jersey. On March 23, 1944 we set sail out of New York harbor -destination England.

In April 1944 Headquarters were asking for interpreters. A lieutenant in charge of Company D told Sgt. Delbert Brown of Kingman, Arizona, who was head of the company motor pool, about the need for a German interpreter. Brown told me about it and I was interested so I went to the lieutenant to get permission to go see about the job. The lieutenant said, "Sure, go ahead. If I had the chance to do that I'd sure take it." So I go a ride to Birmingham, England on a truck from the motor pool. I talked to Major William I. Russell (later made Lt. Colonel) and he said, "Yes, we want you." So the paperwork was taken care of and I was transferred to Headquarters & Headquarters of the 90th Infantry Division. That saved my life. I had many life threatening experiences but still not nearly as bas as being an infantryman.

On June 6, 1944 I was on a ship at Cardiff, England sailing toward the beachheads of Normandy. We were a day and half getting to the Normandy beaches. There we sat off the coast of France until the 8th day of June when we landed on Utah beach with many many other troops. The fighting was very heavy and many lives were lost on both sides.

We went through Normandy - on eastward to Paris and on to Metz, France. My commanding officer, Maj. Russell, and I were sent to the Seigfried Line on September 1944 by the Chief of Staff to take a look at the progress that the tanks were making with the bombing of the German Pill Boxes. We were in Germany much earlier than most of the troops.

Then on to Luxembourg where the battle was raging. There were lots of women and children on the battlefield. They sent us to get trucks to take as many of the women and children out of the front lines as possible and transport them to Luxembourg City. There was a woman with her six year old daughter riding in a truck with many other refugees. It was a large Army truck with canvas covering the bows of the truck to provide shelter for them. It was late at night, in the wintertime, and apparently as the truck went around a corner, the little girl slid out, unbeknownst to her mother. The child was wrapped in a blanket. It was about midnight when we arrived in Luxembourg City and the mother discovered that her little girl wasn't with her. The mother was almost hysterical. I asked my commanding officer to give me permission to take the jeep and go back and try to find her. The major said that I could go so I drove back to the front lines in the dark. I had never traveled the road before that night. Upon inquiring about anyone finding a little girl I learned our troops had found her by the road - unhurt- and had taken her into their headquarters. It was by colored lieutenant that helped me locate her. It was daylight by the time we got back to the city. I was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for services outside the line of duty.

Courtesy Photo Klundt inspecting treasures

There were cattle that was left behind by civilians, who had been evacuated, from a small Luxembourg village. The G.I.'s had been feeding and caring for the livestock. The liaison officers arranged with the neighboring Luxembourois to care for the cattle if the soldiers would deliver them. Captain Zinn Garrett of Dallas, Texas came up with the idea of a roundup. Some G.I.'s staged an impromptu rodeo to round up some 400 cattle and a few sheep, horses and oxen. Some of those helping were: T/Sgt. Tom Watson of Branham, TX., PFC. Jerry Zimmerman of McCracken, KS, PFC. Clarance Oldham and myself as well as others stopping their work to join in the fun."

These are his memories, written down for future generation. While he goes on for more including about the Battle of the Bulge, and being part of the Third Army that found the stashes of German artifacts, paintings, gold and more, that is for another day.

Ervin H. Klundt passed away May 6, 1991 and was laid to rest at Fort McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell, Nebraska.

Thank you veteran Otto Marquart for sharing family history and his cousin's personal story of a time in World War II and Germany.
Beginning March 1, the Laramie County WIC Office will serve local families at a new location.

The new office can be found at 421 E 17th Street in Cheyenne.

Residents are invited to an official ribbon cutting/reception that will be held April 4 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the new location with refreshments and drawings.

WIC is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. WIC offers benefits to income eligible women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or who just had a baby, as well as families with children under the age of five.

WIC nutritionists and nurses provide supplemental foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support and help participants connect with other community resources. WIC also helps families learn how to shop for, prepare and use WIC foods in family meals.

Laramie County WIC is funded by the Wyoming Department of Health and is operated by Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. The local program also has a clinic on Francis E. Warren Air Force Base.

Anyone interested in learning more about the WIC Program or receiving WIC benefits may call 307-634-6180.
Wood slab vibrating feeder and hopper were delivered to Davao port, Philippines

2019-03-07

On 4th March, vibrating feeder and hopper for wood slab were loaded into a 20ft container and dispatched to Qingdao port, the sailing date is 8th March. The cargo will arrive in Davao port after 16 days sailing.

This is the second cooperation between both sides, the hopper and vibration feeder is used for making criss-crossed wood slab straight and feeding to the belt conveyor uniformly. According to the specific requirement.



PK Machinery configured a 4000mm wide hopper and a 600mm wide and 5000mm long vibrating feeder to fit the system, the vibrating feeder adopts two units of 2.2kw vibrating motor, meanwhile, a Siemens frequency converter is equipped to adjust the vibrating force.

Vibrating Feeder manufactured by PK Machinery is a kind of linear direction feeding equipment, It consists of feed spout, vibration body, vibrating motor, damping device. It can feed material for belt conveyor, vibrating conveyor, bucket elevator, vibrating screen, crusher etc. It is featured by its smooth operation, large feeding capacity, high efficiency, low energy consumption, stable vibration and easy maintenance.



Headquartered in Xinxiang City.Henan Province,China, domestic well-known screening and conveying equipment city, PK Machinery has enjoyed more than 50 steady years of successful growth, and now it has been widely acknowledged as a trustworthy and professional manufacturer in the field of bulk material handling equipment.

If you have any interest of our equipment, please feel free to inquire us: info@pkmachinery.com Further information, please click: www.pkmachinery.com
LFG Podcast #23: Poker Room Fist Fight and Guest HPT & MSPT POY Aaron Johnson

March 07, 2019 Chad Holloway

In the 23rd episode of the LFG Podcast, Chad Holloway and Jamie Kerstetter discuss the poker brawl that broke out inside Arizona's Talking Stick's Poker Room, dealers offering a "congrats" after a player busts, and debate buying poker titles. They also cover all the mid-major news, such as Kyle Kinder winning the RGPS Downstream and Matt Kirby winning a third MSPT title, and chat with guest Aaron Johnson, who in 2018 won the Player of the Year races on both the HPT and MSPT.

Follow Aaron Johnson on Twitter at @AyeGeeJay.

They also chat with Jesse Fullen, winner of the LFG Podcast seat giveaway to the Charity Series of Poker St. Jude event in Las Vegas.

Also, be sure to visit our sponsors in the VerStandig Law Firm and Seminole Hard Rock.

Don't be afraid to tell us what you think! Tweet at us using #LFGPodcast or our individual Twitter accounts.

Show Time Stamps

The LFG Podcast is now available on iTunes, Libsyn, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Podbean, and PlayerFM,

Finally, be sure to follow hosts @JamieKerstetter and @ChadAHolloway on Twitter.

Also, don't forget to check out the PokerNews Podcast on iTunes here.
3.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

We never purposefully put a child in a cage, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said. Like you do when you just mistakenly caged some babies.

Why is Nielsen in the position of lying once again in public? Because She was testifying before a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on The Way Forward on Border Security on Capitol Hill Wednesday, and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman questioned her about whether or not migrant children at the Mexican border are being kept in cages.

Chairman Thompson asked Nielsen if we were still putting children in cages. Nielsen said a lot about how these detention centers werent meant for children, but they are put in them, and yada yada.

Thompson got irritated, like you do when youre talking to someone whos refusing to actually answer a question, and asked her for a yes or no answer, to which she replied that To her knowledge we, as in the Trump administration, had never purposefully put a child in a cage.

Video:

Here is DHS Sec, Kirstjen Nielsen proclaiming that the cages that migrant children are kept in by Trump . pic.twitter.com/ZthHVGw5v8  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 6, 2019

And by cage, she means a square box, which she demonstrated with her hands.

Just in case you might think a cage was something with fencing on it. Like this:

So they didnt do it on purpose, to her knowledge, but if they did, you know a fence does not a cage make. Can we discuss what a cage is? Cuz apparently Nielsen is okay with kids in fencing.

Definition of cage: a structure of bars or wires in which birds or other animals are confined.

Yeah, that is what those kids are in- a structure. It need not be a box.

Then Nielson claimed that these caged sections of the border detention areas are not cages. Then she was asked what a chain link fence enclosing an area with a concrete floor represent to her, and she responded its a detention space that has existed for decades.

Detention space that is caged but is not a cage, per Trump administration:

Is it different from cages you put your dogs in when you let them stay outside?

Nielsen: Yes, its larger, it has facilities, it provides room to sit, to stand, to lay down 

So does my dogs cage, an unimpressed Coleman responded.

As a general reminder, Nielsen has a bad track record on this issue. Well, on many issues.

Remember this other testimony, under oath before the House Judiciary Committee: Weve never had a policy for family separation.

Well, that wasnt true. NBC busted Nielsen and the entire Trump administration with a previously-undisclosed administration memo showing that the Trump administration weighed targeting migrant families, speeding up deportation of children and specifically targeting parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) formally asked the FBI to investigate Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for perjury.

So when Nielsen says they didnt purposefully cage children, well. Its worth the same as when Trump claims he is a stable genius. That is to say, nothing except probably the opposite.

The Democratic-led House passed a resolution to overturn Trumps national emergency declaration to get funding for his unnecessary, impotent, and incompetent wall, and now it looks like there are enough Republican senators who just might sign on with Democrats to pass the resolution blocking the unconstitutional power grab. It will no doubt be vetoed by Trump.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republican senators had a spirited discussion on the matter. Like you do when your party is the self-described party of pro-life and family values. Cuz, you know, a discussion would be warranted over caged babies. I mean, some people might disagree with this policy, so a spirited discussion could be had.

Let us have a spirited discussion about children in cages. What do you think? Good plan? Way to say the United States is the land of the free and yes, its legal to seek asylum or not?

No, this is not actually a Day in the Life of an Intellectually Challenged White Supremacist, but it does feel like it.
1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Rachel Maddow laid out how Trump may have committed insurance fraud and the role of the agency in New York that is investigating the potential crime.

Maddow said:

Today for the fourth time in nine days, the presidents longtime attorney Michael Cohen gave testimony to Congress. For the second time today he testifies behind closed doors to the intelligence committee in the House. That committee had only intended to speak with him once Thursday of last week, but Cohens lawyers say a decision was made to bring him back for a second round of testimony today. Only because Cohen brought that committee new information last week. Committee members decided they wanted to ask him more and they crucially wanted to ask him to provide any supporting documentation to show them to back up these claims.

And again we dont know what has happened behind closed doors. But even just the stuff, the physical stuff that Cohen provided during his public testimony looks like it may be real trouble. I mean, those financial statements you just heard Cohen being questioned about, the financial statements were three years of statements of financial condition that Cohen said were submitted by the president and his business to at least one bank to try to obtain a bank loan and to insurance companies. And what Cohen described about the contents of the financial statements and what they were used for looks like a reasonably substantial investigation into felony bank fraud and insurance fraud. Cohen said the statements were inflated. That is not a wild claim.

Video:

#Maddow is all over Trump's inflated financial statements and the potential for felony insurance fraud. https://t.co/9CMAx3TpVm pic.twitter.com/VgFssU1F9x  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 7, 2019

Last week, Rachel Maddow did a detailed segment on how Trump inflated the value of his properties to banks and potentially committed felony bank fraud. She followed that segment up by showing the other side of the crime by breaking down how Trump could have committed felony insurance fraud by using the same overvaluing of assets to mislead insurance companies.

We dont know if there is an active investigation into Donald Trump for bank fraud, but we do know that the state of New York is reviewing documents and looking at Trump for potential insurance fraud.

None of these crimes may have seen the light of day if it wasnt for Michael Cohen testifying, and Michael Cohen wouldnt be testifying if Democrats werent in control of the House.

Rachel Maddow was able to show how Trump committed insurance fraud and who the people are who are investigating him, but without a blue last November, none of this would be happening.

Your vote last November might be the reason why Trump is someday charged with felony insurance fraud.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
2.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Michael Cohen provided documents to the House Intelligence Committee that shows what he claims are edits made by Trumps lawyers about the Trump Tower project.

NBCs Hans Nichols reported, Mr. Cohen provided to the committee do show edits. That would appear, and I stress appear to bolster the claims that he made last Wednesday that there were changes made to his testimony on the timing of how long the Trump Organization was in contact and interested and building some sort of projects in Moscow, in Russia. When Cohen talked about the testimony, he also mentioned Jay Sekulow as an addendum.

Video:

Michael Cohen has provided evidence to the House Intel Committee that Trump edited his testimony to include lies about Trump Tower Moscow. https://t.co/Vz8WP1VQR6 pic.twitter.com/oeKnhLxNcL  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 6, 2019

This is potentially devastating evidence against Trump because if those edits were made by Trumps lawyers in the Oval Office as Cohen claims, it means that the President Of The United States engaged in witness tampering and lying to Congress. Support for impeachment is increasing, as more Americans believe Michael Cohen than believe Donald Trump.

Michael Cohen is doing more than making claims against Trump. He is providing evidence to support those claims. Unlike previous witnesses, Trump hasnt been able to twist Cohens story into a he said/he said because Michael Cohen has the one thing that Trump has never provided. He has evidence to support his claims.

Cohen is not only giving investigators leads into Trumps criminality. He is providing evidence that could be used to impeach the president.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
1.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) made it clear that Trumps threats and attempts to intimidate Michael Cohen backfired.

Rep. Schiff said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:

We appreciate Mr. Cohen coming before the House Intelligence Committee for a second day as part of our ongoing investigation.

Mr. Cohens full cooperation came despite the not so thinly veiled threats emanating from the President and his allies. No person, especially not the President or his surrogates, should ever try to intimidate witnesses, scare their families, or seek to prevent them from testifying before Congress.

While we will not discuss the substance of his testimony at this time, Mr. Cohen cooperated fully with the Committee, answered every question we asked of him during both interview sessions, and provided important testimony and materials relevant to the core of our probe and that will allow us to advance our investigation substantially. We look forward to his continued cooperation with Congress and law enforcement.

Michael Cohen gave the House Intelligence Committee evidence that Trump and his lawyers were engaged in witness tampering as they edited Cohens initial testimony to Congress as it related to the Trump Tower Moscow project. If the evidence that Cohen provided checks out, it means that Donald Trump committed a crime while president.

Trumps threats and efforts at witness intimidation backfired on him as Michael Cohen doubled down and came to Congress with documents and evidence so that they wouldnt have to take his word for it. Trump should have kept his mouth shut and not made an enemy out of a man who holds so much evidence against him.

In case Donald Trump didnt learn his lesson, Rep. Schiffs warning was very strong. Witness intimidation will not be tolerated, and no matter what Trump does, Adam Schiff is going to get to the truth.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
4.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Trump responded to his state-run TV (Fox News) being denied a Democratic primary debate by threatening to block all other news networks.

Trump tweeted:

Democrats just blocked @FoxNews from holding a debate. Good, then I think Ill do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2019

Donald Trump thinks that he controls the general election debates

Trump cant ban any networks from the general election debates, because he doesnt control who can attend or cover them. The presidential debates are not White House events. Trump has no say over who gets a debate, or who covers the debates. His campaign will have to agree to the debates, but he cant unilaterally decide who gets to host or cover a debate.

The president could threaten to not attend any non-Fox News debates, but that would kill his reelection campaign. If Trump blew off the general election debates, he would almost certainly lose in November. Trumps tweet was nothing but bluster and nonsense, but it does lead to an important question.

Why U Mad, Trump?

Why should Donald Trump care if Fox News gets a Democratic primary debate? Trump should want Democrats not to have a debate on Fox because it is less competition on his turf.

Trump is mad because of why Democrats decided not to business with Fox News. DNC Chairman Tom Perez called out Fox for being state-run TV. Trump is angry because his favorite TV channel got called out by the Democrats for being propaganda, and not a legitimate news source.

When Democrats took power away from Fox News, they also took power away from the networks puppet president.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
WASHINGTON (Reuters)  U.S. Senator Martha McSally, who served as an Air Force pilot, said on Wednesday she had been raped by a superior officer.

The perpetrators abuse their position of power in profound ways, and in one case I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer, she said during a Senate hearing on sexual assault in the military.

(Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Eric Beech)
2.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has introduced a new bill that would stop Trump or any other president from using pardons for personal gain or to obstruct justice.

According to a statement provided to PoliticusUSA by Rep. Schiff, The legislation would require that if the President pardons someone in connection with an investigation in which the President or one of his family members is a target, subject, or witness, the evidence against the recipient of the pardon would be provided to Congress by the Department of Justice.

Trump has made it clear that he is dangling pardons to players in the Russia scandal in an effort to keep them on his side and away from cooperating with prosecutors.

Rep. Schiff said, The President has a broad power to confer pardons, but not when they are designed to insulate himself, his family and his associates from criminal investigation. Such an abuse of the pardon power would amount to obstruction of justice and is not countenanced by the constitution, Schiff said. The Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act creates a powerful check against deploying pardons in cases involving the president or his immediate family by ensuring that any evidence gathered in such an investigation is provided to Congress. The rule of law requires that a president use the pardon power only for reasons separate from his own criminal exposure.

It appears that Rudy Giuliani and Trump are trying to entice defendants in the criminal investigations into Trump not to cooperate by putting the idea out that if people keep their mouths closed, Trump will pardon them. According to Michael Cohen, Trump and Giuliani are using indirect contacts in an effort to cover their tracks.

Adam Schiff is ten steps ahead of Donald Trump, and he is offering legislation that would slam the door shut on one of Trumps schemes to evade justice.

The abuse of pardon power is an impeachable offense, and Schiffs bill could stop Trump dead in his tracks.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
873 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Donald Trumps biographer thinks our current president is about to go through hell.

Writing in Bloomberg,Tim OBrien has predicted that the coming months will be excruciatingly painful for Trump, as House Democrats conduct a thorough probe of his personal finances.

OBrien is considered an expert on Trumps finances after doing more than a decade of research on the topic.

According to OBrien, Trumps long history of crooked business dealings will result in him soon being held accountable for various types of fraud, money laundering and other crimes.

Scrutiny of Trumps fraudulent insurance dealings is just the beginning of what is going to be a long, meandering and harrowing experience for the president, his family, longtime employees of the Trump Organization, many of Trumps business partners and the White House, OBrien wrote, adding:

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan, attorneys general in Virginia, New York and the District of Columbia, five committees within the House of Representatives and, now, banking and insurance regulators, are all putting the Trump Organization and the presidents financial and political dealings under a wide array of microscopes.

Former Russian Mobster Will Testify About Trumps Money Laundering

OBrien pointed out that we already know of one shady character in Trumps orbit who is scheduled to testify before Congress: Felix Sater.

Sater is a Russian-American former mobster who worked with Michael Cohen to negotiate with Russian officials to build a Trump Tower in Moscow as Trump was running for president.

Sater is also is a convicted Russian mafia money launderer who once went to prison for stabbing a guy in the face.

OBrien describes Sater as a career criminal and says he could offer information about not just the Moscow project, but also the Trump Soho hotel project that has been scrutinized as a potential vehicle for international money laundering.

The last time Sater got busted, he didnt go to prison, and hes since claimed that its because he became a government informant. If Felix Sater doesnt want to go to prison for the crimes he committed with Donald Trump, hell have to flip and testify against the president.

Considering Saters history of flipping we can expect him to sell out during his public testimony before Congress on March 14th. A bigger question right now may be how much Sater has already given to Robert Mueller and the SDNY in their probes of Trumps business deals.

There have always been suspicions that Trump Soho was nothing more than a front for Russian money laundering. Sater knows if this is true, and its very possible he has already shared what he knows with prosecutors.

Trumps Allies Will Soon Turn On Him

Looking at all these potential targets for investigations, OBrien concluded in his piece for Bloomberg that many of the presidents closest allies will probably turn on him to save themselves from legal jeopardy.

If Cohen is any indication many, if not everybody, at the Trump Organization and elsewhere may decide to protect themselves before they protect the president, he writes. Investigators have landed on the money trail.

Evidence of Trumps Crimes May Soon Be Made Public

Bob Mueller has a history of getting people to work with him and provide the evidence he needs to bring down Donald Trump. It appears that he will be successful in getting evidence about Trumps financial crimes from many different sources.

As this evidence is revealed to the public in the coming weeks and months, Donald Trump will indeed be going through hell.

As a wise person once said, Karma is a bitch. And Donald Trump is about to find out how true that really is.
757 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

J.T. Smith II, executive assistant to Attorney General Elliot Richardson during the Watergate scandal, writes in this mornings New York Times that current Attorney General William Barr must reconsider the Justice Department (DOJ) policy against indicting a sitting president.

According to Smith, the current DOJ legal position was reached in 2000, but the directive against indicting a sitting president was first delivered in 1973, and it had a very narrow purpose which does not apply to the current situation.

The 1973 memo was drafted only to help in removal of the criminally-charged Vice President Spiro Agnew, and not to set an ironclad precedent shielding presidents from indictment, according to the former DOJ official.

Smith said the DOJ has revised its position five times since 1973, and reached different conclusions, but nothing should be assumed or taken for granted.

Therefore, there is no legal basis to conclude that Donald Trump cannot be indicted if Mueller finds evidence that compels it.

The durability of the Office of Legal Counsels 1973 opinion is curious, Smith wrote. It was prepared under extraordinarily stressful and unique circumstances  borne from the investigations that led to the resignations of Vice President Spiro Agnew that year and President Nixon in 1974.

Agnew faced a grand jury investigation into alleged bribery, extortion and tax evasion, mostly coming from his time as governor of Maryland, and Attorney General Richardson sought legal guidance on putting pressure on the vice president, who pleaded no contest after he was indicted. He later resigned in disgrace.

Special counsel Robert Muellers investigation has brought us to face similar questions of institutional integrity and transparency for the American public, Smith wrote in the Times, and then added:

If Mr. Barr determines that Mr. Muellers findings compel legal action, he should reconsider the policy against indictment of a sitting president.

Smith also said Barr must share the Mueller report with Congress  and the public if the attorney general believes the Donald Trumps conduct needs to be held accountable by the political process and not criminal prosecution.

In light of the gravity of our circumstances, Smith said, it would be timely and appropriate for the Justice Department to reconsider the shaky policy regarding indictability of a sitting president and provide Congress and the public with the Mr. Muellers full findings and conclusions.

Only through sunlight and transparency can we preserve confidence in our national institutions and leadership.

Donald Trump Will Be Forced From Office One Way or Another

Some people believe that Bob Mueller and federal prosecutors will indict the Trump Organization instead of trying to indict Donald Trump himself. This could lead to financial loss for the president, and he may want to cut a deal that would include him leaving office.

Others believe that the prosecutors have already obtained indictments against two or three of Donald Trumps children, and they will be unsealed and delivered in the near future. The thinking is that this could pressure Donald Trump to resign from office voluntarily.

Other current and former DOJ officials agree with Smith that there is no legal authority that would prevent Donald Trump from being indicted, even as a sitting president.

Members of Congress have said they will demand that Bob Mueller turn over his evidentiary files to the House so they can use that evidence to start their own impeachment trial.

One way or another, it seems very clear that Donald Trump will be held accountable for his crimes, and will probably not serve out the remainder of his term.
2.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

U.S. embassy and security officials in Saudi Arabia say they were shocked when they learned that presidential adviser and son in law Jared Kushner cut them out of the loop completely during his recent trip to the country.

The fact that Kushner kept U.S. officials totally in the dark about his trip has led to greater suspicions about his relationship with the Kingdom of Saud, and whether he might be jeopardizing U.S. security.

Not only did Kushner cut U.S. embassy personnel out of his private meetings with Saudi Arabian government officials, but he also let the Saudi government take complete charge of providing his security.

According to reporting in The Daily Beast, embassy staffers in Riyadh said they were not read in on the details of Jared Kushners trip to Saudi Arabia or the meetings he held with members of the countrys Royal Court last week.

This is raising new concerns about Kushner since it was revealed that the presidential son in law got a permanent security clearance only after Trump himself overrode the objections of national security experts. Now there are increasing concerns that U.S. national security agencies have information about Kushner which led them to deny his security clearance, and this information has not been made public.

Increasing the concern is that the president has put his son in law in charge of the Middle East peace process for the United States, even though he has no relevant experience whatsoever that would qualify him for this job.

And state department officials have made clear that what Kushner did  and didnt do  during his recent trip was a radical departure from accepted practices and normal behavior.

Especially concerning to them is that the U.S. embassy wasnt even involved in coordinating Kushners security during his trip.

When a member of the administration travels to another country, the embassy often helps coordinate the trip and provides some kind of security, the Daily Beast reported. This time, though, the Saudi government provided security for Kushner and his entourage and the embassy was largely left in the dark on the details of Kushners schedule and his conversations with Saudi officials.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have both said that they are very frustrated by the embassys lack of involvement, which has made it harder to get details of what Kushner discussed with the Saudis.

Last Tuesday Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting an immediate criminal investigation into false statements made by Kushner on his security clearance form.

Last week House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) demanded that Donald Trump immediately turn over all records related to Kushners security clearance, but he has refused to do this.

Kushner May Be Threatening the National Security of the United States

Increasingly national security experts have expressed concerns that Jared Kushner is a serious risk to our national security. This conclusion was reinforced by Kushners latest antics in going to Saudi Arabia and holding secret meetings with their government.

The American people need to know what Jared Kushner has been talking about with Saudi Arabia, and we need to know why our own intelligence agencies refused to give him a top secret clearance. The national security of the United States depends on it.
MSNBCs Mika Brzezinski was not impressed with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsens testimony before Congress yesterday.

The Morning Joe co-host not only criticized Nielsen but also said shes become the face of the Trump administrations abuse of children at the border.

Nielsen was on Capitol Hill on to brief the House Homeland Security Committee, but she ended up coming under fire for claiming the Trump administrations southern border policy didnt separate migrant families, nor did it result in children being kept in cages.

When she says they dont use cages, look at these pictures. Shes defying the obvious in the most Trump-like way, Brzezinski said. The situation is shameful, and it just seems like she lacks the ability to care about the border crisis in a real way. Im just praying public pressure will force her to change course, maybe have her do her best and save these children from further heartbreak and suffering because that is whats happening and thats not who we are.

Shes become the face of the Trump administrations abuse of children at the border, Brzezinski said. Secretary Nielsen is presiding over a humanitarian crisis caused by the White House that now requires skill, urgency and humanity to resolve. Instead, once again at Wednesdays hearings, she acted like a hapless, hostile, hopeless robot.

There are a lot of failed cabinet secretaries in the Trump administration, but secretary Nielsens incompetence is having a direct impact on the most vulnerable  children, she added.

Nielsen insisted the government was not keeping migrant children in cages, although MSNBC reporters and others, including members of Congress, have seen and documented those conditions.

Yesterday she said We never purposefully put a child in a cage, but this just doesnt make sense.

As PoliticusUSA managing editor Sarah Jones wrote yesterday:

Why is Nielsen in the position of lying once again in public? When Nielsen says they didnt purposefully cage children, well. Its worth the same as when Trump claims he is a stable genius. That is to say, nothing except probably the opposite.

In January, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) formally asked the FBI to investigate Nielsen for perjury. We dont know if that charge will stick, but it certainly appeared yesterday that Nielsen is living in a fantasy world where nothing she says makes sense. And very little of what she says is true.

CLICK HERE to watch the video of Mikas commentary on Morning Joe.
684 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

According to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Ilhan Omar needs additional security because she is receiving death threats because after her controversial comments.

Schakowsky said on MSNBC:

I think its because the press included, Hallie, Im sorry, also likes to exploit these kinds of maybe more sexy kinds of battles. And it is not a battle. I want to tell you that. I did say stop tweeting in that caucus yesterday because I think that this is not a conversation that we ought to have on social media and in the public. But if you want to know the truth, the majority of us are  vast majority are going to be voting for a resolution that I hope puts this to bet that says, yes, as a Jew, anti-semitism is a huge deal. The anti-semitic acts are up 50% over last year. But Islamophobia is also a huge problem. And I want to tell you that Ilhan Omar, congresswoman, is under tremendous attack, death threats. I think maybe she needs some security. And why? Because I think, in part, the Republicans and the media have blown this up to be much more than it is. We do have to deal with the kind of diversity in our caucus.

But I want to tell you, Ilhan talked to me personally. Not only did she apologize for the words that she has used, but she apologized personally to me as a Jew. And I want to tell you, part of being a Jew is to be welcoming to the stranger. And I want to tell you, Ilhan Omar is a refugee from Somalia. She comes from a different culture. She has things to learn. I am not either trivializing anti-semitism or the things that she said or saying that its okay that she said them. But what I am saying is that I think this a learning moment for her and a learning moment for the caucus on how to get along.

Video:

Schakowsky on Rep. Omar receiving death threats, " I want to tell you that Omar is under tremendous attack, death threats. I think maybe she needs some securityThe Republicans and the media have blown this up to be much more than it is." https://t.co/GUtQyEYV5h pic.twitter.com/XKR6L7gG8E  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 7, 2019

Republicans have been happy to seize on Omars comments as a way to distract and divide Democrats, and the mainstream press cant resist falling back into one of their most tired of cliches, the divided Democratic Party.

Rep. Schakowsky brought up a great point. This is a diverse House majority full of people who are new to Congress. There are going to be some growing pains and lessons needed in getting along. There is a pro-Israel bias in most mainstream media coverage of the Middle East.

No member of Congress should be receiving death threats because they stated a position or a belief. Speaker Pelosi is doing the right thing. She is allowing the House to express itself by voting on a resolution condemning hate. After the vote, it will be time for Democrats to move on from what is largely a distraction issue that is taking away from more important matters.

Democrats cant allow themselves to be defeated when they should all be solidly behind taking back the White House and Senate in 2020. The media turns a blind eye to much of the racism and bigotry coming out of the Republican Party. If the press wants to have any credibility on this issue, they can start by holding Republicans to the sane standard that they have used with Rep. Omar.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
262 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Nancy Pelosis newest battle is not against Republicans, but against forces that are tearing apart the unity of Democrats in the House. And Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren are now involved as well. The three U.S. Senators all came to the defense of Rep. Ilhan Omar for her remarks that critics have called anti-Semitic.

The freshman Minnesota Democrat seemed to suggest last week that U.S. supporters of Israel had allegiance to a foreign country,and this was considered an attack against Israel and Jews.

In response, House Democratic leaders had planned to pass a simple resolution that would condemn anti-Semitism without identifying her, and to hold a vote on the measure Wednesday.

But controversy erupted as Democrats were forced to postpone the House vote. Allies of Omar protested what they said was a rush by Speaker Pelosi and other Democratic leaders to rebuke the freshman Minnesota lawmaker unjustly.

This has turned into a highly emotional debate, while at the same time exposing deep divisions within the Democratic caucus in the House. Not only will there be no vote, but supporters of Omar now want an expanded resolution.

And the three presidential candidates have taken sides.

Speaking on behalf of Omar, Sen. Sanders said the U.S. should not equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel.

Rather, we must develop an even-handed Middle East policy which brings Israelis and Palestinians together for a lasting peace, Sanders wrote in a statement. What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate. Thats wrong.

Harris said all Americans have a responsibility to speak out against anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all other forms of bigotry.

But like some of my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, I am concerned that the spotlight being put on Congresswoman Omar may put her at risk, said Harris.

We should be having a sound, respectful discussion about policy. You can both support Israel and be loyal to our country. I also believe there is a difference between criticism of policy or political leaders, and anti-Semitism.

But sharp divisions among Democrats in the House have not only delayed the vote, but also led to very public disagreements over the content of the proposed resolution. There is now great pressure from members on the left to increase the scope of the resolution to include Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination.

Pelosi said Wednesday she had no idea whether the House would take a vote on the resolution by the end of the week. She also rejected the idea that if the resolution becomes too broad, addressing demands by members that it address other forms of discrimination as well, it would lose its meaning.

Whats too broad about fighting hatred wherever it exists? Pelosi said.

The veteran Speaker has found out that in the new Congress there are many young members who do not want to do business as usual. Keeping her House Democratic caucus united in the coming months may be the biggest challenge she faces. But as she does battle against a unified Republican caucus that fully supports Donald Trump, keeping Democratic members of the House united may be the most important thing Nancy Pelosi does.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has become one of the few Democrats who has decided not to run for president in 2020.

Sen. Brown explained his decision not to run, Being president isnt something I have dreamed of my whole life or even for years. My goal for our tour is to make the dignity of work the centerpiece of the Democrats 2020 campaign because I believe thats the way to beat Donald TrumpI will keep calling out Donald Trump and his phony populism. I will keep fighting for all workers across the country. And I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate in 2020. The best place for me to make that fight is in the United States Senate.

Sherrod Brown Made The Right Decision Not To Run

It was the right decision for Sen. Brown not to run. The field is already getting to the point where the early going could be too crowded. There are a few serious contenders who have declared (Sanders and Harris), a frontrunner who is likely to declare (Biden), a future star (ORourke) and a bunch of candidates with flaws who will need some lucky breaks to get to the top of the pack.

If a person doesnt want to be president, they shouldnt run.

Sherrod Brown has been consistent in interviews that he has never had a burning desire to be president.

Ohio and the country are well served by Sen. Brown in the Senate but dont be surprised if his name pops up again in the running mate conversation or for a potential post in a future Democratic administration.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
During his visit to Sofia this week, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev paid his respects to those who died for Bulgaria's freedom. On the occasion of Bulgarias Independence Day, Medvedev laid a wreath at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in Sofia. Yet the two countries continue to struggle over recent history  the subject of this fact check.

The Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria, Anatoliy Makarov, was asked in February when Russia would return the Bulgarian archives taken to the Soviet Union after World War II and whether he thought it was normal for Bulgarian history to be held in a foreign country without free access. Makarov replied that the materials are accessible to the Bulgarian archive services and researchers, including for copying. He added that as of April 2018, Russia had returned about 10,000 copies to Bulgaria. But he said that the remaining originals could not be returned to Bulgaria because the Russian Federation had prohibited this by law in 1998.

As for the originals, a part of them was returned to Bulgaria in 1949 and 1958 during the Soviet Union. Now, however, the originals cannot be handed over in accordance with Federal Law No. 64 of April 15, 1998 On Cultural Valuables Displaced [to the USSR] as a result of World War II and Located on the Territory of the Russian Federation. But I will repeat again, access to them is open for the Bulgarians, the Russian ambassador said.

Makarov was fielding questions from the public on the occasion of Russian Diplomats Day, celebrated on February 10 and his answers were published in the #AskTheDiplomat Facebook column two days later. The questions about the Bulgarian archives seized by the Soviet Army in 1944 were asked many times, indicating a keen interest among the Bulgarian public.

We find what he said to be misleading, though true under the Russian law, yet the archives' availability to researchers is difficultnot only because they are in Moscow but also because of costs Moscow imposes for copyies. Our explanation is below:

In 2009, the Bulgarian government formally asked Moscow to return the seized archives following a decision of the Council of Ministers. The decision says that the archives contain important papers from the period 1934-1944 regarding Bulgarias entry into the war on the side of the Axis Powers (Germany, Austria and Italy), the war period and the events leading to the Communist takeover in September 1944. The documents were seized from different Bulgarian institutions and by different representatives of the Soviet government, or by the Allied Control Commission in connection with the preparation of the Nuremberg process, according to the cabinet decision. Moscow still considers them as spoils of war, despite the fact that they were taken from a pro-Soviet puppet government installed by Moscow on September 9, 1944.

During World War II, Bulgaria was an ally of the Germany-led Axis Powers. The Bulgarian government provided material and logistical support to the German troops and administered the German-occupied territories in Greece and Macedonia. Nevertheless, Sofia refused to send Bulgarian soldiers to fight against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front and also stopped, under public pressure, the deportation of the Bulgarian Jewish population. But it did not save the Jewish population of Greece and Macedonia, most of whom perished in Nazi death camps. An armed resistance movement, led by the Bulgarian Communist Party and supported by other leftist organizations, was active throughout the war and sabotaged German operations in the country.

Restitution of Cultural Property

The restitution of cultural property displaced during World War II has been the subject of both legal interpretations and legal disputes. The four victors in that war -- the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union -- had no agreement over the return of artifacts stolen by the Nazis. As a result, each country handled displaced cultural property in the zones they controlled as they saw fit. The United States undertook a cultural property restitution program that continues to this day. Artifacts have been returned to their country of origin with the expectation that they would be handed to their pre-war owners.

According to Harvard University, the U.S. Authorities in Germany returned more than half a million displaced cultural treasures and more than a quarter of a million books to the USSR that had been looted by the Nazi invaders.

But the Soviet Union took a completely different approach, in contradiction to Article 56 of the Hague Convention of 1907, which states:

The property of municipalities, that of institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, the arts and sciences, even when State property, shall be treated as private property. All seizure of, destruction or willful damage done to institutions of this character, historic monuments, works of art and science, is forbidden and should be made the subject of legal proceedings.

Instead of following international law, the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin established special "Trophy Brigades" to ransack museums, castles and state coffers, seize millions of cultural treasures, state archives, and gold in Germany and Eastern Europe and transport them to the Soviet Union.

The Stolen Bulgarian Archives

Such was the fate of the Bulgarian wartime archives the period 1934-1944, which were transported to Moscow and are still considered war trophies. The archives are exceptionally valuable, because they hold key details about the events surrounding Bulgarias involvement in World War II on the side of Nazi Germany and up through the establishment of the communist regime in the country. They also include many documents concerning the Comintern, the international Communist organization, which scholars think could be embarrassing to Moscow.

According to Lachezar Stoyanov of the New Bulgarian University, the archives confiscated by the Soviet troops contain about 40 records of Bulgarian cabinet meetings dealing with crucial decisions on key problems, as well as documents related to the investigation of the regents and the government of Konstantin Muraviev-- the last government before the Communist takeover in September 1944 that was in power for just one week. The three regents, who exercised the royal authority on behalf of the young King Simeon II, were his uncle Prince Kiril, General Nikola Mihov and the former prime-minister Bogdan Filov. They were executed by the Communist government on February 1, 1945, along with former cabinet ministers, royal advisors and 67 members of parliament, after a People's Tribunal sentenced them to death earlier that day.

The stolen archives reportedly include documents related to the communist-organized uprising in 1923 and the terrorist acts undertaken in Sofia under the direction and with the funding of the Comintern.

One of the most horrific terrorist acts was the St Nedelya Church on April 16, 1925, committed by the Bulgarian Communist Party at Moscows orders, which killed 213 people and injured over 500. It remains the largest terrorist act committed by a Communist party in Europe.

The Controversial Russian Law

The question about the stolen archives' repatriation was first raised with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Bulgaria in 2008. Putins answer was that Sofia should specify exactly what it wants to be returned. However, no inventories were prepared at the time of confiscation and Russia reportedly has not cataloged the materials kept in its Special Archive.

As Bulgarian researchers made requests for copies of original documents, Moscow demanded exorbitant payments for copying documents. In 2016, it requested $120,000 for photocopying of 69,000 pages, or the price breakdown would be $1.74 per page. According to Bulgarian historian Georgi Bozduganov the author of a book on Stalins wartime trophies, such behavior constitutes a political racket.

Moscow bases its refusal to return the Bulgarian archive on the provisions of its law on cultural treasures taken to the Soviet Union after World War II. However, the international community has heavily criticized the law. The Russian Duma adopted it in 1998 despite the opposition of then-president Boris Yeltsin, who thought that Russia needed to adhere to international principles.

In fact, the problem with returning stolen cultural treasures was put forward when Russia wanted to join the Council of Europe in 1995. Moscow was required to sign two specific intents for restitution of archives and cultural property remaining to the Council of Europe member states, but Moscow never followed through on its promise. The law was later amended after the Russian Constitutional Court found some parts unconstitutional, but was not altered substantially. President Vladimir Putin signed the final version of the law in 2001.

The case of Bulgaria is particularly troubling, because the country did not send soldiers to the Eastern Front, despite its alliance with Nazi Germany. In fact, Moscow maintained a diplomatic presence in Sofia for the entire duration of the war, noted Stoyko Stoyanov, editor-in-chief of Factor.

In fact, the last Bulgarian government before the Communist takeover was led by Konstantin Muraviev, one of the most prominent leaders of the legal opposition within parliament. He immediately severed relations with Germany, but it happened only days before the Fatherland Front - a coalition of the Communist Party, the left wing of the Agrarian Union, and pro-Soviet politicians who had returned from exile in the Soviet Union - executed a military coup on September 9, 1944 and seized power with the help of the Soviet Army.

The puppet government installed by Moscow, and its successors, served the interests of the Soviet Union for decades, even proposing that Bulgaria become the 16th republic of the Soviet Union in 1963. Nevertheless, the wartime Bulgarian archives are still considered spoils of war. And, despite the fact that the law on cultural property that was taken to Russia after World War II contradicts the Geneva Convention and the subsequent Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, it still serves as the reason to reject the return of valuable historical documents.
Get the SC business stories that matter.

Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free.
Nicole Holland, an aide for former 5th Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson, was sentenced for misusing public funds at the federal courthouse in Columbia on Wednesday. Wade Spees/Staff
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
A defeat for Charleston and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the fight to prevent North Charleston from making a land grab in the Ashley River Historic District would also be a blow for sensible growth and planning. That shouldnt be allowed to happen.

At issue is a 2,200-acre tract of rural land off of S.C. Highway 61 near historic plantations.

The propertys owners want it to be part of North Charleston, which could allow for quite a bit more development leeway than were it to be zoned for preservation by Charleston. And North Charleston is on board as well.

The problem is that Charleston and the National Trust own a strip of land separating the contested property from a parcel on the other side of Highway 61 that is already part of North Charleston.

Recently, Circuit Judge Eugene Griffith Jr. ruled that Charleston and the National Trust dont have standing to challenge North Charlestons annexation, as The Post and Couriers Robert Behre reported Tuesday.

In cases of so-called 100 percent annexation, according to Judge Griffith, only the property owners and the state attorney general can challenge the move. If Charleston or the Historic Trust had standing, they would have a legitimate claim, the judge said.

Charleston officials have rightly said they will continue the legal fight.

Indeed, the whole debacle suggests that South Carolina law should be clarified to prevent future confusion. Otherwise, municipalities statewide would be free to leapfrog over one another and snatch up undeveloped parcels.

Obviously, that would wreak havoc on planning efforts. But this particular parcel also happens to be effectively priceless.

The Ashley River Historic District is home to critical, beautiful and delicate links to Charlestons past. Its natural ecosystem is fragile and important to the surrounding area  its part of the Church Creek watershed, for example.

It should remain rural.

Even if the area werent one of historical value, the Ashley River Historic District would be a geographically unwise location for residential growth given its distance from Charlestons urban core and its lack of infrastructure.

Thats doubly the case for North Charleston, which would have to build a bridge over the Ashley River, divert city services nearly 20 miles around the river on existing roads, or build fire, police, waste and other services from scratch in order to accommodate any significant growth along Highway 61.

By now, Lowcountry cities should know that growing geographically tends to produce diminishing economic returns, at least in the long term and based on the prevailing suburban development pattern.

But again, economic considerations shouldnt be the top concern for the property in question.

The Ashley River Historic District, like the rest of the Charleston region, is under tremendous development pressure already. Planned road projects such as an extension of the Glenn McConnell Parkway will only increase that threat.

There are plenty of smart, ecologically sound places for the Charleston area to grow in a sustainable, positive way. The Ashley River Historic District isnt one of them.
The Post and Courier provides a forum for our readers to share their opinions, and to hold up a mirror to our community. Publication does not imply endorsement by the newspaper; the editorial staff attempts to select a representative sample of letters because we believe its important to let our readers see the range of opinions their neighbors submit for publication.
Assistant Columbia bureau chief

Adcox returned to The Post and Courier in October 2017 after 12 years covering the Statehouse for The Associated Press. She previously covered education for The P&C. She has also worked for The AP in Albany, N.Y., and for The Herald in Rock Hill.
Columbia/Myrtle Beach Managing Editor

Andy Shain runs The Post and Courier's newsrooms based in Columbia and Myrtle Beach. He was editor of Free Times and has been a reporter and editor for newspapers in Charlotte, Columbia and Myrtle Beach.
The Wabasha County Planning Commission held a public hearing Feb. 25 as it considered a recommendation for a conditional-use permit application from Scotch Prairie Farms south of Lake City.

After hearing from 11 speakers, nearly evenly split between those for and against the project, the commissioners voted 3-1 to approve a recommendation for the permit. Commissioner Gayle Gillespie was not present, and Commissioner Jeanne Pietig voted no. The issue now goes to the full county board of commissioners at its March 5 meeting.

The planned expansion would more than triple the size of the dairy, which is currently permitted to house up to 600 mature dairy cows, 141 dairy heifers and 300 dairy calves (998.7 animal units).

The handful or so of people speaking on each side of the proposal was a far cry from the 40 people who spoke at a packed Tau Center in Winona regarding a similar feedlot expansion proposal earlier in the month.

Barbara Sogn-Frank, a policy program organizer for the Land Stewardship Project, an organization that has battled an expansion proposed by Daley Farms in Lewiston, said the group had only recently heard from members about Scotch Prairie.

"We respond to the best of our abilities when our members let us know they have a concern," Sogn-Frank said.

Of the 23 people who spoke against the Daley proposal, many were LSP members expressing concern over the areas karst geology and the possibility of nitrates contaminating the groundwater. Those things also apply to the Scotch Prairie expansion.

George Meyer was one of the six people to speak against the Scotch Prairie project. He told the planning commission that he plans to ask the county board to install an animal unit cap similar to the one in Winona County. Currently, feedlots in Wabasha County require a conditional-use permit when exceeding 500 animal units.

"All were trying to do is protect the people here and the water," Meyer said. "Were hugely concerned about the nitrate levels."

Meyers well has a nitrate reading of 3 parts per million, he said, well below the 10 ppm threshold the state Department of Health says would be of concern.

According to the Township Testing Program being run by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Glasgow Township, where Meyer lives, shows 10.8 percent of wells with nitrate levels above 10 ppm. West Albany Township, where the Scotch Prairie dairy is located, shows 29.7 percent of wells above the 10 ppm standard.

Brian Yotter, owner of Scotch Prairie Farms, said concerns his expansion will add pollution are unfounded.

"Were highly regulated," he said. "Well be regulated and inspected yearly, which you dont get with these 300 animal dairies."

Further, he plans to use cover crops on his land, limit manure application to days where its 50 degrees or warmer, use nitrogen binders in the soil and other steps to reduce nitrates reaching to the groundwater.

"Were going way above and beyond the requirements," he said.

The Wabasha County Board will make its decsion on the conditional-use permit for the Scotch Prairie expansion on March 5. Board Chairman Don Springer said that with no public hearing scheduled, anyone planning to talk about the proposal will be limited to the general public comment portion of the meeting.

"Well let them speak, two to three minutes apiece," he said. "Theyre not going to be able to go on for hours, thats what (Feb. 25) was for."
However, his proposed 20-cent state gas tax increase for road, bridge and transit improvements sparked debate from all over the state. The tax would be phased in over two years under the plan.

Walz said the infrastructure investment is needed after years of underfunding.

"We cant keep kicking the can down the road," he said when he unveiled the plan. "This number is predicated on an $18 billion need."

He pointed to the states D-plus grade on streets as hurting business and making the state less attractive to businesses and new residents and is becoming an obstacle for farmers moving goods.

Another proposal in his budget intended to touch every corner of the state is a $70 million statewide broadband initiative to give all Minnesota homes and farms high-speed internet access by 2022. Walz compared the effort to electrification of the state.

The budget proposal also pledges $50-per-acre tax credit for farmers who install buffer strips on their land.

"Producers are good stewards of the land," Walz said. "We know we have to be partners in this."

Walz pledged more funding for rural mental health resources through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and continued funding of the Farm and Rural Helpline.

The spending plan also calls for an increase to Rural Counseling and Advocate Services. Currently, Minnesota has only one rural mental health specialist to provide confidential, one-on-one counseling to farmers. The budget adds funding for another licensed counselor. It would also enable the ag department to add two more farm advocates, bringing the team up to a dozen staff. These advocates provide help to Minnesota farmers facing a crisis caused by either a natural disaster or financial problems.

After the 2018 Farm Bill lifted restrictions on hemp production, Walzs budget directs funding to the stage ag department to help the states fledgling hemp industry. Hemp producers must have testing done through the ag department and the budget proposal earmarks money for that process.

The proposed budget also support the ag departments initiatives to battle noxious weeds and prepare for farm emergencies by restoring funding to the Agricultural Emergency Account and earmarking money to protect Minnesota farmers from threats like Palmer amaranth and African swine fever.
BISMARCK, N.D.  Some ranchers are concerned a sustained cold snap in South Dakota will affect calving season, as the bitter temperatures have already resulted in excess feed and bedding costs.

Daryl Ritchison, interim director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network, said parts of the state have experienced temperatures below freezing for more than 40 days, which is worse than usual for this time of year.

Agriculture experts said that pregnant cows eat about twice as much during the cold to prevent weight loss.

Beth Budoloski, a North Dakota State Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources, said ranchers are providing windbreaks and extra bedding to prevent their cattle from getting stressed out by the cold. She said cattle also must have access to water that isnt frozen.

"If the waters are frozen, they either wont eat feed as much or they wont eat at all," she said.

Fred Berger, who owns two ranches in the Mandan area and operates a livestock brokerage business, said the cold weather is costing him thousands of dollars more each month.

"Its not normal to have that many (cold) days in a row," Berger said. "Theres nothing you can do. Thats the trouble. Its just every week it costs you."

Livestock producers whose cattle die in extreme weather conditions can apply to the U.S. Department of Agricultures Livestock Indemnity Program for grants to cover their losses.

Brad Olson, a farm program director in North Dakotas Farm Service Agency, said his office hasnt received any calls about a rise in cattle deaths as a result of the cold snap. He said producers applying for the federal programs benefits must notify their county farm service agencys offices up to 30 days after the death.
Guam Regional Medical City has just announced it's pleased that Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero signed Bill 30-35 this afternoon, creating Public Law 35-2.

The new law ensures that any health insurance business providing coverage to government of Guam employees, retirees and their dependents will get covered when getting care at GRMC, which is owned by Philippines-based shareholders.

Some of the island's independent doctors have cautioned that the economic advantage this legislation gives to the private hospital would harm the financially struggling government-run Guam Memorial Hospital.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

"GRMC would like to thank Gov. Leon Guerrero, Sen. Tina Muna Barnes, and senators of the Guam Legislature for their hard work and diligence in pursuing this bill to ensure the best healthcare options for the Government of Guam employees, retirees, and their families," GRMC announced before the governor's office announced the legislation is now law.

Minutes after the GRMC announcement, the governor issued a statement, in part saying: The Government of Guam employees should be allowed to expect that their health insurance cover quality health care at whichever hospital, public or private, they may unexpectedly find themselves on Guam. By signing this bill, I join the Legislature in making this expectation a reality."

As an ICU nurse, I have seen firsthand the kinds of emergencies that come through a hospital. I know from personal experience how important it is to receive critical and timely care during a life and death situation. Knowing you can access the nearest hospital to you during an emergency is an assurance our government employees deserve, said Leon Guerrero.

By signing the legislation, Dr. Michael Cruz, GRMC president and CEO said, "Gov. Leon Guerrero has reaffirmed her support of both the islands hospitals and her commitment to providing better healthcare for the people of Guam. GRMC does not anticipate any major rate increases to be incurred by taxpayers due to Public Law 35-2. In fact, former Sen. Francis Santos reached out to management at TakeCare last week, to begin the negotiation process in hopes of reaching an agreement that is less or equal to what GovGuam employees are currently paying for healthcare that includes GRMC, the private hospital stated.

Santos is the senior vice president/strategic planning and business development for GRMC and a member of GRMC's Board of Directors. He most recently worked as a manager for the Leon Guerrero-Tenorio gubernatorial campaign and senior adviser to the Leon Guerrero-Tenorio administration transition committee.

GRMC added it will remain committed to becoming a center of excellence in the region for stroke, cardiac, and cancer care while working in collaboration with GMH.

(Daily Post Staff)
The Trump administration has nominated Jessie Liu to be Associate Attorney General. This is the number three position at the Justice Department, behind the Attorney General (William Barr) and the Deputy Attorney General (Jeffrey Rosen).

On paper, Liu seems well-qualified for the job. Currently, shes the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. She has held important positions at Main Justice and the Treasury Department.

But there is at least one worrying aspect to Lius impressive resume. In 2005 and 2006, she served as Vice President of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL).

Theres nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that on January 9, 2006, NAWL sent a letter to Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee saying that Samuel Alito, whose nomination to the Supreme Court was pending, is not qualified to serve on the Court from the perspective of laws and decisions regarding womens rights or that have a special impact on women.

NAWL claimed that as a Circuit Court judge, Alito has shown a disinclination to protect or advance womens rights. Of primary concern to NAWL was Alitos stance on womens reproductive rights. It complained, specifically, about his dissent in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 947 F.2d 682 (3d Cir. 1991), in which Alito contended that married women should be compelled by law to notify their husbands of their abortions.

NAWL also attacked Alito for disparag[ing] substantive due process. It described substantive due process, correctly, as a critical underpinning of womens reproductive rights. Its a crucial underpinning of a range of efforts by judges to invent constitutional rights not conferred by the Constitution.

The letter contained additional attacks on Alito, but you get the drift.

Jessie Lius name is the third one that appears on the masthead of NAWLs letter to the Judiciary Committee members. She is just below NAWLs president and its president-elect.

She is identified as NAWLs vice president. There are no other vice presidents listed.

As NAWLs vice president, Liu must have known about her organizations position that Alito was not qualified for the Supreme Court and about the letter it sent to Senators stating that position. Did she disagree with the contents of the letter? If so, did she oppose sending it? If so, did she leave NAWL in protest?

I dont know, but I think Republican Senators need to find out before they vote on her confirmation. Im having trouble getting my mind around the idea of an Associate Attorney General in a Republican administration who was okay with trying to derail an outstanding conservative jurist like Samuel Alito.
Lets start by acknowledging that in the past, we have, indeed, imported gang violencethe Sicilians are an obvious example. Still, that doesnt make it a good idea. And shouldnt we expect to learn from experience?

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports discreetly on a recent spasm of violence in Minneapolis: East African community reeling from weekend violence, demands solutions. Yeah? From whom?

After the latest spasm of gang violence, Minneapolis Somali residents and business owners on Monday stepped up their calls for help from City Hall and police headquarters to help curb the senseless shootings that they say too often go overlooked.

The article provides zero evidence that such crimes are overlooked, and ample evidence to the contrary.

On Friday alone, five men of Somali descent were shot in separate attacks, one fatally. Police and community members pinned the blame for the bloodshed on an ongoing feud between Cedar-Riverside neighborhood gangs like 1627 and Madhiban With Attitude (MWA) and their rivals, the Somali Outlaws, whose territory includes the area around Karmel Mall. Fridays shootings were a repeat of a familiar pattern: a shooting on one gangs turf is usually followed hours, if not minutes later by an eye-for-an-eye response so as not to appear weak, community members say. Two shootings last month are also blamed on the conflict.

It is a familiar story. The Stribs story contains a lot of the usual palaver about the need for police-community cooperation, but the more basic question is why such violence is occurring in the first place. That is only hinted at. One thing we know for sure is that the community needs more money from the government. Also, more Somali policemen. But there is a problem there:

Some residents shied away from talking about the gang violence because they worry that, much like with the upcoming murder trial of fired Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor for the fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond and the recent high-profile prosecutions of young east African men bent on joining extremist groups in the Middle East and Africa, the Somali community will ultimately be blamed for the bad actions of a few.

God forbid that that should happen! Still, couldnt members of the Somali community begin taking responsibility for the massive social pathologies we see there? Maybe that is too much to ask, and certainly there is no political pressure in that direction. Still, Somalis are no crazier than previous immigrant groups. They want safety on their streets, and puzzle over why America, with its seemingly magical wealthour society is not dominated by violent conflict among warlordscant provide it:

Frizell said his officers have been trying to educate community elders frustrated by the nuances of the judicial system, and explain why someone arrested for a violent crime could later be released to wreak havoc on the streets.

Good question! Maybe the Somalis are beginning to catch on.
Kenneth K. Lee is President Trumps nominee to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Lee is well-qualified for the job. He clerked for Judge Emilio Garza of the Fifth Circuit; served as Associate White House Counsel to President George W. Bush and as special counsel on the United States Senate Judiciary Committee; and now is a partner at a prestigious law firm. In addition, he has taught law as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University Law School.

Lees nomination faces opposition from Democrats, as all nominations of conservatives to courts at this level do. As has become their custom, the Dems are focusing Lees writings as a college student.

Most of the writings objected to by the Democrats involve race. In these writings Lee opposes, occasionally in immature terms, racial segregation and racial preferences on campus and, more generally, identity politics and the culture of victimization. Lee, whose family moved to the U.S. from South Korea when he was four, did not believe in these things as a college student. Hopefully, he still doesnt believe in them.

He does, however, believe in mentoring young attorneys, and has been commended for mentoring African-American lawyers at his firm. He is an active member of the firms diversity and inclusion committee. In addition, he has provided free representation to African-Americans in cases involving the criminal justice system.

On this record, Democrats will probably be unable to block Lee because of his views (past or present) on matters of race, or because of his college writings generally.

But the left never gives up, so it has come up with another angle on Lees college writings. It attacks him for not disclosing some of them.

Those of us who didnt write much for public consumption when we were young may not understand the great difficulty those who did have in remembering and/or finding every article they produced. The task is sufficiently challenging that there are firms that provide this service to nominees.

Even these specialists sometimes are unable to find everything. I know of a case in which such a firm missed a number of articles its client wrote decades earlier.

Its easy to understand why. The publication may be defunct. Defunct or not, its unlikely to be digitized.

In Ken Lees case, this was true of two publications he wrote for in his youth: the Cornell Review and Heterodoxy. As I understand it, the latter is defunct and the former is not digitized.

In his original disclose, Lee included a goodly amount of his student writing  enough to raise the hackles of his leftist opponents. However, the initial disclosure was incomplete. When Lee learned of articles that were not disclosed, he informed the Judiciary Committee of these writings. Apparently, he still wasnt able to find a few additional articles that later were uncovered.

So what? Its absurd enough to oppose a nominee because of positions he took in his writings as a college student. Its ridiculous to oppose a nominee because he is unable to locate all of his ancient writings in the time allowed him by the Senate.

Republicans should confirm Ken Lee. Doing so will not only put a well-qualified nominee on the bench, but also strike a blow against the Democratic gamesmanship when it comes to college writing by nominees.

If the Democrats choose to engage in these shenanigans as a fundraising tool, theres nothing Republicans can do to stop them. But they should never allow the shenanigans to derail a nominee.
Fact.MR

PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 15:12:54

Press Information

Fact.MR

Suite 9884



27 Upper Pembroke Street,



Dublin 2, Ireland



Abhishek Budholiya

Marketing Manager

+353-1-6111-593

email

https://www.factmr.com/





# 738 Words

Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandMarketing Manager+353-1-6111-593

Increasing cognizance of infections acquired in hospitals in parallel to the rising cases of surgical-site infections (SSI) is considered significant driver underpinning the growth of the global antiseptic bathing market. According to a recent report published by Fact.MR , the global antiseptic bathing market is projected to surpass a value of US$ 549.3 Mn and a promising CAGR of 2.9% by the end of 2026.There has been a substantial increase in the recommendation of regulatory bodies and healthcare authorities for the utilization of antiseptic bathing products for preoperative skin cleansing. For instance, the regulatory authorities such as Care Bundles and Royal College of Surgeons suggest the utilization of soap for skin cleansing prior to any surgery. In addition to this, the USA Institute of Healthcare Improvement approves of the Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHG) soap specifically for the preoperative skin cleansing practices.Request For Sample Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=3063 Increasing rate of geriatric population and the pervasiveness of diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer, dementia, and osteoporosis is anticipated to increase the number of hospitalizations and trigger the growth of the antiseptic bathing market. In addition to this, prolonged period of hospital stay, recurrent surgeries, and readmissions of the patients is driving the demand for antiseptic bathing at the forefront. As a result, the global antiseptic bathing market is expected to grow at an accelerated pace through the forecast period.CHG Solution to Hold About 58.4% Share in the Global Antiseptic Bathing MarketAccording to the report, the global antiseptic bathing market has been classified into Antiseptic Shampoo Caps, Antiseptic Bathing Solution, Antiseptic Wipes, CHG Solution, and CHG Bath Towels based on the product types. On the whole, CHG Solution is envisaged to be the fastest growing segment in the consolidated antiseptic bathing market with a share of 58.4%, owing to numerous growth drivers.Proliferated adoption of CHG has been witnessed among the hospitals, on the back of its convenience of use. The CHG solution impregnated into the cloths, bath towels, sponges, and cloths can be used without soaking them into water, thereby, turning into a designated solution especially for the bedridden patients. Extensive utilization of CHG solution has been witnessed in the developed countries, owing to its expensiveness and high per bath cost. However, this high cost has a positive impact on the overall valuation of the global antiseptic bathing market.Browse Full Report on Antiseptic Bathing Market with TOC- https://www.factmr.com/report/3063/antiseptic-bathing-market Asia Pacific Remains a Lucrative Region for the Growth of the Antiseptic Bathing MarketAsia Pacific remains the most lucrative geography for the expansion of the antiseptic bathing market, which is significantly propelled by the growing number of geriatric population in parallel to the increasing disposable income of the individuals in this region. As a result, demand for quality healthcare procedures has been prevalent in APAC region resulting in the growth of the antiseptic bathing market.Among the other countries of APAC, China is anticipated to maintain a lucrative position for the antiseptic bathing market as a large number of hospitals are concentrated in this region with over 500 beds each. In addition to this, protocols and practices to prevent infections acquired in hospitals have created an imperative demand for antiseptic bathing procedures, which in turn, influences the growth of the antiseptic bathing market.A Look at the Competitive Landscape of the Global Antiseptic Bathing MarketAccording to the report on the antiseptic bathing market, the competitors transforming existing landscape of antiseptic bathing market are Ecolab Inc., Reyanard Health Supplies, 3M Co., Becton, Clorox Company, Dickinson and Company, Air Liquide, Medline Industries, Molnlycke Health Care AB, Stryker Corporation, Reckitt Benckiser Nigeria, HiCare Health, P&G, Deko Industries Limited, and Tropical Naturals Limited, among others.The leading manufacturers of the antiseptic bathing market have been devising sustainable business strategies to pave the way for their business expansion. Furthermore, they have been entering into strategic mergers and acquisitions to team up with local players and procure a significant amount of market share.Request Methodology of this Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RM&rep_id=3063 About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 14:22:57

Press Information

Research Report Insights

Research Report Insights (RRI



42 Joseph Street



Port carling P0B 1J0



Muskoka, Ontario1



Phone - +1-631-721-4201



Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/



Email: sales@researchreportinsights.com



BISHU

CEO

6317214201

email

http://www..





# 364 Words

Research Report Insights (RRI42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +1-631-721-4201Website: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/Email: sales@researchreportinsights.comCEO6317214201http://www.. researchreportinsights.com

Bone marrow aspiration and trephine biopsy are usually performed on the back of the hipbone, or posterior iliac crest. An aspirate can also be obtained from the sternum (breastbone). For the sternal aspirate, the patient lies on their back, with a pillow under the shoulder to raise the chest. A trephine biopsy should never be performed on the sternum, due to the risk of injury to blood vessels, lungs or the heart.The need to selectively isolate and concentrate selective cells, such as mononuclear cells, allogeneic cancer cells, T cells and others, is driving the market. Over 30,000 bone marrow transplants occur every year. The explosive growth of stem cells therapies represents the largest growth opportunity for bone marrow processing systems.Europe and North America spearheaded the market as of 2016, by contributing over 74.0% to the overall revenue. Majority of stem cell transplants are conducted in Europe, and it is one of the major factors contributing to the lucrative share in the cell harvesting system market.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upsample/120124610/Bone-Marrow-Processing-Systems-Market In 2016, North America dominated the research landscape as more than 54.0% of stem cell clinical trials were conducted in this region. The region also accounts for the second largest number of stem cell transplantation, which is further driving the demand for harvesting in the region.Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness lucrative growth over the forecast period, owing to rising incidence of chronic diseases and increasing demand for stem cell transplantation along with stem cell-based therapy. Japan and China are the biggest markets for harvesting systems in Asia Pacific. Emerging countries such as Mexico, South Korea, and South Africa are also expected to report lucrative growth over the forecast period. Growing investment by government bodies on stem cell-based research and increase in aging population can be attributed to the increasing demand for these therapies in these countries.Request For Report TOC: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/TOC/120124610/Bone-Marrow-Processing-Systems-Market Major players operating in the global bone marrow processing systems market are ThermoGenesis (Cesca Therapeutics inc.), RegenMed Systems Inc., MK Alliance Inc., Fresenius Kabi AG, Harvest Technologies (Terumo BCT), Arthrex, Inc. and others.Report Analysis: https://www.researchreportinsights.com/report/upcomming/120124610/Bone-Marrow-Processing-Systems-Market
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 03:57:27

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 482 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Boston Link a leading international recruitment agency of professional talent in the field of Finance & iGaming industries, has recently unveiled the exclusive Salary Survey 2019.ST JULIANS, MALTA / ACCESSWIRE / March 6, 2019 / Boston Link is a leading name in the field of serving as a professional recruitment agency internationally. Working in the finance & iGaming industry, Boston Link has recently presented its exclusive Salary Survey 2019. The aim of the report submitted as the findings of the survey aims at providing, up-to-date, accurate, and updated figures along with commentary to the major stakeholders such that they are able to keep themselves well-informed about compensation within the given sector. The finance & iGaming industries are known to emphasize significantly on the acquisition as well as retention of highly qualified and experienced talent from all over the world. Given the fact that such insights are critical, Boston Link presents the detailed survey report to the industry players.Malta has been recently observed as the technology hub for the iGaming industry. However, there have been certain debates since 2018 whether or not Malta has been the victim of the rising trends of the particular industry. The sudden boom in the iGaming industry has contributed to the shortage of suitable space for office and accommodation of certified staff, increasing rents and infrastructure stress. To top it all, regulatory changes in the United States and Sweden along with tax breaks for the iGaming players in Spain are some of the threats to the continued growth of the given industry. With a majority of the arguments doing rounds in the present scenario, the iGaming industry is going strong in the Malta region. Brexit has come up with multiple mega operators in the given region.As per the reports of the survey by Boston Link, there has been an around 11 percent annual rise in the overall salaries within the iGaming industry in the Malta region. The largest increments have been observed in the Technology & Analytics roles. There has also been a significant increase in the salaries for non-C-level mid-to-senior positions. This, in turn, demonstrates the overall demand for the top-quality industry expertise along with leadership skills. The analysis has come up with another major observation which states that there has been a decrease in the entire lower banding for specific functions including Responsive Gaming, Compliance, and B2B Account Management. In the view of the report, it reveals the willingness of the companies to hire as well as promote an increasing number of junior, inexperienced personnel or talent into some of the key areas while offering extensive training & development solutions at the same time.For more information please visit - https://www.boston-link.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SS-2019-Malta-Final-Version-1-.pdf https://www.boston-link.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Malta_Salary_Survey_2019_Mobile.pdf or email at enquiries@ boston-link.com Contact Info:Name: Julian Perigo, Managing DirectorOrganization: Boston LinkPhone: +356 27041692Website: https://www.boston-link.com SOURCE: Boston Link
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 15:02:57

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 558 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2019 / Viridium Pacific Group Ltd. ("Viridium" or the "Company") (TSXV: VIR) (OTCPink: VIRFF) is pleased to announce its wholly owned subsidiary, Experion Biotechnologies Inc. ("Experion"), a licensed cultivation and processor under the Cannabis Act, has commenced clone sales as starting materials. Its first sale of clones to another licensed Standard Cultivator headquartered in British Columbia happened in January of this year, with several more sales including a 1,200-clone shipment to Alberta recently.The buyers of Experion's clones are newly licensed Standard Cultivators looking for quality genetics to launch their cultivation process. The sales expand Experion's product line with clones exhibiting the desired specifications and attributes for both the medical and adult-use market. Under the Cannabis Act, a cultivation license can sell product to other licensed facilities fostering new business to business relationships and the ability to create quick strategic partnerships as the market becomes established. All starting materials sold as clones to other cultivators have a flower buy back program with Experion. As well, Experion can also sell clones for medical purposes to qualified individuals as a licensed medical supplier.Mr. Jarrett Malnarich, Viridium COO, commented, "We are very excited launching our clone business and looking forward to future sales with new and established cultivators across Canada. By supplying genetics, further conversations leading to partnerships and buy back programs often evolve and we look forward to developing more of these relationships through our starter materials sales program." About ViridiumViridium Pacific Group Ltd. is the parent company of operating subsidiaries involved in horticultural production (Experion Biotechologies Inc.), medical products production (EFX Labs), property development (Fish Trap Ventures Ltd.), and human resource management (Stave Lake Services Ltd.). Experion Biotechnologies Inc. is a Health Canada licensed producer of cannabis, which operates outside of Mission, BC.More information about Viridium can be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com For further information:Viridium Pacific Group Ltd.Jarrett MalnarichTel: (604) 837-8688info@ viridiumpacific.com DisclosureThis press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Although the Company believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.Forward looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, forecast, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities; recent market volatility; the Company's ability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; the risks identified in the Filing Statement, and other risks and factors that the Company is unaware of at this time. The reader is referred to the Filing Statement dated September 25, 2017 and/or the most recent annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through the Company page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com SOURCE: Viridium Pacific Group Ltd.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 19:17:31

Press Information

IT Intelligence Markets

Pune, India



Vijay Tanna

Sales Manager

+91 740-024-2424

email

https://www.itintelligencemarkets.com





# 465 Words

Pune, IndiaSales Manager+91 740-024-2424

SMS marketing is the perfect modern way to communicate with your customers. Sending them a text message via their mobile phone. With SMS marketing software, you can send texts from mass bulk business marketing. So, unlike using a mobile phone, when you sign in to an online application or website, you can bulk upload contacts, compose a message, and then send and analyze your results.A comprehensive analysis of Global SMS Marketing Software Market has newly added by IT Intelligence Markets to its extensive repository. The statistical report offers a prime wellspring of applicable information for global business progress.Ask for Sample Copy of This Report: https://www.itintelligencemarkets.com/request_sample.php?id=1619 Top Key Players Profiled in This Report: Target Everyone, TextMagic, SendPulse, Teckst, CallHub, Teradata, SimplyCast, Appointment Reminder, FirstHive, Mobile Text Alerts.Key highlights of this report:-A detailed overview of the Global SMS Marketing Software Market.-Analysis of dynamic aspects of the market such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities.-It offers insights on the latest technologies and trends.-Major Key questions addressed by various stakeholders.-To study and analyze the Global SMS Marketing Software Market size, market shares, and profit margin.-Competitive landscape of the Global SMS Marketing Software Market.North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East have been examined through industry analysis techniques. Mostly, top-level companies have been profiled to get complete analysis to shape the future of the businesses.Get Discount on This Report: https://www.itintelligencemarkets.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=1619 Each and every segment type and their sub types are well elaborated to give a better idea about this market during the forecast period of 2019 to 2026 respectively.End users, applications, product type, regions and many such segmentations are studied and researched upon using primary and secondary research sources.Finally, researchers throw light on pinpoint analysis of Global SMS Marketing Software Market dynamics. It also measures the sustainable trends and platforms which are the basic roots behind the market growth. The degree of competition is also measured in the research report. With the help of SWOT and Porters five analysis, the market has been deeply analyzed. It also helps to address the risk and challenges in front of the businesses. Furthermore, it offers extensive research on sales approaches.If You Have Any Query, Ask Our Experts: https://www.itintelligencemarkets.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=1619 Major Factors Covered in This Report: Global SMS Marketing Software Market Overview Economic Impact on Industry Market Competition by Manufacturers Production, Revenue (Value) by Region Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type Market Analysis by Application Manufacturing Cost Analysis Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders Market Effect Factors Analysis Global SMS Marketing Software Market Forecast
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 18:43:33

Press Information

RESEARCH SOLUTION INSIGHTS

Research Solution Insights (RSI)



42 Joseph Street



Port carling P0B 1J0



Muskoka, Ontario1



Phone - +44-1618508625



Website: https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/



Email: sales@researchsolutioninsights.com



Sagar

Analyst

1618508625

email

https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/





# 578 Words

Research Solution Insights (RSI)42 Joseph StreetPort carling P0B 1J0Muskoka, Ontario1Phone - +44-1618508625Website: https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/Email: sales@researchsolutioninsights.comAnalyst1618508625

As an individual, one likes to be unique. This quest for individuality and personalization extends to many aspects of life. Whether its customized gifts or customized clothing, consumes today are looking for ways to express themselves. Quite unsurprisingly, this increasing focus on personalization has also influenced the personal vehicle segment. Many consumers are experimenting with their car interiors to enhance comfort and improve the available features. They want their cars to stand out in a crowd in order to reflect their personal style. Car accessories, both interior and exterior, not only spruces up the car but also enhances passengers safety and comfort level, making driving a pleasurable experience.Request For Report Sample: https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/sample/230378-Interior-Car-Accessories-market Interior car accessories are add-ons that enhance the interior aesthetics of the vehicle and give an overall entertaining and comfortable riding experience. A mind boggling range of interior car accessories like covers, electronic accessories, knobs, consoles & organizers, car cushions & pillows, fragrance, communication, car mats, central locking system, dash kits, and sunshades are available in the market for serving different purposes.Key Drivers for Phenomenal GrowthThe global interior car accessories market is expected to register a volume CAGR of 3.9% over the eight-year period 20162024 based on various factors. As new vehicle buyers accessorize their vehicles, the car accessories market is gaining robust and sustained growth. An increasing demand for fast moving car accessories, growing consumer inclination towards an entertaining driving experience, and rising vehicle customization among a young population are some of the other factors expected to drive growth of the global interior car accessories market.The growth of the global market for interior car accessories is heavily dependent on the growth of the global automotive industry. Moreover, a growing automotive aftermarket e-retailing in developed markets is also expected to drive growth of the interior car accessories market over the forecast period.Hampering the GrowthThe global market for interior car accessories is facing several challenges due to availability of counterfeit and inferior quality electronic accessories, which are mostly imported from Asian continents to other regions and cost competitiveness due to huge market fragmentation.Robust Demand for Accessories and CoversCategorization of the global interior car accessories market is done by product type, vehicle type, and distribution channel. By product type, the electronic accessories and covers segment is anticipated to maintain a dominant share of the global interior car accessories market over the forecast period. By vehicle type, the passenger cars segment is expected to dominate the global interior car accessories market in terms of value over the forecast period. By distribution channel, the aftermarket segment is expected to dominate the global interior car accessories market in terms of value over the forecast period.Asia Pacific Most Lucrative Market for Interior Car AccessoriesThe global interior car accessories market has been segmented into five key regions namely North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Demand for electronic accessories is expected to be the highest in Asia-Pacific region over the forecast period, followed by Middle East & Africa and Latin America.Request Report Discount: https://www.researchsolutioninsights.com/report/discount/230378-Interior-Car-Accessories-market Trailblazers in the MarketThe leading players in the market of global interior car accessories are Pep Boys, Pioneer Corporation, Garmin Ltd., OReilly Auto Parts, U.S. Auto Parts Network Inc., Pecca Group Berhad, CAR MATE MFG, CO., LTD., Covercraft Industries, LLC, Classic Soft Trim, Lloyd Mats, H.I. Motors, Star Automotive Accessories, and Momo Srl.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 00:18:32

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 552 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 6, 2019 / For over a century, luxury timepieces have been symbols of opulence, wealth, and expressions of refined personal taste. While these aspects of fine watch ownership will always remain, they are becoming viable investment options to both lifelong enthusiasts and newcomers, with certain models offering substantial profits within short time periods. YourWatch.com , a leading retailer of luxurypre-owned and unworn watches, discusses the trends driving the rapidly expanding investment timepiece market, and highlights why their service provides efficient and transparent purchasing options that can equally benefit investors and collectors. Yourwatch.com offers buyers of luxurypre-owned and unworn watches with not just an expansive collection of the world's most established timepiece brands, but focused customer service and fast shipping that is unrivaled within the market. Their team leverages decades of experience towards cultivating and maintaining the company's inventory, which includes countless watches always readily available on the YourWatch.com portal. These are distinct advantages for watch collectors and investors alike, providing a reliable outlet containing timepieces that represent a wide range of prices and styles.The interest in the luxury watch investment sector has been building for years, but some recent high-profile auctions have triggered a drastic rise in attention, such as the selling of Paul Newman's coveted Rolex Daytona, whichfetched $17.8 million at a Phillips auction in 2017. Accordingto Knight Frank Luxury Index 2018, watches make great investments in today's financial climate, as they are resilient and non-volatile as assets, second only to collectible furniture, followed by classic cars, stamps, the FTSE 100, and gold. Moreover, the index found luxury timepieces performing highly when held for 5 and 10 year periods, with investment grade watches growing 23% in value across a 5 year term, and 69% over a decade. Although watches in this classification typically start in the five-figure range, one does not have to spend this much for a viable investment piece. "Quality vintage watches can be bought for a few thousand dollars," says John Reardon, the international head of the watches at Christie's. Ina statement to the New York Times, he describes the market for watches costing less than $10,000 as "one of the areas of most aggressive growth at the moment." Headquartered in New York City for over 25 years, YourWatch.com has continually established new standards in the high-end timepieces market, catering to buyers of luxury pre-owned and unworn watches. It provides a transparent purchasing experience over other websites that claim to have inventory upfront, but then have to scramble to find the purchased watch after a sale. In contrast, YourWatch.com controls a massive inventory in-house, which allows the company to ship the products immediately to any country - with clients in the United States receiving their shipment within 24 hours. Through the YourWatch.com portal, buyers have access to a varied selection of fine Swiss watches, along with distinguished brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chopard, Hublot, Bvlgari, and Audemars Piguet, receiving a luxury concierge service for every watch sold. YourWatch.com - The Leading Retailer of Luxury Pre-Owned and Unworn Watches:Yourwatch #1 Source for Iconic Swiss Watches Hublot Bvlgari: http://yourwatch.com Your Watch (@yourwatchllc) - Instagram photos and videos: https://www.instagram.com/yourwatchllc/ Contact Information:546 5th AvenueNew York, NY 10036(212) 888-6602concierge@ yourwatch.com SOURCE: YourWatch.com
Fact.MR

PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 15:17:04

Press Information

Fact.MR

Suite 9884



27 Upper Pembroke Street,



Dublin 2, Ireland



Abhishek Budholiya

Marketing Manager

+353-1-6111-593

email

https://www.factmr.com/





# 773 Words

Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandMarketing Manager+353-1-6111-593

Health-conscious consumers have consistently eschewed artificial/synthetic food colors, insisting on buying food products with natural food colors. The movement towards natural food ingredients pushed the natural food colors market to surpass US$ 7.5 billion in 2018, according to a Fact.MR study. The study predicts that the natural food colors market will continue to witness robust growth with a mounting number of consumers as well as industry players replacing artificial dyes with their natural counterparts.The customer-focused food industry is undergoing significant changes are consumers critically focusing on food ingredients to gauge their nutrition quotient. Manufacturers in the natural food colors market are picking up on the consumer move-away from synthetic food colors as well as artificially colored food products to capture more sales opportunities.Request For Sample Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=3064 The Fact.MR study assesses the impact of the latest consumer trends in the food industry along with other macro and microeconomic factors on growth of the natural food colors market during the period 2018-2028. Some of the valuable insights about growth of the natural food colors market that are featured in the Fact.MR study include, Intensifying consumer resistance to products containing synthetic food colors presents a major driving force for the natural food colors market. Increasing growth of the clean label movement is making consumers label-conscious. Thereby, food manufacturers are resorting to natural food colors as artificial colors are posing an acute risk to their brand value. Natural food color market players need to conform to high standards and gain approvals from governing bodies through complex certification procedures. Stringent quality regulations from regional and international organizations may create temporary manufacturing challenges for natural food colors market players. As most consumers relate the color intensity and the outer appearance of food products with greater taste and flavor, the demand for unique natural food colors is likely to surge in the foreseeable future.Natural Food Colors Market in APEJ Region Dominated the Global Market with Over 30% Revenue ShareThe Fact.MR study attributes the increasing growth of the food & beverage industry in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan (APEJ) for a significant upsurge in demand for natural food colors in the region. Rapidly-expanding scope of the food & beverage industry in the APEJ region is becoming an important factor to be reckoned with for natural food colors market players.Browse Full Report on Natural Food Color Market with TOC- https://www.factmr.com/report/3064/natural-food-color-market The Fact.MR study predicts that the demand for natural food colors will pick up in the latter years of the assessment period. The study also projects that yellow will be the most popular natural food color in the APEJ region, as the carotenoid pigment accounts for nearly 35% revenue share of the natural food colors market in the APEJ region. With a variety of new food and beverage products being launched, the APEJ region will create more lucrative opportunities for natural food color manufacturers in the upcoming years.Natural Food Colors Becoming a Part of Beverage Manufacturers Most Popular StrategiesThe Fact.MR study finds that natural food colors are witnessing burgeoning applications in the beverage sector as it accounts for the largest revenue share in the natural food colors market. With a mounting number of new beverages being introduced each year, the beverage industry is likely create growth potential for natural food colors market, predicts the Fact.MR study.Application of natural food colors is becoming a part of leading beverage manufacturers strategies. Beverage manufacturers are aiming to put their products in the spotlight with the applications of attractive natural food colors, and capitalize on the increasing demand for packaged beverages among the millennial population. As color vibrancy has found place in popular strategies of many beverage companies, natural food colors are likely to witness amplified demand in the beverage industry; this is laying the groundwork for an emerging trend in the natural food colors market.The Fact.MR study provides valuable information about how the natural food colors market will grow during the period 2018-2028. The study predicts that the market will grow at an incremental 6.5% value CAGR, exceeding US$ 14 billion by the end of the forecast period.Request Methodology of this Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RM&rep_id=3064 About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.
The report is titled Global OpenStack Service Market and accelerates a wide-ranging and focused look into this market. Market size is concluded through detailed study and examination through subordinate research.

OpenStack Service Market

PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 22:30:07

Press Information

QYreports

The Work Lab,FC Road, Pune, MH, India



Jones John

Sales Manager

+91-9764607607

email

https://www.qyreports.com





# 607 Words

The Work Lab,FC Road, Pune, MH, IndiaSales Manager+91-9764607607

OpenStack is a combination of software tools which is used for building and managing the cloud computing platforms mainly for public and private cloud infrastructures. OpenStack is open source software and is deployed as infrastructure-as-a-service. OpenStack is a collection of open source software parts that provide a framework to create and manage the infrastructure based on public cloud and private cloud. OpenStack infrastructure supports web hosting and big data projects. OpenStack cloud platform is a combination of various components such as glance, ironic, nova, cinder, keystone, horizon, mistral, etc. which offers complete and production-ready platform for an enterprise to build and operate their own private and public cloud. OpenStack software consists of five deployment models such as OpenStack-based public cloud, on-premises distribution, hosted OpenStack private cloud, OpenStack-as-a-Service, and appliance-based OpenStack.The report is titled Global OpenStack Service Market and accelerates a wide-ranging and focused look into this market. Market size is concluded through detailed study and examination through subordinate research. The numbers inferred from subordinate research is merged into the research report after validation of the market data approximations through various conferences and analyses conducted and collected from the industry and market specialists.For Sample Copy of this Report:Some of the key participants included in this market: Cisco Systems (US), Dell EMC (US), HPE (US), IBM (US), Mirantis (US), Oracle (US), Rackspace (US), Red Hat (US), VMware (US), Canonical (UK), Huawei (China), SUSE (Germany)It examines different successful strategies, to give optimal solutions to the companies. Several questions have been addressed in the research study concerning the growth of the global OpenStack Service market. The research study further offers a detailed description of the competitive landscape along with the outlook of the industries.The key players have acculturated different market tactics on the basis of the driving factors and opportunities that are mentioned in the report. It provides numerous strategies to shape the businesses successfully. Additionally, it provides ways to discover the restraining factors that impact the growth of the businesses.Avail Discount on this Report:Different industries are profiled for getting the current scenario of various working methodologies and policies of the businesses. Global regions such as Latin America, North America, China, Japan, Asia Pacific, and India are considered to study the layout of the various industries. This innovative report provides point to point analysis of the dynamic environment and throws light on the recent innovations, to understand all the current strategies of the industries.Depending on the end users and applications, it focuses on the segments such as, OpenStack Service to increase the customers rapidly. It comprises top driving factors along with the opportunities, which are beneficial to provide insights into the businesses. Additionally, restraints are also mentioned to give a clear picture of risks that can limit the growth of the businesses.Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers United States EU Japan China India Southeast AsiaMarket segment by Type, the product can be split into Solution ServiceMarket segment by Application, OpenStack Service can be split into BFSI IT Telecommunication Academic & Research Retail & E-Commerce OthersFor More Information on this Report:Table of Content (TOC):Chapter 1 OpenStack Service Market OverviewChapter 2 Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter 3 Production, Revenue (Value) by RegionChapter 4 Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by RegionsChapter 5 Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter 6 OpenStack Service Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter 7 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter 8 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter 9 Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 10 OpenStack Service Market ForecastChapter 11 Research Findings and Conclusion
Fact.MR

PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 15:09:04

Press Information

Fact.MR

Suite 9884



27 Upper Pembroke Street,



Dublin 2, Ireland



Abhishek Budholiya

Marketing Manager

+353-1-6111-593

email

https://www.factmr.com/





# 665 Words

Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandMarketing Manager+353-1-6111-593

A recent study of Fact.MR estimates sales of pod vapes to reach 500 million units in 2019, and register a Y-o-Y growth of 18.5% over 2018. Growth of the pod vapes market can be attributed to the rising concerns about the adverse impact of smoking on health and availability of a multitude of flavored pod vapes.High nicotine concentration in pod vape flavors has been a key concern among consumers, with several studies linking use of the vaping systems with respiratory ailments and cancer. Regulatory authorities are taking efforts towards curbing the sales of pod vapes, to arrest increasing incidences of nicotine addiction among teenagers. This has prompted pod vapes manufacturers to launch flavors with low nicotine concentration to reduce the adverse impact of vaping on human health.Request For Sample Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=3062 The pod vapes market has matured in recent years, driven by a combination of industry-specific and macroeconomic factors. Pod vapes are gaining increasing traction owing to their compact, portable size, and effective nicotine delivery. Initially, vape pens and mods the products launched for vaping enthusiasts and to build an extensive network of consumers. However, consumers are finding vape pens extremely inefficient in nicotine delivery, while mods are being perceived as complicated to operate.Pod vapes continue to gain popularity, as consumer preference for these effective alternatives grows in light of their nicotine delivery and simpler operations. Coupled with the benefits of nicotine salts, pod vapes are gaining a mass appeal among the population trying to quit smoking, and individuals who used to smoke earlier. Relative affordability of pod vapes compared to cigarettes is another factor driving their market growth.Demand for open pod vapes continues to surge as these provide consumers with the convenience of trying a variety of flavors by simply refilling the cartridge with vape juice. Sales of open pod vapes surpassed 250 Mn units in 2018, according to the study.Browse Full Report on Pod Vapes Market with TOC- https://www.factmr.com/report/3062/pod-vapes-market Substantial Investments by Tobacco Companies to keep Market Growth RobustTo capitalize on the growing demand for pod vapes and e-cigarettes, numerous tobacco companies are venturing into the market with new product launches. A significant decline in the demand for cigarettes is prompting tobacco companies to enter the vaping market. Tobacco companies are leveraging the positive consumer perception of pod vapes to maximize their profits. In order to market vaping products, multiple tobacco companies are funding researches to compare the harmful effects of e-cigarettes and normal cigarettes.British American Tobacco recently conducted a study wherein the company used 3D modeling to compare the effects of cigarettes and e-cigarettes on the lungs. The study concluded a notable reduction in lung inflammation after the use of e-cigarettes. Along similar lines, numerous different researches are identifying pod vapes as a healthy alternative to cigarettes. Consequentially, a growing number of leading tobacco players such as Altria, Reynolds America, and British American Tobacco are launching their own line of pod vapes to consolidate their position in the market.As the trend of the marijuana legalization continues to spread around the world, it is highly likely that new lucrative opportunities are imminent for the players in the pod vapes market. Altria, the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, bought a 10% stake in the Canadian marijuana production firm at US$ 1.8 billion alluding to the anticipated boom in the industry.The Fact.MR report also tracks the pod vapes market for the period 2018-2027. The pod vapes market is projected to grow at 18.8% CAGR through 2027.Ask Our Industry Expert for more details on report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=AE&rep_id=3062 About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.
PR-Inside.com: 2019-03-07 04:00:24

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 382 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Malaysian-based Web Hosting Secret Revealed (WHSR) Offers Information on Their Website to Compare Various Web Hosting Entities. Web Hosting Shoppers Can Find the Right Services Easily and Quickly.LABUAN, MALAYSIA / ACCESSWIRE / March 6, 2019 / Web Hosting Secret Revealed (WHSR) and Jerry Low are pleased to announce the release of their new web hosting comparison tool. The tool is focused on helping hosting shoppers find the right web hosting services quickly and easily. It provides hosting advice which can be trusted. The factual reviews which are placed on the site are built on independent research and hard data. The site founders sign up with and test various web hosting services so customers can cut to the chase and choose the best solutions.The various hosting firms are carefully evaluated based on six key elements: Server Performance, Features, Support, User Friendliness, Reputation, and Price. For those searching for the best website hosting choices, the first step is understanding what is needed from the web host before one is selected. The hosting and website guide offered by WHSR is like a map, useful if the end goal is understood.According to Jerry Low, speaking to an interviewer recently, For new customers, the best approach is to start small with an affordable hosting plan, such as shared hosting. For more advanced users, the site usability is crucial, this means that the hosting solution must be both stable and flexible. Our comparison tool allows the customer to quickly compare a wide list of hosting agencies. You can compare up to three companies at the same time. The tool lists out details which are needed, such as our rating, pricing, basic features and a brief pro and con review.The website also includes information such as how web hosting and domain name work; where to buy the first domain name; how to move a site to a new web host and how to host needed email accounts. Businesses can learn how to purchase and install SSL certificate; the best cheap hosting service below $5/mo; the best hosting for small/medium business and the best website builders for business.Contact Info:Name: Jerry LowOrganization: Web Hosting Secret Revealed (WHSR)Address: Financial Park Labuan, Wilayah Persekutuan, 87000 LabuanWebsite: https://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/Email: jerry@ webhostingsecretrevealed.com SOURCE: Web Hosting Secret Revealed
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has constituted four committees to help resolve the complexities and challenges hindering the growth and development of some privatised enterprises.

The committees are those on Housing Sector (the Bricks and Clay), Mines and Steel Development, Oil Palm, Automobiles and Paper Mills.

A statement by the spokesperson of the privatisation agency, Amina Othman, on Thursday said the Director General of BPE, Alex Okoh, said the inauguration of the committees is part of its determination to ensure the privatised enterprises yield dividends to Nigerians.

The committees, which have 90 working days to submit their reports, have their members drawn from the relevant sectors, ministries, BPE and the private sector.

Mr Okoh said the committees were mandated to come up with a mechanism to redress the issues hindering the growth and development of some privatised enterprises handed over to core investors over a decade ago under the privatisation policy of the federal government.

Also, the committees are to provide policymakers with further insight into the practical realities facing the sectors under which the enterprises were privatised as well as proffer credible solutions on how to resolve the problems.

At the inauguration of the committees in Abuja on Thursday, Mr Okoh said the meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) on April 12, 2018, reviewed the performances of some of the privatised enterprises in the last ten years.

He said the resolution of the meeting was that most of the affected enterprises have remained suboptimal since privatisation despite occupying strategic places in the nations economy.

The BPE DG said the NCP also took into cognizance the need to resuscitate and reposition the enterprises to enhance their market value and their overall contribution to the economy.

To realise their mandate, Mr Okoh said the NCP directed its secretariat (BPE) to organise an Enterprise Stakeholders/Investors Forum with the objective of creating a platform where the core investors of the privatised enterprises, potential investors and relevant MDAs would meet and chart a way forward.

The forum, which will facilitate the resuscitation of the enterprises through partnerships between the private and public sectors, is in consonance with the federal governments Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017).

As is the custom in BPE to engage stakeholders in its programmes design and execution, the DG said he was soliciting the cooperation, support and participation of the people to the success of the privatisation programme and the Nigerian economy.
It was a night of fun and non-stop excitement for fun seekers when MTV Base marked its fourteenth year anniversary in Lagos on Tuesday.

The event tagged Mainland Block Party Takeover and compeered by MTV Base VJ, Nenny B, and actor, Bolly Lomo, featured performances from A-list musicians such as Falz, Zlatan, Chinko Ekun, Skiibii, Ycee, among others.

With over 1,500 party goers in attendance, the event featured everything from dance competitions to a relaxing poolside for guests to unwind.

MTV Base fans were not the only ones present at the celebration party.

Celebrities who graced the celebration include Falz, Niniola, Zlatan, Skiibii, Ycee, DJ Spinall, DJ Neptune, Reekado Banks, Dada Boy Ehiz, Sammy Walsh and Folu Storms.

Reekado Banks at MTV Base 14th year anniversary celebration MTV-Base-at-14-Sammy-Walsh-Folu-Storms MTV-Base Jaywon Iyanya

Others are Bizzle Osikoya, Sensei Uche, Kemi Smallz, Mr. Real, CDQ, Jaywon, Iyanya, Okiki DFT, Blaqbonez, Victor AD, Sess Beats, Lyta, Somto Cody Akanegbu, SamPhrank, Tomi Thomas (Mayorkuns manager), Shakar El and Awazi.

The party also enabled fans to share experiences with their favourite celebrities.

DJ Neptune at MTV Base 14th year anniversary celebration Falz at MTV Base 14th year anniversary celebration_1 Falz at MTV Base 14th year anniversary celebration CDQ at the party Skiibii performing at the party

MTV Base has helped a number of careers in this industry move to the next level, including mine, so it is great to see all these musicians, managers and talents come out to celebrate the platform that showcased and continues to showcase African excellence to the world, said MTV Base VJ, Dada Boy Ehiz.

MTV Base is a 24-hour English language music television channel reaching 48.5 million African viewers in 10.5 million households in 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

2face Idibias African Queen was the first music video to be aired on the cable channel when it launched on February 22, 2015.
Of all the challenges faced by people whove been displaced, perhaps none is more important than to find new meaning in their lives. And so it is with the four young women who are students in a college prep class that I teach at Dickinson College.

All four students were among the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted by Boko Haram in April 2014. The kidnapping triggered international outrage and prompted the worldwide #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

As we approach the five-year anniversary of the kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls  many of whom are still being held captive  it is worth taking a look at what the world has done to help those who have survived the ordeal. The Nigerian government has secured the release of less than half of the kidnapped schoolgirls, with at least 100 still being held captive.

The class I teach at Dickinson offers a small glimpse into the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls lives. It is an outcome that their captors in Boko Haram  a terrorist group whose name means Western education is forbidden  never wanted to imagine.

Over the past year or so, the four students I teach have worked hard to achieve their dream of obtaining a high school equivalency diploma so they can have a shot at college. They have attempted the GED practice test and real tests quite a few times.

Assessors said it would take about five to seven years to get them ready for college. However, something took place in February that leads me to believe it wont take that long. But before I tell that story, a little background is in order.

Escaping captivity

While the Chibok school kidnapping is widely associated with the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, fortunately, my students never had to be brought back. Thats because they were among the lucky ones who escaped from the insurgent group as they were being taken to the Sambisa Forest in Nigeria.

How the four young women came to be my students at a small, historic, private liberal arts college in Pennsylvania is a long and complicated story. Not all of it has been pleasant. The Wall Street Journal told much of their rough ordeal in the United States in 2018.

That same year, Dickinson College president Margee Ensign was asked and agreed to welcome the young women to our campus. She had done the same a few years earlier with some of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls when she was head of the American University of Nigeria, where I also used to teach.

The students are all on full scholarship funded by the Nigerian governments Victim Support Fund and the Murtala Mohammed Foundation.

Journey to the United States

I came to Dickinson College in the fall of 2017 as a visiting professor in international studies. I first met the four former Chibok schoolgirls in April 2018, when Dickinson launched the College Bridge program in which they are now enrolled.

Through the program, the young women take a college prep class with me that focuses on critical and analytical thinking skills. They also take math, English, science, social studies and GED preparatory classes.

A global mission, challenging work

In many ways, the bridge program at Dickinson is in line with UNESCOs new #RightToEducation campaign that is meant to expand access to higher education for refugees. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, among the worlds 16.1 million refugees, only 1 percent of college-aged refugees attend university, compared to 34 percent of all college-aged youth globally.

The work of preparing students with refugee backgrounds for college is far from easy. Aside from adjusting to a new culture and environment, sometimes a new language and a different method of learning, displaced persons struggle to find new meanings in their displacement. When education becomes their main pursuit, it must necessarily provide those new meanings.

A breakthrough

For a student named Patience, new meaning has been found in her quest to become a schoolteacher or counselor. Patience has taken a significant step toward that goal. It came to light when she showed up over an hour late to my class one day in February.

What happened today? I asked when she walked in, trying to keep my voice and expression from revealing my disappointment.

I went to take my GED Math this morning. I told you, she said.

Im not sure how I forgot that she was going to take the GED Math, but I did. Had I remembered, I would have sent her one of my motivational texts to get her inspired. This was her third attempt on the GED.

How did it go? I asked.

It went well, she answered, her voice flat, face emotionless.

So  I stammered, did you pass?

Yes, I did, she said, and then told me her score. The whole class erupted in cheers and claps. I was so excited, I rushed and hugged her without thinking. The other students joined. It was one of the most rewarding moments in my decade of teaching. A few weeks later, Patience passed her GED Science exam as well.

Inspiring others

Patience is the first among the four women to pass a GED test. In order to appreciate what a big deal this is, consider where these young women have come from.

Beyond having had a tumultuous life, the students come from an unimaginably poor educational background. The Government Girls Secondary School they attended in Chibok, Borno state, is in a very remote part of Nigeria. You normally wouldnt have good teachers in such remote areas. But with the Boko Haram insurgency that has plagued the region for the past decade, the situation is far worse. The insurgency has prompted most of the good teachers to leave. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 611 teachers have been deliberately killed by the insurgents since 2009, forcing a further 19,000 teachers to flee. The students have told me that their school at Chibok did not have qualified science, math or language teachers. Their science labs had no equipment.

The Borno state Ministry of Education and many other states in northern Nigeria generally do not prioritize education for girls due to religion and culture, which both support early marriage. In Borno state, the attendance rate for female secondary school students is 29 percent, compared with a national average of 53 percent. So this is a huge achievement for Patience and the other women in their journey toward college. When they eventually get into college, I believe it will inspire thousands of other young girls from that region of the world.

For her part, Patience hopes to inspire girls worldwide.

I know this because in early 2019, I worked with Patience and her fellow students on listening and comprehension skills. For one exercise, I had them watch and then write their opinion about this inspiring talk by Mary Maker, a former South Sudanese refugee who is now a teacher at a school in Kenyas Kakuma Refugee Camp, on the power of education for women from crises societies.

Patience and the others could relate very easily with the speech and with the speaker. It spoke to their past and their present, their hopes and aspirations. The proof is that in her essay about the video, Patience wrote that she wants to have a voice like Mary Makers  and to speak for women who cannot speak for themselves.

Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob, Visiting International Scholar in International Studies & Political Science, Dickinson College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The conversation
As the internet continues to gain considerable power and agency around the world, many governments have moved to regulate it. And where regulation fails, some states resort to internet shutdowns or deliberate disruptions.

The statistics are staggering. In India alone, there were 154 internet shutdowns between January 2016 and May 2018. This is the most of any country in the world.

But similar shutdowns are becoming common on the African continent. Already in 2019, there have been shutdowns in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Chad, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Last year there were 21 such shutdowns on the continent. This was the case in Togo, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Ethiopia, among others.

The justifications for such shutdowns are usually relatively predictable. Governments often claim that internet access is blocked in the interest of public security and order. In some instances, however, their reasoning borders on the curious if not downright absurd, like the case of Ethiopia in 2017 and Algeria in 2018 when the internet was shut down apparently to curb cheating in national examinations.

Whatever their reasons, governments have three general approaches to controlling citizens access to the web.

How they do it

Internet shutdowns or disruptions usually take three forms. The first and probably the most serious is where the state completely blocks access to the internet on all platforms. Its arguably the most punitive, with significant social, economic and political costs.

The financial costs can run into millions of dollars for each day the internet is blocked. A Deloitte report on the issue estimates that a country with average connectivity could lose at least 1.9% of its daily GDP for each day all internet services are shut down.

For countries with average to medium level connectivity the loss is 1% of daily GDP, and for countries with average to low connectivity, its 0.4%. Its estimated that Ethiopia, for example, could lose up to US$500,000 a day whenever there is a shutdown. These shutdowns, then, damage businesses, discourage investments and hinder economic growth.

The second way that governments restrict internet access is by applying content blocking techniques. They restrict access to particular sites or applications. This is the most common strategy and its usually targeted at social media platforms. The idea is to stop or limit conversations on these platforms.

Online spaces have become the platform for various forms of political expression that many states especially those with authoritarian leanings consider subversive. Governments argue, for example, that social media platforms encourage the spread of rumours which can trigger public unrest.

This was the case in 2016 in Uganda during the countrys presidential elections. The government restricted access to social media, describing the shutdown as a security measure to avert lies  intended to incite violence and illegal declaration of election results.

In Zimbabwe, the government blocked social media following demonstrations over an increase in fuel prices. It argued that the January 2019 ban was because the platforms were being used to coordinate the violence.

The third strategy, done almost by stealth, is the use of what is generally known as bandwidth throttling. In this case, telecom operators or internet service providers are forced to lower the quality of their cell signals or internet speed. This makes the internet too slow to use. Throttling can also target particular online destinations such as social media sites.

What drives governments

In most cases the desire to control the internet is rooted in governments determination to control the political narrative. Many see the internet as an existential threat that must be contained, no matter what consequences it will have on other sectors.

The internet is seen as a threat because it disrupts older forms of government political control, particularly the control of information. The stranglehold on the production and dissemination of information has always been an invaluable political tool for many African governments.

The loss of this control, at a time when the media has brought politics closer to the people, presents governments with a distinctly unsettling reality. Social media, for example, inherently encourages political indiscipline and engenders the production and circulation of alternative political narratives.

In addition, because it is a networked platform, users are simultaneously and instantaneously local and international and are engaged in an information carnival that is difficult to police. Quite often the narratives therein are at variance with the self-preserving and carefully constructed ideologies of the state.

The shutdown trend

The irony, however, is that as these shutdowns continue, even proliferate, there is scant evidence they actually work. Instead, they seem to animate dissent and encourage precisely the kind of responses considered subversive by many governments This has been the case in Burkina Faso and Uganda, for example, where such bans have simply increased the profile of the causes being agitated.

Internet shutdowns dont stop demonstrations. Nor do they hinder the production and circulation of rumours: they encourage them instead. Many people are also circumventing the shutdowns through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs). These are networks that redirect internet activity to a computer in a different geographical location thus enabling access to sites blocked in ones own country. VPNS are now par for the course in countries like Zimbabwe.

The future of unfettered internet access in Africa looks precarious should governments continue on this trajectory. The absence in many African countries of enforceable constitutional guarantees that protect the publics right to information means there are few opportunities for legal redress. This makes the development of legislative regimes that recognise and protect access to the internet both urgent and necessary.

George Ogola, Reader in Journalism, University of Central Lancashire

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The conversation
Pakistan has taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as it intensifies its crackdown on banned militant organisations, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

Law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today, the ministry said in a statement, adding that religious schools, hospitals, and ambulances were taken over.

Pakistan began a crackdown on militant groups this week amid growing international pressure in the wake of a bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir by a militant group based in Pakistan.

Islamabad denies aiding militants and says its push against banned outfits is unrelated to the Indian and global pressure.

However, Pakistan on Tuesday said it had begun a crackdown on militant groups, detaining 44 members of banned organizations including close relatives of the leader of a group blamed for a deadly bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir in February.

The interior ministry said it was a move to speed up action against all proscribed organisations.

Officials said it was part of a long-planned drive against militant groups, not a response to Indian anger over what New Delhi calls Islamabads failure to rein in militant groups operating on Pakistani soil.

Pakistan is facing pressure from global powers to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack that killed at least 40 paramilitary police.

The incident led to the most serious conflict in years between the nuclear-armed neighbours, with cross-border airstrikes and a brief dogfight over the skies of Kashmir.

Tension cooled when Pakistan returned a downed Indian pilot on Friday.

In a further sign that tensions were easing, Pakistans foreign ministry said a delegation would visit New Delhi next week to discuss an accord on Sikh pilgrims visiting holy sites in Pakistan.

On Tuesday, Pakistan placed two charities linked to Hafiz Saeed, founder of a militant organisation the U.S. and India have blamed for numerous deadly attacks, including a siege by gunmen in Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, on the countrys official banned list.

The Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation charities were placed on the list after the government announced the restriction in February.

The U.S., Britain, and France proposed in February that the UN Security Council blacklist Azhar. The U.S. and Britain have urged Pakistan to deal with militant groups.

Pakistans foreign ministry announced a new order on Monday to update existing laws that deal with those on UN sanctions lists.

(Reuters/NAN)
A high-ranking French Catholic cleric, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, was convicted on Thursday for failing to report allegations of sexual abuse in his diocese and said he would submit his resignation to Pope Francis.

Mr Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon and the highest-profile cleric to be caught up in the child sex abuse scandal inside the French Catholic Church, was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence.

The court in Lyon ruled that between July 2014 and June 2015 Barbarin covered up allegations of sexual abuse of boy scouts in the 1980s and early 1990s by a priest, who is due to go on trial later this year.

Mr Barbarin was not present for the verdict but his lawyer, Jean-Felix Luciani, said he would appeal the ruling.

He denied concealing allegations that Father Bernard Preynat abused dozens of boys more than a decade before he arrived in the Lyon diocese in 2002.

Mr Preynat has admitted sexual abuse, according to his lawyer.

Mr Barbarin told a brief news conference he would travel to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis in the next few days and resign.

The victims and their families were in his prayers, he added.

There was no immediate word from the Vatican on whether Francis would accept the resignation, which could remove Barbarin from his post as archbishop but leave him with the rank of cardinal.

Prosecutors in Lyon had previously investigated Barbarin but dropped the probe in mid-2016 without a detailed explanation.

However, an association of alleged victims called Parole Liberee (Freed Word) used a provision of French law to compel the cardinal to stand trial.

This will send a strong message to the Church and to the pope, said abuse victim Francois Devaux, applauding the verdict.

Mr Barbarins trial put Europes senior clergy in the spotlight at a time when the pope is grappling with criticism over the Churchs response to a sexual abuse crisis that has gravely damaged its standing around the globe.

Francis ended a conference on clergy abuse of children in February with a call for an all-out battle against a crime that should be erased from the face of the earth.

Victims said the pope had merely repeated old promises and offered few new concrete proposals.

Mr Barbarin told the trial he only became aware of Preynats abuses in 2014 after a conversation with one victim.

Before that, he said, he had only heard rumours. He removed Preynat from his post a year later, when the allegations became public.

The scandal is the subject of Francois Ozons film Grace A Dieu (By The Grace of God) which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.

(Reuters/NAN)
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested a 51year old Abuja-based engineer, Oluwadare Adesanmi, for alleged raping his 15-year-old house-help.

This information was contained in the statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday by the agency.

The agency also said the suspect reportedly impregnated the victim.

According to the statement, The victim (name withheld), a Junior Secondary School Student (JSS) of one of the government schools in the Dutse area of the FCT, was hired by the family as house-help about two years ago and has been living with them in their one-bedroom apartment before the incident.

The statement added thatthe victim disclosed that Mr Adesanmi forced her to have sexual intercourse with him on two occasions in the sitting room where she sleeps.

On the two occasions, he threatened to deal with her if she talks to anyone about it.

Also, according to the victim in the statement, The first time Mr Adesanmi started was when his wife travelled and the man sneaked into the parlour where she was sleeping, touched her and forced his way into her after covering her mouth so that she will not shout out. That was the day he deflowered her and it was the man who cleaned up the bloodstains and took away the bedspread she used to cover herself, the statement added.

The statement added that the matter now came to the open when one of the teachers in her school noticed some of the changes in the girl, she was now taken to the hospital where a pregnancy test, was done and it came out positive. Upon interrogation, the man confessed but maintained that he only slept with her once.

In her reaction to the arrest, the DirectorGeneral of NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli, said the suspect will soon be arraigned in court after the completion of the investigation.

She expressed sadness over the reported cases of child abuse, sexual exploitation, and rape across the country warning that the ugly development portends great danger to the nation.
Despite the record number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collected ahead of this years general elections, Nigeria recorded lower voters turnout in the February 23 presidential election, compared to that of 2015.

It was the climax of a trend that started in 2007 when voters turnout dropped almost 12 points to 57.4 per cent, compared to the figure for 2003.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said 72,775,585 PVCs were collected by registered voters across the country for the 2019 elections.

Although the commission said it registered over 84 million voters, only those with PVCs are eligible to vote. The number of uncollected PVCs is 11,228,582.

In spite of the high number of collected PVCs, some states recorded low turnout of voters on Election Day.

According to INEC, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 15.2 million votes to beat Atiku Abubakar of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who recorded 11.3 million votes.

The overall turnout of voters across the country was 28,614,190 or 35.6 per cent of registered voters or 39.3 per cent of eligible voters. Voter turnout in the 2015 presidential election was 43.6 per cent of registered voters.

An analysis of the result of the election presented by INEC shows that states which recorded high voters turnout in 2015 returned low numbers this year.

There is speculation that the low turnout was a result of the shift by one week of the 2019 polls. The presidential and National Assembly elections were to hold on February 16 but eventually took place on February 23.

There were also cases of violence in some states in the build-up to and during the elections, which may have hindered voters from exercising their franchise.

States with lowest voters turnout

The numbers of accredited voters dropped in 18 states in 2019 compared to 2015.

The states are Abia, Niger, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Ondo, Oyo, Bauchi, Lagos and Imo. The others are Plateau, Kano, Akwa Ibom, Zamfara, Cross River, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers.

Ward 1, unit 1 at Ogboko Village in Ideato south, Imo state, Election process yet to start.INEC officials are still setting up the Centre, addressing the voters.

Of these states, however, three were the worst in terms of voter turnout.

Less than 20 per cent turnout

Three states had less than 20 per cent voter turnout in this years presidential election. They are Lagos, Abia and Rivers states.

Lagos State led the states with the lowest voters turnout with 17.25 per cent (1,089,567), followed by Abia with 18 per cent or 323,291 votes and Rivers with 19.97 per cent (642,165).

Lagos is Nigerias most cosmopolitan state as well the richest state in the country. It is a major financial centre and would be the fifth largest economy in Africa if it were a country. Its total generated revenue in 2017 was around 334 billion (equivalent to US$920 million), growing by 10.43 per cent, compared to 2016.

In terms of population, Lagos is Nigerias most populous state with an estimated 20 million residents.

In Lagos, there are 6,570,291 registered voters but only 5,531,389 collected their PVCs. About 1, 038,909 PVCs remain uncollected. All these factors have, however, never translated to a high voters turnout.

Although considered relatively peaceful in the 2015 elections, Lagos also recorded the lowest voters turnout that year. In 2015, the voters turnout in the state was 29 per cent.

Abia State has 1,932,892 registered voters in the 2019 presidential election and 1,729,943 of these collected their PVCs as at February 11, 2019. Voters turnout in the state is 18 per cent, a decrease from the 30 per cent recorded in the state in the 2015 election.

In Rivers, there are 3,215,273 registered voters while 2,833,101 PVCs were collected as at February 11, 2019, but the turnout of voters was low.

In contrast, Rivers had a high turnout of voters in 2015 with 71 per cent. In 2019, the figure dropped to 19.97 per cent (642,165).

Voters turnout in Nigeria since 1999

Data obtained from the website of INEC and other sources revealed that 52.3 per cent of the registered voters voted in the 1999 elections.

The figure rose to 69.1 per cent in 2003 but has fallen since then. In 2007, it went down to 57.4 per cent, 53.7 per cent in 2011 and 43.6 per cent in 2015.

Nigerias registered voters rose from 57,938,945 in 1999 to 84,004,084 in 2019.

In 1999, out of the 57,938,945 registered voters, the total votes cast in the presidential election of that year was 30,280,052, representing 52.3 per cent.

There were 29,848,441 valid votes and 431,611 invalid votes, representing 98.6 per cent and 1.4 per cent of the total votes cast respectively.

INFO GRAPH  Lagos and the problem of low voter turnout in Nigerian elections. [CREDIT: George Kaduna]

As stated earlier, the voter turnout rose in 2003 to 69.1 per cent.

That year, INEC had 60,823,022 registered voters, out of which 42,018,735 turned out and cast their votes with 39,480,489 valid votes and 2,538,246 invalid votes.

The turnout in 2003 at 69 per cent represented an increase of 16.8 per cent over that of 1999.

In 2007, there were 61,566,648 registered voters, out of which 35,419,262 voted, representing 57.4 per cent turnout of voters.

This represented a drop in the voter turnout of 11.04 per cent.

The voter turnout dropped further to 54 per cent in the 2011 presidential election. That year, there were 73,528,040 registered voters but only 39,469,484 turned out for the poll, with 38,209,978 valid votes and 1,259,506 invalid votes.

This represented a drop of 4.36 per cent over that of 2007.

The decline in voters participation continued in 2015 when only 29,432,083 voters, which was 43.6 per cent out of the 67,422,005, registered voters turned out and cast their votes.

That year, there were 28,587,564 valid votes and 844,519 invalid votes. The drop was 10.1 per cent.

Experts React

Giving the reasons for the low turnout in the 2019 election, the Head of Research, SBM intelligence, Cheta Nwanze, said most people believe their votes will not count.

A lot of people registered for the voters card because of the population growth. People believe their votes do not count, they believe their voices are not heard so they feel reluctant to come out and vote, he said.

Mr Nwanze said the best way to resolve the issue of low voters turnout is good governance. When the people start noticing positive changes then the turnout will increase, he said.

For the Director of Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Idayat Hassan, one of the reasons for the low turnout of voters was the postponement of the election by one week.

INFO GRAPH  Lagos and the problem of low voter turnout in Nigerian elections. [CREDIT: George Kaduna]

So what is the essence if people do not have the basics of life provided for them? The nature of politics, the fear of violence and people not being contented with the system are also a major factor for the low turnout, she said.

Ms Hassan advised the government, politicians and the electoral body to show credibility in order to gain the peoples trust.

It is important that people see that democracy is working for them. It is about better governance, she said.
Although 32 political parties are fielding candidates in Saturdays governorship election in Gombe State, the battle is between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Usman Nafada, and that of the major opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Inuwa Yahaya.

Also, if the result of the presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 23 is anything to go by, the APC may clinch the governorship seat in Gombe by defeating the PDP which has ruled the state consecutively for 16 years.

APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari defeated his main challenger, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP in the state.

This is despite the state being governed by the PDP and Mr Abubakar being from the neighbouring Adamawa.

Dark horse?

However, some residents of the state said apart from the candidates of PDP and APC, the candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Abdul Ghaniy Mohammad, a lawyer and former Chairman of Muslim Lawyers Association, is waiting on the wings and may benefit from what one of the residents termed as split votes of the two major candidates.

Usman Nafada

According to the spokesperson of the PDP campaign in Gombe, Dahiru Kera, Mr Nafada has more experience in governance compared to the APC candidate.

He said Mr Nafada was a former Speaker of the state assembly, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and is currently a Senator representing Gombe north in the Senate and is, therefore, better placed to govern the state well.

He also said as Chairman Senate Committee on Interior, Mr Nafada has brought development not just to Gombe but the North-east as a whole.

He said the PDP candidate has specifically been involved in the educational development of the state and the sub-region by building a hall and a classroom block at the Federal College of Education (Technical) in Gombe as well as the construction of a Faculty building at the Modibbo Adama University Yola, Adamawa State.

Also, Mr Kera said when it comes to the governorship election, the results of the presidential and National Assembly election cannot be used as a pointer to what will happen on Saturday.

All politics is local and I can assure you that PDP controls 90 per cent of the grassroots here. We have control of the state assembly and our members who are popular in their constituencies will not only deliver themselves but the party as a whole, he said.

Another factor that can be considered a strength of Mr Nafada is the fact that the two previous governors of Gombe, who both served under the PDP, have brought immense development to the state.

He can, therefore, take advantage by claiming to continue from where his predecessors stopped.

Also, Mr Nafada is considered by many in Gombe as being more Gombe than the APC candidate and one resident said, these things may seem irrelevant in some places, but a lot of our people give it consideration here.

He said locals take into consideration the historical background of each candidate in casting their votes and that in this instance, while Inuwa Yahaya of the APC is considered a Hausa man, Mr Nafada is seen as a local Fulani boy.

Inuwa Yahaya.

In the same vein, compared to the APC candidate, Mr Nafada has more financial resources at his disposal, a key factor in Nigerian politics.

Weaknesses

A major weakness of the PDP candidate is the showing of his party in the presidential and National Assembly elections.

Elections in Nigeria appear to follow a pattern in which the victory of a presidential candidate often has a direct implication on subsequent elections within the same circle.

By losing all parliament seats and the presidential election, it is difficult to see how PDP can overcome the challenge.

Besides, even the current governor Hassan Dankwambo who sought to replace Mr Nafada at the Senate lost his bid despite the power of incumbency.

Inuwa Yahaya

Inuwa Yahaya was also the candidate of the APC in the 2015 election in Gombe but he lost to Mr Dankwambo with about 80,000 votes margin.

However, his decision to accept the defeat early enough despite the decision of his party to challenge the outcome endeared him to lovers of democracy in the state.

Mr Yahaya served as a commissioner of finance in Gombe for about eight years under former governor Danjuma Goje.

Strength

A major strength of Mr Yahaya is the apparent acceptance of the APC by the generality of voters in Gombe.

This can be attested to by the outcome of recent elections held in the state in which the party posed 100 per cent victory.

Also, according to the spokesperson of APC campaign in Gombe State, Idris Abdullahi, by the outcome of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, people of Gombe have given an indication where their votes will go on Saturday.

He also said Mr Yahaya is more experienced when it comes to governance because while the PDP candidate spent most of his public life in the legislature, Mr Yahaya has a financial background training and a long time in an executive position. This places him in a better position to provide governance, he argues.

Our candidate participated fully in the running of the state and had better experience. He is part of the success story of the state. I assure you he is better placed administratively to govern the state compared to our rival, he said.

Another strength of Mr Yahaya is that he appears to enjoy more support of some of the political big wigs in the state.

For instance, while the PDP governorship primary basically ended in disarray, other APC governorship aspirants drove in the same bus with Mr Yahaya to his home after he defeated them in the primary.

Mr Yahaya also enjoys the full support of former governor, Danjuma Goje, who is the incumbent senator for Gombe Central and leader of the APC in the state.

Also, the voting population of Gombe state, who always vote for the PDP this time around moved over to the APC.

They replaced their PDP senator and two members of the House of Representatives with candidates of the APC.

Weakness

A major weakness for Mr Yahaya is the perception by some locals that he is not Gombe enough because his forefathers are considered Hausa and not really Fulani.

Also, the PDP is a wounded lion now and will give its all to win back the state.

The incumbency factor and financial resources available to the PDP can be used to thwart his ambition.

History of violence

The politics of Gombe is often characterised by violence and this years election is not an exception.

The two major parties have each accused the other of being behind violent attacks on each other.

Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo [Photo credit: The Worldfolio]

While the PDP candidate has alleged that his supporters were attacked recently when they went to the airport to welcome Mr Dankwambo to the state, reports indicate that the APC candidates family home was razed by hoodlums suspected to be PDP thugs.

Despite these, analysts opine that the APC may now have all it takes to edge out the PDP and produce a governor in the state that defied the Buhari Tsunami in 2015.

However the PDP will certainly not give in without a fight.
The battle for the soul of Lagos on Saturday is a straight fight between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). While the APC is fielding Babajide Sanwo-olu, who has served in various executive positions in the state in the last decade, the PDP candidate is Jimi Agbaje, a pharmacist who is running for the governorship position in the state for the third time since 2007

Lagos, a major financial centre in Nigeria, is one of the most strategic cities in Africa. With a GDP considered the largest in the country, it houses Nigerias most important air and seaports.

Lagos is divided into what is known as the Islandcovering areas like Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lagos Island and beyond and the Mainland, which covers Agege, Oshodi, Yaba, Surulere, Ojo, Amuwo-Odofin, among others. These areas are largely separated by the Third Mainland Bridge, located in the heart of the Lagos lagoon. The early part of Lagos was governed directly by the federal government through the Lagos City Council, until the creation of Lagos State in 1967, which birthed the gradual splitting of Lagos city into the numerous Local Government Areas (LGAs) it now has. The state now consists of 20 LGAs, 32 LCDAs including Ikeja, the capital of Lagos State.

Population figures in Nigeria are a subject of disputes but unofficial statistics put the population of Lagos inhabitants at over 21 million in 2018.

Political History

Lagos has been governed by both civilian leaders and military administrators since its creation. But among those who governed the state, notable for his infrastructural feats is Lateef Jakande of Obafemi Awolowo-led Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). Mr Jakande is the civilian governor that survived Ubitu Ukiwe, a military administrator, in 1979. Before Mr Ukiwe, there were Mobolaji Johnson, the first military administrator who came in 1967 and left in 1975; then Adekunle Lawal and Ndubuisi Kanu.

After Mr Kanu, there were others: Gbolahan Mudasiru, Mike Akhigbe and Raji Rasaki, all military administrators. In 1993, Lagos experienced the short-lived tenure of Michael Otedola of the National Republican Congress (NRC), a civilian who survived Mr Rasaki, who left during the 1992/93 transition period. The exit of Mr Otedola barely a year after he assumed office paved way for Olagunsoye Oyinlola and later Buba Marwa, both military administrators who governed until 1999 when Bola Tinubu was elected governor.

In the last twenty years since the return to democracy in 1999, the state has been controlled by politicians who identify with the progressives fold, led by APC national leader, Mr Tinubu. In 1999, Mr Tinubu contested the governorship election on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and won. He was re-elected in 2003 amidst a PDP electoral tsunami that swept through the entire south west region, ostensibly orchestrated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The tsunami led to the exit of all of the AD governors in Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun states, except Mr Tinubu of Lagos State.

Analysts have opined that Mr Tinubus survival of that 2003 tsunami conferred on him huge electoral and political capital in the state, as well as the region, a feat that would eventually make him south wests most influential contemporary politician.

In the build up to the 2007 general elections, following protracted disagreements among chieftains of the AD and Yoruba politico-cultural group, Afenifere, Mr Tinubu emerged as a strong force in the Action Congress (AC). In Lagos, through the political permutation of Mr Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola, now Minister of Power, Works and Housing, emerged the guber candidate of the party and won the 2007 election, beating his closest rival Musiliu Obanikoro of the PDP. In 2011, Mr Fashola won re-election under what was now known as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

In 2015, after an alliance of the dominant opposition parties birthed the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Ambode emerged the flagbearer of the party and won the governorship election in the state. He defeated PDP candidate Jimi Agbaje in the tensed and divisive election. Mr Ambodes re-election plan was however scuttled in 2018 by aggrieved party members and leaders, who ensured he never picked the governorship ticket of the party.

In the party primaries conducted last year, Mr Sanwo-Olu emerged candidate of the party with an overwhelming support from members of the APC from different parts of the state. He is contesting against Mr Agbaje, who is taking a shot at the seat for the third time. Mr Agbaje contested first on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, in 2007 and later in 2015 as candidate of the PDP.

The Issues

Lagos, Nigerias commercial nerve centre, is strategic for a number of reasons. First, being a former seat of power, it is considered a cosmopolitan city with diverse people from different parts of the country. Hence, its politics, economy and leadership options generate attention and debates among diverse people from different parts of the country

Saturdays election would be defined by issues that revolve around governance, infrastructure, tribal politics and serious issues of the economy.

PREMIUM TIMES observes that in discussions surrounding the election across social media in the last few weeks, issues of governance, infrastructure and others related to development have taken the backseat. Rather, particularly since the last presidential election, tribal and divisive rhetoric has dominated the numerous fora where politics and governance of the state ahead of Saturdays governorship and House of Assembly election are tabled for discussion.

Economy and Internally Generated Revenue

With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) currently standing at $136 billion, Lagos economy is considered strategic in Nigeria and indeed, sub-Saharan Africa. The state is said to contribute over ten percent of Nigerias overall GDP. The economy is expected to record four per cent growth in 2019 while the national economy will grow by 2.8 per cent, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted in 2018.

In February, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode presented a budget of N852.13 billion to the Lagos State House of Assembly. The 2019 budget is lower than that of last year, put at N1.046 trillion, ostensibly due to poor performance. Yet, the budget remains one of the most ambitious budgetary propositions among Nigerian states, signaling the strategic position Lagos occupies in the Nigerian economy.

Mr Ambode said projected total revenue for year 2019 was 775.231 billion, of which 606.291 billion would be generated internally.

According to him, a total of 168.940 billion is expected from the federal government transfers while a total of 77.086 billion will be sourced through deficit financing within the states medium term expenditure framework.

In May 2018, the Lagos State Government said it now generates an average of N34 billion monthly, unlike what it generated in the past. The monthly revenue averages were put at N22 billion, N24 billion and N30 billion in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

The government however said it has a projection to generate an average of N50 monthly in 2019. It is expected that Lagosians would throw their support behind the party and candidates that would ensure effective utilisation of the revenues.

Infrastructure

With its seaports and Nigerias busiest and most important airports, Lagos state is at the focal point of Nigerias growth. It also houses the headquarters and strategic infrastructural edifices of most banks, oil multinationals, telecommunication firms and other financial institutions in the country, with a loud ambition to run a 24-hour economy.

In terms of infrastructure, which drives the economy, some analysts opine that the state is not doing badly. Others however argue that with its revenue and growth potential, the state is largely being under-served. This is often compounded by allegations of opacity that surround issues of governance in the state, with procurement details often hidden from the public.

Meanwhile, both candidates of the APC and PDP have at different fora promised to operate a transparent government, in a bid to make governance inclusive and people-oriented.

The parties as they Stand

Ahead of the election on Saturday, the APC is banking on its record in office in the last twenty years, which its members often refer to as Lagos unbroken chain of development. The state chapter of the PDP, which has remained in the opposition in the last twenty years, is calling for a paradigm shift in the handling of the affairs of the state.

PREMIUM TIMES observes that results of the last presidential and National Assembly election in the state would play a major role in the governorship election. In the last election, although the APC won the state in the presidential and cleared all the senatorial seats, results showed that it performed below the expectations of party leaders and independent analysts. The PDP however had a pretty surprising outing.

The result showed that President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) won the presidential election with a margin of 132,810 votes. Mr Buhari who won in 15 of the 20 local government areas in the state with an overall vote of 580,825 defeated Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who won the remaining five local government areas and came second by polling 448,015.

The total accredited voters for the state was 1,196,490 while the total valid votes stood at 1,089,567. The rejected votes were 67,023 while the total valid votes were 1,156,590, according to official figures announced by INEC.

Earlier, Mr Tinubu had promised to deliver an overwhelming chunk of Lagos votes to Mr Buhari. But with the result, plus the changing dynamics of electioneering since it was announced, analysts opine that the APC would need to re-strategise and work more on its strengthen to win the governorship position in a state it has governed for 20 years since 1999.

#OtogeLagos and ethnic bickering

One factor analysts suggested might also dictate the pendulum of the election is the emergence of #OtogeLagos, an anti-Tinubu campaign that has taken a deeply ethnic dimension on social media since its birth. The campaign was ostensibly launched by a group following the success of the #Otoge movement that swept Bukola Saraki off the political shore in Kwara State in the last election. It is also suggested that it was heightened by the numerous allegations of voters repression witnessed in some parts of Lagos dominated by non-Yorubas in the last election, including Okota and parts of Ajeromi-Ifelodun.

Sketchy details would later emerge that the campaign was linked to Mr Agbajes political handlers.

The most controversial aspect of the campaign emerged following allegations that it was being sponsored and supported by people from a particular section of Nigeria residents in Lagos. It once again threw up the never-ending Yoruba-Igbo spat on the internet. Across social media, especially on Twitter, the campaign took a clearly divisive and ethnic dimension with its supporters and traducers showing their support for and against the PDP and APC, respectively.

It is pretty unlikely that the campaign would help Mr Agbaje gain more followers among some residents of the state, given its deeply emotional and ethnic implications. It, however, has helped the party galvanize support among certain groups in the state. It remains to be seen how far that will take the PDP candidate on Saturday.

The Candidates

The candidates charisma too would go a long way in swaying voters decisions. The two leadng candidates, as well as others with significant following, have their strengths and weaknesses.

Sanwo-Olu

APCs Mr Sanwo-Olu, seen as cool-headed and focused, is reputed to have run a very vibrant campaign, touching the nooks and crannies of the state. He is also banking on his wealth of experience both in the private and public sectors. Having served in various positions in successive governments in the state, the APC guber candidate claims to be well equipped with the know-how of governance and public administration.

Factors that would work for him are said to be legion, but the most significant among them is the strong political support he has behind him. The politics that surrounded his emergence as APC flagbearer showed that he is the favourite candidate of Lagos most influential politician, Mr Tinubu, and the very influential Lagos APC political movement, Mandate Group, led by James Odumbaku.

Similarly, Mr Sanwo-Olu, by implication, has the support of a huge number of APC card-carrying members in the state, including incumbent governor Ambode. Hence, he is also said to have a combination of grassroots support, the incumbency factor and federal might working for him in the election.

Among other bigwigs working for him apart from Messrs Tinubu and Ambode are Mr Fashola, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, among other powerful party chieftains.

However, Mr Sanwo-Olus greatest strength in Saturdays election may turn out to be his greatest albatross. In the buildup to the election, Mr Sanwo-Olu has had to shake off claims of godfatherism and the influence godfathers would wield in keeping him at bay if elected. The role played by Lagos APC cabal in the manner of his emergence as APC candidate did not also help matter. It remains to be seen how he hopes to navigate his ways around the issue on Saturday.

Agbaje

Mr Agbaje of the PDP is reputed to be urbane, cosmopolitan and well read. Unlike Mr Sanwo-Olu, he has no serious baggage of godfatherism to shoulder as he is largely seen as being independent of party influencers, including PDP bigwig Bode George. Some of Mr Agbajes supporters have also appealed to pity, urging voters to support him since he is contesting for the third time since he started over a decade ago.

The PDP candidate is said to be enjoying the sympathy of a substantial population of the Igbos in Lagos and, as in 2015, they have at different times thrown their support for him. But this, quite expectedly, has pitched him against some Yoruba voters following the ethnic dimension the electioneering took after the presidential election in the state, especially across social media platforms.

Mr Agbajes weakness may lie in the perceived weakness of the PDP in Lagos State. He has carried on largely by appealing to non-partisan voters because unlike the APC, the PDP does not boast of any such huge number of devoted party supporters in grassroots Lagos. This development, analysts opined, may be due to the fall of the party in 2015 and the financial challenges associated with funding campaign in the opposition. Besides, the PDP has witnessed major defection of some of its influential figures in the state since the last general elections, the biggest being the defection of Musiliu Obanikoro, a former minister, who joined the APC.

Gbadamosi

Although the fight is considered a straight fight between APC and PDP, Babatunde Gbadamosi, candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) is equally expected to put up a fine showing. Mr Gbadamosis popularity soared in the run-up to the election when he was tipped by many as the best performer in the governorship debate organized in the state.

Mr Gbadamosi, who was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before defecting to the ADP, received rave reviews for his performance in the debate, which was organised by The Platform, a civic discussion initiative of the Covenant Christian Centre. His greatest albatross, however, is that he is representing a party with little or no clout in major areas of Lagos, a factor analysts believe may see the candidate perform not quite well in the election.
The death toll from the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has increased to 93, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has disclosed.

NCDC, in its weekly situation update, stated that 1,374 suspected cases and 93 deaths were reported across 21 states including FCT as of March 3.

In the reporting week 09 (February 25 to March 3), 39 new confirmed cases were reported from six states with eight new deaths: in Edo 5, Ondo 2 and Kogi 1.

There has been a spike in the number of new confirmed cases in this reporting week as compared to the last four consecutive weeks.

The reported spike is coming a week after the Director-General, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, said there has been a steady decline compared to the 2018 outbreak.

Mr Ihekweazu had said in the last four weeks there has been a consistent pattern with the number of confirmed cases and deaths reported across the country.

However, this week has one of the highest confirmed cases, he said.

Specifics

From January 1 to March 3, 1,374 suspected cases have been reported from states that have recorded at least one confirmed case.

Of these, 420 were confirmed positive, 15 probable and 939 negatives (not a case).

Overall, 33 states including FCT have reported 1447 suspected cases.

Since the onset of the 2019 outbreak, there have been 93 deaths in confirmed cases. This makes the case fatality ratio in confirmed cases to 22.1 per cent.

The 21 states which have recorded at least one confirmed case across 66 local government areas are: Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Plateau, Taraba, FCT, Adamawa, Gombe, Kaduna, Kwara, Benue, Rivers, Kogi, Enugu, Imo, Delta, Oyo, Kebbi and Cross River.

No new infected health worker

There is, however, no new case of infected health worker in the reporting week.

Since the onset of the outbreak, 15 healthcare workers have been infected in seven states- Edo (7), Ondo (3), Ebonyi (1), Enugu (1), Rivers (1), Bauchi (1) and Benue (1) with one death in Enugu.

The World Health Organisation has also pledged to intensify its response activities to the ongoing outbreak.

WHO said notwithstanding the overall decrease, available records indicate that several states have reported more cases in 2019 than in previous outbreaks.

As at February24, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba have notably reported more cases (31, 26 and 03 cases respectively) than in 2018 during the worst Lassa fever outbreak to date.

WHO response

Speaking on the reduction in new cases, Clement Peter, the WHO Officer-in-Charge (OiC) for Nigeria welcomed the recent evolution of the outbreak and the decrease in the number of new cases reported..

He said WHO continues to help affected states by strengthening their capacity to conduct disease surveillance, treat patients, implement infection prevention and control measures, laboratory diagnostics and engaging with communities?

WHO has mobilised US$ 400,000 to support response activities and deployed experts to Nigeria and affected states to assist with coordination, active surveillance, case management, laboratory investigation, provision of supplies and research, he said.

Backstory

Nigeria has been combating an outbreak of Lassa fever since the beginning of the year. This has become a yearly occurrence with hundreds of people infected and dozens of deaths recorded. At present, there is no known vaccine for the prevention of the disease.

The disease is often transmitted through rodent and human to human transmission.

In curtailing the spread of the disease, contact tracing has become very crucial.

About 4902 contacts have been identified from 19 states.

Of these, 1926 are currently being followed up, 2923 have completed the 21-day follow up, while four were lost to follow up. Eighty symptomatic contacts have been identified, of which 49 have tested positive

Currently, 69 patients are being managed at various treatment centres across the country: Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) treatment centre -34; Federal Medical Centre Owo  16; Federal Teaching Hospital Abakiliki  2; Bauchi -2; Plateau 5; Taraba 7; Gombe 1, Kaduna 1 and Kebbi 1.

According to NCDC, the multi-sectoral one health national rapid response teams (from the NCDC, NFELTP, Federal Ministry of Agricultural and Federal Ministry of Environment) have been deployed to Ondo, Edo, Ebonyi and Taraba

Also, the National Lassa Fever Multi-Partner, Multi-Sectoral Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) continues to coordinate the response activities at all levels
All politics, as the political cliche goes, is local. Politicians, in an attempt to woo voters, strive to strike a chord in their hearts. They invoke, and at times, invent social, cultural and even religious similarities between themselves and the voters and then spin convincing tales that can earn them votes.

This strategy, which is some sort of homophily-identifying with people of like minds, worked well for President Donald Trump during the last presidential elections in the United States. He knew his target audience- the ultra-conservative white supremacists, who believed that the problem of the US started and ended with immigration. Mr Trump identified with their aversion to immigration and with a we-are-all-in-this-hole-together kind of rhetoric, he won the election.

Back home in Nigeria, President Mohammadu Buhari understood this strategyand it has worked for him. Mr Buhari started working on the strategy since 1999 when he led a team from the Arewa Consultative Forum to the Oyo State Governors Office, Ibadan, to challenge the government on the perceived unfair treatment meted to the Fulani in the state. It was reported that he asked the then Governor Lam Adesina: Why are your people killing my people? Mr Buhari was later to make many other pro-North  interventions. This, overtime, endeared him to the average northerner who saw him as someone who would always protect their interest. Competence, unfortunately, was secondary.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who are both ethnic Yoruba, also travelled that route not too long ago while campaigning for Mr Buhari in the Southwest. They enjoined their audience to vote for Buhari so that one of them, a fellow Yoruba, would take over in 2023.

In the southeast, the Christian denomination one belongs to can determine ones rise in the local politics. While this had not always been the case, denomination became a serious factor in 2003. The Igbos of the southeast are predominantly Christians and given that each denomination will like to have their own person at the top, politicians many times play the denomination card to get hefty votes.

There has been some sort of denominational supremacy battle in the southeast since the early 20th Century, especially between the two dominant churches  Catholic and Anglican Churches. The two churches decades ago failed to agree on one Igbo orthography, hence today Catholic Igbo bible and other prayer books are written in an orthography different from the mainstream promoted by the Anglican Church. This supremacy battle between the two denominations is so serious that many marriages have been nipped in the bud because families prevented their daughters from marrying suitors from the opposite denomination.

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra state being interviewed after a courtesy visit to President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja

Anambra seems to be the hotbed of denominational politics in the southeast. While Chinwoke Mbadinuju, a Pentecostal, was elected governor in 1999, every other governor in the state (Chris Ngige, Peter Obi and Willy Obiano) has been Catholic  although Senator Andy Uba and Virgi Etiaba, whose brief tenures were illegal, were Anglicans. In fact, many argue that Mr Mbadinuju was not re-elected in 2003 because he was a Pentecostal.

Mr Mbadinuju also said this much in an interview he granted to the Vanguard newspaper on July 11, 2011. Yes, there are plenty of religious sentiments in Anambra politics, he said. In the whole of Nigeria, it is ethnic sentiments and religious too, but in Anambra State, it is between Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Pentecostals. It was much of that reason I was not allowed to contest second term. The Catholics believed it was their time and Peter Obi was chosen

In Enugu State, Catholics are the majority. But until 2007, it was led by governors from Anglican and Methodist churches. Jim Nwobodo and C.C. Onoh who governed the state under the old Anambara State were both Anglicans while Chimaroke Nnamani, who was governor from 1999 to 2007, was a Methodist. However, Nnamanis successor, Sullivan Chime (2007 -2015), was Catholic and he was succeeded by another Catholic, the current governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. It was during the tenure of Mr Nnamani that the controversial Catholic priest, Father Ejike Mbaka, became a political force.

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State

Many believe that Mr Mbakas opposition to Mr Nnamanis re-election in 2003 was partly because the latter was not a Catholic. There might be some truth in this claim, given that Mr Mbaka had good relationship with Mr Chime and has been supporting the re-election bid of Mr Ugwuanyi. The clout Mr Mbaka now wields in Enugu State might also be the reason why for the first time, the governor and his deputy are both Catholics.

While the victory of this Catholic-Catholic ticket might be attributed to other factors, there is no denying that the voting strength of the Catholics, who are usually emotional in issues that concerns them, might have played an important role. In 2015, the Anglican Church kicked against this Catholic-Catholic ticket presented by the Peoples Democratic Party.

While addressing journalists in Enugu on December 18, 2015, the Anglican Archbishop of the Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Emmanuel Chukwuma, observed: Former Governor of the State, Chimaroke Nnamani who served from 1999 to 2007 is a Methodist. He picked Okechukwu Itanyi, a Catholic as his Deputy. Nnamani handed over to Sullivan Chime who is Roman Catholic.

Sullivan chose Sunday Onyebuchi, a Methodist or so, not an Anglican as Deputy. As they are going out, all those who want to become governor are Catholics and, in the PDP, they are plotting to make their running mate a Catholic. We are saying give us an Anglican Deputy, otherwise you are looking for our trouble.

Until 2011, denomination played little or no role in Imo politics. Although the respected Catholic Archbishop of the Owerri Archdiocese, Anthony Obinna, played an influential role in the emergence of Uche Onyeagocha of APGA as the Owerri Federal Constituency representative in 2003, he was less interested in the election at the state level. In 2011, however, denomination became a serious issue in Imo. The then governor, Ikedi Ohakim, is Anglican. Mr Ohakim later become a victim of denominational politics as rumours circulated that he whipped a Catholic priest.

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu

Many Catholics, including Mr Mbaka of Enugu Diocese, joined in fuelling the rumour. It thus became some sort of spiritual duty for most Catholics in Imo to vote oust Mr Ohakim. And vote him out, they did. Consequently, Rochas Okorocha, a Catholic, was elected governor. In the 2019 governorship election, it is being alleged that Archbishop Obinna is supporting another Catholic, Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress.

It appears, however, that Abia and Ebonyi States, are the two Southeast states where the denomination of politicians is not critical to their electoral success.

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State

In Abia, there is strictly no dominant denomination. While Methodists are in majority around the Umuahia axis, the Presbyterian Church dominates the Old Bende (minus Umuahia and Isuochi/Isukwuato axis).

In the Ukwa/Ngwa axis, Anglican seems to be strong in the area but cannot strictly claim dominance. The Catholics are not too far behind, but there is an encouraging number of the adherents of traditional Ngwa churches like Apostolic Christian Church, Seventh Day Adventist as well as other little-known churches around the axis. The Pentecostal churches also thrive in the state.

However, politics of denominational came up in the state in 1999. Catholics were urged to vote the then All Peoples Party (APP) candidate, Vincent Ogbulafor, because he was a papal knight. But that did not fly as PDPs Orji Uzor Kalu trounced him clearly. Since then, denomination has never been an issue in the state.

Ebonyi State, particularly, the Afikpo bloc is largely Presbyterian while the Abakaliki bloc is largely Catholic. However, denomination is rarely an issue in the politics of the state. The first civilian governor of the state, Sam Egwu, is Pentecostal -Assemblies of God-, while his successor, Martin Elechi, is Catholic.

The incumbent, David Umahi, is Pentecostal of the Christ Embassy denomination. Observers believe that what has remained prominent in the politics of the state is its zoning formula, known as Charter of Equity, that was originally between the Afikpo and Abakaliki blocs but later reinterpreted as between the three geopolitical zones in the state.

Indeed, it is a shame that religious denomination  and not competence  will determine who becomes governor in one of Nigerias most educated geopolitical zone, which, unfortunately, is punching below its weight economically and politically.

But then all politics is local. Hopefully the narrative might change soon.

Mr Meribe, journalist and media scholar, holds a PhD in Strategic Communication.
The Court of Appeal on Thursday cleared the APC governorship candidate, Sani Danladi, to participate in Saturdays governorship election in Taraba State.

The appeal court in Yola granted a stay of execution of an order of the Federal High Court in Jalingo. The appeal court panel was presided by Chidi Uwa.

The appeal court granted two orders. One was for the stay of execution of the high court judgement while the second was an order barring INEC and others from implementing the high court judgement.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the high court on Wednesday disqualified Mr Danladi after he was found culpable of age falsification.

Mr Danaladi is one of the major opponents of the incumbent Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku. Mr Ishaku seeks to return as governor on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in Taraba

Yakubu Maikasuwa, the counsel to Mr Danladi, told BBC Hausa that the ruling sets aside the previous judgement by Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo.
A series of confusing political developments prevailed across Ogun State on Thursday, after loyalists of a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party initiated divergent endorsements of governorship candidates ahead of Saturdays election.

Moments after Gbenga Daniel, a former governor of the state and strong PDP henchman, announced his unexpected endorsement of Dapo Abiodun, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ladi Adebutu, a federal lawmaker who nearly picked the PDPs governorship ticket, said he had endorsed Abiodun Akinlade of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

But supporters of the PDP in the state said the reasons cited by both of their leaders left them more dumbfounded than their endorsement of opposition parties against a factional body.

Mr Daniel said he endorsed Mr Abiodun because Mr Adebutu did not get the PDP ticket, and since the three of them are of the Remo extraction in Ogun East, supporting one of their own would better guarantee the advancement of their tribe.

Mr Adebutu, however, disagreed in his own endorsement of Mr Akinlade, who is from Yewa geopolitical zone in Ogun West, saying only the APM candidate could be trusted to continue the policies of incumbent Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

Mr Daniel strongly backed Mr Adebutu at the PDP governorship primaries in the state, against Buruji Kashamu, a controversial politician and the senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District.

Mr Adebutu was recognised by the PDPs national leadership and was given the partys ticket over Mr Kashamu.

Mr Kashamu was backed by the states chapter of the party for the governorship.

But a series of judicial pronouncements, including at least one by the Supreme Court, over the ticket, was in favour of Mr Kashamu.

Mr Kashamu had challenged the PDPs decision to give Mr Adebutu the ticket, arguing successfully that his own executive committee of the party was authentic and its decisions were valid.

Mr Amosun, who won a senatorial seat on APC platform on February 23, backs Mr Akinlade of APM against Mr Abiodun of the APC.

The last-minute moves by Messrs Daniel and Adebutu stemmed from yet another judicial affirmation of Buruji Kashamu as the states bona fide governorship candidate on Wednesday at the Federal High Court in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Going forward, I have directed all our structures statewide to cast all their votes on Saturday for Mr Abiodun, Mr Daniel said after lamenting the failure of Mr Adebutu to be the PDPs candidate.

But Mr Daniel told his supporters who were present at the endorsement at his country home in Shagamu, a major commercial centre in Ogun State, that the support came despite current party differences with Mr Abiodun, whom he described as a bona fide son of Remo.

Mr Abiodun was present at Mr Daniels residence during the endorsement Thursday afternoon, and the politicians offices circulated pictures of a jubilant atmosphere that prevailed throughout.

Multiple strings attached

While Mr Daniel did not immediately say whether or not he was positioning himself for political benefits in a potential Abiodun administration, Mr Adebutu appeared to make it clear that his accord with Mr Akinlade would be mutually beneficial.

A press statement described the endorsement as a merger, with Mr Adebutu describing Mr Akinlade as a responsive and an upright man who has what it takes to move the state forward.

Despite being a Remo man who until yesterday earnestly sought his partys ticket for governor, Mr Adebutu said he endorsed Mr Akinlade because he believed it was a fair and balanced thing to do for Ogun State.

Mr Akinlades governorship will bring fairness and justice to power equation in Ogun State.

Ogun West has never produced a governor in the states 43 years history.

Mr Adebutu and his supporters described Mr Kashamu as a misfit because he lacked adequate formal education, as well as the numerous criminal allegations, including drugs peddling, for which the senator had for years fought to extricate himself in and out of Nigeria.

Mr Kashamu has run a campaign with conciliatory tone following the bitter rivalry for the PDPs ticket.

A few days after tapping journalist Reuben Abati as his running mate, the senator said he was open to working with Mr Adebutu if the court battle that was underway at the time favoured his opponent.

But Messrs Daniel and Adebutu have relentlessly castigated Mr Kashamu as unapproachable for political cooperation.

But coming barely 48 hours to the opening of ballots across the state, the endorsements today might ultimately not count for much, or their success would be difficult to measure in the least, said political analyst Sola Olubanjo.

The whole thing is a mess right now, Mr Olubanjo said. How many people do they expect to get their message within this short period?

And when you consider the legwork that is usually required for things like this to work, youll recognise that it most likely just a symbolic exercise whose impact would not be felt or difficult to appreciate if it made any difference at all, Mr Olubanjo added.
The Oyo State Police Command on Wednesday paraded 18 suspects in connection with alleged armed robbery, impersonation, possession of human skull and hijacking a tanker loaded with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Briefing journalists on Wednesday at the Commands Headquarters at Eleyele, Ibadan, the Commissioner of Police, Shina Olukolu, said the police also recovered 19 firearms, 24 tricycles, one human skull and a vehicle from the suspects.

The commissioner said that the command mopped up 162 ammunition and 131 cartridges in the state.

He said that the command had not lost sight of its constitutional role of protecting lives and property in spite of the ongoing general elections.

No society is free of crime and we will continue to deal with the situation as they arise and arrest those involved in crime.

As we continue to ensure there is peaceful conduct of elections, we will not forget our constitutional role of protecting lives and property.

We warn those committing crime to desist from such act and remember that crime does not pay, Mr Olukolu said.

According to the commissioner, the police is always ready to give the best and go after criminals as long as the public cooperate with it.

He promised to ensure a peaceful and violence-free Governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.

NAN reports that among the suspects paraded by the police was a notorious gang which specialised in hijacking truck conveying petroleum products.

The commissioner said that the command was tipped that the gang was sighted on the Ibadan/Lagos Expressway hijacking a tanker loaded with 33,000 litres of petrol (PMS) to their Soka area hideout in Ibadan on March 2 at about 7: 00 a.m.

Sequel to this information, a team of operatives swung into action and in the process one member of the criminal gang was arrested.

He confessed that one other member of the gang nicknamed Action who is still at large brought the product to him.

The hijacked PMS had been siphoned into 16 drums and 12 kegs while the truck had been taken to an unknown destination, Olukolu said.

He said that the products recovered from the hideout of the suspects had been transferred to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) office at Dugbe, saying that all the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigation was concluded. (NAN)
The Senate of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has elected Justus Sokefun, a professor, as the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), a statement from the university said on Thursday in Abuja.

The statement, signed by Ibrahim Sheme, NOUNs Director, Media and Publicity, said that Mr Sokefun polled 48 votes to defeat Gbenga Ojo, also a professor, who got 18 votes in the election for the office during a senate meeting in Lagos.

Reviewing Mr Sokefuns CV, Mr Sheme said the new DVC was the Director, Lagos Study Centre of the university.

The statement revealed that the new DVC studied Law at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), and obtained a Bachelor degree in Law in 1984.

It indicated that he started his career as a Graduate Assistant at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he taught between 1985-1986.

According to the statement, Mr Sokefun served as Special Assistant to the Minister for Justice and Attorney General of the Federation between 1993-1994, and later became the Sub-Dean, Faculty of Law, Ogun State University, Ago-Iwoye, from 1994 to 1997.

Mr Sokefun became Dean, Faculty of Law, at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, between 2001 and 2007, joined NOUN as a Professor in 2007, and was appointed as Dean, Faculty of Law.

(NAN)
The Nigeria Army said on Wednesday it had constituted a high powered committee to probe all cases of alleged misconduct by troops during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The committee is also expected to probe any act of misconduct by personnel that may be involved in the Governorship and House of Assembly elections slated for Saturday, March 9.

The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, made this known at a meeting with Principal Staff Officers, General Officers Commanding (GOCs), and Commanders at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.

Mr Buratai explained that the committee was constituted to ensure that all cases were thoroughly looked into so as todispense justice.

He also said that the purpose was to uphold the Nigeria armys credibility, professionalism and apolitical stand.

There have been reports of alleged compromises by some personnel during the elections.

We have received complaints from some stakeholders, major political parties, Governors of Bayelsa, Oyo and Ogun States of allegations of misconduct as well as unprofessional conduct by some of our personnel.

Unfortunately, some other states have gone to the press with unsubstantiated allegation without resort to the army leadership.

Nonetheless, all these complaints are noted and will be addressed appropriately.

On soldiers killed during the February 23 elections, Mr Buratai vowed that those responsible would be fished out and made to face justice.

An officer and two other soldiers were killed by gunmen at Abonema in Akuku Toru Local Government Area of Rivers, during the presidential and national assembly elections.

He said: Let no one be in doubt that those desperate politicians and criminals that attacked our troops in the course of carrying out their legitimate duties will be tracked down and brought to justice.

In line with the tradition of the army, they will be given heroic burial as they are indeed the heroes of our democracy.

I have directed that their full entitlements be paid.

As we mourn the death of the young officer and soldiers killed in the course of their lawful duty during the recently held election, I want to assure their families that their death will not be in vain.

The army chief appealed to the youth to shun any attempt by any politician to use them to perpetrate any form of violence.

He warned that this time around (March 9), the army shall be tough on those who plan to rig or disrupt the electoral process.

I want to state and categorically warn that the army will not tolerate any acts that will undermine national security.

Mr Buratai, therefore, charged the commanders to ensure robust and extensive patrols on Saturday, enforce the no movement restrictions and dealt decisively with any act of electoral violence.

He said that recent security threat analysis of the March 9 elections showed that politicians had made plans to use all means available to truncate the peaceful conduct of the elections.

According to him, there are indications of their intent to take advantage of, and to use the farmers/herders crisis, armed political thugs and ethnic militias to perpetrate acts of violence, including bombings.

Some of them also intend to infiltrate domestic staff of political opponents, employ mercenaries to carry out acts of assassinations, use the social media for smear campaigns, hate speeches and spread fake news in a bid to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the elections.

We must not allow them succeed.

He said that the army would enforce all guidelines in support of the Police to ensure the peaceful conduct of the elections.

Mr Buratai further charged the commanders not to rest on their oars and allowed those who were determined to undermine the electoral process to succeed.

These forthcoming gubernatorial and state assembly elections are very crucial.

This is an election that touches on the interest of the people at the grassroots and could likely be volatile in nature.

It is important to reiterate that politicians will employ and deploy all means to outwit each other to gain control of power at this level.

We may recall that in the recently concluded polls, some politicians, in their quest for power, armed thugs and miscreants with automatic weapons.

Some of them induced and coerced youth corps members and INEC ad-hoc staff to perpetrate acts of electoral malpractices. We must be alert and ensure that only the right thing is done.

(NAN)
Following a statement released by Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited [BASL], operator of the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, is justified in its claim of 36 years validity on the Build-Operate-Transfer concession model of the airport terminal.

FAANs reaction, which was made available to journalists through the companys General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Henrietta Yakubu, refuted the allegation of a takeover of the administration of MMA2 from Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited.

Recall that a report had emerged online alleging that a source close to the Ministry of Transport, Aviation Unit, had disclosed that the management of FAAN had been authorized by the Ministry to take over the terminal on the expiration of alleged 12 years consensual agreement between BASL and the agency in May.

In her words, Ms Yakubu, said the agency was not aware of any plans to take over the operations of the MMA2 terminal. She was also quoted to have said that someone might be trying to be mischievous, hence the report.

The agreed extension to 36years was not disclosed. Instead the report said the 12-year agreement would expire on May 7, 2019, which was the exact date the terminal commenced operations with flight service by the defunct Chanchangi Airlines.

The report alleged that the planned takeover of the terminus was also causing some instability among the staff members of BASL, who were said to be already looking elsewhere for alternative jobs following the threat by government.

The report also claimed the Chairman of Bi-Courtney, Wale Babalakin, has been making efforts through some of his contacts in the Presidency to frustrate the takeover of the terminal on the due date, claiming that the concession agreement between the two was for 36 years.

Reacting to the report, BASL said the MMA2 concession was valid for 36 years which had yet to expire.

A statement signed by the spokesperson for Bi-Courtney, Eniola Ade-Solanke, on Tuesday, said, We will like to set the records straight by stating that Bi-Courtney Limited entered into a concession agreement with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for the Build, Operate and Transfer of the MMA2 for 36 years.

According to Bi-Courtney, FAAN offered it a 36-year lease in a letter dated October 12, 2006, and an agreement was duly signed on February 2, 2007 by the minister of aviation.

It added that the agreement was further confirmed at a meeting held on July 7, 2009 chaired by a former President, the late Umaru Musa Yaradua.

The clear provisions of the concession agreement between Bi-Courtney and the government uphold the operation of the MMA2 terminal for an undisputed period of 36 years, the statement read in part.

The erroneous claims against the chairman of Bi-Courtney that he is making frantic efforts in the Presidency to frustrate a takeover of the terminal is not unconnected to purported attempts to stir up a false sense of alarm and acrimony against the concession, it added.

Despite the constant deliberate misinterpretation of the concession agreement by unscrupulous elements aimed at stirring controversies leading to falsehood and fueling animosity between FAAN and BASL, MMA2 remains the most modern, functional and well run privately funded domestic airport terminal in sub- Saharan Africa adjudged the best in Nigeria.

BASL will continue to fulfil its obligations for the full 36year term and will remain a pace setter in the aviation industry and in the promotion of private sector investment critical for economic growth in Nigeria.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday solicited the support of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to fight economic crimes in the country.

An inter-agency meeting between CBN officials and representatives of the EFCC noted the abuses of the financial system and said culprits may be barred from opening bank accounts in the country.

A statement by the CBN spokesperson, Isaac Okorafor, at the end of the meeting at the Head Office of the CBN headquarters in Abuja, said participants shared experiences and identified challenges in the fight against economic and related crimes.

The two agencies adopted strategies aimed at curtailing the unwholesome activities of economic saboteurs which include smuggling of commodities like rice, textile materials, fertiliser, wheat and other items on the prohibition list for accessing foreign exchange through the official window, as well as tracking illicit financial flows, Mr Okorafor said.

He said other areas the CBN and the EFCC sought collaboration include anti-money laundering activities as well as monitoring of politically exposed persons in the country.

The inter-agency meeting, chaired by the Director, Governors Department of the CBN, Jeremiah Abue, also agreed to improve information-sharing and surveillance of the financial sector.

The CBN under the auspices of the Bankers Committee had said that individuals or corporate bodies found complicit in economic crimes or attempting to circumvent the countrys economic laws and regulations may be barred from operating a bank account in Nigeria.

In June 2015, the CBN announced the classification of 41 items as Not Valid for Foreign Exchange.

The classification was part of the banks monetary policy to conserve the supply of foreign exchange to promote the growth of key sectors of the economy with potentials of higher productivity, to create jobs and contribute to the resuscitation of the economy.

Most of the items affected by the policy included those that could easily be produced in Nigeria, rather than spend the countrys foreign reserves to import.

The affected items include rice, cement, margarine, palm kernel, palm oil products, vegetable oils, meat and processed meat products, vegetables and process vegetable products, poultry, tomatoes/tomato paste, soap and cosmetics and clothes.

Other items are private aeroplanes/jets, Indian incense, tinned fish in sauce, cold rolled steel sheets, galvanized steel sheets, roofing sheets, wheelbarrows, head pans, metal boxes/containers, enamelware, steel drums and pipes, wire mesh, steel nails, wood particle boards and panels.

Also affected were security and razor wire, wood particle and fibre boards and panels, wooden doors, furniture, toothpicks, glass/glassware, kitchen utensils, tableware, tiles (vitrified, ceramics), textiles, wooden fabrics, plastic/rubber products, polypropylene granules and cellophane wrappers.

The list has since been made to include two other items, textiles and fertiliser.
The acting Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mohammed Adamu, has deployed Seven Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIGs) to the six geo-political zones across the country.

A statement by the force spokesman, Frank Mba, an assistant commissioner of police, on Wednesday in Abuja, said 10 Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) were also deployed to zonal commands.

Mr Mba said that an additional 277 Commissioners of Police (CPs) were also deployed to the 36 states commands and FCT to complement the efforts of the commissioners in the commands.

According to Mr Mba, each command now has additional three CPs deployed to the three senatorial districts in their respective states of assignment.

He said that based on security assessment earlier carried out by the force, some Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Plateau, Benue, Imo and Taraba have one commissioner of police each to coordinate security in the LGAs.

The spokesman said that each of them was expected to work with the command CP to ensure adequate security in each of the senatorial districts under their watch.

In a related development, Mr Mba said that four CPs have been posted to Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo and Sokoto commands specifically for the Saturday elections.

He said that the I-G has reassured the force would remain civil, firm, professional and apolitical in the discharge of their duties in the Saturday elections. (NAN)
At least 113 persons have been reportedly killed by suspected bandits in three local government areas in restive Zamfara State within the last one week.

The bandits also destroyed properties worth millions of naira.

Following the incessant killings, many residents of villages in Shinkafi, Anka and Tsafe local governments have left their ancestral homes and moved to Internally Displaced Persons Camps (IDPS).

Official figure

The police in Zamfara, last Saturday, said 29 people were killed by suspected armed bandits in Shinkafi Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson, Muhammad Shehu, told PREMIUM TIMES that the victims were attacked and killed by armed bandits while travelling in a convoy of vehicles conveying traders from Shinkafi market on their way back to Kwari village in Shinkafi Local Government Area.

Unofficial accounts

Also, no fewer than 30 members of Civilian Joint Tasks Force (CJTF) in the state were killed by the armed bandits on at Kwaren Shinkafi village in Shinkafi local government area of the state.

The attack reportedly occurred two days after the attack in Shinkafi town.

A resident of the area, Bala Shinkafi, told Blueprint newspaper that the bandits, numbering about 100, ambushed the CJTF operatives escorting traders from Kware village to Shinkafi on market day .

He said several traders were injured during the attack as the hoodlums made away with valuables.

We have buried 31 dead bodies while those who sustained injury have been taken to Shinkafi General Hospital for urgent medical attention, Mr Shinkafi said.

The bandits again carried out a fresh attack on Sunday, killing 20 CJTF members in Danjibga village of Tsafe local government area of the state.

A resident of the area, Mustafa Danjibga, also told Blueprint that bandits stormed the community on motorcycles and attempted to raid the village at around 1p.m.

He said they were, however, repelled by the CJTF operatives who put up a fight in defence of the communities.

During the exchange of gunfire with CJTF, some communities of Kwaren Ganuwa, Keta villages mobilised themselves to counter the bandits, and in the process, the bandits killed (another) 23 of our CJTF operatives, Mr Danjibga said.

Kawaye carnage

At about the same period, hundreds of the hoodlums staged another attack on the people of Kawaye, in Anka Local Government area and killed 14 villagers.

They also reportedly abducted 68 persons including the district head, his wives, and children.

The spokesperson of Operation Sharar Daji, a military operation, Clement Abiade, a Major, confirmed the incident to Thisday but did not specify the number of persons killed.

Deserted communities

Our correspondent reports that following the incessant attacks by the bandits, most villages in the areas are now deserted.

Many people who spoke with our reporter condemned the action of the bandits, describing it as evil.

Others slammed the government for its inability to tackle the crisis.

Meanwhile, Governor Abdulaziz Yari on a condolence visit to one of the affected villages, Kawaye, expressed concern over the ugly situation and pledged his governments continued efforts toward bringing an end to the menace.
Despite the claim by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) about its plans to reopen the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), Ikot Abasi, for normal operations; a PREMIUM TIMES investigation has shown that the move may not materialise soon.

On February 2, the Director-General of BPE, Alex Okoh, said in a statement that consultations were ongoing to resolve critical issues (including gas supply and price) for the reopening of the plant soon.

But, PREMIUM TIMES investigations reveal that BPE may not have factored the implications of the January 11 ruling of the Appeal Court into its plans.

Lagos lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, told PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday that all actions by the BPE on ALSCON are illegal because they are in disobedience of the Supreme Court judgment of July 6, 2012.

What the Supreme Court did was to set aside the illegal sale of ALSCON by the Obasanjo/Atiku administration, Mr Falana said.

Anything not in compliance with the Supreme Court judgment is illegal. No one disobeys the Supreme Court judgment in any democratic country, he said.

Also, the Executive Vice President/General Counsel of BFIG, Jimmie Williams, said the latest Appeal Court ruling re-establishes the said Supreme Court judgment, as a basis for the resolution of the ALSCON crisis.

BFIG is the Nigerian-American consortium that emerged the preferred bidder for ALSCON in 2004, whose bid was cancelled by BPE in controversial circumstances resulting in the current ownership crisis.

APPEAL COURT RULING

In the January 11 judgment, Justice Abdu Aboki of the Appeal Court reaffirmed previous rulings that ordered BPE to enforce the 2012 Supreme Court ruling on the ALSCON crisis.

Specifically, the Appeal Court directed BPE to provide the mutual agreed Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) (Exhibit BPE1) for execution by the parties.

The SPA, the judge said, will enable BFIG to pay the agreed 10 per cent of $410million (about $41million) within 15 working days from the date of the execution of the Share Purchase Agreement in accordance with the agreement dated May 20, 2004.

The balance of 90 per cent of the bid price shall be paid within 90 calendar days as ordered by the Supreme Court, he said in his judgment.

For the reopening of operations at ALSCON to happen, those familiar with the crisis said BPE must obey the order of the Supreme Court.

DETAILS OF THE SPA

On Thursday last week, PREMIUM TIMES obtained a copy of the 15-page SPA (Exhibit BPE1) approved by the Supreme Court.

Section 19.1 of the SPA says all the annexures that form part of this agreement shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement.

The annexures to the SPA includes about 17 foundation documents covering various aspects of ALSCON.

These include the financial statement for the year ended December 31, 2004; ALSCON Post-Acquisition Plan; List of Liabilities of ALSCON; List of Facilities of ALSCON; List of land Plots of ALSCON; List of Compensation Scheme of Employees of ALSCON, and List of Employee Benefit of ALSCON.

Others are List of Intellectual Property of ALSCON; List of Material Contracts of ALSCON; List of Banks of ALSCON; List of Government Authorities of ALSCON of ALSCON; Exhibit No. 1: Natural Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement; Exhibit 3: Federal Republic of Nigeria Officials Gazette, and Exhibit 4: Power of Attorney.

WHY Chances of REOPENING MAY BE REMOTE

The Supreme Court had ordered BPE to present the mutually agreed SPA of 2004 to BFIG for execution.

But, analysts said to execute the SPA, the annexures would require a comprehensive review and update, including, perhaps, a visit to the plant to conduct a technical audit on its current state.

In 2006, BPE handed over ALSCON to UC RUSAL on a willing seller, willing buyer arrangement directed by then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

However, BPE ignored the Supreme Court order that the plant be retrieved from the Russians and handed over to the preferred bidder and winner of the bid.

Since 2006, BFIG alleged massive asset stripping by UC RUSAL. From about $1.1billion in 2004, BFIG said ALSCONs assets valuation dropped to about $0.94 million (about N14.57 billion), citing figures in the KPMGs audited financial accounts for December 31, 2011.

BFIG legal counsel said determining the current state of ALSCON after its management was left with UC RUSAL since 2006 was fundamental to drafting a mutually agreed SPA as directed by the Supreme Court.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, a visit by a joint BPE-BFIG inspection team arranged in November 2012 to enable a comprehensive technical audit on the plant, was called off at the last minute after UC RUSAL rejected the arrangement.

Also, determining the companys liabilities and financial position will require another financial audit.

When ALSCON was put up for sale in 2004, its asset base had depreciated by more than a third of $3.2billion to $1.03 billion, an audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers at Nigerias Corporate Affairs Commission showed.

Regardless, BPE DG said the privatisation agency has fully complied with the Supreme Court ruling.

He said the SPA ordered by the Supreme Court was sent to BFIG on February 4 to sign and execute.

If the Bureau does not receive an executed copy of the mutual agreed Share Purchase Agreement, and payment of the agreed sum of $41million, representing 10 per cent of the bid price within 15 working days, the Bureau will consider itself as being no longer bound by the agreement, he said in a covering note to BFIG.

BFIG SPEAKS

BFIGs Chairman, Rueben Jaja, told PREMIUM TIMES resolving the ALSCON crisis was made simple by the Supreme Court, which asked BPE to provide the mutual agreed Share Purchase Agreement (Exhibit BPE1) for execution by the parties.

Mr Jaja said the apex court was clear in its order for the payment of 10 per cent of the agreed bid price within 15 working days from the date of the execution of the SPA, and the 90 per cent balance within 90 calendar days.

He said the reproduced 16-page SPA sent by BPE to BFIG on February 4, without any definite dates and any of the 17 annexures acknowledged as a key part of the SPA, were violations of the Supreme Court order.

The SPA forwarded to BFIG by BPE is grossly incomplete, with no annexures, conflicting payment dates and demand for payments even before the execution of the SPA by the parties. BPE is working deliberately to create exactly the same circumstances that took BFIG to the Supreme Court in 2004, Mr Jaja said.
A new report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has identified three enablers of illicit financial flows (IFFs) in Nigerias extractive industries.

The report titled: Averting Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Nigerias Extractive Industry, said bribery and corruption, illegal resource exploitation, and tax evasion are the main channels of IFFs in the countrys extractive industry.

The report was sponsored by TrustAfrica, an independent foundation that works to secure the conditions for democracy and equitable development throughout the continent.

The report described IFFs as all unrecorded financial flows involving capital illegally earned, transferred or generally used by residents to accumulate foreign asset in contravention of controls and regulations.

According to the report, a company might pay a bribe to illegally exploit a resource outside its concession area, while the products could be transported or smuggled outside the countrys shores without the payment of the required export duties.

Specifically, the report identified corrupt government officials and crooked companies as beneficiaries of bribes paid or monies embezzled from tax collection and fraudulent budgetary allocations in the extractive industry.

Under illegal exploitation of resources, the report said domestic companies and local subsidiaries of foreign or multi-national companies are the beneficiaries of undeclared corporate revenues.

Also, the report said parent or holding companies as well as exporting companies are the major beneficiaries of tax evasion by way of inflated costs deducted from taxable revenues and smuggling of resources.

A report by ONE Campaign in 2014 put annual losses by developing countries through various shady natural resources deals at over $1trillion.

But, former South African President and Chairman of the African Union High-Level Panel on IFFs, Thabo Mbeki,said Africas annual loss through menace increased from $50 billion in 2015 to over $80 billion in 2018.

Mr Mbeki was speaking in Abuja in October 2018 at the AU panels inter-ministerial review meeting on the problem.

The panel said at least 40 per cent of the total IFFs in Africa could be traced to companies carrying out businesses in Nigeria.

CASE STUDIES

A review of various case studies in the report showed illicit financial flows in the involvement of shell companies in the award of licenses and contracts in the industry and involvement of blacklisted and sanctioned individuals and companies in the award of operational permits, licenses, and contracts in the industry.

The other IFF indicators and red flags include abuse of office and conflict of interest by politically exposed persons (PEPs) in the award of permits, licenses and contracts in the industry, or failure to ascertain and verify the ultimate beneficiary owners (UBOs) in the award of operational permits, licenses and contracts in the industry.

The report also identified cases of conflict interest by government officials and those controlling political power in the award of operational permits, licenses and contracts in the industry to themselves and their cronies.

The other red flags include lack of enforcement of anti-bribery and corruption policy that forbids government officials and those with political powers from soliciting for favours, gifts, bribes and other illegal gratuities/gratifications from operators in the industry.

In 2012, the Nuhu Ribadu Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force said in its report the country lost several billion Naira to briefcase crude oil trading companies that lifted Nigerias crude oil between 2002 and 2011, while NEITI said Nigeria lost over $723million, or N221.5 billion through the Offshore Processing Arrangement (OPA) in 2015.

Between 2009 and 2011, the country also lost billions, as the countrys expenditure on fuel subsidy increased by more than 900 percent from N245 billion in the 20011 budget to over N2.5 trillion. In the solid minerals sector, there are cases of illegal mining and export of precious metals

On stolen crude oil, illegal oil flows resulted in more than $12billion losses to the US between 2011 and 2014, while another $3billion was lost to China and $839.5 million to Norway during the period, apart from under-reporting of production volumes and liftings by the NNPC and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)

In 2015, the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NGRI) said Nigeria also lost billions of dollars through the oil-for-product swap contracts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), apart from the oil subsidy scam.

CURBING IFFs

To curb IFFs, the report called on countries to establish platforms and channels to discourage trading in illegally exploited minerals; enforcement of existing global governance regulations; increased collaboration between mineral agencies, tax authorities, law enforcement, and exchange commission to detect and enforce.

Besides, the report called for the adoption of technology and automation systems in the issuance of permits, licensing, bidding, contracting, monitoring, supervision, and enforcement of regulatory frameworks in the industry.

Key recommendations for checking IFFs include the establishment of civil society network on IFFs; development of anti-bribery and corruption policy framework and development of data management system to help fight the risk and threats of IFFs.
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has called on the electoral commission, INEC, to ensure that smart card readers are utilised across the country in Saturdays gubernatorial and State House of Assembly elections.

CDD also said in the absence of uniformed use, zero votes must be recorded in any polling unit where the card readers are not utilised.

The executive director of the centre, Idayat Hassan, said this during a press briefing titled, Briefing Ahead Of Gubernatorial and States Houses of Assembly Elections in Abuja on Thursday.

The governorship and states houses of assembly elections will hold on Saturday. Governorship elections will hold in 29 states while assembly elections will hold in all 36 states. Local government elections will also hold in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

Ms Hassan said it is important for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to clarify its position on the cancellation of results ahead of Saturdays elections.

Idayat Hassan, Director Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)

INEC had earlier pledged to ensure the use of card readers across the board for Saturdays elections contrary to what obtained during the presidential election.

Collation Of Results

In addition, INEC should strictly and uniformly enforce all the electoral laws and guidelines across the country and mandate its officials to comply with the specified regulations and guidelines, Ms Hassan said.

The CDD lead said result collation at the ward and local government levels in the state election must follow the legal framework and guidelines for results collation in Nigeria as set by both the Nigerian constitution and the Electoral Act.

The Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) provides the course of action for the transmission of result from polling units.

Section 63(4) requires that the presiding officer of a polling station count and announce results at the polling units and Section 65 (1) says the same officer must submit all election materials and recorded results to any person prescribed by the electoral commission in the immediate aftermath of announcing results at the unit.

Ms Hassan urged the electoral body to ensure early opening of polls and uniform poll commencement during the state elections while noting that late deployment of logistics, insufficient electoral materials and poor capacity of ad-hoc staff, were some of the characteristics of the February 23 elections.

We also enjoin them to properly communicate collation venues and procedures to its collation officials and make available transportation, electricity et all to facilitate a seem-less collation exercise, she said.

Intimidation Of Officials

Speaking on the intimidation of INEC officials, Ms Hassan urged the security agencies to abide by the rules of engagement and remain impartial in the forthcoming elections.

We note that during the presidential and parliamentary elections, our observers reported cases of intimidation where personnel from the security agencies were alleged to have intimidated INEC officials and ad-hoc staff, she said.

In the same vein, the security personnel intimidated and in some cases assaulted observers, journalists and others. For instance, an INEC official in Okrika LGA, Rivers state, said personnel from the security forces invaded their office and snatched the results of the elections for the council, she said.

Speaking on the Intimidation of the electorates, Ms Hassan said CDD in strong terms condemns the do-or-die attitude of the political class or elites who sometimes use thugs to disrupt voting. The group says if politics is really to serve the people the level of brigandage experienced during the elections will be absent.

We posit that the do or die politics is responsible for the progressive decline in voter turn out during the elections. As earlier noted, the national voter turnout rate dipped from 43.7% in 2015 to just 35.6% in the 2019 presidential elections, she said.

She said the 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 23 was marred by the late arrival of election materials, violence, intimidation, collation problems and disruption by thugs among other irregularities.

To avoid a repeat, INEC must prioritize the deployment of election materials, officials, and importantly improve her poor communication challenges ahead of the elections. The security agents must remain nonpartisan and we call on the political class to shun all forms of violence ahead of the elections, she said.

The CDD called on eligible Nigerians to ensure they cast their vote. The fate of our country and state-level leadership would be shaped by the decisions we make, so staying away is not and would never be a solution, Ms Hassan said.

CISLAC Speaks

Similarly, the executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Rafsanjani, warned against the militarization of the elections.

He appealed to the army to steer clear off the elections so that electorates could vote freely.

Mr Rafsanjani said that the call became imperative in order to curb voter apathy.

He also urged INEC to close the logistics gap experienced in the February 23 elections to enhance the credibility of the elections.

There should be prosecution of electoral offenders to serve as deterrent to others, he said.

He called on Nigerians to exercise their franchise by voting for credible leaders.

PREMIUM TIMES reported some of the challenges witnessed in the presidential election.

Some of the challenges include late arrival of election materials, failure of card readers, violence and poor arrangements for collation of results across wards.

According to INEC, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 15.2 million votes to beat Atiku Abubakar of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who recorded 11.3 million votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will present certificates of return to the newly-elected members of the National Assembly next Thursday.

The chairman of the commission, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at a meeting of INEC with the Inter-Agency Consultative on Election Security (ICCES).

The meeting held at the conference hall of the commissions headquarters in Abuja.

The Commission will issue their certificates of return next week, Mr Yakubu said.

Next week Thursday, by 10 a.m, senators-elect will be given their certificate while members of the House of Representatives-elect will receive theirs by 2 p.m.

The ceremony will take place at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.

The commission said in fixing the date for the event, it took into consideration the preparations for the governorship elections and the fact that elected candidates are also busy campaigning in their constituencies for the remaining elections.

On Saturday, Nigerians will return to the poll for the second time in two weeks to elect governors in 29 states and members of all the state Houses of Assembly.

The chairmen and councillors for the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will also be elected on the day.

On the first day of this years general elections penultimate Saturday, voters across the country elected the president and members of the National Assembly.

The commission said it has learned from the experience of the Presidential and National Assembly elections and has effectively tackled the challenge of logistics.

Materials for the election have been delivered to all states and the FCT. Movement to the local government areas will be completed today, Mr Yakubu said.

By tomorrow, all materials and relevant personnel will arrive at the Registration Area Centres (RACs). With this arrangement, we are confident that all polling units will open at 8.00 am nationwide.

On Saturday, INEC will also conduct supplementary elections in seven senatorial districts and 24 federal constituencies in 14 states.

Elections in the affected areas on February 23 were disrupted mainly by acts of violence involving ballot box snatching, abduction of INEC officials, over voting and the failure to adhere to regulations and guidelines.

The commission said the number of registered voters in the polling units involved in each constituency was more than the votes received by the candidate with the highest number of votes.

Supplementary elections must, therefore, be conducted to determine the winners, the commission said.

Mr Yakubu said the commission will present the certificates of return to the governors and deputy-governors-elect, members of state Houses of Assembly-elect and chairmen and councillors for the FCT shall be presented in each state by the Supervising National Commissioners and the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) after the elections.

A date will be announced next week, the INEC boss said.

INEC thanked security agencies and said the Commission will work closely with the police to ensure the diligent prosecution of all violators of the electoral laws.

While we look forward to the same cooperation with the security agencies, I am confident that lessons learnt from the Presidential and National Assembly elections will help us to more effectively secure the environment for the elections this weekend.

I am confident that working together with the security agencies, we will consolidate on the largely peaceful conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections while also taking decisive steps to deal with the minority of violators intent on disrupting the conduct of peaceful elections.

The commission said it will not tolerate holding its officials hostage and making them declare winners under duress.

Where such occurs, the Commission said it would not reward bad behaviour by issuing them Cthe certificates of return.

Also for the Saturday elections, the Commission said it will still maintain its Situation Room at the International Conference Centre (ICC) to monitor the elections nationwide and respond to issues that may arise.

No election results will be collated and no declaration of winners will be done at the ICC as all collation and declaration of results will be done at the various constituency and State declaration centres.

The Situation Room will be open from Friday, March 8 to Wednesday, March 13.
Ahead of the Saturdays governorship election, Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), consisting 39 political parties and 15 governorship candidates, have endorsed Bayero Nafada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as their candidate in Gombe.

The coalition, in a statement signed by Mohammed Adamu and Sunday Paris, Chairman and Secretary of CUPP in the state, said the endorsement was done after a critical assessment of the PDP governments achievements in the state.

The statement, which was made available to journalists on Thursday in Gombe, particularly commended the strides in the educational, health and agricultural sectors, and urged voters to vote for continuity so as to enjoy more dividends of democracy.

We are endorsing our candidate based on credibility; we want to consolidate on the gains of the present administration, the statement said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), recalls that 19 political parties endorsed the APC candidate, Inuwa Yahaya, on Wednesday.

(NAN)
James Apam, Kogi Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), on Wednesday decried the widespread electoral violence in Kogi East Senatorial District during the February 23 Presidential/National Assembly elections in the state.

Mr Apam expressed his feeling during a preview of the February 23 polls at a stakeholders meeting, preparatory to the March 9, State Assembly and Dekina/Bassa supplementary elections in the state.

He noted that the electoral violence claimed three lives and disrupted elections in over 157 polling units in the senatorial district with 89 units in Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency alone.

The REC disclosed that a pick-up van loaded with electoral materials was burnt down by thugs in Dekina while in Ogori-Magongo Local Government Area of the stste, eight polling units with card readers and other materials were destroyed.

Mr Apam, therefore, appealed to the electorate and electoral stakeholders in the state to have a change of mind and avoid violence during next Saturday election.

The REC assured that should the card reader be compromised at any polling unit during the Saturday election, results from such unit would be cancelled.

Mr Apam, however, declared the readiness of the commission to conduct the State Assembly and Dekina/Bassa supplementary elections in the state.

He promised that the distribution of materials to local governments in the state would commence on Thursday.

Some stakeholders at the meeting expressed disappointment over some lapses on the part of some INEC officers as well as inadequate security personnel in some cases during the past exercise.

The Secretary of Jamaatul Nasir Islam (JNI), Isah Adeboye, urged traditional and religious leaders to address electoral violence.

He,however,commended the Attah Igala, Ameh-Oboni, for cursing perpetrators of electoral violence in Kogi East.

One of the stakeholders, Omakoji Oyiguh, representing Onu-Igala Lokoja, commended INEC for trying to deepen democratic practice in the country.

The Onu-Igala, however,expressed the need for security agencies to secure lives and property,especially during the elections.

He also expressed concern over the death of three persons during the last polls in Kogi East, including a 300-level student of the university in Anyigba, Daniel Usman.

The traditional ruler attributed the death of the deceased to the failure of security agencies to provide adequate security during the polls in the area.

Hakeem Busari, Commissioner of Police, in the state was represented at the occasion by DCP Operations, Kabiru Gwarzo.

The police boss described most of the complaints by the stakeholders over the February 23, outing as genuine and true.

He promised improved security operation in Saturdays elections in the state and urged the electorate to come out enmasse to exercise their franchise.

We are trying our best to ensure security of lives and propert during and after the elections, he said.

On Tuesday, a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Suleiman Babadoko, also expressed fear over insecurity in his Ward A in Lokoja.

Mr Babadoko,who is seeking reelection into the state House of Assembly, called on the security agencies to increase their presence during and after Saturdays election in the area.

According to him, increased security presence becomes important, adding that some poeple are planning to disturb peace during the exercise in the Ward.

(NAN)
A Makurdi Upper Area Court on Thursday ordered that two men, accused of raiding a bar and causing the death of one Arinzechukwu Abumibe, be remanded in prison, pending legal advice from the Benue Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The police charged Godwin Agada, 25 and Benjamin Hemen, 22, with criminal conspiracy, and culpable homicide.

The plea of the accused persons was not taken.

The magistrate, Rose Iyorshe, who gave the order, adjourned the case until April 30 for further mention.

The police prosecutor, Veronica Shaagee, told the court that the case was transferred from the `A Division, Police Station Makurdi Local Government Area to the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (CIID) Makurdi, through a letter dated February 21.

Ms Shaagee said Augustine Loraver of Number One, Benson Abounu Avenue, High Level, Makurdi a manager at T.C Wine Bar, reported the case at the police station.

She said Mr Agada, a motorcyclist, of Number 20, Katsina-Ala Street, High Level and Hemen, who lives behind Augustina Community Kansio, Makurdi, committed the offence on February 21.

The prosecutor said the accused persons were arrested after police investigation.

Ms Shaagee said the offence contravened sections 97 and 222 of the penal code laws of Benue State 2004.

(NAN)
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says that 487 candidates will contest elections for the 25 legislative seats in Kogi State House of Assembly on Saturday.

The Director of Voter Education and Publicity of INEC in Kogi, Ahmed Biambo, made the fact known in Lokoja on Thursday.

He added that supplementary elections for Kogi East senatorial seat and three federal constituency seats would also hold in 129 polling units on Saturday.

Mr Biambo told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the candidates for the State House of Assembly election would be contesting on the platforms of 31 political parties that indicated interest to participate in the process.

He said the parties included Kowa Party, Social Democratic Party, Accord Party, Labour Party, Action Democratic Party and Action Alliance.

Others are National Conscience Party, All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance, United Peoples Party and Alliance for Democracy.

Mr Biambo said that only the State House of Assembly election would hold in Kogi on Saturday while the governorship election would come up later in the year except in communities affected in the supplementary poll in Kogi East Senatorial Zone.

The director said that sensitive election materials were currently being dispatched to the 21 local government areas, adding that INEC had made solid arrangements for free and fair election in all the 239 wards of the state.

Mr Biambo admonished the candidates to play according to rules and eschew violence during the elections.

The Commission declared the National Assembly elections in Kogi East on February 23 inconclusive following violence which occurred in some parts of the area during the election.

(NAN)
The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has imposed a restriction of vehicular movement in the territory from 6 a.m to 6 p.m on Saturday.

The spokesman of the command, Anjuguri Manzah, made this known in a statement on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the restriction of movement is aimed at ensuring a peaceful and credible area council election in the FCT.

Mr Manzah said that ambulances, Fire Service trucks and other vehicles on essential duties would be exempted from the restriction.

He expressed the commands regrets for the inconveniences the restriction might cause residents.

The Command wants to assure residents that proactive security measures have been put in place to facilitate the peaceful conduct of the election, he said.

The spokesman urged residents to call the Joint Operations Centre on the following numbers in case of distress: 09052397880, 08024130926, 09051488448, and 07014951751.

He said that members of the public could also call the Commands Control Room on the following numbers: 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653, and 08028940839.

(NAN)
A total of 31 governorship candidates from various political parties have signed an accord to promote peaceful conduct before, during and after the 2019 general elections in Kano.

The candidates that signed the accord include incumbent governor Abdullahi Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abba Yusuf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Salihu Takai of People Redemption Party (PRP).

The peace document was signed at the instance of the Kano State peace committee, co-chaired by a professor, Ibrahim Umar; the Bishop of Kano Diocese, John Niyiring; and a member National Peace Committee, Ibrahim Gambari.

Speaking at the event, representative of the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Mahraz, urged the candidates to avoid acts capable of triggering violence.

I urge you to shun any act that can lead to destruction of lives and property before, during and after the elections.

Peace is needed before the elections, it is important during the elections and we need peace even after the elections, he said.

Also speaking, Kano State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Wakili, said the peace pact would give all political parties, stakeholders and interests equal play field.

This exercise will also help us to have smooth and peaceful elections, so this is a to me a huge pre-election achievement, he said.

He said that the Kano State police command was in synergy with other security agencies in the state, saying, we shall ensure the safety of all the stakeholders during and after the elections.

Mr Wakili used the occasion to reiterate his resolve to sustain the fight against drug abuse and thuggery even after election.

In his speech, Mr Gambari stressed the need for peace across the nation during and after the polls.

He urged politicians in the country to avoid hate speech and demonizing of political opponents.

Earlier, the Kano State Governor, Mr Ganduje, had called on all stakeholders in the state to support every move towards peaceful election.

He expressed optimism that security agencies would do their job without fear or favour during the elections. (NAN)
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has deployed electoral materials to all the 23 Local Government Areas of Kaduna State for distribution ahead of Saturdays Governorship/House of Assembly polls.

Sani Abdulfatah, INECs Public Relations Officer in the state, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Thursday that both sensitive and non-sensitive materials had been sorted and moved to the local government areas from where they would be dispatched to the 255 wards and the 5,102 polling units across the state.

I can tell you that we have virtually addressed all the challenges encountered during the Feb. 23 Presidential and National Assembly polls, Mr Abdulfatah said.

According to him, 42 political parties are fielding a total of 436 candidates in the race for Governorship and House of Assembly seats in the state.

The INEC official said that 38 political parties are fielding candidates for the governorship election, while 398 others are contesting for the 34 State House of Assembly seats in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incumbent governor, Nasir El-Rufai of the All Progressives Congress and Isah Ashiru of the Peoples Democratic Party are the most prominent candidates in the race.

The INEC official said that no corps member had been posted as ad-hoc staff to Kajuru and Birnin Gwari Local Government Areas due to security situation in those areas.

Corps members are working as ad-hoc staff in the remaining 21 local government areas, Mr Abdulfatah said.

(NAN)
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says about 2,000 domestic observers are expected to monitor the conduct of Saturdays Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Katsina State.

Ibrahim Zarewa, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state disclosed this on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Katsina.

He said the observers were from 51 different groups cleared INEC to monitor 2019 general elections in the state.

Mr Zarewa revealed that about five foreign observer groups would also monitor the elections in the state.

He said the groups are  African Union (AU), European Union (EU), ECOWAS, American High Commission and British High Commission.

The commissioner said INEC has distributed both non sensitive and sensitive materials in all the 34 Local government areas (LGAs) of the state.

He said the sensitive materials would be sorted out and kept at INEC LGA offices for distribution to the 361 wards across the state.

Mr Zarewa assured that the election would commence in good time as scheduled in all the polling units in the state.

He said the commission has recharged its card readers, configured them, and trained staff who would handle them.

Altogether, 18 candidates are featuring in governorship election in the state including Governor Aminu Masari of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Yakubu Lado Danmarke of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

About 316 candidates are also featuring in the state House of Assembly election across the 34 LGAs of the state.

(NAN)
A total of 268 candidates from various political parties will be contesting for the 25 seats in the Cross River House of Assembly on Saturday in the state, according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Frankland Briyai, made the disclosure on Thursday in Calabar.

Mr Briyai said that 38 candidates were female.

The REC also confirmed receipt of all sensitive materials for the election, adding that 95 per cent of the sensitive materials arrived in the state on Monday for the conduct of the legislative and governorship polls.

He said that the Commission was ready for the elections on Saturday.

Mr Briyai said although All Progressives Congress (APC) did not have candidates for the elections, its logo would be on the ballot papers.

He said that this was in compliance to a Federal High Court order which directed INEC to delist candidates of the party pending when the party would submit names of its candidates.

The court gave the order following a leadership tussle in the party between the faction led by John Etim and the other led by Mr John Ochalla.

It asked INEC to recognise the Etim-led State Executive Council of the party and recognise its list of candidates.

Consequently, the Commission requested the party to submit a fresh list of candidates for the elections.

(NAN)
The Rivers State Government is to send a delegation to console with the Nigerian Army over soldiers who died while on election duty in the state, including soldiers killed at Abonnema a few days ago.

Two soldiers were shot dead in separate incidents in Abonnema, causing people to flee the community for fear of a reprisal from the army.

The delegation would be led by the Deputy Governor of the state, Ipalibo Banigo, according to a statement from the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Thursday.

The Rivers State Deputy Governor will lead a high-profile delegation to the Nigerian Army to commiserate with them on the death of their personnel during the Presidential and National Assembly elections and on March 2, 2019, at Abonnema, the statement said.

The statement quoted the state governor, Nyesom Wike, as saying that a committee headed by Mr Banigo will also identify other people who lost their lives during the elections and their families.

The state government would give necessary assistance to the bereaved families, Mr Wike said.

Mr Wike, the statement said, was speaking on Wednesday at a memorial service in honour of Abonnema people and soldiers who died on February 23 and March 2.

Governor Wike commiserated with the bereaved families and prayed to God to comfort them.

The governor condemned politicians who promote political violence, saying they should be compelled to present their children to execute political violence.

I appeal to politicians to understand that power comes from God. Those who foment trouble should be asked to bring their grown-up children to execute political violence, he said.

The relationship between the Rivers government and the security agencies in the state have been on its lowest level since the inception of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government in 2015.

Rivers is under the control of the PDP, and Mr Wike, who is a critic of President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration, is one of the most influential leaders in the party.

The governor has often accused the police and the army in the state of planning to kill him. Both the police and the army have repeatedly denied such accusation.

The army recently, in turn, accused Mr Wike of attempting to bribe a military chief, Jamil Sarham, a major general and the General Officer Commanding (GOC) the 6 Division of the Nigerian army, because of the 2019 general elections.

The Rivers government responded by saying the military was trying to divert attention from the atrocities they are committing in Rivers because of the elections.
The Rivers State Police Command says it is deploying 15,544 police personnel for the Governorship and State House of Assembly Elections billed for Saturday.

Mr. Usman Belel, the State Commissioner of Police, said this on Thursday in Port Harcourt at a news conference.

He said the deployment would be complemented by other security agencies to cover and protect the 23 Local Government Areas.

He said 319 wards and 4,442 polling units and 2,424 voting points would be covered by police personnel deployed for election duties in Rivers.

According to the Commissioner, three security personnel will be posted to each polling unit.

He said: There will be an outer perimeter deployment of armed men to guide against infiltration and hijack of the process by hoodlums or persons that want to foment trouble.

He added that apart from the deployment made to cover and protect the voting areas, a joint convoy patrol of security agencies would cover the entire state.

He said special attention would be on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices in the state.

The commissioner said all entry and exit points in Rivers would be closed by security personnel for the elections.

There will be a total restriction of movement of persons, vehicles, boats, on land and waterways between 12.00 midnight on Friday and 6.00 p.m. on Saturday, except those on essential duties, Mr Belel said.

He warned politicians and very important personalities (VIPs) against going to voting centres with their security details

He further warned them to desist from moving from one place to the other on elections day as provided by the INEC guideline and Act.

(NAN)
Some eligible voters in Lagos State say they may shun the March 9, governorship and state House of Assembly elections due to fear of attack by thugs, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

A cross section of traders at the popular Lagos market, Alaba International, told NAN on Thursday that following the attack on some of their members during the February 23 Presidential and National Assembly elections, they were not likely to participate in Saturdays elections.

Chima Achike, spokesperson of F line in the market, said though majority of them were eligible voters, they would not, however, want to risk their lives for any election.

Our people were attacked in the last election for expressing their rights to vote for a candidate of their choice by political thugs who perceived that they were voting against their own choice candidates and party.

Instead of going out to vote on Saturday, our members that I spoke with have expressed indifference about it, citing the February 23 incident as reason, he said.

The traders spokesperson, who condemned election violence, however, said that there was no general circular from the market leaders and associations for people to stay away, but response and opinion of traders were tending towards political apathy.

Augustine Chiduele, an electrical equipment merchant, said that one of his relations escaped being lynched by the whiskers during the first polls.

It was strenuous for me to cast my vote during the February 23 election, now that violence has been added to the whole thing, it is no longer fun to vote, Mr Chiduele said.

NAN reports that the commissioner of police in Lagos State, Zubairu Muazu, had assured all ethnic and law abiding social and economic groups in the state of their safety.

Mr Muazu, however, warned those he described as initiators and distributors of fake news to stop causing unnecessary tension.

He said that the command had provided adequate security for all persons in Lagos State.

Let me re-emphasise that Lagos State is peaceful and Lagosians are peace-loving people.

There is no tribe or community under threat in any part of the state. Our patrol and surveillance are intensified.

We have reviewed and redoubled our strategies to ensure a peaceful conduct of Governorship and State House of Assembly Elections come March 9.

I call on Lagosians to support the police to serve them better by being vigilant and report any suspicious movement or persons to the police, Mr Muazu said.

NAN also reports that a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has expressed concern over the low turn-out of voters recorded in the state during the February 23 elections, going by the number of registered voters in the state.

While appealing to people to come out enmass to cast their votes on March 9, Mr Tinubu, cautioned against election violence.

(NAN)
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.




MADRID, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Atento S.A. (NYSE: ATTO), the leading provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services (CRM/BPO) in Latin America, and one of the top five providers worldwide, has attained the number three position in the ranking 2019 Best Workplaces Spain by Great Place to Work.

Atento is the only CRM and BPO company in Spain to have received this recognition. The Company has also been recognized by Great Place to Work for eight consecutive years as one of the 25 Best Multinationals to Work for in Latin America.

In the words of Atento Spain and EMEA Region Director Jose Maria Perez Melber, "It is a great honor to be recognized as one of the best companies to work for in Spain. This recognition reaffirms our strong commitment to our employees and shows that we have one of the best teams of professionals in the industry to deliver the best customer experience for companies."

Jose Luis Rodriguez, Head of Human Resources for Atento Spain and the EMEA Region, noted, "Being part of the Best Workplaces Spain 2019 list is a source of pride for us and a recognition to our human resources programs focused on the motivation and development of our professionals. One of our goals is for each of our employees to feel motivated in their work, both professionally and personally, in order to take on new challenges within Atento."

The Great Place to Work distinction highlights the high motivation of Atento employees and the success of the company's people management programs. In recent years, Atento Spain has run projects aiming to increase work flexibility, the creation of new spaces that inspire new forms of collaboration, skills training within the area of the new digital economy, and the creation of new online communication channels, such as a corporate social network and apps.

Great Place to Work is the largest organizational climate survey carried out in Spain. Employee opinion accounts for two-thirds of the final score for inclusion in the ranking. The remaining third comes from the Culture Audit, a questionnaire completed by companies that Great Place to Work uses to understand and assess the practices, policies and culture in place at the organization.

About Atento

Atento is the largest provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing (CRM BPO) services in Latin America, and among the top five providers worldwide, based on revenues. Atento is also a leading provider of nearshoring CRM/BPO services to companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the company has developed its business model in 13 countries where it employs 150,000 people. Atento has over 400 clients to whom it offers a wide range of CRM/BPO services through multiple channels. Atento's clients are mostly leading multinational corporations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, health, retail and public administrations, among others. Atento's shares trade under the symbol ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2016, Atento was named one of the Worlds 25 Best Multinational Workplaces by Great Place to Work for a fourth consecutive year. For more information visit www.atento.com

Media relations

Maite Cordero

+ 34 91 740 74 47

[email protected]

Investor relations

Shay Chor

+55 11 3293 5926

[email protected]

Fernando Schneider

+55 11 3779 0967

[email protected]

SOURCE Atento S.A.

Related Links

http://www.atento.com


BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- B-Metro Magazine recently inducted Attorney Richard Jaffe of Jaffe, Hanle, Whisonant & Knight, P.C. in Birmingham, Alabama to its 2019 "Hall of Fame Attorneys" roster. This year's selection is actually the inaugural class, which is sure to be the first of many to come.

"Hall of Fame Attorneys" are selected based on outstanding performance in their practice and impressive participation with their communities and legal circles. Selected candidates must also have 25 years of practice experience or more, marking them as undeniable legal veterans. B-Metro Magazine referenced peer reviews, statements from past clients, case results, continued legal education participation, and more to choose its inaugural class of "Hall of Fame Attorneys."

Attorney Richard Jaffe has a long history of legal practice behind him, beginning with his graduation from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1976. He began his legal career as a prosecutor, where he gained insight into how District Attorneys and criminal court judges approach criminal defense cases. In 1978, Attorney Jaffe decided to shift gears to open a private practice with other criminal defense lawyers, officially launching Jaffe, Hanle, Whisonant & Knight, P.C.

Throughout his career, Attorney Jaffe has personally handled nearly 80 defense cases involving criminal charges that could be met with capital punishment if conviction was secured by the state. He holds membership to the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers of America, and the Greater Birmingham Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.

Inquiries parties can visit http://b-metro.com/b-metro-top-flight-attorneys/35808/ to view the entire online B-Metro Magazine March issue, which features the inaugural class of "Hall of Fame Attorneys" inductees. To learn more about Attorney Jaffe and Jaffe, Hanle, Whisonant & Knight, P.C., inquiring parties should visit https://www.rjaffelaw.com/.

SOURCE B-Metro Magazine

Related Links

https://www.rjaffelaw.com/


NEW YORK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing the victims of defective drugs and medical devices, is investigating potential legal claims on behalf of patients who died or were hospitalized for heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, and other serious cardiovascular events while using Uloric to treat gout.

"A recent study found that Uloric is associated with a higher risk of heart-related death and death from all causes compared to an alternative gout treatment," said Sandy A. Liebhard, a partner at Bernstein Liebhard LLP. "Our attorneys are committed to ensuring that the victims of Uloric side effects are fairly and fully compensated for all of their injury-related damages."

The firm is now offering free, no-obligation Uloric lawsuit reviews to individuals who may have been harmed by this gout medication, or their surviving loved ones.

Uloric and Heart-Related Death

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved Uloric (febuxostat) in 2009 to treat adults suffering from gout, a painful form of arthritis caused by excessive levels of uric acid in the blood.

Because pre-market clinical trials suggested febuxostat might be associated with a higher risk of heart problems compared to another gout drug called allopurinol (Zyloprim and Aloprim), the agency required Takeda Pharmaceuticals to include a "Warning and Precaution" on the Uloric label regarding the potential for serious cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, strokes, and heart-related deaths. The FDA also ordered Takeda to conduct an additional, post-approval clinical trial to further assess Uloric's cardiovascular side effects.

According to an FDA Drug Safety Communication issued in November 2017, initial findings from Takeda's trial suggested Uloric was associated with an increased risk of heart-related death and death from all causes compared to allopurinol.

In February 2019, the FDA ordered a new Black Box Warning for the Uloric label, after an in-depth review of the trial data led the agency to concluded that there was a higher risk of death with febuxostat versus alternative medications. The FDA also restricted Uloric's approved uses to patients who cannot tolerate or are not treated effectively with allopurinol.

Learn More About Filing a Uloric Lawsuit

You may be entitled to compensation if you or a loved one experienced serious heart problems potentially associated with Uloric, including:

Heart Attack

Stroke

Pulmonary Embolism (PE)

Deep-Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

Angina

Heart-Related Death

To learn more about filing a Uloric lawsuit, and to arrange for your free, no-obligation case review, please visit Bernstein Liebhard LLP's website or contact the office directly at 800-511-5092.

About Bernstein Liebhard LLP

Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993. As a national law firm, Bernstein Liebhard LLP possesses all the legal and financial resources required to successfully challenge billion dollar pharmaceutical and medical device companies. As a result, our attorneys and legal staff have been able to recover more than $3.5 billion on behalf of our clients. Bernstein Liebhard LLP has been named to The National Law Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List" 13 times and listed in The Legal 500 for 10 consecutive years.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP

10 East 40th Street

New York, New York 10016

800-511-5092

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.  2019 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, 800-511-5092. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

Contact Information:

Sandy A. Liebhard, Esq.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP

info (at)consumerinjurylawyers(dot)com

http://www.rxinjuryhelp.com/

https://plus.google.com/115936073311125306742?rel=author

SOURCE Bernstein Liebhard LLP
The "Old North State Nationals presented by Visit Orange County" will be a multi-day Late Model Stock race, paying $30,000 to the winner and $1,250 to start the feature event. The event weekend will kick off with teams and fans traveling in for test day on Friday, April 5 th , followed by a great Saturday night of qualifying races, before fans are treated to 200 laps of racing action from the best short track drivers the region has to offer on Sunday afternoon, April 7 th .

Through the event partnership, the CARS Tour along with the Orange County Visitors Bureau will showcase what Orange County, North Carolina has to offer fans, competitors, and media traveling to the region for the inaugural event.



Those converging on the area are encouraged to explore not only the lodging options in the Orange County area, but explore the local bars, restaurants, breweries, and shopping in the nearby towns of Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. Orange County in central North Carolina is mid-way between Greensboro and Raleigh, NC.



"The communities that comprise Orange County offer something for everybody," said Laurie Paolicelli, director of the Chapel Hill-based Visitor Center. "From historic Hillsborough, to funky Carrboro and the collegiate vibe of Chapel Hill, we invite all visitors coming in for the CARS Tour Old North State Nationals to explore our region."



The additional support from the Orange County Visitors Bureau and the anticipation among the short track racing community has built expectations of a high car count and a capacity crowd. The 3/8th mile track in Rougemont, NC on Hwy 57 could once again duplicate the memories of days from the past, when the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series last visited the track in 1994.



"To be able to add a major partner like the Orange County Visitors Bureau for a race of this magnitude is a major boost for the series and this event," explained CARS Tour Series owner, Jack McNelly. "Not only is this great for the CARS Tour, but this partnership is great for all the fans, competitors and media coming to Orange County. Since the inception of the CARS Tour we have hosted races at Orange County Speedway, and it's nice to see their growth over the last several years lead to this race."



The mission of the Orange County Visitors Bureau is to develop and coordinate visitor services in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough and to position Orange County as a desirable meeting and vacation destination. For more information on what the region has to offer visit www.visitchapelhill.org/ or visithillsboroughnc.com/. For details about Orange County Speedway, visit http://ocstrack.com/.

For Old State Nationals ticket information and details on the CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the CARS Super Late Model Tour visit https://carsracingtour.com/. Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in Mooresville, NC at (704) 662-9212.

SOURCE Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau

Related Links

http://www.visitchapelhill.org


CHICAGO, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Conagra Brands will showcase its expanded better-for-you food portfolio, including innovation from iconic and emerging brands within the company's frozen and snacking businesses, at the Natural Products Expo West 2019 show on March 7  9 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Show attendees who visit Conagra Brands' Expo West 2019 booth (#513) will experience 10 brands offering modern health-focused attributes to retailers and consumers. The brands, including Angie's BOOMCHICKPOP, Duke's, Frontera, Gardein and Glutino, represent Conagra's ongoing commitment to transforming and contemporizing its portfolio.

"We've broadened our health and wellness credentials to meet the evolving needs of consumers and customers," said Dale Clemiss, president, grocery and snacks for Conagra Brands. "Conagra Brands offers up-and-coming new brands, as well as iconic brands, with modern health attributes across dayparts and occasions, providing greater scale to retailers and great-tasting, on-trend food to consumers."

Conagra brands and innovations on display at Expo West 2019 include:

Alexia: Mexican-Style Street Corn, Loaded Cauliflower

Angie's BOOMCHICKPOP: Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn Popcorn, Sea Salt Popcorn, Air-Popped Popcorn, White Cheddar Puffs, Berries & Cream Popcorn, Trail Mix

Blake's: Organic Certified Meals, All Natural Meals

Duke's: Smoked Shorty Sausages, Tallboy Sausage, Shorty & Cheese

Earth Balance: European Style Buttery Spread

evol: Fusion Burritos, Modern Nutrition Bowls, Morning Bowls

Frontera: Gourmet Mexican Bowls, Gourmet Mexican Skillets, Especial Salsas

Gardein: Breakfast Saus'age, Breakfast Bowls, Sliced Italian Saus'age, Alternative Protein  Nuggets and Wings, Skillet Meals

Glutino: Super Stuffed Cookies, Covered Pretzels, Pretzel Sticks, Pretzel Twists

Udi's: Mug Cakes, Grain Free Muffins, Veggie Crust Pizza, Hearty Artisan Bread

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE: CAG), headquartered in Chicago, is one of North America's leading branded food companies. Guided by an entrepreneurial spirit, Conagra Brands combines a rich heritage of making great food with a sharpened focus on innovation. The company's portfolio is evolving to satisfy people's changing food preferences. Conagra's iconic brands, such as Birds Eye, Marie Callender's, Banquet, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Reddi-wip, and Vlasic, as well as emerging brands, including Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera, offer choices for every occasion. For more information, visit www.conagrabrands.com.

For more information, please contact:

MEDIA: Priscilla Zuchowski

219-798-1467

[email protected]

SOURCE Conagra Brands, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.conagrabrands.com


ST. PAUL, Minn., March 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE: FUL) (CEO: Jim Owens) today announced that it has established H.B. Fuller Japan G.K. (Executive Manager: Zhiwei Cai, Tokyo). H.B. Fuller Japan will strengthen its Engineering Adhesive (EA) businesses in Japan by focusing on high-performance adhesives, including reactive adhesive chemistries and applications.

H.B. Fuller's EA segment was established in 2016 and currently serves the electronics, transportation, renewable energies, aerospace, general industry and medical markets. This business has grown rapidly to approximately USD $478 million with double-digit annual growth rates, contributing to 19 percent of the company's operating income in 2018.

H.B. Fuller Japan G.K. will collaborate closely with the company's joint-venture business, Sekisui Fuller Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Ichiro Arai, Minato-ku, Tokyo), for sales and distribution channels.

About H.B. Fuller:

Since 1887, H.B. Fuller has been a leading global adhesives provider focusing on perfecting adhesives, sealants and other specialty chemical products to improve products and lives. With fiscal 2018 net revenue of over $3 billion, H.B. Fuller's commitment to innovation brings together people, products and processes that answer and solve some of the world's biggest challenges. Our reliable, responsive service creates lasting, rewarding connections with customers in electronics, disposable hygiene, medical, transportation, aerospace, clean energy, packaging, construction, woodworking, general industries and other consumer businesses. And, our promise to our people connects them with opportunities to innovate and thrive. For more information, visit us at hbfuller.com.

About Sekisui Fuller:

Sekisui Fuller was established in 2005 as a joint venture between Sekisui Chemical (Japan) and H.B. Fuller (U.S.A.). As a dynamic "hybrid" company, it leverages the advanced technology and business capabilities of both parent companies to provide innovative adhesive solutions that enhance the performance of its customers' products across many markets: hygiene, packaging and converting, housing construction, durable assembly, electronics, automobile and many others.

SOURCE H.B. Fuller Company

Related Links

https://www.hbfuller.com


FASHION WORLD TOKYO consists of 4 separate shows divided by themed categories of fashion items (FASHION WEAR EXPO, BAG EXPO, FASHION JEWELLERY EXPO and SHOES EXPO) and FASHION WORLD TOKYO -FACTORY-, consisting of TEXTILE TOKYO and FASHION SOURCING TOKYO, a gathering of popular fashion garments/textiles companies and fashion sourcing manufacturers. The on-site meeting provides good business opportunities for exhibitors and visitors.

It is a must-attend event to catch up with Japanese fashion trends that have become loved across Asia. It has also become a one-stop venue for the fashion industry as it covers the whole fashion supply chain.

Best platform for B-to-B

One of the features of FASHION WORLD TOKYO is its focus on "the BEST business platform." Show Management has developed various kinds of approaches to make the show accessible and productive, such as introducing a "Matchmaking Service" and an online appointment platform. The fulfilling support systems have gained growing support from both exhibitors and visitors. The 2019 March show will also provide them with the best platform for cross-border business supported actively by Show Management.

Explore Made-in-Japan collections

One of the biggest features of the show is the exhibition of unique "Made-in-Japan" quality. As the largest show of its kind in Japan, FASHION WORLD TOKYO attracts lots of Japanese designers/brands -- some value subtle craftsmanship and others pursue cutting-edge techniques to realize innovative ideas.

For example, "Stitch-on" is made by craftsmen in Toyooka, Japan's largest baggage producer. And "Tart Optical Arnel" is a Japanese glasses brand with a long-established shop in New York, with clients like Johnny Depp who wears a model 50's, a vintage line.

This is Japan's largest fashion trade show, gathering of regional municipalities' pavilions from all over Japan.

Be part of the exhibition and discover the original line-ups not seen in any other shows in the world!

Asian hub for fashion industry

Not only as the best gateway to the Japanese market, FASHION WORLD TOKYO is also growing to serve as a new Asian hub for the fashion industry. In October 2018, the number of international visitors mainly from Asian countries hit a record high as 1,787 from 40 countries/regions and is expected to reach 2,500 in the March 2019 edition.

Premium or world-famous buyers/manufacturers will be invited to the show and their enthusiastic participation will lead to a splendid outcome and growth of the entire fashion business as well as the exhibition.

Save the Date!

To visit the show, please register for visitor tickets: www.fashion-tokyo.jp/inv_en

* Those without tickets will be charged JPY 5,000/person.

Those who are Interested in exhibiting, please contact Show Management ASAP as the remaining booths are almost sold out!

E-mail: [email protected]

Exhibiting Info: www.fashion-tokyo.jp/ex_en



Organiser: Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd.

FASHION WORLD TOKYO Show Management

TEL: +81-3-3349-8519

Website: www.fashion-tokyo.jp/en/

E-mail: [email protected]

-Concurrent Show-

FASHION WORLD TOKYO FACTORY: www.fashion-factory.jp/en/

SOURCE Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd.
HOUSTON, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- McKool Smith, one of the nation's leading trial firms, announced that veteran trial lawyer William D. ("Willie") Wood has joined the firm as a Principal in its Houston office. Willie is one of the nation's most prominent energy trial lawyers and represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex business disputes and arbitration matters throughout the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.

In addition, energy litigators Justin Tschoepe and Lauren Varnado, who worked alongside Willie at his previous law firm, will also be joining McKool Smith as Principals in Houston.

Willie is a seasoned trial lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry. He has tried and litigated complex commercial cases, including matters involving breach of contract, tortious interference, state and federal antitrust, common law and statutory fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, negligent misrepresentation, business disparagement, securities actions, product liability, nuisance, trespass, conversion, corporate governance, breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder oppression, and qui tam claims, among others. He is consistently ranked as a leading lawyer in prominent legal directories such as Benchmark Litigation, The Legal 500, Best Lawyers, and Chambers USA, where he is ranked Band 1 for energy and natural resource disputes. Willie is also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

In connection with his international practice, Willie's trial, litigation and arbitration experience includes representing industry leading clients in disputes arising from operations and activities in more than 30 countries. He also advises clients in international investigation and enforcement actions, along with litigation avoidance strategies and litigation preparedness.

"Willie is a highly regarded trial lawyer who has a wealth of experience in the domestic and international energy sector," said David Sochia, Managing Principal of McKool Smith. "His deep ties in Texas, Mexico, and throughout Latin America will be invaluable to the firm as we continue to grow our energy litigation practice both domestically and internationally. Willie's experience both in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions is unmatched. We are very excited about his arrival and his ability to spearhead McKool Smith's expansion into Mexico and Latin America related litigation, arbitration, investigations and insolvency matters."

"I have watched McKool Smith closely over the years and been very impressed by the firm's success and strategic growth," said Willie Wood when discussing his attraction to McKool Smith. "The firm's bench strength and track record in complex commercial disputes is eye popping. Clients will benefit from the firm's trial focus and prowess, its 'clients-first' culture, and its ability to offer creative fee arrangements, particularly in the contingent fee space. In a very competitive legal market, McKool Smith provides a platform and value propositions that sets it apart."

Willie is a graduate of Texas A&M University and the University of Houston Law Center. He is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court.

Justin Tschoepe represents energy firms and government contractors. His broad experience, which covers disputes in state and federal court as well as in arbitration and mediation, includes matters involving qui tam claims, claims of breach of contract, indemnity, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud. Justin is co-chair of the Houston Young Lawyers Association Energy Counsel Committee and has been named a Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston Law Center.

Lauren Varnado advises oil and gas companies on issues related to acquisitions and divestitures, transactional agreements, and litigation prevention and preparedness. She also litigates disputes involving upstream, midstream and power contracts. She is a member of the Women's Energy Network and has been named a Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters. Lauren is a graduate of Texas A&M University and South Texas College of Law.

With more than 165 trial lawyers across offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall, New York, and Washington, D.C., McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America's leading trial firms. Since 2006, the firm has secured 11 nine-figure jury verdicts and 12 eight-figure jury verdicts. The firm has also won more VerdictSearch and The National Law Journal "Top 100 Verdicts" over the last 10 years than any other law firm in the country. Courtroom successes like these have earned McKool Smith critical acclaim and helped the firm become what The Wall Street Journal describes as "one of the biggest law firm success stories of the past decade." McKool Smith represents clients in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, insurance recovery, bankruptcy, and white collar defense matters.

SOURCE McKool Smith

Related Links

http://www.mckoolsmith.com


SPRINGFIELD, Ill., March 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Across the state, older adults entrusted to nursing homes for care have been subjected to neglect, infection and other horrifying consequences  even death -- due to inadequate staffing which must be addressed, lawmakers and advocates said Tuesday.

The situation, as documented by a Chicago Tribune/Kaiser Health News investigation, has prompted the introduction of an important initiative designed to enhance nursing home residents' quality of care.

"It has been both heartbreaking and motivating to me, through my work, to see how devastating it can be for an entire family when a loved one receives inadequate care in a nursing home," said State Sen. Jacqueline Collins, (D-Chicago), sponsor of the Nursing Home Residents' Quality of Care Initiative (SB 1510, SA #1).

The bill calls on legislators to abide and enforce the state's minimum staffing requirements, heighten public transparency of nursing home violations, and enhance safeguards regarding a psychotropic medication and a resident's right to informed consent.

"This initiative sets forth some much- needed measures to ensure that no family has to see their loved one suffer unnecessarily in a place where they are supposed to be cared for."

In 2015, 39% of nursing homes in Illinois received a low quality rating from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. Over eight in ten (84%) voters in Illinois say that action should be taken in 2019 to increase the quality of care in Illinois nursing homes, according to an AARP survey.

The Illinois bill comes as AARP works across the country to take action to improve the quality, safety, rights, and protections for nursing home residents and their families or improve enforcement of standards for nursing homes.

"Residents of nursing homes are some of Illinois most frail whose care needs have unfortunately adjusted their life's path to need skilled nursing care 24 hours a day," said Ryan Gruenenfelder, Director of Advocacy and Outreach for AARP Illinois.

"Residents and their caregivers need to be able to trust nursing homes at a time when they are more vulnerable than they have ever been."

AARP Illinois also supports a measure aimed at easing the burden on family caregivers, who face financial challenges while paying for expensive care to help their loved ones.

The Illinois Family Caregiver Income Tax Credit (HB 2974) would provide a non-refundable tax credit up to $1,500 for eligible family caregivers who pay for adult day services, transportation, equipment, home modifications and other expenses when caring for family. The tax credit is especially needed after a recent AARP Illinois survey found that 62 percent of Illinois family caregivers pay expenses out of their own pockets to care for a loved one.

"Family caregivers in Illinois spend immeasurable amounts of energy, time and money making sure that their loved ones live comfortably in their homes," said Rep. Anna Moeller. (D-Elgin), author of HB 2974.

"This bill offers caregivers a modest, but meaningful bit of relief that will hopefully help them to continue the selfless work they do."

The bills directly address concerns highlighted by a Caregiving Survey conducted by AARP Illinois to address the concerns of family caregivers helping their parents, spouses and other loved ones to live at home.

"Caregivers in Illinois have told us that they are spending money out of their own pockets to provide basic needs for their loved ones, including bathing, dressing and transportation," said Bob Gallo, AARP Illinois State Director. "We are grateful that these legislators have recognized two impactful ways to help both older adults and their caregivers as they struggle with this already trying time."

To view the survey, visit: https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00259.052

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 38 million members and offices in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities.

SOURCE AARP Illinois

Related Links

http://www.aarp.org


The expeditions will run through 2019 and will place participants face-to-face with some of the world's most spectacular marine species and habitats and offer hands-on opportunities to participate in ocean conservation. Expeditions destinations include:

Rock Islands, Palaucompleted November 2018

Baja California , MexicoMarch 2019

, MexicoMarch 2019 TrinidadMay 2019

Raja Ampat, IndonesiaOctober 2019

Galapagos IslandsDecember 2019

The five expeditions of the Five for 50 campaign are being captured and shared through a digital documentary series that explores important marine habitats and critical conservation issues and is sponsored and supported by SC Johnson. Oceanic Society has teamed-up with the award-winning production company Pioneer Studios to produce the films, the first of which was released today at https://youtu.be/1NaOq0x5KVQ. Featuring SC Johnson Chairman and CEO, Fisk Johnson, a life-long diver and environmentalist, who joined the first Five for 50 expedition to Palau in November 2018, the film takes viewers on an underwater exploration of Palau and draws attention to the global problem of ocean plastic pollution.

To view the film, visit: https://youtu.be/1NaOq0x5KVQ.

Over the past five decades, Oceanic Society has inspired a generation of ocean conservationists and helped put ocean conservation on the map through innovative programs in research, conservation, and exploration.

"A lot has changed in our 50-year history," said Oceanic Society president and CEO, Roderic Mast. "Today there are more ocean organizations and there is more awareness of ocean issues than ever before, and yet the oceans have never been sicker. More than ever before, we need to move from ocean awareness to ocean action. It's heartening to see major companies like SC Johnson focusing on sustainability and supporting conservation efforts. Through our Five for 50 campaign, we want to help people see critical ocean conservation challenges firsthand and get involved by adopting the types of behaviors that will lead to healthier oceans."

SC Johnson's support to Oceanic Society was announced on the heels of other major commitments to reduce the company's plastic footprint in the years ahead. Among those commitments, SC Johnson signed the "New Plastics Economy Global Commitment" led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation alongside more than 275 companies, governments, NGOs, universities, industry associations, and other organizations worldwide, and recently announced a global partnership intended to advance circular economy initiatives.

"As a lifelong scuba diver, it is an aspiration to be side-by-side with experts who are working to save the ocean and protect one of the world's most important resources," said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. "I've witnessed firsthand how the oceans are increasingly impacted by plastic pollution, and it is critical that businesses, governments, non-profit organizations, and civil society come together to help address the plastic pollution crisis. Oceanic Society has inspired generations of ocean conservationists and have helped to put ocean protection on the map. We are happy to support their efforts to help generate attention on ocean health and educate families on how to live with and use plastic responsibly."

For more information about the Five for 50 campaign visit http://5x50.oceanicsociety.org.

About Oceanic Society

Founded in 1969, Oceanic Society is America's oldest non-profit organization dedicated to ocean conservation, with a mission to improve ocean health by deepening the connections between people and nature to address the root cause of its decline: human behavior. Oceanic Society seeks to bridge the gap between awareness and measurable behavior change through its innovative Blue Habits program, and through its international expeditions and California whale watching programs. Oceanic Society is also a global leader in the conservation of iconic ocean life like sea turtles, marine mammals, and coral reefs. For more information, visit www.oceanicsociety.org.

About SC Johnson

SC Johnson is a family company dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, pest control and shoe care, as well as professional products. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE, KIWI, OFF!, PLEDGE, RAID, SCRUBBING BUBBLES, SHOUT, WINDEX and ZIPLOC in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN, BAYGON, BRISE, KABIKILLER, KLEAR, MR MUSCLE and RIDSECT. The 132-year-old company, which generates $10 billion in sales, employs approximately 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com

SOURCE Oceanic Society

Related Links

https://www.oceanicsociety.org


CHARLES TOWN, W. Va., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- (OTC: PTBS)  Potomac Bancshares, Inc., the one holding company of BCT-Bank of Charles Town also known as The Community's Bank, today announced the appointment of Kristina Bouweiri and Dr. Mitesh Kothari, MD, to its Board of Directors effective March 12, 2019.

Kristina Bouweiri is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Reston Limousine, Washington metro area's premier chauffeured transportation provider headquartered in Loudoun County, Virginia. A long-time resident of Leesburg, Virginia, Ms. Bouweiri is an active member of several community boards and organizations.

Dr. Mitesh Kothari, MD, is a partner of Capital Women's Care, one of the largest medical practices for female health services in Hagerstown and Washington County, Maryland. A native of Hagerstown, Maryland, Dr. Kothari is also well known for his leadership within the community.

"The Board of Directors are delighted to announce the addition of these accomplished leaders to our Board. Both Ms. Bouweiri and Dr. Kothari are successful entrepreneurs who have grown their respective businesses to premier levels in the markets they serve," said Dr. Keith Berkeley, Chairman. "Their guidance, expertise and community relationship will be instrumental in helping us meet our full potential in Loudoun County, Virginia and Washington County, Maryland."

About Kristina Bouweiri

Bouweiri serves as CEO and President of Reston Limousine, the premier chauffeured transportation provider in the Washington, DC Metro area and eighth largest in the nation. The company is headquartered in Sterling, Virginia.

Bouweiri is a board member of the DC Chamber of Commerce, Washington DC Economic Partnership, Northern Virginia Community College, Inova Loudoun Hospital Foundation and Enterprising Women magazine, among others. Bouweiri founded the monthly networking luncheon Sterling Women and co-founded the annual Virginia Women's Business Conference, two programs that have helped hundreds of women entrepreneurs and executives achieve their professional goals. She also is a member of the Dean's Council of the George Mason School of Business.

In addition, Bouweiri has numerous awards and recognitions including Washington Business Journal's Power 100 and Top Women-Owned Businesses in Washington, DC, George Mason University School of Business Outstanding Leadership Award, DC Chamber of Commerce Business Leader of the Year and International Women's Entrepreneurial Challenge Award.

Ms. Bouweire holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs from George Washington University.

About Dr. Mitesh Kothari, MD

Dr. Kothari is a partner of Capital Women's Care, one of the largest medical practices for female health services in Hagerstown and Washington County, Maryland. The premier group consists of eight physicians, five Certified Nurse Midwives, and three Physician Assistants and is located at the Trilogy Professional Center in Hagerstown, Maryland.

Dr. Kothari most recently served as Chairman of BCT's Washington County Advisory Board, where he was a member since 2014. Additionally, Kothari serves and has served on many community and non-profit Boards, including Meritus Medical Center Foundation, Community Foundation of Washington County, Leadership Washington County, YMCA, and the Greater Hagerstown Committee.

After completing his residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Maryland Hospital, Dr. Kothari returned to Hagerstown to open his practice. Dr. Kothari completed his graduate and undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland. Prior to college, he graduated from Boonsboro High School in the greater Hagerstown area.

About Potomac Bancshares, Inc.

Founded in 1871, BCT - Bank of Charles Town, also known as The Community's Bank, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Potomac Bancshares, Inc. (OTC:PTBS). With approximately $485 million in assets as of December 31, 2018, the Company conducts operations through its main office and seven branch office facilities in Jefferson and Berkeley Counties (WV), Washington County (MD), and Loudoun County (VA), with a new banking office planned to open in Leesburg (VA) in the spring of 2019. The Bank provides various banking products and services including free access to 55,000 ATMs and online and mobile banking for individuals, businesses, and local governments. The Bank also offers commercial lines and term loans, residential and commercial construction, commercial real estate loans and agricultural loans. The Residential Lending division offers secondary market and portfolio mortgage loans, one-time close construction to perm loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. Since the early 1920's, BCT Wealth Advisors has provided financial management, investment, trust, and estate services to its clients.

The Company's shares are quoted on the OTC Pink Sheet marketplace under the symbol "PTBS." For more information about Potomac Bancshares, Inc. and the Bank, please visit our website at https://www.mybct.com.

SOURCE Potomac Bancshares, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mybct.com


CANTON, Miss., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A positive prevention initiative designed to promote inclusion in middle schools was celebrated at Shirley Simmons Middle School on February 15, 2019.

Representatives from Magnolia Health hosted an assembly in honor of National No One Eats Alone Day, created by the non-profit Beyond Differences. Students participated in activities designed to teach them about social isolation and the negative impact it can have on a student's health and academic performance. They then demonstrated inclusion and sat with students at lunch who they don't know, or who may feel left out. They were given ice breaker topics to discuss to highlight their commonalities.

Social isolation affects millions of students and has been identified as a precursor to bullying, self-harm and community violence. Students have shown that if they are given the tools, they will stand up for others as empathetic and caring activists, not passive bystanders.

"Magnolia Health is proud to partner with Beyond Differences to bring light to social issues that affect students in Mississippi," said Aaron Sisk, plan president and CEO of Magnolia Health. "We know that social isolation can not only affect mental health, but their physical health as well. This event helps us to foster positive behavior to improve the health of children in our state."

"Social isolation is a preventable public health problem," says Laura Talmus, co-founder and executive director of Beyond Differences. "We've learned through teachers and families that No One Eats Alone Day is a powerful step and positive initiative that can change the culture in schools to be a more welcoming place for all."

Shirley Simmons Middle School was one of more than 2,250 schools across the country that celebrated National No One Eats Alone Day. The initiative reached more than 1 million students in all 50 states.

No One Eats Alone Day is sponsored by the Centene Charitable Foundation.

About Magnolia Health

Magnolia Health is a long-term solution to help the state of Mississippi enhance care for Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) recipients, while most effectively managing taxpayer dollars. A physician-driven, Mississippi-based Coordinated Care Organization (CCO), Magnolia is backed by its parent company, Centene Corporation (Centene). Centene has more than 30 years of experience in Medicaid, CHIP and other government-funded programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and long-term care. For more information about Magnolia, visit www.magnoliahealthplan.com .

SOURCE Magnolia Health

Related Links

http://www.magnoliahealthplan.com


GURUGRAM, India, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- South Africa News

It is expected that by the end of 2023, tillage equipments would continue to lead the market share capturing over 27% and registering a CAGR of close to 2% during 2018-2023. Tractors market is likely to expand with a CAGR close to 4% and planters & seeders are expected to register a CAGR around 2%. Precision Farming is likely to showcase the highest CAGR close to 7% with rise in demand by various entities. Combine harvesters are expected to showcase a CAGR close to 6% while tractors would register almost 3% CAGR during the forecast period.

would continue to lead the market share capturing over 27% and registering a CAGR of close to 2% during 2018-2023. Tractors market is likely to expand with a CAGR close to 4% and planters & seeders are expected to register a CAGR around 2%. is likely to showcase the highest CAGR close to 7% with rise in demand by various entities. Combine harvesters are expected to showcase a CAGR close to 6% while tractors would register almost 3% CAGR during the forecast period. Free State would continue to generate highest market share of close to 26% in terms of sales volume by 2023. Kwa Zulu Natal, Western Cape and Mpumalanga are likely to showcase a CAGR of close to 2% each depicting a moderate growth rate during 2019-2023. The country is likely to experience growth in intensive farming techniques which would be well facilitated by higher mechanization & better adaptation observed.

would continue to generate highest market share of close to 26% in terms of sales volume by 2023. Kwa Zulu Natal, Western Cape and Mpumalanga are likely to showcase a CAGR of close to 2% each depicting a moderate growth rate during 2019-2023. The country is likely to experience growth in which would be well facilitated by higher mechanization & better adaptation observed. In the next 5-7 years, the market growth is expected to be fueled by rising demand & prices of agriculture produce, better government regulations, rise in mechanization rate and with the introduction of Agricultural Robots.

Growth in South Africa's agricultural equipment industry revenue in future shall be facilitated by growth in population, higher demand for agricultural produce and rise in farm area under crop production. Countries such as South Africa are expected to cater to a large proportion of the growing population due to the expandable arable land available the country. Some of South Africa's most produced crops include sugarcane, corn and soybeans which will continue to expand the agricultural market. The cost and quantity of soy and maize produced are expected to rise in the coming years thereby increasing the demand for tractors and its implements used for its production. The market is likely to be driven by rise in demand for multifunctional machinery. Manufacturers are expected to tie up with finance companies and provide efficient credit and repayment schemes in order to further stimulate demand of equipments in the future. Agricultural Robots are likely to perforate the Agricultural Market in the upcoming 5 years.

The South African government has supported large and medium scale farmers to a considerable extent thus elevating the agricultural machinery market over the last five years. This is expected to improve further in the future. To increase the overall demand for agriculture and thus agricultural machinery, the government has extended support through financial institutions like Development Financial Institutions (DFI) to the black producers. This is an incentive to provide access for small, medium and large scale black producers in the sector. South Africa is likely to experience an increase in the research funding and thereby the research conducted in agriculture in order to pave the way for a successful and rapid uptake of digital technology in farming. The economy will promote research funding in the most promising technology areas, notably automation, robotization, and digital connectivity.

Ken Research in its latest study "South Africa Agricultural Equipment Market Outlook to 2025 - By Product Type (Tractors, Tillage Equipment, Planters & Seeders, Sprayers, Combine Harvesters, Precision Farming and Others); By Domestic Sales and Import; By Region (Free State, Mpumalanga, Kwa Zulu Natal and others" suggests that the growth key is in the hands of the South African government to unlock financial barriers restraining the industry. This would lead the market to grow registering a CAGR close to 2% during the year 2018-2025.

Key Segments Covered

Market Segmentation by Product Type Including Tractors, Tillage Equipment, Planters & Seeders, Sprayers, Combine Harvesters, Precision Farming and Others. (Sales Volume)

Market Segmentation By Domestic Sales and Import (Sales Volume)

Market Segmentation Including Free State, Mpumulanga, Northern Cape, Western Cape, Kwa Zulu Natal, Others By Region (Sales Volume)

Key Target Audience

Existing Agricultural Equipment Companies

New Market Entrants- Domestic OEMs

New Market Entrants- Foreign OEMs

Agricultural Equipment Financing Companies

Government Bodies

Investors & Venture Capital Firms

Agricultural Equipment Manufacturers

Agricultural Equipment Distributors

Agricultural Equipment Associations

Time Period Captured in the Report:

2012-2018  Historical Period

2019-2025  Future Forecast

Companies Covered: Bell Equipment, Falcon Equipment, Radium Engineering, GC Tillage, AGRICO, Agri Supplies, AGRICON, Bestbier, Big Dutchman, BPI Manufacturing, Cape Agricultural Products, Enorossi, Gomselmash, Green Zone, Hose Manufacturer's (PTY) Limited, Monosem, Jinma Tractors South Africa, John Deere, New Holland, Landini, Massey Ferguson, Case IH, CLAAS, Valtra, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, Valmont Industries Incorporated, World Group Company Limited, JCB Limited, Kuhn Group, Netafim Limited, Yanmar Company Limited, Agco Corporation, Agro Master, CNH Industrial and Morris Industries Limited, BHBW, Northmec, ARGO Industrial, DICLA, NHSA Agriculture Parts, Orchard Agrimek, Rebelo Agricultural Group, Southtrade, Vermeer equipment Sales, Mascor, BEPCO, DICKEY-John Corporation and Jupidex, New Holland, John Deere, Massey Ferguson, Case IH and CLAAS

For more information on the market research report please refer to the link below:

https://www.kenresearch.com/agriculture-and-animal-care/agriculture-equipment/south-africa-agricultural-equipment-market/142610-104.html

Related Reports

Brazil Agricultural Equipment Market Outlook to 2023 - By Product Type (Tractors, Combine Harvesters, Tillage Equipment, Precision Farming Equipments, Planters & Seeders and Others), By Domestic Production & Imports and By Region (South, North, Midwest and Mideast

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of Brazil's Agricultural Equipment Market including market evolution, overview, genesis, value chain, trade scenario, market size, market segmentations, competition scenario and others. Extensive focus has been placed in quantifying the sales volume of agricultural equipment, best sellers and price points. The report covers aspects such as market segmentation by product type (Tractors, Combine Harvesters, Tillage Equipment, Precision Farming Equipments, Planters & Seeders and Others), By Domestic Production & Imports and by Region (South, North, Midwest and Mideast).

Egypt Agricultural Machinery Market Outlook to 2021 - Consolidation of Small Farm Holdings and Improving Credit Conditions to Foster Future Growth

The report covers aspects such as the market size on the basis of sales volume and revenue for Tractors, Combine Harvesters, Rice Transplanters and Tractor Implements. Further segmentation for Tractors by Horsepower, segmentation of Rice Transplanters by the number of rows and Tractor Implements has been showcased by products. The report also covers the market share, competitive landscape and warranty policies of agricultural equipments. In addition to this, the report also covers the mechanization rate, land under cultivation, farm holding structure, production of major crops, cropping pattern, average usage of agricultural equipment. Regulatory policies, the import duty structure, certification and emission standard, subsidies and financing options are covered in government regulation. This report will help industry consultants, agricultural machinery manufacturers and dealers, retail chains, potential entrants and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.

Indonesia Agricultural Machinery Market Outlook to 2020 - Integration of Small Farm holding Structure and Government Support to Foster Growth

The report provides a comprehensive analysis regarding the performance of the agricultural machinery and equipment market in Indonesia. The revenues of the industry have been segmented on the basis of agricultural machinery including Tractors, Combine Harvesters, Rice Transplanters and Tractor Implements. Under each segment, aspects such as market size on the basis of revenue and sales volume have been computed. The report also covers market share in each segment along with the competitive landscape of major agricultural machinery manufacturers, country overview on the basis of macro-economic variables, pricing analysis, agricultural overview and business model of major agricultural machinery manufacturers.

Thailand Agricultural Machinery Market Outlook to 2020 - Changing Labour Force Pattern and Improving Credit Conditions to Foster Future Growth

The report titled provides a comprehensive analysis of the agricultural machinery market in Thailand. The report covers aspects such as the market size on the basis of sales volume and revenue for Tractors, Combine Harvesters, Rice Transplanters and Tractor Implements. The segmentation for Tractors, Combine Harvesters and Rice Transplanters has been created on the basis of Horsepower while the segmentation for Tractor Implements has been showcased by products. The report also covers the market share, competitive landscape and working business model of major manufacturers, along with warranty policies and distribution channels of agricultural equipments. In addition to this, the report also covers the country overview, government regulation and agricultural overview of Thailand. GDP, Per Capita Income and Population Demographics are analyzed in country overview. Land under cultivation, Changes in cropping patterns, farm holding structure and scale of mechanization are covered in agricultural overview. Regulatory policies, the import duty structure, certification and emission standard, subsidies and financing options are covered in government regulation.

Contact Us:

Ankur Gupta

Ken Research Private Limited, Head Marketing

[email protected]

+91-9015378249

SOURCE Ken Research
WOOD DALE, Ill., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- AAR (NYSE: AIR) today announced that it will release financial results for its third quarter of Fiscal Year 2019, ended February 28, 2019 after the market closes on Tuesday, March 19, 2019.

On Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at 3:45 p.m. CT, AAR will hold a conference call to discuss the results. The conference call can be accessed by calling 866-802-4322 from inside the U.S. or +1-703-639-1319 from outside the U.S.

A replay of the conference call will also be available by calling 855-859-2056 from inside the U.S. or +1-404-537-3406 from outside the U.S. (access code 4480048). The replay will be available from 7:15 p.m. CT on March 19, 2019, until 10:59 p.m. CT on March 26, 2019.

About AAR

AAR is a global aftermarket solutions company that employs more than 6,000 people in over 20 countries. Based in Wood Dale, Illinois, AAR supports commercial aviation and government customers through two operating segments: Aviation Services and Expeditionary Services. AAR's Aviation Services include inventory management; parts supply; OEM parts distribution; aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul; engineering services and component repair. AAR's Expeditionary Services include mobility systems and command and control centers in support of military and humanitarian missions. More information can be found at www.aarcorp.com.

This press release contains certain statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on beliefs of Company management, as well as assumptions and estimates based on information currently available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those anticipated, including those factors discussed under Item 1A, entitled "Risk Factors", included in the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2018. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize adversely, or should underlying assumptions or estimates prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described. These events and uncertainties are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many are beyond the Company's control. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. For additional information, see the comments included in AAR's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE AAR

Related Links

http://www.aarcorp.com


ANNVILLE, Pa., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, senior leaders from the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) are visiting injured Pennsylvania National Guard members undergoing medical treatment at Fort Belvoir, VA.

Led by Maj. Gen. Tony Carrelli, Pennsylvania's adjutant general and head of the DMVA, the contingent is spending the day at the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU), where soldiers with varying injuries sustained while serving our nation are healing and anxiously awaiting their return back to their homes and families. Pennsylvania's senior leaders wanted to spend the day with their guardsmen, check on their progress and well-being, and thank them and their families again for their service and sacrifice to our commonwealth and country.

"It is important for our leaders to stay connected with our service members wherever they are: at training, during exercises, while on deployment, and especially at the WTU for those who were injured during their service," said Carrelli. "By personally visiting these soldiers, we can see firsthand how they are doing and specifically address any support issues they may have encountered during their treatment. It is also an outstanding opportunity to remind them that Pennsylvania is proud of their service and grateful for their families' sacrifice while they are defending our freedom."

Carrelli is also taking the opportunity to thank the dedicated staff of caregivers at the WTU who have been working so closely with our injured soldiers assisting them throughout their recovery process.

"There are so many medical professionals at Fort Belvoir who are committed to getting our soldiers back to good health, back to their families and back to their lives," he said. "We want to make sure they know that their excellent work does not go un-noticed or under-appreciated."

A WTU is designed to ensure that healing is the first priority for injured soldiers and provides high-quality living conditions, prevents unnecessary procedural delays, and facilitates their physical, mental and spiritual healing process.

For more information about the DMVA, visit us online at www.dmva.pa.gov or follow us at www.facebook.com/padmva or www.twitter.com/padmva.

MEDIA CONTACT: Joseph Butera, 717-861-2178

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

Related Links

http://www.dmva.pa.gov


NEW YORK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Forecasts by Spending (Personnel, Operations and Maintenance (O&M), Research, Development, Training & Evaluation, Procurement (RDT&E) and Others), by Domain (Airborne, Land-based, Naval and Space) Plus Analysis of Leading Local and International Companies in the Market. APC, UAV MBT, IFV, UCAV, SAM, OPV, SATCOM



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05751547



The latest report from business intelligence provider Visiongain offers comprehensive analysis of the African defence market. Visiongain assesses that this market will generate revenues of USD $63.2bn in 2019.

Now: In July 2014 Armscor and AMD entered into strategic alliance to meet the needs of the Department of Defence (DoD) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

In Sept 2016, Saab and Denel showcased a complete air defence solution with the Saab multi-mission Giraffe AMB surveillance radar and the Denel Dynamics Umkhonto surface-to-air missile.

This are examples of the business critical headline that you need to know about  and more importantly, you need to read visiongain's objective analysis of how this will impact your company and the industry more broadly. How are you and your company reacting to this news? Are you sufficiently informed?



How this report will benefit you

Read on to discover how you can exploit the future business opportunities emerging in this sector. Visiongain's new study tells you and tells you NOW.

In this brand new report you find 127 in-depth tables, and 126 Figures all exclusive to this report.

The 196 page report provides clear detailed insight into the African defence market. Discover the key drivers and challenges affecting the market.

By ordering and reading our brand new report today you stay better informed and ready to act.



Report Scope

 Global African defence forecasts from 2019-2029

 Regional African defence market forecasts from 2019-2029 covering leading countries in Africa.

 African defence submarket forecasts from 2019-2029

 Analysis of the key factors driving growth in the global, regional and country level African defence markets from 2019-2029

 Ddetailed contract and programme tables containing contracts / projects and programmes in the African defence sector by companies

 Profiles and market share of the leading 10 African defence companies in 2019 at a global level and for leading countries



How will you benefit from this report?

 Keep your knowledge base up to speed. Don't get left behind

 Reinforce your strategic decision-making with definitive and reliable market data

 Learn how to exploit new technological trends

 Realise your company's full potential within the market

 Understand the competitive landscape and identify potential new business opportunities & partnerships



Who should read this report?

 Anyone within the African defence market

 Technologists

 Suppliers

 Investors

 Government agencies

 Contractors

 Defence Ministries

 Systems Integrators

 Subcomponent Suppliers



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05751547



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


"Jonathan brings deep knowledge and expertise to Aireon at such a crucial moment for our company, as our system nears full operational status," said Don Thoma, CEO, Aireon. "His extensive experience, working across multiple facets of the aviation industry, offers a unique perspective for this new line of business. We are thrilled that he will be working with our team."

Prior to taking on this new role, Astill served as Director of Alliances, Airline and International Affairs for NATS, the United Kingdom's leading Air Navigation Service Provider, where he was responsible for NATS' global engagement across the aviation industry. His career with NATS spans 30 years, with the first 10 years of his career as an operational Air Traffic Controller.

In the Aireon role, Astill will be responsible for all aspects of Aireon's ATFM services, leading technical support, business strategy, operations, business development and service rollout.

"I am excited to assist the impressive Aireon team and help usher in this next era of global air traffic surveillance," said Astill. "When I was in my previous position at NATS, I worked with Aireon very closely on the deployment of their service in the UK and truly believe what Aireon is doing will change air traffic management and the aviation industry as a whole. I am honored to be working with Aireon at such an important time and look forward to getting started on their new business line."

On January 11, 2019, the final Iridium NEXT launch successfully took place from SpaceX's west coast launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Each Iridium NEXT satellite hosts an AireonSM ADS-B payload. On February 6, 2019, Aireon formally took control of the final six payloads from Iridium Communications. With the final launch and payload handoff complete, Aireon is set to go live with its air traffic surveillance service in early Spring 2019.

About Aireon LLC

Aireon is deploying a space-based air traffic surveillance system for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipped aircraft throughout the entire globe. Aireon will harness next-generation aviation surveillance technologies that are currently ground-based and, for the first time ever, extend their reach globally to significantly improve efficiency, enhance safety, reduce emissions and provide cost savings benefits to all stakeholders. Real-time ADS-B surveillance will cover oceanic, polar and remote regions, as well as augment existing ground-based systems that are limited to terrestrial airspace. In partnership with leading ANSPs from around the world, like NAV CANADA, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), Enav, NATS and Naviair, as well as Iridium Communications, Aireon will provide a global, real-time, space-based air traffic surveillance system to all aviation stakeholders.

For more information, please visit www.aireon.com

Press Contact:

Jessie Hillenbrand

Aireon

+1 (703) 287-7452

[email protected]

SOURCE Aireon

Related Links

http://www.aireon.com


SAN RAFAEL, Calif., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcohol Justice and the San Rafael Alcohol & Drug Coalition will release a new report: ALCOPOPS 2020 - Time to End Big Alcohol's Predation on Youth, on Friday, March 8, 2019. The report on dangerous youth-attractive, flavored malt beverages (FMBs) known as alcopops, will be presented to the public at a press event at Alcohol Justice's offices in the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael. Participants, led by Youth For Justice, will then march to a rally at the Circle K close by. This is one of the few businesses in the Canal that has failed to respond to community concerns over their continued sale of alcopops. Activists will demand once again that the products be voluntarily removed from the business.

What: Report Release / March / Rally

When: Friday, March 8, 2019, 6 - 7 p.m.

Where: Alcohol Justice - 24 Belvedere St. San Rafael, CA 94901 @ 6:00 p.m.

Circle K - 981 Francisco Blvd. E, San Rafael, CA 94901 @ 6:30 p.m.

Who:

Erick Bejarano , & Fernanda Dionicio , Youth For Justice, San Rafael

, & , Youth For Justice, Zaida Bejarano , Consejo Restaurativo (Restorative Justice), San Rafael

, Consejo Restaurativo (Restorative Justice), Otis Bruce , Deputy District Attorney, County of Marin

, Deputy District Attorney, County of Marin Greg Knell , President of the President, San Rafael School Board

, President of the President, San Alcohol Justice

California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA)

Canal Community Businesses, Parents & Residents

San Rafael Alcohol and Drug Coalition

Trips for Kids

University of San Francisco School of Nursing

School of Nursing Youth for Justice

YMCA

Why: Youth-attractive alcopops, or Flavored Malt Beverages (FMBs):

Are pre-mixed, sweetened alcoholic drinks that taste like juice and soda

Are packaged in brightly-colored cans, similar to energy drinks

Are priced low enough to effectively target underage drinkers, especially young women

Can be shelved wherever beer is available - including convenience stores and gas stations

In supersized 25 oz. single-serving containers with 14 percent alcohol are the equivalent of 4-5 beers

Encourage underage consumption and binge drinking which leads to serious alcohol-related harm

For Additional Information: https://alcoholjustice.org/

CONTACT: Michael Scippa 415 548-0492

Jorge Castillo 213 840-3336

Maite Duran 415 717-1099

SOURCE Alcohol Justice

Related Links

http://www.AlcoholJustice.org


CINCINNATI and TOKYO, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Privately held Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, LLC ("Aprecia") and CMIC CMO Co., LTD ("CMIC CMO") today announced that both companies will collaborate to develop business opportunities in Japan for Aprecia's ZipDose Technology. CMIC CMO's services will include identifying prospects in Japan, generating awareness and facilitating discussions of technology licensing agreements, research collaborations and distribution partnerships. Through this engagement Aprecia seeks to expand its 3DP products globally, and this agreement highlights the importance of Japan in its long term strategy.

Aprecia is the world's first and only commercial-stage manufacturer of three-dimensionally printed pharmaceuticals. Its first 3DP innovation, ZipDose Technology, can accommodate a wide variety of active pharmaceutical ingredients and formulation technologies to create high value products with unique performance characteristics such as rapid disintegration to better meet the needs and solve the problems of patients, caregivers and medical staff across multiple therapeutic categories. Beyond ZipDose Technology, the company is developing additional applications for its 3DP manufacturing platform as a means to provide breakthrough products in multiple dose forms.

CMIC Group is the first and largest clinical CRO in Japan. Upon years, CMIC Group also expanded to provide comprehensive services in drug formulation development, clinical to commercial GMP manufacturing, clinical site management, regulatory consulting and contract sales.

"Aprecia sees a tremendous opportunity to create value in the Japanese pharmaceutical market through our 3DP technology platform via product license, development, manufacturing, and distribution partnerships with Japanese pharma companies," said Tim Tracy, Chief Executive Officer of Aprecia. "Entry into the Japanese pharma market requires a comprehensive understanding of the industry, competitive landscape, consumer preferences, market challenges and opportunities, stakeholder relationships, business contacts, etc., etc. As the leading provider of comprehensive pharmaceutical services in Japan, CMIC CMO is uniquely qualified to provide Aprecia with an efficient and effective way to enter the market," he continued.

"Orally disintegrating tablets have always been very popular in Japan for pharmaceutical companies to maximize the value of both their existing product brands and pipeline product candidates . ZipDose technology uniquely addresses the need for high dose orally disintegrating tablets to reduce burden on patients who have difficulty swallowing, as well as caregivers and healthcare professionals who seek better ways to improve administration adherence," said Makoto Matsukawa, Chief Executive Officer of CMIC CMO. "CMIC Group is involved in nearly 80% of new drug development in Japan. With CMIC Group's industrial experiences, customer network and market understanding, we can help Aprecia to bring the ZipDose technology to Japanese market faster," he continued.

About Aprecia

Aprecia, the world leader in three-dimensionally-printed pharmaceutical products, expects to use its ZipDose Technology to transform the way people take medicine. Its first innovation, ZipDose Technology can be combined with a wide variety of active pharmaceutical ingredients to create rapidly disintegrating oral dosage forms that are easy to take and easy to administer. Aprecia directly owns a patent estate for novel 3DP machines and pharmaceutical 3DP applications, and plans to license its exclusive patent protected technology to pharmaceutical partners as a means to extend product lines, expand patient reach, and protect market exclusivity for innovator's brand products. For further information, please visit www.aprecia.com.

About CMIC Group

CMIC Group started business in 1992 as the first CRO in Japan, and the company today provides comprehensive support services for the development, manufacturing, sales, and marketing of pharmaceutical products. Also, the company operates to respond to diversifying needs by managing the Healthcare Business sector and developing and selling diagnostic pharmaceuticals and orphan drugs. CMIC Group has developed a unique business model called Pharmaceutical Value Creator (PVC) based on its abundant accumulated experience and knowledge as a CRO pioneer. CMIC Group utilizes the PVC to create new value in the healthcare field.

For more information, visit CMIC Group's website: https://www.cmicgroup.com/e/

SOURCE Aprecia

Related Links

https://www.aprecia.com




FRAMINGHAM, Mass., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Rave Mobile Safety (Rave) , a trusted partner for safety software protecting millions of individuals, and the Prairie Grove School District honored an Arkansas teacher with a SmartSave Award for her role in helping a student during a medical emergency on school grounds. First in the country to deploy Rave Panic Button state-wide, Arkansas utilizes the technology to protect students, staff and administration across all of the 1,053 public K-12 schools as well as county courthouses and the state capital complex.

The school district honored Brandy Carte, a special education teacher at Prairie Grove Elementary School, for taking immediate action to bring medical attention to a student in the midst of a severe seizure during which her breathing and heart stopped. Carte, prepared with a plan, appropriate training and Rave Panic Button technology, expedited the emergency response process with the touch of a button. The teamwork provided by staff and emergency responders not only meant that the student regained consciousness in the classroom, but that emergency response extended all the way to the police department blocking intersections for the ambulance to travel more quickly.

In a letter, Carte expressed her surprise at the amount of response initiated by the application: "What I didn't realize was all of the support that would arrive due to the notification given from one push of a button."

The mother of the student also shared, "We know that things could change for her again, but we have complete confidence that if something awful were to happen again that she is in a completely safe and loving environment. We know with the Rave Panic Button app that she will always get the help she needs as quickly as it can possibly happen."

When activated, Rave Panic Button communicates an emergency to 9-1-1, on-site personnel and first responders in seconds. The application shortens response times, reduces confusion and improves safety for all those in the immediate area by providing information during the first seconds of an event.

"Rave is proud to support the safety of students and staff across Arkansas," said JP French, Director of Strategic Accounts, Rave Mobile Safety. "The quick response enacted by Brandy was truly amazing and illustrates our ultimate goal of simply protecting students and teachers across the country."

The SmartSave Award was created to honor those who effectively use Rave's suite of products to positively affect the outcome of an emergency. Learn more about the Rave Panic Button app here, https://www.ravemobilesafety.com/panic-button .

About Rave Mobile Safety

Rave Mobile Safety provides the leading critical communication and data platform trusted to help save lives. Used by leading education and healthcare institutions, enterprises and state and local public safety agencies, the award-winning Rave platform including Rave Alert, Rave 911 Suite, Rave Panic Button, Rave Guardian, Rave Prepare, Rave Eyewitness and Swift911 and SwiftK12 protects millions of individuals. Rave Mobile Safety is headquartered in Framingham, MA. For more information, please visit https://www.ravemobilesafety.com .

SOURCE Rave Mobile Safety

Related Links

https://www.ravemobilesafety.com


MIAMI, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Badia Spices, Inc. has announced a $1 million gift to the Next Horizon campaign at Florida International University to create the Badia Spices Scholarship Endowment at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.

The Badia Spices Scholarship Endowment will be used to recruit and retain students and enrich the student experience at the Chaplin School. It will do so primarily by providing scholarships for students, with a preference given to those who are first generation or demonstrate financial need.

"I am proud to continue to strengthen the legacy of our family at FIU," said Joseph Badia, CEO of Badia Spices, Inc. "The university is an excellent partner for Badia Spices, Inc., and I am thankful to have this opportunity to support hospitality students."

This gift is the largest in the history of Badia and FIU's partnership, surpassing a $500,000 gift in May 2015 that named the Badia Spices Food Production Laboratory. That history also includes two scholarship funds established in 2004 and 2006, respectively, as well as the initiation of a spice competition for students. As part of that challenge, students were asked to develop an original spice blend, with each finalist receiving a Badia scholarship. Jenifer Bound created Holy Smokes Pork & Meat Rub, and Eddie Zeng created Biscayne Bay Seafood Seasoning. The Chaplin School receives 5 percent of the global sales of the spice blends.

"Mr. Badia continues to demonstrate his role as a community leader and someone who cares deeply about our hospitality students," said Michael Cheng, interim dean of the Chaplin School. "We look forward to continuing to work with Badia Spices in the years to come."

Through this gift, Badia Spices becomes one of the first major donors to the public phase of the Next Horizon campaign, a landmark effort to raise $750 million in support of student success and research excellence.

"We thank Badia Spices, Inc. and Mr. Badia for his support of our FIU," said Howard Lipman, CEO of the FIU Foundation, Inc. "With this gift, Badia Spices, Inc., is directly enabling students to secure an excellent education at the Chaplin School."

Sara Morgan

Eleven Eleven PR

(703) 298-2243

[email protected]

For photo of Joseph Badia and Jennifer Bound, click here.

SOURCE Florida International University
The bill, introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), takes a significant step toward updating the current regulatory structure governing cosmetics and skin care products. It calls for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the safety of ingredients used in beauty and personal care products, gives the agency the ability to recall harmful products from the market, promotes better transparency for consumers, requires companies to report adverse events related to their products to the FDA and provide the agency with the ability to review ingredients commonly used in personal care products.

"Over the past six years, Beautycounter's mission has brought us to Washington DC and state legislatures across the country to build momentum for legislative reform of the beauty industry," said Gregg Renfrew, Beautycounter's Founder & CEO. "That is why we are again proud to support the Personal Care Products Safety Act, a bill that prioritizes safety while helping businesses thrive. We applaud the continued leadership of Senators Feinstein and Collins to strengthen outdated regulations and protect public safety. Much more needs to be done to fully protect consumers and Beautycounter will fight to ensure that the most health protective law passes Congress."

Despite its continuous growth, the $70 billion beauty industry in the United States has largely gone unregulated. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act of 1938 is the most recent major regulation adopted by the industry, which essentially allows personal care product companies to self-regulate. The Personal Care Products Safety Act would give the FDA more oversight to ensure product safety through a variety of mandates, including having to evaluate a minimum of five ingredients, or classes of ingredients per year for safety; ordering recalls; requiring complete ingredient information on labels and more.

"From shampoo and shaving cream to deodorant and make-up, every American comes into contact with personal care products every day," said Senator Feinstein. "Families trust that these products are safe, but unfortunately many ingredients have never been independently evaluated. Our bipartisan legislation, which has the support of numerous companies and consumer advocacy groups, would modernize FDA's oversight authority and give consumers confidence that everyday personal care products won't harm their health."

Beautycounter is mobilizing its base in support of the bill, including its clients and network of more than 40,000 Independent Consultants across all 50 states. To celebrate the bill introduction and the brand's 6th anniversary, Beautycounter Consultants will be holding meetings with local members of Congress in their hometowns, urging them to support the Personal Care Products Safety Act. A certified B Corporation, Beautycounter has been active on Capitol Hill since its founding in 2013, and launched the Counteract Coalition in 2017, a group of nearly 20 clean, high-performance beauty brands dedicated to advancing a safer cosmetics industry.

About Beautycounter:

Beautycounter is the leader in the safer skin-care and cleaner cosmetics category. The Santa Monica, CA-based brand drives a national movement for improved transparency and accountability in the beauty industry, including advocacy to update federal regulations that have stood largely unchanged since 1938. The company's mission is "to get safer products into the hands of everyone". Beautycounter develops and distributes approximately 150 products across skin-care, color cosmetics, advanced anti-aging, kids, baby, and personal care collections. Beautycounter is a Certified B Corporation. Founded by Gregg Renfrew in 2011, Beautycounter launched in 2013 as a direct-retail brand (direct to consumer through multiple channels) that is now available online at beautycounter.com, in the New York City boutique, in seasonal East Hampton and Nantucket pop-ups, through strategic partnerships, and approximately 40,000 Consultants across North America. For more information, please visit www.beautycounter.com .

SOURCE Beautycounter

Related Links

http://www.beautycounter.com


WASHINGTON, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today awarded a $3 million grant to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to accelerate pilot training and aviation maintenance programs.

Boeing's investment will create a permanent endowment to fund annual scholarships for flight training, maintenance training and certification costs related to the pilot training and aviation maintenance programs. Scholarship dollars will be made available to all students  with a focus on increasing the number of women, military veteran and minority students enrolled in both programs.

Speaking at the 18th Annual U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit, Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg emphasized the need for increased collaboration within the global aerospace industry to address the growing demand for commercial pilots and technicians.

"It's essential that industry and higher education work together to increase the pipeline of aerospace talent. Our partnership with Embry-Riddle demonstrates Boeing's commitment to the continued growth and diversification of the global aerospace industry," said Muilenburg. "Through this grant, we'll help more students  with more diverse backgrounds  learn with greater efficiency and perform more effectively once on the job."

According to Boeing's 2018 Pilot & Technician Outlook, the industry will need 790,000 new civil aviation pilots and 754,000 new maintenance technicians to fly and maintain the world fleet over the next 20 years. The forecast is inclusive of the commercial aviation, business aviation and civil helicopter industries.

This latest investment builds upon Boeing's long-standing support of STEM programs, women, military veterans and minorities. In 2018 alone, Boeing contributed a record $284 million to build better communities worldwide.

About Boeing

Boeing is the world's largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As the top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries. Boeing employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.

About Embry-Riddle

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the world's largest and most comprehensive aviation and aerospace university. Embry-Riddle engages in extensive research and consulting that address the unique needs of aviation, aerospace, and related industries.

Residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla. , and Prescott, Ariz. , provide education in a traditional setting, while Embry-Riddle Worldwide provides instruction through both online and face-to-face methods via a network of education facilities designed to support student advancement in the U.S. and abroad.

All academic programs at Embry-Riddle are approved for veterans' educational benefits and are accompanied by personalized academic advisement.

Contact

Jason Capeheart

Boeing Communications

Office: +1 312-544-2568

[email protected]

SOURCE Boeing

Related Links

http://www.boeing.com


SILVER SPRING, Md., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A Head for the Future, a Defense Department brain injury awareness initiative, will highlight videos of service members and veterans who sought help to recover from traumatic brain injury throughout March. The Military Health System will feature these videos, and more, all month long on Facebook and Twitter through a social media campaign.

"Sharing inspiring stories throughout Brain Injury Awareness Month spreads knowledge of TBI in the military community," said Navy Capt. Scott Pyne, Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) division chief. "Many individuals may not be aware of brain injury risk factors, or what to do if they have a TBI. We want our military community to better understand TBI, know the signs and symptoms to look out for in themselves, colleagues or family members, and encourage them to seek the advice of a medical provider if they have any concerns."

The video series features a variety of service members' and veterans' personal TBI experiences, including the following stories:

Retired Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Gary D. Moran sustained a TBI while serving in combat and ignored his symptoms for years. He decided to get help after a high-ranking commanding officer talked about experiencing TBI. Moran continues to recover today with the help of his son.

sustained a TBI while serving in combat and ignored his symptoms for years. He decided to get help after a high-ranking commanding officer talked about experiencing TBI. Moran continues to recover today with the help of his son. While deployed, retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Victor Medina sustained a TBI when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle. After the TBI, Medina could barely speak, but with the support of his wife, Roxana Delgado , he became fully independent and went on to earn a master's degree

sustained a TBI when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle. After the TBI, Medina could barely speak, but with the support of his wife, , he became fully independent and went on to earn a master's degree During her first deployment, retired Navy Lt. Amanda Burrill slipped and lost consciousness. Before long, symptoms including loss of concentration and memory issues arose, but she kept working. One day, Burrill realized she couldn't recall the brief she had just written, and she knew something was wrong. She sought help and doctors diagnosed her with TBI.

slipped and lost consciousness. Before long, symptoms including loss of concentration and memory issues arose, but she kept working. One day, Burrill realized she couldn't recall the brief she had just written, and she knew something was wrong. She sought help and doctors diagnosed her with TBI. A 7.62 mm round bounced off Army Sgt. 1st Class Bradley Lee's helmet during a firefight while deployed. He continued to serve in the military for years. When his wife noticed his TBI symptoms, she called Lee's sergeant major to intervene.

According to Pyne, A Head for the Future (managed by DVBIC) also provides several educational resources, such as fact sheets with safety tips, and information for caregivers and providers of service members and veterans with TBI.

"Throughout Brain Injury Awareness Month and beyond, use these resources to spread the word about TBI prevention, recognition, and recovery," said Pyne.

To learn more about TBI and A Head for the Future, and to find additional videos and educational resources on preventing brain injury, visit dvbic.dcoe.mil/aheadforthefuture, and follow A Head for the Future on Twitter and Facebook.

Sign up for Military Health System e-mail updates at www.health.mil/subscriptions.

Connect with the Military Health System on Facebook and Twitter.

The Military Health System and the Defense Health Agency administer the worldwide health care plan for more than 9.4 million eligible beneficiaries of the uniformed services, retirees and their families.

DVBIC, the Defense Health Agency traumatic brain injury center of excellence, is a division of the DHA Research and Development Directorate.

SOURCE Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
Brand Makeover is now officially open for business! Brand Makeover is an exciting reality show that flips outdated brands by turning a company brand vision into a reality. The show's creative team will work on a company's brand image such as logos, websites, and other related advertising campaigns. They also provide assistance with social media , web and app development , and strategic consultations.

If you are a small business owner who needs design, development, and marketing assistance, get featured on Brand Makeover by applying at http://brandmakeover.tv/apply. Submission deadline for their next episode is March 26, 2019. Apply now! Get a custom-made brand identity developed by a creative team to help you gain brand exposure and a fresh, new look built for 21st-century digital marketing.

To be eligible, you must:

Be in the areas of Los Angeles , Orange County , San Diego , and nearby beach cities.

, , , and nearby beach cities. Have a small or medium-sized business that needs a fresh new look and assistance with online presence OR is in the process of establishing a new business and need a new identity. Verification of business identity may be required.

and need a new identity. Verification of business identity may be required. Be outgoing, energetic, open to changes within the business, and open to having fun with unique stories to tell.

Be able to make quick decisions in order to stay on track of tight timelines.

Be available for up to 3-5 days of filming at your location.

Be comfortable and aware that will video will be published online.

Be enthusiastic about working with our creative team giving your business a new look.

Be 21 years of age or older to apply and complete the online application form.

Benefits of being a part of Brand Makeover include:

Be featured in our series and gain more followers

Receive a fresh new logo and other advertising campaign needs

needs Receive any and all work done during the makeover

A strategic next steps plan for future brand development

Brand Makeover is also searching for talents who can sponsor the show. Interested? Send an email [email protected]. Your products will be given significant airtime on the show.

To learn more, text Brand Makeover at +1 (747) 229-0301.

SOURCE Brand Makeover

Related Links

http://brandmakeover.tv/apply


NSPS Metals starts construction of its new 130,000 square foot steel distribution and processing center in Houston, Texas in March 2019. According to the plans, later expansion to 260,000 square feet is contemplated. The first development phase of this facility is to be completed in early 2020. Pacesetter founder Steve Leebow stated, "Investment is our commitment to the Southwestern marketplace and Mexico."

Through creativity and knowledge sharing by its leaders and team members, NSPS will service and support customers in the HVACR, appliance, automotive, garage door, metal building, metal roofing as well as other industries.

The construction of our new facility in Houston demonstrates the commitment of NSPS Metals to create tailored solutions that make the greatest difference to our associates and our customers.

About NSBA:



NIPPON STEEL & SUMIKIN BUSSAN AMERICAS, INC. (NSBA) is the United States subsidiary of NIPPON STEEL & SUMIKIN BUSSAN CORPORATION (NSSB; head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; president: Yasumitsu Saeki) NSBA is in charge of distribution for NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION and its group companies. It is NSBA's goal as a trading arm of NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION and a specialist in steel products to epitomize a strong corporate group that makes a valued contribution not only to end users and manufacturers, but also to the overall development of the steel industry. With the powerful corporate backing of NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION and its group companies, NSBA has expanded its trading activities primarily in steel products and has been praised by its business partners for its expertise and reliability.





For more information visit www.nssb-us.com

About Pacesetter:



"Our People, Your Advantage" is ingrained in Pacesetter's culture and its attitude toward servicing its customers and suppliers. Founded in 1977 and headquartered near Atlanta, Georgia, Pacesetter operates service centers outside of Atlanta, Chicago and in Houston. Pacesetter processes and supplies cold rolled, galvanized, galvannealed, galvalume, aluminized, and prepainted steel. Services include slitting, cut to length, precision blanking.

Pacesetter leads the industry with innovative solutions across a variety of industries. By design, the organization delivers The Ultimate Customer Experience via its team's expertise, game-changing innovative services, pioneering technology, and superior products. With a focus on internal and external collaboration, Pacesetter relentlessly pursues new ideas and develops industry-evolving solutions. Pacesetter's tech-forward, Women's Business Enterprise continues to expand and evolve to meet a growing client base and industry demands.

For more information visit www.teampacesetter.com

SOURCE Pacesetter

Related Links

http://teampacesetter.com/


As an initial step in its market entry, Broxel launched its rst product, The Vicente Fernandez Broxel USA Prepaid Card at the The Latino Coalition Legislative Summit 2019, in Washington DC where Vicente Fernandez himself introduced the Vicente Fernandez Broxel USA Prepaid Card.

"For Broxel, it is important to reach Hispanics in the United States with solutions to their day-to-day needs, and this the rst of several products that we will offer in the market. It is a privilege for all of us at Broxel to launch this product with the image of Vicente Fernandez, who has taken the name of Mexico to unprecedented heights throughout the world," said Gustavo Gutierrez Galindo, CEO of Broxel.

Broxel's entry into the United States will be focused on catering to the Hispanic market. This will be done through a transactional product which will provide this segment of the population with a safe and efficient way to handle money.

The product will consist of the Broxel App, in addition to the Broxel USA prepaid card. The combination of these elements will help the more than 55 million members of the Hispanic population in the United States to receive, use and send money.

The Broxel USA card, will enable the user to:

Receive and use money in the United States in an easy, fast and safe way.

in an easy, fast and safe way. Access ATM's for cash withdrawal.

Pay for goods and services on merchants and on-line.

Send domestic and international money remittances

Broxel is the most efcient payment system with the most advanced technology in the market today. With this launch, Broxel shows that borders between countries will not stop the innovation being undertaken in Mexico. This card will be available in the month of May.

Broxel, with 8 years of experience in the payments industry, has issued more than 6 million cards and processed millions of transactions reaching into both the corporate as well as the end consumer markets. Its solutions have been deployed in many different corporate and government payment programs to make different administrative and operational processes more efficient. The company's current operations also include financial inclusion platforms for end consumers. Broxel's multi-channel platform provides users with access through a wide range of interaction points such as App, Web, RCS in partnership with Google, SMS, Social Networks, among others.

Learn more at www.broxel.com or on our social networks:

Facebook: @BroxelApp

Twitter: @BroxelApp

Instagram: @Broxelapp

About Broxel

We develop solutions in payment system, based on nancial technology, with the objective of creating efficient, agile, and disruptive nancial ecosystems available anywhere in the world at all times.

To download the press release and obtain additional information visit: www.broxel.com/vicentefernandez

SOURCE Broxel

Related Links

http://www.broxel.com


WASHINGTON, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Children's National Health System announced a generous $1 million gift from Bill and Joanne Conway establishing the Conway Nursing Pathway Program to encourage careers in pediatric nursing. The Pathway Program aims to reduce the financial burden of higher education, address the potential for a nursing shortage and deepen career satisfaction.

The program funds three distinct elements of nursing education: a work study and mentor program for rising high-school seniors with an interest in nursing; scholarships for students who have selected nursing as their major and nursing majors in associate degree programs committed to baccalaureate education; and stipends for Children's National nurses to pursue advanced degrees.

"We're deeply grateful for the Conway family's generosity and vision to enhance pediatric nursing," says Linda Talley, MS, BSN, RN, NE-BC, vice president of nursing and chief nursing officer at Children's National. "The Conways recognize that supporting nursing students has the long-term effect of strengthening community health beginning with children. This gift will help improve care and outcomes for our patients."

Children's National is twice-recognized within the Magnet Recognition Program, a designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Magnet organizations demonstrate the highest standards of nursing excellence and patient care. Only seven percent of hospitals across the United States achieve this recognition. An even smaller percentage of recipients are pediatric hospitals.

"Joanne and I are grateful for the opportunity to support nursing education at Children's National," says Bill Conway, co-founder and co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group and executor of the Bedford Falls Foundation with his wife Joanne. "We are confident that reducing the financial burden for nurses will strengthen the profession and the critical care nurses provide. The inspiration we get from the patients at Children's National compels us to support their care."

In addition to establishing the Pathway Program, the Conways donated $1 million to Children's National in 2013 to help establish the William and Joanne Conway Chair in Nursing Research, one of the nation's first academic chairs in nurse-led research.

Eligible students can be nominated to the Pathway Program now through March 22, 2019. To learn more visit: https://childrensnational.org/research-and-education/healthcare-education/nursing-education/summer-nurse-trainee-programs/conway-nursing-pathway-program.

About Children's National Health System

Children's National Health System, based in Washington, D.C., has served the nation's children since 1870. Children's National is one of the nation's Top 5 pediatric hospitals and, for a second straight year, is ranked No. 1 in newborn care, as well as ranked in all specialties evaluated by U.S. News & World Report. It has been designated two times as a Magnet hospital, a designation given to hospitals that demonstrate the highest standards of nursing and patient care delivery. This pediatric academic health system offers expert care through a convenient, community-based primary care network and specialty outpatient centers in the D.C. Metropolitan area, including the Maryland suburbs and Northern Virginia. Home to the Children's Research Institute and the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, Children's National is the seventh-highest NIH-funded pediatric institution in the nation. Children's National is recognized for its expertise and innovation in pediatric care and as a strong voice for children through advocacy at the local, regional and national levels.



For more information, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE Children's National Health System

Related Links

http://www.childrensnational.org


VANCOUVER, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- City Office REIT, Inc. (NYSE: CIO) ("City Office" or the "Company") today announced the appointment of Sabah Mirza to its Board of Directors.

Ms. Mirza joins the Board of Directors with over 20 years of legal, corporate governance and securities experience, most of which have been spent as in-house counsel across diverse industries, including aviation, defense and travel and leisure. Ms. Mirza is currently Executive Vice President, Business Affairs at Sunwing Travel Group, the largest tour operator in North America with over $2 billion in annual revenue. In this role, she has oversight of the legal, governance, acquisition and government affairs functions of the company. Ms. Mirza was key to the establishment of Sunwing's hotel division in 2010, which now comprises over $700 million in real estate assets and over 15,000 rooms under management across ten countries. Previously, Ms. Mirza was Vice President & General Counsel at a charter airline, and prior to that she was Vice President and Division Counsel at a subsidiary of L-3 Technologies. Ms. Mirza holds law degrees from the University of Ottawa.

"The Board of Directors is thrilled to welcome Sabah to the Company," said John McLernon, Chairman of the Board. "Sabah has tremendous experience, and her diverse expertise in both legal and operating capacities brings a unique and additive perspective to our Board."

With the addition of Ms. Mirza as an Independent Director, the Company's Board will consist of seven Directors, six of whom the Board has determined meet the independence standards of the NYSE Listed Company Manual and the Company's corporate governance guidelines.

About City Office REIT, Inc.

City Office REIT is an internally-managed real estate company focused on acquiring, owning and operating high-quality office properties located in leading 18-hour cities in the Southern and Western United States. City Office currently owns or has an interest in 5.7 million square feet of office properties. The Company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. All statements that are not statements of historical facts are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to source, acquire and close on properties on the terms it expects, or at all; the Company's expectations and forecasts of its cash flows and future leasing activity at its current and future properties, and the Company's ability to accurately model the income yield, capitalization rate, and other financial metrics used to evaluate its properties. These and other material risks are described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and any other documents filed by the Company from time to time, which are available from the Company and from the SEC, and you should read and understand these risks when evaluating any forward-looking statement. The Company does not have any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Contact

City Office REIT, Inc.

Anthony Maretic, CFO

+1-604-806-3366

[email protected]

SOURCE City Office REIT, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.cityofficereit.com


ALBANY, N.Y., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition representing more than 100 stakeholders invested in the region's economic vitality were in Albany today to launch a campaign for expanding Route 17 in Orange and Sullivan counties.

17-Forward-86, a group of business, industry, trade and tourism interests, seeks $500 million from New York state to add a third lane each way on the heavily traveled corridor between Harriman and Exit 103 in Monticello.

Coalition members cited the critical need to ease congestion, improve safety, protect the environment, accommodate growth and enhance the effort to upgrade Route 17 to enable future designation as Interstate 86 in the region.

"Expanding Route 17 is vital to quality of life and the economic well-being of the Hudson Valley and Sullivan Catskills," said Maureen Halahan, President and CEO of the Orange County Partnership. "It will strengthen the region's economy by improving access for tourists and businesses, while enhancing commuter safety and reducing environmental damage from vehicular emissions caused by idling motorists."

New York State Senate and Assembly members were present to voice support for the expansion project, including:

Mayor Joseph DeStefano , Middletown

, Supervisor Douglas Bloomfield , Goshen

, Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther , 100 th District

, 100 District Assemblyman Karl Brabenec , 98 th District

, 98 District Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson , 104 th District

, 104 District Assemblyman Colin Schmitt , 99 th District

, 99 District Senator Jen Metzger , 42 nd District

, 42 District Senator James Skoufis , 39 th District

, 39 District Senator George Amedore Jr. , 46 th District

, 46 District Representative for Assemblyman Brian Miller , 101st District

The coalition's campaign to raise awareness of safety and travel concerns, and solve these problems, comes at a pivotal time for the region. The volume of traffic on Route 17 is expected to increase sharply and the inability to meet driver demand negatively affects everything from economic development and tourism, to public safety and population growth.

"Once complete, this project, by a very conservative estimate, will have an economic impact of $1.5 billion on the region," said Marc Baez, President and CEO, the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development. "With the Resorts World Casino and other investments in Sullivan County, this project is critical to our ability to thrive."

To achieve its goal, 17-Forward-86 is seeing inclusion in the state Department of Transportation's Capital Plan for a five-year term at $100 million a year beginning in March 2020. The state has already invested $150 million in reconfiguring Route 17's Exit 131 and expanding the roadway's capacity is an important next step for the region. This spring, the DOT is scheduled to conduct a $5 million Planning and Environmental Linkage study (PEL), which includes identifying priority locations and conducting environmental assessments and preliminary engineering.

About the Proposed Expansion of Route 17

The 2013 Route 17 Transportation Corridor Study noted that the existing congestion and delays on Route 17 will worsen over the near- and long-term, and that the volume of development along the corridor necessitates an additional lane/added capacity.

Projections by the Cornell Program of Applied Demographics indicate that, by 2020, Sullivan County's population will grow to more than 79,000 and Orange County's to more than 400,000, further increasing traffic along the corridor.

population will grow to more than 79,000 and to more than 400,000, further increasing traffic along the corridor. The continued growth of tourism is also steadily increasing traffic. Sullivan County receives four million visitors annually, which is expected to increase to eight million in 2020. Currently, the population climbs to over 350,000 during the summer months and to an additional 50,000 on any given weekend.

A livestream of the press conference can be viewed here. High-resolution images can be accessed here.

About 17-Forward-86

17-Forward-86 was established in August 2018 by a dedicated group of advocates who support the expansion of Route 17. The coalition comprises more than 100 members of economic development groups, construction trades, tourism groups and energy companies who share a common vision for expanding the capacity of Route 17 to strengthen the economic well-being of the Hudson Valley and Sullivan Catskills. To learn more, visit www.17Forward86.org.

Press Contact: Caryn McBride

Co-Communications Inc.

914-666-0066

[email protected]

SOURCE 17-Forward-86

Related Links

http://www.17forward86.org


PETACH TIKVAH, Israel, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CoolAutomation announced today its plans for a major expansion of its global presence with the appointment to its management team of several seasoned key executives: Yaron Benvenisti as the company's new Chief Executive Officer, Koen Pepermans as EVP Global Sales and Business Development and Roy Muchtar as VP Products.

Yaron Benvenisti CEO

Igor Mitbarg, Co-founder and the company's new EVP Customer Success: "We have been fortunate since day one, investing in our customers and developing products that make HVAC integration and connectivity simple. We believe CoolAutomation's development has reached critical mass, simplifying the work of HVAC, BMS and Home Automation professionals in over 90 countries, and the company is perfectly positioned to seize the numerous opportunities ahead of us. It is my strong belief that expanding the team with vision driven leaders and entrepreneurs that have unique experience in bringing technology to the market, will have an immediate impact on every aspect of CoolAutomation's global presence."

Yaron Benvenisti said: "I am excited to join a cutting edge company with such tremendous potential, and I believe CoolAutomation will play a major role in the development of the interconnected and virtualized HVAC world. It is my aim to take the company to the next level and firmly establish CoolAutomation as the leading integration and IoT solution for HVAC, and automation integrators and service providers worldwide."

Effective immediately, the company plans to boost its product portfolio with the introduction of new wireless integration solutions and enhancing its cloud-based applications as well as the hiring of local and regional sales management across North America, Europe, South Asia and Australia. The company has already announced the upcoming release in Q2 of its new wireless CoolPlug & CooLinkHub that allow integrators to connect and retrofit existing split and multi-split systems without necessitating any wiring.

Koen Pepermans continued: "The first to benefit from this will be our customers, with better access to the company's products and support and more responsive development, all while keeping our solutions as robust and reliable as ever. As someone who learned about CoolAutomation's quality products and solutions while serving in senior positions at Home Automation giants Legrand and Vantage, I am excited to join in helping the company fulfill its vast potential."

About CoolAutomation

CoolAutomation is an Israeli-based design and development company specializing in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) integration solutions. The company's products offer plug-and-play virtualization and connectivity for all types of HVAC systems and from all vendors, coupled with an out-of-the-box cloud-based solution for control and optimization for these systems. The company is led by a unique team of seasoned entrepreneurs and software, hardware and HVAC experts. The company's vision is one of creating an interoperable world, where connecting, controlling and optimizing HVAC is simple and cost-effective.

Contact:

Vicky Ashkenazi

[email protected]

SOURCE CoolAutomation

Related Links

https://coolautomation.com/


CALGARY, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Crescent Point Energy Corp. ("Crescent Point" or the "Company") (TSX andNYSE: CPG) confirms the filing of its Annual Information Form ("AIF") for the year ended December 31, 2018, with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the System for Electronic Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR"). In addition, Crescent Point has filed its Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2018, which includes the AIF, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval ("EDGAR") system. The AIF contains the Company's reserves data and other oil and natural gas information, as required under National Instrument 51-101.

An electronic copy of the AIF may be obtained on Crescent Point's website at www.crescentpointenergy.com, on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and on the Company's EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

Crescent Point is a leading North American light oil producer, driven to enhance shareholder returns by cost-effectively developing a focused asset base in a responsible and sustainable manner.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CRESCENT POINT ENERGY, PLEASE CONTACT:

Brad Borggard, Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning and Capital Markets, or

Shant Madian, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications

Telephone: (403) 693-0020 Toll-free (US and Canada): 888-693-0020 Fax: (403) 693-0070

Address: Crescent Point Energy Corp. Suite 2000, 585 - 8th Avenue S.W. Calgary AB T2P 1G1

www.crescentpointenergy.com

Crescent Point shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CPG.

SOURCE Crescent Point Energy Corp.

Related Links

http://www.crescentpointenergy.com


The conference is renowned for its calibre of attendees attracting CEOs and senior executives from leading miners, smelters, service providers, financiers, as well as government delegations. It is also a major networking event for key stakeholders from across the international copper supply chain. The conference regularly attracts 500 attendees from more than 40 countries; representing the key producers, consumers, traders, distributors, and end-users.

Dominic Halahan, CRU's Portfolio Director for Metals Events, looks forward to this premier industry event.

"The CRU World Copper Conference is the ideal place for the world's leading copper executives to come together at the perfect time. The conference will help attendees understand how different scenarios may impact the price of copper in the short to medium-term and also what opportunities exist for copper producers."

Attendees at the World Copper Conference also gain access to the one-day Exploration Forum on 8 April and the Sulphuric Acid Seminar on 10 April.

The three-day agenda includes key presentations from mining CEOs well as an opening presentation from the Ministry of Mines, Chile.

Additionally, the conference will include sessions on creating shareholder value, developments that may impact Chinese demand; managing project risk and costs; sustainable copper; global supply and demand trends; market updates; the latest technologies; and a dedicated session on how the price of copper may change under different market scenarios.

Key speakers confirmed include:

Robert Friedland , Founder, Executive Co-Chairman, Ivanhoe Mines

, Founder, Executive Co-Chairman, Nelson Pizzaro , Chief Executive Officer, Codelco

, Chief Executive Officer, Codelco Ruben Fernandes , Chief Executive Officer Base Metals, Anglo American

, Chief Executive Officer Base Metals, Don Lindsay , Chief Executive Officer, Teck Resources

, Chief Executive Officer, Alvaro Ossio , VP Senior Commercial, Finance and Business Support, MMG Limited

, VP Senior Commercial, Finance and Business Support, MMG Limited Ivan Arriagada . Group CEO, Antofagasta

. Group CEO, Charlie Murrah , President, Power Systems & Solutions Group, Southwire Company

, President, Power Systems & Solutions Group, Southwire Company Charles O'Donnell , Group Head of Supply Chain and Business Planning, Anglo American

, Group Head of Supply Chain and Business Planning, Ian Linnell , President, Fitch Ratings

, President, Fitch Ratings Christophe Koenig , Senior Vice President, Commercial, Aurubis

, Senior Vice President, Commercial, Aurubis Jagdish Chandra Laddha , CEO - Birla Copper , Hindalco Industries Ltd

, CEO - , Hindalco Industries Ltd Stefan Romedahl, President, Boliden Mines

Running alongside the conference is an exhibition showcasing the latest technologies, products and solutions. For exhibition enquiries, please contact Paul Terry at [email protected] or +44-(0)-20-7903-2131.

We are delighted to have Bechtel, ABB, Collahausi, Jacobs, AngloAmerican, SNC Lavalin, Fitch Ratings, BHP, Fluor, London Metal Exchange and the International Copper Association as key sponsors; as well as industry support from CESCO.

The World Copper Conference will take place at the Sheraton Hotel and Convention Centre, Santiago, Chile on 8-10 April 2019.

Please visit www.worldcopperconference.com to find out more and to book your place.

Read more about CRU: http://bit.ly/About_CRU

About CRU

CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events.

Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China.

CRU employs over 280 experts and has more than 11 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia  our office in Beijing opened in 2004 and Singapore in 2018.

When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response.

CRU  big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers.

SOURCE CRU
ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Culmen International, a leader in international security, logistics and technology solutions in over 100 countries on six continents, announced today that it has been awarded a grant from the Department of State (DOS), Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism (CT) to implement the Libya Airport and Aviation Security Program.

Culmen will be responsible for increasing Libyan airport security, its capacity to monitor terrorist threats, screen against terrorist transit, and develop standard operating procedures to mitigate such threats at three key airports through assessments, equipment procurement, training, and the development of a national aviation security strategy.

"Given the centrality of Libya's civilian airports to many recent conflicts, and their vulnerability to terrorism, a clear and urgent need has emerged for innovative ideas to improve the security of Libya's airports consistent with international standards. Team Culmen team is excited to get to work helping to restore international flights to and from Libya," said Dan Berkon, CEO of Culmen International.

This DoS grant allows Culmen to expand its service capabilities in aviation security, a continued key focus in the fight against terrorism.

About Culmen International

Culmen International is committed to enhancing international security, strengthening homeland defense, and optimizing government operations. We provide technical and management expertise, develop innovative technology solutions, and deliver logistics, training and language services worldwide. With experience in over 100 countries, Culmen supports our clients to accomplish critical missions in challenging environments.

Media Contact: Cindy Powell, [email protected]

SOURCE Culmen International
DALLAS, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fifth year Dallas Startup Week (DSW19), powered by Capital One, returns to Downtown Dallas April 1-5th to impact and mobilize 10,000 North Texas entrepreneurs and change-makers. The FREE, five-day event, organized by The Dallas Entrepreneur Center (The DEC) and more than 100 industry leaders and volunteers, is recognized as the largest event that drives entrepreneurial success, economic impact and innovation in Dallas Fort-Worth.

Dallas Startup Week Dallas Startup Week

"Capital One is proud to partner with The DEC to support Dallas Startup Week, elevating our region as a hub for innovation," said Sanjiv Yajnik, President, Financial Services at Capital One. "This year Capital One is hosting the first-ever Corporate Startup Innovation Summit, bringing together local entrepreneurs and corporations for a day of learning, inspiration and collaboration."

DSW19 will feature more than 150 sessions across 16 categories, a series of special events including the return of the annual State of Entrepreneurship along with headline speakers Mark Cuban, Craig Hall, Mayor Mike Rawlings, Michael Sorrel, Jennifer Sampson and Kara Swisher over the five-day period.

New to DSW19 is Disrupt Dallas, the Women of Innovation Summit and the Corporate Startup Innovation Summit.

"I'm excited to be part of Dallas Startup Week. Dallas is a great place to start and run a business and there is no better time than the present for us to take things to the next level," said Mark Cuban.

This year is dedicated to connecting and uniting startups, founders, corporate and social innovators, investors and community leaders. "It is through these collisions that we unlock the collective power of our corporate landscape and boost the visibility of our startup ecosystem," says Alyce Alston, CEO of The DEC. "This will further position our region as the preeminent hub for driving innovation and defining the future of our economy."

Event Highlights:

Women of Innovation Summit exists to recognize, encourage and advance female leaders who have the courage and passion to transform their ideas and ambitions into a reality.

Featuring a dynamic group of leading visionaries, the Women of Innovation Summit will celebrate, inspire and connect change-makers across markets and industries to provide all women with greater insights and knowledge into the trends and possibilities of the future.

The Women of Innovation Summit will mark the launch of this momentum-building initiative and challenge female leaders to reimagine our organizations, communities and our future.

Corporate Startup Innovation Summit leverages and unites the breadth and diversity of DFW's corporations and dynamic startup ecosystem.

The Summit will mobilize these groups by featuring DFW's best and brightest innovators who will share how their companies are shaping our future -- resulting in new ideas, business models, investment trends, connections and opportunities for business growth and acceleration.

Disrupt Dallas celebrates the champions that are disrupting the diversity pipeline, entrepreneurial market and landscape as well as providing expert education and programming for minority entrepreneurs.

Basecamp will serve as the hub and epicenter for Dallas Startup Week. In partnership with HPI Commercial Real Estate, LLC, Basecamp returns to Ross Tower located at 500 N. Akard St.

Register here for DSW19 and to receive weekly updates on new headline speakers, programs, and events. For more information, visit dallasstartupweek.com .

DALLAS STARTUP WEEK

Dallas Startup Week impacts and mobilizes over 10,000 North Texas entrepreneurs and change-makers. The free, five-day event is organized by The DEC Network and over 100 community leaders and volunteers. For more information visit dallasstartupweek.com .

THE DEC NETWORK

The DEC Network is a 501c3 non-profit organization driving innovation and economic impact by helping entrepreneurs start, build and grow their businesses. With a number of innovation hubs across DFW, we provide expert education, access to knowledgeable mentors, and a vibrant community of like-minded entrepreneurs. We accelerate founder success through connections and collaboration from our work with investors, corporations, and public institutions. Since 2013, we have attracted more than 125,000 visitors, hosted over 2,000 educational events and worked with over 200 partner organizations. For more information, visit thedec.co.

Media Contact:

Michelle Lamont

214-228-9135

[email protected]

SOURCE Dallas Startup Week

Related Links

http://dallasstartupweek.com


HARRISBURG, Pa., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) reminds eligible parties that applications for grants to fund programs that discourage and reduce underage and dangerous drinking are due by noon Friday, March 15, 2019.

Eligible grant applicants include Pennsylvania school districts and institutions of higher education (including technical, trade, and post-secondary establishments), community organizations, municipal police departments, municipal officials/representatives, and nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

The grant cycle is for one year, from July 2019 through June 2020. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis with a maximum award of $20,000 per grantee. Applications will be received and evaluated by the PLCB's Bureau of Alcohol Education, with awards made subject to availability of funds.

During the last grant cycle, the PLCB awarded about $1 million in alcohol education grants. Initiatives funded in previous years include increased underage police patrols, enhanced law enforcement initiatives, MADD's Power of Parents campaigns, college alcohol assessment surveys, peer education and training programs, and more.

Grant applications are limited to one per organization, school, municipality, or institution of higher education.

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates more than 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits  totaling $16.5 billion since the agency's inception  are returned to Pennsylvania's General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania's schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit lcb.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT: Shawn Kelly, 717.783.8864

SOURCE Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

Related Links

http://www.lcb.state.pa.us


ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Equatorial Guinea will host the African Development Bank's next Annual Meetings in June 2019, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two parties. The Annual Meetings will take place from 11th to 14th June, 2019 in the country's capital city, Malabo.

"The Government and people of Equatorial Guinea are ready and look forward to hosting the African Development Bank's flagship event in 2019," said Mr. Bernardo Abaga Ndong, general coordinator of the National Technical Committee in charge of the Annual Meetings.

"We are determined to make the Annual Meetings in our country a most resounding success that will definitely bolster our national prestige, because an event with over 3,000 participants is not a small affair," Ndong emphasised. An aide-memoire on the country's preparedness to host the event was signed on 27th February 2019. The signing took place on the sidelines of regional consultative meetings between the Bank and its African shareholders, held in Abidjan from 25th February to 1st March, 2019, and attended by Equatorial Guinea's finance minister Lucas Abaga Nchama.

Speaking at the signing, Andre Basse, the African Development Bank's Chief of protocol, who signed on behalf of the Bank, commended the host country for its commitment to the success of the Annual Meetings, returning this year to African soil after being held in Korea and India respectively.

The theme of the African Development Bank's Annual Meetings this year is 'Regional integration' - one of the Bank's five strategic priorities, known as the High 5s: (Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the quality of life of the people of Africa).

With 1 billion people, Africa has a combined GDP of more than $3.4 trillion. Such a market could create huge opportunities for producers on the continent. But to make it a reality, African governments and regional economic communities should intensify efforts aimed at facilitating the free movement of goods, services, people and trade across borders.

The Bank's Annual Meetings represent a unique opportunity to discuss challenges and ways to advance the continent's regional integration agenda.

Some 3,000 participants are expected in Malabo, including finance ministers, governors of central banks, policy makers, civil society groups, heads of international organisations and business leaders from the Bank Group's member states.

Media Contact: Chawki Chahed, Chief Communications Officer, African Development Bank Tel. +225 20 26 27 02 / C. +225 75 75 31 20 / [email protected]

SOURCE Banque Africaine de Developpement

Related Links

https://www.afdb.org/en/


NASHVILLE, Ga., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Senator David Perdue (R-GA) recently toured the more than one million square foot Chaparral Boats Inc. manufacturing facility in an effort to learn more about the company and the recreational boat industry. Chaparral Boats employees 1,000 full-time employees in South Georgia and Senator Perdue was able to witness the manufacturing process first-hand.

Senator Perdue engaged the Chaparral team throughout his tour to discuss a range of issues including workforce development and trade, as well as production and logistics.

"I was extremely impressed with Senator Perdue's knowledge of current issues regarding our industry," said Buck Pegg, founder of Chaparral Boats. "Senator Perdue's background as a Fortune 500 CEO made him very familiar with the workforce challenges our company faces, as well as the negative impact of the tariffs, both U.S. imposed and retaliatory. It was encouraging to converse with a politician who had been responsible for a large payroll and was pro-business."

Senator Perdue recognizes the $4.3 billion economic impact that the recreational boating industry has in the state of Georgia, so he enthusiastically agreed to join the Congressional Boating Caucus during his visit.

"We were honored to host Senator Perdue at the Chaparral Boats production facilities," said Ann Baldree, senior vice president at Chaparral Boats. "Being a lifelong boater, Senator Perdue is an advocate for our industry and fully comprehends our challenges and opportunities. He was interested in what it would take to support our growth and to continue to sustain our local economy. We have been the largest employer in our region for several decades and our local economic impact is substantial."

All Chaparral boats come equipped and ready for action; however, many upgrade options and premium packages are available. For more information, please visit www.ChaparralBoats.com.



About Chaparral Boats, Inc & Robalo Boats, LLC.

Chaparral Boats, Inc. and Robalo Boats LLC are leading manufacturers of fiberglass boats under two brand names: sterndrive, jet, and outboard pleasure boats by Chaparral, including H2O Sport and Fish & Ski Boats, SSi and SSX Sportboats, Sunesta Sportdecks, Signature Cruisers, Vortex Jet Boats, SunCoast Outboard Sportdecks, and outboard sport fishing boats by Robalo. Chaparral Boats and Robalo Boats are subsidiaries of Marine Products Corporation (NYSE: MPX). For more information about Marine Products Corporation, Chaparral, and Robalo please visit our websites at www.marineproductscorp.com, www.chaparralboats.com, www.vortexboats.com, and www.robalo.com.

Press Contact:

Rhythm Communications

Rob Kremer, (404) 218-3077

Amy Woodward Parrish, (404) 310-6559

SOURCE Chaparral Boats Inc.

Related Links

http://www.chaparralboats.com


DUBLIN, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The Global Market for Quantum Dots to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Quantum Dots (QDs) are THE nanotechnology success story to date.

Since their synthesis over 30 years ago, QDs have featured in a range of optoelectronic devices, including TVs and displays, light-emitting devices (LEDs), solar cells, photodiodes, thermoelectrics, photoconductors and field-effect transistors, while QD solutions have been used in a number of in vivo and in vitro imaging, sensing and labelling techniques.

The global quantum dots (QD) based products market will be potentially valued at more than $35 billion by 2030. The optoelectronics market represents the vast majority of this figure, chiefly High Definition TVs-QLED-TVs.

TV displays still dominate the end user segment for QD-based products with a fast growing market for QD monitors. The use of QDs in solar conversion windows is also being heavily backed this year with a number of companies developing prototypes and funding multi-million dollar investments. The price of large QD-TVs is also falling.

The market is moving towards more advanced application of quantum dots in TVs with major producers, especially Samsung developing technologies beyond Quantum Dot Enhancement Film (QDEF) such as:

QD Glass on LGP.

Quantum dot colour filters (QDCF) for microLEDS and displays.

Active Matrix Quantum-dot Light Emitting Diode (AMQLED).

Other notable growth markets include solar windows, lighting, sensors and anti-counterfeiting.



This 215 page analysis report on the quantum dots market is now in its 12th edition (First edition 2009). Contents include:

QD types, properties and production methods.

Changing market dynamics in the quantum dots market.

New market areas including QD Colour Filters and Solar Window Coatings.

In-depth market segmentation and analysis.

Quantum dots application roadmap.

Regional analysis.

Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value.

Revenue estimates for quantum dots market to 2030.

Recent industry trends and developments.

Competitive landscape.

Regulatory issues.

Strategies of key players and products offered.

Market revenues forecasts to 2030 and historical figures from 2013.

Markets covered: TV displays and smartphone displays, solar cells, security tags, security inks, sensors, quantum dot lasers, quantum dot transistors, photonic crystals, bio-imaging, quantum dot solar windows, biomarkers, solid-material-based memory, thermoelectric materials, quantum dot computers, artificial photosynthesis and light emitting diodes (LEDs).

Market assessment in QLED TVs and displays, including market drivers, commercialization, market revenues to 2030, manufacturing and product development.

Market assessment in LED lighting, including market drivers, commercialization, market revenues to 2030, manufacturing and product development.

Market assessment in biotechnology and medicine, including market drivers, commercialization ,market revenues to 2030, manufacturing and product development.

Market assessment in security and anti-counterfeiting, including market drivers, commercialization, market revenues to 2030, manufacturing and product development.

Market assessment in sensors, including market drivers, commercialization, market revenues to 2030, manufacturing and product development.

75 company profiles.

Additions from previous editions include:

Expanded regional analysis, especially for Asia .

. New sections covering Micro-LEDs, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), composites

Latest developments in QD-OLED screens.

Expanded company profiles.

13 additional company profiles.

Recent developments in quantum dot production by large chemical companies.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Research Scope And Methodology

1.1 Report scope

1.2 Market definition

1.2.1 Categorization

1.3 Research methodology

1.4 Assumptions and limitations

1.5 Primary research

1.6 Secondary research



2 Executive Summary

2.1 Growth in high definition TV demand

2.1.1 QD advantages and definition of QLED

2.1.1.1 QLEDs/QD - OLEDs

2.2 Market growth since 2013

2.3 QD - TVs market

2.4 The Quantum Dot market in 2019

2.5 Cadmium vs. cadmium free

2.5.1 Cadmium QDs

2.5.2 Cadmium - free QDs

2.5.3 European commission ban use of cadmium in TVs and displays

2.5.4 Perovskite quantum dots

2.5.5 Graphene quantum dots

2.6 Quantum Dot Revenues 2015-2030

2.7 Market drivers and trends

2.8 Market challenges



3 Quantum Dots

3.1 Properties

3.2 Synthesis

3.3 Types

3.3.1 Cadmium Selenide, Cadmium Sulfide and other materials

3.3.2 Cadmium free quantum dots

3.3.3 Graphene quantum dots

3.3.3.1 Synthesis

3.3.3.2 Applications

3.3.3.3 Pricing

3.3.3.4 Investment

3.3.4 Carbon quantum dots(CQds)

3.3.4.1 Properties

3.3.4.2 Applications

3.3.5 Quantum rods

3.3.5.1 Properties

3.3.5.2 Applications



4 Technology Readiness Level (TRL)



5 Quantum Dots Industry Analysis

5.1 Quantum dots market dynamics

5.2 Market growth accelerators and inhibitors

5.3 Competitive analysis

5.3.1 Market Share Analysis

5.3.2 Opportunity Matrix Analysis

5.3.3 Key Players

5.3.4 Licensing, collaborations and partnerships

5.4 Supply chain



6 Quantum Dots Regulations

6.1 Europe

6.1.1 Cadmium exemption in TVs and lighting

6.1.2 August 2017 ruling

6.2 United States

6.2.1 Low Volume Exemption (LVE)

6.2.2 New Chemicals Program

6.3 Asia



7 Market Segment Analysis, By End User Market

7.1 Revenues 2013-2030

7.2 Production and prices

7.3 Market for quantum dots, by region

7.3.1 The market in Asia

7.3.2 The market in North America

7.3.3 The market in Europe



8 Quantum Dots In LCD TVs/Displays

8.1 Market drivers and trends

8.2 Applications

8.2.1 LCDS vs. OLEDs vs. QD - LCDs/QLEDs

8.2.2 QD - LCD TVs/QLEDs

8.2.3 Micro - LEDs

8.2.4 Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality(VR)

8.3 Synthesis and manufacturing

8.3.1 Integration into LCDs

8.3.2 Types of QD displays and materials used

8.3.2.1 On - edge (edge optic)

8.3.2.2 On - surface (film)

8.3.2.3 QD colour filter (QDF)

8.3.2.4 On - chip

8.3.2.5 Active Matrix Quantum - dot Light Emitting Diode(AMQLED)

8.3.2.6 Quantum dot electroluminescence

8.3.2.7 QD Glass LGP

8.3.2.8 Quantum dot/OLED hybrid

8.3.2.9 Quantum rods

8.3.2.10 Quantum converters with red phosphors

8.3.2.11 Electroluminescent (EL)QD displays

8.3.3 Flexible displays

8.3.3.1 Inkjet printed QD displays

8.3.3.2 Flexible LCDs

8.3.3.3 Flexible OLEDs (FOLED)

8.3.3.4 Flexible AMOLED

8.3.3.5 Flexible electrophoretic displays

8.3.3.6 Flexible QLEDs

8.4 QD - LCD products

8.4.1 Commercialization timeline for quantum dot display products

8.5 Industry and research developments 2013-2019

8.6 Global market for quantum dots in TVs and displays

8.6.1 OLED market

8.6.2 QD-OLED screens

8.6.3 QD-TV unit sales 2016-2030

8.6.4 QD Monitor Unit sales 2015-2030

8.7 Quantum dot TV and display companies



9 Quantum Dots In Photovoltaics

9.1 Market drivers and trends

9.2 Applications

9.2.1 Nanomaterials in solar cells

9.2.2 Advantages of quantum dots in photovoltaics

9.2.3 Types of quantum dot solar cells

9.2.3.1 Metalsemiconductor/ Schottky QD junction solar cell

9.2.3.2 Silicon/QD Film Hydrid Solar Cells

9.2.3.3 Silicon/Graphene QD Film Hydrid Solar Cells

9.2.3.4 Depleted-heterojunction QD solar cell

9.2.3.5 QD-sensitized solar cells (QDSSC)

9.2.3.6 Quantum dot solar windows

9.3 Market challenges

9.4 Industry and research developments 2013-2019

9.5 Global market for quantum dots in photovoltaics

9.6 Quantum dot photovoltaics companies



10 Quantum Dots In LED Lighting

10.1 Market drivers and trends

10.2 Applications

10.2.1 LED lighting

10.2.2 Horticultural lighting

10.3 Market challenges

10.4 Industry and research developments 2013-2019

10.5 Global market for quantum dots in LED lighting

10.6 Quantum dot lighting companies



11 Quantum Dots In Biotechnology And Medicine

11.1 Market drivers and trends

11.2 Applications

11.2.1 Imaging and diagnostics

11.2.1.1 Biomarkers

11.2.1.2 Photodynamic therapy

11.2.1.3 Point-of-care

11.2.2 Drug delivery

11.3 Market challenges

11.4 Global market for quantum dots in biotechnology and medicine

11.4.1 Imaging and diagnostics

11.4.2 Drug delivery

11.5 Quantum dot biotechnology and medicine companies



12 Quantum Dots In Security And Anti-Counterfeiting

12.1 Market drivers and trends

12.2 Applications

12.3 Global market size for quantum dots in security and anti-counterfeiting

12.4 Quantum dot security and anti-counterfeiting Companies



13 Quantum Dots In Sensors

13.1 Market drivers and trends

13.2 Applications

13.2.1 Food sensors

13.2.2 Chemical and gas sensors

13.2.3 Biosensors

13.2.4 Image sensors

13.3 Global market size for quantum dots in sensors

13.4 Market challenges

13.5 Quantum dot sensor companies



14 Other Markets

14.1 Batteries

14.2 Thermoelectrics

14.3 QD Lasers

14.4 Photocatalysts

14.5 Spectrometers.

14.6 Quantum computing

14.7 Hydrogen production

14.8 Sunscreen

14.9 Composites



15 Quantum Dot Company Profiles (75 Company Profiles)



16 References



Companies Mentioned (Partial List)



Acer

BOE

InVisage

LGD

Philips

Samsung

StoreDot

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/cg2w8j/global_market_for?w=5

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


DUBLIN, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Vinyl Flooring Market 2018-2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The vinyl flooring market will register a CAGR of over 5% by 2022.

The advent of augmented reality in flooring industry to help the market grow during the forecast period. With the introduction of AR floor visualizer applications in the flooring industry, consumers can modify the design of rooms or homes without the need of view samples physically.

Market Overview



Low cost and easy maintenance



LVT is cost effective by almost thrice the price of hardwood flooring. To maintain hardwood property, one must spend a significant amount in treating and refinishing the material. Thus, commercial and residential builders prefer LVT over other hardwood flooring.



Shortage of skilled labor



The vinyl flooring market is facing severe shortage of labor. Due to the shortage of labors the manufacturers are compelled to turn down the projects and are paying more to retain the existing labor force.



For the detailed list of factors that will drive and challenge the growth of the vinyl flooring market during the 2018-2022, view the report.



Competitive Landscape



The market appears to be fragmented and with the presence of several companies including Mohawk Industries and Tarkett, the competitive environment is quite intense. Factors such as the advent of augmented reality in flooring industry and the low cost and easy maintenance, will provide considerable growth opportunities to vinyl flooring manufactures.



Armstrong Flooring, Berkshire Hathaway, Interface, Mohawk Industries, and Tarkett are some of the major companies covered in this report.



Key Topics Covered:



PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT



PART 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



PART 04: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 05: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2017

Market size and forecast 2017-2022

PART 06: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE



PART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY END-USER

Segmentation by end-user

Comparison by end-user

Residential - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Commercial - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Market opportunity by end-user

PART 09: REGIONAL LANDSCAPE

Geographical segmentation

Regional comparison

Americas - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

EMEA - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

APAC - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 10: DECISION FRAMEWORK



PART 11: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 12: MARKET TRENDS

Innovative LVT offerings

Vinyl planks making a comeback

Augmented Reality (AR) in flooring industry

PART 13: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive landscape

PART 14: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Armstrong Flooring

Berkshire Hathaway

Interface

Mohawk Industries

Tarkett

PART 15: APPENDIX



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/zpkw3m/global_vinyl?w=5

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


VANCOUVER, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - GOLDCORP INC. (TSX: G,NYSE: GG) ("Goldcorp" or the "Company") announced today that it has filed its management information circular and related voting materials in connection with a special meeting (the "meeting") of shareholders to be held on April 4, 2019. The purpose of the meeting is to seek approval for the proposed plan of arrangement with Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) ("Newmont"), as previously announced on January 14, 2019.

Shareholders of Goldcorp should receive these meeting materials by mail shortly. The meeting materials, together with an investor presentation and other information, are also available on Goldcorp's website and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Goldcorp encourages shareholders to read the meeting materials in detail. To ensure that your Goldcorp shares will be represented at the special meeting, shareholders should carefully follow the voting instructions provided in the meeting materials. The deadline for the receipt of proxies is 9:00am PT on April 2, 2019.

The Arrangement Agreement

Goldcorp entered into a definitive agreement in which Newmont will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Goldcorp in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at approximately $10 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Goldcorp shareholders will receive 0.3280 Newmont shares and $0.02 for each Goldcorp share held, which represents a 17% premium to the 20-day volume weighted average share price prior to announcement.

The combination of the two companies as Newmont Goldcorp Corporation ("Newmont Goldcorp") will create an unmatched portfolio of world-class operations, projects, Reserves, exploration opportunities, and talent. Immediately after the transaction closes, which is expected in the second quarter, Newmont Goldcorp is expected to:

Target 6-7 million ounces of steady-state gold production over a decades-long time horizon; (1)

Deliver the highest dividend among senior gold producers; (2)

Offer financial flexibility and an investment-grade balance sheet to advance the most promising projects generating a targeted Internal Rate of Return of at least 15 percent; (1)(3)

Generate an estimated $75 per ounce in Full Potential cost and efficiency improvements, representing annual anticipated benefits of approximately $165 million per year; (4)

per ounce in Full Potential cost and efficiency improvements, representing annual anticipated benefits of approximately per year; Create a combined $365 million in expected annual pre-tax synergies and Full Potential benefits representing value creation potential of over $4.4 billion ; (5)

in expected annual pre-tax synergies and Full Potential benefits representing value creation potential of over ; Have the largest gold Reserves and Resources in the gold sector, including on a per share basis;

Be located in favorable mining jurisdictions and prolific gold districts on four continents;

Feature a deep bench of accomplished business leaders and high-performing technical teams and other talent with extensive mining industry experience; and

Maintain industry leadership in environmental, social and governance performance.

Recommendation of the Board of Directors

After consulting with its financial and legal advisors and following careful consideration, the Board of Directors has unanimously recommended that Goldcorp shareholders vote FOR the proposed plan of arrangement with Newmont.

Shareholder Questions and Assistance

If you have any questions or require assistance voting your shares, please contact our proxy solicitation agent, Kingsdale Advisors, at 1-800-775-4067 toll-free in North America, or call collect outside North America at +1-416-867-2272, or by e-mail at [email protected].

About Goldcorp www.goldcorp.com

Goldcorp is a senior gold producer focused on responsible mining practices with safe, low-cost production from a high-quality portfolio of mines.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the United States Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, or in releases made by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, all as may be amended from time to time, and "forward-looking information" under the provisions of applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Goldcorp. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to Newmont's planned acquisition of Goldcorp and the expected terms, timing and closing of the proposed transaction, including receipt of required approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions; estimates of future production, including expected annual production range and Reserve base; estimates of future capital expenditures; estimates of savings and efficiencies, including estimated Full Potential cost and efficiency improvements and anticipated benefits; expectations regarding the targeted internal rate of return; expected financial flexibility and balance sheet strength; expectations regarding future exploration and the development, growth and potential of Newmont's and Goldcorp's operations, project pipeline and investments, including, without limitation, project returns; expectations of future dividends and returns to shareholders; expectations regarding potential synergies and benefits; expectations of future plans and benefits. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" , "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" , "believes", or variations or comparable language of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Goldcorp to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which Goldcorp will operate in the future, including the price of gold, anticipated costs and ability to achieve goals. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others, delays or failure to obtain the required approvals; competitive responses to the announcement of the transaction; litigation or challenges to the proposed transaction; changes to the current scientific and technical information; permitting, development, operations and expansion of Newmont's and Goldcorp's operations and projects being consistent with current expectations and mine plans, including without limitation receipt of export approvals; (iii) political developments in any jurisdiction in which Newmont and Goldcorp operate being consistent with its current expectations; planning and integration assumptions; gold price volatility, discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and mineral resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining operational and development risks, litigation risks, regulatory restrictions (including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability), changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and/or change in the administration of laws, policies and practices, expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in Canada, the United States and other jurisdictions in which the Company does or may carry on business in the future, delays, suspension and technical challenges associated with capital projects, higher prices for fuel, steel, power, labour and other consumables, currency fluctuations, the speculative nature of gold exploration, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility, competition, loss of key employees, additional funding requirements and defective title to mineral claims or property. Although Goldcorp believes its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions and has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Goldcorp to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the inherent uncertainty associated with financial or other projections; the prompt and effective integration of Newmont's and Goldcorp's businesses and the ability to achieve the anticipated synergies and value-creation contemplated by the proposed transaction; the risk associated with Newmont's and Goldcorp's ability to obtain the approval of the proposed transaction by their shareholders required to consummate the proposed transaction and the timing of the closing of the proposed transaction, including the risk that the conditions to the transaction are not satisfied on a timely basis or at all and the failure of the transaction to close for any other reason; the risk that a consent or authorization that may be required for the proposed transaction is not obtained or is obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the parties and others related to the arrangement agreement; unanticipated difficulties or expenditures relating to the transaction, the response of business partners and retention as a result of the announcement and pendency of the transaction; risks relating to the value of the Newmont's common stock to be issued in connection with the transaction; the anticipated size of the markets and continued demand for Newmont's and Goldcorp's resources and the impact of competitive responses to the announcement of the transaction; and the diversion of management time on transaction-related issues as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Description of the Business  Risk Factors" in Goldcorp's most recent annual information form available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Although Goldcorp has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Except as otherwise indicated by Goldcorp, these statements do not reflect the potential impact of any non-recurring or other special items or of any disposition, monetization, merger, acquisition, other business combination or other transaction that may be announced or that may occur after the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of Goldcorp's operating environment. Goldcorp does not intend or undertake to publicly update any forward-looking statements that are included in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

For further information please contact:

INVESTOR CONTACT MEDIA CONTACT Shawn Campbell Director, Investor Relations Telephone: (800) 567-6223 E-mail: [email protected] Christine Marks Director, Corporate Communications Telephone: (604) 696-3050 E-mail: [email protected]

(1) Caution Regarding Projections: Projections used in this release are considered "forward looking statements". See cautionary statement above regarding forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information representing post-closing expectations is inherently uncertain. Estimates such as expected accretion, expected future production, internal rate of return, financial flexibility and balance sheet strength are preliminary in nature. There can be no assurance that the proposed transaction will close or that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate.



(2) 2019 dividends beyond Q4 2018 have not yet been approved or declared by the Board of Directors. Management's expectations with respect to future dividends or annualized dividends are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections and other applicable laws. Investors are cautioned that such statements with respect to future dividends are non-binding. The declaration and payment of future dividends remain at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will be determined based on Newmont's financial results, balance sheet strength, cash and liquidity requirements, future prospects, gold and commodity prices, and other factors deemed relevant by the Board. The Board of Directors reserves all powers related to the declaration and payment of dividends. Consequently, in determining the dividend to be declared and paid on the common stock of Newmont Goldcorp, the Board of Directors may revise or terminate the payment level at any time without prior notice. As a result, investors should not place undue reliance on such statements.



(3) Internal rates of return targets on projects, before taxes and royalties, are calculated using an assumed $1,200 gold price.



(4) Full Potential cost savings or improvements as used in this presentation are considered operating measures provided for illustrative purposes, and should not be considered GAAP or non-GAAP financial measures. Full Potential amounts are estimates utilized by management that represent estimated cumulative incremental value realized as a result of Full Potential projects implemented and are based upon both cost savings and efficiencies that have been monetized for purposes of the estimation. Because Full Potential savings/improvements estimates reflect differences between certain actual costs incurred and management estimates of costs that would have been incurred in the absence of the Full Potential program, such estimates are necessarily imprecise and are based on numerous judgments and assumptions. Expected Full Potential cost savings or improvements are projections are "forward-looking statements" subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ from current expectations.



(5) Value creation potential (or NPV creation) as used in this presentation is a management estimate provided for illustrative purposes, and should not be considered a GAAP or non-GAAP financial measure. Value creation potential represents management's combined estimate of pre-tax synergies, supply chain efficiencies and Full Potential improvements, as a result of the proposed transaction that have been monetized and projected over a twenty year period for purposes of the estimation, applying a discount rate of 5 percent. Such estimates are necessarily imprecise and are based on numerous judgments and assumptions. Expected value creation potential is a "forward-looking statement" subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual value creation to differ from expected value creation.

SOURCE Goldcorp Inc.

Related Links

http://www.goldcorp.com


HILLSDALE, Mich., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillsdale College announces that Dr. Christopher VanOrman has recently accepted an appointment as the new provost of Hillsdale College. VanOrman currently serves as the dean of natural sciences and holds the William and Bernice Grewcock chair in chemistry. He follows the eight-year service of David Whalen, first appointed as provost in 2011.

"Chris VanOrman is a leading teacher on our campus, a fine scholar who inspires all around him," said Larry P. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College. "He is our longest serving dean, and his service has been exemplary. He will make a fine provost."

"Dr. VanOrman is beloved and respected by students, faculty, and staff alike," added David Whalen, current provost of Hillsdale College. "In addition to his remarkable work within his own field, his commitment to Hillsdale's mission and the liberal arts makes him well suited to this new role."

VanOrman joined the faculty of Hillsdale College in 1992 as a professor in the Chemistry Department. He earned a Ph.D. from Case Western University and a B.A. from Albion College. He brings administrative experience to the role through both his current position as dean of natural sciences and through his work as dean of faculty from 2003 to 2005. VanOrman received the Emily Daugherty Award for Teaching Excellence in 2009 and was twice named Hillsdale Professor of the Year in 1996 and 2002. He will take on his new role as provost on June 1, 2019.

About Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College is an independent liberal arts college located in southern Michigan. Founded in 1844, the College has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 4 million. For more information, visit hillsdale.edu.

SOURCE Hillsdale College

Related Links

http://www.hillsdale.edu


Now in its fifth year in Austin, the Smart Mobility Summit will feature innovative technology demonstrations and interactive panel discussions. Among the vehicle displays will be the NEXO, the technological flagship of Hyundai's growing eco-vehicle portfolio, marking Hyundai's continued momentum and leadership with the industry's most diverse SUV lineup. Gil Castillo, senior group manager for Alternative Vehicle Strategy, Hyundai Motor America, will be onsite to demonstrate the cutting-edge technology features and answer technical questions about the eco-friendly vehicle.

"As consumers look to various transportation solutions for a cleaner environment, we recognize hydrogen energy as an important part of a more sustainable society," said Mike O'Brien, vice president, Product, Corporate and Digital Planning, Hyundai Motor America. "As an eco-focused transportation solution, only hydrogen fuel cells are fully scalable to infinite vehicle platform sizes. Even more, hydrogen fuel has the unique potential for locally-produced fuel production as part of a new energy economy. The NEXO Fuel Cell leads Hyundai's plans in the development of zero-emission vehicles and we are excited to introduce the NEXO to eco-focused Austin, celebrating the future of smart mobility and new technologies."

Outstanding Range

The NEXO Blue model has an estimated range of 380 miles, 115 more miles than the Tucson Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle. The NEXO Limited Trim has an estimated range of 354 miles. NEXO Blue models have estimated MPGe of 65 city, 58 highway and 61 combined, while NEXO Limited models have an estimated range of MPGe of 59 city, 54 highway and 57 combined. NEXO refueling time can be achieved in as little as five minutes, allowing a consumer lifestyle very similar to a comparable gasoline-powered SUV in terms of both range and refueling speed.

Eco Materials

NEXO uses a number of ecological materials in its construction, including soybean-oil based polyurethane paint, bamboo-thread-based bio fabric, along with bio-plastic and bio-carpet extracted from sugar cane. Bio-based materials were applied to 47 different parts and reduced CO2 emissions by 26 lbs. during the manufacturing process.

Wards Intelligence

Wards Intelligence (WI) is a world-leading provider of automotive insights and analysis, having served the industry's information needs for more than 90 years. A Southfield, Mich.-based Informa business, WI provides a forward-looking perspective on all aspects of the automotive business, tracking and forecasting market activity and technology trends and delivering intelligence, data and consulting to the global automotive industry and its investors. Learn more about Wards Intelligence by visiting www.wardsintelligence.com.

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America is focused on delivering an outstanding customer experience grounded in design leadership, engineering excellence and exceptional value in every vehicle we sell. Hyundai's technology-rich product lineup of cars, SUVs and alternative-powered electric and fuel cell vehicles is backed by Hyundai Assuranceour promise to deliver peace of mind to our customers. Hyundai vehicles are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide and the majority sold in the U.S. are built at U.S. manufacturing facilities, including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. Hyundai Motor America is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, and is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea.

Please visit our media website at www.HyundaiNews.com

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

SOURCE Hyundai

Related Links

http://www.hyundainews.com


PHILADELPHIA, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In the first wrongful death lawsuit of its kind in Pennsylvania, the family of a 25-year-old Pennsylvania human services counselor is alleging that his death last June was caused by "killer Kratom", the unregulated supplement whose manufacturer, SoCal Herbal Remedies, LLC, provides no warning label or dosage instructions, according to the complaint filed against the Big Bear, California company in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas (Estate of Caleb Sturgis v. SoCal Herbal Remedies, No. Jan 2019 No. 02001). Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky, P.C., (SMBB) represents the plaintiff.

Attorney Robert J. Mongeluzzi, of SMBB, and his legal team announced the filing at a news conference this morning. "Kratom kills, and Kratom killed Caleb Sturgis, according to scientific medical testing and the Chester County Medical Examiner," said Mr. Mongeluzzi. "If Caleb had not been seduced by the misleading and unproven claims of the Kratom industry, this incredible young man would be alive today. Those responsible for his death must now be held accountable, and the Sturgis family is determined to do all it can to prevent other deaths caused by Kratom."

Caleb Sturgis, according to medical reports cited in the lawsuit, drank Kratom tea on the morning of June 27, 2018 before he drove to work as a human services counselor in the Philadelphia suburbs. SoCal made and packaged the tea, which is made from tropical Kratom tree leaves, and had no warnings or use instructions on its package, other than to keep away from children.

The Medical Examiner concluded that his death was the result of Acute Mitragynine Intoxication, directly related to the lethal concentration of Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa) in his bloodstream. The only other "positive finding" reported was a level of caffeine consistent with his morning cup of coffee. The FDA contends that Kratom is an opioid and should be banned and all inventories removed from shelves until further research is conducted. As noted in the lawsuit, the agency considers all Kratom products potentially deadly, and classifies Caleb's death among more than 40 in the U.S. linked to Kratom.

Scott Sturgis, Caleb's father, said at the press conference, "We are speaking out so that people know that Kratom can and does kill. Kratom needs to be banned until there is sufficient research proving its safety, efficacy and dosing. Kratom killed our Caleb. We will not stand silent until it can't kill anyone else." Along with his wife, Lori, and their three other children, they discussed how Kratom killed their son and beloved brother.

Tanya Sturgis, Caleb's oldest sister, stated, "Our family lost Caleb but we are not going to lose our fight to see these opioids regulated, and full accountability on the part of those that traffic in Kratom."

While Caleb's death is, tragically, not the first in Pennsylvania linked to Kratom, the wrongful death lawsuit is the first in Pennsylvania that seeks to hold a Kratom manufacturer-marketer responsible. A jury trial is requested as part of the Complaint, and compensatory and punitive damages are sought.

"Our next steps will be to question the suppliers of the product that killed Caleb under oath to determine why they ignored the opinions of the FDA about the perils of this deadly product, and put it into the hands, and bloodstreams, of innocent consumers like Caleb Sturgis without any warnings regarding its potency, the safe amount that can be used, the frequency of use, or any of the other vital safety information every consumer needs to rely upon," said Mr. Mongeluzzi. "We look forward to learning all we can through pre-trial discovery and then at a jury trial." His co-counsel from SMBB is attorney Samuel B. Dordick.

The FDA has warned "consumers not to useKratom" and "is concerned that Kratomexposes users to the risks of addiction, abuse and dependence." Kratom is banned in its countries of origin, Thailand and Malaysia, as well as countries such as Australia, Sweden, and Germany and U.S. states including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Vermont and Wisconsin. There is no FDA-approved use of Kratom, and relevant testing by the FDA has revealed the presence of Salmonella and heavy metals such as lead and nickel in Kratom obtained from some Kratom suppliers. The FDA has stated that "compounds in Kratom make it so it isn't just a plantit's an opioid" and the FDA is "confident in calling compounds found in Kratom, opioids."

Anyone concerned about Kratom purchased online or at a retailer should immediately contact their local health department or Poison Control Hotline at 1-800-222-1222. In emergency cases, immediately call 9-1-1.

#KRATOMKILLS

SOURCE Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky, P.C.
BENGALURU, India, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced that it has been selected by Rolls-Royce Plc UK, a world leader in engines and propulsion systems, as one of the strategic long-term partners to deliver digital and engineering services.

As part of this engagement, Infosys will leverage its industry-leading turbo machinery and propulsion practice to offer Rolls-Royce best-in-class, end-to-end complex engineering and digital solutions to meet its customers' increasing needs for sustainable energy. Infosys has extensive experience delivering complex programs in aero and land based gas turbines spanning component development, next-generation manufacturing technologies, service engineering, support, testing and validation services.

Jasmeet Singh, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Manufacturing, Infosys, said, "We are pleased to be selected as a long-term strategic partner by Rolls-Royce. Through our engineering and digital services, we will support Rolls-Royce to become more productive, agile and innovative. We continue to invest in this exciting industry and in this partnership to support Rolls-Royce navigate the next in its transformation journey."

Kishore Jayaraman, President for India & South Asia at Rolls-Royce, said, "As a leading industrial technology company, our ongoing commitment to innovation is essential to meeting customer and society's needs for sustainable power. Our association with Infosys is a step in this direction as it enables us to increase our technical differentiation in the engineering and digital domain while accelerating cost optimization and competitiveness. Given the successful track record of Infosys in turbo machinery and propulsion engineering services, they are the right partner to support our goals set out in the coming years."

About Rolls-Royce:

Rolls-Royce pioneers cutting-edge technologies that deliver the cleanest, safest and most competitive solutions to meet our planet's vital power needs. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 150 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers. Annual underlying revenue was 15 billion in 2018, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. In 2018, Rolls-Royce invested 1.4 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills.

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 45 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over three decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this press release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. In addition, please note that any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company unless it is required by law.

SOURCE Infosys

Related Links

http://www.infosys.com


NEW YORK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP (www.kaplanfox.com) has been investigating claims on behalf of investors who purchased shares of Bridgepoint Education, Inc. ("Bridgepoint" or the "Company") (NYSE: BPI).

On March 7, 2019, Bridgepoint disclosed that the Company's previously issued financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, should no longer be relied upon due to accounting errors. Specifically, "during the preparation of the 2018 annual consolidated financial statements, the Company determined that the process used for recording the revenue for the Full Tuition Grant program portion of our student contracts and the related judgments and estimates were not designed with sufficient precision." As a result, "the Company identified errors, relating to revenue, provision for bad debts, accounts receivable and deferred revenue, which resulted in the overstatement of revenue and expenses for the Restated Periods."

Bridgepoint also disclosed two material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting.

Following this news, Bridgepoint's stock price fell $3.21 per share, or 34%, to close at $6.22 per share.

If you purchased Bridgepoint securities, and would like to discuss our investigation, please contact us by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-290-1952.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP, with offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Jersey, has many years of experience in prosecuting investor class actions. For more information about Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP, you may visit our website at www.kaplanfox.com. If you have any questions about your rights, or your interests, please contact:

Jeffrey P. Campisi

KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP

850 Third Avenue, 14th Floor

New York, New York 10022

(800) 290-1952

(212) 687-1980

Fax: (212) 687-7714

E-mail: [email protected]

Laurence D. King

KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP

350 Sansome Street, Suite 400

San Francisco, California 94104

(415) 772-4700

Fax: (415) 772-4707

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP

Related Links

http://www.kaplanfox.com


"We truly believe that the proximity to UC Davis, ranked #1 in the US for Agricultural Science, accessibility to the local Ag community, and economic development support provide for an incredible entrepreneurial ecosystem for agricultural technologies," says Anat Bujanover General Manager, Saturas (California).

As the region continues to position itself as a leader in food and agriculture, Saturas' decision to locate here further cements that the Greater Sacramento landscape is the new growth solution for agribusiness. With 2.3M tons of tomatoes grown annually, a producer of over 150 commercial crops, over 7200 farms, ranches and wineries and creating $2.1B in agricultural revenue region-wide, Greater Sacramento is a proven launch pad and hub for agribusiness.

"The Greater Sacramento region is recognized worldwide as an innovation hub for food and agriculture. Israel represents a top market in this industry, and we are very proud that Saturas chose Woodland for their US location," states Barry Broome, Greater Sacramento Economic Council CEO & President.

Woodland and Saturas are a natural fit. Being a part of the world food and agriculture innovation zone sets the tone for the future of agriculture in the Greater Sacramento region. The Greater Sacramento Economic Council and the City of Woodland Economic Development team worked together to guide Saturas through the site selection process and connect them with regional strategic partners.

"The City of Woodland is pleased to welcome Saturas to our community. We are proud of our rich agricultural heritage and the connections we were able to make for Saturas to our diverse ecosystem of food and ag industry partners. Their selection of Woodland speaks volumes to the momentum we are building as a city and a region to accelerate sustainable agricultural technologies," Ken Hiatt, City of Woodland Assistant Manager says of the Saturas locate.

Saturas is the first tenant to occupy AgStart's new location. The local non-profit incubator will host an open house and reception on March 21st. Attendees will have the opportunity meet the Saturas team, receive guided tours and network with leaders in the Agtech ecosystem.

For more information, visit www.selectsacramento.com .

About the Greater Sacramento Economic Council

The Greater Sacramento Economic Council is the catalyst for innovative growth strategies in the Capital Region of California. The organization spearheads community-led direction to retain, attract, grow and scale new businesses, develop advanced industries and create jobs and investment throughout a six-county region. Greater Sacramento represents a collaboration between local and state governments, market leaders, influencers and stakeholders, with the sole mission of driving economic growth. The Sacramento Region was founded on discovery, built on leadership and fueled by innovation.

About Saturas

Saturas Ltd. develops and manufactures SWP sensor-based irrigation sensor systems for farmers to provide an accurate indication of water status in crops. Its embedding sensors in the trunk provide direct contact with water tissues for accurate and continuous water status measurement. The company's agriculture sensing system includes miniature implanted sensors, wireless transponders, and delivery of information to the farmer's Internet device (computer, tablet, or smartphone). Saturas Ltd. was founded in 2013 and is based in Misgav, Israel.

SOURCE Greater Sacramento Economic Council

Related Links

http://www.selectsacramento.com


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists at Life Extension announced today the development of an easy-to-take chewable supplement designed to relieve occasional minor pain and discomfort with palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) as the main ingredient in their new PEA Discomfort Relief. Numerous clinical studies have validated PEA's efficacy to help consumers find relief for their minor pains.

A whopping 25.3 million U.S. adults say they've experienced daily pain for the preceding three months, according to the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

"PEA is a game changer. This unique fatty acid, which is also found naturally in the body, targets an underlying step in the development of minor pain and discomfort," says Dr. Michael Smith, Life Extension Education Director.

PEA's effectiveness has been demonstrated in multiple clinical studies. In fact, 600 mg of PEA given every day for three weeks significantly improved relative comfort and quality of life scores during a randomized, placebo-controlled trial following 636 patients. To learn more about PEA visit lifeextension.com.

Life Extension is committed to innovating science-based, clinically studied supplements, while also conveying medical news, updates and breakthroughs to their customers. Enhancing and expanding human life is the driving force that inspires the science, methodology, research and formulation of every product created by the professionals at Life Extension. For more than 35 years, this Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company has pioneered the science prompting many, now common, life enhancing ideologies like those around integrative health therapies contributing more than $175 million in health and medical research.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

SOURCE Life Extension

Related Links

http://www.lifeextension.com


NEW ORLEANS, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant, the popular beach and surf bar concept headquartered in New Orleans, announced today it is coming to Biloxi, Mississippi. Lucy's is set to open its fifth location at 1775 Beach Blvd. in late April.

Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant

Located on Biloxi Beach, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, the newest Lucy's will move in to the multi-story, waterfront space formerly occupied by Bacchus on the Beach. Lucy's CEO, Kevin Armantrout, is excited to bring the atmosphere and culture of Lucy's to Biloxi: "This is the perfect location for Lucy's because it has one of the largest outdoor, sand-filled bar areas just off the boardwalk. We want friends, families, and pets to come and treat themselves to our beachfront, sunset views and live bands while enjoying our fun laid-back vibe, Happy Hour, Taco Tuesday, or one of our amazing menu items and unique cocktails." The restaurant will also attract visitors with two additional bars and a dining area on the second floor with a spacious deck overlooking the Gulf and excitement below.

Lucy's Biloxi is expected to open for lunch, dinner and late-night beginning in late April.

Over the past three years, the Lucy's concept has grown to four locations in three countries, including domestic restaurants in Louisiana and Florida and international restaurants in Aruba and Costa Rica. A sixth location is set to open in Foley, Alabama in Summer 2019. The brand has plans to grow to 20 locations by 2024.

About Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant

Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant got its start in 1985 on Manhattan's Upper West Side. In 1992, Lucy's opened in New Orleans' iconic Warehouse District, quickly becoming a staple of the downtown nightlife scene. The New Orleans-headquartered beach and surf bar concept, fueled by its tropical drinks, zany staff, and fun atmosphere, includes domestic locations in Louisiana and Florida and international locations in Aruba and Costa Rica.

Visit http://www.lucysretiredsurfers.com for more information.

Media Contact:

Michael Fandel, Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant

[email protected] | (231) 930-4441

SOURCE Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant

Related Links

http://www.lucysretiredsurfers.com


GREENBELT, Md., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland invites media on Monday, March 11, to get an up-close look at Moon to Mars related work taking place at the center. The event takes place between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. EDT and highlights Goddard science, engineering and exploration of the Moon and Mars.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will address the agency's workforce at 1 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida. His remarks will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

In addition to viewing the NASA Administrator's address, participants will attend an overview of Goddard missions and its support to the Moon to Mars mission.

Attendees will learn about: the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO); how NASA is studying the potential hazards that astronauts may face from emissions from the Sun and other space weather; the latest in space communications and navigation; tour the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) testbed laboratory. SAM is an instrument aboard the Mars Curiosity rover; hear about the science legacy of the Apollo missions; and other topics.

U.S. media interested in attending the Goddard event must submit an accreditation request online by noon Friday, March 7, [email protected].

NASA is going to the Moon and on to Mars, in a measured, sustainable way. The direction from Space Policy Directive-1 builds on the hard work NASA is doing on its SLS and Orion spacecraft, agency efforts to enable commercial partners, its work with international partners at the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit, and what NASA learns from its current robotic missions at the Moon and Mars.

Learn more at:

https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


HILLSDALE, Mich., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillsdale College announces that General Robert B. Neller, commandant of the United States Marine Corps, will deliver the commencement address at the College's 167th commencement ceremony on May 11, 2019.

"General Neller has a long record of exemplary service to his country, and we look forward to welcoming him to campus for this special occasion," said David Whalen, Hillsdale College provost. "He has committed his life to protecting our nation's freedoms. It will be a privilege to have his perspective and advice to close out the college careers of our graduating students."

General Neller serves as the 37th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. He previously was commander of Marine Forces Command and Marine Forces Central Command; deputy commanding general of I Marine Expeditionary Force during Operation Iraqi Freedom; assistant division commander for 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions; and president of Marine Corps University. He also served in the Policy Division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Casteau, Belgium, and as director of operations of the joint staff in Washington, D.C.

General Neller began his career in 1975 when he was commissioned after graduating from the University of Virginia. He served as an infantry officer in command of Marine Security Force Panama during Operations Just Cause and Promote Liberty, 3rd Light Armored Infantry Battalion during Operation Restore Hope, 6th Marine Regiment, and 3rd Marine Division. He is a graduate of the Armor Officer Advanced Course, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, NATO Defense College, and the Armed Forces Staff College and also holds a master's degree in human resource management from Pepperdine University.

A native of East Lansing, Michigan, General Neller's son, Brett, graduated from Hillsdale College in 2006.

The College welcomes media coverage of Commencement. Media interested in attending must register in advance by contacting Ashton Waite at [email protected] or (517) 607-2919.

About Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College is an independent liberal arts college located in southern Michigan. Founded in 1844, the College has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 4 million. For more information visit hillsdale.edu.

SOURCE Hillsdale College

Related Links

https://www.hillsdale.edu


RICHARDSON, Texas, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- MedeAnalytics announced today that the administrative measure logic in its Quality Management product has achieved 2019 National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) certification for the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures. The company is one of 21 software vendors that earned this certification by the February 15 deadline. MedeAnalytics' Quality Management solution helps users identify and close gaps in care, prepare for HEDIS and Medicare STAR ratings, and engage providers in ongoing evidence-gathering. Health plans using this solution can elevate their reputations and increase their reimbursement potential.

More than 90 percent of America's health plans use HEDIS to measure performance. NCQA uses precise, automated testing to verify compliance with HEDIS specifications. NCQA Measure CertificationSM satisfies the source code review portion of the HEDIS Compliance Audit. Health plans that use a certified solution know their measure logic has gone through the industry's most rigorous assessment to ensure accuracy and reliability.

"Our latest HEDIS certification revalidates our commitment to ensuring our products help clients improve compliance and patient satisfaction throughout the year," said Paul Kaiser, chief executive officer of MedeAnalytics. "Clients can trust our Quality Management solution to provide scalable, quality reporting with speed and accuracy."

Clients using the MedeAnalytics Quality Management solution have reported:

A reduction in time updating measures, enabling faster throughput and refresh rates

30 percent reduction in time spent "chart chasing"

95 percent reduction in third party vendor and temporary help costs

Quality Management is part of MedeAnalytics' Value Based Performance product line, which also includes Population Health. Delivery systems, health plans, ACOs and clinically integrated networks that leverage Population Health can gain unparalleled insight into clinical quality, utilization and cost metrics.

For more information or a demonstration of MedeAnalytics Value Based Performance portfolio, contact http://medeanalytics.com/request-demo.

About MedeAnalytics

A leader in healthcare analytics, MedeAnalytics helps organizations make even smarter decisions. With the most advanced data orchestration in healthcare, our intelligent cloud-based analytics platform combines data to deliver state-of-the-art analytics, all in a business context. MedeAnalytics' scalable solutions for financial management, operations, value-based care, and strategic planningand the ability to tailor-build applicationsdeliver the action-ready insights organizations need to achieve success. Helping clients realize financial and operational value almost immediately is just one of the many reasons why MedeAnalytics is the leading healthcare-only analytics provider. With offices in the U.S. and U.K., MedeAnalytics serves 1,500+ organizations and 60M covered lives, and has been named one of Modern Healthcare's Top 100 Best Places Work. For more information, visit www.medeanalytics.com.

About National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is a set of standardized performance measures designed to make sure purchasers and consumers have the information they need to reliably compare the performance of managed health care organizations. NCQA's Web site (www.ncqa.org) contains information to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.

Media Contacts:

Steph Gustafson

Communications Specialist for MedeAnalytics

720.838.6392

[email protected]

SOURCE MedeAnalytics

Related Links

http://www.medeanalytics.com


DENVER, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicine Man Technologies, Inc. (OTCMKTS: MDCL) ("Medicine Man Technologies" or "Company"), a rapidly growing, vertically integrated cannabis operator, today announced that the Company will be presenting at the second annual LD Micro Virtual Conference on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 at 11:40AM ET.

Andy Williams, Co-Founder and CEO of Medicine Man Technologies, will be giving the presentation and answering questions from investors. To access Medicine Man Technologies live webcast of the presentation please use the following link:

https://www.webcaster4.com/Player/Index?webcastId=29668&g=5bffd0db-3a02-4100-8f41-74c7ec925bcb&uid=5135342&sid=

"We are excited to be presenting at LD Micro during such an important time as we complete our transition to an international cannabis operator with existing relationships in 18 states and seven countries," says Andy Williams, Co-Founder and CEO of Medicine Man Technologies. "We will present the details behind our pending acquisitions of MedPharm Holdings, LLC and Medicine Man Denver. Both acquisitions are anticipated to close later this year and will give Medicine Man Technologies the only federal research license for cannabis while bringing the company to a combined annual revenue run rate of over $40 million. This will position the company to drive revenue through traditional partnerships only reserved for pharmaceutical companies while further establishing our brand and increasing revenue growth in our four retail locations across Colorado."

About LD Micro

LD Micro was founded in 2006 with the sole purpose of being an independent resource in the microcap space. What started out as a newsletter highlighting unique companies has transformed into an event platform hosting several influential conferences annually (Invitational, Summit, and Main Event).

In 2015, LDM launched the first pure microcap index (the LDMi) to exclusively provide intraday information on the entire sector. LD will continue to provide valuable tools for the benefit of everyone in the small and microcap universe.

For those interested in attending, please contact David Scher at [email protected] or visit www.ldmicro.com for more information.

About Medicine Man Technologies

Medicine Man Technologies is a fully integrated operator in the cannabis industry, offering consulting, retail pharma-grade products, and turnkey solutions for cannabis cultivators for over a decade. Medicine Man Technologies is leveraging its expertise and intellectual property to vertically integrate retail, cultivation, formulation, and distribution operations. The Company's client portfolio includes active and past clients in 18 states and seven countries.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Such statements may be preceded by the words "intends," "may," "will," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "predicts," "estimates," "aims," "believes," "hopes," "potential" or similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, and cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) our inability to manufacture our products and product candidates on a commercial scale on our own, or in collaboration with third parties; (ii) difficulties in obtaining financing on commercially reasonable terms; (iii) changes in the size and nature of our competition; (iv) loss of one or more key executives or scientists; and (v) difficulties in securing regulatory approval to market our products and product candidates. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT: Investor Relations Contact: [email protected], 1-866-348-1997

SOURCE Medicine Man Technologies Inc.

Related Links

http://www.medicinemantechnologies.com


WASHINGTON, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Pass USMCA Coalition, an alliance advocating for the swift passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, welcomed the National Association of Manufacturers, Domino's Pizza, Dow, and the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce as its newest members.

"We're thrilled to add four more well-respected organizations to our coalition," said Joe Crowley, honorary co-chairman of Pass USMCA and a former Congressman from New York. "Our coalition is exceedingly diverse -- and that speaks volumes about the widespread support for USMCA."

The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States. Domino's is the world's largest pizza seller, with more than 16,000 stores. Dow is the world's leading materials science company. And the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce is a vital advocate for entrepreneurship and innovation within Puerto Rico's economy.

Each of these new members has a strong interest in the success of USMCA. Nearly half of Domino's stores are located in North America. Trade with Canada and Mexico supports 2 million U.S. manufacturing jobs. Puerto Rico's economy and businesses are overwhelmingly dependent on North American trade. And chemical exports to Canada and Mexico have tripled since NAFTA went into effect in 1994.

"North American trade supports millions of jobs and generates billions in economic output," said Rick Dearborn, Pass USMCA Coalition's executive director. "We're grateful that Domino's, Dow, the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, and NAM all support our efforts to highlight USMCA's benefits for Americans."

"It's terrific to have four more leading businesses and groups making the case for USMCA," said Gary Locke, honorary co-chairman of Pass USMCA. "Passing the new trade pact with Mexico and Canada isn't a partisan issue. This deal benefits every American."

About Pass USMCA

Pass USMCA Coalition is a group of trade associations and businesses advocating for the swift passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement. The provisions outlined in USMCA will defend American jobs, cultivate innovation, and encourage business development, spurring growth for local, state, and national economies.

For more information visit www.PassUSMCA.org.

Media Contact:

Emily Troisi

(202) 471-4228, ext. 120

[email protected]

SOURCE The Pass USMCA Coalition

Related Links

http://www.PassUSMCA.org


WASHINGTON, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club and its non-profit Journalism Institute on Thursday announced plans to remobilize a broad coalition of press freedom groups on behalf of Mexican journalist Emilio Gutierrez-Soto following an El Paso immigration judge's refusal to reverse a deportation order.

Judge Robert Hough's decision to send the Club's 2017 John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press winner and his son, Oscar, back to the country where they have been threatened with death came the same week the elder Gutierrez delivered a keynote address at Amnesty International's annual general meeting in Chicago. In denying the Gutierrezes' asylum request, Hough reaffirmed an earlier ruling the Board of Immigration Appeals had asked the judge to reconsider in light of new evidence.

Despite voluminous submissions from human rights and press freedom organizations about the murders of journalists in Mexico, Hough dismissed threats Gutierrez received from Mexican military officials as "adverse experiences."

Gutierrez can safely return to his home country, Hough wrote, because "Mexico has put legislation for the protection of journalists in place at both the federal and state levels." Although he acknowledged that "conditions in Mexico are far from ideal," the judge contended that Gutierrez provided "no evidence" that his safety would be jeopardized by Mexican officials.

A State Department letter provided to Hough noted that Mexico is "the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist outside of war zones" and that local officials appear to be complicit in murders of reporters.

"We do not believe that Judge Hough gave adequate consideration to the evidence in this case that the Board of Immigration Appeals asked him to review," said Barbara Cochran, president of the National Press Club's Journalism Institute. "We will be asking other organizations that have supported Emilio's case to join us as friends of the court when Emilio's attorney files his appeal."

Gutierrez currently is a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. Lynette Clemetson, director of the prestigious journalism program , is urging other journalism and press freedom organizations and members of Congress who advocate for First Amendment and human rights issues to intervene in the case.

"This ruling demonstrates a disturbing disregard of the facts, both those specific to Emilio and those regarding the horrific dangers facing journalists in Mexico." said Clemetson. "Having been before the judge in person, it seems clear that his decision was predetermined. It is important that people who believe in freedom and safety of the press continue to fight for a just outcome for Emilio, regardless of this disingenuous ruling. "

Gutierrez has lived in the United States since 2008. He entered the country legally, requesting asylum for himself and his then-15-year-old son after a news source warned him that he had been placed on a hit list for his reporting on military corruption. U.S. immigration officials found he had "credible fear" of returning to his home country and allowed him to live and work in the U.S. while his case was adjudicated.

In July, 2017, Hough denied the Gutierrezes' asylum case. While it was on appeal, agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested the reporter and his son. At the request of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Rutgers University Law School's International Human Rights Clinic filed a writ of habeas corpus to obtain his release.

The federal judge in that case found that there was evidence suggesting ICE had targeted Gutierrez in retaliation for his criticism of the agency and ordered the government to release all of its communications regarding the Gutierrez case. Hours before the deadline, ICE released the Gutierrezes instead. The National Press Club has filed several Freedom of Information Act requests for ICE and Department of Homeland Security communications about the Gutierrezes and has received two heavily redacted tranches of documents, one early last year and one in December . The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is representing the club in its effort to obtain a fuller release.

In denying the Gutierrezes' asylum claim a second time, Hough focused on strict legal interpretations of the law. He suggested that the menacing visits Gutierrez received from military officials did not constitute persecution because the journalist was not physically harmed. Although a military official told Gutierrez, who had written three stories exposing official corruption, that "there won't be a fourth," Hough found it didn't qualify the journalist for asylum. "The General threatened the respondent not because of his political opinion but because he had interfered with his illicit activities," the judge reasoned.

When he first denied the Gutierrezes' asylum requests, Hough made an issue of Gutierrez's inability to produce online copies of the stories he wrote. After journalism groups were able to uncover more, Hough argued that the three stories he found on official corruption in the new batch of articles were not enough. He continued to question Gutierrez's credibility and argued that because "a person can change jobs," journalists do not qualify as a targeted "social group" under U.S. asylum law.

"Under Judge Hough's rationale, all reporters in Mexico have to do to stay out of danger is quit reporting  just what the drug cartels and corrupt officials want," said National Press Club President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak. "Dozens of well-known press and free speech organizations, including this one, find Emilio credible. Judge Hough is the only one who doesn't. That's why we are appealing for justice."

PRESS CONTACTS:

Kathy Kiely, National Press Club Press Freedom Fellow and Lee Hills Chair in Free Press Studies, Missouri School of Journalism, 202-256-4748; [email protected]

Lynette Clemetson, Director, Knight Wallace Fellowship, 734-998-7666

SOURCE National Press Club
GREENSBURG, Pa., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Adam Horowitz, a nationally-recognized advocate for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, announces the launch of a new database of clergy and lay employees accused of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Greensburg. The database, which includes 23 priests as of today, is believed to be the most comprehensive list of accused offenders in the Diocese of Greensburg available.

For the benefit of survivors and journalists alike, Horowitz and his team have painstakingly prepared individual profiles on more than 500 accused offenders in Pennsylvania to consolidate available information about their backgrounds, alleged crimes, and, in the case of offenders who are still alive, their current locations. Many of these profiles include photographs that are not available anywhere else.

The list was compiled using the names identified in the 2018 Grand Jury report, the Diocese of Greensburg's list of credibly accused individuals, media reports, and court records.

The Greensburg database also includes priests who belong to religious orders, such as the Jesuits and the Oblates. The Diocese of Greensburg fund is one of very few funds that will compensate those victimized by religious Order priests, such as the Benedictines. Similar funds in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and across New York State specifically and arbitrarily excluded claims made by anyone abused by non-diocesan priests, nuns, and lay employees.

However, the Diocese of Greensburg recently and unexpectedly announced that it will exclude the claims of anyone who had not reported their abuse to the Diocese of Greensburg before the day the fund opened. The Bishop offered no explanation was offered for this arbitrary exclusion, which does not exist in the overwhelming majority of claims funds in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

The Horowitz database is available by clicking here:

https://adamhorowitzlaw.com/who-we-sue/church-sexual-abuse/pennsylvania/diocese-of-greensburg/

Horowitz says the database will be continuously updated as the names of more accused individuals become public. You are encouraged to bookmark the link for easy access to the information in the future.

SOURCE Horowitz Law

Related Links

http://www.adamhorowitzlaw.com


STAMFORD, Conn., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the devastation in Alabama and Georgia from Sunday's tornadoes, Nestle Waters North America (NWNA) answered a request from longtime relief partner Americares for help. NWNA's three southern regional spring water brands quickly responded and provided bottled water and other assistance.

The Ozarka Brand 100% Natural Spring Water team donated $10,000 to Americares to help fund the organization's tornado relief efforts. Additionally, the Deer Park Brand 100% Natural Spring Water and Zephyrhills Brand 100% Natural Spring Water teams each sent a truckload of water from their factories. Each truck will contain approximately 30,000 bottles of spring water. The Zephyrhills truck arrived at the Feeding the Valley Food Bank in La Grangeville, GA and the Deer Park truck at the Food Bank of East Alabama in Auburn, AL yesterday afternoon.

"Our hearts go out to the families and communities impacted by Sunday's tornadoes and we were honored to help Americares with their relief efforts," said Tara Carraro, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Nestle Waters North America. "We understand the importance of having access to clean, fresh drinking water in times of crisis, and take our responsibility seriously to provide those impacted by natural disasters with the hydration they need."

"Whenever disaster strikes the United States, Nestle Waters is always willing to help," said Kate Dischino, Americares Vice President of Emergency Programs. "In fact, since we began working together 15 years ago, together we have delivered nearly 11 million bottles of water for disaster survivors in need. NWNA sends product from the nearest distribution center to ensure families get water as quickly as possible."

NWNA has a long history of helping those impacted by tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters. Most recently, in 2018, NWNA donated more than 2 million bottles of water to hurricane and wildfire relief efforts. In addition, during the wildfires in California last summer, the company opened the doors of its former Calistoga bottling facility to the American Red Cross to use as a staging area as part of the wildfire response.

How to Help

Those interested in aiding relief efforts can support the work of Americares.

Americares.org

203-658-9500

[email protected]

About Nestle Waters North America

Nestle Waters North America offers an unrivaled portfolio of bottled water brands for healthy hydration, including Deer Park Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, Ozarka Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, Zephyrhills Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, Nestle Pure Life, Perrier and S. Pellegrino. The company also owns and operates ReadyRefresh by Nestle, a customizable water and beverage delivery service. Just Click and QuenchSM.

Based in Stamford, Connecticut with approximately 8,000 associates located in North America, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint across our operations. We manage natural resources for long-term sustainability, and we conserve nearly 21,000 acres of natural watershed area. We currently source water for our six regional spring water brands from 47 springs across North America. We are also committed to creating shared value and being a good neighbor in the 140 communities where we operate in the U.S. For more information, visit us at www.nestle-watersna.com/en and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: @NestleWatersNA.

SOURCE Nestle Waters North America

Related Links

http://www.nestle-watersna.com


WASHINGTON, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today released research which explores the current state of workforce development efforts in the United States. The research identifies a fundamental workforce development misalignment between academic institutions and businesses. It also describes how the private sector must provide greater training opportunities to lower the barriers which currently prevent workers from nurturing the skills they need to participate in the digital economy.

"The research clearly demonstrates that the private sector must play a larger role in addressing the workforce development needs of today and tomorrow," said Ravi Kumar, President, Infosys. "While the private sector cannot overcome the skills gap without partnership with academic institutions and government, we can and must lead the way. By recruiting talent agnostic of their disciplines and backgroundsbut with the aptitude to learn new skills and providing them a continuum of lifelong learning, we can nurture workers on the cutting edge of all that's needed for the future of work."

The quantitative and qualitative research report, which surveyed groups across the workforce ecosystem  including hiring managers, school administrators, traditional STEM talent, and unconventional or non-STEM talent  identified the different perspectives, expectations, and needs of both the supply and demand sides of the U.S. workforce and labor market. The research found that the economy for which colleges and universities have prepared their graduates is not the economy in which businesses operate today. In today's digital age, businesses increasingly need workers who are fluent in digital skills, but who are also capable communicators, well-versed in logical and analytical reasoning, and geared toward problem-finding rather than just problem-solving.

"For those of us in the liberal arts, we are teaching and educating our students to understand how to learn so that they are adaptable for any career in the future," said Joanne Berger-Sweeney, President, Trinity College. "Liberal arts students do a great job of adapting to technology positions because, one, they know how to learn; two, they've learned the soft skills that allow them to work with all types of people; and, three, they come in with very strong oral and written communications skillsall of which allow them to provide incredible breadth and depth to the technology workforce of the future."

As opposed to traditional methods of classroom-based learning at the university level, the research found that the training model of the future necessitates that talent be continuously reskilled throughout a worker's career life cycle. Importantly, the research found that this approach solves for two of the biggest barriers to cultivating a workforce of the future: the time and money it would cost workers to pursue these skills outside of the workplace.

Thirumala Arohi, Vice President of Education, Training and Assessment, Infosys said, "Lack of adequate digital talent supply continues to be one of the greatest barriers for large organizations looking to transform. Infosys Wingspan, our holistic learning platform, revolutionizes corporate learning, making it on demand, on the go, interactive, and easier for workers and organizations to focus on reskilling today, to be better prepared for tomorrow."

Infosys' workforce development model closely follows the findings of the research report. The company is recruiting and training local talent with the aptitude to learn digital skills, creating opportunities for those with and without a background in technology. The company has created on-demand learning for employees, delivered through experiential means, which they can access throughout their time with the company. This learning is enabled, in part, through partnerships with universities, colleges, and community colleges from across the country. These partnerships are critical to the development of continuous learning curricula, geared toward solving the problems of the future. And through its partnership and training efforts, Infosys is creating local recruitment pipelines matched to a rapidly changing and disruptive workplace ecosystem.

To develop the research report, Infosys surveyed over 700 hiring managers, school administrators, traditional talent, and unconventional talent online in December 2018 and January 2019. The survey, conducted by Brunswick Group, developed a 360-degree view of the transformation of talent sourcing and training.

Highlights from the research:

85% of hiring managers believe reskilling and continuous education for existing workers is needed to ensure American workers can access the opportunities in the future

76% of school administrators and 82% of hiring managers agree that corporations must play a greater role in developing unconventional candidates by providing cutting-edge training opportunities to be successful in the future

Many do not consider technical skills as important as non-technical skills (strong work ethic, self-motivated, high cognitive skills etc.) in the workplace t oday, but expect the workforce to rely more on technical skills in 10 years

oday, but expect the workforce to rely more on technical skills in 10 years Greater than half of the unconventional talent polled and greater than a third of conventional talent polled identified the cost of the program and the time needed to dedicate to the program as the greatest barriers for pursuing STEM careers

The best resources to reduce these barriers for unconventional talent were identified as online courses and employer-subsidized programs, which provide accessibility and flexibility

To read the research report and white paper, and for more information, please visit: https://www.infosys.com/navigate-your-next/research/workforce-development-report/Pages/index.aspx

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 45 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over three decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit http://www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements concerning our future business opportunities and growth prospects. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. In addition, please note that any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company unless it is required by law.

SOURCE Infosys
TORONTO, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - OPTrust, one of Canada's largest defined benefit pension plans, has built on its existing Green Bond holdings with a $100 million investment in Ontario government Green Bonds. This brings OPTrust's total Canadian Green Bond holdings to roughly one per cent of total assets under management. The Government of Ontario uses Green Bonds as a tool to help finance transit and energy efficiency projects. Ontario is currently the largest issuer of Canadian dollar Green Bonds.

"As a pension management organization, it is critical that we invest and manage our portfolio in alignment with our members' interests," said OPTrust CIO James Davis. "Our investment in Ontario Green Bonds aligns not only with the interests of our members, but the interests of the province and environment as a whole."

As a responsible investor, OPTrust integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into its investment decision-making processes and ownership practices. This investment builds on OPTrust's extensive investment experience in renewable power and green real estate.

"For OPTrust, the purpose of responsible investing lies in the recognition that ESG factors can impact investment risk and return," said Davis. "As a long-term investor, we look at challenges and opportunities that could affect members and their retirement security across multiple generations. Climate change presents a real, measurable risk to our members that cannot be ignored in our investment approach."

In June 2018, OPTrust released a Climate Change Action Plan which contains eight areas for action, including building climate risk into OPTrust's investment approach and pushing for increased disclosure of climate change-related information from portfolio companies. In 2017, OPTrust also became one of the first pension plans to report in accordance with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

OPTrust's Climate Change Action Plan, along with the 2017 Responsible Investing Report are available at optrust.com.

About OPTrust

With net assets of over $20 billion, OPTrust invests and manages one of Canada's largest pension funds and administers the OPSEU Pension Plan, a defined benefit plan with over 92,000 members and retirees. OPTrust was established to give plan members and the Government of Ontario an equal voice in the administration of the Plan and the investment of its assets through joint trusteeship. OPTrust is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, five of whom are appointed by OPSEU and five by the Government of Ontario.

SOURCE OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund

Related Links

http://www.optrust.com


OKLAHOMA CITY, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- PANHANDLE OIL AND GAS INC. (NYSE: PHX) the "Company," today announced the Company's shareholders, at their annual meeting on March 5, 2019, in Oklahoma City, elected one new director to a three-year term and re-elected one incumbent director to an additional three-year term. New director Christopher T. Fraser of Fort Worth, Texas, and incumbent director Robert E. Robotti of New York City were elected to serve three-year terms ending in 2022. In addition, the shareholders ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2019.

Mr. Fraser has broad experience in the chemical industry. Much of his experience, as noted below, has been with major, global participants in the industry. He has been an Operating Partner of Advent International Corp., a private equity firm ("Advent"), since 2011 and advises Advent on deals in the industrial sector, with a focus on chemicals and materials. Fraser served as Chairman of the Board of KMG Chemicals Inc. from December 2012 to November 2018 and was a director from May 2008 to November 2018. He also served as Chief Executive Officer and President of KMG Chemicals Inc. from September 2013 to November 2018. He served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Chemical Lime Co. from 2006 to 2009. Fraser served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of OCI Chemical Corp. from 1997 to 2006. Prior to joining OCI, he held various positions of responsibility in sales, marketing, business development, operations and general management. He has also previously served as a director at OCI Company Ltd. from 2006 to 2008, ANSAC from 1994 to 2006 and Tangoe Inc. from 2002 to 2008. Fraser holds an MBA from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Business Administration from the University of Connecticut.

As previously announced, Robert O. Lorenz retired from the Company's board of directors. Lorenz had served on the board since 2003 and served as the Board's lead independent director from 2008 through 2018.

Paul Blanchard, President and CEO, commented, "Bob has provided thoughtful guidance and insightful leadership with a focus on building long-term shareholder value throughout his 16-year tenure on the board. The board and employees are grateful for all his contributions to our success and we wish him all the very best.

"We are very pleased to have Chris Fraser join the Panhandle board. Chris's wealth of knowledge and experience in leading successful public companies will be extremely helpful in building a more successful Panhandle Oil and Gas."

Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. (NYSE: PHX) Oklahoma City-based, Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. is an oil and natural gas mineral and leasehold acreage-focused capital allocator seeking the highest per share returns while maintaining a conservative net leverage ratio to ensure survivability and prosperity in all business and mineral commodity price cycles. The capital allocation tools include: (i) selective participation in working interest wells on its existing holdings in the highest quality, low-risk projects that are projected to exceed corporate return thresholds; (ii) aggressive leasing of its mineral holdings outside of areas of potential working interest participation; (iii) acquisition of mineral acreage, in the cores of resource plays, with substantial undeveloped opportunities that meet or exceed our corporate return threshold; (iv) divestiture of minerals with limited optionality and mineral rights when the amount negotiated exceeds our projected total value; (v) payment of quarterly dividends, with optionality for special dividends when available capital exceeds operational requirements and has no other higher shareholder return option for an extended time period; and (vi) repurchase of common shares when the share price trades at a material discount to the Company's estimated intrinsic value.

Panhandle's principal properties are located in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota. Additional information on the Company can be found at www.panhandleoilandgas.com.

SOURCE PANHANDLE OIL AND GAS INC.

Related Links

http://www.panhandleoilandgas.com


The International Pancake Day was marked with a competition of most innovative pancake on Tuesday in Bosnia and Herzegovina's city of Zenica, some 70 kilometers northwest of the capital Sarajevo.

More than 40 high school students from BiH and Croatia showed their talent in preparation of sweet and salty pancakes, using different techniques of pancake decoration, different colors, sweeteners, and molding pancakes in different shapes, all in order to win the most number of points by judges.

The aim of this international competition is for these students to show their creativity in pancake preparation, and it is also aimed to promote domestic food, Hamid Kurjakovic, member of BiH's Chef Association told Xinhua.

"Students are very creative. Judges mark the taste of pancakes, but also the look, the first visual impression, and the way of pancake preparation," Amira Jusufovic, one of the chefs, told Xinhua.

Pancake preparation is a hobby for Amina Halilovic, a high school student from Zenica. She said that she has been preparing this treat since she was a little girl, primarily learning from her grandmother and mother.

Several hundred visitors of the event had the opportunity to eat the pancakes, drink traditional BiH coffee and enjoy music.

Marked on first Tuesday in March in many countries, International Pancake Day has been celebrated for some 500 years worldwide. In BiH, this day is marked since 2014.
"The Family Institute has grown into a nationally and internationally recognized incubator for systemic thinking over the last half century. Through a practice that has grown to more than 180 clinicians and therapists-in-training, research and thousands of publications, we have propelled the theory and practice of how relationships dramatically impact a person's wellbeing," said Jana L. Jones, president and chief executive officer of The Family Institute at Northwestern University. "We have gone from sharing what we know with a handful of experimental therapists and a small number of clients, to preparing more than 500 graduate-level students each year at a world-class university for meaningful and impactful careers in behavioral health and working with more than 7,000 clients annually to improve their quality of life."

Over the past five decades, mental health has grown from a small, stigmatized endeavor to something that is widely, systemically researched within today's academic and clinical landscape and been shown to be inextricable from physical health.

With an emphasis on whole health, The Family Institute prides itself on consistently being at the forefront of understanding "family" beyond the rigid 1960s definition. "We have always defined family the way each client defines it, taking many diverse forms and not limited by the boundaries of biology, intentionality and/or law," said Nancy Burgoyne, Ph.D., chief clinical officer.

"Relationship problems are the number one reason that brings people to therapy  even individual therapy," said Anthony Chambers, Ph.D., chief academic officer of The Family Institute and director of the Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies at Northwestern University.

Dr. Burgoyne adds, "We work with families and individuals across the lifespan and stay attuned to changes or impacts on their relationships. Transitions are often vulnerable points in our lives, like when a couple has a child, and we are there to offer additional support."

The Family Institute remains committed to serving the needs of the community and the mental health field for the next 50 years and beyond. Ongoing programmatic research aims to fuel the next generation of scholarship, education and clinical practice, translating scientific, systemically informed knowledge about relationships across the lifespan into the best teaching and clinical practice available.

One example is the organization's Minority Families & Health project, which is focused on testing and adapting research and therapeutic models, currently reflecting the white, heteronormative, upper-middle class, for couples who do not fit this narrow population. The Family Institute is also developing programming around how young people navigate the messy, unstable period as they transition to adulthood, as well as conducting research on the reciprocal relationship between couple functioning and health outcomes.

In recognition of the 50th anniversary milestone and looking forward to the next 50 years, The Family Institute will build excitement throughout 2019 with a series of programs tailored to both educate and engage the Chicagoland community in conversations about behavioral health today. Teaming up with local sponsors and notable speakers, the series will bring The Family Institute's mission to life and culminate at the 50th anniversary celebration event this fall.

ABOUT THE FAMILY INSTITUTE AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Incorporated in 1969, The Family Institute at Northwestern University is committed to strengthening and healing families, couples, children and adults through the highest quality, relationship-based mental health services. As partners to see change, The Family Institute brings together research, education and clinical practice leading to growth for our clients, the next generation of therapists and the field of behavioral health.

2019 marks The Family Institute's 50th year of offering high quality mental health counseling. As a team of more than 175 therapists and therapists-in-training practicing in four Chicagoland locations: downtown Chicago, Evanston, Northbrook and Westchester, The Family Institute provides therapy for people from all walks of life.

The Family Institute conducts cutting-edge research to better understand mental health issues and treatment, operating two nationally-renowned graduate programs through the Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies at Northwestern University in Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy. For more information, visit www.family-institute.org.

SOURCE The Family Institute at Northwestern University

Related Links

http://www.family-institute.org


"We're extremely proud of these thoughtfully designed and executed homes, and we're excited to be a part of Glendora, a highly sought-after San Gabriel Valley neighborhood," said Southern California Division President Nam Joe. "The interest level has been overwhelming since our model debut in February. We invite all interested buyers to come visit and experience first-hand the quality Watt Communities has to offer."

Moreton Place residents will benefit from the long-term cost savings and peace of mind that comes with knowing that they own an energy-efficient home inclusive of solar panels, pre-wiring for electric car charging, water efficient features throughout, insulated garages, and more! As an added bonus, residents will have access to a private community tot-lot, picnic area, and outdoor BBQ.



Residents can easily indulge in the many local dining, retail and wellness amenities located less than 1/2 mile away in the charming and bustling Glendora Village. Additionally, two major shopping centers, Glendora Marketplace and Covina Town Square, where numerous top national retailers can be found are located within a few miles of the community. School-age residents of Moreton Place will be able to attend schools in the award-winning Glendora Unified School District.

Moreton Place is conveniently located minutes away from the 210 and 57 freeways. The APU/Citrus College Metro Gold Line station, two miles away in Azusa, offers commuters quick access to Downtown LA and Pasadena, and a future extension of the Gold Line is slated to bring a station to Glendora, just one block away from Moreton Place, by 2024!

Homebuyers interested in Moreton Place can visit the beautifully decorated model home daily from 10AM  6PM. The community is located at 285 S. Vermont Ave., Glendora, CA 91741. For more information, please call (626) 773-4444 or email [email protected]. Virtual tours can also be experienced online at www.MoretonPlaceGlendora.com.

SOURCE Watt Communities

Related Links

https://www.wattcommunities.com


HARRISBURG, Pa., March 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency's Housing Forum planned for May includes four keynote speakers, 26 educational sessions, a bus tour of an innovative local housing development, and plenty of networking opportunities.

Housing professionals may register now for the May 8-9 conference to be held at the Hilton Harrisburg. PHFA has been leading the Housing Forum biyearly since 1997.

"This year's conference introduces some new features while retaining many of the past elements our attendees told us they appreciate," said PHFA Executive Director and CEO Brian A. Hudson Sr. "Plus, we're keeping the registration fee at the same price it's been for the past decade  just $125 for early bird registrants. It's hard to beat the value we deliver during this conference."

The Housing Forum provides an opportunity for people working in the housing field to attend focused educational sessions and interact with their peers. More than 650 people are expected to attend, including developers, lenders, housing managers, housing advocates, and state and local government officials.

One keynote speaker will be Dr. Mark Zandi, internationally known economist based in Pennsylvania. Dr. Zandi, with Moody's Analytics, will review recent economic trends and provide a forecast for the housing economy in Pennsylvania.

A second keynote speaker will be Dr. David Erickson, community development director with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and a published author. Dr. Erickson will speak on the topic of health and housing, which is gaining increased attention because of the strong interconnection between health and housing in people's lives. Following his keynote, Dr. Erickson will stay to moderate an educational session on the same topic, giving attendees the chance to interact with him one-on-one.

A third keynote speaker will be Abby Ivory, manager of impact investing with the Sorensen Impact Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. This organization leads a national competition to identify innovative ways to make housing more affordable, which is of keen interest to the Housing Forum audience. Ivory will share some of the best ideas to come out of this year's Ivory Prize competition.

The identity of a fourth keynote speaker will be revealed closer to the event.

The 2019 forum offers numerous benefits for attendees, including:

A wide variety of housing topics covered in 26 educational sessions;

The inclusion of educational sessions covering the latest housing research findings on issues such as housing for seniors, the interconnections between health and housing, and the advantages of different approaches for providing affordable housing;

A new feature is a bus tour, which will take conference attendees to Sunflower Fields just outside Harrisburg  a rental development which, after 15 years, will convert to homeownership;

 a rental development which, after 15 years, will convert to homeownership; An awards ceremony recognizing some of the state's affordable housing pioneers and some of the best multifamily housing designs;

An evening networking event for reconnecting with colleagues and meeting new business associates;

A vendor exhibit hall for learning about new housing-related products and services;

A special "Meet and Greet" so attendees can get to know some of the PHFA staff with whom they interact but may never have met face-to-face; and

A lunchtime performance by popular pianist Peter Bottros , who works to support music education for young people through his Shine Music Foundation.

Early bird pricing for the Housing Forum is only $125 through April 7. After that date, registration increases to $175. The price to attend the Forum without pre-registering is $250. The $125 early bird pricing is the same registration cost PHFA has offered for the past ten years, while still adding enhancements to the event.

Detailed information about the 2019 forum and the four keynote speakers, as well as registration, is available at https://housingforum.phfa.org/ . People with questions not answered on the website can contact conference organizer Susan Shermer at [email protected] .

About PHFA

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency works to provide affordable homeownership and rental housing options for older adults, low- and moderate-income families, and people with special housing needs. Through its carefully managed mortgage programs and investments in multifamily housing developments, PHFA also promotes economic development across the state. Since its creation by the legislature in 1972, it has generated more than $14.1 billion of funding for more than 175,000 singlefamily home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 134,507 rental units, and saved the homes of nearly 49,600 families from foreclosure. PHFA programs and operations are funded primarily by the sale of securities and from fees paid by program users, not by public tax dollars. The agency is governed by a 14-member board.

Media contact:

Scott Elliott

717-649-6522 (cell)

[email protected]

SOURCE Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency

Related Links

http://www.PHFA.org


COMMERCE CITY, Colo., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Richmond American Homes of Colorado, Inc., a subsidiary of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MDC), is pleased to debut four new model homes at Eastpoint in Commerce City.

Grand Opening Event (RichmondAmerican.com/EastpointGO)

Prospective homebuyers and area agents are invited to attend the Model Home Grand Opening on Saturday, March 16, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Guests will enjoy complimentary lunch, photo booth fun and tours of the following fully furnished model homes:

Seasons at Eastpoint (RichmondAmerican.com/Seasons-Eastpoint)

Amethyst  Ranch plan, 2 to 3 bedrooms, approx. 1,440 sq. ft.

Lapis  Two-story plan, 3 to 4 bedrooms, approx. 2,250 sq. ft.

Landmark at Eastpoint (RichmondAmerican.com/Landmark-Eastpoint)

Hemingway  Two-story plan, 4 to 6 bedrooms, approx. 2,570 sq. ft.

Coronado  Two-story plan, 3 to 6 bedrooms, approx. 2,790 sq. ft.

Visitors will also have a chance to learn about other available floor plans at these communitiesand at The Villas at Eastpoint, located nearby. This new addition to the masterplan just opened for sales last month and offers four floor plans with alley-entry garages from the low $300s.

In addition, Urban Collection at Easpoint, which will offer two-story paired homes, is coming soon.

More about Eastpoint (RichmondAmerican.com/Eastpoint)

New homes from the low $300s

2 to 7 bedrooms, approx. 1,440 to 3,100 sq. ft.

Hundreds of personalization options

Multiple home collectionswith more coming soon!

Desirable location, near schools, shopping, dining and recreation

Ask a sales associate about special offers at this exciting community.

Eastpoint is located at 9803 Truckee Street in Commerce City. Call 303.840.3104 or visit RichmondAmerican.com for more information.

About M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.

Operating under the name Richmond American Homes, MDC's homebuilding subsidiaries have built more than 200,000 homes since 1977. Among the nation's largest homebuilders, MDC's subsidiary companies have operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Florida, Virginia and Washington. Mortgage lending, plus insurance and title services are offered by the following MDC subsidiaries, respectively: HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation, American Home Insurance Agency, Inc. and American Home Title and Escrow Company. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MDC." For more information, visit MDCHoldings.com.

SOURCE M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.richmondamerican.com


WARREN, R.I., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- AVTECH Software (AVTECH) is excited to announce that its Room Alert environment monitoring platform has been named a "2018 Network Security Excellence Award Winner" by INTERNET TELEPHONY Magazine, a TMC publication.

Overview of Room Alert monitors and Room Alert Account monitoring portal.

Now in its 31st year in business, AVTECH manufactures Room Alert, the world's most popular environment monitor for business continuity plans. Room Alert is made in the USA and proactively monitors environment conditions such as temperature, humidity, flood, power, smoke, and more. Room Alert is currently used in 186 of 196 countries by organizations ranging from thousands of small businesses to Boeing, Sprint, Microsoft, over 80% of the Fortune 1000, the United Nations, and many local governments.

Many business continuity plans include network and data monitoring that do not monitor environment factors that cause 30% of outages suffered by businesses. AVTECH's Room Alert helps resolve this to provide users with peace of mind, knowing that the environment threats that can cause data loss and downtime are being proactively monitored for early detection, which will drastically reduce downtime and loss of revenue.

"We are honored to have been named a 2018 Network Security Excellence Award winner," said Richard Grundy, President of AVTECH. "Our industry is seeing a real focus on business continuity as a proactive way to prevent downtime, rather than rely on disaster recovery plans after the fact. Room Alert monitors, sensors, and software help organizations of all sizes protect their networks by helping prevent environmental causes of data loss."

In addition to Room Alert environment monitors, AVTECH also provides the online RoomAlert.com Account portal and local Device ManageR software for Room Alert monitoring, management, and reporting. Both software packages are completely designed, developed, supported, and updated at AVTECH's corporate headquarters at Cutler Mill in Warren, Rhode Island.

AVTECH offers a wide range of digital, switch and analog sensors designed to help users monitor as many environment conditions as possible to help protect their facilities. Room Alert is a crucial part of any organization's business continuity plan, as it allows users to fully monitor environment conditions in their data centers, server rooms, and facilities that can cause unexpected downtime.

"Congratulations to the winners of the Network Security Excellence Award," said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. "The recipients represent leaders within the VoIP and IP Communications industries and have demonstrated innovation and excellence. We look forward to seeing their future successes."

About AVTECH

AVTECH Software (AVTECH), a private corporation founded in 1988, is a computer hardware and software developer and manufacturer based in Warren, RI. AVTECH Room Alert products are made in the USA and proactively monitor critical facilities and assets for conditions such as temperature, humidity, power, flood / water leakage, smoke / fire, air flow, room entry, motion, cameras and more. Room Alert is in use in over 180 countries and can be found in over 80% of the Fortune 1000, most state and federal agencies, and all branches of the US military. Room Alert is "Environment Monitoring Made Easy Don't Wait Until It's Too Late!"

Media Contact:

Russell Benoit

[email protected]

AVTECH Software

16 Cutler Street, Cutler Mill

Warren, RI 02885

Ph: 401.628.1600

Related Images

room-alert-overview.png

Room Alert Overview

Overview of Room Alert monitors and Room Alert Account monitoring portal.

internet-telephony-network.jpg

INTERNET TELEPHONY Network Security Excellence Award

SOURCE AVTECH Software, Inc
IRVINE, Calif., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Since launching its franchise opportunity just 12 short months ago, Row House, the nation's leading boutique rowing concept, has crossed yet another milestone  the signing of its 200th franchise agreement. This accomplishment falls right in line with the brand's overarching goal to open more than 100 studio locations each year through 2022.

The recently signed agreements will bring new locations to states such as Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Colorado and California, where over 20 new studios are planned. Long recognized by the rowing community as one of the most effective forms of full-body exercise, Row House is shining a spotlight on an oft-neglected piece of exercise equipment and fueling the revitalization of one of America's oldest sports.

"We have been extremely pleased with the growth of Row House in its first year, and with these recently signed deals, this unstoppable momentum will continue for the next few years," said Ramon Castillon, President of Row House. "Row House stands out in the crowded boutique fitness space with its fresh, high-energy, low-impact workouts, and is leading the way as the number one indoor rowing experience on the market. We are excited to continue changing lives with this revolutionary fitness concept."

Row House is a fitness community focused on providing the comradery and drive fostered by the sport of rowing. By offering a variety of classes, those of different strengths and abilities come together for a synchronized group fitness experience. In class, participants row on the same stroke, moving as a unit, but also have the ability to row at their own intensity. As rowing is one of the most effective low-impact, high-energy workouts, each stroke offers participants the opportunity to engage 85 percent of the body's muscles with a low risk of injury  maximizing calorie burn, activating the core, strengthening and lengthening the body and ultimately improving posture.

To continue their rapid expansion, Row House is actively seeking qualified franchise partners. Headquartered in Irvine, CA, Row House is backed by Xponential Fitness, a powerhouse curator of leading boutique fitness brands. The Row House franchise opportunity offers potential franchisees the opportunity to capitalize on an emerging fitness market across all 50 states. With a total investment of $231,600-$333,750, Row House provides sound business opportunity along with a wealth of support, infrastructure and knowledge from the Xponential Fitness team.

For more information about Row House and its franchise opportunity, please visit www.therowhouse.com/franchise.

ABOUT ROW HOUSE:

Row House is a boutique indoor rowing concept offering a group fitness environment that brings the comradery and drive fostered by the sport of rowing. Founded in NYC in 2014, Row House offers a smart, effective, low-impact and high-energy fitness program meant to preserve the longevity of the body for all fitness levels. Headquartered in Irvine, CA, Row House is backed by Xponential Fitness, a curator of popular boutique fitness brands. To learn more about Row House, visit www.therowhouse.com .

Media Contact: Julianne Stevenson, Fishman Public Relations, 847-945-1300 or [email protected]

SOURCE Row House

Related Links

https://www.therowhouse.com


"As our alumni family seek opportunities to keep their skills current and learn throughout their lives, we want them to see Rutgers Business School as their educational partner," Lei said.

In higher education, lifelong learning continues to gain traction as working professionals and business leaders, alike, realize the growing need and demand for knowledge.

"The need to stay relevant and learn throughout one's life grows every day because of the pace of change," said Peter Methot, executive director of Rutgers Business School's Executive Education.

Technology continues to drive much of that change, disrupting industries and careers, and requiring skills and capabilities that many workers don't yet have. "As a well-regarded business school," Methot said, "we want to offer relevant knowledge that helps our stakeholders be the best version of themselves."

A webinar on the business implications of artificial intelligence kicked off the lunch and learn series on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Several hundred people connected over the lunch hour to learn more about one of the hottest topics impacting the workforce today.

Krunal Bhakta, an alumnus of the Rutgers Full Time MBA program, said he was excited about and grateful for Rutgers Business School's free one-hour long virtual lunch and learn series.

"We often believe we can't afford the time it takes, but the opposite is true," Bhakta said. "None of us can afford not to learn. It's a necessity."

"By working less and learning more, I might seem to get less done in a day," he said, "but I get dramatically more done in my year and in my career," he said.

Future virtual lunch and learn topics include "Putting your Digital Profile to Work: 10 Best Practices for Personal Branding" on March 13 from noon to 1 p.m. and "The Business Implications of a Multi-generational Workforce," on April 17 from noon to 1 p.m.

Each virtual lunch and learn session will take place in the middle of the month, middle of the week (Wednesdays) and in the middle of the day  noon to 1 p.m. The lunch and learn sessions are free to current students, Rutgers Business School alumni, as well as friends and family members of alumni.

As part of the lifelong learning initiative, alumni will also be able to access all open enrollment programs offered by Rutgers Business School Executive Education at a 50 percent discount. There is a one class per year limit and enrollment is based on seat availability  both in class and online.

To enroll in executive education open enrollment programs, alumni will be required to prove their eligibility with either a picture or a scan of their diploma. The eligibility can also be proved by completing a verification from the Rutgers University registrar.

Find out more about lifelong learning opportunities powered by Rutgers Business School Executive Education.

SOURCE Rutgers Business School

Related Links

http://www.business.rutgers.edu


SAN FRANCISCO, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- After 44 years, fast-fashion retailer Charlotte Russe is going out of business and closing all of the company's remaining 416 store locations. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Delaware approved an order naming SB360 Capital Partners (www.sb360.com) as agent for the liquidation. Inventory valued at approximately $160,000,000 will be sold through the Charlotte Russe stores. The company's intellectual property and rights to its leases will be sold separately.

Going Out of Business Sales start immediately in all stores across 44 states and Puerto Rico. Merchandise currently in the stores plus additional product from the distribution center and product originally designated to support the ecommerce platform, will be sold at discounted prices. The entire store will be on sale with deep discounts off the lowest ticketed prices. Tops, bottoms, jeans, jackets, dresses, shoes, and accessories are highly desirable categories for the brand's customers, and the Going Out of Business Sale is expected to wrap up quickly. Gift cards can be redeemed until March 21, 2019.

Aaron Miller, Executive Vice President of SB360, said "Charlotte Russe established itself over the last four decades as a fashion destination for young women. A sale of this magnitude will bring never-seen-before values to a broad selection of today's best fashion trends."

"For the loyal Charlotte Russe shopper as well as all young women across the country, these deals are not to be missed," said Ziggy Schaffer, Executive Vice President of SB360. "On-trend fashion offered at liquidation discounts off already affordable prices will sell incredibly fast."

California-based Charlotte Russe was founded in 1975. Known as a shopping destination for young women seeking trendy apparel, shoes and accessories, sales at Charlotte Russe reached their peak in 2016 at $986 Million.

Additional information regarding Charlotte Russe's Chapter 11 filing and information about the claims process is available at www.donlinrecano.com/charlotterusse or by calling the Company's claims agent, Donlin Recano, at (877) 864-4836 or submitting an inquiry via e-mail to: [email protected].

Full store list available at https://www.sb360.com/select-projects/events/charlotte-russe-stores/

About SB360 Capital Partners, LLC

SB360 Capital Partners (www.sb360.com), a Schottenstein Affiliate, helps businesses manage change, restructure assets, and turn around dwindling profitability. SB360 makes equity investments to infuse capital for growth opportunities, fund turnarounds, and provide liquidity to businesses experiencing change. SB360 acquires assets of all types including inventory, fixed assets, intellectual property, real estate, and complete business units. The firm's asset disposition services range from providing guaranteed asset value recovery to acting as a liquidation consultant. Additionally, SB360 has entities engaged in real estate advisory, commercial real estate investment, and the operation of the SBC Logistics Asset Recovery Center in Columbus. A lending affiliate, Second Avenue Capital Partners, provides asset-based loans for middle market companies. The principals of SB360 hold extensive commercial interests in national retail and wholesale operations; internationally recognized consumer brands; commercial, residential, and industrial real estate properties; and financial service operations.

About Charlotte Russe

Charlotte Russe is a fashion brand for young women, offering affordable on-trend apparel, shoes and accessories for all sizes, with a fun and engaging shopping experience wherever and whenever she wants. Prior to the commencement of Chapter 11 proceedings, Charlotte Russe operated in the contiguous 48 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico through their online store and mobile app, as well as over 500 brick-and-mortar stores located primarily in malls and outlet centers. In 2016, the Company expanded to include Peek Kids, operating 10 stores and an ecommerce site. For more information, please visit http://www.CharlotteRusse.com and on Instagram @CharlotteRusse and @Peekkids.

SOURCE SB360 Capital Partners

Related Links

http://www.sb360.com


PORTLAND, Oregon, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Silane and Silicone Market Forecast, By Silanes (Coupling Agents, Cross-linking Agents, and Others), Silicones (Elastomers, Fluids, Resins, Gels, Conformal Coatings, and Others), and End User (Building & Construction, Transportation, Electronics, Medical, Textile & Leather, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018  2025." The report offers an all-inclusive analysis of key market players & their strategies, dynamic market trends, research methodology, major segments, top investment pockets, market size & estimations, and overall business landscape. As per the report, the global Silane and Silicone market was estimated at $14.4 billion in 2017 and is expected to hit $22.03 billion in 2025, registering a CAGR of 5.4% from 2018-2025.

Increase in demand for silicone across various end-user industries, rise in adoption of waterborne coatings and surge in need for coupling agents in polymers have fueled the growth of global silane and silicone market. On the other hand, soaring price of silicone based products has happened to curb the growth to some extent. Nevertheless, High growth in electronics & semiconductor manufacturing in Asia-Pacific has created a number of opportunities in the segment.

Request Sample Report at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/5187

Asia-Pacific to have the highest market share

By region, Asia-Pacific contributed to more than two-fifth of the total market share and is expected to grow at the CAGR of 4.5% from 2017-2025. High spending on infrastructural development, largest automotive manufacturing base in China, high production and export of electronics in Japan and growing economic status of the region are boosting the growth of the market.

Silicones to maintain its leadership status by 2025

Based on type, the silicones sector accounted for more than four-fifth of the total market in 2017 and came out as having the highest market share. Rise in infrastructure development projects and growth in construction & housing space where water repellent coatings, glass coating, epoxy and sealant coatings are widely used, have augmented the use of silicone in more than one way.

Medical to remain dominant throughout the forecast period

By end-user, medical industry contributed to nearly one-fifth of the total market. As an excellent adhesion promoter, silane has found wide application in medical industry. Silane coupling agent is used in dental restorative materials and that's how it has become one of the prime components utilized in dental treatments. Silicones has properties like hydrophobicity, thermal stability and chemical resistance that had led to escalate the demand of silicone in the industry. Especially, for manufacturing of heart pumps, defibrillators, suture sleeves, and over molded surgical blades, silicones are widely in use.

For Purchase Enquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/5187

Key market players

Key market players highlighted in the research are BASF SE, Kaneka Corporation., Evonik Industries, ICM Products Inc., DowDupont, Emerald Performance Materials, Wacker Chemie AG, MPM Holdings Inc., ICM Products Inc., China National Bluestar (Group) Co, Ltd., and Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. Their strategic and tactical outlook towards the market has helped them maintain their top status.

Access KNOWLEDGE TREE (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model) at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/knowledgetree

Knowledge tree is a cloud-based intelligence platform that offers more than 2,000 selective, off-the-shelf reports on niche markets to enable our clients gain deep insights on the latest trends, dynamic technologies, and emerging application areas.

Similar Reports:

Silicone in Construction Industry - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022

Coatings Resins Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2025

About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

David Correa

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

USA/Canada (Toll Free):

+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141

UK: +44-845-528-1300

Hong Kong: +852-301-84916

India (Pune): +91-20-66346060

Fax: +1(855)550-5975

[email protected]

Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

SOURCE Allied Market Research
STEVENS POINT, Wis., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Administrators, educators, and industry experts from around the world gathered in St. Pete Beach, Florida for Skyward's 17th annual international conference (iCon). The three-day event featured a better overall experience for attendees, showcasing tailored session topics, a new event app, and dynamic keynote speaker, Dr. Joe Sanfelippo.

Skyward iCon 2019 Recap

Throughout the event, Skyward posed the question "What's Your Story?" as the conference theme challenging attendees to use technology to design, create, and tell their district's unique stories. Presentations focused on discovering new product features, improving the accuracy of student data, and saving costs in the school business office. In addition, participants networked with peers and sat in on research and development sessions to provide feedback on future product features.

"Our customers and industry experts brought an incredible amount of leadership, collaboration, and fun to iCon this year," explained Ray Ackerlund, president of Skyward. "The level of mutual learning that took place is going to drive a lot of growth for both our customers and products in 2019."

For the fifth straight year, Skyward recognized the recipients of its Leader in Excellence Award at iCon. The honor distinguishes K-12 districts and individuals using Skyward to forge new successes in education and inspire leaders worldwide:

Individual recipients included:

Tim Howard , school data specialist and programmer at Calhoun Intermediate School District in Marshall, Michigan

, school data specialist and programmer at Calhoun Intermediate School District in Dr. Chad Jones , Ed.D, director of digital learning at Lamar Consolidated Independent School District in Rosenberg, Texas

, Ed.D, director of digital learning at Lamar Consolidated Independent School District in Georgia Omer , a teacher on special assignments assigned to K-12 curriculum and Skyward at Alpine School District in American Fork, Utah

The district award was given to:

Streator Elementary District #44 in Streator, Illinois

"I have been to the conference multiple years and each year has been wonderful," explained Sandy Lakosil, district applications specialist at Community High School District 218 in Illinois. "Skyward's staff is always so pleasant and fellow districts are always willing to share new ideas and insights."

To see the moments captured at iCon 2019, search #OnceUponAniCon on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Next year's international conference will take place Wednesday, February 26-28, 2020 at TradeWinds Island Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida. For more information, visit skyward.com/icon.

About Skyward

Skyward's administrative software solutions are used by more than 2,000 public sector organizations worldwide, from small entities to statewide implementations. Since 1980, Skyward has remained committed to a better experience for every user. To learn more, visit www.skyward.com.

SOURCE Skyward

Related Links

http://www.skyward.com


China's Commerce Minister Zhong Shan responded to a question regarding China-US trade and economic consultations at the "Ministers' Corridor" during the annual session of the 2019 NPC on Tuesday.



The minister said that China and the US are holding economic and trade consultations to jointly implement the important consensus between the two presidents. He stressed the word "jointly". Last December, President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump reached important consensus during their successful meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The two sides agreed not to implement a planned tariff hike, but to address each other's economic and trade concerns through consultations with clear principles and timelines.

It was a successful and historic meeting, and indeed, the biggest highlight of the G20 Summit. After the meeting, the stock markets of the two countries started to rally and drove up the global stock market, fully demonstrating that the leaders' consensus represents the common aspiration of the two countries and the expectation of the international community, he said.

Zhong stressed the principles of the consultations agreed by the two presidents: mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. Mutual respect means respecting each other's social systems and development models; equality and mutual benefit mean that the consultations should be held on an equal footing and the outcomes must be win-win. This is the principle that has guided the two teams in their consultations over the last 90 days.

He added people are interested in knowing the progress of the consultations. Within 90 days, the two sides conducted three rounds of high-level consultations. Not long ago, Vice-Premier Liu He, as the Special Envoy of President Xi Jinping, led a Chinese delegation to the United States for consultations, which have been arduous and difficult. The process is arduous because the two countries differ greatly in system, culture and stage of development. To reach a consensus, the two sides need to seek common ground while shelving differences and make great efforts, which is not easy at all.

According to Zhong, the process also is difficult because the consultations were held within a very short timeframe. A two-day consultation had been arranged and later, two more days were added, but the schedule was still tight and many topics needed to be covered. Teams on both sides worked at all hours of the day and night. They worked very hard and in a professional way. After 90 days of effective consultations, the two sides made important initial progress and breakthroughs in some areas. The two sides have agreed to extend the negotiations, during which both sides will not raise tariffs. We should cherish such hard-earned achievement.

Zhong said that President Xi Jinping stressed that cooperation is the best choice for both China and the US. Consultations continue at the working level and a lot of work remains to be done, which makes it even more necessary for China and the US to make joint efforts toward the same target. If an agreement is reached, it will benefit the economy of the two countries and the world.
NEW YORK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Blinc Group ("Blinc", "Company" or "TBG"), the first of its kind platform for developing and distributing cutting edge technologies in vaping and ancillary cannabis products, today announced that they are introducing a new set of standards for all of their products, pledging to keep detectable heavy metals well below industry regulations, and challenging the rest of the industry to pledge the same.

"As legalization continues and adult use increases, we want to be sure that all vape products are properly regulated and safe for consumers. Working with key stakeholders in the industry will be crucial in setting this bar for consumer safety," said Arnaud Dumas de Rauly, Blinc's co-founder and co-CEO, as well as Chairman of the ISO/TC126/SC3 Standards Committee on Vapor Products.

California placed specific heavy metals testing regulations in place in 2018, which many hardware and cannabis companies have narrowly met, but Blinc demands more of their products. They are pushing for the industry to do better for consumers and strive for a "0" detectable heavy metal read on their products.

To qualify, companies must achieve that rating and the following guidelines:

Manufactured in dust-free environments within ISO and cGMP certified facilities,

RoHS compliant (Directive 2011/65/EU),

Certified clean for Destructive Heavy Metal Testing: grinding the sample down to quantify the heavy metals,

Certified clean for Leachable Heavy Metal Testing

EMC compliant (Directive 2014/30/EU), and

FCC certified.

Blinc will then officially label them as CVSI- (Cannabis Vape Safety Initiative) certified and provide materials for packaging and marketing efforts to announce the designation.

"Blinc leads the market in innovative vapor hardware, and we want to lead the industry in matters of quality and safety as well. We're leveraging our collective expertise and network to make the vape and cannabis industries more accountable for their products," Dumas de Rauly added.

The Blinc Group is in the process of becoming one of the few vaporizer distributors that is ISO9001 certified. They work exclusively with ISO and GMP certified manufacturers and have 10+ years of in-depth experience in vaping product R&D, manufacturing and distribution which enables them to stay ahead of compliance or regulatory concerns. Blinc has developed products in partnerships with a selective four out of 600 manufacturers to make sure every product comes from an ISO and cGMP certified source.

About The Blinc Group

The Blinc Group creates, distributes and supports best-in-class cannabis vaping hardware and complementary ancillary products. Everything Blinc does is rooted in three pillars: Innovation, Quality and Safety. Blinc focuses on three primary markets: 1. Full-service sourcing, development and QC Enterprise Solutions for large MSOs and LPs; 2. Vaping hardware distribution to regional producer-processors; 3. B2B & B2C direct sales via regional & national chains and online channels spearheaded by the Puffmen brand.

http://www.theblincgroup.com

SOURCE The Blinc Group

Related Links

http://www.theblincgroup.com


NEW YORK, March 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The global artificial pancreas device systems market is expected to reach US$ 2,168.1 Mn in 2025 from US$ 481.8 Mn in 2017. The market is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 20.9% from 2016-2025.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05730236



Driving factors such as, growing prevalence of diabetes, developments by major players, rise in demand for computerized systems for glycemic control are expected to boost the market growth over the years.In addition, increasing medical tourism in emerging nations are likely to have a positive impact on the growth of the global artificial pancreas device systems market in the coming years.



However, availability of alternatives for artificial pancreas device systems and high cost associated with these systems are likely to negatively affect the market growth in the coming years.On the other hand, use of pancreas cell implant is expected to be one of the prevalent trends in the market.



Use of an artificial pancreas is related to the better control of blood sugar levels for people with type 1 diabetes compared with standard treatment.For people with type 1 diabetes (T1D), continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices provide around-the-clock information on blood glucose levels, which is then used to determine how much insulin is needed.



Insulin pumps allow the insulin doses to be administered subcutaneously throughout the day. The advanced technology developed for the diabetes treatment is the pancreas cell implant developed in November 2017, by a California company, Encellin. The company aims to eradicate insulin injections for diabetic patients with an insulin-producing implant containing live cells. The device is in preclinical trials and the company is organizing for clinical trials. The concept of packaging cells in semipermeable membranes could have other medical uses as well. This promising technology will help in the removal of the diabetes related problems and are expected to be prevalent future trend in artificial pancreas device systems market.

Global artificial pancreas device systems market, based on the type was segmented into control to range, control to target and threshold device systems. In 2017, the threshold suspended device systems segment held a largest market share of 71.5% of the artificial pancreas device systems market, by type. The threshold suspended device systems is the largest segment among the type segment in the artificial pancreas devices system market in 2017 and is also anticipated to hold the largest market in the year 2025. However, the control to target segment is the fastest growing segment and is accounted to grow at the CAGR of 21.4% over the forecast years.

Some of the major primary and secondary sources included in the report for the artificial pancreas device systems market are Juvenile Diabetes Association, Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Chinese Diabetes Society, International Diabetes Federation, National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics, National Center for Biotechnology Information, and others.



Reasons to Buy

Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the artificial pancreas device systems market.

Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.

The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the global artificial pancreas device systems market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long-term strategies.

Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.

Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.

Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin security interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05730236



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


LOS ANGELES, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- This morning, several Los Angeles County police officers simultaneously filed claims against Los Angeles County, alleging the officers are victims of the Banditos gang whose members are police officers employed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The claims allege that the Sheriff's Department routinely hired and employs gang members who targeted and terrorize young, Latino deputies working for the Department. The claims further assert that the County's failure to rid the Department of gangs and to discipline the gang members, and instead covering up the gang's actions, encouraged the County's gang member employees to retaliate against deputies and to recently assault several officers at a department party in East Los Angeles. According to the claims, after years of harassment targeting the young Latino police deputies, on September 28, 2018, several Banditos gang members surrounded and assaulted and battered several of the deputies; the claims further state that one of the young Latino Deputies was nearly strangled to death by the gang as he was choked out more than once and punched in the face by the gang; and that another officer was also savagely attacked by the gang and assaulted, sucker punched and knocked unconscious, then jumped on while he was unconscious on the ground. Four of the purported Banditos gang members were placed on leave after the incident and are under criminal investigation. The claims allege that, after the attack, the gang has continued to retaliate against the officers and whistleblowers, and recently secretly emptied out the bullets from the gun of one of the officers  in an attempt to set him up to be killed out in the field.

The claims also allege that the Banditos gang intentionally prevents officers from providing the necessary back up to each other during dangerous calls, endangering the officers and the community. The deputies further allege that Los Angeles County administration and management has long known about the gang problem for years and yet has not done anything to protect its officers and the community.The attorney for the claimants, Vincent Miller, of the Law Offices of Vincent Miller, stated that "the tense and violent environment at the police station has led to the deputies fearing attack by their fellow officers more than by the criminals in the street."

Media Contact for a longer version of the press release and more information:

Attorney Vincent Miller

Phone: (213) 948-5702

Email: [email protected]

https://www.vincentmillerlaw.com

SOURCE The Law Offices of Vincent Miller

Related Links

https://vincentmillerlaw.com/


NEW YORK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Kansas Health System has selected Connexient's MediNav Digital Wayfinding solution to help patients and visitors more easily navigate some of its hospitals and clinics throughout Kansas City. The "Indoor GPS" technology will improve the patient experience and reduce missed and late appointments.

The University of Kansas Health System's Digital Patient Navigation System by Connexient

The University of Kansas Health System is the region's premier academic health system providing a full range of care. It offers more options for patients with serious conditions because of its expertise and leadership in medical research and education. The health system has more than 80 hospital and clinical locations in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

MediNav provides the most advanced turn-by-turn indoor navigation for hospitals with popular features like Parking Planner, Find My Car, and Meet Me. MediNav can also be integrated with Epic's MyChart appointment scheduling to make it easier for patients to get to their appointments on time.

"We are excited to partner with Connexient on our new Digital Patient Navigation System (DPNS)," said Chris Wilson, vice president of innovation and system integration at The University of Kansas Health System. "This digital wayfinding technology will help our patients, their families and guests experience a well-orchestrated visit from home to appointment. We look forward to integrating wayfinding with appointment schedules in our electronic medical record."

"The University of Kansas Health System is extremely innovative in providing technology to improve the patient experience," said Mark Green, Connexient CEO and Co-Founder. "With a large medical center campus and many other care locations in Kansas City, the need for a comprehensive navigation system is critical to helping patients, visitors, students, nurses and doctors find their way."

About Connexient:

Connexient (www.connexient.com) provides Indoor Mapping, Navigation and Location-based Services to hospitals and healthcare networks with large, complex buildings and campuses. The MediNav Navigator Edition Patient Experience solution helps to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, reduce missed or late appointments and improve HCAHPS scores.

MediNav provides dynamic, turn-by-turn indoor navigation, voice prompts, off-route notifications, visual landmark references and popular features such as MeetMe, Parking Planner, and Find My Car. This experience is similar to what billions of users have come to expect in the outdoor world with Google Maps or Waze, but now patients and visitors have an indoor guide to get them from home to their appointment. With 60 hospital sites and 70 million square feet mapped, Connexient is the clear market leader for digital wayfinding in healthcare.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Sarah Stabile

[email protected]

646.453.9453

SOURCE Connexient

Related Links

http://www.connexient.com


PHILADELPHIA, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The investor rights lawyers at Goldman Scarlato & Penny are working on behalf of UBS YES investors who lost money invested in the UBS Yield Enhancement trading program. They are investigating and preparing to take action and seek compensation for any losses the investors suffered.

Multinational financial services firm UBS offered the Yield Enhancement Strategy as an option-based trading strategy that sought to increase returns for investors who committed a certain minimum amount of their portfolio (a "Mandate") to this strategy.

UBS offered the Yield Enhancement Strategy typically to high net worth investors, who had to agree to allocate a minimum Mandate to the YES program. Investors were often presented with a presentation, or "slide deck," which purported to describe the Yield Enhancement program.

In recent weeks UBS Yield Enhancement Strategy investors have started seeing substantial losses in their portfolios. Those losses have continued to increase even as investors started expressing serious concerns about the direction of their portfolios. Some UBS YES investors were reportedly asked to provide additional collateral or are facing margin deficits. What's worse, it appears that at least some of the UBS YES investors were not able to quickly extricate their savings from the Yield Enhancement programs, and are facing the risk of additional losses.

Securities attorney Alan Rosca and his colleagues are working with investors and are preparing to take action to recover investor losses. Their investigation focuses on important concerns including (1) whether the UBS Yield Enhancement Strategy fully and adequately disclosed to investors serious risks associated with the YES program; (2) whether the YES program was suitable for those investors' investment profile; (3) whether some investors' portfolios were overly-concentrated in the YES program; and (4) whether the actual trading strategy was consistent with the advertised YES strategy.

The Goldman Scarlato & Penny lawyers have launched a website with useful information for YES investors: https://yieldenhancementlosses.com/.

Investors who believe they lost money invested in UBS' Yield Enhancement Strategy may contact attorney Alan Rosca or his colleagues, Paul Scarlato or Doug Bench, for a free no-obligation evaluation of their recovery options, at 888-998-0530 or [email protected].

 Goldman Scarlato & Penny PC, 2019. This release includes Attorney Advertising. Visit https://yieldenhancementlosses.com/ for important disclosures.

SOURCE Goldman Scarlato & Penny
"We partner with more than 30 manufacturer brands and thousands of employers across the transportation industry and skilled trades, and they consistently tell us they need more trained technicians," said Kim McWaters, UTI President and CEO. "We're talking about high-tech, high-paying careers that literally keep our economy moving  and employers are desperate to fill them. The summer Ignite program exposes more students to the career and the power of technical education, showing them firsthand how exciting their training and future can be."

During the program's 3-week courses, Ignite participants are given a glimpse into the world of automotive, diesel, collision repair or motorcycle training  an introductory sample of the program completed by full-time UTI students. The Ignite curriculum emphasizes a career focused education that prepares students for the high-tech ever-evolving transportation industry of the future. Students explore career opportunities in the transportation field, receive hands-on training on today's latest technologies and learn from UTI graduates and local employers about the high need and earning potential for trained technicians.

UTI launched Ignite nationwide in the summer of 2018, following a successful pilot program at campuses in Avondale (Phoenix), Ariz.; Houston, Texas; and Orlando, Fla., the previous year. Each of the programs were at or near capacity, and a large percentage of participants said they planned return to UTI as a full-time student after high school. Summer Ignite students are eligible to receive credit toward future UTI courses and can complete a UTI program and begin a career in the transportation sector in less time.

Industry demand for trained automotive and diesel technicians continues to accelerate. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that, by 2026, there will be more than 1.2 million job openings in the automotive, diesel and collision repair industries. 1 To help reach that total, the transportation industry will need to fill more than 120,000 technician job openings annually, on average.

The Ignite program is now accepting applications across UTI's campuses. For more information or to enroll, visit www.uti.edu/ignite.

About Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

With more than 200,000 graduates in its 53-year history, Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) is the nation's leading provider of technical training for automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians, and offers welding technology and computer numerical control (CNC) machining programs. The company has built partnerships with industry leaders, outfits its state-of-the-industry facilities with current technology, and delivers training that is aligned with employer needs. Through its network of 13 campuses nationwide, UTI offers post-secondary programs under the banner of several well-known brands, including Universal Technical Institute (UTI), Motorcycle Mechanics Institute and Marine Mechanics Institute (MMI) and NASCAR Technical Institute (NASCAR Tech). The company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

For more information, visit www.uti.edu. Like UTI on www.facebook.com/UTI or follow UTI on Twitter @UTITweet, @MMITweet, and @NASCARTechUTI.



1 Source: Based on data compiled from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections (2016-2026), www.bls.gov. The projected number of annual job openings, by job classification is: Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics, 75,900; Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists, 28,300; Automotive Body and Related Repairers, 17,200. Job openings include openings due to growth and net replacements.

Media Contact:

Jody Kent

VP, Communications and Public Affairs

Universal Technical Institute

(623) 445-0872

[email protected]

SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.uti.edu


PITTSBURGH, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) applauded today's ruling from the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) affirming University of Pittsburgh graduate student employees' right to join a union.

The PLRB found that the approximately 2,000 teaching assistants, teaching fellows, graduate assistants and graduate student researchers are university employees, entitled to seek union representation.

"Pitt's grad students work hard as teachers and as researchers, providing valuable services to the university," said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. "They are absolutely employees and deserve a seat at the table."

Pitt grad employees filed for a union election in December 2017, seeking greater transparency in the decision-making process that affects their working conditions, as well as protections against discrimination and harassment.

"We need a union because we deserve to participate in the decision-making process that affects us and our jobs," said Hillary Lazar, a graduate employee in the department of sociology. "From bargaining over issues like health care for our families to instituting safeguards against harassment, a union helps ensure we have the same rights as any other group of workers."

The university administration filed an objection to the grad students' petition last winter, claiming the graduate workers were students, not employees of the university. The PLRB held a hearing in October and issued its ruling March 7, holding that graduate workers are employees.

"It's disappointing that the university administration chose to draw out this process," said Abby Cartus, a graduate student employee in the epidemiology department. "Hiring high-profile, union-busting lawyers at Ballard Spahr in an attempt to intimidate graduate students was a waste of tuition and tax dollars. We hope moving forward they act in better faith."

University of Pittsburgh faculty filed a petition with the PLRB in January for their own union election.

The Academic Workers Association is part of the USW, which represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil, the service and public sectors and higher education.

CONTACT: Jess Kamm Broomell (412) 562-2446, [email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)

Related Links

http://www.usw.org


VALLEY FORGE, Pa., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard today added to its current environmental, social, and governance (ESG) fund offerings with Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Fund. The new active equity fund will be managed by Wellington Management Company LLP and is expected to be available for investment in mid-2019.

"Vanguard's new Global ESG Select Stock Fund is taking a distinctive approach to ESG investing, seeking long-term outperformance through the selection of companies that integrate leading ESG practices into their corporate strategies," said Matthew Brancato, head of Vanguard's Portfolio Review Group.

Marrying active management experience with ESG expertise

While complementing Vanguard's existing index-based ESG offerings that adhere to exclusionary screening processes, the Global ESG Select Stock Fund will take a markedly different investment approach by employing an active portfolio integration strategy. Wellington Management will seek to outperform the FTSE All-World Index, a global benchmark that covers a majority of developed and emerging markets. In pursuit of this objective, Wellington Management will identify and select approximately 40 companies that they believe demonstrate exemplary long-standing ESG practices and have strong business fundamentals and management teams with proven track records of good capital allocation decisions for shareholders. The fund is expected to hold stocks over an extended time horizon, resulting in low portfolio turnover.

In addition to investment advisory responsibilities, Wellington Management will be responsible for governance activities for the fund. This will enable the fund managers to fully integrate proxy voting and company engagements into the fund's investment strategy.

Founded in 1928 and managing more than $1 trillion in assets, Wellington Management has a long and successful investment management history, including management of the nation's oldest balanced fund, the $100 billion Vanguard Wellington Fund. In addition, the firm has the breadth and depth of investment resources to integrate ESG considerations with its fundamental investment analysis. The firm has managed ESG-related investment strategies for more than ten years and currently manages nine dedicated ESG strategies. Wellington is Vanguard's largest and longest-serving external advisory partner, managing more than $336 billion on behalf of Vanguard across a wide variety of equity and bond mandates.

The portfolio managers for Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Fund each have more than 20 years of investment management expertise:

Mark D. Mandel , CFA, serves as Wellington's vice chair, senior managing director, partner, and equity portfolio manager. In addition to Mr. Mandel's investment experience, he has an extensive background in research and analysis. Mr. Mandel previously served as Wellington's director of global industry research and oversaw a team that follows thousands of stocks and directly manages investments in diversified mandates, sector portfolios, and hedge funds.

, CFA, serves as vice chair, senior managing director, partner, and equity portfolio manager. In addition to Mr. Mandel's investment experience, he has an extensive background in research and analysis. Mr. Mandel previously served as director of global industry research and oversaw a team that follows thousands of stocks and directly manages investments in diversified mandates, sector portfolios, and hedge funds. Yolanda C. Courtines , CFA, serves as Wellington's senior managing director, partner, and equity portfolio manager. In addition to her investment and ESG research experience, Ms. Courtines brings deep international investment expertise to Wellington's team, specializing in international finance with a particular focus on European and Latin American banks. Prior to joining Wellington , Ms. Courtines worked for JPMorgan Chase, SG Cowen, Oppenheimer, and the World Bank.

The Global ESG Select Stock Fund is expected to be among the lowest-cost in the active ESG fund category with expense ratios of 0.45% and 0.55% for Admiral and Investor shares, respectively. By comparison, the average asset-weighted expense ratio of actively managed funds labeled as socially conscious by Morningstar is 0.69%.

The fund is designed for investors with balanced, diversified portfolios who wish to invest in companies with leading ESG practices and strong business fundamentals, as identified by Wellington Management. At times, the fund may hold companies that would be omitted by some exclusionary ESG strategies, so this strategy may not be ideal for investors seeking to avoid investing in particular sectors or companies involved in activities that are at odds with their individual values.

New fund complements existing low-cost ESG offerings

Vanguard currently offers three index-based, U.S.-domiciled options for socially conscious investors seeking broad, low-cost exposure to U.S. and international markets.

Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund (VFTAX), introduced in 2000, seeks to track the performance of large-and-mid-cap U.S. stocks screened for certain social and environmental criteria.

Vanguard ESG International Stock ETF (VSGX), launched in 2018, seeks to track the performance of non-U.S., large-, mid-, and small-cap companies screened for certain environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria.

Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV), launched in 2018, seeks to track the performance of large-, mid-, and small-cap U.S. companies screened for certain environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria.

ESG resources for investors

To help investors better understand ESG investing, Vanguard offers "ESG, SRI and impact investing: A primer for decision-making," which outlines a practical framework for making informed decisions. The guide helps investors establish specific goals, evaluate potential options, and decide on an ESG approach based on their personal criteria and trade-off considerations.

About Vanguard

Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment management companies. As of January 31, 2019, Vanguard managed $5.2 trillion in global assets. The firm, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, offers 415 funds to its more than 20 million investors worldwide. For more information, visit vanguard.com.

Asset figures as of December 31, 2018 unless otherwise noted.

For more information about Vanguard funds, visit vanguard.com/fund prospectus to obtain a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus. Investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information are contained in the prospectus; read and consider it carefully before investing.



Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable with the issuing Fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. Instead, investors must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares in the secondary market and hold those shares in a brokerage account. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than net asset value when buying and receive less than net asset value when selling.



All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss. Investments in securities issued by non-U.S. companies are subject to risks including country/regional risk and currency risk. These are especially high in emerging markets. Funds that concentrate on a relatively narrow market sector face the risk of higher share-price volatility. Prices of small- and mid-capitalization stocks often fluctuate more than those of large-company stocks.

U.S. Patent Nos. 6,879,964; 7,337,138; 7,720,749; 7,925,573; 8,090,646; and 8,417,623.



Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.

SOURCE Vanguard

Related Links

http://www.vanguard.com


Around the world, women and girls face barriers to seeing well, including lack of awareness, limited access to vision care, and cultural stigmas against wearing spectacles. "Globally, women make up 55 percent of all people with vision impairment and two-thirds of the world's blind, so it's crucial that they have access to vision correction," says Kristan Gross , Global Executive Director, Vision Impact Institute. "In many places, a woman or girl who wears a pair of glasses, faces long-perpetuated stigmas, often tied to her potential for marriage. This can result in lost opportunities for an education or job that may change the trajectory of her future."

A recent study of rural Indian students ages 7 to 15, suggests that the rate of myopia is higher in girls, indicating that the need for correction is greater in girls than with their male peers. Yet another study of students in Grades 8 to 10 identified the need for education to dissolve barriers to spectacle wear, finding that 32% of students avoided spectacles so as not to be seen as "unattractive to the opposite sex"  65% of these students were girls.

"When a woman or girl wears glasses it's important that she sees herself as a confident member of society with the ability to reach her highest potential," says Gross.

The Vision for Balance Campaign runs through March 31. To participate, readers can share their story here: https://visionimpactinstitute.org/vision-for-balance/

About the Vision Impact Institute

The Vision Impact Institute's mission is to raise awareness of the importance of vision correction and protection to make good vision a global priority.

The organization is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which receives support from the Vision for Life Fund from Essilor, the world leader in ophthalmic optics. The Vision Impact Institute hosts an interactive web platform, a unique database of research, available at visionimpactinstitute.org.

Contact Information

Andrea Kirsten-Coleman

Global Communications Manager

[email protected]

SOURCE Vision Impact Institute

Related Links

https://visionimpactinstitute.org


Dr. Levy is the Founder and Managing Director of Silicon Valley Connect, LLC, a management consulting company that works with organizations and entrepreneurs on networked innovation through strategic programs and initiatives. From 2008 to April 2012, Dr. Levy served in various senior leadership roles at the professional social networking service LinkedIn, including the final role of her tenure as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives.

In addition to Dr. Levy's impressive work background, her role as an advisory board member in more than a dozen private companies speaks to her valuable insight on emerging technologies, strategy, and business plan development. Since August 2015, Dr. Levy has served on the board of directors of Instructure, Inc., a publicly traded software-as-a-service learning technology company, including as a member of its Compensation and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees.

Willy Walker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "We are very pleased to welcome Ellen to Walker & Dunlop's board of directors. Ellen has a strong venture investing background including in the financial services technology sector, which will be a valuable addition to our board as we increase our focus on new technology initiatives. We are confident that she will be a great asset to our Company and our shareholders."

Dr. Levy received a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. and Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Stanford University.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. The company provides a comprehensive range of capital solutions for all commercial real estate asset classes, as well as investment sales brokerage services to owners of multifamily properties. Walker & Dunlop is included on the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and was ranked as one of FORTUNE Magazine's Fastest Growing Companies in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Walker & Dunlop's 700+ professionals in 29 offices across the nation have an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.

SOURCE Walker & Dunlop, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.walkerdunlop.com


You are here: Business

China's securities regulator has allowed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to access the country's capital market via the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) program.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said it made the decision after receiving an application from the IMF.

In an online announcement, the CSRC said it required the IMF to follow the rules and fulfill its duties.

The RQFII mechanism was launched in 2011 to widen investment channels for overseas yuan funds on the Chinese mainland, allowing those that qualify to invest in China's securities market within a permitted quota. It aims partly to increase the international use of the RMB.

As of Feb. 27, the RQFII quota came in at 660.47 billion yuan (about 98.4 billion U.S. dollars), according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
Kolkata, March 7 : The bitter rivalry between West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress and formidable challengers BJP will now spill over to the streets of Kolkata on Friday -- the International Women's Day -- when stalwarts of the two parties take part in mega rallies around the same time.

As in previous years, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee would spearhead her party's rally from Shraddhananda Park in north Kolkata to city hub Dharamtala to celebrate the day.

Party's women's leaders would participate in the procession, with heavyweight ministers Chandrima Bhattacahrya and Shashi Panja walking beside their beloved didi (elder sister -- as Banerjee is affectionately called).

Almost simultaneously, the state BJP would take out a rally from its headquarters at Muralidhar Sen Lane to Shyambazar five-point crossing, for restoration of democracy in Bengal.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, and convener of the party's state election management committee Mukul Roy would be the vanguard of the rally where a central minister is expected to participate.

The rallyists would demand a free and fair Lok Sabha election in a congenial atmosphere sans fear.

State BJP Mahila Morcha activists would take part in the rally in a bigway.

"The BJP activists and supporters will hit the streets in huge numbers on that day. Those who were attacked on March 3, during the bike rallies to observe Vijay Sankalpa Divas, will also be there," said Ghosh.

The BJP has claimed that 60-70 of its activists sustained various degree of injuries in attacks by the anti-socials sheltered by the Trinamool Congress and the police when the workers were bringing out "peaceful" bike rallies as part of the party's campaign programme ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Caracas, March 7 : Venezuela's National Press Workers Union (SNTP) on Wednesday said that a journalist from the US and his Venezuelan assistant had been arrested.

The union said on Twitter that Cody Weddle, reporting from Venezuela for Miami television station WPLG Local 10, and Carlos Camacho were arrested on early Wednesday when military counterintelligence personnel raided their residences and seized their work equipment and other material.

The union reports that, according to neighbours, Weddle's home was searched "allegedly with an order signed by a military court."

"With the arrest of Cody Weddle and Carlos Camacho, there are 36 cases of journalists and press workers imprisoned by @NicolasMaduro so far in 2019," the SNTP said, referring to Venezuela's embattled president, reports Efe.

Three of those newspersons remain in custody, according to the union.

Local 10 said earlier that it had received unconfirmed reports claiming that Venezuelan officials arrived early Wednesday at the 29-year-old Weddle's home and took him away.

"We are working through various channels to get as much information as we can and to see that Cody is released," station president and CEO E.R. Bert Medina said in a statement.

"Cody has been dedicated and committed to telling the story in Venezuela to our viewers here in South Florida. The arrest of a journalist doing his job is outrageous and unacceptable."

The US State Department on Wednesday called on the Venezuelan government to "immediately" release Weddle.

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Kimberley Breier said on Twitter: "@StateDept is aware of and deeply concerned with reports that another US journalist has been detained in #Venezuela by #Maduro, who prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it. Being a journalist is not a crime. We demand the journalist's immediate release, unharmed."

Last week, a team from Hispanic Univision network was detained for more than two hours at the Miraflores presidential palace after an interview with Maduro.

Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos and his production team, who were deported the day after their detention, reported that Venezuelan authorities stole their equipment and footage of the interview with Maduro.

Reports of journalists being arrested in the South American country have increased ever since the political crisis in Venezuela worsened in January with the decision of the speaker of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Juan Guaido, to proclaim himself acting president contending that Maduro's re-election was illegitimate.

In January alone, the SNTP has blamed Maduro's regime for 40 attacks on journalists, including the arrests of 19 workers, including four people working for Efe.

The Maduro government says that the press, particularly foreign outlets, is mounting "media campaigns" against him and accuses them of lying about the situation in Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Guaido on Wednesday said that the expulsion of German Ambassador Daniel Kriener, a move ordered by the Maduro government, was a "threat" by a "regime" that lacked legal authority.

"Today, the regime, which is usurping power, which lacks the authority to declare anyone persona no grata, is simply engaging in coercion, it's just a threat, and that's how it should be taken by the free world, against an ambassador and a country ... that has provided much in the way of humanitarian aid," Guaido said.
Beijing, March 7 : Chinese tech giant Huawei on Thursday announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the US government, challenging a law that bans federal agencies from buying the company's products.

The company said that it has filed the lawsuit in Texas, where its American headquarters are located. It asks a US federal court to overturn part of a provision in the National Defence Authorization Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump last August, CNN reported.

Huawei alleges that a portion of the law violates the US Constitution by singling out an individual or group for punishment without trial.

"This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers," Huawei Deputy Chairman Guo Ping told the media on Thursday morning the company's headquarters in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The legislation specifically forbids government agencies from using technology from Huawei and its smaller Chinese rival, ZTE.

"The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products," Guo said.

"We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort."

Thursday's announcement comes after a Canadian court on Wednesday ruled that Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's initial extradition hearing will take place on May 8.

Meng faces fraud charges in the US, where an indictment unveiled in January accused her of deceiving banks into approving transactions that may have violated unilateral US sanctions against Iran.

The lawsuit is Huawei's most aggressive move yet to fight back against US claims that the Chinese smartphone and telecom equipment maker's technologies pose a global security threat, CNN said.

Huawei is one of China's biggest tech firms and a key player in the global rollout of super-fast 5G wireless networks. Its smartphones compete globally with those of Apple and Samsung.

It describes itself as an employee-owned company and denies any of the products pose a security risk.

The Trump administration has been urging allies to ban or restrict Huawei products from their 5G networks, citing spying concerns but without providing clear evidence.

Germany and the UK are deciding what kinds of restrictions to impose on Huawei equipment. Australia banned the company from providing technology for its 5G networks last year.

US prosecutors have also filed criminal charges against Huawei in Washington and New York states.

Last week, the company pleaded not guilty in Seattle to charges that it tried to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile.
Washington, March 7 : US Senator Marco Rubio has accused Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of going "full gangster" and urged President Donald Trump's nominee for Ambassador to Riyadh to hold the country accountable for human rights abuses.

"He's gone full gangster," Politico news quoted Rubio as saying on Wednesday.

The Florida Senator added that the Saudi royal was "reckless, ruthless" and "increasingly willing to test the limits of what he can get away with".

Rubio's remark came during retired General John Abizaid's nomination hearing on Wednesday to be the Trump administration's first ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi list of offences, Rubio and other lawmakers noted during the hearing, include the killing of civilians in the US-supported conflict in Yemen, the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, the alleged torture of an American citizen and the detention of women's rights activists.

The ambassadorial nominee however, stressed that the US relationship with the Saudis was bigger than the Crown Prince, and that the best way to change conditions in the Arab kingdom was through engagement.

"It is in our interest to make sure that the relationship is sound," Abizaid said.

Since taking office, Trump hasn't had an ambassador in Riyadh. He announced he would nominate Abizaid in November, after the Khashoggi killing drew outrage in Washington.
Canberra, March 7 : Australian Cardinal George Pell, currently under arrest pending his conviction on five charges of child sexual assault, was sued on Thursday for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor committed in the 1970s.

The Supreme Court of Victoria confirmed the filing of a civil suit against, in addition to Pell, the state of Victoria, the trustees of the Sisters of Nazareth House (formerly St. Joseph's) as well as the family and child services of Ballarat city, reports Efe news.

"The plaintiff's name cannot be disclosed. Additionally, the file is not available for searching, so the writ/statement of claim or any other documents filed in this matter will not be released by the Court," the court said in a statement.

The plaintiff, who is believed to have lived at Ballarat's St Joseph's Boys Home run by the Sisters of Nazareth, would be one of the alleged victims of a case that was dismissed last week in which Pell was accused of abusing several children in a swimming pool in Ballarat, his hometown.

The alleged victim, who was to give his testimony in the criminal case against Pell, referred to as the "swimmers trial", wants compensation for psychological damage, loss of wages and medical expenses, his lawyer said earlier this week.

The case of the Ballarat swimming pool was one of the two proceedings faced by the 77-year-old prelate since last year which was under a suppression order that prevented any details from being disclosed.

In the first case, a jury on December 11 found Pell guilty on five charges of sexual abuse, including one for oral penetration, against two children under 13 years in the cathedral of St Patrick's, in Melbourne, in 1996.

The guilty verdict was not made public until Feb. 26, when the judge lifted the suppression order on the proceedings against Pell, who was jailed on February 27 pending his sentencing on April 13.

Pell insists he is innocent and his defence team has filed an appeal against the ruling, arguing that it is "unreasonable and cannot be supported having regard to the evidence" and that the jury could not decide "beyond reasonable doubt on the word of the complainant alone".

After the verdict, the Vatican announced that Pell no longer occupies the position of financial chief at the Catholic Church and has been forbidden from performing his priestly duties or coming in contact with children in any way.
New Delhi, March 7 : With the Centre threatening a probe over stealing of "privileged documents" related to Rafale deal from the Defence Ministry, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded an investigation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for conducting parallel negotiations and delaying the delivery of the French jets to India.

Addressing the media here, Gandhi said that the stolen documents clearly state the Prime Minister was responsible for the delayed delivery and inflated price of the jets.

"The government now says it will investigate the media for the Rafale files being stolen. But the one (Modi) who conducted parallel investigation why will he not be investigated?

"If the documents have been stolen, that means they are authentic and they clearly state that parallel negotiations were carried out by the Prime Minister, the price of the jets were inflated and the delivery of the jets was delayed.

"Let there be investigation about the documents but at the same time also investigate the Prime Minister's role in the Rafale (deal)," said Gandhi.

Referring to the Centre's arguments in the Supreme Court during hearing of petitions seeking recall of its December 14 verdict giving a "clean chit" on the purchase of the Rafale jets, Gandhi said the sole objective of the government and its machinery was to defend the "chowkidar" (watchman).

With the government rejecting the Congress party's persistent demand for a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Gandhi asked why Modi was afraid of investigation into the deal.

"Why isn't the Prime Minister allowing an investigation against himself if he is not guilty? Why did he refuse a JPC? If there is nothing wrong in the deal, then let there be an investigation. Modi should say he is not afraid of any probe and allow investigation into the deal," asserted Gandhi.

Citing the documents, Gandhi said that the Indian negotiating team clearly stated that the Prime Minister carried out parallel negotiations to enrich his industrialist crony by Rs 30,000 crore in the deal.

"It's a blatant case of corruption, it is clearly stated that the Prime Minister of India carried out a parallel negotiation. Why should there not be a criminal investigation?

"The problem in India is, there is a criminal investigation only on people who oppose Modi," said Gandhi, who a day earlier had called for an FIR against him saying there was enough evidence to prosecute him for corruption in the deal.
Washington, March 7 : A Republican Senator has revealed that she had been "preyed upon and raped" by a superior officer while she served in the military.

Arizona Senator Martha McSally, who is also the first woman in the Air Force to fly in combat, made the revelation on Wednesday during a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military, CNN reported.

McSally said to witnesses present: "So like you, I am also a military sexual assault survivor," but McSally said that she did not report and did not trust the system to do so.

Te Senator said she almost left the Air Force over her despair.

"Like many victims, I felt the system was raping me all over again. But I didn't quit, I decided to stay," she said.

She called the issue of sexual assault in the military a "deeply personal" topic for her.

"We've come a long way to stop military sexual assault but we have a long way to go."

McSally, a former member of the House who lost an Arizona Senate race last year, did not offer any details about the assaults or name the senior officer, reports The New York Times.

She said she did not immediately report the attacks because she "didn't trust the system at the time".

A Pentagon report for fiscal year 2017, the most recent available, found that the Defence Department received 6,769 reports of sexual assault involving service members as either victims or subjects of criminal investigation, which was nearly a 10 per cent increase over the 6,172 reports made the previous year.

But according to figures gathered in 2016, annual rates of sexual assault over the past decade have decreased by half for active-duty women and by two-thirds for active-duty men.

A spokeswoman for the Air Force condemned on Wednesday "criminal actions" that "violate every part of what it means to be an airman".

"We are appalled and deeply sorry for what Senator McSally experienced, and we stand behind her and all victims of sexual assault," said spokeswoman, Capt. Carrie J. Volpe.

"We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behaviour and breach of trust in our ranks."

McSally flew an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft while enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq after the 1991 Persian Gulf war. She was deployed in Kuwait in January 1995, and took command of the 354th Fighter Squadron in July 2004.
Patna, March 7 : Union Minister Giriraj Singh is upset with his party, the BJP, as the national leadership has reportedly agreed to give the Nawada parliamentary seat in Bihar that he represents to the LJP, an NDA constituent.

The Nawada seat is said to have gone to the LJP under the seat-sharing formula finalised by the NDA.

Though formal seat allocations and the names of NDA candidates are yet to be made public, a senior LJP leader said the party will contest from Nawada and give up the Munger seat it holds.

"It was decided at a meeting of (BJP president) Amit Shah, (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar and (LJP chief and Union Minister) Ram Vilas Paswan that the LJP will be given the Nawada seat in lieu of leaving the Munger seat for ally JD-U. LJP has made up its mind to contest from Nawada," the LJP leader said.

Giriraj Singh was reportedly offered the Begusarai seat, from where fromer JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar is likely to contest as a CPI candidate supported by the opposition Grand Alliance (RJD, Congress, RLSP, HAM).

"Giriraj Singh is not ready for this and refused the offer. He is adamant on contesting from Nawada," a BJP leader close to him said.

Giriraj Singh had announced last week that he will either contest from Nawada, which he won in 2014, or will not contest the upcoming general elections.

"To date, nothing has been finalised. Everything is in the process of finalisation; anything is pissible," a BJP leader here said.

Giriraj Singh, known for his controversial statements, has been keeping away from the media since last Sunday when he failed to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Sankalp rally on health grounds. BJP leaders close to him said he was suffering from viral fever.

The Opposition RJD, Congress and RLSP taunted Giriraj Singh as he had stated that it would be clear from those who didn't attend Modi's March 3 rally in Patna as to who supported Pakistan, when he himself failed to attend the event.

Giriraj Singh is a staunch supporter of Modi and a champion of Hinduvta politics.

Belonging to a landed and powerful upper caste Bhumihar family, Nawada is a safe seat for him against the backdrop of Bihar's caste-ridden politics. Nawada, with a sizeable population of Bhumihars, followed by Nitish Kumar's Kurmis, as also Dalits and Extreme Backward Castes (EBCs), is seen as a solid social support base for the NDA, particularly the BJP. The rival RJD-led Grand Alliance enjoys the support of Lalu Prasad's Yadavs, as also Muslims, Kushwahas, Dalits and EBCs.

Sources in the NDA said the LJP's Veena Devi, wife of former MP Surajbhan Singh, a criminal-turned-politician, will vacate her Munger seat and will contest from Nawada. She is also a Bhumihar.

Interestingly, JD-U president Nitish Kumar has convinced the BJP to give his party the Munger seat as his close friend and senior party leader Lalan Singh, a Bihar minister, is keen to contest from there.

Lalan Singh, a Bhumihar, had won from Munger in 2009 seat but lost in 2014 when the JD-U was not part of the NDA and contested the polls alone.

According to the seat-sharing formula, the BJP and the JD-U will contest 17 seats each, while the remaining six seats will go to the Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP.

(Imran Khan can be reached at imran.k@ians.in)
Los Angeles, March 7 : Actress Angelina Jolie's "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" will hit the theatres on October 18, 2019.

The announcement was made on Wednesday by Walt Disney Studios . The fantasy adventure had previously been slated to debut on May 29, 2020, reports variety.com.

The new date pits "Maleficent: 2" against an untitled film from horror-maker Blumhouse. It will also have to contend with the second weekends of "The Adams Family", the adaptation of Donna Tartt's "The Goldfinch", "Zombieland 2" and "Gemini Man", a futuristic thriller that unites Will Smith and Ang Lee.

If it had opened on its original date in May, "Maleficent: 2" would have been facing off against the sophomore weekends of "Fast & Furious 9" and "The Spongebob Movie."

In the film, Jolie reprises her role as the villainous enchantress Maleficent.

The cast also includes Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville, who appeared in the first installment, as well as franchise newcomers Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Skrein, Harris Dickinson and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Patna, March 7 : More than two months after Bihar's ruling NDA finalised the sharing of seats among its constituents for the upcoming general elections, the opposition Grand Alliance or mahagathbandhan is yet to get its act together and the delay is leading to growing restlessness among the allies.

The bargaining between the two major allies -- the RJD and the Congress -- is what's causing the delay. This has left smaller allies like the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), the Left parties and the Vikasshil Insan Party (VIP) uncertain about the number of seats they would be contesting.

A HAM leader said delay is not a good signal. "Our party has been demanding since January to finalise the list but it is yet to happen. We are hopeful it will be sooner rathr than later.

Echoing this, an RLSP leader said the seat sharing formula should not be delayed any further as its candidates have to get to work in their respective parliamentary constituencies.

The RLSP, led by former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, the HAM led by former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and the VIP are eyeing upwards of contesting more than 10 of the state's 40 seats. Kushwaha and Manjhi have demanded at least 5 seats each and the VIP has asked for 3.

Even the Left parties, mainly the CPI and the CPI-ML are keen to be part of the Grand Alliance.

Senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said on Wednesday said the seat sharing formula was in its final stage. "We have almost finalised and the formal announcement would be made soon," he said.

According to a Congress leader here, the party has agreed to contest a lesser number of seats than the RJD to accomodate the other allies and to ensure the defeat of the BJP-led NDA.

"It has been agreed that Congress will contest 10 seats and RJD will contest 20 seats. The remaining 10 seats will be distributed among other allies," the Congress leader said.

RJD leaders have repeatedly hinted that party is bound to play the "big brother" in the mahagathbandhan. They have pointed that the RJD is a mass-based party, has 80 legislators in the 430-member Asssembly and a strong social support base that will help the other allies in the polls.

The RJD had contested 27 seats, Congress 12 and one seat was left for Nationalist Congress Party's Tariq, Anwar who has now returned to the Congress, in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

0D

The RJD could win only 4 seats, the Congress 2 and the NCP one. The Janata Dal-United, which contested separately, also won only two seats. The BJP-led NDA won 31 seats, with the BJP's tally being 22.

(Imran Khan can be reached at imran.k@ians.in
London is experiencing an unprecedented boom in international student numbers, with the growth rate doubling year-on-year, according to new data published on Wednesday.

A report published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reveals that 118,145 international students arrived in London in 2017-2018, an increase of 5.3 percent from 2016-2017. The growth rate in the preceding year was 2.6 percent.

Study London, the official university guide, has hailed the statistics as a "significant win" for London with a marked increase in the number of overseas students arriving in the British capital for the fifth consecutive year.

According to the report, China remains London's largest student market. The number of Chinese students studying in the British capital has increased by 89.6 percent since 2011 to the current total of 21,350.

The United States and Italy are in second and third position, with 7,105 and 5,770 students in London, respectively.

India and China are the fastest growing markets, with student numbers from both increasing by 20 percent since 2016-2017.

"These new statistics show that London is as big a draw as ever for the brightest young talent from around the world. I'm delighted to see so many students choosing our city as their destination of choice to learn and to discover all the benefits of a first-class education," said Rajesh Agrawal, London's deputy mayor for business.

"London has more world-leading universities than any other city on the planet, and a buzzing cultural landscape, which attracts international students from more than 200 countries. This is yet more evidence that London is open," he added.

London has four universities listed in the World University Rankings Top 40, and five universities in the Top 200, cementing it as one of the best cities in the world for higher education.

Almost 30 percent of London's 389,215 students come from overseas. In 2016-2017, international students contributed 3 billion pounds (3.95 billion U.S. dollars) to the UK economy.
Srinagar, March 7 : Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday condemned the thrashing of Kashmiri vendors in Lucknow.

"Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in Jammu and Kashmir than videos like these," he said in a series of tweets along with the video post.

"Keep thrashing Kashmiris like this on the streets at the hands of RSS/Bajrang Dal goons and then try to sell the idea of 'atoot ang' (unbreakable part), it simply won't fly."

He also called upon Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to punish "those guilty of this assault". Singh represents the Lucknow parliamentary constituency.

Videos of the attack that took place on Wednesday have gone viral on social media.
Lucknow, March 7 : A day after he was roughed up by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Sant Kabir Nagar Sharad Tripathi, party MLA Rakesh Singh Baghel on Thursday started a sit-in demanding action against district and police officials, who later lathicharged his supporters.

Mehndaval legislator Baghel was beaten up with shoes in thd presence of Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Ashutosh Tandon at the District Coordination Committee meeting, leaving the ruling party red-faced.

Baghel, who has been summoned to Lucknow by the party state unit president Mahendra Nath Pandey along with Tripathi, told IANS over phone that he will adhere to whatever decision the party high command takes on the matter.

He also confirmed that he will meeting Pandey to discuss the incident.

He, however, reiterated that there will be no let-up in his demand for action against the "culprits behind the lathicharge".

"The issue was most unfortunate and cannot be easily forgotten but I, as a disciplined foot soldier of the party, will put the facts before the leadership and will accept whatever their decision is," he said.

Angry over the Wednesday's incident, Baghel's supporters had created a ruckus later in the day demanding action against the MP.

The police, however, reacted with a lathicharge.
Shenzhen, March 7 : Chinese technology giant Huawei on Thursday said it has filed a lawsuit against the US government as a "last resort" to get a federal ban on the use of its products lifted.

The lawsuit, filed in a US District Court in Plano, Texas, challenges the constitutionality of Section 889 of the 2019 National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA), which was signed by President Donald Trump in August last year.

According to the complaint, the legislation not only bars all US government agencies from buying Huawei equipment and services but also bars them from contracting with or awarding grants or loans to third parties who buy Huawei equipment or services.

"The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said at a press conference here.

"This ban not only is unlawful but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition," Ping added.

According to the lawsuit, the legislation violates the "separation-of-powers" principles enshrined in the US Constitution because "Congress is both making the law and attempting to adjudicate and execute it".

The US has repeatedly raised fears that Huawei products pose security risks due to its alleged links to the Chinese government - claims the company has always denied.

The lawsuit comes at a time when Huawei is facing scrutiny in several countries over the security of its 5G network equipment. Australia banned the company from providing technology for its 5G networks last year.

"If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks," Ping said, adding that Huawei was willing to address the US Government's security concerns.

"Lifting the NDAA ban will give the US government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues," he added.

Thursday's announcement comes after a Canadian court on Wednesday ruled that Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's initial extradition hearing will take place on May 8.

Meng faces fraud charges in the US, where an indictment unveiled in January accused her of deceiving banks into approving transactions that may have violated unilateral US sanctions against Iran.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved an ordinance for considering the university as the recruiting unit for faculty members.

The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Ordinance will circumvent a 2017 Allahabad High Court decision which had made department the recruiting unit.

The ordinance was enacted after the Supreme Court rejected a Special Leave Petition and a review petition filed by the University Grants Commission, an autonomous body in charge of making recruitment norms.

Since the 2017 order, teachers have been up in arms against the department being made as a unit for recruitment as they said it undermined the chances of candidates from the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes category.
Dehradun, March 7 : A four-year-old girl was raped by a juvenile relative in Uttarakhand's Tehri district, police said on Thursday.

The assault on Wednesday left the child bleeding and the family members rushed her to the Doon Hospital in Dehradun without informing the police.

Doctors refused to admit her claiming no FIR had been registered.

Senior police officials who rushed to the hospital asked the doctors to provide immediate treatment to the child.

The victim was discharged after treatment, said Director General of Police Ashok Kumar. Her condition is out of danger, he said.

Kumar said he had sought a report on whether doctors indeed refused to admit the child. "If they did that, strong action will be taken against them," he said.
New Delhi, March 7 : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday lashed out at the Congress and its President Rahul Gandhi for repeatedly raking up the Rafale fighter jet deal and said the questions raised on the issue were meant to divert public attention from the comments made by Congress leaders "against national security".

"The Congress has in the last few days through statements of its senior leaders boxed itself into a corner in a very difficult situation. They are getting high TRPs in Pakistani TVs. But there is a revulsion as far as domestic opinion in India is concerned," Jaitley said.

He was responding to query on Gandhi's demand that an investigation against Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be carried out for conducting parallel negotiations and delaying the delivery of the Rafale fighter jets to India.

Jaitley said that the government had repeatedly made its position clear on the issue, the Supreme Court had spoken on it and the CAG had already analysed it.

"The petitioners are taking one more chance. No dynast can claim that he is above Supreme Court or CAG and that verdicts and findings don't apply," he said.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had demanded that India release evidences of air strike in Pakistan as the US did after killing Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) bombed Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 in response to the February 14 terror attack in Kashmir which killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers.
Islamabad, March 7 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday said the delegation-level visits scheduled between New Delhi and Islamabad will de-escalate tensions between the two neighbours.

New Delhi will discuss with Islamabad on March 14 the modalities of the operationalisation of the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate easy access by Indian Sikhs to Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan. The meeting will take place at the Attari-Wagah border crossing.

Qureshi comments came as he met Pakistani High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood.

"Pakistan desires de-escalation and an improvement in the current situation. The delegation-level visits will play a key role in this," he was quoted as saying by Geo News.

"In March, both the countries will hold consultations over the Kartarpur Corridor. Improved relations between India and Pakistan will lead to peace and stability in the region."

India had earlier said that the discussions with Pakistan over Kartarpur were in keeping with the government's decision to operationalise the corridor for easy access to the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Tensions between India and Pakistan worsened after the Kashmir suicide bombing on February 14 that killed 40 CRPF troopers and was claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). India retaliated by bombing the terror group's biggest training camp in Balakot, Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, Qureshi said that "Pakistan had informed the world countries, including P5, about Indian hostility" and added Prime Minister Imran Khan "clearly said that Pakistan will retaliate if India violates its airspace".
Moga : , March 7 (IANS) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday described the battle between the Congress and the BJP as "a fight of ideologies".

"On the one hand there is Gurua Nanak Devji's ideology and on the other it is the RSS ideology of spreading hatred," Gandhi told a public rally in Killi Chahal village on the outskirts of Moga town.

"If the Congress comes to power at the Centre, it will change the GST (goods and services tax)."

He alleged that GST was brought without any consultations and it had resulted only in losses to businesses. "We will change GST once we are in power in 2019."

At the political rally, Gandhi handed over debt waiver certificates to landless farmers and labourers.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said: "What has Modi done in the last five years? He gave five airports to Adani a few days ago while there was an atmosphere of war in the country."

The Congress had waived off loans of farmers while Modi had written off loans of the country's biggest industrialists, he said.

"We waived off farm loans in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh like we promised. We did this within 10 days of forming the government."

Daring Modi, Gandhi said: "He should hold a debate with me in front of TV cameras for 15 minutes. Everything will become clear.

"When I said that Punjab has a drug problem, I was ridiculed. The then Akali Dal government said that I was lying. The current Congress government has broken the back of drug trade in Punjab.

"The moment our government is formed in 2019, we will give guaranteed minimum income and the money will be transferred directly to bank accounts," he said.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh claimed that Gandhi would become the next Prime Minister.

"I have no doubt in saying that Rahul Gandhi will be our next Prime Minister," he said.
Ranchi, March 7 : Three Maoist guerrillas were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district on Thursday.

According to officials, police and the Central Reserve Police Force went to Bundu village where they were fired at by the Maoists.

In the gun battle, three Maoists belonging to Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) were killed. Police found two AK-47 rifles from the dead Maoists.

Police have launched a manhunt for the Maoists who managed to escape.
Kabul, March 7 : Several explosions were heard on Thursday near a large political gathering of the Shia minority Hazara community in the Afghan capital, the media reported.

The number of casualties was not known, Efe news reported.

The first explosions were heard in the afternoon when the Afghan head of government Abdullah Abdullah was giving a speech in front of thousands commemorating the death anniversary of the leader of the Hazara community, Abdul Ali Mazari.
 Flash

.







Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered a government work report during the opening meeting of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 5. Let's take a look at the highlights.




Los Angeles, March 7 : "Aquaman" star Jason Momoa was forced to make an emergency landing in Palm Springs, California, when the pilot of his private jet suspected an engine fire.

Momoa shared the incident on his Instagram story, reported ew.com.

"We got ourselves a slight delay. Half-hour out, Palm Springs, and the plane wanted to start a fire. So, yeah, good old fire department, gotta love 'em. Looks like we're driving," he said in a video.

Momoa showed off the crew from the Palm Springs Fire Department who came out to inspect the plane and address the incident. The department also shared the encounter on its social media pages, posting a photo of an engineer alongside the "Game of Thrones" actor.

"Had an Aircraft emergency today," the caption said. "Reported engine fire with @prideofgypsies (Momoa) on board. ARFF Engineer Andy Meza told his crew, 'Not on my watch boys...not on my watch'. Turned out to be a false alarm but the ARFF Lads were on the ready. It's always nice to meet cool people."

Momoa quickly found another jet, joking that a friend came to pick him up and they were headed out for "round 2."
Bangkok, March 7 : Thailand's Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered the dissolution of an opposition party that nominated the Kings elder sister as its prime-ministerial candidate for the March 24 general election.

The nine-judge panel unanimously ordered the dissolution of the Thai Raksa Chart party and banned, with six votes in favour and three against, the members of the party's executive committee from taking part in politics for 10 years.

More than 1,000 police officers were deployed in the vicinity of the court in the Thai capital, where supporters of the party gathered, Efe news reported.

Thai Raksa Chart announced Princess Ubolratana Mahidol's candidacy on February 8, but hours later her brother King Maha Vajiralongkorn issued a royal communique in a national television broadcast calling his sister's nomination "highly inappropriate", effectively ending her candidacy.

Members of Thailand's highly revered royal family have traditionally refrained from participating in politics.

Ubolratana had agreed to run for Prime Minister as she had relinquished her royal titles in 1972 at the time of her marriage to an American. But following her divorce in 1998, she returned permanently to Thailand and has since been treated as a de facto member of the royal family.

Following the King's public announcement, the Election Commission rejected her candidacy and filed a petition with the Constitutional Court to dissolve the party.

Thai Raksa Chart is linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown by a coup in 2006, and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who suffered the same fate eight years later. Both currently live in self-imposed exile.

The upcoming election is the first to be held in the country since a military coup overthrew Yingluck's government in 2014.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha - who led the coup - will run as a candidate for the Palang Pracharat Party, viewed by analysts as the successor to the military junta.

For more than a decade, Thailand has been embroiled in a political crisis that has seen the nation caught in a cycle of democratically elected governments, anti-government protests and military rule.
Ahmedabad, March 7 : Sabarmati Ashram -- Mahatma Gandhis abode for over a decade and the starting point for the historic Dandi March on March 12, 1930 -- will host a traditional painting exhibition here on his life and legacy in 12 different artforms next week.

Titled 'Relive the Ideals of the Mahatma through Art', the group exhibition provides a retrospect on some historical events and highlights important lessons from Mahatma Gandhi's life.

The 25 exclusive paintings were developed for the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank). They were showcased in Delhi and Pune prior to this.

As per a statement from Exim Bank, the participating artists represent 12 traditional art forms: Warli painting, Gond painting, North East weaving, Pattachitra painting, Papier Mache art, Tanjore painting, Sanjhi craft, Pattua painting, Kalamkari painting, Mata-Ni-Pachedi, Phad painting and Madhubani painting.

The exhibition will not only provide an opportunity to the residents of Ahmedabad for a rendezvous with the milestone events from the Mahatma's life but will also share lessons from his life with Indian and foreign tourists who visit the Sabarmati Ashram, the bank said.

The three monkeys, which is a pictorial maxim of 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil', is a popular theme and is manifested in several paintings by Gond artists.

"Sanjhi artists who have lived in oblivion for far too long will also have their intrinsic scissor-work art displayed at the exhibition," the organisers said.

On the genesis of the paintings, Exim Bank's MD David Rasquinha said: "We shared the concept about the project and left it to the artists to develop the paintings according to their own interpretation of important events from Mahatma Gandhi's life. The artists worked on them for over two months."

The exhibition will help provide a bigger platform to traditional Indian art forms, he said.

Opening on the eve of the 89th anniversary of Dandi March's first step, the show will be free for the public. It will run from March 11-15.
New Delhi, March 7 : A wooden chair kept in a glass casket in the BJP headquarters in Kanpur, which proved lucky for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, has become auspicious and turned into an inspiration for the party cadre.

After Modi was projected as BJP's prime ministerial candidate in its Goa National Executive meet, he started his election campaign in Uttar Pradesh by addressing a huge public rally named "Vijay Shankhnad" in Kanpur.

The wooden chair, which has now been turned as a "heritage chair" for party cadre, was used by Modi at a rally in Kanpur's Indira Nagar ground on October 19, 2013. Until, Modi became Prime Minister, it was just like any other ordinary chair.

It could be superstition; but for Surendra Maithani, BJP's Kanpur district chief, the chair is an inspiration for him as well as the youth workers of the party.

"After Modi ji became Prime Minister, this chair became the centre of attraction for everyone. It was about to be auctioned in Agra and Allahabad, but I didn't allow it. It was auspicious for us," Maithani, then the convenor for party's rally in Kanpur, told IANS.

He said the district unit of the party decided to turn the chair into a piece of heritage because it was used by Modi, who brought the Bharatiya Janata Party to power with a thumping majority.

"We polished the chair and put it in a glass casket. It is still there in district party office in Naveen Market," he said.

Asked whether the Prime Minister would use the chair again when he visits Kanpur on March 8 to kickstart the party's election campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls, his answer was "no".

"It is now a Khadau (revered wooden slippers) for us. It inspires us and the youth. It has now turned into a heritage chair for the party cadre," he said.

He said this is for the third time that Modi was coming to Kanpur as Prime Minister. "As the chair is a valuable asset of the party, it has been kept in a glass chamber at the district party office," he said.

Maithani said this chair is very lucky not only for Modi but also for the party.

"Since 2013, Modi ji has addressed four election rallies in Kanpur. It is lucky. We won state assembly polls in 2017, too. Modiji is again starting his campaign in Uttar Pradesh -- yet again from Kanpur.

"I am sure, it will prove lucky for him as well for the party," he said.

Maithani said the chair has also become an attraction for the youth as they take photographs and selfies with it whenever they come to the party office.

"When a youth joins BJP, he is taken to the chair and is briefed about it. It inspires the newcomers and the youth of the party," he said.

(Brajendra Nath Singh can be contacted at brajendra.n@ians.in)
New Delhi: Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad along with Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley addresses a press conference in New Delhi, on March 7, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley addresses a press conference in New Delhi, on March 7, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 7 : Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday condemned the attacks on three Kashmiri vendors in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow and said the country needs the people of Jammu and Kashmir with in its fight against terror.

"The attack on innocent Kashmiris is condemnable. Our fight is against the separatists and terrorists. We need the people of Jammu and Kashmir with us in the fight against terror," he tweeted.

His comments came a day after three Kashmiris were thrashed by activists of Hindu right-wing organisation Vishwa Hindu Dal for "pelting stones at security forces".

The attack took place on Wednesday when a group of saffron-robed youths came out of a car and pounced on the three Kashmiri men who were selling dry fruits at Daliganj Bridge.

The vendors were beaten up mercilessly, witnesses said, and their wares were thrown around. The attackers called the victims "stone pelters" and asked them to produce their Aadhaar cards.
Dehradun, March 7 : Nearly 2.5 lakh children in 20,000 Anganwadi centres in Uttarakhand will get 100 millilitres of milk twice every week under a new scheme launched on Thursday.

Inaugurating the Anchal Amrit Yojana at a function here, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said: "If children are healthy, then our country will also be secure and prosperous."

Calling for increasing milk production, he said this can be done through the cooperative sector.

Rawat said the government is spending Rs 24 crore to increase milk production and 8,000 cows have been acquired in this regard.
Amaravati, March 7 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday accused the Centre and the Telangana governments of behaving like "economic terrorists".

He said both governments were targeting the opponents, including those from the corporate sector, by threatening them or by fabricating false cases against them.

Addressing a news conference here, he said both the Narendra Modi-led government and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government were creating an atmosphere of fear by targeting the opponents through raids or by causing mental agony to them.

Naidu also came down heavily on the Centre for threatening to file cases against "The Hindu" and N. Ram, Chairman of the publishing group, under the Official Secrets Act. He termed this as a serious threat to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief referred to the raid conducted by the Telangana Police on an information technology firm providing services to the party. He alleged that the TRS government took away the data of his party and gave it to the YSR Congress to help it in the coming elections.

Naidu said 160 people who were working with the company ran away from Hyderabad as the TRS government created fear through the raid.

"They also filed a false case against us that government data was stolen. In what way are you concerned with this? Do you have so much love for Andhra Pradesh," he asked.

The Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh would take all steps, including legal recourse, to protect its sovereign rights.

He alleged that the TRS, BJP and YSR Congress had colluded to create chaos in Andhra Pradesh which was on the path of development and prosperity thanks to the efforts of his government during the last five years. He also claimed that they were trying to get the names of eligible voters deleted from the electoral rolls.

Stating that the Central and the Telangana governments forced many opponents, including some industrialists, to surrender before them, he said there was no question of compromising with them.

"They are threatening me of using the CBI, the ED and other agencies, but they can't do anything. I have done nothing wrong in my 40-year-long political career and I will continue to fight," Naidu said.
Chennai, March 7 : The documents pertaining to the purchase of Rafale fighter jets based on which articles were published in The Hindu were not stolen and the sources which provided them will not be revealed, said N. Ram, Chairman of The Hindu Group of Publications.

Contrasting the days when he wrote extensively on the kickbacks paid in the Bofors gun deal, Ram said no threats were then made to him or to The Hindu like invoking the Official Secrets Act as it was being done by the Modi government.

On Wednesday, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the Supreme Court that the Rafale deal documents were stolen from the government and those publishing them were guilty under the Official Secrets Act.

Speaking to IANS on Thursday, Ram said the bogey of stolen documents were raised during WiKi leaks, Pentagon Papers and other issues as well.

On the central government's stand that the documents pertaining to Rafale fighter jet deal were stolen, the veteran journalist said: "We don't have stolen documents. We will not reveal our source as we have given our word (to our sources)."

Ram said the information was published in public interest as part of investigative journalism as it was suppressed despite repeated demands made inside and outside Parliament.

According to him, the government saying the documents were stolen authenticated their genuineness.

Ram said there was protection available under Article 19 (1) A of the Constitution, the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression as also under Sections 8(1) (i) and 8(2) of the Right to Information Act that overrides the Official Secrets Act.

According to him, the India specific enhancements in the Rafale fighter planes were not published as they were not relevant for investigative journalism.

Asked if the data he had put out were part of the papers submitted to the Supreme Court by the central government, Ram said: "We don't know what the central government gave to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover. I feel what we have published may not be part of the documents shared with the Supreme Court by the central government."

Ram said the Official Secrets Act had outlived its necessity and must be scrapped.

He said there was no threat from the central government after his first report on Rafale deal some time ago.

On the impact of central government advertisement revenues to The Hindu after he started writing about the Rafale deal, Ram said: "We are getting the advertisements. Initially our access to DAVP (Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity) was blocked after a couple of reports."

When the Hindu exposed the kickbacks allegedly given in the Bofors artillery deal, Ram said, "there was no threat to The Hindu and to me.

"Our investigation into the purchase of Swedish gun Bofors started after the Swedish Radio put out news about commissions paid as part of the deal. We carried out our investigations for over two years and we got the first set of documents in 1988," Ram recalled.

Ram said the then Congress government did not make threats to invoke the Official Secrets Act.

"I had a meeting with Rajiv Gandhi when we were carrying reports about the Bofors deal. It was a friendly meeting. We also talked about Sri Lanka.

"Even at the swearing in ceremony of V.P. Singh as the Prime Minister, I had met Rajiv Gandhi who was friendly. He acted like a co-host offering tea."

Ram was critical of newspapers when it came to reporting about the Rafale deal.

"During the Bofors investigation days, the competition was severe, with Arun Shourie writing in the Indian Express and India Today also carried articles about Bofors deal.

"But now big newspapers are not doing what is expected of them in the Rafale deal," Ram added. "Further television channels are carrying out propaganda for the government.

"There is a huge difference between the two periods - Bofors period and Rafale period. At that time investigative journalism was on the upswing," Ram said.
Jammu: One of the 30 persons inured in Jammu bus stand grenade attack being wheeled into a Jammu hospital for treatment on March 7, 2019. One person was killed when a grenade was rolled under a packed parked bus in Jammu's main bus stand by a militan Image Source: IANS News

Jammu: Security personnel carry out investigation at the site, where a blast took place after a grenade attack by militants at the busy main bus terminus in Jammu and Kashmir, on March 7, 2019. Reportedly, 18 people were injured and five of them crit Image Source: IANS News

Jammu, March 7 : A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team on Thursday reached Jammu's main bus stand where a grenade attack left one man dead and left 30 others injured.

Sources in the agency said the team rushed to the spot soon after getting information about the blast that occurred around 11.30 a.m. when a grenade rolled by an unidentified militant under a packed, parked bus exploded. The bus was headed to Uttarakhand.

The explosion also injured passengers in a nearby bus which was set to leave for Amritsar.

One of the badly-wounded civilians, identified as a 20-year-old man from Uttarakhand, succumbed to his injuries in a hospital.

According to police, four others were critically injured.

Soon after the explosion, the area was cordoned off but the militant merged into the crowd and escaped.

Some witnesses said they initially thought the sound had been caused by a tyre-burst.

The incident was the third attack at the bus stand, commonly known as Jammu General Bus Stand, by militants in the last nine months.
Washington, March 7 : Republican Senator Martha McSally, the first US female fighter pilot to fly in combat, has said that she was "preyed upon and raped" by a superior officer while she served in the Air Force.

The Arizona Senator, 52, made the revelation during a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in the military, CNN reported.

McSally said she did not immediately report the rape as she felt ashamed and confused, and distrusted the system. She did not offer any details about the assaults or name the senior officer who she said raped her.

"Like you, I also am a military sexual assault survivor, but unlike so many brave survivors, I didn't report being sexually assaulted. Like so many women and men, I didn't trust the system at the time," she said to the witnesses present at the hearing.

"I blamed myself. I was ashamed and confused. The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways. In one case I was preyed upon and raped by a superior officer."

The Senator said that years later she tried to share her experiences with senior officers but met with "wholly inadequate responses".

"I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again. But I didn't quit, I decided to stay."

McSally flew an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft while enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq after the 1991 Persian Gulf war. She was deployed in Kuwait in January 1995, and took command of the 354th Fighter Squadron in July 2004.

She served 26 years in the US Air Force, rising to the rank of Colonel, before retiring in 2010. She was then elected for two terms in the US House of Representatives before becoming a Senator in January.

McSally called the issue of sexual assault in the military a "deeply personal" topic for her. "We've come a long way to stop military sexual assault but we have a long way to go."

A Pentagon report for fiscal year 2017, the most recent available, found that the Defence Department received 6,769 reports of sexual assault involving service members as either victims or subjects of criminal investigation, which was nearly a 10 per cent increase over the 6,172 reports made the previous year.

But according to figures gathered in 2016, annual rates of sexual assault over the past decade decreased by half for active-duty women and by two-thirds for active-duty men.

The top Democratic member on the Committee, Senator Kristen Gillibrand, said she was "deeply affected by that (McSally's) testimony".

An Air Force spokesperson said: "The criminal actions reported today by Senator McSally violate every part of what it means to be an Airman."

"We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behaviour and breach of trust in our ranks," said Capt. Carrie J Volpe.
Thakurnagar : , March 7 (IANS) The last rites of Matua matriarch Binapani Devi, popularly known as "Boroma", were performed on Thursday with full state honours in Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district, even as her family members remained torn between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress, which entered into an altercation over the timing of the funeral.

The mortal remains of the Dalit leader, who passed away late on Tuesday following multi-organ failure at the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, were originally scheduled to be consigned to the flames on Wednesday afternoon, but it was delayed by a day to give the devotees a chance to pay their last respects.

Eyewitnesses said the family members belonging to the two opposing political parties engaged in a war of words over the timing of the funeral in front of lakhs of devotees who thronged the area.

West Bengal Food Supplies Minister Jyotipriyo Mullick admitted that there was a long standing dispute within the family. He said the family feud came out in the open when those aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party wanted to delay 'Boroma's' funeral.

"There are some internal problems within the family. We are trying to solve the issue. There should not be any politics over 'Boroma' as she was like a goddess and above all political differences," said Mullick, who was present at the funeral.

"Unfortunately, the BJP is trying to engulf the family with its dirty politics. We are strongly against this. They (the BJP aligned faction) wanted to deliberately delay the funeral. But we did not want that as her body might have started to decompose. Such incidents are uncalled for on a day like this," Mullick said.

Binapani Devi, who was accorded a state funeral as promised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, held huge sway over the Dalit community, which migrated in large numbers from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) after Partition.

The community was a key force behind the Trinamool Congress' triumph over the 34-year-old Left Front government in the 2011 Assembly elections.

Devi's elder son Kapil Krishna Thakur contested and won on a Trinamool ticket from Bongaon in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. After his death, his wife Mamata Thakur fought the election and won on a ruling party ticket.

The political rift within the family became evident after Devi's younger son Manjul Krishna Thakur, a former Minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, joined the BJP along with his son Shantanu Thakur, who was influential in arranging Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Thakurnagar in February this year.

Shantanu Thakur on Wednesday demanded a central probe into the passing away of his grandmother to ascertain if the death was natural.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Cabinet on Thursday approved the Airports Authority of India's (AAI) proposal to surrender encroached AAI land measuring 106.76 acres at the Bhopal Airport to the Madhya Pradesh government.

"The Cabinet has approved the proposal of Airports Authority of India for surrendering encroached AAI land measuring 106.76 acres at Gandhi Nagar in Bhopal to the state government," an official statement said.

"It is in lieu of 96.56 acres of land already handed over by the government of Madhya Pradesh. The remaining 10.20 acres (approximately) of land will be handed over by the Madhya Pradesh government to the AAI," it said.

The statement also said that this will help in freeing up AAI's land measuring 106.76 acres, which is being utilized by the Madhya Pradesh government for various purposes like establishment of government offices and public amenities and to rehabilitate migrated Sindhi families.

In lieu of AAI's encroached land, the Madhya Pradesh government has agreed to provide an alternate land parcel which is contiguous with the land of Bhopal Airport and can be utilized by the AAI for aviation purposes.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved four power projects in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir at an investment of Rs 31,564 crore to generate a total of 3,764 megawatts (MW), an official statement said.

The CCEA approved 1,320 MW Khurja Super Thermal Power Plant (STPP) in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district at an estimated cost of Rs 11,089.42 crore Based on supercritical technology, the project, with two units of 660 MW each and equipped with latest emission control technology, will be implemented by THDC India Ltd, a mini ratna central public sector undertaking (CPSU), which was allotted the Amelia coal mine in Madhya Pradesh's Singrauli district in 2017.

The plant, likely to begin in 2023-24, will improve the deficit power scenario of Uttar Pradesh and other northern states like Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. The THDC will purchase 60 per cent power from the project.

The CCEA gave its nod to a similar thermal power plant in Bihar's Buxar district.

The Buxar Thermal Power Project, planned at a cost of Rs 10,439.09 crore, will be implemented by SJVN Thermal Pvt Ltd, a unit of SJVN Ltd, a mini-ratna CPSU, and commence work on 2023-24.

It will also be based on supercritical technology with two units of 660 MW each, equipped with latest emission control technology to protect the environment and have high efficiency and use less fuel to generate power, the Power Ministry said.

The Bihar government has already signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for supply of not less than 85 per cent of generated power.

For Sikkim, the CCEA approved investment sanction for acquisition of Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Ltd (LTHPL) and execution of balance work of the Teesta Stage-VI hydro electric project with installed capacity of 500 MW by state-run hydro power giant NHPC Ltd.

The project will be implemented at a cost of Rs 5,748.04 crore (at July 2018 price level), which includes bid amount of Rs 907 crore for acquisition of LTHPL and estimated cost of balance work of Rs 3,863.95 crore, including interest during construction and foreign component of Rs 977.09 crore, the Ministry said in another statement.

The CCEA also approved construction of Kiru Hydro Electric Project (624 MW) by the Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Ltd (CVPPPL) in Jammu and Kashmir at an estimated cost of Rs 4,287.59 crore (at July 2018 price level).

The cost includes interest during construction and foreign component of Rs 426.16 crore and infusion of equity of Rs 630.28 crore by the NHPC in CVPPPL, for construction of the project including Rs 70 crore for pre-construction activities already approved.

The project, located on Chenab river in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, is envisaged as a Run of River Scheme, designed complying with the requirements of Indus Water Treaty 1960. It is scheduled to be completed in four and a half years, the Ministry said.
Kabul, March 7 : At least three people were killed and another 22 were injured on Thursday after several rockets were fired at a gathering, reportedly attended by thousands of members of the Shia Muslim Hazara minority community, in the Afghan capital.

The gathering was marking the anniversary of the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, a Hazara leader. The explosions were heard in the afternoon when the country's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah was speaking at the event. It was broadcast live, Efe news reported.

Other top government officials, including Presidential candidate Abdul Latif Pedram, were also in attendance. He escaped with minor injuries, according to a post on his official Facebook page.

Interior Minister Nasrat Rahimi told Efe news that "several mortars were fired" and they landed around 100 metres from the gathering.

"Fortunately the attacker who was firing the mortars from a house was arrested by the security forces," Rahimi said, adding that those helping the attacker would be arrested soon.

The Ministry of Public Health's spokesperson Wahidullah Mayar tweeted: "Three martyred and 22 injured, including three children and one woman."

The event was cancelled immediately after the attack and Deputy Chief Executive and the event's organizer, Mohammad Mohaqiq, advised the participants to evacuate gradually.

"They are firing mortars, they are changing the direction of the shelling, to target the gathering," Mohaqiq was heard saying during the attack.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned "the terrorist attack" in a statement and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. "Attacking public gatherings is a criminal act and a clear enmity against democracy and democratic values.

Candidates for the forthcoming general election in July had also gathered to pay their respects to Mazari - founder of the Hazara party Hezbe Wahdat - who was killed by the Taliban in 1995.

No one has claimed the attack yet but the Hazaras - the most persecuted community in the country - have been frequent targets of attacks by Sunni Muslim militant groups such as the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS).

The commemoration of the Hazara leader's death anniversary was also targeted last year, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the event after he was stopped by the security forces.

The attack, in which nine people had died and 18 were wounded, was claimed by the IS.
New Delhi, March 7 : In a move to further boost regional air connectivity, the Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval to extending the time and scope for the revival and development of unserved and underserved air strips under the jurisdiction of various organisations.

A Civil Aviation Ministry release said that these air strips are being administered by various state governments, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), civil enclaves, central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) and include helipads and water aerodromes.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for extension of time and scope for revival and development of unserved and underserved air strips of state governments, Airports Authority of India (AAI), civil enclaves, CPSUs, helipads and water aerodromes at the total cost of Rs 4,500 crore with the budgetary support of government of India," it said.

The Ministry said it has received overwhelming response from airlines in the two rounds of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) bidding held so far.

"In the first round of UDAN bidding, 128 routes were assigned to five airline operators for 43 unserved or underserved airports on March 31,2017," it said.

"The response from airline operators have considerably improved in second round of RCS bidding wherein 86 proposals involving 325 routes were awarded to 15 selected airline operators in January, 2018."

It also said the revival of airstrips or airports will be "demand driven", depending on commitment from airline operators, as well as from the state governments, for providing various concessions "as airports will be developed without insisting on its financial viability."
Dharamsala, March 7 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for playing politics over the Pulwama terror attack which killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers on February 14.

"The Congress supported the government after the Pulwama attack, but it is sad that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is politicising the attack," Gandhi said while addressing a rally in Chambi village in Kangra district, around 15 km from here.

Taking a jibe at the Prime Minister over the Rafale deal, Gandhi said Modi was responsible for the "delay in the delivery of Rafale fighter jets" to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

His assertions came in the wake of Modi's statement that the absence of Rafale fighter jets was hurting India's defence preparedness.

"Prime Minister Modi says Rafale aircraft would have benefited India, but the truth is that the Indian negotiation team has clearly stated that due to Modi government's new deal, the delivery of Rafale aircraft is getting delayed."

"Modi got the contract delayed and now he says this delay is hurting India," Gandhi said.

Stating that Himachal Pradesh was in the forefront in matters of defence, Gandhi thanked the people of the state for their bravery.

Questioning Modi on demonetisation, Gandhi said: "Modi claimed that demonetisation was an attack on black money. If that was true, why did only the honest people suffer in long queues?"

"During the Pulwama attack, Adani got contract for five airports. They (the BJP) are dividing the nation into two parts. One where few industrialists benefit and in return help Mr Modi, while the other only gets Mr Modi's lies," he said.
Paris, March 7 : A top French cardinal on Thursday resigned after a court found him guilty of covering up sexual abuse committed by a paedophile priest in his Archdiocese.

A court in Lyon handed Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, 68, who is the Archbishop of the city in southwestern France, a six month suspended sentence for failing to report accusations brought by the alleged victims of priest Bernard Preynat, Efe news reported.

In a statement to the media, Barbarin announced his resignation and expressed his "compassion" for the victims.

"This victory sends a strong signal to lots of victims and allows them to understand that they are heard, listened to and recognized," Francois Devaux, a plaintiff, and co-founder of the La Parole LiberAe, an association for survivors of child abuse in the Catholic Church, told the media.

The allegations of child abuse date back to a period between 1970-90, although the court found Barbarin helped silence controversy in a period between 2014-15.

The sentencing came as a surprise as even the prosecution did not recommend punishment, citing a lack of evidence. Furthermore, some of the accusations were outside the given statute of limitations.

Barbarin will not serve time unless he is found to have re-offended. He was also ordered to pay a symbolic settlement fee of one euro ($1.13) to each of the eight complainants, according to France Info. Barbarin's lawyers said they would appeal the ruling.

Describing the abuse as "horrible", Barbarin said he never tried to cover it up and added that he had only heard rumours until 2014 when one of the alleged victims approached him directly.

"The court's motivation did not convince me. We will, therefore, challenge this decision using all legal avenues," said Jean-FAlix Luciano, a defence lawyer for Barbarin.

In 2015, Barbarin asked the Vatican for advice on how to handle the case. The heart of the Catholic Church suggested he punish the priest but avoid a public scandal, although the cardinal delayed taking the measure until August of that year.

Five other senior officials who were summoned to the trial were acquitted. Preynat had admitted to molesting children in the Boy Scouts in the 1970s-80s.
New Delhi, March 7 : Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday said that the aviation regulator is monitoring and ensuring that safety standards are maintained in flights of Jet Airways.

According to Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister Prabhu, the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) is monitoring the situation closely.

Currently, owing to its tight financial position, the airline has been forced to ground over 20 aircraft due to non-payments of dues.

Speaking on the financial status of the airline, the Minister told reporters here that the lenders led by the State Bank of India (SBI) are trying to address the financial issue.

At present, lenders are negotiating with key stakeholders of Jet Airways to take forward the proposal to convert a part of the company's loans into shares and to iron out any differences over the plan.

Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said the Ministry had asked Jet Airways to "give enough notice to DGCA on flight cancellations" and to make alternate arrangements with other airlines for cancelled flights.

Lately, investors have been jittery over the financial health of the company following continuous grounding of aircraft, the latest of which came on Monday.

The company in BSE filings had informed that 19 aircraft were grounded in February over non-repayment of dues to lessors while 6 aircraft were grounded this month, taking the total to 25. The Jet Airways Group operates a fleet of 123 aircraft.
Islamabad, March 7 : Pakistan on Thursday said that law enforcement agencies took 121 people into preventive detention and seized 182 madrasas as part of its continuing crackdown on terror groups.

The operation began this week amid tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the February 14 Kashmir suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers.

The incident resulted in mounting pressure from the international community on Islamabad to act on terrorist groups based on its soil. Pakistan, however, says that its action against the terror groups was not taken under any pressure.

The Interior Ministry said 121 people were taken into preventive detention in compliance with the National Action Plan (NAP), according to Geo News.

The provincial governments also took over the management and administrative control of 182 madrasas, 34 schools and colleges, five hospitals, 163 dispensaries, 184 ambulances and eight offices as part of the NAP, the Ministry said.

The government launched a crackdown against terror groups on Tuesday and arrested the brother and son of JeM Masood Azhar along with 42 others affiliated with the banned terror groups.

The government also seized properties belonging to Hafiz Saeed's proscribed Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its charity arm Falah-e-Insaniyat.

Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi said: "We won't let anyone use Pakistani soil against anyone so that no force can intervene in Pakistan's domestic issues. We are taking the action (on our own)."
Hyderabad, March 7 : Well-known Telugu actress Jayasudha on Thursday joined the YSR Congress Party.

She, along with her son Nihar Kapoor, met YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy at his residence here and formally joined the party.

Jayasudha had quit the Congress to join the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 2016 but remained largely inactive in it.

The actress, who played leading role in many films in 1970s and 1980s, was elected to Andhra Pradesh Assembly from Secunderabad constituency in 2009. She, however, could not retain the seat in the 2014 elections.

Jayasudha told reporters after meeting Jaganmohan Reddy that she would work to strengthen the party. She stressed her close relation with Andhra Pradesh but said she had no plans to contest the elections.

She recalled that she joined politics under the guidance of Jaganmohan Reddy's father and then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

"Jaganmohan Reddy will be the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and I will work according to his guidelines," she said.
New Delhi, March 7 : Ridiculing Amit Shah for claiming 250 casualties in the air strike at Balakot in Pakistan, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday said the BJP President appeared to possess "special power" to see in the dark.

"Amit Shah deserves special prize for his unique ability of counting more than 250 bodies in the thick of the night and darkness of the dense forest of Balakot. Perhaps he is endowed with special power of a nocturnal bird to see in the dark," NCP leader D.P Tripathi said here.

It was highly condemnable that the Defence Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Air Force chief had refused to talk about the casualties of terrorists, Tripathi told the media.

The contradictory statements made by different sections of the central government demonstrated utter confusion in their mindset, he said.

He said the Modi government was dubbing everyone "anti-national" for not believing in its claims. "It happened during the Emergency. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is speaking the line of Emergency."

He also attacked Modi for saying that nothing happened in the country in the past 70 years. "The arrogance has gone beyond limits."
San Francisco, March 7 : A blundering US President Donald Trump on Thursday addressed tech giant Apple's CEO Tim Cook as "Tim Apple" while the latter sat there, nodding quietly during a meeting at the White House for the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board.

"We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple," Trump told Cook during a meeting at the White House for the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board to discuss technology eduction and jobs, The Guardian reported.

Trump then reportedly went on about the "invasion" of immigrants over the southern border and human trafficking which he said had been going on for "a million years", according to the Evening Standard.

A video featuring Trump and Cook also went viral on all social media platforms as users posted memes pertaining to the incident.

"'Mr. Apple' is sitting there like, 'I can't correct him because he's the President but I can't let him continue looking like an idiot! What do I do?" a YouTube user commented on the video.

"Donald Trump says his meeting with Tim Apple went better than his meeting with Bill Windows," a tweet read.

Post the incident, some people declared Trump "unfit to be President", suggesting him to undertake "immediate medical attention".

Trump has a history of mispronouncing people's names and even messing up the names of executives before. He once called Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin CEO, Marillyn Lockheed.

On one occasion, Trump has been attacked for forgetting the name of public figures like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
New Delhi, March 7 : A Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the continuation of the National AIDS Control Programme-IV (NACP-IV) beyond the 12th Five Year Plan for a period of three more years.

According to the decision, the NACP has been extended from April 2017 to March 2020 and the total outlay will be Rs 6,434.76 crore.

More than 70 lakh of the population is covered annually under this comprehensive HIV prevention programme.

More than 2.32 crore lakh units of blood will be collected at NACO supported blood banks during the three years of the project and 2.82 crore lakh episodes of sexually transmitted infections will be managed in this time frame.

Seventeen lakh people living with HIV will be put on free anti-retroviral treatment by the end of the project.
Los Angeles, March 7 : Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara is under investigation over allegations of an affair with an actress and that he subsequently tried to help her land roles in Warner Bros' productions.

The studio's parent company was forced to act after The Hollywood Reporter published a report detailing the history between Tsujihara and British actress Charlotte Kirk.

The studio previously investigated the allegations in the fall of 2017 and found no wrongdoing or abuse of power by Tsujihara, who is married, reported variety.com.

Tsujihara and Kirk met in 2013 through mutual acquaintances, Australian media mogul James Packer and director-producer Brett Ratner. At the time Packer and Ratner were negotiating a $450 million film financing pact with Warner Bros through their RatPac investment venture.

Kirk issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter denying that there was any "inappropriate behaviour" on the part of Tsujihara, Ratner or Packer, and she asserted "Kevin never promised me anything".

However, text messages included in the report indicate Kirk later accused Ratner and Packer of using her with Tsujihara to help close the RatPac deal.

A WarnerMedia spokesman emphasized that Kirk had made no claims against Tsujihara or the studio.

"Through her spokesperson, the actress has publicly denied any impropriety in her casting, and our prior investigation did not find otherwise," the WarnerMedia representative said.

"Whenever we receive new allegations, it is our standard practice to conduct an appropriate investigation. And that is what we will do here."
New Delhi, March 7 : Nearly 20 per cent of the officers posted in the Army headquarters will be shifted to field areas as the government has approved all the recommendations of a panel formed last year to reorganize the nerve centre of the force to make it more agile, lethal and network-oriented to face future wars.

The exercise will immediately make 229 officers of various ranks posted in army headquarters available for field formations. The Army headquarter will have a new deputy chief of army staff (strategy).

The officer will have the most significant positioning as he will handle all operational and force planning issues with military operations, military intelligence, strategic planning and operational loigstics branches reporting to him.

A newly created Information Warfare (IW) branch headed by a lieutenant general to deal with hybrid warfare and social media challenges will also report to deputy chief (strategy).

This will be the third deputy chief in the Army headquarters which at the moment as deputy chief (planning and system) and deputy chief (information system and training).

In other significant change accepted by the MoD is the merging of deputy chief (P&S) and Master General Ordnance (MGO) into a single entity to be called deputy chief (capability development and sustenance). The office will handle the Army budget.

All the Army acquisitions will be handled by a new office under Director General (capability development) which has been formed by merging the office of deputy chief (P&S) and Director General (weapons and equipment). The revenue budget will be handled by DG (Sustenance).

Army's training command in Shimla will now be sole adviser to the Army Chief on all the matters related to training.

Two new dedicated branches to deal with transparency and probity have been added to be headed by major generals dealing with vigilance and human rights.

The Army HQ reorganization study was commissioned by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has accepted all the recommendations.

(For graphic)

Preparing army for the future war, the force's headquarters is being made more agile, lethal and network-oriended

Here is how will the new Army HQ look like:
New Delhi, March 7 : Two persons were injured when a team of Delhi's power distribution company (discom) BSES checking power theft was allegedly attacked while on inspection in the East district of the capital, the company said on Thursday.

Noting that this was not an insolated incident, a discom release said that a BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) team had also been attacked a few days back, injuring three officials in Jhatikra village in the Najafgargh locality of west Delhi.

"In the latest incident, members of BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) network teams were attacked by a property dealer and his goons in east Delhi's Shastri Nagar, Geeta Colony," it said.

The BYPL team was attacked while engaged in removing illegal wires from an electricity pole near a house in Shastri Nagar in east Delhi, it said.

"The goons suddenly came out of the shop of a local property dealer and physically attacked them, injuring two. They were joined by the property dealer himself. They not only made a linesman fall down from an electric pole, but also hit his head viciously with a metal equipment, gravely injuring him and had to be taken to a local hospital.

"The local police have apprehended a few suspects in this regard and are questioning them," the statement added.

In the other incident, a BRPL team was violently attacked by a mob of 50-60 people in Najafgargh's Jhatikra village, injuring three officials, including the team leader.

The discom said that FIRs have been lodged with the police in both cases, "Whenever discom teams reach these 'sensitive' areas, criminal elements 'gherao' them and obstruct officials in performing their duties. Power theft has taken shape of an organised crime and an even more active police support is needed to curb this menace," a BSES spokesperson said.

During an anti-power theft drive by BSES in July 2017, a young engineer lost his life and four other officials were seriously injured when they were attacked by power thieves in Jhul-Jhuli village in South West Delhi by a mob in Lal Kuan locality of Pul Prahladpur area of the national capital.

The discom said that despite taking several measures, power theft is still rampant in Najafgargh, Jaffarpur, Mundka, Badarpur, Shaheen Bagh, Karawal Nagar, Seelampur, Mandawali, Chandni Mahal, Nand Nagari, Turkman Gate, Yamuna Vihar, Daryaganj and Dallupura areas, among others.
New Delhi, March 7 : National passenger carrier Air India will operate 12 all-women crew flights on its medium and long-haul international routes and over 40 return domestic and short-haul flights all over India to mark the International Women's Day on Friday.

According to the airline, the women cockpit and cabin crew of Air India will be operating both wide and narrow body aircraft.

"Seldom has a single airline scheduled so many flights operated by its women employees, setting a benchmark to reiterate the equal role and opportunity women rightly deserve in any organisation," the airline said in a statement.

Air India will be deploying its B787 Dreamliners and B777s to operate to 12 international medium and long-haul flights operated by women pilots and attended by women cabin crew on the day.

"Women pilots and cabin crew will be operating Airbus family aircraft as well as Dreamliners to over 40 domestic destinations and back to commemorate the occasion," the statement said.

"For most of these flights, the technical services will be provided by woman aircraft engineers, technicians and flight dispatchers; while woman duty managers, counter staff, helpers and doctors will do the honours for most of these flights."

Air India's foray into all-woman crew flights dates back to November 1985 when an all-woman cockpit crew operated a Fokker Friendship flight from Kolkata to Silchar.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Supreme Court on Thursday sought to know, within 10 days, the possible date for the Selection Committee's meeting to finalise names for the Lokpal - a three-member, anti-corruption watchdog comprising a chairman, a judicial and non-judical member would take place.

The bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice Sanjiv Khanna told Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to inform them of the date after he said that the Search Committee, headed by former apex court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, had, on February 28, recommended three names each for the three posts.

The court had on January 17 asked the Search Committee to complete its deliberations for short-listing the candidates by February-end.

The bench, however, declined the plea by lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan to make public the panel of names shortlisted by the Search Committee.

"We have considered the matter. At this stage, the order which we consider appropriate to pass is to request the learned Attorney General to inform the Court within ten days from today about the possible date of convening a meeting of the Selection Committee for finalization of the names for constitution of the Lokpal," said the order passed by the court.

The Selection Committee comprises Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Chief Justice of India, the Leader of Opposition (which in the present instant, is the leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha - the Congress) and an eminent jurist.

Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi is the eminent jurist on the selection panel.

Venugopal had told the court that Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, has to seek the availability of all members of the selection panel for convening the meeting.

On Bhushan's plea for putting the names recommended by the Search Committee in the public domain, the court said, "It is our considered view that no direction from the Court should be issued in this regard. Rather the matter should be left for a just determination by the Selection Committee as and when the meeting of the Committee is convened."

As Bhushan recalled that in the last hearing of the matter on January 17, the CJI had said that the names would shared with the petitioner, NGO Common Cause, the moment they get it, CJI Gogoi said, "We don't have the names."

Referring to the judgments from early 1970s, Bhushan said, "Transparency is essential in the appointments of such nature."

However, the CJI said, "Selection Committee will have reasons for selecting one or the other. There will be no rule of thumb."

Striking a note of caution, the Attorney General said, "Transparency would be opening a Pandora's box."

Bhushan, appeared for NGO Common Cause which had moved a contempt plea over failure of the government to act on the April 27, 2017 judgement holding that the "Act, as it stands today, is an eminently workable piece of legislation and there is no justification to keep the enforcement of the Act under suspension till the amendments, as proposed, are carried out"

The Attorney General urged the court that since the "Selection Committee would be in seized of the matter, this contempt petition may appropriately be closed".

The court directed the listing of the matter for further hearing after 10 days.
New Delhi, March 7 : Amid the ongoing tension with Pakistan, India on Thursday signed a $3.3 billion deal with Russia for leasing the third nuclear-powered Akula class attack submarine.

An Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) was signed between the two countries in New Delhi. The submarine, to be called Chakra -3, will be delivered in 2025 for a 10-year period. It will be prepared out of one of the several Akula class submarine hulls available at the Zvedochka shipyard in Severodvinsk after extensive re-fit process. India at the moment operates Chakra-2 whose 10-year lease ending in 2022.

This is the second major India-Russia defence project finalized this month. A new facility to manufacture AK-203 assault rifles is coming up in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

INS Chakra is a nuclear-powered submarine and unlike INS Arihant, the other nuclear submarine in Indian navy fleet, it does not have a strategic weapon.

The Navy is all set to induct its second French Scorpene submarine -- Khanderi -- next month. The first submarine in this class -- INS Kalvari -- is already under operation. The Navy will get four more boats in the coming years.

The Navy has 14 conventional submarines apart from a nuclear attack and nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
Jammu: One of the 30 persons inured in Jammu bus stand grenade attack being wheeled into a Jammu hospital for treatment on March 7, 2019. One person was killed when a grenade was rolled under a packed parked bus in Jammu's main bus stand by a militan Image Source: IANS News

Jammu: Security personnel carry out investigation at the site, where a blast took place after a grenade attack by militants at the busy main bus terminus in Jammu and Kashmir, on March 7, 2019. Reportedly, 18 people were injured and five of them crit Image Source: IANS News

Jammu, March 7 : A 17-year-old youth was killed and some 30 others were injured on Thursday when a grenade flung by a militant exploded under a parked passenger bus at Jammu's main bus stand. The attacker was arrested within hours.

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh told reporters that the police had arrested Yasir Javaid Bhat alias Arhaan of Kulgam district in the Kashmir Valley on charges of throwing the grenade.

Yasir Bhat was said to be aligned with the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.

The thunderous explosion occurred around 11.50 a.m. when the General Bus Stand, as it is known, was teeming with people.

Inspector General of Police Manish Kumar Sinha said the grenade rolled under the parked bus that was headed to Uttarakhand.

The blast also injured passengers in a nearby bus which was set to leave for Amritsar in Punjab.

Sinha said the dead was identified as a 17-year-old male from Uttarakhand. "Four others have suffered critical injuries," the officer said.

Witnesses thought the explosion was probably a tyre burst.

"But when we approached the site, we saw people lying injured and in critical condition," said Sunil Kumar, 26.

Thursday's is the third such attack at the Jammu General Bus Stand by militants in the last nine months.

Police said the militant attacker was caught while trying to flee from Jammu.

At a press conference where the militant was produced, Inspector General Manish Sinha said that the police started scanning CCTVs after the blast.

"We were able to identify the suspect who was wearing a jean jacket and was carrying a red rucksack... Checkposts were set up at different places. He was apprehended at the Toll Plaza in Nagrota outside Jammu city," the officer said.

"He was put to sustained questioning after which he confessed to the crime. He revealed that he was tasked to carry out the attack by a Farooq Bhat alias Umer, the district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kulgam."

Police said Yasir Bhat left the Valley on Wednesday and reached Jammu on Thursday morning with the grenade.

Asked if he had accomplices in Jammu, the officer said: "This can only be known after sustained interrogation."

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik expressed grief at the loss of life and injuries in the terror attack.

He sanctioned Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of the dead and Rs 20,000 to each injured person.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday said it will hear on March 12 a plea challenging a Medical Council of India (MCI) notification which barred over 80 per cent of disabled persons from taking admission in medical education programmes.

The order came after the MCI informed a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao that it has taken some decision on the issue which would be communicated to the court on the next date fixed for hearing.

The court was hearing a plea filed by Mohd. Shaloo, having a benchmark disability of 90 per cent, challenging the February 4 notification which made him ineligible to study further medical course.

Shaloo's counsel Gaurav Kumar Bansal requested the court to set aside the notification as it is highly irrational, arbitrary and discriminatory.

The counsel said that Shaloo is a doctor who has served as junior resident in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and has cleared National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) with a good rank but now ineligible to do postgraduation due to the notification.
New Delhi, March 7 : Cyber attacks are growing exponentially and the threat of data breaches now loom over both government and private enterprises owing to new nation-state hackers coming to the fore.

North Korea leads the race in harbouring such groups for cyber warfare.

North Korea's hacking branch is known as "Bureau 121" which is behind several high-profile cyber attacks, including the most famous "Wannacry" ransomware attack.

The "WannaCry" began in May 2017 as a global cyber attack which targeted computers by encrypting data and demanding ransom payments in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

The attack was estimated to have affected more than 200,000 computers across 150 countries including in India - with damages running into millions of dollars.

They were also responsible for a massive data leak at Sony Pictures in 2014.

Cyber security firm FireEye pays special attention to advanced persistent threats (APT) groups that receive direction and support from an established nation state.

Like other attackers, APT groups try to steal data, disrupt operations or destroy infrastructure. Unlike most cyber criminals, APT attackers pursue their objectives over months or years.

"APT38" is another North Korean regime-backed threat group responsible for conducting the largest observed cyber heists.

Although APT38 shares malware development resources and North Korean state sponsorship with a group referred to by the security community as "Lazarus", APT38's financial motivation, unique toolset, and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) are distinct enough for them to be tracked separately from other North Korean cyber activity, says FireEye.

"APT38" has conducted operations in over 16 organisations in at least 11 countries.

High-profile organisations in engineering, transportation and defence industries, particularly with links to the maritime sector, are being targeted by China-based "APT 40". The group has been active since at least January 2013.

"Anonymous" is another known hacking group. Starting operations in 2003, they initially hacked into smaller social networking sites.

On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown Jr., an 18-year-old African American man, was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the city of Ferguson, Missouriin the US.

"Anonymous" shut down Ferguson City Hall's Internet following the shooting. In 2011, they took down the PlayStation Network and stole user data.

Fancy Bear is a hacking group associated with the Russian government and appears to support its cyber warfare activities.

"Despite being one of the most disruptive hackers in the world, Fancy Bear almost never takes credit for their own work," say media reports.

When it comes to Middle Eastern hacker groups with destructive capabilities, many think of the suspected Iranian group that previously used SHAMOON - aka Disttrack - to target organizations in the Persian Gulf.

"However, over the past few years, we have been tracking a separate, less widely known suspected Iranian group with potential destructive capabilities, whom we call APT33," says FireEye.

The analysis reveals that APT33 is a capable group that has carried out cyber espionage operations since at least 2013 "at the behest of the Iranian government".

APT33 has targeted organisations - spanning multiple industries - headquartered in the US, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
Nagpur : , March 7 (IANS) Amidst renewed speculation that Maharashtra may opt for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thrusday categorically ruled out any such move.

"There is no such thing. You can write this," Fadnavis, who was here for the inauguration of the Nagpur Metro and other functions, told media persons.

He reiterated his earlier stand on the issue, amid reports that Haryana may also go in for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to capitalize on the current mood in the country.

The Maharashtra Assembly is due to complete its normal tenure only in October, but speculation mounted afresh as the state cabinet meeting, scheduled on Friday, is expected to clear several major projects and proposals.

In fact, at the last cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the government cleared 22 major decisions within barely two hours.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant and his Nationalist Congress Party counterpart Nawab Malik said both their parties "are fully prepared" if the assembly and parliament elections are announced simultaneously.

Malik added that the both the BJP governments at the centre and in the state have been "ineffective and anti-people" and if the state regime goes earlier, the better.
Nagpur, March 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated a 13.5 km stretch under phase I of the Metro Rail in Nagpur, making it the second city in Maharashtra after Mumbai to get a Metro Rail.

With 65 per cent electricity generated through solar energy, the Nagpur Metro is being hailed as the "greenest Metro" so far.

Terming the launch as a "historic occasion", Modi said Metro Rail projects were coming up in Pune and Thane as well.

"I feel more privileged as I had laid the foundation stone for this Metro Rail in 2014. Now I am happy to see the dream of the people of Nagpur fulfilled," Modi said, inaugurating the project via video conference.

Nagpur is ranked among the fastest growing cities in the world. With the population of the city projected to double by 2050, it was imperative to provide it with 21st century infrastructure, and the Metro Rail is one step in that direction, he said.

"It will change the face of travel in this entire region, in all seasons, increase efficiency, safety and comfort besides reducing pollution and congestion.

"After the entire Metro Rail project is completed, the people of Nagpur can use it instead of their own vehicles and reduce road traffic," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said when the NDA government assumed power in 2014, the Metro Rail network in the country spanned only 250 kms.

"In the past five years, it has grown to 650 kms, besides work is in full swing on another 800 kms in different cities," he added.

He said Metro Rail can not only revolutionise the transport sector and improve all-round mobility, but also help expand cities, change the ecosystem of the surrounding regions and generate jobs, thereby helping the overall development of that region.

Maharashtra Metro Managing Director Brijesh Dixit said that the Nagpur Metro's 13.5 km route stretching between Khapri and Sitabuldi, has five stations and will be opened to the public from Friday.

He also announced that all rides on the new Metro will be free on the first day.
Nagpur, March 7 : Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari lost his cool when a group of activists raised 'pro-Vidarbha state' slogans and disrupted his speech at a function here.

As Gadkari stood up to address the gathering after the inauguration of various projects, around 15-20 activists raised loud slogans in support of a separate Vidarbha state on Wednesday evening.

While it was not immediately clear to which group the activists belonged, a visibly angry Gadkari asked them to keep "shut" and even threatened to get them evicted by the police if they continued to disrupt the function.

The youth also threw pro-Vidarbha pamphlets and propaganda material near the dais and outside, even as the gathering, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, looked on.

The police immediately rounded up the slogan-shouting youngsters and whisked them away from the venue following which the function continued without any further disruption.

Later, Gadkari said the priority was to "develop Nagpur as the state's second capital" and then place both Nagpur and Vidarbha on the world map with all-round growth and progress.

Comprising around 12 districts, the Vidarbha region of eastern Maharashtra is rich in natural resources. Regular demands have been made by various groups for carving it out as a separate state with Nagpur as its capital.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party fully supports a separate Vidarbha state, its ruling ally Shiv Sena and other political parties are strongly opposed to it.

Both Gadkari and Fadnavis hail from Nagpur, also known as the Orange City.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday flagged off a 13.5-km phase of the Nagpur Metro through video-conferencing, making it only the second city in the state after Mumbai to get a metro rail network.
New Delhi, March 7 : Amid border tensions with Pakistan, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday visited forward areas along the Rajasthan border.

He visited locations at Barmer and Suratgarh sectors to review the operational deployment and preparedness of the forces.

Gen Rawat was briefed on the current operational situation, prevailing security scenarios and preparedness of the formations.

Gen Rawat expressed his confidence in the capabilities of the Indian Army to thwart the enemy's "nefarious designs".

He told the troops to remain prepared for all eventualities in close coordination with the Air Force.

The Army chief visited forward locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and the international border in Jammu region on Sunday.
Mumbai, March 7 : The Maharashtra State Election Commission (M-SEC) on Thursday cracked the whip on 14 errant political parties for not submitting details of their expenses in local body elections.

In show-cause notices served to the parties, State Election Commissioner J.S. Sahariya asked them to submit by March 10 details of expenditure incurred during the local body elections or face cancellation of their registration.

Sahariya said submitting poll expense details is mandatory, but most parties have failed to comply with it despite several reminders.

The parties served with the notices include the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Samajwadi Party (SP).

The other parties are the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U).
New Delhi, March 7 : Indian air passenger carriers including Air India, Jet Airways and SpiceJet will operate all-women crew flights on International Women's Day on Friday.

The national passenger carrier Air India will operate 12 all-women crew flights on its medium and long-haul international routes and over 40 return domestic and short-haul flights all over India.

According to the airline, the women cockpit and cabin crew of Air India will be operating both wide and narrow body aircraft.

"Seldom has a single airline scheduled so many flights operated by its women employees, setting a benchmark to reiterate the equal role and opportunity women rightly deserve in any organisation," the airline said in a statement.

Air India will be deploying its B787 Dreamliners and B777s to operate 12 international medium and long-haul flights operated by women pilots and attended by women cabin crew on the day.

"Women pilots and cabin crew will be operating Airbus family aircraft as well as Dreamliners to over 40 domestic destinations and back to commemorate the occasion," the statement said.

"For most of these flights, the technical services will be provided by women aircraft engineers, technicians and flight dispatchers; while women duty managers, counter staff, helpers and doctors will do the honours for most of these flights."

Air India's foray into all-women crew flights dates back to November 1985 when an all-women cockpit crew operated a Fokker Friendship flight from Kolkata to Silchar.

Jet Airways also plans to operate four domestic flights with all-women cockpit and cabin crew members.

"These planned domestic flights 9W 346, 9W 355 (Mumbai-Delhi); 9W 358 (Delhi-Mumbai) and 9W 481 (Mumbai-Bengaluru) will be further managed exclusively by all-women teams from a cross-section of the business, including engineering, ground handling, ground services, security and cabin appearance supervisors," Jet Airways said in a statement.

Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet will operate 22 such flights.

"Women travellers flying alone will be offered 'priority check in' and 'priority boarding' besides a welcome rose on boarding," SpiceJet said.

"Depending on availability, they will be offered an upgrade to a SpiceMax seat as well. While on-board, all women travellers will be offered a complimentary hot beverage and cookies."

In addition, GoAir under the "#SmartWoman" campaign will give complimentary upgrade to all women travellers who fly on March 8 to GoBusiness across its network on "availability as well as first-come-first serve basis".

On Wednesday, full-service carrier Vistara announced the "#PadsOnBoard" initiative, under which it will provide sanitary pads onboard to women travellers on request, starting from this International Women's Day.

"This initiative makes Vistara the first Indian airline to offer sanitary pads on flights within India," the airline said in a statement.

"Vistara's cabin crew will make in-flight announcements on all flights to create awareness among travellers that sanitary pads are now available onboard for customers to freely ask for it if they need it."
Agra, March 7 : Tourism industry leaders in this Taj city are upbeat, hoping for a major boost once flights from Bangaluru, Bhopal, Lucknow and Varanasi start from May under the Udaan regional connectivity scheme.

Airport officials said low-cost airline Indigo was keen to connect Agra with major destinations in India taking advantage of the facilities under the Udaan scheme.

Agra is presently connected by air with Jaipur and Khajuraho. The number of visitors who came by air touched 11,907 between April to November 2018. "The lone flight from Jaipur has proved its worth," tourist guide Ved Gautam said.

Work on a new Rs 400 crore terminal building at the Kheria airport, now renamed Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Airport, is expected to begin soon.

In the past there have been several initiatives to connect Agra by air to international destinations but according to local tourism industry leaders, "interest-groups and the Delhi lobby of travel agents and hoteliers" somehow always managed to stall the plans.

Agra Civil Aviation Society Secretary Anil Sharma said Agra's international airport project was hijacked by politicians to Jewar in Bulandshahar district.

Senior tourism industry leaders have been repeatedly complaining about the lack of air connectivity, which had thwarted growth of tourism in Agra, the only city with three World Heritage monuments.

"Smaller cities have regular flights but not India's tourist destination number one," rues Anil Sharma, spearheading the movement for an international airport at Agra for the past three years.

"The city's growth is stunted. Because of the total lack of forward planning, there is neither the will nor any major policy push being contemplated by the state government, which had made many promises at the time of elections," according to senior tourism industry leader Surendra Sharma, founder of the Agra Hotels and Restaurants Association.

Agra is one of India's top tourist destinations. Yet, it lacks basic infrastructure, and thus cannot take advantage of the interest generated in India and its tourist attractions, Sharma added.

"What could be more amazing than the fact that there are no flights and no air connectivity with Agra? Our demand for a decent civil airport in Agra was for long put in cold storage.

"Surely regular flights to Agra will change the face of tourism. A lot of time is wasted because tourists visit Agra by road. If they could save a few hours, night stay in the city will increase and visitors would be able to see the cultural programmes. We have to do a lot of work on the cultural front to make sure that tourists extend their stay in Agra. Only then will the city gain from tourism," said Yashwant of the Kalakriti Auditorium, that daily runs the popular 90-minute-long "Mohabbat the Taj" programme.

Hoteliers in Agra welcomed the initiative which will increase the footfalls and raise the occupancy rate.

Agra is annually visited by over 7 million tourists. "The number is all set to go up, once the city starts receiving international flights," a hotelier said.
Bhopal, March 7 : Some five years back, Salman Khan was known to be a huge fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- he had done some kite-flying in 2014 along with the then BJP's prime ministerial candidate in Ahmedebad during a festival. On Thursday, however, Congress in Madhya Pradesh made the Bollywood star its newest friend with Chief Minister Kamal Nath saying Khan will promote tourism and heritage in the state.

Presenting the report card of his 76-days tenure, the Chief Minister said: "As Salman Khan hails from Indore in M-P, I spoke to him on the phone and asked him if he would help the state."

Nath said Khan's reply was: "Sure!".

Khan will work in the areas of tourism and heritage and will be in the state from April 1 to 18," said Kamal Nath.

However, Nath chose silence when asked if the actor would contest on Congress ticket against Lok Sabha Speaker and eight-time sitting BJP MP Sumitra Mahajan from Indore seat in the coming general election.

Khan was born in Indore and spent his childhood days there.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved funds amounting to Rs 2,790 crore towards interest subvention for extending a soft loan of Rs 12,900 crore by the banks to the sugar mills to boost ethanol production capacity.

The loan will help the millers improve liquidity, reduce cane dues of farmers and achieve the target of 10 per cent blending in the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme (EBP), as per a statement.

The funds under the "Scheme for extending financial assistance to sugar mills for enhancement and augmentation of ethanol production capacity" are in addition to the Rs 1,332 crore approved in June last year.

The CCEA also approved Rs 565 crore towards interest subvention for extending a soft loan amount of Rs 2,600 crore by banks to the molasses-based standalone distilleries to augment capacity through installation of incineration boilers and other methods for achieving zero liquid discharge (ZLD).

"This decision would further help in achieving the blending target for mixing ethanol and in achieving the objectives of the National Bio-Fuel Policy, 2018. It will also help in reducing sugar inventories by diversion of B-Heavy molasses and sugarcane juice for ethanol production and thereby sacrificing sugar during surplus phase," read the statement.

It will also improve liquidity of sugar mills by way of value addition to their revenues from supply of ethanol under EBP, thereby facilitating them to clear the cane price dues of the farmers.

Abinash Verma, Director General of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), said it was an "excellent" decision taken by the government to allow more sugar mills to avail the benefit of subsidised loans to set up ethanol projects.

"Considering the current ethanol capacity of 355 crore litre, we will cross 10 per cent blending with petrol in the next year itself. The year thereafter could see us substituting even 15 per cent of the country's petrol consumption," Verma said.

Verma said it will help the sugar industry reduce surplus sugar production by diverting the surplus sugarcane into ethanol, which could see a reduction of 1.5 to 2 million tonnes of sugar production from the next year itself.

The total sugar production in the country is expected to be around 307 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 as against 322.5 lakh tonnes in 2017-18.
New Delhi, March 7 : The battle for the next Lok Sabha is raging aggressively -- on the social media.

Diehard supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his bitterest critics have taken on each other in Twitter and Facebook in an unprecedented manner, the charges and counter-charges often turning bitterly ugly.

There is a spurt in heated exchanges on issues ranging from economic development to religion, from nationalism to Pakistan, replacing the earlier mostly polite discussions.

In many cases, the war is being fought even within families and among relatives.

From "bhakts" to "Modi haters" and from "traitors" to self-proclaimed "true Indians", there is a label for everyone who has an opinion.

And most debates on social media -- much like the ones on TV news channels -- end on sour note with abuses followed by "unfriending" and "blocking".

There are hashtags for every occasion on Twitter as well.

If it was #ExposeDeshDrohis (Expose Traitors), #GoBackToPakistan and #TimeForRevenge targeted at Kashmiri Muslims after the Pulwama suicide bombing, it was #GoBackModi and #GoBackSadistModi during Modi's visits to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The Congress and its President Rahul Gandhi were not spared either after he called for an investigation in the Rafale jet deal.

Hashtags like #RahulGandhiPagalHai, #CongressPakistanBhaiBhai and #CongressMuktBharat started doing the rounds. In response came #WhoAteTheRafalePie.

There are conspiracy theories behind almost every trend that goes viral.

If the usual suspects earlier used to be members of the two major parties and their IT cells, Pakistan and its intelligence agency ISI have now been included.

Claims of 'ismein Pakistan aur ISI ka hath hai' (Pakistan and ISI are behind this) and counterclaims keep flying.

There are claims that most tweets against Modi emerge from Pakistan. There are also claims that tweets targeting Kashmiris and people supporting Kashmiris also originate from Pakistan - to create discord between Kashmiris against India/Modi.

With elections only weeks away, the tempers are expected to keep soar further.
Hyderabad, March 7 : The city bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday clarified that a 51 per cent vote of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) was enough to initiate a forensic audit of an insolvent company.

Citing Section 21(8) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the NCLT bench said the provision makes it necessary for all decisions of the CoC to be taken by a vote of not less than 51 per cent and the same goes for forensic audit.

In a case related to Viceroy Hotels, where the resolution professional declined a forensic audit citing Section 28(3) which requires 66 per cent voting for matters mentioned in Section 28(1), the bench said forensic audit did not fall in the category.

While Section 28(1) needs 66 per cent votes to make changes in the appointment of contract of statutory auditors or internal auditors of the corporate debtor, conducting a forensic audit did not amount to changing the terms of the statutory auditors, the bench said.

In several insolvency cases with the bankruptcy court, creditors are interested in knowing the actual details of the financial transactions of the company funded by them as it may expose some fraudulent activities that led the company to bankruptcy.

Forensic audit uses financial and qualitative tools to detect fraud patterns. The auditors, who need specific skills to conduct forensic audits, also use special software for financial analysis.
New Delhi, March 7 : An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator has been booked for raping a woman who approached him seeking help in connection with a pension-related matter, a police officer said on Thursday.

Mohinder Goyal, AAP legislator from Rithala, was booked on charges of rape, issuing threats and outraging the modesty of a woman in Prashant Vihar Police Station after the woman, 40, on February 28 lodged a complaint against him.

"The investigation is in preliminary stages as of now and being conducted by the Crime Against Women Cell. We have booked Mohinder Goyal and will call him soon for interrogation," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) S.D. Mishra told IANS.

In her complaint, the woman has alleged that Goyal first time raped her in December last year when she had gone to meet him with the pension issue.

"She was again raped at Goyal's office around a month later. Goyal also made her obscene video clips and threatened to make it viral if she did not comply with his orders," a police officer associated with the probe said.
New Delhi, March 7 : After Ranjit Bajaj, owner of Minerva Punjab FC, gave an assurance to East Bengal fans that his team would play its heart out to snatch points from Chennai City FC in the March 9 match at Coimbatore, one of his players has said the match would be competitive.

Al Amna, the Syrian mid-fielder, who had been with East Bengal but left owing to an injury and joined Minerva Punjab feels that God has given an opportunity to help his old club win the title.

"I have played there a season and a half and I left because of injury. There is love and mutual respect with the fans. In my professional career I played for many clubs but East Bengal remains one of my favourite clubs and I hope to achieve a good result in this game," he told the media.

Al Amna feels that both Chennai City FC and East Bengal have an equal chance of winning. "I still love Kolkata, my fans. I have lots of good memories of Kolkata. I miss all these," he said.

East Bengal are a point behind leaders Chennai City FC. For it to become I-League champions, first, Minerva Punjab must beat or draw against Chennai City FC, and second, East Bengal must win their last match against Gokulam Kerala FC.
New Delhi, March 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday released the fifth volume of the "Dictionary of Martyrs - India's Freedom Struggle" compiled by the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).

The project for compiling the series was commissioned to the ICHR by the Ministry of Culture to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the War of Independence of 1857.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi said: "The effort of the government is to nurture and recall the brave deeds of the heroes of our freedom struggle. This will have a positive influence on the future generations and inspire them to think of 'India First'."

After releasing the book at his residence here, Modi said the five-volume dictionary contained an account of the martyrs from India's First War of Independence in 1857 till the year 1947.

The Prime Minister said that a nation which does not honour and remember those who are an important part of its history often does not have a secure future.

"This effort is not just a way to cherish the past, but also a way to secure the future," Modi said, adding that the youth should be made aware of this effort.

The Prime Minister said the dictionary includes the martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the non-cooperation movement and the Quit India movement. Soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj who attained martyrdom have also been included in the dictionary.

Union Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma was present on the occasion.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Indian Air Force on Thursday said it is in a high state of preparedness to proactively engage any perceived threat in the present security scenario.

"A strict vigil in the skies to detect and thwart any act of aggression from Pakistan Air Force is being maintained," it said in a statement.

As per information, Pakistan has opened their airspace with Oman, Iran, Afghanistan and China only. Eleven entry/exit points located along Indo-Pak airspace boundary are still closed.
New Delhi, March 7 : National carrier Air India's Board will meet on Friday to decide on the issuance of bonds up to Rs 7,000 crore through private placement.

The company, which is reeling under a massive debt burden of around Rs 55,000 crore, requires the sum to pay of its lenders and for working capital.

Its Board includes ITC Chairman Y.C. Deveshwar and Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla as Independent Directors.
New Delhi, March 7 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said people of the city are disappointed with Centre for approving only three of the six metro corridors.

"People of Delhi very disappointed that the Centre has decided to approve only 3 of the 6 corridors. Why is Modi govt so much against the people of Delhi? Why does Modi govt create obstacles in every project? There shud be no politics wid Delhi's development," Kejriwal tweeted.

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot also expressed his disappointment.

In a statement, he said: "The Union Cabinet has approved three out of six corridors of Delhi Metro's Phase-IV Project. While I am glad by the decision, I must convey that I am disappointed with the Union Cabinet approving only three corridors."

He said the Delhi Cabinet had approved all the six corridors comprised in Metro's Phase-IV Project in December, 2018.

"Even after more than two months of the decision, the Union Cabinet has approved only three corridors without citing any reason. I hope the Cabinet would soon clear the remaining three corridors," he said.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave an "in-principle" approval to three of the six new Delhi Metro corridors under Phase-IV of the network.

The government approved the Tughlakabad-Aerocity (20.20 km), Janakpuri West-R.K. Ashram (28.92 km) and Mukundpur-Maujpur (12.54 km) sections. This will add to the existing 350 km-long Delhi Metro network.

The other three lines which are yet to receive the Cabinet's nod are Rithala-Bawana, Inderlok-Indraprastha and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block.
Asuncion, March 7 : Indian Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez on Thursday discussed terrorism and a range of bilateral issues.

According to an official statement, Paraguay said it would support India's candidature to various UN and other multilateral bodies including for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council.

Naidu, who is on visit to Paraguay, also met Vice President Hugo Velazquez, and the President of the National Congress (Senate), Silvio Ovelar.

"Both sides agreed that terrorism posed a grave threat to global peace and stability, stressing that there could be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever. Outlining a common desire to take an uncompromising stand against terror, India and Paraguay have agreed to cooperate to deal with the menace of terror," the statement said.

Paraguay decried the brutal terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14, saying India could always count on its support in the fight against terrorism and in voicing India's concerns on terrorism in international fora.

Citing the scourge of cross-border terrorism in India, Naidu stressed the need to take strong measures against terrorists, terror organizations, their networks and all those who encourage, support, finance and provide safe haven to them.

Paraguay also affirmed its support for a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism proposed by India.

The Vice President also emphasized that Paraguay was an important partner of India in the Latin American and Caribbean region and said that bilateral relations have been showing an upward trend.

The Indian and Paraguayan leaders noted with satisfaction the strengthening of bilateral relations over the years and the ten-fold growth in bilateral trade over the last decade, while agreeing that there is greater scope to increase trade volume and diversify the trade basket.

Naidu urged the Paraguayan leadership to explore new areas of collaboration including agriculture, hydroelectric and solar energy, health, pharmaceuticals, traditional medicine, Information and Communication Technology, and biotechnology. Both sides agreed to facilitate promotion of exchanges between academics and universities and also between stakeholders in tourism.

He requested Paraguay to facilitate the convening of the next round of expert level discussions between regional bloc MERCOSUR and India to take forward the shared agenda of the expansion of the Preferential Trade Agreement.

He also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic and Consular Academy of Paraguay and the Foreign Service Institute of India.

"Decision was made to task experts from both nations to finalize pending agreements including Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, Bilateral Investment Treaty and for Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance," the statement said.
New Delhi, March 7 : With the Election Commission expected to announce the schedule of Lok Sabha elections soon, the Narendra Modi government has been taking a flurry of decisions at the meetings of Union Cabinet and the CCEA. Over the past fortnight, both have taken 96 decisions.

The decisions pertain to all sections of society including farmers, central government employees, youth, weaker sections, poor and ex-servicemen.

The cabinet meeting held on February 20 took 23 decisions while the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) took five decisions, and in the meet on February 28, the Cabinet took 29 decisions and the CCEA nine.

The meeting of union cabinet held on Thursday took 18 decisions while CCEA approved 12 proposals.

The decisions taken also pertain to promulgation of ordinances including that on triple talaq.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also laid foundation stone of Integrated Command and Control Centres in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

He also flagged off Nagpur Metro, interacted with beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana and released new series of visually-impaired friendly coins.

Modi is scheduled to visit Varanasi, Kanpur and Ghaziabad on Friday.
Amaravati, March 7 : In a tit-for-tat, the Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday set up Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe data theft case against Telangana, a day after the neighbouring state constituted a SIT to investigate similar charges against it.

Principal Secretary, Home, A. R. Anuradha issued an order constituting a nine-member SIT to be headed by Additional Director General of Police and Transport Commissioner N. Bala Subramanyam.

This followed a case registered in Guntur district on a complaint by Cabinet Minister K. Kala Venkat Rao, who is also President of Andhra Pradesh unit of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He alleged that a conspiracy was hatched between YSR Congress leaders and some senior police officials of Telangana to steal the data belonging to the TDP.

Rao also alleged that they conspired to engineer en-masse requests for deletion of names from the voters' list.

As the investigation of the case has interstate ramifications and requires lots of technical expertise, it was decided to constitute the SIT, read the Government Order.

The development came hours after the SIT constituted by Telangana government on Wednesday held its first meeting in Hyderabad. Inspector General of Police Stephen Ravindra, who is heading the nine-member team, told reporters that the team had started its work.

He said the SIT was trying to find out how the sensitive and personal data of the citizens of Andhra Pradesh came to IT Grids, the company providing IT services to the TDP, and for what it was using this data. The official said an in-depth investigation would be conducted to identify those who provided data to the Hyderabad-based company.

"There are allegations that based on this sensitive data, voters are being deleted from voter list. We will also look into these allegations," he said.

Police in Hyderabad had booked a case against IT Grids on March 2 on a complaint by T. Lokeswara Reddy that sensitive data including personal information was being processed illegally by the company without consent of the citizens.

The police seized electronic gadgets, hard-disks and other material from the company's office. It is still on the lookout of company founder and CEO D. Ashok.

The case sparked a huge row between the two Telugu states. The TDP alleged that its data built over last two decades was stolen by Telangana's ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) under a conspiracy hatched with YSR Congress Party.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said Telangana had no power to register such a case. He said earlier in the day that his government would take steps including legal recourse to protect sovereign rights of the state.
Guwahati, March 7 : Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday distributed ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to 268 bullet-hit persons or their family members, who were injured during the six-year-long Assam movement.

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government had paid a one-time assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each of 860 martyrs, who had laid down their lives during the Assam Movement, as a token of tribute to the martyrs.

Speaking on the occasion, Sonowal said that the main objective of the Assam movement was to make Assam free from illegal immigrants, and the present state government has been working resolutely implementing all the clauses of the Assam Accord.

"In the six-year agitation, people irrespective of caste, creed, language and religion had jumped into the movement. Several lives were lost and so many people sustained permanent injuries," Sonowal said.

"One of the most important clauses of Assam Accord is to seal the border completely. But the previous governments did not take any pragmatic steps in this direction. However, realising that without land swapping deal, complete sealing of the border is not possible, the Narendra Modi-led Central government executed the land swapping in 2014 and took steps to completely seal 272-km Indo-Bangla border," he said.

The Modi government took the help of technology to seal the 61-km riverine border, Sonowal added.

"The previous government took no pragmatic steps to implement Clause 5 of the Assam Accord. However, the present government is extending all possible help for updation of the NRC under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

"With the insistence of the present government on NRC updation and the direct supervision of the Supreme Court, after publication of the final NRC, the vexed foreigner's issue will be solved once and for all," the Chief Minister said.

He also informed that the NRL (Numaligarh Refinery Ltd), which was set up as an offshoot of Assam Accord, has lately received Rs 22,594 crore for revamping its refining capacity from the existing 3 MMTPA to 9 MMTPA.

"In memory of the supreme sacrifice of martyrs, the state government would construct a Shahid Udyan at a sprawling 100-bigha land in the city so that the supreme sacrifice is not forgotten," Sonowal added.
New Delhi, March 7 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from his traditional Amethi seat and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi from her Rae Bareli, according to Congress's first list of candidates released on Thursday.

The list of 15 candidates includes four candidates from Gujarat and 11 from Uttar Pradesh.

The list includes some young faces who have contested elections earlier as also from the old guard and reflects Rahul Gandhi's desire to field well-known names to brighten the party's prospects in the triangular fight.

In Uttar Pradesh, the party has again fielded former Union ministers Salman Khurshid from Farrukhabad, Jitin Prasad from Dhaurahra and R.P.N. Singh from Kushi Nagar.

The three leaders have been fielded from their traditional seats which they lost in 2014 when the BJP swept the polls in the state.

The party has fielded former MPs Annu Tandon from Unnao, Nirmal Khatri from Faizabad, Saleem Iqbal Shervani from Badaun, Rajaram Pal from Abkarpur and Brij Lal Khabri from Jalaun. The last two had joined the Congress after leaving Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party.

Imran Masood, who had made controversial remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls, has been fielded again from Saharanpur. He was censured by the Congress leadership for his "chop Narendra Modi into pieces" remark and was asked issue a public clarification.

Both Khurshid and Shervani are seen as the old guard while Prasad and Singh are among the generation next leaders in the Congress.

In Gujarat, the party has fielded former Rajya Sabha MP Raju Parmar from Ahmedabad West, former Union Minister and former state unit chief Bharatsinh M Solanki from Anand, Prashant Patel from Vadodara and Ranjit Mohansinh Rathwa from Chhota Udaipur.

The first Congress list has come even as the schedule of Lok Sabha elections has not been declared. The party has taken lead over the ruling BJP which is yet to declare its first list of candidates.

With both Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi contesting, there is still speculation if Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is General Secretary of eastern Uttar Pradesh, will enter the poll fray too. There has been demand from sections in the party that she should be fielded from Varanasi against Modi.

The Congress, which is not part of Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance in Uttar Pradesh, is fighting the elections on its own on all the 80 parliamentary seats though it has not ruled out possibility of alliance with smaller parties. Both the SP, the BSP and the RLD are yet to formally declare their candidates though the alliance has announced they will not field candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli.

Congress leaders said the list shows that the party will contest the elections "on the front foot" and strongly.

The list comes days before the meeting of Congress Working Committee, which will meet in Gujarat, the home state of Modi.
Kohima, March 7 : Eighteen of the 26 opposition Naga People's Front (NPF) legislators in Nagaland have proposed to their legislature party leader T.R. Zeliang to work out modalities with the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) for a "stable regional coalition", a NPF legislator said on Thursday.

However, the NDPP, which is leading the People's Democratic Alliance (PDA) government, has termed the proposal of the NPF legislators as "absurd and incomprehensible" since the NDPP-BJP alliance was and is a pre-poll alliance.

The political development in the state is significant in the wake of the NPF denying any rift within its legislature party.

In a joint letter to Zeliang, the 18 NPF legislators proposed for a "stable regional coalition" under the political scenario prevailing in the state as well in the country at large.

"We are fully convinced that a stable regional coalition is the need of the hour so as to deliver goods to the people and also to face any eventualities in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," the NPF legislators noted.

The legislators also urged Zeliang, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Nagaland Assembly, to initiate necessary steps so as to realise their objectives by finalising the necessary modalities with the NDPP leadership before the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Although Zeliang could not be contacted for his comments, one of the legislators who signed the letter confirmed that they are in favour of a "stable regional coalition" government in Nagaland.

The 18 legislators who signed the handwritten letter include Imkong L. Imchen, Azheto Zhimomi, Moatoshi Longkumer, Kejong Chang, Amenba Yaden, Y.M. Yollow Konyak, M. Sangtam, Eshak Konyak, Dr. Imtiwapang Aier, Pitco Shohe, C.L. John, Chotisuh Sazo, Y. Vikheho Swu, Yitachu, Kezhienyi Khalo, Keneizhakho Nakhro, Khriehu Liezietsu and Chumben Murry.

In the 60-member Nagaland Assembly, the ruling NDPP which leads the PDA coalition government has 17 members and is supported by 12 BJP members, two National People's Party, one lone Janata Dal (United) member and one Independent.

The opposition NPF has 26 members.
New Delhi, March 7 : A day after a student of Class 5 passed away in Delhi after drinking "water" from her junior's bottle, the liquid substance is being scrutinised by the forensic department to ascertain if it was acid that led to the girl's death, a police officer said on Thursday.

The incident took place at a private school in north Delhi's Harsh Vihar area during lunch break when the two girls were eating together in the classroom. Soon after the victim drank "water" from her junior's bottle, she fell ill. The school authorities rushed her to the GTB Hospital where she died during treatment.

The victim, who succumbed to internal injuries, lived with her parents and brother in Harsh Vihar. The police are suspecting that the liquid was acid.

"We are trying to establish whose negligence led to the tragic death, the parents of the Class 4 student who brought the liquid substance in her school bag or the school management since the incident happened during school hours," Deputy Commissioner of Police A.K. Thakur told IANS.

"We are waiting for the forensic and autopsy reports to establish if it was really acid which led to the death of the eleven-year-old girl.

"A case of death due to negligence has been registered at the Harsh Vihar Police station," he added.
New Delhi, March 8 : The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that teachers came under the Payment of Gratuity Act, recalling its January 7 judgment which had held that they were not entitled to gratuity.

The bench of Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre and Justice Indu Malhotra had, by the January 7 judgment, said that that teachers did not fall within the ambit of the definition of employee under Section 2(e) of the Payment of Gratuity Act.

However, two days after the pronouncement of the judgment, the bench had suo motu stayed its operation, saying that it was not apprised of the 2009 amendment to the statute, which had widened the definition of employee to include teachers in its ambit. This had been made effective retrospectively from April 1997.

The object and reasons of the amendment bill of 2009 had clearly stated that the definition of term "employee" in the Payment of Gratuity Act was being widened to include teachers in view of an earlier observation of the top court.
Bhopal, March 8 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday said that in the 76 days of the Congress government in the state, 83 promises made in the election manifesto have been fulfilled.

He was presenting the report card of the newly-elected Congress government in the state.

In response to a query on the law and order situation in the state, the Chief Minister told the media: "We are only 76 days old, whereas bringing the law and order situation under control is a long process... There was no law and order in the last 15 years and rhat's why, the morale of the criminals is high."

Talking about the state of finances in Madhya Pradesh, he said it is in an utterly bad shape.

"When we took over the reins, state's financial condition was extremely bad. Mismanagement and unrealistic ambitions of the previous government brought the situation to this pass. The Central government has also weakened our financial condition by slashing Rs 2,000 crore it earlier gave to various schemes. Nonetheless, we are committed to fulfilling our promises, come what may!"

Asked on transfers in the state, Kamal Nath said that under the previous regime, many officers and staff members were working with a leaning towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), so it became imperative to shift those officials.

"Besides, since this government has come after a long gap of 15 years, it's quite natural that there will be transfers and postings. It's a normal process and if needed, more transfers would be effected," the Chief Minister said.

Kamal Nath also gave an account of how the farmers' loans waived and promised to work for all sections of the society.
Ahmedabad, March 8 : Firebrand Patidar leader Hardik Patel is set to join the Congress and even contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, informed sources said on Thursday.

Sources in his Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) confirmed late Thursday that the decision was taken at a meeting held at Tarkhadi village in Rajkot district. According to PAAS leader Gita Patel, only Hardik Patel will join the Congress.

While Hardik Patel could not be reached for comment after several attempts, reliable Congress sources said he would contest from the Jamnagar constituency in Saurashtra region where the Bharatiya Janata Party's Poonam Madam is the sitting MP.

Patel will join the Congress at the party's massive rally in Ahmedabad slated for March 12 where General Secretary in charge of East UP, Priyanka Gandhi, will make her first speech after being brought full-time in politics. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel, among others, will also be present.

The rally will come after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making arm of the party, on the same day.

Explaining why the Congress would not be averse to Hardik Patel joining it, party spokesperson Manish Doshi said the 25-year-old had forced the Narendra Modi government to announce 10 per cent reservation for the economically-weaker sections and raised serious issues of education and unemployment.

Patel had launched his pitched agitation for reservation to Patels (Patidars) in government jobs and educational institutions in July 2015, that resulted in major revival of the Congress, first in the local self-government elections that year and subsequently in the 2017 assembly elections.

He had confirmed last month that he would contest the Lok Sabha elections now that he had turned 25 - the age of eligibility - but had not disclosed if he would join any political party.
Asuncion : , March 8 (IANS) India is expected to be the third-largest consumer economy as its consumption is likely to triple to $4 trillion by 2025 owing to shift in consumer behaviour and expenditure pattern, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu said here on Thursday.

Addressing the India-Paraguay Business Forum meeting here, the Vice President said Paraguay is an important partner of India in the Latin American and Caribbean region and there is an enormous potential to further increase this engagement.

Naidu is the highest level representative from India to visit Paraguay in the last 58 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on September 13, 1961.

He said the bilateral trade in 2017-18 increased by around 20 per cent to $335 million and there is immense scope for the Indian companies to investment in Paraguay, especially in automobile, pharmaceuticals and engineering goods segments.

He said Paraguay leads the world in the export of renewable energy and offers interested Indian investors opportunities in the sector of small and medium-sized energy-generation components.

Naidu said India-Paraguay Joint ventures in the pharma sector could greatly benefit Paraguayan consumers and noted that India extends e-visa facilities to all Latin American and Caribbean countries including Paraguay.

He said India is witnessing a country-wide sweep of digital connectivity, transformative economic reforms, favourable demographics and a vibrant start-up ecosystem.

"India is expected to be the third-largest consumer economy as its consumption may triple to $4 trillion by 2025, owing to shift in consumer behaviour and expenditure pattern. We have started work to build next-generation infrastructure including 100 Smart Cities, 7 high-speed train corridors and nationwide broad-band connectivity," he said.

Earlier during his visit, the Vice President Naidu met Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez and discussed terrorism and a range of bilateral issues.

According to an official statement, Paraguay said it would support India's candidature to various United Nations and other multilateral bodies, including permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council.

Naidu also met Paraguay's Vice President Hugo Velazquez and President of the National Congress (Senate) Silvio Ovelar.

"Both sides agreed that terrorism posed a grave threat to global peace and stability, stressing that there could be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever. Outlining a common desire to take an uncompromising stand against terror, India and Paraguay have agreed to cooperate to deal with the menace of terror," the statement said.

Paraguay decried the brutal terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14, saying India could always count on its support in the fight against terrorism and in voicing India's concerns on terrorism in international fora.

Citing the scourge of cross-border terrorism in India, Naidu stressed the need to take strong measures against terrorists, terror organisations, their networks and all those who encourage, support, finance and provide safe haven to them.

Paraguay also affirmed its support for a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism proposed by India.

The Vice President also emphasised that Paraguay is an important partner of India in the Latin American and Caribbean region and said that bilateral relations have been showing an upward trend.

The Indian and Paraguayan leaders noted with satisfaction the strengthening of bilateral relations over the years and the 10-fold growth in the bilateral trade over the last decade, while agreeing that there is greater scope to increase trade volume and diversify the trade basket.

Naidu urged the Paraguayan leadership to explore new areas of collaboration including agriculture, hydro-electric and solar energy, health, pharmaceuticals, traditional medicine, Information and Communication Technology, and biotechnology. Both sides agreed to facilitate promotion of exchanges between academics and universities and also between stakeholders in tourism.

He requested Paraguay to facilitate convening of the next round of expert-level discussions between regional bloc MERCOSUR and India to take forward the shared agenda of the expansion of the Preferential Trade Agreement.

He also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Diplomatic and Consular Academy of Paraguay and the Foreign Service Institute of India.

"Decision was made to task experts from both nations to finalize pending agreements including Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, Bilateral Investment Treaty and for Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance," the statement said.
In today's globalized world, developments in the Chinese economy not only affect China but also other countries, which is the practical meaning of interdependence. This was made clear as the annual parliamentary session opened in Beijing.



At the beginning of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), Premier Li Keqiang delivered the government work report, looking back and then setting the scene for China's economic performance this year.

In particular, the report sets the GDP growth target at 6-6.5 percent. International organizations such as the IMF also foresee a similar growth pattern, the latter's most recent estimation being 6.2 percent.

The economic slowdown thus envisaged is a necessary development for China in its own interests in transforming the growth model and achieving sustainable development in the long-run. The past overproduction could not endlessly continue, with double-digit growth rates.

The country is also paying close attention to the fight against pollution. The so-called "New Normal" requires prioritization of the ecology and green development. For example, the government work report is targeting an overall cut in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions of 3 percent in 2019.

Additionally, China is seeking to bolster its immune system against external threats. Although its exports remain a source of growth, it is undergoing a patient process to create a balanced economic mix. An increase of imports and an emphasis on more investments concerning innovation and technological advancement constitute significant priorities.



The need of more investments, in particular, has led the central government to propose a new law for foreign companies operating in the country. This is an issue where China and the West have frequently disagreed, but the new law can perhaps address important concerns of the latter. The EU Chamber of Commerce in China has already expressed its appreciation.



Moreover, Beijing regards consumption a catalyst for growth. This entails encouraging citizens to spend more either by buying goods or by consuming various services. Last year, consumer spending contributed 76.2 percent of the GDP growth. The general objective this year is to continue expanding domestic demand.

The work report specifies some tax cuts on the manufacturing sector and for small businesses. A rising middle-class in China can domestically spend higher amounts in the future. Other countries will subsequently benefit because the number of Chinese tourists travelling abroad is expected to grow.



Another government mission remains improvement of living conditions of ordinary people. The alleviation of poverty is an ongoing project. Some US$18.82 billion will be allocated for this purpose during the year.

Reduction of the rural poor population is the most difficult challenge. By supporting rural areas, the government is combining the necessary fight against poverty with the preservation of natural resources and the fast development of services such as e-commerce. Signs of rising spending power in less-developed areas have begun to appear.

China's reform and opening-up process is also expanding. Financial reforms  including a deeper involvement of the private sector in several areas  are on the agenda. Further, the government is giving special importance to education services and connecting them to the job market.

Enhanced international cooperation will help Chinese universities advance modernization to meet the goal of preparing students for successful careers. A recent poll showed Chinese young people most cared about the education and employment-related topics to be discussed during the NPC session, and the government is endeavoring to respond to their concerns. In 2019, the target is to create 11 million new urban jobs.



The West will benefit, too, if it will familiarize itself with the special characteristics of China's politics and its national economy. Chinese-style socialism in parallel with the sophisticated nature of economic changes are creating a robust China.

Its resilience in fending off the unpredictable consequences of the ongoing trade war with the United States is just one indicator. The Chinese leadership never hides problems or challenges, and the 2019 NPC session is no exception. What matters is to discuss policy options and offer solutions that help not hinder advancement.

George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:





http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm





Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.





If you would like to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn.
London, March 8 : Thirty-six countries have signed an open letter criticising Saudi Arabia's human rights record, media reported.

The letter, read on Thursday at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), is the first collective rebuke of the kingdom.

It urges Saudi Arabia to release human rights activists jailed for "exercising their fundamental freedoms" and to "disclose all information available" about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"I call upon Saudi Arabia to ensure that all members of the public including human rights defenders and journalists can freely and fully exercise their right to freedom of expression and association including online and without fear of reprisals," Iceland's ambassador Harald Aspelund said during the session in Geneva.

He called for the release of women rights defenders Loujain al-Hathloul, Hatoon al-Fassi and Samar Badawi and others jailed after campaigning for human rights in the country, CNN reported.

Last week, Saudi Arabia announced that prosecutors were preparing a case against a number of the detainees for "undermining the security and sovereignty of the Kingdom."

Reading from the letter, Ambassador Aspelund said "investigations into the killing (of Jamal Khashoggi) must be independent and transparent."

The collective rebuke was signed by all countries in the European Union, as well as Iceland, Australia, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Montenegro.

The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered Khashoggi's killing. Riyadh has maintained that neither bin Salman nor his father, King Salman, knew of the operation to target the journalist. Officials have also denied that jailed female activists have been tortured.

The statement to the UN council came as Saudi Arabia appears to be facing renewed international pressure in recent days.

Amnesty International on Wednesday said in a statement that the moment had come for states to take a stand against the kingdom's violation of rights.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: "This initiative at the UN Human Rights Council offers a rare opportunity for states to take a strong public stand against the catalog of human rights violations by the government of Saudi Arabia.

"States who stay silent risk abdicating responsibility at a crucial moment and sending a dangerous message that Saudi Arabia can continue to commit egregious abuses without being held to account," Morayef said.

Earlier in the day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet had slammed Saudi Arabia over the "apparently arbitrary arrest and detention" of the women rights defenders.

Bachelet said: "The persecution of peaceful activists would clearly contradict the spirit of the country's proclaimed new reforms. We urge that these women be released."
Washington, March 8 : US President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen is suing the Trump Organization, arguing it owes him millions in legal fees and costs.

The company is allegedly reneging on a payment deal after Cohen cooperated with investigations into its business.

He has given evidence to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 US presidential election.

Cohen says the costs total about $1.9 million and are still growing, the BBC reported.

The lawsuit says the group should pay the roughly $1.9 million Cohen has been ordered to pay as part of his criminal sentence for work done "at the behest of the Trump Organization".

The 52-year-old will begin a three-year prison sentence in May for the campaign finance violation of paying hush money to one of Trump's alleged mistresses, as well as convictions for tax evasion and lying to Congress.

Cohen last week gave dramatic testimony to the US Congressional House Oversight Committee about the president, during which he accused him of being a "racist", "conman" and a "cheat".

The president has turned on Cohen, who was his personal lawyer and fixer for approximately a decade, and accused him of lying.

Cohen's lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan court, says he was involved in several court cases and legal proceedings -- including Mueller's Russia investigation.

Under an indemnification agreement Cohen allegedly signed with the Trump Organization in July 2017, the company agreed that it would pay all of Cohen's fees and costs in connection with cases related to the company.

But despite written requests for reimbursement, the company has not paid him since May 2018, about the time Cohen agreed to cooperate with the Special Counsel's investigation.

Russia has denied interfering in the 2016 election, while President Trump has frequently criticised Mueller's investigation into his campaign and its alleged links with Moscow.
A poultry farm in the Werribee area has hit the market, with industry interests and land bankers tipped to be interested.

Colliers Internationals Jesse Manuel and Jock Grimshaw have been appointed to sell Parkhurst Farm at 925 Bulban Road, Little River, on the outskirts of Werribee, Victoria.

The appointment has been made by Richard Hughes of Deloitte in his capacity as Deed Administrator of Parkhurst Farm Pty Ltd (Subject to Deed of Company Arrangement).

Manuel said with its proximity to the amenity of Melbournes west and its expanding urban boundary, the Little River property will be sought-after by a diverse range of buyers.

It represents an excellent opportunity for existing poultry industry participants to expand their holdings and geographically diversify, as well as opportunists looking to acquire land in close proximity to major development activity, Manuel said.

Historically weve seen chicken meat processors look at these types of farms to convert to breeder farms, the egg industry to rear pullets or install laying infrastructure, as well as the broad acre sector looking to store grain and fertiliser.

The property is located about 11 kilometres south-west of Werribee, 38 kilometres north-east of Geelong and 47 kilometres south-west of the Melbourne CBD via the West Gate and Princes Freeways.

The area of Little River was famously the inspiration for the name of the classic Australian rock band Little River Band.

Parkhurst Farm is a well developed poultry farm that has a history of both poultry meat and egg production and comprises a total shed production area of over 20,000 square metres.

The property contains a total land area of 115 hectares (approx.) and has been developed to eight tunnel ventilated grower sheds complete with automated climate-control, feeding, drinking and lighting systems. The sheds were developed from 2003 to 2006, with a key feature being their concrete wall construction.

Associated improvements include managers residence, various farm shedding, grain silos, extensive water storage tanks, office/control rooms, backup diesel generators and a desalination plant to treat groundwater from the onsite bore. Three phase electricity and reticulated town water are connected to the property.

Grimshaw said the region was characterised by cropping and grazing enterprises and is also a nationally recognised region for commercial chicken meat production with a significant number of broiler farms located in the region.

Offers are due March 27.
Doyles have another chance to expand their Watsons Bay fish empire with the listing of an adjoining home.

The property at 2 Cliff Street was under the watchful eye of the Doyle family when it last traded for $1.26 million in 2003, but the vendor, whose family had owned the property for 100 years, refused to sell to the fish giant.

The previous owner of my home refused to sell to Doyles as the property had been in her family for 100 years," said former small business owner Alex Mestanov, the current vendor of the three bedroom home.

Mestanov secured approval for a three storey development on the property to take advantage of the harbour views and soar above Doyle's main restaurant, which is located infront of the property on the water.

The home actually sits within the Doyle's carpark, who approached Mestanov with a $3 million bid in 2008, when the property wasn't for sale.

The plans are for a mixed-use apartment complex, a penthouse, a two level house style apartment and a 20 seat cafe on the 325 sqm site.

Mestanov tried to sell the site in 2015, but couldn't find a buyer at $5.2 million.

He's now called on Ray White Double Bay agent Evan Williams, who is marketing the home in conjunction with Australian Prime Realty's Tony Braham.

They have a March 28 auction, with no guide, however prices nearby have ranged anywhere between $3 million and $5 million. A recent Cliff Street sale sold for $5 million.

This original Watsons Bay freestanding home presents a blue chip redevelopment prospect in an iconic location mere steps from the harbour foreshore, said Williams.

Braham says there are a number of possibilities for the property.

It offers scope for significant future capitalisation, with the possibility to completely renovate or knock down and build a boutique apartment complex," Braham said.

"Alternatively, take advantage of the Special Purpose Tourist Zoning (SP3) which allows development for Tourist and Visitor Accommodation purposes (STCA), said Tony Braham.
The Fundica Roadshow is proud to announce its continued partnership with Panache Ventures, Canada's most active seed stage venture capital fund, and BCF Ventures, a Super Angel fund investing in pre-seed and seed, technology-based companies. The funds will consider investing a combined total of up to $800,000 CAD in the most promising tech startups at the 2019 Fundica Roadshow, a cross-Canada pitch competition that aims to educate, inspire, and fund entrepreneurs. Last year, the Fundica Roadshow brought together over 150 pitching startups, 2,200 entrepreneurs, 75 investors, and over 110 community partners, maintaining its status as the largest pitch competition in Canada.

The 2019 Fundica Roadshow will have 3 regional stops (Vancouver on April 4th, Montreal on April 25th, and Toronto on May 16th). In each city, up to 16 startups will pitch to a panel of investors. The best 3 startups from each city will receive a package of prizes and perks as well as a spot at the Montreal finale on June 20th, where they will compete for the $800,000 equity investment award, provided by Panache Ventures and BCF Ventures. The regional events will be invite-only, open to select startups, investors, and partners, while the finale will be open to all registered attendees and will feature insightful and entertaining keynotes and panelists, investor and entrepreneur networking opportunities, and a live pitch competition.

"We are thrilled to be joining the Fundica Roadshow for another year, said Patrick Lor, managing partner at Panache Ventures. It brings together a concentrated group of high-calibre tech startups, and we look forward to seeing who comes our way in 2019.

This year, the Fundica Roadshow is homing in on what we do best, said Mike Lee, president of Fundica, bridging the divide between entrepreneurs and investors. Last year, more than one third of our main stage pitching startups were offered funding during or following the Fundica Roadshow, and with our new, hyper-focused format, we hope to continueif not augmentthis figure in 2019. We are proud to be working with an incredible group of partners from across Canada, including our national partners, CANARIE and National Bank; our supporting partners, R&D Capital and the City of Toronto; and our presenting partner, R&D Partners.

Were excited to be teaming with the Fundica Roadshow yet again, connecting promising early stage startups with the funding they need, said Sergio A. Escobar, CEO and partner at BCF Ventures. Historically, weve been very pleased with the startups we met at the Fundica Roadshow, and we expect to meet another impressive cohort this time around.

It has been 7 years since the Fundica Roadshow first launched, and since then, its participating startups have cumulatively secured over $82 million in follow-up investments. For more information on applying or attending, please visit https://www.fundicaroadshow.com/.

About Fundica

Fundica, Canada's most successful funding identification and connection platform, matches entrepreneurs, private investors, public funders, and advisors. Through our award-winning crowdsourcing/crawler technology, Fundica provides an up-to-date, comprehensive, and intuitive platform. Additionally, Fundica manages the Fundica Roadshow, an annual cross-Canada initiative. For more information, visit http://www.fundica.com.

About Panache Ventures

Panache Ventures is the most active Canadian seed stage venture capital fund. The firm is led by a team of experienced operators with a strong record of angel investments, years of institutional VC experience, and a solid network in Canada, Silicon Valley, and globally. The fund has a founders-first philosophy, a commitment to diversity, and a strategic seed/angel co-investment model.

About BCF Ventures

BCF Ventures is a pioneer in the Canadian investment scene by being one of the first Super Angel Funds, now converted to a full-fledged venture capital fund. Based in Montreal, BCF Ventures invests at the pre-seed and seed stage of technology-based startups, mostly in North America and opportunistically in Europe/Israel. The fund leverages its extensive network of international co-investors in order to multiply the fundraising capacity of the companies that are selected. For more information, visit https://bcfventures.vc/.

For more information:

Fundica:

Bronwyn Carere

Community Manager

(438) 869-6022

bronwyn(at)fundica.com

Panache Ventures:

Gabrielle Drouin

Head of Marketing and Platform

1 (514) 400 3255

gabrielle(at)panache.vc

BCF Ventures:

Camille Boileau

Senior Communications Advisor

info(at)bcfventures.vc
Without custom visuals in digital advertisements, websites, and other marketing strategies, the brand's objective will be lost on consumers and businesses will not see the conversions they need to succeed. -- DesignRush Founder and Executive Director Gabriel Shaoolian

Nearly 42 percent of marketers believe that original graphics are their best-performing content.

But which platforms are the most effective channels for custom graphic design and how can brands design visuals that will strategically grow their business?

DesignRush.com, a B2B marketplace connecting brands with agencies, discovered the best uses of graphic design in business. These tactics help communicate marketing messages, improve brand awareness, and ultimately make brands more profitable.

The top 5 uses of graphic design include:

1. Infographics

Many brands overlook the power of infographics. However, studies show that consumers share infographics three times more than they share any other content.

Infographics are doubly helpful for brands because they can visually entice consumers while simultaneously informing them.

To create a valuable infographic, brands should:



Write a compelling headline.

Include consistent graphics and illustrations throughout the entire infographic.

Create a consistent color scheme and aesthetic.

Ensure the visuals reinforce the corresponding text copy.

And more!

2. Videos

Graphic design has the ability to elevate traditional video marketing campaigns  and because video will be included in about 80 percent of all content this year, brands need to make theirs stand out.

Businesses can include graphic design in their videos through multiple tactics, such as:

Motion graphic videos.

Animated GIFs.

Added graphic design elements in live-action videos.

And more!

3. Email Marketing

Email marketing offers the best return on investment for brands  and incorporating visuals can make those campaigns more meaningful and drive more revenue.

Businesses can include the following graphics in their email newsletters and marketing campaigns to boost effectiveness:

Branded banners.

Calls to action.

Custom images that pair with text content.

And more!

However, brands should be careful not to be gratuitous with their use of graphics. Research shows that too many images within the body of an email campaign decreases click-through rates.

4. Social Media

Integrating visuals in social media posts and advertisements is proven to improve engagement and click-through rates.

For instance, tweets that include images see upwards of 150 percent more retweets. In addition, Facebook posts with images have a 2.3 times higher engagement rate.

Plus, platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram rely almost solely on the power of graphics and visuals, and 80 percent of marketers include visuals regularly in their overall social media marketing strategy.

Brands should follow these best practices to ensure their images and graphics are successful on social media:

Minimize text in images for ads.

Optimize the image size for optimal circulation.

Ensure the graphic is compelling.

Post brand-building graphics that encourage consumers to engage with the brand online.

And more!

5. Charts, Data & Presentations

Research shows that 20 percent of companies believe including visuals in their data presentations creates the most engagement.

In fact, charts and data visualizations are the third-most popular form of visuals.

Incorporating custom graphics into presentations helps businesses create a strong brand identity from the inside out and foster successful professional partnerships.

Additionally, visuals in presentations can be helpful for B2B business growth.

Investing in graphic design is crucial for every marketing initiative, says DesignRush Founder and Executive Director Gabriel Shaoolian. Without custom visuals in digital advertisements, websites, and the marketing strategies listed above, the brand's objective will be lost on consumers and businesses will not see the conversions they need to succeed.

DesignRushs Agency Listing section features the best local and global graphic design companies. Some of the top graphic design agencies from around the world include:

1. Activate Health

Activate Health is a full-service branding and marketing firm dedicated to serving clients across the healthcare industry. They partner with leading health insurers, health technology firms, health systems and data analytics companies to help them better understand their markets, develop creative that resonates, and position their brands for success.

Visit Activate Health at: https://activate-health.com/

2. Agrego

Agrego is a young group of designers and professionals who love what they do. Agrego is a comprehensive design agency specialized in interdisciplinary design. They offer a wide range of services, including branding, graphic design, digital, 3D, motion graphics, product, photography, video and more. They put their passion and all of their dedication into each project, striving and committing themselves to achieve the best results.

Visit Agrego at: https://agrego.com.ar/

3. Art Fresh Inc.

Art Fresh is a multi-award-winning full-service branding agency. They provide high-quality services that include market research, marketing strategy, naming, branding, content marketing and social media support. They specialize in top quality packaging and exclusive web design. Art Fresh creates powerful ideas that sell, and they build brands that stand out.

Visit Art Fresh Inc. at: https://www.art-fresh.ca/

4. AXIS Visual

Simply put, AXIS Visual packages information in ways that get attention and deliver not only a positive message, but the appropriate one to customers, clients or target markets. That means we use creativity, business knowledge and the understanding of production processes and a tremendous amount of experience to develop strategies and tactics that promote companies, product and service.

Visit AXIS Visual at: http://www.axisvisual.com/

5. Badie Designs

Badie Designs is an Atlanta-based boutique creative agency thats eager to elevate businesses to the next level. They specialize in branding, web development and marketing. Badie Designs helps their clients succeed by providing creative solutions that increase growth and profitability.

Visit Badie Designs at: http://www.badiedesigns.com/

6. Brand Satellite

Brand Satellite is a brand consultancy and integrated advertising, graphic design and marketing agency. Through a range of complementary communications services, they help businesses who have either never approached their business as a brand before or are not making the most of the brand they have.

Visit Brand Satelite at: https://brandsatellite.co.uk/

7. Brocksfield Design Company

Brocksfield Design Companys mission is to help brands, businesses, and organizations look their best and get noticed by the right audience. Owned and operated by long-time collaborators and Albany natives Timothy L. Brock and Rachel Mansfield, Brocksfield Design Company is deeply invested in adding value to their local community through creativity and innovation, while also serving clients all over the world.

Visit Brocksfield Design Company at: https://brocksfield.com/

8. Capsule

CAPSULE specializes in brand strategy, corporate and product naming, mark and identity design, collateral system design, experience design, packaging design, website design and social media strategy. Since 1999, the Minneapolis, MN firm has lent its distinctive methods and perspectives to the international design community.

Visit Capsule at: https://capsule.us/

9. Dedica

Dedica prides themselves on their ability to truly immerse themselves in the clients brand, consumers, and the competitive landscape in which they exist. This core understanding gives Dedica the insight they need to find the consumer connection points that are so important to the success of any brand or product. Without these connectors there is nothing to hold a brand in the mind of the consumer and keep it relevant to their wants and needs.

Visit Dedica at: http://dedicagroup.com/

10. Dessein

Desseins branding and packaging design has launched international celebrity brands onto the Australian market, provided the foundations for start-up products, brought new life to tired brands  both big and small and escalated international sales to heights never thought imaginable. They are a small design team in Perth, Western Australia. Their studio is small, unpretentious, practical and busy. Dessein knows their craft and they love what they do. Their design philosophy is to create brands of the heart  brands which engage, excite and evoke a personal response.

Visit Dessein at: http://www.dessein.com.au/

11. Empirical Designs

Empirical Designs is a graphic design studio in New York that specializes in logo design, branding, website design, as well as print and digital marketing to help grow businesses.

Visit Empirical Designs at: https://www.empiricaldesigns.net/

12. Foster & Create

Foster & Create is a Boston-based full-service creative agency focused on health and life sciences. They thoughtfully integrate strategy, design, content and technology to create distinctive brand platforms, communication programs, digital solutions and multi-channel experiences that connect brands to people in relevant ways.

Visit Foster & Create at: https://www.fosterandcreate.com/

13. Graphos

Graphos is a growth agency that transforms brands into market leaders. Focused on creating measurable results, Graphos builds on tree pillars of branding, digital marketing and growth to holistically, accountably create and manage change.

Visit Graphos at: https://graphos.ca/

14. In-sphere

In-sphere is a web agency specialized in web design and digital marketing. Their experience allows them to offer a wide range of services to improve clients Internet visibility, generate leads, increase their return on investment (ROI) or strengthen their brand image.

Visit In-sphere at: https://www.in-sphere.fr/

15. J-N-K Services Inc

J-N-K provides professional graphic design, commercial printing, digital printing, offset printing, mailing services, posters, banners, fleet wraps and vehicle wraps, bindery services and high-speed color and B&W copying. They can help brands create a logo and all of the marketing material needed  postcards, flyers, brochures and catalogs! They design and print all stationery items such as business cards, envelopes and letterhead.

Visit J-N-K Services Inc at: http://www.jnkservices.com/

16. J.Schmid

J.Schmid has spent the last 35 years helping clients tell their story and sell products. They are direct marketers at heart, but today, they are more than that. Over the years, J.Schmid has discovered that they have a knack for creating the strategy and content that helps brands tell their stories across all channels. Today, they partner with brands across the globe to do just that.

Visit J.Schmid at: https://www.jschmid.com/

17. Korak Studio

Korak Studio is a young design studio based in Belgrade, Serbia. They craft creative concepts, visual identities, print and digital design, websites and similar stuff for nice people worldwide. Their belief is that looking good is a wonderful thing, but good design is not just what looks good. It also has to stay true to its purpose, to transform, amaze, and overall, make sense. They aim to translate their work philosophy, passion and dedication into fresh and exciting experiences, with strong relationships formed along the process.

Visit Korak Studio at: http://korakstudio.com/

18. Leidar

Leidar is an international advocacy, branding and communication consultancy that helps clients set their course, navigate and communicate effectively. Their offices in Geneva, Oslo, London, Brussels and Dubai work together seamlessly to deliver powerful brand strategy and communications for international clients in all sectors.

Visit Leidar at: https://www.leidar.com/

19. Logobox d.o.o.

Logobox d.o.o.s range of services includes graphic design, web design and development, digital and social media marketing as well as print and production of promotional material. Their focus is on long-term relationships with their clients, to whom they provide the real full-service deal. They plan, they develop, they write and produce the material and place it on the best suitable and goal-oriented media and channels. They follow the results and optimize for best performance.

Visit Logobox d.o.o. at: https://logobox.agency/

20. Opus Brand Consult

Opus Brand Consult has been known for 20 years for helping emerging tech and manufacturing companies to bring their vision to market. With strategic thinking, creative solutions, and deep industry expertise, all the collaborators and partners work together to ensure success.

Visit Opus Brand Consult at: https://www.marcposchdesign.com/opusbrandconsult/

21. Parent

Parent is a brand and digital design agency specializing in luxury and premium clients across a diverse range of market sectors. Parent build brands that build businesses using a collaborative, invested approach.

Visit Parent at: http://www.madebyparent.com/

22. Pixel Productions Inc.

Pixel Productions Inc a full-service graphic and website design company. They help businesses at every level define and shape their visual image, including everything from their logo to retail packaging to marketing materials, taking each business online and making sure it gets noticed.

Visit Pixel Productions Inc. at: https://www.pixelproductionsinc.com/

23. Poncho Studio

Poncho is a design and communication studio run by a team of transdisciplinary professionals based in Buenos Aires. They work closely together with their clients to generate and design strategies of communication which add value to their goods and services. Their experience comes from working over ten years in projects for firms, cultural projects, government and private businesses. They believe that a robust communication strategy gives a boost to brands and leaves an impact

on users and customers.

Visit Poncho Studio at: https://helloponcho.com/eng/

24. Quinn Marketing

Quinn Marketing is a marketing agency that specializes in working with services-based businesses located within the Australian marketplace. Quinn Marketing has established itself as a leader within the traditional and digital space.

Visit Quinn Marketing at: https://www.quinnmarketing.com.au/

25. The Marketing Machine

The Marketing Machine (TMM) is an innovative, creative marketing agency located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Their mission is to do everything it takes to bring B2C brands to life. They work with both Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business companies (B2B) looking to improve or establish their brand presence. They provide conceptual, design and production resources to help brands build long-lasting relationships with their clients.

Visit The Marketing Machine at: https://www.themmachine.com/

26. The Simons Group

Before content was ever crowned king, The Simons Group built their reputation on the philosophy that great marketing is defined by flawlessly crafted messaging. They believe that when the words are perfect, the design follows suit, and the message moves the audience to action.

Visit The Simons Group at: https://thesimonsgroup.com/

27. TriLion Studios

TriLion Studios is a design and development studio based in Lawrence, Kansas. They are fiercely creative, proudly dependable and surprisingly nimble.

Visit TriLion Studios at: https://www.trilionstudios.com/

28. Tuskany Agency

Taking an innovative, design thinking, end-user centric approach is how businesses achieve more effective branding, marketing and advertising. Thats what Tuskany Agency does every day for brands that want a bigger competitive advantage and simply better communication tools. Their approach drives stronger relationships between brands and consumers. They develop brand identities with greater purpose and meaning, and create consumer experiences that deeply resonate with audiences and drive solid brand sampling and loyalty.

Visit Tuskany Agency at: https://www.tuskany.co.nz/

29. Verve Marketing Group

Verve Marketing Group is an award-winning brand, advertising, and design agency based in the Chicago area. They agency was formed out of a love for words and aesthetics  and the power of creative communications to change beliefs and move people to action. More than creative for creatives sake, they put their talents to work for the pragmatic purpose of giving voice and energy to worthwhile brands.

Visit Verve Marketing Group at: https://vervemarketinggroup.com/

30. VistaGraphics Inc.

VistaGraphics Inc. finds solutions to fit their clients' needs and budget. From custom and hospitality to lifestyle and web-based publishing, VistaGraphics is a full-service media company offering clients turnkey publishing solutions, design and production for print and web applications.

Visit VistaGraphics Inc. at: https://www.vistagraphicsinc.com/

Brands can view the best graphic design studios by cost, portfolio, expertise, experience, rankings and more on DesignRush. Users can easily filter to compare graphic design firms and find the best graphic designers that can create successful visual content.

About DesignRush: DesignRush.com is B2B marketplace connecting brands with agencies.

DesignRush features the top agencies around the world, including the best Graphic Design Companies, Digital Agencies, Logo Design, Branding, Digital Marketing, Video Production, Website Design, and more.
New Mexico Farm & Ranch near Hatch, NM This is an ideal opportunity for anyone seeking wide open space, a secluded lifestyle, or someone venturing into an agricultural business, stated Melissa Y. Roybal, Broker with United Country | Revolution.

Qualified buyers will have the opportunity to purchase a secluded farm with more than 383 acres with a Santa Fe-style custom-built home and farm house located near Hatch, New Mexico. United Country Real Estate | Revolution in coordination with United Strategic Client Services will offer this New Mexico farm during an online-only auction event ending Wednesday, April 3. The sellers are ready to sell! Interested parties will have the chance to view the property during two open house events on Saturday, March 23 & 30 from 9 AM to 1 PM.

Nestled amongst approximately 1 acre of mature pecan trees, the 4,900 sq. ft. custom home was built by a well-respected builder with adobe bricks that were sourced and produced on-site. Large floor-to-ceiling windows maximize the beautiful valley views as well as contribute to the organic feel of this southwestern ranch home. The surrounding vegetation opens up to a total of 383 total acres that are comprised of a combination of pastures and farmland with nearly 50% of BLM land adjacent to the property. The property offering expands further to include a 1,386 sq. ft. farm house, 4,100 sq. ft. commercial metal building, climate-controlled horse barn and several outbuildings.

This is an ideal opportunity for anyone seeking wide open space, a secluded lifestyle, or someone venturing into an agricultural business, stated Melissa Y. Roybal, Broker with United Country | Revolution. This property is located within Unit 21B, which is well known for record elk. With a diverse population of wildlife ranging from deer and antelope to mountain lions and bears, this is a rare southwestern New Mexico property.

The sale offering consists of a combination of farmland, rangeland and pastures, creating the ideal place to work, live or farm. Lose yourself in all the majesty and wonder of this southwestern ranch!

Detailed information about the property, as well as details about the auction, can be found online at http://www.NMFarmAuction.com or call 800-485-8214.

About United Real Estate Group

United Real Estate Group, an international real estate company with a 90 year track record and over $100 billion in properties sold, is uniquely positioned to market your investment, operating or lifestyle property. United Strategic Client Services is a carefully assembled team of experts, comprised of subject matter experts, brokers and auctioneers who have deep experience in a wide range of unique properties and businesses around the world. We leverage our international network of 7,000 local brokers, agents and auctioneers to offer local expertise and assistance to successfully execute the sale. We collaborate with the best resources in our network to create your team. This includes agents from our United Real Estate offices, which can be found in metropolitan markets, as well as our United Country offices which are found in rural America. Through our network, we have developed sophisticated and innovative marketing techniques, resulting in a thorough sales process by incorporating in-depth local, regional, national and world-wide marketing campaigns.

About United Country Real Estate- Revolution

United Country Real Estate- Revolution is based in Las Cruces, NM. The company is a diverse real estate firm assisting in sales and acquisitions of both urban and rural properties as well as commercial property. Melissa Roybal is the owner of the company. She and her team specialize in southern New Mexico farm and ranch real estate as well as business sales and 10-31 exchanges. Melissa has the ability to assist clients with special projects due to her experience in land development, asset liquidation, construction experience and holding an auctioneers license. United Country Real Estate- Revolution has a team of knowledgeable, hardworking and experienced real estate professionals proudly serving Southern New Mexico.
Partnering with ADLINK gives our customers and partners options for IoT devices and data sources ready to use out of the box.

ADLINK Technology, a global provider of leading Edge Computing solutions, has partnered with Google Cloud to integrate ADLINKs hardware and software solutions with Google Cloud IoT offerings, providing customers with an easy path to added business value by harnessing and analyzing critical operational data.

Companies are seeking hardware solutions that are pre-integrated with Google Cloud IoT, explained Mario Finocchiaro, Head of GTM, Google Cloud IoT. Partnering with ADLINK gives our customers and partners options for IoT devices and data sources ready to use out of the box.

Google Cloud is a suite of cloud computing services that runs on the same infrastructure that Google uses internally for its end-user products. Customers can use insight from GCP analytics tools including advanced analytics, AI and machine learning to make informed decisions to optimize operations, enable predictive maintenance, minimize downtime, improve quality and enable the development of new business models and revenue streams.

ADLINKs contribution of integrated hardware and software also includes ADLINK Edge services to channel operational data and enable intelligent decision-making by streaming to Google Cloud for deeper insight. With no programming necessary, ADLINK Edge quickly connects previously unconnected operational equipment and sensors. By tapping into native communication protocols, data can be captured and streamed at the edge and securely between devices, databases and to GCP, enabling analysis and easy visualization to inform business decisions and optimize operations.

Because our area of expertise is at the edge, its important for us to work with cloud computing experts, such as Google Cloud, to provide the best end-to-end IoT solutions in the industry, said Lawrence Ross, GM of ADLINK Software and Solutions. Were also excited to bring GCPs scale and best-in-class security to our Digital Experiment offering, which is essentially a starting point for a customers IoT journey.

For more information on ADLINKs Edge IoT offerings with Google Cloud, visit https://www.adlinktech.com/en/Google-Cloud.aspx.

About ADLINK

ADLINK Technology is a global leader in Edge Computing. We provide robust boards, platforms and user interfaces; real-time data connectivity solutions; and application enablement for state-of-the-art industrial computing (e.g., AI-at-the-Edge). Together, these also enable innovative end-to-end IoT solutions in support of operational excellence or new revenue streams. ADLINK serves customers in many vertical markets and has an excellent eco-system of technology partners. ADLINK is a valued thought-leader and contributor to many standards and interoperability initiatives, with products available in more than 40 countries. ADLINK is publicly-traded on TAIEX (Stock Code: 6166).


Boston-based InsurTech company Corvus Insurance announces the expansion of its underwriting appetite for its Smart Cyber Insurance product lines. The company developed the product in response to demand from its brokers to offer an Excess Cyber Insurance policy in order to participate on the coverage towers of larger companies. Under its new underwriting mandate from its risk-taking partner, Hudson Insurance, Corvus can now underwrite Excess Cyber Insurance for most types of organizations with up to $1 billion in annual revenues in addition to its primary offering. Corvus can write its Smart Cyber Excess Insurance policies with up to $10 million in aggregate limits.

Corvus is building a data-driven approach to its commercial development, says Mike Karbassi, Head of Cyber Underwriting. Corvus uses data to improve underwriting as well as to provide its brokers and policyholders with data analytics that differ from traditional underwriting. Corvus helps brokers and their policyholders to better manage cyber risk through our Corvus Score and through actionable recommendations. We are excited to be able to offer this to more organizations than ever."

Corvus Insurance is a broker-friendly InsurTech MGA offering Smart Commercial Insurance policies and innovative technology that utilizes new forms of data to predict and prevent claims, creating value for the policyholder, broker, and underwriter. Their Smart Cargo Insurance tools analyze data from temperature sensors that are already used in the shipments of goods that are subject to spoilage. This allows Corvus to score the temperature stability for each individual manufacturer/shipper of goods.

The companys Smart Cyber Insurance product utilizes data to assess the performance of any enterprise and their IT vendors and partners across critical security criteria, providing holistic visibility into their security programs. Corvus uses the data as a foundation to produce its Corvus Score.

Corvus Scores are used to better inform underwriting, and to provide commercial insurance brokers and buyers with Dynamic Loss Prevention (DLP) recommendations and business intelligence. These recommendations help brokers reduce the total cost of risk for their clients. In addition, Corvus online platform, the CrowBar, provides brokers and policyholders on-demand access to policy information, claims reporting, loss prevention recommendations, and business intelligence. DLP Reports are available to all Corvus policyholders including those who purchase Smart Cyber Excess Insurance.

Smart Cyber Insurance policies are distributed by Corvus on a Managing General Agency basis with its partner, Hudson Insurance Group. Policies are distributed by major insurance brokerage firms across the United States.

About Corvus Insurance Holdings, Inc.

Corvus Insurance Holdings, Inc., founded in 2017, is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Corvus is funded by Bain Capital Ventures and other investors.

Learn more on their website, http://www.corvusinsurance.com.

Gerritt Graham, Chief Commercial Officer

press@corvusinsurance.com
With todays announcement, Benzer Pharmacy continues to fulfill promises of further expansion into Buckeye Nation, introducing its latest storefront to join the franchise system.

The most populated city in the state of Ohio, Columbus has been on the companys radar for many years, according to Benzer Pharmacy President Alpesh Patel.

For starters, the city has a great reputation for being a great place to live, work and play. In 2016, Money Magazine called it one of the six best. And several years before that, Forbes pegged it with an A grade for business, Patel said. Its for those reasons, among others, that Columbus has been cited as one of the fastest growing big cities in the U.S.a market that clearly matches up well with Benzers efforts to bring the brand up to speed.

Patel also pointed out there is another natural affinity between Columbus and Benzer Pharmacy; namely, in the citys unofficial motto of being the biggest small town in America.

One of the guiding principles of Benzer Pharmacy can be seen in our mission to breathe new life into the traditional pharmacy/patient relationship, Patel reasoned. The franchise dynamic supplies a lot of modern advantages, particularly in terms of new technologies used to assist customers with medication adherence and other priorities, but never at the cost of the one-to-one trust that exists at the counter.

As it stands, now with 66 corporate-owned and 34 franchise locations to its credit, might Benzer Pharmacy be well on the way to earning its own unofficial motto as the biggest small chain of independent retail pharmacies in America?

That title has a nice ring to it, Patel said. I wouldnt rule it out.

In other words, count us in, which, not-so-ironically, is something customers in Columbus will soon be able to count onparticularly with the formal announcement of the latest Benzer locationnow open for business at 1057 Bethel Road.

Store hours are slated to run weekdays from 9am to 6pm, and on Saturdays from 9am to 2pm. The pharmacy phone number is 614-725-3335 (Fax: 614-725-4567).

For details on the closest Benzer Pharmacy near you, visit http://www.benzerpharmacy.com/locations.

About Benzer Pharmacy.

Founded in 2009, Benzer Pharmacy is a chain of independent retail pharmacies specializing in compounding and specialty medication. Currently, there are 66 corporate-owned and 34 franchise locations situated throughout 23 states, including Florida, Michigan, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Nevada, Louisiana, New York, Missouri, Mississippi, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, and Idaho. Projections call for continued rapid growth as the organization seeks to substantially increase its customer base, while ensuring experiences match expectations at every touchpoint.

Benzer Pharmacy has made four straight appearances on Inc. 5,000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America from 2015-2018; correspondingly, the company earned 39th place on the 2015 Florida Fast 100 list, while concurrently placing 67th on the 2015 TBBJ 200 list of Tampa Bays largest private companies. Benzer was also voted favorite pharmacy in the 2015 Best of Fuquay Varina in North Carolina, and achieved PCAB compounding accreditation with Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). All Benzer Pharmacy medications require a doctor's prescription.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BenzerPharmacy

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/benzerpharmacy

Instagram: https://instagram.com/benzer_pharmacy

SOURCE: Benzer Pharmacy
You are here: World

 Flash

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and visiting U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale met on Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation and the situation in and around Ukraine.

During the negotiations, the parties discussed Ukraine's reforms, energy issues and the ways to tighten bilateral trade partnership, Groysman tweeted.

Increasing sanctions against Russia over its alleged role in Ukraine's crisis was another topic on the agenda, Groysman said.

Hale arrived in Kiev on Tuesday for a three-day visit to meet with senior Ukrainian officials and political leaders and discuss upcoming elections, anti-corruption, and human rights issues with government representatives and civil society leaders.

Earlier in the day, Hale met Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak, pledging that the United States will continue political support and logistical assistance for Ukraine.
Blue Motor Finance named as the #1 fastest growing business in Europe.

Blue Motor Finance (Blue) is the fastest-growing business in Europe for 2018, according to the Financial Times annual survey of Europes leading businesses.

The ranking, calculated by Statista for the FT1000 - the Financial Times annual survey of Europes leading businesses, saw Blue move up the ranking from 21st to 1st alongside other high-growth businesses in Europe such as Deliveroo, Transferwise, and Hellofresh.

Blues CEO Bob Jones said:

UK car finance is a 106bn market that has been dominated by the banks for a long time. Blues aim is to transform the market, making car ownership simple, more transparent and flexible. Blue has been able to double its lending year on year, and has now lent more than a billion pounds and grown from six to 200 people in just four years. We dont see that growth slowing down.

Based in Sevenoaks, Kent, Blue works with over 3,700 dealers across the UK. In the last 12 months, it has financed over 50,000 car purchases.

Bob Jones added:

We are extremely proud of the success Blue has enjoyed so far, particularly at such an early stage of our development as a company.

Its clear that customers and dealers across the car finance market are seeking an alternative to the incumbent banks and we continue to see huge market opportunities on the horizon.

The FT 1000 is the Financial Times annual survey of Europes leading businesses, ranking the 1,000 companies with the strongest revenue growth between 2014 and 2017. Businesses hail from all sectors including fintech, consumer goods and automotive.

http://blue.co.uk
One Savvy Girl proudly supports Vitamin Angels We believe every woman should feel empowered, especially when it comes to their health. Thats why we are partnering with Vitamin Angels.

In honor of International Women's Day, One Savvy Girl is proud to announce we are teaming up with Vitamin Angels to continue our commitment to women and wellness.

Founder Kelly Fedio said of the partnership, I couldn't be more excited to announce this new collaboration. I started One Savvy Girl to encourage women and girls to get outside more and experience nature."

So many women don't take enough time for themselves, hindering their health and wellness. Women are leaders in their families, careers and communities, so we want to bring more awareness to the health and wellness of women and their children. We believe every woman should feel empowered, especially when it comes to their health.

Thats why we are partnering with Vitamin Angels, an organization that reaches pregnant women and their children with life changing vitamins and minerals. For every item sold, One Savvy Girl will donate a portion of the profits to support the health of women and children around the world.

Vitamin Angels started their mission In January 1994, after the Northridge Earthquake hit Southern California, and a relief agency contacted founder Howard Schiffer requesting a donation of vitamins for victims. He started Vitamin Angels just three weeks later. Still after 25 years, Vitamin Angels continues to grow and expand its reach to more mothers and children in the US and around the world.

Vitamin Angels also partners with businesses and brands like Walgreens, Whole Foods, The Vitamins Shoppe, Pfizer, Naturewise and Now Foods.



One Savvy Girl launched in 2014

100% woman owned brand based in Redondo Beach, California

Top selling product, the Savvy Infusion Water Bottle, has sold over 250k units and was just featured as one of the top gifts on the Today Show

Founder Kelly Fedio has been recognized by Amazon and the IRCE as a top ecommerce entrepreneur

One Savvy Girls collection of chic womens outdoor lifestyle gear can be found on Amazon.com, and includes infusion water bottles, wine tote bags, sling backpacks, backpack chairs, cooler backpacks, beach tote bags, marshmallow roasting sticks, waterproof dry bags, picnic backpacks, and more. Their collection of products make the perfect outdoor gifts for women.

Press contact: Kristin Rae ~ Kristin(at)onesavvygirl.com

Website: http://www.onesavvygirl.com

Amazon Storefront: http://www.amazon.com/onesavvygirl

Social channels: Facebook | Instagram @one.savvy.girl
Heaven's Angels: My Many Encounters: an eye-opener, is the creation of published author Carl Harden, a retired chiropractic physician licensed in New York and Florida. Happily married for seventy-plus years, he enjoys playing billiards and playwriting for the community theater.

I, Carl Harden, writes the author, have had many amazing angelic encounters, and it seems only appropriate and logical for this book to be titled 'Heavens Angels.' Carls angelic encounters are quite extensive, from a silent nod of approval, to physical contacts and ultimately to verbal expressions and playful antics. It is a rare occurrence for a single miracle to happen, but when several happen to the same person, it becomes an o-rama. 'Heavens Angels' seems to be the most appropriate description for the many angelic encounters described in this book. My many encounters have to be brought before the public at large. A true tale of such a magnitude should reach out to the entire world. I hope the naysayers will take note and come to see the true nature of the angels. Angels are real.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Carl Hardens new book is a remarkable collection compiling anecdotal evidence from an unexpected medium for the other side.

Readers who have always believed or even sensed that humanity was not alone will be touched with a sense of awe and even hope with every story in this compelling volume.

View a synopsis of Heaven's Angels: My Many Encounters on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Heaven's Angels: My Many Encounters at traditional brick and mortar bookstores or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Heaven's Angels: My Many Encounters, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The U.S.Japan KAKEHASHI Project allows Japanese and African American students to explore their global acumen and expand key professional skills needed to compete in todays world with an increasingly changing global environment,

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) announced today 25 Emerging Leaders will travel to Japan for the U.S.Japan KAKEHASHI Project. From March 9-16, 2019, the delegation  comprising students and graduates residing and/or attending colleges and universities in Congressional Black Caucus member districts  will participate in informational and mentoring sessions for young people and professionals on leadership, service learning, civic engagement and social entrepreneurship.

This is the third year that CBCF has partnered with the Embassy of Japan and the Japanese International Cooperation Center as part of an ongoing effort to promote cross-cultural perspectives among Japanese and African American students.

At CBCF, we continually strive to meet the changing needs of our Emerging Leaders by offering diverse programs including a study abroad experience, said Dr. Elsie L. Scott, interim president and CEO at CBCF. Through this partnership, they are exposed to new cultures and experiences that are critical to their development as global citizens.

The program focuses on the critical importance of international education and its role in preparing the next generation for success as global citizens and leaders. While in Japan, the delegation will visit non-governmental organizations, public and private enterprises, universities and innovation hubs, and they will also participate in overnight homestay visits with select Japanese families.

The U.S.Japan KAKEHASHI Project allows Japanese and African American students to explore their global acumen and expand key professional skills needed to compete in todays world with an increasingly changing global environment, said Congressional Minister Kimitake Nakamura. It is our hope that these participants will play a bridging role between our two countries in the future based on their upcoming experience.

Follow our stories on Twitter at @CBCFinc. Participants will share their personal experiences along the way through active reflection, blogging and other avenues for sharing. For more information on the CBCF U.S.Japan KAKEHASHI Project or to see what else is happening at CBCF, log on to http://www.cbcfinc.org.
Eli Smushkovich welcomed by CIVIC President & CEO William J. Tessar When you leverage technology to reduce friction in the lending process, you free up time to have more meaningful conversations and deeper relationships. This is an enormous opportunity for the growth of CIVIC, and Im delighted to be a part of it.

Industry leading private money lender Civic Financial Services announced today that Eli Smushkovich has joined the team as Director of Business Development and will be working out of the companys Irvine, California offices. He will be responsible for driving growth and visibility of CIVIC in the Orange County region, managing the Irvine location and contributing to the companys overall sales strategy and initiatives.

Smushkovich brings to CIVIC more than 15 years of nationwide experience working in commercial real estate and lending. He most recently served as Vice President of Sales for Center Street Lending and CoreVest Finance, where he led both companies to combined originations over $1 billion. He also previously served as Director of Operations and founding member for the Commercial Division of Auction.com (Ten-X), where he transacted over $15 billion of real estate during his 6-year tenure.

We are pleased to welcome Eli to the CIVIC team where he will leverage his skills and expertise to strengthen the companys growth, not only with our presence in Orange County but for the company overall, comments William J. Tessar, President of Civic Financial Services. He brings a poised sense of senior leadership and insight in the marketplace that CIVIC will be the prime beneficiary of, and he has already made an immediate positive impression on several members of the team.

In speaking to his decision to join CIVIC, Smushkovich comments The CIVIC culture is about putting people first, and it starts with employees. If you take care of your employees, your employees will take care of your customers. Everyone here cares and honors their work and is truly passionate about what they do  this automatically makes for a strong customer experience.

Smushkovich adds This is an exciting time for CIVIC. When you leverage technology to reduce friction in the lending process, you free up time to have more meaningful conversations and deeper relationships. This is an enormous opportunity for the growth of CIVIC, and Im delighted to be a part of it.

In speaking to the value Smushkovich will bring, Tessar states Eli has a comprehensive understanding of our space and sales management and will not only lead our seasoned Irvine team through his focus on the betterment of others, but will be part of and continue to add value throughout and at the highest level of our organization.

###

CIVIC FINANCIAL SERVICES is a private money lender, specializing in the financing of non-owner occupied investment properties. CIVIC was created by its parent companies, Wedgewood and HMC Assets LLC, to serve investors who dont fit traditional lending criteria. Wedgewood and HMC, two of the most respected names in residential real estate, provide CIVIC with unparalleled valuation expertise in the real estate vertical as well as access to low-cost capital. With these resources, CIVIC is able to keep all operations in-house so loans are managed more closely, quickly, and efficiently. For more information, please visit http://www.civicfs.com.
As we continue expanding into more Security, IT Ops, and IoT use cases we look forward to helping our customers maximize value out of their Splunk investment, says Crest Data Systems CEO Malhar Shah

Crest Data Systems, today announced it has been named the Splunk APAC Services Partner of the Year for exceptional performance and commitment to Splunks Partner+ Program.

The Splunk APAC Services Partner of the Year award recognizes an APAC Splunk partner that is actively engaged in services implementations and demonstrates a strong commitment to training and certification of its organization. This partner consistently sees high customer satisfaction in its engagements. Additionally, this recipient drives results and creates measurable impact on partner and Splunk business. For more information on Splunks Partner+ Program, visit the Splunk website.

We are proud to accept Splunks APAC Services Partner of the Year award. This accolade is a testament to Crests expertise and commitment to Splunk customers to deliver more than 300 projects in Splunk Development, Professional Services and Managed Services over the past five years, says Crest Data Systems CEO Malhar Shah. As we continue expanding into more Security, IT Ops, and IoT use cases we look forward to helping our customers maximize value out of their Splunk investment.

Congratulations to Crest Data Systems for being named the Splunk APAC Services Partner of the Year, said Aziz Benmalek, VP Global Partners, Splunk. The Regional Partner Awards highlight outstanding partners like Crest Data Systems that deliver positive business outcomes and drive value for our APAC customers. Additionally, Crest Data Systems demonstrates a commitment to customer success and works in close collaboration with Splunk.

The Splunk Partner+ Awards recognize partners of the Splunk ecosystem for industry-leading business practices and dedication to constant collaboration. All award recipients were selected by a group of the Splunk executives, theater leaders, and the global partner organization.

About Crest Data Systems

Crest Data Systems is a leading App Development, Managed Services, and Professional Services Partner of Splunk. Crest has built 250+ Splunk Apps & Technology Add-ons (TA) for customers ranging from Global Fortune 500 companies to Silicon Valley Startups in IT Ops, Security, and IoT. With a dedicated team of Splunk-certified Administrators, Engineers, and Consultants, Crest provides Professional Services & 24x7 Managed Support Services to Splunk Enterprise & Cloud to customers across US, Europe, and APAC.
David R. Brown, a national guardsman, Iraq War veteran, and Bronze Star recipient who retired in 2014 with honors as a brigadier general after thirty years of service and now lives with his wife, Patti in Collierville, Tennessee, has completed his book Tales from the Field: an evocative and entertaining memoir of the joys of hunting, fellowship, and wet dogs with wagging tails at the end of a long day.

Tales of the Field began as a chronicle of hunting memories amongst a group of friends who considered that one day, we would be too old to remember them if not captured for posterity. Putting those memories on paper brought to life the vivid sunrises and sunsets, the pungent smell of flooded timber, and wet dogs shaking off water after a great retrieve, as well as those days where nothing goes right.

David Browns first chance at publishing has filled this book with stories that may stir up memories of days afield. It embodies many experiences, good and bad with friends, and that is what life is all about. From hunting in pit blinds, layouts or standing in oak bottoms for waterfowl, this book covers a myriad of adventure tales with a few special days of turkey hunting too.

Brown shares, As we currently live in a time where our days are seemingly driven by technology, the hope is for you to take a reprieve from the chaos, find a comfortable chair and read about a time when moments in the woods and water surely bring a smile to your face and a feeling of peace in your soul.

Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, David R. Browns book is a lighthearted and entertaining reflection on hunting adventures throughout the Deep South.

Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase Tales from the Field at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional New York-based, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not overwhelmed with logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and the like. Its roster of accomplished authors and publishing professionals allows writers to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
Myrna Soto, Chief Operating Officer, Digital Hands

Digital Hands, a leading managed security services provider (MSSP), announced today that veteran cyber security executive Myrna Soto has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer. Soto most recently was a Partner at ForgePoint Capital focusing exclusively on cyber security investments; however, she also recently served as Corporate SVP & Global CISO for Comcast Corporation, a telecommunications and media conglomerate, from 2009-2018. Soto will bring over 26 years of technology leadership experience including multiple operational roles across varied industries including roles at American Express, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Kemper Insurance and MGM Resorts.

Myrnas extensive background in cyber security, proven track record for scaling operations, and passion for building new and innovative offerings make her an ideal fit for leading the next evolution of growth at Digital Hands said Charlotte Baker, CEO of Digital Hands. Myrna will leverage the strong foundation we have built over the years while adding new talent to expand partnerships and catapult our security orchestration, automation, and response capabilities to deliver the highest value to our customers.

Effective immediately, Soto will assume responsibility for Security Operations, Sales, Marketing, Human Resources and Customer Success. In her new role, Soto will ensure operational excellence and the highest outcomes of value for customers while driving momentum in the execution of the companys long-term growth plans.

"I am extremely excited to be joining the company. Since getting to know Digital Hands over this past year, I have been impressed by their business model, the history of their strong partnerships and their track record of excellent execution. I see an incredible opportunity to continue to build upon the current business model, expand service offerings and increase the reach of the organization."

Soto was recently named to Fortune magazine's "50 Most Powerful Latinas in Business" in 2018 and 2017, has been recognized by SC Magazine among the "Top 10 Power Players for Women in Security", and is further acknowledged by the Hispanic IT Executive Council to be among the Top 100 Technology Executives. In 2017 she was named Top Women to Watch by Diversity Journal Magazine, named to the Top 100 CISOs list by Hot Topics, and named to the Top 50 Women in Internet Security. She was recognized by Multi Channels News as a member of the 2017 Wonder Woman honoree class. She is a Maestros Awardee and has been named to Womens Inc Most Influential Corporate Directors (2018) and is recognized by Bold Business as one of the Top 25 leaders in CyberSecurity (2018). Most recently she was named as one of the Worlds Top IT Security Influencers by CISO Platform (Dec 2018).

Soto serves on the board of directors at CMS Energy/Consumers Energy, Spirit Airlines and Popular Inc. She has also served on the board and advisory councils of numerous early stage cyber security companies. She is recognized as a Governance and Board Leadership Fellow by the National Association of Corp Directors.

Soto will continue to serve as a Venture Advisor for ForgePoint Capital. We believe this is both a great opportunity and a very logical progression of Myrnas career based on the depth of her experience in the industry and the impact she will have growing this business, said Don Dixon, Co-Founder ForgePoint Capital.

Soto holds a Bachelors degree from Florida International University and a M.S. degree and MBA from Nova Southeastern University. She also holds a Masters certification in program management from George Washington University and completed an Executive Womens Leadership Program from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

About Digital Hands

Digital Hands is an award-winning managed security service provider focused on providing world-class security operations to customers and partners. The companys adaptive security solutions are designed to easily integrate into customers environments and processes while providing comprehensive protection against the latest security threats. More information about Digital Hands is available at http://www.digitalhands.com.

CONTACT:

James Brooks

Digital Hands

(813) 222-3036

jbrooks(at)digitalhands(dot)com
WCG Market Intelligence & Insights

FDAs 2019 Medical Device Regulation Agenda

Are You Prepared

**An FDAnews Webinar**

Thursday, March 21, 2019, 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EST

http://www.fdanews.com/mdregagenda

Whats the current status of pilot programs to provide for expedited approval?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the current approval pathways?

Whats on the agenda for the rest of 2019?

Jessica Ringel Counsel, King & Spalding, Washington, D.C.  will discuss how CDRH will prioritize digital health, advance device safety and security, offer more flexibility and options for premarket submissions, sustain high-quality servicing, provide efficient oversight, handle uncertainty in devices and engage patients. Attendees will learn about:



Recent revisions to the medical device guidance and activities required by the FDA Reauthorization Act (FDARA)

Nuances pertaining to quality and regulatory professionals included in CDRHs FY 2019 guidance agenda  with a recap of recently issued guidance and identification of what is ahead

Status of the ever evolving, voluntary FDA pilot programs, including expectations for FDAs Digital Health Software Pre-Certification Program as it enters the 2019 test stage

Current status of FDAs Case for Quality Voluntary Improvement Program

Understanding the FDA guidance programs and policies that may be on the horizon, as well as those that have been recently announced, will help prepare for changes in regulatory policy, and utilize advantageous programs.

Meet Your Presenter:

Jessica Ringel, Counsel, King & Spalding, Washington, D.C.,

Jessica Ringel is Counsel in the Washington, D.C., office of King & Spalding and a member of the FDA and Life Sciences practice. Jessica advises medical device and pharmaceutical companies on a wide variety of matters involving FDA regulation, both pre- and post-market. She specializes in post-market matters, including inspections, responses to FDA-483s and Warning Letters, recalls, and other enforcement actions. Jessica also regularly conducts due diligence reviews for manufacturers, private equity firms, and lenders in connection with mergers, acquisitions, investments, and other financial transactions.

Who Will Benefit:



Quality and regulatory professionals

Operational and management

Executive and strategic

Legal and compliance

Webinar Details:

FDAs 2019 Medical Device Regulation Agenda

Are You Prepared

**An FDAnews Webinar**

Thursday, March 21, 2019, 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EST

http://www.fdanews.com/mdregagenda

Tuition:

$287 per site

Easy Ways to Register:

Online: http://www.fdanews.com/mdregagenda

By phone: 888-838-5578 or 703-538-7600

About FDAnews:

FDAnews is the premier provider of domestic and international regulatory, legislative, and business news and information for executives in industries regulated by the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency. Pharmaceutical and medical device professionals rely on FDAnews' print and electronic newsletters, books and conferences to stay in compliance with international standards and the FDA's complex and ever-changing regulations.
Dr. Randy K. Avent (left) and Thomas Dougherty, executive director of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission formalize the Fulbright Scholars agreement. "This agreement is another important step in Florida Polys growth" - Dr. Randy Avent

Officials from Florida Polytechnic University and the Australian-American Fulbright Commission (Fulbright Australia) formalized an agreement at a ceremonial signing, March 1, at the U.S. Embassy in the Australian capital of Canberra. The agreement allows the University to begin accepting graduate students and faculty from Australia beginning in the fall of 2019.

Florida Poly President Randy K. Avent was on hand to sign the international pact with Fulbright Australia.

This agreement is another important step in Florida Polys growth, said Avent. Not only does it allow the University to continue to raise its stature as a destination for elite global scholars, our increased involvement with the Fulbright Program gives our students culturally and academically enriching study abroad opportunities.

Fulbright Australia is the leading scholarship program between Australia and the U.S. and encourages binational collaboration and knowledge-exchange through a program of competitive, merit-based scholarships.

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 to fund the promotion of international good will through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture and science. Since its inception, more than 370,000 students, academics, and professionals have received Fulbright Scholarships to study, teach, or conduct research, and promote bilateral collaboration and cultural empathy.

Florida Poly already has Fulbright partnerships with Canada, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and has also hosted Fulbright Scholars from Germany.

For the most recent university news, visit Florida Poly News.

About Florida Polytechnic University:

Florida Polytechnic University is an accredited member of the State University System of Florida, dedicated exclusively to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The University is a powerful economic engine within the state of Florida, blending applied research with industry partnerships to give students an academically rigorous education with real-world relevance. The campus is located in Lakeland, Florida along the I-4 High Tech Corridor. Connect with Florida Poly online at http://www.floridapoly.edu.
 Flash

U.S. State Department said Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the conflict in Syria with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Tuesday.

According to a statement issued by the State Department, Pompeo and Pedersen discussed U.S. support for the UN-led political process under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.

"The Secretary reiterated the administration's strong support for the UN's efforts to reinvigorate efforts towards a political solution, including constitutional reform and the need for credible preparations for free and fair elections," the statement said.

Pompeo also emphasized in the statement that the United States' interest in de-escalating the conflict to save lives and provide space for the political process.

At a UN Security Council meeting last week, Pedersen said "a real peace process in Syria needs to be owned by the Syrians for it to be sustainable."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said last month that the role of the UN is welcomed only when it is based on respecting the sovereignty of the country.
FNTS partnership with VMware solidifies our position as a company that can provide the technology customers need to continue their digital transformation initiatives.

FNTS, a leading global IT service and cloud service provider, today announced it has achieved VMware Cloud Verified status.

The Cloud Verified badge signals that FNTS offers a service running on top of the complete VMware Cloud infrastructure. With their VMware Cloud Verified status, FNTS clients attain access to the full set of VMware Cloud Infrastructure capabilities, including integration and interoperability, cost optimization and flexibility supported by value-added FNTS services.

It is an honor to have earned the VMware Cloud Verified status, said FNTS President Kim Whittaker. FNTS partnership with VMware solidifies our position as a company that can provide the technology customers need to continue their digital transformation initiatives.

Partners that are VMware Cloud Verified provide organizations with complete and advanced VMware Cloud technologies, along with interoperability across clouds for greater advantage for their customers businesses, said Jim Aluotto, senior director, Cloud Provider Business, Americas Region, VMware. Cloud Verified services delivered by VMware Cloud Providers can provide the efficiency, agility, and reliability inherent in cloud computing. We look forward to supporting FNTS as it empowers organizations with a simple and flexible path to the cloud.

VMwares global network of more than 4,300 VMware Cloud Providers leverage VMwares consistent cloud infrastructure to offer a wide array of services, provide geographic and industry specialization, and help customers meet complex regulatory requirements. Cloud Providers operating under the VMware Cloud Provider Program deliver individually tailored cloud solutions and services in more than 120 countries.

About FNTS

With more than 20 years in the managed IT services industry, FNTS is a trusted IT advisor for enterprises worldwide by delivering value through IT strategy, reliable and secure solutions and leading edge technology. Built on stability and fueled by innovation, FNTS partners with the worlds most respected technology companies including VMware, DellEMC and Pivotal.

FNTS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of First National of Nebraska. First National of Nebraska and its affiliates have more than $21 billion in assets and 5,000 employee associates. Primary banking offices are located in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas. For more information about FNTS, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter or visit us at http://www.FNTS.com.
Robert Long joins Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder in Dallas. "Rob is uniquely qualified to defend regulatory and white collar investigations and prosecutions, as well as advise corporations, hedge funds, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and other market participants on compliance and regulatory matters. - Joseph Coniglio

Robert Long, a former federal prosecutor and senior attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), has joined as a shareholder in the Dallas office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Long is a veteran of high-stakes investigations and litigation.

Longs experience at the SEC and FINRA, and time spent as an assistant U.S. attorney and special assistant U.S. attorney allows him to counsel clients on matters relating to Financial Services Litigation, Federal Regulatory & Administrative Law, and White Collar Defense & Special Investigations.

Greenberg Traurigs addition of Long follows closely on the heels of hiring three other high-profile attorneys in Texas, where the firm has more than 125 attorneys in three offices. Appellate veteran Elizabeth Heidi Bloch joined in the firms Austin office. Joining in Houston were M&A attorney Carlos Treistman and litigator Katherine Ginzburg Treistman, both former founding partners of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffes Houston office.

We are very pleased to welcome Rob to the firm, said Greenberg Traurigs Dallas Managing Shareholder Joseph Coniglio. Rob is an exceedingly accomplished lawyer. He brings significant litigation experience and is uniquely qualified to defend regulatory and white collar investigations and prosecutions, as well as advise corporations, hedge funds, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and other market participants on compliance and regulatory matters.

Long spent more than 10 years at the SEC where he spearheaded enforcement litigation and conducted complex investigations involving insider trading, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations, accounting fraud, Ponzi schemes, and market manipulation.

Long is named to the National Law Journals list of Cryptocurrency, Blockchain and FinTech Trailblazers, and often speaks on emerging issues related to SEC enforcement before legal and business audiences. In addition, Long is the recipient of two SEC Division of Enforcement Directors Awards and D Magazine honored him in 2018 as one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP  Texas: Greenberg Traurig has more than 125 attorneys in Texas, serving clients from offices in Austin, Dallas and Houston.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 39 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.


Lotus is a chatbot that is loaded with wisdom, zen koans, and adages, explains Foxhound founder and principal software engineer, Jacqueline Carter. Essentially, Lotus is a refuge where you can share your feelings and get non-judgmental feedback.

Foxhound LLC, a woman-owned web and mobile app development company based out of Tampa, Florida, has just announced the release of a proprietary chatbot that helps soothe and calm users.

Namaste, the Lotus chatbot greets upon opening the app. Whats on your mind, friend? Lotus asks. Try asking me for some wisdom.

Lotus  The Calming App is the companys debut release on the App Store. Foxhound describes the app as a chatbot companion that helps encourage active mediation.

Lotus is a chatbot that is loaded with wisdom, zen koans, and adages, explains Foxhound founder and principal software engineer, Jacqueline Carter. Essentially, Lotus is a refuge where you can share your feelings and get non-judgmental feedback.

The app is one of the first of its kind. While chatbots are becoming more and more popular as a customer service option, were beginning to see chatbots act as vessels of different kinds of information.

Lotus  The Calming App isnt the only unique use of chatbot technology. Recently David Attenborough endorsed a climate change chatbot called Act Now. Undoubtedly, innovations with chatbots will yield more innovative applications like Lotus and Act Now.

When asked what the chatbot can help the user do, Foxhound replied that the possibilities were truly endless.

With the app, users can ask to help find their zen. They can also ask for wise quotes or meaningful lessons about forgiveness.

Nice uplifting message for the day! reads one 5-star review of the Lotus chatbot. Thanks for the daily inspiration!

The user can use Lotus  The Calming App to take a step back, calmly chat with a friendly AI, and ask for some age-old wisdom.

Essentially, Lotus is about the user feeling safe and getting a feeling of motivation or calm, Ms. Carter explained. You can ask Lotus for quotes to make you feel happy or simply chat with her about nothing. Its completely up to the user.

The benefits of using an app to meditate on quotations and process emotions may be innumerable. Taking time out for oneself is shown to reduce stress, anxiety, and frustration as well as alleviate sleep and mood problems.

Lotus is truly groundbreaking, said Samuel Knox, co-founder and CEO of Foxhound LLC. Were using artificial intelligence to improve the lives of women, the lives of everyone.

Health and fitness applications like Lotus have begun to proliferate. TalkSpace, the online psychotherapy app, has been given some major airtime with celebrity endorsements,5-star reviews, and glowing recommendations.

Meditation apps like Headspace, Calm, and Unplug are becoming staples on the App Store. Lotus shows a strong upward trajectory of this trend, for indie app studios and App Store behemoths alike.

Lotus is huge for mental health, Mr. Knox continued. In an age of information, were in desperate need of wisdom.

Indeed  maybe the one application we need is an application that helps us unplug. Lotus may be just that.

Lotus  The Calming App can be downloaded for free on the App Store. Currently, there are plans to port the iOS version onto Android. Officially, there are no release dates for subsequent versions announced as of yet.

About Foxhound LLC

Foxhound LLC is a mobile and web app development firm. Foxhound is proudly woman-owned and seeks to empower women through the development of wellness, education, and professional applications.

As a tech company situated in the southeast, Foxhound strives to bring southern hospitality and kindness to their applications.

Foxhound has released Task Track, a cloud-based Project Management solution on the web. A companion Android app is also available for free. Lotus  The Calming App is the companys latest release: a free-to-use calming chatbot.

Currently, Foxhound is working on bringing Lotus to Android as well as developing proprietary edtech software.
Healthcare Background Screening Firm PreCheck, Inc. to Exhibit at HCCAs 23rd Compliance Institute The Compliance Institute has always been a great way for us to visit with our clients, meet future ones, and keep ourselves educated on the ever-changing landscape of healthcare compliance.

PreCheck, Inc., a background screening and credentialing firm specializing in healthcare, announced today they will be exhibiting at the Health Care Compliance Associations (HCCA) 23rd annual Compliance Institute being held April 7-9, 2019 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA at booth #902.

HCCAs Compliance Institute is the principal education and networking event for healthcare compliance professionals. This conference offers attendees the opportunity to select from a wide-variety of educational sessions across the myriad of healthcare settings with a highly regarded faculty, covering topics such as cybersecurity and HIPAA audits, enforcement actions, conflicts of interest, False Claims Act developments, social media and compliance, overpayments, telehealth, government investigations, and more.

The Compliance Institute has always been a great way for us to visit with our clients, meet future ones, and keep ourselves educated on the ever-changing landscape of healthcare compliance, says Cristina Loayza, Product Manager for SanctionCheck and drug testing at PreCheck. It is an honor to continue supporting HCCA and its members, all of whom are so crucial in the success of their respective companies.

During the three-day conference, PreCheck will showcase their suite of employment screening solutions for healthcare compliance departments. Their suite of employment background screening services includes exclusion screening, professional license management and ongoing monitoring, and more.

Participants of the conference can visit PreChecks exhibit at booth #902 to learn more about their suite of solutions. Learn how PreCheck can help compliance officers mitigate risk and comply with industry regulations and emerging standards.

About PreCheck

Founded in 1983, PreCheck has focused exclusively on serving the healthcare industrys background screening and employment qualification needs since 1993. PreCheck serves over 4,000 hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinics, educational institutions, and other ancillary healthcare organizations, across the U.S. PreCheck has evolved over time from a background screening provider into a turnkey outsourcing solutions provider, offering a full suite of background screening, compliance monitoring, and credentialing solutions all designed to help its clients adhere to the extensive regulations governing the healthcare industry. Based in Houston, PreCheck has been recognized as an Inc. 5000 company from 2013-2018 and has achieved Background Screening Credentialing Council Accreditation by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS). Please visit http://www.precheck.com for more information.

About HCCA

HCCA, established in 1996 and headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, is a non-profit professional membership organization with more than 11,300 members. Visit HCCAs website at http://www.hcca-info.org. Tel: 888-580-8373.
Hemp Industry Experts, Hidden Lake, Glacier CBD and Planet-3, join forces to launch a new podcast thats one of its kind. All Things Hemp was launched as another avenue to inform the public of important innovations, trends, regulations and must-have knowledge of the hemp industry. This show is geared toward farmers, consumers and professionals in the hemp space. For more information, please visit http://allthingshemp.co/.

All Things Hemp is designed to provide valuable insight into the ongoing happenings of the hemp industry and to give prospective professionals the essential tools and knowledge to confidently join and succeed in this market. Episodes cover a range of topics, including hemp seeds and genetics, farming tips and hemp based novelty items, along with insights from special guests like Cort Jensen, Chief Legal Counsel for the Montana Department of Agriculture, and Jeff Kostuik, Director of Operations at Hemp Genetics International.

All Things Hemp is a series of 30 minute audio episodes designed to educate and entertain their growing audience. To date, All Things Hemp has produced five episodes, with number six airing today, March 7, at noon MST. Today's show will feature Sarah Daron-Mathis, PhD, who has received a government grant to research the effects of hemp derived CBD on colon cancer.

To listen live to All Things Hemp, visit http://allthingshemp.co/. Listeners can also easily access the podcast via their favorite streaming platforms:



Apple Podcast,

Spotify,

Google Play,

Stitcher,

Spreaker

All Things Hemp airs every Monday and Thursday at noon MST. Listeners of the podcast can contact the hosts via email (info@allthingshemp.co) to provide feedback, ideas or ask questions.

All Things Hemp is sponsored by Hidden Lake and Planet-3. Hidden Lake uses sustainable and ethical practices to produce high quality, full spectrum hemp extract products and aims to bring transparency and legitimacy to the CBD industry. Planet-3 is a cannabis technology company that produces cultivation products from cannabis waste streams.
Fabric labels can help products stand out on a clothes rack. The point, is to supply what customers need, when they need it.

A February 15 article from the New York Times Magazine details how the haute couture fashion house, Hermes, refuses to chase trends, instead of sticking with what has worked for it over its nearly 200 year history. Hi-Tech Printing & Labeling Inc. says that, it feels similarly about its products. Its way of making the labels and tags that brand stylish apparel isnt going to change just for the sake of changing, though it will take advantage of the very latest and best in manufacturing technology. The firm says that is has been thoughtfully designing clothing labels and an assortment of tags for designers to include in their pieces for two decades now and it will continue making quality pieces at a competitive price for the foreseeable future.

While some companies have changed their label making processes, Hi-Tech Printing & Labeling Inc. is sticking with longstanding practices that served it so well over the years, it says. The garment tag company adds that it has remained accountable to its customer base by providing an assortment of quality labels, hang tags, sewing labels, and more at a budget-friendly price. Some other companies may be moving towards trendy money saving techniques that reduce quality, the firm promises that it will provide the same kind of outstanding tags and labels that made its success in the first place.

Hi-Tech Printing & Labeling Inc. says that designers and garment makers have the opportunity to create just about anything they can come up with their help. The firm adds that its options are diverse enough to fill almost any need the market may have. From care labels to simple tags that feature a companys logo to larger hang tags, the firm says that it is able to create quality products that help to brand a product properly and boost marketing efforts. Regardless of size, color, or fabric choice Hi-Tech Printing & Labeling Inc. can provide anything its clients can imagine.

Regardless of what a designer or manufacturer wants on their apparel or fabric, the firm says that it is ready to provide outstanding products. Tags can be made from a range of materials in many different styles that befit all types of designs, be it contemporary or a more traditional style. The point, the garment tag maker says, is to supply what its customers need, when they need it.

Readers who are interested in more information about the label and tag manufacturer can visit Hi-Tech Printing & Labeling Inc. online at https://www.fabriclabels.com/ or call during business hours at 213-746-7772.
Maritz Motivation Solutions, a leader in providing loyalty, sales performance and employee programs to US and global companies, announced today that its client HSBC has been honored with the 2019 Grand Motivation Masters Award, presented at the Incentive Live conference in Chicago.

The Motivation Masters award, sponsored by Northstar Meetings Group and Incentive Magazine, is the industrys top honor and recognizes the years best, most effective and creative loyalty and reward programs. HSBC and Maritz were honored in the Grand Motivation Master category for their artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled credit card rewards customer loyalty program.

Leveraging the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence, the program used Maritz proprietary Points Concierge tool to send targeted recommendations to 75,000 credit card rewards members, spotlighting the rewards most likely to drive desired behavior. The AI-enabled recommendations proved three times as effective as the control group, pointing to the promise of predictive analysis in large-scale incentive programs in the years ahead.

Our judges were really impressed by how HSBC, working closely with Maritz Motivation Solutions, used AI to make its loyalty program far more appealing and effective, said Loren Edelstein, vice president and content director for NorthStar Meetings Group. This is a great example of the growing value of predictive analysis in incentive programs, and the ongoing importance of leveraging data to generate results.

This recognition is a reflection of the dedication and commitment of Maritz and our people, said chairman and CEO of Maritz Holdings, Steve Maritz. We constantly strive to innovate with exciting and ground-breaking ideas that provide value to our clients. As we celebrate our 125th anniversary this year, its gratifying to be recognized for continuing to reinvent and transform the industry.

Jesse Wolfersberger, chief data officer at Maritz Motivation Solutions, accepted the award on behalf of HSBC and Maritz and predicts the use of AI will have significant impact on loyalty programs and all types of marketing in the future. According to Wolfersberger, The shift to AI-based marketing means going from reactive to proactive. We can anticipate the customers needs and preferences, enabling a one-to-one relationship. AI gives us an incredible tool to engage and delight customers, make reward programs more personalized, and increase engagement and effectiveness. It is an exciting time to be in this industry.

"We took great care in designing our new portfolio of cards to meet the wants and needs of consumers, whether it's added purchasing power, maximizing cashback rewards or investing in life experiences," said Marcos Meneguzzi, head of cards and unsecured lending at HSBC. Working with Maritz enabled us to be on the leading edge of innovation as we continue to deliver better experiences for our customers."

Maritz has also applied machine learning and AI to predict the retention rate of employees, forecast auto dealership sales and better understand employee engagement  all with the goal of motivating people to reach their full potential, leading to time savings for customers, higher-earning sales staff and happier employees.

About Maritz Motivation Solutions

Maritz Motivation Solutions creates better human experiences by strengthening the connection between businesses, employees, and customers using innovation and expertise. Maritz helps global companies build better relationships by designing programs that attract, engage and retain people with a full-service solution combining technology, program design, behavioral and data science, rewards and creative communication to achieve unsurpassed results.

Today, more than 470 million people participate in client programs representing industries including hotels, airlines, healthcare, automotive, manufacturing and financial services. For more information, visit http://www.maritzmotivation.com, follow us on Twitter or call 1-877-4-Maritz (1-877-462-7489).
Interise knows how to unlock the growth potential of established businesses to change lives and create jobs where theyre needed most. The organization is poised to develop its vision of an economy that works for all and build on the tremendous momentum of the past fifteen years.

Interise today announced that its board of directors has appointed Darrell Byers as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Byers will assume day-to-day leadership of Interise and succeeds John Belchers, Interim Chief Operating Officer. Previously, Jean Horstman held the position of CEO of Interise.

Byers comes to Interise from Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco where he was Chief Advancement Officer. Previously, Byers held leadership roles at Easterseals Bay Area and Earthjustice. He started his career in Boston working for such institutions as public media stations WGBH and WBUR, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and UMass Boston. He was the recipient of the Eleanor Collier Award from educational organization CASE District 1 for his contribution to his profession.

Interise knows how to unlock the growth potential of established businesses to change lives and create jobs where theyre needed most. The organization is poised to develop its vision of an economy that works for all and build on the tremendous momentum of the past fifteen years, creating jobs in underserved communities, Byers said. "I look forward to using my skills and network to expand Interises impact, and make a positive difference in historically disadvantaged and low-to-moderate-income communities."

We are thrilled to have Darrell lead us in this stage of our organizations growth, said Joe Wadlinger, Interise Board Chairman. Darrells expertise in working across sectors and with diverse stakeholders is the perfect fit for Interise as we deepen partnerships with a national network of foundations, government agencies, and business associations.

Byers hiring comes as the organization implements a strategic growth plan that includes expanded partnerships, new product development, as well as an ambitious research agenda.

To date, over 6,000 small businesses have taken Interises StreetWise MBA program in 75+ cities nationwide. In 2017, Interise businesses created jobs at 11x the rate of the private sector, with an average starting salary of $10k above the national average.

With funding from the Kauffman Foundation, Interise will be piloting its signature StreetWise MBA program with a Latino focus in a number of cities. In 2019, Interise will also be launching Leadership in Equitable Anchor Procurement (LEAP), an action-research initiative to increase B2B contracts with minority-owned businesses as well as piloting a new program, Grow My People, focused on helping CEOs of small businesses develop their employees skills.

About Interise

Interise builds inclusive and equitable local economies through small business development, supporting the growth of minority-owned small businesses and small businesses located in low- and moderate-income communities.

Interises award-winning StreetWise MBA uses a peer-learning method to provide business owners with the knowledge, know-how, and networks necessary to achieve financial stability and second-stage growth. As Interise companies grow, they contribute to local job creation and build community wealth. Interise companies historically create new jobs at 5x the rate of the private sector, and are responsible for the creation of over 30,000 new jobs. Interise partners with government agencies, including the Small Business Administration; anchor institutions; and business associations to make locally branded StreetWise MBA programs available in 75+ cities, nationwide. Strategic Growth Partners include the Kauffman Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, and the Prudential Foundation.

More information can be found at http://www.interise.org, @StreetWiseMBA, and at http://www.facebook.com/Interise.
An already-popular terrorism blog by intelligence professional James Feldkamp will soon be enhanced to provide even more information about global politics, the media, and world events.

The in-demand blog website, which can be found at http://www.jamesfeldkamp.com/, made its debut last summer. It was then updated in the fall to offer more social media integration along with other features that Feldkamps avid readers were requesting. Now, version 3.0 of the blog website will be launched on April 1.

The new blog website update, which will be based on reader feedback, will come with additional improvements to the site as well as much more content focused on the role that the media plays in global politics.

Feldkamps motivation for creating the blog website last year was to eliminate the publics terrorism-related fears by introducing them to terrorisms history. He also uses the blog to show readers the impact of terrorism on todays global events. Through his website, readers can become more knowledgeable about how to defend themselves against terrorism and how current events around the world will impact them long term.

Feldkamp works as a lead consultant for Intelligence & Counterterrorism at Complete Threat Preparedness. This company features professionals who operate in a multitude of areas, including intelligence/ special operations, survival, emergency management, construction, and public safety. Feldkamp uses his consultant role to train individuals as well as organizations on how to protect themselves against natural hazards and manmade dangers. He also offers security and safety expertise to members of both the public sector and the private sector.

Feldkamp possess over 30 years of international security and foreign policy experience, having served in both the federal government and the armed forces. He is passionate about using his experience and knowledge to increase maritime security and boost communication among agencies when it comes to tackling global matters.
Kathy McCabe, host of the PBS travel series Dream of Italy, and Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun, to host combination television premiere party, new-book launch & virtual culinary journey

Italia will be live and sizzling in New Jersey for one special night as guests delight in the culinary flavors of la dolce vita, experience the breathtaking vineyards of Tuscany and get immersed in the romance of the piazzas.

Kathy McCabe, host of the PBS travel series Dream of Italy and founder of the award-winning publication Dream of Italy, and Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun, will host a special Italian-themed evening on Wednesday, April 3, 2019, from 6:30-8:30 pm at Piattino: A Neighborhood Bistro, located at 67 Union Place in Summit, NJ. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase for this unique combination television premiere party, book launch of Mayess new travelogue See You in the Piazza, and virtual culinary journey through Italy by Chef Kevin Felice. Tickets can be purchased online at https://bit.ly/2TxcVgC.

McCabe and Mayes recently filmed the forthcoming PBS special Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special, which guests will also view throughout the evening, months before the special airs this summer to the public.

Filming our Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special was a truly unforgettable experience for me, McCabe says. I read Under the Tuscan Sun when it first came out two decades ago and it inspired my own Italian dreams. I still cant believe I was inside Bramasole, Francess home in Cortona. Im honored to bring Frances to this event to meet our fellow New Jersey lovers of Italy and to preview this special with them!

So McCabe urges, for all who dare to dream of living the life that Frances really lives and that Diane Lane portrayed in the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, grab a friend and come taste a bite of that life at this unique event.

During the evening event at Piattino, guests will also meet Mayes and receive special signed copies of See You in the Piazza, about her journeys exploring the length of the Italian boot. The new book is scheduled to hit the stands this spring.

Sticking with the theme of Italys piazzas, master Chef Kevin Felice will feature gourmet piazza-like food stations throughout the restaurant, each with the distinctive cuisine found in the piazzas throughout the Italian boot. Guests will also enjoy red and white Italian wines, which will include a private-label pinot grigio bottled by 40NORTH Restaurant Group, the full-service division of Villa Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Piattino: A Neighborhood Bistro.

Fiores long, strong relationships brought Dream of Italy, Frances Mayes and Piattino: A Neighborhood Bistro together to share this exciting event live in New Jersey.

ABOUT PIATTINO: A NEIGHBORHOOD BISTRO

Piattino: A Neighborhood Bistro serves up great Italian fare with a modern twist, sourcing artisan ingredients from across the world and our own back yard. Our chef has crafted a menu full of new takes on classic entrees and pastas. And, our stone-fired 800 oven results in authentic Neapolitan style pizzas and sandizzas (our version of a panini) with ingredients ranging from truffled wild mushrooms to 24 month aged prosciutto di Parma. The cocktails are made from scratch infused with house made simple syrups, fresh fruit and herbs that complement the menu along with a carefully selected wine and beer list. It is our goal to create a warm and inviting atmosphere with exceptional service for the neighborhood for years to come. For more information, please visit http://www.piattinonj.com.

ABOUT DREAM OF ITALY

Dream of Italy, in all its forms, provides the insider information travelers crave to enjoy authentic and unique Italian experiences. Kathy McCabe founded the award-winning travel publication and membership website in 2002. In 2015, Dream of Italy premiered as a PBS travel series with McCabe as the host. Two seasons are currently airing on PBS stations and Create TV. Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special is due out on PBS this summer. For more information, please visit http://www.dreamofitaly.com.

ABOUT 40NORTH RESTAURANT GROUP

40NORTH Restaurants is the full-service division of Villa Restaurant Group, a family owned, multi brand global QSR and full-service restaurant company with nearly 400 domestic locations (including Puerto Rico) and in an additional 8 countries.

40NORTH gets its name from the common linear parallel of Naples, Italy and Morristown New Jersey  both lie on 40 North Latitude. The founder of Villa, Michele Scotto, hails from Naples, Italy while the family today calls Morristown, NJ home. 40NORTH was established in 2006 with the opening of its first location, George & Marthas American Grille. The group is now comprised of six brands encompassing eleven locations throughout New Jersey along with Steelworks Buffet & Grill located at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA. For more information on 40NORTH Restaurants, please visit http://www.40northrestaurants.com.

ABOUT FIORE

Fiore is a strategic consulting company whose specialties include: brand name and image development, communications, business advisory counseling, trend analysis, marketing and rare-technology positioning. Fiore is differentiated by its intuitive ability to translate technology into practical communications ahead of trend and into new business ideas. The company has remarkable depth, breadth and unique expertise in understanding American consumers shifting attitudes and behaviors. Fiores areas of focus range from business-to-consumer to business-to-business brand communications in experiential and multisensory industries. Fiore is known for its boot camps, over-the-top events, and lunch-&-learns, which help get start-ups off the ground with sound advice and directives. Fiore continues to be sought out by investment firms for advice on emerging markets. Please visit http://www.fioreinspires.com for more information.

MEDIA INVITATION

Laura Perillo

Mobile: 908-406-3413

Office: 973-359-4444 x332

pr(at)fioreinspires(dot)com

VIVA ITALIA!
 Flash

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday that the United States would continue to have conversations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"We are continuing to have conversations, as the president has said, we'll see what happens," Sanders said to the press.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said Tuesday in an interview with FOX Business Network that the United States would see whether the DPRK was still serious about negotiations and was committed to giving up its "nuclear weapons program and everything associated with it."

"If they're not willing to do it... they're not going to get relief from the crushing economic sanctions that have been imposed on them and we'll look at ramping those sanctions up in fact," he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un held their second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam on Feb. 27-28, without reaching an agreement.

Nevertheless, the White House said the two leaders had "very good and constructive meetings" and discussed various ways to "advance denuclearization and economic driven concepts."

Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also expressed the willingness that Washington would continue the conversation with Pyongyang.
8-Second PR: Energize Your Story for Ultimate Media Success (January 2019) Kellys booked thousands of media interviews for PR clients, including CNN, CBS Health Watch, FOX News, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, NPR and more, making 8-Second PR a go-to guide for anyone with a brand story to promote. - Bill Harrison, co-founder, RTIR and National Publicity Summit

To empower brands, 8-Second PR Author Liz H Kelly uncovers a proven 8-step publicity process for booking national media interviews based on securing mega media (print, radio and TV) for her Goody PR clients. While most public relations agencies never disclose their PR Secrets, Kelly openly shares marketing success stories and steps for how to define a Wow Story, increase word-of-mouth marketing, pitch the right media, and get booked on national TV  all contributing to increased sales and positively changing the world.

Kellys booked thousands of media interviews for PR clients, including CNN, CBS Health Watch, TODAY Show, FOX News, MSNBC, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, NPR and more, making '8-Second PR' a go-to guide for anyone with a brand story to promote, explains Bill Harrison, co-founder, Radio-TV Interview Report (RTIR) and National Publicity Summit.

Readers have called "8-Second PR" a New Crash Course in Public Relations. This new easy-to-read promotional guide was written to help small business CEOs, brand managers, marketing and public relations professionals, authors and students learn media secrets for promoting a personal or business brand.

Using case study examples, "8-Second PR" includes a step-by-step process for how to promote via traditional media (print, radio and TV), digital media (social media, video, photographs), marketing campaigns and events. And its all written from Kellys 360-view as a marketing professional, author and reporter.

Kelly just returned from the media capital of the world, New York City, where she emphasized to readers, Getting on national news doesnt just happen overnightYou have to be patient, persistent and not desperate, that is really important. It's a process.

To help brands get national media coverage, "8-Second PR: Energize Your Story for Ultimate Media Success" includes what works and doesnt work in these eight chapters and steps:

Step 1  Define Your Wow Story to Inspire Fans and Media

Step 2  Dominate Your Digital Bank to Increase Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Step 3  Write Compelling Content with Unlimited Strength to Move Readers

Step 4  Write Powerful Media Hooks to Connect with Reporters

Step 5  Target Your Audience with Media Vision to Laser Focus

Step 6  Make Your Interview Take Flight to Score Mega Media

Step 7  Hammer Home Your Interviews to Magnify Media Results

Step 8  Follow-up and Reinvent Your Story to Extend Media Success

Kelly adds that "8-Second PR" is all about the power of 8, which is the luckiest number in the Chinese culture, and means fortune and prosperity. The book includes 8 steps/chapters with 8 action items each, along with 8 PR Superpowers to make a brand unstoppable.

And to give back, Kelly started the Goody Awards for social good and requires all Goody PR clients have a cause and/or be making a positive impact. For this "8-Second PR" book, a portion of the profits will be donated to the Autism Society of America.

BOOK: Order 8-Second PR: Energize Your Story for Ultimate Media Success (January 2019) in Paperback and eBook on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578423219

eBOOK PROMOTION: As a special promotion, the 8-Second PR eBook will be free via a KDP Select Kindle for 2 days only: March 7 and 8, 2019, via Amazon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Liz H. Kelly is Goody PR and Goody Awards CEO/Founder, speaker and "8-Second PR" Author who is passionate about magnifying brands, experts and causes through marketing, PR, and social media campaigns with a powerful story. After working for Fox Interactive Media/Myspace, Paramount Pictures, Sprint PCS, and LA startups, Kelly decided to use her marketing experience for GOOD full-time in 2008. As a published author with over 500 media hits (print, radio and TV interviews) over five years for one dating book (Smart Man Hunting), Kelly and her work have been featured on CNN, FOX News, KCBS, KTLA, USA TODAY, The Chicago Tribune, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, BBC Radio and more. Kelly teaches digital marketing at UCLA Extension, is a Social Media Club Los Angeles Board Member, speaks at industry conferences, is a Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business alumna, and an Autism Advocate. Follow @LizHKelly, http://GoodyPR.com and/or http://8SecondPR.com
PBS SoCal, a content channel of the newly formed Public Media Group of Southern California, announced today the premiere of its Co-Production, CYBERWORK AND THE AMERICAN DREAM. The one-hour documentary is designed to spark a conversation about the impending transformation of jobs by artificial intelligence (AI), with a balanced debate among experts on how both workers and employers can prepare for the impending disruption. CYBERWORK AND THE AMERICAN DREAM premieres April 11 at 8 p.m. PT on PBS SoCal and will be streaming at pbssocal.org/cyberwork and on the free PBS App.

Starting with the Industrial Revolution, the film gives a historical framework for the impact of new technologies that sparked social turmoil, including the progression of steam, electrical and computer machinery. While new technologies have increased wealth, freedom and life expectancy, they have also automated jobs and destroyed outdated businesses. The film explores ways the U.S. workforce can best prepare for the challenges ahead.

The documentary features a diverse cast of experts and notable voices including tech entrepreneur and businessman / NBAs Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, co-director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy Andrew McAfee, chess champion Garry Kasparov, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, historian Niall Ferguson and more than a dozen scholars and innovators who add contrasting perspectives. Cuban notes If we don't start putting programs in place to deal with the inevitable disruption, youre going to have pockets of the country if not larger swaths of the country, having to deal with significant unemployment.

Additionally, a premiere screening event and reception will take place in Los Angeles Silicon Beach area at Loyola Marymount Universitys Playa Vista Campus on Tuesday, April 9. The screening will be kicked off by President and CEO of Public Media Group of Southern California Andrew Russell and Dean of LMUs School of Film and Television Peggy Rajski. After the film, Marketplace Tech Host Molly Wood will moderate a panel discussion with filmmaker James Shelley as well as Microsofts Corporate Vice President of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mitra Azizirad to discuss the impending transformation of work by artificial intelligence. Please visit http://PBSSoCal.org/cyberwork for more information about attending the event.

CYBERWORK AND THE AMERICAN DREAM is a co-production of Shell Studios and PBS SoCal. The program will be distributed nationally starting in April (check local listings). Funding for CYBERWORK AND THE AMERICAN DREAM is provided by Microsoft. Additional funding is provided by Stanfords Hoover Institution, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Texas A&M University.

Join the conversation on social media using #CyberWorkPBS

ABOUT PBS SOCAL:

PBS SoCal delivers content and experiences that inspire, inform and entertain  over the air, online, in the community and in the classroom. We offer the full slate of beloved PBS programs including MASTERPIECE, NOVA, PBS NewsHour, Frontline, Independent Lens, a broad library of documentary films including works from Ken Burns; and educational PBS KIDS programs including Daniel Tigers Neighborhood and Curious George. Our programs are accessible for free through four broadcast channels, and available for streaming at pbssocal.org, on the PBS mobile apps, and via connected TV services Android TV, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. PBS SoCal is a donor-supported community institution that is a part of Public Media Group of Southern California, the flagship PBS station for 19 million diverse people across California.
Aaron Boykin, SignatureCare Emergency Center's 2019 Spring Scholarship Winner This young man is an inspiration. In his journey of life, willing to keep his focus on his life goal of becoming a nurse. Doing all of this with a positive attitude while working, going to school and a father of 5. Congratulations Aaron.

Houston, TX based SignatureCare Emergency Center has awarded its 2019 Spring Scholarship to Aaron Boykin, a final year nursing student at Resurrection University in Chicago, Illinois.

While congratulating the winner, Dr. Aaron Braun, DO, one of SignatureCare Emergency Centers founding partners, said Boykin, one of several applicants for the student scholarship, was chosen for his deep passion for nursing and unflinching commitment to the well-being of others.

The scholarship is designed to go to a deserving student who displays a passion for their field and Boykin meets that criteria. He is deeply committed to his chosen profession, Dr. Braun said, adding that she hopes the $1,000 award helps him accomplish his goal of becoming a nurse.

SignatureCare Emergency Centers Director of Operations, Rhonda Abbe, RN, BCEN, called Boykin an inspiration while congratulating him for the award.

This young man is an inspiration. In his journey of life, willing to keep his focus on his life goal of becoming a nurse. Doing all of this with a positive attitude while working, going to school and a father of 5. Congratulations Aaron, she said.

In his scholarship essay submission, Boykin recalled how he was influenced to become a nurse by a nurse practitioner, Karen Tiller, who he met while working as a nursing assistant.

My original plan, which I created since high school, was to pursue medicine. I figured that I could be the first member of my family to be a doctor, Boykin wrote.

Well, my life did not go according to plan. However, I did enter the health field as a medical assistant. In 2010, I met Karen Tiller. She is a nurse practitioner that I have worked with for 8 years.

During this time, she inspired me to pursue nursing. Karen has taught me valuable lessons that have kept my fire going. She is an excellent mentor. I have always watched her work with amazement. I want to be just like her. Now I am towards the end of my current program and I cannot deny that Karen has been there by my side, Boykin continued.

Boykin recalled a recent medical trip he took to Honduras with his nursing classmates at Resurrection University, and the tremendous effect it had on him.

I recently went on a mission trip to Honduras with some of my nursing classmates and instructors. We had several teams serving patients from medical and pharmacy, dental, vision, construction, and evangelical.

I was on a medical team with one of my instructors (who was also a nurse practitioner), and a translator. As I received the patients complaints, I could reflect on my experiences with Karen and provide a diagnosis, and course of treatment for each patient.

My instructor was very impressed with my skills and she told me that I would make an excellent nurse, and even a better (nurse) practitioner. This is my calling. I want to be a nurse practitioner and I am willing to move heaven and earth to make it happen, he added.

All of us at SignatureCare Emergency Center wish Aaron Boykin more success as he pursues his lifes goals.

SignatureCare Emergency Center awards one $1,000 scholarship to a deserving student in the medical field, each semester. To qualify, the applicant must be a full-time student enrolled at an accredited U.S. university, with a 3.0 GPA or higher.

They must submit a 500-word essay or a 30-second video to be considered. Complete information is on the scholarship application page on our website.

About SignatureCare Emergency Center

SignatureCare Emergency Center owns and manages the fastest growing group of emergency rooms throughout Texas. We currently have ERs in Houston (Houston Heights, Montrose, Copperfield, Memorial City, Westchase and Cypress/FM 1960), Bellaire, Sugar Land, Stafford, Killeen, Austin, College Station, Midland, Paris, Odessa and Texarkana.

Go to our website, https://ercare24.com for more information.


GAINESVILLE, Fla.  Power Production Management was selected for the University of Floridas 2019 Gator100 during a ceremony on Feb. 22 at UFs J. Wayne Reitz Union Grand Ballroom.

Sponsored by the UF Alumni Association, in partnership with the UF Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center, the Gator100 recognizes the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or led by UF alumni. Ernst & Young calculated each companys compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past three years to generate the ranking.

Power Production Management was ranked 14 with a CAGR of 72.67%.

Power Production Management is a solar contracting firm whose mission is to play a significant role in creating a world powered by the Sun. Since 2009, PPM has served more than 500 customers across various industries. With megawatts of solar installed and in development, PPM is building a network of dedicated and responsible energy users, installers and investors to bring that vision to life.

Jason Gonos, an alumni of the University of Florida College of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, said, It is a great honor to be among these incredible companies and to be awarded the Gator 100 for the third time! Go Gators!

The Gator100 honors UF alumni from across the university who are founding and growing amazing companies around the country, said Kent Fuchs, president of the University of Florida. Its an incredible affirmation of the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of the Gator Nation.

About Power Production Management

Power Production Management, Inc. (PPM) is a solar contracting firm licensed in multiple states across Southeastern United States. PPM focuses on providing aesthetically pleasing, high quality solar projects to its clients across residential, commercial, utility, and institutional market segments. PPM has a vision of the world powered by the Sun.

About Gator 100

To qualify for the Gator100, companies must have been in business for five years or more as of Sept. 28, 2018, and have had verifiable annual revenues of $250,000 or more every year since 2015. Additionally, a UF alumnus or alumna must have met one of the following three leadership criteria:

Owned 50 percent or more of the company from Jan. 1, 2015, through Sept. 28, 2018; or

Served as companys chief executive from Jan. 1, 2015, through Sept. 28, 2018; or

Founded the company and been active as a member of the most senior management team from Jan. 1, 2015, through Sept. 28, 2018.
Buying car insurance online has multiple benefits. Besides saving time and money, drivers will also avoid dealing with manipulative insurance agents, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Carinsuranceplan.org has launched a new blog post that presents the advantages of purchasing car insurance online.

For more info and free online car insurance quotes, please visit https://carinsuranceplan.org/top-reasons-for-shopping-online-for-car-insurance/

Shopping online for car insurance is a process that more and more people are willing to embrace. And with so many companies and brokerage websites, it would be a pity not to take advantage.

Shopping online for car insurance has the following benefits:



Policyholders can save time. All they need is an internet connection and a device like a smartphone, tablet, pc, notebook and they are ready to shop online for car insurance. In the past drivers had to travel from one insurance company to another in order to obtain car insurance offers. It could have taken several days for drivers to obtain some offers to compare. Now, they can sit in the comfort of their homes and they can analyze car insurance quotes in just a few minutes.

Drivers can obtain multiple offers in one place. With the help of brokerage websites, drivers can compare quotes from multiple insurers with just one search. They will no longer have to go to different insurance companies websites and obtain just one quote from each.

Online shopping will help drivers avoid manipulative agents. Insurance agents will try to put pressure on their prospective customers in order to make a sale. Policyholders that shop online, will avoid dealing with pushy agents that try to make a sale.

Take advantage of the offered discount. Usually, insurance providers offer small discounts for drivers that obtain online quotes or choose to purchase online coverage.

Online quotes are free. Drivers dont have to pay a middleman in order to obtain online car insurance offers.

Drivers are immediately insured. They will receive their digital proof of insurance, immediately after the purchase is finalized. The digital proof of insurance can be either printed on paper or saved on any capable mobile device.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://carinsuranceplan.org/

Carinsuranceplan.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.
Im excited to join RSIR in a senior role and further establish ourselves as the Pacific Northwests leading turnkey, sales and marketing solution. I studied multiple regional West Coast growth markets before choosing to take my career to Seattle last year," said Van Damm.

Executives of Realogics Sothebys International Realty (RSIR) today announced the appointment of Matthew Van Damm as the vice president of New Developments. In his role, Matthew will lead the marketing and sales efforts of the quickly-expanding project marketing team. Van Damm brings more than 17 years of experience in the sales, leasing, marketing and product design of over 60 high-profile developments in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island city (Queens), New Jersey and Philadelphia valued over $4 billion. Locally, RSIR is currently representing a dozen new construction and apartment conversion condominiums throughout the Seattle area comprising more than 1,000 units and $1 billion+ of inventory through 2021 deliveries. RSIR is also advising a similar portfolio of projects that are being positioned for the next development cycle with deliveries between 2022 through 2024. As market conditions spur demand for ownership and Washington State Legislators amend the Condominium Act, market pundits report increased desire for developers to build condominiums for sale instead of apartments for rent.

We are fortunate to have identified Mr. Van Damm for this pivotal role at RSIR  his passion for the industry, unmatched experience and skillset align well with our culture and corporate goals said Dean Jones, President and CEO of RSIR. Matthews timing is perfect as we move into a housing cycle of homeownership following a record run of apartment development throughout the Seattle metro area.

Jones estimates 27,000 multi-family housing units will be delivered in downtown Seattle over the current decade, however 93-percent of this new supply was purpose built for rent and not for sale. As apartment supply peaks in 2019, the economics for merchant development of rental buildings wanes, as many tenants that fueled the demand for rentals during the past cycle are increasingly seeking ownership. Remarkably, no new condominiums were delivered in downtown Seattle between 2011 and 2014, or in 2017. Jones believes more than 500 units will presell between Q4-2018 and Q1-2019 at a new collection of recently launched new construction condominium projects in downtown Seattle  more than the entire resale volume for same area (NWMLS #701) during 2018.

Prior to RSIR, Van Damm was the executive vice president of Marketing + Design and a partner from 2012-2018 with the Naftali Group  a prolific developer of residential projects in New York City from 2013-2018. He has also held roles as director of operations for Town Residential, a founding executive for a then-burgeoning residential brokerage in New York from 2010 to 2013; director of Public Relations and a senior project manager with Citi Habitats Marketing Group in New York from 2003 to 2010.

Im excited to join RSIR in a senior role and further establish ourselves as the Pacific Northwests leading turnkey, sales and marketing solution, said Van Damm. I studied multiple regional West Coast growth markets before choosing to take my career to Seattle last year. Likewise, I have long admired the work of RSIR from afar and I greatly respect the Sothebys International Realty brand, having experienced this great network on the East Coast. I feel honored to work alongside gamechangers in the industry with so many advantages to draw upon for our valued developer clients.

Having received a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY with a Major in Psychology and a Minor in Communications, Van Damm holds a real estate license in New York State and Washington State (pending) and remains active in philanthropic causes. He resides in Seattle with his wife and two children.

Van Damm will collaborate with an in-house integrated marketing team led by Ryan Hodgson, chief operations officer of RSIR, who recently segmented the new developments division from the growing resale operation. Hodgson appointed Lane Tollefsen, creative director; Elizabeth Ekstrom, graphic designer; Tuan Chu, multi-media content designer; Duy Nguyen, digital marketing strategist; Jared Johnson, copywriter and publisher; John Fisher, accountant; Krista Dunn, project management supervisor and Ashley Volpe, production manager to the expanding team.

We offer the industry a preferred solution for knowledgeable, actionable and functional execution, adds Van Damm. In New York, Id have to hire a half dozen or more independent companies to execute project marketing accounts from concept to closing. Now I have all these resources down the hallway within the fastest-growing large city in the U.S.

For more information on the RSIR New Development Team and explore new communities, visit: http://www.RSIR.com

About Realogics Sothebys International Realty (http://www.RSIR.com)  Artfully uniting extraordinary homes with extraordinary lives, Realogics Sothebys International Realty is a leading global sales and marketing brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest. Recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal amongst the fastest-growing private companies in Washington State in recent years and ranked #8 in the top ten largest residential real estate brands, the boutique real estate firm of 235+ brokers service branches in downtown Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Kirkland, Issaquah and Madison Park. RSIR is a leading project marketing specialist currently representing more than $1 billion in new condominium developments planned throughout the Puget Sound region.

EDITORS NOTE: Property renderings, development team headshots, bios and additional market statistics are available upon request.
Stan Rickel (right), associate professor of industrial design in the School of Design, speaks with Autodesk executives during the software companys recent visit to RIT. Credit: Elizabeth Lamark/RIT

Rochester Institute of Technology and Autodesk, the international software company whose name is synonymous with computer-aided design (CAD) software, have signed a partnership agreement that will expand RITs multidisciplinary educational initiatives with Autodesk across the university.

RIT already is part of a select group of schools with which the San Francisco-based software company regularly collaborates. Two years ago, RITs College of Art and Design and Autodesk signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that has resulted in RIT students providing exclusive access to alpha and beta versions of the companys software, breakthrough effective access technology solutions and job hires. The company also flew RIT students to its offices in Portland, Ore., to meet with its product teams and provide direct feedback.

The latest MOU agreement, signed during a recent visit and tour of several RIT colleges, MAGIC Spell Studios and AMPrint Center by Autodesk executives, is the first university-wide partnership agreement between the company and a U.S. college.

I am delighted that RIT is teaming up with Autodesk on this campus-wide agreement. Together, we will advance the intersection of technology, design and making, said Ellen Granberg, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. Autodesk software can already be found across our university and, with this new agreement, we will be able to expand the array of multidisciplinary opportunities available to our students and faculty.

Granberg added that the agreement is a further demonstration of the fourth pillar of RITs Strategic Plan 2018-2025: Greatness Through Difference, in which collaborations with international partners like Autodesk are increasingly providing enriching experiences for RIT students and faculty.

Since Alex Lobos, associate professor and graduate director of industrial design in the School of Design, first spearheaded RITs relationship with Autodesk in 2011, the research and design partnership between the university and the software company has flourished. Lobos has delivered joint conference presentations with company executives and is part of Autodesk Universitys Advisory Council. The company has also sponsored several multidisciplinary research projects involving sustainability, accessibility and additive manufacturing on campus. In addition, a number of RIT alumni now work for Autodesk, whose executives have visited the Rochester, N.Y., campus and hosted the universitys board of trustees and other RIT guests during West Coast trips.

Im very excited that RIT and Autodesk are expanding this relationship to an even higher level, Lobos said. Increasing the integration of technology, design and engineering across our campus will enable more multidisciplinary collaborations and engagement for RIT students and faculty.

An early result of the partnership agreement is that Generative Design (GD) technology in Autodesks flagship Fusion 360 softwarethe companys cloud-based 3D computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)/CAD toolis now available to all faculty and students at RIT. GD is used for creating designs that use significantly less material with nature-inspired forms.

RIT faculty and students can access the technology for free by launching Fusion 360 and logging in with their rit.edu account. RIT alumnus Gregg Stoklosa, an Autodesk program manager who graduated in 1996 (mechanical engineering) helped make access to the technology possible.

For more information, contact Rich Kiley at 585-475-5697 or rich.kiley@rit.edu.
Save a little green at Heritage at Penningtons Open House Weekends: March 9th to 10th and March 16th to 17th. Pictured: The Rosedale kitchen at Heritage at Pennington. Stop by our open house weekend to save a little green this St. Patricks Day, said Paul Csik, Senior Vice President of American Properties Realty, Inc. Now is the time to buy a new townhome at Heritage at Pennington or you will have to wait until 2020 for Phase II to open.

Its your lucky day at Heritage at Pennington as the community hosts its Open House Weekends on Saturday, March 9th to Sunday, March 10th and March 16th to March 17th from 11am to 4pm daily. Those interested are encouraged to act quickly as only seven homes remain in Phase I. The Mercer and Rosedale II home designs are now sold out. Quick move-in homes are available. Ask a Sales Manager about special incentives for a Spring closing.

Stop by our open house weekend to save a little green this St. Patricks Day, said Paul Csik, Senior Vice President of American Properties Realty, Inc. Now is the time to buy a new townhome at Heritage at Pennington or you will have to wait until 2020 for Phase II to open.

Event attendees will enjoy delicious Irish-themed treats, tour new homes and learn more about living at Heritage at Pennington, a successful new community of townhomes for sale in NJ and two-story villas introduced by American Properties Realty, Inc.

Heritage at Pennington offers spacious townhomes priced from the mid $400s with four home designs to choose from and up to 2,500 sq. ft. of living spaces. Floor plans feature three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and one- to two-car garages. Other highlights include: Nine-foot ceilings on the first and second floors with open layouts and designer finishes; granite countertops and 42 maple cabinets in the kitchen; gas fireplaces, and master down suites and second floor lofts (per plan).

Residents of Heritage at Pennington enjoy walkability to the bank, apothecary, supermarkets, post office, restaurants and downtown shops along Main Street, as well as easy access to I-95, the NJ Turnpike, I-295, I-78, I-287 and Route 1. Heritage at Pennington is part of the highly-rated Hopewell Valley Regional School District and located within driving distance to Princeton, Trenton, Philadelphia and many large corporations. For New York City commuters, Hamilton Train Station is only a 15-minute drive away. This community is centrally located near everything Mercer County has to offer, said Csik. There is always something exciting to do in Pennington.

To learn more about Heritage at Pennington, visit HeritageAtPennington.com.

About American Properties Realty, Inc.

American Properties Realty, Inc., A Licensed Real Estate Broker, continues its proud 40-year tradition of introducing award winning communities that provide excellent quality, convenient locations and affordable pricing for New Jersey homebuyers. The Principals of American Properties Realty, Inc., have been involved in the creation of residences ranging from luxurious estate homes to master planned communities of apartments, condominiums, townhomes and single-family homes.

new homes for sale in Pennington NJ

Mercer County homes for sale

Save a little green at at Heritage at Pennington's Open House Weekends
SMU Professional and Online Addresses Urgent Need for Cybersecurity Experts with New Online Masters Degree An SMU Masters degree in cybersecurity offers new career opportunities with training from top SMU experts, along with the convenience of an online program, says Larenda Mielke, Associate Provost for SMU Global and Online

Students may apply now for SMUs new online Masters degree in cybersecurity, which will launch in January 2020. Presented by SMU Professional and Online (SMU PRO) and the Lyle School of Engineering, classes in the interactive 20-month program will be taught by faculty members from the Lyle Schools Computer Science department, in the same school which houses the Darwin Deason Institute for Cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity is a rapidly growing career choice with tremendous opportunities for employment and positive impact, says Larenda Mielke, Associate Provost for SMU Global and Online. Sixty-five percent of organizations report a demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals according to the ICS2 2018 Cybersecurity Workforce Study. In addition, according to Ziprecruiter, the national average salary for a cybersecurity engineer is $117,000. An SMU Masters degree in cybersecurity offers new career opportunities with training from top SMU experts, along with the convenience of an online program.

Frederick R. Chang chairs the Computer Science department and is executive director of the Deason Center, and former director of research for the U.S. National Security Agency.

One of the reasons why cyber intrusions are so prevalent today is that there is a lack of trained, qualified personnel to defend the nations cyber assets, said Chang in recent testimony before the U.S. Congress. In a survey of North American Information Technology and IT security professionals, 35 percent reported that there is a shortage of IT security professionals at most every level.

The challenge to make cyberspace more secure is a long-term, enduring problem. Todays students will be responsible for designing, creating, operating, maintaining and defending tomorrows cyber infrastructure, he said.

Prospective students are invited to apply for SMU PROs online masters degree in cybersecurity, call program advisor Melvin Alvaregna at 214-768-1186 or email Online@SMU.edu to learn more.

About SMU PRO

SMU Professional and Online, SMU PRO, is an initiative of the nationally ranked and globally recognized research university in Dallas, SMU. Offering student professionals skills in demand from employers, SMU PRO provides a wide range of degrees, certificates and short courses to help professionals advance in their careers or transition successfully to new ones. SMU PRO presents in-person and convenient online degree programs and courses using transformative technology that delivers a high-quality, classroom-like experience. SMU PRO now offers in-person and online masters degrees in two sought-after fields of cybersecurity and data science. For more information, visit SMU.edu/PRO, on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @SMU_PRO.

About SMU

SMU is the nationally ranked global research university in the dynamic city of Dallas. SMUs alumni, faculty and nearly 12,000 students in seven degree-granting schools demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit as they lead change in their professions, communities and the world.

20,000 cyber-related jobs soon to be needed in Texas*

*Source: Cyberseek
This project is incredibly empowering because it celebrates the best of what is happening at the border, says Melody Crisp, VP Marketing, SouthNorte Beer Co.

Founded at the crossroads of cultures, SouthNorte Beer Co. seeks to bring together the best of both sides of the border. This ethos is exemplified by the Dos Californias Brewsters project that SouthNorte helped found in 2018. SouthNorte, with help from the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, founded Dos Californias Brewsters as a way to bring together women in the brewing industry from San Diego and Baja California, Mexico. In anticipation of International Womens Day, Dos Californias Brewsters reunited in February to brew its second annual cross-border collaboration. The beer will debut at the Ensenada Beer Festival later in March.

Born from a shared vision to connect women from both sides of the border, this pioneering group crafted the first-ever womens cross-border collaboration in 2018 and joined forces again last month to brew its second collaboration beer. Supported by generous donations from Yakima Chief Hops, yeast from White Labs, and a malt grant from the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, this years beer is a hoppy pale ale. The brew day took place on February 2 at SouthNortes brewery in Telefonica Gastropark, downtown Tijuana.

This project is incredibly empowering because it celebrates the best of what is happening at the border, says Melody Crisp, VP Marketing, SouthNorte Beer Co. We had more than 30 women from San Diego and all over Bajaas far away as Mexicali, Tecate and Ensenadacome together to brew this beer in support of womens education. We were also honored to have the U.S. Consul General of Tijuana, Sue Saarnio, show her support and join us for the brew day.

All proceeds from Dos Californias Brewsters collaborations go to fund scholarships for women aspiring to enter the brewing industry. Through a partnership with the Institute of Technology in Tijuana (ITT), Dos Californias Brewsters will award annual scholarships to women in the schools brewing sciences program. Last years brew helped to fund four partial scholarships to the program, and this years goal is to fund several full scholarships as well as help with new equipment for the classroom.

SouthNorte Beer Co. and Dos Californias Brewsters are proud to connect women in the brewing industry through cross-border collaborations, empowering the next generation of brewsters one beer at a time. This years Dos Californias Brewsters collaboration will debut at the Ensenada Beer Festival, March 22-23, at the SouthNorte booth. For more information about SouthNorte and Dos Californias Brewsters, visit http://www.southnorte.com and http://www.doscaliforniasbrewsters.com. Crafted with an accent, hecho en San Diego. Salud!

Dos Californias Brewsters Hoppy Pale Ale Beer Specs:

ABV: 5.5%

IBU: 55

Hops: Ekuanot, Simcoe, Loral

Format: Draft only

Available: Ensenada Beer Festival; Telefonica Tijuana

Hi-Res Photos

https://bit.ly/2VCOmwc

Video

https://bit.ly/2EDdKey

Photo and video credit: Brandon Sloter

Social Media Links

@SouthNorte

Facebook.com/SouthNorte

http://www.southnorte.com

@Dosbrewsterscalifornias

http://www.doscaliforniasbrewsters.com

About SouthNorte

Established in 2016, SouthNorte was born at the crossroads of cultures, where the blend of energies, wisdom, and talents equal more than the sum of the parts. We are brewers, makers and travelers wanting to see where we can take beer. And where it can take us. We explore the best of what each lado brings to the table. We cross borders and brew locally. We craft with an accent. We are SouthNorte. Inspired by Mexico. Crafted with an accent, hecho en San Diego. Taste the combinacion. For more information, visit southnorte.com.
 Flash

Russia supports all efforts of Kuwait and welcomes means to preserve the unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said on Wednesday.

He made the remarks at a press conference held at Kuwait's Foreign Ministry. Lavrov said that his talks in Kuwait dealt with the developments in the Gulf region and the Russian proposal to guarantee the security and stability of the region and between the GCC countries and Iran.

The visit to the region comes within the framework of regular visits to exchange consultation on the most important developments, he noted.

For the Palestinian issue, Lavrov expressed his concern about the U.S.-proposed "Deal of the Century," saying that it will fail to find a solution to the Palestinian issue.

As of the cooperation between Russia and Kuwait, Lavrov revealed that there will be a Russia-Kuwait parliamentary cooperation on various issues of common concern.

He added that the Russian Investment Fund and Kuwait Investment Authority are discussing investment projects estimated at 200 million U.S. dollars, pointing out that Moscow also supports military cooperation with Kuwait.

Lavrov stressed the importance of exerting more efforts to cement cooperation, expand bilateral trade, enhance investment, and implement promising joint projects.

For his part, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said that they held in-depth bilateral discussions, which dealt with the growing economic relations, regional and international issues, security and political situations, and joint efforts aimed at restoring security and stability in the region.

He said that the political process in Syria is of Kuwait's concern, pointing out that the Syrian efforts should be combined to get the country out of crisis.




Jean-Baptiste Leos, Banking Product Marketing Director at SPS, declares: At SPS, we care about our customers industrial process. With S-Lam G2, card manufacturers get an ever improving industrial process simplifying their logistics, making printing easier and reducing their transport costs.

Smart Packaging Solutions (SPS) introduces a new generation of its eBoost PAY inductive coupling technology with the 150m SLam G2. With this thinner and innovative prelaminate, payment card vendors are able to simplify their production process as they will be able to manufacture all cards with only one card body structure.

For instance, card manufacturers, in the situation where they are under pressure from their customers to support various assembly technologies and deal with several suppliers for each subpart, can now see their logistics dramatically simplified. As all prelaminates have the same 150m thickness, card vendors can be certain they will make standard-compliant cards with a single supply of PVC card bodies. This way, they have only one type of PVC inventory to manage, leading to savings in logistics and supply chain costs.

As SPS S-Lam G2 prelaminates are only 150m thick, this leaves more space in the 0.76 mm card total thickness to have thicker PVC printed core. As a result, all printing processes will give better results. For instance, silk screen printing will be easier and deliver a better quality on thicker card bodies as there will be no risk of warp or shrinkage.

Finally, the thinner 150m S-Lam G2 prelaminates mean less material to transport between SPS factories and the card manufacturer; this not only reduces transportation cost but also decreases the ecological footprint of the whole card manufacturing process.

SPS new S-Lam G2 is an evolution of SPS S-Lam inductive coupling offer. As such, it inherits the certifications that were already in place for previous generations of S-Lam. Card manufacturers evolving from SPS S-Lam to the new S-Lam G2 need not to go through any new qualification or certification processes.

Jean-Baptiste Leos, Banking Product Marketing Director at SPS, declares: At SPS, we care about the industrial process of our customers. With S-Lam G2, card manufacturers will get an ever improving industrial process that simplifies their logistics, makes printing easier and reduces their transport costs.

Thanks to a brand new manufacturing process, this SPS new S-Lam G2 offers the same advantages as the original SPS eBoost PAY technology based on electromagnetic coupling between the antenna and the module (no physical connection between the chip and the antenna) and allows to increase total manufacturing capacity. SPS eBoost PAY ensures the cards are significantly more reliable and durable than cards manufactured with other technologies. SPS eBoost PAY brings card manufacturers a total flexibility as the same process is used to manufacture contact, contactless, dual interface and hybrid payment cards. In addition, these cards can support all distinctive features required by an increasingly sophisticated payment card market: various module sizes, foil, colored edges, metal cards, heavy cards, non-standard formats, and more 

Smart Packaging Solutions will be present during Payments Summit, a major trade show organized by Secure Technology Alliance in Phoenix, AZ, USA on March 11-14, 2019. Do not hesitate to contact us to set up a meeting.

About SPS

With the SPS brand, IN Groupe opens its secure components technology to all card and document manufacturers. SPS (Smart Packaging Solutions) is specialized in the design, manufacturing and sale of contactless solutions dedicated to ID cards, e-passport and dual interface banking cards. Headquartered in Rousset, France, with a subsidiary in Singapore, SPS employs 140 people. The company specializes in contactless and dual-interface products, with a recognized micro packaging expertise. SPS has filed over 120 patents supporting its exclusive technologies. More information at http://www.s-p-s.com

SPS is part of the IN Groupe.

About IN Groupe:

A partner of the French government for close to 500 years, IN Groupe offers identity solutions and secure digital services, at the leading edge of technology and integrating electronics and biometrics.

From components to services and from documents to interoperable systems, IN Groupe is a global specialist in identity and secure digital services. The institution plays a daily role in facilitating everyone's life: helping states exercise their sovereignty, citizens protect their identity and businesses preserve their integrity.

Whatever the issue, IN Groupe, a company for digital sovereignty, contributes to asserting a fundamental right for everyone: the right to be you.

Based in Paris, the IN Groupe has two production centers and employs more than 1000 employees, of which over a third is dedicated to technology development.

Follow us on: https://www.ingroupe.com
The SPD University Subscription Program offers three different subscription plans with unlimited access to over sixty online courses.

STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) has launched a new subscription program for the non-profits online learning platform, SPD University. Online learners can access over sixty courses providing the latest information on sensory processing for professionals, parents, caregivers, and individuals. This new subscription program will now make online learning easier and more cost-effective for individuals around the globe who are eager to learn about sensory processing challenges.

With courses accessible 24/7, SPD Universitys online content covers sensory-related topics taught by world-renowned leaders in the field, including:



Definitions and interventions of sensory processing challenges

Strategies for home, school, and clinic

Principles of STAR PROCESS - The STAR Institute Treatment Approach

ADHD and Autism

Assessments: administering, scoring, and interpretation

SOS Approach to Feeding

Social-emotional regulation

Prevalence and other research

STAR Institute is excited to launch this new subscription program, which will increase accessibility around the world for parents and providers alike and provide unlimited access to the best content on sensory processing challenges," stated Mim Ochsenbein, MSW, OTR/L, Director of Education at STAR Institute for SPD.

The SPD University Subscription Program offers three different subscription plans with unlimited access to over sixty online courses.

Subscription Types and Benefits include:

Parent/Individual Subscription $49 | Annually (No CEUs):



Unlimited access to over sixty SPD University courses. (Some course exclusions apply. Does not include CEUs)*.

The lowest pricing on International 3S Symposium tickets, no matter when tickets are purchased

OT/SLP Subscription $199 | Annually (CEUs Included):



Unlimited access to over sixty SPD University courses, while some exclusions apply to the OT/SLP plan, it does include AOTA/ASHA CEUs*

The lowest pricing on International 3S Symposium tickets, no matter when tickets are purchased

Exclusive access to interactive treatment sessions, live-streamed and mentored by STAR Institute therapists and faculty

20% off SOS Advanced Courses

Organization Subscription | Annually (CEUs Included):



Allows organizations to purchase OT/SLP Subscriptions for multiple employees at a reduced rate

Subscribers have all the benefits of OT/SLP Subscriptions

To learn more about the new Subscription Program visit: https://bit.ly/2TFJUfB

*Excluded courses for Paid Subscribers: International 3S Symposium Video Ticket, monthly featured webinars, M-FUN courses, GOAL training, and SOS Advanced Courses.

About STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder:

STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder, a Colorado 501(c)(3), is the world leader in treatment, research, and education for Sensory Processing Disorder, a neurological condition that disrupts the daily lives of more than 4 million Americans. STAR Institute is the premier treatment center for children, adults, and families living with Sensory Processing Disorder, feeding disorders, and other sensory conditions associated with ADHD, autism, and other developmental disorders. Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, founder of STAR Institute, is widely recognized as the leader in Sensory Processing Disorder research worldwide. For more information about the Greenwood Village, Colorado clinic, visit http://www.spdSTAR.org or call 303-221-7827.
This opens up the possibility that this therapeutic antibody candidate could treat not just one, but two or more prevalent neurological diseases with similar protein fibril structures.

StressMarq Biosciences Inc., a research and development company specializing in manufacturing neurological and cellular stress research tools today announced the publication of its recent PCT patent application describing a potential therapeutic monoclonal antibody for Parkinsons Disease treatment. The antibody, still at a pre-clinical stage of development, moves the company into the drug discovery field.

The antibody was shown to neutralize the ability of alpha synuclein, a key therapeutic target in Parkinsons Disease, to generate toxic fibrils in rat primary cells. Early stage data also suggests an ability to significantly reduce Tau aggregation, a therapeutic target in Alzheimers Disease. Antibodies have recently gained significant interest as therapeutic agents due to their high specificity and low toxicity profiles, differentiating them from most other drug candidates such as small molecules. The PCT application describes a new situation where a therapeutic antibody candidate appears to provide neutralizing capabilities against more than one neurological disease, although all data is still pre-clinical at this time and most of the data surrounds Parkinsons Disease.

The situation we have is quite remarkable. While specifically targeting a complex set of alpha synuclein oligomeric forms in order to make state-of-the art research tools, we have identified an antibody that appears to have not just neutralizing capabilities, but structure-based binding to multiple disease targets. This opens up the possibility that this therapeutic antibody candidate could treat not just one, but two or more prevalent neurological diseases with similar protein fibril structures. We look forward to seeing how this exciting platform will continue to develop, said Ariel Louwrier, President and CEO of StressMarq.

About StressMarq Biosciences Inc.

StressMarq Biosciences is Canadian privately-held corporation based in Victoria BC that specializes in the development and manufacture of high quality research tools for the academic, pharma, and biotechnology industries. Recently it has emerged as the sole world-wide manufacturer of a variety of precursor and fibrilized protein preparations including alpha, beta and gamma synuclein, tau and transthyretin - implicated in neurological diseases including Parkinsons and Alzheimers Diseases. The company also develops, manufactures and sells antibodies, small molecules and ELISA kits for research purposes. Additional information can be found on StressMarqs website at http://www.stressmarq.com
Study.com continues to accelerate its momentum and further their mission to make education accessible. Building on this trajectory, Study.com has appointed Rich Hornstein as the companys Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel.

Hornstein brings more than 25 years of experience in finance and legal for both public and private tech companies. Most recently, Hornstein was a managing director at Elevate LLC, a consulting firm specializing in accounting services, where he helped clients in the high tech and financial services industries. Hornstein was also the CFO and general counsel at Quotient Technology, Inc., where he oversaw the companys financial, accounting, and legal functions. He also brings valuable experience in transitioning startup companies to an IPO as well as successfully scaling companies during periods of rapid revenue growth.

Im thrilled to welcome Rich as a key member on the Study.com leadership team, said Adrian Ridner, CEO and Co-founder of Study.com. Weve experienced tremendous growth and are uniquely positioned to transform the world of education. Rich is a knowledgeable and strategic leader with a proven track record building exceptional companies worldwide. Im excited about the next stage of our journey with Rich onboard.

In this role, Hornstein will be responsible for all of Study.coms financial planning and management, legal and, strategic operations.

Im excited to join Study.com as it continues to grow its revenue and extensive user base, said Hornstein. I look forward to helping take the company to the next level and being part of a truly exceptional mission that brings education to millions of learners across the globe.

About Study.com

Study.com is an online education platform that helps learners of all ages excel academically and close skills gaps. From test prep and homework help to earning low-cost college credit, Study.coms online courses, short animated video lessons and study tools have made learning simple for over 30 million students, teachers and working professionals. Study.com was founded in 2002 and is a privately-held company located in Mountain View, Calif. Find us online at http://www.study.com or download the mobile app from the iOS app store or Google Play.
This program has been a win-win for all involved, stated Deputy Superintendent McClay, whose family provided a home-stay for one of the visiting students a few years ago.

For the past four years, Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) has been proud to host both high school and middle school students from China.

TVUSD works with TowerBridge International (TBI) to foster both short-term and long-term visits from Chinese students and their teachers. These visits range from one week to an entire school year, said Deputy Superintendent Jodi McClay. The partnership with TBI also sends teachers, administrators, and students from Temecula each Spring to schools in China.

This program has been a win-win for all involved, stated Deputy Superintendent McClay, whose family provided a home-stay for one of the visiting students a few years ago. Temecula Valley students, as well as visiting students from China, learn a great deal about each others cultures, school systems, and life as a teenager.

McClay added that the district receives a small fee for hosting each of the Chinese students who visit, and utilizes these funds, for example, to support the Visual and Performing Arts programs at the sites, including providing new band uniforms for students in the Chaparral High School band.
Reeder Distributors Inc. sells Stertil-Koni products to Texas and surrounding states. Here a company truck sits atop the green Mobile Column EARTHLIFT We're proud of Reeder Distributors dedication to Stertil-Konis product line and impressed with the companys pre-install to post-installation customer-centric solutions and service-based approach. This dedication put them at the forefront of the heavy-duty lifting industry in their region.

Texas-based Reeder Distributors Inc., one of the largest independent distributors of fuel and lubricants, maintenance lifts and shop equipment in North Texas, has reported record results in 2018, thanks in large part to its growing focus on the sale and servicing of heavy duty vehicle lifts.

For its part, Reeder Distributors, now in its 40th year, has for the past decade been an exclusive distributor of Stertil-Koni USA Inc.the leader in heavy duty vehicle lifting systems in North America. Reeders territory for Stertil-Koni includes northern and southeastern Texas and Louisiana and has expanded into quite the partnership.

That partnership has been a good one, particularly given that Stertil-Koni is widely recognized as the top innovator and provider of dependable, durable and safe vehicle lifting systems  notably bus lifts and truck lifts. Adding to the equation is Reeder Distributors intimate knowledge of the marketplace, its technical expertise and an unwavering dedication to being a leader in its sector.

According to Chris Bussey, Sales Manager at Reeder Distributors, The growth in the demand for heavy-duty vehicle lifts, combined with Stertil-Konis superior products, are a huge part of our companys overall success.

Bussey continued, We initially saw great success with Mobile Column Lift sales. More recently, we have evolved into a complete heavy-duty vehicle lift provider -- installing every Stertil-Koni lift available. Our focus on heavy-duty vehicle lifts has culminated in a tremendous increase in sales over the past five years. Whats more, the heavy-duty team is motivated to increase sales on an annual basis by providing a superior product with outstanding customer service and support. We want our customers to know that Reeder Distributors is their complete equipment source  and always stands behind our products with superior service. 

Jason Reeder, Vice President of Operations, concurred and noted: "This commitment to our end users involves on-time annual inspections, servicing, and maintenance, plus ensuring equipment is used safely, and that techs operating these lifts are well trained. After all, safety is always mission number one."

Concluded Dr. Jean DellAmore, president of Stertil-Koni USA, We are proud of Reeder Distributors dedication to Stertil-Konis world-class product line and impressed with the companys pre-install to post-installation customer-centric solutions and service-based approach. This dedication has put them at the very forefront of the heavy-duty vehicle lifting industry in their region.

###

About Reeder Distributors, Inc.

Reeder Distributors is one of the largest independent distributors of fuel, lubricants, and maintenance shop equipment in the Dallas, Fort Worth, and North Texas area. Family-owned and operated since 1976, Reeder Distributors says it built its enterprise through consistency, knowledge, and dedication, and by providing customers with the very best in products and services.

About Stertil-Koni

Stertil-Koni is the market leader in heavy duty vehicle lifts, notably bus lifts and truck lifts, and proudly serves municipalities, state agencies, school bus fleets, major corporations, the U.S. Military and more. Stertil-Koni's breadth of products meets all ranges of lifting needs and includes portable lifts such as Mobile Column Lifts, 2-post, 4-post, inground piston lifts, platform lifts, and its axle-engaging, inground, scissor lift configuration, ECOLIFT. The companys innovative, inground telescopic piston DIAMONDLIFT is now available with an optional Continuous Recess system, ideal for low clearance vehicles. Stertil-Koni USA is headquartered in Stevensville, Maryland with production facilities in Europe, The Netherlands, and in Streator, IL.

Contact: Paul Feldman, Paul.Feldman@Stertil-Koni.com 410-643-9001


Whether its donating an HVAC system to a family in need, like Angelas, through the ARS Cares Program, or supporting the Tim Tebow Foundation, ARS/Rescue Rooter steps up, says Tebow.

American Residential Services (ARS) in Myrtle Beach, a national provider of air conditioning, heating and plumbing services, partnered with Tim Tebow and donated an HVAC system to a family in serious need of assistance in home comfort. Angela Ermi is a woman with Down syndrome who lives with her parents outside of Myrtle Beach. When ARS/Rescue Rooter of Myrtle Beach heard that Hurricane Florence hit Angelas home and HVAC hard, they did not just help her out- they brought in a little help from Tim Tebow.

ARS Cares, a program designed by ARS/Rescue to provide plumbing and HVAC to people in their communities in need, seeks nominations from people who know of families that could use home comfort assistance. Whether its donating an HVAC system to a family in need, like Angelas, through the ARS Cares Program, or supporting the Tim Tebow Foundation, ARS/Rescue Rooter steps up, says Tebow. This work allows me to meet extraordinary people and families like hers. And thats why I partner with ARS/Rescue Rooter.

ARS team and Tim Tebow arrived to the Ermis home in Loris, SC, on Wednesday morning, and Angela was ecstatic to greet him. Tim Tebow Foundation hosts Night to Shine a prom night for people with special needs, and it is a global event that hosted at over 650 locations. Tim and his efforts is greatly appreciated by the Ermi family, and ARS is the proud Global Partner of his philanthropic work. Therefore, when ARS received the information that the Ermis needed an HVAC, Tim Tebow wanted to tag along with his friends from ARS.

Angela is excited to attend the local Night to Shine in 2020, and in the meantime, she is enjoying a new HVAC system from ARS/Rescue Rooter. To learn more how ARS is committed to comfort and their community, visit ars.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL SERVICES: Based in Memphis, Tenn., privately-owned ARS operates a network of more than 70 locally-managed service centers in 23 states, with approximately 7,500 employees. The ARS Network features industry-leading brands including, A.J. Perri, Aksarben ARS, Allgood, Andys Statewide, ARS, Aspen Air Conditioning, Atlas Trillo, Beutler, Blue Dot, Bob Hamilton, Brothers, Columbus Worthington Air, Comfort Heating & Air, Conway Services, Efficient Attic Systems (EAS), Florida Home Air Conditioning, Green Star Home Services, Irish Plumber, McCarthy Services, Rescue Rooter / Proserv, Rescue Rooter, RighTime Home Services, RS Andrews, The Irish Plumber, Unique Services, "Will" Fix It, and Yes! Air Conditioning and Plumbing. As an Exceptional Service Provider, the ARS Network serves both residential and light commercial customers by providing heating, cooling, indoor air quality, plumbing, drain cleaning, sewer line, radiant barrier, insulation and ventilation services. Each location has a knowledgeable team of trained specialists. ARS requires background checks and drug tests on all employees. We hire professionals with the highest level of integrity. Providing exceptional service and ensuring the highest standards of quality, ARS has the experience to do any job right  the first time, with all work fully guaranteed. ARS: "Making it work. Making it right."
Tony Romas is a reliable brand presence throughout both Spanish and international markets.

Romacorp, Inc., the parent company of Tony Romas - the worlds largest casual dining concept specializing in ribs - announced today a new restaurant opening in Madrid, Spain. Led by partner Beer & Food, this multi-brand company took control as the master franchisee in 2018 and since then has created tremendous growth throughout the country.

Tony Romas is a reliable brand presence throughout both Spanish and international markets, said Beer & Food CEO Sergio Rivas. Its important to us that we continue a strategic growth plan to ensure Tony Romas becomes, not only a reference for American food in this country, but also a leading chain recognized for quality food and service throughout other European destinations.

This new location is in front of the Palacio de Hielo mall and only 15 minutes from the Barajas Airport. The restaurant will be open from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 1 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Guests can enjoy two TVs perfect for watching sporting events, 130 indoor/outdoor dining seats and a full-service bar with liquor, wine and a wide variety of craft beer offerings.

We are moved by how loyal the Spanish community has been towards our brand, said John Brisco, President Global Franchise of Romacorp, Inc. Tony Romas believes in this strong partnership with Beer & Food and is eager to continue the momentum created by this fantastic company.

Beer & Food plans to develop 100 Tony Romas throughout the next seven to eight years with both sub-franchised units and corporate stores and to introduce the brand to France and Portugal.

About Romacorp, Inc.

Romacorp, Inc., is the parent company of Tony Romas restaurants, the worlds largest casual dining concept specializing in ribs. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Romacorp, Inc. has more than 135 restaurant locations in more than 25 countries and is one of the most globally recognizable names in the industry. The first Tony Romas restaurant opened 46 years ago in North Miami, Florida. For more information about Romacorp, Inc. and Tony Romas, visit http://www.tonyromas.com.

Please visit http://www.tonyromasfranchise.com or call (866) 628-1694 for information about Tony Romas franchising opportunities.

For information about retail sales licensing opportunities with the Tony Romas brand, contact Bill Cross, SVP, Broad Street Licensing Group at (973) 655-0598.

About Beer & Food

The Beer & Food group, capitalized by the investment fund Abac Solutions, is a leading multi-brand company operating in the restaurant business in Spain. The company, founded in 2008, currently operates more than 400 restaurants under prestigious brands, including Carls Jr., Tony Romas, Tommy Mels, La Chelinda, Gambrinus, Official Irish Pub and Cruz Blanca.
Never Walk Alone: an awe-inspiring story of an exemplary friendship between peers. Never Walk Alone is the creation of published author, Trevor Szafranski, an Excellence in Education award winner in the state of Michigan and a self-proclaimed connoisseur of cupcakes.

Szafranski shares, Silence is broken by the creak of the classroom door. It opens slow with uncertainty. Heads dart to the door in unison like deer to an unfamiliar sound. In walks an unfamiliar face. His name is Pauley and he is the new kid in Room 6. The students are still, and whispers fill the air. Most new students enter a room with worry, but not Pauley. Pauley is different. He has a smile and personality as warm as the morning sun. How can he be so calm? The mystery surrounding Pauley doesnt fade with time like it does with most new students. Make no mistake, the students love Pauley; however, something isnt adding up. His emotions dont mirror the others. The students begin to wonder who or what Pauley is. The truth; however, is more amazing than anything they could have imagined.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Trevor Szafranskis new book is both an evoking and optimistic opus meant to teach children with virtues of faith in God, thoughtfulness, and understanding.

View a synopsis of Never Walk Alone on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Never Walk Alone at traditional brick and mortar bookstores or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Never Walk Alone, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
This relationship is a win-win for everyone watching, buying, or selling in the land market

The U.S. Land Broker Cooperative (the Co-Op) and AcreValue have announced a partnership to enhance the exposure of land listings across the United States for landowners, farmers and their partners.

AcreValue is an online land intelligence platform used by farmers, landowners, investors, bankers, brokers, and other industry professionals to analyze the value and productive capacity of farmland across the 48 contiguous states. AcreValue is a digital solution from Granular, an ag software company focused on making farming more efficient and profitable, while also preserving and enhancing the value of farmland.

This relationship is a win-win for everyone watching, buying, or selling in the land market, said LeeAnn Moss, Director of Industry Marketing for AcreValue.Our site has over 300,000 unique monthly visitors, many of whom are looking for land to purchase, or data on land thats selling in their area. They will now have access to thousands of land listings on AcreValue from hundreds of brokers across the U.S., updated daily, provided to us by the Co-Op. This makes our site even more of a one-stop shop for our customers needs.

The Co-Op, created in 2018, was organized by a group of professional farm, ranch, and land brokers who saw an opportunity to better serve the needs of the rural real estate brokerage community. The mission of the Co-Op is to provide member services on a cost-competitive basis while also protecting personal and professional data. It is broker/agent owned and offers equal voice to all members, group buying power, and shared participation in profits. With exposure to over 2 million users and soon to be added 65,000+ active listings, the Co-Op is exhibiting phenomenal growth.

Our newly-released map search tool on http://www.landbrokermls.com demonstrates our focus on an improved land shopping experience without commercial advertising. AcreValue seemed like a natural partner for us with their philosophy on helping landowners and farmers get information on land they own or rent, as well as information on potential acquisitions to expand their investment portfolios or farming operations. We see ourselves as a major innovator in the brokerage community, while AcreValue is a major innovator in farmland data and land intelligence, said David Light, Chief Development Officer and Founder at Open Fences Media.

Both organizations are excited to continue building upon their shared commitment to provide creative technology solutions to help landowners and their partners (e.g., brokers) get the information and opportunities that they need in an online, advertisement-free, and functional search environment.

For more information on The Land Broker Cooperative, please contact:

Deetra Tsakrios | Member Relations Manager | deetra(at)landbrokercoop(dot)com | 208-681-7709

For more information on AcreValue and Granular, please contact:

Amy Lazenby | VP of Marketing | amylazenby(at)granular(dot)ag | 949-419-5997

Granular is an agriculture software company dedicated to building stronger and more profitable farms. With web and mobile apps grounded in advanced data science technology, Granular helps farmers make data-driven, real-time business and agronomic decisions with greater confidence. Granular is an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Corteva Agriscience, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP).
 Flash

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called on the country's security services to boost cooperation with its foreign counterparts in fighting terrorism.

"No matter how our current relations with certain countries evolve, Russia will always be open to (combat) international terrorism, a common challenge to all humanity," Putin said at a meeting of senior officials of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

Russian security services should primarily coordinate efforts with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Putin said.

The president praised the success of the FSB in preventing crimes by terrorist networks and groups.

The number of terrorist incidents declined to nine in 2018 from 997 ten years earlier while the number of prevented terrorist attacks remained high at around 20 per year in the last three years, Putin said.

Russian security forces must therefore use new methods of uncovering terrorist threats, identify the recruiters and accomplices of terrorists, block their supply of weapons and money, and halt the propaganda activities of radicals and extremists on the Internet.

At the meeting, Putin stressed the importance of increasing the security of national information resources and promptly eliminating cyber attacks on government institutions, state corporations, telecom operators and large companies.

He also praised the work of the Russian counterintelligence agencies, which ended the activities of 129 staff of foreign intelligence services and 465 recruited agents.
We are honored and excited to be working with uBiome, a true pioneer in the field of the gastrointestinal microbiome, to investigate whether or not the microbiome can predict clinical response to the newer treatment options for Inflammatory Bowel Disease ... - Dr. Wuerth

uBiome announced the launch of a research collaboration with Gastroenterology Fellow, Dr. Brandon Wuerth, MD, and Director of the University of Louisville Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Dr. Gerald Dryden, MD, PhD. The collaboration will investigate microbiota as a potential predictor of clinical response to therapies for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease); specifically, the response to newer biologic agents such as Entyvio or Stelara.

This study has the potential to inform a more personalized approach to IBD treatment and to improve outcomes, said Dr. Jessica Richman, co-founder and CEO of uBiome. We are proud to support Dr. Wuerth and Dr. Drydens mission to uncover the associations of the microbiome in clinical response to therapies for IBD.

If microbiota does in fact act as a predictor, microbiome testing could be performed prior to selecting a certain agent. Data collected from the study will include a clinical symptom score, C-reactive protein (CRP) as a response to inflammation, fecal calprotectin, endoscopy data, number of hospitalizations, and number of times placed on steroids, if applicable. The microbiomes of individuals who flare and dont flare will be compared both at the beginning of the study and after six months.

Dr. Wuerth, a member of uBiomes Advisory Board, completed his internal medicine residency at the Medical University of South Carolina and is currently a second-year Gastroenterology Fellow at the University of Louisville. A sufferer of IBD himself, he founded the popular website IBDwatch.org to broadcast news and research pertaining to IBD to both physicians and patients. Dr. Dryden is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at the University of Illinois. His clinical areas of expertise are hepatology, inflammatory bowel disease, and endoscopic device development.

About the research partnership, Dr. Wuerth said, We are honored and excited to be working with uBiome, a true pioneer in the field of the gastrointestinal microbiome, to investigate whether or not the microbiome can predict clinical response to the newer treatment options for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. This could lead to improved patient outcomes and lower overall costs.

Through its Clinical Research Initiative, uBiome provides microbiome research support in study design, planning, sample collection and sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis to researchers. They strive to partner with researchers worldwide to advance clinical outcomes through microbiome science. Since its inception in 2012, uBiome has partnered with hundreds of academic centers and over 1,000 researchers worldwide to conduct important microbiome research.

About uBiome

Founded in 2012, uBiome is the leader in microbial genomics. The Companys mission is to advance the science of the microbiome and make it useful to people. uBiome combines its patented proprietary precision sequencing with machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop wellness products, clinical tests, and therapeutic targets. uBiome has filed for over 250 patents on its technology, which includes sample preparation, computational analysis, molecular techniques, as well as diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

uBiomes commercial products include SmartGut, the worlds first sequencing-based clinical microbiome test, which identifies microbes in the gut for patients with chronic gut conditions such as IBD, IBS, Crohns Disease, and ulcerative colitis; SmartJane, the first sequencing-based womens health screening test, which genotypes all 19 clinically relevant strains of HPV, identifies four common STDs, and surveys more than 20 vaginal microbes associated with bacterial vaginosis and other conditions; and Explorer, a health and wellness product to understand the role that food and lifestyle can play in wellness.

uBiomes platform has been used by hundreds of thousands of consumers, patients, and doctors and more than 200 research institutions around the world, including the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Harvard University, Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of California, San Francisco, Oxford University, and the University of Sydney.

Since its launch, the company has received widespread recognition including CNN 10: Startups to Watch, the IVY Technology Award, CNN Future 30, and was named one of Fast Companys Most Innovative Companies in Healthcare in 2016 and in Data Science in 2018, as well as a Technology Pioneer from the World Economic Forum in 2018. For more information, visit http://www.uBiome.com.
Director, Relocation and Business Development United Real Estate Group Patricia is one of the most highly regarded relocation professionals in the United States and is very actively involved in the business every day. says Rick Haase, Chief Operating Officer of United Real Estate Group.

United Real Estate Group announced the addition of its relocation services division today. The creation of this business unit will bring high-level care and support for clients across the United States and abroad, affording the opportunity to expand United Real Estate and United Country Real Estates presence in the real estate industry.

Veteran relocation executive, Patricia Ann Pollard, CRP, GMS, SGDS, will head the initiative nationally as Director of Relocation and Business Development. Pollard brings to United Real Estate Group an outstanding track record of career success in corporate relocation management including: third party relocation, relocation department management, broker to broker business development and client relations. She currently serves as Chairwoman of the Relocation Directors Council, Board of Directors of the multi-state Texas Relocation Network Board and was the 2018 President of Relocation Directors Council.

Patricia is one of the most highly regarded relocation professionals in the United States and is very actively involved in the business every day. says Rick Haase, Chief Operating Officer of United Real Estate Group. Her deep understanding of what is needed to be successful in this business, her long-standing trust relationships and strategic alliances across the nation, create a strong foundation for our division. We wanted to launch this important business generating initiative for our agents with the very best talent and experience available and Im glad to say we accomplished just that, added Haase.

It is a privilege to lead the way as we launch the Relocation Services Division to the United Real Estate Group, expressed Pollard. I strive for excellence in all of my endeavors and I am excited for the opportunity I now have with United. I believe that the diversification of United Real Estate and United Countrys business operations is the basis for extremely high levels of service delivery to our clients and will be a catalyst for growth.

To learn more about United Real Estate and United Country's franchising opportunities, visit GrowWithUnited.com or GrowWithUC.com.

A Closer Look at United Real Estate Group

United Real Estate Group, operating the United Country Real Estate and United Real Estate brands, addresses the unique markets they serve, rural and urban, with exclusive marketing, technology and training solutions. Together the United brands support 600 offices and 8,500 real estate professionals across four continents with a unique, comprehensive marketing program that includes one of the largest portfolios of real estate websites, the largest internal real estate marketing services company, an extensive buyer database of more than 650,000 opt-in buyers and regional, national and international advertising programs for properties. For more information about United Real Estate or United Country Real Estate, please visit UnitedRealEstate.com or UnitedCountry.com.


Were so excited to be partnering with Daniel and the ATX Travel Tech Meetup group in Austin, said Voyager HQs Managing Director, John Matson. The city is such a great hub for travel technology and Daniel and ATX Travel Tech have really galvanized the community.

ATX Travel Tech, Austins most popular travel technology Meetup group, has agreed on terms to be acquired by the New York City-based travel startup community Voyager HQ. Voyager HQ will kick off the Austin chapter of events, the companys decentralized travel tech events series, during the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival.

The ATX Travel Tech Meetup has grown to an online community of more than 1,400 members since its creation in May 2017. The group was organized by Ana DeAlvare and Daniel Senyard, serial entrepreneur and current CEO of business travel startup Shep.

By starting it, the two looked to solve the excess of complexity and lack of community available to entrepreneurs that they experienced from founding two startups in the travel tech space. Through the Meetup, Senyard filled gaps in knowledge by conducting interviews with travel technology innovators and veterans, including the first CEO of Sabre and the ex-President of Travelocity Business.

The group is a natural fit for Voyager HQ, which was originally co-founded by travel entrepreneur and CEO of Fareportal, Sam S Jain, and works to connect their community of over 1,500 travel entrepreneurs worldwide with resources that include access to mentors, opportunities for corporate partnership and investment, and a tight-knit global community of fellow travel startup founders.

Were so excited to be partnering with Daniel and the ATX Travel Tech Meetup group in Austin, said Voyager HQs Managing Director, John Matson. The city is such a great hub for travel technology and Daniel and ATX Travel Tech have really galvanized the community.

While Voyager HQ will take over logistics and coordination of the Meetup, Senyard will remain involved as an advisor and occasional co-host of Austin travel tech events. Voyager HQ has also appointed Daniela Pachon, a longtime Meetup member and co-founder of group travel management software Trip Loop, as the Event Director to run community on the ground in Austin.

Having gotten to know John and Jenny from Voyager over the last few years, Ive been very impressed at the community theyve been able to build, both in New York and increasingly around the country, Senyard said. Ana and I created the Meetup to expand Austins travel tech network and knowledge, and so partnering with a group with such an expansive network only strengthens Austins position as a travel tech mecca!

Voyager HQ will host the first event in Austin during the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival with Travel Launch, a full day event co-produced by Voyager HQ, Travel Massive, and Locale on March 10. Travel Launch will bring together travel entrepreneurs, investors, corporate partners and media to showcase the travel tech landscape in Austin with expert panel discussions, a Startup Showcase, and a pitch competition hosted by Voyager HQ.

About ATX Travel Tech Meetup

The ATX Travel Tech Meetup group brings together Austins growing travel tech community to learn from each other and tap into one another's networks and knowledge. The travel industry is complex and quickly changing so Meetup members network learn from their peers and veterans who've been there and done that.

About Voyager HQ

Voyager HQ is the global club connecting startups in travel, tourism and hospitality with investors, mentors, and industry partners. Since its founding in 2016, Voyager HQ has grown to over 1,500 travel startup members in over 65 countries, with a coworking and event space in New York City that serves as a central hub for all stakeholders in travel technology to gather, connect and work. Their brand new decentralized event series, .events (pronounced DOT events), is now active in three travel tech communities, with more locations to be announced in 2019.

About Fareportal

Fareportal is a travel technology company powering a next generation travel concierge service. Utilizing its innovative technology and company owned and operated global contact centers, Fareportal has built strong industry partnerships providing customers access to over 450 airlines, 1 million hotels, and hundreds of car rental companies around the globe. With a portfolio of consumer travel brands including CheapOair and OneTravel, Fareportal enables consumers to book online, on mobile apps for iOS and Android, by phone, or live chat. Fareportal provides its airline partners with access to a broad customer base that books high-yielding international travel and add-on ancillaries.
West Penn Hospital The hospitals on this list represent the current vanguard in value-based care and we applaud their commitment to quality, said Ekta Punwani, 100 Top Hospitals program leader at IBM Watson Health.

West Penn Hospital Named One of the Nation's 100 Top Hospitals by IBM Watson Health

West Penn Hospital, part of Allegheny Health Network (AHN), has been named one of the nations 100 Top Hospitals by IBM Watson Health. The new report, published this week in Modern Healthcare magazine, spotlights the top-performing hospitals in the U.S., based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational, and patient satisfaction data.

IBM Watson Health recognizes hospitals of all sizes, in five different categories  major teaching hospitals, teaching hospitals, large community hospitals, medium community hospitals, and small community hospitals. West Penn was among 25 facilities recognized in the teaching hospitals category.

The Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals study uses independent and objective research to analyze hospital performance in 10 clinical and operational areas addressing: risk-adjusted inpatient mortality index, risk-adjusted complications index, mean healthcare-associated infection index, mean 30-day risk-adjusted mortality rate, mean 30-day risk-adjusted readmission rate, severity-adjusted length of stay, mean emergency department throughput, case mix- and wage-adjusted inpatient expense per discharge, adjusted operating profit margin, and HCAHPS score.

To create its list of the nations top health care providers this year, IBM Watson Health researchers evaluated 3,156 short-term, acute care, non-federal U.S. hospitals. West Penn is one of just two hospitals in the Pittsburgh area, and one of four in Pennsylvania, to be named to the 100 Top Hospitals list.

We are extremely proud to once again be honored by one of the countrys most respected health care industry analysts for the quality of care that we provide, said Ron Andro, president of West Penn Hospital. West Penn has come such a long way over the last five years, which speaks volumes about the extraordinary talent and dedication of our employees, medical staff and volunteers.

It is the fifth time that West Penn Hospital has been named to the prestigious Top 100 Hospitals list, which has been published annually since 1993.

West Penn is one of the regions finest hospitals and home to some of our networks premiere clinical institutes and programs, said Cynthia Hundorfean, president and CEO of AHN. We are blessed to have such an exceptional team of administrators and caregivers at West Penn, and this well-deserved recognition is reflective of the outstanding care and compassion they provide to our patients every day.

A cornerstone of Pittsburghs Bloomfield neighborhood, West Penn is a 361-bed teaching hospital and tertiary care facility. Among many leading clinical programs based at the hospital include AHNs Women and Children Institute, Autoimmunity Institute, Esophageal and Lung Institute, blood and marrow transplant program, and the West Penn Burn Center.

In 2017, West Penn opened the regions first After Hours Oncology Clinic, designed to address cancer patients unique health needs outside the emergency room setting, and in 2018, the hospital opened a first-in-the-region Healthy Food Center, which provides fresh, healthful foods to patients with diabetes who are screened by their doctor as being food insecure. Other recent additions include the hospitals new Comprehensive Hernia Center, Headache Center, the AHN Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, and the AHN Voice, Swallowing and Nutrition Center.

West Penn also was the first hospital in Pittsburgh to earn the American Nurses Credentialing Centers Magnet Recognition, the nations most prestigious honor for nursing excellence.

According to IBM Watson Health, based on the results of this years study, if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated in the award-winning facilities:



More than 103,000 additional lives could be saved;

More than 38,000 additional patients could be complication-free;

More than $8.2 billion in inpatient costs could be saved; and

Approximately 155,000 fewer discharged patients would be readmitted within 30 days.

At a time when research shows that the U.S. spends nearly twice as much on health care as other high-income countries, yet still has poorer population health outcomes , the 100 Top Hospitals are bucking the trend by delivering consistently better care at a lower cost, said Ekta Punwani, 100 Top Hospitals program leader at IBM Watson Health. The hospitals on this list represent the current vanguard in value-based care and we applaud their commitment to quality.

For more information, visit http://www.100tophospitals.com.

###

About Allegheny Health Network

Allegheny Health Network (http://www.AHN.org), a Highmark Health company, is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving Western Pennsylvania. Among the networks 250 clinical locations are eight hospitals  Allegheny General Hospital, its flagship academic medical center in Pittsburgh; Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, Pa.; Canonsburg Hospital in Canonsburg, Pa.; Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Pa.; Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, Pa.; Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa.; West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh; and Westfield Memorial Hospital in Westfield, NY. AHN also is home to a comprehensive research institute; Health + Wellness Pavilions; home- and community-based health services; and a group purchasing organization. The network employs 20,000 people and has more than 2,400 doctors on its medical staff. Established in 2013, AHNs member hospitals share legacies of charitable care that date back more than 160 years.

About IBM Watson Health

Watson Health is a business unit of IBM that is dedicated to the development and implementation of cognitive and data-driven technologies to advance health. Watson Health technologies are tackling a wide range of the worlds biggest health care challenges, including cancer, diabetes, drug discovery and more. Learn more.
Wharfedale's Transformation POC Service for SAP HANA platform comes at a crucial time for enterprise customers

Wharfedale Technologies Inc. has made its Transformation POC (proof of concept) Service for SAP HANA readily available for enterprise customers. With this service, Wharfedale will help its customers plan, design and execute an SAP HANA migration to Microsoft Azure within a limited scope as a proof of concept to prepare them for their digital transformation journey.

Wharfedale's Transformation POC Service for SAP HANA comes at a crucial time for enterprise customers. According to a recent report from tech analyst Forrester, many companies are facing roadblocks in their digital transformation efforts due to a resistance to change and the absence of a clear roadmap. The Transformation POC Service for SAP HANA addresses these hurdles and helps customers make their digital transformation journey.

"Wharfedale not only performs a migration. We also help customers focus on digital transformation. Everyone in the world is looking at digital transformation right now and we believe that the cloud is the first step," said Ganesh Radhakrishnan, CEO, Wharfedale Technologies. "With a move to SAP HANA platform in the cloud, customers can begin to look at the next big product of SAP, called SAP S/4HANA."

Wharfedale's Transformation POC Service for SAP HANA is a three-week long project. In Week 1 Wharfedale will review the customer's environment and install the SAP HANA platform on Azure based on deployment best practices. Week 2 and Week 3 will cover the migration and testing phase. At the end of each week, customers can expect Wharfedale to execute a list of action items corresponding to the main objective of that specific week.

The deliverables of the Transformation POC Service for SAP HANA are as follows:



A bill of materials (BOM) with Azure servers for the selected SAP HANA system

An architecture diagram for SAP Landscape with SAP HANA platform migration

Azure infrastructure setup and configuration of the SAP HANA platform

A proof of concept for the SAP HANA workload running in Azure

Enterprise customers have much to gain from Wharfedale's Transformation POC Service for SAP HANA. This service will provide customers with many benefits including, but not limited to:

A clear understanding of the requirements of a move to the SAP HANA platform on Azure

The ability to maximize research budget and minimize development costs

An understanding of the capabilities and limitations of SAP HANA platform on Azure

The ability to visualize the look-and feel of a SAP HANA platform workload running on Azure

A reduction in the overall risk of project failure.

Customers can view Wharfedale's Transformation POC offering for SAP HANA on Microsoft's Azure Marketplace. The Azure Marketplace is an online market for buying and selling finished Software as a Service (SaaS) applications and premium datasets.

"Through Microsoft Azure Marketplace, customers around the world can easily find, buy, and deploy partner solutions they can trust, all certified and optimized to run on Azure," said Sajan Parihar, Director, Microsoft Azure Platform at Microsoft Corp. "We're happy to welcome Wharfedale's solution to the growing Azure Marketplace ecosystem."

About Wharfedale Technologies Inc.

Wharfedale Technologies Inc. (WFT) is a leading technology consulting firm specializing in infrastructure integrations and cloud services in support of SAP solutions including upgrading to SAP HANA and migrating SAP S/4HANA to Microsoft Azure, as well as private/public hybrid cloud solutions. Wharfedale is a certified provider of SAP hosting, infrastructure and cloud services, and Microsoft Gold Partner for Cloud Platform. Wharfedale offers solutions for high availability, disaster recovery, advanced sizing for virtualization, backup/recovery integration, systems refresh automation and landscape optimization.

For more information on Wharfedale and WFT Cloud services, please visit http://www.WFTCloud.com or call us at (888) 533-3113.

SAP, SAP HANA, SAP S/4HANA and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
National Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor author Kathi Appelts newest novel is her first for young adults. Set along a Texas bayou and spanning decades, the story follows a unique cast of interconnected characters: 16-year old Cade, a thief of cemetery statuary; Zorra, an ocelot captured by a poacher; and Achsah, a teenaged slave recently freed, but whose daughters are still imprisoned. Appelt spoke with PW about the experiences and subsequent research that inspired Angel Thieves, writing an ensemble cast that includes an animal and a place, and the challenges of writing for teens instead of middle graders.

What inspired you to write Angel Thieves?

I wish I could say there was a single thing that inspired the book, but actually there were a couple of things.

Several years ago, in the mid- to late-1990s, I went to a funeral with my grandmother. My family on my grandmothers side goes way back; Im a seventh generation Houstonian, so it was a graveside service in the Washington Cemetery, a very old cemetery in Houston. It was a rainy, cold, dreary day, and, as we were driving out of the cemetery, I couldnt help but feel something was wrong. I asked my grandmother if we could make another loop. We drove back through and I realized that all of the angels I could see from the car were headless. It being an old cemetery, Im sure some of the damage was from weather events, like lightning and downed trees, but it was freakish.

I live about an hour and a half away from Houston, but, a couple weeks later, I told my husband that I had to take him to see the cemetery. It was haunting me. We drove down and took photos of the headless angels. Thats when I started looking into the phenomenon of selling cemetery statuary on the black market. I actually wrote a poem about a boy who was a thief, stealing cemetery statuary. I guess it has just stayed with me all of these years.

In 2001, right before 9/11, there were two young women in their early 20s who had signed on with a missionary group to travel to Afghanistan. They both claimed they felt called to go there. The young women were taken as hostages by the Taliban after being caught proselytizing. I remember thinking, why would these women put themselves in that position? What does it look like and feel like to have that kind of faith? Ive never experienced that; I think of myself as a spiritual person, but to have that kind of intense faith was puzzling to me. I started thinking of these kids, whom I call sweet believers because their faith is so simple and pure. Then, I wondered: What would it look like to have a boy who has a dark secret, but who falls for a girl who is a sweet believer?

Thats the real-time story. The dream-time story goes back to pre-Civil War, Texas. All of my stories start with place and I knew I wanted to set this novel in Texas on the bayou. I started doing research and I came across an article about Sylvia Routh, a slave freed upon her masters death. But they were put under the guardianship of a really awful man. They were supposed to be set free at 21, but there was no law or way to make sure this actually happened. As a mother, I couldnt help but wonder, how could I ever be free if my children werent?

I felt compelled as a lifelong Texan to be honest about the states history, to show it wasnt all victory. The victors get to write history and tell the story, but I wanted to help bring the other side to light.

It seems this story of freedom, faith, and hope is especially timely. When did you begin writing it, and did you know then it would intersect with larger social themes?

I began writing Angel Thieves three years ago. I knew that I would be addressing the history of slavery in Texas. I originally started the book with Achsah, then I decided to [start] with place, setting it more deliberately along the bayou in Houston. I wanted to give my readers a more identifiable way to jump into the story, so I opened with Cade and Soleil, two contemporary characters, then segued into Achsahs story.

I had started working on Angel Thieves before families started being separated at the border. Its kind of freakish to be writing about families being separated, then to see it start happening.

One of the surprises for me was the Native American thread that I incorporated into the story. The more I researched, the more I realized it was necessary to include this part of the story. In the United States, marble fields are in Georgia and Vermont. I didnt think it was likely a character would make their way from marble fields in Vermont to Natchez, Miss., but I thought Georgia was a realistic possibility. Of course, one of the things the Cherokees lost with the Removal Act was the marble fields in Georgia. I didnt intend for that to be a large part of the book, but the passing of the Removal Act happened pretty much at the same time as Texas Independence. They were almost concurrent events. It wasnt a beautiful moment in our nations history. It would have been irresponsible to not include these parallel events, especially when I was discussing marble as part of the cemetery statuary.

Why did you choose to include the bayou and an ocelot as part of the novels ensemble cast?

The bayou is so ancient; shes always been there. Shes the narrator, but, more importantly, shes the witness.

When I started to think about the black market and cemetery statuary, my mind went right to exotic animals. I was particular about the ocelot because they are indigenous to the Houston area, even though the population is depleted now. One of the few places they remain in Texas is along the Rio Grande, where maybe 50 still live. The ocelot was a way to tie the natural history of the bayou to the human history.

This is your first novel for a young adult audience. How was writing this novel a different experience than writing for younger readers?

The middle grade set is the sweet spot. On the lower end of the middle grade spectrum, kids are still believers. Some still believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy. On the other end, kids arent so far from the magic, but they are no longer completely willing to set aside their disbelief. With younger middle grade, you can get away with some things because the readers are willing to go along with you.

You have to convince the older kids that magic is possible. They love fantasy and video games and science fiction, but are they truly convinced that magic is possible? Part of my choice to incorporate magical realism into Angel Thieves comes from my wish that theyll give into that magic a little bit; its just enough magic to tap into what they used to believe and might believe again. Theres an openness but a fair bit of cynicism, too, which makes teens more difficult to write for.

Angel Thieves by Kathi Appelt. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $18.99 Mar. 12 ISBN 978-1-4424-2109-7
The Kerlan Collection of childrens literature at the Elmer L. Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota officially opened its latest exhibit, The ABC of It on February 27 with a program featuring Leonard S. Marcus, author of The ABC of It: Why Childrens Books Matter (Univ. of Minnesota Press, Feb.), which did double-duty as the exhibits catalogue. Hundreds of peoplemany of them childrens book authors and librariansbraved the cold to check out this adaptation of an exhibit that was displayed in 2013 at the New York Public Library, curated by Marcus. The highlight of the evening at the Kerlan was a 45-minute conversation about childrens literature, replete with personal anecdotes, between Marcus, who traveled to Minneapolis from New York City for the occasion, and the exhibits curator, Lisa Von Drasek, curator of the Kerlan Collection. The evening ended with a book signing, with a table staffed by a bookseller from Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, which featured some of the childrens books displayed in the exhibit, as well as The ABC of It.

The exhibit revolved around the great green room from Margaret Wise Browns Goodnight Moon, which was constructed in the rotunda of the library; the rest of the exhibit wound upward on the walls of the librarys two upper floors. Photo: Claire Kirch.

A couple of attendees enjoying the exhibit. Photo: Paula Keller.

Childrens book author David LaRochelle examines a display. Photo: Claire Kirch.

The exhibit includes collages created by Melissa Sweet that replicate her illustrations in Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macys Parade. Photo: Margi Preus.

A handwritten draft of Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola. Photo: Margi Preus.

The Kerlan has extensive holdings of author-illustrator Wanda Gags manuscripts and artwork. Gag was born in Minnesota in 1893 and moved to New York City at age 20. Photo: Claire Kirch.

Visitors taking photos of themselves with a larger-than-life-size Poky Little Puppy. The Poky Little Puppy, published in 1942, was written by Janette Sebring Lowrey and illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren. Photo: Paula Keller.

Marcus and Von Drasek engage in a discussion about the evolution of childrens literature over the centuries. Von Drasek wrote the foreword to The ABC of It. Photo: Claire Kirch.

The program began with a video of University of Minnesota and City of Minneapolis notablesincluding former mayor R.T. Rybaksitting in the great green room and taking turns reading Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Photo: Paula Keller.

Childrens book author Margi Preus drove to Minneapolis from her home in Duluth to read the Spanish-language edition of Goodnight Moon in the great green room in the rotunda. Preus told PW that it was a dream come true for her. Photo: Claire Kirch.

The great green room drew (from l.) illustrator Nick Wroblewski, University of Minnesota Press publicist Heather Skinner, UMP editor Erik Anderson, and author Preus.

Karen Nelson Hoyle (l.), the Kerlans founding curator, takes a turn in the great green room with Marcus and Von Drasek. Photo: Paula Keller.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  The West African chimpanzee population has declined by nearly 80 percent in recent decades. Habitat loss is threatening their livelihoods across the continent, and especially in Senegal, where corporate mining has started eating up land in recent years.

The geographical distribution of West African chimps overlaps almost perfectly with gold and iron ore deposits, and unfortunately for the chimps, mining is a key piece of the countrys development strategy, said Stacy Lindshield, a biological anthropologist at Purdue University.

Extractive industries are already improving peoples livelihoods and promoting investment and infrastructure development, and researchers are trying to find a way to protect Senegals chimps without surrendering these benefits. Many of Earths animal species are now dying off at accelerated rates, but as humans closest living relatives, they tend to tug at our heart strings. Chimps are scientifically important, too  because they participate in collective activities such as hunting and food-sharing, theyre often studied by social science researchers.

A new study of animal populations inside and outside a protected area in Senegal, Niokolo-Koba National Park, shows that protecting such an area from human interaction and development preserves not only chimps but many other mammal species. The findings were published in the journal Folia Primatologica.

We saw the same number of chimpanzee species inside and outside the park, but more species of carnivores and ungulates in the protected area, Lindshield said.

Although habitat loss is the biggest threat to West African chimps, theyre sometimes killed for meat. This is uncommon in Senegal, where eating chimpanzee meat is a taboo  people think chimps are too similar to humans to eat. But this isnt the case in other West African countries, where researchers might see a bigger difference in chimp populations inside and outside protected areas. National parks could be especially effective at protecting chimps in these nations.

The difference in the number of species of carnivores and hooved animals (known as ungulates), inside and outside the park was stark  their populations were 14 and 42 percent higher in the park, respectively. This is in sharp contrast with what Lindshield was hearing on the ground in Senegal: Theres nothing in the park; all the animals are gone.

There were qualitative and quantitative differences between what people were telling me and what I was seeing in the park, she said. Niokolo-Koba National Park is huge, and the area we study is nestled deeply in the interior where its difficult for humans to access. As a consequence, we see a lot of animals there.

Hunting practices and human-carnivore conflict are two big reasons for ungulates thriving inside the park. These animals are frequently targeted by hunters, and some carnivore species turn to livestock as a food source when their prey species are dwindling, creating potential for conflict with humans. Because the two sites are relatively close geographically and have similar grassland, woodland and forest cover, the researchers think human activity is the root of differences between the two sites.

Lindshields team conducted basic field surveys by walking around the two sites and recording the animals they saw. They also installed camera traps at key water sources, gallery forests and caves to record more rare and nocturnal animals.

Were engaging in basic research, but its crucial in an area thats rapidly developing and home to an endangered species, Lindshield said. This provides evidence that the protected area is effective, at least where we are working, counter to what I was hearing from the public. The management of protected areas is highly complex. Myriad challenges can make management goals nearly impossible, such as funding shortfalls or lack of buy-in from local communities, but I think its important for people to recognize that this park is not a lost cause; its working as its intended to at Assirik, especially for large ungulates and carnivores.

Lindshield hopes her future studies will uncover not only which species exist in each site, but population sizes of each species. This metric, known as species evenness, is a key measure of biodiversity.

Data from the unprotected area in Senegal was collected by Jill Pruetz of Texas State University. Stephanie Bogart of the University of Florida, Papa Ibnou Ndiaye of the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop and Malle Gueye of Niokolo-Koba National Park, also contributed to this research. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Leakey Foundation, Rufford Foundation, Primate Conservation Inc., Jane Goodall Research Center at University of Southern California, Purdue and Iowa State University.

Her work aligns with Purdues Giant Leaps celebration, acknowledging the universitys global advancements made in health, space, artificial intelligence and sustainability as part of Purdues 150th anniversary. Those are the four themes of the yearlong celebrations Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues.

Writer: Kayla Zacharias, 765-494-9318, kzachar@purdue.edu

Source: Stacy Lindshield, 765-494-5008, slindshi@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: For a copy of the paper, please contact Kayla Zacharias, Purdue News Service, kzachar@purdue.edu.

ABSTRACT
March 7, 2019

Purdue College of Engineering and Indiana University School of Medicine announce Engineering-Medicine partnership

Matt Arkenberg, a first-year doctoral student at Purdues Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, is developing novel biomaterials that could one day be used to promote survival of pancreatic islets transplanted into type 1 diabetic patients to restore normoglycemia. Arkenberg is one of the inaugural recipients of the Innovation for Clinical Translational Fellowship, jointly funded by the Purdue College of Engineering and Indiana University School of Medicine through the Engineering-Medicine Partnership. (Photo/Vincent Walter)

Download Photo

INDIANAPOLIS  Purdue University College of Engineering and Indiana University School of Medicine are launching a new educational and research partnership to develop novel technological solutions for pressing health care problems.

While the two institutions have collaborated for decades, the new Engineering-Medicine partnership formalizes the relationship and represents a long-term commitment to meld the institutions complementary expertise.

The marriage of medicine and engineering is essential to developing the most advanced diagnostics and devices to treat patients, said Dr. Jay L. Hess, dean of IU School of Medicine and IUs executive vice president for university clinical affairs. This partnership leverages existing expertise, optimizes public resources and positions Indiana to be a leader in the development of technologies that transform health.

Medicine is key to the future of engineering, with biomedical engineering front and center but important roles as well for nearly all engineering disciplines," said Mung Chiang, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering at Purdue. We are grateful for our long, productive relationship with IU School of Medicine, including our ongoing MD/Ph.D. program. Our collaboration is now strengthened with the simultaneous launch of multiple new programs that will help elevate engineering-medicine synergy through cross-disciplinary education, research and innovation.

Leaders from Indiana University School of Medicine and Purdue Universitys College of Engineering sign a memorandum of understanding to formalize the partnership. From left are George R. Wodicka, Purdues Dane A. Miller Head of Biomedical Engineering; Jay Hess, dean of the IU School of Medicine and executive vice president for University Clinical Affairs; Anantha Shekhar, executive associate dean for research affairs and director of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute; and Mung Chiang, Purdues John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering.

Download Photo

The partnership:

 Establishes an MD/MS in biomedical engineering program that will provide masters-level training to IU medical students who seek to develop and apply engineering technologies in their clinical practices and related research laboratories.

 Creates the Clinical Innovation and Translation (ICT) Fellowships in Biomedical Engineering, a new program that will immerse Purdue engineering graduate students in clinical settings and provide mentorship from faculty at both institutions so they are better prepared to translate technology directly into hospital and ambulatory health care settings.

 Provides opportunities for IU School of Medicine students interested in exploring research in biomedical engineering to embed in Purdue College of Engineering faculty research groups during the summer.

 Formalizes annual research collaboration meetings between faculty at each campus to spur joint projects and share expertise.

 Bolsters a program administered by the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute that provides pilot funding to cross-disciplinary research projects involving faculty from both institutions.

The new programs build on and strengthen existing educational and research collaborations, including a highly selective MD/Ph.D. program in biomedical engineering. IU and Purdue are partners in the Indiana Clinical Translational and Sciences Institute, and IU School of Medicine and Purdue College of Engineering faculty members are collaborating on about 50 research projects in various stages of research and development, clinical trials and clinical practice.

Recent exemplars include a new Type 1 diabetes therapy that shows promise for long-term reversal in both humans and dogs and a new imaging technique that provides a detailed 3D image of the brain with important implications for studying Alzheimers disease.

Whether we are developing new tests to diagnose cancer at earlier stages, improving surgical devices, or seeking ways to regrow damaged organs, we need the best minds from many disciplines working together for the benefit of patients, said Dr. Anantha Shekhar, executive associate dean for research affairs at IU School of Medicine and director of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. We are fortunate to have such strong programs in medicine and engineering in Indiana, and we feel confident that our joint efforts will strengthen the states critical life sciences sector.

Dean Chiang added, Through the expanded partnership, our goal is to broaden Purdue Engineerings impact on health to match our contributions in many other technological realms, such as space exploration. The now enhanced collaboration with IU School of Medicine represents yet another Purdue Giant Leap forward.

For more information about the Engineering-Medicine Partnership, please visit https://purdue-indiana.net.

About the Purdue University Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering

In just two decades, the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering has synergistically leveraged Purdues and IU School of Medicines expansive engineering and medical infrastructure, respectively, to rapidly create one of the most productive translational research enterprises around new medical technologies. Concurrently, the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering has graduated hundreds of top students at the bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. levels. For more information, please visit www.purdue.edu/BME.

About Indiana University School of Medicine

Indiana University School of Medicine is one of the nation's premier medical schools and is a leader and innovator in medical education, research and clinical care. The country's largest medical school, IU School of Medicine educates more than 1,600 medical and graduate degree students on nine campuses in Indiana, and its faculty holds nearly $340 million in research grants and contracts, to advance the School's missions and promote life sciences. For more information, please visit medicine.iu.edu.

Media Contacts: Jim Bush, 765-494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu

Christina Griffiths, 317-671-3114, griffchm@iu.edu

Katie Duffey, 317-278-3630, kaduffey@iu.edu

Sources: Jay L. Hess

Mung Chiang



Note to Journalists: Video b-roll is available on Google Drive at https://goo.gl/bTGnRA. The The materials were prepared by Erin Easterling, digital producer for the Purdue College of Engineering, 765-496-3388, easterling@purdue.edu.
Stool-style chair offers convenient, sustainable features for small, limited spaces

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Anyone who has tried to live the urban lifestyle knows living space can be a scarce resource. The average size of a new apartment in the U.S. in 2018 is 941 square feet, 5 percent smaller than 10 years ago, according to RENTCafe Blog, and in Seattle, Manhattan and Chicago they are substantially smaller, leaving little space beyond a bed and kitchen table.

Apartments in Paris, Berlin, London, Tokyo and other international cities are even smaller for those with limited financial resources.

Now, a Purdue University design expert has come up with a solution to help in tight spots. Tong Kim, an associate professor of industrial design in Purdues College of Liberal Arts, created a stackable furniture option.

Our Share Chair design offers a convenient furniture and sitting option for those living with limited space, Kim said. This innovation is part of our effort to create furniture design processes and products to change lean manufacturing across the world.

The Share Chair is a barstool-style chair with a stackable, interlocking system that allows someone to use it as a single stacked chair or as two or three separate chairs. The design has a modern look intended to add a decorative touch to the space, especially when used as the single stacked chair option.

Kim said the furniture is ideal for young professionals living in small apartments or for restaurants and businesses looking to make the most of limited space in downtown settings.

Our stool design also opens up new possibilities for businesses that are embracing the open environment office concept, Kim said. This chair can be a space-saving and ergonomic option for workers in offices designed to facilitate open communication and seating.

Kim said the Share Chair ships as one complete unit to reduce shipping costs by more than 30 percent. He said shipping costs typically account for one-third of the overall costs for manufacturing goods, and that shipping in one package eliminates some of the waste associated with more conventional furniture shipping methods.

Their work aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebration, celebrating the global advancements in sustainability of life as part of Purdues 150th anniversary. Sustainability, including lean manufacturing, is one of the four themes of the yearlong celebrations Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues.

Kim and his team have worked with the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization to patent the technologies. Kim is also the founder of Wonder Makerspace, a design tech lab for communities.

About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University.

Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org



Source: Tong Kim, kim1886@purdue.edu
 Flash

Authorities in Malaysia's southern Johor state were forced to evacuate over 1,000 people, mostly school students, on Thursday after chemicals were illegally dumped in a river near two schools.

Johor Fire and Rescue department said in a statement that it received an emergency call from the Pasir Gudang district early on Thursday.

Four teams, with a hazardous material team, assisted by the Pasir Gudang fire station rushed to the location immediately after receiving the distress call regarding a strong smell, suspected to be chemicals, where the schools are located.

"Checks showed the presence of methane gas. An evacuation of the area was ordered, 500m from the site, including the two schools which have 1,400 students and teachers," the statement said.

Johor Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Sahruddin Jamal told state news agency Bernama that 28 people were reported to have fallen ill after being exposed to the gas.

Sahruddin said they comprised students and canteen workers aged between seven and 40, and were being treated at two hospitals and a clinic.

"The situation is under control and the smell of gas is less," he said.

Sahruddin added that authorities have taken samples from the site and said the chemical was dumped by irresponsible parties, where a bridge is being constructed.




The Railways (Interoperability) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 were laid before Parliament on February 26, and would come into effect in the event of a no-deal Brexit to maintain the regulatory status quo for obtaining authorisation to put rolling stock and infrastructure into service. DfT is consulting on a new ...
Since Yi Gang became governor in March 2018, the People's Bank of China has improved its communications, boosted its transparency, and moved toward a flexible exchange rate. Although the PBOC has plenty of room for further improvement, its progress so far is good news for China and international policymakers alike.
While Islamabads release of a captured Indian pilot has tentatively de-escalated the archrivals latest conflict in Kashmir, tensions between India and Pakistan remain at their highest point in decades.

Facing a tough election due by May, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take a stronger stance against Pakistan to secure additional support, risking another escalation in the short term.

But as long as Pakistani support for Kashmir militants endures as part of Islamabad's long-running asymmetric warfare campaign, future and potentially larger-scale attacks between two nuclear-armed neighbors are inevitable.

For the first time in nearly five decades, India and Pakistan took their rivalry to the skies. On Feb. 26, Indian warplanes entered Pakistan's airspace and bombed what New Delhi claims was a training camp belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the Pakistani militant group responsible for a Feb. 14 suicide attack against a paramilitary convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir. The following day, Pakistan retaliated by launching airstrikes back across the Line of Control, which separates the disputed region between the two countries. Both sides claimed to have shot down enemy aircraft, contradicting each other's accounts in the process. Amid the turmoil, the Pakistani military captured an Indian pilot. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered the pilot's release on March 1.

While the two countries continue to dispute the veracity of each others claims, the pilot's return will enable Pakistan and India to re-channel their aggression from a more dangerous phase involving airstrikes to a more manageable phase involving diplomatic wrangling and artillery fire across the Line of Control. Nonetheless, the latest episode between the nuclear powers indicates that India is using bolder tactics against Pakistan's continued support of Kashmiri militants, meaning the next round of retaliations between the South Asian rivals will almost surely be more dangerous than the last.

Where It All Began

India and Pakistan's dispute over Kashmir has long been at the heart of their rivalry, dating back to when each country gained independence in 1947. The United Kingdom divided what had been colonial India into what is now India and Pakistan. However, as a semi-sovereign princely state, Kashmir remained an undecided territory between the two.

For Muslim-majority Pakistan, it seemed natural that Muslim-majority Kashmir would belong under its control. Islamabad also worried that surrendering Kashmir to New Delhi would give its stronger neighbor undue influence over key waterways. India, on the other hand, refused to cede even more territory to its new neighbor, and feared that a Kashmiri secession would breathe life into other autonomous movements as well  and thereby claimed Kashmir's rightful home was under the Indian flag.

And so, Pakistan sought to conquer the disputed state by force  beginning the first of many Indo-Pakistani wars over the territory. Following the second Indo-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir in 1965, the two sides engaged in another costly war over the fate of East Pakistan in 1971, now Bangladesh, which included the last use of airstrikes into Pakistani territory since India's most recent incursion in Kashmir.

Kashmir's Current Status

Kashmir is currently split into seven regions, administered by three different countries: Pakistan, which governs the Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir divisions; India, which governs the Jammu, Ladakh and the Kashmir Valley divisions; and China, which governs the Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract divisions. And while India claims all seven regions (including China's), Pakistan only claims Indias regions along with its own.

In 1989, the question of Indian-administered Kashmirs autonomy eventually morphed into a full-blown insurgency against Indian rule in the region  creating an opportunity for Pakistan to aid various militant groups against India over the decades, including JeM (the perpetrators of the Feb. 14 attack).

Meanwhile, Pakistan says it supports Kashmirs right to self-determination  pointing to New Delhis human rights violations from its militarys heavy-handed presence and coercive tactics in India's Kashmir Valley division (the locus of militancy). In mediating the dispute, Islamabad has insisted on involving the United Nations and the international community. But for fear of such human rights violations, India has shunned U.N. involvement and has worked to keep Kashmir as a bilateral issue, framed in terms of cross-border terrorism.

While tensions over the territory between the countries are always simmering, two events in 2016 brought them closer to a boil. In July, the death of Burhan Wani, a commander of the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, triggered months of protests in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir that resulted in more than 120 deaths. Two months later, militants attacked an army base near the town of Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 17 soldiers and provoking an Indian retaliation against militant launch pads across the Line of Control. But despite all their altercations in Kashmir over the past decades, India and Pakistan had never resorted to airstrikes in Kashmir  that is, until now.

The Devil in the Details

India and Pakistan dispute the key details of their latest exchange. Indian politician and current president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amit Shah, claims New Delhis airstrikes killed 250 militants. However, the Indian government  which initially stated the strike was a "non-military preemptive action"  has refused to offer an official casualty count. This disconnect seemingly bolsters Pakistans assertion that New Delhi's strike achieved little more than flattening a few trees in the town surrounding the training camp.

In response to India's strike, Pakistan said it launched airstrikes the next day  targeting six non-military installations across the Line of Control to prove its capabilities, and bringing down the Indian pilot in the process. New Delhi was quick to claim Islamabad used U.S.-made fighter jets in the raid, citing a recovered piece of missile fitted for an F-16 as proof. However, Pakistan vehemently denies the use of such aircraft for fear of retaliation from Washington, which sold F-16 jets to Islamabad to use against militancy operations, not against India.

Regardless of who's right, the fact the Indian airstrike occurred in an undisputed territory outside of Pakistan-administered Kashmir not only demonstrates India's ability, but its willingness, to breach Pakistans air defenses.

Playing With Fire

In the short term, whether New Delhi ups the ante again against Pakistan will depend largely on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's re-election campaign. Modi and the BJP face a tough election due by May, amid India's economic travails and lackluster job creation, as well as growing angst among the country's farmers. To shore up more support ahead of time, Modi will use the latest episode in Kashmir to position himself as a strong and decisive leader, best capable of defending the nation against Pakistan. In justifying these tactics, he will paint anyone who accuses him of politicizing the issue for electoral gain as abetting Pakistan  thereby putting the nearly two dozen opposition parties running against the BJP in the upcoming election on the defensive.

And indeed, Modi has already begun to incorporate these themes on the campaign trail, as evidenced by his recent speeches at rallies in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh  two of India's most populous states, and key battlegrounds for the BJPs quest to achieve another parliamentary majority in the next vote.

But even if Modi's strong-willed words dont spark another escalation in the coming months, India and Pakistan's history, along with Islamabad's continued support of Kashmiri militants, make the next crisis in the disputed territory all but certain  with India striking back, prompting Pakistan to again respond in kind. And depending on the size of India's next retaliation, the two rivals could very well move toward a sharper confrontation that tests the limits of their aversion to another war.

Reprinted with permission from Stratfor Worldview.
Russia pushed hard to influence an election in its near abroad. But Moldovans know what they care about.

Moldovans went to the polls on Feb. 24 to elect a new parliament. Candidates and outside media touted the contest as a choice between Russia and the West, as they had done in the run-up to presidential elections in 2016. Moldovans have been deeply divided on the countrys political orientation since the former Soviet republic declared independence in 1991, and security is always a pressing concern. Indeed, Moldovas pro-Russian breakaway enclave, Transdniestria, has remained outside Chisinaus control for over 25 years. Yet geopolitics arent what motivate most Moldovans at the voting booth. Corruption, the lack of rule of law, and failing institutions are of greater concern.

Given these circumstances, it was no surprise that the ruling, nominally pro-EU Democratic Party, or PDM failed to hold its majority, garnering just 24 percent of the vote. The PDMs chairperson, Vladimir Plahotniuc, is Moldovas richest oligarch and is implicated in a slew of corruption scandals. The Party of Socialists of Moldova, pro-Russian and led by the countrys President Igor Dodon, secured 31 percent, less than expected for Moscows preferred candidate. The pro-European opposition bloc ACUM came in second with 26 percent.

With no party gaining an outright majority, the true consequences of the election are yet to be seen; snap elections remain a possibility. Three developments, however, merit close attention.

First, the elections showed the limits of Russian President Vladimir Putins influence in this small nation long considered to be in Moscows near abroad. After frequently polling in the mid-to-high 40 percent range, Dodon delivered far less, despite several Kremlin attempts to boost his prospects. Last November, Putin granted amnesty to all Moldovan immigrants working in Russia illegally, if they went home to vote. Two days prior to the election, Russian authorities launched an investigation into Plahotniucs alleged role in laundering funds for a criminal syndicate.

Despite Putins personal interest, the Socialists were unable to gain a majority and oust Plahotniucs party. Even Russian state media has started to turn against Dodon. As one commentator noted, someone in our country, hopefully not at the highest level, made some kind of idol of Dodon. Weve had our idols in the past in other countries who greatly disappointed us [] The history of our work in Ukraine is that of fallen idols, Kravchuk, Yanukovich [] and we know how that history ends.

Second, the pro-European and anti-oligarchic opposition bloc ACUM had a surprisingly strong showing. ACUM has vowed not to enter into a coalition with either Plahotniuc or Dodon, increasing the chance of another vote. Whether the opposition can maintain its momentum, however, remains to be seen. While 73 percent of Moldovans in the diaspora voted for the bloc, its popularity in the country itself is limited to the capital and adjacent areas.

Third, despite strong indications of vote buying, especially along the border with separatist Transdniestria, OSCE monitors reported that, fundamental rights were generally respected in competitive elections. Trust that ones vote will be counted, and that a government can be changed via the polling booth, will be crucial for future democratic transition. It is no secret that there is overall disappointment among citizens in political processes and institutions here, noted George Tsereteli, leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission and former vice-speaker of Georgias parliament.

Now, the West must pressure Moldova to continue down the path of internal reform, fighting corruption, and building a rules-based economy. The stakes for the region are high, according to Sergiu Toflat, an expert at a local watchdog, who warned that if Plahotniuc keeps power for another four years, there could be a humanitarian disaster. Young, talented Moldovans will continue to leave the country, and the already unsustainable pension system could collapse.

The average pensioner in Moldova receives just $90 per month. This is already impossible to live on, given utility bills alone are $60 per month. The vacuum created by such a crisis would become yet another destabilizing factor in an already tense geopolitical neighborhood.



Moldovans have much to offer both to Europe and the world. The countrys vineyards have an excellent reputation and are gaining attention abroad. Moldovas history at the cross-roads of empires has shaped a diverse cultural environment and cosmopolitanism. It is not uncommon for Moldovan youth to speak and understand five languages fluently, allowing them to practice receptive multilingualism by talking in their own language without switching to anothers, and thereby avoiding the political tension inherent in privileging one language over the other.

Despite the obstacles, many of Moldovas citizens continue to fight for genuine change and seek a brighter future in an inclusive European Union. They deserve transatlantic support on the tough road ahead. Moldovas Western partners, busy dealing with the fallout from outside interference in their own elections, did not have much to offer Chisinau in the run-up to its recent vote. As Moldovas future now remains in balance with a hung parliament, a concerted transatlantic strategy of building inclusive institutions, democratic capacity, and a rules-based economy in the country would be a good start. Ultimately, as is the case with Ukraine, Moldovas stability and security are a bellwether for the stability and security of the European Union and the transatlantic alliance.

John Lechner is an expert on Slavic languages and cultures and a former financial analyst. Follow him on Twitter @JohnLechner1. Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish parliament and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on Twitter @aykan_erdemir. The views expressed are the authors' own.
Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale

Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada.

Search Real Estate
,



We're sorry, this article is not currently available
Porterville, CA (93257)

Today

Abundant sunshine. High 62F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 47F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Matthew Mewbourne is giving locals and others a chance to give back to the community through his homemade candle business, Rekindle Athens. He, along with Kayley Anderkin, founded the company in fall 2016.

Rekindle Athens sells candles in mason jars, tin cans and ceramics in a variety of fragrances. They use a mixture of synthetic and essential oils for fragrances such as Wassail and Cinnamon Chai. They sell online, but first started with farmers markets.
Rachel Byers will be the first female SGA president since Mallory Davis was elected in 2011.

The Empower ticket prevailed after a week and a half of campaigning, securing its spot as the executive officers of the 32nd University of Georgia Student Government Association administration at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6. President-elect Byers, Vice President-elect Melissa Hevener and Treasurer-elect Nav Singh will lead SGA in the 2019-2020 school year.

Empower won with 3,698 votes and 54.61 percent of the vote, while ACT received 3,074 votes. A total of 6,772 ballots were submitted, more than 1,300 votes less than last years voter turnout.

0:54 VIDEO: Empower wins 2019 UGA SGA election On the evening of March 6 in Tate Plaza, the new SGA administration was officially announced.

We are so, so excited  honestly humbled by the incredible support we have, Byers said. We wouldnt be here right now if it wasnt for the support from the people who empowered and inspired us. Were so excited to serve students and get to know them better and their needs better.

Minutes before 5 p.m., a crowd of supporters huddled together in the retreating sunlight in front of the Tate Plaza Stage, awaiting election results. Supporters from both Empower and ACT gathered to watch their campaigning efforts come to fruition.

After announcing the Senate results and the ratification of a constitutional amendment regarding the presiding officer of the Senate, Attorney General Langston Leake announced the executive ticket results to a roaring cheer. The moment after, the crowd split, with one side celebrating and the other side lamenting the results.

The Empower ticket chose to forgo a victory speech, celebrating with their supporters below the stage instead.

A tale of two tickets

On the cusp of midterm season and spring break, the election saw its fair share of controversies. Before the campaign period began, sanctions were issued to Empower and ACT for their violations of the SGA Elections and Ethics Codes. A week later both the SGA Elections Committee and Supreme Court ruled against a complaint filed by Empower asserting that ACT had violated the Elections Code.

Despite falling short on votes, ACTs Presidential candidate Asim Ahmed expressed his gratitude for the experience and his supporters. However, Ahmed said the all-sophomore ticket wasnt going anywhere.

Coming in, we were fighting that uphill battle of that narrative of all-sophomores of being either A, inexperienced, or B, power-hungry  You can be a year younger and be just as experienced as someone whos a year older, Ahmed said. I wouldnt even classify this as a campaign  I would classify this as a movement.

A bridge to the future

The announcement of the results was met with cheers and tears as the crowd parted. Members of Empowers campaign rejoiced in their victory.

The Empower tickets platform focused on bridging the gap between students and campus resources. At the forefront of its campaign, Empower emphasized its commitment to represent the underrepresented, from promoting transfer student inclusion to increased sexual assault bystander intervention.

Linzi Smith, a freshman intended marketing major from Brunswick, said she campaigned on social media for Empower.

I felt like their ticket and their campaign had a lot more to do with acting, and bridging the gap between all these different communities that our campus holds, Smith said. They wanted to make our campus and our community stronger by all being together, and seeing them win is absolutely amazing I was so excited.

Shortly after the results were announced, Vice President-elect Hevener said their first plan once inaugurated was to meet students where they are, talk with them and hear them out.

President Ammishaddai Grand-Jean, Vice President Charlene Marsh and Treasurer Destin Mizelle will officially pass their positions to Empower on April 9 at 6 p.m. in the UGA Chapel.

Olivia Adams and Spencer Donovan contributed to this article.
In front of a crowd of approximately 50 students, the former U.S. Congresswoman and Georgia Secretary of State answered a wide range of questions from students about her political future, her thoughts on the 2018 midterm elections and on the 2020 elections.
During the 2018 midterm elections, under particular scrutiny were Georgias polling machines, which are 16 years old. November saw breakdowns of these machines, as well as battery depletion and a lack of power chords. Not only that, but these outdated machines were proven to be hackable and left no sort of paper trail.

House Bill 316 looks to address these problems by implementing new voting machines in the state.
A few months ago, the world was shocked when Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced his experiment led to the birth of the first genome-edited babies. While the details of Hes experiment continue to unravel, the experts tell us not to be worried about the misuse of CRISPR, a powerful gene-editing tool.
Most economists were of the view that the NSSO should release the data, as any move to withhold it will dent the image of countrys statistical system.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Economists have urged the government to immediately release the National Sample Survey Offices (NSSOs) periodic labour force survey (PLFS) report, which showed the unemployment rate climbing to a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, without any changes in the results.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar chaired an informal meeting with some economists and experts on February 21 to discuss the NSSO report, sources aware of the meeting said.

Chief Statistician Pravin Srivastava gave a presentation on the NSSO reports findings, methodology, sampling design, among others, to the experts and sought their views on it.

Most economists were of the view that the NSSO should release the data, as any move to withhold it will dent the image of countrys statistical system, said a person who attended the meeting.

Some experts opined that the government should focus on releasing the administrative data produced by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation, among agencies, to give a picture of employment in the country, the person added.

NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant, former Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council member Surjit Bhalla, former chief economic advisor Arvind Virmani, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research Director and Vice-Chancellor S Mahendra Dev, Research and Information System for Developing Countries Distinguished Fellow Amitabh Kundu, Manipal Global Education Chairman T V Mohandas Pai, among others, attended the meeting.

The NITI Aayog wanted to know if there were any loopholes in the survey report. But most were of the view that the data should not be altered and the report should be released in the present form, so that experts can do a proper analysis of the unit level data of the survey, another person, aware of the meeting, said.

The NSSO is preparing a note on the changes in the sampling frame which took place in the PLFS, compared to the previous surveys on employment and unemployment, a Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) source said.

The note will be referred to the standing committee on labour force statistics, which had given approval to the report in its meeting held on December 4.

A note may be added in the report citing the changes in the sample frame in the present report, compared to the previous reports of the NSSO and the impact of any methodological changes on the surveys results, a third person, aware of the meeting, said.

However, an economist pointed out in the meeting that the figures in the PLFS can be compared with the previous NSSO reports, another source said.

Since the meeting was informal, no agenda and minutes of the meeting were circulated, the source added.

The NSSOs PLFS report was approved by the National Statistical Commission (NSC), the apex independent body on data, in its meeting held on December 5.

The NSC had told the government to release the report.

However, the report, which has been termed as a draft by the government, hasnt been made public so far.

Two members of the NSC, including its acting chairman P C Mohanan, cited displeasure over the governments move to withhold the data as one key reason behind their resignation.

Business Standard reviewed a copy of the report which showed that the unemployment rate stood at 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, compared to 2.2 per cent in 2011-12.

Sources said that the MoSPI had even held a meeting with the labour and employment ministry in December to know whether the broad trend seen in the PLFS matches with that of the data produced by the labour bureau on employment and unemployment for 2016-17.

The labour bureaus data showed unemployment rate jumping to a four-year high of 3.9 per cent in 2016-17.

However, despite Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Gangwars approval, the labour bureaus data has also been withheld.
It neither mentions timelines for refund or compensation, nor talks about penal provisions for airlines.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Pune resident Vandana Saxena Poria was supposed to fly from Mumbai to Bangkok on Tuesday, with a connecting flight to Australia.

The Mumbai-Bangkok flight was on an Indian carrier, which sent a message to Poria that her flight had been cancelled.

She called up the airline but couldnt speak to an executive despite being put on hold for 60 minutes.

She reached out to the online travel agent, and the international airway that would take her from Bangkok to Australia.

But, both tried to wash their hands off with the plea that it was the Indian carriers responsibility.

Eventually, she got a seat on an earlier flight to Bangkok, for which she was not prepared.

According to the newly introduced passenger charter, the airline should offer Poria an alternative flight or refund, whichever is acceptable to the passenger.

The charter, which lists a fliers rights, was revised on February 27.

It has introduced new provisions for flight delays; boarding denied due to overbooking; flight diversions; cancellation of tickets, etc.

Among the newly introduced provisions, a few will benefit fliers.

Earlier, if a person had made a mistake in his name when buying the ticket, he had to cancel and buy a new one.

Now, if the passenger asks for a correction within 24 hours of booking, it can be done free of cost.

Theres compensation for missing connecting flights due to the airlines fault, which was not covered earlier.

Fliers can also cancel or modify their tickets within 24 hours, without paying any charge, provided the flight departs seven days later.

Experts are not convinced the charter will be able to address customer grievances fully.

Some of the new provisions in the charter dilute it.

"Moreover, it doesnt talk about the timeline within which the airline must act, says D Sudhakara Reddy, founder and national president, Air Passengers Association of India (APAI).

Aviation experts say a lot more could have been done.

The government had the opportunity to empower fliers, as has been done in the European Unions flight compensation regulations.

"The recently-introduced charter has many loopholes that will allow airlines to deny compensation to passengers, says Devesh Agarwal, a Bengaluru-based aviation expert.

He points out that if an airline does not follow the provisions, the charter does not mention how it will be penalised.

There is no way for a traveller to know if the regulator has acted on his complaint.

Passenger rights are also not applicable if the event is beyond the airlines control, like a natural disaster, political instability, riots, flood, delays attributed to Air Traffic Control, and so on.

In the past, airlines have not compensated passengers, laying the blame on technical fault.

They only refund the cost of the ticket.

Aviation experts say this will continue as the new regulations do not cover technical problems.

The civil aviation ministry is hoping that self-regulation by airlines will work.

We hope self-regulation will work and airlines and airports will implement the regulations.

"At present, there is no mechanism to ensure implementation on a day-to-day basis.

"Customers can report grievances on the AirSewa app.

"Also, the civil aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation take regular feedback from airlines on complaints received and redressed.

"The ministry is also considering a data monitoring system which would analyse all air traffic data and this could help in framing new regulations or making existing rules effective, says a source.

Passengers like Poria need to complain and wait for a resolution, if they are unable to get through to the airlines contact centre.

Such a situation arises when an airline has cancelled a large number of flights, and is unprepared to deal with a high volume of calls.

"Passengers have to write to them for compensation in case of cancellation. Typically, airlines do not volunteer to pay on their own, says a source in a domestic airline.
They have cited higher capital for bad-loan provisioning, pending legislative amendments, and delay in finalising rules by the RBI as some of the reasons.

Banks are seeking an extension for the roll-out of the Indian Accounting Standards (IndAS), set to come into effect from April 1.

They have cited higher capital for bad-loan provisioning, pending legislative amendments, and delay in finalising rules by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as some of the reasons.

"The government has given capital to banks with great difficulty and banks are under pressure to improve their financials.

"IndAS will further add to banks compliance burden, especially for loan-loss provisions, said the managing director of a public sector bank. Hence, banks are requesting the central bank to give them breathing space.

Only then will we be in a position to come back and shift to the new accounting standards, the banker said.

This could be the second time the RBI would defer the roll-out.

According to the RBIs original plan laid out in 2016, banks were to implement IndAS from April 2018.

But, the RBI deferred it by a year to April 2019 as necessary legislative amendments to make the format of financial statements compatible with accounts under IndAS were pending.

A top executive of a Mumbai-based government bank said, As things stand now, the new accounting norms will be effective from April.

"The current capital requirements do not factor in IndAS.

"If the new rules are implemented, the capital requirements will go up.

The loan-loss provision under IndAS is recognised based on the expected credit loss (ECL) model, where a bank has to make provisions based on its historical loan-loss experiences and also factor in future expectations and the economic environment it operates in.

Moreover, the RBI is yet to come out with specific guidelines on particular accounting items, and banks are in the last few weeks of the financial year, bankers said.

Banks would also need to evaluate software systems changes covering assessment of processes, issues having significant impact on information systems, and develop and strengthen data capture systems.

Banks would also need to evaluate software systems changes covering assessment of processes, issues having significant impact on information systems, and develop and strengthen data capture systems.

There will be changes required in the software also. So it seems difficult to implement from April, said a senior banker.

After the deferment last year, many banks have put the work of changing software and systems on the back burner, said the head of accounting advisory with a multinational consultancy, adding that implementing such changes would take at least a quarter.

In 2016, the RBI in a preparatory guidance note for IndAS had asked banks to conduct a diagnostic analysis of differences between the two accounting frameworks.

Banks, on their part, are conducting parallel accounting based on IndAS. Banks would be required to prepare financial statements for the financial year beginning April 2019 as well as for the previous year for comparative purpose under IndAS.

An official with the banking industry lobby group Indian Banks Association (IBA) said the banking regulator was unlikely to come out with final rules in the near future.

The guidance for IndAS has not yet been announced.

"Indications are that the RBI may defer it.

"Last year, there was talk of the RBI asking some of the larger banks first to shift to the new accounting standards. But even that has not materialised, he said.

There are also some small changes in the legislation, which are unlikely to happen with the Lok Sabha elections around the corner.

Non-banking finance companies, another group of financial sector players under the RBIs regulation, have already transited to the IndAS regime in the current financial year.

Photograph: Reuters
'Any 'de-escalation' that brings down tensions will deprive the BJP of a plank with seamless possibilities to project PM Modi as the 'iron prime minister' and hype up jingoism in the upcoming election campaign,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

IMAGE: Imran Khan with Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi in New Delhi, December 2015. Photograph: @MEAIndia/Twitter

There were three key elements in the remarks at the press briefing (external link) in Washington, DC on Tuesday by Robert Palladino, the US state department's deputy spokesperson, regarding India-Pakistan tensions, while flagging that 'there's a lot of private diplomacy that's going on right now' and there has been 'continuous high-level contact' between Washington and the two regional capitals.

Palladino said the US continues to urge India and Pakistan to 'continue to take steps to de-escalate the situation'; two, de-escalation should include 'direct communication' between the two countries; and, three, any further military activity 'will exacerbate the situation'.

Indeed, India and Pakistan have taken a few steps lately to 'de-escalate': The bi-weekly Samjhauta Express between Delhi and Lahore has resumed its schedule; barter trade resumed on the Line of Control; consultations on the proposed Kartarpur Corridor are on track; and, Pakistan has 'decided to send back' its envoy to Delhi as part of its 'increased diplomatic efforts'.

However, the situation on the Line of Control remains tense, although the threat of war has receded.

The defence ministry in New Delhi accused Pakistani the army to have 'introduced heavy calibre weapons' along the LoC and targeted both Indian military posts and civilian areas with mortar bombs and heavy artillery fire, which 'drew swift and precise response' from the Indian side.

But the MoD also acknowledged, 'Post our warning to the Pakistan army not to target civilian areas, the overall situation along the LoC remains relatively calm.'

The big question is about 'direct communication' between India and Pakistan -- both in form and content.

In principle, it should suit India that the emphasis is on bilateral contacts.

The return of the Pakistani high commissioner to Delhi signifies that Islamabad is keen to open high-level communication.

How long can Delhi avoid engaging Pakistan?

Make no mistake, the US (and China) has become a stakeholder in India-Pakistan dialogue.

Clearly, the risk of escalation and a potential nuclear flashpoint (external link) worries Washington (and Beijing).

Equally, Washington's immediate concern is that India-Pakistan tensions do not derail the Afghan peace process.

In the words of Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative, the latest round of talks in Doha last week with the Taliban has been 'productive', but involves 'slow steady steps towards understanding and eventually peace'.

'All four key issues' are on the table -- withdrawal of US troops, security guarantees, ceasefire and intra-Afghan dialogue, Khalilzad said.

Indeed, Pakistani cooperation is crucial in the upcoming sensitive phase of the Afghan peace talks.

But in overarching terms, the recent crisis also highlighted that the Indian propensity to retaliate to terror strikes infinitely raises the risk of escalation.

Simply put, India-Pakistan relations have become the concern of the international community.

Does it suit the Indian political leadership to move toward engaging Pakistan?

The point is, any 'de-escalation' that brings down tensions will deprive the BJP of a plank with seamless possibilities to project PM Modi as the 'iron prime minister' and hype up jingoism in the upcoming election campaign.

Whereas, de-escalation means public attention might shift from national security, and the range of burning issues in India's political economy surge on the centre stage.

The Rafale controversy (external link) has become an albatross for Modi.

Besides, once the tensions with Pakistan come down, questions are bound to be raised about the raison d'etre of India's decision to attack Pakistan on February 26.

What has it achieved? Indian analysts unilaterally conclude that it will have the salutary effect of deterrence.

But there is no empirical evidence to show that.

At any rate, the Western media reports on the military developments have not only been highly damaging, but they also insinuate that Modi government may have resorted to dissimulation or plain deception in an attempt to create a false narrative.

It is against this complicated backdrop that spokesman Palladino's guarded remarks hinting at the US predicament need to be understood. (See the article The Other Nuclear Threat (external link) by a former director for South Asian affairs at the National Security Council in Washington, DC, Joshua White) (external link).

Fundamentally, China too is in the same predicament as the US.

It stands to reason that Washington is in touch with Beijing regarding the tense situation in South Asia.

At a media briefing in Beijing (external link) on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang avoided a direct answer to a straightforward question as to whether or not Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, who visited Islamabad earlier in the week, would also travel to Delhi.

Beijing has advised Pakistan and India to 'demonstrate goodwill, meet each other halfway, properly settle differences through dialogues, and improve bilateral relations.'

But Lu Kang also advised the international community to make 'objective assessment and recognition' of Pakistan's latest steps against terrorist groups, which are 'in line with its long-term efforts to fight terrorism and contribute to the international counter-terrorism cause'.

This should dispel any illusions in Delhi that Beijing is about to pressure Islamabad on terrorism.

In fact, apropos the move in the UN security council to brand Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, Lu was categorical that there is no shift in China's stance.

To quote Lu, 'Security Council and its subsidiary bodies have explicit standards and rules on working procedures. China is participating in consultations in strict compliance with these standards and rules. You are surely aware that multilateral discussions of these issues call for a serious and responsible attitude. China's attitude shows its strong sense of responsibility and is conducive to the real and lasting resolution of relevant issues.'

Be that as it may, the bottom line is that Lu at Wednesday's briefing underscored, inter alia, China's 'important and consistent view' regarding the 'complicated factors' that engender terrorism.

'We believe that to eradicate terrorism, we need to treat both symptoms and root causes,' Lu said.

Most certainly, the message would have gone home in Delhi.

Importantly, Lu probably brought himself to say something that Palladino just couldn't.

The Hindutva belief that the sweeping spread of global jihadism in the recent times has snuffed out the sympathy for Kashmiri separatism in the world community is incredibly simplistic.
If Vijaykanth and his party stole the media thunder, which lingered in the viewers mind even while watching Prime Minister Modis thunderous campaign speech, the latter suffered also owing to visible disconnects, says N Sathiya Moorthy.

Photograph: / Rediff.com IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to former chief ministers MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, on February 6, 2019.

Early in his film career, Tamil Nadus actor-politician Vijaykanth used to play negative, villainous characters. He later graduated into negative hero, a la emerging superstar Rajinikanth, before becoming a full-fledged action hero.

On Wednesday, founder of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam stole Prime Minister Narendra Modis campaign launch for the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led Lok Sabha poll alliance, of which his Bharatiya Janata Party is a part, by keeping the media glare on him and his party -- although all of it intended or welcome.

Well into the early minutes of Modis landing at Chennai airport for onward chopper flight to the venue of the campaign launch, Union minister Piyush Goyal, the BJPs point-man for alliance talks in the state, was closeted with Vijaykanths brother-in-law K L Sudeesh, who is also a senior office-bearer of the party. With them were also two AIADMK ministers in the state, P Thangamani and S P Velumani, who have become Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamis trusted aides for dealing with the Centre and the BJP rulers.

The three parties were supposed to be haggling over the number of seats for the DMDK from a total of 40, including the lone one in the Union territory of Puducherry, and also the choice, apart from sharing of resources, etc. This meant that the media, especially local television media time and screen-space were tied down to the events and non-events outside a star hotel near the airport, more than to Modis suburban campaign venue, where cadres of various alliance partners had gathered in their thousands.

The worst (!) was yet to come. That happened even as the talks were on, when DMK treasurer and veteran minister, S Duraimurugan, talked to the media in another part of the city, where DMDKs second-line leaders too were sighted. Duraimurugan said that Sudeesh had talked to him on phone during the day, followed up by a meeting with DMDK leaders in his Kotturpuram residence, as Vijaykanth was once again toying with the idea of returning to the DMK fold.

According to Duraimurgan, he was not satisfied with the DMDKs explanation for ditching rival AIADMK, nor did the DMK have seats to offer the other, after the party had signed and sealed all tie-ups with all alliance partners. As he pointed out, the DMK has only 20 seats to contest in a total of 40, but anyway, party president Stalin was the one to decide on such matters -- and the latter was away in Virudunagar for an election rally.

If the live media coverage from Duraimurugans house was enough for Piyush Goyal and company to leave the DMDK talks hanging (at best), Sudeesh at least tried to act brave later. He told newsmen that the AIADMK were inconclusive and would be taken forward after the PMs rally were over. According to reports, the two sides met again on Wednesday but no seat-sharing agreement was still in sight.

If Vijaykanth and his party thus stole the media thunder, which lingered in the viewers mind even while watching Modis thunderous campaign speech, the latter suffered also owing to visible disconnects.

Modi started his tele-prompted speech, delivered in the presence of AIADMK duo EPS and OPS, PMKs Ramadoss and other alliance leaders, by citing Kalidasas line, Nagareshu Kanchi, or Kanchipuram is the best among towns.

His speech-writer seemed to have mistaken the district by the name where the campaign venue was located anyway to the temple town, which (alone) has a history and culture of its own.

In political terms, the possible disconnect did not stop there. Modi rechristened the historic Central railway station in Chennai after the late AIADMK founder and chief minister M G Ramachandran (MGR).

This did produce cheers from AIADMK cadres, but not to the same levels as would have done a generation or so earlier. Whether PMK cadres and even Modis BJP cadres, among other alliance members, gathered there reacted the same way also is unclear.

Through much of his relatively short speech, Modi attacked the rival Congress-DMK alliance, he having expended the positives at a brief government function where he inaugurated and/or launched new welfare programmes. The media almost skipped it, and the audience at his election venue missed it -- possibly, post-rally, too.

In attacking the Congress rivals past record, Modi referred to the Emergency and dismissal of elected state governments. Three or the four instances of the kind in Tamil Nadu occurred when Indira Gandhi was prime minister -- and she died as far back as 1984, for the present generation cadre/voter to relate.

The older cadres and voters have long since forgotten it, their parties having tied up with the Congress, in turn, over the past several elections, be it to the Lok Sabha or to the state assembly -- and also shared power with the Congress at the Centre.

In particular, Modi criticised the Congress for dismissing the elected MGR government during the Emergency. BJPs controversial national secretary and aspiring parliamentarian H Raja translated the speech verbatim without applying the corrective.

During the Emergency, the Indira Gandhi government had dismissed the DMK government of M Karunanidhi -- and at MGRs instance -- on January 31, 1976. It was her post-Janata government that dismissed the elected MGR government, in 1980.

In contrast, there were anticipated positives that Modi skipped. In his brief speech, PMKs Ramadoss listed out his partys 10-point demands to the AIADMK-BJP leaderships before joining the alliance.

Modi ignored Ramadosss first demand for freeing the seven Rajiv killers, but went on to claim credit for being the first Indian prime minister to visit Tamil Jaffna in neighbouring Sri Lanka and also the way his government has obtained freedom for 1950 Tamil Nadu fishers detained in Sri Lankan waters.

While the visit itself was not properly highlighted when it happened in March 2015 for the crowd to recall instantaneously and cheer, the arrest-and-release of TN fishers in Sri Lanka has been an ongoing affairs, dating back to at least a decade since the end of ethnic war in that country.

On the positive side, sections within the state BJP especially had expected Modi to make a reference to the Godavari-Cauvery link, to help the water-starved state, especially after super-star Rajinikanth had asked his fans/followers to vote those that promised to quench Tamil Nadus thirst.

Chief minister Palaniswami in particular referred to the scheme in his speech, but Modi did not possibly take the cue -- months after his ministerial colleague Nitin Gadkari had flagged the possibility.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analyst, is Director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter.
National Security Adviser of the United Kingdom Mark Sedwill on Thursday spoke to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and offered all assistance, including intelligence-sharing, in dealing with any form of terrorism, official sources said.

Sedwill also expressed solidarity with India in the aftermath of the Pulwama terrorist attack, they said, adding the call was initiated by the British NSA.

The British NSA said all assistance in dealing with any form of terrorism will be extended to India bilaterally through counter-terrorism cooperation, intelligence-sharing and by bringing the perpetrators of terrorist attacks to justice, the sources added.

The telephonic conversation between the two NSAs came amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan triggered by the Pulwama attack. The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility of the strike in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed.

On February 26, Indian Air Force combat jets struck JeMs biggest terrorist training camp in Balakot deep inside Pakistan.

A day later, Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations.
IMAGE: Members of the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) along with students from several Universities stage a protest against the 13-point roster system at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi, on Tuesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal for promulgation of The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Ordinance, 2019 to restore the earlier 200-point roster based reservation system in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

The new system will consider the university or college as one unit, instead of treating department or subject as one unit.

"The Cabinet has approved proposal for promulgation of The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Ordinance, 2019 to provide for the reservation of faculty in appointments by direct recruitment of persons belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBL) in central educational institutions and for matters connected there with," Union minister Arun Jaitley said at a press conference.

The ordinance will ensure that constitutional provisions of reservation for SC, ST and SEBL in the faculty recruitment will be protected and current impasse in recruitment would be resolved.

Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "The decision will also now pave the way for filling up of more than 5,000 vacancies by direct recruitment in teachers' cadre."

Earlier this week, Javadekar had said the Centre was committed to restoring the reservation roster in educational institutions following a series of protests over the issue by various students' and teachers' organisations and asked the protesting groups to withdraw their agitation.

They had been urging the government to bring an ordinance to restore the 200-point roster taking college or university as a unit for reservation in teaching posts.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had announced last March that an individual department should be considered as the base unit to calculate the number of teaching posts to be reserved for the SC and ST candidates, following an order by the Allahabad High Court in April 2017.

The Supreme Court had last month dismissed a review petition filed by the HRD Ministry after its special leave petition against the court order was rejected by the apex court.

Javadekar had said in the Lok Sabha on February 11 that the government can 'bring an ordinance if its review petition filed in the top court is rejected'.
IMAGE: IMAGE: Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, flanked by election commissioners Ashok Lavasa, left, and Sushil Chandra, addresses a press conference in Lucknow, on Friday. Photograph: Nand Kumar/PTI Photo

The Election Commission will soon announce its schedule for the high-voltage Lok Sabha elections, which is likely to be spread over 7-8 phases in April-May, sources said on Thursday.

Sources said the poll panel is in final stages of completing its logistical preparations to hold elections for the 17th Lok Sabha and a detailed polling schedule could be announced as early this weekend or by early next week.

The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3.

The announcement of dates for the elections, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his bid to return to power amid hectic parleys by several political parties to put a united fight against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, would be followed by a meeting of election observers next week for the first and second phase of polling.

A senior Election Commission functionary said the poll panel is now prepared to announce the dates 'any day' and it could happen over the weekend or at most by Tuesday.

Notification for the first phase could be issued by the end of March for voting some time in early April, sources suggested.

There is a strong possibility that the EC may go by the precedent and hold assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh along with the Lok Sabha polls.

Since the Jammu and Kashmir assembly has been dissolved, the EC is bound to hold fresh polls there as well within a six-month period, which will end in May.

While there is a view that the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections can be held along with the Lok Sabha polls, but a lot depends on the complex security situation in the state given the heightened tension along the India-Pakistan border.

While the Centre and the state administration, being managed by the Centre-appointed governor, are against holding the two elections together, all political parties there favoured simultaneous polls during a meeting with the Election Commission earlier this week.

The J-K assembly's six-year term was to end on March 16, 2021, but it got dissolved after a ruling coalition between the People's Democratic Party and the BJP fell apart.

The other state assemblies and Lok Sabha have five-year terms.

While the term of the Sikkim assembly ends on May 27, 2019, the terms of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh assemblies end on June 18, June 11 and June 1 respectively.

The Commission has held several review meetings across the country in last few weeks to gear up its machinery.

The required electronic voting machines and paper trail machines are in place to be deployed in nearly 10 lakh poling stations across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.

This is a high probability of the elections being spread across 7-8 phases this time.

In 2004, the Commission had announced four-phase Lok Sabha polls on February 29. While the first date of polling was April 20 and the last date was May 10.

In 2009, the EC had announced Lok Sabha poll scheduled on March 2. The five-phase polls began on April 16 and ended on May 13.

In 2014, the EC had announced the election schedule on March 5 and the nine-phase electoral exercise was spread across April and May.

While the first phase polling was on April 7, the last phase was on May 12.
Two Kashmiris selling dry fruit were thrashed by a group of saffron-clad men in Daliganj locality in Lucknow, following which four persons have been arrested, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place Wednesday evening, the latest in a series of cases in which Kashmiris across the country were targeted after the Pulwama.

The assault on the Kashmiri vendors, which was caught on camera, was strongly condemned by Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The Kashmiri youths were selling dry fruits on Daliganj bridge and a group of men beat them up, terming them as stone-pelters," Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani told reporters on Thursday.

Local people, however, rushed to their rescue and informed the police, he said.

An 'alert citizen' also made a video of the attack, following which police teams swung into action and arrested the main accused, Bajrang Sonkar.

Sonkar has more than a dozen criminal cases including that of murder, loot, theft and under the Arms Act pending against him, he added.

On a tip-off, three others -- Himanshu Garg, Aniruddh and Amar Kumar -- were also arrested on Thursday, the SSP said.

Sonkar claims to be the president of a little-known Vishwa Hindu Dal.

Naithani said the victims, Abdul Salaam and Mohammed Afzal, are from south Kashmir's Kulgam district and come here during winters to sell dry fruit.

The victims later told media persons that they were satisfied with the police action, which they termed prompt.

The SSP said police wanted to give a stern message that such acts would not be tolerated and those involved will be brought to book.

A first information report was lodged at Hasangaj police station under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 307 (attempt to murder), and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, a police official said.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said the assault in Lucknow hurt the idea of India.

'Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in J&K than videos like these. Keep thrashing Kashmiris like this on the streets at the hands of RSS/Bajrang Dal goons & then try to sell the idea of 'atoot ang' (integral part), it simply won't fly,' he said in a series of tweets.

'Dear PM @narendramodi Sahib, this is what you had spoken against & yet it continues unabated. This is the state governed by your handpicked Chief Minister. Can we expect action in this case or do we file your concern & assurances as a jumla, meant to placate but nothing more?' he asked.

Abdullah also posed a question to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who represents the Lucknow seat in Lok Sabha, that if he would step in to deliver the justice in this case.

'Jenab @rajnathsingh Sahib. You represent this constituency in the Lok Sabha, this is the constituency where Vajpayee Sb was elected from & went on to be PM. If no one else will step in & deliver justice can we expect you to punish those guilty of this assault?' he added.

People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti accused the Centre of encouraging such people to polarise society.

'Kashmiris are being hounded & punished. The culprits here were clad in saffron kurtas & are from VHD. They have no fear & in fact uploaded the video on SM. GoIs conspicuous silence is actually a political tactic to encourage such elements & communalise the atmosphere until polls (sic),' she tweeted.

'You humiliate & assault Kashmiris. Make them feel like criminals & that they dont belong to this country. Why are you surprised then when young pliable men are taken under the wings of terror groups & indoctrinated?' she said.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi was responsible for delay in delivery of Rafale fighter jets as he was holding 'direct negotiations' in the deal and asked why there was no investigation against him when the government was talking of probing others for theft of documents.

Repeating his allegation of a 'Rs 30,000 crore scam' in the Rafale deal, Gandhi also accused the government of manipulating institutions to 'save' Prime Minister Modi and said justice should be for all.

The Bharatiya Janata Party hit back with Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad alleging that Gandhi was resorting to 'blatant lies', had more faith in Pakistan than in Indian forces and was getting more TRP in Pakistan.

Jaitley also dubbed Gandhi's attack on Modi as an attempt to shift the focus due to people's 'revulsion' towards the Congress party.

Gandhi's attack came a day after the government told the Supreme Court that documents related to the Rafale deal have been stolen from the defence ministry.

The government told the court that it was probing the theft and also warned of using the Official Secrets Act against media publications for publishing reports based on those documents.

The Editors Guild of India has condemned the submission before the Supreme Court, saying any attempt to use the Official Secrets Act against the media is as 'reprehensible' as asking journalists to disclose their sources.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also took a dig at the Centre's disclosure about the 'stolen' documents, saying it was a 'very strange and irresponsible chowkidari'.

'The Modi govt made a sensational disclosure in the Hon'ble Supreme Court that secret documents pertaining to Rafale fighter deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry. Very strange & irresponsible chowkidari. Is national security & interest in the safe hands? Think long & loud (sic),' she tweeted.

Later in a statement, she said it was 'most irresponsible, most unfortunate and shameful' that Rafale documents got stolen.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the theft was a matter of concern and described the entire matter as 'tamasha' (farce) and hinted that its fallout would be known after the Lok Sabha elections.

"What would the government say on this? Who is the hidden person behind this? There must be an enquiry into it," she added.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi said 'gayab ho gaya' (vanished) is the new tagline that has emerged in the Modi government as he referred to 'vanishing' of the Rafale documents and alleged other things that have 'vanished' include two crore jobs for youths, right prices for farmers' produce, Rs 15 lakh in everyone's bank accounts, farmers' insurance and promise of eradicating black money after demonetisation, etc.

Referring to the government investigation into theft of Rafale documents, Gandhi said everyone can be investigated but there must be a probe against Modi also as he alleged that the ministry files showed the prime minister was holding parallel negotiations in the fighter jet deal.

"An interesting thing happened yesterday... The government said the media will be investigated, but there is no probe against those involved in the Rs 30,000-crore scam. The government is protecting Narendra Modi, the 'chowkidaar' (watchman), at any cost," he said at a press conference.

"The prime minister delayed the Rafale deal... The parallel negotiations retarded the delivery of Rafale. The aircraft were delayed because you wanted to give Anil Ambani Rs 30,000 crore," he alleged.

Gandhi said it is the government's job and the court's job to give justice and 'we are just saying give justice to everybody'.

"If the prime minister is not guilty, then why does not the prime minister say he is ready for a probe as he does not fear anything and will bring the truth out," he said.

The government has rejected allegations by the Congress. Ambani has also rejected the allegations.

"You do whatever you want to do legally, but justice should be for all. If files have been stolen, then you are accepting that the stories based on those documents are true...

"Why should not there be a criminal investigation? When a probe can be ordered against anyone who opposes the prime minister, then why not against Narendra Modi?" he asked.

The Congress chief alleged the files showed Modi was doing parallel negotiations on Rafale deal.

"Narendra Modi has done bypass surgery. You act against all, but also act against the one whose name appears in the Rafale scam," he said.

He alleged there was a 'blatant case of corruption' against Modi and that has come out in media reports quoting the defence ministry file on Rafale.

Hitting back at Modi for calling the Congress a 'poster boy' of Pakistan for questioning the air strike on terror camps in Balakot, Gandhi said, "It is he who is Pakistan's poster boy, not us."

"Prime Minister got ISI to investigate Pathankot. Prime Minister went to Nawaz Sharif's (family) wedding and we are the poster boys. He is poster boy of Pakistan hugging Mr Nawaz Sharif, calling Mr Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony doing drama," he said.

The Congress chief also lauded the Hindu newspaper for publishing the Rafale article and said, "You are being punished because you are brave, that is why you are punished and I am very proud that you have the guts to stand against Mr Narendra Modi."

Gandhi dubbed the PM as the 'poster boy of Pakistan' for publicly hugging former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and inviting the neighbouring country's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence to Pathankot after the Indian Air Force base was attacked.
Pakistans former president Pervez Musharraf has admitted that Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out attacks in India during his tenure on the instructions of the intelligence agencies.

Musharraf, 75, who is currently in Dubai, said that the Pakistan governments crackdown on the JeM, which also tried to assassinate him twice, was a good move.

The JeM recently claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel dead, increasing tensions between India and Pakistan.

Last month, Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi during an interview with CNN said that Azhar is in Pakistan, but the government can act against him only if India presents solid and inalienable evidence that can stand in a court of law.

Pakistan military, however, denied the terror groups presence in the country.

Amid mounting international pressure after the Pulwama attack, Pakistan on Tuesday detained 44 members of the banned outfits, including Azhars son and brother.

This is a good move. I have always said that the JeM is a terrorist organisation and they only had carried out a suicide attack in an attempt to assassinate me. Action should be taken against them.

Musharraf, who also served as Pakistans army chief, said that the action against the JeM should have been taken earlier.

When asked why he himself had not taken any action against the Jaish leadership and the organisation when he was in power, the former military ruler said, Those were different times. Our intelligence men were involved in a tit-for-tat between India and Pakistan This was continuing at that time and amid all of this, no major action was taken against the Jaish. And I also did not insist.

Musharraf had ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. Musharraf, who has been living in Dubai since March 2016, is facing the treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007, a punishable offence for which he was indicted in 2014.
At least 56 seminaries and facilities being run by JuD and its wing FIF in Pakistan's southern Sindh province have been taken over by authorities.

Pakistan authorities on Thursday sealed the Lahore headquarters of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and its charity wing Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) and detained over 120 suspected terrorists as part of an ongoing crackdown on banned groups.

"Under the National Action Plan (NAP), the government has taken complete control of the banned JuD and FIF headquarters in Lahore and Muridkey," said a statement issued by the Punjab Home department on Thursday.

Will soon respond to Indian dossier on JeM: Pak Pakistan on Thursday said it will 'soon' respond to a dossier handed over to it by India on 'specific details' of involvement of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in the deadly Pulwama terror attack as also the presence of camps of the United Nations-proscribed terror outfit in the country. "It's being evaluated and a response would be given soon," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal told reporters in Islamabad. The JeM had taken the responsibility of the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14. Responding to questions during his weekly media briefing, Faisal claimed Pakistan 'defeated India militarily, diplomatically and politically in the ongoing border row, which has de-escalated over the past few days'. "Our desire is peace but when we talk it is considered weakness," he added. On the Kartarpur corridor, Faisal said it was a project initiated by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, for which a Pakistani delegation will be visiting India on March 14. He said India first suggested that meeting be held in New Delhi, which Pakistan accepted, however, the venue was later changed to Attari. "Pakistan again agreed with Indian suggestion and if circumstances are not changed until March 14, then the Pakistani delegation will visit India," he said. India and Pakistan agreed to open up a special border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur -- the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev -- to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free visit of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Kartarpur.

It said the government has been taking over the control of the mosques, seminaries and other institutions of the banned organisations in the province.

"We have intensified action against the banned organisations," it said.

A senior Punjab government official told PTI that the authorities have sealed the Jamia Masjid Qadsia, the Lahore headquarters of the JuD and FIF.

"At least six administrators of the Punjab government have been appointed at the Muridke headquarters of JuD and two in Lahore's," the official said, adding that the Jamia Qadsia has been sealed and will be opened once the administrators take over the charge.

The official said the Punjab government has also taken over the complete control of the JuD headquarters in Muridke, some 40-km from Lahore. However, the home department did not confirm it.

The official further said that Saeed and his supporters did not protest when the administration and police reached there to take over the control of the building.

"Saeed along with his supporters left for his Jauhar Town residence," he said.

His whereabouts was not immediately known. Saeed was listed under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.

He was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November 2017.

The ongoing operation against the banned groups would continue till achievement of objectives under the National Action Plan (NAP) of 2014, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi said, adding that efforts were being made to accelerate progress on NAP.

Some 44 activists of Jaish-e-Mohammed and other banned groups, including the son and brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, had already been taken into custody.

The Ministry of Interior said law enforcement agencies had taken 121 people into preventive detention as of Thursday in compliance with the NAP, formulated after the Taliban attack on an army school in Peshawar in 2014 that killed nearly 150 people, mostly students.

According to Punjab police, the government has seized control of 160 seminaries, 32 schools, two colleges, four hospitals, 178 ambulances and 153 dispensaries associated with JuD and FIF in Punjab. The police confirmed that it has taken over more than 500 properties of the banned outfits and arrested more than 120 of their activists.

"Most of the assets belonged to JuD and JeM," said an official of the provincial police.

Interestingly, the government had taken over the control of the JuD properties including its headquarters several years ago but subsequently handed over to Saeed and company when the 'international pressure' eased.

At least 56 seminaries and facilities being run JuD and FIF in southern Sindh province have been taken over by authorities.

"The Sindh government also decided to move against the proscribed organisations after the crackdown started by the Centre," advisor to the Sindh Chief Minister on Information and Law, Barrister Murtaza Wahab said.

The confiscation of properties of JuD and FIF comes after Pakistan formally placed them in the list of banned organisations on Tuesday.

He said the schools, medical facilities and seminaries being run by the JuD and FIF will now be run by the provincial government.

The advisor said the two banned outfits were running their seminaries, schools and medical units in many parts of Sindh including Karachi, Matiari, Jamshoro, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Badin, Naushero Feroz and Shahdadkot.

According to officials, JuD's network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance service.

The two groups have about 50,000 volunteers and hundreds of other paid workers.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.

It had been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in June 2014.

The US Department of the Treasury has designated its chief Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a $10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice.

Saeed barred from delivering Friday sermon in Pak

Saeed also has been barred by the government from delivering weekly Friday sermon at JuD headquarters in Lahore.

This is perhaps for the first time in years that Saeed despite being present in Lahore will not be able to deliver Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid Qadsia, the JuD headquarters.

Saeed was never stopped from delivering Friday sermons even during the years when Masjid Qadsia's control was under the Punjab government.

"As the Punjab police have sealed the Jamia Masjid Qadsia, Saeed will not be allowed to enter the premises to give his weekly sermon on Friday," a senior official of the Punjab government told PTI.

"Saeed requested the Punjab government to allow him give sermon on Friday at Qadsia Masjid but it was turned down.

"This is significant with regard to the 'clout' of Saeed as for the first time he is not being allowed by the government to give sermon on Friday," he added.
In a significant development, the United Nations has rejected an appeal of Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind, to remove his name from its list of banned terrorists, government sources said on Thursday.

Notably, the decision comes at a time when UNs 1267 Sanctions Committee has received a new request to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar after the Pulwama terror attack. Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the strike.

The UN decision to reject appeal of Saeed, also a co-founder of terror group Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT), came after India provided detailed evidence including highly confidential information about his activities, sources told PTI, adding that the verdict of the global body was conveyed to his lawyer Haider Rasul Mirza earlier this week.

Saeed, chief of UN-designated terrorist organisation Jammat--ud-Dawa (JuD), was banned on December 10, 2008 by the United Nations Security Council after the horrific Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.

Saeed had filed an appeal with the UN through Lahore-based law firm Mirza and Mirza in 2017, while he was still under house arrest in Pakistan, for removal of the ban.

Independent Ombudsperson Daniel Kipfer Fasciati, appointed by the UN to examine all such requests, has informed Saeed's lawyer that it has been decided following examination of his request that that he will continue as a listed individual, sources said.

The Ombudsperson recommended that after gathering all information, it has been decided to continue with the ban as there was sufficient information to provide a reasonable and credible basis for continuing the listing, sources said, adding the recommendation was endorsed by the UN's Sanctions Committee.

Pakistan had also turned down the visa request of a UN team which wanted to interview Saeed on his application for removing his name from the UNSC sanctions list, according to UN sources.

A representative from the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN informed the UN Ombudsperson in October last year that no visa would be issued for their travel to Pakistan, UN sources told PTI.

Sources said the Pakistani representative had sought that the visit be postponed till the beginning of 2019 but the Ombudsperson had made it clear that such an extension for the travel could not be given due relevant UNSC provisions and an extension could be made only till late December 2018.

According to the relevant provisions, the UN Security Council had directed the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee to keep under active review its guidelines for placing, removing or granting exemptions to individuals and entities on its Al Qaeda Sanctions List.

Pakistani officials failed to convey in time to the Ombudsperson regarding the travel to Pakistan after which the UN team sought a video conference with Saeed.

UN sources said that following the video interview, the UN Ombudsperson determined that Saeeds name will not be removed from the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee listing.

They said that the Ombudsperson analysed all the information that had been gathered on the case and provided observations, setting out for the committee the principal arguments on Saeed's request for de-listing.

The sources added that the Ombudsperson determined that there is sufficient information available for the current listing.

The 1267 Committee measures include three major areas of sanctions --assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo, which need to be mandatorily applied by all UN member states.

The Committee oversees implementation of these three sanctions measures, besides considering the names submitted for listing and de-listing, as well as any additional information on the listed individuals and entities.

Saeeds request was opposed by India as well as other countries that had originally listed him -- the United States, the United Kingdom and France, sources said.

Significantly, Pakistan did not oppose the appeal despite claims by the new Imran Khan-led government there that it was taking action against the banned terrorists and their organisations in what they call a 'Naya Pakistan' (new Pakistan).

Responding to the UN report, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Islamabad said, "We have neither seen the report of the Ombudsperson nor its findings since it is a confidential document. We will respond to the report as and when it is made available to us."

Referring to prescribed UN procedure, the spokesperson said every listed individual or entity is legally entitled to submit de-listing requests directly with the UN Ombudsperson.

The spokesperson also noted that such media reports are neither new nor surprising, adding they only reinforce longstanding concerns expressed by Pakistan about deliberate attempts to politicise the UN counter-terrorism sanction regime to advance self-serving political agendas.

Last month, the US, the UK and France made a fresh bid at the UN to ban JeM head Masood Azhar, who is also residing in Pakistan as per Pakistani foreign minister's admission. JeM is already a UN-designated terrorist organisation.

Asked about the delay in deciding on Saeed's appeal, which normally takes six months from the time it is registered with the UN, sources said the delay happened because the Ombudsperson got changed before completion of the time period and then some time was taken to appoint a new one.

Under the 1267 committee rules, the UN member states are required to freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of designated individuals and entities as also required to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories by designated individuals.

All states are also required to prevent any direct or indirect supply, sale and transfer from their territories or by their nationals outside their territories, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types, spare parts, and technical advice, assistance, or training related to military activities, to designated individuals and entities.
TORRINGTON  Facing more than 30 charges filed since last May, Austin Cyr, 23, of Harwinton was ready to plead guilty Wednesday at Torrington Superior Court.

Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Knight, however, said a plea wouldnt be accepted until the court received input from the victims.

The (guilty plea) has been conveyed, but victims have a right to be advised, of the results of the case, said Superior Court Judge Paul Matasavage.

Cyr is scheduled to return to court on March 13, where he is expected to plead guilty, according to his lawyer, Mark Johnson of Torrington.

Among the charges against Cyr are four felony counts, including carrying a dangerous weapon and larceny, as well as two counts of first-degree failure to appear.

In addition, more than two dozen misdemeanor charges were filed against him in the last nine months for alleged illegal activity ranging from possession of marijuana , breach of peace and interfering with an officer/resisting arrest.

Cyr has been held in the New Haven Correctional Center since Jan. 30 on the charge of carrying a dangerous weapon state, according to Department of Corrections records

His encounters with law enforcement date back to at least 2012, when Cyr, who was 16 at the time, was reported missing, while on his way to the Connecticut Children's Hospital in Hartford. He was found in the city nearly a week later.

In 2017, Torrington police and emergency workers were dispatched to Alvord Park on a call about a male who had self-inflicted knife wounds.

He was later found in the parking lot of St. Pauls Lutheran Church on Torringford West Street. Torringford School, which is across the street from the church, went into a secure place exercise as a result of the incident.

When police located Cyr, he told police he had a knife and would assault officers if they approached and create a suicide by cop situation, according to a report.

The incident netted Cyr charges of assault on an officer, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession in a school zone, interfering with an officer and breach of peace, according to the report. In February 2014, Cyr had received a suspended sentence of one year in prison on a 2013 charge of interfering with an officer, and then in October 2014 was sentenced to six months in prison on a violation of probation charge, online court records show. Then, in 2017, Cyr was found guilty again of interfering with an officer and received a suspended sentence of one year in prison, the online court records show.

At Mondays court appearance, Cyr, whose wrists and ankles were shackled, remained silent while the two attorneys spoke for less than five minutes. He was then returned to the New Haven Correctional Center.
Cambodias military is backing a powerful company in its seizure of land in Preah Vihear province, guarding bulldozers sent to destroy villagers crops and defying government orders not to get involved in land disputes, Cambodian sources say.



Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service on Wednesday, one village resident said at least five soldiers armed with assault rifles were deployed on March 5 to support the construction of a road through village land now claimed by the Metreay Pheap company.



They told me that they are building the road so that the provincial governor can drive through here in his car, said Pem Mao, the wife of villager Sum Moeurn, who disappeared following his arrest by soldiers on Jan. 14.



But the villagers want their problems addressed first, because the company has destroyed their crops, she said.



In late February, soldiers tore down 15 villagers homes, Pem Mao said. And in January, troops arrested 14 villagers who are now being held in jail, she said.



Also speaking to RFA, Am Sam Atha senior official of the Cambodia-based rights group Licadhosaid that the use of Cambodian soldiers to destroy village crops is a violation of defense ministry orders issued in February forbidding the army from involvement in land disputes.



The ministry should now investigate the situation to prevent public criticisms of the army, he said.



I think the Ministry of Defense should investigate this case, because what the soldiers are doing there conflicts with the ministrys ban, he said, citing a February order by defense minister Tea Banh banning military involvement in takeovers of land following a violent crackdown by military police on villagers resisting forced eviction in Sihanoukville.



The Jan. 24 incident left one villager injured by gunfire, with six others arrested, and followed a Supreme Court decision to grant their land in Sihanoukvilles Prey Nob district as a concession to a wealthy businessman.



Any place with soldiers present must be investigated so that problems can be resolved, Ministry of Defense spokesperson Chhum Socheat told RFA, adding that his ministry will now look to see whether troops have been stationed anywhere to protect private companies.



Him Hoeungovernor of Preah Vihears Choam Khsant districtmeanwhile declined to answer questions from RFA regarding the use of troops sent to support the Metreay Pheap company, but said the company had been given the land for investment purposes in 2012.



It is the villagers who are encroaching on the companys land, he said.



Locked in a dispute



Meanwhile, indigenous Kuoy villagers in Preah Vihears Tbeng Meanchey district remain locked in a dispute with a Chinese-owned sugar-cane plantation that villagers say has destroyed their fields, leaving at least 100 families with insufficient land to cultivate crops for the last 10 years.



They have planted sugar cane everywhere, and the company has taken all our land except for my own small cottage, a villager named Svay Moeung told RFA on March 5.



But if we protest, we will never win, she said.



Though villagers have petitioned the government for help, the Heng Hour Sugar Plantation has taken all their land, including natural lakes and reservoirs, another villager named Tep Tim said, adding, When we lost our land, we lost our livelihoods, and we are getting poorer.



Company spokespersons and local Land Title Department director Lor Savuth were unavailable for comment Wednesday, but Pro Marou commune chief Tean Heng denied villagers claims they have lost their land, saying that petitioners are free to file complaints with his office.



Some of these cases have been resolved, and some are still being worked on, he said.



Cambodias Ministry of Land Management should now send inspectors to investigate the case, though, an official of the Cambodian civil society organization Ponlok said, adding that ministry officials should not rely on statements made by local officials, especially in cases involving Chinese companies.



A previous resolution process didnt help to serve the villagers. It was a fake process that left them in tears, he said.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Thirty years after a massacre that ended the 1989 pro-democracy movement on Tiananmen Square, a victims group has penned a public letter to China's leaders during an annual session of the country's rubber-stamp parliament, calling on them to tell the truth about the student-led nationwide movement and its bloody aftermath.



"Thirty years ago, heavily armed troops imposing martial law slaughtered unarmed students and citizens with machine guns and tanks," said the Tiananmen Mothers group's open letter, timed to coincide with the annual meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC).



"But ever since, the authorities have been rewriting history."



Weeks of student-led mass protests on Tiananmen Square, symbolised by the "Goddess of Democracy" effigy, were styled a "counterrevolutionary rebellion" and "political turmoil" by the ruling Chinese Communist Party after late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping sent in the tanks.



Ever since they lost loved ones in the bloodshed, the letter said, the group's members have been among the most surveilled citizens in China, often kept under house arrest during politically sensitive times, and followed by police.



Some have been held in criminal detention with handcuffs, the letter said.



The Tiananmen Mothers have written to the NPC almost annually in recent years in a bid to reopen public debate on the bloodshed, which remains a taboo topic in China.



Tiananmen Mothers spokeswoman You Weijie said the regime in power today, under the indefinite presidency of Xi Jinping, is essentially the same one that ordered the troops to fire on unarmed civilians in 1989.



"There shouldn't be any relationship between today's government and what happened 30 years ago, but it's the same party in power," You told RFA on Thursday.



"The current government has a duty to offer an explanation to its own citizens, and to us, for the tragedy that took place back then," she said.



"They should pursue responsibility, offer compensation, and tell the real truth about what happened," You said. "They can't evade these three demands any longer: they should respond."



Still unresolved



Tiananmen Mothers activist Zhang Xianling, who lost her 19-year-old son during the crackdown, said she had always imagined the government would relent and rehabilitate the victims and their families.



"I never thought that this would still be unresolved, 30 years on," Zhang told RFA. "Even under the Chinese imperial dynasties, we never saw the rulers sending regular troops in to kill their own civilians and students for demonstrating in peace time."



"And yet they have evaded this reality for 30 years now," said Zhang, who still doesn't know whether her son Wang Nan died instantly after being shot on a street to the south of Tiananmen Square, or whether soldiers prevented an ambulance from taking him for emergency treatment.



"They daren't face up to it," she said. "All it tells us is that they're weak and terrified."



But she added: "The Tiananmen Mothers will keep going with this, even if only one of us remains. One day, the truth will come out."



Previous letters from the Tiananmen Mothers have called on the NPC to overturn the official verdict of "counterrevolutionary rebellion" passed on the student-led pro-democracy movement, to compensate victims' families, and to publish official documents from the time, including full details of deaths and injuries.



The group has been writing to the NPC for more than 20 years, but say they have never had any kind of reply; only police restrictions.



The death toll from the night of June 3-4, 1989, when PLA tanks and troops entered Beijing, opening fire on unarmed civilians, remains unknown to this day.



While the Chinese government once put the death toll at "nearly 300," it has never issued an official toll or list of names.



A 2009 map published by the Tiananmen Mothers listed more than 250 names garnered from confirmed eyewitness accounts and hospital records of those known to have died in the days after June 3, but it is unlikely to be an exhaustive account of casualties.



'Spare no one'



After decades of secrecy and suppression of public debate on the massacre by the Chinese government, a series of recently released official documents have provided several harrowing and bloody accounts of what happened on the streets of Beijing on the night of June 3, 1989 and in the days that followed.



Diplomatic archives declassified by the U.K. government in 2017 described troops of the PLA's 27th army as being ordered to "spare no-one" as they used dum-dum bullets, automatic weapons, and armored vehicles to carry out mass killings in Beijing.



One document detail how troops from the northeastern city of Shenyang were first sent in unarmed to disperse the crowd, followed up by a fully armed 27th Army that rampaged through the city killing civilians and other soldiers alike, and disposing of large amounts of human remains through crushing and incineration.



And in 2015, a trove of diplomatic cables unearthed from Canadian archives gave a rare glimpse of the horror of Beijing-based diplomats who witnessed the bloodshed, often first hand.



One of the cables described the crackdown as "savage," while others cited harrowing interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses as the army drove columns of tanks into the heart of Beijing and fired automatic weapons at unarmed civilians.



The documents also describe pitched battles between "enraged" but unarmed civilians and fully armed troops in the western suburb of Muxidi, and Shilipu, to the east of the diplomatic quarter in Jianguomenwai.



Reported by Ng Yik-tung and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Lu Xi for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, left, and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad watch a cultural show during arrival ceremonies at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, March 7, 2019.

President Rodrigo Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad agreed on Thursday to boost the fight against terrorism and peacefully address territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea amid concerns about Chinese aggressiveness.



Mahathir, 93, is in Manila for the first time since his stunning electoral triumph last year.

We resolved to ramp up cooperation to address security issues, particularly on terrorism, piracy and transnational crimes, including the fight against the illegal drug trade, Duterte said during a joint news conference. We resolved to address security issues.

Mahathirs visit comes shortly after voters in the southern Philippines agreed to establish the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The region was created five years after a peace deal  brokered partly by Malaysia  ended the separatist rebellion of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Mahathir, who also made official visits to the Philippines during his first stint as prime minister, in 1987 and 1994, said he discussed security matters with Duterte.

We discussed a wide range of issues on bilateral relations between Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern, he said.

Mahathir said he assured the Philippine leader of Malaysias commitment to address the serious issue of terrorism and violent extremism.

Together with Indonesia, he said, Malaysia and the Philippines had agreed to undertake unilateral maritime and air patrols to tackle the growing security challenges.

The three nations began trilateral patrols in June 2017 after pro-Islamic State militants launched a siege in the southern Philippine city of Marawi. Fighter jets pounded the militants with heavy bombs during a five-month battle that ended in October 2017 and killed at least 1,200 people, including Isnilon Hapilon, the acknowledged IS leader in the Philippines.

Mahathir said Manila and Kuala Lumpur must boost economic ties, as he assured Duterte of Malaysias desire to continue to be of help in the development of Mindanao.

But he warned that extremism would continue to pose a problem.

I see things getting worse in the future, Mahathir said. The reason is very simple: We refuse to acknowledge the causes. Terrorism is caused by something. Identify the cause. Try and deal with the cause, and eliminate the causes then therell be less extremism.

But ignoring the cause and trying to fight against extremism as if it is conventional war, youre not going to succeed, he said.

Mahathir tells Beijing: Clarify ownership

The two leaders also discussed Chinas continuing militarization of the South China Sea, the disputed region that is also claimed by Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, as well as by Beijings rival, Taiwan.

Duterte, an ardent Chinese backer, has preferred to engage Beijing on friendlier terms, encouraging investments in the Philippines among others. He has made trips to China and personally encouraged investors there to come in.

Duterte had also set aside a 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal that junked Chinas vast claims in the sea region, after his predecessor, Benigno Aquino, took Beijing to court for illegally occupying a territory west of the Philippines that, according to analysts, was clearly within Manilas exclusive economic zone.

Last week, Washington assured Manila of military backing should it come under attack in the South China Sea. But the Philippine defense secretary, Delfin Lorenzana, has instead called for a review of the countrys mutual defense treaty with the United States, fearing that the Philippines would be sucked into war into a regional war.

We emphasized the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight over the South China Sea, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes, Duterte told reporters Thursday.

This is, without resort to the threat or use of force, in accordance with the universally recognized principles of international law, he said.

Before the news conference, Mahathir said in a television interview that Beijing should clarify what it meant by ownership in the South China Sea, as he emphasized that the region, where more than U.S. $5 trillion of global trade passes through each year, must remain open to navigation.

We have to talk to China on the definition of their claims and what is meant by their ownership or so-called ownership they claim to have so that we can find ways of deriving some benefits from them," Mahathir told ANC television in Manila.

Mahathir also said that while he respected Manilas economic strategy, any infusion of investments in the Philippines should be properly defined.

Foreign direct investments should not involve huge numbers of foreigners to live in the country, he said, clearly alluding to a Philippine Senate inquiry last year that showed at least 200,000 Chinese had flocked to the country since Duterte took power in 2016.

So long as they are not going to be permanent resident is not a danger to the Philippines, Mahathir said.

But if huge number of any foreigners  live and stay in the country or even to influence economy, then you have to do some rethinking whether it is good or bad or the limits that we have to impose on them, he said.

Mahathir noted that Beijing had been accused of using debt-trap diplomacy, in which Beijing intentionally extends excessive credit with the alleged intention of extracting economic or political concessions from the debtor country.

If you borrow huge sums of money from China and you cannot pay, you know when the person is a borrower he is under the control of the lender, he said. So we have to be very careful about that.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Authorities in the U.K. have frozen dozens of bank accounts belonging to Chinese nationals studying in the county, citing money-laundering concerns.



The National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) said it would seek to freeze 95 bank accounts containing an estimated 3.6 million (U.S.$ 4.7 million) in funds "suspected to be either the proceeds of crime or intended to be used for criminal purposes."



It said the accounts were held mainly by overseas students studying in the U.K. who may be unaware that their operation of their accounts was "potentially illegal."



"If the investigation can prove that the funds are the proceeds of crime or were intended to be used in unlawful conduct, they will subsequently be forfeited," the NECC said in a statement on its website.



It said some international fund transfers from China bore the hallmarks of "smurfing"; an expression that refers to frequent, small deposits made to avoid scrutiny.



"In this operation, international transfers from China were declared as financial support to an overseas student but then used by criminals for non-student related activities," it said, saying that the goods were used to buy goods that were then sent back to China with no obvious connection between the payee and the person ordering.



The Chinese Embassy said it was trying to seek "verification" of recent media reports of the operation.



"We advise the relevant Chinese citizens to cooperate actively in the investigation and assert their legitimate rights and interests through legal means," the embassy said in a statement on its website.



"The Chinese Embassy in the UK will provide assistance if necessary to the relevant Chinese citizens within the purview of its responsibility," it said.



Capital flight connection?

A China-based bank employee, who gave only her surname , said the payments could be connected to capital flight from China.



"This is very likely, but you would need to look at the family background of the kids involved," said. "If their parents run a company, then it could indicate that their parents are using their children's accounts to send money overseas for certain investments."



Current regulations cap the amount of money each Chinese citizen can send out of the country to U.S.$50,000, said.



"This [limit] applies to anyone over 18, but the key thing is that large amounts of money of uncertain origin is likely to give rise to suspicions of money-laundering overseas," she said.



China recently criminalized underground foreign exchange transactions, in a bid to crack down on individuals and corporations who try to find ways around the foreign exchange restrictions.



Anyone linked to a cumulative transaction volume of five million yuan (U.S.$737,000) or illegal profits of 100,000 yuan (U.S.$14,749) could face up to five years' imprisonment and a hefty fine, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper reported last month.



Cumulative transactions over 25 million yuan (U.S.$3.69 million) or 500,000 yuan (U.S.$73,745) in illegal profits, could see heavier penalties still, including the confiscation of property, the paper said.



The thresholds for prosecution will be halved if the violator has a criminal record, or refused to cooperate with authorities to trace illegal capital flows, it said.



The Global Times newspaper, which has close ties to ruling Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily, said several Chinese students had asked the embassy for assistance after their bank accounts were frozen.



The students were targeted by the NECC after they privately exchanged money through WeChat, which could violate both U.K. and Chinese law, the paper said.



"Many overseas students like to use these groups to exchange money for convenience," it said. "But few of them are aware that they could be illegal."



The paper said it had found "many money exchange groups" on the popular social media app WeChat offering far better exchange rates than those typically offered by banks.



It cited a Chinese citizen who graduated from the University of Leeds as saying that he had privately exchanged a total of 200,000 yuan (U.S.$29,800) to pound sterling using WeChat.



Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Rohingya meet at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, to document alleged atrocities committed against Rohingya in Myanmar, July 19, 2018.

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors will visit refugee camps in Bangladesh later this week as part of an examination into a mass exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar that began in August 2017, Bangladeshi officials said Wednesday.

The ICC team was due to arrive on Friday in Coxs Bazar  the southeastern district that hosts most of the Rohingya camps  and stay until March 12, a police official said.

They will hold meetings with the Rohingya refugees. We have been asked to ensure their security, Md Iqbal Hossain, the additional superintendent of police in the district, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

The purpose of the visit was a preliminary examination and not an investigation, the ICCs Office of the Prosecutor said Wednesday in a statement emailed to BenarNews, adding that such visits were standard practice.

[T]he delegation will not engage in any evidence collection in relation to alleged crimes, the statement said. The independent and impartial preliminary examination of the situation in Bangladesh/Myanmar is on-going and following its normal course.

The team will conduct its examination less than a week after the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) unanimously adopted a resolution to pursue legal recourse through the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to seek accountability and justice for large-scale human rights violations committed against Rohingya in Myanmar.

The ICJ differs from the International Criminal Court in that it settles disputes between nations. The ICC, on the other hand, prosecutes individuals suspected of committing crimes against humanity.

On Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported that the ICC team was already in Bangladesh.

Last week, a Bangladesh official told the U.N. Security Council that the country did not have the capacity to accept additional Rohingya refugees.

I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar, Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said, according to an official transcript of the Feb. 28 meeting at the United Nations in New York.

Court may exercise jurisdiction

The ICC, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, determined last year that it could prosecute alleged crimes against Rohingya who fled from their homes in Myanmars Rakhine state, starting in August 2017.

More than 700,000 Rohingya escaped and sought shelter in refugee camps in and around Coxs Bazar, amid a Myanmar military crackdown that followed deadly attacks on police and army outposts by a Rohingya insurgent group.

On Sept. 6, 2018, ICC issued a decision confirming that the court may exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, as well as potentially other crimes, it stated in its annual report released in December.

Twelve days after the decision, the prosecutor announced the start of a preliminary examination into the alleged deportation of Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh.

In this context, the preliminary examination takes into account a number of alleged coercive acts which may have resulted in the forced displacement of the Rohingya people, including depravation of fundamental rights, killing, sexual violence, enforced disappearance, destruction and looting, stated the Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2018 released on Dec. 5.

Meanwhile in Bangladesh, lawyer Ajmalul Hossain, a senior advocate at the countrys Supreme Court, said the prosecution teams visit and the OIC resolution should increase pressure on Myanmar.

Myanmar is not a party to the ICC. But should the international community allow genocide and crimes against humanity in a country not party to the ICC? he said. If the international bodies cannot try a country for genocide and crimes against humanity, then it will encourage countries to not be party to the ICC.

In its annual report, ICC addressed the jurisdiction issue.

[W]hile Myanmar is not a state party to the statute and has not lodged a declaration  accepting the jurisdiction of the court, the chamber held that the court has jurisdiction over alleged crimes occurring in part of Bangladesh, provided that such allegations are established to the required threshold, the report stated.

OIC move

Meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday, the OIC recommended taking legal steps for establishing legal rights for the stateless Rohingya, the Bangladesh foreign ministry said in a statement.

The resolution to pursue a legal recourse through the ICJ came after a long series of negotiations to seek accountability for crimes committed against humanity and gross violation of human rights in the case of the Rohingyas in Myanmar, the ministry said.

The OIC recommended that the legal steps should be based on principles of international law  specifically the Genocide Convention and other Human Rights and Humanitarian Law principles  the ministry said.

The unanimous measure set a precedent for the OIC in pursuing the legal path to justice to address alleged crimes committed against humanity and for establishing the legal rights of the Rohingya population to their rightful homeland in Rakhine state, the statement said.

In a declaration at the end of the 57-member organizations two-day meeting, the OIC, the Muslim worlds largest intergovernmental body, stressed the importance of continuing to be involved in the United Nations system to respond to rights violations against the Rohingya people.

Following a ministerial meeting in May 2018, the OIC said Myanmars treatment of Muslims in northern Rakhine state amounted to ethnic cleansing and was a serious and blatant violation of international law.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Myanmar village administrators from Mrauk-U township petition officials to release four of their colleagues arrested for allegedly violating the country's Unlawful Associations Act, at a press conference in Sittwe, western Myanmar's Rakhine state, March 6, 2019.

The Myanmar Army has sent more than 8,000 troops to northern Rakhine state within the past two months, an ethnic armed group fighting national soldiers in the region said, indicating an ongoing build-up of forces in the battle-scarred state.

The reinforcements have include troops from Myanmar Light Infantry Divisions 22, 55, 66, and 99 and additional police forces, according to an announcement on Tuesday by the Arakan Army (AA).

The Myanmar government has instructed the military to crush the AA, an ethnic insurgent group fighting for greater autonomy in the state, after Arakan fighters conducted deadly attacks on four police outposts in northern Rakhine in early January, triggering the latest escalation in hostilities between the two sides.

Fresh clashes broke out in Mrauk-U and Paletwa townships from March 3 to March 5, leaving casualties on both sides, the AA said, but did not provide details.

Arakan forces also warned locals not to hitch rides on government military vehicles or to work as guides for national troops.

RFAs Myanmar Service could not reach Myanmar military spokesmen for comment on Wednesday.

The number of civilians displaced by the armed conflict, meanwhile, now exceeds an estimated 10,000 in Rakhine and neighboring Chin state since late last year, according to the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC) which has conducted a survey of villagers who fled their homes.

REC secretary Zaw Zaw Tun, a relief volunteer in the region, said he recently calculated an additional 3,000 displaced people in temporary camps in Mrauk-U township alone.

There are now more than 39 displacement camps in Mrauk-U, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, and Kyauktaw townships providing sanctuary for the 10,000-some civilians who fled their homes, he said.

The internally displaced persons are in urgent need of food, drinking water, and medical care, Zaw Zaw Tun said.

An official from Rakhine states Education Department told RFA that two exam centers in Mrauk-U and Rathedaung townships were moved to other locations during matriculation examinations that began on Wednesday due to concerns about new clashes between the AA and government troops.

Of the more than 45,000 students who registered to take their exams at 120 test centers in Rakhine state, over 3,000 failed to sit for the test, he said, suggesting that some may have stayed home out of fear of the hostilities.

Locals step on landmine

Regional violence from the fighting between the Myanmar Army and the AA has been punctuated by the disappearances, arrests, and murders of village heads and ordinary residents alike with an unknown number of civilians killed by crossfire or unexploded ordnance.

Three locals collecting firewood triggered a landmine in Mrauk-Us Out Thakan village on Wednesday, killing a 65-year old man and badly injuring the other two, said lawmaker Tun Thar Sein who represents the township in the Rakhine state parliament.

Three villagers from Out Thakan village were transporting the firewood on the hills about two miles from the village and stepped on a landmine, he said.

The two injured are receiving treatment at Pyin Kyaw local hospital in Mrauk-U township, he said.

RFA could not independently confirm later reports that said the two injured villagers were transferred to Mrauk-U Hospital.

The legislator told the Myanmar Times that more fighting broke out in Mrauk-U on Monday night along the Lay Myo River in eastern part of the township.

He said that more than 1,500 civilians, most of whom were from Lay Nyin Taung, Phayar Gyi, and Goggyoung villages along the river, sought shelter in town centers for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

Village chiefs petition authorities

Also on Wednesday, nearly 90 village administrators who resigned from their posts in Mrauk-U township a week ago in protest over the arrests of four other village chiefs for allegedly having ties to the AA petitioned local authorities to release their colleagues.

The four men are being detained for allegedly violating Myanmars colonial-era Unlawful Associations Act, which carries a three-year prison sentence for those who interact with an unlawful association, such as an ethnic armed group like the AA.

The group of administrators who quit their jobs made an appeal at a press conference in Rakhines capital Sittwe, arguing that the apprehension of the four men, who were detained by police as they held a monthly meeting in a township administration office, was not in line with the law.

The group said it is petitioning officials for their release because they do not believe that their fellow village administrators had violated the Unlawful Associations Act.

The village heads from Mrauk-U decided to resign together since they felt it is no longer safe to work as local administrators, they said.

Reported by Kyaw Lwin Oo, Thet Su Aung, and Min Thein Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Representatives from ethnic armed organizations that have signed the Myanmar government's nationwide cease-fire accord attend a meeting held by the Peace Process Steering Team in Chiang Mai, Thailand, March 5, 2019.

UPDATED at 5:44 P.M. EST on 2019-03-07

The 10 ethnic armed organizations that have signed Myanmar's nationwide cease-fire pact have agreed to meet with government peace negotiators after one of the groups voiced deep dissatisfaction with the progression of countrys peace process, those involved in the matter said Wednesday.

The Karen National Union (KNU) contends that the current implementation of the government's nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) signed by the 10 organizations has deviated from the goal of creating a democratic federal union that includes ethnic equality and rights of autonomy.



The implementation of the NCA agreement in the current political climate is deviating from the course toward the formation of a union, based on democracy and federalism and assuring the equality of all ethnic groups and the right to self-determination that we all expected to achieve, said KNU chairman General Mutu Say Poe during a speech at a meeting attended by representatives from the signatory organization in northern Thailand on March 5-6.

We need to review them rationally and make readjustments.

In addition, ethnic group leaders have common goals for reaching a federal system, but their views on what kind of federal system they want differ from those of the ethnic armies implementing the terms of the NCA, Mutu Say Poe said.

But Colonel Khun Okkar, chairman of the Pa-O National Liberation Organization, said the peace process has not deviated from the NCA, but rather is stalled.

If it has deviated, then we have to adjust it, he said. If it is blocked, we have to remove the barrier.

Political analyst Than Soe Naing said the PPST groups should focus on political talks rather than their differences of opinion on the NCA and the peace process.



They should be engaged in the political negotiation process instead of focusing on the differences, he said. If they are genuine about forming a federal democracy, they should not give up and still be engaged in negotiations.

The right direction

To get the process going in the right direction again, one leader from each of the 10 groups will meet informally on March 9 with Myanmar's peace commission led by secretary Khin Zaw Oo, according to an agreement reached during the gathering.

The MPC will also hold unofficial meetings with KNU leaders on the evening of March 8 and with the leaders of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), an NCA non-signatory group, on March 10, meeting participants said.

The MPC has offered leaders from the 10 NCA signatory groups a chance to meet informally on March 9, and we accepted its offer, said Khine Soe Naing Aung, vice chairman of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP).

We can create closer ties during an informal meeting, and we can openly say what we think, he said.

I believe that the Myanmar peace commission might ask us when the Peace Process Steering Team [PPST] will hold a peace conference, he added, referring to a group formed in 2017 that comprises the 10 NCA signatories.

Lieutenant Colonel Sai Nyin, spokesman of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-S), said his ethnic armed organization has no special topic to discuss with peace commission representatives, so it will stick to topics brought up by the 10 NCA signatories as a whole.

What I understand is that we'll be discussing issues that are obstacles to continuing the peace process, and future agendas, he said.

RFA's Myanmar Service was unable to reach KNU and RCSS officials or the peace commission's military spokesman for comment.

Myanmar's civilian-led government under State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has made the peace process one of its top goals by holding periodic negotiations among the ethnic armies, political groups, and the national military to try to end decades of armed conflict that have prevented the formation of a democratic federal union.

The government has made the NCA a prerequisite for participating in the peace talks known as the 21st-Century Panglong Conference and Union Peace Conference, though nearly a dozen ethnic armies have not signed the truce. Only three such sessions have been convened since the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power in 2016.

Strengthening the PPST

The PPST is also considering leadership changes to strengthen the panel, Mutu Say Poe, who serves as head of the group, said Tuesday. The other top leader is from the RCSS.

We, the KNU and RCSS, are trying to transform this PPST meeting into an effective venue for cooperation in areas in which we have common goals, he said in a speech during the gatherings opening.

In order to achieve that, the KNU and RCSS are going to assign new delegates who are more relevant and qualified for that purpose, he said.

But sources close to the ethnic group leaders said PPST general secretary Tar Do Mu would replace Mutu Say Poe, and that vice chief commander Brigadier General Baung Khae would step in for RCSS chairman Lieutenant General Yawd Serk.

They said the PPST would confirm the changes on the final day of the meeting, but it was unclear on Wednesday if the new leaders had been officially announced.

During the two-day meeting, the delegates also discussed continuing the peace negotiation process after 2020, the establishment of common goals for a federated union, and three items outlined in a letter the KNU and RCSS chairmen sent to Aung San Suu Kyi and military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in October 2018, said KNU general secretary Tar Do Mu.

The three issues concern updates on earlier assurances by Min Aung Hlaing to secure peace by 2020 and by Aung San Suu Kyi that three Union Peace Conference sessions would be held in 2019; a review and renegotiation of all NCA mechanisms to ensure they are fair for all parties; and the formation of a consensus among differing opinions on the degree of federalism under a future democratic federal union.

KNU officials told RFA in an interview that the government, Myanmar military, and ethnic armies have different views on federal democracy, so that the parties must renegotiate their approach to reaching the common goal of forming a federal democracy.

It is also important that both NCA signatories and non-signatories are required to participate in the peace process and that they all reach consensus to secure lasting nationwide peace, Tar Do Mu said.

Leaders and delegates from all 10 NCA signatories also agreed to step up negotiations among the ethnic armed groups involved in the peace process.

Reported by Aung Moe Myint for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar and Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) should call on Myanmars government to undertake immediate reforms to protect freedom of expression in a resolution to be adopted at the conclusion of the bodys 40th Session later this month, a London-based rights group said Wednesday.



In a briefing, Article 19 noted that U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee had expressed concerns over the shrinking of democratic space in the country in an assessment she gave to the HRC in March 2018, and said the situation had worsened since then, despite the promise of more freedoms under State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyis civilian government.



The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) came to power in March 2016 as Myanmars first democratically elected civilian government in decades, but Article 19 said the party had failed to use its parliamentary majority to reform laws used against government critics, while proposed legislation could further erode already weak legal protections for the right to freedom of expression in coming months.



Authorities continue to criminalize dissent and criticism, in particular in relation to ongoing conflicts and human rights abuses perpetrated by the state, while the operating environment for the media and civil society remains fraught, Article 19 said, leading to widespread self-censorship and government controls on the flow of information in the country.



Against this backdrop, the group urged all Member and Observer states of the HRC to call on the Government of Myanmar to prioritize immediate reforms to protect freedom of expression in the resolution to be adopted at the end of the Feb. 25  March 22 session, and to raise these concerns during the interactive dialogue with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar.



Article 19 said the HRC should reiterate its call for Myanmars government to reform laws criminalizing dissent and free expression, drop all outstanding charges and convictions of those detained under the laws, and guarantee their immediate and unconditional release.



The HRC should also restate the importance of ending impunity for attacks against journalists and rights defenders, and demand the repeal of the Unlawful Associations and reform of the Peaceful Assembly and Processions acts used to target protesters, as well as urge the government to drop charges and convictions against those detained under the acts, it said.



Furthermore, the rights organization called on the HRC to set specific guidelines on what legislation Myanmars government prioritizes for reform and encourage the government to work with civil society and international partners on a concrete, open and timely legislative process.



Lastly, Article 19 said the HRC should push Myanmars government to take a holistic approach to tackling hate speech that includes incitement of discrimination and violence, in compliance with the rights to freedom of expression, to freedom of religion, and to equality, in line with international standards.



Reporters weigh in



Speaking to RFAs Myanmar Service, Kyi Min, a writer and member of the Myanmar Press Council, pointed out that authorities use a wide interpretation of the law to target journalists, who have been arrested and charged under the Telecommunications Act, Unlawful Associations Act, Official Secrets Act, Media Law, and Aircraft Act of 1934.



In one of the more high-profile cases, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are serving seven-year sentences for violating the British colonial-era Official Secrets Act for possessing classified government documents about a massacre of ethnic Rohingya men and boys in Rakhine states Inn Din village during a brutal crackdown by security forces in 2017.



Their convictions drew widespread condemnation from the international community, rights groups and media watchdogs over lack of proof of a crime and testimony that pointed to a police set-up of the two men.



If journalists write something incorrect, the authorities should charge them under the Media Law, but they were not charged that way, Kyi Min said.



This shows that the authorities charge journalists under these acts whenever they think their image is tarnished by their reporting, even if what the journalists write is true.



Kyaw Min Swe, chief editor of Myanmars The Voice journal, told RFA he believes that press freedom in the country is becoming worse and worse, and said everyone in the media feels the same.



Obviously, we have a growing number of journalists who have been charged, sentenced or are facing trial, but it is not only a problem for the freedom of expressionthe right to information is also increasingly curtailed, he said, noting that reporters now face several restrictions when reporting on the work of parliament.



As the current government is a democratic civilian government, elected by the people, it is responsible for promoting an independent media. Only a media free from restrictions and intimidation can provide the checks and balances needed to hold the [executive, legislative and judicial branches] of the country accountable.



Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Myanmar 137th out of 180 countries in its annual World Press Freedom Index for 2018 and said in October that the countrys position is at risk of falling even further in the 2019 index.



Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Authorities in western Chinas Sichuan province are tightening controls over the residents of a Tibetan-populated county in the run-up to the 60th anniversary of a March 10, 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, sources say.



The restrictions in Dzamthang county in Sichuans Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture were put into effect at the beginning of the month, with armed Chinese police and officials now deployed in county villages to carry out surveillance, one local resident told RFAs Tibetan Service on March 7.



Chinese officials have also made preemptive visits to monasteries in Dzamthang, and local Tibetans are being required to report to the authorities and have their photos taken when traveling to other places, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



Similarly, people coming into Dzamthang from outside have been told to register the times of their arrival and departure, and to tell the authorities the reasons for their visit, the source said, adding, Village shops have been raided, and Tibetans have been forbidden to sell gasoline or kerosene.



Dzamthangs Jonang monastery had previously been the site of several self-immolation protests challenging Beijings rule in Tibetan areas, which led to increasingly severe restrictions by Chinese authorities in the area, sources said in earlier reports.



Armed police are now parading in county villages and towns in a show of force, a second Tibetan source told RFA, also on March 7.

Chinese officials have been assigned to keep a close watch on the local people around the clock in the county, in the townships, and even in the sub-districts, the source said, also speaking on condition he not be named.



The officials also made several stops at the monastery today, he said.



They have said that the happiness of the people is linked to the security of the nation, and everyone is being urged to be patriotic and to abide by the law.



Meanwhile, a notice posted in February by Chinese authorities at the sprawling Yachen Gar monastic complex in Sichuans Palyul county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture also calls on residents to obey the law and quickly comply with identification checks, another source said.



Over the last 30 years, thousands of monks and nuns were fully dedicated to their spiritual and religious practices at Yachen Gar, where Chinese authorities tore down hundreds of dwellings two years ago to reduce the centers size, another source told RFA.



But this year, the authorities issuance of [their notice] has caused distress to the resident practitioners and devotees, as it interferes with their freedom of worship, the source said.



Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.
KABUL -- An Afghan presidential candidate and eight bodyguards of a rival candidate have been injured by a barrage of mortars that exploded in western Kabul, near a ceremony honoring a prominent Shi'ite leader who was killed by the Taliban more than 20 years ago.

Amid conflicting reports about the overall death toll, RFE/RL has confirmed that at least three people were killed in the March 7 attack, which was claimed by the extremist group Islamic State (IS), according to its Amaq news agency mouthpiece.

A large number of Afghan officials and political figures from all of Afghanistan's main ethnic groups were attending the ceremony in Kabul's predominantly ethnic Hazara neighborhood of Dasht-e Barchi to commemorate the 1995 death of Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari when mortar shells began exploding nearby.

They included Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, former President Hamid Karzai, presidential candidate and former national-security adviser Hanif Atmar, presidential candidate Latif Pedram, and Mohammad Mohaqiq, the Hazara leader of the Hezb-i Wahadat party.

Pedram, an ethnic Tajik from the northeastern province of Badakhshan who heads the National Congress party, announced on his Facebook page that he sustained minor injuries from the mortar barrage.

Qadir Shah, a spokesman for Atmar, told RFE/RL that eight of Atmar's bodyguards were also injured.

RFE/R's correspondent at the commemoration ceremony reported that Abdullah had just finished giving a speech honoring the late Mazari when mortar shells started exploding outside of the event.

Abdullah, an ethnic Tajik politician from northern Afghanistan and a leading candidate in the July 20 presidential election, was not injured.

Esteqlal Hospital director Hududullah Nori told RFE/RL that the bodies of three people killed in the attack and 17 injured people were brought to the Kabul facility.

Health Ministry official Mohaibullah Zaeer said an initial check of all Kabul hospitals revealed that at least three people were killed and 32 wounded. Zaeer said those casualty figures were not final.

Earlier, another official who was at the ceremony said seven people were killed.

Health Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said at least three children were among the injured.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi told RFE/RL that government security forces had located and surrounded a walled compound in northeastern Kabul from where suspected militants launched the mortars.

"We have found the area from where the mortars were fired," Rahimi said. "They were launched from Kabul's northeastern police district 18. So we have identified the area and surrounded the people who were firing the mortars."

Meanwhile, Deputy Interior Minister Khoshal Sadat wrote on Twitter that one person involved in the attack had been arrested by the early afternoon on March 7.

On March 6, the IS group also claimed responsibility for an attack on a construction company in the eastern city of Jalalabad that killed at least 17 people and triggered an hours-long gunbattle with security forces.
Lawmakers in Bosnia-Herzegovina have approved a guarantee for a Chinese loan to help a project to expand a coal power plant in the northeastern town of Tuzla.

The parliament of Bosnias autonomous Bosniak-Croat Federation approved the guarantee on March 7 after receiving assurances from the regional government that it had passed measures to prevent any damage to the budget should state power utility EPBiH fail to service the loan.

It did not provide details on the measures.

A European Union energy watchdog, the Energy Community, had urged the parliament to reject the loan, saying it would violate EU subsidy rules.

It warned that approval of it could mean the country would have to repay any state aid it had committed to the project once it joins the bloc.

Meanwhile, EPBiH has said that the project will ensure the long-term power supply" of the Bosnian entity as it shuts down "some of the existing, dated power blocs.

Western Balkan countries are increasingly turning to China for funding as the EU, the World Bank, and other lenders cut back on financing coal-based projects.

In 2017, EPBiH chose Chinese companies to build a 450-megawatt unit in Tuzla at a cost of $1 billion to replace three aging units.

The project is due to be financed by a $687 million loan from the state-funded Export-Import Bank of China, with the remaining funds to be provided by EPBiH.

Environmentalists have complained about the project, saying it does not meet EU standards.

In a report issued last month, five environmental NGOs urged the EU to take a tougher stance on air pollution from "old, inefficient, and substandard" coal power plants in the Western Balkans, saying they are impacting the health of people across the continent.

With reporting by Reuters and Balkan Insight
A controversial Romanian investigative agency has summoned the country's former chief anticorruption prosecutor, a front-runner in the race to lead the newly formed EU antifraud office, for a second hearing in less than a month.

Laura Codruta Koevesi appeared on March 7 before the newly formed agency that investigates potential crimes committed by magistrates as a suspect in a case where she is accused of abuse of office, bribery, and false testimony.

I am accused of running an organized crime group inside the National Anticorruption Directorate [DNA], she told reporters after the hearing, which comes as the European Parliament and representatives of EU member states started talks to choose the head of the new European Public Prosecutor's Office.

Critics have said that Koevesi was subpoenaed in order to smear her record and diminish her chances of getting the Brussels position.

Koevesi already appeared once in court on February 15, the same day she had been due in Brussels to present her candidacy for the EU prosecutor job.

Koevesi headed the DNA for five years until last year, when she was dismissed by the leftist government.

Many observers saw her dismissal as an attempt to sideline her after the DNA's conviction rates for high-level graft jumped across the political spectrum during her tenure in one of the bloc's most corrupt countries, drawing EU praise.

Critics say her dismissal was also meant to prevent the DNA from convicting more senior members of the governing alliance, including the leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party.

Liviu Dragnea, who is also speaker of the lower house of parliament, has been convicted of abuse of power with the help of the DNA and has a second pending sentence for corruption.

Romania's government, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, has also actively campaigned against Koevesi's candidacy for the European prosecutor post.

Several members of the European Parliament representing Romania's ruling coalition launched verbal attacks against Koevesi during a hearing on February 26, accusing her of abuse of power and lying, but failing to prevent her from winning the backing of the European Parliament for the EU prosecutor job.

Representatives of the EU lawmakers are starting talks on March 7 with the European Council, comprising representatives of all 28 EU member states, to agree on choosing either Koevesi or French prosecutor Francois Bohnert, who is the council's choice, for the European prosecutor job.

The same day, in an unusual move, Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader published an open letter in the Financial Times accusing Koevesi of using "coercion" to achieve a high conviction rate in corruption cases.

Toader has been widely criticized for his relentless attacks against the rule of law and his attempts to reverse antigraft legislation, which culminated in his firing of Koevesi.

With reporting by Digi24.ro, Balkan Insight, and G4media.ro
KYIV -- They patrol the streets of the Ukrainian capital in matching urban camouflage and march in lockstep through Kyiv with torches.

They attack minority groups, including Roma and LGBT people. And some of them have trained with visiting American white supremacists.



They are the ultranationalist National Militia, street vigilantes with roots in the battle-tested Azov Battalion that emerged to defend Ukraine against Russia-backed separatists but was also accused of possible war crimes and neo-Nazi sympathies.

If we need to punch someone in the face in the name of justice, we will do this without hesitation."

Yet despite the controversy surrounding it, the National Militia was granted permission by the Central Election Commission to officially monitor Ukraine's presidential election on March 31.



Now the commission appears to be rethinking that decision after the group's spokesman warned that its members will take matters into their own hands and use force in instances where law enforcement "fails" to stop election fraud.



"If law enforcers turn a blind eye to outright violations and don't want to document them," spokesman Ihor Vdovin vowed on March 6, the group will follow the instructions of its commander, Ihor Mikhailenko, who wrote on Telegram, "If we need to punch someone in the face in the name of justice, we will do this without hesitation."



'Only Police Can Use Force'



That call prompted the election commission to appeal to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) to assess the seriousness of the threat. And while it didn't threaten to revoke the National Militia's monitoring authority, the commission said it considers violence "inadmissible."

So far, the SBU has not commented on the matter.



The threats of force alarmed some activists and law enforcement bodies.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov was quick to respond, saying the right to use force belongs to the police.



"Neither volunteer squads nor any other organization can [use force], and [they] will not determine the situation by force," Avakov said in his statement. "Only cooperation and appeal to the legal forces of law and order are acceptable."



He warned that "any attempts to intervene in the electoral process will be firmly and, if necessary, harshly suppressed."

But it is unclear whether the pledge to keep the National Militia and other groups in check will convince the interior minister's critics, who have in the past described Avakov as a "far-right sympathizer" with "close ties" to some of the Azov veterans and commanders.



The National Militia's ranks number in the low thousands, nationally.



In torchlight marches and ceremonies as recent as March 3 (below), its members have sworn an oath to cleanse the streets of illegal alcohol, drug traffickers, and illegal gambling establishments.





But minority groups have seemingly been a favorite target, and the group appears at times to have acted with impunity.



On June 7, National Militia members used axes and hammers to destroy a Romany camp in Kyiv's Holosiyivskiy Park. None of them faced charges for the attack, which sent women and children scrambling to escape the violence.



Under a special agreement with the government, the National Militia enjoys many of the same rights as police officers, although its members may not carry arms. Still, the group -- which includes several openly neo-Nazi members tattooed with swastikas and SS bolts -- often resorts to violence and has been known to interrupt city government meetings to intimidate council members into supporting nationalist causes.



Independent polls show only around 1 percent of Ukrainians support Azov's political wing, the National Corps.

That low level of public sympathy is what kept National Corps lawmaker and former battalion commander Andriy Biletsky out of the crowded presidential race this year, according to Ukrainian sociologist Anya Hrytsenko, who researches far-right groups.



Instead, Biletsky and his party appear focused on trying to muster the 5 percent support to reach parliament in elections slated for the fall.



But while such Azov-related groups remain generally unpopular with voters, their slickly produced videos, street fashions, and mixed-martial-arts centers have attracted a growing young, mostly male following whose presence on Ukrainian streets has rights groups concerned.



In its latest show of force on March 3, nearly 2,000 National Militia members in matching uniforms gathered in Independence Square in the capital. Then, carrying torches down Kyiv's busiest streets, they forced police to intervene to stop traffic as they made their way to a fortress on a nearby hill.

There, as they pounded their chests and chanted, "Glory to Ukraine! Death to enemies," they demonstrated "what the steel fist of Ukrainian nationalism looks like," in the words of their press service.



Addressing the group from the stage, Biletsky called 2019 "the year nationalists must go on the offensive."
Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney of President Donald Trump, has handed over new documents to a congressional panel during a "very productive" eight-hour meeting, the committee's chairman says.

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff told reporters on March 6 that Cohen was cooperative during the closed-door meeting with the House Intelligence Committee, but he did not say what the new documents related to and declined to comment on the specifics of Cohen's testimony.

Cohen has testified three times behind closed doors before Congress and once in a public session.

On February 27, Cohen told a congressional hearing that Trump was "a conman" and "a cheat" and said Trump knew about negotiations during the 2016 election campaign to build a Trump-branded skyscraper in Moscow.

The Associated Press quoted two people familiar with the March 6 testimony as saying Cohen handed over documents to the committee that showed edits made to a false written statement he gave to the panel in 2017 about a Trump real estate project in Moscow.

In his public testimony, Cohen told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that Trump's attorneys, including Jay Sekulow, had reviewed and edited the statement he provided to Congress.

Sekulow has denied wrongdoing, saying in a statement after the hearing that the "testimony by Michael Cohen that attorneys for the president edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false."

Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress on the matter, saying there had been more extensive negotiations between the Trump organization and Russian developers to build a skyscraper in Moscow than had been previously thought.

He is scheduled to begin a three-year prison sentence in May, based on that guilty plea and another in a separate case.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
Pakistan's government says it has taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as part of its crackdown against Islamist militants.

Provincial authorities have "taken in their control management and administration of 182 seminaries (madaris)," the Interior Ministry said in a March 7 statement, referring to religious schools.

"Law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today," the statement said.

Pakistan has been under increasing international pressure to crack down on militant organizations carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e Muhammad (JeM), which claimed responsibility for an attack last month that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police.

However, the ministry said the move was part of a long-planned drive, not a response to international pressure.

Religious schools, which in many cases are the only form of education available to millions of poor children, are often blamed for radicalizing young Pakistanis.

Many banned groups such as JeM run religious schools. Another banned organization, Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD), which calls itself an Islamic charity, is believed to run some 300 religious schools across the country.

Both JeM and JuD have been designated as terrorist organizations by the United States.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal and Reuters
Ahead of International Womens Day on March 8, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for the immediate and unconditional release of 27 women journalists currently held in appalling conditions around the world.

According to the Paris-based media watchdogs tally, of the 334 journalists in prison at the end of February, 27 of them were women.

These female journalists are being held by nine countries. Iran and China are the two largest jailers, with seven held in each country.

The 27 detained female journalists are deprived of their freedom because of what they wrote or because they spoke out courageously, RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said in a statement on March 6.

Deloire added that they are often the victims of disproportionate and iniquitous sentences, are subjected to the most appalling prison conditions, like their male colleagues, and they are sometimes also tortured and harassed sexually.

In Iran, where detainees are constantly denied proper medical care, women journalists detained there often stage dangerous hunger strikes in protest against prison conditions, RSF said.

It added that several UN reports have confirmed that Iranian female detainees "fall sick more often than male detainees."

The situation of female detainees is aggravated by the segregation of men and women imposed by Irans ultra-conservative society and the traditional hatred toward intellectuals and the Islamic regimes critics, the watchdog said.

The seven Iranian female journalists currently detained in Iran include Narges Mohammadi, Hengameh Shahidi, Roya Saberi, Negad Nobakht, Sepideh Moradi, Avisha Jalaledin, and Shima Entesari, according to RSF.

It said besides Iran and China, Turkey continues to detain four women journalists, Saudi Arabia three, Vietnam two, while Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, and Nicaragua are each holding one.
The Russian State Duma on March 7 passed twin bills to stop the spread of "fake news" as well as information that "disrespects" Russias government, its symbols, and society.



Critics say the legislation, which awaits a presidential signature to become law, is part of a broader Kremlin effort to silence free speech on the Internet. And it comes amid signs that a wealth of misleading information spread online in the West leads back to Russia.



Here are some other steps that Russia has taken -- or plans to -- in its effort to rein in the web:



Sovereign Internet



The State Duma is also mulling a bill that would require Russian web traffic and data to be rerouted through points controlled by the state, and for the creation of a domestic Domain Name System.



Backers of the so-called "sovereign Internet" bill say it will make what they call the Russian segment of the Internet -- known as the Runet -- more independent. They argue it is needed to guard Russia against potential cyberattacks.

That legislation -- passed on its first reading on February 12 -- would require the installation of specialized equipment that would make it easier to block websites banned by the government with greater efficiency.



Critics say the bill would do great damage to Internet freedom in Russia.



"This is very serious," the news agency AFP quoted Russian security analyst Andrei Soldatov, the co-author of a book on the history of Internet surveillance in Russia, as saying of the bill.



"This is a path toward isolating Russia as a whole...from the Internet," he said.



Banning Telegram



In April 2018, Russia blocked Telegram after the popular messaging app refused to comply with a Russian court order to give security services access to users encrypted messages.



Amnesty International said that blocking Telegram -- used by senior government officials and Kremlin foes alike -- would be "the latest in a series of attacks on online freedom of expression" in Russia.



Many Russians took to the streets to protest Kremlin efforts to silence the messaging app.





The government effort to shut down Telegram ran into a glitch. Millions of IP addresses got caught in Russia's cyberdragnet.



Among those affected was Viber, another popular messaging app, that said on April 16 that some users in Russia were experiencing problems using the app to make calls.



Ban On VPNs



In July 2017, the Kremlin tightened control over the Internet with fresh restrictions. Putin signed into law a bill to prohibit the use of Internet proxy services -- including virtual private networks, or VPNs -- and cracking down on the anonymous use of instant messaging services.

Amnesty International called the development a "major blow to Internet freedom" in Russia.



"To understand how the ban will work, it is enough to look at China, where Apple has just made a deplorable decision to remove most major VPN apps from the local version of its App Store," said Denis Krivosheev, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International.



Following The Chinese Model



According to CNN, Russia is seeking to follow the Chinese model on Internet control. And Beijing, according to a recent report by Freedom House, is more than willing to share its know-how.

Beijing has organized "trainings and seminars on new media or information management" with foreign officials, according to Freedom House.

"Beijing is cultivating media elites and government ministers around the world to create a network of countries that will follow its lead on Internet policy," Freedom House said in its Freedom On The Net 2018 report.



Busted For 'Likes'
Russia's State Duma has approved legislation that would block websites that publish what the authorities deem to be "fake news" and penalizing websites that "insult" authorities, state symbols, and what the legislation vaguely describes as Russian "society."

To become law, the bills must still be approved by the parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, and signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Critics of the legislation say it would empower state officials to shut down websites that are critical of the Kremlin or other Russian authorities.

In the March 7 vote by the State Duma, 322 lawmakers supported the bill on banning so-called "fake news" and 78 voted against it.

The bill penalizing those who insult the authorities, state symbols, or Russian society was passed by a vote of 327-40, with one lawmaker abstaining.

The legislation would empower the state-run media watchdog Roskomnadzor to determine what constitutes "fake news."

It also sets maximum fines for publishing "fake news" of 100,000 rubles (more than $1,500) on individuals, 200,000 rubles (more than $3,000) on public officials, and 500,000 rubles (about $7,600) on companies.

The "fake news" bill says publications officially registered with Roskomnadzor, including online media outlets, will be given a chance to remove reports deemed as fake news before their websites are blocked.

It says websites that are not registered with Roskomnadzor will be blocked without warning.

Meanwhile, the bill that outlaws online insults would allow fines of up to 100,000 rubles, or about $1,500, for offending authorities, government agencies, the Russian state, the Russian public, Russia's flag, or the Russian Constitution.

It calls for second-time offenders to be fined up to 200,000 rubles or serve a jail sentence of up to 15 days.

It says those who violate the law more than twice will be fined up to 300,000 rubles and spend up to 15 days in jail.

Websites will be given 24 hours to remove material deemed by Roskomnadzor as insulting. Websites that fail to remove such material will be blocked, the bill says.

The legislation was not supported by lawmakers from A Just Russia, the Communist Party, and the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party.

With reporting by Meduza, Dozhd, TASS, and Interfax
Russian authorities say two teenagers have been detained in St. Petersburg on suspicion of being involved in the killing of a top investigator of economic crimes and corruption.



They've also suggested that the shooting death of the investigator, Colonel Yevgenia Shishkina, was a contract killing that had been "ordered" by a third party and that others may have been involved.



Shishkina was shot in the neck on October 10 as she was leaving her apartment building in the town of Arkhangelskoye near Moscow. She died at the scene of the shooting.



Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for Russia's Investigative Committee, told reporters in Moscow on March 7 that the detained suspects are 19-year-old Abdulaziz Abdulazizov and an unnamed 17-year-old resident of St. Petersburg.

Petrenko did not provide further details about the suspects.



Petrenko said the two suspects were detained as a result of joint efforts by the Investigative Committee, Russia's Interior Ministry, and the Federal Security Service (FSB).



"Investigators are currently working on finding those who ordered the killing and other possible suspects," Petrenko said.



The Investigative Committee said earlier that Shishkina had been threatened and that her car had been set on fire earlier in 2018.

Based on reporting by TASS, RIA Novosti, and Interfax
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed a controversial hard-line cleric accused of gross human rights violations as head of the country's influential Judiciary.

In a decree issued on March 7, Khamenei appointed 58-year-old Ebrahim Raisi as the new chief of the advisory body.

Raisi is a senior cleric and longtime prosecutor who is also custodian and chairman of the Astan Quds Razavi, the organization that runs Iran's holiest Shi'ite religious sites.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the U.S. State Department blasted his appointment at the helm of the Judiciary, saying that he was involved in the "mass executions" of political prisoners in the 1980s.

Observers said that Raisis appointment could strengthen the hard-line camp and weaken the moderates, led by President Hassan Rohani.

The appointment "reflects the deteriorating human rights situation" in Iran, Human Rights Watch said in a statement, adding that Raisi "served on a four-person committee that ordered the execution of several thousand political prisoners in 1988.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, said: Its disturbing and frankly frightening that [Raisi] will be overseeing justice and accountability in Iran.

He "should be investigated for grave crimes, rather than investigating them, she said.

Raisi, "involved in mass executions of political prisoners, was chosen to lead Iran's judiciary. What a disgrace!" U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino tweeted on March 5 before he was officially appointed.

The Iranian leadership makes a mockery of the legal process by allowing unfair trials and inhumane prison conditions. Iranians deserve better!" he added.

Khamenei said Raisi has faith, knowledge, and experience and urged him to rejuvenate the Judiciary, fight corruption, restore public rights and legitimate freedoms, and supervise the implementation of laws.

Raisi succeeds Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani, a conservative cleric with close ties to Khamenei as well as the country's military and intelligence bodies.

In December, Larijani was appointed as the head of the Expediency Council, which is tasked with mediating disputes between parliament and the Guardians Council, Iran's constitutional watchdog.

Rumors had circulated for months that Raisi would be appointed Larijani's successor.

He has also been mentioned among the possible successors to the 79-year-old Khamenei, who underwent prostate surgery in 2014 amid long-standing rumors that he has prostate cancer.

Raisi lost the presidential election in 2017 to Rohani, who won a second term.

The head of the Judiciary is appointed by Khamenei for a five-year term.

The decision comes at a challenging time for Iran, which is dealing with the reimposition by the United States of tough economic sanctions following President Donald Trump's decision in May 2018 to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal.

Irans hard-liners have been highly critical of the landmark agreement aimed at curbing the countrys nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

With reporting by Fars and AP
AMSTERDAM -- A prominent opposition activist who claims to have been abducted and tortured by Tajik officials last month says he was pressed to back President Emomali Rahmon's eldest son in the presidential election scheduled for 2020.

Sharofiddin Gadoev, a member of the banned opposition movement Group 24, spoke in an interview with RFE/RL and a broader meeting with journalists in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where he has refugee status.



"Their plan for me included...leading the 17 members of Group 24 who have returned to Tajikistan and gradually supporting the policies of President Rahmon and Rustam Emomali," he told RFE/RL, referring to Rahmon's eldest son.



"They mentioned that 'Rustam Emomali will take part in the 2020 election and...you will support him," the activist said. He told reporters that directive came from the chairman of the State Committee For National Security, Saimumin Yatimov.

Rahmon has ruled Tajikistan with an iron fist since 1992, suppressing dissent and persecuting political opponents.

Many Tajiks believe he may present his 31-year-old son, who was named mayor of Dushanbe at the age of 29, as his favored successor.

Rahmon, 66, has not announced whether he will seek another term and officials have not commented on whether his son will run.

Gadoev, who fled Tajikistan in 2012, resurfaced there in February after a trip to Russia.

He told RFE/RL that he was abducted in Moscow by Russian police officers who handcuffed him, taped his mouth shut, and placed a plastic bag over his head.

Gadoev said the men beat him inside a minivan before driving him to a Moscow airport and handing him over to Tajik officials. He said they took a Tajik-owned Somon Air flight to Dushanbe.

The activist claimed that he was also beaten inside the plane by two Tajik police officers and three alleged Somon Air crew members who also confiscated his documents, mobile phone, credit cards, and money "without any court decision or witness."

Gadoev showed the blood-stained shirt he said he was wearing when he arrived in Dushanbe.

Upon his arrival, Gadoev said he was taken to a "basement of the Interior Ministry," where he was beaten again.

Gadoev added that he was told to cooperate with Tajik authorities or face death or imprisonment.

"'You'll cooperate with us and we will let you be partly free.... You'll be following our orders,'" Gadoev said he was told.

Tajik authorities have claimed that Gadoev, 33, returned to the country voluntarily on February 15. They posted a video showing Gadoev criticizing the opposition and urging other activists to return to Tajikistan.

But Gadoev said the video was made under duress: I was exhausted afterall the beatings, the long flight, lack of sleep. I was tired mentally and physically  and was just repeating to the camera what they were telling me to say.

The activist added that he told the officials he would cooperate because it was the only way to let his colleagues in Europe know he had been abducted and taken to Tajikistan.

On February 19, the Europe-based opposition National Alliance of Tajikistan posted a video it said was recorded ahead of Gadoevs trip to Russia.

In that undated footage, Gadoev warned that if I suddenly appear on the Tajik television or some YouTube channel saying that I have returned of my own accord, you must not believe it.

Gadoev told RFE/RL that he was invited to Moscow by high-ranking Russian officials who promised to allow the Tajik opposition to engage in political activity in Russia. He didnt give any names.

His mother and sister have also appeared in several videos, which the activist said were also made under pressure from Tajik officials.

Gadoev thanked journalists, human right activists, as well as Western governments and diplomats for their efforts to secure his release and return to the Netherlands.

He urged them to continue to press the Tajik government to free numerous political prisoners held in the country.

Group 24 was labeled as extremist in October 2014 and banned after it called for antigovernment protests in Dushanbe and other cities.

The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), long an influential party with representatives in the government and parliament of the Central Asian country, was labeled a terrorist group and banned in 2015.

Dozens of IRPT officials and supporters have been prosecuted and many of them imprisoned, drawing criticism from human rights groups.

IRPT founder Umarali Quvatov was assassinated in Istanbul in March 2015.
President Donald Trump has revoked a policy requiring U.S. intelligence officials to report civilian deaths in drone strikes outside of war zones.

"This action eliminates superfluous reporting requirements, requirements that do not improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission," an administration official said on March 7.

Lawmakers and rights groups criticized Trump's executive order, saying it could allow the CIA to conduct drone strikes without accountability.

Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, put the policy in place in 2016 as part of an effort to be more transparent about increasing drone strikes.

It required the CIA, which has carried out drone strikes in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia, to release annual summaries of U.S. drone strikes and assess how many died as a result.

Trumps executive order does not overturn reporting requirements on civilian deaths set for the U.S. military by Congress.

Drone strikes have been increasingly used by the United States against terror and military targets since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

Based on reporting by Reuters and the BBC
Amnesty International is urging the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that participants in events marking International Womens Day on March 8 are protected from violence.



One of these events, dubbed The First Wreath: The Reunion Of Womens Solidarity, is organized by activist Vitalina Koval and Amnesty International Ukraine in the western city of Uzhhorod.

For the past two years, feminist events organized by Koval on International Womens Day have been met with violence from far-right groups, the London-based human rights watchdog said in a statement on March 7.



Last year, Koval was attacked with red paint by members of a violent group at the solidarity event and sustained burns to her eyes, it added.



The Ukrainian authorities failure to ensure adequate protection has led to injuries to peaceful attendees at solidarity events, said Oksana Pokalchuk, director of Amnesty International Ukraine.



They have no excuse to fail again, Pokalchuk added, urging the authorities to take every reasonable measure to guarantee the right to peaceful assembly and the safety of participants in events marking International Womens Day across the country.



In February, Ukraine Amnesty International blasted the Ukrainian authorities failure to prevent or investigate numerous human rights violations committed last year against rights activists -- in particular those defending the rights of women and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community -- political opponents, and ethnic minorities.



Hate-motivated groups in Ukraine who attack human rights activists, political opponents, and ethnic minorities believe they can do so with impunity, and the authorities past inaction and ineffective investigations have bolstered this belief, according to Pokalchuk.
DUSHANBE -- Wolves have killed two women in eastern Tajikistan, prompting complaints from residents that they have been unable to defend themselves against wolf attacks since local authorities confiscated their hunting rifles.



Umeda Yusupova, a spokeswoman for the Tajik government's Committee on Emergency Situations and Civil Defense, told RFE/RL that the deadly wolf attack took place in the early morning hours of March 7 in Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous region.

Local residents there told RFE/RL that the two victims of the wolf attack were 83-year-old Amalbegim Tashrifbekova and her 55-year-old daughter Mastibegim Davandova.



There have been other deadly wolf attacks in the area in recent years.



In July 2017, wolves killed a 3-year-old child there.



In early 2013, separate wolf attacks killed an elderly woman and severely injured another elderly woman in the region.



Wolves are especially aggressive during the winter months and often attack villagers in Tajikistan's mountainous regions.



Authorities in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous region confiscated the hunting rifles of villagers several years ago after imposing a ban on the hunting wolves.
Creation of National Guard official with support of Quintana Roo

Chetumal, Q.R.  With a anonymous vote of 22, Congreso de Quintana Roo has become one of the latest states to approve the National Guard, making the official number needed to pass the creation of the Guardia Nacional through congress.

Shortly after Quintana Roo approved the move, so did Cogreso de Oaxaca, giving the 18th approval in the country. Upon that approval, chairman of the Senate board Marti Batres said As we know, for a constitutional amendment to be valid, it must be approved by two thirds of the Chamber of Deputies, two thirds of the Senate of the Republic and half plus one of the local congresses.

Well, these requirements have been met.

It is now appropriate to send all the notifications of the local congresses to the Congress of the union to make the corresponding declarations, first in the Chamber of Deputies, then in the Chamber of Senators and after these declarations, they will be sent to the President of the Republic for its promulgation and its publication, she explained regarding the new Guardia Nacional.

President Lopez Obrador has been pushing for the approval of the constitutional reform to create the National Guard that he says will seek to reduce the indexes of insecurity around the country.

Throughout Mexico, congresses that have approved the minutes include Guerrero, Campeche, Tabasco, Chiapas, Nuevo Leon, Colima, Zacatecas, Queretaro, Hidalgo, State of Mexico, Baja California Sur, Tlaxcala, Durango, Tamaulipas, Puebla, Sinaloa, Quintana Roo and the latest, Oaxaca.

Photo: Congreso de Quintana Roo

Once fully approved, the National Guard will be a 50,000-member guard proposed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as a crucial tool needed in the fight against organized crime, being a core component of his public security strategy.

The National Guard will be comprised with the integration of Mexicos Naval, Military and Federal Police for staffing, but under a civilian chain of command.

One of the main oppositions to its creation are past human rights violations and abuses by the military, with many noting that in the past, Mexicos use of the military to fight criminal gangs has not been successful, however, the country is currently without any other viable alternative for their use.
Tom Steven Wilkes

A "DANGEROUS, predatory" man who grooms young girls online will spend an additional five years behind bars after being convicted of a further child sexual exploitation offence.

Tom Steven Wilkes (26), formerly of Pitt Street, Rotherham, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday) after pleading guilty to sexual assault of a child at an earlier hearing.

Wilkes was jailed for ten years in November 2015 for multiple sex offences committed against teenage girls in Rotherham. His five-year prison sentence will run after his current jail term.

The court heard how, as part of the police investigation into Wilkes sexual offending, officers examining digital devices identified another teenage victim, who had been groomed by Wilkes online.

He sent numerous, sexually explicit messages before convincing the 13-year-old girl to meet up. When she met him, Wilkes sexually assaulted her.

Speaking after the sentencing, PC Brett Thompson said: "Wilkes is a dangerous, predatory individual who exploited and groomed a number of teenage girls online.

In this case, he told his victim he was much younger than he was, saying he was 16 when he was in fact 21 years old, duping her and luring her to a secluded location so he could attack her," added the the investigating officer.

He was much bigger and stronger than the victim, so this must have been a terrifying experience."

The officer said the victim had been deeply affected by the assault and commended her for the bravery she had shown throughout the investigation.

Wilkes has shown no remorse for his crimes and I hope this additional sentencing demonstrates to the public that we are absolutely committed to seeking justice for victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse," the PC added.

"Wherever possible we will bring further evidence before the courts, to keep dangerous individuals like Wilkes in prison for longer, where he can cause no further harm.

The prosecution and sentencing of Wilkes follows a joint investigation between South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Council.

Cllr Chris Read, Rotherham Council leader, said: We continue to work in partnership with South Yorkshire Police and the National Crime Agency to bring perpetrators of this kind of crime to justice, whether this is through current crimes or for those committed in the past.

"Child sexual exploitation will not be tolerated in Rotherham.

Anyone with concerns about child sexual exploitation should contact the police on 101 or the national helpline Say Something on 116 000. Always call 999 in an emergency.
A MOTORIST who crashed his souped-up Toyota into an elderly motorist while driving at excessive speed has been jailed for five years for causing his death by dangerous driving.

Jack Davenport (23), of Park View, Greasbrough, was speeding on Car Hill, which has a 40mph limit, when he crashed his modified Toyota Starlet into a red Toyota Yaris which had Philip Rodney Harper (72) in the front passenger seat on December 22, 2017.

Mr Harper died from his injuries four days after the crash.

His widow, Patricia Harper, who was pulling out of Barbot Hill Road when the collision occured, was seriously injured.

Judge Jeremy Richardson jailed Davenport for five years at Sheffield Crown Court today and banned him from driving for six-and-a-half years.

Judge Richardson said: You were coming along that carriageway at excessive speed.

You careered into the side of Mrs Harpers vehicle, causing her serious injury and the death of Mr Harper.

Its a miracle there were no further grievous injuries as a result of your deplorable driving.




The police acted timely, and arrested four accused

Uttar Pradesh, 7the March: In a yet another incident of abuse of power and roadside hooliganism, some saffron clad men were caught on camera abusing Kashmiri traders in Lucknow. This has come in the wake of nationwide backlash on Kashmiris living across the country, as an aftermath of the Pulwama attack. The fringe has had a big role in the harassment of innocent Kashmiris.

This incident is also a part of that movement, and the perpetrators are very openly flaunting their right-wing affiliation.

On Wednesday evening in Lucknows Daliganj area, two dry fruit vendors from Kashmir Mohammmed Afzal Naik and Abdul Salaam were selling their wares were picked out and beaten up by some men clad in saffron clothes. The Kashmiri traders were harassed and can be seen in the video pleading the assaulters to stop. They were asked to show identity proofs too.

Abuse of power and roadside hooliganism

It was but a respite to see some locals coming in defence of the Kashmiris. A local man shielded them and asked the assaulters to stop. Disturbingly, the assaulters replied to that by saying that these men are Kashmiris, and that is why they are being beaten up. They said that these men make money here and throw stones in the valley. But the local man stood his ground and asked them not to take law in their own hands, and wait for the police.

The police acted timely, and arrested four accused. All the four assaulters belong to the right-wing fringe group, Bajrang Dal.one of them also claims to be the president of some Vishwa Hindu Dal. The police having taken strict notice of the action, has assured the strongest possible action against people who target innocent Kashmiris. The Kashmiri politicians have taken a note of this, and are raising the issue to question the incident too.

Saffron clad men were caught on camera abusing Kashmiri traders

Omar Abdullah in his tweet wrote, Nothing will do more damage to the idea of India in J&K than videos like these. PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti also tweeted saying, You humiliate & assault Kashmiris. Make them feel like criminals & that they dont belong to this country.
SADD chief Paramjit Singh Sarna

NEW DELHI, Mar 7: Ahead of the crucial meetings of Indian and Pakistani officials, the SADD has called upon both sides to evolve a consensus over allowing the Sikh devotees visa-free access to the fountainhead of Sikhi across the border. The two sides are scheduled to meet in New Delhi on March 13 and in Islamabad on March 28. "We would like to urge them not to allow red tape come in the way of the Sikh devotees," SADD chief Paramjit Singh Sarna told reporters here.

Sri Kartarpur Sahib

Advertisement

"We would like to urge both sides to work out an agreement on allowing visa-free, passport-free access during Guru Nanak Sahib's 550th birth-anniversary celebrations." Sardar Sarna suggested the devotees intending to visit Sri Kartarpur Sahib be allowed to produce any proof of their identity -- be it the voter IDs, Aadhaar, PAN or ration cards.

The two sides are scheduled to meet in New Delhi

"They should not be held back in the absence of valid passports. Both sides may work out arrival and exit timings for the visiting devotees. Passports may be mandated should any pilgrim wishes to travel down to historic gurdwaras in Pakistan other than Sri Kartarpur Sahib," the SADD chief suggested. He hoped both New Delhi and Islamabad would take steps to make the planned corridor accessible to a wider Sangat with least impediments.
D. K. Sharma, Chairman, BBMB presenting a cheque to Raj Kumar Singh, Hon'ble Minister of State for Power

Chandigarh, 7th March: D. K. Sharma, Chairman, BBMB, on behalf of Bhakra Beas Management Board's employees, presented a cheque for Rs. 1,28,50,000/- in favour of "Bharat Ke Veer" to Raj Kumar Singh, Hon'ble Minister of State for Power (I/C) for contribution towards families of the martyred soldiers during Pulwama attack in Kashmir recently as a goodwill gesture.

Ajay Kumar Bhalla, IAS, Secretary, Power, Govt. of India and Sh. Tarun Agarwal, Secretary BBMB were also present on this occasion.
Captain Amarinder Singh

Chandigarh, March 7 Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday evening ordered the constitution of an officers committee to work on a comprehensive policy for the regularization of about 45,000 contractual employees in the state.

The committee, headed by retired officer Dilsher Kalha, will examine all the major aspects of such a policy/legislation, including its administrative, financial and legal implications. Secretary Personnel and Secretary Finance, along with a nominee of the Advocate Generals office, would be the other members of the committee.

Advertisement

The committee will submit its report within 90 days to the cabinet sub-committee, headed by Brahm Mahindra and comprising the Finance Minister as well as the minister of the concerned department to which the employees belong, for final decision.

Though the Punjab Cabinet yesterday approved the regularization of 5178 teachers and 650 nurses, the Chief Minister felt it was necessary to have a holistic and wide-ranging policy on board to deal with the problem of the 51000-odd contractual employees, whom the previous regime had failed to regularize. Given the tight fiscal situation it had inherited from the previous government, his government was forced to delay the regularization of these employees till things improved on the fiscal front.
Chinesesch Telekommunikatiounsentreprise verklot d'USA, well Washington sengen Administratiounen verbueden huet Huawai-Technologie ze notzen oder ze kafen.

D'Amerikaner reprocheieren Huawai namlech, Spionage-Technik dran agebaut ze hunn. Huawai fillt sech ongerecht behandelt a klot.



En Succes mat deser Plainte ass awer eischter onwahrscheinlech.

Schreiwes vun Huawei

Huawei Sues the U.S. Government for Unconstitutional Sales Restrictions Imposed by Congress Shenzhen, China, March 7, 2019

Today, Huawei announced that it has filed a complaint in a U.S. federal court that challenges the constitutionality of Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Through this action, Huawei seeks a declaratory judgment that the restrictions targeting Huawei are unconstitutional, and a permanent injunction against these restrictions.

"The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," Guo Ping, Huawei Rotating Chairman said. "This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers. We look forward to the court's verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people."

The lawsuit was filed in a U.S. District Court in Plano, Texas. According to the complaint, Section 889 of the 2019 NDAA not only bars all U.S. Government agencies from buying Huawei equipment and services, but also bars them from contracting with or awarding grants or loans to third parties who buy Huawei equipment or services, without any executive or judicial process. This violates the Bill of Attainder Clause and the Due Process Clause. It also violates the Separation-of-Powers principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, because Congress is both making the law, and attempting to adjudicate and execute it.

Song Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer, stressed, "Section 889 is based on numerous false, unproven, and untested propositions. Contrary to the statute's premise, Huawei is not owned, controlled, or influenced by the Chinese government. Moreover, Huawei has an excellent security record and program. No contrary evidence has been offered."

"At Huawei we are proud that we are the most open, transparent, and scrutinized company in the world," said John Suffolk, Huaweis Global Cyber Security & Privacy Officer. "Huawei's approach to security by design development and deployment sets a high standards bar that few can match."

From Huawei's perspective, the NDAA restrictions prevent the company from providing more advanced 5G technologies to U.S. consumers, which will delay the commercial application of 5G, in turn, impeding efforts to improve the performance of 5G networks in the U.S. Beyond this, network users in rural and remote regions of the U.S. will be forced to choose between government funding and high-quality, cost-effective products. This will impede the network upgrade process, thus widening the digital divide. Even worse, the restrictions on Huawei will stifle competition, leaving U.S. consumers paying higher prices for inferior products.

Estimates from industry sources show that allowing Huawei to compete would reduce the cost of wireless infrastructure by between 15% and 40%. This would save North America at least US$20 billion over the next four years.

Guo Ping added, "If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks. Huawei is willing to address the U.S. Government's security concerns. Lifting the NDAA ban will give the U.S. Government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues.


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.
Farmers irrigating their crops may soon be getting some help from space. In 2018, scientists launched ECOSTRESS, a new instrument now attached to the International Space Station. Its mission: to gather data on how plants use water across the world.

The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) helps scientists answer three broad questions:

How do plants respond to drought?

What's happening with plants' water use over the course of a day?

Can vulnerability to drought be reduced through more monitoring?

"Technically, the instruments are measuring surface temperature, which reflects the heat stress of plants," explains Joshua Fisher of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Fisher is the science lead on the ECOSTRESS mission. "By measuring the temperature, we are able to tell how much water plants are using. For example, if you have two plants and water one, the one that has more water will be cooler."

The temperature measurement can be compared to holding a hand over hot sand at the beach. Even without touching the sand, a person can tell it's hot. That's the kind of energy ECOSTRESS picks up.

And the system is taking measurements at various times of day, thanks to the Space Station's unique orbit. That's important: Plants function differently throughout the day.

When plants have enough water, they open pores in their leaves (the stomata) to take up carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. When opening the stomata, the plant but loses water. However, a water-stressed plant, even before a full drought, will protectively close the stomata to conserve water. While the plant retains precious water, it also cools off less.

Using the temperature data from ECOSTRESS, scientists are able to calculate evapotranspiration -- the amount of water evaporating from the surface of the Earth and from plants. "And for farmers, this information is the number one requirement for irrigation. It's useful for them to know how much to water plants. And it helps indicate future droughts and weather changes."

Having this kind of information can tell researchers how much water is going up into the atmosphere and also how much energy is being used to do that. It can also show which plants are being more efficient with their water and which are stressed because they don't have enough. It can do this on a surprisingly small scale: down to 230 square feet.

"We are working with water managers and agricultural specialists who want these data so they can get them to the farmers they work with," Fisher says. "We have a whole office at NASA that connects societal users with our data so it can be used to help farmers and others make better decisions."

The project is an international collaboration. Astronauts performed a six-hour spacewalk to prepare for ECOSTRESS to arrive. A Canadian robotic arm took ECOSTRESS off its cargo spacecraft and passed it to the Japanese robotic arm for installation. ECOSTRESS uses the space station's power and communications to collect data and send it down to Fisher and his team.

"This was the first launch I went to and it was really something special," Fisher says. "I got interested in this work after growing up splitting time between Los Angeles and Alaska and thinking about a bigger vision of how life on Earth persists and thrives. Evapotranspiration is the number one climatic predictor of biodiversity. When you have a lot of water and energy, you have a lot of life."

Fisher presented his research at the Soil Science Society of America International Soils Meeting, Jan. 6-9, 2019 in San Diego
The latest data sent back by the Juno and Cassini spacecraft from giant gas planets Jupiter and Saturn have challenged a lot of current theories about how planets in our solar system form and behave.

The detailed magnetic and gravity data have been "invaluable but also confounding," said David Stevenson from Caltech, who will present an update of both missions this week at the 2019 American Physical Society March Meeting in Boston.

"Although there are puzzles yet to be explained, this is already clarifying some of our ideas about how planets form, how they make magnetic fields and how the winds blow," Stevenson said.

Cassini orbited Saturn for 13 years before its dramatic final dive into the planet's interior in 2017, while Juno has been orbiting Jupiter for two and a half years.

Juno's success as a mission to Jupiter is a tribute to innovative design. Its instruments are powered by solar energy alone and protected so as to withstand the fierce radiation environment.

Stevenson says the inclusion of a microwave sensor on Juno was a good decision.

advertisement

"Using microwaves to figure out the deep atmosphere was the right, but unconventional, choice," he said. The microwave data have surprised the scientists, in particular by showing that the atmosphere is evenly mixed, something conventional theories did not predict.

"Any explanation for this has to be unorthodox," Stevenson said.

Researchers are exploring weather events concentrating significant amounts of ice, liquids and gas in different parts of the atmosphere as possible explanations, but the matter is far from sealed.

Other instruments on board Juno, gravity and magnetic sensors, have also sent back perplexing data. The magnetic field has spots (regions of anomalously high or low magnetic field) and also a striking difference between the northern and southern hemispheres.

"It's unlike anything we have seen before," Stevenson said.

The gravity data have confirmed that in the midst of Jupiter, which is at least 90 percent hydrogen and helium by mass, there are heavier elements amounting to more than 10 times the mass of Earth. However, they are not concentrated in a core but are mixed in with the hydrogen above, most of which is in the form of a metallic liquid.

The data has provided rich information about the outer parts of both Jupiter and Saturn. The abundance of heavier elements in these regions is still uncertain, but the outer layers play a larger-than-expected role in the generation of the two planets' magnetic fields. Experiments mimicking the gas planets' pressures and temperatures are now needed to help the scientists understand the processes that are going on.

For Stevenson, who has studied gas giants for 40 years, the puzzles are the hallmark of a good mission.

"A successful mission is one that surprises us. Science would be boring if it merely confirmed what we previously thought," he said.
Diesel engines are widely used in agricultural machinery, vehicles, and ships because of their high thermal efficiency. The sulfur contained in the diesel fuel is oxidized to sulfur dioxide by combustion. This sulfur dioxide not only harms human health but also causes deactivation of the catalysts used to treat NO x in the exhaust stream.

This problem can be overcome by using sulfur-free fuels based on biomass or clean coal technology or by installing a desulfurizing filter to remove sulfur oxides upstream of the NO x catalyst. Researchers at Kanazawa university have developed a plasma-assisted MnO 2 filter that produces exhaust free of NO x and SO x . This technology augments the desulfurization properties of MnO 2 with the activity of ozone from an atmospheric-pressure non-equilibrium plasma. Activated chemical species (O 3 , OH radicals, etc.) present in the plasma promote desulfurization and denitration reactions.

MnO 2 reacts with sulfur and nitrogen oxides to produce sulfates and nitrates, respectively. The interaction between SO 2 and NO 2 degrades the performance of MnO 2 catalysts in eliminating both species. Prof Huang of the Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion analyzed the MnO2 catalyst material after exposure to simulated exhaust gas containing both SO 2 and NO 2 and found that both manganese nitrate and manganese sulfate were produced.

We evaluated the impact of ozone on the performance of the catalyst for SO 2 and NO 2 removal. An atmospheric-pressure non-equilibrium plasma was generated by the dielectric barrier discharge method. The performance of the catalyst in eliminating both SO 2 and NO 2 was improved by the introduction of ozone at a low concentration of about 50 ppm. The enhancement in NO 2 elimination was particularly notable. The introduction of ozone seems to give a reaction to reduce nitrogen oxides to nitrogen. At the initial stage of the reaction, over 99% of SO 2 and NO 2 were removed from the exhaust stream. The Kanazawa University researchers, led by Yugo Osaka, demonstrated for the first time that zero emissions of NO x can be achieved even in the presence of sulfur oxides by using a plasma-assisted MnO 2 filter. The plasma-assisted filter seems to augment the elimination of SO 2 because of SO 3 generation and also reduce nitrogen oxides to nitrogen.
In January 2019, an international team of scientists working off the tip of southern Chile got their first live look at what might be a new species of killer whale. Called Type D, the whales were previously known only from a beach stranding more than 60 years ago, fishermen's stories, and tourist photographs.

Genetic samples the team collected will help determine whether this animal, with its distinctly different color pattern and body shape, is indeed new to science.

"We are very excited about the genetic analyses to come. Type D killer whales could be the largest undescribed animal left on the planet and a clear indication of how little we know about life in our oceans," said Bob Pitman, a researcher from NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California.

The team's encounter with the distinctive whales came after they spent more than a week at anchor, waiting out the perpetual storms of Cape Horn off southern Chile. It was here that the scientists collected three biopsy samples -- tiny bits of skin harmlessly taken from the whales with a crossbow dart -- from a group of Type D killer whales.

Into the Laboratory

Unraveling the secrets of these unique killer whales has now moved from the blustery Southern Ocean to the laboratory, where NOAA scientists will analyze DNA from the skin samples. "These samples hold the key to determining whether this form of killer whale represents a distinct species," said Pitman.

advertisement

The first record of the unusual killer whales came in 1955, when 17 animals stranded on the coast of Paraparaumu, New Zealand. Compared to other killer whales, they had more rounded heads, a narrower and more pointed dorsal fin, and a tiny white eyepatch; no whales like this had ever been described, before.

Initially, scientists speculated that the unique look might have been a genetic aberration only seen in those stranded whales. Then, in 2005, a French scientist showed Pitman photographs of odd-looking killer whales that had taken fish from commercial fishing lines near Crozet Island in the southern Indian Ocean. They had the same tiny eye patches and bulbous heads.

The location, a quarter of the way around the world from New Zealand, suggested that relatives of the stranded whales might in fact be widespread.

Burgeoning tourism in Antarctica has since produced wildlife photographs in unprecedented quality and quantity. To monitor the distribution, movements, and abundance of killer whales in Antarctic waters, Pitman and colleagues, including members of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, began to collect killer whale images from the Southern Ocean.

New Sightings Emerge

Among the tens of thousands of images compiled were six additional sightings of the unique whales. In 2010, Pitman and colleagues published a paper in the scientific journal Polar Biology describing the Type D killer whales. They included photos from each encounter and a map of the sighting locations.

advertisement

The sightings indicated a distribution around the entire continent of Antarctica, but within subantarctic waters. Because Type D killer whales seemed to avoid the coldest waters, the authors suggested "subantarctic killer whale" as a common name. It was also evident from the few sighting records that this animal lived in offshore waters, in some of the most inhospitable latitudes on the planet: the Roaring 40s and the Furious 50s, known for their strong winds. No wonder it was almost unknown to science.

The stories continued: Chilean fishermen complained of killer whales stripping valuable toothfish off their lines, 60 to 80 miles south of Cape Horn, where the continental shelf drops off into the abyss. Based on photographs by fisheries observers, most of the fish-stealing killer whales were "regular" killer whales, but, among the images, there were also some groups of Type D whales.

The fishermen reported that the types did not mix and that the Type Ds stayed further from the boats when regular killer whales were around.

The Stories Become Real

This year, the stories and photographs finally became real. With support from an anonymous donor through Cookson Adventures, and in collaboration with Centro de Conservacion Cetacea, Chile, Pitman assembled an expedition of international whale experts: Bob Pitman and Lisa Ballance from the United States, John Totterdell and Rebecca Wellard from Australia, Jared Towers from Canada, and Mariano Sironi from Argentina. In January, they set sail from Ushuaia, Argentina, on the 22-meter research vessel Australis, to search for the elusive Type D killer whale.

At first, luck did not seem to favor the Australis team -- at one point they sat at anchor for eight anxious days, pummeled by 40 to 60 knot winds at Cape Horn. Then, during a brief lull in the weather, Australis pounded its way back offshore when the team's fortune changed.

They finally found the animals that Pitman had sought for 14 years.

The Australis spent three hours among a group of about 30 whales, which approached the vessel many times. When killer whale vocalization expert Rebecca Wellard towed a hydrophone behind the boat to record Type D calls, whales immediately came over to inspect it. From wide-angle cameras mounted on her hydrophone, she obtained revealing underwater images as the curious whales showed details of their unique color patterning and body shape.

The Type D killer whale images brought back by team Australis serve as a reminder of how little we know about life in our oceans. In the next few months, the DNA samples should finally reveal just how different the Type D is from other killer whales.
An international team of researchers, which includes scientists from McMaster's School of Geography & Earth Sciences, NASA, and others, is tackling one of the biggest problems of space travel to Mars: what happens when we get there?

A series of articles published today in a special edition of the journal Astrobiology, focuses on the scientific, logistical, operational and communications challenges of sending astronauts to deep space.

It is the culmination of years of work in NASA's BASALT research program, or the Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains, which involves geologists, microbiologists, geneticists, engineers and astrobiologists from all over the world.

One of the biggest challenges the team is investigating is how best to conduct meaningful science in such harsh and dangerous conditions--where time and resources are highly restricted--and how to send valuable information back to Earth to enable input from an Earth-based science support team.

Researchers simulated mission conditions on Mars in several scenarios which included conducting field work in the unforgiving, Mars-like terrain of Craters of the Moon National Park Monument and Preserve in Idaho and the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

These regions are rich in basalt, a fine-grained rock similar to rock found on Mars. Scientists hope samples can provide important clues in the ongoing search for life on Mars.

Supported by funding from the Canadian Space Agency, Allyson Brady, a post-doctoral fellow in McMaster's School of Geography & Earth Sciences, who is working with her advisor Greg Slater on the project, is investigating organic biomarkers of microbial life associated with the rocks.

"When astronauts finally go to Mars, we need to identify the best place to potentially find evidence of life and to target the kind of basalt rock samples which may contain a lot of organic material, for example," explains Brady. "There will be many, many limitations on Mars so we need to consider the best way to conduct research and gather samples including getting timely feedback from science experts on Earth."

Brady and NASA scientists are also considering the challenges of sharing information when teams are millions of kilometres apart. For example, they tested different forms of communications--video and photo transmissions, voice messaging, texting using specialized software--between field researchers, who wore communications packs as an astronaut might, and mission control.

"There can be a significant delay, as long as 20 minutes, between an astronaut on Mars and the team on earth," explains Brady. "So we are working to optimize operations so astronauts don't have idle time and the flow of information continues," she says.
Distracted motorists, hasty Uber and Lyft drivers and traffic-snarled roadways pose threats to pedestrians and bicyclists in San Francisco, but so does a slow-moving bureaucracy that hobbles the citys efforts to make street improvements, Mayor London Breed said Wednesday.

So, Breed has directed three city agencies to accelerate safety projects and ramp up enforcement, particularly on the 13 percent of city streets that officials have dubbed high injury corridors because they account for more than 75 percent of crash injuries and fatalities.

Breed told the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to create a policy to expedite installation of safety posts, roadway markings and temporary sidewalk extensions to separate pedestrians from cars, among other measures. She ordered the San Francisco Police Department to crack down on speeding motorists, people who run stop signs or red lights and drivers who violate peoples right of way in crosswalks. And she requested that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission delegate more staff toward the citys Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic fatalities by 2024.

Her announcement followed six serious collisions in a week that left two people dead and at least four more people severely injured.

Breed called these collisions a tragic reminder of how much work we still have to do to ensure that all of our residents are safe on our streets. She blamed a bureaucratic morass for holding up common-sense safety enhancements, but declined to hold any official or city department at fault.

Since taking office last year, the mayor has been bullish on bicycle and pedestrian safety, persistently nudging the SFMTA and chiding its director, Ed Reiskin, for what she says is a lack of progress on San Franciscos most treacherous arteries. In September, she called on the SFMTA to build a protected bike lane on Valencia Street within four months, transforming a stretch that had dogged cyclists for years.

On Wednesday, Breed urged more inter-agency collaboration. She asked the police to issue at least half of their citations for the top five traffic violations  speeding, violating pedestrian right-of-way, running red lights, running stop signs, and failing to yield while turning. She also told the SFPUC to install better street lights on dangerous roads, since half of the most recent crashes occurred at night.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee praised this approach, saying San Francisco leaders must be relentless when it comes to enforcing a no-tolerance policy on any shortcomings  from pursuing hit-and-run drivers to urging our states legislators to clear any obstacles, to implementing automated speed enforcement citywide.

Reiskin conveyed similar urgency discussing last weeks spate of collisions at the SFMTA board meeting Tuesday. He dispatched engineers to investigate each location, update traffic signs at the intersections and suggest other short-term protections.

Clearly theres been a lot done, but events like last week remind us that its clearly not enough, Reiskin said.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Bakersfield that was expected to close in a few weeks  leaving its 400 detainees in limbo  will remain open after all, according to newly released federal documents.

Citing unusual and compelling urgency, ICE on Tuesday posted online details of a $19.4 million, one-year contract with Florida-based GEO Group Inc. to run the Mesa Verde detention facility through March 2020.

The private corporation already owns and operates Mesa Verde under a subcontract with the city of McFarland in Kern County, which expires March 18.

That looming expiration date was the focus of questions and concerns for several months, after McFarland pulled out of its agreement to operate the facility in December, essentially ending Mesa Verdes operations.

Hundreds of families and immigration advocates said ICE kept them in the dark about the future of the detainees and were concerned theyd be transferred to other facilities, away from their attorneys. Instead, ICE sidestepped a lengthy bidding process to contract with GEO Group directly, a move that advocates criticized Wednesday.

ICE on Wednesday said the contract is necessary to prevent the immediate disruption of operations. The agency has previously said it prefers immigrants are detained in local jurisdictions, where they have access to loved ones and their attorneys.

GEO Group declined to comment Wednesday.

The news came as a relief to Areli Lopez of Sacramento, whose husband, Christian Villatoro, has been detained at Mesa Verde for nine months. Villatoro, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2001, is facing deportation.

You dont know how happy this makes me, Lopez said in a text message Wednesday, after a Chronicle reporter informed her the detention center would stay open.

Under federal guidelines, ICE wouldve had to enter a competitive public bidding process to keep the detention center open. But that wouldve taken time, ICE argued. Delaying a contract wouldve required ICE to transfer nearly 400 detainees  some with serious medical conditions  to other detention centers, only to bring them back to Mesa Verde once a new contract is awarded, the agency said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

This could result in a serious injury to the detainees as well as incur an unnecessary serious financial burden to cover the cost of relocating such a large population, the agency said in a public document, which detailed the terms of the contract, posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website Tuesday.

ICE cited an unusual and compelling urgency to continue the contract with GEO, a term that normally refers to disaster situations  such as acts of terrorism  or circumstances in which the government would experience severe or irreparable injury, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE will have one year to complete a competitive bidding process.

They have known about this potential closure for a few months now, said Ambar Tovar, directing attorney for the UFW Foundations Removal Defense Project. Meanwhile, we still have nearly 400 individuals who continue to be detained. Now the concern is that there is going to be little to no oversight.

Tatiana Sanchez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: tatianaysanchez
As befits a 56-story tower where the starting price for condominiums is $1.8 million, the marketing center for the Avery includes a meticulously detailed 5-foot-tall tower displayed like a pristine work of art.

But thats not the only model on display: 25 other versions of the building are lined up in rows on the nearest wall. Each is 9 inches tall, in materials ranging from walnut to plaster to blue insulation foam. Some resemble the serrated glass shaft nearing completion a block to the south at First and Folsom streets. Others bear a vague resemblance at best.

The wall of models offers a tantalizing hint of what-ifs, sculptural skyline icons unfettered by economic or bureaucratic realities. It also shows that for some architects, old habits die hard  physical models play a role in the creative process that cant be emulated on a computer screen.

You explore ideas that dont work, but they might generate ideas that come later, explained Jason Long, a partner at the New York office of OMA, the firm that designed the Avery tower. Being able to stand around a model, nothing beats the ease of it or the permanence of it.

This is especially true of OMA: The firm, co-founded by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas in 1975, has published an entire book on the role of models in its work. And Robert A.M. Stern Architects, which has two San Francisco projects under way, employs a half-dozen model makers with their own studio in Sterns New York office on Park Avenue.

Many Bay Area architectural offices also show the continued appeal of a form you can pick up and manipulate as desired  especially since 3D printing means that miniature buildings can be generated with data and then fused into a plastic chunk within hours.

Architectural renderings are carefully constructed stories. If youre trying to understand the form of a building, they can lie, said Mark Schwettmann, a top architect at the San Francisco office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Models are everywhere in SOMs current office, from plain foam shapes cut with hot wire to sculptural objects that fill a table and are intended for presentations to clients or public officials. But when the firm moves to One Maritime Plaza early this summer, theyll be inescapable  the reception area will include a countertop display, and a new model shop with glass walls will be visible close by.

Its a good way for us to show off what we do, Schwettmann admitted. When you make it by hand, youre thinking about it.

Fougeron Architecture, design architect for the Averys eight-story podium buildings, also uses models to get the creative juices flowing or break through an impasse.

In the computer, its really easy to get obsessed with details and lose sight of the core ideas, said Anne Fougeron, this years recipient of the Distinguished Practice Award from the American Institute of Architects California chapter. When were working at a conceptual level, we generate models for every project we do.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

In the case of the Avery, which is set to open early this summer, the tower models on view are only a portion of what emerged during the design process in 2014, when developer Related Companies was vying for the site, then owned by the city. More than 100 others remain in OMAs New York studio, where most design meetings were held in the months before and after the competition.

Id go to their office, and it was incredible, Fougeron recalled. Nothing like 12 or 15 foam models on a table to get the conversation started.

Models used by Sterns firm often begin as clumps of clay pulled from butter-like sticks, cartons of which are stacked within the firms model shop. Clay, being supple, lends itself to the contextual nature of Sterns work: Wooden sculpting tools can be used to notch in a mansard roof or attach a vertical bay  allowing architects and clients to consider changes on the fly.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Sometimes the initial ideas are sketches, sometimes they come in model form, but the physical manifestation is a better path to understanding things than a digital model, said Dan Lobitz. Hes the partner-in-charge for Sterns two San Francisco projects  a seven-story condominium building that opens this fall at Powell and California streets on Nob Hill, and a proposed five-acre infill development in Presidio Heights.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

For Lobitz, small clay models help in discussing site issues with planners and neighbors. Theyre sized to fit within models of surrounding blocks that also are prepared in-house. With time, the clay dries up and starts to crack and then crumble. But the form begins life as a means of communication.

Architecture, more than anything, is about how big things are in relation to other things, Lobitz said.

Working models are one step in something much larger, to be sure: What counts in the long term is the final product, the building that becomes part of the larger city. The compact seduction of a single form can be deceiving.

Its dangerous to go down that road, said Schwettmann, when asked if he keeps models on hand to think about what might have been. More often than not, theres a reason things didnt happen.

John King is The San Francisco Chronicles urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
Undergraduate tuition for California residents at University of California campuses will not increase this fall, officials announced.

It will be the seventh time in the past eight years that UC officials have kept tuition flat for California residents amid rising costs and enrollment numbers across the UC system, university officials said Wednesday.

Accessibility and affordability represent UCs core values as a public institution, and we need to provide this generation of students with the quality of education they deserve, said George Kieffer, chair of the UC Board of Regents. So this year, rather than raise tuition, we will once again join our students in advocating for additional resources from the state.

California residents at UC campuses will pay $12,570 in tuition and fees, as they are doing for the current academic year.

Tuition hikes in recent years have garnered opposition from students and California officials alike, including former Gov. Jerry Brown. UC officials called Gov. Gavin Newsoms state budget plan, which he announced in January, a welcome step and a solid down payment in addressing priorities of the universitys 2019-20 budget plan.

University of California officials said Wednesdays announcement is part of an ambitious multiyear plan to accomplish a number of goals by 2030, such as: helping 200,000 more students earn degrees, improving graduation rates  particularly among low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students  and recruiting a more diverse faculty.

Since 2015, the UC system surpassed its goal of boosting the number of California undergraduates by 10,000 by 2018 by adding more than 14,500 California undergrads, university officials said.

Part of UCs mission is to do everything possible to help students reach their college dreams, said John A. Perez, vice chair of the UC Board of Regents. We continue to do so in a number of ways, including addressing the total cost of attendance, such as food and housing needs, and working to develop a multiyear strategic plan that not only supports students financial needs but also expands access to UC for more Californians.

State Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) praised the decision, calling it a reflection of the state Legislatures strong commitment to support public colleges and universities, but said in a statement Wednesday that additional resources must be provided to students in need.

The total cost of higher education is still out of reach for too many in our state, Atkins said. We must do more to expand financial aid beyond providing tuition relief, and to ease the burden of student debt, food insecurity, and even homelessness, that many students face in pursuit of higher education.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The University of California Student Association, a coalition representing students across the UC system, released a letter Wednesday to state legislators opposing potential increases to tuition for out-of-state residents for the 2019-2020 school year ahead of UC Board of Regents meetings scheduled for next week.

The letter, written by student association president Caroline Siegel Singh, also says student leaders oppose a proposal for placing a cap on enrollment of nonresident undergraduate students of 10 percent at each UC campus.

We cannot neglect that non-residents contribute a total of $120 million toward need-based financial aid through the UC grant and therefore support approximately 100,000 California residents, the letter says. We must have a budget that reflects our true priorities while not demonizing our out-of-state, international, and undocumented peers.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
Teachers in Oakland are back in the classrooms, but tension in the district is still thick.

The seven-day strike that ended Sunday got the unions 3,000 teachers better pay, but many of them think their union should have fought harder, for more.

The district, meanwhile, has a financial mess on its hands. At a school board meeting Monday, the board slashed $21.75 million from its budget.

Students werent happy about that. Some, who showed up at the meeting, made passionate pleas opposing the cuts while others simply shouted at board members.

At the very least, the board was able to hold that meeting  a step forward that some might say was really a step backward.

Last week, teachers shut down two scheduled board meetings by holding demonstrations outside the elementary school, La Escuelita on Second Ave., where the meeting was planned. During the second shutdown, on Friday, the atmosphere outside La Escuelita grew hostile and, some say, violent.

In a video clip shared widely on social media, Jumoke Hinton-Hodge, a school board member for 10 years, is seen in the middle of a mob outside the school with her hand apparently on the throat of a woman whos been identified as a teacher. Hinton-Hodge didnt respond to my requests for comment, but in a statement she said that as she tried to enter the school she was pushed to the ground and became briefly disoriented. As she got up, she was inadvertently pushing up against a teachers neck.

Whether you believe her story or not, Hinton-Hodge is an elected official. If you dont like the job shes done for a decade, dont physically push her. Push others to vote against her.

Another board member, Jody London, was already inside the school. She had to stay several hours after the meeting was canceled. She couldnt leave because protestors had barricaded the entrances, even locking some doors with chains.

Whatever the circumstances were, it was definitely distressing for everyone involved, said London, who left the building around 6 p.m. with people jeering at her as she walked with crutches. It did not feel safe. It felt very hostile.

Teachers, who made opposition to the budget cuts part of their campaign to win support during the strike, were just holding their ground, they said. In an email sent to members Friday morning, the union, teachers said, requested that they picket the board meeting, writing that the budget cuts can not be done in our name.

Thats why Lara Trale, a teacher at Oakland High School, said she and others held the line. The union told them to back off after the tentative deal was struck later that day, but teachers didnt budge.

It just seemed super messed up that we would allow the board to make these cuts that we had, repeatedly, insisted as a union that we were not OK with, she said.

Some teachers feel the union didnt push hard enough at the bargaining table. Shannon Carey, a teacher at MetWest High School, said she voted for the contract because she felt the strike was losing its momentum.

Id heard teachers were staying home instead of picketing. And some were concerned that teachers mightve crossed the picket line this week if a deal hadnt been made.

For us to end when we were strong and when we were united and when we had the full backing of the community means that we can take that energy and take it to the state, Carey said. We cant squeeze any more money from the stone that is OUSD right now.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

We have to now look for more robust funding sources.

Thats something everyone can agree on. If the school district is to prosper, it needs more funding from the state. It will take money  and better management of it, of course  to resolve the school districts problems and make everyone happy.

Oakland Education Association President Keith Brown didnt want to talk about the unhappy union members when we talked Tuesday morning.

He wanted to look at the bright side.

The strike is a first step in this fight to improve public education, because for years our students have been disenfranchised, Brown said.

My colleague Jill Tucker reported that the district faces a $9 million deficit this year, $6 million next year and $15.7 million the following year, according to an independent analysis by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team.

So, theres a lot of healing that needs to be done in a district already hobbled by decades of dysfunction and financial mismanagement.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr
Santa Rosa-based internet provider Sonics gigabit fiber service is coming soon to 19 new places in the Bay Area, a significant expansion for a company that has earned a loyal following for its belief in open internet and privacy rights.

Sonic is adding internet service on the Peninsula south of Daly City for the first time, including in Redwood City and San Mateo, and in Petaluma.

Within San Francisco, it is adding gigabit fiber service in Cow Hollow, parts of Pacific Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown and North Beach. Sonic already has a presence in San Francisco.

Dane Jasper, Sonics CEO, described the plans as the 25-year-old companys largest expansion so far.

Its a bit like a snowball, he said. It gets bigger and faster, and bigger and faster.

Sonics gigabit fiber uses fiber-optic cables  bundles of glass strands that transmit data through pulses of light. Cable TVs older technology has been a good way to deliver broadband in the past, but its an aging copper infrastructure, Jasper said, and because its metallic, it corrodes. Sonic says its gigabit fiber wont be affected by factors like weather, distance or power outages, and is far faster than the service most Americans get, according to Jasper.

Google Fiber and Verizon also offer fiber-optic service.

Sonics expansion New areas where the company will offer gigabit fiber service: Portions of Cow Hollow, parts of Pacific Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown and North Beach in San Francisco; Burlingame; San Mateo; Hillsborough; South San Francisco; San Carlos; Belmont; San Bruno; Millbrae; Redwood City; North Fair Oaks; Emerald Hills; Petaluma. See More Collapse

Sonic has more than 100,000 customers and just over 500 employees, Jasper said. The company hopes to add 50,000 more customers over the next two years.

Customers can pre-order gigabit-fiber service now.

In July, Sonic made its gigabit fiber internet service available in the southern San Francisco neighborhoods of Excelsior, Mission Terrace and Crocker Amazon, as well as northern Daly City.

Though Sonic considers itself a midsize regional telecommunications carrier  its currently available only in California  it hopes to expand to other parts of the country, Jasper said.

Fundamentally, internet access in America is broken. People are paying too much and getting too little. When you look at broadband speeds and prices around the globe ... we pay far too much, and thats an outcome of duopoly.

Besides the Bay Area, where its competitors include AT&T, Comcast and Wave broadband, Sonic currently offers service in Sacramento and Los Angeles.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Berkeley resident Richard Sternin became a Sonic customer in October 2018 after previously using Comcast. He pre-ordered service as soon as Sonic began installing fiber on his street.

Download speeds are noticeably faster, as is uploading, he said.

Its faster either way but its startlingly faster for uploading, Sternin said. Thats especially important for his wife, a filmmaker who often needs to upload large amounts of footage. He also likes that his Sonic service does not have data caps.

The company is offering its gigabit fiber internet service, along with home phone service, starting at $40 per month.

Sophia Kunthara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sophia.kunthara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophiaKunthara
After getting a ray of hope two weeks ago, one of San Franciscos last traditional mens clothing stores saw a deal to keep it open fall apart Wednesday.

The Hound Gentlemens Clothiers, a Financial District institution, wont be sold, said co-owner Walt Schorno.

I got confirmation today that the buyer backed out, said Schorno, who started the business 46 years ago.

The Hound was in talks with Fresno menswear company Patrick James to take over its lease and keep the Hound name. Patrick Mon Pere Jr., whose father started the company in 1962, said a few things contributed to the breakdown of the deal.

My fathers passing recently complicated things, he said. That and some renovations at our other stores plus our lender asking us for more collateral, unfortunately we couldnt make this deal happen.

Despite the disappointment, Schorno said hes not giving up. Hes extended his lease to May 1 and said hell be dedicating that time to finding another buyer. In between, hell keep limited store hours, he said. He said hes in talks with the building owner to see if a smaller space could be carved out of the 7,500-square-foot ground-level selling floor the Hound currently occupies.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Im calling my vendors and manufacturers to see if theyd like to do a shop-in-shop kind of retail space. Wed like this space to be a menswear store like its been for years, he said.

Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika
Food trucks are rolling onto Market Street.

On Wednesday, a taco truck and a German food truck parked in a loading zone at Sixth and Market streets, two days after receiving a permit from the city.

Its the first time San Francisco has allowed food trucks on the citys main drag  and their arrival brought plenty of excitement, with a small side order of chagrin.

If you work somewhere long enough, you get bored of the options, said Elyse Kanagaratnam, a video producer at the software company Zendesk, as she stood in the rain with friends happily holding a plate of cheese spaetzle.

The gritty Mid-Market district has chewed up plenty of restaurants recently.

At least 10 notable establishments nearby, including Volta, Cadence and AQ, have closed in the past three years as an influx of tech workers to the area failed to revitalize the dining scene. But Mayor London Breed remains determined to clean up the area, with its striking combination of high-end new offices and open drug dealing.

Jeff Cretan, a spokesman for Breed, said that when the proposal arrived in her office, her staff helped it clear hurdles.

Food trucks bring people out not just for lunch, but to gather in public, as we see all over San Francisco, he said in an email. We want everyone to be able to enjoy our public spaces, and we want to continue to partner with companies and organizations that want to make our streets more welcoming.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

A loose coalition of city officials, tech workers and community organizers set out about a year ago to bring two food trucks to 1028 Market, in the shadow of the Hall, a boarded-up gourmet food court that closed in 2017.

Todd Trumbull

Zendesk, which makes customer support software, pushed particularly hard for the food trucks. Many employees, including Kanagaratnam, had frequented the Hall, and needed new options.

The Hall was really our extended lunchroom, and when that closed, we really felt it, said Tiffany Apczynski, head of public policy and social impact at Zendesk, which, unlike some Mid-Market tech companies  including Uber and Twitter  does not have an in-house cafeteria.

The two food trucks now across from Zendesks headquarters are both run by La Cocina, a Mission District nonprofit that helps low-income women who have been selling their food informally grow their businesses. The trucks are on trial for six months, after which they could become a permanent fixture.

Historically, only food carts have been there, said Matt Cohen, founder and CEO of Off the Grid, a company that organizes gatherings of food trucks and is not involved in the Sixth and Market venture. He called them an exciting new amenity that will draw passersby with diverse food options.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

One truck at the Market Street location, Mi Morena, an affiliate of La Cocina, will serve tacos on Wednesdays, Thursday and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. La Cocina will rotate vendors for the second truck  for a changing palette of pupusas, German spaetzle and Korean fried chicken, according to La Cocina executive director Caleb Zigas.

The rules establishing where food trucks can park are clear: They must be located in a legal parking space and have a minimum clearance of 12 feet from bus stops.

Not everyone welcomes the food trucks.

Del Seymour, a formerly homeless veteran turned philanthropist who is also the founder of job readiness program Code Tenderloin, called Zendesk a perfect steward of the community. But he worries that the private security hired to keep the peace near the food trucks will make some of the people normally in the area feel unwelcome.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Theres two ways of displacing people  forcing them out of their apartments or displacing people whose hangouts are there, he said.

On Wednesday, police officers stood in the doorway of a vacant storefront, steps from the food trucks. The mayor has directed the Police Department to increase foot patrols around the Mid-Market corridor.

Zendesk said the security group it hired to make the area around the food trucks more inviting takes an unconventional approach. Urban Alchemy, a San Francisco nonprofit that provides security attendants at public toilets, libraries and BART stations, hires mostly formerly incarcerated individuals.

We dont interfere with people who are not threatening the safety or cleanliness of the public, Urban Alchemy founder Lena Miller said in an email. If they do, we seek to negotiate ... behavior with love and respect.

On Wednesday, Muklis Marta, who owns an audio equipment store down the block, tried the schnitzel from Little Red Riding Truck. He is optimistic that the food trucks will draw crowds, as they did that day, and drive away drug dealers who hang outside his store.

Hes also excited to have more food options in the neighborhood. Something different, Marta said.

Melia Russell is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: melia.russell@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meliarobin

An earlier version of this story misspelled Caleb Zigas name.
A federal court-appointed monitor overseeing the Oakland Police Department rejected the findings of internal investigations into the police killing of a homeless man, saying investigators failed to question officers about a video that contradicted their account of the moments before they opened fire.

Compliance Director Robert Warshaw called the investigations by internal affairs and a use-of-force review board deficient and said Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick dismissed the video, and that her oversight of the probe was disappointing and myopic.

Warshaws report, released Wednesday, comes nearly a year after four police officers fatally shot 32-year-old Joshua Pawlik, a homeless man who was found unconscious with a gun between two houses in West Oakland. Pawlik was killed March 11, 2018, after he failed to respond to officers repeated commands that he take his hand off the gun. Police said he raised the gun and pointed it at them when they opened fire.

But Warshaw said that the video doesnt support that account.

His movements, as seen on the video, do not coincide with the movements to which the officers claim they reacted, he wrote.

He also suggested police overreacted when they shot Pawlik.

Mr. Pawlik roused to consciousness, and the video shows his actions to be consistent with someone who was waking up and attempting to orient himself, Warshaw wrote. He was moving minimally. He was a live human being - and any reasonable officer should not have expected him to remain perfectly still.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Warshaw said investigators didnt do their jobs.

The questioning in both investigations was deficient, non-invasive, and replete with leading questions that served as attempts to support the justification of the officers actions, he said.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley on Wednesday said she would not file criminal charges against the officers in the Pawlik shooting, and she released her own report saying there wasnt enough evidence to find wrongdoing.

A growing chorus of critics have come to question the officers account of the shooting  as well as the police response beforehand  as more details about the incident are made public.

The shooting came about 45 minutes after police arrived on scene, and Pawlik appeared to be unconscious the entire time. Pawliks familys attorney John Burris said this should have afforded police time to develop a non-lethal strategy, and to anticipate the confused movements from someone just waking up.

Questions about how police should handle an unconscious person with a gun reignited last month, after Vallejo police fatally shot a man, Willie McCoy, who was passed out inside a car at a Taco Bell drive-thru.

Warshaws report was publicly released at the same time as the report on the shooting from the departments Executive Force Review Board and Kirkpatricks addendum to that report. The documents are among the first released under a new police transparency law, which requires California law-enforcement agencies to release previously confidential documents regarding certain officer misconduct and uses of force.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

As part of a 50-page report, the review board said they accepted the findings of the internal affairs investigators regarding use of force, and exonerated all five officers who deployed a weapon. Four of these officers, William Berger, Brandon Hraiz, Craig Tanaka and Sgt. Francisco Negrete fired guns and Officer Josef Philips shot a bean bag.

(The internal affairs) investigation found that all five of the uses of force identified and examined during their investigation were objectively reasonable under law and in accordance with OPD policy, the report stated.

The board did note other major missteps in the incident, and made other findings of violations not directly involving use of force. Tanaka violated policy for failing to advise the communications team about deploying a rifle; Lt. Alan Yu, the on-scene incident commander failed to supervise; and Negrete also failed to supervise when he deployed his own rifle, the documents state.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Kirpatricks assessment was the most lenient of the three reports. She also exonerated all five uses of force, and while she agreed that Yu had failed to supervise, Kirkpatrick exonerated Tanaka for the communications allegation and downgraded Negretes violation.

The loss of an individuals life is a tragic outcome that OPD trains extensively to avoid, Kirkpatrick said, noting that the department had vastly reduced the number of police shootings in recent years. I am committed to supporting and continuing this trend, and to holding officers accountable when they use unreasonable force, she said.

Warshaw sustained the violations that did not involve use of force.

The report isnt the first time Warshaws team has taken aim at the departments actions. The monitors chided the agency for what they said was an inadequate investigation into a police sex abuse scandal, and recently found that the department may have under reported its use-of-force incidents.

The monitor was appointed to oversee the citys 15-year-old reform program rooted in the landmark Oakland Riders case, where a group of officers was accused of beating residents and planting evidence. The city has spent millions of dollars on monitors, legal fees and other efforts to comply with reforms, and scandals threaten to prolong the oversight.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
People arrested or convicted of crimes in California could have their criminal records automatically cleared under a proposed law announced Thursday by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and Assemblyman Phil Ting.

AB1076 would wipe out eligible convictions for people who have completed local sentences and eliminate many arrest records that have not resulted in convictions. Offenders already are eligible to petition the courts for the relief, but less then 20 percent take advantage of the program, said Ting, D-San Francisco.

Under the law, people convicted of offenses ranging from petty theft to more serious felonies that resulted in jail sentences  such as robbery or assault  could begin putting their criminal pasts behind them.

The groundbreaking clean-slate initiative would keep background-check agencies from accessing and disseminating cleared criminal records to employers and licensing boards. However, it would not remove the records from law enforcement databases.

This is what government should be doing: making it easier for people to get what they deserve, Ting said.

Nearly 8 million Californians have criminal convictions on their records and remain hamstrung by poor decisions of their past.

Seventy-six percent of residents with even low-level criminal records have more trouble finding housing, getting employment and access to education, according to a recent report by Oakland-based criminal-justice reform nonprofit Californians for Safety and Justice, which is co-sponsoring AB1076. The limitations make people more likely to re-offend and get pulled back into the criminal justice system, the report found.

There has been a national push to limit when employers can ask applicants about their criminal backgrounds as reform groups have recognized the barriers that come with a persons criminal history.

More than 150 cities and counties in 33 states have laws barring employers from asking to a see a job applicants criminal background, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Under AB1076, arrests and convictions will continue to appear on criminal rap sheets, and felons would still be prohibited from possessing firearms. Registered sex offenders and sentences served in state prison would not be eligible for automatic clearance.

When were talking about clearance, it really impacts the ability for the general public to get this information  landlords, employers, schools, Gascon said. It still allows law enforcement to have this information in case they re-offend.

The current system of petitioning the courts to have an eligible criminal record cleared is notoriously costly and time consuming. A person needs to hire a lawyer and set aside time to show up for court and file the necessary paperwork.

Gascon pointed to his offices work in clearing every marijuana conviction off the books in San Francisco following the passage of Prop. 64, which legalized recreational cannabis in California. The partnership with Code for America, which created an algorithm to identify eligible cases, wiped out records en masse and provides a road map for how an automated system could work on the state level, Gascon said.

This is about modernizing the criminal justice system, he said. It provides for a more just outcome for more people. Its about removing the paper cages from people who continue to carry the burden on their criminal record that keeps them from so many things.

One person hoping to get relief from the proposed bill is Jay Jordan, who served separate stints for robbery and vehicle theft and is now a project director with Californians for Safety and Justice.

When he got out in 2012, he wanted to start a family and begin a career, but as he worked to accomplish the most basic goals of re-entering society  like getting a job and housing  he found his criminal past was still very much present. When his infant son eventually goes to school, Jordan, 33, said, he wont be able to volunteer or chaperone on field trips.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

I committed my crime. I paid for that, Jordan said. I was automatically charged, automatically convicted, automatically sent to prison, and automatically released on parole. Now when it comes time for me to get my full citizenship back, why doesnt that happen automatically?

Under AB1076, Jordans vehicle theft conviction would be eligible for automatic clearance, but not his robbery conviction, for which he served prison time.

The proposed law would be the latest criminal justice reform effort in California as many progressive lawmakers work to transition away from tough-on-crime policies that critics say lead to mass incarceration and increased recidivism.

Gascon co-sponsored Proposition 47 in 2014, which reduced many drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and raised the threshold for felony theft to $950. Prop. 47 has been criticized by law enforcement groups around the state, which have blamed the law for increasing property crimes in some California cities.

But state prison populations have decreased since the law and other progressive reforms  like AB109, more commonly known as realignment  went into effect. Violent crime rates at the same time have neared a 50-year low in California in recent years.

Gascon said efforts to rethink the states criminal justice system have led to a decrease in crime around the state by giving offenders more opportunities to re-enter society.

The district attorney is the chief law enforcement officer in every county, and it cannot be a one-dimensional job, Gascon said. Its not just about prosecuting people, its also about providing people the opportunity to be productive members of society.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
City Lights is planning all sorts of festivities to mark the 100th birthday of poet/artist/publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti on March 24. The question arises, as it often does at birthday parties: what to get the honoree for a gift? It seemed appropriate to poll some members of the nonexistent Bay Area fraternity of publishers.

As a longtime admirer of Ferlinghetti, Last Gasp Press owner Ron Turner first posed the question: What would Ferlinghetti like?

I would give him what he has always wished for, Turner said. No more war. No restrictions on the minds and bodies of the owners. And a new bike.

Heyday Press publisher Steve Wassermans present would be a needlepoint pillow emblazoned with his imperishable adage: Keep an open mind but not so open that your brains fall out.

And Grizzly Peak Press publisher Daniel David said to a man whose greatest gifts to the world have been his words, I would give him my warmest sentiment, a toast: Heres to Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the grand poet, the artist and philosopher  simple, honest, true and brave. Go on about your quests forever.

Meanwhile, when Ferlinghettis assistant, Mauro Aprile Zanetti, posed the question directly to the soon-to-be centenarian, Ferlinghetti flew with his thought somewhere very far. And came back to me in the blink of an eye, saying, Give me back my first girlfriend.

P.S.: As to other tributes, Zanetti has curated a Water Pescara photo exhibition, Lawrence dItalia, that opens at the Italian Cultural Institute on March 19; and he is working on getting an olive tree planted in North Beach as a living and breathing monument.

 Actor Luke Perrys 21-year-old son, Jack Perry, is a professional wrestler known as Jungle Boy. Luke Perry, who died at 52 a few days ago after suffering a stroke, often came to the Bay Area, says Mike Lano. Jack was signed up with All Elite Wrestling and often fought/performed in the Bay Area. His father was here recently, says Lano, to attend (and record on video) a Jungle Boy match at a Daly City high school.

 Bay Area Childrens Theatres Berkeley run of She Persisted: The Musical, based on Chelsea Clintons book about American heroines, was sold out. Clinton flew out to see it on Friday, March 1, when the performance included the chance for children in the audience to ask questions. Those werent necessarily about the dramatic performance or the heroines. Do you have a pet, like a dog or a horse? asked a 3-year-old. (Yes, an 11-year-old dog.) The show plays in San Francisco from Saturday through Monday, March 9 to 11, and April 6-14 in Sunnyvale.

 Steven Tracy was noticeably unexcited about Starbucks announcement of the cloud macchiato, a new drink that is made with egg white powder. Because egg in your java is really what we all need, he writes. Personally, I would have gone with a bacon stir strip. If this is the best the company can do, it calls into question potential presidential matters.

The San Francisco Girls Chorus is marking its 40th anniversary with a gala at the Julia Morgan Ballroom on March 15. The events honoree is Rep. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House and first recipient of the groups Elizabeth Appling Arts Champion Award.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The award is given to recognize Pelosis advocacy for the arts, particularly in one of the most dynamic, thriving arts ecosystems anywhere in the country, said Andrew Bradford, executive director of the chorus. He added that its also because Pelosi is an example of the strong, empowered woman that SFGC seeks to create in every one of its choristers.

All true, of course, and in our overwhelmingly blue part of the country, it is a fairly safe move  high fives all round  to nominate such a heroine of the blues. I guess organizers were willing to accept the only downside: Its probably a safe bet that Ann Coulter wont be buying a ticket.

P.S.: Don Bleu, who often serves as a auctioneer at charity events, helped raised $60,000 for a new playground at St. Raymonds School in Dublin. After the new playground is done, he said to the crowd, were going to build a wall around it and Mexico is going to pay for it.

PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING

Woman: Im very political. Man: Whats your involvement these days? Woman: Aware and disgusted.

Conversation in the Castro, overheard by Ted Weinstein

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, 415-777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik
In a setback for the Trump administrations efforts to speed up deportations, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday that immigrants seeking asylum in the United States have the right to judicial review of deportation orders.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said a 1996 federal law placing many undocumented immigrants in expedited removal proceedings  allowing deportation after brief hearings before immigration officers  violates migrants constitutional right to a fair review of claims that they would be persecuted if returned to their homeland.

Those asylum-seekers can ask a federal judge to decide whether the immigration officers held fair hearings and followed the right legal standards, Judge A. Wallace Tashima said in the 3-0 ruling. He cited a 2008 Supreme Court ruling that allowed foreigners held at Guantanamo Bay as enemy combatants to go to federal court and challenge their confinement. It was the first time the high court had struck down a law for denying a prisoners right to judicial review.

This decision reaffirms the Constitutions foundational principle that individuals deprived of their liberty must have access to a federal court, said Lee Gelernt, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who argued the case.

But the Supreme Court is likely to grant review of the case if the Trump administration appeals. Another federal appeals court, in Philadelphia, found the expedited-removal law constitutional in 2016, and the Supreme Court denied review of the ruling. The justices normally take up cases to resolve such conflicts, especially when a law is declared unconstitutional.

The Justice Department declined to comment about Thursdays ruling.

Under standard procedures, an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. who faces deportation is entitled to a hearing in immigration court, an arm of the Justice Department. The immigrant can be represented by a lawyer  though not at government expense  and can appeal unfavorable rulings to federal court.

But in expedited removal, immigrants receive only a hearing before a Customs and Border Protection officer, who can order them deported immediately. Those who claim asylum are referred to an asylum officer, who decides, in another brief proceeding, whether they have a credible fear of persecution in their home country. If so, they receive a full hearing in immigration court. If not, they must be deported immediately.

More than 193,000 expedited removals were carried out in 2013, according to government records. Since 2004, the government has used those proceedings only for immigrants caught less than 100 miles from the border within 14 days of their entry.

But the 1996 law allows expedited removals for unauthorized immigrants caught anywhere in the U.S. in the previous two years. President Trump has criticized the immigration system for allowing access to lawyers and judges, and has told officials to take steps to expand the quick-deportation program.

Thursdays case involved Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam, a native of Sri Lanka who entered California from Mexico in February 2017 and was arrested near the border. He said he had been beaten and tortured by government officers in his homeland for supporting a candidate from the Tamil minority group. But in expedited-removal proceedings, an asylum officer found he had no credible fear of persecution. The court has allowed him to remain in the U.S., in detention, during his appeal.

In ordering judicial review of the case, the court stopped short of saying a judge should decide whether Thuraissigiam was entitled to asylum. But the court said he was entitled to review of his claims that the asylum officer failed to consider evidence about conditions in Sri Lanka, did not communicate properly with his translator, applied improper legal standards and did not state reasons for the adverse decision.

The 1996 law prevents any judicial review of whether (the government) complied with the procedures in an individual case, or applied the correct legal standards, Tashima said.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
When 18-year-old Dale Cook landed on Iwo Jima in February 1945, his commanding officer put a rifle in his hand and told him and his Marine comrades to capture the south airfield.

Thats what Cook did. And in the 36 days that followed  five weeks of some of the bloodiest fighting of World War II  Cook and his fellow Marines dodged bullets, slogged through mud, took cover in ditches and overtook key enemy positions in the hills of the remote North Pacific island.

But not without cost. In all, 6,800 U.S. service members died in the ferocious battle. Every man in his squad except for him, Cook said, was killed. Cook himself was wounded in the back and leg by a grenade and evacuated to a hospital ship.

What he did on Iwo Jima was a life-defining experience for him, said his granddaughter, Stacey Simon. It made him feel he could do anything. From that point on, he never took no for an answer.

Cook died Feb. 28 of natural causes at his home in Brentwood. He was 92 and among the last survivors of the Iwo Jima battlefield.

A native of Coeur dAlene, Idaho, Cook enlisted in the Marines in 1944 while still in high school and trained on a mortar crew. After the war, he joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the first of many veterans groups. Cook led an annual commemoration of the battle for many years, first at the Golden Gate National Cemetery, and then at the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco. He returned to Iwo Jima three times, for reunions.

He was president of the Joe Rosenthal chapter of the U.S. Marines Corps Combat Correspondents Association. The chapter is named for the late San Francisco Chronicle and Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, who took the iconic picture of the Iwo Jima flag raising. At the time of his death, Cook was leading an effort to have a Navy ship named for Rosenthal.

After the war, Cook graduated from Washington State University and went on to a four-decade career as a newspaperman in Washington state and as a public relations officer for the Atomic Energy Commission, where he assisted reporters covering nuclear weapons tests in the Nevada desert.

In later years, he was a U.S. Army Reserve public information officer at the Presidio in San Francisco.

Cook was a Sierra hiker, a Boy Scout troop leader and a devoted raiser of English bulldogs, the Marines mascot. He enjoyed showing the dogs in local shows and acting as a dog show judge. His home was a Marine Corps museum stuffed with books, maps, artifacts, photos and awards.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

And he never tired of sharing the story of Iwo Jima with family and friends.

He could re-create in words exactly what it was like, Simon said. You could close your eyes and picture yourself there, in the foxholes, at night, standing watch, with gunfire going on all around. Listening to my grandfather was like watching a movie.

He is survived by daughters Debra Kobold and Marie Wynn, both of Brentwood; sons Jim and Dale Jr., both of Martinez; 11 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Mary, his wife of 63 years, died in 2018.

A funeral Mass will be said on March 12 at 1 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 500 Fairview Ave., Brentwood.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com
As a college student in 1994, nearly a quarter century before President Trump nominated him to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, Kenneth Lee wrote that whenever minorities do not succeed, they cry racism.

The same year, in another article for a conservative publication at Cornell University, Lee said one reason for the AIDS epidemic was that homosexuals are generally more promiscuous than heterosexuals. ... To avoid AIDS, one has to only abstain from drug use and promiscuity. So simple, yet so hard to grasp.

Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris have seized on those writings, saying Lee did not disclose those articles, or others of a similar vein, to the panels both of them have set up to review potential judicial nominations. They said Lee also failed to disclose some of his writings on racial issues to the Senate Judiciary Committee that is reviewing his nomination to the appeals court.

Lees nomination is part of Trumps effort to move one of the nations most liberal appellate courts to the right, and its fate may depend on whether a handful of Republicans join Democrats in objecting to Lees past writings.

The committee had been scheduled to take up his nomination this week but postponed the hearing and has not yet rescheduled it. In a joint statement Monday, the two California Democrats said the nomination should be withdrawn.

The committee should not be moving forward with a hearing on any date, the senators said. They contended the newly disclosed writings suggest Lee may continue to hold extreme and troubling views on race.

Democrats and civil-rights groups have made charges of extremism against other Trump judicial nominees, mostly to no avail in the Republican-controlled Senate. One notable exception came in July when two Republicans, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida, joined Democrats in opposing Trumps nomination of Ryan Bounds, a federal prosecutor in Oregon, to the Ninth Circuit because of articles Bounds had written for a conservative publication at Stanford University in the 1990s.

One article criticized the sensitivity of the lesbian and gay community over the vandalism of a gay-pride statue. Bounds also mocked Latino students rivers of tears after the dismissal of a high-ranking Latino administrator, and wrote that race-focused groups should not be allowed on campus. Bounds told the Judiciary Committee he was sorry for his writings, but Trump was forced to withdraw his nomination.

Lees case is virtually identical  if anything, his past writings were more inflammatory than those of Bounds, and he has not apologized for any of them  but the landscape has changed. Republicans have increased their Senate majority and it would take four Republicans to defect from the majority to derail a court nomination.

Lee, 44, immigrated to the United States from Korea as a child. He graduated from Cornell in 1997 and from Harvard Law School in 2000. He worked in the White House counsels office under President George W. Bush, and now litigates businesses cases with a Los Angeles law firm. He also has handled some of the firms public-service cases on behalf of prisoners and low-income clients.

At Cornell, he became editor-in-chief of the Cornell Review, a conservative student biweekly that published most of the articles now being cited by his opponents:

 A 1995 article, titled In Defense of Playboy, that defended the bare-all magazine from feminist criticism and asserted that feminists see abortion in terms of purely rights and not morality.

 A 1997 article that criticized some of Cornells programs and provisions for black students, including a class in Africana Studies and a separate dormitory, as politically correct, feel-good nonsense.

 A 1993 article that said cries of racism often stem from isolated incidents or from unreliable studies based on statistical chicanery and that charges of sexism often amount to nothing but irrelevant pouting.

In 2001, while working as a law clerk for a federal judge, Lee wrote a column for the conservative American Enterprise magazine arguing that the Left has for years been relying on courts to accomplish what it could not achieve in the voting booth.

Lees nomination lacks the drama and high stakes of a Supreme Court confirmation, but it is far from inconsequential. The Ninth Circuit, the nations largest federal appeals court and one of its most liberal, has been regularly accused of bias by Trump after rulings on immigration, birth control and his ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries. Now he has a chance to change its composition.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Three Trump nominees to the court have already been confirmed, and four nominations, including Lees, are pending. Their confirmation would still leave the circuit with a majority of Democratic appointees, but the newcomers would shift the overall balance.

It begins to make a difference on the panels of three judges that decide most cases, said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who closely follows court nominations. Confirmation of the current nominees, he said, would move the court a little to the right.

The nomination also carries symbolic significance: Trump nominated Lee to fill the vacancy created by the death in March 2018 of Stephen Reinhardt, the courts most liberal judge.

In nominating Lee, Trump has chosen a person who gives every indication that he will be a reliable hard-right conservative and loyal follower of the Trump agenda, declared the liberal group Alliance for Justice.

No Republicans have spoken out against Lee so far, and conservatives have defended his record.

Liberals are smearing Ken Lee, hoping he will be judged solely on the basis of immature college writings, Carrie Severino, policy director of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, told the online publication Politico. But as a professional, Ken has earned praise and admiration from across the political spectrum because he is a brilliant lawyer with a commitment to public service

It wont be a quiet confirmation process. But the odds are, Tobias said, that it will end with Lee on the court.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelko
In February 2017, violent protests on UC Berkeleys campus in response to a planned speech by a conservative writer sparked a national conversation about free speech on college campuses. I myself was attacked during these and sustained a concussion, which sparked me to begin a two-year fight for free and open discourse on campus and around the country. Despite the fact that the riots were clearly the work of outside agitators, President Trump tweeted a warning to my school: If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view  NO FEDERAL FUNDS? Just over two years later, this speculative warning will likely become reality.

On Feb. 19, Hayden Williams, a conservative activist, was attacked on UC Berkeleys Sproul Plaza while advertising at a table for a conservative student organization. Zachary Greenberg, the alleged assailant, punched Williams in the face after taking offense to Williams signs. All of this was caught on video, which went viral. Overnight, the story became national news. On March 1, campus police identified and arrested Greenberg. And this past weekend at the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference, President Trump cited the incident and vowed to sign an executive order that would withhold funds from universities unless they agreed to support free speech.

This is severely misguided.

One of the biggest lessons Ive learned over the past few years is that free speech issues are more cultural problems than policy issues. The only way we can hope to combat the dangerous trends of polarization and intolerance we see in our country is to address the problem at its root. Instead, we too often view symptoms of the problem as opportunities to push a misguided, one-sided political platform. The last thing free speech needs is a president fixing a cultural problem by executive order.

I firmly believe that UC Berkeleys administration, by and large, supports free speech but that many students and even faculty members dont truly recognize its importance. Instead, they prioritize values such as inclusion and psychological safety to their extremes. Regardless of whether UC Berkeley truly supports free speech, however, its illogical to think that the schools adoption of pro-free speech principles or policies would have prevented what happened in Williams case or even my case.

No university policy can persuade disruptive outside parties to turn a new leaf. No statement of principles can spark change in the hearts and minds of students overnight.

But even when its understood that the issue at UC Berkeley is one of culture, what exactly is the direction and magnitude of this cultural problem?

Neither Williams nor Greenberg is part of the universitys community. President Trump has once again used an incident caused by outside parties to wage an attack on UC Berkeley and the left that is more symbolic than anything else. This has created further division around the issue of free and open discourse, which is and should continue to be a nonpartisan issue.

At UC Berkeley, liberal students arent beating up conservative students, professors arent lowering conservative students grades, and the community as a whole doesnt participate in the systematic censorship of conservative speakers. The most problematic cases are the ones that make the headlines, and, by and large, these cases involve the behavior of outside individuals.

Yet, across the country, parents have vowed never to send their kids here, alumni have stopped donating, and the general public has perceived UC Berkeley and its students negatively. Because theres a misalignment between what UC Berkeleys problems are and what people perceive them to be, the university has spent its energy attempting to correct the perceptions rather than taking the necessary steps to fix the actual problem.

There are very real, very concerning problems related to free speech on UC Berkeleys campus, but they are different from public perception, both in terms of direction and magnitude. The school exists in a bubble that is out of touch with what the vast majority of Americans believe. By out of touch, I mean that its extremely difficult for liberal students to see where individuals on the right are coming from on most issues, Many dont think its even worth the effort to try.

The only way to fix bubbles of homogeneous political thought on liberal college campuses and virtually everywhere across the nation is to develop a culture that truly values ideological diversity; one that is oriented toward finding solutions to tough problems rather than driving out perceived opposition. Questioning the status quo and accepted wisdom, investigating ones own preconceived notions, and avoiding groupthink in the pursuit of truth should be celebrated, not punished.

This is the culture that the First Amendment was meant to preserve, and fighting for it should be a nonpartisan endeavor embraced by every American.

Pranav Jandhyala is a junior at UC Berkeley. He suffered a concussion while reporting for a student publication on a campus riot that broke out in 2017 when Milo Yiannopoulos, a conservative writer, planned to speak. After the attack, he began a journey of political activism. He met with the university to encourage the adoption of a statement of principles supporting free speech and organized a faculty coalition of support for the free expression of political beliefs on campus. He ran in 2018 for the state Assembly as a Republican. He also started a chapter of BridgeUSA, a nationwide nonprofit that works to create a university climate where all political views were welcome and allowed to be voiced.
San Francisco Sheriff Vicki Hennessy announced this week that she is turning over to the Department of Police Accountability the investigation into up to a dozen deputies who allegedly beat 15 male inmates and degradingly strip-searched 16 female inmates.

But what she didnt say raises more questions about what is really going on in the Sheriffs Department.

Our late Public Defender Jeff Adachi and San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton recently called for more scrutiny over the department. On Thursday, the Board of Supervisors will hold a hearing in the Government Audit and Oversight Committee. This is a step in the right direction, but this hearing is about broader departmental oversight. Supervisors should take the time on Thursday to also address the more immediate concern: the integrity of the current investigation of the sheriffs office.

Hennessy wrote that she was nagged by credibility problems that the internal investigation could face but fails to mention why: the botched investigation into the Fight Club scandal. That case collapsed this year, and the San Francisco district attorneys office was forced to dismiss all charges when it became clear that evidence had been illegally tainted and destroyed by the Sheriffs Department.

The public still doesnt know whether anyone was held accountable for these investigative missteps. The department simply closed ranks, claiming the smashing of the hard drive with a hammer was standard practice, and denying that anyone tampered with a cell phone that was the last possible source of evidence.

The timing of this announcement suggests an attempt to create political cover, not ethical clarity.

As a public integrity prosecutor, I have tried criminal cases against law enforcement officers. Here are three important considerations that deserve answers in order to restore public trust in this investigation:

 How can we be sure that the Sheriffs Department hasnt destroyed or tampered with evidence in this investigation? The Sheriffs Department already is deeply engaged in the internal investigation. The problem in the Fight Club investigation was a mishandling or willful destruction of evidence.

 Is Sheriff Hennessy turning the criminal investigation over to an independent agency, like the San Francisco district attorney or the state attorney general? The San Francisco Department of Police Accountability only has legal authority to conduct administrative investigations, not criminal. An administrative investigation has a lower standard of proof that cannot result in criminal prosecution, only discipline in the workplace. In contrast, a criminal investigation has more robust ways to collect evidence (e.g., search warrants), a higher standard of proof, and can lead to criminal prosecution and conviction. The difference between the two types of investigations is important, especially because these very serious allegations clearly require a criminal investigation.

 Did the sheriff conduct these investigations separately, or is the administrative investigation once again commingled with the criminal investigation? The original problem with the Fight Club investigation was that the administrative investigation and the criminal investigation were impermissibly commingled, which meant all of the evidence was legally unusable in the criminal prosecution. The most straightforward solution to ensure this doesnt happen again would be to conduct the criminal investigation first, with its higher standard of proof, prior to conducting the administrative investigation.

Public trust is critical in our justice system. We must believe that there is accountability. We must be able to trust the process. Sheriff Hennessy is right to say that we have one of the most progressive sheriffs departments in the country, and she is right to promise to root out misconduct. But now isnt the time for political maneuvering. Its time to address past mistakes and ensure this investigation is done right.

Nancy Tung, a candidate for San Francisco district attorney, served as a prosecutor in the San Francisco district attorneys office from 2006 to 2017.
When Orange County Republican Scott Baugh said last week that he wont challenge freshman Democratic Rep. Harley Rouda in 2020, waves from his decision reverberated across the country.

Its not that Baugh, a former Republican Assembly leader and onetime chair of the Orange County GOP, was a shoo-in to beat Rouda, who upset longtime GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher in November. Its that Baugh, who was long seen as Rohrabachers likely successor, didnt even wait to test the political waters before opting out.

The time and circumstances arent right, he told the Orange County Register.

If the time and circumstances involve running in a deep-blue state with President Trump at the top of the ballot, Baugh could be just the first high-visibility Republican to take a pass on next years elections. And thats worrisome news for GOP leaders who need to flip 18 seats nationally to take back control of the House.

Democrats were quick to paint Baughs decision as an admission that their newly minted members of Congress are just too strong to challenge.

Scott Baughs decision not to run in 2020 is a serious blow to Orange County Republicans hopes for this seat, but who can blame him for not wanting to run against Rep. Harley Rouda? Brooke Goren, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement.

But the nonpartisan Cooks Political Report listed Roudas seat last week as one of five Democratic districts in California that are vulnerable.

That same report, however, said that its tough to see Republicans winning the House back unless President Trumps approval rating is significantly higher than todays 42 percent come 2020.

Thats the national approval number. A January poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that only 30 percent of the states adults approve of the job Trump is doing as president. While that number climbed to 36 percent among likely voters, thats still a mighty steep hill for Californias GOP hopefuls, especially when presidential elections attract plenty of non-likely voters.

Baugh got a look at just how angry many California voters are with current political conditions when he challenged Rohrabacher in last Junes primary in the 48th Congressional District. Democratic strategists worried that he and Rohrabacher would run one-two in the traditionally conservative district, putting a pair of Republicans in the general election and freezing out the Democrats.

Instead, Baugh finished fourth, trailing not only Rohrabacher and Rouda but also Democrat Hans Keirstead, a medical scientist. In November, Rouda beat the GOP incumbent 54-46 percent in an election that gave Democrats a congressional sweep of Orange County.

When GOP leaders look to recruit candidates to run against Rouda and the six other Democrats who flipped Republican-held seats in California in November, theyll have to convince them that 2020 wont be a repeat of last years Republican disaster.

If they cant, Baugh wont be the only GOP hopeful to wait for another election.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth
The mayors of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose endorsed Sen. Kamala Harris for president Thursday, continuing the senators effort to lock up support for the California Democratic primary next March 3.

San Franciscos London Breed, Oaklands Libby Schaaf and San Joses Sam Liccardo joined the mayors of Sacramento, Long Beach and Compton (Los Angeles County) in backing Harris, one of 14 Democratic candidates for president.

I couldnt be more enthusiastic to endorse my fellow Bay Area sister, Kamala Harris, and her candidacy for president, Breed said in a statement released by the Harris campaign. Kamalas groundbreaking campaigns for district attorney, attorney general and the United States Senate paved the way for me and many women who have sought elected office in this state.

Schaaf said Oaklands very own Kamala Harris ... is a fighter, a proven leader and champion for progressive ideals.

Peter DaSilva / Special to The Chronicle

The senators latest endorsements point out her close ties to the Bay Area and the state. Born in Oakland, Harris was an assistant prosecutor in Alameda County, district attorney in San Francisco and spent six years in Sacramento as state attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 2016.

The new endorsements build on the backing Harris already has gathered in the state. She has signed on Latina civil rights icon Dolores Huerta and Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee as her campaign co-chairs and has the support of Gov. Gavin Newsom, along with other statewide elected officials and the bulk of Democrats in the Legislature.

After decades of being a political afterthought in the presidential primaries with its end-of-the-season June primary, California is suddenly a major player with its new, much earlier election.

Better than 10 percent of the delegates to the 2020 Democratic convention will come from the state. Harris endorsement drive could give her a significant edge in the crowded Democratic presidential scuffle, bringing plenty of delegates early in the primary season.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth
Remember that controversial proposal to ban new employee cafeterias in San Francisco? Its back.

Months after the city Planning Commission shot down a proposed ban on new employee cafeterias  the food halls often found inside tech companies  Supervisor Ahsha Safai plans to propose a new, watered-down version of the legislation Thursday. Instead of prohibiting new cafeterias altogether, companies would instead have to apply for a conditional use permit to prove their dining rooms wont hurt existing small businesses in the area.

If youre going to put one of these (cafeterias) in a downtown area surrounded by small businesses, lets have a conversation about ... how it will impact the surrounding environment, he said Wednesday.

The original legislation, authored by Safai and co-sponsored by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, generated a lot of backlash when they proposed it last year.

While supporters saw it as a way to stimulate local businesses by forcing employees to step outside for lunch, critics saw it as an unnecessary crackdown on the tech industry. Meanwhile, workers at several of the private dining operations said the ban could cost them their jobs.

Employee cafeterias are often lavish food halls inside offices where workers are provided or sold tax-free food on a regular basis. There are more than 40 such cafeterias in the city, most of them within tech companies such as Twitter, Uber, Google and Square. The companies often use free food as a recruiting tool and a way to increase productivity by keeping workers from going outside for lunch.

Since the Planning Commission voted 5-0 in October to recommend against the ban, Safai said he learned the cafeterias werent so bad after all. For example, he said, many of the companies source their food from local vendors, and corporate cafeteria workers often earn more than regular restaurant workers.

Under the proposed ordinance, the conditional use permits would be judged by the Planning Commission on criteria such as the size of a new cafeteria; the impact it would have on existing businesses in the immediate neighborhood; whether the cafeteria would be open to all employees and contractors, like janitors, servers and security guards, and where it would be located in the office building.

It gives those that are proposing these (cafeterias) a chance to put their best foot forward, he said.

Still, Safai said it is important to vet every new cafeteria proposal, because he believes the attractive workplace perk has come at the expense of local retailers  particularly those in the Mid-Market neighborhood, where the city lured a number of tech companies with a payroll tax break.

The intent of the 2011 tax break, which expires in May, was that tens of thousands of well-paid employees would eventually liven up the downtrodden stretch of Market Street.

But as employees often stay sequestered in their office buildings all day, many of the promises of the tax break have yet to materialize. And although some parts of the area have improved since companies like Twitter and Zendesk moved into Mid-Market, it still has vacant storefronts, drug dealing and an abundance of homeless people.

At the October Planning Commission meeting, Commissioner Millie Johnson said the legislation has sparked an important community conversation. But, she said, it was too narrow and needed more time to bake.

Commissioner Dennis Richards said Wednesday that he fully supports the updated legislation.

Its much better than an outright ban, he said. It allows us to have a balance between public policy goals, while allowing the companies to do what they need to do to keep their employees happy.

Even though his proposal was highly criticized the first time, Safai said he feels it already has had an impact.

We got them (the companies) to think about how they can do a better job of partnering with surrounding businesses, he said. And thats a positive outcome.

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
My colleague was running late to our Saturday brunch date, so I sat outside FOB Kitchen and watched the families spill out the doors and into the sunshine, hands tapping their bellies. As the minutes ticked by and that scene repeated itself, I wondered: Had I found one of an increasingly rare Bay Area phenomenon  a true neighborhood restaurant?

Not that I havent been to any while eating around the Bay Area, but it seems like the definition of what constitutes a neighborhood restaurant has been a matter of debate, especially here, where the term has been stretched to include places in touristy Union Square as well as red sauce icons in the Sunset. On top of that, a little good press can quickly attract lookie-loos who crowd out the regulars. Somehow, waiting in line for a half hour for your local American brunch place behind out-of-towners with luggage in tow doesnt seem quite on the mark.

At FOB Kitchen, the new-wave Filipino pop-up-turned-restaurant that took over the old Juhu Beach Club space in Oaklands Temescal neighborhood last fall, I wanted to be a local so badly. Its the kind of place where the servers are so personable that you dont even notice theyre upselling you. The frustrating thing is that theyll be right to sweet talk you into ordering those little extras  why not some dessert on top of that while youre at it? And youre going to love them for it. Come on, brother, do the right thing, a server cooed when my dining partner hesitated on ordering dessert. The turon ($8) that we ordered, a fried parcel of jackfruit and banana served with a scoop of candied coconut ice cream, was indeed just the right thing.

Its also the kind of place that indirectly rewards locals who live just a few blocks away: The parking situation around the restaurant is awful, and walking over from the MacArthur BART Station can feel like a trek. They dont take reservations, making it a good option for spur-of-the-moment dining.

When they moved in, the owners, married couple Brandi and Janice Dulce, ditched Juhu Beach Clubs signature pink accents and floral wallpaper for a slightly more muted look. The dining room  which features leaf-shaped turquoise tiles below and behind the bar and black silhouettes of palm leaves along one wall  gave me deja vu at first. Ive seen those markers of Southeast Asian/Pacific Islander, but then make it fashion before in contemporary restaurants like Di An Di in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and Hai Hai in Minneapolis  both restaurants that also represent attempts by the owners to reconcile their American upbringings with the realities of their parents and grandparents generations. Were at the point in restaurant culture where even new-wave Asian American cuisine has its cliches, and maybe that works to FOB Kitchens advantage: Without as much of a trendy edge, it can be the kind of place youd take grandma.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

I found the name really intriguing, too: FOB stands for fresh off the boat, a term often used to denigrate recent immigrants for not assimilating well. That would include people like Janice Dulces and my families, Im sure. I first heard it back in the early 2000s, when my high-school classmates would joke about someones fobby clothing or haircut. FOB Whoa, a song dug out from the depths of Napster about a very Filipino brand of fobbery, often made the rounds as well. Its fobby to wear purple sweatpants and flip-flops to the store; to mispronounce English words; to make food that smells like rotten fish. To be a FOB is to be conspicuously foreign, not the girl next door.

To see the term rehabilitated and thrown up on a storefront without self-deprecation or mockery speaks to how far weve come from those days. Here, the hallmarks of sticking out, of being a FOB, are points of pride. Ocean waves ripple on the walls behind the bar, echoing waters crossed by boat or Boeing, and guests eat rice with forks and spoons. Menu items and categories are listed in the Tagalog language. (The descriptors are just a serial list of ingredients in English, so make sure to ask your server for the technical details.)

Customers will come in from the Philippines and say, Im FOB! Dulce told me over the phone. She said that she had gotten some flack for using the term from customers who, not knowing her intentions, thought she was making fun of them. But when they hear my story, about how its something that Im proud of, they become stoked about it, she said. Her family, who once embarrassed her and her siblings with their heavily accented English, taught Dulce everything she knows about Filipino food: For her, the name is a tribute to what they gave her.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

FOB Kitchen plays with the idea of foreignness by stacking the menu with familiarity, though. At brunch  the ultimate relatable meal  you can dig into a ginger-scented arroz caldo ($11), served with braised chicken that the kitchen generously pulls off the bone for you. Known by many other names throughout Asia, such as jook, chao and okayu, this rice dish makes me feel like Im wearing a weighted blanket. Pile the togarashi-dusted crispy chicken skin appetizer ($7) on top to add some texture variance, like adding Fritos to chili.

The main brunch attractions, the silog plates  a protein of your choice, salad, garlic rice and perfect sunny-side up eggs  are also highly accessible. I loved the seared house-made Spam ($15) in particular for its pronounced garlic flavor. The daing ($17) wasnt the whole deep-fried milkfish that I expected, but a dainty sauteed fillet of mackerel garnished with dressed halves of cherry tomato. Im a huge fan of eating fried milkfish head-first  especially the smoked version from food truck Jeepsilog  but I have to begrudgingly acknowledge that this move makes this dish easier on folks who dont want to pull fish bones out of their teeth. Next time, Id pass on the tocino ($16), a Filipino take on cured pork that I found to be way too sweet, and not in the fun way that millionaires bacon can be. I think centering brunch on silog makes sense: It helps the kitchen push out food quickly even during the rush and fits the egg, starch and meat template that most American-style brunch spots rely upon.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

While brunch has more of a familial atmosphere, FOB transitions to something more lounge-adjacent at dinnertime. The bar gets lit up to highlight the cool blue tiles and the playlist shifts to chillwave, with the volume tweaked up a tad. Accordingly, most of the people I saw in the dining room appeared to be on dates and sharing small plates and cocktails. Instead of a constrained silog selection and a few small appetizers, the dinner menu stretches into bigger-format dishes like whole roasted branzino ($27) and smaller dishes like chicken wings ($9) and kabocha squash braised in coconut milk ($8). Dulces talents soar higher at dinnertime because of that: Her strong point of view and finesse have more space to shine.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

At dinner, I devoured the ensalada talong ($10), a mixture of cubed eggplant, jicama, tomatoes and sea beans topped with herbs and rice cracker pieces. The textures wrestle with each other so that youre not sure if youll get more snap, squish or sigh in any given bite. The veggie lumpia ($10), stuffed with julienned root vegetables and green beans, is a modest display of precise knife work whose practical application becomes quickly apparent as you eat: Stacked like a bundle of firewood, the vegetables dont tumble out of the fried dough like so many other vegetarian snacks tend to do. You can upgrade the pork adobo ($16) or its tofu and mushroom counterpart ($14) with coconut milk and Thai chiles stirred into the braising liquid for an extra dollar, and you should. I added a healthy dash of the houses habanero vinegar to everything because it lifted up even the heaviest dishes with a slow-blooming and sharp piquancy.

And though the cocktails are decent overall, the nonalcoholic options were what really impressed me. The Junior ($7) in particular tasted like a lassi made with a slightly overripe and fizzy mango. Unfortunately, there are only two right now; lets hope they begin to include a few more for varietys sake. A thoughtful nonalcoholic drink selection tells me that this is a good place to bring everyone, since everyone will have a chance to feel cared for here.

I loved the details in the space and on the menu at FOB Kitchen, which made me feel at home even though I wasnt. Though the term FOB can be a slur, denoting a persons perpetual and stubborn foreignness, FOB Kitchen inverts that dynamic by being a space where everyone can feel welcome. The food is true to the flavors that young Pinoy people like Janice Dulce grew up eating, with just little tweaks: like boneless fish fillets friendly to kids, and side salads included to lighten relatively vegetable-scarce rice plates.

Its not really about Dulce contorting herself to fit in, but rather coaxing everyone else into her headspace. By embracing that contradiction and even turning it on its head, FOB Kitchen denies a binary that might separate immigrant and neighbor, instead collapsing them together into one space, one family, one person.
A plan announced Wednesday by U.S wildlife officials to eliminate federal protections for gray wolves has infuriated conservationists throughout the American West, but the canine carnivores will remain protected in California.

David Bernhardt, the acting secretary of the Interior, said during a speech Wednesday in Colorado that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will begin the process of taking gray wolves off the Endangered Species list across the lower 48 states.

The move is likely to re-ignite a fierce legal battle over the fate of the storied predator, which has been known to occasionally prey on livestock. But the animals, which only recently found their way into California after being considered extinct for the better part of a century, were listed as endangered in 2014 under the states Endangered Species Act.

A federal decision to delist wolves under the federal Endangered Species Act will not change the legal protections the species has in the state, Jordan Traverso, spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said in an email. However, some federal funds we receive for listed ... species might not be available any longer, but that would be speculation on my part.

In January, a Superior Court judge in San Diego upheld the decision by the California Fish and Game Commission to protect the predators, which have expanded their range in the Golden State since the first lonely gray wolf was spotted eight years ago in Northern California.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, representing the California Cattlemens Association and California Farm Bureau Federation, challenged the listing.

Kirk Wilbur, director of government relations for the California Cattlemen's Association, said the federal delisting of wolves is a valuable first step in helping ranchers protect their sheep and cattle, but it doesnt help his constituents.

State wildlife officials have documented about a half-dozen calves killed by wolves in Northern California since October 2017.

Most of our members do not have any fundamental problem with the existence of wolves in California, Wilbur said. It's just that they are not allowed to protect their cattle. All we want, and all we have sought, is for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage problem wolves.

The proposed rule, which would remove federal protections for all but 114 Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico, follows a 2011 decision to delist wolves in the northern Rockies, where the species has thrived since 66 Canadian wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

While Bernhardts announcement was hailed by ranching groups across the West, it was castigated by conservationists, who claim the species is still a long way from recovery in Oregon, California, Washington, Nevada, Utah and Colorado.

The livestock industry has long been bent on killing as many wolves as they can and creating a domesticated landscape (that is) safe for their docile and dim-witted animals, said Erik Molvar, executive director of the conservation group Western Watersheds Project. Were destroying the natural balance so that ranchers dont have to keep an eye on their cows when they graze on public lands.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, said it is another egregious example of the Trump administrations relentless assault on wildlife protections.

California decided to list wolves after an Oregon wolf named OR-7 made a historic pilgrimage through the northern part of the state in 2011. He was the first wolf seen in California since 1924. Four of OR-7s progeny have since been detected in California, including the leader of the Lassen Pack, which has staked out territory in western Lassen and Plumas counties.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite
For more stories like this, check out The Chronicles weekly Travel newsletter! Sign up here.

There isnt one inch of the state parks on the Monterey and Big Sur coast that state park ranger Matt Khalar hasnt hiked, explored or patrolled. His favorite easy hike is to the bluffs overlooking the beach at Andrew Molera State Park.

I love Molera, out to the bluffs, Khalar says. You get the beach views, with 3 miles of beach below, the lighthouse and out to sea.

Khalar is the supervising ranger for the state parks Big Sur Sector. With the spring and early summer season imminent, Khalar and his team of a half dozen rangers are dealing with 15 trail closures, the chance of reopening several sites in the coming months, and cranking up the trickle of Federal Emergency Management Agency money into a steady flow for long-term repairs.

At Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, site of world-class McWay Falls and a place where visitors have a high probability of sighting California condors, all trails were closed last month by another round of storm damage. Near the park entrance, a hurricane-like gust sent a big tree crashing into the roof of a restroom. Late last month, rangers pulled a kiosk out of a creek.

We just need to make it safe, Khalar says of the many closures at Julia Pfeiffer Burns, as well as at Garrapata, Andrew Molera, Pfeiffer Big Sur, the Point Sur Lighthouse and the John Little State Natural Reserve.

Even Khalars favorite walk was closed for two weeks last month when the Big Sur River flooded.

Nic Coury / Special to the Chronicle

To do that hike, start at the parking area and trailhead near Highway 1 for the Creamery Meadow Trail. Its a short distance to a crossing of the Big Sur River. A footbridge is out, and Khalar said rangers hope to install a new bridge by mid-June. For now, that means you have to cross the river.

Khalars advice: When the river is flowing 200 cubic feet per second (cfs) or less, its safe to cross. The U.S. Geological Survey operates a gauge that produces live data on a graph available on the internet. So before you leave home, you can determine if the river can be forded. (The information is published on their website.)

Once across the river, the Creamery Meadow Trail is less than a mile to the Ridge Trail. You turn left and walk about 100 yards to a junction on your right with the Bluffs Trail. From here, its a quarter-mile to where the Bluffs Trail overlooks miles of beach and ocean.

Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press 2006

To the north is Molera Point and a deep cove that marks the mouth of the Big Sur River and its lagoon and estuary. Inshore are a series of outcrops and stacks. Beyond are miles of open sea. Keep an eye out for what look like little puffs of smoke on the distant surface; these are the spouts of passing gray whales.

The entire trip is just 2 miles, round trip. If this sounds great, thats because it is. Just ask Matt Khalar. After all, hes seen it all on the Big Sur coast.

If you go

Where: Andrew Molera State Park

Location: On Highway 1 at the intersection with Rio Road in Carmel, set your odometer and drive south for 21.5 miles

Cost: $10 parking per vehicle

Camping: Walk-in campground is closed from flood damage with no date to reopen

River crossing: Hikers must cross Big Sur River to reach Creamery Meadow, Ridge and Bluff trails. Footbridge for crossing Big Sur River projected to be installed by mid-June. River can be forded safely when flows are 200 cfs or less. Graph readouts from automated USGS gauge available at https://waterdata.usgs.gov.

Tom Stienstras Outdoor Report can be heard Saturdays on KCBS (740 AM and 106.9 FM) at 7:35 and 9:35 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom
Im back in rainy San Francisco after a great reporting trip to the Central Coast. One of the weeks cool discoveries was in Edna Valley, a coastal region in San Luis Obispo, which I visited with winemaker Gina Hildebrand. Her brand-new label, launched in 2017, is called Lady of the Sunshine. Unlike most upstart California winemakers, who buy fruit from vineyards that they dont farm, Hildebrand is now the caretaker of a small, 6.5-acre Edna Valley parcel, essentially a backyard vineyard, called Chene.

When Hildebrand met the property owners, they wanted to go organic, she says, to make sure this was a safe place for their kids and animals to run around. She took it one step further and is implementing biodynamic viticulture  no small task, especially considering that Hildebrand is a crew of one (with help, she acknowledges, from her fiancee Mikey Giugni; more on him below). She expects to earn Demeter certification later this year, which will make Chene just the second vineyard in Edna Valley to be certified biodynamic.

Chene is a steep parcel, just four miles from the Pacific, with soils full of red volcanic rock and compressed white ash. Hildebrand is a resourceful farmer, driving over to the neighboring cattle ranch with grape picking bins to collect manure that forms the basis of her main compost pile, and keeping a separate barrel compost, a subterranean soil habitat that she dilutes into a compost tea. (A happy frog has taken residence in it.)

Theres not really a book on how to do all this, Hildebrand says. But the best tool you have is your boots in the soil. The 2017 Lady of the Sunshine wines are from purchased fruit, but she added Chene Vineyard wines in the 2018 vintage, which taste promising in barrel. For now, Ill enjoy her 2017 Coquelicot Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, which recalls the flavors of a margarita: lime, salt, tropical fruit.

And my other headlines this week: I published a profile of Louisa Smith, wine director of Lord Stanley and the just-opened Moongate Lounge  the only wine director in San Francisco, by my count, who works exclusively with natural wines. (Heres all the details on Moongate, which is the new drink-focused concept from Mister Jius.)

John Shafer, founder of the influential Shafer Vineyards, has died at age 94; heres my obituary. And in happier news, the team behind Bay Grape wine shop and Batonnage Forum, Stevie Stacionis and Josiah Baldivino, announced they are opening Mama, where theyll serve a three-course red sauce supper for $29.

What Im drinking

The Lady of the Sunshine wines were new to me, but Id already been a big fan of Scar of the Sea, which is a partnership between Hildebrands fiancee Mikey Giugni and Michael Brughelli, who manages grape sales for the renowned Bien Nacido Vineyard. Ill have more to say about the Scar of the Seas Pinot Noirs in the coming weeks, but on this trip I was blown away by their Bien Nacido solera-style petillant naturel Chardonnay ($42), which might sound like a gimmick but tastes completely serious. Its a blend of Chardonnay from 2014, 2015 and 2016 (and subsequent vintages will continue to build on that base), aged in a large oak cask on lees, which means the wine picks up tons of rich, yeasty autolytic character over time. Its bottled in the ancestral method, capturing carbon dioxide mid-fermentation, and then disgorged. Unlike some barely-fizzy pet-nats, the bubbles here are fine, crisp and persistent. For $42, it beats a lot of California Champagne-method sparklers.

What Im reading

Peter Hartlaub / The Chronicle

Im a big Julia Child fangirl, and so I inhaled this delicious piece of Child memorabilia by my colleague Peter Hartlaub. He gets to the bottom of a myth that Child once made a visit to Tu Lan, a casual Vietnamese restaurant near the Chronicle newsroom. Its an epic tale that spans decades.

In Food & Wine, Hannah Wallace talks to Bertony Faustin, who may be Oregons first black winemaker. The Abbey Creek Vineyard owner recently helped make a documentary, Red, White and Black, about minority winemakers in the Beaver State.

Sommelier Jordan Salcito tells Eater that wine aerators are pointless, and I COULD NOT AGREE MORE.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Field Recordings winemaker Andrew Jones has sold one of his canned wine brands, Alloy, to Vintage Wine Estates, the owners of Layer Cake, Swanson and others. (VWE bought another high-profile Central Coast brand, Qupe, last year.)

Wine & Spirits magazine has released its annual restaurant poll, which shows which wines are selling best in U.S. restaurants. Che Fico wine director Francesca Maniace elaborates on why she sells more Italian wine than anything else.

Thank you for this, Megan Krigbaum: How is it normal for a glass of wine to now cost $18 (or much more)? In Punch, Krigbaum looks at how these numbers crept up over the last few years.

Beer before liquor, never been sicker? Mother Jones reports on a scientific study that examined whether drinking different alcohols in a certain order made a difference. The results? There was no difference. (I feel like I could have told you that.)

In case you missed it, our brand-new Chronicle restaurant critic, Soleil Ho, made her print debut this last weekend with five reviews all at once, including a very hot take on Chez Panisse, plus some essays about how she plans to approach restaurant criticism in the Bay Area. Soleil is launching a newsletter, too, so if you like Drinking with Esther, consider also subscribing to Bite Curious!

Drinking with Esther is a weekly newsletter from The Chronicles wine critic. Follow along on Twitter: @Esther_Mobley and Instagram: @esthermob
LAS VEGAS  Elon Musks dream of an express tunnel transit system could finally become a reality in Las Vegas after major setbacks in other cities.

Las Vegas tourism agency announced Wednesday it is recommending that an enterprise backed by Musk  the CEO of Palo Altos Tesla and other firms  receive a contract to build and operate an underground tunnel system through which autonomous electric vehicles would whisk people around a mega convention center, and in the future, possibly the citys famous casino-filled corridor.

If approved, the system of just over a mile long would debut by January 2021 at the facility, which hosts more than 1 million people every year. The Boring Co. would build the project costing from $35 million to $55 million.

Its different from the divisive billionaires beleaguered efforts to build underground tunnel systems in other cities because Musk will be paid for it if the contract is approved. Projects in Los Angeles and Chicago have drawn opposition and skepticism from residents and officials about whether they will actually open.

Musk has faced recent blowback because of his behavior and tweeting habits. He has had dust-ups with stock market regulators and agreed last year to step down as chairman of the board of Tesla, his electric car company.

But Las Vegas tourism officials are ready to get on board with a Musk project.

Its really innovative. I think it will be an attraction in and of itself, frankly, said Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Details of the project have not been finalized. But Hill said the system will probably have three or four stations, each situated at entrances to the convention centers halls. People would be carried to the hall of their choice in electric vehicles moving through parallel tunnels, each running in one direction.

The fleet could include Teslas Model X and Model 3 and a vehicle with capacity for about 16 people, Hill said. All vehicles would be autonomous, without backup human drivers.

The Las Vegas Convention Center, which attracts worldwide gatherings including the CES tech show, is undergoing an expansion. When finished, convention attendees could log about 2 miles walking from one end to the other. The distance led officials to look for a transportation solution.

The service within the convention center is expected to be free for people attending events.

The convention center is operated by the authority, which is funded by a county room tax and is responsible for promoting the destination around the world. The tourism agency is governed by a board of directors.

The authority is expected to present to the board the recommendation to select Musks company March 12. If approved, Hill said the agency hopes to return to the board with a full design and proposed contract by June.

Musk in December unveiled a test tunnel built under a Los Angeles suburb, allowing reporters and guests to take rides. It came almost two years to the day after Musk announced on Twitter that traffic is driving me nuts and he was going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging.

I am actually going to do this, he added in response to initial skepticism. Soon after, he began the Boring Co., tongue in cheek intentional.

The skepticism has not subsided. The Boring Co. in November canceled its plans for another test tunnel in the Los Angeles area after a neighborhood group filed a lawsuit over concerns about traffic and disruptions from trucks hauling out dirt during the boring process.

Now plans for a project in Chicago appear to be in jeopardy. Neither mayoral candidate approves of plans announced in June that called for a system similar to the one proposed for Las Vegas. It would carry people between Chicagos downtown and OHare International Airport at speeds of up to 150 mph through underground tunnels.

Hill said he does not expect permitting processes in the Las Vegas area to put the project behind schedule should it be approved, because the city is committed to innovation.

Look at everything that we have built in Las Vegas, and this city and everybody who has built it found ways to make that happen, he said. As long as this continues to make sense, I believe that we will figure out how to make it happen.

Hill acknowledged the technology that will be used in the project has not been used commercially, but he said the company has the talent to make the project a reality.

The confidence in The Boring Company is such that the authority already has optional routes for the tunnel system to expand to connect to the Las Vegas Strip, the citys downtown and McCarran International Airport. An expansion of that magnitude could be a solution to the congestion affecting the Strip and nearby areas.

We do see it as a real opportunity and something we would like to pursue, Hill said.

Steve Davis, president of the Boring Co., said the speed at which the vehicles will move inside the convention centers tunnels will depend on the number of stations built. The technology involved in the project is being tested every day in the tunnel in Hawthorne (Los Angeles County), he said.

The company believes it will be able to deliver the project by the 2021 deadline, just before that years edition of the CES gathering. It is also eyeing the expansion possibility.

If the community likes it, and they come, they ride at the convention center and they say This is great. Its comfortable. Its fast. Its awesome. Well, there are other places it can go, Davis said.

Regina Garcia Cano is an Associated Press writer.
Carlos Ghosn, the star auto executive credited with rescuing both Renault and Nissan, left a drab Tokyo detention center Wednesday after more than three months in custody, his identity obscured by a surgical mask, hat and construction workers outfit.

The jet-setting turnaround wizard was pursued by TV news helicopters as he traveled in a tiny Suzuki van through Tokyo streets after his release on nearly $9 million bail  a peculiar and humbling episode in a journey that has cast light on aspects of Japanese corporate life and its justice system that set the country apart.

Brazilian-born and raised in Lebanon, Ghosn had been held since his arrest on Nov. 19 shortly after he arrived at a Tokyo airport aboard a private jet. He has stoutly maintained his innocence and vowed to fight charges he falsified financial reports and committed breach of trust.

No date has been set for his trial, which will pit the proud, cosmopolitan European and his star legal team against prosecutors whose determination to prove their case was evident in their crusade to keep Ghosn isolated in the detention center. Only after he agreed to install a surveillance camera at his door and not use the internet, and of course not flee Japan, was he able to win release on bail, on his third attempt.

The timing of Ghosns release allows him to spend his 65th birthday, on Saturday, with family.

Ghosn proved his mettle at tire company Michelin before he was recruited to help restore profitability at Renault AG, which is 15 percent owned by the French government. Dispatched by Renault in 1999 to help turn around its alliance partner Nissan, he delivered. Ghosn bet early on that emissions crackdowns would eventually bring an end to the era of gasoline and diesel engines, so he has championed bringing electric and autonomous cars to the masses, fighting resistance within both companies.

He won a rare degree of admiration and respect in Japan at a time when foreign top executives were a rarity. But two decades on, the welcome wore thin.

Ghosn, who by that time led the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors alliance, found himself the subject of an internal investigation, initiated by whistle-blowers, Nissan says, into his compensation and handling of company funds.

Ghosns star-level pay has drawn attention, since executives in Japan tend to be paid far less than their international counterparts. Some of the charges against him relate to reporting of his deferred income, promised as money, stocks and other items for a later date, including after retirement  money Ghosn says was never paid, or even agreed upon.

Nissan, which makes the March subcompact, Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, says its internal probe found Ghosn hid his pay and misused company funds and assets for personal gain. It dismissed him as chairman, though he remains on the companys board pending a shareholders meeting.

Ghosn also faces charges of breach of trust that stem from his handling of investment losses and payments to a Saudi businessman. He says the investment losses, temporarily transferred onto and then off of Nissans books, caused the company no losses. The payments, he says, were for legitimate business purposes.

Many within Nissan are thought to have opposed an effort by Renault to draw the two companies even closer, or even merge them.

Dapper in his tailored dark suits, Ghosn during his prime as an auto executive commanded immediate attention upon entering a room. He is a towering figure in France, where Renault is one of the heavyweight industrial survivors, and has met repeatedly with the past four French presidents; no major economic event in France was held without him.

But in Japan, some of his fellow executives at Nissan have been forthright in condemning him.

The company is declining comment on the criminal case against Ghosn. But shortly after Ghosns arrest, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa said he held too much power in the company.

Beyond being sorry I feel great disappointment, frustration, despair, indignation and resentment, Saikawa said, apologizing profusely for the situation, which has raised serious questions about overall corporate governance at Nissan and drawn promises for improvements.

Prosecutors have made it clear that Ghosn is to get no special treatment. They had insisted that he should be kept in detention to prevent him from tampering with evidence or leaving the country. He gained his release on bail only after offering to adhere to restrictions to prevent that.

The conviction rate in Japan is more than 99 percent. To help even the odds Ghosn has hired a star defender, Junichiro Hironaka.

Frances finance minister said Wednesday that the decision to free Ghosn on bail would allow him to defend himself freely and serenely.

At a news conference Wednesday, Bruno Le Maire said Ghosn was entitled to the presumption of innocence. He said the solidity of the alliance with Nissan is of tremendous importance.

While Ghosn is enjoying his first hours of liberty after nearly four months in solitary confinement, his lawyers have cautioned that prosecutors still have leeway to file new charges.

His journey has just begun.

Alighting from the tiny, nondescript van used to convey him out of the detention center, having shed his mask and hat, Ghosn smiled.

Elaine Kurtenbach is an Associated Press writer.
Police in Sonora (Tuolumne County) arrested a man on suspicion of vehicle theft Monday night, after he allegedly tried to steal a 2003 Honda Pilot, but was unable to get it to start.

Officers responded to a report of a disabled vehicle blocking part of the roadway on Stewart Street, the Sonora Police Department said in a Facebook post. After arriving, police say they found Joshua Ryan of Oakdale with the Honda Pilot, and tried to approach him.

Ryan ran away from the officers, and led them on a "foot pursuit toward downtown Sonora," according to police.

ALSO: Stunning video shows parking lot transformed into river in Tuolumne County

Ryan was quickly run down by police and taken into custody for resisting arrest. Police then learned that the Honda Pilot belonged to a resident on Stewart Street, and Ryan had pushed it into the road from the driveway.

However, Ryan was unable to drive the car out of the neighborhood because he couldn't get it to start.

Sgt. Tim Wertz told the Modesto Bee that it appears that Ryan tried to start the car with a "bump start," where one pushes the car and engages the manual transmission with the clutch.

The Honda Pilot has an automatic transmission, police noted.

RELATED: Stanford employee, 26, arrested on charge of attempted murder

Ryan was booked at the Tuolumne County Jail for vehicle theft and resisting arrest. According to police, he had two additional outstanding misdemeanor warrants from Oakdale.

His bail was set at $10,000, and police are currently investigating him for at least one other theft that occurred earlier Monday afternoon.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE staff writer. Email him at eting@sfchronicle.com and follow him on Twitter

Start receiving breaking news emails on floods, wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.
The first case of measles in San Francisco since 2013 was disclosed by the Department of Public Health on Tuesday, and health officials now say the patient in that case is one of three Bay Area residents with measles linked to the same international flight.

An adult resident of Santa Clara County boarded an international flight into San Francisco while sick with measles last month and seems to have transmitted the virus to two other passengers on the flight, one a San Francisco resident and another a resident of Santa Clara County.

ALSO: 800 students kept out of school amid measles outbreak in Pacific Northwest

Health officials say they don't believe the disease will spread further beyond the three people already infected, and that the risk to the general public is low. Many U.S. measles outbreaks begin when travelers bring the virus back from countries with outbreaks.

"Countries with large measles epidemics currently include Philippines, Indonesia, Israel, Ukraine, Romania, Brazil, and much of Western Europe," wrote SFDPH.

FROM 2018: Measles case in Contra Costa County sparks concerns

On the national level, 2018 saw the greatest number of imported measles cases  82  since measles was eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control. There were 372 total cases in the U.S. in 2018.

"Measles can spread when it reaches a community in the U.S. where groups of people are unvaccinated," the CDC explains.

In 2018, seven people were sickened by a measles outbreak in Santa Clara County. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control published a report finding that the outbreak was limited almost exclusively to families who'd chosen to forego vaccinations for their children, including two children whose mother lied about their vaccination status when initially asked by public health investigators.

California passed a law in 2015 cracking down on personal and belief exemptions, which allowed people to send their children to California schools and daycares without vaccinating them. However, in the years since, the number of people claiming medical exemptions saying they can't medicate their children because of health conditions spiked 250 percent, raising concerns that some of the medical exemptions might not be legitimate, a study in the journal Pediatrics found.

As of Feb. 28, 208 cases of measles had been documented in the U.S. thus far this year, including an outbreak in the Pacific Northwest that has sickened more than 60 people.
WASHINGTON  Michael Cohen, President Trumps former lawyer, turned over documents to the House intelligence committee on Wednesday that show edits to a false written statement he gave to the panel in 2017 about a Trump real estate project in Moscow.

Cohen provided the documents in a closed-door interview with the panel, according to two people familiar with the documents who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential meeting.

It is Cohens fourth day of testimony on Capitol Hill as he prepares for a three-year prison sentence for lying to Congress and other charges. Cohen acknowledged in a guilty plea last year that he misled lawmakers by saying he had abandoned the project in January 2016 when he pursued it for months after that as Trump campaigned for the presidency.

Its unclear who edited the documents or what exactly was changed. In public testimony last week, Cohen told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that Trumps attorneys, including Jay Sekulow, had reviewed and edited the statement he provided to Congress.

Sekulow has denied wrongdoing, saying in a statement after the hearing that the testimony by Michael Cohen that attorneys for the President edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false.

The Trump Tower Project is one of many under scrutiny as the Democrat-led panel investigates Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trumps campaign was involved, among other matters, including Trumps foreign financial dealings.

Cohen has become a key figure in congressional investigations after turning on his former boss and cooperating with special counsel Robert Muellers probe. During last weeks public testimony before the Oversight panel, he called Trump a con man, a cheat and a racist. He was also interviewed privately by both the Senate and House intelligence committees last week and returned to the House intelligence panel behind closed doors on Wednesday.

House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said after last weeks private meeting with Cohen that the committee had additional document requests that they were discussing with him. Schiff would not comment on the substance of the interview but said it helped to shed light on a lot of issues that are very core to our investigation.

The intelligence committee investigation is one of several probes Democrats have launched in recent weeks as they delve deeper into Trumps political and personal dealings.

Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the duration of negotiations over the Trump real estate project in Moscow. In addition, he pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations for his involvement in payments to two women who allege they had sex with Trump, which Trump denies.

Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker are Associated Press writers.
WASHINGTON  Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen insisted Wednesday the crisis at the southern border is not manufactured, as she faced questions from Democrats for the first time since they took control of the House.

We face a crisis  a real, serious and sustained crisis at our borders, she said at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing. Make no mistake: This chain of human misery is getting worse. This is a true humanitarian crisis.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said he wanted to use the hearing in part to give Nielsen the opportunity to start a serious discussion, rather than echoing President Trumps claims of a security crisis at the border, and to say what she knew about the family separations last year. He said real oversight over the border was long overdue.

No amount of verbal gymnastics will change that she knew the Trump administration was implementing a policy to separate families at the border, Thompson said. To make matters worse, the administration bungled implementation of its cruel plan, losing track of children and even deporting parents to Central America without their children.

Nielsen was grilled on whether she was aware of the psychological effects of separating children from their parents, and when she knew ahead of time about the zero tolerance policy that led to the separation of more than 2,700 children from their parents last year. And she was asked about conversations with Trump as he declared a national emergency at the border to try to gain funding for his proposed wall.

The Senate is expected to vote next week and join the House in rejecting Trumps national emergency declaration aimed at building border walls, but Trump would almost certainly veto the measure and the issue is likely to be settled in the courts.

Colleen Long is an Associated Press writer.
Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images

WASHINGTON  Divided in debate but mostly united in a final vote, the House passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other bigotry Thursday, with Democrats trying to push past a dispute that has overwhelmed their agenda and exposed fault lines that could shadow them through next years elections.

The one-sided 407-23 vote belied the emotional infighting over how to respond to freshman Rep. Ilhan Omars recent comments suggesting House supporters of Israel have dual allegiances. For days, Democrats wrestled with whether or how to punish the lawmaker, arguing over whether Omar, one of two Muslim women in Congress, should be singled out, what other types of bias should be decried in the text and whether the party would tolerate dissenting views on Israel.
The Trump administrations decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census threatens the very foundation of our democratic system because it would cause a significant undercount of immigrants and Latinos that could distort the distribution of congressional seats, a U.S. judge said Wednesday.

Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco said the commerce secretarys decision to add the question was arbitrary and capricious and would violate a constitutional requirement that the census accurately count the U.S. population.

The record in this case has clearly established that including the citizenship question on the 2020 census is fundamentally counterproductive to the goal of obtaining accurate citizenship data about the public, Seeborg said.

He became the second judge to declare the move illegal, so the effect of his decision is limited. A federal judge in New York had previously blocked the administration from adding the question to the population count that occurs every 10 years, and the U.S. Supreme Court last month agreed to review that decision.

The ruling in California, however, differed from the January decision by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in a significant way. Furman also found the question violated administrative requirements, but he rejected an argument that it violated the Constitution.

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.

The ruling came as The Associated Press reported that the Census Bureau is quietly seeking comprehensive information about the legal status of millions of immigrants.

Under a proposed plan, the Department of Homeland Security would provide the Census Bureau with a broad swath of personal data about noncitizens, including their immigration status, raising concerns among privacy and civil rights activists.

Seeborg ruled in lawsuits by California and several cities in the state that asserted the citizenship question was politically motivated and should be kept off the census.

Justice has prevailed for each and every Californian who should raise their hands to be counted in the 2020 census without being discouraged by a citizenship question, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

California argued that the question would cost it a substantial amount of money and at least one congressional seat by reducing the percentage of Latinos and immigrants who respond to the survey. It said that would lead to an undercount in the state, which has a substantial number of people from both groups.

Sudhin Thanawala is an Associated Press writer.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday delayed three additional executions to give the Ohio prison system time to develop a new lethal injection method, responding to a federal judges scathing critique of the first drug used in the current process.

Federal Judge Michael Merz said in January that inmates could suffer severe pain and an experience similar to waterboarding because the drug, the sedative midazolam, doesnt render them deeply enough unconscious.

DeWine, a Republican, delayed a February execution after the judges ruling and ordered the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to develop a new process. But Merz questioned why Ohio was preparing for additional executions, given that directive.

DeWine said Thursday it was highly unlikely any new injection process would make it through expected lawsuits in time for the next three executions.

The governor is also mindful of the emotional trauma experienced by victims families, prosecutors, law enforcement, and DRC employees when an execution is prepared for and then rescheduled, DeWines office said in a statement.

The inmates affected by the decision, their old execution dates, and their new dates:

 Cleveland Jackson. Originally scheduled to die May 29 for fatally shooting a 17-year-old in Lima in 2002 in a bloody drug-related robbery on a crowded home. New date: Nov. 13.

 Kareem Jackson. Originally scheduled to die July 10 for shooting and killing two men in Columbus during a 1997 robbery. New date: Jan. 16, 2020.

 Gregory Lott. Originally scheduled to die Aug. 14 for setting an 82-year-old man on fire in a 1986 East Cleveland robbery. New date: March 12, 2020.

In January, following the judges ruling, DeWine rescheduled the execution of Keith Henness from Feb. 13 to Sept. 12. Henness was convicted of killing 51-year-old Richard Myers in Columbus in 1992.

Andrew Welsh-Huggins is an Associated Press writer.
WASHINGTON  Sen. Martha McSally, the first female Air Force fighter pilot to fly in combat, said Wednesday that she was sexually assaulted by a superior officer, and later, when she tried to talk about it to military officials, she felt like the system was raping me all over again.

The Arizona Republican, a 26-year military veteran, made the disclosure at a Senate hearing on the militarys efforts to prevent sexual assaults and improve the response when they occur. Lawmakers also heard from other service members who spoke of being sexually assaulted and humiliated while serving their country.

McSally said she did not report being raped because she did not trust the system, and she said she was ashamed and confused. She said she was impressed and grateful to the survivors who came forward to help change the system. She was in the ninth class at the Air Force Academy to allow women, and said sexual harassment and assault were prevalent. Victims mostly suffered in silence, she said.

McSally read from a prepared statement getting choked up at one point. She referred to perpetrators who had sexually assaulted her, an indication that she had been attacked more than once.

She did not say whether her assaults happened at the academy or during active duty. She didnt name any names.

She said she stayed silent for years. But later, as she watched the military grapple with how to handle sexual assaults, she felt like she should speak out.

I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled, she said. She almost left the Air Force after 18 years.

Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again.

McSallys revelation comes not long after Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, detailed her own abuse and assault, and at a time of increased awareness over the problem of harassment and assault in the armed forces and the larger #MeToo movement that roiled Hollywood and major corporations.

Reports of sexual assaults across the military jumped nearly 10 percent in 2017  a year that also saw an online nude-photo sharing scandal rock the Defense Department. Reporting for 2018 is not yet available. Reports of sexual assaults were also up at the military academies, most at West Point.

Colleen Long is an Associated Press writer.
MIAMI  An Argentine immigrant said his most recent detention feels like retaliation for starring in a new award-winning documentary about a group that infiltrated a for-profit detention center to expose injustices.

Claudio Rojas called the Associated Press on Tuesday from another immigrant detention facility and said that he has been thinking about what could have happened, but he hasnt been told anything specific.

I just shared my story. I dont feel like I said anything attacking them, Rojas said, referring to immigration enforcement agents. But I have reasons to believe that this was reprisal.

Rojas, 53, said he sleeps on a cot in a place that looks like a military barracks with 160 other detainees. He was crushed because he wasnt going to be able to attend this weeks premiere in Miami of The Infiltrators, which won two awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. He hadnt been able to travel to Utah for the film festival because of conditions set by the prior detention for overstaying his visa, which inspired the making of the film back in 2012.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it could not comment on the case.

For the film, three activists got detained on purpose in 2012 to infiltrate the facility in Pompano Beach, Fla., find Rojas and document cases of others inside there. The purpose of the mission was to fight the claim by then-President Barack Obama that immigration enforcement focused on criminals. Many detained there had no criminal records.

The nonprofit organization Dream Activist began collecting signatures on Monday to deliver to federal lawmakers, urging them to help stop his deportation.

Adriana Gomez Licon is an Associated Press writer.
Hubble & Gaia accurately weigh the Milky Way

In a striking example of multi-mission astronomy, measurements from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the ESA Gaia mission have been combined to improve the estimate of the mass of our home galaxy the Milky Way: 1.5 trillion solar masses.

The mass of the Milky Way is one of the most fundamental measurements astronomers can make about our galactic home. However, despite decades of intense effort, even the best available estimates of the Milky Way's mass disagree wildly. Now, by combining new data from the European Space Agency (ESA) Gaia mission with observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have found that the Milky Way weighs in at about 1.5 trillion solar masses within a radius of 129 000 light-years from the galactic centre.

Previous estimates of the mass of the Milky way ranged from 500 billion to 3 trillion times the mass of the Sun. This huge uncertainty arose primarily from the different methods used for measuring the distribution of dark matter -- which makes up about 90% of the mass of the galaxy.

"We just can't detect dark matter directly," explains Laura Watkins (European Southern Observatory, Germany), who led the team performing the analysis. "That's what leads to the present uncertainty in the Milky Way's mass -- you can't measure accurately what you can't see!"

Given the elusive nature of the dark matter, the team had to use a clever method to weigh the Milky Way, which relied on measuring the velocities of globular clusters -- dense star clusters that orbit the spiral disc of the galaxy at great distances [1].

"The more massive a galaxy, the faster its clusters move under the pull of its gravity" explains N. Wyn Evans (University of Cambridge, UK). "Most previous measurements have found the speed at which a cluster is approaching or receding from Earth, that is the velocity along our line of sight. However, we were able to also measure the sideways motion of the clusters, from which the total velocity, and consequently the galactic mass, can be calculated." [2]

The group used Gaia's second data release as a basis for their study. Gaia was designed to create a precise three-dimensional map of astronomical objects throughout the Milky Way and to track their motions. Its second data release includes measurements of globular clusters as far as 65 000 light-years from Earth.

"Global clusters extend out to a great distance, so they are considered the best tracers astronomers use to measure the mass of our galaxy" said Tony Sohn (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA), who led the Hubble measurements.

The team combined these data with Hubble's unparalleled sensitivity and observational legacy. Observations from Hubble allowed faint and distant globular clusters, as far as 130 000 light-years from Earth, to be added to the study. As Hubble has been observing some of these objects for a decade, it was possible to accurately track the velocities of these clusters as well.

"We were lucky to have such a great combination of data," explained Roeland P. van der Marel (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA). "By combining Gaia's measurements of 34 globular clusters with measurements of 12 more distant clusters from Hubble, we could pin down the Milky Way's mass in a way that would be impossible without these two space telescopes."

Until now, not knowing the precise mass of the Milky Way has presented a problem for attempts to answer a lot of cosmological questions. The dark matter content of a galaxy and its distribution are intrinsically linked to the formation and growth of structures in the Universe. Accurately determining the mass for the Milky Way gives us a clearer understanding of where our galaxy sits in a cosmological context.

###

Notes

[1] Globular clusters formed prior to the construction of the Milky Way's spiral disk, where our Sun and the Solar System later formed. Because of their great distances, globular star clusters allow astronomers to trace the mass of the vast envelope of dark matter surrounding our galaxy far beyond the spiral disk.

[2] The total velocity of an object is made up of three motions -- a radial motion plus two defining the sideway motions. However, in astronomy most often only line-of-sight velocities are available. With only one component of the velocity available, the estimated masses depend very strongly on the assumptions for the sideway motions. Therefore measuring the sideway motions directly significantly reduces the size of the error bars for the mass.

More information

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

ESA's Gaia satellite was launched in 2013 to create the most precise three-dimensional map of more than one billion stars in the Milky Way. The mission has release two lots of data thus far: Gaia Data Release 1 in 2016 and Gaia Data Release 2 in 2018. More releases will follow in the coming years.

The study was presented in the paper "Evidence for an Intermediate-Mass Milky Way from Gaia DR2 Halo Globular Cluster Motions", which will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

The international team of astronomers in this study consists of Laura L. Watkins (European Southern Observatory, Germany), Roeland P. van der Marel (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA, and Johns Hopkins University Center for Astrophysical Sciences, USA), Sangmo T. Sohn (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA), and N. Wyn Evans (University of Cambridge, UK).

Image credit: ESA/Hubble, L. Watkins, L. Calcada

Links

Contacts

Laura Watkins

European Southern Observatory

Garching, Germany

Tel: +49 89 3200 6257

Email: lwatkins@eso.org

N. Wyn Evans

University of Cambridge

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Tel: +44-01223-765847

Email: nwe@ast.cam.ac.uk

Roeland P. van der Marel

Space Telescope Science Institute

Baltimore, USA

Tel: +1-410-338-4931

Email: marel@stsci.edu

Bethany Downer

ESA/Hubble, Public Information Officer

Garching, Germany

Email: bethany.downer@partner.eso.org

This story has been published on: 2019-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



Dozens of the most vulnerable families in San Francisco will have new homes Thursday in the city, officials with a housing developer said.



At 10:30 a.m. San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Matt Haney and officials with the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation will celebrate the grand opening of 1036 Mission St.



The address is home to an apartment building where 40 formerly homeless families and 43 low-income families will now live.





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.
OAKLAND (BCN)



A judge on Wednesday ordered a three-time felon to stand trial on a murder charge for the fatal shooting of a man in North Oakland in December 2017.



Alameda County Superior Court Judge Andrew Steckler issued his ruling at the end of a two-day preliminary hearing for David Catrell Shivers, 43, in connection with the shooting death of Rodney Dawayne Lee near the intersection of Apgar and West streets, several blocks from the MacArthur BART station, at about 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 12, 2017.



Oakland police said multiple witnesses identified Shivers as the person who shot and killed Lee.



David Ammons, 34, who's being held at the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp in an unrelated case, testified on Tuesday that the shooting occurred after Shivers and Lee got into a confrontation when Shivers asked Lee to move his car.



Ammons, who was dressed in a red jail uniform at the hearing, said Shivers was in the area of Apgar and West streets for a celebration of life for his son, who had died recently.



Ammons testified that Shivers was "upset" about his son's death but said he wasn't angry or agitated.



Ammons said Shivers asked Lee to move his car in a "calm" voice but the tone of Lee's voice "was aggressive" and Lee "was acting real cocky."



However, Ammons said Lee didn't have a gun.



In addition to murder, Steckler order Shivers to stand trial on a charge of being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.



Prosecutors say Shivers was convicted of possession of a controlled substance with a firearm on Oct. 18, 2016, a little over a year before Lee was killed, as well as being convicted of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base in 2008 and of sale and transportation of a controlled substance in 1998.





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)



San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Wednesday said she will implementing new measures to fast-track traffic safety projects on some of the city's most dangerous streets.



According to Breed's office, she is implementing the measures to improve the city's Vision Zero goals in the wake of a handful of traffic collisions last week in the city, two of which were fatal.



Under her direction, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials will develop a policy requiring their staff to move forward with near-term safety enhancements on high-injury corridors such as paint, safety posts and temporary sidewalk extensions.



She's also directing the city's Police Department to increase traffic enforcement and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to commit staff resources to achieving Vision Zero goals by working with the Traffic Fatality Response Team and the Vision Zero task force.



Two people died and three suffered life-threatening injuries in separate vehicle-related wrecks throughout the city last week, four of which happened on Friday



Around 1:30 a.m. Friday, a woman suffered life-threatening head injuries when she crashed her vehicle into a tree on Leavenworth Street near Market Street, police said.



Then around 12:30 p.m., a 38-year-old pedestrian also suffered life-threatening injuries when a vehicle hit him in the 200 block of Woodside Avenue, police said.



Later that day, at about 7:05 p.m., a 44-year-old driver identified as Gerard Graybosch died in a head-on collision at Visitacion Avenue and Mansell Street, according to police.



Around that same time, a fourth collision was reported around 7 p.m. at Jackson and Divisadero streets, where a vehicle hit and injured a pedestrian crossing the street, SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose said.



Also last week, on Feb. 27, 64-year-old Zhao Guan died after a silver sedan struck her while crossing the street near California Street and 18th Avenue. The driver in that collision drove off and hasn't been apprehended, according to police.



"The events of last week are yet another tragic reminder of how much work we still have to do to ensure that all of our residents are safe on our streets," Breed said in a statement.



"The current pace of traffic safety improvements in San Francisco is unacceptable and I refuse to allow red tape and bureaucracy to stop us from taking immediate action, commonsense steps to improve safety while we undergo long-term improvements. Every life lost on our streets is one too many," she said.



According to the mayor's office, since Vision Zero was launched in San Francisco in 2014, aiming to eliminate all traffic-related fatalities in the city by 2024, the number of traffic fatalities has been reduced.





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.
OAKLAND (BCN)



A federal court-appointed monitor who oversees the Oakland Police Department is critical of the findings of internal investigations that exonerated four officers who fatally shot a homeless man with mental health issues last year.



Compliance Director Robert Warshaw said in a report made public on Wednesday that the officers overreacted when they fired 12 shots at 32-year-old Joshua Pawlik in the 900 block of 40th Street at about 7 p.m. on March 11, 2018.



Oakland police said after the shooting that a large number of officers were dispatched to the 900 block of 40th Street after they received reports of an armed, unconscious man lying between two houses.



Police said Sgt. Francisco Negrete and Officers William Berger, Brandon Hraiz and Craig Tanaka shot Pawlik, who was found lying down unconscious with a gun between two houses, because he ignored repeated commands to take his hand off the gun and when he began to move, he posed an immediate threat with the risk of death or serious bodily harm.



Lt. Allan Yu and Officer Josef Philips also responded to the scene.



But Warshaw said in his Feb. 19 report that "His movements, as seen on the video, do not coincide with the movements to which the officers claim they reacted."



Warshaw wrote, "Mr. Pawlik roused to consciousness, and the video shows his actions to be consistent with someone who was waking up and attempting to orient himself. He was moving minimally."



Warshaw said, "He was a live human being - and any reasonable officer should not have expected him to remain perfectly still."



Warshaw wrote, "Mr. Pawlik's slight movements did not constitute intent and a reasonable officer should not have concluded such."



The monitor also said the investigations by the Oakland Police Department's internal affairs unit and its use-of-force review board were "deficient" and said police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick's summary of the shooting was "deficient and myopic."



In a 52-page report, the use-of-force review board did find that there were major missteps in the fatal shooting and made other findings of violations not directly involving use of force.



It said Tanaka violated policy for failing to advise the communications team about deploying a rifle, Yu, the on-scene incident commander, failed to supervise and Negrete also failed to supervise when he deployed his own rifle.



However, Kirkpatrick wrote in her report that "the lethal force used in this case was within law and policy."



Kirkpatrick agreed that Yu had failed to supervise but she exonerated Tanaka for the communications allegation and downgraded Negrete's violation for failing to supervise.



"I find that his decisions, though very negligent, did not rise to the level of conscious and deliberate disregard for the safety of others, including Mr. Pawlik," she wrote.



Warshaw's concerns about the way Kirkpatrick and her department investigated the shooting prompted him to ask U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick, who is overseeing court-mandated reforms to the Oakland Police Department, to appoint an outside investigator to look into the shooting.



Orrick granted Warshaw's request and last week he appointed San Francisco criminal defense lawyer Edward Swanson, who has investigated two other Oakland police controversies, to investigate the shooting.



Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris filed a wrongful death on behalf of Pawlik's mother Kelly Pawlik last month, alleging that officers had no justification for shooting Joshua Pawlik multiple times because he didn't point a gun at them or threaten them in any way.



Burris said the fatal shooting of Pawlik "is unconscionable to me."



Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley issued a 29-page report on Wednesday night saying that an investigation by her office has concluded that "the evidence does not support criminal charges being filed" against the four officers who shot Pawlik.



O'Malley said the officers "acted in what they actually believed to be self-defense or defense of others."



She wrote that the four officers "had reason to believe that Mr. Pawlik would shoot the officers, their fellow officers and other residents of the community near the scene."





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 Stanford employee arrested Sunday in San Francisco has been charged with attempted homicide for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend while under the influence of LSD, San Francisco prosecutors said.



During his arraignment Wednesday, James Shirvell, 26, pleaded not guilty to the attempted homicide charge, as well as charges of domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.



According to court documents, Shirvell stabbed his girlfriend numerous times with a kitchen knife at a home in the 500 block of Kansas Street early Sunday morning around 12:25 a.m. Both had taken LSD, a hallucinogen, together at some point before the stabbing.

In court, while arguing for his release, Shirvell's attorney Eric Safire recognized that the victim's injuries were severe but called the stabbing an "isolated incident and really an anomaly."



Several of Shirvell's family and friends showed up to court and Judge Rita Lin allowed some of them to give statements on his behalf.



One statement was in a letter from the victim, Shirvell's girlfriend, who remains hospitalized for stab wounds and lacerations to her shoulder, arm, back, face and head. She also suffered a collapsed lung, according to court documents.



In the letter, which was read by the victim's mother, the victim said Shirvell had "pure intentions" but that night he was "possessed by another force." She also called the incident a "horrific accident."




An international film festival kicks off Thursday in San Francisco with the aim of saving the Earth's oceans, one film at a time, organizers said.



The first film of the 16th Annual International Ocean Film Festival will screen at 4 p.m. at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center.



Fifty-five films including four world premiers and four U.S. premiers will be shown among three theaters in the Bay Area.



Besides the Cowell Theater, films will be shown Saturday at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco and at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.



For the first time at the festival, two virtual reality films will be shown.







Police said an investigation into the deaths of a woman and two children Wednesday in South San Jose has been classified as a murder-suicide.



Officers responded at 12:27 p.m. to a report of a suicide at a home in the 5300 block of Dent Avenue and found a woman and two children dead there.



Police said they have determined that the woman killed her 4-year-old and 7-year-old sons before killing herself.



The deaths of the boys are the eighth and ninth homicides in San Jose this year, police said.







A federal judge in San Francisco issued an injunction Wednesday prohibiting the administration of President Donald Trump from including a citizenship question on the 2020 census.



U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said the plan to use the question violated both a federal administrative procedure law and the Constitution's requirement for an "actual enumeration" of the population every 10 years.



Seeborg, ruling in two lawsuits, said the question would decrease response rates among immigrants and noncitizens, cause a loss of federal funding and risk distorting the apportionment of congressional representation.



"In short, the inclusion of the citizenship question on the 2020 census threatens the very foundation of our democratic system," the judge wrote in a 126-page decision.



Seeborg is the second federal judge in the nation to strike down the question. The U.S. Supreme Court has already agreed to hear the government's appeal of the first ruling, which was issued by a federal judge in New York in January, and will hear arguments on April 23.







In-state undergraduate tuition at the University of California will remain unchanged next year, University President Janet Napolitano announced Wednesday at meeting in Sacramento.



The San Francisco Bay Area is home to two UC schools, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Santa Cruz. University officials said that this is the seventh time in eight years tuition has remained flat even though costs have been rising and enrollment is growing.



In a statement, Napolitano said, "We are optimistic about our strong partnership with the governor and the legislature and will work collectively to identify additional resources, in lieu of tuition revenue, to ensure that UC students can succeed."



UC tuition hikes have been controversial in the past. About 50 union workers shut down a UC regents meeting in 2017 over a proposed tuition hike and labor negotiations with the university.



Tuition remained steady last year, but regents approved the proposed hikes in 2017, the first in five years. The jump in 2017 brought tuition to $12,630 plus fees for California residents and $40,644 for out-of-state students.







A Stanford employee arrested Sunday in San Francisco has been charged with attempted homicide for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend while under the influence of LSD, San Francisco prosecutors said.



During his arraignment Wednesday, James Shirvell, 26, pleaded not guilty to the attempted homicide charge, as well as charges of domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.



According to court documents, Shirvell stabbed his girlfriend numerous times with a kitchen knife at a home in the 500 block of Kansas Street early Sunday morning around 12:25 a.m. Both had taken LSD, a hallucinogen, together at some point before the stabbing.



In court, while arguing for his release, Shirvell's attorney Eric Safire recognized that the victim's injuries were severe but called the stabbing an "isolated incident and really an anomaly."



Several of Shirvell's family and friends showed up to court and Judge Rita Lin allowed some of them to give statements on his behalf.







A staff member received a threatening letter containing a suspicious substance at Portola Elementary School Wednesday morning, but the material turned out to be harmless and no one was injured, police reported.



Police, fire officials and a hazardous materials crew responded to the school at 300 Amador Ave. shortly after 10:40 a.m. to reports of the suspicious substance.



The teacher opened the envelope in a classroom with students, and immediately moved the children to an adjacent classroom after discovering the contents of the letter, police said.



Officials arrived and conducted examinations of the staff member and the students, and determined none of them had any adverse symptoms.



Police said the case was treated as a legitimate hazmat call out of an "abundance of caution," but the material turned out to be harmless. Officers did not specify the type of substance in the envelope.







School will resume on Thursday at Richmond High School and operate on a modified schedule, according to the West Contra Costa Unified School District.



Classes were canceled for a day-and-a-half at the school due to a power outage apparently caused by faulty or damaged school equipment.



School will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 2:25 p.m. with one lunch period beginning at 12:35 p.m.







Two men were injured in separate shootings in Oakland late Wednesday, according to police.



The first shooting was reported around 6:49 p.m. in the 3300 block of Adeline Street, police said, where one man was found shot when officers arrived on the scene. The victim was transported to a hospital.



The second shooting was reported around 8:18 p.m. in the 1500 block of East 12th Street. Another man was found shot and also transported to a hospital.



An update on both victims' conditions was not available early Thursday morning. No further information is immediately available.







Thursday will be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of showers in the morning. Highs will be in the lower to mid 50s. West winds will be 10 to 20 mph.



Thursday night will be mostly cloudy in the evening, then becoming partly cloudy. Lows will be in the mid 40s. Northwest winds will be 10 to 20 mph.



Friday will be partly cloudy and breezy. Highs will be in the lower 50s. Northwest winds will be 15 to 20 mph, before becoming west winds at 20 to 30 mph in the afternoon.





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 federal judge in San Francisco issued an injunction Wednesday prohibiting the administration of President Donald Trump from including a citizenship question on the 2020 census.



U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said the plan to use the question violated both a federal administrative procedure law and the Constitution's requirement for an "actual enumeration" of the population every 10 years.



Seeborg, ruling in two lawsuits, said the question would decrease response rates among immigrants and noncitizens, cause a loss of federal funding and risk distorting the apportionment of congressional representation.



"In short, the inclusion of the citizenship question on the 2020 census threatens the very foundation of our democratic system," the judge wrote in a 126-page decision.



Seeborg is the second federal judge in the nation to strike down the question. The U.S. Supreme Court has already agreed to hear the government's appeal of the first ruling, which was issued by a federal judge in New York in January, and will hear arguments on April 23.



U.S. Justice Department spokesperson Kelly Laco said the department has no comment on the ruling or on whether it will appeal.



Seeborg's decision is broader than the one issued by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of New York. Furman centered his ruling on violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, while Seeborg based his decision on both that law and the Constitution.



The two cases before Seeborg were filed by the state of California, later joined by Oakland, Fremont and four other cities and counties, and by San Jose and the Black Alliance for Just Immigration.



California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement, "Justice has prevailed for each and every Californian who should raise their hands to be counted in the 2020 Census without being discouraged by a citizenship question."



San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said, "Today, the courts reaffirmed our promise that in San Jose, everyone counts.



"This decision helps protect critical funding for the essential services - such as healthcare, housing, and education - upon which all our residents depend," Liccardo said.





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.
In-state undergraduate tuition at the University of California will remain unchanged next year, University President Janet Napolitano announced Wednesday at meeting in Sacramento.



The San Francisco Bay Area is home to two UC schools, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Santa Cruz.



University officials said that this is the seventh time in eight years tuition has remained flat even though costs have been rising and enrollment is growing.



In a statement, Napolitano said, "We are optimistic about our strong partnership with the governor and the legislature and will work collectively to identify additional resources, in lieu of tuition revenue, to ensure that UC students can succeed."



UC tuition hikes have been controversial in the past. About 50 union workers shut down a UC regents meeting in 2017 over a proposed tuition hike and labor negotiations with the university.



Tuition remained steady last year, but regents approved the proposed hikes in 2017, the first in five years.



The jump in 2017 brought tuition to $12,630 plus fees for California residents and $40,644 for out-of-state students.



Gov. Gavin Newsom in January unveiled a budget plan that university officials see as beneficial to addressing the school's 2019-20 budget plan.



That plan includes money for helping students obtain their degrees and be successful, expanding mental health services and for addressing student housing and food insecurity concerns.





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 BRUNO (BCN)



A staff member received a threatening letter containing a suspicious substance at Portola Elementary School Wednesday morning, but the material turned out to be harmless and no one was injured, police reported.



Police, fire officials and a hazardous materials crew responded to the school at 300 Amador Ave. shortly after 10:40 a.m. to reports of the suspicious substance.



The teacher opened the envelope in a classroom with students, and immediately moved the children to an adjacent classroom after discovering the contents of the letter, police said.



Officials arrived and conducted examinations of the staff member and the students, and determined none of them had any adverse symptoms.



Police said the case was treated as a legitimate hazmat call out of an "abundance of caution," but the material turned out to be harmless. Officers did not specify the type of substance in the envelope.



"Regardless of the non-hazardous nature of the substance, this is still a very serious crime," Lt. Ryan Johansen said.



San Mateo County emergency officials issued an alert and a shelter-in-place order for the campus at about 1 p.m., and the order was lifted shortly after. Students were then sent home to their parents.



Police are conducting a criminal investigation into the suspect or suspects who sent the letter. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch with police at (650) 616-7100 or sbpdtipline@sanbruno.ca.gov.





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.
The Sonoma County Department of Health Services issued a household hazardous waste warning on Tuesday in the aftermath of last week's storm and subsequent widespread flooding.



Interim County Health Officer Dr. Karen Holbrook issued the warning, which declared several household items as hazardous, including adhesives, paint, paint additives, grease/rust solvents, wood/metal cleaners, household polishes/cleaners, cosmetics, lighter fluids, pesticides, automotive fluid/parts, batteries and broken thermometers, all of which county officials said cannot be disposed of in normal garbage.



The county is asking residents to place the hazardous materials on the side of the road near their property. Trained staff began picking it up on Tuesday and a special collection will also take place on Saturday.



According to the county, flooding affected 2,572 homes near the Russian River and other low-lying areas.







A federal judge in San Francisco has issued a revised proposed order that would impose strict wildfire prevention conditions on PG&E Co. as part of its criminal probation in a natural gas pipeline safety case.



U.S. District Judge William Alsup will hold a hearing April 2 on whether to go ahead with the proposed order issued late Tuesday. The new proposal is less drastic than an earlier proposed order issued by Alsup in January.



The new proposal would require PG&E to comply with all requirements in state law and with its updated wildfire prevention plan. It would mandate that PG&E must hire enough staff to do the tree work and would allow random inspections by a court-appointed monitor.



Alsup's previous proposal would have required PG&E to inspect its entire Northern and Central California service area and remove all trees that could cause fires by falling on electrical lines.







An Oakland man pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning to three felony counts and one misdemeanor count alleging that he attacked a conservative activist at University of California at Berkeley's Sproul Plaza last month.



Zachary Greenberg, 28, is charged with assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury and criminal threats for his alleged attack on Hayden Williams, an organizer with conservative group Turning Point USA, while Williams was manning a table at Sproul Plaza on Feb. 19.



Greenberg, who is free on bail, also is charged with misdemeanor vandalism causing less than $400 in damage. He's scheduled to return to court on April 9 for a pre-trial hearing.







Teachers with the San Ramon Valley Unified School District are in talks with administrators Wednesday to hammer out a contract agreement and avert a strike.



The two sides met Wednesday morning after 98 percent of teachers voted last week to authorize a strike.



The teachers, whose contract expires at the end of June, are asking for a 5 percent raise and class size reductions, among other things.







A drunk driver found to be at fault for a collision that killed four people and injured at least six more on Interstate Highway 80 in San Pablo in 2017 was found guilty of four counts of murder by a Contra Costa County Superior Court jury on Monday.



Fred Lowe, a 49-year-old Sacramento resident with five prior DUI convictions, could face up to 125 years in state prison when he returns to court for sentencing March 29.



Prosecutors said Lowe's blood-alcohol content was at 0.14 percent when his blood was drawn hours after the crash, and may have been as high as .24 percent when he was behind the wheel of an eastbound Mercedes-Benz that sideswiped a Nissan Rogue, sending it over the center divide and into westbound traffic around 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 25, 2017.



Daryl Horn, 50, Joseph Horn, 14, Troy Biddle, 52, and Baden Biddle, 12, were all killed. The descendants were all related.







A man was hit and killed by an Amtrak train in Salinas on Tuesday, according to the California Highway Patrol.



The train strike was reported at about 2:15 p.m. in the area of Abbott Street and Harris Road near U.S. Highway 101.



The man was taken to Natividad Medical Center, where was he was pronounced dead. The Monterey County coroner's office will identify him once his family is contacted.



The fatal strike is under investigation by Amtrak.







A vehicle struck a 58-year-old woman in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood on Tuesday morning, causing life-threatening injuries, police said.



The collision was reported at 10:31 a.m. in the area of Golden Gate Avenue and Leavenworth Street.



The woman was crossing the street when a vehicle traveling on Leavenworth struck her. She was taken to a hospital and an update on her condition was not immediately available Wednesday morning.



The 36-year-old man driving the vehicle that struck the woman was not arrested, according to police.







A former Tiburon man has pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a doe and a fawn in 2017.



Defense attorney Charles Dresow entered the pleas last Friday in Marin County Superior Court on behalf of Mark Dickinson, 55, who now lives in Chicago.



Dickinson pleaded guilty to two counts of animal cruelty and three California Department of Fish and Wildlife code violations, Dresow said.



Dickinson also wrote a letter of apology to residents of Marin County, according to Dresow.



He was sentenced to three years' probation, 16 days of community service and 30 days of home confinement. Dickinson also was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, pay $10,000 to Marin Humane and $5,000 to the WildCare hospital in San Rafael, Dresow said.







Classes were canceled for a day-and-a-half at Richmond High School due to a power outage apparently caused by faulty or damaged school equipment and by Wednesday afternoon it was unclear if the school will reopen on Thursday, according to West Contra Costa Unified School District officials.



At a little before 1 p.m. Tuesday, the power in and around the school went out, according to district spokesman Marcus Walton.



When school officials learned that power wouldn't be restored by Wednesday morning, they sent out a notice to families that students should stay home.



By Wednesday afternoon, it was still unclear whether the campus will be open for classes on Thursday.







Normal BART service resumed late Wednesday morning after an initial report of a major medical emergency at the Powell Street station in San Francisco turned out to be unfounded, a BART spokesman said.



The initial reports came in shortly before 11:20 a.m. about a medical emergency involving someone in the station's trackway for trains headed toward the Peninsula, spokesman Chris Filippi said.



Trains were going through the station without stopping while emergency crews responded, but normal service resumed about 20 minutes later after authorities learned there had been someone in the trackway but they weren't seriously hurt, Filippi said.



BART riders had residual delays of 15 to 20 minutes while service got back to normal, according to Filippi.







San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Wednesday said she will implementing new measures to fast-track traffic safety projects on some of the city's most dangerous streets.



According to Breed's office, she is implementing the measures to improve the city's Vision Zero goals in the wake of a handful of traffic collisions last week in the city, two of which were fatal.



Under her direction, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials will develop a policy requiring their staff to move forward with near-term safety enhancements on high-injury corridors such as paint, safety posts and temporary sidewalk extensions.



She's also directing the city's Police Department to increase traffic enforcement and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to commit staff resources to achieving Vision Zero goals by working with the Traffic Fatality Response Team and the Vision Zero task force.







Voters in the Palm Drive Health Care District appear to have overwhelmingly approved Measure A, a resolution that allows the district to lease all of its assets to American Advanced Management Group Inc. with an option to purchase the former Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol.



With all 40 precincts in the district reporting as of Tuesday night, Measure A had 76.5 percent approval, or 5,345 yes votes. The measure needs a simple majority to pass.



The tally is unofficial, according to the Sonoma County registrar of Voters.





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.
If youre a Democratic officeholder, Frank Seddios got your back  even if you dont have his partys.

The chairman of Brooklyns Democratic Party, Seddio has a penchant for defending his most unpopular allies  including even those who have flipped the state Senate to the GOP or disenfranchised Democratic voters. On Tuesday, Seddio stated his opposition to calls for the Democrats to expel state Sen. Simcha Felder, the Brooklynite who caucused with the GOP in the last term, giving Republicans control of the state Senate. We cant be dictatorial about who can be part of our party, Seddio argued.

This isnt the first time Seddio has stood up for the big guy. From the New York City Board of Elections extraordinary mismanagement of the 2018 elections to former state Sen. John Sampson being accused of embezzling half a million dollars, Seddio has steadfastly backed even the least sympathetic people in politics. Here are the highlights:

Seddio defends New York City Board of Elections

The Board of Elections has one primary function, to make sure the people of New York can vote. Their biggest moment to shine is obviously on Election Day. The 2018 election featured broken machines and long lines, which deterred some voters from exercising their right to vote. Watchdogs such as New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer blamed the board for failing to prepare for the election. BOE must assure voters as soon as possible that steps are being taken to address the incompetence we all witnessed last week, Stringer concluded. The comptroller added that the boards response to his audit of its disastrous errors in the 2016 election, such as the many voter registrations that were improperly purged, was not just tardy but vague in the extreme.

With so many voters encountering problems voting in the last two elections, most New York political observers have come to view the Board of Elections as an incompetent agency badly in need of reform. Not Seddio, however, who sees it as a great artist. Why isnt (the BOE) considered professional now? Seddio asked the New York Post. Even Michelangelo needed a hammer and a chisel to make his statues.

Seddio defends Simcha Felder

Felder earned the enmity of Democratic activists statewide for abandoning his party in order to to aggrandize his power to obtain special treatment for his constituents.

Activist Ernest Skinner wrote a letter in 2018 to Seddio asking Felder to be removed from the Brooklyn Democratic party. For too long, Senator Felder has betrayed the Brooklyn Democratic party and they have done nothing about it, Skinner said. The letter had 20 signed affidavits from registered Brooklyn Democrats.

Now, with the Democrats back in power, Felder no longer owns an influential swing vote and he has not been welcomed back to the Democratic caucus.

But Seddio isnt open to removing Felder from the Brooklyn Democratic Party. I dont think we can tell somebody he cant be a Democrat, said Seddio, referring to someone who had chosen, for all intents and purposes, not to be a Democrat. Why is Simcha Felder any different as a conservative Democrat than a social Democrat? Seddio asked, changing the subject from Felders loyalty to his ideology, which no one had called for exiling him over. Were all encompassing. We accept all people. We dont always agree. By that logic, Democrats dont even need to agree on whether the party should control the state Senate.

Seddio defends John Sampson

Theres no shortage of scandals surrounding former state Sen. John Sampson. In 2013, he was arrested on charges of embezzlement, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI. The lawmaker was expelled from the state Senate Democratic conference, but in the 2014 Democratic primary Sampson was endorsed by Seddio and won the election.

Ever the loyal defender, Seddio spoke of the likelihood that Sampson would win his court battles. I think John is gonna win this the way he won the election, hes gonna prevail in the courts, Seddio told the Observer.

Sampson was convicted in 2015 and was ultimately sentenced to five years in prison. Alexander Solomon, assistant United States attorney, told the court that Sampson was manipulative, vulgar, selfish and greedy.

Seddio defends Carl Kruger

In 2011, Seddio was advocating for long-time friend and then-state Sen. Carl Kruger when Kruger was indicted on charges of soliciting bribes from lobbyists and real estate developers. I dont know what will happen with Carl Kruger but anytime I have dealt with him he has been an honest broker, Seddio told the Observer. I stand on the belief that you stand by your friends. If that is something that would hurt me so be it. I am not going to shrink away from people that I have a relationship with just because someone made an allegation.

By April 2012, Seddios honest broker friend was sentenced to seven years in prison, after pleading guilty to four counts of federal corruption. It's too soon to say whether Seddio might get behind Kruger's rumored comeback campaign for a seat in the New York City Council.
Shortly after House Democrats announced they would indefinitely postpone a vote on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism on Wednesday, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., put out a statement in support of Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose controversial comments on Israel were believed to have spurred the drafting of the resolution.

Last week, Omar, D-Minn., sparked a backlash for the third time in recent months when she said supporters of Israel are attempting to get American lawmakers to have "allegiance to a foreign country."

MORE: Women's March leader blasts 'white feminist' Nancy Pelosi for Omar condemnation

Omar was blasted by congressional Republicans and some Democrats, as well as President Trump. Trump called on her to resign from Congress or, if not that, resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other party leaders drafted a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, and Pelosi had said she intended to broaden the measure so that it also condemned anti-Muslim bias, but on Wednesday, news broke that a vote on the measure would be postponed amid dissent within the party ranks.

In a Wednesday statement, Harris expressed concern over the criticism of Omar, who has reportedly received death threats.

"We all have a responsibility to speak out against anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, racism, and all forms of hatred and bigotry, especially as we see a spike in hate crimes in America. But like some of my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, I am concerned that the spotlight being put on Congresswoman Omar may put her at risk," said Harris in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

ALSO: Anti-Semitism rebuke put off among growing Democratic discord

"We should be having a sound, respectful discussion about policy. You can both support Israel and be loyal to our country," the statement continued. "I also believe there is a difference between criticism of policy or political leaders, and anti-Semitism."

Harris ended her statement with a call for a two-state solution and a commitment to human rights and democracy in the region.

Other 2020 contenders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also expressed misgivings about the criticism of Omar, warning against equating "anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel."

"What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate," he continued, in a statement to The Hill. "That's wrong."

A group of Democrats confronted Pelosi early in the day Wednesday to ask why the resolution was being pushed when other bigoted comments by Republicans had gone unremarked upon, the New York Times reported.

Pelosi said Wednesday that she did not believe Omar's most recent comments were "intentionally anti-Semitic." She has called Omar's past comments on the influence of lobbying money on Israel policy "deeply offensive."
Supermodel Karlie Kloss and investor husband Joshua Kushner have placed their fashionable New York City apartment on the market for $7 million, according to the New York Post.

Kushner, who married Kloss in October 2018, is the brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trumps adviser and son-in-law. The couple, who purchased the two-bedroom apartment in 2013 for $4.5 million, are apparently looking to exchange these stylish digs for an upgraded space.
Imagine buying your dream home, moving in, and then discovering a shocking secret lies within that no one bothered to reveal to you before closing. It happens more often than you might think! Inspections and seller disclosures are part and parcel of the journey toward closing on a home, but sometimes things slip through the cracksor just aren't covered by disclosure requirements.

What sorts of things, you ask? We tapped real buyers for stories about the craziest things they learned about their homes after the sale had closed. From a snake breeding ground to a secret well, here's what they saidand what the laws say about whether or not the seller should have spoken up.

Snakes in the garage

Nyssa Calkin figured she knew the house she was buying pretty well. After all, it was just a quarter-mile from the house where she grew up in Callicoon, NY. But after seven months in her new home, she had a slithery surprise knocking at her door.

"We have a snake nursery in our basement and garage," Calkin says. "Every August/September, we are picking up dozens and dozens of baby garter, ringneck, and Eastern milk snakes to put outside. My 10-year-old daughter tries to talk me into keeping every single one of them!"

Did the seller have to disclose this? According to Aaron Hendon, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty in Seattle, if the seller knew about the snakes, it should have been shared.

"If there are defects the seller knows about, they will likely put themselves in legal jeopardy down the road by withholding that information," Hendon says.

Pestswhether they're snakes, termites, roaches, or other creepy-crawliestypically fall under the definition of a defect.

Someone died there

Hannah Murphy couldn't figure out why her home had been sitting on the market for six months before she bought it, but the Columbia, TN, resident thinks she understands now.

"We found out the woman living there before us died in the basement," Murphy says. "She fell down the stairs and broke her neck, and her daughter found her the next day. We had no idea until our friendwho knew the womans daughtertold us after he came to our new house for the first time."

Murphy and her husband found the story sad, but said it wouldn't have changed their mind about buying.

"It didnt bother me much because there was nothing sinister that had happened," she says.

Did the seller have to disclose this? Believe it or not, a death in the home is not always something sellers have to share as laws vary by state, Hendon says. In fact, only a few states require the seller to disclose a death in the home, and most have a limit on the time frame. In California, for example, a seller needs to share information about a death that occurred only within the past three years.

Hidden wishing well

When Vanessa Reeves and her husband moved into their Narrowsburg, NY, house, they knew there was a Sheetrock wall in the basement. What they didn't realize was that there was something behind it.

"A couple of months after we moved in, the Sheetrock started crumbling, and our very own wishing well was exposed," Reeves says. "It's a gorgeous, hand-laid, 6-foot-wide-by-9-feet-deep well; fresh, crystal-clear, cold water right at my fingertips all year round!"

Did the seller have to disclose this? Material facts about the property are supposed to be shared as part of the disclosure process, Hendon says, and a secret wishing well in a hidden room could have actually been a bonus to lure buyers.

Freeze! FBI!

Unbeknown to Jill Wiener, the barn on her property had a criminal history.

"My barn was cocaine headquartersmanufacturing and such," Wiener says of one of the outbuildings that came with her old farmhouse in Callicoon Center, NY.

"The story, as I can piece it together, is that the house was rented out by the previous owners to people from Colombia, and they were processing cocaine in my barn. The FBI tracked a shipment of ether (which is used in the manufacturing process) from California to a remote location down a long driveway in upstate New York. They set up shop in a shell of a house up the hill and across the road."

Should the seller have disclosed this? The laws on crime disclosures vary by state, Hendon says. In Oregon, for example, if a home was once a drug lab, it can be sold only with full disclosure. Courts in Pennsylvania, on the other hand, have ruled that sellers don't have to disclose any crime that occurred on the property.

The post The Wild Secrets Buyers Learned About Their Homes After the Deal Had Closed appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Vegas Deryk Engelland scored the tie-breaking goal midway through the third period and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 33 shots as the host Golden Knights defeated the Pacific Division-leading Flames 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Vegas prevented Calgary from extending its lead over the second-place Sharks by dealing the Flames their third consecutive loss.
In airport news, CLEAR goes all-biometric for Delta travelers, Dallas/Ft. Worth signs a major facial recognition contract, Amex pausing its Seattle Centurion lounge, and Miami starts biometric exit with Lufthansa; Alaska Airlines switches terminals at Chicago O'Hare; Cathay Pacific expands access to its business class lounges; and Mexico's new president considers a three-airport solution for Mexico City.

Members of CLEAR -- the company that provides expedited security screening access at more than two dozen U.S. airports  can now get through the ID verification process even faster if they're flying on Delta, which owns a minority stake in CLEAR. A CLEAR official told Conde Nast Traveler that Delta SkyMiles members who also belong to CLEAR no longer need to show a boarding pass or ID. Instead, their biometric ID verification via a fingerprint or iris scan will be the only step before they move on to the TSA inspection. For those travelers, the biometric scan will also pull up their boarding pass information in real time, so a check of their paper or electronic pass in no longer necessary. CLEAR membership costs $179 a year; for SkyMiles members, the cost ranges from $79 top $99 a year depending on membership level (it's free for Diamond Medallions).

Seattle SEA-TAC's small American Express Centurion lounge is going to close temporarily starting March 11, 2019 for renovations. Those flying Delta through SEA can use its spiffy new(ish) Sky Club, and there's also a Club at SEA that accepts Priority Pass.

In other biometrics news, Dallas/Ft. Worth International has signed a contract with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA-operator of Dulles and Reagan National airports) to deploy MWAA's veriScan facial recognition software for all of DFW's international flights. Veriscan was developed by MWAA's Office of Technology, and it's already in use for international travelers departing Washington Dulles on United, Air France-KLM, Scandinavian Airlines, Emirates and Cathay Pacific. The veriScan system sends hi-res photos of international passengers to Customs and Border Protection's Traveler Verification Service for "nearly instant identity verification," MWAA said. When it's integrated with an airline's boarding system, it also eliminates the need for boarding passes. Over the next 12 to 15 months, veriScan will be implemented for all 14 airlines that operate international flights from DFW.

Meanwhile, "biometric exit" technology has also come to Miami International, through a partnership between the airport, Lufthansa, Customs and Border Protection and the aviation technology provider SITA. MIA has had facial recognition scans in operation since early 2018 for all international arrivals, and it has decreased passenger processing time "by as much as 80 percent for participating airlines," an airport spokesperson said. The new biometric exit procedure uses cameras to obtain CBP identity matches for passengers flying to Munich on Lufthansa's Flight 461. "The facial recognition verification process takes less than two seconds with a 99-percent matching rate," the spokesperson said.

At Chicago O'Hare, Alaska Airlines will move from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 effective March 14, the airport said. Alaska has 10 flights a day at O'Hare. Passengers departing on Alaska should go to Terminal 2 for ticketing and check-in, and arriving passengers should claim their bags from Carousel 1 on the lower level. Alaska's flights will operate from Gates G4 and G6, located just off the rotunda that connects Terminals 2 and 3. (I'm still surprised that Alaska Air only offers a single daily roundtrip between SFO and ORD...)

Chris McGinnis

Are you a member of Cathay Pacific's Marco Polo Club loyalty program but not an elite member or a business class passenger? From now through the end of June, you can buy your way into Cathay's business class lounges at eight airports worldwide when you're traveling on a Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon flight. It will cost you 600 Hong Kong dollars (about $76 U.S.), but it includes entry for yourself and any number of accompanying guests. The promotion is good for entry to Cathay's flagship The Pier business lounge at Hong Kong's airport, and for its airport lounges in Melbourne, Manila, Paris, Vancouver, Penang and Kaohsiung. Participants can pay at the lounge reception desk except in Hong Kong, where they should pay at Terminal 1 check-in counters or at transfer desks in areas E2 or W1 before proceeding to The Pier.

Now that Mexico's new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has scrapped plans to build a new $13 billion international airport for Mexico City even after construction was well under way, how will the capital city handle its increasing air traffic? According to a report in Bloomberg News, the government is now looking at supplementing the existing, overcrowded Benito Juarez International (MEX) with two more airports. The plan calls for MEX to be upgraded, an existing airport at nearby Toluca to be expanded, and the Santa Lucia military air base near the capital to be transformed into a commercial airport. The head of the International Air Transport Association -- the worldwide airline trade organization -- said that considering Mexico City's altitude, temperature and nearby mountains, the operation of flights in and out of three area airports will be "very, very, very challenging." Sounds like a big mess to me. Too bad. Hopefully something will change in the near future...





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.
TravelSkills on SFGate is brought to you by Visa

California's cold, wet winter sure makes a sojourn to the South Seas mighty appealing. And if you can make your flight reservations now, you can jet down to Fiji nonstop from San Francisco for just $396-- round trip!

You read that right. For less than $400, you can fly nonstop on Fiji Airways from San Francisco to Nadi, Fiji in April, September or October.

UPDATE March 9- most of these fares have now flown away; there are still a handful at around $466.

The 11-hour, 5,500 mile nonstop flight is on an Airbus A330-200. Flights are are overnight in both directions, departing SFO three days a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

According to Google Flights, these "Bula Special" fares are available on roundtrip flights in April, September, October and early November.

April flights | Sept-Oct flights

GReat Circle Mapper

Fiji Airways is a Oneworld partner. Please note these fares were available on March 7 and are subject to change.

According to SeatGuru, Fiji Airways' Airbus A330-200 has 273 seats in a 2-class configuration. There are 12 angled lie-flat seats in Business Class (2-2-2) and 249 seats (2-4-2) in Economy Class.

Don't miss out on a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE bi-weekly travel alert emails!

Most cheap seats are available on flights in September or October, which is a fine time to be there with just 3-4 inches of rain per month and temps in the 80s. Rainy season runs from November to April. Here's some more interesting information about travel to Fiji for first timers.

Have you been or do you dream about going to Fiji? Tell us about it in the comments!

Read all recent TravelSkills posts here

Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here

Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.
The Bay Area was largely spared of flooding when storms brought rain to California in the middle of the week, but things looked very different farther east.

Shocking video of flooding in Tuolumne County made that fact abundantly clear Wednesday afternoon.

EXTREME WEATHER: Death Valley flooded by drenching rains

The footage, released by the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office, showed brown floodwaters crashing down a street in downtown Sonora, transforming it into something resembling a fast-moving river.

People on social media said the video appeared to show the back of a Save Mart store in the area.

"With the torrential rains today, there are many roads in the County and the City that are flooded," the Sheriff's Office wrote.

Other roads in the county, such as Lyons Bald Mountain Road, were blocked by debris and boulders.

LET IT SNOW: Squaw Valley becomes second Calif. resort to say it'll keep slopes open until July

"It takes just inches of water to move a car," the Sheriff's Office warned, urging people not to try to cross roads that were starting to flood, but not yet closed.

As of 3:22 p.m., Lyons Bald Mountain Road, Campbells Flat Road, Bell Mooney Road, Sims Road, Red Hills Road, and Rawhide Road at the Woods Creek Bridge were all closed, according to the Sheriff's Office.

At 2 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Tuolumne County, and warned of the possibility of large hail in the area, urging people to take shelter. By 3 p.m., forecasters said the storm had weakened, although heavy rain was still falling in the area.
The soggy weather marking the start of the year in the San Francisco Bay Area is carrying over into March.

After a February with twice as much rainfall as normal, the region has seen rain every day since March 1. When will this wet weather end?

After a few more rainy stints over the weekend and into early next week, an extended dry stretch looks likely.

Here's what we have to go through to reach the dry spell: Scattered, lingering showers are moving across the Bay Area on Thursday and will dry up on Friday. On Saturday, a quick-moving weak system dropping down from the Northwest will hit the North Bay in the morning and arrive in the central Bay Area mid-day.

MORE: Squaw Valley becomes second Calif. resort to say it will keep ski slopes open into July

Sunday will likely be cloudy and mostly rain-free, and Monday is forecast to be dry, before another low-impact storm arrives Tuesday.

"I'm not sure when the rain will arrive Tuesday," said Scott Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Bay Area. "Details on this storm are still unclear."

Finally, on Wednesday, Rowe says weather models are in agreement that a strong ridge of high-pressure will build along the West Coast, blocking storm activity from the Pacific Ocean. It should stay in place until at least through the weekend.

Rowe adds the federal Climate Prediction Center forecasts below-normal rainfall for the Bay Area in mid-March, as well as above-normal temperatures. This all sounds like spring is on the horizon.
Rahmat Gul / Associated Press

KABUL  Mortar shells exploded Thursday outside a ceremony in the Afghan capital attended by the countrys chief executive and a former president. Both men were unharmed, but three others were killed, a government official said.

Nusrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said 31 people were wounded in the attack launched from a house near the ceremony. Security forces battled for several hours with militants holed up in the house, Rahimi said, and two insurgents were eventually killed and one person arrested.
SRINAGAR, India  A civilian was killed and at least 30 others were injured by a grenade blast at a bus station in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir on Thursday, police said.

The grenade was hurled at the main bus station in Hindu-majority Jammu city and rolled beneath a bus, where it exploded, police said. The injured were taken to a hospital, including at least four who were in critical condition. One person later succumbed in the hospital, medics and police said.

Hours after the blast, police said they arrested a man they accused of throwing the grenade, calling it a major breakthrough. Top police officer M.K. Sinha said the Kashmiri man was directed by Hizbul Mujahedeen, the largest rebel group, to carry out the attack.

Hizbul Mujahedeen did not immediately comment on the police allegations. However, the Joint Resistance Leadership, which challenges Indias sovereignty over Kashmir, released a statement saying the attack on unarmed civilians was the most reproachful act which should be condemned by all civilized humans.

In the past, Indian authorities have blamed rebels fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region for similar grenade attacks, often without producing any evidence. Rebels have in turn accused government agents of carrying out the attacks to defame their movement.

Jammu experienced days of protests following a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in the Indian-held portion of Kashmir that killed 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers, the deadliest attack against Indian forces since the start of an armed rebellion in 1989 by mostly Muslim residents in the disputed Himalayan region. Hundreds of Hindu nationalists attacked Muslim neighborhoods in the city, burning vehicles and hurling rocks at homes. Authorities imposed a curfew for several days in the city.

Archrivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the region in its entirety. 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.

About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian crackdown since 1989.
BRUS, Serbia  It started at the job interview when Marija Lukics boss locked the office door and tried to kiss her. He later promised it wont happen again. But it did, over and over, until she decided it has to stop.

In the two years she worked as a secretary of the top municipal official in this small town in central Serbia, Lukic says she has had as many as 15,000 phone messages to prove the harassment.

For daring to speak out about her experiences, the 30-year-old mother of two has become a hero for many women in Serbia, a conservative male-dominated Balkan nation with a strong macho culture.

When last year she mustered the courage to go to court against the most powerful man in the town, Lukic faced threats and pressure  but she also received scores of support messages flooding in on social media with the hashtag #JusticeForMarija.

Fighting back was no easy thing to do in a country where small-town power-mongers routinely control local institutions and where sexual harassment was only acknowledged as a criminal act in 2017.

All the time, I complained to his closest friends ... his sister, nobody reacted, she said. I expected someone at least to tell him to leave me alone because I told everyone, but it had no effect.

She says the global #MeToo movement has emboldened her to speak out: she wrote open letters to President Aleksandar Vucic and other officials, and told her story in numerous media interviews.

In an important victory, Lukics former employer, Milutin Jelicic, announced his resignation this month in the face of mounting public pressure and outrage. A trial is ongoing, and Lukic said she wont back down until he is held legally responsible as well.

The problem was that there is a system that protects such people, that women are endangered, Lukic said. Many women have approached me, even those who were raped and were afraid to report it.

Initially, six other women joined Lukic in charging Jelicic with sexual harassment and abuse of power. But only her case stood up in court.

Jelicic has not responded to repeated requests for comment placed through his office.

Experts warn that while some steps have been made to boost womens rights, much more needs to be done in a society where domestic violence is rife  rights groups say at least 30 women were killed by partners or within their families in 2018  and sexual harassment is often seen as harmless.

The government has pledged to address the problems as the country advances toward European Union membership. Lukics case, however, shows it will be an uphill battle.

Sanja Pavlovic, from the Autonomous Womens Center group, said the court rejection of the other womens charges in the Jelicic case showed that institutions do not have enough trust in women.

Women need to feel support, both social and institutional to come forward, she said. What about women who havent received 15,000 messages?

In June 2017, Serbias criminal laws were amended to define sexual harassment as any verbal, non-verbal or physical behavior that threatens the sexual dignity of another person, punishing perpetrators either financially or up to six months in prison.

Jovana Gec is an Associated Press writer.
SEOUL  South Koreas military said Thursday it is carefully monitoring North Korean nuclear and missile facilities after the countrys spy agency told lawmakers that new activity was detected at a research center where the North is believed to build long-range missiles targeting the U.S. mainland.

Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun Soo said the U.S. and South Korean militaries are closely coordinating intelligence over the developments at the Norths missile research center in Sanumdong on the outskirts of the capital, Pyongyang, and also at a separate long-range rocket site. She did not elaborate on what the developments were.

A lawmaker who attended a closed-door intelligence briefing said National Intelligence Service director Suh Hoon said his agency had monitored increased vehicle movement at the Sanumdong facility. Suh said in the briefing Tuesday that vehicles were transporting supplies, but avoided specific answers when lawmakers pressed him on what they were for, the lawmaker said. The lawmaker requested anonymity because the information was sensitive.

Suh also told lawmakers that North Korea is restoring facilities at a rocket launch site in Tongchang-ri that it partially dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps, an assessment supported by private U.S. reports based on satellite imagery. While the NIS believes North Korea has not produced plutonium for nuclear weapons in months, signs of uranium use have been seen at an enrichment facility at North Koreas main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, the lawmaker said. The International Atomic Energy Agency provided a similar estimation in a recent report.

The revelations follow the collapse of talks in Vietnam last week between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump over what the Americans said were excessive North Korean demands for sanctions relief in exchange for a limited offer to partially shutter the Yongbyon site.

It wasnt immediately clear how the findings might affect nuclear negotiations. The United States and North Korea accused each other of causing the breakdown of the talks in Vietnam, but both sides left the door open for future negotiations.

Experts say the Sanumdong facility is where North Korea assembles its intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The North conducted three flight tests of developmental ICBMs in 2017 that demonstrated their potential ability to reach the continental U.S.

Kim Tong Hyung is an Associated Press writer.
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
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are investigating two armed robberies that reportedly occurred Wednesday night on Staten Island, within less than an hour of each other.

The incidents were being investigated separately, as of Thursday morning, based on the circumstances surrounding each robbery, according to an NYPD spokesman.

The first occurred at about 9:30 p.m. on the 200 block of Castleton Avenue in Brighton Heights, where a 21-year-old male was attacked by a masked assailant who hopped out of a white van and punched him in the face, the spokesman said. The suspect reportedly displayed a gun and removed a backpack containing a MacBook Pro from the victim, before re-entering the van driven by an unknown individual and fleeing the scene.

At about 10:15 p.m., police responded to a report of two suspects who approached a 23-year-old male on Mills Avenue in South Beach, where one of the suspects reportedly punched him in the face while a firearm was displayed. Police said the suspects, described as black males wearing black clothing, fled on foot with an iPhoneX and headphones.

Neither victim suffered serious injury, and both investigations remain ongoing.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two Staten Islanders -- one of whom was twice convicted in schemes where he impersonated an attorney -- set up a fraudulent non-profit organization and pocketed more than $220,000 in funding the city provided to the charity for services that were never provided, authorities allege.

Renauld Gregg, 39, and Cherynne Caro, 35, who are both listed as board members of Second Chance Resources Group Inc., pocketed $178,000 in funding from the city Department of Health and Hygiene (DOHMH) and approximately $41,660 in funding from the city Department of Youth and Development (DYCD) between 2016 and 2018, according to a release by the city Department of Investigation (DOI).

On the Second Chance website, the organization is listed as a nonprofit, charitable and educational multi-service organization dedicated to addressing the numerous issues of the community.

The organizations mission, according to its website, is to address the community through counseling, housing placement, addictions treatment, nursing services, career training and education, along with providing legal and social service initiatives that include HIV/AIDS outreach, education testing and faith-based programming.

Authorities allege that Second Chance provided none of the services for which it had received funding, and that Gregg, a resident of the 100 block of Pierce Street in Concord, and Caro, a resident of the 100 block of St. Pauls Avenue in Tompkinsville, submitted false reports to both agencies to conceal their theft, purportedly using the funds for personal expenses.

The DOI says the investigation began after it received a tip that Second Chance was not present at an event that it claimed to have attended.

In addition to the alleged theft, Gregg and Caro committed welfare fraud by falsifying an application for rental assistance from the citys Human Resources Administration (HRA), a criminal complaint alleges.

Gregg and Caro allegedly falsified claims that Caro needed $6,200 in emergency rental assistance to pay her purported landlord -- the charity Second Chance, according to the DOI release.

In a related scheme between 2014 and 2017, a criminal complaint alleges that Gregg also failed to report income in excess of $3,000 and $1,000 respectively from Second Chance in his personal income tax filings.

These individuals claimed to run a city-funded charity dedicated to providing services to disenfranchised New Yorkers, but, in fact, the nonprofit was just an elaborate fraud scheme and the only people benefiting were the defendants, who pocketed more than $220,000, according to the charges," DOI commissioner Margaret Garnett said.

Not only did the defendants bilk city taxpayers through this charged scam; but they expanded their alleged criminal conduct by concocting a need for emergency rental assistance and submitting a false application to the city, Garnett said.

Gregg, a son of former retired administrative law judge Ronald Gregg, was convicted of impersonating an attorney in 2009, and he was sentenced to 18 months to three years of prison for stealing approximately $31,100 from his then-girlfriend and her parents, the DOI said.

Also in 2009, Gregg was convicted of third-degree grand larceny for impersonating an attorney and stealing approximately $156,877 from an acquaintance by keeping the proceeds of the sale of her home, and was sentenced to three to six years of incarceration, the Advance previously reported.

In the latter case, Gregg convinced a friend that he was an attorney and swindled the money by keeping the proceeds from the sale of her Stapleton home in 2007. He was supposed to pay off the victims mortgage, according to the previous report.

Unfortunately, todays arrest isnt the first time this defendant has been in trouble for committing fraud, having already served state prison time in an unrelated case for impersonating an attorney and other offenses, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said.

My office will continue to work closely with the Department of Investigation and our partners in law enforcement to protect our communities from fraudsters and ensure they are held accountable for breaking the public trust, McMahon said.

Gregg and Caro have both been charged with second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny and third-degree welfare fraud, according to a criminal complaint.

In addition, Gregg has also been charged with fourth-degree grand larceny and fifth-degree criminal tax fraud, the criminal complaint says.

A call to a number listed on the Second Chance website was not returned.

An attempt to reach Greggs lawyer was not immediately successful. Caros lawyer was not listed on public records at the time of this publication.

According to a spokesman for the Mayors Press Office, funding to the organization was issued through the New York City Council Discretionary award process. The Department of Youth and Community Development administers the funding, which was allocated through the Food Pantry Initiative, the spokesman explained.

Funding proposals are received by NYC Council Finance Department via the Discretionary Funding Expense Application. Council Finance reviews proposals and selects the organizations to be funded, the spokesman said.

FOLLOW JOSEPH OSTAPIUK ON TWITTER
It was a bad week for lawyers.

On Tuesday , the New York State Appellate Division, First Department, formally disbarred Michael D. Cohen who had served as personal counsel to President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, the Florida Supreme Court issued an extraordinary order granting an emergency application by the Florida Bar for the immediate suspension of attorney Ashley Ann Krapacs who, it is alleged, had launched an attack of massive and continuous proportions on social media, with a fury (that) has no bounds. And on that very same day, the Appellate Division, Second Department, disbarred four lawyers, including Staten Islander Richard J. Barrett.

Cohen's disbarment last week was ministerial in nature, a matter of merely striking his name from the roll of duly licensed attorneys in New York. He had already been disbarred automatically on Nov. 29, 2018 when he pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress. In the court's view, that crime, a felony under federal law, was analogous to the New York felony of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, and hence triggered his automatic disbarment. The Appellate Division declined to decide whether his guilty plea to tax evasion and other crimes in August of last year would have also supported disbarment.

The following day, Cohen excoriated Trump in testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. His intention to do precisely that was evident from his opening statement, copies of which surfaced in the New York Times and other media outlets methodically hostile to the President. Positioned near the very beginning for maximum effect, Cohen called his former client "a racist", "a conman" and "a cheat". Not surprisingly, those same outlets joined the mainstream media generally in highlighting those incendiary characterizations in their coverage of the proceeding.

Wooing Trumps enemies

Like former White House Counsel John Dean in the aftermath of Watergate, Cohen seemed driven to ingratiate himself with the President's enemies in the hope of securing a measure of redemption from their side of the political aisle. In the process, his self-serving testimony ran roughshod over the attorney-client privilege, a rock-solid precept of common law for over 500 years.

Ironically, so did the F.B. I. when it raided Cohen's Rockefeller Center office and Park Avenue hotel room last April, seizing emails, documents and other business records. Contrary to media assertions, Trump never did waive the privilege, nor can the magnitude of its breach be persuasively defended under the so-called crime-fraud exception. In fact, Cohen's own attorney at the time, Stephen Ryan, blasted the raids as "inappropriate and unnecessary", resulting in "the seizure of protected attorney -client communications".

Although it's been downplayed by the media, the attorney-client issue actually looms very large here because of its implications for any legal action that may be initiated against Trump flowing from its violation. The privilege has been a fundamental precept of law for so long precisely because it's pivotal to the exercise of essential legal rights. For example, of what value is the privilege against self-incrimination if a client's confidential admissions to his own attorney could thereupon be used against him? For another, what criminal defendant would actually be truthful with his own attorney if he knew that prosecutors could find out what he said?

Trump unaffected

Although Trump's detractors strain mightily to believe otherwise, nothing emerged at last Wednesday's highly-politicized hearing that would worsen the President's existing legal concerns. Nor could such an outcome negative to Trump have been reasonably anticipated. After all, Cohen had been cooperating for several months with both Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller and the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. And he had been doing so to benefit his own backside. He obviously told them everything he told congressional interrogators last week and, in all probability, much more.

In fact, if he had revealed to Congress anything he had withheld from prosecutors, he'd be in even more trouble with them. So, yes, the hearing had an air of high drama; Yes, Cohen's testimony provided Democrats and a large segment of the mainstream media with yet another opportunity to bash Trump. From a legal perspective, however, it was worthless.

When all is said and done, Cohens swashbuckling attack on Trump and his multiple criminal convictions say much more about him than they do about the President. Like the four other lawyers disbarred by the Appellate Division last week, he made a mockery of the high ethical standards to which the legal profession ascribes. Because of his high profile, however, he, much more than they, added to the unjustified but common perception of lawyers as somewhere between shifty and untrustworthy to downright crooked. Thats his shameful legacy.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Over the course of three hours on the witness stand Wednesday, Anthony Lopez, the Mariners Harbor man accused of murdering his spouse three years ago, spoke about his criminal past, his drug addiction, prostitution, love, anger, and his unusual relationship with his wife.

He also emphatically denied slaying Obiamaka (Obi) Aduba, 26, on May 20, 2016, and then rolling her partially-covered corpse on a dolly down the street in a bid to dispose of it.

Mr. Lopez, did you kill Obi? defense lawyer Mario F. Gallucci asked the defendant at the conclusion of his direct testimony.

No, absolutely not, Lopez, 33, responded.

But in a cross-examination that sometimes grew contentious, Assistant District Attorney Wanda DeOliveira suggested Lopez was lying, and the couples complicated relationship had driven him to kill the victim.

Text messages between the two reflected Lopezs jealousy and anger with Aduba over her prostituting herself even after they had married, the prosecutors questions insinuated.

Yet, despite his claim of loving the victim, he still didnt stop her from selling herself.

In fact, DeOliveira said, evidence showed less than month before her death, Lopez texted Aduba on how she could better entice customers.

You allowed her to have sex with other men for money and drugs? asked DeOliveira, who, along with Assistant District Attorney Tuesday Muller-Mondi is prosecuting the defendant.

Yes, said Lopez, who earlier on direct testimony admitted he had changed clothes and cut his hair on learning cops were looking for him after the killing.

Lopez was the only witness to testify Wednesday. Earlier in the morning, prosecutors rested their case.

The defendant will resume testifying Thursday in state Supreme Court, St. George, under re-direct examination by Gallucci.

No other defense witnesses are expected.

The stocky defendant was garbed Wednesday in a dark sweater over a collared white shirt and tie. He wore dark pants and had his dreadlocks pulled back behind his head.

Despite instructions to keep his voice up, he spoke barely above a whisper.

Often times, his response ran on, as he seemed intent on completing a winding narrative he had started. He was told to confine his answers to the questions asked.

Lopez said he met Aduba in early 2013 through a mutual friend.

The two began getting high on drugs together and having sex, he testified.

Almost immediately afterward, Aduba asked if he wanted to make money by working with her, said Lopez.

He said she solicited prostitution on a strip of Richmond Terrace in Mariners Harbor not far from his home.

Lopez, who was not otherwise employed, said he acted as her bodyguard. Aduba would give him a portion of what she earned or pay him in drugs, he said.

Lopez said he was living with his family then, and Aduba came to live with him, but his mother grew to dislike Aduba , and he had to move out.

In cross-examination, DeOliveira asked the defendant if he had really moved out because his mother had gotten orders of protection against him to prevent him from staying there.

Lopez confirmed the protection orders, but denied they were the reason he left.

He also denied that his mother initially got a protection order against him in 2007, because he had thrown her to the ground.

The defendants marriage to Aduba was apparently one of convenience.

He said they married in 2013 so they could enter a homeless shelter in Queens. The defendant said marrying Aduba canceled a domestic-partnership status he had with the mother of his child and paved the way for him and Aduba to enter the shelter.

They were both drug addicts then, he said.

The couple remained in the shelter for about a month before leaving, said Lopez.

He went back to his mothers home, and saw Aduba sporadically over the next few years, he said.

During that time, Lopez said he shuttled between the homes of his mother and friends, including a woman with whom he lived for a time in New Brighton in 2014.

He said he got divorce papers then for Aduba and left them at her parents home, but she didnt sign them.

Lopez said he ran into Aduba again around April 2016. She asked him if he wanted to work with her, and he resumed his bodyguard role for a short time.

In cross-examination, DeOliveira grilled Lopez about a series of text messages he and Aduba exchanged on April 26 when, he said, she had gone to a hotel with a john against his wishes.

Lopez cursed Aduba, called her his enemy and threatened to kill her.

He said he later apologized, pointing to texts in which he told Aduba she made him so (expletive) happy and asked, How do you keep doing this to me?

Lopez said he last saw her on May 14, 2016 - six days before her death - when they had sex in his mothers bed.

His mother came home and flipped out, he said. Aduba left.

With respect to May 20, Lopez said he had gone to a park on Richmond Terrace at around 5 a.m. to meet a man and buy suboxone. Lopez said he wanted the suboxone to try to kick his drug habit.

The man didnt show, and Lopez left the park at around 6 a.m.

He said he tripped and fell in the dirt as he left.

Surveillance videotape shows Lopez in a nearby deli about 25 minutes later.

The defendant said he asked to use the bathroom to wash his hands, which had been dirtied in the fall.

Instead, he was given a cup of water and went outside to clean himself off.

On cross-examination, DeOlivera asked Lopez if he actually wanted the water to wipe off the fluids from Adubas dead body.

No, he replied.

Last week, a detective testified he saw Lopez around 7:15 a.m. pulling a dolly containing a partially-covered body on Richmond Terrace and then on Post Lane.

Lopez said he took a taxi to the Port Richmond home of the man he was supposed to meet earlier. The man wasnt home, so the defendant hooked up with another man he knew who lived in that building.

He bought heroin from the second man and got high, he said.

At one point, that man showed him a story on SiLive.com which said a man had been seen rolling the body of another man up Post Lane in Mariners Harbor, said Lopez.

Shortly afterward, a story update said police were looking for him, he said.

The defendant said he tried to contact his mother and brother, then went to another friends home where he got a change of clothes and cut his hair.

I was scared, overwhelmed, he said.

Lopez said he then went to Harlem to try to stay with his cousin, but his cousin wasnt home.

He went to his cousins job the next day, and thats where cops arrested him, he said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The New York City Fire Department responded to more than 600,000 fire incidents citywide during 2018 -- among those incidents, 21,437 malicious false alarms, an issue that places FDNY members at risk.

Malicious false alarms are classified as calls that units respond to where there was no one who reported an emergency," according to FDNY data.

An FDNY spokesperson said that this includes both falsely reported incidents to 911 and alarm box responses.

These false alarms, which have an average response time of four minutes and 57 seconds across New York City, always senselessly place FDNY members at risk, an FDNY spokesperson said.

Because the FDNY responds to these false alarms, resources are pulled from where they may be needed elsewhere, an FDNY spokesperson said, potentially putting other FDNY units, and civilians, in danger.

Of all five boroughs, Staten Island has the least false alarms, according to FDNY data, with 1,446 logged for 2018. These non-emergencies were responded to at an average of four minutes and 45 seconds on the borough.

While well behind other boroughs, Staten Island has lessened FDNY call volume, an FDNY spokesperson said, contributing to the diminished numbers.

However, Staten Island saw an increase of these false alarms compared to the previous year, up from only 1,321 in 2017.

The highest number of malicious false alarms took place in Brooklyn during 2018, with 6,288 incidents.

Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan follow, with 4,941, 4,672 and 4,090 false alarms, respectively.

Citywide, the 21,437 in 2018 represented a jump from 2017, when there were 20,569 false calls that drew responses, according to the FDNY data.

2018 marked the largest volume of malicious false alarms since 2013, the earliest data made available by the FDNY.
Update: The FDNY has released the cause of the fire. Click here for the story.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An 86-year-old man has been pronounced dead after the FDNY responded to a house fire in Eltingville Wednesday night.

The fire at 461 Oakdale St. drew a heavy response, as 12 FDNY vehicles and more than 65 FDNY firefighters and EMS responded to the blaze.

The victim was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Princes Bay with critical injuries, according to an FDNY spokesman. However, he was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to police.

Upon arrival, NYPD units were notified that a male with burns to the body had been removed by EMS, according to a spokesperson for the NYPD.

The fire was reported at 6:44 p.m., the FDNY spokesman said, and brought under control at 7:17 p.m.

On scene, major fire damage was not visible, though one neighbor said that heavy smoke was emitting from the home as the FDNY arrived.

I saw the fire engines and then I came out and saw all the smoke," a neighbor said of the incident.

Police began cordoning off the area after the fire was extinguished, and a portion of Oakdale Street was closed off as FDNY responded to the fire.

The identity of the male is being withheld pending proper family notification, and the fire is currently under investigation by fire marshals.

This is the third fatal fire in a one-month span.

On Feb. 7, a 21-year-old woman died in a fire in Port Richmond, and on Feb. 28, a 55-year-old woman died in a fire in Mariners Harbor.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  During an intercepted phone call with a co-conspirator in September 2017, Medin Kosic asked, Am I coming over for dinner? federal prosecutors said.

What the West Brighton resident meant was should he deliver the man some heroin, said prosecutors.

But Kosic, 32, whos known as Dino, wont be breaking bread with his pal anytime soon.

On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 14 years behind bars for his role in a major narcotics-trafficking ring.

The defendant and 10 others were busted in January 2018.

All of them were Staten Island residents with the exception of one  Paul Van Manen of New Jersey - said authorities.

Also charged in the case were Mirsad Bogdanovic, Joseph Cucciniello, Alexander Bucci, Jasmin (Min) Cejovic, Shaun Sullivan, Theodore (Freddy/Eduardo) Banasky, Anthony Francese, Kenneth Charlton and Jennifer Bogdanovic, officials said.

Between 2015 and their arrest, the defendants peddled large quantities of heroin, including heroin laced with fentanyl, in the city and other locations, said Manhattan federal prosecutors.

They purchased the narcotics from a supplier in Brooklyn, prosecutors said.

Kosic doled out the heroin to Cejovic, Van Manen, Mirsad Bogdanovic, Sullivan, Banasky, Francese, Bucci and Cucciniello for distribution, said prosecutors.

Banasky and Francese managed the "stash houses" on Staten Island and Brooklyn, where the drugs were stored and packaged, according to court documents.

Charlton, officials allege, recruited customers for the gang from various places, including drug-treatment programs.

Crew members knew the drugs potency, said authorities.

On Oct. 5, 2017, Sullivan overdosed on a fentanyl-heroin batch he got from Kosic before being revived with Narcan, the anti-overdose spray, authorities allege.

Kosic asked Van Manen if it was surprising Sullivan overdosed. He replied, Not surprising, no, said an indictment.

Prosecutors said the drugs Kosic distributed substantially contributed to a Staten Island mans overdose death on Dec. 1, 2017, said Assistant U.S Attorneys Catherine E. Ghosh and Ryan Finkel in a sentencing memorandum.

The defendant participated in a years-long drug-trafficking conspiracy responsible for infusing the New York City area with large amounts of heroin, including heroin that was mixed with fentanyl, thereby contributing to the opioid epidemic that is plaguing the country, often with deadly results, wrote Ghosh and Finkel.

All told, Kosic distributed 36 kilograms, or nearly 80 pounds, of heroin and six grams of fentanyl, prosecutors said.

Kosic pleaded guilty last November in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl.

Mirsad Bogdanovic, Cucciniello and Alexander Bucci had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute narcotics.

Bogdanovic was later sentenced to 160 months in prison, plus five years supervised release, court records show. Bucci was sentenced to 50 months behind bars and two years supervised release.

Cuccinello awaits sentencing.

Prosecutors recommended Kosic be sentenced to anywhere between 14 and 17-and-a-half years behind bars.

Patrick J. Joyce, Kosics lawyer sought a 10-year sentence.

In his sentencing memo, he said his client has long battled depression and drug-abuse brought on by his mothers untimely death in 2010.

Besides prison time, Kosic is subject to five years supervised release.
STATEN ISLAND, NY -- IKEA, which opened a fulfillment center in Matrix Global Logistic Park in Bloomfield last year, has already hired 100 people and will seek to employ 400 more, said a company spokesman.

The 975,000-square-foot location is located less than 20 miles from downtown Manhattan and is operated by CEVA Logistics.

All available positions will be listed on the CEVA careers website along with descriptions as they become available, said an Ikea spokesman. Currently, there is one listing for freight handler/forklift operator.

We are excited to join the Staten Island business community with the opening of our newest fulfillment center, said Pam Andrews, IKEA distribution operations manager USA. The new facility is an important addition to our distribution network allowing us to meet delivery needs of our New York-area customers with greater agility and speed.

FASTER SHIPMENTS FOR LOCAL DELIVERY

The Staten Island unit will support delivery to many customers in New York City, whether they are shopping in store, at the IKEA Planning Studio or online. The unit successfully completed its first outbound shipment on Nov. 1, 2018.

On February 19, IKEA celebrated the grand opening of its newest customer fulfillment center in Staten Island with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Pictured (left to right): Scott Serapiglia, CEVA Logistics; Brett Bissell, CEVA Logistics; Pam Andrews, IKEA; Ferka Vukel, CEVA Logistics; Claudia Dicketmuller, IKEA; Matthew Stimpson, CEVA Logistics; Bjorn Westerberg, IKEA; Janet Vanderlugt, IKEA; and, James Oddo, Staten Island Borough President.

Customers in the designated shipping areas have already begun receiving their orders within two days, or at a scheduled date of their choice, according to Ikea.

The facility also has a goal to complete 100 percent of shipments on electric vehicles by 2020, as part of the global IKEA commitment to sustainability.

The best way to apply for jobs at the new Staten Island unit and see which roles are available is by going directly to the CEVA careers website at: https://www.cevalogistics.com/careers.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A side story to Anthony Lopezs dolly-slay murder trial took the spotlight Wednesday morning, and it shone on a former candidate for the jury, whose actions had nearly derailed the selection process last month.

Justice Wayne Ozzi held Tahir Kacic in civil contempt and fined him $500 for disobeying the courts instructions and searching for information about the case and Lopezs criminal history on his smart phone. Kacic then told other jury candidates what he had found.

Jury candidates are instructed during selection  as jurors are during the trial itself - to refrain from researching the case or seeking information about it or any of the involved parties from any source.

Mr. Lopez is entitled to a fair trial, (but) because of what you did, you tainted the other juror (candidates), Ozzi told Kacic, 64. You disrupted our judicial process. You cost the state and taxpayers money, as well.

The incident occurred on Feb. 13 and forced Ozzi to dismiss a pool of 23 potential jurors, including Kacic, just as jury selection was entering its final phase. He ordered Kacic to return Wednesday for a contempt hearing.

At the time, 12 jurors and two alternates had already been picked, and the defense and prosecutors were choosing additional alternates.

The selected jurors and alternates had been placed in a different room from those remaining in the jury pool and were not affected by Kacics actions.

Consequently, the trial was able to start on Feb 15, and is now winding down. The defense began presenting its case Wednesday afternoon.

Lopez, 33, of Mariners Harbor, is accused of strangling his wife, Obiamaka (Obi) Aduba, 26, to death on May 20, 2016. He then tried to dispose of her body by wheeling the partially-wrapped corpse though the street on a metal dolly, prosecutors allege.

Matthew Santamauro, Kacics lawyer, told the court his client did not understand the gravity of his actions.

He said Kacic was a first-time juror, who had emigrated to the United States and became a citizen in 2011.

He did not understand or realize that anything he did and said would affect the jury panel as a whole, said Santamauro.

The lawyer said his client is a union worker and married with two grown children. He has never been in trouble with the law, said the lawyer.

Public records indicate Kacic lives in South Beach.

He is ready to take responsibility for his actions, said Santamauro.

The attorney asked that Ozzi not find Kacic in contempt. If, however, the judge did, he requested the penalty be minimal.

Kacic potentially faced a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 30 days in jail.

The bespectacled Kacic wore a dark suit, dark blue shirt and tie.

He was contrite.

Speaking with a heavy accent, he said he came to America from a Communist regime where there is no jury selection.

My intention was not to hurt the jury selection, he said. I completely got lost.  I apologize to the court and to the system.  If you give me (an) opportunity, I am glad to serve on jury.  I love this country, and God bless America.

Besides the fine, Ozzi did not give Kacic credit for the two days he appeared for jury duty.

Outside court, Santamauro said his client never meant to disrespect or disrupt the judicial system.

It was a mistake, he said. I dont think Mr. Kacic realized the effect it would have on the panel.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- More high school students are getting warnings about carrying weed during the school day.

The number of summonses issued during the last three months of the calendar year for New York City high school students for possession of marijuana dropped 64 percent from 2017 to 2018.

There were 107 summonses issued in the last three months of 2017, and 38 summonses issued in the last three months of 2018.

The drop could be attributed to the Department of Education (DOE) expansion of the warning card program to all high schools in New York City beginning in September 2018. Under the program, police officers and school safety agents can issue a warning card to students 16 years old or older, instead of a criminal summons for possession of small amounts of marijuana or disorderly conduct on school property.

There have been 183 warning cards issued in schools citywide during the 2018-2019 academic year up to Feb. 10, 2019, according to a spokeswoman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner Public Information.

According to DOE spokeswoman Miranda Barbot, possession of marijuana is strictly prohibited in DOE schools and we immediately report it to the NYPD.

The Warning Card policy was developed in partnership with NYPD and gives NYPD discretion to address two specific, low-level infractions, said Barbot. "Our approach is workingmajor crimes in schools have dropped 29 percent under this administration, and were continuing to build on our progress.

STATEN ISLAND SUMMONSES

From October to December 2017, there were six summonses for marijuana possession issued at Staten Island schools. These include two at Curtis High School in St. George. Also included are one summons each at the following schools: Michael J. Petrides, Sunnyside; Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical Education High School, St. George; Susan Wagner High School, Sea View, and Tottenville High School.

In the same three months in 2018, there was just one summons for marijuana possession on Staten Island, which was issued at New Dorp High School.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
WASHINGTON  Back in January, the Democrats welcomed their brash young newcomers to Congress with smiles and hugs. That was before the new colleagues dragged the partys simmering divisions over Israel out in the open.

Provocative comments from Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota have thrust the Democrats into an uncomfortable debate over Israel policy a few weeks before a high-profile conference at which senior Democrats typically make a show of support for the Jewish state. Increasingly, the rift appears as much generational as ideological, with newly elected Democrats showing less deference to the party line.

Omar became the flash point after she suggested last week that Israel's supporters are pushing U.S. lawmakers to take a pledge of "allegiance to a foreign country." It's at least the third time she has forced older, pro-Israel Democrats who run the House into awkward territory over U.S.-Israeli policy.

This time Omar is not apologizing. And this time pro-Israel Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi are not just warning her about the dangers of Jewish tropes. They are expected to offer a resolution condemning anti-Semitism on the House floor. Although no vote on the resolution is yet scheduled, Democrats said it could come as soon as Thursday.

Republicans have been happy to stoke the furor, with President Donald Trump tweeting it's "shameful that House Democrats won't take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference." Trump himself faced such criticism in 2016 for circulating a six-pointed star alongside a photo of Hillary Clinton, a pile of money and the words "most corrupt candidate ever."

Democratic leaders are in a bind, torn between a need to admonish Omar and their desire to defend one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.

"Accusations of dual loyalty generally have an insidious, bigoted history," an early draft of the resolution reads in part. "The House of Representatives acknowledges the dangerous consequences of perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes and rejects anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States."

Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced in a meeting of leading Democrats late Tuesday that the text will be updated to include anti-Muslim bias, according to a senior Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting. Other Democrats said an outpouring of support for Omar prompted leaders to consider broadening the measure to avoid dissension. Omar did not speak to reporters outside her office on Tuesday evening.

"There is a lot emotional disquiet about the situation, and it's a good time to restate our values," said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is Jewish and a member of leadership, as he exited a meeting in Pelosi's office. "That's what I hope our resolution can do."

The text, which includes a history of bigotry against Muslims and blacks as well as Jews, sounds unobjectionable by itself. But the fact that senior Democrats felt obliged to put the House on-record on the topic points to a transformation in the country  mostly among Democrats  about supporting the Jewish state.

In a poll by the Pew Research Center in January of last year, 46 percent of Americans said they sympathized more with Israel and 16 percent with the Palestinians in their Middle East discord.

But Democrats are about evenly divided, with about a quarter sympathizing with each side and the rest saying they side with neither or don't know  and in recent years they have become less likely to sympathize with Israel. Liberal Democrats were nearly twice as likely to say they sympathize more with the Palestinians (35 percent) than with Israel (19 percent). Older Americans were much more likely to say they sympathize with Israel than with the Palestinians, with more division among younger Americans.

Omar, a Somali-American, says that what she's questioning is the influence game in Washington and she worries that anything she says about Israel and its treatment of Palestinians will be construed as anti-Semitic.

"Being opposed to (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and the occupation is not the same as being anti-Semitic," she tweeted on Sunday. "I am grateful to the many Jewish allies who have spoken out and said the same."

Democrats in Congress remain largely supportive of Israel. Pelosi, for example, often attends the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington, which is coming up this month.

Omar on Tuesday got a boost from allies who point out that she, too, has been the target of threats and bigotry.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested in a tweet that her fellow freshman was being treated unfairly.

"No one seeks this level of reprimand when members make statements about Latinx + other communities," the New York Democrat wrote.

Jewish groups generally said they support the resolution, but expressed concern.

"We are concerned that the timing of this resolution will be seen as singling out and focusing special condemnation on a Muslim woman of color as if her views and insensitive comments pose a greater threat than the torrent of hatred that the white nationalist right continues to level against Jews, Muslims, people of color and other vulnerable minority groups," said J Street, a nonprofit that says it's a home for "pro-Israel, pro-Peace Americans."

Back home in Minnesota, a collection of elected officials started a #StandWithIlhan hashtag with a statement that reads in part: "We call on Democrats to stand with Ilhan against Republican efforts to pit Jews and Muslims against each other."

But there also was talk of finding a candidate to challenge her in 2020.

"She is rapidly making herself a pariah in Congress, rather than an effective representative for her constituents," said state Sen. Ron Latz, who is Jewish, lives in her district and has been critical of her recent statements on Israel.

Earlier this year, Omar apologized for a 2012 tweet in which she said Israel had "hypnotized" America. And last month, she apologized for suggesting that members of Congress support Israel because they are paid to do so.

That earned her stern rebukes from Pelosi and House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, among others. This time, Engel declared that Omar's suggestion about divided loyalties was a "vile" stereotype that had no place on his committee.

Republicans demanded that Democrats throw Omar off Engel's panel. There was no sign of that happening.

I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee, Omar tweeted.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Weve reached this point, havent we?

Page Six published a story earlier Thursday afternoon about Pete Davidsons brand new tattoo. This isnt the first time Davidson has generated news for getting inked (see: Hillary Clinton, girlfriend Ariana Grande, ex-fiancee Ariana Grande, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg), and this probably isnt the last time a publication will publish a story about it.

The Staten Island natives new tattoo, a unicorn, was unveiled on Instagram via @ryanmullinsart.

The Post, in a very Post sort of way, wondered aloud about a potential connection between new girlfriend Kate Beckinsale and the fresh ink on Davidsons arm: It is unclear what or whom the unicorn represents, but judging by his tattoo removal history, for his sake, we hope its not a shoutout to Beckinsale.

Davidson, who doesnt actually talk to the media on a regular basis, has become a content machine for media outlets.

Fox News, the New York Post, Complex, Bustle, the Huffington Post, USA Today and (almost) every other major news brand in the country gravitates toward the Saturday Night Live star. A screenshot of a Google News search for Davidson is below.

From Fox News to TMZ, Pete Davidson has become the ultimate lightning rod for news outlets.

The nations most popular satire website is also taking advantage of Davidsons attention-grabbing persona. On Wednesday, the humor outlet published a story titled, Tabloid Reveals Pete Davidson, Kate Beckinsale Only Dating As PR Stunt To Promote New York Rangers."

Meta.

In November 2010, the author of this story covered a talent event geared toward middle-school children. It was held at the Looney Bin Comedy Club in Travis and hosted by local comedian and entertainer Joel Richardson. The event gave young people an opportunity to share jokes, play music and have a stage presence.

The warm-up act was a 17-year-old kid named Pete who told jokes about Spider-Man to make the very young comedy club audience comfortable before theyd exhibit their own talents. His name wasnt even used in the story.

Little did we know then that a unicorn had graced the stage.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Will you be paying with cash or credit? In Philadelphia, the question appears poised to remain in place forever.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed an ordinance into law earlier this month that prohibits most retail locations from not accepting cash or charging cash-paying customers a higher price, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The law will take effect July 1. Violators of the law will face fines of as much as $2,000, according to numerous reports.

Some businesses, like parking garages and wholesale club stores, are exempt.

Legislation was passed because many poor consumers still do not have access to bank accounts, said a Philadelphia city spokesperson.

Similar legislation has moved through the New York City Council, NBC 4 reported last month. Additional publications say New Jersey is also attempting to banish cashless stores.

The bill was met with some opposition from a restaurant and lodging business group, which said businesses, not government, should decide whether to go cashless.

Businesses should be able to run their business how they see fit, without government interference, said the trade group, reports the Pennsylvania-based publication Morning Call, which represents thousands of businesses in the restaurant, hotel, and tourism industries.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are still probing a report of a home invasion that took place in St. George on Sunday evening.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident, which occurred around 6 p.m. on the 200 block of St. Marks Place, according to an NYPD spokesman. The investigation is ongoing.

A male suspect reportedly followed a tenant who he didnt know into the multi-family building, then proceeded to the second floor where he kicked in the door of an apartment belonging to a different tenant, breaking the door frame, an NYPD spokeswoman previously told the Advance.

The suspect -- described as a white or Hispanic male standing about 5 feet 10 inches and 200 pounds with short dark hair -- threatened a 51-year-old male victim with a firearm, and fled the scene with $400 and a yellow metal necklace, police said.

A male individual who claimed to be the homeowner told the Advance Wednesday that the victim was no longer living at the residence.
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!
Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick has called on the federal government to step in and stop the prosecution of former public servant Richard Boyle who is facing 161 years in prison after blowing the whistle on poor culture at the Australian Taxation Office.

Senator Patrick wrote to Attorney-General Christian Porter on Thursday saying if the case proceeded it would make a mockery of the governments advances in whistleblower policy, discourage whistleblowers across the public sector and undermine public confidence.

Senator Rex Patrick has called on the Attorney-General to intervene and stop the prosecution of a tax whistleblower. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

It is your clear duty to intervene and bring this prosecution to an end, Senator Patrick says in a two-page letter.

Mr Boyle has been charged with 66 offences that could see him serve six life sentences if found guilty, potentially topping the punishment handed out to serial killers such as Ivan Milat.
Lorna Jane is battling legal proceedings in the Federal Court launched by a physiotherapist who claims the activewear company's leggings infringe her patent.

Carolyn Taylor claims she spent years developing leggings which are supposed to improve core stability for women, which she then patented in 2010 and licensed to manufacturers.

Physiotherapist Carolyn Taylor claims Lorna Jane infringed her patent. Credit:Darren Howe

However, browsing online one evening the Bendigo-based physiotherapist and physiotherapy lecturer came across Lorna Jane's website and spotted leggings that were similar.

'Very similar'
Australia has painted itself into a corner with its natural gas industry and faces the stark reality that there are no easy choices to alleviate the dual problem of a looming supply crunch and the associated higher prices.

Australia is far from the first country to find itself with an energy issue, but it is unusual insofar as the country is about to become the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and still it can't get its policy settings right to ensure domestic supplies.

It sounds counter-intuitive and somewhat bizarre, that a country that in 2019 will export nearly 80 million tonnes of LNG finds that the best solution to its domestic supply crunch is to start importing cargoes of the same super-chilled fuel.

Gas cargo being loaded for export at Gladstone. Australia is about to become the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.

There was grudging acknowledgement at this week's Australian Domestic Gas Outlook (ADGO) conference that LNG imports were likely the "least worst option", as one of the delegates put it.
Crucial supporters of the Nationals have abandoned the party for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers in the NSW marginal seat of Murray in fury over claims of water theft.

Chris Brooks, the chairman of the Southern Riverina Irrigators group which represents 1800 irrigators in the region, has pulled his lifelong support for the Nationals to back the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate, local farmer Helen Dalton.

Farmers in the north-west of NSW feel let down by the Nationals party. Credit:Dean Sewell/Reru/Oculi for the Wilderness Society

Mr Brooks says many of his members have followed suit ahead of the March 23 state election.

The Nationals Austin Evans holds the seat by 3.2 per cent, having beaten Mrs Dalton at a byelection in October 2012.
(CNN)  Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid was released from prison on Monday after spending more than five years behind bars.

Abou Zeid -- also known as Shawkan -- was arrested while taking pictures of a deadly crackdown on a 2013 protest in Cairo where demonstrators were objecting to the ousting of former President Mohamed Morsy. Hundreds of protesters were killed.

Despite his release, Abou Zeid must still spend 12 hours at a police station every day for the next five years, according to Amnesty International.

"After his release, he faces ludicrous probation measures which require him to spend 12 hours of each day at a police station from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the next five years. These outrageous measures will severely restrict his liberty and should be lifted immediately," Amnesty International said in a statement Monday.

Abou Zeid is among 200 defendants who were sentenced to five years in prison as part of a mass trial. He was charged with belonging to an illegal group and possessing firearms.

In a CBS interview that aired in January, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi denied holding political prisoners. He was responding to a question about a Human Rights Watch report that estimated that at least 60,000 of Egypt's prisoners were held on political grounds.

"During his trial, the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish that Mahmoud Abou Zeid was responsible for the offenses with which he was charged," the Amnesty International statement said.

For the first two years of his imprisonment, Abou Zeid had "no knowledge" of the charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in 2015.

In 2018, Abou Zeid received the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

"The choice of Mahmoud Abu Zeid pays tribute to his courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression," said Maria Ressa, a Philippine journalist and president of the independent international jury that selected him as a winner.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Egypt releases award-winning photojournalist Shawkan after five years in prison."
A former Labor party official charged with two child porn offences is facing a further 21 charges, the Supreme Court has heard.

In October, Peter Hansen was charged with three offences, including two relating to child pornography, and refused bail, however a suppression order over the case prevent it being reported until this week.

Peter Hansen has been charged with a further 21 offences. Credit:Facebook.

Mr Hansen, a former priest and former president of the Cabramatta branch of the Labor Party, appeared in court via audio-visual link on Thursday dressed in a green polo shirt. He was due to apply for bail on the basis of the original three charges.

His barrister Alex Radojev said Mr Hansen was then charged with a further 21 offences on March 4 while in custody.
A man has been arrested over his alleged role in the death of a man in Sydney's south-west last year.

About 1pm on October 25, officers were called to Englorie Park Drive in Rosemeadow after the body of Jamie Phillips, 46, was found in a vacant lot.

A man is arrested over his alleged role in the death of Jamie Phillips Credit:NSW Police

Following inquiries, police searched a home at St Helens Park about 11.30am on Thursday.

A 37-year-old man was arrested at the home and taken to Campbelltown Police Station, where he was charged with murder.
Police have seized items from a rest stop south of Goulburn where they believe missing woman Samah Baker was hours after she disappeared from her home in Sydney's west.

Ms Baker, 30, was last seen when she was dropped off at her home in Parramatta by a friend in the early hours of January 4. Two months on, her disappearance is being treated as suspicious.

Police also searched bushland about 16 kilometres south-west of Goulburn on Wednesday, finding several items that will undergo forensic examination and may provide clues into Ms Baker's disappearance.

At a press conference on Thursday, Detective Chief Inspector Barry Vincent revealed items had been seized from the French VC rest stop on the Hume Highway.
Police have found a $150,000 stash of rare property allegedly stolen over a decade during a drug raid in east Brisbane.

Among the loot was a 1950 camera, commemorative coins, jewellery and historical bank notes.

Police suspect the treasures were stolen during a number of break-ins over ten years. Credit:Queensland Police Service

Police suspect the antiques were stolen during a string of Brisbane robberies spanning a decade, and now hope to reunite the treasures with their rightful owners.

The treasures were seized from a home at Wynnum, about 14 kilometres east of the CBD, late last month during a police raid.
A man who abandoned his toddler son in a Queensland park and lied about it for a decade has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for manslaughter.

Shane Arthur Simpson admitted guilt in court this week after leaving the neglected boy he was tired of looking after in a park at dusk in May 2007.

Baden Bond's body has never been found and no one knows what happened to him after he was abandoned.

But he has shown no remorse for his neglect, Justice Peter Applegarth told the Brisbane Supreme Court as he sentenced Simpson to 12 years in prison on Thursday.

Baden Bond's body has never been found and no one knows what happened to him after he was abandoned on the banks of the Logan River, south of Brisbane.
The owner of the nightclub, Mr Brian Little, 30, of Kangaroo Point, said tonight he believed the man wanted to kill as many as possible. The man had sprinkled super-grade petrol over the stairs from the ground-floor foyer to the nightclub door, left two tins of petrol at the foot of the stairs, then set fire to the lot. The main fire escape at the rear of the building was barred from the outside, he said, and two tins of waste fat were thrown on the ground outside. It was madness, I tell you, insane, horrible. Mr Brian Little, owner of the Whiskey Au Go Go Mr Little said he had been warned twice by a known gunman that his nightclub "might go up."

"I have been told he called to see me again about 11 o'clock last night, a couple of hours before the fire, but we missed each other," Mr Little said. Mr Little, a solidly built 6ft New Zealander, said he believed the gunman was simply "delivering a message" and the fire was lit by someone else. "It wasn't meant as a warning or as an annoyance," he said. "It was the act of a madman. "It was meant to kill. A detective examines the fire-damaged interior of the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub on March 8, 1973 Credit:Staff photographer

"There were about 60 people in the club at the time and it is only luck that they weren't all incinerated." Police tonight were questioning a man, a Queenslander, who has spent some time in Sydney. The man went to Police Headquarters in Brisbane today, accompanied by a lawyer. There have been numerous reports here in recent months of "Sydney underworld" figures trying to take over nightclubs and restaurants in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast. Local police discount them.

However, in recent weeks there have been a number of incidents involving nightclubs. A former manager of Whiskey Au Go Go has been given a severe beating. The car of Whiskey Au Go Go's then manager, Mr William Mc-Alary, was set alight on January 11 outside the club. The Torino nightclub, also in The Valley, was damaged by fire after a bomb blast on February 25. No one was injured. Brisbane's nine surviving nightclubs closed tonight because of union bans on members working in them until there has been a thorough investigation of today's tragic fire. Police patrolled the nightclub area.

Detectives from Sydney and Melbourne will arrive tomorrow to help search for the killer. The Sydney detectives, Detective-Sergeant Noel Morey and Detective Roger Rogerson are from the Sydney CIB's Special Crime Squad. Mr Little reconstructed events in the fire from his own observations and what surviving staff members told him. He said the man, possibly accompanied by a woman, had sprinkled the petrol over the stairs and entrance just after 2 am, then had thrown a lighted match or some other form of detonator. Detective N. Raward examines in the CIB laboratory two petrol drums found in the foyer of Brisbane Whiskey Au Go Go. March 9, 1973 Credit:Staff photographer

"A fireball of gas and petrol exploded into the club," Mr Little said. "The people who died were standing up, but the carpet of the nightclub itself and even the tablecloths on the tables weren't even touched. "The walls, about shoulder-height, were melted by the heat, but other parts of the room weren 't even touched. "' Mr Little was not at the nightclub when the fire started but drove "at 70 miles an hour" to reach it from his motel at Kangaroo Point. "When I got there, it was really too terrible to describe," Mr Little said.

"One of the boys in the band had tried to escape by jumping through a window head first. "He was lying in a pool of blood. "He wasn't touched by the fire at all." He was close to tears when he described the deaths of two of his staff. "Desma Carroll would probably have been all-right." he said, "but she stayed to get the money from the till in her bar. "We found it in her handbag. She was 29. She had three children."

David Green, 19, a waiter, "was just lying there on his back with his hand out." "His tray was right near his hand and it looked as though he was still trying to hold it." Mr Little said. Mr Little said that besides the main fire escape being barred, "whoever did it had thrown two tins of waste fat on the ground outside. Victims of the fire: from left, Carol Green and Fay Will. "The firemen could hardly keep their feet.

"The fat had even been painted and smeared on the rails of a fence nearby as if to stop somebody climbing the fence. "It was madness, I tell you, insane, horrible." Mr Edward Kropp, a fire brigade first aid officer, said today most of the people killed had suffocated trying to reach a fire escape. He said the latch on the door had dropped down, locking it. A dozen firemen entered the building through the rear door after smashing it down with a 14lb sledge hammer.

Two members of the pop group Trinity died  Darcy Day, 22, and Colin Folster, 19. One of the surviving members, Ray Roberts, 24, said a break was called in the show about 2 am and he and other members of the group were standing near the stage. "Somebody screamed fire and I instinctively ran to the stage and to grab my guitar," he said. "As thick smoke filled the room and the lights went out. Bevan and I desperately were looking for a way out. "People were all groping around, falling over one another.
A Brisbane-based quantum physicist who works with the alphabet of light while raising three young children will be honoured with an international award in Paris.

Jacqui Romero has been selected for the LOreal-UNESCO International Rising Talent grant for 2019.

Born in the Philippines, Dr Romero had just started her PhD in Scotland when she fell pregnant with her first child in 2008.

Quantum physicist and mum-of-three Dr Jacqui Romero has been awarded the LOreal-UNESCO International Rising Talent grant for 2019.

It was very difficult, because there was nobody in my department who was doing a PhD and who also had a child, she said.
Such mystery prompted Willoughbys choice to write Heysens biography as part of her PhD at the University of WA. She discovered a woman always overshadowed by her father, always introduced in the press as Hans Heysens daughter, never sure if her work was truly good, or whether she was getting all the attention because of him. I think she would scream loudly, 'I am not a feminist'. And yet she never pushed herself forward, never self-promoted, Willoughby said. Others, such as Margaret Preston, were good at getting noticed, but even when Heysen won the Archibald, all she wanted was for the press to go away so she could do her work.

Rather than use that as a platform she retreated, and wanted the work to speak for itself. As we know, thats not really the way things work. And that was one of the reasons she remained obscure. Asked if, given that attitude, how Heysen might react to being lauded on International Womens Day more than a century after her birth, Willoughby said she probably would be mortified. I think she would scream loudly, I am not a feminist, Willoughby said. But she is, by default. Whatever your definition of feminism, she is a great example of womanhood and whats achievable despite all the barriers. 'Unnatural and impossible for a woman'

Anne-Louise Willoughby. Such barriers were thrown into sharp relief after her 1939 Archibald win. Fellow entrant Max Meldrum was famously quoted in city newspapers saying, A great artist has to tread a lonely road. He needs all the manly qualities  courage, strength and endurance  I believe that such a life is unnatural and impossible for a woman. He was only one of those angry at Heysen's win. And it wasn't just the anger that formed a barrier to Heysen being taken seriously. Willoughbys book details an Australian Womens Weekly article published after her win, headlined Girl Painter Who Won Art Prize is also Good Cook, accompanied with a photo of Heysen peeling vegetables at the sink.

With two recommended recipes to boot. Even when war broke out and she was asked to be a war artist, they couldnt give her the security they believed a female needed at the front, and she could not get as close to the action as a man would have. So she went into clearing stations, but she felt stymied and that as a man she would have been able to have a crack at better subjects, Willoughby said. Willoughby said Heysen was sidelined in the art world after a build-up of untimely interruptions by the men who held influence in her life; and also by the outbreak of WWII, the social constraints of the day, and by her own responses to all these circumstances. Yet she persevered.

She kept going no matter what was put in front of her, Willoughby said. She lost her adopted son to AIDS-related illness. She lost the love of her life. She lost a sister in very trying circumstances, the result of social restrictions of the day. So many tragedies that could have made her throw in the towel, but she said she wanted her last memory to be that she put something on paper and she did; she died in 2003 still producing work right up to the very end. She is perhaps one of Australias longest-producing artists. Willoughby said that in the three years researching and two years writing the book, her subject had taught her persistence. She believed that if something was worth doing, if you kept going and you were patient, you would triumph. You would get a result, she said. I was a journalist for 30 years and sometimes we arent patient. We want to get to the bottom of it. There is all this urgency.
High-profile barrister Julian Burnside's nomination as the Greens' star recruit to contest the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Kooyong has been greeted with scorn by his old adversary, former Patrick boss Chris Corrigan.

"I suspect his time arguing fruitless legal cases will prepare him to embrace and advocate the ludicrously insane economic platform of the Greens," Mr Corrigan said, describing the QC who acted for the Maritime Union of Australia in the infamous 1998 waterfront dispute against Patrick as "a self-promoting dandy".

Mr Burnside represented the MUA successfully through a bruising dispute all the way to the High Court over Mr Corrigan's attempt to sack his unionised workforce after a corporate restructure and replace them with workers from Dubai.

Chris Corrigan Credit:Photo: Paul Jones

The waterfront dispute would prove a watershed case for Mr Burnside who has said: "It was the first time in my life that I had reason to stand back and wonder whether I could trust governments."
Defence was forced to reduce counter-terrorism ocean patrols with the Philippines, cancel a maritime operation with key Pacific neighbours and cancel an air surveillance exercise with Indonesia because it was picking up slack left by deficiencies in the Australian Border Force, according to leaked documents.

Minutes of a high-level Department of Defence meeting reveal senior brass discussed how the shortfalls of the ABF were affecting the military and could force it to restructure.

The Morrison government is running hard on border protection in the lead up to the May election and has repeatedly hosed down suggestions of problems with the ABF, which was established under Malcolm Turnbull and is headed by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

The militarys operations chief, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, told the meeting that the ABF risks have been realised and transferred to Defence, according to the minutes from the October meeting.
London: Malcolm Turnbull has dumped on his former Liberal colleagues for ousting him as prime minister during a wide-ranging interview with one of Britain's most prominent political interviewers.

Speaking to the veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil, whom he has known since the Spycatcher days, for the BBC's Politics Live program on Tuesday, Mr Turnbull described the August coup as a "peculiarly Australian form of madness".

He said he had been removed by his own party because he was on track to beat Labor leader Bill Shorten.

"Basically you could argue that their concern was not that I would lose the election but rather that I would win it," he said.
The days of Wicked Campers' off-colour branding may be numbered, as federal Minister for Women Kelly O'Dwyer seeks a national response to stop the company branding its vehicles with "sexist, misogynistic and offensive slogans".

With slogans like "in every princess there is a little slut that wants to try it just once", "the best thing about oral sex  5 minutes of silence" and "life sucks if your girlfriend doesn't", the company has long courted the ire of women, families, and people who prefer not to be distracted by obscenities while driving.

Federal Minister for Women, Kelly O'Dwyer, is taking on offensive language on the side of camper vans owned by John Webb, the founder of Wicked Campers. Credit:

Ms O'Dwyer has written to state and territory ministers seeking their urgent support to advance a co-ordinated national approach to force Wicked Campers to comply with community standards.

The company has managed to avoid compliance with Ad Standards' Community Panel determinations to remove advertising emblazoned on its vehicles despite them being deemed offensive, because the company owns the vehicles that carry the ads.
International Women's Day is a great time for high-achieving women who have broken through the glass ceiling to gather for a meal where they celebrate their successes and push for even more progress.

The stories of women who have made it will only inspire others. The more examples women hear about how their peers have overcome gender inequality the better. It creates a climate where society will expect there will be more women chief executives and women sports stars and women prime ministers.

But if March 8 is too focused on success it creates a risk. What about all the other women? Many of them cannot climb the heights. Women after all still earn less than men. Many still find themselves carrying an unfair share of the burden of child rearing and family life. Some women with much more modest ambitions might feel intimidated by a focus on great success.

Women's Day is not just about high achievers. Illustration: Robin Cowcher Credit:

Of course, all women share the same basic problems but it is important that the women's movement and feminism make sure they are looking out for all women.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has refused to say how soon demolition works will begin on Allianz Stadium, one day after the government triumphed in a last ditch court battle to stop the knockdown.

With an injunction halting demolition works set to expire at 2pm on Thursday, Ms Berejiklian would only say it was "business as usual" when repeatedly asked to clarify when heavy machinery would move in and begin dismantling the stadium.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has refused to say when the demolition at Allianz Stadium will begin. Credit:AAP

"It's business as usual for us on everything. Schools, hospitals, roads and rails," Ms Berejiklian said.

The Premier made the comments at a press conference on Thursday morning, where she was asked 10 times to confirm the demolition timeline.
With the NSW election just over two weeks away, and pre-poll voting opening on Monday, the campaign had felt quite flat for most of us who have been trailing the leaders from one announcement to the next.

But on Tuesday, Labor leader Michael Daley fired a salvo that changed the mood and stadiums returned as a key election issue.

The Opposition has long been opposed to the Berejiklian government's plans to spend $730 million knocking down Allianz Stadium at Moore Park. But this week saw the issue revived for both sides.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has labelled as "hot-headed" Michael Daleys intention to sack Alan Jones and other board members from the SCG Trust if Labor is elected. Credit:AAP, Nick Moir

Mr Daley told broadcaster Alan Jones that he would sack him and most members from the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust board if he is elected premier, while the government had a win in the Land and Environment Court, which paved the way for the demolition of Allianz.
Seoul: Perhaps none of the communist legacies shared by Vietnam and North Korea highlighted during Kim Jong-uns goodwill visit to Hanoi is stranger than the embalmed leaders on display in their capital cities, and the secretive team of Russian technicians that keeps the ageing bodies looking ageless.

Kim laid a wreath outside Ho Chi Minhs mausoleum in the Vietnamese capital on Saturday, after the conclusion of his shortened summit with US President Donald Trump.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un bows as he stands alongside Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's President, during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, on March 1, 2019. Credit:Bloomberg

Inside the dark interior of the mausoleum, the embalmed corpse of Vietnams founding father lies displayed in a glass coffin for a steady stream of tourists who silently shuffle by.

In Pyongyang, Kim Jong-uns grandfather and father are on similar display in the loftily named Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a monument to the cult of personality that surrounds North Koreas ruling family.
Although in some ways the accusations seem mild  no money changed hands and no laws appear to have been broken  the political wreckage from the perception of back-room dealing by the Trudeau government has been huge. Although in some ways the accusations seem mild...the political wreckage from the perception of back-room dealing by the Trudeau government has been huge. The Prime Minister's popularity has sunk, calls for his resignation are echoing, and two powerful female ministers  one of them Wilson-Raybould  have resigned in protest. His top political adviser, who is a close friend, also stepped aside in the mess. "I was not aware of that erosion of trust, and as Prime Minister and leader of the federal ministry, I should have been," Trudeau said on Thursday. "Ultimately, I believe our government will be stronger for having wrestled with these issues." With about seven months to go before a national election, Trudeau tried to convince the country that he still believed in conducting politics in an open, transparent way.

Jody Wilson-Raybould appears at the House of Commons Justice Committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Credit:AP He also tried to repair the damage caused by the resignations of the two female ministers  one, Wilson-Raybould, a former Indigenous leader  and show that he remained a feminist and was still committed to righting the country's wrongs against Indigenous people. He pointed out that after his remarks, he would head to the Arctic to apologise to Inuit people for historic wrongs, and that he would be celebrating International Women's Day in Toronto. He said he looked forward to defending his government's record during the election campaign in October. Unlike leaders in other nations, Canadian prime ministers rarely make major speeches outside the House of Commons except during campaigns. The fact that Trudeau felt compelled to make such an address underscored the political perils he faces.

Loading In his remarks, Trudeau conjured the memory of his father, the former prime minister and justice minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, saying his example had instilled a deep respect for justice in him. Last week marked the 35th anniversary of Pierre Trudeau's "walk in the snow," a contemplative stroll during which he decided to resign as prime minister. On Thursday, his son walked from his office through Ottawa's snowy streets before television cameras to deliver a very different message at the press gallery. Peter Donolo, who was director of communications for a former Liberal prime minister, said Trudeau did not really clear anything up. "This isn't going to change anybody's mind," Donolo said of the Prime Minister's remarks.

At the centre of the controversy is the giant Canadian engineering and construction company SNC-Lavalin, which in 2015 was charged with bribing Libyan officials during the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi and defrauding the Libyan government. Trudeau and his top aides were accused of trying to get Wilson-Raybould to allow the company to avoid a conviction  which would bar it from government contracts for a decade  and instead negotiate a monetary penalty. The Prime Minister's first reaction was to dismiss the accusations as false and charge forward, hoping they would shrink in the headlines. Instead, they grew. He also seemed to criticise Wilson-Raybould for not raising her concerns with him about impropriety late last year, when the debate about how to handle the case was underway. Those remarks only made matters worse.

Last week, Wilson-Raybould offered provocative testimony to a House of Commons justice committee. She described months of being hounded by members of the Prime Minister's team, long after she told them her mind was made up to pursue a criminal conviction. She called their behaviour inappropriate and described "veiled threats." On Wednesday, Gerald Butts, the Prime Minister's former chief political adviser and best friend, appeared before the justice committee, and said that Wilson-Raybould was asked to get an outside opinion about using the monetary penalty because of the potential job loss if the company lost business. "When 9000 people's jobs are at stake, it is a public policy problem of the highest order," Butts said. "It was our obligation to exhaustively consider options the law allows." Prosecutors are continuing their case against the company.

On Thursday, Andrew Scheer, the leader of the Conservative opposition, said that neither Trudeau, the Liberal Prime Minister, nor Butts had provided any evidence to support concerns about lost jobs. The two men's actions, Scheer said, were "about protecting a Liberal-linked corporation." Trudeau said on Thursday that Wilson-Raybould told him during a meeting on September 17 that she had decided against a settlement. But he said she agreed to reconsider the matter. According to Trudeau, Wilson-Raybould never reported the result of that reconsideration, nor did she ever express her concerns that the case continued to be raised with her and her staff. He acknowledged that he should have personally followed up with Wilson-Raybould but rejected the idea that the subject should have been taken off the table.
New York: Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer of US President Donald Trump, on Thursday sued the Trump Organisation, accusing it of failing to reimburse him for legal fees he incurred on matters arising from his work on its behalf.

Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to US President Donald Trump. Credit:Bloomberg

In a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, Cohen said the Trump Organisation breached its obligations to indemnify him after it became clear he would cooperate in investigations into his work, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian influence in the 2016 US presidential election.

The Trump Organisation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cohen said the organisation has refused to pay any of his legal fees or costs since May 2018, and owed him about $US1.9 million as of January 25, 2019.
Camden, New Jersey: Johnny Bobbitt, the homeless veteran who conspired with a couple to spin a feel-good story that captured hearts across the country and raised $US400,000 ($569,000) in a GoFundMe campaign, has pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Bobbitt, 36, could face from six to 30 months in federal prison for his crime.

One of his co-defendants, Kate McClure, 28, also admitted her role in the scheme on Wednesday, local time, and pleaded guilty to wire fraud. She faces up to 33 months in prison.

Johnny Bobbitt, in orange, stands during a hearing in New Jersey last year. Credit:AP

Bobbitt, McClure and her former boyfriend, Mark D'Amico, still face conspiracy and theft by deception charges in a case brought by Burlington County prosecutors. That case is still pending.
A handful of male lawmakers dressed up for a recent hearing they presided over in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, donning pearl necklaces as activists testified about their experiences with gun violence.

Images from the statehouse - where legislators were considering arguments over a bill that would make it easier to take guns away from potentially dangerous people - reverberated across social media as critics lobbed accusations of sexism and insensitivity at the jewellery-clad men.

'Shameful': Republican lawmakers wearing pearls in New Hampshire's House of Representatives. Credit:Twitter/shannonrwatts

The implication was clear, they said: These politicians thought gun-control activists were "clutching their pearls" in overwrought and self-righteous outrage - and, specifically, female outrage.

The advocates, who were volunteers with the group Mums Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said they felt mocked, like some of the lawmakers weren't interested in hearing stories about how gun violence has impacted their lives.
PHILIPSBURG:---The House of Parliament will sit in a Central Committee meeting on Thursday, March 7, 2019.

The Central Committee meeting which was adjourned on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 will be reconvened on Thursday, at 14.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The minister of General Affairs will be present.

The agenda point is:

Status and situation around the dismissal of the workers at St. Maarten Cable TV and the predicament of the subscribers of said company (IS/309/2017-2018 dated February 1, 2018)

(This meeting was requested by MP P.F.M. Geerlings, MP S.M. Bijlani, and MP T.E. Leonard)

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and Parliaments Facebook page: Parliament of Sint Maarten.
GENEVA (ILO News)  A future of work in which women will no longer lag behind men is within reach, but it will take a quantum leap, not just hesitant incremental steps, to get there, according to a new International Labour Organization (ILO) report published for International Womens Day on 8 March.

We need to make it happen, and the report, A Quantum leap for gender equality: For a better future of work for all, provides a way forward, said Manuela Tomei, Director, ILO Conditions of Work and Equality Department.

The report is the culmination of five years of work under the ILOs Women at Work Centenary Initiative.

It finds that in the last 27 years the difference in the employment rates for men and women has shrunk by less than two percentage points. In 2018, women are still 26 percentage points less likely to be in employment than men. This contrasts with the findings of an ILO-Gallup 2017 global report on womens and mens preferences about womens participation in paid work, which found that 70 per cent of women prefer to have a job rather than staying at home and that men agree.

In addition, between 2005 and 2015, the motherhood employment penalty, the difference in the proportion of adult women with children under six years in employment, compared to women without young children, increased significantly, by 38 per cent.

Moreover, women are still underrepresented at the top, a situation that has changed very little in the last 30 years. Fewer than one third of managers are women, although they are likely to be better educated than their male counterparts. The report shows generally that education is not the main reason for lower employment rates and lower pay of women, but rather that women do not receive the same dividends for education as men.

A number of factors are blocking equality in employment, and the one playing the largest role is caregiving."

Manuela Tomei, Director, ILO Conditions of Work and Equality Department

There is also a motherhood leadership penalty: only 25 per cent of managers with children under six years of age are women. Womens share rises to 31 per cent for managers without young children.

The gender wage gap remains at an average of 20 per cent globally. Mothers experience a motherhood wage penalty that compounds across their working life, while fathers enjoy a wage premium.

A number of factors are blocking equality in employment, and the one playing the largest role is caregiving, said Tomei. In the last 20 years, the amount of time women spent on unpaid care and domestic work has hardly fallen, and mens has increased by just eight minutes a day. At this pace of change it will take more than 200 years to achieve equality in time spent in unpaid care work.

The report sets out laws and practices that are changing this dynamic, for a more equal sharing of care within the family, and between the family and the State. When men share unpaid care work more equally, more women are found in managerial positions, added Tomei, highlighting the role of men in creating a more gender-equal work of work.

The report also includes findings from real time data, gathered by the professional networking website LinkedIn from five countries, covering 22 per cent of the global employed population in three different regions. This joint ILO-LinkedIn collaboration found that women with digital skills  currently a requirement for the most-in-demand and highest paying jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths-related (STEM)  are only between a third and a quarter of LinkedIn members with such skills. However, it also revealed that the women who reach director-level positions get there faster, more than a year earlier than their male counterparts.

With commitment and courageous choices, there can be a quantum leap, so that the future of work does not reinforce the inequalities of the past."

Shauna Olney, Chief Gender, Equality and Diversity & ILOAIDS Branch

The Quantum Leap report shows that achieving gender equality will mean policy changes and actions in a range of mutually reinforcing areas, and it points to measures that can lead towards a transformative and measurable agenda for gender equality. The path of rights is the foundation for a more equal world of work, including the right to equal opportunities, the right to be free from discrimination, violence and harassment, and to equal pay for work of equal value.

A future of work where everyone can care more, with time to care and inclusive care policies and structures is also strongly advocated in the report. A more caring future of work will also mean significant employment creation. The need for universal social protection and a sound macroeconomic framework is also addressed. With the wide-ranging global transformations underway  technological, demographic and climate change  the report calls for greater efforts to engage and support women through work transitions. Increasing womens voice and representation will also be essential to ensure all the other paths are truly effective.

We will not get the future of work with social justice we need unless we accelerate action to improve progress on gender equality at work. We already know what needs to be done, said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder. We need to implement a transformative agenda that includes enforcement of laws and regulations  perhaps we may even need to revisit those laws and regulations - backed by investment in services that level the playing field for women, such as care and social protection, and a more flexible approach to both working hours and working careers. And there is the persistent attitudinal challenge of attitudes to women joining the workforce and their place in it.

We know much more now about gender gaps and what drives them, and what needs to be done to make meaningful progress on gender equality in the world of work  the path is clear, said Shauna Olney, Chief Gender, Equality and Diversity & ILOAIDS Branch. With commitment and courageous choices, there can be a quantum leap, so that the future of work does not reinforce the inequalities of the past. And this will benefit everyone.

Source: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_674816/lang--en/index.htm
Largest corporate contributor of volunteers to SXM DOET to date

PHILIPSBURG:--- SXM DOET will be receiving a substantial number of volunteers to a selection of the 124+ registered projects thanks to the staff and management of Diamonds International.

Some 115 staff will be lending their time and energy to a number of projects being organized for Friday, March 15th. Diamonds International's participation in SXM DOET makes the company the largest corporate contributor of volunteers to the edition since its inception in 2015.

"We are happy to be involved in SXM DOET and add the initiative to our portfolio of worthwhile causes, charitable organizations and community programs both in Sint Maarten as well as in our global chain which stretches from Curacao down south, Mexico to the west and Alaska in the north," Diamonds International management states.

SXM DOET is the largest volunteer event in St. Maarten and part of the Kingdom-wide Koninkrijk Doet initiative, which takes place annually in the Netherlands and all Dutch Caribbean islands. The event encourages local non-profit organizations to host small projects for which they need the assistance of volunteers to be able to execute over the course of two days, March 15 and 16, 2019.

Project Managers Melanie Choisy, Laura Bijnsdorp and Fleur Hermanides are elated at Diamonds Internationals commitment to SXM DOET and applaud the company for utilizing the event to team-build amongst their staff. Diamonds International is showcasing true corporate social responsibility and is leading by example, says Melanie Choisy.
maincubes AMS01 Data Center in Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk Receives ISO 27001 Certification for Information Security

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

maincubes, a European data center operator offering an expanding number of ?German-engineered? facilities to colocation clients across Europe including DAX-listed companies, has received the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 ?information security? certification for its recently opened AMS01 colocation data center in Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk, the Netherlands. The certification has been validated by TUV, an independent global provider of operational inspection and certification services headquartered in Germany.

The ISO/IEC 27001:2013 audits conducted by TUV  a large independent auditor from Germany with more than 10,000 employees worldwide ? have been done to ensure an effective, enterprise-grade protection of valuable data assets inside maincubes? AMS01 colocation data center in Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk. maincubes had to prove to TUV that they have proper controls in place to successfully protect customer data.

Compliance with the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 standard being achieved now allows maincubes to extend its existing ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certificate from maincubes Frankfurt, Germany (FRA01) to the maincubes? AMS01 data center in Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk, the Netherlands. Next to that, TUV has also successfully audited the maincubes headquarters in Frankfurt. It means that the whole maincubes organization is now certified according to the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 information security standard.

?As the CTO of maincubes I am pleased with TUV?s successful audit results and the achievement of the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification for our new data center in Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk,? said Albrecht Kraas, CTO and co-founder of maincubes. ?It?s a nice reward for our ?German-engineered? data center development approach. Our German-oriented approach has an influence on the technologies being selected, on the setups of our data center infrastructure, but of course also on the information security processes that have been implemented. As a ?German-engineered? data center operator, we are attaching great value to information security and the protection of our clients? IT and data infrastructures.?

10 Million Euro Investment

Germany-based auditor TUV has validated various information security related processes within the maincubes Amsterdam AMS01 organization. This includes: separation of duties, documentation of organizational processes, business continuity, security incident reporting, the handling and embedding of organizational knowledge, HR policies and procedures, and much more.

?We have invested more than 10 million euros in the re-development of our Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk data center,? said Joris te Lintelo, Director at maincubes. ?We have chosen a smart cooling setup with Free Cooling technology in Amsterdam to achieve maximum energy-efficiency results. We have created ultimate power redundancy by using an N+1+1 setup for our generator infrastructure. We don?t take any risk, that?s to say. The same accounts for our organizational processes. Our German-engineered approach proactively calls for strict adherence?to compliance with the highest information security standard, namely ISO/IEC 27001:2013.?

DAX-Listed Users, Private Suites

Joris te Lintelo expects that the ?German-engineered? approach combined with the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 information security certification being achieved will add to the attractiveness of the maincubes AMS01 colocation data center in Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk as a premises whereto enterprises can hassle-free outsource their IT infrastructures.

?In Frankfurt FRA01 we already signed up two DAX-listed companies and some other high-profile customers, including customers active within automotive and telecommunications,? added Te Lintelo. ?These customer successes are definitely the result of our keen eye for technical and organizational details as well as our nose for enterprise requirements. The recently completed data center suites in the maincubes AMS01 facility, with a capacity of 1.7MW and 1.3MW respectively, are also designed with the highest enterprise requirements in mind. Frankfurt still has some free space left but is now filling up quickly with enterprise clients and customers with likewise data center expectations. For Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk we?re expecting the same scenario.?

?German-engineered doesn?t mean inflexible by the way,? added Te Lintelo. ?On the contrary, as our colocation customers in Amsterdam as well as Frankfurt can practically choose whichever brand or data center setup they would like to have. This includes racks, aisle containment, power distribution, cabling management and much more.?

Part of German construction conglomerate Zech Group and headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, maincubes has planned a roll-out of large-scale, redundantly engineered and highly secured data centers across Europe. Its current locations include Frankfurt, Germany and Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk, the Netherlands. maincubes Frankfurt (FRA01) is filling up quickly, after maincubes signed up two DAX-listed companies. FRA01 has still free spaces. Their newly opened Amsterdam Schiphol-Rijk facility (AMS01) still has free space left including two private data center suites (1.7MW and 1.3MW).

To learn more about maincubes, visit their website: https://www.maincubes.com/en/
Save the date and mark your calendar to experience a bit of Slovakia at Eastertime on Pittsburghs South Side. On Saturday, April 13, 2019, Prince of Peace Parish will host the 29th Annual Slovak Mass and Easter Customs Breakfast.

The celebration of Slovak religious culture begins at St. Adalbert Church, South 15th Street, with the recitation of the Holy Rosary at 10:45 a.m., followed by Mass at 11 a.m., with prayers and hymns sung in Slovak.

After Mass, everyone is invited to the Prince of Peace Parish Center, 81 South 13th Street, to sample traditional foods one might enjoy in a typical Slovak home on Easter morning paska (sweet bread), sunka (ham), kolbasy (sausage) sirek (cheese), hrin (beets and horseradish) and kolace (nut and poppy seed rolls).

Take some time to browse authentic Slovak treasures -- books, crystal, linens, dolls, pottery and costumesand learn a bit of the history, daily life and customs of our Slovak ancestors. Watch crafts people demonstrate their art, including decorating colorful Easter eggs (kraslice or pysanky), weaving palms or braiding bread.

Take home homemade nut and poppy seed rolls, paska and cookies, or purchase unique handmade or imported gift items.

Make plans to attend the 29th Annual Slovak Mass and Easter Customs Breakfast on Saturday, April 13 at Prince of Peace Parish. There is no charge for admission, but donations are sincerely appreciated.

For more information, to sponsor a table or to make a donation, call Connie Zatek at 412-657-6364.
4 smart ways to use security to power the business of the future

In the new era of work, our relationship with the workplace is defined by flexibility and mobility. Employees are working across the home, office, and blended spaces more than ever before, as well as working varied hours to suit the modern work schedule. This new hybrid workforce model holds the potential for more diverse talent and better productivity, but it also comes with its challenges  one being how to ensure security, health, and safety in the workplace. Strong and smart security ecosystem While nearly one-third of companies report that theyve implemented a hybrid model, according to a recent survey by STANLEY Security, many still have much to do to prepare their office for the future. Building a strong  and smart  security ecosystem is crucial in preparing for the future. As such, businesses should consider technologies that help protect their people, as well as safeguard their assets, optimise their operations, and secure their network. 1)Protect your people Implementation of a security ecosystem combines health, safety, and security hardware and software solutions seamlessly Nearly 60% of mid-market and enterprise businesses across the UK and US report that the health and safety of their employees and customers are a primary concern when implementing modern and hybrid working models. This begs the question: How can businesses create a safe and healthy work environment when 59% are planning to bring employees back on-site in some capacity within the next 18 months? The answer lies, in part, in the implementation of a security ecosystem that combines various health, safety, and security hardware and software solutions seamlessly. Integrating platform Nearly half (46%) of business decision-makers say they are interested in adopting an integrated platform such as this. This means integrating traditional and digital security solutions, then leveraging the data and insights they produce to further enhance the workplace experience. Take this example: With employees and visitors moving in and out of the office at different times, a business may lack oversight of occupancy or density levels, people flow, workspace scheduling, visitor check-in processes, and more. However, with visitor management, access control, and other building/business systems integrated, employees can reserve a workspace for a specific date and time and be granted access to the building. Leveraging AI and machine learning Visitors can pre-register, answer a health screening questionnaire, and receive a mobile credential before arriving. Once the visitor arrives on-site, the system can alert the respective department  all without the close contact typically required for traditional visitor check-in processes. When layering artificial intelligence and machine learning on top of the data, a business may identify trends in people flow and opportunities to optimise congested areas. They may also see that certain rooms within the building get more use than others and leverage these insights to manage their space more effectively. All of this is powered by a security ecosystem that can help a business better protect its people while realising other benefits in the process. 2) Safeguard your assets Businesses are concerned about the security of their assets when it comes to the hybrid workforce model Even more, businesses are concerned about the security of their assets when it comes to the hybrid workforce model. About 72% of leaders say this is, in fact, their primary concern with the hybrid approach. This figure isnt surprising when you consider the impact of the pandemic, which left many businesses closed either temporarily or permanently, with few people allowed on-site to manage facility operations. As a result of the pandemic, we saw tech adoption accelerate at an astonishing rate  simply because businesses had to implement cloud and remote technologies to survive during a time when buildings were closed indefinitely. Remote management and visibility This was particularly true for security solutions, such as cloud video surveillance and cloud access control solutions like wireless IoT-connected locks. Nine out of 10 businesses (91%) report that they have already implemented cloud security technology; of those, nearly half (48%) stated that this was due to the pandemic. These technologies allow for remote management and provide visibility into business operations at the same time. In a retail setting, for example, cloud video surveillance allows businesses to identify and track not only criminal activity, but also foot traffic patterns, peak operating hours, staff shortages, and more. Loss prevention strategy When integrated with the retailers point-of-sale (POS) system, businesses can gain greater insights into their traffic counts, end cap effectiveness, loyalty card activity, and a variety of POS exceptions, such as high-dollar transactions, repeated transactions, excessive returns, employee discounts, and more. For retailers especially, a security ecosystem means a more efficient loss prevention strategy that helps safeguard assets and profits. 3) Optimise your operations The future of work is still very much a work in progress, but one thing is clear: Businesses are looking for ways to increase efficiencies, drive cost savings, and, ultimately, optimise their operations  especially now with the challenges posed by price inflation. A relatively untapped opportunity for businesses to achieve these goals lies within their security infrastructure. Security technology and solutions gather incredibly rich data which, when unlocked, can help businesses understand how their buildings are being used, when the busiest times are, where there are highly trafficked areas, and more. Leveraging cloud video surveillance systems, businesses could identify emerging staff training needs Cloud video surveillance systems For example, by leveraging the insights produced by cloud video surveillance systems, businesses could identify emerging staff training needs, which could ultimately result in improved employee satisfaction and reduced attrition. However, much of this data sits untouched within the infrastructure, leaving businesses unaware of the opportunities in front of them. 44% of businesses that currently use a cloud security system for its primary use say they want to know how else this technology can be utilised, and an additional 20% arent even aware that it could be used in other ways. AI and analytics The interest in adoption is promising for the office of the future, especially when we see that the majority of businesses (78%) would consider using AI and analytics technologies to optimise their operations, helping their business to operate more effectively and efficiently. The increase in adoption of cloud technology  paired with the rise in interest in AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics  could make it possible for businesses to uncover invaluable insights from their security infrastructure and leverage them to adapt and build business resilience. 4) Secure your network Advanced technology help businesses improve their cybersecurity, making it harder for hackers to gain entry With cyber threats becoming more prevalent, businesses are increasingly looking to secure their networks and protect their data. More than half (54%) of those surveyed expressed interest in using AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics to secure their network by identifying and eliminating cybersecurity threats. Advanced and automated technology can help businesses improve their cybersecurity, making it harder for hackers to gain entry to the larger corporate network. Modern cybersecurity tools that use AI and machine learning can detect anomalies in network traffic or alert and act on suspicious behaviour. Cybersecurity software For example, if an IoT device suddenly begins broadcasting and establishing connections with multiple devices, cybersecurity software could detect this abnormal behaviour, send an alert, and suspend traffic or quarantine an endpoint immediately  saving precious time during a potential breach. A single data breach could result in widespread distrust from workers and customers, potentially leading to decreased business as well as litigation issues. As such, businesses need to take action to update and strengthen their defences so that they can avoid downtime and continue to operate with peace of mind. Prepare your business for the future Businesses will continue to look for more ways to extract value out of their existing infrastructure, including their security technology. For many, the tools to do so are already in place, its just a matter of unlocking the insights with a security ecosystem. With such an ecosystem  one that helps protect a business people, assets, and network, while optimising operations  companies can better safeguard the future of their workspaces and usher in the new era of work with confidence.
Perhaps it's counterintuitive that astronauts, the humans being sent hundreds of miles away from any rocks, should care about geology.

Nevertheless, learn geology they do, through a special training course tailored to the work astronaut candidates will be able to do from the International Space Station  or on the first interplanetary exploration missions since the Apollo program .

"Being able to understand what something looks like from a few hundred miles above the planet's surface, whether it's the Earth or the moon or Mars, is part of this," Cindy Evans, head of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, told Space.com. "What we try to introduce is that all of these different perspectives are important, none of them are stand-alone, that it takes them all to pull together a complete picture. It's always been crucial for understanding the geology of the Earth; we know that it's going to be crucial for understanding the geology of the moon or the geology of Mars."

Related: Earth from Space: Amazing Time-Lapse Videos by Astronaut Paolo Nespoli

Three training classes of astronauts have taken part in the decade-old field training program. The program includes intensive classroom time to learn the basic principles of geology, but the focus is on getting out in the field to see rocks in their natural environment, where the candidates can touch the manifestations of those discussions.

"They're trying to wrap their minds around it, but when they see it in the field, you can really see the light bulb go off in their head," Jose Hurtado Jr., a geologist at the University of Texas at El Paso, who has been working with the program for about a decade, told Space.com. "They start to understand why it's going to be important for their future careers."

At each site, the program leaders work to ensure the trainees get a real sense of how geology itself works. "We don't have them memorize rock names or mineral names , we try to have them focus on the exploration mindset," Trevor Graff, a planetary scientist working for NASA contractor Jacobs at JSC, told Space.com. In particular, he wants trainees to understand what geologists do in the field and why.

The last Apollo program geology field expedition before launch took place near Cinder Lake crater field, in the shadow of the San Francisco Peaks in November 1972. In this image, Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt drive their lunar rover simulator over Bonita Lava Flow near Sunset Crater. (Image credit: NASA)

Out in the field

The current astronaut training class explored Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument in northern New Mexico last summer and will be headed to the San Francisco Peaks region in Arizona later this year. That area of Arizona holds a storied role in geology and in space exploration alike. "The neat part is going to these historic places, you can actually pick out photos of Apollo astronauts training on the same lava folds," Graff said. "They're following in the footsteps of people who have been there before."

But the training program's destination doesn't just look back to the past: It is also informed by the destinations astronaut candidates could one day find themselves exploring beyond Earth. "The San Francisco volcano field where we're going to be has world-class examples of the kind of volcanic features you may see on the moon or Mars," Hurtado said.

While they're familiarizing themselves with geology itself, the trainees are also learning to mimic how geologists think and work. "Geology is very different in many ways from other sciences," Barb Tewksbury, a geologist at Hamilton College in New York who has been working with the program for a decade, told Space.com. "We have the greatest experiment, and it's all cooked and done and it's the Earth, and we're trying to figure out what the conditions of the experiment were."

Geologist Barb Tewksbury (center) trains astronaut candidates Jonny Kim (left) and Raja Chari (right) in the field in northern New Mexico in the summer of 2018. (Image credit: Norah Moran/NASA)

Geologists in the field have to start with a plan, but also adapt that plan in response to what they find on the ground. "Geologists don't just drive around or run around collecting samples that they take home to the lab to analyze," Tewksbury said. That would be a recipe for realizing gaps in their data far too late.

The fighter pilots among the trainees seem to intuitively grasp how this works, making decisions quickly based on limited information, she said. ( Current trainees are not allowed to speak to media until they complete the program.)

This year's program is designed to challenge the trainees a little more than last year's expedition did, even as they tackle similar tasks. The program leaders have also added the complicating factor of handheld instruments that could plausibly fly on a future planetary mission.

Related: Are Moon Caves Safe for Astronauts? Earth's Lava Tubes Can Help Us Find Out

Because the program is connected to NASA's astromaterials department, which takes care of the agency's meteorites and Apollo samples , it will also train astronauts on collecting souvenirs. "We're also going to introduce during the second field season the process and the mindset behind sampling, so that you collect the best samples," Graff said. "They're going to be world treasures."

"You have to think through what tools are going to be required and how you're going to triage all the stuff that you need to get done in the time available," Evans said. "You've got a big area, you can't see everything, you've got limited resources, you can only carry so many rocks on your back, so you've got to be thinking through how you're going to best sample and collect the data that you need to collect, and you can't spend your whole life out there."

Apollo 12 astronauts Alan Bean and Charles Conrad Jr. examine different layers of the Earth in Arizona. (Image credit: NASA)

Geologist astronauts

To tailor the program to astronauts, discussions emphasize how to do geology from a distance, whether that means from the space station or in preparation for landing on another planetary body. While small geologic features won't necessarily be visible, there's plenty that is.

"The orbital perspective gives you a great viewpoint," Hurtado said. For example, in 2009, astronauts aboard the space station captured photographs of some of the earliest stages of a volcanic eruption  phases scientists usually don't see  unfolding at Sarychev Peak northeast of Japan. Their images unleashed a frenzy of hypotheses among volcanologists about how to explain what was happening. (Last summer, the trainees spoke with government volcanologists tracking the then-active Kilauea eruption .)

The training also stretches beyond rocks and into topics like atmospheric science, oceanography and land-use patterns to prepare astronauts for the full range of Earth-observation opportunities available from orbit.

Astronaut candidate Jasmin Moghbeli examines a rock sample. (Image credit: Norah Moran/NASA)

When it comes to worlds beyond Earth, that distance could shrink someday soon. These astronaut candidates could be among the first humans to set foot on other worlds since the end of the Apollo program in 1972, which means they need to be prepared to deal with how planetary science manifests itself beyond Earth.

For astronauts who become used to the view from orbit, that perspective will still be crucial beyond Earth. "All surface exploration is going to start with remote-sensing data anyhow," Evans said. By seeing the same terrestrial features from different viewpoints, planetary explorers will be better-equipped to understand planetary features elsewhere before touching down.

And if they do touch down, they'll have plenty to explore. If her astronaut trainee students could make one geological discovery in the course of their careers, Tewksbury said, she knows precisely what she hopes they would find  evidence of life on Mars. "I think that would be incredible, I mean, that's the holy grail," she said.

And it's fundamentally a question of geology, she said. "If it's there, it'll be in the rock record."
Black holes are gravitational monsters, squeezing gas and dust down to a microscopic point like great cosmic trash compactors. Modern physics dictates that, after being consumed, information about this matter should be forever lost to the universe. But a new experiment suggests that there might be a way to use quantum mechanics to gain some insight into the interior of a black hole.

"In quantum physics, information cannot possibly be lost," Kevin Landsman, a physics graduate student at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) at the University of Maryland in College Park, told Live Science. "Instead, information can be hidden, or scrambled" among subatomic, inextricably linked particles.

Landsman and his co-authors showed that they could measure when and how quickly information was scrambled inside a simplified model of a black hole, providing a potential peek into the otherwise impenetrable entities. The findings, which appear today (March 6) in the journalNature, could also help in the development of quantum computers. [Stephen Hawking's Most Far-Out Ideas About Black Holes]

Black holes are infinitely dense, infinitely small objects formed from the collapse of a giant, dead star that went supernova. Because of their massive gravitational pull, they suck in surrounding material, which disappears behind what's known as their event horizon  the point past which nothing, including light, can escape.

In the 1970s, the famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking proved that black holes can shrink over their lifetimes. According to the laws of quantum mechanics  the rules that dictate the behavior of subatomic particles at tiny scales  pairs of particles spontaneously pop into existence just outside a black hole's event horizon. One of these particles then falls into the black hole while the other is propelled outward, stealing a tiny smidgeon of energy in the process. Over extremely long timescales, enough energy is pilfered that the black hole will evaporate, a process known as Hawking radiation, as Live Science has previously reported.

But there's a conundrum hiding in the black hole's infinitely dense heart. Quantum mechanics says that information about a particle  its mass, momentum, temperature and so on  can never be destroyed. The rules of relativity simultaneously state that a particle that has zoomed past a black hole's event horizon has joined with the infinitely dense crush at the black hole's center, meaning that no information about it can ever be retrieved again. Attempts to resolve these incompatible physical requirements have been unsuccessful to date; theorists who have worked on the problem call the dilemma the black hole information paradox.

In their new experiment, Landsman and his colleagues showed how to get some relief for this issue using the outward-flying particle in a Hawking radiation pair. Because it is entangled with its infalling partner, meaning its state is inextricably linked to that of its partner, measuring the properties of one can provide important details about the other.

"One can recover the information dropped into the black hole by doing a massive quantum calculation on these outgoing [particles]," Norman Yao, a physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, and member of the team, said in a statement.

The particles inside a black hole have had all their information quantum-mechanically "scrambled." That is, their information has been chaotically mixed together in a way that should make it impossible to ever extricate. But an entangled particle that gets jumbled up in this system could potentially pass information to its partner.

Doing this for a real-world black hole is hopelessly complicated (and besides, black holes are hard to come by in physics labs). So the group created a quantum computer that performed calculations using entangled quantum bits, or qubits  the basic unit of information used in quantum computing. They then set up a simple model using three atomic nuclei of the element Ytterbium, which were all entangled with each other.

Using another external qubit, the physicists were able to tell when particles in the three-particle system became scrambled and could measure how scrambled they became. More importantly, their calculations showed that the particles were specifically scrambled with each other rather with other particles in the environment, Raphael Bousso, a UC Berkeley theoretical physicist who was not involved in the work, told Live Science.

"It's a wonderful accomplishment," he added. "It turns out that distinguishing which of these things is actually happening to your quantum system is a very difficult problem."

The results show how studies of black holes are leading to experiments that can probe small subtleties in quantum mechanics, Bousso said, which could become helpful in the development of future quantum-computing mechanisms.

Originally published on Live Science.
As SpaceX's first crew-carrying vehicle wraps up its maiden test flight to the International Space Station (ISS), Boeing is prepping for its own moment in the sun.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule launched early Saturday morning (March 2) on an uncrewed shakeout cruise called Demo-1 . The spacecraft arrived at the orbiting lab 27 hours later, and it's scheduled to return to Earth Friday (March 8).

Boeing will soon fly a similar mission to the ISS, called Orbital Flight Test (OFT), with its CST-100 Starliner capsule . OFT will lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket; the launch could take place as early as next month .

Related: Up-Close Look at Boeing's CST-100 Starliner (Photos)

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke monitors Boeing's Orbital Flight Test (OFT) launch simulation on Feb. 12, 2019. Fincke is assigned to Boeing's Crew Flight Test, the first crewed flight of Boeings CST-100 Starliner following OFT. (Image credit: NASA)

Boeing, NASA, ULA and U.S. Department of Defense personnel recently held a dress rehearsal to help get ready for OFT launch day, whenever it may come. The Feb. 12 "integrated crew exercise" took the team through a mock countdown that featured some hiccups, as real countdowns often do.

"The team was presented with simulated issues with hardware and downrange assets to exercise troubleshooting, problem resolution procedures and the coordination that goes into adjusting the countdown as necessary," NASA officials wrote in a description of the exercise .

"There were even simulated challenges from the weather, forcing officials to react to changing weather conditions at the pad," the officials added. "The exercise culminated with a successful liftoff and climb into space."

SpaceX and Boeing are developing their capsules under NASA commercial-crew contracts the two companies signed in 2014. SpaceX's deal is worth $2.6 billion, and Boeing's is valued at $4.2 billion.

The goal, from NASA's perspective, is to bring orbital human spaceflight back to American soil  something that hasn't happened since the agency's space shuttle fleet retired in 2011. Ever since then, NASA has been dependent on Russian Soyuz rockets and spacecraft to get its astronauts to and from the ISS, at a cost, most recently, of about $80 million per seat.

If all goes well with Demo-1, OFT and coming tests of the two vehicles' emergency-escape systems, crewed flight could happen soon. SpaceX aims to launch Demo-2, which will send two NASA astronauts to the ISS, in July. Boeing's version of this flight test is currently targeted for no earlier than August.

Operational, contracted missions will begin sometime after the crewed demonstration flights. During operational missions, both Crew Dragon and Starliner will carry four people  one more than the Soyuz can hold.
WASHINGTON  In keeping with a mandate from Congress, the Air Force on Friday officially renamed the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. It is now the National Security Space Launch program.

The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act directed the name change effective March 1. The 25-year-old EELV program was created long before the advent of reusable rockets. Congress in renaming the program noted that this is a new era when both reusable and expendable launch vehicles should be considered in future solicitations.

"The Secretary of Defense shall pursue a strategy that includes fully or partially reusable launch systems," the NDAA says. Congress also directs DoD to continue to work on a process to evaluate and certify launch vehicles using previously flown components or systems.

EELV dates back to August 1994 when President Clinton signed a National Space Transportation Policy and assigned responsibility for expendable launch vehicles to the DoD. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center started the EELV program to develop a family of launch vehicles for medium to heavy payloads.

The NSSL program is about making launch services "more agile and effective for the warfighter," said Col. Robert Bongiovi, director of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Launch Enterprise Directorate. In a statement, Bongiovi praised the EELV program for a "remarkable legacy" with 75 successful national security launches placing more than $50 billion worth of national security satellites on orbit.

The NSSL program will seek to leverage the U.S. commercial launch industry, which has grown significantly during the past five to seven years, said Bongiovi.

Upcoming launch procurement

The EELV program is being relabeled just as the launch industry gears up for the next major competition for national security launches.

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center on Feb. 21 issued a draft request for proposals for EELV Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement. This is a high-stakes competition in which only two companies will be selected to provide launch services over a five-year period. According to sources, the two winners would split up to 25 launches over the five years.

The LSP competition is expected to include EELV incumbents United Launch Alliance and SpaceX, and also new players like Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman that are developing rockets partially with Air Force funding . For this competition ULA also will be introducing a new vehicle.

The Air Force has asked vendors for feedback on the Feb. 21 draft solicitation and is said to be prepared to release a final request for proposals by the end of March. Bids would be due 60 days after.

Industry sources who have reviewed the draft RFP pointed out that the Air Force in this solicitation emphasizes technical performance above anything else. Under the EELV program, one of the major criteria for selection is a launch vehicle's ability to carry national security payloads into nine reference orbits around the Earth.

Other evaluation criteria include management and business approach, past performance and price, to be prioritized in that order.

The Air Force describes the Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement as a "best value source selection." The first contract award will be given to the "offeror determined to be the best value to the government based on the source selection evaluation," says the draft RFP. The second winner will be selected to ensure the government has "the best portfolio of two launch providers."

The Air Force insists in the draft RFP that this competition will not be a straight price shootout. "While the government will strive for maximum objectivity in its evaluations, the source selection process, by its nature, is subjective, and, therefore, professional judgment is implicit throughout the entire process."

Officials have said the Air Force intends to select the two winners in 2020. That timeline has stirred speculation that the Air Force could end up choosing a launch vehicle that has not yet been certified to compete for national security launches. New rockets being developed by ULA, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman might not be certified until at least 2020 or 2021 . But launch vehicles that are not yet certified will still be able to compete in the Phase 2 LSP, sources said, as long as the companies submit a certification plan that has been validated by Air Force and Aerospace Corp. evaluators.
The first Martian "mole" encountered some obstacle underground as the NASA InSight lander dug below the surface, NASA reported.

The InSight Mars lander, which touched down on Mars in November, deployed a probe as part of its Heat and Physical Properties Package (also called HP3). The probe, or "mole," is designed to burrow underground and measure heat coming from inside Mars, information that will help scientists better understand the planet's structure and formation.

But the 16-inch (40 centimeters) probe made it only three-quarters of the way out of its housing structure on Feb. 28 before stopping short. A second attempt, on Saturday (March 2), yielded little progress. In a statement , NASA officials said the data received so far suggests that the mole is at a 15-degree tilt and has hit some rock or gravel. While the instrument is designed to get around rocky obstacles, the German instrument team plans to stop the procedure for further investigation.

"The team has decided to pause the hammering for now to allow the situation to be analyzed more closely and jointly come up with strategies for overcoming the obstacle," Tilman Spohn, HP3 principal investigator at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), said in a blog post . This pause will last for about two weeks, he added.

While the probe isn't moving right now, it's otherwise working as it is supposed to. Once everything is set, the probe will release pulses of heat of 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) to measure how quickly the heat dissipates under the surface.

"This property, known as thermal conductivity, helps calibrate sensors embedded in a tether trailing from the back of the mole," NASA officials said. "Once the mole is deep enough, these tether sensors can measure Mars' natural heat coming from inside the planet, which is generated by radioactive materials decaying and energy left over from Mars' formation."

For now, the team will do more heating tests with their mole to see how the upper surface of Mars conducts heat. The team will also measure temperature changes using a radiometer on the deck of InSight. This week provides an interesting opportunity to do so, as InSight will experience mini-eclipses when one of the Martian moons, Phobos, moves in front of the sun. When Phobos partially blocks the sun, it will cool the terrain surrounding InSight.
OSIRIS-REx captured these images of Bennu during its first close flight over the asteroid's north pole.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is simple  click on the boulders you see in a detailed image of a distant space rock.

That straightforward task could steer NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission toward a successful sample collection from an asteroid named Bennu . The team in charge of the spacecraft will have just six weeks between producing an extremely high-resolution map of Bennu's surface and choosing where precisely to gather a sample from that rock.

"It is a massive task to actually map every single boulder on the surface, and we just didn't know a better way to do it in the amount of time," Carina Bennett, an imaging processing engineer for the mission based at the University of Arizona, told Space.com. "We basically really, truly need the help."

Related: Making Asteroid Images Look Great: How OSIRIS-REx's Team Creates Those Bennu Photos

So Bennett and her colleagues turned to CosmoQuest, a platform for crowdsourcing space science, for the extra eyes they need to complete the mapping in time. The Bennu mapping project will go live on the CosmoQuest site beginning in late April or early May. That's when asteroid buffs will be able to help NASA out, tagging the edges of boulders in detailed images of Bennu's surface.

The exact launch date for the project depends on precisely how long it takes the OSIRIS-REx team to compile the detailed global mosaics that will reveal the boulders in need of counting. (The spacecraft is currently working on the detailed survey that will produce the many different angles of imagery scientists need to build that global mosaic.)

Once the mosaic is complete, the clock starts ticking, with just six weeks to identify each boulder on the surface and produce a detailed hazard map of Bennu's surface. That information will be passed along to the team in charge of selecting where OSIRIS-REx will attempt to grab a sample so they can reduce the odds of the sampling apparatus floundering on boulders.

That's particularly important because Bennu has turned out to be a more complicated target than scientists thought before the spacecraft's approach. "It was significantly more rocky and bouldery than we expected," Bennett said.

So the team needs to be careful to avoid hazardous sites. A boulder 8 inches (21 centimeters) across, for instance, could clog the spacecraft's sampling mechanism. The apparatus works by blowing compressed air at the surface, so if it touches down off-kilter, it could be stuck at a tilt and simply blow the targeted sample away.

That's why the OSIRIS-REx team can't choose their sampling location until they consult with a comprehensive boulder tally  and with a team of amateurs from around the world. "I think the most interesting part is that you're actually contributing to a decision," Bennett said. "You can actually go and watch when we sample and potentially see some of the same areas and images that you might have actually counted."

But the mapping project doesn't end when the OSIRIS-REx team selects the sample site. There's science work to be done with the images as well. The work CosmoQuest volunteers do will help the OSIRIS-REx team study the size distribution of boulders, for example, and how light or dark they are.

Related: Diamond Asteroids: How Bennu and Ryugu Got Their Fancy Shapes

With that data in hand, scientists should be able to draw conclusions about how Bennu works. Maybe lighter rocks are smaller, suggesting they're made up of material that breaks apart more easily. Maybe the direction boulders point toward suggests that the asteroid is shaking them around its surface.

The team also wants to be able to compare these pre-sampling images with those that the spacecraft will gather after it snatches a piece of Bennu to bring home.

"We're taking in a massive amount of data," Bennett said. "Just eyes on images is incredibly valuable."






Katie Yu/SYFY

Katie Yu/SYFY

Katie Yu/SYFY

Katie Yu/SYFY

Katie Yu/SYFY

Katie Yu/SYFY

Katie Yu/SYFY

In the wake of Yukio's death, King's Dominion has descended into a chaotic atmosphere. Diablo believes the Kuroki clan are responsible for Chico's death, specifically that Saya ordered the hit. This puts her directly into harms way and she gets ambushed by a member of Maria's clan in the middle of a busy school day. The two former best friends are now essentially at each other's throats, both due to their shared affections for Marcus and because of their warring factions.Lin initiates a lockdown or "clampdown" in the wake of Yukio's death. Two students have been killed and he is determined to get to the bottom of the story.Saya is forced into a room with another member of her group and Shabnam. Turns out, the Kuroki faction is losing faith in Saya due to her affiliation with the rats and Maria, they believe she's gone soft because she's done nothing since Yukio was murdered. Saya vows to handle the situation.As for Shabnam, he turns out to be quite the snake. He's been going through Marcus's things when he isn't home and he brings Gao a journal of his. She instructs him to return to where he found it for now.Poor Petra gets stuck with Billy and Lex. Both of whom are clearly infatuated with her. She looks like she'd rather be literally anywhere else but stuck with them.The animated story this week goes to Lex, who recounts his childhood growing up with two awful brothers after his mother abandoned him. His father was an honest, hardworking man who had his hands full. One night, Lex was tagging along with his brothers to the shipyard where they stole goods to sell from one of the carts using their father's security tag. They were caught by a cop and one of Lex's brothers shot him dead. Lex accidentally left behind his dad's card and the police showed up at their door to arrest him.For the first time in his life, his father lied to protect his son and is now serving a jail sentence that should have been Lex and his brothers. He's guilt-ridden by the incident and moved to San Francisco to get as far way from the memory as he could handle.In order to take his mind off it, and because she's clearly bored, Petra proposes Lex and Billy help her cross something off her bucket list: a threesome. It proves to be more complicated than she intended. Billy doesn't want his first time with her to be marred by Lex's grunting face and they can't settle on a position that will make both boys comfortable.Just as things heat up and get under way, the lockdown ends and so does the threesome! Petra adds there was "too many feelings involved anyways."Elsewhere, Viktor, Marcus, and Willie share a confined space. Willie is bummed about having to stand up Gabrielle (he makes it up to her later after taking Saya's advice from last week), and Marcus is stressed about how he can get a message to Saya about Maria - who earlier informed him she was the one who killed Yukio - before they kill each other.Maria, Juan, and Brandy share another room. Maria and Juan immediately get into a fight about his attack on Saya in the busy school hallways, his response is that he would rather face Lin than Diablo. He also informs her that Diablo assigned the task tobecause he didn't believe Maria would be able to stomach it given their friendship. He also questions why Maria isn't more interested in getting revenge for Chico's death given her supposed love for him.Taking the opportunity to stir the pot, Brandy acts on the tension in the room and gets Maria all riled up. She insinuates Saya is plotting her demise this very second and if she doesn't act now, she's going to walk out of the clampdown with a giant target on her back. Obviously, Brandy's motives are purely selfish. If the other factions take each other out, that's less work for the Dixie Mob.With the school on lockdown, Gao and Lin meet up in the aftermath of Gao learning Nayah is really alive. She apologizes, sort of, in her way, but in reality she just wants to impose on Lin the importance of him finding out what happened to Chico and Yukio or else the Guild will descend on them and she'll have to take his daughter, "for her protection."Maria is able to pass a note to Marcus but before he can read it, Viktor snatches it and swallows it. Marcus busts out of the room anyways by freezing the door knob off and escapes into the hall to find Saya. But, just as Willie foretold, he's caught by a very pissed off Lin.Lin takes Marcus into a torture dungeon of sorts and canes him while forcing him to watch home videos of his life as a child with his parents. He questions Marcus about Chico's death and Yukio's, about Maria, and about the orphanage fire. Apparently, Marcus has a tell, and he notices when Marcus lies about the boys home.I doubt there's much Lin doesn't know and he demonstrates this by forcing Marcus to watch and rewatch the home videos spliced with crime scene photos of his parents' deaths. He threatens to throw Marcus out of the school and turn his back on him if he doesn't tell the truth about what happened and Marcus finally cracks. The threat of losing his friends, the only people in the world he really loves and cares about, is enough to shake his resolve.Lin tells him to say he lied, that he told everyone Chico went after Yukio and Yukio killed him to protect himself and the others.The students are released to the cafeteria to eat and while there, both Maria and Saya put their plans into action. Maria comes prepared to defend herself against Saya if she attacks, clearly Brandy's plan has worked on her. Whereas Saya is prepared to kill Juan in a retaliatory move.Unfortunately, Maria is next to Juan in the lunch line and she assumes Saya is coming for her and the two girls get into a giant fight until Gao puts a stop to it. I loved Maria and Saya's friendship so much this hurts my soul.Gao has Maria escorted out, believing her to be the culprit behind Chico and Yukio's deaths. She blames her for infecting Marcus and Saya, and plans to have her executed. Twist! It would appear Gao was acting in respect to the Kuroki, as the girl who was with Saya earlier in the episode shows up after Maria is escorted out and gives her a nod. Is this all a master plan to protect Saya and get Maria out of the picture? Why would Gao be willing to be part of it when she doesn't even like Saya?She leaves Maria tied up for the girl to take care of but before she can kill her, guess who comes busting in to save the day? Saya! She rescues Maria but they don't have the touching reunion I would have liked. While Maria does admit she killed Yukio (he did betray Saya when he set the Kamigas after her), she doesn't trust Saya. I felt crushed seeing Saya's crestfallen face and Maria walks out, telling Saya not to try helping her anymore.Securing the truth from Marcus pushes Lin to pay Diablo a visit. The scene between them is so tense you could cut through the room like butter. Both actors are phenomenal in their roles as they tip-toe around Chico's death. Lin expects Diablo to believe Chico was killed by Yukio and that Lin killed him to settle the score, but he's unaware of the fact Diablo sentenced Yukio's death.At one point, Diablo says Lin doesn't understand his pain (of losing a child), "but he will". Man, Lin I would have tucked tail and ran! I have a very bad feeling about where things are headed because it would appear Diablo might know Lin's daughter is alive (I mean doestrust Gao?) or he could be coming after Saya next. The two end their meeting on amicable terms but anyone watching it can see Diablo is has something up his sleeve. But we'll have to wait to find out since we don't see these two again in this episode!More bad news from the evildoers of this show, Brandy and Viktor are allnow and they report on Marcus and Maria to her. Viktor emphasizes that Marcus is at the center of everything.As "The Clampdown" wraps up, Marcus makes it known to his group of friends how important they are to him. They really are his family, the only one he's got. Marcus finally reveals his big secret: that he didn't start the fire at the boys home, Chester did and they're all on a deadline until he goes live with the real story about what happened to Chico.
Mar 6th, 2019

Since weve been following the New Zealand based functional food company Justines Cookies, weve seen it release an impressive number of limited edition products. Included in that list of unique releases were Ginger & Spice flavored cookies that launched in August then brought back for a second round the following month.

This week Justines Cookies special edition Ginger & Spice flavor has returned for another limited time release. The flavor is back in stock on the brands official online store in its smaller 25g cookie size. The product comes in bags of ten bite-size cookies, so you get plenty per bag, and it will cost you $16.20 (10.97 USD).
STAMFORD  Young-womens clothing retailer Charlotte Russe is set to close its stores at the Stamford Town Center, Danbury Fair and Westfield Trumbull malls, after confirming Wednesday that it will go out of business.

The decision to shut down all of its approximately 500 brick-and-mortar stores and its online shop, while also pursuing the sale of its intellectual property, comes a month after the San Diego-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Last month, it announced an initial round of closures affecting 94 locations, including in Milford, Meriden and Ledyard.

Our online store has closed. Going out of business sale starts March 7. All stores. All sales final, says the announcement on the Charlotte Russe website.

In addition to the departure of Charlotte Russe  which opened at the mall in 2005  Stamford Town Center is grappling with several other bankruptcy-linked closings. The Walking Co. closed Feb. 10, while Gymboree and Payless ShoeSource are holding liquidation sales.

Several other chains have also left the mall since the beginning of the year.

J. Crew and Armani Exchange went dark on Jan. 27, Ann Taylor shut down on Feb. 23 and a Cellairis cellphone repair-and-accessory store stopped operating on Feb. 17.

The mall plans to open several establishments within the next few weeks, according to Stamford Town Center General Manager Dan Stolzenbach.

More Business Charlotte Russe to close Milford store amid bankruptcy filing

The recent announcement of closures of various national retailers is not welcome news, Stolzenbach said Thursday. But... tenant vacancies are an opportunity to bring in new merchants that will better connect with our customers.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers owns the Stamford mall and 19 other major U.S. shopping centers.

Its true that bankruptcies create vacancies, Robert Taubman, the CEO, president and chairman of Taubman Centers, said on a Feb. 14 call with investment analysts. But in high-quality real estate, they also create the opportunity to improve the merchandising of a center.

The firm reported 2018 revenues of about $640 million, up 2 percent from 2017.

Taubman also saw annual increases in several categories  including a 9 percent rise in tenant sales per square foot and a 4 percent uptick in rent per square foot.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott
STAMFORD  The states highest court has upheld the conviction of a Stamford man who tried to hire a hit man  who turned out to be an undercover cop  to kill his estranged wife and mother of his two children.

The justices affirmed the conviction of Daniel Buzzeo despite the fact that he was arrested before money changed hands between him and the undercover officer, who videoed the exchange that included Buzzeo showing a picture of his wife holding one of their children right after giving birth at Stamford Hospital.

Buzzeo, 42, was convicted of attempted murder by a Stamford jury during a 2013 trial. He was sentenced to spend 15 years in prison by the presiding judge in the case Judge Bruce Hudock. Buzzeo is being held at the Robinson Correctional Institution in Enfield and is scheduled to be released in August 2025.

At his sentencing, Hudock said the fact that the hit man was really a police officer did not matter significantly because in Buzzeos mind he was hiring a killer.

Your agreement was with Satan, and Satan moves at his own pace, Hudock said. Society cannot accept this kind of behavior.

Senior Assistant States Attorney Maureen Ornousky prosecuted the case and at his sentencing said Buzzeo never realized the gravity and severity of his actions on that night when he tried to hire the hit man.

Ornousky said she was pleased by the state Supreme Courts decision on the case.

Obviously I think it is the correct decision and Im thankful that we finally have the matter resolved, she said. The Stamford Police Department did a fantastic job and made this conviction possible.

Buzzeos criminal defense attorney, Philip Russell, said he and Buzzeo are looking at their options following the decision.

The result was disappointing. We believe Justice (Steven) Ecker heard our plea and understood our claim. It is probably no coincidence that among the other justices he is the one with criminal defense experience, Russell said. Ecker filed a dissenting opinion in the case.

Last September, Russell spent an hour before the Supreme Court justices in Hartford arguing that his client never took the substantial step necessary to kill his wife and therefore should have the conviction overturned. Russell told the justices that in this case, the sole basis for the conviction was his speech. Russell said he would not be arguing the case if Buzzeo had given the officer posing as a New York hit man any money to kill his wife.

But in the courts majority decision released late last week, they recount the large amount of information that Buzzeo relayed to the supposed hit man about the woman with whom he was near end of a very contentious divorce.

The two discussed the manner, method and price to best effectuate the murder. Buzzeo agreed to pay $10,000 for the hit and gave up his wifes name, home address, that she worked at Stamford Hospital, her work hours and the route she drove to work.

When the undercover officers asked how he wanted it done, Buzzeo said he wanted it to look like a carjacking. Buzzeo said the hospital was in a tough section of town. He also instructed the officer to steal the car to make it look good.

Just so (you) know, Im going to put two in that bitchs head and take that car and be gone, and Ill f------ burn it somewhere, the undercover told him in the car, according to transcripts of the conversation. Buzzeo said that made sense to him.

Because Buzzeo said he would probably be a suspect, he told the undercover officer he needed an alibi. Buzzeo said he frequently watched his children while at a relatives house. When the undercover said he could make the hit when he was watching his kids, Buzzeo said, Exactly.

During the trial, the jury saw a video of the conversation that took place in the parking lot of the southbound Interstate 95 rest area in Darien. This, according to a majority of the Supreme Court justices, meant they were able to make a valid judgment.

There was more than ample evidence from which the jury could have determined beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intended to murder (his estranged wife) and, by hiring a hit man, took a substantial step to achieve that goal, the Supreme Court decision said.

In his dissenting opinion, Ecker said Buzzeo did not take the substantial step necessary for his conviction.

The damning actions identified by the majority involve nothing more than the basic acts physically necessary to hold such meetings  the defendant drove his car, provided information to identify the would-be victim, and shared other basic information to begin planning the crime, Ecker wrote. There is no evidence that the defendant conducted any surveillance, obtained or furnished a weapon, cased the potential crime scene to test the viability of a plan, or took any actions, beyond mere solicitation, to implement his murder-for-hire idea.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com
STAMFORD  Telecommunication giant Charter Communications cleared its first hurdle this week in its pitch to expand its new South End headquarters, now being built just south of Interstate 95, atop the Gateway Garage.

The Planning Board recommended city approval of a multi-pronged change to Zoning Regulations and earlier plans that pave the way for the expansion. Charters ask calls for a nine-story building in addition to its 15-story tower, combined by a three-story block. The complex would be perched atop a voluminous garage, that too, Charter wants to expand.

Charter and the developer building the new headquarters, Building and Land Technology, are also offering a combined to $9.6 million buyout of two zoning mandates. Zoning Board members are expected to take up the matter for public hearing on March 18.

The Tuesday night recommendation, while unanimous, was not granted until hours of questioning from Planning Board members, who feared the plans call into question the future number of spaces for commuter parking near the Stamford Transportation Center.

At the crux of the parking quandary is Charters ask to bail from an earlier promise to house 500 commuter cars. The company wants to pull back those spaces and offers a $6.6 million buyout to do so, arguing a new nearly 1,000-spot state parking garage to rise on South State Street will cover any loss.

The problem is, its unclear where those commuters would go if the state is not finished with the new garage by Charters expected 2021 move in.

Planning made it clear the onus is on Charter not the commuter, said Land Use Bureaus David Woods, the citys deputy director of planning.

In a six-page memo to the Planning Board, Woods wrote that the city should insist that Charter and BLT create and pay for a interim parking plan to make sure that sufficient commuter parking is available during all phases of construction of the Gateway buildings and the new state garage.

Although parking pullback is quickly proving the most controversial ask, its not the only change to earlier plans that Charter needs a city stamp on.

Charter also needs large edits to earlier plans and the zoning code for the nearly 300,000-square-foot addition it wants. It also wants a nearly 300 parking-space addition to its 1,722-space parking garage.

The 300-spot addition coupled with the 500-spot pullout had Planning Board members and city staffers questioning the parking need.

Charters proposed building has direct access to the train station, giving employees the ability to walk from platform to work.

In particular for developments with direct access to the train station, the de facto increase of the parking ... is problematic and should be re-examined by the applicant and the board, Woods wrote.

Planning, hewing closely to Woods memo, recommended the city look into the increase.

The board also said zoning should require Charter meet high environmental standards for its buildings and insist on landscape requirements for parking-garage roofs.

And in addition to the $6.6 million proposal in lieu of parking, Charter and BLT are offering to send the city $3 million for buyout of affordable housing mandates.

Although Charters HQ is all office, the zone in which its rising requires housing  12 percent affordable  which the company doesnt plan to include.

barry.lytton@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2263; @bglytton
STAMFORD  Mayor David Martin Thursday released a statement calling city Rep. Marion McGarry, D-12, prejudiced for racist Facebook posts, but came short of calling for her resignation as the chair of the Democratic City Committee did earlier in the day.

Stamford is the most diverse and successful city in all of Connecticut. Our community exists in defiance of the prejudicial beliefs that erroneously claim communities like ours cannot flourish, said Martin, a Democrat. Stamford is not merely a great city that happens to be diverse, it is in fact a great city because it is diverse. It is the knowledge that any person  regardless of their identity, culture or religious beliefs  can live peacefully in our city that helps make Stamford succeed.
State police will need hundreds to apply next month in order to hire 100 troopers by July.

But the 180 interested candidates who attended an informational session Wednesday was a good start, said Trooper First Class Kelly Grant, who is with the departments Recruitment and Selections Unit.

Were probably going to see a good number of people head out the door, Grant said of expected retirements by 2022. Were trying to get a head of that curve.

Without a major hiring process since 2017, trooper shortages are becoming acute, state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner James Rovella told legislators last week.

The department is allocated for 1,201 trooper positions, but only 915 are funded, Rovella said. Sixty of 915 are routinely out on workers compensation, illness or for other issues. The staffing shortages left the department with a $16.5 million overtime tab in 2018.

The department is seeing about 80 retirements a year, while hiring has been mostly stagnant since 2017, Rovella said. More than half of troopers on the job will be eligible to retire by 2023, according to a report released to legislators in January.

Gov. Ned Lamont offered Rovella $1.25 million in the states 2020 budget to hire 100 troopers. Lamonts biennial budget provides no money for hiring in 2021. But the department is aggressively moving forward with a hiring campaign in the hopes of getting 100 recruits into the State Police Academy by the summer.

Get out of your jammies and get outside running, Rovella told the crowd gathered in the auditorium of the State Police Academy in Meriden Wednesday night. If you fail the agility test the first time, Im going to leave you in the process and youll have another two weeks to take the test again. If you fail that test, youll have another two weeks.

He wont lower standards, but candidates are allowed to be human, the commissioner later said. There are some automatic eliminators, he said. Applicants can have one DUI conviction that occurred more than a year ago, but not more than one on their record.

In addition, a hallucinogenic drug arrest must have been a one-time occurrence that happened at least five years ago.

If you want to engage in domestic violence, you arent for us, he said.

Dont presume the bank robbery that didnt lead to an arrest will stay hidden, one trooper told a group of about 20 interested candidates.

Theres always a polygraph exam, he said.

Rovella told the crowd that his decision 38 years ago to become a cop was the best thing he ever did.

I'd do it again in a second, he said.

Rovella said the agency will "train people to be warriors and educate them to be guardians."

"We'll prepare you for every worst moment in life, but as a guardian, we'll show you how to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with people, and at times, put them out front first. You'll be able to manage chaos on folks' worst day, we'll teach you that."

Realistically, the agency will need hundreds of applicants to find 100 solid hires, Grant said.

Some wont pass the multiple phases of the process, some wont show up for the different phases, some drop out and some take other jobs, Grant said Thursday. Almost everyone that applies to the state police also applies to several other police departments.

Matt Kicklighter, of Meriden, is already in the hiring process for the Trumbull Police Department, but he also plans to apply for a state trooper position. At 28, hes worked in retail for several years, but always wanted to serve the public, he said.

I want to be able to prevent fraud, he said.

Luis Hernandez is a judicial marshal, but he always wanted to be a detective. He has friends who told him about the state police hiring process, but I wanted to find out for myself if anything has changed, the 33-year-old said.

The physical training is the main reason people leave the academy, Trooper Craig Brezniak told a group of young men gathered in the lobby. The physical agility test is the minimum standard of fitness, he said.

Hired recruits will be running and squatting with a 45-pound sandbag as part of their days at the academy that start at 5:15 a.m.

Grant, who coordinated the event, has posted physical training videos on the units website and social media accounts. Shes also going to hold two preliminary fitness training sessions, to help candidates train for the physical agility test.

The application process is tentatively slated to start in mid-April and last until early May.

Isomara Torres and her husband Rafael attended the session, driving from their home in Worcester, Mass. They have a young child and both want to be state troopers, but shes willing to defer her dreams for a few years if her husband gets hired first.

Weve been married for five years, she said. We always talked about our passion for becoming state police. Here we have that opportunity.
A 12-year-old boy from Pittsburgh is being called a hero after he helped a girl who lived more than 1,000 miles away.

Police say Gabe Rongier had been talking to a friend, who lives in Texas, on Snapchat.

One day, he noticed a change in the girl's emotions.

CBS Pittsburgh reports the young girl posted that she wouldnt be here tomorrow.

Feeling that she was in distress, Rongier felt she needed help and called the suicide hotline.

Police in Texas were able to get in touch with the girl and intervene in time.

The officers also sent Rongier a letter and patch to thank him for stepping up and helping her in a time of need.

"It's reassuring to know that there are kids out there like Gabriel that show bravery and heroism and doing the right thing for someone else," Grand Saline Police Chief Jeremy Barker said.

Rongier's parents said they are very proud of him.

I was almost shocked to see it was a true story, said Fred Rongier. I didnt believe it at first, but I had to believe it. Its really true.

Of course, Im very proud of him, but I really hope that other young people his age might see the story and also be inspired to also take action to help somebody in need just like Gabe did, said Lori Rongier.
A man has been arrested in connection with the death of his wife, who was reported missing seven years ago in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

Investigators believe Hap Seiders, 65, killed Rabihan Seiders, then dismembered her and burned her body in a fireplace at their home in Silver Spring Township, according to a criminal complaint. He was charged Tuesday with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

Skip Ebert, the district attorney, suggested at a press conference Wednesday that the motive for the killing may have been financial. Ebert said the victim had put more than $3 million in gold coins in a safety deposit box in Philadelphia prior to her death.

"(It) doesn't take a genius to understand if you've lost $3 million, you might want to get it back," Ebert said.

"She just disappeared from the face of the earth"

Rabihan Seiders was last seen in March 2012. Police said her daughter reported her missing.

"Her worries are the ones that generated it. You would have thought, 'Gee, maybe the husband would have been concerned,' but the first person to call was the daughter," Ebert said.

According to an affidavit, Rabihan Seiders was worried about what her husband may do. The affidavit said her daughter told investigators that her mother said she was afraid her husband "was going to hit her so hard she would never wake up and that she was afraid Hap Seiders was going to poison her with antifreeze." Rabihan Seiders also told her daughter that if anything ever happened to her, she should tell police that Hap Seiders did it, the criminal complaint said.

Bone fragments found in fireplace

Court papers said investigators recovered ashes from a fireplace at the Seiders' home during a search in 2012. A forensic expert with the FBI identified several small human finger bones, a fragment of a human forearm, a piece of human cranium bone and other bone fragments, the affidavit stated. Experts weren't able to confirm the remains were the victim's since they couldn't extract DNA, Ebert said, although it was determined the remains were female.

The affidavit said police also recovered pieces of a bedroom carpet with stains that a laboratory later confirmed to be human blood containing the DNA profile of the victim.

Suspect had been under surveillance

Ebert said Hap Seiders has been living in New Jersey and was under surveillance there since Feb. 8. When that surveillance showed him returning to Pennsylvania, the arrest was made.

Seiders was arraigned Tuesday night. Bail was denied.
Authorities say a Tulane University student was killed at an Interstate 10 rest stop in Mississippi when two tires came loose from a passing tractor-trailer and struck her.

News outlets report officials with the New Orleans school have identified the student as 21-year-old Margaret Maurer, of Forest Lake, Minnesota. Gautier police say the tractor-trailer was traveling westbound when it lost the wheels, which then crossed the eastbound lanes and entered the rest stop.

Authorities say Maurer and two friends were about to get back into their vehicle when the tires hit her and two cars. The rest stop was closed while the death was investigated. Its unclear what caused the tractor-trailers tires to come loose.

"Its just something I would never have fathomed happening. Its a series of unfortunate events that led to a tragedy of this young lady losing her life," Gautier Police Capt. Casey Baxter told The New Orleans Advocate.

Maurers mother, Tracy Nelson Maurer, described the incident that took her daughters life to Fox 9 as completely random.

Maurer was a senior studying ecology and evolutionary biology. In her free time, she sold plants and crocheted items made from recycled materials at a community market.

"She had a genuine love for learning that we all don't share," Professor Donata Henry said. "She was definitely a bright star in the department."

Tulane officials say Maurer planned to pursue a career in scientific illustration.

The university released a statement following Maurer's death, noting that it was the second fatality involving a current or former Tulane student in the past few days. Tulane Law School alumnus David Hynes was killed when a suspected drunken driver plowed into a crowd in New Orleans.

"The tragic losses of these two extraordinary members of the Tulane family during what was supposed to be a time of joy and celebration are a reminder to cherish each moment and each individual. Our hearts and prayers remain with the family and friends of Meg and David," the statement concluded.
The Trump administration identified 471 parents who were removed from the United States without their children, according to the latest court filing in an ongoing lawsuit.



At least some of those parents were deported "without being given the opportunity to elect or waive reunification" in accordance with a court order in June 2018 that required the government to better document waivers.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesman says prior to instituting the new waiver procedure ordered last June, separated parents were routinely asked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and their home consulates if they wished to be reunited with their children before being removed to their home countries.

The revelation came in a filing in the family separation lawsuit Ms. L et al. vs. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al. The administration has previously acknowledged that parents were removed without their children, but the latest report provides an updated count -- which had been requested by the American Civil Liberties Union to serve as a baseline to better track reunifications.

The ACLU filed the case against the Trump administration last year on behalf of a Congolese woman, referred to as "Ms. L," who was seeking asylum in the U.S. and was separated from her 7-year-old daughter. The case was later expanded to a class-action lawsuit.

District Judge Dana Sabraw issued a preliminary injunction last June blocking most family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border and ordering that those already separated be reunited.

Wednesday's court filing notes that since the preliminary injunction was issued, the government has worked with a steering committee regarding the status of deported parents who have children remaining in federal care. The ACLU helped lead the committee, which reached out to all the parents who had been deported.

The filing also includes the latest numbers on reunifications.

As of Monday, 2,741 of 2,816 children have been discharged from government care, up six since the Feb. 20 status report. Four children are "proceeding towards reunification or other appropriate discharge," according to the filing.
The public does not need more secrecy from police. If anything, there should be less.

A bill brought to a hearing before the Judiciary Committee Wednesday is unwarranted and should go no further down the legislative route.

Senate Bill 970 would allow law enforcement to keep from public disclosure property seized in a criminal arrest or with a search warrant without an arrest, unless it is entered as evidence in a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding. Specifically, this would circumvent the Freedom of Information Act.

The bill is in response to a case lost last fall by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection related to property obtained in the investigation of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings that left 26 dead. State Police were withholding documents, such as drawings and writings by Adam Lanza, the shooter. The Hartford Courant filed a complaint with the state Freedom of Information Commission, which agreed the documents should be public.

The police appealed, and a trial court ruled in their favor. However, the state Supreme Court reversed that decision in October, saying documents obtained during search and seizure were subject to FOI regulations.

This bill amounts to law enforcement telling the Supreme Court it was wrong because they didnt like the decision.

Not only does this bill overstep public disclosure regulations, but also it is not necessary. FOI regulations do protect the integrity of criminal investigations by exempting disclosure of documents. Once that investigation is completed, however, the documents are public. In the Sandy Hook case, there would be no arrests because the shooter, who police said acted alone, killed himself.

Public interest was high in that case. The failure to release Lanzas journals and other items hindered the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, which was tasked with looking into mental health issues, as well as other areas, and formulating strategies to prevent more school shootings.

The broad bill would pertain to all criminal investigations that do not go to trial, which is most of the cases.

In unsigned submitted testimony Wednesday, the state Division of Criminal Justice stated that Nothing in the proposal prevents law enforcement from making the information public, or from disclosing it to the public upon request if that is advisable.

We would argue: advisable by whom? Law enforcement seldom provides more than routine information unless it helps them, such as mug shots of suspects they are trying to apprehend.

Keeping evidence secret hobbles the publics examination of law enforcement activities and erodes faith in the transparency of the criminal justice system.

We agree with the viewpoint posited by Michael Savino, the president of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information, who said the bill would deny access to records that are crucial for public disclosure and transparency.

The public is not served by this needless bill. It should wither in the Judiciary Committee.
A few years ago the Government encouraged pension funds to band together into pools of around 30 billion each so they could compete for infrastructure investments. Some funds did not settle down well with others so the results have been a bit mixed, though they almost all gave themselves pay increases to ease the pain. But it is getting there slowly.

Last autumn, at Budget time, the current Chancellor Philip Hammond took a leaf out of the pension playbook.

Britain needs to find the next Google or Facebook to be in the forefront of technology in the world to come, he said.

Britain has a lot of good ideas, and a lot of business formation, but not enough come to fruition. Hammonds big idea was to set up a pool of like-minded pension funds and have them start and scale up new and emerging companies.

The British Business Bank was charged with seeing if this was feasible, and it seems to be. Legal & General, Nest, The Peoples Pension and the Tesco Pension Fund among others have agreed to explore the possibility.

It helps, too, that financing growth in innovative firms is the first publication by government to aim squarely at the defined contribution pension market and its regulation.

There are also some obstacles to pension funds holding illiquid investments. The Permitted Links legislation is one, where the pension funds are allowed to invest in property but current rules dont work for other illiquid assets. A Financial Reporting Council consultation is hoped to remove that barrier.

Then the Department for Work and Pensions needs, at some point, to issue guidance on how performance fees will be accounted for, to remove another problem. It should also be possible to manage illiquid assets if someone wants to sell when there is little liquidity, which gets rid of another problem.

Moreover, something needs to be done about the wall of money piling up in pension funds because of the growth of auto-enrolment. By 2026 total defined contribution assets are expected to rise to 1 trillion, being 871 billion of contributions and 169 billion of investment return. Go further into the future and the mix of participation and compound interest will produce sums which are truly staggering.

A lot of this is and will be invested in the stock market but Legal & General is one of those which has taken investment to mean a lot more with a wider-ranging 15 billion programme. It has for example got involved with long-term regeneration projects in Manchester, in collaboration with councils and other bodies, to develop commercial, residential, leisure and infrastructure properties involving 3 billion of space.

Likewise in Newcastle, the council, the university and L&G is developing the only city centre quarter of its kind in the UK. It is a 24-acre testbed where hundreds of researchers, businesses and progressive homeowners will live and work side by side.

It is also involved, as of last autumn, with Bruntwood SciTech, which is the largest property platform dedicated to science and technology businesses. Their 50:50 joint venture envisages assets going from 1.6 million square feet now to 7.2 million sq ft over 10 years.

The other thing is that many people do want to invest in small growing companies but cannot get access to them. This is particularly true of millennials who dont have the guaranteed pensions of baby-boomers, or the property assets of their parents. This exclusivity gap has become more and more marked in recent years as private companies stay private for longer  indeed they can have several rounds of funding without having the need to go public.

The unicorns  private companies, often in high tech, with a value of 1 billion or more  are a case in point. They almost always have equity and debt finance as they expand, but often retail investors are not allowed to participate.

Instead they are funded by venture capitalists or some other bodies which exclude the public. But if pensions could participate, a beneficiarys retirement income could be increased substantially with just a moderate allocation to private markets.
T he owner of John Lewis and Waitrose on Thursday outlined plans to slash hundreds of jobs as it posted profits which had nearly halved.

The mutual admitted 440 jobs are at risk as it plans to offload five Waitrose supermarkets across Britain, to raise funds by selling the properties, of which four are freehold, to rivals. Waitrose will try to move staff to new roles where possible. It previously sold four Waitrose stores to the Co-op and one to Aldi.

Chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield, who is leaving the business next year, said: We knew it was going to be a difficult patch but I have to confess [2018] has been more difficult than we anticipated.

Profits were down 45.5% to 160 million for the year to December 29 at the retail group, down from 292.8 million. The partnership cut staff bonuses to 3% from 5% last year  quashing fears of no bonus for the first time since 1953.

Profits fell 56% to 114.7 million at the department store chain  hit by a discount war with rivals House of Fraser and Debenhams, but Waitrose profits were up 18% to 203.2 million.

John Lewis Partnership now has 1.5 billion of cash on its balance sheet. It reduced its debt pile by 400 million to 2.6 billion in 2018.

Mayfield said: We cant just do a rights issue, this is a business that cant run out of cash.

Last week, Marks & Spencer said it planned to tap investors for 600 million via a rights issue to fund a 1.5 billion joint venture with Ocado, spelling the end of the online retailers 20-year partnership with Waitrose next year.

Weve been expecting this outcome for years, Mayfield said. Were going to be there for customers, were feeling very positive about it.

John Lewis Partnership plans to double the sales it makes via Waitrose.com over the next five years.
O ne shocking thing about the knife crime crisis is that it has come as a surprise to anyone in charge.

The past few days have seen a succession of particularly awful attacks, costing the lives of more young people across the country  but they are only part of a grim and established trend. Last year saw a record number of fatal stabbings and knife crime in London is at a 10-year high.

The Metropolitan Police, schools, youth workers and Londoners have been dealing with the consequences for months.

The Evening Standard has been campaigning for a joined-up approach, treating knife crime as a public-health crisis as well as a criminal one.

The Childrens Commissioner, Anne Longfield, agrees and points out in her piece for the Evening Standard today that it is a year since she demanded action: but instead of the authorities working together, since then more children have been murdered and the same arguments rage about police numbers.

The need for action isnt new.

So why was it only this week that the Mayor, Sadiq Khan, called for the government to hold an emergency Cobra meeting? And why was it only this week that the Prime Minister followed up with a promise to hold a summit of her own in the next few days?

The answer is obvious: things like this sound urgent, make news, give an impression of leadership and might bang heads together. But they are only going to be of any use if they also lead to a clear plan, backed by everyone involved and supported over several years.

Thats the test we need to see passed.

There are positive signs.

The Home Secretary is talking sense about what needs to be done: treat it like a disease, he says. Police chiefs are right, too, to say stop-and-search powers need to be used.

Put in place the right plan and it will work  we have seen it before, when knife crime rose a decade ago, and we have seen it in Scotland where a new approach has brought stabbings down.

What wont help, as Ms Longfield argues today, is more political squabbling, followed by confusion.

Our young people deserve better than that. Will they get it?

Labours day of shame

More than that, it says our concerns are sufficient for us to consider using our statutory enforcement powers.

In short, the official watchdog  which, remember, a Labour government actually brought into being  has decided that anti-Semitism inside the party is now so rife that it may be acting unlawfully.

It wouldnt take such a dramatic and serious step if it felt that the problem was simply prejudice on the part of a few foolish members at the margins.

It is acting because discrimination inside Labour runs to those at the top and because the systems they control, which are meant to protect victims, are doing the opposite. Unable to police itself, Labour now faces the authorities.

Its a hugely shaming moment for a party which has always claimed to stand against racism  and now stands accused of it.

Yet Labours leaders, who are the cause of this bleak and nasty situation, still dont believe there is a problem. They think vapid promises to take action are enough. They blame the media, and their opponents, for stirring things up.

They are, of course, completely wrong  and today the EHRC has, quite rightly, stood up to them.

Bring back home work

So its only fair to congratulate the bank 24 hours on for changing its mind.
M y abiding memory of French lessons was an afternoon during Year 9, when the boys who sat in front of me left an open tin of sardines behind the radiator and our teacher grew deranged trying to locate the source of the smell. But besides that, Ill admit that I can still chant, fluently, the verbs that take etre in the perfect tense, and  better still  confidently order a glass of vin blanc.

Which is to say, good language teaching stays with you, equipping you with a power that I still deploy  only a little rustily  now. So its dispiriting to hear that half of all sixth forms in schools and colleges in the UK have been forced to drop modern language A-levels as a result of inadequate funding, according to a poll by the Sixth Form Colleges Association this week.

The worst affected languages are German, Spanish and French; the Department for Education offered a limp statement. As our relationship with Europe continues its bottomless nosedive, its hard for this not to feel like another insult piled onto injury. Indeed, British universities are anxious that years abroad, presently a staple of modern language degrees, could be affected by Brexit.

The cuts also reiterate a divide between state and private school education.

Its about more than verb tables: learning a language is a mindset, as much as a (very useful) skill. It is an acknowledgement of other cultures, and an antidote to insularity. School exchanges to regional French towns  it was never Paris, was it?  were the right sort of culture shock, where you did some inept flirting and tried eating a snail.

My brother had such a crush on the French girl we hosted for two weeks that he was unable to say anything in either English or French, but she taught me an arsenal of idioms (and swear words). Vive la French lessons  now, more than ever.

Casual office chic? Dont bank on it

Savile Row must be in a tizz: Goldman Sachs has relaxed its dress code. A memo by the chief executive of the bank, circulated this week, acknowledged the changing nature of workplaces generally in favour of a more casual environment.

The women will doubtless look chic but male bankers in civvies are more unpredictable. Though as a journalist, who once got a polite email from a colleague enquiring whether I was wearing my pyjamas (...no), and who often hangs out in cyclists Lycra  the costume of the smug and smelly  I have no grounds to sneer. Maybe someone should impose a dress code.

Brace yourself for a Swift dose of hype

Taylor Swift has written a piece for ELLE US, outlining 30 things shes learned before her 30th birthday, which falls in December. Revelations include that she works on accepting her body everyday and now carries military-grade bandages around with her, designed for gun or stab wounds.

After the Manchester bombing and Vegas shooting, I was terrified to go on tour because I didnt know how we were going to keep three million fans safe over seven months, she explains. Many speculate the piece is the Swift publicity machine gearing up for a new album this year; she is, with Ariana Grande and Beyonce, one of pops pedigree hypebeasts.

Some cranky journalists have complained that in this era of behemothic celebrity, stars no longer need to give interviews but can instead control the story  by writing it themselves. Swift has said nothing, but did share a picture of her cat, looking aghast (caption: She just read all the theories.) Here we go again...Ready for it?

After abstinence comes the crash

Lent has begun, and those with willpower are wielding it. In my second year of university, I tried giving up alcohol for 40 days: I lasted eight, spent as long talking about it and then took myself down in a fountain of blue VKs. I awoke the next morning with a Drumstick lollipop stuck to my cheek (?) and a hangover of existential scale.
T hank you for the trust for inviting me to give this years lecture. Its a great tradition to be asked to be part of.

I dont know how many of you got a chance to see that terrific West End play by James Graham about the newspaper industry called Ink? It tells the story about Rupert Murdoch buying the Sun newspaper in 1969 and the revolution he brought to Fleet Street.

The person who sold it to him was the chair of the Mirror group, Hugh Cudlipp, the inventor of the modern red top tabloid  and the editor who this annual lecture honours. Cudlipp features as a character in the play. With his soft Welsh accent, hes portrayed as a champion of the working classes, who sees the press as performing a progressive public service.

In his mind, popular newspapers exist to better the lives of working people  explaining to them, as no one had bothered before, everything from the virtues of classical music to the contents of the latest Budget.

David Dyson

The new editor of the Sun, Larry Lamb, doesnt agree. He thinks Cudlipp is patronising people, telling them this is good for you, this is bad, read this/ listen to that.

Cudlipp responds with a warning from someone who feels that times are changing around him. Pander to and promote the most base instincts of people all you like, fine, create an appetite, but I warn you, he says. Youll have to keep feeding it.

Its a cry about the dangers of populism, in a play set half a century ago, that of course resonates with the modern audience it was written for.

But its more subtle than that. The playwright wants us to understand that Hugh Cudlipp and Larry Lamb are both right. In politics and in journalism, you have both to listen to the public, and you also have to lead them.

How you do that is something I wrestled with, in each one of the eight Budgets I delivered. Do you give the country what it says it wants or what you think it needs?

We wrestle with similar questions every day in the newsroom of the Evening Standard  a paper once edited by Hugh Cudlipps brother Percy, and one I am proud to edit today.

Do you provide the reader with what they say they want, or what you think they should read? Theres no point dutifully reporting on serious events if no one reads it, and so no one pays for the advertising that funds those reporters. But if all youre offering is click-bait, driving traffic through funny animal videos and snaps of Kim Kardashian shopping in Malibu, is that anything more than a platform for distracting people while theyre sold things?

I believe good journalism is about informing and entertaining. Listening to your readers, yes, but also being part of the conversation that shapes their view of the world

I believe good journalism is about informing and entertaining. Listening to your readers, yes, but also being part of the conversation that shapes their view of the world. Working out how to do that at the Evening Standard, one of the oldest papers in the country with the youngest and most diverse readership, and one of the largest too  is a challenge, and one that I look forward to every morning.

Of course, I come at this task from an unusual background.

The only thing Id edited before the Standard was my university magazine, which has, from todays point of view, the unfortunate name of ISIS. When I travel to America I always assume I am going to be stopped and asked about my time with a murderous terrorist organisation. As it is, the most subversive thing we did was to print copies of our student magazine on hemp paper made from a cannabis plant.

After university, I tried and failed to get a job as a journalist  and so I became the Chancellor of the Exchequer instead. And when I tried and failed to stop Britain voting to leave the EU, I stopped being Chancellor and became a newspaper editor instead.

Id had enough of the fake news, the spin and fiddled expenses of politics. So I thought Id try journalism instead.

When the move was announced, exactly two years ago this month, there were some who disapproved. I had simultaneously managed to offend two of the more self-righteous professions in Britain: journalists and politicians. Some journalists thought it was outrageous that someone who had helped run a country should presume to try to run a newspaper. Some politicians thought it was outrageous that someone who they used to work alongside would now be throwing stones at them.

As for me, Ive loved every minute of it in the two years since. And I believe, a little self-righteously I confess, that our team at the Evening Standard has taken what was already a great newspaper and made into something very special: A mass market paper with a readership much larger than any broadsheet; but at the same time an influential paper, read by those in politics and business and arts because they want to know whats happening next. I am hugely grateful to Evgeny Lebedev, the papers owner, that he took the gamble of appointing a novice to the job.

I guess it has given me an unusual perspective.

Weve had plenty of journalists become MPs, but there is no precedent for someone who lived in Downing Street going on to sit in the editors chair of a major newspaper.

So I thought Id share my experience. I want to talk to you about the future of journalism. And I am going to end with a big new idea.

But I am going to start with this simple question: do newspapers matter?

Do they have any power anymore, in the age of Facebook and Twitter and fake news?

That would have seemed a bizarre question to ask just seven years ago when I took to the witness stand in the High Court to give evidence to the Leveson inquiry. While the key injustice was around phone-hacking, the real issue in the dock was the power of the press.

British politics at the time was awhirl with talk of pyjama parties at Chequers and text exchanges between editors and Prime Ministers that made you want to laugh out loud.

The serious charge was that corruption had taken place: favourable media coverage from News International had been traded for favourable decisions over media ownership. We had not. If there was a commercial collusion, it was between the rivals to News International who saw their competitors mistakes over phone hacking as an Achilles heel with which to defeat their bid for full ownership of Sky.

When you think of the huge changes taking place in technology at the time, and the impact it would have on all the media businesses involved, it all now seems parochial.

Anyhow, the charge of political corruption was thoroughly investigated and completely rejected. But a lesser charge was more difficult to dismiss: the feeling that politicians in Britain had become too close to the media, and the press was too powerful and too unaccountable.

Was it true? Well, wed certainly tried to get closer to the media.

Why? For the simple reason, we wanted more favourable coverage and a better hearing for our case.

For we dont live in a small town like ancient Athens, where everyone can come along to the market square and listen to the arguments.

We live in a democracy of 65 million people where not everyone is glued to the television following the debates in the House of Commons  although recent months have shown us how, when it matters, a surprising and encouraging number do.

Most of the time, the message of the people who govern us is mediated. We watch TV news, we read papers, we get phone alerts, see our social media feed, hear from our family and friends.

After a career in politics spanning almost a quarter of a century, I never could find anyone who knew exactly how people receive their information or form their political views.

So I tried many different ways to influence them. Getting the newspapers on side was an important part of that.

These days, its said that we largely have a Tory right-wing press. But when I became the Conservative Shadow Chancellor in 2005, it was the opposite. Almost all of Fleet Street backed the Labour Party. Really. The Sun, the Times, the Express, the News of the World, the Financial Times, the Economist and, yes, the Evening Standard. Theyd all told their readers to vote Labour in the election that had just happened.

Initially, almost none of them supported David Cameron becoming leader of the opposition a short while later  indeed the few Tory newspapers at the time like the Daily Mail and Telegraph went out of their way to try to stop him.

Once we were in charge of the opposition, we set about trying to change their minds.

Did that involve lots of dinners and lunches with editors and proprietors? Yes. They had something we needed: direct access to the public.

Did that make them powerful? In a way, yes. But power in a complex, messy society likes ours doesnt rest in the hands of any one person or industry.

Its diffuse. Politicians are powerful. So too are charities, businesses, the public sector  all have a role in the decisions that affect us all. The press are powerful too, because they help curate the discussion that leads to those decisions.

Looking back, were we sometimes a bit fawning to the press? Perhaps, in the early days. We would endorse some of their campaigns, give them quotes, just to get a favourable mention.

But did we ever change the fundamental things we believed in? Emphatically not.

The first time I met Rupert Murdoch, at a lunch as Shadow Chancellor with his editors on the old Wapping site, I told him I thought his papers were wrong to be hostile to immigration. To my surprise, and the surprise of his editors, he agreed with me.

The last time I met Mr Murdoch as Chancellor, I told him I thought his papers were wrong to argue that Brexit would make Britain stronger. On that occasion, he didnt surprise me and disagreed.

Indeed, throughout the 11 years of our leadership of the Tory Party, we regularly found ourselves facing fierce opposition from the newspapers we were told were on our side  for things like embracing the green agenda and promoting gay marriage, to being tough with the public finances and ultimately arguing for Britain to stay in the EU. It didnt stop us; and we didnt stop them.

In 2010, all the newspapers I mentioned earlier switched their support to us. Five years later, in 2015, they remained supporters. It wasnt a conspiracy, as our opponents claimed in both contests. We hadnt traded coverage for favours; nor did we unquestioningly follow their agenda.

It certainly wasnt the Sun wot won it, or any other paper for that matter, much as we welcomed their support. Most of their endorsements came in the months, if not days, immediately before the election  long after the polls showed that the voters were behind us.

The newspapers mattered  but what really mattered was winning over the public, and the press was just one route to reach them.

Take the 2017 election. I think its fair to say that Jeremy Corbyn got consistently negative coverage in most newspaper outlets. Pages of it, every day. Theresa May, by contrast, got pages of adulatory press.

But when the vote came, it was close and she lost the Tory majority. Fleet Street didnt determine the outcome. The public did.

Even with Brexit, where a consistent and negative campaign by prominent newspapers provided a barrage against those of us arguing to stay in the EU, I think the presss influence was overstated.

After all, isnt one of the key arguments made that it was 3 million marginalised and disengaged people who didnt vote in general elections who made all the difference when they showed up for the referendum?

These were not, by and large, people who read a daily newspaper. Indeed, it might have helped those on my side of the argument if they had. I am pretty certain that newspapers today dont determine the outcome of elections or referendums. But it would be a great mistake to think that, as a result, they dont matter to our politics  let alone our cultural, commercial and sporting life.

Newspapers may not decide elections; but they play a key role in leading and structuring the public conversation here

Newspapers may not decide elections; but they play a key role in leading and structuring the public conversation here  a role that these days it has become fashionable to underestimate.

In our country, the BBC, along with ITV and other broadcasters, remains a primary source of daily news for a majority of the country. Fifty-eight per cent in a recent YouGov poll say they see one of these bulletins regularly.

Its why, during my time in politics, more and more effort was put into packaging up announcements for broadcast.

These days three quarters of Britons also use some online method each week to find news. Thats why the political parties are spending more and more on their digital budgets. But in Britain, the terms of that daily conversation are more often than not set by Fleet Street.

In part thats because they still have big and influential readerships. Every day, close to a million copies of the Evening Standard are picked up across the capital  almost two million people read one  and our online coverage is viewed by millions more.

Its not just about numbers. More MPs, for example, now read us than any other publication. But there are other reasons why newspapers are still so influential.

The BBC is a public corporation governed by a charter that insists on impartiality. As I saw over many years, our national broadcaster is more comfortable reporting the stories broken by the written press than initiating their own. The same is true, with some honourable exceptions, of most of the digital media.

Its recent investigations by newspapers that have exposed the Windrush scandal, the misdeeds of Philip Green and, in our paper, how the profits of opioid addiction finds its way into the arts institutions of the country. These were print stories widely followed on broadcast and online.

A website of celebrity photos, or online lists of the 10 best Taylor Swift songs, might generate a lot of traffic and be a great business  but its not having a huge influence on the direction the nation is taking.

Newspapers do. That printed press is privately owned, and I dont think we would want it any other way. Weve never had state newspapers  except when Winston Churchill briefly tried to set one up during the 1926 General Strike. That was the last time a Chancellor of the Exchequer edited a newspaper.

So if you want to influence those papers you have to speak to the people who own them, edit them and write for them. And thats what I predict politicians will continue to do for a long time to come. If the ex-Chancellor in me understands why politicians try to get close to the press, the current editor in me is frankly less sympathetic about the press getting close to the politicians.

Of course, editors have a job of keeping themselves informed  and that sometimes involves private conversations behind closed doors. The editor who never leaves the building can quickly become out of touch.

Political reporters tend to do a better job when they make an effort to get to understand the people they are reporting on. Theres an old-style of journalist who sees that as a sell out. They refuse, as a matter of principle, to socialise with their political prey, and adopt the HL Mencken principle that every MP should be approached with the thought what is this lying bastard lying to me about now.

It was great sport to watch when this aggressive approach first appeared in the 1960s with the likes of Robin Day on TV, but half a century later I wonder what good its done other than chase both politics and journalism down to the bottom of the league table of professions the public trusts.

I did many of those interviews and few I felt provided much illumination for the audience. You dont have to treat democratic politicians as criminals to be a journalist of integrity. But nor should you regard them as messiahs.

I always found it odd when newspapers slavishly followed the agenda of a government, even the ones I helped run. Not, I confess, that I complained at the time.

Ill give you an example of what I am talking about, and that you still see every day in the newspapers. Theres an unwritten rule in Westminster that in return for getting an advance copy of a speech, or hearing about a policy before anyone else, a paper will give you a fair wind, slap a positive headline on it and wont approach anyone else like the opposition to critique it.

Thats why, when I was in the Treasury, we would quite regularly feed stories to papers to get a good show for them.

One day, we even gave the Evening Standard the whole Budget in advance  unfortunately they put it up online, by mistake, before Id even spoken in the House of Commons. This kind of cut and paste job may be sensible media management in politics; but in general its not very good journalism.

Theres an even greater sin. Its boring. Just as lame is the Fleet Street habit of doing the exact opposite with any announcement that they dont get first, and extracting revenge by tearing it to shreds. I try to make sure we dont do either at the Standard  or not very often. For I think it all belongs to a bygone age, when people first learned about a piece of news when they saw the headlines on the newspaper stand and they picked up a copy of a paper.

These days that news will have already appeared as a mobile phone alert hours earlier, as the printing presses were starting to roll.

I think readers now turn to a paper, online and in print, to help them interpret the news... they dont want a mouthpiece for the government, or the opposition

I think readers now turn to a paper, online and in print, to help them interpret the news  to get some explanation and attitude, investigation and analysis. The readers dont want a mouthpiece for the government, or the opposition.

I dont want an invitation to tea in Downing Street. Ive already been. I want us to set our own agenda.

So the answer to my first question is that yes, newspapers are powerful; they help host the national conversation. But theyre not the only ones who decide its outcome. Often they follow, rather than lead. And if anything, it would be better if it were more the other way round.

My second question is: are newspapers going to survive?

Here I draw again on my previous career. One of the things I failed to spot during my time in Parliament was just how dramatic the change that the internet and social media would bring to politics.

I am not saying we werent on Twitter or that we didnt run on-line campaigns; indeed in 2015, we ran a very successful one. As a government, we did a huge amount to make government digital and attract tech jobs to Britain  Id say, pretty successfully.

But what I didnt fully see was that social media was much more than just a new medium for communicating a political message  it enabled a new form of politics. Just as the business of books and music and retailing has been completely disrupted, so the business of politics has been disrupted  and in essentially the same way.

Old hierarchical models have collapsed as the barriers to entry they controlled have disappeared.

When I first became an MP, if you wanted to organise a big demonstration against the government in Trafalgar Square, it took you weeks. You had to have a fully-staffed union or protest group with a list of supporters, and you had to get your call-centre to phone them up one by one  and use newspapers to advertise the event beyond that group. It took time, organisation and could cost quite a lot of money.

Today, you can mobilise a big demo in the centre of London in a matter of hours  from a single mobile phone, if you have enough followers or know people who do, and it costs you nothing.

In fact, you dont even need to meet physically  you can create a virtual social media mob to harass a government, or opposition, and get them to change their policies.

US Presidential elections and primaries were the ultimate example of organisation, and money, and people. Until Donald Trump came along without much of any of that and captured the White House from his Twitter feed.

I became pretty good at the form of politics that emerged in the 1990s in response to 24 hour news channels. The scripted soundbite. The good backdrop. The ruthless message discipline.

It helped me and the team I was part of win two general elections. But by 2017, when I left Parliament, it was a style of politics that looked like it belonged to the dinosaur age. There are still plenty of politicians wandering around practising it, but they are facing extinction.

The new politicians are in a constant conversation with the public and the media. Look at how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become one of the most famous politicians in the world

The new politicians are in a constant conversation with the public and the media. Look at how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 29 year-old who only got elected to the US Congress four months ago, has become one of the most famous politicians in the world.

Who here has seen AOCs take down of corrupt party funding? Or heard about her Green New Deal? Lots of you. Through her social media posts.

Less than a generation ago, that simply wouldnt have been possible.

British politics has already been disrupted. Just look at the stunning success Jeremy Corbyn and the far left have had in capturing the citadel of the Labour Party leadership, something that never happened its 100 year history of social democracy and moderation.

The Conservative Party, with its dwindling elderly membership based on a model of constituency associations from the Victorian age, looks vulnerable to disruption too. When other revolutions in technology have come along, they have a profound and destructive impact on the old political order.

The invention of the printing press led to the Reformation. Radio and television enabled the mass democratic parties and ideological dictatorships of the 20th century.

We dont know how social media will leave politics, but we know the revolution is under way.

A similar change has swept through the newspaper industry, shattering its economic model. Just think of how the Evening Standard made its money 20 years ago. If you lived in the capital and wanted to know the news during the day, there was no phone you could check  you had to buy a copy of our paper.

If you wanted to advertise your product to a London audience, then the pages of the paper was one of the few ways to do it. If you wanted to find a job, you turned to the classified jobs section. Rent a flat or buy a house, the property section. Find a partner? You looked through the lonely hearts.

Today you would go to Linked-In, Craigs List, Rightmove and Bumble  or sites like them.

The British media made the fateful decision in the previous decade to offer up their online content for free, in the hope that digital advertising would pay for it. But all online journalism has struggled to attract the advertising revenues that their print cousins once generated. Just look at the sad news about jobs losses at Buzzfeed and Huff Post.

Digital subscriptions work for smaller readerships of broadsheets like the FT and the Times, and I think they and others have done a good job with their products. I pay for both on my mobile phone but to be frank, the social challenge is not getting high quality journalism into the hands of a relatively small number of middle class professionals like me.

Well always be prepared to pay for news and comment. Its the mass market where the problem lies. Thats where print newspapers have seen the most precipitous declines, and where online paid-for subscriptions will never be large enough to replace lost income. Ten years ago, long before I arrived the new owners of the loss-making Evening Standard decided to get ahead of the change they saw coming  and started handing the paper out for free.

It was completely counter-intuitive  and brilliant.

The circulation quadrupled to almost a million, bringing in additional revenue from advertisers who could reach a bigger audience.

Today, our share of that advertising market continues to grow thanks to our strong commercial team  but the whole market is shrinking and other newspaper revenue streams are going. So we need new ones. We continue the push online.

In the last couple of years, the digital presence of the paper has grown exponentially  100 million page impressions and 29 million unique visitors in January alone.

But still we need to do more. Events. Sponsorship. Working with partners on projects to improve the future of London. I am unapologetic about all of this. If you want quality journalism, someone has to pay for it.

Newspapers are businesses not charities. They always have been. Pick up the front page of a 19th century copy of the Times and the whole front page was full of ads, not unlike when we wrap an ad round our paper today.

A sustainable future cannot rely on begging for contributions... we need to find long-term sources of commercial income

A sustainable future cannot rely on begging for contributions. Nor would we ever want them funded by the taxpayer, like the BBC. We need to find long-term sources of commercial income.

It has been a hugely challenging time. Sales of national and local printed papers have halved in the last 10 years; print advertising revenues are down over two thirds; the number of full-time journalists continues to fall every year.

But there is a glimmer of hope. Its called fake news. Or rather the scandal about fake news. What encourages me is that people care.

They care that Russian bots spread false information during the presidential election, and Cambridge Analytica did the same in our Brexit referendum.

They care enough that their political leaders are hauling the big social media companies before Congress and the Commons and the European Parliament and demanding action to stop it happening again.

So too are the big advertisers who generate their revenues. Reputable companies cant afford to see their products placed alongside foreign subversion and deliberate disinformation. We should keep the pressure up on their boards and shareholders.

Because the answer to all of this is to turn to an organisation that employs properly-trained journalists, thorough sub-editors and legally-accountable editors.

In other words, you might receive your news via Facebook, but its supplied by a newspaper or broadcaster you can trust.

When a revolution comes, it feels like all that is old is swept away and only the new has value. And then, as excesses that come with any revolution repel, and the novelty wears off, people start to remember the value of some of the things they discarded.

I think that is what is happening now. People, and the advertisers who sell to them, are alert to fake news. They want reliable information.

Thats why in America, which feels a couple of years ahead of us, the likes of the Washington Post and New York Times  which were written off not long ago  are enjoying a healthy renaissance.

Its why here in Britain I believe people and businesses will more and more turn to established, reliable brands  like the 192-year-old Evening Standard. And if they do that, then there is money to be made. Money to pay for that journalism.

That brings me from the present to the future for journalism  and a big idea.

One of the jobs Ive always fancied was that of the European Competition Commissioner. You can do a lot with it. Its the one area where the EU really does act as a super-state, giving the Commissioner the executive power to break apart monopolies and enforce competition.

And because the EU is the largest single market in the world, these decisions carry clout in the global economy and affect the future of even the worlds biggest companies.

As it was, I kept my eye on jobs in British politics instead. In any case, I soon wont be eligible to be a Commissioner  nor will any other British citizen. As a country weve made the foolish decision to leave the EU  and, if we go ahead with it, we will follow their rules and not shape them.

But I can tell you this about the European who does become the next Competition Commissioner later this year. They will have big American tech firmly in their sights. So will the new European Commission President and Parliament.

All the incentives are there. The monopolistic practices that have seen a tiny number of companies scoop the lions share of online advertising revenue.

The tech mergers that were allowed to happen because no one really understood these markets  and which would never have been accepted if they happened now. The concerns about the viability of journalism, fake news and election interference that Ive talked about.

The decision of the big platforms to now select content, ban certain contributors and apply internal community standards to those they do allow, just as I do in the Evening Standard newsroom. Its called editing, but how much longer can they be exempt from the legal responsibility that holds me accountable as an newspaper editor?

I also detect a growing European sense that we need to create rules that defends our interests  instead of being on the receiving end of decisions taken on the other side of the world, whether in Silicon Valley or Shenzhen.

The European data protection laws were just the start. Regulation is coming in a big way to big tech.

The companies know it, and are gearing up to shape it. As long as the rules dont touch the fundamentals of their business model around the harvesting of user data, or the structure of their firms, they will shout and scream but they wont mind too much.

Indeed, theres a benefit for them. For like all regulation, new rules will have the side-effect of protecting the big incumbents from new entrants. Now theyve built their new shiny castles, theyve worked out that its time to build the moats.

Here in the UK the Cairncross Review, commissioned by the government, recently published its report into a sustainable future for journalism. There are some useful recommendations about strengthening the hands of publishers against online platforms, and getting the Competition and Markets Authority to look at monopolistic practices in the online advertising market.

But the rest of the report, it feels to me, frankly only scratches at the surface.

Extending the current local democracy scheme to hire a few more local reporters is fine  we have some at the Standard doing a great job  but it isnt going to replace the shrinking incomes and newsrooms of papers.

Abolishing VAT on digital products may help a few high-end subscription apps, but the Finance Minister in me thinks it would be very difficult for it to end up not being a big tax cut for big tech.

Establishing an Institute to funnel public funds into what they call public interest news feels like a Pandoras Box that no one will want to open.

It was difficult enough trying to establish the panel that Leveson recommended to recognise an independent press complaints body  and even that hasnt really worked.

Once the state  or an arm of  starts trying to make the decisions about what should be printed that is in the public interest as opposed to what interests the public, trouble is coming

Once the state  or an arm of  starts trying to make the decisions about what should be printed that is in the public interest as opposed to what interests the public, trouble is coming.

Ask yourself: could public funds have ever been used to buy stolen property, like the computer disks that had the details of MPs' expenses on them? That was one of the biggest newspaper scoops of my lifetime.

Accepting public money also smells of defeat. Using taxpayer subsidies to support what has until now been a commercial activity has never been a route to long term sustainability.

Curbing the activities of the BBC is what lots of newspapers still cling to  and it's true their website looks more and more like an online newspaper, with film reviews and cooking recipes and the like.

But fundamentally our national broadcaster is part of the solution to providing quality journalism to the British public, not part of the problem. We should be encouraging it to use its 25 million odd license-fee payers and turn itself into something like a subscription service more akin to Netflix.

Thats what underpinned the agreement I negotiated with them four years ago, changing the law so that you need a license fee to view the iPlayer  and giving them control over who paid that fee.

It has set them up to navigate the future.

Selling its best programmes to other distributors around the world made the BBC money in the short-term, but it turned out to be the same mistake that other content-providers made. The global collaboration with ITV and others on a Britbox is a welcome sign on new thinking.

Cannibalising the BBC to sustain Fleet Street feels like a solution from the past. Today neither are strong enough. So its time to think bigger than this.

We dont want to end competition in the media industry  its ruthless competition that drove so much of the innovation weve seen, from Murdochs relaunched Sun newspaper 50 years ago to the FT app and Standard online of today.

Nor do we want newspapers to become charities or dependents on public subsidy. What we want instead is to create fair competition, and break up the monopolies that prevent that. So I want to end with this big idea. And it's a simple one.

Let people own their data. Give power to the consumer not the producer.

Until now, there has been a contract that almost no one understands  even if we endlessly tick the box online that says we consent to it. The deal is this: we all get to use the internet for free, and do all sorts of things  from playing games to watching videos to looking up things on Wikipedia  that a previous generation would have paid for.

Great. But in return, the data on everything about us that can be gleaned from our online activities belongs to the big commercial platforms through which we access that content. Those platforms know who we are, where we live, who are friends are, what we watch and how long for, what we buy and what we search for.

Its very valuable information. Indeed the worlds most expensive companies have been created on the back of it. For all that data helps them direct the right advertisers to you  and then take a big cut. And they dont share the data with the producers of the content, like newspapers, that is drawing people to their platforms. But the data is generated by you  and youre handing it over for free.

And were providing the content, and were not told who is using it and how.

Now say you owned the data. Say you had the right to take your accumulated data from one producer and share with another that offers you something better in return.

When I was at the Treasury thats what we forced the big banks to allow, and it laid the groundwork for all the new digital banks you see being created.

Or lets think more radically. Say social media companies had to pay you for using your data. Say it became an asset, or perhaps even a reward for your labour.

It seems strange that you should be paid for watching all those funny videos and wasting hours on those games. But people do pay to know what youve been doing with your time  they just dont pay you.

People do pay to know what youve been doing with your time  they just dont pay you

This idea of a data dividend has been knocking around on the margins of Silicon Valley, but its starting to enter the mainstream of politics in  of all places  California. Why not here?

It could be one of the solutions to the problem of too many people having too few assets; and an answer to the question: where will the incomes come from in the age of robots and artificial intelligence?

It could help businesses other than the big social media and search companies  if the consumers owned their data, rather than one or two big producers, then we could all compete for their custom, and their data would follow.

It sounds like a policy from the left. But breaking open monopolies, pricing a market externality, putting power in the hands of consumers and spreading wealth are pretty Conservative ideas.

Its not a magic bullet to the problems facing the newspaper industry. But it would create a more competitive, level playing field and dramatically change the economics of the online world.

I can tell you that if I was still in Downing Street Id be looking at the idea very closely. Instead, as a newspaper editor, Im doing what I think the press should do: provoke the conversation, set out the ideas and lead the conversation.

Let me end by saying this to you, the students here.

Theres something very precious about a free press.

Just think of all the billions of people who dont live with one.

Think of the hundreds of journalists around the world imprisoned, tortured or murdered for doing a job we value less and less here.

When I left Downing Street, I had choices about what I could do next. I chose journalism. I chose newspapers. Not because I was sentimental about their past; but because I am optimistic about their future.
M icroplastic traces have been found in every single river and waterway tested in a UK wide study.

The research, carried out by Bangor University and Friends of the Earth, has prompted calls for routine monitoring of all UK waters to detect the pollutants.

Researchers used a flourescence lighting system to identify microplastics per litre of water tested.

The most polluted river was the River Tame in Greater Manchester, which presented more than 1000 pieces of microplastic per litre of water.

In London, the Thames contained 84.1 pieces per litre.

Waterways studied and microplastics per litre  River Thames, London (84.1)  Chester reedbed (7.6)  Ullswater, Lake District (29.5)  River Irwell, Salford, Greater Manchester (84.8)  River Tame, Tameside, Greater Manchester (>1,000)  River Blackwater, Essex (15.1)  Falls of Dochart, Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park (3.3)  Loch Lomond, Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park (2.4)  Afon Cegin - river; North Wales (76.9)  Llyn Cefni - reservoir; Anglesey, Wales (43.2 )

Dr Christian Dunn, from Bangor University, said: It was more than a little startling to discover microplastics were present in even the most remote sites we tested, and quite depressing they were there in some of our countrys most iconic locations."

He added the findings should encourage people to start taking the threat of microplastics more seriously.

Plastic pollution in the Thames 1 /9 Plastic pollution in the Thames Polluted beach in Rainham, Kent Getty Images Plastic and debris which had washed up onto the beach Getty Images A child's toy was included in the debris Getty Images Traffic cones washed up on a beach in Rainham, Kent Getty Images Man walks along the polluted beach Getty Images Plastic debris on Polluted beach in Rainham, Kent Getty Images Traffic cone washed up on the beach Getty Images In the UK the amount of single-used plastic wasted every year would fill 1,000 Royal Albert Halls. Getty Images plastic bear among the debris Getty Images

Plastic is polluting our rivers, lakes and wetlands in a similar way as pollutants such as so-called emerging contaminants like pharmaceutical waste, personal care products and pesticides.

As with all emerging contaminants we dont yet fully know the dangers they present to wildlife and ecosystems, or even human health, and to what levels they occur in all our water systems.

But its now clear that microplastics should be considered a serious emerging contaminant and there needs to be a concerted effort to regularly monitor all our inland waters for them.

Our method provides a straightforward and low-cost way of doing this so we now need to roll it out and see if our preliminary results are just the tip of the iceberg.

Friends of the Earth has backed legislation presented to Parliament to phase out plastic pollution in the UK within 25 years and ditch non-essential plastic by 2025.

The campaign group has also joined Dr Dunn in calling for further investigation into health risks that could come from microplastics to find determine 'safe' levels.

Julian Kirby, plastics campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: The widespread contamination of our rivers and lakes with microplastic pollution is a major concern, and people will understandably want to know what impact this could have on their health and environment.
From Highgate Cemetery to the mecca of all things opus, The British Library, here's nine lovely places in the Big Smoke everyone needs to visit if they love books.

Stroll through Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury is London's beating literary heart. From George Orwell to Charles Dickens, some of the world's biggest names in literature have called the London district home. Its most famous residents were those who made up the Bloomsbury Group, a small informal association of artists, poets, authors, thinkers, artists and intellectuals who pioneered some of the greatest works of the Modernist period. Remnants of their existence are easily found throughout WC1H. In Tavistock Square you'll find a bust of Virginia Woolf; by Pret opposite Russell Square tube, a blue plaque commemorating painter and critic Roger Fry; and in Gordon Square, the house where Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, Vanessa Bell and John Maynard Keynes would meet to discuss all things literature, culture and politics.

Virginia Woolf/Getty Images / Getty Images

Just round the corner on Marchmount Street, you'll stumble on Gay's the Word, the only bookstore in the country dedicated to stocking queer literature, and if you head up even further, you'll see the flat where Percy and Mary Shelley used to call home above the coffee shop Fork.

In short, it really is London's very own literary celebrity bubble.

Visit the Hogarth Press

Wave hello to the Hogarth Press, a legendary publishing house which began life in 1917 under the helm of celebrated author and critic Virginia Woolf and husband Leonard. Named after their house in Richmond, the press published some of the most famous and infamous works in the modern canon: T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, Virginia's Monday or Tuesday with woodcuts by her sister Vanessa Bell, and Dostoevsky's The Devils, as well as the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan's The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis.

Initially just a hobby of the Woolfs, the press eventually grew into a vast commercial project which is now headed up by literary publishing giant, Random House. Whilst not open to the public, you can still get a cool pic of the blue plaque which reads "In this house Leonard and Virginia Woolf lived and founded the Hogarth Press in 1917."

Highgate Cemetary

Yes, it might be a bit morbid but this Gothic plot is the final resting place of the country's most celebrated literary minds. Amidst the lavish catacombs, chapels and Egyptian-style tombs, see the graves of Karl Marx, Henry Gray, Middlemarch author George Eliot, several members of the Dickens' family and poet Christina Rossetti.

Poet's Corner

Inside Westminster Abbey lies Poets' Corner, where famous authors and poets of the land have been interred in the South Transept of The Queen's church. It's existence is by chance and since Geoffrey Chaucer's tomb was placed here in 1556, has served as somewhat of a literary hall of fame. A memorial to some of the country's great cultural thinkers, pay your respects to the likes of Henry Francis Clay, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, Laurence Olivier, Edmund Spenser and Lord Alfred Tennyson. Several other monuments commemorating famous writers are littered throughout, most notably Shakespeare, whose body lies in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Poets Corner/Getty Images / Getty Images

Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley

Yes, it may not have secured its place in the literary canon as of yet, but global phenomenon Harry Potter deserves a spot on any London list dedicated to books. Many fans often head to Platform 9 3/4 to get a glimpse of where the Hogwarts Express departs from King's Cross station. Sadly, they often miss out on a few other golden snitches in London which rarely ever get a nod. For something slightly off the Potter radar, head to the spots which inspired Rowling's penmanship of Knockturn and Diagon Alley instead.

First up is Goodwin's Court near Trafalgar Square, a cutesy little alley graced with some of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the capital. It's here where Bellatrix and co schemed against all those who who tried to fight them in the Half Blood Prince and the Deathly Hallows.

Run a few metres west and you'll stumble upon Cecil Court, a charming little place known for its curious mix of bookshops and antique shops. Look left to right, and it's obvious how it inspired Diagon Alley. Travis and Emery basically looks like Ollivanders.

32 books that will make you a more well-rounded person 1 /33 32 books that will make you a more well-rounded person Shutterstock / Andrey_Popov To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Amazon 1984 George Orwell Amazon Walden Henry David Thoreau Amazon Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone J.K. Rowling Amazon The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien Amazon A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn Amazon Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank Amazon Guns, Germs and Steel Jared Diamond Amazon Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Doris Kearns Goodwin Amazon Game Change Mark Halperin Amazon The Origin of Species Charles Darwin Amazon A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking Amazon A Short History of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson Amazon The Elements of Style William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White Amazon Existentialism from Dostoevsky to to Sartre edited by Walter Kaufmann Amazon The Art of War Sun Tzu art of war Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig Amazon The Last Lecture Jeffrey Zaslow Amazon Romeo & Juliet William Shakespeare Folger Shakespeare Library Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson Amazon Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution Steven Levy Amazon You Are Not So Smart David McRaney Amazon Hyperbole and a Half Allie Brosh Amazon How to Win Friends & Influence People Dale Carnegie Amazon Good to Great Jim Collins Amazon The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko Amazon The Intelligent Investor Benjamin Graham Amazon Mastering the Art of French Julia Child Knopf Omnivore's Dilemma Michael Pollan Amazon Gender Trouble Judith Butler Amazon A Village Life Louise Gluck Amazon Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Matthew Desmond Amazon

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

This lovely little pub on Fleet Street has played host to some of the most illustrious wordsmiths in town. Mark Twain, Alfred Tennyson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Makepeace Thackerary, G.G. Chesterton, W.B. Yeats, Voltaire and Ben Jonson are all said to have passed through the pub's bar at one point. Dickens even alluded to the place in A Tale of Two Cities and Samuel Johnson moved next door to the boozer in 1748, though there is no record of him every going in for a quick pint. Must have done, though, right?

Go on a pilgrimage to Hatchards

The oldest bookshop in the UK and the country, Hatchards' was founded on the swanky and exclusive stretch of the Piccadilly in 1797 by John Hatchard, a celebrated English publisher, bookseller and Westminsterite. Originally founded with an impressive collection of books and knick-knacks bought from 18th century celebrity bookseller Simon Vandenbergh, the gorgeous mahogany shop has an unrivalled reputation for attracting extremely high-profile authors and poets, and holds no less than three royal warrants granted by Her Majesty, The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles.

Inside you'll find precisely 72,000 rare, limited and first editions, as well as signed copies spread over five mammoth Dickensian floors to take home. Tip: head to the first floor and you'll find a plush green sofa plonked on top of an exquisite carpet decorated with hundreds of Fleur-de-lis. It's the perfect place to unwind with a book with the roar and thunder of Piccadilly in the background. 

Go for a pint at the George Inn and the Spaniards Inn

It's quite an accolade that a pub in London is older than the American constitution. Dating back some 400 years, the original George Inn was sadly destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666. To keep the literary legend alive, it was eventually rebuilt in all its nostalgic glory in St Katherine's Dock. Owned and looked after by the National Trust, Charles Dickens used to be one of the pub's most frequent patrons - heck, he loved the place so much that he even featured the pub in Chapter XXII of Little Dorrit. Best time to go? During the summer for a pint under the hanging baskets. Tolkien did it, so why can't you?

On the other side of London, you'll come across the The Spaniards Inn in Hampstead, one of the oldest pubs in the capital. Anyone who's anyone has visited over the years, including the likes of Lord Byron, John Keats and Mary Shelley. If that's not impressive enough, the pub even had starring roles in Bram Stoker's Dracula and Charles Dicken's Pickwick Papers. Once you've had a fine ale or two, go Heathside to get an incredible view of London town and beyond.

Mrs Dalloway Manuscript/The Society of Authors as the Literary Representative of the Estate of Virginia Woolf / The Society of Authors as the Literary Representative of the Estate of Virginia Woolf.

The British Library

This one sounds obvious, but very few often visit the world's second largest library. Originally part of the British Museum, the current British Library moved to its prime 1.2 million square foot Kings Cross base in 1998. More than 150 million items, including rare manuscripts, books, audio tapes and artefacts that date back an impressive 4,000 years make up the library's incredible collection.
Reading and Leeds (August 23-25)

Two festivals that run concurrently on the same weekend, sharing the same lineup. One of the best known events on the UK calendar, it has grown from its rock roots to include more pop and rap acts in recent years.

Where is it? Richfield Avenue, Reading/Branham Park, Leeds

Tickets: from 205 for a weekend camping ticket, readingfestival.com/leedsfestival.com

Getty Images
C aroline Criado Perez makes more than one point thats dead sound. The fact that crash test dummies have until recently been designed to represent only male drivers and passengers may help explain the significantly higher lethality of auto accidents for women. Seatbelts are not designed for pregnancy. Drug dosages need to be calculated in accordance with womens smaller size and distinctive metabolism. Subjects in drug trials are dis-proportionately male, in part because the vacillation of hormones in female subjects introduces an inconvenient confound. Thus data is often not available on a drugs effect on half the population of the world.

Confined to a specific subset of Western data-collection deficiencies  what Perez dubs the gender data gap  Invisible Women makes a plausible case for the thesis that in research men have historically stood in for people, with women too frequently regarded as a so-called niche aberration. Yet the author has grander ambitions, and is eager to deploy a rather narrow argument to encompass all unfairness to women across the globe.

Some graver injustices merit urgent redress, especially in the developing world: FGM, poor access to menstrual products, scarcity of toilets. But in the main, these are not really data-collection problems, but problem-problems. Since Ive read about the issue extensively in The New York Times, authorities in India must also be aware that women are put at risk of sexual violence by having to defecate in the open. So Indian women dont need better data collection. They need toilets.

While the far more substantial gender inequities in poorer countries bulk up this books beef, they also risk making the gripes of Western women seem trivial in comparison. A topic like the prevalence of gang rape on the subcontinent doesnt sit comfortably beside outrages like smartphones not fitting easily in a womans palm, only 13 per cent of non-human characters on childrens television being female, or unisex emojis looking masculine.

And some misfortunes simply shouldnt happen to anybody. All right, pedestrians suffer more injuries when pavements are cleared of snow only after the roads, and women are more likely to walk. But framing this policy issue in sexist terms isnt necessary. Lets clear the pavements first for all pedestrians, even the boys.

Call to arms: Caroline Criado Perez at the unveiling of the statue of suffragist Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square in 2018

Other objections have a circular quality. To Perezs consternation, only 10.8 per cent of the pages of political science textbooks reference female movers and shakers. Shes likewise exercised over the paucity of statuary commemorating influential women. But these absences are testaments to a version of events that the author would endorse: that women have been historically excluded from positions of power. You cant have it both ways.

What distinguishes this book from just another rant about institutionalized sexism  its focus on the gender data gap  is also what makes it a little dreary. And in order to cover all her arenas of indignation, Perez strains to define social shortfalls like the underrepresentation of women in politics as a data-collection deficiency.

The logic is a stretch: since women have different experiences and concerns, female politicians are data providers. Without their input, government is deprived of information it requires to pass even-handed laws. Thus we need quotas (Perez is big on all-women shortlists). As a fierce opponent of rigid diversity quotas of any sort, I wasnt won over.

"What distinguishes this book from another rant about sexism is also what makes it a little dreary"

Not all of Perezs examples of the systematic exclusion of women from data collection are petty or silly. Well-supported chapters on medical and accident research address blind spots of consequence. Even her smaller observations can be piquant. Art portfolios are sized so that only men can carry them comfortably under their arms. Though often accorded the same amount of a buildings hygienic real estate, women take up to 2.3 times as long as men to use the loo. Fitness monitors underestimate the calories burned doing housework by up to 34 per cent! I sincerely share Perezs exasperation that womens clothing so rarely has pockets. But the scope of this book overreaches, and so, too often, does its tone.
M odel and activist Adwoa Aboah received a great honour last night. No, it wasnt an OBE, but she will probably get one of those soon, she was immortalised as a Barbie doll.

The iconic doll bore an uncanny resemblance to Aboah, and came complete with tattoos, freckles and the sequin Halpern jumpsuit she wore to The Fashion Awards where she won Model of the Year in 2017.

At the Gurls Talk x Barbie at Dover Street Market event last night she was presented with the doll by British Vogue editor Edward Enninful who said: Ive known you since you were tiny. You are a constant inspiration, and I get such joy in seeing all your wonderful achievements. Aboah joined British Vogue as Contributing Editor in July 2017 and was the inaugural cover star of Enninfuls first issue.

Barbie is honouring Aboah for her work on Gurls Talk, an online community for young women which gives them a space to talk about everything from mental health and equality to sexuality.

She was named the latest Barbie Shero to mark Barbies 60th birthday on International Womens day. Previous Barbie Sheros include Instagrams Eva Chen and dancer Misty Copeland.

We caught up with Adwoa about her induction into the valley of the (Barbie) dolls

Adwoa Aboah Gurls Talk x Barbie event - In pictures 1 /7 Adwoa Aboah Gurls Talk x Barbie event - In pictures Dave Benett Dave Benett Dave Benett Dave Benett Dave Benett Dave Benett Dave Benett

How did they make the doll?

I sent them loads of reference of things that I wanted to focus on, I was like this is how I want my hair to be, I wanted it to be really slick and shaved, I wanted my freckles to feature and all my tattoos. Then when I went to LA I met everyone who was part of it, from painting the face and moulding the head shape. We based the makeup on the makeup I had at the British Fashion awards by Celia Burton.

Why did you choose this look?

One of my great loves is clothes and championing young designers and Michael Halpern is one of my favourites. He was the one who designed my outfit at the British Fashion awards where I won model of the year so it made sense to feature that outfit.

What are you going to do with your Barbie?

I dont know I think she should just sit on my mantelpiece. When Im in London I live at my mum and dad's so I reckon theyll put it somewhere pride of place so they can show it off to everyone.

Did you play with Barbies when you were younger?

When I was younger me and my sister played a lot of sports, we rode bikes and we did mostly boyish things but we did also play with Barbies. Mine and Kesewas were always having affairs, she would ask why the Barbies couldnt just have a happy life, but I was always making them get into fights.

Adwoa Aboah's Barbie Shero / Adwoa Aboah Barbie Shero

What does diversifying Barbie and culture mean to you?

Its detrimental to girls lives when they dont see themselves represented in a true light and I think that was something that I was really missing when I was growing up. I just didnt have anyone to base myself on. I had Scary Spice but I dont think I really wanted to base myself on Scary Spice.

How does it feel when you grow up without these kind of reference points?

I think it makes you feel like you dont want to be yourself. In the early stages of life I was always flipping through the pages of Mizz magazine and I couldnt see myself in those magazines and I felt quite alien. I just yearned to look like someone else the whole time. I didnt see someone who looked like me and think 'oh great she looks like me, fine then.'

It can sometimes be a grey area but its so important to have all sorts of representation across all companies. Ive had so much feedback from people saying this is the kind of Barbie I would like to have but maybe its also because of the other things I stand for.

Whats the main thing youve learnt from the Gurls Talk community?

Adwoa Aboah behind the scenes shoot for ES Magazine
Where to stay

Nalu is a cluster of three villas, each with its own pool (villas for six people from 350; nalunosara.com).

A fitness studio offers martial arts, HIIT and barre, and the villas are perfect for families  they even have a surprisingly chic outdoor playground. the Nomadic Hotel (rooms from 119; nomadicnosara.com) boasts an interior fusing modern with classic Spanish design. The traditional communal breakfast  think tacos and banana pancakes  is an ideal place to meet other travellers.

Want to be as close to the beach as possible? With a laid-back atmosphere and on-site surf school, La Negra (rooms from 52; lanegranosara.com) is your answer. the Harmony Hotel (rooms from 240; harmonynosara.com) is fittingly named. A wellness centre provides daily yoga, and the owners are committed to sustainability, regularly planting native flora  also expect wildlife around the pool, including monkeys hanging overhead.

Nalu villas

Where to eat and drink

La Luna is one of the few places where you can watch the sunset directly from the beach. Reserve a table outside for the best view, with a cold beer in hand. Naked Foods will make you rethink vegan fare. The owner also produces his own raw, organic chocolate, juices and kombucha. Rosis is a local favourite  go for breakfast of rice, eggs and beans. Situated in a nondescript co-operative centre, high tides fried plantain with guacamole is superb. Youll find the best poke bowls in town at single fin inside Organico Deli Market.

Raw pleasure: a dish at Naked Foods

What to do

Regular visitors go back time and time again to Chorotegas Surf School. Every afternoon, students young and old re-watch their surfing on a video and get feedback from the professional surfer owners. Yoga classes are widely available but the best places for ample options and styles are bodhi tree yoga resort or The Harmony Hotel.

Get there early for Marks freestyle class at Bodhi Tree and Emilys Vinyasa at Harmony. Pilates Nosara offers daily mat classes or private reformer sessions in a beautiful studio set within Bodhi Tree  perfect for stretching out those post-surf muscles. Head to Garza Beach one cove along, where youll also find the occasional party on the sand at a very low-key bar. Generally everyone in Nosara is up with the daybreak and in bed by 9pm.

Surfing: the perfect past time

Top tips

Rent a quad bike to visit Garza Beach or the local waterfalls. Dont forget your bikini because, if you buy one here, they are thong-style. And the local cacao chocolate is not to miss.
I nfluential Russian mathematician Olga Ladyzhenskaya is being celebrated in today's Google Doodle.

Ladyzhenskaya, who would have turned 97-years-old today, overcame personal tragedy at a young age to become one of her country's top thinkers.

Known for her work on partial differential equations, Ladyzhenskaya authored hundreds of papers and was recognised with the Lomonosov Gold Medal in 2002.

Who was Olga Ladyzhenskaya?

Olga Ladyzhenskaya was born in the small town of Kologriv in 1922, the daughter of a maths teacher who was descended from Russian nobility.

It was her father who inspired in her a love of maths, in particular algebra, and she grew up in a loving family which struggled under the rule of the Soviets who made life hard for intellectuals and families from nobility.

She was devastated when, at 15-years-old, her father was thrown into jail and later executed by the Soviet authorities who accused him of being an "enemy of the people".

Unlike her two sisters who were forbidden to finish their studies, Ladyzhenskaya graduated high school with excellent grades.

But because of her father's status as an "enemy of the people" she was forbidden from entering Leningrad University and to get by the family sold dresses, shoes and soap.

At the beginning of World War II she was forced to leave Leningrad and eventually returned to Kologriv where she taught secondary school maths at the same place her father did.

Where did Olga Ladyzhenskaya study in Russia?

Thanks to the intervention of the mother of one her pupils, Ladyzhenskaya was finally offered the opportunity to go to Moscow State University where she studied under famous mathematician Ivan Petrovsky.

She later became a postgraduate student at Leningrad State University but could not publish her thesis until the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, meaning she could finally be granted the degree she had wanted.

What did Olga Ladyzhenskaya do after graduating?

After the publication of her thesis, Ladyzhenskaya started teaching at the university and later became a researcher at the Steklov Mathematical Institute, where she stayed until 1991 having climbed up the ranks to become head of the Laboratory of Mathematical Physics.

Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ladyzhenskaya elected to stay in Russia despite the economic turmoil this brought.

She was a member of the St Petersburg Mathematical Society from 1959, and became its president in 1990.

When did Olga Ladyzhenskaya die?
 As women become more and more empowered, politically and economically, its clear our position is changing around the globe, Elizabeth Filippouli, founder of Global Thinkers Forum, said at a panel hosted by ESIMedia and held at Northcliffe House in London yesterday.

The panel, entitled The Global Conversation: The Way to the Top, was held by the Global Thinkers Forum under its Athena 40 platform in partnership with Afiniti to celebrate International Womans Day. It saw leading women and men from business, finance, NGOs, politics, government and the creative industries participate in six panels being held simultaneously across the globe.

The forum was held in New York, London, Athens, Amman, Istanbul and Lahore, with Princess Beatrice chairing the New York forum and Princess Eugenie in attendance at the London event.

BBC World News journalist Tim Willcox chaired the London discussion after an introduction by the Evening Standards managing editor, Doug Wills, which saw a panel that featured a range of high-profile women from a number of different industries.

Included in the London panel was Elizabeth Filippouli, Founder of Global Thinkers Forum and Athena40; Annabel Karmel MBE, best-selling author on childrens food and nutrition; Bridget McIntyre, former Chief Executive Officer of RSA Insurance; Ayesha Hazarika, journalist and broadcaster; Neishaa Gharat, designer for House of Gharats, and it was hosted by Julia de Boinville, Vice President of Business Development for Afiniti.

The London Panel, (L-R) Julia de Boinville, Neishaa Gharat, Ayesha Hazarika, Annabel Karmel MBE, Bridget McIntyre and Elizabeth Filippouli / Athena40

Below are six things we learnt from the London forum.

1. Women have already smashed through the glass ceiling

Bridget McIntyre was a FTSE 100 executive director before starting her business Dream On, a community interest company which helps women achieve their dreams.

During the panel, McIntyre said: I think women smashed through the glass ceiling a few years ago in the corporate world. Ive seen them fight so hard to be able to do so and better businesses are the ones who have more diverse people at the top.

2. Having women in senior positions needs to become the norm

Ayesha Hazarika, who was once an advisor to the Labour party and is now a journalist and comedian, said: I dont want it to be unusual to have a woman in a senior position. In politics, its great to have women in senior positions, but what do you do with that power, and how can you use that power to help other women?

A small number of women at the top is a good start, but we want to make sure this trickles down.

3. Communities can be catalysts

McIntyre explained: I used to think it [change] always had to come from the top, but working with communities is incredibly powerful and there are changemakers at a local level.

The New York panel was chaired by Princess Beatrice / Athena40

4. Failure is necessary

Failure is important, explained Annabel Karmel MBE. You dont want to fail too often, but you learn from failure. Women arent as prepared to take risks because theyre also practical and put their families first.

Hazarika added: Fear never goes away. Imposter Syndrome never goes away. Everything you do doesnt have to be perfect but being a wee bit frightened is good because it can adrenalise you to learn to go with the fear."

5. Women need to pay it forward

Progress has been made, but its not enough progress, Filippouli said.

The more successful you become, the more responsibility you have towards other women and the more you have to pay it forward to young women  thats important.

6. Success is about learning

Success changes at different times of life, Hazarika said. A mistake people make is thinking that you will reach this success nirvana  this wont happen.
O n the night he was elected prime minister, Justin Trudeau said to his fellow Canadians: Sunny ways, my friends, sunny ways. This is what positive politics can do.

For a while, at least, he delivered. There isnt a politician in the world who doesnt look frumpy next to Trudeau, 6ft 2in of floppy haired, Instagram-ready celebrity. If he wasnt showing off his yoga skills, doing the peacock pose in his shirtsleeves, or jogging shirtless, he was delighting millennials by wearing Star Wars socks to a meeting with the Irish prime minister. One moment he was holding two panda cubs from Toronto Zoo, the next dancing bhangra on a state visit to India.

He engaged in public displays of affection with his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, who the New York Post called the hottest First Lady in the world, and seemed the ultimate cool dad to his three young children, Xavier James, Ella-Grace Margaret and Hadrien.

Sophie, meanwhile, came across as a Canadian Gwyneth Paltrow, a former yoga instructor, passionate about health and nutrition after her own struggles with bulimia. She told Vogue: Time, maturity, therapy, self-knowledge, yoga, meditation and babies  all this eventually brought me to a healing space.

Politically, Trudeau was regarded as a political superman, who had led the Liberal Party from the wilderness. When he took over as leader in 2012, his once-dominant party held just 34 of the 338 seats in the Canadian parliament, and was struggling to find candidates. In 2015 the Liberals swept to power with a majority of 184, winning seats across Canada. Trudeaus personal appeal, and his ability to persuade all kinds of new candidates to his party, were credited with the victory.

Today, however, his reputation as Canadas Mr Clean has been shredded. He and his closest aides stand accused of trying to influence the legal process on behalf of a major Canadian construction firm. Trudeau has already lost two members of his cabinet, as well as his closest political friend and adviser. And still questions are being asked about the extent to which the prime minister may have abused the power of his office. Until recently it seemed he was coasting to victory in the national elections to be held in October. Now his popularity is eroding and his opponents smell blood.

Until recently, it seemed Trudeau was coasting to another election victory - new opponents smell blood

The charge against Trudeau and his circle is that they tried to pressure the former justice minister to drop a case against one of Canadas largest engineering companies. SNC-Lavalin, which is based in Quebec, Trudeaus political fiefdom, has been accused of paying 75 million in bribes between 2001 and 2011 to the family of the former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in return for construction contracts.

If the case goes to a full trial and the firm and its executives are found guilty, SNC-Lavalin could be banned from bidding for government contracts in Canada and overseas for a decade. It would be disastrous for a company which employs 50,000 people around the world, including 9,000 in Canada. Just last year, SNC-Lavalin won a huge contract to build Montreals new public transport system. If successfully prosecuted, it might have to give that up.

SNC-Lavalins supporters have been pressing the Justice Department to reach an out-of-court settlement with the firm. But prosecutors have said that is impossible given the nature of the allegations.

Trudeau with former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould / AFP/Getty Images

Enter Jody Wilson-Raybould, Trudeaus justice minister until January. She alleges that Trudeaus advisers, including the finance minister, pressured her to overrule her prosecutors and cut a deal with SNC-Lavalin. In testimony before parliament, she called their campaign consistent and sustained, and included veiled threats that she was taking on the prime minister. She suspected that her refusal to comply led to her being moved from Justice to Veterans Affairs in a cabinet reshuffle. Trudeau has said any conversations his advisers had with Wilson-Raybould were completely legal. He said in his defence: There are disagreements in perspective on this but I can reassure Canadians that we were doing our job and in a way that respects and defends our institutions. His party is mostly unified behind him.

But this week, he was slammed again when Jane Philpott, one of his most capable cabinet ministers, resigned in support of Wilson-Raybould. Philpott had held successive roles as minister of health and then indigenous services and, most recently, as president of the treasury board. She said in her resignation statement: Sadly, I have lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter and in how it has responded to the issues raised.

To lose two women from his cabinet has been damaging for Trudeau, who says that he is a feminist

To lose two women from his cabinet has been a major blow for Trudeau, who claims to be a feminist. Making it worse is that Wilson-Raybould is a leader of the We Wai Kai Nation, one of Canadas indigenous peoples. Trudeau fancies himself as such a champion of Canadas native tribes that he even has a tribal tattoo of a raven on his left bicep.

The main suspicion about Trudeau has always been that he is too good to be true. He is Canadas version of John F Kennedy. His father, Pierre, led Canada in successive administrations from the late Sixties to the early Eighties  his former girlfriend, Barbra Streisand, called him a blend of Marlon Brando and Napoleon.

When Pierre was 51, he married the 22-year-old Margaret. They had three sons, Justin the eldest. Margaret, though, tired of life in Ottawa, and was often to be found in New York at Studio 54. She had various affairs, including with at least one Rolling Stone. Later she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has since dedicated herself to mental health issues.

Justin was born on Christmas Day. When he was just four months old he was toasted by the visiting US president, Richard Nixon: To the future prime minister of Canada, to Justin Pierre Trudeau. He has credited the many foreign trips he took with his father as the basis for his understanding of statecraft but he was never his fathers intellectual equal.

Justin Trudeau's socks - In pictures 1 /7 Justin Trudeau's socks - In pictures Reuters Reuters PA AP AP Bloomberg via Getty Images Reuters

In his twenties he worked as a bouncer in bars, smoked pot, taught snowboarding and eventually French and maths in a Vancouver boarding school. At his fathers funeral he delivered a memorable eulogy and laid his head on the coffin, saying Je taime, Papa.

Finally, in his mid-thirties, he picked up the Trudeau political baton, winning a seat in a working-class district of Montreal. He was a natural on the stump, swigging beer straight from the bottle and revelling in the company of voters.

Until now, the worst that has been said of him is that he is a shallow showboater, guilty of humdrum political hypocrisy. In 2017 he was found to have violated conflict-of-interest rules when he accepted an invitation to the Aga Khans private island in the Bahamas. When Saudi Arabia was under scrutiny for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last autumn, Trudeau suggested he might cancel a $15 billion arms deal with the Saudis. The deal remains in place. Despite seeming the epitome of the nice Canadian, it turns out that he likes an arms deal and a free holiday as much as the next hack.
T oday, November 19, marks International Men's Day - a day that has been celebrated for more than two decades.

Each year, International Men's Day shines the spotlight on men making a difference and the issues men face globally and IMD can be an important catalyst to opening up discussion around the unique struggles facing men.

While it is not currently recognised by the UN, calls for an IMD date back as far as the 1960s and according to organisers its purpose is to "encourage men to teach the boys in their lives the values, character and responsibilities of being a man."

When is International Men's Day 2019 and where is it celebrated?

Falling on November 19 every year, IMD is celebrated in more than 60 countries worldwide including Singapore, Australia, India, the UK, the US, South Africa, Haiti, Jamaica, Hungary, Malta, Ghana, Moldova and Canada. This date falls on the birthday of Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, a doctor from Trinidad and Tobago who relaunched International Mens Day in 1999.

Dr Teelucksingh said in a statement: "International Mens Day is observed on an annual basis by persons from all walks of life, who support the ongoing effort to improve lives, heal scarred hearts, seek solutions to social problems, mend troubled minds, reform the social outcasts and uplift the dysfunctional.

"IMD is designed to promote positive role models in society and develop wholesome individuals."

What is the theme of this year's International Men's Day?

Each year IMD has a different theme, with last year's being 'Positive Male Role Models'. This year's theme is 'Making a Difference for Men and Boys'.

Warwick Marsh, coordinator of internationalmensday.com, said the inspiration behind this year's chosen theme is wanting to 'promote the need to value men and boys' and to help make 'practical improvements in men and boy's health and wellbeing'.

Marsh continued: "International Mens Day encourages men to lead by example. Boys need positive male role models. Our broader community also needs positive male role models. This is the best way to create a fair and safe society which allows everyone the opportunity to flourish."

Why is International Men's Day important?

According to charity Calm, suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 and, in 2015, 75 per cent of all UK suicides were male. IMD provides an opportunity to address problems like these.

Just last month, the Standard ran The HUMEN Series in partnership with new London-based male mental health charity, HUMEN. Founded by actor River Hawkins, he told the Standard at the time that hitting rock bottom is what gave him the drive to start HUMEN and create a charity that is focused on action.

He continued: Hitting rock bottom for me ended up being a blessing but at the time you lose all hope and I feel like I was rolling on the lowest of the low for about three months before I wanted to even try and do anything about it. During that time, what was really hard for me was that I felt as if I was in this no mans land, because I didnt want to kill myself. I was saying I dont want to live but at the same time I dont want to die. So I didnt know what to do."

International Men's Day helps to shine the spotlight on charities such as HUMEN and the everyday struggle many men in the UK have with mental health.

International Men's Day also coincides with Movember, where men shave off their facial hair at the start of the month to grow a moustache to help raise money for charities and drive conversations about suicide prevention, mens mental health, prostate cancer and testicular cancer

How does International Men's Day compare to International Women's Day?

International Women's Day is celebrated annually on March 8, with the first ever gathering being held more than a century ago in 1911, according to the organisers.

The day celebrates the "social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women" and also acts as a call to action for accelerating gender equality.
P olice are hunting a crook who stole a womans phone while she was having a seizure.

The woman, in her 20s, suffered the seizure outside Selly Oak station in Birmingham when another woman, posing as a Good Samaritan, came over to help.

The suspect instead took the phone from the victim's pocket and put it in her own.

The victim was then taken to hospital by an ambulance.

The woman had posed as a Good Samaritan / British Transport Police

The incident happened at about noon on February 17.

British Transport Police (BTP) appealed for help as it released a CCTV image of the suspect on Thursday.
A teenage boy has been arrested after a woman and young child died at a property in Ipswich.

The 17-year-old was detained after the discovery at an address in the Suffolk town on Wednesday.

The young child was treated by paramedics but died at the scene in Swinburne Road, where the woman was found dead.

Emergency services were scrambled to the address at 5pm.

Suffolk Police has launched an investigation into the deaths.

The force said next of kin for both of the victims have been informed.

The arrested teenager has been taken to Martlesham police station for questioning.

Police have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

In statement, the force said: "A police scene is in place whilst an investigation into the circumstances of the deaths continues.
T he father of a teenager killed in an east London park today called for mandatory sentences for those carrying knives as he paid tribute to his "kind, good and thoughtful" daughter.

Speaking for the first time since his daughter was fatally stabbed in Harold Hill, Peter Chesney said those carrying out attacks with knives were weak and cowardly and said the attacks had to stop.

We can't stop them carrying them how are we going to stop them using them, the only way to do that is to scare them with prison and a mandatory sentence for carrying a knife, a big one, Mr Chesney said.

He added there was no way the attack could have happened to a nicer person and that his daughter was the "nicest person any of us know, or knew."

Family members father Peter, stepmother Joanne and sister Lucy of murdered teenager Jodie Chesney speaking at New Scotland Yard in London. / PA

He said she "wouldn't have done anything to deserve this - no way".

"She was the nicest person any of us know. Everything about her was about being kind and good and thoughtful."

Mr Chesney pleaded for those with information about the attack to come forward.

"Someone knows who did this. Just do the right thing. You'll never know the pain you've caused and the beauty you've taken away. They've destroyed something beautiful here. It's a disgrace."

People lay floral tributes near to where 17-year-old Jodie Chesney was killed / REUTERS

"No one thinks this is OK. Surely nobody who knows the guy who did this thinks it is OK.

"You can't get kudos for stabbing a 17-year-old in the back. So, just dob them in, grass them up, this is not alright.

"It wasn't accident... it was so ferocious the attack. She lost so much blood. This was on purpose, someone meant to murder her."

Do some justice for Jody, Jody needs this, she needs justice for this, its horrendous.

Family members stepmother Joanne and sister Lucy of murdered teenager Jodie Chesney. / PA

"Someone knows who it is, someone is probably hiding him, maybe hiding him or he's hiding and he's run away on his own, I don't know. But either way someone knows. Just come forward and tell us who it is," he added.

The keen Explorer Scout was approached by two males and knifed in the back while she listened to music with friends near a children's playground in Harold Hill.

Asked what Jodie was like, Mr Chesney said she was a "proud geek", who was a "great girl", and added: "The fibre of her being was just about being good, kind... there was nothing bad in her body."

Stab victim: Jodie Chesney outside 10 Downing Street in her scouts uniform in November last year

Her stepmother Joanne said Jodie, who did not realise how popular she was, was "very dry" and "did not have a filter", who said exactly what she thought whether someone wanted to hear it or not.

"Infectious personality, easy to get along with, no pretension at all. She wouldn't have hurt anybody," Mr Chesney added.

He said Ms Chesney's death has torn the family apart and that they are "a mess", adding: "We don't know how to deal with it.

"Everyone is suffering because she was so good... everyone just can't believe - why her? It is not one life deserves to be killed over another, but specifically her, she was so kind."

Family members, father Peter, stepmother Joanne and sister Lucy, of murdered teenager Jodie Chesney. / PA

Ms Chesney's friends are dying their hair purple - her favourite colour - in her honour.

"There is purple everywhere in the area, I like that. But people who know Jodie, she will be remembered for being kind," Mr Chesney said.

"It is nice to know she is being remembered by so many people. It is good, I love it."

On whether they'd like to see a change in the law or new legislation as part of Jodie's legacy, her family said they would.

"It would be lovely," Mr Chesney said. Joanne added: "If she had to die to save someone else's life then, she would have done it herself anyway because she was that kind of person.

"Even now it is still going on days later, the next day someone was killed. And then now a few days after that another person. Tomorrow someone else probably, Saturday someone else probably.

"When, where do you stop? How many more families are going to have to sit here and go through this?"



Her family said she loved animals - particularly dogs - and had once wanted to be a vet.
L ondons latest knife victim was chased from his home into the street where he collapsed and bled to death, horrified witnesses have said.

The man, believed to be in his mid-twenties, died after being stabbed repeatedly in the daylight attack in Leyton, east London, on Wednesday.

Paramedics and police were scrambled to North Birkbeck Road, a short distance from Leyton Tube station, just before 4.30pm.

Despite their efforts the victim was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 5pm. A murder investigation has been launched.

Police vehicles lined the street near to the scene where the man was fatally stabbed / PA

No arrests have been made.

Police officers pleaded can you hear me? and urged to victim to stay awake as they fought to keep him alive while waiting for paramedics, a witness told The Sun.

Suzana Ansar, 37, told the newspaper that the victim was seen running away with no shoes on before collapsing in the street.

A forensic tent was in place at the scene / Lucy Young

She said: He was running down the street with no shoes on, they attacked him in his home and he had run away before he collapsed.

The victim was the 19th person to be stabbed to death in the capital this year.

Police at the scene near North Birkbeck Road in Leyton, east London / PA

No arrests have been made.

Images showed a forensics tent and a number of police vehicles in a residential street where the incident happened.

Fatal stabbing: An air ambulance lands near the scene in east London / @999London/Twitter

A Met Police spokesman said: "Police are in the process of informing his next of kin.

"No arrests have been made. A crime scene remains in place. Enquiries continue.

Police at the scene near North Birkbeck Road / PA

"A post-mortem examination will take place in due course. Formal identification awaits."

London mayor Sadiq Khan said his heart goes out to the victims loved ones.

It comes after 17-year-old Jodie Chesney was knifed to death near a children's playground in Harold Hill, east London, last Friday, as she listened to music with friends.

Police chiefs warned on Wednesday that the scale of knife crime in the UK has become a national emergency.

Sara Thornton, the head of the National Police Chiefs Council, said that senior officers had been given until Friday by the Government to set out what extra resources they needed to tackle the wave of stabbings.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has insisted that he will not hide from the problem and vowed to do everything in his power to bring down the death toll.

Recent violence has prompted a wave of public concern at the number of young lives being lost.

The Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating and appealing for witnesses to come forward.
S adiq Khan has hit back at criticism over knife crime in London, saying he has increased Met budgets "as much as I am allowed" and invested in youth services.

"In just London alone, over the last eight years, our Met police service has lost more than 800 million from central government as a consequence of cuts," said the Mayor as he was grilled on Sky over a recent surge in violent crime.

"That's led to us having more than 3,000 fewer police officers, thousands fewer community support officers, and thousands fewer police staff.

"On top of that, dozens of youth centres closing down, hundreds of youth workers losing their jobs, thousands of young Londoners who don't have a youth centre to go to."

Sadiq Khan said he's done "as much as he's allowed" on knife crime

His comments came after a man was knifed to death in Leyton, east London, on Wednesday evening.

Police at the scene in Leyton after a man was fatally stabbed on Wednesday evening / PA

Sky presenter Sarah-Jane Mee hit back "You keep shifting it onto central government", prompting the mayor to roll his eyes and insist he had done what he can.

"Eighty percent of the budget for the Met police service comes from central government," he said.

"Roughly speaking, 20 per cent comes from City Hall. We've increased that as much as I'm allowed to do under the law.

"What we've done from City Hall is using council tax increases - I've raised it three years in a row, the previous mayor didn't raise it - but also used monies from business rates to invest in policing, but also to invest in youth services and young people.

"Secondly we've invested 45 million in a young Londoners fund. At the moment there are 60,000 young Londoners receiving support they weren't before I became mayor."

He also pointed out that people were murdered this week not only in London but also in Oxford and Manchester.

It comes after a former head of the Met said Theresa May is not listening to police concerns about knife violence on Britains streets.

Recent killings have prompted warnings of a national emergency and sparked intense scrutiny of reductions in the size of the police workforce.

Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens told the BBC that Mrs May had not been listening to police forces' concerns. "I don't think she listens, quite frankly, to what she's being told," he said.

Prime Minister Theresa May was accused of not listening to advice on knife crime / REUTERS

The ex-top cops remarks also came after a man was knifed to death in Leyton, east London, on Wednesday evening.

His death follows a string of high-profile stabbings in recent days, including 17-year-olds Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, who were killed in separate incidents in London and Greater Manchester over the weekend.

In Birmingham, three teenagers died in the space of 12 days last month.
A man has died days after being repeatedly stabbed in Londons West End.

The 37-year-old was knifed in Romilly Street, in the capital's busy Soho district, at about 6am on Sunday.

Paramedics rushed him to hospital with critical injuries but he was pronounced dead at 7.42pm on Wednesday.

Hours after the man was stabbed, at about 11.30am on Sunday, a 16-year-old boy was knifed in University Street, Camden, in what Scotland Yard has described as a linked attack.

The victim of that attack suffered serious injuries, police said today.

A 34-year-old man was charged on Monday with two counts of attempted murder in relation to the two incidents.

The Met Police said the charge for attempted murder will now be subject to a review by the Crown Prosecution Service.

A woman, 41, who was arrested and released remains under investigation.

A spokesman added: "His next of kin are aware. Formal identification awaits.
T heresa May is not listening to police concerns about knife violence on Britains streets, a former head of the Metropolitan Police has warned.

The Prime Minister is facing a mounting backlash for denying a link between dwindling officer numbers and a spate of fatal stabbings across the UK.

Recent killings have prompted warnings of a national emergency and sparked intense scrutiny of reductions in the size of the police workforce.

Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens told the BBC that Mrs May had not been listening to police forces' concerns. "I don't think she listens, quite frankly, to what she's being told," he said.

Under pressure: Theresa May / Toby Melville/Reuters

The ex-top cops remarks came after a man was knifed to death in Leyton, east London, on Wednesday evening.

His death follows a string of high-profile stabbings in recent days, including 17-year-olds Jodie Chesney and Yousef Makki, who were killed in separate incidents in London and Greater Manchester over the weekend.

In Birmingham, three teenagers died in the space of 12 days last month.

A forensic tent was in place at the scene of the fatal stabbing in Leyton / Lucy Young

The number of officers in the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales has fallen by more than 20,000 since 2009.

Mrs May, who was home secretary from 2010 to 2016, argued earlier this week that there was "no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers".

On Wednesday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid acknowledged that police resources were important in tackling knife violence after holding emergency talks with chief constables

Theresa May on tackling knife crime

Speaking after the meeting, he said: "I think police resources are very important to deal with this. We've got to do everything we can.

"I'm absolutely committed to working with the police in doing this. We have to listen to them when they talk about resources."

Home Secretary Sajid Javid met with police chiefs amid claims of a national knife crime emergency / PA

Senior Labour politicians, including police and crime commissioners, have written to the Prime Minister urging her to put 10,000 police officers back on the streets.

The joint letter, also signed by London mayor Sadiq Khan, said: "There is not a town or city across the UK which hasn't been touched by the outbreak of serious youth violence.

It said nationwide there had been a 93% rise in children under 16 being stabbed since 2013, taking knife crime to "the highest level since records began".

"This is a national crisis and it requires leadership from the top of government," the letter added.

Cressida Dick says there is a direct relation between knife crime and police numbers on LBC

It called on the Prime Minister to "drop this dangerous delusion" that police cuts were not correlated with certain crimes.

Mrs May announced she would host a summit on knife crime and said the Government was putting more resources into policing.

But Mr Khan said "having a one-off knife summit by itself won't solve this issue"

He told ITV's Peston: "Of course I welcome any movement by the Prime Minister to address the issues that cause knife crime but I think a one-off summit may make great pictures, and may lead to one or two good soundbites, but by itself won't be enough."

He said the reasons for the increase in violent crime were "quite complex" and added: "What I'd like to see is a joined-up public health approach in dealing with this very serious issue."

At Prime Minister's Questions, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed the Prime Minister was trying to keep communities safe "on the cheap".

He said: "Does the Prime Minister now regret cuts in police numbers and will she undertake that under this review they will be restored to the level they were formerly at?"

A knife arch operation took place in Walker's Court, Soho. / Lucy Young

A proposed cash boost could see total police funding rise by nearly 1 billion in 2019/20, including money raised through council tax.

Asked whether the PM still believed there was no direct link between police numbers and violent crime, her official spokesman said: "Clearly resources and powers are important.

"We have just given the police more resources and more powers and we always listen to what the police are saying.

"But it's hugely important that we don't just treat this as a policing issue, that we do look across society at things such as changes in the drugs market and address issues like gang culture with children being groomed into this lifestyle and carrying knives, and we look at public health."
P olice have issued an urgent appeal after a man disappeared during a fishing trip to a lake in east London.

Christopher Knowles, 43, was last seen at 11.30am on Friday near a lake at The Chase in Rush Green, Romford.

He has not been spotted since or made any contact with friends or family.

His phone and bank card have also not been used since then, Scotland Yard said.

A Met Police statement added: "His disappearance is out of character and there are growing concerns for his welfare."

No further sightings have been made and the force is now appealing for public support in tracing him.

Mr Knowles is described as stocky and around 5ft 8ins tall.

He was wearing black trousers along with blue and white trainers when he went missing.
A teenager has been stabbed to death in west London amid a spate of violent knife crime in the capital.

Police were called to Lanfrey Place, off North End Road and yards from West Kensington station, just before 2.15pm on Thursday.

Officers and paramedics found a male, aged in his late teens, with stab injuries to his chest.

He was taken to hospital in central London but died a short while later. His next of kin have been informed.

The scene in Lanfrey Place on Thursday / NIGEL HOWARD

Emergency services remained at the scene in the evening, with a forensic officer seen inspecting bloodied garments. The Met said no arrests have been made.

A police and forensic officer outside Waitrose, near the scene of the stabbing / NIGEL HOWARD

It's the sixth murder investigation to be launched in the capital this month and 24th so far this year.

Police officers and forensic teams on the scene following the fatal stabbing in west Kensington / Jack Taylor/Getty Images

Yousef Bahadory, who owns a dry cleaners close to the scene, told the Press Association: "The boy was on the floor. There was so much blood.

"Someone went to get a doctor from the surgery nearby and she was pumping his chest."

Police officers and forensic teams at the scene / Jack Taylor/Getty Images

Robin Hopkins, from Coventry, who runs a courier business, told the Standard from the scene: "It was all being taped off as I arrived. Its still all closed off now, with cars being redirected down by the side of the Old Oak pub.

"Police were very quick to evacuate the immediate area, well before ambulances arrived."

Police were initially called to the scene at about 2.15pm / Jack Taylor/Getty Images

One homeowner in Lanfrey Place, who did not wish to be named, said it was quite common to see large groups of people in the area. "It was obvious that one day we would have something like this," she told Press Association.

"I quite often see people going back and forth, shouting, smoking, drinking."

Police recover what appears to be a knife after searching a drain near Lanfrey Place / Steve Parsons/PA

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who is under growing pressure over the capital's bloodshed, said: "Saddened and shocked to hear another young man has lost his life as a result of knife crime. His family and friends are in my thoughts.

"A crime scene is in place and investigation underway. There's no honour in staying silent: if you have information, please contact the police."

Forensic officers at the scene on Thursday evening / Steve Parsons/PA

Meanwhile, the stabbing prompted Chelsea FC to warn fans to make alternative travel arrangements ahead of Thursday night's Dynamo Kiev match.

It said in a statement: "Supporters heading to tonight's game should be aware North End Road is currently closed in both directions between Lillie Road and Talgarth Road due to a police incident.

"They are currently on site carrying out investigations but the closure is likely to be for some time.

"Supporters who normally use North End Road are advised to make alternative arrangements."

Anyone with information on the stabbing in Kensington is asked to call police on 101, quoting CAD 4136 of March 7. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A ndrea Leadsom has come under fire for pointing an MP who raised the issue of Islamophobia in the Commons in the direction of the Foreign Office.

Labour frontbencher Naz Shah asked Mrs Leadsom for a definition of Islamophobia and whether she agreed with her that there should be a debate in the Commons on the issue.

But the Leader of the House sparked anger when she appeared to direct Ms Shah towards the Foreign Office for help with a solution.



A spokesman for the Leader's Office has since said Mrs Leadsom thought Ms Shah was referring to an international definition of Islamophobia.

Andrea Leadsom made the comment to the Commons / Parliament Live TV

Speaking in the Commons on Thursday: The Leader of the House may be aware that the all party parliamentary group on British Muslims recently came together and published a definition on Islamophobia.

Given the crisis that the opposite party find themselves in would she agree with me that it is right that we should have a debate in the house on islamophobia.

Mrs Leadsom replied: "The Conservative party is taking very strong action in any cases of Islamophobia that we identify.

"We have been extremely robust and urgent in our response to this."

She continued: She raises a very important point about whether we should seek a definition on islamophobia. I would encourage her to perhaps seek an adjournment debate in the first instance so she can discuss with Foreign Office ministers whether that would be a useful way forward.

Naz Shah said she was "shocked" by the response / Parliament TV

Ms Shah described Mr Leadsom's comments in the Commons as "baffling".

"I was shocked by what Andrea Leadsom said in response to my genuine call for a debate on Islamophobia," she said.

"To say that British Muslims facing Islamophobia here in the UK is a 'Foreign Office' issue is truly baffling and horrifically alludes to British Muslims as foreigners."

Lady Warsi said "British Muslims are ... British" and suggested to Ms Leadsom the Conservatives were "in a hole" and should "stop digging".

A Commons Leader's Office spokesman said: "Islamophobia is unacceptable wherever it takes place.

"It was thought the MP for Bradford West was referring to a global definition of Islamophobia. International efforts to combat Islamophobia (and all forms of religious persecution and prejudice) are lead by the PM's special envoy on freedom of religion or belief, Lord Ahmad, at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

"Of course, any form of Islamophobia in the UK would be dealt with swiftly by the Home Office or Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government as appropriate."

The comments came after Amber Rudd had to apologise for describing Labour's Diane Abbott as "coloured".

While Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland secretary, was forced to say sorry for her comments on the Troubles.
T raffic jams at the Port of Calais caused by workers Brexit protests could put lorry drivers lives at risk, it has been warned.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) made the claim after queues built up as customs officers worked to rule  carrying out tighter checks on lorries heading for the Channel Tunnel and ferry port  apparently to show what will happen after Brexit.

The RHA said it was "extremely worried" the queues will put "the lives and livelihoods of truckers at risk".

The action began on Monday in a bid to improve pay and staff numbers ahead of Brexit.

A line of trucks blocks the hard shoulder of a motorway leading towards the Port of Calais on Wednesday / Leon Neal/Getty Images

Chief executive Richard Burnett said: "Since Brexit discussions began, we have been voicing our concerns that the number of customs agents currently employed will be insufficient to tackle the new procedures.

"The French union officials' claim that the action is aimed at 'showing what will happen after Brexit' is totally unacceptable.

"Many of our members caught up in the queues are bearing the brunt of this action.

"They will be stuck with no facilities and will inevitably suffer financial losses as a result of delayed deliveries - particularly those carrying perishable goods.

TODO: define component type apester

He continued: The head of French customs has insisted that France will be ready for Brexit on 29 March, and that such queues would not form.

"But with only 17 working days left until the UK leaves the EU, I do not share his optimism.

"This is an intolerable situation and if not resolved, there's a real danger that it could be the shape of things to come.

"We continue our call for clarity over border crossing procedures but still nothing is forthcoming."

TODO: define component type apester

The officials had also imposed a work-to-rule as they demanded a boost to their workforce to deal with extra checks after the UK quits the European Union.

Meanwhile, no progress has been made on Theresa Mays Brexit deal after negotiations with European leaders fell flat on Wednesday.
O ne of Theresa Mays ministers is among MPs who are thinking of defecting to The Independent Group, Chuka Umunna reveals today in an interview with the Evening Standard.

The frontman of Britains new political centre force said the unnamed Conservative, a minister of state, had sent him a supportive letter after the groups launch.

Mr Umunna, who called the development extraordinary, said a lot of both Labour and Tory MPs were giving signals that they could defect. Everybody is on their own journey, he said. Its a very personal decision. You may know people are on the journey; you never know when they are going to get to the destination.

Asked whether the current 11-strong group of MPs  nicknamed the TIGs  could double in size, he said: I think there are a lot of MPs in both parties who are on that journey, but when they reach the destination, who knows?

I got a very nice letter from a minister of state, actually, that suggested they were on the journey, which is quite extraordinary. Mr Umunnas disclosure will set alarm bells ringing in Downing Street  and spark a guessing game over the identity of the Tory.

The first meeting of the TIGs, including former Tories. Mr Umunna says the new group is determined to do things differently

Revealing the behind-the-scenes drama of TIGs surprise launch at Westminster two weeks ago, Mr Umunna said they resorted to MI5 style tactics to keep the plan secret. He even used a codeword in his diary to record meetings, writing PBP, short for Pre-Brexit Planning, even though Brexit was only a small part of the discussions.

Even so, the launch was almost rumbled when a worker blundered into a meeting, just as Luciana Berger was practising announcing, We have today resigned from the Labour Party.

Mr Umunna said the group has set a deadline of this autumn to launch themselves as a fully fledged party and intend to contest every UK parliamentary seat at the next general election. The Streatham MP unveiled bold proposals of his own to bring back a modernised form of national service for all school leavers, change the voting system, turn the gothic House of Commons into a museum and replace it with a brand new chamber.

His proposals, to be officially launched in a pamphlet tomorrow, will go into TIGs first policy forum, kickstarting the countdown to their debut manifesto at the 2022 election.

Two weeks after the launch, Mr Umunna said: The reaction from people on the bus and Tube has been overwhelmingly positive. All our other halves have said Gosh, you look happier, youve got a spring in your step.

I have to confess I was dreading the first vote in the Commons a few hours after the launch. But people shook our hands and said, We understand why youve made the decision. People gave us hugs when I had expected them to blank me.

Mr Umunna said he would never have believed he might leave Labour when he joined the party 22 years ago, but added that it was no longer the same party.

It has been painful and really difficult, he said. But the fact is the Labour Party is now a different party. It is a new party with a different membership. Eighty per cent of the members in Streatham joined after May 2015 [when Jeremy Corbyn launched his leadership bid].

The new members were not only hard-Left and hostile to the traditional members, but they also did not reflect the local multiracial community. At the last big meeting I went to, of about 400 people there were less than 30 people of colour in the room, said the MP, who was the first black MP elected to the Brixton area. Thats in a constituency where it is 40 per cent or so BME.

Mr Umunna said Labours changes are a symptom of a broken-down system that fails to reflect a country whose people have moved on from the old Left-Right knockabout. Our politics is fundamentally broken, he argued. Pointing out of his window in Portcullis House to Parliament, he exclaimed: I mean, that place is frankly a museum. It should be one. I personally think we should take advantage of the fact that we have to move out of that building, and have a modern building with modern chambers, organise it differently, abolish Prime Ministers Questions, change the entire thing because it is well and truly ... He laughed rather than say the expletive out loud.

But he is serious about quitting the Palace of Westminster. Changing it for a modern building with a horseshoe chamber and MPs picked by proportional representation is one of the proposals in his 37-page pamphlet titled What Are Progressives For?

Explaining his own journey, the MP said a key moment came after forming an all-party pro-Europe group with Tory Anna Soubry. She was a really good friend but as we got to work more and more together, we realised we had a lot more in common than just Brexit, he said.

Sarah [Wollaston] and Heidi [Allen] became part of this and I came to realise that, actually, Ive got far more in common with these people than I have with, say, Chris Williamson [the Labour Left-winger] or, well, I could go through a list of people.

Another milestone was when he and some Labour and Tory friends were chatting about the need to build something new and disrupt the status quo.

Finally, they held a secret meeting in his office, Room 221, to talk it through over chocolate biscuits, cans of coke and crisps.

We had to be like MI5 in the way we operated because it needed to be really tight. There would be big problems if it leaked, he said.

When we finally met, in this room, it was quite a moment. A bit of nervousness. Not everybody knew each other so well. A feeling that what we were doing could potentially be very big  and it was fraught with risk.

They started talking, mainly about their values, and the result was lovely  we realised even more that there was so much shared ground. We all bounced out of it after an hour and a half and people were saying Oh my gosh, how refreshing  I havent felt this positive about politics for months. I said to Chris Leslie, That was quite something. I think this is going to happen.

They met regularly after that, often in Mr Umunnas office, the friendships growing over Dominos pizza and bottles of wine. An east London pub and a small business hub were also used for furtive summits.

Finally, they picked the quiet school half term as the ideal moment to detonate the biggest political bombshell of the year so far.

They borrowed some offices for a dress rehearsal because we were really worried the emotion of the moment might get to us, that we might break down.

But the plan almost backfired. Just at the moment when Luciana said Today we have decided to resign our membership of the Labour Party, literally as she said that sentence, somebody who worked in the offices walked into the room by mistake. TIG member Gavin Shuker dashed after the unwitting intruder who, to their relief, promised to keep the secret.

For the press conference, Mr Umunnas mother and his wife Alice, a lawyer, with whom he had a daughter in 2017, were in the room. At the end, Alice told him: I am just so incredibly proud of you.

For the future, Mr Umunna said the TIGs were determined to do things differently from the old parties. They will choose a leader  he has been named spokesman in the interim  but we certainly wont have a cult of leadership where you treat a leader like a messiah who drops down pearls of wisdom that nobody questions.

The other TIGS are Ms Berger, Ms Wollaston, Ms Allen, Ms Soubry, Mr Leslie, Mr Shuker, Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey, Joan Ryan and Angela Smith.

He would like to see TIG election candidates from outside politics, saying: People want something fresh new and different.
B ritain and France openly clashed today as bickering and recriminations broke out over Theresa Mays stalled Brexit deal.

In a withering assessment of the complex legal escape hatch from the backstop being sought by the UK, Frances Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau said: There were no precise proposals  there were ideas.

She added on BBC Radio 4s Today programme: We are waiting for a sustainable proposal.

Chancellor Philip Hammond, interviewed a few minutes later, responded to her words saying: We consider we have tabled a sustainable proposal.

Mr Hammond said all his EU counterparts were telling him in private it was absurd for a country as large as the UK to potentially be trapped against its will in a backstop, the legal contract drawn up to prevent Britain adopting policies that would cause the return of checkpoints along the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. One EU diplomat reportedly described as insane the UKs demands for a legally binding escape hatch based on independent arbitration.

There was hilarity in the Commons when Attorney General Geoffrey Cox referred to his proposals as Coxs Codpiece and went on: What I am concerned to ensure is that what is inside the codpiece is in full working order!

TODO: define component type apester

The public disagreements appeared to confirm that there is a huge gap between the two sides just days from Tuesdays meaningful votes. Senior MPs say they do not believe the Prime Minister has a hope of reversing the 230-vote defeat she suffered in January.

Mr Hammond issued a warning to Brexiteers that voting down her deal would risk delaying Brexit and also the possibility of Labours Jeremy Corbyn and rebel Tories striking a deal to lock Britain into a customs union. If the Prime Ministers deal does not get approved on Tuesday then it is likely that the Commons will vote to extend the Article 50 procedure, he told Today. And where we go thereafter is highly uncertain.

Urging Tory MPs to think very, very carefully before voting against the deal, he offered an extra inducement by saying that an agreement would allow him to transfer billions of pounds earmarked for no-deal emergencies for a spree on policing, on social care, on schools, on higher education, defence, all the other things people want to see.

Steve Baker, vice-chair of the European Research Group, rejected Mr Hammonds call, saying: He is asking us to back a de facto Customs Union, with Brexit in name only... its a poor choice.
T he US boss of a major City bank today scrapped plans to ban staff from working from home as he told its 50,000 employees he had listened and learned to their concerns.

The email came hours after an Evening Standard article revealed that staff are considering a landmark lawsuit over Bank of New York Mellons decision to axe all flexible working from June.

The US financial giant, sponsor of the Boat Race, had been warned it would suffer an exodus of working parents at its Blackfriars and Canary Wharf offices, with one BNYM employee condemning the move as a massive step backwards for diversity and inclusion.

BNY Mellons cost-cutting chief executive Charles Scharf last night emailed all of the banks staff, including some 3,000 in the UK, saying: We have listened and learned a great deal...We did not appreciate the level of impact this would have on employees.

Cost cutting: Charles Scharf ordered review

We have decided to immediately hit pause on implementing any changes to remote working arrangements. Whilst we believe that its enormously helpful to have as many people as possible physically working together collaboratively, we also realise that changes can affect personal lives in many ways.

Mr Scharf added that the bank would take the next several months to reconsider our approach and that staff could return to their previous flexible working practices in the meantime.

Working parents at BNYM had been the most vocal in condemning the move, with one mother said she would effectively be forced to resign and seek work with a more flexible company when the policy comes into force.

The bank now says if we determine that changes to individual arrangements are necessary, we will work with each of you individually to ensure you have ample time to transition to the appropriate arrangements based on your personal situation.
M Ps are preparing to vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal after Commons leader Andrea Leadsom confirmed it would take place on Tuesday.

Mrs Leadsom said the meaningful vote will be going ahead on March 12, with Philip Hammond's Spring Statement scheduled to take place the day after.

It came after the Prime Minister's spokesman said that votes on a no deal and a delay to Brexit would take place as promised if her deal is voted down in the Commons.

There had been speculation that Mrs May could pull a vote on no deal on Wednesday and to extend Brexit on Thursday if her deal fails.

When is the meaningful vote?

Mrs Leadsom confirmed a vote will be held on Tuesday / REUTERS

Mr Hammond's Spring Statement is scheduled to take place the following day, on March 13.

However, if Mrs May's deal is voted down, no exact times have been given on the votes for ruling out a no-deal Brexit and extending Article 50.

She added that if this was the case she would then make a further statement on the subsequent votes.

What are MPs voting for?

Tuesday's vote is essentially a repeat of January's meaningful vote, in which Mrs May's Brexit deal suffered a humiliating defeat in the Commons.

However, the Government has been pressing the EU for changes to the agreement, specifically a solution to the Irish border backstop, in order to get the deal through Parliament.

Talks earlier this week which aimed to end the impasse on the backstop broke up without agreement but the UK has been given until Friday to come back with fresh proposals.

Negotiators on both sides are reportedly preparing to work through the weekend in a frantic effort to break the deadlock in the talks ahead of next's week crunch Commons vote.

Whatever deal Mrs May manages to renegotiate with the EU, she ideally needs an agreement by Sunday night as any new documentation relating to it must be published by Monday.

The deal Mrs May will present to MPs is likely to be similar to the one in January, which faced strong opposition in the Commons.

Some MPs fear the UK could become trapped indefinitely in the Irish border backstop while others dislike the fact that Northern Ireland would be operating under different regulations to the rest of the UK.

If the Government loses the vote, a statement would be made on when a no deal vote and a vote to delay Brexit would take place.
A building in central Edinburgh and a university campus in Dumfries have been evacuated following reports of a suspicious package.

Police cordoned off an area of Princes Street after receiving reports of the item at around 12.30pm on Thursday.

Local media reported the package was sent to the Halifax building.

At the same time a suspicious package was found at the University of Glasgow campus in Dumfries.

Emergency services are at the scene and part of the campus was evacuated as a precaution.

It comes one day after police destroyed a device sent to the University of Glasgow in Glasgow.

Edinburgh Police tweeted: "We received a report of a suspicious package having been received at a business premises on Princes Street at around 12.30pm today.

"The building has been evacuated as a precaution & officers are in attendance to progress inquiries.

"We will provide further updates in due course."
J ohn Lewis has slashed its annual bonus to staff to the lowest level more than 60 years as it warned that Brexit uncertainty is having a major impact on customers.

The 83,000 workers at Britains biggest partnership will receive a top-up of just three per cent of their base salaries, the smallest since the Fifties.

It is down from five per cent last year and 15 per cent a decade ago - and is the sixth successive cut.

However, there will be some relief among staff as bosses at the department store and Waitrose supermarket group had warned in January that the bonus could be axed altogether for the first time since 1953.

John Lewis staff will see their annual bonus slashed / PA

Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said the cut would allow the business to hold on to a cash buffer to cope with the continuing uncertainty facing consumers and the economy.

The bonus payout will cost the business 44.7 million, down from 74 million last year.

Sir Charlie said: We anticipated that times were going to be tougher, weve made a big adjustment [in bonus]. I would like to see it rising in the future.

I wont anticipate heaps of joy but I think most partners will be pleased with the bonus and they will be thoughtful about it.

Underlying pre-tax profits for the year to 26 January were down 45 per cent from 292.8 million to 160 million after what Sir Charlie described as a challenging year.

Profits at John Lewis and Partners fell 55.5 per cent to 114.7 million but profits at Waitrose were up 18.1 per cent at 203.2 million. Group sales were up one per cent at 11.72 billion.

It was also revealed that five Waitrose stores employing a total of 400 people will be shut or sold on.

They are at Ashbourne, Derbyshire; Barry, Vale of Glamorgan; Blaby, Leicestershire and Teignmouth and Torquay, both in Devon.

Chairman Charlie Mayfield said: We dont expect massive [Waitrose] store closures. We have to make sure weve got the right size store estate and were making modest reductions to it.
T he Queen has posted her first ever message to Instagram as she opened the Science Museum's summer exhibition.

With the swipe of an iPad, she shared an image of a letter from 19th century inventor Charles Babbage to Prince Albert - her great-great-grandfather.

Known as the first ever computer pioneer, Babbage wrote to Albert in 1943 about his Analytical Engine, a machine that could make calculations using punched cards and had a memory unit to store numbers.

Onlookers applauded as the Queen shared the post to the royal family's official Instagram account's 4.6 million followers.

The Queen's post read: "In the letter, Babbage told Queen Victoria and Prince Albert about his invention, the Analytical Engine, upon which the first computer programmes were created by Ada Lovelace, a daughter of Lord Byron.

"Today, I had the pleasure of learning about children's computer coding initiatives and it seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post at the Science Museum, which has long championed technology, innovation and inspired the next generation of inventors."

The post quickly attracted more than 10,000 likes as fans replied to the post with delight.

"Were celebrating your first Instagram Post!! What a lovely way to demonstrate that you are so synchronized with technology," wrote one person.

"Magnificent woman, she belongs in the past, present and future of all of us," wrote another.

During her reign the Queen has encountered a rapidly-changing world of technology, from the advent of colour television to mobile phones and the internet.

Television cameras were allowed inside Westminster Abbey in 1953 to film her Coronation and more than half a million extra TV sets were sold in the weeks running up to the historic event.

Five years later, she made the first trunk call in the UK and, when email technology was in its infancy, she became the first monarch to send one of the electronic messages - during a visit to an Army base in 1976.

The concept of video-sharing website YouTube was explained to her by Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie before she launched her own channel on the site in 2007 to promote the British monarchy.

The Queen visits The Science Museum 1 /13 The Queen visits The Science Museum The Queen during her visit to The Science Museum Getty Images The Queen published her first Instagram post on The Royal Family's Instagram channel, to celebrate a visit to the Science Museum @RoyalFamily The post read: "Today, as I visit the Science Museum I was interested to discover a letter from the Royal Archives, written in 1843 to my great-great-grandfather Prince Albert. Charles Babbage, credited as the worlds first computer pioneer, designed the Difference Engine, of which Prince Albert had the opportunity to see a prototype in July 1843 In the letter, Babbage told Queen Victoria and Prince Albert about his invention the Analytical Engine upon which the first computer programmes were created by Ada Lovelace, a daughter of Lord Byron. Today, I had the pleasure of learning about childrens computer coding initiatives and it seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post, at the Science Museum which has long championed technology, innovation and inspired the next generation of inventors. Elizabeth R." Royal Collection Trust / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019 The Queen looks at an Enigma machine the Smith Centre Reuters Queen Elizabeth II arrives for her to visit to The Science Museum Getty Images The Queen unveils a plaque for the Smith Centre during a visit to the Science Museum REUTERS The Queen is presented with a bouquet of flowers during her visit Getty Images The Queen holds her bouquet during her visit Getty Images The Queen leaves after a visit to the Science Museum in London Reuters The Queen waves to onlookers Reuters The Queen arrives for her to visit Getty Images The Queen during her to visit Getty Images The Queen during her to visit Getty Images

Her own website, www.royal.gov.uk, was launched in 1997 during a visit to Kingsbury High School in Brent, north-west London.
S now could fall in Scotland and northern England in the coming days as temperatures fall across Britain, forecasters have said.

Temperatures are set to drop tonight as a widespread frost descends across the UK.

The mercury will plummet to low single figures, with higher grounds in Scotland seeing snowfall, the Met Office said.

Daytime temperatures in London and the south-east will be be between 9C and 12C in the coming days.

But in the Midlands, north of England and Scotland, the mercury could drop below zero overnight and be in the "low single figures" during the day.

Thursdays rain is set to clear, with Friday looking bright, sunny and dry, but conditions are unsettled into the weekend.

The Met Office said some snow may also fall on higher grounds in northern England on Sunday.

Frost and fog in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire / Steve Parsons/PA

Meteorologist Bonnie Diamond said: Its looking cloudy in Wales and central and northern England, with rain pushing eastwards for the rest of the day.

Itll be wet for much of central and south east England throughout the day, but brighter in Northern Ireland and western Scotland, with scattered showers.

That cloud and rain will move across tonight, with lower temperatures and clear skies leading to widespread frost in Scotland and northern England.

In the south, the frost will be patchy, but we can expect temperatures in the low single figures.

It will snow over higher ground in Scotland, which is normal for this time of year.

Tomorrow will have a bright start, sunny and dry, but a band of rain will push eastwards throughout the day. It could bring snow in higher parts.

Cold Weather 'Polar Vortex' arrives in London 1 /5 Cold Weather 'Polar Vortex' arrives in London People in winter coats and scarves cross Waterloo Bridge, in central London, as freezing air from Russia is to grip the UK in what is set to be the coldest late February in five years PA PA PA PA PA

Into the weekend it will be colder in the north and on higher grounds, with a chance of some snow to lower levels on Sunday in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.
M odel Waris Dirie today said she believed FGM will disappear in my lifetime as she unveiled a new video campaign directed by celebrity photographer Rankin.

The Somali-born activist, who was a victim of female genital mutilation when she was five, hopes the short film will break the silence around this cruel practice and make it clear that enough is enough.

Released today ahead of International Womens Day tomorrow, the video was commissioned by lingerie brand Coco de Mer and features Dirie, her sons Aleeke, 20, and Leon, nine, and other men and women declaring war on FGM.

It includes the chilling statistic that every seven seconds, a girl is at risk of being cut.

The film was commissioned by Coco de Mer and produced by Rankins advertising agency The Full Service alongside Diries Desert Flower Foundation, and sees the group holding King Protea flowers, which symbolise change and hope.

She told the Standard: FGM is not culture, it is an abuse of human rights. An abuse that is committed against women the world over and which concerns everyone the world over. It is about power and control and demonstrates the deep-rooted inequality between the sexes. Our film strives to make it clear that enough is enough.

Despite her urgency, Dirie said that there was cause for hope, pointing to a decline in rates of FGM in East Africa for girls under 14, and added: Today many young mothers and fathers in Africa are abandoning the cruel practice. I am sure FGM will disappear in my lifetime. By the end of the year she hopes to have 10 million signatures on a petition to eradicate FGM, before presenting it to the UN.

Dirie added: Lucy Litwack, the CEO of Coco de Mer, approached me to collaborate as Coco de Mer has always stood for the empowerment of women and this cause is one that is very close to their hearts.

"The importance of female pleasure has always been at the forefront of Coco de Mers values and FGM is a direct disabler of this - and that is why this campaign is so important to us.

"The film will bring FGM back into peoples minds and I am sure we will collect millions of signatures for our petition.
A woman and a homeless man have admitted conspiring in a GoFundMe scam in which they garnered hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Johnny Bobbitt, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering over the scheme, which raised $400,000 (300,000).

Katelyn McClure, 28, admitted conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The pair lied about Bobbit giving McClure cash for petrol when she was stranded on a motorway in Philadelphia in 2017.

Johnny Bobbitt, a homeless man charged with engaging in a GoFundMe scheme / AP

The fake tale of a homeless good Samaritan was posted on a GoFundMe online fundraising page and made international headlines, with the trio appearing on TV.

Bobbitt, of Philadelphia, conspired with McClure and her then-boyfriend Mark DAmico to concoct the story, prosecutors said.

The couple claimed money raised from the fundraiser would be donated to Bobbitt as a thank you for his help.

Instead, authorities said, the three split the money which was spent on a car, designer bags, and trips to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and New York City.

GoFundMe said it has refunded all the donations.

Bobbitt later sued the couple over what he said was their failure to turn money over to him.

New Jersey prosecutors said the suit led them to start an investigation, including hauling away a BMW they determined was purchased with the funds at the New Jersey home where McClure and D'Amico were living at the time.

All three still face charges in state court.
H uawei is launching legal action against the US government over a ban that would bar people from accessing its products.

The Chinese tech giant filed a lawsuit in Texas over the law that also labels the company a security risk.

Huawei, China's first global tech brand, is at the centre of US-Chinese tensions over technology competition and cyber-spying.

"We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort," the company's rotating chairman, Guo Ping, said.

Phone giant: Huawei faces charges in the US / Getty Images

The company has spent years trying to put to rest accusations it facilitates spying or is controlled by the ruling Communist Party.

Mr Guo said the ban would limit competition, slowing the roll out of fifth-generation communications and raising consumer prices.

US authorities "have hacked our servers and stolen our emails" but have presented no evidence to support their security claims, he said.

He complained that Washington was "sparing no effort to smear" the company

The company is challenging the US law as an unconstitutional "bill of attainder", or a measure that targets a specific individual for penalties without a trial.

Huawei said this infringes its due process rights and improperly has Congress play the role of a court.

The ban is "based on numerous false, unproven and untested propositions," said Song Liuping, the company's chief legal officer.
S cientists in America have developed wireless patches that monitor the vitals of premature babies and make it easier for parent-baby cuddling.

The team at the Northwestern University in Chicago created the soft, flexible wireless sensors to replace the tangle of wire-based sensors that currently monitor babies in neonatal intensive care units.

A study into how they work found the data was as precise and accurate as the wire-based sensors and were also gentler on a newborns skin.

They also made it easier for more skin-to-skin contact and physical bonding with parents.

The new wireless sensors on a model baby in a neonatal intensive care unit. / Northwestern University

The team has completed successful tests on 70 babies in intensive care units.

The mass of wires that surround newborns in the units are often bigger than the babies themselves, the researchers said.

Five or six wires are needed to connect electrodes on a baby to monitor vitals such as breathing, blood pressure, blood oxygen, and heartbeat and more.

While the wires ensure the babys health and safety, the researchers said they also constrain their movements and are a major barrier to physical bonding during a critical period of their development.

The wireless sensors allow for easier parent-baby cuddling and are gentler on babies' skin. / Northwestern University

Amy Paller, a paediatric dermatologist who co-led the study said: We know that skin-to-skin contact is so important for newborns  especially those who are sick or premature

Its been shown to decrease the risk of pulmonary complications, liver issues and infections. Yet, when you have wires everywhere and the baby is tethered to a bed, its really hard to make skin-to-skin contact.

The sensors are expected to be used in American hospitals within the next two or three years.
T he southern part of Mexico City was put on debris alert after an eruption at the volcano Popocatepetl.

A plume of ash spewed 1,200m into the air on Wednesday morning, according to Mexico's disaster prevention agency, prompting authorities to warn nearby residents.

A live feed from the scene shows clouds still billowing from the summit and spreading across the sky.

People were told to cover their mouths and noses with damp handkerchiefs in boroughs of the city including Coyoacan, Magdalena Contreras, Tlalpan, Tlahuac and Iztapalapa, according to local press.

Authorities are now watching the volcano, which stands at 5,426m, for further unusual activity.
A US senator who was the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat for the country has said she was raped by a superior officer while in the Air Force.

Martha McSally said she did not report the rape because distrusted the system and was ashamed and confused.

The Republican senator spoke about the incident at a hearing on sex assaults in the US military, which jumped almost 10 per cent in 2017.

Ms McSally said that when she first tried to talk about it to military officials, she felt like the system was raping me all over again.

She told the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on Wednesday: I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled.

Martha McSally speaks during a Senate Armed Subcommittee hearing on preventing sexual assault / REUTERS

"Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again."

An Air Force spokeswoman said the branch was appalled at and "deeply sorry" about what Ms McSally had experienced.

"The criminal actions reported today by Senator McSally violate every part of what it means to be an Airman," she said in a statement.

"And we stand behind her and all victims of sexual assault. We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behaviour and breach of trust in our ranks."

Politicians at the meeting also heard from other service members who spoke of being sexually assaulted while serving their country.

Ms McSally said she was impressed and grateful to the survivors who came forward to help change the system.

Victims mostly suffered in silence, she said.

She referred to "perpetrators" who had sexually assaulted her, an indication that she had been attacked more than once.

Ms McSally did not say whether the assaults happened at the academy or during active duty.
W hen it comes to our hoops earrings, we live by the motto that bigger is always better.

The timeless style is one of the most versatile jewellery pieces with innumerable variations. Whether you are looking for silver, gold or rose gold, elegant little options or larger attention-grabbing designs, circular, oval or bent, thick or thin, pendant embellished or plain  there is an option for every aesthetic.

The steadfast hoop stands the test of time as a dependable style that never seems to go out of fashion. Revamped season after season with new, contemporary twists that solidify their status as one of the most treasured pieces and a sure-fire jewellery staple.

Elevating monotone looks that need a touch of flair, the elegant earring style have forged their way to becoming an everyday essential, no longer simply reserved for a special occasion. Just look to the likes of Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Hailey Baldwin and Khloe Kardashian who are rarely spotted without a set of hoops.

We have selected our favourites for every price range, from under 20 to over 500, that you will be sure to cherish forever.

Hoop earrings under 20

Hoop earrings

A classic set of hoops like these Mango options are a staple. They have a highly sought-after thick design, a clip fastening and are made of brass with a metallic finish.

9.99 | Mango | Buy it now

Tortoisehell Large Hoop Earrings

Okay  we know these aren't gold or silver BUT Tortoiseshell earrings are one of our favourite trends this season that we are taking straight from our favourite street style stars to our shopping baskets. These options from PrettyLittleThing tap into the trend to bring a subtle touch of glam to your look all for a fiver.

5 | PrettyLittleThing | Buy it now

Curved Open Hoop Earring

These simple but elegant earrings from Cos take a more sculptural approach to a traditional hoop. The minimalistic, curved design has a brushed gold tone and an open back.

17 | Cos | Buy it now

Silver colour door knocker hoop earrings

Cover your jewellery basics with this River Island set of hoops.

8 | River Island | Buy it now

Monki faux pearl drop hoop earrings

Straight from the front row to our shopping baskets, we can't get enough of pearl drop hoop earrings and this option from Monki marks an affordable way to tap into the trend.

5 | ASOS | Buy it now

Hoop earrings under 50

Rippling Wave Hoop Earrings

& Other Stories has a charming selection of hoops that include these ripple wave earrings that have gone straight to the top of our wish list. Composed of brass, they are available in both a small and large variations.

27 | & Other Stories | Buy it now

Droplets Hoop Earrings

A bit of glitz and glam with these affordable hoops from Pandora. Composed of sterling silver with a diamante-embellishment made from an environmentally-friendly cubic zirconia.

45 | Pandora | Buy it now

Ripple Front Hoop Earrings

For an everyday pair of hoops that will add instant elevation to your look, Ania Haie offer this subtle ripple design set with a gold or rose gold plating.

29 | Ania Haie | Buy it now

Kenneth Jay Lane Gold-tone hoop earrings

The beauty of these Kenneth Jay Lane hoops comes in the lightweight design in these thick gold-tone beauties. Ideal for day to night, they are hollow with a high shine finish that makes them the perfect all-rounder, from the office to your weekend plans.

Gold Hoop Earrings

Handcrafted from 21ct gold-plated brass, these hoops are effortlessly chic and designed to be worn everyday.

26 | Wolf & Badger | Buy it now

Hoop earrings under 100

Mejuri Trio Hoops

Why opt for just one hoop when you can have three interlocking drop hoops. This set is handcrafted in 18k gold vermeil on sterling silver and can be delivered to the UK with no additional fees.

$69 | Mejuri | Buy it now

Stilla Hoop Earrings

A leather jacket, a well-fitting pair of jeans and a versatile set of hoops should feature in every fashionistas wardrobe and these Astley Clarke earrings will certainly cover the latter. Available in yellow and rose gold vermeil as well as sterling silver, they are ideal for layering but could very much hold their own.

70 | Astley Clarke | Buy it now

20/20 Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings

Links of Londons signature link motif is replicated on this covetable set of hoops that are available in both sterling silver and a two-tone silver and gold alternative. They can be paired with the matching 20/20 Interlocking Necklace or mix and matched with other jewellery for a sophisticated touch.

85 | Links of London | Buy it now

Rachel Jackson London Shooting star hoops

Bring a touch of magic to your jewellery collection with this must-have set of Rachel Jackson hoops. The statement pieces have an eye-catching shooting star addition and are offered in sterling silver and gold plating.

70 | Harvey Nichols | Buy it now

Duo Hoops Yellow gold vermeil

Why settle for one hoop when you can have two? This stacked set offers double the fun, with a nod to the environment as the eco-conscious brand uses planet-friendly materials.

89 | Otiumberg | Buy it now

Hoop earrings 100 +

Deconstruct Hoops by Pamela Love

Mega cool girl Pamela Love is a NYC based jewellery designer and one of our favourite people to lovably envy via Instagram. Her designs are sleek, powerful and entirely original. Her in-house creations range from gorgeous pendant necklaces, bespoke wedding bands, inlay earrings and prized everyday pieces.

$150 | Pamela Love | Buy it now

Nora Aytch Baguette rainbow hoop earrings

We have officially found the colourful hoops of our dreams. American-born Lebanese designer Nora Habbal is offering these gorgeous rainbow pairings with baguette-cut stones  it's love at first sight and we have fallen hard.

105 | Harvey Nichols | Buy it now

Thomas Sabo Hoop Earrings

These vintage-inspired hoops from Thomas Sabo take your traditional hoops and have given them an eye-catching detail. The hoops  which are available in both sterling silver and 18k gold plating  up the ante with a dazzling Zirconia embellishment.

From 149 | Thomas Sabo | Buy it now

Lucy Williams x Missoma Large Orb Hoops

You will be hard pressed to choose just one set of hoops from the extensive, enviable range at Missoma - but our favourite has got to be the Orb Hoops. The jewellery label has partnered up with fashion blogger Lucy Williams to create these highly sought-after options that take inspiration from ancient Rome.

125 | Missoma | Buy it now

Mega Hoop Earrings

The sister duo behind Soru prove that bigger is always better with this Sicilian-inspired set. The hoops are adorned with Swarovski pearls and an ornamental detailing that you give us serious holiday vibes. Wear this pair from summer days spent on the Amalfi Coast to city breaking in Paris or Rome.

240 | Soru | Buy it now

Rejina Pyo Iris gold-tone hoop earrings

This seasons favourite print that has officially taken over your wardrobe from your clothes, to your accessories, and it has even hit your jewellery collection. These leopard hoops from Rejina Pyo take a contemporary approach to the timeless hoop design and we cant get enough.

245 | Harvey Nichols | Buy it now

Apples & Figs Baroque pearl golden hoops

This versatile set of hoops has an exquisite yet removable pearl pendant so you can constantly switch up your look with just one set of earrings. The baroque freshwater pearl adornment has a sparkly embellishment with white cubic zirconia, while the hoops are sterling silver with a 24k gold plating.

358 | Harvey Nichols | Buy it now

Tiffany & Co.Hoop Earrings

You really cant go wrong with a pair of hoops from Tiffany & Co. and this glittering set takes it to the next level with round brilliant diamonds. Taking inspiration from the sparkle of the city skyline, the stones are set on 18k gold hoops.

2,575 | Tiffany & Co. | Buy it now

Jennifer Meyer 18-karat gold diamond hoop earrings

LA-based jewellery designer Jennifer Meyer is well-known for her timeless designs that combine gold jewellery pieces with dazzling details. This handmade set of hoops will make an elegant addition to your jewellery collection.

See all hoop earrings on Net-A-Porter here.

Cartier Love Earrings

Match your classic Cartier love bracelet with the coordinating earrings. Gift your loved one or yourself this set for a truly special present they will cherish forever.
I dris Elba will replace Will Smith in the sequel to Suicide Squad, reports suggest.

Sources told the Hollywood Reporter that the British star is in talks with Warner Bros to take over the role of assassin Deadshot.

Elba is thought to have met with director James Gunn last week, with insiders telling the industry publication that the 46-year-old was the first and only choice for Gunn and the studio.

Standard Online has contacted Elbas representatives for further comment.

Scheduling conflicts: Will Smith is no longer able to star in the Suicide Squad sequel

Smith reportedly stepped down from the project last month due to scheduling conflicts, with a source telling Variety that the decision was made on amicable terms between both sides with no hard feelings.

The first Suicide Squad movie also starred Viola Davis and Cara Delevingne, and grossed $746 million (approximately 567 million) worldwide.

Further casting details for the new film have not been announced, with stars Jared Leto (who played the Joker) and Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) yet to confirm whether they will return for the sequel.

Robbie will reprise her superhero role in the spin-off movie Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), which is currently in production.

The sequel, titled The Suicide Squad, is currently slated for release in August 2021.

New role: Elba will soon star in his own Netflix series / Nick Wall/Netflix

Elba will also star in Netflix series Turn Up Charlie, where he will play a struggling DJ searching for one last big break.

The show, on which the actor also served as an executive producer, will debut on the streaming service on March 15.
I n 2010, the Sutton Trust Mobility Manifesto said around 60 per cent of pupils who receive free school meals do not pass their maths and English GCSEs.

Passing the Maths GCSE is particularly important for continuing on to further education and getting a job. As then-skills minister Matt Hancock said back in 2013: For lots of employers if you dont have a C in English and maths you dont get that foot in the door.

This is what Curvestone wants to solve with its latest project, On-Demand, in partnership with Tutorfair. The AI-focused start-up has created a WhatsApp-style app that connects underprivileged students with tutors to help them with their maths GCSE queries.

Though in a pilot stage, the idea is that pupils will gain access to help they otherwise couldn't afford, and provide a means of social mobility.

Heres how it works.

On-Demand: WhatsApp-style maths tutoring

Curvestone and Tutorfair received a 150,000 grant from Nesta to launch its On-Demand service. Its currently running a pilot programme with 36 schools in London, which have over 50 per cent of students receiving free school meals, a known indicator of families living in poverty.

The organisation goes into schools and trains up the teachers and students on how to use the platform. It is live during homework hours, 6-9pm during the evenings and at the weekends. Students take a picture of the question they're struggling with and post it on the app, and then a tutor will respond.

The volunteer tutors are supplied by Tutorfair, another ed-tech start-up which two of Curvestones co-founders, CTO Sebastian Kotur and CDO Breanna Yen, previously worked at.

Disadvantaged children dont feel entitled or sometimes dont know how to ask for help, CEO and co-founder Dawid Kotur tells the Standard. If you go home where maybe there isnt a full family there or the family works shifts, the last thing they think about is to ask for help.

The cool thing is that they dont need to know how to ask for help. All they have to do is take a photo and the tutor will figure out what help they need.

What benefit will On-Demand bring?

The recent pilot launched in October 2017 but Curvestone will have to wait until August when the 2019-2020 GCSE results come out to see if the platform is making a difference. So far, the organisation is seeing some notable statistics in its own measurements.

Around 70 per cent of users are female, and when Curvestone on-boards a school, around 20 to 30 per cent of pupils become active users.

As well, Curvestone is able to extract data from pupils' queries and feed it back to the schools. If were getting most of a class logging in and asking about recurring numbers, we feed that back to the teachers, explains Yen.

This is something the teachers ask for and then we can help them to understand how kids are getting what they are teaching, adds Kotur.

Curvestone also wants to help the tutors, which is where the AI element of the organisations work comes in. The company is using machine learning to analyse the transcripts of conversations between tutors and students to assess a tutors performance. This information is fed back to the tutor to help them with their work.

They find it really valuable, says Yen. Tutoring is quite a lonely industry and you dont get much feedback because youre usually only one-on-one with a student and theyre not really qualified to give it.

It can also help Curvestone, and therefore its tutors, understand the best way to approach teaching. Already, the company is seeing a correlation between how tutors teach and the regularity of how often students come back. Given that all On-Demands tutors volunteer for the platform, Curvestone says this feedback is a way to pay them for their time.

We want to provide really good training because thats kind of our way to pay them back, so they can improve as they teach, explains Kotur.

Using AI for good

To improve the On-Demand offering, Curvestone took part in Facebooks recent LDN_LAB accelerator programme, which focused on start-ups using deep tech for good. Specifically, the organisation wanted to increase its number of active users and hoped to use Facebooks expertise to do that, as well as improving its AI tech.

However, Kotur and Yen both say that one of the major benefits of the programme was access to mentors. They worked alongside a Facebook product manager, Tom Goldsmith, who has sold one ed-tech start-up in the past, as well as Guillaume Bouchard, who founded the AI start-up, Bloomsbury AI, Facebook acquired last year.

Their main mentor was Pancham Gajjar, a product marketing manager at Facebook, a former engineer.

[Goldsmith] gave us so much practical advice on how to sell to schools, says Yen.

Those kind of little gold nuggets that usually take you months to figure out yourself, adds Kotur.

LDN LAB officially wraps up this week, but Curvestone has plans to continue On-Demand. Its waiting to see the results from this years pilot, and will hopefully use this to scale the app across the country to reach more schools.
A lthough the statistics on women in tech are grim reading  just 17 per cent of the 2.1 million people working in technology in the UK are women, and female founders only receive 1p of every 1 of venture capital  times are changing.

From leading start-ups to getting girls into STEM, women are revolutionising tomorrows world. Here are five of the most influential in Londons tech scene.

Tech is democratising the world

Tobi Oredein, 29, based in east London, founder of lifestyle platform Black Ballad

Tobi Oredein founded website Black Ballad, a publishing platform for women of colour, in 2016

Oredein was interning at a fashion magazine in 2014 when she came up with the idea of a website that would elevate the voices of black British women. I felt like all the magazines I loved to pick up and read werent representing women of colour and there just werent enough black women in the room. I thought, Im going to create something and see what happens.

A video of her stating: White womens media cares more about avocados than it does about black women went viral in 2016, helping Black Ballad crowdfund 11,000 in six weeks.

It is now on an accelerator programme at Kings College London, which provides mentoring and free office space.

But it hasnt been easy. I call it the concrete ceiling  sexism and racism. Theres a perception that tech is not for us and a lack of mentors. I only ever saw white women in tech and Im often the only black woman on the panel at events. People talk to my husband and co-founder rather than to me, and he has to keep bringing me into the coversation, but it is getting better.

Black Ballad now has articles on everything from Nigerias film industry to caring for natural hair when you have depression. Thats why I love technology  Ive been able to create a platform for women who were underserved, says Oredein. Tech is democratising the world.

Its important for women to have cheerleaders

Claire Valoti, 40, based in Belsize Park, international vice-president of Snap Inc

Claire Valoti, international VP of Snap Inc, Snapchat's parent company

As Snapchats most senior female executive outside the US, leading the companys international business from its London HQ, Valoti says its good to be home.

I grew up at my parents B&B in Kings Cross and went to school locally, she says. London continues to be an amazing city for innovation and it attracts great talent.

Poached from Facebook by Snap founder Evan Spiegel in 2015, she says her experience as a woman in tech has been overwhelmingly positive, adding: I became involved in digital and then mobile early on, and while it was a steep learning curve Ive never felt that any obstacle was put in my way due to the fact that Im a woman. When I went for the interview at Snap I was heavily pregnant and the company was prepared to be flexible and to wait for me.

She emphasises how vital it has been to have strong female mentors. Its important for women to have what I call their cheerleaders around them who believe in them wholeheartedly and who they can lean on for support and advice.

Snap now has 186 million daily active users. Im passionate about the culture weve created and the fact that we are trying to do something different, says Valoti. I was in a role many years ago where I didnt like the culture of the team. It made me appreciate the importance of ensuring you love what you do.

Her advice to women wanting to get into tech is to be yourself: Tech companies value people bringing their whole selves to it. People connect on a human level and thats how you succeed.

Were empowering women

Louise Troen, 31, based in Primrose Hill, vice-president of international marketing and communications at Bumble

Louise Toren, VP of international marketing and communications at Bumble

From organising a secret Kelis gig in Shoreditch to emblazoning Glass ceilings make great dancefloors on billboards across London, Troen says that theres never a dull moment working at Bumble. I love that I get to help women feel strong, she says. And that I get to create experiences that make peoples lives a little bit more fun.

She was working in fashion PR until a chance meeting with Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd led to her joining The Hive, and everything Ive learned from the tech world has been from Whitney. Shes trailblazed her way through the industry by not succumbing to stereotypes or distractions.

Bumbles on a mission to do more than facilitate dates. So much of what we do is about empowering women. We recently launched Women in Bizz, a feature that lets women network exclusively to other women, Troen says.

Were in the second round of our Female Film Force initiative, which grants five female directors, writers or producers 20,000 to make a short film. Im about to launch a podcast, 'Bumble Presents: Unsubscribe with Jada Sezer', which aims to encourage positive thought patterns.

She adds that bringing more women into tech will benefit everyone. Technology needs to represent the community its made for, so we need an equal number of men and women of all different ethnicities and sexualities. If we have to get to the point of developing quotas then that should happen.

If you can see it, you can be it

Kathryn Parsons, 36, based in Marylebone, co-founder and CEO of tech education company Decoded

When Parsons co-founded Decoded in 2011, she did so armed only with a credit card and an office on a building site. It now teaches people about coding, data, AI and machine learning in 65 cities worldwide.

In 2014 she successfully campaigned to get coding onto the school curriculum  making Britain the second country after Estonia to do so. I didnt know any other women in tech when I started out so it was scary but things have changed now, she says.

I wish more women knew that you dont need a STEM degree to work in this industry. I got my degree in classics. For me, code is just another language.

While STEM subjects arent essential, Parsons acknowledges that girls opting out of them at 16 is a key reason behind the gender imbalance. Initiatives like Founders 4 Schools led are opening up girls options, she says. Lets keep celebrating diverse female role models, because if you can see it you can be it.

This year, Decoded is supporting Women Supporting Women, The Princes Trust initiative helping women through education, employment and entrepreneurship. My advice to other women is you can do anything you want, and that includes in technology. What compels me is not just how powerful these new tools are, but how easy they are to learn.

Tech needs the perspective of women with families

Hannah Feldman, 40, based in Finchley, founder of the app Kidadl

Hannah Feldman, founder of Kidadl / Matthew Ferguson

For Feldman, having small children wasnt a barrier to launching a start-up, it was the inspiration. My twins were two when I realised it would change my life if there was something that could help me find something to do in my area, for my budget, at the touch of a button, she says.

With co-founder Sophie Orman she built Kidadl, which helps parents plan days out as a family, from bubble-making to whittling workshops. Theyve since teamed up with Disney and Wembley Stadium, and have 112,000 members.

Being two female co-founders made it tough at first, Feldman says. Theres still a real old boys club in tech but a sisterhood is emerging. People like to back people who look like them, so we need to change the custodians of the money, make sure theres more diversity.

Building the app has been the journey of a lifetime, she says. It takes you to the edge. But helping parents has been motivating. I know the impact of seeing the world with your kids. She now has three children under six and wishes more women with young children werent put off by the notoriously long hours in the start-up scene.
Countries & Areas

Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe
Governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Mugur Isarescu, on February 28 - March 5, paid an official visit to the People's Republic of China, answering thus to an invitation extended by Governor of the People's Bank of China Yi Gang , according to a press release of the BNR.

On the occasion of this visit, the BNR delegation carried out meetings with the leadership of the People's Bank of China and that of the Asian International Infrastructure Bank.

Discussions focused on the promotion of the bilateral financial cooperation, economic and global financial developments, as well as other related topics.
The Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIB) could set up representative offices in the European countries with a strong Romanian community, such as Italy, CCIB Chairman Sorin Dimitriu said on Thursday at the business forum 'Romania-Italy, restoring investor confidence in the Romanian economy'.

"Today's event is part of a partnership strategy aimed at presenting the attractiveness of the Romanian business environment. There is something specific about the representative offices of the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce in the sense that they are accompanied by permanent exhibitions. This year we set ourselves as a goal to open a representative office in each Central Asia and Egypt. We will probably open such an office in the Balkans, as we are now having talks with Greece and Serbia. We also want to open representative offices in the European countries with strong Romanian communities, such as Italy. I consider this extremely important," Dimitriu said.

According to data from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Italy is one of Romania's main economic partners in terms of both trade and investment, and is ranked 5th by the invested capital and first by the number of companies present on the market.

According to National Trade Register Office statistics, the number of Italian-owned companies registered in Romania was 47,365 as of January 31, 2019, with a total invested capital of 2,608 billion euro (10.62 billion lei) and a market share of 5.78 pct.

The Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized on Thursday together with Romania's Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Italy and in partnership with the European Academy for Economic and Cultural Relations in Rome (AEREC) and the National Coalition for the Modernization of Romania the 33rd edition of the business forum 'Romania-Italy, restoring investor confidence in the Romanian economy'.
Chairman of the Szekler National Council (CNS) Izsak Balazs on Thursday said after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) set aside the judgment of the General Court and annulled the European Commission's decision by which they refused to register the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) titled "Cohesion Policy for the Equality of the Regions and Sustainability of the Regional Cultures", that by this decision not only the Szeklers and their allies from the Basque country stand to win, but all the European Union's countries, including Romania and Slovakia, that were against it.

Today, at 9:30 the CJEU delivered its judgment. The Citizens' Initiative conceived by the CNS has been forwarded to the European Commission in June 2013 and it was denied by the latter on reason that on the proposed topic the EC has no competence. I was sure the EC was wrong, was interpreting wrongly the community law and this is even included in the CJEU's press release, in its very title, where it says: "The Commission erred in law by refusing to register the European citizens' initiative aimed at improving the situation of national minority regions."

This morning a legal battle, which took place firstly at the General Court, then at the CJEU, has come to an end. In a first instance, the General Court sided with the EC, we appealed this decision too with the CJEU. The essential matter about today's ruling is that it provides for the annulment of the General Court decision and the rebuttal of the 2013 annulment by which the EC refused our initiative. (...) Those sides that were against us in the trial - the EC, Romania and Slovakia - are not defeated either because the initiative's contents itself provides measures that guarantee the harmonious development of the EU. Not only the Szeklers and our allies from the Basque country stand to win, but all the EU countries, Romania and Slovakia included. Should the Szeklers do well, should money enter the Szeklers' land from the cohesion funds, then that money enters Romania, Izsak Balazs told a news conference in central Targu Mures.

He said that now everything depends on the European Commission, which has two months to register the initiative of the Szekler National Council.
German Consul Hans E. Tischler said on Thursday that the German investors in Transylvania intend to maintain their businesses because they feel good here.

Hans E. Tischler said he visits very often German companies in all of Transylvania and finds that German companies still feel good here and want to stay.

According to the cited source, over the past 12 years, German firms have created hundreds of thousands of jobs in Transylvania.

"Since 2007, increasingly more German companies have been established here that have provided high-quality, technologically-advanced jobs. A lot has been invested in research, development and several hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created," said Consul Hans E. Tischler.

The Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sibiu would further like "investors to find good conditions to keep these ties and develop them."

German companies were threatening to cut back business or abandon it, following a decision to raise the minimum wage in November 2018.

"In the last four years, the minimum wage has doubled, without productivity being able to keep pace with these increases. To ensure that wage rise is also linked to productivity growth, it is particularly important for German companies in Romania that the Romanian Government invest massively and urgently in vocational and university education as well as in infrastructure projects. However, it is still imperative that the Government create stable and economically sustainable framework conditions for the economic environment. (...) Therefore, we advocate for a close correlation between wage increases and increased labor productivity," a release from the Romanian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry read in November 2018.
Romania's Embassy in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Wednesday organised a session of consultations with representatives of the political parties and of the Romanian citizens' associations in the UK on the organisation and unfolding of the elections to the European Parliament due on 26 May 2019, a press release sent to AGERPRES on Thursday informs.

The event was attended by representatives with PSD (the Social Democratic Party, major at rule, ed.n), PNL (the National Liberal Party), the USR-PLUS (Save Romania Union - Unity, Liberty and Solidarity Party) Alliance, ProRomania, Romania 100 Platform, Diaspora for Romania, the United Diaspora Movement.

"We wanted to have this discussion in order to find out your opinions and propositions on these matters. We shall analyse them with the greatest possible openness, and we'll see to what extent we can enforce them," the Romanian Ambassador to the UK, Dan Mihalache, told the participants, as quoted in the release.

Mihalache emphasised that the Embassy of Romania in the UK, along with the Consulate General in Manchester and the Consulate General in Edinburgh, will do whatever it takes to ensure the best conditions for the Romanian citizens in the UK to exercise their right to vote.
Deputy Prime Minister Daniel Suciu told a Thursday's press conference in Arad that he is convinced that President Klaus Iohannis will promulgate the budget "on the last day" on which he will be able to do so, underlining that the law will be sent from Parliament for promulgation in the form in which it originally came to the head of state.

"He is the only president to block the budget of his own country by attacking it at the Constitutional Court," Deputy Prime Minister Daniel Suciu said.

He said he is convinced that Iohannis will do everything in his power to delay the promulgation and that "the budget is expected by the beneficiaries of all the projects in the country."

"We should not wait for a president who is on an electoral campaign he will not let go of, it seems, and he started too early anyway," said Deputy prime minister.

Daniel Suciu also said that in his public intervention the president did not offer concrete reasons for declining the promulgation.

"In the 8 minutes and 53 seconds of yesterday [Wednesday]'s presidential speech, he did not give us any real figures, and why he sent back this budget," the deputy prime minister said.
The National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) announced on Thursday that it sent an address to the Financial Times with a view to rectifying some "unreal information" that Minister of Justice Tudorel Toader would have sent in a letter to the publication, informs a DNA press release.

"With reference to the letter sent by the Minister of Justice of Romania, Tudorel Toader, reproduced by the publication you are representing in the March 7 edition, the Office of Information and Public Relations of the National Anticorruption Directorate is empowered to specify the following: Considering that the data on which the Minister of Justice's argument is based are not real, which is likely to affect the truth value of the conclusion of the matters presented about DNA activity, for the correct information of public opinion, we present the actual data, resulting from the official statistics, on the investigations that concern magistrates, most of these investigations being opened following complaints / denunciations received from persons dissatisfied with the solutions in civil or criminal cases in which those persons were involved," the DNA press release states.

For example, the anti-corruption prosecutors show, to maintain that DNA has exerted a form of pressure on magistrates judging in criminal cases, Mr. Minister points out that the newly formed magistrates' section - the Judiciary Crime Investigation Section - took over 1,422 files from DNA, and almost 70 percent were put together ex officio, not as a result of any complaint or denunciation.

"In fact, when it began its activity, the said Section took over from DNA a total of 275 files in the works, of which 34 ex officio complaints, which means 12 percent," DNA adds.

"Another example refers to the Minister of Justice's statement that during the mandate of Laura Kovesi [former prosecutor-in-chief, ed.n.], DNA opened investigations on 3,420 judges and prosecutors, more than half of the total number of magistrates in Romania. In fact, the total number of investigations regarding the magistrates registered with DNA during the period 01.01.2014 - 30.07.2018 (4 years and 7 months) was 2,396, of which, during the same period, 1,922 were classified files because the complaints were found to be groundless," DNA further maintains in the letter sent to the newspaper.

DNA also states that of these cases, only 10.4 percent were ex officio, and it therefore appears that most of the files were opened following complaints by individuals or legal persons. Moreover, 521 complaints do not include the name of the magistrate or the institution to which he/she belongs.

The anti-corruption prosecutors also state that, according to the Romanian legislation, there is the obligation that any notification (complaint, denunciation) received by the Prosecutors' Offices, which meets the conditions of form, be registered as a criminal case.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Melescanu on Wednesday welcomed First Deputy PM for Foreign Affairs and the special emissary of the PM of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son, in which context, the head of the Romanian diplomacy voiced his appreciation for the dynamism of the political dialogue over the last years and highlighted the Romanian side's interest in strengthening the economic relations, growth and diversification of the trade exchanges between the two states, a Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) release sent to AGERPRES informs.

Minister Teodor Melescanu underscored Romania's commitment, as member state currently holding the Presidency at the Council of the EU, for signing the Free Trade Agreement and the Agreement on Protection of EU-Vietnam Investments as soon as possible.

Moreover, during the talks with Secretary of State for global affairs Monica Gheorghita there were reviewed the current stage of bilateral relations and the prospects for strengthening sectoral cooperation in such fields as agriculture, energy, education.The two dignitaries had an exchange of opinion with respect to the modalities of encouraging bilateral trade, the promotion of Romanian products on the Vietnamese market and the organisation of business events with the support of the chambers of commerce and industries of the two countries, the above mentioned release informs.A priority on the agenda of discussions was the assesment of the current stage of the EU - Vietnam dialogue and steps to be made in signing the Free Trade Agreement and the Agreement on Protection of EU-Vietnam Investments, informs the same source.The two parties also approached the cooperation opportunities at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), where the secretary of state for global bilateral affairs reiterated the invitation extended to the Vietnamese part to participate in the events organised in Romania, in May 2019, the ASEM Education Ministers Meeting and the Conference of ASEF Rectors and Students, reads the release
The Romanian Government assumes the letter sent by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader to the Financial Times, Deputy Prime Minister Daniel Suciu on Thursday told a press conference at the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) seat in the western city of Arad, adding that (the letter, ed. n.) "accurately reflects the reality of the judiciary in Romania, it is a mirror of what has happened in the past years."

"Mr. Minister Tudorel Toader's letter (...) is assumed by Romania's Government, all the information is true and I totally agree with everything mentioned in it. After all, I think that absolutely everybody should know what has happened, not just one side or the other. I haven't seen other people outraged when there was a magistrates' tracking special section with DNA [the National Anti-corruption Directorate, ed.n.] and this section produced over 3,200 files on prosecutors and justices. You tell me if this tool dubbed special section with DNA cannot become a form of pressure and blackmail of certain magistrates," Daniel Suciu stressed.

When asked whether he was personally consulted before the letter was sent, the Deputy Premier emphasised: "It is a document assumed by the Government of Romania, I believe I've made my point."

Asked whether he knew about a probable payment to the Financial Times for the publication of Minister Toader's letter, Suciu replied that he knows nothing of a paid article, that he only knew a letter was sent to be published.

The Romanian mainstream media on Thursday presented information regarding a letter sent by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader to the Financial Times, in which former DNA head Laura Codruta Kovesi is criticised, with the Romanian Justice minister stating she should not be appointed head of the European Prosecutor's Office.
The government did not pledge to support the bid for the position of EU Chief Prosecutor of a person who stands under the shadow of alleged crimes, government sources said on Thursday.

According to the cited sources, the reasons are not personally related to Laura Codruta Kovesi, who is running for European Chief Prosecutor, but to public information emerged about the former head of the National Anticorruption Directorate.

The Victoria Palace sources also said that, as Romania, in its capacity as President of the Council of the European Union, is required to act as an impartial mediator and one of the candidates is Romanian, the selection process for this position was led by Finland, the country that will take over at the EU helm from Romania.
The relationship between the reserve requirement for magistrates and the freedom of expression in the light of the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights was among the subjects discussed on Thursday by the leadership of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice with ECHR President Guido Raimondi.

According to a release of the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office, other subjects discussed on the same occasion were rendering operational Protocols Nos. 14 and 16 to the European Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms - as a means of streamlining work and for a better interpretation of the Convention, the use of digital instruments for the exchange of case law, the possibility to designate constitutional courts as well as high jurisdictions to issue advisory opinions, justice independence and impartiality, the separation and balance of state powers, the phenomenon of public life juridification.

The major groups of pending cases against Romania (related to detention conditions, violence against children or women) were also identified and presented.

Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar highlighted on this occasion the involvement of national judge Iulia Motoc in organizing the dialogue between the magistrates and other legal professions in the implementation of the national project carried out between 2017-2018 - "Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Criminal Investigation Stage", a project aimed at developing responsibility and professionalism in the activity of prosecutors, ensuring the observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with Romania's Constitution, with the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, the procedures of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights, ECHR and CJEU jurisprudence.

"Judge Guido Raimondi noted the cultural dimension of the Public Prosecution Office's activity, the sensitivity of the said institution's magistrates to the issue of human rights, and the willingness to strengthen institutional capacity in order to comply with the Convention, as a better enforcement thereof in the signatory countries is the solution to reducing the number of cases in the Court's dockets," the release said.

The working meeting was also attended by judge Iulia Motoc - Romania's representative to the ECHR, Roderick Liddell - ECHR Chief Registrar, Nicolae Solomon - deputy President of CSM's Prosecutors' Section, CSM members Codrut Olaru and Mihai Cristian Ban, the leadership of the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office, chief prosecutors of the prosecutor's offices attached to appellate courts and prosecutors of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice.
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated on Wednesday that First Vice-President of the European Commission (EC) Frans Timmermans appreciated the "remarkable" manner in which Romania exercised the rotating Presidency of the EU Council according to Agerpres.

"Today, I met First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, we carried out a constructive dialogue, we will also meet during his visit to Romania. He showed commended the remarkable manner in which we exercised the mandate as the rotating Presidency, mentioning that the the team which I coordinated alongside the ministers, together with Romania's Representation in Brussels obtained very good results on an important number of files," Dancila said in an interview for private broadcaster Antena 3.

She added that this thing shows the appreciation which the European Commission has regarding Romania's Government, an appreciation coming from Brussels and, unfortunately, not from the President of Romania."I see President Iohannis speaking many times about the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, speaking about some good things that are going on, but, behind these things, behind the closed files, behind the European agenda, there is, in fact, the Government of Romania, the ministers of the Government, whom he blames so much," the Prime Minister said.Prime Minister Viorica Dancila was welcomed on Wednesday by First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans within a working visit that she is paying to Brussels.
AGERPRES special correspondent Oana Ghita reports: Prime Minister Viorica Dancila delivered a speech within a conference organised in Brussels about gender equality and the efforts put in by the Romanian Presidency at the EU Council on this matter, underscoring that "women can be wise and charismatic leaders."

"As the Prime Minister of Romania, as a woman, I strongly believe that women have equal rights with men, that they have the power and determination to bring welfare and development to the society and, especially, that they can be wise and charismatic leaders, who can create a better version of the current world," she stated in the "Born to be Leaders" conference, organised in Brussels, at the headquarters of the Permanent Representation of Romania to the EU.

Dancila stated that efforts must be put in for gender equality in terms of reducing the salary gap between female and male employees, but also in terms of encouraging the balance between the family life and the professional one."As Prime Minister, as the first female Prime Minister in Romania's history, I want to give you an advice: each one of us, each one of you, each women must have confidence in herself, because, if we don't trust ourselves, we cannot ask others to believe in us," Viorica Dancila conveyed.The PM talked about the efforts of the Romanian Presidency on gender equality topic: "I am proud to be able to say that Romania is one of the main supporters at European level of initiatives aimed at ensuring equal opportunities throughout the European space. One of the major objectives of the Romanian Presidency at the Council of the European Union is the equality of chances between women and men on the labor market, " the PM pointed out.In her view, gender equality "can significantly boost the economic growth potential." "I have the deep belief that the equality between men and women is a pillar of fair, cohesive and future-oriented societies, in the context in which the promotion of diversity and equal opportunities concepts represent essential levers of a developed society and a high-level reference to human consciousness and social equity in essence," the head of the Executive highlighted.She mentioned that equality between men and women "represents also a fundamental principle of the European right and the foundation which the European construction is built on.""Both from a national and European perspective, the economic autonomy of women, as a pillar of gender equality, needs the adoption of measures to diminish the salary differences between women and men, the encouragement of entrepreneurship among women and the promotion of some actions contributing to a better representation of women in decision-making positions at the level of both public and private institutions," PM Dancila added.The PM also talked about the gap between the EU member states regarding gender equality."It is necessary to reduce the gap between the European Union member states regarding the roles and positions of women in the society, by finding a balance between women's and men's incomes, in view of strengthening their economic autonomy," Dancila highlighted.In this context, she mentioned gender inequalities in the world. "Despite all these absolutely remarkable developments, gender inequality between women and men persists, contributing to one of the most severe breeches of human rights. Inequalities and discrimination between women and men continue to manifest in the most diverse ways throughout the world. At global level, four out of five victims of human trafficking are girls. For the same amount of labour, women are paid only 77 percent of their colleagues' salaries. There are parts of the world where girls are still denied access to education and around the world, one third of the members of the National Parliaments are women," the Prime Minister explained.The debate was also attended by Vice-President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Maria Joao Rodrigues and DG Just Director General Tiina Astola
A joint committee consisting of members of the Bucharest Gov't and Brussels' officials will discuss the points of the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM) in the following period, and further details will be set out next week, government sources asserted on Thursday.

The initiative of such a committee was agreed upon on Wednesday in Brussels by the visiting Romanian Prime minister and the First Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, with the said team to be made up of members of the European Commission, of the Romanian government and experts, the above-mentioned sources stated.

Each point of the CVM report will be canvassed by the specialists, one of the targets being the lifting of the CVM for Romania before the end of the European Commission's mandate, this fall.

According to the sources, the talks will not address the laws already passed by the Romanian Parliament, since their annulment would be a violation of the fundamental law.
At a CFSP/CSDP conference in Bucharest on Thursday, President of the Romanian Senate Calin Popescu-Tariceanu urged the Western Balkan countries to overcome their differences so that the European Union's sustainable commitment to internal and external reconciliation may be reconfirmed as preconditions for EU membership according to Agerpres.

"In the parliaments we represent, we need to promote legislative formulas to support the development of resilient societies, especially in the front lines, and at the same time we must be more decisive players in our eastern and southern neighbourhoods to make sure that our partners have the means to promote and defend democracy, freedom and human dignity. We welcome the determination, perseverance and courage demonstrated by the political and civic actors that have enabled the implementation of the Prespa Agreement - an important cornerstone of peace and security in South-Eastern Europe. We strongly invite decision makers in the region to capitalise on this achievement in resolving long-standing conflicts, particularly under the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. Let us reconfirm loud and clear the European Union's sustained commitment to internal and external reconciliation as preconditions for EU membership and urge the Western Balkan countries to overcome their remaining disagreements," Tariceanu said Thursday at Parliament Palace at the opening of the 14th Inter-Parliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP/CSDP).

He pointed out that the Black Sea region is one of the most important to EU security, which is why "European institutions need to increase their visibility in policies and adopt a clearer and better articulated regional approach.""Given the context, we are worried about the militarisation of the Azov Sea as an aspect of aggression and violation of international law that threatens the security of the entire region. Romania has consistently acted to influence positively the course of the Republic of Moldova towards EU accession also by supporting national efforts to bring the Moldovan institutions up to European standards, as well as by strengthening cultural, economic and social interconnections. The beneficial and close relationship between the EU and the Republic of Moldova should not become a victim of recent developments. It is important that the group of friends of the Republic of Moldova continue to be active in the changing post-electoral political context and try to strengthen the confidence in the government that will result in Chisinau - to the benefit of strengthening democratic mechanisms and institutions and building a pro-Europe society in the immediate vicinity the EU," added Tariceanu.He said that cyber-attacks and threats of hybrid war are important challenges that has to be met in common and for which appropriate responses should be prepared through the Common Security and Defence Policy.
President Yoweri Museveni has implored Major General (Rtd) Matayo Kyaligonza to seek for permission and be deployed in Somalia other than causing chaos and barking at women.

Museveni was responding to Seeta fracas where Sgt. Esther Namaganda, the traffic police officer was assaulted Major General (Rtd) Matayo Kyaligonza aides RA/221607 L/CPL Bushindiki Peter and RA/230927 Okurut John Robert.

Sgt Namaganda was trying to stop Gen Kyaligonzas convoy that was making a U-turn at Seeta road junction on Kampala-Jinja Highway. She was confronted by Kyaligonzas bodyguards, Cpl. Peter Bushindiki and John Robert Okurut.

Stories Continues after ad

If you are angry and aggressive, you can ask for permission and we deploy you in Somalia where aggression is needed, but you dont have to come here and bark at women and children, he said at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

Speaking during the high level meeting of ministers in charge of refugees in great lakes region, Museveni said, good enough Gen. Kyaligonza is facing the law and it will take its course.

This is not the first incident where Maj. Gen. Kyaligonza has been involved in a fracas. In the 2001 general elections, he beat up Mr Amlan Tumusiime, a former news editor of Radio Hoima for airing a story he said did not favour him.

According UPDF Spokesperson Brig. Richard Karemire revealed the two UPDF officers who were involved in the fracas were arrested and are currently detained at Military police custody in Makindye.
The previous articles (first, second) examined what appears to be a coordinated strategy between Moscow and Beijing to contain the damage wrought by the United States around the world. This strategys effectiveness relies heavily on the geographical position of the two countries vis-a-vis the United States and the area of contention. We have seen how the Sino-Russian strategy has been effective in Asia and the Middle-East, greatly stemming American disorder. Moscow and Beijing have less capacity to contain the US and influence events in Europe, given that much depends on the Europeans themselves, who are officially Washingtons allies but are in reality treated as colonies. With the new America First doctrine, it is the central and southern parts of the American continent that are on the receiving end of the US struggling to come to terms with the diminishment of its hitherto untrammelled influence in the world.

South and Central American countries blossomed under the reign of socialist or leftist anti-imperialist governments for the first decade of this century. Such terms as 21st-century socialism were coined, as was documented in the 2010 Oliver Stone documentary film South of the Border. The list of countries with leftist governments was impressive: Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Argentina), Fidel Castro (Cuba), Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) and Hugo Chavez (Venezuela).

We can establish a close correlation between Washingtons actions since 1989 and the political roller-coaster experienced in South America in the ensuing thirty years.

Washington, drunk on the experience of being the only superpower in the post-Soviet period, sought to lock in her commanding position through the establishment of full-spectrum dominance, a strategy that entails being able to deal with any event in any area of the globe, treating the world as Washingtons oyster.

Washingtons endeavor to shape the world in her own image and likeness meant in practical terms the military apparatus increasing its power projection through carrier battle groups and a global missile defense, advancing towards the land and sea borders of Russia and China.

Taking advantage of the US dollars dominance in the economic, financial and commercial arenas, Washington cast aside the principles of the free market, leaving other countries to contend with an unfair playing field.

As later revealed by Edward Snowden, Washington exploited her technological dominance to establish a pervasive surveillance system. Guided by the principle of American exceptionalism, combined with a desire to export democracy, human rights became an enabling justification to intervene in and bomb dozens of countries over three decades, aided and abetted by a compliant and controlled media dominated by the intelligence and military apparatuses.

Central and South America enjoyed an unprecedented political space in the early 2000s as a result of Washington focusing on Russia, China, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Georgia and Ukraine. The Latin Americans exploited this breathing space, with a dozen countries becoming outposts of anti-imperialism within a decade, advancing a strong socialist vision in opposition to free-market fundamentalism.

Both Washington and Moscow placed central importance on South America during the Cold War, which was part of the asymmetric and hybrid war that the two superpowers undertook against each other. The determination by the United States to deny the Soviet Union a presence in the American hemisphere had the world holding its collective breath during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

As any student of international relations knows, the first objective of a regional power is to prevent the emergence of another hegemon in any other part of the world. The reason behind this is to obviate the possibility that the new power may venture into other regions occupied by other hegemonic powers, thereby upsetting the status quo. The second primary objective is to prevent access by a foreign power to its own hemisphere. Washington abides by this principle through its Monroe Doctrine, set forth by President James Monroe, with the United States duly expelling the last European powers from the Americas in the early 19th century.

In analyzing the events in South America, one cannot ignore an obvious trend by Washington. While the United States was intent on expanding its empire around the world by consolidating more than 800 military bases in dozens of countries (numbering about 70), South America was experiencing a political rebirth, positioning itself at the opposite end of the spectrum from Washington, favoring socialism over capitalism and reclaiming the ancient anti-imperialist ideals of Simon Bolivar, a South American hero of the late 18th century.

Washington remained uncaring and indifferent to the political changes of South America, focusing instead on dominating the Middle East through bombs and wars. In Asia, the Chinese economy grew at an impressive rate, becoming the factory of the world. The Russian Federation, from the election of Putin in 2000, gradually returned to being a military power that commanded respect. And with the rise of Iran, destined to be the new regional power in the Middle East thanks to the unsuccessful US intervention in Iraq in 2003, Washington began to dig her own grave without even realizing it.

Meanwhile, South America united under the idea of a common market and a socialist ideology. The Mercosur organization was founded in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. But it was only when Venezuela, led by Chavez, became an associate member in 2004 that the organization assumed a very specific political tone, standing almost in direct opposition to Washingtons free-market template.

Meanwhile, China and Russia continued their political, military and economic growth, focusing with particular attention on South America and the vast possibilities of economic integration from 2010. Frequent meetings were held between Russia and China and various South American leaders, culminating in the creation of the BRICS organization (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Brazil, first with Lula and then with Dilma Rousseff, was the unofficial spokesperson for the whole of South America, aligning the continent with the emerging Eurasian powers. It is during these years, from the birth of the BRICS organization (2008/2009), that the world began a profound transformation flowing from Washingtons progressive military decline, consumed as it was by endless wars that ended up eroding Washington's status as a world power. These wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have deeply undermined US military prestige, opening unprecedented opportunities for alliances and future changes to the global order, especially with the rise of Irans influence in the region as a counterweight to US imperialism.

China, Russia and the South American continent were certainly among the first to understand the potential of this political and historical period; we can recall meetings between Putin and Chavez, or the presence of Chinese leaders at numerous events in South America. Beijing has always offered high-level economic assistance through important trade agreements, while Moscow has sold a lot of advanced military hardware to Venezuela and other South American countries.

Economic and military assistance are the real bargaining chips Moscow and Beijing offer to countries willing to transition to the multipolar revolution while having their backs covered at the same time.

The transformation of the world order from a unipolar to a multipolar system became a fact in 2014 with the return of Crimea to the Russian Federation following the NATO coup in Ukraine. The inability for the US to prevent this fundamental strategic defeat for Brussels and Washington marked the beginning of the end for the Pentagon still clinging on to a world order that disappeared in 1991.

As the multipolar mutation developed, Washington changed tactics, with Obama offering a different war strategy to the one advanced during the George W. Bush presidency. Projecting power around the globe with bombs, carrier battle groups and boots on the ground was no longer viable, with domestic populations being in no mood for any further major wars.

The use of soft power has always been part of the US toolkit for influencing events in other countries; but given the windfall of the unipolar moment, soft power was set aside in favor of hard power. However, following the failures of explicit hard power from 1990 to 2010, soft power was back in favor, and organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) set about training and financing organizations in dozens of hostile countries to subvert governments by underhanded means (colour revolutions, the Arab Spring, etc.).

Among those on the receiving end of this soft-power onslaught were the South American countries deemed hostile to Washington, already under capitalist-imperialist pressure for a number of years in the form of sanctions.

It is during this time that South America suffered a side effect of the new multipolar world order. The United States started retreating home after losing influence around the globe. This effectively meant focusing once again on its own backyard: Central and South America.

Covert efforts to subvert governments with socialist ideas in the hemisphere increased. First, Kirchner's Argentina saw the country pass into the hands of the neoliberal Macri, a friend of Washington. Then Dilma Rousseff was expelled as President of Brazil through the unlawful maneuvers of her own parliament, following which Lula was imprisoned, allowing for Bolsonaro, a fan of Washington, to win the presidential election.

In Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, the successor of Correa, betrayed his party and his people by being a cheerleader for the Pentagon, even protesting the asylum granted to Assange in Ecuadors embassy in London. In Venezuela following Chavez's suspicious death, Maduro was immediately targeted by the US establishment as the most prominent representative of an anti-imperialist and anti-American Chavismo. The increase in sanctions and the seizure of assets further worsened the situation in Venezuela, leading to the disaster we are seeing today.

South America finds itself in a peculiar position as a result of the world becoming more multipolar. The rest of the world now has more room to maneuver and greater independence from Washington as a result of the military and economic umbrella offered by Moscow and Beijing respectively.

But for geographic and logistical reasons, it is more difficult for China and Russia to extend the same guarantees and protections to South America as they do in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. We can nevertheless see how Beijing offers an indispensable lifeline to Caracas and other South American countries like Nicaragua and Haiti in order to enable them to withstand Washington's immense economic pressure.

Beijings strategy aims to limit the damage Washington can inflict on the South American continent through Beijings economic power, without forgetting the numerous Chinese interests in the region, above all the new canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific that runs through Nicaragua (it is no coincidence that the country bears the banner of anti-imperialist socialism) that will be integrated into the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Moscows objective is more limited but just as refined and dangerous to Washingtons hegemony. A glimpse of Moscow's asymmetrical military power was given when two Russian strategic bombers flew to Venezuela less than four months ago, sending an unmistakable signal to Washington. Moscow has the allies and the technical and military capacity to create an air base with nuclear bombers not all that far away from the coast of Florida.

Moscow and Beijing do not intend to allow Washington to mount an eventual armed intervention in Venezuela, which would open the gates of hell for the continent. Moscow and Beijing have few interlocutors left on the continent because of the political positions of several countries like Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, which far prefer an alliance with Washington over one with Moscow or Beijing. We can here see the tendency of the Trump administration to successfully combine its America First policy with the economic and military enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine, simultaneously pleasing his base and the hawks in his administration.

Leaving aside a possible strategy (Trump tends to improvise), it seems that Trumps domestic political battle against the Democrats, declared lovers of socialism (naturally not as strident as the original Soviet or Chavist kind), has combined with a foreign-policy battle against South American countries that have embraced socialism.

The contribution from China and Russia to the survival of the South American continent is limited in comparison to what they have been able to do in countries like Syria, not to mention the deterrence created by Russia in Ukraine in defending the Donbass or with China vis-a-vis North Korea.

The multipolar revolution that is changing the world in which we live in will determine the rest of the century. One of the final battles is being played out in South America, in Venezuela, and its people and the Chavist revolution are at the center of the geopolitical chessboard, as is Syria in the Middle East, Donbass in Central Europe, Iran in the Persian Gulf, and the DPRK in Asia. These countries are at the center of the shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world order, and the success of this shift will be seen if these countries are able to resist US imperialism as a result of Moscow and Beijing respectively offering military help and deterrence and economic survival and alternatives.

Russia and China have all the necessary means to place limits on the United States, protecting the world from a possible thermonuclear war and progressively offering an economic, social and diplomatic umbrella to those countries that want to move away from Washington and enjoy the benefits of living in a multipolar reality, advancing their interests based on their needs and desires and favoring sovereignty and national interest over bending over to please Washington.
Donald Trumps decidedly neo-conservative administration is waging economic warfare through the combined imposition of tariffs and economic sanctions against nations on six continents. Trumps policies, which fuse bull-headedness with oafishness, have wreaked havoc on the stock market, pension funds, employment, and overall economic stability on a scale not seen since the Great Depression of the last century.

For the last several years, the United States imposed crippling economic sanctions on Zimbabwe to force long-reigning president Robert Mugabe from power. The Washington regime change industry received what it wanted in November 2017 when Mugabe resigned from office amid popular street protests. Emmerson Mnangagwa succeeded Mugabe as president, expecting the US would drop its sanctions on the Harare government. Not satisfied with the removal of Mugabe from power, the Trump administration recently announced that it was extending sanctions on Zimbabwe for another year, citing Mnangagwas government as a threat to US security interests in Africa.

Donald Trump, who has labeled African nations shitholes, will not be satisfied until all of Africa consists of Washingtons client states, voting in lockstep at the United Nations for US and Israeli interests. The extension of US sanctions against Zimbabwe bears the watermark of Trump national security adviser John Bolton, who developed a pathological hatred for countries like Zimbabwe, which regularly denounced US policies in the UN and other international forums.

Although Zimbabwe has implemented electoral reforms, committed itself to recognizing human rights, and improved press freedoms in the country, it is not enough for the firmly neo-con Trump administration. The Trump administration insists that Mnangagwas victory in last Julys presidential election was flawed, even as Trump and the completely Trumpified Republican Party faces legitimate charges of voter intimidation, election fraud, and other election malfeasance across the United States.

The Trump administrations sanctions against Zimbabwe come after increased US sanctions against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro. These sanctions, which include asset freezes and travel bans on Venezuelan officials, may be expanded to include individuals and entities with ties to the Maduro government. There is already a move afoot among Trumps neo-cons to expel Maria Gabriela Chavez, the daughter of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, from New York, where she serves as an alternate ambassador to the UN The Trump administration is also considering freezing Ms. Chavezs financial assets in New York, including bank accounts. Such steps would mark a violation of the US-UN Treaty and provide an additional reason for the UN to move its headquarters from New York, where Trump enriches himself from the high rents some UN permanent missions pay the Trump Organization for offices in Trump-owned buildings.

Expanded US sanctions would be directed against Venezuelas remaining allies in the region, including several Caribbean island nations. The US was already caught red-handed in Haiti, where a team of US mercenaries  some tied to the former Blackwater firm founded by Trump unofficial foreign policy adviser Erik Prince  were arrested during protests in Port-au-Prince. The American mercenaries were armed and had advanced communications equipment. They were eventually deported to Miami after the Trump administration applied pressure on Haitian President Jovenel Moise, who has varied between neutrality on the Venezuela situation or has thrown his support to Maduro.

The Trump administration, with Iran-Contra convicted felon Elliott Abrams steering US policy toward Latin America, is advancing the cause of Venezuelas opposition National Assembly president, Juan Guaido. The US-supported oppositions claimant to the Venezuelan presidency, Guaido, who is 35, suddenly appeared on the Venezuelan political scene in a manner not unlike the rise of virtually-unknown Nicaraguan Contra leaders, many recruited by Abrams and his criminal co-conspirators from Nicaraguan exiles in Florida who were involved in money laundering and drug smuggling. There have been various reports that Guaido served as a rent boy in Venezuela before rising in politics to become the North American-recognized president of Venezuela. Whether Guaido sold his body or soul for money, he remains controlled by same sort of right-wing Latin American diaspora of oligarchs, millionaires, and drug smugglers who once supported the Contras and make Florida their home.

The Trump administration falsely accused Venezuela of being a narco-terrorist state, when that appellation is more correctly bestowed on Colombia, where narco-terrorists, including former Presidents Alvaro Uribe and Andreas Pastrana, have used their ill-gotten cash to join Palm Beach, Floridas Mar-a-Lago club, Trumps seaside luxury club for billionaires and multi-millionaires.

The Trump administration has also tightened the draconian US embargo on Cuba over Havanas continued political support for Venezuela. Bolton added Nicaragua to the US sanctions list, applying asset freezes and visa bans on officials of the government of President Daniel Ortega. Ideally, the Trump regime would like to sweep away all Latin Americas socialist governments and replace them with US client states. Bolton has referred to Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua as the troika of tyranny, while cementing US ties with fascist-oriented leaders in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Honduras, and Guatemala.

Trumps retrogressive policies across the board  sanctions, embargos, asset freezes, and punitive tariffs have not only destabilized the economies of Latin American, Asian, and African countries, but also wreaked havoc on the agricultural sectors of the United States and the travel, tourism, and financial service industries of Florida, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. US sanctions on Venezuela have harmed the economies of Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and the Eastern Caribbean states, all reliant on close financial ties with Caracas.

Trumps bellicose orders barked out to other countries not to purchase Iranian or Venezuelan oil have resulted in an unstable oil market and wild fluctuations in prices. This has a domino effect on other economic sectors. Bolton has warned India not to buy either Iranian or Venezuelan oil. India and Iran have irked Bolton and his neo-con colleagues by continuing to recognize Maduro as Venezuelas president.

Trump sanctions on Iran have resulted in the inability of Iranian hospitals and doctors to import needed medicines and other health care items. This has been repeated in Venezuela. Trump revels in bringing misery and pain to individuals affected by his savage economic warlord policies. Such beasts as heads of state have existed, but in countries like the former Zaire, Kampuchea, and Central African Empire, Equatorial Guinea, Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, and Uganda.

Punishing US trade tariffs against China, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and other countries, coupled with sanctions against Iran, Cuba, Syria, Russia, Belarus, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Sudan, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Myanmar, Iraq, Yemen, Burundi, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Crimea, Eritrea, Lebanon, and Cyprus are arcane and destabilizing. Mr. Trump may believe he has the authority to wield his economic warfare scepter at will and without thought to the ramifications of his policies, but the world is increasingly learning how to bypass Mr. Trumps Washington and conduct their international relations without Trumps foul breath on their necks and shoulders. Mr. Trumps nepotistic kakistocracy has already seen he and his henchmen, people like Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo grant exemptions to Trumps sanctions and tariffs when they personally benefit Trump and his familys businesses. That will all be considered when long-overdue articles of impeachment are finally submitted against Trump by the US House of Representatives.
In early 2019 members of the Russian parliament were seeking to pass a law that would create a new Internet infrastructure that would restrict Internet use within Russia by confining most Internet users within Russia to web sites within Russia and also funnel all Internet traffic from Russian users through Russian censors who would screen traffic for forbidden activity, particularly soldiers of civilians posting pictures and video of military operations to social media. Parliament backers of this plan were told that such a plan was technically impossible and would reduce Russian internet users to the sort of local intranet found in North Korea. The North Korean approach ensures that only a select few users have access to the worldwide Internet. But even in North Korea civilians found ways around that. Moreover, North Korea has a primitive and much less productive economy that can function without free access to the global Internet. The Russian economy could not function with such restricted Internet access, something China has discovered and is still trying to overcome.

The Russian legislators are outraged at the inability of the military to halt these often embarrassing leaks of military information via the Internet despite numerous efforts to deal with the problem. As a solution legislators proposed simply making it illegal to post military information on the Internet and prosecute those who violate these rules. Military experts responded by pointing out that this would be ignored or evaded by many military personnel and would make it even more difficult to recruit Russians for the military. Russian Internet officials point out that the technical aspects of this proposed law would be impossible to implement and passing a law would not change that. The Russia only Intranet law is still awaiting a vote and even then it could be vetoed by president Putin, is more knowledgeable when it comes to tech issues. But Putin is willing to sign other new laws that would make it possible to prosecute any Russian who posted material on the Internet that Russian censors (or prosecutors) deemed offensive or disrespectful of Russia or current Russian officials. That is a broad mandate and simply legalizes persecution that is currently carried out illegally by the government and its bureaucracy.

The main trigger for all this censorship mania is how easily Russians found out about what the military was really doing in Ukraine and Syria. The Russian military was breaking a lot of Russian laws, and promises to the Russian people, in order to keep operating in Ukraine and Syria. Earlier efforts to impose rules to plug these leaks failed.

For example in mid-2018 Russia ordered bases where Russian forces operate in Syria, including major ones like Hmeimim airbase and the naval facilities at the port of Tartus, to jam signals used by cellphones capable of handling 2G and 3G speeds. All Russia personnel have been ordered to only use older cell phones without cameras and GPS. These orders were issued in February 2018 after several ISIL attacks using fixed wing and quadcopter UAVs. These mass attacks were made possible by using the features and capabilities of modern cell phones. This ban also solves another problem that has long caused headaches for Russian propagandists as well as military commanders. As a bonus, this ban makes it much more difficult for Russian personnel to post military information on the Internet.

The 2018 ban did not work and only slowed down the battlefield information leaks because the Russian soldiers and civilian contractors still had their smartphones for taking pictures and writing email to the folks back home. Whenever they got into a jamming free zone they could and did, send that stuff or post it to social media sites (where more of these leaks tend to appear.) But the jamming made improvised mass attacks by cheap commercial UAVs (carrying explosives) more difficult to carry out against Hmeimim. Several such attacks occurred between the end of 2017 and early 2018, causing two deaths and a lot of property and equipment damage. Improved air defenses and airstrikes against the Islamic terror groups responsible seemed to play a larger role in halting the attacks but intel sources and interrogations indicated the jamming helped.

What happened in Syria was unusual because normally it was the Russians who are exploiting cell phone technology on the battlefield although the information leaks because of Russian troops with cell phones has long been a problem, but not as serious as enabling aerial attacks on major bases.

The cell phones have become a major intelligence problem in Russian occupied areas of Ukraine as well. For example, in late 2017 the Russian backed rebel government in eastern Ukraine (Donbas) sentenced a local man to ten years in jail for distributing a cell phone photo via Twitter that showed Russian Army vehicles and other equipment in the rebel-controlled half of Donbas. Russia denies they have troops there but it has been an open secret because of cell phones, Internet access and most Ukrainians there want the Russians gone. Sending this guy to prison and publicizing it is expected to make the population less ready to do this sort of thing.

While the Russians have been in Donbas since 2014 since mid-2015 Ukraine has become a secondary operation for Russia with Syria, the rest of the Middle East plus North Korea demanding more attention. This has made it easier for Ukrainians to document the presence of Russian troops inside Donbas. This is possible because Donbas has cell phone service and a lot of people in Donbas take pictures and share them. Although the Russian soldiers in Donbas are supposed to remove all identifying items from their uniforms, not all the troops do that completely. The Russian troops are not supposed to spend too much time socializing with the locals but they do and often share those experiences on Internet-based social networks. Russia denies everything and since Russia has state-controlled mass media most Russians see the official version of who is in Donbas, not the reality. The Russian veto in the UN limits international blowback because of Donbas and the fact that Russia has ignored nearly all the things it agreed to in several recent Donbas ceasefire agreements.

While Russia decreased military support for their forces in Donbas Russia continued using Ukraine as a test site for new Cyber War tactics and techniques. Thus by the end of 2016 Ukraine accused Russia of employing hackers to insert trackers into cell phones used by Ukrainian military personnel fighting in Donbas. Ukraine has also found evidence of the same or similar hackers (usually civilian groups working as contractors for the Russian government) going after numerous government and commercial networks in Ukraine. Some of these hackers were also identified as going after targets in the United States. The hacking of military personnel cell phones is believed to be the cause of several recent accurate and fatal attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas. The hackers made it possible to track the location of the phone owners and accurately fire shells at them.

These capabilities had already attracted the attention of the U.S., which was supplying Ukraine with military equipment and technical assistance. American and NATO electronic warfare experts paid close attention to what the Russians were up to in Donbas and the cell phone hack was not unexpected. When it did arrive it was scrutinized and dissected.

Russia considers all these revelations as harmful to Russian military capabilities. There is some truth to that but worldwide it should be noted that even the most oppressive and proficient police states (like China, North Korea and Cuba) have found that need the Internet operational more than you need it crippled. Moreover, as long as there is any freely available wireless communications in a country some of your citizens will risk the most severe penalties to get access to the world wide web and share what they found. Russia legislators are doing what legislators often do; pass a law, declare a problem solved and then try to ignore contrary evidence for as long as they can.
The government is monitoring 389 officials, including 11 provincial governors and 55 mayors, who were found (via captured documents and interrogations) to have paid extortion demands by NPA rebels in the past. These officials are candidates for office in the May 2019 elections. These demands are typically made during election campaigns when NPA factions threaten violence and even assassination if officials dont pay up. Making these extortion payments is against the law and a violation of election regulations but these laws have rarely been enforced. In areas where NPA is particularly strong officials quietly pay. Some of those who have paid are suspected to also being supporters of NPA, which is the illegal armed wing of the local Communist Party.

The NPA has long depended on extortion, theft and other criminal activity to survive. This is causing much anger and protest in areas where the NPA still operates for the good of the people. Yet the NPA can no longer do much political work when their very survival is at risk. The government has been trying for years, without much success, to negotiate a peace deal. The NPA leadership, as well as the commanders of various armed factions, are split on a peace agreement and most are continuing to operate (fighting and stealing). The NPA, to most Filipinos, have become bandits with a veneer of communist ideology to justify their crimes. The banditry option is not working well enough to assure long-term survival of the organization. This can also be seen when factions run short of money. Those actions begin to suffer from desertions. The army will grant amnesty to NPA members who surrender, especially if they bring their weapons and some useful information with them. Information on where NPA camps or weapons storage sites are considered useful and the fact that more NPA camps are being attacked and weapons storage sites seized indicates that NPA is losing secrets as well as people and popular support. Some NPA leaders feel this is all a temporary setback and that a peace deal would enable a revitalized Philippines Communist Party to become a major political power. These delusions make negotiating a peace deal more difficult. Meanwhile, the NPA has become a major source of criminal (as opposed to Islamic terrorist) activity in the country. Most of the NPA senior leadership live in Europe and are considered somewhat out of touch with the reality of what the NPA has become in the Philippines. Despite all that the NPA and communism still have supporters, especially among the well-educated.

March 6, 2019: The Chinese government said it was investigating Filipino accusations that Chinese ships were still preventing Filipino fishing boats from working near Pagasa Island, a traditional Filipino fishing area. In late January China appeared to have reduced to 42 the number of warships and naval militia boats near Pagasa. China had as many as 95 of these ships off Pagasa in late 2018 as the Philippines began a construction project on the island to create more land and put up more buildings. China did not press the issue by having the militia fishing boats try to physically block Filipino commercial or military ship from getting to Pagasa but it had become more difficult for Filipino fishing boats to operate in areas they had long worked. China has been threatening cut off access to Pagasa since 2014 but has never followed through, possibly because the Philippines has often stationed a warship off Pagasa.

China claims ownership, despite Pagasa being closer to the Philippines than China and long occupied by Filipinos. Also called Thitu Island, Pagasa is the second-largest (37.2 hectares/93 acres) of the Spratly Islands and is inhabited by 200 Filipinos civilians and a few military personnel. Filipinos have lived on the island since 1956 and there has been a Filipino military presence there since 1970. China has been increasingly belligerent about its claims to Pagasa and threatens to take it back by force. After 2014 Chinese military and civilian ships were showing up near Pagasa with increasing frequency and sometimes the Chinese vessels tried (by getting in the way) to prevent non-Chinese vessels from getting too close to the island. The Philippines often has a coast guard patrol boat off the island (which is 480 kilometers from the nearest Filipino territory China does not claim) and that provides the possibility of a violent military encounter. China is also concerned with the increasingly frequent visits of American warships to the Philippines (for leave and maintenance) and the South China Seas (to challenge Chinese claims.) So far China has not been violent but with more and more Chinese warships, warplanes and troops showing up in the South China Sea there appears to be increased risk of someone opening fire. There are a growing number of offenders for the Chinese to shoot at. In addition to ships from the nearest countries (mainly Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan) there are the more powerful allies of these countries (mainly Japan and the United States).

March 1, 2019: The U.S. declared that it would defend the Philippines in the South China Sea according to the mutual defense treaty the U.S. and Philippines have had since 1951. Filipino officials asked for a more precise definition of what constituted an attack. Chinese strategy is to be aggressive but not to the extent that it would be an obvious act of war. Filipino officials are worried that the U.S. might get involved in a war with China over access to the South China Sea even though no Filipino territory was being threatened. That could, in theory, oblige the Philippines to become a part of that war because of the 1951 treaty.

February 28, 2019: In the south (North Cotabato province), BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) gunmen ambushed and killed three soldiers in two incidents the Islamic terrorists described as revenge for the death of a BIFF leader several days earlier during an army operation. BIFF is a MILF faction that backs persecutions of Christians in areas of the south where Christians are present in large numbers (and often the majority). BIFF also considers it part of the local ISIL franchise.

February 25, 2019: The navy is upgrading the electronics on its three del Pilar class frigates. These ships are former American Hamilton class Coast Guard cutters. These are 3,200 ton ocean going patrol ships that the Philippines added more weapons to and uses as warships. The new electronics would improve the search capabilities of the del Pilars, which spend most of their time patrolling offshore waters looking for smugglers or Chinese ships seeking to claim Filipino maritime areas and the small islands found there. The navy has managed to update and upgrade its equipment on a small budget by soliciting donations from allies. That has worked. Since 2015 Australia has donated two LCH handing craft as well as many smaller vessels. The two Balikpapan class LCH ships can land up to 180 tons of cargo directly on a beach. These ships are oceangoing, have a crew of 16 and an endurance of five days while carrying a full load and about two weeks if traveling empty. Eight of these ships were built in Australia in the early 1970s. Australia refurbished two of those that were retired, before turning them over to the Philippines. South Korea and Japan have also donated ships. This is an effort to assist the Philippines in upgrading and expanding its navy despite having very little cash to pay for it. The Philippines has also received patrol aircraft from Japan as well as eleven of the 21 coastal radars the Philippines is installing to cover water areas often used by smugglers or Chinese trespassers. The navy is buying 12 new coastal fast patrol boats for use down south around Mindanao and the smaller southern islands. The navy recently received two 12 meter (40 foot) patrol boats from Japan.

February 22, 2019: In the capital (Manila), the first leader of the newly approved BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) was sworn in. Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim is now the interim chief minister of BARMM until elections are held in 2022. Armed members of MILF are now responsible for local security although the Filipino armed forces still handles most of the counter-terrorism operations, especially against ISIL, Abu Sayyaf and BIFF. Murad has 80 members of the BTA (Bangsamoro Transition Authority) to assist in running BARMM until the first elected officials are known and sworn in. BARMM consists of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces, as well as the cities of Marawi, Lamitan, Cotabato and 63 villages of North Cotabato province.

The government responded to a recently released Abu Sayyaf video that showed three hostages (a Malaysian and two Indonesians taken from a ship on December 5th 2018) held captive somewhere on Jolo Island. Abu Sayyaf demanded that the government pay the $700,000 ransom or the three captives will be killed. The government refused to consider paying ransom as this would provide Abu Sayyaf and ISIL with cash to fund further terror attacks and encourage more kidnappings. The last time Abu Sayyaf actually killed a foreign hostage because a ransom was not paid was in 2017 when a German man was killed after being held three months. While Abu Sayyaf considers itself part of the local ISIL franchise Abu Sayyaf remains a largely local Islamic terrorist/gangster operation that depends on a lot of good will from fellow Moslems in the southwestern islands (especially Sulu and Jolo). When they have the cash, Abu Sayyaf spreads it around to purchase some loyalty. When the cash supply gets depleted, as it has over the last few years, the local support weakens. That is what has been happing over the last few years as the persistent efforts by the military (especially the marines and scout rangers) have caused a lot of damage. American tech assistance (intelligence gathering and special operations advisors) have made it more difficult for groups like Abu Sayyaf to avoid constant attacks on their camps. Worse Abu Sayyaf has lost lots of key personnel (tech experts and leaders) and this has led to more losses and fewer successful efforts to raise money and avoid detection. For over a year Abu Sayyaf has been very much on the defensive and that is not a good sign for an Islamic terrorist organization.

February 21, 2019: American intelligence agreed with their Philippines counterparts that Filipino native Hatib Sawadjaan was named the new head of the Philippines branch of ISIL at the end of 2018. Hatib Sawadjaan has apparently never left the Philippines and was influenced by foreign ISIL members who fled to the Philippines.

February 18, 2019: The National Police reported that a recent survey found that two-thirds of Filipinos say their villages or neighborhoods are either free of drug activity or that such activity is much reduced since the war on drugs began three years ago. President Duterte continues to get a lot of criticism, mostly from Western nations, about the death toll but Duterte remains a very popular president both for the reduction in drug activity as well as increased prosecutions of corrupt officials and police as well reduced Islamic terrorist activity in the Moslem south.

February 17, 2019: In the south (North Cotabato province), a local MILF leader was killed because of a family feud. Such fatal feuds are more common in the Moslem south than the rest of the country and that has long been the case. This time police identified the four killers and arrested them.

February 16, 2019: In the south (Sulu Island), four Abu Sayyaf men were killed and four wounded during a clash with soldiers seeking those responsible for the January 27 bombing of a Catholic cathedral. Elsewhere in the south NPA released six policemen who had been held for ransom since late 2018. The leftist rebels said they released the six as a peace gesture while the military says the six were freed because the military pressure had made it difficult to keep the prisoners.

February 14, 2019: In the south (Bukidnon province), soldiers visiting a village encountered about 30 NPA rebels and a firefight broke out. The troops called in reinforcements and the leftist rebels fled but lost four dead and several more wounded. Several weapons were seized along with a lot of equipment the rebels discarded to aid their escape.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Following you move within the area of on-line marketing, then there is a lot of earth you have got to pay for. For an undeniable simple fact, heading on the internet and advertising and marketing your services and products internationally are just an enormous step to the development of one's business. But don't assume all businessman that belongs on line accomplishes what every and each businessman wants to get: to turn out to be 1. I've completed some research and also discovered that a great means to find out much more regarding the way and Seo Consultant may assist web businesses mature and just how Search engine optimization Consulting can strengthen earnings and yields to investments (ROI). By straight calling a couple of Seo Consultants and listening to their testimonies, '' I managed sufficient to discover why Search engine optimization Consulting can be an established method to improve item sales and earn vulnerability worldwide. Earlier I let you know the best location to locate an educated Search engine optimization Consultant that will be able to allow you to advertise your solutions and products on line, permit me to first offer a fast summary about Seo Consulting and also the way the consultant can actually convert traffic to earnings.



Theres really far to understand about Seo together with also a solitary report is insufficient to go into detail for you personally precisely how exactly what workout. But, I'll determine to try as well as make it a spot to get this to specific post your bestselling helpful resource to choosing the optimal Search engine optimization advisor on the web consequently that you simply may reach your fantasies of growing your company and inputting the worldwide sector. Search engine optimization Consulting: How do It Impact? Search engine optimization Consulting is the action of preparing of programs concerning the way best to enhance your ranking on typical search engines like google such as Google or even Yahoo. By means of instance, if your organization is attempting to sell affordable glucometers on line, you may require to exhibit upon the extremely initial web page of Google or even Yahoo when a number of people in inexpensive glucometer" around the hunt bar.



You will be unable to complete this when you do not have a knowledge on the way Google rankings webpages or just how yahoo counts clicks. Due to this a thorough however clear briefing in an Seo Consultant ought to be performed prior to you quit whenever you figure out your internet website isn't about the very initial web page of search engine advantages. To discover standing Search engine optimization Consulting which works nicely concerning attaining traffic and also turning clicks to earnings, you would like to learn just how exactly to search to uncover the finest Seo Adviser on the internet. To complete so, you must Be Attentive towards the attributes You'll need to take into consideration when picking 1: Search engine optimization Consulting necessitates adviser to maybe not simply simply have an assortment of capabilities but in addition maintain an enormous selection of understanding around various elements of Search engine optimization. Dealing with each other with an expert who is conscious how theories carry out will decidedly be favorable because you realize the adviser is conscious what he has been undertaking.



In the event you should be looking to get a fantastic approach to better your own sales, entering web site promotion is ultimately the perfect notion. But pushing feet to waters which are unknown isn't advisable be sure to discover help from an educated Toronto Seo Consultant that might supply you with the very optimal info about what steps to take to better to increase your business. Better is to click here or visit our official website for more details about SEO Consultant Toronto.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

March 7, 2019: This report focuses on the global Business Analytics Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Business Analytics Software development in United States, Europe and China.

Business analytics software conducts predictive analysis to derive decision-making inputs and insights through the application of statistical tools and methods in business performance data. It analyses business data and information through continuous investigation and exploration of historical business performance data to obtain decisive insights for business planning. It helps the organizations to optimize their business operations and facilitates informed & strategic decision-making.

Download sample Copy of This Report at: https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-business-analytics-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025/request-sample

Increase in adoption of business analytics software by many organizations due to continuously increasing investments in business intelligence and analytic tools to drive revenue growth and improve service efficiencies fuels the growth of the market. Furthermore, surge in demand for cloud-based business analytics software among small- & medium-sized businesses and increase in awareness about numerous benefits provided by this software have provided the marketers with immense scope to target their customers and enhance the user experience.

In 2017, the global Business Analytics Software market size was 49700 million US$ and it is expected to reach 104000 million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of 9.7% during 2018-2025.

Click Here For Complete Report @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-business-analytics-software-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025

The key players covered in this study

Oracle Corporation

SAS Institute Inc.

SAP SE

International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation

Microsoft Corporation

Adobe Systems Incorporated

Tableau Software.

com, Inc.

QlikTech International AB

Fair Isaac Corporation

Market segment by Type, the product can be split into

Customer Analytics

Supply Chain Analytics

Marketing Analytics

Pricing Analytics

Others

Market segment by Application, split into

IT & Telecom

Retail

BFSI

Manufacturing

Others

Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers

United States

Europe

China

Japan

Southeast Asia

India

Central & South America

The study objectives of this report are:

To analyze global Business Analytics Software status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players.

To present the Business Analytics Software development in United States, Europe and China.

To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their development plan and strategies.

To define, describe and forecast the market by product type, market and key regions.

In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Business Analytics Software are as follows:

History Year: 2013-2017

Base Year: 2017

Estimated Year: 2018

Forecast Year 2018 to 2025

About Radiant Insights

Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. In addition to over extensive database of reports, our experienced research coordinators also offer a host of ancillary services such as, research partnerships/ tie-ups and customized research solutions.

For More Information, Visit Radiant Insights

Contact:

Michelle Thoras

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Radiant Insights, Inc

Phone: 1-415-349-0054

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: sales@radiantinsights.com

Blog URL: http://ictmarketforecasts.wordpress.com
Brian Rogers

Rogers Rabbits

www.sunlive.co.nz

We take a keen interest in the environment and spend a lot of time monitoring temperatures, sea levels and other indicators of global change.

Okay, that could also be called fishing. But what happens when a fisherman doesnt catch anything? We like to call it taking frozen pilchards for a ride in the boat.

The by-product of all this time on the water, and at the waters edge, however, means that we have amassed huge experience of sea level fluctuations.

My studies are modelled on those of the famous researcher Zac Brown, who described his work as: I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today...

There is no mention in any of Zacs research notes that his toes, or other parts of his legs, are getting any further in the water; nor that his ass is getting close to being wet. So no sign of sea level rise there. Pretty conclusive, huh? His report exactly matches our experience.

More conclusions

My own research conclusions are quite clear - we can see that the climate is definitely showing signs that working people are not being taxed enough.

In fact, theres a direct relationship between the acceleration of climate change and the increasing tax take.

The climate/tax burden is also taking its toll on the taxpayers, which are heading for extinction. There are fewer, paying more and at this rate the last one will be eaten by a Takahe just after morning tea, on July 25, 2026.

Here is a graph of my findings, showing the rate of tax increases in red and the rate of climate change in blue.

The odd bump in the graph is not actually anything to do with climate fluctuations, but because of the sensitivity of our equipment, it has registered the shockwaves caused by the New Zealand First leader slamming Jacindas door on the way out, after robust Capital Gains Tax discussions.

Windscreen creep

Some drivers could be excused for assuming the sea is rising, as they see the water level creep up their windscreen while negotiating the Elizabeth Street intersection. It is, in fact, an enthusiastic windscreen washer pouring water onto your car, whether you like it or not.

The water is not the creep, in this case.

Theres been a huge outpouring of commentary on this subject on SunLive. Here at RR the answer is clear. Its illegal and should be stopped. Its illegal for good reason. Its dangerous, distracting and intimidating to some drivers. The rest of us cant blink without being pulled up for even the smallest misdemeanours.

The law abiding, tax-paying folk get slammed every time they put a foot wrong. Stay in a carpark for a minute or two over the time youve paid for. Forget to pay your car rego, pinged when its a few days overdue. Charged for using water. Yet some tax dodging bludger can hopscotch around your car, use your rate-paid water, duck the law and get away with it?

Clean your own

Drivers should rightly object to this nonsense and solve part of the problem by cleaning their own car windscreen. I do mine every time while filling up at the gas station. Plus a few other basic safety checks on tyres, WOF and rego dates. That way, your windscreen shouldnt need cleaning by a shyster running the gauntlet at the lights.

I wont pay anything to anyone, knowing theyre dodging tax, while Im paying them out of tax-paid earnings.

I would pay cash, however, to watch a couple of guys tackle these idiots. The lawman certainly doesnt seem interested in doing so.

More water

And speaking of water, theres a chance it may be raining this weekend as you read this. Heres some great advice thanks to Papamoa philosopher Greg Taylor:

As it has been quite a while, just a friendly reminder to people that what you are experiencing at the moment or in the very near future is a natural phenomenon called Rain  A couple of things you may want to be aware of:

1. Standing Outside  should you happen to do this, you may find yourself getting wet. Dont be alarmed as it is similar to what you may experience when indoors having a shower  but please do not remove your clothes  Thank You.

2. Driving  On the right or left of your steering wheel you will find a mechanism called a Wiper ... By flicking this, water will be moved off your windscreen ... However, if you happen to flick the lever on the other side, known as the indicator, this will then let other people know which direction you are going  That lever may also be a first for some of you  Thank You

3. Danger  Should this thing called rain continue for quite some length of time, you may see a large boat appear. Pets are most welcome aboard but it is on a first come, first serve basis with only two of each being accepted  Thank You. Greg Taylor

Parting thoughts

This weeks words of wisdom from avid reader, George Bernard Shaw:

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
UPDATE 9.50AM: A photographer at the scene says the lockdown has been taken down.

"Police are speaking to the suspect."

EARLIER:

UPDATED 9.15AM: Two Tauranga schools have gone into lockdown this morning following reports of gunshots.

A police spokesperson has confirmed that police are responding to a reported firearms incident in the Bellevue area.

"Bellevue Primary School has voluntarily gone into lockdown and Police are making enquiries.

"AOS has been advised but is just on standby at this stage."

A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says Otumoetai College has also gone into lockdown as a precautionary measure.

A photograher at the scene says there is an officer using a loud speaker advising people to stay indoors.

EARLIER:

A Tauranga school is reported to be in lockdown this morning.

A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says children are being turned away at the gate of Bellevue Primary and are being told to come back later.

She told SunLive that there had been shots heard in the Bellevue area.

"Bellevue school in lockdown due to gun shots in nearby house on boundary of school," says another reader who has contacted us through Facebook.

People are also reporting the lockdown on the Bay of Plenty Accidents Facebook page.

"I'm at Otumoetai College and we have gone into lockdown too," says a comment on the Bay of Plenty Accidents and Traffice Facebook page.

SunLive has contacted police for more information and will update this story when we can.

At the scene?

Call 0800 SUNLIVE or email photos ot newsroom@thesun.co.nz
Bay of Plenty

Our client has plenty of work in the pipeline and as such they are in need of qualified or experienced carpenters for an...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz
The Tauranga woman arrested after two schools went into lockdown following gunshots, is due to appear in court later today.

The 44-year-old woman was arrested and charged following the incident in Bellevue on Thursday morning.

Otumoetai College Principal Russell Gordon says the incident occurred at Bellevue Primary School.

We received a phone call from their office to our office, saying that they had gone into lockdown.

They said there was someone on their boundary and the police had been called.

For me, because the distance between their school and our school is about four to 500 metres, it made absolute sense that we too would go into lockdown.

Russell says although he knew the incident wasnt directly affecting Otumoetai College, it was necessary to inform the school community of what happened.

I had senior leadership team members go to each block and talk to each class saying were in the lockdown because the local primary school is in lockdown, there is nothing occurring at our site, it is just that we are trying to ensure everyones safety.

Russell says the lockdown lasted close to an hour.

During the interval break, Russell had a briefing with his staff, advising them to reassure students that the incident didnt happen at Otumoetai College.

We just wanted to bring a little bit of understanding at the time to students who may not have had access to media, and for those who did, just to let them know that their safety wasnt questioned.

Following the womans arrest yesterday, a police spokesperson says a firearm was located at the property where it was discharged.

The woman will appear at the Tauranga District Court and has been remanded in custody.

Police would again like to commend the staff at Bellevue Primary School for their actions to ensure the safety of staff and pupils.
Biosecurity New Zealands Gypsy Moth surveillance programme has uncovered a larva of the poplar sawfly, an insect that is new to New Zealand.

The larva was detected in a trap in the suburb of Abbotsford, Dunedin, and testing has confirmed it is the poplar sawfly.

Manager of Biosecurity Surveillance and Incursion, Brendan Gould, says the species is not known to cause significant harm.

Countries overseas where the poplar sawfly is present have not reported any major concerns about the impact it can cause. At worst it appears to cause some defoliation of poplar trees.

The poplar sawfly is commonly found in Europe, Asia and North America.

Brendan says Biosecurity New Zealand is assessing the potential risk from the poplar sawfly.

Once this assessment is complete we will decide on next steps alongside our GIA industry partners.

Biosecurity New Zealand has undertaken surveillance in the area where the larva was found and has determined there is an established sawfly population in the area.

We would like to hear from anybody who thinks they might have seen poplar sawfly larvae on poplar trees. This, along with further sampling in the area, will help us identify how far it has spread.

If you live outside of Dunedin and Mosgiel and believe you have seen poplar sawfly larvae, keep hold of them, take a photo and call Biosecurity New Zealands exotic pests and diseases hotline, on 0800 80 99 66.

What do they look like?

Poplar sawfly larvae are up to 16mm long. They are overall yellow with two lateral rows of black spots and whitish hairs, heads are blackish and brownish, except some yellow spots on the frontal part.

Adult poplar sawflies are less likely to be recognisable to the public as they are small and fly in the air. They are 6-9mm long and their colouring is reddish yellow and their heads and part of thorax are black. Their wings are yellowish and glassy, and veins on wings are a reddish yellow.
The Cheyenne County Sheriff's Office arrested four people Wednesday in connection with thefts from vehicles in the Dalton and Gurley area.

James Hannaford, 19, Cheyenne Nickel, 20, Jenton Paben, 18, and Blayze Stichka, 19, were arrested in connection with the thefts. The investigation also led to information that a church in Dalton had been burglarized by the four individuals.

On March 6, 2019, officials from the Cheyenne County Sheriff's Office, Sidney Police Department, Nebraska State Patrol, and the WING Drug Task force executed search warrants which led to the recovery of stolen property. James Hannaford and Cheyenne Nickel were subsequently arrested and booked into the Cheyenne County Jail on charges of Aiding and Abetting Burglary and Theft. Jenton Paben and Blayze Stichka were arrested and booked into the Cheyenne County Jail on charges of Burglary and Theft. Bond has been set at 10 percent of $50,000 in each case.

The arrests follow information posted to the Sidney Police Department's Facebook page and reports to the Cheyenne County Sheriff's Office, according to a press release from the Cheyenne County Sheriff's Office. Deputies have been investigating reports of thefts from unlocked vehicles in the Dalton and Gurley area since March 1. The incidents occurred between the nighttime hours of Feb. 28 and the morning hours of March 1.
Naples, Florida-based Keating Resources recently sold its 72-unit Lodgepole Creek Apartments. The Apartments were sold to Princeton Management, a Fairfield, Michigan-based property management company. The sale was made just 60 days after Keating's initial purchase.

Keating Resources sold the apartments for $2,600,000 after buying them from Cabela's for $1,950,000. For the deal, Mark Seger of the Omaha-based CBRE represented buyer and seller. Keating Resources CEO, Gerard Keating, complimented his team for identifying a leasing strategy that brought occupancy from 35% to 51% in 60 days, and added that he intends to re-invest the sale proceeds and more back into Nebraska.

Keating Resources was happy to make the deal with a Midwest leader in apartment ownership. Princeton Management owns over 20,000 apartments in a variety of locations, including North Platte and the front range of Colorado. Their focus is on quality service, diverse locations, and competitive prices, ensuring the best experience for their residents.

Gerard Keating said he was glad that Princeton Management recognizes the value in Cheyenne County, as apparent by their plans to use Lodgepole Creek Apartments to grow their western Nebraska portfolio.
Speaking of the shows successes, he began, I think that The Dubai Yacht Show has actually grown quite significantly. Weve been supporting it for about 10 years now (maybe even a little bit more more) and to see how it has developed has been incredibly impressive. And indeed, for a show outside of Europe and the USA to welcome returning exhibitors from the centre of the superyacht industry, it must be doing something right.

Richard confirmed, Its a new location here and has been for the last 2 years and I think also seeing the shipyards and exhibitors grow and to see whos attending is a real testament to the value that I think a lot of the industry is placing on The Dubai Yacht Show and it becoming an important and integral part of the yachting calendar.

So important the show may be, but how exactly is the region - not one thats exactly famed as a premier yachting destination - keeping up? I think the luxury of Dubai and how theyve marketed themselves over the last few years is a real draw for young, wealthy people [...] from a luxury standpoint its got absolutely everything that you could possibly want, Richard explained.



The region from a yachting point of view is it developing and we can see it slowly grow. We havent got necessarily the high profile run of itineraries at the moment but there is some stunning coastline as well if youre heading down to Oman it has stunning scenery and its very different from the sky that you should be seeing seeing behind me.

Though its not just the show and its location that attracts the yachting elite. Of course, some of the worlds largest superyachts belong to UAE based owners. Richard noted, The UAE has always been an important market for Burgess. Weve got a number of clients from the region and we do recognise the value that the UAE contributes to us as a business as well as the yachting industry as a whole.

He continued, Weve followed through on that commitment; weve got the office here now which weve have now had for a couple of years to really sort of demonstrate the fact that we do and this market is important for us. For us to have that local presence within our important markets is something were really working towards on a more global scale as well.

With plenty of positivity towards the show, region and their presence in this growing market, Richard demonstrated that Burgess have well truly positioned themselves to tackle anything that comes their way.
Charlotte Russe is closing all of its stores, the company announced Wednesday.

The womens fashion retailer filed for bankruptcy last month and said it would liquidate completely if it couldnt find a buyer. Nearly 100 locations were affected by the initial Chapter 11 filing in February, including in Niagara Falls, New Hartford, Saratoga Springs and the Eastview Mall near Rochester.

Now all of Charlotte Russes 500-plus stores nationwide will shutter, affecting 8,700 employees in 49 states and Puerto Rico. Upstate New York stores that will close include locations at Destiny USA in Syracuse, Salmon Run in Watertown, Greece Ridge in Rochester, Oakdale in Johnson City, Crossgates in Albany, Arnot in Horseheads, and Walden Galleria in Buffalo.

USA Today reports Charlotte Russe is in talks to sell the companys intellectual property and may continue a brick-and-mortar presence in the future, but it wont continue operating any of its current stores. The companys assets are being sold to SB360 Capital Partners LLC, a liquidation company.

Store liquidation sales are expected to begin immediately (no later than March 7) and end by April 30. All sales will be final.

Charlotte Russe, which also controls Peek stores, is the latest clothing retailer to suffer a blow from reduced foot traffic in shopping malls and increased competition from online retailers. USA Today reports the company had been facing bankruptcy for more than a year, initially announcing plans to renegotiate certain debts in hopes of a turnaround.

Other major brands that have recently been forced to close stores include Payless ShoeSource, Bon-Ton, Victorias Secret, Sears, Gymboree, and the Gap.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek said he has been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer but intends to fight the disease and keep on working.

In a video posted online Wednesday, the 78-year-old said he was announcing his illness directly to "Jeopardy!" fans in keeping with his long-time policy of being "open and transparent."

He's among 50,000 other American who receive such a diagnosis each year, Trebek said. Normally, the "prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I'm going to fight this, and I'm going to keep working."

Trebek said he plans to beat the disease's low survival rate with the love and support of family and friends and with prayers from viewers.

He lightened the difficult message with humor: He said he must beat the odds because his "Jeopardy!" contract requires he host the quiz show for three more years.

"So help me. Keep the faith and we'll win. We'll get it done," he said, his voice calm and steady.

Trebek, a native of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, has been host of the syndicated quiz show since 1984. He and his wife, Jean Currivan, have two children.

Ken Jennings, a longtime "Jeopardy!" player who took part in the show's "All-Star Games" that ended Tuesday, posted a tweet in which he compared Trebek to the late TV journalist Walter Cronkite.

"I've said this before but Alex Trebek is in a way the last Cronkite: authoritative, reassuring TV voice you hear every night, almost to the point of ritual," Jennings wrote.

Trebek has gone online before to get out word about his health. In January 2018, he posted a video announcing he'd undergone surgery for blood clots on the brain that followed a fall he'd taken. The show was on hiatus during his recovery.

In 2007, he was hospitalized for about a week after suffering what was described as a minor heart attack.

Trebek, who holds a philosophy degree from the University of Ottawa, was a TV and radio reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Company before moving to the United States. He became a U.S. citizen in 1998.

Hes won five Emmys as best game show host and received a lifetime achievement award from the TV academy in 2011.
BALDWINSVILLE, N.Y. -- A 20-year-old Baldwinsville man has been arrested and charged with disseminating indecent material to a minor and possessing a sexual performance by a child, according to a Wednesday news release from New York State Police.

Damien L. Merkel exchanged nude and sexually explicit photos with a 12-year-old, police said.

Merkel was arrested and taken to the Onondaga County Justice Center while he awaits arraignment.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Lester Shaffer went into a rage and fatally stabbed his friend 13 times when he was denied drugs for his dope sick girlfriend, Prosecutor Melinda McGunnigle told a jury this afternoon.

Shaffer, 38, is facing the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted of robbery and the brutal stabbing death of his friend and drug buddy, Lyle Budda Lyons in December 2017.

Lyons was found days after his death inside his home at the Midler Meadows mobile home park. Shaffer also lived in the mobile home park.

Shaffer was arrested weeks after the crime and faces first-degree murder for killing Lyons during the course of a drug robbery.

The jury heard closing arguments today on the eighth day of the trial. Defense lawyer Ken Christopher took 1 hour, 45 minutes to deliver his closing arguments this morning. McGunnigle took 1 hour, 19 minutes to deliver her closing arguments this afternoon.

McGunnigle walked the jury through what the prosecution believes happened on Dec. 12, 2017.

Shaffer wanted to hang out with his then-girlfriend, Ashley Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who admitted to being a drug addict, said she was dope sick from being in withdrawal and she was too sick to hang out with Shaffer. She wanted Suboxone, a prescription drug used to treat opiate addiction, McGunnigle said.

Rodriguez and Shaffer didnt have any money, but Shaffer set out to find Suboxone to help his girlfriend.

Lyons was a drug dealer who sold marijuana, pills and cigarettes, McGunnigle said. He was Shaffers friend. He had sold drugs to Shaffer in the past and he had previously allowed Shaffer to front drugs, meaning Shaffer took the drugs with the promise to pay Lyons later, McGunnigle said.

After calling Lyons four times, Shaffer went to Lyons mobile home to front Suboxone for Rodriguez.

We are never going to know what happened in Buddas trailer, McGunnigle told the jury.

There were no eye-witnesses to the crime, but McGunnigle said the evidence shows what happened.

Angry that Budda wouldnt help him, the defendant stabbed Budda multiple times so he could take what Ashley needed, McGunnigle told the jury.

Shaffer left Lyons trailer with two Suboxone strips, a container of marijuana and morphine pills. He returned to Rodriguezs mothers mobile home to give his then-girlfriend the Suboxone and he went home. Shaffer took off a blood-covered sweatshirt, stripped down to boxers and was later joined by Rodriguez.

When questioned where he got the drugs from, Shaffer told Rodriguez that he had robbed someone on the West Side of Syracuse. Shaffer spent the evening attempting to trade the weed and pills for crack cocaine.

McGunnigle said police found Lyons empty glass storage container with a blue lid in Shaffers closet. Lyons family testified that Lyons had used that container for 10 years to store marijuana and he wouldnt let anyone touch it. Shaffers and Lyons DNA was found on the container.

Police also found a sweatshirt that appeared to be washed with a cleaning product that discolored the right sleeve. Police found two droplets of blood on the sweatshirt. The blood was a DNA match for Lyons, McGunnigle said.

The prosecutor told the jury that they had to use their common sense to conclude that Shaffer was guilty.

Christopher sought to cast doubt on the prosecutions theory of the crime, deriding the notion that Shaffer would kill his friend to obtain drugs for his girlfriend. Lyons was a drug dealer, but also had a reputation of helping out others in a pinch, the lawyer noted from the testimony.

You not only have to believe that Lester Shaffer was willing to brutally murder his friend to get drugs for his girlfriend, but you have to believe that Lyle Lyons was unwilling to help out his friend, Christopher told the jury. That just doesnt make sense, folks.

Christopher also raised questions of the timeline of the murder, DNA evidence and Rodriguezs testimony. Rodriguez had admitted to making up details and lying about lying, the lawyer noted.

Ashleys stories are all practiced lies from a talented and experienced liar, Christopher said, adding later: She lied to the cops about lying. Theres layers there that Im not going to try to unravel.

The jury will begin deliberations Friday morning.
William Wood, who pleaded guilty Friday to killing two of his former co-workers at the Chilis restaurant in DeWitt, wasnt planning to stop there, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told Syracuse.com|The Post-Standard this week.

Wood planned to do the exact same thing at the Ruby Tuesdays restaurant on Carrier Circle, Fitzpatrick said.

Wood told several people of his intention to carry out a robbery at the Ruby Tuesdays restaurant where he also once worked and had been fired, the district attorney said.

Four people would likely have been killed by Wood at Chilis on Sept. 15 if his gun hadnt jammed, the district attorney said.

"I dont recall any other crime here with this level of egregiousness,'' Fitzpatrick said.

Wood, 33, of Syracuse, now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, although federal prosecutors have said they are seeking the death penalty in this case.

Wood in court Friday admitted to shooting to death Kristopher Hicks and Stephen Gudknecht at 1 a.m. Sept 15. Wood was a former employee at the restaurant who came back to steal cash. Wood admitted to shooting both men in their heads. He wound up with $875.

Two other workers workers barely escaped being killed, too, authorities said.

Wood pleaded guilty to all 10 counts of the indictment against him, including attempted murder of another former Chilis co-worker because he attempted to shoot her with a handgun. His gun jammed and he then ran away. Another worker fled out the door before he could be shot, according to DeWitt police.

Wood knew the employees he shot; he called them by their first names, police said.

Woods sentencing is set for April 15.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Syracuse police union wants officers who wear body cameras to be paid extra -- a bargaining chip theyre taking into contract negotiations as the city plans to expand its body camera program throughout the department.

City lawmakers called the suggestion ridiculous." Department leaders agreed and said they will push back on the union once negotiations begin.

Jeff Piedmonte, president of the Syracuse Police Benevolent Association, said wearing cameras adds extra work to an officers day as well as extra stress. Officers can be disciplined if they regularly fail to turn on a camera, and sergeants will be tasked with regular reviews of footage on a random basis.

Its probably the biggest change were going to undergo in policing, Piedmonte said in an interview Wednesday. The city is saying its going to help the city out, so why wouldnt I put a demand in that officers be compensated for the extra work theyre going to do?

Common Councilor Joe Driscoll called the request rather ridiculous during a committee meeting about body cameras Wednesday. Police Chief Kenton Buckner and 1st Deputy Chief Joe Cecile both agreed with him.

Cecile added that most officers want to be outfitted with cameras.

Jeff [Piedmonte] knows that most of the people he represents now want them," Cecile said. "But that doesnt mean hes not going to try to get something for them. Thats it.

Cecile said he didnt see a good reason why officers would be paid to use a new piece of equipment. Officers didnt get extra pay when they started carrying Tasers, he said, which required new training, like the cameras.

We see it as a tool, a piece of equipment," Buckner said. "And we dont pay you to carry any other piece of equipment.

Buckner said the unions demand is unusual but not unheard of. In New York City, for example, City Hall offered a 1 percent pay raise to officers forced to wear a camera, according to the New York Post.

Syracuse police Deputy Chief Joe Cecile, right, and Chief Kenton Buckner, second from right, speak at a Common Council public safety committee meeting on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at City Hall. Also pictured: At-Large Councilor Tim Rudd and 4th District Councilor Latoya Allen.

In addition to compensation, Piedmonte said the union has other policy requests regarding cameras. He wants officers to have time to develop muscle memory before they can be disciplined for failing to activate a camera.

Cecile said there will be punishment for officers who repeatedly forget to (or refuse to) turn on a body camera, though specifics havent yet been determined. Piedmonte wants a 90-day grace period before that discipline begins. That would give officers time to get used to turning the cameras on. The cameras are mounted on an officers chest and are activated by tapping the center button twice.

The city is nearing the end of a one-year free trial in which camera manufacturer Axon provided the Syracuse Police Department with 100 body-worn cameras. This July, city officials will ask for new funding to outfit 170 patrol officers with cameras.

At the same time, city lawyers are preparing for a new round of negotiations with the union to hammer out a new contract. Mayor Ben Walshs administration last year gave cops $3.2 million in retroactive raises and increases in longevity pay and differential pay for night shifts. That agreement settled an unresolved contract from 2016 and 2017, but police are still working under an expired contract.

Currently, about 90 officers wear the free Axon cameras. All 90 cops have been wearing them for about three months, according to Cecile. The department has had the cameras since last summer, but only half of the cameras have been in use since then.

Chief Buckner said hed like to have 170 cameras -- enough for every patrol officer on the force, including members of the crime reduction team, which goes after guns and drugs.

Right now, the 90 cameras in use are allocated based on reverse seniority: The newest cops are given cameras first. Cecile said some of the senior patrol officers have asked when they can get cameras.

The city has been awarded $700,000 in state and federal grants in recent years that can be put toward the purchase and management of cameras. A five-year contract with Axon will cost $1.2 million, according to Cecile. That does not include the cost of police personnel to oversee the program. The department will need to hire several people -- possibly civilians -- to manage the body camera program.

Councilors generally supported the departments expansion of the body cameras, though many had questions about their deployment and the policies governing how theyre used, when they should be activated and how videos should be archived and monitored.

Councilor Bryn Lovejoy-Grinnell, in her first official meeting since being appointed to the council last month, pressed Cecile and Buckner on specific details of the camera policy, which was released last October. She asked for more precise language dictating when an officer is required to activate or deactivate his or her camera, as well as why SWAT teams would not have body cameras recording their operations.

Cecile said the SWAT team was concerned about tactical information being released in the media if footage was made public via the states Freedom of Information Law. Lovejoy-Grinnell said that piece of the policy should be revisited.

The free trial from Axon expires in July, which coincides with the end of the citys fiscal year. In budget hearings this spring, the department will ask the Common Council to approve more money in its operating budget to purchase cameras, maintain the infrastructure they require and hire staff to manage the program.

Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens said Wednesday the city hadnt yet determined how much money it will need to spend to keep the program running.

Ultimately, advocates argued the cameras will save the city money on litigation. The city has lost several multi-million dollar police brutality cases in recent years.

If youre a cop doing what youre supposed to do, the camera is your friend, Buckner said.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- In the Syracuse City School District, 78 percent of the students are not white.

But when they look to the head of the classroom, or the building, they usually dont see someone who looks like them. More than 80 percent of the districts teachers and administrators are white.

Why does that matter?

We are what we see, said Eva Williams. Williams, who is African-American, is the principal of Van Duyn Elementary School in the city. If we dont see ourselves in a variety of roles in our society ... then we think where we are is where we belong.

At her school, more than 80 percent of the students are students of color. The poverty rate at that school is also high: more than 80 percent. Both numbers mirror the district-wide statistics.

Williams was part of an effort to increase the number of teachers of color in Syracuse. But the group soon learned that having a positive school experience is one of the things that makes kids want to be teachers. So they set out to change that, too.

Young black men dont want to become teachers because they didnt have a positive experience at school and they dont want to come back," said Nicolle Haynes, director of school culture and climate for the district . How do we make their experience positive?

Haynes, Williams and Jeannie Aversa are part of a group that has put together a community discussion for this Saturday: The State of Education for Black and Brown Students in Syracuse.

The idea is to hear from teachers, parents and students on the issue. The keynote speaker is Robert Spicer. Spicer is a national expert on restorative justice. This shifts the focus from punishing kids who do something wrong to helping everyone who was harmed in a situation. Spicer, from Chicago, has been contracted by the city school district to help design a model for restorative education that can be used in the schools.

Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens is also among the speakers. Registration, which can be done online, is required for the event, which is from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Corcoran High school.

We want people to be asked the question, 'How are our children and be able to answer, Our children are well," Haynes said.

Marnie Eisenstadt is a public affairs reporter in Central New York. Have an idea or question? Contact her anytime: email | twitter | Facebook | 315-470-2246
The unfettered expression of opinion was critical in motivating our forebears to create America and its liberties. They valued it so much that they enshrined freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the First Amendment of the Constitution. We take that responsibility seriously.

One way we carry it out is by using our editorial voice, which evolved as print media evolved. In the newspaper, opinions get their own space, physically separated from the news pages. Editorials appear without a byline. They express the view of the newspaper as a community institution and reflect a consensus of the four people who make up the editorial board.

Our editorials and opinion also appear online, where the lines between news and opinion are less clearly drawn. Users unfamiliar with the conventions of the newspaper may ask why we write them.

So today we publish our current mission statement to remind readers, users and ourselves what we strive to accomplish through our editorials and opinion. As our journalistic mission evolves and electronic journalism continues to grow, over time, so too will our statement of principles.

The mission of the Syracuse Media Group editorial board

The editorial board of Syracuse Media Group advocates for the best interests of Syracuse and Central New York through editorials, and provides a community forum for a variety of viewpoints. Our key objectives are to:

Defend free speech.

Promote openness, transparency and civil discourse in government and public life.

Lead the conversation on vital community issues.

Host conversations with readers, users, experts, newsmakers and opinion leaders on local issues and issues of local interest.

Endorse candidates in key local and statewide elections to encourage and reward responsible and responsive governance, and to inform voters choices.

Celebrate our communitys successes and spotlight its shortcomings.

Call for actions that make life better for the people of Syracuse and Central New York.

Who we are

Timothy R. Kennedy,

President

Trish LaMonte,

Vice president of Content

Katrina Tulloch

Videographer/Photographer

Marie Morelli,

Editorial/Opinion Leader

How we work

Editorials represent the consensus of the editorial board. As such, editorials are unsigned. We strive to write strong opinions that respect opposing views, yet argue forcefully for a clear outcome. Our opinions are informed by editorial board meetings with experts and stakeholders, the reporting of our staff and our own reporting. The opinions of the editorial board are separate from news and advertising.

How to connect with us

Web:

www.syracuse.com/opinion

Email:

letters@syracuse.com

Twitter:

@CNYOpinion

Mail: 220 S. Warren St., Syracuse, NY 13202

Phone: 315-470-2265
When it comes to school snow days, Gov. Andrew Cuomo should stay in his lane.

Last week, as yet another winter storm bore down on New York, the governor reassured schools they would not be penalized for taking a snow day, even if they had run out of their allotment.

Saying it doesnt make it so. As it happens, Cuomo doesnt have the power to declare a freebie. He just confused everyone.

By law, students in New York are required to have 180 days of instruction. Schools can get a waiver from the state Education Department if weather cuts into that number -- but first they have to exhaust all their vacation days, teacher training days and holidays. No district is even close to needing a waiver, though many have burned through the days they set aside for weather. Some districts will sacrifice teacher training days or spring break days to make up for snow days.

Were as frustrated as the next parent about the frequent delays and cancellations this winter. They disrupt work and child care schedules, schoolwork and after-school activities. Then we remember that missing school is more than an inconvenience for some kids; missing school means they may not eat breakfast or lunch that day.

Thats just one element of the decision to call a snow day -- along with the condition of the buses, the weather forecast, road conditions, the temperature, the wind chill factor and, yes, the opinions of the governor, the county executive and the mayor. State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, a former school superintendent herself, told the editorial board this week that calling a snow day is one of the toughest decisions a superintendent makes. Safety is more important than anything, she said.

As for the governor freelancing a freebie, Elia said it didnt affect the well-established process schools follow to call a snow day.

The superintendents know what the deal is, she said.

Snow days are the ultimate local decision. It can be snowing in one district and sunny in the one next door. In the end, we have to trust local school leaders to make the right decision for the safety of every child.

Spring, were all rooting for you, but school superintendents may be rooting the hardest.
Washington  Democratic U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Boston is pushing to lower the national voting age from 18 to 16.

Pressley, who is in her first term, proposed the change in an amendment to a government reform bill the House is considering this week, according to Boston.com. If passed, 16- and 17-year-olds would be allowed to vote in federal elections for the House, Senate and presidency starting in 2020.

Youth-led activism on issues including gun control, climate change and others was one reason for the proposal, Pressley said.

Our young people are at the forefront of some of the most existential crises facing our communities and our society at large, she said in a statement, according to Boston.com. I believe that those who will inherit the nation we design here in Congress by virtue of our policies and authority should have a say in who represents them.

Even if the change passes the House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he has no plans to take up the larger bill, which also includes reforms to campaign finance, ethics and voting rights laws, Boston.com said.

Communities including Maryland and California have already lowered the voting age in certain local elections and a bill to do so in Washington, D.C. narrowly lost in November. Statewide bills on voting age are under consideration in both Massachusetts and Oregon, according to Boston.com.

The late Ted Kennedy, a former U.S. senator from Massachusetts, was among those who argued in favor of the 26th Amendment in 1971, which lowered the national voting age from 21 to 18, Boston.com noted.

Critics blasted Pressley's idea.

Its simply wrong, said Jim Lyons, chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, according to the Boston Herald. Almost all 16-year-olds I know I dont believe should have the privilege or the authority to vote. They simply havent matured to the level that they can make those types of decisions.

Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker also spoke out against the proposal.

I did raise three teenagers and based on that, Id be pretty dubious about lowering it to 16, he said, according to the Herald.

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
A group of New York lawmakers wants to draw the line on religious freedom when it comes to requiring vaccinations for children in public, private and parochial schools.

Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, is among seven co-sponsors of a bill that would end New Yorks long-standing practice of exempting students from vaccinations if it violates their religious beliefs.

The lawmakers say New York should join other states in more aggressively enforcing mandatory vaccinations amid a measles outbreak that infected at least 206 people in 11 states in January and February.

Since then the outbreak has grown. In New York, the worst measles outbreak in decades has infected 144 people in Rockland County this year through Wednesday. An additional 133 cases have been confirmed in Brooklyn and Queens, and seven cases in Monroe County as of this week.

At least 21 of the cases were connected to one yeshiva in Brooklyns Orthodox Jewish community that did not enforce the vaccination requirement.

Health officials say the highly-contagious respiratory disease has continued to spread, in part, because of children who never received the measles vaccination.

New York and most states ban students from attending school unless they receive vaccinations for measles and other diseases. The state offers exemptions only for religious and medical reasons. If parents without exemptions still choose to not vaccinate their children, those children are banned from school.

Magnarelli said the measles outbreak underscores why New York needs to ban religious exemptions for vaccinations.

The bottom line is to keep protecting the general public from having preventable outbreaks of diseases that have been, at least up to now, largely eradicated in our country due to vaccinations, Magnarelli said.

He added, The only exemption should be for situations where the immunization would be detrimental to a childs health.

The bill introduced in late January has yet to gain momentum in Albany. Magnarelli is among seven co-sponsors of the legislation written by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, D-Bronx.

Dinowitz and the other lawmakers say it has become clear that the need to protect public health should take priority over an individuals religious beliefs.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show at least 285 schools in New York have an immunization rate below 85 percent, and 170 schools are below 70 percent.

The CDC says a 95 percent vaccination rate is necessary to maintain herd immunity, the rate necessary to stop the spread of preventable diseases that include mumps, measles, diphtheria, rubella, hepatitis B, poliomyelitis and varicella.

Assemblyman Pat Burke, D-Buffalo, one of the bills co-sponsors, said in a statement that he understands why some people might be upset about ending the religious exemption for the vaccinations.

Freedom of religion is a fundamental right enshrined in our Constitution, Burke said. What leads to debate is where that line is drawn. Can parents refuse basic medical treatment for their child in the name of religion? I would generally say no.

He cited the 2008 case of Kara Neumann, an 11-year-old Wisconsin girl who died after her parents chose faith healing over medical treatment for her diabetes. The parents were convicted of second-degree reckless homicide.

There are limitations on religion when it is proven to cause direct harm to an individual or group, Burke said.

Most states allow exemptions from vaccinations for religious reasons, but this years measles outbreak has prompted New Jersey, Vermont, Maine, Iowa, Oregon and Washington to reconsider the policy.

California banned religious and all personal belief exemptions in 2016 after a measles outbreak that began at Disneyland and spread to seven states. California children now have the highest vaccination rate since 1998.

The bill to ban religious exemptions in New York comes only months after a state Senate committee passed legislation that would have made it easier for children to obtain the exemption on religious grounds. The bill did not advance to a vote in the full state Legislature.

Advocates wanted to standardize the religious exemption law for public and private schools so that a parents signature would be the only requirement to have their children opt out of a vaccination. The existing law gives school districts the discretion to determine if a parents religious beliefs are valid.

Rita Palma, a Long Island woman who founded the group My Kids, My Choice that advocates for a broad religious exemption, said Thursday that the bill to end the exemption is unlikely to gain much support in the Assembly or Senate.

We have been told by those in leadership in both houses that there is little appetite for removing a religious right, Palma said.

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
ALBANY  The state Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to ban the purchase of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to people under the age of 21, a move expected to be followed in the coming weeks by the state Senate.

Smoking is a great cost to individuals and families  As a former smoker, I know that," said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan Democrat and sponsor of the bill in the Assembly.

The measure was approved 105-23 in the Assembly; it advanced in the committee process last week in the Senate, where a number of anti-tobacco measures also are moving toward likely passage this session.

The bill takes effect 120 days after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, already on record supporting the higher tobacco purchase age, signs it into law.

Nearly two dozen localities, from Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties to New York City, already have 21 on the books as the minimum tobacco purchase age. The measure approved Wednesday would set a new statewide floor of 21.

The measure makes it illegal for stores to sell tobacco products and e-cigarettes, which are vapor products that are increasingly luring teenagers to their use, to anyone before their 21st birthday. Backers say it will reduce the age at which some individuals begin to regularly smoke, thereby reducing tobacco and nicotine addiction levels down the road in adults.

The key to reducing the number of smokers in New York is to stop them before they start," states a bill memo accompanying the legislation.

The bill had the usual assortment of health groups supporting it, including the American Heart Association, American Lung Association and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Tobacco 21 is a common-sense measure," said Julie Hart, senior government relations director at the New York chapter of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

But the measure also had some industry support. We agree that the current trends in underage e-vapor use must be addressed. Tobacco harm reduction for adults cannot succeed without effective measures to reduce underage use of all tobacco products," Altria Group Inc., the Richmond, VA-based parent company of Philip Morris USA.

Critics had a mix of reasons for opposing it. Some lawmakers said it makes little sense that an 18-year-old  considered an adult who can vote, serve in the military and be elected to the state Legislature  cannot also buy legal tobacco and e-cigarettes products until they are 21.

The New York Public Interest Research Group, which represents public university students, called the measure discriminatory against people under 21 and one Republican assemblyman, Jake Ashby, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, voted against the bill because he said it did not carve out exceptions for service members serving on military bases in New York, such as the Armys Fort Drum.

Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, a Jamestown-area Republican, voted for the raise-the-age tobacco bill. But he said the measure does not go far enough to address tobacco and e-cigarette industry advertising that targets children and flavored e-cigarettes that are attractive to teens. He also said the bill lacks any sort of civil penalty for those under 21 who do smoke.

The crazy thing about this bill is you cant buy cigarettes if youre under 21 but you can smoke them in front of the police station even if youre 13 years old," Goodell said.

The assemblyman added that the measure  as Rosenthal pointed during the Assembly floor debate  does not address enforcement of the new higher purchase age on Native American retailers, such as the long-flourishing tobacco business on Seneca Nation reservation lands.

Goodells home county, which has a 21 minimum tobacco purchase age, has a significantly higher smoking rate than the rest of the state because of access to cheap cigarettes at Seneca outlets. This bill does nothing to address that," he said.

The Buffalo News reported Sunday that the tobacco industry, which has largely been ignored by the Cuomo administration and state lawmakers for much of the past decade, is suddenly playing defense in 2019 after the Senate flipped to Democratic control.

A number of anti-tobacco measures, which died over the years in the Senate, have been advancing this year, including the raise-the-purchase-age bill, bans on flavored e-cigarette liquids, prohibition on tobacco and e-cigarette sales at drug stores and new licensing standards for e-cigarette sellers.

In a statement after the bill passed, Cuomo applauded the Assembly's passage of the minimum purchase age bill; he included the same provision in his budget plan in January. "The lifelong health effects and human misery caused by tobacco use cannot be understated and New York needs to do everything in its power to keep tobacco products out of the hands of our young people,'' Cuomo said.

Asked if the Senate will pass the purchase age bill, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Westchester County Democrat, said her house is considering it. "Whether it's in the budget or out of the budget, we're still talking about it,'' she told reporters Wednesday.

New York State was once a leader among states in tobacco control efforts on everything from taxation to use of tobacco products in public places. Officials have long said state taxpayers spend billions each year on treating tobacco-related illnesses in public health programs like Medicaid.

Having lost a sibling to lung cancer because of an addiction to smoking, I think this is crucially important. If I had it my way, it would not be a legal substance because it has caused so much devastation to so many families," Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, a Manhattan Democrat, told her colleagues of her feelings about tobacco use.

-- By Tom Precious, The Buffalo News
A woman in Western New York has been arrested for threatening to body slam an elementary school principal.

The Buffalo News reports police were called to the Henry J. Kalfas Magnet Elementary School in Niagara Falls, N.Y., when a mother became aggressive" during a parent-teacher conference with her childs teacher and the school principal Wednesday. Principal Italo J. Baldassarre told police the mother, identified as Laquonda T. Crittenden Howard, accused the teacher of mistreating her son and began shouting obscenities.

The meeting quickly deteriorated and Laquonda began shouting obscenities, stating to staff, You need to get your (expletive) teachers in line, and, You dont know what the (expletive) you are doing, the police report said.

Baldassarre told Crittenden Howard to leave, but she refused and continued shouting. According to the Niagara Gazette, Baldassare said the childs father had to hold Crittenden Howard back at one point.

According to the police report, Crittenden Howard then entered an area of the school where parents were not allowed, with signs indicating the restrictions, and took her son out of the classroom.

You dont know who youre messing with, I will (expletive) body slam you, Crittenden Howard told Baldassare before leaving.

The Niagara Gazette reports Baldassare told police he feared for his safety, and also said the woman has tried to attack him in the past.

Crittenden Howard, 28, was charged with third-degree menacing and criminal trespassing. She was also banned from the school grounds, police said.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday creating a Cabinet-level task force that he promised would mobilize every level of American society to address the crisis of suicide among veterans.

The PREVENTS initiative, short for the Presidents Roadmap to Empower Veterans and the National Tragedy of Suicide, includes the secretaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security. Over the next year, the task force will be responsible for working with public and private sectors to better understand the underlying factors of suicide and plan methods for addressing it at state and local levels. The White House plans to provide grants to state and local governments to support the initiative.

To every veteran, I want you to know that you have an entire nation of more than 300 million people behind you, Trump said. You will never be forgotten. We are with you all the way.

A senior administration official speaking on background Tuesday said they envision the initiative becoming similar to the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing and its Support Services for Veterans, which uses housing grants and referrals to end veteran homelessness.

When asked about the cost of the effort, the official didnt have a budget or grant-size estimate or know the exact source of the funding. Trump said his administration would work with Congress to pass legislation authorizing the new grants.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., the Republican leaders of the House and Senate veterans affairs committees, issued statements in support of the order.

We look forward to working with the administration on this effort, Isakson said.

Part of the initiative will put focus on reaching veterans who dont use the Department of Veterans Affairs. According to the latest VA data, 20 veterans die by suicide every day. Of those, 14 are not receiving VA health care.

Suicide among veterans continues to be higher than the rest of the population, and younger veterans are particularly at risk. New VA data released in September showed the rate of suicide among veterans ages 18 to 34 had significantly increased. For every 100,000 veterans in that age group, 45 committed suicide in 2016, the most recent data available.

Trump signed the order Tuesday at the White House, surrounded by representatives from a dozen major veterans groups. One of them, AMVETS, issued a statement supporting the new task force but asking for more urgency as the Cabinet members create their roadmap.

It ... begs the question of what steps our government will take to actively curb veteran suicide while this blueprint is being developed over the next 365 days, the statement reads. If the statistics hold true over the next year, over 7,000 lives will be lost before full implementation is realized. The reality is crisis has no patience, and neither should we.

The executive order was the second one Trump has signed to address the issue of veterans mental health. Last year, he signed one to pave the way for servicemembers to be enrolled automatically in the VA when they leave the military - an attempt to eliminate barriers to mental health care in their first year after service.

When asked about the progress of that effort Tuesday, the senior administration official said only that it was moving along.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., the ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, called Tuesday's order a "step in the right direction."

"But we've got to keep taking an all-hands-on-deck approach when it comes to efforts to expand veterans' access to mental health care and to improve our nation's suicide prevention efforts," Tester said in a statement.

In a separate effort Tuesday, Tester announced he was drafting legislation also aimed at suicide prevention.

The bill aims to support servicemembers as they transition from the Defense Department to VA health care, Tester said during a news conference hosted by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. It would also increase veterans access to remote health care, cut the red tape at the VA and vet centers, and invest more money into treatments such as yoga, animal therapy, meditation and acupuncture, he said.

Tester also promised accountability for the VAs mental health and suicide prevention outreach efforts.

The VA faced criticism in December, when the Government Accountability Office revealed the agency used less than 1 percent of its budget for suicide prevention outreach in fiscal 2018. Of the $6.2 million obligated, the VA had spent only $57,000 by September, the last month of the fiscal year.

Look, we are in crisis with suicides right now in this country, and the VA needs to step up, Tester said. The VA needs to lead on this issue.

Tester said he planns to introduce the bill very soon. He urged veterans to call their elected officials and ask them to support the legislation once its introduced.

Time is of the essence, he said.

-- By Nikki Wentling, Stars and Stripes
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelas government expelled the German ambassador and detained a U.S. freelance journalist in Caracas for several hours on Wednesday as President Nicolas Maduro sought to maintain control amid a Western-backed opposition campaign to unseat him.

The ambassador, Daniel Kriener, had been among a group of U.S., Latin American and European diplomats who greeted opposition leader Juan Guaido at Caracas' airport on Monday as he returned to the country after a 10-day trip abroad, defying warnings that he might be arrested.

"Venezuela considers it unacceptable that a foreign diplomat carries out in its territory a public role closer to that of a political leader aligned with the conspiratorial agenda of extremist sectors of the Venezuelan opposition," Maduro's government said in a statement.

Germany, the United States and more than 50 other countries have recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader in the wake of an election last year riddled with irregularities in which Maduro claimed a second term.

Earlier Wednesday, military counterintelligence forces raided the Caracas home of U.S. journalist Cody Weddle and took the Virginia native into custody. They also seized Weddle's assistant, Venezuelan journalist Carlos Camacho.

Weddle and Camacho were released Wednesday evening, and the American journalist was deported from the country, Weddle's lawyer, Theresly Malave, confirmed late Wednesday. Malave said the journalist was questioned at the military counterintelligence headquarters and later was driven straight to the airport to be flown out of Venezuela. The men were not charged, Malave said.

This 2018 photo released by Florida based WPLG digital television station shows U.S. journalist Cody Weddle in Caracas, Venezuela. After arriving to Venezuela as an English-language correspondent for state-run network Telesur, Weddle had been reporting from Venezuela for more than four years, most recently working as a freelance journalist for the ABC affiliate in Miami. He also contributed to the Miami Herald and The Telegraph in Britain. (WPLG via AP)AP

U.S. diplomats demanded Weddle's release and sharply criticized the detention. The Venezuelan government did not say why he was being held and did not respond to calls seeking comment.

The State Department "is aware of and deeply concerned with reports that another U.S. journalist has been detained in (hash)Venezuela by (hash)Maduro, who prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it," Kimberly Breier, the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, said in a tweet. "Being a journalist is not a crime."

Phil Gunson, a political consultant at the International Crisis Group, suggested on Twitter that the incident could strain already tense relations between the United States and Venezuela.

"Having military intelligence arrest a US citizen, freelance reporter (at)coweddle, seems like unnecessary provocation," he tweeted.

The two countries came to the brink of suspending relations in January, but they have maintained a limited diplomatic presence in each other's capitals.

Weddle, 29, has been a freelance journalist in Caracas for four years, producing TV and print content for, among others, ABC News, Canadian Broadcast Corp. and the Miami Herald.

As Maduro faces arguably the strongest challenge to his grip on power since becoming president in 2013, he is increasingly limiting media coverage by blocking websites, closing radio stations and intimidating reporters through paramilitary groups.

Weddle's detention came one week after Univision journalist Jorge Ramos was held in the presidential palace for hours; his cellphone, cameras and SIM cards were taken when he asked interview questions Maduro did not like. Ramos and his team were then deported.

At about 7 a.m. Wednesday, a group of armed men, most of them dressed in black, approached Weddle's Caracas apartment building, said Florangel Manzo, 49, the president of the condominium board. She said that one of the men showed her an order to raid Weddle's apartment, that the order came from a military tribunal and that the journalist was being accused of "betraying the homeland."

A security guard at the building, Juan Jose Araque, said he saw five men dressed in black and carrying pistols at Weddle's apartment on Wednesday morning. The guard said the security forces wore jackets indicating that they were from the military intelligence service.

He said Weddle remained calm as the men packed some of his belongings into a suitcase and camera bag. "He didn't look nervous. He had a sandwich before he left," Araque said. About two hours after arriving, he said, the men escorted the journalist to a black Jeep and drove away.

According to the countrys National Union of Press Workers, detentions have surged this year, with Camacho and Weddle joining 34 local and international reporters, photographers and producers taken into custody in the past two months. Most have subsequently been freed; some have been deported.








"As consumers look to various transportation solutions for a cleaner environment, we recognize hydrogen energy as an important part of a more sustainable society," said Mike O'Brien, vice president, Product, Corporate and Digital Planning, Hyundai Motor America. "As an eco-focused transportation solution, only hydrogen fuel cells are fully scalable to infinite vehicle platform sizes. Even more, hydrogen fuel has the unique potential for locally-produced fuel production as part of a new energy economy. The NEXO Fuel Cell leads Hyundai's plans in the development of zero-emission vehicles and we are excited to introduce the NEXO to eco-focused Austin, celebrating the future of smart mobility and new technologies."









At the 2019 Smart Mobility Summit , Hyundai will display the technologically-advanced NEXO fuel cell SUV. NEXO will be showcased at the Wards Intelligence and C3 Group Smart Mobility Summit on March 9 from 2:00 p.m.  6:30 p.m. at the Empire Garage in Austin; this is the NEXO's first appearance in the state of Texas.Now in its fifth year in Austin, the Smart Mobility Summit will feature innovative technology demonstrations and interactive panel discussions. Among the vehicle displays will be the NEXO, the technological flagship of Hyundai's growing eco-vehicle portfolio, marking Hyundai's continued momentum and leadership with the industry's most diverse SUV lineup. Gil Castillo, senior group manager for Alternative Vehicle Strategy, Hyundai Motor America, will be onsite to demonstrate the cutting-edge technology features and answer technical questions about the eco-friendly vehicle.The NEXO Blue model has an estimated range of 380 miles, 115 more miles than the Tucson Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle. The NEXO Limited Trim has an estimated range of 354 miles. NEXO Blue models have estimated MPGe of 65 city, 58 highway and 61 combined, while NEXO Limited models have an estimated range of MPGe of 59 city, 54 highway and 57 combined. NEXO refueling time can be achieved in as little as five minutes, allowing a consumer lifestyle very similar to a comparable gasoline-powered SUV in terms of both range and refueling speed.NEXO uses a number of ecological materials in its construction, including soybean-oil based polyurethane paint, bamboo-thread-based bio fabric, along with bio-plastic and bio-carpet extracted from sugar cane. Bio-based materials were applied to 47 different parts and reduced CO2 emissions by 26 lbs. during the manufacturing process.Wards Intelligence (WI) is a world-leading provider of automotive insights and analysis, having served the industry's information needs for more than 90 years. A Southfield, Mich.-based Informa business, WI provides a forward-looking perspective on all aspects of the automotive business, tracking and forecasting market activity and technology trends and delivering intelligence, data and consulting to the global automotive industry and its investors. Learn more about Wards Intelligence by visiting www.wardsintelligence.com SOURCE HyundaiRelated Links
Fuel Your Pipeline. Close More Deals. Our full-service marketing programs deliver sales-ready leads. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Learn more

Microsoft has been urging customers to upgrade from its Windows 7 operating system, while attempting to ease the transition with several options for extended support. It will stop providing routine fixes and security patches effective January 2020. Regular support for Windows Server 2008 also is scheduled to end at that time.

Windows 7 enterprise customers can subscribe to Extended Security Updates (ESU) to receive security fixes for uncovered or reported vulnerabilities in the OS. However, patches will be issued only in cases of threats rated Critical or Important by Microsoft.

Those are the two top rankings in Microsofts four-step scoring system, meaning that performance issues might not be addressed. Moreover, ESU will be available only in one-year increments, and for just three years. It will be sold on a per-device basis instead of the per-user basis that Microsoft has offered for Windows 10.

ESU will be available for US$25 to $50 per year per device, but the cost willdouble each year, so that by 2022, support for the aging Windows 7 OS willcost $100 or $200 per device. Customers who subscribe to Microsoft 365Enterprise will be offered the lower-tier pricing.

Computers running Windows 7 account for 37.9 of PCs today, while Windows 10 accounts for 40.9 market share, according to data from Netmaketshare. On the business side of the market, Windows 10 accounts for more than 50 percent of the market.

Windows 7 was released in 2009 as a replacement for the unpopular Windows Vista, as well as 2001s Windows XP.

Server Side

Microsoft also plans to end support for WindowsServer 2008 and SQL Server applications early next year, and the company has beenencouraging clients to migrate to Azure.

Unlike with Windows 7, no ESU is planned, leaving customerswith limited options.

The end of Windows Server 2008 support is why nearlyone-third of companies surveyed said that they were consideringpurchasing new server hardware, according to the recent Spiceworks 2019 State ofServers report.

Windows 2008 Server is the most widely used server on the planet,said Zohar Pinhasi, CEO of MonsterCloud, provider of managed cybersecurity services.

As a result, it could make a tempting target to hackers once support ends.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A lot of organizations moved to Server 2012, but migration isnt aneasy task, and too often companies take the approach if it aintbroken dont fix it,' he told TechNewsWorld.

Criminals are already aware that Microsoft will discontinue thesupport for the OS next year, and our research suggests they could becooking up something big  like taking advantage of zero-dayvulnerabilities, Pinhasi added.

Ending 7

Windows 7 was released as a follow-up to the underwhelming WindowsVista. It received a warm reception, widely seen as offering the best features and functionality of Windows XP and Vista.

In 2012, however  just three years after the releaseof Windows 7  Microsoft took the OS in a completely new direction withWindows 8, which offered what the company dubbed aModern User Interface with touchscreen options.

The new interface, which also was meant to bridge tablets and PCs, failed to catch on. Microsoft then released Windows 10 in 2015. Whereas Windows 7 combined the best aspects of XP and Vista, Windows 10 offered the best of Windows 7 and 8/8.1.

Yet, perhaps because Windows 10 resembles Windows 7 so closely, usershave been slow to adopt it. Nearly four years later, 10 has only justsurpassed 7 in total users. Microsoft has had to supportthree operating systems, so it is no surprise that the company decided to pull the plug on the oldest.

Windows 7 was introduced 10 years ago in 2009  that is 70 dog yearsor Internet years  a human lifespan, said Paul Teich, principal analyst at LiftrCloud.

It had to happen sometime; Microsoft has extended Windows 7s life anumber of times, noted Roger Kay, principal analyst at EndpointTechnologies Associates.

Out With the Old OS

What makes this transition difficult is that Windows 7 has done its jobquite well, remaining a very stable operating system. Still, supporting multiple OSes is not only a drain on resources, but also is inconsistent with Microsofts new direction.

Microsoft is committed to pushing everyone onto Windows 10, which isbetter adapted to a services revenue stream, Kay told TechNewsWorld.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

In fact, there may never be another Windows, he suggested. The company will keep updating the Windows 10 code essentially indefinitely. Now, beta versions of new code get pushed out, bug reports come back, and the team patches whatever needsit.

Hardware Improvements

In the past, a barrier to upgrading was the hardware that past versionsof Windows ran on, and making a move from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95almost certainly required that users purchase a new computer. The sametrend continued with Windows 98, Windows Millennium, Windows XP andnotably Windows Vista.

By the time Windows 7 came along, Moores Law of ever-fasterprocessors seemed to slow down. More importantly, apart from somePC games, most software really didnt require vastly improved hardware.That made the transition from Windows Vista to Windows 7 much easier,and even today an upgrade to a new OS isnt really that much of astretch.

Windows 7 first shipped on 45nm Intel Core processors code-namedYorkfield (desktop) and Penryn (mobile), which both debuted in 2008,explained LiftrCloudsTeich.

The 45nm Core i5 Lynfield (desktop) processor was introduced at thesame time as Windows 7, as was the 45nm Core i7 Clarksfield (mobile)processor, he told TechNewsWorld.

The sweet spot for Intel Core processors at the time was quad-corefor both mobile and desktop, while the core clock frequency ranges forall of those processors started at 2.3 GHz and topped out above 3 GHz.

A current generation Core i5 Skylake desktop processor has a basefrequency of 2.6 GHz to 3.6 GHz, and two dual-threaded cores running fourthreads is still a sweet spot, added Teich.

Today Mobile Core i3 versions have base frequencies of 2.3 GHz to 3.6GHz using two dual-threaded cores.

In 10 years, we didnt get faster clock speeds except at the veryhigh end of Intels product lines, said Teich. AMD could not do anybetter, because physics is physics. We got some speed-ups due toarchitectural improvements, but really, Moores Law is dead, dead,dead.

Old PC With New OS

Given that we havent seen a great leap forward in hardware has meantin most cases those older PCs could be upgraded  something Microsoft initially offered for free.

Hardware-wise, any system that can run Windows 7 can run Windows 10, said Kay.

That part is easy, and Ive upgraded a bunch of older systems, he added.

Even though that window to upgrade Windows for free has closed, Kay said it isntreally that difficult and still can be accomplished easily.

The Windows10 updater essentially looks for a valid Windows 7 orWindows 8 license, and off you go, Kay explained.

Windows 7 was designed to run well on whatever was running WindowsVista, so it didnt require more compute power than was availableseveral years before it shipped, added Teich.

Moreover, Windows 10 was designed to run well on any PC that can runWindows 7, in order to appeal to both Windows 7 and Windows 8upgrades.

It wasnt a hard goal, because Windows 10 focused on an easy-to-install and easy-to-update architecture, better security, andimproving the user experience  none of which required more processorspeed, said Teich. I have personally installed Windows 10 on atleast four of my own Windows 7-era notebooks and self-built media PCs.All have performed well.

Security Concerns

The biggest reason to upgrade from Windows 7 remains the securityconcern. Even with the ESU from Microsoft, users could be puttingthemselves at risk.

It is already known that criminals are cooking up stuff in their labs, warned MonsterClouds Pinhasi.

Once they have those tools they can exploit the older versions ofWindows to make billions from it, he added.

Ransomware, such as the WannaCry cryptoworm, which targeted Windowsmachines in May 2017, could be unleashed after Microsofts support forWindows 7 ends.

That particular ransomware was propagated through EternalBlue, anexploit developed by the United States National Security Agency.

The hackers dropped a package that was stolen from the NSA, andhackers could use something similar, Pinhasi warned.

The best course of action isnt to invest in the ESU from Microsoft,but to upgrade the OS and if necessary even the PC hardware.

Its time to move on; the demise of a loved operating system is hard,but inevitable, said Roger Entner, principal analyst at ReconAnalytics.

Windows 7 stopped being the flagship Windows OS seven years ago, soit is time to upgrade, and a laptop for $179 at Best Buy runs Windows10 and is probably more powerful than anything that was made in 2012,he told TechNewsWorld.

There is no reason that anyone running Windows 7 should stick withit, other than pure ornery stubbornness, and its not like you have tolearn a new OS, added Teich.

Of course, it isnt just individual users who should heed these warnings.

Companies really should get off Windows 7 as soon as they can, warned Kay.

Security attacks are getting more frequent, more sophisticated andmore automated  and dont imagine that just because youre a smallfish, they wont come after you, he explained. Small firms aresometimes used as an attack vector against larger firms. And ifcompanies need to turn over their PC base once every 10 years, thatsa good thing. Employees might even be more productive.
In brief: Despite a price tag that's close to $2000, Samsung expects there will be plenty of people ready to buy its Galaxy Fold device when it arrives next month. But the company is facing competition in the form of rival Huaweis Mate X, which many believe has a better design. Unsurprisingly, Samsung disagrees with this perception.

The Galaxy Fold uses a book-style form factor, whereby the phone opens up to expose the tablet on the inside. Theres also a single display on the outside that resembles a traditional handset. Huaweis Mate X, on the other hand, uses an out-folding design that turns the single, 8-inch display into a smartphone. Unlike the Galaxy Fold, the Mate X folds completely flat, making it look much cleaner than Samsungs device.

Speaking to the subscription-only Australian Financial Review, Samsungs executive vice-president of R&D, Eui-suk Chung, thinks his company went down the right path with this design, which he says was the more difficult option.

You open it like a book. You close it like a book. Its much more natural than doing it the other way around, so we went for that even though it presents the harder technical challenge, Chung said.

Chung acknowledged that the Galaxy Fold doesnt close completely due to technology not allowing a screen to fold flat like paper, but he said its better than having the screen on the outside like the Mate X, which will likely be more prone to scratches and damage. He added that theres more chance of user error, such as calling someone by mistake, with Huawei's foldable.

Last month, Huawei revealed that its original prototype of a folding phone used the same book-style design as Samsung, but the project was killed off because it was not good.

"I feel having two screens, a front screen and a back screen, makes the phone too heavy," said CEO of Huawei's mobile business, Richard Yu.

Several other companies (but not Apple) are working on foldable phones right now, and Samsung is reportedly set to unveil two more of the devices in the near future, one of which will use a clamshell design.
In brief: Few things illustrate the evolution of technology quite like the demise of Blockbuster. Having once boasted over 9000 stores across the world, there will be only a single outlet as of next month.

Right now, there are just two Blockbusters left: one in the US and one in Australia. But the latter of these, located in the Perth suburb of Morley, is closing its doors forever at the end of this month. Owners Lyn and John Borszeky have stopped rentals and will be selling off stock, signs, and other merchandise until March 31.

The closure will leave just one final Blockbuster, in Bend, Oregon. There had been three stores in the US up until last summer when the two holdouts in Alaska closed. These outlets gained a slew of publicity after comedian John Oliver bought a number of movie items from Russell Crowes post-divorce auction, including a leather jockstrap from Cinderella Man and a vest from Les Miserables, and sent them to the stores. Sadly, the increased sales werent enough to offset the planned lease increases.

The general manager of the Oregon Blockbuster, Sandi Harding, said older movies helped keep the store afloat. "You can go to Redbox and you can get the new titles, but they don't have the older ones," she explained. "Netflix and Amazon don't have everything, either."

Blockbuster employed around 84,300 at the height of its popularity in 2004, but the advent of broadband and streaming services resulted in the company filing for bankruptcy protection in 2010. Three years later, parent firm Dish Network started closing US stores.

There are no plans for the final Blockbuster to close. Being the last of its kind could see more visitors traveling to the store, and the chains appearance in the Captain Marvel movie will likely bring more attention to the name.
Amazon has been ramping up their physical retail efforts lately. The company is reportedly planning to open up dozens of grocery stores throughout the US, and it's already launched several cash and cashier-free "Go" stores.

Unfortunately, one state may have just thrown a wrench into Amazon's plans, if only slightly. As reported by The Morning Call, Philadelphia governor Tom Wolf has recently approved a bill that effectively bans the operation of cash-free retail stores (with a handful of exceptions).

It should be noted that while the state has not banned cashier-free shops, this law still directly affects Amazon and its Go stores because all payments are processed digitally - there aren't any employees to hand your money to. Amazon has reportedly requested an exemption to this law, but we're not sure if they've had any luck so far.

There are obviously arguments to be made against or in favor of these new rules.

On the one hand, cash transactions are significantly more private than their digital counterparts. Fewer third-party companies can monitor your purchases, and having change in your pocket can be handy from time to time.

On the other hand, some may argue that a cashier-free, cash-less society is the way of the future, and laws like this simply stall progress.

Regardless of your personal feelings on the subject, Philadelphia's latest law will go into effect on July 1.
The teen who made headlines after defying his anti-vaxx mom has testified in front on Congress on Tuesday. Ethan Lindenberger appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education Labor, and Pensions where he stated his mother's misinformation about vaccines stemmed from social media.

Anti-Vaxx Mom Jill Wheeler Got Information From Facebook

The high school senior from Norwalk, Ohio said that when he started to question why he was not vaccinated, his mother would give him misinformation she found on the internet, particularly in social media groups.

He also said his mom, Jill Wheeler, never trusted health authorities. He cited one instance when he showed articles from the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to which his mother responded with skepticism.

Lindenberger named Facebook as one of the sites often used by his mother to back up the idea that vaccines could cause harm. The 18-year-old also said his mom has posted videos with fake news on the social networking site.

"I grew up understanding my mother's beliefs that vaccines were dangerous," Lindenberger said "She would speak openly about these views."

Anti-Vaxxers On Facebook

Facebook is already under pressure to deal with the rise of anti-vaccination groups that spread false information about the dangers of vaccines.

Anti-vaxxer groups operate in closed groups where members need to be approved to join. Because access to these groups are controlled, they are able to serve misinformation without challenge.

Some of these groups have large number of followers. The Stop Mandatory Vaccination group, for instance, has more than 150,000 members. Some offer alternative treatments. The Vitamin C Against Vaccine Damage claims that consuming large doses of vitamin C can heal people from damage supposedly caused by vaccines.

Facebook Needs To Address Misinformation About Vaccines

In 2016, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a subtle move to raise awareness about the importance of getting vaccinated by sharing a vaccination photo of his daughter Max. Facebook, however, apparently needs to do more to fight misinformation and fake news about vaccines that spread on the platform.

"Facebook should prioritise dealing with the threat to human health when falsehoods and misinformation are shared," American Academy of Pediatrics spokesperson Wendy Sue Swanson said. "This isn't just self-harm, it's community harm."

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The measles outbreak is sweeping through the country with over 200 individual cases in 11 states since the start of 2019.

Despite the growing threat, many states continue to introduce bills that support the trend of people choosing not to get vaccinated.

According to a report from CNN, the American Academy of Pediatrics has revealed that bills from at least 20 states will make it easier for parents to exempt their children from vaccination, even for non-medical reasons. Doctors will also be required to provide further information on the various risks of vaccines.

What Anti-Vax Bills Mean For The Public

While many studies have proven that vaccines are safe  the most recent of which is newly published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine  the anti-vaccination movement lingers through the years. Due to widespread myths, parents remain fearful of their children developing side effects, such as autism and other diseases.

Data from the National Immunization Survey reveals that 1.3 percent of children born in 2015 have not received any vaccinations by the age of 2, up from 0.9 percent of children born in 2011, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"They think they're doing the right thing," Dr. Sean O'Leary, a pediatrician from Colorado who studies infectious diseases and vaccines, explains to CNN. "The problem is, they're basing their beliefs on misinformation and pseudoscience."

If enacted, bills that expand the valid reasons for opting out of vaccines and oblige doctors to stress the risks make it even easier for these skeptics to avoid getting vaccinated in the future.

Unfortunately, the effects are not limited to those who choose to forego vaccination.

An increase in anti-vaccine activities leads to a decrease in vaccination coverage, which is shown to significantly increase the chances of an outbreak in vaccination-preventable diseases in the United States, according to a study published in PLOS Medicine in 2018.

Get Vaccinated, Says Health Officials

The World Health Organization calls vaccines the most efficient ways of promoting individual and public health, decreasing the prevalance of many diseases, including measles, mumps, and rubella, among many others.

"I consider it really an irony that you have one of the most contagious viruses known to man juxtaposed against one of the most effective vaccines that we have and yet we don't do, and have not done, what could be done, namely completely eliminate and eradicate this virus," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says during a congressional hearing last February, according to The Seattle Times.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Samsung is already working on two more foldable phones to release sometime in late 2019 or early 2020.

These new flexible devices are set to follow the Galaxy Fold, which was officially unveiled not too long ago at the company's Unpacked Event.

Foldable Galaxy Phones

Citing "people familiar with the matter," Bloomberg reports that Samsung has a "clamshell-like device" and another that folds outward, similar to Huawei's Mate X.

The former will likely have a form factor in the same vein as old flip phones or its W series, but instead of physical keys on one half, it'll be all screen. It's said to have a display on the outside, but depending on user feedback on the Galaxy Fold, which also has an outer screen, it could be removed in the final product.

On a related note, Motorola filed patents of a foldable phone that's reminiscent of its RAZR branding, and Samsung's "vertically folding phone" could turn out to be something along those lines.

Meanwhile, the latter device is believed to have a screen that wraps around the device. According to Bloomberg, there's already an existing prototype of it, and it was apparently considered to be the company's first foldable phone. It's expected to be thinner than the Galaxy Fold in phone mode because it only needs one screen, after all.

The clamshell foldable is said to launch first, with the outward folding one to roll out soon after it. Also, these devices could also have an under-display fingerprint sensor, just like the one on the Galaxy S10.

As for the Galaxy Fold, Bloomberg's source says that Samsung is improving its durability. From the look of things, a crease appears after it's folded 10,000 times. They also mention that the South Korean brand plans on providing free screen replacements to buyers should the display prove to be a problem, which could make the device appealing to more people despite its $1,980 price tag.

The Foldable Phone Race

Based on the 2019 Mobile World Congress, foldable is being cemented as the future of smartphones, with Samsung and Huawei leading the pack.

Motorola has already confirmed its plans to launch such a device as well. The same goes for Honor too, eyeing a 2020 release date. Oppo also is also working on something like the Mate X.

The glassmaker Corning is even hard at work in creating a bendable glass that'll eventually make its way to these foldable phones, which at the moment uses plastic screens that can get scratched easily.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Acadiana High School mother who posted a video of a fight last week on the school's campus won't be prosecuted, Keith Stutes, district att
The people of Louisiana may hear little spoken in coming days about an effort in Louisiana's Department of Environmental Quality to ease rules
Donna Davidson Sewalk was enjoying her morning coffee and reading a story in The Advocate about an art exhibit in New Orleans when an image published with the story caught her eye.

Accompanying a story about a painter named Jose Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza, the picture showed a woman with a child on her lap. Something about it  the way the lace was painted and the overall pose  felt familiar to Sewalk.

"So I looked over my shoulder at the paintings on the wall, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, these paintings must be by the same guy!'  she said.

She called her sister Karen Davidson Montelepre right away. Before that moment, neither Sewalk nor Montelepre had ever heard of the painter Salazar; they hadnt a clue that he was a New Orleans portrait painter who was famous from about 1783 to 1802.

All the sisters knew about the paintings was that they had been handed down in the family for generations.

You know how it is, Sewalk said. Your parents want to tell you about your family history, and it goes in one ear and out the other.

The sisters decided to check out their hunch with the curator of the Salazar exhibit at the Ogden Museum, Cybele Gontar. So they wrapped the portrait of the mother and child in a blanket, put it in the trunk of the car and drove it to New Orleans.

Can you imagine that we knew so little about what it was worth that we put the painting in the trunk? said Montelepre. By the time we found Cybele at her gallery on Julia Street, it was raining.

Gontar remembers being skeptical (but polite all the same) when Sewalk and Montelepre came in.

It's not uncommon for people to stop on and say they think they have a painting by a famous artist, but it very, very rarely turns out to be true, Gontar said. I asked if they had a photo for me to look at, and they said one of the paintings was out in the car. We dodged raindrops to make sure it stayed dry.

The portraits came to the sisters and their three siblings via Matias Francisco Alpuente y Ruiz, a Spanish colonial carabiner and the financial administrator of the city.

His portrait is the companion piece to the mother and child painting published in The Advocate that had stirred Sewalks curiosity.

Alpuentes son, pictured in the lap of his mother, was Captain Francisco Bonaventure de Alpuente, who helped the city during the War of 1812 by raising a group of soldiers to fight the British.

In turn, his son, Dr. Francois Ruiz Alpuente, established a hospital on Magazine Street. Dr. Alpuente left the portraits to his daughter, Marie Mathilde Alpuente (Bailey), whose own daughter, Mathilde Antoinette Bailey Moore, became the next owner.

Moore handed down the works to her daughter, Elizabeth Joy Moore Davidson, the mother of five including Sewalk and Montelepre.

For a while, Gontar examined the mother/child portrait in silence.

Cybele didn't say anything for a long time but we were watching her face, said Montelepre. She took out a magnifying glass and took a long time looking at the brush strokes.

The more I studied it, the more certain I became that the work was by Salazar. It had all of his stylistic fingerprints, Gontar said. His brushwork was loose, he used a red ground, and the poses of the sitters were formal, stiff and almost mannequinlike. He also liked to use small props  a flower or a ball  for the sitters to hold.

So much history, so much value! What to do with the portraits?

We struggled with the question but at the end of day, we decided to sell them, said Sewalk. There are five siblings in all, and everybody gets along, but what about the next generation? Would any of our children or grandchildren appreciate them or even have the right kind of house to put them in?

Adam Lambert, of Crescent City Auction Gallery, was entrusted with the sale.

It was a rare opportunity to have the privilege of auctioning the pieces and being part of the team that researched their background, Lambert said. The takeaway is that if you have something you think is valuable, take it to an expert who can help you.

By the time the bidding was over, the portrait of Mattias Alpuente sold for $112,500 and the portrait of the mother and child for $87,500 (both figures include auction fees).

Whenever Sewalk and Montelepre have second thoughts about the decision to sell the portraits, they take comfort in the fact that the works are now in the hands of another New Orleans family (who wish to remain anonymous) who will take great care of them.

What we wanted to avoid was us hanging on to them for a long time, then having them end up in somebodys dusty attic, said Sewalk. Who knows? If that had happened, they might have been put out in the trash one day or sold for pennies at a garage sale.
A new cruise ship will take to the seas next year with the name Mardi Gras emblazoned on its hull and a restaurant with a famous New Orleans chef at the helm.

Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse is developing a restaurant in the Carnival Cruise Line ship Mardi Gras, which is now under construction. When the huge new ship launches in the fall of 2020 one of its amenities for passengers will be a restaurant called Emerils Bistro 1396.

Mardi Gras will be a 6,500-passenger cruise ship plying a route around the Caribbean from its homeport of Port Canaveral, Florida.

Lagasse, whose company is based in downtown New Orleans, has lately been branching into different kinds of ventures. Earlier this year the company formed a new consulting division called We Love Food Hospitality to work with other restaurateurs.

A restaurant at sea will be a first for Lagasse, though it follows a trend of cruise lines collaborating other other big-name chefs to burnish the fare for seafaring vacationers. Thomas Keller, Jacques Pepin, Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa and Jamie Oliver have all developed restaurants with other cruise lines, and Guy Fieri has a line of eateries aboard some Carnival ships.

When Mardi Gras is ready to launch, the ship will have a series of themed zones across its various decks. One zone will be dubbed "French Quarter," which, according to a Carnival release, will capture the festive spirit of Louisiana with food, cocktails and, of course, live jazz.

Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

This is also where passengers will find Emerils Bistro 1396 (the name comes from the hull number for the vessel in its shipyard in Finland).

The menu calls for po-boys and muffulettas, barbecue shrimp, duck and andouille gumbo, shrimp and grits, bananas Foster and lemon icebox pie.

Mardi Gras will be Carnival's largest ship, displacing some 180,000 tons. The cruise line's first ship was named Mardi Gras when it set sail 1972, though with capacity for 800 passengers it was a much smaller vessel.

Lagasses company has 11 restaurants in New Orleans, Las Vegas, Miramar Beach, Florida and at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in Pennsylvania. Closer to home, recent moves include opening Meril in the Warehouse District in 2016 and a revamp of NOLA in 2017.
Fifteen years ago, a movie fan could go into any of Blockbuster's 9,000 stores and walk out with a Steven Spielberg hit.

Now, options are limited for those who want to rent a hard copy of "Saving Private Ryan" from somewhere other than a library.

There are only two Blockbuster stores left in the world. Very soon, there will only be one.

The Bend, Oregon, Blockbuster, is now the last one in the world. Credit:AP

The second-to-last Blockbuster, a squat blue-and-yellow slab wedged next to a real estate agency in the Perth suburb of Morley, Western Australia, stopped renting videos on Thursday and will shut down for good at the end of the month.
It's taken AMP's new wealth management boss Alex Wade less than one month in the Bridge Street HQ to re-arrange the office furniture and begin to sharpen the knives.

Wade was installed into the powerful position by AMP's recent appointed chief executive Francesco De Ferrari, with whom he worked at Credit Suisse Private Banking, only days after the release of the banking royal commission's final report last month.

Alex Wade, now the head of AMP's wealth division, has put his closest managers on notice. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Now he's put all his most senior executives, of which there are up to 10, on notice that they are under review and could lose their positions in the company's most important division.

Others may be moved to lower levels of the management hierarchy.
Companies face criminal penalties if they are found to be deliberately exploiting workers and will be forced to have more accountability if contractors do the wrong thing.

Jobs and Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O'Dwyer welcomed all 22 recommendations from the Migrant Workers' Taskforce report on Thursday, paving the way for possible prison time for serious worker exploitation and increased powers for the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Franchise Council of Australia chief executive Mary Aldred welcomed the report. Credit:Louie Douvis

The report's recommendations include extending criminal penalties for serious breaches of the Fair Work Act and creating a national labour hire licensing scheme focused on operators in the security, cleaning, horticulture and meat processing sectors.

It also calls for accessorial liability rules currently in place for franchisors be extended to "also cover situations where businesses contract out services to persons".
Western Australia's big polluters will be required to offset greenhouse gas emissions on new and expanded projects under tough new guidelines announced by the state's Environmental Protection Authority on Thursday.

The guidelines recommend projects proposing direct carbon emissions above 100,000 tonnes a year be required to offset those emissions through environmental projects.

Big polluting oil and gas projects will be impacted by the guidelines. Credit:Jonathan Carroll

The guidelines can be rejected by the WA government, and if accepted will not be legally binding but could still have a major impact on the state's liquefied natural gas sector, which is consistently asserting itself as one of the country's biggest polluters.

When all of WAs existing LNG projects are in full operation, the industry will be responsible for about 30 million tonnes of direct carbon dioxide emissions per year, or about 40 per cent of WAs total pollution output, the Conservation Council of WA has estimated.
Award judge and frontman of the Hoodoo Gurus Dave Faulkner summed it up best when he said "albums are more than just a collection of singles", as the late artist Gurrumul was named winner of the 2018 Australian Music Prize for his album Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow).

Djarimirri (2018). Credit:Courtesy of ABC

Gurrumul's posthumous fourth album was a unanimous winner among the judges, who met in Melbourne on Thursday to reach their final decision. The judges waded through an initial list of 483 Australian albums and a shortlist of nine, including Courtney Barnett's second album Tell Me How You Really Feel, The Presets' Hi Viz and the only debut in the shortlist, Hope Downs from Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever.

Gurrumul's long-time collaborator and producer Michael Hohnan said Djarimirri was six years in the making and "it felt like an enormous vision and task that we took on" to present traditional Aboriginal music in a mainstream format.

"I hope in the years that come more and more local song and local language permeates into every element of what we do," Hohnen said. "Theres been a lot more awareness raised about the strength of the Aboriginal spirit in Australia  and were a lot luckier than we were 30 years ago.
The man accused of forcing children from a car with a sword and leading police on a chase across Brisbane has been charged.

Police said a 24-year-old man brandishing a sword and a knife held up a woman on Tuesday afternoon while she was standing beside her parked car with her children inside on Sambar Close at Chermside West.

He then allegedly demanded the keys to the white 2008 Ford Focus hatchback.

The 35-year-old woman took the children from the car before the man fled in the vehicle, police said.

Overnight the accused led police on a chase for hours before he allegedly drove into oncoming traffic at Eight Mile Plains, and eventually stopped.
A woman has been rushed to hospital with abdominal injuries after a car and a truck slammed into a wall along the Ipswich Motorway on Friday.

The truck and car collided just after 6am while they were headed westbound near the Progress Road on-ramp at Wacol.

Paramedics worked on the woman before taking her to the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Rhys Gibson of the Australian Traffic Network said the crash was cleared by 7.30am and that congestion had started to ease.
Most Australians probably assume dingoes are a type of wild dog but new research argues they should be considered a distinct species.

On the one hand, it is an esoteric argument between scientists about how to classify dingoes, but the papers lead author, Bradley Smith from Central Queensland University, said the classification has long-reaching implications for how dingo populations are managed.

A dingo on Fraser Island. Credit:iSTOCK

Most recently the West Australian government backed down on plans to declassify dingoes as a native animal, which would have allowed greater control measures including culls to be used in management plans.

Dr Smith said if dingoes could be considered wild dogs, then there did not have to be a management plan in place to deal with them.
Five young men have been granted bail after being charged over the fatal shooting of a man following an alleged dispute over DJ equipment advertised on Gumtree.

Duane Hutchings died from a gunshot wound to the head on February 9 after six men allegedly stormed into an Oakleigh East unit to confront a woman about the equipment, which the men believed wasn't returned after it was hired out.



Mr Hutchings' family is furious at the men's release, saying "an innocent man has being killed".

George Panagiotou, 22, is released on bail from Melbourne Magistrates court. Credit:Joe Armao

Brothers George and John Panagiotou and their friend, Jonathon Atalalis, provided the equipment from their business Love It Loud, Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard, and later reported the gear stolen.
Leadership Victoria, a state-government funded charity that runs prestigious leadership courses, is under fire after it held a gala dinner in a mens-only members club.

Premier Daniel Andrews has slammed the decision, along with graduates of the program, and the organisations funding is under review after it held the event at the Athenaeum Club.

This is a shocking error, Mr Andrews said. Equality in Victoria is not negotiable. Archaic men's-only clubs have nothing to do with leadership.

Women's Minister Gabrielle Williams (second from right) with Premier Daniel Andrews and colleagues. Credit:Eddie Jim

The charitys flagship program is the year-long Williamson Community Development Program, one of Australias most sought-after leadership courses, which it says canvasses critical issues facing todays leaders and offers rich networking opportunities.
Monash University students may be the next to get parking fine refunds in an escalating legal scandal that has seen two Melbourne councils forced to pay back millions of dollars.

Councils across the city are scrambling to investigate whether they will have to shell out millions to motorists after Kingston and Monash councils revealed they will have to refund hundreds of contested fines as they had wrongly allowed contractor Tenix Solutions to rule on appeals to infringement notices.

A parking fine review legal glitch is costing some Victorian councils millions of dollars. Credit:Eddie Jim

The university, which is seeking legal advice on the matter, revealed on Thursday it had an agreement with Tenix Solutions, an external contractor understood to have overseen its parking fines review process.

Under Victorian legislation, outside contractors who process fines are not permitted to conduct fine reviews when motorists appeal.
Vulnerable men targeted by an opportunistic predator, robbed of their consent and their ability to recognise a dangerous situation. It's sexual violence and it's no laughing matter. Yet some, somehow, have made it that way. WA Police have since put out their own appeal for information on social media, asking for anyone who believes they may be a victim to come forward and speak to the investigating team. What has ensued is nothing short of dehumanising and, in my opinion, utterly tone deaf. People tagged their friends in the WA police post and made jokes about their mates' sexuality.

One made fun of their friend and said if they were a victim, it was lucky because they would have enjoyed themselves. People tagged their friends and jokingly told them to "stay safe"  in a pretty uninspired and unfunny crack about their masculinity. The WA Police Facebook post. All of it was a pretty pathetic attempt at humour, and not unheard of on Facebook nowadays. In my generation in particular, having a morbid sense of humour is important. But one comment made my stomach turn.

A friend tagged a friend, and in an obviously sarcastic jibe said its ok to come forward. Support is there for you x". Ive said it before and Ill say it again: a joke is only a joke if its funny. But take a second to imagine the situation these men find themselves in. They have been out with friends, they have had a few drinks and they are not in a great state. It happens to the best of us, and you're lying if you say your late teens or early 20s didn't feature at least one night where you can't remember how it turned out. They are waiting outside a venue, presumably for a lift.

Then a stranger offers them one. We don't know the circumstances yet as that's before the court; the victim could have been intoxicated to the point of being unable to say no, they could have been forced into the car or they could have been tempted by the prospect of a free lift. But whatever happens next is a blur. Police believe many of the men seen in the videos appear vulnerable, and in the case of the 19-year-old man who was brave enough to come forward, blacked out. The teenager said he woke to find his pants around his ankles and a camera pointed at him. This is horrific in itself. Sexual violence is a despicable act, and terrifying. It took four days for the young man to report what had happened to him to WA police.

But thank God he did, because the wheels were set in motion to investigate whether this was a one-off offence or not. Loading Unfortunately as we now know, it wasn't. This second victim only found out he was sexually assaulted and filmed when a WA police officer came knocking at his door. Now imagine for a second the humiliation, the degradation and the complete and utter helplessness youd feel at this news. Like many cases of sexual violence, there would likely be a sense of self-blame, and an overwhelming sense of shame.

Now compound that with the fact these victims are men. The 19-year-old victim put it best in his interview with Nine News Perth: There is such a stigma for guys to hide this sort of thing and to not come forward, but it is so important to realise that there is such a support network out there and this sort of thing is not OK," he said. I urge anybody who has had anything similar to them to come forward, they need to know that they are not alone." The comments on this WA police post are the reason so many male victims of violence wont come forward.

They have already been hit with the trauma that is sexual assault, and then they are being made fun of on social media by strangers. Its strange to think sexual assault is an OK thing to joke about so long as the victim is a man. But to echo the words of the brave, strong, 19-year-old man who has possibly helped prevent dozens more attacks on Perth men: It is not emasculating to be a victim of sexual assault. It is not emasculating to report this to police.

It is not emasculating to stand up for yourself and tell people, and it's not emasculating to suffer. Most importantly, it is not emasculating to reach out to those around you in order to heal. For every wannabe comedian who will say "a joke's a joke and should be taken as such"  God forbid one of those victims is a friend of yours. Anyone with information relating to these cases can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online. If you or anyone you know needs mental health support, please call a helpline such as Lifeline 13 11 14; beyondblue 1300 224 636; Mental Health Emergency Response Line 1300 555 788 (Metro) or 1800 676 822 (Peel); Rurallink 1800 552 002; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; The Samaritans Crisis Line 08 9381 5555.
Australians are becoming more reluctant to pay tax for schools, health and aged care services as costs of living rise and strained households shovel away cash.

The number of people wanting to pay more tax for education has collapsed since 2017, down by over 12 percentage points to 34.2 per cent while the number willing to contribute more for better health and aged care services has fallen by 6 points to 48.9 per cent.

The only area in which there has been a rise in the number of people willing to pay more tax is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which increased two percentage points on last years figure of 21.7 per cent.

Australians are becoming more reluctant to spend money on education. Credit:Martin Hunter

The figures from the ninth annual survey of more than 1500 people released by progressive think tank Per Capita are likely to inform the priorities of the Coalition government and Labor with only three months before the federal election.
The Catholic sector will be exempt from federal Labor's plans to tie hospital funding to the provision of abortion services.

It comes as Labor walked back from its "expectation" that all public hospitals be consistently required to offer access to abortions to qualify for federal money under a renewed funding agreement.

Labor's has stepped back from its abortion plans. Credit:Jessica Shapiro

Announcing the opposition's new women's health policy on Wednesday, health spokeswoman Catherine King and deputy leader Tanya Plibersek said a new funding agreement between a Labor government and the states and territories would "expect that termination services will be provided consistently in public hospitals".

"This is critical to end the patchwork of service provision in Australia," a joint statement said.
Labor MP Emma Husar has repaid $2300 to the parliamentary expenses authority after an audit found 21 breaches of travel expenses in 18 months.

The western Sydney MP failed to meet Commonwealth guidelines on multiple occasions when travelling from her home in Penrith to the Sydney CBD, despite being briefed by expenses officials that MPs were forbidden from taking chauffeured cars in the city in which they live.

Ms Husar said she used the Commcar service because she had knee surgery and pneumonia over the course of a month in August 2016, which accounted for $233 of the expenses.

Emma Husar. Credit:Peter Rae

The MP, who has been replaced by Labor as the candidate for Lindsay despite an internal investigation finding there was no basis for her to resign over bullying allegations, said several trips were to or from Sydney for work.
Charles, the featherfoot who crept into the mansions of Kew and Toorak to steal enough to keep his habit fed, told himself he was collecting rent for the land stolen from his people. Regardless, he found himself regularly caught and hauled before the courts. He was jailed 22 times from the 1970s until his last stretch, in 2006. A shot from the 2008 film Bastardy, a warts-and-all portrait of Jack Charles as a heroin addict and burglar. And then he saw himself through the eyes of others in a remarkable documentary called Bastardy, filmed by director Amiel Courtin-Wilson, who trailed Charles with a camera for six years of his life.

What he and everyone else witnessed was an immensely talented man, a born actor, living homeless on the streets of Collingwood and Fitzroy, a burglar forever struggling to service his heroin addiction. I was embarrassed, says Jack. I was an Aboriginal man, but I was living for the white mans drug. And so he stopped. The last time he was behind bars, he got himself cleansed the Indigenous way, in a healing run by an elder, Auntie Lorraine Peeters. The eyes cleared and he got his bellowing laugh back and he learned to cook properly in his own apartment. And thus emerged this Indigenous elder, respected now among his community as Uncle Jack Charles, storming the nations stages as the splendid actor he always was.

Jack Charles versus The Crown became a runaway hit, with this small man with the big hair and the bigger voice affirming his Aboriginality and demanding the right for his criminal past to be expunged under the law, now hed done his time. Jack Charles: keen to get back into prisons and share what he has learnt. Credit:Eddie Jim But old crims dont get handed redemption. Especially not in Victoria. Jack Charles, who knows more than most about how simple it is for a loveless childhood to turn into a life lost to addiction and hopelessness and crime, wanted to get back into those prisons to offer guidance and a message of hope to inmates: they could straighten out their lives, like him. But for 10 years as a reformed man, he wasnt allowed through the door of prisons that had once dragged him in and slammed the bars behind him.

In the last few years, his reputation has persuaded prison governors that his mentoring sessions are worthwhile - but he is invited in only at their discretion. Now he wants to establish a community centre in the Shepparton-Mooroopna area - from where he was snatched as a baby, aged four months - to begin teaching young people how they can turn their lives around. He doesnt want to limit it to Indigenous people, either: he sees young Africans, new arrivals and local kids veering to dangerous paths. But, he says, his entreaties to establish such a centre have always come to nothing. Why? He has a criminal record. In Victoria, a criminal record stalks old crims like a mugger armed with a cosh.

Apply for a job worth having and there is the high chance of a police check. The record is revealed and the job offer vanishes. All other states and territories in Australia, and the Commonwealth itself, have legislation that offers a chink of light. Once convicted, a record can be hard to shake. Credit: Stay out of trouble for 10 years - and in some cases, for less time than that - and your old criminal convictions are considered to be spent, either automatically or by court order. They wont, in many cases, be revealed when employers and the state come looking. Victoria has no such legislation. Your Victorian convictions threaten to leap out and hogtie you just when you need a break, way down the years.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has used his first election-year trip to WA to frame the upcoming election as a battle to be fought on his preferred ground of the economy and border security.

But he also came with a warning for Premier Mark McGowan over the Commonwealth GST cash about to land in the state government's coffers.

Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Liberal Fremantle candidate Nicole Robins at BAE Systems in Perth on Thursday morning. Mr Morrison will be campaigning in at-risk Liberal-held seats over the next few days as well as Cowan, held by Labor's Anne Aly. Credit:AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

Mr Morrison sidestepped questions on Sunday's hard-fought Liberal preselection for the seat of Curtin and Labor attacks on per capita recessions and stagnant wage growth to stay on message: Bill Shorten is a threat to border security and the economy.

"The only wages I can be certain that he's going to increase is the wages of people smugglers," Mr Morrison said.
Seoul: New activities have been detected at a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles plant. It comes as US President Donald Trump said he would be very disappointed if Pyongyang rebuilt a rocket site.

Movement of cargo vehicles was spotted recently around a factory at Sanumdong in Pyongyang, which produced North Korea's first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the US, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing politicians briefed by the National Intelligence Service.

Spy chief Suh Hoon told the politicians he practically viewed the activity as missile-related, according to the JoongAng Ilbo.

Satellite imagery showing new activity at a North Korean rocket launch site has raised doubts that Kim Jong-un will ever give up his nuclear technology. Credit:AP

The newspaper also quoted Suh saying North Korea continued to operate its uranium enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex after a first summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last June.
Ottawa: A former key aide to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denied he inappropriately pressured a cabinet minister, in comments that could help ease a political crisis for the ruling Liberals ahead of an October election.

Allegations that Gerald Butts and other political officials inappropriately tried to help a favoured construction company in a legal case has fuelled a scandal that has already cost Trudeau two senior cabinet ministers.

Jody Wilson-Raybould during her appearance before the Justice Committee late in February, 2019. Credit:AP

Former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould told the House of Commons justice committee last week that she and her staff had been subjected to persistent unwelcome pressure over the case.

Wilson-Raybould was unexpectedly demoted to the veterans affairs ministry in January. She told the committee she felt this was linked to the SNC-Lavalin case, which Butts denied.
Auto Channel Exclusive: 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV S-AWC Review By Andrew Frankl







The following is an Auto Channel Green Wheels Report. It features relevant content for car shoppers and auto enthusiasts concerned with alt-fuels, fuel economy, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, fuel-cells, saving our planet by reducing poisonous gasoline exhaust emissions and eliminating a need to kiss the asses of countries that hate America and Americans.

By Andrew Frankl

European Bureau Chief

The Auto Channel

A very dear friend of mine has just joined the company from a rival brand.

Looking forward to the challenge he said and a challenge it will be.

In the glory days of 1991 the company was selling 180 thousand cars/SUVs.

It dropped dramatically into the low 50s and it is just beginning to turn the corner.

Certainly going from 8 thousand units sold in January 2019 to 13 thousand in February is a step in the right direction. Getting back to a 1 percent market share from the current .68 is clearly what they are aiming at.

The Outlander I have been testing will certainly help although at 42 thousand dollars I did find it rather expensive. Of course if your commute is 10-15 miles per day and if you can plug it in at home-something Ive tried and worked flawlessly it makes sense but logic dictates that most people would want to use an SUV for more than commuting and that is when the problem starts. The hybrid range is quite short and the proper engine is, how can I put it nicely-gutless.

By all means throw in several pairs of skis on your way to Squaw Valley but I am afraid you will

Spend most of your time in the slow lane. The Outlander definitely needs more oomph.

On the plus side it is remarkably well equipped, it is a very very long time since Ive seen

A car or an SUV with absolutely no extras- everything apart from the delivery charge in included!

The gearbox is a delight, the sound system is excellent and the seats are very comfortable.

The rear seats fold without breaking fingernails and all in all everything inside is just fine.

It certainly looked the part at the 150th anniversary ball of the San Francisco Yacht Club and was equally at home at the De Young museum in San Francisco. You may well ask what this SUV has got to do with Claude Monet-one of the greatest impressionists of all times. Well, you will probably surprised when I tell you. In Monets days most roads were made of gravel, consequently as cars drove past the Masters studio in Giveny his beloved lilies were covered in dust. So he did something Ive only recently learned. He paid for the paving of the surrounding roads so he could carry on painting the lilies on the pond. For car buffs who may not necessarily be students of the

Impressionists Monet also arranged for the river to be diverted so he could have his pond!

No, I am not making this up! Such was his fame that when he approached the local authorities to have the River Epte diverted so he could have his pond they said yes!

Returning to Mitsubishi via the D915 where Giverny is the roads -Monet arranged to be paved -were exactly the sort of on which the Pajero excelled. It was known as the King of the Desert, winning the legendary Paris-Dakar rally numerous times. To the best of my knowledge it is not sold in the United States which is a shame as it is exactly the sort of trophy product the brand could build on.

Right now second hand values are pretty weak and I think some of the dealership could do with a coat of paint as well. All in all a much improved Outlander, a hybrid aspect is a definite plus, can only help to achieve the desired 1 percent market share. And credit where credit is due-in, the truly appalling weather we have had in California this Winter the test car never missed a beat. The much needed wipers worked fine as did the heater and demister.

For the record in EV mode the Outlander gets 74mpg, with the gas engine 25. The government fuel economy and smog rating are excellent. By the way the warranty is an almost unprecedented 10 years or 100 thousand miles.Bravo.

Learn More About Mitsubishi Vehicles
2019 HR-V receives Good rating in all six IIHS crashworthiness tests

Honda Sensing Collision Mitigation Braking System rated Superior

Sixth 2019 Honda model to receive TSP or higher

The 2019 Honda HR-V has earned a TOP SAFETY PICK (TSP) rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), when equipped with optional front crash prevention and specific headlights, including the highest possible rating of "Good" in all six crashworthiness tests and a "Superior" rating for its available Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), part of the Honda Sensing suite of driver assistive and safety technologies.

Refreshed for the 2019 model year, the 2019 HR-V received numerous updates to its structure to improve frontal crash performance, as demonstrated in the IIHS' small and moderate front overlap tests. In addition, Honda Sensing is now standard on EX and above trims, which, in addition to CMBS, includes Forward Collision Warning; Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) incorporating Lane Departure Warning (LDW); Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS); and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). On the new-for-2019 HR-V Touring trim, multi-element LED headlights earned an Acceptable rating in the IIHS evaluation.

The 2019 HR-V is the sixth Honda model to receive a top safety rating from the IIHS. The 2019 Honda Accord, CR-V, PIlot and Odyssey all received TSP, while Insight earned a TOP SAFETY PICK+, the Institutes highest rating. Separately, every Honda model that has been fully evaluated in NHTSA's 2019 model year NCAP testing, including the 2019 HR-V, has received a 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score1.

For More Information

Consumer information is available at automobiles.honda.com. To join the Honda community on Facebook, visit facebook.com/honda. Additional media information including detailed pricing features and high-resolution photography of all 2019 Honda models is available at hondanews.com.

About Honda

Honda offers a full line of reliable, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive vehicles with advanced safety technologies sold through over 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The Honda lineup includes the Fit, Civic, Insight, Accord and Clarity series passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V, Passport and Pilot sport utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan.

Honda has been producing automobiles in America for more than 35 years and currently operates 19 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2018, more than 90 percent of all Honda brand vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.

About Honda Safety Leadership

Honda has a long history of leadership in the development and application of advanced technologies designed to enhance the safety of all road users, including automobile occupants, motorcycle riders and pedestrians. The company operates two of the world's most sophisticated crash test facilities, in Ohio and Japan, and is responsible for numerous pioneering efforts in the areas of crashworthiness, airbag technology, collision compatibility and pedestrian safety.

1Government 5-Star Safety Ratings are part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) New Car Assessment Program (www.SaferCar.gov). Not tested are Clarity series, Civic Type R.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 6/3/2019 (1008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hanover School Division trustees unanimously approved a $92.1 million budget for the 2019-20 school year on Tuesday night.

The divisions mill rate will increase from 15.14 to 15.17 mills, an approximate 0.16 percent tax increase.

Board finance chair Rick Peters said a sample house assessed at $250,000 will see a taxation increase of approximately $2.

Peters told The Carillon this years budget deliberations have been especially difficult as the division had found itself limited in its funding but faced with growing needs.

"In past years we have always had the funds to facilitate growth and take care of those needsthis year we had to make some decisions that werent like we normally do," he said.

This year the division received a funding increase of $761,400 from the province. Additionally, the province has mandated that local tax increases are capped for the second year in a row at 2 percent, meaning increased tax revenue has been calculated at $694,000.

Those combined sources of revenue give the division an additional $1,530,200 for the next school year, with operational costs projected to rise by $2,986,000.

The division noted that significant expenditures in the coming year include an annual operating cost of $550,100 for the new Niverville High School, and an increase of $511,100 for French education fees paid to other school divisions. Funds are also included to address instructional staff for enrollment growth, collective bargaining agreements, utilities, property insurance, IT infrastructure, and the addition of one reading clinician.

To address its deficit position, Peters noted Hanover will reduce expenditures in transportation by $340,000, by opting to purchase only three new buses rather than six new additions to its fleet.

School maintenance costs will also be reduced by $500,000.

"Weve always kept up with our building and maintenance well and were not going to lag this year, but some of those things that schools might want are not going to happen," Peters conceded.

Another $370,200 has been flagged for reductions through the elimination of existing divisional programs and services.

He declined to go into the specifics of those budget cuts on Tuesday night.

"We have some people we need to talk to first," he said.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"There are a number of pieces. What I will say is that there is nothing that is going to impact learning in the classrooms. We needed to protect that, we did protect that, and we will continue to protect that."

A final $320,000 will be found by dipping into the divisions surplus.

Peters suggested that the provinces recently launched education commission will need to touch on education financing as part of its mission, as he questioned the long-term viability of current funding restrictions.

"We wouldnt be able to sustain our division with a continuation of doing this obviously," he said.

"Wed have to make some changes if the province should choose to continue down this path."

Update: Corrects reference to used bus purchases. Buses acquired as part of 2019-20 budget will all be new.
Chris Watts in court. Photo: Joshua Polson/AP

In August, Shanann Watts, 34, and her two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, were reported missing from their Frederick, Colorado, home. The following day, Shananns husband Chris Watts gave an interview on the porch of his familys home in which he begged for his pregnant wife and daughters safe return.

If youre out there, just come back. If somebody has her, just please bring her back. I need to see everybody. I need to see everybody again. This house is not complete without anybody here.

Then, Chris was arrested and charged with murdering them. He ultimately plead guilty to felony charges relating to their murders, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Nearly 24 hours before Chris Watts was arrested in the disappearance of his pregnant wife and young daughters in Colorado, he stood outside his porch and pleaded for their safe return https://t.co/Puz1o2A4Od pic.twitter.com/DvqCYB8l61  CNN (@CNN) August 17, 2018

Heres a timeline of this horrific case.

Monday, August 13: Shananns friend reports her missing

Nickole Atkinson, one of Shananns close friends, told ABC News that she contacted the police on Monday, August 13, at around noon. Atkinson had dropped Shanann off at her house several hours earlier, at 2 a.m., after the two returned from a business trip together. Shanann, who was 15 weeks pregnant, didnt respond to any of Atkinsons calls or texts later that morning. Her friend said she also missed a doctors appointment to hear her fetuss heartbeat. Atkinson became concerned, and went over to her house. No one answered the door, but Atkinson saw Shananns car was still in the garage.

Atkinson called Shananns husband, Chris, who told her not to worry about it, and that his wife had taken the girls to a playdate.

He just kept saying that he didnt know where she was and that she was on a playdate. But he couldnt give us the name of the friend, Atkinson said. She told Chris she was calling the police for a welfare check, and he joined her at the house.

Inside, police found Shananns purse and keys, but she and the girls were nowhere to be found.

Tuesday, August 14: Chris pleads for his familys return

While police and canine units swept the property for clues about where Shanann and her girls may have gone, Chris spoke with a TV crew from Denver7. He confirmed that Shanann had gotten back from a business trip at 2 a.m. on Monday, and said that he went to work around 5:15 a.m., and hadnt seen her since.

He added that he and his wife had an emotional conversation before she disappeared, but didnt elaborate.

Thursday, August 16: Chris is arrested on three counts of murder; Shanann, Bella, and Celestes bodies are found

A Frederick Police Department official told Denver7 that law enforcement arrested Chris just after midnight on Thursday. He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, and three counts of tampering with evidence.

At a press conference later that day, police said they found the body of a woman they believe to be Shanann on the property of Wattss former employer, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. The girls bodies were reportedly recovered later that day.

According to CNN, a court filing from the prosecutor says that Shanann Wattss body was recovered from a shallow grave near an oil tank, and that law enforcement recovered the bodies of defendants two daughters from inside oil tanks located near the grave of their mother.

An affidavit obtained by CNN later revealed police found Shananns body when they used a drone to survey the fields, and saw a bedsheet near the oil tanks.

The sheet matched the pattern of several pillowcases and a top sheet recovered from a kitchen trash can from [Wattss] residence early that day, the document said.

Monday, August 20: Police release Chriss arrest affidavit, in which he admits to killing Shanann, and claims she strangled their daughters; Chris is formally charged

In his arrest affidavit, released on Monday by police, Chris claimed that he went into a rage and strangled Shanann after he saw her strangling one of their daughters on a baby monitor.

Chris told police that after she got back from her business trip at 2 a.m., he told Shanann he had been having an affair with a co-worker, and that he wanted to separate. (Though he had denied having an affair in previous police interviews, authorities said they carried out a two-day investigation that confirmed he was actively involved in an affair with a co-worker before the murders.)

He said he then saw Shanann on the baby monitor, strangling their 3-year-old daughter Celeste, and that when he ran into the girls room, he saw Bella, 4, already sprawled out on the bed, and blue. Thats when he says he strangled his wife to death before loading all three bodies onto the back seat of his work truck.

#breaking Chris Watts confessed to murder of his wife but not of daughters Bella and Celeste. In fact he blames their murders on Shanann Watts, saying she's the one who strangled them after he said he wanted to separate.

He admitted he'd been having an affair w/co-worker #kdvr pic.twitter.com/vU4lNlrHK6  Rob Low (@RobLowTV) August 20, 2018

CNN reports that Chris was also charged with a total of nine criminal counts on Monday: three counts of first-degree murder, two separate counts of first-degree murder for killing a child under the age of 12, three counts of tampering with a body, and one count of first-degree unlawful termination of a pregnancy.

The couple was reportedly struggling financially

According to court documents, Chris and Shanann filed for bankruptcy in 2015, and were about $70,000 in debt. CNN also reports that a civil suit says they owed $1,533.80 to their homeowners association.

People in their lives were shocked

The Weld County district attorney Michael Rourke is not releasing many details of the case against Watts, and has said it is too early to know whether the state will press for the death penalty.

Shananns friend, Nickole Atkinson, told ABC she wasnt shocked when Chris was arrested. Anyone in their right mind will start piecing things together and think something had happened, but you dont want to go there. You want to believe the best in people.

Its really sad. Its beyond belief, really, another friend, Kris Landon, told People. And it makes you wonder about other people you know. If this couple who seemed so perfect was like this, what are the other couples like?

November 19: Chris is sentenced to life in prison

The Associated Press reports that Watts was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences on November 19, two weeks after pleading guilty to the murders of his two daughters and pregnant wife, and months after his arrest. According to USA Today, Watts plead guilty to nine felony charges relating to the murders.

At the sentencing hearing, Shanann Wattss father said to Watts: I trusted you to take care of them, not kill them. Prison is too good for you.

Chris Watts was officially sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to killing his pregnant wife Shanann and their two young daughters.



Today, we remember Shanann, Bella and Celeste as well as the family, friends who have been impacted by their deaths. pic.twitter.com/tPlt1IqU9U  NBC Charlotte (@wcnc) November 19, 2018

This is perhaps the most inhumane and vicious crime that I have handled out of the thousands of cases I have seen, presiding judge Marcelo Kopcow of Colorados 19th Judicial District Court reportedly said. Nothing less than a maximum sentence would be appropriate.

March 7, 2019: Chris admits to killing two daughters

In a prison interview from on February 18, which was made public on March 7, Watts finally admitted to Colorado Bureau of Investigations agents that he smothered his two daughters with a blanket after he forced them into the truck with their mothers body.
A "School of Rock" star - Joey Gaydos Jr - has been caught stealing a guitar...ironically...

Joey, who played lead guitarist Zack, in Jack Black's fictional school band, is facing felony charges in Florida for larceny and grand theft after he was caught 4 times in the last 5 weeks stealing guitars and an amplifier.
Crystal, a female gray wolf, roams the enclosure during a sneak peak of the new American Trail at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, on Aug. 29, 2012. (Allison Shelley/Getty Images)

4 Canadian Wolves Relocated to Michigan Island to Hunt Moose

Four Canadian wolves were captured and airlifted to Lake Superiors Isle Royale National Park in Michigan, which doubled the current number of wolves in the area.

I am  blown away by the resilience of these wolves, who within hours after undergoing capture and handling and arriving on Isle Royale, immediately got on the trail of their pack mates, Mark Romanski, the parks natural resources division chief, told The Associated Press.

The National Park Service said it plans to take 20 to 30 wolves to Isle Royale over several years, AP reported, adding that the animals prey on moose, which have experienced a population boom since wolves left the area.

Two grey wolves from Michipicoten Island and two black wolves from a pack near Wawa. The plan is to add genetic diversity to the dwindling wolf pack on Lake Superior's Isle Royale. Posted by CBC Thunder Bay on Wednesday, 6 March 2019

Scientists say that if the moose population continues to explode, they will over-eat trees and shrubs on the island. That will harm the environment and will likely trigger mass starvation.

The relocation of Ontario wolves to Isle Royale National Park demonstrates our mutual commitment to conservation and we are happy to help Michigan restore balance to the island park, said John Yakabuski, who is the head of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

There are about 1,500 moose on the island.

All four wolves were from Ontario, Canada. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources captured one male and one female Posted by Fox 9 on Monday, 4 March 2019

On our first round, We knew that we wanted four to six wolves from Canada, so the ministry actually had a plan that if we could not get out to Michipicoten Island [on Lake Superior], then we would operate on the mainland, Phyllis Green, the Park Superintendent at Isle Royale National Park, told the CBC. So two of the animals were obtained from the same pack outside of Wawa. And they actually have a rare coloration of black. Which is unusual and pretty significant in the wolf world based on some research.

According to Jolanta Kowalski, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, two people fired nets at wolves from a helicopter to restrain the animals.

The wolves were handled with care, and aerial capture using a net gun during the winter months is safest for the animals and the most effective method for being able to selectively capture wolves, said Kowalski, according to the CBC.

Winter storms prevented the operation until last week, AP reported.

Green added that it is necessary for diversity in the wolf population on the island.

Actually what we need on Isle Royale is diverse genetics from wolves. We know that as a result of the last 60 years, where they can track most of the wolves that were on the island back to a single female, that too narrow of a line of genetics could ultimately lead to the demise of the population, she told the CBC.

These ELITE CANADIAN WOLVES are on a MISSION. Posted by VICE on Wednesday, 6 March 2019

No more wolves will be taken to the island this winter, park spokeswoman Liz Valencia told AP.

According to Fox59, wolves are not native to Isle Royale, and scientists believe that ice bridges formed on the lake helped first wolves find the island 75 years ago.

In 1980, the population peaked at 50 wolves before dropping off.

Last fall, four wolves were released on the island but one died, and another wolf walked to the mainland over an ice bridge that formed in February 2018, Fox59 reported.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to dignitaries and members of the Invictus Team Australia Squad at the official launch at Admiralty House on Jun. 7, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. (Toby Zerna/Getty Images)

$500M Promise for Non-Govt NSW Schools

Catholic and independent schools in NSW would receive half a billion dollars from the state government over the next four years to help cope with growing enrolments if the coalition is re-elected.

The $500 million will go towards building more classrooms and upgrading facilities for non-government schools across the state.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian made the announcement on Mar. 7, a fortnight out from the Mar. 23 election.

The government was committed to supporting parents whether they choose to send their children to public, Catholic or private schools, Berejiklian said in a statement.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said the funds will be directed to the areas of greatest need and will take into account fees, demographics and socio-economic characteristics of the school.

This record funding announcement will continue to ensure that every student in NSW continues to receive the best possible education, in the best facilitiesno matter where they go to school, he said in a statement on Thursday.

Dogs to Sniff out Drugs in SA Schools

In another effort to improve schools, sniffer dogs are set to be deployed in South Australian schools to combat what the state government says is the scourge of drugs.

Under new protocols agreed to by police and the education department, high school principals can invite sniffer dogs onto school grounds where a demonstrated need has been determined.

The protocol includes a process for identifying schools where there may be children vulnerable to illicit drug use.

It also allows private schools to opt in to the program.

Education Minister John Gardner said the government was taking action to stop the scourge of drugs in schools.

We are taking strong action to protect our children from illicit substances which we know can interrupt learning, impair development and result in social, emotional, financial and health problems that continue into adulthood, he said.

While the majority of South Australian students are not involved with these activities we are very serious about deterring young people from having any involvement with illegal drugs.

Police Minister Corey Wingard said the government had a zero-tolerance attitude towards illicit drugs.

Illegal drugs have no place in our society and in particular no place anywhere near our vulnerable children, he said.

These new measures send a clear message to anybody who thinks they can bring drugs into our schools that they will be caught and they will face the consequences.

Police assistant commissioner Noel Bamford said the protocol would ensure the sniffer dog operations were conducted in the appropriate manner.

That includes a provision for students to be assembled away from school buildings while the drug detection operation was conducted.

I would remind anyone considering taking illicit drugs onto any school property that the consequences of using drugs or being caught in possession of them can be serious and long-lasting, including the possibility of criminal conviction, Bamford said.

Preparing Students For the Real World

Australias universities insist they are producing graduates with practical skills enabling them to get straight to work.

The sector is highlighting its efforts to produce career-ready graduates with a new report on the vast array of opportunities for work placements, internships, industry projects, fieldwork, and real-life simulations on offer to students.

Almost half a million studentsjust over a third of all those enrolledtook up one of these opportunities in 2017, the report Universities Australia released on Wednesday reveals.

This is a very large numberand a noteworthy one, the peak bodys chairwoman Margaret Gardner will say upon releasing the report, according to speech extracts.

Universities dont just equip students with skills for learning, life and leadership, we help prepare students for the careers that beckon after graduation.

This is about far more than making them knowledgeable in their chosen field.

Business and federal education ministers have repeatedly called on universities to do a better job of making sure their students have the skills needed when they graduate and head into workplaces.

The report, funded in part by the education department, shows they have heard that message.

These figures testify to the extent and diversity of work readiness activities now available at every Australian university and reflect a strong commitment to graduate employability, it states.

At Charles Sturt University, engineering professors have done away with lectures and exams, instead sending students out to work on four real-world projects plus a series of paid placements.

The feedback from employers indicated the approach was a program that trains student engineers, not engineering students, Foundation Professor of Engineering Euan Lindsay said.

In Newcastle, budding lawyers and social workers provide a Law on the Beach clinic each summer, offering free legal advice under supervision while preparing themselves for a career in the courts.

Universities are also releasing new polling showing two-thirds of Australians oppose government cuts to research funding, such as the $328 million trimmed from the sector in Decembers mid-year budget update.

The polling by JWS Research also found just over three-in-five people also oppose cuts to student places and the same proportion agree that while cutting university funding may save money now, it will damage Australia in the long term.
9 Warning Signs of Kidney Cancer Not To IgnoreDo You Feel Shooting Pains in Your Lower Back?

Kidney cancer is one of the 10 most common cancers in the United States. It is the sixth most common cancer in men, and the eighth most common in women. According to estimates by the American Cancer Society, there will be approximately 73,820 new cases of and about 14,770 deaths from kidney cancer in the United States in 2019 alone.

Kidney cancer begins in the kidneysvery important organs in the body. Each person has two bean-shaped kidneys on either side, inside the body, located behind the liver and stomach. The most important function of the kidneys is to produce urine, which is how the body removes liquid waste out of the body. Also, kidneys play a role in controlling blood pressure and stimulating the bone marrow to make red blood cells.

Most new cases of kidney cancer are in older people, with an average age of 64 at the time of diagnosis. Smoking is the most prominent risk factor in kidney cancer. Other risk factors include: obesity, high blood pressure, and exposure to a chemical called trichloroethylene, which is used to remove grease from metal.

The good news is that when kidney cancer is caught early, it is easier to treat successfully. However, tumors can grow to be quite large before they can be detected. So, to help you in early detection, we have compiled 9 kidney cancer symptoms to watch for:

1. Blood in the Urine

Hematuria, or blood in the urine, is a common symptom of kidney cancer, being reported in nearly half of all people diagnosed with kidney cancer. If you notice that your urine is pink, red, or cola-colored (a result of the presence of red blood cells), schedule an appointment with your doctor for an examination.

2. Lower back (flank) Pain

Pain in the lower back or flank (the side of the back) can vary from a subtle ache to a sharper, stabbing sensation. Many people actually dont experience lower back/flank pain until kidney cancer is in its later stages, so if you have this symptom, be sure to consult with your doctor as soon as possible.

3. Anemia

Anemia is one of the most common symptoms of kidney cancer, being reported by roughly 20 to 40 percent of those who are diagnosed. Anemia is defined as having a lower number of red blood cells than normal. The kidneys produces a protein called erythropoietin which is responsible for stimulating the bone marrow to produce red blood cells. Kidney cancer can cause a decrease in the production of this protein resulting in a lower red blood cell count.

4. Lump in the Abdominal region

Just as lumps can be felt when someone has breast cancer, you can sometimes feel a lump or swelling in the kidney area as tumors grow larger. Most kidney cancers are too small for you or your doctor to feel, so you can arrange an ultrasound scan to check for tumors.

5. Recurrent Fever (not caused by a cold or flu)

A fever is a fairly common symptom of kidney cancer, occurring in nearly a third of people who are diagnosed. Rather than happening once in a while, a recurrent fever caused by kidney cancer comes and goes quite frequently without any obvious signs of infection. While this is commonly seen in kidney cancer patients, it is not known as an outstanding symptom of the disease. It is explained that tumors produce harmful toxins which result in fever symptoms.

6. High blood Pressure

The most common type of high blood pressure symptom in kidney cancer patients is called renal hypertension, where kidney arteries narrow and restrict blood flow. This blood flow decrease causes the kidneys react in the same way they would for dehydration: by releasing higher levels of hormones that stimulate water and sodium retention. In turn, this fluid increase in the blood vessels results in higher blood pressure.

7. Swelling of Ankles or Legs

In some cases, people with kidney cancer may experience swelling in the ankles or legs. This condition, called edema, is caused by an abnormal buildup of fluid in the ankles or legs, which occurs under the skin, in the tissues that are outside of the circulatory system.

One of the primary functions of the kidneys is to regulate fluid balance. When kidney cancer is present however, tumors cause this process to either malfunction or stop working completely, resulting in fluid retention and swelling in the ankles and legs.

8. Unexplained Weight Loss

This is actually a symptom in most cancer types also. This weight loss is often due to a loss of appetite or a changes in the immune system or metabolism. If you have lost a lot of weight unintentionally or unexpectedly, you should check with your doctor to find out what the cause is.

9. Extreme Fatigue

As explained previously, kidney cancer can cause anemia. When your red blood cell levels are lower, less oxygen will be supplied to the body, which makes you feel tired. Fatigue from cancer, unlike ordinary fatigue, can neither be improved with a good nights sleep nor with a strong cup of coffee, and it usually worsens with time.

Kidney cancer is a quieter form of the disease in its early stages. Many cases are found almost accidentally, when you are scanning for a different health issue. If any of the above warning signs appear, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor immediately for an examination.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.
Riot police walk as they try to disperse people during the protest to denounce an offer by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to run in elections next month but not to serve a full term if re-elected, in Algiers, Algeria March 5, 2019. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina

Algeria War Veterans Back Protests Demanding End to Bouteflikas Rule

ALGIERSAlgerian independence war veterans said protesters demanding ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika step down after 20 years in power had legitimate concerns and they urged all citizens to demonstrateanother sign of cracks in the ruling elite.

The unrest poses the biggest challenge yet to Bouteflika and his inner circle which includes members of the military, intelligence services, and businessmen.

It is the duty of Algerian society in all its segments to take to the streets, the influential National Organisation of Mujahideenveterans like Bouteflika of the 1954-1962 war of independence against Francesaid late on March 5.

Two branches of powerful Algerian labor union UGTA, representing tens of thousands of workers, also opposed the re-election plan.

The members do not want a system that is linked to oligarchs, the branches of Rouiba and Reghaia, two large industrial suburbs of Algiers, said in a statement, referring to close relationships between Bouteflika and business tycoons.

UGTA national Chairman Abdelmadjid Sidi Said is close to Bouteflika and had warned against instability after the first protests erupted two weeks ago.

In another sign of dissent, the national association of lawyers associations demanded that the authorities postpone the elections and set up a transitional government, a statement said. Lawyers have called for a protest on March 7.

Tens of thousands of people have rallied in cities around Algeria in the largest protests since the 2011 Arab Spring, calling on Bouteflika, 82, not to stand in an election scheduled for April 18. He submitted papers on March 3.

Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gaed Salah reiterated that the military would not allow a breakdown in security.

We are committed to providing safe conditions that ensure that Algerians fulfill their electoral duties, the private Ennahar television statement quoted him as saying.

More Protests?

After renewed protests on March 5, Algeria was largely quiet on March 6 apart from one demonstration in the town of Bejaia.

Some officials from Bouteflikas ruling FLN party have turned up at demonstrations. Several public figures have announced their resignations in a country where personnel changes normally take place behind closed doors.

An anonymous call for a general strike has gone largely unheeded but the leadership faces another testan online call for a March of 20 Million March 8.

Older Algerians still haunted by the civil war in the 1990s have tolerated crackdowns on dissent in exchange for stability. But young protesters have no real connection to the war of independence that gives Algerias elderly leaders their credentials and, desperate for jobs, have lost patience.

Protesters have praised the military, which has stayed in barracks throughout the unrest. But analysts and former officials say the generals are likely to intervene if the protests lead to instability in one of Africas biggest oil producers.

The 82-year Bouteflika, in office since 1999, said on March 3 he would run in the April 18 poll but call early elections to find a successor after holding a national conference to discuss reforms and a new constitution.

He has not spoken in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. He remains at a hospital in Geneva for medical checks.

In Paris, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on March 6 that France was watching the situation in its former colony closely but it was for Algerians to decide their future.

With more than four million people of Algerian origin in France, any upheaval across the Mediterranean would have a serious impact there. French officials fear an influx of refugees as well as a potential security crisis.

By Lamine Chikhi & Hamid Ould Ahmed
Tommy Robinson (C), real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is surrounded by supporters and media in a bar after his case was adjourned in London, England, on Sept. 27, 2018. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Amazon Bans Book Co-authored by Anti-Islam Activist

Amazon is being accused of censorship after recently removing a book co-authored by British anti-Islamic activist Tommy Robinson.

The book, titled Mohammeds Koran: Why Muslims Kill for Islam, was released in July 2017, before going on to become an Amazon best-seller for a short period. Peter McLoughlin, Robinsons co-author, says Amazon banned their book and deleted it from their database, meaning that even second-hand copies cant be sold through the platform.

This title is not currently available for purchase, Amazons website now says.

The joint scholarly work, which contains the entire unedited text of the Koranthe main religious text of Islamexplains the pervasive and perennial problem of Islamic terrorism, according to the authors.

McLoughlin argues that no other scholarly book on Islam has been banned by Amazon before, noting that Adolf Hitlers Mein Kampf and the terrorist manual The Anarchist Cookbook remain for sale on Amazons online store.

This is the twenty-first century equivalent of the Nazis taking out the books from university libraries and burning them, McLoughlin wrote in an email posted on the blog Brian of London.

McLoughlin accuses Amazon of removing the book without an explanation, and says the company has refused to reinstate it.

I cant get my head around it. Every few weeks for the past 18 months, they had emailed me asking to put it into special sales programs, as it was selling so well, he wrote. For 18 months, they sought to profit even more from the sales.

Amazon didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Conservative blog site Jihad Watch, meanwhile, said that Amazons removal of the book should make people who care about the freedom of speech extremely concerned.

This book is critical of the Quran; it calls for no violence and is not inaccurate, the site says. Anyone who has written a book that is critical of anything should read the writing on the wall and realize that once this censorship begins, it wont end with Tommy Robinson or Quran-critical books.

Continued Censorship

Robinson has been permanently banned from Facebook and Instagram for posts that the platforms said violated their policies on hate speech.

Tommy Robinsons Facebook Page has repeatedly broken these standards, posting material that uses dehumanizing language and calls for violence targeted at Muslims, Facebook said in a statement.

He has also behaved in ways that violate our policies around organized hate.

The ban represents the latest in a series of actions taken by social media platforms to attempt to stem the flow of what they call hate speech.

The term is defined by Facebook as anything that directly attacks people based on what are known as their protected characteristicsrace, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or serious disability or disease.

In a statement to the press, Facebook said Robinson had allegedly called Muslims filthy scum bags and allegedly called on people to make war on them.

They alleged Robinson had been taking part in events with individuals they deem to be hate figures, such as the Proud Boys and Gavin McInnes.

However, they didnt provide evidence or even specifics of the posts that violated their terms, and an email to their press team to clarify the matter at the time went unanswered.

Robinsons account, meanwhile, hasnt been removed from YouTube, where he has over 350,000 followers.

John Smithies contributed to this report.
Alcatraz Island is seen in San Francisco on March 6, 2019. Archaeologists have confirmed a long-time suspicion of historians: the famed Alcatraz prison was built over a Civil War-era military fortification. (Eric Risberg/AP Photo)

Archeologists Find Hidden Tunnels Below Alcatraz Prison

SAN FRANCISCOArchaeologists confirmed a long-time suspicion of historians and say that the famed Alcatraz prison was built over a Civil War-era military fortification.

Researchers found a series of buildings and tunnels under the prison yard of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, which once held Al Capone, SFGate reported on March 5.

A study published last week in Near Surface Geophysics said archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar, terrestrial laser scans, and historical maps and photographs. They found fully buried structures, ammunition magazines, and tunnels.

This really changes the picture of things, study author Timothy de Smet, an archaeologist at Binghampton University, told PBS. They werent erased from the islandthey are right beneath your feet.

This really changes the picture of things, study author Timothy de Smet, an archaeologist at Binghampton University, told PBS. They werent erased from the island  they are right beneath your feet. https://t.co/iZoibLv5Zs  First Coast News (@FCN2go) March 7, 2019

Archaeologists are now planning more study to discover what else lies just below the surface.

Historians believe workers built over existing structures when the prison was built in the 20th century.

Alcatraz first came to the attention of the United States government after it took control of California from Mexico in the 1840s. Its location in San Francisco Bay made it attractive for military fortification purposes.

During the Civil War, Fort Alcatraz was the official military prison for the West Coast.

In the 1930s, the first federal prisonersdeemed by the media to be the worst of the worstbegan arriving. The last inmate left in 1963.

Archaeologists have confirmed a long-time suspicion of historians and say that famed Alcatraz prison was built over a Civil War-era military fortificationhttps://t.co/oCi7LXAJHH  KTLA (@KTLA) March 6, 2019

Bones Found in Revolutionary War Graves Reveal More Details

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y.The New York State Museum says it has learned more about the skeletal remains of 13 people discovered at a construction site where a Revolutionary War-era cemetery was located.

Archeologists say hand excavation of the Lake George site confirmed 11 graves contained the partial remains of 13 people, including seven adults over 20 years of age and six individuals younger than 20. Museum official says fragmentary remains of at least five other people also have been recovered.

Excavation work halted at Lake George bones site  Glens Falls Post-Star https://t.co/ZcxPP0aL5U via @lidarmonkey #archaeological  LidarMonkey (@LidarMonkey) February 27, 2019

The remains were first unearthed on Feb. 7.

The museum says buttons found in one of the graves was from the First Pennsylvania Battalion, which was in the Lake George area during the Revolutionary War.

Museum officials say they are working to confirm the age and origin of the graves, and analysis is expected to take several months.
Austria Tells Terrorists Looking to Return: Youre on Your Own

VIENNAAustria said on March 6 it would not help repatriate any citizens who fought for ISIS and other terrorist groups, as countries across the West wrestle with how to deal with returning terrorists.

Hundreds of people are believed to have left Europe to fight for ISIS in Syria and Iraq. With ISIS down to its last shred of territory, several have asked to come home.

The cabinet has sent a bill to parliament on consular assistance that makes clear that it can be denied to citizens if there is a threat to public order, the government said in a statement.

There will in future be no assistance for people who join a terrorist organization, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a conservative governing in coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, told journalists.

Anyone who leaves Austria to murder, torture or act against religious minorities and those who think differently elsewhere in the world has no right to Austrias help, he added. He stopped short of saying they would be barred from returning.

U.S. President Donald Trump last month urged Britain, France and Germany to take back more than 800 captured ISIS fighters and put them on trial.

But European countries have resisted pressure to take in citizens who had sworn allegiance to groups determined to destroy the West.

Chancellor Angela Merkels conservatives and their Social Democrat coalition partners this week agreed a plan to strip some Germans who fight for ISIS of their citizenship.

Britain last month revoked the citizenship of a teenager who had left London when she was aged 15 to join ISIS in Syria.

Shamima Begum was found in a detention camp in Syria, and her fate has fueled a dispute over the ramifications of leaving a 19-year-old mother with a jihadist fighters child to fend for herself in a war zone.
An emblem at the Kentucky State House Chamber in Frankfort, Ky., on April 13, 2018. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Bill to Make Doxing Illegal Passes State Senate as Dad of Covington Student Testifies

Kentucky lawmakers advanced a bill that would make doxingthe deliberate broadcasting of others personal information onlinea crime if done against anyone under the age of 18. At the same time, the father of Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann delivered a powerful testimony.

Weeks after student Nicholas Sandmann spoke out on the viral encounter with a Native American protester, a Kentucky Senate committee voted 8 to 3 to advance the proposed Senate Bill 240 on March 6.

If the billwhich still needs approval from the Senate, House, and the governorbecomes law, it would make anyone publishing a minors personal information a misdemeanor. Such information could include addresses of the home or school attended by the victim that could be used to intentionally harass, abuse, or threaten the target.

My son, Nicholas Sandmann, was the victim of the most sensational Twitter attack on a minor child in the history of the internet, Ted Sandmann, the father of the student said in an emotional testimony.

Ted Sandmann, father of #CovCath student Nick Sandmann from that viral January video, begins testimony on #SB240 reading a statement. This is about 45 of the first 50 seconds of the statement). #KYga19 @WHAS11 pic.twitter.com/CDDXE9FZyE  Chris Williams (@chriswnews) March 6, 2019

Ted Sandmann, who testified in support of the bill, said his son became the victim of a barrage of online attacks after he was wrongly accused of being disrespectful to Native American protester Nathan Phillips and was vilified by the media as a racist. Later, footage of the full encounter was released.

The evidence has proven all of the allegations against my son to be untrue, Ted Sandmann said. I believe legislation to criminalize the worst tendencies of the Twitter mob is vital to restoring public discourse.

It shows how far out-of-control social media has become, he added.

Sandmans family attorney, Todd McMurtry testified as well, delivering a sharp rebuke against social media companies that have come under fire for failing to combat abuse on their platforms. The word doxing was extracted from docs, an abbreviation for documents.

There are no brakes on Twitter, said McMurtry. Twitter itself barely has the capacity to monitor its own activity. To put some weight back on the citizens so that they can help fight back when they are doxed would be great to make up for the fact that Twitter barely does anything.

Its uncertain if the bill will pass as there are just days left in the legislative session before they adjourn for the year. The Kentucky Senate committee easily approved the bill despite some concerns about free speech.

Were talking about minors, McMurtry said. We cant let the internet be a wild environment where we can abuse minors at will.

Defamation Lawsuit

Lawyers for Nicholas Sandmann last month sued The Washington Post for $250 million in damages.

Lin Wood and Todd McMurtry filed their first lawsuit on behalf of Nicholas Sandmann against The Washington Post, the statement of claim announced on Feb. 19.

The claim stated that Lin and Todd will seek $250 million in both compensatory and punitive damages for the harm so many have done to the Sandmann family.

Lawyers on Feb. 1 also sent letters to more than 50 people and companies, including The New York Times, CNN, The Guardian, and NPR, as well as celebrities such as Bill Maher, Kathy Griffin, Jim Carrey, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The letters urged the recipients to preserve records, including electronic ones, related to the incident.

McMurtry predicted that people will end up behind bars for their misleading or false comments.

I think some people are going to be arrested, he told The Epoch Times in a Feb. 3 phone call. Thats what Ive been told from reliable sources, from the police investigators.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Brilliant Man Who Was an Inventor of the Calculator Dies

DALLASJerry Merryman, one of the inventors of the hand-held electronic calculator who is described by those who knew him as not only brilliant but also kind with a good sense of humor, has died. He was 86.

Merryman died Feb. 27 at a Dallas hospital from complications of heart and kidney failure, said his stepdaughter, Kim Ikovic. She said hed been hospitalized since late December after experiencing complications during surgery to install a pacemaker.

Hes one of the three men credited with inventing the hand-held calculator while working at Dallas-based Texas Instruments. The team was led by Jack Kilby, who made way for todays computers with the invention of the integrated circuit and won the Nobel Prize. The prototype built by the team, which also included James Van Tassel, is at the Smithsonian Institution.

I have a Ph.D. in material science and Ive known hundreds of scientists, professors, Nobel prize-winners and so on. Jerry Merryman was the most brilliant man that Ive ever met. Period. Absolutely, outstandingly brilliant, said Vernon Porter, a former TI colleague, and friend. He had an incredible memory and he had an ability to pull up formulas, information, on almost any subject.

Another former TI colleague and friend, Ed Millis, said, Jerry did the circuit design on this thing in three days, and if he was ever around, hed lean over and say, and nights.

Merryman told NPRs All Things Considered in 2013, It was late 1965 and Jack Kilby, my boss, presented the idea of a calculator. He called some people in his office. He says, wed like to have some sort of computing device, perhaps to replace the slide rule. It would be nice if it were as small as this little book that I have in my hand.

Merryman added, Silly me, I thought we were just making a calculator, but we were creating an electronic revolution.

Jerry Merryman, one of the inventors of the handheld electronic calculator, has died. He was 86. https://t.co/vTZl1hHzLf  NBC News (@NBCNews) March 6, 2019

The Smithsonian says that the three had made enough progress by September 1967 to apply for a patent, which was subsequently revised before the final application in June 1974.

Merryman, who was born on June 17, 1932, grew up in Hearne in Central Texas. By the age of 11 or so hed become the radio repairman for the town.

Hed scrape together a few cents to go to the movies in the afternoons and evenings and the police would come get him out  because their radios would break and he had to fix them, said Merrymans wife, Phyllis Merryman.

He went to Texas A&M University in College Station but didnt finish. His jobs after that included working at the universitys department of oceanography and meteorology and before long he was on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico measuring the force of hurricane winds. He started at Texas Instruments in 1963, at the age of 30.

His friends and family say he was always creating something. His daughter Melissa Merryman recalls him making his own tuning fork for their piano. She said she asked him how he made it out of that hunk of metal and he told her: It was easy, I just took away all the parts that were not an F sharp.

Friend and former TI colleague Gaynel Lockhart remembers a telescope in concrete at Jerry Merrymans home with a motor attached that would allow it to follow a planet throughout the night.

Despite his accomplishments, he was humble. He wouldnt ever boast or brag about himself, not ever, said Melissa Merryman, who became stepsisters with her friend Kim Ikovic when they set up their parents, who got married in 1993.

Jerry Merryman retired from TI in January 1994, the company said.

He always said that he didnt care anything about being famous, if his friends thought he did a good job, he was happy, Phyllis Merryman said.

By Jamie Stengle
An undated photo of St. Martin of Tours parish Priest Armand Garcia in Philadelphia, Pa. (Philadelphia Police Department via AP)

Catholic Church Confirms Priest Arrested for Alleged Raping, Filming of Teenager

The Roman Catholic church admitted on March 6 that one of its priests on the U.S. East Coast is being charged with allegedly sexually abusing a minor and filming the act.

Philadelphia Priest Armand Garcia, 49, was briefly behind bars on March 4 and accused of committing child rape and sexually abusive acts between 2014 and 2017.

An Archdiocese of Philadelphia spokesman confirmed that Garcia, who is originally from the Philippines, had worked as a pastor at St. Martin of Tours parish in northeastern Philadelphia at the time of the allegations.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia knew of the allegations since last year, but parents just found out Tuesday.  Suspended #priest charged with sexually assaulting child in 2014https://t.co/asp1uFVHQq  Talk Radio 1210 WPHT (@1210WPHT) March 6, 2019

He was named pastor at St. Martin of Tours in November 2017 after being transferred earlier that year from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Roxborough, where he was a parochial vicar.

As of late Sunday, March 3, Garcias name had been removed from the St. Martin of Tours parish website and that of the National Association of Filipino Priestsan organization with which Garcia had served as part of its leadership council.

The archdiocese placed Garcia on administrative leave on March 16, 2018, when police notified church officials of their investigation. A search warrant was executed in the parish rectory that same day, according to archdiocese chief communications officer Kenneth Gavin. Gavin told The Inquirer the archdiocese fully cooperated with the probe.

Philadelphia, PA  Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest Armand Garcia has been charged with rape and sexual abuse of a minor for allegedly abusing a teenage girl between 2014 and 2017. Coverage of this case with commentary from survivors lawyer Brian Kent: https://t.co/1RT1xSSl1e  Abuse Guardian (@AbuseGuardian) March 6, 2019

Philadelphia police have not yet released further details of the allegations, and would only say that Garcia has been arrested and is being charged with the rape and sexual abuse, following their investigation into possible alleged misconduct with minors.

He was also charged for allegedly recording a sexual act https://t.co/DxpPFAUNA5  Coconuts Manila (@CoconutsManila) March 7, 2019

Court records obtained by the Associated Press show Garcia posted bond and was released late on March 4.

Garcia has appointed trial attorney William J. Brennan of Brennan Law Offices to represent him in court.

Brennan stated that while any allegation made against priests tend to carry a degree of notoriety, Garcia is presumed innocent and should be given a chance to present his defense.

I will say that Ive been in touch with the authorities on Father Garcias behalf, Brennan told The Inquirer. He has an unblemished record, from my understanding, and hes a good man.

Garcia was ordained in 2005, just two years after a damning report from a Philadelphia grand jury accused dozens of current and former area priests of sexual misconduct with children.

At the time, Garcia was found to have no criminal background and passed all checks for past child abuse allegations, according to Gavin. Garcia had also completed the mandatory safe environment training program for all priests, parish teachers, and volunteers.

Such scandals have also rocked the Roman Catholic Church in Chile, Australia, Ireland, and more. In the United States alone, billions of dollars have been paid in settlements.

Pope Francis on Feb. 21 held a summit at Vatican City where many hoped the church would be able to address how it can better help prevent cover-ups of cases where Catholic superiors have committed acts of sex abuse. Some 190 presidents of bishops conferences, religious orders, and Vatican offices attended the four days of talks and workshops.

Melanie Sakoda, a board member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), told The Epoch Times that the summit failed to address accountability problems properly and said there are still priests who have committed such abuses serving in the ministry today.

In my eyes, it was a failure. Once again, they met, they talked and talked. Words dont protect children. Only actions protect children and action is not what we are seeing, she said. It was disappointing but not unexcepted.

Sakoda said Francis refused a chance to meet with survivors on Feb. 20.

Peter Isely, an American from Milwaukee who was abused by a priest when he was a boy, visited Vatican City during the summit to meet with Vatican officials to talk about ways to combat the problem.

Isely said the discussion had become a little bit confrontational, a little heated at times but polite.

We made our demands for zero tolerance. We want the pope to write into universal law: zero tolerance for the cover-up of sex crimes. They can do it right now, Isely told reporters after the meeting.
BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 05: Chinese President Xi Jinping claps hands at Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's speech during the opening of the Two Sessions of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at The Great Hall of the People on March 5, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images)

China Cracks Down on Private Enterprises

As Chinas annual Two Sessions political meetings continue this week, one Party official has raised concerns about how Chinese authorities have spooked the private sector with its heavy-handed tactics.

During a side meeting of the Chinese Communist Partys political advisory bodycalled the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)held on March 4, Sun Qian, the deputy procurator-general of Chinas highest prosecutors office, brought up the issue of local governments arresting private company executives or suspending their companies operations upon suspicion of illegal activity, according to a report by Chinese finance magazine Caixin.

The deputy procurator-general of the Supreme Procuratorate Sun Qian exposed that some local governments arrest private company owners and suspend their companies for no good reason or trivial offences.

According to Sun, when he visited one province during an inspection, he found that among top 100 private companies in the area, several dozen company executives were arrested. Workers were laid off and their companies stopped production as a result. Local tax revenues suffered a loss as well.

If the boss of a private company is suspected of having committed a crime, the authorities would immediately send him to a police station and suspend the company. When the company owner is in custody and operations are suspended, the company would collapse instantly, he said.

Yuan Aiping, a CPPCC member and chief attorney at a law firm in Hunan Province, pointed out to Caixin that the emergence of online articles and official remarks calling for the elimination of the private sector last year has petrified private company owners.

On Sept. 13, 2018, Chinas Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security posted on its website comments made by Deputy Minister Qiu Xiaoping, at a meeting about ways to deepen democratic management in the private sector.

At the meeting in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Chinas Zhejiang Province, Qiu stated that, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, employees working at private companies should jointly participate in business management and that both managers and employees should shoulder the risks of the company together.

This runs counter to conventional Western management structures that typically hold executivesand not employeesaccountable for a companys financial loss.

Yuan said after the remarks became public, many company executives called Yuan, asking if there was really a policy change from the central government.

Then, Wu Xiaoping, a self-identified senior financial expert, penned an online article stating that the private sector has already fulfilled its historical mission of helping the public sector to grow by leaps and boundsit should gradually step aside.

Wus article was widely circulated on both Chinese social media and mainstream Chinese media outlets. It drew a lot of speculation about the future of private firms.

He Jian, an economic analyst for the Chinese-language Epoch Times, explained that Chinese authorities have several common tactics to intimidate private businesses: creating false criminal charges; forcing private companies out of business using various administrative means; and imposing heavy taxes and social security payments.

Frank Fang contributed to this report.
Bottles of Canola Harvest brand canola oil, manufactured by Canadian agribusiness firm Richardson International, are seen on the shelf of a grocery store in Beijing on March 6, 2019. One of Canada's largest grain processors said on March 5 that China has revoked its permit to export canola there, a move that some saw as retaliation for the Canadian government's arrest of a top executive for the Chinese tech giant Huawei. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

China Says Canadian Canola Will Face Stricter Assessments

BEIJINGImports of canola, a Canadian oilseed crop, will now undergo more thorough inspections in China, the countrys customs agency said on March 7, amid what appears to be a retaliatory move amid a diplomatic row over the arrest of a Chinese executive.

Relations between Canada and China have been tense since December, when Canada arrested Huaweis financial chief Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities. China warned of grave consequences if Canada did not immediately release Meng.

U.S. prosecutors have filed charges accusing Meng, who is the daughter of Huaweis founder, of lying to banks about dealings with Iran. Huawei denies any wrongdoing.

Apparent targets of Chinas ire have included two Canadians detained on suspicion of harming national security, a third Canadian sentenced to death, and now the Canadian staple canola.

Canola is grown in China, Japan and many other countries.

However, the website for the Canola Council of Canada calls the crop Canadas greatest agricultural success story and the worlds only Made in Canada crop. According to the Canola Council, canola was developed by Canadian researchers using traditional plant breeding techniques, resulting in a bright yellow variety of rapeseed whose seeds can be harvested for vegetable oil.

Chinas customs administration said in a statement posted to its website Thursday that four customs offices in China found pests such as fungal pathogens in canola imports. It confirmed that it revoked the export permit held by Richardson International Ltd., one of Canadas largest grain processors.

The agency said stronger inspections and lab testing while canola imports are in quarantine were needed.

Canadian Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a statement Wednesday that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency conducted investigations after China issued notices of non-compliance on canola seed imports, including nine since January. She said the agency had not identified any pests or bacteria of concern.

China buys about 40 percent of Canadas canola exports, and the revocation of Richardsons permit hurts the entire chain of industries involved in the market, the Canola Council of Canada said.

Meanwhile, the dispute centered on Huawei is simmering.

Huawei announced Thursday that it is challenging a U.S. law that labels it a security risk and would limit its access to the American market for telecom equipment.
Chinese Company to Return to Zimbabwes Controversial Marange Diamond Fields

MUTARE, ZimbabweAnjin Investments, a diamond company partly owned by the Chinese, is set to return to the mines in the Marange diamond fields of eastern Zimbabwe, but its return is generating anxiety among local villagers and human-rights activists.

Before Anjin was booted out of the Marange diamond fields by former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabes government in 2015, villagers and activists had accused the company of various human-rights violations and evading payment of taxes and royalties.

However, in January, President Emmerson Mnangagwas government announced that Anjin and Russias Alrosa are the foreign companies that would participate in Zimbabwes diamond industry.

Anjin is a joint venture between a Chinese company, Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Co. Ltd., and Matt Bronze Enterprises, which was formed by the Zimbabwe Defense Ministry and the Zimbabwe Defense Forces, through an intermediary company.

The Marange area is semi-arid and many people there are poor, only scraping together a living through subsistence farming. But when diamonds were discovered in the area in 2006, many people anticipated benefiting from mining the lucrative alluvial gems.

However, more than a decade after the discovery of the diamonds, many people living in areas surrounding the diamond fields have said hopes of benefiting from the gemstones have remained a mirage.

Activists and experts in Zimbabwe are worried of the growing Chinese influence in the countrys critical infrastructure and natural resources.

Chinese companies and government have extended loans worth billions of dollars to Zimbabwe in the past decade, and there are concerns that China would take the countrys land and critical institutions to recover its funds if Zimbabwe fails to pay back the loans.

Reports of Rights Violations

In 2015, Mugabes government booted out diamond companiesAnjin, DMC, Kusena, Mbada Diamonds, Gye Nyame, and Marange Resourcesoperating in Marange for lack of transparency in their operations.

Malvern Mudiwa, a resident of the Marange area, alleged that while Anjin was extracting diamonds, the company said it was incurring losses as an excuse to skirt paying tax and royalties.

We recommend that Anjin must honor all their dues first before opening a new page. According to the [rural district] council records, they [council] never collected a cent from mining companies, one of them being Anjin. We are eager to see a change in their attitude, Mudiwa said.

James Mupfumi, the director of the Centre for Research Development, an investigative NGO, said his organization condemns the return of Anjin to the fields and the involvement of a military outfit notorious for gross human-rights abuse of workers and communities.

Mupfumi, who been documenting various rights abuses by the diamond companies in Marange, said Zimbabwes auditor general report of 2016 unearthed some irregularities.

Our recommendation is that the government must roll out a diamond policy to guide the diamond industry. Anjin must be brought before the law to pay compensation to victims of human-rights abuses, Mupfumi said.

He said an independent audit must be conducted so that Anjin is made to return funds the company externalized.

In line with the Constitution [of Zimbabwe] the diamond policy must empower parliament with the authority to verify all mining deals before concessions are awarded by the government, he said.

The director of Zimbabwes Centre for Natural Resource Governance, Farai Maguwu, said his organization strongly opposes the return of Anjin because it never remitted anything to the countrys treasury during the Government of National Unity from 2009 to 2013, which he said was the peak of diamond production in Marange.

Then-Finance Minister Tendai Biti [20092013] was on record saying so. And they [Anjin] also owe hundreds of workers salaries and severance packages. The company treated black people like slaves and Im very shocked President Mnangagwa is bringing back such a company  he certainly must know some things which all of us do not know, Maguwu said.

However, Munyaradzi Machacha, Anjin director, said his company hadnt yet been advised by the government to return to the Marange diamond fields.

We are ready to go back to Marange, but we have not yet been advised [by the government] about the new developments, Machacha told The Epoch Times.

Machacha has also maintained that Anjin operated above board in Marange and denied allegations of human-rights abuses. In an interview with The Epoch Times in late 2018, Machacha said the claims that Anjin abused its workers werent true.

There was nothing like that [at Anjin mine], he said.

Zimbabwe presidential spokesperson George Charamba told the state-owned The Herald newspaper, that Mnangagwa had put the Zimbabwean interest at the heart of exploitation of diamonds only accepting foreign participation by way of selecting companies from Russia (Alrosa) and China (Anjin).

The government said the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, a state entity, private-owned Murowa Diamonds, and two other companies would be allowed to mine the countrys diamonds.
Fang Fenghui, then Chinese People's Liberation Army Chief of the General Staff General, speaks during a joint press conference with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, May 15, 2014. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese Military Officials Keep Mum on Corruption During Political Meeting, Skirting Around Morale Problems

During this weeks meetings of the Chinese regimes rubber-stamp legislature, the National Peoples Congress, when media journalists asked military delegates about the militarys anti-corruption efforts, they refused to answer the questions.

The elephant in the room is that many high-level military officials have recently been sacked.

For example, on Feb. 20, Chinas former top general Fang Fenghui was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of accepting bribes, bribery, and procuring large assets with unknown sourcing of funding, according to a Chinese military court ruling.

Fangs sentencing cast a shadow over the proceedings in Beijing, when Party officials meet annually to pass legislation and set agendas already approved by the Party leadership.

Fang was Chief of the General Staff at the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) from October 2012 to August 2017. He had visited U.S. Pentagon several times, and attended high-level meetings at the U.S. Department of State.

State-run media Xinhua reported that all of Fangs personal properties will be expropriated to the state treasury.

Xi Jinping, who as leader of the Chinese Communist Party also serves as the commander-in-chief, has repeatedly spoken about the militarys serious peace disease since 2015referring to military officials sense of complacency and corruption. Fangs case is a good example.

Fang Fenghui

Fang, 67, joined the PLA at 16 years-old, and became a Party member at 24 years-old.

After graduating from the PLA National Defense University in Beijing, he began his military career.

A former assistant to Guo Boxiong, a former vice chairman of the Partys top agency for managing military affairs, the Central Military Commission, published an online article in September 2017 exposing that Fang was personally promoted by Guo to become his subordinate. Guo is key member of a political faction loyal to former Party leader Jiang Zemin, which is opposed to the Xi leadership. Guo was sacked in 2015 amid Xis sweeping anti-corruption campaign.

In June 2017, troops from China and India had a standoff at the border for 71 days. Abruptly amid the conflict, general Li Zuocheng replaced Fang at a meeting. Fang then disappeared for 141 days.

By August, Chinese authorities announced that Fang was being investigated by the Partys anti-corruption watchdog. Hong Kong media Oriental News reported that Fang was sacked because he was involved in a plan by the Jiang faction to use the China-India conflict as an excuse to stage a coup against Xi.

Peace Disease

Xi Jinping has talked about the concept of a peace disease frequently in his speeches to the military, saying that they are sick with Five Incapables,: military officers cannot judge situations, understand higher authorities intentions, make operational decisions, deploy troops, or deal with unexpected situations.

Since the Sino-Vietnamese war ended in 1979, China has not been involved in any war. Xi has criticized military officers as being too relaxed and complacent, apathetic, and pampered, with a weak fighting spirit.

Fang was among several top generals belonging to the Jiang faction who were sacked in recent years.

In a Feb. 28 report, the official PLA Daily made a rare admission that the military was incapable of fighting successful battles.

The article described the PLAs most advanced army division, based in the northwestern Xinjiang region, which has become digitally integrated, with technology-enhanced weapons and equipment.

Before the end of 2018, the digitally integrated camp held a military exercise and found several flaws.

The orders of No. 1 Battalion were in a mess because setting up the communication network was too slow, the report said. The No. 3 Battalion could not deal with the information in the right way, which caused the data to not be transferred properly, while the display of the battlefield situation was slow to update.

In another instance, during the exercise, a gunner found an enemys cannon was hidden nearby and reported it to the commander of a tank team. The commander tried to inform the other tanks to be careful through the advanced digital communication system. But the system was too slow and a tank nearby did not receive the order in time and approached the areagetting hit by the enemys cannon.

The PLA Daily article noted that the commander could have stopped the approaching tank by yelling the command, or by the traditional radio system, but failed to do so.

Experts have actually described these fatal flaws in the Chinese military before.

During a Feb. 7 Congressional hearing by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Dennis J. Blasko, a retired lieutenant colonel and 23-year military intelligence officer specializing in China, gave testimony on this issue.

The PLA has significant shortcomings in the warfighting and command capabilities, Blasko said.

This lack of confidence in PLA capabilities contributes to Beijings preference to achieve Chinas national objectives through deterrence [a military strategy of dissuading the adversary to take action] and actions short of war, Blasko added.

Meanwhile, due to Chinas long-held one-child policy, many soldiers are spoiled and coddled.

According to a 2011 report by Beijing Evening News, a soldier did not want to attend the training exercises and faked an illness in order to be excusedby using red ink to claim he was vomiting blood.

After 30 years of the one-child policy, kids come into the army who are used to being coddled and the apple of their parents eyes, Scott W. Harold, the deputy director of the Center for Asia-Pacific at RAND, once told the New York Times in a 2015 interview. RAND is a U.S.-based policy think tank.
Alabama Judge Awards Legal Rights to Aborted Child

An Alabama judge granted legal rights to an aborted child after the father sued the abortion clinic that ended his childs life against his wishes.

Ryan Magers, the father, filed a wrongful death lawsuit last month claiming he didnt want his girlfriend to abort Baby Roe, the legal name granted to the child, according to the lawsuit. He was seeking legal help when the mother aborted the child, according to Magers attorney, Brent Helms.

In order to bring a wrongful death suit on behalf of the unborn child, Helms petitioned a county probate court to grant Magers the right to represent Baby Roes estate; Probate Judge Frank Barger approved the petition. According to Helms, the judges decision is the first time an aborted child was granted rights to an estate and the right to bring a lawsuit in the United States.

Ryan could sue on his own behalf as the father but in order to be able to sue on behalf of Baby Roe we had to open an estate, Helms told The Epoch Times.

In a memorandum of support (pdf) for the estate petition, Helms cited seven Alabama State Supreme Court decisions which, since 2011, either explicitly or implicitly recognized the personhood of unborn children.

Helms filed the lawsuit with the Circuit Court of Madison County, Alabama, on February 6. The lawsuit (pdf) names Alabama Womens Center for Reproductive Alternatives, the people involved in performing the abortion, and the pharmaceutical company which produced the pill which the mother took to abort Baby Roe.

He said he doesnt want any father to go through what he had gone through and he also wants to protect unborn children, Helms said.

Magers got a tattoo after the abortion.

On this tattoo, he has three roses. Those are to remind him that the baby is beautiful. Whether it was a boy or a girl it would have been beautiful in his eyes. Also on the tattoo, hes got a watch. That watch is to remind him that time is precious and you should make the best of the time that you have here on this earth, Helms said.

Magers repeatedly pleaded with his girlfriend not to abort the child.

In between the discovery of the pregnancy and the date of the appointment, [Magers] repeatedly pleaded with the mother not to kill Baby Roe, the lawsuit states.

The memorandum in support of the estate petition states that the mother aborted Baby Roe in the first trimester of the pregnancy. According to the lawsuit, Baby Roes mother went to the abortion clinic and took a pill to abort the child. Baby Roe died on Feb. 12, 2017, the lawsuit states.

Its been difficult. Its been emotional, Helms said about his clients experience. Im getting emails from fathers all across the country expressing the same thing, telling me 20 years ago their girlfriend or wife had an abortion and it has really taken a mental toll on them.

Magers is asking for a jury trial. The case is currently at the lowest level court in Alabama, two tiers from the states supreme court.

The probate judges decision appears to be the first major court action after the passage of Alabamas personhood law, which says that it is the policy of the state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, including the right to life.

Passed during last years midterm election, the law, also known as Amendment 2, granted unborn children constitutional rights and declared that Alabamans do not have a right to abortion under the state constitution. Nearly 60 percent of Alabamans supported the law during the election.

Helms said he could not find a case where a father sued on behalf of an unborn child in Alabama or elsewhere in the United States.

It seems to me we are the first, Helms said.

The wrongful death lawsuit is a civil case which, if Magers prevails, would result in monetary damages awarded to him. Helms said that since abortion is a for-profit business in Alabama, the entities involved would have to assess whether it is still profitable to operate in the state while facing the risk of similar lawsuits.

If liability outweighs profitability, then just merely as a business decision, theyre not going to engage in abortion in the state of Alabama, Helms said.

The Alabama Womens Center is to file a response to the lawsuit by April 1, after which the judge may either grant Magers a chance to respond or set a date for a hearing.
Representative for Minnesota Ilhan Omar is seen in the audience ahead of US President Donald Trump's State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 5, 2019. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

House Passes Watered-Down Resolution Meant to Censure Ilhan Omars Anti-Semitic Remarks

House lawmakers on March 7 passed a watered-down resolution meant to condemn anti-Semitic remarks by Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar. The final resolution, approved by a vote of 40723, was expanded to include other forms of bias and does not include Omars name.

Omar, a freshman Democrat representing Minnesota, doubted the allegiance of Jewish-Americans to the United States and refused to offer an apology. Efforts to control the damage from the backlash have split the Democratic Party, with the far-left Congressional Progressive Caucus defending Omar and centrist Democrats racing to allay concerns from Jewish colleagues.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on March 7 that a new version of the resolution was expanded to speak out against anti-Semitism, anti-Islamophobia, anti-white supremacy and all the forms that it takes. The speaker added that it is up to Omar to explain the remarks.

When you cross that threshold into Congress, your words weigh much more than when youre shouting them at somebody outside, Pelosi said.

I feel confident that her words were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude, she added, but that she didnt have a full appreciation of how they landed on other people where these words have a history and a cultural impact that might have been unknown to her.

The resolution specifically condemns Omars remarks, stating that accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel or to the Jewish community than to the United States constitutes anti-Semitism because it suggests that Jewish citizens cannot be patriotic Americans and trusted neighbors.

President Donald Trump criticized the Democrats on March 6 for failing to condemn Omar. The president had previously called Omars comments a dark day for Israel and called on Omar to resign.

It is shameful that House Democrats wont take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and its inconceivable they will not act to condemn it! Trump wrote on Twitter on March 6.

It is shameful that House Democrats wont take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and its inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2019

Republicans and Democrats criticized Omar for saying on Twitter that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group, was paying U.S. politicians to support Israel.

Omar said that she is not pro-Israel and that she questions Israels relationship with the United States.

I am told everyday that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks, she wrote on Twitter on March 3 while already under fire for previous anti-Semitic remarks.

I am told everyday that I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel. I find that to be problematic and I am not alone. I just happen to be willing to speak up on it and open myself to attacks.  Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 3, 2019

Even before her most recent comments, Republicans had criticized Democrats for appointing Omar to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and called for her to be removed from her seat because of past statements critical of Israel.

Omars history of anti-Semitism stretches as far back as 2012. In a since-deleted tweet, she wrote that Israel has hypnotized the world to hide its evil doings.

David Duke, a prominent anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist, dubbed Omar the most important of the U.S. Congress, in a Twitter message on March 7.

Omar apologized for her initial remarks

Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes, Omar said in a statement.

My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole, she said, adding that she unequivocally apologizes.

Pelosi said on March 7 that while Omar may not have intended the remark to be anti-Semitic the fact is thats how it was interpreted.

We have to remove all doubt, as we have done over and over again, Pelosi said.

Reuter contributed to this report.
Honduran migrants take part in a caravan towards the United States in Chiquimula, Guatemala on Oct. 17, 2018. (ORLANDO ESTRADA / AFP)

DHS: Illegal Arrivals Set To Hit One Million By End Of Year

Illegal arrivals at the U.S. southern border are set to hit one million by the end of fiscal year 2019, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Congress in prepared remarks Wednesday morning.

The agency is now on track to apprehend more migrants crossing illegally in the first six months of this fiscal year than the entirety of FY17, and at the current pace we are on track to encounter close to one million illegal aliens at our southern border this year, Nielsen said.

Nielsens testimony comes just one day after Customs and Border Patrol revealed that in February U.S. authorities apprehended or detained 75,000 illegal aliens constituting a 30 percent increase in illegal encounters or apprehensions over the previous month. Nielsen warned that I can report today that CBP is forecasting the problem will get even worse this spring.

Nielsen stressed that the capabilities of U.S. authorities are becoming stretched because of the unique nature of the situation. The vast majority of new arrivals at the border constitute family units from Central America claiming asylum.

U.S. officials say these families claim asylum to exploit loopholes in U.S. law that allow family units to be released into the interior of the country to await an appearance before an immigration judge.

While many of them initially claim asylum and are let into the United States, only one in ten are ultimately granted asylum by an immigration judge. Unfortunately, when it comes time to remove the other 90 percent, they have often disappeared into the interior of our country, Nielsen explained.

The DHS secretarys testimony is intended to bolster President Donald Trumps declaration that the situation on the southern border is a humanitarian crisis. Trump declared a national emergency at the border in mid-February which enables him to access military construction funds in order to begin building his proposed border wall.

Trump, however, is likely to face backlash within his own party after the House of Representatives passed a disapproval resolution of his national emergency. Four Republican senators said they will join their Democratic colleagues in voting for the resolution, setting up a situation where Trump may have to issue his first presidential veto.

Saagar Enjeti | White House Correspondent

Opposition to Migration on the Rise Worldwide, Says Pew Survey

A new study by the Pew Research Center shows that people across the world are increasingly losing their enthusiasm for migration.

Researchers at Pew conducted telephone or face-to-face interviews with responders in 27 nations in the spring of 2018 and compiled the results in a study published Dec. 10.

As the number of international migrants reaches new highs, wrote Pew Research Centers Phillip Connor and Jens Manuel Krogstad, people around the world show little appetite for more migrationboth into and out of their countries.

Nearly half of the survey responders worldwide voiced their opposition to more migration.

Across the countries surveyed, a median of 45 percent say fewer or no immigrants should be allowed to move to their country, the researcher duo wrote, while 36 percent say they want about the same number of immigrants. Just 14 percent say their countries should allow more immigrants.

UN Migration Pact

The Pew survey was published on the same day that only 164 countries out of 193 United Nations member countries signed a global pact meant to foster cooperation on migration.

Ten countries, including the United States, Australia, Hungary, and Poland, have rejected the Global Compact for Migration (GCM).

Six more, among them Israel and Bulgaria, are debating whether to pull out, a U.N. spokesman told Reuters after the pact was adopted in a signing ceremony in Marrakesh. He did not say whether the rest of the countries absent from the conference might also withdraw from the pact.

According to the U.N. website, the GCM provides a framework for facilitating safe and orderly migration globally, with an effort to deal with migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.

It also sets out a range of actionable commitments, which could possibly influence legislation and policymaking for member states.

The compact has 23 objectives that seek to boost cooperation among countries to manage migration, and includes such aims as to strengthen the transnational response to smuggling of migrants and combat and eradicate trafficking in persons in the context of international migration.

The pact has been criticized on grounds that it fails to draw a clear distinction between legal and illegal migration, that it could serve as an inspiration for individuals to engage in irregular migration, and that it purports to give transnational bodies a say in how any given sovereign country manages its borders.

Worldwide Misgivings

People in other countries had attitudes towards migration that were broadly in line with European reluctance.

Large majorities in Israel (73 percent), Russia (67 percent), South Africa (65 percent) and Argentina (61 percent) say their countries should let in fewer immigrants, the researcher duo wrote in their findings.

In every country surveyed, they added, less than a third say their nation should allow more immigrants to enter.

A record 258 million people lived outside their country of birth in 2017, according to the U.N.

This is an increase of over 100 million compared to the year 1990, in which the total international migrant stock stood at 153 million.
File photo of a stack of new $20 bills bearing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithners signature at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, on July 22, 2011. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Family Throws $500 in $20 Bills out Onto California Freeway to Remember Loved One

A California family coming back from the funeral of a loved threw cash out of their car onto a California freeway as an unusual way of honoring the dead relatives memory.

Officers with the California Highway Patrol said they received multiple calls about cash strewn across Interstate 880 in Hayward, but when they arrived on the scenethe money was gone.

Hayward CHP Officer Manuel Leal told KTVU that a number of individuals had contacted the office on Monday, March 4, about bills wafting along several lanes of the freeway.

Dashcam footage obtained by KTVU shows cars coming to a stop as drivers and passengers rushed out to grab the money on the highways southbound lanes.

Singing: money money moneeeey mooneeey!!! On my way home just after noon, these drivers started jumping out of their cars on SB 880 near Winton to pick up money that was on the freeway. @CHPHayward tells @KTVU by the time officers arrived, the cash & the drivers were all gone. pic.twitter.com/YkAB5Tkm9a  JBUSTOS (@KTVUCAMERAMAN) March 5, 2019

The family members, who asked to not be identified, told KTVU that all told they had dumped about $500 onto the freeway in $20 bills.

Casting the money into the wind was, according to a family member, a way to honor their recently deceased loved one.

Its an Oakland thing, the relative told KTVU.

Mystery freeway cash blowing in the wind solved! The cash was thrown out a car window to honor the dead following a funeral https://t.co/YU5HhcaCo1 via @KTVUCAMERAMAN  KTVU (@KTVU) March 5, 2019

Armored Truck Dumps $510,000

The incident recalls a similar case that happened last year in New Jersey when an armored truck spilled over half a million dollars in cash along a highway during the morning rush hour and sparked chaos.

Several people ended up crashing their cars amid the money grabbing excitement when an armored Brinks truck dropped cash all over the Route 3 roadway on Dec. 14, 2018.

East Rutherford Police said two bags containing a total of $510,000 in cash fell out the back door of the armored truck. Officials believe of the trucks doors may have malfunctioned and become unsecured.

While Brinks personnel ran around collecting the money, drivers excitedly stopped their cars and ran onto the highway, grabbing money.

People traveling on Route 3 posted several videos and photos on Twitter and Facebook.

Drivers and Brinks personnel recovered roughly $205,000 on the spot.

Five people later contacted the police and turned in a little more than $11,000. The remaining $293,535 was still missing when the police took to Twitter to announce the incident.

UPDATE-2 bags of $ fell out of armored truck ($140,000 & $370,000) employees w/ assistance of motorists recovered & secured $205,375 from roadway. 5 individuals returned a total of $11,090.00 w/ $293,535.00 still outstanding.  East Rutherford Police (@ERutherfordPD) December 14, 2018

People who pick up and keep money that does not belong to them could be charged with theft, police said.

It would be like theft of mislaid goods, police Capt. Phil Taormina said. The truck was parked on the shoulder and two armed guards, Brinks employees, were trying to gather the money.

Earlier that year in May, another Brinks truck dropped more than half a million dollars on the I-70 in Indianapolis. The trucks back doors swung open when it slowed to a stop, causing $600,000 in bags, bundles, and loose bills to tumble out.

Like the recent incident, people were also scrambling to pick up cash. But once again, police reminded the public that its theft.

Similar incidents happened when an armored vehicles doors malfunctioned in June 2016 in Providence, Rhode Island; in July 2015 in Baltimore; in April 2015 in both Weatherford, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah; in January 2015 in Queens, New York; in October 2014 in Urbana, Maryland; and March 2012 in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Epoch Times reporter Tiffany Meier contributed to this report.
Father Stabs 9-Year-Old Boy to Death After Boy Hits Daughter

A schizophrenic man stabbed a 9-year-old boy to death in September 2018 after the boy hit his daughter in the eye. A court sentenced the man, Lin Jianxia, to death by a mid-level court in Wenzhou China, on March 1.

The boy, only identified by his family name Ye, was a fourth-grade student who hit Lins daughter on Sept. 19, 2018. The injury was not critical, the daughter did not go to the hospital and continued school regularly, according to a police report.

Lin demanded that the boy publicly apologize for hurting his daughter but Ye did not meet the requirements, according to the Wenzhou Court statement.

Two days later on Sept. 21, Lin took a knife into the childrens school, Longshan Elementary School. When Lin found Ye, he took the 9-year-old to the boys bathroom on the third floor and killed him.

After killing Ye, Lin called 110Chinas version of 911and waited in the bathroom for police to arrive. When the police found him, they saw Lin sitting in the blood-spattered bathroom smoking a cigarette.

According to an interview with Yes father, he was told by doctors that there wasnt much hope for Ye when they arrived at the hospital. I heard the doctor say that the knife penetrated your boys heart. I already had a bad feeling.

The doctors let Yes father see the boy after their attempts to save him failed. His back had at least eight large stab wounds that had been stitched closed by the doctors.

The report did not declare when Lin was diagnosed as schizophrenic. However, the court stated that Lin was in a stable period when the crime was committed. This means that he will bear responsibility for the act.

I just want the killer to be punished according to law, so I can bring my child justice, Yes father said in a teary interview.

Lin was found to have committed intentional homicide and has been sentenced to death.

Lin agreed to also pay Yes parents US$45,000 as compensation, according to the Beijing Youth News report.

Violence Against Children in China

Multiple instances of violence against schoolchildren have been reported in China over the years.

On Jan. 8, a man injured 20 primary school children with a hammer in Beijing. None of the children died from the injuries.

In January 2017, a man sneaked into a kindergarten in Beijing and stabbed 11 children with a knife. Five were seriously injured at the time but fortunately, none died.

A parent in Hubei province stabbed nine people at a school in Sept. 2014. Four of the victims died. Three of them were students and one was a teacher. After the attack, the man committed suicide by jumping to his death.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics during a exploratory trip in Manchester, New Hampshire on Jan. 29, 2019. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Former NYC Mayor Bloomberg Not Joining 2020 Race

Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, announced that he isnt running for president in 2020. Instead, the billionaire said he would be launching a new campaign dubbed Beyond Carbon.

The March 5 announcement ended mounting speculation that Bloomberg would seek the Democratic nomination for 2020. Bloomberg spent millions of dollars last year to support Democrats in retaking control of the U.S. House of Representatives in congressional elections.

The 77-year-old made his announcement in an opinion piece on Bloomberg Newsone of the companies he runswith the title Our Highest Office, My Deepest Obligation.

Bloomberg, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, admitted that there would be challenges running against such a crowded field of Democrat presidential contenders, now reaching a dozen. Many of the contenders are current U.S. senators.

I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election, Bloomberg wrote. But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.

Although Bloomberg is a Democrat now, he was a former Republican and independent, and would have likely run as a more moderate candidate compared to other Democrats, who have embraced a more progressive platform.

Many people have urged me to run. Some have told me that to win the Democratic nomination, I would need to change my views to match the polls, Bloomberg wrote. But Ive been hearing that my whole political career.

Ive run for office three times and won each time, in no small part because Ive never stuck my finger in the wind to decide what I should believe.

Its not who I am, nor do I think its what voters want in a leader.

Another more moderate candidate potentially seeking a 2020 run is former Vice President Joe Biden, who recently revealed that his family wants him to run and that he is close to making a decision.

Meanwhile, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced March 4 that he is entering the 2020 race. Hickenlooper joins a crowd of contenders who enjoy more name recognition, such as self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Several other prominent Democratic candidates are backing Sanderss socialist policies such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.

Other candidates who have not yet jumped in the race, but are reportedly considering a run, include former U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.

Rather than running, Bloomberg said he would use his massive personal fortuneestimated at more than $50 billionto launch a new climate change push, Beyond Carbon, with the goal of moving the nation away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy sources.

Bloomberg already backs another effort, Beyond Coal, which is dedicated to shutting down coal-fired power plants.

I know theres much more we can accomplish over the next two years but only if we stay focused on the work and expand upon it, he wrote. And the fact is: A national presidential campaign would limit my ability to do that.

Reuters contributed to this report
A banner depicting the Chevrolet Cruze model vehicle is displayed at the General Motors' Lordstown plant, in Lordstown, Ohio. On Nov. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Pictured: General Motors Employees Weep Outside of Ohio Plant on Last Day

General Motors employees rallied outside of the Lordstown, Ohio, plant on its last day.

Photos showed workers crying, protesting, and mourning the loss of jobs and industry in the city.

They were seen outside the plant on March 6 as the last Chevrolet Cruze came off the assembly line.

People gather in front of the General Motors assembly plant on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, the last day of the plants Chevy Cruze production, in Lordstown, Ohio. pic.twitter.com/RVqFbjawqz  Steph Chambers (@StephChambers76) March 6, 2019

Its frustrating, said Jeff Nance, who has worked at the plant for 17 years, reported the Chicago Tribune. Im angry and bitter. Watching that last car go by was a kick in the gut.

Shaun Winkler said hes still thinking whether he should transfer to another GM plant where there are job openings.

It started out as a normal day, but when that last car came into our area, and there was nothing but empty racks behind it, then it got sad, he said.

Lordstown and Ohio say goodbye to the Cruze with tears, hugs, honking horns and hope https://t.co/twGljQ2Z8F pic.twitter.com/dr73nADZrg  dispatch editor (@dispatcheditor) March 7, 2019

Meanwhile, UAW 112 President Dave Green said he walked through the plant for the workers final shift.

Its gut-wrenching. People were crying, theyre frustrated and they feel like theyve done everything right, Green said.

At the Lordstown facility, some 1,700 jobs were cut by the automaker, which said that demand for the Cruze has been low, adding that people are opting for SUV-like vehicles.

Were here with @UAW Local 1112 outside the GM Lordstown plant as the final cars are coming off the assembly line. We, and our students, are counting on @GM to #SaveGMLordstown and keep quality jobs in Ohio. pic.twitter.com/0qGmVjSDie  Lordstown Teachers Association (@LordstownTeach) March 6, 2019

As for the factory itself, which is 6.2 million square feet, it will be put into a state of readiness, GM spokesman Dan Flores told The Associated Press.

Production of the Cruze will continue in Mexico. The car is made for markets outside the United States, AP noted.

GM President Mark Reuss said the firm is looking at a lot of different options for the plant in Lordstown, saying that its not clear if more vehicles will be built there.

Such a sad day for workers and families please keep gm lordstown in your prayers #driveithomeohio pic.twitter.com/j45wTLpKgt  A (@Autielovesfall) March 6, 2019

Weve just got to keep an open mind here, and we are, he told AP.

The Cruze was a good product and was built with tremendous pride by the Lordstown employees. We know this is an emotional day for our Lordstown team, GM said in a statement to Reuters.

GM noted that over 400 Lordstown employees have accepted offers at other GM locations, and it reiterated that jobs are available at other assembly plants for anyone willing to relocate to other states.

The United Auto Workers union, which has filed suit challenging GMs decision to end Cruze production at Lordstown, said it will leave no stone unturned in keeping the Lordstown plant open.

In November, GM announced it would idle five North American plants, including Lordstown, and cut up to 15,000 jobs.

Separately, the UAW and the Communication Workers of America union sent a letter this week to the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee asking it to investigate significant corporate tax cuts received by GM and AT&T Inc even as they cut thousands of union jobs.

The letter said there is no evidence to date that the corporate tax cuts have encouraged GM to bring back any production from Mexico to the U.S.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Johnny Bobbitt during a hearing at Burlington County Courthouse in Mount Holly, N.J., on Dec. Dec. 14, 2018. (David Swanson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, Pool, File)

Homeless Veteran and Woman Behind $400,000 GoFundMe Scam Plead Guilty

The sham feel-good story that netted $400,000 has finally caught up with homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt, who on March 6 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Over 14,000 people donated to a GoFundMe campaign in 2017 in the wake of a viral story about Bobbitt using his last $20 to help out a woman who had gotten stranded on a Philadelphia highway in the wrong part of town.

That woman, Kate McClure, who took the story viral, was realbut the story wasnt.

McClure, 28, also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to The Inquirer.

The two still face conspiracy and theft-by-deception charges in a pending case brought by Burlington County prosecutors, together with her former boyfriend, Mark DAmico.

According to ABC11, the guilty pleas on March 6 came as part of a plea deal.

According to ABC, Bobbitt 36, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and will be sentenced at a later date. However, some reports said he could face as little as 6 months in jail.

Bobbitt told the court he helped concoct the story and opened a bank account in December 2017 to deposit $25,000 of the donations, according to the Inquirer. DAmico helped him open the account, he said, and McClure deposited the money.

To encourage more donations, he allowed a photograph of himself with the couple to be posted online.

He appeared in various media interviews, repeating the story.

Bobbitt claims he played only a minor role in the scam and received only a small proportion of the money.

It was Bobbitts small share of the money that prompted the unraveling of the scam.

Almost a year after the story, Bobbitt announced he was suing the couple, claiming they that while they lived a lavish lifestyle with the latest phones and top-brand bags and sunglasses, he lived in a trailer on their driveway.

However, the ensuing police investigation uncovered far more than Bobbitt had intended, exposing how all three them had fabricated the story.
A Yemeni man walks in the ruins of a building destroyed in Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Feb. 1, 2019. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images)

House Committee Hears Criticism of Saudi War in Yemen

WASHINGTONCoalition forces in Yemen are targeting civilians with airstrikes and mortar fire in their battle with rebels, and international aid to the country is being blocked or disrupted.

These were the charges leveled on March 6 by former U.S. government experts and a Yemeni aid official at a House Foreign Affairs committee on the humanitarian situation in that country.

In her statement to the committee, Dafna Rand, Ph.D., Vice President for Policy and Research, Mercy Corps, an international relief non-profit, said Direct attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure have led to a tragic loss of life in Yemen, including the August 2018 Coalition attack on a bus of schoolchildren and the numerous other attacks on weddings, markets, and food production, agriculture sites, and distribution sites.

Yemen has been in the midst of a civil war since 2015. The conflict began when the Houthis, a radical Islamic movement, pushed out the nations government led by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition, supported by the United States, to restore the Hadi government.

During testimony, Rand and Jeremy Konyndyk, Senior Policy Fellow, Center for Global Development, were particularly critical of Saudi Arabia, describing efforts by the United States (in the belief that attacks on civilians were accidental) to train the Saudis to avoid them. But Konyndyk described Saudi Arabia as targeting of water treatment and food distribution routes deliberate.

What we found was that the Saudis tended to treat anything not on the no-strike listas fair game, Konyndyk said.

There was a lack of political will at the top senior levels to reduce the number of civilian casualties[p]recision was not the issueeven whenthe U.S. government told them which targets not to hit we saw instances where the coalition was targeting non-military areas, Rand described.

Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N. J.) asked how US support for the coalition affected the attitude and perspective of Yemenis. Radhya Almutawakel, Co-Founder and Chairperson, Mwatana for Human Rights, a Yemen watchdog group, responded that the war in Yemen is empowering two groups in Yemen: Al Qaeda and Iranpeople know America throughweaponsand it is propaganda for the Houthis and Al Qaeda.

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) noted that Iran was illegally supporting the Houthi rebels. He asked if calls by some to withdraw support for Saudi Arabia and from the conflict would create a vacuum that Russia and China would fill.

Katherine Zimmerman, Research Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, responded that U.S. support of the coalition included weapons and training. She believed Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (another coalition partner) would obtain the weapons elsewhere if the United States stopped providing them, and that would likely mean without training (particularly against targeting non-military sites and civilians), as Russia and China dont have that sort of predilection.
Huawei Sues US Government Over Its National Defense Laws

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. on March 7 confirmed it is suing the U.S. government over a section of a defense bill passed into law last year that restricts its access to the United States.

Huawei says it has filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging the constitutionality of Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a section signed into law in August that bans federal agencies and their contractors from procuring Huawei and ZTE equipment.

According to the complaint, Huawei views Section 889 as a roadblock to it gaining more market share in the U.S. telecoms market.

Read More Huawei Vows to Sue Czech Cyber Watchdog for Naming It a Security Threat

The privately owned by China-based firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive over the past two months as Washington has sought to keep Huawei out of its fifth-generation (5G) mobile network amid growing global concerns that products made by the Chinese tech giant could be exploited by the Chinese regime to conduct espionage.

US Extradition

Huaweis complaint comes just days after Canada said it will proceed with a U.S. extradition request against Huaweis chief financial officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou.

In a 13-count indictment, the U.S. Department of Justice accuses Meng, Huawei, and several of the companys subsidiaries of violating sanctions against Iran. They say that Huaweiwith Meng personally involvedmisled U.S. banks about the relationship between Huawei and Hong-Kong based Skycom Tech, which did business with Iran. Prosecutors allege that Skycom is a hidden subsidiary of Huawei, while Huawei maintains they are two independent companies.

By hiding Skycoms connection to Huawei, Meng is accused of personally misleading U.S. banks into clearing cash connected with transactions between the two companies.

Meng and her legal team maintain that shes done nothing wrong.

On March 1, Meng also launched a lawsuit against the Canadian government, its border agency, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police over her detention at the airport, alleging violation of her constitutional rights.

The case had strained both Canadian and U.S. relations with China. The communist state this week also accused two arrested Canadians of stealing state secrets in a move widely seen as retribution for Mengs arrest.

While Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver, it is unclear where the two Canadians are being detained in China. Sources previously told Reuters that at least one of the Canadians did not have access to legal representation.

By Sijia Jiang and Twinnie Siu. Epoch Times reporters Cora Yu and Margaret Wollensack contributed to this article.
FILE PHOTO: A soldier said to be from US.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces is seen firing a rifle from a rooftop towards IS targets in Baghouz, Syria, in this screen grab taken from video said to be shot March 4, 2019, and uploaded to social media website on March 5, 2019. Social Media Website/ via REUTERS

Hundreds of ISIS fighters surrender in east Syria

NEAR BAGHOUZ, SyriaHundreds of ISIS terrorist fighters surrendered on March 6 and hundreds more of their comrades were caught trying to escape the jihadist groups last, tiny scrap of land in eastern Syria, said a commander in the militia besieging it.

ISIS terrorists holed up in the enclave at Baghouz near the Iraqi border have been giving up in large numbers this week after a ferocious assault on their enclave on March 2&3, but many remain inside, said the commander.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has slowed its attack to allow thousands of civilians to leave Baghouz, continuing an exodus that began when it announced it was launching a final battle for the enclave last month.

Far more people were still in Baghouz than the SDF had expected, it said, and it wanted them all to leave before it either stormed the area or otherwise forced ISIS to surrender there.

There are a large number of fighters who are inside and do not want to surrender, said the senior SDF commander.

The fall of Baghouz would mark the end of the rule of ISIS self-proclaimed caliphate over populated territory, although some fighters are still hiding out in remote desert or have gone underground to wage a guerrilla insurgency.

A war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said there were preparations in eastern Syria to announce the end of ISIS there. Colonel Sean Ryan, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition backing the SDF, nevertheless said the international force had learned not to put any timetables on the last battle.

Syrian military air strikes against jihadist fighters further west, in the countrys central desert, were a reminder of the constant warnings by both Arab and Western officials that ISIS will continue to pose a serious security threat.

After its sudden advance across swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, the group held about a third of both countries, but its wholesale slaughter or sexual enslavement of minorities and its grotesque public killings roused global anger.

Separate offensives by different forces in both countries steadily drove it back, inflicting major defeats on it in 2017, and eventually forcing it back on Baghouz, a little cluster of hamlets and farmland on the Euphrates.

Capture and Surrender

Some 400 ISIS terrorists were captured trying to escape Baghouz along with smugglers, the senior SDF commander said. Hundreds of others jihadists surrendered, though it was not yet clear how many, the commander added.

Those surrendering were among more than 2,000 people who left Baghouz on Wednesday in the latest evacuation, transported by trucks to a patch of desert where they are questioned, searched and given food and water.

A group of fully veiled women being evacuated from Baghouz on March 6 shouted Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) as they gathered near a checkpoint where the SDF were searching them and one hit a journalist with a can of tuna.

The SDF said about 6,500 people had left the area over the previous two days, including hundreds of men. Most civilian evacuees are headed for the al-Hol displacement camp in northeast Syria.

The International Rescue Committee aid group said that of the 60,000 people in the camp, 50,000 had arrived since December, mostly from the shrinking ISIS enclave, including 4,000 on March 6. Of the 90 people who have died reaching the camp since December, two-thirds were babies or infants, it said.

Among those who came out on March 6 were 11 captive children from the Yazidi community. ISIS subjected the Yazidis to mass slaughter and enslavement in what the United Nations called a genocide, after overrunning the communitys heartland of Sinjar in Iraq in 2014.

Four Shiite Muslim children abducted from the Iraqi city of Tel Afar four years ago were also freed and the SDF would try to reunite them with their parents said Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the militia.

Live television footage broadcast on al-Hadath television showed an area of desert where evacuees from Baghouz had gathered, with scores of children and black-veiled women sitting on the ground or hauling luggage as they trudged along.

By Ellen Francis & Rodi Said
A Huawei logo is pictured at the headquarters of the Chinese telecommunications equipment and smartphone maker in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China on March 6, 2019. (Yuyang Wang/Reuters)

Long Before US-China Trade War, Huaweis Activities Were Secretly Tracked

The surprise arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer in December quickly turned the executive, Meng Wanzhou, into a central figure in a trade war between two economic superpowers.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters he would consider intervening in her casea potential action he alluded to again two weeks agoif it would help close a trade deal with China.

Mengs lawyer on March 6 told a Canadian court that he has concerns the allegations against her have a political character, noting Trumps comments on the case.

But U.S. probes of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for allegedly evading U.S. sanctions on Iran were not rooted in Trumps trade aspirations. Long before Trump initiated a bitter trade war with China, Huawei activities were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, according to interviews with ten people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.

The U.S. focus on Huawei intensified after years of investigation into smaller Chinese rival ZTE Corp, and relied in part on information collected from devices of company employees traveling through airports.

Two of the sources said a critical point took place in August 2017, when deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosensteinbest known for his oversight of special counsel Robert Muellers probe of Russian interference in the U.S. electionhanded a lead role to Brooklyn prosecutors to pursue possible bank fraud charges against Huawei.

Fifteen months later, that strategy would help land Meng in a Canadian jail.

The U.S. investigations of Chinas top telecom companies were spurred by reports by Reuters over six years ago, detailing possible Iran sanctions violations by both ZTE and Huawei, as well as close ties between Huawei and Skycom Tech Co Ltda suspected front company doing business in Iran.

A spokesman for Huawei, the worlds largest telecommunications equipment maker, has denied the charges in the sanctions case, and did not provide further comment to Reuters. Meng has said she is innocent of the charges. ZTE, which pleaded guilty in 2017 for illegally shipping U.S. goods to Iran, did not respond to requests for comment.

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said the government pursues cases free of any political interference and follows the evidence and rule of law in pursuing criminal charges.

Airport Evidence Grab

On Dec. 1, 2018, Meng was stopped at Vancouver International Airport as she walked up the jetway after her flight, according to a lawsuit she filed on Friday accusing the Canadian government of violating her rights. Border officers examined her passport and escorted her to an area for secondary screenings.

While there, she was instructed to surrender her two mobile phones, an iPad and a personal computer, along with their passwords, the suit alleges, and the officers viewed the devices contents.

Reuters has not been able to determine what information was found on Mengs devices, but it is not the first time she and other Chinese telecom executives have turned over such property to border patrol agents.

In the years leading up to the Huawei indictment, U.S. officials had been capturing information that would influence the investigation when telecom executives passed through U.S. airports, according to a number of sources familiar with the Huawei and ZTE investigations and the Meng indictment.

For example, Meng arrived in the United States via John F. Kennedy International Airport in early 2014. The indictment says investigators found suggested talking points on one of her electronic devices, stating among other things that Huaweis relationship with Skycom was normal business cooperation.

Meng had been pulled into a secondary screening at the airport that time as well, and her electronic devices were taken, according to one person familiar with the stop. After a couple of hours, the devices were returned and she was freed to go, the person said.

Another border search, this time on Sept. 12, 2014, of executives from rival ZTE also supported U.S. investigators long-held suspicions of how Huawei might have been doing illicit business in countries subject to U.S. sanctions, one of the sources told Reuters.

ZTEs CFO at the time was stopped at Bostons Logan Airport after flying in from London with an assistant, the person said.

The assistant was carrying a Lenovo laptop containing a confidential ZTE document, dated Aug. 25, 2011 and signed by four top executives, about the need to establish front companies to supply U.S. procured items needed for projects in embargoed countries.

The airport stop provided key evidence against ZTE in its legal battle with the United States, according to U.S. officials. But it also identified a company as F7 and how it used a front company to serve as its agent for contracts in sanctioned countries. F7 was Huawei, according to the individuals familiar with the ZTE and Huawei investigations.

The document was posted on the U.S. Commerce Department website in March 2016 when ZTE was placed on a list of companies that were restricted from buying parts and components from U.S. suppliers. Shortly after the public posting, the New York Times reported that the description of F7 offered by ZTE matched Huawei.

A month later, the Commerce Department sent a subpoena to Huawei in the United States demanding information on the companys exporting American technology to Iran, according to a court document and one of the people familiar with the Huawei probe.

From ZTE to HUAWEI

With the case against ZTE wrapping up, more than a dozen people from Departments of Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security and Justice, gathered in Washington on Feb. 14, 2017 and talked about how they were moving forward against Huawei, according to a person familiar with matter.

Brooklyn prosecutors discussed the relationship between Huawei and HSBC, a bank that was required to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors in any investigation until the end of 2017 for violating U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, the person added.

In late 2016, HSBC began to conduct an internal bank probe of Huawei. In the weeks and months following the meeting, HSBC helped authorities obtain evidence of links between Skycom and Huawei, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The probe found Meng met in 2013 with a HSBC banker. She later gave him a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, which the U.S. indictment says misrepresented Huaweis control of Skycom.

HSBC told Reuters that it provided information in response to demands from the Justice Department.

The U.S. Attorneys office in Washington, D.C., meanwhile, pursued a more traditional export control investigation against Huawei, which included the accusations of attempted illegal shipments of computers to Iran disclosed in the Reuters 2012 story.

A grand jury subpoena was issued to the U.S subsidiary of the company in April 2017, the first clear sign to Huawei that the probe had turned criminal.

Armed with that knowledge, the company moved U.S.-based Chinese employees who knew about its Iranian dealings out of the country and otherwise concealed and destroyed evidence, the prosecutors allege. Meng and other Huawei executives also began to avoid travel to the United States, prosecutors say.

In the late summer of 2017, according to two of the sources close to the Huawei investigation, Rosenstein chose Brooklyn as the venue to file charges and the Washington U.S. Attorneys office dropped out of the case. Brooklyn was already working with a money laundering unit at the Justice Department. The national security division also merged with the Brooklyn prosecution team.

Legal experts said since most evidence of any illegal U.S. goods in Iran presumably existed outside the jurisdiction of U.S. authorities, the bank fraud route presented a potentially quicker path to indictment. They added that bank fraud charges are more likely to lead to arrest by other countries for extradition to the United States than export controls or sanctions violations, and have a longer statute of limitations.

Meng and the company were charged with bank and wire fraud. The PowerPoint presentations numerous misrepresentations were central to the charges brought against Meng herself, the indictment shows.

Twelve months after Brooklyn got the case, prosecutors secretly obtained a warrant for Mengs arrest.

Less than four months later they learned she was stopping in Vancouver en route to Mexico on December 1, and asked the Canadians to detain her at the airport.

EXCLUSIVE: Huawei partner offered embargoed HP gear to Iranhttps://reut.rs/2sRL7Ve

EXCLUSIVE: Huawei CFO linked to firm that offered HP gear to Iranhttps://reut.rs/2sUq8RT

EXCLUSIVE: Chinas ZTE planned U.S. computer sale to Iranhttps://reut.rs/2T17JlN

Chinese firm (ZTE) helps Iran spy on citizenshttps://reut.rs/2TlJJJq

By Karen Freifeld
Zachary Greenberg, 28, has been charged with three felonies relating to last months attack against a conservative activist at the University of California at Berkeley. (Alameda County Sheriffs Office via CBS SF)

Man Who Allegedly Punched Conservative Activist Had to Turn in His Guns, Lawyer Claims

Zachary Greenberg, the man who allegedly attacked conservative activist Hayden Williams at UC Berkeley, had his firearms confiscated because of a restraining order against him, according to Williams lawyer, Harmeet Dhillon.

In video of the alleged altercation, Greenberg appeared to attack Williams on Feb. 19, despite not being a student at the school. He pleaded not guilty to three felony charges and one misdemeanor charge.

Dhillon released the new information during a Wednesday interview with Tucker Carlson.

So, Mr. Greenberg over the past couple of years has had numerous incidents where he has filed restraining orders against his roommates in multiple group houses and then moved out of those group houses. His roommates have put in evidence that has been more believable and believed by the court that none of those incidents happened, Dhillon began.

She continued:

He has also had a restraining order filed against him by a former roommate, which was granted by a court. And as a result of that restraining order, he had to turn in his guns to the authorities. He has filed several lawsuits against landlords for charges that were later dismissed by the court and found not to be valid and he has filed small claims claims against roommates, again, found not to be sustained for the most part. And so, you know, like almost a dozen lawsuits that I have uncovered that this man is involved in.

Williams, who works for the Leadership Institute, was helping students of the schools Turning Point USA chapter with a recruitment event when Greenberg allegedly punched him.

HAPPENING NOW: No comment from Zachary Greenberg as he makes his 1st court appearance on 3 felonies in attack on conservative activist at @UCBerkeley pic.twitter.com/gAKEJvLavb  Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) March 6, 2019

HAPPENING NOW: Zachary Greenberg leaves court after pleading not guilty to attacking conservative activist Hayden Williams at @UCBerkeley. Defense attorney Alanna Coopersmith speaks out. @KTVU pic.twitter.com/Js4VSWjk4X  Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) March 6, 2019

By Mike Brest

Follow Mike on Twitter
First lady Melania Trump speaks during the 2019 International Women of Courage awards ceremony at the US State Department in Washington on March 7, 2019. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Melania Trump Honors Women of Courage Around the World at Annual Ceremony

First Lady Melania Trump recognized 10 women from across the globe in this years International Women of Courage Awards hosted by the U.S. State Department, where she emphasized the importance of courage.

Joining Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on March 7 to confer the awards, Trump noted the record number of female lawmakers in Washington and the historic unemployment levels for womenthe lowest level in 65 years.

This is something to celebrate, Trump told the crowd, as she also made reference to the 2 million more women working today than in November 2016.

Since 2007, the State Department has recognized more than 120 women from more than 65 different countries who have demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership. The first lady emphasized the importance of courage, describing it as an act of selflessness, at the annual ceremony.

I believe courage is one of the qualities we need most in society, she said in her opening remarks. Courage is what divides those who only talk about change from those who actually act to change. Courage takes sacrifice, bravery, and humilityit is the ability to put others first.

Trump presented awards to women from a number of different countries: Bangladesh, Djibouti, Egypt, Ireland, Jordan, Montenegro, Myanmar, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania.

She called the 10 women role models to the next generation.

The women we are honoring today are symbols of courage, said Trump. They are human-rights advocates in some of the most dangerous of parts of our world  These courageous women nurture and serve the lives of the vulnerable and forgotten within their communities.

Powerful Stories

Razia Sultana, one of the women awarded at the event, has devoted her career to advancing human rights for the people of Burma. Born in Maungdaw, Burma, in 1973 to ethnic Rohingya parents, Sultana has worked directly with the Rohingya, particularly women and girls, since 2014.

Sultana advocates for the Rohingya through practicing law, and conducts research and educational programs specializing in trauma, mass rape, and the trafficking of Rohingya women and girls.

She documented systematic sexual violence by Burmese security forces against the Rohingya in two reports Witness to Horror and Rape by Command and has interviewed hundreds of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Although Sultana has always identified as a Rohingya, she said as a human-rights activist, she believes in the rights and justice for all in Burma as a means to bring peace.

Another award recipient, Flor de Maria Vega Zapata, from Peru, is a prosecutor who leads a team to investigate transnational criminal organizations engaged in illegal mining and illegal logginga multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise that fuels corruption, human trafficking, and more.

Moumina Houssein Darar, a recipient from Djibouti, is the lead investigator for high-profile investigations, especially anti-terrorism cases, in the Djiboutian National Police Force. Her work has led to the conviction and/or deportation of numerous al-Shabaab terrorists and has thwarted several attempted terrorist attacks after the 2014 La Chaumiere bombing in Djibouti City.

Col. Khalida Khalaf Hanna al-Twal, Chief of the Public Security Directorates Womens Police Department, from Jordan, was honored for her efforts in refugee affairs, security, and the Syrian crisis. She serves as one of the highest-ranking women in Jordans security services and has been recognized for her work on sensitive cases, including with victims of domestic, physical, social, and sexual violence.
Mourning Camel Stops Taking Food and Water After Police Caretaker Dies of Heart Attack

The content is not available due to expiration.
New Jersey City Agrees to Lease Back Parking Lot for $27 Million That It Sold for $1: Reports

The New Jersey city of Newark has agreed to pay $27 million over 30 years to rent a piece of property that it had previously sold for $1, according to reports.

The autonomous Newark Parking Authority said it is planning to put up retail space, a parking deck, and offices at 43-67 Green Street under a $34 million redevelopment agreement with the city of Newark, reported NJ.com.

The city will also rent storage space for its court and will relocate its finance department to the new site. Meanwhile, it will rent 258 parking spots, the report added.

New Jersey -City agrees to lease back parking lot for $27M that it sold for $1www.TheTrentonPost.com609-310-NEWS (6397) Posted by The Trenton Post on Wednesday, 6 March 2019

This is not the Parking Authority pushing this on the city. A redevelopment agreement was passed by this council, Anthony Mack, who is the executive director of the Newark Parking Authority, was quoted by NJ.com as saying.

He added, Were actually subsidizing the city as were constructing this.

The agreement, however, has drawn criticism from Newark residents, who questioned why the city didnt just keep the property itself instead of selling it to the parking authority.

New Jersey city agrees to pay $27M to lease property it sold for $1 | #Democrats? https://t.co/dKxFuHJBFS  James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) March 7, 2019

Were paying them for something that we gave them. This is basic math, it doesnt add up, Newark resident Debra Salters told the news outlet.

The lot currently is home to a parking lot for municipal employees, and it is adjacent to City Hall and close to the Prudential Center in downtown Newark. Last month, according to the report, employees were told that they could not park there any longer and were relocated to places nearby.

According to state records, the property was assessed at $10 million.

Newark agrees to pay $27M to lease property it sold for $1 https://t.co/MEemUhjGtx pic.twitter.com/RIC32sKvHn  New York Post (@nypost) March 7, 2019

The Newark City Council voted on the $27 million lease in a 5-4 vote. Councilmen Carlos Gonzalez, Augusto Amador, Anibal Ramos, and Luis Quintana voted no.

In the meeting, a resident questioned whether Council President Mildred Crump had a conflict of interesting in voting in favor of the lease because Crumps son, Lawrence Crump, is general counsel for the Newark Parking Authority.

How dare you? Crump said during the meeting. How dare you question his integrity? How dare you question mine? Why are you asking this question?

Kenyatta Stewart, corporation counsel for Newark, told NJ.com that neither the City Council president or her son would benefit directly from the deal.

She has nothing to gain in this situation, Stewart said.

According to JerseyDigs, which elaborated on the new construction plan, Construction documents that were issued in July feature a rendering for the project and identify New Brunswick-based TimHaahs as the prime designer for the project. Gilbane is listed as the construction manager while other firms involved included Grant Engineering, Netta Architects, CEC, Inc., RDS Associates, and Lewis Consulting Group.

New information has been revealed about a project on Green Street in Downtown Newark that we first told you about last year. Posted by Jersey Digs on Thursday, 18 October 2018
Bags of heroin, some laced with fentanyl, are displayed before a press conference regarding a major drug bust, at the office of the New York Attorney General, in New York City, on Sept. 23, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

US House Bill Proposes Sanctions Against Chinese With Ties to Fentanyl Production, Trafficking

U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Thomas Suozzi (D-N.Y.) have introduced legislation to tackle the flow of fentanyl into the country from China, which has contributed to the current opioid crisis.

Chinese-made fentanyl is ending up on our streets and the human cost is realover 29,000 overdose deaths in 2017 were fentanyl-related, Smith said in a statement from his office, citing data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin, according to the CDC. As little as two milligrams is considered a lethal dosage for most people.

And, according to a 2016 report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), there was a 79 percent increase in U.S. deaths related to synthetic opioids between 2013 and 2014; that trend has continued to climb. DEA published another report in September 2018, noting that the vast majority of illicit fentanyl-class substances and synthetic drugs coming into the United States are manufactured in China.

Legislation

The new bill, named Combating Illicit Fentanyl Act of 2019, would require the departments of State and Treasury to jointly submit a report to appropriate congressional committeessuch as the Foreign Affairs and Financial Services panelsto identify persons and Chinese officials involved in the production of fentanyl and its trafficking into the United States.

The measure calls on the U.S. president to impose financial sanctions against any identified individuals or to make them ineligible for visas or admission to the United States, under existing laws that grant the president such power.

The individuals could also be held accountable under the Global Magnitsky Act, according to the press release. Passed into law in 2016, the Act allows for sanctions against individuals who commit human-rights violations, including freezing their U.S. assets and barring them from entry to the United States.

Our law enforcement agencies are doing all they can, but the Chinese government seems to have little interest in stopping the flow of this deadly substance across our borders. This bipartisan bill will help hold China accountable for its contribution to the opioid epidemic in our country, Suozzi said in the release.

Smith said in an email to The Epoch Times that the Chinese regime allows fentanyl to be exported to the United States because it is a weapon in an asymmetric warfare campaign.

Beijing has failed to police the production and trafficking of fentanyl that is killing Americans because it fits in with its long-term strategic objectives, the congressman said.

The regimes treatment of fentanyl directly contrasts with methamphetamine, Smith said. Methamphetamine is consumed domestically in China, and unlike fentanyl, is subject to strict enforcement.

This toleration of fentanyl clearly contrasts with methamphetamine, which is consumed domestically in China. Methamphetaminebut not fentanylproducers and pushers are therefore subject to draconian crackdowns.

U.S. experts have identified problems in Chinas synthetic drug regulations: There is deficient local drug inspection and enforcement capabilities, coupled with corrupt practices among local officials, according to a February 2017 report by the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission (USCC), which is tasked to monitor the national security implications of SinoU.S. trade.

In December 2018, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, while meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the G-20 summit in Argentina, promised to crack down on Chinese-made fentanyl. However, Smith pointed out that Beijings progress since has been minimal.

We cannot allow this matter to become another Chinese empty promiseanyone involved in the production and trafficking of fentanyl must be held accountable, Smith said in the release.

This isnt the first time that U.S. lawmakers have drafted legislation to address the fentanyl problem in the United States. In February, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced the Fentanyl Sanctions Act, which called for the establishment of a commission to report on the flow of synthetic opioids from China and Mexico, as well as increase funding to law enforcement to combat trafficking of the drugs.

Schumers bill similarly contains measures to identify traffickers in China and deny them visas and access to U.S. banks.

U.S. Action

In October 2017, Trump declared the spread of opioids, including fentanyl, a public health emergency, and vowed to stop the flood of cheap and deadly fentanyl manufactured in China from entering the country.

U.S. authorities have since stepped up enforcement, tackling several illegal fentanyl operations involving Chinese nationals.

In August 2018, Wang Bin, a Chinese living in Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to federal charges of distributing illicit drugs, including fentanyl, shipped from China.

That same month, Zheng Fujing and his father Zheng Guanghua, both from Shanghai, were charged for operating a criminal enterprise, importing drugs including fentanyl, and money laundering. The 2015 deaths of two Ohio residents were directly traced to fentanyl manufactured by the Zheng organization.

Drug traffickers have taken advantage of loopholes in the U.S. Postal Service to ship fentanyl purchases through the mail system.

Traffickers can typically purchase a kilogram of fentanyl powder for a few thousand dollars from a Chinese supplier, transform it into hundreds of thousands of pills, and sell the counterfeit pills for millions of dollars in profit, according to the July 2016 DEA report.

In October 2018, the White House announced that the United States would withdraw from the Universal Postal Union, noting that foreign shippers were being charged subsidized rates determined by the agencymaking it cheap and easy for traffickers to ship fentanyl and other narcotics into the United States.
An artist's sketch of the girl whose body was found on a Los Angeles trail on March 5, 2019, released on March 6, 2019. (Los Angeles County Sheriff Department)

Police Release Sketch of Unidentified Girl Found Dead in Suitcase

Police have released a sketch of the unidentified girl whose body was found dumped on a California equestrian trail inside a suitcase.

She is described as a skinny black girl who weighed around 55 pounds stood around 4 feet 5 inches tall, authorities told reporters on March 6.

Her body was found on an equestrian trail in Hacienda Heights, Los Angeles County, on March 5.

Investigators said that there are currently no known motives in the case, which they are handling as as a suspicious death, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Lt. Scott Hoglund told a news conference on March 6.

We dont have any leads. We dont have any idea who this child is, Hoglund said, describing it as a horrible, tragic case.

The girl was wearing a pink shirt with the words Future Princess Hero, along with blue leggings with pandas on themimages of which have been released by authorities.

Investigators believe the victim was dumped sometime during the late evening hours of Sunday, March 3, and discovered on the morning of March 5, Hoglund said.

County workers stumbled across the body, the upper torso of which was protruding from a black roll-away duffle bag, he said.

There were no obvious signs of trauma to the victims body said Hoglund.

Investigators are waiting for the autopsy results.

They also looking at a security video from a nearby Buddhist temple, according to authorities.

Unidentified little girl found dead near Los Angeles hiking trail: Officials  1310 KFKA  201936

The sheriffs office said theyre working with the Department of Children and Family Services, along with missing children agencies and surrounding school districts, hoping to find some possible leads.

We dont have any information regarding this victim. We need to identify the victim before we can really launch into our investigation, and thats what were really looking for, is the publics help, Hoglund said.

We dont have any reason for why this happened or how this happened.

Missing Children

According to the Californian Department of Justice (pdf), in 2018 there were 76,923 reports of a missing child who has left home without the knowledge or permission of parents or guardian and 269 reports of children missing due to suspicious circumstances in California.

Nancy McBride, the executive director of Florida Outreach at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said that most of the runaways involve technology.

(Technology) has great benefits and some potential risks, McBride told USA Today in 2017. Its important to stay plugged into their lives.

Tech is utilized by online predators, McBride said, who exploit gaps when the childs relationship with their parents isnt strong.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Departments Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call Crime Stoppers by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), use your smartphone by downloading the P3 Tips Mobile APP on Google Play or the Apple App Store or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) talks with reporters before heading into a closed-door hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill October 19, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Presidential Harassment Is Real: Republicans Slam Democrats Over New Investigations

NEW YORKRepublican lawmakers scorched their Democratic counterparts for launching new investigations into President Donald Trump, saying the probes are overly broad, lack the necessary evidence, and are meant to harass the commander in chief.

The Republicans levied their criticism on the heels of a large-scale document request by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). The Democrat-led committee contacted 81 people and entities as part of a newly launched investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice and abused power. The list includes the presidents family members, businesses, and former attorney, among others.

Presidential harassment is real, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said on Twitter. We should be focusing on running the country, not playing the Democrats political games against the duly elected President of the United States.

We should be focusing on running the country, not playing the Democrats' political games against the duly elected President of the United States. @cnsnews https://t.co/n8kydCepxW  Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 5, 2019

Nadler launched the committee investigation as expectations heightened for an imminent release of the final report by special counsel Robert Mueller. Two major publishers are already pre-selling books that will feature a full copy of the report, with a placeholder release date of March 26.

Mueller has investigated allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and whether the president obstructed justice, since May 2017. The special counsel hasnt charged any U.S. citizen with collusion and isnt expected to fault Trump for obstruction.

Meanwhile, inquiries by both the House and Senate intelligence committees have concluded that there is no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. As a result, the Republicans view the new investigations by House Democrats as fishing expeditions meant to hamstring Trump and his allies ahead of the 2020 election.

The House Intelligence Committee is running a parallel investigation, looking into the same set of crimes long-scrutinized by Mueller. The committee held its first hearing with convicted liar and felon Michael Cohen on the same day as Trumps second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam for denuclearization talks. Cohen testified that he had no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

They couldnt even wait a week. Last Wednesday, Democrats brought Michael Cohen to tell new lies but came up short on facts, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote on Twitter. So today they launched an 81-letter fishing expedition.

They couldnt even wait a week. Last Wednesday, Democrats brought Michael Cohen to tell new lies but came up short on facts. So today they launched an 81-letter fishing expedition.  Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) March 4, 2019

Republicans ran investigations concurrent to the special counsel probe that found no evidence of collusion by the Trump campaign, while simultaneously uncovering a large-scale, potentially illegal operation funded by the Clinton campaign.

Congressional investigators found that the Clinton campaign paid for an opposition research dossier on Trump, which was prepared by a former foreign spy who paid sources with ties to the Kremlin for information. The FBI and Obama-era Justice Department (DOJ) used the dossier to obtain a warrant from a secret court to spy on the Trump campaign. Top FBI and DOJ officials signed off on the warrant application, even though it failed to mention to the court that the Clinton campaign funded the dossier and that the foreign spy who compiled the document abhorred Trump, among a battery of other issues.

On the eve of the special counsels report, the Democrats Russian collusion narrative is fading for one reason: because there was no collusion, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) wrote on Twitter. It was a political conspiracy theory. To say the case fell apart would be kindbecause there never was a case from the beginning.

On the eve of the special counsel's report, the Democrats' 'Russian collusion' narrative is fading for one reason: because there was no collusion. It was a political conspiracy theory. To say the case "fell apart" would be kindbecause there never was a case from the beginning.  Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) March 4, 2019

Two years, millions of dollars spent, and zero evidence of collusionbut that apparently wont stop Adam Schiff and Democrat investigators, Meadows added. This is a conspiracy machine desperately in search of a crime.

Trump has always denied all allegations of collusion and obstruction, calling the special counsel probe a hoax and a witch hunt. The president, nonetheless, complied with Muellers investigators and said he will do the same with requests from House Democrats.

The White House issued a scalding rebuke after Nadler released the investigation, calling it disgraceful and abusive.

Democrats are harassing the president to distract from their radical agenda of making America a socialist country, killing babies after theyre born, and pushing a green new deal that would destroy jobs and bankrupt America, White House press secretary Sara Sanders said in a statement.

The Democrats are more interested in pathetic political games and catering to a radical, leftist base than producing results for our citizens.

The Democrats are not after truth, they are after the president.

In an interview aired March 3, Nadler said that he expects quick compliance with the initial round of requests because the committee asked for documents each person has already provided to the special counsel and Congress. The chairman admitted he doesnt have enough evidence of obstruction and that its his personal opinion that the president broke the law.

We dont have the facts yet, Nadler told CNN. But were going to initiate proper investigations.
Proposed Bill Could Make New Mexico a Sanctuary State

A bill in the New Mexico legislature that would restrict U.S. government contracts for immigration detention centers could turn the Land of Enchantment into a sanctuary state.

Democratic state Reps. Angelica Rubio and Antonio Maestas are promoting a bill that narrows the use of state and local resources to detain those accused of violating federal immigration laws. Republican lawmakers in New Mexico are expected to oppose the bill and one GOP officeholder at the county level denounced it.

This bill allows for the state of New Mexico to be able to provide some accountability and some oversight when it comes to the issue of immigration detention facilities, Rubio said, according to TV station KOB4.

These are institutions that are essentially profiting off people and their bodies, and all for issues that we should be legislating and trying to solve, she said. I think that by allowing these institutions to continue here in the state of New Mexico without any transparency or oversight is really a disservice to taxpayers.

If the measure becomes law, state law enforcement agencies would be required to conduct two public meetings before entering into or renewing federal contracts to operate immigration detention facilities.

Enactment of the bill could also cause New Mexico to miss out on U.S. Department of Justice formula grants because the federal government may view the state as a sanctuary state and flouting immigration laws, according to a fiscal impact report released by the Legislative Finance Committee.

In the case of many federal law enforcement grants, the federal government requires immigration cooperation assurances as a prerequisite to receiving funding, according to the report.

Last year, more than $335 million allocated for the DOJ program was withheld from New Mexico and other states.

Cibola County Commissioner Robert Windhorst, a Republican, didnt mince words about the proposed legislation in an interview with The Epoch Times.

His county is home to the Cibola County Correctional Center, a privately run prison that serves as a detention facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The legislation could put federal funding for the facility in jeopardy.

I think its ridiculous. I think its shortsighted, Windhorst said. He also called the legislation un-American.

He described Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, as insane because she wants to open up our borders, and says Lujan Grisham is taking this extreme position because she doesnt want to be governor for eight years. I think she wants to run for president.

The whole Democratic leadership is saying there is no problem at the border.

New Mexico, which shares a border with Mexico, has become a terrible magnet for illegal aliens who receive extensive government services at the expense of taxpayers, he said. The bill, if it becomes law, will make matters worse, he said.

When you offer the sanctuary statuses, youre inviting high crime, high unemployment, and a large welfare output, Windhorst said.

Democrats are trying so hard to limit our Second Amendment rights, but at the same time, they are making it easy for illegal aliens.

The Trump administration launched a crackdown on sanctuary cities days after the president was inaugurated. Trump issued Executive Order 13768 on Jan. 25, 2017, to withhold federal monies from sanctuary jurisdictions but it was permanently enjoined nationwide on Nov. 20, 2017, by U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick III, an Obama appointee. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Orricks ruling in an Aug. 1, 2018, decision.

The administration also stepped up immigration enforcement in California last year after new sanctuary-state laws took effect, curbing the power of state and local law enforcement to hold, question, and transfer detainees at the request of federal immigration authorities.

Federal prosecutors were considering filing criminal charges against elected officials harboring illegal aliens in sanctuary jurisdictions, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 16, 2018.

The Department of Justice is reviewing what avenues might be available, Nielsen said then. The context of this is, of course, not only putting my ICE officers at risk, but also finding an efficient and effective way to enforce our immigration laws.

It is unclear if those prosecutors have taken action.
Through years of single-minded discipline, Piotr Huang has forged himself into one of the worlds best classical Chinese dancers. (Larry Dai)

Shen Yun Principal Dancer Piotr Huang

A higher calling

Majestic, self-disciplined, and stunningly refinedPiotr Huangs dancing leaves audiences breathless. Even when performing incredibly challenging leaps and flips, he maintains perfect control of every inch of his body, both in the air and when he lands soundlessly back onto the floor.

Through years of intense concentration and ceaselessly demanding more of himself, Huang has forged himself into one of the worlds best classical Chinese dancers, touring the globe as a principal dancer for Shen Yun Performing Arts. His every movement emanates dignity, a righteous energy that makes him stand apart from the crowd.

When Huang first started dancing, it was just something he enjoyed, but as he delved deeper, he discovered a universe of boundless meaning rooted in five millennia of Chinese civilization. Even more so than by his passion for dance, Huang is now motivated by a sense of duty, a higher calling to bring the exquisite virtues and spiritual wisdom of ancient China to global audiences.

Perseverance of a Shen Yun Dancer

Born and raised in Poland as the son of Chinese immigrants, Huang flew across the Atlantic Ocean eight years ago to study classical Chinese dance at the prestigious Fei Tian Academy of the Arts in New York, which trains many of Shen Yuns dancers.

Back then, Huang enjoyed dance, but he was far from flexible; he could barely even touch his toes. Etched in his memory are the times he had to practice leg splits, with two other boys holding his legs in place for as long as ten minutes. While most students were instructed to complete this agonizing stretching exercise once or twice a day, Huang had to endure it three times every day. It was so excruciating that he tried to evade training by hiding in his dorm, only to be lectured by his teacher.

Compounded with the training was his homesickness. Huang missed his friends and his old life in Poland. Every day, he wanted to tell his parents he wanted to quit and return home.

But while at Fei Tian, he was often given unique and precious opportunities to observe Shen Yuns dancers in rehearsals. Every time I finished watching them, I felt deeply moved, he recalls. Shen Yuns performances gave me a joy I cannot describe. At the time, I thought to myself: I also want to become one of them.

A Vast Culture

As Huangs understanding of dance deepened, he soon realized that the most difficult thing isnt whats on the surface, like the techniques. Instead, it was grasping and evoking the profound inner meaning of a dance. At the core of classical Chinese dance is the concept of bearing, when you channel your innermost spirit into all your movements. Its the soul of the art, the essential ingredient that transforms movement into dance.

As part of the new generations who grew up in the West, we dont have that deep of an understanding of Chinese culture. So our dancing is relatively straightforward. The inner meaning is not as profound. When you understand the habits or values of people from ancient China, the feelings evoked by your dancing are not the same, Huang says.

Although Huang is ethnically Chinese, he initially spoke patchy Chinese and knew little about the essence of Chinese culture. So at Fei Tian, he honed his Chinese and immersed himself in the worldview of sages like Confucius who believed in virtuous conduct and self-cultivation. The more he studied, the deeper his love grew both for his cultural heritage and for dance. Soon he was selected to tour in practicum with Shen Yun, beginning a brilliant new chapter in his life.

For each historical figure he plays in Shen Yuns performances, Huang pores over the characters life story and his written works to understand every stage of the characters life. He contemplates the characters decisions in life and then questions himself: Under similar circumstances, how would I behave? If I would make different choices, why did he choose differently?

For NTD Televisions 6th International Classical Chinese Dance Competition, Huang played Li Bai, one of Chinas most beloved poets. To perfect the character, he read dozens of Li Bais poems. Under the moonlight, hed go for a stroll, listening to the music he picked for the dance and trying to experience Li Bais feelings.

When youre dancing, you have to forget yourself. If you bring your own thinking, it will surely interfere with the character, Huang says. For his impeccable interpretation of Li Bai, Huang was awarded the gold prize in the adult division.

When asked which Chinese historical figure inspires him the most, Huang replies: There are simply too many. Too many. A figure currently on his mind is the Duke of Zhou, who acted as regent for his young nephew, King Cheng. He could have stolen the throne, but he didnt. He just kept on helping [King Cheng] responsibly and diligently. At the time, the effort he put in for the country and the peoplehe truly put himself in the most humble position, Huang says.

Huang hopes to bring back such traditional values like benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and honesty. Beliefs in moral and spiritual elevation once permeated all spheres of Chinese society, but in the past century, they have been rejected and defiled by the communist government in Chinawhere Shen Yun is banned. As part of Shen Yun, Huang is rekindling the lost wisdom of the ancients, who celebrated virtue and endlessly strove to cultivate their character.

I came to understand Shen Yun was not only bringing joy to audiences. At the same time, it was reviving traditional Chinese culture, he says. This is what fuels Huang as he leads over a hundred tightly packed performances every year, always with the same dedication as if every show was his first.

Were not doing this for ourselves, so our motivation is different, Huang says.

An Elevated Art

To truly move audiences, Huang knows that he cant simply act the part. Both onstage and off, he has to embody the moral values Shen Yun presents.

Like many of Shen Yuns artists, Huang is guided by the ancient Chinese spiritual discipline of Falun Dafa. Through abiding by the practices tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, Huang became a better, more considerate person. When conflicts arise, we can calmly deal with them through cultivating ourselves, he says.

When he was young, Huang frequently clashed with his older brother and was inconsiderate toward his parents. Falun Dafas principles have helped him become a kinder brother and more filial son, who now frequently dials home to check in with his parents.

This spirit of kindness and thoughtfulness permeates every aspect of Shen Yun. When Shen Yun dancers have fleeting seconds to switch costumes in the dimly lit backstage area, Huang says its not a matter of taking care of yourself and making sure youre dressed. Instead, everyone helps each other, zipping up costumes and distributing props.

Huangs eight years of immersion in performing classical Chinese dance have enriched his life in ways far beyond what he could have imagined when he first started dancing. The most joyous part, he says, is the time he spends every day with his fellow dancers. Now, of course, theyre my brothers, Huang says. When someone walks over from afar, just from hearing the sound of his footsteps, I can tell who it is.

A veteran dancer now of classical Chinese dance, Huang has become a team leader tasked with helping the newer male dancers. Helping the newer dancers is like looking at my old self. I also went through all this before, and veteran dancers helped me. While helping them, Im also improving myself, he says. I will see their shortcomings, and I can evaluate myself, like looking at a mirror.

Instead of forcing them to change or improve, he inspires with his example. The easiest way is to do well yourself, so they can see these older brothers, how they behave, he says.

Someday, Huang hopes to become a professional dance teacher, to guide aspiring children into the magnificent world of classical Chinese dance. An art of not only technical mastery but also ineffable meaning, classical Chinese dance has imbued Huangs life with purpose.

As he tours with Shen Yun, he revels in each opportunity to bring Shen Yuns splendor to audiences around the globe and uplift them with a message of hope, goodness, and spiritual elevation.

I hope I can travel on this path for as long as I can, while bringing the best for the audience and those around me, Huang says.

Republished with permission from Elite Lifestyle Magazine.
Michael Kopko and Sandra Ciotti after seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts on March 6. The couple loved the performance's spirituality. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times)

PITTSBURGHThe dance Mongolian Spirit evoked fond memories for hotel owner Michael Kopko, as he watched Shen Yun Performing Arts on March 6, 2019.

He had the privilege of knowing a group of Mongolians who stayed at his extended-stay establishment in Virginia a long time, and seeing Shen Yun dancers portray the Mongolian horsemen (the Asian equivalent of the Western cowboys, as the program states), gave him a warm feeling. He missed the friendliness of these old friends and sharing in their culture.

Shen Yun, a New York company that brings traditional Chinese music and dance to the world, presents ethnic and folk dances such as the Mongolian dance. Another ethnic dance this year presents the Yi people.

Mr. Kopko enjoyed the entire theatrical experience and the history behind everything that was shown on the stage today.

As well as showing the breath of China through showcasing dances from peoples across the country, the company uses classical Chinese dancea dance form capable of storytellingto show Chinas millennial-old history in dances representing some of the most important dynasties that shaped it.

By sharing ethnic dances, by reviving the graceful, profound, and technically demanding classical Chinese dance to bring Chinas history to life, Shen Yun aims to share a culture rich in spirituality.

The Profundity of Shen Yun

Mr. Kopko attended the performance at Benedum Center with Sandra Ciotti, a retired mortgage broker. Both said they were attracted by the spirituality of the dances.

Were regular theatergoers, Mr. Kopko said. But this has a very different feeling.

In giving some background, Ms. Ciotti said that she had studied Buddhism and had followed that in her heart.

The dancers, the fabrics [were wonderful], but the overall spiritual theme is what really draws me the highest, Ms. Ciotti said.

According to the program book, Shen Yun performers also follow spiritual practice in their daily lives. They strive to live by the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance. Performing with remarkable self-discipline and selflessness, they have moved audiences around the world.

It was beautiful to see this in this culture; I mean, in todays world, Ms. Ciotti said.

The pair summed up the spiritual messages they each received: For Mr. Kopko is was common belief, common love of everyone, of all cultures.

And for Ms. Ciotti, it was oneness of life and that all cultures come from the source.

Of the performances effect on him, It consumed us; its consuming, Mr. Kopko said.

And tranquil, so tranquil, Ms. Ciotti added.

With reporting by Frank Liang and Sharon Kilarski.

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.
A farmer walks in a soya bean field toward the combine harvester near Bothaville, South Africa, on May 16, 2018. (Wikis De Wet/AFP/Getty Images)

South Africa Resistance Mounts Against Land Expropriation as Election Day Looms

JOHANNESBURGShe stumbled across the plains, gripping the hands of her frightened young daughters, her helper dragging panels of warped wood and sheets of rusted corrugated iron behind them through the red dust.

It was a chilly August morning in 2018, and 34-year-old Cynthia Maluleke (not her real name) was forging toward what she thought would be a better life.

The scene was a privately owned farm on the northern outskirts of Pretoria, and the Maluleke family was about to break the law, as part of a large group of people who had decided to occupy the land illegally.

Today, in her cramped, steaming hot shack, rebuilt from the same materials she hauled in hope last year, Maluleke said: For years, nothing was happening on that land and we knew it would be more safe to put up our shacks there, because here where we are now living (in Soshanguve township), the criminals make life hell.

We were also hearing all the time how the ANC (the ruling African National Congress) was going to give black people land, so we took a chance 

At the ANCs national conference in December 2017, an event that spelled the end of the corruption-wracked reign of Jacob Zuma and his replacement with Cyril Ramaphosa, the party resolved to consider expropriating land without compensating owners, as a way to put more land into black hands.

This would be a fair way to correct the wrongs of apartheid, the party said.

The announcement sparked a series of land grabs that continue to the present, according to the AfriForum civil-rights organization.

Land Grabs

Ramaphosa has repeated that he wont tolerate land grabs, and said the police will arrest and charge invaders. But AfriForum deputy leader Ernst Roets said, If you listen to the state president and you compare that to whats happening on ground level, its as if its two different worlds.

Our on-site teams witness land grabs, like the one in Pretoria, and the police just stand there, doing nothing.

In the case of the incident in which Maluleke was involved, AfriForum had to obtain a court order to compel the police to remove the farm invaders.

Roetss group is just one of several that intend to oppose the ANCs push toward legalizing land expropriation without compensation, a drive they say will intensify after the ruling partys expected victory in the May election.

In an attempt to quell fears, including of investor flight, Ramaphosa emphasized that his government will begin a revamped land reform process, not by taking ground from white farmers, but by redistributing thousands of acres of state-owned land to poor black citizens for housing and agriculture.

This has, however, not appeased opponents of land expropriation, who maintain that the ANCs plan to amend the Constitution is the beginning of a project by the party to access citizens private wealth.

Its important to realize that the ANC wants to change the property clause in the Constitution, not the land clause, said Terence Corrigan, who manages a unit focused on land expropriation for the Institute of Race Relations.

So, if the partys bill becomes law, Corrigan said the government will have the power to seize any private belongings, including houses, and not just land belonging to white farmers, if it deems such seizures to be in the interests of the state.

What we are seeing are multiple drives to expand the discretion of the state and to reduce the opportunities to challenge when the state wishes to take property without offering a market value level of compensation.

The ANC said its ludicrous to suggest that it wants to confiscate citizens property. It insisted it will respect private property and intends only to expropriate land to give to poor black people.

Corrigan responded that while this may be true at this stage, a law allowing the state to take property when it sees fit could easily be abused by a corrupt administration in the future.

Youre meddling with the core relationship between the citizen and the state, for what? For some sort of political symbolism? The precedent being set here is deeply sinister.

Although the ANC denied it, Corrigan said theres the danger of a law allowing expropriation without compensation being extended to allow the government to use citizens savings to fund its projects.

There would be a great deal of dissatisfaction and pushback should that happen. People who might feel that the land issue is something that doesnt concern them directly might feel very differently, if it becomes a case of what will happen to their savings or their pension funds or any other assets that the state might develop an appetite for.

State Owning the Means of Production

The ANCs manifesto, released ahead of the upcoming poll, said it will investigate the introduction of prescribed assets on financial institutions.

If such an introduction is made, according to financial experts, the government could use pension funds to prevent South Africas beleaguered state-owned enterprises from going bankrupt.

Chris van Zyl, policy head at the Transvaal Agricultural Union, said that South Africa mustnt be fooled into thinking that white farmers are the only targets of the ANCs proposed law.

Expropriation is not necessarily restricted to land. It could include any form of (private) ownership: trusts, buildings; South Africans from all groups might be dispossessed if the government decides it is necessary.

We call on them to join a united front to fight this using all legal means.

AfriForum insisted that the ruling partys expected change to the Constitution has little to do with bringing about more racial equality in land holdings.

The South African government already owns more than 4,000 farms that it could use for land reform, said Roets. In fact, of all the land the ANC government has acquired since they came to power (in 1994), only 6 percent has been transferred into private ownership. So this is not about land reform; its not about giving land back. This is about the state owning the means of production.

He says AfriForums legal team is ready to oppose that, and it has a formidable record against the government in court.

Just as they did in 2018, AfriForums representatives travel worldwide to raise international awareness about what Roets describes as the gravest threat to democracy in South Africa since apartheid, and what the ANC describes as one of the greatest steps forward to racial and economic equality in the country.
Stalker Breaks Into Womans House, Dies From Familys Self-Defense

A man broke into a familys house, armed with a knife and a steel bar, after stalking the familys daughter since early 2018, according to Chinese state media. The incident occurred on July 11, 2018 in Hebei Province, China. The confrontation turned violent after the stalker, named Wang Lei, started a fight with the familys daughter.

The parents, Wang Xinyuan (father) and Zhao Yinzhi (mother) said they killed Lei out of self-defense, but they were arrested a month later and charged with murder. The daughter, Xiaofei (not her real name), 22, was granted bail.

Xiaofei brought the case to public attention in January when she called for support to help her familys claim of self defense.

After two months of campaigning, her parents were acquitted of murder charges on March 3. Public pressure played a big role in influencing the prosecution.

The Stalker

Lei first met Xiaofei when they both worked at a restaurant. He asked Xiaofei to be in a relationship with him in April, but she refused him, according to a CCTV report.

Xiaofei then claimed that Lei sexually assaulted her the following night. He harassed Xiaofei at both her house and her university for the following month.

Xiaofeis family reported him to the police four times between May and July because of his visits.

On one of the occasions when Lei was at Xiaofeis home, he threatened to commit suicide if she refused him. He then sent death threats through text messages to both Xiaofei and her brother.

Xiaofei would hide outside of her own house on multiple occasions to avoid Lei, and she even stayed at hotels and relatives homes. The police confronted Lei about his behavior, but to no avail.

The Attack

On July 11, Lei climbed the fence of the family home with weapons in hand, and attacked Xiaofei and her parents. The three family members were injured, police told state-run television.

The family fought back with a cleaver, a shovel, and a wooden stick, according to police investigations.

Xiaofeis father, Wang, eventually stabbed Lei in the neck. After Lei was on the ground, Xiaofeis mother, Zhao, stabbed him several more times.

After a month, the parents were arrested by police. The police suggested that the mother was taken by bloodlust, as she stabbed Lei multiple times after he was on the ground.

The Release

Since January, Xiaofei has campaigned for her parents acquittal. In the two months time, hundreds of thousands of appeals have come from the public calling for leniency on the parents.

Eventually, the public appeals led to the murder charges being dropped against both parents. The prosecution said the couples actions were indeed self-defense, and that the family could use any form of self-defense in the case of Leis actions.

Yin Qingli, the parents lawyer, said that public opinion played a significant role in the decision of the case.

Justice in China

Though public opinion likely significantly swayed the ruling of this case, many injustices in China are still unknown.

The most severe cases involve those who are persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party for their beliefs. Falun Gong adherents, Tibetans, and most recently Uyghurs are all victims of an ongoing brutal suppression by the Chinese regime.

Public opinion is sheltered from these issues, as they are considered some of the most highly sensitive topics censored within mainland China.
Suicidal Woman Faces Charges for Neglect and Death of Her 3-Month-Old

The content is not available due to expiration.
Kevin Hassett, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, speaks during a briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 10, 2018. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Tax Cuts and Wage Growth Boost Labor Participation

Baby boomers will exit the job market at pace slower than feared, says White House adviser

WASHINGTONSome economists worry that aging baby boomerspeople born between 1946 and 1964will shrink labor supply and productivity, as they continue to retire in waves. However, such a worry is exaggerated, as baby boomers will stick around the labor force a lot longer than expected, according to White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett.

Speaking at an event hosted by Axios, Hassett said that the tax cuts had a big impact on baby boomers decision to stay in the job market.

Marginal tax rates dont really change the decisions of young people, as they have to stay in the job market to gain skills, but for people who are over 55, you get really big responses to changes in tax rates, he explained.

With the tax cuts, there has been a big increase in labor force participation of people over 55, Hassett said, adding that an improvement in job opportunities and increase in wages have also helped the trend.

Hence, baby boomers will exit the job market at a pace slower than people have thought, he said.

According to a report by Economic Policy Institute (EPI), during the past three months, annual wage growth was 3.3 percent, up from 3.2 percent the prior three months, and 2.8 percent the six months before that.

One of the reasons Im optimistic is that more and more workers are returning to the labor force, Elise Gold, senior economist at EPI, wrote in her report. And, the vast majority of the newly employed are coming from out of the labor force, so lots of those workers who have (re)entered the labor force are getting jobs.

For decades, the increase in labor force participation provided a sizable boost to economic expansion, thanks to the emergence of the baby boom generation and the entry of women into the workforce.

Participation, however, has steadily dropped since the turn of the century, from just above 67 percent to a low of below 63 percent. The rate has started to tick up again in recent months.

Bringing More Americans Into Workforce

Businesses across the United States are struggling to find workers with the talents they need, and the problem is growing. As of December 2018, there were 7.3 million unfilled jobs, a 26 percent increase year-on-year. Meanwhile, 6.5 million unemployed Americans are looking for jobs.

Hassett said that the government spends a lot of money on training but almost all of it goes to people who are 21 or younger. With the rapid increase in innovation, however, many skill sets become obsolete over time, he said.

To resolve the problem, the White House has launched several initiatives, including a new program that pushes for more education for mid-and late-career workers.

President Donald Trump also signed an executive order in 2018, establishing the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board. The board brings together members from the private sector, educational institutions, and state and local governments.

The advisory board seeks to pull more Americans from off the sidelines and into the workforce by improving jobs data transparency and encouraging employer-led training and investments.

The board held its first meeting at the White House on March 6. Speaking at the meeting, Ivanka Trump, the presidents daughter and senior adviser, said that the board aims to increase the nations workforce participation by connecting workers with good-paying jobs.

Just this past quarter, a remarkable 73 percent of people who started work had been out of the workforce the previous month, rather than being unemployed, she said. Thats the highest share of people entering the labor force from the sidelines since we started tracking this metric decades ago.

Since the president signed the executive order, more than 200 companies and organizations signed a pledge to invest in workforce development by expanding apprenticeships and increasing on-the-job training. The companies will provide new training opportunities to 6.5 million people over the next five years.

According to the Associated Press, a survey by ManpowerGroup found that 54 percent of companies invested in training programs in 2018, up from 20 percent four years ago. One-third of the employers said theyre lowering their education and experience requirements, with some no longer demanding a college degree.

As the U.S. economy continues to expand, investment in workforce education and training have never been more important to sustain growth, stated a National Skills Coalition report, adding that nearly 80 percent of jobs require some form of education or training beyond high school.
The 5G Cold War Heats Up

The new arms race between China and the US

In Norse mythology, the one-eyed god Odin saw all of the daily events of mankind when he sat on his throne each night, listening to the reports from his two ravensThought and Memorywith one raven whispering the activities it saw, while the other explained their meaning.

In 2019, China believes its a dozen years away from achieving the technological equivalent of Odins all-world vision in gaining knowledge of human activities, no matter how mundane or scattered, in near real-time.

To cast the widespread data net, China will need to control the fifth generation (5G) telecommunications infrastructure that will become ubiquitous in connecting the world over the next five years. To that end, China announced plans to invest more than $220 billion in 5G by 2025 to achieve that goal, according to China Daily.

Today, 5G is the focal point of the superpowers vying for global supremacy. 5G underpins the new cold war, replacing the Soviet nuclear arms race with information warfare on an electromagnetic spectrum.

At the center of the push is Chinas global telecom leader Huawei, which has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to challenge the defense spending bill that blocks executive agencies from using its telecommunications equipment, as reported in the New York Times.

Thats one way to amplify the fierce competition in trying to become the builder of 5G networks and commercialize them throughout the world.

Unrestricted Digital Warfare

Chinas scorched-earth approach to global hegemony has roots in its doctrine of unrestricted warfare, set out in a book of the same name. Written by a pair of Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) colonels in 1999, it maps 26 warfare domains that cover the spectrum from military and trans-military, such as network and smuggling warfare, to non-military warfare in trade, media, and finance, among other areas of destabilization.

By observing the U.S. militarys tactics and smart weapons used in the First Gulf War, the PLA colonels discovered that information is the linchpin to achieving total and swift victory.

The PLA spent more than a decade examining U.S. military publications on network-centric warfare and the evolution of American doctrine on information warfare  In the Balkans and the first Gulf War, the PLA saw the effect of modern information operations on the battlefield and in the international arena, wrote Larry M. Wortzel in a 2014 U.S. Army War College report, The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army and Information Warfare.

If Wortzel updated his report today, he would expand on the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) triple warfare used against the Uyghurs. Key in taking over Xinjiang Province, home to 12 million indigenous people, the CCP used the unholy trinity of legal, public opinion, and psychological warfares. The end result has been an effective media blackout and muting of public sentiment on crimes against humanity, even in the Muslim world.

Uyghur 5G Warfare Lab

Since 2017, China has erected concentration camps, where it has imprisoned more than one million of the ethnic minority, stripping them of their human rights and religious identity. Thousands of dissidents have disappeared. But the real tool for total domination comes with the pervasive spying built on 5G-wireless networks that have digitally enslaved Uyghurs who arent in the camps.

Every minute of every day, the Uyghurs are tracked by their smartphones and followed around the towns and cities by thousands of facial-recognition cameras. They are scanned, searched, and questioned at checkpoints. The police take their DNA samples and biometric prints, while inspecting mobile apps and photos on their smartphones for illegal content. The stream of information is then transmitted to databases for actionable intelligence.

Why is arid, dusty Xinjiang so important to the CCPs plans?

It sits on the footprint of the old Silk Road. Soon, the fabled land will bridge Pakistan in Chinas Belt and Road Initiative to trade routes to the Mid-East and Europe. The goal is to cut out the United States and its Western European allies from the new commerce paradigm. Beyond building conduits and transport lines, Chinas 5G networks will track shipments and supply chains, measure workers productivity, and make sure no person or Belt Road partner falls out of line with the CCP vision or policies.

Can China Be Trusted With 5G?

With download speeds that will be 200 times faster than 4G technology, 5G will deploy artificial intelligence (AI) on data gathered from hundreds of billions of sensors embedded in people, devices, kiosks, cameras, robots, machines, transactions, and blockchain ledgers and contracts. 5G-AI will empower machine-to-machine communication for autonomous drones, vehicles, and weapons, transforming the analog world to all digital on the massive internet of things.

In this hyperconnected future, oceans of data will flow into databases to be analyzed and acted upon in real time.

Despite 5G radiation health risks raised by scores of physicians and scientists, there are three other areas of 5G networks that should concern Western leaders. They are China exporting surveillance, taking advantage of cybersecurity gaps, and implementing military applications.

Standing at the center of the 5G donnybrook is Huawei. Founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, a PLA veteran who came up through the ranks as a military IT researcher, Huawei has been losing the media warfare battle of late.

Huawei is under investigation for the intellectual property theft of the robot used by T-Mobile to test smartphones. The high-profile arrest for alleged sanctions violations of Huaweis CFO Meng Wanzhou, Zhengfeis daughter and apparent successor, has added to the negative press.

In Huaweis equipment, there have been accusations of backdoor data dumps to the CCP, while spying on Americans in their homes and workplaces. The potential security gaps need to be examined more deeply.

Take the scenario in which Huaweis equipment is embedded in everything that is smart, from meters and appliances, homes and buildings, to autonomous vehicles and the grids of smart cities. China would be able to shut down any part of the system at any time, including the loss of power to nuclear power plants and hospitals, or allow hackers to penetrate the lives of people or steal the trade secrets of businesses.

Since 5G will be both ground-based and on satellites orbiting the Earth, the PLA would be able to spy on users beyond Huaweis networks, such as poor countries without telecom infrastructure. The real threat, however, comes in near-future military use of 5G. There, China could disrupt sea, air, and land navigation, unleash machine-command drone warfare, or take out 5G antennae networks or 5G satellites in space.

Gordon Chang, the author of The Coming Collapse of China, sat on the panel 21st Century Terminator: How China is Using 5G and AI to Take Over the World at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 1, and stated:

The race for 5G will be determined in the next two to three years and is really going to determine the fate of the world for the first half of this century. And it better not be Huawei, if we want to be free. (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XThVZcS8sfc, Changs panel begins at the seven-hour mark.)

Can China be trusted after casting aside the international law of the sea by building military bases on atolls in the South China Sea? Can China be trusted after subjugating the Uyghurs and other ethnic people for the crime of being themselves? Can Chinese tech companies, such as ZTE and Huawei, be trusted to secure and not abuse your data?

The answers are no, no, and no.

James Grundvig is the author of Master Manipulator: The Explosive True Story of Fraud, Embezzlement and Government Betrayal at the CDC. He lives and works in New York City.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Trump Has Secured Funding for More Than Half of Border Wall

One hundred eleven miles of new or replacement wall is either being built or is in progress on the southern border after Trumps first two years in office, an administration official tells The Daily Caller.

All told, the administration has secured funding for approximately 445 miles of the total 722 miles desired by the Trump administration, a Caller analysis finds. The analysis holds only if all national emergency and executive action funding is upheld in court challenges.

The administration official stressed that this figure constitutes only 18-foot bollard wall fencing or 32-foot levee wall fencing, which is the barrier that Trump has emphasized as necessary.

The wall accounting begins in Fiscal Year 2017 in which $341 million was obligated for replacement wall in California, New Mexico, and Texas. This money funds construction for 40 miles of new or replacement wall of which 37 miles is completed or in progress.

The national emergency declaration was quickly challenged in court by 16 states, organized by the State of California and filed in the Federal District Court in San Francisco, which appeals to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Officials could not provide a complete estimate of the wall that will be built with the 2019 funds, though they noted that it costs approximately $25 million per mile, putting an estimate at 323 miles of additional border wall. The administration official cautioned that wall funding costs can vary because of terrain but noted that Trumps actions lack the restrictions of previous appropriations to build wall in much needed areas, like the Rio Grande Valley Sector.

Amber Athey contributed to this report.

Saagar Enjeti | White House Correspondent
Trump Seeks to Reduce Counterfeiting Enabled by Universal Postal Union

WASHINGTONU.S. companies fighting Chinese knockoffs have cheered President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw the United States from the Universal Postal Union (UPU), an agency that governs international postal rates.

A small business owner from New Jersey is confident that the move will eliminate over 90 percent of the counterfeit problem he faces.

Trump announced in October last year that the United States was starting the yearlong withdrawal process from the postal union, a 145-year-old organization thats now an agency of the United Nations.

Under the UPU framework, mail services for small packages shipped from countries such as China to the United States cost significantly less than what the United States Postal Service (USPS) charges American mailers for a similar service. That inequality in shipping costs puts U.S. businesses at a significant disadvantage.

Jayme Smaldone, a small business owner from Rahway, New Jersey, first became aware of the UPU problem more than a year ago when he noticed Chinese knockoffs of his product popping up like weeds on various e-commerce sites.

Smaldone runs a 9-employee company called Mighty Mug. He produces innovative coffee and travel mugs that automatically grip to tables or desks when bumped. Since its inception in 2011, Mighty Mug has sold more than four million units across the United States and overseas.

Smaldone said he was shocked to find out about the UPU problem and see how the shipping rates of Chinese companies were so low. He pays the USPS $6.30 to ship a one-pound package within the United States.

But a competitor knocking me off, sending it 8,000 miles from China, pays $1.30, he said.

The problem is exacerbated for packages weighing more than a pound. For example, the cost of shipping a four-pound package from New Jersey to California is $18. But a Chinese competitor that ships the same product to the same address pays $3.70, he said.

These subsidized rates, also known as terminal dues, are set by the UPU for delivery of lightweight packages that weigh up to 4.4 pounds.

I thought this was a very big issue that somehow flew under the radar, Smaldone said.

He spent more than a year raising awareness of the UPU and its discriminatory rate structure. He spoke with other business owners, trade associations, journalists, and government officials to explain the problem. He said the USPS executives ignored him when he complained about the inequity in rates. He was told not to waste his time to fix the problem.

However, his turning point occurred when he decided to write an 18-page letter to Trump, explaining why the postal union rates were unfair.

Smaldone sent the letter to the president, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and Trumps trade adviser, Peter Navarro. He also sent letters to his states senatorsSens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J)and the congressmen both in his home and business district.

I sent the letter to probably eight people. And no one responded except, interestingly enough, the White House, which I thought was really incredible, he said.

Smaldone said he talked to the White House officials who promised him they would resolve the problem. Several months later he saw on the news Trumps decision to withdraw the United States from the UPU.

The whole story is crazy, Smaldone said.

2,700 Knockoffs

Half of all internet commerce originates from China. Due to the old UPU treaty, the worlds second-largest economy can still enjoy subsidized rates reserved for developing nations such as Cuba and Gabon, and the subsidy is one-sided.

According to Smaldone, these subsidies werent much of a problem in the past, when consumers generally bought their products from retailers. But with the advancement of internet and online shopping, the mail has become the primary way for products to travel and this helped fuel growth of knockoffs online, he said.

Since Mighty Mug has a patent, the company can request the removal of knockoff listings. Over the last six months, the company removed 2,700 knockoffs, most shipping directly from China.

Counterfeiting will always be around, but if the UPU problem gets resolved, the overwhelming majority of the counterfeits will go away, Smaldone said.

If I have to put a number on it, I would say over 90 percent.

Instead of withdrawing from the UPU, Smaldone hopes that the United States will resolve the problem with the organization and remain in it.

I think its the easiest thing and something that we probably should have looked at five years ago, he said.

The Trump administration is currently renegotiating a fair shipping deal with the UPU. If the postal union overhauls its rules, the administration will rescind the notice of withdrawal and remain in the UPU, according to the White House.

Since the announcement of the withdrawal last year, there was a round of negotiations between the postal union and the United States, said a senior administration official, who added that there would be follow-up meetings.

Its the United States strong preference to remain in the UPU but we cant do so if taxpayers are forced to subsidize the shipping of packages from other countries like China, the official said.

The United States prefers to adopt self-declared rates for terminal dues, meaning that it would determine the rates. So far, UPU officials presented Washington several options in hopes of addressing U.S. concerns.

The options that dont include self-declared rates arent acceptable to the United States, the official said.

Were moving forward with establishing self-declared rates and really, its up to the UPU to determine whether the union is better off with the United States in it or not.
Photo taken on March 6, 2019 shows the scene of a plenary meeting of deputies from Shanghai at the second session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China. The meeting was opened to media. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

12

1

[ Editor: zyq ]
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May is seen outside Downing Street in London on Feb. 12, 2019. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

UK PM May calls knife-crime meeting amid row over police funding

LONDONPrime Minister Theresa May said on March 6 she will hold a special meeting on tackling Britains soaring knife-crime rate as she battles accusations that her governments austerity policies are partly to blame.

A wave of fatal stabbings has dominated headlines this week, displacing concerns about Britains exit from the European Union and fuelling criticism that May is neglecting other priorities during the Brexit negotiations.

A former head of Britains biggest police force accused the prime minister of being personally responsible for the crisis because of her squeeze on police funding and a weakening of powers to stop and search suspects.

Police officers described the situation as a national emergency and politicians pressed May during her weekly question session in parliament to explain whether she plans to reverse the funding squeeze on police.

May, a former interior minister, said more must be done to tackle the causes of violence and promised to meet victims but declined to say whether there would be an increase in spending on police.

Police alone wont sort this out  we cant arrest our way out of this problem, she said. We will only defeat the scourge of violence if we understand and address its complex root causes.

She said she would convene what she called a summit in the coming days at her Downing Street office, bringing together ministers, community leaders, agencies and others.

Rising Political Importance

The issue of knife crime has risen up the political agenda after two teenagers were stabbed over the weekend. A man, believed to be aged in his 20s, became the latest fatality on March 6 after being stabbed in east London, bringing the number of people killed by knives this year to at least 25.

There were 285 fatal stabbings in England and Wales in 2018, the highest level since records began more than 70 years ago, officials statistics showed last month.

Among the latest deaths, a teenage girl scout was fatally stabbed in the back in a park near London in what her family said was an unprovoked attack, while a 17-year-old boy was stabbed in an affluent village near Manchester, England while visiting a friend.

Police attribute the rise of fatal stabbings to various factors from gang rivalries and cuts in youth services to provocations on social media.

At the same time, there have been big cuts in police staffing and funding under austerity measures imposed across government departments by Mays Conservative government.

Interior minister Sajid Javid directly contradicted May on March 6 by saying police resources were very important to quelling rising violence.

We have to listen to them when they talk about resources, he said after meeting with senior police officers.

John Stevens, head of Londons Metropolitan Police from 2000-2005, accused May of failing to listen.

This has been predicted for a while and all youve got from (May) was that our reforms are working,' he told the BBC. She hasnt listened to what is going on and its not good enough.

By Andrew MacAskill
U.S. Senator Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) speaks at a hearing on prevention and response to sexual assault in the military, in Washington, on March 6, 2019. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

US Air Force Appalled, Deeply Sorry for Senator McSallys Rape Claims

The United States Air Force apologized on March 6 to a sitting U.S. Senator who claims she was sexually assaulted while serving her country.

A spokeswoman said the Air Force is appalled and deeply sorry to hear Senator Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) allege that she was raped by a superior officer sometime between 1988 and 2010.

Captain Carrie Volpe described the criminal actions reported by McSally before the Senate Armed Services subcommittee as a violation of every part of what it means to be an airman.

Volpe said the Air Force stands behind McSally and all victims of sexual assault and is also committed to eliminating reprehensible behavior and breach of trust.

McSally, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, has not provided any details on whether the assaults happened while she was at the academy or in active duty. She also did not name any personnel involved in the assaults and just highlighted the importance of accountability at the commander level and down.

She said she had remained silent for many years after the alleged incident because she felt ashamed and confused at the time, and didnt trust the system. But she did feel compelled later in her career to speak out about her suffering after seeing the military system and many commanders continue to fail to address the problems of sexual misconduct.

I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled, McSally told a Senate hearing. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again.

Sen. Martha McSallys powerful remarks, as prepared, on her personal story of sexual assault in the military: pic.twitter.com/gaGWJzPqFS  Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) March 6, 2019

We have come a long way to stop military sexual assault but we still have a long way to go, she said. It took many years and too many lives ruined.

U.S. senator and combat veteran McSally says she was raped by a superior officer: Like many victims, I felt the system was raping me all over again https://t.co/jxWE9F1oM0 pic.twitter.com/C6wzVbj8qB  Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 6, 2019

During the hearing, McSally urged that Congress keep commanders and higher-ranking officers at the center of the solution, where they will be required to live up to the moral and legal responsibilities that come with being a commander.

Fellow Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has also made allegations of abuse and assault, and joined a growing number of people who claim they were harassed and assaulted in the armed forces, and others part of the larger #MeToo movement that took aim at the professional conduct of individuals in Hollywood and major corporations.

Brave. So impressed with McSally for this. https://t.co/lIf1s4VAtU  Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) March 6, 2019

Reports of sexual assaults across the military rose about 10 percent in 2017a year that saw an online nude-photo sharing scandal bring harsh criticism against the defense department. Reports of sexual assaults also increased at military academiesmostly at West Point in New York.

Defense officials say the increase in reported assaults is a positive change toward victims being more willing to report attacks due to greater confidence in the reporting system, and likely not due to an increase in attacks, given that sexual assaults are often an under-reported crime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
US Revokes Visas from 77 Associates of Socialist Dictator Nicolas Maduro

Vice President Mike Pence announced on March 6 that the U.S. State Department will revoke visas from 77 individuals tied to Venezuelas socialist dictator, Nicolas Maduro. The announcement marks the latest move by U.S. officials to ramp up pressure on the illegitimate Maduro regime in the past several days.

Today, the State Department is announcing that the United States will revoke 77 visas, including many officials of the Maduro regime and their families. We will continue to hold the Maduro regime accountable until libertad is restored in Venezuela, Pence said to enthusiastic applause during an annual Latino Coalition event in Washington.

Pence also called out Maduros communist Cuban allies for propping up the brutal regime, and for participating in myriad human rights abuses.

The truth is  their oppressors do not act alone, Pence said, referring to the Venezuelan people. The truth is the only way Maduro clings to power is with the brutality of his supporters, and with the help he receives from communist Cuba.

As President Trump said in his speech to Venezuelan exiles in Miami not long ago, Maduro is not a Venezuelan patriot, he is a Cuban puppet, Pence said.

The vice presidents remarks came less than a week after the State Department revoked 49 other visas from Maduro-aligned officials and their family members.

On March 1, the United States imposed targeted visa sanctions on specific individuals deemed responsible for helping Maduro undermine Venezuelas democracy, and whose enriched family members may attempt to abscond to the safety of the United States.

Maduro supporters that abuse or violate human rights, steal from the Venezuelan people, or undermine Venezuelas democracy are not welcome in the United States, read a State Department press release that announced the initial visa revocations.

Neither are their family members who enjoy a privileged lifestyle at the expense of the liberty and prosperity of millions of Venezuelans, the statement continued.

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed additional sanctions against six security officials of the Maduro regime, who were associated with obstructing the entry of international humanitarian aid and violence against those who attempted to deliver the assistance.

Pences bold remarks came two days after internationally recognized interim president Juan Guaido returned to his native Venezuela in defiance of the Maduro regimes threat to arrest him.

Already in our beloved land! Venezuela, we have just passed migration and we will mobilize where our people are! Guaido wrote in Spanish on Twitter. We enter Venezuela as free citizens, no one tells us otherwise.

Guaido is recognized by more than 50 nations as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. He called on the people of Venezuela to protest in the streets against Maduro on March 4 and 5.

Senior U.S. administration officials warned Maduro against harming Guaido.

Guaidos safe return to Venezuela is of the highest importance to the U.S., Vice President Mike Pence wrote on Twitter, minutes before Guaido announced his return to Venezuela. Any threats, violence, or intimidation against him will not be tolerated & will be met with swift response. The world is watching.

White House national security adviser John Bolton also sent out a similar warning.

Any threats or acts against his safe return will be met with a strong and significant response from the United States and the international community, Bolton wrote on Twitter.

The State Department also issued a statement of support, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo simultaneously took aim at Cuba.

As Guaido arrived in Venezuela, Pompeo announced a temporary suspension of the Libertad Act of 1996, with an exception allowing U.S nationals the right to sue Cuban entities and sub-entities under the control of Cuban military intelligence and security forces.

Today I announce an exception to the 30-day suspension of #TitleIII of the Libertad Act, Pompeo wrote on Twitter, adding, We must hold #Cuba accountable and make whole U.S. claimants for assets seized by the Cuban government. Doing business with Cuba is not worth trafficking in confiscated property.

Today I announce an exception to the 30-day suspension of #TitleIII of the Libertad Act. We must hold #Cuba accountable and make whole U.S. claimants for assets seized by the Cuban government. Doing business with Cuba is not worth trafficking in confiscated property.  Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) March 4, 2019

A senior State Department official added via teleconference, that nothing has changed in Cuba since the passing of communist dictator Fidel Castro in 2016.

We see that the constitution retains the same authoritarian political system and simply reinforces the communist partys control over the island, the official said, adding that, Cuba continues to maintain close relations with Russia and China and has destabilized Venezuela, leading to mass flows of refugees and, of course, public health threats.

Elliott Abrams, the U.S. special representative for Venezuela, issued a State Department briefing on March 1, recounting a United Nations Security Council session earlier in the day.

Abrams said the United States presented a resolution in support of democracy in Venezuela, which received the requisite nine votes for passage. However, the resolution was then vetoed by Russia and China.

The Russians put in a resolution which got four votes, which I would call pathetic, and I think the results in the council demonstrate that there is very broad international support for democracy in Venezuela and for the National Assembly and Interim President Guaido, he said.
Uyghur Tahir Mutallip Qahiri receives a call from his father, a prominent retired Uyghur scholar and professor in Xinjiang, after they had been out of contact for 17 months. (Tahir Qahiri)

Uyghur Diaspora Receive Proof of Life Calls From the Disappeared in Xinjiang

Family members of Uyghurs who have been disappearedmost likely detained in Chinas vast network of vocational re-education centershave begun to receive proof of life video calls from their lost loved ones, The Epoch Times can reveal.

On March 1, Tahir Mutallip Qahiri, 38, was initially relieved when he received a video call via WeChat from his 69-year-old father, Mutallip Sidiq Qahirionce a prominent Uyghur scholar and professorwho had suddenly disappeared from his home in Kashgar, Western Xinjiang, last September.

The pair had lost contact almost 12 months before his disappearance. Once Tahir learned that his father wasnt at home, he began tirelessly campaigning and contacting Chinese authorities for information on his fathers whereabouts.

    @TQahiri                 2017             20           ##Uyghurs pic.twitter.com/Cya8b5j2eD     (@muslim2day) February 28, 2019

But when Mutallip started demanding that Tahir cease advocating for his freedom, Tahir realized that his father had most likely been threatened before he was allowed to call.

Tahir believes his father was forced by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to phone him in what appears to be a wider attempt to silence those who are speaking up about their detained or disappeared family members in Xinjiang.

Tahir had earlier learned through a contact in the police department that Mutallip was due to appear before the Peoples Court in February after being accused of making propaganda for separatist activities against the state.

Given the widespread crackdown against Uyghur intellectuals and cultural leaders in the region, the family believes that Mutallip had been targeted for publishing 20 books on the Uyghur and Arabic language throughout the span of his career before he retired in 2010.

In video footage shown exclusively to The Epoch Times, Mutallip tells his son, who secretly taped their 47-minute conversation, to forget everything he had said about his well-being and for Tahir to thank the CCP. If not, Tahir would be disowned.

My father said, Look, I want you to write back to all those authorities telling them that everything is perfect  that I made a mistake, that I had lied, or had heard lies about him, and to apologize for causing inconvenience, Tahir told The Epoch Times in a phone interview from Germany.

Looking at him physically, I could clearly tell that he went through some hardship. He was like skin to bone. He was really skinny and his head was shaved like a prisoner.

When Tahir asked his father why he hadnt contacted him in 17 months, Mutallip said his health had deteriorated.

He said he didnt want me to be worried or to hinder my studies. It was a pretty lame excuse basically, Tahir explained.

Despite his worries, Tahir said that the proof of life call was a positive thing given that he hadnt been able to talk to his father since October 2017.

The video call follows a viral social media campaign under the hashtag #MeTooUyghur, where hundreds of members of the Uyghur diaspora have demanded proof of life videos of their family members from the CCP.

Escalating Crackdown on Uyghur Intellectuals

At least 338 Uyghur intellectuals have been interned, imprisoned, or forcibly disappeared by the CCP since April 2017, a January report (PDF) by the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) found.

These people are leaders and offer a focal point for Uyghurs, and so to target them is really an effective way of accelerating assimilative processes but it is also a way of breaking Uyghur identity at the same time, UHRP senior researcher Henryk Szadziewski told The Epoch Times.

Mutallip, who taught Turkic and Uyghur literature at Kashgar University between 1983-1991, is best known for his 900-page work titled An Onomasticon of the Modern Uighur language (2010), which is considered central to Uyghur Studies.

Beijing has carried out a decades-long campaign to systematically eradicate Uyghur language from public life, which includes the denial of Uyghur language education in the regional curriculum, the UHRP report details.

According to figures quoted by the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the U.N., as many as one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities are believed to be detained in Chinas reeducation facilities, which Beijing says are to educate and transform those whom the CCP deems at risk of the three evil forces of extremism, separatism, and terrorism.

But mounting evidence suggests that detainees are being exploited as forced labor in the camps-turned-training centers. Former Uyghur detainees have told The Epoch Times that they were subject to torture, forced to denounce their faith, and forced to pledge loyalty to the CCP while held for unknown reasons in often overcrowded facilities.

It is part of a coordinated effort to undermine and eliminate a distinct Uyghur identity as rapidly as possible in an unprecedentedly aggressive forced assimilation campaign, the UHRP said.

Uyghur Diaspora On High Alert

Arslan Hidayat, son-in-law of the prominent Uyghur comedian Adil Mijit, who has been missing since November last year, told The Epoch Times that the Uyghur diaspora are now preparing themselves to receive more video calls from their loved ones.

#MutallipSidiqQahiri, a renowned retired Uyghur scholar, from The city of Kashgar, he is an Uyghur and Arabic linguist and is currently in Chinas concentration camps. Please help spread his story by hash-tagging #FreeMutallipSidiqQahiri and #MeTooUyghur. pic.twitter.com/Zsk9Z8ufi2  Arslan Hidayat (@arslan_hidayat) March 3, 2019

Many people are receiving proof of life video calls or videos, and its pretty much the same message, where family members are pledging allegiance to the CCP, saying how dare you go to the media and talk about the situation in Xinjiang. We dont know you, we disown you, he said in a phone interview from Istanbul.

Everyone in the Uyghur diaspora are actually on high alert, because they could expect a video call at any time.

Ive told my brother-in-law [Adil Mijits son] to keep his cameras charged and ready to go, just in case we receive a similar call.

Tahir believes the WeChat video call was Beijing attempting to silence his ongoing efforts advocating for his fathers freedom.

Whats crazy is I have clear evidence that he could have been put to death for separatism and now suddenly, hes back at home. I think the reason that theyre calling me is to reassure me so that I stop my advocation, he said.

This article was corrected to read that Tahir was interviewed from Germany. A previous version said that he was interviewed from Istanbul, Turkey.
Venezuela Releases American Journalist After Full Day in Custody

The Maduro regime in Venezuela released an American journalist and his local colleague on Mar. 6, after they spent more than 12 hours in custody in a move that drew further international condemnation of the socialist dictatorship.

Cody Weddle is currently at an airport and is headed for Miami, his mother told CNN.

Sherry Weddle says she hasnt spoken to her son yet but has messaged him via Facebook.

He said hes fine, she said. CNN affiliate WPLG, for whom Weddle works, also confirmed his release.

Weddle had not been heard from since 8 a.m local time on Wednesday, March 6, when he was detained by Venezuelas feared counterintelligence service DGCIM along with his assistant, Venezuelan citizen Carlos Camacho, according to the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP).

The journalist had lived in Venezuela since June 2014, where he has reported for South Floridas WPLG Local 10 News, The Miami Herald, ABC and CBC, among others.

WPLG said it was last in contact with Weddle on Tuesday afternoon. His latest report for WPLG was on self-declared interim president Juan Guaidos return to Venezuela.

Juan Guaido with a triumphant return to Caracas. But his path forward remains uncertain. For @WPLGLocal10 >> https://t.co/e9sokSKHCh  Cody Weddle (@coweddle) March 5, 2019

Venezuelas Ministry of Communication declined to comment. The U.S. charge daffaires to Venezuela has not responded to a request for comment.

Marco Ruiz, the president of SNTP, told CNN he spoke with three witnesses who were present when Weddle and Camacho were taken into custody.

SNTP has recorded 36 cases of journalists held in Venezuelan custody this year alone, part of a sweeping crackdown on dissident voices by illegitimate socialist dictator Nicolas Maduros regime.

Weddle is the latest in a series of foreign journalists to be taken into custody in Venezuela.

Can someone explain why is #Venezuela detaining American Journalists like #CodyWeddle , #CarlosCamacho, #JorgeRamos & among others ? This seems a bit risky, imagine all the politicians in VZ that are being detained against their will, incarcerated & being tortured.  Raul Arciga King (@originalrahrah) March 7, 2019

Last week, six Univision staffers, including veteran anchorman journalist Jorge Ramos, were briefly detained at the presidential palace in Caracas when the crew was interviewing Maduro and asked some questions he didnt like. Ramos and the crew members were released a few hours later, but their equipment, cellphones and interview material were confiscated, according to Univision spokesman Jose Zamora.

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Kimberly Breier said on Twitter that the State Department was aware of and deeply concerned with reports that another U.S. journalist has been detained in #Venezuela by #Maduro, who prefers to stifle the truth rather than face it. Being a journalist is not a crime. We demand the journalists immediate release, unharmed.

Maduro is under growing international pressure to give up leadership to Guaido, who has been recognized by many countries around the world and Venezuelas regional neighbors as the countrys leader.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a fierce critic of Maduro, tweeted about Weddles detention on Wednesday, followed by a flurry of posts about sanctions on Venezuela.

White House national security adviser John Bolton announced that the U.S. was putting foreign financial institutions on notice that they will face sanctions for being involved in facilitating illegitimate transactions that benefit Nicolas Maduro and his corrupt network.

Sherry Weddle earlier told CNN that she had been in touch with the U.S. Embassy in Caracas and that they were following the procedures at this time to make contact with the military police or to make contact with Cody and would get in touch with her when they have any information.

Ive also talked to several of our delegates here in Virginia [Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Morgan Griffith] and they are making contact also, Sherry Weddle, who lives in Meadowview, Virginia, where Cody was born and raised, said in a phone call.

If I thought traveling to Venezuela would be of help, Im ready to get on the plane but Im awaiting for confirmation from the U.S. Embassy to see what they know.

Sherry Weddle said she last spoke with Cody on Facebook messenger Tuesday evening. Yesterday [I heard from him at] maybe about 6 or 7 yesterday evening and yesterday morning about 10, I asked him how he was doing, he said he was fine and wanted to know how I was.

They last saw each other in September, when he came home for his 10 year high school reunion. While a student at Virginia Tech, Weddle studied abroad in Ecuador and went back to the country after graduation to improve his Spanish. He later took a job in Venezuela.
Gov. Ned Lamont wants to explore tapping private investors to finance at least some of the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to install electronic tolling on its highways.

Echoing a proposal raised earlier this year by Sen. Alex Bergstein, D-Greenwich, Lamont said he believes the private sector is eager for Connecticut to rebuild its aging, overcrowded transportation infrastructure, and some investors are ready to back that up with their wallets.

We could put in place, probably, a public-private partnership so  we wouldnt have to up front all of that (toll installation) cost, Lamont said while speaking to the Connecticut Council on Philanthropy at the Hartford Hilton Thursday morning. This is the way Im envisioning it right now.

A November 2018 study from the Department of Transportation projected capital start-up costs for tolls at about $372 million. But that study relied on 2016 data. Its not clear whether cost projections would be revised if legislators vote on a tolls measure later this year.

Lamont said after Thursdays address that while the concept of a partnership is still being developed, hes confident about its potential.

Theres real interest within the private sector, he said, adding that Connecticut has many advantages that would appeal to private investors.

Lamont said his two-year budget proposal before the legislature would close deficits and provide a recurring, reliable, predictable set of revenues for the transportation program over the next three years.

And if legislators approve his proposal for electronic tolling, the state could be in position to receive up to $800 million annually from tolls starting in 2023. The Lamont administration estimates about 40 percent of that would come from out-of-state motorists, though Republican legislators argue the share from outside Connecticut would be much less.

Connecticut also has a skilled, construction workforce ready to tackle the rebuild, Lamont added, and a pressing need for highway, bridge and rail upgrades after decades of inadequate investment.

Public-private partnerships have been a source of intense debate in other states since the mid-2000s. Private groups that help finance transportation work understandably want a return on their investments in the form of a share of toll receipts.

In some instances, public assets  roads, rail lines  are leased or sold to the private sector. But Lamont proposed nothing along those lines Thursday.

Proponents argue this approach has enabled states to dramatically accelerate the rebuild of their transportation networks. Critics counter that if the numbers arent crunched properly, motorists ultimately pay the price with higher tolls.

For example, Indiana approved a 75-year lease of the Indiana Toll Road for $3.85 billion in 2006. Within eight years the project amassed $5.8 billion in debt.

Were going to be smart about how we do these things, the governor said.

Bergstein, who is vice chairwoman of the legislatures Transportation Committee, has proposed an infrastructure bank program to leverage private dollars for a wide variety of transportation infrastructure work  not just installation of tolls.

Bergstein told the CT Mirror in mid-January that she believes private-sector support for a transportation rebuild is huge, and that Connecticut could leverage huge private dollars.

How much? Possibly $7 to $9 of private-sector money for every $1 the state pledges, she said.

It is about unlocking this enormous pot of private-sector money that we are not accessing now, she said.
NORWALK  The days leading up to the opening performance of a play are often referred to as hell week.

This week at Brien McMahon High School, the days leading up to the drama departments Friday debut of Mamma Mia!  which will run Friday and Saturday, this weekend and next  were made more hellacious after snow canceled two crucial rehearsals.

So on Thursday around noon, a little more than 24 hours before the start of the show, Frank Arcari, production director and music teacher at McMahon, had gathered the roughly 75 students taking part in the production for a last-minute dress rehearsal.

We had to have a rehearsal during the school day to save this, Arcari said.

It was a hectic end to a labor-intensive process, beginning with auditions in November and rehearsals in December, but the cast was confident on Thursday.

The weather definitely got in the way, but I think the cast has been working really hard on stage and at home, and I think were ready, said Willow Mocol, 17, a senior student director on the production.

Arcari chose the production not because hes a fan of ABBA  hes not, though he said the melodies often get stuck in his head  but, in part, because his students were excited about it.

The kids were excited about it because the movie had just come out. And a lot of parents were wanting to do it, too. And I had what I thought to be the voices to do it, Arcari said.

He also felt he had a group of performers that could pull it off. The play, written by Catherine Johnson, is set in Greece in 2001, and revolves around Sophie, a woman soon-to-be married, looking for her father among a trio of her mothers ex-lovers.

I have tremendously talented girls, so many that I could have two casts of the lead, Arcari said.

The two casts, A and B, switch off nights. On B nights, the Cast A leads join the ensemble, and on A nights, Cast B does the same.

Emily Rooney, 15, is a sophomore who plays Sophies mother, Donna Sheridan, on A nights, and is a member of Sophies bachelorette party on B nights, which gives her two distinctly different views of the performance, but also the responsibility of two roles.

Its definitely a challenge, but its so fun because one night Im super involved and the next night I can watch it all unfold, Rooney said.

In addition to the snowed-out rehearsals and dual roles, its also the first leading role for Rooney, who acted in last years production of Hairspray as a freshman.

Its been a great experience. There have been so many upperclassmen here to help me, she said. I feel that were so prepared. Im so excited for Friday.

More Information Productions of "Mamma Mia!" at Brien McMahon High School will run March 8, 9, 15 and 16, Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. To purchase, visit bmhsmusical.com. See More Collapse

Justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586
NORWALK  Mark Schlegel has made it his mission the past four years to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer. The Norwalk man knows far too much about it, as hes been battling it throughout that entire time.

I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer four years ago, he said. I lost my sister a year ago to pancreatic cancer. Ive lost a dozen or so friends with pancreatic cancer. The biggest problem is its so difficult to detect because theres no advanced screening techniques they can use.

Pancreatic cancer was in the spotlight with this weeks announcement by Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek that he has been diagnosed. He became one of about 56,770 people in the country expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

In 2019 alone, the American Cancer Society estimates that about 45,750 people across the country will die from pancreatic cancer.

Thats one of the reasons why Schlegel, 67, has dedicated much of the last few years to raising awareness for the disease and fundraising to help find a way to detect the cancer earlier.

It really boils to early detection, he said. Over 90 percent of cases  people are diagnosed at stage 3, stage 4, which makes it more difficult to treat.

Schlegel, well known in Norwalk for his years as a captain on the Sheffield Island Ferry, said he considers himself lucky. Even though his was late stage 4 when his physician detected it, because he had a rare, less aggressive form of the cancer.

He went under the care of Dr. Richard Frank at Norwalk Hospitals Whittingham Cancer Center, after his diagnosis in April 2015. Since then Schlegel has responded well to experimental treatments and has now turned his attention to helping his doctors study, which is trying to help locate early signs of the cancer in the blood.

Unfortunately, a lot of the symptoms could be misconstrued as something else, he said. In my sisters case, she had a lot of back pain.

The study involves blood tests and annual MRIs to look for anomalies on the pancreas, Schlegel explained. If one is detected, the participant is added to a watch list to make sure it does not grow or spread. The study, which runs for three years, is focused on individuals with a family history of pancreatic cancer and those with recent-onset diabetes.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S., according to Franks research projects description. Its on a trajectory to become the second leading cause of cancer deaths in 2020, according to the research project.

Schlegel said his diagnosis propelled him to want to make a difference and help others struggling with the cancer.

I want to help I want to try to give back I want to try to do something, he said. When youre diagnosed with a terminal disease your life changes quite a bit.

Thats part of what propelled him to launch the annual Rallye for Pancreatic Cancer, which features a classic  and modern car show to raise funds for Franks work in looking for early detection.

I wanted to do a car show that was kind of a community event, he said. Our focus is really on a large mix of different cars.

One of the featured cars will be Schlegel's own 1960s Shelby Daytona Coupe. He bought the car shortly after his diagnosis when he began wondering what he wanted to do with the last couple years of his life. One of his dreams was to build his own car, but he decided to settle on one already put together and make it his own.

This years event, which will be the third, is May 5. The Rallye will begin at 10 a.m. at Veterans Park and the cars will travel through Norwalk before ending at at Calf Pasture Beach, where they will be on display.

Over the past two years, Schlegel said theyve raised over $60,000 to go to Franks reseach efforts.

For more information on the event, visit http://rallyeforpancreaticcancer.org/.
Daniel C. Hudson, from Ridgefield, recently contributed a thoughtful commentary on The Socialist Bogeyman Feb. 24. He is correct that Americans, for the most part, lack a clear understanding of Socialism. During the Obama years, when Glenn Beck was on FOX, he would castigate Chicagos Favorite Son as a Socialist; then the following week, paint him as a Marxist, knowing full well that many Americans were not cognizant of the differences.

Socialism is economic collectivism, where land, capital, the means of production and the ability to transfer the fruits of production to market are owned in common. The wide extension of state activity could include public education, public transportation, public health care, publicly controlled utilities, etc. But true Socialists believe in assimilation in lieu of coercion to effect the Socialist State. However, doctrinaire Marxists do not hold to the peaceful assimilation of Socialism; rather, the violent overthrow of the established order. And Marxists depart other Socialists with the abolition of private property.

The Utopian Socialists of the 19th century, such as Saint-Simon, Robert Owen and Louis Blanc, held to the belief that the Producer and Worker could reach an accommodation to bring about an improvement for the Worker and society as a whole. Not so Karl Marx, who was a Scientific Socialist; hence, had a more realistic view.

History showcased the constant struggle between the Haves and Have Nots. There was only one way the Worker or Proletariat was going to improve his lot, and that was the violent overthrow of the established order, or topple the Bourgeoisie or Producer, who not only owned the means of production but also the land the factories sat on. Hence, both needed to be collectivized. Marxists or Communists have a more authoritarian approach to control as opposed to Socialists who depend more on Democratic processes. Of course, like anything else Man does, practitioners of both doctrines alter same to fit their own agendas.

For instance, in the 20th century, Mao Tse-tung and Ho Chi Minh opted for Communism, but not of the European variety which was based on the Proletariat or Factory Worker. Neither China nor Southeast Asia were industrial powers, but they had peasants. And so Asian Communists based their revolutions on the peasant, combined with Revolutionary Nationalism, a force more powerful than Communism, with a crux here being, throw out the White Christian Colonial Powers.

Mr. Hudson was also correct with his analysis of Adam Smith, that monopoly was a greater enemy than government. At the same time, you cannot have monopoly without government collusion. This offers a better understanding of the American Corporate State. Leading, of course, to Trumps remark about not allowing Socialism to take root in this country. It already has, many years ago  Corporate Socialism.

The Military-Industrial-Security-Finance-Congressional Complex, is a case in point. Its power, monolithic. Its appetite for money, insatiable. Together with Big Energy, Big Finance, Health Insurers and Pill Pushers, you can begin to see the Corporate Fascist State as pronounced by Mussolini. The Corporation is the highest endeavor of the state; the worker is second. For the worker exists for the state.

In other words, God Bless America, America the Beautiful and Moms Apple Pie, has been superseded by that highly successful corporate agenda, Making Society Work for the Few.

Mark Albertson is a resident of Norwalk.
GODFREY  Godfrey Fire Chief Erik Kambarian said the community is hurting in the wake of the death of Godfrey Fire Capt. Jacob Jake Ringering.

Kambarian addressed the public Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after a fire in the 4000 block of Bethaltos Culp Lane claimed the life of 37-year-old Ringering when a brick structure collapsed on him. Kambarian fought back tears as he discussed the loss and its effect on the Godfrey Fire Protection District.

This is a small department, Kambarian said. We have thirty-three members, we have career members, we have volunteer members. Everyone is hurting. If we had a time machine and could go back, we would. We have to live with this now and make our department stronger and never forget that Jake is always going to be with us.

Kambarian added that being there for the Ringering family is the only thing to do, as Ringering leaves behind a wife and three young children.

We have to think about their families and our fire department family, Kambarian said. Three firemen remain hospitalized after Tuesdays fire.

While details regarding memorial and dedication for Ringering are pending, Kambarian said the best way to show support and condolences is to give the family space and offer a thank you to all firemen.

A thank you does it, he said. Thats all we ask for.

Having followed in his father footsteps as a fireman, Ringerings extended first responder family spreads across the region. Numerous fire departments, police departments and local organizations expressed their sympathies on social media late Tuesday and into Wednesday.

My sincere condolences to the family of Jake Ringering, East Alton Mayor Joe Silkwood said in a Facebook post. Jake was born and raised in East Alton and East Alton has always been proud of him. On behalf of the Board of Trustees and all of the citizens of the Village of East Alton we send our sincerest sympathy to his family and his firefighter family including Godfrey, East Alton and all the firefighters that Jake considered his brothers.

Flags flew at half-staff across the area in remembrance of Ringering, who had been with the Godfrey department for nine years. Both Ringering and firefighter Luke Warner, who was injured during Tuesdays efforts as well, were recent fire science instructors at Godfreys Lewis and Clark Community College, where the lights outside the colleges Weber Workforce Center went red in their honor.

The fact that both Jake and Luke were such well-regarded firefighters in their departments and also instructed at various times for the colleges fire science programs is a clear example of their dedication and service to the overall community, said Greg Bock, Associate Director of Safety of the Houston Area Safety Council at L&C, who worked with both Ringering and Warner at L&C. They always went beyond mere duty. They answered to a higher and sacred calling.

The BackStoppers, Inc. is currently collecting donations to help support Ringerings family. Donations can be made online at https://backstoppers.org/assisting-the-family-of-captain-jacob-ringering/ or by mail at The BackStoppers, Inc., P.O. Box 795168, St. Louis, Missouri, 63179-0700.

Reach reporter Steven Spencer at 618-208-6460.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 15:09 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80e8b5b 1 Art & Culture acrobatic,Taiwan,#Taiwan,arts,arts-and-culture,#ArtsandCulture Free

The Troupe of Acrobatics of National Taiwan College of Performing Arts presented an all-round performance, combining acrobatics, dance and drama, at the Golden Sense Restaurant in Mangga Dua Square, North Jakarta, on Tuesday evening.

The troupe is a delegation from the Arts & Culture Spring Festival Celebration of Taiwan led by Taiwan Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) deputy minister Kao Chien-Chih.

Read also: Oriental Circus Indonesia marks new era with no animals

According to a statement, the performance is part of the delegation's tour to eight countries, which is held to celebrate Chinese New Year and welcome the Spring Festival.

In Jakarta, the event was hosted by the Jakarta Taiwan Entrepreneur Association and Association of Taiwan Alumni in Indonesia (ICATI Jakarta). The acrobatic performance, combined with dance and drama was chosen as it represents multiculturalism in China, hence improving the arts and culture exchange between countries.

Prior to arriving in Jakarta, the troupe performed in Medan, North Sumatra, on Sunday. On March 7, the troupe is scheduled to perform in Bandung, West Java. (jes/mut)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) New York, United States  Thu, March 7, 2019 11:15 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80e2fe0 2 People Mario-Batali,celebrity-chef,Sexual-assault,sexual-abuse Free

US celebrity chef Mario Batali has sold his stake in all of his restaurants after being accused of sexual assault by several women, the businesses announced Wednesday.

"We wanted to let you all know that Mario is now fully divested from our businesses. This week, we acquired all of his interests in our restaurants," decades-long Batali partners Tanya and Joe Bastianich wrote in a letter to employees seen by AFP.

The siblings confirmed the dissolution of the Batali and Bastianich Hospitality Group, estimated to be worth $250 million, and the subsequent creation of a new company.

Batali, who often refers to his Italian heritage for culinary inspiration, also negotiated the sale of his part in the chain of gargantuan Eataly food stores, which no longer sell his line of sauces or his 11 cookbooks.

New York police closed an investigation into 58-year-old Batali in January without filing charges.

An employee accused him last year of having assaulted her in 2005 at one of his 26 restaurants, The Spotted Pig, a fashionable New York spot favorited by celebrities.

The woman, who chose to remain anonymous, claimed the chef drugged her and assaulted her, adding that when she came to there was semen on her clothing.

She went to hospital and called the police, but ultimately decided against filing a complaint and the physical evidence produced at the hospital wasn't kept.

Batali denies the allegations.

An employee at The Spotted Pig claimed to have witnessed a similar incident in 2008 through the restaurant's security cameras in which employees had to intervene to stop an assault against a woman who was unconscious.

The once-prestigious chef, known for his red ponytail and orange Croc shoes, had already been accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate touching.

Those allegations led him to apologize publicly for making "many mistakes" and to take a sidelined role at his businesses and leave "The Chew" television program, but he initially hung on to the restaurants.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Jayson Mansaray (Reuters) Bethersden, England  Thu, March 7, 2019 23:03 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80f2248 2 Lifestyle rocking-horses,Stevenson-Brothers,Bethersden Free

In a workshop in southeast England a restorer carefully removes the saddle of an old rocking horse, preparing it for repair. Upstairs, hammer in hand, a finisher drives nails into a saddle blanket on a newly carved, stained and polished wooden model.

The rocking horses are among dozens being worked on or on display at Stevenson Brothers, a British business dedicated to the handcraft of the traditional toy it has sold to royal households in Europe and the Middle East.

Twins Marc and Tony Stevenson have been making the bespoke replicas for 37 years, including models for Britain's Queen Elizabeth, a longtime horse and racing enthusiast.

"We're very lucky that all our work is appreciated by royal families all over the world," co-owner Marc Stevenson said.

"We've got horses out in the Middle East, in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and Qatar... and some of the European royal families as well, and we were lucky enough to have a few in our own royal family here (in Britain)."

These include several presented to the British monarch: a replica of her favourite coloured horse "Tinkerbell", a dapple grey for her 2002 Golden Jubilee and a black oak horse for her 2012 Diamond Jubilee.

Based in the village of Bethersden in Kent, the firm makes about 170-180 rocking horses a year, with prices starting at 1,000 pounds ($1,314) for a miniature model. Stevenson said limited edition pieces like the Diamond Jubilee horse cost 10,000 pounds plus value added tax.

Read also: Indonesian brand to showcase contemporary rattan furniture at Maison&Objet

British craftsmanship

Among its catalogue of works are reproductions of designs by 19th century rocking horse maker F.H. Ayres, and models made with oak, tulip wood and chestnut creations. The company uses predominantly English hard woods and English leather.

"It was never going to be a low price item," Stevenson said citing materials used, which also include real horse hair.

"We make them in Britain in this workshop, it's British craftsmanship that we're paying for."

The horses take three months to make and requests have included life-size models as well as a rocking tiger. Together with Fernandes Exquisite Creations, Stevenson Brothers also made a zebra encrusted with more than 80,000 Svarovski crystals, a model worth 129,000 pounds.

"There is no age limit on the rocking horse, people buy them for babies that aren't even born yet and they buy them for 80, 90-year-old women and gentlemen as well," Stevenson said.

"There's something about horses that is innate in us... They were our mode of transport, they were our method of farming. Rocking horses were made to teach children to ride."

With Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle expecting their first child this spring, could the royal offspring one day ride such a rocking horse?

"We'd like to think the royal children will be given a rocking horse of course," Stevenson said. "Who knows, it might just happen that we get a commission for the latest baby."
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Yuliasri Perdani (The Jakarta Post) Hiroshima, Japan  Thu, March 7, 2019 18:58 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80eecfb 1 Science & Tech Hiroshima,innovation,technology,Mazda,Resilient-Japan,Luce-Search,baby,oyster Free

From a baby breathing detector to high-tech lemon farming, Hiroshima Prefecture is tapping into the Internet of Things to improve quality of life and boost the local economy.

Many new mothers, at some point, feel the urge to constantly check if their baby is still breathing over fear of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). A project in Hiroshima, Japan, aims to address the concern  and most importantly the risk  of SIDS by developing an innovative sensor.

One of Japans largest childcare providers, AiGran, and tech startup UniFa utilized the Internet of Things (IoT) to create a coin-sized sensor that closely monitors childrens breathing.

This little sensor checks a childs breathing every minute and the childs face up or down position, AiGran chief executive, Taizo Sigemichi, said recently in Hiroshima.

Every breath you take: By attaching the sensor to a childs clothes, childcare workers can monitor the childs breathing and position at all times. (The Jakarta Post/Yuliasri Perdani)

Sigemichi said the sensor would mean so much for AiGran, a chain of 397 childcare facilities, and the rest of the childcare industry.

As the country is grappling with an aging population and a shrinking workforce, many Japanese women are going to work.

This has led to an increasing demand for nursery services to accommodate working mothers. The current issue is taikicido, a term to describe kids on the nursery waiting list. They [nurseries] dont have enough space.

AiGran obliges its workers to check the childrens breathing every five minutes to prevent SIDS. The task is becoming very burdensome as the workers are handling an increasing number of children.

With the sensor, the childcare workers can monitor the condition of multiple children through a computer tablet. The sensor will send an alarm if it detects an abnormality in a childs breathing and position.

Sigemichi hopes the technology will attract more individuals to work in the childcare industry.

The number of childcare workers has been stagnant. With this sensor, I intend to invite former childcare workers to return to the industry, he said, adding that he planned to rent the sensor to mothers.

Hiroshima Sandbox

The sensor is one of nine projects developed under Hiroshima Sandbox, a platform for companies and universities to solve issues using the IoT and artificial intelligence. Hiroshima prefecture initiated the tech incubator last year and has set aside 1 billion yen (US$8 million) of financial assistance to be disbursed within three years.

We wanted to create an environment where people dont hesitate to do what they want to do. A place where they dont feel afraid to make failures, said Atsuhito Uemaru, the chief of Innovation Promotion at Hiroshima Prefectural Government.

After experiencing great devastation in World War II, Hiroshima quickly rebuilt itself to become one of the largest industrial prefectures in western Japan.

It is home to shipbuilding, iron and steel, electronic and automotive companies  including Mazda which was founded in Hiroshima in 1920 and still manufactures cars at a 2.23-square-kilometer manufacturing complex that spreads 7 km along Hiroshima bay.

Soaring high: Hiroshima-based Luce Search builds high-performing drones for land mapping, the inspection of bridges across Japan, and analyzing the land structure in the aftermath of Hiroshima flooding last year. (The Jakarta Post/Yuliasri Perdani)

The prefectures drive to innovate got a significant boost after Stanford graduate Hidehiko Yuzaki was elected Hiroshima governor in 2009.

He served in the Ministry of International Trade and Industry since 1990 and earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1995. In 2000, Yuzaki founded ACCA Networks, a broadband telecom carrier in Japan.

He has a very unique character because he knows and has been successful in the government and the business fields. So many of our unique policies are by his initiative, Uemaru said.

Under Yuzakis leadership, Hiroshima has started a slate of technology initiatives, including Innovation Hub Hiroshima Camps, the Manufacturing Digital Innovation Program at Hiroshima University, a partnership with Silicon Valley and Hiroshima Sandbox.

When life gives you lemons

Two Hiroshima Sandbox projects interestingly focus on the prefectures famed commodities: lemons and oysters.

Hiroshima is Japans number one lemon producer. As demand for lemons rises steadily, the farmers in Kure, Hiroshima are beginning to find ways to increase the productivity of their graying farms.

Tangy: Hiroshima lemons boast strong sour and sweet flavors. (The Jakarta Post/Yuliasri Perdani)

To address this challenge, lemon farmers grouped under Tobishima Citrus Club are partnering with a utility communications provider, Energia Communications (EneCom).

Backed with financial support from Hiroshima Sandbox, Enecom is developing a solar-powered sensor that gives real-time information on the lemon trees condition, temperature and humidity. The analysis of the data will help the farmers predict yield, and determine the right fertilization and irrigation.

Many lemon farms in Hiroshima are on steep ground. Therefore, the sensor will significantly reduce the burden of many aging farmers.

Hiroyuki Takeda from EneCom also plans to utilize drones and robots for the project.

Drones will provide imagery of the lemon farms. For the harvest season, we have a plan to use four-legged robots that can carry 20 kilograms of lemons up and down steep ground, Takeda said.

Looking for more oysters

Similar high-tech solutions will also be applied to Hiroshimas oyster farming. Oysters are an inseparable part of Hiroshima.

It is not hard to find big, juicy oysters in Hiroshima. You can enjoy freshly grilled oysters from street vendors, or deep-fried ones in restaurants.

One slurp is not enough: Hiroshima is one of the top producers of oysters in Japan. (The Jakarta Post/Yuliasri Perdani)

You can easily spot oyster rafts floating on the waters of Hiroshima. In fact, the prefecture is the top oyster producer in Japan. However, oyster production has been fluctuating in the past few years  which many experts attribute to climate change.

To tackle the problem, a consortium comprising electronics maker Sharp, the University of Tokyo and drone company Luce Search has devised a strategy to help oyster farmers monitor and analyze oyster rafts.

The strategy includes the use of a sensor that reads the water temperature and salinity, a drone to gather aerial images of the rafts, and a smartphone application.

-----------------

The Japanese government recently invited a group of journalists, including The Jakarta Post's Yuliasri Perdani, to go on a four-day trip to Hiroshima.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Michael Hegarty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 15:59 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80e965d 1 Environment #discussion,#US-Navy,#WWII,#Battle-Sunda-Strait,#shipwreck,#USA,#Australia,#Indonesia,#Banten-Bay Free

The wreck of a WWII US cruiser lies in the waters of Banten Bay, safe, for now, from the depredations of industrial scrap metal scavengers.

Once treated by then-president Franklin D Roosevelt as his private yacht, the former pride of the United States Navys Asiatic Fleet, the USS Houston, now lies on its starboard side 20 meters underwater in Banten Bay alongside its erstwhile consort HMAS Perth  two victims of a long-forgotten battle.

Big guns: Then-United States president Franklin D Roosevelt aboard the USS Houston in 1938. (Courtesy of Everett Collection/REX)

At a time when WWII has begun to fade from living memory and the great sea battles of the Pacific war such as Midway and Leyte Gulf are familiar only to history buffs, the Battle of the Java Sea and the subsequent Battle of the Sunda Strait have largely been lost to obscurity.

It is perhaps no surprise, therefore, that for 21st century Indonesians, the wrecks of those battles are regarded as little more than the historical detritus of a war in which four foreign empires battled for control of Indonesia and its resources.

Historical perspective: Iwan Santosa (right) of Kompas talks during a discussion on Indonesia and WWII at @America cultural center on Feb. 26, while US Naval Attache Cmdr. Greg Adams (left) and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministrys underwater archaeologist Zainab Tahir look on. (Courtesy of @America/-)

However, as Cmdr. Greg Adams, naval attache of the US Embassy, told an audience in Jakarta, the US ships and men (some 2,000 of all services) lost in Indonesia during the Second World War are still remembered by the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), with its mandate to identify and where possible repatriate the bodies of fallen US servicemen.

Speaking at a presentation given by himself, Iwan Sentosa of Kompas and Zainab Tahir, an underwater archaeologist at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, at the @America cultural center in Pacific Place Mall in Central Jakarta on Feb. 26, Adams described how the Houston, accompanied by the Perth, survived an initial encounter with the Japanese off Surabaya, East Java.

With the defeat of the combined US, Dutch, British and Australian fleet, the two ships decided to make a dash from Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, for Australia. But on the night of Feb. 28, 1941, they ran smack into the main Japanese invasion fleet landing in Banten. In a confused night-time melee, both Allied ships were lost.

In remembrance: US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph Donovan Jr. (right), Naval Attache of US Embassy Jakarta Cmdr. Greg Adams (center) and Indonesian Navy Adm. Denih Hendrata, Commander Main Naval Base III, Jakarta, prepare to lay a wreath during a memorial service aboard the Indonesian Navy ship KRI Usman Harun. The ceremony was held to honor the American and Australian crews of USS Houston and HMAS Perth that lost their lives in the Battle of the Sunda Strait. (Courtesy of USN/Jordan Crouch)

For the 693 men lost on the Houston, the wreck of their once sleek home is now their grave, and every year, the sinking is commemorated by the US Navy with the laying of a floral wreath at the site of the wreck. The ceremony was conducted on Friday on board the USS Chief, which was on a four-day visit to Jakarta.

The fact that so many of the wrecks of ships lost during the war in Indonesian waters are war graves is what has caused international outrage in recent years at reports that those wrecks are being salvaged  looted would perhaps be a better description  for their scrap value.

Zainab in her lecture Protecting WWII Wrecks in Indonesian Waters, significantly subtitled Not our battle nor history, why should Indonesians care?, explained why it should matter very much to the people of Indonesia that these salvaging activities be stopped.

While it might appear that the wrecks are shameful reminders of when Indonesia was merely a prize to be fought over by foreign colonial powers waging war over Indonesias land and seas, they remain the final resting places of hundreds of men and it should be a matter of pride for Indonesia that they are allowed to remain undisturbed.

Quite apart from the point of national honor, these wrecks and others are cultural artifacts that lie in Indonesian territorial waters and under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)  a law in which Indonesia played a pivotal role in creating  they belong to Indonesia and their preservation is the responsibility of Indonesia.

In a follow-up discussion after the lecture, Zainab agreed that the scavengers working on these wrecks are almost certainly not local scrap metal dealers looking to make a quick buck.

She described the operations as being on an industrial scale but remained non-committal about suggestions that the operators may be from a foreign country.

The Houston today lies at rest, largely undisturbed. Perhaps its location near major ports and relatively close to shore has protected it from the depredations that have befallen other wrecks, such as the HMS Exeter, which according to hydrographic scans presented by Zainab, has all but disappeared.

Whatever the reason as Adams put it, and whoever has been responsible, it is the hope of the Indonesian government and the governments of the other nations concerned that from now on this grave robbing is stopped.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Josa Lukman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 16:59 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80eb36d 1 Art & Culture #art,#culture,#exhibition,#photo,#multidimensional-media,#Erasmus-Huis,#AlexVermeulen,#costume,#Bali Free

Remakes and reimaginings of old media is an ordinary thing these days, from video games to movies loosely based on something released years or even decades ago.

Something extraordinary can come out of an original work that blends influences from two venerable sources while managing to slip in psychological themes  all done in a format that most people may not expect, given the contents.

Thats precisely what Dutch artist SOH Alex Vermeulen did with SOH29 The Epic, a multidimensional media artwork that took him three years to complete.

Loosely based on the Sanskrit epic Ramayana and William Shakespeares tragedy Othello, SOH29 The Epic is described as a culmination of a series of imaginary films Vermeulen had begun directing in the 1980s, bringing to mind the old format of film-books that are made to document an existing film.

Collage: The exhibition features 32 photographs alongside costumes made by Dutch designer Rien Bekkers. (Courtesy of Erasmus Huis/-)

The SOH29 The Epic showcase, on at the Erasmus Huis cultural center in Jakarta from Feb. 28 to March 15, consists of 32 photographs alongside costumes conceived by Dutch designer Rien Bekkers.

The latest exhibition marks the third time SOH29 The Epic has been made available to the public. It was exhibited in the TONYRAKA Gallery in Bali and in Kerta Niaga in Jakarta last year.

The storyline of SOH29 The Epic takes place in the far future of 2088, set in a futuristic megalopolis called Raksasa Kota, which loosely translates as the giant city. Time is a central theme in the story and events from the past and the future sometimes show glimpses of a parallel universe.

Peering: 'Let Me Be the One to Extinguish the Fire Within You' is one of the displayed works by Dutch artist SOH Alex Vermeulen in the exhibition 'SOH29 The Epic' in Jakarta. (Courtesy of Syndicaat Alex Vermeulen/-)

While visitors might get the gist of the story through the photographs and costumes, the full extent of SOH29 The Epic can be experienced by perusing the interactive web-book available in the website soh29-the-epic.com.

First launched at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali last year, the web-book consists of 32 chapters, featuring both narration and text alongside the images, which have been enhanced with animation and music by American composer David Shea.

While the story itself feels quite complex, keeping in mind the source material, it becomes much more striking when you consider that all of the parts are portrayed by a troupe of Balinese dancers aged from 6 to 10 years old. Vermeulen told The Jakarta Post that this was indeed a deliberate decision.

It has two stories actually. First of all, [Bekkers] made his costumes while staying in Bali. He introduced me to the costumes and asked Can you do something with them? I told him that he would need to make them larger, but then he suggested that Balinese children would be perfect because they learn Balinese dancing from a young age and that they would fit the costumes, Vermeulen said.

I said, Okay, thats nice, but theyre actually a mixture of eastern and western Shakespearean costumes. I thought it would be awkward to have Balinese kids playing in Shakespearean costumes, but then I thought, nobody did it before.

From there, Vermeulen looked into what the Balinese kids were taught, which included Ramayana, in essence an age-old love story.

Vermeulen then looked into Ramayanas relation with the West, finding it in Othello because of Shakespeares penchant for tragedies and love stories.

I looked into both stories and they were quite similar, so I wrote a new story based on both. The names were also quite similar and I translated them into Esperanto, which was designed to be a common language for everybody, Vermeulen says.

Alongside the literary classics, Vermeulen also injected psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jungs concept of archetypes, elemental categories and iconography as a way to unite SOH29 The Epics influences.

The reason for that is because I think envy, jealousy, competition, love and respect are human behaviors. I integrated them all into the story and metaphorically into the images.

'The Light in the Dark'. (Courtesy of Syndicaat Alex Vermeulen/-)

The characters themselves were written with the Jungian archetypes in mind, with each costume tailored specifically down to every minute stitch to describe each individual character.

For example, one costume has a black-and-white theme. The character is part of a gang that expresses itself in black and white, as they are the protectors of good and bad. So we designed the leader of the gang to be in white and black and the followers to be black and white, Vermeulen said.

Bekkers said of the costumes that he was given the characters information as background, allowing him to discuss with Vermeulen the symbolism behind each outfit.

In all of my career, in all the works Ive made, is a mix of cultures. I think thats very important because if you speak about dramas like Shakespeares, its not for Finland or Denmark, its worldwide.

The relationships between people and the problems he describes is worldwide, so you can make Asian-looking costumes for Shakespeare, no problem, Bekkers said, adding that the costumes also combine contemporary and historical influences.

The storyteller: Dutch artist SOH Alex Vermeulen finds inspiration for his displayed works from Sanskrit epic 'Ramayana' and William Shakespeare's 'Othello'. (Courtesy of Syndicaat Alex Vermeulen/-)

For Vermeulen, he sees the costumes as not from the past or present, but rather they are timeless.

Its how we create this whole story. The background looks like retro science-fiction, the children play and behave like adults and the subject can be said to be heavy, but the children are the future and children are getting smarter and smarter. (ste)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Seoul, South Korea  Fri, March 8, 2019 03:08 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80f2f99 2 Entertainment South-Korea,Kim-Ki-Duk,director,Women,gender,MeToo,film,Womenlink Free

A famed South Korean film director who was accused of sexual abuse has filed a lawsuit against a women's rights group over "damages" caused by the #MeToo movement against him, a Seoul court said Thursday.

Kim Ki-duk, 58, is one of the nation's top filmmakers whose awards include the Golden Lion at the 2012 Venice Film Festival for Pieta and Berlin's 2004 Silver Bear for Best Director.

But an actor in 2017 accused him of sexual and physical abuse, saying he forced her into unscripted sexual scenes and slapped her repeatedly while shooting his 2013 award-winning film Moebius, before replacing her with another actor.

Earlier this year, prosecutors dropped the sex abuse charge citing lack of evidence but fined Kim five million won ($4,600) for physical assault under a procedure to settle minor cases out of court.

Last month, Kim filed a compensation suit worth 300 million won ($265,000) against Womenlink, an influential women's rights group in Seoul that campaigned on the actor's behalf, a spokeswoman for the Seoul Western District Court told AFP.

The director claims his reputation has been "significantly damaged" especially after the group asked an international film festival to cancel their invitation to Kim, citing allegations of sexual abuse made against him, the Womenlink group said.

Organisers of the Japan-based Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival eventually cancelled the invitation, but kept Kim's movie as the opening film for this year's edition, which is being held this week.

The director also accused the women's rights group of "unfairly stigmatising him as a sexual predator", even though prosecutors dropped the charge, and thereby causing financial damages as some of his films could not secure distribution at home and abroad as a result, the group added.

Read also: South Korea drops star director's sex abuse defamation complaint

"The person who damaged Kim Ki-duk's reputation is Kim Ki-duk himself," the Womenlink group said in a statement Thursday.

"He is yet again tarnishing his own reputation by filing a lawsuit against an organization that supports victims (of sexual violence)."

The director has won a global following with his broody, allegory-rich movies but has faced accusations of misogyny over gruesome scenes featuring sexual and physical violence against women, mostly sex workers.

The global #MeToo phenomenon has exposed South Korea's previously unreported cases of sexual misconduct by high-profile figures, including a former presidential contender, in a country where patriarchal values remain deeply ingrained.

Jeong Seul-ah, a campaigner at Womenlink, said filing lawsuits -- such as defamation and compensation claims -- was a common tactic to silence victims of sexual violence in South Korea.

Accused perpetrators of sexual assault can sue under South Korea's defamation law, which makes libel a crime and provides that stating the truth can still be an offense.

Kim had previously asked prosecutors to investigate journalists who reported his case for defamation, and the Moebius actor -- who made her allegations anonymously -- for defaming and false accusation.

"We see this lawsuit as yet another attack against the #MeToo movement," Jeong told AFP.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 11:35 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80e4625 1 National democracy,activists,scholar,Indonesian-Military,freedom-of-expression Free

Activists and scholars are protesting against the National Police's arrest of university lecturer Robertus Robet for allegedly spreading hate speech against the Indonesian Military (TNI).

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said the police cybercrime unit arrested the sociologist from Jakarta State University (UNJ) at his home at 12:30 a.m on Thursday.

The suspect was arrested for allegedly insulting an authority or public institution in Indonesia, he said in a statement on Thursday.

Dedi said that Robertus allegedly insulted the military institution during the Kamisan, a weekly protest held in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta, when he sang an old TNI marching song to which the original lyrics had been changed.

Robertus song was recorded and uploaded later to social media. In the past, during the New Order, the song was commonly sung by student activists during rallies in protest against the military. Robertus could be charged with defamation and insult under the Criminal Code's (KUHP) Article 207, as well as with violating the 1946 law on criminal procedure and the 2016 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.

Last week, Robertus, who was an activist in 1998, participated in the Kamisan, where protesters rallied against the governments plan to restructure the TNI, calling it a setback to democracy and to the military reforms established after the fall of Suharto's New Order regime in 1998.

The arrest of Robertus has sparked criticism from activists and scholars, who say it is against freedom of speech.

Rights group Amnesty International Indonesia spokesman Haeril Halim said the arrest was not only a violation against the right to free expression, but it proved that New Order-style silencing practices still occur.

Ubedillah Badrun, a member of the Alliance of Jakarta State University Lecturers for Democracy, urged the police to free Robertus immediately as he had exercised his freedom of speech as allowed by the countrys law. He added that the authorities must protect him and his family from persecution.

Several military personnel visited his house on Wednesday as part of the terror [tactics], Ubedillah said in a statement received by The Jakarta Post.

Robertus commented about the song in a video, emphasizing that the lyrics were not written by him and the song was popular during the 1998 student movement.

He explained that the song he sang was about ABRI, which was the acronym of the military prior to the reforms. The song was also not meant to insult the military profession and institution.

As a lecturer, I know exactly about the efforts being made by the TNI. I have also thought that their reforms are the most advanced reforms, Robertus said. (das/dmr)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 10:36 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80e2149 4 Business Garuda-Indonesia,citilink,AirAsia,acquisition,rejection Free

Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has rejected a proposal made by Malaysias low-cost carrier (LCC) AirAsia to acquire Citilink Indonesia, the formers LCC subsidiary.

Citilink is doing better than AirAsia, even under Garudas new management, Garuda Indonesia president director Ari Askhara said as quoted by tempo.co.id on Tuesday.

He added that there had been no internal talks within Garuda and no orders from shareholders to sell Citilink Indonesia, nor had the airline received an official proposal from Air Asia Indonesia to buy the low-cost carrier.

He conceded that talks had taken place between Garuda Indonesia and AirAsia since Pahala N. Mansury came on board to lead the former but assured they had been about possible cooperation, not an acquisition.

Citilink Indonesia transported a total of 15 million passengers in 2018, a 22 percent increase from the previous year at 12.3 million. This year, it is targeting to attract 18 million passengers.

On Monday, PT AirAsia Indonesia president director Dendy Kurniawan said the company was interested in acquiring Citilink because of the similarities between the two LCCs.

Both are LCCs. We are strong in international routes, while they [Citilink] are strong domestically. Both operate the Airbus 31. We have also a similar rating of pilots and cabin crew members, Deddy added.

We are interested. If Citilinks shareholders welcome our offer, we will thank God. But if not, it is no problem. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Sausan Atika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 16:51 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80ea8e9 1 City anies-baswedan,bureaucracy-reform,jakarta Free

Jakartans have claimed they had not noticed the massive shake-up Governor Anies Baswedan recently conducted in his administration, but hoped it would lead to improvements made on public services that have been on the decline in recent years.

Snack merchant Immawati, 48, a resident of North Grogol subdistrict in South Jakarta, said she had learned about her areas newly appointed subdistrict head by word of mouth.

She hopes the change will help empower the people.

Wong cilik [common folk] like me hope that everything will be easier. I wish I will be given assistance and funds to expand my kiosk," she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Another resident, Nurhayati, 34, echoed her sentiments, expressing hope that the administrations One District One Center of Entrepreneurship (OK OCE entrepreneurship program), which seems to be in limbo after former deputy governor Sandiaga Uno resigned from his post to run in the April presidential election, will continue.

Nurhayati said she had taken part in a series of training courses held by the OK OCE, but she still failed to get a loan because the location of her kiosk was not considered strategic enough. She hopes to participate in other empowerment programs in the subdistrict.

"I believe subdistrict officials could have a similar initiative," she said.

The reshuffle, which affected 1,125 city officials, including 15 echelon II officials, 274 from echelon III and 836 from echelon IV, is expected to improve the citys public services.

The reshuffle also included the appointment of 90 new subdistrict heads, a tour of duty of existing 45, which affected about a half of 267 subdistricts in the capital. Only 132 subdistrict heads remained at their respective posts.

To boost their leadership abilities, the administration is set to hold training of its "visioning" program, comprising seven sessions. The first session took place at City Hall on Tuesday and was attended by six regents and mayors, 44 district heads and 267 subdistrict heads.

We want subdistrict heads and district heads to cooperate with regents and mayors and also other administrative areas, said Anies.

Jakarta Human Resources Development Agency head Budihastuti said the training program was necessary because nine out of 60 regional strategic programs are situated in the subdistrict and district levels, such as waste reduction from the source and enhancement of public complaints through the open house and citizen relation management (CRM) app.

Novi Indria Sari, a subdistrict head reassigned from South Duri in Tambora district to Wijaya Kusuma in Grogol Petamburan district, both in West Jakarta, said her new position would be more challenging because the area is home to some 35,000 people or three times the number of residents in South Duri.

For the new subdistrict heads, [the major reshuffle] can be a source of motivation, but for the old ones, it means that we must do better, she told the Post.

A similar sentiment came from South Manggarai subdistrict head Agung Maolana, who has served the South Jakarta area for more than three years.

I personally feel no difference in the recent [reshuffle]. We dont own our position. Its about trust. We should be ready to serve anytime, anywhere, he said.

Trubus Rahadiansyah, a public policy expert at Trisakti University, doubted there would be significant improvements made in the capital within a short time because most of its problems were due to unattended public complaints, not poor cooperation skills.

The decline in public services is due to unresolved public complaints and illegal levies reported at the lower administration level, he said.

Ombudsman Jakarta head Teguh Nugroho said the reshuffle was urgently required for officials working in the front lines of bureaucracy who have been at their post for more than five years.

The longer they are entrenched in the same position, the more they become vulnerable to illegal levies, he said.

According to Ombudsman Jakarta, 67 percent of reported public complaints in 2018 came from Jakartans, while the remaining were from Depok, Bekasi and Bogor in West Java.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 12:49 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80e5a6d 4 City murder,Bekasi,Bekasi-regency Free

Serang Baru Police in Bekasi regency, West Java have arrested a man they identify as S, accusing him of murdering his wife, identified as N, in a jealous rage after he discovered she was in a relationship with another man.

Their marriage was reported to be in trouble before the incident, Serang Baru Police chief Adj. Comr. Wito said. S reportedly told investigators that his wife often insulted him and his parents and that he had caught her several times meeting with another man.

S told his friend M about his marriage. Then they planned the murder on Feb. 26, Wito alleged on Wednesday as reported by kompas.com.

Police allege that after the two completed their plans they went to N's house in Gebang Malang in Bekasi regency at 1 a.m. on Feb. 27 and entered through the back door. Wito accused the two men of covering N's face while she slept and then strangling her while the couples 4-year-old child was also asleep next to N.

After the victim died, her body was immediately covered with a bed sheet, Wito said, adding that S and M allegedly drove away with Ns motorcycle.

Police said locals discovered N was dead after hearing her child crying. Residents then reported the incident to Serang Baru Police.

Wito claimed that S returned to the house at 5 a.m. allegedly pretending nothing had happened.

Police claim their crime scene investigation and witness statements gave investigators clues linking S to the murder. They also claim that during questioning S confessed he had killed his wife with M, who was arrested few days later.

Police have named S and M as suspects in the case and they could be charged with premeditated murder under the Criminal Code, which carries a penalty of 20 years' imprisonment upon conviction. (vla)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 09:40 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80df925 1 Politics joko-widodo,blusukan,Train,bogor,Jokowi,#2019PresidentialElection Free

Weeks ahead of the presidential election in April, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo surprised passengers of Jakarta's commuter line (KRL) by boarding one of its trains during rush hour on Wednesday afternoon.



Photos and videos of the President have gone viral on social media, showing him wearing his signature white shirt as he stood among a crowd of the commuters, smiling and taking photos with them.

Bey Machmudin, head of the presidential protocol and press bureau, said Jokowi had made the impromptu decision to take a train to return to Bogor Palace, West Java, instead of his usual presidential car.



The President departed from Tanjung Barat Station in South Jakarta after concluding his official schedule in the area, where he was promoting his administration's social welfare programs, Bey said.



"[Jokowi] has been wanting to use the train for a long time," Bey told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.



In the pictures and videos posted by Twitter users on the social media platform, Jokowi was seen interacting with his fellow passengers, even listening to some who asked for more trains.



Netizens went into a frenzy over the fact that the President had boarded a train during after-office rush hour when many residents of Greater Jakarta who live in its suburbs or satellite cities crowd the commuter line to return home.



Some netizens even pointed out that Jokowi was truly the man of the people.



Twitter user @FujiatiRahmi said in her post: "We are happy that Pak Jokowi boarded the KRL with the people this afternoon. A populist and humble leader.



Another Twitter user, @fajarperdana87, pointed out in his tweet that Jokowi might have decided to use the train because of traffic congestion.

"Pak @jokowi in KRL @commuterline. Is it because the toll road is jammed?

(dmr)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 18:20 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80ede32 4 City drugs,drug-courier,drug-dealer,drug-network,Jakarta-police,salemba-prison Free

Tambora Police have revealed a drug network for selling crystal methamphetamine controlled from the Salemba penitentiary in Central Jakarta, following the arrest of several alleged dealers.

A police crackdown on the network began with the arrest of a suspect identified as YS, 24, on Tuesday, Tambora Police chief Comr. Iver Son Manossoh said. He went on to explain that YS had told investigators he had received the drugs from another suspect, identified as NR. The latter was arrested the following day at a hotel in Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta, where police also confiscated a big brown envelope containing crystal meth.

We found out from NR that he had got the drugs from someone initialed as ADL in Salemba penitentiary, Iver said on Wednesday, as reported by kompas.com.

Based on a preliminary investigation, YS allegedly worked as a dealer, while NR was a courier. Police confiscated 83.76 grams of crystal meth, 20 yellow ecstasy pills, 30 blue ecstasy pills and 50 happy five pills.

Investigators are questioning ADL, who is currently serving time at the Salemba penitentiary. Police charged YS and NR under Article 114 of the 2009 Narcotics Law, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment and a Rp 10 billion (US$704,320) fine. (ami)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Arya Dipa and Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, Surakarta and Jakarta  Thu, March 7, 2019 21:30 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80f1c18 2 National flood,floods,West-Java,Central-Java,East-Java,electrocution,natural-disaster Free

More than 22,000 families in 10 districts of Bandung, West Java, have been affected by water from the Citarum River that flooded the area on Thursday, killing one.

The Bandung Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD Bandung) said rain that had started on Wednesday afternoon had caused floods of almost 3 meters in some areas. Baleendah district was the worst hit, with more than 5,000 families affected. The other districts that were also severely paralyzed by the floods are Dayeuhkolot and Bojongsoang. All three districts are located alongside the Citarum River.

The head of the BPBD Bandungs emergency and logistics division, Sudrajat, said only 226 people from Baleendah had decided to abandon their homes, while most had opted to endure the high water. In Dayeuhkolot, 138 were rescued, including children, pregnant women and the elderly.

There are 3,005 families affected in Dayeuhkolot, said Sudrajat.

West Java Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Joshua Banjarnahor identified the casualty as Riky, 21, a resident of Baleendah, who was electrocuted inside his flooded home in the inundated district. He was accompanied by a younger sibling at the time of the incident, while their parents were out of town.

Joshua said the team was very cautious in conducting the rescue mission, since most residents had yet to turn off electricity. We found the victim at 9 a.m. this morning, he said.

The floods also cut road access from Dayeuhkolot to the nearby districts of Banjaran and Ciparay, making it hard for people to leave the flooded areas. On the main street that connects Dayeuhkolot with Ciparay and Banjaran, water is as high as an adults thigh. Vehicles cant pass the area, said Joshua.

Last month, downpour in the regency caused the dam holding the Cinambo River in Pasar Jati to burst, resulting in flooding that claimed three lives.

In Central Java, a number of regions have been flooded following persistent heavy rainfall since Wednesday. Klaten regency is one of the most heavily impacted regions, with the Dengkeng River overflowing and flooding the surrounding regency.

Doddy Hermanu, acting head of the Klaten Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD Klaten), said residents were forced to leave their homes after floodwater engulfed hundreds of homes and some schools, with water levels reaching as high as 1 meter. We are staying alert, because the sky is still overcast, he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Doddy said the BPBD Klaten was trying to prevent further flooding. We have put thousands of sand bags on the river embankment in a bid to hold back the floods, he said.

In Wonogiri regency, hundreds of houses are also flooded, forcing hundreds of families to evacuate. The floods have also cut the road connection between the regencies of Wonogiri and Pacitan, where the water reached a level of up to 50 centimeters. We have shut down the electricity in the impacted areas, Bambang Hariyanto, head of the Wonogiri Disaster Mitigation Agency, told the Post.

In East Java, at least 15 regencies were flooded, according to the provincial disaster mitigation agency. The impacted regencies are Madiun, Nganjuk, Ngawi, Magetan, Sidoarjo, Kediri, Bojonegoro, Tuban, Probolinggo, Gresik, Pacitan, Trenggalek, Ponorogo, Lampongan and Blitar.

We are still in coordination with the regional administration for evacuation and aid distribution, said Suban Wahyudiono, the head of the agency.

According to the agency, Madiun is the most impacted regency, because the Jeroan River has overflowed and flooded wide stretches of the surrounding areas.

The floods in Madiun have also cut roads access between Ngawi and Kertosono, with water levels reaching as high as 1 meter. (das)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Moon Jae-in (The Jakarta Post) Seoul  Fri, March 8 2019

Next week, I will be making state visits to Brunei, Malaysia and Cambodia. I am very pleased that ASEAN member states will be the destination of my first overseas tour this year.

ASEAN always reminds me of the sea that nurtured and raised me. I grew up in Busan, the largest port city of the Republic of Korea. My parents were displaced from their hometown, and it was the inclusiveness and understanding of those who lived with the sea that took in my impoverished family. From them, I was able to learn a lesson of courage and hope that no matter how harsh the storm and waves, we can weather them if we gather our strengths.

Most ASEAN member states not only lie by the sea but also possess infinite wisdom and power stemming from the sea. Among these, ASEANs openness and inclusiveness are particularly astounding. Diverse religions, thoughts and civilizations coexist harmoniously while respecting each other.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 8 2019

Virtual insanity: Deputy Foreign Minister AM Fachir (right) tries out a pair of virtual reality (VR) goggles as Italian Ambassador to Indonesia Vittorio Sandalli (left) and Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara (second right) look on during the Beauty of Knowledge exhibition in Jakarta, on Wednesday.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of bilateral relations with Indonesia, the Italian Embassy is hosting an exhibition on the European countrys unique strength of fusing science and technology with its artistic traditions.

The Beauty of Knowledge exhibition, which is open to the public until March 31 at the National Museum in Central Jakarta, was unveiled by Italian Ambassador to Indonesia Vitorio Sandalli and Deputy Foreign Minister AM Fachir on Tuesday evening.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) St. Adolphe, Canada  Thu, March 7, 2019 07:03 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80d861d 2 News Guinness-World-Record,snow,Canada,winter,snow-maze Free

A-maze-ing: a snow labyrinth in the frigid, windswept prairies of Western Canada has broken the record for the world's biggest.

According to Guinness World Records, the whopping 2,789.11 square meters (30,0021.73 square feet) of terrain dwarfs the previous Canadian record holder at the Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

For years, farmers Clint and Angie Masse would ring in the fall harvest by building a corn maze on their property just outside of the small town of St Adolphe, a short drive from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

With a long, cold winter in the Canadian forecast, they decided late last year to try to extend the experience of finding one's way through the network of paths and hedges by several months.

And despite temperatures plunging to a low of -40 degrees Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit) in January, people kept coming in droves.

But it was no easy feat, Clint Masse told AFP. He said building the maze required weeks of planning, tens of thousands of dollars and 370 truckloads of snow to supplement the relatively thin powder on their fields.

"Making snow is really expensive," he said, pointing to the cost of renting generators, tractors and other equipment, fuel and weeks of labor.

There were design challenges too.

Read also: Snow go: Canadian winter festival cancelled because of snow

"You're not designing a path, what you are is designing walls and every wall has a double duty: it's got a path on this side and a path on that side," Masse said.

"I wanna say it took me a better part of a week. The corn maze I think I could do in a day and a half so it's a lot of more work to design."

The couple used commercial computer-aided design and drafting software.

Inside the labyrinth, visitors walk between walls of snow that are 1.8 meters (six feet) high, and atop a layer of snow packed tightly to prevent it from melting too soon into slush under the pedestrian traffic.

They are greeted by ice sculptures around several corners, and benches have been set up around campfires burning in five nooks to allow visitors to warm up before continuing on and trying to solve the puzzle.

The fire pits also act as markers, which first-timers Jillian Crooks and Cassidy Wegner said were indispensable for finding their way.

"It was fun," Crooks said. "We just kept turning every which way. It took us a while. We didn't time it, we should have. Maybe like half an hour? Yep!"

That bested the posted average of 30-45 minutes.

If cold temperatures hold, the labyrinth could stay open for a few more weeks, by which time Clint Masse said he hopes to have had more than 10,000 visitors and turn a small profit.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) -  Thu, March 7, 2019 21:06 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80f0ec8 1 News JetBlue,Instagram-challenge,travel,#travel Free

American low-cost airline JetBlue just started a challenge with a difference. The challenge is to delete all your posts on Instagram for a chance to fly free for a year.

Don't worry, if you win you'll be able to post pics from everywhere we fly, read the rules on the airline's website (https://www.jetblue.com/aycj/).

So how do you enter?

Set your Instagram account to public and post a picture using a JetBlue template before Friday, March 8. Since there is no further information given it should be possible to post your private content on your Instagram story. Also, you can archive your pictures instead of deleting your favorite memories forever.

Only three winners will be selected. However, note that the advertised flights are not completely free since you are still liable for taxes and fees.

Read also: Dream job vacancy: WOW Air travel guide creator

Competitions like this are no novelty. Tech Crunch notes that the Fyre Festival asked influencers to post an orange square on their pages in order to promote the event. What s more, several Instaspams are spreading online. Fake accounts invite users to repost certain images to win free flights.

This raises the question of why JetBlue chose this particular kind of contest. Do consider when contributing that the flights are indeed heavily discounted but not for free. Apart from that: Good luck and bon voyage! (sop/mut)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Star/Asia News Network) Petaling Jaya, Malaysia  Thu, March 7, 2019 16:08 1007 dcc1aefb9780f102b77c720ee80ea17f 2 News Malaysia,travel,tourism,LGBT Free

The remark by Malaysia's Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mohammaddin Ketapi during a travel fair in Berlin on homosexuality is to explain that there is no tourism campaign focused on the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community in Malaysia, the ministry said in a statement.

It added that there was also no plan to hold such campaigns in the future.

"As a main tourism destination in Asia, Malaysia has never and will not do anything to stop our guests based on their sexual orientation, religion and cultural belief," it said.

Malaysia, said the ministry, had its own stand on various global issues, including LGBTQ, as well as laws to protect tourist attractions from human degradation, increase respect of local values and culture and conserve local wildlife and landscape.

"These laws must be respected and followed, not just by foreign tourists but Malaysians as well," it said.

Earlier, Datuk Mohammaddin was quoted by Berlin daily Berliner Morgenpost as saying: "Homosexuality? I don't think we have such a thing in our country.

"I cannot answer whether it's safe or not."

Mr Mohamaddin, who was in Germany for the ITB Berlin travel fair, was answering a question from a reporter who had asked if Malaysia was a safe destination for homosexuals.

The opposition Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) expressed incredulity at the remarks made by Mr Mohammaddin that homosexuality does not exist in Malaysia and asked Mr Mohamaddin to quickly clarify his remarks.

MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said the minister had made Malaysia a laughing stock.

Read also: Malaysia to alter 'hideous' tourism logo featuring ape in shades

"He was asked by a reporter if Malaysia is safe for homosexuals.

"All he needed to say was that Malaysia is a safe country and every tourist is safe here. Instead, he made this outlandish remark that homosexuality does not exist in Malaysia.

"Malaysia does not ask or care about the sexual orientation of tourists.

"He just needed to say that tourists must respect the laws and cultural sensitivities of their host countries and it ends there," he said in a statement.

Dr Mah advised Mr Mohamaddin to issue a clarification on the remark and hoped that the minister would not claim that he was misquoted by the media.

He said many Malaysians were now expressing doubts over the competency of a few ministers.

"It's clear that some of them are non-performers, and that they need to be dropped soon," he added.

Topics :

This article appeared on The Star newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
Superdry begins its restructuring. The British urban fashion distribution company announced that it will dismiss between one hundred and two hundred employees from its headquarters in Cheltebham. With this movement, the group has marked the beginning of its restructuring plan, with which it aims to reduce costs by 20 million pounds (23 million euros).

This decision comes a few weeks after Peter Bambford, chairman of the group, announced that he will leave the company before January 2020. The announcement of the chairmans departure takes place at the same time that Julian Dunkerton, co-founder of Superdry, attempts to return to the board. Dunkerton, who owns 18% of the British company, resigned the position of CEO at Superdry in 2014, and in March of last year the manager left the companys board.

Superdry recorded sales valued in 269.3 million pounds (306.2 million euros) in the third quarter of its current fiscal year (ended on January 27), representing a decrease of 1.5% compared to the same period of the previous year. In recent years, the company has diversified, entering new segments such as childrens fashion, in order to reduce its dependence on their winter collections.
A Clare hospital will lose a portion of funding after being penalized by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Mid-Michigan Medical Center  Clare was penalized by the CMS for medical conditions that were acquired by patients during their hospital stay as a part of the Hospital Acquired Conditions (HAC) Reduction Program, according to a news release sent out by the Economic Alliance for Michigan (EAM). The goal of the program is to reduce these conditions under the condition of losing Medicare funding given to those hospitals if they are penalized.

Some of those conditions include sepsis, bedsores, blood clots, hip fractures, infections and other adverse conditions.

The Clare hospital has been penalized by the CMS in the past and they have lost funding for the same issues in 2016 , according to a previous Morning Sun report. A report from Kaiser Health News on March 1 also indicates that they were penalized in 2017. Mid-Michigan Medical Center  Clare joins 1,756 other hospitals that were penalized once before.

The federal government is reducing Medicare payments to 800 hospitals across the country, including 24 in Michigan, according to the Kaiser Health News report. This is the highest number recorded since the federal government launched the HAC Reduction Program, created by the Affordable Care Act five years ago.

For larger hospitals, it could lead to a loss of over $1 million, the release states.

Michigan managed better than other states, as they only accounted for three percent of penalized hospitals nationwide. Of the Michigan hospitals that were penalized, 58 percent were in the southeastern region of the state.

In this report, its great to see the state, as a whole, performing above the national standard for patient safety, said Bret Jackson, president of EAM in the release. However, some facilities are harming patients, increasing their need for care, and adding to the high cost of healthcare. It is our hope to work with these hospitals to improve their outcomes.

The EAM is a nonprofit group comprised of Michigan employers and unions looking to grow Michigans economy through job growth and bringing attention to the cost of healthcare, according to the release.
Getting out of a comfort zone is something that most adults want to see out of students.

The Gratiot-Isabella Technical Education Center chapter of Business of Professionals of America is looking to help high school students out of their comfort zone and into a place where they can thrive personally and professionally.

The BPA team are heading to the BPA State Competition on March 14 and make their way back on March 17. The competition will take place at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, with some competitions being held at Davenport University, according to teacher Debb Leasher, BPA advisor and GI-TEC business teacher.

Several GI-TEC BPA teams qualified for the State Competition during the Regional Competition on January 12, 2019. Those teams are the Presentation Management team, the Web Design team, the Small Business Management team, the Global Marketing team, the Financial Analyst team, the administration support team and the entrepreneur team, according to BPA President Stuart MacDonald.

Each of the teams are required to make presentations of a made-up scenario, such as planning a fictional event or designing a plan for a small business, according to Leasher. Each scenario differs from team to team.

Depending on what team theyre on, some will have to send in a business plan that will be judged in addition to their presentation, Leasher said.

The teams are made up of several students from varying grades, according to Leasher.

We like to have that mix because an older student can help pass the torch in a sense to the other student who may be a grade or two under them, she said.

Preparing for the competition requires a lot of constructive feedback and help from volunteers, according to Leasher. During a dress rehearsal on Wednesday night, several alumni and professionals came in to judge the teams on their presentations that they will show to the competition judges.

Those volunteer judges included:

* Lorrin Bambach, an alumna who currently works at Isabella Community Credit Union

* Ally Wentworth, a business student at Alma College and former BPA President

* Chelsea Chilcote, a BPA alumna

* Bernie Cesena, who has business experience and has had children in the BPA group in the past

Ive learned so much from BPA and I wouldnt be where I am today if it wasnt for the group, said Lorrin Bambach, an alumna who currently works at Isabella Community Credit Union. I want to help impart what Ive gotten from my time here over to these students.

The panel of volunteer judges told the students how they can improve their presentation through fixes of their PowerPoint designs, presentation lengths and word choices, among several other smaller aspects.

We watch and observe what can be improved when we see these presentations, Chilcote said. Were doing this for the students because we want them to be at their best.

While each team shows similar presentations, there are nuances when it comes to the judging rubrics that differ from competition to competition, according to Bambach.

One of the nuances is in the entrepreneurship competitions. For those, single students pitch their idea for a business, looking at how the business would be funded, creating a business model, finding relevant competitors and finding solutions to problems that arise from competitors or elsewhere.

For the Small Business Administration Team, there are times that they will throw in a random curveball that the teams have to incorporate into their presentation, Bambach said. It really puts the students on their toes, since they only have 10 minutes to put it into their presentation.

This is not the first time this BPA chapter has been to the state competition. The group has had teams that qualified for several years, according to Leasher.

For Leasher, the best part of teaching business is having the students display all the concepts that they learn through the BPA program.

When they start throwing back the terminology that youve been teaching them during that time, its really satisfying, she said. These skills are going to help these students well after high school.

That was the case for Wentworth, who changed her major because of the program.

The program really brought me out of my shell, she said. I originally wanted to go to school for something in the medical field, but this helped me find where I worked best.

Leashers sentiment is shared by Cesena, who has seen her fair share of BPA students over the years.

For me, its the investment into those students that keeps me coming, she said. As someone who works in business and as a mother, many adults never get the skill set that these kids are getting.

Some of the skills that are being taught through the program include public speaking, research into a variety of areas and learning how to use several digital platforms, according to Leasher. While some of the technology is a bit dated, the BPA students are looking to fix that.

They are working on a fundraiser to get more up-to-date technology that they will be using in the real business world, Leasher said.

For MacDonald and Secretary Isabel Mink, they hope that there will be more students who will not only be interested in the BPA program, but will plan to stay.

During the freshman year, its a lot to handle, said MacDonald, Theres a lot of great potential in our current group, so I hope that they will stay and show what they can do.

In addition to the skills that theyve learned, both love being able to meet new people through the state competitions that they are able to go to.

Its always great, being able to meet new people, Mink said. Its one of those things where you know you never wouldve met those people unless you were in the BPA.

The BPA Michigan State Competition will be livestreamed on the BPA website, Leasher said.
Emergency water supplies deployed in Koh Kaew

PHUKET: Emergency water supplies have been deployed in selected areas of Koh Kaew following a slew of complaints of tap water running at very low pressure  or even not all  despite assurances from the Chief of the Phuket Waterworks Authority that no water-saving measures have been introduced.

natural-resourcesweather

By The Phuket News

Thursday 7 March 2019, 06:26PM

Koh Kaew Tambon Administrative Organisation (OrBorTor) issued a Drought disaster warning this afternoon. Image: Koh Kaew OrBorTor

Koh Kaew Tambon Administrative Organisation (OrBorTor) Chief Khuakiet Chitkhua told The Phuket News, Yesterday and today (Mar 6-7), I received complaints from residents saying that the water supply was weak, and some did not have water supply at all.

"To help solve the problem, we have placed four tanks  each holding 2,000 litres of water  in four locations in Moo 4 and Moo 5 in Koh Kaew, where residents have started to suffer from the lack of tap water and low pressure water supply, he said.

People who need water can ask us for help. We have already bought 20 of these tanks, and we are willing to increase that to 50 tanks in total in case we need them, Mr Khuakiet said.

WARNINGS AND DENIAL

To warn other residents of the problem, Koh Kaew OrBorTor this morning posted a notice explaining that water restrictions were already in effect in the area, since Monday (Mar 4)  the same day that residents started to experience reduced water supply.

The notice explained, The PWA will release water flow on odd dates as (follows): Cherng Talay, Kamala, Mai Khao, Sakoo, Thepkrasattri, Srisoonthorn, Pa Klok, Koh Kaew (some areas), Thalang. Water flow will be from 6am (of the odd date) until 6am the next day.

Even day areas are: Koh Kaew (some areas), Rassada, Koh Siray, Muang district Phuket. Water flow will be from 6am (of the even date) until 6am the next day. The alternate water flow on odd and even dates starts from 4 Mar 2019 until the situation is fine.

It also urged people to conserve as much water as possible.

However, the notice was pulled down from the Koh Kaew OrBorTors official Facebook page within hours.

The measures announced in the notice this morning echoed those announced on Feb 5, which were later publicly declared by Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana as erroneous  and based on a misunderstanding.

Governor Phakaphong at the same time assured that the island had absolutely enough water to last the dry season and called on people to not panic about water shortages. (See stories here and here.)

However, Mr Khuakiat explained to The Phuket News that the notice posted this morning was based on information given by the PWA  a fact the Phuket PWA Chief Graisorn Mahamad denies.

The post on Facebook was from information from the Provincial Waterworks Authority office for Phuket, saying that they will release the water on alternate days, Mr Khuakiat said.

I spoke on the phone with the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Manager who told me that they were just testing the water supply, that there may be alternating days for water distribution in pairs and odd days.

I asked for the information that was provided so I could inform local residents. The manager of the Provincial Waterworks Authority of Phuket said it, Mr Khuakiat assured.

However, after receiving a call from The Phuket News this morning to confirm the water restrictions, Mr Khuakiat had his staff call the PWA again to confirm that notice.

This time the answer was different  and of odd coincidence saw an identical repeat of the misunderstanding that water-saving measures would be introduced that happened last month, and resulted in the Governor making public statements to the contrary.

"My staff told me that the PWA now said that the announcement was not official, so we had to delete the post from the Facebook page, Mr Khuakiat explained.

So I called the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Manager again and told him that I need details about any water rations in the Koh Kaew area, to please give us details about the water supply so I could inform our residents.

I am still waiting for an official notice from the PWA, Mr Khuakiat said.

At this time, we want Phuket Governor to help and support us and to come up with a long-term plan to solve the water problem," Mr Khuakiet added.

Meanwhile, contacted by The Phuket News earlier today, PWA Chief Mr Graisorn said that he knew about the Koh Kaew water-supply problems, but offered no explanation of why there might have been any change in water pressure in the area.

He did assure that no changes had been made yet.

I have a plan for water management to last us through the dry season, but it is still only a plan  it has not yet been presented to the Governor (for approval) he said.

Regarding Mr Khuakiats explanation that the water-restriction notice posted by the Koh Kaew OrBorTor this morning was based on his conversation with the Phuket Provincial Waterworks Manager, PWA Chief Mr Graisorn told The Phuket News this afternoon, I have no idea where he got this notice. He must of got it from somewhere else. It is an old image.

Meanwhile, many residents in Koh Kaew remain without water supply, and this afternoon the Koh Kaew OrBorTor posted another notice, this time reading:

Drought disaster warning

To all brothers and sisters in Koh Kaew and nearby areas, because Phuket Province is facing drought disaster problems that have seen Bang Neow and Bang Wad water reserve levels decrease so quickly, making it likely there will not be enough water for public supply for everyone to use as usual in their daily lives, we urge all people in Koh Keaw and nearby areas to use water sparingly so that the water in the reservoirs will be enough to last us though the drought.
Future Forward Party sues media outlet for defamation

BANGKOK: The Future Forward Party (FFP) filed two libel suits Wednesday against a minor royal and TNEWS news agency, over claims the party is trying to supplant the monarchy.

politics

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 7 March 2019, 09:42AM

Future Forward Party (FFP) spokeswoman Pannika Wanich, left, shows reporters copies of two libel suits the party filed against MC Chulcherm Yugala and the TNEWS news agency, for accusing the party of trying to supplant the monarchy. Photo: Bangkok Post

In one suit, the FFP, led by party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, accused Mom Chao Chulcherm Yugala of defaming the party by posing misleading content in a Facebook post.

In his post, MC Chulcherm said the FFPs policy was subversive to the monarchy.

MC Chulcherm is a descendant of Prince Yugala Dighambara, one of King Rama Vs sons.

In another lawsuit, the party accused Ekkachai Ruangchai, 26, the news editor of TNEWS, of defaming the party by summarising part of MC Chulcherms comment and publishing it.

FFP spokeswoman Pannika Wanich said it is the first time the party has pursued a libel case against the press. The media has lambasted our party for the past 10 months but we never pursued legal action because we believe in freedom to criticise, she said.

But TNEWS really deserved this lesson because it has a record of committing serious violations of media ethics, Ms Pannika said.

She said the party decided to use the libel law instead of the computer crime law because it opposes the use of the latter to silence critics.

She assured all other media outlets that they could criticise the party as usual, saying the party always welcomed any scrutiny.

The Criminal Court accepted both cases for consideration.

It set April 22 as the date to examine the plaintiffs allegation against MC Chulcherm. It will handle the claim against the TNEWS news editor on April 29.

Read original story here.
Manhunt underway as Patong taxi driver shot dead in broad daylight

PHUKET: Patong police are hunting for a taxi driver who is believed to have shot dead another taxi driver in broad daylight at a taxi rank in Patong.

transportpatongpolicemurder

By The Phuket News

Thursday 7 March 2019, 01:54PM

Both the suspect and the victim were working at the same taxi rank in Patong. Photo: Patong Police

CCTV footage shows the suspect fleeing on a motorbike after the shooting in Patong. Photo: Patong Police

CCTV footage shows the suspect fleeing on a motorbike after the shooting in Patong. Photo: Patong Police

Police were notified of the shooting on Phra Metta Rd in Patong at about 11am this morning.

Patong Police Chief Col Anotai Jindamanee said, A man was shot dead at a taxi rank on Phra Metta Rd about 250 metres north of Patong Hospital.

We believe there were two men involved in the incident, both of whom were working at the same taxi rank, he explained. Witnesses said the men started to argue, which escalated into a physical fight.

The suspect, 48-year-old Pharadon Poochayan, is said to have driven away in a pickup truck after losing the fight and returned with a gun.

Upon returning, the suspect is believed to have shot the victim, Songpon Suwansa-ard, 45, in the head, firing three or four shots at him before fleeing on a motorbike. Bullet casings were found at the scene, Col Anotai noted.

Arriving at the scene, Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers found the victim on the floor heavily bleeding.

They immediately began performing CPR on him and managed to restore a pulse. However, he was later pronounced dead at Patong Hospital.

Police across the island are searching for the suspect, Col Anotai confirmed.
Ocean Property launches first Phuket development

PHUKET: Thai real estate developer Ocean Property today launched the companys first real estate development in Phuket, the B700 million townhome and modern commercial home office project Ocean Town Muang-Ratsada.

propertyconstruction

By The Phuket News

Thursday 7 March 2019, 02:20PM

The move comes as part of Ocean Propertys strategic expansion outside of Bangkok, said a release issued today (Mar 7) marking the launch.

With property interests in Bangkok, Pattaya and Khon Kaen already, Ocean Property recognises central governments considerable investment in the island's infrastructure and Phuket's strong tourism fundamentals, and are investing in Phuket confident of residential demand on the island, the statement said.

Napong Paripontpochanapisuti, Acting Managing Director of Ocean Property Co Ltd, explained in the release, Ocean Property is confident in Phukets property market. We see a trend of future growth and market expansion on the back of the islands ongoing development and tourism industry growth.

Our research has identified a number of buyer groups, for example, civil servants, private-sector employees and entrepreneurs, that we believe will be interested in our Ocean Town Muang-Ratsada project.

Government investment in the island is set to continue with planned expansion of the islands transportation network such as enlarging Phukets international airport as well as a Light Rail Transit system from Phang Nga to the south of Phuket. These investments and infrastructure developments will have a positive impact on Phuket's economy, and on the back of these and Phuket's world-class tourism industry Ocean Property is launching its first horizontal development in Phuket under the name Ocean Town Muang-Ratsada, which is designed with end-users and investors in mind, he added.

Ocean Town Muang-Ratsada is located on more than 20-rai on Sri Suthat Rd, on the east side of Phuket Town.

The project comprises 187 units including two types of two-storey townhomes: Tide (116 units) and Shallow (55 units). Tides architectural plan offers four bedrooms, three bathrooms and two parking spaces with a 5.7-metre wide frontage. Sizes start from 20 square wah (80 square metres) with a usable area of 155sqm. Shallows architectural plan offers three bedrooms, two bathrooms and one parking space, also with a 5.7-metre wide frontage, and sizes start from 20 square wah with a usable area of 115sqm, explained the release.

In addition, there are 16 three-storey commercial home office buildings known as Crest. All have a five-metre frontage, sizes start from 23.80 square-wah (95.2qsm) and have usable area of 195sqm. The townhome prices start from B2.69mn and the commercial home office prices start from B4.89mn.

Ocean Town Muang-Ratsada has been designed with owners in mind, meeting their needs with ideal functional planning and design that is of a modern tropical style. The properties use warm and relaxing colour tones together with quality materials, and include home innovations that help reduce the use of electric lighting through smart roofing systems which allow more natural light inside (Smart Touch Tech Roof and Sky Light Roof), the latest LED Panels which use considerably less electricity than more traditional bulbs, as well as new tech glass which allows 75% of natural light through and only 49% of the heat, helping to keep the property cooler, the release noted.

The common area space is designed with a coastal touch, enabling residents to feel relaxed as if they are in a resort environment, while a pavilion and playground provides families with a space to enjoy quality time together. There are additional green areas around the development and security onsite includes CCTVs, a key card system, Smart Home Security System and 24-hour guard team, giving resident's peace of mind, it added.

Our team is striving to create a high quality development in Phuket that matches resident needs while also providing a healthy and enjoyable living environment, Mr Napong said.

Construction has started and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020 with show homes to be open for visiting this coming May.
Death under investigation after Wednesday morning fire call

Fire department personnel found a dead body after after responding to a possible structure fire. The call was at 8:29 a.m. Wednesday to a duplex.
Xi Jinping (C, front), Li Keqiang (3rd R, front), Wang Yang (3rd L, front), Wang Huning (2nd R, front), Zhao Leji (2nd L, front), Han Zheng (1st R, front) and Wang Qishan (1st L, front) attend the opening meeting of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, opened its second session Tuesday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state were present at the opening meeting, which was attended by nearly 3,000 NPC deputies.

Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan sat on the stage with members of the legislative session's presidium. Li Zhanshu announced the opening at 9 a.m.

Li Keqiang delivered the government work report on behalf of the State Council to the legislature for deliberation.

Li Keqiang said though China faced a complicated and challenging environment rarely seen in many years with the economy under new downward pressure, the nation managed to accomplish main targets for economic and social development in 2018.

"We must face the problems and challenges squarely, shoulder our responsibility, fully perform our duties, and do all we can to truly live up to people's expectations," he said.

Looking to 2019, he announced some of the main projected targets for economic and social development that include 6-6.5 percent GDP growth, over 11 million new urban jobs, CPI increase of around 3 percent, a reduction of over 10 million in the rural poor population, among others.

Ten main tasks were further outlined for the government's work this year.

Li Keqiang said it is necessary to sustain healthy economic development and maintain social stability to create a pivotal underpinning for completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China with outstanding accomplishments.

At Tuesday's opening meeting, the report on the implementation of the 2018 plan for national economic and social development and on the 2019 draft plan for national economic and social development, and the report on the execution of the central and local budgets for 2018 and on the draft central and local budgets for 2019 were submitted to the legislature for deliberation.

24

1

[ Editor: zyq ]
LANSDALE  A new historical display could come to Lansdale Borough Hall this summer, to help tell the story of a community.

The main lobby of borough hall could be the site of a mobile history display showing moments and milestones from the past half-century of fights for LGBTQ+ rights.

One of the reasons why I love living in Lansdale is because you do have a large LGBT community here, said Richard Buttacavoli, President of the Montgomery County LGBT Business Council.

There was some controversy lately, including having the ordinance passed. The drag queen story time was a controversy as well, and of course, the community came out for it, he said.

Last summer council proposed, debated, and ultimately passed a new ordinance establishing a borough human relations commission meant to extend new legal protection to groups such as the LGBT community, by creating a new volunteer board where claims of discrimination could be heard and adjudicated. Large crowds also turned out both for and against an event at the Lansdale Public Library on Feb. 2, when Lansdale resident Eric Torres performed as drag queen Annie Christ while reading to children for a library story time event.

Over the last two years, the LGBT community is being targeted like never before. Ive now become a public figure, and Im scared at times, about being who I am, and advocating for the LGBT community, Buttacavoli said.

I want to thank you, because I feel safe in this town, he said.

Buttacavoli told councils administration and finance committee Wednesday night that he and the county LGBT business council are planning to host a cultural competency event at the library on March 30, and looking for ways to tie in with statewide activities being planned by the Pennsylvania LGBT History Network. One of that groups projects, Buttacavoli said, is The Long Road to Equality, a mobile history display featuring a series of poster boards depicting a timeline of events as the LGBT community has fought for their rights, including riots in 1969 and the first celebration of World Pride Day in 1979, both of which will mark milestone anniversaries this year.

2019, for the LGBT community, is a very big year, he said.

The mobile history display is comprised of a series of standing banners, roughly seven and a half feet tall by three feet wide, double sided, depicting a vertical timeline of events, with the last one focused specifically on Montgomery County.

With the lack of success in passing statewide legislative protections, from discrimination in housing, to employment, and education, activists have been working for more than five decades to obtain these protections, one battle at a time, one municipality at a time, Buttacavoli said.

Four copies of the mobile display currently exist, and will start on display at the state capital in Harrisburg, he told the committee, and administrative support is being provided by the LGBT Center of Central Pennsylvania. Buttacavoli said he has already begun talks with Montgomery County Community College about setting up the history display on that campus, and is also asking for councils thoughts on setting it up at borough hall.

I had suggested Lansdale Day (June 1), but thats technically the beginning of Pride Month for the LGBT community, and the exhibit is booked solid, Buttacavoli said.

Borough Manager John Ernst suggested instead that the display go up for the Founders Day commemoration of the boroughs founding on Aug. 24, and Buttacavoli said hes already asked the organizers to keep a set of the display free for that week.

Councilman Leon Angelichio said he liked the idea, but would prefer it be coordinated with the organizers of the Founders Day events first, before coming back to council for formal approval  and asked for more specifics.

Are you going to have a staff there? What if people read something or have questions, will you have somebody who is part of the community, familiar with the program, to answer peoples questions? Angelichio said.

Invariably, people are often curious about something theyre unfamiliar with. It would be nice if it was made manned  or personed, so to speak, he said.

Buttacavoli said he envisioned setting up the display on the Tuesday or Wednesday before Founders Day, with community members or volunteers there during a reception ahead of councils meeting that week and during the Saturday Founders Day events.

We could do a little reception, I could get a sponsor to provide some food and refreshments, and possibly guest speakers to describe the display and the events shown, Buttacavoli said.

Ernst said staff and council will likely need more details on how the posters would be displayed and arranged, how much space they would take up, and if they would need any special accommodations. Buttacavoli said certain displays could incorporate iPads or similar tablets to show video of certain events, and he or volunteers from the county council could help set it up, take it down and possibly staff it if necessary.

All three members of the administration and finance committee said theyd support the idea and recommend it go to full council, once details are further vetted with staff and the founders day organizers.

Well work out the logistics of it, Angelichio said.

Lansdale Borough Council next meets at 7 p.m. on March 20 at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine Street. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.Lansdale.org or follow @LansdalePA on Twitter.
LANSDALE  The North Penn School Districts business office has earned a high honor from a state organization.

Representatives from the Association of School Business Officers (ASBO) presented a Meritorious Budget Award to district staff, singling out Interim Assistant Director of Business Administration Donna Mugrauer for particular praise.

Imagine youre in the grocery store, imagine youre talking a walk with the dog down the street, imagine youre at a sporting event here in the district, and remember when the last time was that somebody came up to you, patted you on the back, and said Youre doing a great job on behalf of the North Penn School District?' said Jay Himes, executive director of PASBO, the Pennsylvania chapter of ASBO.

If that happened in the last few weeks, consider yourself lucky, because most of the time the answer is Not for a while, if at all. One of my purposes here today is to give that pat on the back, to people who have done great work, he said.

PASBO is a statewide association of school business officials that provides training, professional development, and updates on important school-related policies and news. Himes and incoming PASBO Executive Director Wayne McCullough presented the annual award to North Penn on March 4, and said it proves the business office has openness for the public first and foremost in mind.

What this award does is assure, not the district, but really your community, your taxpayers, your businesses, your staff, even your students, that youve worked with a high degree of transparency, Himes said.

It helps you build confidence among all of those constituencies, because of the rigors thats established with the meritorious budget award, he said.

Applying for the ward is not a five-minute undertaking, or a couple of hours one day in the office, Himes said, but requires the district to create, maintain and submit a phone-book-size budget document he compared to the districts budget, on steroids.

It takes a commitment to do this, but the outcome is, youve established all those things in your community, and its recognized, he said.

North Penn is one of only eleven such honorees in Pennsylvania, Himes told the board, and McCullough said fewer than 20 percent of school business officials in the state have been certified by PASBO as qualified school business administrators.

North Penn now has two such honorees: Director of Business Administration Steve Skrocki, and his new assistant Kristin Johnson, whose role Mugrauer filled until Johnson was hired in November.

Donna knows that there was a tremendous amount of work that went into this particular project, Skrocki said, referring to the final version of the districts 2018-19 budget book.

Its a 129-page document, and Donna did the lions share of that work, so its a tremendous accomplishment for Donna, Skrocki said.

School board Finance Committee chairman Ed Diasio also thanked Mugrauer on behalf of the board, and said Skrocki kept him posted on how hard Mugrauer worked during the search for the new assistant director.

Steve and I communicate fairly frequently on financial matters, and he always let it be known how much extra time you were putting in, and working to make sure everything stayed on track, Diasio said.

I know the whole board appreciates that, he said.

North Penns finance committee next meets at 6 p.m. on March 12 at the district Educational Services Center, 401 E. Hancock St. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.NPenn.org or follow @NPSD on Twitter.
Huawei Technologies Co. sued the U.S. government for barring its equipment from certain networks, delivering a legal riposte to American accusations it aids China in espionage.

The lawsuit is aimed at a U.S. statute that blocks government agencies from using equipment from Huawei and its domestic rival ZTE Corp., according to a complaint filed in federal court in Texas. Huawei argues in the suit that its unconstitutional to single out a person or a group for penalty without a fair trial.

The action signals a more aggressive response from the company toward its U.S. accusers, who have been trying to persuade other countries to ban Huawei gear from crucial fifth-generation communications networks. The complaint landed days after finance chief Meng Wanzhou sued Canadas government for allegedly trampling her constitutional rights during her December arrest  an effort to discredit the case against her as she awaits potential extradition to the U.S. for bank fraud.

The White House didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

In its U.S. case, Huawei is taking aim at a provision in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. That provision bars any executive agency, government contractor or company that receives a government loan or grant from using Huawei and ZTE equipment, according to the complaint. The Chinese company argues that the provision is a bill of attainder, a legislative punishment without trial thats prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.

Thats a very hard argument to win but certainly something that they can try in an effort to slow down the federal government, Peter Henning, a professor at Wayne State University Law School, told Bloomberg on a podcast.

Huawei is increasingly in the crosshairs of the U.S. government and its allies, just as its pushing for leadership in supplying fifth-generation wireless technology. Countries are preparing to spend billions on the potentially revolutionary equipment aimed at enabling everything from smart highways to self-driving cars. The worlds top provider of networking gear faces the prospect of being shut out of pivotal infrastructure markets. And the clash has complicated negotiations between Washington and Beijing as they try to hammer out a trade deal.

Read more:

Huawei CFOs lawyers suggest her arrest was political  and they say Trumps comments prove it

U.S. hopes to force Meng Wanzhou to spill on Huawei, say former federal prosecutors

Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou suing Canada, its border agency and the RCMP for false imprisonment

Huawei also repeated its argument that a blockade on its gear simply disadvantages Americans.

Consumers in the United States (particularly in rural and poor areas) will be deprived of access to the most advanced technologies, and will face higher prices and a significantly less competitive market, the company said in the complaint.

U.S. officials and industry executives have long harboured questions about Huaweis ties to Chinas government, and concerns about its technology have mounted in lockstep with its growing success. Federal authorities in Seattle are investigating the company for allegedly stealing trade secrets from U.S. partner T-Mobile US Inc., and in December Meng was arrested in Canada on fraud charges linked to Iran trade-sanction violations.

This is one part of a much broader effort here to confront China over trade secrets theft and how the Chinese government is subsidizing companies and trying to get their products into the United States, Henning said.

The case is Huawei Technologies v. U.S., 4:19-cv-00159, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas (Sherman).
OTTAWA - A weak data report surprised the Bank of Canada ahead of its decision to cast doubts about future interest-rate hikes and to warn Canadians the ongoing slump could prove to be unexpectedly stubborn, says one of the banks top officials.

Deputy governor Lynn Patterson said in a speech Thursday that the central bank had been expecting a growth slowdown in the energy sector over the final three months of 2018, particularly after the oil-price drop late in the year.

But policy-makers were caught off guard when last Fridays Statistics Canada report showed a sudden deceleration in the fourth quarter for other categories as well, Patterson said.

Days later, on Wednesday, the Bank of Canada held its trend-setting interest rate at 1.75 per cent.

The decision to hold off was widely expected  but, in an accompanying news release, the bank raised considerable doubts about the timing of any future rate increases.

It also warned the first half of 2019  and not just the first quarter as it had predicted in January  appeared to be on track for additional economic disappointment.

Pattersons speech offered hints of the closed-door deliberations behind the decision.

Although we figured the economy was in for a detour at the end of last year, that detour may wind up being longer than we had expected, she said in the address to the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.

While the anticipated slowdown from the energy sector was fairly aligned with our projections, other categories surprised.

She repeated a line from the central banks statement Wednesday that said there is now increased uncertainty about the timing of future rate hikes.

Many analysts dont expect the central bank to raise the benchmark until at least late 2019  and some have started to suggest a rate cut could arrive before the next increase.

Ahead of Wednesdays rate announcement, Patterson said governing council members were confronted by softer-than-anticipated fourth-quarter numbers in the areas of business investment, exports and household spending.

She drilled down deeper into some of the numbers.

Canadians, she told her audience, spent less on discretionary options like new cars, vacations, restaurants and entertainment. When it came to housing, she noted the biggest negative surprise in the fourth quarter came from spending on home renovations.

To explain the weakness in business investment, Patterson said while many companies were encouraged by the successful negotiations towards an updated North American trade pact, many were still holding off for the deals ratification.

Other investments may have been postponed as firms waited for the federal government to introduce long-promised changes to address competitiveness concerns, she said. Ottawas business-focused tax measures were announced in November.

The banks policy decision and statement this week also came after governing council factored in the slowing global economy, which has been affected by trade tensions  particularly those between the United States and China  and other uncertainties, Patterson added.

Some major central banks have changed their communications in recognition of softer global economic momentum, she said.

Here at home, Canadian data are reflecting this slower global momentum. In that regard, governing council spent a lot of time discussing the national accounts data for the fourth quarter of last year.

Looking ahead, however, Patterson said the Bank of Canada is optimistic that economic growth will build new momentum in the second half of 2019, thanks in large part to the still-strong employment conditions and improving wages.
Mark Zuckerberg is promising a massive privacy overhaul at Facebook. But his sweeping strategy has a tradeoff: it will likely make it harder for the company to police harmful content on its platform.

Zuckerberg says Facebooks pivot toward encrypted messaging means that even the company will not be able to read the contents of the messages people send in its apps. Thats a win for privacy advocates who want users to have greater control of their data, but it will actually limit the investments the company has made so far to detect and stamp out illegal or harmful content, ranging from child exploitation to drug sales on its platform.

As Zuckerberg noted in his blog post announcing the changes, we will never find all of the potential harm we do today when our security systems can see the messages themselves.

Critics note that could provide welcome political cover for Facebook as lawmakers around the world are considering new ways to hold the company accountable for hate and other harmful speech on their platform. Facebook has long said it wants to avoid playing the role of an online censor  and now it will be able to tell lawmakers it cant police what it cant see.

Theyre going to argue it gives them an out, former Federal Trade Commission chief technologist Ashkan Soltani said.

Facebook could be laying this groundwork because U.S. lawmakers are stepping up their scrutiny of a decades-old communications law that gives technology platforms legal immunity for the content people post on their site, called the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in October hes concerned that extremist content proliferates on social media in no small part because of the laws Section 230 provision. Trump tech adviser Gail Slater said in January policymakers should start looking at whether Congress needs to update the law.

Read more:

Facebook users not yet ready to walk away despite troubles

Can Zuckerberg really make a privacy-friendly Facebook?

Facebooks Zuckerberg says hell double down on privacy

And the pressure on Facebook to stamp out harmful content is even greater in Europe, where the United Kingdom is considering fining technology companies for failing to remove illegal hate speech and child exploitation. Already in Germany, there is a law that allows the government to fine the technology companies if they fail to remove content.

Some tech industry watchers warned that Facebooks decision to focus on encrypted messaging could only intensify some of the issues its already seen with its WhatsApp platform, which has already been encrypted end-to-end for years. During the Brazil election last year, disinformation and conspiracy theories flooded the messaging platform. But Facebook couldnt use the same techniques it used to crack down on disinformation in other services because it couldnt see the messages. (The company did limit the number of times a message could be forwarded in an attempt to stop hoaxes from going viral on the service).

The Columbia Journalism Reviews Mathew Ingram said on social media: So FB is going to move to private, encrypted, ephemeral communications  i.e, Snapchat. But much of the hate and violence in Myanmar, India etc. was spread via private and encrypted WhatsApp. Does that absolve FB of responsibility?

Since the 2016 election underscored how disinformation could proliferate on social media, Facebooks content moderation practices have been in the spotlight. The company has responded by making investments in more human content moderators and technology like artificial intelligence to police its site, but many of its decisions to remove content have proved controversial.

But for even years before this intense scrutiny, Facebook has policed its site for illegal content, particularly when it comes to child exploitation. Facebook has used photo-matching technology, which stops people from sharing known child exploitation images, and it reports them to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Stuff thats grossly illegal, Facebook has never quibbled with shutting that down, said former Facebook employee and Chaos Monkeys author Antonio Garcia Martinez.

Now, it will be much harder for the company to tackle that kind of content, he said.

Zuckerberg promised that he would consult with policymakers and law enforcement about the best ways to ensure safety measures were included as the company reorients. He also said that the company was making investments to ensure it could detect bad actors on its platform, even when it cant see the contents of their activity. That could involve detecting patterns of activity or other means, he said.

In an interview with Wired following the announcement, Zuckerberg made it clear that these safety tradeoffs were the issue he was most worried about as Facebook overhauls its business model.

Even though we came out on the side of prioritizing privacy in building end-to-end encryption, were also committed to taking all of 2019 to build the safety systems to do as well as we can within the framework of an encrypted system before we roll out end-to-end encryption, which is a pretty different way from how we operated five years ago, Zuckerberg said in the interview.

To be sure, as Facebook goes down this path, there will be security benefits for consumers around the world. Zuckerberg notes in his speech that many consumers want their data to be protected this way in a world of cybersecurity threats and heavy-handed government intervention.

In the last year, Ive spoken with dissidents whove told me encryption is the reason they are free, or even alive, Zuckerberg said. Governments often make unlawful demands for data, and while we push back and fight these requests in court, theres always a risk well lose a case  and if the information isnt encrypted wed either have to turn over the data or risk our employees being arrested if we failed to comply.

At the same time, Facebooks plans could also open up new battles between the company and law enforcement around the world. Already Facebook and Apple are engaged in international regulatory battles over encryption. And new laws in the United Kingdom and Australia make it easier for law enforcement to force the companies to hand over data.

Several years ago, when Apple began encrypting its iPhones end-to-end, U.S. law enforcement sounded the alarm that it would make it harder to solve crimes. The debate flared when the Federal Bureau of Investigation tried to compel the company to turn over the contents of a phone in its investigation of the San Bernardino, California, attacks.

As Facebook takes a similar stance and develops these products, Zuckerberg made it clear hes thinking about this tricky balance and seeking input.

Finding the right ways to protect both privacy and safety is something societies have historically grappled with, he wrote. There are still many open questions here and well consult with safety experts, law enforcement and governments on the best ways to implement safety measures.

Read more about:
CALGARYAn accused gang leader who faces a new murder trial in Calgary has turned himself in.

Nick Chan was charged in 2013 with first-degree murder in the 2008 death of Kevin Anaya in what police described as a shooting between rival gangs.

Chan also faced charges of conspiracy to commit another murder and of directing others to commit murder for the benefit of a criminal organization.

A judge stayed the charges last year due to a Supreme Court ruling called the Jordan decision that limits the length of legal proceedings.

But Albertas Appeal Court has ruled the delay was justified and ordered a new trial.

Calgary police say Chan has turned himself in at the Calgary Remand Centre.

Read more about:
Elsa Ascencio says growing up near the multicultural Toronto community of Jane and Finch, where she still lives, was a main factor in her decision to go to law school.

But the same community that inspired me to enter into law, Im unable to help, and I found that to be the greatest irony, she said.

Thats because shes in debt  tens of thousands of dollars piled up from her years at law school. And like a growing number of law school graduates in Ontario, she finds herself feeling she cant afford to take on the legal work she wants to do to serve her community.

Not if she wants to start making a dent in her debt.

Many young racialized lawyers feel muzzled by their debt, she said. We want to do all of these things, and we look at our debt levels and think, thats not happening.

Ascencio, who graduated from the University of Ottawa law school, is working toward being called to the bar this year. She wants to focus her practice exclusively on labour rights, but will need to find a firm that pays enough to bring down her debt. This, in turn, could mean not being able to help clients who cant afford the firms rates, or who cant afford a lawyer at all.

Her comments echo feedback in the Law Students Society of Ontarios Just or Bust? survey, published in January, which surveyed law school students on tuition, debt and financial aid. The society is made up of representatives from the student governing bodies at all seven of Ontarios law schools.

Several students submitted that rising law school tuition in Ontario is causing an access to justice issue, as future lawyers who want to work in areas of law that tend to involve a large number of low-income and marginalized clients  for example, in criminal, family or immigration law  instead find themselves seeking out corporate or other higher-paying legal jobs to get out of debt.

I chose to pursue law school because I wanted to pursue social justice work and advocate for vulnerable populations, reads one student comment from the survey. Now that I am halfway through the degree, I realize that this kind of work will be very difficult to pursue with the amount of debt I will graduate with. So I feel as though I have inadvertently closed the precise door that I intended to open by coming to law school.

Read more:

You dont look like a lawyer. Female lawyers and lawyers of colour angered by mistaken identity in court

Abusive workplaces for articling students is becoming a trend that needs attention, report says

Lawyers will get gender-neutral robing room at Osgoode Hall following petition

Caryma Sad, who was called to the bar in 2016 and is running in the upcoming Law Society of Ontario board of directors election, said high tuition and crippling debt for new lawyers is ultimately bad for the public.

Sad, a sole practitioner who focuses on landlord and tenant, criminal and human rights law, said the amount of money it takes to become a lawyer has an impact both on affordability for the public and diversity within the profession.

Some of the costs get passed on to the client, which isnt fair, she said, adding lower tuition should translate into lower legal fees, but the price tag cant go down if the overhead costs of getting your law degree are so high.

If you want to keep fees low, you have to take on volume, but as a sole practitioner, that can be a recipe for things falling through the cracks, she said. Its not good for the public if lawyers have this looming over their head.

She said diversity also takes a hit, and this can lead to clients not having access to lawyers from their own communities.

Someone from a relatively impoverished neighbourhood who sees the price tag may not go to law school, and we will continue to have the same faces as judges, the same faces as prosecutors, the same faces as defence lawyers, she said.

In Toronto, the University of Toronto law school charges about $36,700 for tuition each year, while Osgoode Hall law school at York University charges closer to $28,500. Both schools also offer financial aid in the form of bursaries, scholarships and other awards.

At Osgoode, for example, the school handed out almost $2.5 million in bursaries for the 2017-18 academic year, which included a total of $645,000 spread out among 193 first-year students, said a university spokesperson.

At U of T, about 51 per cent of law students were eligible for financial aid in 2017-18, according to a statement from Alexis Archbold, assistant dean of the juris doctor program. She said the school has one of the largest financial aid programs in Canada and is the only law school in the country that offers a post-graduation debt-relief program.

Because of the world-class quality of our faculty, and because of financial aid, we continue to see an increase in applications, as well as in the credentials of our incoming classes, admitting great students from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, she said. Deepening our financial aid program will continue to support this.

The Law Students Society survey, which received 697 responses from all Ontario law schools between mid-October to mid-November 2018, noted that more than two-thirds of participants expected to owe more than $50,000 to financial institutions upon graduation and almost two-thirds expected to owe more than $20,000 in government student loans.

The societys president, Heather Donkers, acknowledged in an interview with the Star that the surveys methodology has limitations, given its small sample size and that the majority of responses came from U of T and Osgoode  the two most expensive law schools in Ontario.

We thought it was at least a starting point for us to be able to have a conversation about whats going on with tuition, and debt in particular, and student financial aid, she said, adding she hopes organizations like the Law Society of Ontario and Canadian Bar Association will join her in coming up with a more comprehensive report.

Malcolm Mercer, the elected head of the Law Society, which regulates the legal profession in Ontario, told the Star hes met with members of the Law Students Society executive and called their concerns important.

He said a recommendation from the students society that makes sense to him is to work with them and the universities to ensure students are getting all the information about the one-time licensing fees that must be paid to the law society, currently about $4,700.

The concern that was raised, and I think it was a sensible concern, is that people dont know about these costs and arent planning for them, he said. Mercer pointed out that the law society offers a monthly payment plan for the fees, as well as a repayable allowance program for those who can prove financial need.

Rising tuition levels at Ontario law schools and other potential barriers for would-be lawyers are becoming issues in the upcoming election in April for the Law Societys board of directors  known as benchers. Some of the candidates, like Sad, have been working in the legal profession for less than 10 years and argue they are better placed to represent the views of new and young lawyers.

While the law society doesnt actually control tuition rates  they are set by the universities themselves  bencher candidate Atrisha Lewis believes the legal regulator could still play a bigger role in making the profession more accessible.

Theres the view, which is quite narrow, which is that the law society is a regulator and their only role is to ensure the competency of the profession and regulate lawyers, said Lewis, an associate at McCarthy Tetrault who was called to the bar in 2013.

I dont have that view, she said. I think (the law society) has a role to play to ensure that our profession is accessible to all and that tuition isnt a barrier.

She said that the law society has the power to accredit a law school, and could demand to see statistics from law schools such as the average amount of financial aid awarded to students and more information on student demographics.

So can it regulate tuition? Absolutely not, but can it say, I have deep concerns and its making me question whether I want to accredit your school? I think it does, she said.

Mercer said its appropriate for the law society to express views, but added: I think its important that the law society understands that the authority that its been given is not to regulate universities and not to regulate university tuition.

Sad said another thing to focus on is how the law society can better facilitate the process for a young lawyer trying to start a practice. She suggested this could include the law society checking in on new lawyers to ensure their practice is in accordance with the rules, rather than disciplining them later for mistakes.

There are many of us who are in the position of having to break out on our own, said Sad. In my view, the public interest would be best served if these fledgling young lawyers had some kind of support and safety net behind them.
Mayor John Tory and his allies fended off several attempts at increasing spending on services for youth, additional library hours and other initiatives, as council signed off on a budget that fulfils his promise of relative austerity.

As approved by council earlier on during the day-long debate, Toronto homeowners will pay a total of 3.58 per cent more in property taxes this year, or an extra $104 for a total bill of $3,020 of an average $665,605 home.

City council approved Torys proposed hike  2.55 per cent, plus the continuing levy to fund housing and transit projects  by a 21-4 vote.

The operating budget has a $79-million hole in it.

This consists of $45 million requested from the federal government, which has not been committed to the funding, and another $34 million in unspecified cuts.

Council approved separate increases of 3 per cent, or $27 per household, for water usage and 2.2 per cent for garbage and recycling collection later Thursday evening.

Read more:

Whats in, whats out: Heres what you need to know about Torontos 2019 budget

City watchdogs push back after proposed budget cuts

Innovative Toronto housing program that matches students and seniors needs $90,000 to continue

Increasing property taxes at the rate of inflation, council debated what should be included and who would be served under tax rates kept well below those of other municipalities in the GTA, Hamilton and Ottawa.

Many of you, including the mayor, have spoken about the burden taxes are on Toronto families and that we must keep our city affordable, said Councillor Mike Layton (Ward 11 University-Rosedale). He said this is a goal he shares.

Where I think we disagree on the budget is who we should be making our city affordable for.

He urged his colleagues to consider the possibility of reinstating a charge on vehicles scrapped under the Rob Ford administration. He noted years of transit fare increases  another 10 cents added this year  while property taxes are kept low for homeowners.

That decision, he said, disproportionally affects vulnerable people, such as single moms struggling to afford food, childcare and getting around the city.

So lets be honest with ourselves and Toronto residents: You are fighting to make life affordable for some, but at the expense of others.

Attempts by centrist and left-leaning councillors to boost the annual rate hike by extra amounts ranging from 0.002 to 2 percentage points failed, with Torys council allies standing firm behind his plan and anywhere from five to eight councillors voting for the bigger hikes.

Tory, speaking to reporters before the meeting, said his fifth city budget strikes the right balance, imposing neither service shock in the form of cuts, nor sticker shock with a tax bill dramatically outpacing inflation.

This budget moves our city forward in a balanced, responsible way, said Tory, who added he was given a very strong mandate from Torontonians in last falls civic election to continue the strategy.

In his speech to council later, he highlighted what he said is a need for other governments to invest in the economic engine of the country.

Council spent the rest of Thursday debating what gets funded in budgets set, including senior government contributions, at $13.5 billion for city operating expenses, including services and staff costs, and $40.7 billion for capital spending, on roads, bridges and other hard costs.

Several attempts at adding new spending failed to get past the mayor and his allies. These included a failed attempt by Councillor Josh Matlow to have eight additional youth hubs  safe spaces for young people to hang out, get homework help and mentorship after school in low-income neighbourhoods.

Share your thoughts

A spike in violence last year saw 41 homicide victims under the age of 30, not including those of the Yonge St. or Danforth attacks.

Tory and every member of his inner circle on executive committee voted against the additional hubs.

Two were funded in this budget.

Councillor Gord Perks told council that Torys argument that keeping property taxes low makes Toronto more affordable is dead wrong.

Hiking taxes to fund more services for low-income residents, including many TTC users and Toronto Community Housing residents, is the way to do the most good, Perks said.

We are falling behind, funding the booming city, said Perks (Ward 4 Parkdale-High Park), who noted that per-capita spending on city services has dropped in recent years, while the need for homeless shelters, subsidized child care and affordable housing is steadily rising.

That spending has fallen by $205 per resident since 2010, when accounting for inflation and population growth, according to a city staff presentation. That is despite more than $60 million in new spending approved by council on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, Tory defended the hole ($79 million) in the budget, saying he was optimistic based on talks with the federal government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, that money requested for sheltering refugees will flow.

He said he wouldnt have budgeted for the cash if he didnt think he could get it.

City manager Chris Murray was willing to entertain the idea of Ottawa saying no, and said to council that, if that happens, he will come back with another revenue source to address it, likely a rainy-day reserve fund.

By law, all Ontario municipalities must pass balanced budgets with no deficits.

This is a balanced budget, Torys budget chief Councillor Gary Crawford said ahead of the vote.

Councillor Shelley Carroll disagreed.

Its only balanced if you don't look too hard.

For the first time, they supported a motion from Layton to implement a six-year plan that will ensure full cost recovery from industrial wastewater polluters.

One of the major challenges facing council this year was reversing a reliance on a hot housing market, as sales sagged in 2018, leaving a shortfall staff recommended covering, in part, by reducing how much money is forwarded from the citys general operating revenues to the capital plan.

The current state-of-good-repair backlog, including for thousands of Toronto Community Housing units that are crumbling, is expected to grow to $9.5 billion in 2028 if nothing is done  leaving those infrastructure concerns unresolved for another year.

David Rider is the Star's City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering Toronto politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider

Read more about:
Dan can wheel his home from Queen St. up to Pelham Park in 90 minutes.

Hes dubbed it the Cramper, a shed-like structure fashioned out of bits of lumber, insulation and corrugated plastic  with just enough room to fit a five-foot-seven adult.

Dan, who is currently homeless, constructed the mobile unit to serve as an alternative to shelter stays and begging friends for a place to sleep.

This is not a solution to the problem of homelessness, but its a solution to my problem, today, he said. He didnt want to use his name because of the stigma attached to his precarious living situation.

Equipped with wheels, his home gives him the advantage of being able to haul it from one location to the next, where he can climb into the cramped living quarters of the unit. Drawing on his long experience with homelessness, Dan conceived the novel idea he hopes could provide temporary shelter for people with limited alternatives.

Off and on Ive been between addresses since I was a teen, he said, describing a lifestyle brought on by his battle with alcohol abuse.

Read more:

Under the Gardiner: We check in on each other, thats kind of the reason to be here

Opinion | Rosie DiManno: Its tough to be homeless in Toronto  and its getting tougher

City of Toronto staff say $3 million cost overrun for shelter conversion wont happen again

The Cramper  six feet long, three feet wide  is not just for show. Dan has slept in it several times since it was completed in December, including Tuesday night. Now, hes ready to unveil it to the rest of the city.

The 62-year-old is bracing for public skepticism, because there are a lot of grey areas around what the rules are, he said. Can I walk it down the road without breaking the rules?

There is a lot of stigma associated to not having a permanent address.

His concept was born from a desire for privacy and the dignity you get from having a personal space, he said.

Im a loner, he said. I dont socialize well.

These days, Dan does everything he can to avoid shelters, where dozens of people are packed into a room.

You put me into a situation like that and I get stressed to the max, he said of surviving in settings where verbal abuse can easily escalate into physical confrontations.

Dan often uses the Out of the Cold Program, a seasonal volunteer-run initiative that provides relief from the weather and rotates through churches, synagogues and temples across Toronto.

Coping with the wintry elements was factored into the Crampers design.

While it was -12 C outside the Cramper on Tuesday night, Dan said it hovered around 3 C. inside the mobile home, where he was able keep warm by snuggling into two sleeping blankets, on top of a thin foam mattress, which folds up to create room for storage underneath.

Dan can lie fully stretched inside the structure, which carries a portable toilet and heater. The floor is held together by pieces of an old aluminum ladder, while the frame is stitched together with two-by-two strips of lumber.

Protection from the cold is helped by buffering the roof, sides and flooring with rigid insulation. The exterior is shielded with corrugated plastic, which blocks out water and snow, while being a lightweight shell, because this is pulled around by hand, Dan said.

The Cramper is slated for official unveiling Thursday, at the Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre. Dan gave the Star a sneak peek, and was quick to reveal one of his favourite features: it can be hauled by human power.

Dan has pulled the home, which sits on bicycle wheels, for up to an hour and a half, during a trip from Queen St. to the rear of the Pelham Park home where its currently housed.

Though new to Torontonians, Dans concept was inspired by a new approach gaining momentum in the U.S. Northwest. His handiwork was spurred by his discovery of the Conestoga Huts  60 square feet of indoor living space, resembling and inspired by the shape of Conestoga Wagons  championed by Community Supported Shelters of Eugene, Ore.

Dan said he could produce a second version of the Cramper for about $600. There are always things that can be adjusted or tweaked, he noted.

Eugene has embraced the huts as an alternative to tents, said Erik de Buhr, creator of the huts and director at Community Supported Shelters. While huts can be a stop in the transition from homelessness, de Buhr said it cant fix the housing crisis.

I definitely dont see it as a permanent solution, de Buhr said. We see it as a first step towards trying to find ways to integrate people into society.

Eugene permits impromptu settlements of up to 20 huts on parking lots and six at churches. More than 80 huts have been constructed and distributed over seven years, and interest is growing, de Buhr said.

At $2,500 (U.S.), the huts funded by donations and built by volunteers are more durable and require a bit more investment than Dans concept. But they take aim at the same issue  the housing crisis gripping North America, de Buhr said. But he noted were trying to prevent people from hauling their stuff around, so they dont have to spend so many hours dealing with where theyre going to park tonight.

Dan agrees with that argument, but we have to start somewhere.

His ingenuity is being lauded by a Toronto advocacy group.

It says a lot about how the vast majority of people experiencing homelessness want secure, stable housing, said Kira Heineck, executive lead of the Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness. It speaks to the incredible need we have.

She does have concerns.

How can I deny someone who have found a better way to sleep at night, she said. But I would worry about how safe he may be.
FULFILLED: The dying wish of a terminally ill Connecticut man. Trump supporter Jay Barrett, in palliative care with cystic fibrosis, wanted some contact with the president  and got a phone call. His sister helped make it happen, though she calls herself 100 per cent Democrat.

ABANDONED: The 20-year partnership between the celebrity chef Mario Batali and the Bastianich family of restaurateurs. The dissolution comes more than a year after Batali was accused by several women of sexual harassment and assault. Batali is also selling his shares in the Eataly supermarket chain.

LUCKY: The winner of a record $1.5-billion (U.S.) lottery jackpot in South Carolina. Lucky, and nice. The winner gave up a spot in line for someone else to buy a ticket, before buying one himself (or herself  the winner is anonymous). The Mega Millions numbers were randomly generated.

UNLUCKY: The U.S. envoy for Venezuela. Elliott Abrams was the victim of a prank by two Russians, who recorded him saying the U.S. wouldnt use force in the country unless the government did something completely crazy like attack the U.S. Embassy. Abrams thought he was talking to a Swiss official.

WELCOMED: Kylie Jenner, to the billionaire club. The reality star and makeup mogul has become the worlds youngest, according to Forbes. The magazine also called her the youngest self-made billionaire of all time. The Kardashian-Jenner family member ranked 2,057 on the list of 2,153 billionaires.

MOURNED: Karl Lagerfeld, at a show of his final collection. Paris fashion week honoured the late designer, against a backdrop of a Tyrolean village. The mood was described as mostly celebratory, but there was a moments silence, during which some guests couldnt resist taking selfies against the set.

LOST: A firefighters facial hair. The New Jersey man is suing, alleging the beard he grew for religious reasons had to be shaved. Alexander Smith says the department is threatening to suspend him. Guidelines ban beards, saying they can affect the seal of breathing masks. Smith is an air mask technician.

FOUND: A cave at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. Mexican archeologists say it has offerings of about 200 ceramic vessels in nearly untouched condition. The vessels appear to date back to about the year 1000. The cave had actually been found, but not explored, by locals 50 years ago.
CARACAS, Venezuela - The latest on the detention of a U.S. journalist by Venezuela security forces (all times local):

9:05 p.m.

Executives at a Miami TV station say their correspondent based in Venezuela has been freed from custody hours after security forces seized him at his apartment.

ABC affiliate Local 10 News reported Wednesday that freelance journalist Cody Weddle was at the airport outside Caracas waiting for a flight to the United States.

Weddles detention came the same day that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the expulsion of Germanys ambassador after the envoy expressed support for Guaido.

Virginia-born Weddle has worked as a journalist in Venezuela for more than four years. Its unclear why officials detained him.

Senior Venezuelan officials would not comment on the case.

___

4:45 p.m.

Lawyers and press freedom groups say Venezuelan security forces have seized a U.S. journalist at his apartment amid the countrys escalating political turmoil.

Neighbours say a squad of five men dressed in black uniforms and carrying a written order demanded entry into the Caracas apartment building of journalist Cody Weddle on Wednesday morning. They say the officers emerged two hours later with the Virginia-born Weddle carrying a large suitcase and equipment bag.

The U.S. State Department says it is aware of a missing journalist and warns President Nicolas Maduros government that the world is watching.
BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazils agency for indigenous peoples has sent off a rare and high-risk expedition hoping to contact a small, isolated group in the Amazon and reunite its members with some of their relatives, saying the move is necessary to avoid bloodshed in an area near the border with Peru.

A team of nearly two dozen sponsored by the FUNAI agency headed up the Coari River over the weekend looking for the group of at least 22 people who are members of the widespread Korubo indigenous community and live in the Javari valley, in the northern state of Amazonas. Brazils army, federal police and health ministry are backing the initiative, which could take weeks.

The last time FUNAI organized such a big expedition was in 1996, also in that region. The Javari valley, an area of more than 8 million hectares (nearly 31,000 square miles), or bigger than Hungary, is home to the biggest concentration of isolated indigenous peoples in Brazil, amounting to at least 11 groups.

The initiative is the agencys first major operation during the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who pledged to stop demarcation of indigenous lands and allow miners to operate in their lands.

Brazilian law says that contact with isolated tribes can be used only as a last resort to preserve their lives. Bruno Pereira, FUNAIs co-ordinator for isolated indigenous peoples who is leading the expedition, said the objective is to ease tensions between the isolated group of Korubos and a group of indigenous Matis who live about 12 miles (20 kilometres) away.

The Matis contacted the Korubos in 2013, initially in a friendly manner, but in the following year there was a deadly clash between the two groups, FUNAI said. After that incident, some of the Korubos migrated from the area, and reported that those who stayed mistakenly believed their relatives had been killed by the Matis. Some of the Korubos who left are in FUNAIs expedition.

Pereira said the Matis have repeatedly requested an intervention of Brazils government because they believe the isolated Korubos will want revenge soon.

There has already been conflict and death, Pereira told The Associated Press and three other media organizations at the FUNAI office in Brazils capital. This proximity of 20 kilometres between them is a catastrophic scenario. If there is a new confrontation with the Matis, the Korubos will respond in their traditional way: violence.

Plans call for the FUNAI team to go up the Coari and find a place to set up a camp. Members will then wait while the Korubos on the expedition try to persuade the isolated group to stay out of Matis territory. FUNAI analysts say there are no assurances the isolated group will believe that the Korubos in the expedition are in fact their relatives, which heightens the danger.

Pereira said the worst case scenario is that the Korubos fight, while the top hope is that the group accepts the visit of their relatives and decides to stop approaching the Matis area. The FUNAI team also includes doctors in case the uncontacted Korubos need support.

Matis have had contact with FUNAI since the 1970s. The Korubo community is in voluntary isolation, although some of its small tribal groups have been in contact with Brazilian authorities since the 1990s.
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Three Indonesian soldiers and at least one Papuan independence fighter were killed in a gunbattle, the military said, adding to more than two dozen deaths in the conflict since November.

A force of 50-70 rebels armed with military-grade weapons as well as spears and arrows attacked a group of 25 soldiers in Nduga district in a battle lasting several hours Thursday, said Muhammad Aidi, the military spokesman for Indonesias easternmost Papua region.

The jungled highlands district was the location of a December attack by Papuan fighters on workers at a construction site for the trans Papua highway that killed 19. Large numbers of people have been displaced by military and police security operations since the Dec. 2 attack.

At least 31 people have died since early November in an apparent escalation of attacks by the West Papua National Liberation Army. The figure doesnt include unconfirmed civilian deaths that Papuan activists say resulted from security operations following the Dec. 2 attack.

Aidi said the military killed seven to 10 of the Papuan fighters but only found one body, saying the rest were carried away by other fighters. Sebby Sambom, a spokesman for the liberation army, said five soldiers were killed and admitted no deaths for the Papuan fighters. Both sides claimed to have captured weapons.

An insurgency has simmered in Papua, which makes up the western half of the island of New Guinea, since the early 1960s when Indonesia annexed the Dutch-controlled territory.

Discrimination against indigenous Papuans and abuses by Indonesian police and military have drawn renewed attention globally as Indonesia campaigns for membership in the U.N.s human rights watchdog.

The exiled leader of the Papuan independence movement, Benny Wenda, in January presented a 1.8 million-signature petition calling for self-determination to the U.N. human rights chief in Geneva.

Aidi said the soldiers had arrived in the area to guard work on the trans Papua highway and the attack was unprovoked. According to Sambom, the soldiers had burned traditional dwellings and interrogated villagers, hoping to get information about liberation army positions.

Two helicopters sent to take the bodies of the three killed soldiers to the mining town of Timika were shot at but eventually landed after Indonesian forces returned fire, Aidi said.
LONDON - The U.K. government has decided to provide diplomatic protection to a British-Iranian woman detained in Iran for nearly three years.

The Foreign Office said Thursday that the move means Britain formally asserts that Iran has failed to meet its international obligations in its treatment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said legal proceedings against her in Iran were deficient and that she has been denied proper access to medical care.

My decision is an important diplomatic step which signals to Tehran that its behaviour is totally wrong, he said.

Hunt conceded the move is unlikely to lead to immediate results. The British government has long been seeking her release.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in April 2016 on charges of plotting against the Iranian government. Her family denies the allegations.
BERLIN - German authorities published a list of security requirements for telecoms networks Thursday, amid concerns about the possible involvement of Chinas Huawei in future 5G infrastructure.

The United States has been lobbying for allied countries and companies to block Huawei from providing equipment for fifth-generation cell networks, claiming it could facilitate digital espionage by the Chinese government.

Germany has made clear in recent weeks that it doesnt plan to pre-emptively exclude specific companies from bidding for contracts, but instead wants to set minimum standards that all suppliers have to meet.

According to the new guidelines published by Germanys Economic Ministry and the Federal Network Agency, systems for networks including 5G may only be sourced from trustworthy suppliers whose compliance with national security regulations and provisions for the secrecy of telecommunications and for data protection is assured.

Other key elements are that network traffic must be regularly and constantly monitored for any abnormality and security-related components have to be certified by Germanys IT security agency.

The guidelines also stipulate that networks should use components from several manufacturers and provide for redundancy of key equipment.

The agencies said companies will have an opportunity to comment on the guidelines.

It is unclear whether Huawei would be able to fulfil the requirements as they currently stand, because as a Chinese company it may be compelled to provide authorities in the communist nation with access to its networks.

The company this week opened a cybersecurity lab in Brussels in a bid to win over European governments and already has a similar centre in Bonn, Germany.

Its main rivals in the market for super-fast, 5G-network equipment are European companies Ericsson and Nokia.
ATHENS, Greece - Authorities in Greece say a fight between two groups of prisoners at the countrys largest prison left an inmate dead and injured nine others.

The Justice Ministry said the fight broke out Thursday in the psychiatric unit of Korydallos prison, a maximum-security facility in Athens.

One inmate died of his injuries and eight others were hospitalized outside the prison for theirs. A prison officer also was injured.

The ministry said further details would be announced Friday.

Greece has some of the most overcrowded prisons in the European Union. But the number of inmates per cell has improved in recent years due to prisoners having more opportunities for early release, as well as the construction of new prisons and additions to existing ones.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel rebuffed U.S. pressure last month to conduct a naval maneuver in Russias backyard aimed at provoking President Vladimir Putin, according to three people familiar with the talks.

At a Feb. 16 meeting at the Munich Security Conference, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urged Merkel to send German ships through a narrow channel between the Crimean peninsula and mainland Russia to show Putin that Western powers wont surrender their access to those waters, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The German leader declined, they said, citing reservations from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. A spokesman for the chancellor declined to comment.

The three kilometer wide Kerch Strait is a critical flashpoint as Putin looks to consolidate his control over the Crimean peninsula and eastern Ukraine in defiance of sanctions from the European Union and the U.S.

Merkel had indicated she was willing, in coordination with the French, to send a convoy through the waterway as a one-time maneuver but Poroshenko said that wasnt enough to solve his problem  he wants to ensure the strait is open permanently, the people said. France also refused to take part, judging the idea as an unnecessary provocation, according to another official who declined to be identified.

Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and has exploited its control of the channel to choke off access to Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov to the north. Last November Russian naval forces fired on and then seized three Ukrainian ships heading through the strait and Putin has brushed off demands from Merkel and Frances Emmanuel Macron that he free 24 Ukrainian sailors captured during the incident.

Russia last year completed a road bridge across the waterway to firm up Crimeas ties to the mainland and is working on adding a rail link.

Ukraine has been seeking international help to keep the Kerch Strait open ever since the incident last November. While the governments position on sending convoys through the strait is unclear, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin warned against using an agreement over its use to legitimize Russias annexation of Crimea.

The frustrated U.S. plan is a feature of the broader trans-Atlantic tension as U.S. President Donald Trump tries to cajole his European Union allies into replacing U.S. forces in hot spots in eastern Europe and the Middle East. Pences call in Munich for European forces to ensure stability of Syria after the U.S. withdrawal was also brushed off as were his demands for EU nations to follow the U.S. decision to abandon a hard-fought Iranian nuclear accord.

The vice presidents meeting with Merkel at the Bayerischer Hof hotel in the Bavarian capital came just after her most spirited defense of the global order yet. Drawing a standing ovation from senior security officials, she lambasted Trumps threats on imposing tariffs on European cars as a matter of national security, pledged Germany would reach the NATO spending goal at its own pace, and stick to the Iran accord.

The German leader had also observed with alarm an aggressive and coordinated U.S. diplomatic push to halt a Russian gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2. According to people close to her, that was one factor that led her to double down at Munich.

The gas link is emblematic of Merkels efforts to remain engaged with Putin despite Russian aggression in Ukraine and mounting evidence of its efforts to interfere with western democracy  not least in the 2016 U.S. election.

Whether a naval operation in the area would have a legal justification is unclear  a 2003 treaty between Russia and Ukraine determined the Sea of Azov is an internal body of water, meaning a third-party military presence would have to have the consent of Moscow and Kiev.

The U.S. has deployed the destroyer U.S.S. Donald Cook in the Black Sea, to the south of the Kerch Strait, and said NATO and American forces had beefed up their presence to send a signal to Putin.

They, frankly, dont like us in the Black Sea, General Curtis Scaparrotti of the U.S. European Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

Its international waters  and we should sail and fly there.

Read more about:
MINSK, Belarus - Ukrainian presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday promised life imprisonment for anyone convicted of military corruption allegations, including the incumbent president.

A media investigation last week detailed alleged embezzlement schemes in Ukraines military industry, including at a factory controlled by President Petro Poroshenko.

Those who earned even one black kopeck by exploiting the army and the war will sit in prison for life, Tymoshenko said at a news conference where she alleged Poroshenko simply laundered defence money.

The candidate, a former prime minister and a main figure of the 2004 Orange Revolution, has support nearly equal to Poroshenkos ahead of the March 31 election, according to polls. But both are behind another challenger, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Tymoshenko also alleged that the presidential administration was behind the candidacy of a rival with a similar name, Yuri Tymoshenko, to confuse voters.

Prosecutor-general Yuri Lutsenko has alleged that a member of Tymoshenkos party was behind an attempt to bribe the similarly named candidate to drop out of the race. Two people were arrested in the case Wednesday.

At the news conference, the former prime minister distanced herself from the mater.

It all is like the American movie comedy Dumb and Dumber, with Poroshenko and Lutsenko taking part, she said.

Tymoshenko also signed what she said was a commitment to end the fighting against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and to restore Russia-annexed Crimea to Ukraine.

We dont take on the obligation to end the war in two weeks because we are responsible politicians, but there is no doubt we will absolutely establish peace on all of Ukraines territory, and Donbass and Crimea will be returned, she said.

She also said she was prepared to commit to actions such as lowering household costs for gas and water, raising pensions and supporting families with multiple children.

Zelenskiy on Thursday met with U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale and complained that his campaign was under pressure from Ukrainian authorities.

Zelenskiy claimed that criminal cases have been opened against him and his video and film production company, although there is no official confirmation of such cases.

He also complained about listening devices that were found this week in the building where he has offices.

The Interior Ministry published photos of some of the devices and a member of the ministrys administrative council said such devices are available only under license from the national security service, the SBU.

The SBU on Thursday denied it was listening in on Zelenskiy and said the devices were placed there as part of a counterintelligence investigation. It said the service had begun criminal proceedings against the ministry for harming national interests by revealing SBU workings.
CAIRO - An international rights group voiced concern Thursday for the safety and well-being of an Egyptian transgender woman arrested in a police raid on her home in Cairo.

Amnesty International said Malal el-Kashef was arrested Wednesday night.

Due to her gender identity, Malak is at increased risk of torture by the police, including rape and sexual violence, as well as assault by other detainees, said Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnestys deputy Middle East and North Africa director.

Mughrabi said el-Kashefs arrest was related to her calls for protests following a Feb. 27 train crash in Cairo that killed at least 25 people. The London-based group said dozens of people have been arrested over anti-government protests related to the crash.

El-Kashefs lawyer, Amr Mohamed, said state security prosecutors ordered el-Kashef held for 15 days on a charge of belonging to a terrorist group, a reference to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Amnesty has called for her release immediately and unconditionally.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A hard-line cleric once thought to be a possible successor to Irans supreme leader was appointed head of the Islamic Republics judiciary Thursday, sparking concern from rights activists over his involvement in the execution of thousands in the 1980s.

Ebrahim Raisi was named to the post in a decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Raisis selection comes after he was trounced by incumbent Hassan Rouhani in the countrys 2017 presidential election. That loss, as well as other concerns, now have some analysts suggesting the move takes him out of the running to become the next supreme leader to replace Khamenei, who will turn 80 this July.

Speculation that Raisi could be named to the post also had sparked criticism from the U.S., which under President Donald Trump has withdrawn from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers.

Raisi, involved in mass executions of political prisoners, was chosen to lead #Irans judiciary. What a disgrace! Robert Palladino, a deputy State Department spokesman, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. The regime makes a mockery of the legal process by allowing unfair trials and inhumane prison conditions. Iranians deserve better!

Rumours began months ago that Khamenei would appoint Raisi, 58. He will replace Sadegh Amoli Larijani, a conservative cleric who is the brother of Irans parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani. Khamenei had appointed Larijani as the head of the countrys Expediency Council, which mediates differences between the countrys Parliament and its Guardian Council, Irans constitutional watchdog.

Khamenei has praised Raisi, a former Iranian attorney general, in the past.

In 2016, Khamenei appointed Raisi to run the Imam Reza charity foundation, which manages a vast conglomerate of businesses and endowments in Iran. It is one of many bonyads, or charitable foundations, fueled by donations or assets seized after Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution. These foundations offer no public accounting of their spending and answer only to Irans supreme leader. The Imam Reza charity, known as Astan-e Quds-e Razavi in Farsi, is believed to be one of the biggest in the country. Analysts estimate its worth at tens of billions of dollars as it owns almost half the land in Mashhad, Irans second-largest city.

At Raisis appointment to the foundation in 2016, Khamenei called him a trustworthy person with high-profile experience. That led to analyst speculation that Khamenei could be grooming Raisi as a possible candidate to be Irans third-ever supreme leader, a Shiite cleric who has final say on all state matters and serves as the countrys commander-in-chief.

However, his loss in the 2017 presidential election has cooled some to that, though he still garnered nearly 16 million votes in his campaign.

The supreme leader is trying to make a balance between all political factions in Iran by appointing Raisi, said Mehdi Motaharinia, a political science professor at Islamic Azad University in Tehran and Qom.

Activists, however, hold a far different view of Raisi over his involvement in the 1988 mass execution of prisoners at the end of Irans long war with Iraq. After Irans then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini accepted a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, heavily armed by Saddam Hussein, stormed across the Iranian border in a surprise attack.

Iran ultimately blunted their assault, but the attack set the stage for the sham retrials of political prisoners, militants and others that would become known as death commissions. Some who appeared were asked to identify themselves. Those who responded mujahedeen were sent to their deaths, while others were questioned about their willingness to clear minefields for the army of the Islamic Republic, according to a 1990 Amnesty International report.

International rights groups estimate that as many as 5,000 people were executed, while the MEK puts the number at 30,000. Iran has never fully acknowledged the executions, apparently carried out on Khomeinis orders, though some argue that other top officials were effectively in charge in the months before his 1989 death. Raisi reportedly served on a panel involved in sentencing the prisoners to death.

In 2016, members of the late Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeris family put out an audio recording of him criticizing the executions as the biggest crime in the history of the Islamic Republic.

Raisi has never publicly acknowledged his role in the executions, even while campaigning for president.

Given that his predecessor Larijani was named to a U.S. sanctions list, Raisi likely can expect the same. He also takes over a judiciary widely criticized by international rights groups for being one of the worlds top executioners, as well as conducting closed-door trials of those with Western ties.

Raisi should be prosecuted, not head of Irans judiciary, said Hadi Ghaemi, head of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. The selection of Raisi to serve as head of the judiciary will send a clear message: The rule of law has no meaning in Iran, and those who participated in mass murder will be rewarded.

Khamenei is expected to formally appoint Raisi as soon as Friday to a five-year term that can be extended.

___

Vahdat reported from Tehran, Iran.
BAGHDAD - Islamic State militants ambushed a bus carrying Shiite Muslim paramilitary fighters in northern Iraq, killing six militiamen and wounding 31 others in one of the deadliest attacks in recent months, Iraqi officials said Thursday.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi opened an investigation into the attack, which took place late Wednesday near the town of Makhmour, south of the northern city of Mosul.

An official from the government-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces said the bus was en route from Mosul to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to talk to reporters. He blamed the attack on the Islamic State group, which was vanquished in Iraq in late 2017 but has recently stepped up activities.

The wounded were transported to the nearest health-care facility in the nearby town of Qayyarah, in Nineveh Province.

IS, which seized Iraqi cities and declared a self-styled Islamic caliphate in territories it controls in Syria and Iraq, was formally declared defeated in Iraq following a three-year bloody battle that left tens of thousands dead and Iraqi cities in ruins.

The groups sleeper cells are still carrying out deadly attacks in northern and western Iraq and have in the past few months staged kidnappings, killings and ambush operations, particularly against Iraqi forces and the Popular Mobilization Forces, the predominantly Shiite and Iran-backed umbrella group that fought IS alongside the Iraqi military.

Also on Thursday, in the southern city of Basra police used tear gas to disperse a group of around 250 protesters outside the provincial building, headquarters of the local government.

Protesters, some of them wearing green vests similar to the gilets jaune yellow vests worn by protesters in France, denounced the corruption and mismanagement of services by the local and federal governments.

Earlier, co-ordination committees in al-Basra called on people to demonstrate peacefully.

The city saw violent riots in the summer over acute water pollution and crippling power outages, during which demonstrators set fire to government buildings, their anger reaching a boiling point.
OUTSIDE BAGHOUZ, Syria - Suspected Islamic State group members, including foreign fighters, sat in a long line in a field of bright yellow flowers, exhausted and hunched over as they were questioned and searched Thursday by U.S.-led coalition members and Kurdish fighters. They were the latest group to surrender from the besieged final pocket of Syrian territory held by the militant group.

Unlike previous days when hundreds of families emerged from the IS-held Baghouz village, the evacuees included dozens of fighting-age men, some of them wounded and limping on crutches days after U.S.-backed forces pounded the area.

Armed coalition fighters encircled the line of men, whose heads were bowed to the ground, to screen them. Separately, Kurdish fighters of the Syria Democratic Forces searched them for weapons and information.

The men were separated into three groups  Syrians, Iraqis and other nationalities. The SDF has besieged Baghouz since September, but the fight has been slowed because of the enormous number of civilians who have surfaced in the tiny shred of territory on the banks of the Euphrates River in eastern Syria  well over 10,000 have filtered out over the past two weeks.

The surrender of dozens of men Thursday could be a sign that the IS fighters inside are starting to wear down. But it is not known how many militants remain and SDF officials say they expect there are still hundreds inside vowing to fight. The territorial defeat of IS, which once presided over a self-proclaimed Islamic caliphate that straddled huge areas of Iraq and Syria, would be a milestone in the devastating four-year global campaign to crush the group.

But IS militants have scattered in the vast desert between the two countries and sleeper cells continue to stage guerrilla-style attacks. The top U.S. commander for the Mideast said Thursday that unless the group and its ideology are handled properly, IS will sow the seeds of future violent extremism.

What we are seeing now is not the surrender of (IS) as an organization but a calculated decision to preserve the safety of their families and preservation of their capabilities, said Gen. Joseph Votel, adding that the insurgents are going underground in remote areas, waiting for the right time to resurge.

Votels assessment provides a reality check to President Donald Trumps repeated assertion in recent weeks that IS has been defeated and lost 100 per cent of its caliphate, which once covered a vast territory straddling Syria and Iraq. Votel said the fight against IS and violent extremism is far from over.

On Wednesday night, seven Yazidis including two women, arrived at the SDF-controlled side. One of them identified herself as Israa, 20, and said she was sold as a sex slave to 10 different men.

Many Yazidis, followers of a minority faith, are still missing five years after IS militants stormed Yazidi towns and villages in Iraqs Sinjar region and abducted women and children. Women were forced into sexual slavery and boys were taken to be indoctrinated in jihadi ideology.

On Thursday, the two Yazidi women  Israa, 20, and Adiba Murad, 21  took off their veils and burned them in front of women fighters of the Womens Protection Units, or YPJ, that is part of the SDF.

With the latest evacuations, hundreds of IS fighters, Syrians and foreigners have surrendered or been captured. They are in addition to about 1,000 foreign fighters the SDF has been holding. Hundreds of Iraqi fighters and some French IS members have been handed over to Baghdad by the SDF.

Last month, Iraqs President Barham Saleh said that all IS militants who committed crimes against Iraq will be put on trial, including 13 suspected French militants who have been transferred to Iraq from Syria.

In Brussels on Thursday, Sweden floated the idea of an international tribunal to try foreign fighters who have fought alongside IS in Syria.

Swedish Justice Minister Morgan Johansson said he sees great advantages to be able to convict those who have committed crimes in connection with the fighting.

Here is a situation where I believe we can use the same model as international tribunals that investigated atrocities in Rwanda and Yugoslavia, he told reporters after a meeting of the European Unions Justice and Home Affairs Council.

_______

Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb in Baghouz, Syria; Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark; and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.
BEIRUT - The Latest on developments in, and relating to, Syria (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

Sweden is floating the idea of an international tribunal to try foreign fighters who have fought alongside the Islamic State group in Syria.

Swedish Justice Minister Morgan Johansson says he sees great advantages to be able to convict those who have committed crimes in connection with the fighting.

He said Thursday after a meeting of the European Unions Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels, here is a situation where I believe we can use the same model as the international tribunals that investigated the atrocities in Rwanda and Yugoslavia.

The Swedish plan had not been discussed.

___

2:05 p.m.

Scores of suspected IS members, including foreign fighters, are being screened and searched for concealed weapons and explosives after coming out of the last pocket of territory held by the Islamic State group in Syria.

The men, their faces covered, were divided into three groups  Syrians, Iraqis and those of other nationalities. Their names were taken and they were fingerprinted on Thursday outside the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz, where the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by U.S. troops, have been battling the militants since September.

Hundreds have left this week the tiny stretch of land controlled by IS along the eastern banks of the Euphrates River in Deir el-Zour province.

There were no signs of combat and calm prevailed for a fourth day to allow for evacuations.
MINNEAPOLIS - A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that two Minnesota boys must be allowed to compete on their high schools dance teams.

Juniors Dmitri Moua and Zachary Greenwald wanted to try out for their schools dance teams in suburban Minneapolis. But the Minnesota State High School Leagues bylaws say the teams are for girls only.

The boys sued in July and asked for an injunction to be allowed onto the teams, saying that the rules violate Title IX, the federal law that bars sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funds. A federal judge denied the request, but the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the judges ruling and remanded the case to the lower court to issue the boys injunction.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson initially denied the boys injunction, saying while the boys were harmed by the ban, the damage caused to the MSHSL would be extensive, if not irreparable in part because the league could fall out of Title IX compliance if they let the boys dance.

But the appeals court cited the 14th Amendment requirement of equal protection under the law.

Judge Michael Melloy wrote that if the injunction is granted, the boys may try out for their schools competitive dance teams.

The negative public consequences of such an allowance, if any, will be slight, Melloy wrote.

The boys attorney, Erick Kaardal, told the Star Tribune the competitive dance season is over this year, but the boys will be able to enter next year as seniors.

The boys filed their lawsuit with help from their parents and the Pacific Legal Foundation, which has worked on similar cases with students in other states.

In a statement, Joshua Thompson, senior attorney for the California-based foundation, said the organization is pleased with the appeals court decision.

Hopefully the League rescinds its discriminatory rule now, and all boys in Minnesota are allowed to dance competitively. If not, well continue the fight in court, Thompson said.

A spokesman for the MSHSL said the league is referring inquiries to its attorney, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.

___

Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
CHICAGO - Federal prosecutors accused six people of government corruption Wednesday, including alleging that the brother of a suburban Chicago mayor extorted payments from a strip club in order to keep its doors open.

The Justice Department announced the six were charged as part of an ongoing investigation of alleged corruption in the government of Harvey, Illinois.

Rommell Kellogg, 66, and Corey Johnson, 63, are charged with conspiracy to commit extortion. The men, who are cousins, stand accused of extorting payments from a Harvey strip club owner between 2012 and 2016 by threatening to shut down the business. The city allowed the business to operate despite knowing acts of prostitution were taking place there, prosecutors said.

Kellogg is the brother of Harvey Mayor Eric Kellogg. Prosecutors also describe Johnson as the cousin of a police personnel officer whos the brother of Kellogg and the de facto head of the citys Building and Planning Department. That person is identified as Individual B in the criminal complaint.

Two Harvey police officers, Derrick Muhammad, 70, and Derrick Moore, 48, are charged with falsifying police reports to shield their friends from gun charges. The acquaintances, a father and son, were convicted felons who could not legally possess a firearm, according to the charges.

In addition, former Dixmoor Mayor Donald Luster, 55, who worked as a private consultant for Harvey, and Will Wiley, 56, are charged with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery.

They allegedly solicited bribes from the owner of a towing company, but the owner was secretly co-operating with law enforcement and recorded conversations with the pair. In one recorded meeting, the undercover operative paid a cash bribe of $5,000 to Wiley, according to court documents.

Five of the six men appeared in court Wednesday and were released on their own recognizance. Rommell Kellogg was not in custody Wednesday afternoon, prosecutors said.

After the hearing in U.S. District Court, Derrick Moores attorney said that based on what he heard from federal prosecutors, it is possible more charges could result from their investigation.

FBI agents arrived at the Harvey Police Department early Wednesday.

This morning the Federal Investigators entered the Harvey Police Department, Harvey Mayor Eric Kellogg said in a statement. I have informed the chief of police to co-operate fully with the investigators.

Kellogg said his administration wont make further comment because an investigation is ongoing.
SAN DIEGO - The U.S. government kept a database on journalists, activists, organizers and instigators during an investigation into last years migrant caravan, infuriating civil liberties and media groups who called it a blatant violation of free speech rights.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection compiled information on dozens of people that included passport and social media photos, dates of birth, personal information and their suspected role in the caravan. Some of the people on the list were denied entry into Mexico and had their passports flagged or visas revoked.

On Thursday, officials said the departments independent watchdog was looking into the database, and stressed that journalists were not targeted based on their occupation or reporting.

CBP has policies in place that prohibit discrimination against arriving travellers and has specific provisions regarding encounters with journalists, said Andrew Meehan, assistant commissioner of public affairs.

The database was revealed Wednesday by the San Diego TV station KNSD. People listed in the documents provided to the station included 10 journalists, many of whom are U.S. citizens, and an American attorney. There were several dozen people in all on the list, including many labeled as instigators.

The intelligence-gathering efforts were done as part of Operation Secure Line, which was designed to monitor the caravan of thousands of people who began making their way north from Central America last year to seek asylum in the United States.

The government compiled the database at a time when the caravan was attracting considerable attention in the White House around the midterm elections, with President Trump repeatedly tweeting about the group.

Customs and Border Protection officials said extra security was implemented after a breach of a border wall in San Diego on Nov. 25 in a violent confrontation between caravan members and border agents. The confrontation closed the nations busiest border crossing for five hours on Thanksgiving weekend.

Officials said it was protocol to follow up on such incidents to collect evidence, and determine whether the event was orchestrated.

Such criminal events ... involving assaults on law enforcement and a risk to public safety, are routinely monitored and investigated by authorities, according to a statement from Customs and Border Protection.

CBP will continue to maintain a high standard of accountability and transparency with the media and public, Meehan said.

Lawyers and immigrant rights groups were going back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico late last year to help thousands of people who arrived at the border manage a complicated clogged asylum process and to help provide humanitarian aid as conditions worsened and illness spread. Journalists from several news organizations were also there to chronicle the story.

Bing Guan, a freelance journalist from New York and student at the International Center of Photography, said he and a colleague were stopped by U.S. agents while returning from Tijuana in December. A plainclothes agent who didnt identify his agency showed Guan a multi-page document with dozens of photos and asked him to identify people in the images. The agent then asked Guan to show him the photos he had taken in Tijuana.

Guan said the report of the dossiers confirmed the long-held suspicions he and other journalists had.

Its sort of a weird combination of paranoia and pride, Guan said. Paranoia because our own government is conducting these intelligence gathering tactics and these patterns of harassment in order to deter journalists from doing their jobs, but also a little bit of pride because I feel like Im on the right track, Guan said.

Two House Democrats asked CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan for any instructions to officers on the 59 people named, an explanation of why they were included and how often they were stopped for additional questioning.

The appearance that CBP is targeting journalists, lawyers, and advocates, and particularly those who work on immigration matters or report on border and immigration issues, raises questions about possible misuse of CBPs border search authority and requires oversight to ensure the protection of Americans legal and constitutional rights, wrote Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Kathleen Rice of New York, who both serve on the Homeland Security Committee.

The database was denounced by a variety of groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The database was built at a time of increasingly tense relations between the Trump administration and journalists, with Trump calling some members of the press the enemy of the people. There has also been an increase in false news stories proliferating on social media on both the left and right.

The Department of Homeland Security last year sought a contractor to monitor more than 290,000 news sources and social media around the world in several languages, and compile a database of journalists, editors, foreign correspondents and bloggers. DHS officials said the aim was to gather open-source information, not unlike alerts the public can set up through email.

And according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by The Nation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, another part of Homeland Security, tracked a series of anti-Trump protests in New York City last year, including several that promoted immigrants rights and one organized by a member of Congress.

The caravan documents, dated Jan. 9, are titled San Diego Sector Foreign Operations Branch: Migrant Caravan FY-2019, Suspected Organizers, Coordinators, Instigators and Media. According to the San Diego station, the material was used by Homeland Security and other agencies, including some FBI agents.

One dossier was on Nicole Ramos, the refugee director and attorney for Al Otro Lado, a law centre for migrants and refugees in Tijuana, Mexico. It included details such as the kind of car she drives and her mothers name, KNSD-TV reported.

A photographer working for The Associated Press was also on the list.

The Mexican government, which denied entry to some of the people in the database, said it disapproved of spying and didnt do illegal surveillance. Mexican officials also said they would ask the U.S. to clarify any possible cases of illegal spying.

Mexico welcomes all foreign visitors who, obeying immigration laws, carry out in our territory tourism or professional activities, according to a joint statement from the Foreign Relations Department and the Department of Security and Citizen Protection.

___

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press Writers Nomaan Merchant in Houston and Peter Orsi in Mexico City contributed to this report.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Two Sacramento police officers who killed an unarmed black man last year said hours after the shooting that they thought Stephon Clark had a gun because they saw a flash of light in his hands.

One officer said he believed the 22-year-old suspect had already fired at him when he shot back.

I thought that he had already shot at me because I saw what I believed to be a metallic reflection or muzzle flash  something coming at me, Officer Terrence Mercadal said in an interview with a detective. I was scared.

Clark was only found with a cellphone. Weeks of protests swept Californias capital city after his death and began again this week after state Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert separately announced that neither officer would be charged with a crime.

Mercadal and Officer Jared Robinet described Clarks shooting in police interviews released for the first time Tuesday. Becerra and Schubert said they relied heavily on those interviews and recordings from the officers body cameras in deciding that the pair were genuinely in fear for their lives when they shot Clark.

I honestly was really surprised that I hadnt heard gunshots yet, Robinet told investigators, saying that Clark was crouched in a firing position, arms outstretched. I was scared  like I say I was scared he was going to shoot us.

Mercadal had been with the department for two years at the time of the shooting on March 18, 2018, while Robinet had been an officer in Sacramento for four years. They were responding to calls of someone breaking into car windows and a homes sliding glass door.

They eventually pursued Clark into what was later revealed to be his grandparents backyard. Both said in interviews with detectives that Clark was standing in a position indicating he was preparing to shoot them.

Mercadal described ducking back behind a corner of the house after thinking Clark had shot at him. He described the situation as surreal and said everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

I was like, This dudes freaking shooting at me, Mercadal told the detective. Robinet said his reaction was, Oh s---.

When Mercadal looked out again from behind the corner, he said Clark had advanced toward them by 10 feet (3 metres) or more.

Something kicked in, he said, adding that he shot from a kneeling position while Robinet stood and began shooting at Clark.

The district attorney released an enhanced photo from an officers body camera showing a flash of light from Clarks position near his grandparents back door, which she said supported the officers statements.

Schubert and Becerra said video from a police helicopter and independent reviews of Clarks official autopsy showed he was advancing toward the officers, contrary to an autopsy conducted for his family that said he was shot from behind.

The officers did not identify themselves as police, but both said they ordered Clark to stop and show his hands.

Both said during their interviews that they recalled Clark bring described in dispatch calls as a black male wearing black clothing or a black sweat shirt. Becerras report said dispatchers did not describe the suspects race but that a resident and a deputy in the circling helicopter said he was wearing a hooded sweat shirt.

The officers knew Clark was black by the time they were interviewed, Becerras report says.

U.S. Justice Department officials announced Tuesday that they will conduct their own review to see if the officers violated Clarks civil rights.
WASHINGTON - A group of 23 Democratic and one Republican senators asked President Donald Trump Thursday to protect Venezuelan citizens currently in the United States from deportation, given the crisis rocking the South American country.

The 24 senators, including Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, asked Trump to designate Venezuelans for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Floridas Marco Rubio is the only Republican in the group.

The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Trump administration officials have moved to discontinue that specific protection for many countries, but a federal judge extended it last week for people from Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti and El Salvador while a preliminary injunction remains in effect.

Several lawsuits have been filed to avoid the termination of the TPS program.

Granting TPS to Venezuela is a concrete measure your Administration can immediately take to alleviate the suffering of innocent Venezuelan civilians and to demonstrate our nations commitment to supporting a safe democratic transition in Venezuela so that individuals can safely return home soon, the senators wrote in a letter.

TPS is granted to countries ravaged by natural disasters or war and lets citizens of those countries remain in the U.S. until the situation improves back home. About 300,000 people have received those protections.

The economy of the oil-rich nation has shrunk by more than half since 2013, according to International Monetary Fund data. Hyperinflation and shortages of food and other necessities have driven at least 3 million Venezuelans out of their country, according to the United Nations.

The U.S. and more than 50 governments recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president of the country.

They say President Nicolas Maduro wasnt legitimately re-elected last year because opposition candidates werent permitted to run.

The letter comes a week after five senators introduced a bill to immediately grant TPS for eligible Venezuelans.

U.S. Special Envoy to Venezuela Elliot Abrams told reporters earlier this week: We have no U.S. Government decision. All I can say is we are aware of the problem.

___

Luis Alonso Lugo on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/luisalonsolugo
FRANKFORT, Ky. - At least four Kentucky school districts were forced to close Thursday as hundreds of teachers called in sick to continue protesting what they believe to be anti-public education proposals in the state legislature.

It was the third time in the past week some districts were forced to cancel classes because of too many teacher absences. And it was the second closure in a row for Jefferson County Public Schools, the states largest district and one of the biggest in the country with more than 98,000 students.

Thursdays action comes one year after teacher uprisings in at least five states, part of a movement advocating for better pay, more education funding and protections for traditional pension benefits. This year, teachers have gone on strike in Los Angeles and Oakland, California. And in West Virginia, an upcoming special legislative session on education has teachers worried.

Teachers are severely concerned that if they dont stand up and come out of their classrooms for a moment, even today, to have their voice heard, then were not going to be able to effectively do our jobs, said John Calhoun, a 32-year-old teacher at Hebron Middle School in Bullitt County. Teachers feel last year was reactive. Last year legation was passed and then we stood up. We want to be on the forefront.

In Kentucky, teachers dont strike but they co-ordinate to all use their sick days on the same day, forcing districts to close because they dont have enough substitutes to cover classes. Hundreds of teachers wearing red shirts clogged the stairs leading to the House chamber, chanting so loudly they disrupted hearings before the state Supreme Court.

Usually in the fall its leaf blowers, today its people petitioning their government, Kentucky Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. told lawyers at the beginning of one case.

Statewide teacher groups, including the Kentucky Education Association and KY 120 United, had urged teachers to go to work Thursday. Some districts, including the states second largest system in Fayette County, sent delegations of teachers to Frankfort to keep the schools open.

But the call for a sick out in some districts spread quickly on social media, forcing administrators to close schools.

Teachers have many concerns, but the biggest one appeared to be House bill 205, which would grant tax credits to people who donate to scholarship funds for special needs children and those in foster care or low- to middle-income homes to attend private schools. An analysis by the Legislative Research Commission found it would cost the state $209 million in tax revenue by 2025  money teachers say should be spent on public education.

That bill has not made it out of committee yet. But teachers fear it could be attached to another tax bill that GOP lawmakers are negotiating behind the scenes. Thursday, House Republican Speaker David Osborne indicated that was unlikely.

I dont think theres a lot of sentiment for it, said Osborne, who represents Oldham County where schools were closed on Thursday. I think its disappointing the kids continue to miss learning opportunities.

But another bill teachers oppose is still alive. House bill 525 would strip the Kentucky Education Association, which mostly represents teachers, from controlling the nominations of most board members at the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System. Instead, the bill would let other groups nominate members, including associations representing superintendents and school boards.

After adjourning Thursday, lawmakers have just four legislative days left to pass bills this year. The legislature is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

Last year, the state legislature approved public spending of $4,000 a student, the highest dollar amount ever spent on public education in Kentucky. But a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that, adjusting for inflation, Kentucky is paying 13 per cent less per student since 2009.

Among the five states that had widespread teacher protests last year, Kentucky was the only state to have a decrease in inflation-adjusted spending, according to the report.

Republican Senate President Robert Stivers said in some ways that is a valid argument. But the noted lawmakers put an extra $2 billion into the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System, the first time in a decade that lawmakers had paid the full amount required to keep the system solvent.

Thats part of funding education, Stivers said.

Calhoun, the middle school teacher in Bullitt County, said that type of thinking creates a further schism between educators and lawmakers.

Sending the message that its either going to be your pensions or your classroom is the wrong message to send, he said.
LOS ANGELES - Three men were arrested Thursday as part of an illegal marijuana-growing operation in Southern California that was funded with money from China, federal prosecutors said.

Authorities seized nearly 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of processed marijuana and about 3,000 plants during raids on seven large homes in neatly kept San Bernardino County neighbourhoods, said Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.

The alleged co-ordinator of the scheme was a real estate agent who spent more than $5 million to buy the homes with money wired from the Guangdong Province of China, authorities said. Three guns and more than $80,000 in cash was seized from his home.

The case is the latest where overseas money backed black market marijuana growing operations in places where the drug is legal for adults, prosecutors said.

In states that have decriminalized marijuana, we have seen an influx of foreign money used to establish grow operations, with much of the marijuana being destined for out-of-state consumers, U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said.

In April, federal and local law enforcement agents seized about 100 houses in Northern California that were purchased with money wired to the U.S. by a Chinese-based crime organization and used to grow massive amounts of pot. Colorado authorities have said Cuban syndicates are behind some of the growing operations in that state.

The Southern California operation was being run by Lin Li, also known as Aaron Li, 37, who purchased the homes, ran the shell companies that managed finances and paid utility bills, prosecutors said.

Ben Chen, 42, and Jimmy Yu, 44, were allegedly cultivating the crop.

The three face charges of growing and distributing marijuana. They made initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, but did not enter pleas.

Attorney Anthony Solis, who represents Yu, said he had barely read the complaint and didnt have a comment. Attorneys for the other two defendants did not immediately return emails seeking comment.

Messages seeking comment left on Lis cellphone and an email address listed in court documents were not immediately returned.

Prosecutors said the pot was being sold in California and Nevada.

Marijuana is legally grown and sold in California for recreational and medical use, though it is strictly regulated. While it remains illegal under federal law, U.S. authorities have typically only prosecuted the most egregious cases.

In an affidavit supporting the arrests, Agent John Harris of Homeland Security Investigations, said Li pirated the enormous amount of electricity needed to grow marijuana under bright lights by tapping into power lines before they passed through a meter measuring use.

The investigation that lasted more than a year included tips from neighbours.

No one is ever seen coming or going, one neighbour complained, according to the affidavit. The smell of marijuana is overwhelming.
WASHINGTON - Even as Islamic State militants are losing the last of their territory in Syria, the militants who remain are unbroken and radicalized, and represent a serious generational problem, the top U.S. commander for the Mideast said Thursday.

Gen. Joseph Votel told the House Armed Services Committee that unless the extremist group and its ideology are handled properly, IS will sow the seeds of future violent extremism.

What we are seeing now is not the surrender of ISIS as an organization but a calculated decision to preserve the safety of their families and preservation of their capabilities, said Votel, adding that the insurgents are going to ground in remote areas, waiting for the right time to resurge.

Votels assessment provides a reality check to President Donald Trumps repeated assertion in recent weeks that IS has been defeated and lost 100 per cent of its caliphate, which once covered a vast territory straddling Syria and Iraq.

Votel said IS now holds less than a single square mile, a retreat that he called a monumental military accomplishment. But he said the fight against IS and violent extremism is far from over.

A stubborn group of militants has kept that sliver of land in the Middle Euphrates River Valley for weeks, and many militants have escaped and scattered to other areas of the country where they are now in hiding.

In time, said Votel, IS will emerge more as an insurgency, and the group will focus on smaller, low-level attacks, assassinations and other violence that could disrupt efforts to bring stability to the country. The U.S. and its allies, he said, will have to keep up the pressure on the group and continue to train and advise the Syrian Democratic Forces and other partners on the ground.

Lawmakers peppered Votel with questions about Trumps sudden decision to withdraw from Syria  which was abruptly announced in a tweet. Votel and Katie Wheelbarger, the acting assistant defence secretary for international affairs, said they did speak with coalition allies around the globe after the tweet to reassure them that the U.S. wasnt pulling out immediately.

Since then, Trump has agreed to keep about 400 U.S. troops in the country, including 200 in northeastern Syria and another 200 in al-Tanf in southern Syria. Votel said the key goal continues to be the defeat of IS.

What seems to be driving the withdrawal is the presidents split-second decision to send out a tweet saying were going to get out of Syria, said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the panels chairman. The argument we want to make is that whats driving our military decisions is military necessity.

Votel said there is no pressure on him right now to meet a specific withdrawal date, and he said the U.S. is making sure that we protect our forces, that we dont withdraw in a manner that increases the risk to our forces going through this.

House members also expressed deep concern about any potential for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the ongoing peace negotiations between the U.S. and the Taliban. Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy leading the talks, has said there have been slow, steady steps forward in the meetings in Doha.

Votel was asked if the conditions in Afghanistan, where the Taliban continues to wage attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, are ripe for a U.S. withdrawal. He answered that the political conditions where we are in the reconciliation right now dont merit that.

Lawmakers said the while they agree with the idea of negotiations for peace, they are not willing to trust the Taliban and believe the group and its al-Qaida links remain a threat to America.

The Taliban provided safe haven for al-Qaida militants who planned and orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the U.S.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - The high school party took an ugly turn. Drink cups were used to form a crude swastika. Nazi salutes flashed. Cameras clicked.

What appears to have been a woefully misguided attempt at humour turned into a national embarrassment for the Southern California city of Newport Beach, leaving behind outrage, disbelief and finally, hope for change.

On Thursday, the stepsister of Anne Frank visited privately with students who attended the party and described an emotional meeting in which she recounted her experiences at the Auschwitz death camp.

When she was freed at 16, Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, now 89, was left with only her mother. The rest of her family perished.

When the students saluted the swastika at the party last weekend, they didnt realize what it really meant, she said. They just thought it was a joke.

They apologized profusely during the meeting, which also included parents, community members and student leaders from Newport Harbor High School.

Eva Schloss, center, the stepsister of Anne Frank and a Holocaust survivor, listens to Charlene Metoyer, a board member of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District during a news conference Thursday, March 7, 2019, in Newport Beach, Calif. Schloss has met with Southern California high school students who were photographed giving Nazi salutes around a swastika formed by drinking cups at a party. Schloss says the students apologized for their behavior and indicated they didn't realize what it really meant.











Schloss said she hoped there would be more education about the Holocaust and a war now 75 years in the past. The photo was a reminder that the warning of the Holocaust  never forget  sometimes is.

The students dont realize what those signs really mean to victims who have gone through this period, she said.

She expressed confidence that the students have learned a lesson for life.

The photo shocked the wealthy seaside enclave known for its beaches and placid streets dotted with palms. Hundreds of people came to a meeting at the school Monday to express outrage.

I thought it was horrible what they did, Alan Ramirez, a 15-year-old sophomore at Newport Harbor, said Thursday.

He said he was disappointed because the photo gave the school a bad image, but he did not think any of those involved were actually embracing Nazism or intending to vilify Jewish people. Rather, he said, they were caught in the moment, going with the crowd.

A mother of two students who attend Newport Harbor said she and her children were appalled by the photo, and most of the student body felt the same way.

The majority of these kids were blown away by this, Kathy Mader said as she picked up her sons.

Mader said she and her children were thankful it was discussed at school.

I have to hope it was just stupidity, she said.

School Principal Sean Boulton declined to discuss the actions of specific students but said society as a whole has normalized hate language and hate speech.

They got caught up in a larger national issue, he said.

Like Frank, the world-famous Jewish diarist who died in the Holocaust, Schloss and her family went into hiding in Amsterdam during World War II but were betrayed. They were sent to the Auschwitz death camp. She was eventually liberated by the Russian army in 1945.

Schloss, whose mother married Franks father, Otto Frank, in 1953, has told her story in talks to schoolchildren and in books including Evas Story: A Survivors Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank.

Frank was born in Germany and fled to the Netherlands with her family as Adolf Hitler rose to power.

After Germany invaded the Netherlands, her father created a secret living space where she kept her now-famous diary for two years before being discovered. Frank died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at age 15.

___

Associated Press writer John Antczak contributed to this story from Los Angeles.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Authorities say the man who died in a shootout with the U.S. Marshals Service near West Virginia University is the same person who was wanted for shooting a police officer in Virginia last month.

The Morgantown Police Department on Thursday says Donquale Gray fired at marshals as he attempted to flee from them during a pursuit near the college Wednesday. At least one marshal shot back, and Gray was found dead at the scene.

Police say the 25-year-old Gray shot a Bluefield, Virginia, police officer during a Feb. 16 traffic stop. Officers returned fire and the car was found abandoned hours later in West Virginia. The officer who was shot was reported to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Autopsy results for Gray are pending.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians, much less than what was called for under sentencing guidelines.

Manafort, sitting in a wheelchair as he deals with complications from gout, had no visible reaction as he heard the 47-month sentence. While that was the longest sentence to date to come from special counsel Robert Muellers probe, it could have been much worse for Manafort. Sentencing guidelines called for a 20-year-term, effectively a lifetime sentence for the 69-year-old.

Manafort has been jailed since June, so he will receive credit for the nine months he has already served. He still faces the possibility of additional time from his sentencing in a separate case in the District of Columbia, where he pleaded guilty to charges related to illegal lobbying.

Before Judge T.S. Ellis III imposed the sentence, Manafort told him that saying I feel humiliated and ashamed would be a gross understatement. But he offered no explicit apology, something Ellis noted before issuing his sentence.

Manafort steered Donald Trumps election efforts during crucial months of the 2016 campaign as Russia sought to meddle in the election through hacking of Democratic email accounts. He was among the first Trump associates charged in the Mueller investigation and has been a high-profile defendant.

But the charges against Manafort were unrelated to his work on the campaign or the focus of Muellers investigation: whether the Trump campaign co-ordinated with Russians.

A jury last year convicted Manafort on eight counts, concluding that he hid from the IRS millions of dollars he earned from his work in Ukraine.

Manaforts lawyers argued that their client had engaged in what amounted to a routine tax evasion case, and cited numerous past sentences in which defendants had hidden millions from the IRS and served less than a year in prison.

Prosecutors said Manaforts conduct was egregious, but Ellis ultimately agreed more with defence attorneys. These guidelines are quite high, Ellis said.

Neither prosecutors nor defence attorneys had requested a particular sentence length in their sentencing memoranda, but prosecutors had urged a significant sentence.

Outside court, Manaforts lawyer, Kevin Downing, said his client accepted responsibility for his conduct and there was absolutely no evidence that Mr. Manafort was involved in any collusion with the government of Russia.

Prosecutors left the courthouse without making any comment.

Though Manafort hasnt faced charges related to collusion, he has been seen as one of the most pivotal figures in the Mueller investigation. Prosecutors, for instance, have scrutinized his relationship with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate U.S. authorities say is tied to Russian intelligence, and have described a furtive meeting the men had in August 2016 as cutting to the heart of the investigation.

After pleading guilty in the D.C. case, Manafort met with investigators for more than 50 hours as part of a requirement to co-operate with the probe. But prosecutors reiterated at Thursdays hearing that they believe Manafort was evasive and untruthful in his testimony to a grand jury.

Manafort was wheeled into the courtroom about 3:45 p.m. in a green jumpsuit from the Alexandria jail, where he spent the last several months in solitary confinement. The jet black hair he bore in 2016 when serving as campaign chairman was gone, replaced by a shaggy grey. He spent much of the hearing hunched at the shoulders, bearing what appeared to be an air of resignation.

Defence lawyers had argued that Manafort would never have been charged if it were not for Muellers probe. At the outset of the trial, even Ellis agreed with that assessment, suggesting Manafort was being prosecuted only to pressure him to sing against Trump. Prosecutors said the Manafort investigation preceded Muellers appointment.

Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani echoed the defence argument Thursday night, saying: I feel terrible about the way Manafort has been treated to this point. I think its not American to keep a man in solitary confinement to try to crack him.

Giuliani said he hadnt spoken to the president about Manaforts sentence.

Manafort was convicted of eight felonies related to tax and bank fraud charges for hiding foreign income from his work in Ukraine from the IRS and later inflating his income on bank loan applications. Prosecutors have said the work in Ukraine was on behalf of politicians who were closely aligned with Russia, though Manafort insisted his work helped those politicians distance themselves from Russia and align with the West.

In arguing for a significant sentence, prosecutor Greg Andres said Manafort still hasnt accepted responsibility for his misconduct.

His sentencing positions are replete with blaming others, Andres said. He also said Manafort still has not provided a full account of his finances for purposes of restitution, a particularly egregious omission given that his crime involved hiding more than $55 million in overseas bank accounts to evade paying more than $6 million in federal income taxes.

The lack of certainty about Manaforts finances complicated the judges efforts to impose restitution, but Ellis ultimately ordered that Manafort could be required to pay back up to $24 million.

In the D.C. case, Manafort faces up to five years in prison on each of two counts to which he pleaded guilty. The judge will have the option to impose any sentence there concurrent or consecutive to the sentence imposed by Ellis.

___

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said Thursday he will not run for president in 2020, becoming the latest Democrat to bow out of the White House race.

His decision comes after recent visits to several early-voting states to highlight his worker-friendly policy agenda. Brown said he believed his dignity of work tour succeeded in putting the struggles of average Americans on Democrats 2020 radar and that he can be most effective by remaining in the Senate.

I fight best when I bring joy to the battle, he told home-state reporters. And I find that joy fighting for Ohio in the Senate.

Several other Democrats, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and former Attorney General Eric Holder, announced this week that they would not join a presidential primary already packed with a dozen candidates. Democrats are awaiting word from former Vice-President Joe Biden and former Texas Rep. Beto ORourke about whether they will undertake highly anticipated campaigns that could reshape the race.

Brown said he will continue to call out President Donald Trumps phoney populism from his perch in the Senate and will do everything I can to elect a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate in 2020.

The 66-year-old had emerged as a potentially strong challenger to Trump after winning re-election in November in a state that Trump carried by nearly 11 percentage points in 2016. Browns victory was powered by strong support in many blue-collar areas of the state where Trump had prevailed.

Well-known for his progressive populism, Brown had pledged to be the most pro-union, pro-worker candidate in the Democratic field if he ran. But he would have faced a steep climb to the upper tier of the 2020 field.

Browns comfort in relating to Midwestern, working-class voters is a key element in the political appeal of Biden, who is seen as leaning heavily toward running. Also, Browns political brand has some similarities to the anti-corporate liberalism of two high-profile senators already in the race, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Even so, Brown proved himself less willing than those possible rivals to embrace the litmus-test politics of the left: He declined to sign onto Sanders Medicare for all single-payer health care plan or the Green New Deal , an ambitious framework to fight climate change.

Brown said he was not deterred from running by the large number of Democratic candidates, money concerns or his status as a white male in a party that prizes diversity. He said has never aspired to be president and, in the end, decided he could do the most good in the Senate.

Citing his record on worker issues, Brown said, I think my message has been strong enough that other candidates are picking it up.

___

Schor reported from Washington.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Florida sheriff who was suspended by the governor and accused of failing to prevent the Parkland school shooting filed suit Thursday seeking his job back and alleging Gov. Ron DeSantis improperly ousted him for political reasons.

Suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel argues in the lawsuit that DeSantis engineered a political power play that interferes with the right of the public to determine their elected official, and says the governor failed to prove that Israel acted incompetently or neglected his duties.

DeSantis, who suspended Israel from his elected position in January and appointed an acting sheriff, had said Israel displayed poor leadership and failed to keep families and children safe before and during the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.

It is lamentable that Scott Israel refuses to be held accountable for his actions and continues to hold disregard for the law, DeSantis spokeswoman Helen Ferre said in a statement.

She said the governor suspended Israel in accordance with Florida constitutional authority, citing neglect of duty and incompetence in both the Parkland slayings and a mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale Airport in early 2017.

The Florida Legislature, which has final say on the suspension, is reviewing the matter. The Senate president has appointed a special master to preside over a hearing on the suspension, that was slated to take place next month. But Senate President Bill Galvano said Thursday the Senate will wait for Israels court proceedings to play out before going ahead with a hearing on the ousted sheriff.

Before the shooting, Israel had changed his departments policy to say deputies may confront shooters, instead of shall. Critics say that gave eight deputies an excuse for not confronting the gunman during the shooting.

In the lawsuit, Israel said DeSantis did not identify or describe any mandatory duty neglected or incompetently fulfilled by Sheriff Israel and therefore the executive order is an invalid exercise of authority. Sheriff Israel is entitled to reinstatement as Broward County Sheriff.

The ousted sheriff has already said he intends to run for office again next year.

Israels attorney Ben Kuehne said the voters have the right to decide who the sheriff is and have spoken overwhelmingly in Sheriff Israels favour.

Because the Governors suspension order was made for blatantly political and partisan reasons, as shown by the governors comments during his State of the State speech, it is apparent there is no constitutional basis for Sheriff Israels suspension, Kuehne said in an email.

DeSantis gave the speech earlier this week to signal the start of the Legislative session. In the speech, he referenced the Parkland shooting, saying the failures of the former sheriff are well-documented.

Tony Montalto is president of Stand With Parkland, the group that represents the victims families. He said Thursday that DeSantis did the right thing by appointing a new sheriff. Montaltos 14-year-old daughter Gina died in the shooting.

The multitude of failures that occurred around Stoneman Douglas points to one thing  incompetent leadership, he said about Israel.

Several parents of slain students had pushed the newly elected Republican governor to remove Israel, a Democrat. Calls for Israels ouster began shortly after the shooting when it was revealed that the deputy assigned to guard the school, Scot Peterson, had not gone into the building to confront the shooter, but took cover outside.

The heat increased after it was learned the sheriffs office received and disregarded a call in 2016 and another in 2017 warning that suspect Nikolas Cruz, now 20, was a potential school shooter. Deputies also had about 20 contacts with Cruz as a juvenile  mostly over arguments with his now-deceased mother.

Israel has said none of those contacts warranted an arrest. Law enforcement members of the state commission investigating the shooting have agreed with that conclusion.

Cruz remains jailed, charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder.

__

Terry Spencer contributed to this report.
MANASSAS, Va. - An Army staff sergeant convicted of fatally shooting his wife and a rookie Virginia police officer has been sentenced to seven consecutive life terms.

News outlets report that Ronald Hamilton was formally sentenced Thursday in the 2016 killings of Officer Ashley Guindon and his wife, Crystal Hamilton.

The 28-year-old Guindon was working her first shift as an officer with the Prince William County Police Department when she responded to a domestic violence call at the Hamiltons home in Woodbridge. Two other officers also were shot by Hamilton, but survived.

A jury spared Hamiltons life in October when it deadlocked on whether he should get the death penalty.

During the sentencing hearing, Guindons mother called Hamilton a vicious, cold-blooded, heartless killer.

Hamilton wiped tears from his face during the hearing.
WASHINGTON - The Latest on the appearance of the new chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before the House Financial Services Committee (all times local):

1:50 p.m.

Rep. Maxine Waters of California says shes committed to reversing what she calls the damage done by Mick Mulvaney, who headed a consumer watchdog agency created in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

Mulvaneys replacement testified Thursday before the House Financial Services Committee, which is now under the control of the Democrats.

They opposed the appointment of Kathy Kraninger because she has no relevant experience to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Kraninger told the lawmakers that shes pushing broader efforts at the CFPB to prevent harm to consumers. She insisted, under a shower of criticisms and questions from Democrats, that she is not under the political influence of Trump or Mulvaney.

_______

1:40 p.m.

The governments consumer watchdog agency is coming under new scrutiny from the House Financial Services Committee, now under the control of Democrats who say appointees of President Donald Trump to lead the organization have undermined its mission to protect Americans.

A fresh rebuke came Thursday from Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the chair of the committee, with the new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau providing testimony.

In December Kathy Kraninger succeeded Mick Mulvaney, now Trumps acting chief of staff. Mulvaney hired Republican political operatives to oversee nearly all of the agencys operations.

Democrats opposed Kraningers appointment in the fall, saying she had little relevant experience.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Latest on Donald Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort (all times local):

9:50 p.m.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has sentenced to nearly four years in prison for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians, much less than what was called for under sentencing guidelines.

Manafort, sitting in a wheelchair as he deals with complications from gout, had no visible reaction as he heard the 47-month sentence. While it is the longest sentence to date to come from special counsel Robert Muellers probe, it could have been much worse for Manafort. Sentencing guidelines called for a 20-year term, effectively a lifetime sentence for the 69-year-old.

Manafort has been jailed since June, so he will receive credit for the nine months he has already served.

__

6:59 p.m.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been sentenced to 47 months in prison for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians.

Judge T.S. Ellis III imposed the sentence Thursday, capping the only jury trial following indictments stemming from special counsel Robert Muellers investigation.

A jury last year convicted Manafort on eight counts, concluding that he hid from the Internal Revenue Service millions of dollars he earned from his work in Ukraine.

Federal sentencing guidelines had called for a term of roughly 20 years, but few observers had expected he would receive a sentence that long.

Manafort still faces sentencing in the District of Columbia, where he pleaded guilty in a separate case connected to illegal lobbying.

__

6:35 p.m.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is asking a federal judge for compassion as he awaits sentencing on tax and bank fraud charges.

Manafort spoke to the judge while seated in a wheelchair in an Alexandria, Virginia, courtroom. He says that saying I feel humiliated and ashamed would be a gross understatement.

He says he has had time to reflect on his actions during months of solitary confinement and does not recognize the person he has been made out to be in the media. He says he hopes to have an opportunity to show the world who I know I really am.

Manafort was prosecuted as part of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, but this case isnt related to Donald Trumps campaign. It stems from his overseas work advising politicians in Ukraine.

__

4:10 p.m.

The sentencing hearing for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has begun in Virginia with the 69-year-old entering the courtroom in a wheelchair.

A jury in Alexandria convicted Manafort last year on eight counts of tax and bank fraud related to his overseas work advising politicians in Ukraine.

Federal sentencing guidelines call for a term of roughly 20 years, though few observers expect Manafort to receive a sentence that long.

Neither prosecutors nor defence attorneys offered specific recommendations for a length of sentence, but defence attorneys are hoping for a term significantly less than 20 years.

Manafort also still faces sentencing in the District of Columbia in a separate case related to illegal lobbying.

In court papers, defence lawyers say Manafort is suffering from gout and poor health.

__

9 a.m.

Donald Trumps ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort could be set to receive a decades-long prison sentence for tax and bank fraud.

The 69-year-old Manafort was convicted last year of hiding from the IRS millions of dollars he earned from his work advising Ukrainian politicians.

Manafort is scheduled to appear Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, where he could get 20 years under federal guidelines but his lawyers have sought a shorter sentence.
Youd think a law aimed at eliminating the gender wage gap in Ontario by allowing men and women doing similar work to compare their compensation would be a self-evidently good thing.

And not just for women, who currently earn on average close to a third less than men, but for their families and the economy.

So why then, just in time for International Womens Day, has the Ford government handed women a lump of coal by announcing it is delaying the introduction of the Pay Transparency Act?

The reasons given by Labour Minister Laurie Scott are many. But none of them holds water.

Indeed, it appears more and more that the Progressive Conservatives are delaying womens access to fair wages simply because theyre willing to throw women under the bus to curry favour with their friends in business.

First, Scott says the former Liberal government passed the legislation without consultation, so now the PCs must do it.

In fact, the Gender Wage Gap Steering Committee, established by former premier Kathleen Wynne, held year-long consultations on the legislation that included 14 town hall meetings across the province plus meets with local businesses, organizations and experts before issuing a detailed report and recommendations.

How Scott could forget that seems strange, considering she was one of the PC representatives on the Standing Committee on Social Policy which, itself, held hearings on the Pay Transparency Act.

Second, a quick glance at the PCs consultation questions suggests they are designed to elicit what the Ford government wants to hear so it has an excuse to water down the legislation.

After all, the consultation is not asking women: How does earning 30 per cent less than a man impact your ability to pay bills, educate your children, pay for housing and retire?

Instead it is asking business owners questions such as: How many hours do you anticipate pay transparency reporting will take in total?

(Not many, as it turns out. This is basic payroll information that every employer has at their fingertips, Fay Faraday of the Equal Pay Coalition points out.)

Third, Scott professes concern that the act, as it stands, may be too onerous for businesses (as if trying to pay bills while earning 30 per cent less than men isnt onerous for women). After all, she says, the government wants to send a message that Ontario is open for business.

In fact, the reporting requirements for Ontario businesses  which, even as it stands, wont fully kick in until 2021  are far from onerous compared to those in some other countries.

For example, in Iceland, a country where the pay gap is a mere 5.7 per cent, legislation actually puts the onus on employers to prove they are paying men and women equally. If they arent, the government will shame them.

Further, businesses in other countries that have already adopted pay transparency laws, such as Australia, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the United Kingdom, have managed to adapt. Is the Ford government suggesting Ontario businesses arent as nimble as their counterparts in those countries?

Fourth, if Scott is truly concerned about the impact the Pay Transparency Act will have on business, as she says, she need only take the time to review studies that suggest closing the pay gap would actually boost the economy. This is far from a new thought: a 14-year-old report from the Royal Bank, for example, found closing the gap would generate $168 billion (some $213 billion today) in new economic activity every year in Canada.

The reality is the Pay Transparency Act would boost the economy, not burden businesses, while simply giving women a tool to enforce their right to equal pay for the same work.

It would do so by requiring employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings and track wages by gender and diversity. Most importantly, employers would have to post annual reports of the tracking results online, where employees could find them, and submit them to the ministry which would also make them publicly available.

In other words, employers paying men more than women for the same work would be outed.

That simple move is expected to rapidly cut the wage gap by half, based on experience elsewhere in the world.

Thats not too shabby, considering the gap has been stubbornly stuck at around 30 per cent for the past 30 years.

The gap hasn't budged even as women achieve higher levels of education and increase their numbers in formerly male-dominated job categories. In fact, even in career fields dominated by women, such as nursing, men still make more.

What is patently clear  apparently to everyone outside of the Ford government  is that nothing short of full transparency will close the gap.

In 2019 its time to give the go-ahead to the Pay Transparency Act and prove Ontario is open for business, but not for discrimination.

Read more about:
China says pest concerns justify ban on Canadian canola, online, March 6

China cancelled its orders for canola and now they are claiming it is because the canola is contaminated.

That will put a halt to other countries ordering our canola.

Tactical move on the part of China.

They are holding our trade and our citizens hostage and what is our PM doing  he is chasing his tail just to please Washington 

Make America Great Again!

Forget about Canada.

China wants to play Lets Make A Deal.

Our PM should get into the game as a player and not Americas pawn.
Trudeaus former senior aide Gerald Butts offers much different version of events in the SNC-Lavalin scandal, online, March 6

Regarding the political catastrophe of seeing federal Liberals implode and resignations of worthy ministers and key PMO staff to come, it is clear this whole affair was a concerted long-term effort to get SNC-Lavalin off the hook. It was reported that SNC-Lavalin lobbied for the last two years to have a new law included with the budget bill passed last year. It would defer criminal prosecution against the company in favour of fines. That way they can still bid on Canadian contracts, as sleazy as these execs have been.

To save jobs and bolster the Liberal election fortunes in Quebec, including the district of Papineau, the PM and PMO have been pushing a get out of jail card for these SNC-Lavalin execs from the beginning.

Lets call a spade a spade. Why were the individuals involved in the Libyan bribes not charged? This criminal proceedings deferment scheme  now lawful  would allow those SNC-Lavalin jobs to be saved.

But, in doing so, no justice is being served to the sleaze-ball execs at this company who engaged in criminal activity because the company and 9,000 jobs are too important for these people to go to jail. People want jobs, but this is not the point.

This bumbling government should have charged the individuals, not the company, and passed better legislation to permit this.

I would suggest that charges proceed against these less-than-savoury corporate individuals ASAP to change the channel on this and show the Canadian public that the PM is seeing that justice is served. If not, there is no credibility left for the PM and the gang, and this ship goes down and no amount of bailing water on this is going to keep the PMO and party in business in the next election.

Butts is compelling, but it boils down to a he said, she said, scenario that continues to cast doubt and which will do little to stop the political bleeding. Sadly, the PMO and caucus chose to save the company and the accused individuals with this new law. And that was a flawed piece of legislation and idea to manipulate outcomes from the beginning.

Deferred prosecution agreements should not allow criminal execs an escape chute because they are holding thousands of jobs, good people and families hostage.

John Hopkins, Breadalbane, P.E.I.

Read more about:
Late on a Saturday evening in early February, I received an email from an experienced editor in the Star newsroom questioning the journalistic ethics of a Canadian Press article published on the Stars website earlier that day that included nasty anonymous criticism of Jody Wilson-Raybould.

Call me a dinosaur but this CP story falls below our standards, Patrick Ho, a rewrite editor on the Stars digital desk wrote, on seeing the Feb. 9 article about the former attorney-general of Canada.

Headlined, Wilson-Raybould entered politics hoping to be a bridge builder the article included quotes and paraphrased statements critical of Wilson-Rayboulds personal and political style from an insider who did not want to be identified.

Ho, who first joined the Star in 1991, and spent some time working at CP, called out the Stars publication of this anonymous cheap potshot.

Anonymous source taking a shot at the subject of the story? I recognize things have changed in journalism, but this fundamental principle shouldnt, he said.

I told Ho I agreed with his concerns and shortly before midnight sent a note about this matter to Editor Irene Gentle. She too agreed, stating unequivocally, If it is below our standards we should not have it.

Gentle then took immediate steps to ensure the CP article, scheduled to be published in the next days newspaper, was edited to remove any material that did not meet the Stars standards on providing anonymity to confidential sources. The online article was then replaced with the Stars edited version.

All involved acted quickly that evening because of our shared understanding that the Stars journalistic standards have long stipulated that nameless people cant use the Star to sling mud at others in the news. This is rooted in the legacy of legendary former, now deceased, Star managing editor Ray Timson. His fairness dictum, known around the Star newsroom as the Timson Rule, tells us that the Star must avoid allowing anonymous sources to use the Star to attack an individual or organization.

The Timson Rule lives on in the recently updated Torstar Journalistic Standards Guide. Its section on anonymity and confidential sources states: We do not provide anonymity to those who attack individuals or organizations or engage in speculation  the unattributed cheap shot.

People under attack in our publications have the right to know their accusers.

In the days following publication of that article, that anonymous criticism reported in the story became part of the heated political controversy that has played out in Ottawa and beyond since the Globe and Mail first reported allegations that the Prime Ministers Office had pressed the then attorney-general and justice minister to find a solution to settle criminal charges against Quebec engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.

On Feb. 14, the Prime Ministers Office condemned those comments from the unnamed Liberal party insiders after the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) published an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, demanding he immediately and categorically publicly condemn the racist and sexist innuendo about Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould that is being spread by unnamed elected officials and staff of your government in media reports.

The UBCIC described those anonymous comments as cowardly low-blows.

In journalism, as in politics and life, it is never too late to do the right thing.

This week, following its own internal review of that Feb. 9 news report, The Canadian Press issued an apology regarding that article for falling short of its standards on granting anonymity to sources.

The Canadian Press has detailed policies on the handling of anonymous sources, says the statement, now published online with the Stars previously edited version of the story. They were not followed in this case. We will redouble our efforts to ensure that our journalists use unnamed sources carefully, sparingly and only when circumstances demand it.

Given the Stars original concerns about this report, I think CP did do the right thing here in carefully examining the story and how it fell short of its policies on when to grant anonymity to confidential sources. Its detailed note about how it fell short of its journalistic standards shows admirable transparency and accountability to Canadians.

Indeed, this is a critical reminder for journalists and our readers that while confidential sources are vitally important to journalism, as The Canadian Press Stylebook itself says on this subject, we can show leadership in working to stop misuse of unnamed sources.
Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner has done the Doug Ford government, and everyone, a huge favour by declining the controversial offer to assume the job of top cop in the province.

Predictably, Ford is looking the gift horse in the mouth, refusing to cut his losses and move on.

An independent appraisal of the controversy leads to an obvious conclusion: Ford never should have appointed his personal and family friend as OPP commissioner. And having done so, and having been called out resolutely and persuasively by partisan and non-partisan voices, Fords best response would have been to seek an out.

But thats not the premiers style. Like another bombastic, politically incorrect politician who has little patience for process and nuance and public perception much less real conflict of interest, Ford has doubled down.

Clinging to what best fuels his brand of politics, hubris and arrogance, Ford says: the opposition parties reject Taverners appointment because they hate the police; hes spoken to hundreds of OPP officers who tell him, in effect, Taverner is just what the provinces police force needs; those opposing Taverners appointment are hell-bent on politicizing the process; any clear-minded person would see that the 72-year-old Taverner is ideal for the job.

Actually, Taverner is not at all suited. And by withdrawing his name from consideration, Taverner has shown better judgment than his friend.

This is not about Taverner. He is a capable police leader, now into more than half a century of serving and protecting the people of Toronto. Its about process, abuse of privilege, and the arrogance of a man who thinks that, as the top political dog he can bark and howl and have people cower in fear and dread, without effective blowback.

Unexpectedly, OPP Deputy Brad Blair would have none of the appointment and publicized what is blatantly obvious. The appointment of Taverner smacks of conflict of interest, political influence peddling, and bad judgment.

The fact that the job requirements were lowered to a level that allowed Taverner to qualify should be reason enough for concern. Then there is the involvement of Mario Di Tommaso, a deputy minister in the ministry that oversees the police, Taverners former boss at the Toronto police force, and a member of the interview panel for the vacant OPP top job. It was Di Tommaso who fired Blair this week, sparking further controversy.

The Ontario Provincial Police must be extremely independent of the government. Its head, the commissioner, cannot have any allegiance or ties, real or imagined, to the ruling party or its leader. It is the OPP that is called to conduct investigation of wrongdoing by the politicians at Queens Park. When such an investigation is engaged, all parties must have confidence that the head of the investigation, the boss, is independent and impartial and not influenced in any way by historical or present loyalties.

Imagine if Ford wants to investigate an opposition party member and calls on the OPP? Taverner, as OPP commissioner, would be in the awkward position of having to prove his independence. Understandably, the party being investigated would question their ability to get a fair hearing. Conversely, how strenuously would Taverner pursue a case against his buddy Doug?

None of this is fair. Its the reality. In fact, Taverner may go out of his way to be tough on Ford, or be overly fair to Fords political opponents. But even that is a problem. It is impossible to avoid the reasonable apprehension of conflict of interest.

I sit on a community board with Taverner, and this association brings clearly to mind why politics, conflict of interest, and the easy perversion of a good thing is such a pervasive and ticklish issue.

We are both committed to Trust 15, a community organization started to help the kids of Rexdale find their place in this city, experience opportunities beyond their priority neighbourhood and become proud and brilliant citizens.

Taverner is so vested in this group that he allows them to set up office at the local police division and hold community meetings there.

Now, this is in Fords riding. Having been made aware of Trust 15, likely through Taverner, Ford opened his cottage to the Trust 15 kids for a summer day trip. But heres where the balancing act becomes wobbly.

Challenged about his racial attitudes, Ford exaggerated his affiliation with the Black community, claiming he and his brother, the late mayor Rob Ford, had done more for Black people than any other politician in the country. Pressed to recall the Fords benevolence to Black folks, reporters challenged the PC leader.

Cornered, Ford cited Trust 15s cottage visit  totally missing the point that if you have to cite such civic actions towards constituents you are paid to serve, you have already lost the argument. Better to do what Taverner does, every day, in more ways, with no publicity.

Doug Ford didnt get it then. He doesnt get it now. He is incurable, by choice, not chance.

Royson James is a former Star reporter who is a current freelance columnist based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @roysonjames

Read more about:
An unrepentant Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones is refusing to rule out hiring another pal of Premier Doug Ford as head of the Ontario Provincial Police despite the controversy that derailed the Ron Taverner appointment.

Her comments came Thursday as the lawyer for former deputy OPP commissioner Brad Blair  who was fired after blowing the whistle over possible conflicts in the Taverner appointment and a customized van sought by Ford  threatened to sue the province for wrongful dismissal.

Im not going to presuppose who the next commissioner is, Jones replied when asked if the next hiring process will different than the one in which Taverner was able to apply only after the rank qualifications were lowered. Taverners former Toronto police boss, who is now deputy minister of community safety and dismissed Blair on Monday, was on the interview panel.

I believe that the process was absolutely appropriate and when the integrity commissioner releases his report well have more details on that, Jones added in reference to a probe by ethics watchdog J. David Wake into political interference in the hiring of Taverner, a Toronto police superintendent.

Opposition parties jumped on the remarks from Jones a day after Fords office announced Tavener, 72, was withdrawing from the appointment, which had been on hold since December pending the Wake report.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she was disgusted by Joness response, given widespread concerns about the independence of the OPP with a Ford crony at the helm.

If the government hasnt learned that yet then we are in big trouble. Thats why a public inquiry is necessary, Horwath said of her push for Wake to broaden his probe, which has seen Ford and others interviewed privately.

Wakes report is due in the near future and will be posted on the integrity commissioners website, said spokeswoman Cathryn Motherwell.

Ford, who showed up in the legislatures question period for the first time this week, has been tone deaf to the concerns about police independence, charged Green Leader Mike Schreiner.

Twenty seven people applied for the job, Schreiner said. Surely we can find an OPP commissioner whos qualified to do the job whos not friends with the premier, creating an unacceptable conflict of interest.

Its like the minister doesnt get it, added interim Liberal Leader John Fraser.

Jones said no decisions have been made on hiring the next OPP boss, and maintained that her deputy minister Mario Di Tommaso will remain involved despite criticisms of bias regarding Taverner and Mondays high-profile firing of Blair.

He will have a role, as is completely appropriate, added Jones, who further defended the hiring process for Taverner, a Toronto police officer for five decades.

When an individual is as active and engaged with the public as the premier is, when someone who has served for 50-plus years in the city of Toronto, it would have frankly amazed me that they didnt know each other, she said.

The premier has repeatedly denied any role in the Taverner hiring, saying it was handled by the civil service and a private executive recruitment firm.

In the legislatures question period, Ford angrily called New Democrats the police-hating party and was twice censured by Speaker Ted Arnott.

The premier said Taverner was the best candidate to fix the systemic problems that were hearing non-stop in the OPP. The stories Ive heard are appalling.

Ford did not elaborate but has previously spoken of low morale and promised help is on the way for front-line officers.

Lawyer Julian Falconer said Blair will seek full accountability and compensation for the actions leading to his termination.

Taverners surprise exit bolsters the former deputy commissioners case and vindicates Brad Blairs unwavering resolve to protect the OPP from political interference, he wrote. It is sad in the extreme that the destruction of a good mans career is the price to be paid for exposing political cronyism and abuse of power.

The Taverner debacle has taken a toll on Ford and his government.

Blairs lawsuit, which asks the Ontario ombudsman to probe the Taverner appointment, revealed Fords quest for a customized OPP van with a powered reclining leather sofa, 32-inch TV with Blu-ray DVD player, and a minifridge.

The lawsuit also exposed private  and profane  conversations in which the premier pressed to have only officers he trusts on his OPP security detail.

It feels like Im not being heard, like Im getting f  ed around by the OPP and Im getting more pissed off, he added, according to dialogue reported in a July 18, 2018 email and revealed in Blairs court filings.

Im going to call the commissioner and sort this out, the premier continued. If I have to, I will drive up there to see him face-to-face so he can see how serious I am about this. If he cant sort this out then maybe a new commissioner can make it happen.

Vince Hawkes retired as OPP commissioner last fall. Interim commissioner Gary Couture will remain at the helm until a replacement is found.

Read more:

Ron Taverner, Fords longtime friend, abandons controversial appointment as OPP commissioner

Ethics probe into Taverner hiring as OPP commissioner interviews Fords policing minister

Ron Taverner was considered for other top jobs with province, sources say

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Rob Ferguson is a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1

Read more about:
What would the last member of a species say as it stares into the abyss of extinction, if it could?

Perhaps it would offer an ode to the many that came before it, each marching toward an unknown destruction, or possibly an enraged screed against the forces that snuffed it from once-flourishing existence.

When it comes to a Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon, soon to be the last one on Earth, it's something else: defiant joy.

"The last Blockbuster in Australia is closing at the end of the month making our Bend Store the Last Blockbuster on the Planet!!!!" Sandi Harding, the general manager of the store in Bend, wrote Monday on Facebook. "Holy Cow it's exciting."

Harding's Blockbuster earned awe in July, when two Alaska locations were shuttered, making it the sole survivor from the 9,000 video rental stores in the United States that once stood at the company's zenith in 2004, before succumbing to the digital whims of once-loyal customers. It also earned exasperation from others who thought the company was already dead. "Why are you still here?" customers asked Harding.

But there was a cousin across the ocean. A Blockbuster outside Perth in western Australia had survived the same annihilating calculus that made video stores untenable: Netflix, Hulu, Redbox. The rise of TV binge-watching, on-demand video and smartphones.

No more. The Perth store rented its last videos Thursday, it announced with "great sadness," on Facebook, and will reopen to sell its stock on Friday through March 31, when the doors close for good. "It's been a great ride but all good things must come to an end," the store wrote on Facebook.

That store is selling everything - even parts of itself, as the Blockbuster is literally dismantled. "DVDs, Blu-Rays, shop fittings and fixtures" will be price-tagged, the store wrote.

Harding announced the Australia store closure with a mix of achievement and sympathy.

"We all have a kinship with the other Blockbusters," she told CNN. Harding has been with the company for 14 years and joined the Bend location in May 2005.

It has been quite the fall from movie rental primacy. In 1989, a Blockbuster store opened every 17 hours. But in the late 2000s, it seemed that the stores were closing at that same pace. Just a handful survived in the past few years since Dish Network bought the company for $320 million in 2011 and closed most of the remaining locations. The owners of the Bend store pay a licensing fee to Dish Network.

That store has been buoyed by gawkers hit by a wave of nostalgia for what family movie night used to be. Tourists pose for selfies in front of the iconic blue and yellow lettering and occasionally stop in to buy something, Harding said.

Even the IBM computers are relics that wow customers young and old. They run the same floppy disks from the 1990s, Harding told The Washington Post last year. "No one can hack these computers, so that's a good thing," she said.

But the store is not a punchline. Customers come from all over to find the films that streaming services and Redbox just don't carry, she said.

And yet, Blockbuster is a signpost for a bygone era.

In the trailer for "Captain Marvel," which arrives in theaters Friday, superhero Carol Danvers falls to the Earth and crashes through a store roof like a meteorite. The camera pans to reveal the '90s timeline without words - Blockbuster's trademark torn-ticket marquee.

Perhaps, in a few months, you can find the film on the shelf in Bend.
Disney is requiring guests at its Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, to reserve specific times to visit a new Star Wars attraction as the company looks for ways to manage an expected surge in crowd size.

Disney historically hasn't required guests to make reservations to enter its parks, although it has stepped up efforts in recent years to manage demand, such as introducing a tiered-pricing system that charges visitors more during peak times.

The reservations for the Star Wars themed land won't cost anything, but it will be subject to availability. Guests will also need buy tickets to enter the park, which cost as much as $149 on peak days. Visitors staying at one of Disney's hotels in California will receive a reservation for that day, the company says, and more details on the reservation system will be released later.

The world's largest theme-park operator announced the opening dates Thursday for the two new attractions, dubbed Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The one at Disneyland in Anaheim will open May 31, followed by another Aug. 29 at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida.

The Disneyland reservations will be required from May 31 to June 23. Dennis Speigel, a theme park consultant in Cincinnati, said Disney may have to extend the reservation period and take other steps to control crowds.

"I don't think they really know where the upper limits are on demand," Speigel said.

Disneyland is already the second-most visited theme park in the world, after Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando.

At 14 acres each, the new attractions will be the largest additions the company has built on an existing park.

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the openings at the company's annual meeting Thursday in St. Louis, adding that the dates were a little earlier than originally expected.

"No one has ever attempted anything of this magnitude," Iger told shareholders Thursday. He said one overarching bit of advice he gave park designers: "Make sure they're ambitious."

In a sign of how quickly Disney is moving, one of the attractions, which puts guests in the middle of a battle between the First Order and the Resistance, won't be open until later this year. On opening day, guests will be able to ride in a model of the Millennium Falcon space ship and participate in other activities such as a build-you-own-droid workshop.
European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom urged the U.S. to negotiate removing tariffs on industrial goods, including vehicles, as a first step to rebuilding trust in their trade relationship before tackling thornier issues such as agriculture.

"There is a lack of trust at this moment and that is why we're proposing instead of increasing tensions between us, instead of having these tariffs, instead of saying that Europe is a security threat to the American economy, OK let's rebuild that trust," Malmstrom said at an event at Georgetown Law School in Washington on Thursday.

"If we start with industrial goods, which is much less complicated and which will be beneficial for both sides, we maybe can rebuild that trust," she said, adding there's no appetite in the EU right for a full-blown trade agreement with the U.S.

Malmstrom said the EU is willing to discuss autos in the negotiations, but she repeated the bloc wants farm products kept out of talks. The EU still doesn't have a negotiating mandate, but Malmstrom said she hopes official discussions will start "soon."

The U.S. has also cited a lack of goodwill in the relationship as a hindrance to negotiations.

U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland last month blamed a lack of progress on Europe's failure to follow through on commitments it made when European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and President Donald Trump agreed to new trade talks in July. At the time, Trump promised not to impose new tariffs while the discussions were ongoing.

The deteriorating relations come at a difficult time. The U.S. Commerce Department last month delivered its recommendations on whether Trump should slap tariffs on imported vehicles to protect national security. Trump used the same argument last year to hit steel and aluminum imports with duties, which led the EU to retaliate with its own targeted tariffs.

Malmstrom said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer didn't comment on those findings when she met him in Washington on Wednesday. The EU is "watching carefully" for the outcome, she said.

Trump, who has kept the report secret for now and doesn't have to announce a decision until late May, has urged the EU to remove its 10 percent tariff for vehicle imports. The U.S. charges 2.5 percent on cars, and 25 percent on light trucks.

Trump has threatened levies of as much as 25 percent on foreign-made vehicles. Companies and governments from Europe to Asia have warned Trump that such tariffs would hurt the U.S. economy and disrupt the global auto industry.
When Martha Powers and Larry Gomberg heard the news about Hurricane Florence bringing horrific winds and catastrophic flooding to Wilmington, North Carolina, they grimaced.

Then, they felt relieved.

"What if we had decided to build our retirement home there," they said to each other in September, when the storm was making headlines. "What if our brand-new home had flooded?"

Like many of the 10,000 baby boomers hitting retirement age each day, Powers and Gomberg have decided to relocate. After coming close to putting a deposit on a house in Wilmington in the summer, they found a 55-and-over community just an hour from where they live in Fairfax, Virginia. They're building a house in Lake Frederick, Virginia, near the Shenandoah Mountains, and will move there this month.

They examined a variety of factors, including access to quality medical care, affordability, culture and safety. That includes safety from hurricanes and deadly wildfires - like the ones that gutted the rural town of Paradise, California, a popular retirement area filled with senior communities.

Retirees who want to relocate should begin by reviewing their finances with an expert, and then start to build pro and con lists for each potential city or rural area, said Annette Fuller, editor of the magazine and website Where to Retire. "Get past the fantasies and evaluate real life," she said.

During their two-year search, Powers, 63, and Gomberg, 67, kept separate lists. "At first, I thought I wanted to walk on a beach every day," Powers said. "Larry thought he wanted to live in California. I was trying so hard to like California, I was making myself sick.

"Then, we visited Lake Frederick again and agreed we liked the people, the location, and decided we could still use our same doctors if we wanted to. Suddenly, walking on a beach didn't seem as important as all those things."

They visited potential new houses several times and spent the night, research that is invaluable, Fuller said. "Visit the area during every season to make sure the climate suits you," she said.

And when figuring out affordability, be sure to determine the cost of flood insurance and other insurance you might need, depending on the location.

Asked whether retirees should rule out locations where sea levels are rising or wildfires are becoming more destructive, Fuller said: "It's impossible to answer that with a blanket answer. Many areas of the country have some sort of risk, from hurricanes to flooding, to tornadoes, to sinkholes, to wildfires, to scorching heat, to high winds, etc."

She added that finding an area that has "zero risk is very difficult."

Problems with mobility often surface around ages 82 to 85, said Ginny Helms, president of LeadingAge Georgia, making safe surroundings very important.

That dangerous reality surfaced in November during the California Camp Fire blaze. Younger retirees who were still driving were more likely to flee to safety, while some older residents with no means of escape were left behind.

That was almost the case for 93-year-old Margaret Newsum, who was standing outside her home with her walker looking for help as the fire approached, CNN reported. She was whisked off to safety by Dane Ray Cummings, a garbage collector who had been told to cut short his route. Instead of doing that, he looked for people in trouble. He took her home to care for her rather than take her to a shelter. Since the fire, she's been staying with one of Cummings's close friends.

Older people are resilient, but Helms said seniors should anticipate changes that might accompany aging.

That's a message Rita Parsons said she understands. Parsons didn't want to have to worry about maintaining a home after her husband died two years ago. That's when Parsons, 74, moved to Greenspring Village, a continuing-care facility with accommodations for independent living, assisted living and nursing-home care in Springfield, Virginia. Within such communities, residents can move from one level of care to another.

"They take care of everything for me here," she said. "They come and change the filters in the heat pump twice a year. If a lightbulb burns out in the kitchen, I don't have to deal with a ladder to change it. All I have to do is call building services. This makes life easy."

Parsons doesn't have children, and said she feels very secure about having her doctors on campus and optional nursing care, if she needs it. When she first moved in, she said, a bad knee made climbing stairs difficult. "But since I've lived here, I walk a couple miles a day, go to the gym and swim several times a week," she said. "Now, my knee is fine, and I try to use the stairs as much as possible to stay in shape."

At Greenspring, home to nearly 2,000, she walks to church services, goes to movies, and participates in square dancing, line dancing and classes.

"We say it's a lot like living on a cruise ship, but you don't have to deal with motion sickness," she said.

Plus, it's a tightknit community. "I had lived in a condo at one point in my life and never got to know my neighbors," she said. "One of the best things about living here is everyone looks out for each other.

"I'll be here the rest of my life."

Powers and Gomberg expect to age in place, too. If they can no longer live independently at Lake Frederick, Gomberg said, they will have the financial resources to move to an assisted-living facility.

"We've visited several of them, and we know they're not for us yet," he said.

"Then when we toured Lake Frederick - we knew it was right. Many people there are just like us, professionals from the D.C. area, well educated and liberal. We knew we'd have lots to talk about with them. We also liked the layout of the homes. We have plenty of space, and I found my man cave."

- - -

Lloyd is a writer at Kaiser Health News (KHN), a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
Confusion around which goods would be subjected to U.K. import tariffs in a no-deal Brexit is exasperating companies as they seek to finalize preparations for the split.

The government will reveal details of the plan only if Prime Minister Theresa May's deal to quit the European Union is rejected by Parliament next week, an official said Tuesday, without providing a timeline for publication.

The Freight Transport Association, which represents U.K. cargo firms and truckers who could face long lines at ports if a no-deal split were to trigger customs duties, said clients need clarity on tariffs now in order to evaluate the costs and consequences for their goods after the Brexit deadline on March 29.

"It is unfair and unreasonable for the government to claim it is business's responsibility to prepare for a no-deal Brexit when ministers are unable to provide essential information for importers and exporters," FTA Deputy CEO James Hookham said in an emailed statement.

The Department for International Trade intends to forgo the majority of tariffs in an effort to keep down consumer prices for products such as cereals and ease disruption to supply chains for items including autoparts shipped from the EU, Sky News reported Tuesday. Others items such as beef, lamb and dairy products, finished cars and some textiles would retain tariffs to protect British producers and manufacturers from overseas competition, it said.

The chances of a no-deal Brexit have receded after May promised Parliament a vote on whether to crash out of the EU without a negotiated settlement should her own proposals be defeated, though companies say they're still having to plan for every possible scenario.

A survey of 273 businesses by the Confederation of British Industry suggests 90 percent of firms are concerned about the prospect of no-deal border delays, with close to three-fifths of respondents saying tariffs are a major worry.

Dropping U.K. tariff barriers unilaterally may not be wise, because it would mean losing a key bargaining chip in future trade negotiations, said Ross Denton, a trade specialist at consultants Baker McKenzie in London.

Britain would also struggle to protect vulnerable industries while keeping consumer costs in check. "For U.K. farming, for example, scrapping tariffs would be devastating," he said. "But if it is to be protected, the logic of keeping prices down through tariff cuts is problematic."

The tariff regime wouldn't just affect imports from mainland Europe.

A U.K. trade deal with Japan to replace one agreed to by the EU won't be ready in time for a no-deal Brexit, Trade Secretary Liam Fox said last month. Goods arriving after March 29 - and already in transit - could therefore be liable to customs duties that might make them unsellable, according to the FTA.

Companies taking part in the CBI survey also said that, on balance, Brexit has hurt sales and investment while increasing costs and stockpiling.
Bloomberg photo by Gabby Jones.

Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Kelly Bennett will step down after seven years at the job, extending a stretch of upheaval in the streaming giant's top ranks.

Bennett oversaw marketing while Netflix grew from a relatively small streaming service into one of the world's largest studios. The company now has more than 139 million customers and a market value of $155 billion.
Carlos Ghosn's bet on a new team of lawyers paid off this week, thanks to a legal ace who orchestrated his release on bail from a Tokyo jail after more than 100 days.

Takashi Takano, part of an "All-Star" defense brought on after Nissan and Renault's former chairman fired his first attorney, convinced the Tokyo District court and Ghosn himself to accept the strict terms of his bail after two failed attempts. Then, like a scene from a movie, he disguised his client as a construction worker and whisked him away to his office in Akihabara, Tokyo's neon-lit electronics district.

The 62-year-old lawyer is a colorful figure in Japan's legal circles, known as a contrarian with a willingness to take on tough cases, including a mass murder. Junichiro Hironaka, who's been the public face of Ghosn's new legal defense team, said even he wasn't aware of the caper ahead of time, having left it all up to Takano.

"I was surprised when I heard about it," said Hironaka, whose nickname is "The Razor."

If Ghosn's sensational release is any indication, the saga that has Japan riveted likely will continue playing out with plenty of drama, as his team prepares its counterattack against charges of falsifying financial records and breach of trust. It's a more aggressive approach that they wager will put them in the rare company of the less than 1 percent of defendants who've beaten the legal system.

Japanese prosecutors say Ghosn engaged in a pattern of financial misconduct. He denies wrongdoing and argues the charges stem from a conspiracy within Nissan to block his plan to merge with the carmaker Renault, its largest shareholder.

Once Takano got to work, it took less than 48 hours after Ghosn's third bail request was granted for him to be released, with the prosecutor's appeal rejected and 1 billion yen ($9 million) in bail paid. "I am grateful for Takano-san," Hironaka said. "He's an expert on bail and has all the know-how." Takano wasn't available for comment.

Ghosn was hustled out of the gray, drab Tokyo Detention Center with the multitude of cameras trained on him hardly noticing. The former jet-setting executive was dressed in a blue uniform, cap and surgical mask. He slipped into a silver van with the guards and drove away, with watchers assuming it was one of the staff going home. A few lucky - or possibly tipped off - media outlets caught his exit and followed the vehicle.

To pick up Ghosn, the bearded Takano arrived in jeans, sneakers and a flat cap, looking more like a grandfather running an errand. Social media was abuzz with his resemblance to Academy Award-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. The Suzuki van that picked up Ghosn, made to look like a maintenance vehicle with a ladder on top, is registered in Saitama - a prefecture northwest of Tokyo where Takano has roots and built his law career.

The strict bail conditions that Ghosn agreed to - such as camera monitoring and restricted mobile phone and internet access - may have been the deciding factor in his release, legal experts said. The terms are similar to another case Takano worked on, said Tokyo-based defense lawyer Seihou Chou, who used to work for Takano's office and outlined his thoughts in a blog post.

Fluent in English with degrees from Waseda University and SMU Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Takano probably also helped convince Ghosn to agree to those conditions. He's been a vocal critic of the Japanese justice system. Above his Tokyo office plaque is the logo of a crudely drawn eagle, accompanied by the words "Best Defense."

Takano is known for taking on murder cases, including defending a member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult behind the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo. Considered one of the country's great criminal-trial lawyers, he has taught, written legal textbooks and starred in a DVD series on successful courtroom tactics.

In a public birthday message for Takano's 60th birthday, lawyer Yoshikazu Otsuka said Takano had no common sense and was childish. But then he went on to outline how others should seek to emulate his friend.

"I think Takano has countless virtues, but to me the best one is his sense of humor," Otsuka said. "It's impossible to escape his charisma."

- - -

Bloomberg's Jeff Sutherland contributed.
Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins

"Brave Ballerina" (Henry Holt, Ages 3-7) begs to be read aloud. The book, by Michelle Meadows, tells the story of Janet Collins, a gifted dancer born in New Orleans in 1917, a time when many ballet companies would not accept a black artist. Meadows' simple rhyming narrative introduces young listeners and readers to the moments that made up Collins' road to success as a dancer - including the young ballerina's own hard work and the strong support of her family - and to the heartbreaking ways she was thwarted by racial segregation. Ebony Glenn's graceful, friendly illustrations show Collins as a child, arms outstretched in the joy of dancing, and later as a young woman working to perfect her art in lithe poses and wearing beautiful costumes. Collins became the Metropolitan Opera's first African-American prima ballerina. The triumphant closing lines, "This is the dancer, /bold like the sun, /a prima ballerina/ in 1951" ring both victorious and beautiful. This is a wonderful and inspirational biography for aspiring young dancers and other athletes.

Kathie Meizner

---

Hedy Lamarr's Double Life

Hedy and Her Amazing Invention

Hedy Lamarr's initial heyday came during World War II, when she starred in Hollywood movies and raised funds for the American War effort. But the glamorous actress (1914-2000) also had an unusually inventive mind, and she is belatedly being celebrated for her discoveries. There have been magazine articles, a major biography and a feature-length documentary (aptly named "Bombshell"); now there are two illustrated books for children celebrating her work. Hedy Lamarr's "Double Life" (Sterling, Ages 5 and up) starts by showing how Lamarr's creativity emerged early in her Viennese childhood: Her father encouraged her scientific thinking, and she loved to play pretend and to imitate others. Laurie Wallmark's lively biography also explains Lamarr's most brilliant idea (conceived with the composer George Antheil), which improved the guidance system for torpedoes and led to today's wireless communications. Katy Wu's digitally created illustrations add cartoonish energy and color. Jan Wahl's "Hedy and Her Amazing Invention" (Penny Candy, Ages 7 to 10) proceeds in seven short chapters and may leave the slightly older reader wanting more. Either way, Morgana Wallace's charming collage illustrations convey the intelligence and charisma of this newly appreciated pathbreaker.

Abby McGanney Nolan

---

Watch Us Rise

At the beginning of the powerful, intelligent YA novel "Watch Us Rise" (Bloomsbury, Ages 13 and up), best friends Jasmine Gray and Chelsea Spencer announce their goal for junior year: to "totally shut down the patriarchal systems of oppression." Co-authors Renee Watson, who won a Newbery Honor last year for "Piecing Me Together," and poet and activist Ellen Hagan chart the course as their two protagonists take strong action to do just that. Marginalized and even mocked for their feminist stance on body shaming, racism and artistic integrity, Jasmine, a black actress and writer, and Chelsea, a white poet, start a club "specifically for women" at their progressive high school. When their blog goes viral, the young women must deal with the mixed reactions: affirmation from kindred spirits, resistance from fellow students and disciplinary action from the principal. Watson and Hagan intersperse the girls' poems and reflective essays throughout the story, and these raw pieces punch at the beauty standard, sexual harassment and gender inequality, at their school and in society. The novel emerges as especially nuanced when the girls must work through occasional self-doubt and a fraught incident in their friendship. And it offers a model of complex, tender men in Jasmine's gravely ill, community-minded father and her supportive friend Isaac. Through this intense year of change and growth, Jasmine and Chelsea persist in speaking their truth, offering a galvanizing, sharply realized example for readers struggling to find their own voices and authentic place in the world.

Mary Quattlebaum

---

bookworld@washpost.com
EDWARDSVILLE  On this weeks episode of Segue, the weekly radio show that explores the lives and work of the people of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, co-host Greg Budzban, PhD, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) dean, interviews Gerald Jerry OBrien, professor in the Department of Social Work. This episode of Segue will air at 9 a.m. this Sunday, March 10, on WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound and siue.edu/wsie.

A native St. Louisan, OBrien earned a bachelors in social work from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1982. Upon earning his MSW from the University of Missouri in Columbia, he worked as director of the Springfield Development Center in Illinois. He later achieved a doctorate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1997.

OBrien joined the SIUE faculty in 1998 and earned tenure in 2004. The professor was the chair of the Department of Social Work from 2015-2018. Primarily, his research focuses on the use of eugenics and persons with disabilities, the history of social justice and injustice, metaphor analysis, and disability policy.

Earlier this year, OBrien became the recipient of the Colleges 2019 William and Margaret Going Endowed Professorship Award. The distinguished award honors faculty who fundamentally connect their scholarship to their teaching and transform students lives.

The Going Award is given to a faculty member who embodies the teacher-scholar model, Budzban says. Your work and application did a great job in displaying your dedication to that model.

Upon reading your award application, I noticed you connected your work in disability studies to the eugenics movement. I had no idea how extensive the eugenics movement was in this country during the early 20th century,

People [may not] know that there was an American eugenics movement in the United States that came before the Nazis, OBrien explains. Many perceive the movement as radical, but it had widespread support from sitting presidents and in states throughout the country.

According to OBrien, over 30 states developed forced sterilization laws during that time. As many as 70,000 people were forcibly sterilized, and German eugenicists prior to Hitlers regime found themselves worried about the American movement.

Germans believed America was working to create the stronger race and forced them to create their own policies, OBrien says.

With official sanction, was forced sterilization the primary mode of this eugenics movement in the United States? Budzban asks.

For the most part, OBrien responds. Most states had some type of program. For instance, Illinois had involuntary institutionalization laws that forced individuals who tested as morons into institutions.

Another major aspect of this movement was immigration reform. Eugenics played a role in supporting the 1920s restrictive immigration policies, which primarily affected nations that were seen as ethnically undesirable. Unfortunately, this included countries with heavy Jewish populations. The U.S. was largely closed off to Jewish immigrants.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was supportive of welcoming Jewish refugees, particularly children, into the United States, a contentious point between her and husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Much of the southern United States had policies that condoned the forced sterilization of African Americans who were part of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children federal assistance program or received similar benefits. Unfortunately, most states found these sterilization programs as beneficial.

Flash forward to the present day, your Going Award application related the eugenics movement to the Human Genome Project, Budzban says. This desire to eradicate disease is not all bad, of course. There are dangers to this type of research.

Indeed, OBrien mentions. Writers in the disabilities movement worry that too much emphasis has been placed on cures and not enough focus will be put on accommodating those with disabilities.

A large part of OBriens professional experience prior to becoming an educator focused primarily on how society perceives disabilities and treats people with disabilities. After earning a bachelors in 1982, he worked as a house parent with St. Louis Arc, a professional organization that empowers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to lead better lives.

Initially, I was very scared and anxious about entering the position, OBrien says. Once I started the job, I loved it and was very comfortable with the people I worked with. I wanted to understand why I came in with those hesitancies and fear to work with those folks.

There have been some positive strides within the disabilities movement, Budzban says. What do you feel our current response is to people with disabilities?

Many people with disabilities have found themselves uncomfortable with some of the new terminology and embraced some previously used terms. However, they care much more about how we treat them than how we talk about them.

There is a perception that we treat disabled persons better now because we are more enlightened, but better treatment and better accessibility is due to the fact that America is a fairly wealthy country. I also fear that when we experience tragic events within our country, people will look to those with disabilities as one of the most viable scapegoat groups.

As the Going Award winner, OBrien will present a public lecture in fall 2019. He will discuss the relationship between historical eugenics and contemporary bioethics with a disability perspective. He plans to develop partnerships with local disability agencies and involve members of the local disability community in his presentation.

To hear Budzban and OBriens entire conversation, tune in to Segue at 9 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, on WSIE 88.7 FM The Sound and siue.edu/wsie.
When Joe Biden was a freshman senator in the mid-1970s, his home state of Delaware, like other hotspots across the country, was engulfed in a bitter battle over school busing, debating whether children should be sent to schools in different neighborhoods to promote racial diversity.

Biden took a lead role in the fight, speaking out repeatedly and forcefully against sending white children to majority-black schools and black children to majority-white schools. He played down the persistence of overt racism and suggested that the government should have a limited role in integration.

Ailing Paul Manafort gets almost 4 years in prison

Bernie Sanders calls for 'fundamental' changes in Democratic Party platform

Judge dismisses Stormy Daniels' hush money suit against Trump

"I do not buy the concept, popular in the '60s, which said, 'We have suppressed the black man for 300 years and the white man is now far ahead in the race for everything our society offers. In order to even the score, we must now give the black man a head start, or even hold the white man back, to even the race,' " Biden told a Delaware-based weekly newspaper in 1975. "I don't buy that."

In language that bears on today's debate about whether descendants of slaves should be compensated, he added, "I don't feel responsible for the sins of my father and grandfather. I feel responsible for what the situation is today, for the sins of my own generation. And I'll be damned if I feel responsible to pay for what happened 300 years ago."

Biden's statements 44 years ago represent one of the earliest chapters in his well-documented record on racial issues, during which he generally has worked alongside African-American leaders and been embraced by them. He supported the extension of the Voting Rights Act, amendments to the Fair Housing Act, sanctions against apartheid South Africa and the creation of a holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. In 2010, he pushed to roll back sentencing that many believed exacerbated racial disparities.

But Biden and civil rights leaders also have occasionally parted ways, and his career probably would be viewed through a new lens if he decides to run for president in a Democratic Party that has moved to the left and grown more ethnically diverse, even in the years since he was elected vice president.

African-American voters are expected to play a pivotal role in the party's nomination in 2020, and groups such as Black Lives Matter are pressing candidates to confront difficult questions about race. Although many civil rights leaders agree that busing did not play out in an ideal way, they often say it was a necessary effort, given that white-run school districts were doing little to integrate even 20 years after the Supreme Court's 1954 landmark desegregation ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.

Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP, said in an interview that he has personal affection for Biden, but that he was taken aback upon being read portions of the 1975 interview.

"If you said something like that in 2019, there would be a response to that that would be pretty harsh," said Brooks, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School. "Having served as vice president to the first African-American president in U.S. history, and given all that he's seen in the intervening years, I would be stunned if he would stand behind that."

Biden, 76, declined to be interviewed for this article. But his spokesman, Bill Russo, said the former vice president still believes he was right to oppose busing.

"He never thought busing was the best way to integrate schools in Delaware - a position which most people now agree with," Russo said. "As he said during those many years of debate, busing would not achieve equal opportunity. And it didn't."

Russo said Biden has a distinguished history of working for civil rights and against segregation. As a young man, Russo said, Biden fought to desegregate a movie theater in Delaware, and worked as the only white employee at a largely black swimming pool.

"Joe Biden is today - and has been for more than 40 years in public life - one of the strongest and most powerful voices for civil rights in America," Russo said. "His long commitment to civil rights has repeatedly been recognized by many of the most important civil rights organizations in America."

Biden's office provided a statement from Ralph Neas, former executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, who said: "We disagreed on busing . . . but I always looked to Biden as a leader in the field of civil rights in other critical areas."

Beyond particular policies, Biden's supporters say he has established trust with civil rights leaders and earned considerable goodwill from serving as vice president to the nation's first black president.

But the 1975 interview highlights how the landscape has shifted since Biden entered national politics, capturing a Senate seat in 1972 at age 29.

Biden in recent years has expressed regret for several episodes in his past, such as what many women's rights advocates considered his weak efforts in 1991, as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, to protect Anita Hill after she accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Biden also has voiced contrition for pushing a tough-on-crime bill in 1994 that many African-Americans viewed as unfair and overly harsh.

Although civil rights leaders may object to Biden's past statements about busing, his decision to stand by his views on the issue illustrate what some of his supporters think would be his advantage in the 2020 field: his ability to appeal beyond the Democratic base to some working-class white voters who voted for Donald Trump in 2016.

Biden, after all, was a vocal opponent of busing as the issue was raging nationwide - including in his hometown.

He wrote columns for local newspapers and pushed legislation requiring courts to consider solutions besides busing, often siding with conservatives such as North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, who welcomed Biden "to the ranks of the enlightened."

Biden's 1975 interview, which covered a range of topics, was conducted by a publication based in Newark, Delaware, referred to as the People Paper. It was printed in the Congressional Record at the request of Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, who praised Biden's comments, and went largely unnoticed thereafter. A Democrat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic pointed out the original interview to The Washington Post, citing a concern that Biden's positions could be problematic for the party.

In the interview, Biden dismissed government efforts to impose diversity in schools. "We've lost our bearings since the 1954 Brown vs. School Board desegregation case," he said. "To 'desegregate' is different than to 'integrate.' . . . I am philosophically opposed to quota systems. They insure mediocrity."

If anything, he said, it was busing plans that were racist.

"The new integration plans being offered are really just quota systems to assure a certain number of blacks, Chicanos, or whatever in each school. That, to me, is the most racist concept you can come up with," Biden said. "What it says is, 'In order for your child with curly black hair, brown eyes, and dark skin to be able to learn anything, he needs to sit next to my blond-haired, blue-eyed son.' That's racist! Who the hell do we think we are, that the only way a black man or woman can learn is if they rub shoulders with my white child?"

Russo said Biden's argument was that everyone deserves the same opportunity. "Regardless of what ZIP code you're born in, you should be entitled to a good education," he said. "That's the point he's making here."

Biden's election to the Senate came eight years after the Civil Rights Act was passed, at a time when states and cities nationwide were wrestling with how to handle segregated schools. Although the Supreme Court had declared segregation unconstitutional in 1954, many schools remained divided because their surrounding neighborhoods were racially monolithic. And majority-black schools generally had far fewer resources.

Courts ordered some cities to bus children across town to create a more balanced education system. But what black families called "integration" many white families called "forced busing," complaining of long bus rides that severed the link between kids and their local schools. Violence over the issue broke out in cities such as Boston.

Against that backdrop, Biden, a rising political star, took aim at a 1974 court order directing Delaware to submit plans for desegregating Wilmington-area schools - an edict that was highly unpopular with many of his constituents.

Ultimately, Wilmington schools in 1978 implemented a plan merging one urban district with 10 suburban ones, and busing students so that they spend nine consecutive years in what had been a historically white school and three years in what had been a historically black school. By 1995 a federal court determined the schools were no longer segregated.

"The courts have gone overboard in their interpretation of what is required to remedy unlawful segregation," Biden said in the 1975 interview. "It is one thing to say that you cannot keep a black man from using this bathroom, and something quite different to say that one out of every five people who use this bathroom must be black."

Biden's stance put him at odds with Sen. Edward Brooke, R-Mass., the chamber's only African-American, who called one of Biden's amendments "the greatest symbolic defeat for civil rights since 1964."

Jeffrey Raffel, who was executive director of the Delaware Committee on the School Decision in the 1970s, said it was hard for any political leader in the state to be pro-busing at the time, given the public passions against it.

"The political situation there was poison in terms of supporting busing - it was really, really tough," he said. "There were very few people going around saying, 'Busing is a good thing, we should support busing.' In that atmosphere, Biden was the center. How do you deal with that when 85 percent of your constituency is against it?"

Biden's statements in the People Paper appear to be among his most aggressive on the subject.

"I oppose busing. It's an asinine concept, the utility of which has never been proven to me," he said. "I've gotten to the point where I think our only recourse to eliminate busing may be a constitutional amendment."

Biden recognized that such comments could prompt some to lump him in with racists. "The unsavory part about this is when I come out against busing, as I have all along, I don't want to be mixed up with a George Wallace," he said, referring to the segregationist governor of Alabama.

"The real problem with busing," he said, was that "you take people who aren't racist, people who are good citizens, who believe in equal education and opportunity, and you stunt their children's intellectual growth by busing them to an inferior school . . . and you're going to fill them with hatred."

He contended that being bused, while bad for white students, hurts black children, too. An African-American child is sent to a white school in a wealthy neighborhood, then "back to the ghetto. How can he be encouraged to love his white brothers? He doesn't need a look at 'the other side,' he needs the chance to get out of the ghetto permanently," Biden said.

Civil rights leaders have largely considered Biden a strong ally, but there have also been disputes, especially during his long tenure heading the Senate Judiciary Committee. When Biden chaired the 1991 confirmation hearings for Thomas, now a Supreme Court justice, Hill's supporters criticized him for allowing her to be attacked and declining to allow witnesses who might have bolstered her account. Biden has said he owes Hill an apology.

At an event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January, Biden repeated earlier statements of regret for supporting tough-on-crime measures in the 1990s, which included provisions now widely considered racially discriminatory and at least partly responsible for current incarceration rates, in which African-Americans are significantly over-represented.

"The bottom line is we have a lot to root out, but most of all the systematic racism that most of us whites don't like to acknowledge even exists," Biden said during a breakfast held by the Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network. "We don't even consciously acknowledge it. But it's been built into every aspect of our system."

Forty-four years earlier, Biden was challenged during the interview on whether he believed he was a liberal despite his anti-busing stance. He said that he was, and that he favored other ways to help African-Americans, including more spending.

"It is true that the white man has suppressed the black man, and continues to suppress the black man. It is harder to be black than to be white," Biden said. "But you have to open up avenues for blacks without closing avenues for whites; you don't hold society back to let one segment catch up. You put more money into the black schools for remedial reading programs, you upgrade facilities, you upgrade opportunities, open up housing patterns. You give everybody a piece of the action."
EDWARDSVILLE  A three-hour hearing on the need for a state capital improvement program led to wide-ranging discussions on needs, funding and trust in government.

A wish list totaling billions of dollars for roads, education and other infrastructure was talked about, but how to fund the program remains elusive.

The hearing, one of six statewide, was held at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and was co-chaired by State Sens. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, representing the Appropriations Committee; and Martin A. Sandoval, D-Chicago, representing the Transportation Committee.

A number of state and local elected officials emphasized that one of the most important points was that Southern Illinois was heard.

We hope some of this money comes downstate, said Wood River Mayor Cheryl Maguire. We hope it doesnt stay up north.

State Sen. Rachelle Aud Crowe said she has been speaking to elected, union, education and business leaders for months.

Each of those conversations ended with a concern: We just want to make sure Southern Illinois is not forgotten, Crowe said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he wants a capital improvement program, and Sandoval emphasized the need to act quickly, saying he wants to see it approved and signed by May.

Its been about 10 years since the states last capital program, its about due, said State Sen. Don DeWitte, R-St. Charles. The states roads and bridges are in serious difficulty now. We have to start making some hard decisions about how we take care of our infrastructure so that it doesnt get any worse.

The committees heard from representatives of higher education, unions, transportation and local municipalities.

Public universities as Economic Drivers

SIUE Economist Tim Sullivan said public universities were often the lifeblood of the community and act as major economic drivers.

He noted SIUE is the second largest employer in the Metro East and has an economic impact of about $500 million annually.

While he could not provide specifics, he said a new capital improvement program would have a $20 million to $30 million annual economic impact, creating hundreds of jobs.

These types of projects improve our facilities, and allow us to continue to grow our programs, he said, saying that allows students to stay in Illinois. An educated population is the most surefire way of increasing productivity, wages and tax revenues.

Speaking on higher education were SIU system President Kevin Dorsey; SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook; SIUC Chancellor John Dunn; Lori Williams of the SIU School of Medicine; Lewis and Clark Community College President Dale Chapman and Southwestern Illinois College President Nick Mance.

Most of their discussion centered on their schools needs.

In addition to new projects, most said their campuses had deferred maintenance needs of hundreds of millions of dollars.

$13-$15 billion needed for highway maintenance over 10 years

Paul Loete, representing the Illinois Department of Transportation, said they need $13 billion to $15 billion in additional funding over the next 10 years just for highway maintenance, in addition to increasing road capacity.

Our funding needs are great, but in order for us to drive the economy of our great state forward, we must invest in the maintenance and expansion of our multimodal transportation system, he said.

Unfortunately, as you can tell by driving around the roads in the state, our infrastructure continues to decline despite our investment, he said. We have a large percentage of our assets that are getting to the end of their useful lives; this includes the majorities of our interstates that were constructed during the 1960s and 1970s.

Hearing ends with long discussion by municipal officials

Four mayors were schedule to speak, but only Joe Silkwood of East Alton remained when their turn came. Other mayors in the audience were asked to join him, including Maguire and Michael Suarez of Fairmont City.

Maguire spoke, then asked about the timing of the bill.

We will have a capital bill in this legislature, Sandoval said, saying he was unsure of exact timing.

However, he preferred it happen quickly.

Id like to leave Springfield in the spring session with a capital bill laid out so (the governor) could sign, he said. I would prefer a robust capital bill. Go for the gusto, go large and have it ready by May 31.

Silkwood noted that a capital bill has to be reliable and sustainable.

We need something we can count on, he said.

He also said there needs to be communication between the state, local governments and voters.

No one likes to pay taxes, but I think what they (citizens) get frustrated by is when they pay taxes and dont see the fruits of their taxes, Silkwood said. Its going to be imperative that we educate citizens. I think communication is going to be very important state-wide.

He noted that East Alton has a smaller population, but also has manufacturing that brings in a lot of cars.

The funding through the motor fuel tax has created issues with us, he said. Weve seen a decline in motor fuel tax funding. In a small town like ours thats devastating.

Shari Albrecht, executive director of the Jerseyville Economic Development Council, also testified, asking for $16 million to completed the Delhi Bypass on U.S. 67.

She said completing the bypass was of paramount importance to complete the bypass for the development of the Mid-American International Gateway Business Park, a 1,400-acre development planned just south of Jerseyville.

Pointed questions from Chicago Senator on funding

While Manar asked some questions, much of the more pointed questions and comments came from Sandoval, who at one point asked whether congressional leadership has done a piss poor job of bringing home the bacon for Southern Illinois.

Sandoval asked a number of those testifying pointed questions on how they would pay for the capital program, specifically asking several of them about support for a gas tax or mileage tax.

Also testifying was Wood River Township Highway Commissioner Mark Gernigin.

If I knew where the money was going and it was earmarked for certain things  absolutely I would, Gernigin said.

When Maguire was asked, she said all options need to be explored, but noted that increased taxes could drive some business, such as gasoline sales, to Missouri.

Part of the issue, according to several officials, is trust.

When I talk to residents and we talk about tax, I think theres a frustration that theres going to be a bait and switch, Silkwood said. If we raise the motor fuel tax, is it really going to go to the roads. We have to find a way to demonstrate to the public that the money youre paying extra at the pumps is actually going for what we say its going to go for.

Weve got to make sure they understand that if we create new taxes its going to what we say its for, he added.

Sandoval noted that roads are funded at approximately $300 per person annually.

Thats what we care about our roads, bridges and highways, he said. And we complain about that investment. We pay more for our cell phone bills.

Additional hearings are set for 1 p.m. Monday, March 18 in the Decatur Public Library, 130 N. Franklin St., Decatur; 3 p.m. Monday, April 8 at Bradley University, Peplow Pavilion inside the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center, 1501 W. Bradley Ave., Peoria; 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 16 in the Bilandic Building, 160 N. LaSalle St., Chicago; and 1 p.m. Monday, April 22 in the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin.
GODFREY  Godfrey Fire Capt. Jacob Jake Ringering was remembered Wednesday as the embodiment of the Godfrey Fire Protection District.

Ringering, 37, was killed Tuesday after part of a brick wall collapsed on him and other firefighters during a mutual aid call to a house fire on Culp Lane.

During a press conference Wednesday at the Godfrey Fire Station 1, Godfrey Fire Chief Erik Kambarian described Ringering as gold.

He embodied this department, Kambarian said. People joined this department because of Jake and people wanted to be like Jake.

Hes left a trail, a legacy that will be remembered for a long time to come, Kambarian added.

In addition to firefighters and the media, a number of elected officials and others attended.

He could train anybody to do anything, and he was a natural leader, Kambarian said. People wanted to work with him, they wanted to pull duty with him because they could learn from him.

More Information Additional photos on Region, page 1C. See More Collapse

The fire was first reported at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and multiple departments responded. The firefighters were injured about an hour after the initial call went out.

Kambarian said Ringering and Warner were performing exterior fire suppression operations when a partial collapse of the residential structure occurred, and a portion of a brick wall struck both firefighters.

I wont go into any more detail than that, he said, adding he would allow the investigative process to take its course.

The facts will come out and will be available, he added.

Ringering was taken to Alton Memorial Hospital, where he later died.

A second Godfrey firefighter, Luke Warner, was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital, where he underwent surgery Wednesday and is in stable condition, according to Kambarian.

Two other firefighters received less serious injuries, and have been released. They have not been identified.

The fire is still under investigation by the Illinois State Fire Marshals Office, the Madison County Coroners Office and Madison County Sheriffs Department. Sheriff John Lakin said they were assisting the other agencies, and it is not a criminal investigation.

Ringering joined the Godfrey Fire Protection District in August 2010, and was promoted to captain in May 2014. He started his career in 2001 with the East Alton Fire Department where his father, Larry Ringering, was chief before heading Madison County Emergency Services.

Jake Ringering is survived by his wife and three children.

Ringering was also president of the GFPDs union, Local 1692.

We had discussions at times, but they were always beneficial and fruitful and cordial, Kambarian said.

Ringering was also an instructor at Lewis and Clark Community College.

Warner joined the department in 2003, and has also taught at LCCC.

He is a U.S. Navy veteran and has a wife and three children.

I think hell have a long recovery, Kambarian said of Warner. I think he will recover and be healthy and get back to full duty.

Kambarian thanked other fire departments for their assistance, and said the GFPDs primary concern is now Ringering and Warners families.

As a department we will be doing what we can to assist them through this terrible event, he said. While firefighting is a dangerous profession, losing a firefighter is never expected and when it occurs, the loss to all involved, the families, the department, the fire service and the community, is overwhelming.

Kambarian said members of the GFPD who were at the fire are undergoing critical incident debriefing and counseling is being made to all members of the department.

Funeral services were pending.

Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447.
GODFREY  Godfrey Fire Capt. Jacob Jake Ringering was remembered Wednesday as the embodiment of the Godfrey Fire Protection District.

Ringering, 37, was killed Tuesday after part of a brick wall collapsed on him and other firefighters during a mutual aid call to a house fire on Culp Lane.

During a press conference Wednesday at the Godfrey Fire Station 1, Godfrey Fire Chief Erik Kambarian described Ringering as gold.

He embodied this department, Kambarian said. People joined this department because of Jake and people wanted to be like Jake.

Hes left a trail, a legacy that will be remembered for a long time to come, Kambarian added.

In addition to firefighters and the media, a number of elected officials and others attended.

He could train anybody to do anything, and he was a natural leader, Kambarian said. People wanted to work with him, they wanted to pull duty with him because they could learn from him.

The fire was first reported at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and multiple departments responded. The firefighters were injured about an hour after the initial call went out.

Kambarian said Ringering and Warner were performing exterior fire suppression operations when a partial collapse of the residential structure occurred, and a portion of a brick wall struck both firefighters.

I wont go into any more detail than that, he said, adding he would allow the investigative process to take its course.

The facts will come out and will be available, he added.

Ringering was taken to Alton Memorial Hospital, where he later died.

A second Godfrey firefighter, Luke Warner, was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital, where he underwent surgery Wednesday and is in stable condition, according to Kambarian.

Two other firefighters received less serious injuries, and have been released. They have not been identified.

The fire is still under investigation by the Illinois State Fire Marshals Office, the Madison County Coroners Office and Madison County Sheriffs Department. Sheriff John Lakin said they were assisting the other agencies, and it is not a criminal investigation.

Ringering joined the Godfrey Fire Protection District in August 2010, and was promoted to captain in May 2014. He started his career in 2001 with the East Alton Fire Department where his father, Larry Ringering, was chief before heading Madison County Emergency Services.

Jake Ringering is survived by his wife and three children.

Ringering was also president of the GFPDs union, Local 1692.

We had discussions at times, but they were always beneficial and fruitful and cordial, Kambarian said.

Ringering was also an instructor at Lewis and Clark Community College.

Warner joined the department in 2003, and has also taught at LCCC.

He is a U.S. Navy veteran and has a wife and three children.

I think hell have a long recovery, Kambarian said of Warner. I think he will recover and be healthy and get back to full duty.

Kambarian thanked other fire departments for their assistance, and said the GFPDs primary concern is now Ringering and Warners families.

As a department we will be doing what we can to assist them through this terrible event, he said. While firefighting is a dangerous profession, losing a firefighter is never expected and when it occurs, the loss to all involved, the families, the department, the fire service and the community, is overwhelming.

Kambarian said members of the GFPD who were at the fire are undergoing critical incident debriefing and counseling is being made to all members of the department.

Funeral services were pending.
SAN FRANCISCO - As a scandal rocked the city's crime lab in 2010, District Attorney Kamala Harris was increasingly at odds with the city's elected public defender, Jeff Adachi. He accused her of being "unethical," and she said he was "playing politics with public safety," according to media reports at the time.

The fight was, on one level, an example of a prosecutor and defense attorney playing their respective roles. But it was all the more extraordinary because the two had been friends for years.

Adachi had been Harris' tutor when they were at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Their relationship continued as their careers intersected at crucial moments, often on opposite sides in high-profile criminal cases, until it recently reached an unexpected conclusion just when she may have most needed his help.

They were children of the Bay Area. Adachi developed his fervent sense of justice from Japanese American parents who had been sent to an internment camp by the U.S. government during World War II. Harris, whose father came from Jamaica and whose mother is from India, grew up attending civil rights rallies in Berkeley.

Both decided that the way to address injustice was to work within the system - he as a public defender and she as a prosecutor. Both experienced disillusionment in their early jobs that led them to seek political office. Adachi was elected as the city's chief public defender in 2002, and Harris ran the following year to be district attorney.

One day, Adachi ran into Harris and asked her why she wanted to focus on the prosecutorial side of the law.

"And she said, 'That's how I'm going to change the world,' " Adachi said in a recent interview. "My perception is that she saw law enforcement as the place she would have the greatest amount of influence because you know as D.A., she would be the one making the decisions" on whether to prosecute individuals. "People saw the system as the enemy, so joining the system was a tightrope walk."

Harris won in 2003, and for all seven years that she served as district attorney, Adachi was on the opposite side. They continued as adversaries and friends, often talking to each other about cases, and seeking support from the same set of voters.

"We grew up together as professionals," Harris, 54, said in an interview. Given his status as one of the few elected public defenders in the country, Adachi was "a real national leader" with "a bully pulpit," she said. Adachi also wrote and directed a documentary called "The Slanted Screen," which was critical of the way Asians have been stereotyped on television and in movies.

Adachi, a fit-looking man with an even-keeled but forceful tone, sometimes questioned whether Harris was going far enough in her promise to look out for the rights of defendants as well as prosecuting them. He urged her to speak more about the need for changes in sentencing, bail and prisons.

"Could she have been more progressive given that she was a prosecutor of color? Yeah," Adachi said. "Did I hope that? Yeah, at times. Was I disappointed? Yeah, but at the same time, you know, I saw her as somebody who was in a position to make a difference." He recalled discussing cases with Harris in which she agreed to go more lightly on deserving defendants.

After five years in which their offices faced off, the relationship hit perhaps its roughest moments when it was revealed in March 2010 that Harris and her staff had not informed defense lawyers that evidence from the police-run crime lab might have been tainted. A judge ruled in May 2010 that Harris had failed to inform defendants as required by law. Harris said in the interview she took responsibility and made "no excuses" for the failure.

It was during that time that Adachi told the San Francisco Chronicle that Harris was being "unethical" for not disclosing to defense attorneys that police officers who were essential to certain cases had been convicted of crimes or been investigated for misconduct. He said 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."

Harris fired back that Adachi was "playing politics" and said records were overseen by the police and protected by state privacy rules.

Adachi, after running unsuccessfully for mayor in 2011, continued as public defender. Harris had greater ambition and broader success, winning election as California attorney general and U.S. senator. But as she declared her candidacy for the presidency, critics on her left raised concerns about her record on criminal-justice reform and questioned whether her characterization of being a "progressive prosecutor" was inherently contradictory.

As a result, Harris wanted support from Adachi, whose endorsement would have been an ideal response to such concerns. But Adachi wasn't quite ready.

On Feb. 13, as he sat for an interview in his spacious second-floor office, he spoke carefully, saying he admired Harris but had questions about how committed she was to instituting changes to help defendants.

"The big question that I have now, which I'm trying to get answered - and I actually have a call in to her, I don't even know if I'll hear back - is . . . I want to know what you're going to do in the future. She says that one of her planks of her platform is going to be criminal-justice reform. What does that mean?"

The following day, Harris said, Adachi told her on the phone that reporters were asking him questions about her record. She said she told Adachi that she was committed to ensuring that defendants receive their constitutional rights, and she asked him to be an adviser on the issue for her campaign.

It was an emotional call, she said. They discussed their three decades of friendship, going back to law school and their respective roles in San Francisco's tumultuous criminal-justice system.

"I had a great conversation with him, and he was very supportive," Harris said, while saying she didn't ask for a formal endorsement. She said he agreed to have a subsequent talk with the campaign about formalizing his role as an adviser.

Eight days later, Adachi, 59, died after having dinner with a friend. An official report has not been released, but local media reported the cause of death as a heart attack.

Harris still seemed in disbelief. "I was very sad that he died, and I still am," she said, her voice trailing off. No longer could she count on the plan that Adachi would again counsel her, just as he had 30 years ago.
GODFREY  Public hearings on a request for a $3.2 million loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and a $450,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources were among items dealt with just prior to Tuesdays Godfrey Village Board meeting.

The village is seeking the IEPA loan to pay for the Northeast Interceptor/Monticello Area Sanitary Sewer Improvements Project.

The total cost is expected to be about $3.5 million. If approved construction could begin as soon as May 2019, and would be completed by June 2020.

The Northeast Interceptor is one of several major sewer issues the village is dealing with.

The village has had long-term issues with the U.S. EPA over sewage issues in several areas, and has until 2022 to correct them. The total cost has been estimated at up to $14 million.

Although the village is in the process of selling its wastewater sewage system to Illinois American Water Co., it is still moving forward on a number of projects, including the interceptor, according to Mayor Mike McCormick.

Documents relating to the project are available for public inspection at the Godfrey Village Hall, 6810 Godfrey Road.

Written public comments may also be made up to 14 days after the public hearing. They should be submitted to the Village of Godfrey, Attention Village Engineer Rich Beran, 6810 Godfrey Road, Godfrey, Illinois 62035; or to the IEPA, attention Heidi Allen, pre-construction unit manager, infrastructure financial assistance section, Bureau of Water, 1021 North Grand Ave. East, P.O. Box 19276, Springfield, Illinois, 62794-9276.

Another public hearing was held on a proposed $450,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for a bike trail that would eventually connect Glazebrook Park with the Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail along the Great River Road. The trail would extend from the park around Valhalla Memorial Park through LaVista Park.

McCormick said the grant would be subject to a 50 percent match. He added they would seek funding through a grant from the Metro East Park and Recreation District.

During the Village Board meeting another presentation was made on the development of a watershed plan for both the Wood River and Piasa Creek watersheds.

The two watersheds cover 156,0000 acres in Madison, Macoupin, and Jersey counties. While much of the area is farmland the two creeks also include portions of Alton, Bethalto, Brighton, East Alton, Elsah, Godfrey, Woodburn, and Rosewood Heights. Both watersheds drain directly to the Mississippi River.

Janet Buchanan, a project manager with the Heartlands Conservancy, which just received funding for the study, said it would take approximately two years.

The first part would be gathering information, including sending surveys to approximately 2,000 residents in each watershed. Small group meetings with stakeholders and public open houses would then be held to give the additional input.

The end goal is to go after funding, she said, adding that there would only be voluntary participation from landowners.

Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447.
A French film festival that kicks off Tuesday at Illinois College is intended both to help bridge the cultural divide between France and the United States and to show that the gap really isnt so big after all.

Were all connected in these interesting, strange ways, said Devin Bryson, an associate professor of modern languages in French at IC and the organizer of the colleges Tournees Film Festival. It happened (at some point) in history and were still connected. I see the film festival as a way to connect the dots a little bit more.

Funding for the festival comes from a competitive grant from the French-American Cultural Exchange Foundation, which provides grants that allow American colleges and universities to bring lesser-known films  French films  to communities that otherwise may never have the opportunity to see them, Bryson said.

Its through the French government, Bryson said. They definitely want to present French culture. Im interested in that because Im a French professor and want to expose my students and the student body (and the community to that).  Its different and unique and can change our cultural perspectives.

As part of the festival process, the foundation offers a list of around 40 film titles. Some are classics. Some are contemporary. From that list, Bryson talks to his students and others who have participated in the film festival in past years and narrows his choices down to six titles, including at least one classic title, a requirement of the grant.

Its always a really hard selection process, he said. Thats why I always try not to make it just me (choosing). I dont want that responsibility.

This years films include:

 Ismaels Ghosts, about a filmmaker whose life is sent into a tailspin by a former lovers return just as hes about to start shooting a new film.

 Little by Little, a subversive film disguised as a farce in which immigrants from Niger travel to Paris and live a lavish lifestyle while gaping at the paradoxes of Western society.

 Nocturama, in which a group of young people plans and executes a series of seemingly random terrorist attacks in Paris and then hides in an empty department store to watch the city go into high alert.

 BPM, a fictionalized account of Act Up-Paris, the true story of the men and women who fought for the improved treatment of HIV and AIDS patients.

 Makala, a look at everyday life for a charcoal salesman in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 Let the Sunshine In, which follows a Parisian artist as she looks for true love after sleeping with a married banker.

Of the six, Bryson has seen BPM and Let the Sunshine In, he said.

They have a unique flavor to them, he said of the two. BPM shows what the AIDS crisis in the 80s was like. For students, (AIDS) is still there, but theyve kind of forgotten about it. Its not as scary.

The biggest difference between French films and American films is the American tendency to have a happy ending, he said.

His students always say French cinema doesnt do happy endings, Bryson said. The films always end on this weird, inconclusive ending where you have more questions than answers. I think thats not an unreasonable analysis  how frustrating it can be to us as American viewers. Its kind of an interesting experience to take on.

Bryson is looking forward to seeing Little by Little, his classic pick of the series, he said.

The 1971 film by director Jean Rouch is described as a critique of waning capitalism and waxing capitalism with deep ideological roots that plays as a free-flowing, warm-hearted comedy.

The film was Brysons classic pick because of what Rouch meant for French and African cinema, he said.

He was really the one who brought cinema to Africa, Bryson said of Rouch.

Bryson also felt a film with French and African roots would connect with central Illinois own French-speaking African community  a community to which he works to connect his students  but also help others in the region connect to that community.

This isnt just weird stuff thats happening in a movie or in a country halfway around the world, he said. It does pertain to us here in central Illinois.

Along with the festival being open to the IC community, it also is open to the central Illinois community, he said.

We have had more and more members of the community to come, Bryson said. People outside the college community. They came to every one (two years ago) and were really excited about it. We want to make this a bigger thing to get it outside the students.

With that in mind, Bryson tries to strike a balance with the discussion, providing a little context before a screening but little discussion after. He knows many of his students want to watch a film and get on with their evening, so he doesnt linger long after the lights come up, he said.

Most films have gotten a little group of people just informally talking about the movie, he said. Sometimes I become part of that, other times I just let them have their discussions. But discussion is encouraged.



If you go 

Illinois Colleges Tournees Film Festival will open at 7 p.m. Tuesday with a screening of Let the Sunshine In. All screenings will be in Kirby Learning Center, Room 6, on campus. Admission is free and open to the public.

Angela Bauer can be reached at 217-408-2057.
Three investigators, including two canine units, from the Illinois State Fire Marshals Office were still on the scene Thursday at the house fire in the 4000 block of Culp Lane where three firefighters were injured and one killed Tuesday while fighting the fire. Visitation for Godfrey Fire Capt. Jacob Jake Ringering will be held Monday from 2-6 p.m. at St. Marys Catholic Church in Alton. Service will be held at 10 a.m. at the church Tuesday morning.

The Madison County Emergency Management Agencys Unified Command Post has been set up at the fire scene on Culp Lane, where a detailed investigation is underway.
KABUL, Afghanistan - I met Afzal Kohistani late one night in the winter of 2016, in a cheap restaurant in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He was 26 then, well-dressed and polite, but his eyes had the intense look of a driven man who knew he was taking on implacable forces and racing against time. He did not touch his tea.

Instead, he told a story, the same story he had told many officials before, from police and magistrates in his remote mountainous district in northwestern Pakistan, all the way up to the Supreme Court. It was an almost unbelievable tale of village "honor killing," a horror story long buried under the northern snows until one young man had the courage to dig it up.

As he talked, periodically glancing toward the restaurant door, Kohistani said several times that he expected he might one day be killed for exposing what had happened in his ancestral village in 2012. As he described it, five girls were murdered for bringing shame on their tribe, after someone posted a video of them singing and clapping at a wedding.

The entire community conspired to cover up the murders, he said, and several young men from his family, who had appeared in the video dancing at the wedding, were hunted down and killed.

"This has destroyed my family. The girls are dead, my brothers have been killed, and nothing has been done to bring justice or protect us," he told me. "I know I will probably be killed, too, but it doesn't matter. What happened is wrong, and it has to change."

3 1 of 3 Washington Post photo by Pamela Constable Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Washington Post photos by Pamela Constable Show More Show Less 3 of 3





On Wednesday night, Kohistani was gunned down by unknown assailants in the streets of Abbotabad, Pakistan, police officials there said. News reports described him as a "whistleblower" who was killed for bringing attention to the notorious case.

The reports said he had told officials of receiving "constant death threats" from tribal vigilantes since last July, when four men were arrested and later convicted of killing several of the girls. He had asked for police protection, but none was provided, the reports said.

As I read those brief accounts Thursday, our grim, late-night conversation over untouched tea came flooding back. I had been incredulous at first, because even in Pakistan, where honor killings continue to take hundreds of lives every year - especially in conservative and isolated rural areas like Kohistan - this story seemed too grotesque to be true:

A village council, headed by a Muslim cleric, ordering the young women to be killed for dancing and clapping. Their own relatives burning them with hot coals and burying their corpses in the mountains. A plot by local elders to replace them with other, related girls, who were ordered to claim they were the murdered girls if police or others came asking questions. A local legal system that rejected Kohistani's petitions for an investigation, telling him he was dishonoring sacred tradition by challenging tribal decisions.

"No one in my district or my province has ever spoken against honor killing," he said, leaning forward intensely and speaking in a low, rapid voice. "They tell me I have defamed my culture, my religion, my tribe. Everybody knows what happened, but no one is ready to come forward. This is an illegal, unconstitutional and un-Islamic tradition, but people don't even consider it a crime."

I was impressed by Kohistan's sincerity and determination, but it wasn't until later, when I spoke with others - lawyers, journalists, rights advocates, members of a fact-finding mission who had been sent to the village - that the story seemed plausible. A judge's report contained a chilling detail: One girl, who was presented to investigators as proof that no murders had taken place, could not be identified because her thumb prints had been allegedly burned off in a kitchen fire.

I had written about honor crimes before in Pakistan, notably the gruesome case of a woman whose jealous husband had carved off her nose and gouged out her eyes. I had met her, a silent and disfigured creature sitting on a bed. I had met her husband, a burly prisoner in chains outside a courtroom, who told me through an interpreter that he had no regrets because he had avenged his honor. I had tried to interview local officials, one of whom complained that I would bring dishonor to the town.

I had thought a lot about the word "honor," how it could become conflated and confused with male pride, with control over the lives and choices of women, with tribal traditions trying to survive in a rapidly modernizing world.

I had met many people in Pakistan who were working to change these customs, but most of them were women professionals or activists. Afzal Kohistani was a young man with no expertise or influence, but he had a clear, unshakable notion of what honor should mean.

When we met, he had come to the capital, Islamabad, for a hearing at the Supreme Court, which would soon take up his case and start the chain of events that led to the arrest and prosecution of some of the alleged killers, at the same time aggravating tribal enmities against him. He said he was worried about being followed and attacked, but he was poised and resolute.

At one point, Kohistani came out of the Supreme Court building, holding the arm of another man who was shy and poorly dressed. The man was carrying photographs of a young boy whose face had been horribly burned, allegedly by a wealthy neighbor in a dispute over a property line.

Kohistani explained that the man was the boy's father and had come to court seeking justice, but had no idea what to do. He looked at the photos of the burned boy and smiled reassuringly at the father.

"I thought," he said, "that maybe I could help."
Federal prosecutors agreed Wednesday to drop all felony corruption charges against former Rep. Aaron Schock if he pays tens of thousands to the IRS and campaign committees, a dramatic reversal the Illinois Republican said proved he was targeted by a prosecutor looking for stardom.

Schock, a one-time rising GOP star, resigned from Congress in 2015 amid scrutiny of his spending, including decorating his office in the style of the Downton Abbey TV series. He faced up to 20 years in prison when he was indicted a year later on two dozen counts, including wire fraud and falsification of election commission filings. He was set to go to trial in June.

But during a court hearing in Chicago, prosecutors said they will drop the charges within six months if Schock holds up his part of the agreement.

Schock, 37, said he will repay his three campaign committees nearly $68,000 and work with the Internal Revenue Service to determine how much he owes in taxes for income he didnt report between 2010 and 2015.

Schock acknowledged he made about $42,000 by reselling for a profit Super Bowl and World Series tickets he obtained at face value, and that he didnt report it as income. He also said he submitted mileage reimbursements without documentation, and for more mileage than he likely drove.

Theres a difference between mistakes and crimes, and Ive said from the beginning that there was never intent by me or my staff to commit crimes, Schock told reporters after the hearing. He said poor record-keeping occurred, in part, because I was working my tail off representing a large congressional district that includes more than 200 communities.

The case originally was filed by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Central District of Illinois in Springfield, but the Justice Department transferred it last year to northern Illinois. Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the northern district in Chicago, said the office conducted a thorough review of the case before proceeding with the agreement.

Schock and his attorney praised the Chicago office for conducting an objective review.

We felt all along that if some reasonable prosecutor would sit down and objectively review the facts here they could come to the same conclusions or almost the same conclusions that we have about the case, defense attorney George Terwilliger said.

This was a case that was the wrong case brought for the wrong reasons from the get-go, he said. It began as a bang. That bang turned out to be a blank. Now its ending with a whimper.

Schock said he has no doubt he was targeted by the Springfield office. He said the lead prosecutor was actively seeking the position of U.S. attorney at the time.

It became very obvious to all of us that he saw me as his ticket to stardom, Schock said.

Sharon Paul, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Springfield, declined to comment Wednesday.

Prosecutors filed one misdemeanor count against one of Schocks campaign committees, alleging improper record keeping. The committee, Schock for Congress, pleaded guilty Wednesday through an official and was fined about $26,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Hogstrom, who represented the government Wednesday in Chicago, called the agreement a fair and sensible resolution.

The case was transferred to prosecutors in Chicago shortly after a Chicago-based judge replaced Urbana-based Colin Bruce as trial judge. Bruce was removed from all criminal cases after exchanging emails with a U.S. attorneys office worker about another case.

Schocks attorneys sought to have the case dismissed before Wednesdays hearing, but a federal judge and federal appeals court declined. The U.S. Supreme Court declined last month to get involved in the case.

Asked Wednesday about what his future holds and whether he will run for public office again, Schock didnt say yes or no. He said hes looking forward to having the weight of this case off his chest and having some kind of private life.
The Trump administration is again seeking severe cuts to the U.S. Energy Department division charged with renewable energy and energy efficiency research, according to a department official familiar with the plan.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would see its $2.3 billion budget slashed by about 70 percent, to $700 million, under President Donald Trump's fiscal 2020 budget request, which is set to be released on Monday.

The request is unlikely to be granted by Congress, especially with Democrats in charge of the House, but the figure represents an opening bargaining position for negotiations by the White House.

The Energy Department declined to comment and the White House Office of Management and Budget didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

"It's a shutdown budget," said Mike Carr, who served as the No. 2 official within the division under President Barack Obama. "That's apparently what they want to signal to their base -- they still want to shut these programs down."

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which provides hundreds of millions of dollars a year in grants and other financial assistance for clean energy, has financed research into technologies ranging from electric vehicles to energy projects powered by ocean waves. It has been credited with financing research to help make the cost of wind power competitive with coal, and cutting the costs of LED lighting.

The Trump administration has tried to gut the program before, only to be rebuffed by Congress. Last year, the White House proposed cutting the agency's funding by nearly two-thirds, but Congress instead provided $2.3 billion for the agency, more than three times the White House's request.

"By pushing these 'message budgets,' they're making sure that appropriators in both parties completely dismiss them," said Jeff Navin, who served as acting chief of staff for Ernest Moniz, President Barack Obama's energy secretary. "They're so far out of the mainstream that they don't actually influence the budget debate."

In the past, Trump administration officials have defended the cuts, arguing they are justified by the falling costs of renewables and other emerging energy technologies.

In testimony before a House panel Thursday, Daniel Simmons, the Energy Department assistant secretary who heads the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said he couldn't talk about the budget proposal. But he noted the division had recently completed funding announcements for research into hydrogen and batteries for heavy-duty trucks among other technologies.

Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton told him at the hearing that lawmakers expects the office "to carry out the law as Congress intended and utilize the resources Congress provides."

Meanwhile, conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation have called for the office to be eliminated entirely, saying energy innovation is best left up to the private sector.

The budget for energy efficiency and renewable energy "is completely out control and even with the reduction it would still be one of the largest budgets in the Energy line," said Tom Pyle, who led Trump's Energy Department transition team and serves as president of the American Energy Alliance, a free-market advocacy group.
The energy in the 2020 Democratic campaign has been coming from the left. Candidates are pushing Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, a wealth tax and other ideas that are more progressive than anything a recent Democratic nominee has favored.

Much of this shift  which has been focused on economic policy  is smart. Republicans may cry socialism, and affluent centrists may not love it. But the American public leans decidedly left on economics. A clear majority favors higher taxes on the rich, a higher minimum wage and expanded government health insurance. After four decades of slow-growing living standards, people want change.

And yet there are also risks in the Democrats move to the left  risks that the sillier criticisms of the partys new progressivism sometimes obscure.

So far, the 2020 candidates have mostly been competing with one another to see who can come off as the most boldly and purely liberal. Bernie Sanders talks about completing his revolution. Kamala Harris has spoken about the joy that marijuana brings. Sanders, Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand have all talked about eliminating private health insurance. And so on.

Ideological purity doesnt tend to play well in general elections, however. Every modern president has found ways to appeal to Americans fondness for consensus  even if that fondness is based partly on a naive view of politics and even if the candidates appeals have sometimes been more stylistic than substantive.

Donald Trump campaigned as a defender of Medicare and Social Security. Barack Obama became a national figure by reaching out to both red and blue America. George W. Bush was a compassionate conservative. Bill Clinton followed a third way. Ronald Reagan put a sunny face on his conservatism.

As frustrated as many Americans have become, most still dont see themselves as radicals. About 35 percent call themselves moderate, compared with only 26 percent who say liberal, according to Gallup. Another 35 percent say conservative. Even among Democrats, only about half use the liberal label, with the other half choosing moderate or conservative.

Perhaps most fascinating, Gallup found late last year that most Democratic voters  by a margin of 54 percent to 41 percent  would rather their party move to the center than to the left. (Most Republicans, by contrast, want their party to continue moving right.) In another recent poll, by Monmouth, most Democratic voters said they would prefer a nominee likely to win the general election to one who shared their views on most issues.

All of which suggests that the 2020 Democratic field would benefit from more candidates who made an effort to appeal to both the left and the center.

Such a candidate might end up winning the nomination and crushing Trump. Or he or she could sharpen the eventual nominee, by getting that nominee to reach beyond the partys liberal base.

I expect that the campaigns next phase will feature several candidates who try to do so. Obama, for example, has advised potential candidates that he sees a relatively open space for a more moderate Democrat, as The Times reported. Two Obama favorites who could have filled the role  Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor, and Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor  arent running.

Joe Biden remains the most obvious possibility. Even without having entered the race, he continues to lead just about every poll of Democratic voters. Beto ORourke will probably run too, and hes shown an intriguing appeal across the left and center. Democrats typically lose Texas by between 10 and 30 percentage points. ORourke lost his Senate race by fewer than 3 points, and his coattails helped elect some House Democrats.

Amy Klobuchar is making a similar play. Her kickoff speech name-checked John F. Kennedy, Reagan, Martin Luther King Jr. and Walt Whitman. Similarly, John Hickenlooper, the former Colorado governor, described himself last week in Iowa as a doer, in contrast to the dreamers and debaters from Congress. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio senator, also has the potential to win self-identified moderates.

Its still very early in the 2020 campaign, and all of the Democratic candidates have the ability to follow this path. Sanders can do so by emphasizing working-class issues that matter to voters across the ideological spectrum. Elizabeth Warren can talk passionately about family values  the real thing, not the fake version. Harris can present herself as an advocate for crime victims, whether the crimes were white-collar or violent.

I understand why the Democrats have been focusing their attention on the left. It has a newfound  and welcome  energy.

But the best strategy for beating Trump in 2020 doesnt involve only the left.

David Leonhardt is a columnist for The New York Times.
The Bible Society ofUganda is a registered Christian non-governmental organization, which servesChurches and the general public by making the Holy Scriptures available inlanguages and media that communicate effectively to the people.
The PetroleumAuthority of Uganda (PAU) is a statutory body established under Section 9 ofthe Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act 2013, and in linewith the National Oil and Gas Policy for Uganda which was approved in 2008. ThePAUs mandate is to monitor and regulate the exploration, development andproduction, together with the refining, gas conversion, transportation andstorage of petroleum in Uganda. This includes ensuring that petroleumoperations in Uganda are carried out in accordance with the relevant laws,regulations, guidelines, statutes and in line with international best practicefor the petroleum industry.
All candidates

should send their applications specifying the position applied for together with

a detailed curriculum vitae and contacts of three referees. Apply online to

hr@brookside.co.ug
Triplets of black-and-white ruffed lemur eat food on tree branches at Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, March 6, 2019. China's first successfully-bred black-and-white ruffed lemur triplets met the public Wednesday after nearly 10 months of intensive care since their birth. The black-and-white ruffed lemur is listed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)

5

1

[ Editor: zyq ]
Westerly, RI (02891)

Today

Variably cloudy with snow showers. Low 28F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Variably cloudy with snow showers. Low 28F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Small deposit mortgages are not necessarily a bad thing.

The 95 per cent mortgage has a bad reputation for its role in Britains property boom of the 2000s and is taken as a marker of those lax lending days.

Yet, dig into the figures and you will find that actually first-time buyers put down bigger deposits on average between the millennium and 2007, than they did through the 1980s.

Tougher mortgage rules have meant loans assessed on affordability but will interest-only deals slip back in as a way to lend people more money

While it may be accurate to say that 100 per cent mortgages were a symptom of a show-me-the-money attitude to borrowing  and Northern Rocks 125 per cent Together home loans definitely were  the same is not entirely true of 95 per cent mortgages.

If you were a first-time buyer in 2006, your parents generation were more likely to have taken out one than you were.

Nonetheless, the 95 per cent interest-only Home Starter mortgage from Newbury Building Society is an odd product.

It is fixed for the first three years at 3.48 per cent and interest-only, after that it swaps to capital repayment and the building societys standard variable rate, which is currently 4.45 per cent but quite likely to be higher by 2022.

Borrow 150,000 and youll pay just 475 for the first three years, after which payments potentially rocket to 796.

To be fair to Newbury BS, it assesses borrowers affordability on the repayment mortgage and higher rate and says this is a niche product, most borrowers apparently opt for a normal repayment mortgage.

While I have no desire to pick on this small building society, Im flagging the deals existence here because it taps into what was the real mortgage madness of the 2000s  the headlong rush into interest-only.

Similar to a 95 per cent mortgage theres nothing necessarily wrong with interest-only (I have one as an offset mortgage) but such home loans need a plan to pay them back in place.

Banks and building societies insisted on such plans through the 1980s and 1990s, but as endowments stuttered and house prices rose, lenders quietly shrugged off the small matter of how people would repay a couple of hundred grand and just bunged them the mortgage whatever.

This helped fuel the colossal rise in house prices from the late 1990s to 2007, as people could pay ever increasing amounts for homes. At the same time, borrowers rushed to cash in on their propertys theoretical rise in value, remortgaging to pull out cash and supplement their lifestyles.

There are some of us who question quite why the financial watchdog and Chancellor at the time, Gordon Brown, did little to rein this in, but thats a topic for another day.

House price growth has stalled and Nationwide's index shows property values down on last summer, the housing market is at a junction

What concerns me is that the property market is at a junction.

House prices have risen about as far as they can based on peoples current earnings and ability to borrow money.

Banks and building societies are keen to make money, however, and bigger mortgages and rising house prices equal greater profits.

Im intrigued to see whether this means that we start to see mortgage lending standards slide.

Lenders must assess borrowers on affordability at the moment, ie whether they can meet monthly payments, and thats led to longer and longer mortgage terms, will it also lead to the return of interest-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 contact@marketbeat.com | (844) 978-6257

MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security.



Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information



 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.
Ormat Technologies, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm engages in the provision of geothermal and recovered energy power business. It operates through the following segments: Electricity, Product and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment focuses in the sale of electricity from the company's power plants pursuant to PPAs. The Product segment involves in the manufacture, including design and development, of turbines and power units for the supply of electrical energy and in the associated construction of power plants utilizing the power units manufactured by the company to supply energy from geothermal fields and other alternative energy sources. The Energy Storage segment consists of battery energy storage systems as a service and management of curtailable customer loads under contracts with U.S. retail energy providers and directly with large commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.

Read More
Bristow Group Inc. provides industrial aviation services to the offshore energy companies in Europe Caspian, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers helicopter charter services to transport personnel between onshore bases and offshore production platforms, drilling rigs, and other installations, as well as to transport time-sensitive equipment to these offshore locations. It also provides search and rescue services for the oil and gas industry, and governmental agencies; and aircraft support services. The company was formerly known as Offshore Logistics Inc. and changed its name to Bristow Group Inc. in February 2006. Bristow Group Inc. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Read More
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through four strategic business units: Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; and Capital Markets. The company offers chequing, savings, and business accounts; mortgages; loans, lines of credit, student lines of credit, and business and agriculture loans; investment and insurance services; and credit cards, as well as overdraft protection services. It also provides day-to-day banking, borrowing and credit, investing and wealth, specialty, and international services; correspondent banking and online foreign exchange services; and cash management services. The company serves its customers through its banking centers, as well as direct, mobile, and remote channels. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read More
WASHINGTON  A new report identifies 101 current and former military installations with potentially hazardous amounts of PFAS  per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances  in drinking water, including four sites in upstate New York.

The upstate locations include Fort Drum in Watertown, the now-closed Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, the now-closed Plattsburgh Air Force Base, and a Defense Logistics Agency site in the Oneida County town of Verona. PFAS pollution had been uncovered at each one but the report by the Environmental Working Group was the first to summarize the extent of potential contamination at Defense Department sites nationwide.

This is only the tip of a toxic iceberg that is largely hidden and still growing, the group said in its report, issued Wednesday.

The findings are a variation on the situation in Hoosick Falls, where hazardous amounts of perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOA, a subset of PFAS, were discovered in 2014. High levels of PFOA also were found in water in nearby Petersburgh.

Both stemmed from the flow of substances used since the 1940s to manufacture industrial and household products such as non-stick coatings and heat-resistant wiring. In addition to lowering immune systems and being linked to cancer and thyroid disease, the PFAS chemicals do not disintegrate over time.

The discoveries contributed to heightened awareness of the dangers of chemicals used in manufacturing present to critical nearby drinking-water sources.

Contamination at Defense Department locations is linked to use of a firefighting foam _ Aqueous Film Forming Foam. It was sprayed on jet-fuel fires where water is insufficient. Although military firefighters rarely were called upon to douse actual jet fires, they used the foam in practice drills.

The EPA set 70 parts per trillion as the upper limit for the chemicals, above which levels are unsafe.

Other government studies and scientists say the ceiling should be substantially lower.

The New York State Drinking Water Quality Council last fall recommended a level of 10 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA, which it described as the nation's most protective maximum contaminant levels.

The levels discovered in Hoosick Falls in 2014 ranged from 180 ppt to 540 ppt. By contrast, the levels at the old Griffiss base outside Rome were between 641 ppt and 61,233 ppt. Fort Drum tested at 128 ppt to 15,000 ppt.

Its becoming an environmental crisis, and DOD sources make up a majority of the sites, said David Andrews, Environmental Working Group senior scientist. Its going to take significant effort and resources to clean up the contamination.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

In Congressional testimony on Wednesday, the Pentagons chief environmental official, Maureen Sullivan, said the military is committed to uncovering and lessening contamination in water systems, which in total serve two million people.

Of the 524 Defense Department-owned water systems tested, 24 had PFOA levels above the EPA limit. And it identified an additional 12 over the limit in situations where DOD purchases drinking water from outside sources.

We are prioritizing our investments to  address the greatest degree of risk, Sullivan said in prepared testimony. This is a national problem involving a wide array of industries and commercial applications, as well as many Federal and state agencies. Therefore, it needs a nationwide solution.

Andrews, the EWP scientist, said the Defense Department's approach was too piecemeal.

The piece missing  and what were pushing for  is a concrete plan for cleaning up all contaminants, he said.

The gold standard for PFOA levels in water, he said, should be one part per trillion, not the 70 ppt set by the EPA.
A throng of sales at the door on Saturday pushed attendance beyond 2,000 people for the 10th annual timesunion.com/Table Hopping Mac-n-Cheese Bowl, at which Mazzone Hospitality won the top people's-choice award and the prize for best display. Brown's Brewing won best mac-n-cheese in voting by the event's judges. It was held at Siena College and featured 29 tasting stations from restaurants and other food-service providers.

Allegra Edelman of Colonie, who won the home-cook category last year and returned to defend her title, was again chosen in blind judging as the best of nine entries for her Creamy Two-Cheese Mac-n-Cheese. Ten-year-old Chloe Sink of Albany won in the kid-cook category for her Bacon-Scallion Mac-n-Cheese. Mac-n-cheese from home and kid cooks was tasted and voted on by judges only, not the public.

Numbers are very preliminary for the funds raised for the Mac-n-Cheese Bowl's organizer and beneficiary, the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, but Mark Quandt, the food bank's executive director, estimated that the 10-year total will be well past $400,000 after Saturday's proceeds are added. (The first nine years brought in a combined $355,000.) Final figures on attendance and net income will be available in the coming weeks.

THE WINNERS:

People's choice:

Mazzone Hospitality Old Daley Catering Valente's Restaurant

Judges' choice: Brown's Brewing

Best display: Mazzone Hospitality

Best home cook: Allegra Edelman, Colonie

Best kid cook: Chloe Sink, Albany

Sink will be invited to return next year to defend her title. As the winner in consecutive years, Edelman will not be eligible to compete in 2020.

THE RECIPES:

Creamy two-cheese mac-n-cheese

By Allegra Edelman (best home cook)

Makes one 9-by-13-inch pan

Macaroni

2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked

1 teaspoon salt

Macaroni add-ins

4 ounces Colby Jack cheese, diced in 1/4-inch cubes

2 ounces Cheddar cheese, diced in 1/8-inch cubes

3 tablespoons salted butter (cold), diced small

Sauce

1/4 cup salted butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dashes of cayenne pepper

6 ounces cheddar cheese, diced

4 ounces Colby Jack cheese, diced

1/3 cup (generous measurement) sour cream

2 eggs, beaten

Topping

8 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated

Note: In total, you'll need one 8-ounce block of Colby Jack and two 8-ounce blocks of cheddar. I used Cabot Colby Jack and the orange Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar Cheese.

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 9-by-13-inch pan with salted butter.

Cook macaroni al dente in salted water. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Pour macaroni into greased pan.

Melt 1/4 cup of butter. Add flour to butter and stir until smooth. Slowly add milk and stir mixture until thickened. Add salt and cayenne pepper. Stir in 6 ounces of diced cheddar cheese and 4 ounces of diced Colby Jack cheese until sauce is smooth.

Take pot off burner, let sauce cool briefly, and add sour cream to sauce. Add beaten eggs into the sauce, stirring continuously.

Distribute 4 ounces of Colby Jack cheese cubes, 2 ounce of cheddar cheese cubes, and 3 tablespoons of butter pieces on top of macaroni and stir gently to incorporate. Pour sauce over macaroni mixture. Cover with grated cheddar cheese.

Bake on center rack for 20-25 minutes. Move to top rack and turn broiler on low. Keep under broiler for 2-3 minutes and then remove from oven.

Bacon-scallion mac-n-cheese

By Chloe Sink (best kid cook)

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Serves 8

16 ounces medium shell pasta

 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/3 cup flour

2 1/2 cups 2 percent milk

1/4 pound sliced white American cheese

1 8-ounce block of extra sharp white cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

4 tablespoon kosher salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (Franks)

3 scallions

6 slices of bacon

To Prep:

Bacon: (Note: This step takes the longest so do this first!) Cook the bacon on a broiling pan in a 375-degree oven for 20-30 minutes (or until mostly crispy). Remove from the oven and allow the bacon to cool for 5-10 minutes. Chop the cooked bacon, separating the crispy edges from the softer parts of each slice (approx. 1:3 crispy to soft ratio). Set aside in two small bowls.

Cheese Mix: Grate the cheddar cheese into a large bowl. Tear the American cheese into smaller slices and add to the bowl. Add the mustard, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and hot sauce to the cheese mix and set aside.

Scallions: Thinly dice the scallions separating the whites from the greens in small bowls and set aside.

Breadcrumbs: Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, toss in the breadcrumbs and  teaspoon kosher salt. Continue to stir the breadcrumbs for 3 minutes, or until the mixture has turned golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside in a small bowl.

To cook:

Cook pasta according to package directions (al dente) in 5 quarts of water with 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. Drain cooked pasta and set aside.

Melt  cup of butter in a large Dutch oven, over low heat. Whisk in flour and cook until the butter and flour mixture bubbles and turns pale blonde (approximately 1-2 minutes). This mixture is called a roux.

Turn the heat up to medium and gradually add the milk while whisking the roux. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens and is bubbly (approximately 3-5 minutes). Remove from heat.

Add in the cheese mix and stir until the cheese melts and the sauce is smooth.

Once the sauce is smooth, return the sauce to medium heat and stir in the pasta, scallion whites, and soft bacon. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until mac-n-cheese is thoroughly heated.

Scoop the mac-n-cheese into bowls and serve immediately with breadcrumbs, scallion greens and crispy bacon toppings.
A decade is a long time in the restaurant business. Conventional wisdom in the industry says that 80 percent of new restaurants close or are sold within the first five years. Each year locally over the past 10 years, between 80 and 100 restaurants have opened, and 50 to 70 have closed, according to a Times Union tally.

And yet, when we put out a call on social media and the Table Hopping blog for restaurants in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties that have been open at least 40 years, readers came up with more than 70.

Want more Table Hopping? Sign up for our newsletter.

From those, we chose a dozen to spotlight. They have been in business for an average of 67 years; the youngest, Salty's Pub & Bistro in Clifton Park, has been open since 1974 (45 years), and the oldest, Jack's Oyster House in Albany, debuted in 1913 (106 years). More than half are still owned by their founding family.

Check out this cross-section of the Capital Region's legacy restaurants, each with a quote from the owner or management about why they think it has endured for decades.

Albany County

The Fountain

Year opened: 1962

The food: Pizza, Italian dinner, burgers. But, really, pizza.

The ambiance: Neighborhood bar and grill.

Why it's lasted: "We try to stay consistent and fresh along with being flexible with the changing times. We are in an amazing, supportive neighborhood that we grew up in, so it really matters to us. Family members have been involved in every aspect of running through the present day. At the heart of it, our core supportive customers have kept us going for almost 60 years!"  Bonnie Romano Benedetti, owner

Info: 283 New Scotland Ave., Albany; 518-482-9898; thefountainrestaurantny.com

Jack's Oyster House

Year opened: 1913

The food: Upscale steak and seafood.

The ambiance: Elegant, Old World.

Why it's lasted: "Our mission has always been to be the best at pleasing guests. This is what continues to keep Jack's thriving."  Brad Rosenstein, owner

Info: 42 State St., Albany; 518-465-8854; jackoysterhouse.com

Valente's Restaurant

Year opened: 1958

The food: Immense menu of Italian staples.

The ambiance: Small-city, family-centric Italian eatery.

Why it's lasted: "An unwavering commitment to our customers, whom we consider to be extended family. We welcome them into our 'home' and treat them as we would our own family."  Paul Valente, third-generation employee

Info: 315 Eighth St., Watervliet; 518-273-3314; valentesrestaurant.com

Rensselaer County

Duncan's Dairy Bar

Year opened: 1939

The food: Big portions of rustic American food

The ambiance: Casual diner.

Why it's lasted: "We have avoided the trends and tried to stick with the good old-fashioned homemade recipes and traditions that have been passed down from my grandparents."  John Squadrito, owner

Info: 890 Hoosick Road, Brunswick; 518-279-9985; duncansdairybar.com

Notty Pine Restaurant

Year opened: 1945

The food: Fried cheesy things to snack on, burgers, pizza, Italian-influenced entrees.

The ambiance: Corner pub with food for a dinner crowd, too.

Why it's lasted: "Family-owned and -operated, the Notty Pine has been around since 1945, serving up the best pizza and more from our original location right here in Troy for generations. With our family friendly atmosphere and great food, everyone feels welcome the minute they step through the doors, no matter if they're a first-timer or have been coming for years."  Notty Pine staff

Info: 2301 15th St., Troy; 518-272-4557; nottypinetavern.com

Verdile's

Year opened: 1943

The food: Now that's Italian!

The ambiance: Quintessential neighborhood spot for red-sauce food and service

Why it's lasted: "Our food is consistent, using only quality ingredients, service is a top priority, and prices won't break the backs of our patrons, but we also offer finer dining menu choices for those more special occasions. Our goal over time has been to keep customers returning while also bringing in new faces to make this place their own."  Mike Verdile Jr., chef-owner

Info: 572 Second Ave., Troy; 518-235-8879; verdile.com

Saratoga County

Chez Pierre

Year opened: 1964

The food: French other old-school Continental dishes.

The ambiance: A step back in time.

Why it's lasted: "I believe Chez Pierre has been successful because of consistency over the years and a friendly, family atmosphere."  Pia Baldwin Field, owner

Info: 979 Saratoga Road, Wilton; 518-793-3350; chezpierrerestaurant.com

Hattie's Restaurant

Year opened: 1938

The food: Louisiana and Southern classics, anchored by legendary fried chicken

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The ambiance: Relaxed or festive, depending on time and day

Why it's lasted: "We've remained true to Miss Hattie's recipes and have continued to serve good quality (and large quantities) of Southern food throughout the years. One of the most important aspects of our business is our dedicated staff, who genuinely love Hattie's and love working there. They strive to make every dining experience a special one."  Beth Alexander, co-owner

Info: 45 Phila St., Saratoga Springs; 518-584-4790; hattiesrestaurant.com

Salty's Pub & Bistro

Year opened: 1974

The food: Seafood-centric favorites complemented by an extensive array comfort food.

The ambiance: Welcoming suburban spot with a nautical theme.

Why it's lasted: "Where family and friends surround you, and food and drink is plenty."  John Marzilli, owner

Info: 215 Guideboard Road, Halfmoon; 518-371-1120; saltyspub.com

Schenectady County

The Bears' Steakhouse

Year opened: 1969

The food: Chateaubriand. There's other stuff, but basically everybody orders whole tenderloins of beef for a group. Basic vegetables. Big desserts.

The ambiance: Homey place that's literally in the family home. Older son cooks, younger son serves tables, mom makes desserts.

Why it's lasted: "My father's beliefs, which became ours as well, were very simple. His commitment, integrity, quality of food, getting to know and build rapport with customers, as well as never forgetting to say thank you, were just a few of his staples that set our establishment apart from others."  Robert L. Payne II, chef and co-owner

Info: 8254 Duanesburg Road, Duanesburg; 518-895-2509; Facebook page but no website

Scotti's Restaurant

Year opened: 1966

The food: Italian classics, traditional and specialty pasta, pizza

The ambiance: Friendly, casual neighborhood spot.

Why it's lasted: "It's a popular neighborhood restaurant with quality food served consistently every time. Scotti's, where good food, good friends and good wine come together!"  Guy Sementilli, chef-owner

Info: 1730 Union St., Schenectady; 518-393-7440; scottisrestaurant.com

Tops American Grill

Year opened: 1953

The food: Vast international menu of American and international favorites, from Greek salads to fried chicken, pizza to pastrami, and breakfast all day and night.

The ambiance: Diner gone modern, with a bar and bakery.

Why it's lasted: "Tops is very ingrained in the community. We're not only invested with our business but we are vested in this community  three generations of living and working in Rotterdam. We've reinvented ourselves as needed, yet always stuck to the basics of great food and welcoming hospitality. We are Rotterdam's hometown family restaurant."  Evan Christou, owner

Info: 351 Duanesburg Road; 518-355-9864; topsrotterdam.com
SCHAGHTICOKE  A Brunswick councilman pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired in Schaghticoke Town Court Monday night, receiving the standard disposition for a first-time offender, the Rensselaer County District Attorneys Office said Wednesday.

Councilman Daniel Casales guilty plea resolves the drunken driving charges that arose when he was stopped Feb. 8 by a sheriffs deputy when his headlights were not on while traveling on the street where he lives in the town.

Justice Bruce Arnold sentenced Casale, a Republican, to pay a $300 fine with a $260 surcharge; attend a victims impact panel; and do a seven-week driving impairment program, Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Hauf and Thomas OHern, Casales defense attorney, confirmed.

Casales case was handled as any other first-time offender with a clean record would be dealt with in local court, Hauf said. As Casale was not going to contest the case, it was decided that it would be treated routinely and a special prosecutor would not be requested, Hauf said.

In addition to serving on the Brunswick Town Board, Casale also is a county legislator representing the towns of Brunswick, Pittstown and Schaghticoke. He is a staffer for state Sen. Daphne Jordan, R-Halfmoon. Casale is the son of former state Assemblyman Pat Casale.

The case was originally to have been heard in Brunswick Town Court, but town justices G. Lawrence Kronau and Terry Buchanan recused themselves. County Court Judge Jennifer Sober transferred the case to Schaghticoke.

When Casale was stopped, a sobriety test determined he had a blood alcohol content of 0.13 percent. In New York, the legal threshold to be charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, is 0.08 percent.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Casale was ticketed for DWI, operating a motor vehicle with a BAC in excess of 0.08 percent, and failure to use headlights with windshield wipers. Casales guilty plea to DWAI resolved the case.

After he was arrested, Casale released a statement saying he had exercised "incredibly poor judgment" and had embarrassed himself, his family, community and colleagues. He also said he would "seek the help I need to get better and avoid anything like this from ever happening again."

Since his arrest, Casale informed the Brunswick Republican town leadership that he would not run for re-election to the Town Board this year. Mark Cipperly is running as the GOP candidate in his place.
Washington

Michael Cohen on Wednesday provided new documents to the House Intelligence Committee that he said illustrated changes made at the request of President Donald Trump's lawyers to a knowingly false written statement that he delivered to Congress in 2017, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Cohen, in what is expected to be his last visit to Capitol Hill, brought multiple drafts of his 2017 statement along with emails with Trump's lawyers about its drafting, hoping to back up claims that he made last week at an open hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. In that session, Cohen testified that there were "changes made, additions" to the original written statement, including about the length of negotiations over a proposed Trump Tower project in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign.

It was not immediately clear how many changes were made by the Trump lawyers, including Jay Sekulow, or how drastic those changes were. Two of the people familiar with the documents and Cohen's testimony, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the closed-door session, said that at least some of the changes appeared to play down the knowledge of the president's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, about the project.

At the very least, the exchange between Cohen and the president's lawyers suggests that the lawyers had detailed knowledge of what he was going to tell Congress. Cohen said last week that though Trump did not explicitly direct him to lie, he "made clear to me" through his actions that "he wanted me to lie."

Other people familiar with the discussions that took place at the time of Cohen's original testimony said that it was Cohen himself who wrote that the Moscow project ended before the Iowa caucuses in January 2016, when Trump was a candidate.

That statement turned out to be false, and in November 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. In fact, he said, discussions about the project had gone on much longer and Trump had greater involvement than he had led the congressional committees to believe.

The documents were delivered by Cohen as he appeared for yet another session with congressional lawmakers investigating Trump, his campaign and his businesses, his last before he reports for his prison sentence this spring. Lawmakers on the Intelligence Committee also pressed Cohen on Wednesday and in an earlier session last week for more details on a range of claims he made publicly, including whether he sought out or was offered a potential pardon.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

CNN first reported that Cohen had produced the documents Wednesday. He had alluded to them before the Oversight and Reform Committee, specifically mentioning Sekulow, one of Trump's personal lawyers, as someone who proposed alterations to his 2017 statement.

"There were changes made, additions  Jay Sekulow, for one," Cohen said in the oversight hearing. "There were several changes that were made, including how we were going to handle that message, which was  the message of course being the length of time that the Trump Tower Moscow project stayed and remained alive."

Sekulow disputed Cohen's testimony last week. In a statement, he said that the testimony "that attorneys for the president edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false." On Wednesday, he referred to his previous statement when asked about Cohen's documents.
ALBANY  Though 2018 was one of the deadliest the city has seen in the last two decades, other violent crimes like assaults and robberies dropped compared to 2017.

Fifteen people were killed in Albany last year, many of them by gunfire, yet the number of reported robberies and aggravated assaults declined 15 percent and 4 percent respectively, according to Albany Police Department statistics. The number of reported rapes dropped 4 percent.

The figures haven't yet been released by the state or the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting database. The city police provided the data upon request from the Times Union.

The 15 deaths include alleged murder, non-negligent manslaughter and fatal police shooting cases.

There were 819 total violent crimes last year  which include murder, rape, robbery and assault  the lowest since 2014 when the city saw 775 total violent crimes, FBI crime statistics show.

Police Chief Eric Hawkins said the overall trend downward in violent crime in Albany is a positive sign, and something that communities across the nation are seeing. But gun violence still is something that must be tackled, he said.

"Taking a deeper dive into the numbers, there is a problem with gun violence in the community. A lot of those high-profile incidents involved weapons," Hawkins said. "Despite the overall crimes going down 8 percent last year, there was an increase in gun violence across the board."

Law enforcement officials from the federal level down are discussing strategies on how to approach the violence, Hawkins said, pooling resources and working together to identify those who may be at risk of becoming a suspect as well as those associated with criminals.

Those who may not yet be a suspect are connected with resources that can help them rise out of their situation, Hawkins said, whether that be job resources or mental health services.

We want to "make sure we're sending a message to individuals who are committing crimes in this community that there will be repercussions," he said. "Those who are at risk, but not currently suspects, we work with them in order to give them some tools to avoid being suspects, or to avoid being victims of crimes in the community."

Albany Common Councilman Owusu Anane credited the overall decline to both police as well as the vigilant, tight-knit community he represents.

"All of us, we look out for one another," he said. "Residents have the beat officers on speed dial, and they've been very responsive in reaching out to elected officials like myself when they see some type of suspicious activity."

On Tuesday afternoon a convenience store in Pine Hills, the community he Anane represents, was targeted in an armed robbery. He said such incidents must be recognized, but he had faith city police will get to the bottom of the incident.

Property crimes like burglary, larceny, and car theft also have been declining since at least 2013  the latest figures available  from 4,085 that year to 3,119 in 2018.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

While the numbers may reflect the beginning of a downward trend, not all residents feel safer.

Councilman Derek Johnson, who represents the South End neighborhood, said the statistics might not reflect all criminal activity if people aren't reporting it, or are discouraged by others from reporting a crime.

"I think that things could get better in the South End," he said. "But I don't think that the violence in terms of the gun use is a true reflection of the neighborhood."

Hawkins said any police officer who may be discouraging a victim from reporting a crime is "unacceptable."

"If anything like that happens there will be consequences, and I will ensure that won't happen in the Albany Police Department," he said.

But the police chief recognized that often there may be a perception of more crime in a community if they're a victim, or it's happening in their neighborhood.

It's why continued dialogue between residents and police must occur, Hawkins said, whether that be building trust so crimes are reported or providing an understanding to the public about what the statistics mean.

"It's important for us to continue to engage with our community, continue to get the message out what the crime statistics actually are and what the police department is doing to continue to have a downward trend of crime," Hawkins said.
When an immigrant mother of two trying to get a green card divorced her U.S. citizen husband, he wielded his power against her by threatening to report her to start deportation proceedings if she didn't do what he said.

State Sen. Anna Kaplan, a Democrat from Great Neck, heard the story and was shocked there was no law to protect the woman. When Kaplan entered office in January, she reached out to Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, a Democrat from Elmont, who introduced a bill last year to tackle the issue.

Kaplan's bill, slated for a vote soon in the Senate, would add deportation proceedings to a list of blackmail threats criminalized by law. Current law criminalizes extorting or coercing someone with the threat of criminal charges, but it's not illegal to use threats of deportation to force someone to do or not do something.

"There are few threats more serious to anyone than someone wanting to institute deportation proceedings against you," Kaplan said. "I think this is just closing the loophole, it's a common sense correction to the law."

The Iranian-American senator said the issue affects immigrants in her district, especially with the federal administration's anti-immigration sentiment.

"We pride ourselves in New York as being a progressive state and I like to think we treat everyone with dignity and respect. We have people who are being threatened and intimidated, as they should not be, we should have laws that protect them," Kaplan said.

An Assembly version of the bill introduced by Solages last year reached a third reading but ran out of time for a final vote. The Senate version didn't make it, but after Democrats seized control of the legislative body in November's midterm elections, prospects already look brighter this year.

The Senate bill passed out of committee and is on the calendar for an upcoming floor vote. Three Republican senators  Phil Boyle from Long Island, Thomas O'Mara from Big Flats, and Andrew Lanza from Staten Island  voted no in committee.

"I believe that strong, existing laws already provide strong protections, across the board, against threats, harassment and extortion," O'Mara said in a statement to the Times Union. "There is no need to carve out a special category for illegal immigrants nor has this been sought by the District Attorneys Association of New York State."

Solages introduced the bill last year after hearing multiple stories of constituents threatened by employers or landlords who had no recourse for justice. She modeled the bill's language after already existing legislation that criminalizes threatening to report someone's immigration status under laws against labor and sex trafficking.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The bill hasn't reached a vote in committee yet but Solages said she has strong support and will push to pass it this year.

One co-sponsor is Assemblyman Phil Steck, a Democrat, who represents Colonie and Niskayuna. Steck said he didn't hear any specific reports of this problem in his district, but said the same could be said of recent legislation passed criminalizing revenge porn  just because it wasn't reported to him, doesn't mean it's not a problem.

Threats of deportation could be used by abusive partners, landlords or employers to coerce or extort immigrants.

The New York State Department of Labor told the Times Union that employers weaponizing immigration status as a retaliatory threat has been a growing problem under President Donald Trump's administration. Reports of immigration-related threats increased from 9 in 2016 to 26 as of October 2018.

Rebecca Nathanson, the department's counsel to labor standards and director of the anti-retaliation unit, described one case where an employer told a worker who asked for overtime wages that "while there is Trump, it's easy to deport." When the worker complained and the Department of Labor sent a warning letter, the employer threatened to call immigration and have the employee deported.

Nathanson said that despite an increase in cases, issues often go unreported.

"The problem is that the more successful employers and others are at threatening people based on immigration status, the less likely they are to come forward," Nathanson said. "We should have a bigger immigration case load. The fear carries over into people's reticence to seek help from us."
ALBANY  No one disputes that Tamale Harris was there when Keisha Richards took heroin on March 13, 2018 at a Rensselaer motel during a night-long party.

No one disputes that the next morning he and Jodi Noisseau took the 24-year-old back to Noisseaus apartment on Partridge Street in Albany to let her sleep it off.

But everything after that is part of the question that will determine whether Harris is guilty of manslaughter, tampering with evidence, concealment of human remains and conspiracy.

The trial involves one of the most high-profile deaths to occur since the Capital Region began to confront an ongoing opioid epidemic where deaths often go unnoticed to anyone beyond the families and friends of the victims. Such deaths rarely lead to criminal charges.

Harris had brought Richards, of Vermont, and Noisseau, 48, of Albany, to the Capital Inn and Suites for a party. The group drank, did drugs and had sex. Prosecutors believe Richards took heroin and laid down in the room while Harris and Noisseau continued their night.

The next morning when the group had to check out, Richards was still lethargic. Surveillance video shows Harris carrying her limp body to a car. The group drove to Noisseau's apartment and Harris left.

Under the state's Good Samaritan Law, people can call 911 without fear of arrest for certain crimes if they are with someone who is overdosing.

Prosecutors said that rather than drop her off a hospital or medical facility, the group left her alone for hours.

When they realized there was a problem, they put her in a borrowed truck and dumped her on a snowy median on Kent Street. It was 12 hours after they had left the hotel room.

During opening arguments on Wednesday morning, Street Crimes Bureau Chief Jessica Blain-Lewis of the Albany County district attorney's office said Harris was the person who took the lead in attempting to hide any evidence of wrongdoing, including washing Richards' body with bleach.

Harris defense attorney, Kurt Haas, told the jury that Harris didnt cause Richards death. Instead, he questioned what happened in the hours between the group leaving the hotel for Partridge Street and when Richards was found in the snow.

During that time, his client went home for several hours while Noisseau smoked crack and people went in and out of the apartment, he said.

After all the other things are done, my client wasnt there for those things the record will show, he said. When he showed up, she was already  dressed.

Hours after they put her on a mattress, Noisseau noticed that Richards pulse was slowing and that she was barely breathing so she called Harris, who returned to the apartment.

Noisseau told Harris they should call an ambulance, but he said no, Blain-Lewis said.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

It was on that bed that Keisha began to spit up black bile and no longer had a pulse, she told the jury.

Prosecutors said Harris traded crack cocaine with a man who agreed to let him borrow his truck.

A Kent Street resident found Richards between the sidewalk and road just after 11:30 p.m. on March 14.

After calling 911, he attempted to revive her with CPR, with further attempts by paramedics.

When she arrived at Albany Medical Center Hospital room, her internal body temperature was 24 degrees Celsius, 4 degrees below what is considered severe hypothermia.

Emergency room workers tried for nearly two hours to revive her.

She was pronounced dead at 1:38 a.m.

Noisseau and another man connected to the case, Christopher Kondracki, were arrested in July. Harris was arrested in September.

Noisseau pleaded guilty to manslaughter in September and faces up to 15 years in state prison. Kondracki was also charged with second-degree manslaughter, tampering with physical evidence, concealment of a human corpse and conspiracy in connection with case. His case is awaiting trial.
ALBANY  Joseph Percoco, a former top adviser to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo who was convicted of corruption, must report to prison to begin his six-year sentence on March 14.

A federal appellate court ruled on last month that Percoco, who was convicted last year on charges he took $320,000 in bribes by exploiting his political muscle, could remain free while the three-judge panel considered his appeal.

The decision was opposed by federal prosecutors, who argued it's unlikely the convictions will be overturned on appeal.

Federal law allows defendants to remain free on bond pending an appeal when a judge finds, among other factors, that the the case "raises a substantial question of law or fact likely to result in ... reversal (or) an order for a new trial."

U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni previously found that was not the case for Percoco, a former executive deputy secretary to Cuomo, and Steve Aiello, the former president of COR Development in Syracuse.

"To warrant bail pending appeal, the defense's arguments must present a 'close question' of law or fact, not merely an open or undecided question," the judge ruled.

On Thursday, the appellate panel reached the same conclusion on Percoco's case, but determined that Aiello could continue to remain free as his appeal proceeds.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

In September, Caproni sentenced Percoco to six years in prison for accepting more than $300,000 in bribes  $35,000 from COR Development and another $285,000 from Peter Galbraith Kelly, an executive at the energy company Competitive Power Ventures. The CPV payments went to Percoco's wife, Lisa Toscano-Percoco.

In December, Caproni sentenced Aiello to three years in federal prison for his conviction in the case, as well as for his role in a conspiracy to rig $855 million in state contracts for projects overseen by SUNY Polytechnic Institute to benefit COR and another developer, LPCiminelli of Buffalo. The contracts were part of the governor's "Buffalo Billion" initiative.
ALBANY  A group of 11 private schools including the Albany Academies is suing the state Education Department over new rules that require outside inspections to make sure students are meeting curriculum and subject guidelines.

For over 70 years, New York State law has permitted nonpublic schools to determine the type of program that is harmonious with their established mission statements, Christopher Lauricella, the head of school for The Albany Academies said in a prepared statement about the legal action. The Department has not publicly cited any reason why regular and comprehensive reviews of independent schools  has suddenly become necessary.

Filed in State Supreme Court in Albany County, the action seeks an injunction to stop the Education Department from moving forward with its plan to have local public school boards survey non-public schools in their communities to ensure that they offer substantially equivalent educations.

State Education Department officials declined to comment since the matter involves pending litigation. The legal action was in the form of an Article 78 proceeding, which signals complainants intention to sue a government authority.

The move is the latest battle front in a dispute over the inspection plans. Earlier in the year, operators of Jewish Orthodox schools known as Yeshivas, as well as Catholic schools, both said they wouldnt allow the outside inspectors to do the surveys in their establishments.

They cited the principle of church-state separation as one of their concerns. If schools dont comply they could ultimately lose state funding. While religious and independent schools are typically funded through tuition and other means, many get some form of public help whether its transportation aid, or reimbursement to meet certain state mandates.

The new plan, released in November 2018 stemmed from criticism by some ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva graduates, as well as a 2015 survey, that found students in some of those schools werent learning the basics of English, math or other subjects since most of their time was spent with Torah, or Bible studies. That led to the new guidelines. Because the Education Department couldnt target one type of religious school, the new guidelines apply to all non-public schools.

Under the plan, local school boards are supposed to survey religious and other private schools to make sure their education is substantially equivalent to that offered in public schools.

The religious schools early on cited several objections. In addition to what they said was government overreach, they noted that public school boards are in competition with non-public schools for students.

Thats the case in much of upstate New York, where ongoing population loss means that many small public schools have fewer and fewer students. Student head counts are used to help calculate state aid.

Because that could set up a potential conflict of interest, the religious school operators objected.

The legal action by private schools echoes those concerns. The NYSED and Commissioner have developed a process that leaves independent and religious schools susceptible to bias, conflicts of interest, and local politicking, said Mark Lauria, executive director of the state Association of Independent Schools (AIS), which is leading the legal action.

Their suit is on behalf of all 192 AIS members, said spokeswoman Karen Rogala. Eleven schools from various parts of the state, including The Albany Academies, were named in the filing.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Overall, the AIS noted that there are 1,800 non-public schools in the state.

While AIS has some religious schools, these private or independent schools are not traditional Catholic parish schools, which are instead represented by the Catholic Conference. And many of the Yeshivas are represented by the various ultra-Orthodox groups that are led by their respective rabbis. In addition, there are secular Hebrew day schools with a Jewish focus, but which also include a mainstream curriculum.

James Cultrara, director for education at the Catholic Conference, said his group hasn't ruled out litigation but they are presently working with lawmakers and the Education Department to find a way that they can demonstrate their academic success. "This is our preferred route and we are optimistic that a resolution can be reached," Cultrara said.

Many parents send their children to Catholic schools or private schools as well as religious day schools because of their reputation for high academic standards and the personal attention their kids can get.

More for you N.Y. Catholic schools will boycott new state survey, inspection program

In addition to its concerns about government intrusion, AIS also argues that the local school boards arent set up for such reviews, which would place additional strains and costs on public school systems.

rkarlin@timesunion.com  518-454-5758  @RickKarlinTU
ALBANY  Nearly a quarter of state lawmakers could be forced to give up their outside employment or divest from their businesses before the end of the year if they want to hold on to their seats, according to a new analysis by the good government group Common Cause New York.

Their findings revealed that at least 50 of the 59 re-elected state legislators with second jobs would run afoul of the restrictions on types of private employment approved in December by a special compensation panel. The limits take effect next year.

The full report is available at Capitol Confidential.

The conflict stems from the panel's decision to address income derived from positions with a fiduciary responsibility, such as an attorney, financial advisor and "any other capacity where the public could question whether the employer or the citizens of this state are being properly served."

This prohibition, which is in addition to a cap on how much legislators can earn from eligible jobs, was accompanied by the Legislature's first raise in 20 years. Base salaries increased from $79,500 to $110,000 this year, and could reach $130,000 in 2021 if certain conditions are met.

Common Cause's analysis found that about two-thirds of re-elected state legislators won't be affected by the restrictions because they didn't earn outside income in previous years.

The change will have the largest effect on returning Republican legislators, as nearly half have outside income, which is twice as high as the percent of Democrats who won another term in office. Only a third of re-elected upstate legislators earn outside income, while a majority of returning downstate representatives have a second job.

As interpreted by Common Cause NY, the ban on types of employment would apply to Assemblyman Phil Steck, a practicing attorney, Assemblyman John McDonald, who owns and operates a pharmacy, and Sen. George Amedore, who runs a home building company.

McDonald said he'll "figure something out" to retain his seat, while Steck previously said he might consider leaving public office and Amedore hasn't indicated his plans.

Common Cause NY Executive Director Susan Lerner believes its appropriate to restrict the types of private jobs that lawmakers can hold because there is the possibility of divided loyalties, making it difficult to ensure they're focused on their constituents when fulfilling government duties.

"If the income is earned in a situation where the legislator has a fiduciary duty to the client then that sets up an inherent conflict of interest," Lerner said. "Where is your primary responsibility?"

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

McDonald, a Cohoes Democrat, highlighted his vote in favor of the Reproductive Health Act earlier this year, despite his personal objections to abortion, as evidence that legislators can separate different interests.

"This commission has decided to dispense with the will of the voting public ... potentially in the middle of a term," McDonald said. "It's tone deaf to what public service is all about."

While the restriction on income amounts is an objective measurement, Lerner acknowledged the types of allowable jobs could be subjective and requires clarity from the state's Legislative Ethics Commission. This includes addressing allowable teaching opportunities, which will be approved on a case-by-case basis, and certain medical professions, which are exempted from the Congressional restrictions the state system is modeled after.

Assemblyman Jake Ashby, a Castleton Republican, who has worked as an adjunct professor and is an occupational therapist by training, would likely need to get approval from the ethics commission if he wanted to perform either job while serving in the Assembly.

McDonald is also in search of "clarification," but is waiting for a court case challenging the legitimacy of the compensation panel to play out before acting.

David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87
Washington

Sen. Martha McSally, the first female Air Force fighter pilot to fly in combat, said Wednesday that she was sexually assaulted by a superior officer, and later, when she tried to talk about it to military officials, she "felt like the system was raping me all over again."

The Arizona Republican, a 26-year military veteran, made the disclosure at a Senate hearing on the military's efforts to prevent sexual assaults and improve the response when they occur. Lawmakers also heard from other service members who spoke of being sexually assaulted and humiliated while serving their country.

McSally said she did not report being raped because she did not trust the system, and she said she was ashamed and confused. She said she was impressed and grateful to the survivors who came forward to help change the system. She was in the ninth class at the Air Force Academy to allow women, and said sexual harassment and assault were prevalent. Victims mostly suffered in silence, she said.

Reading from a prepared statement, she spoke of her pride in the military and her service to the country and her deep confliction over suffering abuse while doing it. She referred to "perpetrators" who had sexually assaulted her, an indication that she had been attacked more than once. The Senate Armed Services Committee room was silent as she went on. Fellow senators, surprised by her statement, lauded her for coming forward.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

"I'm deeply affected by that testimony," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who has pushed strongly for changes. At a break, McSally hugged others who were appearing before the committee, including a West Point graduate who detailed being raped by her commander.

Capt. Carrie Volpe, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the branch was appalled at and "deeply sorry" about what McSally had experienced.

"The criminal actions reported today by Senator McSally violate every part of what it means to be an Airman," she said in a statement. "And we stand behind her and all victims of sexual assault. We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behavior and breach of trust in our ranks."

In her remarks, McSally did not go into much detail. She did not say whether her assaults happened at the academy or during active duty. She didn't name any names. She focused on the need for accountability at the commander level and down, and the improvements she's already seen in the system.
ALBANY  Ralph V. Signoracci, the former longtime campaign treasurer for Cohoes Mayor Shawn M. Morse, pleaded guilty to a felony wire fraud charge in U.S. District Court on Thursday. He has agreed to cooperate in a related federal prosecution of Morse for the alleged misuse of political donations.

Signoracci, a former Democratic Albany County legislator, admitted to conspiring with Morse to siphon thousands of dollars in political donations from campaign funds. Federal prosecutors allege the mayor used the cash  more than $15,000  for personal expenditures, including dining, entertainment, vacations and home repairs.

"Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?" Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy asked Signoracci.

"Yes, sir," he answered.

Signoracci walked alone into the courthouse early Thursday and had no family members or supporters in attendance during the proceeding. Several FBI agents who led the investigation sat in the courtroom behind him.

McAvoy scheduled Signoracci's sentencing for July 10. He remains released without bail and, under federal sentencing guidelines, faces between eight and 14 months in prison, assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Hanlon, deputy chief of the office's criminal division, told the judge.

Signoracci, 44, pleaded guilty a week after Morse was arrested on a related seven-count felony indictment charging him with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and lying to FBI agents. Both men are listed as co-conspirators in court records.

Morse, 51, also a Democrat, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court, was released on his own recognizance and returned to his office at City Hall this week, rebuffing calls from the Common Council for him to step aside.

The FBI investigation of two of Cohoes' top officials was revealed in late September when FBI agents visited Signoracci and Morse at their Cohoes residences. The special agents questioned both men about the mayor's various campaign accounts and a series of checks that had been cashed but with no record in elections' filings of where the money went.

One of the felony charges against Morse  lying to federal agents  stems from statements he made when FBI agents went to his residence around dawn that morning and began questioning him.

READ MORE ABOUT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST COHOES MAYOR SHAWN MORSE.

The FBI agents handed Signoracci a subpoena that same day for his campaign treasurers records. He has served for years as Morse's campaign treasurer, managing the accounts when Morse was a county legislator and later chairman of the county Legislature.

Under his plea agreement, Signoracci said he followed Morse's instructions when he cashed checks from campaign accounts and handed the money to the mayor, often around the time that Morse went on vacations.

In August 2015, Hanlon said, Signoracci withdrew $5,000 from a political action committee (PAC) account set up by him and Morse and gave the money to the mayor. Hanlon said the next day Morse deposited $5,300 into his personal bank account.

The following week, according to federal court records, "Morse used these funds to pay for multiple personal expenses, including at hotels, restaurants, and retailers in Wildwood, New Jersey."

The five wire fraud counts in Morse's indictment allege the mayor, with Signoracci's assistance, filed false entries with the state Board of Elections between August 2015 and January 2018 regarding campaign expenditures in amounts of $500, $5,000, $2,250, $3,000, and $1,500.

Under state law, stealing campaign funds for personal use could be considered grand larceny. The federal wire fraud counts are based, in part, on Signoracci's use of an online filing system with the state Board of Elections, as well as his use of email, mailings and mobile phones to solicit contributions.

The indictment also alleges Morse on one occasion deposited a $500 campaign-donation check into his personal bank account. The donation was never reported to the Board of Elections.

When asked about Signoracci's guilty plea, Morse said, "I don't know anything about it."

He commented Thursday evening while he greeted residents gathering for a public meeting on the future of the closed Cohoes Community Center.

"I don't know about Ralph," Morse said as he exchanged hugs with some in the crowd of around 175 at the Cohoes Senior Center. "We're going to trial. We'll let it all play out."

Signoracci had been Morse's confidant and a forceful campaign fundraiser for the mayor, including when Morse was a county legislator. Signoracci was a Cohoes Common Council member for eight years and was appointed Cohoes' director of operations by Morse, a former city firefighter, after Morse was elected mayor in 2015.

Signoracci left the city council, where he had once been chairman, when he was appointed to fill Morse's seat on the county Legislature after Morse was sworn in as mayor.

The FBIs investigation, and Signoracci's cooperation, created a rift between the two longtime political confederates. They largely ceased communicating last year, according to people close to them, and in late December Signoracci resigned from his job as the citys director of operations. He also resigned from the Legislature.

Michael Conners, the Albany County comptroller, hired Signoracci to a newly created job as the office's "director of municipal affairs," with a salary of $81,590 a year. On Thursday, after Signoracci pleaded guilty, Conners said it would not change his employment status.

"He has nothing to do with any money," Conners said. Signoracci's job "is about trying to get people working together on the shared-service concepts. Ive known Ralph forever and its a tragic time. Ralph and his family are in my prayers."

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Signoracci, as part of his plea, has agreed to cooperate in the investigation, which may include testifying against Morse. Signoracci has met with federal authorities multiple times and has turned over the requested campaign finance records.

Under the top charge, Morse could face a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, although federal sentencing guidelines make it unlikely that he would face the maximum penalty if convicted. Signoracci is facing a lighter potential sentence, in part, because he pleaded guilty.

One of the campaign accounts allegedly looted by Morse was titled "The Chairman's PAC." Records indicate Morse set up that account when he was chairman of the Albany County Legislature. At one time, the political fund held more than $30,000, but the most recent filing indicated there is no longer money in the account.

The PAC was established in order for Morse to raise political donations to support the campaigns of other legislative candidates who supported him in his chairman's role. But authorities said he donated less than $1,400 to other campaigns.

The indictment alleges Morse also used more than $13,000 from the Chairman's PAC for his inaugural mayoral campaign in 2015, in violation of state Election Law.

In 2014, the Times Union reported that Morse's Chairman's PAC account received a series of large donations from Council 82, an Albany-based law enforcement union that represents about 270 correction officers at the Albany County jail.

The union made two $10,000 donations to the PAC  and later another donation for $2,500  around the time that Morse, then chairman of the county Legislature, had pushed a measure granting exemptions to dozens of Albany County employees who had lived outside the county in violation of a long-standing residency requirement.

Morse, at the time, denied the donation from Council 82 was connected to the passage of that legislation, which benefitted numerous correction officers who were living outside the county in violation of the policy.

Officials with Council 82 did not respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors said that Morse's use of the PAC for his mayoral campaign  in addition to personal expenses  was unlawful because it allowed donors to exceed contribution limits.

People close to Morse said that he has indicated he will blame Signoracci for any misused campaign funds, and that he denies using the political donations for personal expenses and will contend the cash payments were reimbursements for expenditures such as his cell phone bill.

Signoracci is represented by James E. Long; Morse's attorney is William J. Dreyer. Both attorneys have declined to comment.

The arrest of Morse follows a tumultuous two years in which he has faced multiple criminal investigations for allegations of domestic abuse. Those probes, by the State Police, Albany County Sheriff's Department and Colonie police, did not result in any charges but sparked calls from numerous elected officials  including Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo  for Morse to resign.



The allegations became public when Morse's wife, Brenda, called 911 in November 2017 and told a dispatcher her husband had grabbed her by the neck and thrown her to the ground, choking her.

Morse has denied he choked his wife. The State Police had also probed allegations made by Morse's 16-year-old daughter that he physically abused her, including choking her and punching her in the head.

Colonie police recently said they had closed their investigation into a complaint by Morse's wife that he had grabbed her and spit on her during a dispute at a Wolf Road restaurant last year. Colonie police said they could not sustain the allegations and discovered "inconsistencies" in her account.

Morse's arrest comes as he is campaigning for re-election and facing challenges in June's Democratic primary from three city residents: Peter Frangie, a former city treasurer; William Keeler, a former State Police major; and Stephen Napier, a member of the city council.
The Vietnamese stall, covering 153 sq.m, is displaying farm produce such as fruits and vegetables, processed aquatic products, organic peppercorn, mushrooms, Phu Quoc fish sauce, fruit cakes and beverages.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnams total fruit and vegetable exports to Japan surpassed US$105 million last year, mostly from frozen farm produce.

Executive Director of the Japanese Craft Flower Association Hironori Kakou expressed his interest in bringing Vietnams typical farm produce to Japan where they are popular, believing that Vietnamese lychee will be favoured in Japan.

FOODEX is the largest and most important networking event for the Japanese food and beverage sector to increase trade with overseas markets.

Participating Vietnamese firms are expected to sign new deals, seek trade partners, and promote exports to Japan.

The four-day event has attracted nearly 3,500 enterprises from 83 countries and territories worldwide, welcoming some 72,400 visitors.
[March 07, 2019] FSMTime's TimeKeeper Platform Celebrates 11 Years of Bringing Time and Synchronization to the Cloud Enterprise Transformation

As cloud computing, cybersecurity and 5G disrupt global markets, TimeKeeper continues to meet tighter timing demand for business logic and regulatory compliance requirements AUSTIN, Texas, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FSMTime (formerly FSMLabs), the global leader of secure, resilient enterprise clock time and synchronization applications, celebrates its 11 years of the TimeKeeper Platform with software, support and services developed entirely in the US. The FSMTime platform serves enterprise markets in financial trading, data centers, broadcast and government for applications that include 5G, IoT, cybersecurity, cyberdefense, cloud, GPS/GNSS resiliency, AI/machine learning, automation and blockchain. The TimeKeeper Platform, now in its 3rd generation, provides everything an enterprise needs for secure ultra-high precision clock sourcing, distribution, synchronization, monitoring, management, compliance, and administration; all with services and support in one easy-to-view dashboard. Enterprises, customers and VARS can view the 11-year TimeKeeper's Innovation DNA Timeline at https://www.fsmtime.com/about/timeline/ "For eleven years TimeKeepr has been the leading platform solution of choice for Wall Street firms, global banks and the financial services industry and is the gold standard for UTC-traceable Enterprise Time Synchronization management," said Victor Yodaiken, Founder and CEO of FSMLabs, now FSMTime. He added, "We see clock sync as critical to emerging markets and technologies ranging from electronic trading of financial assets to distributed database and cloud computing. We are chosen by leading enterprises and VARs to enable solutions that prevent costly data loss, improve low latency efficiency measurements, detect cyber threats, identify timestamp tampering, diagnose data logs, and increase revenue as well as operational efficiency."



Global Banking Customer "I was a member of a senior management team at a London-based Tier 1 international bank that selected FSMLabs [now FSMTime] TimeKeeper to meet our MiFID II clock requirements and to improve time-sensitive business logic," says Sanjay Navgale, the Delivery Stream Lead of the bank's Investor & Treasury Services. "The TimeKeeper Platform is far ahead of the competition on several levels and in our estimation, was the only viable solution." He added, "The high-performance TimeKeeper Platform offers a wide range of applications and the FSMLabs support team was excellent."

Meet FSMTime Executives at These Shows: 2019 FIX Trading EMEA Conference - London Thursday Mar 14, 2019. FSMTime will be exhibiting at the EMEA FIX Trading Conference on time sync requirements in electronic trading, while featuring their industry's fastest TimeKeeper Grandmaster II time server appliance. 2019 WSTS Conference - San Jose Monday Mar 25, 2019. FSMTime will be speaking at the WSTS Conference on time sync requirements across industries. About FSMLabs now FSMTime FSMTime (formerly FSMLabs), markets, supports and sells secure, resilient enterprise time and synchronization products and services to keep businesses and operations applications synchronized with ultra-high precision across distributed data center and cloud networks. Over the past 10 years, the TimeKeeper Enterprise-Class Clock Sync Platform has become the industry's gold standard and most trusted software product available for time-critical industries. Visit FSMTime: https://www.fsmtime.com SOURCE FSMLabs, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Juneau Biosciences to Present at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI)

SALT LAKE CITY, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Predictive Technology Group, Inc. (OTC PINK: PRED), a leader in the use of data analytics for disease identification and subsequent therapeutic intervention through precision therapeutic treatments, announces that Juneau Biosciences will deliver four scienctific presentations at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI), which will be held from Tuesday, March 12th to Saturday, March, 16th in Paris, France. Predictive Technology Group inlicensed the technology supporting its ARTGuide Test for endometriosis and other genetic causes of infertility from Juneau and is the companys largest shareholder.

Juneau Biosciences scientists, Kenneth Ward, M.D. and Hans Albertsen, Ph.D., will discuss Juneaus recent findings concerning the genetics of endometriosis. SRI is the leading international research organization in the areas of gynecology and reproductive health. The organization seeks to advance reproductive and women's health care through outstanding basic, translational, and clinical science and by training and mentoring future generations of investigators. Predictive Laboratories, a wholly owned subsidiary of Predictive Technology Group, recently launched its novel test for women experiencing infertility, called ARTGuide, to selected Beta launch centers. The ARTGuide Test will now incorporate these latest data. The test is expected to change the way that Advanced Reproductive Technologies (ART) such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) are used to help couples struggling to have a baby. Tens of thousands of women have been tested as part of this research and development program. About Endometriosis:

Endometriosis affects more than 10 million women in the United States. Endometriosis occurs when the tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (womb), fund in other parts of the body, most commonly in the pelvis. Monthly bleeding and inflammation caused by these lesions may severely impact a woman's quality of life. Some affected women experience severe pain, others infertility, others problems with their periods, and some have no symptoms at all. Today, definitive diagnosis requires surgery. Due to the difficulties, invasiveness, and expense of diagnosing the condition, the majority of women diagnosed with endometriosis suffer for over a decade before receiving treatment. Treatment may involve hormonal suppression or a targeted destruction of the abnormal tissue during surgery.



About Juneau Biosciences:

Juneau Biosciences is a privately held medical genetics company conducting groundbreaking research to develop innovative diagnostic products for diseases that predominantly affect women. Launched in early 2007, the Salt Lake City based firm has focused so far on the development of novel molecular diagnostics and therapeutics for endometriosis, a condition estimated to affect approximately 10% of reproductive-age females. About Predictive Technology Group, Inc.

Predictive Technology Group aims to revolutionize patient care through predictive data analytics, novel gene-based diagnostics and companion therapeutics through its subsidiaries Predictive Therapeutics, Predictive Biotech, Predictive Diagnostics and Predictive Laboratories. These subsidiaries are focused on endometriosis, scoliosis, degenerative disc disease and human cell and tissue products. The subsidiaries use genetic and other information as cornerstones in the development of new diagnostics that assess a persons risk of illness and therapeutic products designed to identify, prevent and treat diseases more effectively. Additional information is available at Predtechgroup.com ; Predrx.com and Predictivebiotech.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

To the extent any statements made in this release contain information that is not historical, these statements are essentially forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the difficulty of predicting FDA approvals, acceptance and demand for human cell and tissue products and other pharmaceutical products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development and launch, reliance on key strategic alliances, availability of raw materials, availability of additional intellectual property rights, availability of future financing sources, the regulatory environment, and other risks the Company may identify from time to time in the future. Contact: Investors

LHA Investor Relations

Jody Cain [email protected]

Kevin Mc Cabe [email protected]

310-691-7100

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Keynotes Guy Kawasaki and Sekou Andrews to Inspire Innovation and Artistry at North America CACS in ISACA's 50th Anniversary Year

Guy Kawasaki, Silicon Valley-based author, speaker, entrepreneur, and evangelist, will deliver the opening keynote to ISACA's North America CACS Conference for information systems audit, assurance, control, governance and security professionals, taking place 13-15 May 2019 in Anaheim, California. In his presentation, "The Art of Innovation," Kawasaki will focus on how to create innovative services and products using tactical and practical techniques, using examples as diverse as ice making and digital photography to expose the truths of innovation. Key principles include: jumping to the next curve, breaking down the barriers, and thinking digitally and acting analogically. His keynote presentation will inspire attendees to increase their ability to be agile and innovative. Closing the conference will be Sekou Andrews, Poetic Voice and CEO of SekouWorld, Inc. A former schoolteacher, this two-time national poetry slam champion is a self-described "Poetic Voice": a speaker and artist who seamlessly blends the value of a business keynote with the inspiration of a powerful spoken-word poetry performance. In Andrews' closing keynote, "D.i.Y. Disruption," he will teach attendees that as their enterprises pursue the "big I" of Innovation through adopting technologies, they should see through the "little i" perspective of an innovator by disrupting themselves from within. IT audit, risk, cybersecurity and governance professionals will gather at the Anaheim Convention Center to examine the transformational roles they play in their organizations. Attendees will learn solutions and strategies, including how assurance, risk, governance and security professionals can advance their careers and impact their enterprises. Attendees of North America CACS can earn up to 39 continuing professional education (CPE) hours. This year's event offers more than 100 sessions in tracks covering: Big Data, data analytics and visualization

IToperations for auditors

Risk management

Security/cybersecurity

IS audit and assurance

IT leadership: career and communications development

Governance and compliance

Industry trends and insights



COBIT 2019, cybersecurity fundamentals and cybersecurity for auditors, preparing for the CISA certification, developing and implementing a risk management process, PCI (News - Alert) data security standards, and more. As ISACA celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2019 and returns to Southern California, where its first chapter was formed, North America CACS will feature special programming related to the evolution of technology and the profession over the last five decades. More information and registration for North America CACS is available at: http://www.isaca.org/NA-CACS.

About ISACA Now in its 50th anniversary year, ISACA (isaca.org) is a global association helping individuals and enterprises achieve the positive potential of technology. Today's world is powered by information and technology, and ISACA equips professionals with the knowledge, credentials, education and community to advance their careers and transform their organizations. ISACA leverages the expertise of its 460,000 engaged professionals-including its 140,000 members-in information and cyber security, governance, assurance, risk and innovation, as well as its enterprise performance subsidiary, CMMI Institute, to help advance innovation through technology. ISACA has a presence in 188 countries, including more than 220 chapters worldwide and offices in both the United States and China. Twitter (News - Alert): www.twitter.com/ISACANews LinkedIn (News - Alert): www.linkedin.com/company/isaca Facebook (News - Alert): www.facebook.com/ISACAHQ Instagram: www.instagram.com/isacanews/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005652/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] LinkSquares, the AI Startup Tackling Contract Analytics, Raises $4.8M in Financing

LinkSquares, the company disrupting legal ops with artificial intelligence (AI)-powered contract analytics software, today announced the completion of a $4.8 million heavily oversubscribed financing round. The round was led by Hyperplane Venture Capital and MassMutual Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). The round included additional participation from a top Am Law 50 firm. As part of the financing, John Murphy of Hyperplane is joining the LinkSquares board. The most recent financing brings LinkSquares' total venture funding to $6.9 million. The company previously raised nearly $2.2 million in its first funding round in 2017, led by Regent Private Capital, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based private equity and VC investment firm. "We are very excited about working with all our new investors for this round. Both of the co-leads share the vision and excitement around using technology to replace historically manual processes. LinkSquares is extremely passionate about helping in-house counsel, and this round of funding enables us to continue to build an incredible product experience and ultimately enable these teams to operate more efficiently in support of business operations," said Vishal Sunak, LinkSquares CEO. John Murphy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Hyperplane, comments, "As intelligent tools continue to proliferate, we belive there is a huge opportunity to use AI to automate the routine, recurring processes within different functional areas of an organization. LinkSquares provides an elegant solution that allows legal professionals to automate these manual, low value tasks and focus on what's really important."



Founded in 2015, LinkSquares has quickly grown as a leading provider of AI-powered contract management and analytics software. Coming off a banner year in 2018, LinkSquares' customers include high-growth companies such as VMware, DraftKings, Kensho, Wish.com, Asurion (News - Alert), and Carbonite. With the funding LinkSquares will continue to expand the team with great talent, invest in advancing AI capabilities, and focus on a customer-centric go to market strategy. "The thousands of PDF and scanned vendor and customer agreements sitting in a company's files are hiding potential revenue opportunities as well as possible legal obligations and financial liabilities. Instead of paying a first-year associate at an outside law firm to manually read through these documents, LinkSquares allows in-house counsel to manage their contractual environment with a real-time summary and graphical view of key contract terms, e.g., renewal dates, cancellation clauses, and confidentiality obligations," said Eric Emmons, Managing Director at MassMutual Ventures. "We see LinkSquares' AI contract management quickly becoming requisite technology for all in-house counsel teams."

Vishal Sunak concludes, "It is incredible to be on the forefront of the AI industrial revolution inside of the legal market, bringing first of its kind machine learning capabilities to solving age old legal challenges." About LinkSquares:

LinkSquares is a web application designed to help legal and finance teams work smarter. The AI-powered contract repository automatically finds and extracts key terms and meta-data from contracts and provides key insights with deep search, custom reporting, and analytics. LinkSquares saves high-growth companies hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars by eliminating manual contract review and the need for outside counsel. About Hyperplane Venture Capital:

Hyperplane Venture Capital is a seed stage firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm partners with exceptional founders who are harnessing machine intelligence, sensor technology, and cloud computing to design solutions at the nexus of perception, communication, and insight. Hyperplane's portfolio covers a wide array of industries including financial technologies, robotics, digital health, industrial automation, and others. About MassMutual Ventures:

MassMutual Ventures is a return-focused corporate venture capital firm investing in seed to growth stage companies. Key areas of investment focus include financial technology, cybersecurity, data analytics, digital health and enterprise software. MassMutual Ventures helps companies navigate early growth and achieve significant enterprise value over time. The firm manages US$250M across two funds: MassMutual Ventures a US$200M Boston MA based fund investing in North America, Europe and Israel and MassMutual Ventures SEA, a US$50M Singapore based fund investing across Southeast Asia. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005489/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Nationwide partners with BlueVine to help business owners get online growth financing

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Nationwide is taking the next step in a venture capital investment it made last year in online small business lending company BlueVine by expanding its relationship with the company to offer BlueVine's fast and flexible financing to small businesses through Nationwide's Business Solutions Center . Small businesses can access the company's innovative online lending platform by applying here. The BlueVine platform offers approvals in as fast as 10 minutes. "Nationwide serves over 1 million small businesses and is No. 1 in customer satisfaction with small commercial insurance1. So, we're committed to small business owners and proud of the connections we make with companies like BlueVine to help them move their businesses forward," said Tony Fenton, vice president of Nationwide's Underwriting, Product & New Product Development. "Helping those business owners protect what's most important to them and plan for a secure financial future is at the core of what we do." According to recent data2, most U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses have less than one month's cash buffer. Cash buffer days are the number of days of cash outflows a business could pay out of its cash balance were its inflows to stop. And while access to working capital is critical to business growth and stability, small businesses traditionally struggle to get the financing they need. From a 2017 Federal Reserve Bank study3: 40 percent of employer firms applied for financing in the previous 12 months

75 percent sought less than $250,000

54 percent of applicants failed to get the full amount they needed

24 percent received no funding at all Business Financing Made Easier

BlueVine's online platform provides business owners with fast and easy access to working capital financing without the hassle of visiting a branch or submitting mountains of paperwork. Completing an application takes minutes, and approvals can be delivered in as little as 10 minutes. The company provides lines of credit up to $250,000 and invoice factoring up to $5,000,000 in funding availability. "We're thrilled to be working with Nationwide to expand access to financing for small business owners" said Eyal Lifshitz, founder and CEO of BlueVine. "Our platform was designed specifically for business owners who are looking to take their business growth to the next level but need flexible working capital support to get there. By making working capital financing fast, easy and flexible for business owners, we're delivering on our mission  to expand access to capital for small business owners. This mission-driven focus is a strong compliment to Nationwide's stewardship in the small business community."



Business Solutions Center . For more information on business financing offered through BlueVine, click here . Nationwide innovation efforts gain momentum

In addition to the relationship with and investment in BlueVine, Nationwide has also announced the following innovation related efforts over the past year:

Nationwide's venture capital team has made 12 investments to date, including Socotra, Betterview , Nexar , blooom , Insurify , Next Insurance , Matic and Sure .

, , , , , and . Nationwide plans to open a new innovation center in the Arena District near its Columbus -based headquarters in 2019.

near its -based headquarters in 2019. Nationwide is committed to driving innovation that helps members:

Live comfortably in retirement



Meet their insurance and financial needs in novel and digital ways



Protect their data and digital assets



Protect them in the evolving area of mobility "Nationwide is constantly seeking ways to partner with companies to collaborate and innovate together," said Erik Ross, head of Nationwide's venture capital team. "Careful, well-researched investments in companies like BlueVine enable us to brainstorm, develop and execute a new wave of solutions that drive innovation, establish mutual value and ultimately create success for our members." About BlueVine BlueVine provides fast, simple, easy financing to small and medium-sized businesses. BlueVine's online technology-enabled platform offers business owners convenient access to capital to pay for their everyday needs and to grow their business. BlueVine offers fully-online invoice factoring , which allows businesses to get advances on unpaid invoices. BlueVine also offers businesses revolving lines of credit that provide flexible financing on demand. All lines of credit financing are issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC. Based in Redwood City, Calif., BlueVine has provided over $1.5 billion in financing to small businesses and is backed by leading private and institutional investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, Citi Ventures, Nationwide Insurance, M12 (Microsoft's Venture Arm), Correlation Ventures, Rakuten Fintech Fund and other private investors. For more information, please visit www.bluevine.com . About Nationwide

Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poors. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Nationwide, Nationwide is on your side and the Nationwide N and Eagle are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. 2019. 1Nationwide received the highest score in the J.D. Power 2018 Small Commercial Insurance Study of customers' satisfaction with their insurance provider. Visit jdpower.com/awards. 2JPMorgan Chase Institute Study, September 2016 3 Federal Reserve Bank, SBCS 2017 Contact:

David Gilligan

(614)677-7305

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nationwide-partners-with-bluevine-to-help-business-owners-get-online-growth-financing-300808453.html SOURCE Nationwide

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] New Belgium Brewing Moves Core Applications from Cloud Services to On-Premises Dell EMC Infrastructure to Support Expanding Business

HOPKINTON, Mass., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- News summary New Belgium Brewing migrates core applications from an off-premises managed cloud to on-premises Dell EMC PowerEdge servers to address expanding technology needs

Dell EMC-powered infrastructure reduces annual operational cost by 66 percent and speeds access to key applications and data

Company joins growing number of businesses adopting a multi-cloud strategy, combining on-premises IT with public clouds Full story New Belgium Brewing, the fourth largest US craft brewer, has returned its core business applications from a cloud service to its onsite operations. The company has chosen Dell EMC PowerEdge servers as the underlying infrastructure to support exponential increases in its applications and data, achieving greater control over its data integrity and security while improving speed to applications and saving IT costs. The competitive craft beer industry is growing rapidly, and IT plays an essential role in every phase of beer making, from procuring the raw materials to maintaining exceptional quality control, marketing and managing the business. To meet its expanding technology needs, the company initially turned to a managed cloud service. As it expanded its operations and added a new brewing facility, New Belgium realized that a high-performance, on-premises solution would be much more efficient.

New Belgium Selects Dell EMC PowerEdge Servers in Moving Core Applications On-Premises New Belgium selected on-premises infrastructure driven by Dell EMC PowerEdge servers as engines to host several mission critical workloadsranging from production applications and business intelligence to ERP and CRM systems, SQL databases, SharePoint and Skype for Businesswhile still using a public cloud service to host Microsoft Office 365 for its employees. Coupled with data analytics capabilities and management tools, including Dell EMC OpenManage and iDRAC, the new approach has resulted in substantial cost savings, including operational cost reduced by 66 percent annually, decreased production downtime, and boosted capacity on its bottling line by 25 percent. "The craft beer market is highly competitive, and operations must be supported by a strong IT infrastructure across all aspects of the brewing process," said Travis Morrison, IT director at New Belgium Brewing. "We continue to evolve our operations to make us more efficient and effective and to stay ahead of our competitors. Dell EMC has been a strategic partner, taking the time to understand what we want to achieve and providing us with the right guidance and solutions. Dell EMC PowerEdge servers have delivered exceptional performance and cost savings and have been an essential fuel our success." IT Workloads Returning to On-Premises Spurs Multi-Cloud Strategies The company joins an increasing number of businesses returning key workloads frompublic or managed clouds to on-premises or private clouds, and, most often, adopting multi-cloud approaches. According to analyst firm IDC, 80 percent of companies have repatriated applications or data, primarily part of a public cloud environment, to an on-premises or private cloud solution in the past year due to security reasons, performance, cost and/or control. At the same time, IDC finds more than 70 percent of companies are using more than one type of cloud environment, while the largest data center challenge most companies currently face is developing a successful multi-cloud strategy.1



"Our most mission-critical workloads simply must be run locally," said Adam Little, senior systems administrator, New Belgium Brewing. "This includes programmable logic control and process automation for brewingright down to opening and closing valves. We can't risk running that over a WAN link." "The increasing amount of data generated is creating tremendous opportunities today, but not all data is equal nor do all applications require the same level of infrastructure, latency and support," said Matt Baker, senior vice president, strategy and planning, Dell EMC. "An effective multi-cloud strategy optimizes mission-critical and non-mission critical workloads running across the right mix of on-and off-premises private, public and hybrid cloud environments to deliver for the unique needs of every business. Organizations are increasingly assessing the requirements and costs of running their different applications and decided where it makes the most sense to have them hosted. We are committed to helping New Belgium and our customers develop their own unique cloud strategies, enabling them to make the most of their IT investments, safeguard their data and remain competitive."

New Belgium Brewing is an American craft brewer founded in 1988. Dell EMC has worked with New Belgium to align IT with business needs in order to source, create and deliver high-quality, consistent beer. Automating New Belgium's IT infrastructure has contributed to the company's continued growth, allowing it to accelerate innovation, simplify operations and add value back into the business. Additional resources Dell EMC PowerEdge servers

Case Study: The Perfect Recipe for World-Class Beer

Video: New Belgium with Dell EMC PowerEdge

with Dell EMC PowerEdge Follow the latest news on Twitter from @DellEMC About Dell EMC Dell EMC , a part of Dell Technologies , enables organizations to modernize, automate and transform their data center using industry-leading converged infrastructure, servers, storage and data protection technologies. This provides a trusted foundation for businesses to transform IT, through the creation of a hybrid cloud, and transform their business through the creation of cloud-native applications and big data solutions. Dell EMC services customers across 180 countries  including 99 percent of the Fortune 500  with the industry's most comprehensive and innovative portfolio from edge to core to cloud. Dell, EMC, Dell EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners. 1) IDC: Cloud Repatriation Accelerates in a Multicloud World (August 2018) View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-belgium-brewing-moves-core-applications-from-cloud-services-to-on-premises-dell-emc-infrastructure-to-support-expanding-business-300808382.html SOURCE Dell EMC

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Smartag to Create Regional Fintech Hub in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Smartag International, Inc. (OTC Markets: SMRN) ("Smartag,") is pleased to announce that on March 1, 2019, Smartag entered into a supplementary agreement with PT Supratama Makmur Sukses ("PTSMS") and Smartag's wholly owned subsidiary Oreb Sdn Bhd ("OREB").

Smartag and PTSMS will roll out the Mobisaria e-Wallet project through a regional hub in Malaysia under OREB. OREB will provide Fintech research & development and technical support to PTSMS directly for the Mobisaria project which includes P2P transfers, e-commerce, micro finance, pawn broking and blockchain traceability and cryptocurrencies. The combined Indonesian Mobisaria Project will provide a rural e-Wallet Fintech services to potentially 28,000 boarding school students now covers potentially 5000 local Islamic Baitu Maal or BMT co-operatives. As a result of PTSMS successfully entering into an MOU on December 12, 2018, with PT. Telekomunikasi Selular ("Telkomsel"), the largest mobil cellular operator in Indonesia, the Mobisaria project has the ability to access a nationwide payment gateway to four of the nation's largest state owned banks which includes Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Tabungan Negara tbk.



Information about Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that include information relating to future events. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which that performance or those results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time they are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in, or suggested by, the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: the Company's need for additional funding, the demand for the Company's products, governmental regulation of the fintech industry, the Company's ability to maintain customer and strategic business relationships, the impact of competitive products and pricing, growth in targeted markets, the adequacy of the Company's liquidity and financial strength to support its growth, and other risks that may be detailed from time-to-time in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smartag-to-create-regional-fintech-hub-in-malaysia-300808125.html SOURCE Smartag International, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Tynker Launches New CodeMaker Camp Program to Enable Educators Across the U.S. to Offer STEM Summer Camps for Kids

Tynker, Inc, the leader in enabling kids to use code to become Makers, today announced the launch of a new program for educators to operate summer coding camps for students ages 8-16 starting in May 2019. The Tynker CodeMaker Camp program provides free training, turnkey marketing support, technology tools and a calendar of daily camp activities to enable educators to establish standalone camps during the summer vacation months. Tynker's CodeMaker Camps enable educators to earn supplemental income in the summer while inspiring kids to use code to power a range of games, animations, and devices. Tynker is already used by over one-third of all U.S. K-8 schools and over 90,000 schools globally. "Hundreds of thousands of educators have already used Tynker in the classroom to teach students valuable coding skills tied to in-class projects and other learning outcomes," said Kaustav Mitra, Vice President of Educator Programs at Tynker. "Many of these educators need to supplement their income during the summer vacation months and our new CodeMaker Camps give them the perfect opportunity to do so, with all the training, tools and support they need to leverage their teaching skills to offer paid maker camps within their communities." CodeMaker Camps are suited to students in 3rd through 10th grade and provide 10-12 hours of overall instruction and activities, most commonly offered in weeklong half-day or full-day camps. CodeMaker Camps feature over a dozen fun technology activities that inspire young learners to create games, program LEGO WeDo robots, build games, fly drones and create Minecraft mods. Advanced learners can learn to create apps using real-world languages like JavaScript and Python, and build their own websites using HTML and CSS (News - Alert). Educators from accredited K-12 U.S. schools can join the Tynker CodeMaker Camp program for free and receive an 80% commission on camp fees from Tynker for each student enrolling in their camps. Educators need no prior coding experience or experience with Tynker in the classroom and can get started right away at https://www.tynker.com/camps/. Upon registration and approval, educators receive the following:



Comprehensive training in camp operations, logistics and best practices;

Full Tynker lesson plans including prep, instructional guides, daily activities, fun exercises and more to turn students into Makers;

Custom marketing tools to create a personalized Tynker CodeMaker Camp website, conduct email campaigns in their community and produce branded flyers, brochures, posters and T-shirts; and

Administrative support to enable easy parent communication, student registration, tracking of all legal and medical forms, and direct deposit of camp fees. "Tynker has become a critical part of our classroom curriculum because it empowers kids to build engaging projects that connect their passions to the core coding skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives," said Evonne Hackett, Computer Science educator at Lakeview Middle School in Catoosa County, Georgia. "With Tynker's new CodeMaker Camps, educators are now empowered to keep doing what we love during the summer months: engaging with families and students while earning money during the months when we don't receive a salary." The Tynker CodeMaker Camp program was designed from the ground up and is distinct from Tynker's regular home subscriptions and school offerings. Instructor guides are detailed with guidance on how to lead sessions and instructors then have the freedom to determine their own CodeMaker Camp schedule, how long the camp will run, the class size and price per student or family.

To operate a Tynker CodeMaker Camp, educators must secure their own camp location with high-speed Internet access and a strong WiFi (News - Alert) network - ideally with computers at the location. CodeMaker Camp training for educators will be online and on-demand and supplemented by webinars on conducting camp operations. As part of the CodeMaker Camp program, Tynker has worked with the American Camp Association to offer educators the ability to earn a full ACA Day Camp Director Certificate or a Tynker CodeMaker Camp Director Certificate. The training, which usually costs $300, is offered for free to educators and includes modules on Business Management and Practices, Risk Management, Health and Wellness, Family & Community Connections, Cultural Competence and Human Resources. Teachers who complete the training will also receive a badge to use on their personalized CodeMaker Camp website. "Tynker CodeMaker Camps are a great way for educators to leverage their free time in the summer to help kids become Makers through the use of code," said Amy Katzenberger, Chief Program Officer, American Camp Association. "Through our collaboration with Tynker, teachers will have access to the expertise and knowledge to run highly successful camps that will lead to fun and engaging activities for kids in their communities." About Tynker Tynker empowers kids of all ages to become Makers by enabling them to develop coding skills to design, develop, and power animations, games, toys, smart devices and more. The company's award-winning platform helps to engage students at home, at school, and on the go, so they develop the critical thinking, reasoning and programming skills that turn them into the Makers of today and tomorrow. Tynker's highly successful STEM teaching platform has been used by one in three U.S. K-8 schools, 90,000 schools globally and over 60 million kids across 150 countries. Tynker's partners include some of the world's most respected brands including Apple (News - Alert), Microsoft, Mattel, PBS, Lego, Code.org and more. Tynker is accessible from any computer with an Internet browser, as well as via the Tynker and Tynker Junior mobile apps, and offers both a free and paid subscription option. For more information, visit www.tynker.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005159/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] WCT Annual Leadership Awards Recognize Canada's Rising Stars in Closing the Gender Gap

OTTAWA, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) announced today the recipients of their prestigious Leadership Excellence Awards, which recognize women, men and organizations committed to diversity and closing the gender gap in Canada's information, broadcast, communications, media and technology industries. With less than 27 per cent of women represented in Canada's knowledge-based economy, celebrating the contributions and achievements of women is a critical element in closing the gender gap. Without role models, young women are up to 32 per cent less likely to aspire to leadership roles. The theme for International Women's Day this year is #BalanceforBetter, calling for gender balance in the boardroom, government, media, and workforce. WCT is a national professional association which for 28 years has been working towards gender parity and the advancement of women in their careers in Canada's innovation economy. "Every year, WCT recognizes the rising stars who inspire others to unite to close the gender gap," says Joanne Stanley, Executive Director of WCT. "Communications and technology are fiercely competitive and innovation-driven industries where women still comprise only nine per cent of leaders in the C-suite. It's time to change those numbers and propel women into leadership positions." CGI is the presenting sponsor of the 2019 Annual Awards and Gala. "It is an honour to recognize these winners as leaders in Canada's digital industries," says Lisa Carroll, Senior Vice-President at CGI. "It takes champions and a network of support to truly effect change. CGI is proud to recognize women's achievements, as well as those of the organizations that inspire girls to go into STEM, the companies that demonstrate and promote inclusiveness, and the men who support the advancement of women." The awards will be presented at WCT's Annual Awards Gala on May 1st, 2019 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The must-attend event draws over 450 high-profile public and private sector leaders for a night of celebrating diversity in Canada. The 2019 Annual Leadership Awards recipients are:







Woman of the Year: Rola Dagher, President, Cisco Systems Canada



Company of the Year: Aboriginal People's Television Network



Leadership Excellence Awards:



Trailblazer Anuja Sheth, Vice President, Business Networks and Supply Chain, Bell Canada



Innovator Johanne Hinse, Vice President, Programming and Community Relations, Cogeco Connexion Inc.



Mentor Caroline Gayle, Managing Director of Technology for Financial Services, Accenture



Rising Star Sarah Ryan, Program Director, Brilliant Labs



Diversity Champions Rekha Rao-Mayya, Country Manager, GSI/SI Services Partners, Microsoft Canada





Dr. Andrew Rau-Chaplin, Dean, Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University



Entrepreneur Zainab Muse, CEO & Founder, Wingd



Empowerment Canadian Association for Girls in Science



WCT Leaders National Capital Region, led by Sally Douglas, Principal, Earnscliffe and

Kristal Felea, Executive Producer & Partner, Banfield Agency

For more information, contact Mathea Stevens at [email protected]wct-fct.com (French version is available) To purchase your ticket to the WCT 2019 Annual Awards Gala or reserve a table for your organization, contact us at: [email protected] About Women in Communications and Technology Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) is a national association committed to advancing women in Canadian information, communications, media and technology. WCT inspires and engages women from coast to coast through professional development programs, networking and events, mentorship and opportunities to recognize achievements in Canada's digital economy. SOURCE Canadian Women in Communications & Technology

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 06, 2019] CTBC Bank USA CEO Noor Menai Joins FDIC Subcommittee on Supervision Modernization

The inaugural meeting of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) Subcommittee on Supervision Modernization took place in Washington, D.C. yesterday and today. Noor Menai, President and CEO of CTBC Bank USA, by invitation of FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams, joined the subcommittee. The subcommittee was established to support the FDIC's Advisory Committee on Community Banking by considering how the FDIC can leverage technology and refine processes to make the examination program more efficient, while managing and training a geographically dispersed workforce. The initial two-day meeting consisted of an overview of the FDIC and its structure, a discussion of the current bank examination program, and a review of existing technology and data sources relied on to conduct examinations. Here is a link to the FDIC announcement including Chairman McWilliams' statement. Other subcommittee members are: Michael Bartkoski, Chief Operating Officer, nbkc Bank;

W. Bennett Bradley, Manager of Operations & Shared Services, BB&T

Lyn Farrell, Regulatory Strategy Advisor, Hummingbird;

Matt Grasser, Chief Technologist, RegTech for Regulators Accelerator;

Dave Hanrahan, former President and CEO, Capital Bank of New Jersey;

Bradley Jacobs, Advior, Bay Area Start-ups;

Bill Kroener, Senior Counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell;

Dawn Manley, Chief of Staff for Global Strategic Initiatives and Products, Splunk (News - Alert);

Mark Moylan, Senior Director for Chain Bridge Partners LLC;

Scott Mullins, Head of Worldwide Financial Services Business Development, Amazon Web Services (News - Alert);

Christopher Radich, Director of Digital Strategy, SalesForce;

Nancy Rubin, Dean Continuing Education and Distance Education, Northwestern Health Sciences University;

Karen Solomon, Senior Counsel at Covington and Burling LLP;

Vivian Yeung, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, Fremont Bank



here. About FDIC

Congress created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933 to restore public con?dence in the nation's banking system. The FDIC insures deposits at the nation's banks and savings associations, 5,406 as December 31, 2018. It promotes the safety and soundness of these institutions by identifying, monitoring and addressing risks to which they are exposed. The FDIC receives no federal tax dollars-insured financial institutions fund its operations. About CTBC Bank Corp. (USA) CTBC Bank USA is a trusted and established institution providing commercial and retail customers with a real financial bridge to the next state of their lives and businesses. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Los Angeles, CTBC Bank operates branches in California, New Jersey, and New York. The bank's operations include deposits, loans, credit cards, foreign exchange, letters of credit, wealth management, mobile, and electronic banking services. Customers benefit from access to large bank resources coupled with individual attention and customized service of a small bank. Its parent company, CTBC Bank Co. Ltd., is supported by more than $125 billion in assets and is among the largest banks in the world in terms of capital. For more information about CTBC Bank, visit www.ctbcbankusa.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190306005851/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 06, 2019] Advancement on the State of Salmon Aquaculture Technology Study

OTTAWA, March 6, 2019 /CNW/ - In December, the Government of Canada announced a new approach to aquaculture that is focused on ensuring Canada's aquaculture industry is economically successful and environmentally sustainable. At this announcement, Canada's Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, indicated that advancements in environmental technologies could play a significant role in the evolution of the industry going forward. Today, Minister Wilkinson, in partnership with the Province of British Columbia and Sustainable Development Technologies Canada (SDTC) announced that a Study on the State of Salmon Aquaculture Technology has commenced. The purpose of the study is to provide viable technology options for salmon farming in British Columbia, with a particular focus on technologies that reduce interactions between aquaculture and the environment, and any potential impacts on wild salmon. Areas of study will include land-based and ocean-based closed-containment, as well as offshore aquaculture production systems. The Study is being conducted by Gardner-Pinfold Consulting Inc. which will work in close collaboration with an appointed Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee, which will provide overall guidance for the work, includes representatives from the B.C. First Nations Fisheries Council, Tides Canada, the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, SDTC, the Province of BC and DFO. The commencement of this study fulfills part of the commitment to a new federal approach announced by Minister Wilkinson in December. It also addresses a key recommendation of the BC Minister of Agriculture's Advisory Council on Finfish Aquaculture which recommended a study to examine the feasibility of using new technologies for expanding sustainable and environmentally responsible salmon farming production. Results from the study announced today are expected to be released to the public during the sumer of 2019.



Quotes "British Columbians and all Canadians want us to ensure the environmental sustainability of aquaculture operations while concurrently taking full advantage of the economic opportunity that is available. This technology study will identify the newest global developments in aquaculture technologies - which can potentially enable improved environmental and economic performance. Our government is firmly committed to making aquaculture both economically successful and environmentally sustainable."

Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Jonathan Wilkinson "Sustainable aquaculture operations support food security and jobs in coastal communities and finding the right technology to do that will help the sector and employment opportunities in it grow. This study is part of the B.C. government's ongoing commitment to protect wild salmon, and develop sustainable aquaculture operations that have the support of industry, indigenous and local governments on the coast, and British Columbians all over the province. We've had success working together, and we're committed to working for more." B.C. Minister of Agriculture, Lana Popham Quick Facts It is expected that the study will include: A brief overview and economic analysis of existing and emerging technologies, including their state of commercialization;

An analysis of the environmental impacts of these technologies,

An analysis of how sensor technologies and data could further address potential environmental impacts;

An analysis of the social implications, including job creation and impacts on coastal/rural communities

A financial assessment of commercially available technologies, including an analysis of the main factors influencing their financial performance;

An analysis of trade-offs between environmental, economic and social impacts of the technologies reviewed; and,

Recommendations to address potential obstacles to adoption of each of the technologies reviewed. Related Products Government of Canada announces new way forward on aquaculture management and the protection of wild salmon Stay Connected Follow the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Follow the Canadian Coast Guard on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Subscribe to receive our news releases and more via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/rss-eng.htm. SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 06, 2019] Algoma Central Corporation Reports Operating Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2018

Algoma Central Corporation ("Algoma" or "the Company") (TSX: ALC), a leading provider of marine transportation services, today announced its results for the year ended December 31, 2018. All amounts reported below are in thousands of Canadian dollars, except for per share data and unless otherwise noted. Fiscal 2018 highlights include: Consolidated revenue for 2018 increased 12% compared to 2017. Revenue increased as a result of improved rates in the Domestic Dry-Bulk and Ocean Self-Unloaders segments and increased customer demand in the Product Tankers segment.

EBITDA for 2018 was $128,748 an increase of 19% compared to 2017.

The company added three new Equinox Class vessels to operations this year, the Algoma Niagara , the Algoma Sault and the Algoma Innovator . Additionally, the Algoma Buffalo and the Algoma Compass (News - Alert) were acquired from American Steamship Company late in 2017; both vessels began operations at the start of the 2018 navigation season.

, the and the . Additionally, the and the were acquired from American Steamship Company late in 2017; both vessels began operations at the start of the 2018 navigation season. Algoma Tankers Limited ("ATL") purchased a 2008-built product tanker which became the seventh tanker in the ATL fleet. The vessel was re-named the Algonorth and began operations at the end of December.

and began operations at the end of December. Global Short Sea Shipping segment revenues increased 24% compared to 2017. The Company has a 50% interest in three joint ventures and revenue from the Global Short Sea Shipping segment is not included in the consolidated revenue figure.

NovaAlgoma Short Sea Carriers ("NASC") and Peter Dohle Schiffahrts-KG, announced the creation of DNA Shipping, a commercial agreement to pursue consolidation and growth within the multi-purpose project vessel (MPP) and 13,500 to 15,000 mini-grabber dry-bulk markets.

A new joint venture, NovaAlgoma Bulk Holdings ("NABH"), was created. NABH has interests in four deep-sea bulkers operating internationally and is managed out of Lugano, Switzerland

Subsequent to year end, Algoma entered into an agreement to acquire three vessels from Oldendorff Carriers GMBH & Co. which operate in the CLSI Pool and entered into an agreement to acquire a 2010-built product tanker.



Net earnings from continuing operations, which excludes income from discontinued real estate operations in 2017, was $50,943 ($1.32 per share) in 2018 compared to $34,972 ($0.90 per share) for 2017. Earnings in 2018 include a gain of $10,214 related to the cancellation of four shipbuilding contracts. In December of 2018 the Company received a full refund, including interest, for one of the cancelled contracts and subsequent to the year end instalments on the remaining three contracts were refunded with interest. Net earnings from continuing operations for 2018 excluding this gain were $40,729.

Full fiscal 2018 results can be found Company's website at www.algonet.com/investor-relations and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Normal Course Issuer Bid During the year ended December 31, 2018, 130,700 common shares were purchased for cancellation for a total cost of $1,892. Subsequent to the 2018 year end, 6,900 common shares were purchased for cancellation as part of the normal course issuer bid at a total cost of $93. The bid expired on January 28, 2019 and the Company intends to renew its normal course issuer bid for 2019 by filing the required applications with the regulatory authorities. Use of Non-GAAP Measures There are measures included in this press release that do not have a standardized meaning under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The Company includes these measures because it believes certain investors use these measures as a means of assessing financial performance. EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Please refer to the Management's Discussions and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2018 for further information regarding non-GAAP measures. About Algoma Central Algoma owns and operates the largest fleet of dry and liquid bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Waterway, including self-unloading dry-bulk carriers, gearless dry-bulk carriers and product tankers. Algoma also owns ocean self-unloading dry-bulk vessels operating in international markets and a 50% interest in NovaAlgoma, which includes a diversified portfolio of dry-bulk fleets operating internationally. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190306005875/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 06, 2019] Mitsubishi Electric to Release CC-Link IE TSN Compatible Factory Automation Products

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO:6503) announced today that it will release the industry's first1 102 factory automation products, including programmable controllers, servo amplifiers, robots, GOTs (HMIs), inverters and CNCs that are compatible with the CC-Link IE TSN next-generation industrial open network, starting from May 7. Integration of machine control and information communication required for next-generation smart factories will be realized on one network, further enhancing Mitsubishi (News - Alert) Electric's [email protected] integrated factory automation solution. In addition, high-speed, high-precision communication will improve machine performance and thereby contribute to productivity and quality improvement.

1 According to Mitsubishi Electric (News - Alert) research as of March 7, 2019 Product Features 1) Factory automation poducts support TSN technology for highly flexible Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) system architecture



Factory automation products offering industry-first compatibility with CC-Link IE TSN

Separately configured machine control and information communication can be integrated into one Ethernet cable, helping to reduce system configuration design and installation costs

Easy parameter registration allows mixing of multiple communication cycles, such as 1 Gbps and 100 Mbps, enabling easy configuration of optimum systems 2) High-speed, high-precision communication improves productivity and quality With a link scan of 31.25 s, high-speed processing is 16 times faster compared to existing motion networks, drastically reducing facility and machine production cycle time for improved productivity

of 31.25 s, high-speed processing is 16 times faster compared to existing motion networks, drastically reducing facility and machine production cycle time for improved productivity High-precision synchronous control without communication delay, even in large-scale systems, realizes highly data analysis in cloud and edge computing systems, thereby improving quality 3) Engineering tool improves system management

Connected device profile coordination function with CSP (News - Alert)+ of MELSOFT GX Works3 engineering tool manages all connected devices, including third-party partner products

Graphically displays entire network status to allow network and fault device diagnosis with intuitive operation, helping to reduce downtime due to errors For the full text, please visit: www.MitsubishiElectric.com/news/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190306005281/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
TPG Sixth Street Partners Opens Hong Kong Office

TPG Sixth Street Partners (TSSP), a global finance and investment business with over $29 billion in assets under management, today announced the opening of a new office in Hong Kong and that Henry Tao has joined the firm as Head of TSSP China.

Mr. Tao joins TSSP from China Everbright Limited, where he founded and led the Capital Investment and Financing division. He will be co-leading TSSP's efforts in China along with Markus Gloel, a senior member of TSSP's European investment team who will be relocating to Hong Kong.

TSSP is in a strategic partnership with global alternative asset firm TPG, which has deep local roots and twenty-five years of regional experience having first invested in China in 1994.

Hong Kong is TSSP's second office in the Asia Pacific region following the establishment of its Australia presence in 2013. The firm's nine global locations include San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong, Dllas, Houston, Luxembourg, Melbourne and Boston.







About TPG Sixth Street Partners (TSSP)

TPG Sixth Street Partners (TSSP) is a global finance and investment business with over $29 billion in assets under management. Co-founded in 2009 by Managing Partner Alan Waxman and TSSP's management team, the firm's long-term oriented, highly flexible capital base allows it to invest across industries, geographies, capital structures and asset classes. TSSP focuses on partnering with businesses and management teams to create fully committed financing solutions. The firm also makes investments in both private and public companies and assets. TSSP is in a strategic partnership with TPG, the global alternative asset firm. For more information, visit www.tssp.com.

About TPG

TPG is a leading global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with more than $103 billion of assets under management. For more information, visit www.tpg.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190306005885/en/
[March 07, 2019] OurCrowd Partners with Social Finance Israel to Launch Impact Fund Targeting $30M

OurCrowd, a global investment platform and Israel's leading venture investor, has announced it is partnering with Social Finance Israel, the Israeli impact advisory leader, to launch an Impact Fund focused on venture-backed businesses solving some of the world's greatest challenges. The fund will invest in companies with demonstrated alignment to the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Impact investing is a rapidly growing market in Israel. Though still in its early stages; it doubled from $130M in 2016 to $260M in 2018 and will continue to grow as OurCrowd's new Impact Fund provides new opportunity for investors. Further growth appears imminent with $1.6B raised by Israeli companies in "impact related" sectors (sectors aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, e.g. cleantech, health, ag-tech, etc.) across 234 deals in 2018, according to IVC Research Center. However, findings from a jointly-issued OurCrowd/Social Finance Israel report indicate a strong chasm between the standards of practice often required by impact investors and impact-related startups, with just over 10% saying they measure the social or environmental impact the company generate. As OurCrowd's impact partner, Social Finance Israel worked with the investment platform to develop a robust impact assessment model, enabling OurCrowd to assess companies according to three dimensions: alignment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, impact practice and intentionality, and impact risk. Only companies that meet a certain threshold will be considered for investment. All companies will also be evaluated by OurCrowd for their ability to deliver investment return and profit. According to OurCrowd Founder and CEO Jon Medved (News - Alert), "We believe that it is possible to make money and do good at the same time. That is the best form of impact investing." Once companies are selected into the fund, Social Finance Israel and OurCrowd will work with companies to establish appropriate impact KPIs and an impact reporting framework. This accountability follows a recent OurCrowd/Social Finance Israel survey of entrepreneurs, which revealed a wide gap in management and practice: while 84% of entrepreneur respondents indicate their business has a social or environmental impact, only 13% are measuring or tracking their impact. Both firms will also provide guidance on partnerships and business development opportunities that companies can integrate in order to deepen and hone their impact. The Impact Fund will provide diversified exposure to impact-driven businesses like OurCrowd portfolio companies, provided they meet a set of impact practices and criteria outlined in Social Finance Israel's deal assessment tool, startups such as: UPnRIDE: all-terrain electric wheelchair that enables standing

JUMP: smart bike-sharing platform (acquired by Uber)

Zebra Medical Vision: algorithm-based assistance for radiologists

Edgybees: AR software for rescue drone applications

CropX: app-oriented sensors for irrigation and fertilization Social Finance Israel, led by CEO Yaron Neudorfer, ischaired by Sir Ronald Cohen, Co-Founder of the global private equity firm Apax Partners, and "father" of impact investing. "Impact - and more importantly impact measurement - does not impair profit. It actually drives it," said Sir Ronald. "We are thrilled to see Israel's largest venture investor and a global player take a leadership approach on impact investing and we encourage others to consider how to use their market power as a force for good."



"Bringing combined expertise in economics, finance, social sciences, public policy, and philanthropy, Social Finance Israel is the market leader in developing the impact investment market in Israel," said Social Finance Israel CEO, Yaron Neudorfer. "We see OurCrowd's decision to establish an impact fund as proof that investors and companies are thinking about the impact they have on people's lives and the environment. We are proud to support this initiative with the tools and expertise that market players like OurCrowd and others can use to follow through with their intentions." "OurCrowd has a long history of making impact driven investments and a wealth of expertise in fund creation," said OurCrowd Co-Head of Funds, Richard Norman. "Today we are proud to bring these two hallmarks of OurCrowd together and offer investors a dedicated, diversified vehicle of VC-backed businesses striving to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges. Our partnership with Social Finance Israel enables the fund to take a rigorous approach to impact assessment coupled with a thoughtful post-investment strategy for each company. Add to this the fund's innovative, impact-linked, incentive structure and we have the makings of a truly unique entity."

This announcement was made at the 2019 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem, the largest technology showcase in Israel with over 170 startups and 17,000 registered attendees. END Notes to Editors About OurCrowd:

OurCrowd is a global investment platform, bringing venture capital opportunities to accredited investors worldwide. A leader in equity crowdfunding, OurCrowd is managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and is led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved. OurCrowd vets and selects companies, invests its own capital, and invites its accredited membership of investors and institutional partners to invest alongside in these opportunities. OurCrowd provides support to its portfolio companies, assigns industry experts as mentors, and creates growth opportunities through its network of strategic multinational partnerships. The OurCrowd community consists of almost 30,000 accredited investors from over 170 countries. OurCrowd has raised $1 billion and invested in 170 portfolio companies and funds. To join OurCrowd as an accredited investor visit www.ourcrowd.com and click "Join." About Social Finance Israel: Founded in 2013, Social Finance Israel is a not-for-profit that works to deliver measurable social outcomes through the development and deployment of financial and social innovations. It's flagship product, the Social Impact Bond (or pay-for-success contract) is an innovative financing mechanism that brings in private capital to address social challenges. The firm's Impact Advisory Practice provides research and insight, impact strategy and measurement tools to an array of clients - fund managers, accelerators, institutional investors, government - looking to make practical strides in the field of impact investing. (http://www.socialfinance.org.il/) Social Finance Israel is chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen, Cofounder of the global private equity firm Apax Partners, and "father" of impact investing. In 2007 Sir Cohen led a UK-government appointed task force for impact investing setting in motion the development of the field and established Big Society Capital, Social Finance UK, and Bridges Fund Management, luminaries and global shapers of the impact investment approach. (more on Sir Ronald Cohen: https://sirronaldcohen.org/) Social Finance Israel is part of the Social Finance Global Network comprised of Social Finance UK, US, Israel, Netherlands, and India (http://socialfinance.org/global-network/), the leader in social impact bond development and origination, and co-chairs the Israeli National Advisory Board, a local committee representing Israel at the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing (GSGII). (http://gsgii.org/) Israeli Impact Investment Ecosystem Update - March 2019: The size of the Israeli impact investment market has more than doubled in just two years, from $130M in 2016 to >$260M at year-end 2018, and set to expand as OurCrowd announces impact fund targeting $30M. 4 impact accelerators are training the next generation of Israeli impact entrepreneurs with the tools needed to build successful impact ventures and numerous programs to strengthen Haredi, Arab, women-led entrepreneurship have also been launched. To date, 4 leading Israeli financial investors, including two leading banks and Israel's largest pension fund manager (Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Bank Discount, Psagot Investment House) have made their first impact investments; 5 Israeli charitable foundations have established dedicated impact investment strategies or impact market building mandates. Activity among these players is set to increase as a result of the 2017 Directive by the Pension Funds and Capital Markets Authority to report on responsible investing and impact. 2019 will be the first year the decision is enforced. Among government, a dedicated Societal Challenges Division, part of the publicly-funded Israel Innovation Authority, provides matching grants to tech-based impact ventures, in set fields. As part of its market building mandate, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation and Jewish Funders Network have partnered to provide $1M matching grant to build the ecosystem and results will be announced later in March 2019; Social Finance Israel, Israel's leading impact advisory firm, is developing innovative and specialized financing mechanisms. To date it has launched Israel's 3 social impact bonds. It also develops performance and measurement tools, creating new avenues for private capital to be deployed to the most effective and needed solutions. A dedicated academic Institute for impact investing and social business was established at the College of Management in Rishon LeZion and Israel's first student-run ESG fund launched this academic year at Bar Ilan University, through a program developed by Social Finance Israel, will see its first allocations. About the 2019 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit: The OurCrowd Global Investor Summit, Where the startup world gathers. The 2019 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit, taking place March 7 in Jerusalem, Israel, is one of the premier events in the tech industry, and the largest business event in Israel's history, with 17,000 expected to register to attend. The Summit provides an interactive, front-row seat to the formerly closed world of startup venture capital, with exclusive exposure to cutting-edge technologies, the entrepreneurs behind them, and the corporate leaders deploying them. Top investors, venture capitalists, corporate partners, entrepreneurs and journalists come from around the world both for Summit day as well as a week of events that include tours of the Israeli ecosystem, corporate meetups, and cultural and historical excursions. Thousands more will participate through live streaming. Learn more at summit.ourcrowd.com. For Press Materials: https://blog.ourcrowd.com/impactfundreport/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190306005257/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] TomTom and Elektrobit Reveal First HD Map Horizon for Automated Driving

TomTom (News - Alert) (TOM2), the leading independent location technology specialist, and Elektrobit (News - Alert) (EB), an award-winning global supplier of embedded and connected software products for the automotive industry, today announced the release of an industry-first High Definition (HD) map horizon for automated driving. An HD map horizon helps vehicles to build a highly accurate virtual picture of the road ahead, enhancing driver safety and comfort. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190306005588/en/ TomTom and Elektrobit Reveal First HD Map Horizon for Automated Driving (Graphic: Business Wire) By streaming the latest TomTom HD Maps via TomTom AutoStream through Elektrobit's "EB robinos Predictor" onboard software, the HD map horizon targets vehicles with a Society of Automoive Engineers (SAE) Automation Level of 2 and higher. It is compliant with the automotive industry's Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Interface Specification (ADASIS) v3 protocol.



Willem Strijbosch, TomTom's Head of Autonomous Driving, said: "Just one year ago, we, together with Elektrobit, announced our intention to develop an easy-to-implement HD map horizon for vehicles with driver assistance, and higher levels of automation. We're now delivering on this, making the product available to car manufacturers and their technology partners." "EB robinos Predictor provides highly accurate and up-to-date information about the road ahead," said Michael Reichel, Head of Product Management Automated Driving at Elektrobit. "Vehicles and drivers greatly benefit from information beyond the sensor horizon for a safer and more comfortable ride."

-ENDS- About TomTom: TomTom is the leading independent location technology specialist, shaping mobility with highly accurate maps, navigation software, real-time traffic information and services. To achieve our vision of a safer world, free of congestion and emissions, we create innovative technologies that keep the world moving. By combining our extensive experience with leading business and technology partners, we power connected vehicles, smart mobility and, ultimately, autonomous driving. Headquartered in Amsterdam with offices in 30 countries, TomTom's technologies are trusted by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. www.tomtom.com About Elektrobit (EB) Elektrobit (EB) is an award-winning and visionary global supplier of embedded and connected software products and services for the automotive industry. A leader in automotive software with over 30 years serving the industry, EB's software powers over one billion devices in more than 100 million vehicles and offers flexible, innovative solutions for connected car infrastructure, human machine interface (HMI) technologies, navigation, driver assistance, electronic control units (ECUs), and software engineering services. EB is a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental. For more information, visit us at elektrobit.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190306005588/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Gresham and RegTek.Solutions Partner to Offer Strategic Transaction Reporting Solution to Buy-side and Sell-side Firms

LONDON and NEW YORK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Gresham Technologies plc, the leading software and services company that specialises in providing real-time data integrity and control solutions, announces a new strategic relationship with RegTek.Solutions, a leader in global regulatory reporting solutions. The Reconcile.Trade platform enables firms to meet the regulators' requirement to 'regularly reconcile front-office trading records against data samples provided to them by competent authorities' (via ARMs or Trade Repositories). Now enhanced to use Clareti's matching engine and rich exception management workflow, Reconcile.Trade on Clareti provides operations and compliance teams with transparency and proactive control over the accuracy of their reported data. The first customer, a global financial services provider, is already live. Reconcile.Trade is now playing an integral role in the firm's response to a regulatory investigation of its Dodd-Frank reporting by remediating the gaps in controls identified by the regulator. The joint offering brings together the unique strengths of Gresham and RegTek.Solutions: Gresham's Clareti Platform powers sophisticated 2-way and 3-way controls between the front-office, TR, ARM and/or NCA delivering agility and transparency across complex systems.



RegTek.Solutions' offers deep regulatory reporting expertise,backed by a strategic service-level-agreement to keep all rules, integrations and data mappings aligned with the latest regulatory guidance and market infrastructure updates.



Reconcile.Trade can be deployed in 'the cloud' as secure software as a service (SaaS), or installed on-premise. Ian Manocha, CEO, Gresham commented, "Combining Clareti's best-in-class data integrity and control platform with RegTek.Solutions' outstanding regulatory expertise, brings enormous opportunities for capital markets firms to become agile and efficient in these times of increasing regulatory scrutiny. We are excited to be bringing this to market with RegTek.Solutions."

Brian Lynch, CEO, RegTek.Solutions added, "Our clients trust us to provide the most comprehensive regulatory intelligence, but also importantly to give them the operational flexibility they need to achieve their quality, completeness and accuracy ambitions. Gresham are uniquely positioned as a leader in the data integrity domain, replacing legacy reconciliations at top tier firms around the world with their modern, scalable architecture. We are delighted to be partnering with them to expand Reconcile.Trade's footprint." Bill Blythe, Global Business Development Director at Gresham said, "There is a tremendous opportunity in our market that this partnership will help us realise. Legacy reconciliation technology and hard-coded business rules won't satisfy the demands of a modern, transforming enterprise. Regulatory control needs to be fast to implement, fast to change, and we can offer something unique to firms of all sizes." About Gresham Technologies plc Gresham is a leading software and services company that specialises in providing real-time data integrity and control solutions. Listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange (GHT.L) and headquartered in the City of London, its customers include some of the world's largest financial institutions, all of whom are served locally from offices located in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Gresham's award-winning Clareti software platform has been designed to provide financial institutions with complete certainty in their data processing. Clareti is a highly flexible and fully scalable platform for ensuring the integrity of data across an enterprise. It is designed to address today's most challenging financial control, risk management, data governance and regulatory compliance problems. Learn more at www.greshamtech.com. About RegTek.Solutions: RegTek.Solutions' mission is to be at the heart of the financial market's transformation to Sustainable Compliance. The company delivers pragmatic, modular software solutions, built around actionable regulatory intelligence, fully maintained to track regulatory updates. RegTek.Solutions focuses on four critical trade and transaction reporting compliance outcomes: quality, completeness, accuracy and transparency. With offices in New York, London and Riga, RegTek.Solutions' expertise and solutions are trusted by the world's top banks, including more than half of the G16 banks, as well as regulatory reporting intermediaries and buy-side firms. For more information, visit www.regteksolutions.com

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Kintaro Capital is One of the First EU Crypto Funds to Receive It's License From the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), Licensing it as a Private Investment Fund (PIF) for Cryptocurrencies and Listed Equities

BERLIN, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- "We're thrilled to be one of the first crypto funds licensed by an EU Financial Services Authority, with explicit investor protection. Our thorough approach to building a team with over 100 years of investment research and portfolio management experience has paid off. Kintaro Capital is uniquely placed to service the investment needs of long term future thinking investors." Dr. Mervyn Maistry. CEO & Founder, Konfidio and Kintaro Capital Kintaro Capital , a venture of the Konfidio blockchain studio , obtained formal approval of its PIF license from the MFSA. Making it one of the first regulated crypto funds for qualifying investors under Maltese law. The licence allows Kintaro clients to invest in strategic alternatives to fiat based instruments. Malta complies with all EU financial and regulatory laws governing investor protection and financial instruments. Kintaro Capital leverages three years of crypto-economic experience. Through their token research and data analytics expertise, the fund targets highyields in the blockchain sector. The fund is administered by SGGG Fexserv Fund Services (Malta) Ltd ., responsible for the administration of over 220 alternative strategy funds, together with Fexserv Financial Services, a leading company in the financial services industry.



Kintaro's investment committee consists of arguably the most experienced team in the space; a mix of traditional hedge fund managers, FX and fixed income managers, experienced VCs and early blockchain adopters. Dr. Mervyn G. Maistry , MD, MBA, DEcon. Chairman of the fund, brings extensive experience in strategy, consulting and investment banking. As Founder and CEO of Konfidio, Berlin's blockchain venture studio, he gives the fund its direction. As well as being a veteran investor, he was previously a Deutsche Bank Group COO, and led the Digital Innovation operations at Accenture and then EY.

Brendan Robertson, MBA, CFA Mfin is a prominent Board Member, and sits on Kintaro's Investment Committee. He lends the fund his impressive background as Head of Portfolio Solutions at Kieger AG. With 20 years experience in asset management, Brendan has a proven track record of sound investment practice and strategy. As part of the Konfidio family, Kintaro utilises the venture studio's unique position within the Berlin ecosystem. Konfidio's work for governments and Fortune 500 companies adds to the blockchain knowledge base of the fund. Their Token Advisory LLC practice provides additional insight into regulated crypto fundraising. Customized research is available to those commissioning one-off reports into selected assets. The Kintaro researchers undertake detailed analyses of requested tokens in the provision of independent reports. Startups fundraising with tokens can also request valuation reports. Facts & Figures Kintaro's 'Digital Innovation Fund' will invest in a portfolio of selective crypto-assets and exchange-listed equities. The fund can accept up to 100,000,000, and is targeting 10,000,000 in 2019. It's open to Qualified Investors under the MFSA PIF regime. The minimum investment threshold is 100,000 or equivalent. Contact:

Kintaro Capital

Alpine House

34 Naxxar Road

San Gwann SGN 9032

Malta

Dr. Mervyn G. Maistry

+49-1517-2125871

[email protected] (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/831766/Kintaro_Capital_Logo.jpg )

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Ant Financial Launches Distributed Core Banking Platform with Hoperun Information Technology

Ant Financial Services Group (Ant Financial) and Jiangsu-based Hoperun Information Technology (Hoperun) today unveiled its Distributed Core Banking Platform (DCBP), a next generation banking product which is designed to help financial institutions shift their business models from transaction-oriented to customer-oriented. The platform also aims to help financial institutions tackle digital challenges, including distributed development, financial product management and accounting liquidation. DCBP is the first co-developed integrated solution in Ant Financial's technology product portfolio. It has successfully completed the pilot stage after running in the core computing systems of several renowned banking partners. This new solution builds on the bPass (Business Platform as a Service) product which Ant Financial launched in September 2018 during the Ant Technology Exploration Conference. bPass enables financial institutions to benefit from Ant Financial's capabilities in product management, asset management, capital verification and full-link pressure tests. Ant Financial sought to combine these capabilities with Hoperun's experience in the finance industry to develop the DCBP solution. To date, several banks have significantly accelerated their digital transformation process thanks to DCBP. For example, MYbank was abl to build its distributed cloud-native capabilities, including flexible scaling, agile development and immediate disaster recovery within only six months.



Liu Weiguang, vice president of Ant Financial, said: "We have enjoyed working with Hoperun to develop this product which marks a milestone for Ant Financial technology. This is just the first of many collaborations that we plan to form with other talented partners that will enable us to provide better technology solutions to the challenges faced by financial institutions." Chen Bin, president of Hoperun Information Technology, said: "Hoperun and Ant Financial share a deep understanding of the financial industry, which is why we were keen to join hands to develop DCBP. This solution will help empower financial institutions to customize new business applications and accelerate their innovations."

Over the past year, Ant Financial has accelerated the roll-out of services that share its technological capabilities with financial institutions. To date, Ant Financial has provided more than 100 technology products and solutions. In collaboration with more than 200 service partners, Ant Financial has helped the digital transformations of over 200 financial institutions, including over 100 banks, around 60 insurers, and 40 wealth management companies and security brokerages. About Ant Financial Ant Financial Services Group is dedicated to using technology to bring the world equal opportunities. Our technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, security, Internet of Things and computing, empower us and our ecosystem partners to serve the unbanked and underbanked, bringing more secure, transparent, cost-effective and inclusive financial services to individuals and SMEs worldwide. Ant Financial has formed international partnerships with global strategic partners to serve local users in those markets, and we serve Chinese travelers overseas by connecting Alipay with online and offline merchants in popular destinations. As of January 2019, together with its global JV partners, Ant Financial served 1 billion users worldwide. Brands under Ant Financial Services Group include Alipay, Ant Fortune, Zhima Credit, MYbank and Ant Financial Cloud. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005247/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] CADSI Report: Greater collaboration on military cyber-defence essential for keeping Canada safe from foreign attacks

OTTAWA, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Canada's current military procurement models and levels of industry-government cooperation have not kept pace with the unprecedented "speed of cyber" and could compromise national security if left unaddressed, a new report from the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) concludes. The report, entitled From Bullets to Bytes: Industry's Role in Preparing Canada for the Future of Cyber Defence, was made public today. It outlines some of the challenges associated with preparing and equipping the Canadian Armed Forcesfor a modern battlefield where the physical and digital are seamlessly merged.



"Warfare has changed," said CADSI President Christyn Cianfarani. "Our military is moving rapidly into a future where cyber-defence will be essential for protecting Canada and Canadian military missions abroad. How industry and government work together and get decisive cyber technologies into the hands of Canadian soldiers and intelligence agencies must change, too." Based on a year of research and 70 interviews with government, military and industry leaders, From Bullets to Bytes confirms that there are dozens of Canadian firms with cyber-defence expertise that could be leveraged by DND as it invests billions in cyber-defence programs and procurements over the next decade. The report notes, however, that government and industry lack formal mechanisms to collaborate and build trust  and procurement cycles can take years.

"Our adversaries can deploy new cyber capabilities in a matter of months, or even days," said Ms. Cianfarani. "For Canada to win on the cyber-enabled battlefield, Canadian government and industry must collaborate intentionally, the way our allies do. Now is the time to lean on Canada's national security innovation base and overhaul the procurement process to work at cyber-speed." CADSI's report outlines a path forward, offering five core recommendations that the association believes will move Canada's military toward cyber-readiness. These include setting up a secure Canadian cyber-defence network to facilitate collaboration, increasing the pool of available experts to be used as cyber reservists, and overhauling the government's classification system and capabilities database. View the report here. About CADSI CADSI is the national industry voice of more than 900 defence and security companies that produce goods, services and technologies made across Canada and sought the world over. To learn more, visit www.defenceandsecurity.ca. SOURCE Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI)

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Canada Drives Named among 2019 Canada's Best Managed Companies

Canada Drives has been named a 2019 Canada's Best Managed Company. The country's leading business awards program recognises excellence in private Canadian-owned companies. "CIBC is pleased to congratulate Canada Drives on being named one of Canada's Best Managed Companies, recognizing its excellence in leadership, business performance and innovation," said Dino Medves, Senior Vice President and Head, CIBC Commercial Banking. "As a sponsor of Canada's Best Managed Companies program for over 20 years, CIBC is proud to celebrate private companies like Canada Drives as leaders in their industry." Canada Drives is revolutionising how people purchase vehicles through its incredibly convenient, customer-friendly online car buying service. "We are honoured to have been recognised among Canada's Best Managed Companies," said Cody Green, founder and Co-CEO of Canada Drives. "This recognition is a huge testament to the efforts of the Canada Drives team to build a world-class company that's having a profound impact on the way Canadians buy vehicles and access financial services." Canada's Best Managed Companies program is open to businesses with revenue greater than $15 million in the most recent year of operations. Companies must also show how they have managed their finances effectively and adapted to changing market conditions over the past three years. Companies must also demonstrate a vibrant culture and a motivated workforce. The judging panel for Canada's Best Managed Companies is comprised of program sponsors and special guests. "The contribution these companies provide to Canada cannot be overstated. Everyyear, Best Managed winners are raising the bar of excellence in Canadian business," said Lorrie King, Partner, Deloitte (News - Alert) Private and Co-Leader, Canada's Best Managed Companies program.



The latest recognition follows Canada Drives receiving Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 awards earlier this month, which made Canada Drives one of only seven companies nationally and two provincially to be ranked on both lists three years running. About Canada's Best Managed Companies

Canada's Best Managed Companies continues to be the mark of excellence for Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $15 million. Every year since the launch of the program in 1993, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies have competed for this designation in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates their management skills and practices. The awards are granted on four levels: 1) Canada's Best Managed Companies new winner (one of the new winners selected each year); 2) Canada's Best Managed Companies winner (award recipients that have re-applied and successfully retained their Best Managed designation for two additional years, subject to annual operational and financial review); 3) Gold Standard winner (after three consecutive years of maintaining their Best Managed status, these winners have demonstrated their commitment to the program and successfully retained their award for 4-6 consecutive years); 4) Platinum Club member (winners that have maintained their Best Managed status for seven years or more). Program sponsors are Deloitte Private, CIBC, Canadian Business, Smith School of Business, and TMX Group. For further information, visit www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca. About Canada Drives - Canada Drives is financial technology business with over 400 employees who serve over a million consumers a year in Canada, the US and the UK. Founded in 2010, Canada Drives combines proprietary technology and superior customer service to provide a range of curated auto loan, personal loan, credit card and credit building solutions to a wide spectrum of consumers through a simple and frictionless platform. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005085/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Carvana Lands in Dayton with the New Way to Buy a Car

Carvana (NYSE: CVNA), a leading e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars, launched in Dayton today with as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery. In as little as 10 minutes, customers can shop more than 15,000 vehicles on Carvana.com, finance, purchase, trade-in, and now schedule as-soon-as-next-day delivery. Dayton area residents can also sell their current vehicle to Carvana, even if they aren't purchasing a vehicle, receive a real offer in just minutes and schedule as-soon-as-next-day pickup of that vehicle. Today's launch in Dayton marks the eighth market for Carvana in the state. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005100/en/ Carvana expands presence in the Buckeye State now offering as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery to Dayton area residents. (Photo: Business Wire)



By ditching the dealership and shopping online at Carvana.com, customers get a great selection, great prices and a great customer experience, saving valuable time and money, whether from the comfort of home or on the go via their mobile device. Additionally, every Carvana vehicle comes with a seven-day return policy, giving customers the peace of mind and time to ensure the vehicle fits their life.

All 15,000+ vehicles in Carvana's national inventory are photographed in 360 degrees to provide customers with a high-definition virtual tour. Every vehicle is Carvana Certified, meaning it has undergone a rigorous 150-point inspection, has no frame damage and has never been in a reported accident. Features, imperfections and updated information about open safety recalls are listed on the car's vehicle description page. "Since 2016, we have steadily increased our Ohio presence. Dayton is our eighth market in the state, the most of any state we've launched in," said Ernie Garcia, founder and CEO of Carvana. "As the birthplace of aviation, Dayton has deep technology and innovation roots, so we are confident area residents will welcome the new way to buy a car." With today's launch in Dayton, Carvana now offers as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery in 102 cities nationwide. About Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) Founded in 2012 and based in Phoenix, Carvana's (NYSE: CVNA) mission is to change the way people buy cars. By removing the traditional dealership infrastructure and replacing it with technology and exceptional customer service, Carvana offers consumers an intuitive and convenient online car buying and financing platform. Carvana.com enables consumers to quickly and easily shop more than 15,000 vehicles, finance, trade-in or sell their current vehicle to Carvana, sign contracts, and schedule as-soon-as-next-day delivery or pickup at one of Carvana's patented, automated Car Vending Machines. For further information on Carvana, please visit www.carvana.com, or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005100/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Fayfay.com clinched MOUs on cooperation with Da Nang and Hue

The Vietnam-focused e-commerce travel site formed strategic partnership with the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center and the Tourism Department of Thua Thien-Hue Province HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Fayfay.com, an e-commerce company dedicated to authentic Vietnam travel experiences, announced it has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center and the Tourism Department of Thua Thien-Hue Province respectively to promote Vietnam tourism, with a special focus in Central Vietnam. The MOUs come at a strategic time, as international visitors to Vietnam hit a record high of over 15.5 million in 2018. The two MOUs were signed by Kelvin Wu, the Co-founder of Fayfay.com, alongside Ms. Huynh Thi Huong Lan, the Deputy Director of the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center and Mr. Le Huu Minh, the Acting Director of the Tourism Department of Thua Thien-Hue Province respectively, where industry experts and members of the media joined the ceremony. "Da Nang and Hue are popular destinations for international travelers. According to the municipal tourism department, Da Nang attracted more than 7.6 million visitors in 2018, rising 23% year-on-year, earning total revenue of nearly US$1.2 billion. Meanwhile, Thua Thien-Hue Province served over 4.3 million visitors in 2018, increase up to 14% year-on-year and grossed US$192.4 million from tourism revenue. With the combined effort of Fayfay.com, we are confident that both tourism revenue and visitor arrivals will hit record highs. We will leverage our online platforms to showcase the vibrant history and the magnificent natural wonders of central Vietnam which includes popular citiessuch as Da Nang, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Quang Binh, as well as promoting the region as the destination of choice for travelers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia," said Wu.



"Da Nang and Hue are the spotlight cities on Fayfay.com in 2019. Working closely with the two tourism authorities, we will augment our marketing effort and roll out more initiatives, including digital campaigns, industry partnerships, media familiarization trips and trade shows. We believe the strategic joint promotional activities will enable us to connect central Vietnam with the international audience on a deeper level," added Wu. As an e-commerce platform dedicated to authentic Vietnam travel experiences, Fayfay.com not only focuses on curated on-the-ground packages, but also provides all the must-have travel essentials in one convenient place. Travelers can even purchase quality souvenirs and products from local brands on the platform and bring home a piece of Vietnam. For those looking for Vietnam travel inspiration, the blog and social media platforms of Fayfay.com is the info hub for everything related to Vietnam travel, with curated recommendations and insider tips, travel guides, exclusive privileges and special packages including transfers, tours, activities and deluxe accommodations designed together with their partners.

Furthermore, Vietnam Travel Expert Fayfay.com now offers Vietnam travel planning services to help travelers who prefer customized trip tailored to their special interests. The team creates private group travel itineraries for all sorts of occasions from getaway weekend, family travel and luxury leisure to bachelor party, destination wedding and corporate meeting or incentive trip. With live chat support, any question about Vietnam travel will be answered by their team of enthusiastic Vietnam travel gurus. "Asia, especially Hong Kong and Taiwan, will be our focal markets in coming years, and we hope that travelers from the region will be inspired to visit Da Nang, home to one of the world's most beautiful beaches, thanks to the exceptional activities and experiences showcased on Fayfay.com," said Ms. Huynh Thi Huong Lan of Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center. "With a rich cultural heritage, Hue stands out as a city of ancient royalty and authentic cuisine. The cooperation with Fayfay.com will lure more tourists from our targeted markets, mainly Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, to Hue who appreciate the colorful historical backdrop of the city." said Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, the Deputy Director of the Tourism Department of Thua Thien-Hue Province. Together with Fayfay.com, Da Nang and Hue hope to reach out to more international travelers, and make a significant contribution to Vietnam's tourism through joint promotional events, roadshows and media familiarization trips. To download the image, please visit http://bit.ly/2tUri00 About Fayfay.com Vietnam travel expert Fayfay.com is an e-commerce travel platform dedicated to local experiences in Vietnam. Meaning "fly, fly" in Cantonese, Fayfay.com aims to make visiting Vietnam as hassle-free and enriching as possible for both independent and group travelers. The platform taps into a shared passion for adventure by partnering with local merchants to take travelers beyond the tried-and-tested itineraries. The carefully curated experiences include everything from treks through breathtaking landscapes, delicious dining experiences, authentic encounters, and deep dives into the vibrant Vietnamese culture. Independent travelers can easily tailor their own itinerary with the wide range of experiences and travel packages ready to be booked on the online platform, while group travelers may contact Fayfay.com directly for customised itinerary planning to fit their travel purpose, from private family travel, destination wedding to corporate teambuilding in Vietnam. For media enquiries with Fayfay.com, please contact [email protected] For business enquiries with Fayfay.com, please contact Carol Li

Business Director

[email protected] Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190307/2396573-1 SOURCE Fayfay.com

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019]

Europe's Most Comprehensive Cyber Security Summit Announces Award Ceremony

LONDON, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The award-winning cyber security summit will be launching the prestigious TEISS Awards on November 7th 2019. Judged by an independent panel of experts, the TEISS Awards for information security will celebrate industry excellence and innovation in cyber and information security across Europe.

To recognise talent and champion innovation, TEISS encourages cyber professionals to nominate outstanding organisations, projects individuals, and technologies by Monday 24th June 2019 at 5pm. The awards focus on the contribution of these entities and ow they have excelled in the development and deployment of information security in the past 12 months.







Exciting and pivotal categories include the 'TEISS award for diversity' and 'best cyber security start-up of the year'. Find out how to enter at: https://teissawards.com/enter/#how/

About TEISS

TEISS.co.uk is a website dedicated to providing information about cyber security. It is owned by an independent media owner, Lyonsdown, and published in conjunction with Business Reporter magazine.

The TEISS website was created as a result of the success of the award-winning TEISS cyber security conference that takes place in central London annually. Covering news, opinion, analysis and advice, TEISS is relevant to anyone working in cyber security but also managers and employees across organisations.

TEISS won bronze at the Conference Awards 2017 for the best event linked to a publication.

Visit TEISS at: https://www.teiss.co.uk/
[March 07, 2019] Inivata Publishes Positive Results of Clinical Validation and Utility Study for InVision Liquid Biopsy Test



Inivata Publishes Positive Results of Clinical Validation and Utility Study for

InVision Liquid Biopsy Test Large, real-world, prospective study shows Inivatas liquid biopsy test is able to provide molecular profile when tissue is unavailable and guide personalized treatment High levels of concordance, sensitivity and specificity validate InVision in advanced NSCLC Research Triangle Park, NC and Cambridge, UK, March 7, 2019 -- Inivata, a leader in liquid biopsy, today announces the publication of results of a clinical validation and real-world utility study of its InVision amplicon-based technology for use in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study was conducted in collaboration with Gustave Roussy, a premier European Cancer Centre, and the data have been published in JCO Precision Oncology i. In the study, Inivatas liquid biopsy test was able to obtain a molecular profile in a significantly higher proportion of patients than through tissue testing, enhancing the potential to access beneficial personalized treatment. The InVision liquid biopsy test, featuring 36 genes most relevant to lung cancer, demonstrated excellent sensitivity, specificity and concordance with tissue biopsy profiles. Clive Morris, Chief Executive Officer at Inivata, said, These data add to the growing body of evidence supporting the validation and utility of Inivatas InVision liquid biopsy platform. It provides clinicians with accurate, reliable genomic information which can guide treatment decisions in patients where standard of care tissue testing is unable to so. We are proud to have worked closely with Gustave Roussy - a world-renowned cancer center - on this important study./p>



Prof. Benjamin Besse, Chairman of the cancer medicine department at Gustave Roussy, said: In this study, the use of the liquid biopsy enabled patients to receive personalized treatments in the absence of a successful tissue biopsy, highlighting its potential to make a meaningful difference to cancer care. Although they cannot cover every biomarker and cant give a diagnosis of cancer, liquid biopsies are easy to manage in a real world setting and I foresee a future where they become the standard upfront approach to diagnosis and monitoring of NSCLC, sparing patients painful and invasive tissue biopsies. Details of study

The study was a prospective single-centre, clinical validation and utility study in 214 advanced NSCLC patients, of whom 156 were treatment-naive and 58 were pre-treated.





Mutations were detected in 77% of patients through ctDNA analysis vs 78% for tissue molecular analysis (n=87) For clinically relevant variants, concordance agreement between ctDNA and tumor tissue analysis was 95% among 94 treatment-naive patients with concurrent liquid and tumor biopsy molecular profile

InVision assay showed sensitivity of 81% for core gene variant panel and specificity of 97%

ctDNA detected potential actionable mutations in 17% of patients with no tissue available, 10% of pre-treated patients received personalized treatment Serial liquid biopsies in 20 patients showed that mutation burden ratio significantly correlated with change in response at day 42 after treatment initiation (RECIST 1.1) and survival The results can be viewed on the JCO Precision Oncology website here . About Inivata

Inivata is a leader in liquid biopsy. Its InVision platform unlocks essential genomic information from a simple blood test to transform the care of cancer patients. The Companys technology is based on pioneering research from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge and backed by multiple high calibre publications. Its lead product, InVisionFirst-Lung, is commercially available and provides molecular insights that enable clinicians to make more informed treatment decisions for NSCLC patients. Inivata is partnering with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on InVisionFirst-Lung and its wider platform, which is applicable to a range of cancer types. The Company has a CLIA laboratory in Research Triangle Park, NC and R&D laboratories in Cambridge, UK. For more information, please go to www.inivata.com . Follow us on Twitter @Inivata. Media Contacts: Consilium Strategic Communications

Chris Gardner/Angela Gray/Sarah Wilson

[email protected] +44 (0)20 3709 5700 Karen Chandler-Smith

[email protected] +44 (0)7900 430235



i Remon J, Lacroix L, Jovelet C, Caramella C, Howarth K, Plagnol V, et al: Real-World Utility of an Amplicon-Based Next-Generation Sequencing Liquid Biopsy for Broad Molecular Profiling in Patients With Advanced NonSmall-Cell Lung Cancer. DOI: 10.1200/PO.18.00211 JCO Precision Oncology - published online March 6, 2019: https://doi.org/10.1200/PO.18.00211



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] dynaCERT Appoints Amir Farahi to its Board of Directors

TORONTO, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- dynaCERT Inc. (TSX VENTURE: DYA) (OTCQB: DYFSF) (FRA: DMJ) ("dynaCERT" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has appointed Mr. Amir Farahi to the Board of Directors.

Amir Farahi is a Government Relations and Public Affairs consultant. He is the Principal at Blackridge Strategy Inc. (Blackridge) one of the largest Government Relations firms in Southwestern Ontario. Blackridge has established a strong working relationship with all three levels of government in Canada, Federal, Provincial and Municipal, and has a solid track record with its clients in real estate, construction, labour, health care, and heavy industrial industries. Amir was a senior advisor to Fanshawe College and was instrumental on the establishment of its innovation centre which led to the creation of Fanshawes Innovation Village i4C Hub in Q4 2018. This is a one stop centralized shop that supports and provides services through the Centre for Research and Innovation, the Library research team, the Canadian Centre for Product Validation, Centre for Advanced Research in Biotechnology and LEAP junction to innovators on campus. Amir was a columnist for 3 years for Metroland Media Group, a subsidiary of TorStar Corporation and his columns were amongst the top read every year as ranked by the editorial team. He was a political commentator for Bell Media Inc. and has appeared regularly on Newstalk 1290 CJBK radio and CTV News in London. He was also Chair of the City of Londons Transportation Advisory Committee at a time when the City was planning a $500 million investment to implement Bus Rapid Transit. The project is part of the Citys 2030 Transportation Masterplan which is currently being implemented. Amir is the Executive Director of the London Institute, an organization that in partnership with Farhi Holdings Corporation, TechAlliance and Londons Small Business Centre, has planned a $31.5 million entrepreneurship centre, (180,000 square feet) the largest in Southwestern Ontario. The entrepreneurship centres services will be built around TechAlliance (Regional Innovation Centre) and the London Small Business Centre, who will both be moving into the buildings first floor to provide entrepreneurs with one-stop access to supports, services, and workshops. TechAlliance will house its Immersive Digital Experiences Accelerator (IDEA) providing incubation and acceleration for the next generation of local video game developers and BURST for high-potential medical technology startups and scale-ups that will position London as a focal point for life sciences innovation. BURST provides intensive support to 30 companies, including approximately $3 million in cash and in-kind support. Amir was also a Co-founder of FillSpaces Technologies Inc., which was a recipient of Ontario Centre of Excellence funding for its artificial intelligence and machine learning applications to its sales verticals and marketing channels. The company was funded b Western Universitys business incubator (Propel) and accelerator.



Amir has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Western University. During his time at Western University, Amir founded the Kings University College Undergraduate Research Journal, a peer-reviewed publication by faculty showcasing four of the top research papers by students.

Mr. Farahi stated, I am pleased to be joining the dynaCERT board at this important juncture of its growth. The company has a positive outlook as it expands into the North American, European, Middle Eastern, South Asian and South American markets. dynaCERTs proprietary technology and the breadth of its patent portfolio is groundbreaking. My background in government relations, business development and public relations will help the company expand its public attention. I look forward to assisting dynaCERT with government relations and transactions while diligently focusing on driving an aggressive sales trajectory.

Jim Payne, CEO of dynaCERT, commented, Amir brings to our board a great penetration in relationships, furthering our existing Southwestern Ontario and other Canadian and international sales endeavours. Amirs experience, public profile and relationships can be highly contributory to dynaCERTs strengths and goals, being recognized as Canadas leading Carbon Emission Reduction Technology Company. I trust that Amirs renowned background will integrate very well with our highly dedicated Board of Directors and our appropriately focused Advisory Board which continues to establish dynaCERTs expanding international profile in reducing carbon emissions and enhancing fuel efficiencies world-wide. READER ADVISORY

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to the potential expansion into new markets, industries and segments, such as diesel- powered use of any the dynaCERT products and sales. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance of achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success for new products and technologies; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of products and services; changes in technology and changes in laws and regulations; the uncertainty of the emerging hydrogen economy; including the hydrogen economy moving at a pace not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements; and the other risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the release. On Behalf of the Board

Murray James Payne, CEO

For more information, please contact: Jim Payne, CEO & President

dynaCERT Inc.

#101  501 Alliance Avenue

Toronto, Ontario M6N 2J1

(416) 766-9691 x 2

[email protected]dynaCERT.com Investor Relations

dynaCERT Inc.

Nancy Massicotte

(416) 766-9691 x 1

[email protected] dynaCERT .com

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] SoftBank Group Corp. Announces Launch of New $5 Billion Technology Growth Fund for Latin America

SoftBank Group Corp. ("SBG") today announced the launch of the SoftBank Innovation Fund, the largest-ever technology fund focused exclusively on the fast-growing Latin American market, and the creation of the SoftBank Latin America Local Hub, a new operating group that will partner with SoftBank portfolio companies helping them enter Latin America, navigate the local markets and broaden their geographic reach in the region. Marcelo Claure will serve as Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank Latin America, responsible for overseeing the new fund, its investments and operations. Mr. Claure will also continue to serve in his current roles as Chief Operating Officer of SoftBank Group Corp., Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank Group International and Executive Chairman of Sprint (News - Alert) Corporation. SBG has committed an initial $2 billion to the SoftBank Innovation Fund and will serve as the General Partner. No decision has been made as to the location of the SoftBank Innovation Fund's headquarters. Masayoshi Son, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of SBG, said, "Latin America is on the cusp of becoming one of the most important economic regions in the world, and we anticipate significant growth in the decades ahead. SBG plans to invest in entrepreneurs throughout Latin America and use technology to help address the challenges faced by many emerging economies with the goal of improving the lives of millions of Latin Americans. I am grateful to our Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure for leading this initiative, in addition to his other responsibilities at SBG." "Growing up in Latin America I witnessed firsthand the creativity and passion of the people," said Mr. Claure. "There is so much innovation and disruption taking place in the region, and I believe the business opportunities have never been stronger. The SoftBank Innovation Fund will become a major investor in transformative Latin American companies that are poised to redefine their industries and create new economic opportunities for millions of people." Rajeev Misra, Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank Invstment Advisers, said, "Latin America presents significant opportunities for SoftBank Group, and the Vision Fund will have the ability to co-invest alongside the SoftBank Innovation Fund. Marcelo and team will offer invaluable expertise to help Latin American companies scale their operations, benefit from the greater SoftBank ecosystem and grow into global market leaders."



The SoftBank Innovation Fund will invest throughout Latin America, including in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. Industries of particular focus for the Fund in the region include e-commerce, digital financial services, healthcare, mobility and insurance, among others. The unique traits and rapid economic development of the Latin American market, coupled with the fact that it represents 10% of the world's population and 8% of the world's GDP (two times the GDP of India and half that of China), present significant growth opportunities for rapid technology deployment at scale and disruptive innovation. Examples include:

Rapidly Growing Middle Class : Since 2000, over 50 million people in the region have entered the middle class, generating increased disposable income.

: Since 2000, over 50 million people in the region have entered the middle class, generating increased disposable income. Internet and Smartphone Penetration: A drastic increase in Internet and smartphone penetration has led to a digitization of daily life; Latin America's more than 375 million Internet and 250 million smartphone users outpaces the United States.

A drastic increase in Internet and smartphone penetration has led to a digitization of daily life; Latin America's more than 375 million Internet and 250 million smartphone users outpaces the United States. Consumer Behavior: A major shift in consumer behavior to a focus on online shopping; retail e-commerce sales have grown from $29.8 billion in 2015 to $54.0 billion in 2018.

A major shift in consumer behavior to a focus on online shopping; retail e-commerce sales have grown from $29.8 billion in 2015 to $54.0 billion in 2018. Digitalization of Financial Services: Banking activities are increasingly being handled online, but approximately 70% (400 million people) of Latin Americans remain unbanked or underbanked.

Banking activities are increasingly being handled online, but approximately 70% (400 million people) of Latin Americans remain unbanked or underbanked. Transportation Infrastructure: The region suffers from severely underdeveloped public transport; from 1992 through 2010, the region invested only 0.5% of GDP in transportation, compared to the global average of 1.6%.

The region suffers from severely underdeveloped public transport; from 1992 through 2010, the region invested only 0.5% of GDP in transportation, compared to the global average of 1.6%. Dense Urban Areas: The region is highly urbanized, with 79% of the population living in urban areas, compared to 48% in China and 29% in India.

The region is highly urbanized, with 79% of the population living in urban areas, compared to 48% in China and 29% in India. Healthcare Solutions: Services are fragmented and incidences of non-communicable diseases are expected to rise; new cases of cancer per year and the number of people suffering from diabetes are expected to grow by 66% and 60%, respectively, from 2012 to 2030. SBG believes these factors contribute to the creation of an attractive market for emerging technology companies and entrepreneurs, and the need for patient capital to support them on their journeys. About the SoftBank Group The SoftBank Group is a global technology player that aspires to drive the Information Revolution (News - Alert). The SoftBank Group is comprised of the holding company SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984) and its global portfolio of companies, which includes advanced telecommunications, Internet services, AI, smart robotics, IoT and clean energy technology providers. In September 2016, Arm Limited, the world's leading semiconductor IP company, joined the SoftBank Group. SoftBank Group Corp. is invested in the SoftBank Vision Fund, which plans to invest up to $100 billion in the global businesses and technologies that the SoftBank Vision Fund believes will enable the next stage of the Information Revolution. To learn more, please visit www.softbank.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005336/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Can a Chrome extension reduce sexual harassment at work?

TORONTO, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - With increased awareness surrounding issues such as the gender pay gap and workplace harassment, it's more important than ever for work environments to ensure they're taking even the smallest of measures to ensure women feel comfortable and respected while at work. Addressing women as "girls" contributes to a language-based gender divide. Terms like "bossy" and "moody" are used to describe the women we work with but never their male counterparts. We all do it and often are not even aware we're doing it. But, fact is, daily language shapes the way we think consciously and subconsciously. The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada wanted to help prevent sexism by raising awareness of our genderbiased language. As a leader in digital communication, they added to a digital work tool we use daily: email.



Introducing AutoCorrectHER. This Google Chrome extension is a tool used to combat everyday sexism in the phrases we use at work. Words that would autocorrect include everyday terms that women could find disrespectful. We then replace these words with more appropriate suggestions. IAB Canada offered AutoCorrectHER to its members. But it's available for everyone to use.

To install the AutocorrectHER Chrome extension: Go to the Chrome Web Store. Click the "Add to Chrome" button (Note: You may be prompted to sign into your Google account if you're not already logged in), and then the "Add extension" button. Access your Gmail or Outlook account in Google Chrome. Refresh the page if necessary. Please note: AutocorrectHER will not work on your mobile device, and this prototype version currently only works when you are drafting an email. But if successful, we will be releasing updates with full functionality. AutocorrectHER may not work if you have any ad blockers on. About IAB Canada:

Established in 1997, The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB Canada) is the national voice and thought leader of the Canadian interactive marketing and advertising industry. We are the only trade association exclusively dedicated to the development and promotion of the digital marketing and advertising sector in Canada. As a not-for-profit association, IAB Canada represents over 250 of Canada's most respected advertisers, ad agencies, media companies, service providers, educational institutions and government associations. SOURCE IAB Canada

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019]

Global fixed broadband subscribers continues rapid growth, expected to hit 1.2 billion by 2025

FREMONT, Calif., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The markets and technologies which will drive continued rapid broadband growth over the next decade have today been revealed by Broadband Forum and Point Topic in a new report which predicts there will be 1.2 billion fixed broadband subscribers by 2025.

Following the announcement last October that there are now one billion global fixed broadband subscribers, this report is Point Topic's first worldwide broadband subscribers forecast providing the details behind that milestone, addressing the period between Q3 2018 and Q4 2025.

According to the research, the current trends of booming deep-fiber deployment and accelerating broadband penetration in developing markets will be the engine of broadband growth through 2025. The forecast states that some variant of fiber  Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH), Fiber-To-The-Premises (FTTP) or Fiber-To-The-Building (FTTB)  will be used by 59% of fixed broadband subscribers globally by 2025. The report also examines the impact of superfast 5G, predicting that fixed mobile convergence will mean that the next one billion subscribers could blend wireless and fixed subscriptions.

"With 5G on the horizon and new Internet of Things devices and Over the Top services increasingly becoming a part of subscribers' everyday lives, this new analysis looks at how the fixed broadband market and the technologies within it are evolving to meet this demand," said Oliver Johnson, CEO at Point Topic. "As we look towards the next billion broadband subscriptions, fixed lines will continue to play a significant role. We expect to see more convergence between fixed and mobile lines as consumers look for a seamless, high-quality connectivity experience that is available anywhere, anytime."

Overall, 89% of the predicted 1.2 billion subscribers in 2025 will come from the current top 30 broadband markets1, defined in Point Topic's Q2 2018 report. Fixed broadband adoption in these top 30 markets is expected to grow by 22% between 2018 and 2025, with developing economies in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Mexico likely to see the highest growth in this period. Global adoption, including the rest of the world, is forecast to grow by 24%.

Between 2018 and 2025, fiber-based connections (FTTH/P/B) are expected to grow by 51% and FTTC/VDSL by 28%. In the same period, ADSL-based connections are forecast to drop by 39%. At the same time it is expected that pricing dependent growth in the satellite market and alternative offerings like TV White Space will extend the global broadband footprint.

Whereas broadband-capable device proliferation and connectivity, catalyzed by key enablers such as Broadband Forum's TR-069 protocol, paved the way to surpassing one billion deployments worldwide last October, emerging drivers such as 5G, meshed Wi-Fi, and new advanced services will be key to continued growth. Broadband Forum is well ahead of this curve, already preparing operators' networks for the next billion connections. Ongoing projects include work with 3GPP to develop a converged 5G network, Broadband Quality Experience Delivered (Broadband QED) initiative, and User Services Platform (USP) which enables operators to manage connected home devices.







Additionally, Broadband Forum has published new standards for the modularization of the Dynamic Bandwidth Assignment (DBA) function in optical access systems and the industry's first Wi-Fi performance test standard. Its equipment conformance and interoperability certification testing is also ongoing, with this work being critical as networks scale to accommodate more than a billion subscribers.

"Following the significant achievement of one billion broadband subscribers worldwide, the global broadband market is continuing to evolve and find new ways to grow in both scale and quality," said Geoff Burke, CMO of Broadband Forum. "As 5G enters the picture, the fixed network will not only provide the backbone for the 5G services, but new services created from wireless-wireline convergence will also continue to drive fixed broadband proliferation and adoption. Broadband Forum is on the forefront of this transformation, championing the initiatives that will continue to improve the broadband experiences of the future."

For more information about Broadband Forum's work, visit: https://www.broadband-forum.org/

To see the full Point Topic Report, please see: http://point-topic.com/free-analysis/broadband-next-billion/.

About Broadband Forum

Broadband Forum is the communications industry's leading organization focused on accelerating broadband innovation, standards, and ecosystem development. Our members' passion  delivering on the promise of broadband by enabling smarter and faster broadband networks and a thriving broadband ecosystem.

A non-profit industry organization composed of the industry's leading broadband operators, vendors, and thought leaders, our work to date has been the foundation for broadband's global proliferation and innovation. For example, the Forum's flagship TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol has nearly 1 billion installations worldwide.

Broadband Forum working groups collaborate to define best practices for global networks, enable new revenue-generating service and content delivery, establish technology migration strategies, and engineer critical device, service & development management tools in the home and business IP networking infrastructure. We develop multi-service broadband packet networking specifications addressing architecture, device and service management, software data models, interoperability and certification in the broadband market.

Our free technical reports and white papers can be found at https://www.broadband-forum.org/.

Follow us on Twitter @Broadband_Forum and LinkedIn.

For more information about the Broadband Forum, please go to https://www.broadband-forum.org or follow @Broadband_Forum on Twitter. For further information please contact Brian Dolby on +44 (0) 7899 914168 or [email protected] or Jayne Brooks on +44 (0) 1636 704 888 or [email protected].

About Point Topic

Point Topic exists to provide global broadband market intelligence, enabling the best-informed decisions possible.

Since 1998 we have gathered, analysed and published information sets that are used across the industry and beyond as the foundation of reporting, planning and strategy. We strive to provide insight, context, sourcing and transparent reporting so our users can follow the data inputs through to the information outputs with confidence.

We believe that broadband for all (broadband everywhere) is one of the greatest contributions our generation can make to the world. When businesses, people and governments can access good quality broadband it is to everyone's benefit. Point Topic is proud of our small but important contribution to the current and future spread of broadband across the globe.

Our free reports and analysis can be found at http://point-topic.com/

1 The top 30 markets are: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Romania, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-fixed-broadband-subscribers-continues-rapid-growth-expected-to-hit-1-2-billion-by-2025--300808462.html

SOURCE Broadband Forum
[March 07, 2019] Spark Foundry and AI Music Introduce AI-Generated Creative for Audio Ads

CHICAGO, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Spark Foundry, a leading media agency part of Publicis Media, and AI Music, a London based AI company, today announced an innovative new solution, Sympaphonic Ads, which will bring deeper personalization to audio advertising by using AI to produce ad creative. Sympaphonic Ads are an industry-first and will help marketers increase brand engagement while reducing costs and saving time associated with creating audio ads. A partnership conceptualized by Spark Foundry's innovation team, the AI-generated audio ads use AI Music's proprietary artificial intelligence engine to dynamically produce ad creative that matches the user's current music genre for a more euphonious and personalized listening experience. The ads are then distributed via AdsWizz, a leading global digital audio advertising solution provider, to reach the right audience. "With the increase in personalization of content, consumers of today expect to see tailored and contextually relevant experiences everywhere. However, this type of personalization is not a reality for audio advertising until now. Most marketers are still using generic audio ads across all platforms due to the time and money that it would take to create varied audio creative assets," said Eric Levin, Global Chief Content Officer, Spark Foundry. "By using contextually relevant audio ads, our beta marketer, Cox, has already begun to see an increase in brand engagement and by using AI for creative work, we were able to also help them save both time and money." Cox Communications is the exclusive beta tester or Sympaphonic Ads. Since kicking off the campaign in late December 2018, Cox has already seen a significant reduction in production time and costs for creating multiple audio assets and an increase in brand engagement with the more relevant treatments.



"Consumers do not want an ad that is jarring and disrupts their listening experience," said Mollie Andrews, Vice President of Marketing Operations, Cox Communications. "This innovative technology accelerates our speed-to-market and, most importantly, speaks to our customers in the tone and style that is consistent with their preferred music genre." Previously, in order to personalize a campaign for audio, it could take up to 2-3 days to create a single audio ad. Through AI Music's proprietary artificial intelligence engine, which enabled real-time shape shifting of existing music and audio assets, Spark Foundry was able to create dynamic and personalized audio ads in under 10 minutes. This reduced the normal production time, helped make the budget go further, and freed up time for the agency to focus on other more strategic tasks.

"We are extremely excited to bring our cutting-edge AI solutions to the advertising space with the collaboration and partnership of Spark Foundry." said Siavash Mahdavi, CEO, AI Music. "We are motivated to inject new innovation to the audio advertising space with dynamic AI-generated audio ads. We see this as an important step for AI Music as we are on a mission to evolve all aspects of how music and audio is created and experienced, from a static, linear interaction to one of dynamic co-creation and personalization.



In order to reach the right audiences at the right time with these new audio creative assets, Spark Foundry selected AdsWizz as an audio distribution partner. The company has robust genre targeting capabilities across a network of digital audio platforms, such as Pandora, where Cox's beta campaign is currently running. Cox's campaign will run through the end of Q1. About Spark Foundry

Spark Foundry is a global media agency brand within Publicis Media, a key division of Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40]. Spark Foundry's bold vision harnesses a startup spirit with a powerhouse soul that melds an entrepreneurial, innovative business approach with the full resources, capabilities and marketplace clout of Publicis Media. With 4,000 employees across the world, the agency brings the heat with the best industry talent and a growing footprint of offices in key markets including the U.S., UK, MENA, Poland, Australia and China. About AI Music

AI Music is a London based AI company led by CEO, Siavash Mahdavi. AI Music is on a mission to change how music is created, experienced, and interacted with. With deep experience in AI and music, the company is leveraging proprietary technology to evolve music from a static, linear experience to one of dynamic personalisation and co-creation. AI Music is backed by world-leading AI and machine learning investor, Alpha Intelligence Capital, and previously part of the famous Abbey Road Studios Red incubator programme in conjunction with Universal Music Group. www.aimusic.co.uk Media Contact Katherine Wong

Spark Foundry

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/spark-foundry-and-ai-music-introduce-ai-generated-creative-for-audio-ads-300808237.html SOURCE Spark Foundry

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] West Virginia State Bar Highlights Identillect's Delivery Trust for Secure Email Communications

IRVINE, Calif., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Identillect Technologies Corp. (the "Company" or "Identillect") (TSX-V: ID, OTCQB: IDTLF, Frankfurt: 8ID) announces today that the West Virginia State Bar has agreed to publicize Delivery Trust as a solution for protecting sensitive email communications while they are in transit. Identillect continues to partner with mandatory and voluntary legal associations across the United States to ensure that their members have access to the resources now available to secure sensitive email communications, a growing trend as lawyers experience an increasing number of cyberattacks nationwide.

The West Virginia State Bar, formed in 1947, is an agency of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Serving approximately 9,000 active and inactive, in-state and out-of-state West Virginia-licensed attorneys, the West Virginia State Bar is among several early adopters developing relationships with cybersecurity organizations to expand both education and practice management solutions for its members. The West Virginia State Bar has identified Identillect as a partner that can help members implement security measures for email in transit. Frederick M. Dean Rohrig, President of the West Virginia State Bar, commented, We take pride in our commitment to excellence and integrity in all the services and benefits we offer to members. Our relationship with Identillect reflects our commitment to education and practice management solutions as cybersecurity surges in importance. We are pleased to be able to offer Identillect secure email services to our members at a reduced rate. According to LogicForces Law Firm Cyber Security Scorecard, 40% of surveyed law firms were not aware they were breached in 2016 ( cyber-attacks-espionage/hackers-are-aggressively-targeting-law-firms ). This statistic highlights a true need not only for tools to combat cyber threats but also increased awareness and education surrounding digital communication channels.



Identillect CEO Todd Sexton states, The legal community has become a target for cyber criminals in recent years. The best way to combat being a target is to educate and deploy security protocols to minimize the chances of experiencing a data breach. Identillect is honored to be the email encryption-in-transit provider the West Virginia State Bar has agreed to promote. This partnership should help to protect members of the West Virginia State Bar, their law firms, and (most important) their clients. Identillect will work to continually educate West Virginias legal community on changing regulations and cybersecurity threats while providing tools to protect electronic communications. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of:

IDENTILLECT TECHNOLOGIES CORP. Todd Sexton

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (949) 468-7878

Email: [email protected] About Identillect Identillect Technologies is the leading provider of email encryption service Delivery Trust, which empowers enterprises of all sizes to protect their business and their clients critical information against cybersecurity attacks. Delivery Trust is an award-winning, multi-platform plug-in that gives users complete control over the security of their emails in transit for one low price. One simple integration provides peace of mind. For more information or your free trial, please visit www.identillect.com. About The West Virginia State Bar The West Virginia State Bar is governed by a 25-member Board of Governors elected from across the State. For more information, see https://wvbar.org/ Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] BlackRidge Technology to Present at 31st Annual ROTH Conference on March 18, 2019

RENO, Nev., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackRidge Technology International, Inc. (OTCQB: BRTI), a leading provider of next-generation cyber defense solutions, has been invited to present at the 31st Annual ROTH Conference held on March 17-19, 2019, at The Ritz-Carlton, in Dana Point, California. John Bluher, Chief Financial Officer and Michael Murray, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cyber Physical Systems, will present Monday, March 18, 9 a.m. PDT. During the Company's presentation, management will discuss BlackRidge's endpoint software solution for legacy and new industrial IoT and critical infrastructure security applications. Additionally, both speakers will hold one-on-one meetings with institutional investors throughout the conference. For those who cannot attend the conference, BlackRidge Technology will provide a webcast of its formal presentation. To access the live webcast, please go to: http://wsw.com/webcast/roth33/brti/ or the BlackRidge investor relations website. Additionally, on Monday, March 18, Michael Murray will speak on an industry panel titled "2019 the Year for IoT? Technology, Timing and Applications." The panel discussion begins at 1:30 p.m. PDT in Orange, Salon IV. Registration is mandatory for conference participation. For more information on the conference, please contact your ROTH representative at 1-800-678-9147 or e-mail: [email protected]. You may also email your request to [email protected] or call Chris Tyson at (949) 491-8235.







31st Annual ROTH Conference  BlackRidge Highlights





Date: Monday, March 18, 2019 Presentation Time: 9 a.m. PDT Panel Time: 1:30 p.m. PDT Location: Orange, Salon IV Webcast: http://wsw.com/webcast/roth33/brti/

About the 31st Annual ROTH Conference

The 31st Annual ROTH Conference is scheduled for March 17-19, 2019, at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Orange County, California. Following the success of the previous year's events, the ROTH Conference, with close to 550 participating companies and over 4,700 attendees, will feature presentations from public and private companies in a variety of sectors. This gathering of institutional investors, private equity investors, VCs and executives, and service providers has become a must-attend event for anyone working in the small- and mid-cap space. For more about ROTH Capital Partners and the 31st Annual ROTH Conference, visit www.roth.com. About BlackRidge Technology

BlackRidge Technology enables our customers and partners to deliver more secure and resilient business services in today's rapidly evolving cyber threat environments. The BlackRidge adaptive cyber defense solution authenticates identity before allowing network connections to proactively isolate cloud services, protect servers and IoT devices, and segment networks. Our patented technology authenticates user or device identity and enforces security policy on the first packet of a network session. This zero-trust network model blocks or redirects unidentified and unauthorized traffic to stop port scanning, cyberattacks and unauthorized access. BlackRidge was founded in 2010 to commercialize its military-grade and patented network security technologies. For more information, visit www.blackridge.us. Forward-looking Statements

Statements made in this release include forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "plan," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," or comparable terminology. While management has based any forward-looking statements included in this release on its current expectations, the information on which such expectations were based may change. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, as a result of various factors including those risks and uncertainties described in the Risk Factors and in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which can be found on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. We urge you to consider those risks and uncertainties in evaluating our forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Media Contact:

LANE, A Finn Partners Company

Lisa Heathman

+1-503-546-7871

[email protected] Investor Relations Contact:

MZ North America

Chris Tyson

+1-949-491-8235

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackridge-technology-to-present-at-31st-annual-roth-conference-on-march-18-2019-300808267.html SOURCE BlackRidge Technology International, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] MetLife Announces Senior Leadership Changes as Part of CEO Transition

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) today announced a series of changes to its senior leadership ranks in connection with its CEO transition, all of which are effective May 1, 2019. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005199/en/ Ramy Tadros named President of U.S. Business, MetLife Inc. (Photo: Business Wire) Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer Ramy Tadros will become president, U.S. Business. He will succeed Michel Khalaf, president, U.S. Business and EMEA, who becomes MetLife president and chief executive officer on May 1, 2019. Tadros will report to Khalaf and continue to serve on the company's Executive Group. Dirk Ostjin, senior vice president and head of EMEA, will continue to oversee the EMEA business reporting to Khalaf. Tadros joined MetLife in September 2017 from Oliver Wyman (News - Alert), where he was a partner, global head of Insurance, and member of the firm's operating committee. "Ramy is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years of experience advising global life and property and casualty insurers on strategy, product, distribution and financial topics," said Steven A. Kandarian, chairman, president and chief executive officer of MetLife, Inc. "As chief risk officer, his leadership has been essential to elevating our risk function in support of MetLife's transformation into a company that appropriately balances growth and risk while generating stable free cash flow."



MetLife also announced today that Marlene Debel, currently executive vice president and head of Retirement & Income Solutions (RIS), will become MetLife's Chief Risk Officer. She will report to Khalaf and join the company's Executive Group.

"Marlene has a proven track record of risk management," said Khalaf. "As Treasurer, she was responsible for MetLife's capital management and liquidity risk. As chief financial officer for the U.S. Business, she balanced risk and value creation to help the company grow responsibly. And as head of RIS, she led one of the strongest periods of growth for the business while working to ensure that MetLife delivers on the long-term promises we make to our customers." Before joining MetLife in 2011, Debel was global head of Liquidity Risk Management and Rating Agency Relations at Bank of America. Prior to that, she was assistant treasurer of Merrill Lynch & Co. She spent 20 years in a number of leadership positions across global treasury at Merrill Lynch. MetLife also announced that Graham Cox (News - Alert), executive vice president in Global Risk Management (GRM), will succeed Debel as head of RIS and report to Tadros. Cox has extensive business and risk management experience and has held several leadership roles since joining MetLife as an actuary in 1995. He has overseen MetLife's Group Life product portfolio and the Product & Operations unit of the former International Business. He has also served as Head of Western Europe. "Graham's leadership abilities, mix of pension and risk expertise, and customer focus make him the right choice for leading the responsible growth of RIS," Khalaf said. About MetLife MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (MetLife), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain or refer to forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give expectations or forecasts of the future using terms such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "will," and other terms tied to future periods. Results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and expectations. They involve risks and uncertainties, including the "Risk Factors" MetLife, Inc. describes in its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The company has no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement. Parts of this news release may include additional information on forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005199/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Anaqua to Host 13th Annual User Conference with Keynotes from Arm, EPO, IPWatchdog, Novo Nordisk, and Panasonic

Many of the world's top IP practitioners will come together for four days in March for a major industry event hosted by Anaqua, the leading provider of innovation and intellectual property management solutions. Under the theme of 'Transform IP into Business Success,' Anaqua's 13th annual User Conference will be held at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, Florida from March 25th-28th. The four-day event brings together IP professionals across the globe to collaborate and share key insights on how to further innovate and enhance solutions that will best serve the intellectual property management industry. Anaqua's client community will join industry discussions, participate in training sessions, engage in networking events, and hear from business leaders and industry influencers as they share key trends, insights, and best practices. "We have the most innovative customers in the world who are shaping the IP industry," said Bob Romeo, CEO of Anaqua. "Anaqua's annual User Conference gives these leaders the opportunity to come together to share insights and best practices that will move the needle and enhance the ANAQUA platform. Together, we are innovating and enhancing the industry's IP management solutions and services that make this year's theme possible for the market, 'Transform IP into Business Success.'" The conference will host more than 20 distinguished panelists and speakers including business leaders, IP executives, inventors, and lawyers. Amongst the keynote speakers are: Suzanne Oliver, Senior Director of Legal and IP Operations at Arm

Thomas Bereuter, Programme Area Manager of Innovation Support at the European Patent Academy, European Patent Office (EPO)

Gene Quinn, President and CEO at IPWatchdog

Tove Fabritius de Tengnagel, IP Systems Manager at Novo Nordisk

Kazuyasu Adachi, President of IP Management at Panasonic (News - Alert) In addition, a number of sessions will be osted by some of the industry's most innovative IP practitioners, including:



Christof Wolpert, Vice President Global Legal Innovation at Adidas

Benjamin Brown, Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property at Analog Devices (News - Alert)

Anthony Correa, Sr. Patent Paralegal, Intellectual Property Law Department at Applied Materials

Daryl Bradley, Head of Patent Prosecution at Arm

Luba DeGroat, IP Operations Manager at BD

Amanda Bernier, Senior Analyst, Paralegal at Dell (News - Alert)

Kristen Caizzi, Advisor, Paralegal at Dell

T.J. DoVale, Managing Partner, Intellectual Property at FisherBroyles, LLP

Yuji Mitsui, Assistant Manager at Honda (News - Alert) Motor Co., Ltd

Tim Melchior, Sr. Legal Operations Analyst for the Legal Department at Ingersoll Rand

Krystyna Colantoni, Partner and Patent Attorney at Mei & Mark, LLP

Joseph Bichanich, Director of Practice Support at Michael Best

Sharon Hawes, Senior Data Analyst at Michael Best

Patti Ross, IP Technology Specialist at Michael Best

Sarah Wallschlaeger, IP Technology Specialist at Michael Best

Nicole Davis, IP Docketing Manager at Munck Wilson Mandala, LLP

Yoshito Miyazaki, Group Leader of Administration and Trademark Group at Tokyo Electron Limited Anaqua's ever-growing user community has been coming together for this conference since 2005, creating one of the industry's largest gatherings of IP experts. As Anaqua strengthens its client community, AUC continues to see increased engagement from customers who contribute to enhancing ANAQUA's software. This year's conference will kick off with a product update of Anaqua's recently launched leading-edge IP management software platform, AQX, along with two days of training for both corporate and law firm customers. The second half of the conference will include two days of speakers, panels, product previews and sessions focused on patents, trademarks, innovation, analytics and more. Anaqua's 2019 User Conference follows a very successful year across the company's growth channels. Along with the launch of AQX, the company recently announced a major equity investment from Astorg, a leading European private equity firm, that will accelerate Anaqua's global organic and growth strategy.

For more information on and to register for the Anaqua User Conference, please visit anaqua.com. About Anaqua Anaqua is a premium provider of integrated, end-to-end innovation and intellectual property (IP) management solutions, serving 50% of the top 25 U.S. patent filers, 50% of the top 25 global brands, and a growing number of the most prestigious, forward-looking law firms. The company's global operations are headquartered in Boston, with offices across Europe and Asia. Anaqua's IP platform is used by nearly one million IP executives, attorneys, paralegals, administrators, and innovators globally. Its solution suite merges best practice workflows with big data analytics and tech-enabled services to create one intelligent environment designed to inform IP strategy, enable IP decision-making, and streamline IP operations. For additional information, please visit Anaqua.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005328/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Tax Advisory Services: Market Research, Pricing Dynamics, Risk Management, Cost Drivers, Category Management Insights Now Available from SpendEdge

SpendEdge, a global procurement market intelligence firm, has announced the release of their Global Tax Advisory Services Category - Procurement Market Intelligence Report.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005242/en/

Global Tax Advisory Services Category - Procurement Market Intelligence Report. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The emergence of newer business models is resulting in the imposition of taxation regulations to obtain the accountability of all the business sectors to the tax structure. On the other hand, the taxation policies are undergoing reforms regularly to accommodate various aspects of taxation such as indirect taxes, direct taxes, and taxes for transfer pricing for these new business models. One of such instances is the global tax reset project undertaken by international organizations such as G20 and OECD to generate fresh international tax reforms to improve transparency, consistency, and sharing of information between tax authorities across nations. Such dynamism will play as one of the critical cost drivers for the tax advisory services market. Read the Free Sample of this tax advisory services market research report!

The corporate tax structure in the US is poised to undergo significant reforms following the implementation of the TCJA and the BEAT act. This is expected to propel the category demand as the companies will seek tax advisory services to ensure compliance with the reformed tax regulations. The popularity of cryptocurrency as a transaction medium in the US is driving the regulatory authorities to enact a new set of taxation guidelines and laws pertaining to these transactions.

Considering the nature of this market, it is imperative that buyers and suppliers stay informed with the latest changes that are reversing the category pricing dynamics. To help buyers devise a tangible procurement strategy for tax advisory services, insights into strategic sourcing, category management, and risk management objectives are offered in this report.

Want personalized information? Request free customization of the tax advisory services market research report!

"Buyers can achieve optimal category spend by partnering with suppliers that agree to provide services based on pricing models suitable for specific requirements," says SpendEdge procurement expert Anil Seth.

This tax advisory services market research report has estimated that the following cost drivers will influence the category growth in the following years:

Engaging with technology-driven suppliers will help buyers reduce category spend

Demand from APAC is likely to grow significantly during the forecast period

Buy the full tax advisory services market research report here!







SpendEdge is now offering limited-time discounts on report purchases. Buy two reports and get the third one for free.

SpendEdge's procurement market intelligence reports for the financial services category provide detailed supply market forecasts and information on cost drivers that impact category pricing dynamics. Such information will help procurement managers as well as the suppliers to determine the total cost of ownership and change their procurement strategies accordingly. Additionally, SpendEdge's reports provide category management insights and information on the risk management strategies for the category.

Report scope snapshot: Tax advisory services

US market insights

Supplier cost structure in the US

Margins of suppliers in the US

Category pricing dynamics

Interested to know more about the scope of our market research reports? Download a FREE sample

Best practices

Procurement excellence best practices

Procurement best practices

Sustainability practices

Want customized information from the tax advisory services market research report? Get in touch

Category ecosystem

Competitiveness index for suppliers

Risk management insights

Supplier power score

To view the table of contents of this market research report, Download a FREE sample

Do you purchase multiple reports in a year? Our subscription platform, SpendEdge Insights, provides ready-to-use procurement research reports for various categories. Now access the latest supplier news, innovation landscape, markets insights, pricing dynamics, supplier tracking, risk management insights, and much more at the click of a button. Start your 7-day FREE trial now.

Related Reports:

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more, https://www.spendedge.com/request-free-proposal

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005242/en/
[March 07, 2019] Newly-Published Research: 'Workforce Development in the Age of Digital' Highlights the Urgent Need for Private Sector to Lead

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ -- Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today released research which explores the current state of workforce development efforts in the United States. The research identifies a fundamental workforce development misalignment between academic institutions and businesses. It also describes how the private sector must provide greater training opportunities to lower the barriers which currently prevent workers from nurturing the skills they need to participate in the digital economy. "The research clearly demonstrates that the private sector must play a larger role in addressing the workforce development needs of today and tomorrow," said Ravi Kumar, President, Infosys. "While the private sector cannot overcome the skills gap without partnership with academic institutions and government, we can and must lead the way. By recruiting talent agnostic of their disciplines and backgroundsbut with the aptitude to learn new skills and providing them a continuum of lifelong learning, we can nurture workers on the cutting edge of all that's needed for the future of work." The quantitative and qualitative research report, which surveyed groups across the workforce ecosystem  including hiring managers, school administrators, traditional STEM talent, and unconventional or non-STEM talent  identified the different perspectives, expectations, and needs of both the supply and demand sides of the U.S. workforce and labor market. The research found that the economy for which colleges and universities have prepared their graduates is not the economy in which businesses operate today. In today's digital age, businesses increasingly need workers who are fluent in digital skills, but who are also capable communicators, well-versed in logical and analytical reasoning, and geared toward problem-finding rather than just problem-solving. "For those of us in the liberal arts, we are teaching and educating our students to understand how to learn so that they are adaptable for any career in the future," said Joanne Berger-Sweeney, President, Trinity College. "Liberal arts students do a great job of adapting to technology positions because, one, they know how to learn; two, they've learned the soft skills that allow them to work with all types of people; and, three, they come in with very strong oral and written communications skillsall of which allow them to provide incredible breadth and depth to the technology workforce of the future." As opposed to traditional methods of classroom-based learning at the university level, the research found that the training model of the future necessitates that talent be continuously reskilled throughout a worker's career life cycle. Importantly, the research found that this approach solves for two of the biggest barriers to cultivating a workforce of the future: the time and money it would cost workers to pursue these skills outside of the workplace. Thirumala Arohi, Vice President of Education, Training and Assessment, Infosys said, "Lack of adequate digital talent supply continues to be one of the greatest barriers for large organizations looking to transform. Infosys Wngspan, our holistic learning platform, revolutionizes corporate learning, making it on demand, on the go, interactive, and easier for workers and organizations to focus on reskilling today, to be better prepared for tomorrow."



Infosys' workforce development model closely follows the findings of the research report. The company is recruiting and training local talent with the aptitude to learn digital skills, creating opportunities for those with and without a background in technology. The company has created on-demand learning for employees, delivered through experiential means, which they can access throughout their time with the company. This learning is enabled, in part, through partnerships with universities, colleges, and community colleges from across the country. These partnerships are critical to the development of continuous learning curricula, geared toward solving the problems of the future. And through its partnership and training efforts, Infosys is creating local recruitment pipelines matched to a rapidly changing and disruptive workplace ecosystem. To develop the research report, Infosys surveyed over 700 hiring managers, school administrators, traditional talent, and unconventional talent online in December 2018 and January 2019. The survey, conducted by Brunswick Group, developed a 360-degree view of the transformation of talent sourcing and training.

Highlights from the research: 85% of hiring managers believe reskilling and continuous education for existing workers is needed to ensure American workers can access the opportunities in the future

76% of school administrators and 82% of hiring managers agree that corporations must play a greater role in developing unconventional candidates by providing cutting-edge training opportunities to be successful in the future

Many do not consider technical skills as important as non-technical skills (strong work ethic, self-motivated, high cognitive skills etc.) in the workplace t oday, but expect the workforce to rely more on technical skills in 10 years

oday, but expect the workforce to rely more on technical skills in 10 years Greater than half of the unconventional talent polled and greater than a third of conventional talent polled identified the cost of the program and the time needed to dedicate to the program as the greatest barriers for pursuing STEM careers

The best resources to reduce these barriers for unconventional talent were identified as online courses and employer-subsidized programs, which provide accessibility and flexibility To read the research report and white paper, and for more information, please visit: https://www.infosys.com/navigate-your-next/research/workforce-development-report/Pages/index.aspx About Infosys Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 45 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over three decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. Visit http://www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next. Safe Harbor Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements concerning our future business opportunities and growth prospects. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. In addition, please note that any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company unless it is required by law. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newly-published-research-workforce-development-in-the-age-of-digital-highlights-the-urgent-need-for-private-sector-to-lead-300808451.html SOURCE Infosys

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] CGS Survey Shows That L&D Is In High Demand Across Industries

NEW YORK, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CGS, a global provider of business applications, enterprise learning and outsourcing services, today announced the findings from its 2019 Employee Workplace Trends Learning & Development Report . The results showed that regardless of age, most U.S. employees are looking to enhance their skills through learning and development (L&D) when considering new job opportunities. With PwC reporting that 74 percent of employees are ready to learn new skills to remain employable in the future, companies must prioritize L&D initiatives for their current and future workforce. According to the CGS study, employees are also interested in having both technical and leadership trainings more readily available in the workplace.

CGS surveyed more than 600 U.S. employees (ages 18-65+), who work in the retail, hospitality, banking and telecommunications industries, on how current training and development offerings affect their career and growth trajectory. New policies and procedures are being rolled out by companies on a weekly basis; however, many employees have found that training is not as frequent, and many current learning programs are not engaging. Key findings from the survey include: Leadership skills are gaining momentum, but technical skills remain a major concern With a tightening labor market and skills gap in highly technical roles , companies are not fully acknowledging the need for new and increased skills across all industries. CGS found that at least 50 percent of employees in the retail, telecommunications and hospitality industries are concerned about their current level of technical skill, and nearly 40 percent of telecommunications employees state that they need to independently learn new technical skills because this type of training is not available. Further, across all industries, an average of 27 percent of employees feel that they are on their own. Companies need to narrow the technical skills gap to retain employees. A recent LinkedIn survey shows that 57 percent of executives say soft skills are more important than technical skills, however, if employees dont understand the technical skills crucial to their job positions, productivity and engagement may suffer. Employers must prioritize L&D to stay competitive ther than salary, training and development is a key consideration to taking on a new job, with 29 percent of respondents saying it is the most important attribute and benefit when contemplating a new position. In the retail industry, training and development is equal to salary in terms of importance, indicating the rising employee demand for up-to-date learning in the workplace.



While the average employee attrition rate in the U.S. sits at around 15 percent , the average turnover rate in the retail industry is slightly above 60 percent, according to the National Retail Federation. In industries such as retail where retention rates are low, the need for L&D becomes even more crucial. The CGS study found that 40 percent of retail employees regard training and development to be equal to salary in terms of importance. New policies may be rolled out weekly, but learning is slow to catch up

Regardless of industry, at least one-quarter of employees feel they are seeing new policies and procedures rolled out to them weekly. Additionally, almost half of employees (an average of 48.5 percent) say that they see new policies and procedures on a monthly basis. However, while these new policies and procedures may be implemented weekly or monthly, the Annual Enterprise Learning Trends Report , a recent study conducted by CGS surveying L&D leaders, said that training programs are typically rolled out less frequently  on a quarterly or annual basis. Employees are struggling to keep up with new policies and procedures while also juggling their current responsibilities; thereby needing support from leadership to effectively do their jobs. Employers and employees are not aligned on training format While 37 percent of all employees find instructor-led training to be the most engaging, the CGS Annual Enterprise Learning Trends Report found that only 13 percent of these leaders plan to increase investment in that format. Juxtaposing this preference, 22 percent of L&D leaders plan to reduce instructor-led efforts. These findings show that now more than ever, a lack of frequent and continuous training initiatives can weaken the knowledge and performance of an organization, and businesses must be aligned with employees needs as retention and turnover can seriously hurt the bottom line, said Doug Stephen, senior vice president, Learning division, CGS. At CGS, we have a dedicated, agile team of program managers, designers and trainers that are client-focused, ensuring the best blended learning programs to fit our customers needs to deliver results. To download the full findings, see the infographic here . To download each individual industry report, click here . To download the CGS Annual Enterprise Learning Trends Report, click here . CGS's Enterprise Learning Group serves as a trusted partner to many of the worlds most dynamic companies, delivering innovative, custom learning solutions that are essential to scaling their people, processes and performance. CGSs custom professional development solutions range from interactive game-based eLearning to transformational technology rollouts. Each solution is designed to keep clients employee-related business fundamentals strong in todays ever-changing corporate environment. Methodology 2019 Employee Workplace Trends Learning & Development Report: In November 2018, CGS surveyed over 600 U.S. employees (ages 18-65+), who work in the retail, hospitality, banking and telecommunications industries, on how current training and development offerings impact their career and growth trajectory. Annual Enterprise Learning Trends Report: CGS surveyed over 200 L&D professionals and 1,000 employees to learn what the biggest challenges are, where businesses are focusing learning resources, how spending is changing and what employees really want. About CGS For 35 years, CGS has enabled global enterprises, regional companies and government agencies to drive breakthrough performance through business applications, enterprise learning and outsourcing services. CGS is wholly focused on creating comprehensive solutions that meet clients complex, multi-dimensional needs and support clients most fundamental business activities. Headquartered in New York City, CGS has offices across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. For more information, please visit www.cgsinc.com and follow us on Twitter at @CGSinc and @LearningCGS and on Facebook . Media Contacts: Susan Sweeney, CGS

[email protected] Kate Connors (for CGS)

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Supporting Women in Technology, FormFintech Becomes Fintech Cadence & Launches Women's Mentorship Program

MONTREAL, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Fintech Cadence, the new name of Montreal's Fintech catalyst FormFintech, announces the launch of its Women's Mentorship Program ahead of International Women's Day. Since its birth in 2016 our organization has put forth programs designed to help Montreal become the hub of Fintech innovation and investment that it is today. This includes Quebec's only Fintech certification program , the Building Blocks Fintech Certificate. Today, we proceed with an important next step in enabling more female entrepreneurs to break down barriers and succeed in this burgeoning industry. "We have always gone out of our way to encourage women to participate in our programs. Whether it be our Ascension pre-inubation program , the Formathon every spring or any of the others. Because of our efforts, participation rates for women in our programs are more than four times the industry average" said Geraldine Holliday, Head of Digital Product at Fintech Cadence.



Women in Fintech, by the numbers: Just 9% of all entrepreneurs in Fintech are female according to Fintech Growth Syndicate.

Only 5% of non-founders working as executives in Fintech are women.

35% of participants in our programs are female.

The team at Fintech Cadence is itself 75% female

The board at Fintech cadence is 66% female As with all our programs, the Women Mentorship Program and the Building Blocks certificate were launched to fill gaps in the Montreal Fintech community, helping it continue to prosper. The re-branding of FormFintech to Fintech Cadence is therefore timed to fit with this expanded mandate. We are enabling our stakeholders to better understand the needs, culture and regulations they're facing when delivering technology solutions to financial institutions.

"Fintech startups are being created frequently to address industry and consumer needs, women still have low engagement in this sector. Fintech is still in a relatively early stage and we have the opportunity now to increase female engagement through identifying mentors, supporting talented individuals and facilitating knowledge transfers  but we must act now!" added Holliday. About Fintech Cadence: Fintech Cadence is the catalyst for Montreal's Fintech community. Founded in 2016 as FormFintech, we offer programs, training and mentorship for entrepreneurs developing new technologies for the financial services sector. We prioritize innovation, diversity and working directly with stakeholders including banks, insurance companies and regulators. SOURCE Fintech Cadence

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Towerstream Announces Promotion of Michael Connors to Senior Vice President of Operations

MIDDLETOWN, R.I., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Towerstream Corporation (OTCQB:TWER) a fixed wireless fiber alternative provider, today announced that Michael Connors has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations.

Mike has been an invaluable asset to Towerstream and our ongoing business strategy, said Ernest Ortega, Chief Executive Officer of Towerstream. I am extremely pleased to elevate Mike to a position where he can make an even greater impact on our organization and the company's business and strategic plans. As Towerstream's Senior Vice President of Operations, a newly created position for the Company, Mr. Connors will continue to be responsible for Network Engineering, Information Technology, Network Operations and Customer Support with additional responsibilities of Supply Chain and Site Acquisition. Mr. Connors previously held the position of Vice President of Operations at the Company. Prior to joining Towerstream, Mr. Connors was the Vice President of Operations at CompuCom. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President and an officer at Vanguard Managed Solutions after a long tenure at Motorola Solutions where he last served as Vice President of Operations. ABOUT TOWERSTREAM CORPORATION

Towerstream Corporation (OTCQB:TWER) ( www.towerstream.com ) is a leading fixed wireless fiber alternative company delivering high-speed Internet access to businesses. The Company offers broadband services in twelve urban markets including New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay area, Miami, Seattle, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Las Vegas-Reno, and the greater Providence area.



SAFE HARBOR

Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable federal securities laws, including, without limitation, anything relating or referring to future financial results and plans for future business development activities, and are thus prospective. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified based on current expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Consequently, future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. INVESTOR CONTACT

John Macdonald

Chief Financial Officer

Towerstream

401-608-8446

[email protected]



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Bow Valley College Transforms Student Experience With Mobile-First and Future-Proof Digital Platform from Unit4

Unit4, a world leader in enterprise systems for higher education, today announced Bow Valley College has selected Unit4 Student Management running on the Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure Cloud to transform their student experience with a mobile-first and future-proof digital platform. Integrating with other applications used on campus, Unit4 will streamline and enhance the student experience at the college by providing both students and staff with increased access to critical data and information such as admissions, registration, program content, financial aid and account information. As the largest comprehensive community college in Alberta, Canada, Bow Valley College is a multi-campus institution that provides students with access to a broad program offering, including certificates, diplomas, post-diplomas, and foundational learning. The college is internationally connected and dedicated to providing learners in Calgary and the surrounding region with access to high-quality, efficient and effective lifelong learning opportunities. Additionally, Bow Valley College boasts a diverse population of students from 142 countries speaking 128 languages and collectively, the college's faculty and staff speak over 80 languages. When approaching their campus digital initiative, Bow Valley College was looking to update its core system, the student information system (SIS), with a modern solution that could easily handle student and faculty activity on a day-to-day basis. They wanted a modern student-centric cloud solution that could be configured rather than customized while offering a comprehensive feature-set to meet new requirements such as flexible program structures and tools to automate studnt engagement. Additionally, the college was looking for a learner-driven and learner-focused solution that would take into account how students access and consume information - namely, on their mobile devices. The college selected Unit4 Student Management to significantly enhance the information available to learners and to help faculty and staff to automate common tasks and increase overall productivity.



"We went into this process with the belief that selecting a Student Information System is a generational activity, so our approach was to find a product that could sustain future growth and educational trends," said Puja Rai, IT Program Manager, at Bow Valley College. "Unit4 Student Management stood out to us not only because it is a flexible and adaptable solution, but also because we believe that we have found a true partner in Unit4, not just a vendor providing a tool." Overall, Unit4 Student Management will enhance the security and stability of Bow Valley College's technology infrastructure. The platform's built-in CRM capabilities will ensure compliance with Canadian privacy laws while fully supporting APAS requirements, Alberta's provincial-wide common application system.

"Bow Valley College's forward-looking approach to digital transformation will help the college deliver on its mission to provide competency-based learning for many years to come," Austin Laird, Higher Education Product Director at Unit4. "We're proud to be working with them to provide a superior user experience for both students and staff. Campus workflows will be significantly enhanced so staff can focus on higher-value activities that boost student success and institutional growth." About Bow Valley College

Bow Valley College - Calgary and region's only Comprehensive Community College - with more than 15,000 full- and part-time students, is a leader in business and health career training, community studies, creative technologies, adult upgrading, and English Language Learning. For more information, please visit the website https://bowvalleycollege.ca/ About Unit4

Unit4 is a leading provider of enterprise applications empowering people in service organizations. Unit4 provides student management, ERP and research management solutions to over 1000 colleges and universities globally to help them accelerate growth, boost student success, improve institutional effectiveness and deliver research excellence. Clients include Oxford and Cambridge Universities, HEC Paris, University of Waterloo, American University of Paris, Robert Morris University, Baylor College of Medicine, Hult International, and University of Dubai. Unit4 is in business for people. For more information please visit the website at http://www.unit4.com/about/our-company, follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @Unit4global, or visit our LinkedIn page. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005381/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] The New 'Wow' Employee Benefit

Student loan debt is having a tremendous impact on millennials' lives. It is influencing where employees work, and how they live and spend their money. College graduates with student loans want help from employers tackling this issue. Employers are getting the message. To hire and retain college graduates, companies are adding student loan assistance programs. The challenge to employers is providing meaningful assistance without breaking the bank. The headlines tell the tale: student debt is a National financial crisis The statistics are staggering: 44 million borrowers have accrued $1.5 trillion in student debt.

$32 billion of student loan debt is in default and more than 1 million borrowers default each year. By 2023, nearly 40% of borrowers are expected to default on their student loans.

70% of recent college graduates have student loans. Challenge to employers: building a much-needed NEW employee benefit While recent graduates feel tremendous stress in paying their student loans, employers feel a different stress. Many are in a war for talent. The competition for college-educated workers is not new, but in today's labor market it is more intense than ever before. As of November 2018, the national unemployment rate was just 3.7%, and unemployment for college graduates was only 2.0%. For companies whose success relies on professionals, bringing aboard and retaining high-quality talent is a top priority. For the prospective employee, salary is only one consideration with creative and meaningful benefits packages becoming a competitive necessity. A recent Forbes.com headline termed student loan repayment "The Job Perk of the Future." Clearly, employers are taking note. While only 4% of compaies offered student loan assistance in 2018, this is expected to increase by 24% in 2019.



How companies are currently providing student loan assistance Some companies are beginning to provide direct student loan repayment assistance by contributing an amount to their employees' student loans. However, direct contributions are a major expense to employers. If ABC Company provides $150 of student loan assistance per month to a participant, that is $1,800 annually. If 200 employees participate, the total cost would be $360,000 per year. Even if ABC Company attempts to cap their per employee lifetime exposure to $10,000 per employee - they are still shelling out $2,000,000 in incremental expenses.

A New & Innovative budget neutral idea: using matching dollars for student loan repayment David Krasnow, a leading national retirement plan advisor, has heard the call from his corporate clients for the last 2  years to help their employees struggling with student loan debt. In 2018, Krasnow partnered with BenefitEd to offer a new, cutting-edge, budget-neutral employee benefit company called Thrive: Flexible Matching Program. Thrive is a unique innovation that empowers employees to decide where to allocate their contributions, as well as where they will receive their employer match. For example, if an employer's retirement plan has a matching provision of 5%, an employee can determine how much of their 5% match to allocate to retirement and how much to their student loan debt. The result is a customized retirement and student loan repayment program - with flexible matching. Thrive allows employers to provide a "Wow" benefit that is budget neutral by simply allowing employees to allocate existing matching dollars without an additional cost to an employer. Research shows Thrive will have tremendous impact on employees with student loans because: 46% of employees would rather have student loans repayment assistance than a 401(k)/403(b) match.

92% would take advantage of a match for student loan repayment similar to a 401k/403(b) match. Fred Reish, a leading ERISA attorney, reviewed the Thrive Program and termed it "a unique innovation for companies that believe a student loan program would be a valuable benefit to attract and retain employees." As companies evaluate and consider student loan assistance programs, Thrive's innovation of using existing employer matching dollars to help employees repay their student loans - without increasing their benefits budget - is breaking new and much-needed ground. This program is likely to become an important benefit for millennials and an important tool for leading-edge employers in appealing to employees. To learn more about how Thrive would work for your company and employees, visit www.thrivematching.com or call 216-595-0700. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005379/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] CM Group Appoints Chief Technology Officer and Chief Financial Officer

CM Group - a family of marketing technology companies including Campaign Monitor, Delivra, Emma, Liveclicker and Sailthru (News - Alert) - today announced the appointments of Tom Janofsky to chief technology officer (CTO) and Mike Vantusko to chief financial officer (CFO). Janofsky and Vantusko will serve on the company's executive leadership team and oversee all five brands. Prior to joining CM Group, Janofsky spent more than 20 years building technology products and teams at startups and fast-growing companies. He most recently served as the executive vice president of engineering at recently acquired Sailthru, where he was responsible for the engineering, product, technical support and data science teams. In this role, Janofsky led his teams to consistently deliver on key product roadmap destinations and customer requests, leading to significant gains in the company's net promoter score (NPS). He has also held roles at Blackfynn and Monetate. "It is an honor to join the executive leadership team at CM Group, especially after I saw first-hand how the company invests in technology innovation and development during my time with Sailthru, which was acquired by this very group," said Tom Janofsky, CTO of CM Group. "At CM Group we have ive very different, progressive technologies, giving me the unique and exciting opportunity to oversee all of them and contribute to their evolution as they interact in the marketplace."



Before joining CM Group, Vantusko spent 35 years building his financial, strategic and operational expertise at both public and private companies. He most recently served as the CFO of Achieve3000, where he played a vital role in implementing the company's strategic plan. He has also held CFO positions for private equity sponsored companies at MRI Software and Rakuten/OverDrive (News - Alert). "It's an exciting time to join CM Group. The family of brands is fast becoming the go-to for marketers at businesses of all sizes and industries," said Mike Vantusko, CFO of CM Group. "I look forward to working alongside senior leadership in helping to steer the company's rapid growth toward becoming one of the most well-respected and ubiquitous marketing technology companies."

"Both Tom and Mike are rare finds when it comes to experience and leadership ability. It's clear that they also embody the values of our quickly growing family of brands," said Wellford Dillard, CEO of CM Group. "I am confident that Tom and Mike will lead the technology and finance departments with grace, by providing the strategic guidance needed to their team members and the entire family of brands." This leadership expansion comes after CM Group's acquisitions of both Liveclicker and Sailthru, as well as a new corporate name uniting the family of marketing technology companies. About CM Group CM Group is a family of global marketing technology brands including Campaign Monitor, Delivra, Emma, Liveclicker and Sailthru. By joining together these leading brands, CM Group offers a variety of world-class solutions that can be used by marketers at any level. Headquartered in Nashville, TN, CM Group has United States offices in Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York City, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, and global offices in Australia, London, New Zealand and Uruguay. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005212/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] UnitedHealthcare and Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care Partner to Improve Health of Pregnant Women with Opioid Use Disorder and Opioid-Exposed Newborns

UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee announced its support of a multiyear project led by the Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care (TIPQC) to improve the care of Opioid-Exposed Newborns (OEN) and their mothers with opioid use disorder. The announcement was made at TIPQC's annual meeting in Franklin, where a panel of experts behind the initiative spoke about its expected outcomes and impact on the people of Tennessee. "The impact of the opioid crisis is intensifying every day, requiring the health care system to respond with compassionate care and data-driven solutions," said Dr. Joel Bradley, chief medical officer of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee. "We are grateful for the opportunity to support this project, and for our strong partnership with TIPQC and OptumLabs to collect and share important best practices with care providers." The project builds on work previously done by TIPQC to create a standardized and simple-to-implement toolkit for care providers to treat opioid-exposed newborns and their mothers with opioid use disorder. The initiative will bring together teams of care providers from participating delivery hospitals across Tennessee, along with OptumLabs, a collaborative research and innovation center, to support TIPQC in collecting and analyzing data so that findings can be reviewed, discussed and put into practice by care providers participating in the program. The primary focus of the initiative is to offer a supportive environment for obstetric and newborn care providers to share best practices for treating their patients with opioid exposure, collect and identify patterns of care and ultimately implement evidence-based protocols in a variety of clinical settings. In addition, as most opioid-exposed newborns are born at hospitals without a NICU, the partnership aims to provide clear, simple guidelines so birth centers or hospitals without NICUs can provide care instead of transferring newborns to another facility. Doing so leverages family and community support systems in addition to the local health care system to optimize outcomes for opioid-exposed newborns. NICU sites participating in the program will review hospital practices including: prenatal consults;

breastfeeding guidelines and rooming baby and mother together;

screening, scoring and diagnosis of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS);

education of parents and staff;

discharge planning;

treatment protocols; and

working with child welfare. The State of Tennessee experienced a 70.5 percent increase in drug deaths -from 12.9 to 22 per 100,000 people since 2007, according to the United Health Foundation's America's Health Rankings. Last year alone, the Tennessee Department of Health reported 881 cases of NAS in the state, and an unknown number of opioid-exposed newborns who were at risk for NAS. Maternal addiction can lead to Low Birth Weight newborns through either premature labor or through Intrauterine Growth Restriction. Opioid exposure in the womb can have far more serious health effects for babies due to NAS, which can cause a high rate of neurological injury, and death due to the impact of opioid withdrawal.



"As health care providers, we're all looking for ways to improve the care of those we serve," said Dr. Mike Devoe, state project leader for the initiative and Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt neonatologist. "Thanks to support from UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee, we'll be able to advance the integrated care we provide to newborns and their mothers." "UnitedHealthcare is collaborating with health care providers in our communities, using data and analytics to promote coordinated efforts and take action based on best practices. Together, we can help make the system work better for everyone, so that quality care can be based on the strongest factors for success," said Keith Payet, president and CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee.

UnitedHealthcare serves 1.2 million people in Tennessee with a network of more than 31,000 physicians and other care providers and nearly 140 hospitals statewide. About TIPQC

Since its inception in 2007, the Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care (TIPQC) promotes collaborative statewide inter-institutional projects designed to improve perinatal outcomes for mothers and babies in Tennessee. TIPQC is funded by a grant awarded from the State of Tennessee through TennCare, with federal additional matching funds through the Department of Health (TDH). The mission of TIPQC is to improve health outcomes for mothers and newborns in Tennessee by engaging key stakeholders in a perinatal quality collaborative that will identify opportunities to optimize birth outcomes and implement data-driven provider- and community-based performance improvement initiatives. About OptumLabs

OptumLabs is a collaborative research and innovation center, dedicated to improving patient care and patient value through data-driven health care research, leading-edge data science and strong partner collaboration. OptumLabs was founded through a partnership between Optum, a leading health services and innovation company, and Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and innovation. AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with membership of more than 37 million individuals, is its Founding Consumer Advocate Organization. Today OptumLabs has more than 25 collaborating organizations, representing stakeholders from across the health system. About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.2 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,500 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com/ or follow @UHC on Twitter (News - Alert). Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for UnitedHealth Group. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005136/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Welltok's Tea Leaves Health Launches New Enterprise Growth Solution

DENVER, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- More than ever, the consumer is at the center of today's leading health system growth strategies, and the ability to acquire, activate and retain them will be critical to any organization's long-term success. Tea Leaves Health, a Welltok company, announced the launch today of its new analytics-driven Enterprise Growth Solution designed to acquire high-value patients, establish longitudinal relationships and loyalty, and manage provider referrals to drive downstream revenue. Tea Leaves Health designed its robust solution based on experience driving strategic growth for 30 percent of the nation's top health systems and more than 400 hospital clients. The new Enterprise Growth Solution features a unique combination of both provider and consumer-facing tools within a highly secure, compliant technical infrastructure. The solution enables hospitals, health systems, and large physician and specialty group practices to design, execute and measure the results of data-driven initiatives that drive service line growth, downstream revenue and capture the long-term value of a patient. "To survive and thrive, health systems must nurture relationships with patients in their communities year-round with personalized health itineraries that provide interactive support in between clinical visits," said Simon Bradstock, Welltok's provider market president. "The combination of assets and expertise we have with Welltok has accelerated our ability to precisely target and activate consumers at every stage in their journey. Our clients and prospects are excited about our new technology capabilities and are eager to move from segmentation to personalization and support the patent journey, 365 days a year."



The Enterprise Growth Solution is built on a foundation of robust data and predictive analytics, multi-channel communications, including email, text, live agent, integrated voice, direct mail and more. It creates a Personal Health Itinerary with programs and resources for each and every consumer based on individual health needs, motivations, interests and likelihood to take action. The solution supports multiple business goals including: Patient acquisition: understand a population and target the high-value individuals with messaging such as promoting award-winning orthopedic services or preventive screening reminders

Patient activation: build a web and mobile-based personalized experience that drives valuable actions for both patient and provider year-round such as getting vaccinated, nutrition guidance or joining a stress management program

Patient retention: use real-time data and machine learning to increase value over time by building brand loyalty and driving downstream care, paving the way for profit optimization in value-based care arrangements

Physician referrals: pinpoint, track and conduct outreach with providers critical to a patient retention strategy to manage referrals and ensure procedures are conducted at the right facility Added Simon, "Our end-to-end technology platform is designed to communicate with consumers throughout their health journey and grow strategically with providers regardless of where they are on the continuum of traditional fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement. We believe this solution will change the way hospitals and health systems are able to take a more active role in those they serve and develop long term, high value relationships with their patients."

About Welltok

Welltok is a data-driven, enterprise SaaS company that delivers the healthcare industry's leading consumer activation platform. Welltok's solutions empower leading health plans, employers, providers and public entities to connect consumers with personalized health improvement resources, making it easy and rewarding for consumers to complete actions that optimize their health and wellbeing. Only Welltok leverages a machine-learning, multi-channel approach proven to help innovative organizations power growth and retention initiatives, improve healthcare value, and streamline the consumer experience, while upholding the highest security and compliance standards. Follow us on Twitter @Welltok.com. Media Contact

Erica Sniad Morgenstern

415.697.3496

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/welltoks-tea-leaves-health-launches-new-enterprise-growth-solution-300808501.html SOURCE Welltok, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] World Ocean Summit: There Are Reasons for Optimism Around the Challenges Facing the Ocean

ABU DHABI, UAE, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The sixth World Ocean Summit closed today with a cautious optimism that we are moving from talk to action but the pace needs to accelerate. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/805689/World_Ocean_Initiative_Logo.jpg )

Over 700 attendees including 65 speakers from over 50 countries convened this week at the summit in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The next generation has a powerful role in spearheading necessary change. 2018 was a big year for the ocean in terms of public awareness, now it is time mobilise this interest and implement the solutions as the 2020 deadline for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 nears. Solutions include developing new technologies, engaging the financial community and creating robust governane frameworks.



"The idea of a sustainable ocean economy has truly come of age. Each year at the summit, we hear about the urgent problems facing our ocean. This year, we have begun to hear about many of the solutions which are now beginning to take shape," said Charlie Goddard, editorial director, the Economist. "Cellular agriculture, artificial intelligence and alternative fuels are all exciting new technologies that will help shape the blue economy. Innovative financing mechanisms and international partnerships will underpin most of these projects." "The summit has brought about an immense amount of energy and focus on the critical issues pertaining to our ocean. It has enhanced our understanding and really set the tone for the way forward, especially on financing, blue technology, aquaculture and plastic pollution. The level of engagement and dialogue has been phenomenal. During the summit, the EAD announced a new fisheries recovery plan and reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to tackling plastic pollution in the marine environment. We now need to leverage this momentum and mobilise these ideas at scale and pace that can bring about a profound shift in the way things stand today," said Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director, the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD).

H.E. Rashid Abdul Karim Al Baloushi, Acting Undersecretary of Department of Economic Development - Abu Dhabi (ADDED), said: "We congratulate the organisers and participants for this successful event, and we are proud to be part of this global movement which proactively works on achieving a sustainable marine economy. It is particularly important for Abu Dhabi as the marine sector is one of the main pillars of the local economy to drive growth. It is vital that there is a concerted effort among various government entities to promote the conservation of our oceans through initiatives that are economically viable while addressing ocean pollution. The outcomes of this event will certainly go a long way within the UAE, throughout the region and the world, towards our common quest to contribute to the global efforts of saving our oceans." The summit is the centrepiece of The Economist Group's World Ocean Initiative.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Dentsu Aegis Network Launches John Brown Media in Canada

TORONTO, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Continuing to advance its vision to innovate the way brands are built for the digital economy, the Dentsu Aegis Network Canada is strengthening its offering with the launch of John Brown Media in Canada. A leader in content marketing for more than three decades, John Brown Media delivers award-winning multichannel content, helping brands create engaging conversations with their customers that deliver results. "Smart, engaging, data-driven content is key in today's market and the addition of John Brown Media to the Canadian network allows us to further up our game when it comes to delivering the very best product to our clients," said Annette Warring, Chairwoman & CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network Canada. "Our clients look to us for new and innovative ways to engage their stakeholders through content that resonates and motivates behaviour and John Brown Media has done just that for some of the biggest and most recognizable brands in the world." Operating in 12 markets around the world, John Brown Media will bring the power of its global footprint to the Canadian market. With global headquarters in LondonToronto.



"We're thrilled to be expanding our global presence by entering into a dynamic and innovative market such as Canada," Andrew Hirsch, Global CEO of John Brown Media. "I'm looking forward to bringing together top Canadian talent and the power of our global network to deliver even greater value to our Canadian clients as we work towards transforming their businesses and better position them for future growth." Led by Andrew Hirsch, Global CEO of John Brown Media, the Canadian team will work closely with the international John Brown team as well as collaborate with other agencies in the Canadian Dentsu Aegis Network to deliver the most innovative and effective client solutions to the Canadian market.

For more information about John Brown Media please visit them online at http://www.johnbrownmedia.com/. About John Brown Media

John Brown Media, part of the Dentsu Aegis Network Group, is a leading global content marketing agency specialising in creating engaging, multi-channel content on behalf of the world's leading brands. John Brown Media teams are built around the best editors and creatives in the industry, who together incorporate editorial intelligence into the heart of clients' communications. Combined editorial expertise spans the areas of food, health, lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and finance. John Brown Media currently produces approximately 100 publications and projects for more than 50 clients worldwide out of offices in Boston, London, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Toronto and Dubai. About Dentsu Aegis Network Canada

Dentsu Aegis Network Canada Innovates the Way Brands Are Built for clients through best-in-class capabilities in media, digital, data and creative communications services. The network's focus on the digital economy and the distinctive products and services are delivered through agencies Amnet, Amplifi, Carat, Cardinal Path, DentsuBos, dentsu X, GRIP, ICUC, iProspect, Isobar, MKTG, The StoryLab and Vizeum. As one of the top ten global Dentsu Aegis markets, the Canadian team is headquartered in Toronto and serves clients through a national network of offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Saint John and Halifax with nearly 1,500 dedicated specialists. www.dentsuaegisnetwork.ca SOURCE Dentsu Aegis Network

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] ActiveCampaign invests $10 million in Brazil

CHICAGO, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ActiveCampaign, the leader in intelligence-driven sales and marketing automation for small businesses, today announced it's investing $10 million in Brazil to empower small businesses with the tools they need to grow their business. This investment follows the company's continued global expansion including growing its Chicago headquarters, more than doubling its team last year; opening an office in Sydney; and a new office and nvestment in Indianapolis.





ActiveCampaign has grown organically 40% year over year in Brazil as small businesses are looking to save time by adopting marketing automation to create personalized customer experiences and improve internal processes. By investing directly in Brazil, ActiveCampaign can give small businesses even more resources -- from education, to online communities, local customer success reps, and more -- so they can focus on growing their business. "We're on a mission to give all businesses around the globe access to the best tools so they can grow their business," said Jason VandeBoom, Founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign. "With small businesses making up a large part of the Brazilian economy, it's a market where we know we can have a great impact -- providing value to these small businesses who are all too often forgotten about." Initial investments include localized education, in-person marketing and small business growth workshops, partner enablement, local sales and support initiatives, an improved purchasing experience, and more. To learn more visit https://www.activecampaign.com/br/. About ActiveCampaign

Recognized as the leader in the marketing and sales automation for small businesses, ActiveCampaign helps growing businesses meaningfully connect and engage with their customers. Its SaaS platform enables businesses to create optimized customer experiences by automating many behind the scenes processes and communicating with their customers across channels with personalized, intelligence-driven messages. For more information, visit www.activecampaign.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/activecampaign-invests-10-million-in-brazil-300807719.html SOURCE ActiveCampaign

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] ROEQ Launches TR500 Top Roller, the Largest Conveyor Solution on the U.S. Market for Mobile Industrial Robots

Real efficiency in logistics automation is achieved when the entire workflow is handled by robotics solutions that communicate smoothly with each other. That's the vision behind ROEQ's new TR500 Top Roller that automates load and unload operations of the MiR500, the largest and most powerful autonomous mobile robot from Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR). The TR500 is launching at ROEQ's booth 8459 at the Automate 2019 show held in Chicago April 8-11. First day of the show, ROEQ will also debut another new module. "A mobile robot without a conveyor or top module is like a robot arm without a gripper," says Peder Grejsen, technical sales manager for ROEQ. "Production throughput can be greatly improved when mobile robots are outfitted with intelligent top modules that self-load and unload." The TR500 accommodates U.S. pallets and can be delivered with a fully automated lifter functionality for pick-up and delivery of goods in heights ranging from 23.6 inches (600mm) to 29.5 inches (750mm). The Top Roller integrates seamlessly in MiR's own user interface where all control functions are embedded; when the robot is called to deliver or pick up goods, the conveyor communicates with the pick-up and delivery stations and will automatically activate the loading or unloading upon arrival. "By targeting the loading and unloading of mobile robots, we are addressing that missing link in the automated logistics cycle that today is handled either by fork or pallet lifters or manually by employees," says Grejsen. "Adding the conveyor capability strengthens the employees' work environment by taking over ergonomically unfavorable tasks or by reducing truck traffic and noise." Chief Strategy Officer at MiR, Niels Jul Jacobsen, welcomes the TR500 into the company's partner ecosystem. "With the TR500, ROEQ is offering a valuable new product that grealy enhances the MiR500's capabilities," he says. "Addressing U.S. pallet sizes while also offering adjustable height functionality are unique new features that differentiates ROEQ's new top modules from existing solutions. We're excited to see this launch in North America."



ROEQ is rapidly expanding its North American distributor network, representing ROEQ in the mid-Atlantic region is the Knotts Company where sales manager, Mark Howe sees a huge potential in outfitting MiR500s with conveyor functions. "Being able to handle 500 kg payload on mobile conveyors opens doors into new types of customers," he says, mentioning material handling industries and distribution centers. "We can now also focus on customers that handle large bulk material that needs transport between warehouse and manufacturing floors. We're already seeing a significant demand for ROEQ's smaller top modules and we expect the TR500 to be equally well received." The TR500 also eliminates the need for dedicated pallet stands adds Cale Harbour, vice president of product marketing at Advanced Control Solutions, ROEQ's distribution partner in the Southeastern U.S. "For customers with space restraints, this can make a big difference," he says. "In our region we see this product as a perfect fit for automotive and carpet manufacturing industries with many internal logistics tasks that can now be automated. It's a new emerging technology that has really taken off in the last year and a half."

ROEQ recently launched the TR125 Top Roller that is designed for the MiR200 robot. The TR125 is an ideal solution for carrying products packed in cardboard boxes, plastics containers, etc. The company has also launched a host of other add-ons for MiR, including docking stations, lifts, and the highly flexible solution ROEQ C300 cart. By using the ROEQ C300 Cart solution the robot can collect loaded carts, deliver it to the designated docking station and leave it there to be emptied or prepared for the next mission. This solution ensures that the MiR robot is only stationary for a short amount of time, effectively streamlining the workflow between different divisions of the facility. "Whenever we sell a MiR robot, adding ROEQ modules is always key to that conversation," says Howe. "The value-add is tremendous, we're always impressed with how well the products integrate with the MiR platform on both the hardware and software side." Download high res images, brochures and data sheets here. About ROEQ ROEQ is short for "Robotic Equipment" and evolved from the Danish company Produkt Innovation (PI) founded in 2002, an R&D consulting business with clients such as Novo Nordisk and Leica Geosystems. In the spring of 2017 PI had a consulting assignment working with Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), which spawned the idea of developing the products being sold today. In the spring of 2017, three employees were developing and testing the applications with the first sale of ROEQ equipment happening in early 2018. ROEQ has since grown to establish a global network of devoted distributors and continues to develop and engineer new and exciting products to enhance and streamline facilities in many industries around the world. The company is part of the thriving Danish robotics cluster located on the island of Funen, Denmark. www.ROEQ.dk View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005457/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] TCEB -- Business strengthens automation and robotics sectors under Thai Government's 4.0 initiative

Positions Kingdom as ASEAN hub for advanced automation system and robotics technology driven trade shows BANGKOK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) -- Business is strengthening the country's ability to win lucrative advanced automation system and robotics technology trade events that are transforming the country's economy under the Thai Government's 4.0 model. Dr Djitt Laowattana (PhD), the founder of the Institute of Field Robotics (FIRO) at King Mongkut's University of Technology who is also on the committee of the Robotics Cluster and Executive Advisor, Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), endorses trade show as a tool and a platform to drive the utilisation of automation system and robotics technology in manufacturing industry. "Trade shows are primary platform to increase the competitiveness of Thai industrial sectors. The introduction of technology innovation in manufacturing process will result in widespread utilisation of automation system and robotics technology," Dr Djitt said. "Thailand offers several ASEAN's leading automation system and robotics technology trade shows that provide the key tools and components for quick progression of the country's burgeoning automation and robotics industries." Accordin to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), Thailand's automation and robotics industries are expected to enjoy 19% growth in 2019, the highest growth rate in ASEAN and the fourth highest in the world.



Thailand's long-established automotive parts and manufacturing, electrical and electronics and food processing sectors are well positioned to advance the country's high market potential in industrial robotics. The automotive parts and manufacturing sector, coupled with the electrical and electronics sector are two major industries responsible for driving global automation and robotics growth, with a combined market share of 64%. Mrs. Nichapa Yoswee, TCEB's Senior Vice President -- Business, said, "TCEB's focus is to identify, attract and support events in 10 key industries under the Thai Government's 4.0 initiative. Thailand's solid trade show foundation is ready for a strategic upgrade into the technology driven advanced automation system and robotics manufacturing sectors.

"TCEB is committed to strengthen the automation system and robotics technology trade shows under our new 'Thailand Redefine Your Business Events' branding. We're also launching a tactical '360 Degree Exhibition Success' campaign, targeting both Thai and overseas organisers, exhibitors and trade visitors, to help make Thailand the ASEAN hub for automation system and robotics technology trade shows." Thailand is home to at least five of ASEAN's largest trade shows for machine tools, automotive manufacturing and industrial machinery. All told they cover 90,000 square metres of net space and are at the forefront of automation system and robotics technology for various industrial sectors. These include INTERMACH, 8-11 May, ASEAN's leading industrial machinery and subcontracting exhibition connecting intelligent manufacturing solutions, including artificial intelligence and robotics; Propak Asia, 12-15 June, Asia's premier platform for processing and packaging industries; Manufacturing Expo, 19-22 June, ASEAN's leading machinery and technology event that first introduced automation and robotics technology in 2018; and METALEX, 20-23 November, ASEAN's largest international machine tool and metalworking technology trade exhibition and conference that plans to showcase the region's latest metalworking technology in 2019. In addition, AUTOMACH, the largest automation and machine tools technology exhibition in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), is also joining the fray in 2019 after a recent repositioning. Scheduled to be held from 14-16 March, the event is being rebranded as 'AUTOMATION Expo' with TCEB support, aiming to become the leading platform for automation system and robotics technology. About TCEB The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has been the country's official government agency supporting, promoting and developing global and regional business events (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions - MICE) in Thailand since 2004. As a strategic partner and sanctioned liaison, TCEB co-creates successful solutions with companies and organizations to realise MICE events of every scale and type. For further information, please contact: Mr. Chakrapong Pongwecharak

Manager, Marketing Strategy Department

Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 66 2 694 6000 ext 6097 Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190307/2396562-1 SOURCE Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB)

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] AI Hardware Summit: launches in Beijing, following sell out in USA

The AI Hardware Asia Summit, June 4th - 5th in Beijing is the second in a global series focusing on AI accelerator technologies and the design and application of silicon and systems for processing deep learning, neural networks and computer vision. Worldwide, there are over 100 different hardware accelerators in development for processing machine learning workloads, in both server and client computing environments. Estimates for global market opportunity for AI chips vary between USD 43 billion and USD 91 billion by 2025. In 2018, Intel (News - Alert) Corporation claimed data center AI chip revenues of over USD 1 billion, while AI chip start-ups collectively have raised in excess of USD 2.5 billion in funding since 2017. Over thirty companies developing AI processors are based in the APAC region. "Two overarching efforts are indispensable in this AI chip development frenzy: objectively evaluating and comparing different chips (benchmarking), and reliably projecting the growth paths of AI chips (road mapping)." White Paper (News - Alert) on AI Chip Technologies: Tsing Hua University & Bijing Innovation Center for Future Chips, December 2018.



The AI Hardware Asia Summit, aims to introduce the US and Chinese markets to help build a clear roadmap of the global AI chip industry and assess emerging technologies for processing machine learning in the data center and at the Edge. Presenting Chinese companies include Alibaba, Baidu and Horizon Robotics, while international representatives include Graphcore, Groq, SambaNova Systems and Flex Logix. The event has a high contingent of C-level attendees and is intended for a strategic, decision-making audience.

The agenda includes presentations from: Lingjie Xu, Alibaba Inc. on The Long March of AI Chips: Challenges and Opportunities

Dr Kai Yu, Horizon Robotics on China's First Commercial AI Vision Processor (News - Alert): A Full-Stack Solution for AI

Zhang Li, Canaan Creative on Applications of Canaan Creative's Kendryte K210 AI Chip

Thomas Andersen, Synopsys on Enabling the Path to Device Intelligence

Yi Shan, DeePhi (Xilinx (News - Alert)) on FPGA-based AI platform, technology, application, and ecosystem'

Cheng Wang, Flex Logix on A Modular, Scalable Edge Inference Architecture for 1 to >100 TOPS with Very Low DRAM Bandwidth (News - Alert)

Ouyang Jian, Baidu on Baidu Kunlun: Making Computing More Intelligent

Embedding AI in Everything: Reconfigurable

Shouyi Yin, Tsing Hua University on Architecture for Energy Efficient Neural Network Processing

Kunle Olukotun, SambaNova Systems on Designing Computer Systems for Software 2.0 All speakers will be available to meet with potential customers, partners and industry peers. To download the full agenda visit www.aihardwaresummit.com. Kisaco Research produces, designs and hosts B2B industry conferences, exhibitions and communities - focused on a specialized selection of topic areas. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005495/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] VATBox Continues to Revolutionize VAT Recovery and Compliance by Launching Version 6 of Its AI Platform

Powerful AI & Machine Learning Capabilities have enabled VATBox to achieve this Success SAN DIEGO, California, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- VATBox, the Pinoeer and leader in automated VAT compliance and VAT recovery, announced today the release of the 6th generation of its AI platform, which has reached a new level of success with VAT analysis on invoices thanks to its continued technological growth and focus on artificial intelligence. David Guedalia, VATBox's new Chief Technology Officer, has taken a leading role as the company continues to innovate in the VAT recovery and compliance space, supporting the continued development of the company's AI capabilities. He says, "VATBox's latest release integrates both expert system rule-based processes with statistical-based processes, increasing our capacity and enabling our speed and efficiency to offer near real-time results." According to Moshe Koppel, AI Professor at the Department of Computer Science at Bar Ilan University, "David Guedalia's expertise in semantic analytics will likely enable VATBox to achieve unpreedented levels of compliance by understanding invoices and cross-checking them with authorities' data."



"VATBox joined the Citi Accelerator in 2013, and we have been following their progress since. They have grown by leaps and bounds, signing on Tier 1 clients and growing their product with AI and automation." Ornit Shinar, Head of Citi Venture Investing Israel. Guedalia most recently researched autonomous vehicle mapping at Intel. Prior to that, Guedalia was VP of Technology at Qualcomm's Innovation Centre. He was a Co-Founder of Happy Cloud, LLC and served as the CTO and Vice President of Research & Development at iSkoot Technologies Inc. His PhD work in neural computation from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specialized in in one-shot learning, is at the forefront of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

VATBox is an automated, enterprise-wide, cloud-based VAT recovery and compliance solution that has successfully disrupted the global VAT recovery process. Sophisticated AI tools provide VATBox customers with 360-degree VAT visibility insights, maximizing VAT returns with an unprecedented 98.7% on average VAT recovery. Deep learning algorithms help companies achieve the highest levels of compliance  99% on average  and easily detect incidents of fraud within its T&E expenditures. Active in 72 countries worldwide and supporting more languages than any other solution in the market, VATBox leverages the latest word embedding technology to analyze invoices. The platform utilizes natural language processing (NLP) to process Big Data that enable interactions between computers and human languages. VATBox's NLP capabilities encompass text mining, live dynamic text analysis, computational linguistics, machine learning on text, deep learning approaches for text data and natural language understanding. The integration of these advanced AI capabilities has played an integral role in driving further VAT automation. For more information please contact:

Liat Arbesman  VP Marketing

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Dallas' Kennedy Law, P.C. Wins Final Judgment for $6.5 Million for Commerce Street Capital Against First United Bank & Trust Company and Durant Bank Corp.

Dallas-based law firm Kennedy Law, P.C. announced that it won a final judgment for $6.5 million for Commerce Street Capital against First United Bank & Trust Company and Durant Bank Corp. for breaching an investment banking agreement. The final judgment, entered by Judge Martin J. Hoffman (News - Alert) on February 22, 2019, follows a unanimous jury verdict handed-down on October 22, 2018. The Dallas jury found that First United and Durant Bank Corp. failed to comply with a contract for investment banking services relating to a $450 million transaction where Durant Bank Corp. acquired American Bank of Texas in 2016. Greg Massey, CEO of First United and Durant Bank Corp., testified live at trial that Commerce Street Capital was not owed a fee for any investment banking services performed. Lacy Harber, the former owner of American Bank of Texas, also testified at trial through a deposition claiming that no fee was owed. Both Greg Massey and Lacy Harber pointed to Dallas layer Phil Whitcomb of Munsch Hardt, who advised American Bank on the deal, and gave them the legal opinion that Commerce Street was not owed a fee.



The jury disagreed, however, and ordered that Greg Massey's company pay Commerce Street $4,600,000 in actual damages and $1,000,000 in compensatory damages. Judge Hoffman, in his final judgment entered on February 22, 2019, tacked-on an additional $975,000 to compensate Commerce Street attorneys' fees and prejudgment interest. The $6.5 Million judgment follows a multi-million dollar employee lawsuit against Lacy Harber in December of 2016 stemming from the same transaction with First United Bank & Trust Company and its affiliated holding company Durant Bank Corp. Harber settled that suit on undisclosed terms. Commerce Street Capital was represented by veteran Dallas trial attorney Stephen A. Kennedy of Kennedy Law, P.C. "We made a clear argument to the jury that First United Bank &Trust and Durant Bank Corp breached the agreement with my client. The jury agreed, and we're pleased with the result," said Mr. Kennedy. He expects the defendants to appeal.

Case Number: DC-16-14703

Texas 68th Judicial District, Dallas County Kennedy Law, P.C. is a business litigation boutique with nearly 32 years' experience in trying business cases in Texas and throughout the United States. Kennedy Law represents prominent clients in business litigation and intellectual property disputes. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005441/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Guidepost Solutions Acquires Custom Information Services

Guidepost Solutions, a global leader in compliance, investigations, and security consulting, today announced the acquisition of Custom Information Services (CIS), a specialized provider of bespoke investigation, intelligence, and reputation management services in the Americas. CIS's deep experience in Latin America significantly expands upon Guidepost Solutions' existing offering in the region for clients facing a broad range of investigations challenges. With staff based in Miami, Bogota, Los Angeles, and New York, and resources throughout the Latam region, CIS provides private investigations and intelligence for companies and governments. Most of its efforts are focused upon high-risk cross-border litigation and complex business disputes of great impact in Latin America, the United States, and international arbitration settings. Clients include law firms, corporate lawyers, and multinational companies, in addition to senior executives and business leaders requiring critical information to ensure effective decision-making processes. "With this strategic acquisition, we've made a strong investment in the Latin American region, continuing to develop our footprint there to meet our clients' growing needs across global markets," said Guidepost Solutions CEO Julie Myers Wood. "CIS has an outstanding reputation for its unique experience, depth of knowledge, and record of achieving results and we're pleased to integrate its team into ours. The acquisition also expands our ability to service the Miami and South Florida areas, markets which we believe are poised for growth."



CIS was founded in 2011 by Sam Anson, a veteran investigator and former head of Latin America for Kroll. He is joined on the CIS leadership team by Yohir Akerman, Andres Otero, and Robert Jenkins. Akerman, a lawyer, political scientist, and economist by training, was a Latin American focused journalist before becoming an investigator. Otero is a lawyer by training. His experience includes president and co-founder of ON (News - Alert) Partners, a consulting firm that advised the Mexican government and private sector clients on security, integrity, and compliance issues. Jenkins is a career investigator, who formerly served as the director of operations for a leading investigative services firm. The firm's strength lies in handling complex cases and finding information in the most demanding environments. "We are excited to join forces with an industry leader like Guidepost Solutions and are confident our expertise and global perspective will provide significant benefits to the firm and its clients," said Mr. Anson. "Our clients have always relied upon us for professional judgment in order to better evaluate risks, procure hard-to-find information, and offer tailored solutions to their problems."

With this acquisition, Guidepost Solutions builds upon the growth the firm has undergone over the past several years in Spanish-speaking markets. A natural extension of Guidepost Solutions' existing capabilities in Latin America and South Florida, the addition of employees in these key markets will strengthen the firm's ability to offer top-end investigative services in areas such as litigation support, transnational investigations, due diligence, and internal fraud and anti-corruption investigations. About Guidepost Solutions LLC In a world where change is certain, experience is the best protection. Guidepost Solutions offers global investigations, compliance and monitoring, and security and technology consulting solutions in a wide range of industries. With headquarters in New York, Guidepost Solutions maintains offices in key markets including Bogota; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Honolulu; London; Los Angeles; Miami, Oakland; Palm Beach; Sacramento; San Francisco; Seattle; Singapore; and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.guidepostsolutions.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005499/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] OC Fashion Week Redefines the Future of Fashion. Taking Place March 23-27, 2019, the Global Platform Announces International Partnerships, First-of-Its-Kind Designer Competition and Social Responsibility Initiatives

OC Fashion Week (OCFW), a leading trade show for the who's who of luxury fashion and design in California, will kick off its 14th season on Saturday, March 23, 2019 with an Opening Day runway fashion design competition featuring seven top-emerging fashion designers from New York to OC. As the official Red Carpet sponsor, Celebrity Cruises rolls out the Red Carpet for an A-list crowd as Front-Row guests await a line-up of 5-star collections. Kathryn Marino, CEO of OC Fashion Week, says, "OC Fashion Week is an international trade show for emerging fashion designers, retail entrepreneurs, small and large business owners as well as digital retail startups. OCFW's mission is to dedicate its support for fashion designers and the retail business and its advocacy for fashion tourism in the luxury market of Orange (News - Alert) County, California. Orange County's luxury apparel sales are currently 37 billion dollars, and continue to supersede retail sales of neighboring markets and even some of the top five leading fashion capitals." OCFW will be hosted at a new event venue on March 23, with an all-new designer competition presented by Celebrity Cruises. AV Irvine, known as OC's hottest destination for events, will host the Opening Day runway catwalk, which will feature a lineup of emerging fashion designers for a one-of-a-kind Cruise Collection competition. The runway show will open with a special performance by Dark Rabbit Dance wear by Rowan Burke. The cruise wear theme for the designers is based on Celebrity Cruises' new luxury Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Flora ships and is titled "Celebrity Cruises Luxury Collection," using this design inspiration video. The emerging designers from fashion capitols of New York to Orange County are tasked with creating unique takes on cruise wear that capture the travel brand's inspirational lifestyle and adventurous spirit as part of the design competition. Following is a list of emerging designers competing and their respective style inspiration assignments: Ugochi Iwuaba's design inspiration from Celebrity Edge in its entirety, Celebrity Cruises' revolutionary new ship that is poised to change the way that travelers experience the world

Jamielle Rankine's design inspiration from Eden, the tri-level food and beverage destinaion that offers sensory experiences completely wrapped in glass and including outdoor and indoor areas for enjoying experiential meals and cocktails onboard Celebrity Edge

Jonathan Jimenez's design inspiration from The Magic Carpet, the world's first cantilevered venue at sea that travels 13 stories that transforms into a new and exciting venue depending on which deck it's positioned on Celebrity Edge

Dawn Sunflower's design inspiration from Celebrity Edge's Iconic Suite, new Edge-exclusive Suite Class category featuring more than 2,500 square feet of space and serving as the highest level of suites available on Celebrity Edge

Egypt Ufele's design inspiration from the Edge Villa, a new category of two-level suites aboard Celebrity Edge that offer stunning, outward-facing views, private plunge pools and direct walk-out access to The Retreat Sundeck

Melissa Pellone's design inspiration from The Retreat, a spacious outdoor lounge area featuring The Retreat Pool Bar, stylish furniture, a full-sized pool, and a hot tub onboard Celebrity Edge

Vanessa Lozada's design inspiration from the all-new Celebrity Flora, a ship built specifically for its destination of the Galapagos Islands with an outward-facing design and offerings to give travelers a unique, immersive experience



"We're excited to embrace some of the country's emerging designers," said Cynthia Rose Ponzi, Celebrity Cruises' Regional Marketing Manager. "In the past, our fashion competitions have focused solely on student designers, but this is a first-time for us to take leading designers' work to a whole new level commensurate with the launch of our latest Celebrity Edge ship. We are honored to kick off such a great catwalk event. It's an exciting time to be innovative."

Celebrity Cruises is the Red Carpet sponsor for all of this season's OCFW events, with a focus on its fashionably responsible programs for Sustainability, Wellness, Arts and Music. Each day features a tribute donation to a different charity for Daily Fast Pass holders. OCFW Fast Passes are daily tickets valued at $150.00 that allow for daily access to coveted front-row seats from March 23-27. For more information, visit ocfashionweek.com and click here for tickets. About OC Fashion Week Orange County is the luxury market of California, leading the U.S. in consumer retail expenditures, apart from the Los Angeles market. Its retail destination is driven by international fashion shopping and tourism, coastal luxury lifestyle and a metropolis of leading retail businesses and entrepreneurs. This year, OC Fashion Week has partnered with Global Sources (News - Alert) Fashion of Hong Kong, as well as Athens Xclusive Designer's Week for a designer-exchange program that will feature a designer from Greece. All hair and makeup is presented by the Toni and Guy Hairdressing Academy, Runway shoes provided by Badgley Mischka Jewel, and Runway lashes by Amazing Lash Studio: Rancho Santa Margarita, Brea, Tustin, Bella Terra, Los Olivos, Crossroads, Costa Mesa. Designers will be featured at Global Sources Fashion in Hong Kong at the first California delegate designation for Orange County Fashion Week. About Celebrity Cruises: Celebrity Cruises' iconic "X" is the mark of modern luxury, with its cool, contemporary design and warm spaces; dining experiences where the design of the venues is as important as the cuisine; and the amazing service that only Celebrity can provide, all created to provide an unmatchable experience for vacationers' precious time. Celebrity Cruises' 13 ships offer modern luxury vacations visiting all seven continents. Celebrity also presents incredible Cruisetour experiences in Alaska and Canada. Celebrity is one of six cruise brands operated by global cruise vacation company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL). For more information, dial 1-800-437-3111, visit www.celebritycruises.com, or call your travel advisor. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005500/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Government of Canada's Investment in ocean observation technology contributes to safer coastal waters and more resilient coastal communities

HALIFAX, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Ocean observation is important to understanding how our oceans are changing and predicting how our coasts and fisheries are affected by those changes. Increasing the availability and sharing of ocean science and data ensures Canadians can safely navigate through our coastal waters, maintain our coastal economy, and build resilient coastal infrastructure. Today in Halifax, the Member of Parliament for Halifax and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism, Andy Fillmore, on behalf of the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, announced $1.5 million per year in ongoing funding to advance the development of a Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System (CIOOS). It will increase the availability of ocean data to Canadians and will inform science-based decision making on the responsible and efficient use of our ocean environment. The data collected will inform how coastal communities can become more resilient. This initiative is being jointly funded with the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR), which is providing $2 million over 4 years. Over the next two years, the Government of Canada and MEOPAR will be partnering with the Ocean Frontier Institute, Dalhousie University, the Coastal and Ocean Information Network Atlantic, the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, the Ocean Tracking Network, the St. Lawrence Global Observatory, the Tula Foundation, and Ocean Networks Canada (University of Victoria) to implement the first phase of the system. The Government of Canada's investment in the Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System will improve coordination and collaboration among the national and international ocean research community. It will promote sharing of data and expertise to support a wide variety of research efforts to better understand, monitor and manage activitie in Canada's oceans.



Quotes "Our oceans provide so much to our coastal communities and in return it is our responsibility to take care of them. Collaborations such as this with the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network help us better understand of how the oceans are changing and what that means for the way of life for so many Canadian who make their living on the sea. This national ocean observation system will help us determine the next steps we take to protect our oceans for generations to come."

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries and Ocean, and the Canadian Coast Guard "The Government of Canada investment in the Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System and continued partnership with the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network will ensure we remain at the forefront of ocean observation and honour out commitments made during our G7 Presidency. The data collected from CIOOS will help us predict changes to our oceans, and will inform us of how we can sustainably manage our ocean ecosystems." Andy Fillmore, Member of Parliament for Halifax, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism "Access to data from our rapidly changing marine environment is key to making predictions and guiding decisions and operations, for government, fishers, coastal communities, the offshore and shipping industries and individuals alike. We're proud to partner with Fisheries and Oceans Canada in connecting expertise from across the country to assemble ocean-related information collected by diverse organizations and make it available to Canadians." Doug Wallace, Scientific Director, Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network Quick Facts The Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System is a web-based platform that will bring together existing ocean observation data, programs and projects, and provide timely access to a range of ocean information.

Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network is a federally funded Network of Centres of Excellence that funds research projects, trains ocean researchers and mobilizes scientific knowledge. Associated Links Fisheries and Oceans Canada  Oceanographic Activities

Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System

Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network Stay Connected Follow Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Follow the Canadian Coast Guard on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Subscribe to receive our news releases and more via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/rss-eng.htm SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] OSE Immunotherapeutics Presents its Novel Bispecific Checkpoint Inhibitor Platform, Targeting PD-1 and Innovative Targets at the 2019 World Immunotherapy Congress

NANTES, France, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OSE Immunotherapeutics (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnemo: OSE), announces that it has disclosed its novel bispecific checkpoint inhibitor (BiCKI) platform in a plenary session at the World Immunotherapy Congress held in San Diego. "BiCKI represents a new proprietary multi-specific technology that has the potential to transform the current anti-PD-1 standard of care for hard to treat cancers," said Nicolas Poirier, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics. "Adding to our already strong immuno-oncology pipeline, our new anti-PD-1 bispecifics have the potential to extend the benefits of immunotherapy beyond inflamed tumors in a number of indications by reinstating sustained adaptive and innate immune responses that are naturally inhibited in the tumor microenvironment." The oral presentation, entitled, Inactivating Treg cells in tumor microenvironment to improve efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors, given by Dr. Poirier described a bispecific fusion protein platform built on the key backbone component anti-PD-1 (OSE-279) and targeting innovative targets. The BiCKI platform strives to inhibit key immune checkpoints while simultaneously delivering intratumoral cytokines with Treg modulating function and/or increasing exhausted T cell responses. The BiCKI platform can also modify the tumor microenvironment by delivering costimulatory signals to rewire anti-tumoral T cell activities or other modalities re-instating, among others, macrophage polarization and phagocytic functions. Based on an engineered anti-PD-1 bifunctional antibody platform technology, BiCKI is designed to extend the spectrum of patients responding to immunotherapies. BiCKI represents the second generation of PD-(L)1 inhibitors that have been used to increase antitumor efficacy in hard to treat cancers by addressing untapped immune evasion mechanisms. About the World Immunotherapy Congress

The vision of the World Immunotherapy Congress is to bring together the full community and provide a single meeting point for the whole value chain. It is where science meets business to make immunotherapy the cornerstone of the fight against cancer. The Festival of Biologics San Diego was born out of our successful European event, the Festival Of Biologics Basel, which consists of 5 world leading events: The European Antibody Congress, the World Immunotherapy Congress, Clinical Trials 2018, The World Biosimilar Congress and HPAPI World Congress. Having run very successfully in Basel, Switzerland for the past three years, and across other European countries for the past 13 years, it was time to bring the event across the pond to the U.S., where biologics research and development is fast growing and innovative. With high level, global speakers from big pharma, bioech, academia and industry, the Festival of Biologics San Diego will address the strategic and commercial aspects of discovering, developing, and bringing new biologics to patients. The conference brings you two days packed full of top level science, data and case studies, workshops, roundtables and networking opportunities. With 200+ speakers, 80 sponsors and exhibitors and hundreds of companies in attendance, this is not an event to be missed.



About OSE Immunotherapeutics

OSE Immunotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and partnering therapies to control the immune system for immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases. The company has a diversified first-in-class clinical portfolio consisting of several scientific and technological platforms including neoepitopes and agonist or antagonist monoclonal antibodies, all ideally positioned to fight cancer and autoimmune diseases. The most advanced therapeutic-candidate, Tedopi, is a proprietary combination of 10 neo-epitopes aimed at stimulating T-lymphocytes and is currently in Phase 3 development in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after checkpoint inhibitor failure (anti PD-1 and anti PD-L1) and in Phase 2 testing in pancreatic cancer in combination with checkpoint inhibitor Opdivo. FR104 (an anti-CD28 mAb) has successfully completed Phase 1 testing and has potential to treat autoimmune diseases. BI 765063 (OSE-172) (anti-SIRPa monoclonal antibody) is under a license and collaboration agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim; this checkpoint inhibitor has received CTA from French and Belgian health authorities for a Phase 1 clinical trial in multiple cancer indications. OSE-127 (monoclonal antibody targeting the CD127 receptor, the alpha chain of the interleukin-7 receptor) is partnered with Servier under an option agreement up to the completion of a Phase 2 clinical trial planned in autoimmune bowel diseases; in parallel, Servier plans a development in the Sjogren syndrome. OSE-127 is currently under Phase 1 clinical trial. Click and follow us on Twitter and Linkedln

Contacts OSE Immunotherapeutics

Sylvie Detry

[email protected]

+33 143 297 857 U.S. Media: LifeSci Public Relations

Darren Opland, Ph.D.

[email protected]

+1 646 627 8387 French Media: FP2COM

Florence Portejoie

[email protected]

+33 607 768 283 U.S. and European Investors

Chris Maggos

[email protected]

+41 79 367 6254 Forward-looking statements

This press release contains express or implied information and statements that might be deemed forward-looking information and statements in respect of OSE Immunotherapeutics. They do not constitute historical facts. These information and statements include financial projections that are based upon certain assumptions and assessments made by OSE Immunotherapeutics management in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current economic and industry conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements include statements typically using conditional and containing verbs such as expect, anticipate, believe, target, plan, or estimate, their declensions and conjugations and words of similar import. Although the OSE Immunotherapeutics management believes that the forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, the OSE Immunotherapeutics shareholders and other investors are cautioned that the completion of such expectations is by nature subject to various risks, known or not, and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of OSE Immunotherapeutics. These risks could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by OSE Immunotherapeutics with the AMF. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. This press release includes only summary information and should be read with the OSE Immunotherapeutics Reference Document filed with the AMF on 26 April 2018, including the annual financial report for the fiscal year 2017, available on the OSE Immunotherapeutics website. Other than as required by applicable law, OSE Immunotherapeutics issues this press release at the date hereof and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information or statements.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Lever Bolsters Executive Team To Support Expansion and Growth

Lever, the company transforming the way organizations hire, has made three key executive hires, rounding out its management team and further positioning the company for growth. Used by over 2,000 companies and across every industry, Lever is bringing on seasoned executives to help scale operations to meet the increased demand of an exploding Talent Acquisition market, which Bersin by Deloitte (News - Alert) expects to be over $200B. Lever's expanded executive team includes Laura Marino as SVP of Product, Michelle Kerr as CMO and Todd Martin as COO. Laura Marino (News - Alert), SVP Product, has been building products and leading product teams in B2B software for more than 20 years for companies such as Topia, SAP Labs, Intapp, Nuance and TellMe (Microsoft (News - Alert)). She lectures on product management at Stanford and serves on the board of Leading Women in Technology, a nonprofit group aimed at promoting professional women in the workplace. Michelle Kerr, CMO, joins Lever as a seasoned marketing executive from Oracle (News - Alert), Pivotal and Delphix and specializes in helping companies build categories and scale long-lasting brands. At Lever she will be responsible for leading the product marketing and brand marketing teams as well as bringing Lever to more customers that recognize every business transformaton requires a talent transformation.



Prior to being named COO, Todd Martin served as Lever's SVP of Customer Success. His customer-first mindset combined with his operational experience has contributed to a best-in-class Customer Success team committed to positive outcomes for Lever customers. Lever's near perfect customer satisfaction ratings far exceed industry standards in large part due to Todd's commitment to Lever being a proven and trusted partner to companies investing in talent transformation initiatives. "In a world where talent has become the most critical strategic initiative, every company is in a race to hire the right talent, fast. Helping companies identify and hire the right talent is at the core of everything we do," said Sarah Nahm, CEO, Lever. "Our recent executive hires embody our values and represent the best of the best in their respective disciplines. I am confident they will play a critical role in guiding Lever as we continue to serve."

Lever recently announced the opening of a Toronto office to better service its expanding customer base. The company has also recently been recognized with a variety of industry and national awards for its commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. About Lever Lever's Talent Acquisition Suite unifies organizations to source, nurture, interview, and hire top talent through effortless collaboration. Lever supports the hiring needs of over 2,000 companies around the globe including the teams at Netflix, Hot Topic, KPMG New Zealand, and Cirque du Soleil. With an overall gender ratio of 50:50, Lever is also fiercely committed to building a team culture that celebrates diversity and inclusion. For more information, visit https://www.lever.co. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005097/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019]

SPIE Digital Library Hits Half-a-Million Milestone

BELLINGHAM, Wash. and CARDIFF, Wales, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The SPIE Digital Library, the online publishing platform of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, has reached the remarkable milestone of 500,000 publications.

The Society, long known for its "yellow books," made the move to the digital platform in July of 2003 when the SPIE Digital Library launched on the AIP Scitation platform with 75,000 journal articles and proceedings papers extending back to 1998. By 2006, the SPIE Digital Library was up to 230,000 publications, going back to 1990. Today, the collection lives on an SPIE-built platform and includes the Society's conference proceedings and journals dating back to 1962, the first year of their publication.

Building the Digital Library collection has been consistent and ongoing. SPIE eBooks were added in 2010, and there are more than 360 eBooks in the collection today, with topics that cover a rich range of photonics-focused areas including imaging and signal processing, biomedical optics, lasers, and remote sensing. In 2015, SPIE began recording and publishing conference presentations, ramping up that program over the past four years. Today, the SPIE Digital Library includes more than 17,500 conference presentations, with 6,000 to 8,000 being added each year. Late last year, SPIE added closed captioning and transcriptions to presentation recordings, enhancing their use and accessibility.

Today SPIE publishes 11 peer-reviewed journals. The newest of these, Advanced Photonics, a high-impact open-access journal in partnership with Chinese Laser Press, launched in January 2019. Each year, the Society publishes more than 300 conference proceedings volumes from its worldwide symposia, as well as a number of proceedings on behalf of partnering organizations. It also publishes 2530 new eBooks annually through the SPIE Press imprint.

The top downloaded journal articles from the SPIE Digital Library include "Review of mid-infrared plasmonic materials," published in the Journal of Nanophotonics; "Medical hyperspectral imaging: a review," published in Journal of Biomedical Optics; and "James Webb Space Telescope: large deployable cryogenic telescope in space," published in Optical Engineering.







Top proceedings downloads include "Defining, measuring, and optimizing laser beam quality," "SUPERTWIN: towards 100kpixel CMOS quantum image sensors for quantum optics applications," and "EUV Lithography: From the Very Beginning to the Eve of Manufacturing."

Among the leading SPIE eBooks are Field Guide to Geometrical Optics by John E. Greivenkamp, and two recipients of the Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award, Hyperspectral Remote Sensing by Michael T. Eismann and Tissue Optics: Light Scattering Methods and Instruments for Medical Diagnostics, Third Edition, by Valery V. Tuchin.

The Digital Library includes a mix of open-access and subscription-access content. SPIE Members receive 10 downloads annually along with an online journal of their choice, and conference attendees receive online access to the proceedings of the conferences they attend. Many of the world's leading research universities, labs, and companies subscribe to the SPIE Digital Library. SPIE has been a leader in subscription pricing, often freezing or reducing prices since 2010, and offering discounted and free access to constituents in low-resource countries.

"This is a tremendous accomplishment for SPIE and a testament to the important work of tens of thousands of engineers and scientists who have contributed as authors and editors to this rich archive, said SPIE Director of Publications Eric Pepper. "I'm not surprised that the 500,000th publication  "High-sensitivity detection of Raman vibrations in the impulsive limit with Doppler Raman spectroscopy"  originated at SPIE's largest technical event, Photonics West. Stay tuned, as there will be many more publications to come from SPIE that showcase the exciting new work and innovation being done in optics and photonics."

About SPIE

SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, an educational not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based science, engineering, and technology. The Society serves 257,000 constituents from 173 countries, offering conferences and their published proceedings, continuing education, books, journals, and the SPIE Digital Library. In 2018, SPIE provided more than $4 million in community support including scholarships and awards, outreach and advocacy programs, travel grants, public policy, and educational resources. www.spie.org.

Contact:

Daneet Steffens

Public Relations Manager

[email protected]

+1 360 685 5478

@SPIEtweets

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/spie-digital-library-hits-half-a-million-milestone-300808646.html

SOURCE SPIE
[March 07, 2019] FDA Releases Final Classification for Natural Cycles, the First and Only Birth Control App in the U.S.

NEW YORK, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The FDA (The Food and Drug Administration) has issued a final order to classify Natural Cycles as a Class II device. The FDA is a federal agency in the United States (US) that is responsible for protecting and promoting public health. In August 2018, Natural Cycles' application for De Novo classification as a Class II medical device was granted by the FDA, making Natural Cycles the first app cleared in the US as a form of birth control. Following the 2018 clearance, Natural Cycles' classification as a Class II medical device has been in effect since the initial approval. The final order is the last part of the approval process that establishes the required special controls and officially codifies the new regulation for this type of technology. Since the initial FDA approval, Natural Cycles has been operating under these special controls. "We are pleased that the FDA recognizes that digital health technologies can empower consumers to make better-informed decisions about their own health. As the first and only app to be cleared in the US as a form of birth control, this approval is setting the framework and guidance for future developments in this area," said Raoul Scherwitzl, PhD, CEO and co-founder, Natural Cycles. "We welcome the FDA's decision to encourage innovation while ensuring the safety and efficacy o digital health products, including mobile medical apps. Our mission at Natural Cycles is to pioneer women's health with research and passion, and this final milestone marks a very important step in that journey."



For further information, please refer to the official FDA statement. About Natural Cycles

Natural Cycles was founded in June 2013 by former CERN physicist, Dr Elina Berglund and her husband Dr Raoul Scherwitzl, who also has a background in physics. Natural Cycles is an effective, natural method of contraception that is delivered in the form of an app. It uses a smart algorithm that is sensitive to subtle patterns in a woman's cycle to determine daily fertility, based on basal body temperature and period data. Natural Cycles is 93% effective with typical use1, which means that 7 women out of 100 get pregnant during 1 year of use. Natural Cycles is the only app of its kind to be available in Europe and the US for use as a contraceptive. The app can also be used to help plan a pregnancy when the time is right. Natural Cycles' mission is to pioneer women's health with research and passion, by empowering every woman with the knowledge she needs to be in charge of her health. Natural Cycles is headquartered in Sweden and has operations in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Read more at: www.naturalcycles.com References 1. Berglund Scherwitzl E, Lundberg O, Kopp Kallner H, Gemzell Danielsson K, Trussell J, Scherwitzl R. Perfect-use and typical-use Pearl Index of a contraceptive mobile app. Contraception. 2017;96(6):420-425. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fda-releases-final-classification-for-natural-cycles-the-first-and-only-birth-control-app-in-the-us-300808657.html SOURCE Natural Cycles

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Sharjah Biennial 14 Kicks off under the title: Leaving the Echo Chamber

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the 14th edition of Sharjah Biennial (SB14) commenced on Thursday at the Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) Art Spaces in Al Mureijah. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005593/en/ Over 80 artists and over 60 new commissions at SB14 (Photo: AETOSWire) SB14, held this year under the title 'Leaving the Echo Chamber', will feature three distinct exhibitions; Zoe Butt's exhibition Journey Beyond The Arrow; Omar Kholeif's Making New Time and Claire Tancons' Look for Me All Around You. SB14 features over 80 established and emergig artists from around the globe, including over 60 new commissions, as well as many never-before-seen works that will displayed in various locations across the emirate of Sharjah, the Mureijah Square and the Arts Square, as well as in SAF's studios in Al Hamriyah, in the East Coast city of Kalba and other spaces in Umm Al Quwain.



The Sharjah Art Foundation is also organizing the 12th edition of the March Meeting 2019, from 9 -11 March, 2019 at the Sharjah Institute of Theatrical Arts in Al Mureijah, which will include panel discussions, performances, films and artistic productions, in line with the themes of the three exhibitions at SB14. SB14 will also feature independent film screenings for film lovers in the UAE; as well as educational programs, aligned with this year's theme 'Leaving the Echo Chamber'.

Programs intended for adults and children include workshops on photography, drawing, writing and theatrical performance. Other workshops for 'People of determination' provide a variety of topics on photography skills, puppetry, drawing, musical instruments and Islamic art; while the schools and youth centers' program offers a set of workshops and field trips on topics such as abstract art, architecture and storytelling. SB14 is made possible through the generous support of Van Cleef & Arples (Gold Sponsor) and Crescent Petroleum (Silver Sponsor). In-kind support is offered by Sharjah Municipality, Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority; Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority; Bee'ah, the Dubai Economic Department; the Institut Francais in the UAE and the Institut Francais in France. The Sharjah Biennial is the most important cultural event in the Arab world and, since its inception in 1993, has been instrumental in supporting the arts landscape in the UAE and the region. *Source (News - Alert): AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190307005593/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Leonovus Announces Smart Restore with the latest release of its Multi-Cloud Data Controller

OTTAWA, March 7, 2019 /CNW/ - Leonovus Inc., ("Leonovus or the Company") (TSXV: LTV) (OTC: LVNSF) is shipping the latest release of its secure storage solution. With such innovative advancements as Smart Restore, Direct Download, Persisted Client Meta-data and a unified, Comprehensive Dashboard, this release clearly establishes the product's role as a preeminent multi-cloud data controller. These newest features of the multi-cloud data controller accelerate the enterprise's journey to the cloud; improving efficiencies, reducing costs and eliminating complexities encountered in navigating the increasingly complex cloud landscape. Re-asserting the enterprise's control over its data while maintaining the flexibility and longevity absolutely required by governance and regulation, Leonovus eliminates cloud-vendor lock-in and enhances cross-cloud migration. This release of our multi-cloud data controller is also a foundational component of Leonovus' strategy to 'Uberize' global cloud services for the enterprise and paves the way for the realization of the Galaxa Marketplace. Smart Restore allows customers to prioritize the storage providers from which fragments will be retrieved when restoring data. This preferential reconstitution allows the enterprise to tune their policies according to their own priorities for example cost reduction or enhanced performance. Direct Download eases integration transparency, eliminating the need for clients to be AWS S3 lifecycle management aware. It also accelerates content restoration to near-line speeds. Persisted Client Meta-data offers a cloud-neutral mechanism across multiple clouds to associate and persist client generated meta-data with the content it describes. With this capability Leonovus enables the secure application of complex, multi-dimensional data classification. This results in support for broader and stronger integrations with data management, data classification and data analytics apps, by providing secure storage of content with corresponding analytics tags. The new Comprehensive Dashboard simplifies operations for IT administrators in a multi-cloud environment. This single pane of glass interface clarifies and eases the management of on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud storage, offering orchestration and cross-cloud policy management. It extends security and governance controls acrossthe entire infrastructure while increasing flexibility and reducing complexity - constraining loss and liability due to human factors when managing data over the long term. Such cross-cloud controls offer multi-faceted data protection including elevated data durability, availability, confidentiality and integrity via configurable erasure coding and distribution, customer-controlled encryption key management and WORM (write once read many) locking, among others. Identity and access management are also addressed independent of the multi-cloud footprint, through the enhanced dashboard.



"Going all-in with a single service provider could be an easy choice at the beginning but a huge risk in the long term", says thought leading industry analyst Enrico Signoretti, "Leonovus has a compelling solution that associates a multi-cloud data controller with a strong set of security features." In today's dynamic and ever-evolving cloud landscape, it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict, assess and control costs associated not only with the storage of data but accessing it as well. "Whereas, initially, cloud storage appears to be very compelling from the perspective of lower cost and increased agility, many organizations neglect the impacts of cloud complexities and the costs of data egress fees associated with accessing the data," said Michael Gaffney, Chairman and CEO. "Our multi-cloud data controller with Smart Restore allows customers to keep costs in check by prioritizing retrieval of data from storage providers with lower or no data egress fees, while still benefitting from the lower storage cost and stronger availability, security and durability offered by a multi-cloud storage approach. With Smart Restore, we believe the Leonovus solution is even more uniquely positioned to enable customers to navigate the complexities of cloud storage costs."

About Leonovus Leonovus is a cloud solutions software provider that offers the leading blockchain hardened hyper-secure software-defined object storage solution. Designed with the IT manager in mind, Leonovus' patented algorithms encrypt, shred and spread data across a network of on-premises, hybrid or multi-cloud storage nodes  allowing for the most secure yet internally accessible form of object-based data storage across the entire solution. The advanced geo-distributed architecture minimizes latency, optimizes geo-availability, reduces remote backup costs and meets data sovereignty requirements. With its software and hardware agnostic design, Leonovus provides petabyte scalability and allows the enterprise to utilize its existing idle storage resources, extend the useable lifespan of depreciated resources and improve the enterprise's overall ROI. To learn more, please visit www.leonovus.com and www.galaxa.com. This press release may contain forward-looking statements and information, which may involve risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Factors that might cause a difference include, but are not limited to, competitive developments, risks associated with Leonovus' growth, the state of the financial markets, regulatory risks and other factors. There can be no assurance or guarantees that any statements of forward-looking information contained in this release will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral statements containing forward-looking information are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Leonovus disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers should not place undue reliance on any statements of forward-looking information that speak only as of the date of this release. Further information on Leonovus' public filings, including its most recent audited consolidated financial statements, are available at www.sedar.com . Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Leonovus Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] IDT Corporation Reports Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2019 Results

NEWARK, N.J., March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT) reported EPS of $0.01 and non-GAAP EPS* of $0.04 on revenue of $349.5 million for the second quarter of FY 2019, the three months ended January 31, 2019. 2Q19 HIGHLIGHTS

(2Q19 results are compared to 2Q18) Consolidated Results Revenue less direct cost of revenue decreased to $58.3 million from $58.7 million ;

from ; Income from operations increased to $1.5 million from a loss from operations of $480 thousand ;

from a loss from operations of ; Adjusted EBITDA* increased to $7.4 million from $6.3 million ;

from ; EPS of $0.01 compared to $0.06 ;

compared to ; Non-GAAP EPS increased to $0.04 from $0.00 . Growth Initiatives net2phone's unified communications as a service (UCaaS) revenue increased 86% to $6.0 million including Versature, the Canadian UCaaS provider acquired in 1Q19;

including Versature, the Canadian UCaaS provider acquired in 1Q19; National Retail Solutions (NRS) revenue increased 56% to $1.5 million . NRS operated 6,600 active terminals at January 31, 2019 compared to 3,800 a year earlier;

. NRS operated 6,600 active terminals at compared to 3,800 a year earlier; BOSS Revolution international money transfer revenue increased 35% to $5.4 million . Revenue from its direct-to-consumer channel increased 145% to $3.3 million . REMARKS BY SHMUEL JONAS, CEO OF IDT CORPORATION "IDT's technology-driven growth initiatives performed well in the second quarter. "Revenue generated by net2phone's unified communications as a service offering increased by 86% compared to the year ago quarter and achieved an annual run rate of over $24 million. We performed ahead of plan in our South American markets  most notably in Brazil. Operationally, our priority continues to be the incremental deployment of net2phone's proprietary technology platform. Reviews and feedback from customers on the new platform have been positive and enthusiastic. Also, within net2phone, we are focused on developing a robust direct-to-consumer channel in all of our markets worldwide. "National Retail Solutions revenue increased 56% in the second quarter to an annual run rate of over 6 million dollars, and its point-of-sale network now comprises over 6,600 active terminals. We have only begun to tap the potential of this business, and are building-out and optimizing the offerings that will more fully monetize the network's capabilities. "Our international money transfer business surpassed $20 million in annualized-run-rate revenue this quarter. Direct to consumer sales increased 145% year over year as we expanded our international disbursement network, enhanced our transaction fulfillment technology and intensified marketing. "We continue to focus on enhancing our profitability while investing in our growth initiatives. Consolidated revenue decreased by $46.4 million compared to the second quarter 2018 primarily because of a reduction in Carrier Services traffic on marginally profitable routes. The revenue decrease had a limited impact on margin contribution, and was offset by increased margin contributions from our growth initiatives and by reductions in SG&A expense  primarily generated from within our core business operations. As a result, we increased income from operations and Adjusted EBITDA compared to both the year ago quarter and the first quarter of this year."







2Q19 CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

Results (in millions, except EPS) 2Q19 1Q19 2Q18 2Q19 - 2Q18 Change (%/$) Revenue $349.5 $362.3 $395.9 (11.7)% Direct cost of revenue $291.2 $304.7 $337.2 (13.7)% Revenue less direct cost of revenue $58.3 $57.6 $58.7 (0.6)% Direct cost of revenue as a percentage

of revenue 83.3% 84.1% 85.2% (190) BP SG&A expense $50.9 $50.6 $52.4 (2.8)% Depreciation and amortization $5.8 $5.6 $5.7 +0.5% Severance expense - - $0.2 $(0.2) Other operating expense, net $(0.1) $(0.2) $(0.8) +$0.7 Income (loss) from operations $1.5 $1.3 $(0.5) +$2.0 Adjusted EBITDA* $7.4 $7.1 $6.3 +$1.1 Net income (loss) attributable to IDT $0.2 $(1.4) $1.5 $(1.3) Diluted earnings (loss) per share $0.01 $(0.06) $0.06 $(0.05) Non-GAAP net income (loss)* $1.0 $(0.5) $0.0 +$1.0 Non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share* $0.04 $(0.02) $0.00 +$0.04

*Throughout this release, Non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share, Adjusted EBITDA, and Non-GAAP net income (loss) for all periods presented are Non-GAAP measures intended to provide useful information that supplements IDT's or the relevant segment's core results in accordance with GAAP. Please refer to the Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures at the end of this release for an explanation of these terms and their respective reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measure.

Notes on Consolidated Results and Balance Sheet

Consolidated results for all periods presented include corporate overhead. In both 2Q19 and 2Q18, corporate G&A expense was $2.4 million. At January 31, 2019, IDT held $75.5 million in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and debt securities. Current assets totaled $341.3 million and current liabilities totaled $361.7 million, inclusive of current assets and current liabilities "held for sale". IDT's intention is to sell its Gibraltar-based bank and it is continuing discussions with potential buyers. All of the bank's assets and liabilities at January 31, 2019 and July 31, 2018 are classified as "held for sale" in the consolidated balance sheets. On August 1, 2018, IDT adopted a change in GAAP related to the classification and presentation of changes in restricted cash in the statement of cash flows. Net cash provided by operating activities during 2Q19 was $29.8 million compared to $21.9 million in the year ago quarter. In the corresponding periods, capital expenditures were $4.9 million and $5.6 million, respectively. 2Q19 RESULTS BY SEGMENT

(Results are for 2Q19 and are compared to 2Q18 unless otherwise noted). For fiscal year 2019, IDT has modified the way it reports its business verticals within its two reporting segments to align more closely with IDT's business strategy and operational structure, as follows: Telecom & Payment Services (TPS)

IDT's TPS segment accounted for 96.7% and 97.8% of IDT's consolidated revenue in 2Q19 and 2Q18, respectively. The segment comprises Core and Growth verticals: Core includes IDT's three largest communications and payments offerings from both a revenue and cash generation perspective: BOSS Revolution Calling, an international long-distance calling service marketed primarily to immigrant communities in the US; Carrier Services, which provides international long-distance termination and outsourced traffic management solutions to telecoms worldwide; and Mobile Top-Up, which enables customers to transfer airtime and bundles of airtime, messaging and data credits to friends and family overseas and within the US. TPS Core also includes several smaller communications and payments offerings - many in harvest mode.

includes IDT's three largest communications and payments offerings from both a revenue and cash generation perspective: BOSS Revolution Calling, an international long-distance calling service marketed primarily to immigrant communities in the US; Carrier Services, which provides international long-distance termination and outsourced traffic management solutions to telecoms worldwide; and Mobile Top-Up, which enables customers to transfer airtime and bundles of airtime, messaging and data credits to friends and family overseas and within the US. TPS Core also includes several smaller communications and payments offerings - many in harvest mode. Growth comprises National Retail Solutions' retailer POS terminal-based services, the BOSS Revolution international money transfer service, and the BOSS Revolution mobile service. net2phone

IDT's net2phone segment accounted for 3.3% and 2.1% of IDT's consolidated revenue in 2Q19 and 2Q18, respectively. The segment comprises two verticals: net2phone-UCaaS is a rapidly growing, global, unified cloud communications offering for business.

is a rapidly growing, global, unified cloud communications offering for business. net2phone-Platform Services includes other offerings leveraging a common technology platform to provide cable telephony and other voice services. Revenue in 2Q19 and comparative periods for all verticals is provided in the following chart: Revenue by Segment and Vertical (in millions) 2Q19 1Q19 2Q18 2Q19-2Q18

% change TPS







Core $330.9 $345.7 $382.0 (13.4)% BOSS Revolution Calling $122.1 $123.5 $131.6 (7.2)% Carrier Services $127.9 $142.2 $170.8 (25.1)% Mobile Top-Up $64.3 $65.3 $62.1 +3.5% Other $16.6 $14.6 $17.5 (5.0)% Growth $7.0 $6.2 $5.0 +39.8% Total TPS $338.0 $351.8 $387.1 (12.7)% net2phone







net2phone-UCaaS $6.0 $4.8 $3.2 +86.4% net2phone-Platform Services $5.5 $5.7 $5.1 +8.5% Total net2phone $11.5 $10.5 $8.3 +38.8% Segment level financial results are summarized in the following chart: Results by Segment (in millions) TPS net2phone 2Q19 2Q18 2Q19 2Q18 Revenue $338.0 $387.1 $11.5 $8.3 Direct cost of revenue $287.9 $334.6 $3.2 $2.6 Revenue less direct cost of revenue $50.0 $52.4 $8.3 $5.7 SG&A expense $40.4 $43.7 $8.1 $5.3 Depreciation and amortization $3.7 $4.1 $2.1 $1.2 Severance expense - $0.2 - - Other gains $0.2 - - - Income (loss) from operations $6.2 $4.5 $(1.9) $(0.8) Adjusted EBITDA $9.6 $8.8 $0.2 $0.4 TPS Segment Takeaways:

TPS Core: The BOSS Revolution Calling service continues to be impacted by persistent, market-wide trends, including the proliferation of unlimited calling plans offered by wireless carriers and MVNOs and the increasing penetration of free and paid over-the-top voice and messaging services. Minutes-of-use for the BOSS Revolution Calling service declined 11% compared to the year ago quarter, while revenue decreased 7.2% to $122.1 million .

. Carrier Services' minutes-of-use decreased 10% year over year and revenue declined 25.1% to $127.9 million . Carrier Services' minutes-of-use and revenue will continue to be impacted over the long term as communications globally transition away from traditional international long-distance voice operators. However, minutes and revenue may fluctuate significantly from quarter-to-quarter, as the Company seeks to maximize gross profit economics rather than sustain minutes-of-use or revenue. TPS Growth: National Retail Solutions (NRS)' revenue increased 56% compared to the year ago quarter. NRS' point-of-sale terminal network has achieved sufficient scale to enable new revenue sources that supplement the monthly recurring fees generated by the use of its terminals. These emerging services include out-of-home advertising through the terminals' consumer facing screen, retail analytics, and credit card processing.

Revenue generated by IDT's BOSS Revolution money transfer service increased 35% compared to the year ago quarter. Direct-to-consumer sales increased 145% year over year driven by expansion of the service's global disbursement network. Direct-to-consumer sales now constitute the majority of money transfer revenue.

IDT is optimizing its BOSS Revolution mobile offering. Efforts this quarter focused on development of marketing campaigns, training of IDT's direct to retailer sales force, and improving the user experience. TPS Financial Results: TPS' income from operations increased 39.1% to $6.2 million . The impact of the $49.1 million reduction in revenue was offset by improved Carrier Services margins and by the continued growth of Mobile Top-Up revenue. SG&A expense decreased 7.5% year over year to $40.4 million reflecting reduced compensation expense partially offset by increased marketing expense. Adjusted EBITDA in 2Q19 increased to $9.6 million from $8.8 million in 2Q18. net2phone Segment Takeaways: net2phone-UCaaS revenue increased 86% compared to the year ago quarter driven by the acquisition of Canadian UCaas provider Versature, growth in South American markets, expansion to Mexico , and additions to its US channel partner network.

, and additions to its US channel partner network. During 2Q19, net2phone continued to deploy its new proprietary platform. The platform integrates voice, text, messaging and web chat services across devices. net2phone expects that the unified communications functionality afforded by the new platform will become a key driver of customer acquisition. IDT EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENT & SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

This release is available for download in the "For Investors" section of the IDT Corporation website ( http://idt.net/ir ) and has been filed on a current report (Form 8-K) with the SEC. IDT will host an earnings conference call beginning at 5:30 PM ET today with management's discussion of results, outlook and strategy followed by Q&A with investors. To listen to the call and participate in the Q&A, dial toll-free 1-888-348-8417 (from U.S.) or 1-412-902-4243 (international) and request the IDT Corporation call. A recording of the conference call can be accessed beginning approximately two hours after the call concludes through March 14, 2019 by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (toll free from the US) or 1-412-317-6671 (international) and providing this PIN code: 10128968. The recording will also be available via streaming audio at the IDT investor relations website ( www.idt.net/ir ) following the call. ABOUT IDT:

IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT) provides communications and payment services to individuals and businesses primarily through its flagship Boss Revolution and net2phone brands. IDT's wholesale carrier services business is a leading global carrier of international long-distance calls. For more information on IDT, visit www.idt.net . All statements above that are not purely about historical facts, including, but not limited to, those in which we use the words "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "target" and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment of what may happen in the future, actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied by these statements due to numerous important factors. Our filings with the SEC provide detailed information on such statements and risks, and should be consulted along with this release. To the extent permitted under applicable law, IDT assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. IDT CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS



January 31,

2019

July 31,

2018

(Unaudited)





(in thousands) Assets





Current assets:





Cash and cash equivalents $ 74,445

$ 68,089 Debt securities 1,051

5,612 Trade accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $3,037 at January 31, 2019 and $3,166 at July 31, 2018 50,164

69,481 Prepaid expenses 20,432

19,550 Other current assets 28,078

28,877 Assets held for sale 167,083

137,272 Total current assets 341,253

328,881 Property, plant and equipment, net 36,186

36,068 Goodwill 11,273

11,315 Other intangibles, net 4,150

306 Equity investments 7,754

6,633 Deferred income tax assets, net 2,882

5,668 Other assets 6,680

5,020 Assets held for sale 5,962

5,706 Total assets $ 416,140

$ 399,597







Liabilities and equity





Current liabilities:





Trade accounts payable $ 35,288

$ 45,124 Accrued expenses 119,206

129,818 Deferred revenue 41,352

55,003 Other current liabilities 6,557

8,269 Liabilities held for sale 159,248

128,770 Total current liabilities 361,651

366,984 Other liabilities 853

768 Liabilities held for sale 433

542 Total liabilities 362,937

368,294 Commitments and contingencies





Equity:





IDT Corporation stockholders' equity:





Preferred stock, $.01 par value; authorized shares10,000; no shares issued 

 Class A common stock, $.01 par value; authorized shares35,000; 3,272 shares issued and 1,574 shares outstanding at January 31,

2019 and July 31, 2018 33

33 Class B common stock, $.01 par value; authorized shares200,000; 25,611 and 25,594 shares issued and 24,705 and 22,872 shares

outstanding at January 31, 2019 and July 31, 2018, respectively 256

256 Additional paid-in capital 271,959

294,047 Treasury stock, at cost, consisting of 1,698 and 1,698 shares of Class A common stock and 906 and 2,722 shares of Class B common

stock at January 31, 2019 and July 31, 2018, respectively (51,727)

(85,597) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (4,455)

(4,972) Accumulated deficit (163,366)

(173,103) Total IDT Corporation stockholders' equity 52,700

30,664 Noncontrolling interests 503

639 Total equity 53,203

31,303 Total liabilities and equity $ 416,140

$ 399,597

IDT CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited)



Three Months Ended

January 31,

Six Months Ended

January 31,

2019 2018

2019 2018

(in thousands, except per share data)



Revenues $ 349,473 $ 395,883

$ 711,789 $ 789,438 Costs and expenses:









Direct cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) 291,178 337,229

595,870 673,738 Selling, general and administrative (i) 50,900 52,358

101,452 102,429 Depreciation and amortization 5,762 5,735

11,357 11,408 Severance  195

 635 Total costs and expenses 347,840 395,517

708,679 788,210 Other operating expense, net (90) (846)

(285) (1,625) Income (loss) from operations 1,543 (480)

2,825 (397) Interest income, net 186 286

295 648 Other income (expense), net 496 370

(853) (456) Income (loss) before income taxes 2,225 176

2,267 (205) (Provision for) benefit from income taxes (1,736) 1,514

(2,926) 99 Net income (loss) 489 1,690

(659) (106) Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (300) (174)

(601) (470) Net income (loss) attributable to IDT Corporation $ 189 $ 1,516

$ (1,260) $ (576)











Earnings (loss) per share attributable to IDT Corporation common

stockholders:









Basic $ 0.01 $ 0.06

$ (0.05) $ (0.02) Diluted $ 0.01 $ 0.06

$ (0.05) $ (0.02) Weighted-average number of shares used in calculation of earnings (loss)

per share:









Basic 24,816 24,643

24,323 24,635 Diluted 24,821 24,724

24,323 24,635























(i) Stock-based compensation included in selling, general and

administrative expenses $ 467 $ 987

$ 880 $ 1,797 IDT CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited)



Six Months Ended

January 31,

2019

2018

(in thousands) Operating activities





Net loss $ (659)

$ (106) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:





Depreciation and amortization 11,357

11,408 Deferred income taxes 2,785

3,212 Provision for doubtful accounts receivable 620

696 Stock-based compensation 880

1,797 Other (78)

(68) Change in assets and liabilities:





Trade accounts receivable 17,333

(4,568) Prepaid expenses, other current assets and other assets 79

(15,109) Trade accounts payable, accrued expenses, other current liabilities and other liabilities (18,288)

(20,347) Customer deposits at IDT Financial Services Limited, our Gibraltar-based bank 29,015

4,481 Deferred revenue (4,997)

(4,710) Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 38,047

(23,314) Investing activities





Capital expenditures (9,396 )

(10,931) Payment for acquisition, net of cash acquired (5,453)

 Proceeds from redemption of investments 1,000

 Cash used for purchase of investments (500)

 Proceeds from sale of interest in Straight Path IP Group Holding, Inc 

6,000 Purchase of IP Interest from Straight Path Communications Inc 

(6,000) Purchases of marketable securities 

(19,797) Proceeds from maturities and sales of marketable securities 4,555

31,610 Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities (9,794)

882 Financing activities





Dividends paid 

(9,440) Distributions to noncontrolling interests (737 )

(717) Proceeds from sale of Class B common stock to Howard S. Jonas 13,272

 Repayment of other liabilities acquired (615)

 Proceeds from borrowings under revolving credit facility 3,000

19,080 Repayments of borrowings under revolving credit facility (3,000)

(19,080) Repurchases of Class B common stock (3,870)

(61) Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 8,050

(10,218) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents (236)

9,490 Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents 36,067

(23,160) Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 203,197

211,963 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 239,264

$ 188,803







Supplemental schedule of non-cash financing activities





Howard S. Jonas' advance payment used for sale of Class B common stock $ 1,500

$ 

On August 1, 2018, IDT adopted a change in GAAP related to the classification and presentation of changes in restricted cash in the statement of cash flows. The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents reported in the consolidated balance sheet that equals the total of the same amounts reported in the consolidated statement of cash flows:



January 31,

2019

July 31,

2018

(in thousands) Cash and cash equivalents $ 74,445

$ 68,089 Restricted cash included in other current assets 566

285 Cash and cash equivalents included in current assets held for sale 5,372

5,892 Restricted cash and cash equivalents included in current assets held for sale 158,881

128,931 Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and cash equivalents $ 239,264

$ 203,197 Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures for the Second Quarter Fiscal 2019 and 2018 In addition to disclosing financial results that are determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP), IDT also disclosed, for 2Q19, 1Q19, and 2Q18, Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share, which are non-GAAP measures. Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a company's performance, financial position, or cash flows that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. IDT's measure of Adjusted EBITDA consists of revenues less direct cost of revenues and selling, general and administrative expense. Another way of calculating Adjusted EBITDA is to start with income (loss) from operations, and add depreciation and amortization, severance expense, and other operating expense, net. IDT's measure of non-GAAP net income (loss) starts with net income (loss) in accordance with GAAP and adds severance expense, stock-based compensation, and other operating expense, net, and subtracts the income tax benefits from The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. IDT's measure of non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share is calculated by dividing non-GAAP net income (loss) by the diluted weighted-average shares. These additions and subtractions are non-cash and/or non-routine items in the relevant fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2018 periods. Management believes that IDT's Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses and non-routine gains and losses that may not be indicative of IDT's or the relevant segment's core operating results. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA, among other measures, as a relevant indicator of core operational strengths in its financial and operational decision making. In addition, management uses Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share to evaluate operating performance in relation to IDT's competitors. Disclosure of these financial measures may be useful to investors in evaluating performance and allows for greater transparency to the underlying supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. In addition, IDT has historically reported similar financial measures and believes such measures are commonly used by readers of financial information in assessing performance, therefore the inclusion of comparative numbers provides consistency in financial reporting at this time. Management refers to Adjusted EBITDA, as well as the GAAP measures income (loss) from operations and net income (loss), on a segment and/or consolidated level to facilitate internal and external comparisons to the segments' and IDT's historical operating results, in making operating decisions, for budget and planning purposes, and to form the basis upon which management is compensated. While depreciation and amortization are considered operating costs under GAAP, these expenses primarily represent the non-cash current period allocation of costs associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior periods. IDT's Adjusted EBITDA, which is exclusive of depreciation and amortization, is a useful indicator of its current performance. Severance expense is excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share. Severance expense is reflective of decisions made by management in each period regarding the aspects of IDT's and its segments' businesses to be focused on in light of changing market realities and other factors. While there may be similar charges in other periods, the nature and magnitude of these charges can fluctuate markedly and do not reflect the performance of IDT's core and continuing operations. Other operating expense, net, which is a component of income (loss) from operations, is excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share. In fiscal 2019 and 2018, other operating expense, net primarily included legal fees related to Straight Path Communications Inc.'s stockholders' putative class action and derivative complaint. In addition, in 2Q19, other operating expense, net included a gain on the sale of a calling card business in Asia. From time-to-time, IDT may incur costs related to non-routine legal and regulatory matters or disposal of certain assets. However, such legal and regulatory matters and disposals do not occur each quarter. IDT does not believe the gains or losses from non-routine legal and regulatory matters or asset sales are components of IDT's or the relevant segment's core operating results. The other calculation of Adjusted EBITDA consists of revenues less direct cost of revenues and selling, general and administrative expense. As the other excluded items are not reflected in this calculation, they are excluded automatically and there is no need to make additional adjustments. This calculation results in the same Adjusted EBITDA amount and its utility and significance is as explained above. Stock-based compensation recognized by IDT and other companies may not be comparable because of the variety of types of awards as well as the various valuation methodologies and subjective assumptions that are permitted under GAAP. Stock-based compensation is excluded from IDT's calculation of non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share because management believes this allows investors to make more meaningful comparisons of the operating results per share of IDT's core business with the results of other companies. However, stock-based compensation will continue to be a significant expense for IDT for the foreseeable future and an important part of employees' compensation that impacts their performance. In 2Q18, IDT recorded an income tax benefit of $3.3 million for its anticipated AMT credit refund due to The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in December 2017. This income tax benefit is excluded from IDT's calculation of non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share because the benefits were not directly related to the current results of IDT's core operations. Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or superior to, income (loss) from operations, cash flow from operating activities, net income (loss), basic and diluted earnings per share or other measures of liquidity and financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, IDT's measurements of Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Following are reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, which are, (a) for Adjusted EBITDA, income (loss) from operations for IDT's reportable segments and net income (loss) for IDT on a consolidated basis, (b) for non-GAAP net income (loss), net income (loss), and (c) for non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share, basic and diluted earnings per share.

IDT Corporation Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income (Loss) (unaudited) in millions Figures may not foot or cross-foot due to rounding to millions.



Total IDT

Corporation

Telecom

&

Payment

Services net2phone All Other Corporate Three Months Ended January 31, 2019 (2Q19)











Adjusted EBITDA $ 7.4

$ 9.6 $ 0.2 $ - $ (2.4) Subtract (Add):











Depreciation and amortization 5.8

3.7 2.1 - - Other operating (gain) expense, net 0.1

(0.2) - - 0.3 Income (loss) from operations 1.5

$ 6.2 $ (1.9) $ - $ (2.8) Interest income, net 0.2









Other income, net 0.5









Income before income taxes 2.2









Provision for income taxes (1.7)









Net income 0.5









Net income attributable to noncontrolling

interests (0.3)









Net income attributable to IDT Corporation $ 0.2







































Total IDT

Corporation

Telecom

&

Payment

Services net2phone All Other Corporate Three Months Ended October 31, 2018 (1Q19)











Adjusted EBITDA $ 7.1

$ 9.3 $ - $ - $ (2.3) Subtract:











Depreciation and amortization 5.6

4.0 1.5 - - Other operating expense 0.2

- - - 0.2 Income (loss) from operations 1.3

$ 5.3 $ (1.5) $ - $ (2.5) Interest income, net 0.1









Other expense, net (1.3)









Income before income taxes 0.1









Provision for income taxes (1.2)









Net loss (1.1)









Net income attributable to noncontrolling

interests (0.3)









Net loss attributable to IDT Corporation $ (1.4)











IDT Corporation Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Income (unaudited) in millions Figures may not foot or cross-foot due to rounding to millions.



Total IDT

Corporation

Telecom

&

Payment

Services net2phone All Other Corporate Three Months Ended January 31, 2018 (2Q18)











Adjusted EBITDA $ 6.3

$ 8.8 $ 0.4 $ (0.5) $ (2.4) Subtract:











Depreciation and amortization 5.7

4.1 1.2 0.4 - Severance expense 0.2

0.2 - - - Other operating expense 0.8

- - - 0.8 (Loss) income from operations (0.5)

$ 4.5 $ (0.8) $ (0.9) $ (3.2) Interest income, net 0.3



Other income, net 0.4



Income before income taxes 0.2



Benefit from income taxes 1.5



Net income 1.7



Net income attributable to noncontrolling

interests (0.2)



Net income attributable to IDT Corporation $ 1.5



IDT Corporation Reconciliations of Net Income (Loss) to Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss) and Earnings (Loss) per share to Non-GAAP Earnings (Loss) per share (unaudited) in millions, except per share data Figures may not foot due to rounding to millions.



2Q19 1Q19 2Q18







Net income (loss) $ 0.5 $ (1.1) $ 1.7 Adjustments (add) subtract:





Stock-based compensation (0.5) (0.4) (1.0) Severance expense - - (0.2) Other operating expense, net (0.1) (0.2) (0.8) Income tax benefit - - 3.3 Total adjustments (0.5) (0.6) 1.3 Income tax effect of total adjustments - - 0.4

0.5 0.6 (1.7) Non-GAAP net income (loss) $ 1.0 $ (0.5) $ 0.0







Earnings (loss) per share:





Basic $ 0.01 $ (0.06) $ 0.06 Total adjustments 0.03 0.04 (0.06) Non-GAAP - basic $ 0.04 $ (0.02) $ 0.00







Weighted-average number of shares used in

calculation of basic earnings (loss) per

share 24.8 23.8 24.6







Diluted $ 0.01 $ (0.06) $ 0.06 Total adjustments 0.03 0.04 (0.06) Non-GAAP - diluted $ 0.04 $ (0.02) $ 0.00







Weighted-average number of shares used in

calculation of diluted earnings (loss) per

share 24.8 23.8 24.7















View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/idt-corporation-reports-second-quarter-fiscal-year-2019-results-300808867.html SOURCE IDT Corporation

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[March 07, 2019] Sony Electronics Inc. to Receive Champion of Youth Honor at Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Annual Pacific Military Youth of the Year Celebration in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Boys & Girls Clubs of America is proud to announce that this year Sony Electronics Inc. will receive the Champion of Youth award at the 2019 Pacific Military Youth of the Year celebration this summer. The event will take place on July 11 at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla in San Diego. Sony has championed the Pacific Military Youth of the Year event since its inception. It is through their efforts that this celebration has become a signature event in the region. Sony's commitment to Boys & Girls Clubs of America traces back to 2012 as the sole sponsor of Boys & Girls Clubs of America's ImageMakers National Photography Program and Contest. More than 20,000 club youth participate annually, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America is proud to have Sony as a partner in technology-assisted creativity and career exploration. The skills learned through the ImageMakers Photography Program make youth more expressive, as well as more competitive in both career and educational endeavors. In addition to the ImageMakers program, the company's leadership is heavily engaged on the board and trustee level. Last year, Sony Electronics President & COO Mike Fasulo chaired Boys & Girls Clubs of America's 112th National Conference in San Diego and will serve as a co-chair in this year's Pacific Military Youth of the Year celebration. "We are truly honored to receive this award from Boys & Girls Clubs of America," states Fasulo. "Commitment to serving our communities has always been part of Sony's culture. Youth from military families are confronted with challenges above and beyond the norm. With family members often on deployment, they sacrifice their time together to protect this country's freedom. The Pacific Region, and specifically southern California, represents the largest collective of military bases and military youth. Sony is proud to partner with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to support these talented kids in advancing their education." Military Youth of the Year is a component of Boys & Girls Clubs of America's National Youth of the Year program, presented by Disney and Toyota as the signature sponsor. The winner of the 2019 Pacific Military Youth of the Year will go on to Washington, D.C. in August to compete with other regional Military Youth of the Year finalists for the 2019 National Military Youth of the Year title. The winner receives a $20,000 scholarship and will serve as Boys & Girls Clubs of America's official advocate for military youth across the country and abroad. This year's media sponsor is San Diego Magazine, a lifestyle publication featuring the best of San Diego. The public is invited to purchase tickets for Pacific Military Youth of the Year. The event begins with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by dinner and program at 7 p.m. For sponsorship opportunities or to purchase tickets, contact Allison Krumholz at [email protected] or 818-605-6877 or visit milyoy.bgca.org







Event: Pacific Military Youth of the Year, Boys & Girls Clubs of America



Date: Thursday, July 11th, 2019



Time: 6:00 PM



Location: Hyatt Regency La Jolla

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 150 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, 4,300 Clubs serve 4 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Club programs promote academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at on Facebook and Twitter. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sony-electronics-inc-to-receive-champion-of-youth-honor-at-boys--girls-clubs-of-americas-annual-pacific-military-youth-of-the-year-celebration-in-san-diego-300808922.html SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Google is forcing people to use 2FA  what that means for you

Some Google users are being told they have to start using two-factor authentication by Nov. 9, and millions of others will follow by the end of the year. Here's what that means for you.
UPDATED April 12. 2019 with what actually did happen, which did involve some planes, and (hopefully finally) on Oct. 29, 2019, with the surprising news that some iPhones are belatedly affected. This story was originally published March 7, 2019.



Don't look now, but there's another Y2K-like computer-calendar problem on the way, and this one arrives on April 6, 2019.

(Image credit: Andrey Armyagov/Shutterstock)

That's the day millions of GPS receivers will literally run out of time, rolling over their time counters back to zero, thanks to limitations in timekeeping for older GPS devices. Many navigation systems may be affected, such as on ships or older aircraft, although your smartphone will be fine. (Or not -- see below.)

But because GPS satellites are also crucial to digital timekeeping used by websites, electrical grids, financial markets, data centers and computer networks, the effect of April 6 may be even more wide-ranging.

"I'm not going to be flying on April 6," said one information-security expert during a presentation at the RSA 2019 security conference in San Francisco this week.

MORE: 25 Things You Didn't Know Could Be Hacked

To be fair, this has happened once before, on Aug. 21, 1999, and planes didn't start crashing then. But today, we're much more dependent on GPS to time everything that happens on Earth down to the last nanosecond.

"The effects would be more widespread [today] because so many more systems have integrated GPS into their operations," said Bill Malik, a Trend Micro vice president who said he wouldn't fly April 6, in a private conversation with Tom's Guide.

"Ports load and unload containers automatically, using GPS to guide the cranes," Malik said. "Public-safety systems incorporate GPS systems, as do traffic-monitoring systems for bridges. Twenty years ago these links were primitive. Now they are embedded. So any impact now will be substantially greater."

Getting ready without making a fuss

Governments and GPS device makers do know about this and have quietly been trying to get everything patched. The Department of Homeland Security issued a memorandum in April 2018 warning "federal, state, local, and private sector organizations" to check with the manufacturers of their GPS devices and/or to update the firmware of their GPS devices before April 6. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has issued a similar memo.

FalTech GPS, a British company that makes GPS signal repeaters for indoor use, said in a blog post that "some GPS receivers, or other systems that utilize the date and time function, may not be able to cope."

"Financial markets, power generating companies, emergency services and industrial control systems may be affected, as well as fixed-line and cellular communications networks," the post continues. But it adds that "since this is the second time a GPS week rollover will occur, many manufacturers will have been aware of it in advance and newer receivers will continue through and beyond the rollover date without issue."

We reached out to Greg Milner, author of "Pinpoint: How GPS Is Changing Technology, Culture and Our Minds" (2017), which examines the history of GPS and its impact on society. (Disclosure: Milner is a longtime friend of this correspondent.)

"The last time this happened (1,024 weeks ago), there was very little disruption, so although many of the receivers in use today weren't around then, there shouldn't be many problems," Milner told us. "That includes aviation-grade receivers."

"This comes from talking to a few of the GPS security people I know, including real alarmists when it comes to GPS spoofing," he added.

The latest navigational systems for commercial passenger aircraft in North America are not vulnerable to this GPS bug. But older flight-management systems that use GPS, such as those used by older passenger planes, private aircraft and cargo planes, may well be.

Errors in GPS can tell aircraft (or cars or ships) that they're miles from where they actually are, or even that they're in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Nigeria, the "zero point" for GPS systems. (Most aircraft can also navigate using radio beacons from the ground, but that's hard to do over large stretches of open water.)

The heart of the problem

The problem lies in the way GPS devices and satellites calculate time. Starting with the date of January 6, 1980, GPS devices count weeks, and the counting was originally contained in a 10-bit number field in the GPS device software. Two to the tenth power is 1,024, meaning that all GPS devices can count up to about 19.7 years -- Aug. 21, 1999 when calculated from January 1980.

On that date, most GPS devices flipped the odometer and started counting from zero. But it's been another 19.7 years since August 1999, and it's time to start over again.

The U.S. Naval Observatory, which manages the Universal Time Code (UTC) for the U.S. government, has a brief PowerPoint presentation online warning that "UTC timing displayed and/or time tags of receiver data containing PNT [positioning, navigation and timing] information could jump by 19.7 years."

"Any month/year conversion could also fail," the Naval Observatory presentation added. "Navigation solution should be OK, but associated time tags could be incorrect thus still corrupting navigation data at the system level."

There's a bit more to worry about. Over the past 20 years, many individual GPS device and receiving-system manufacturers have restarted the clock on their own, usually to compensate for a device-specific error, and they could encounter time-rollover problems at any given in the next 20 years.

"The failure is not limited to April 6/7 2019," the U.S. Naval Observatory presentation says. "A common fix for week-number ambiguity [in some GPS devices and receivers] was to hard-code [a] new pivot date, which shifts [the April 6 rollover] event to [an] unknown date/time in future."

So that this doesn't happen again any time soon, GPS devices made in the past decade use 13 bits for the week counter, yielding a total of 8,192 weeks or 157 years. Those devices will not have to restart time until 2137, by which time our descendants will have created a whole new set of technological problems.

UPDATE: Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger, a New Hampshire-based science-fiction writer, Air Force veteran and former telecommunications network technician, reached out to us via Twitter to say that the link between GPS timing and telecom networks is not direct.

"Networks don't time off GPS," Bussjaeger said in a tweet. "They time off internal/master station clocks. Those clocks periodically synchronize off GPS."

In a further conversation, Bussjaeger told us he had monitored the 1999 GPS epoch rollover as part of his telecoms job, and that there was "not so much as a bit error" on the network clocks.

"The clocks used in telecoms can free-run for days," he said. "They're very stable. GPS timing is really just a backup to the backup."

During an epoch rollover, Bussjaeger said, "geolocation could glitch, but only momentarily, if at all. A GPS unit might have to reacquire the birds [satellites] to determine its location, but it's no worse than turning on a unit and waiting for it to acquire [the satellite signal] in the first place."

"Twenty years ago, we didn't have a problem," he added. "I rather expect that clocks are better, more stable now."

UPDATE: "I would say it's legitimate to be concerned," Brad Parkinson, the retired Air Force colonel and Stanford University professor who was the lead architect of GPS, told San Francisco's KPIX-TV in an interview published April 2.

"GPS affects everything we do," he said. "It affects timing, banking, cell towers, airplanes, ships, passengers in cars ... everything that we can imagine."

"If you're driving your car and it were to suddenly say you're in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, be very suspicious," he told KPIX-TV.

However, Parkinson added that most industries using GPS are prepared for the April 6 rollover. That sentiment was echoed by Tom Patterson, vice president and chief trust officer with information-technology giant Unisys, in a statement provided to Tom's Guide.

"Air travel is not a concern," Patterson said. "The airlines are up to date on the rollover and have everything patched and ready to go."

"Consumers shouldn't be concerned with the rollover if they have relatively new GPS devices," Patterson said. "If a device is more than a decade old, they should check with the manufacturer of the device to make sure they can test their system to see if it is vulnerable.

"The risk is that, in a blink of an eye, those devices could suddenly think it's 19.7 years in the future" -- or maybe the past -- "and in some cases that could cause problems."

ROLLOVER POST-MORTEM UPDATE: April 6, 2019, came and went, and, as in 1999, no planes fell out of the sky.

But several planes had to stay on the ground. China Aviation Review tweeted round a photo of what purports to be a cockpit console screen reading "22 AUG 1999," which you may remember was the date of the previous GPS rollover.

"Multiple Boeing 787s in China experienced GPS 20 years rollover issue. Some aircrafts have to be grounded waiting for an update," the tweet read.

We haven't been able to confirm that, although Sean Gallagher at Ars Technica did confirm that the Chinese flight in the photo was delayed by four and a half hours. We also saw a report from SimpleFlying.com that "at least 15" 787s in China were grounded as result of the rollover, and a Reddit thread that said a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Bogota on April 7 was grounded due to "something to do with the data being wrong."

But we can confirm that New York City's own government-use wireless network, NYCWiN, crashed at 7:59 p.m. Eastern time April 6, exactly when the GPS rollover took place, according to the New York Times.

"Elements of our private wireless network have been disrupted by a worldwide GPS system update," the city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications said on April 9 or 10, according to the New York Daily News.

NYCWiN uses "377 transmitters" spread out "over 300 square miles across five boroughs" to give city agencies, including the police, fire and transportation departments "real-time access to high-speed voice, video, and data communications," according to the description on the city's official website.

Since the system down during the rollover, traffic lights have not been able to sync up in order to maximize traffic flow, and police-car mounted cameras haven't been able to upload footage, according to the New York Post.

The city apparently pays Northrop Grumman, one of the country's premier defense contractors, about $37 million yearly to keep the system up and running. NYCWiN initially went online in 2009 and cost $500 million to build out.

"We are testing the equipment right now and expect to have NYCWiN back up this weekend," a city spokeswoman told the New York Post.

VERY LATE UPDATE: It turns out that at least some smartphones were affected after all. In late October 2019, Apple warned owners of iPhone 5 devices that they would need to update to iOS 10.3.4 by midnight, Nov. 3, universal time. (That's 8 p.m. on Nov. 2 in Eastern Daylight Time, and clocks switch to Eastern Standard Time at 2 a.m. Nov. 3.)

Otherwise, web browsing, iCloud, Apple Maps and other features and apps that use GPS would cease to function properly.

The GPS "start week" used by iOS 10.3.3 and earlier seems to be 30 weeks later than that of most devices, or at least Apple's support document implies.

Presumably, the iPhone 4s and earlier devices have the same problem. Unfortunately, they can't be upgraded to any version of iOS 10.
Huawei Mate X Has the Same Crease and Interface Problems as Galaxy Fold

The first generation is going to have this problem, but it may not be as bad as some want to portray it.
(Image credit: viewimage/Shutterstock)

Huawei is suing the U.S. government over a ban preventing federal agencies from purchasing its products. In its lawsuit filed Thursday local time, the company said the ban is unconstitutional because it violates its right to due process, which is enshrined by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

The ban was issued in August as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2018, (which also banned agencies from buying equipment from ZTE). Huawei claims the section of the NDAA related to the ban is a "bill of attainder" that violates its rights.

Essentially Huawei's argument is that because it was never presented the evidence against it or found guilty of a crime, the U.S. government didn't abide by the due process required by the U.S. Constitution. Now, it's up to a federal court to consider the case.

This lawsuit wouldn't threaten the NDAA itself--the court could simply invalidate the section related to the Huawei ban. If it did, the company would be able to negotiate with federal agencies to see if they want to purchase any of its networking equipment.

That seems unlikely, though, because governments around the world are banning Huawei's equipment from their networks entirely. Reports also indicated that U.S. President Donald Trump wanted to extend the ban from federal agencies to the U.S. at large.

The U.S. has also indicted Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou for allegedly skirting economic sanctions on Iran. Wanzhou was arrested in Canada in December 2018, and although she's currently suing the Canadian government for allegedly violating her right to due process (a theme here), she could still be extradited to the U.S.
Tax fighters consider a debate betwixt urban planners, out of town fanboys and other denizens even more easily fooled . . .
Kansas City Finance Uptick

Fed thinking about growing balance sheet again: K.C. Fed paper NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve is considering when to stop reducing bank reserves and start building up its balance sheet again, according to a paper from the Kansas City Fed released on Wednesday.

Dental Danger Impacts KC Youngsters

Teens get addicted to opioids after wisdom teeth removal. Insurers are cracking down KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Rock bottom for Anna came during one of her stints detoxing from opioids. "My dad lay next to my bed while I just shivered," she said. "I was like 110 pounds. Just not a good life at all. It's a pretty dark place."

Seen This Sleaze Scummit Crew???

Lee's Summit police ask for help identifying 3 people they say used stolen credit cards LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- Lee's Summit police released four photos Wednesday of three people they need help identifying. According to police, the two men and one woman allegedly stole credit cards from someone's vehicle then used the credit cards to make purchases.

Nearby Cloud Of Doom Update

2 companies indicted for allegedly creating toxic cloud in Atchison in 2016 More than 140 people sought help on Oct. 21, 2016, when a toxic cloud formed over Atchison.

Local High School Nasty Talk

Parents respond to Van Horn counselor charged in sex case INDEPENDENCE, MO (KCTV) -- Police say when they arrested Meghan Wells, they found a loaded gun in her purse. That's only part of what is bothering parents about the charges facing the former Van Horn High School counselor. Court documents state that Wells exchanged sexually explicit texts, photos and videos with a student younger than 17.

Dead-Tree Pays Vaporware Tribute

Tech Talk Double Take

T-Mobile's merger with Sprint is facing pushback from Democrats T-Mobile's push to merge with Sprint is facing government pushback from lawmakers. Last week, freshman congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) sent a letter to Department of Justice antitrust head Makan Delrahim and Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai outlining her opposition to the $26-billion deal.

Nice Save From Bus Driver Man

Alert Kansas City bus driver, good Samaritans help a freezing first grader alone at bus stop KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Seven-year-old Shawntele Gray likes riding her school bus from Hogan Elementary to her home in Kansas City. "It's fun and I have a lot of fun with my friends," said the first grader.

Airline Run Around

Alaska flight from Seattle to Kansas City diverts to Spokane for medical emergency UPDATE: Alaska Airlines tells KHQ that the captain of flight 738 wasn't feeling well which caused the plane to divert to Spokane. The captain was taken to the hospital once they landed safely. Officials say there is another pilot on their way from Seattle to take the plane to Kansas City.

Home Team Springs Forward

Get ready for 'School Day at the K' on May 2 KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The 21st annual School Day at the K, presented by Price Chopper and Bayer US "Making Science Make Sense," will be here before you know it. The day gets underway at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 2 prior to the Royals vs. Rays game.

Serving Weekend Good Times

All The Pancakes, All The Coffee & Other Weekend Possibilities I hope you're drinking coffee right now, as we have a lot of coffee news to get through this week. Go get some. I'll wait. Checks email. Signs up for Flatland's newsletter. Follows Flatland on Twitter. Just kidding, I follow Flatland and you do, too. Got a cup? Good. Let's go.

Confronting Local Beauty Dilemma

Metro woman blames popular procedure for serious eyebrow problems OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- A popular technique for shaping your eyebrow also has some serious risks. FOX4 Problem Solvers spoke with a woman who developed an infection that caused her to lose most of her eyebrows, and while the problem is rare, it can happen and there are ways to protect yourself.

Show-Me Cash For Roads

House budget plan includes $100M for Missouri road, bridge repairs JEFFERSON CITY, MO (AP) -- Missouri House budgeters are considering ditching Gov. Mike Parson's proposal to borrow $350 million for bridge repairs. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith on Wednesday instead recommended using existing funds to pay for road and bridge work.

Rock Chalk GOP Push Back

Kansas governor meets unexpected resistance to schools plan SOURCE: John Hanna Kansas' new Democratic governor is meeting unexpected resistance to her plan for boosting public education funding from local school districts that believe her proposal wouldn't supply enough new money.Gov. Laura Kelly touts her proposed increase of roughly $90 million a year as a simple way to comply with a Kansas Supreme Court mandate for an increase in education funding.

Talking Weed With Doc

Itching To Get Your Doctor's Approval For Medical Marijuana? Missouri Says Wait A Bit As Missouri moves toward implementing the voter-approved medical marijuana program, state officials on Wednesday warned potential patients to hold off on paying for a physician certification until June. At a public listening session on the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus, Kansas City physician Daniel Towle said there's been confusion surrounding state guidance on physician certifications.

BIG SLICE OF Kansas Cash

Judge: Kansas Must Refund Money to Ex-Pizza Hut Franchisee in Tax Dispute Wednesday, March 6th, 2019, by Kansas News Service A district court has ruled that Kansas should refund a former Pittsburg businessman nearly $50 million for income taxes the state said he owed after he'd moved away. From the Kansas News Service, Madeline Fox has more from Topeka.

Historic Tornado Destruction Endures

Two years ago: Oak Grove tornado's impact still felt today Hard to believe it's been a year. A year since a tornado ripped through Oak Grove and surrounding areas. A year since the community's strength and resolve...

Golden Ghetto Pavement Probs At Their Small Time Airport Emerge

Potholes are a problem for JoCo Executive Airport too KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Weeks of snow, ice, and bitter cold temperatures have made part of a Johnson County Executive Airport taxiway too dangerous to use due to potholes. The section shut down on the taxiway, which serves as a main route to the runway, stretches around 4,000 feet and contains dozens of potholes filled with stones and pebbles.

Imagine Kansas City Royals Good Times

What the Royals would look like if they were contenders this year Let's be real here: the Royals are going nowhere this year. Yes, they play in a weak division. But there are plenty of good American League teams to soak up the Wild Card spots, and one glance at the Cleveland Indians roster shows how huge of a gap there is between them.

Right now we've got A TON of local links worth sharing and overview for our blog community of local denizens and civic-minded readers. There's a lot to cover but this collection offers some local high points beyond the MSM happy news . . .And this is anotherfor right now . . .
The 2019 Geneva Motor Show is overflowing with new tech concepts, including this fresh entry in the crossover segment from Nissan . Its called the IMQ, and although were not really into the weird exterior styling, features like the torquey hybrid powertrain, futuristic interior, and intriguing tech ideas make it worth a look.

It doesnt really look all that great outside, but the interior and technology might redeem it LISTEN 04:11

A Face Only A Mother Could Love

The first thing to grab us about the 2019 Nissan IMQ Concept is the way it looks.

From the off, it definitely brings an exotic, tech-heavy vibe to play, and as the latest design work from the Japanese automaker, it promises to inform Nissans future crossover lineup in terms of aesthetic direction. However, were not really sold on it.

Sure, its got a lot of nice details. Up front is Nissans classic V-motion grille, while chrome details are mated with aerodynamic consideration from front to back. Dark lower sections offset the greyish silver paint, while boomerang taillights take up residency in the rear. The corners are stuffed with 22-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Bridgestone tires.

However, taking a step back, were really not into the style. Taken as a whole, the IMQ looks like some kind of pixelated graphic youd drive in an early 80s racing game set in the year 2020. The cuts are massive, and that front end is about as garish as they come. Paired with the low-slung roofline and weird lower body lines, and well, it just doesnt work for us.

Is This The Future Of Crossovers?

While we arent exactly fans of the 2019 Nissan IMQ Concepts exterior, we find the tech ideas its offering to be far more palatable

For example, the tires are equipped with a variety of sensors that provide the driver with data on tire load, tire pressure, tire temperature, grip level, and tire wear, all of which are quite useful.

The IMQ also provides a nod to Nissans powertrain future. Under the hood, the concept is equipped with a series hybrid powertrain under the e-Power family, which was developed from Japanese-market models like the Note and Serena. That means theres no plug, but rather it comes with a turbocharged 1.5-liter gas engine providing juice to a multi-motor all-wheel-drive system.

Total output is rated at 250 kW (335 horsepower) and 700 Nm (516 pound-feet) of torque. Thats a lot of twist for a crossover, and with the precise power delivery of a four-wheel electric motor setup, odds are youll be able to put it all to good use, no matter the road conditions.

The Interior Has Us Doing A Double Take

No doubt about it, our favorite part of the 2019 Nissan IMQ concept has to be the cabin space.

For starters, ingress and egress is made easier thanks to rear-hinged doors and the lack of a B-pillar. Once inside, youll find space to sit with four forward-facing captains chairs, which are upholstered with two-tone fabric in a geometric design, plus kumiko woodwork. Lamella material is added to the flooring and door trim, while a black metallic finish for the seat backs adds some tasty appeal.

Up front is a gliding wing instrument panel design beset with a huge digital screen readout. Smartphone-esque operation keeps things easy.

Further tech features include an advanced prototype of the Nissan ProPILOT autonomous drive tech, as well as Nissans Invisible-to-Visible technology for greater interactivity and augmented reality features. Finally, theres a Virtual Personal Assistant to help you with the various vehicle functions and navigation.

Some Good, Some Bad

Overall, we think Nissan is on the right track when it comes to its interior and tech, but the exterior could use a little more time in the oven. The more than 500 pound-feet of torque on tap also has our attention.

What do you think of the 2019 Nissan IMQ Concept? Let us know in the comments section below.

Further Reading

Nissans Geneva-Bound IMQ Concept Is A Hideous Mutant

Will Futuristic Nissan IMS EC Sport Sedan Concept Save Sedans?

Read more details about the 2019 Nissan IMs concept.

429 horsepower

Read our full review on the 2017 Nissan IMx.
SsangYong is launching its all-new Korando - the fourth generation to carry the name, and follows on from the SIV-2 design concept first seen at the Geneva motor show in 2016. It will go on sale across Europe from mid-2019, with an EV based on the e-SIV concept to follow.

Commented Johng-sik Choi, CEO of SsangYong Motor Company www.smotor.com/en This new Korando is further proof of the quantum change in direction that SsangYong has embarked on, and exemplifies this through contemporary design, state-of-the-art technology, the latest in safety, and new power options which will soon include electrification.

This revolution in our product philosophy was first evident in Tivoli, followed by Tivoli XLV, Rexton and then the Musso pick-up, and at each launch the media commented positively on the remarkable step changes the brand was making.

Now we are going even further, with an all-new product which we believe will compete head-on with anything currently available in the mainstream SUV C-segment, yet will beat them all on value!

The essential elements that differentiate the new SsangYong Korando

Form and function - contemporary style meets pure practicality

All new distinctive style externally

Contemporary yet highly practical

Longer, wider, lower and with a longer wheelbase than the previous Korando

Spacious - better head-room and rear seat space than its nearest competitors

High-tech premium feel interior

High levels of safety

Seven airbags including drivers knee airbag

Advanced emergency braking system (AEBS) with camera and radar

Lane keep assist

Front vehicle start alert

High beam assist

Safety distance alert

Driver attention alert

Intelligent adaptive cruise control

Blind spot detection and rear cross traffic alert

Connectivity & technology

Apple CarPlay

Google Android Auto

On-screen options

Navigation map linked to instrument cluster for ease of viewing

Instrument graphics, text and audible messages can be personalised to driver preferences

The power to deliver

New 1.5 litre petrol GDI-turbo engine

Updated 1.6 litre diesel engine

EV to follow

Heritage & value

Draws on SsangYongs deep experience of building SUVs and 4x4 vehicles for 65 years

Comprehensively equipped

Competitive pricing from launch

Industry leading warranty

The Korando SUV has been completely revised for 2019 with an all-new contemporary exterior design, a refined, premium quality and spacious interior, enhanced driver assistance and safety systems, plus state-of-the-art connectivity.

The car sports a new-look throughout which has been designed to maximise its robust character with a distinctive new grille and headlight treatment at the front.

The new Korando SUV is designed for families seeking an active lifestyle, and will appeal to those requiring a car that can handle the rough and tumble of family life, with sector leading interior space for growing children, and generous boot space for all their leisure equipment and daily needs.

The car will go on sale in Korea shortly, with European sales set to commence from mid-2019.

Form and function - contemporary style meets pure practicality

With an all-new and distinctive style externally, the front aspect draws on the new SsangYong-look but with strongly sculptured side lines.

While this highly contemporary look is designed to appeal to a younger customer profile, the extremely practical design will appeal to all ages.

Longer, wider and lower than the car it replaces, the new Korando measures 4,452mm long, 1,870mm wide and 1,620mm high, and with a wheelbase of 2,675mm, one of the longest in its class for increased comfort. Luggage capacity ranges from 551 litres with all seats in position, up to a huge 1,248 litres with the rear seats folded.

Inside, the spacious interior provides better head-room and rear seat space than its competitors, with a high-tech premium feel interior. It is also driver-orientated with a range of features such a 9 AVN (audio visual navigation) screen and 10.25 full colour LCD cluster dual navigation to provide all the information needed, and four-way adjustable seat with lumber support for comfort. Meanwhile passengers also benefit from features such as colour changeable ambient lighting, and doors that are designed to cover the sills along the lower part of the body to ensure they dont pick up dirt from the side of the car when getting in and out.

High levels of safety

Thanks to a comprehensive suite of passive and active aids including all the latest features technology can provide, and with multiple airbags including a drivers knee airbag, Korando will be one of the safest cars in its segment.

The advanced driver assistance and safety systems featured on Korando include advanced emergency braking system (AEBS) supplemented with a camera and radar, lane keep assist, vehicle ahead moving alert, safe distance and driver alerts, intelligent and adaptive cruise control and high beam assistance. It also features blind spot detection, lane keep assist and rear cross traffic alert with automatic brake activation linked to all three if the driver doesnt apply the brakes first.

Connectivity & technology

With one of the most contemporary interiors, and with its wide and easily accessible dashboard, the new Korando bristles with the very latest in-car technology and connectivity such as Apple CarPlay, Google Android Auto and a Tom Tom sat nav system that appears on the main screen and within the instrument cluster for safe viewing.

The power to deliver

The car will be offered with the option of two Euro 6d engines from launch, an all-new 1.5 litre petrol GDI-turbo engine, and an updated 1.6 litre diesel engine. An EV is planned to follow in due course.

The new smooth running 1.5 litre petrol GDI-turbo engine displaces 1,497cc, and delivers maximum power of 163PS at 5,500rpm and a maximum torque of 280Nm at 1,500-4,500rpm, with a CO2 of 146g/km. (Target EU figure for the two wheel drive car with manual transmission).

The highly economical, powerful and clean 1.6 litre diesel engine displaces 1,597cc, delivering a maximum power of 136PS at 4,000rpm and a maximum torque of 324Nm at 1,500rpm for the automatic model, with a CO2 of 115g/km. (Target EU figure for the two wheel drive car with manual transmission).

The 1.6 litre diesel with automatic will offer an impressive 2-tonne towing capacity, or 1.5-tonne with the other engines and transmissions. Both engines will be offered with an automatic stop/start feature on two-wheel drive models with 6-speed manual and 6-speed AISIN automatic transmission.

Heritage & value

SsangYong has been designing and manufacturing SUVs and 4x4 vehicles for 65 years, and this fourth generation Korando benefits significantly from that deep experience.

Embarking on a new and much more contemporary design language first seen with the Tivoli in 2015, Korando embraces this new design look making it fit for the modern day, while drawing heavily on the brands experience of making well engineered, robust and reliable vehicles.

As befits the brand experience, it is also comprehensively equipped with items that most other brands charge as extras. It will offer unparalleled value when launched, and covered by an industry leading 7-year/150,000mile warranty for customer reassurance.
Tourexpi, turizm haberleri, Reiseburos, tourism news, noticias de turismo, Tourismus Nachrichten,  , travel tourism news, international tourism news, Urlaub, urlaub in der turkei,  , holidays in Turkey,   , global tourism news, dunya turizm, dunya turizm haberleri, Seyahat Acentas,

This site is best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+, at a minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768.
Dudhwa National Park

Dudhwa National Park or the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve residing the areas of Lakhimpur & Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, lying adjacent to the Indo-Nepal border bringing together two most incredible sanctuaries of the area namely, Kishanpur and Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuaries to represent the excellent natural forests and greenery along the Terai region. Quite impressively, the northern boundary of the park is being constituted by the Mohana River flowing along the Indo-Nepal border whilst the Southern boundary is formed by the river Suheli. The Kishanpur Sanctuary lies in the Lakhimpur- Kheri and Shahajahanpur districts in Uttar Pradesh.

Spreading across an expanse of 811 sq km beholding the nature lovers with marshes, grasslands and dense forests, the area is actually meant for tremendous counts of Swamp Deer and Tigers species. The area of the Park is composed of a vast alluvial plain along the tributaries of Mohana and Suheli, interspersed with numerous rivulets, lakes and pools. The rich and extremely fertile Indo-Gangetic plains support a flamboyant growth of forests diversity of fauna. The park has some of the best forests of 'Sal' tree in the world, amongst other flora; and is a virtual unexplored paradise for nature lovers, wildlife enthusiasts and bird watchers.

Dudhwa attracts the visitors with its two core area as Dudhwa National Park and Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary which are separated by each other with an area of 15 kms agricultural land. Unlike other celebrity parks of India like Corbett, Kaziranga, Bandhavgarh etc, the uncommercialized ambience of this park makes it an ideal habitat for the wild creatures to find nature's serenity & comfortability in a more natural way.

History

The Post-Independence era witnessed tremendous encroachment towards the Dudhwa jungle. As a result the forest was converted in an agricultural land. Additionally, due to its location on the Indo-Nepal border the chances of poaching and hunting enhanced to greater extent and the trading of the wild animals increased to a massive extent who sell their products in Nepal, which being a tourist place gives them a huge market for these things. It was the perfect money-making place for the poachers but it was "Billy" Arjan Singh whose single handed efforts made this park to reach at its richness. The great conservationist initiated an idea of converting this land into a wildlife sanctuary in the year 1965 and thus received a lot of appraisal from the wildlife conservationists and wildlife lovers across the world. In 1977, Arjan Singh approached the erstwhile prime minister, Indira Gandhi to declare the forest as a National park. In 1984-85, seven rhinos were relocated from Assam and Nepal to Dudhwa to rehabilitate a rhino population which lived here 150 years ago. Four years later, it was declared a Tiger Reserve under the Project Tiger and currently is a major habitat for tigers in India.

Wildlife

Dudhwa being spread over an expanse of approximately 811 sq km of marshes, grasslands and dense forests, is an ideal and protected home for over 38 species of mammals, 16 species of reptiles and numerous species of birds.

Tiger, Rhinoceros, Swamp deer, Elephant, Sambar, Hog deer, Cheetal, Kakar, Wild pig, Rhesus monkey, Langur, Sloth bear, Blue bull, Porcupine, Otter, Turtles, Python, Monitor lizard, Mugger, Gharial etc.

Of the nearly 1300 birds found in the Indian subcontinent, over 450 species can be seen in Dudhwa Reserve. These include Hornbill, Red Jungle Fowl, Pea fowl, Bengal Florican, Fishing eagle, Bengal Florican, Serpent eagle, Osprey, Paradise flycatcher, Woodpeckers, Shama, Indian Pitta, Orioles, Emerald dove etc. During winter the vastand varied water bodies attract a large variety and number of migratory birds making the reserve a favorite haunt of bird watchers.

Flora of Dudhwa

Dudhwa Reserve represents some of the best natural forests and grasslands left in the Terai district of Uttar Pradesh. The vegetation is of the North Indian Moist Deciduous type, containing some of the finest examples of Sal forests (Shorea robusta) in India, as well the most extensive tracts of moist grasslands that remain in this region.

Attractions in Dudhwa

Frog Temple : From Dudhwa national Park, the tourists can make a fine excursion towards the unique Frog Temple at Oel town which is 12 kms from Lakhimpur on the route from Lakhimpur to Sitapur. This is one of its kind of temple based on the Maduk Tantra and was built by the former king of Oel state during 1860-1870. The temple is actually dedicated to Lord Shiva and is believed to be built on the back of a large frog. The Temple is constructed within an octagonal lotus. The Shivling installed in the temple was brought from the Banasur Prati Narmdeshwar Narmada Kund. The architecture of this temple is based on Tantra Vidya with its main gate opening in the east and another gate in the south as an exit.

Surat Bhawan Palace : Built in 1894, the Surat Bhawan Palace near Dudhwa National Park is made in Indo-Sarasenic style and is composed of ten bedrooms, one large dining room with pantry and two lounges. The palace set in a large green, nine acre retreat is eight kms away from the park with its eastern entrance facing the reserve.

Excursions

Lucknow - the city of the nawabs is the most visited place for the tourists coming to Dudhwa Reserve where the tourists can find multiple attractions in the name of Bara Imambara, Chattar Manzil, Jama Masjid, Rumi Darwaza, Moti Mahal and much more. The main hub of multiple facets of industries Lucknow is best known for the ancient historical importance.

Safari in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve

Safari in Dudhwa is the best option for the wildlife lovers to catch the amazing species of the dense ambience. Jeep safari in Dudhwa could prove as the perfect option for a wildlife safari. But for the sake of information and convenience, it is to remind that the forest officials do not provide any jeep safari or guides for assistance. One has to arrange privately for safari conveyance. Elephant rides through the Park are also offered and the mahouts or Elephant drivers also act as guides.

Safari Timing : - Daily jeep safaris in Open 4WD safari vehicles, 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM.

Park Opening Time : (Nov till May) the best time to visit the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve is from February to April. You can also visit during mid November to mid June.

Other activities to be enjoyed in the park:

Guided jungle walks

Elephant safari

Bird Watching in the area

Tribal village walk

Excursion to Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary

Travel Information

By Air : Lucknow is the nearest airport at a distance of 238 km.

By Rail : Dudhwa Railway station at a distance of 4 kms is the nearest railhead. It is well- connected to Lucknow and Nainital via Mailani (37 km.) on the metre gauge. Another option is to undertake a 301 km. journey from Delhi to Shahjahanpur by rail, and then proceed by road to Dudhwa, which is another 107 km.

By Road : The nearest town is Palia at a distance of 5 kilometers which is linked to Lucknow directly from the distance of 238 km. UPSRTC and private buses ply between Palia and Lakhimpur-Kheri, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly (260 km.) and Delhi (430 km).

Hotels in/around Dudhwa Tiger Reserve

Dudhwa Reserve which is quite closer to the city of the Nawabs- Lucknow provides the ample amount of reasons for staying at this region. The other major attractions also allure the tourists to spread their magnanimous moods during their stay at this region. And the provision of different hotels & resorts make the journey more wonderful at its excellent level. Not so far away from the city's crowd, the accommodation options are accosted with beneficiary services and luxury amenities. Find the best one that suits your needs and enhances your pleasure during your stay in the Dudhwa Reserve area.
Ethiopian Airlines, Africas Largest Airline Group and SKYTRAX Certified Four Star Global Airline, is pleased to announce that they will be celebrating International Womens Day by operating an All Women Functioned Flight on Addis Ababa  Stockholm - Oslo route on March 08, 2019.



(TRAVPR.COM) UK - March 6th, 2019 -

ETHIOPIAN TO OPERATE ALL-WOMEN FUNCTIONED FLIGHT TO OSLO ON INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY

Ethiopian Airlines, Africas Largest Airline Group and SKYTRAX Certified Four Star Global Airline, is pleased to announce that they will be celebrating International Womens Day by operating an All Women Functioned Flight on Addis Ababa  Stockholm - Oslo route on March 08, 2019.

The all women functioned flight will operate from the continent of African to meet with their counterparts in Europe to show the power of women to the world.

The historical flight will be operated by Ethiopian Airlines women professionals from flight deck all the way to the ground including airport operations, flight dispatch, load control, ramp operation, on-board logistics, safety and security, catering as well as air traffic control, which will be carried out entirely by women.

Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, remarked, We are immensely honoured that we have women trailblazers in every aspect of our aviation field. Women have been an integral part of our success story from the start and with this dedicated flight we honour and celebrate their indispensable contribution to our aviation Group and the broader aviation industry, our country and the continent at large.

Although women are Africas greatest resource, gender inequality still persists in our continent. Therefore, we all need to ensure that women take their right position in all human endeavour by creating the right conditions through all-inclusive engagements models.

Ethiopian operates five weekly flights to Oslo, Norway via Stockholm with ultra - modern Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

In the past few years, to mark this occasion, Ethiopian Airlines has operated four other flights to Bangkok, Kigali, Lagos, and Buenos Aires, which were operated by women aviation professionals.

End.

Images - Contact adele@smallworldmarketing.co.uk

About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its seventy plus years of operation, Ethiopian has become one of the continents leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.

Ethiopian commands the lions share of the Pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 119 international passenger and cargo destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as Airbus A350, Boeing 787-8, Boeing 787-9, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, Bombardier Q-400 double cabin with an average fleet age of five years. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft. Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with Six business centers: Ethiopian International Services; Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services; Ethiopian MRO Services; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian ADD Hub Ground Services and Ethiopian Airports Services. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.

For more information about this press release, please contact:

Adele Cutler at Small World Marketing

e: adele@smallworldmarketing.co.uk T: 0845 634 1460 M: 07976 578988

www.ethiopianairlines.com

www.facebook.com/ethiopianairlines

www.twitter.com/flyethiopian

###
Found in some of the most inhospitable latitudes on Earth, it's no wonder these mysterious creatures remained undescribed by science for so long.

In 1955, a group of 17 animals was found stranded on the coast of Paraparaumu, New Zealand. While they looked like killer whales, they were decidedly different. Their heads were rounder and sported a tiny white eyepatch, and they had a narrow and more pointed dorsal fin. Scientists had never described a species like this before ... and thus, the mystery began.

Researchers speculated that the unusual creatures might have been a genetic aberration from regular killer whales  which despite their name, are actually from the dolphin family.

Fast-forward to 2005, and a French scientist showed some photographs to Bob Pitman, a researcher from NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California. The images revealed some odd-looking killer whales that had been seen pilfering fish from commercial fishing lines in the southern Indian Ocean. Notably, they had the same unique eye patches and rounded heads.

Type D Killer Whales



Now, an international team of scientists has seen the animals  referred to as Type D killer whales  in action and believe that it is indeed a species thus far undescribed by science. After waiting out the perpetual storms of Cape Horn off southern Chile, the expedition was able to collect three biopsy samples, tiny bits of skin taken from the whales with a crossbow dart. The samples will be analyzed to confirm the new species.

Uko Gorter CC BY 2.0

Top: Adult male 'regular' killer whale - note size of white eye patch, less rounded head and dorsal fin shape. Bottom: Adult male Type D killer whale - note tiny eye patch, more rounded head, and more narrow, pointed dorsal fin.

"We are very excited about the genetic analyses to come. Type D killer whales could be the largest undescribed animal left on the planet and a clear indication of how little we know about life in our oceans," said Pitman.

Tourism Led to Discovery



Interestingly, some accidental citizen science helped with the breakthrough. With increased tourism in Antarctica, there has been a flood of wildlife photography from the once seldom-visited area. Pitman and his team began to collect killer whale images from the Southern Ocean, including from tour vessels. Occasionally, one of the Type Ds would show up.

"In 2010, Pitman and colleagues published a paper in the scientific journal Polar Biology describing the Type D killer whales. They included photos from each encounter and a map of the sighting locations," notes NOAA.

Possibly the Last Large Undescribed Animal



Based on all the information that had been collected, the expedition was launched. And even though the vessel, Australis, had to wait out more than a week of storms, their encounter with a pod of the elusive creatures was clearly worth it.

As more species seem to be increasingly spiraling toward extinction, it's heartening to know that the ocean is home to more mysteries than we will ever know. While Pitman says this might be the largest undescribed animal left on the planet, I'm guessing there's a whole world of creatures in the sea that we can barely fathom. For now, it's nice that an unknown killer whale with a tiny eyepatch can remind us of that.
HAMILTON  Democrats have formally endorsed Hamilton Council President Jeff Martins 2019 mayoral campaign and also selected preferred candidates to run for town council at a recent committee meeting.

Hamiltons Democratic committeepersons and officeholders voted Monday night to officially support sheriffs officer Pasquale Pat Papero and public school teacher Nancy Phillips as 2019 Hamilton Council candidates.

Martin, a U.S. Air Force veteran, won election to Hamilton Council in 2017 but now has his eyes on the mayors seat as he looks forward to helping Democrats potentially increase their majority control over the towns legislative body.

I could not be happier to start the campaign with Pat and Nancy, Martin said Tuesday in a press statement. They are two professionals who share the same vision for Hamilton: A focus on economic redevelopment, improved public safety, and stabilized taxes.

Papero is a Mercer County sheriffs officer who has served in that capacity since December 2001. He was previously named Officer of the Year 2017 and serves as an expert K-9 handler.

I am excited to work with Jeff and Nancy as we reach out to the people of Hamilton, said Papero, a married father of two. I believe people are ready for new ideas and a renewed commitment to listening to the concerns and issues Hamiltonians are facing today.

Phillips, a New Jersey public educator since 2004, works as a sixth-grade social studies teacher in the South Brunswick School District. She is a married mother of two, which includes a child diagnosed with a challenging rare disease.

I know what its like to fight against a large institution that doesnt care for the people they serve; I have fought against insurance companies for my daughters and others like her and will fight just as hard for Hamilton taxpayers, Phillips said Tuesday in a press statement. We need a change in the way elected officials serve the people of this town, and I am ready to run.

Barbara Plumeri, chairwoman of the Hamilton Democratic Municipal Committee, expressed strong support for the 2019 Democratic trio of Martin, Papero and Phillips.

These candidates represent the growing strength of the Democratic Party in Hamilton Township, Plumeri said Tuesday in a news release announcing the results of Mondays municipal committee endorsement meeting at the Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall.

JoAnne Bruno, president of the Hamilton Democratic Club, previously expressed interest in running for Hamilton Council this year and on Wednesday expressed disappointment in the partys endorsement vote outcome.

The jury is still out on what I am going to do, said Bruno, who still has the option to run against Papero and Phillips in Junes Democratic primary election. I am in the community, I belong to all of these organizations, and I get passed over after I do all this work?

I am very disheartened with how I have been treated by the party, Bruno said Wednesday in an interview. I am not ruling out anything. I have a couple of options.

Bruno, a retired school teacher, ran unsuccessfully for Hamilton Council in 2015. She fell 500 votes short of unseating Republican Councilwoman Ileana Schirmer, who won re-election that year with 8,643 votes.

While Bruno has hard feelings concerning the selection process, she remains committed to the Democratic Party and describes Papero and Phillips as very nice people.

I wish the candidates the best, she said. I will continue to work for the Democratic Party. I am a lifelong Democrat. Thats my core values.

Hamilton resident Joe Fabrizi, a Democrat and local WBCB 1490 AM radio host, said he was not really surprised with Martin, Papero and Phillips receiving the partys endorsement.

JoAnne Bruno, I understand she came very close to securing endorsement for a council seat, said Fabrizi, who did not attend Mondays endorsement meeting. I am not really surprised over the outcome. The selection process in both parties leaves a lot to be desired, not just Democrats but Republicans as well.

Hamiltons Republican Mayor Kelly Yaede and GOP Councilman Ralph Mastrangelo are expected to seek re-election this year. Councilwoman Schirmer may also run for re-election, although Hamilton GOP bigwigs want Schirmer to be replaced with a more preferred candidate.

The Republican slate of Yaede, Schirmer and Mastrangelo emerged victorious in 2015, but the councilwoman since then has become a huge Yaede administration critic while the township GOP has become divided with the advent of an alternative GOP organization, Republicans for a Better Hamilton.

Hamilton Council is currently governed by three Democrats and two Republicans. Martin, an attorney by profession, is simultaneously serving as the council president and Democratic mayoral candidate. He is married to Scarlett Rajski, a state worker with close ties to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphys administration.
Situated in the Binh Duong province of Vietnam, it denotes a very significant first for Tata Coffee. This is the Companys third manufacturing plant, after Theni and Toopran in India and is the first one to be set up at an off-shore location. The Grand Opening ceremony was attended by the Party Secrectary of Binh Duong Provice, Chairman of Binh Duong People's committee, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam, Consulate General of India to Vietnam, Tata Coffee Board of Directors, MD & CEO of Tata Global Beverages, Leadership of Tata Sons, Key stake holders, representatives from VSIP and other dignitaries from Binh Duong province.

Along with the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), Tata Coffee Vietnam Company Limited hosted the ceremony at VSIP II Binh Duong. This 5000 MTPA plant has been set up within 19 months from its Ground-Breaking Ceremony (August 16, 2017). The Factory has had an exemplary safety record completing almost a million-man hours construction and commissioning work with zero harm. The site is certified for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and is expecting BRC (British Retail Consortium) shortly.

Tata Coffee Vietnam is uniquely positioned to work closely with customers to develop exclusive blends at its pilot plant.

Sanjiv Sarin, Managing Director & CEO of Tata Coffee Ltd., said, The Tata group already has a close relationship with Vietnam in various sectors - including automobiles, steel, trading, energy and watches. While our products are already exported to over 40 countries across the globe, our Instant Coffee has so far been produced only in India. Globally Freeze Dried Coffee is a growing segment and Tata Coffee Vietnam marks our first foray beyond Indian shores as a manufacturer of premium Freeze-Dried Coffee and is a significant milestone in our journey to becoming a global coffee major. Tata Coffee Vietnam will endeavor to bring best in class manufacturing, with a focus on sustainability and safety.

Tata Coffee Vietnam will contribute positively to Vietnam through foreign exchange earnings and creating local employment

Tata Coffee is a subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages Ltd and part of the Tata Group. It is Asias largest coffee plantation company and one of the largest exporter of instant coffee in the country. The Company produces more than 10,000 MT of shade grown Arabica and Robusta coffees at its 19 estates in South India and its two Instant Coffee manufacturing facilities have a combined installed capacity of 8400 metric tonnes. The Instant coffee is exported to reputed customers in 40 countries globally. It exports green coffee to countries in Europe, Asia, Middle East and North America. Tata Coffees farms are triple certified: Utz, Rainforest Alliance and SA 8000 reinforcing its commitment to the people and the environment.
laxmi@tribune.com

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 6

The exports of perishable commodities, especially fruits and vegetables from Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, to other countries are likely to get a shot in the arm with the commencement of cold chain facilities at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar and Chandigarh International Airport, benefitting the farming community.

The facility at Amritsar airport will be functional by June this year while it will be operational in Chandigarh by December. Currently, in the absence of cold chain infrastructure at these airports, exporters are either discouraged or compelled to export the consignments from Delhi, leading to high transportation costs.

The cold chain facility at Amritsar airport has been in operation since 2013 and was maintained and operated by Punjab Agri Export Corporation Ltd (PAGREXO). However, the facility was discontinued in 2014, thus affecting the exports for over years.

The cold chain facility at the Amritsar airport has not been operational since 2014. The infrastructure is in dire straits. AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Company Services Ltd (AAICLAS), a subsidiary of the Airports Authority of India, has already signed an MoU with the Punjab government for the operation and maintenance of cargo terminal at Amritsar airport. As per the MoU, the AAI will operate and manage the Centre for Perishable Cargo or cold chain facility at the airport, said a senior AAI official.

Soon, we will float a tender for refurbishing the facility and in the next couple of months, it will be operational commercially, he said. The facility has a storage capacity to handle 80 metric tonnes of perishable cargo. The move will boost agricultural exports from Punjab and neighbouring states.

According to estimates, around 30% of the cargo originating from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan are handled at the IGI Airport in Delhi. According to airport officials, the opening of cold chain facilities at Amritsar airport will not only decongest Delhi airport but would offer a better, economical and an efficient alternative to the exporters, thereby benefitting the farmers.

The air cargo development at Chandigarh will be a major breakthrough in connectivity scenario of the region. lt will boost agriculture exports of Punjab and neighbouring states.

The Chandigarh cargo terminal will be operational by the end of this year, said Rajat Agarwal, CEO, Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion.
laxmi@tribune.com

Mumbai, March 6

Birla group flagship Grasim Industries has signed an agreement to acquire Soktas India from its Turkish promoters for Rs 165 crore.

Soktas is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Turkish firm Soktas Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret which produces and markets premium fabrics and has its main facilities at Soke in the Mediterranean country.

With a plant at Kolhapur in Maharashtra, Soktas manufactures and distributes premium cotton fabrics in the country and markets its fabrics under the brand names of Soktas, Giza House and Excellence by Soktas.

The acquisition is in line with our linen business strategy to strengthen our presence in the premium fabric market. It further strengthens our leadership in the premium cotton and linen fabrics market in the country, Aditya Birla groups business head for textiles Thomas Varghese said.

The company will fund the entire transaction primarily from internal accruals.

The deal involves acquisition of 100% stake of the Turkish company.

The deal will be subject to net debt and working capital adjustments, as of the closing date and also after getting all regulatory approvals, the statement added.

We look forward to the ongoing success of our brands in the Subcontinent and beyond, Soktas Tekstil chairman Muharrem Kayhan said in the statement.  PTI
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Tokyo, March 7

Toyota Europes CEO has warned the firm could end production in Britain by 2023 if the country exits the European Union without a deal, the Nikkei business daily said Thursday.

Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, Johan van Zyl told reporters that if the business environment becomes very, very difficult to operate, a withdrawal should be on the agenda as well, the Nikkei said.

He also raised other less drastic possibilities, including scaling back production or investment, the daily said.

A Toyota spokesman confirmed van Zyls comments.

In the exchange of questions and answers with Japanese reporters there, he replied to a question on whether future withdrawal from the business in the UK is possible, saying it is an option, in general terms, the spokesman told AFP.

Of course we have to compete and the business environment is important, the spokesman added.

But he stressed that Toyotas position on Brexit was unchanged, namely that a hard landing is not desirable. But we dont know what will happen and nothings been decided yet, he said.

The reported 2023 date is related to the firms production cycle.

Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29, but months of negotiations on a deal to govern post-Brexit ties have so far failed.

The British parliament is due to vote next week on a final version of a proposed exit deal. But if MPs again reject it, they will then vote on whether to leave with no deal or delay Brexit.

Toyota employs more than 3,000 people at its two plants in Britain, which include a motor making factory in Wales.

Last month, Honda announced it would shut a major plant in Britain, putting 3,500 jobs at risk and becoming the latest Japanese firm to downsize operations as Brexit looms.

The firms president insisted the move was not related to Brexit, but analysts said while the downsizing had been long in the works, the timing of the decision was almost certainly linked to concerns about Britain crashing out of the EU.

Japanese firms Sony, Panasonic and Hitachi are also scaling back operations in Britain ahead of the countrys departure from the European Union.  AFP
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 6

A 24-year-old youth, a former student leader who was recently selected in the Haryana Police, was shot dead, while three others were seriously injured after a group of six youths barged into their rented flat in Sector 49 and opened fire on them this morning. The incident is said to be a fallout of an old rivalry between the two groups.

The victim who was shot dead has been identified as Vishal Chhillar, a native of Rewari, Haryana, while the injured are Pankaj, Ashish and Meghal, who received blunt injuries.

Sources said Vishal, a former student of DAV College, Sector 10, had arrived in the city to celebrate his selection in the Haryana Police. Vishal threw a party for his friends at the CHB flat. There were a few other people in the flat at the time of the incident.

The sources said the suspects were aware that Vishal was in the flat following which they arrived there around 6.50 am.

One of the persons, who was inside the flat at the time of the incident, said two of the suspects were carrying pistols, while the remaining were armed with sharp weapons.

The miscreants shot Vishal, while the remaining three victims were attacked with sharp weapons.

The police received information about the incident around 7 am. They took the injured to the GMCH-32, while Vishal was rushed to the PGI, where doctors declared him brought dead.

A team of the CFSL also visited the spot.

The police said all suspects had been identified and a murder case registered against them at the Sector 49 police station. Police teams are conducting raids in neighbouring states to nab the suspects, the police said.

Flats rented out sans police verification

Residents of CHB Colony, Sector 49, claimed that many flats in the colony had been rented out to youths by flat owners without getting the mandatory police verification done. Youngsters disturbing other residents by causing noise pollution is common, said a resident.

Police visited flat twice on Tuesday night

The police had visited the flat twice on Tuesday night following a complaint of noise pollution by residents. The police asked all persons at the flat to maintain peace and left after issuing them a warning.

Suspects believed to be members of INSO

In college, Vishal was a member of the Hindustan Student Association (HSA). He later left the HSA and joined INSO. Vishal remained the president of INSO at DAV College. Vishal later had some issue with INSO members after which he started staying with members of the HSA. A few days ago, he also had a fight with the suspects, who are said to be INSO members.

SUV vandalised, police see a link

An SUV (in pic) parked outside a house in Sector 15 was also vandalised by a few youths on Tuesday evening. Sources said four youths arrived and smashed the windscreen and windowpanes of the Fortuner, owned by a youth hailing from Haryana. The police suspect the incident has some link with the dispute between the two groups.

Power struggle behind crime?

The UT police suspect a dispute over power struggle in a student outfit at DAV College is behind the incident.

Sources said Vishal had a dispute with Sudeep Pahal, one of the suspects, over the control of student outfit INSO at DAV College. The rivalry between Vishal and Sudeep turned ugly in the past few months.

CCTV footage shows i20 car, six youths

The police have scrutinised the footage of CCTV cameras installed outside flats. A white i20 car and six youths running towards the car after committing the crime have been recorded in one of the cameras installed outside a flat a few blocks away from the flat where the incident took place.

Victim shot in the chest, stomach

The victim, Vishal Chhillar, was shot in his chest and stomach. The police said it was yet to be confirmed as to how many bullets were fired at the victim.
G Parthasarathy

G Parthasarathy

Former diplomat

After the precision air strike by the IAF on Balakot in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, public attention in India is now focused on bringing JeM leaders, including Masood Azhar, to justice. Ironically, Azhar would not have been such a threat today if we had not cravenly released him after being blackmailed during the Kandahar hijacking of IC 814. Those then released included Omar Syed Sheikh, who funded the 9/11 hijackers in the US and murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl.

The mass killing of Indians in terrorist strikes organised by the ISI has been a continuing feature of Pakistans policy since the 1993 Mumbai blasts. People seem to forget that 253 people were killed and 713 injured in the blasts. These killings were organised by the then ISI chief, Lt Gen Javed Nasir, who enjoyed Nawaz Sharifs patronage for years. The mastermind of the 1993 blasts, Dawood Ibrahim, lives under heavy security protection in the elite locality of Clifton in Karachi. There is conclusive evidence that the attack on Indias Parliament in 2001 was organised by Masood Azhars JeM. A former ISI chief, Lt Gen Javed Akhtar, admitted this in 2004, in Pakistans Parliament. As many as 527 Indian soldiers had been killed and 453 wounded in the 1999 Kargil conflict.

When the JeM thereafter briefly receded into the background, the ISI-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba mounted yet another attack on November 26, 2008, on Mumbai, killing 139 Indians and injuring 256. This received huge international attention, as the casualties included citizens of countries like the US, the UK, France, Germany and Israel. Yet, within a few months, we were back to a composite dialogue with Pakistan after the Sharm El Sheikh Summit, where the focus of attention was not the 26/11 terror strike on Mumbai, but unfounded allegations of Indian involvement in the freedom struggle in Balochistan! Sadly, this was a manifestation of Indian diplomacy at its worst.

The Balakot air strike was marked by the use of precision-guided Israeli Spice 2000 bombs that function with deadly accuracy. There is now conclusive evidence that the target was a JeM madrasa, which was badly damaged. Hundreds of jihadis, preparing for martyrdom in J&K, were trained in Balakot. Our government would, however, have been better advised, if unverified claims of hundreds of casualties were not prematurely made or publicised.

What will, however, please our Russian friends is the fact that an upgraded frontline American F-16, equipped with highly sophisticated AAM-RAM missiles, was shot down by a vintage Russian MiG-21 Bison of the IAF. This again exposed the inefficiency of our Defence Ministry, which has delayed a proposal for the modernisation of the fighter fleet for over two decades. Successive defence ministers must accept constitutional responsibility for the cavalier manner in which the entire issue of modernisation has been handled. More importantly, the decision-making organisational structure in the ministry, dominated by a generalist bureaucracy, needs to be drastically restructured.

Pakistan should be made to realise that Indias air strike marks only the beginning of a new approach, which India will now undertake. Firstly, it is time for decision-makers in New Delhi to realise that our covert action capabilities on foreign soil need to be upgraded. I recently read a book on how Indira Gandhi supervised covert actions in Bangladesh in 1971, which virtually destroyed maritime communication facilities there, even before the conflict started in December 1971. The Israelis spent years developing capabilities to seek out the perpetrators of the Second World War Holocaust across the world. Their Iranian rivals have developed similar capabilities, which one saw recently, when Iran responded to a terrorist attack from Pakistani soil, which killed 29 Iranian Revolutionary Guards. In an almost immediate counter-strike across the border, over eight Pakistani soldiers were killed and a large number injured.

The time for developing capabilities for counter-strikes is now ripe. The global political, diplomatic and economic scenario in India and Pakistan has changed over the past two decades. Pakistan remains, in international perspectives, an economically bankrupt and politically dysfunctional country, which is ostensibly democratic, but run by a military elite, given to promoting religious extremism across its neighbourhood. Its actions, like hosting Osama bin Laden secretly for over a decade, promoting Taliban extremism in Afghanistan and using internationally discredited terrorist groups for jihad abroad, have sullied its image and reliability.

Islamabad is addicted to seeking doles from rich Arab neighbours, China and financial institutions like the IMF, Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Pakistan is dependent on them for economic survival. In contrast, India is seen today as a country with the fastest growing economy. India is at peace and enjoys excellent relations with all countries (except Pakistan) in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood. It has multiple free trade and comprehensive economic cooperation agreements within SAARC and with members of BIMSTEC and ASEAN. There are, likewise, Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements with South Korea and Japan.

Across its western maritime frontiers, India is the only country which enjoys excellent ties with the Gulf states, Iran and Israel. PM Modi has publicly expressed Indias thanks for US support in recent days. These developments need to be augmented by engaging people in Pakistan, making it clear that India wishes them well. It must be made known to them that their miseries are the result of actions by a rogue army, which is leading the country to economic disaster and international isolation.
Swami Agnivesh

Swami Agnivesh

Arya Samaj scholar and social activist

HYPE is the order of the day. Hype is created to suppress rational and factual thinking. Without thinking, there is no meaningful exercise of freedom of choice. Without such an exercise of choice, the will of the people gets distorted and the temple of democracy is desecrated.

Beginning with the electorally overused surgical strike in 2016 to the Pulwama attack and its aftermath, the improvisation of a sinister situation has been in the offing. It is described best as militarism, which involves the projection of the Army as a national cult. Militarism is not merely a matter of having a large Army, armed to the teeth and ready to function as a chillingly efficient killing machine. Militarism implies the fetishisation of the Army  a dogmatic object of worship  that makes it an anti-national offence to not concur readily with what the Army states. It disallows citizens and political parties from examining the factual merits of the versions given to them, which are required to be taken on trust. Pushed to the extreme, this makes the Army, not the will of the people, the decisive element in national affairs.

There is no doubt that the services of our armed forces should be duly recognised and celebrated. However, no constituent of a democratic republic  neither the State nor the Army, neither the judiciary nor Parliament  has the right to rob citizens of their fundamental right to think and speak for themselves. Militarism suppresses this right. Militarism is, therefore, incompatible with the working principles of democracy and its republican ideals.

The foremost casualty in militarism is equality of opportunity that political parties are entitled to in a democracy. In this scenario, spiced up by hysterical patriotism and nationalism, the armed forces cease to be a neutral organ. The forces come to be identified in popular perception with the ruling dispensation. Attempts are made to project this deception. The morale and bravery of the armed forces are attributed to the Prime Minister who, in his own words, is a chowkidar (watchman) who always remains chowkanna (alert). The Army is projected as an extension of the heroic will of the Prime Minister, who is increasingly perceived as its Supreme Commander. That there is the President of the republic who is meant to be seen in this role is forgotten.

In this ambience of militarism, the ruling party enjoys a huge advantage. It is free to craft or project military actions to further its electoral interests. No room is left for neutral citizens or opposition parties to question either the narrative or its partisan intent. Everything is required to be taken on trust, no questions asked. Even asking for evidence  which is the basic right of those who are required to believe what is dished out to them  is decried and stigmatised as insulting the Army and as a crime against the nation, expressed picturesquely as bringing a smile on the face of Pakistan.

It is a cause for concern that the grave peril this holds out to our democratic culture goes unnoticed. In a democracy, the public sphere is envisaged necessarily as a domain of freedom and equality. Configuring the democratic space to favour one player and handicap the rest distorts and undermines democracy. If this is not avoided zealously, democracy could degenerate into dictatorship. The hallmark of dictatorship is that the official version is the last word on everything. No dissent or deviation is tolerated.

Democracy mandates that if and when anything is introduced into the public sphere  such as putting out a version of the bombing of terrorist camps in Balakot  citizens and parties are free to examine the reported version factually and rationally, and come to their own conclusions. You cannot project a version of any event into the democratic space and intimidate citizens that unwillingness to lap it up is anti-national. Yet, this is exactly what the Prime Minister and his war strategists are doing. It is imperative that we recognise the threat this ploy poses to the very survival of democracy.

If something is so sacrosanct that it should not be exposed to the irreverence and raucousness of public discussion, the right thing to do is to withhold it from the public space. This principle is zealously followed vis-a-vis various aspects, say, of the Rafale deal. If is, of course, hard to understand why the price of these fighter jets bought with the taxpayers money should be kept a secret from them. It is an insult to democracy to suppress inconvenient questions about the issue.

Ironically, such an ambience is conjured and heightened on the eve of the General Election. It is too much of a coincidence to seem innocently accidental. The Election Commission  if it is to conduct meaningfully a free and fair election later this year  needs to take note of this sinister distortion of the democratic space. Even more importantly, the citizens of India need to see through and rebuff such stratagems aimed at vitiating the spirit and integrity of the forthcoming elections. They will let Indian democracy down if, drugged by propaganda psychedelics, they reward those who cozen them into voting in ways that they would not have done otherwise.
vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Melbourne, March 6

A 32-year-old Indian-origin woman dentist, who went missing under mysterious circumstances, has been murdered, with her body bearing numerous stab wounds found dumped in a suitcase in Sydney.

The Indian-origin man suspected of murdering the Sydney dentist, Preethi Reddy, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase in her car parked in a street, is also a dentist and her ex-boyfriend Harsh Narde, police said.

Narde died after his BMW car collided with a truck on the New England Highway on Monday night, a day after his ex-girlfriend was reported missing.

The head-on collision, around 340 km from where Reddys body was found, is believed to have been deliberate, they said.

Police spoke to Narde, in his 30s, before his death. They said the investigation was in its early stages.

I cannot qualify exactly what has happened and I wont put it out there because if were wrong and its not substantiated, then were doing a disservice to Preethi and her family, said Detective Superintendent Gavin Dengate.

At this stage we know they met up in Sydney and now were looking at all the movements between these two, the officer was quoted as saying. Reddys body, which was stabbed numerous times, was found in a car parked in Kingsford on Tuesday, days after she went missing from Sydneys busiest area under mysterious circumstances.

She bought two bottles of water before leaving, walking south towards Market Street, where Reddy was staying at a hotel with a man known to her. Reddy was attending a dental conference in St Leonards at the weekend and last spoke to her family around 11 am on Sunday.

She told them she would head home after breakfast, and when she failed

to return, her family contacted the police. The police described Reddys disappearance as out of character. It is thought that Reddy may have gone to Nardes hotel to reaffirm that their relationship was truly over.

Friends of Reddy say after the break-up several years ago, she was very firm that it was over and did not want to see Narde anymore. Investigators believe that Narde did not accept that, and had attended the weekend conference purely in order to see her. Reddys work colleagues said they were terrified and had been unable to sleep since her disappearance.

Narde had graduated from a Bangalore university in 2009 and worked at Oasis Smiles Dental in Tamworth.  PTI
shalender@tribune.com

IN what is the beginning of the first full-cadre review of the Army in over 30 years, and the restructuring of the Army Headquarters in New Delhi, the Ministry of Defence has decided to cut officer posts by about 20 per cent and combine weapons and systems procurement agencies. This was long due. Keeping in sight the emerging security matrix and the abiding challenge of sprucing up the force and equipping it with cutting-edge armoury and equipment on a budget, this can but be a part in a series of changes that must be executed to achieve the objectives of a competitive force.

Twofold restructuring comprising internal recast and higher defence management must drive the endeavour. While the closure of 39 military farms in 2017  recommended by Shekatkar Committee  and integrated battle groups are part of the reforms, the post of Chief of Defence Staff is still to be created. This is critical to check inter-service delays and plug communication gaps in an age of swift warfare. The US, UK, Russia and China, all have a single unified command structure. The reforms, also recommended by Ajai Vikram Singh Committee and Naresh Chandra Task Force, must be carried out in toto at multiple levels to ensure jointness in operations and planning. Decadal discussions have gone on for too long. In 1998, the then Army Chief, Gen VP Malik, had come up with a plan to snip manpower by 1.5 lakh over three years. However, Kargil happened, imposing status quo. The incumbent Army Chief, too, has underscored remodelling the force for future requirements.

The other components that need brisk attention are rightsizing, cadre review and terms of engagement of rank and file for a younger, future-ready force. For the second largest army in the world, we are trudging along a piecemeal approach, undermining cost and combat effectiveness. The clock is ticking furiously. The force needs to be prepared to face the enemy at the door, any time, and have an edge.
shalender@tribune.com

Less than three weeks after the Pulwama attack, Pakistan has launched a purported crackdown on banned militant outfits. Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhars son Hamad Azhar and brother Abdul Raoof are among 40-odd members of such organisations who have been taken into preventive detention. The Imran Khan government has also taken control of several seminaries and assets belonging to Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation.

Pakistan is insisting that this visible action has not been taken under any pressure, but its easy for anyone to put two and two together. Indias skepticism over the developments stems from the neighbours abysmal track record. Similar preventive steps have proved to be an eyewash on several occasions. That explains why the terror factories have continued to operate from Pakistani soil even after the 2001 Parliament attack, the 2008 Mumbai outrage and the 2016 assault on the Pathankot airbase. How far Pakistan goes this time to tackle terror would establish its sincerity, or lack of it.

Though it is too early to say that the winds of change have started blowing from across the border, an unmistakable ray of hope has emerged. Pakistan announced on Tuesday that it would send a delegation to India on March 14 to discuss a draft agreement for setting up the Kartarpur corridor. This will be followed by the return visit of the Indian team to Islamabad on March 28. With barely eight months to go for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, this diplomatic breakthrough could help in easing bilateral tensions. In another apparent confidence-building measure, Pakistan Punjabs provincial government, acting on the directions of PM Imran Khan, dismissed its Information and Culture Minister, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, after the latters anti-Hindu remarks caused a furore. The prompt action reflects Pakistans eagerness to demonstrate a zero-tolerance approach to intolerance. Having adopted a multi-pronged strategy to mollify the international community, the onus is now on the powers that be to show that this wont turn out to be yet another false dawn.
editorial@tribune.com

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, March 6

Union Steel Minister Birender Singh said on Wednesday that the BJP would win all 10 seats in Haryana in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the victory margin on the Rohtak seat would be the highest. He also described himself as an astrologer.

He was interacting with mediapersons after inaugurating a mega health check-up camp organised at Jahan Aara Stadium here. Jhajjar district is part of the Rohtak parliamentary constituency.

I neither lie nor boast, but it is a fact that the BJP is all set to make a clean sweep in the state in the Lok Sabha elections. Since my tenure as a Rajya Sabha MP will end in 2022, I shall not contest the election, but will canvass for my party candidates to ensure their victory, said Birender, maintaining the Modi-led Centre had worked for every section of society.

In a reply to another question, the minister denied possibility of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
editorial@tribune.com

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 6

Governments across the country are insisting on going online for almost everything, but virtual overuse of technology without logging on to a system of safeguards for non-tech-savvy users has apparently failed to find favour with the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Commenting on the ugly side of smart technology, the High Court has asserted that in view of the prevailing socio-economic condition in the country, it cannot lose sight of the fact that every citizen neither is net savvy nor has a computer or laptop readily available and has to depend on cyber cafes even for filling in recruitment forms. Under such circumstances, a candidate cannot be made to suffer in case of a mistake in the form-filling process.

The assertion by Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Arun Palli came on an appeal by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission against Sarla and other respondents. The commission had issued an advertisement dated December 30, 2016, for appointing 126 women supervisors in the Department of Women and Child Development. The application forms were to be submitted online.

The respondent-candidate applied under economically backward person in general caste category. A document certifying that she belonged to this category was annexed with the application form. Her candidature was cancelled on the ground that she had declared another category in the online form.

Taking up the matter, a single Judge noticed that the last candidate in this category had secured 102 marks whereas the respondent-candidate had secured 106 marks. The writ petition was allowed on the ground that the mistake occurred due to human error. The commission then filed an appeal.

The Bench, during the course of arguments, was told that the candidate forwarded a representation for carrying out the correction as soon as the mistake in filling up the online form came to her knowledge. She was assured that she would be allowed to carry out the correction at the time of document verification before being permitted to appear in the written test.

But subsequently, she was not allowed to participate in the interview and her candidature was cancelled. Dismissing the petition, the Bench asserted that when a non-net-savvy candidate had to submit an application online, the person essentially had to depend on operators in cyber cafes.

If any mistake occurs, it will be wholly unrealistic and arbitrary to make such a candidate suffer. There is no provision on the commission website allowing correction in the online application form. If a mistake is committed, there is no provision for carrying out correction even if it is noticed subsequently and a poor candidate has to suffer for no fault, the Bench observed.

Case in a nutshell
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Mandi, March 6

The Lahaul-Spiti administration today airlifted 77 persons from Lahaul-Spiti to Kullu and on return from Kullu to Lahaul- Spiti. Among the airlifted, eight were patients, who had been stranded in Lahaul-Spiti for the past many days.

Residents of Lahaul-Spiti are cut off from the rest of the state because of heavy snowfall these days. They are dependent on flight service to move in and out of the district in emergency situation.

As weather improved on Wednesday enabling flight service between Kullu and Lahaul, the Lahaul-Spiti administration arranged four sorties by helicopter in which 51 people were airlifted from Lahaul to Kullu, while 26 were shifted from Kullu to Lahaul.

Four sorties were conducted between Kullu and Lahaul Spiti from Stingri, Tindi, Sagnam-Losar and Kaza helipads to airlift stranded people from snowbound Lahaul-Spiti to Kullu.

He said that two patients and one attendant were airlifted from Kaza helipad, while four patients taken fro from Losar and Saganam.

The chopper service will be conducted tomorrow also to airlift the remaining stranded people. With the start of flight service, the District Congress Committee workers of Lahaul-Spiti ended their strike. They were sitting on a chain hunger strike at the district headquarters, Kullu, for the past couple of days demanding regular flights to Lahaul to airlift stranded people out of snowbound area.

On the demand of the state government, Army chopper have been provided by Centre to airlift stranded people. Our thrust is to give preference to patients. The flights will depend over weather conditions on Thursday, Deputy Commissioner Lahaul-Spiti said.

Bridge damaged, villages cut off

A motorable bridge was damaged in Miyar valley. The bridge connects people of Karpat, Changut, Urgos, Chhalling , Shukto and Khanjar villages with Udaipur via road. The bridge was constructed over Miyar Nullah in 2014 at a cost of Rs 28 lakhs. Earlier, a bridge was damaged at Chokhang village, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 25 lakhs.
editorial@tribune.com

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, March 6

The Congress will declare its candidates for the forthcoming LS elections in Himachal in the next eight to 10 days. The Congress general secretary and incharge for the state Rajni Patil said this while talking to The Tribune here today.

Rajni, along with co-incharge for Himachal Gurkirat Singh Kotli and HPCC president Kuldeep Rathore was here to supervise arrangements for the rally of AICC president Rahul Gandhi in Kangra tomorrow.

When asked about former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh not attending Rahuls rally, Patil said he was busy in the marriage of his son.

Rajni along with other senior leaders of the pary supervised the venue of the rally. The rally is being organised at the Chambi ground in Shahpur Assembly constituency. As the ground has turned muddy due to heavy rain in the last few days, Congress leaders are working overtime to make the ground fit for the event.

Most of the Congress leaders from Kangra are inclined towards their own show of strength. The supporters of various Congress leaders are in the process of filling roads from Gaggal airport to Chambi with their own posters and banners. However, many leaders have lamented that the occasion could have been used to project party candidates for the Kangra parliamentary constituency. Senior leaders from the state are of the view that since the elections are likely in the first week of April, it would have been prudent to declare its candidate from Kangra durthe rally.

Rajni said the state-level screening committee comprising her, HPCC president and CLP leader would complete the list of probable candidates in the next two days. Thereafter, the list would be finalised by the Central Election Committee of the party. Only the case of the seats where there was some dispute would be referred to the AICC president.

Meanwhile, the social media is abuzz with messages regarding the stay of Rajni Patil at Pavillion Hotel of the HPCA. Some senior leaders are of the view that this could have been avoided since the party has been targeting the HPCA over the hotel issue.

Former president of the HPCA and BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur, while taking a jibe at the stay of Rajni Patil, said that the Congress leaders were welcome to stay in the best facility available in the town. Sources said most of the leaders of the state, including those from Kangra district, would not get time to speak in the rally. The development has disappointed many senior leaders.
editorial@tribune.com

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 6

Even after the lapse of more than three months, the fact-finding panel, constituted by Governor Satya Pal Malik, to look into the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation Limited (JKPCC), has failed to submit its report till date.

The state administration had constituted an inquiry panel on November 28, 2018, to look into the affairs and functioning of the JKPCC following the complaints of irregularities and shady appointments inthe corporation.

Comprising four senior IAS officers, the panel was mandated to submit its report in less than a month by December 26, 2018. Despite the clear deadline, the panel has failed to submit its recommendations to the government so far.

The committee is yet to finalise its report. It is still on job. We will submit our findings to the government soon, M Raju, managing director, JKPCC, and one of the members of the probe panel, told The Tribune.

The panel comprises principal secretary, planning, development and monitoring department as chairman of the committee, Jammu divisional commissioner, commissioner/secretary, revenue department and JKPCC MD.

To a query whether the committee had failed to submit its report within stipulated timeframe, the MD said, Only the chairman of the committee can comment on this.

According to official sources, the government had decided to form a fact-finding committee to look into the JKPCC functioning on the basis of the reports that the corporation was awarding contracts on nomination basis and without following transparent tendering procedure.

There were complaints that the corporation had diverted funds from one project to another leading to a large number of incomplete projects besides irregularities in appointmentsat various levels.

The JKPCC, a public sector undertaking, is the state government-owned company which executes all mega developmental projects being undertaken in J&K. It is currently executing at least 392 projects across the state at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore.

Fund diversion
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News service

Srinagar, March 6

Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday led a protest of the party in Anantnag district against the Centres ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir. She demanded that the ban on the Jamaat be lifted and its leaders be released.

The former Chief Minister, who led a protest of party leaders and workers at Khannabal in Anantnag district of south Kashmir, warned of more protests in case the ban was not lifted immediately.

At Khannabal, PDP leaders raised slogans in support of the demand for release of the leaders of the Jamaat, a politico-religious organisation. Holding banners and placards, PDP leaders and workers demanded lifting of the ban, release of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) chief Abdul Hameed Fayaz, imams and other leaders.

Following the ban, over 150 leaders and office-bearers of the Jamaat were arrested and a number of houses belonging to JeI workers sealed during raids since last week.

Two days after the ban, the state government clarified that the schools, mosques and orphanages had been kept outside the scope of seizures and sealing.

On Saturday, the PDP had held a protest in Srinagar against the Jamaat ban, imposed by the Central government after a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 28.

Many political parties, including the National Conference, have also condemned the ban.

The notification to ban the JeI for five years stated that the organisation was in close touch with militant outfits and was supporting extremism, terrorists and separatist groups. It said the ban was imperative to check escalation in its subversive activities, secessionism, anti-national and separatist sentiments.

JKLF calls detention of its leaders unethical

The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) on Wednesday said the detention of its chairman, Yasin Malik, and many others was arbitrary, undemocratic and unethical. The separatist organisation, in its statement, condemned the arrests and said its senior leaders remained in police custody for nearly a fortnight. It said Malik was in police custody since February 22, while its vice-chairman, Showkat Ahmad Bakshi, was in custody for the last many days.
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Kathmandu, March 7

Two Nepali citizens have been found dead within Indian territory, the police here said, adding that one body was handed over on Thursday.

Both incidents took place in Madhubani district in Bihar, bordering the Siraha district in Nepal. Police suspect both victims might have been murdered, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Subhas Yadav, 17, was found with bullet injuries in Khutauna on February 27  a day after he went missing. While the Indian authorities took him to Patna for treatment, he however, died on Thursday. The body was handed over to the Nepali authorities on Thursday.

Another man, Gajendra Yadav, 35, was found dead in Piprahi Charkhahi with bruise and injury marks on his body. He had gone to drop his sister in an Indian town but never returned.

Both cases were being probed in coordination with the Indian police, the report said.  IANS
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, March 7

Lathi-wielding youths in saffron shirts beat up three Kashmiri men selling dry fruits at Daliganj Bridge here yesterday, accusing them of pelting stones in Kashmir.

The police have arrested four persons. While Bajrang Sonkar, facing trial in a murder case, was arrested last night, Himanshu Garg, Anirudh Kumar and Amar Mishra were nabbed today.

Kalanidhi Naithani, SSP, said the accused were members of Vishwa Hindu Dal Trust, run by one Ambuj Nigam. The victims belonged to Kulgam.

A video clip of the beating has gone viral. It purportedly shows a few men alighting from their car and confronting the Kashmiris, who used to sell dry fruits at the spot every year. The accused allegedly beat up the victims with sticks, asking them to show their Aadhaar cards.

While two of them manage to escape, the third Kashmiri is brutally assaulted till a passerby comes to his rescue, asking the attackers why they were beating him up.

Sonkar has around a dozen criminal cases, including of murder, loot and under the Arms Act, pending against him till 2011, said the police.

Meanwhile, Mushtaque, a member of the Kashmir Arts Association, said this was not the first incident of public beating up of Kashmiris in the city.

A similar incident had occurred in Gomti Nagar a few days ago where two Kashmiri shawl sellers were having tea at a roadside stall, he said. No case was filed by the victims who were terrified and more than happy to have saved their life, he said, adding that since the Pulwama incident, the business of people from Kashmir had suffered.  TNS
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Ranchi, March 7

Three Maoist guerrillas were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Jharkhands Hazaribagh district on Thursday.

According to officials, police and the Central Reserve Police Force went to Bundu village where they were fired at by the Maoists.

In the gun battle, three Maoists belonging to Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) were killed. Police found two AK-47 rifles from the dead Maoists.

Police have launched a manhunt for the Maoists who managed to escape. IANS
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

New Delhi, March 7

A wooden chair kept in a glass casket in the BJP headquarters in Kanpur, which proved lucky for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, has become auspicious and turned into an inspiration for the party cadre.

After Modi was projected as BJP's prime ministerial candidate in its Goa National Executive meet, he started his election campaign in Uttar Pradesh by addressing a huge public rally named "Vijay Shankhnad" in Kanpur.

The wooden chair, which has now been turned as a "heritage chair" for party cadre, was used by Modi at a rally in Kanpur's Indira Nagar ground on October 19, 2013. Until, Modi became Prime Minister, it was just like any other ordinary chair.

It could be superstition; but for Surendra Maithani, BJP's Kanpur district chief, the chair is an inspiration for him as well as the youth workers of the party.

"After Modi ji became Prime Minister, this chair became the centre of attraction for everyone. It was about to be auctioned in Agra and Allahabad, but I didn't allow it. It was auspicious for us," Maithani, then the convenor for party's rally in Kanpur, told IANS.

He said the district unit of the party decided to turn the chair into a piece of heritage because it was used by Modi, who brought the Bharatiya Janata Party to power with a thumping majority.

"We polished the chair and put it in a glass casket. It is still there in district party office in Naveen Market," he said.

Asked whether the Prime Minister would use the chair again when he visits Kanpur on March 8 to kickstart the party's election campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls, his answer was "no".

"It is now a Khadau (revered wooden slippers) for us. It inspires us and the youth. It has now turned into a heritage chair for the party cadre," he said.

He said this is for the third time that Modi was coming to Kanpur as Prime Minister. "As the chair is a valuable asset of the party, it has been kept in a glass chamber at the district party office," he said.

Maithani said this chair is very lucky not only for Modi but also for the party.

"Since 2013, Modi ji has addressed four election rallies in Kanpur. It is lucky. We won state assembly polls in 2017, too. Modiji is again starting his campaign in Uttar Pradesh -- yet again from Kanpur.

"I am sure, it will prove lucky for him as well for the party," he said.

Maithani said the chair has also become an attraction for the youth as they take photographs and selfies with it whenever they come to the party office.

"When a youth joins BJP, he is taken to the chair and is briefed about it. It inspires the newcomers and the youth of the party," he said.

IANS
editorial@tribune.com

New Delhi: The CPM is firm on not giving up its claim on the two sitting Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in favour of the Congress, which could create a major roadblock in the seat-sharing talks between the two parties, senior Left Front leaders said on Wednesday. The two sides have already held several rounds of talks but were unable to untangle the skein of Raiganj and Murshidabad, the only seats the CPM won in the last Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. No. We offered no contest in sitting seats. Its now up to them, a senior CPM leader said in Delhi. The comments come after Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra flew to Delhi and met Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday to discuss the issue. PTI

Rebel Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav joins BJP

Kalaburagi (Ktaka): Congress rebel MLA Umesh Jadhav joined the BJP at a rally here on Wednesday, two days after he quit the Karnataka Assembly membership, and is tipped to take on Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Jadhav joined the BJP before Prime Minister Narendra Modis address at the rally, in the presence of state BJP president BS Yeddyurappa, former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and a host of other party leaders. I am happy and proud on joining the BJP, Jadhav said before Modi arrived on the stage. He also sought blessings from the people of Kalaburagi to make Modi Prime Minister again. BJP sources said Jadhav is likely to be the partys Lok Sabha candidate for the Gulbarga seat to challenge Kharge. PTI
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

New Delhi, March 7

National Security Adviser of the United Kingdom Mark Sedwill on Thursday spoke to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and offered all assistance, including intelligence sharing, in dealing with any form of terrorism, official sources said.

Sedwill also expressed solidarity with India in the aftermath of the Pulwama terrorist attack, they said, adding the call was initiated by the British NSA.

The British NSA said all assistance in dealing with any form of terrorism will be extended to India bilaterally through counter-terrorism cooperation, intelligence sharing and by bringing the perpetrators of terrorist attacks to justice, the sources added.

The telephonic conversation between the two NSAs came amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan triggered by the Pulwama attack. The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed the attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

On February 26, Indian Air Force combat jets struck JeMs biggest terrorist training camp in Balakot deep inside Pakistan.

A day later, Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations. PTI
There have been some edits in the design for the new Pacific Highlands Ranch Library as it works its way through the development process. The timeline for construction has also been pushed out a yearthe city is now targeting a spring 2022 opening.

At its Feb. 28 meeting, the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board heard an update on the progress of the library planned for an open lot on Village Center Loop Road, bordering the Village of Pacific Highlands Ranchs community green and across the street from the new community park, set to open on March 21.

The design is meant to complement the Village and communitys look with white walls, alcoves, wood details and a standing seam metal roof. Outdoor elements include landscaping with lots of trees, a quiet courtyard with a water feature and a porch-like veranda space that connects to the Village civic use with a variety of gathering spaces for adults and teens and a childrens area with Dr. Seuss-esque synthetic turf mounds.

About halfway through the design process, there have been a few concessions, according to Jim Gabriel of Hanna Gabriel Wells Architecture.

The overall height of the building has been lowered about a foot and a half, a little reduction in height that actually saves a lot of money, Gabriel said. The original plan had a trellis that stretched over the veranda space but Gabriel said they werent able to get it all into the budget.

We didnt want to give up on all the things that had been agreed with the community such as the form and material of the buildings, Gabriel said noting that as the original idea of the veranda space was to stitch the library to the civic space, they decided to swap the trellis for double the amount of trees, creating a robust tree canopy over the patio rather than the substantially unaffordable architectural feature. All of the spaces and finishes remain the same.

Gabriel said they were considering the use of Palo Verdes trees for to create the canopythe trees feature a green bark trunk and yellow blooms.

Planning board members as well as Pacific Highlands Ranch residents in attendance had concerns about the tree choice. Board member Ken Farinsky said that the tree is deciduous, meaning for most of the year it is a stick tree without foliage.

Bruce Cameron, who serves on a PHR homeowners association, said they had Palo Verdes at their communitys recreation center for about a year but made the decision to pull them all out.

Pollen was the first problem, they provided very little if any shade and they attracted a huge number of bees, Cameron said.

Karen Dubey, a PHR resident who served on the design subcommittee for the library, said the trade-off of the trellis for the trees was reasonable but she echoed the concerns about the Palo Verdes.

They offer no shade, theyre unattractive and theyre all the sudden everywhere but they look like Phoenix, theyre not San Diego, Dubey said. I would look for a tree that is better and more native, with more shade and less pollen.

Gabriel said he heard the input about the trees loud and clear and that they would explore other options.

San Diego Public Library Director Misty Jones said planning for the librarys layout has been going wellthey are refining the interior design to create more than just stacks but reading nooks, workspaces for teens, a large community room for meetings and an idea lab/maker space for kids with technology such as 3D printers.

Jones said they have also been in communication with the local schools to find out what kind of services would be needed.

Were looking forward to having this library, Jones said. I think youre going to be very pleased with what we are doing.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, March 7

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal for promulgation of The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers Cadre) Ordinance, 2019 to restore the earlier 200-point roster based reservation system in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

The new system will consider the university or college as one unit, instead of treating department or subject as one unit.

The Cabinet has approved proposal for promulgation of The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers Cadre) Ordinance, 2019 to provide for the reservation of faculty in appointments by direct recruitment of persons belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBL) in central educational institutions and for matters connected there with, Union minister Arun Jaitley said at a press conference.

The ordinance will ensure that constitutional provisions of reservation for SC, ST and SEBL in the faculty recruitment will be protected and current impasse in recruitment would be resolved.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said, The decision will also now pave the way for filling up of more than 5,000 vacancies by direct recruitment in teachers cadre.

Earlier this week, Javadekar had said the Centre was committed to restoring the reservation roster in educational institutions following a series of protests over the issue by various students and teachers organisations and asked the protesting groups to withdraw their agitation.

They had been urging the government to bring an ordinance to restore the 200-point roster taking college or university as a unit for reservation in teaching posts.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had announced last March that an individual department should be considered as the base unit to calculate the number of teaching posts to be reserved for the SC and ST candidates, following an order by the Allahabad High Court in April 2017.

The Supreme Court had last month dismissed a review petition filed by the HRD Ministry after its special leave petition against the court order was rejected by the apex court.

Javadekar had said in the Lok Sabha on February 11 that the government can bring an ordinance if its review petition filed in the top court is rejected.  PTI
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, March 7

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has accused the Union Government and Telangana Government of joining hands and acting like economic terrorists to destabilise the Andhra Pradesh.

He said the two governments were resorting to terrorising the people through a series of raids.

Talking to the media, Naidu said the Telangana governments attack on Information Technology (IT) company in Hyderabad and allegations of YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy of deleting names of voters not in favour of the TDP were figment of imagination. The Telangana government was trying to help Jaganmohan Reddy. After stealing data belonging to the TDP the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)-led government had got the state police to register cases against the TDP supporters, he said.

He said the central government too was trying to terrorise people of Andhra Pradesh who are questioning the irregularities of the Union government.

He added that the BJP government at the Centre was also trying to threaten N Ram of The Hindu in the missing of Rafale deal files case. The BJP, he said, was helping YSR Congress come to power in AP which will be foiled by the people who are well aware of the conspiracy.

Andhra he said was still doing a commendable work despite deception by the centre. Despite failure to fulfil promises made at the time of the states bifurcation in 2014 Andhra had achieved 11.02 per cent growth rate against 7 per cent at all-India level during 2018-19. The agriculture sector registered 10.78 per cent growth rate against 2.7 at all-India level. The industries sector registered 10.24 per cent growth rate against 7.7 per cent growth at national level. In services sector, AP registered 11.09 per cent growth rate against 7.4 per cent at all India level. He said AP stood in Number one position in Ease of Doing business.

The Chief Minister said people were aware about the conspiracy of the opposition parties but they would give a befitting reply to the conspirators and re-elect theTDP in the forthcoming state assembly elections.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Bengaluru, March 7

Sparking a major row, senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad on Thursday alleged there was a match fixing between prime minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on the Pulwama terror attack.

There is a match fixing between Narendra Modi and Imran Khan, or else this Pulwama incident would not have taken place, Prasad, a Rajya Sabha member, told reporters here.

BJP in Karnataka sharply reacted to Hariprasads charge, calling it irresponsible and saying he should be ashamed of making such statements.

Hariprasads comments came while reacting to Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasads attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the stolen Rafale papers.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi asked why a probe cannot be ordered against Modi for a Rs 30,000-crore scam when an investigation has been initiated into the theft of official documents related to the fighter jet deal.

Hitting back, Prasad said: I totally condemn blatant lies of Rahul Gandhi. He does not believe the Indian Air Force, does not trust the Supreme Court verdict that clearly said there is no commercial impropriety in the (Rafale) procurement process. He does not believe the CAG.

Coming down on the union government, Hariprasad sought to know how the huge cache of RDX went undetected when the government agencies could find beef at different places.

People who talk about the security of the nation, they can detect two kg of beef from Akhlaqs house, they can detect two kg of beef in Kerala guest house, they cant detect 350 kg of RDX on the national highway. Its a shame on them, he said.

BJP state general secretary and MLC N Ravikumar slammed Hariprasad for his remarks.

This is a highly condemnable, irresponsible statement.

He should be ashamed of making such statements. Where had he mortgaged his brain before making such a statement, he said.

He blamed the Congress for terrorism in the country.

Forty CRPF jawans were killed in a suicide attack carried on their convoy in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, for which Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility.

Indian Air Force had carried out pre-emptive strikes on the training camps of terrorists inside the Pakistan soil.

The attack had escalated tension between Pakistan and India.

Hariprasad is not new to controversies. Earlier in January, he had mocked BJP national president Amit Shahs illness when the latter was admitted to the AIIMS for contracting H1N1.

Addressing a meeting here, Prasad had said in Kannada that Amit Shah got the swine flu because he tried to destabilise the Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka.  PTI
vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 6

In his long and illustrious political career, Congress veteran Dr Manmohan Singh has crossed all milestones but one. A five-time Rajya Sabha member, he has never entered Parliament through the Lok Sabha. The only time he fought a parliamentary election was in 1999, when he lost to BJPs VK Malhotra.

With the General Election round the corner, several Punjab Congress leaders are batting for him as a candidate for the Amritsar parliamentary seat.

First floated by MLAs from Amritsar, the suggestion has taken wings and party leaders across the state are now urging Dr Singh, who will turn 87 this September, to contest. Some, like Punjab Congress permanent invitee MM Cheema, called on him and urged him to consider the demand.

Officially, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar says while it will be an honour for the state unit if Dr Singh contests, this decision will be entirely his own.

The Congress veteran's RS term ends on June 14 and since he comes from Assam where the Congress no longer has the numbers, the party will have to strategise on a way to bring him back. He can enter the Rajya Sabha again from Punjab, if one of the sitting Congress members (Ambika Soni, Partap Bajwa and SS Dullo) vacates the seat. Bajwa has publicly offered to do so and volunteered to contest the LS polls. Ambika Sonis RS term ends in 2022.

The majority in the grand old party believes that Dr Singh entering the poll arena could create a wave in favour of the Congress besides boosting his political image. Dr Singh is an asset for the nation and the party. Should he choose to contest, he will not only win but will also give an impetus to the party prospects. But the decision should be left entirely to him. That said, Punjab will be honoured if Dr Singh was to enter Parliament from there, Ashwani Kumar, a minister in Dr Singhs UPA Cabinet, says.

Congress leaders privately cite Dr Singhs increased public appearances to say his political innings may not yet be over. Only recently, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi had praised Manmohan Singh profusely for accurately predicting a 2 per cent GDP loss post demonetisation. Significantly, the Congress has been fielding the former PM for the pre-election press conferences.

Asked if he could become the face of a united Opposition should the situation so develop post polls, a Congress insider cryptically said, Dr Manmohan Singh has both the wisdom and fortune on his side. Most politicians vouch for that.

Dr Singh was UGC chairman when he was invited by the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao to serve as Finance Minister. His term as UGC chief lasted from March 15, 1991, to June 20, 1991.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, March 7

The Election Commission will soon announce its schedule for the high-voltage Lok Sabha elections, which is likely to be spread over 7-8 phases in April-May, sources said on Thursday.

Sources said the poll panel is in final stages of completing its logistical preparations to hold elections for the 17th Lok Sabha and a detailed polling schedule could be announced as early this weekend or by early next week.

The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 3.

The announcement of dates for the elections, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his bid to return to power amid hectic parleys by several political parties to put a united fight against the ruling BJP, would be followed by a meeting of election observers next week for the first and second phase of polling.

A senior Election Commission functionary said the poll panel is now prepared to announce the dates any day and it could happen over the weekend or at most by Tuesday.

Notification for the first phase could be issued by the end of March for voting some time in early April, sources suggested.

There is a strong possibility that the EC may go by the precedent and hold assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh along with the Lok Sabha polls.

Since the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has been dissolved, the EC is bound to hold fresh polls there as well within a six-month period, which will end in May.

While there is a view that the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections can be held along with the Lok Sabha polls, but a lot depends on the complex security situation in the state given the heightened tension along the India-Pakistan border.

While the Centre and the state administration, being managed by the Centre-appointed governor, are against holding the two elections together, all political parties there favoured simultaneous polls during a meeting with the Election Commission earlier this week.

The J-K assemblys six-year term was to end on March 16, 2021, but it got dissolved after a ruling coalition between the PDP and the BJP fell apart. The other state assemblies and Lok Sabha have five-year terms.

While the term of the Sikkim Assembly ends on May 27, 2019, the terms of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh assemblies end on June 18, June 11 and June 1 respectively.

The Commission has held several review meetings across the country in last few weeks to gear up its machinery.

The required electronic voting machines and paper trail machines are in place to be deployed in nearly 10 lakh poling stations across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies.

This is a high probability of the elections being spread across 7-8 phases this time.

In 2004, the Commission had announced four-phase Lok Sabha polls on February 29. While the first date of polling was April 20 and the last date was May 10.

In 2009, the EC had announced Lok Sabha poll scheduled on March 2. The five-phase polls began on April 16 and ended on May 13.

In 2014, the EC had announced the election schedule on March 5 and the nine-phase electoral exercise was spread across April and May.

While the first phase polling was on April 7, the last phase was on May 12.  PTI
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 7

In a historic decision, the Cabinet has extended the benefit of Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) to short service commissioned officers and emergency commissioned officers (SSCOs and ECOs) as well as some other categories of ex-military personnel.

Under regulations in vogue, only those defence personnel drawing a pension from the defence estimates are considered as ex-servicemen and those who do not fall under this category were not being granted certain benefits like the ECHS. They had been struggling for getting such benefits for the past several years.

The decision would immediately benefit over 43,000 individuals, who can now avail of free medicare in ECHS polyclinics and private empanelled hospitals after paying a one-time subscription, sources said.

The decision today comes in wake of directions issued by the Supreme Court in January that granted time to the government till April to act upon the issue while hearing an appeal filed by Ministry of Defence (MoD) against a judgement of the Chandigarh Bench of Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).

In 2011, the AFT had ordered restoration of medical facilities to non-pensioner military veterans that had been abruptly withdrawn by the Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) in late 2000s.

Medical facilities in military hospitals (MHs) were being provided to non-pensioner ex-defence personnel since 1970. Later, pension was made compulsory for availing facilities.

In 1997, the term ex-service pensioners was again replaced by ex-servicemen by the MoD thereby restoring facilities to those veterans who were released with the status of ex-servicemen but without getting any pension.

In late 2000s, the DGAFMS started refusing treatment in military hospitals to non-pensioners. The AFT, in a strongly worded order, had directed the DGAFMS to restore the illegally withdrawn facilities, but the order was challenged in the apex court the same year.

In 2015, a Committee of Experts constituted by the government to suggest ways for reducing litigation had also came down heavily on the DGAFMS for this action, terming it to be illegal and recording that such persistence and exertion in pursuing such misdirected litigation should rather be used for constructive activities.

The panel also castigated the establishment for citing grossly exaggerated figures of affected beneficiaries in the appeal filed in SC. The committees recommendation for withdrawal of the appeal was accepted by the then defence minister, but his directions were not given effect which prompted the SC to direct the MoD to speed up the process.

Sources said the Cabinet decision to implement the judicial orders, which would affect thousands of past, present and future officers, not only includes non-pensioner SSCOs, ECOs and World War II veterans but also premature retirees of other categories. The fine print of other modalities of the scheme would be known in due course.
vinaymishra188@gmail.com

New Delhi, March 6

Tensions between India and Pakistan ran high today with both sides exchanging heavy gunfire from across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

A statement by the Indian Army said it was maintaining strict vigil along the LoC and International Border (IB). Any further provocation or misadventure by Pakistan will be responded to in a befitting manner, with dire consequences, it said.

The Pakistan army had in the past 24 hours resorted to intense and unprovoked firing with heavy calibre weapons in select areas of Krishna Ghati and Sunderbani, targeting Indian posts and civilian areas with mortars and heavy artillery guns, it said.

The same was effectively retaliated. There have been no casualties on the Indian side, the statement said.

Post our warning to the Pakistan army not to target civilian areas, the overall situation along the LoC remains relatively calm, it added.

The Pakistan army has ramped up its defensive and attack positions along the LoC and also along the IB, sources said.

An Indian Army spokes-person said: We are committed to avoiding civil casualties, especially along LoC. All actions by our defence forces are targeted towards counter-terrorism and terrorist infrastructure, away from civilian areas.  TNS

Misinformation: IAF

Misinformation was being spread on social media about shooting down of a Pakistan Air Force F-16 by a MiG-21 Bison, the IAF has said. IAF had clarified that an F-16 of PAF was shot down by MiG-21 and it fell across the LoC.

IAF said fake accounts of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman have been created over the past one week. He does not have any official account on Twitter and Instagram.

Pak identifies 2 pilots
editorial@tribune.com

Sandeep Dikshit

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6

India is discouraging shuttle diplomacy by third countries eager to dabble in the current Indo-Pak tensions, but is amenable to their assistance in tightening the screws on Islamabad for harbouring terrorist organisations.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, who read the signals, has confined his visit to Pakistan instead of visiting the capitals of both countries. Kong, a highly regarded Chinese diplomat, is now in Islamabad to discuss an enabling atmosphere for lowering the Indo-Pak tensions.

Similarly, a Saudi effort to bring both countries on the same page was also politely discouraged. In the end, a specially nominated Saudi Minister ended up cancelling his trip entirely. From Indias viewpoint there is nothing to discuss beyond ensuring that Pakistan finally closes the lid on its terror proxies.

Dismissing the claim of the Pakistan Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations that the decision to take action against all banned terror outfits was not taken under pressure, sources here said it was actually three-pronged pressure that is forcing Pakistan to demonstrate visible change in the situation. The first two  a belligerent India and a nervous world community  are in public realm. At the meeting of the Pakistan Armys Corps Commanders meeting held shortly after the Pulwama attack, several Generals spoke against being forced to spruce off after a jehadi-led misadventure in neighbouring countries.

Against this background, the visit by the Chinese envoy a week ahead of a crucial UN Security Council meeting to blacklist JeM chief Masood Azhar is significant. While the US and China consider Pakistani role in stabilising Afghanistan critical, the Pakistani policy of attempting to settle the Kashmir dispute by violence might may have outlived its utility.

Another collateral advantage has been the Pakistani elites discomfort over the sharp abridging of the US visa validity because of a Washington-New York spat. This curtailing of their privilege is expected to feed into the narrative that Pakistan is hurting because of its accommodation to jehadis.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 7

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, 72, will contest Lok Sabha elections from her Rae Bareli seat and Congress president Rahul Gandhi will defend his parliamentary segment of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

Their names were part of the first list of candidates Congress released on Thursday night after the maiden meeting of the partys central election committee chaired by Rahul Gandhi.

The meeting lasted for two hours and concluded with the release of the first list of 15 Congress candidates for the 17th Lok Sabha elections  11 candidates in UP and four in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Congress named its UP candidates at a time when the other opposition parties are urging it to go with SP and BSP who have struck their own alliance.

BSP-SP however left only Rae Bareli and Amethi for Congress with the Congress declaring 11 candidates in all in UP indicating that it wont be cornered in Indias biggest state.

The release of the first list of candidates is being seen as Congress attempt to pressurise the BSP and SP to cede more space to the grand old party of be ready for it to go alone.

This will be Sonia Gandhis sixth Lok Sabha election starting 1999 when she entered the Lower House from Amethi.

In 2004 polls, she vacated the seat for her son Rahul and moved on to Rae Bareli which she won in 2004, 2009 and 2014. In 2006 she resigned over the office or profit controversy and was re-elected again.

Also in the first list of candidates declared today are former ministers Salman Khurshid, RPN Singh and Jitin Prasad from Farukhabad, Kushinagar and Dhaurahara, respectively.

Congress west UP leader Imran Masood has been fielded from Saharanpur.

Masood had controversially threatened Modi of violence after the Muzaffarpur riots of 2013.

Former Unnao MP Annu Tandon has been fielded again from Unnao.

Congress candidate from Faizabad will be former state UP Congress chief Nirmal Khatri.

Rajarampal will fight from Akbarpur and Brij Lal Khabri from Jalaun SC segment.

Saleem Iqbal Shervani will fight on the Congress ticket from Badaun.

Its learnt that the Congress was negotiating with the BSP and SP at least 22 seats its leaders had won in UP in 2009 and is still concentrating on these.

It remains to be seen if a grand alliance of SP, BSP and Congress still be achieved although many think its difficult now.

Opposition parties, including TMC, TDP and now NCP, are however asking the Congress, BSP and SP to agree to give and take.

Cong declares four Gujarat candidates

Party candidates are former state president Bharatsinh Solanki from Anand, Prashant Patel from Vadodara, Raju Parmar from Ahmadabad West (SC) seat and Ranjit Mohansinh Rathwa from Chhota Udaipur (ST) seat.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 7

The Lokpal Search Committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai has forwarded three panels of names for chairperson, judicial members and non-judicial members to the selection committee, the Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court.

Attorney General KK Venugopal informed a Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that the shortlisted names had already been sent to the selection committee led by the Prime Minister.

Other members on the selection panel are the Lok Sabha Speaker, CJI or his nominee, Leader of Opposition and an eminent jurist. The panel will now take decision on appointing Indias first ever Lokpal and its members.

As there was no Leader of Opposition, the leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Lok Sabha was invited to the meeting as a special invitee, but he (Mallikarjun Kharge) was not attending the meetings, Venugopal told the Bench.

The Attorney General told the Bench that 10 names had been shortlisted for the post of Lokpal chairperson while five names each for judicial and non-judicial members.

The CJI sought to know the possible date for the selection committee meeting and asked the Attorney General to inform the top court in 10 days the likely date of meeting to select the Lokpal chairman and members.

On behalf of petitioner Common Cause, advocate Prashant Bhushan requested the Bench that the shortlisted names be uploaded on the government website to make the process transparent. People should be allowed to file objections, he said.

However, CJI Gogoi immediately turned it down, saying there was no provision in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, which allowed inviting objections from the public to the names recommended for appointment.

Transparency is a subjective term. You have done good work but there has to be a limit somewhere. You have to stop. We dont think the names are required to be put in the public domain, the CJI told Bhushan.

The Supreme Court had on January 17 asked the Lokpal search committee headed by Justice Desai to prepare a panel of names by the end of February for consideration of the selection committee for appointment of Indias first ombudsman.

The top court is hearing a PIL filed by NGO Common Cause seeking a direction to the government to appoint the Lokpal expeditiously.

Enacted in 2013, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act received Presidential assent on January 1, 2014 and came into force on January 16, 2014. However, the first Lokpal is yet to be appointed and many states were also dithering in appointing Lokayuktas.

Bhushan has been demanding that there should be transparency in the functioning of even the search committee and that the criteria followed by it should be made public.

But the Bench had rejected it on January 17 and asked Bhushan to have faith in the committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge and see things in a positive manner.

Mr Bhushan, try to see things positively, the world will be better to you, the CJI had told Bhushan on the last date of hearing.

The Centre on September 27, 2018, had constituted an eight-member search committee headed by Justice Desai to recommend names to the selection panel for appointment of Indias first Lokpal.

Other members of the search committee are former chief of State Bank of India Arundhati Bhattacharya, Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash, Indian Space Research Organisation head AS Kiran Kumar, former judge of Allahabad High Court Sakha Ram Singh Yadav, former Gujarat Police head Shabbirhusein S Khandwawala, retired IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre Lalit K Panwar, and former Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar.

The search committee will prepare a panel of names and forward it to the selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, leader of the single largest opposition party and an eminent jurist (Mukul Rohatgi). Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has been boycotting the selection panel meetings.

Piqued over inordinate delay in selection of Lokpal, the Supreme Court had on January 4 asked the Centre to spell out details of the steps taken since September last to set up a search committee for selection of Indias first anti-corruption watchdog.

Accusing the government of dilly-dallying, Common Cause had moved a contempt plea against the government for its failure to appoint the Lokpal despite the courts direction.

In its April 27, 2017 verdict, the Supreme Court had termed the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, an eminently workable piece of legislation which does not create any bar to the enforcement of the provisions.

There was no justification to keep the enforcement of the Lokpal Act suspended till the proposed amendments, including on the issue of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, were cleared by Parliament, it had said.
The Del Mar Union School District is exploring adding foreign language to its curriculum.

A parent survey is expected to go out in March to determine if there is an interest in a language program, what that language of preference would be and where the priority for language lands among current STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) content areas.

Its more than time for Del Mar schools to offer second language instruction so Im very enthusiastic about this, said DMUSD President Erica Halpern at the boards Feb. 27 meeting. Im happy to see that were working toward what kind of program would be the right one for our kids and our district.

Shelley Petersen, assistant superintendent of instruction, said the goal would be to select a pilot site that would begin offering a language program in the 2019-20 school year. A steering committee would also be formed to develop ideas on the direction of a district-wide language program.

Spanish used to be a part of the districts Extended Studies Curriculum (ESC) but the board removed it in 2009. ESC was re-branded to STEAM + in 2015, including the specialty programs that are partially funded by donations to the Del Mar Schools Education Foundation. Currently, DMUSD has fee-based Spanish and Mandarin programs that are offered after school.

What we are hearing from the community is the desire to have a language experience for children within the school day, Petersen said.

A language program would align with the goals of District Design 2022 that students will use their understanding of different cultures to effectively communicate, collaborate and interact with empathy; that students are exposed to multiple forms of language; and that students gain knowledge and perspective by interaction with people and information both locally and globally.

For students who acquire a second language, it often results in higher academic achievement and greater opportunities in college and career in todays world, Petersen said.

Petersen referenced the California Department of Educations Global California 2030, a document that is a call to action to increase the number of students who are multilingual and the number of classrooms that offer an opportunity to acquire a second language.

Global Californias goal is that by 2030, all K12 students participate in programs leading to proficiency in two or more languages. By 2040, the goal is for three out of four students to be proficient in two or more languages, earning them a State Seal of Biliteracy.

Petersen said one of the decisions the district will have to make is what type of language program it will pursue.

A dual language program refers to the use of two languages for instruction in the classroom. Petersen said the district does not have the numbers to accommodate a dual immersion program, as it is geared toward populations where at least 50 percent of students speak the target language.

The largest concentration we have in the DMUSD is Korean speakers at Torrey Hills School but it wouldnt be a 50-50 balance, Petersen said.

A one-way immersion program is set up for populations that are predominantly English speaking50 to 80 percent of the target language is taught in all subject areas with the exception of English language arts.

In considering our demographic and our population, the DMUSD program option that would be most relevant to our community and our demographic is a one-way immersion program with the goal being proficiency and academic study in the target language, Petersen said.

Language programs that are less intensive include FLES and FLEX options. FLES focuses on language study, requiring a commitment to language instruction for a number of hours per week that increases as students move through grade levels. FLEX is based on exposure and enrichmentstudents engage in activities taught in a second language, providing just basic experience of the language.

Because we want to do this well and we want to do this the right way, I would look at initially starting with a FLES program where we focus intentional time on language study, Peterson said.

Following an initial roll-out, Petersen said the district-wide steering committee could then make decisions about how the district continues on with language. Options could include expanding to FLES programs at all eight schools or at a handful of schools or having one school offer a one-way immersion program. The one-way immersion program could take a variety of forms: it could be a whole school program or a strand immersion where for example two sections of kindergarten would be English only and one would be a one-way immersion program, building a cohort of students that would travel together through all seven years of instruction at the district.

Based on the interest levels, there could even be one FLES school in Spanish and one in Mandarin or a mix of one-way immersion programs.

Board members were interested in getting the feedback from the parent community and had many questions about budget implications, staffing as well as the challenges posed by teaching all subject matter in a second language.
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Islamabad, March 7

Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf has admitted that Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Mohammed carried out attacks in India during his tenure on the instructions of the intelligence agencies.

Musharraf, 75, who is currently in Dubai, said that the Pakistan government's crackdown on the JeM, which also tried to assassinate him twice, was a good move.

The JeM recently claimed responsibility for the February 14 Pulwama attack that left 40 CRPF personnel dead, increasing tensions between India and Pakistan.

Last month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi during an interview with CNN said that Azhar is in Pakistan, but the government can act against him only if India presents "solid" and "inalienable" evidence that can stand in a court of law.

Pakistan military, however, denied the terror group's presence in the country.

Amid mounting international pressure after the Pulwama attack, Pakistan on Tuesday detained 44 members of the banned militant outfits, including Azhar's son and brother.

"This is a good move. I have always said that the JeM is a terrorist organisation and they only had carried out a suicide attack in an attempt to assassinate me. Action should be taken against them. I am happy Musharraf, who also served as Pakistan's army chief, said that the action against the JeM should have been taken earlier.

When asked why he himself had not taken any action against the Jaish leadership and the organisation when he was in power, the former military ruler said, "Those were different times. Our intelligence men were involved in a tit-for-tat between India and Pakistan...This was continuing at that time and amid all of this, no major action was taken against the Jaish. And I also did not insist."

Musharraf had ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. Musharraf, who has been living in Dubai since March 2016, is facing the treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007, a punishable offence for which he was indicted in 2014. PTI
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Mumbai, March 7

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday termed as "shocking" the Centre's statement that documents related to the Rafale fighter jet deal have been stolen from the defence ministry, and wondered what will then be the country's situation on the security front.

He said it was now obvious the deal was done for the "benefit of some people" and sought to know why the government hid the theft from Parliament.

He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of politicising the Indian Air Force's (IAF) air strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed's camp in Pakistan in retaliation to the terror outfit's attack at Pulwama in Kashmir where 40 CRPF personnel were killed last month.

The Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that documents related to the Rafale aircraft deal being stolen, prompting the opposition parties to again raise questions over the Rs 58,000-crore defence deal which is already mired in controversy.

"If confidential papers are stolen, then what will be the situation on the security front," Pawar wondered while interacting with NCP workers in Kolhapur through video- conferencing.

"How can confidential papers go missing from the Ministry of Defence. It is clear now that the Rafale deal was done to benefit some people. Why did the government hide the theft from Parliament. The papers definitely had some important information," he said.

Terming the government's stand on Rafale deal issue as surprising, he said, "These are the same people who are refusing an inquiry into the deal while having demanded a probe into the Bofors case."

Taking a swipe at the prime minister's earlier remark "na khaoonga na khane doonga" (would not take bribes, nor let anyone do so), Pawar alleged that during Modi government's rule, the Rafale aircraft cost was increased.

"The contract was taken away from HAL and given to a new company of industrialist Anil Ambani which had no experience in aircraft manufacturing," he further charged.

The government and Ambani have, however, been denying any wrongdoing.

Further hitting out at Modi over IAF's air strikes in Pakistan, Pawar said, "It is not the opposition, but PM Modi politicising the situation, and that's sad."

India wanted peaceful and friendly relations with all neighbours, including Pakistan. "But Pakistan's intentions are not similar," he said.

Even the families of martyrs are saying sacrifices of soldiers should not be politicised, he added.

Pawar also claimed that during the recent all-party meeting over the issue, the BJP did not have a representative.

Criticising the BJP-led government over its demonetisation, he claimed around 15 lakh people lost their jobs due to the note ban decision.

There is no record of how much black money was unearthed, but people had to face lot of hardships, he said. Pawar also claimed that in the last two-and-a-half years, " 11,000 farmers have committed suicide".

He acknowledged the role of social media and said it played a "very important role" in BJP's victory in 2014.

Referring to the Congress-NCP alliance in Maharashtra, Pawar said two joint rallies have taken place so far and discussions are underway for a couple of seats. "Talks are on for one or two seats. A decision on who will contest those one or two seats will be taken on merits.

There will be no issues. By the time elections are announced, seat-sharing formula will be finalised," he said. PTI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, March 7

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbing him as the poster boy of Pakistan for hugging former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and inviting the countrys spy agency ISI to Pathankot after the IAF base was attacked.

Gandhis remarks came after the Prime Minister on Tuesday called the opposition as poster boys of Pakistan for seeking proof of the IAFs action on a terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

He is the Pakistans poster boy, not us, said Gandhi, hitting back at Modi for having publicly hugged Sharif during his swearing-in ceremony and later when he visited Pakistan to wish him on his birthday.

The Congress president also targeted the Prime Minister for inviting Pakistans spy agency ISI to India to probe the Pathankot terror attack.

He said he had seen the views of the families of the CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack, who had raised questions on the impact of the air strike in Pakistan, asserting that the Congress had also said this. PTI
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Washington, March 6

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played an essential role in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan last week, according to a top State Department official.

Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Kashmirs Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 and captured its pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on Friday.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino, during his bi-weekly news conference on Tuesday, said: Secretary Pompeo led diplomatic engagement directly, and that played an essential role in de-escalating the tensions between the two sides.

We continue to urge both sides to continue to take steps to de-escalate the situation and that includes through direct communication. We believe strongly that further military activity will exacerbate the situation, he said.

Palladino also reiterated Americas call for Pakistan to abide by its UN Security Council commitments to deny terrorists sanctuary and block their access to funds.

Pompeo made the diplomatic efforts over phone from Hanoi where he was present to attend the North Korea summit with US President Donald Trump, he said.

He (Pompeo) spoke with leaders in both countries, and that included the Indian Minister of External Affairs (Sushma) Swaraj, National Security Advisor (Ajit) Doval, and Pakistani Foreign Minister (Shah Mehmood) Qureshi, Palladino said.

Meanwhile, Congressman Brad Sherman on Tuesday commended both India and Pakistan for continuing to show restraint.

We must never forget that no one can win a war between nuclear-armed powers. I will continue to monitor the situation closely, he said. PTI
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 6

The February 14 terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans in Pulwama and the subsequent Indian response and events were among issues discussed at a lunch meeting top Congress leaders had with the envoys of G20 and the neighbouring countries today.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi hosted the event which was also attended by his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Among those present were the Ambassadors of the US, China and the UK High Commissioner.

The discussions ranged from Congress political and economic vision for the future to issues of regional and global importance and cooperation.

The lunch hosted at a luxury hotel saw Rahul Gandhi go from table to table. There were four tables with Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh seated on one. Former minister Anand Sharma, who led the organisation of the event, and party seniors Ghulam Nabi Azad, Bhubaneshwar Kalita and Manish Tewari were also present.

Apart from broader issues of mutual cooperation and understanding, discussions hinged on the Pulwama terror attack, the Indian Governments response to the attack, the Congress commitment of support and solidarity to the government and armed forces and the ruling BJPs attempts to politicise the military strikes.

The Congress stand was absolutely clear. We stood with the government. We spoke about how we are the ones who had the original hard line on national security issues. So, we are not against the government hard line on national security matters. But there are questions around politicisation of a military response, a source said.

Congress leaders also apprised attending envoys of what the Congress Lok Sabha election manifesto would hold in terms of foreign policy, a leader who attended the meeting said.

The basic minimum income guarantee proposal of the party also came up for discussions and we spoke to the envoys about the financial structure of the plan and its basic philosophy, a Congress source said.

After the meeting, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, Today I met with diplomats of the G-20 nations & some neighbouring countries. We discussed a wide range of issues & are united in our fight against the scourge of terrorism.
vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 6

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its order on appointing mediators to find an amicable solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in Ayodhya even as Hindu and Muslim parties to the dispute took diametrically opposite stands on the courts move.

Hindu parties, except Nirmohi Akhara, opposed mediation while Muslim parties to the dispute supported it.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said if the parties to the dispute wanted, they could suggest names of mediators.

On behalf of the UP government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed mediation, saying it was not advisable in given circumstances.

Hindus believe Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya thousands of years ago. During Mughal emperor Baburs rule, a mosque was constructed at the place in 1528 after destroying the temples existing there. On Wednesday, the Bench said, We are not concerned about what Mughal ruler Babur had done and what happened later. We can go into what exists in the present moment.

Senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, representing Ram Lalla, said the temple had to be built at the Janmasthan (birth place). What can be considered is alternative place for mosque. We are ready to crowd-fund it, he said, opposing mediation. The top court said it was conscious of the gravity of the dispute and the outcome of mediation on the body politic of India. The Bench said the case was not about property alone but also about peoples sentiments and faith.

As Hindu Mahasabha counsel said it is the property of the deity and nobody has the right to mediate the parties have been waiting for a decision since 1950, the Bench asked him not to pre-judge the whole issue.

When the court is ordering mediation, we are not yet assuming somebody will give up something. We think primarily it is not a dispute over the 1,500 yards of land. This is about faith. Do not think that we are not conscious of it or do you think that you have more faith than us? Justice Bobde asked.

58 years, no solution
amansharma@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, March 7

The Supreme Court is scheduled on Friday to pronounce whether to refer Ayodhyas Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case to mediation for amicable settlement.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday had reserved the order after hearing various contesting parties.

Hindu bodies except Nirmohi Akhara have opposed the suggestion of the apex court to refer the issue for mediation, while Muslim bodies have supported it.

The bench, also comprising Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer, had concluded the hearing by asking stakeholders to give the names of possible mediators.

Hindu bodies like Nirmohi Akhara suggested the names of Justices (retd) Kurian Joseph, AK Patnaik and GS Singhvi as mediators, while the Hindu Mahasabha faction of Swami Chakrapani proposed the names of former CJIs Justices J S Khehar and Dipak Misra and Justice (retd) A K Patnaik to the bench.

The apex court in its Wednesday hearing had observed that primarily the issue is not about 1,500 square feet land, but about religious sentiments.

The bench had said it was conscious of the gravity and impact of the issue on public sentiment and also on body politics of the country.

It has also said the judges were aware of the history and was seeing that the dispute be resolved amicably as It is not only about property. It is about mind, heart and healing, if possible.

The bench had also said it was not appropriate to pre-judge that the mediation would fail and people would not agree with the decision.

We are conscious about the gravity of the issue and we are also conscious about its impact on body politic of the country. We understand how it goes and are looking at minds, hearts and healing if possible, the bench said.

When a lawyer contended about the injustices meted out to the Hindus by invaders in the past, the bench said, We are not concerned what has happened in the past. Dont you think we have read the history. We are not concerned what Babar did in the past or who was the king and who invaded. We cannot undo what has happened but we can go into what exists in the present moment.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for the legal heirs of original litigant M Siddiq, said outlining of the dispute is not necessary and court can order mediation by a mediator, when parties are unable to settle it.

To this, the bench said there may not be one mediator but a panel of mediators to deal with the issue.

The bench had agreed with the contention of Dhavan that confidentiality of proceedings should be maintained and said it thinks there has to be complete ban on media reporting on the developments of mediation process.

It is not something like gag order but there should be no reporting. It is easy to attribute something to somebody when the mediation process is on, the bench had said.

During the hearing, Justice Chandrachud said considering it is not just a property dispute between the parties but a dispute involving two communities, it would be very difficult to bind millions of people by way of mediation.

Two factions of Hindu Mahasabha took opposite stand on the issue of mediation with one body supporting it, the other opposing it.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had told the bench that the government has the right to give away land to whosoever it wants after paying compensation to the others.

P V Narsimha Rao government had in 1994 made commitment to apex court that if ever any evidence was found that there was a temple, land will be given for temple construction, Swamy had submitted.

Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for Hindu deity Ram Lala Virajman had said the faith that Lord Rama was born in Ayodhaya is not negotiable but the question is of Rama Janamsthan (birth place).

We are even willing to crowd-fund a mosque somewhere else but no negotiations can take place with respect of Lord Ramas birthplace. Mediation wont serve any purpose, he said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, had said the court should refer the matter for mediation only when there exists an element of settlement.

He said considering the nature of the dispute it will not be prudent and advisable to take this path of mediation.

Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three partiesthe Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.  PTI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Kulwinder Sandhu

Tribune News Service

Killi Chahal (Moga), March 7

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today challenged PM Narendra Modi to a debate on the Rafale issue, alleging that public money was being given to certain industrialists for vested interests.

Addressing a rally at Killi Chahal village in Moga, he said: Industrialist Anil Ambani opened a company only 10 days before the award of the Rafale contract. It was awarded to him in minutes by cancelling the earlier deal. But the Rs 31,000 crore food legacy debt incurred by Punjab, which fought a battle against terrorism for 20 years, has not been waived by the Centre.

Rahul Gandhi promised that should the Congress come to power at the Centre, not only this debt of Rs 31,000 crore, but also loans of farmers and farmhand would be waived. Accusing the BJP of spreading hatred, he said theelections would be an ideological fight and Guru Nanak's philosophy of love and respect would triumph.

The BJP and PM are spreading hatred in the country against which Guru Nanak spent his entire life... In a way Guru Nanak's thoughts are being attacked.

Without naming the PM, he reiterated the chowkidar chor hai charge. The missing Rafale files would have shown that the arrival of jets was delayed because of parallel negotiations by the Union Government, endangering the lives of IAF pilots.

Criticising demonetisation, he said: Modi had talked about bringing black money back to the country. But where is that black money now? The move only helped some industrialists and BJP leaders to turn their black money into white.

He also alleged that faulty implementation of GST had ruined small traders. I promise to simplify GST and introduce a single tax across the nation, if voted to power.

CM Capt Amarinder Singh said his government was committed to providing jobs to the youth. I promise to put behind bars those responsible for incidents of sacrilege. Police officials behind the Behbal Kalan police firing wont be spared either.

Dwelling at length on the food legacy debt, the CM lashed out at the PM for giving mere assurances on resolving the matter. I met Modi not once, twice, or thrice... (but) at least five times on this issue. He assured me he would look into it. Our Finance Minister Manpreet Badal met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, but he too gave only assurances.

Blaming the previous SAD government for the debt, the CM asked: What did you (SAD) do when the amount reached Rs 31,000 crore? Your minister (Harsimrat Kaur Badal) is in the Union Cabinet, yet you failed to resolve the issue. And you burdened the state by converting Rs 31,000 crore of cash credit limit gap into long-term loan. Why should we pay it?

He launched a scheme to waive loans of farm labourers. Along with Rahul Gandhi, he awarded debt waiver certificates to 11 beneficiaries. The scheme will benefit 17,826 landless farmers in Moga district. State Congress chief Sunil Jakhar lambasted Modi for forcing the country into war for political gains.

Congress incharge for Punjab Asha Kumari accused the Akalis and the BJP of plunging a prosperous Punjab into the drug net. Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Finance Minister Manpreet Badal and Congress MLAs were among those present on the occasion.
editorial@tribune.com

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 6

Bathinda city has been ranked first in the state and 31st among 4,241 cities in the country with 3,520 points in the Swachh Survey-2019, conducted by the Union Ministry of Urban Development. The results were announced in New Delhi on Wednesday.

After Bathinda, Patiala has been ranked 72nd (3,053 points), Muktsar 139th (2,637), SAS Nagar 153rd (2,572), Ludhiana 163rd (2,523), Jalandhar 168th (2,499), Pathankot 171st (2,475), Ferozepur 174th (2,471) and Amritsar 184th (2,406).

Bathinda has scored well and taken a huge lead in documentation. It has scored 934 points out of 1,250, while Patiala, which is at second place in the state, had scored 685. This survey had taken place in January in the country.

In last years survey also, Bathinda topped the state but was placed at the 104th rank in the country. This year, Bathinda had been able to maintain its first rank in the state along with jumping to 31st rank in the country as well.

Several steps in solid waste management were taken by the Bathinda Municipal Corporation ahead of the survey and it scored well in collection and transportation, processing and disposal, sustainable sanitation, innovation and best practice. It also did well in making the city open-defecation free (ODF). The well-maintained public toilets in the city also brought good marks.

Commissioner, MCB, Dr Rishipal Singh and Mayor Balwant Rai Nath thanked residents for keeping the city clean and giving positive feedback.
vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 6

With the Punjab Government deciding to regularise the services of 5,178 teachers and 650 nurses, leaving out 30,000 other employees, unions across the state have announced an indefinite stir from tomorrow.

The employees, under the aegis of Contractual Employees Action Committee, have threatened to oppose the ruling Congress in the elections. Beginning March 16, they will be staging protests outside the residences of Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.

The Congress has failed to honour its promise made during the Assembly polls. We will oppose the party tooth and nail, said Ashish Julaha, chief, Contractual Employees Action Committee.

Regular employees (Group C and D) too are on the warpath. The government had announced 7 per cent DA for them from February 1, which included two pending instalments, about which there has been no word. In protest, the Sanjha Mulazam Manch and Punjab State Ministerial Services Union have announced an indefinite pen-down strike.

Official sources claim the Cabinet sub-committee was divided on the issue of regularising all 37,000 contractual, outsourced, work-charged and daily employees. While one minister insisted that this be done, the other two on the panel felt the government could not bear the additional cost it entailed.

Leaving aside employees working for companies, to whom works have been outsourced, there are 27,000 other temporary employees. If given regular employment, the additional salary burden on the government would be Rs 2,000 crore per annum. Already, the salary and pension bill (Rs 37,853.89,crore) constitutes 80.2 per cent of the state's tax and non-tax revenue.
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 6

Following intervention by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justices Bench, the protesting farmers today agreed to lift the dharna from railway tracks near Amritsar. At the very onset, the Bench made it clear to the protesters that it was country first, and demands later.

Taking up the matter, the Bench of Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Arun Palli asserted that the supply lines to the border areas were being affected because of the dharna despite the conditions prevailing there.

As a result of the disruption, problems were being faced in forwarding supplies to the Army. The Bench also made it clear that the track was required to be vacated and the protests could be carried out at places earmarked for it. The Bench also held an hour-long discussion inside the chamber with leaders of the protesting farmers union, the counsel for the petitioner and Advocate-General Atul Nanda.

After emerging from the chamber, the protesting union leaders stated they were vacating the track after intervention by the Bench in larger interest of the nation.

The development took place on a petition filed in public interest by advocate Mohit Kapoor for directions to the authorities concerned to take immediate action for the lifting of illegal blockade over Amritsar-Delhi railway track near Jandiala town by farmers and labourers.

Chief Justice Krishna Murari, during the course of hearing, told Nanda that it could find a solution within an hour through interaction and the state government could have also done the same. The Bench added that revenue loss, too, was fallout of the blockade.

The Bench then asked the farmers union to submit its charter of demands in the form of an affidavit within 24 hours. The Bench also set March 19 as the deadline for the state to specify which demands could be met and which could not and the reasons for the same.
shalender@tribune.com

CALCUTTA, March 6 (UNI)-Undeterred by shouts from members of the ruling United Front, West Bengal Governor Dharma Vira skipped some 535 words of criticism of the Centre in delivering his Address to the joint session of the two houses of the State Legislature this afternoon. Mr. Dharma Vira, who was cordially received by Speaker Vejoy Kumar Banerjee and the Deputy Chairman of the Council at the Legislature Building, was booed by supporters of the United Front on his way to the chamber and back. Leave Bengal, leave now, shouted the demonstrators. As he skipped a part of the speech prepared by the State Cabinet, members shouted: Read the full text. He ignored the interruptions and went on with the speech. Chief Minister Ajoy Mukherjee then stood up and told him he should read the speech as prepared by the Cabinet. After initially ignoring the remark, Mr. Dharma Vira turned to him and said, Ajoy Babu I have already told you that I will not be able to read this portion.
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Islamabad, March 7

Pakistan intensified its crackdown against Islamist militants on Thursday, with the government announcing it had taken control of 182 madrasas and detained more than 100 people as part of its push against banned groups.

The interior ministry said it was part of a long-planned drive, not a response to Indian anger over what New Delhi calls Islamabads failure to rein in militant groups operating on Pakistani soil.

Pakistan is facing pressure from global powers to act against groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack that killed at least 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama.

Provincial governments have taken in their control management and administration of 182 seminaries (madaris), Pakistans interior ministry said in a statement, referring to religious schools.

Law enforcement agencies have taken 121 people under preventive detention as of today, the ministry added.

In Pakistan, madrasas (religious schools) are often blamed for radicalisation of youngsters.

Many banned groups such as JeM run seminaries. Another banned outfit, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which calls itself an Islamic charity and operates large welfare operations, is estimated to run about 300 madrasas across the country.

The interior ministry said other institutions from different groups had been taken over, including 34 schools or colleges, 163 dispenseries, 184 ambulances, five hospitals and eight offices of banned organisations. Reuters
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Hong Kong/Washington, March 7

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies sued the US government on Thursday saying a law limiting its US business was unconstitutional, racheting up its fight back against a government bent on closing it out of global markets.

Huawei said it had filed a complaint in a federal court in Texas challenging Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by US President Donald Trump in August, which bars federal agencies and their contractors from procuring its equipment and services.

The lawsuit marks the latest confrontation between China and the United States, which spent most of 2018 slapping import tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each others goods. The year ended with the arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer (CFO) in Canada at US request, to the consternation of China.

Long before Trump initiated the trade war, Huaweis activities were under scrutiny by US authorities, according to interviews with 10 people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.

The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort, Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said in a statement.

This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers. We look forward to the courts verdict. While Huawei had very little share of the US market before the bill, it is the worlds biggest telecoms gear maker and is seeking to be at the forefront of a global roll-out of fifth generation (5G) mobile networks and services.

In its lawsuit, Huawei said its equipment and services are subject to advanced security procedures, and no backdoors, implants, or other intentional security vulnerabilities have been documented in any of the more than 170 countries in the world where Huawei equipment and services are used. The privately owned firm has embarked on a public relations and legal offensive as Washington lobbies allies to abandon Huawei when building 5G networks, centring on a 2017 Chinese law requiring companies cooperate with national intelligence work.

The US Government is sparing no effort to smear the company and mislead the public, said Guo in a news briefing at Huaweis headquarters in southern China.

No proof

The NDAA bans the US government from doing business with Huawei or compatriot peer ZTE Corp or from doing business with any company that has equipment from the two firms as a substantial or essential component of their system.

In its lawsuit, filed in US District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Huawei argues that the section in question is illegal because it could sharply limit the companys ability to do business in the United States despite no proof of wrongdoing.

The lawsuit also alleges that Huawei has been denied due process and that Congress, by stripping Huawei of commercial opportunities, has violated the separation of powers portion of the constitution by doing the work of the courts.

Uphill battle

Some legal experts, however, said Huaweis lawsuit is likely to be dismissed because US courts are reluctant to second-guess national security determinations by other branches of government.

The lawsuit will be an uphill battle because Congress has broad authority to protect us from perceived national security threats, said Franklin Turner, a government contracts lawyer at McCarter & English.

In November 2018, a federal appeals court rejected a similar lawsuit filed by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, which was challenging a ban on the use of its software in US government networks.

The Texas court hearing Huaweis case will not be bound by that decision, but will likely adopt its reasoning because of similarities in the two disputes, said Steven Schwinn, a professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

I dont see how (Huawei) can really escape that result, said Schwinn.

Huaweis chief legal officer, Song Liuping, said the two cases were different in terms of evidence and scope, and that the Chinese firms case had full merits.

If a judge decides Huawei has a plausible claim the case will proceed to the discovery phase, in which internal documents are shared and US government officials could be forced to provide testimony and lay out their security concerns.

Retribution

The legal action compares with a more restrained response in December emphasising trust in justice after the arrest of CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei later said Mengs arrest was politically motivated and not acceptable.

Meng - Rens daughter - is accused by the United States of bank and wire fraud related to breaches of trade sanctions against Iran. Canada approved extradition proceedings on March 1, but Meng has since sued Canadas government for procedural wrongs in her arrest. The next court hearing is set for May 8.

The case strained Canadas relations with China, which this week accused two arrested Canadians of stealing state secrets and blocked Canadian canola imports.

Meng is under house arrest in Vancouver. It is unclear where the two Canadians are being detained in China, and at least one does not have access to legal representation, sources previously told Reuters.  Reuters
gspannu7@gmail.com

Islamabad, March 7

Pakistans latest crackdown on banned terror groups are merely an eyewash to placate the West in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from the countrys soil, a US-based news website which reports on the war on terror has commented.

Pakistan said on Tuesday that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhars son and brother were among 44 members of the banned militant outfits taken into preventive detention, amid mounting pressure from the global community on it to rein in the terror groups operating on its soil.

Islamabad also said it is shuttering institutions that belong to Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a designated terrorist group that is an alias for Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The crackdown came amid tensions with India following a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on February 14 by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

India recently handed over the dossier to Pakistan to take action against the JeM for the Pulwama terror attack.

If the past is any guide, the efforts are merely eyewash to placate Western governments in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from Pakistani soil, the Long War Journal has commented.

Thats because Pakistan has claimed it has shut down JuD offices and detained its top leaders in the past, only to allow the offices to reopen and the leaders are set free months later, it said on Wednesday.

Ironically, Pakistani generals and government officials routinely state that terrorist groups are not permitted to operate on Pakistani soil.

Yet the JuD operates freely in Rawalpindi, the city that headquarters Pakistans military, the website noted.

Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its successor, JuD, has been placed under protective custody at least four times in the past two decades, only to be released, it noted.

Even when he was in purported custody, Saeed was free to travel and give sermons at LeT/JuD-run mosques in Lahore, it recalled.

Saeeds ties to both the Pakistani state and global terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda are indisputable, it said, adding that the Pakistani state supports Saeed and his organisation, which has offices across the country.

Pakistan also routinely rounds up known terrorist leaders and places them under protective custody, only to release them when foreign pressure wanes, the article said.

Dangerous jihadist commanders such as Masood Azhar (Jaish-e-Mohammed), Qari Saifullah Akhtar (Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami), and Malik Ishaq (Lashkar-e-Jhangvi) have been detained numerous times, only to be freed, it noted.

There is little reason to believe this latest effort will be any different, the Long War Journal concluded.  PTI
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Washington, March 7

US Senator Marco Rubio has accused Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of going full gangster and urged President Donald Trumps nominee for Ambassador to Riyadh to hold the country accountable for human rights abuses.

Hes gone full gangster, Politico news quoted Rubio as saying on Wednesday.

The Florida Senator added that the Saudi royal was reckless, ruthless and increasingly willing to test the limits of what he can get away with.

Rubios remark came during retired General John Abizaids nomination hearing on Wednesday to be the Trump administrations first ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi list of offences, Rubio and other lawmakers noted during the hearing, include the killing of civilians in the US-supported conflict in Yemen, the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, the alleged torture of an American citizen and the detention of womens rights activists.

The ambassadorial nominee however, stressed that the US relationship with the Saudis was bigger than the Crown Prince, and that the best way to change conditions in the Arab kingdom was through engagement.

It is in our interest to make sure that the relationship is sound, Abizaid said.

Since taking office, Trump hasnt had an ambassador in Riyadh. He announced he would nominate Abizaid in November, after the Khashoggi killing drew outrage in Washington.  IANS
gspannu7@gmail.com

Washington, March 7

President Donald Trump has revoked an Obama-era policy that required the US government publish an annual report on the number of civilians killed in drone strikes on high-value terrorists in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia.

The 2016 executive order was brought in by then-President Barack Obama, who was under pressure to be more transparent on drone strikes carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Since the 9/11 Al-Qaeda terror attack, drone strikes have been increasingly used against terror and military targets.

The Trump administration said the 2016 rule was superfluous and distracting.

The order applied to the CIA, which has been carrying out drone strikes in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia.

The CIA-operated drone strikes in Pakistan have killed top terrorists like Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in 2016, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud in 2009 and Hakimullah Mehsud, TTP chief, in 2013.

Khalid Mehsud, the TTP deputy chief was killed in a US drone strike in 2018 in Pakistans North Waziristan.

President Trumps action eliminates superfluous reporting requirements, requirements that do not improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission, a National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

The Obama-era rule required the head of the CIA to release annual summaries of US drone strikes and assess how many died as a result.

Trumps executive order on Wednesday does not overturn reporting requirements on civilian deaths set for the military by Congress.

There have been 2,243 drone strikes in the first two years of the Trump presidency, compared with 1,878 in Obamas eight years in office, the BBC quoted figures of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a UK-based think tank.

Officials pointed to a major defence law passed by Congress last year that requires the administration to submit a civilian casualty report to lawmakers.

That measure, however, allows the defense secretary to classify the report if he decides that its publication would pose a national security threat, The Hill reported.

The provision applies to military operations and does not cover drone strikes carried out by the CIA, which oftentimes carries out strikes in areas where US forces are not present.

Meanwhile, former Obama administration officials criticised Trumps decision, which they said will deprive the public of the ability to hold the government accountable for civilian deaths.

Daphne Eviatar, an official with Amnesty International USA, blasted Trumps decision as unconscionable and a complete disregard of fundamental human rights.

This is a shameful decision that will shroud this administrations actions in even more secrecy with little accountability for its victims, she said.  PTI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Washington, March 7

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that hed be very, very disappointed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if reports that work is under way to rebuild a long-range rocket site were confirmed.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said its too early to see if the information about work at the North Korean site is true. Warning hed be disappointed, he added: I dont think I will be, but well see what happens.

Trump and Kim met last week in Vietnam to negotiate on getting rid of North Koreas nuclear arsenal, but the summit broke up early with no progress.

Researchers say that rebuilding of the facility in question has been under way since the summit and may have started before the Vietnam meeting.

This facility had been dormant since August 2018, indicating the current activity is deliberate and purposeful, said researchers at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Researchers said the activity might be intended to demonstrate resolve in the face of US rejection of the Norths request for an easing of sanctions in return for some dismantlement of nuclear weapons infrastructure.

Kim had agreed to shutter the Sohae missile-testing site at a summit with the Souths President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang, as part of confidence-building measures, and satellite pictures in August had suggested workers were already dismantling an engine test stand at the facility.

But CSIS said building activity is now evident at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, from where Pyongyang launched satellites in 2012 and 2016.

North Korea was later banned by the UN Security Council from carrying out the space launches, as some of its technology was similar to that used for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

The respected Washington-based 38 North project, another independent research website specialising in North Korea, also reported building work at the Sohae facility, based on commercial satellite imagery.

According to 38 North, the efforts to rebuild structures at the Sohae facility started sometime between February 16 and March 2 this year.

The pictures show a moving structure that had been used to carry launch vehicles to a launch pad on rails had been restored, it said.

Two support cranes are observed at the building, the walls have been erected and a new roof added. At the engine test stand, it appears that the engine support structure is being reassembled, the 38 North reported.

In a briefing to parliamentarians this week, Seouls spy agency said it had detected signs of work at the site.

Joel Wit, the director of the 38 North project, cautioned that the evidence was not necessarily consistent with preparations for an ICBM test.

Aside from the fact that (North Korea) has never tested an ICBM from Sohaeits a space vehicle launch site--preparation for any launch would require a wide range of activities not observed in the imagery, Wit said.

However, a rocket engine test could be performed there and that would send a really strong signal to Washington, Wit said.

A lot depends on how the US reacts to whats going on, Wit said. The danger here is that we could start spiralling downward as each side takes steps and undermines the process thats been in place since last spring.

Impoverished and isolated North Korea conducted its first successful nuclear test in 2006 followed by a string of increasingly successful ICBM launches.

In 2017, it claimed it had become capable of fitting a viable nuclear weapon on an ICBM that could reach as far as the United States eastern seaboard.

In response, the UN Security Council later banned the North's main exports--coal and other mineral resources, fisheries and textile products--to cut off its access to hard currency.

At their groundbreaking first summit in Singapore last year, Kim and Trump produced a vague statement on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. There were high expectations for Kim and Trumps second meeting in Hanoi, but no agreement was reached. Despite the stalemate, both sides said they were open to further talks.

John Bolton, the US national security adviser, however, said on Tuesday that the US would look at ramping those sanctions up if Pyongyang did not give up its nuclear weapons programme. AFP
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Washington, March 7

US Senator Martha McSally, the first female combat pilot in the US Air Force, said on Wednesday she had been raped by a superior officer but did not report it because she blamed herself and did not trust the system.

The perpetrators abuse their position of power in profound ways, and in one case I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer, McSally, an Arizona Republican, said during a Senate hearing on sexual assault in the military.

But unlike so many brave survivors, I didnt report being sexually assaulted, she added. Like so many women and men, I didnt trust the system. I blamed myself. I was ashamed and confused. I thought I was strong but felt powerless. McSally did not identify her attacker.

Another member of the subcommittee, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth who is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and lost both legs in combat in the Iraq war, said the military has utterly failed at handling sexual assault.

Sexual assault and harassment in the US military is largely under-reported and came under renewed scrutiny two years ago after a scandal involving Marines sharing nude photos of women online came to light.

In fiscal 2017, the most recent period for which statistics are available, the US Department of Defense received 6,769 reports of sexual assault involving service members as victims or subjects of criminal investigation. That represented a nearly 10 percent increase in reported cases from the previous year, according to a Pentagon report last year.

Stayed silent for many years

McSally, speaking at the Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing, said: I stayed silent for many years, but later in my career as the military grappled with scandals and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know: I too was a survivor.

I was horrified at how my attempts to share generally my experiences were handled, she said, adding that she came close to leaving the Air Force after 18 years.

Like many victims, I felt the system was raping me all over again.

Air Force spokeswoman Captain Carrie Volpe said in a statement: We are appalled and deeply sorry for what Senator McSally experienced and we stand behind her and all victims of sexual assault. We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behavior and breach of trust in our ranks. In a separate incident, authorities in Georgia said on Wednesday they had arrested three members of the US Navy on charges of rape and aggravated sodomy.

The men were taken into custody following a report of a sexual assault on Sunday at a party in a private residence, the Richmond County Sheriffs Office said in a statement.

McSallys disclosure came less than two months after Senator Joni Ernst, an Army veteran, said publicly that she had been raped in college by someone she knew and that her ex-husband had physically abused her. An attorney for her former husband declined to comment at the time.

Ernst, a Republican, has in the past worked with Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to combat sexual assault in the military.

McSally, 52, who served two terms in the US House of Representatives, was appointed in December by Arizonas governor to take over the Senate seat once held by the late John McCain.

A special election will be held in 2020 to fill the remaining two years of McCains six-year term.

In Novembers congressional elections, McSally lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in the contest for Arizonas other US

Senate seat, formerly held by Republican Jeff Flake. Reuters
pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Washington, March 7

Martha McSally, who shook the US Senate with an unprecedented statement describing her rape by a senior Air Force officer, took an unconventional path to what is sometimes known as the nations most exclusive club.

The Republican senator from Arizona lost her race for the Senate in November, but ended up taking a seat there anyway after being named to replace the late John McCain.

On Wednesday, she joined another exclusive group, albeit one that no one would want to belong to, when she became only the second sitting US senator to describe publicly her own sexual assault, surprising fellow members as she detailed how she had been raped while serving in the US military.

I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer, McSally, 52, said during a Senate hearing on sexual assault in the military.

She did not name the officer. The Air Force was appalled and deeply sorry for McSallys experience, a spokeswoman said.

Fellow Republican Senator Joni Ernst, also a military veteran, disclosed in a January interview that she was raped while a college student. McSally made history by giving the first such statement as a senator in a congressional hearing.

Ernst, along with Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, have become vocal critics of how the military handles sexual assault within its ranks. McSally now joins their fight in the Senate.

Fight for rights

McSally spent 26 years in the US Air Force, was the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat and command a fighter squadron in combat.

She first came to public attention when she filed a lawsuit in 2001 against the US Department of Defense to end the policy requiring female service members stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear clothes covering the whole body, be accompanied by a man and not drive cars when off base. Ultimately, the military changed the rules.

She retired from the Air Force in 2010 as a full colonel and in 2014 was elected to the US House of Representatives.

For a moment last fall, it looked like her political career could come to an end. Six days after the November 2018 election, McSally conceded defeat to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in the race for the US Senate. She had lost by about 2 percentage points.

But weeks later another opportunity emerged. The second Senate seat from Arizona had been vacated earlier that year by the death of McCain. The seat was filled temporarily by former Senator Jon Kyl, who served only a few months before stepping down.

A month after her defeat, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey appointed McSally to the vacant seat. McSally faces an election in November 2020 if she wants to retain her seat.

All her life, Martha has put service first  leading in the toughest of fights and at the toughest of times, Ducey said as he appointed her. Reuters
The people of Tobago used their power for change, and are proud of doing so.
When a friend sent me a graphic on Thursday announcing a news conference by the PM at 1 p.m. on Friday, I was a bit sceptical. For one thing, the time was a bit unusual.

There was no topic, and it wasnt a regular Covid news conference day. So, I asked my friend what is this about. I also checked the PMs Office website and Facebook page.
Four cruise ships are being welcomed to Cairns over the next four days to kick off what is traditionally the busiest month for arrivals in the city.

The ships will deliver 4,300 passengers and crew to the Cruise Liner Terminal.

Azamara Quest was the first into port this morning, after travelling from Townsville carrying more than 1,000 people, wholl stay overnight.

Ports North Operations Manager Richard Stevensen said eight vessels are scheduled to land in Cairns this month, but its unusual to have so many in one week.
The Bible said it. Aesop said it.

Every one of my elementary school teachers said it: You will be judged by the company you keep. In President Trumps case, that company includes not only Michael Cohen and the others who have been indicted or convicted of breaking the occasional law, but also even bigger fish: Vladimir Putin of Russia, Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia (often referred to as MBS) and Kim Jong Un of North Korea. This is Trumps own axis of evil.

The original axis of evil, an idiotic formulation propounded by President George W. Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address, consisted of Iraq and

Iran  who had recently tried to annihilate each other  and North Korea. Irans membership remains in good standing, but a post-Saddam Hussein, Iraq no longer qualifies. And North Koreas cuddly tyrant has now been embraced by the president as my friend. Trump found him wholly innocent of the death of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was returned to the United States in a coma.

Kim assured Trump he had nothing to do with Warmbiers death, and the president, as he has done with MBS and Putin in similar circumstance, bought it. Kim tells me he didnt know about it, and I take him at his word, Trump said while in Hanoi for his sit-down last week with the North Korean dictator.

It should be pointed out that Kim had his dear uncle executed, maintains a gulag system similar to Joseph Stalins of old and is his countrys absolute ruler. Its hard to believe that an American was imprisoned without Kim getting the memo.

For Trump, there is precedent here. He shrugged off the murder of Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi operatives in that nations Istanbul diplomatic consulate. Repeatedly, Trump insisted that he had given MBS the third degree and that the crown prince, whose close associates the CIA strongly suggested had murdered Khashoggi, was wonderfully alibied.

At the moment, there are reports that Saudi-American dual citizen Walid Fitaihi was tortured after he was detained in November 2017. I can save Trump the phone call: MBS knows nothing about this.

Finally, we come to Putin. His regime is accused of numerous human rights violations and the murder of dissidents, both at home and abroad. And yet Trump has nary a word of criticism for the Russian leader. On the contrary, he has slobbered him with praise, not even holding him responsible for interfering in the 2016 elections.

Instead, Trump has been harsher on his own intelligence officials, who dusted the elections and found Putins fingerprints all over it.

I believe that President Putin really feels, and he feels strongly, that he did not meddle in our election, Trump has said. Case closed.

If you collected the despots Trump has singled out for praise, you would have an international version of the storied Apalachin meeting, the 1957 mobster fest in a once-obscure New York state hamlet. That meeting established without question the existence of the Mafia, which  pre-Godfather movies  was doubted by, among others, J. Edgar Hoover.

A Trump meeting with his associates would establish his stunning moral and political corruption.

If, on the other hand, you assembled the world leaders he has insulted, you would have an entirely different kind of meeting: Justin Trudeau of Canada, whom he called very dishonest and weak; Theresa May of Britain, whom he said is mishandling Brexit and had the effrontery not to follow his advice; and, above all, Angela Merkel of Germany, for whom he has shown unbridled contempt.

He criticized her immigration policy and, in an act of sheer schoolroom disrespect, tossed some Starburst candy at her at a Group of Sevenmeeting. Dont say I never give you anything, he reportedly said.

As others have pointed out, Michael Cohen, who formerly worked for Trump, described a Mafia-like organization, built around protecting one man. Cohen alleged lying. He alleged payoff.

Cohen alleged a code in which denial meant assent, assent meant denial and the truth was uttered only if some stranger got off the elevator at Trump Tower on the wrong floor.

But while Trumps personal corruption was never in doubt  ask any New York real estate developer if they would take Trumps check  his moral complicity in human rights atrocities gives him a breadth and stench that remain both puzzling (what does Putin have on him?) and sickening.

I am tempted to say he keeps the wrong company, but Aesop, the Bible and schoolteachers everywhere know better. Hes precisely where he belongs.

Richard Cohens email address is cohenr@washpost.com.
- Somalia government claims Kenya issued false reports to gain sympathy from the international community regarding the contentious maritime territory

- This was in response to a complaint lodged by the Kenyan government that Somalia was auctioning oil and gas on the territory to Britain

- Kenya has consistently maintained she wants the border to run along a parallel latitude south-east of Kyunga.

The Somalia government has accused Kenyan of deliberately giving a false account of events to the international community to gain an edge over the contentious maritime territory in the Indian Ocean.

Through a stinging statement seen by TUKO.co.ke, the Somalia government firmly denied allegations they had auctioned part of the territory to the UK as earlier media reports indicated.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Somalia President Farmaajo in Kenya for talks with Uhuru to end diplomatic row

Kenya has incorrectly claimed that Somalia for bid oil and gas blocks located in the disputed areas, the statement read.

The statement followed a parallel statement from the Kenyan government claiming oil exploration rights were being auctioned by the Somali government as a form of stamping their ownership on the maritime territory.

Somalia accuses Kenya of spreading false statements to gain support of international community. Photo: TUKO

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Ruto defends frequent public spats with Raila, says it's healthy for nation's growth

What was initially a row over a prime piece of property is now threatening to become a full blown diplomatic war.

Kenya wants the border to run along parallel latitude south-east of Kyunga while Somalia is pressing for a diagonal line down the Kenyan Coast.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Somalias ambassador summoned for consultation arrives in Mogadishu

The tussle dates back to 2014 when Somali first sued Kenya at the International Criminals Court for unlawful operations at the maritime territory.

Kenyan government went on to challenge the jurisdiction of the international courts in settling the matter in 2015.

As it stands, the border is now under the mercy of intense peace-keeping efforts with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahme Becoming the latest one to attempt to solve the crisis.

Kenya has consistently maintained she wants the border to run along a parallel latitude south-east of Kyunga.

The Somali government is however opposed to this, and are instead pressing for a diagonal line down the Kenyan Coast.

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

Atwoli's Prayer for Kenya| Tuko TV:

Source: Tuko
The following is a release by the Elections and Boundaries Commission on the recount request